ITV

Category: Reviews

  • ‘Detective Byomkesh Bakshy!’: Lacks twists & turns; is slow

    ‘Detective Byomkesh Bakshy!’: Lacks twists & turns; is slow

    MUMBAI: As is apparent from the name, Detective Byomkesh Bakshy! falls in the detective genre, the kind that has not been tried in some time. Set in WW II Calcutta of 1942, it can be termed as a period detective saga. It is based on the famous detective character, Byomkesh Bakshy, created by writer Sharadindu Bandopadhyay, which has been made into many TV and movie versions.

     

    Sushant Singh Rajput, who plays Byomkesh, is just finishing his college and is uncertain about his future plans. Anand Tiwari, a batch mate, learns that his father has gone missing and he asks Sushant to help find him. 

     

    Sushant has this knack for observing and making logical deductions. Sushant refuses to help saying his father may have committed some crime and vanished. This earns him a slap from Anand. 

     

    However, Sushant gets back to Anand and agrees to help him. He starts with checking in into the same guest house, Anukul Lodge.  This where Anand’s father also stayed and from where he had gone missing. Sushant is an accidental detective and he beats around the bush, looking for clues everywhere. His suspicion hovers around a suddenly shut down chemical factory owned by a politician from where, finally, Anand’s father’s dead body is recovered.

     

    The politician is booked but even while the DCP is interrogating him, it strikes Sushant that the politician is being framed. On his word, the DCP lets him go. The trial and error method of detecting continues while the truth is right around Sushant as he searches far and wide. 

     

    The plot thickens as the theme expands its scope from a murder of a chemistry scholar to heroin to the local politics to free the country to a plot to pave the way for the entry of Japanese troop through the river Ganga! 

     

    There is also a conflict between a Chinese drug dealer and a presumed dead rival who has hijacked tons of heroin of the Chinese.

     

    After all this detective work done by Sushant, the film is taken to its conclusion in a traditional way by collecting people concerned under one roof. The culprit being one of them is a given. As happens in all detective stories, Sushant takes to retelling the plot, laying bare the intentions of culprit and who it is. How you wish you were told this an hour earlier.

     

    The problem with Detective Byomkesh Bakshy! is that it is too slow and lacks the twists and turns and red herrings that such a story needs. It therefore has no grip. The script needed to be tight. Visually too it is drab with indoor scenes being dimly lit while outdoor ones are dulled even more with smoke added for effect. 

     

    While the background score is effective, songs are chosen keeping the period in mind and, hence, lack appeal to today’s listener. 

     

    What lands some relief to the viewer is Sushant’s pleasant outlook (which other regional actors don’t quite have). Of the women, Swastika Mukherjee brings some oomph though as a performer she has limits. Anand is good and so is Divya Menon despite getting a limited exposure. Meiyang Chang is a good addition to character artistes. The one who impresses is Neeraj Kabi (who also threatens a sequel at the end).

    Detective Byomkesh Bakshy! is slow and offers nothing to recommend it.

     

    Producers: Aditya Chopra, Dibakar Banerjee

     

    Director: Dibakar Banerjee

     

    Cast: Sushant Singh Rajput, Anand Tiwari, Neeraj Kabi, Divya Menon, Swastika Mukherjee, Meiyang Chang, Mark Bennington, Takanori Kikuchi, Shivam, Dr Kaushik Ghosh, Anindya Banerjee, Arindol Bagchi, Peter Wong, Pradipto Kumar Chakraborty, Manoshi Nath, Moumita Chakraborty, Tirtha Mallick, Prasun Gain, Aryann Bhaumik, Prashant Kumar & Nishant Kumar, Shaktipada Dey, Sandip Bhattacharya, Piyali Ray.

     

  • Barkhaa…Who?

    Barkhaa…Who?

    MUMBAI: Barkhaa is an old fashioned story revisited. It is about a city lad on a visit to a picturesque location where he falls for another visitor. As a modern version, the theme is about one sided love, an obsession and about his love ending up in a dance bar.

     

    Taaha Shah, a reputed and wealthy lawyer’s son, is on a visit to Haryana, where he spots Sara Loren and falls in love with her. She is not aware of his feelings or scrutiny. But, soon, Sara has vanished from the scene and Tahaa does not know where to look for her.

     

    Back to routine, he is asked to run an errand for his lawyer father, Puneet Issar, to meet a dance bar owner client of his. Taaha is invited by the bar owner to come visit his bar. When Taaha does so, he gets an unpleasant surprise. Sara is one of the bar dancers at the joint. Now, Taaha may be obsessed with Sara but, for a reputed, traditional Tahaa, son of a renowned lawyer, a bar girl is not supposed to be an ideal object of romance.

     

    Since Taaha is in a quandary as his love for Sara is overpowering, he is drawn to the bar constantly. He lands up there and takes to drinking. He drowns his sorrows and shock of his love being a dance bar girl by just looking at her every day without communicating.

     

    Sara is not a mere bar girl, she is talented too and has penned a book, which Taaha is invited to inaugurate. After reading the book, Taaha learns the story of Sara’s life, her betrayal by Taaha’s own friend and her having been left with a child out of wedlock.  The book mentions no author’s name but Taaha somehow connects it to Sara.

     

    It is time for the old-fashioned melodrama. Taaha is summoned to his hospitalized mother. Meanwhile, Issar is plotting to get Sara out of Taaha’s life. As a reputed lawyer, he can’t have a bar girl as his daughter in law. But, such films are all about happy endings. So be it.

     

    Sara acts well and has a good presence. Taaha does well. The direction is fair and the film has a pleasant musical score.

     

    But with no face value and a lack of promotion, Barkhaa will only add to numbers, nothing to box office.

     

    Producer: Shaban Hashmi.

    Director: Shadaa Mirza.

    Cast: Sara Loren, Taaha Shah, Puneet Issar.

  • ‘Hunterrr’: Aimless

    ‘Hunterrr’: Aimless

    MUMBAI: The kind of films one comes across nowadays is puzzling, that too in the era of Rs 200+ admission rates at multiplexes while there is very little property left in the name of single screens across the country and what is worse, that too has a negligible audience.

