Book Review – Animal Farm

Yes there are a lot of analogies, lot of intellectually hidden meanings, lots of motifs and lots of everything. But Animal Farm works on an emotional level even if you don’t get anything. I’m really good at not getting anything because I hate to do research on a book, I don’t find it convincing enough to like a book based on my research of the book. Animal Farm swept me off my feet like how The Dreamers did when I first watched it. Even though I didn’t get a thing about its history, significance etc. it still got me hooked when I watched it for the first time.

If the seven commandments were hilarious at first, think twice, because it’d get more and more hilarious as the book progresses. When I’m typing this, it’s making me think. I found those commandments to be hilarious, but ain’t I supposed to be sad for it, it’s a direct dig at ourselves, how we tend to accept everything which is being said, how we are okay with whatever which is being preached, after a point of time we don’t even know what’s right and what’s wrong. If you want it more evolved and more human, I mean more humans, not being human, read Volga to Ganga. There was astounding similarity between these two. Anyways Animal Farm is a book which could get as human as possible without a lot of humans.

I don’t know how someone can write a book which is as profound as this in 100 pages. During one of our movie discussions one of the guys said that he had seen a lengthy short film which runs for 10 minutes and a short feature film which runs for three hours. May be that’s the impact. Many small books are profound, The Guide, Train to Pakistan, The Cat and the Shakespeare etc. even though I didn’t understand the last one, I could find it to be deeply profound. In fact all of George Orwell’s books seems to be small. It also depends on the author’s style. Like how Dostoyevsky could never write a small book, but that wouldn’t make him an author who makes it lengthy to be profound. Only epics are supposed to be lengthy and to an extent fantasy, because they are the ones which need a lot of built up and background. If pulp fictions like The Girl with Dragon Tattoo gets to be lengthy, it becomes plain boring after a certain point of time. Where the only purpose seems to be to write the next book. Duh! Enough said!

As soon as I started reading I got a notion that it’d be a great satirical animation film. Even a puppet style animation film would been awesome. Sadly an animated film which was made wasn’t made well I guess. It should have been an epic movie.

Animal Farm, more than anything else gave me the kick. In the past two months this is one review I’m happily writing. It could be due to various reasons but every now and then you need an inspiration to do better. Animal Farm for me was an inspiration and I’m glad for it.

Movie Review – Neelakasham Pachakadal Chuvanna Bhoomi

Confusion, for the sake of better word is good. But how pointless the confusion is, is the question. Here the confusion was to the point. The director’s way of conveying the confusion was confusing. Neelakasham Pachakadal Chuvanna Bhoomi should have been a lot better. Such a brilliant title, it’d have been a great movie for soul searching, rather than heroine searching. Every part where a women appears in the film was a disappointment. It was all plasticky. A hot girl, an innocent girl, a naïve girl etc. Romance was lingering with confusion.

The first half in itself was purposefully purposeless, meeting dacoits, party, communist people. It’s like a story which any armchair traveler would dream about. I won’t talk about the costumes, fresh face and tired less body of the travelers. It is something which I think would take a lot of time to comprehend. Even Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani was similar but it had Ranbir, who always steals the show. Dulquar for some reason always plays coming of age movies. It’s the same here too, he disappoints again here.

But it was an amazing feeling to have travelled most of the places shown in the movie except North East and Kolkata. It’s again there in my next year’s agenda. That was it was special. The travel, bikes, fun etc. it went well.

The first half lingered too much on showing various drastically different aspects of travelling. If you are a bachelor traveler and your parents are watching it or if you are a married person and your dependents are watching it, they are bound to be scared. This travel stigma has caught big time in films now. It was like showing stenographers with low cut blouse and tight fight jeans, it was like showing court as the most entertaining place in world. Travel has been added to the list now. It has become a fashion.

The shortcomings in the first half suddenly takes an awesome u turn in the second half. Remember the U turn which Dulquar takes to repair his bike. That was the terrific part, the confusion was at the peak at that time, the lorry chase, the old man’s story and add to it the flashback. All of a sudden the old man’s part made me emotional. I’m still trying to guess why.

Director Ram in one of his interviews said, “You people go to worship in Kasi, go for Girivalam. Do you know who the people who are sitting there? They are not saints. They are most probably rapists, murderers etc. People who have done hideous crimes.” I mean, does our system really have space to accept people who want to live peacefully, who have accepted their mistake. I don’t know. But that old man reminded me of them. My eyes got swelled up.

The part where Kasi takes Assi to his house and the confusion in his house too was superbly dealt. The heroine was a big disaster, who wasn’t able to emote. Otherwise those 20 minutes were superbly made.

