I could almost sense the whole blogging initiative slowly petering out. Firstly, because I hadn't been really 'checking out' any new flicks, moreover, there wasn't anything worthwhile to yak about! But I think this Shahrukh starrer has brought me back to make another lazy dab at reviewing. So here's saying Hello to the blogosphere!
Chak De India! revolves around 'Kabir Khan' a disgraced hockey stalwart, who wants to win back his lost pride, by coaching the Women's Hockey Team, and bring the World Cup and reclaim his glory. That's the synopsis in a nutshell really. But ofcourse the movie deserves a more in-depth analysis.
First things first: Shahrukh Khan in a beard! It was rather refreshing to watch him in this different avataar, sans the trademark Shahrukh Charm. It's clearly an attempt to make a different kind of movie, and I could easily (and happily) concede that its a successful attempt at that!
The movie takes off with a Men's World Cup hockey final: India v/s Pakistan, captained by Shahrukh, which is in its dying moments, with India down 1-0. The captain, wins a penalty at the last minute, with a golden chance to level it and buy more time in the hunt. But as luck has it, he Misses! The Pakistanis erupt in jubilation, and the shell shocked Indians go down in 'Ooohs' and 'Aaahs'. In the meantime, Shahrukh is flimsily photographed with a rival team-mate giving a disappointed handshake, by a cameraman on field. What follows later in the night is an unfortunate scuffle with a media person as he heads off with his bunch of lads to board the team bus, because the ever so pesky news reporter raises questions about his fairplay and puts a question mark over his loyalty to the team.
The eccentric Sharukh pays a heavy price for that loss, for he is stripped off his position in the team, and is also wrongly accused of match fixing. Not to mention, he is harassed by the public, who make him a scape goat for the World Cup drubbing. All this flak, leaves a deep scar on Kabir, who, 7 years later, in an attempt to resurrect his career in hockey, returns to coach India's Women's Team, to the World Cup.
Oh but come on! Who takes Hockey so seriously in India? But lo' its a movie!
Not that his return ride is a smooth trip in any way. The Women's team is filled with players with bloated egos, petty differences, lack of unity, and no commitment whatsoever. Eccentric and tough that Shahrukh is shown to be, he regroups the unit, and prepares them for the tournament. His essayal of the role of a tough task master, was certainly different, compared to his chocolate looks and the lollipop romances that he usually ends up doing. He's come up with something on the lines of Swades in this one, and surely is a treat to watch. I couldn't help but notice his first real foray into method acting, á la Robert De Niro. One of the shots that really got me moved was when he went weak at the knees as Team India (women's hockey ofcourse), FINALLY lifted the World Cup after getting the better of Australia in the penalty shoot outs. (in the movie's climax)
This movie goes down to the wire. It's more interesting than the cricketing Lagaan, if I were to compare 'sporting' Hindi movies. It is also one of the better movies of the King Khan. Shahrukh stamps his class with élan. The semi scorn and the stigma that he attaches with the character, and the subtle details that actually take a while to sink in; he surely has raised the bar. This role pitches him amongst the Greats of celluloid history.
Rating: 9.5/10
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Friday, July 6, 2007
Ek Chalis Ki Last Local (Hindi)
If you ever catch yourself watching this movie, I could assume at least two things about you. First, that you are extremely bored, and second, your local DVD rental store has got nothing better to offer. But, Life, Surprise is thy other name. Ek Chalis Ki Last Local is out of the blue really.
The only real promo (of this movie) I had ever been exposed to was the Whats-Its-Name song from the movie sung by Whats-His-Name (Ah yes, Xulfi), which incidentally never featured during screenplay! So, with ‘Zero Expectation’ in my mind I inserted the DVD into the player. But what followed was some real entertainment!
