infinityToHeaven Reviews

1971 (2007)

Standing Ovation to one of the best crafts ever etched in Indian Cinematic History - 9.5/10

[10/10 · 14 April 2007]

Prologue -

54 'Prisoners of War' (POW) have been captured by Pakistan and never returned to India or told to the world. No one knows what happened to them. Till now, till date. The Intelligence Bureau reported that still some of them were alive in 1988. Indian Govt never really 'cared' to find out about their existence. It remains a mystery till date, whether some war prisoners are still hoping to live, waiting to die in the remains of a hapless country which betrayed Red Cross, all international norms of War. This story is a fictitious rendering about 6 such Lts and Commanders who tried to escape. This story is their journey of hope in telling the truth to the world.

Will they make it to the border? Will the world come to know about the rest of the POW?

Rarely do you see a quality cinema surpassed by it's own excellence in every technical department in a debut making. 1971: Prisoners of War will surprise you, touch you deep within and astonish you with it's film making brilliance. India is awakening and new talent is booming. Ironically the pathway is still led by stars who endorse everything from toothpaste to banks, Big banners which have anything but little to offer in path breaking celluloid. Here comes a movie straight from the heart. With utter honesty weaved with a brilliant execution of screenplay, acting, story telling, characterization, background score, in a thematic foreplay that could raise eyebrows to the world cinema critics.

There have been war movies before, many repetitive takes on Indo-Pak relationships, many patriotic themes. This movie does what all other movies never could touch. It touches Patriotism at an international level beyond the boundary of a country. You don't necessarily have to be an Indian to watch. It is like Love, without any barriers. Patriotism has no nationality. It touches a human spirit & emotions behind a facade of war-zone. There is no hatred, animosity. You do not see Slangs starting with M* or B*. There is no bloodshed, no violence, no hatred for each other. Instead, what you see is much more sophisticated Art of War. Strategies, Planning, Contrived Army Politics. All wrapped up in a perfect edge of the seat action and story telling like you've seen in good foreign cinema.

Manoj Bajpai is first class, perhaps his best performance till date. Watch out for his scenes towards the end. Every other character is beyond brilliance, you may not have heard their names before but it helps to relate to their characters which has been portrayed brilliantly, each one of them. The young Amrit Sagar, son of the legendary filmmaker "Ramananda Sagar" (maker of Ramayana TV series) makes a debut like no other, from his brief stint in the US; doubling with his 16 year old brother to compose the background score for this movie and his Uncles as producers. This is a family effort who passionately made this movie. For once, you will begin to think, a new sound is born. A new AR rahman has risen. There are 4 songs, all perfectly blended in the bg in this movie (one spellbinding theme music during the end titles sung by Shibani Kashyap). Couple of these songs have been sung without any music but just plates and table. That is a complete retake on filming songs!

The Editing is crisp, not a single scene are you taken away from the story. Cinematography is not top notch but commendable with scenic routes of Himachal Pradesh, Kulu with it's semi-sepia tone and slow action steady cams. The Writer Piyush Mishra brings his experience from his previous epic writing - Legend of the Bhagat Singh; does a fantastic job with realism in every character. As a comparison to a feeling of realism & passion you could think of "Hotel Rwanda" or Swades. Inspite of it's shades of inspirations from the theme of "Great Escape", this movie begs to grab your respect.

It's rather ironic that at a time when India needs a boost for young talent with an international outlook on film-making, the critics and the audience betray them yet again. It's been a month and I haven't seen a single critical review of a movie or discussion, which I personally think is one of the best Indian crafts I've ever watched. What a shame. This needs a lot better attention. This is the kind of movie you would want to proudly represent at the academy awards.

Watch this movie for it's passion. Watch this movie if you want to learn what film-making is all about. Watch this movie to take home some true feelings about the people who have never been thought of. Don't let the sand wash away, preserve your soil. Let the talent be ripe in this dying beautiful world. But for the almighty sake, don't watch this movie for the critics. Watch it for yourself, watch it alone and you will walk back with great honor in your heart. That's my word for you.

