Suraj Ka Satvan Ghoda - storytelling at its best !!!

As promised in the last post, here is the review of movie which i think is the BEST STORYTELLING EVER on celluloid.

Directed by Shyam Benegal, it was released in 1993 and won the National Award for Best Feature in Hindi. As most of the Benegal's movies this one too has female character dominance and the plot is actually a correlation of the lives of 3 different women (belonging to poor, middle and intellectual class of society) and this correlation is narrated through a male character, Manek Mullah, superbly played by Rajit Kapoor (remember Byomkeshbakshi :) ).

The movie is based on a novel of same name by "Dharamvir Bharti". If by chance you have read his other novel "Gunaahon Ka Devta" (thanks to choli, i have read it) you will know how beautifully he can capture everything that is good and bad about humans, in a single plot.

The movie is divided into three narrations done by Manek Mullah to his friends, each telling the story of a different woman whom Manek had known in past. The timeframe for all the stories is almost same, even then, in each story viewer gets to see a different aspect of society and Manek's life. Women characters have been played by Neena Gupta (the poor), Pallavi Joshi (the intellectual) and Rajeshwari Sachdev (middle class). Movie also stars Amrish Puri delivering a top notch performance.

It is only Benegal's brilliance that such complex characterisation has been given shape on celluloid in a seemingly simple way. Characters don't tell you to form any notion about them, but still in each story you make some notion just to find out in the next story that there was something missing in your interpretation. All three story unfolds, and you are still not sure whether you have fathomed even one character fully. And then comes the best part, the ending. End scene will leave you spellbounded, in awe of the sheer brilliance of Benegal's direction. This scene makes it one of those movies which haunt you for days. It may (it may not :)) also help you in drawing a conclusion out of the movie. in my case at least, it did. Here is my one line conclusion, lemme know what was yours.

"Society and Conditions are more important than man's aspirations"

BTW this was Rajit Kapoor's first movie. I rellay appreciate Benegal Sir for giving us so many wonderful actors : Shabana Azmi, Om Puri, Girish Kanad, Naseerudin Shah, Smita Patil and many more.

If you really love cinema, DO WATCH this movie. I assure you, it won't disappoint.

Ek Ruka Hua Faisla

it's generally a perception, and albeit a very strong one, that all Indian movies are just about dancing around the trees, playing with silly emotions , and immortal heroes who can never fail. I agree to the dancing part of it (thanks to madhuri for koyal si teri boli :) ), also the exaggeration of emotions (thanks to barjatya for trying all possible permutation, combination of relationships), and thanks to Rajni, heroes ARE immortal in most of the Indian movies.

But the point I disagree with is - ALL Indian movies are like that. NO NO NO. Most of the people, just right away reject even the idea of a CLASS Indian movie. Well we need to dig deeper to find out the real gems. Let me start off with first gem: Ek Ruka Hua Failsa.

Most of the people wouldn't even have heard of this movie and those who have must be knowing that this is a Hollywood adaptation. Agreed, it's an adaptation but that doesn't lessen the greatness of it's director and cast who have put a very sincere and brave effort in producing a stellar piece of work. And if you are not convinced, I will shortly come up with another review, of a movie which IS ORIGINAL, and can beat ANY movie (and that includes the whole world cinema, OSCAR etc etc), by miles in storytelling.

Ek Ruka Hua Faisla is a remake of Twelve Angry Men. Directed by Basu Chatterjee, produced by Doordarshan/NFDC, it was released in 1986. The movie starts in a room, ends in that room itself :) (why do we need switzerland to make a great movie). The story is about the 12 jurors who need to make a decision on a charge of murder against a young man. All of the jury members except for one are convinced that young man is in fact guilty. But till all of them unanimously make a decision, it can not be final. So now the 11 jury members try to convince 1 and then there are rounds of reasonings, discussions, insights, questions, explanations which make up the whole movie.

It's for you to see who convince whom in the end and how.All the actors suite their role to a tee. Pankaj Kapur, as always, is just exceptional (this man is a gem of indian cinema who has not got his worth). Watch it to see how good cinema can be created even in a single room with 12 chairs and a table :)

If you do't find it on DVD, here is the Google video link

Kannathil Muthamittal - who said language is a barrier !!

