War of Honour : Padmaavat Movie Review

Padmavaat is a fairly entertaining, but a typical Bollywood period film.

Technically, it does have all the key facets of a Bhansali film viz. stunning visuals (Sudeep Chatterjee), and impressive grandeur (Amit Rai, Subrata Chakraborty).

The narrative initially a bit slow focuses on the lead characters and their back-stories. Towards the interval it picks up some pace, but again there is a slight dip towards the end. Editing (Rajesh Pandey) could have been a bit sharper.

Music by Bhansali and Sanchit Balhara once again synchronizes with Rajasthani and Mughal folklore quite well. However, one song Khali Bali though catchy, is literally forced into the narrative with atrocious dance moves!

Dialogues by Prakash Kapadia are quite crisp, but frankly the actors’ contribution makes them stronger. The heavy gyaan baazi about valour and principles in between is a bit irritating. Action scenes by Shyam Kaushal are well executed.

The story as most of us are aware involves more of fiction & cinematic liberty, than factual history. Secondly, since major characters are portrayed in black and white, the unpredictability factor is missing, which makes it a regular masala potboiler.

The film by any chance does not promote Sati practice or show Rajput women in bad light. In fact, it highlights the portions where the queens help taking strategic decisions, and support their partners. The pre-climax reminds you of Ketan Mehta’s classic Mirch Masala, which spoke about women standing for themselves against lechery.

Performance wise, Shahid Kapur fits the character of Raja Ratan Singh Rawal. His body language, dialogue delivery, emotions are perfect. However, he is over-shadowed by Ranveer, since Khilji is shown to be stronger.

Jim Sarbh as Malik Kafur is just brilliant. His role of Khiji’s male partner is perhaps the only multi-dimensional one, and dealt with meticulously. He brings in the surprise elements in the film at the right place, without over-doing it. The actor also aptly underplays himself as and when required.

Deepika as Rani Padmavati looks stunning, and emotes well but somewhere the depth in her character is not completely seen. Aayam Mehta, who plays Rajguru Raghav Chetan is superb. Aditi Rao Hydari as Mehrunisa (Khilji’s wife) does well, but falls short of screen space. Same with Anupriya Goenka who plays Rani Nagmati. Raza Murad provides good support.

Ranveer Singh simply outshines everyone else & takes the film to the next level. The actor transforms himself into a menacing maniac and keeps you engaged throughout with his towering presence. Once again he picks up the diction (Urdu – Arabic) with ease. Bhansali somehow manages to bring the best out of him always.

Overall, Padmavat is a one-time enjoyable fare, worth a watch owing to the performances and Bhansali’s large creative canvas, without linking it to real-time historical characters

Rating:  ***1/2

Does Crime Make Business Sense?

Raees: Movie Review

Courtesy : Youtube

Crime / ‘Gangsta’ drama has been one of the most experimented ‘film’ genres throughout the world.  Some film-makers prefer to focus on bio-pics on popular individual figures, others like to draw excerpts from real life incidents recreating them with fictitious characters. While Hollywood is known for its all time classics The Godfather, Scare Face, Angels with Dirty Faces, Indian cinema is also has its fair share viz. Nayakan, Shiva, Satya, Company, Sarkar, Vaastav, Black Friday, Once Upon a Time in Mumbai, Gangs of Wasseypur, Shootout at Lokhandwala, etc.

Rahul Dholakia’s ‘Raees’ is loosely inspired by  life of Abdul Latif, Gujarat based underworld don, quite popular and active during the late 80s, early 90s. The trailer of the film had already managed to create lot of buzz, since Shah Rukh Khan after a long time was to be seen in a badass avatar in the film.

The film begins in Fatehpura, a fictitious city in Gujarat. Raees Alam (SRK) and Sadiq (Mohammad Zeeshan Ayub) are close aides of Jayaraj Seth (Atul Kulkarni), a bootlegger who runs a monopoly of supplying liquor illegally within the dry state. Raees is ambitious and wants to run his own business, but waits for the right opportunity. While he finally manages to fulfill his dream, little does he realize that he shall be drawn to the world of crime, where there is no looking back. How he encounters various kind of people some supporting him, while others offering resistance through this roller-coaster ride of his journey is what the film is all about.

The first half of the narrative is pretty fast paced. Every frame keeps you glued to the screen. There is a slight dip in the second half, which again is covered up towards the climax. The only problem that crops up is that the film keeps switching between ‘realistic’ and ‘commercial‘aspects. While Rahul Dholakia and team have taken lot of effort has been taken to maintain the authenticity of locations, retro-istic feel, culture and tradition etc. the character of Shah Rukh seems to be developed on the lines of a typical Salim Javed angry young man of the 70s. Although having a strong screen presence as the protagonist, you feel like watching a masala pot boiler.