    Hunterrr is a misnomer in all sense as the hero of the film, Gulshan Devaiya, describes himself as a Vasu. Now, Vasu is a typical Marathi slang describing a man akin to a dog chasing and sniffing a bitch! Wonder where our filmmakers are heading. Also, the film has a lot of Marathi flavour; all of the toilet humour kind. What is worse, all the slangs used in the trailors of the film find no place in the film.

    Devaiya is some kind of sex fiend, who is against the institution of marriage. He is happy scoring with unattached or unattended women comparing need for sex with a perfect bowel movement every morning. He makes his moves on girls and women and, at times, also gets beaten for his adventures. But, his pursuit continues come what may. The film goes on to show a couple of his affairs once where he lures a young college girl while other is with a married woman staying across his PG accommodation.

    This part about the married woman takes most of the first half and is stretched beyond need of the story just because it is the most titillating part of the film and, as the actress in this case, Sai Tamhankar, is willing to expose as demanded. But, in a predictable turn of events, Sai’s husband finds out what is going on behind his back and Devaiya is on the run again. He is always on the run: sometimes from a restaurant or a hostel or a PG flat when his ‘Vasugiri’ backfires.

    Producers: Kirti Nakhwa, Rohit Chugani, Ketan Maru, Vikas Bahl, Vikramaditya Motwane, Anurag Kashyap.

    Director: Harshwardhan Kulkarni.

    Cast: Gulshan Devaiya, Radhika Apte, Sai Tamhankar, Sagar Deshmukh, Veera Saxena

    Come interval, Devaiya is now ready for an arranged marriage as his parents think it is time he settled down. He is made to meet Radhika Apte. Both meet a couple of times as in ‘getting to know each other’ exercise. Devaiya has now learnt to say he never dated any woman thanks to his friend’s advice. Earlier, whenever he confessed to his true nature, the girls walked out on him.

    Radhika has one giant sized skeleton in her own closet. Just when she is getting close to Devaiya, that skeleton comes out of the closet. But, then, this is a different era. Not because such films are made or such relationships are accepted. These themes were made even in 1960; only now the intentions are to sell sex rather than a story.

    Hunterrr starts on a lighter note but, thereafter, it goes on unendingly to reach a conclusion. It keeps jumping from present to past and vice versa and from Pune to Mumbai and vice versa and you don’t know which of it you are watching.

    The film was a fair idea, the script is a mess and the length unbearable. Direction is missing. Songs sans lip-sync pass unnoticed. Editor could have done wonders by chopping off about 30 minutes off. As for performances, Devaiya, to his credit, does look like a typical Vasu. Sai is good since she is forthcoming though her character is ill-defined as is her need to indulge. Radhika just fits the mould of a modern uncertain woman. Sagar Deshmukh does well.

    The idea in Hunterrr is to titillate the youth but the film is tagged with an A certificate; while it loses a chunk of the youth because of A certificate, it loses out on family patronage thanks to its theme.

    ‘Dozakh In Search Of Heaven’: Festival fare

    Dozakh In Search of Heaven is a different kind of movie experience in that it tries to juxtapose two religious beliefs, Hinduism and Islam. While elders stay rooted steadfastly to their beliefs and rituals, a young boy of 12 sees things from his own logic and eventually finds his own solution to the differences between the two.

    Producers: Zaigham Imam, Pawan Tiwari.

    Director: Zaigham Imam

    Cast: Lalit Mohan Tiwar, Nazim Khan, Garrick Chaudhary, Pawan Tiwari, Ruby Saini.

    Garrick Chaudhary studies at the local school in a small village close to the holy city of Varanasi. While he also always wears his skullcap and learns to read Quran from a maulvi, the major influence in his life comes from his school where some lessons deal with Hindu beliefs. The village is peaceful, without any demarcations between the communities, and Garrick is part of everything that his friends do, from studying to playing cricket to playing a role in Ram Leela.

    It is not the same with elders though. The two sides are represented by a muazzin, Lalit Mohan Tiwari and, a Panditji, the local temple pujari, Nazim Khan (the casting seems symbolic). They are both zealous about their religion while at the same time making sure to irritate their counterparts. The morning aarti and calling of azaan times are in conflict. As the azaan is being called from a mike, the Pandit’s temple bells toll more vigorously and vice versa.

    Garrick’s Quran teacher maulvi is dead and Tiwari is on his way to the burial, it being an act of sajda to give shoulder to a dead body and then to help fill his tomb with a symbolic handful of dirt. Garrick decides to join his father, Tiwari, in the ritual but his small mind is shocked to see how deep the pit is to bury the body. His question to his father is, if the dead are meant to go to heaven, why bury them so deep in to ground; how would they make their way there?

    Panditji, on his part, is very fond of Garrick, notwithstanding the fact that he is a Muslim boy. He tends to him, and tells him stories about river Ganga, which definitely holds interest for people who live near Varanasi. While the Pandit invites Garrick to share the Prasad from the offerings made in his temple, he also explains to the boy how pious the river Ganga is and why Hindus prefer to cremate dead people on the Ganga ghat and later immerse the ashes in the Holy River. Garrick gets an opportunity to visit Varanasi to buy some supplies for the small stall his father runs. He includes a boat ride on Ganga in his itinerary and is fascinated by his experience.

    But then, the woman he loves most, his mother, Ruby Saini, dies in an accident while out to buy chicken for her son. But, this time Garrick revolts against burying his mother deep down in the ground. He even tries one night to dig up the grave and free his mother to facilitate her journey to heaven.

    Now Garrick is missing and later found dead. His body is found in a morgue in Varanasi. Tiwari gets help from a rickshaw driver, Pawan Tiwari, and goes ahead and does the unthinkable for a man of his beliefs and status in his community. He honours his son’s wishes and gives him a cremation at the Ganga ghat, finally immersing some of his ashes in Ganga and taking some back home to merge them with the dirt on the tomb of his wife.

    Based on a novel, the film takes a bold stand. It is too slow and takes a toll on its viewer but is sure to get a reaction from those who watch it. Commercial possibilities seem to be the last thing on makers’ minds.

