I see you

Cast: Arjun Rampal, Vipasha (Introduction), Kiron Kher, Chunkey Pandey, Sonali Kulkarni, Sophie Chowdry and Boman Irani

Direction: Vivek Agarwal

Plot: Rampal, is the lead anchor of British Raj, a desi take on events in London. He is your typical flamboyant star who is sure of himself, the life he wants to lead and has woman written all over him. Women interest him, but he does not believe in love or anything further.

One fine day he walks into his house and meets Shivani(Vipasha) who claims she is a spirit of a person lying in coma in a hospital. After the initial shock, he understands and comes to terms with the fact that the woman can only be seen and heard by him. He sees this as a problem that needs a solution. A rapport builds between the two and they explore London through each other’s perspectives. Raj gets involved more and more into Shivani’s life and ends up falling in love. Of course you have the bad element angle of organ trading et all and the film ends beautifully with the spirit going into its body and the recovered Shivani not recognizing Raj at all and the end suggests a beginning again.

I guess Vipasha actually decided that she needs to look like a spirit and refuses to emote. Inspite of a few decent shots, she lacks the charisma to have a presence across the whole movie. London is shown in a simple unobtrusive way and some of the scenes are really done well. The need to talk through the phone, the playfulness of the lead pair give a ‘feel good’ effect.

The music is good in patches. Almost like the pitch of the third test in South Africa. Some very good trance beats and very poor lyrics and really arbitrary tunes. I really don’t know why the Rampal home production would choose a romantic flick for our man. A Dhoom type candy flick would have served the purpose way better. It is very clear though, Rampal for the life of him finds it very difficult to act.

The rest of the cast is simply non-existent or is not required at all. Kiron Kher emotes well as the mother who has to decide whether to keep her daughter alive or to kill her. Boman Irani as a stupid psychologist plays the part. Sonali Kulkarni(what a fall from her DCH days) and Chunkey Pandey(who is the colleague and close friend of Rampal in the movie acts pretty well, showing that the ‘Aankhen’ charm is lurking somewhere) as a garrulous couple are irritating and Sophie as the seductive (why the hell was such a character required?) co-anchor is an eye sore (yes, believe me she is).

All in all, the movie is unobtrusive, and you can watch it if you need to eat some popcorn.

Rating: 5/10

Movies

Movies have always intrigued me as a medium of entertainment. I am one of those who lose themselves in the movie and leave the analysis part to when the movie is actually completed. I also believe that any movie can be watched once, because what a individual takes from a movie purely depends on his tastes and moods. You could hate a movie that you watch and watch it after some time and end up loving it. The art of movie making is to understand the offering to the movie watcher. Is the product an art, is it a medium of escape (you can call it entertainment) or is it a transformational product that is trying to bring about a change in the audience by giving a message. You never know which aspect might lead to a commercial success. Movies evolved from theatre and hence the evolution of theatre is a key aspect that shapes the way we look at movies. In India the idea of theatre was primary roadside shows that used mythological stories as a base to bring out the abilities and the message if that was intended. Through the era of economic degradation our movies provided the chance for the average man to transport himself into a magical world where anything was possible. That is, cinema was a pure source of entertainment. Therefore hero worship, rags to riches, good over evil were all underlying themes. You did have geniuses who combined entertainment with very poignant story telling, so that their art was showcased too. But, segments of the country have moved on and in an era where we all are judged by how good we are, this segment of the audience has come to demand a certain amount of quality for the money they spend. Since, this group is economically quite important, movies have improved in technical quality while still maintaining that sense of the impossible. (Foreign locales, sculpted bodies, heroes fighting with 50 goons etc). There are also movies that cater to the still evolved audience through stereotypes, your sentimental family stories and the crass comedies. But such segmentation is what is clearly needed as a clear marketing mechanism. So, you have multiplex movies, rural movies, family movies etc. Where does this leave the art of movie making? That falls in the lap of a single individual, the director. He is the person who chooses the amount of detail that is required in a movie, the kind of acting required, the way the story is treated and transforming a story to a product. So what is a hit formula? Simple, there cannot be one, because the products are different. You can just hope that the you make a movie which has an intent, a single product or a multiple product (art and entertainment, art and message etc). The success is increased by using an actor/actress who is seen as aspiration, having hummable songs (yes, this is our own unique Indian trait, we need octave kind of music which makes us ‘jhoom’) and good technical quality. The result finally rests with the market and how they classify your product. The good thing about movies in this era is that with revenue streams being available you can also de-risk your product. That is your best strategy.

Don-Ad'don' rather

Don-hmmm... i was wwwwaiting for this movie from a long time. I saw it today.. the second week the reviews already being in from frnds and websites.

First impression was that of being a movie which was very cool in its appearance, the typical ritesh sidhwani-farhan's combination. The first half has a good amount of pace even though it painfully tries to rehash the original. When vijay speaks to the kid after the song, you can even feel Amitabh's accent. Even though i looked at my watch a couple of times I was willing to give the movie a benefit of the doubt. But then the second half, christ almighty, first all the movies which had any sort of action (2f2f,conair et all) keep figuring in. Not taht i perse dislike any of these things, but after a point it really gets painful 'coz SRK is no actor (except possibly in Swades) and the rest of the cast is well.....miscast. Priyanka does look gorgeous but stupid dialogues cant take you very far can they?

We all expect slick production these days and that is definitely there, but c'mon Mr Akhtar you can do way better than this. And for the twists....yawn...most of them do not leave you with any lingering questions and they just pass on through the script.