Editing by Deepa Bhatia is sharp, but a 5-10 minute reduction could have been possible. Cinematography by K.U. Mohanan is top notch, especially the action sequences which are aesthetically shot. Music by Ram Sampath is apt and covers all genre viz. romantic, folk, dance and a tapori styles. All songs except ‘Zalima’ flow as part of the narrative. Dialogues are power-packed and quite catchy.

Performance wise, all supporting actors do a great job, Atul Kulkarni, Sheeba Chadha, Narendra Jha and Jaideep Ahlawat and leave a mark. Mohammad Zeeshan Ayub is brilliant as Raaees’s close friend, Mahira does well in parts, but somewhere the chemistry with Shah Rukh, which was integral, does not show completely.

Shah Rukh Khan excels in a role tailor made for him. After a long time it’s refreshing to see him playing an intense, grey character with ease. However, minus the slightly stretched romantic portions, and a little restrain on dialogue-baazi, Raees could have easily been his career best indeed. His character deserved to be more a little more rustic and ruthless.

Above all, it’s Nawazuddin Siddiqui as ACP Majmudar who rules a roost. Right from his entry, Nawaz nails it every-time he appears on screen. His realistic dialogue delivery, comic timing and body language are just perfect. The confidence he oozes during confrontation scenes with Shah Rukh Khan is just epic. The additional role of the narrator only adds further value to his contribution to the film.

On the whole, Raees is a quite engaging, highly entertaining film with immense potential to become a Wasseypur or perhaps even a Nayakan, but falls a bit short.

Nevertheless, it’s definitely worth a watch for the performances, the overall treatment and the message it conveys in the end.

Rating ***1/2

Chronicles of ‘Magnificent’ Mahendra

Cricket and cinema are national passions of India. Since ages these two fields have effectively managed to make a place in people’s heart since childhood. Even today, kids born in any corner of the country aspire to be a Sachin Tendulkar or an Amitabh Bachchan. But, it takes hell lot of patience, courage, hard work and above all luck to make it to the top. M S Dhoni by Neeraj Pandey, highlights the early life of the Indian Cricket team captain and the pursuit to achieve his dreams.

The story begins on 7^th July 1981 in Ranchi, where Mahi (played Sushant Singh Rajput) is born to Pan Singh Dhoni (Anupam Kher), who works as a pump operator with Mecon Ltd. and Devaki Devi, a home-maker.

Pan Singh, like any middle classed salaried has only one objective in life, to ensure that his kids study well, make a life for themselves and support the family. Mahi right from school days is drawn towards sports, viz.  football, TT, badminton etc. His sports coach in school inculcates interest in him for cricket esp. wicket-keeping.

Mahi although picks up ‘keeping’ fast, like every kid is more fascinated towards batting! During inter-school matches, he does prove himself as an aggressive yet dependable batsman, as well.  Few years down the line, owing to his immense talent and support from right people, he gets an opportunity to play for Coalfields and later with Indian Railways, clubbed with regular 9-5 job. This also becomes an entry point for him to play Ranji and Duleep trophies. Though being able to balance both job and cricket well, he still eyes a place in the Indian National team. His inspiring journey hereon forms the plot of the film.

The narrative, right from the beginning, moves at a steady pace following chronological order of events and occurrences in Mahi’s life. Neeraj Pandey known for edge-of-the seat thrillers like Wednesday, Special 26, Baby keeps you engaged throughout.

The use of real cricket footage, courtesy BCCI helps in maintaining the authenticity. Use of VFX is impressive in few places, but also funny at times!  The contribution of key people in Mahi’s career and his emotional bonding with them is brilliantly depicted without showcasing them as caricatures.  In the second half the pace slightly slows down a bit during the romantic track(s), but gathers momentum towards the end. The climax though predictable gives you goose-bumps!

However, two aspects of an utmost importance that remained untold include

1. His evolution from a regular player to being promoted as CAPTAIN of the ODI team
2. His strategic leadership, team building and chemistry on-field with team-mates

Cinematography by Santosh Thundiyil is amazing, esp. the aerial shots. Dialogues by Pandey are impactful. Background score by Sanjoy Chowdhury pumps up the adrenaline of the viewers. Music by Amal Malik, Rochak Kohli is soothing. Editing by Shree Narayan Singh is tight barring couple of places.

