Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu & Dinner table discussions

Who could have thought that Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu will spark off dazzling dinner table debates at home? I saw the movie with mom, dad, sis and Geet (yeah! Polly has been rechristened Geet. It was long overdue). Although the movie was above average, it broke many boundaries around how girls are expected to behave in our society. The movie projected the female protagonist as someone who had 6 past relationships, who had a great capacity for beer, who likes her personal space, is not worried that she is 27 and not married and can talk freely of sex and can rate a guy’s and her own butt.

*spoiler ahead*

I loved the fact that even though the guy acted like a typical guy and took she-is-roaming-with-me-and-introducing-me-to-her-family as she-loves-me, the girl stood her ground and did not buckle under the pressure. She wanted him as a friend and that’s that. They still annul their marriage. And she does not care that he is super rich.

*spoiler ends*

We have seen similar movies before – Salaam Namaste, Mere Brother Ki Dulhan, Kya Kehna, Jab We Met and many others where the female leads are strong. Similarly Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu made the female protagonist much powerful than her male counterpart which is very rare in Bollywood movies. It gave her the right to decide in the end.

Now, before I indulge you with our dinner table debates, I must tell you that dad is quite cool with guys and girls befriending each other and going out for movies and parties. He has never stopped me or my sister from enjoying ourselves, although they are more cautious with sis. They are also comfortable with the whole girlfriend-boyfriend-affair-shaffair scenarios. Of course, dad and mom say things like it’s against our culture and stuff but they hardly believe it themselves. They just have to say it to maintain the Indian-culture façade (the same way you mechanically brush your teeth when you wake up) so that we don’t mistake them to be dangerously liberal.

The whole debate was about Dad having a problem with couples staying together without marriage. Okay, I know this doesn’t go with what happened in the movie but he was commenting about Kareena Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan. He could not understand Bipasha and John also who were together since the Big bang and then separated. He might have a point here but then I reminded him that everyone in question were adults and we do not have any right to question what they do in their personal lives. You know where this is going right?

Dad thinks that we live in a society and we have to live by its rules. Why do you have to live with a guy for 5 years and then jump partners after you get bored with him (he meant – after you had sex with him)? There is nothing sacrosanct in the whole affair.

I told him (in less obvious terms) that maintaining your virginity before marriage does not make the whole affair sacrosanct. That is a bit outdated. Secondly, everyone look out for new partners if things do not work out between couples. You don’t have to turn into a nun after your first breakup. Thirdly, our society is the most nosey and hypocrite society in this world. We are fine with girl infanticide, child labor, rapes, corruption, riots, dowry and so many other evils but we find it very objectionable when two consenting adults (who have the right to choose our Prime Minister) live together. It’s actually none of our business. *mom, sis and Geet nodded vigorously*

And this went on and on. It was funny because although dad saw my point in the end, my parents find it very hard to believe that our society has changed so much. I did not tell them that a lot of people have sex with their partners before they get married. I also did not tell them that Geet and I saw a college going couple kissing each other for 1 ½ hours as we watched Source Code in the theatre. It might be too much for them.

I can understand where he is coming from. He was brought up by a disciplinarian who locked up his daughter in the toilet if he found her talking to a boy. My parents were not very liberal with me and my sis initially. They had their apprehensions. Giving their son certain freedom might lead to their daughter asking something similar. But they loosened up and thankfully so. They still raise their eyebrows at sis at times, but she is a maverick. And I am outside their radar ever since I married Geet.

Frankly speaking, I myself would not have been very comfortable about a live-in but that certainly does not mean that I would pass judgment on anyone choosing it. It is also important to understand that movies like Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu explore just one end of the spectrum. India is too diverse in its thoughts and opinions that accepting what happened in the movie as a norm would be foolish. Also, we have to understand that only a small percentage of our generation (especially urban) has moved ahead and understood that the nose is to smell the roses and not to poke in someone’s affairs. The rest of the present generation and a majority of the older one is tied to its belief system. They live in a matrix of society, wired into its complicated circuit.

But yes, whether we like it or not, there is a change and it’s happening right under our nose.

Monsters vs Aliens

A movie review of an animation film is the last thing you could expect out of me. But this movie is special, mainly because I wanted to watch something crazy this weekend and secondly because this is MY FIRST 3D MOVIE!!!!