Boman Irani is out of his league, Rampal is not even needed, Koppikar is invisible...and mac looks dumb ( i like the older one better).

Overall 6/10 for me, a bit of an addon as mentioned in the title..but AB would be saying, 'jis school mein aap student ho, hum us school ke principal reh chuke hain ' :)

The Departed

Departed: (first line, purely direction wise Omkara was way better :D )

Cast: Matt Damon, Di Caprio, Nicholson(a.k.a Frank in the movie), Charlie Sheen, Wahlberg( he rocks), Alec Baldwin.

Sorry for the late review: so will start with some lines that would make you think abt seeing the movie. ( anyone in mumbai, drop a line i wont mind it for the 3rd or 4th or 5th time)

Opening line:
Frank: iam not a product of my environment, my environmnet is a product of me.

Frank is a Irish gang lord who rules over the neighbourhood of Boston. Colin sullivan (matt damon) is the hot shot police recruit who joins the intelligence department out to get Frank. But he is Frank's protege and owes a lot to him.

Enter Billy Costigan(Caprio), a kid with a 'gang' background who wants to a policeman. But is forced to become a mole in Frank's gang.

Now both sides have mole, and the rest of the movie is a simple cat and mouse on who finds out about whom and who dies first.

Of course you have the vulnerable Madolyn (Vera Farmiga), to whom both young men fall for, but she does not interpret the narration.

Caprio is great as the guy who never knows when the world would shut down on him. You should see him say 'Yes, Frank, i can be like you, but i dont want to'.

Damon plays the part. But king Jack takes the cake. " i smell a rat", "i always have had p**** form and could never understand someone wanking off in the theater" "you like the little c*** sucking on your d***""

The end is trademark Scorcese, and his adaption of this Hong Kong movie is brilliant. Some of the Boston'isms i hear from my friends are not too far from reality.

Another teaser:
Ya marriage looks good. Your peers know you are not gay. And when women look at your ring they know you have cash and your d*** works.

9/10. :D

In Orbit Malad

If someone were to doubt that the fact about a consumer culture boom in India, then he/she must visit inorbit on a weekend. The crowds must been seen to be believed. You get them in all shapes and sizes. Big, small, beautiful and not so beautiful, yuppies, families all of them.

The reason is: The most obvious one is the fact that urban a megalopolis like Mumbai has very little space, to walk or to talk. To chalo, shopping hi sahi is the motto.

The mall itself is a beautiful structure. Built in a kind of coliseum (round) manner, it has 3 levles of construction. Getting to the mall by road is through SV road and take the diversion to Malad Jogeshwari link road. From stations like malad or goregaon will cost abt 20 bucks by rick. The mall has ample parking space so anybody worried abt that front can chill. Amenities like clean water and toilets are a huge plus too :)

The circular walkways are a shopping paradise. Wtih three chains like lifestyle, shoppers stop( each of these at 2 levels) and Spencers and a lot of designer/exclusive( Ritu Kumar, Marks and Spencer (errr..thats quite designer in India), Body Shop, UCB, Planet Sports, footwear ....). You have alternate shops selling stuff from nameplates ( i dont recall the right word :), for your home), jewellery ( at a nook beside lifestyle on ground floor) and a nice paint-it-yourself store that allows you to paint what ever you want on ashtrays,coffee mugs etc and let you take it home.

The Food court: Yum....for all the crowd around this place ( lots of BPO's around), this place gives the widest array of food ( althought malad has lots of eateries,more on that sometime) except probably very little exotic stuff. Coffe day, barista, pizza hut, rajdhani ( amazing thali at 125) moti mahal( dal makhani) , thai lotus(try the sizzler) are all good.

You do have fame malad to unwind. My only grouse, Ruby Tuesday as the only watering hole. food at ruby sucks.

Of course the Crossword makes In Orbit the complete mall. And ya you do have lots of events happening at a centrally located lobby. So people in mumbai chk it out ( if you already havent) and non mumbaikars, check it when you are here. If you get bored you always have hypercity :)

PS: Huge locational bias, the mall is my second home :D.

movies that changed bollywood

No particular order here: (Mainstream Only)

Dil Chahta Hai: The simple tale of love, told through the experiences of three friends, this movie raised the bar of movie making for ever. Slick production, amazing performances and music and a great eye for detail ensure you can keep watching DCH.

Hum Aapke Hain Kaun: The mother of all soap operas, this feel good movie did exactly that made you feel good. Eminently hummable tunes, elaborate sets are rituals and plethors of emotions turned the tide for using entertainment as medium of showcasing lifestyle.

Sholay: One word: Blockbuster. This is the first and the truly big blockbuster which has fans across generations. And you tend to pick characters you like and they become immortal. The cult of sholay.

Satya: The ultimate gang flick. It tracks the grim realities of the underworld which is so entwined in our normal lives that you wouldnt probably realized it. Hard hitting performances and a raw urban energy made Sathya the benchmark of all such films

Zanjeer: Rise of the angry young man. The tall brooding and upright officer was the beginning of the rise of the Big B. Add to that the innocense of Jaya Bhaduri and the presence of Pran and Big B as a phenomenon begins.

Munnabhai: I dont know whether this genre will be repeated or not. But this series of movies throws back ot Raj Kapur times (excpet the immense sorrow :D ) where you have good people and bad people who are not assumed to beyond redemption. Humurous street lingo and good chemistry between the actors ensures that this might be a 'formula' that might work in future too.

random thots

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