Rockstar | Thats Class | The Critique

It is such a divisive movie! I realized that there were reasons why people hated it. Even Citizen Kane doesn’t have an omnipresent fan base. Adulation, criticism, compassion, abhorrence are just some faces of showbiz. For me Rockstar works… It works more than any other movie released in India in 2011 and in all likelihood had worked more than any movie that might see the Silver Screen over next 45 days. Imtiaz Ali nailed it. He did it pretty hard.

Janardan is a typical Jat guy who wants to become famous like Jim Morrison. He wants to know what an heartbreak means but fails to understand it. He becomes friends with Heer, a Kashmiri girl, and their friendship sprouts unexplainable emotions in them. She gets married and goes to Prague. On the other hand, the character of Janardan alias Jordon goes through coming-of-age phase and brings out the music in him. Still he longs for Heer… As a member of troupe he goes to Prague where Heer is not in her best. There he realizes how much he wants her. He realizes what love is and what exactly pain is. His music grows manifold and he becomes an International face. But he does not want all that… he just wants his personal freedom and his love who belongs to someone else. The mix is violent and uncontrollable. Everyone wants a piece of Jordon but no one wants Janardan and that fills him with angst.

On screen the story comes up as a piece of modern Art where each pastel means something. The story juggles between past and present smoothly. It’s predictable at times but still comes out afresh, the way it should be. The growth of character by story and little play on senses with the montages collectively is the strong point of this movie. The way the angst brewing in the character, his escapism and denunciation of family and friends is explored on screen makes it a wonderful experience. Rock performances look like real ones.  Rahman’s music is kind of USP of this movie. The screen feel is awesome due to some good work in cinematography and editing department. In small patches it becomes slow though but just to allow you to revive. One need to let it grow to enjoy this movie… as criticisms are coming, I guess many viewers were not patient enough.

Ranbeer is simply awesome. This one eclipses every previous performances of his including Rocket Singh. In every phase of his character’s life, he looks like Jordon only. Nargis is perhaps the only setback. She acts bad and is not convincing even for a while. Her casting was perhaps the only thing that went wrong. Every supporting actor has done a decent job. Mohit Chauhan’s vocals and ARs music cracked the jackpot. Imtiaz… you are the man. Respect is the word for you… Rockstar was a difficult movie to make. It had an epic structure and you still pulled it off, and how amazingly.

Written By: Sujoy Ghosh

Meeting With Movie Freaks | Editor's Pen

Movie Freaks is quite an interesting group on FB. We discuss movies and just movies. This weekend, I happen to go to Bengaluru and decided that would catch up with some of the freaks over there. In Forum Mall, Koramangala, I met two movie freaks Harish and Gyandeep. I know Gyandeep from his association with TRM. This was our second meeting. With Harish, first rendezvous.

Talking about cinema is such a guiltless pleasure. Our discussion started with the flavor of the season, Rockstar and followed it up with discussions on movies like The Murder On Orient Express, 12 Angry Men and its remake Ek Ruka Hua Faisla, Agneepath and its forthcoming remake. We also discussed movies of different languages including Bengali and Malayalam Cinema. We also discussed short films and it was very kind of Gyandeep to say some kind words about Itaanu Uttaram. It was a moment for me. We also spent some time on Bengaluru Film Fest and some innovations in the FB group. Interestingly, Gandu by Q was discussed in some length. We talked about different aspects about the movie and its merits and demerits. To spice up our chat we included movies like Gunda and Chitkabrey as well.

It was such a pleasure to find three people from different places and working in different companies bonding over a common passion… Cinema.

Adios

Sujoy

Climax | Amar Prem - My Take | Under Lens

Climax of a movie is perhaps the most important part of it. A climax should justify everything that has been shown and should plug every open question. It should be capable of unloading the emotional burden the movie has loaded on the viewer and should linger in memories for some good time. Shakti Samanta's Amar Prem has a climax that does exactly what I just mentioned.

Pushpa's life is full of ill-incidents but the incidents never deterred her from the path of good. Her life had two pillars, Nandu and Anand Babu... and when she is alone at the dusk of her life, destiny decides that her good deeds would reap great dividends for her. Anand Babu and Nandu return to her. In the closing scene, you see Maa Durga and Pushpa. Pushpa was mother for Nandu and just like Maa comes to our homes, Pushpa is going to her home...