Susan Murphy (Reese Witherspoon) is a happy girl who is about to get married to the man of her dreams when a meteor hits her(not metaphorically, but actually) on her wedding day. She starts glowing green and grows into a 49 feet giant. Labelled as a monster, she is captured by the military and shifted to a secret facility designed specially for monsters captured all over the world. There she meets Dr. Cockroach who is a scientist with the head of an insect(Hugh Laurie), a prehistoric fish-man (Will Arnett); Bob, a slimy indestructible monster (Seth Rogen); and Insectosaurus, a huge bug who stands 350 feet tall. Susan is heart broken and dreams of getting back to her normal life. 

Meanwhile, an alien ship commanded by Gallaxhar (Rainn Wilson) comes to an alarming proximity to Earth who sends a giant robot to find out the meteor piece that landed on Earth because it contained a valuable substance. The military is not able to control it and thus the monsters are let loose to fight the giant robot. What follows is a roller coaster ride of the fight between the aliens and monsters and how the monsters defeat the enemy.

The movie had a handful of funny sequences and it will always keep you engrossed.  There is a sequence where the President of the United States goes to talk to the alien robot. He climbs a lot of stairs to reach the big eye and there is a keyboard lying there on which he starts playing the tune from “Close encounters of the third kind”, thinking the robot might respond to it. When he does not, the president remixes the tune which further aggravates the robot. The missiles which they fire on the robot had “E.T. go home” written on it! 😆

Another piece of advice. If possible, watch the movie in 3D. This is the first movie which has been produced in real 3D instead of converting the movie in 3D after it is finished. The 3D graphics are mind blowing and you are going to love it. There are scenes of outer space and fight sequences in the alien spaceship which can be truly enjoyed because of the 3D effect. I would give it an extra half star just because of that. Watch the trailer below and you will know what I mean!!

On the down-slide, the movie is very predictable. Well, you can almost guess the story from the name. But then all cartoon movies are like that. 🙂 

Rating in 2D – 3.5/5

Rating in 3D – /5

Official website – http://www.monstersvsaliens.com/

Dostana – Movie Review

I think I am getting old, because the people around me were laughing and enjoying the movie while I was yawning like a hippopotamus(I almost took a nap in the second half). Is this what happens when you are exposed to world cinema and have a yardstick to compare? Or am I seriously getting old!!! 😦

 

Dostana is a story set up in Miami where Kunal (played by John Abraham) works as a fashion photographer (Although for the first 20 minutes, I was in an illusion that he was playing a model), Sameer (played by Abhishek Bachchan) is a “male” nurse (Although he keeps on telling everyone that he is a nurse and everyone in turn keep on asking him whether he wears a skirt to work. He never uses the word MALE nurse!!) and Neha (played by Priyanka Chopra) works for a fashion magazine. Neha needs to sublet her house because she can’t afford the installments. Kunal and Sameer are in desperate need of a house but they are refused an entry in Neha’s apartment because only girls are allowed. Both pretend to be gay lovers and gain an entry. Kunal and Sameer slowly fall in love with Neha but soon enters Abhimanyu ( played by Bobby Deol ) who is Neha’s boss and who is in love with her too!!!! (Very Original. Ain’t it??) Who gets the girl in the end is the darn story!

In the first half there are two things which are shoved right on your face – The word GAY and John’s chest. The word has been used unnecessarily in so many places that it starts getting irritating after a while. Ok! Its great that the movie is making a point but can you please stop underlining it until the pencil breaks??  And what is it with John? He is hardly wearing anything in the movie! In some scenes we can almost see the line separating his two newly acquired tight bums! Again, its great that he got a Firang trainer and did a lot of hard work n all to get that physique but if I have to see a skin show, I’ll go and see something called P-O-R-N. 

If you are thinking that the movie is addressing any sort of serious issue, then forget it. The movie has all the stereotypical Gay cliches expected in an Indian movie. Priyanks do say something like – “I am cool with it! Its a personal choice!” and Sameer’s mother (played by Kirron Kher ) also accepts John as her “Bahu/Damaad/whatever” and makes John perform the “Grihapravesh” and given him her “Khaandani kangan”, but that’s it! That is the extend to which the movie goes to address the issues. 

There is something very disjoint and unsettling about the whole movie. There are certain sequences and background sounds whose reason of existence was beyond my comprehension. For example, when Priyanka is introduced, the background music had a lady singing – “Kiss me baby!!!!”. What was that?? She was just saying hello to her new flat mates. And there is a background score which goes – What the F*ck!!! Yes, you read it right! 

All in all, a completely watch-it-on-dvd-later kind of a movie. It was enjoyable in parts, specially when all the three guys were trying to woo Priyanka and a few scenes where Kirron Khen and Boman Irani make an appearance. The music is topping the charts and is peppy – another reason to watch the movie, although the song “Desi girl” is completely misplaced(There was an auction happening there. Damn it!!!). Priyanka is cool, what a Bollywood heroine is supposed to be. Nothing more, nothing less. Abhishek does his part well. John is naked.