The movie centers around our protagonist Abhay Deol (ever seen him before?) playing a call center employee with a late night shift and lots of booze on him, missing the last (1.40 am) local (oh yes Local refers to a Local Intercity train in Mumbai) to his home. So he’s left stranded on the station to wait for the next day’s (4 am) train with absolutely nothing to do. He’s pushed out of the station thanks to a Red Alert in the city due to a certain terrorist bomb attack in the prior evening. So the equation finally comes down to killing time for the next two and half hours waiting for the next train on the streets or trying to get home by cab or rickshaw. But of course the latter wouldn’t have happened, else why make the movie! So Abhay ( playing Nilesh ), the smart looking lad (he gets funny too), meets up with Neha Dhupia (ever seen her either?) who’s also missed the last local, and both try to wade their way through the eerie night time Mumbai, looking for a place to just kill time.
Well, that was just the start, (if that got you started?!) what follows then is a series of events, nicely thought up, and an array of never heard before actors, and lots of Mumbai (and sometimes Delhi) slang, partial obscenity (yes, its rated Adult). This movie nearly stretches out to two and half hours giving a ball-by-ball record of every minute of Deol’s rollercoaster trip through the night. With lots of plots interwoven, lots of shady characters, and lot’s of real time sinister Mumbai served on your platter though in a refreshing Andaaz, this movie was a fun retreat. Oh yes a final word should go out to the director (some Sanjay Khanduri – OK, never heard of him) who’s done a pretty good job with quite a modest budget at that. And the new kid on the block, Abhay Deol isn’t bad at all. In fact he turns out to be quite a natural actor! And Neha Dhupia was alright too. So there wasn’t anything too bad about this flick. You should check it out. Albeit, I’d warn you, it can get a bit profane and grotesque..
Rating: 8.5/10
The only real promo (of this movie) I had ever been exposed to was the Whats-Its-Name song from the movie sung by Whats-His-Name (Ah yes, Xulfi), which incidentally never featured during screenplay! So, with ‘Zero Expectation’ in my mind I inserted the DVD into the player. But what followed was some real entertainment!
The movie centers around our protagonist Abhay Deol (ever seen him before?) playing a call center employee with a late night shift and lots of booze on him, missing the last (1.40 am) local (oh yes Local refers to a Local Intercity train in Mumbai) to his home. So he’s left stranded on the station to wait for the next day’s (4 am) train with absolutely nothing to do. He’s pushed out of the station thanks to a Red Alert in the city due to a certain terrorist bomb attack in the prior evening. So the equation finally comes down to killing time for the next two and half hours waiting for the next train on the streets or trying to get home by cab or rickshaw. But of course the latter wouldn’t have happened, else why make the movie! So Abhay ( playing Nilesh ), the smart looking lad (he gets funny too), meets up with Neha Dhupia (ever seen her either?) who’s also missed the last local, and both try to wade their way through the eerie night time Mumbai, looking for a place to just kill time.
Well, that was just the start, (if that got you started?!) what follows then is a series of events, nicely thought up, and an array of never heard before actors, and lots of Mumbai (and sometimes Delhi) slang, partial obscenity (yes, its rated Adult). This movie nearly stretches out to two and half hours giving a ball-by-ball record of every minute of Deol’s rollercoaster trip through the night. With lots of plots interwoven, lots of shady characters, and lot’s of real time sinister Mumbai served on your platter though in a refreshing Andaaz, this movie was a fun retreat. Oh yes a final word should go out to the director (some Sanjay Khanduri – OK, never heard of him) who’s done a pretty good job with quite a modest budget at that. And the new kid on the block, Abhay Deol isn’t bad at all. In fact he turns out to be quite a natural actor! And Neha Dhupia was alright too. So there wasn’t anything too bad about this flick. You should check it out. Albeit, I’d warn you, it can get a bit profane and grotesque..
Rating: 8.5/10
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Dhoom 2 (Hindi)
Dhoom was great. So the sequel was supposed to be better. But did it match up to its predecessor? Not quite, in terms of quality; though it well surpassed the prequel in terms of setting the cash registers ringing.