The purpose for which he takes travel was very childish. Very literal. His friend’s purpose was awesome. Initially even though I hated him to be the funny guy. I started liking him post second half. The climax too was a huge disappointment. A lot better ending could have been made. Music too could have been a lot better. The usage of songs to run the movie from one place to another has become so monotonous now. When would a movie like ‘Into to the Wild’ gonna come and when would a scene like the protagonist burning money gonna affect us. I’m waiting!

Movie Review – Mumbai Police

I never knew that watching the movie in spite of knowing the climax would still be as awesome as I could think of. May be it’d have been even better if I had not known the climax but Mumbai Police was one brilliant tale. I should have ideally watched the movie before Premam. Any amount of heroism looks miniscule after watching Premam. Otherwise the scene where Antony (Prithviraj) enters the police station to protect Aaryan (Jayasurya), the lights turning off after the navy people come, would have been epic.

Being a Prithviraj fan, I was initially skeptical about his performance as a rude Antony. It felt artificial. But when he becomes Antony no. 2 and then we see the Antony No. 1, I was spellbound. What an actor this guy is.

In spite of having a great storyline this movie could have been lot more stylish, except for the one scene where goons try to kill him and he comes out of the flat after negotiating their advances, the flats lights go on one by one. That scene was the only stand out scene. Otherwise the Bourne style action choreography and the police station fight scene could all have been made in a lot better way.

But I loved the story telling, he initially lets out the answer and the rest of the film happens after his amnesia. And in a most crucial juncture where Farhan (Rahman) asks for the report in 18 days, next shot directly goes to the final day and then goes for a flashback. It takes a lot of guts to have made the narration in that way.

It’s very good to see Prithviraj in such a role in main stream movie. But I wasn’t sure about the climax, it looked like an anticlimax about the issue. But the story and the twist made everything up. If there is one more scene which lacked clarity, it’s the scene where the old police officer takes an oath and explains about the how his daughter hates to call his dad a normal police officer. Though that scene was given as a scene for goose bumps and even though it achieved it, it’s still not clear why so much screen space was given to that scene. But in the end, the camera traces the outline of the officer who stands in shadows and Prithviraj in the background. That was lovely.

Also I should give it to the makeup department was so casually handling two phases of Prithviraj, the right red eye was highlight. Like the above mentioned 18 days scene, even the initial cut of the film was made in a way where Prithviraj No. 2 appears immediately after Prithviraj No. 1. Nice style that.

The director Rosshan Andrews seems to be a promising talent, his writer Bobby-Sanjay also seems to be aiding him well. There is a rumor that he’d be directing Kamal Hassan next. That would be one exciting film. Let’s see how it works.

Book Review – The Brothers Karamzov

After a struggle of 4 months, 3 weeks and 2 days I finally completed The Brothers Karamzov, more than being happy, I felt as if a load was of my back.  It’s always a problem with reading huge heavy books, book like Lord of the Rings is fine, its huge but has a lot of events and goes on interesting but with The Brothers Karamzov, to keep the concentration intact is very tough. For me Crime and Punishment was a failure, I found it too tough to handle from the first. I’ve to reread to understand it but don’t think it’s going to happen any soon or going to happen at all. But with The Brothers Karamzov I at least started on a positive note, the first 100, 150 pages was terrific, till father Zossima dies it swept me of my feet. It did continue its charm afterwards but I couldn’t concentrate.

Why the book is famous, I don’t know but the things I found to be different were the narration style and characters confusion. Narration was special. Dostoyevsky talks to us directly, like our next door neighbor, we don’t find him profound but we find the characters to be profound, that’s one hell of a writing. Also he tells the story in a way how a person like us would have told to another person, like omitting few details, repeating the same story etc. That was special.

I’m not sure why an epic movie wasn’t made out of this book which defines character so precisely. May be that’s why an epic movie wasn’t made. Because confusions of the characters would have been so tough to project on screen.

The best part of the book for me would be the talk which Father Zossima makes in his death bed. Only after completing my novel I got to know Dostoyevsky’s deep interest in religion. Because when I read about Christianity in classics, I always get confused whether they are supporting it or against it.

Movie Review – A Separation

A Separation, one of the widely acclaimed film of the current era and rightly so. Though it didn’t hit me as hard as Children of Heaven, it still had a terrific impact on me. How brilliantly was it written! In fact all Iranian films, the critically acclaimed ones that is, could be taken for study for its writing. Balu Mahendra reportedly seemed to have watched the film and said that it spoilt his day and he had to change most of the shots for his movie, Thalaimuraigal, which he was currently shooting at that time. That’s how impressed the ace director was.