****** Songs ***** "Sehlenge Hum" - Sung beautifully, in an absolutely spellbound voice by Shibani Kashyap

"Prelude to the show - Instrumental" - You may be think it's John Williams or James Horner who composed this piece. Ironically its a 16 yeard old debutante ...

"Saajna" - a great sufi ghazal ...

Guru (2007)

Very clichéd Movie Making from veteran Mani, it pales in style and fills with heroism, absolutely banal ....

[5/10 · 13 January 2007]

In the last 15 years (since I have been a fan of Mani), film making has dramatically changed, the ideas and the resources that we have to make films have transformed and of course I have changed! But what I feel concerned is when talented directors like Mani fail to come out of their 'time tested' and movie making styles. Guru is one such big let down made out of absolute clichés and no creative elements. I'm about to condescend Guru for a reason - not because I want to but because how shallow someone can become if one doesn't open their creative minds (includes the director and you as an audience)

1) Story – This is a movie about Dhiru'bhai' Ambani, lets stick to that. But why do we have two romantic angles, multiple songs in first 20 Min's, so many characters? How would you like to portray Guru'bhai' (nice rhyme) - a good man, a bad man? How did he struggle, how did he overcome the downfall? The movie just shows him like a hero throughout and he becomes the invincible in less than 45 Min's of the film. This is not a biopic movie, it's like a Rajnikanth movie where you're supposed to worship the hero without asking questions. (with loud harsh drums in bg whenever you see Abhishek in closeup. Watch out for the dialog - "… tha Nani, hai. Guru Kanth Desai hai Mara Nam" –It just sounds so shallow like a Desi version of a James Bond flick. Subtlety is a virtue and film making should make that beautiful, you need not show extravagant drama to prove a point. Better watch a soap opera then.

2) Characterization - I feel this movie is Mani's big let down in terms of characterization. I hardly could connect to Abhishek's histrionics through out. Instead of focusing on his struggle, Mani is obsessed with the hero more than the character. It almost looks like he's not got enough of Abhishek's Yuva earlier. Just when Mithun starts stealing the show with his wonderful performance he's robbed out of the script. Why do characters like aishwairya's brother (Arya Babbar) come and go away? What happens to Mithun after the hospital scene? Aishwairya tries hard to 'act' yet again. (I totally detest the choice of choosing a beautiful actress for such a non glamorous role, it just shows the lack of Mani's confidence that he had to rope in whoever is "in" today). The central character is never built on rather shown in a glorified dramatic presence. This is not Cinema; it's popcorn for the masses.

3) Screenplay - The first 25 Min's of the movie has two songs back to back, everything seems to happen so fast, the 'kid' gets a ticket to Turkey, he grows up and spends 7 yrs, a lot has happened, the heroine is introduced with a Dancing Rain Song(Did I mention the next scene she is crying?). The movie starts off very fast paced and after interval it's like watching a teleserial with no story. There just isn't enough script on the plate to move the story.

4) Songs, picturization, background score - The songs ARE ABSOLUTELY OUT OF THE PLACE. Horrible choreography (why is Mallika gyrating her boobs throughout a supposedly beautiful song? Disgusting). Imagine a heartbroken scene and there is this song with Abhishek and Aish immediately! I except something different, subtle beautiful from a supposedly artistic director like Mani, at least where was your "E Ajnabi"? Sadly, A R Rahman's music doesn't grow on you after the movie. I still listen to Dilse or Bombay when I feel like putting on some quality sound of music but Guru - apart from Hari ha ran's ghazal rendering leaves very little haunting. Besides this is one of the worst bg compositions with loud music played throughout.

5) Performance - Abhishek was good but he has the same problem like Shah Rukh Khan. He can never get into the character's skin. He is Abhishek batch an on the screen. Period, Mithun's acting was the best I think. He's the only actor who made me feel for his character truly, brilliant. Vidya Baan was very honest in her brief role. Aishwairya, as usual is plastic. Rest all are just stars trying to please their "sir".

