Jodha Akbar – Ashutosh Gowarikar misses the point

So I finally saw this film today.
Where do I start?

The problem I have with filmmakers like Ashutosh Gowarikar, Madhur Bhandark and their films is that they take themselves and their films very seriously! While the likes of David Dhawan, Farah Khan and Priyadarshan (nowadays) very explicitly mention that they make no brainers and you should leave your brains behind, Mr Gowarikar is portrayed as the intellectual who makes a magnum opus every 3-4 years. So I am unable to approach a film like Jodha Akbar the same way I would approach a film like Wanted or De Dhana Dhan.
So when I sat down to watch Jodha Akbar, I was not expecting a children's film, but a sensible, reasonably mature film. What I got was a children's film, a bad one at that.

JA reminded me of all those cartoons and animated series I used to watch as a kid about emperors, warriors etc where everything is spelt out to you like a 5th grader, no room for any moral ambiguity, subjectivity etc. You have to like Akbar and Jodha from the beginning and you just have to hate all the other characters opposing them because they are opposing them, they must be evil.
Its indeed sad that even today filmmakers like Gowarikar cannot go beyond reducing supporting characters to mere caricatures.

The character of Maham Anga is a classic example. Such a powerful character in Mughal history reduced to being a jealous sasu ma taken straight out of Ekta Kapoor's manual "Saas-Bahu serials 101"
The characters of Sujamal, Sharifuddin, Maham Anga were all interesting characters who were reduced to mere caricature to suit Gowarikar's superstar Hrithik Roshan...poor guy was completely miscast as Akbar, and realizing that he probably did not even prepare hard enough for the role. The least he could have done was to work on his diction and urdu a little bit.

As a Muslim, I was also extremely upset to see the same old stereotypical Muslim barbaric rulers we have been fed since time immemorial. Apart from Akbar, every Muslim character is depicted as someone who is driven to blood lust the moment he sees a Hindu and if he is not chopping of his head, he is exploiting them in the name of tax and what not. Well done Mr Gowarikar, but if I was looking for that kind of material, I am better off reading Bal Thackeray and 18th century Orientalists!

The few redeeming points are Rehman's music, Aishwarya's beautiful and mature performance, the cinematography and majestic sets.
Overall, a major disappointment.

Inception – Teaser

This has got me all excited again. From director Christopher Nolan comes a science fiction film that deals with the mind which means it does not deal with fancy gadgets, costumes and robots. According to IMDB, film releases Summer 2010.

Have a look yourself.

An interview that disappointed me

A few days ago I read an interview of one of my favourite directors Steven Soderbergh (Traffic, Sex Lies and Videotape, Oceans 11) on Guardian.

I have been a huge fan of his ever since I watched the film Traffic, the drug war drama that won Soderbergh the best director Oscar in 2001. Since then, I went back and watched his earlier films like Sex, Lies and Videotape, The Limey and Erin Brockovich.

Soderbergh’s last work recently made the two part biopic on Che Guevara. Both the films were not as well received as it should have been. Initially, Soderbergh struggled to find financers for the films as he was not willing to make the film in English but in Spanish, for the sake of authenticity. This in turn led to the films only managing to find a limited release in US. The Academy awards completely ignored the films despite a stellar performance from Benicio Del Toro in the lead role.

Anyway, Soderbergh was about to direct a film titled Moneyball starring Brad Pitt, but rumour has it, that a last minute rewrite of the script by Soderbergh failed to impress the Sony Chief Amy Pascal. Soderbergh was unceremoniously ousted from the project a day before the filming was about to begin.

In this interview here, Soderbergh sounds very upset, kind of defeated and he even goes on to say that he doesn’t see a very long future for himself in the industry.

As an ardent fan of Soderbergh, it definitely upset me to see him so dejected and alienated. Hollywood would surely miss one of its most talented directors of the last decade if he leaves.

Ishqiya - trailer

It was 2 am at night. Have been meaning to go to sleep for over 2 hours now, but just could not complete that all important task that I excel in – procrastinating.

Anyway, as I was just randomly going to some of my regular sites, I came across THIS

Thanks to Anurag Kashyap on PFC for sharing this trailer with us.

It has left me absolutely speechless. I am not going to say much now, as I am still in awe.

Will talk about it later soon.

Enjoy it.