A great story gone wasted. This movie could have been much better. But, I have a feeling that it is going to work. It will be a hit because people were enjoying it! And Oh! Yes, there was this couple(boy-girl) sitting just in front of me in the theatre, whom I took to be conjoined twins. You know, the ones who are born with conjoined heads and which can only be separated by surgery? It was only during the interval when one of them got up to get the popcorns, that I gasped in horror and realised that they were lovers and their heads could actually be separated!  

I am DEFINITELY getting old!

Rating – 2/5

Directed by – Tarun Mansukhani

Official Website – http://www.dostanathefilm.com/

A Wednesday – Movie Review

There are some movies which make you stand up and clap. Movies which stand out as examples as to how powerful the medium of Cinema can be. Movies which symbolise our times and go down in the history as cult movies. A Wednesday is one such movie.

Quite frankly, when I woke up this morning, I was not even aware of the existence of such a movie. Since there was no other choice available and since Anupam Kher and Naseeruddin Shah were heading the starcast, I thought of giving it a try (Even though my family was quite skeptical about the movie). By the time we came out of the theatre, we realised that our doubts were quite baseless.

In my father’s words – “Its a long time since I have seen such a meaningful movie.”

I actually jumped out of my skin because I don’t remember the last time he said this about a movie.

The movie traces the events of a Wednesday when Prakash Rathod(played by Anupam Kher), the Mumbai Commissioner of Police gets an an anonymous call demanding the release of four dangerous criminals responsible for bomb blasts across India. The caller (played by Naseeruddin Shah) warns the Commissioner that if the demand was not met, he would be forced to trigger five bombs which he has planted across Mumbai. Prakash Rathod is someone who is not ready to give in so easily to the demands of a fanatic and dispatches a team of his best men to track down the man. The caller is always a step ahead and the Commissioner realises that he cannot put the lives of so many people in jeopardy. He handpicks two of his best men, Jai Singh (played by Aamir Bashir) and Arif Khan (played by Jimmy Shergill) to hand over the four terrorists as demanded. The “Caller” on the other hand is keeping track of the police activities using a news reporter (played by Deepal Shaw) whom he sends after the police. 

What the audience gets is a thriller of a dimension which has not been seen in the Indian Cinema since a long time. Its not a conventional Bollywood movie because there is no hero. There is only a cast. Neeraj Pandey should be given a pat on his back for a brilliant screenplay. He does not waste any time in building up the well defined no nonsense plot. He does not slow down the tempo of the movie with meaningless songs or long stretched sequences. The movie has less than 2 hours of running time and is very well edited by Shree Narayan Singh. 

Anupam Kher is brilliant in his role as the Commissioner who despite being on his toes because of the threat does not lose the focus. The rest of the cast including Aamir, Jimmy Shergill and Deepal also have very believable roles.

A special word for Nasseruddin Shah. I think he deserves an Oscar for the performance. Its not the loud, over the top performances which we generally identify with. Its crafty and subtle. Yet it leaves an everlasting impact. And don’t miss the climax in which he delivers a set of dialogues which will give you a terrible gooseflesh and tears at the same time. The climax is so unexpected that it would be a good idea to put a tape on the mouth of any person who tries to tell you about it before watching the movie. 🙂 It will catch you completely unaware. 

Don’t miss this movie. I recommend it very strongly. 

Rating – 4.5/5

Director – Neeraj Pandey

Official Website – A Wednesday

The Dark Knight – Movie Review

And thus arrived the mother of all Superhero movies. And what an arrival!!! Its dark, its gloomy, its dangerous and it makes your hair stand. It reinvents the villain in Cinema and pours an avalanche of well crafted sequences and performances your way. This was the most awaited movie of the year and it was worth all that wait.

Christopher Nolan directs this sequel of Batman Begins where Batman(Christian Bale) is pitched against the most malicious villains of all times- The Joker (played by Heath Ledger). The Villain who does not care about money but just want to see the world in chaos. There is no way you can scare him because he has nothing to loose. Then there is Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) who is the district attorney and has a strained relation with Batman. He is Gotham city’s only hope as a hero with a face and Batman is banking on him so that he could live a normal life with his childhood sweetheart Rachel Dawes who is oscillating between the two men. In comes the Joker and everything turns topsy turvy.