  • ‘NH 10’: Highway to nowhere

    ‘NH 10’: Highway to nowhere

    MUMBAI: NH 10 is a film that could easily have been in the horror genre. Normally, when a newly married couple would go on a holiday in order to leave behind their hectic city life, they would book into a haveli or jungle lodge. All kinds of eerie things would start happening to them. NH 10 veers from the mould. In this case, the couple tries to make up for their hurried honeymoon by going on a holiday, driving from their home in Gurgaon along National Highway 10, which terminates in Punjab. But most of its length passes through Haryana, the khap land.

    Anushka Sharma works for a company in Gurgaon where her presentations are always a hit with the boss. One night she is called in late and on her way back, she is cornered by a pair of bikers backed up by their other goons in a car behind. Anushka somehow manages to get away from the situation but that paves way for her to obtain a gun licence, the top cop being close to her husband, Neil Bhoopalam.

    The couple embark on their trip enjoying mild romantic banter and dreaming of things they could do together once there. Since it is celebration time, Neil even gifts Anushka a packet of cigarettes. A dhaba is a must stop place and both decide to refresh at one. Anushka takes time off in the loo for a smoke when a woman approaches her and asks to save her life.

    That’s when a commotion attracts Neil’s attention. About half a dozen people are violently beating up a couple, the woman being the same who pleaded with Anushka in the loo. Neil’s good citizen conscious makes him intervene, only to be punched and humiliated by the girl’s brother. She has married outside her ‘gotra’ and that is taboo in this place. Her fate is sealed as is that of her lover.

    Neil being a hot-blooded North Indian youth finds being beaten in front of his wife unacceptable. He arms himself with the pistol granted to Anushka for self-protection and decides to follow the guys to avenge the punches. He feels supremely confident of overpowering a bunch of uncouth men and follows them deep into woods where he witnesses them burying the boy and girl alive in a pit. Now he has no clue how and when to flaunt his gun. As a result, he ends up shooting the most innocent, mentally challenged lad who was part of the bunch but had nothing to do with their acts.

    Producers: Vikramaditya Motwane, Anurag Kashyap, Vikas Bahl, Anushka Sharma, Sunil Lulla, Karnesh Sharma

    Director: Navdeep Singh

    Cast: Anushka Sharma, Neil Bhoopalam, Darshan Kumar, Deepti Naval

    After this, neither his gun nor his contact with the Delhi top cop are of any use to him. Anushka and Neil are now a hunted couple in a land where every person including the cops identify with the philosophy of the killer bunch. Neil is rendered immobile as a result of a stab wound in his thigh and Anushka is left alone to fend for them both.

    In her pursuit to find help as well as save herself from the killers, Anushka goes into the jungle. There is no sign of a state highway, let alone the National Highway 10. She is told by the cops that the real Haryana and khap rule starts where the glitzy malls of Gurgaon end.

    Until about 20 minutes before the film ends, Anushka is a cross Haryana runner, stopping only when she finally gets shelter with a village sarpanch, Deepti Naval. Here again, another surprise awaits her. Her husband, Neil, has been killed. As if one of the goons is a clairvoyant, he declares that the injured Neil is lying at the railway underpass and they proceed to deal with him before resuming the chase for Anushka. Neil clears the way for Anushka, whose money rides on this film to seek the ultimate revenge and, hence, it has to be her show from here onwards.

    Though there are numerous such films of a woman spurned, from Bride Wore Black, Black Widow to our own Kahaani, NH 10 betters none of them. It moves on totally predictable lines and offers no edge-of-the-seat kind thrills. Though Anushka decides to get even eventually, there is nothing heroic about it. As is the trend among contemporary makers, this film too is shot largely in low light but the use of night vision cameras saves the situation to some extent. 

    Since the script is uninspiring and lacks twists and turns, the director is also largely at sea. There is no support from the romance between the lead protagonists. Even music fails to inspire. As for background score, one is too occupied to find some meaning in the film to even notice it. If Anushka was hoping for an award-winning film, well she certainly may be a contender. Neil is fairly good though he has limited scope. Darshan Kumar as the baddie in chief is impressive. Deepti Naval is good in a brief role.

    NH 10 is a tedious watch. The film has the advantage of a solo release but the exams period and the ‘A’ certificate will go against it.

     

  • ‘Badmashiyaan’: Nothing of that sort

    ‘Badmashiyaan’: Nothing of that sort

    When one watches a film like Badmashiyaan  one can’t help but wonder: where do such films come from? A banter over drinks? Or, simply, a desire to feel the glamour and glitz of the film industry and an overwhelming desire to belong? For as soon as the film starts to unwind, you know it is a disaster unreeling on the screen.

    There is this girl, Suzanna Mukherjee, who pretends to fall in love with vulnerable men for the sole purpose of conning them. Fall in love, promise marriage, and vanish via the loo after looting them. Her first victim is Sidhant Gupta, a café owner in Chandigarh. Totally besotted with her, he begs, borrows, steals and buys a two crore house to settle his future wife, Suzanna. On a date at a café, she takes time off to go to loo and never returns. 

    Gupta is heartbroken while Suzanna has found a new target, Sharib Hashmi, a Haryanvi don notwithstanding the fact that we have had too much of these UP, Bihar and Haryanvi dons, comic as well as caricatures. 

    Suzanna makes away with some five lakh of the don’s cash, her accomplice is picked up and stripped naked by the don’s man. In case you happen to watch the film and miss it, this is supposed to be the comic element in the film! On his part, the don does not want his money back (despite wasting an hour of running time beating up this poor sod and stripping him to find where the money is), he has fallen head over heels in love with Suzanna and he wants her instead. 

    Producer: Vijay Gutte

    Director: Amit Khanna

    Cast: Suzanna Mukherjee, Sharib Hashmi, Sidhant Gupta, Karan Mehra, Gunjan Malhotra

    If watching this film is an ordeal, writing about it is even bigger torture. 

    Nobody performs in this film and that includes the writer, director and actors. 

    In a year that has seen some of the worst films being released, Badmashiyaan takes the crown for the first quarter of 2015.

     

    ‘Dirty Politics’: What’s the other kind?

