Rockstar Fails to Rock!

“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I'll meet you there.” The film begins and ends with these brilliant couplets penned by Rumi, a 13th century mystic poet. As the film rolls on, you expect it to blow your mind away with some forceful performances, soul-stirring music, and a heartrending storyline. Alas, it fails in each of these departments! The movie as a whole just fails to pull the levers of your heart, and make it stop and listen to the sound and beauty of Rahman’s priceless music (which is supposed to be the liet-motif of the film). It does have its moments where you can sit by a haze of pure bliss and sheer talent, but these are few and far between, and ends before it can have a lasting impact!

The film introduces you to a gawky Janardan Jakar (Ranbir) strumming his guitar strings on the streets of Delhi, and being beaten up by the cops subsequently for creating a “ruckus”. Jakar is inspired by no one else than Jim Morrison who in the former’s words is someone who could have the crowds ranting and raving by a mere lifting of a middle finger. JJ aspires to be on the same music and crowd-pleasing wavelength as that of his muse. A friend and an advisor, reveals that in order to belt out soulful music, he has to necessarily go through the pangs of a heart-break. JJ takes him so seriously that he goes to the length of proposing a new hottie in the college (Nargis) only to witness a predictable upshot of a shark rebuke and rejection. Then he fakes a heartbreak to prove that he now has a reason for turning into a musician.

So, after all the staged fuss and palaver, JJ bonds with Heer, and realizes that she is not much of a ladylike dil todne ki machine that he had imagined her to be. Heer wants to explore all the untapped and forbidden things of life before heading off for an arranged marriage in Kashmir. This rings more than just wedding bells for us, since we know of a certain Simran (Kajol) too who had expressed such similar desires in DDLJ. So JJ becomes Heer’s partner in crime and tots up a to-do list of all the unthinkables for them to do. Some of them include taking several swigs of the desi daru and paying a visit to a sleazy movie show in one of the shabbiest corners of the city. The film shows the two of them coming closer as a result of the high-jinks that they experience together. However, neither of them are able to decipher or express their feelings for the other. Unlike Aditya Chopra’s hero, JJ doesn’t attempt to thwart the marriage and instead returns to Delhi where his family decides to throw him out of the house for some flimsy reason (and the director doesn’t bother to elaborate on it much either). He then makes a darjah his temporary abode and this is where he learns about the effects that music has on cleansing a soul or rendering one happiness. The brillaint ditty“Kun Faya Koon” is filmed admist the colors and vibrance of a Sufi ambience. This experiences changes JJ for life. We are then shown a few reels of JJ’s rise to stardom, but we do not completely feel this heady metamorphosis since the director doesn’t prefer to hover his lenses over these miniscule details. JJ also takes on the moniker of Jordon (a name that Heer had used while introducing him to her friends).

JJ bags an opportunity to go to Prague (where Heer is now settled) and reunites with his love. Over a few awkward moments, JJ proposes and even kisses Heer while the latter is confused if she is doing the right thing. However, JJ’s love only increases to the dizzying highs and he is torn apart when he has to leave Heer again (but not before conjuring up some melodramatic scenes). This portion resembles Ali’s previous film (Love Aaaj Kal) where the protagonist continues to love his ex even after the latter is married off, and wants to get her back in his life. However, this film doesn’t completely explain you why and when are these feelings developed between the two characters? The film even takes inspiration from Eric Sehgal’s Love story as it depicts the sad fate of the dying herione and undying love.

On the other hand, JJ is potrayed in a negative light following his numerious run-ins with the press (who try to intrude too much in his life). He even beats up the policemen in his angst and is labelled a criminal. One of the best scenes in the movie, is where you can see a pair of hands fitting in the words “Jordon negative” on an ad copy (showing how the music patrons are more concerned about cashing in out of JJ’s destructive potrayal). The other scenes that would move you and remain glued to your hearts are the ones that feature the late Shammi Kapoor. He is potrayed as a musician who thinks of JJ as an artist who cannot be tied down or caged.

So, quite predictably, JJ becomes a hit worldwide and his music appeals to the rebellious side of the audience. However, it is never shown how JJ is inspired to produce such musical gems and why he does it. It also doesn’t bother to explain why he is caught by some goons just before performing for a live audience abroad (the scene that the film starts off with). There is also a film journo who makes a news reel on JJ’s life even before he shoots to stardom (you fail to understand why would a scribe give so much importance to a rising star and go to the lengths of documenting his life!) The film zigs zags between numerous such scenes without explaining the logic or relation between them. Therefore, the movie confounds and confuses you to a point that you stop caring about the main characters.

The last few minutes are the most disspointing of the lot and even a brilliant juxtaposition of a burning guitar and pouring water (resembling JJ’s inability to douse the flames of his passion) is not enough to ressurect it. Also, you never understand why the music of the film is never highlighted enough (when it should have been represented with the elan or panache that is worthy of a music meastro like A. R. Rehman). The songs are cut short and in some cases played out in parts!

