The year started with a big bang for a movie buff like me. Never has good movies and of different genres hit the screens uniformly in succession. I was still in the Ghajini miasma, appreciating the Mr. Perfectionist for playing the role of an amnesiac so believably, for being so organized in his daily chores making a note of everything he does and I must also mention here he played the corporate bigwig with equal élan. Never has he looked so somber yet stylish.
Still in that haze I let pass Chandni Chowk to China. For some reasons or for that intuitive Aquarian in me I never wished to watch Mr. Action Kumar for 180 odd minutes bashing up goons or trying to be a buffoon or romancing a certain Ms. Padukone who looked so silly with her fringe in a desperate attempt to look like a Chinese damsel!
And then came the much awaited Slumdog Millionaire. I watched the movie out of curiosity. The only likeable actor for me in Slumdog was Irrfan but he had such a small role to play.
The movie was good. (It has to be since its been sweeping awards in all the big award circuit) but I wouldn’t take it back with me like the way I took Ghajini. The movie's got everything - the pulse of the slums, the people and their lifestyles, typical Bollywood masalas but somehow it didn’t move me. The only scene I think it made me sit up is when Jamal jumps into a pool of shit to escape from the loo so that he can get an autograph of Big B! The Taj Mahal scene was hilarious - especially the way the duo - Jamal and Salim steal shoes and fake as tourist guides rewriting the lives of Shah Jahan & Mumtaz! And also commendable is the scene where the call center employees gather around the TV to watch "Who wants to be a millionaire" and when they see Jamal in the hot seat; some of them exclaim "The Chaiwala!"
Yes there were moments, but too few and too far.
Next week it was Luck By Chance. I have enjoyed Farhan’s Dil Chahta Hai as a director and in Rock On he was true rock star. (But I still prefer Mr. Arjun “hot” Rampal in the movie – sorry Farhan!).
I went to watch it since there wasn’t anything else to do on a Sunday evening. Starting from the name casting the movie managed to get hold of my attention in totality! One could actually feel the pulse of what goes behind making a movie. The struggle, the plotting to surpass a fellow struggler, the life of a young single woman and a man in an urban city, the quirkiness of pampered actors is shown with all the fine points intact.
And then came Dev D. Its one movie I’ll count as my evergreen favourites. The movie is not about sex, alcohol and drugs. It’s not about the dialogues being right on your face. It’s not about always being on a perpetual high.
It’s about the unrequited love, the pain of not being with the person you love because you let her go. It’s about finding solace in someone else. The moment you think you love her but find it difficult to acknowledge it because you think you love someone else who cannot be with you.
It’s also not about ending your life because you are a loser and everything has gone wrong. It’s about reformation.
The best scene is perhaps when Dev consoles Chanda like one does to his child.
I wonder if there will be any other Hindi movie like Dev D.
I don’t know if any other actor would fit in Dev D’s shoes as did Abhay Deol and Chanda … she seemed like a young girl next door caught in between the turbulence of life and womanhood too early.
Cheers to Dev D!
Still in that haze I let pass Chandni Chowk to China. For some reasons or for that intuitive Aquarian in me I never wished to watch Mr. Action Kumar for 180 odd minutes bashing up goons or trying to be a buffoon or romancing a certain Ms. Padukone who looked so silly with her fringe in a desperate attempt to look like a Chinese damsel!
And then came the much awaited Slumdog Millionaire. I watched the movie out of curiosity. The only likeable actor for me in Slumdog was Irrfan but he had such a small role to play.
The movie was good. (It has to be since its been sweeping awards in all the big award circuit) but I wouldn’t take it back with me like the way I took Ghajini. The movie's got everything - the pulse of the slums, the people and their lifestyles, typical Bollywood masalas but somehow it didn’t move me. The only scene I think it made me sit up is when Jamal jumps into a pool of shit to escape from the loo so that he can get an autograph of Big B! The Taj Mahal scene was hilarious - especially the way the duo - Jamal and Salim steal shoes and fake as tourist guides rewriting the lives of Shah Jahan & Mumtaz! And also commendable is the scene where the call center employees gather around the TV to watch "Who wants to be a millionaire" and when they see Jamal in the hot seat; some of them exclaim "The Chaiwala!"
Yes there were moments, but too few and too far.
Next week it was Luck By Chance. I have enjoyed Farhan’s Dil Chahta Hai as a director and in Rock On he was true rock star. (But I still prefer Mr. Arjun “hot” Rampal in the movie – sorry Farhan!).
I went to watch it since there wasn’t anything else to do on a Sunday evening. Starting from the name casting the movie managed to get hold of my attention in totality! One could actually feel the pulse of what goes behind making a movie. The struggle, the plotting to surpass a fellow struggler, the life of a young single woman and a man in an urban city, the quirkiness of pampered actors is shown with all the fine points intact.
And then came Dev D. Its one movie I’ll count as my evergreen favourites. The movie is not about sex, alcohol and drugs. It’s not about the dialogues being right on your face. It’s not about always being on a perpetual high.
It’s about the unrequited love, the pain of not being with the person you love because you let her go. It’s about finding solace in someone else. The moment you think you love her but find it difficult to acknowledge it because you think you love someone else who cannot be with you.
It’s also not about ending your life because you are a loser and everything has gone wrong. It’s about reformation.
The best scene is perhaps when Dev consoles Chanda like one does to his child.
I wonder if there will be any other Hindi movie like Dev D.
I don’t know if any other actor would fit in Dev D’s shoes as did Abhay Deol and Chanda … she seemed like a young girl next door caught in between the turbulence of life and womanhood too early.
Cheers to Dev D!
Hey,
ReplyDeleteThis was refreshing read!
Keep writing,bring it on!