Johnny Gadar - A Review

Films, India No Responses »
Oct 082007

I had so desparately wanted to like Johnny Gadar. I like noir. I like thrillers. And, i liked Shiram Raghavan‘s last outing on Ek Haseena Thi. I kind of liked the cast of the film – Dharam paji has been a favourite since i was a kid. and the promos looked interesting. But……….
But, the fundamental problem with Johnny Gaddar is that it is a thriller that is not thrilling. And, I actually cannot put my finger on what made the movie a less than satisfying experience. The shooting style is good, the cinematography interesting ….the editing is crisp… The music a melange of moods… the performances competent… but there is something missing. If i had to explain it in a single line it would be that the soul, the raison d’etre, of the film was missing.
So, overall though it is a well crafted movie, it is not a well crafted film.

What did i like about it… Dharmendra for one… after a long time he has had a meaty role and he has savoured it… when Sheshadri tells you that "it is not the age, it is the mileage" when putting a 50 year younger Vikram on the mat….you believe him. Of the rest Zakir Hussain rocks as Shadab, Ashwini Khalsekar is brilliant, and Vinay Pathak has fun. The problem is with the young couple…Neil Mukesh is competent, but does not have the depth to pull off a layered role. and Rimi strikes me as not really being the type for whom someone will commit murder. She is as interesting as a cold, soggy idli. The chemistry would have been so much more interesting if the woman for whom Vikram commits murder was Aswini…

The tribute to James Hadley Chase is everywhere…as is the ‘hat tip’ to thrillers like ‘Johnny Mera Naam"…. but there is a big difference. In a Chase novel you cared about what happened to the main protagonist…. here you don’t. and that is a very scary space for a thriller.

So it is worth a watch? yes…. if you don’t go in with overt expectations after reading the reviews. Otherwise, if you are seeing the film expecting the rebirth of Indian noir or Indian thrillers, you are going to be disappointed.

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Review - 52 vol. 2

Media, graphic novels No Responses »
Sep 232007

52, Vol. 2 Often I don’t go to Infinity Mall, – the purpose is simple … to avoid going into Landmark and spending a fortune. Often I fail. 52 vol.2 – like 52, vol.1 – makes for compelling reading. Primarily because the characters are so incredibly strong. The story is broken into multiple journeys of heroes. The one that i found the most compelling is the story of Black Adam and his redemption. The four best writers in the comic business get together to pack another fabulous tale. Renee Montoya & the Question get to Kandhaq , Black Adam & Isis get married, The adventurers in space meet Lobo, and Ralph Dinby meets the Helmet of Fate, and Booster Gold meets his maker……. A year ago, i didn’t even know about these characters …. now i care what happens to them (Even Lobo)…I guess that is the power of good story telling.. Definitely worth buying.

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Review - Apollo’s Song

graphic novels No Responses »
Sep 202007

Apollo's Song Two evenings ago, I spent a mini fortune at Landmark. Again. Apollo’s Song was one of the purchases. Ever since I read Osama Tezuka‘s 8 – part graphic novel – Buddha, I was captivated by his writing, art and his take on humanity. The central theme of Apollo’s Song is love. The central character Shogo Chikaishi – a young man who has been brought into a mental asylum for killing animals. When the doctors’ decide to ‘cure’ him using electric shock therapy – he has a vision. The vision is that of a Goddess who wants to know why Shogo Chikaishi has been killing animals. We realize, at that point in time, that Shogo Chikaishi is the son of a woman who is possibly a prostitute and an unknown father. And as a young boy he chanced upon his mother with one of her numerous male friends. The sight repulsed him so much that he decided to kill any creature that shows any sign of intimacy. The Goddess curses him — that he will be reborn time and again to fall in love with his one true love. The moment that it is time for Shogo & his beloved to be together, one of them will die, and the curse will continue into the next life. From the Nazi concentration camps, to future world ruled by robots… from a lush garden on Eden to a marathon training session … Shogo travels through space and time living and reliving the curse. A fabulous narrative, wonderful art…. and a way of thinking that is truly enlightening.

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Review - Everything Bad is Good For You

Media No Responses »
Sep 122007

Everything Bad is Good for You Steve Johnson’s take on popular culture. The usual hypothesis is that the addictive nature of popular culture dumbs us down, alienates us from our sorroundings, and is partly responsible for the increase in "sex and violence" around us. Jonhson turns this hypothesis on its head. He looks at how pop culture has actually become more complex and involving over the last 30 years. Looking at the entire gamut of popular cultural products – from games – that stimulate the reward centres of the brain, to TV shows – that show us complex interpersonal relationships set in the context of social/political relaity – popular media is not ‘dumbing us down, rather it is smartening us up’. Definitely worth a read – especially for the insights on television ( obviously since i work in TV), though his analysis on games and gaming also is fascinating.

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Review - The Reluctant Fundamentalist

Books 4 Responses »
Jun 152007

The Reluctant Fundamentalist

I approached the book with some trepidation. I am not particularly fond of authors from the sub continent who write in English. I often find their narrative overtly lyrical, pretentiously mystical, and deliberately desi. But, so many people had told me so many good things about the novel that I succumbed. After purchasing the book, it lay on my table for three weeks, pristine in its cellophane wrapper. Running out of stuff to read, i opened it two days ago – and the book enthralled me from the first line.

I liked the sense of minimalism in writing. No unnecessary adjectives or adverbs. No takeoffs into the mystical / philosophical nature of eastern life. And no justifications for anything. It is a narrative that is shorn of pretense. The story is a monologue between the main protagonist Changez and an unseen American. And the monologue is an explanation of why a 20 something, ambitious, and brilliant young man from Princeton – who is expected to reach the top of his profession in the US – packs up and goes back home to be a teacher at the university.