Ranbir Kapoor as the rockstar delights with his squealing fun and gauchiness as the young JJ and his transition into a lovestruck musician. You can read the sadness in his eyes and feel the emptiness in his heart in a few well-directed scenes. Nargis with her now trigger-happy and now-glum facial expresssions proves that she is nothing much to be written about.

Overall, Rockstar is one of the most dissappointing movies of the year. One would have expected this movie to stand out tall after a spate of directorial duds like Ra One, Bodyguard, and Mausam. However, even the three Rs (Ranbir, Rehman, and Rock music) couldn’t take the movie to a new level that you would have expected from a director like Imitiaz Ali.

Delhi Belly? Or did you mean Traveller’s diaherrea?

Why the tacky title “Delhi belly”, you may wonder after watching the Khan’s much-awaited movie….maybe the loose watery poop on a red piece of cloth (an upshot of someone’s distressed belly) may be the reason for it! And the tagline “Shit happens” simply accentuates this line of truth! What about the “Delhi” factor? Well, yes the movie for the most part hovers around the smell or color of shit (found abundantly on the Delhi streets) and explores the unhygienic cooking by the city’s roadside kiosk. It also focuses its camera lenses on the narrow and damp Delhi ki galiyan and a jhuggi jhopri that is choc-a-bloc with roaches, muck, and rotting food!
Well, to zig zag back to the movie’s storyline (or the lack of it), there are three guys sharing a shabby house and some revolting habits. The trio is Imran Khan as Tashi Malhotra, Kunaal Roy Kapur as Nitin, and Vir Das as Arup. Tashi has a hot sexy girlfriend (Shehnaz Treasurlywala as Sonia) born with a silver spoon and an ostentatious set of parents. But Tashi’s heart starts to beat for a plain Jane (Maneka) who is a fellow journalist. At this point, you may think that the movie got made by asphixiating Three idiots in the first half with a quartet of some romance from Jaane Tu ya Jaane Na. The only thing that doesn’t take any inspiration from Amir Khan’s ertswhile movies is a bunch of goons chasing the trio in pursuit of some damned diamonds (A liet motif we thought would have died a quiet death long back after being used in myriad Bollywood movies).
Arup on the other hand mouths some trying-be-funny gags and one-liners in the movie, and farts and burps throughout. He even washes his ass with a carton of orange juice! Nitin works in an ad agency and conjures up comic strips (and strangely resembles a comical caricature himself) while being instructed by his boss to change the smile percentage of a cartoon. He also thinks of some creative ways for stopping his lover’s marriage (how about “this girl gave me a blow-job” instead of a regressive “ye shaadi nahi ho sakti”.)
Then there are a bunch of goons who derive some fun moments out of placing a stick on the temple of Sonia (who mistakes it for a gun) and runs like a headless chicken when they complete their reverse countdown of numbers. You have the trio’s landlord who is photographed in comprising positions with a whore by Arup, and is threatened by the latter for money. Incidentally, Arup also photographs a dumb belle (played by Anushka Dandekar) who tots up a number, “I hate you bracket like I love you” with Amir Khan honoring it by his super sonic pelvic thrusts. Only few of these moments really add up to the fun quotient of the movie.
So, after some terrible mix-up (where a bag of shit gets replaced with a box of diamonds), the trio get chased by the goons, and that’s how the song Bhaag DK Bose makes a scintallating entry. Needless to say, the hell breaks loose, and so does all the splinters of the movie.
Apart from the honking of boobs, or mention of English and Hindi #&*% words, there is nothing else that adds up to the raucous adult side of the movie! The movie’s cinematography hovers around the bad and the ugly….be it the verisimilitude view of feces or an inch-deep gash on a dead goon’s head. Mercifully the acting (with the exception of Khan) is top-notch where the actors rise above merely mouthing English lines and a smattering of Hindi cuss words.
So as the credit rolls down, it may not even be possible for you to wrap your head around the movie and wonder what this stuff was all about. The sad part is that even a vantage view of shit doesn’t contribute to the crass humor of the movie. I though the “shitty” moments was handled well in a movie like “Death at a funeral” (which though disgusting was funny enough). The film tries hard to engage audiences with its slapstick silliness but falls short of the same however. All in all, this movie could be a fine experimental effort but not good enough for the palate or taste of the Indian audience!

Mumbai Bits and Bytes

A review on "Dhobi Ghat".

Hewn out of a city’s countless stories of loss, success, disparity, grit, grime, and gore, and sculpted to an almost sensual perfection, is the film, Dhobi Ghat (aptly sub-titled as Mumbai Dairies). Debutant director, Kiran Rao’s film glazes over the cityscapes with humane eyes, while exploring the rugged sides of an urban underbelly. It also does make you nostalgic about the sweet moments that you may have spent in the city and forgotten almost instantly. Remember ordering a paav kheema in an insipid hotel watching the rains outside, or simply taking a cab ride around Juhu or Marina, or hearing a little kid shouting his wares inside a crowded train. Several such humdrum moments that lie deep down the vortex of a city is brought back to life in the movie.

