Movie Review: Philomena - A Heart-Tugging Classic

Rating 5/5

A COMPLETE Bollywood Loyalist, I rarely watch other movies. However, the limited choice of Bollywood movies on the in-flight entertainment systems often forces me to explore the world beyond Hindi Cinema. And I have been extremely lucky in my explorations - I always find a gem - Philomena is one of them. While the movie is a heart-tugging drama for the viewers, it is an example of serio-comic excellence for the film-makers.

Stephen Frears's Philomena is a truth-based story of an Irish lady in search of her son who was taken away from her when he was a toddler - she is the victim of the ill practices carried out in the name of religion at a convent.



Sure the story is emotionally gripping, but what makes this movie a classic is Judi Dench's acting. Watch her act and you will realize that acting is much more than powerful dialogue delivery. Dench's eyes do all the talking - the agony and yearnings of a mother are all beautifully expressed through her eyes. Coogan as Martin does a great job of complementing Drench's journey as Philomena. Their chemistry is effortlessly charming. The personalities of the two characters are poles apart, yet as the movie progresses the two develop a warm bond, giving the audience the feel good factor needed to cope up with the seriousness in the storyline.

The direction and screenplay too deserve an applause for stitching together three different stories so well - the story of the distraught elderly woman , of a jaded journalist and that of an adopted child. All the stories effortlessly merge together creating a lasting impression in the heart of the viewer.

For of you who like thought-provoking movies, this one will definitely give you some food for thought. The logic behind some shallow religious practices, the role of destiny in shaping our life's experiences, revenge vs forgiveness were a few themes that I picked up.

To conclude I will quote John Keats - "A thing of beauty is a joy forever". Does that not say enough?

Movie Review : Sar Chadhi Hai Dhoom Dhoom 3

Rating 3.5

The record breaking third film in the "Dhoom" series is an all in all Aamir Khan movie - who plays Sahir Khan - a thief who robs that banks not for money but for revenge. Sahir is determined to bring down the bank that was in a way the reason behind his father's suicide.

Yes, its an Aamir movie and there is a lot to be said about him but, this review must begin with applauding the movie's technical team. The technical team is always the back bone of any movie but it is rarely that their work moves from the backstage to the fore front to be noticed by the audience. It takes movies like Dhoom-3 for the audience to appreciate the magic of these back stage geniuses.

Coming back to Aamir, this movie being the third in the series is almost predictable and would not have been able to keep the audience glued to the seats without Aamir in the lead. His acting as always is flawless and his dance in "Dhoom Tap" and "Malang" ensures that you don't miss Hritik much.Of course there is Katrina in the movie who also has the power to keep the audience glued, but that is for reasons other than acting - she plays her part really well  i.e. getting the "oomph factor" to the movie. Who cares about how she acts? Am I right or am I right? :-)

Do you want me to talk about Abhishek and Uday too?  Well, they never were the stars of the series but at least they brought some humor to the first 2 movies in the series. However, in Dhoom-3 they have not been able to do even that. If the first half of the movie gets a bit boring at times, its because the the failed comic attempts by these two.To add to that, the costume designer appears to have completely ignored them and so has the director. Plus, what style statement are they trying with the "indoor goggles"  look - who wears goggles inside the airport?

The movie has already broken box office records and but there is one more thing that this movie has done really well  and that is in-movie advertising - BMW, Mountain Dew and Hallmark these are the three brands that I noticed. Did you notice any more?

Okay, now summing up - this movie is definitely a Bollywood Style Action Entertainer. Go and watch this for Aamir's acting, the stunts and acrobatics, the good music and of course Katrina.

Movie Review: What The Fish - Absolutely Tasteless

Rating  - Really?

Gurmmeet Singh’s What the Fish is an absolutely tasteless but very useful movie? Why useful? Because this gives you the chance to access the genuineness of movie reviews.  Today I judged the reviewers and not the movie. The verdict has been passed - any reviewer who gives this movie a rating higher than ½ * should not be trusted in the future.

The problem is not with the story, but with its treatment. This story could have been a successful comedy had it been treated well.  Unfortunately, it the hands of Gurmmeet Singh, it turned into a rotten fish. Are you nevertheless expecting me to brief you about the story line, the acting and the characters? Well, you will have to excuse me this time -  I have spent enough of my precious time watching this movie and I really do not wish to kill another few minutes reviewing it. Trust me, just steer clear of this one.

Movie-Review: Ram-Leela : A Lust (oops! Love) Story

Two clans in  Ranjaar have been feeding their age old enmity with bullets and blood - it appears that the only relationship that the two clans can ever have is that of ruthless hatred. However, each of the clans have an outlier - Ram (Ranveer Singh) the Rajeda Romeo and Leela (Deepika Padukone) the Sensual Sanera  who believe in peace and not war, and well also in intensely passionate romance. Bhansali’s Ram-Leela is is a story of war to peace and lust to love.

