Two flicks and a festival

I've had several complaints about my previous post and I don't blame readers for it at all, as it was mainly for my own pleasure that I wrote it, hence making it longer and more descriptive than a normal post's requirement. Nonetheless, I hope to make up for it with two fresh (and non-over descriptive) movie reviews, clubbed under one heading.

This post is coming quite late, considering the events discussed in it took place four days ago. This is because I was feeling uncharacteristically lazy during this period. I say 'uncharacteristically', not because I'm never lazy (which incidentally, I always am), but because I'm never so lazy that I'm not even inclined towards sitting at the computer.

Now I personally am a Bhansali fan, and ever since 'Black' came out, I've been confident nothing can beat it (in terms of reviews and awards), since it is a film not just me, but practically the whole of the educated Indian population was stunned to speechlessness with. I hate to even call it a film. It is a work of art. The only thing I was a little worried about was 'Mangal Pandey - The Rising' , which could spoil Black's chances (and which is the reason I was secretly willing it to be a horrible film). So, on the 18th, we decided to go see for ourselves, if Aamir Khan's latest is as good as the intense publicity makes it seem.
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Mangal Pandey - The Rising

My Rating :

Mangal Pandey is really a good film. It presents the period in Indian history (though with quite a bit of bending of history itself) when the Indian people began to feel the strain of having a foreign Raj on themselves. The story has been beautifully crafted, showing glimpses of the many factors that led to the infamous Revolt of 1857. Mangal Pandey (Aamir Khan), a valiant soldier of the British Army in India befriends his Captain, William Gordon (Toby Stephens), who supports the justified pleas of the Indians, but in the process of following orders, unknowingly misleads them into believing fallacies. The Britishers, masquerading as The East India Company have the entire country under their belt. But the pride derived from their slick capture of the most sought after land in the world renders them blind to the impending mutiny. The profanity of the Enfield Rifle cartridges greased with animal fat, the discontent of the rulers, and the interference of laws with customs have all been blended into the storyline instead of the way these facts are usually dealt with, i.e, squeezing them in somehow. There are also several powerful scenes that left me momentarily breathless, such as the sudden, loud beginning, the awe-inspiring sight of the approaching ships bearing the regiment from Rangoon, and the vehement appeal Gordon makes in court warning the jury that the hanging of Mangal Pandey will only light a fire that will eventually drive the mighty Empire from the shores on India. Plus, at very few points does the movie seem like a documentary, which I think is an achievement in itself for a period film.

So, if the film is so impressive, one may wonder why I did not give it a higher rating? All the prejudices that I had harboured against the film disappeared five minutes into it. But several tiny details marred the experience of the movie. One was the freshness and newness of the sets and costumes. The rustic look expected in Pandey's village, the slightly dilapitated effect required in the brothel ruled by the crude Lol Bibi (Kirron Kher) where Heera (Rani Mukerjee) entertains the British soldiers, or even the 'old and uncared for' look needed in the Indian soldiers' and villagers' clothes, have not been delivered. This makes the film seem like a play, rather than a cinematic depiction of reality. Also, the scenes have fluidity very rarely, mostly cutting between one shot and the other as if they've been joined inexpertly and hurriedly together in the editing room.

A word about the acting. Aamir Khan is an ideal Mangal Pandey. His performance, as always, is superb, though I still feel he outdid himself with Lagaan. Toby Stephens, a very likeable Gordon, too delivers a fantastic performance, which is worth applaud considering his role in Lagaan was so different and in which too he was fitting. Amisha Patel and Rani Mukerjee play rather forgettable roles, but add flavour to an otherwise male dominated film. The background commentary has been done by a rather harsh voiced Om Puri. I still believe Amitabh Bachchan would've been a better choice, even if the use of his voice had brought about a similarity to Lagaan. His all-powerful voice, coupled with his ability to pause and emote at just the right moments would have made the commentary much clearer, rather that making it seem like a fly buzzing around a rather delicious dish.

Overall, I think 'The Rising' is definitely worth a watch atleast once. After that, it really depends from person to person how much they care about the movie's shortcomings.

