Dhobighat- Mumbai Diaries | Impressive | The Critique

If you like really HATKE films: Rating: 4/5               Else: 3/5

Kiran Rao. An assistant director of Lagaan who later became The Aamir Khan’s wife. But this would not be her introduction hereon.  Her debut Dhobighat would be. What many people figured out as the main weakness of the movie turned out to be the beauty. There is no great story. It’s a montage of some interesting and some clichéd plots. Mumbai Diaries, as the poster suggests, is a collage of simpleton and the high society people living the concrete jungle.

Dhobighat has four semi-stories. A painter who is divorced and recluse. A banker on sabbatical who wants to see the common man through her lenses. A dhobi who wants to become an actor. A married girl who wants to tell her brother everything about her life. The first one seemed to be half baked however rest were fine. The high of the montage was the fourth plot. A Muslim girl showing her world to her younger brother through a handycam. Her expressions were genuine and the sequences in her story though not related seem to complete the flow. Dhobi’s plot is amazing but very clichéd. That’s the only turn off. The Banker’s story was bold and confident.

Actors have done great except Aamir Khan. He is the only one who seemed to be a bit out of place. Kiran should have picked up some low profile actor for this role. Prateik is brilliant. In every frame he is capable of holding you. Monica Dogra is beautiful and did a fine job as Shaii. Her smile takes you on a joyous ride. Kriti is interesting. Her expressions are perfect and she is one actress to look out for.

Cinematography is amazing though the shakiness thing seemed to be overdone. It should have been avoided. Dialogues are good but nothing out of the box. Background score and music is brilliant. It couldn’t have been better. Direction is good. It’s difficult to make such movies. Kiran Rao definitely have gray matter but she needs to ensure that too much of grey matter can be a major turn-off.

Written By: Sujoy Ghosh

@twi_fi_awards : A Change We Want | Eyes Read It

Sham is the word we utter when we see most undeserving candidates getting nominated for different categories. The big push behind their nomination is stardom. This frustration was the motivation behind Blue Notebook and perhaps this frustration triggered #TwiFi.

Today, in the time when the word critic started becoming a silly joke and awards seemed to be a show of silly performances, each being awarded with a farce memento, some souls on micro-blogging site Twitter have joined hands together to be the messenger of cine-lovers.

Based on their acceptance as jury members, some micro-bloggers have been nominated as Jury along with widely accepted reviewers like Rajeev Masand. The funda of #TwiFi seems to be interesting. They are connecting a number of dots on twitter and trying to get a consensus on which movies deserve to be called as the best in the trade. Since the exercise involve a big audience participating in the entire process, directly or indirectly; honesty will survive. Credible work of cinema like Udaan and Red Alert will get their due. For some reason (read lack of stardom) these movie did not happen to be on tally of few functions where Golmaal-3 and Break Ke Baad were heavy weights.

#TwiFi has started off well. When I scanned through the list of bloggers being nominated as Jury Members and skimmed through their works, I had a smile on my face. These fellas are not people who read sleazy magazines to enhance their cine-vocab. They are serious cine-buffs. Some of them are encyclopedia and some of them can any day beat most read reviewers in terms of content. They are not people who award 3-4 stars as freely available software. They love and live in cinema. Any movie passing through their vigilant eyes and making to the cut would be a really good one.

#TwiFi if successful can change the face of Awards Industry and we might see few regular awards coming to twitter for coverage from next year. Till then, I guess me @lifeisjustada can wait and watch.

#TwiFi_Thought: Aamir Khan has the chance to think about Indian Film Awards. He can wait and watch. Maybe next year he will happily receive a few.

Written By: Sujoy Ghosh @lifeisjustada

Marriage And Shift Two Of Shoot | Just Ada

Finding a home for the couple was not much difficult. For a short movie, we had shot at Sopan’s place some time back. It was high on our list.

