The Train: Travel at your own risk!

Another Hollywood rip-off. this time the victim is Clive Owen-Jennifer Anniston starrer ‘Derailed’. yes, victim!! because, this localised photocopy cant even stand out in the other aspects of what we call ‘movie’, and eventually dampens the (ripped) storyline. i think it’s time that the indian film-makers understand that their multiplex audience also see f-o-r-e-i-g-n philims!!!! and besides, a little more rationale also needs to be applied. For example, can can someone explain me how come all commuters in a train, or every working personnel in an office in Bangkok are Indians? Since when did we add Bangkok in our growing list of states in India? yeh baat kuch hajam nahi huyee…

Coming back to the movie; so, if you already dont know the story of ‘derailed’, this is a mingle-mangle of a couple of adulterous affairs between hashmi (Vishal), Anjali – Vishal’s wife (sayali Bhagat), and Roma – the ‘other’ woman (Geeta Basra). The crumbling marriage leads Vishal to Nikki, whom he met in ‘the train’ and eventually runs into a complex web of incidents…

the movie has at-its-best a few moderate performances, an OK story-telling flow and a few good songs, which as usual are cinematically un-necessary. you’ll, of-course, find lots of umm-amm-ohhh smooches (thanks to Emraan Hashmi, who has ripened up as a fine soft-porn actor) and a few trying-to-be-bold scenes as a bonus for watching this movie. well, all said and done, this train needed steam to run, not kisses!!

—-Trailer—-

Songs i liked:

Beetein Lamhe

Teri tamanna

Mausam

Youtube’s first full-length legal movie

‘Foureyedmonsters‘ is the first full-length legal feature film to be uploaded on YouTube! Arin Crumley & Susan Buice, from NewYork city, who created the film wrote on their Vlog..

Our project started small, just the two of writing each other notes and sending each other videos. Then it evolved into us creating a feature length film about our story. Then we extended the story in the form of online episodes we’ve posted here on our youtube page. Next we plan to post more episodes and hope to eventually make another larger project.

(Thanks Arin and Susan) i thoroughly enjoyed this work. i hope you (readers) too will like it…

Fool n Final: A Fool and his Final movie?

Believe me, i could last only about 30 mins before every spirit tucked under my flesh started biting the poor soul. it was when Shahid Kapoor started descending from a 20 story building that my every effort to defeat this evil called ‘Fool-n-Final’ shattered. you may wonder, what’s wrong in that? Ahh, he was cycling down all the way from top!!!! i wish that choreographer-turned-director fella (the Fool) has done his Final movie here. This rare asset must be immediately deported to Dubai, so that he can shoot, at his will, with the camels, bedwins and cactus, in the desert! Will someone take the pain to let him know how bad an Ass he is, who might have thought that shaking bums and making movies require the same girth of talent; though, i doubt if he has anyat all…

But i urge you to take a look at the movie; not that there’s anything good, but you can measure your level of tolerance… and i bet, if you can survive through all the three hours, you’d know that you’ve had conquered “pain”, and inched a step forward to attain Nirvana like Lord Buddhha did

On the music front too, Himesh Reshmaiya’s scores are disappointing. Much appreciation to be given to the promotion team, who did a smart job in packaging before it actually arrived in theaters. And by then, nothing much can be done – all you have is a load of dirty yellow stuff packed in a sexy looking wrap.

Tere Layee

Yeh Dooriyan

Jai Baba Felunath – the knife throwing scene

This clip is from Satyajit Ray’s Bengali film ‘Jai Baba Felunath‘, an extremely popular detective flick from one of his famous ‘Feluda’ stories. watch the mastery thrilling scene, where Utpal Dutt (villain) sends out a veiled threat to Feluda and his accomplishes by tricking them to a knife-throwing skill-show — a form of jugglery art. Abhay Mitra, hand-picked by Ray, performed the jugglery in the film for Kamu Mukherjee, the personal juggler of Maganlal Maharaj (Utpal Dutt).

Cheeni Kum: healthy and tasty!

How far would you stretch LOVE when it comes to age? When a 64 years old man falls in love with a 34 years old woman, heads turn, warnings are issued, hazards are told, and disasters are forecasted. Romance in such a scenario is ill-perceived as a man of such age is only supposed to be fatherly or grand-fatherly. So, when you take up a dry story like that to make a film, you’ve already en-routed towards a commercial blunder. The writing is on the wall.

