Avatar and 2012

Undoubtedly both these films are good. In fact, they are brilliant. I wanted to mention them in the same breath; not only because I watched them within a span of two consecutive days but also because they are the typical supernal ideas - heavily employed in Hollywood - converted into celluloid of mass appeal.

Avatar is more conspicuous of the two due to the return of James Cameron and his high-end use of technology. In the theatre with 3-D screening, the movie seemed to play right out of a real-life disposition –people and their movements, the forests and the strange creatures, the fights with guns and arrows etc. It looked very surreal, but also fulfilling. For the first time, I felt delving into the cinema rather than the opposite way around. To quote one of my friends, for the first time, we saw human beings going to an alien land and also being technologically superior to the aliens. In fact, many firsts coming from this film …. I can transpose it to feel what jig the novelty of Star Wars would have caused when it was released way back in 1977.

2012, on the other hand, is an aggrandized talk of people’s conspiratorial side. It delivers what people want to see. Mayan prophesy of earth’s destruction coming to reality in the most devastating way. People decide to build a ship to survive the last beings of human race; the similarity with Noah’s Ark is substantial. The earth is in shatters but still human treachery and nepotism are on play. The good guys are taken for a ride by the rich and resourceful. The President of the US though stays behind, as also quoted in the movie, as the Captain of the Sinking Ship. The protagonists, playing the commoners, get into the ship through the backdoor. The climax is reached with the literal countdown of the ship’s collision with Mt Everest, and the hero’s underwater effort to avert it. For a change, the Black Actors took the center stage. A perfect potpourri!

And I repeat; I liked them both. But again I repeat; they both had the same worn-out renditions of Hollywood. The aliens, earth’s doom, mass-scale rescue effort, the brewed love in between etc – how many times have we seen them. It is another matter that the above two films defied the monotony, and shaped up as great in the end. But how long will the directors keep mashing the same stuff? Just my concern – as I am fearful of again drifting away from these movies if they are dished in plenty. Sounding cynical amidst the riches, but it is justified if you too look beyond the obvious.

3 Idiots' Songs

It was really the moments played over again. Another Aamir Khan movie’s music album release, and another set of dilated ears. 2001-Lagaan, 2005-Mangal Pandey, 2006- Rang De Basanti and Fanaa, 2007- Taare Zameen Per, 2008 – Ghajini. The music release of all these had been a waited event for me, for they were the harbingers of the actual stuff. Like with all the movies in Hindi cinema, if the music is good, the movie is definitely going to be great.

But to admit truthfully, none of the above music albums had managed to raise my feathers up. On first listen, the songs looked banal, worn-out and placid, not having that extra to create a buzz expected of them. Even the now-campus-theme ‘Paathshala’ had seemed a bit loud and tacky. There were some melodious and to-the-gallery songs like ‘Chaand Sifaarish in Fanaa’ or ‘Guzaarish in Ghajini’, but as a whole, the albums had failed to generate a collective oomph. I remember my colleagues in the hostel promptly changing ‘Ru Baroo’, ‘Waari Waari’ etc whenever I tried to play these songs to impress upon them. To sum it up, the songs were really too arcane or mystic for all of us when they were released. It was only when they were listened again and again, and when their superb films released afterwards augmented their meaning and mood, that these songs attained the great cult status they possess now.

I say it is deja-vu all again. 3 Idiots songs have just been released. And if I would have written this blog a week earlier, I would have really lamented the ineffectiveness of the songs. But now after having listened to them a few times, I do find the songs involving. The songs possess an inherent charm and melody. Barring the blaring ‘Aaal Iss Well’ which I still feel is a badly chosen theme song, the songs are full of message and lilt with the occasion. ‘Give Me the Sunshine’ is an after-word of a college worn-out student; ‘Behti Hawa Sa Tha Who’- a sincere appreciation for the hatke student amongst the streamlined ones; ‘Jaane Nahin’ a rendition of friendly bonds. But the song I like most is the Zoobi Doobi. A masterly work indeed, lyrics and music suiting aptly to the rain-filled sensuality of the song. You have to listen to it:-

Zoobi Doobi

It is typical Bollywood stuff, pulled right from the yesteryears for sounding music to the ears.