Not only, A Separation, but take any Iranian film for that matter, actors would be terrific. You hardly know whether they are acting or not. It would be as if a camera had been fixed in a hidden location in a household and they are doing their daily chores. It was similar here too.

When the film opens you see a couple waiting to get divorce. You’d be inclined more towards the man, you think he fits in the protagonist part. But as the film progress your opinion would change. The confrontations between the couple would sometime be so abysmal, you’d think whether it really is worth fighting for.

Of all the people, their daughter is the one whom I pitied the most. Especially during the climax when she cries over her decision. It was heartbreaking.

Apart from the characters being singularly working so perfectly, even the combination scenes were such a bliss. Initially it’s the lead characters and their quarrel, then it’s the husband and the maid, how their relationship unfolds into a fight, then the way the wife makes maid do the work, how she would be more understanding, the husband and maid’s husband’s quarrel. It’s all so brilliantly done. The only two people who remain who they are, are their children. But what’s horrible is they are the ones who suffer the most. In spite of a high tension drama in the climax, they would be happily playing in their backyard. When they look at each other, their eyes moist, it would melt any heart.

Book Review – One Life to Ride

I don’t know how good an idea it is to read a travel book about a certain place that you want to go. But the book that I had assigned for a week’s read, I completed in a day. A nicely written book by Ajit Harisinghani. It isn’t something which is out of the world or isn’t something as extraordinary like Into the Wild but it’s an honest tale by a humble old person. May be I didn’t find it as extraordinary as it should because I knew the roads or it is part of the plan. People who always wanted to do but never were able to do would have loved this book even more I guess.

Reading a book about a place before going on a trip has its merits and demerits. Merits are those, if you are a planner, you know the roads by heart as you’d have already researched on it. You can take a note of what to expect, where to go from one man’s point of view. But demerits are that, what would have been an experience could just end up being plain prose for you. But everyone has their own way of taking a journey and everyone would experience it in their own way.

If it had been read post the trip, the experiences would have been more real. But along with it you should be ready to take the weight of disappointments too. As there is a high probability that you’d have missed certain experiences which the author would have described in the book. There definitely would be experiences which you had and the author wouldn’t have had but we always have the habit of thinking about things we miss rather than the ones which we did.

The best thing about the book is that the author doesn’t crib about his old age. If you crib you’ve to crib like how Woody Allen does, otherwise its plan boring. So that was a huge relief. Along with it were his antics of countering a wild pig, acting like an ex-general and encounters with military people and constantly bugging boat house owner were quite informative. But more than that, it scared me about Srinagar even more.

Add to these antics, the constant talk with himself, the singing he does inside his helmet and the flashbacks were appropriately put in proper place so that it didn’t seem like a hindrance to flow at all. When you read a travelogue, especially that of bikers, you don’t want the engine to stop at all and it didn’t here. In fact it went on full rev always.

Movie Review – 12 Angry Men

I’ve always been the guy who was against watching a movie for second time. I can’t watch a movie just to appreciate it better and I guess I’m too egoistic to watch a movie for second time because I didn’t understand. But thanks to Lights On. I’m able to watch all the movies that I watched initially. And what a pleasure it is. We had a discussion when the club was started and one of the founder members said, during my instance of planning to play a specific movie, “I understand your enthusiasm but you can’t directly push them into it. You’ve to hold their hands and take them through.” That’s the feeling. Of walking through all my (our) favorite movies in the order we watched. Only that the kid is as eager to hold the hands and watch the movies as much as the father does. It’s a real pleasure!

When deciding 12 Angry Men for movie discussion. I was skeptical. Yes, I was quite hooked when I watched the movie first but I wasn’t sure how great this film is technically. But only when I watched for the second time I knew that I was not only hooked but so many shots and direction were so brilliantly made. I remember this as my first black and white film and was so proud to say to my dad, when he scolded me for watching movies, that I was not watching movies just like that. 12 Angry Men couldn’t be watched by everyone. The second part I’m not sure but this was the first movie I chuckled while watching and I did chuckle again. All I remembered was that I chuckled but didn’t remember why I chuckled. But I do!

There is a scene in the movie where Juror 10 talks about how ‘they all are bad, how they all don’t deserve to live’ and one by one all the jury members walk away from him. His voice slowly fades and he keeps telling, “Listen to me. Listen…” Only to be told, “I have. Now sit down and don’t open your mouth again.” Is there a scene which has been directed in a better way in a courtroom drama? And remember that it was 1957 when it was made. A time where the receiver of a telephonic call would mouth the other sides conversation too so that we could understand. That’s how literal movies were made back then. And here the concept is told just by pure direction.