On the onset, the movie looked like it was deliberately made to cash in on the popularity of the Dhoom franchise. Most of the aspects looked like a mechanically made copy of the first edition. Though there was the new major attraction of Hrithik Roshan (and Aishwarya Rai, Bipasha Basu et cetera), the final brew looked almost like the same product in different packaging. For instance Uday Chopra continues(from Dhoom) to dish out his dead pan humour and Rimi Sen(surprisingly included) leaves no effect at all.
The rush of adrenaline that Dhoom had brought in two summers ago, was completely missing in its sucessor. The opening 'Royal crown' robbery in the Namibian desert(so much for sounding exotic!) looked disastrously close to unreal. With 'A' in a grotesque looking face mask, sand surfing in the middle of nowhere; you know from the start that this is another sequel gone awry. This flick is totally thanda(and not to mention, ridiculous).
The music too, is as uninspiring as it can get. Hrithik Roshan and his repetitive break dancing antics tend to get all but boring in a while.
So what makes it such a hit? I know, Hrithik "Krissh" Roshan, the gorgeous bodied (rumoured to be the only Indian gay icon!) and Aishwarya Rai the miss-stick. Regarding the latter, I distinctly recall a bunch of young blokes in the movie theatre echoing my thoughts when they went: "EEEEEEEWW" at seeing 'Sunahri' belt out her mugged up expressions that were supposed be seductive in their intention at Hrithik.
Do watch this one, if you can tolerate Uday Chopra and Abhishek Bachchan(oh yes, he's in it too) and intend to catch Hrithik Roshan ramp-modelling on the streets of Mumbai with the latest threads from DKNY, Dolce and Gabbana, Armani, Diesel et all.
Rating? 6.5 on Ten.
On the onset, the movie looked like it was deliberately made to cash in on the popularity of the Dhoom franchise. Most of the aspects looked like a mechanically made copy of the first edition. Though there was the new major attraction of Hrithik Roshan (and Aishwarya Rai, Bipasha Basu et cetera), the final brew looked almost like the same product in different packaging. For instance Uday Chopra continues(from Dhoom) to dish out his dead pan humour and Rimi Sen(surprisingly included) leaves no effect at all.
The rush of adrenaline that Dhoom had brought in two summers ago, was completely missing in its sucessor. The opening 'Royal crown' robbery in the Namibian desert(so much for sounding exotic!) looked disastrously close to unreal. With 'A' in a grotesque looking face mask, sand surfing in the middle of nowhere; you know from the start that this is another sequel gone awry. This flick is totally thanda(and not to mention, ridiculous).
The music too, is as uninspiring as it can get. Hrithik Roshan and his repetitive break dancing antics tend to get all but boring in a while.
So what makes it such a hit? I know, Hrithik "Krissh" Roshan, the gorgeous bodied (rumoured to be the only Indian gay icon!) and Aishwarya Rai the miss-stick. Regarding the latter, I distinctly recall a bunch of young blokes in the movie theatre echoing my thoughts when they went: "EEEEEEEWW" at seeing 'Sunahri' belt out her mugged up expressions that were supposed be seductive in their intention at Hrithik.
Do watch this one, if you can tolerate Uday Chopra and Abhishek Bachchan(oh yes, he's in it too) and intend to catch Hrithik Roshan ramp-modelling on the streets of Mumbai with the latest threads from DKNY, Dolce and Gabbana, Armani, Diesel et all.
Rating? 6.5 on Ten.
Monday, May 14, 2007
Guru (Hindi)
I'd agree with the background score: "Gurubhai gurubhai avyache, dhoom dhadaaka kariya
che". The movie is extremely refreshing in its theme and treatment. I personally thought the movie to be over-hyped, and coupled with the fact that I disliked Abhishek Bachchan AND Aishwarya Rai coming into this movie, I had my reasons to avoid this flick for a long time. Yet I was treated to a pleasant surprise when I finally caught up with it on home video.