Harry Potter - The Magical Realism

I was asked this question once, “Which of the two series you like more – Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings?” My answer was unsurprisingly quick – Harry Potter, of course. He scowled, but he knew he didn’t stand a chance for a debate of any kind.

My infatuation with the wizard boy’s stories is long and keeps on growing every time I imagine them. In my solemn free times, I have replayed the older Harry Potter movies’ scenes in my mind, just to feel good and escape into the world of magic realism. After watching the Half Blood Prince, I feel I am again in a different world now- full of magic, even though surrounded by dark forces.

No, I haven’t read the novels. And I don’t intend to, before I see the full series. I know, no movie can match its provenance. But for me, Harry Potter movies have been interesting enough to delight me on their own. Hopefully reading the novels later can bring both additions and shortcomings of the movies in glare.

Which movie of the series I like the most? It is the ‘Chamber of Secrets’, followed by ‘Half Blood Prince’ and ‘Goblet of Fire’. Which one was the blandest? No guesses, ‘the Order of the Phoenix’, as it would be for most of the cine-watchers.

What do I like most in the movies? Obviously, the characters. Dumbledore is such a profound character. His death (sorry for the spoiler) in ‘Half Blood Prince’ was a heart-rending view for me. The three main characters-Potter, Ron and Hermione are seriously well-delineated ones, and it has been both fun and insight to see their characters grow, both in age and behaviour. Hagrid, Minerva, Snape, Sirius, Lupin etc – all are very relevant, and seem to be part of one big family. But I like, above all, what the characters depict. The good and the bad of the world, and how the struggle between them is always on. The good will ultimately win, no doubt, but how that good develops or should develop is the instilling part. I have always felt a direct pertinence of the stories to the current world.

For many, Harry Potter movies might just be fantasy, but for me, they have been a source of comfort & fun, a mirror of virtues & vices, and also an imparter of goodness & strength. What else do you want from a movie?

Wanted !!!

Leave the Angelina-starrer one. Our own Sallu bhai’s is here. Dhisoom dhisoom …. What a masala flick!

I liked it, to the core. If Prem is sooo sober, Radhey is sooooo stylish. Better make Radhey the benchmark. Tere Naam’s one was brash, brusque and besotted with beauty in the end, but here he is only one – committed to himself. So he doesn’t listen to even himself if he has made a commitment.

More so consider the way he pooh-poohs his lady love, Ayesha Takia in the movie. A real first for me. Not the usual till-my-last-breath suitors and lovers of women. So, change for Bollywood? No. The songs are splashed at will, but you know their arrival time beforehand, courtesy the experience, and you can go out for a wee, a phone or a smoke. And come back to see another baddie being rolled down by our atlas-built hero.

Some of the fight scenes are really damn good. In the train, when he rams the rogue guy into one of the bars, I was thrilled. Omg, I have turned gory! But it was damn good. Didn’t you see how the other guy just jumped out of the train, in fear of that?

Our heroine too is ekdum kamaal. The perfect siti-inviter. Alas, she has got married, but still has the best tanker, sorry the best face, in the tinsel town. The villain though doesn’t look ike the villain. Now-a-days villains too have to do some comedy. Never mind though, he shoots as often as he jests.

So, what then? Go and just watch the movie. It is a perfect paisa wasool. If it doesn’t work for you, don’t come back and shout at me. Probably you still don’t know how to appreciate these cult kinds of movies.

How good was Stanley Kubrick?

The question doesn’t need any answering. He was fabulous, and miles different from and ahead of others. Some, including this review , might consider him second best to Spielberg or Hitchcock, but he is, to me, right at the top.

His last movie, Eyes Wide Shut, was my first of his. I had Computer Networks exam the next day. In the midnight, I just started the movie for a pre-sleep browsing kind of thing. How the next two hours passed, I don’t know. People considered it his worst, but if that is the worst, how good his best was, I wondered. Never mind my lost sleep, my exam too was a scorcher.

Then came, The Shining, A Clockwork Orange, Dr Strangelove and Full Metal Jacket. I was again watching Full Metal Jacket a few days back. This movie didn’t get the accolades it deserved, but of the movies I have seen, none has brought the hidden drama of war as glaringly as this one. Two stories, the first half of the regimental soldiers training life, and the second one of the actual war. There is a pun of futility about war and its hardships through every single shot of the movie. Somehow he managed it. I don’t know how, and I will wonder always.

