Tag: Movie Review

Wazir : Miscalculated Cinematic Mov(i)e

‪#‎Wazir‬ is such an undewhelming film with Amitji and Farhan in it. The plot is interesting with a J&K political angle, old school Vidhu Vinod Chopra from1999 blockbuster Mission Kashmir. Powerful star cast; partially impressive performances with the lack of a punch. Bejoy Nambiar, the director could have layered the film the execution. The good part was the deft cinematography and the loose end was the excessive music in the flow of the film.

Madras Cafe was way better. It’s not Check mate, Mr. Chopra!

‪#‎Bollywood‬ ‪#‎changethinker‬ ‪#‎micromoviereview‬‪#‎singapore‬

Dibakar’s Byomkesh Bakshy: Connecting History and Regional Literature Seamlessly

Dibakar Banerjee with Byomkesh Bakshy has extracted the gold which lies hidden in our vernacular regional literature, and painting that specific narrative on celluloid for a South Asian and International audience will certainly make it the best phillum of 2015. My father read Feluda and Byomkesh Bakshy’s detective stories as a child in Bolpur-Shantiniketan while growing up, and these were writings which had captured the popular imagination of reading masses of Bengal. Bengali popular literature has detective stories as a legit genre, may be  cultural  loan from its British Colonial Masters. A rich legacy, which the Calcutta film industry has tapped at least for Feluda by Satyajit Ray and his son and now Bakshy by Delhi bread Dibakar who recognises himself more with West Delhi’s Rajender Nagar than Uttarpara in Kolkata as is evident from ‘Oye Lucky’ , a previous production of his. I was greatly moved by his film Shanghai, the first movie i watched in Mumbai after I left Singapore to move back to Mumbai in 2012, where I wrote in a  changethinker.com blog post titled ” Is a DTH Box, Development” :

“The cinematic narrative of the Dibakar Banerjee film ‘Shanghai’ played out in real life. Pragati or Development seems to have been relegated to the real estate hardware component rather than human development indicators such as education, healthcare access or employment generation. Special Economic Zones are fantastic instruments to jump start economic activity in an area because of the Tax Holidays, but what about the farmers who sells out his land, has a lot of cash to deploy but does not have the knowledge to invest to properly to diversify his livelihood since he knows nothing else apart from the generational vocation of farming.”

1943 Calcutta’s Wartime Chinatown with the Narcotics Trade and the World War 2 Japanese Campaign in SE Asia connects the local to global beautifully. There is a subplot in the film that captures the naivety of the young in the years leading up to Independence by the capitalist class who were hand in glove with the imperialists, whether the British or the Japanese or even the ruling elite. Dibakar Banerjee’s film making has a socio-political angle, relevant to the times, which makes his films a joy to watch with the thinking cap on. Shanghai, realised in April 2012 had the SEZ Land Acquisition context with the Activist Bengali Liberal Arts Academic played by Prasenjit, the popular Bengali Movie Actor bumped off by the political elite for economic profits while wrapping it in a rhetoric of growth and the entire cover-up of the affair. Excellent film, not so popular as a Salman Khan film, but throughly engaging. Do get the DVD if you liked Byomkesh.

Sushant Singh Rajput as Byomkesh shines without the over acting and Swastika as the actor femme fatale Anguri Devi and  Indian Idol Contestant & Dentist turned Singer-Actor Meiyang Chang as Kanai/Ching Ling have meaty performances. The ensemble cast of popular bengali actors defying the stereotype yet authentic, Chinese and Japanese Actors wielding the sword and knifes add to the artwork. The cinematography deducting the  crime scene chronology is inspired by Sherlock Homes movie part one, where the deconstruction visually is borrowed from in the technical perspective. There is a scene in the film where Patna lad Sushant uses his Bihari Hindi aka Bhojpuri well, which is very genuine. The takeaway dialogue from the movie is : “The lie closest to the truth is very hard to distinguish”. A punchline indeed. Dibakar certainly knows his actors strengths well. 

The stage design and the background score is its true hero capturing the nuance of the times and the energy of the film. Detective Bakshy’s Bête Noire Dr Guha is the  powerful anti hero in true terms. LSD and Shanghai was just the trailer for Dibakar, with Bakshy he has an Asian Sherlock franchise on its hands. Outstanding film making, at its sincere best.

