Volunteers say ‘Let’s do it Delhi’- Hindustan Times

Volunteers say ‘Let’s do it Delhi’- Hindustan Times

Movie Review- Karthik Calling Karthik

Powered by: Chakpak.com	Kartik Calling Kartik

This movie is unlikely to make it to the wish list of ‘aam aadmi’ but the discerning cinema buff is going to love it. Farhan Akhtar has proved his talent time and again and he hasn’t disappointed this time either. It’s being promoted by the multiplexes as a thriller but I would like it to be specifically categorised as a suspense drama. And, what a drama! In true Hitchcockian style the suspense is not revealed almost to the end. Of course the medically inclined start having an idea of what’s it’s all about half way into the movie but therein lies the excellence in crafting the narrative. We all know that we are witnessing an impossible situation but the director keeps you thinking about possibilities and even then manages to spook you into believing otherwise.
Farhan plays Karthik the classical white collared pen pusher who is constantly steam rolled into submission by his overbearing boss and riddled with the guilt of having caused the death of his brother in his childhood. Deepika Padukone is the bindaas architect in the same company and also the girl of his dreams who is always looking through his insignificant self. A silent lover he constantly pours his feeling into the numerous mails to her which are always saved as a draft and never sent. Despite his hard work in the office he gets sacked. Alone, without a job, without a girl and after days of mindless punching of the buttons of the television remote and rotating the Rubik’s cube he decides to kick the bucket. Just as he about to pop a few dozen sleeping pills, the phone rings. The voice on the other end who too calls himself Karthik becomes the road to redemption for this also ran creature and metamorphoses’ him into a slick go getter who is re hired by his bully boss with all the money and perks of a hot shot executive. The current lover of Deepika is literally slapped out of her life and in walks our man Karthik oozing charm and sensitivity. The voice on the other end of the phone constantly monitors its student’s upward progress. Everything is perfect? There is a rider. No one is to know that Karthik is calling Karthik. Split between the loyalties to the woman of his dreams and his mentor, Karthik is called upon to make a Faustian choice. The rest of the movie is about the repercussions of his actions.
Its serious stuff but the movie is replete with the classical one liners which are becoming a Farhan hallmark. It’s crazy humour one minute which acquires dark hues in another. The use of Rubik’s cube throughout the movie is a particular deft touch which needs to be interpreted by the viewer. The music by Shanker Ehsan Loy is good as always especially the title song but the surprise package here was the fantastic background score by the rock band Midival Punditz ably assisted by the US based Karsh Kale. I found the movie really good but go and make up your own mind

Movie Review-My Name Is Khan

Powered by: Chakpak.com	My Name is Khan

With the quality of movie making escalating recently it has become rather likely that you come across a movie which leaves you gasping in wonder or split with laughter or thrilled with heart thumping action. Movies that you enjoy but get over soon after you leave the hall. Karan Johar is known for making slick tear jerkers and I had really not expected anything different this time round either. But ‘My Name Is Khan’ blew me away. It’s a rare classic and would be rated so in the annals of Hindi cinema.
Religion is always a tricky subject to deal with and Hindi movies have usually been either way too clichéd or unnecessarily melodramatic, often losing sight of the core issue. In today’s times the scourge of terrorism has affected ordinary lives the world over and yet most of us have sensitised ourselves into reading and watching news reports on rampant killing, shaking our heads and making meaningless noises. Remember Mumbai? Well this movie is a chronicle of the domino effect that unrelated events cause in the personal lives of ordinary people. Oh, did I say ordinary? Well almost! It’s a tale of love between an autistic man and a divorcee hairdresser played out by Kajol and Shahrukh Khan. While Kajol’s craft is expected it’s Shahrukh’s show all the way. He has played the role of an autistic man to near perfection. He marries Kajol after pursuing her with relentless determination and single minded honesty. To me those are the key factors which cement any lasting relationship. Post 9/11, uncontrolled events lead to the beating and eventual demise of Kajol’s son from her first marriage. The grieving mother loses control and blames the killing on the surname Khan and orders him to leave. He immediately accepts the diktat of his love and innocently asks when he can come back? Enraged she gives him the near impossible task of declaring and convincing the whole world that although he is a Muslim he is not a terrorist. So real! How quick we all are to brand an entire community because of the acts of a few. Sikhs in 1984, Muslims in 1993 and well the world changed after the Twin Towers were brought down by a few fanatics. The rape of Iraq is still on and coffins of ordinary men continue to roll. What happened to the love for your fellow man, the respect of human life? The mindset of the autistic Khan knows only one thing. Fulfil his mission by meeting the President of USA and making his declaration of innocence. Thus starts his epic journey across America. Shades of Forrest Gump? Yes, but for once I am not complaining. Along the way he is mistaken for a terrorist and thrown into a prison a la Guantanamo and tortured for information. The media takes up his case (Star News breaking news again!!) and the man is released but he returns to help friends in a hurricane hit village. He eventually does complete his mission and is reunited with his lady love. That’s the story but the narrative conveys a compelling message. The essential goodness and determination of man ultimately prevails over terror and fanaticism. And even in these impersonal times there is recognition of human values which are and will remain timeless. It’s this message of universal brotherhood that to my mind is the appropriate reply to the lumpen goons of Shiv Sena. Reading today’s paper about the movie goers’ response in Mumbai has only reaffirmed my belief. Go and watch the movie. It brings a lump to your throat which refuses to go away long after it’s over.

