Sarkar Movie Review: Hellllllllllp RGV

Sarkar Raj:

Cast: Amitabh Bachan + 2, Typical RGV sidekicks

The end of an era.

I have been a fan of RGV from the time of Shiva, Kshana Kshanam (gult), Ananaga Oka Roju (golt), Satya days. I have steadily held on through the hazaar RGV factory films including James remake and the Shiva remake, hoping to see the magic rekindled somewhere. Thankfully I did give RGV ki Aag a miss, and the man himself claims to to have learnt that Aag was a disaster. If he did, Sarkar Raj is not the end product of those ruminations.

Sarkar was an Indian adaptation of Godfather. While the film largely failed at the box office, it had its moments. Sarkar as the ‘saviour’ of Maharashtra, the man beyond right/wrong itself, the justice system where the system fails. Now, Sarkar steps away and you have Shanker (AB Jr) who has the mantle of taking Maharashtra progress. Shanker adopts a power project as his pet project (based on project report!!! ROFL) and takes on all and sundry. And the end he has fallen for the power game, as just another pawn in the machinations that Sarkar himself is so good at. So much for the infallibility. ( And please “Sab kuch Niji hai”, are you kidding me? Michael Corleone?? Jesus Christ).

Absurd camera angles, too many “Govinda” s (we are not in tirupati), weird lighting and pathetic dialogues (Aishwarya mouthing “bomb kisne rakha” and what has the world come to? She is the heir apparent).

But but but, its RGV and I am allowed to criticize as much as I want, but the movie was still passable. Surely, we wont be disappointed in the next movie. Salvation shall be delivered.

Rating: 2.5/5

Dasavatharam - Movie Review

Cast: Kamalhasan, need I say more?

Whats the reason to make a magnum opus? You want to showcase the movie, the actor or the director? Would you put K S Ravikumar as a director? Kamal Hassan takes himself too seriously most of the time, K S somehow makes it work partially. At 3+ hours, the movie tends to be a bore. And dear Kamal, why not English subtitles to match the hype? You can make money mate. The premise is simple, is our life designed or do we have choice? Our story mixes the butterfly effect with having no effect, that the effect itself was engineered. Now for tam movie execution.

In 10 th century Tamland a Shaivite King throws a Vaishnavaite Deity (yes that I forgot the name of the deity is pathetic) into the sea along with the faithfully Vaishnavite priest. Cut to the present and the priest is reborn as a bio-technologist who unwittingly has created a biological weapon which goes on to get stolen and the rest of the movie is spent recovering this weapon, from US to TN (the transition is natural isn’t it?) Finally the world is saves by the Tsunami which only kills a few people instead of millions. Lo! And behold, the deity gets revealed.

Now I shall try to get the 10 avatars:

The priest (hefty one at that), the bio-technologist (oh cmon dude you just cant romance Asin get over it), GWB (this ones good, “Gentlemen, we have a problem”), assassin (ok this one is a yo-yo, old woman, Japanese samurai, old lady (witch!!!), tall pathan (or tall dressed pathan), surd singer (Avatar singh, he is cured of throat cancer due to a bullet through his throat – beat that Rajni) and of course the fave Balram Naidu. The gult trapped in TN, RAW officer. Naidu is hilarious and epitomizes why Kamal still has the cult.

How I wish Kamal had left the silicon to itself and tried all the characters with basic make up, it would have rocked. Here you have a tiring Kamal whose magical expressions are lost in layers of make up. Such a pity. Sigh.

Songs are pointless ( and as sushi says, bikini clad sherawat isn’t an assault in tam sensibilities? ) and are pathetic. Lots of the movie is not required and shut the pathan up please. K S Ravikumar it is and hence the movie does not bother you too much.

Rating 3.5/5

Aamir Movie Review: Muddled Choices

Cast: Khandelwal

Direction: Anurag Kashyap s Jr, sorry mate don’t recall the name.

Weird that I thought about it, but No Smoking and Aamir actually attack the same core principle but in totally different ways (looking/hearing the reactions I would hardly think so?), what exactly is choice? Is the decision maker important or is the decision important. Of course my friend Nirmal insists that I am just reading too much into the story. Anyway both films end in the same way, the choice itself is made redundant, what is happening while you are asleep? J

Our man Aamir is a Brit educated doc who returns to find his family kidnapped and under the instructions of a mysterious caller. He does not have any option than follow the instructions and he hurtles towards the realization that his notions of choice of leading a life actually do not exist.

The movie intersects our normal senses with Mumbai’s underbelly, that part of the city that we are agnostic towards. But then, the premise could really happen to any of us. Amazing sound track, both the background and the audio tracks, spectacular camera work and a gripping narration hold fort in this brilliant piece of execution. Why the praise? Small budget movies need to become a big circle if we are to start seeing good movies in the mainstream section.

Aamir boy could do with fewer imitations of Colin Farell and please please do spare us the clichés in such movies. If the idea of the movie is to be intelligent keep it that way throughout. Lets not delve too deep into that.

Rating: 4/5

There will be blood - Movie Review

Cast: Daniel Day Lewis (Daniel Plainview), Paul Dano (Paul/Eli Sunday), Dillion Freasier (HW Plainview)
Direction: Paul Anderson
Music: Jonny Greenwood

I am writing a review after a long time, but it is for one of the most powerful films of recent times. The story line is pretty simple, Daniel Plainview is a oil prospector, one that has no scruples and will do anything to get his way and to make money. During his time to Boston, he crosses paths with Eli Sunday a young priest. The conflict between oil & the church in early America. Thats the plot, the simplicity (or monstrosity) of the characters is what holds the audience.

A silver miner falls in his mine and breaks his leg and goes on to discover oil. The mind of the man who is after something valuable is almost dead to all emotions, the dry surroundings accentuate this feeling of anguish. Daniel Plainview takes up an orphan H.W and inspite of his unique way of handling the kid, H.W is Daniel's last connection to humanity. (When the son finally leaves him, Daniel breaks down totally, and after his final showdown with Eli, says "i am finished") . Eli is the opposite, he knows the lands resources and his harvest, his pursuit is faith. His method of control of the minds is more potent than that of Daniel, the grip of faith over logic. Over the period of movie, he proves that he is after the same wealth that Daniel is after and equally corrupt.

The movie is in a way built around Greenwoods' music. Its almost as if the director has shot many of the scenes to match the songs. The music is dark, edgy and takes you to the barren lands of the black gold, where men built destinies at the cost of themselves. The movie is quite detailed, but the edginess of the visuals, the stunning usage of the camera work and the right usage of dialogue make you drown yourself in the imagery.

Danial Day Lewis plays the man after his own soul to the perfect T. From his days of mining, to his shock/disbelief/pain when H.W goes deaf, and his weakness/realization/anger when he finds out about his 'imposter' brother are a masterclass in acting. His fury at Eli (over paul, did paul exist is something which I did not get) at the well and during the final act is absolute genius.

One of the best of all time. 4.5/5