But Cheeni Kum is among that rare list of films made in bollywood that attempts to showcase ‘romance’ from a different angle – a mature relationship, or as it says, a sugar-free romance. It’s a very bold attempt by the debutant director – the adman Mr Balki, who brings sparks in almost every fold. Be it the scene where ‘colgate’, the big tooth waiter in the restaurant, is snubbed by the chef, or the humorous verbal war between Amitabh and Tabu – the film infuses real-life quotients so effectively that you never feel this unusual love story out-of-the-world kind. The conversations hold the fort here as you see an amalgamation of some of the finest actors on screen – Amitabh, Tabu, Zohra Sehgal and Paresh Rawal – all of them make things work for this film that seriously challenge the spicy tantrums that typical romantic bolloywood films would offer. Tabu really is the sweetest euphony in this two-hour film with Amitabh Bachhan at his witty best.

[trailer]

My fav songs: Illaiyaraja’s music is soothing and brings that ‘simple’ touch to the ear.

Cheeni Kum

Baatein Hawa hai

Jaane Do na

New Sholay: First look

The Sinister – Bachhan as Gabbar;Oh Hell!!! is he going to deliver his best performance ever?? it’s him vs Mohanlal in Ramu’s new Sholay.

The avenger – Mohanlal as thakur;if there’s one who may emerge better than the image that the epic move had cast for so long in the viewers’ mind, it is Mohanlal.

Ajay as Veeru;unpredicatable. but going by the actor in Ajay, it’s not possible to write him off.

Nisha as Basanti;the biggest hole of the project i guess. this legged wonder looks unimpressive at the first cut!

Prashant as Jai;why do i have an inkling that the debutant would come good, though no good can be good for this role

Sush as Durga;looks far too glamorous for the role. not sure, if she could fit into Jaya Bhaduri’s shoes…

Here is the first look video for RGV’s new Sholay [Source: ibnlive]

Life in a Metro: has a life!

Genre: Romance/Dramma/Comedy | IMDB Profile | Director: Anurag Basu

“Yeh sahar jeetna humhe deta hai, kambakt us-se bahut zyada le bhi lete hain, …”

.. says Monty (Irrfan khan) to Shruti (Konkona) as they stare at the gigantic cityscape from a high-rise terrace; an unthawed pain rinses her mind, wondering if her existence has any meaning at all in this harsh fast-moving urban world.

Anurag Basu’s ‘Life in a Metro’ is an attempt to embark on a journey that runs through a busy city-life, discovering its beauty and filth concurrently. The strength of this movie lies in the way the story is told within a set of different inter-linked characters; smooth tranisitions – never letting you feel lost; brilliantly handled emotional modulations – leaving out the typical b’wood melodramas. I loved the way songs are synchronized, though not many I believe will think that it’s a good idea to have a set of musicians appearing from nowhere to sing the tracks. But, in a complex flow like this, I felt, it helped to make seamless transitions between the criss-crossing stories. the songs, on the other hand, are well used and blended within the story. The tracks, which have a definitive Rock influence, clearly indicate Pritam’s growing confidence on infusing different genres.

Without a doubt, Metro is an out-and-out entertainer that will keep you on the edge for a little over two hours with its brisk pace, neat presentation, good performances and some well-intended humor. Though it slips out on a few occasions towards the end, it’s nevertheless a good paisa vasool for you.

My fav Songs:
Alvida

Rishtey (James)

Meri Jaan

In Dino

The Secret

One of the most talked about film distributed on the net, since its release late last year. it is fascinating to watch the concept of how the whole universe conspires to create opportunities for your truthful desires to be fulfilled, when they are whole heartedly believed and sought in their entireties.

here is the first part of the movie.

Last Train to Mahakali: Anurag Kashyap’s first movie

An accidental find, that is. this video (running time 50 mins) was made by Anurag Kashyap, who shot into fame with Black Friday (and threw it away with same intensity with ShaKaLaKa ), way back in 1997-98 with a meager budget of 2 lakh; it took four days to complete this short film, he claims. So here it is, the directorial debut of very talented Anurag Kashyap.

What we still dont know…

American Blend

IMDB Profile | Genre: Family dramma | Directed by Varun Khanna

Raj (Anupam Kher), an Indian immigrant to Los Angeles, runs a family restaurant – ‘Bollywood’ with the help of his American wife Jaymee (Dee wallace Stone) and his three children Vijay, Maya and Nikki. Jaymee is a Katthak dancer, who trains girls on Indian classical dance. theirs is a closely knit family with a traditional Indian family values. that is, until, one fine day, Raj & Jaymee discloses a closely guarded secret to their children. everything that they saved over the years, ostensibly, starts falling apart…

Honestly, i have grown a flair of these small independent movies that usually go un-noticed from the main-stream. unlike the quintessential bollywood flicks, these movies dont try to sell the fantasy in a much percieved way that we have fed over the years. the realism is a core part of them. American Blend, though fail to grow beyond the ordinariness, is something that emits a positivism. it’s vibrant and meaningful. i liked the scene where they mix the kathak with tap dancing. that was really good. performances, however, are average. but nevertheless, you’d not regret to watch American Blend that delivers a feel-good, jolly-jovial experience on-a-whole.

