Result Time!!!!

Finally…. the day has arrived… Here we present the results…  

And The Results | The Blue Notebook

Cinema has a very unique language. It’s a difficult art form as it tries to mimic real world and add the sparkles of imagination, and sometimes the other way round. Like a painting its simple for few and complex for many, like music its pleasure to few and noise for others and like drama, its sensible for few and insensitive for many. It’s just that it comprises all art forms and that makes cinema such a trickery of imagination. It clicks if all shades are in perfect intensity and rarely if a shade overshadows.

How does cinema becomes so believable. Art Direction has an important role to play here. How the structure of scene is created and captured to make it so realistic or believable. Its far more difficult than it appears on a higher level. The honors in this category goes to ... Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara

No art-direction and cinematography can crack a nut if a movie is shabbily edited. If you think a picture, colors are all same, the placing of a hue makes it beautiful or bland. Editor has one of the most difficult technical work to do. To make the viewer imagine what cine-crew wants. For 2011, the honors in this category goes to… Shaitan

For a cine-goer, ambience is the key word. It’s difficult to conceive a Indian movie without music and rather any movie, in any language, without a theme music. Be it AR Rahman’s Roja or a very subtle Chariots Of Fire. This year we had some awesome nominations. For 2011, people chose… A deserving candidate, I must Add.... A R Rahman (Rockstar)

What makes The Godfather, a The Godfather? It’s a crime story that grips your soul. Yes, you got it right. Story. It’s the story what makes most of the difference between an average movie and a cult/classic movie. Story/Screenplay are the soul of the movie. They overhaul a blank viewer with wild imaginations… I guess Sidney Lumet fans would agree. This year three movies have shared the honor... Yeh Saali Zindagi, Rockstar, Shor In The City.

World cinema… here we are. In next two categories, we pay our tribute to Regional and International cinema. Best movie in Indian Regional Cinema… the winner is… Azhagarsamiyin Kudhirai (Tamil) and the Best movie in World Cinema… the winner is… A Seperation (Iran)

Now the most awaited honors… these honors are considered to be at a different level not because other skills are inferior or something, but because they hear the music more often than others. At least in the current world. Their success is more vulnerable and failures are loud.

Who was the most impressive man on screen? Who stopped the heartbeats of audience with his impeccable on screen persona? The Best Actor Male… The winner is…Ranbir Kapoor (Rockstar).

Who led the movie with her antics? Who redefined acting on screen? Who made people believe that its not a All Men’s World? The Best Actor Female… Well, its not a surprise for anyone who follows Blue Notebook... The winner is… Vidya Balan (No One Killed Jessica)

Whose captured the imagination of people and critics? Whose movie was a positive for Hindi Cinema and deserves a standing ovation? The Best Director… The winner is Zoya Akhtar (ZNMD)…

The last but not the least… and perhaps the most important one… The Best Movie…

Every year some movies surprise you. This was a year of many good surprises. We saw a Dhobighat which captured Mumbai like never before. We saw Pyaar Ka Punchnama which made us laugh like never before. We had a Rockstar touching unheard chords. Interpretations, emotions and much more. The movie people chose as the best of 2011 is Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara….

I guess, you all had an amazing time voting and waiting for results. Thanks for your support and appreciation.

This was Sujoy Ghosh, signing off.

Memories From 2011 | Blue Notebook

1.       7 Khoon Maaf: A new Shah on Silver Screen. Vivan is a huge promise. He is young, fresh, looks good and acts well. Hope to see more of this chap.

2.       No One Killed Jessica and The Dirty Picture: Vidya Balan is next Smita Patil. She is amazing. She went past male dominated movies and gave two stunning female-oriented movies where men seemed to be puppets. Her performance and Box Office speaks for her.

3.       Stanley Ka Dabba: Highly acclaimed Taare Zameen Par was supposed to be directed by Amol but due to ‘creative differences’ with Aamir, he left it. SKD was a fine example how a movie for children should be made. I wonder how differently TZP could have been made.