6) Direction – The less said the better. I hardly had any memorable scene from this movie.

7) The absolute clichés - Since 15 years Mani made movies with 'item numbers' (was the first who introduced item numbers with Dalapati). After 15 yrs, I don't expect Mani to show sleaze and rope in Mallika Sherawat to do an out of context item song in a biopic movie, that too in the first 15 Min's of a movie. Somewhere in the end, you have end endless flow of glycerin out of the blue, where they show a cremation scene with 10 people crying for 2 minutes! Why do we need so many emotions in one movie when the theme is so central.

8) Miscellaneous - Why do we need another love story between Madhavan and Vidya Balan? Abhishek looks, walks, talks the same through out the movie whether he is 20 or 50+-I just didn't feel him grow on the screen. Watch in Nayakan how Kamal grows in a metamorphosis from a 25 yr old to a 60 yr absolutely flawlessly.

In a world of constant innovations, creativity and changes, in a generation where you see movies like "Pi" and "The Fountain" being made by the same director, where there is no limit to ideas galore., I do not differentiate between Mani Ratnam and Karan Johar if what they do at the end of the day - is the same old time tested 'safe bet' 'multi star' formula. Good cinema is dying in the hands of stars and entertainment value. Mani Ratnam is dead, a fan for over 15 yrs has just resigned.

Rang De Basanti (2006)

like a fresh breath of colors but still not a rainbow

[8/10 · 30 January 2006]

(Note - may contain spoilers! )

RDB is a different movie, contemporary in it's screenplay, music and theme. Patriotic movies more often ignite the spirits within you, some question the System, some question the people. But none has suggested a solution, a realistic solution, not a hypothetical projection of a historic depiction.

This movie attempts to recreate the aura, psyche of Bhagath Singh and Azad's troupe in modern day era. It simply is a rendering of the past in the present context. It doesn't try to tell you whether Bhagat Singh is right or wrong or whether what the 4 college guys did is right or wrong. It just says - "This is what happens, when some people stand up and believe in what they fight. This is whats gonna happen to any youth in this country if the Government continues to BS around and no you don't need no Al Qaida to do, just normal people can".

Whats the result?

Instead of a History Channel on Bhagath Singh, you get a contemporary rendering of the characters in present day India with a seemingly interleaving screenplay of past/present. Most biopics on Bhagat Singh tried to portray as him as an extra ordinary person and simply repaint history without telling the psyche and the circumstances. I think thats why this movie deserves a great applause by rendering a difficult subject wrt the present people, people like you and me who never thought of execution of the thought.

The cast is first rate. After a long time, you will feel that a popular Hindi cinema has no stars, just characters.(I can only remember Lagaan, Swades, DCH close to this in terms of characterisation in the recent past). AR Rahman, brilliant.Its sad to see so many good movies with his good music do not get the attention that he truly deserves.

Well, here comes the down part. The first half makes you completely fall in love with this movie and just when you start building expectations ... the movie fails. Starting with the protest of Ajay's flight accident, assassination of Defense Minister (quite cool eh? Didn't know that you could just shoot a minister point blank and still nobody can figure out who the killer is. Quite stupid), to the insanely gruesome mass shooting towards the end, this is where you start to feel that the director is using too much of liberty and insisting you not to use your brains.

Watch out for some of the best moments - 1) When Amir cries for Madhavan at the dinner table, telling how useless, helpless he is. Brilliant acting. I always consider a tragic scene as extremely difficult coz you just don't cry seeing the actor cry, but if it gives u a millisecond of gasp- he deserves an applause. 2) when the 4 buddies remove their shirts and wave across a fighter plane just grazing on their above. Wonderful poetry! Also shows that you don't have to have great bods to remove the shirt. It could still look great. 3) last scene with Siddharth / Amir when they're smiling to glory ...

