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Reviews
Obhishopto Nighty (2014)
A brilliant wacky,sleazy,surreal satire that has its heart in the right place..
When the world is full of fakes and there is crisis all around, how do you discover the truth? The wait is to identify the real. The quest is to make way for a change. Director Birsa Dasgupta takes the sleazy, witty path to unveil the truth. The naked truth or real love is not easy in today's world where every next person believes in barter. What if this barter, this craving for the best comes as a boomerang and teaches humanity a lesson? Yes, the grass in greener on the other side until you step into the same wild grass. Maybe the facts are furious but the presentation was too comical. Director Birsa Dasgupta and story writer Debaloy Chatterjee has worked on subversion. Their gesture on screen was simple and sleazy, they have not tried to be sophisticated, not tried to be too urban to suit the taste of some.
Life is raw, so why not present it raw. They have laughed at familial situations, at love and even made a fool of themselves through the subject of censor board. A bizarre nighty makes way to the city and travels homes. Homes that are orthodox, homes that are too conservative, homes that have a newly married couple and homes that have a struggling actress. Life automatically alters the moment the women wear this fuscia piece of lacy cloth. But what next? The nighty conquers the city. It makes way to the headlines and drapes the city in its own colors. The film begins with a sequence happening in 1985 and jumps straight to the present. Every story along the nighty's path remains unresolved. A question keeps lurking on our minds as to what happens to the family after the nighty moves out?
Witty, allegorical dialogs and settings bring a new wave on screen and definitely is a breather in the midst of the ordinary. Director Dasgupta has adopted an excellent scheme of narration in the film, which truly reminds us of graphic novels. The film is divided into interesting chapters and he distinctly sculptors the edges to present each chapter individually. Moving from hook to hook the Obhishopto Nighty (cursed Nighty) finally meets real love. Love that brews between Apu (Parambrata Chattopadhyay) and Brishti (Tanusree).
With a whole gamut of fine actors from Parambrata to veteran actor Paran Bandapadhay to the jester Mir Obhishopto Nighty definitely is a winner. The music of the film is definitely haunting and sets the mood right with the brilliant lyrics. While Birsa Dasgupta deserves a pat for the storybook like format of the narrative Debaloy Chatterjee deserves an extra brownie for the dialogs.
If you cannot digest the pun, simply gulp in the fun. Obhishopto Nighty is a perfect watch for people in relationships, all sorts are welcome. The sleazy humor is tantalizing and leaves a lurking taste for the time to come.
(Source of review : nowrunning.com)
Ishaqzaade (2012)
A true depiction of regressive Indian society
Different stories are told- few fresh few stale but there are few stories which have universal appeal over age and time. Ishaqzaade is such a story of passionate lovers over creed, religion, cast,greed and Indian hypocrisy. While Aamir Khan debut in TV unmasking the "glorious" culture of India with Satyameve Jayate, Habib Faisal throws light on real India and its raw crude reality. India at its root level is as harsh as the film itself, toned down to make it suitable for family viewing. Ishaaqzaade is age-old story about a hindu boy falling for a Muslim girl. Within this simple structure Faisal injected good amount of twist and turns to keep one glued to screen. Set up in fictional town Almore Faisal reflected reality of states like UP & Bihar. The film begins with Qureshis & Chauhans fighting for MLA seat. Even though both are full of hatred for each other ironically they are same at ideological level. The success of narration lies in the fact that it is not about superficial rivalry between two families. The film goes deeper into mindset of Indian societies. However modern we claim to be at the root level we are caught in webs of hypocrisy and false esteem whereby an elder male member of the family is respected irrespective of the person he is. Over the years this false respect which we have bestowed upon undeserving men has laid to the deceleration of India as a whole. Coming back to the film, personally I have no inclination to love stories specially the once made by Yashraj film but it is the authenticity of Faisal's work which struck me. Hardly interiors of rustic crude India has been explored to churn out love stories and characterization of Parma-Zoya is just marvelous. Both young, rough, foul mouthed who can go all the way to see their family members winning the election. Through the interaction with their family, hypocrisy has been shown. Initially it seemed that Zoya's family will go all the way to save her from any adversities but to her shocking revelation even her dearest father turns out to be those power hungry men who can go to any extent for his own benefit. Same goes with Parma's grandfather for whom career and reputation is more important than family. In fact these people are more dangerous than big gangsters as they play with emotions of people creating a hindu-Muslim rift amongst masses to win vote, when needed they are ready to shed their religious inhibitions and flock together to create havoc. As expected the mothers' are relegated to backseat but they are shown as strong characters. The courage which Parma's mother exhibits to save his son's Muslim bride should be applauded and we hope more mothers garner that courage to stand against cruelty.