He is no more, but certainly his charisma remains. I don’t know how I felt like writing about him today, but just that remembrance of excellence brought his name forward. Hope people learn from him, how to be delivering, rather than be showing. Is Tarantino listening?

Shahrukh's detention - whom are we fooling?

Believe me! It’s not about Shahrukh. It is about you and me.

Most of the times we give in to the dictates in the name of practicality, without giving a thought to its rhyme or reason. If Shahrukh let an outburst, it was because it happened to him. And I am writing it here, because it also happened to me.

Last year when I was traveling to India, I overheard two gentlemen talking behind my seat in the Inter-Airport Transfer Bus. They were complaining about the over-frisking done to them and their documents and baggage on account of their being Muslims. I felt sorry, but was also indifferent. More so when one of the guys admitted that somewhere the fault lay with the community also for fomenting these problems in the first place. If they are clean, most probably, it will cause just inconvenience but not injustice to them. Quite right, I nodded. Security comes paramount.

I don’t know how life comes full circle in this world. I am subject to the same kind of counter-feeling each time I travel to US. My dossier gets an automatic red-mark, on account of my passport being an Indian, read South Asian, one. At each security point, I am asked to step aside from the queue, and undergo an extra and grilling security-check. Each time, I feel devastated, and lament the fact that despite all my education and good beliefs, I am not above petty suspicion and that too just because of my colour and region. If the check is random, it is perfectly acceptable, but if it happens 9 out of 10 times and also to your friends, you can’t buy this logic of random search. Nevertheless I gather myself up, and let go the feelings smoothen in the name of the current realities of life. The security officers, bounden by duty, are merely doing their job. Period. So, I didn’t complain even if they put me to Second Immigration Check, ala Shahrukh’s, last week on my current trip.

Shahrukh has come out though, because he is a celebrity. I totally agree with the concept of treating celebrities and common people alike. But, here the point is different. If the same Immigration Officer is treated like that in some another country, say ABC, because some fellow Americans blew up ABC’s dome, I am sure, he would be peeved. He would be angered, despite knowing that it is legal and right in every aspect.

We all feel that, because we all know that in the long run, it is not right. This extra security might create a cocoon, but each such act, creates thousands of anti-American thoughts throughout the world. I am in total awe of USA, as no country can boast of such grand achievements based on the ideals of liberty and democracy. But what about the blinkered view in pursuing those objectives?

The above debate doesn’t lead my anywhere, except re-highlighting the universally known fact of ubiquitous prejudiced and racial profiling. So, the only request to everyone-Shahrukh, me, Immigration Officer, Muslim, American, Indian, ABCian- try switching the place for one day or even one such moment, you will get the gist of everything. You will see the world is not what you see, but what you feel.

Books -> Movies

It felt really good to read a news like this. A book, penned by an Indian author, being made into a movie. It is not the first of a kind, but does show a greater progress in the adaptation of a book into a movie.

However enchanted I am by Bollywood, I can’t condone its irreverent plagiarism. Not that it only copies movies from other film industries, but it also pilfers some original book scripts. To avoid paying royalties, the movie-makers take the stories without even crediting the authors. The point thus is not only about money, but also about a serious lack of encouragement for the writers to come up with good movie-adaptable scripts. For Indian cinema, the biggest challenge is the dearth of concomitant and inventive stories, and there is no other way than to start forming a bond with the writers to purvey it a good supply of stories.

Subhash Ghai has said that he is willing to pay even 1 crore rupees to the person who gives him a really good script. A welcome change. In fact, I am looking forward to the day when a film-making company will strike a deal with a coterie of writers, ala the ADAG group’s with Spielberg. Believe me, many more ‘Slumdog Millionare’s can then be raised based on the ‘Q&A’s.

Why I don't like Western Music?

There are two things that I have been doing in my endeavor to widen my global understanding: eating different cuisines and listening to foreign music. While the former is a very recent activity and should pick up in future, the latter has been absolute disaster. Not that I don’t listen to it. In fact, I was picked on it very early, with its catchy music and foot-tapping rhythm. But as I found out later, that was it which it had to offer to me. I couldn’t move myself to explore the other unobtrusive ones, and whenever I tried, as done recently too, I could not attach myself to it. I couldn’t enjoy it; that sums it all. I feel so alienated, even though I know everything is not meant for everyone. But as my desperation grows, I have been able to identify a few things.