The climax is really heavy on emotional quotient. In today's time, though it can be really difficult to relate to Nandu's emotional baggage, it does not take away anything from Samanta who presented such a beautiful climax to his movie. It justifies why a person should try to remain good in turbulent tides. Goodness is reward appropriately...

Written By: Sujoy Ghosh

Goodfellas | The Critique

Rarely a simple and straightforward movie wakes up all the grey matter in your head like this one. The narrative style of Goodfellas make it something beyond a cult classic, its a perfect case study. Martin Scorsese's movie based on book Wiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi is well-made film that tasted success on BO as well.

Henry Hill is a born gangster. Elite crime is what he wants from life. He gets that. Under patronage of Paulie and Jimmy, he starts a promising career. He becomes pretty successful in his trade because he believes and follows the rules. However, fate looks at them with a vicious grin when they are trapped by  FBI. The darker side comes in open. Ray Liotta as Henry gives a fine performance. Joe Pesci in a brief role is brilliant and won the Academy for it. But show stealer was Robert De Niro as Jimmy. He gives a very refined and controlled performance.

The movie will be remembered for short and compact scenes moving between past and present give an interesting feel to the story presentation. Work by Scorsese is really commendable. Dialogues are powerful. Action is believable. Camerawork is good. BG score is good. Performances are great. Boy, he had 100 pieces of a jigsaw puzzle and he got all of them right.

Written By: Sujoy Ghosh

Bhumika | The Role Of Life | The Critique

Loosely based on life of Marathi actress Hansa Wadkar, Bhumika also take subtle references from lives of many contemporaries as well. Directed by an accurate Shyam Benegal, the movie has an ensemble of amazing performers: Smita Patil, Amol Palekar, Naseeruddin Shah, Anant Nag and Amrish Puri. Each excelled in her own right.

Bhumika is fictional biopic of actress Usha (played by Smita). Usha is brought under spot light by a family acquaintance Keshav who later marries her. She becomes an actress and occasionally works with star Anant Nag. However things doesn't go the silky way. Keshav is a parasite. She decides to leave him.  It follows up with two more relationships, each turns out to be an abuse of some kind. The misfortune of her life is that she is suffers in all relationships in her life. People try to own her and she has to struggle to come out... and she end up trapped in a different trap.

The movie won two National Awards. Best screenplay given to Satyadev Dubey, Shyam Benegal and Girish Karnad. This explains why this movie had such an impact. And the second National Award was given to Smita Patil for her mesmerizing performance. Bhumika is perhaps one of the best biopic made in this country. It refrains from sensationalizing the story but keeps the sting intact. Respect is the word. Period.

Written By: Sujoy Ghosh

Nuvvostanante Nenoddantana | The Critique

Pyar kiya to darna kya + Maine pyar kiya + Dilwale Dulhaniya le jaayenge = Nuvvostanante Nenoddantana

Oops !! this seems to be perfect copycat stuff of family dramas. But, though it is, the charming performances by the actors make this one a wonderful watch.

My personal favorite, Siddharth is awesome as both, happy go lucky NRI boy and devoted lover. The first time I watched the movie, I was simply amazed that how well he managed to look so adorable and cute while playing annoying tricks with Trisha, who is really beautiful and plays the part of a simple rural girl perfectly. I have already fallen for Siddharth’s comic timing. Srihari has done justice to his role as Trisha’s brother.

The story as stated above has already been told in many other movies. Even small sequences like that of ‘gajar ka halwaa’, is taken from Hum Apke Hain Kaun or rescuing from a Dog is taken from A Guy Thing. Yet, why am I praising this one, it’s because the packaging, which includes acting, direction, cinematography, music, in all is good. The debut director Prabhu Deva has kept its treatment simple and not attempted to add unnecessary gaudy elements. Moreover, at no time anyone can deny his dancing skills, which comes as a treat for viewers in one of the songs. Cinematographer has done his part well and the picturesque Andhra borders have been wonderfully used in songs.

With the course of changing cinema where we crave for fresh and offbeat stories and different treatment; this one has nothing much to offer. But yet you may try this one, if you are looking around for some light romantic stuff and have already watched classics over and over again.

Written By: Neha Jain

Me And My Friend Pinto | Editor's Pen

Hey People,

My Friend Pinto came up as a wave of fresh air. Simple characters and clichéd plot, nothing extraordinary but still filled with life. MFP is very much like Forrest Gump except that he has no psychological issue. He is just innocent. He is good hearted and is rewarded by life for his qualities.