    Producer: Nihal farhat

    Director: K. C. Bokadia

    Cast: Suzanna Mallika Sherawat, Jackie Shroff, Ashutosh Rana, Anupam Kher, Om Puri, Naseeruddin Shah

    Eons back, celebrated and one of the most gifted filmmakers, Kundan Shah, was working on a script about a Maharashtrian Tamasha girl going on to become the Chief Minister of the state. I suppose the film was too regional in flavour besides the fact that political themes don’t go down well with our audience and, hence, never made.

    Here, a similar theme seems to have been used for titillation rather than to weave a story around the idea that in politics, anything is possible. 

    Mallika Sherawat, a dancer, has a powerful politician fan in Om Puri. Their proximity sows the seeds of political ambitions in her. But, alas, come elections and she is not on the list of nominees. So she decides to use her ticket to attain her goal: CDs of close encounters between her and Puri, which would defame Puri and ruin his political career. 

    How corny can a plot get when people nowadays don’t care who sleeps with whom as long as they deliver? (Reminds me of a prominent politician spokesperson cum lawyer whose explicit videos were on public domain and he still continues to be all that he used to be!) What follows is predictable. Sherawat goes missing and all sorts of corny plots and subplots follow. 

    The film stars some of the great actors like Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri, Anupam Kher besides Jackie Shroff and Ashutosh Rana but the script, the direction and Sherawat make sure they are rendered ineffective totally; they are neutralised by everything in this film of which they had no reason to be a part.

     

  • ‘Dum Laga Ke Haisha’….Missing audience

    ‘Dum Laga Ke Haisha’….Missing audience

    MUMBAI: Dum Laga Ke Haisha is very unlike a Yash Raj Films product. It gives you nothing of that finesse most of their films boast of. What’s more, Bhumi Pednekar, who makes her debut with this film, is not the kind who can become a heartthrob of young men. She is not the traditional slim, stylish, chiffon clad actress Yash Raj women are identified with. Also, unlike most of their films, this one is about a traditional middleclass family based in a small town Haridwar of mid 1990s.

    Ayushmann Khurrana, the only son of Sanjay Mishra, looks after the family tape recording shop but is a zero when it comes to studies and is deficient in English. He is a huge Kumar Sanu fan. He is shy and terrified of his dominating father. His father has decided it is time to get him married and the match is found in Bhumi, a fat chubby girl who loves to dance and never wears clothes that match. However, she is better qualified and ready to become a teacher.

    The marriage is performed notwithstanding Khurrana’s reluctance. The first night draws a blank and Bhumi starts working on attracting Khurrana towards her. Her first stop is a lingerie shop. Let alone loving her, Khurrana is even ashamed of the fact that she is his wife. But Bhumi is determined and not the kind to take taunts and insults as she gives it back to Khurrana’s aunt and also ends up slapping Khurrana when she hears him insult her behind her back. Bhumi has had enough and is ready to return to her parents.

    Producer: Manish Sharma

    Director: Sharat Kataria

    Cast: Ayushmann Khurrana, Bhumi Pednekar, Sanjay Mishra

    The dual continues as both miss no opportunity to make each other conscious of their problems. There is a scene where she plays the tape with a song to provoke Khurrana and he on his part comes out of bathroom with soap all over him to play another song to give it back to her. This turns out to be a medley of old songs. And there are times when Khurrana finds it tough to balance his scooter with Bhumi on the pillion.

    The story may not find identification with today’s audience initially but its simplicity may finally touch them. The director makes sure he keeps it as simple and maintains its old-fashioned native flavour. However, one thing that stands out as an eyesore is Khurrana’s dressing; there is nothing native about it as his costumes are dandy. Anu Malik stages a comeback and with him come some sensible lyrics and soulful tunes in ‘Moh moh ke dhage….’ As Kumar Sanu gives other two songs, ‘Dard karaara…’and ‘Tu’ the ‘90s feeling. The dialogue has subtle humour. The film is 111 minutes long and becomes more lively post interval.

    Khurrana is good in a subdued role. Bhumi is impressive. Sanjay Mishra, as usual, stands out. The rest are good as supporting cast.

    Though watchable, Dum Laga Ke Haisha has not been given due publicity and has opened poorly with very little chance of catching up.

     

    ‘Ab Tak Chhappan 2’.. Ab tak enough!

    Ab Tak Chhappan 2 as the title suggests is a sequel to Ab Tak Chhappan, released 11 years back to the day (27 February, 2004). This also suggests that the sequel has come too late as the theme of specialist police shooters, called encounter specialists, has passed its expiry date and is no more relevant. Also, so many bullets have been fired since by all and sundry (good as well as bad) that a gun-toting cop is no longer exciting.

    Nana Patekar is encounter specialist Sadhu Agashe, is facing court cases for unsanctioned killings of criminals. He is happy whiling away his time fishing, making meals for his teenaged son and playing marbles in his native village somewhere in Goa. The criminals have resurfaced and there is chaos in the city of Mumbai. The ex-commissioner, Mohan Agashe, is summoned by CM Dilip Prabhavalkar and HM Vikram Gokhale, during whose tenure as police chief the encounter specialist team was formed and underworld reined in.

    Agashe suggests Nana be brought back even as two other senior cops, Ashutosh Rana and Govind Namdeo, disagree with the idea. For his part, Nana too is reluctant despite an offer to withdraw all litigation against him. However, his son convinces him finally to go back since he is a cop and not a fisherman.

    Producers: Raju Chadha

    Director: Aejaz Gulab

    Cast: Nana Pateka, Gul Panag, Mohan Agashe, Govind Namdev, Raj Zutshi, Vikram Gokhale, Ashutosh Rana

    So Nana is back heading the force with a very resistant Rana as an enemy within. It is business as usual as Nana goes on a shooting spree, killing a goon first and then telling the viewers about the deceased. They are just dummies. But, the joke is about the two dons who rule over Mumbai underworld; one is a suave, computer-wiz Raj Zutshi, holed up somewhere abroad because he is scared of his rival, a nondescript actor, who may just pass off as a street side gunda, least of all a big time don!

