Back to the [...]]]> Where Omkara and Gangaajal paved the way, Raajneeti takes it forward. These are the films that take you in the wonderful landscape of India beyond the 100km radius of big cities. Yeah, the kind of world the urban yuppies go into for ‘excursions’ over weekends and take pictures as if they are foreign tourists.

Back to the film.

Firstly, it’s an ensemble cast film. Prakash Jha (director) has done a great job of putting the perfect actor in the perfect place (even the hip looking Arjun Rampal seems to oddly right in place with the character). A subdued and underplayed Nana Patekar was fantastic, to begin with. Ajay Devgan, big shot he is, playing a non-central character only added to the underscoring what his character was about – which was of a reluctant second fiddle. Manoj Vajpai did well to get back from his excursion into lead-role dreams, and Katrina Kaif is a worthy wallflower, until you see Kubrick-esq transformation – the audience is perfectly setup for that bait-and-switch.

Secondly, with about 8-10 strong characters, it’s near-impossible to develop characters at the same time as building a story (look up the film Salaam-E-Ishq). For instance, Arjun Rampal abuses a female party worker in one his early scenes, who, later in the film, becomes a pawn in the opposition hands. Flows flawlessly into the story, without an awkward jump in narration. This would’ve been written as a simple drunken-assault scene in any other film – but here, the abuse is linked to party nomination process run by Arjun Rampal, shedding a ton of light into the ethics of his character. Simply put, story moves forward from shot-one, and characters build along the way.

Though somewhat of a longish film at about 3 hours (with some very good-sounding songs cut nicely short), this movies is brisk due to some very compact scenes. Fantastic pace and editing to keep you in the story and in your seats. I found myself stepping back into the film a few times to catch the nuances of the story. Definitely not a lean-back film., and not definitely for those that can’t appreciate the earthy hindi language (use of the word ‘yone soshan‘ for promiscuity).

It’s nice to see sophisticated well-films for the rest of the country, by the masters of the craft. Watch the film – but not in a multi-plex. That would be somewhat of a incongruous – like eating pani puri in Oberoy. Watch it in a “Cinema Ghar“, as the trailer puts it.

sub note: the grocery stores used to charge a rental for the videos. then, it turned to giving the rental for free if you bought $20 worth of groceries. now they are giving away the damn DVDs – no need to even bother returning them.

some (actually most) reviews of the movie were glowing, forcing me to make an unusual trip to the theater mid-week for a 7pm show. some said it was a tear-jerker, so people i guess were willing, ready and looking forward to shed a few tears at the theater. some reviews even [...]]]> such a great opportunity missed.

some (actually most) reviews of the movie were glowing, forcing me to make an unusual trip to the theater mid-week for a 7pm show. some said it was a tear-jerker, so people i guess were willing, ready and looking forward to shed a few tears at the theater. some reviews even said that the film would tug at the heart strings.

what a disappointment. the movie is good in the first hour or so, mainly because of the tried-and-true bollywood formula played out between shah-rukh khan, kajol and karan johar – the master of the craft. and just when mr.johar tries his hand at non-formula piece in the later half of the film, the script falls apart, the editing horrible, and the movie hurtles towards nonsense like plane about to crash to the ground.

how else can you explain made-up scenes in stupid looking town in georgia. people shuttling back and forth between georgia, san francisco and los angeles within a span of literally one picture frame? kajol going all stone cold on shah-rukh khan all of a sudden? how else can shah-rukh khan be captured, be on television, and then go away incognito?

what a mess. karan johar’s craft is no longer relevant. not when we have kaminey, devD, isqiya and such coming out of bollywood, the nautanki-style thumka movies are pretty much done. karan johar now tries to modernize his film making and it’s a big disaster.

of all things i feel really sad about de-valuing the debate of indian muslim identity, the mind of an autistic child and the american way of life by way of incorporating them into this directionless excuse for a film. bollywood took a step backwards.

but the movie is fantastic. it’s not one of those movies that grabs you and demands attention. it is very [...]]]> checked out Wake up Sid on my TataSky. btw, the ordering experience on this cable box is like it was in the US about 10 years ago. you’ll have to subscribe and wait for it’s start time.

but the movie is fantastic. it’s not one of those movies that grabs you and demands attention. it is very consumable, allows you to sit back and comes to you slowly and steadily, leaving you with a great cinema viewing experience at the end of it.

ranbir kapoor seems to have employed two expressions in this movie – at once he has a petulant frown on his face and at other times, he’s this happy-as-a-clam fella. konkana sen sharma is fantastic, plays within the role and, what perfection. she probably should’ve played all those roles that go typically to vidya balan.

