Movie Review – Fire

The rage within

‘Fire’ – The first of the Elements Trilogy and one of the movies in my ever impending list for very long time turned out to be just the film I wanted to watch. Indian films which are spoken in English are always a charm. Many call it unnatural but I claim it to be the most natural way of writing. The writers who are more comfortable in writing in English tend to get the best out of their film by making it in English because they tend to think in English. Only when they forcefully want to turn it to the regional language to get rooted flavor, it spoils the original essence.

You could watch this film just for the characters. It’s best if you don’t know anything about the film. If you’re reading this after watching the film you can echo my exact thoughts. The film is about two ladies and what they become because of the men, their men. But it’s not just the central characters who are appealing but the extended family of the grandma and the “faithful servant” as he calls himself who is both funny and horrific in nature. The way each of their actions affect others and how it impacts us forms the crux of the film.

I wonder how much time it would take for people who don’t know about the film to know that it’s a film about homosexuality. I think it’d be immediate, there is a teasing tone in the film, even before the main stars enter, which makes us feel they’re going to talk about something not regular. We could confirm it pretty much in the scenes to follow.

The film begins with Sita (Nandita Das) and Jatin (Javed Jaffrey) at some weird place. Only after few minutes and cross shifting of the frame we get to know that it’s Taj Mahal. It was an interesting angle. We get to know that Sita and Jatin are newly married and Jatin isn’t interested in marriage. The disappointed face of Sita stings us immediately and we get to sympathize with her. But she’s not one of those women who’d sit and sulk. She’s a dreamer, a happy go lucky girl who’d be happy no matter what.

In my most favorite scene of the film where she dances in denim and blouse and comes out to Biji (Kushal Rekhi), runs back again in embarrassment because she was not attired in a shawl and again dances and laughs, defines a character. To have seen Nandita Das in so many serious roles and as a Tamilian, being familiar with her role in Kannathil Muthamittal, more than anything else. It was fun to see a young and joyous Nandita Das, who would become everyone’s crush immediately. And damn, how hot was she. But sadly not for Jatin.

Jatin has an affair with an Asian girl, Julie (Alice Poon) and Radha’s (Shabana Azmi) husband, Ashok (Kulbhushan Kharbanda) has an affair with Swamiji (Ram Gopal Bajaj), not really an affair but you know what I mean. The fact that they were so powerless to do anything for that was shown so simply yet with so much cruelty. Sita doesn’t even react, it was curious but that’s Sita, you can’t really predict her but Radha has to undergo much more because of Ashok’s act to make her help him to achieve godly status.

It’s Sita who makes a move against Radha, rightly so. I guess it’s the only lesbian film where the actual love making scenes were happy than being a turn on. All other films would have a serious tone to it and would go completely silent around the scene. May be that’s what makes the film special, that we could feel the happiness of Sita rather than being a liberation. Simply put, the film’s love making sequence was a joyous act rather than being a protest or an achievement. It was one of the, or the only movie where I was not looking forward to actual sex scenes but them having a flirty affair. The smiles were killing and would make anyone fall in love with them. It didn’t even feel like seduction. They felt like school kids who had crush on each other. Such in genuine act.

Given a film which was this serious, yet not so serious, it was Mundu (Ranjit Chowdhry) who provides the comic relief, if seen in ‘American Pie’ view or the most horrific act if seen as a part of family. The scene was both shocking and funny. It was indeed he who finds about the relationship between the sister-in-law’s and helps the film to a conclusion. Such a cruel character, something on the lines of what Nawazuddin Siddiqui did in ‘Badlapur’, a man with no remorse.

The films conclusion looked a little forced with literal fire and the rain cooling them down but it was okay, the film achieved what it wanted to, much before that.

Movie Review – Oppenheimer

A staggering achievement

‘Oppenheimer’ is nothing like anything which has come to cinema before. To restrict the film as just a biopic is an understatement. Nolan does everything he does to perfection. The template is set right from screen one, through music, shots, timeline etc. It’s the most Nolanisque film, yet it’s the complete opposite too. Through craft he does everything he’s known for in his films and through art he touches the deepest of human emotion. Sorry to spoil it, but the silence at the end of film felt really like the end of it all, end of the world and in so many years of film watching, I’ve never witnessed anything like that in cinema halls before.