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On the 19th was Rakhi. The day began early, and I went to Punjabi Bagh where I was tied a rakhi by my classmate and 'lil sis' as I call her, Amrita. It was great seeing her after so many months. In the evening, my cousins, and best friends, Namita and Naina came over to tie us Rakhis, and as a Going-Away and advance Birthday present, they gave me the Illustrated Edition of Angels and Demons by Dan Brown! I was thrilled, since this book of his ranks among my favourite ones. As soon as they left aound 10:30 pm, we made an impromtu plan to go see 'My Wife's Murder' at Gurgaon.
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My Wife's Murder

My Rating:

My Wife's Murder. The title itself is intriguing enough to draw people. Perhaps that, and the trailer, are the only reasons people are going to see it, as we did. The film is quite unconventional. The situation it deals with is very much possible in real life, and makes you wonder, 'What if this happened with me? What would I do?'. The story is simple and straight-forward, but has been made in a way, that it doesn't bore you even once, though it's not so riveting, that it'll keep your buttocks glued to the seat, and your eyes to the screen throughout. The reason I'm being so vague is that it's a short film, and a lot happens in every scene to carry the story ahead. All I can say about the story, so as to not spoil it for others, is that it's about a sound editor (Anil Kapoor), who's interaction with his wife Sheila (Suchitra Krishnamoorthy) involves mainly one-sided screaming, i.e, from her end. She unnecessarily suspects him of having an affair with his attractive assistant, Reena (Nandana Sen). The only reason he is bearing it, and not divorcing her, is because he is the father of two small, schoolgoing kids.

Performances by Anil Kapoor and Boman Irani are notable. Both acted flawlessly, and suited their roles perfectly. Suchitra has a small role (obviously, since she's the wife in My Wife's Murder), but essays it well, especially while playing dead :) . Nandana Sen was good only in some scenes. In other's she was grossly unremarkable.

End remark: Just average.
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Do give your comments on how you found the reviews, and what your take on these films is.

Holy Matrimony, the Southie way

Many may not know this, but my mom is from the south of India, which makes me half an Andhrite. This fact is of considerable significance at this point because the last wedding in our family of her generation took place in the week that was (making the next in line...me!). My uncle (i.e, my mother's first cousin, Chandrasekhar, affectionately called Chandru/Chandu) was married to Kamakshi in a typical South Indian fashion. And the four day long celebrations saw me participating full-fledgedly, to the best of my capacity and requirement. Relatives and friends came in from several parts of the world (including Chandru uncle himself, who is currently placed in Detroit, USA). Other 'international' invitees included my mom's cousin Lata from Australia, her maasi Subanna Pinni from Kentucky, and from San Diego, California, Chandru uncle's older brother Durga (affectionately and most commonly called Bujji) along with his wife Anu and his daughter, the cutest little baby ever, Anika. I simply have to write an additional note about her. We saw her for the first time when we went to San Diego two and a half years ago. Remarkably, the most adorable nine-month old toddler she was. Now she's almost three, and still is so unbelievably cute (and intelligent for her age), that you just don't want to stray your eyes away from her for even a second. A pic's right here, so you can see what I mean for yourself!

South Indian weddings are very different from the usual Punjabi ones seen around Delhi, the most marked distinctions being the long duration (four days), the timings (all functions take place early in the mornings) and the style itself, which is thoroughly traditional. Though the whole ocassion would have been loads more fun if the weather had been more ambient. We were completely washed out by the end of each day, as Delhi faced a horribly hot and humid spell in the past week.

The first ceremony called 'Upanayanam' took place at 5 am on the 12th at the Sarita Vihar Community Center. We reached late, but luckily managed to catch its final moments. This ceremony involves tying a white cotton thread (called 'Jandhayam') across the groom's chest, signifying his recognition as a Brahmin. This usually can be done anytime after the age of 12 or 13, but many prefer to do it just before marriage. Later that day, I got my iPod Speaker Station (along with several other surprise gifts) from Chandru uncle, and from Bujji uncle, the desperately awaited American Edition of the latest Harry Potter book. We stayed on till mid-afternoon.