Perfomance wise, Sushant Singh Rajput is just outstanding. He was and is indeed, undoubtedly the apt choice to play the title role. Although VFX helps at few places, but the way Sushant imbibes the body language of Mahi, esp. his walk, wrist-movements, smile is just phenomenal.  Mahi is usually known for his calmness & composure & not so expressive nature. Sushant deserves special credit just for being able to portray that on-screen, without making it look ‘WOODEN’. The backdrop of cricket perhaps proves lucky for him the second time, 3 years after his debut Kai Po che!

Master Zeshan who plays younger Mahi is promising. Anupam Kher, Rajesh Sharma, Kumud Mishra, and the actor who plays A K Ganguly from Indian Railways are exceptional in their respect roles. Bhoomika Chawla as his elder sister is good. Kiara Advani and Disha Patani provide adequate support. All other actors play their parts well.

The message conveyed through the film is very simple. With the aura of talent, focus, conviction, and good people around, destiny does the honors of taking you to the right place at the right time!

Overall, a truly inspiring and highly entertaining Bollywood Cricket film after a long time.

Rating: ****

Mohenjo Daro : Pre-historic fiction, Bollywood style

Movie Review

Courtesy : sekho.in

History or period cinema has been a favourite genre for film-makers right from Dadasaheb Phalke’s Raja Harishchandra, the first motion film in India.  Although the budget & scale of this kind-of films need to be quite high, some directors still consider them a safe-bet since most of the stories have already been read by people. It’s just about how the feature is presented, with minimum cinematic liberties, melodious songs along with a pinch of bollywood masala.

Mohenjo Daro / Harappan civilization is a part of history about which very little is known, esp. the inhabitants and the culture. Attempting recreation of such an era was always a risky affair from the content point of view.

The film is set in 2016 BC where Sarman (Hrithik Roshan) a young Indigo farmer lives with his uncle Durjan (Nitish Bhardwaj) and aunt Bima (Kishori Shahane) in the ancient village of Amri (Sindh). Sarman in his sleep, gets regular visuals of Mohenjo Daro (a popular town closer to Amri), and feels drawn towards it. One fine day, he makes up his mind to visit his dream town with the intent of doing better trade, and explore unknown insights as well.  On entering, he realises that though externally the town appears fascinating, trade-friendly and self sufficient, it does have its own set of rules & regulations, mysteries and also smells of fascism led by the tyrant premier Maham (Kabir Bedi) and his son Moonja (Arunoday Singh). Subsequently, Sarman falls for Chaani (Pooja Hedge) who is the head priest’s (Manish Chaudhary) daughter. Slowly, his bonding with the town strengthens further. Sarman’s pursuit in connecting the dots here-on forms the crux of the story.

The narrative kick starts with couple of thrilling sequences in the beginning. Further, the focus is shifted towards showcasing the unique aspects viz. barter system of trade, multi-level houses, etc. to give us a feel of the pre-historical city, never experimented before in Indian cinema. The second half gathers good momentum, and things started moving at a rapid pace. The story also highlights the hierarchical system, political framework, different styles of leadership in the era etc. in an interesting manner which is analogous and pretty very much relevant to today’s times. The religious beliefs / practices that may have been followed then have been depicted subtly. All these features may not be as authentic as historians claim, but a first of its kind attempt with some cinematic liberty is appreciable.

However, script-wise unlike Ashutosh’s earlier works, the plot is a bit clichéd. Although the narrative is presented in a different way with remarkable scenes which are quite impactful and well executed, the feeling of complete satisfaction is somewhat missing. Simplicity, a USP of Ashutosh’s cinema gets a bit camouflaged by style.

Cinematography by C K Muraleedharan is excellent. Background Score by A.R. Rahman gels well with the theme. However, from the songs’ perspective, only Tu Hai / Sindhu Maa make a mark, which kind of dilute the flow of the film. Art Direction by Sanjay Karole, and costumes by Neeta Lulla are quite good, but not outstanding. Somewhere the magical combination of Nitin Chandrakant Desai and Bhanu Athaiya would have been ideal for the film. The dialogues by Preeti Mamgain, involving a mixture of different Hindi dialects is quite interesting.

Coming to the performances, Hrithik Roshan does a fabulous job. His body language, action sequences, expression of emotions, suits the character well. This can by-n-large be called as one of his best performances ever. Newcomer Pooja Hegde as Chaani is quite competent but has a long way to go.  Kabir Bedi is menacingly convincing as Maham. Arunoday Singh is first-rate. Nitish Bhardwaj, Suhasini Mulay and Kishori Shahane provide adequate support. Sharad Kelkar excels in a cameo. Narendra Jha is superb, but deserved more screen presence. Manish Chaudhary plays his part well. On the whole, the supporting characters in the film (barring Kabir Bedi) seemed a bit weaker, wherein the major responsibility lies with Hrithik, to carry the film on his shoulders.