Right from screen one, Nolan gets you on hook, first through music and then that ever piercing camera. Together it gives a feel that it’s penetrating inside you. I watched it as a night show in big screen and I couldn’t sleep for a good couple of hours, i could feel my heart still racing. But mind you it’s not a thriller like ‘Interstellar’ or a non-thriller made like a thriller like ‘Dunkirk’. It’s one of the films were all the pieces come together. Post ‘Inception’ it felt like he was doing those back and forth shorts with that tension inducing music of his, for no real reason. But here it just felt apt.

Especially after a disastrous ‘Dunkirk’, a drama film, which was needlessly made a thriller, I had very little hopes for ‘Oppenheimer’ as it was a real story. Meanwhile by trying to prove his mettle, he went overboard in ‘Tenet’ I feel (which I haven’t watched it yet), and incurred the wrath of even people who normally would watch his film just for the entertainment factor.

Nolan has always come out as a guy who’d make you think and that was taken for granted by his fans, who mostly are fan boys, who get under your skin when you watch in A-list theatres like Sathyam or Escape. Just by the looks of it you can identify who are those smart asses who’ve come for his movies. They’d be explaining to one naïve guy or a new girlfriend about the formulas and equations. That herd was there for this film as well, with of course the other “cool guys who kalachify anything English” group. But this film was a slap on the face on everyone. It was a statement by Nolan saying, “don’t you dare reduce me to your level with your cheap antics”. And it was a statement not wanting to prove anything but only to outdo himself and make a truly staggering quality cinema. His march towards excellence.

It’s not necessarily a film where you need to understand everything but it doesn’t put you down like an ‘Inception’ or ‘Interstellar’ where the one who explains you gets an imaginary halo of being the know it all. The film can be enjoyed, no, enjoyed is not the word, it’s too less an emotion. The film can impact you in numerous ways, through moralistic questions, exposing your views, make you numb but more than anything, it gets you astounded by the way it was made.

I watched ‘Capote’ sometime back and thinking of biopics or otherwise, it was one of the truly beautiful movies I’ve ever watched. Not even taking into consideration the story and direction. Just by the shots and the frame, I’ve never felt this poetic in a while. So at the top of my mind, that’s the best biopic I’ve watched. But this film overdoes it. Because it couldn’t be restricted as just a biopic, not just another movie like ‘The Imitation Game’, which of course was lovely for its template. ‘Oppenheimer’ talks to you in much different ways and impacts you multifold with its show.

Recently I had a chance to watch ‘Rocketry: The Nambi Effect’. I say “chance to watch” and not “watched” because it happened. There was something about ‘Rocketry’ which was putting me off. Even though the story was a strong one, it felt forced and the making was bad. While watching ‘Oppenheimer’ it showed, how through a good director, a similar story can be elevated exponentially. Direction is not just about shooting a story. It’s much more than that.

When talking about ‘Oppenheimer’, everyone talks about the bomb and the blast. But it’s not just about that. In fact it’s not at all about that. It’s not a stunt like much latest ‘Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One’, it’s the story to it. It’s like an enigma to which we’re going towards. In fact it’s philosophical. The blast was just a metaphor. Of course it’s made well and shocks you but the shock was more due to what had happened rather than how it had happened. You’re not awed by how well it was shot. You’re shocked by what it can do. If that’s not master filmmaking I don’t know what is.

Nolan blends Aronofsky in the form of the leading ladies, Katherine “Kitty” Oppenheimer (Emily Blunt) and Jean Tatlock (Florence Pugh) and Terrence Malick in the form of bomb (think ‘Tree of Life’). Emily Blunt looked bony, weak but with a heart of a warrior and Florence Pugh, was both enigmatic and sad. She felt like one of those Woody Allen’s Femme Fatale. Nolan has always had great female characters but the Aronofskian way of dealing them was something unexpected.

Coming to Cillian Murphy. In a world of McConaughey’s and Bale’s he doesn’t get noticed enough but its one role which I’m sure Tommy Lee Jones would have been proud of. He almost gets to the level of ‘There Will Be Blood’ but of course ‘Oppenheimer’ is not a film like that where it’s only about him. The makeup and the way he’s worked in his body was done to perfection, without any show off.

This is a once in lifetime film. In fact this phase from ‘Indiana Jones’, ‘Mission Impossible’ to ‘Oppenheimer’ could be the greatest one month for any Hollywood fan. But it was more than that for me. I felt like my life has become a complete circle by watching some of my most memorable characters on screen in a span of one month for one last time. It’s a phase where one gets to watch great films and probably, when I look back at old age, this might be the greatest phase of my movie watching. From Archimedes to Albert Einstein, I’ve seen it all. This part of my life, this little part, is called happiness.

