Rangoon: Movie review

Rangoon feels like schizophrenia or maybe a split personality disorder. It is beyond saving for most parts but every now and then shows promise and glimpses of Bhardwaj's brilliance.

It is either horribly wrong with Rangoon(predominantly) or flashes of excellence from the filmmaker.
Inconsistent is what the treatment is and incomplete is what the product feels.

Vishal Bhardwaj is a man of many talents but his film making craft always feel incomplete. Almost all his films have brilliant moments but moments alone do not make a brilliant film. On several occasions he seems to loose grip, inevitably succumbs to self-indulgence and falls bait to the abstract.

He picks up difficult subjects, adapts and blends them into our style and manages to create a 'seldom treaded ambience'. It is not that bad though, the problem is that it ain't as good either.

Bhardwaj is never shy to try. He tries because he can, not sure now whether he should. He needs to command his territory and not get lost in the transition.
He need to be ultra sure and keep a leash on his subject and not get scattered.
More condensed and more compact.

Indulge us as an audience, but do not force you self-indulgence. Stay abstract but let us interpret in a better way.
Stay unorthodox but engage us.

We will wait for one more Mr. Bhardwaj.

Movie review: RAEES

Invariably every Salman khan film does it,  Ajay devgn tried doing it (SHIVVAY) and now Shahrukh khan is falling into it with RAEES. Such established superstars and yet their films manufactured to suit their stardom. Always wanting to be important  than the script, more significant than the plot and much bigger than the film.

To begin with, it didn't matter. Then, it began to disappoint. But now, we feel cheated. Cheated and Insulted.
Cheated because we don't get our money worth. Insulted because the filmmakers  take us for granted.

RAEES could have been(and infact should have been) a complete entertainer. A complete paisa-vasool. But it didn't. The sad part is, it seemed that it didn't wanted to.
It had everything laid out well: an Able director, a charming superstar and a brilliant Nawazuddin Siddique.
It also began well. It entertained and entertained good in the first half. We loved the ambience, the dialogues and we loved the Shahrukh-Nawazuddin duo.

And then it happened. All the promise evaporated. The second half turned into a "Let us show what Shahrukh is capable of".  And it began to overstretch and drag. The superstar feeling comfortable at the cost of our inconvenience.

They took us for granted yet again.(The fans would love it anyway, they thought).
We were taken for a ride yet again.( The fans would understand, they believed).

Movie review: DANGAL

DANGAL movie review: Remember what CHAK DE did for hockey and women? DANGAL does the same for wrestling and women.

A Good sport biopic film invests you in the protagonists and intrigues you into the sport, while a great one makes you fall in love with both. DANGAL, then, oscillates in between- rising above than just being good but falling short of being great.(Only if it could have done without the caricature villainous Indian coach).

For all those who thought of DANGAL as SULTAN 2.0,  DANGAL is actually what SULTAN could never be.
DANGAL paves the way of how a sport biopic film should be - insightful, moving and inspiring. Maybe not entirely, but predominantly.

When the opening credits are rolled out, we see the haryana dialect advisor's name along with the wrestling advisor's name (Arjun awardee),  and you know that the filmakers had put in the extra effort and done the research requisite for a sport biopic.(The film gets the wrestling moves spot on, a commendable effort).

The success of a sport biopic is when the journey of the protagonists absorbs the viewers. Their plight, their efforts, their pain, their rise, their fall and eventually their redemption all sweeping the viewers along the way. What happens to them on the screen, alters the chemicals in your blood. DANGAL does that to you.

DANGAL smells of the 'akahadas mitti' and feels like the 'thud on the wrestling mat'.
The father's desperation, the girls initial aversion, their transformed passion all having the emotional depth.
The 'Kushti in the Akhaadas' and the 'Wrestling in the tournaments' competently and splendidly executed.(Never before they seemed so real).