    As has been reported often, these specialists also work on behest of dons and that happens in this story too as it did in the earlier version 11 years back. Nothing is new. Nana’s wife was shot dead in part one, this time his son falls to the villains’ bullets. That is the final push he needs.

    However, there is an effort to salvage the already sunk plot; this is not just another cop story, there is a twist though a very predictable one from reel one. There is a greedy politician pulling strings.

    Ab Tak Chhappan 2 is built on a wrong premise: just about everything about it is misconceived. The script is run of the mill and the direction is copy book; nothing original or inspirational. Camera angles are corny. Thankfully, there are no songs and the background score is okay. Despite a tolerable 105-minute duration, the film gives the feeling of being lengthy; some crisp editing could have brought it down to maybe 90 minutes.

    Dialogue is very tacky. There is no scope for performances and Nana sticks to being Nana. So do Rana and Namdeo, who stick to their routine. Gul Panag, whose character is forced in, is a misfit and miscast. Prabhavalkar has little to make an impact. The only actor who makes his presence felt is Gokhale.

    Ab Tak Chhappan 2 has had a miserable opening and may find it hard to last the week.

     

  • Badlapur: Don’t Miss The Beginning….Noir has its limits

    Badlapur: Don’t Miss The Beginning….Noir has its limits

    MUMBAI: If the title of the film makes you wonder why the tagline is part of the name, it could be because similar titles are not allowed by the producers’ associations and their title registration committee (Badlapur Boys was a recent release). Or, it could be just a smart move because if you miss the beginning, Badalpur will make no sense to you. The cause of what follows relates to the events right at the start.

    Badlapur is a noir film where the hero is the anti-hero taking same route as the criminals who destroyed him. He blurs the line between good and bad. The story has a touch of James Hadley Chase and films like Ittefaq (1969) or the recent one, Ek Villain. 

    Varun Dhawan is a well settled ad agency executive. Having married his college beau, he has a cute son. His family is everything to him. He is just getting over a presentation for a campaign for a bra when shattering news reaches him. His son and his wife, Yami Gautam, were taken as shields by a bank robber duo, Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Vinay Pathak. This robbers had not planned on an escape vehicle and have taken Yami’s car along with her and their son. 

    As a traffic cop is an eyewitness, soon the police posse follows the duo. In the process, the child falls out of the car and not being able to control Yami, Nawazuddin shoots her. While Pathak makes a run for it with the money and gun, Nawazuddin is nabbed. Even while he keeps saying he is just a driver and the other guy killed Yami, he is read a sentence of 20 years in jail. Neither the police nor a private detective engaged by Varun can find out who his partner was. 

    Producers: Dinesh Vijan, Sunil Lulla.

    Director: Sriram Raghvan.

    Cast: Varun Dhawan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Yami Gautam, Vinay Pathak, Huma Quereshi, Radhika Apte, Pratima Kazmi

    Varun now has no cause more important than to get the culprits. A one-minute scene with his family and in-laws fails to convince him to start anew. He shifts bag and baggage to Badlapur where Nawazuddin is jailed for twenty years. Also, he has to find the other culprit. This is a long-winded process which you traverse together with the narration. Nawazuddin is right in front of him but there is nothing Varun can do to get his hands on him; Pathak’s whereabouts are not known.

    Varun goes about it clinically, approaching Nawazuddin’s mother and prostitute girlfriend, Huma Qureshi, to glean any information he can. Nobody seems to know anything about the second criminal until a situation is created in the script when Varun helps Pathak’s wife, stranded on a deserted road one night with a flat tyre. The same liberty with the script could have been taken a bit sooner to keep the narration pacey. Varun is now on Pathak’s trail.

    As for Nawazuddin, Divya Dutta comes out of the blue to sort things out for Varun. She is a social worker who helps to resettle criminals. Nawazuddin has been in the cell for 15 years now, making futile attempts to escape time and again. He is now ailing with cancer with a year to live at best. Divya wants Varun to issue a pardon note in his favour so he is freed and can live a year the way he wants. 

    Nawazuddin’s mother also comes to Varun with same plea. He agrees in exchange for the name of the other culprit which happens to be the husband of the woman with a flat tyre he helped one night.

    Sriram Raghvan has based his film on a crime story by Italian writer, Massimo Carlotto, and he is in his element with his favourite kind of cinema. However, Nawazuddin seeking redemption rather than revenge in the climax may disappoint lovers of commercial entertainment. The film has excellent cinematography and the background score complements the proceedings. Music as far as songs go, does not work; the film could very well have done without them. Editing needed to be brisker.   

    As for the performances, Nawazuddin is outstanding and at his most natural. Varun shows he can deliver even while not playing a song and dance role. The girls, Yami Gautam, Huma Qureshi, Radhika Apte and Pratima Kazmi, though having little to do justify their apt casting. Vinay Pathak is fair.

    Badlapur: Don’t Miss The Beginning, being the genre it is, has limited its prospective audience. The film has opened to tepid response, too.

    Qissa: The Tale Of A Lonely Ghost – One for the festivals

    Qissa: The Tale Of A Lonely Ghost (Punjabi) is a film made to earn accolades from the world audience as well as the discerning audience and the student of cinema in India. The film’s genre can’t be easily defined as it moves from India’s partition to male desire for a boy child to supernatural to a story of two star-crossed girls. Since the story revolves around a Sikh family, the language used is Punjabi to keep the flavour of the narration natural.

    Producers: Heimatfilm, Augustus Film, Ciné-Sud Promotion, National Film Development Corporation of India (NFDC).

    Director: Anup Singh.

    Cast: Irrfan Khan, Tisca Chopra, Tillotama Shome, Rasika Duggal.

    Irrfan Khan is a de-stabilised Sikh who migrates safely to Punjab on the Indian side with his wife and daughters during the partition. He is an MCP who craves for a son this time when wife, Tisca Chopra, becomes pregnant again. He already has three daughters. 

    It has been four years since the partition but now Khan is a very successful timber contractor with a lavish mansion for his residence. The fourth child is born but an attempt has been made to keep the gender a secret from the viewer though it’s not tough to fathom this is a girl again. For a moment you are made to believe Khan will kill her. Not so. He decides to believe and pretend this is a boy and rears her as such. The girl, Tillotama Shome, is the apple of his eye as he enrols her for physical training as well as wrestling practice. He also takes her on hunting expeditions. His wife, Tisca goes along with the charade.

