Why you must watch Filmistaan this week?

You need to watch Filmistaan this week not just because there is no other movie even close to this affable yet poignant, humorous yet dramatic, filmy yet real national award winning movie in any of the cinema’s but because if you don’t… It wont be there next week!!

This lovely 2 hour feature shall not get its due because you chose to let it pass on account of it having no big stars, not much hype and no hit songs to its credit.

Writer- Director Nitin Kakkar narrates a very simple concept of an Indian who gets mistakenly kidnapped by the Taliban and what happens thereafter- through a series of real yet entertaining characters and moments. At the end, sending us home with a subtle message which we are all aware of but keep forgetting time & again!

The hero of the film apart from its very simple yet engaging concept is the films “Casting”.

The sincerity with which Sharib Hashmi plays the struggling Bollywood actor and movie fanatic- Sunny Arora- makes Sunny extremely adorable and believable. Inaamulhaq’s innocence and energy- as the Pakistani local Aftaab who sells pirated Bollywood movies-  is infectious.

The performances by Kumud Mishra, Gopal Dutt and every single actor that makes an appearance in the film are so supremely flawless and natural that they feel effortless!!

To add to this wonderful ensemble cast there are some brilliant moments that one cannot help but get lost in - 1) The debate over Sahid Afridi Vs Sachin Tendulkar 2) The entire Pakistani village gathering to watch Maine Pyaar Kiya!!  Or 3) An old Hakim (Habib Aazmi) reminiscing his Chola Kulcha eating Amritsar days pre partition are some of the few gems that are beautifully sprinkled over the narrative.

With the drama coming from the film’s setting- Indian caught in Pakistan, the humor coming from its characters and the emotion coming from the reality that on either side of the border we are the same people, who love and miss the same things makes Filmistaan a must have experience this week.

Watch it if you intend to watch anything this week.

Highway… an Imtiaz Ali journey…

When I went to watch Highway last night, I was carrying with myself some mixed reviews and expectations.

While some had found the film slow; a friend watched it twice, having not known post the first viewing as to whether he liked the film or not. Then there were those who wrote the film off while some who found faults in it.

The visuals in the films’ trailer and its music had made me look forward to the journey that “Highway” seemed to promise. The film seemed to have a kind of vibe that made me want to surrender to it rather than simply sit back and watch. Having not been too happy with Imtiaz Ali’s last two outings, I was worried I may be disappointed.

Well…

Having experienced the film now, I am glad, relieved and ecstatic to proclaim that I wasn’t!!

I loved the film…. every bit of it!

The characters, the narrative, the music, the performances, the pace, the entertainment, the conclusion… I loved it all. Imtiaz Ali….. you rocked it dude!

Alia Bhatt was phenomenal. For a girl that young to possess such poise and range in her performance is commendable to say the least.

Nothing that happens in the film is out of place. Every action has a justification that is planted subtly yet emphatically! It is this very manner of storytelling that made me love the film so much. It showcases the brave and sincere nature of the director in telling this poignant story.

If “Don’t say what you can show”, is an idiom all filmmakers are aware of, then in Highway, it is actually adhered to. Some of the most critical expressions in the film have no words or background score. It is the actions that do the talking.

However, by no way does that mean the film is some “art” house dark cinema! Sensible does not have to be boring. Highway is adequately entertaining with its quirky characters and well-timed banter. The situations by themselves provide the amusement to be entertained.

However, don’t go in if you are expecting some high octane thrills and spoon-feeding… one is so used to.

Go instead, if you are aware and enjoy the solitude one feels when one cruises on a long unending stretch of the- Highway.

For travelling with Veera and Bhaati, you shall not only get to know two very real people and see some gorgeous places but you may also value the freedom you have or even better… go out get one you rightfully deserve.

Either ways, take this “Highway”…it shall be a drive worth experiencing.

Shudh Desi Romance- A mature film for the innocently immature kind or a bad film??!!

Firstly, Is “immature” a bad word? Not necessarily. Among its many meanings, it also means- tender, young, inexperienced, etc. Now, that explains the heading of this post, which intends to ask- Is Shudh Desi Romance (SDR), a film for the restlessly young & genuinely confused or is it simply a bad film??

By the time I got to see Shudh Desi Romance (SDR), almost all the people around me had seen it and had unanimously hated it. None of them said the film was, “ok” or a “one time watch type”. They simply said, “Don’t watch! Its Bad!”

But being a Jaideep Sahni (Writer) fan since his Khosla ka Ghosla days, I had to watch it and find out what precisely could have gone so wrong. To my surprise I kind of realized- nothing much really… except may be- “audience reaction!”

SDR is a story of 3 people. 3 people, who’s characters are well defined and well explored. We see them at their best and their worst and that’s what made the film interesting for me. They seemed very real and believable. In fact, the only thing that they did not seem was- conventional film characters!!

There is- Raghu, a street smart, high energy, charming boy, perpetually petrified of “commitment” & thus of “marriage”.  We learn about this in the first scene- Loud & Clear!

One night on his way to his ‘own’ marriage, he meets- Gayatri, a new age girl with all her – so called- ultra modern traits (Chain smoking, Boyfriend hoping…) but still harboring dreams deep within that girls all over the world unanimously want to come true. In the morning, Raghu runs away from his marriage just before the “varmalas” are to be exchanged leaving behind- his wife to be- Tara- the most poised of the three who seems to be in control but who, in fact, is the most vulnerable of them all!!