The film's second half is more clichéd and few even complained it being sexist and misogynist as Zoya is tortured to an extent she loses her true self, but then that is the plight of women in interior parts of our country. Without making it look like a fairy tale Faisal dared to show the raw reality and thanks to Aditya Chopra as producer for showing the "real" India which is rare in Yashraj films. As mentioned earlier the typical story has been elevated due to the execution. Faisal showed competency with screenplay in his earlier films (Brilliant Do Dooni Char & different Band Baja Baraat) and Ishaqzaade is no exception. Such old themes wouldn't have made any impact if not tight narrative added with dialogs which are real to the core. The way the duo's passion gets ignited through violence amidst a violent setting is commendable. Hemant Chaturbedi's cinematography gels with the director's vision. The violence lurking in the alleys of small town cocooned by supposed mirage of peacefulness has been well captured. A little shaky camera-work uplifts the mood from the first sequence. And then there is Amit Trivedi , probably the best musician in tinsel town who creates melodies that suits the mood of the film rather than a sequence in isolation. Since Dev D he proved himself again and again. The song "Aafaton ki parinde" immediately takes audience to the rustic land of lawlessness to fast edited sequences by Aarti Bajaj and brings in the tension. "Pareshan" is another song that demands mention for its hatke treatment. Ishaqzaade marks the debut of producer Boney Kapoor's son Arjun Kapoor and he looked comfortable as a brat without a conscience. One thing he needs to work on is his dialog delivery which was not clear in few scenes. On the other hand Pareeniti Chopra is a treat to watch. With a confident debut in forgettable Ladies Vs Ricky Behl,Chopra displayed tremendous confidence with a variety of expressions in Ishaqzaade. She instilled soul to Zoya's character with whom one could empathize. She played the confident Zoya who stood tall in a patriarchal society with high self esteem with precision and executed the vulnerable side of Zoya with equal conviction in the second half.Even though it is too early but still I feel if she gets the right opportunity she would leave a mark as one of the finest actress of Hindi cinema. The lady playing Parma's mother was exceptional in her portrayal of the character and even after the end credit rolls you will feel for her and mothers like her in rural India who are subdued and crashed breaking their self esteem. Gauhar Khan as Chand Baby was decent in her bromide portrayal of a gold hearted hooker saving Parma-Zoya's life. Anil Rastogi as Parma's grandfather brings hatred thanks to his violent on screen characterization. The unknown supporting cast was adequate and filled in the gaps. The ending (which many might not approve) was plain brilliant which was appropriate for the story in a rustic setting. The end leaves a lot of question to the conscience of our great cultured society but is anyone listening??
Joker (2012)
Imaginatively Outlandish
With cliché, loud, stupid masala film ruling the marquee sideline classics like Wasseypur, the names of Salman,Akshay,Devgan and their clans are enough to put me off.Almost disinterested,I came across trailer of Joker and the fresh noble look prompted me to watch the film.
Joker is No Classic but not a bad attempt either.Somehow typical Indian audience are open to our heroes doing irrational gravity defying fight scenes but when something is deliberately imaginatively bizarre the same flock starts looking for logic.Thus when our foreign counterpart could think of making "Ghostbusters" in 80s Hindi directors dared to try something different for the fear of failure.As a result we get to see the same loud comedy,sugar-coated uni-dimensional romance or revenge drama in forms of Rathores.ShirishKunder tries to pour in imagination to the otherwise mundane commercial milieu in form of Joker.
Joker is an out-an-out commercial film but still the hero doesn't mouth double meaning one-liners;doesn't fight in the air to take revenge;doesn't engage in forceful morality tale nor does he run around uttering gibberish "Chintachita" with mid-riff exposed heroine.Instead the hero is making a gadget to communicate with the aliens and also helping their village to get Government's attention.Now could anyone imagine existence of a village in our country which is not present in the political map?Reason shown is deliberately outlandish.In Kunder's imaginative frame the village is "Pagalpur" which is bordering three Indian states without falling in any of them.The village had been conquered by few mad men who escaped the mental asylum.Agastaya is a scientist at space lab who is from Paglapur.He is working on a gadget to communicate with the aliens.With a deadline of 1 month he is forced to come back to India due to his father's illness.Circumstances forced him to stay in the village and solve their water problem for which he approaches three governments but neither of them is interested to claim Pagalpur.Thus he created the hoax of false crop signs to grab media's attention to Pagalpur.That's the basic premise.
