Cast Lead (Piombo Fuso) Directed by: Stefano Savona/ Italy.

This is the second film that i saw at the Mumbai fil Fest 2009. Had this been a film seen on the third or the fourth day iw ould have walked out half way!

The film is a docu drama about the people in the Gaza strip suffering as a result of the attacks by Israel. Although Israelis call these attacks an assault on the terrorist outfit ‘Hamas’, the Palestinians in Gaza consider themselves victims of Israeli violence as a result of American ulterior motives. As such the Palestinians in Gaza are in complete support of the Gaza.
The docu is too dragged and boring as unlike Petition the Chinese documentary that had a story line and structure this one seemed going nowhere. Nothing different is told in 80 minutes of filming that could not have been crisply conveyed in 30 minutes or may be even less.

Petition ( La Cour des Plaignants) Directed by: Zhao Liang/ China

This was the first film that i watched at the Mumbai Film Festival 2009.

The film was in the category of docu drama. It documented a story and life line of people since the year 1996 so it would not be wrong to say that the film was in the making for the last 13 years at the least!
The film is about this group of people who have settled on a large barren land near South Beijing railway station. These are the people who have suffered under the autocratic rule of the Chinese premier. These people are asked to file petitions i.e their grievances in the ‘Petition Office’ located in South Beijing and hence they have come there…but the reality is that when these people file petitions they are further tortured by the dictatorship as such depriving them further from justice which they so persistently and legally seek.
What happens often with documentaries is that they end up being preachy and monotonous but this one does not and there is a reason for that.
In the film we see the journey of a mother and daughter- very crisply handled- wherein we see the daughter way back in 1996 talking about her mother’s fight and trauma. However as a decade goes by the daughter finds herself discouraging her mother from their fight against the imperial rule as the daughter has dreams of having a reasonable life in the city away from the slums and poverty. The mother is adamant as a result the daughter leaves the house and flees with her boyfriend. All of this is caught in camera. The mother’s reaction to being deserted by her daughter is too painful and real. Later on the daughter returns having settled successfully in the city having married her boyfriend and also now having her child. Even now her mother refuses to go with the daughter!

Besides this story there is another one of an old granny whose son has now grown into a reasonably successful man and has been asking his mother to let go of her want for justice and return home but his old haggard mother is determined to fight, then again there are these revolutionaries who begin to mobilized the victims but are suppressed by being arrested and tortured by the police. All these stories give the documentary a flow and direction.
The most striking point I felt was how the film opens on a large barren land outside the South Berlin railway station housing these poor petitioners and at the end of the film the same land has become the sight for the 2008 Beijing Olympic stadium! Sights that we marveled at a year ago seem disturbing when we realize the people who were displaced in order to make the mega event possible.

Lastly the film ends on these people continuing to stay under the now constructed stadium with not even a ray of light entering their homes and yet the ray of hope for justice not leaving their hearts!

TAMASHA IS OVER…may life go on as usual!

Oh no I’m not referring to the festive weekend just gone but I mean the far bigger spectacle that encapsulates us once every few years reminding us that we live in a democracy and we supposedly have a say in it! The Elections!

Maharashtra was one of the states that held its elections for the State Legislative Assembly which in turn would mean determining the party that would rule the state for the next five years.

There were new and vibrant elements this time around. Funds were spent in crores as opposed to lakhs! Media and other PR (Public Relation) channels were very creatively used. Advertising took to new dimensions as each candidate extended his/ her reach by entering the voter’s life through television, radio, mobile phones, hoardings, brochures and lastly by physically entering the homes!

Meanwhile some things remained the same…none of the parties seemed sincere enough to care for the voters’ interest and city’s development! Opponent bashing took up most of their energy. This time around they even had an available issue to embark upon which was the security measures for the city post 26/11 but so busy were they in pursuing their own goals and agenda that they could not even hold and emphasize the details around it.

While at one corner two cousins fought amongst themselves for the vote of the Marathi manoos, there were others severing their decade old relations with their parties and walking across party lines in order to get a ticket to contest the elections.

Finally nothing unexpected has happened. The same government will continue and the same people will oppose it for the next five years. I believe this has nothing to do with competence or lack of it but it’s simply people’s loss of all hope in trusting anybody and simply going with the flow. It’s like surrendering between devil and deep sea knowing fully that neither is going to be any different so might as well play along.