Movie Review – Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One

One way ticket to thrill

I read a comment somewhere saying, “Tom Cruise runs, rides, jumps, flies, clings to his dear life and does every possible stunt on Mother Earth. What else can he do in the grand finale?” But isn’t it the question which people have been asking since the second part, which at that time felt too good to be true. That’s what Tom Cruise can do. A true blue action junkie for the big screen. The one who makes everyone feel young and plausible. I’m sure no one who came out of the movie would have come home sane without raising the throttle at least once.

The movie begins with a submarine and a kind of superpower which was hidden in it. There was some sort of missile showing in the radar. They keep on stating that they’re invisible and don’t understand what’s that coming towards them. But the missile coming at them also becomes invisible. I thought the sequence would end then and there by Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) coming inside the submarine by being invisible and it’ll all be a little joke of the Russians but unfortunately that was the plot of the movie.

We get to the see the very first troupe of mask change at the start of the movie, followed by the template title cards. The mask scene didn’t work but the title card was lovely. In fact the best from what I can remember. Whatever the “Entity” is and what it does is not a problem for anyone because the director, Christopher McQuarrie, doesn’t let you think beyond it as an invisible villain. What a combination, McQuarrie and Tom Cruise are. Should be hailed as one of the best combos of Hollywood.

Hunt and his friends, Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames) and Benji Dunn (Simon Pegg) try to go after one part of the key first up but in turn get robbed by someone. It was far-fetched to see such an intelligent team getting robbed by a petty thief, Grace (Hayley Atwell), who was downright annoying, as opposed to an effervescent Helena Shaw (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) from a much recent ‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny’. In fact when Hunt sticks on to her, tries to save her in a car chase and from White Widow (Vanessa Kirby), it was irritating. She couldn’t get the sympathy of me. Especially the scene where she handcuffs him to the car, was limits.

What follows is a series of Mission Impossible troupes, which keeps us engaged but feels repetitive and compulsory. There were high octane scenes of course and keeps us glued to the scene but there wasn’t any surprise element. None of the troupes give a wow moment. Be it the bike ride, the running, Benji being delirious etc. It was like watching a big star movie who does his trademark thing time and again. Fortunately or unfortunately it works but a bit of innovation would have been nice.

The other characters have nothing to do and apart from a series of action scenes there weren’t a single scene which people could connect. Thanks to the bad audio and no subtitles, audience started chit chatting and munching popcorn as soon as action scenes get over. The movie is worth the time, they forget the popcorn. But thankfully it was a whole lot of time.

Coming to the greatest action scene as advertised by the makers. It feels like the whole film happens for that. But to be honest, it happens too fast without letting anyone feel it. It’s just the one shot. The making felt lot better than the actual scene. With any other film, the train stunt post that would have felt unnecessary but the director and actors make that work too. We can see how they are seeing the film. It could have easily looked like a circus with people jumping like clowns here and there. But it’s the sincerity which propels the film to the next level. In fact god level. I don’t know whether I should be happy that everyone could feel the film as their own and root for the protagonist or worry about how the fans of certain actors could only wish that their hero makes such films.

See, in short, I can never write a good review for this movie, but I can never hate the movie. Mission Impossible series more than anything is a part of our life. It’s the last of something great. Like how, even if the final part of the Indiana Jones was a bomb, how the last book was unnecessarily made into two parts for Harry Potter, this too is one such series you can’t miss out. It’s to be watched in theatres and relished. Reviews are for another time.

Movie Review – The Pursuit of Happyness

A feel gooder to start with

Guess, feel goods are meant to be felt good once and left as such. In my urge to pursue happyness one more time, all I was left with was, mehness. ‘The Pursuit if Happyness’ was undoubtedly one of the heartwarming films that I had seen. Every time I used to see some scene or the other from the movie, it used to get on me. So I did a hard thing of revisiting this movie after a long time, with heavy preparation to cry buckets, but in the end the experience was far from what I expected.

There are certain iconic scenes in the movie. Probably to watch this movie without knowing any of it would have been a great boon but watching it knowing them also is a kind of joy as to wait for the scene. Even though it’s a movie where we can vaguely assume, is going to make us happy in the end, doesn’t work as much as viewing it without knowing the ending. Probably that’s the difference between a Hollywood feel gooders vs. Indie feel gooders. A movie like ‘Little Miss Sunshine’ and ‘Juno’ are never going to be boring, until it’s overdone.

