Movie Review – Moonlight

Black mamba’s by story

It’s one of the movies which tells a multitude of messages and that’s one of the main reasons I was avoiding it. Unfortunately, it won Oscar too so my affinity got even less. Guess the movies which get Oscars, especially in this category seems to be because of the cultural impact it has. The making and the storytelling gets you on grip but its one of the average joes out there. Thankfully it wasn’t as rooted as ’12 years a Slave’ which had absolutely no impact on me. ‘Moonlight’ even though didn’t sweep me of my feet, at least held my attention, thanks especially to the black lingo.

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The movie takes place in three parts and the first part is the most curious one. It features Chiron as “Little” (Alex Hibbert) who doesn’t talk but his expressions do most of the talking. For some reason it reminded me of ‘Moonnam Pakkam’ when Chiron’s father figure Juan (Mahershala Ali) teaches him swimming by the beach. Even though they both strike a chord all of the sudden, there was a certain sense of warmth in their relationship. Also, it’s the phase where we get to know why people are bullying him and what his mother actually does. So generally, the revelation part is always interesting. So, the first chapter held my attention than what I thought.

His transformation into teen Chiron (Ashton Sanders) was sudden. Even though I liked the cut. I missed Juan and the suspense of first chapter. But it was made that way intentionally. Loses can happen to anyone and in any form in life and it’s the part where he finds whom he really is. It was all good till the part where he goes to beach. I didn’t like it when he turned gay and became violent. I was seeing it coming all the while. It was the obvious thing to happen so there was no surprise left. May be a little more exploration of his friendship with Teen Kevin (Jharrel Jerome) and his loneliness might have added some credibility to the story.

The third chapter where he grows all macho brought the whole black feeling. Black (Trevante Rhodes) as called by Adult Kevin (André Holland) is now a macho man, caught up in the drug business and her mother is in rehab. All the action happens behind the screen so we don’t see much here. He has become a different man after the violence in his teen age. That’s were a movie like ‘Pariyerum Perumal’ scores. The way he angrily comes and sit in classroom to make a point is stronger than a black man hitting someone. To see him falling into the same trap was depressing. It looked as if its inevitable. At least the making style could have been funny to showcase the same.

Guess that’s were a filmmaker like Spike Lee scores. Even though the message is heavy, all his rage is within. He makes it in a stylish manner which is enjoyable and the jokes are really funny. Imagine a climax like ‘BlacKkKlansman’, even though they lose, they laugh it out. That attitude was admirable. That feeling was missing in ‘Moonlight’. It need not necessarily be funny, but the emotions have to be real. This looked strictly for a specific set of audience and that’s the disappointing factor.

Movie Review – Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga

Spark sans fire

I thought this film would be on the lines of ‘Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu’, like a breezy less appreciated rom com and I was fairly right. Unfortunately, I knew what the film was about and being in that part of world where such a story is still used as a twist element, the entire first half goes in finding out when we’d eventually discover that twist. But when I was about to hate the film for resorting to such cheap way to move the story, the second half builds itself into a neat film and ends reasonably well so that the movie couldn’t be outrightly hated.

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Deriving the title from one of the famous songs ever in Bollywood, it was obvious that the titular song would appear at some place or the other. But they don’t overdo it. They use it in the right place. Plus, the title gets a special meaning, thanks to the lesbian relationship. Like I said before, Indian mainstream cinema hasn’t come to a stage where we’d be able to see the intricacies between a lesbian couple but only how they deal with the world. But given the conservative way the theme was dealt with, the film does enough to make us keep interested.

Wonder why Rajkumar Rao is cast in any movie like this. First it was Queen and now this. Poor fellow, he doesn’t get to be with the heroines in both the movies. He does a decent job though, being a typical Rajkumar Rao on screen. His coy nature and his tendency to not being an alpha male works for a lesbian themed film. I wonder why Sonam Kapoor was wearing all loose-fitting dressing, may be that’s the way of de-glamourizing her and make her look as someone who would look better in a lesbian angle than from a straight person’s angle. Or may be the styling was done just for the heck of it. Not sure. But coming from a family who sells garments, the disinterest towards dressing should mean a thing for Sweety (Sonam K Ahuja). Because on the other hand, it’s CEO, Balbir Chaudhary (Anil Kapoor) looks fabulous in each and every scene.

In spite of Sweety’s love, Kuhu (Regina Cassandra) appearing for a very little time, she totally steals the show. Even though she’s not thunderous like how a VJ is for Rani. She comes across at least as a fresh spell of rain. Regina suits the role and drives the point effortlessly which Sonam struggles so hard for, during the entire first half. Rajkumar Rao doesn’t have much to do apart from being an organizer. The Balbir and Chatro (Juhi Chawla) angle too doesn’t have much firepower as Juhi Chawla continues to irritate with her overacting.

The movie is a welcome relief from taking an LGBT angle just for fun but there is still a long way to call it a LGBT film because in recent past there have been a number of films which explores the theme beautifully, which is what people would be interested to see, rather than the us vs them story.