The biggest attention seeking draw is Raj T. establishing his presence and that one can largely attribute to his brilliance in oratory and tapping on nerves that have already been throbbing and will continue to do so for a while. One thing is for sure though- amidst the crowd of petty thieves vying for your attention with wry smiles and corny eyes, it is this roaring bandit that seems glorious and magnetic!!

It can thus be said safely that one party one because the other was a disaster and the one that lost was imply because the former won. Someone else benefited…the voters as usual lost….now that the tamasha is over…life will go on and on and on…

BLUE...Directed by Anthony D' Souza

The only reason i did not expect anything when i went to watch Blue was because i realised that all along the makers and promoters of the film talked about everything regarding the film except its content and story!!

It was the costliest Magnum opus in the history of Indian Cinema!! It was India's first under water film!! There were killer sharks and dare devil stunts!! International pop sensation Kylie Minogue was making her first appearance in a Hindi film! Lara Dutta- the female lead- learned swimming in three months for this under water adventure flick! An entire house was blown apart in a sequence!! A trailer truck carrying Mcguils was to fall lopsided on an expressway in one of the sequences!! Phew!! Phew!! Phew!!

You see what i mean? The film had all of the above and it looked fantastic but as i have always believed a little moderation of the above 'cool' elements and subsequent attention to the 'age old' screenplay would have caused no harm!!

The film is about a treasure that is on board a sunken ship. Akshay K wants the treasure and only Sanjay Dutt- a very paunchy, old and unfit guy on the island- the best under water diver around can get it for him!! Sanjay Dutt has never looked so bad in any of his films before! wonder how Mrs. Dutt allowed it? Zayed plays Sanjay's young and hot blooded brother...Lara is there because she has to be there as an element! Nothing happens till the interval. For a film as short as under two hours they could have done without an interval and people may have not realised that the first half was completely uneventful but alas the economics of popcorn!

The film thus is nothing without all the marketing elements and one would be satisfied seeing the underwater sequences on Nat Geo or animal planet. They did make more sense!

Why are we getting carried away with the western style at the cost of content, I fail to realise but of course The whole thing is that ki bhaiya....

But even then the masses don't care who Kylie Minogue is!!! Why then??

KAMINEY...DIRECTED BY VISHAL BHARADWAJ.

There was a lot going for Kaminey even before the promos began airing. It was a film directed by Vishal Bharadwaj whom i have regard for...'coz there is a certain sincerity in his film making. His previous works Maqbool and Omkara were examples of that trait.
Add to that the title- Kaminey! was proof enough that here again was something that was dictated by the characters and script and held so true for the world in general when comes a moment where everybody around seems precisely that- A Kamina! For the first time someone was going to capture that thought with brutal openness.
Then came the promos and i saw- Dhan Te Dhan!! I was blown by the thought and energy of the song!! Again here was something that had been missed by so many before... a sound that accompanied so many script and scene narrations was turned around herein into a chart buster!!
However as i waited for the movie to begin in the cinema halls i had wiped my mind of all the awed baggage and thus witnessed and experienced the next couple of hours plus of story telling with an open mind. I liked it.
What was noteworthy was how a certain atmosphere was created through the story such that you felt in the same space as the characters..may it be the brightness of the day or the darkness of terror and gloominess of trouble...i felt i was a part of it. The performances were satisfying and the back ground score was amazing. Usage of old songs at a few points gave it a very different and chilling grip.
Its definately a must watch to witness a gutsy and sincere story told in a very sincere manner.

HANGOVER...Directed By Todd Philips

The credit for this hilarious and wild flick should be equally given to the writer as much as to the director for it is the sheer crazy imagination in the screenplay and the clearly sketched out characters that make Hangover- a must watch cinema!

Most good films have story lines that can be described in a one liner likewise Hangover is simply put- "A bachelor Party gone wrong!"...and by wrong i mean....CRAZY WRONG!

One scene from the film will help me explain what i mean. 4 friends begin their bachelor party one night in Las Vegas...Next day morning as they strain themselves to get up their plush hotel suite is in a mess- glass broken, furniture upturned, drinks spilled, food scattered and...a blond who walks out of the room! Blood on the floor as one of them has lost a tooth, A Baby that is sleeping in the locker! and... and... A TIGER IN THE BATHROOM!!! and oh yes!...the groom for whom the party was meant to be---is missing!! Voila...the film begins!!

The screenplay then takes us back to the night as they recollect what all happened and the discoveries get crazier with every revelation!

