January 25, 2009
CC2 stupidity / LOST
Alright..I give up.. Welcome,Singh is Kingg and now CC2C. How does Akshay Kumar do it? How does he get away with purely unimaginative, totally insensible and completely idiotic set of movies he labels comedy. I guess I will never know.
Aah..finally the fifth season of LOST has started. Even though the geek in me is feeling satiated with all the space-time fabric disruption and stuff, I must say that I am starting to feel a little 'lost'. The characters are flying about like trapeze artists at a circus and it's just difficult to keep track of all that is happening. Unfortunately it's an addiction! Hope this season reveals more about the island. We already know there is a frigging wormhole!
Posted by Anuj at 07:57 PM | Comments (0)
August 11, 2007
Chak De India - Movie Review
Chariots of Fire..Remember the Titans..Rocky..Million Dollar Baby..Lagaan..
The movies listed above have many things in common-sports, passion, patriotism and teach the spirit with which any game is played. And the latest addition to this list, which handles the above with great ease is Chak De India..
Let me first start with the sport first. Hockey as many might not know is the National game of India. The game which in the recent past has been the most neglected one, mainly due to the hype created around cricket by the media and the lack of sponsorship for the game. Men's Hockey in India is still popular with the Indian Men's team having won as many 8 golds till now in Olympics. The sport is not followed as religiously as cricket in India and has led to the deterioration of the game to a large extent. In fact any other sport for that matter does not stand to compare with cricket and the hype it gets.
So a movie on women's hockey is bound to fail. right? But no..Chak de is a brilliant masterpiece and a great tribute to the game of Hockey, in particular a great tribute to women in sport. To be frank I never quite knew that an Indian Women's Hockey team even existed. But after watching the movie my interest in the sport has somehow rekindled. After doing a bit of research on the net, I found that the Indian Women's National Hockey team qualified 5 times for the World Cup, won the Gold in the Commonwealth games 2002, 2004 Asia Cup title, and the silver in the Commonwealth Games in 2006 against Australia without three of their star players in the squad.
So what makes Chak de.. special. Firstly it's a no-nonsense movie. The movie is purely about the spirit of the game-it begins and ends there. Shah Rukh with a stubble has looked amazing as Kabir Khan, the passion that oozes out of him is contagious and remains with you a long time after the movie has ended. No lengthy dialogues for him, no romantic angles, no songs, no running around trees chasing girls. Just a plain and simple movie about the love a man shares for his country, his people, and the only thing he knows to do-play hockey. Shimit Amin's direction is also amazing. After Ab Tak 56 a lot was expected of him and he has delivered with a bang. The screenplay is great, but the best part of the movie is the background score. Having no songs in the movie actually proved to be a breather, since the background score kept with the pace of the movie and helped take the story forward. Songs would only have done otherwise.
A lot went into making the movie. And the toughest part was finding the right girls to both act and play hockey. After a lot of screen tests 16 of them were selected from all over the country. The girls are definitely not big actors, but have done a remarkable job in both acting and playing hockey. The attitude of the management, the girl fights, the senior players acting smart are all very realistic depictions and this is what makes Chak de.. special. Even Shah Rukh's 'Sattar Minute' is not a lengthy and boring speech about how the team should go and kick some butt..it is about how the next seventy minutes are their own and not even God can take it away from them. It is about how they should play and give their best and the rewards will follow. It is about the way the game has to be played-not as individuals but as a team unselfishly and not for laurels.
So all in all..Chak de India is a great movie..a must see..and couldn't have come at a better time..on the eve of the 61st Indian Independence..a time when India is booming with economic growth..Indians are among the richest in the World..Indian culture and food is recognized worldwide..Aishwarya Rai and Shilpa Shetty have become household names..a time when India is no longer a third World country, but one of the fastest growing economies in the World. It is also a great tribute to the spirit of womanhood with India celebrating it's first woman President this year. I guess it is the only right thing to say..Chak De India.
Posted by Anuj at 07:02 PM | Comments (1)
July 29, 2007
CDI - Chak De India
And finally the site for the forthcoming movie Chak De India is up and running..Looks cool..the movie should be fun with SRK in a different role and look (sporting a beard)..hope the movie is different and inspiring..coz that is something that seems to be lacking in the men & women of sports today..that and ofcourse the politics that goes with every sport..women's hockey has not been popular at all..in fact in India nothing is more popular than cricket (men's)..I guess it's time to look beyond and hopefully CDI can initiate a change..ok team India..lets kick some azz..
Posted by Anuj at 02:16 PM | Comments (0)
September 16, 2006
Lage raho mamuuu
arre mamu, bahut time ke baad mein ekdam mast picture aayela hai, kya bolta hai..