The movie is about a father and son duo, Chris Gardener (Will Smith) and Christopher Gardner, Jr. (Jaden Smith), broke and hope lost in America. The film is very American with its setting but an amazing Jaden Smith and a soft-for-a-change Will Smith make us root for it. The film for some reason felt rushed. The events were happening thick and fast. One part I’d have liked to have thrown some more light was the relationship between Chris and his wife, Linda Thandiwe Newton, rather than making Linda a plain villain out of the relationship. Of course it’s a film about Chris but rather than just crying and expressing her displeasure, something from the side of Linda too could have been done.

I used to jokingly say, that its “‘Mahanadhi’ made merry”. But maybe that’s the reason that impact is missing which would never go missing in case of ‘Mahanadhi’. Chris who sells some sort of machine gets into worst possible situation and has to suffer for his daily living. He and his son are literally on the streets. Of the numerous touchy moments, the one which worked for me best was the scene where he says that he can’t leave his child alone and they’ve to stay together. That’s a splendid acting.

Jaden does a fine job of course but it’s the kids’ character in the movie I liked more. The scene where he accepts that “possible” means that it might never happen was a gem of a scene. The attitude of the kid was lovely. May be kids would understand the situation depending on their condition. I got reminded of the kid in ‘Capernaum’ where he acts much matured to his age.

One of the scenes which could have been made better was the one where his machine gets stolen. To have two machines stolen in a short span and make a chase in a similar way was far-fetched. May be it could happen but it could have been shown cinematically well.

It’s understandable that to have a proper closure, Chris goes to the kid and the film ends on a happy note but it’s that one scene where he stands out among the crowd, which makes for an iconic shot. It would have been great if the film had ended there.

May be I was a bit harsh on my review or the words came out so. Even though it’s a criticizable movie, it’s not a movie to be missed.

Movie Review – Garuda Gamana Vrishabha Vahana

A Raw Rural Portrait

‘Garuda Gamana Vrishabha Vahana’ has to be one of the interesting films to have come of late. Right from the title, it gave a different kind of vibe. Knowing that it was a violent film I was naturally intrigued. It gave me a feel of ‘Gomorrah’ even before watching it. It had the rawness like that film. Probably there might be comparisons with ‘City of God’ as well but I’ve always felt, the stylishness overcame rawness in ‘City of God’. That’s what happens when the films become universal. It looks like a foreigner has shot the film. But with ‘Garuda Gamana Vrishabha Vahana’, the rawness was intact and it indeed made the film rooted and grounded.

After a thrilling opening scene, the way the film starts makes lovely use of gore. It’s always a pleasure to see gore as art, rather than films like ‘Final Destination’ and ‘Saw’, where they’re just selling point or like an extended porn. Here we see a lady cutting fishes and smelling something fishy. Even that scene was so tense. And when we see the scene where we assume a body coming out of the well. We get a shock when we see the boy still breathing. The state of the boy makes everyone averse to him, as if he’s a demon. Generally in films where we’re supposed to get aversion for the characters looks like a ‘Chhapaak’, ‘Uyare’, ‘Paa’, ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’ or ‘Deiva Magan’, they’d be so careful that we have to root to the character but only the other people in the movie should be averse to them. But here when the little boy comes to life, it was indeed scary and pushes us back a step.

The next half an hour or may be the first act of the movie where we see the kid, Shiva (Raj B. Shetty) growing up was horrific yet lovely. It keeps us curious as to what’s going to happen but it’s guessable that he’s going to be supporting a rather weak Hari (Rishab Shetty) in the future. But the backdrop was lovely. The transformation seen and the song for it was top notch. In fact the entire film had great songs and when Shiva holds Hari’s hands and walks, the admiration from Hari was lovely. It would make ‘Thalapathy’ run for money for its bromance. Whatever happens till then was convenient, it makes us satisfied but what was that x-factor which made the film a legendary one. It’s the next act.

Brahmaiah (Gopal Krishna Deshpande) a soft guy, whom even we would pity, gets transferred to Mangaladevi for something very silly. In a film with so much violence, this was the most horrific scene. What an actor Gopal is. Before he gets into the cop mode, the way he performs would make anyone take sides for it. Coincidentally Hari and Shiva get a rift at that time and he makes use of it properly.

When Hari joins hands with Raviraj, Shiva gets visibly distraught. It’s a lovely scene where Raviraj explains about his Rottweiler proudly but the very next scene he faces its wrath. What we see as friendship between Hari and Shiva indeed was like a relationship between Raviraj and his dog. Shiva being that obedient being and how he goes berserk after a point was beautifully shown in that one scene.