The movie belongs to Heath Ledger. Never have a villain been so terrifying and so much filled with malevolence. Its been a long time since we have come across such a fine piece of villainy(read acting) and I can strongly smell an Oscar. Its rare when an actor takes over a movie with his sheer presence even though he is playing a villain. This was Heath Ledger’s last movie as he passed away in January 2008. Joker will always be remembered by this performance and whoever takes over the role in the next movie in the series will be having some pretty big shoes to fill in. Christian Bale is also good as the man torn between his duty and love(as all superheroes are) while Harvey has some very realistic graphics done on his face in the second half.

The movie boasts of some great action sequences although I didn’t like the one towards the end as it was too haphazard and hazy. In this movie Batman can be seen flying for the first time when he goes to HongKong to abduct Lau for the Gotham City police. That was one hell of an action sequence. The sequence in which Joker attacks the police vans carrying Harvey is also well executed and that is where the Batpod appears for the first time. Pretty neat vehicle. 🙂 The Joker is in police custody near the interval and you think that its over but its just the lull before the storm. And yes, Harvey Two-Face also makes an appearance.

Do watch this movie as it is one of the best Superhero movie of recent times. Dark, full of turmoil and with fabulous performances. Watch it for Joker, the perfect Anti-Hero. Its nothing less than sheer delight.

Rating – 4.5/5

Director – Christopher Nolan

Official Website – http://thedarkknight.warnerbros.com/

Love Story 2050 – Movie Review

What could have been the first Indian sci-fi movie and a turning point in the Indian cinema turns out to be a damp squib. The movie reminded me of 10,000 B.C. and Jhoom Barabar Jhoom. 10,000 B.C. because the promo of the movie were very promising to say the least and Jhoom Barabar Jhoom because I consider that movie a classic example of how a director can castrate a beautiful and fresh story. Love Story 2050 had a story which most of our movies are lacking now a days. It could have turned into one of the best movies of the year, but alas, just showing a “Star Wars” inspired Mumbai does not mean good direction.

Karan(Harman Baweja) is an only son of a multimillionaire who is very much deprived of love and affection as his mother passed away when he was ten and his father has no time for him. Sana(Priyanka Chopra) is a sweet and shy typical Bollywood heroine who is quite opposite to Karan. A few meetings and songs later, both fall in love. Boman Irani plays the eccentric scientist called Dr. Yatinder Khanna who is Karan’s uncle and on the verge of making a time machine. The couple is about to get married when tragedy strikes and Sana dies in an accident and Karan has to take a journey to 2050 to get back his lady love.

The movie takes inspiration from so many Hollywood movies that its mind boggling. Its hard to believe that the Mumbai skyline would undergo such a drastic and sea change in the next 42 years. Maybe the movie should have been titled Love Story 2350. The graphics are straight out of Star Wars with flying cars and laser guns. The female robot is straight out of “Bicentennial Man” while Boo, the robotic teddy bear is copied from the movie “Artificial Intelligence“. Boman Irani’s character reminds one of Dr. Brown from the movie “Back to the Future“. The movie also defies our understanding of reincarnation. If Sana died in 2008, then she must be 42 years old in 2050 after her rebirth, but she is very much a young and successful pop star. Maybe she was taking a break in between and spending some time with our Gods. Dr. Khanna does not find it hard to fix a robot functioning on A.I. in 2050 although the technology has taken giant leaps. And yes, some scenes are shamefully lifted from the the above mentioned movies.

The movie is bearable in the first half when the couple is in 2008 and the love story is developing. It has its own moments although they are very few in number. The second half drags as there are too many unwanted scenes which could have been left at the editor’s table. I could not understand why the Mortal Combat sequence was there in the movie. The movie needs a very heavy editing to make it bearable specially towards the end.

Harman, who is touted as the next superstar, is good enough for his first movie, although its not a dream debut like Hrithik’s. He needs to watch his diction and needs to work on the emotional scenes. His starts squeaking when he cries. Priyanka is passable. Boman Irani overdoes the act a little bit at times although he does not have much of a role. Archana Puran Singh manages to raise a few laughs in her blink-and-she-is-gone role. The music is already topping the charts and is good. “Mausam Achanak ye badla kyun” and “Milo na milo” are certainly above average songs.

A terrific story gone wasted and a terrible amount of money too. But still i would not like to trash it completely as I have seen worse in the past few months. A two out of five as the movie didn’t turn out to be a sheer torture like Tashan. 😀

Rating – 2/5

Director – Harry Baweja

Official Site – http://www.lovestory2050.com/

Sarkar Raj – Movie Review

After shocking and terrifying the masses with “RGV ki Aag” and “Darling”, Ram Gopal Verma is back with the sequel of his most successful movie in recent times – Sarkar. Frankly speaking, I could never understand how a director who made Satya, can make movies like Aag. Thankfully, Sarkar Raj pulls up Ramu and he is in his top form.