Love Aaj Kal - a sincere take on contemporary relationships

Cast: Saif Ali Khan, Deepika Padukone, Rishi Kapoor

Writer/Director: Imtiaz Ali

My favourite films are not necessarily the quintessential examples of technical brilliance and flawlessness. Instead, they are those that are able to strike a chord with my heart and mind, influence my thoughts, ideas, emotions etc. The promos of Love Aaj Kal interested me greatly and despite not being a fan of either Saif or Deepika’s acting, the one man for whom I was willing to build expectations was Imtiaz Ali, whose earlier two films I am greatly fond of.

Jai Vardhan Singh (Saif Ali Khan) meets Meera Pandit (Deepika Padukone) in London. They enjoy good times together, no strings attached. Then it’s time for Meera to go to India to pursue her career as a restoration artist and Jai to work towards his dream in San Franciso. They conclude that a long distance relationship via chats, emails, phones is hard to maintain and decide to party ways amicably. But then, they do exactly what they had thought would not be possible and practical – maintain contact through phone, internet etc. Meanwhile Jai makes friends with a local coffee shop owner Veer Singh (Rishi Kapoor) and in between Jai’s long and warbled monologues, Veer Singh manages to tell his love story – a story of stolen glances, cycle and rickshaw encounters, and rebellion against families – story of a time when professing love meant proposing marriage as it is popularly believed.

With a blockbuster like Jab We Met behind him, Imtiaz Ali was in a very tricky situation. We all expect another Jab We Met, we want Love Aaj Kal to be the next Indian cult romance after Jab We Met, we all want the same experience, not realizing that each film has its own experience and it not possible to recreate it with another film. A different film will have a different experience, maybe in fact a better experience, but we are not convinced, we want the exact same experience. So either way, it was difficult for Imtiaz Ali, there would be some people who would complain “Oh its not Jab We Met”. That’s right, its not Jab We Met , its not Socha Na Tha, nor does it attempt to be. Its about two individuals and that’s where the similarity ends. If you want to watch JWM or SNT, please buy the DVDs, don’t waste your time on LAK.

Having seen 3 films written by Imtiaz Ali, (the third one being Aahista Aahista), I knew exactly what to expect – witty and crispy screenplay, and Imtiaz does not disappoint one bit. The film is full of such breezy, entertaining and fun moments. In fact, one of the areas where the film scores so heavily is not going the typical way that Bollywood love stories usually do in certain moments

SPOILER WARNING

Jai and Meera’s first meeting

Jai and Meera’s breakup

Meera’s wedding (Deepika’s expression in that scene when Saif is talking is absolutely brilliant but more on that later)

Meera’s call to Jai the morning after the wedding, you think you know what will happen next, they realize they are in love, and she ends the marriage and they live happily ever after, and that’s where Imtiaz scores as a writer with a completely different turn. Kudos to him.

The climax scene

SPOILER WARNING OVER

As a director, Imtiaz innovates with a non linear narrative, something that I absolutely adore in films. It is clear that he has not yet perfected the art yet, as in some portions the switch to a different time looks a bit forced, but then the slick editing, pace and engrossing screenplay soon help you get over it.

The music by Pritam is absolutely magnificent and fits in with the narrative seamlessly. I have earlier spoken about my thoughts on the music here

The characters are very well detailed as that is clearly Imtiaz’s forte as a writer. One will easily relate with Jai and Meera and understand their confusion, loneliness, thoughts, experiences.

Saif Ali Khan plays a character tailor made for him and does so effortlessly. However he risks being typecast as this happy go lucky guy who doesn’t believe in love and marriages thanks to Hum Tum, Salaam Namaste and now Love Aaj Kal. He is however in top form as the younger Veer.

Deepika Padukone looks absolutely breathtakingly beautiful and hot at the same time. Everyone who knows me knows how I am fascinated by her beauty. However I have never been a fan of her acting. I thought she was terrible in Om Shanti Om, a little less terrible in Bachna Ae Haseeno. Meera by far is her best role and working with a far superior director this time, she impresses heavily with her facial expressions, body language and overall demeanour. Where she falters severely is her diction/dialogue deliver. It is perhaps due to inexperience that she hasn’t been able to quite control her voice to suit her performance. Imtiaz cleverly does not require many dialogues from her in important moments such as the wedding scene where Saif speaks and she just listens. Her silence helped that scene immensely.