First, I don’t like the preponderance of music over the songs. For me, the delivery of songs is more vital than the media on which it is being delivered. Here the music is so dominant that singing is just an adjunct and perfunctory job. The sweetness of songs is hard to find. Everywhere there is boom boom music blaring out. Sorry for exaggeration, but what else will you call all the clutter of guitar, violin, cembalo etc. And I haven’t mentioned the lyrics yet which is the soul of a song.

Second, now the songs are inextricably related to their videos. Nothing could be more propping for songs, as the visuals lend a real touch to the songs. But what I find is a carnal touch. All the songs videos now are show strips for those famous singers. I am very sexually-liberated and open-minded (at least I think so), but to watch Britney or Kylie gyrating in knickers on a supposedly sweet love-song is revolting. If I have to watch sensuality, I know what to watch and where to go. But hello, songs are different. Why every female singer has to be in half clothes, and every male one with a flattened torso crooning and imaging his half-naked love? Nicole Scherzinger has such a good voice, but she makes it secondary by concentrating on how much skin she is showing. I mean, every singer has to be good-looking first, exposing second, and if he/she sings well, then acceptance is granted. It is really unpalatable for me.

Third reason, which is more eccentric but also correct is that the songs lyrics are not always obvious to me. English is now the back of my palm, but I still can’t understand some accents totally in the songs. Naturally my enthusiasm dies down then. Also I have tried listening to Arabic and Greek music which is great. But for lack of understanding, I can’t hold on for much. I am seriously trying on this front though.

There can be many more reasons, but the real point is to highlight my aversion, and my (may be) short-sightedness. I know I haven’t been helped by my intrinsic disassociation with its cultural background. I also don’t score highly on this kind of music’s knowledge front too. But somehow this is just not coming. I need some serious mentoring. Phew!!! But I will keep trying.

Michael Jackson - a miss in the hit

None so greater than Michael! We will miss you…

I am not going to cry, or even show some sign of moroseness. Michael Jackson was just another brilliant singer for me. In fact, the first one, I came to know of those Western eccentric singers. I am not yet into Western music, and probably never will (God forbid), but if ever there could be some music which I would like to listen to, it has to be MJ’s only. ‘Thriller’, ‘Beat It’, ‘Dangerous’ – these are so profound and catchy, that you forget for a moment everything else. Very few other songs, even if countable, have such attraction for me. No doubt, he was a genius.

But what makes his untimely death even more poignant is that he just failed that genius. I was looking at a younger Michael, barely in his teens, performing with such grace and gravitas that you needn’t look elsewhere to find an inspirational quote in life. He was a felicitous product of time – black, brave and bewitched with music. What else could have he wanted, more so, when he also achieved a copious amount of world fame and money?

That is beyond my ken of world-psychology. And even harder to believe, it afflicts all the famous people of the litany. Britney, Lindsay etc etc. Somehow I feel a commoner’s life is better-off as there is always something to achieve. Michael, probably later on in his life, lost that zeal and love - so vividly exhibited in that dreaming child. Surprisingly not narcissistic, he started loathing himself. Colour change, paedophilia, idiosyncratic behaviors – what else can you say?

The judgement is always irrelevant and inappropriate when done on other’s life. But his life, unfortunately, was related to many. That beholden-to-music child just became another singer, and not in any case role-model for many, including me. Probably he was not meant to be, for he could not find peace even with himself. Fault lies with others who looked up to his genius.

I will miss you MJ, but always with a sorry, for you, others and me.

Angels and Demons! Phew

Why does it happen this way? Full of expectance but distressed in the end. I think I was not expectant, but apprehensive. I knew the movie would be a disappointer, ala Da Vinci Code. But at the end of it, I developed sympathy more than anything else.

I think it is very very difficult to bring out the storyline of a successful novel in the same ethos on the screen. Whichever has managed to do so has done on a non-complex or a graphic story. Angels and Demons is too convoluted a story to narrate in a small timespan. For instance, when Robert Langdon discovers the four pillars/places of Illuminati hideouts, there is no excitement or riddle to savour or extricate. He is too sudden and omniscient to find out everything. We viewers are dragged, rather than involved. Compare this with the canvas of a novel. There is this whole aura of Roman churches set up in our mind, and Bernini, Raphael etc pervade our senses. I had such an incomparable time reading Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons. The movies hardly rose to simulate even a moment of that.