Movie Review- 3 Idiots

Powered by: Chakpak.com	Three Idiots

Raju Hirani and Vidhu Vinod Chopra with the combined legacy of Munnabhai , 1942 A love Story, Mission Kashmir and Parineeta have a rich heritage of powerful cinema behind them and this time around they have been more than equal to the responsibility of living up to the high standards they have set for themselves. Add Aamir Khan and it becomes an irresistible trio and it was not disappointing. If anything the bar has been raised yet another notch.
First and foremost I do not have my oft repeated complain of a weak or a zero storyline. Chetan Bhagat’s Five Point Someone has been loosely adapted into a powerful narrative of human emotions and at the same time is a telling commentary on the present system of education where emphasis is laid on learning by rote rather than encouraging innovation and lateral thinking. It recognises that the orthodox and conventional stream of thought wherein the middle class redemption lies in attainment of an engineering or medical degree which forces the unwilling victims to compromise on their dreams often with disastrous consequences.
The story starts with a search for Rancho, a friend of friends, by Sharman Joshi and Madhvan accompanied by yet another class mate Silencer, so named for his propensity of letting go silent bursts of gas expulsions through his rear end. Their not so aromatic journey brings back the memories of their college days. Ahh, isn’t it the best time for just about anyone? And if you have been a hosteller, well, you would relive all the good times you had or wished that you had. The main protagonist is Rancho, never mind the full name but a thinker, a dreamer, a rebel, a scholar and a yaaron ka yaar. He constantly slips in and out of classes seeking knowledge and substituting simple and straight answers where profoundness is expected by stuck up teachers. Boman Irani comes up with another class act as the Director of the engineering college but looks suspiciously like Einstein which I guess was by design rather than accident. Nonetheless he delivers a flawless performance as a uncompromising teacher. The movie traces the lives of the three friends through college. Questions are raised about the path they have chosen, their aspirations of what they really want from their lives versus their loyalties to parents and friends. Heavy stuff, I know, but portrayed beautifully and with loads of rib tickling humour. A special mention must be made of the welcome speech made by Silencer which is surreptitiously changed by Aamir to get back at him for his pompous ways. It had my considerable self falling out of the seat. There are way too many such episodes in the movie to merit a mention here but each is executed with near perfection.
Kareena proves yet again that given a good role she can sparkle. Praeekshat Sahni has not forgotten to be loud, so you may dismiss him. The music is great and happily Vidhu Chopra has not flicked a western song and got ‘inspired’ by it. Perhaps the talented duo of Sawanand Kirkire and Shantanu Moitra has something to do with it. The movie is heart warming and a laugh riot but not perfect. There are quite a few impossible situations but you quickly get over them in the larger interest of wholesome entertainment. All in all...Alllll Eezz Welll. Go watch and freak out.