though it drags a bit towards the middle as it transitions from sid’s discovery of his self-worth to his discovery of his love for the lady. the script is very tightly and carefully written with no awkward jumps in narration and no wasted motions.

the story is about this rich brat that is a failure academically, and takes things for granted. it’s about how he meets the harsh realities of life outside the comfort zone of his dad’s business, and discovering his true passion in life. konkana sen sharma has her own story line, but the key element is for her to be the ‘guide’ for sid in his journey of discovery.

waiting to check out rocket singh. with shimit amin and co, it’s sure to be a good film.

quietly taking in kishore kumar and latha mangeshkar lain over rajesh khanna, amitabh bachchan, sharmila tahore, [...]]]> Timeless Sensation was the name of the songs collection. On the flight back from San Francisco, i tuned into this hindi oldies channel and never really got tired of it during the 15-hr marathon flight to Dubai, en route to Bangalore.

quietly taking in kishore kumar and latha mangeshkar lain over rajesh khanna, amitabh bachchan, sharmila tahore, hema malini and asha parekh, one realizes how badly the world misses the magic of those two voices. those golden pipes in perfect concordance with the tunes, themes and the times when a direct and full-on expression of romance shone ever so melodiously over the silver screen.

next time you fight the remote for that those few fulfilling entertainment moments on your TV, turn to youtube instead. pull up Sharmila Tagore in “Mere Sapnon Ki Rani” – wasn’t she a bombshell, not to mention Willys jeep was cool forever. rajesh khanna was the perfect babu in kati patang, showing how to woo a lady. which girl wont take him home? or ammitabh/rekha magic in Salaam-E-Ishq – could there be a more perfect pairing? or a more hearty smile than Dharmendra as in Sholay. and may be you could try the towering screen presence of the kapoor clan.

and in Salaam-E-Ishq, just as you struggle to take the eye off Rekha and from being swept out in the subdued rhythm of Lata’s voice, you get with the tsunami of Kishore hitting with disarming force. as those golden pipes open up and lay their fell swoop, for a brief moment,  the cup of joy may just have gone over the edge a bit.

]]> http://valleychai.com/blog/2009/movies/opening-up-those-golden-pipes/feed/ 0 http://valleychai.com/blog/2009/movies/robot-talk-glengarry-glen-ross/#utm_source=feed&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=feed http://valleychai.com/blog/2009/movies/robot-talk-glengarry-glen-ross/#comments Wed, 26 Aug 2009 18:21:04 +0000 spandana http://valleychai.com/blog/?p=564 i never get tired of this scene. now done in text to speech mash-up.

this is [...]]]> i never get tired of this scene. now done in text to speech mash-up.

this is the original

first a shout out to old [...]]]> with kids and wife out of town for the weekend, and partially sick from sinus, i thought i’d sit still for a change and do nothing. ghajini was playing to full houses, but a single ticket was easy to get at INOX in the garuda mall on magrath road at 10pm.

first a shout out to old fellers from the telugu movie industry (‘tollywood’). the chirangeevi clan led by allu aravind of geeta arts have been making good clean movies for years, and they took the jump in going all out with a sure-shot ghajini script. glad to see them score a big on in the hindi films.

ghajini is a fresh contrast to the old punju-marwari-thumka-style movies that have been coming out from bollywood for a while. why take any srk movie. but this film is a typical modern south indian production – camera work that asks viewers to keep pace with the story; music that uses more instruments than a tabla; characters that have multiple shades; an item number with the heroine fully clothed; and experimentation with scripts and story-telling. including abrupt cuts to hero-heroine songs in exotic locales!

aamir khan’s steroid-body is on fully display – but you can tell the face wilted because of it – his face looks weathered in the romantic scenes, and it’s hard to watch. but he does an earnest job of not screwing up what surya has setup for him. and clearly has done a masterful job of promoting the film. four auditoriums in forum mall were showing the film at 10pm simultaneously, and all of them were full!

this morning, i checked out the original tamil ghajini scenes on youtube, and as suspected, they re-made this film almost shot-to-shot. very subtly different, but pretty much a clone. aamir khans’s mannerisms during the violent scenes are exact replica of what surya put together in the tamil version. the animal-like violence, the large scar on the head.. the innovations on characterizations have all been carried to hindi version.

go watch the film in a theater. it’s definitely worth it.

but don’t expect a memento. though it was an inspiration for the storyline, dismissing gajini as a copy-cat version totally discounts the emerging craftsmanship of indian movie making. slowly but surely, a new breed of indian film makers are providing top-notch entertainment. starting with ashutosh gowarikar, likes of sanjay leela bansali, karan johar, farhan akhtar et al. and southern directors are finally getting their due, starting from rgv and mani ratnam.