An exceptionally well made movie, indeed as the reviews said, it preaches but in a subtle way. Sanjay Dutt as the adorable MunnaBhai proves once again that he can do a comedy with ease. But the star of the movie is ofcourse Circuit, Arshad Warsi. He is one fine and natural actor, possibly one of the best I have seen. I still remember his first movie with Chandrachur - Tere Mere Sapne, he was pretty good in that. Even though his career didn't really kick off well, I am sure the two MunnaBhai movies have given him enough to be in great demand now. Boman Irani - another fine actor, I have no words to describe him. The only thing that was not really justified was Vidya Balan's role. She was looking gorgeous in the movie but didn't have the strength in the character. Well this can also be because of her previous role in Parineeta and I sort of expected her role to be really strong. But nevertheless she carries herself with ease.
And what can I say about the movie Lage Raho MunnaBhai, the movie, story, direction, acting, everything was awesome. The background score was also very good, esp the changed version of the very old song which I still remember and sing sometimes,
'Aao bacchon tumhe dekhayen jhanki Hindustan ki,
Is mitti se tilak karo, yeh dharti hai balidan ki.
Vande Mataram..mmmm..Vande Mataram..'
All in all the 'Gandhigiri' concept was good. I think we have forgotten The Father of our Nation and he has indeed become another photo on the wall or a statue in the park. I think it's time to remember him and keep him in the heart and follow his principles with the utmost sincerity to make our country a better place to live.
Chalta hoon mamuuu
Jai Hind.
Posted by Anuj at 01:24 AM | Comments (0)
May 09, 2006
Krrish...Superheros in Indian Cinema
Well, one thing's for sure, the girls are going to go crazy at Hrithik's new look...
Now this is surely one of the biggest movies of 2006 and perhaps the biggest that Bollywood has seen till now. The songs are doing pretty well. I like 'Pyar ki ek kahani' and 'Dil na diya'. The action and stunts are by the very famous 'Tony Ching Siu-Tung' who has 'The Hero' and 'The House of Flying Daggers' to his credit. The visual effects are by 'Marc Kolbe' and 'Craig Mumma' who have made their mark in movies like 'Independence Day', 'Godzilla', 'Swordfish', 'Deep Blue Sea' etc.
Indian movies have seen many superheros over the years. From mythical heros like Rama, Krishna to Puneet Issar doing the 'Indian Superman'. We have also seen Dharmendra and Jeetendra playing roles where they can fly or lift cars and buses at the snap of a finger. Plus our action heros of today are nothing less than supermen. Take Rajnikanth for instance. This guy can throw a cigarette in the air, take a revolver, shoot at it (which lights it apparently) and wack! it falls directly on his lips. So much for lighting a cigarette. And then there are the antigravity stunts which can leave Newton and Einstein wondering if they got all their equations right.
Sometimes I wonder if we need these superheros in our lives. I guess we do, we always need something to compare against. Everything is relativistic right!! Movies aren't supposed to be real, they make you feel things that you wouldn't normally do. In a sense they create a parallel world where you see yourself jumping from buildings, taking on a hundred people at once with flying kicks, falling from the World's highest waterfall and yet coming out unscathed. So as long as we dream of being superheros, we will keep making movies like these and spend those three hours in the theatre living those dreams.
Krrish...hope that it lives upto the hype that has been created around it...
Photos Courtesy: Krrish-Official Website
Posted by Anuj at 12:07 PM | Comments (1)
January 30, 2006
Rang De Basanti - A Generation Awakens
What can I say about a movie which according to me are made once in a lifetime yet inspire many generations of people. A movie with as few loopholes as can be. A very human and story-like narration. Let's start at the basics first.
1. Direction : Amazing, kudos to OmPrakash Mehra for this.....
2. Screenplay & Editing: The best I have seen in an Indian movie till now.....Every scene perfectly blendsinto the movie and every scene has a meaning.....
3. Songs : I love every one of them esp. Pathshala and Rubaroo.....No song feels out of place
4. Story : A simple story about an English girl who comes to India to make a documentary on Bhagat Singh and meets this group of young Delhi University students who don't care about anything except lazing around and enjoying life. Another distinctive thing about them is the nonchalant attitude they have towards the system and the Government which is very identifiable with us-the generation of today.....things like "nothing will change, who are we to bring a change?"
5. Acting : Everyone gets an A+ for this. Aamir is as usual good, the great finds are Kunal Kapoor, Siddharth and Soha Ali Khan. Siddharth is by far the best-he simply steals the show in every scene in which he is there, Soha is a blend of good looks and good acting, she should have a very good career if she handles it well, and Kunal Kapoor is another good actor.