Acting is great ... no one has screwed up in any dept. However the last 1 hour is a bit amateurish and could have been avoided with more sophistication. Like all those movies which try to say something about patriotism, this one brags about it too, yet in a different subtler "warning" tone. But my point is

"what do we do now. Do you have a solution?"

When will we see a movie which could bring us hope, which addresses the Issues and brings out the execution in reality? Opinions like these will come and go but the Problem still remains

the bottom line 8/10 - Brave attempt on cinematography, music, screenplay, casting and storytelling of 6th class history. Ironically, the premise of the movie should have been told in writing by the director towards the end, saying its just a ironic depiction of the past and not the moral of the story. Unfortunately for some viewers the message could be deceptive as its very very subtle.

Swades on the other hand could be realistic, it hits you hard, very deeply with a message

Mangal Pandey (2005)

Where is the Rising?

[14 August 2005]

Decent Movie., but wondering what went into 4 years of it's making.

1)There is no epic proportion drama 2)The character is not real, the village, the look & the love triangle all cooked up (bollywood eh?) 3)There are no war sequences 4)No story which could encompass the period of history 5)Too many songs, yet again (will our directors ever understand?) 6)Too much emphasis on "kartoos" pig & cow ... 7)poor dialogues, uninspirational at times when war is about to begin 8)Bad cinematography 9)Music for the first time by ar rahman is uninspirational. 10) After 18 reels, I don't think anyone in the theatre felt patriotic enough to fel bad about or feel proud about.

Mangal Pandey - who?

In short its just an instance of kartoos & its attached melodrama coupled with songs & mangal pandey fighting for it. The rising almost looks like a short story/chapter from a history book than an epic. One would expect more from Amir & a 4 yr production work (not to mention 1 yr post production). Songs were unnecessary & the dialogues were uninspirational too. (imagine mangal pandey shouting all to 'raise' for a war by saying "chalo chalo" )

But yeah, Amir did an honest job & so did Toby but then history should have more drama & war & bloody gore to show an impact as powerful as it should have been. At the end of the movie I did not feel a thing for Mangal Pandey or India, perhaps this is why I couldn't appreciate the movie so well.

Talking of two recent movies - Bhagath Singh & Swades at least questioned my patriotism. That, I think is a great success!

Sarkar (2005)

Sarkar disappoints & its NOT a Godfather - NO way !

[6/10 · 7 July 2005]

First of all to put an end to the never ending debate to the Sarkar Vs Godfather, this is NOT a Godfather and can never be one, thanks to it's over-hyped characterisation, thin plot & most importantly an underplayed protagonist. When you see a director of the class of RGV making statements like "I wanted to make this movie from 25 yrs ... This is my best movie so far ..."., your clinical analysis should be prefect. Read this review & you will appreciate why I've said so, without any prejudice.

First of all, why do you think Godfather is bible for many young directors? Put it simply, its characterisation, its drama & powerful dialogues set amidst a realistically paced screenplay. Of course we need not copy Godfather but what we need to understand is the essence of film-making taken from the Godfather saga. RGV himself has attributed his inspiration from this film by which I will assume he does justice to its style of film-making. Unfortunately he disappoints in many sectors.

1) The PLOT

The whole plot of the movie is about two things - killing Sarkar & taking revenge on Sarkar's assassination attempt. This is where the film fails to justify its protagonist's role. Where have you seen Sarkar;s character growing.., sharing his principles with the family, where did you see Sarkar's treatment of the business, where is it captured the nuances of the character building?

In fact the first 15 mins is the only place where Sarkar has been portrayed well. The rest just sidelines the main theme - SARKAR to a mere revenge, plot killing saga of hero vs villain.

2) Too many villains.

This is a conventional storyline with too many caricatures throwing in as Goons. OK., now for comparison with Godfather(mind you this is just the style of film-making & not the actual film), have you seen a single villain glorified in the whole trilogy? The whole crux was on Godfather & his son, how they manage the business. SIMPLE. You don't throw in loud music, lots of characters to over emphasise a bad guy. This is absolute cliché. Too many reels wasted on showing the bad guys when its not so important to show them.