    The girl is now 12 and puberty knocks she spots blood on her bed. Khan wants her to keep mum about it! The pretence goes on till Shome and another girl, Rasika Duggal, get entwined. Duggal, a gypsy girls falls for Shome and so does Shome forgetting in her pretence that she too is a girl. Shome has molested Duggal and both their parents are witness. Khan suggests a marriage between the two. This is where the plot gets complicated. Shome is left to fend for herself in this situation. 

    But, Khan has an obsession with a male name bearer for the family and one night, he tries to force himself on Duggal to give her a male child, which Shome can’t. Shome adores her father but not enough to tolerate him forcing himself on Duggal; she shoots her father with the very double barrel he gifted her and taught her to use.

    The film enters a new chapter, it goes on to become a supernatural saga. Khan’s desire for a male heir does not let his soul rest; he is now a ghost haunting his old house. He somehow wants his ‘son’ Shome’s wife, Duggal to bear a son!

    Meanwhile, Shome suffers a lot as the woman in her wants to surface and she can’t keep up with the pretence anymore. She exhibits her femininity for the whole village to see. When the villagers want to hunt her down, Khan enters her body with a purpose to indulge Duggal and, finally, produce a male child. 

    The thing about Qissa is that, after a while, it may look bizarre and morbid. Good of the makers not to indulge in same sex scenes while there was ample scope or, at least, not in the Indian version (after all, NFDC is involved). 

    The film is excellent technically with international names in its credits. Director is gutsy to take up this subject but then such a film is all about making a name, not money. The technical aspects sure are a lesson for a student of cinema. 

  • ‘Roy’: Shot in the dark

    ‘Roy’: Shot in the dark

    MUMBAI: The title often shows a lack of imagination and is an indication of what is to follow. Roy, as it turns out after eons through the film, is the name Ranbir Kapoor goes by. Roy looks like a film inspired by watching a lot of the last century’s Hollywood and European films.

    Arjun Rampal is a film maker, who is on his third version of a series, Guns III, having earlier made two very successful versions. His inspiration comes from a suave robber, Ranbir Kapoor, who steals antiques and paintings. Having bumped into Ranbir once, he puts Ranbir’s exploits on screen.

    This once, Rampal is stuck for ideas and keeps working on his antique typewriter but nothing comes across on paper that he can go with. He realizes he needs inspiration. He proceeds to Malaysia without a script and starts shooting the film at random. No wonder then that what he comes up with through the Roy’s first part looks like a film to promote Malaysian tourism.

    Soon, Rampal finds his inspiration in Jacqueline Fernandez. She is in Malaysia to shoot a short film. Rampal makes her a part of his story. Roy is out to steal a part of a portrait of which the other part is with his handler. There is a huge offer if both the parts are available together to complete the portrait. Rampal manipulates his story idea where now the part of the portrait is in Jacqueline’s possession from where Ranbir will steal it. For this purpose, he also finds an actress who is Jacqueline’s lookalike.

    Producers: Divya Khosla Kumar, Bhushan Kumar, Krishan Kumar
    Director: Vikramjit Singh
    Cast: Arjun Rampal, Jacqueline Frenandez, Ranbir Kapoor, Anupam Kher (guest role), Shibani Dandekar

    As in most of the film, what happens thereafter is beyond understanding. The job is made easy for Ranbir as the actress has lured Ranbir to her bed and he just has to pick up the portrait hanging on the wall and make an early departure. Actually, it is all quite confusing.

    This is a film of whims and fancy. There is no script and a thin line about a thief inspiring film stories, which qualifies as cock and bull stuff. The director has no clue what he wants to make and seems to think that shooting low light dark scenes makes one a genius. The film, however, has excellent visual value backed by a good background score. Mumbling passes as dialogue and is not easy to catch. Songs are good but orchestra overpowers the lyrics.

    There is little in this film for actors: Rampal is lovelorn but hardly looks it. Ranbir Kapoor sleepwalks through his brief role. Jacqueline emerges the most sincere of the lot. Anupam Kher has a brief role, which is irrelevant.

    Roy is a waste of lot of resources with no hope of returns.

     

     

     

    ‘MSG: The Messenger’: Of self-gratification

    Having gained some recognition through media because of his numerous controversies, Sant Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Ji Insan, as he calls himself, decides to use his film watching hobby to help promote him and his cult, Dera Sacha Sauda, on a national level. The result is MSG: The Messenger, a film for the janata.

    Producer: Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Ji Insan

    Director: Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Ji Insan

    Cast: Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Ji Insan

    And, no he does need stars to project him on screen; he can do it himself. So the Insan plays himself as a pure hearted person who is clean of thoughts and deeds, full of energy and preaches others to be like himself.

    Insan does all the things NGOs around the world do: organises de-addiction programmes, blood donation camps, cleans streets, plants trees, rescues women from prostitution and also resettles eunuchs.

    Insan also has a cure for his followers’ ailments through his ‘Ruhaani jaam,’ which is his own concoction. Insan also fights the evils of the world as he can fly, throw a mean punch and do all the stunts seen in Hollywood and Indian films.

    The film, all of its 190+ minutes has Insan, each and every frame of it. What else would you expect? His costumes are garish and loud but that he has been seen to wear even in his real life.

    Insan has done everything in this film from producing, directing, scripting, cinematography et al.

    To make further sure his ‘hard work’ pays, Insan has also bought out tickets worth crores to make sure his followers don’t miss it!

  • ‘Shamitabh’….Amitabh unleashed!

    ‘Shamitabh’….Amitabh unleashed!

    MUMBAI: R Balki’s films are described as novel by Shamitabh’s lead actor, Amitabh Bachchan. But the system of a Hindi-speaking person dubbing for South Indian actors or vice versa is age old reality. So is that of one person dubbing for another. There is nothing new in Shamitabh except that here a mute person aspires to be a star and a voice is found for him.