Shamitabh: A Movie Review

This is my first Bollywood movie watching experience (and movie review in a while) after 16 odd months in Singapore; the last being the slapstick comedy ‘Besharam’ on holiday. This time around is an art house-ish film called ‘Shamitabh’ starring the legendary Mr. Amitabh Bachchan and the Southern star Dhanush better known for his ‘Kolveri di’ viral hit in wider India. The film is a satirical, spoof like take on the antics of Bollywood with a quip that why don’t Maharashtrians get a major break in Bollywood and the dual protagonist says that is the way it is in here, an artificial entry barrier. Danish aka Dhanush in the film is mute, but a obsessive film fan since he was a boy breathing cinema (there is a song track in the film conveying that thought process and persona). Amitabh Bachchan aka Amitabh Sinha on screen is a fail actor turned alcoholic who lives in the graveyard who calls it the house in ‘Mumbai with a garden’ at 500 rupees per month.  Mr. Bachchan in real life was turned down by the All India Radio early on in his career due his iconic baritone and there are dialogues in the film eulogising his trademark baritone in his later years . His weakness became his greatest strength.

There are instances in the film where the award ceremony corruption has been mocked and the inevitable casting couch. Akshara Hassan as the enthusiastic Assistant Director does everything to give mute Danish a break in Bollywood. They stumble across a medical technology in Finland that gives the mute an artificial voice if they can find a voice. Amitabh Bachchan is the voice who shadows Dhanush’s character and gives his acting life. So Shamitabh is born, with Amitabh Bachchan’s voice and Dhanush’s fire in the belly to be an actor. His desire is more than his talent he says in the film and the author of this post whole heartedly agrees with the ethos. Amitabh Bchachan’s drunk/injured mirror scene from the 1970’s film ‘Amar, Akbar, Anthony’ is subtly recreated. 

The tension between the voice and the mute actor’s acting explodes with both parting ways and badly faltering as independent entities. Ego tussles are emotively covered in this cinematic landscape. Love is depicted sensitively between Danish and his mother in rural Maharashtra as with Danish and his Assistant Director confidant which is romantic, but more platonic.

The ending of the film is the best as it is disability is sensitively portrayed  when Shamitabh wish to confess to the world that they are two talents working as one person. They meet an accident in which Danish dies and takes up Amitabh’s so called reserved place in the grave where he usually spends his time. Amitabh who is proud of his vocal chords loses his ‘voice’. The irony is well understood. Never be vain about ones talents as it can be snatched away in a matter of seconds.

Akshara Hassan (quite a find i must say) is fresh and holds her ground in capturing screen space while scolding Danish and Amitabh on managing egos. Music is strategically used as a device to convey the story and the southern master Illiyaraja is spot on. The cinematography is documentary-esque in its technical treatment.

Balki, the Director is an Amitabh Fan Boy and he makes no bones about that. It is a sensitive but enjoyable watch in the era of mega commercial hits without any acting prowess.  Amitabh, Dhanush and Akshara make the film an intellectual and entertaining watch. Dhanush is a powerhouse of an acting talent. We should see more of him in Bollywood fare.

Finally, the film is a dedication to the Valets and support staff of the acting superstars who make their life easier. They deserve the dignity. Thats a beautiful message. Kudos, Balki and Mr. Bachchan.

Interstellar : A Film Review

interstellarInterstellar is an intellectually dense film like Nolan’s previous films such as Inception and Dark Knight. Interstellar connects strands of Food Security and Space Exploration; evokes human emotions such as longing, love, parenting, survival instincts and rational scientific thought. A great campus recruitment video for the  and social institution of science, subtly questions the landing on the moon. In a very Nolan-esque stroke of the cinematic brush, various ends have been tied up to dispense a spell binding narrative, albeit 15 minutes too long.

Ann Hathway as the junior Dr. Brand is gorgeous, and plays her cinematic role well. ‘Cooper’ the ex NASA Pilot turned explorer protagonist of the film is grief stricken from the demise of his wife. He is an absentee engineer, reclectant farmer father, in rural US and his daughter ‘Murph’ and son are being mentored by the Grand Dad. There is striking quip by the Grand Dad; saying that ‘parent teacher conferences’ are not grand parent teacher conferences’. There is some super-natural, gravitational phenomena eating away the harvest every year and human kind is dying with every generation. In this context, space research was treated as discretionary. NASA then was needed but had gone under-ground. How Cooper was tracked down by NASA through Morse Code and a constant mention of Murphy’s Law, Newtons Third Law and other high school physics syntax makes science and geek-ism sexy.

The Senior Dr Brand played by Matthew Caine, as the space pioneer has a certain depth to his presence on the screen. Human Politics is depicted in some detail and the quest for survival. The emphasis on love as an emotion greater then the self and as a raw material for making  ‘human’ , human is the signature take-way from this cinematic opus.

The emphasis on science, satiated my intellectual cravings;  not at all a masala entertainer A Must Watch at a theater near you.