The next function, 'Snathakam', took place the following day (again in the morning), in which two more layers of thread were added, signifying that the groom is ready to be married and start a family. In the evening of the same day, was a function called 'Yaduru Sannaham', which is a ceremony in which the bride's family formally invites the groom's family. This was the most fun part in the entire wedding 'proceedure'. The bride's family and the groom's family (i.e, my own) stood opposite each other separated by about 3 metres. Then, the bride and groom slowly inched towards each other (and I mean literally inched), with fervent instructions from everyone around on the exact distance to step forward, so as to not make it seem as though one was desperate for the other ;) When they finally reached face to face, garlands were exchanged. Unlike Punjabi marriages, the garlands in a South Indian wedding do not signify the actual wedding, and are actually exchanged one day prior to it. Bujji uncle and I picked Chandru uncle off the floor and made the garland exchange all the more dramatic and loads of fun.

The next morning, that is, on the 14th, was the marriage itself. The mohurat is followed very strictly. Chandru uncle was made to sit in front of a printed curtain, and Kamakshi was brought in seated in a large basket. At exactly 7:08 am, the two of them pressed pieces of gur (natural sugar) on each other's heads. This was the main part of the ceremony and it lasted for an entire minute, during which live music blares defeaningly from the sidelines. The mangalsutra was put on the bride's neck an hour later. Many other things happened afterwards, but I went upstairs and didn't see the rest. After lunch, we headed back home and dozed for two hours, since we had only slept for three hours the previous night. In the evening, the Reception took place. This function was jarred by unfortunate incidents, including the groom becoming ill, and Kamakshi's younger sister meeting with an accident (some crazy freak as a prank threw a brick through the car window, which landed on her head). Other incidents such as Lata aunty and Subanna Pinni getting upset stomachs made the ocassion rather eventful (I'll say!).

The next day (the 15th) was the Sathyanarayan Puja, when according to me, the groom lost his independence for life, ironically on Independence Day! :) I didn't go for that though.

Overall, the experience of viewing and participating in a real Southie wedding was exhilarating, and not to forget, enlightening.

Shaadi, Bya aur Nausea...My Movie Review of : '7 ½ Phere'

My Rating:

Today, Abeer, a school-mate of mine, and I decided to meet up, since he too is in the same boat as me, that is, the one still waiting to depart towards college, determined to kill its passengers of boredom before that. He is going to RV College, Bangalore, which too begins at the end of the month. First he came to my house for an hour or two, after which we set off for Saket. We ate at Subway, that is, after buying tickets for the 3:30 show of '7 ½ Phere'. Post lunch, we roamed a bit and then stepped into PVR to watch what we assumed to be atleast a watchable flick. BOY were we wrong!

'7 ½ Phere' is easily one of the most horrible films I've ever seen (in it's immediate aftermath, topping the list of them), starring Juhi Chawla and Irrfan Khan and a number of extras who are ready to do just about anything to get a shot of themselves on the big screen. The story is about an aspiring director (Juhi) who wants to start her career with something fresh and unheard of. So she decides upon a Reality Show in which, the daily goings-on of a 'normal' Indian family are recorded in secret while preparations for a family wedding are going on in the household. And how does she manage this? With the help, of course, of the Juhi-smitten Irrfan, a family member. Now I know most of you would say, 'that doesn't sound so bad...'. But this movie proves how much direction and script contribute to the end result.

The film surpasses the limits of on-screen perversity. Practically every member of the bungled family is a sex-obsessed pig (including some of the women). The nauseating characters include a son who fools around regularly with the maid, supposedly behind the back of his wife, and an old man who can't keep his hands off his even older wife, telling her to dress up in different sets of sexy lingerie every night (Oh, did I mention? The family business is production of sexy lingerie!). You'd think Juhi Chawla would've been a breath of fresh air in the otherwise stifling movie, but if you did so, you'd be sadly mistaken. I like Juhi as much as the next guy, but not when she keeps pulling down the zip of her dress further and further down, just to convince a thoroughly swollen-eyed and sleepy looking Irrfan to do her a favour and help her in her directorial venture. And the icing on the cake is, that the title of the movie holds absolutely no significance.