Rishi Kapoor, after a long time has not managed to annoy me, and is a delight this time as Veer Singh.

Giselle Monteiro looks beautiful, a bit like Monica Bellucci in some portions and doer her role well.

Love Aaj Kal is a contemporary, realistic take on love today, and while it follows many Bollywood films in its genre, it is also different in its own way and manages to make an impact. We all know that Jai and Meera would end up together, yet the film manages to shock and surprise us and the director deserves tremendous praise for being able to do that.

The message is clear as Vasan Bala of Passion For Cinema writes, “whatever the era, whether it’s the shy glances of the bygone era or of the pick up guru’s of the dude era, when cupid strikes, time stands still”.

I hope a real and closer to life love story like this manages to influence other makers in Bollywood and the days of OTT, melodramatic and poorly executed love stories come to an end.

Test Cricket - the need for a cohesive and brave administrative body.

Ever since Twenty20 has made cricket, what was once known as a gentleman's game, said to cater only to a small audience into a mass oriented, entertaining sport, there has been constant debate and discourse about the future of Test and One Day International cricket.

Not surprisingly, cricketers, fans, analysts all over the world reacted in just the way people usually do when something new arrives. There were those who were vehemently opposed it, and then there were those who welcomed it instantly, while there were those who were somewhere in the middle, unsure, deciding instead to wait and see a bit of Twenty20 before they made their call. Two World Cups, IPL and ICL seasons later, many of who were initially in purgatory made their move towards Twenty20 cricket. The success of the recent World Cup brought cricket the much needed enthusiasm and excitement that was missing for a long time, but more importantly it brought in the moolah.

However, the original critics of Twenty20, who are usually the ones who fear the death of test cricket have not been deterred. This debate was recently once again brought to our attention by the MCC World Cricket Committee Meeting at Lords. The meeting ended with an alarming conclusion – Test Cricket is dying. This however is not new at all. Experts and former players have been talking about the decline in quality and as a result interest in test cricket for quite some time now. One of the main reasons which was cited was the growing gap between Australia and the rest of the world resulting in one sided matches. Another reason was the decline of once strong test sides like Pakistan and West Indies, and the sub standard performances of minnows Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. These are all cricketing issues that could be worked up. Australia is no longer unbeatable with Warne and McGrath gone, and the recent successes of India and South Africa against the World Champions have definitely improved the state of affairs. Pakistan and West Indies have a lot of internal issues which are behind the decline in their standard of cricket which one hopes is a temporary affair and will be resolved soon. Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, unfortunately have not shown any signs of improvement, and in the opinion of many experts, do not deserve to play at the highest level. This may be true.

However, the meeting concluded that the most dangerous threat posed to test cricket comes not from cricketing issues but the roaring success of Twenty20 leagues such as the IPL, Twenty20 World Cups, and the individual financial benefit for cricketers, which might result in pre mature retirements. Recently, the cricketing world got a shock when West Indies captain Chris Gayle unapologetically stated that Twenty20 is more enjoyable and Test cricket and is the future.

In order to revitalise the game of Test Cricket, a World Test Championship was proposed. This is not the first time this idea was put forward, for back in 1999, Jagmohan Dalmiya, then the President of ICC, worked hard to introduce such a Championship to no avail. He was however, successful in having the first Asian Test Championship, which has been played twice so far but has not been the success it was expected to be. The World Test Championship, according to many, including Rahul Dravid and Steve Waugh, would be successful and incorporate the much needed competitiveness and “something to play for”.

From now onward, whether test cricket will die or not depends not on the popularity of Twenty20 cricket but on the way the administrative bodies, mainly ICC treat test cricket and work on its future.

Let us face some facts. Test Cricket has never been a major crowd puller outside of England, Australia and to a certain extent South Africa. Despite the constant talk of cricket being a religion in the Indian subcontinent, it has always been the shorter version of the game, the ODIs which were the major draw. Therefore, it would be immature to expect test cricket to attract crowds now suddenly, especially with the advent of IPL in India.

On the other hand, ICC along with the respective bodies of Pakistan and Bangladesh need to seriously look into their first class cricket and ways to improve the state. Pakistan’s descent over the last few years has been most striking. The state and quality of the pitches, the standard of the first class league and the quality of the batsmen Pakistan have been producing over the last 2-3 years have all been diminishing. Test cricket there is no longer a contest between bat and ball but a contest between the stamina of the two batting sides – who can bat longer. It is no wonder then that Pakistan have failed to win a test match in Australia for over a decade now, and have lost test series in England and South Africa.