Movie Review-Avatar

Powered by: Chakpak.com	Avatar

After the gross depiction of aliens in countless and forgettable Hollywood movies they were first made to look believable by the quintessential story teller Steven Spielberg in ‘E.T’. Unlike the blood thirsty inter galactic traveller of the yore E.T was almost human, loving, happy and sad in equal measure. It still gives me goose bumps when I remember his lingering cry to go home. James Cameron has made a huge attempt to take this concept to a whole new level.
Without any knowledge of the story I was pretty intrigued by the title of the movie which is an integral part of the Hindu belief. The story per se is not really novel. The conflict between industrialisation (growth) and the inhabitants it usually displaces (is resettles politically correct?) is what one reads about in newspapers in different parts of the world everyday and which gives the likes of Brinda Karat and Arundhati Roy something to wail about in their free time. However it’s the execution of the vision that sets apart Cameron from rest of the pack. The scale of the movie to understate the obvious is colossal. Set in the year 2154(who chose the number and why could be another story) we are taken to a moon called Pandora (very appropriate name for the number of tricks in its bag). The humans are led by an abrasive corporate honcho in charge of mining operations for something called ‘unobtanium’ which sells on mother earth for $20 million a kilo. Even after adjusting for 145 years of inflation that’s far more than humans would happily kill for. The honcho has a security chief who looks suspiciously like GI Joe to carry out the dirty tricks. And Sigourney Weaver, who turned a brunette for the movie, returns as a scientist engaged in a project to understand and connect with the local inhabitants. The locals are called the Na’vi , blue skinned and all of nine feet tall. Sigourney’s project involves usage of human and Na’vi DNA to reengineer a hybrid Na’vi which can be mentally controlled by the human whose DNA has been used. A new avatar, so to speak. Sam Worthington plays the main lead of a paraplegic former marine who is reluctantly allowed in the Avatar programme by Sigourney. Once admitted he finds a new world where he can walk, run and love.
Despite the fact that the story is set way into the future in a place four and half light years away the perennial human emotive conflicts, the greed for more, the compulsive desire to subjugate the weak, the irrepressible retaliatory spirit of the brave forces one to think that the more we change the more we remain the same. A pressing need of the awareness of preservation of environment which cannot come too soon finds a voice in the hopeless cries of the original and genuine and well, the primitive inhabitants. The love interest is unorthodox and endearing but does not catch the intense rapport of Jack and Rose in Titanic. It’s even unfair to compare the two but then Mr Cameron has spent half a billion dollars in making a flick replete with advanced digital imagery and the effect is spectacular. Shall I take my hat off to him ? Okkk, yes, but, he scores and he misses.
A movie which costs as much as advertised ought not to have even a hint of what’s seen or heard in the public domain. “I see you” is a greeting by the Matable tribe in Africa and the bush men of the Kalahari. The emotional connect between the warrior Na’vi and the colourful raptors they fly are strongly reminiscent of similar relationship of dragon riders of ‘Eragon ‘. It looks great in the movie but faintly disappointing. He has spun a believable yarn and was almost there but not quite. Maybe the proposed sequel is better.