For a detailed review, read this.

Music: my fav Songs

TaRa Rum Pum: pain at ma bum

WIKI-profile | Genre: Action, sports | Tagline: Dont worry be happy

If only replacing characters and their language in a Hollywood story-line with desi context can make for an eligibility to be film-makers, then i’m afraid every Ta Ra Ma and Pa of our country will make a better film than the dudes who made Tara Rum Pum. An equally vitriolic note to the writer, who probably thought that not many desi junta have had access to the foreign films than him, or to be more precise, a movie called Cinderella Man.

It’s a real pain in the ass sitting through the long three hours, watching a few horrendous events unfolding. everything about this film is bad; so bad that it almost tempts you to curse the makers and sellers of this movie to rot in the rut, and demanding them be banned from the industry for a while, thus ensuring safety for thousands of movie-buffs.

So, let me settle my sore bum before i can make it ready to hold me up-right for the next venture; next movie i mean!

Music: My favorites

Ta Ra Rum Pum

Hey Shona

Nachle Ve

Movie Trailer

A stick-master and his obedient balls :)

huh, u thought i’m indulging in debauched language of obscenity? watch out for yourself…

Tsunami the Aftermath

IMDB Profile | Buy/Rent @ Amazon | Genre: Documentary / research

it was a sheer coincidence as i stumbled upon an article about the movie. Tsunami the Aftermath is a collaborative output of HBO and BBC, and was aired on HBO in two parts. it gives a good insight on the devastating Tsunami that left more than 200,000 people dead across twelve countries, of which one-third of the victims are believed to be children. this deadliest attack by nature left, god-knows-how-many, people homeless, still struggling to rebuild their lives.

Directed by Bharat Nalluri, an Indian born British director, the movie deals with a series of interweaving stories that took place just after the tsunami hit on the coast of Thailand — a couple who just lost their six-year old daughter; a mother of two children who lost her husband and struggling to save her badly injured son battling for life; a local boy who lost everything that he had, a social worker trying to help people but finding it hard to get through the diplomatic hassles; and two journalists reporting on the event, on the verge of unearthing a grisly conspiracy of land grabbing and gross ignorance.

A must watch!

Provoked: Are you?

Strong, Realistic, Serious, Violent…

IMDB Profile

Genre: Dramma

Tagline: Her suffering was unimaginable, Her solution unthinkable

Directed by: Jagmohan Mundhra

Music: AR Rehman

Finally i decided to try my eyes on the film Provoked. based on the real life story of Kiranjit Ahluwalia, who dared to snap her torturous husband in a bid of survival, the film caught large public interest, but ironically not many rushed to the theaters to see it anticipating horrors at their own home!!!!

Usually, i avoid movies of Ms Aishwarya Rai since the day her Umrao Jaan avatar inflicted such execrable pain on my soul , and adding more salts to my wound is her current marital event, which has invaded every corner of the media space, making my tv life miserable to say the least. so bugged i was that i unplugged my cable wire, and gulped a full can of beer in a (false) sense of victory over the inundated senseless media streams into my home.

But did i have a surprise in store? and to my horror, it was. Besides having a strong storyline and wide public attention (which partly worked for the movie), Provoked has an average-to-good range of performance by Ash – a rare one after Bansali’s Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam. hoop hoop hoop. i patted my own back seeing my decision-making-skills are not so bad as i thought them to be (again a false sense of achievement? dont know!).

jokes apart, being fed by the fantasy sops of bollywood all through our lives, we haven’t yet come to the terms of serious real-life stories. it’s hard to motivate people to see a film that is expected to deliver gory ingredients of our real-lives — struggles, violence etc. We, as a matter of fact, don’t like to leave theater feeling worse than when we arrived. but sometimes, may be it feels a little good to feel so bad.

Here’s a good review of the film at Radiosargam.

The music by AR Rehman is pleasing; soft and melodious. (Genre: Country / folk)

A beautiful music video by Karen David & AR Rehman for Provoked.