Ironically, the city shares its lyrical and chaotic qualities with the film’s characters namely Yasmin (Kirti Malhotra), Arun (Aamir Khan), Shai (Monica Dogra), and Munna (Prateik Babbar). Shai is an investment banker from USA who has come to Mumbai for a year-long “sabbatical”, the word that she can afford to choose over a plain “vacation”. She meets Arun, a painter at his exhibition and obsesses over him following a one-night stand. Enters Munna, a dhobi who instantly likes his mem, Shai, and who also happens to be close to Arun. We see the different contours of the city through Munna’s eyes…whether it be the frenzied buzz of activity at the Dhobi ghaat, life inside a tiny makeshift jhopdi , late-night combing of the streets to kill rodents, dreams of making it big in the alluring tinsel-town, or deadly encounters with the drug peddlers.
Shia befriends Munna for two obvious reasons: to get closer to Arun and to get to know the city better. Shia’s camera lenses begin to take a peek at the city’s best known sights, that is, of its people at work, like the fish seller, a dabbawalla, a street hawker, and a dhobi such as Munna himself. Shia also finds herself adjusting the lenses of her binoculars to keep a close watch on Arun from outside his building.

Arun plays the role of an aloof painter who is estranged from his wife and kids. His gallivanting ways prove him to be a man who eschews attachments of any kind. However, this doesn’t stop him from obsessing over the videos that he discovers on shifting to yet another house in Mumbai. The video letters have been shot by Yasmin, a newly-married girl for her brother. Needless to say, another absorbing account of the city is narrated by a starry-eyed city entrant. Arun falls in love with the city all over again as her hears about its myriad nuances courtesy Yasmin. He paints Yasmin’s experiences on his canvas…pouring the azure colors of a skyline over the lively tints of red, yellow, and orange that represent the bedlam and vigor of a city that never sleeps.

As each of the one character obsesses over the other, while sharing their common love of the city, a thought so profound just slices in like a solid wedge. You suddenly realize that there is a “divide” between the characters. Munna knows for a fact that he can never be a part of the glammed up life that Shia lives, Shia understands that Arun would never be able to form a meaningful relationship with her or anyone else, whereas Arun would never get to meet his muse, Yasmin because of the latter’s untimely death.

With so many layers to uncover and emotions to unfold, Dhobi Ghat stands out to be a film that will remain long in our memories for paying such a grand tribute to Mumbai, the city we love to hate. It is obvious that Kiran Rao enjoys the urban idyll as much as she shares with us her love for each of the film’s well-etched out characters. The film may not find much appreciation at the ticket windows but it does mark the galumphing entry of Kiran Rao, the director to watch out for. Three cheers to her for giving us such delicious bytes of a city gone by.

Golmaal Hai Bhai Sab Golmaal Hai

A review on Golmaal 3.

Golmaal 3 can be best summed up as cocktail of heavy-dose zest, chaos, and pun and surely way better than Rohit’s preceding works. With his triumvirate version, he has brought on fresh hooks to net the audience, and a cast so funny that even seeing them surf on a bumpy road is enough to create moments of mirth and mayhem. Each of the characters as they plop on the screen with aplomb give us guffaws wide enough to land a jet plane in. Here is a peek-a-boo at the characters that forms the gusty Golmaal gang:

Pritam (Mithun Chakraborthy): Pritam is a bus driver and a father of two adopted sons. He is an ex- dancer who fell in love with a girl some disco light years ago. His famed response to Prem Chopra (the girl’s papa from hell) rejoinder “Kaha Gangu Teli…aur kaha Raja Bhoj” is a cheeky “I don’t know where they are”. He remains unmarried since the villainy Papa doesn’t agree to the match.

Guddi (Ratna Pathak Shah): Guddi plays the love interest of Pritam. You really wish Guddi of yesteryear to look better…her skin sags and her clothes look like a heap of mess! A dab of make-up and a shimmering saree of the 70s would have surely done the trick. Even Pritam looks like a sore thumb in terms of his appearance. Wish Rohit had come up with some more interesting bib and tucker for his actors.

Gopal (Ajay Devgan): Gopal is the adopted son of Guddi (though unaware of the same). A straight “ungli” thrust on his face is enough to reveal his Hulk-like qualities; a twisted finger and a few broken bones are the upshots of his one-sided combats.

Laxman 1 (Shreyas Talpade): Laxman is Guddi’s second adopted son and who is referred to as a “Comma” on account of his frequent stutters between mumbles and mutters.

Lucky (Tushar Kapoor): If Laxman is a “comma”, then Lucky is a “full stop” since he can utter not more than three syllables and still be mighty comprehensible! He is Pritam’s adopted son.

Daboo (Kareena Kapoor): Daboo is the tough girl who also has a tender heart to surmise the re-bloomed love between Guddi and Preetam, and strives to unite them. In the process, she tots up some funny cuss words a la Bhenchik, Madar launde, Maa ka Ghosla, and Chuziye. She is also Gopal’s girl friend too.