Overall Mohenjo Daro is a good film, but falls slightly below expectations, given its huge grandeur and canvas. Having said that, the way some critics have bashed the film is unfair and absurd, owing to the hard-work effort that might have gone into the making of the film. Director Ashutosh Gowariker deserves the credit for his innovative thought process & imagination in creating a setup for which very little historical data is available. A slightly out-of-the box story which is very much his forte, could have perhaps worked wonders.

Nevertheless, to summarize, it’s definitely worth a watch.

Rating : **1/2

Fear of the Unknown

Phobia : Movie Review

Image Courtesy : EROSNOW

Psychological thriller is a slightly less experimented genre in hindi cinema, since it attracts a very niche audience, requires a strong & intellectual directorial vision, with a brilliant ensemble of actors to make it look convincing on-screen. Over the years, while films like Bhoot, Gumnaam, Kaun, Kahaani, 13B, Karthik Calling Karthik, Ek Hasina Thi succeeded in gathering decent audience response, others like Khamosh, Stone Man Murders, Johnny Gaddar, Being Cyrus, despite having excellent screenplays, weren’t that successful at the Box Office. Nevertheless, this has never stopped good writers to work on the subject for sure! Phobia by Pavan Kirpalani tries to explore ‘Human Fear’ as its principal theme, and its impact on the society.

The film begins Mehak Deo (Raadhika Apte) a painter by profession, who after a particular ‘untoward’ incident develops agoraphobia, i.e. fear of public places. Her elder sister Anu (Nivedita Bhattacharya) initially tries to extend as much support as possible by facilitating therapies, etc.  but is unable to cope up after a certain point of time. Subsequently Shaan (Satyadeep Mishra), Mehak’s good friend decides to shift her to his friend’s flat, which he believes will help her come out of her irrational fear slowly. The new place, at the face of it does appear a bit creepy at times. But the question is does it help Mehak gradually overcome her illness or ends up intensifying the situation? Phobia is about her battle within.

The narrative starts right from the word go, and doesn’t dwell much into the historical events, giving too many explanations as such. It focuses majorly the present and typical human reactions to various occurrences. The flow of sequences aptly manages to shock and sometimes freak out the viewer!

All the characters in the film are real-time, but shown to be a bit ‘eccentric’ in their own way. This ensures the protagonist not being victimized as a patient suffering from a ‘mental’ problem, to the audience. As the story unwinds in the second half, worms begin to come out of the bag one-by-one at a steady pace. But somewhere when it reaches the peak, certain aspects are left for the audience to gauge. Although this is a common feature for most psycho thrillers, both in India and abroad, the average cine-goer may find it kind of confusing.

Screenplay by Pavan Kirpalani, Pooja Ladha Surti, Arun Sukumar is pretty engaging. The flow of sequences aptly manages to shock and sometimes freak out the viewer! Cinematography by Jayakrishna Gummadi is top class. The way the visuals move frame to frame, your heart tends to skip a beat. Background score by Karan Gour gels well with the on-screen antics. Pooja Ladha Surti does a great job with the editing but somewhere, 2-3 additional minutes of sum-up could have been ideal.

Radhika Charudutt Apte is just phenomenal. It is indeed a challenging task for the lead actress to carry a complex film with an unusual theme on shoulders, esp. with co-actors being slightly less popular. But, Radhika proves her mettle by putting her heart and soul into Mehak’s character. She can easily be called as the new age Smita Patil, with the perfect combination of unconventional looks and immense talent.

Satyadeep Mishra as Mehak’s moral support is first-rate. Ankur Vikal as ‘Weird Manu’ is hilariously creepy like hell. Yashaswani Dayama as a cute, gullible teenager does exceptionally well. Nivedita Bhattacharya provides adequate support.

Overall, Phobia captures the essence of human psyche very well, with due credit to director Pavan Kirpalani. We may have the right people around, ready to help us resolve our problems, but at times our own subconscious ‘sane’ mind which knows us better, needs to be convinced first, to weave out the best possible solutions.

Worth a watch, and strongly recommended for a sequel!

 Rating ***1/2

Star Struck ‘Fan’aticism

Fan : Movie Review

Mumbai is fondly called the City of Dreams or Mayanagari, one of the main reasons being it houses the Hindi Film Industry. Most of us are fascinated, sometimes even heavily inspired by films, right from childhood. The larger than life characters, their style & body language, the dialogue delivery, is something we relate to, emulate and want to be like. In the process, we fall for the actors playing these roles, and choose our individual favourites. This is how stardom is born!  In fact, sometimes, we even tend to cross the line between the real & reel lives, and start living in a virtual world. Maneesh Sharma’s ‘Fan’ is about one of these kinds of people amongst us.