Movie Review-Rocket Singh-Salesman of The Year

Powered by: Chakpak.com	Rocket Singh

It’s only after the classic Jeewan Mrityu that I have seen a Bollywood movie showing a Sikh adorned with an appropriately tied turban. ”Singh is King” did show a heartening glimpse of Akshay Kumar in a traditional turban but then those shots were of the Punjab heartland and then they ruined it all by making him wear a cap like head gear for the rest of the movie. The makers of Rocket Singh seem to have researched a bit and a big hug to them for that. Another collective vote of thanks from the Punjabi consciousness is in order for not making the movie’s two Sikh characters of the Balle Balle and the Pairee Pauna variety. Aaarrrrgh, it gets my goat every time. A sober, quietly submissive, urbane but a resolute Sikh in a Bollywood feature? This was a first from Mumbai and I hope we get many more of them. The poor fellas are grossly misunderstood the world over but none more than by their own countrymen. Okay, politics over and now let’s get back to business.
Rocket Singh- Salesman of the Year is actually Harpreet Singh Bedi, a young lad full of beans and keen to make a place for himself under the sun. His shoulders are unburdened by the bare pass marks through his school and college days. Percentages between the 30s and the 40s are cheerfully rattled off to bewildered listeners while maintaining a supremely confident demeanour. That’s a typical surdy boy for you. So what does a young, over confident, under scoring and barely qualifying lad hope to become? You guessed it! He also gets the job but there is a slight problem. Our man has a conscience, a commodity steadily disappearing from our lives. His unwillingness to succumb to the scheming wheeling and dealing ways of the conventional salesmen sees him warming his chair in his office while his targets are distributed to his grumbling colleagues. They respond by jibing and throwing paper planes (rockets) at him. This and the frustration of forced inactivity propel him to independently make his own foray into the cut throat world of sales. Most of such stories have happy endings and this one is no exception.
The story is refreshing and the narrative engrossing. It’s almost childlike in its effort to reinforce the values taught in the moral science classes in school and why not? Today’s single minded pursuit of money and power (or was it always like that?) does make us gloss over some innate qualities of a good human being. Epithets like honesty, respect, transparency are usually met with tolerant and cynical smiles. Rocket Singh brings home the importance of these timeless values.
His partners in crime are just as refreshing. Giri, the porn loving service engineer epitomises the smarty pants technical expert whose real skill lies in shafting the customers. Ah, it was so familiar. In my working environment this species is striking gold even when the sun stands eclipsed. Mishra ji, the office peon contemptuously referred to as “Cup Plate” who assists as the service engineer in assembling computers. Koena, the sexy receptionist who gets passed over for a promotion and retaliates by joining the competition. And Rathore, the arch type go getter sales dude who decides to reinvent himself as the honest salesman. Shazahn, daughter of Alyque Padamsee and Sharon Prabhakhar makes her debut as the hero’s love interest besides being his first customer. But she does little beyond looking cute and kisses the bearded beau with touching regularity.
The soundtrack consists of fifteen songs most of which are very listenable but surprisingly the movie is populated by excerpts of only three which is hind sight may not be such a bad idea after all. Hindi movies need to go beyond the song and dance routine. Focus on the back ground score and use the songs for the promos.
My take? The movie is a great one time watch and Ranbir Kapoor strikes again. Way to go Surdy Boy!

Movie Review- Wake Up Sid

Powered by: Chakpak.com	Wake Up Sid

My dream finally seems to be coming true. For avid movie watchers it must have been many time times wanting to puke when the so called pillars of Bollywood spewed forth the argument that the public gets what it wants to watch. Let me happily announce that the era of mindless masala movie seems to be over. The young are taking over. Ayan Mukerji is different! He even spells his surname differently. And for a 20 something he has created a work of art he might find difficult to live up to. Way to go man and keep going.
Have we not all of us gone through the pangs of taking that one step from adolescence to manhood? The delicate age which forces us to think where life beckons? It’s always confusing for most because we usually never train for what we want to become. We bid for a few things and then we make a choice which seems the best and land up unhappily ever after. The unending conversation of what could have been takes up most of our thoughts and after drink procrastination. The lucky ones find a way and others justify their existence by making excuses.
The journey of Sid goes from ecstasy to disappointment to despair to hope and redemption. A rich man’s son with a seemingly unlimited credit card limit dances his way through bars and clubs and discotheques only to find that his friends have overtaken him in something as mundane as the graduate exams. Dad’s insistence on his working for the family business only aggravates his unsettled mind. The confidence of available money and SUVs doesn’t help him. The obvious reaction of a spoilt kid is not that of humility but angst against everything that’s dear to him. Ego, the destruction of every relationship propels him to leave house.
An unemployed undergraduate, he takes refuge in the house of a recent friend. Konkona Sen lets him in to her house and her life. The lady is a wannabe writer and overcautious in her relationships. Sid tries to continue with his irresponsible ways but soon discovers that two meals a day don’t come in from Dad’s credit card apart from realising that staying with someone also means sharing the chores. From the days of ordering unending pizzas to trying to make a half fried egg, Sid boy gets on to a learning process. A lazy easy going existence changes when his live in friend suggests that his passion for photography might earn him his daily bread.
I have always maintained that the luckiest people are those who can turn their hobbies into professions. Sid’s penchant for photography lets him discover himself. He does and in turn finds the juggled pieces of his life fall into place. Herein lies a lesson for all confused, wayward, undirected, drunk and undecided souls. Ask not what life has in store for you and do exactly what you really really want to do. You may not become rich but you would be really really happy.