Laxman 2 (Kunal Khemu): Laxman unlike his namesake doesn’t stutter along the way, but pulls out all commas and stops to mouth some of the choicest crap. Sample: Chidya hai toh Ghosle hai, harsha hai toh Bhogle hai aur aasha hai toh Bhonsle hai. He is Pritam’s second son.

Madhav (Arshad Warsi): Madhav doesn’t have any resounding qualities about him; but his antics and facial expressions are enough to fit him into a funny mould. Madhav is the quintessential dada minus the brawns and who is the first to hide his ungli when confronted by the Hulk-o-heap Gopal who seethes with anger on espying one.

Puppy Bhai (Johnny Lever): Puppy is a delightful Bhai who forgets things at the drop of a hat and his batting of eyelids is an indicator of the bedlam to begin. In his scatty state, he morphs into a conductor whirring an imaginary chain, does a famous jig a la Pa (Amitabh) and also pans Amir’s forgetful nature in Ghajini.

All hell breaks loose when the paths of the twin bunch of brothers meet. Result is fireworks and sparks, and a comical treat for the audience to savor. A twist in this tale comes when Guddi and Pritam meet by chance and romance begins brewing between them. Their warring sons are forced to stay in the same house after the marriage of their respective parents.

Though really zany at times, the film takes you through one whirlwind of a laughthon with its fun quotient dipping only towards the end. You really wish for more of the crazy fare and witty exchanges between the characters. All in all, a good Diwali treat and worth visiting the theatres for a fair share of laughs and thrills.

A World Called Facebook

A review on "The Social Network".

It is a place that we lovingly look over, from within the glass-walled offices or the comforts of home or amid the hustle-bustle of an eatery, or in a vehicle on the move. It straddles bits of a social life within – be it the boastful chin-wagging, spirited partying, hearty sharing, or brazen swearing. It forms the hum-drum smidgens of a small world that we have created bit by bit within our blue-green sphere. It is what we call the “FACEBOOK”. But look carefully, you will see layers of aspiration, creativity and genius of a person who created this experience that was to be shared by 500 million users the world over.

Social Network gives a glimpse into the mind of Mark Zuckerberg who created Facebook in his college room in 2004 with his friends, Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes. This started over a row with his date, who termed him as a nerd whom no girl would want to date. Mark gets back with nasty comments about the girl in his blog and also creates a website that compares girl student’s dorm photos in a Hot-or-Not fashion (after he downloads the photos from the college sites). He gets 22000 hits in a single night that brings the servers of the college crashing down. Mark is reprimanded by the college authorities for this act. But this brings him to the notice of the three Harvard students, Cameron Winklevoss, Tyler Winklevoss, and Divya Narendra. The trio want Mark to help them create a social network tool called HarvardConnection.com. However, this plants the seeds of a more ambitious idea in Mark’s gung-ho mind.

Three months later, he launches “Facebook” on his own, that dovetails a photo directory, status and other info, notes, groups, and a personal wall. I came across this image of Facebook’s first cut (then known as “the Facebook”)

This site could be accessed only by members of the recognized schools and university (with students logging in with a valid e-mail ID of the associated institution). The site becomes a student phenomenon in a few days of its launch; and Mark plans to kick back his heels with further plans of expansion. He meets Sean Parker, the co-founder of Napster, who advices him to aggressively pursue his goals. The latter is to become the founding President of Facebook, and a stakeholder too.

Mark launches the site on a global stage and shares a stake in the social networking pie while taking to the space between online photo directories, chat messengers, and blogs. He ends up making a lot of enemies including the Harvard trio who claim that their source code was stolen to create Facebook.

Without lending its own emotions to a realistic story, the film maintains a high- adrenaline tempo throughout. The acting by Jesse Eisenberg is top- notch and you would feel that his reel-life nerdy looks and mannerisms are much more convincing than that of real-life Mark’s! Justin Timberlake as Sean Parker does make his presence felt in the movie.

Some of the scenes from the movie that will remain in your memory for long are:
1. A Eureka moment for Mark when he hears his friend saying that people should carry a sign-board declaring their status – this innocuous comment was to give birth to the “Relationship Status” tag on Facebook.
2. The crushed look on Saverin’s face when he realizes that his stake in the company has been reduced to 0.03% (as part of Sean Parker’s plan to keep him out of FB’s share); Interestingly, Saverin had made the initial investment of a few thousand dollars for building Facebook. This scene will remind you of the edgy sides of wheeling and dealing in a big bad world.
3. Mark’s restlessness in the courtroom and during the rendezvous with potential “clients” - both of which he declares as a waste of time.
4. The “Hackathon” parties arranged by Mark to select the programmers to work with him. These innovative means helped Mark to design the website with definitive features vis-à-vis his competitors, and to give it the mark of exclusivity.
5. The title on Mark’s business card “I am a CEO, bitch” (reminding you of how it all started). Mark, searching for the girl’s name on Facebook, adding her, and refreshing the page every second to see her response.