Positives :
1. The change in the Generation X does not come in a second as is usually shown in other movies. It is very gradual as can be in a 2.5 hr movie.
2. It is not an Aamir Khan movie. Every character has a place and the scenes are such that noone hogs the limelight.
3. Siddharth - this guy is the most stylish guy in the movie and a very good actor I must say.
4. The movie never seems to drag at any point. A well narrated plot carries through very well.
5. The way the similarity is brought out between the scenes from Bhagat Singh's time and the Gen X is absolutely amazing.
Negatives :
1. None I can think of.
Rating : A
"Sarfaroshi ki tammanna ab hamare dil mein hai,
Dekhna hai Zor kitna bazzuye katil mein hai"
Time to wake others also.....
Posted by Anuj at 10:58 AM | Comments (2)
November 20, 2005
Priori Incantatem
Well Harry Potter-4, the movie ofcourse.....Now I am a "muggle" as per the Harry fans, so you could imagine if I didn't particularly enjoy the movie. But as a matter of fact I did. It had everything-emotion, drama, comedy and the best part-Magic.....yeh yeh I am not a kid anymore, but you should see the movie to think again.....It was disjointed as a few fellow "muggle" pointed out, but the other "magical population" just loved it. I think I should read the books now, it's high time.....
Posted by Anuj at 04:18 PM | Comments (0)
July 16, 2005
Mo cuishle
--"My Darling, My Blood"
I saw million dollar baby yesterday. Initially I had expected a Rocky kind of movie, with all the dancing around the ring and the left and right jabs, the speed bag etc. Well the movie had all this and more. I guess the effect of the movie begins to sink in only after you finish it.
It was a great movie with some splendid acting and great sequences. Once again Clint Eastwood comes out with great direction. The movie is full of morals very simple and very effective. It's all about getting to the last title shot and not about winning or losing. A lot to learn from it.....And "Always protect yourself".....
You must be guessing, why I didn't see it in the theatre earlier.....well join the club.....
Posted by Anuj at 01:20 AM | Comments (7)
June 30, 2005
War of the God only knows what ?
Ok, I am talking about the War of the Worlds movie by Spielberg and Has Tom Cruise in it. I went to see it yesterday on the first day as I was eagerly waiting for it being a big Spielberg fan. So Did I like it? Well judging by the title I think you already got the picture, so if please proceed at the bashing in the review at your own risk.
Now if you are a Tom Cruise fan, then I am sorry that guy sucked in the movie. Well he didn't have a role to play at all in the first place. Next I think Spielberg should atleast try to figure out what he is making. The Aliens in the movie were dumb asses who though had been planning the attack on the puny human civilization for a "million" years, did not ever understand the presence of bacteria in the environment. The bacteria present in the human blood or in the environment which God only knows how it entered the Alien system wipes out the machinoids.
So, the things I concluded were:
1) The Aliens were the biggest fools in the Universe
2) The bacteria won the day for the humans
3) Was I the only one going crazy over this illogical depiction
4) Or was there a moral behind the story that Earth has become such a dirty place with the human blood becoming so contaminated that just in case there is a Alien invasion or they come to visit us from outer space to have a glass of water, they are doomed.
There are so many flaws in the movie which if I start counting it would take me forever. The Aliens also have no way of detecting humans at night time. They use ordinary flash lights. Spielberg spends 30 mins in the movie showing Cruise and his daughter played by Dakota Fanning fooling the aliens. The Aliens have no IR heat detection system used in night vision goggles or something like that which the humans have mastered. I mean give some credit to the poor souls who have come a long way to exterminate the humans.
Looks like the movie opened to a solid 21.8 million $, the seventh biggest for any openings on Wednesday. Well, for one thing I give the movie a 1/5, probably for the special effects which are not bad, but if you look at Spielberg's ET and JP and then AI and WOTW, I guess Spielberg has a lot of rethinking to do.
Posted by Anuj at 02:53 PM | Comments (5)
May 13, 2005
DDLJ-500 weeks and still going strong
Oh.....I had to take some time out to blog this. My most favorite movie and the greatest movie of all times-DDLJ(Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge), today completed 500 weeks and is still being played at Mumbai's Maratha Mandir. The weekend shows are still 'House Full' and the weekday shows run at 60% capacity. That's unbelievable! Anyways BBC had an article on this and what I read was really funny. The movie title is in Hindi and the translation into English by BBC was:
"Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge (The Braveheart Will Take the Bride)"
Aah.....Never mind.....
Here, relive the passion and take a walk down memory lane to meet Raj and Simran.....
Yash Raj Films
"It's ok Senorita, Bade Bade Deshon Mein, Aisee Choti Choti Baatein Hoti Raheti Hain."