The critical pan the movie has received is just, but neglects this deserved sympathy. I don’t know how else the movie could have been made. And spare a thought for Hanks! No, actually he would have made a lot more money with these two movies than with any of his earlier ones. But he has certainly let that superior cinematic sense associated with him drift away a bit. In the late 80’s and 90’s, he was a regular on Best Actor Oscar Nominations (5 in total), but now he is a distant consideration. Hanks, these meaty roles are for more commonplace heroes. We love a Capt John H Miller, Chuck Norland, or Sam Bawdin, more than a harrowing Robert Langdon.

Sarfarosh's ACP

Flashback 10 years.

I along with my friends was waiting expectedly outside the cinema hall for our 9 pm show to commence. The movie had already been a talking point. I as an aping Aamir Khan fan was drooling with the prospect of watching another classic. Finally, the moment arrived and silver screen lit.

A svelte, even if not lean, Aamir Khan as Assistant Commissioner of Police, Ajay Singh Rathore. Unpalatable ... The movie was so tightly integrated and so riveting that this thing became irrelevant in the end. But somewhere it kept on ringing. Not that he was bad, but on first instance, he did look incongruous.

In fact, even his leading lady (Sonali Bendre) in the movie was surprised, when he told her that he was an ACP. She had nonchalantly said, “Agar tum ACP ho to, main Patiala ki rani” (If you are an ACP, then I am the queen of Patiala).

Anyway, this didn’t stop the movie becoming a superhit and classic in its own. And I was indeed bragging about it after the show was over.

On this weekend, I watched it again. Ah! again the brilliance of the movie was brought forth. But again his unfitness too was scratched. I wondered about the efficacy of physique then.

If he had worked out a six-pack like Ghajini’s then, the cast would have looked more real and forever.

He has wished to act in a sequel of Sarfarosh and Andaaz Apna Apna. If the former does come out, I am sure he will don a totally Herculean look this time around. ACP Rathore will be immortal then.

When I met Sally

Sometime back, one of my friends had asked me, “Who is your favourite actor and actress?” Not a very strange and difficult question. Every movie-buff is supposed to have one.

So, I quickly replied, “Aamir Khan in Bollywood and Tom Hanks in Hollywood.”

“Great choice, but what about heroines?”

“Aaa …”, I stammered a bit, but then said disaffectedly,” It was Juhi Chawla earlier, but now-a-days it is …. Actually there are lots of … some sexy ones, some great cuties, some others. In Hollywood, it is Meg Ryan”. My reply was too formal.

He had guessed it by then. Guys don’t have favourite actresses??? Well, don’t get the un-obvious here 

I am actually smitten by some great beauties of cinema. As I told earlier, my childhood fascination was Juhi Chawla. When QSQT had arrived, Aamir and Juhi were the instant heart-throbs of every young suitor. Juhi, in particular, was such a veracious beauty. And even though I was a child, my enchantment with her was sown. It continued till she parted with Aamir, and also faded out of cinema.

As and when I started watching Hollywood movies about 10 years back, I had to decide on my favourite ones there. Tom Hanks was a very natural and obvious candidate. So, one slot ticked. I was watching ‘Sleepless in Seattle’ during one of those days. Poor Hanks, the widower- was narrating his tale of woes and singleness on a radio, and then… there she arrived- Meg Ryan, driving the car, listening to him. I knew it, I knew it. It was proverbial, ‘Love at First Sight’, or ‘Hopelessly in Love’ or the movie’s own ‘Magic Itself’. I had found her. I had found an analogous pair in Hollywood too ….

The whole above story was flashed to me, when I had declaimed my choices before my friend. But somehow it flustered me more. My favourite actress, Meg Ryan? And I have watched only ‘Sleepless in Seattle’, and the famous clippings of her in ‘In the Cut’. Not ideal…

So, I decided to celebrate a ‘Ryan Month’ where I had to watch most of her movies. I started with the easiest pick-‘You’ve Got Mail’. A lovely Hanks and Meg love-drama. She looked quite a part as a small BookShop Owner. Then I moved on to In The Cut, City of Angels, When a Man Loves a Woman, French Kiss. I couldn’t go beyond that, because of lack of time, and also because of overdose of ‘Romance’ and ‘Her’. “She is a doll, but too cheesy and monotonous doll”- I started feeling like that. Anyhow, the most famous one of hers was left- ‘When Harry Met Sally’. Gosh! She was so young then, but utterly toned-down too. It seemed she did the movie without make-up. Her chequered half-pants seemed such an anachronism. By luck or choice, the co-actor was another no-no Billy Crystal. The famous orgasm-screaming scene of hers too looked so fake. It was appalling. Oh my God! I am speaking sacrilege here. The legions of fan of the movie and her will kill me.

