cinema stubs

holiday homework.....A movie a day keeps all thoughts of work at bay !!!!!

1.Never judge a movie by its review.I stopped reading reviews and watching them after Rajiv Masand pronounced "Kabhi alvida...a brillaint movie"
2.I can't watch a movie in bits and pieces.I like them strong and on the rocks and I love having a celluloid hangover.
3.I am choosy and critical about the movies I watch.I often end up seeing reruns than new movies,if I can't find any.
A few memorable ones that I caught up with this vacation.

Dev D













Want to see some bOllywood ishtyle masala- romance-hate –romance ,chap films(that we can’t do without).Please don’t see Dev D.It’s one of those movies that take you by the collar and proudly declare that Indian cinema is experimental,bold,aggressive and dares to be different !!!and you are all shook by from the first to the last reel.

If you think remaking classics is foolish,then what do you call remaking and adapting a classic into a contemporary film that challenges conventions of its original masterpiece ….you can call it BRILLIANT.

It’s hard to ignore Mahie Gill as Paro,for her brilliance is partly conveyed through her expressions and sometimes just by her sheer presence(remember the scene where she vents her rage on the water pump).It is said that Anurag wrote Paro’s character after he met Mahie.

The characters are all there…Devdas,Paro,Chanda,chunni…..yet boldly reinvented.The moulds of the quintessential broken down by the bold and the brazen.Driven by love,lust,drugs ,anger and pacified by booze, this is the young and crazy India.

In case you were missing the songs,they are all there(all 18 of them),expertly woven and brilliantly synced.My favourite though is the Pardesi track.Beware the music is addictive.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itEoFZTGf8Y
It can’t get any better and we can’t wait to watch more Mr. Basu.

Slumdog Millionaire

You can either love it or simply hate it,but you can’t ignore the movie. It’s like looking at yourself in the mirror.You may not like what you see.There’ll be a lot of denial and blame on why things are the way they are.
The fact is that reality isn’t always perfect and beautiful.Let's leave that genre to Karan Johar and his band of men and women.

Why the movie made it to the Oscars and swept them all away is understandable.Precisely the reason why I chose to watch the movie weeks after the hyper -media –hype died down and despite the excessive oscarization(I have to admit) the movie does leave you with a bravo,semi patriotic,I am Indian(partly proud partly not) feeling.That’s what completes the Indianess in all of us.There’s a subtle beauty in all that’s grimy,dirty and filthy in India.We can’t escape that.That the world loves to see that filth and celebrates it, is also a bitter reality.Sadly,it takes a Brit to tell the world, the story about what lies beneath a shining India.
Rahman and Boyle deserve their due,but the real heroes were Azharuddin Ismail and Rubina Ali and all the child artists in the film.They manage to tug at your heart and stay right there(in it) even hours after the credits roll away.

Dil Kabbadi


Okay okay…it’s a miserable ripoff of Husband’s and wife’s.I was warned.But I am a sucker for Irrfan movies,so couldn’t ignore this one.

This movie starts where the others end.The classic seven year itch just got shrunk honey !! to a three year one. The film follows the lives of two modern day married couples – Samit (Irrfan Khan) and Mita (Soha Ali Khan); Rishi (Rahul Bose) and Simi (Konkona Sen Sharma),who are caught in the classic boredom in bedroom feeling after a few years of holy matrimony.The ’They lived happily ever after’,is but a myth known and accepted only by the privilidged many–the married.The other side of marriage not always love,togetherness and fidelity.If you thought being in love was tough,then being married is tougher and being married and in love consistently with the same person tougherer….

Irrfan is his brilliant self as the adventure-lust seeking husband,complemented well by Soha.However,it’s Konkana who manages steal the limelight and the attention with her brilliant portrayal as the passive aggressive…partly confused,wholly irritating,but gets what she wants.character..a winner in the end.Rahul is cute,but boring(and yes ...I meant Both the Rahul’s please)

Being married and in love is a paradox….. no comments please !!!!

Pestonjee


A rerun,but one that amazes me every time I see the film.Definitely one of his best..no def Naseeruddin Shah’s best performance,till date.It has a heady and brilliant cast of big wigs like Anupam Kher,Shabana Azmi and several other stalwarts.Vijay Mehta ‘s direction leaves you spell bound.

See the movie,it's difficult to describe what its made up of.It’s one of those classics where actors transcend mere acting and performances are so lifelike that you fail to see them(actors) being anyone else but their reel avtars.

A must see.

Also watched...

Jodha Akbar

To sir with love

Bicentennial man (another brilliant watch)

Barah Aanah

(suggestions for any more movies are always welcome)

A CLOSE SHAVE(NOT WITH A RAZOR) !!!

I have been making heads turn,off late.
For,it’s difficult to find a cross between Rudolf and Frankenstein walking in your neighbourhood.Add to that, one bloodshot eye that resembles Arnold’s in Terminator.I don’t blame people for staring.
In fact I forgive them.
My status has now been elevated.I am amongst the few(lakhs of women) who had to go under the knife to look like I do(stunning in every sense of the word). My lips have a bee stung look (which women spend Lakhs on).My chin is more well defined…sharper(am presuming..the rest will be revealed after the bandages come off) and the cheek has a permanent rosy err blood red blush. I wear my shades even when indoors and people are mistaking me for a celeb straight out of Page 3.

My current mental status too resembles that of some of the amnesia stricken characters from Bollywood.So,if I have lent you money in the past,there are chances I may never ask it back.
Unfortunately,the cause isn’t as interesting.No gang wars or mafia or family dushmans involved here.If you are amongst the few who believe auto drivers in Bangalore,then according to reliable eye witnesses, it was a classic case of slip..skid and fall. Something I don’t remember at all.All I remember was waking up in the hospital emergency and wondering why I was there instead of being in Lal Bagh(where I was supposed to reach that morning).

There were only two things on my mind as I sped on my two wheeler last Sunday morning.Meeting friends at Lal Bagh for a walk and the Pune trip,which I was so looking forward to." Life is what happens to you,while you were busy planning other things”
How…when and why??? is still a mystery.I don’t recall much about .I was lucky that I was wearing a helmet,I had a mobile and some consciousness left to call home for help.But unlucky that I chose a half face helmet in a hurry and was(probably) driving much faster than I should.
I was lucky.

Please wear a helmet to save your head rather than your wallet (from the cops).If you are tempted to go bare headed because it's just a drive around the corner. Remember that so could be death.I was lucky to find people who picked me up and helped.In most accident cases,people are too scared to help.Some lessons are learnt the hard way.Some can be learnt through others experiences.
PLEASE WEAR A HELMET EVEN THOUGH YOU MAY BE DRIVING A VERY VERY SHORT DISTANCE.

BTW…am allergic to roses, so red and white carnations can be sent in their place.

(If this post sounds disoriented and disjointed you know whom to blame)