With most of negative feedbacks I would like to highlight the reason for mine liking it irrespective of many flaws in the narrative.The imaginative script caught me by surprise.India has numerous villages and it is quite possible that there are more like "Pagalpur" being left out while drawing the final political map.An innovative concept webbed around the issue is attempted for first time.There are under lying relevant social issue of the apathy of the state towards the particular village building a dam thus disconnecting the source of water supple.The dire negligence of system is poignantly highlighted when Akshay goes for complaining and three states ministry ignore his plea as claiming a disowned village doesn't fulfill their vested selfish interests.The idea of involving a hoax like crop signs has been done tactfully while making good mockery of UN and even few Nasa scientists who are more keen on self-promotion than inventions.The concept behind naming the film "Joker" is well conceived.Like Joker they are part of the pack but not of any colour without having any use to anyone.Seriously we are indeed Jokers in front of the system that is indifferent to the tax-payers problems.
The film is also a spoof of serious films like Swades,Lagaan,Signs and borrows ingredients from those films and gives them a twisted inane dimension that adds on to the comic factor.The characterizations have been done with precision.
We expect people of Pagalpur to be bizarre.And that's what Kunder gives us!There is ShreyasTalpade who speaks gibberish which the aliens could pick up well.There is Asrani,the village school master whose mind still resides in the 40s second world war turbulent times and whenever a plane flies above he fears that the Germans are attacking them.There is a hunchback Pitobash who can run faster than a leopard.While designing the village and its surrounding Kunder uses his thinking prowess to bring it to reality.The village head house has a twisted structure that gels with the mindset of the film.There is a jungle surrounding the village which has a secret passage through a tree which has been used latter in the film to help the fake aliens to escape."Joker' is probably one of the rare films where we have fake aliens and the meticulous process of transforming a man into an alien has been shown.With usage of vegetables like pumpkin, gourds and with tiny bulbs(which we use in diwali)the men were transformed into unworldly creatures and the whole sequence reflects creative bend of mind.
The things were getting repetitive after a certain moment but quickly Kunder switched his path to something more strangely.The short duration of the film also adds to its benefit.I am surprised when Indian audience can laugh on the stupid loud antics shown in RohitShetty & SajidKhan films why can't they accept deliberate weird stuffs exhibited in Joker.Unlike slapstick scenarios in blockbusters Joker has some genuine imaginative sequences.
SudeepChatterjee's camera & SukantPanigrahi's art direction needs special mention to highlight the minute detailing of the set.Within budget constraint the visual effects were effective(better than contrived Ra.One).Lots of brainstorming had gone behind designing the gadget to communicate with aliens.
Unlike usually loud AkshayKumar,he is restrained as scientist Agastya adding credibility to the character.SonakshiSinha was just about there.Her voluptuous frame looks more like pumpkin in western outfit.Supporting cast filled the gaps.
An applauding,imaginative spoof with stunning visuals.Though I agree that given the basic story in place it would have been done in a far better way still the effort is commendable.ShirishKunder has an eye for bright interesting visuals which he should explore in all his film.Indeed he has the potential to be the "TimBurton" of Hindi cinema provided he is ready to experiment in all his coming film.Hopefully he won't fall in the trap of 100cr marketing gimmick.
P.S:In a passing reference, one character talks about "Shundi' which was kind of homage to Ray's classic GoopyGyneBaghaByne which was placed in imaginative cities named Shundi & hundi
The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
Gigantic & almost an epic
My growing years witnessed tryst with comic heroes which had always fascinated the directors resulted in various adaptations being made in celluloid. While you have the films with one-dimensional superheroes fighting villains in a counter-strike fashion, there is also more mature psychological take to these genres in the form of Batman. Batman was never a superhero and his strength comes from his will and ability to invent new gadgets. The dark nature of the comics suits the character of Bruce Wayne. After Schumaker's hara-kiri in form of "Batman & robin" Nolan took the charge and we had the spectacular "Batman Begins" & "The Dark Knight". His new venture "The Dark Night rises" which ends the trilogy is a deserving conclusion to his adaptation of the knight in black.