3) Too loud music.

Whatever happened with RGV, he seems to be choosing the wrong person for BG score these days. Amar Mohile is annoying and irritating most of the times. He doesn't know that adding music for every scene actually spoils the impact & effect. Besides if you notice, there are 4-5 instruments used in the same scene ( Sitar, classical, dhol, violin. synths .., which change the mood of the film in seconds). For a dark movie, you only need violin & bass. or else no music. Perhaps ar rahman or Sandeep Chowta are the only ones who know the basics in this dept.

4) Underplayed characters.

As mentioned, Sarkar is underplayed. There is not much scope or role for him after 45 mins of the movie. & for all those who are praising AB's acting skills., they need to justify the same. There isn't much scope for him in this. I don't remember a single powerful, yet subtle dialogue from him in this movie. It's a shame that a protagonist himself is underplayed. The only person who exemplified in acting in this movie was Kay Kay. Absolutely brilliant !!! But unfortunately we don't see much of his character being built up after the interval which is bad. There could have been so much scope to his dark shaded side. Abhishek is good, nothing extra ordinary again. (Yuva has much larger scope & its still his best)

There was so much talk about Sarkar's "power". Unfortunaltey Amitabh looks helpless, throughout the movie. He seems to be dependent on his sons & associates & post interval is a mere waste for his role. This is where RGV loses balance & focus. This movie is all about SARKAR & his power (Remember Satya?) not his chamchas, not the villains, not his sons., not the plot. So bingo ! You are lost again.

5) Ending.

A shabby ending which sounds quite banal. Son kills goons., takes over & he is now the DON. In fact they waste 30 mins of reel (in the 120 mins) just to show the chasing, revenge killing which was all unnecessary. (could have done in 5 mins)

The bottomline is RGV like many others fail to understand why Godfather is such a prodigy in film-making. In an attempt to make an adaptation they only take the principle characters & leave behind the characterisation & the plot. But yes, there are a few good moments in the film which deserver an applause, for ex., Abhisheks reaction when he kills his bro etc. The cinematography is brilliant with it's black n grey shades.

Talking of adaptations., "Nayakan" is a far better adaptation than Sarkar. In fact you will be taken aback by the power, performance, story & direction of that movie. Sarkar doesn't even come close to it. Sarkar fails on both the grounds - Godfather adaptation as well as RGV's capability (Just to mention, Satya still is a cult movie & remains his best direction till date). RGV probably is suffering from a post satya syndrome where he is self assuming his films to be near perfection, sadly they are lost in the pipeline.

Shabd (2005)

Shabd - one of the best cult endings I've ever seen!!

[22 February 2005]

After 3 weeks since I've seen., I'm quite surprised that none of the viewers have understood the film. Rather pity that most of us digged at zayed khans crooning sluggish screenplay but take my word - Shabd has unveiled an ending in a never before attempted twist in a screenplay, perhaps the only one that has shocked me in the recent past is Sixth Sense.

WEll I don't intend to spoil the mood by revealing the climax but here goes the "climax for dummies"

1) why do you think Sanjay dutt couldn't find the page read by aish in the end? 2) Why doesn't Zayed show up towards the end? 3) Why doesn't Aish talk throughout the last reel when sanjay is undergoing the trauma of not finding his script & worried about zayed?

Well, the answers are simple.

1) coz its the same damn page aish was holding ! 2) coz there's no zyed khan - hes a figment of sanjays imagination! 3) coz shes in awe to see sanjay becoming paranoid

The whole episode of aish-zayed is a dream sequence!!!!!

Sanjay is so obsessed of writing a "real character" in his story that he starts visualising things which never happened...what rolls out till the end is his infatuation that aish is in love with zayed., but the fact is *there is no zayed"

In retrospect now when you trace back to the movie you will see the 'silence' in the film towards the end ... revealing sanjay's paranoid nature.