The way the whole movie builds up and keep you interested itself is a thing to reckon for. The way they come to the room, how they take time to settle in, and how one guy remains in bathroom, how each of them try to start the conversation, the fan doesn’t work. Almost every character gets established in the initial shot. I guess it’s a long shot. I don’t feel like going back and looking what shot it was. It gives me a good memory. I’ll be content with that.

Then the story slowly starts, the characters develop. Henry Fonda is a treat to watch, with his mild hunchback and curious face he gets us hooked throughout. Then one by one join with him. People who were afraid to say ‘Not Guilty’ say be more vociferously after that. They get more confident. They get enough strength to defend their argument.

Everyone sticks to their characters so well, there isn’t a single person who doesn’t look like being purposely injected. There are all types of people in there and all are unique in their own way. But that uniqueness doesn’t mean that these characters were put in just to make it look unique and different.

There is this question by Juror 4, the one with most clarity, “what if you make us all agree that he is not guilty and in real he had committed the murder.” In the end when everyone agrees that he’s not guilty and Henry Fonda too says prior to climax that we can never be sure of exact things that happened, they go ahead with the ‘Not Guilty’ verdict. But the question of Juror 4 still haunts me.

Movie Review – Pisasu

I’ve always wondered why it took so long for Mysskin to make a horror movie. A guy who rarely uses lights and even if he does he uses only a zero watts bulb. In spite of all that he made a horror movie which I took this long to watch and missed in theatres. May be there is a time for everything and this is the time for me to watch Pisasu.

What a fresh perspective Mysskin brings to the horror movie genre. Exorcist is my most favorite horror movie with horror not being my forte. Now Pisasu becomes my second favorite. Exorcist is my favorite not because of all the head twisting, bed jumping, step walking stuff but because when the priest gets a drink and asks for ‘on the rocks’, he doesn’t get one and drinks it neat instead. That’s what gets missed in most of the horror movies. When its horror the directors forget that it’s horrific because only people are involved in it. If it’s about ghosts, no one will be interested. But what we get to see always is a group of people getting lost and the prettiest girl getting killed at last.

I said Exorcist is my favorite but that doesn’t mean ‘Shining’ isn’t in the list. Shining is class apart but it’s purely Kubrician. My favorite film of Kubrick is ‘Shining’. I couldn’t put it strictly in the ‘horror’ category. But Exorcist fits in the classic horror category. So does Pisasu.

The best thing about Pisasu is its style. The way a horror movie deals with positivity and that too without humor. And the ghost here isn’t something like ‘pattanathil bootham’ one which does well to hero in a charming way. It remains how a ghost should remain by inducing fear but still does well to the hero.

Which director will have guts to have a scene where the ghost’s father sees the ghost for the first time and cries, asking her not to leave him? It would easily have passed as the most laughable scene. The plot is similar to Eeram but the treatment is different. The characters are well etched. Look at the guy who always gives advice to two other people in the car corridor, it was classic me.

For a director who makes ‘dark’ movies, look at the opening shot of Pisasu. Broad day light, cars, colors and accident. In fact the very story gets a ‘color’ twist in the climax which I won’t reveal. The opening shot was brilliant. Best thing about Mysskin’ s framing is he never starts with subjects whom we are going to follow, they always get into the frame from the least possible way we expect. Here too it’s the same.

Music wise too Mysskin has a great ear. He could get what he wants. ‘Kathala kannala’ still remains one of the best item songs ever made. And the way he picks up the music directors need to be given a special mention.

His regular motif with blind people and corrupt police gets repeated here too but I didn’t get to know why. And why did the old lady in yellow kept on staring at the hero in police station?

In spite of so many good points why doesn’t Mysskin become my favorite director? I have always felt there is some doubt in his films, some confidence missing in his films. It’s not as confident as how Paul Thomas Anderson would take a subject and do. Actors too on the other hand look plasticky in his films. Mysskin is a director who wants the complete product to be his own. So I think there is very minimal thing that the actors could do and that’s why they remain plasticky. But as an actor he too was bad in Onayum Attukutiyum. Also his picture clarity never seems to be good, they are always kind of amateurish, looks like a short film which has been very well made. May be it’d be better if he works with top technicians. I’m not sure. But I’m sure that he’ll surprise me next time too like how he did with Pisasu.