Ofcourse it is supremely entertaining but the marvel is the limitless imagination that the writer has put in to come up with this not just funny but also a much more evolved experience at story telling...

Luck- Directed By Soham Shah

I will definitely not discourage anyone from watching ‘Luck’ for although I am not able to praise the film unhesitantly, I also did not feel bored or let down by it.

When I think harder I realize that the reason I can’t say out loud that it was a good film is not because it was not good but because it was less a film and more like a reality game show! All the characters were the participants gathered from different places and they had to go through different rounds of ‘tasks’ as so many of the contestants go through every day on our television sets on different channels!! Yes!…that’s what has left me hungry and restless for although there was nothing very drastically wrong about Luck, it was like watching a reality show on big screen!
One can’t expect any reasoning or logic from the story or narration when the title of the film is LUCK, and the same word is emphasized at least 6 times in every scene…again and again and again…LUCK…LUCK…LUCK…L…!! All the co-incidences or convenience in the script can safely find explanation in the films’ Title-Luck! I like that!!

However the stunts and the canvas have been well showcased in terms of shooting- not logic- the deserts , the cliffs and the effort by all the cast is sincere… some might get irritated by the sing song, over the top dialogues like- Bandook Khaali, Goli Daali, Sir par taani aur Dimaag Khali! However it was a fun to have Mithunda and Sanju Baba being filmy. One might get irked if Abhay Deol or Saif Ali Khan tried to be over the top filmy expecting us to seriously savor that!

Shruti Hassan is super disappointing. She is only there because of her lineage else nothing justifies anything that she is doing out there. Singing may be her forte and I have no opinion on that but acting or actor- OH NO! Imran has tried hard to look like a hard core man with tough expression and gelled hair… all he looks is a very sincere, cute boy. His sincerity makes him endearing though.

The music was groovy and the 'Khudaya Khair' song is seamless and sets the tone for mood change…I still wish it would have been picturized on anyone else but Imran and Shruti! But I guess it was just their and our- Luck!!
And lastly I must mention this- people who have seen the film will agree with me- why can’t so many film makers end the film crisply?? Why do they have to stretch it that extra 5 minutes, destroying the entire crescendo to which they have taken their film and thus letting the audience leave the theaters with a sour taste?
Again I guess- it’s our L…!

LUCK BY CHANCE

DIRECTED BY: ZOYA AKHTAR

CAST: FARHAN AKHTAR, KONKANA SEN SHARMA, RISHI KAPOOR, DIMPLE KAPADIA, ISHA SHERWANI, SANJAY KAPOOR AND HRITHIK ROSHAN(SPECIAL APPEARENCE).

The story is about Vikram (Farhan Akhtar) who's come down from Delhi to become a hero and about Sona (Konkana Sen Sharma) who has left her everything in Lucknow and has been struggling it out for the last three years to make it as a heroine. Through their journey they come across the over enthusiastic-fat-sweet tongued but shrewd Producer (Rishi kapoor), the eternal Diva(Dimple) agressively launching her damsel daughter Niki(Isha) and a failed actor whose being pushed by his brother(Rishi) into direction-Sanjay Kapoor! and amidst this jamboree of cardboard characters is yet another cliche character of a superstar- Zafar Khan(Hrithik Roshan) who obviously is diplomatic and insecure.

The only thing good about this film is the style in which excel entertainment makes their movies. There is something that gives their films a panache and sleekness that makes for visual delight. Every frame looks presentable and hence makes everything else far above bearable. I got prejudiced towards the film when i realised that for 8 years Zoya Akhtar was nurturing the script!! It is a pity that the daughter of Javed Akhar(diaolgues) and sister of Farhan Akhar(Actor-Producer) could only think as far as the the hindi film industry(over 8 years) and that too make it seem a circus of buffoons and cardboard characters.

I will not discourage anyone from watching the film, I even recommend the film but i will feel chained if i don't yell it out that i feel the entire film seemed to me an indulgence of a family and some friends...in a world where i and many like me slog out hard to convince people to put in some money on something new and unique, i consider it unfair that such indulgence is applauded wherein a person who claims to know the film industry so intimately makes it look like the last place to be on this planet with nothing good about it and nothing real about it. I would have still let go of this extreme reaction of mine had this film been made by an outsider...i would have not even have cribbed about the caricatured characters and situations but it did seem rather a waste for a film to be made by the people it is made by.

and now that I've said all of that...PHEW! feels alright....