    Dhanush is a small time lad from Igatpuri in Maharashtra helping his mother sell batata vada at the local state transport bus stop. Whatever money he gets, he spends on movies. When the cinema hall is brought down he barters with a video library, giving free batata vada and pakoda in exchange for a movie. That is where he also gets introduced to Hollywood movies.

    Dhanush is mute but is convinced he is an ace actor and can somehow make it big in the films. He often tries to run away from his village to reach Mumbai but is brought back once by convincing him that he is still too young to become a film star and again when his mother pretends to be sick so that he stays back.

    There comes a time when his mother is really ill and passes away. The way is open for Dhanush to go to Mumbai and try his luck. After a couple of failures in entering studios and trying to reach the famous film directors like Raju Hirani, Karan Johar, Rohit Shetty and so on, he finally makes it to a studio where he comes across Akshara Haasan, an assistant director who sympathises with this mute guy from a small town. She asks him to perform a scene and shoots it on her cell phone. Her director boss is duly impressed and decides to give him break. But what to do about his voice?

    Producers: Sunil Lulla, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, RK Damani, Gauri Shinde, Abhishek Bachchan.

    Director: R Balki.

    Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Dhanush, Akshara Haasan and cameos by Rekha, Javed Akhtar, Karan Johar, Rohit Shetty etc.

    The way out is to find a voice for him who will not dub for him but will playback his dialogue on his behalf. After some voice tests, they suddenly come across Bachchan, a weird character and a drunkard with a Christian cemetery as his abode. Bachchan has no solid back story for turning into what he has. The cemetery keeper charges him rent and also doubles up as his Man Friday. Now everybody knows about Bachchan’s rich voice, which does not quite match Dhanush’s personality. But, in the film’s story, that is what works for Dhanush since the film highlights mainly this aspect leaving aside his famous acting prowess which impressed those concerned.

    After some coaxing, Bachchan agrees to be the voice of Dhanush because he can get even with the entertainment industry; he had come to Mumbai forty years back to try his luck first in films and later on radio (the radio rejection happened to him in real life). Both rejected him because the filmmakers found his voice like that of a villain (no idea why he did not get a villain’s role!). He can now make a star out of Dhanush on the strength of his voice.

    Dhanush’s debut film makes it to the screen and in the very first weekend, he has become a superstar breaking the collection records of Aamir Khan as well as Salman Khan! He has taken the screen name of Shamitabh, combining his and Bachchan’s name as that makes him complete as an actor. But, no sooner does Dhanush become a star, he gets into an ego struggle with his voice, Bachchan: is he successful because of his acting or is it the rich voice he borrows from Bachchan?

    The voice acting conflict is introduced too early and goes on and on, becoming repetitive. If acting is what took Dhanush to the top, it is not emphasised on with most of the time the focus being on Bachchan and his booming voice. Finally comes a time when the ego clash leads to a parting of ways. While Dhanush attempts to prove himself with a film about deaf and mute love story, Bachchan tries to prove his point by lending his voice to another aspiring actor, who stammers and can’t deliver dialogues. Both fail in their respective efforts and realise that they complement each other. Akshara plays the mediator to bring them together.

    If Bachchan were to play only Dhanush’s voice, there would not have been much to do for him in the film. So there is extended footage on his lifestyle. Also, what he did very successfully for the first time in Amar Akbar Anthony, the mime in front of a mirror, and later in another film has been overused here. Bachchan is made to give multiple monologues which not only stretch the film but also bring negative returns. Director Balki seems to sell Bachchan more than his idea of a ventriloquist for mute actor.

    With a loose script which comes in bits and pieces as it moves from one artiste to another while also trying to build a romance between Dhanush and Akshara (one sided though from Dhanush) it leads to many tedious moments. The director seems to have little control thereafter stretching the film to 153 minutes with a story based on just three artistes. The music by the legendary composer, Illaiyaraaja, is mediocre, best of the lot being two ringtone kind of numbers in Ishq e phillum…. And Piddly si baatein…. Background score is fine. Dialogue, mainly Bachchan’s lines, are good. Editing is slack. Climax is abrupt and poor.

    It is an Amitabh show all the way though he is overburdened. Dhanush overacts at times and is just passable. Akshara fails to make a mark, her dressing may be contemporary youth kind but makes her lack femininity.

    On the whole, Shamitabh fails to deliver.

  • ‘Hawaizaada’….Khurrana dreams as audience sleeps!

    ‘Hawaizaada’….Khurrana dreams as audience sleeps!

    MUMBAI: Hawaizaada is a biopic and depicts the life of a school dropout but a gifted instinctive scientist, Shivkar Bapuji Talpade, a scion of a zamindar family from Mumbai, who builds a plane called “Marutsakha”. The problem with making a biopic on Talpade is that there is little information about him and his achievements on record or is endorsed. Whatever is available is from family sources and the near and dear ones though the claim is made that among those who witnessed his plane fly was the Maharaja of Baroda State.

    Ayushmann Khurrana plays Talpade, a guy who failed eight times in fourth class and finally ended up with his nephew as his bench mate in the same class (while the records say he was a scholar in Sanskrit and Vedas, which he is seen quoting at random in the film despite having been depicted as a failure in education). He can even correct the quotes from Vedas of his Guru, Pandit Subbaraya Shastry, played by Mithun Chakraborty; Mithun is supposed to be a scholar who is said to have authored a book, Vaimanik Shastra, and under whose guidance Khurrana has designed his aeroplane.

    Khurrana is seen doing a lot of things on rote. One minute he is in school, the next he is a member of the band which plays on occasions like weddings. Despite a traditional Marathi family background and a strict father, he is a wayward man in the film. He gets drunk with his band mates, mistakes a theatre hall for his home and having done that, falls in love with a tamasha dancer, a Maharashtrian form of dancing enjoyed by shahukars (feudal lords) as well as lower strata. As a result, Khurrana’s character swings like a pendulum; even his interest in designing a plane looks cursory.