David Flencher’s movie will definitely make you go back and revisit your regular Facebook page to see the story of glamor, chutzpah, and sweat unfold simultaneously. This is one of the movies that may not make your innards flip but will nevertheless blow you over with the revelation that all phenomenons of the world have a humble or a frivolous beginning.

Cynical Bytes

A review on “Up in the Air”

On your knees, take a deep breath, straighten your back, and keep your chin up…this will be a perfect way to avoid being hit by the scythe of cynicism and a deluge of non-delectable views on love/commitment that the film offers.

“Up in the Air” is the story of Ryan (George Clooney), a man on the move, who works for a company that has been outsourced the job of employment terminations! (The film opens with a slice of the hacked employees’ reactions ranging from plain disbelief to suicidal rejoinders, from shock and anger to mute acceptance.) Ryan likes to travel the length and breadth of the country to serve pink slips to the employees while getting kicked and abused for the same all the while. “To know me is to fly with me” is his refrain, as he deftly handles the formalities at an airport that one would think of as a tetchy thingamabob and laps up the sights of a familiar aerial world around him. “Coming home” is what he eschews and taking the “next” step in love is what he thinks of as impractical. He “guides” people to detach from the things they have stocked their lives with – relations, friends, love et al. As he gets on to a soap box delivering homilies on non-commitment/ finding one’s true calling, you fail to understand how a man who handles a truckload of emotions daily fails to remain untouched by it.

Enter Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick) and Alex (Vera Farmiga), who posit as an antithesis of each other. The former is Ryan’s co-worker who thwarts the idea of crisscrossing places and prefers a more “grounded” method of layoffs through live internet. She also believes in love and has followed her boyfriend to a new city in order to take the progressive steps in her relationship. Natalie fits as slackly into her job as a round ball in a square hole. On the other hand, Alex like Ryan believes in forming casual relationships with people she meets during her frequent air trips. Natalie is young and immature; Alex is older and has fixated views on relationships which become clear as she tells the former about the non-dreamy and practical qualities she wants in her dream man.

Ryan and Natalie are at odds on views on love. Natalie wants him to propose love to Alex, while Ryan dismisses it as ridiculous. But slowly as events unfold in his life, he realizes what he is missing in his life is the ability to stay grounded and form stable ties. He decides to give his heart a chance to love, but is disappointed with the results. He goes back to the old world that he came from, though disenchanted with his own views that he held earlier.

In one of the scenes, where Ryan’s future brother-in-law ponders as to why he should get married at all; you are as mealy-mouthed as Ryan to explain the reasons for a matrimonial union. But that’s when it makes sense to you; love and relationships represent the coming together of two people who decide to give each other their unconditional love and support. And that’s what the film fails to communicate, and that’s why it will pander only to the cynical tastes of a certain section of audience.

You wish George Clooney’s character had the shades of a more romantic version in “One Fine Day”. But his acting is effortless and fits into the mould of a cynical man perfectly. Overall, a good attempt by Reitman but you wish the movie had a little something to light it up just the way love sparks the life around us with its divine and soft flames.

Natrang – An Ode on Art and Music

There are movies made with an eye on awards, there are others which are created to ensure pure commercial success. Very few movies actually manage to rise above the average twee and trimmings to become a footnote in film history’s pages and Natrang is definitely one of them. Doffing its hat to the best known tradition of Mahashtrian folk-dance, i.e., Tamasha, the movie flows like a gentle ballad conveying its visceral feelings and striking an intense rhythm with its audiences.

Natrang follows the life of Guna (Atul Kulkarni) who dwells in a somnolent Maharashtrian town set in the early 70s. Its inhabitants too live in a state of oblivion with little ambitions or dreams of their own, barring of course Guna who wants to make a living in music and arts. While others blench at the thought of this alternative career, Guna struggles with all his might to make his dream come true. He writes, enacts, and does all the legwork required to form a Tamasha troupe. Such is his passion that where others look for pecuniary gains, he visualizes drama, ghungroos, and dholki.

His efforts hit a patch of rocks each time and slews around violently but he knows that hurdles and obscurantist mindsets have to be ignored and endured. As he goes about adding people to the troupe, he realizes he is missing a vital member in the form a Natucni (female actress and dancer). His manager, an experienced tamasha performer (Kishore Kadam) introduces him to Naina (Sonalee Kulkarni) who agrees to do the part. However, she puts forward the demand of a nachya (a female impostor) to be present on the stage with her.

Guna ends up donning the mantle of a nachya since no one else will touch this part by a bargepole. You then see the transformation of Guna from a well-built man to a feminine and graceful dancer. A bindi adorns his forehead, while a dab of pancake and kajal sits pretty on his facial features. The play is an instant hit and wins a bevy of awards and supari (amount paid in advance of a performance). However, Guna has to put up with the fuss and palaver about his feminine make-over. His family members distance themselves from him, while some of his troupe elements mistake him for a heterosexual. In reply to this, he stoically puts up an act of Mohini, a female form of Lord Krishna himself, whom he says has a bit of both male and female sides, just as his own.