I must hurry for I've an appointment with Zoya!!

Did someone think...show must go on!!...come on now... something new please! :)

Slumdog Millionaire(SM)

DIRECTED BY DANNY BOYLE

4 globe awards...10 nominations for the oscars...super hype...extensive over the top publicity... but at the bottom of it all...a 2 and a half hours film...

As with the passage of each day the hype surrounding SM mounted i made a deliberate attempt to stay immune to it. I wanted to see and judge the film the way i would judge any other film i watched. However I will admit that i was not completely untouched by the craze that the film was garnering for if ever i had managed to duck it everywhere else i could not escape the excitement amongst the queue at the ticket counter and the buzz before the movie began!

But thats what MEDIA PERCEPTION does...the idea behind it is to make people believe what they are told to believe and hence the media publicist had done a fine job with SM.

The first thing that struck me about the film was its concept and the screenplay. As i believe these are the two primary elements that determine the films quality i liked the film.

As your backdrop you have the most popular show in recent time on Indian television- "Kaun banega Krorepati" or "Who Wants to be a Millioanire"- hosted by a superstar Prem (Anil Kapoor) add to that the dirt-drama-tension of the slums along with the journey of the protogonists- Jamal(Dev Patel), his love Latika (Frieda Pinto) and Jamal's bro- Salim(Madhur Mital) from the innocense of childhood to the wisdom, fire and corruption of youth.

Jamal is being interrogated throughout the film by the police Inspector(Irfan Khan) for he has been accused of cheating on the show 'Who wants to be a Millionaire' since it is not possible for a slumboy to with so much money on the show. Through the interrogation Jamal reveals his life story so far...the story of a boy who gets his wisdom from the filth and trauma of life all around...his school has been the world he lives in and his playground is this world itself. He has learnt through circumstances wierd and wild and most importantly is putting all of that to use to get to his goal...of finding Latika!

I enjoyed the film.

However, one of the very prominent glitches i felt was that the makers have not been able to decide on the language of the film. Ideally if all the characters had spoken english uniformly than that would have been the language of the film and would have been alright seeing the slum kids speaking the same...however what has happened is even the grown up characters converse at times in hindi and at times in english makiing one seem as if they know english so fluently which is not actually the case! I can uderstand the kids could not have been taught english but care should have been taken with the grown up characters.

Dev Patel in his portrayal of Jamal mallick has done a fine job but why did he have to be cast with such a heavy accented english and hindi for such a vital role of a character whose born and bread in the slums and your story's credibility revolves around his ruralised character?

Apart from these two ponts mentioned above...the film has a whole is nice...I'll definately recommend it.

KABHI ALVIDA NA KEHNA

DIRECTOR BY KARAN JOHAR

AMITABH BACHCHAN, SHAHRUKH KHAN, ABHISHEKH BACHCHAN, RANI MUKHERJEE, PRIETY ZINTA, KIRON KHER.

Dev(SRK) and Ria(Zinta) are married for the past 5 years and have a son. However its not the smoothest of relationships and the reason being Dev, who has become cynical after he had to forego his career as a football coach due to an accident in which he permanently damaged his leg. He is hence often frustrated, edgy and irritable. On the contrary Ria is ambitious, bright and flamboyant modern.

It is precisely her positivity and exuberance that nauseates Dev leading to constant fights and unrest.
Maya(Rani) has married Rishi(Abhishekh) recently, although they have known each other since many years and Rishi has been in love with Maya, Maya isn’t very sure but has all the same taking the plunge and got married. Soon into the marriage she finds herself forced to comply to the duties and responsibilities of a wife…of a soul mate and she realizes that this marriage has been a compromise for her…suffoctating her everyday.(Although this is a realistic feeling; cinematically it does not come out that well making people wonder why is she so sad!!)

Under such circumstances Dev and Maya meet.

The common circumstances and their individual nature brings them closer and they fall in love but later realize the damage this love would be causing a lot of people. They know their love cannot be accepted but they know they cannot leave each other.

However their truth is soon found out by Rishi’s father (Amitabh Bachchan) and its from here that the climax begins wherein they confess their attraction to their partners-get separated from them but still do not tell this to each other, only after three years do they come to know as to how they are no more bound by relations and with consent from Rishi and Ria, they come together.
Good because…
The music gives it a lovely feel, an atmosphere, a mood and that helps.
Direction is good as the emotional moments are well capitalized with music and close-ups.
Visually, it’s a treat.