But that is how it panned out for me. I know it was surfeit that brought this repulsion or revulsion. But it was also the catharsis of new times. I gave her another chance, but just watching the cleavage-popping poster of her latest movie, “My Mom’s New Boyfriend”, I was estranged for ever. So, I am single again now. But thanks Meg for all those days of blissful fascination with you. Alas! You too went Juhi’s way.

Gulaal's colours unmatched

Kay Kay Menon kicks ass maan, that is how my friend had described the movie ‘Gulaal’. After watching it, I should say he not only kicks, but delivers the knock-out punch. He is a marvelous actor; let me repeat the obvious here, for words can’t suffice how strong his performance in the movie is. He is feisty by nature, as exemplified in his other movies, Sarkaar, Shaurya, Life in a Metro etc, but here his intensity is seeped gradually, drip by drip, on the whole canvas.

Imagine a guy who is roguish but also zealot. He himself is a goon but deep in his heart, also espouses the cause of freedom of the state of Rajputana from the country of India, a seditious act but for him vindictive about the injustice meted out to his forefathers by the founders of this country. He has no qualms though about sleeping with other woman, or killing his brother in a fit of petulance. He advances his motives through other guys but also respects their innocence and purity. You can imagine by now how diverse the characterization of this man should be. Menon matches excellence here.

His work should get double mention because he is the only so-called star in the movie. In keeping with his favour of the unknowns, Anurag Basu has again picked up an almost non-descript cast. The two skinny girls are sexy, but hardly coquettish enough, as depicted in the movie. Abhimanyu Singh as Ransa delivers a brilliant performance and we should be seeing more of him in future. But I don’t want to see that guy, Raja Chaudhary (I had to look for his name), enacting the role of Duleep in the movie, again. The character demanded a feeble character, but he is so wimp that you always feel irritated and angered. May be that is what the director wanted to incite J Two cents for Anurag Basu too. With an intense Black Friday, he had captured our imagination. He has not ventured into mainstream since then, and I don’t think he needs to. If he continues making these solid flicks, he will create an enviable niche of his own. Such varied has become Bollywood.

Not true? May be not for you yet, but for me, now I have the option of watching a slapstick Aloo Chaat, or a soul-stirring Firaaq, or a horrifying ’13 B’ tomorrow. Really I can’t wait.

Billu Barber and Delhi-6 - What is common?

It is tough to give your own perspective when the whole world has already passed its judgement. But it can also be an education. After watching Billu Barber and Delhi-6, I feel they are my case-studies. I don’t want to serenade or shrill on them, but they are so reminiscent of this movie-creativity ethos in Bollywood that they warrant some commenting.

I still remember reading Taran Adarsh’s review on Dil Chahta Hai, when the movie had just landed on the silver screen. Even if I am not literatim in sync, he had said something like this, “These young film-makers think they can uproot the basics of Bollywood by putting a creative, but abstruse, genius into their films, and expecting the average movie-goer to not only appreciate but also lap it up in its entirety. The film has risen only to meet its doom.” Aah, an apocryphal promulgation, it turned out to be! The film was certainly embraced, if not lapped, by the erudite or non-erudite. So, fast forward nine years now. There is a deluge of these films, high on so-deemed cinematic brilliance, and low in so-despised masala content.