The movie touches on all the taboos associated with Tamasha, and why it is looked upon despite being an oldest form of folk play. A scene where a silhouette of Naina forms on the screen as she explains to Guna why she cannot marry him shows the dark contours of this profession. The movie also espouses the frailties of human nature without fitting into an ideological straitjacket. For instance, the movie makes no bones about Guna’s sexual attraction for Naina though it partly justifies why he cannot love his wife. But the highest achievement of the movie is in its portrayal of its central character who struggles manfully to give a deft touch to his female role.

The music suits the mood and elements of the film, while the acting by all the characters is top notch. Atul Kulkarni had to gain/lose 15 kg within a few days for portraying the different stages of his character and this speaks volumes about his dedication to work. You get to see him grow in the movie as he struggles initially with his inchoate womanly expressions to magically cast himself in a feminine mould. His aching for acceptance from people is strongly conveyed by him and so is his refusal to believe in society’s norms.

In the famous non-fiction book, Maximum City, author Suketu Mehta writes about a similar character, Honey who switches between the twin identities of a female bar dancer and a breadwinner at home. People mistake him to be a transvestite but he is like several other “men who spend their lives playing a female character until the character takes over their lives”. These are the people who are ready to give up their own identities for the sake of their respective art forms.
Kudos to director Ravi Jadhav and actor, Atul Kulkarni for sending out a strong message which will hopefully galvanize people into giving such artists the due plaudits and credits for their respective contributions.

Sherlock Holmes - Reinvented

A review on Sherlock Holmes movie

Sherlock Holmes, the much-awaited movie of the year, scores and disappoints at the same time, as it sets aside the mind numbing histrionics of the world’s best fictional sleuth in favor of some action and gore. The film will therefore not endear itself completely to the Sherlock fans as much as it will to those who want to see it in the thriller/action mold.

The film’s narrative unfolds in a slow manner as the famed characters plop down on the screen, each playing his/her mannerisms to the hilt. A nimble-minded (and footed) Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) who uncannily predicts things as an upshot of his cursory observations, his ever-chiding friend John Watson (Jude Law), and the rumbustious Irene (Rachel Madams) who forms the third prong of this triumvirate, all make their gracious presence felt. Lord Blackwood (Mark Strong) plays the adversary who confounds Holmes with his mysterious death and reappearance followed by murders at strategic locations.

The movie shows London at a time of great social ferment, when superstitions riddled the minds and the space given to science remained constrained. Holmes responds with a rule of reason to the seemingly paranormal situations. He figures out why a hanging rope couldn’t kill Blackwood, and how the latter emerges out of his grave from the inside, and how he kills enemies without much of a trace. Though the ending ties together all the puzzling pieces, it doesn’t leave a lasting impression on our minds. The mystery part doesn’t have an intriguing value to it and ends in a flat drone when it is finally revealed by Holmes. His uncovering of truth is attributed to the observations made in a laboratory owned by a Blackwood follower. Some revelations about the troupe of black magicians who follow a distinct religion and worship a mythical creature doesn’t add good measure to the overall story. One would want such movies to avoid getting pigeonholed in regular patterns and cliché sub-plots which it unfortunately does.

What stands out is the comical bit of an unkempt looking Holmes who conducts strange experiments in his room, bellows out handy wisecracks, and crashes in and out of his house (a conspicuous 221 B on a cul-de-sac off Baker Street). His fights with a Blackwood man (towering above him in steel and sinew) will send out ripples of laughter for sure. Irene referred to by Holmes (in the book) as "the woman" outsmarts him again and leaves him speechless with her wit and charm. Robert and Irene are spot-on while essaying the two characters. Jude Law as Watson pursues his love interest, Mary Morstan (Kelly Reilly) with much fervor, and appears so smitten by her that he even shuts Holmes out of his private milieu.

While envisioning and executing the film, director Guy Ritchie ensures that every peg is in its place, including even the chinks and vents on a rampart or the color of a powdered wig. His eye for detail truly matches Holmes as he weaves intricate information into the script about the finery and decorum of an 18th century London, complete with the key attractions of Parliament House, London Bridge, Piccadilly, Baker Street, and Big Ben. Imagine all the above forms after you have set the clock back a couple of centuries. Also the British apparel in the movie comprising the flowing silk gowns, stiff corsets, cut-away tail coats et al heighten the feel of the period. This 70mm panorama of London was like a re-run of the city tour for me.

Overall, the flight from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s book to the film looks a little labored, but still retains a bit of its edge-of-the-seat quality and scores high in its breathtaking locations. Go catch it also if you want to fall in love with a lighter/brawnier side of Holmes.

London Through My Eyes

Overwhelming is perhaps the only word to describe my first glimpse of London that I got from some hundred feet above the land, courtesy the vantage British Airways seat. A misty fog had engulfed the city and lent it a dreamy look while the myriad twinkling lights tempered it with the right amount of life and zest.