The stage is set and the film begins…

To complete the context of the message, there is Goyalji (Rishi Kapoor), the “elder” who symbolizes quiet simply the “society” around us, “our peers”, “our parents”, “our friends”, “our very own thoughts”!! etc…

He may not be too interfering but he is very- smartly- judgmental. Every once in a while he shall slip in an advice- “Tumhare bhale ke liye” of course! And he constantly lurks around, very subtly yet distinctly exerting influence on the events that unfold- just like most things in and around us!

Now all that follows in the narrative is driven by the kind of people these individuals are. They get physically attracted and when they do, they don’t hold back. Now this could seem excessive but what if they are like this coz may be they are trying to prove a point, they are trying to fit in, in the forward seeming world they are told exists out there! For don’t forget why this story is set in a place that it is- a satellite city! Had it been in a more exposed and aware place like a metropolis they would have behaved differently. However, no matter how brave and forward they would want to seem now, they are yet not sure of their own feelings! They are defensive… yet humane.

 

Throughout the film, there are justifications for their actions. However, these are not thrust upon you explicitly. They are placed very casually all over. And that could well have been their undoing. Having missed these justifications & clarifications, their behavior may seem frustrating.

Some people have found it unconvincing to believe that a strong & beautiful girl like Tara would fall in love with Raghu- a guy who left her at the altar! But the fact that Tara is not strong at all and is in fact quiet vulnerable is made ample clear when we realize that instead of achieving her dream to become an air hostess she has settled for simply watching planes fly, by regularly visiting the airport!! And we are expecting her to stay away from him just because she "looks" beautiful then it exposes our shallowness much more than the bizarreness of her act!

Gayatri’s true self is evident too when she asks Raghu to move out of her apartment just a night after she has agreed to him moving in with her and has had sex with him.

All in all, SDR is a film about young people who seek love ferociously but have no idea how or what it looks like. Their hesitancy to commit is spelled out thoroughly when Raghu sums it up at the end of the film.

“I stayed with you willfully in your house…”, he says to Gayatri, “…the door was always open and I could have left anytime but I never ever felt like leaving. But marriage makes it feel as if the door is going to be locked forever and it feels claustrophobic!”

Now you may agree with Raghu or Gayatri or Tara or you may completely disagree. The fact is that there is a reason why they are behaving in a manner that they are. What makes the viewing experience pathetic is that their plight is genuine and pathetic. Its not a very happy place to be.

But a place like that does exist and the truth is we are all aware of some such place or its whereabouts. There is no malice amongst these people. There is no deceit…. The only term one may label them with, thus, may be- “Immature”

As such to feel this film and its characters one needs to touch that chord of immaturity within… once that chord is touched may be… Shudh Desi Romance may seem a far more mature film in the matter that it tries to handle… definitely not a bad film. Coz its far from it.

Why you must watch “Madras Café”?

Plenty of films release every Friday (These days even Wednesdays & Thursdays!). Some are good, some are bad and some are entertainers while some are class apart- Special. Madras Café (MC) falls in the last category.

Coming from a director par excellence like Shoojit Sircar who has the range to tell stories from a poignant romance amidst a war torn & tense Kashmir (Yahan) to the rib-tickling story of a sperm donor (Vicky Donor); MC is a sleek, gritty, precise and above all a ‘sincere-brave’ film.

Although claimed to be a fictional account (For obvious reasons), the film is a narrative of the what went behind the assassination of India’s ex PM. This- by itself- makes it a thrilling adventure to look forward. These are subjects we have blamed film-makers to be immature to handle. Someone has done it now, Its our turn to rise up and patronize that effort! However, what makes the film even more humane and heart wrenching is how it reveals to us the lives of all those faceless and nameless individuals (Officials of RAW, IB, NIA etc.) who strive day in & day out to keep us safe and respectable as a nation; as a society.

Without ever deviating from the gritty crux of the plot, Sircar’s direction and the screenplay by Shubendhu Bhattacharya & Dusan Tolmac effortlessly explores these “behind-the-scenes” people. The trauma they endure, the politics they battle and the losses they suffer makes you want to meet them wherever they may be, look into their eyes and say- “Thank you sir…Thank you”.

I never thought I did endorse a John Abraham film! But Sircar casts Abraham to do precisely what he can do best and even betters it. Likewise, before MC, I was terrified to watch Nargis Fakhri “act” after suffering her first outing but then again a perfect casting can turn perception on its head! Cast as a tough war correspondent, raised abroad, Nargis never speaks a letter of hindi and thus gets deliverance from the sin called- Rockstar! The supporting cast is refreshing (Siddharth Basu, Piyush Pandey!) and extremely believable when they mouth their lines. The action is top notch, the background score is spot on and the fact that there are no songs in the film is the biggest proof of how sincere the makers have been to the story and therefore to “us”- the audience.

The “bravery” bit comes from the sheer initiative Sircar & John Abraham (Co- Producer) have taken to make a film on this subject. The protests and threats against the film are proof of the fact that here is story that the powers above don’t want us to know! To invest so much time, effort and money in such a film is commendable and proud moment for Hindi films.

After the success of “Vicky Donor”, Shoojit Sircar had the luxury to make any number of “light on the mind” entertainers with big names, plenty of dance numbers and a riot of color. Instead, he chose a story that would make us ask questions, would make us think and wonder of what actually happened back in that time and more importantly what could be happening now!!!

Not every Friday (Wednesday or Thurday) does such an experience happen. Go take it.