As I said, My Friend Pinto has drawn subtle references from Forrest Gump, at least as a viewer I feel so. Pinto's fundas are quoted by his Mamma. He doesn't judge people by their life style or social status. He stands by his relationships. The story is about an extraordinary night in a chaotic Mumbai where a Goan is struck. Everyone he meets bump into each other and every third person has some issue with other. Highly clichéd but very potent when one intends to use it as USP. To some extent it worked in this case.

2011 is a very promising year. Many impressive movies. Lately, Ra.One came and after initial hiccups won the market. It’s an visual treat. However, doesn't work much on content part and have got scathing comments about the story line or the lack of it. I hope Rockstar would deliver the goods its promising.

Wishes

Sujoy

Death Of Smita | Hammers High

For all her life, she stood for feminism. She was one of the most vocal advocates of gender equality of her time. However, she was targeted when the news of her relationship with Raj Babbar graced the newsstands. In such kind of relationships, it’s totally unjustified to put the blame on someone... at least as a fourth person. Still, Smita was subjected to various kinds of abuses.

Raj and Smita were blessed with a beautiful child named Prateik. However, Smita didn't survived long and died due to childbirth complications after two weeks. Raj returned to his first wife, Nadira, a fine lady herself. In book Mrinal Sen: Over The Years, An Interview With Samik Bandopadhyay, Mrinal Sen implied that there was more than a headline in Smita Patil's death. She died due to medical negligence.

Medical negligence is not a rare thing. It happens. It happens to almost everyone in varying degrees. However, this one caused loss of an amazing actress. Over the years, many conspiracy theories have been suggested blaming colleagues and others for the death. Most of these cannot be anything more than wild figment of imagination... though some of them might have some gravity.

(In Conversation: Sujoy And Ali)

Thoovanathumbikal | The Critique

Mohanlal is an amazing actor, the least I can say. He is very natural actor and looks effortless on screen. This makes him an actor of a separate league. Thoovanathumbikal just asserts this fact. It’s a very simple, still little complex, Malayalam movie about love and is primarily woven around one single character Jayakrishnan played by Mohanlal himself.

Jayakrishnan is an outspoken flamboyant person who takes pleasure in making his friends happy. He can do anything for his friends, literally. His friends appreciates this and can happily pay back. He falls in love with a young girl Radha, who rejects him thinking him to be a nuisance. On insistence of a friend, he meets a girl Clara who wants to join prostitution to support her family. They make love and he finds that Clara was a virgin. Jaya made a promise that if ever he takes virginity of a girl, he will marry her. Slowly, he falls in love with Clara and decides to marry her. But Clara leaves. Radha comes to know about Jaya's truth and falls for him. One day, Jaya gets a mail from Clara... Now what will happen?

The production value of movie is not spectacular... Characterization is. Padmarajan's beautiful story and amazing direction makes it a quality movie. Actors played their role very subtly. The songs are beautiful. The presentation of 'rain' as a character is interesting and adds value to the story. It reminds me of Kalidasa's Meghdoot.

Written By: Sujoy Ghosh

Aradhana | Rajesh Khanna's Way To Superstardom | The Critique

For ages to come, people would not be able to forget S. D. Burman's classic- "Mere Sapno Ki Rani". This song has a magical impact on the viewers. A romantic Rajesh Khanna trying to voo a beautiful Sharmila while latter is in a train and former is on a jeep running parallel to the tracks. Since then, many actors have tried this in one or another way, including Ajay Devgan in an action sequence in Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha, but never had that impact.

Arun (Rajesh Khanna) who is an Airforce officer falls in love with Vandana. They marry informally without Arun's family's knowledge. Due to call of duty, Arun leaves and later dies on front. A pregnant Vandana is not accepted by her in-laws. Dejected, Vandana gives birth to a child who is adopted by a generous but childless couple. The couple readily accept her as child's caretaker. It serves purpose for both parties. As the fate would have designed, a relative of the couple tries of molest and the child unintentionally kills him to protect her. Vandana owns up the crime and goes to child. Would the mother and son ever unite?

Shakti Samanta gave another blockbuster that had a good story, fine performances and brilliant music. Remake of 1942 Hollywood classic To Each His Own, Aradhana is a case study for people who appreciate good remakes. Aradhana takes into account the Indian sensibilities and portrays characters beautifully.

Written By: Sujoy Ghosh