I went to the regal cinemas to watch 'Curious Case of Benjamin Button' but instead switched my mind and ended up seeing 'Luck by Chance (Hindi)'. And I sure was happy about my decision. A class act by the debutant director Zoya Akthar. And Any movie buff or an aspiring filmmaker would love this movie as this is a film about films, with plenty of behind the scenes in the actual film.
This is Farhan Akthar's second film as an actor and he has proved once again that he is in the industry out for a long run. His two movies earlier as a director -Dil Chahta hi and Laksya - were very trendy, crisp and were commercially successful. He is the only one in Bollywood who can be branded as a class director and a good actor at the same time. Konkona Sen needless to say was good as she always is. But full points go to Zoya Akthar for the fabulous script and translating that into a neat watchable film. All the characters were so well defined and with great ease she was able to show the various shades of the protogonist as success catches up with him during the course of time. The flow was so natural and at no point did she make it look unnatural. This movie had good contributions from Rushi Kapoor as a frustruated producer and Sanjay Kapoor as an actor turned director out to make a blockbuster movie. Music by Shankar Eshaan Loy is pleasing to the ear.
The only con of the movie is that it is atleast 15 minutes longer. A little bit of editing could have made it much slicker and breezier. But nevertheless it is a great movie and definetly worth watching.
-Shanthan
Monday, February 16, 2009
Monday, January 19, 2009
Slumdog Millioniare -(A little below expectation)
I watched Slumdog Millioniare last night and walked out of the theatre with a good feeling at having seen the movie on a big screen, which I hardly get to do with 2 young kids at home. I was able to see it because my family is currently in India and I needed ways to kill time in this freezing winter evenings in New Jersey. After the movie won 4 Golden Globes, my expectations of the movie were very high but I was a little dissapointed that it did not meet my expecations especially after sweeping the Golden Globes. It was a fine movie though and I liked the story telling style of Danny Boyle going back and forth between the Game Show and Jamal's past in 3 stages of his life, but there were somethings that put me off too.
Hollywood, once again showcases the extreme poverty of India while only a hand full of shots were shown that fell out of that poverty range. The tipping point was when young Jamal jumps into the Shit hole... ugg...!! People might argue that it is a reality that such poverty does exist in the country. I find it hard to digest the fact that what is shown in the english movies is not the only India that there is. Why doesnt hollywood show the otherside of India too, that India is not only about slums and beggers, but also of 400 million middle class with increasing income levels and a country with one of the fastest growth rate of millioniares in the world (and many more that un-accounted ). And not to forget the fact that the country has 4 of the top 10 richest people in the world today. Even though the movie is about a Slumdog, there were ample opportunities in the movie to show some other sides of Mumbai just to give a break to the users from abject poverty.
Also, Danny Boyle should have given some background on the riots in which Jamal's mother is killed. It was portrayed as if Hindu's just came and bashed the muslims and as if this is the way of life in India (The Jihadi's can use this as a propoganda in their new training video's ). Indian's watching can relate this to various roits that occured in the country where Hindus and Muslims killed each other as an aftermath of some events. But for a westerner without any background, it gives a totally wrong picture of the Indian society.
But I must say in spite of all that, I did enjoy the movie and am proud that A.R. Rehman has won a Golden Globe. But as Indians we all know Rehman has produced music that is times better than the music in this movie, but finally he is getting a global recognition and he is one guy who I would hope wins an Oscar one day - and he deserves it. (One other guy I always wanted to win an Oscar was Kamal Hassan in his hay days, but now he has gone overboard and steps over the directors. If he gets a good script and gets a director who can put him in control, he still might have a have a chance one day)
-Shanthan
Hollywood, once again showcases the extreme poverty of India while only a hand full of shots were shown that fell out of that poverty range. The tipping point was when young Jamal jumps into the Shit hole... ugg...!! People might argue that it is a reality that such poverty does exist in the country. I find it hard to digest the fact that what is shown in the english movies is not the only India that there is. Why doesnt hollywood show the otherside of India too, that India is not only about slums and beggers, but also of 400 million middle class with increasing income levels and a country with one of the fastest growth rate of millioniares in the world (and many more that un-accounted ). And not to forget the fact that the country has 4 of the top 10 richest people in the world today. Even though the movie is about a Slumdog, there were ample opportunities in the movie to show some other sides of Mumbai just to give a break to the users from abject poverty.
Also, Danny Boyle should have given some background on the riots in which Jamal's mother is killed. It was portrayed as if Hindu's just came and bashed the muslims and as if this is the way of life in India (The Jihadi's can use this as a propoganda in their new training video's ). Indian's watching can relate this to various roits that occured in the country where Hindus and Muslims killed each other as an aftermath of some events. But for a westerner without any background, it gives a totally wrong picture of the Indian society.
But I must say in spite of all that, I did enjoy the movie and am proud that A.R. Rehman has won a Golden Globe. But as Indians we all know Rehman has produced music that is times better than the music in this movie, but finally he is getting a global recognition and he is one guy who I would hope wins an Oscar one day - and he deserves it. (One other guy I always wanted to win an Oscar was Kamal Hassan in his hay days, but now he has gone overboard and steps over the directors. If he gets a good script and gets a director who can put him in control, he still might have a have a chance one day)
-Shanthan
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