In a film like this generally we root for either Hari or Shiva but the brilliance here is how we don’t care when they are killed. That’s why Brahmaiah’s character was so important. In that few minutes where he cries out loud with just his vest makes us root for him more than the others. It’s generally difficult to sympathize with a character which comes so late in the film and doesn’t have that much screen space but with some brilliant writing it was achieved well.

The death of the individuals were obvious and both the killings weren’t great. Especially Hari’s death reminded very much of ‘City of God’ but the abstract scene of the kids burying their own dead body was a work of art. This film probably is one of the greatest films to have come in Kannada cinema. I’d rate is next best, only to ‘Lucia’.

Movie Review – Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

An Indy to Remember

‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny’ has everything you want in an Indiana Jones movies. It’s commendable that James Mangold could match Spielberg’s vision and make a near perfect film using his template without having any self-righteousness finding its way. Generally, in a series when the director changes, the tone of the film gets affected but here it was lovely. An advantage which Mangold had was that he could work with Indy of different age but that’s not as easy as its being said and he nailed it to perfection.

When the masked Indy entered the screen, I couldn’t help but hum, “Nayagan meendum varan”. What an apt song it’d have been at that juncture. It was such a pleasure to watch the old Indy. How lovely was the de-aging technique evolved. But a part of me was not accepting the technology too. It felt as if giving a false dream to people. As if they can get into a young body. Something like the concept of ‘Get Out’ The first episode, even though intriguing didn’t keep me cent percent comfortable due to the antics. It’s only when I saw the old Indy, it got me comfortable.

The one thing which was messed up in ‘Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull’ was Indy’s ageing. He was neither here, nor there. Instead of him, it was us who were caught in the mid-life crisis. But here we see an age old wrinkled Indy. In fact the very scene where the transformation happens we see a physically weak Indiana Jones getting ready for the day. For a moment, it made me wonder, whether the director was going to go ‘About Schimdt’ way and deal with his loneliness and stuff but thankfully Indy is Indy and he can’t get old at heart. The adventure did happen.

Probably it’s the only Indiana Jones movies where someone, Helena Shaw (Phoebe Waller-Bridge), was more vibrant than Indian Jones Himself. Even though Harrison Ford could hold his charm. His other accompanies couldn’t. For they looked way too old and weak. May be a script involving them doing all the math and less of action could have been a fitting climax.

Luckily or fortunately, Harrison Ford didn’t look old or misfit for all the stunt sequences. The pacing of the film and next to next stunts were superbly choreographed and were at the perfect setting. Thankfully Indiana Jones had the age old charm and didn’t let the new age cynicism creep in. The last thing I would have wanted is to see a dark Indy movie.

Phoebe Waller-Bridge is someone who must be talked about. What charm she packs and it’s not easy to come into a hero oriented movie and perform better than him. Not only did she have a chemistry with Indy but her chemistry with Teddy Kumar (Ethann Isidore). It looked as if they were real sibling. The scene where she changes to whites before the climax, she looked ravishing and the wink to kid was so charming. What a woman!

For a film which goes on this pace and with great objective, there has to be a big bang climax. The walk into the Archimedes’ tomb was adventurous enough but the next great twist and a date with Archimedes himself was something which made my movie watching experience, worthy. If not for that twist I would have still been a happy man and would have been a nice trip down the memory lane but with the Archimedes twist, it was wholesome and gave me a heartfelt satisfaction.

PS: How lovely was it, that the final clue to enter the tomb was Archimedes’ principle itself with water spurting out.

Movie Review – Le Samouraï

If only films could breathe style

Probably one of the most stylish film to have ever come across in cinema. ‘Le Samouraï’ is part of the league of extraordinary pure cinema at the start of French New Wave, like ‘Breathless’ and ‘Pickpocket’. Of the three, probably the less famous and most engaging film would be ‘Le Samouraï’. It’s a kind of film where there is frame by frame beauty, something like ‘Capote’, yet so in genuine, depressing and original. It’s one thing to decode the film but another to bask in the glory of it. If you had done the latter, you couldn’t stop yourself from doing the former.

The film starts like a painting. In fact we don’t know whether it’s a painting or a static shot. Only when we closely observe and see smoke raising up from somewhere, know it’s coming from cigarette and then see a silhouette of a man raising from there, we get to know that it indeed was not a painting. And the man raising there from there, does that mean he’s raising from ashes? Thus the smoke? Possible. Wish the makers do the opening credits in some creative way rather than plain texts, even if not this clinical.