SULTAN had one Superstar(Salman Khan) playing the character to his whims and fancies, whereas DANGAL has another superstar(Aamir Khan)becoming the character. What you see on screen is Mahavir Singh Phogat, the father and not Aamir Khan, the star. Fantastic portrayal.

DANGAL wins your heart, Mahavir Phogat wins your heart, the Girls win your heart. You cry when they cry, you smile when they smile and you celebrate when they celebrate.
Go watch it.

Movie review: SHIVAAY

You learn a thing or two about Ajay Devgn after surviving SHIVAAY. Existing virtually in every frame of the movie, he seems to be smitten by self-obsession and engrossed in self-indulgence.
And so it turns out, SHIVAAY is an absolute mess that should never have happened.

For what I understand, movies are made for the audiences.They are manufactured to suit our nuances, crafted to cater to our emotions and customised for our entertainment.
Sadly, SHIVAAY delivers nothing for the audiences. It is strictly by Ajay Devgn, of Ajay Devgn and for Ajay Devgn.(Not even for his fans).

With all its self-indulgence, SHIVAAY might have still worked, if at all it had a coherent script with an emotional core.(After all, it had a father-daughter relationship). Alas, it turns out not just bad, it ends up being disastrous.

There is not one sane moment in the film. Like the film itself, each character and their predicament is either ridiculous or pure bizarre. You seem to loose count of absurdity, as scenes one after another keep unravelling.

So half-witted the characterisation is, the mother acts childishly, the father behaves irrationally and the child never feels like one. Hence, the sympathy and the concern for them never ever surfaces.
The agony is, it ain't just all shallow, it is stupid.

The problems are not few or many. The problem is the entire product.Your patience is not just tested, it takes a pounding. Your intelligence is insulted and your emotions run absolutely dry. What a waste, What a shame.

The audacity of the Director is omnipresent. As if the opening credits weren't enough, the end credit displays Mr. Devgn's name yet again in case we happen to forget who was behind the camera.

Mr. Devgn, we loved you in front of the camera. Behind the camera you have insulted Devgn, the actor and many of us, the audience. We won't forget this easily.

You might gain something from the film, but you surely will loose a lot of credibility.

Don't watch it.

MS Dhoni: Movie review

"It is good that you chose cricket, but beyond that what matters is the kind of person you are"( SACHIN, A BILLION DREAMS), this quote has stayed with me ever since, summing up the entire essence of playing the sport and being the Man.

And here we are then, having watched DHONI and falling short in knowing the Man.Failing to even remotely relate to the kind of person he was or currently is. Failing to come to terms with the Man that got us 2 World cups.
Disappointingly, we have yet another biopic that reveals nothing about the protagonist.

DHONI, AN UNTOLD STORY should have been titled DHONI, TELL ONLY WHAT'S ALREADY BEEN KNOWN STORY.

With DHONI, the intrigue was never in his rise to stardom. 'A small town boy dreaming big and getting it', ain't just about Dhoni. As a matter of fact, it is almost about every third Indian sportsman. And a lot many sportsmen have had a far more challenging, formidable and taxing ordeal.

The intrigue then, is the Man himself. A Man of very few emotions, his ambiguous demeanour has never been an access to what lies beneath the skin. A Man who has been a revelation and yet have faltered on many occasions, someone who has brought laurels to the nation and yet has been questioned about his conduct, should have made for a fascinating and an insightful premise.
A man that won many hearts, but along the way disturbed many a minds.
(His conflict of interest in the IPL, leaving the captaincy Mid-series, decision regarding his retirement and many more).

To be honest, it needed a great deal of research and balls of steel to address the pertinent questions about an Indian Cricket demi-god. Could the filmmaker do it? (last heard MS DHONI was paid 70 percent of the total film's cost to make his biopic). Could the filmmaker even think about it?
Easier way is to be smart instead, cash in the brand of the cricketer and mint money at the box-office.