Problem areas:
The major flaw is that the sympathy that needs to be largely with Dev and Maya is infact diverted onto Rishi and Maya, especially Rishi who is sketched out as a completely white character but still gets the wrong side of the bargain.
Similarly with Dev who is the hero doing the not-so-right thing but yet is to be loved, his character comes out grey and hence the sympathy or goodwill shifts away from him.
Shahrukh Khan’s acting is nothing new, infact it’s a little over board.
Dev’s character too is this MCP who is self sympathetic and lost, if it would have been the messiah like from Mohabbatein or Kal Ho Na Ho, it might have done well for the situation.

Final Take-
Of course it’s a must watch…if not for anything then for Karan Johar who does give you the larger than life-complete cinematic experience.

CASINO ROYALE

DIRECTED BY MARTIN CAMPBELL

RELEASE DATE- 15TH DEC'06

Every film needs some particular mood, temperament or perception to watch so that it can be enjoyed better. Likewise to me Bond films signify- style, thrills and women, rest all is secondary.

With Casino Royale I was also curious to get acquainted with the new bond- “Daniel Craig”…I was trying my best to keep Brosnan out of my mind and make no comparisons.

The film started well- the action was amazing and it did not take me great effort to accept Daniel Craig- however Brosnan till scores above- as the suave British agent.

In Craig, with his grey eyes i could not help but get a hint of villainy rather than the boyish naughtiness and charm that Brosnan brought to Bond.

As the film moved ahead I started feeling short changed- there were no bond girls, you had to force yourself to find one!!! The action did not take an ascending graph! The thrill at the casino was good, but the plot was such that it required better specifics. The villains and bond’s conflict was underplayed. At one point Craig looked a romantic hero than a sleek- action spy.
Where was the entire gadget introductory sequence?- A very important staple of Bond films.

Finally the climax was very hurried and wrapped up.

At the end of it, it was not a rubbish film- I don’t think any bond film can be bad but this one definitely felt less spicy and less salty!

The correct word as used above is- “SHORTCHANGED”

The Untouchables

DIRECTED BY BRIAN DE PALMA

RELEASE DATE: 3RD JUNE 1987

ROBERT DE'NERO.........SEAN CONNERY.......KEVIN KOSTNER

The movie is a true story set in 1930 about the gangster Al Capone(De Nero) who was invoved in illegal trafficking of liquor during the days of the prohibition. Officer Ness(Kostner) of the revenue department takes it upon himself to arrest Capone and make sure that he is proven guilty. However with almost all of Chicago on Capone’s payroll Ness has a hard time going about his mission until he puts together a team of four such people including himself(Kostner, Charles Smith, Sean Connery, Andy garcia) who do not take bribes and remain undeterred by threats thereby gaining for themselves the title of ‘The Untouchables’.

The movie is about how they go about their mission, the obstacles that they face and the victories that they achieve.

I often believe that a movie is good not because of what they show but mostly because of what they do not show. As such, keeping the screenplay and narration to the point and free flowing.

Certain scenes like the one on the railway station where Ness is waiting for Capone’s Book-keeper as he is the only link that will prove Capone guilty is very well choreographed with suitable background score doing the rest.

Also the long sequence of Malone (Sean Connery) getting killed is reminiscent of the Hitchcock style of suspense and thriller.

The characters too seem very real and not cardboard like.

Good film, must watch.

AAG

PRODUCED AND DIRECTED BY RAJ KAPOOR
RAJ KAPOOR........NARGIS.......KAMINI KAUSHAL
“Keval Khanna is a man obsessed with theater. However he comes from a family that looks down upon theatre and hence he has to rebel against his parents for the sake of his passion.
Along with the passion for theater Keval has nurtured a deep longing for his childhood friend Nimmi. Nimmi and Keval got separated when they were in school and since then Keval has looked for Nimmi in every girl he has met.

Aag thus is Keval’s journey for his passions-Theatre and Nimmi. The film also covers the current affairs of its time like unemployment, the frustration amidst the youth to make their own destinies, etc.”

Although the film is a flashback, it starts off well when Kevals burnt face is exposed, also after the story returns to the present there is still a little story that enfolds.

The film extensively drives the point that the beauty of the soul is to be valued more than the beauty of appearance.

Aag marked the debut of Raj Kapoor as the director and was the first film produced by the illustrious R.K. banner.
I would definately recommend the film to any lover of sincere and soft cinema.