On the day three, Gaurav and Madhuri both were in there skin. They gave shots very easily and without much retakes. I was elated and surprised. Ritwik and Chandru hopped in their roles of Rahmat Khan and Doctor. They had only a few scenes but they gave smooth shots. We also had a cameo of Sopan’s friend Jha ji as the marriage registrar.

But please don’t assume that Day 3 was dry. It was fun… in a sense more than day 1; though less than day 2. Few high moments included the marriage scene. Also, the serious chitchat between Deep and Doc. The chemistry between them was so good that the people watching the scene behind the cam started doubting. That included Madhuri aka Ada.

Day 4 was a short one. We had two small scenes. The introduction and the epilogue. I was very nervous because that was the first time we were going to shoot with a kid. But she was brilliant. Kiran, 7-8 years old daughter of a senior played the role of Junior Ada. She was very comfortable in doing acting. She was more pro than the lead.

Completing shooting was a big relief. We have about 6.5 GB of data and we need to pull out the relevant… approx 300-350 MB… Huff… long way to go.

Written By: Sujoy Ghosh

Results Out | Blue Notebook

One Note and Blue Notebook | Editor's Pen

Today, while I am writing this I am feeling very bad. We got some fabulous response to Blue Notebook that celebrates excellence in cinema and while we are celebrating the results, someone who sought freedom of expression is facing an oppressive regime… secluded in a corner and with bullets trying to cage his sensibilities. We had some great heights in cinema in 2010; meanwhile we touched a new low. To put in context, I am talking about Jafar Panahi.

December 20, 2010… The Iranian government sentenced him six years of imprisonment and 20 years ban on making movies, communicating with media and leaving the country. What can be his offence? Even for the most brutal crimes, courts allow prisoners the freedom of expression. Panahi’s offence is that he showed the world what he felt about. He expressed his pain on celluloid and allowed his creativity carry the burden of his emotions. He has been vocal about many things against the policies of Iranian government but to label them as an act of sedition is beyond human understanding. His case deserves a more humane trial… Please support his cause and let his case be heard. The power of our voice is either immense or nothing. Its upto us… we can be vocal and mute… TRM is vocal and we lend our support. What about you…?

Blue Notebook came and you gave love… Thanks for your appreciation. Ali and Neha will anchor the results this time. I am busy with Just Ada…

Love…

Sujoy

Results of Blue Notebook -2 are…

Neha: Finally, the best part about polls. Results!! They are finally out!! Final tally has been interesting and once again the worthy have been chosen by our voters. Further proof that mango people know what is best.

Ali: Agreed dear, Blue Notebook gets even more important in a year when best films were all small films, which need to be acknowledged for their achievement. In my view, first win of any awards are deserving nominations.

Neha: Speaking of nomination we had a tough time finding five nominations for most of the categories except for music, as very few good movies came this year.

Ali: Yeah, true. Now without any further ado, we head towards our first category, Best Art Direction and the award goes to ‘Band Baaja Baraat’. Interestingly, ‘Love Sex aur Dhoka’ was leading in votes for most part. Suddenly in last two days BBB fans voted in mass numbers to make it win.

Neha: Well interestingly BBB is again set in Delhi as was last year’s winner ‘Delhi-6’. Too many delhites in our voters, eh?

Moving on to our next category 'Best Editing' award and the winner is... 'Udaan'. Udaan is a perfect example of the saying that best editing is the one which is  unnoticiable and draws least attention to itself. Bravo.

Ali: Well said dear, very true. Our next category is about the other art within films, music. Best Music award goes to Ishqiya and Dabangg. Yes we actually have a tie between the two.

I personally loved Aisha's music the most but anyways thats people verdict and we respect that.

Neha: Now the award for category that is the lifeline of a film, the story. Award for Best Story goes to 'Peepli Live', possibly the best satire of Indian society in years. The way it criticizes Indian media's fetish for dramtising every situation and coverage of rural difficulties with such humor is commendable.

