Sunday, December 27, 2009

Welcome to Next Level of Cinema

Almost everyone in this world has gone to watch "Avatar" with some pre-conceived notions of how this movie would be. Now, who gets satisfied to what extent on the storyline of the movie is a debatable topic, but as far as the cinematic experience is concerned, all would be having no words to appreciate it. James Cameroon took around half a decade to finish this movie, an idea which came to his mind around 15 years ago. He waited until found the right kind of technology to shoot his dream project. And the result, 'awesome'.

He has set a new benchmark in technical excellence which is the 3D technology he has used, the sound experience and the overall visual effects extravaganza. These all are a treat to your eyes. This movie is more of an experience than anything else. So stop exploring any stories inside it. James intends the audience to see it in 3D, the way wanted them all to see it. So if you are planning to watch "Avatar", then watch it only in 3D, if you are going for an IMax experience, it's even better. I may not agree with few critics that this movie is probably the best of the decade, but certainly the history will remember it for the technical superiority and the cinematic experience it offers to its audience. After watching this movie, you will be compelled to think how stupid 2D looks on screen and how real 3D is and you will wish to see all the movies in future in this format. And it won't be long that this wish of ours will come true.

"Avatar" is an experience in all its aspects and it delivers as expected. Watch it 'only' in 3D to understand the genius James' creativity and his intention of making such a movie. Treat yourself with this flick in this holiday season and go to a different world, at least for 15o minutes.

Verdict: 3.5 out of 5

Friday, December 25, 2009

3 Cheers for Raju's 3 Idiots...

The director who created Munnabhai, has delivered his third baby 6 days before the current decade comes to an end. He has been a great find as a director in this decade. And the verdict, he has ended as a winner and the audience is now having sky-high expectations from him from now onwards in the coming decade. No point in comparing his "3 Idiots" with the Munnbhai series as it won't yield any concrete result. This movie is completely different in all its aspects and comes with a more realistic and relevant theme/message than Munnabhai, yet it has all the ingredients to appeal even the tier-E cities of India. So the box office will be on fire and the producers, distributors, theatre-owners will be singing all the way to their bank accounts. At the end of it all, a normal movie-goer who paid more than ever before to watch this movie due to a hike in cost of the tickets won't feel like being treated as a 4th idiot.

It may not be the greatest work of both Raju Hirani nor Amir Khan, but it's a movie that's going to be added in their list of hits. Many of the critics felt that this flick is not as good as the Munnabhai series, but for me it has got its heart at the right place and strikes the right chord for today's parents and youth. Especially when you think of a year badly hit by multiplex strike, string pathetic movies and uncountable flops, such movies make a great end to such an unlucky year for Indian cinema. In this review(let me call few such write-ups as 'reviews', plz) I won't be talking to about any technical details. As the movie asks you not to, just say...all is well. The ensemble cast puts a good show apart from the usual Kareena from whom I don't even expect anything in terms of acting. She lives up to my expectation! Only thing where I felt bad is the credits at the start where Kareena's came ahead of Madhavan & Sarman which is a complete injustice to these two actors and Kareena would even admit it. Raju could have easily cut down on the romantic song between Amir & Kareena which was unnecessary and a big waste of time and few filmy scenes. But again, as I said, in India you can grab tier-E audiences with all these formula and Raju/Amir executes all possible formula in this film.

I would like to overlook the all the small loopholes/filmy-things and would suggest you to catch the heart of the movie and think for a moment what you are doing with your life. Don't just say all is well as the movie/Amir asks you to....question everything...that's the larger perspective "3 Idiots" has taught me... Go for it...

Verdict: 3.5 out of 5

Monday, December 14, 2009

Ranbir's Rocket Flying High...

When you go to the theatre to watch a movie that has been written by a person who has earlier wrote scripts like Khosla Ka Ghosla & Chak De India, your expectations will be high. Shimit Amin has so far been able to shred the typical bollywood melodrama starting Ab Tak Chhappan to Chak De. Rocket Singh is a completely different take on what we have seen so far in terms of issues related to the current urban youth and trends. ‘Sales’ is something that MBAs or atleast graduates can understand. But when we dissect sales, it only becomes the cup of coffee of MBAs. So, here Shimit goes slightly wrong. Rocket Singh is a nice, sweet and a movie on a good theme and heart, but lacks the mass appeal like Chak De.

The ensemble cast has been kept low profile, but exudes quite an amount of spunk on screen. But at the end, it’s Ranbir who has taken the burden of the entire acting department on his shoulder. His simplicity and tension-free-ho-jayega attitude works to great effect. The movie is 150+ minutes without a song and requires patience from the audience till it ends. The best thing is you will remember the essence of the movie as it is so based on our daily life. That’s the beauty of Jaideep. One scene where there is a small office party of the sales team where Ranbir works and the office was giving the alcohol free; you can see few them drinking a not-so-good-tasting whiskey with water! That’s hilarious yet so real. All of did that atleast once in our life.

Cinematography is above average but editing has been good. Screenplay is good but needed to more crisp in the story-telling part in the second half. What a year it has been for Ranbir! This boy is yet to deliver a flop after Saawariya. I would rate Wake Up Sid as Ranbir’s best flick this year, but this one’s a movie about breaking new grounds in Hindi film industry. Keep up the good work Shimit & Jaideep. We need more guys like you to take our movies to the next level.

Verdict: 3 out of 5

Friday, December 11, 2009

Time To Love Your Parents... Again

When you live in a country when you have grown up watching uncountable movies where being clichéd in every department of film making is considered as a normal thing, people like Balki are like saviors. They come up with fresh ideas, fresh scripts, fresh screenplay, fresh dialogues and more importantly they understand today’s taste. Be it “Cheeni Kam” or now for that matter “Paa”.

To start with “Paa” does not have a full fledged script in place; it just has a theme upon which Balki has made this 130 min flick. What makes this movie watchable is the acting the characters have put up. To be precise it’s Amitabh Bachchan and to some extent Vidya Balan who has done some fabulous acting. Abhishek looked crisp, but he did not have anything in his script to portray. Paresh is wasted for nothing. The movie revolves around Auro played by Big B and his relationship with his parents played by AB & VB (nice acronyms huh!). But for some unknown reasons Balki has dragged the issue of the role of media in today’s time and politics. These issues have literally nothing to do with the movie. They could easily cut down 30 minutes on the length had they not added this useless stuffs. The dialogues are sharp, sleek & witty, the typical Balki style. There is no melodrama and nobody behaves insane. Humor has been presented in many ways and it strikes to today’s audience. The movie is quite sound in almost all technical departments. Illayaraja’s music is hummable, though it’s not going to stay with them for long. Few emotional sequences could have been handled better as Balki has garnished humor pre and post all the emotional scenes.

If you want to see a good cinema, go to watch “Paa” with your entire family. It’s worth having a watch for all. It has pushed the envelope of Indian cinema further with its contemporary presentation. In anticipation for some more quality products from Mr. Balki.

Verdict: 3 out of 5