4.       Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara: In a chauvinist world, men would argue that it was the Barbie version of a bachelor trip. However the reality is that ZNMD comes out as a beautiful canvas and Zoya stamps that Luck By Chance was no fluke.

5.       Dhobi Ghat: Few takers though, Dhobi Ghat comes up as a difficult movie. Its interesting and has a beautiful story line. Like Single Malt, it grows on you slowly… some people just hate this and prefer low grade Blended.

6.       Murder 2: Prashant Narayanan Period.

7.       Rockstar: Bad acting by lead lady can deter you but still you can go gaga over lead man, soothing music, rocking singer and amazing package. One of the best of the year, though had some haters… even Gandhi had a few.

8.       I Am: Onir had his share of controversies but still I Am stood strong. So does our conviction in him.

9.       Tanu Weds Manu: Nice sweet rom com based in sub urban North. And again as clichés go… Good guy wins…

10.   That Girl in Yellow Boots: Anurag Kashyap is BACK!!!

Written By: Sujoy Ghosh

Out-Standing Movies Of 2011 | Candid Krishnan

Thank You: Who directed this? Anees Bazmee… Man, he is live bio hazard. He can make an innocent looking piece of Post-It Notes into a Script and a movie which can lead CIA attack India in search of WMDs. Make Kasab watch Thank You once and we will get our solution for Terrorism. I heard that to deter US Seals, Osama kept a copy of Thank You but unfortunately his DVD player had denied his services.

Faltu: Accepted. People say it’s a hit. Accepted. People say Jacky is a star. Accepted. People say this movie is a milestone. Accepted. Accepted. Accepted. Accepted. Now please spare us. the name said it all, after all.

Double Dhamaal: Dhamaal was bad. Then we consoled ourselves by thinking it’s over. Then came Double Dhamaal. I don’t know will I have a smile on my face if I see RGV Ki Aag Returns. 

Rascals: This movie almost killed a few. Some died by seeing Kangana in new avatar. Some tried to understand the story plot and were humbled by high IQ of Sir Dhawan. When National Award winners do movies like this, movie lovers should tie a big stone around their feet in jump in Indian Ocean. And yes… how come Censor passed this one. This was a killer… more violent than Black Friday, Gulaal and Rambo 5 combined.

Chatur Singh Two Star: This movie should have a statutory warning… Can make you cringe in your graves (because you will be already dead if you have seen any of above). Anyways it was as good remake of Pink Panther as Venkatesh Prasad’s batting skills. It was a dangerous blow to mind body and soul. I thought of suing the script writer but then I realized there was none.

If you have seen all these movies, you can apply for Padmashree. I will second your nomination.

Written By: Krishnan

BLUE NOTEBOOK!!!

Blue Notebook Version 3.0 | Editor's Pen

Blue Notebook is Back!!!

In its third season, we had a very difficult task in hand. 2011 was an interesting year. We saw some amazing experiments in cinema and many of them were backed by stars. Some complex issues were handled with caution and expressed with no guilt. From impressive Onir’s I Am to largely disappointing Prakash Jha’s Aarakshan, from an Interesting My Friend Pinto to an overhyped Ra.One, from a subtle Dhobighat to a loud Delhi Belly with money machines Bodyguard and Ready, 2011 simply rocked. Now for some it Rocked On Ice and some turned out to be Rocking Chair experience.

Creating the final list was a tedious task. We discussed things for hours over days. Tried to cover every appreciated movie of the year and tried to strike a balance between quality and BO. I hope our readers would appreciate…

Thanks

Sujoy (on behalf of TRM team)

Nominations | Blue Notebook

BEST ART DIRECTION
BEST EDITING
BEST MUSIC
BEST STORY
BEST REGIONAL MOVIE
BEST FOREIGN MOVIE
BEST ACTOR (Male)
BEST ACTOR (Female)
BEST DIRECTOR
BEST MOVIE