The film begins in Inder Vihar Delhi with Gaurav Chandana (Shah Rukh Khan), a 25 year old college dropout who is in awe of superstar Aryan Khanna. To add fuel to the fire, Gaurav’s face resembles Aryan a bit, and he loves copying his mannerisms, mouthing dialogues from his films, much to the delight of the people around him. Gaurav’s parents find it a bit annoying and weird yet encourage him in his pursuits. One fine day, Gaurav’s fanaticism crosses the threshold, and decides to visit Mumbai, and meet his ‘senior’ Aryan Khanna personally. He manages to reach the dream city, only to realise that there are millions like him waiting to get a glimpse of the Superstar. To stand out from the crowd, he would perhaps have to do something special, to grab his idol’s attention, and fulfil his dream. Does Gaurav manage reaching out to Aryan, or there is something else in store for him, is how the plot unfolds here on.

Right from the beginning, Maneesh Sharma doesn’t waste time in elaborating stuff. He keeps it simple, by maintaining the focus on Gaurav and his craziness. Up to the interval, the film runs at a very steady pace, with the right blend of humour, emotions and drama. Post the break, the narrative gathers further momentum. But, to be honest, it almost turns into YRF’s Dhoom franchise. Although the twists & turns are interesting, unpredictable, and brilliantly shot, some of the on-goings is just hard to believe. Towards the climax, the pace is back on track, but the message is kind of left to the audience’s discretion, in a slightly awkward manner.

The essence of film says that success, fame, money & stardom all come with a price. Understanding the value of these aspects besides maintaining one’s dignity & humility is what maketh a Human. It is good to idolize, emulate or get inspired by achievers. But, non-channelized adulation turns into obsession, and brings in the element of ego thereby destroying one’s positive thought process.

The cinematography by Manu Anand is brilliant. VFX by Red Chillies is of international level, esp. the transformation of a 50 year old Shah Rukh to a boy half his age. Editing by     Namrata Rao is good, but the length could have been reduced a bit further. Background music by Andrea Guerra is apt, gels with the theme. Dialogues written by Habib Faisal are excellent, esp. conversations between two Khans.

The song Jabra fan deserved to be a part of the narrative, at least during the credits. It would have helped in aptly showcasing the spirit & madness of Gaurav.

Performance wise, its Shah Rukh Khan all the way. There is no YRF’s Raj / Rahul romancing with open arms in the mustard fields of Punjab, reaching out hand to the leading lady from a moving train.

What you will see in Fan is a pleasant, natural & laudable portrayal by SRK without the usual packaging, coming out of his comfort zone. Both the roles viz. an egoistic superstar and his innocent doppelganger fan are played with utmost conviction and ease. At times, you start wondering if they are actually two different people. Kudos to Maneesh for having conceived the unique idea & characterizations, with SRK in mind. However, the screenplay is somewhat unable to align with his hard-work & efforts.

All other actors viz. Deepika Amin, Yogendra Tiku, Shriya Pilgaonkar, Waluscha de Sousa and Sayani Gupta provide adequate support.

Overall a good experimental film, which works in parts, falling a bit short of could have been an enthralling fare. Nevertheless, worth a watch for Khan’s performance, and the message it conveys.

Rating : ***

Airlift: The Great Escape

Movie Review

People in India have a perception that NRIs have great lifestyles, and enjoy all comforts, without having to do much effort to earn them. However, this isn’t exactly true. Two aspects that matter a lot are the political scenario in the nation one resides in, and their individual position & out-reach. Emergency situations like wars, terrorist attacks, or financial slow down may tend to affect the non-natives more significantly than the locals. The early 90s saw a similar state of affairs, in the form of the infamous Gulf War, where Iraq invaded Kuwait. Raja Krishna Menon’s ‘Airlift’ is about one of the largest ‘Indian’ rescue operations during the crisis.

The story begins with Ranjit Katyal, (Akshay Kumar) a businessman of Indian origin, who is settled in Kuwait with his family. He is well connected with ‘key influencers’ at right places, which helps run his business successfully. All is well until one fateful day Iraq declares war on Kuwait, and things begin to turn haywire for Ranjit & family. Whilst sorting out things for himself, he realises that there are 170,000 Kuwait based fellow-Indians facing the similar situation. Will Ranjit be able to bail out the entire Indian community from the trouble, or he shall be forced to pick & choose people from the lot? His pursuit to fulfill this objective is what the film is all about.

Airlift is a no-nonsense film, right from the word go. All political explanations run parallel to the narrative, without wasting much time, which makes the story, an engaging & gripping tale. The characters are well etched, shown to have multiple shades viz. compassionate, yet selfish at times and hopeful but cynical as well.  The best part of the film is ‘patriotism being handled with utmost subtlety’. Rather, the theme places humanity over patriotism at times. Also, there is no ‘super-hero’ or ‘larger than life’ character here.