If we can look back at test cricket’s golden age in the 70s and 80s, we learn that quality and standard of test cricket had very little to do with number of test playing nations.

I do not think that the popularity of Twenty20 will translate in more test playing nations nor is it desirable. Twenty20 is necessary to keep cricket alive, but should not be used to increase the number of test playing nations. World Test Championship will hardly make any difference if the gap between an Australia and a Bangladesh remains this wide. Schemes such as a championship will only prove to be successful if the main administrative body recognizes that all it needs to do is to lessen the gap in the quality of first class cricket between nations. Within a few years we will see much more evenly balanced contests, not only between nations but also between bat and ball and test cricket will once again be a true test of mettle and a World Test Championship will truly be something to look forward to.

Manga Jo Mera Hai, Jaata Kya Tera Hai, Maine Kaun Si, Tujhse Jannat Manga Li.

My introduction to the Love Aaj Kal songs was through the Chor Bazaari song promo. Loved the promo and the song. So when the album came out, the first song I listened to was Chor Bazaari. Then tried Twist..wasnt too bad. So far so good.
I knew the album had two songs by my two most favourite singers – Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and Mohit Chauhan.

So I listened to all the songs except Ajj Din Chadeya, saving Rahat Fateh Ali Khan for the last. Chor Bazaari, Twist and Yeh Dooriyan stayed with me. The rest were ok. Didnt really warm up to Thoda Thoda Pyar.

And then I listened to Ajj Din Chadeya..

Its as if Pritam and Irshad Kamil sat down and decided to compose a song for Faraaz Rahman. So they had to get his favourite singer.

Ajj Din Chadheya, Tere Rang Warga.
Ajj Din Chadheya, Tere Rang Warga.
Phool Sa Hai Khila Aaj Din, Rabba Mere Din Yeh Na Dhale.
Woh Jo Mujhe Khawab Mein Mile, Use Tu Lagede Abb Gale.
Tennu Dil Daa Vaasta
Rabba Aaya Dar Pe Yaar Ke, Saara Jahan Chod Chad Ke.

Mere Sapne Sawar de, Tennu Dil Daa Vaasta.
Ajj Din Chadheya, Tere Rang Warga.
Bakhsha Gunaahon Ko, Sun Ke Duwao Ko.
Rabba Pyaar Hai, Tune Saab Ko Hi De Diya
Meri Bhi Aahon Ko, Sun Le Duwao Ko
Mujhko Woh Dila Maine Jisko Hai Dil Diya.
Hoooo

Bakhsha Gunaahon Ko, Sun Ke Duwao Ko.
Rabba Pyaar Hai, Tune Saab Ko Hi De Diya
Meri Bhi Aahon Ko, Sun Le Duwao Ko
Mujhko Woh Dila Maine Jisko Hai Dil Diya.
Aasmaan Pe Aasmaan Usko De Itna Pata
Woh Jo Mujhko Dekh Ke Hase, Pana Chahun Raat Din Jise
Rabba Mere Naam Kar Usse, Tennu Dil Da Vaasta.
Ajj Din Chadheya, Tere Rang Warga.

Manga Jo Mera Hai, Jaata Kya Tera Hai.
Maine Kaun Si, Tujhse Jannat Manga Li.
Kaisa Khuda Hai Tu, Bas Naam Ka Hai Tu,
Rabba Jo Teri Itni Si Bhi Naa Chali
Haaanaaa
Manga Jo Mera Hai, Jaata Kya Tera Hai.
Maine Kaun Si, Tujhse Jannat Manga Li.
Kaisa Khuda Hai Tu, Bas Naam Ka Hai Tu,
Rabba Jo Teri Itni Si Bhi Naa Chali

Chahiye Jo Mujhe, Kar De Tu Mujhko Aata.
Jeeti Rahi Sultanat Teri, Jeeti Rahe aashiqui Meri.
Dede Mujhe Zindagi Meri, Tennu Dil Da Vaasta.
Rabba Mere Din Yeh Na Dhale, Woh Jo Mujhe Khawab Mein Mile.
Use Tu Lagede Abb Gale, Tennu Dil Da Vaasta.
Rabba Aaya Dar Pe Yaar Ke, Saara Jahan Chod Chad Ke.
Mere Sapne Sawar de, Tennu Dil Daa Vaasta.