The colors of the wall was dull. It’s a color film of course but you hardly see colors. It’s as if one color throughout the film. The dull depressing grey which gets on you within minutes. Thankfully he goes out his house, takes the steps (of course the wall too has to be of same color) and goes out, makes us breathe some fresh air and relieves us from gasping. He steals a car. It’s not a high octane stealing. In fact there isn’t any high octane sequences where he sweats it out but when he grows on you, you get to feel the tenseness in the environment (the subway sequence). It takes some time for him to steal the car because he uses one key after another. When he finally starts the car, rather than we getting high, we are relived, because the film finally moves. When he does the same for the second, that’s when we sweat. But he remains the same.

Curiously, one shot which kept on bothering me was. For a film this smooth, why doesn’t he turn the car into the shed in one shot? There is a cut just at the entry of the gate. It doesn’t happen just once, but twice in the film. For a director like Jean-Pierre Melville who aims for perfection, he could have easily got a space where he could have achieved that. An ideal shot of the film would be the car getting into the garage and we seeing the empty road. Once he’s in, the transaction is mechanical. It’s a routine which he’d have been doing for ages. This scene especially reminded me of ‘Johnny’, the opening sequences of which Rajni steals a car, paints and changes the number plate. Of course Rajni is stylish but the stylishness in ‘Johnny’ looks different. It’s not a whistle inducing action but a pent up admiration inside the audience.

The sequences where he shoots and comes out of the nightclub looked obvious that he’s going to get caught. May be that’s practical, because the only thing he does is he escapes the light and tries to not be abnormal. Coming to think of it, not taking any rash action could be one of the highlights of an assassin. The next few scenes where even more shocking and absurd. He gets caught in a straightforward manner, as if he was waiting for it.

The film takes an interesting turn only when Valérie (Cathy Rosier), the pianist at the bar, doesn’t tell the police about Jef Costello’s (Alain Delon) identity. Thanks to the numerous film twists we had seen. I thought that Valérie had some motive in doing so, may be he’ll use Jeff for some future killing or the person whom Jef had killed had some ill effect on her but nothing like that happens in the film. We get to know that Valérie was supposed to see the killing. May be in fact to make sure that the assassin has done his job properly and report to their common employer. Well, we can only assume in these type of films.

The interrogation sequence has got to be one of the most interesting interrogation scenes ever. Just the amount of door the police inspector has to cross on a Sunday morning makes even us tired. How beautifully the scene was choreographed. In fact the whole film was choreographed well but that sequence was special.

The climax was a bit off for me personally because, removing the bullets was something we’d have seen a number of times in films. But apart from that, the mystery left behind his action and the entire films plot where we don’t know the why’s but only know what’s happening in front of us was a lovely way to make a film. These are kind of films which make me think, when I am going to make a film like this.

Movie Review – The Great Indian Kitchen

Great Indian Tragedy

Great Indian Kitchen is a treat to watch, pleasure to discuss and a joy to write. It’s one of the few movies, which you know will work right from seeing a frame. In fact even that’s not necessary, just the title hits you so hard with its sarcasm. This is an universal film, even if people don’t talk your language, the kitchen doesn’t look like yours, the political issues are not similar, it’s as local and rooted a film can get. Because everything above just acts as a metaphor. The underlying issue and its effect if what makes the film.

There are two things which I didn’t like in the movie. The opening credit and the ending scene. The opening credit goes on for five minutes without any music and any hurry. Wonder whether it’s intentionally done to make people understand that it’s going to be artsy movie, asking us to practice patience from then on. The last scene, where the dance choreography was beautiful of course, and it was nice to see Nimisha Sajayan happy, but the scene totally out of place in a movie which was that classy till then. I got a satisfactory explanation from one of my friends stating that how the other films end without us knowing what would have happened to the character, but here we know that the character is happy and knows what she is going to do in her life. Even though cinematically the scene didn’t appeal to me, I was satisfied with this explanation. For me, it’d have been apt to finish the movie when she walks in the streets, out of her home, crossing the hoardings of Sabarimala protest by females. That would have been a classy finish.

In fact the Sabarimala episode was a high risqué portion, which they handled beautifully. Even though I didn’t like the scene where some people torch up a ladies scooter but otherwise the episodes are home were brilliantly done. The torching up scene comes out of the blue and doesn’t impact because we don’t know that character. Even though the director lingers around our (men’s) minds, it’s at that episode he strikes a nail in the coffin. I’m sure, even for a pro ‘Great Indian Kitchen’ folks, there would have been one or two scenes which would have come as a shocker and made yourself realize that you were doing something wrong without even knowing that it was wrong.