"The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity."
- Ellen Parr

Being a strong believer of the above statement and having run out of Hindi/English movies led me to try the yet unexplored territory of Tamil Cinema. Me considering "Dil Se" the finest example of "poetry on screen", what better director to choose than "Mani Sir". Now the point was - which movie ? Well anybody even remotely interested in movies will say - "Nayakan" (yes, i haven't watched it yet :)) . But having watched so many gangster movies recently, i wanted something different. By chance I found "Kannathil Muthamittal" and rest is my effort to share the pure joy I had in those 2 hours.

I won't try to "reinvent the wheel" by giving full plot as I am sure no one can beat good old IMDB in that. In short "Kannathil Muthamittal" is the story of a Tamil writer Thiruchelvan (Madhavan), a gorgeous news reader Indra (Simran) who is a girl next door (literally) to Thiruchelvan...and becomes his wife, their adopted child "Amudha", and Shyama (Nandita Das) , a Sri Lankan resident and real mother of "Amudha".

Mani Sir is "THE PERFECT" story teller. He first allows you to understand the characters, then make sure you connect with them by sheer brilliance of his depiction of the courting days of Thiruchelvan and Indra, the pure love and happiness in their relationship. And then he mixes this completely normal life of a middle class Indian with the LTTE terrorism in Sri Lanka. He just scratches the surface so that it is just perfect exposure of the dark relalities of terrorism lurking in various parts of Sri Lanka, without going over the board. The best part of the movie, apart from direction, is the acting of Madhavan and Simran. They get under the skin of character and you never actually feel that they are some actors playing their role. Madhavan is at his sarcastic best while playing with the emotions of Indra and no one can be better "go home, show mom" girl than Indra. I also liked the small but beautifully played part of Thiruchelvan's sister Kamalee. I don't know her name but I am pretty sure she is the same lady who was AIR head in "Dil Se" (right now i am too lazy to verify).

The movie, as I guessed, is open ended and appropriate being that as the audience shall also have something to ponder, the movie has some message and this after thought will make sure you get it :)

I was over-impressed by this movie because of the fact that it was in Tamil, which is as good as an instrumental song to me but still I was able to connect and appreciate the movie (with english subtitles). I think that speaks a lot in itself about the merits of "Mani Sir" as director specifically and any great form of art in general. Who said language is a barrier :)

India needs people like E Sreedharan

Anyone who has seen Delhi for past few years will surely agree with the fact that Delhi has improved it's transportation infrastructure like never before, and Delhi's Capital Metro clearly stands out as the finest piece of work. With more than 5,00,000 commuters per day, Delhi Metro has taken a lot of heat off the overcrowded roads. Although each and every person associated with DMRC shall be given credit but in an army there is always one commander and for DMRC it is E Sreedharan. The man who has been serving the country for more than 40 years with only one motive - to improve the state of affairs in his country.
No wonder E Sreedharan has been chosen as CNN-IBN Indian of the year for the year 2007.

Refreshing 90's

today being a sunday....and me being totally vella (free, in college lingo) led me to one of my favorite time pass.....watching random videos on youtube. Incidentally i stumbled upon the video of Chaalbaaz song, Na Jaane Kahan Se Aayi Hai, Sridevi dancing like a diva :) . And by the end of video I was feeling nostalgic about the good old days when there was some innocence, love and purity in songs, the way actors danced, this all defined the music of 90's. I decided to keep flowing with those feelings and one after another I found almost all my favorite songs, thanks a million to Youtube. People talk a lot about "Old is Gold" and say that 70's was the golden period of hindi music industry. That is 100% true but I think music of 90's, it's artists especially singers lie Kumar Sanu, music composers like Nadeem Sharavan and actors like Govinda (most versatile hero ever...could pull off virtually everything), Sridevi etc also need to be given the credit for creating magic on screen. I mean this was the period which gave Indian cinema two of it's biggest evengreen musicals (at least in my opinion), Aashiqui (1990) and Phir Teri Kahani Yaad Aayi (1993). But belive it or not there are many great (i mean really superb) songs in 90's which were from not so great movies and filmed on almost unknown actors, some examples being Dil Jigar Nazar from Dil Ka Kya Kasoor, Ye Akhha India from Jaan Tere Naam, Ghar Se Nikalte Hi from Papa Kehte Hain.