Movie’s screenplay is a test of viewers’ patience – if you can survive through the extra colorful and almost horny first half, you will be rewarded with a great second half. Those of you who  do not enjoy cheeky comedy and sexual irreverence will hate the leads, especially Raveer during the first half, but there are good enough chances that you will fall in love with his intense acting during the second half of the movie.

You might ask, does Ram-Leela qualify to be an eternal love story? The answer is a clear NO – not because the lead characters are weak but because there is a character in the movie that overpowers the characters of the love birds (Mor) -  “Dhankor” brilliantly played by Supriya Paathak. You move out of the hall and all you remember is Supriya’s marvelous acting. Also worth mentioning are the performances by Richa Chaddha and Barkha Bisht – the empathetic "Bhabhis" in the movie.

Had Bhansali not diluted the movie with an overdose of physical love, Ram-Leela could have easily scored a 4/5 rating for its superb performances, detailed costumes and jewellary, elaborate sets, tasteful music and choreography. However, the shallowness brings down my rating to a 2.5. Oh wait! On a second thought I would give it a 3/5 – a 0.5 bonus for the beautiful Gujarati folk song (Mor Bane Thanghat Kare) that I can’t stop listening to over and over again.

Movie Review: Shahid - Uncomfortable Yet Inspiring

Rating: 3.5/5

Harshal Mehta's Shahid - The biopic based on the inspiring life of Human Rights Activist and Lawyer Shahid Azmi is one of those movies which will keep lingering in your mind for hours or may be days after you move out of the movie hall, quite unlike majority of the Bollywood movies which you watch, enjoy and then completely forget about as soon as you walk out of the cinema hall.

The movie very beautifully deals with two very sensitive topics - terrorism and the baseless perception-induced harassment and ill-treatment of Muslims.

The movies "New York" and "My Name is Khan" too were based on the same subject and have both been successful; but Shahid is a much more powerful work on the subject than the two movies mentioned above.You may ask "What makes it so powerful?". Well, here are the reasons:

• Raj Kumar Yadav's terrific performance:  Raj Kumar plays the role of Shahid with immense conviction - his acting helps you connect to the character's pain, joy, anxiety and fear. Other noteworthy performances in the movie are that of Mohammed Ayyub Zeeshan (as Shahid's elder brother) and Baljinder Kaur (as Shahid's mother) and Shalini Vatsa (as a prosecution lawyer).

• No glamorization:  No A-list stars like SRK and Katrina, no songs to draw the audience to the theater, a non-fabricated depiction of the courtroom environment and yet the movie has the same impact.

• A believable portrayal of Shahid's life: While taking us through Shahid's life, the writer Sameer Gautam does not attempt to camouflage any flaws in the character's personality. Most of the biopics on inspiring people just focus on the good in their personalities and thus the characters appear to be unreal. However, in this movie Sammer subtly highlighted the mistakes that Shahid made in his personal life - he ignored his wife and son as he got engrossed in work and also hurt the feelings of his ever supportive mother and elder brother at times.

There are a few disconnects in the screenplay; but overall, the movie manages to achieve what it intends to - create an impact in the minds of the audience.

This production by Anurag Kashyap may not be a huge box-office success but those who watch it will be happy that they did.

  

Movie Review: Gravity - A Marvelous Experience

Rating 5/5

Brilliant Si-Fi movies are many but those packed with a strong dose of emotions are rare - Alfonso Cuaron's Gravity is one such rare movie.

The story of two astronauts' struggle to survive a space calamity, very beautifully touches two subjects - the obvious astrophysics and the not so obvious human psychology. The characters are so strong that you will connect with them even without getting to really see their physical selves hidden underneath the space suits. 

The astounding performances of the two leads (Sandra Bullock and George Clooney), the stunning cinematography that almost takes the audience to a 93 minute space ride, the brilliant direction and intriguing story - all these elements put together make this movie the best movie of the year.

For those planning to watch the movie - I earnestly request you to pay respect to this masterpiece by choosing a theater with a good 3D experience to watch this movie. 

Movie Review: Weak Script + Bad Music = Besharam

Rating: 2/5

Over the years the cinema goers have developed a kind of trust in Ranbir Kapoor's ability to pick up good scripts; Besharam however, has definitely managed to mark a dent on that trust if not completely washed it away. 

All the movie goers who ignored the "boring movie" signals in the trailers just because they believed that Ranbir Kapoor and director Abhinav Kashyap will never fail to entertain them will be highly disappointed.

Besharam's script is so weak that even the stardom of and good performances by the Kapoors fail to keep the movie alive. Yes I agree, that quite a few movies with weak scripts or rather absence of scripts (movies like Dabang) have been box office successes in the past; but those movies at least had hum-able songs - Besharam fails on that parameter too. One, the songs are absolutely tasteless in terms of music and picturization, then to add to the boredom of the audience, there is a song after every few minutes. 

The movie still manages to get 2 stars because it was funny in parts and all the actors performed well - Pallavi Sharda's acting needs some polishing though.

In short, this movie is a family movie - the Kapoor Family movie I mean.