After arriving at the swanky Heathrow airport (which has so many connecting gates and terminals that could easily confound a new comer), I made my way to the exit after passing through several elevators, stairs, lifts, and a tube!

(Various Terminals inside the airport)

(Shops and FIDs inside the airport)

An icy cold wind hit me as soon as I got out on the road, and the temperature would have been close to five degrees. A few days ago there was a heavy snowfall in London and it looked like its after-effects still continued. I shivered in my boots as the cab lollopped all its way to Guildford, another beautiful town. Apparently, this place derived its name (Guild) from the golden flowers that grew on the river banks. I saw tiny cottages lined up on the roads with thatched roofs and wooden stockades. Vast stretches of farms and gardens also dotted the landscape alongside. It looked like a scene straight from the romantic novels set in the early 19th century. And guess what, I saw the posters of one of my all-time favorite "Pride and Prejudice" splashed all over Surrey. It evidently remains the most loved novel/play in UK.

(Posters adversting the "Pride and Prejudice" play)

(Dream houses in Guildford)

The hotel room in Holiday Inn where I was to stay for the next seven days looked exactly like it did in the pictures, with tastefully done interiors and rich luster paints.

(An Exterior View of Holiday Inn)

(A Fireplace Corner inside the hotel)

(A View outside my hotel room)

(My Room Interiors)

Quickly delving into the menu list, I decided to order an item cleverly called “oodles of noodles” that I thought would be a heapful of food for me to tuck into. However, it turned out to be a measly bowl of noodles and veggies.

(Cup Of Woes: Oodles of Noodles)

So with a half empty stomach, I nevertheless went into a deep slumber to dream of a better morning meal. In the morning, I traipsed down to the restaurant to see some delectable food items stacked up neatly in a corner. I had rustic breads, baked beans, soup, fresh farm butter and also a variety of fresh fruits plucked from the farms nearby.

(Breakfast at Holiday Inn!)

Later in the day, I visited my Avaya office in Guildford to attend a training and met some of the people there who had come from places as far as Egypt and Belgium. Some of us made plans to visit London in the evening. At around five, when darkness had begun to set in, we embarked on the journey to the famed city. We hopped into the train from Guildford and alighted at the Waterloo station after an hour.

(Inside the Train to Waterloo)

(A Busy Waterloo Station)

This station resembles our own Victoria terminus and buzzes with sounds of similar frenzied activities. My paraphernalia of overcoat, gloves, and shawl proved inadequate to brave the cold storm that started blowing as soon as we stepped outside. As we walked our way out, we spotted the London eye (celebrating its 10th anniversary). It was offering free rides to people till a couple of hours ago. We missed the royal ride but saw the colorfully lit up giant wheel set against an evening backdrop.

On the other side stood Big Ben that chimed in with its architectural glory along with the Houses of Parliament (Westminster Abbey). Its shadow could be seen on the clear waters of the Thames river. It was a rare sight to descry this blend of the world’s most amazing forms on the rippling stream below. We had a peek at the House of Lords and House of Commons with its Victorian undertones and Gothic structures. The buildings of Whitehall and Downing Street towered the spaces around us.

Apparently these palatial structures were built after a fire had destroyed the erstwhile royal palaces that had been the primary residence of the Kings of England. Now it serves as a Parliament house. We passed by the Royal Courts of Justice and Victoria Tower Gardens on the south of the palace.

We walked the entire stretch till we reached Trafalgar square and realized it was better we mount a bus than continue on our foot journey.

(Westminster Abbey, Big Ben and its reflection seen on River Thames)

(Statue of Oliver Cromwell outside Palace Westminster)
(A view Opposite the House of Lords)

(Thames Lion Statue Opposite Big Ben)

We inserted coins into a machine that punched us the tickets to tour the city. A double decker bus arrived a couple of minutes later and we climbed up to the top eyrie to see some more gorgeous glimpses of the city. We got down at Piccadily Circus that swarmed with shops and advertisements. One of the best shops to visit during the festive season is Lily Whites that houses all the popular sports brands and sells them at dirt cheap rates. Almost all the shops were selling off their wares with 70-80% discounts.

We walked around the Oxford street which had discotheques, shops, pubs, theatres, saloons, et al packed in like sardines. An amazing thing about London is that it wedges together the modern and the old; gothic structures dovetails beautifully with high-rise buildings while a church at one end of the city draws in the same amount of people as a riverside bar. The city also is a melting pot of diverse cultures, with a rag tag group of people from different countries and origins that do not come together to explode but rather live and thrive in harmony.

(Inside the bus)

(Neon Ad Board at Picaddily Circus)

The London roads though narrow are squeaky clean and so are the bus/rail stations. There is a camera installed inside all the transport systems that monitors the movements of the travelers. The shop attendants carry a walkie-talkie to communicate with each other, while security guards station themselves outside every small or huge shop on the streets.