Anyways it felt really nice to refresh all my past memories with these evergreen songs and I am embedding the youtube playlist here. As of now the list of songs is:

Na Jaane Kahan Se from Chaalbaaz
Ye Akhha India from Jaan Tere Naam
Dil Jigar Nazar from Dil Ka Kya Kasoor
Julie Julie from Jeetein Hain Shaan Se
Sundara Sundara from Rakshak
Shehar Ki Ladki from Rakshak
Urvashi Urvashi from Hum Se Hai Muqabala
Gore Gore Mukhde Pe from Suhaag
Saat Samundar from Vishwatma
Ankhiyaan Milaoon from Raja
Sona Kitna Sona from Hero No 1
Meri Marzi from Gambler
Tera Beemar Mera Dil from Chaalbaaz
Tu Cheez Badi Hai Mast from Mohra
O Laal dupatte waali from Aankhein
Ole Ole from Yeh Dillagi
Raah Mein Unse from Vijaypath
Jab Kisi Ki Taraf from Pyaar to Hona Hi Tha
Aaj Humne Dil Ka from Sir
Mera Sanam Sabse from Dil Ka Kya Kasoor
Dheere Dheere se from Aashiqui
Tu Pyaar Hai Kisi Aur Ka from Dil Hai Ki Maanta Nahin
Na Kajre Ki Dhaar from Mohra
Ghar Se Nikalte Hi from Papa Kehte Hain
Gali Mein Aaj Chaand from Zakhm
Do Dil Mil Rahe Hain from Pardes
Tumhari Nazaron Mein from Dil Ka Kya Kasoor (thanks to prince for this)
Tere dar par sanam from Phir Teri Kahani Yaad Aayi
Aankh Hai Bhari Bhari from Tumse Achha Kaun Hai



I hope u enjoy these songs as much as I did, in fact I am sure u will :) . And make additions to the list if you find other such songs, i am sure there are many more.

Blood Diamond....TIA - This is Africa !!!

Blood Diamond, released in 2006 stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Djimon Hounsou and Jennifer Connelly.

The movie is an absolute masterpiece with some excellent direction, great performances and larger than life feel. The director, Edward Zwick, has done an excellent job of presenting the viewer with the truth of civil war in Africa (at least some aspects of it) in just above 2 hrs. With a tight script, the movie keeps its pace throughout and never digresses from its focus point.

It is based on the industry of illegal diamond export (conflict diamonds) prevalent in many countries of Africa, and the plot of the movie is in Sierra Leone. Archer (Leonardo) is a middleman responsible for delivery of conflict diamonds to the companies in England. Solomon (Djimon) is a fisherman who dreams of his young son becoming a doctor. Maddy (Jennifer) is an idealistic reporter who believes in her work and humanity.

Solomon is forced to work in the diamond mines. His son is kidnapped by the local mafia and made a part of the their gang. While working in the mines Solomon finds a very big diamond and conceals it underground in the jungle. In a police raid on mines, Solomon is sent to jail. Archer comes to know about the concealed diamond and offers Solomon help in getting his family back in return of the diamond. Rest of the movie connects Archer's search for that diamond by using Solomon and Maddy, Solomon's search for his son and family and Maddy's search for the truth of conflict diamonds in Africa. Movie uses a phrase TIA (meaning This is Africa) to basically show that 2 + 2 may not be 4 in Africa !! It's not the cosy cosy fairytale world of west.

I was surprised to see that Blood Diamond is not in IMDB Top 250. I mean WTF, we have Kill Bill up there and that too Vol 1 and Vol 2 both.................if that's the standard we are looking for, Gunda and Loha (apne mithun da ki cult movies) shall be right on top :)

Anyways, watch Blood Diamond to see that Movies too can have heart and soul.