I must have seen the movie a million times, my friends still get disgusted with me when I start quoting dialogues from the movie :))
Anyways a great entertainer, with a great script, fabulous acting and amazing music.
Well if u haven't seen the movie as yet, do it at once and then take my advice and kill yourself for having missed this for ten years !
Posted by Anuj at 12:03 PM | Comments (1)
March 27, 2005
Moulin Rouge
Whoo.....A true Bohemian Rhapsody.....A celebration about truth, beauty, freedom and above all things 'Love'.....Now wait a minute.....Do I really like this movie? Well the truth is Yes! A beautiful movie, quite similar to Romeo and Juliet, a true musical, mystical, love extravaganza that keeps you on the edge of your seat. Yeh, looks like the poetic fervor is all over me now.
But a good movie to watch, light-headed, sometime before you go to sleep preferably. Nicole Kidman is awesome and so are the others. The sets are breathtakingly beautiful. And extravagant is not the word for it. No wonder it took five years of hard work to complete. A winner of two oscars in art direction and costumes which it truly deserved I must say. Moulin Rouge is Baz Luhrmann's third musical after "Strictly Ballroom" and "Romeo and Juliet".
A nice movie to watch if you like musicals and even if you don't.
"The greatest thing you'll ever learn, is just to love, and be loved in return."
-- Moulin Rouge, 2001
Posted by Anuj at 01:26 AM | Comments (0)
March 11, 2005
Black
Hmmm.....Hmmm.....Well what can I say? I loved it. A very inspiring and very beautifully made movie. Amitabh and Rani looked stunning. I really liked Rani's acting too, she has matured as an actor beyond anyone else. Amitabh as usual is fantastic, the best actor of all times. But the show stealer is definitely the little Ayesha Kapur, who plays young Michelle MacNelly. She was amazing and very very realistic. I think she should win all the Best Actress awards next year.
Anyways I was waiting to see this movie for a long time and finally did get to see it yesterday. Go see the movie atleast once. It's worth all your money.
Posted by Anuj at 11:25 AM | Comments (0)
February 26, 2005
All The President's Men
An absolutely amazing movie. I don't want to say anything. Just see the movie. It's about the Watergate scandal which finally made President Nixon resign from his post in 1974.
All the President's men:
Movie
Winner of 4 Academy awards.
The Book
An awesome account of the Investigative Journalism carried out by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, which won them Pulitzer prizes by the way. I haven't read it as yet, but it's definitely gone into my long list of good books to read.
Posted by Anuj at 01:18 AM | Comments (0)
February 19, 2005
Page 3
Nice movie ! I liked it. It's about the Page 3 in any Newspaper or National daily which describes the day to day life of the "rich and famous". It's about the parties they attend, the clothes they wear, all in all the high society of Mumbai.
Konkana Sensharma looked ok i guess, she looked better in Mr. and Mrs. Iyer. Other than that Boman Irani was good and the other cast members were also pretty good.
The best I must say is Atul Kulkarni, the malyalam actor who won two National awards for his supporting role in Hey Ram and in Chandni Bar. Oh this guy's acting is so refreshing that it's impossible to explain. He's like Nana Patekar in many ways but yet simply superb to watch on screen.
Well a movie for the tea time, get some tea biscuits too, sandies pecan bread, thats my suggestion, and watch the movie as it takes you through the hifi society, their scandals and their artificial and superficial culture.
Posted by Anuj at 03:08 PM | Comments (0)
January 17, 2005
Swades
Swades.....We The People
Ashutosh Gowarikar has done a splendid job of making this movie. I was touched by the topic of the movie--"reverse brain drain" as a few may call it. But I think it has a deeper meaning than what it seems. Some may call it a highly emotional movie, but often I ask myself the question--'Are we Indians not emotional people? Where do we get these emotions from? Why do we have sentiments which keep overflowing all the time?' Well the answers to these questions are difficult to give. But I think a lot has to do with the values, the culture, our traditions, upbringing and the atmosphere in which we are brought up. God and Spirituality are a part of our culture. Someone once told me that it is this which separates us from the rest of the world. That is the reason we don't invade or have never attacked any other country. A guest is treated equal to God. We are taught to live cordially and make sacrifices. Why do practically all Hindi movies talk about love-love for oneself, love for one's parents, love for one-another, love for country? Well that is because 'Love' is the only language that unites the whole world and that is the only language that everyone understands. And I think it is this message that Swades sends out to everyone.
Someday I hope I can be another Mohan Bhargava and go back home to do something for my country--India. Well the words from my earlier post seem to be ringing constantly.....
.....I have a dream !
Posted by Anuj at 05:44 PM | Comments (1)