Ali: Indeed, Peepli Live has done India proud in so many festivals around the world and is our bid for Oscar too this year. Well as they say, exceptions are always there and likewise Indian cinema had one movie that was HUGE but it still it rocked the audience and set the cash registers ringing. The movie has, to our honor has been voted highest in Regional Movie category. You must have guessed it right by now, yes... Best Regional film award goes to Enthiran a.k.a. Robot.

Neha: yeah... completely agree.  Pity that as a Tamil film dubbed in Hindi it couldn't qualify for Best Film (Hindi) category. As far as i think it is closest we'll be to T2: Judgement Day in terms of pure blockbuster material.

Ali: Talking of blockbuster material reminds me of a movie that redefined what all a blockbusters can be. Best Foreign Movie award goes to 'Inception'. Insheeption ahem i mean, inception is one movie deserving it's award completely as it suceeds in being a cerebral and super entertaining (baffling too?!) at the same time.
Next up are the awards for ... ?

Neha: Next category is Best Actor, and I am pleasantly surprised by choices of our voters. The winner for Best Actor award is Vidya Balan for Ishiqiya. Although i wasn't gaga over Ishqiya the film but yes Vidya sure does know how to do it right.

Ali: Oooh, Girl power at work there eh? jokes apart there are few actresses as talented and as ravishingly beautiful as Ms. Balan. Moving on to Best Director category, winner is Vikramaditya Motwane by a huge margin. Hats off for delivering such a touching coming of age tale Sirji. Can't wait to see what he'll make next.

Neha: and now the most important award of all, Best Movie award and no prizes for guessing; it is indeed Udaan. Story of rebellion, of standing against odds and coming on your own. Udaan simply was the best of 2010.

Ali: That brings us to the end of Blue Notebook Awards Year - Year 2 and I must say results have been satisfying.

We at TheReelMag are happy that poll have had as good a response as last year but thats not enough. We  will take it to next level in Year-3 to get in more junta on board. Till then .... Hail CineMa!

Lead Lady And Shift One Of Shoot | Just Ada

Finding the lead lady was difficult. But finally we found one. It was actually not difficult. It was very difficult. After talking to numerous girls, we got a positive reply from Madhuri. The first impression I had was ‘Wow’. I felt like this girl would look good in the role. Her yes was very important…

We started off with shooting in Infosys SEZ. We planned to pull our office sequences in the SEZ only. Fortunately, we got proper permissions and security too helped us in every way they could have. But here lies no story. Story is in what happened during the shoot…

As expected Madhuri was late. Every starlet does that. But when she came, she was well prepared. Our lead actor Gaurav was much into his character. Sid too came early so that he can juggle between his work and our shoot. Sopan was really sweet. He has only one dialog with four words but still he came forward and stood by us.  

The funniest part was the dance sequence. Gaurav and Madhuri danced and they did really well. To my surprise, Madhuri was very comfortable and looked awesome in that sequence. Another scene for the montage part of the song- “Every Morning Every Day”. Here, Sopan, Madhuri and Gaurav were standing and they were supposed to talk about something. Dialogs were not important as song will be added in the background. Now… every time I said action, they gave a 3 second footage before bursting into laughter. The same happened in another part of the song. On day 2, there were two intense sequences. Amidst laughter and breaks, we completed the shoot pretty comfortably.

Madhuri is a bit conscious on how well she is doing. Well… I think there is nothing to worry for her. She is doing better than what I expected…

Written By: Sujoy Ghosh

No One Killed Jessica | Movie Review | Critique

Media can do a number of things… they can kill a story, they can create a story and they can even give a new lease of life to a dead story. At one layer, No One Killed Jessica is about media doing the third thing. However, lately we have seen many movies showing that with some really great manner. So, I would not talk much about that… neither would I say a word about blasphemous ‘trial by media’ thing. But to start with… No One Killed Jessica is largely Sabrina Lall version of Jessica Lall Murder Case.