like they say, vijender, keep your eye on the prize, [...]]]> nothing like the image of a hot sexy bombshell to get a boxers’ juices flowing in the ring . If only every athlete has an offer like this, we’d be plush in gold!

like they say, vijender, keep your eye on the prize, bro.
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one movie that i so reluctantly tossed in my queue was BLACK by sanjay leela bansali. my wife was mostly disinterested, shying away from the fear of being depressed by the film. so i popped in the dvd into my home theater [...]]]> i am back on my rental movie queue. this time it’s seventymm.com rather than netflix.com.

one movie that i so reluctantly tossed in my queue was BLACK by sanjay leela bansali. my wife was mostly disinterested, shying away from the fear of being depressed by the film. so i popped in the dvd into my home theater transplanted from the US with kids/maid/wife asleep.

the morning after, i couldn’t give a straight answer to my wife’s simple question “how did it end”? what would you say?

n/a is the answer. that the film is not about how it ends. it’s about how it runs. it is an experience of undelterated melancholy mixed with unreasonable hope. it’s an wilfull submission to desperation, and a celebration of sorrow as a vital dimension of human emotion. it’s a liberating experience of small wins, a welcome acceptance of human inter-dependence.

BLACK is a two-hour experience of emotions that we are taught to be ashamed to allow ourselves to experience. amitabh bachchan never was a more accomplished craftsman of film acting. rani mukherjee has never been more beautiful. the mood of a film has never been more honest and straight-from-the-gut.

call it a ‘multiplex film’, call it a ‘art film’, BLACK is a very hearty cenematic experience for those that dare to embrace it.

checkout a bit of glengarry glen ross, and get a glimpse the the sales culture.

from boiler room “A sale is Made on Every Call”

and this, the classic. “Greed is Good”

and a bit of pool hall philosophy on winning and losing between fast eddie and bert gordon after getting beat by minnesota fats at [...]]]> gotta love these vid’s.

checkout a bit of glengarry glen ross, and get a glimpse the the sales culture.

from boiler room “A sale is Made on Every Call”

and this, the classic. “Greed is Good”

and a bit of pool hall philosophy on winning and losing between fast eddie and bert gordon after getting beat by minnesota fats at a game of pool. this is one of the finest films i’ve ever seen. watch this clip to the end.

Bert Gordon: Eddie, is it alright if I get personal?
Fast Eddie: Whaddaya been so far?
Bert Gordon: Eddie, you’re a born loser.
Fast Eddie: What’s that supposed to mean?
Bert Gordon: First time in ten years I ever saw Minnesota Fats hooked… really hooked. But you let him off.
Fast Eddie: I told you I got drunk.
Bert Gordon: Sure you got drunk. You have the best excuse in the world for losing; no trouble losing when you got a good excuse. Winning… that can be heavy on your back, too, like a monkey. You’ll drop that load too when you got an excuse. All you gotta do is learn to feel sorry for yourself. One of the best indoor sports, feeling sorry for yourself. A sport enjoyed by all, especially the born losers.
Fast Eddie: Thanks for the drink.

[Fast Eddie is bothered because Bert called him a born loser]

Fast Eddie: Cause, ya see, twice, Sarah… once at Ames with Minnesota Fats and then again at Arthur’s, in that cheap, crummy pool room, now why’d I do it, Sarah? Why’d I do it? I coulda beat that guy, coulda beat ‘im cold, he never woulda known. But I just hadda show ‘im. Just hadda show those creeps and those punks what the game is like when it’s great, when it’s REALLY great. You know, like anything can be great, anything can be great. I don’t care, BRICKLAYING can be great, if a guy knows. If he knows what he’s doing and why and if he can make it come off. When I’m goin’, I mean, when I’m REALLY goin’ I feel like a… like a jockey must feel. He’s sittin’ on his horse, he’s got all that speed and that power underneath him… he’s comin’ into the stretch, the pressure’s on ‘im, and he KNOWS… just feels… when to let it go and how much. Cause he’s got everything workin’ for ‘im: timing, touch. It’s a great feeling, boy, it’s a real great feeling when you’re right and you KNOW you’re right. It’s like all of a sudden I got oil in my arm. The pool cue’s part of me. You know, it’s uh – pool cue, it’s got nerves in it. It’s a piece of wood, it’s got nerves in it. Feel the roll of those balls, you don’t have to look, you just KNOW. You make shots that nobody’s ever made before. I can play that game the way… NOBODY’S ever played it before.
Sarah Packard: You’re not a loser, Eddie, you’re a winner. Some men never get to feel that way about anything.