Director Raja Krishna Menon handles the subject intelligently & with maturity. Editor, Hemanti Sarkar helps him balance the narrative well.

Despite having no punch dialogues, or over-the-top slogans, the film still conveys its message with conviction.

Having said that, like earlier films based on real life incidents even Airlift does not follow history of events verbatim. However, it successfully highlights people’s struggle when they are torn between their ‘Janma-Bhoomi’ & ‘Karma-Bhoomi’. One need not look too much for an authenticity check, when the intent is positive. Menon, Suresh Nair, Rahul Nangia and Ritesh Shah have done a great job, indeed.  Cinematography by Priya Seth is first-rate. Music by Arijit Singh, Ankit Tiwari, Amaal Mallik is good.

Talking about the performances, Akshay Kumar is outstanding. Though, he plays the protagonist with a mission, he restrains himself, and does justice to the character. Nimrat Kaur who plays his wife, emotes well and provides adequate support. Prakash Belawadi is just brilliant. Every appearance of his on screen induces laughter.

Inaam-ul-Haq impresses in a brief role. All other actors Ninad Kamat, Kumud Mishra, Kaizaad Kotwal, Purab Kohli play their parts well. Veteran TV actors Arun Bali, Surendra Pal and Avtar Gill make their presence felt.

Overall, Airlift is an inspiring & entertaining fare. It highlights a recent, yet forgotten milestone, which deserves to be learnt from.

In today’s world, where people are technology-dependent & hardly have real-time conversations, it reinforces the message of effective, impactful communication, & standing up for each other, esp. while sailing in the same boat.

Rating: ****

Bajirao Mastani : The War of Love

Bajirao Mastani : Movie Review

Period dramas have always been film-makers’ fancy throughout the world. India undoubtedly has a rich lineage of Raja – Maharajas, Peshwas, Baadshahs, Nawabs, etc., with our history books highlighting their valorous tales. Encapsulating these epic encounters on screen has always been challenging & interesting. Further, the audience’s expectations here are higher, since we enjoy watching our ‘text-book heroes’ as ‘superheroes’ on screen!

However, very few Indian directors, K. Asif (Mughal-E-Azam), Kedar Kapoor, (Sikander-E-Azam), Ashutosh Gowariker (Jodhaa Akbar), Sanjay Khan (Tipu Sultan & ‘The Great Maratha’) have been able to do justice, drawing inspiration from popular novels, topped up with ‘believable’ cinematic liberty.

Bajirao Mastani is Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s tryst with this genre, in the backdrop of Maratha Empire, during the regime of Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj. The story touched upon in Bollywood for the first time, has been attempted twice, on Marathi television, the most popular one being from the 90s, where veteran actors Manoj Joshi, Smita Talvalkar & Ashwini Bhave played the leads.

Talking about the film, it begins with Maharaj (Mahesh Manjrekar) looking for a suitable successor to Peshwa Balaji Vishwanath, who dies in a recent battle. Peshwa Balaji’s son Bajirao (Ranveer Singh), though quite young for the position, is considered to be among the strongest contenders. He proves his worth by undergoing couple of tests, and succeeds his father to be crowned the next Peshwa. He is married to Kashibai (Priyanka Chopra) who is literally in awe of him.

During one of his joint battles, (along with army of Bundelkhand) against the Mughals, Bajirao bumps into Mastani (daughter of Maharaja Chhatrasal, Rajput king of Bundelkhand and Ruhaani Bai, who was a courtesan in Nizam’s palace of Hyderabad). Mastani practices both Hinduism & Islam. Bajirao is amazed by her multi-faceted personality, she being skilled in horse-riding, spear-throwing, swordsmanship, and also a talented dancer and singer. Mastani too is attracted towards Bajirao’s passionate warriorship. Both fall in love, and decide to take their relationship to the next level. How does the political strata of the then prevailing society react to this ‘unusual of its time’ union is what the story is all about.

Sanjay Leela Bhansali does poetic justice to recreate the era on screen with authenticity, through what he is known best for i.e. his ‘large creative canvas’. He is superbly supported by debutant art director Sriram Iyengar’s marvellous set designs and cinematographer Sudeep Chaterjee, who comes up with outstanding visuals. Having said that, the film does not claim to follow history verbatim, and does include quite a few fictitious elements, to make the story interesting. Most of the experiments do work in keeping up the entertainment quotient high.