Brilliant stuff from an overly underrated first time director.

As for the rest the visuals are good, aish is amazingly beautiful, zayed a.l.a SRK sucks.

Go share this info with all your folks who said "Damn what a sad ending" - Wake up !

Black (2005)

Visually enthralling, warmhearted poetry unveiled, Amitabh's best so far.

[9/10 · 5 February 2005]

Black may not be the perfect movie of the year or a flawless attempt at portraying human emotions through a blind eye, but what it leaves us is a great impression by taking us through the journey of two very maturely crafted characters. Visually stunning, SLB recreates his passion for grandeur in art direction & sets (although this movie didn't quite need it). A 2 hr movie without songs & sensible plot with just minimal characters who completely convince you of the pain they undergone, BLACK is a fiction but a convincing poetry on Canvas how a struggle by a teacher to bring back an 8 yr blind,deaf,dumb girl to life. The relationship between the two is perhaps never been portrayed before., sometimes controversial (the kiss scene between amitabh & rani) This particular scene has been made with a lot of guts & full marks to SLB.

The movie has got its many flaws but again I don't see a point in criticizing this movie at all; the fact that you now have a product which has come a long away from the clichés of bollywood masalas is a great achievement & attempt in itself & we need to encourage such movies.

Go watch BLACK & try not to watch for defects but for the sheer pain & passion of one of the very few genuine directors we have on hand today.Watch BLACK for Amitabh - India's answer to Al Pacino! After this you perhaps cannot accept to see such a talent wasted in the many cameos hes done in the recent past

Swades (2004)

nothing short of a standing ovation ! A marvellous Indian cinematic experience ...

[10/10 · 18 December 2004]

Action, Thrillers, Drama, Romance, Comedy, "Crossovers", "Art Cinema" & finally Bollywood cinema. Nothing comes closer to the feeling of watching a good cinema these days & ironic is the fact that seldom there is a genre created for "Good Cinema".

Here comes Swades - Ashutosh Gowariker, post Lagaan,. with an optimism unparalleled with his vision & passion., always aiming at the roots of

traditional movie making. This time, he brings home one of the most humble yet convincing attempts in Indian cinema., with a script just short of a patriotic saga, characters reflecting India TODAY. Set in modern day India but taking a village backdrop, Swades is a film that tackles the issues that every educated upper class, specially the NRIs face today - a sense of belonging, Patriotism & having a realistic image of our country. Depicting through a NASA scientist (NRI) & taken the journey through the annals of an Indian village, a quest for finding his childhood nanny becomes an infinite journey that perhaps everyone of us go through metamorphically ...

in finding an Indian amongst us.

Mohan, (SRK) a successful NRI working in Nasa, realises the bitter truth of loneliness, often seen in today's growing spearation of Indians abroad. He wants to go home, nostalgic in search of his missing childhood & all he can remember last is, he is ashamed of losing contact with his nanny, who he holds with great reverence. (Parents die in an accident when he's young & his nanny has always taken good care of him). In a quest to find her & bring her back to US.,Mohan sets to Delhi in great pursuit & in the interim traces her residence in a distant UP town. What follows later is a series of interestingly woven characters that slowly builds upon a template for the fictional yet realistic characters of this village. The postmaster, a dhaba cook who dreams of opening a "highway dhaba" in US., the playful innocent kids., the beautiful urban educated girl (Gita)., now taking care of his nanny, who has given up everything to teach the children of the village & transform her ideals, the panchayat goons & rajas., the 'weather forecaster', the uneducated rest & of course, the wise nanny.

The next few reels bring us close to humanitarian essentials, questioning the very existence of the Panchayat System in the village, debating the needs of an education System, need for working in unision., & the utter poverty, cultural (dis)beliefs of people. Whats so convincing in this script is how the songs are used as an instrinsic part of the storytelling. Never before I have seen a Hindi movie wherein if songs were removed the movie is annulled !! Yet another reason how visionary ar rahman can be when it comes to sharing the intellect of his directors, not to mention the first class lyrics by javed akhtar. Some of the background tracks are an absolute delight (the funky starting sequence, the funny dhoti scene, the slow moving boat scene, train scene are some of the elements which cannot be fathomed by any other music director in India (or perhaps in the world).