    Producers: Reliance Entertainment, Vishal Gurnani, Rajesh Bagga

    Director: Vibhu VIrender Puri

    Cast: Ayushman Khurrana , Pallavi Sharda, Mithun Chakraborty, Jayant Kriplani, Naman Jain

    Mithun Chakraborty spots the genius in Khurrana and asks him to join him in his research which, for Khurrana, is convenient since he has been thrown out of his own house by his father, Jayant Kriplani. Khurrana and Mithun are enthusiastic but have no funds to work on their project. A Maharaja helps them and they are on again. However, Khurrana’s attention is divided between his project and his lady love, Pallavi Sharda, the tamasha girl. The social taboos, the girl knows, won’t let her marry Khurrana so she leaves the scene to spend time with the Nizam, leaving the field open for Khurrana to design his aeroplane!

    When Khurrana finds his lady love again, she has given up tamasha and has taken to making a honest living: she now cleans cotton for making beds! But she is not doing too well and her landlord is making passes at her. Khurrana steals Mithun’s tome on airplane designs and sells it to British rulers who do not want an Indian to hog credit for any inventions! He redeems Sharda with that money. But, Mithun dies of shock when he learns that the man he trusted has betrayed him and sold the only thing he loved in his life. It is now for repentant Khurrana to fulfil Mithun’s dream, obviously.

    Hawaizaada is one heck of film. Described as a biopic, which it is not, the best description it fits is weird. There is no consistency in the narration, it takes sudden jumps, maintains no continuity nor establishes a sequence. It starts going haywire from the very beginning and continues to do so all through its unnecessarily prolonged 157 minute of running time offering no respite. Direction is hackneyed. The director’s idea of depicting the 1890s British era, with one studio set of dark blackish hue (more suited to a horror film) and using lowlight, is a total put off. Also, his idea of depicting the men and women of that era like they are today shows his lack of study. The film is full of songs that are not required at odd places, none of which are hit home or are hummable. Rest of the aspects of the film follow the same routine.

    As for actors, it is negative for all of them. Khurrana does not fit the character of a Marathi of that era though he keeps uttering Marathi phrases on and off. Nothing is expected of him and he delivers nothing. Sharda is a let-down. Mithun decides to go overboard in the absence of a defined role. The film has been exempted from paying entertaining tax in UP, which will hardly be of help.

    Hawaizaada is a very poor film which fails as a biopic as well as an entertainer.

     

    ‘Rahashya’….Taut thriller but….

    Rahashya is inspired by the infamous double murder case in Noida of Arushi and her domestic help, Hemraj. Aruhsi, the only daughter of Dr Talwar (Ashish Vidyarthi) and his wife (Tisca Chopra) along with the family servant, Hemraj, was killed in her own house. The story took many twists and turns as accusations flew, pointing to domestic help and even to her own parents. The case has been dragging on and no final conclusion has been reached yet though her parents are the prime suspects and convicted and are now in appeal.

    Though the film was censored on 14 January, it releases only now after facing litigations post censorship. The accused, Talwars, had tried to stop the release of the film on the grounds that the film’s story bore many similarities to the Arushi murder case, which delayed the film’s release.

    The story location of the film has been shifted to Mumbai and told in the Agatha Christie style as, in the end, the CBI officer in charge, Kay Kay Menon, gathers all the suspects in one room and identifies the killer.

    Producer: Monica Vimal Maluka

    Director: Manish Gupta

    Cast: Kay Kay Menon, Tisca Chopra, Ashish Vidyarthi, MIta Vasisht, Ashwini Kalsekar

    The film has been given some gloss having been shot at a posh Mumbai duplex penthouse owned by a doctor couple, Ashish Vidhyarthi and Tisca Chopra. A family maid discovers the couple’s young daughter in her bed with her throat slit. The parents are the instant suspects as the case seems to be that of family honour and not of robbery. But there are no immediate conclusions in such a case.

    The intentions seem to be honest as all those who share credits give their best. The script is taut with no gimmicks or songs to hinder its pace. Direction is excellent with total control on the happenings. Background music (Ranjit Barot), cinematography and editing back the effort in perfect harmony.

    Performance wise, Tisca emerges the best of the lot, usually in control. Ashish Vidyarthi is good too while Kay Kay is okay. Meeta Vasisht, Ashwini Kalsekar, Vinit Kakar and Manoj Maurya are good in support.

    Rahashya may be a taut and gripping thriller but its potential can be realised mainly on DVD circuit with no great expectations at the box office.

     

    ‘Chal Guru Ho Ja Shuru’….A non starter

    Wanting to cash in on the negative image of the god men recently with a few of them cooling their heels in jails, Chal Guru Hoja Shuru is a satire on the theme with its target being Asaram. It revolves around a newly founded sect made of ex-goons and frauds, which they claim to be their entry into the ‘Guru Industry’. The film’s star cast consists mainly of comic or bit role players from films and TV who are not much in demand nowadays but are familiar to the audience.

    Hemant Pandey is Hariya Baba, who runs an ashram with Vrajesh Hirjee as his second-in-command and Rajendra Kala as his right-hand man and confidante. They set up the business of playing guru. The business is lucrative and resembles a take on a bearded Baba arrested from Gujarat languishing in jail now.

    Producer: Himalaya Dreams

    Director: Pravin Bhardwaj

    Cast: Hemant Pandey, Chandrachur Singh, Vrajesh Hirjee, Sanjay Mishra, Mithilesh Chaturvedi, Brijendra Kala, Tiku Talsania.

    The major activities of the ashram are delivering a sermon every evening, seeking donations and selecting a girl for the night by throwing a banana or an apple prasadam at her. The prasadam sort of mesmerises the girls to seek further personal blessings from the Baba and walk into his abode. The film’s script is based on hearsay of the stories of real life babas. But, anything goes in the name of cinematic liberty.

    There are the usual factors of modern day media as TV journalist from BBC of all the places, carries out a sting operation on the nocturnal activities in the Ashram and, along with a PR person, settles the issue of not releasing the disc to media. The PR keeps blackmailing Hariya Baba on regular basis. All this while, Tiku Talsania wants to expose Hariya Baba and his ashram because he has literally lost his wife to the sect. She has become a mad follower.

    The film has no running script as such but depends on gags. It is more like a farce where the actors on screen seem to be enjoying the film more than the viewer.

    Chal Guru Hoja Shuru is an also ran. (The film has been exempted from entertainment tax in Uttarakhand for whatever reason!)