In the first half, the narrative moves rapidly, from frame to frame and sets the tone of the film. The second half is equally fast, but tends to get a bit sluggish towards the end. Editing by Rajesh Pandey is quite sharp, but could have been a bit tighter.  However, the performances, and the overall treatment of the film keeps you engaged throughout, all credit to Bhansali for the same. Dialogues by Prakash Kapadia are hard hitting, and add tremendous value to the narrative. The action scenes by Sham Kaushal are well executed, and give you goose-bumps! However, there may be comparisons with ‘Bahubali’ which is unfair.

The music, by Bhansali himself is a revelation. He mixes it up well with all elements, Traditional, Folk (Lavani), Devotional, Classical, Sufi, to supplement his vision. Nevertheless, two amazing songs viz. Pinga and Malhari, which are very well picturised and brilliantly performed by the artists, seem a bit forced in the narrative.

Performance wise, all three leading actors Ranveer, Deepika & Priyanka are brilliant.  Ranveer once again showcases his acting prowess, by imbibing & portraying key traits and nuances of his character viz. leadership skills, authoritative arrogance & passion, like a chameleon with élan and ease. His diction & fluency in colloquial ‘Marathi’ is perfect. Deepika Padukone looks stunning as Mastani, and performs exceptionally well in both the action & romantic scenes. Her chemistry with Ranveer, gels with the underlying theme. Priyanka Chopra as Kashibai comes up with a mature act, completely justifying her part, and bringing in the right emotions at the right time.

Tanvi Azmi as Radha Bai, Bajirao’s orthodox mother is phenomenal. The actress usually known for her lighter roles pleasantly surprises with an amazing revelation!

Milind Soman is first rate. Vaibhav Tatwawadi as Chimaji Rao (Bajirao’s younger sibling) is quite competent. Raza Murad & Aditya Pancholi have a blink-n-miss kind of appearance. Yatin Karyekar excels in a cameo. Mahesh Manjrekar as Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj does well. It’s good to see Benjamin Gilani on screen after a long time.All other actors provide adequate support.

Bajirao Mastani is a great film, but can’t exactly be termed as a TIMELESS CLASSIC like Mughal-e-Azam. However, it comes in at a relevant time, where intolerance is openly being talked about in various forums. The story reinforces the ‘message of the century’ that LOVE has no religion, because it’s a RELIGION in itself.

All in all, an intense and entertaining cinematic experience to be enjoyed with family & friends!

Rating : ***1/2

 

 

Tamasha: Life is a role-play

Movie Review : Tamasha

It is often said that life is as complicated as we tend to make it. Our lifelong pursuit of achieving success & stability before everything else etc. sometimes, puts the real self on the back-foot and we end up becoming identical products emerging from an assembly line.

Esp. from the Indian perspective, the passion versus ‘moolah’ debate, with the involvement of parents, elders and peer pressure, is never ending.

With Tamasha, director Imtiaz Ali tries experimenting by touching upon this element, against the backdrop of yet another typically unusual love story.

The plot begins in Corsica (France) where Ved Vardhan Sahni (Ranbir Kapoor) a happy go lucky Indian youngster, bumps into Tara Maheshwari (Deepika Padukone) who is kind of lost & looking for help. Ved does succeed in bailing her out, and the two come closer. However, they decide to keep their identities hidden from each other, just to avoid a clichéd encounter!  After spending quality fun time for few days, they quietly part ways and continue in each individual paths.

Few years down the line, both of them cross paths once again in New Delhi, where Tara is involved in some official assignments and Ved also has a full time corporate job as a product manager. Both of them are excited to reconnect & start seeing each other, but unfortunately life isn’t as smooth as it could get.  Different perspectives in life and the time gap, does begun to impact their relationship, and present lives. To dwell into further details, one needs to watch the film.

The story starts a bit slowly, and initially focuses on the fun loving moments between the principal characters. However, in due course of time, it gathers momentum, and thereon moves at a decent pace.  The treatment is pretty much fresh and contemporary, but has a bit of art cinema flavour to it.

Use of cinematic liberty at certain places, slightly complicates the narrative as well. This may not appeal to a certain section of audience, expecting pure entertainment. However, the film does succeed in conveying certain key messages to the youth of today, esp. how our childhood is killed!

Editing by Aarti Bajaj, works in parts. Dialogues are quite witty. Cinematography by Ravi Verman is interestingly different, esp. the portions shot in Corsica are visually spectacular.

Music by A R Rahman is good, but not the best. The songs do not elevate the film to a different level like Imtiaz’s Rockstar & Highway. Ditto for the lyrics, by Irshad Kamil.