TDKR takes us into Gotham city eight years from Harvey Dent's death. After taking the accusation of Dent's murder to protect the city, Batman is in recluse but Commissioner Gordon plans to tell the truth to the citizens of Gotham while somewhere far away Bane is creating an army to create havoc and destroy the city. The crippled Bruce Wayne seems too weak in front of the mighty big army. There we have Selina Kyle/Catwoman, Detective Blake, Miranda each aiding Bruce Wayne with the much needed support to put on the mask of Batman though his butler-cum-guardian Alfred is not sure about his master's current physical abilities. Thus begins a fight for Bruce Wayne with inner self as the city is on the verge of destruction. As the film proceeds it seems Bane is just a trigger to someone more powerful behind the mayhem and the reason is still under wraps.
Nolan didn't resort to cheap action sequences to drive the plot. The setting is grandeur but there is more to the plot than plain thrills. In TDK Joker was the devilish reflection of Batman who wanted to create chaos and anarchy against the existent system.He created the ripple and illusion of a perfect system was broken, as Batman took the responsibility of Dent's murder.Thus Dent's wrong deeds were buried to create an image of a hero who could be looked upon by the Gotham civilians. In TDKR Bane comes in and tells the truth even before Gordon could address in public. By revealing the truth Bane tried to weaken the morality of civilians who had false faith in the system.He continued to play the rich-poor divide giving every civilian imaginary power to uplift their will. Even though his mechanisms seem revolutionary underneath there are monstrous intentions. Nolan should be credited to portray the perfect reel image of Batman with Wayne saying the young Blake how Batman is just a symbolism of strength, hope and optimism. Anybody can be a Batman if one respects one's ability to even assure a child that he/she is safe and the world will not end. There is a reflection of "Batmanbegins" where Gordon had said the same to the young orphan Wayne. Nolan successfully uses the cinematic platform to raise relevant questions on the way democratic nations work and shows swaying nature of common man. Nolan has always been acknowledged for his visual aesthetic sense and he takes it to another level with this film. There is no over-the-top action sequences, no gimmicky in form of 3-D but still those few in there are stunners. The sequence where the city is blown up especially the baseball field execution was brilliant. The bike chase scene was superb. The one-to-one combat in the finale was great albeit hurried and somehow the urgency to wind up within 3 hours was reflected. The twist in the tale though relevant could have been done more tactfully.
WalleyPfister and Nolan camaraderie worked in this film also. Pfister's camera work is marvel especially the scenes shot inside the prison where Wayne is captured. Zimmer's music hits the right note and the occasional muteness creates an uneasy sensation within.
JoesphGordon-Lewett showed the vulnerability and strength of a young officer Blake who is awestruck by Batman and believes in a superhero saving the world. Blake was nowhere less than Wayne in saving Gotham. ChristianBale is always reliable in any role and he has given the best celluloid rendition of the dark knight. Bale's range of emotion effectively showcases a middle aged billionaire who is weak but still has the zeal to fight back. Bale's chameleon-ish ability gives a human shape to the superhero who is just an ordinary man in dire need to regain the confidence. GaryOldman continued his part as Commissioner Gordon with full enthusiasm. Veterans MichealCaine and MorganFreeman are reliable as always. AnneHathway looked stunning and suited the role of Catwoman. Her fight sequences made me think that any man would have gladly been defeated in the hands of such a beauty. And before I get carried away, there was another beauty MarionCotilard, splendid as businesswoman Miranda who takes over Wayne's empire with the desire to use the technology to create a clean world of sustainable energy, a topic much discussed in the current world scenario of global warming, pollution and shortage of non-renewable energy. Marion looked confident during the final reels where she confronts Wayne.
Late HeathLedger's flawless portrayal of Joker is still afresh in our mind but still Tom Hardy did catch attention as Bane. With a gigantic figure Hardy gives his best, while mouthing the dialogues that had authoritative power. Taking the idea from "Knightfall" Bane is strong, brutal and intelligent whose idea is much bigger than just creating anarchy.
On a whole TDKR is a deserving epic conclusion to the trilogy. Admittedly there were plot holes but nevertheless the effort is applauding. Keep your expectations moderate and witness the rise of Batman a symbol of human strength, a concept beyond "above the world" superheroes.
P.S : Those who came for special effects only would be disappointed. For them there is always the Avengers series which are more action driven than plot.