Ajj Din Chadheya, Tere Rang Warga.
Ajj Din Chadheya, Tere Rang Warga.
Ajj Din Chadheya, Tere Rang Warga.
Din Chadheya,
Tere Rang Warga.
Ajj Din Chadheya.

I have liked quite a few albums this year, – Luck by Chance, Raaz, Gulaal, DevD, Delhi 6 were my favourites. 8 By 10 Tasveer wasnt too bad. Even last year I had many favourite songs. But it has been a while that a song has personally connected with me at this level. Each and every line speaks my heart in Rahat’s divine voice.

I share an organic relationship with God and Irshad Kamil’s soulful and poignant lyrics encapsulate my present equation with God.

The protagonist does not shy away from expressing his anguish and disappointment with God at times as these lines so beautifully capture

Manga Jo Mera Hai, Jaata Kya Tera Hai.
Maine Kaun Si, Tujhse Jannat Manga Li.
Kaisa Khuda Hai Tu, Bas Naam Ka Hai Tu,
Rabba Jo Teri Itni Si Bhi Naa Chali

I don’t know how this song will be picturised in the film. Usually, when I connect with a song at this level, I end up a tad disappointed with the picturisation. This has more to do with my own interpretation and visualisation of the song. There is a possibility that Ajj Din Chadeya will be no different. But it does not matter.

I have been listening to the song all evening. Then I went to sleep but couldn’t sleep. There was a voice in my mind telling me that I need to listen to the song a couple of times more. So here I am, listening to Rahat’s divine voice carry my thoughts and plea to God.

PS: I am not always in such a romantic, sappy and sympathy seeking mood. This is an exception :)

99 - Review

99 - the experience

I met a very close friend after a long time. I stayed over at his place..and we decided to watch Angels and Demons..15 minutes into the film, we looked at each other and said "we cannot waste our reunion after 1 year with this poor excuse for a film"
Luckily we had another DVD - 99.

15 minutes into the film, again we looked at each other, this time the look was – read the review and find out

99 is about two crooks – Kunal Khemu and Cyrus Broacha who make their buck duplicating mobile phone SIM cards. Soon they are on the run from the police and in the process manage to damage a Mercedes belonging to a local don (Mahesh Manjrekar).

Indebted to this don, they are forced to work for him, and are sent to Delhi to collect money from one of Manjrekar’s debtors. Unfortunately, this man happens to be Boman Irani who has such an awful habit of losing money while gambling that his wife has left him for that reason. Soon, Boman Irani, Kunal Khemu and Cyrus Broacha are on the run from all sorts of people who owe them money.

Sounds like a typical Guy Rithchie film eh? You’re spot on. Two stupid wannabe crooks, a few dangerous criminals/gangsters, lot of money involved, and you have a wild ride.

99, with its tongue in cheek humour, interesting and hilarious situations is an entertaining experience indeed. But what sets it apart, and takes it above ordinary comedies with similar themes is its various subplots, its connection with the Hansie Cronje cricket match fixing scandal, and the fact that it is so beautifully able to take you back to the year 1999-2000. T

Having grown up in the subcontinent, I loved each and every bit that 99 captures about Delhi in 1999.

The coming of those new Nokia phones without antennas, mobile phones with bad signals, having to go outside the house to talk properly, those snake games on those Nokia phones. To their credit, the directors are also able to take Delhi back to 99 when it came to outdoor locations.

99 is a true homage to Guy Ritchie’s capers classics of the 90s, because it is an original film. It is able to take little things from Delhi and Mumbai and incorporate that with Guy Ritchie’s style and the result is one refreshing film.

Performances from Kunal Khemu, Mahesh Manjrekar and Boman Irani were first rate. Cyrus Broacha was horribly under used. Soha looked stiff and uncomfortable. Simone Singh on the other hand was a surprise. Amit Mistry was a revelation.

Its been a while since I felt this good watching an Indian film. The last time was a few months back – Dev D. 99 is the kind of film that gives me a feeling of satisfaction and fulfilment.

Getting back to that look we shared 15 minutes into the film, the look was “ wow we just got lucky, this film is bloody brilliant”.