Performance wise, Deepika does complete justice to her role, esp. when it comes to emoting, but her character could have been stronger.  Vivek Mushran is just brilliant as Ranbir’s boss. He captures the body language of a typical Delhi based manager very well. Jaaved Sheikh and Sushma Seth provide adequate support. Piyush Mishra excels in a cameo.

However, the film belongs to Ranbir Kapoor. The actor in yet another experimental role, plays it with élan and proves his versatility as a perfect successor to the R K clan!

Overall, Tamasha is a good film, which makes you introspect, and inspires you to take charge of your own-self than regret later, being a victim of circumstances. Life is a role-play where every character is distinct & different. One needs to follow his/her true calling, and maintain a work-life balance to be happy.

Rating:  ***

Talvar: The Sword of Crime Perspectives

Movie Review : Talvar

Picture source: http://www.boxofficemovies.in

Mark Twain is once known to have quoted “Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn’t.”  Over the years, this has proven to be practically correct.

It is often said that that crime & criminals draw parallels with / get heavily inspired by cinema. However, at certain rare instances, complicated real life incidents tend to bring in a role reversal.

The Noida double murder case (Aarushi Talwar & servant Hemraj) in 2008, was one such incident which shook the entire nation. Talvar (2015) is a bold attempt to recreate the entire episode (with character names changed) in about 2-1/2 hours.

The movie begins with a 14 year old Shruti Tandon (Ayesha Parveen) found murdered in her flat, at Sameer Vihar, Noida while her parents Ramesh (Neeraj Kabi) and Nutan (Konkona Sen Sharma), were asleep.

The Delhi Police led by Inspector Dhaniram (Gajraj Rao) begin their investigations with minimal interest in the proceedings. There are tight timelines & immense pressure coming in from higher authorities, to wrap up the case as soon as possible, which makes the situation even worse.

Subsequently, Central Department of Investigation (CDI) is asked to intervene since the overall approach by police department is shown to have been weak & haphazard.

CDI chief Swamy (Prakash Belwadi) deputes one of his best officers viz. Ashwin Kumar (played by Irrfan Khan), supported by Vedant (Soham Shah) to crack the case. Whether their findings are similar or is there an underlying alternate story behind it, requires one to watch the film.

The screenplay, true to its theme, follows 90% of factual series of events (based on case details available in public domain), minimum cinematic liberty and a fast paced narration.

The core intent of the film is to highlight different perspectives of crime investigations, and also how typical human psyche plays an important role in influencing judgement.

Films from the past that have dealt with this aspect in similar fashion, include 12 Angry Men & its Indian counter-part Ek Ruka Hua Faisla!

The ‘backbone’ scenes of the film which include – investigations by different teams, interrogations of the accused, emotional outbursts, action sequences have been very smartly and maturely handled. Most of them succeed in making an impact, without being clichéd, forced, or over the top.

Full credit goes to director Meghna Gulzar & writer Vishal Bharadwaj for the maintaining the essence, throughout the film.

The narrative does not beat around the bush, or get into too many explanations, thanks to a razor sharp editing by  A. Sreekar Prasad.

The cinematography by Pankaj Kumar is quite realistic, and gives a feel as if things are happening around you and not on screen!

Dialogues, barring few witty one-liners, are just like real time conversations, setting the tone of the film. Meghna Gulzar’s prolific writing skills come out well through them.

Background Score (Vishal Bhardwaj) is apt, and fortunately does not come in as an impediment during crucial scenes unlike typical Bollywood thrillers

Performance wise, it’s Irrfan Khan who once again showcases his acting prowess, walking, talking & breathing life into his character.

Gajraj Rao excels in the role of a typical Delhi cop. His body language, laid back attitude, appearance are pretty much in sync.

Prakash Belwadi is just outstanding. He provides the much needed ‘satirical’ comic relief, with a South Indian accent!  It is indeed a pleasant surprise to see him in such a different role, after Madras Cafe

Neeraj Kabi & Konkana Sen Sharma as Shruti’s parents, provide adequate support, emote well, but fall short of screen presence.  Ayesha Parveen as Shruti does well in a brief cameo. Atul Kumar makes his presence felt.

Shishir Sharma is perfect. Soham Shah is strictly okay. Sumit Gulati shows conviction.

Tabu’s role though insignificant to the principle theme, does manage to touch upon certain important aspects of investigators’ personal lives.

To summarize, Talvar is nothing but a mirror image of the current state of affairs in India. It throws open a mixed bag of challenging questions viz. Is seeing really believing?  Can reasoning power also be blind flooded by herd mentality or clichéd thought processes?  Can gut feeling be influenced by external factors as well? Are conclusions really derived from investigations or is it the other way round!

It is a perfect example of coming-of-age mainstream hindi cinema, worth a watch at least for introspection.

Rating ****