100 minutes pass by & here comes the intermission. The audience stays in silence., no word comes from anybody, see each others faces & probably are asking themselves - "Damn its been more than one & half hour & I just didn't realised it!!!"

-Just one more reason which convinces you, "Good scripts never tell you how long they are ... coz you're IN it!"

Now., Mohan is trying to convince his nanny to come to US & its already getting late as his leave period is getting over. In the interim there's a subtle but very interesting chemistry between Mohan & Gita building up. Not to worry.., this is not those typical filmi kinda romances but shot in subtle nice sequences. Another note which can goto all the Directors, Music Video Directors - You don't need a woman to sport a bikini to look good.., neither you need Aishwairya Rai or Yana Gupta to champion the cause of an "Item No". The very meaning of beauty lies in our own traditional Saree & you will only realise when you see Gita's character & visuals in this movie. PERFECT.

The Plot thickens & now we see the transformation is not only in the villager's to start believing in Mohan's ideals ., in supporting his ideas... but the audience which by now is beginning to be ashamed of .... what we always have taken into granted - Our Patriotism. For instance, the scene where Mohan goes to a local crowded train. Sees a boy selling water for 25p on the pavement & for the first time drinks water in India (Mohan keeps a stack of mineral water at his dispose) is is crafted brilliantly. (not to forget the background score again). There are more than one reasons why this movie is perhaps different from other "patriotic" movies., coz it doesn't try to TEACH you anything. The subtlety, the ironic truth & the bitter, realistic characters makes it all so very close to humanity - you don't need Shah Rukh Khan to tell you this.

You will feel it shamelessly.

Few more days stay & now Mohan is beginning to question the very reason why he has come here, he begins to realise that what is happening is not correct & its a shame that he has not done anything so far to make a transformation.

Will Mohan finally take his nanny/Geeta to US? Does he make any attempt to make a transformation in the village? Well., whats the message the Director wants to convey ..

These are somethings I want YOU to see & appreciate. The brilliant dialogues of "India Vs US" ., "Parampara & culture .. " is just an eye opener to all of us who only tend to take things into granted.,

The performances - I don't quite agree with most people when they say SRK steals the show all the way., I feel Ashutosh steals the show given that he has produced, directed, written & done screenplay for this. Also go due credits to ar rahman, akhtar & all the characters in the film. Mohan's role is author backed & could have possibly been done by Amir, Ajay Devgan or even Anil Kapoor with equal if not a better flair.But yes, whats convincing is that Ashotosh ropes in SRK for this & gets ... what probably is the most honest, *natural* SRK performance ever. For the first time I've seen SRK making a successful attempt to be as convincing as Amir or Kamal Hassan & I would say for once., A star has become an ACTOR!

Yes SRK is definitely different in this film & I'm glad !!! I hope he makes more such films to prove that he is definitely a better actor.

Breaking quite a few clichés of a "run of the mill" bollywood flick, this 3 hour tale raises a few embarrassing questions., which I'm sure every viewer will beg to ask in the transition ..

• Why are'nt such movies never made in India?

• How come Shah Rukh has acted so convincingly in a role contrast to his traditional romantic flick?

• Am I the only one questioning my patriotism right now ?? (well ... err let me see ...)

We blame the Bollywood not knowing that we are a part of encouraging it's cinema ... we only crib about how bad movies are made & we make movies like K3G all time biggest hits. In a country where creativity is the last word in Bollywood, I salute the humblest & honest filmmaker of all - Mr Ashutosh Gowariker to have made this movie cutting all the clichés'

A GREAT FILM MAKER is born ... LETS CELEBRATE.