The movie picks up where Sarkar left, but like our good old soap operas on the idiot box, the plot jumps two years in future. Shankar Nagre (Abhishek Bachchan)  has now completely taken his father’s place as Sarkar and his father(Amitabh Bachchan) is nothing more than a opinion provider and someone who can help with his contacts and pull in the crowds. Enters Anita Rajan (Aishwarya Rai), who is keen to set up a power plant in a rural area of Maharashtra but the only catch is that 5 villages and 40,000 people will have to relocate. Subhash Nagre refuses to help but his son talks him into helping Anita as he thinks that the project will be beneficial for Maharashtra in the long term. Soon, Shankar starts a campaign to convince the people of the villages to be displaced and is almost successful when the trouble starts. Things are not as simple as they seem to be and there are vested forces at work and this project turns into a landmine of tricks and betrayal. I would not like to go deeper into the movie as it would give away the plot which has its own share of surprises and shocks.

If you have liked Sarkar, then you would like Sarkar Raj too. Although comparison with the first movie is inevitable but the movie lives up to its successor. Abhishek Bachchan is at par with his father and both of them compliment each other perfectly well. Aishwarya is also good as the woman in power who is still helpless and groping with the system and her father. The movie has a dark feel to it and is too serious. Although no one will expect comedy scenes in such a movie, but I was wondering throughout the movie that when was the last time this family had a laugh or a good time? And Ramu used a lot of different camera angles which didn’t make sense to me. There were some scenes which almost made me dizzy because of the erratic and haphazard way they were shot. On the other side, some scenes were very effective because of the way light was used in them. Well, that’s Ramu for us. Always trying new things and not afraid of failing.

And yes, before you ask, there is ample scope for part three. Go ahead and watch it if you liked Sarkar and if you want to find out what finally happened to the Nagre family.

Rating – 3.5/5 

Director – Ram Gopal Verma

Iron Man – Movie Review

Iron Man appeared for the first time in Marvel Comics publications in 1963. The most recent title was released on May 2008 titled Iron Man: Viva Las Vegas #1. Iron Man has also been a member of the superheroes team called “The Avengers” and has been an incredibly successful superhero. So, it was just a matter of time that he appeared on the big screen. Praises by a few friends and a healthy Rotten Tomatoes rating prompted me to go ahead and watch the movie. Surely I was not disappointed. In fact it was after a long hiatus that I saw something worthy of the ticket money.

Iron Man stars Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man, a mastermind and a genius inventor who also happens to be a billionaire and a womaniser. Gwyneth Paltrow appears as Pepper Potts, Stark’s personal assistant who is a vital part of his life and is always there for him. Jeff Bridges plays Obadiah Stane, who has been with the Stark Industries since its conception by Tony’s father and is now Tony’s right hand man. Terrence Howard is Lt. Colonel James Rhodes who is Tony’s most trusted friend and a military liaison to the Stark Industry. Tony is attacked and kidnapped in Afghanistan while returning from a demonstration of his latest weapon system. The terrorist group called Ten Rings, demands that Tony creates a similar weapon system for them and provide him with all the necessary components. Tony ends up creating the first prototype of the Iron Man and escapes wearing the power suit. The whole episode is a reality check for him and gives a new and meaningful direction to his life. He returns home to create a more advanced suit to combat terrorism.

This is one of the most believable and relevant superhero movies of recent times, something which comes very close to what Spider-Man was. A cast which melt into their roles, dazzling special effects and terse dialogues make this movie worth a watch. The special effects look surprisingly believable. We are getting quite good at them now a days. Robert Downey Jr. is the surprise package of the movie. His performance is quite a mix of everything, humor included, which is quite rare in superhero movies. The movie keeps you engrossed and there is not a moment of boredom, even when Tony and Pepper are having their awkward moment together on the terrace.

So, if you like action packed superhero movies, then Iron Man is what the doctor ordered. Many people compared it to Transformers and argued that the action in Iron Man is not that plentiful, but Transformers was not a superhero movie. Iron Man has more of a story because it depicts the creation of the Superhero. In fact most of the action appears in the second half and it would be really unfair to compare the movie with the Transformers, although you can see the inspiration in the climax.

Of course, the sequel is in the pipeline and some more Superheroes such as Thor and Captain America are also rubbing up their heels for a movie release. You can check out the really cool Iron Man website here.

Directed by – Jon Favreau

Rating – 4/5

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