Hence, the filmmaker played safe and smart, showcasing the flamboyance of the cricketer's batting that has pumped the nation's heartbeat.( Who cares even if you have watched it a 100 times over in the highlights package on Star cricket? Don't forget, you are a true cricket fan and patriot.)

Matters of the heart never needed the mind to intervene.

Alas, I had other ideas.

Movie review: PINK

Finally we understood. And Finally we triumphed.
Some years back it was QUEEN. And now it is PINK.
PINK, like QUEEN, is more than just a film. And it does more than just entertain.

While QUEEN was all about finding yourself, PINK is about realising what one has become.

PINK is actually BLACK. It is scary, unpleasant and disturbing. A reflection of the society we inhabit.

PINK is also symbolic. Symbolic of the helplessness we find ourselves in, symbolic to the feudalism we are accustomed to and symbolic to the times we live in.

"PINK is for the girls". So we say to ourselves. And many more irrational, chauvinistic and sexist taboos we tag to women.
'Independent women' remains a phrase only and nothing more.
And thus, PINK hits you right where it should. It hammers on the subject, both by being subtle and not, and in turn makes you sit up and take notice.

PINK is for everyone because it can happen to anyone. PINK walk the streets, drive down the roads, work hard and party harder.
The only thing they don't is that they don't feel safe. We don't feel safe. We don't let them feel safe.
PINK draws out the problem and projects the filth inside us. It offers us the mirror and forces us to look away. Brilliant.

Pink preaches too. But, only after practicing.

Go watch it. Do not miss it at any cost.

Movie review: SULTAN

Reviewing a Salman Khan film is always a tricky proposition. Tricky because one is not sure who to review, Him or the film. His stature against the film's substance, and the line turns ever so blurred.

"Bhai ki entry dekhi. Paisa vasool." And you can't debate about the 200 bucks you paid for.
"Bhai ke moves dekhe. Repeat value hai film ki." This when you can't even muster the courage to complete viewing it the first time.
"Bhai rocks. He is actually like this only. He doesn't need to act. He is a natural." And you get lost in the transition too.

His movies then, on most occasions, become a mere vessel to portray the length and breath of his larger than life image. They are manufactured to suit the fancies of the superstar and to cash-in on his super stardom. And in that regard, they seldom fail.
SULTAN too, though in trying to be different, ends up being not much of an alteration. Not a great film, but a big big money spinning blockbuster.

The Man has an enchanting persona and a screen presence very few actors possess, there is no denying this fact. The charm, the innocence and the sincerety he brings to the forefront is both infectious and engrossing. To give credit where it is due, he even makes ordinary scenes look stunning and spectacular.

But it is time now when one needs to separate Him from his films. Yes, he has an unmissable charm and a peculiar swagger, but will that always suffice?. What about the film at hand which boasts of having a screenplay, a story and other characters.
Just because he is brilliant in a film, doesn't mean the film is brilliant too.

SULTAN then, is an overlong, overly simplistic and way too predictable sport-romance drama which doesn't spring any surprises.
Yes, Salman khan is the life of the film. He makes you invest in his character and even root for his redemption. He makes his Man-child character lovable and shines throughout the proceedings.
He succeeds for sure but the film doesn't.
The movie ropes in every trick of the trade and every possible clichés from numerous bollywood and Hollywood enterprises to amalgamate a redemption story.
But sadly, it lacks the novelty, the depth and the sentiments associated with that redemption.
No heart warming in the romance, no heart wrenching in their separation and no adrenaline rush in his redemption. 

Unfortunately though, this won't ever matter. After all, "Bhai ki film hai, bus dekhni hai." And it won't end here. After watching his films, they would declare it a Blockbuster never ever witnessed on celluloid. The fans will go berserk painting the social media with taglines such as- "Bhai rocked,"  "The best Salman khan film ever".
What they will forget is that they said the same for BAJRANGI BHAIJAAN too and before that and before that too.
2018 EID and they will have yet another "Best Salman khan film ever".