In a word, the movie is nothing short of vulgar. And the only reason perhaps that I'm giving it even a 1 star rating, is that the art director managed to create a poster nice enough to pull the crowds to view an otherwise sickening film.

On boredom and the Prince

My daily routine nowadays is completely haywire, thanks to the unpreceedented amount of free time I have at my disposal, which I'm getting quite sick of. There's still time before I leave for Dubai and start with the daily grind once again. Till then, I'm free, free...AND BORED! I mean, there's a limit to the amount a guy can read, or watch reruns of 'Friends'/'Joey' or even sleep. I have tons of books to read, hundreds of DVDs to watch, but I just don't feel like doing any of those things. I know most people would at this point just dismiss me a crazy loon, but BULL. You have to be in my place to know how I'm feeling.

Anyway, yesterday was a day that finally brought a long awaited intermission to the incessant boredom. It started off with me getting up at 12 pm (yes, I sleep at 3:30 am and get up correspondingly late. It's just an example of my messed up, unusual schedule). Till 2 pm, I watched a couple more 'Friends' episodes, and then left for my cousin Namita's birthday at Yo China, G.K. After generally eating and catching up with some of her friends, I had to leave around 4:30, since my mom needed the car. Rain was lashing out it's fury in that part of Delhi, and the water level on the streets was equal to the height of the pavement! It took me atleast an hour to get out of there (it's funny how rain always causes traffic jams...). Upon reaching home around 6:00, I had to once again leave for the farewell and birthday party of a close school friend, Abhishek at Delhi O Delhi, India Habitat Center. He's going off to America to pursue Economics at Clarks. I didn't know it was also his birthday apart from the farewell, so I turned up with nothing but a wide smile, which didn't take long to convert into an embarassed grin when I did come to know it was his birthday :) About eight people had been invited, all from my school. I got back home around 11:15 pm, thoroughly exhausted, but contented over the fact that the day had passed with minimal boredom.

Coming to the other things I've been up to. I have been hooked onto a certain Playstation 2 game called 'Prince of Persia: Warrior Within'. It is the sequel to the Best Game of the Year award winning 'Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time'. I finished Sands of Time a year back, and just a week ago, also finished Warrior Within. And though there have been several complaints about WW's overhaul from the previous installment, I personally feel it's the best Action/Adventure game to hit the stores till date, with an absolutely stunning graphics engine. Sure, it deviates from the fairy-tale, storybook atmosphere (that consisted of pastel blues, greens and yellows) of Sands of Time to go into a more mature, dark and dreary world which is made up primarily of reds, browns and black. But the story demands such a huge change, which by the way is gripping right till the last boss fight. I took a total of 20-25 hours (not continuous obviously) to complete the game, and enjoyed every bit of it. The game has been made with artistic perfection and is more cinematic that the best movies belonging to the genre. For those of you who don't have the PS2, the game has also been released on the PC, XBox and GameCube. Include a unique and fitting Persian-Rock background soundtrack, and character voice overs by celebrities such as Monica Belluci, and you have a fantastic and better-than-the original sequel to an already great game. I wholly recommend it, though not to those who get freaked by seeing animated blood 'cause there's a lot of that in it.
The Sands trilogy still has one more installment in the pipeline, titled 'Prince of Persia: Kindred Blades', which will complete the thrilling story of the Prince who messed with time. It is expected to be released in November this year. Also, movie adaptations of the games are in talks.

To learn more about Prince of Persia: Warrior Within Click Here

New feature on my blog

Now, I've come up with yet another clever ruse to make people visit my blog...by adding a system to rate each of my posts (though due credit needs to be given to Nikhil for planting this idea in my head). After hours of painstakingly trawling the internet, I finally managed to find a satisfactory way to put this rating system on my blog (Earlier, it was reflecting the same rating on every post).

All you have to do, is scroll down to the end of the post you want to rate and click on the star you want to give to my post. In the pop-up window that appears, put the following information in the usename and password fields:

Username: tjblog
Password: ratepost

And that's it! Your vote is recorded and accordingly reflected on the blog.

So, every time you read a post, be sure to rate it too (don't hesitate to even give it a one star if you absolutely hate it). And of course, the tradition of leaving comments must continue as smoothly as ever too!