For a film like this which revolves around the kitchen, like some ninety percent, needs that one impactful scene, otherwise, it’d just be a Big Boss episode of our household. This film which runs for around one hour and forty five minutes has only cooking scenes for about one and a half hour but that one scene which happens post that makes for the movie. May be for a movie of this caliber, that’s a cinematic scene, which I didn’t realize while watching of course, but the impact of which was so strong that it made me hoot. And personally I loved it because, after all these things I didn’t want Nimisha to undergo physical abuse and then react. She reacts before she’s hurt even a single bit physically.

The beautiful thing about the movie is, even though it’s only cooking and kitchen for about one and a half hour, it keeps us invested in the movie. The shot of the stove, the sink and more importantly there is a side angle shot of the kitchen, it’s so haunting as if you’re seeing a “found footage” type of horror.

The reason the Tamil movie failed is because they saw the film as women centric film and concentrated only on the female character. Of course Nimisha was terrific. Just like any other film, she gives a “is she the heroine?” vibe at start and makes us root for her character in the end. But the bigger players here were Suraj Venjaramoodu and T. Suresh Babu. Suraj is one of the actors whom you’d overlook because of his capability to blend with the film. Even though I’ve seen few films of his, it’s only this film which made me realize what a great actor he is and how well he had done in the films which I had watched. T. Suresh Babu as his dad was, oh my god, eclectic. Just him sitting in the bed and swiping his WhatsApp, makes such a horrific act.

The film kind of gave vibes of Elippathayam through T. Suresh Babu. May be it was ode to Elippathayam. Even though ‘Great Indian Kitchen’ was as classy as it could get, in the end it was straightforward picture. Just think of how ‘Elippathayam’ works subconsciously, without even knowing that we’re affect by it. That shows what a master Adoor Gopalakrihnan is.

For a film this classy, I felt the scene where a guest arrives at their home and cooks and gives free advice could be avoided. Even though his character irritates us, it makes us relax a bit from a highly intense movie.

Movie Review – Life is Beautiful

Is Life Beautiful?

I have been consciously avoiding this movie for a decade. The last I saw was a glimpse of its dubbed version in Vijay TV in a season where the dubbed English movies like Shanghai Nights, Volcano etc. was doing rounds. I precisely remember the scene where I saw a dad trying to cheer his son in a concentration camp. It was Chaplinesque and anything but funny. That one scene was so depressing and put me off from watching the movie ever again but I finally gathered courage to watch it, and it was no mean effort.

Having known what the film was about, I was just waiting for the eventual to happen. Whether it was, the movie or the personal crisis or the new found guilt that I feel bad whenever I sleep late, I was in a constant state of anxiety while watching the movie. Personally, I find optimists irritating. Here Guido Orefice (Roberto Benigni) was not only an optimist but a romantic too, which was a deadly combination. He’s one of the guys whom you’d hate to hate. You’d have heard your grandparents say how it rains because of good people, he’s one of those guys.

Disaster didn’t strike until one half of the movie. I thought it was going to be a movie entirely in concentration camp. Whether it was a plus or a minus for the movie I’m not sure. Because the extended run of Guido and his antics makes us more rooted to him but the fact you know that the eventual is going to happen only increases anxiety because waiting for the situation rather than being in the situation worsens it. It’s like being hospitalized versus going to visit a close one in hospital. When you’re hospitalized, you know nothing, you just lie in the bed but when it’s a close one by whom you’re affected, the anxiety manifolds to a different level. Watching ‘Life is Beautiful’ knowing what’s going to happen was like that. Before this, ‘Sethu’ was the only movie which I couldn’t watch because we know what’s going to happen to the lead character in the second half. Seeing him so charming in the first half, oblivious to what’s going to happen to him worries the hell out of me. Wonder how come soothsayers (if indeed they were real) could lead a peaceful life with their powers.

The first half reminded of ‘Roman Holiday’ every now and then, may be partly due to the setting or due to the actress, Dora Orefice (Nicoletta Braschi) who, like Guido tells, is princess charming of course. If not for not knowing about the movie, it would have been even more enjoyable. The entire film has this lovely “rabbit out of the hat” coincidences, right from Dora falling from heaven into Guido’s hands to Giorgio Cantarini  (Giosuè Orefice) getting into the tank. Conceptualizing such a thing is easy, but to make it happen in an organic way is the most difficult part. How lovely was it done? Just like how the film opens with a note that it’s a sad movie but it’s a fairytale too, the film stays true to its words. The fact that it doesn’t dwindle past it is the thing that needs to be appreciated.