There is actually nothing to tell about the story… we have read much about it. It is a brilliant montage of the events that took place. Rich brat kills a model. Case is filed. Direct and indirect pressure tactics. Tampering with evidences. Witnesses turn hostile. Police is badly p*ssed off. So is the public. Media highlights the case. Public fury grows. Justice prevails. The scope of story was immense and the director Rajkumar Gupta exploited every possible emotion while developing the characters. Lead Sabrina and her slain sister Jessica’s characters are beautifully developed. While a shy Sabrina character is developed in the flow of events and few kicking dialogs, Jessica’s character is developed by few scenes in flashback. Talking about the third character… Meera. Meera is a media person who takes up the case. Her character is too loud and definitely bears no resemblance with the real world person on whom the role is loosely based. She yells B and F words like anything. The character could have been more subtle but I guess the loudness adds fun quotient to the movie.

As a performer Vidya Balan stands out. She is exceptional. Rani… she is good but not great. Myra Karn (Jessica) and the person playing the role of cop were really impressive. Script is very nicely written. Music is good and we can say that it lives upto the expectations attached with brand Amit Trivedi. Talking about direction… When a critically acclaimed movie like Aamir is your first movie, public have great hopes with you. However with that burden only few tend to come out of the comfort zone and try something like this. Though both Aamir and NOKJ both are realistic, there is absence of masala in Aamir which is being well handled in NOKJ. Bravo.

Rating: 4/5 Stars.

Written By: Sujoy Ghosh

Blue Notebook - 2

Blue Notebook - 2 | Its Back... | Editor's Pen

Hi All,

2010 was an interesting year because many heavy weights bombed this year and many movies with absolutely no hype or expectations surfaced with a big bang. For those who appreciate content over packaging, this year would be very memorable.

Some overhyped movies like My Name Is Khan turned out to be a good effort and successfully saved the honor while some movies like Kites and Guzaarish which were deemed to be breakthrough in Indian cinema, were actually ruined by the hype they generated.  A masala film like Dabangg cracked the jackpot and proved that Box Office is more unpredictable than a raffle with a million coupons. And with some outliers like Udaan and Do Dooni Chaar, 2010 raised the bar for 2011.

Like last year, this year also we tried to be honest to our work ignored box-office collections at times. For us, CONTENT matter the most. I just hope that like last year, even this year we will get your love, affection and proactive participation.

Love You All…

Sujoy

Nomination: BEST MOVIE 2010

Nomination: BEST DIRECTOR 2010

Nomination: BEST ACTOR (Male and Female) 2010

Nomination: BEST FOREIGN MOVIE 2010

Nomination: BEST REGIONAL MOVIE 2010

Nomination: BEST STORY 2010

Nomination: BEST MUSIC 2010

Nomination: BEST EDITING 2010

Nomination: BEST ART DIRECTION 2010

Dhobighat - The Awe Before The Dawn | Cine Talk

I avoid talking about movies before their release. I am paranoid. I have seen movies like Sarkar Raj failing after piling up loads of expectations. But this movie has made me write about it… I guess we all are waiting for this one.

Dhobighat is already the talk of the town. Why? It is directorial debut of someone who is the wife of a superstar. Plus, she got her hubby in for a role that is really very different. A rebellious and very talented son of an acclaimed actress and actor is the second quarter of her movie. Rest half. I bet most of us haven’t even heard their names. Moreover, the way DG was shot is now a part of tinseltown legend. Police was not very supportive considering many risks involved. So, they did it the guerilla way. In chaos and amidst public.

The promos of DG are pretty interesting. It seems to be four stories interconnected with some links that somehow complete the circle. The four stories: a painter, a youngster, a photographer and a simple girl are four cornerstones of the plot. Though I am looking forward to the story of photographer, it seems that the plot of the painter will be the most complex one.

Looking forward to this movie…

Written By:  Sujoy Ghosh