I consider Billu Barber and Delhi-6 the apotheosis of this concept, but blinkered in its opinion and misguided in their execution. Why do I say that? Take Billu Barber first. Priyadarshan is a master in narrating and depicting the bucolic aura of mellow rural areas; just watch his Virasat or Malamal Weekly. Here too, he brings out great scenes of rural orderliness or messiness, but fails to let them rule. I think he is not to blame for this though. The blame has to go to SRK, the producer and the (supporting) actor. He must understand that putting irrelevant item songs of his, supposedly meant to attract people, instead attacks and attenuates the main story. Famous clippings from his previous films would have suited the wallpapers in Billu’s saloon, but not in the songs. For a moment, please stop being Shahrukh or even Shahir Khan. Continuing this, did SRK want to take a dig at his political rivals by including those tasteless jibes with school-manager, Dubey? I hope he was not doing so, but you can’t escape the despicable attempt to leverage the medium of movies. Moving away from this SRK influenza, another area where the film fell short was the never-exhibited friendship of Shahir and Billu. The ending could have been more stretched, and simultaneously attached to let their bonding come out naturally. It felt too abrupt when Shahir narrates his story and by quirk of fate, he meets his childhood friend. This should have been a Sudama and Krishna story with some common strands of interaction. These trivial cribs and carps apart, the movie was a joy. It always feels good to be back into the rustic aura of barber shop, gossiping men outside, primary school environs etc. The acting front too was good, with Irfan, SRK and even Larra Dutta carrying their roles with aplomb. But at the end of it, you felt, it could have been a classic, had not the whims taken over. You get this feeling, watching movies like TZP.

These feelings get extended when you watch yet-another-near classic, Delhi-6, the next day. Rakyesh OmPrakash Mehra has been different in both his earlier movies, Aks and RDB. So, it is natural for him to be different in Delhi-6 too. But so different? If the movie would have been named Kala Bander, no noise would have been made. The references-simile or metaphor- need to be depicted in movies too, but one has to decide where and when. What was more important in the movie-the protagonists’ long-lost Delhi’s Indianness or the Delhittes’ fickle goodness and badness, exhibited through Kala Bander? Perhaps both, and that is what the director wanted to show. But he never intertwined them. In one moment, it was the slapped Abhishek Bachchan, and then in the next reel, he was an endeared person. His love-story never appeared to exhibit any love. The Hindu-Muslim unity and fight were too sudden and artificial to like and loathe. In short, it was too esoteric for me sometimes. But at the rest of the places, it was so likable. It brought memories of the narrow alleys, and the ever-teeming life of Delhi. Music, as praised before, had an add-on alluring effect. Acting too, especially of the hot-headed Vijay Raaz, was top-notch. If only, the movie too could have been?

My views are more cynical, when I consider the fact that I liked the movies more than I disliked. But those wisps of wistfulness colour them black; and here lies the catch too. Hope nobody stops attempting these movies, for they are far more a promise than a failure, and if and when we, both the makers and viewers, get it right, it is truly a creativity paragon.

Par excellence music - It is this

A.R. Rahman is making waves for his fabulous work in ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ and the subsequent Oscar nominations. In the meanwhile though, his best work came out without much tintinnabulation. I am talking about his latest release, ‘Delhi-6’. I generally don’t go on to listen to songs as soon as I have read the Music Review. But this music review was so glowing that I had to leave aside everything and hark to it.

It is just mind-blowing, dear readers.

I have a strong affinity for melodious songs; so when I listened to the Aarti Song, I was presto carried in the indescribable zone of musical completeness. Its lyrics, its humming, its mystic aura – all are so soothing that I listen to it as and when I feel the first bead of anxiety on my face.

Aarti - Tumre Bhavan Mein

The second song that I like the most is ‘Genda Phool’. What a mix of undiluted ineffable music, topping the relevant lyrics! The words of a restive newly-wed could not have come out better.

Genda Phool

The other songs, Maskali, Delhi-6, Dil Gira etc too are extra ordinary. The whole package, in fact, is a possession for the music aficionado. I can’t wait for the film to come out. If it is even half as good as its musical counterpart, it will make many other excellences dim.

'Slumdog Millionaire' - You are everywhere

I had to write about the movie. I can’t escape its ubiquity. A firm favourite for the Oscars now after having gobbled up the Golden Globes, Slumdog Millionaire is a movie in itself.

It is painted on Indian backdrop, and it has unsurprisingly used the chiaroscuro of Indian poverty. It is not news but surely an agitating prop for us righteous Indians. I am ambivalent how to take it. I was struck by the blatant portrayal of Indian poverty and iniquities in the movie but was also helpless not to deny it. My feign sense of Indian emancipation was hit hard, but it only revealed the truth which I already knew and wanted to hide from. So, I won’t be that critical as others have been. Amitabh Bachchan has his views overtly put out, but he too ignores some obvious facts.