A whirldwind tour of the city ended at midnight for us but gave us something to cherish and take small memory rides over for a lifetime.

I was lucky to see a snowfall the next day in Guildford followed by rains the day after. It was almost as if life had ordained sweet surprises for me in small packages to uncover each day.

(Snowfall outside Avaya - clicked through a glass window)

(Rainy day in Guildford - 1)

(Rainy day in Guildford - 2)

I realized that just as many inquisitive questions are asked about the life in London by people living outside it, the same amount of curiosity is held by the city dwellers about India and its culture. The most popular cuisine in the Avaya office was an Indian one, and people thronged in queues for a serving of basmati rice, dal tadka, lamb curry and onion pakoda. The popular serials/shows in UK explore the life and activities in India with much fervor. One such telefilm called “Gordon’s Great Escape” on Sky channel showed how Gordon Mackay, a famed anchor cum food critic travels the length and breadth of India to relish the Indian flavors of sambar, karimeen, and dosas.

Believe me or not, a poppadum and mango chutney enjoy the status of a standalone menu item unlike its counterpart in India.

(Popaddum and Chutney)

(Gordon's show)

People love the quaint accent of an Indian and even feature them on the popular cartoon shows such as the Simpsons.

Six days and a night later, I am back in my own country carrying a bagful of amazing experiences. Through my blog, I wish to thank all the people who made this trip possible and my journey memorable.

The Twin World Saga

A review on Avataar.

Imagine yourselves in the 22nd century, when you would be able to conjoin your real self with a virtual one and live in the midst of an alien orbit that is so different from your own. Believe me or not, the movie pitchforks you into dizzying heights of this make-believe mania and gives your senses an out-of-the world experience.

It starts with a sorority of engineers, doctors, and soldiers being assembled to travel to an alien moon called Pandora. This includes a paraplegic ex-Marine Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) who has been brought as a replacement for his more talented but dead brother. You are also introduced to Dr Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver) who reposes little faith in what Jake can accomplish as part of his tasks in Pandora. His work is to breathe life into a demon that closely resembles his own features and also looks like one of the aliens thriving in the moon. As he is bundled into a box, and transported into this strange world, albeit in a virtual way, he experiences how it feels to be walking on his own feet, and being free from the worries of a ‘normal’ world. This place that is so beautifully lit up with unknown species of flora and fauna also has dangers lurking within it. Soon Jake is face to face with one such life-threatening menace in the form of ferocious creatures and is rescued by Neytiri, a female member of the Pandora clan. Through her, he learns the secrets of the land such as how the natives share a special bond with each and every thing that breathes under the vast canopy of forests, which connects them to a common network.

Jake is soon accepted by the dwellers as one of their own and gains a newfound respect in the eyes of the people there. But his romance with the forests and Neytiri is in contrast with the work that he has been sent to accomplish. He has to cajole the dwellers to move out of the land that they have occupied for long. This is the place they believe where the memories of their ancestors linger and where their whispers are heard. Beneath this land is a rich bounty of some precious metals that will fetch billions for the earthlings. But Jake and Dr. Grace, who realize the worth of this place to the natives, have a change of heart and decide to help the aliens instead in the fight for land.

The war that follows between the aliens and human forms will have you rooting for the former and detesting the corporate greed of the earthlings who have plans of burning down Pandora’s forests. The ending is well nigh predictable, but peppered with amazing camera work and animation effects.

Thus a peek into the twin worlds as seen through the eyes of Jake is no less than a spectacle of a lifetime for anyone. Adding to the beauty of the film is the special 3D effects that give you the feeling of being a real spectator to the events unfolding before your eyes. A sleek cinematography coupled with an emotionally charged script also elevates the film to a different level, though it does fall a notch or two below when compared to Titanic, Cameron’s earlier movie.

However you are ready to forgive Cameron for the not-so-gripping content when you espy the rich tapestry of animations that knits together detailed characterizations and latest forms of 3D technologies. Here is one film that surpasses all the erstwhile movies in the category of 3D effects and breath-taking animations. Truly, this is a must-watch for people who would like to experience the sheer art and beauty of movies.

"Knock Out" Trivia

Our office environs at Magarpatta metamorphed into a sparkling filmi set for the shooting of “Knockout” starring Sanjay Dutt and Kangana Ranaut. The film is rumored to be a rip-off of the English movie, Phone Booth.



The set was erected between the roadways of Tower 1 and Tower 12 of the mini-city. As part of the film’s look, the kerbsides were lined with candy shops, phone-booth, eating joints et al.

We espied Sanjay Dutt with a cool French beard look. He was spiffily dressed and looked trimmer than usual. This is the same film for which Sanjay went on a much-talked about ketosis-based diet. Kangana Ranaut had to wear a single grey-colored ensemble throughout the one-month long shooting and looks like she could not experiment much with her looks this time.

And incidentally, we also became a part of the cast when we were trying to sneak a peek at the goings-on.

Here are some of the pictures that I managed to get hold of courtesy http://www.itechengine.com/.