The films transition from the first half to second half is sudden but done brilliantly. In a scene where she goes into nursery, the timeline changes and the kid appears, the setting outside too changes. There were few harsh scenes like a quote written outside a shop like, “no entry to dogs and Jews”. But Guido gets into us and doesn’t let us feel even a bit of negativity. What a great father he is. May be even he doesn’t have even a bit of negativity in him, which translates to the outside world? Whatever it is, what a man!

In a film where it goes from happy to tense at a flicker of an eye, for me the tensest scene was when he raises hands to translate German. Thankfully some over enthusiastic pirate didn’t put subtitles for the German dialogues as well. I was able to get that emotion fully.

It’s a film where we all would’ve prayed for happy ending. May be it deserves it. Its part happy ending actually but I’d have liked to see it go completely ‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’ way. That would have left us with more impact. But may be that would lead people to never revisit the movie again because I can’t imagine the emotional damage it would have done to viewers in case if anything had happened to Giorgio.

Movie Review – Ponniyin Selvan: II

An alluring ode to the epic

Even though together it has to be viewed as a single film, the part two of Ponniyin Selvan felt lot more grounded than Ponniyin Selvan: I as things felt in place. Except for the one badly staged climax fight, the film was perfect in its treatment. There wasn’t a single mass scene in an epic which people were trying to make for generations. Even though not the finest films of Mani Ratnam, he time and again shows what a matured director he is. The movie is so good that it makes us forget about the book and enjoy the film as a Mani Ratnam product.

Like I said before, there wasn’t a single adrenaline pumping scene. There could’ve been so many scenes which he could have made to make people jump with joy but he keeps it to absolutely minimal. Whatever minimal things it was, it was reserved for Ponniyin Selvan (Jayam Ravi). Lucky Jayam Ravi, who shines in the film quite surprisingly. And one of the few characters who get some screen space apart from Nandini (Aishwarya Rai Bachchan).

Ideally this film should have been a spin-off of Ponniyin Selvan with Nandini and Karikalan (Vikram) track, it in fact felt like it. Because the part two works pretty much like a love story, which Mani Ratnam is brilliant at. It’s not just the senior Nandini and Karikalan who make you glued to the screen but even their younger versions do a fabulous job. It takes great guts to start an epic film with so many heroes as a fairytale between two young adults. Seriously, Mani Ratnam deserves a bow.

Even though Nandini and Karikalan’s angle add great depth to the story and the entire film revolves around the plot. It’s Aishwarya’s show all the way. There were lot of people (North Indian’s) appreciating Vikram’s acting but mostly they’d not have seen a Ravanan or Pithamagan. This film is nothing in front of that and an ideal way to treat the character would’ve been to introduce around the interval of the first part and kill him in the climax, that’s how it happens in the book and it’s most impactful. Wonder why Vikram’s screen space was so elongated when realistically he doesn’t have fan following who’d make people come to theatre just because he’s in part two. As for the performance, even though the combination scenes with Aishwary was great, it was one of his weakest performances.

Probably the greatest scene of the book where Karikalan meets Pazhuvettarayar should have been lot more dynamic but here it falls flat because, right from the word go, Sarath Kumar doesn’t look like a menacing villain and doesn’t feel like a challenge at all to Vikram. Ideally Sarath Kumar should have been a ‘you know who’, who should have been called a Voldemort by Vikram, to the shock of everyone. People who had not read the book are never going to understand that scene now.

Unlike the first half, Vanthiyathevan (Karthi) doesn’t have much to do in the second part because the film is lot more focused and serious, thankfully so. Even though it’s a drama at the end of the day, at least a little bit effort could have been put in the action sequences, which were pretty bad. And if at all the idea is to make it an intense drama, why to have the needless climax war sequence, which spoilt everyone’s mood as it was not necessary and was not shot well too.

Ideally it’d have been perfect as a single film. Whether you make it as a two part film or five part film or a series, you still can’t take every little thing from the book. To even compare it that way is not right. It’d have been lovely if it had been in the tempo of a Thavamai Thavamirundhu and shot as a single film. There were easily few unnecessary scenes in first part and few scenes from second half too could’ve have been removed and made it into a film close to four hours. May be they wanted to cash in on the opportunity. Anyways at least we get to see this.