But yes, I agree with him on some counts. A cliché – ‘Only Sex and SRK sell in Bollywood’ has its counterpart in Hollywood- ‘Of India, only her poverty and mysticism sell’. Did Indians ever eat monkey-brain? Spielberg never bothered to check this before selling it in ‘Indiana Jones and Temple of Doom’. Even recently, the much appreciated ‘The Darjeeling Limited’ shows many things mystical enough for me to fathom. I can’t hold a feather in desert and be purified by the winds blowing it. Never mind, it worked for the three American brothers and the audience in general. So, I fear there is going to be even more this esoteric Indianness sold in the movies, now that India is more global than ever before. I think India’s male chivalry, feminine beauty, urbane life style, political sanity, military valour etc will have to wait for next century.

In my declamation or rigmarole (whatever you feel) about its Indian connection, I didn’t mention the cinematic aspects of the movie, and it is indeed a shame because the movie ticks almost all the boxes that one can put for a quality movie. Its unique narration, tight story, celebratory exhibition, acute cinematography, good acting and compelling music all lend great finesse to the product. Some of the moments, like the boy jumping in a pool of pooh, the deceitful villain putting oil in a kid’s eyes etc have already attracted much attention and discussion. But what was most remarkable about the movie was its never-to-wither belief in destiny that somehow dots connect in life. Indeed they did connect for the protagonists showcasing a unique celebration of life. The dance routine at the end was unexpected and incongruous, but as already guessed or known by now, it was a tribute to Bollywood. The dancing could have been better, but it seems till now, this type is somewhat mastered by and exclusive to Bollywood actors only.

So, this is all about the movie from me. I am keen to hear from all what they think about it, and in fact, I have already been reading the opinions at different forums. Good Luck to the movie for the Oscars, and hope it wins many more fans in cinema and life alike.

Ghajini ... Aamir is the real Ghajini

If New Year deserved anything better, I don’t know what. I watched Ghajini today after partaking my breakfast. It was a 3-hour roller-coaster of emotion.

Did I like it? Yeah. Can it bear the tag of the most profitable movie of Indian Cinema? Yeaah. Is it the phenomenon? Yeaaah ….

Is it exceptional? No answers

I don’t have answers, because I don’t want to answer it. It is for you to analyse.

The movie starts off with description of a zapped Aamir Khan. Then he dashes on the screen thrashing a baddie, splashing everything out in the process. As the fighting culminates, he pulls out a tap rod and carves it inside the damned guy …. I cringed. You are not Aamir Khan, or may be a throwback of mid-90’s poor action pretender in movies like Aatank Hi Aatank, Parampara etc

The screen rolls on. We see the names inked on his body to make him remember everything of evil done to him. He doesn’t say much, but conveys everything through his histrionics. Some reels on, we delve into his previous life. The more familiar Aamir Khan arrives, and I enjoy the zippy love story. Asin is vivacious. Where were thou? Hindi film industry needs you. In between, alternate the uber-angry and the more-human Aamir Khans. The story moves on as in a Bollywood flick and climaxes with the slaying of the villain. Too Bollywoodish , or Mementoish, Pearcine …. To heck with Memento or Guy Pearce. This is Bollywood and Aamir Khan.

So, I described the movie with the perspective of Aamir Khan only. The reason: the movie is Aamir Khan and vice-versa; the rest are mere complements. This guy is just fantabulous in the way he reads the pulses of the movie-going industry. In Ghajini, he is not a fake action hero as feared by me initially. He is an obsessed revengeful person having undergone a total personality change. Who can pump in so much body to make the movie real too? He brings out one of his characters not seen by us before. Actually he extends his range of acting oeuvre.

The movie is in line to become the first Indian flick to garner 100 crore rupees inside India. It deserves this recognition because it is a perfect potpourri of masala. My analysis of the movie should end here (as it is for you to analyse), before I draw the creative knife and shred its unAamirness to pieces. For me, the movie is only Aamir, and my theory rests that Aamir did it to remind himself and everyone that he can churn out a mass entertainer too. It has already been a wholesome year for him as producer, director and actor, and if TZP gets nominated for Oscar, it will take him to the pinnacle. He is the best actor; for sure, he will become the most glittering star too of Bollywood then.