The direction was a class apart by Mani Ratnam of the Dil Se fame (I never found Yuva appealing). The depiction of the character Gurukant Desai, was well thought out. The streaks of brilliance that Guru showed as an entrepreneur right from his childhood is masterfully displayed. The movie is indeed aptly titled 'Guru' as it takes us through the rags to riches story of the starry eyed village boy who leaves the Indian shores at an early age to Turkey for a job.
The story is the strong point of the film. The character who is shown to be an extremely determined 'bijnessman', fights his way thru the severely rigid red tapism that existed during the 70's and 80's in independent India. The exceptionally crafty and creative Gurubhai devises innovative ways to elude the Government and its licensing ways. In the process he draws a lot of flak from the independent media houses in the country. The tussle with 'Nanaji'(Mithun Chakraborty, shown to be the owner of a certain newspaper) continues during the course of the movie due to a conflict of principles. A maverick reporter (R. Madhavan) is set loose on Guru; and tries to expose Gurubhai and his outfit of the - extremely profit making yet manipulative -'Shakti group'. What really is to be seen, is the indomitable spirit of Guru; the histrionics of Abhishek in the climax; and the unusually good performance extracted out of the ex-Miss World Aishwarya Rai, who remains the sheet anchor in Guru's life through out his struggles.
Guru certainly packs in a punch. The music is nonpareil and unique, courtesy to the genius of A.R.Rahman. Mani Ratnam does tremendous justice to the script and remains in total control of the film, not letting an iota of boredom creeping in. I'd give it a 9 on Ten; and you, you'd better watch it if you already haven't!
che". The movie is extremely refreshing in its theme and treatment. I personally thought the movie to be over-hyped, and coupled with the fact that I disliked Abhishek Bachchan AND Aishwarya Rai coming into this movie, I had my reasons to avoid this flick for a long time. Yet I was treated to a pleasant surprise when I finally caught up with it on home video.
The direction was a class apart by Mani Ratnam of the Dil Se fame (I never found Yuva appealing). The depiction of the character Gurukant Desai, was well thought out. The streaks of brilliance that Guru showed as an entrepreneur right from his childhood is masterfully displayed. The movie is indeed aptly titled 'Guru' as it takes us through the rags to riches story of the starry eyed village boy who leaves the Indian shores at an early age to Turkey for a job.
The story is the strong point of the film. The character who is shown to be an extremely determined 'bijnessman', fights his way thru the severely rigid red tapism that existed during the 70's and 80's in independent India. The exceptionally crafty and creative Gurubhai devises innovative ways to elude the Government and its licensing ways. In the process he draws a lot of flak from the independent media houses in the country. The tussle with 'Nanaji'(Mithun Chakraborty, shown to be the owner of a certain newspaper) continues during the course of the movie due to a conflict of principles. A maverick reporter (R. Madhavan) is set loose on Guru; and tries to expose Gurubhai and his outfit of the - extremely profit making yet manipulative -'Shakti group'. What really is to be seen, is the indomitable spirit of Guru; the histrionics of Abhishek in the climax; and the unusually good performance extracted out of the ex-Miss World Aishwarya Rai, who remains the sheet anchor in Guru's life through out his struggles.
Guru certainly packs in a punch. The music is nonpareil and unique, courtesy to the genius of A.R.Rahman. Mani Ratnam does tremendous justice to the script and remains in total control of the film, not letting an iota of boredom creeping in. I'd give it a 9 on Ten; and you, you'd better watch it if you already haven't!
Introduction
What is this blog? It's a blog on movies as is evident from its name. The views I post are solely mine and I take complete responsibility of the same. I donot promise that the movie reviews will be in pace with their releases; the posts would be on random movies that I happen to catch up on; including some of my all-time favourites. To be honest, this an amateur attempt; I have no previous experience at doing this. But I think it's going to be fun!
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