Changez is very much a product of today. Someone who is very comfortable in his skin. Who neither makes apologies for his country, nor is his ‘culture’ in your face. He could be any of the friends that we have in the west, who are cosmopolitan – who feel equally comfortable in both worlds. And then disaster strikes. 9/11 happens.And Changez – like many we know – is appalled at his momentary sense of joy and satisfaction when the towers come down. And, this proves to be the turning point in his life.
At the time of 9/11, I was working at Zee at that time and we were at Chintamani Plaza. The first floor was full of television sets. And I was walking out for a meeting. I was stopped by this bunch of collegues huddled around a TV watching the footage of the planes ploughing into the WTC. At that time someone said – they bombed it, they have guts – we will never be able to do something like that. Even in a place like India, in a modern, cosmopolitan, broadcast environment, there was this satisfaction that the towers came down. “now they know how we feel” was a common response one heard. And, Mohsin Ahmed‘s articulation of the satisfaction that Changez feels while enjoying a drink in a hotel room in Manila is an echo of similar sentiments in Mumbai.

9/11 brings down more than the towers. It crumbles Changez’s life. His girlfriend – who is emotionally damaged – recedes further into depression. Changez finds himself isolated from his professional ‘bretheren’ and his well constructed life begins to unravel until an encounter with an old man who loves books.

‘The Reluctant Fundamentalist‘ is not a book that glorifies fundamentalism. Nor is it one that calls for violence. There is no good or bad. There just is. Even when Changez makes a seemingly anti-American statement it is tinged with a sense of embarrassment that we all feel when we behave badly.
Read the book – it is definitely worth a buy.

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Weekend Viewing

Media, TV 2 Responses »
May 212007

Most TV people I know consume very little of the medium. And, I am no exception. Partly it is the hours that I keep, and partly is the fact that saas bahu has no appeal to me. And the thought of watching over made up women, with loud costumes, and even louder background music, and a camera used as a broom when i get home after a noisy day at work – is scary. What I do try and catch – and have always done so — are the talent shows. I used to watch Sa Re Ga Ma Pa – in the days before reality television became a buzz word. And, when reality appeared, I tried to watch at least the first few episodes. This year there are a plethora of reality/talent shows that are up on offer on the main General Entertainment Channels. And, I watched them all.

Let me start with the only non-musical show of the lot. Sahara One‘s The Biggest Loser . 16 extremely overweight people in the lush looking Amby Valley, overseen by Sunil Shetty, trying to lose weight. They receive a lakh per every kg lost. I had my apprehensions about the show before it started … the topic cut too close to home. But, surprisingly it was very entertaining television. Sahara One manages to get the right mix of contestants, and their rationale for wanting to be on the show is identifiable. There is a man who is around 160 kilos who wants to lose weight to be able to play with his daughter, there is a girl around 120 kilos who wants romance in her life, and the way they put across the feelings of being unfit and ‘not belonging’ is spot on. Also, unlike most reality shows – read Big Boss or Roadies – this is not about the scum of the earth who revel in behaving badly with each other, but nice ordinary people. I really hope that it picks up ratings, because it will tell the market that something apart from glycerine and sindhoor will work.

Now for the Musical Shows. Indian Idol on Sony Entertainment Television. The best outing of the popular international format. For the first time, the show seems to have got its judges right. The pacing is a lot better than in the earlier two seasons, and the level of talent seems a whole lot better. Hussein and Mini work very well as the anchors. The show starts at nine, and it had me enthralled till 9.30 at which point I switched to Sahara One -where the Biggest Loser is on. Personally i found that the Biggest Loser was entertaining enough to keep me on Sahara One. I hope that the show catches on and sustains – there needs to be an alternative to non soap, non-film based programming – at least on one or two slots in a week. The second talent show is the Voice of India . Why would Star Plus put on such a shoddy show to compete against such power houses at the same slot? The set looks as though it has been put together with thermacol and chewing gum. The show looks as though it has been lit up by a blind camera man. And the quality of singing is sub-par. And to top it all Shaan has enough insincerity to give you diabetes. All in all, the show looks amateur. And, it possibly looks that way because Zee TV has put together the best talent show that I have seen in a long time.

Zee TV’s Sa Re Ga Ma Pa is possibly the best watch of the week. Great Talent, Great Judges, and an anchor I want to adopt. He is tho tho cute. Aditya Narayan – his voice barely broken, his beard barely sprouted – holds the stage with what can only be described as cuteness. And the contest between the judges — Vishal Shekar, Himesh Bhai, Ismail Darbar, Bappi Da really works well. But, the icing on the cake is the only Diva on Indian Television Asha Bhonsle. God! that woman has more attitude in a head movement than most of the bimbettes on air have even when they shake their entire body. Her criticism is constructive and she makes each of the singers feel good about their abilities. And, for those following the show .. the battle is on between Himesh Bhai and Asha Tai. And, my money is on the Diva.

So the battle for the weekend is on. All in all some interesting viewing for the audience. Some old, some new, and some down right stale…..and to quote a TV cliche … only time will tell, which of these will be the biggest winner (ouch)

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Review - Bheja Fry

Films 4 Responses »
May 072007

Imagine spending an evening with a man who is the verbal equivalent of Mr.Bean. That is essentially the one-liner of the film Bheja Fry. In the film, Vinay Pathak plays Bharat Bhushan, an Income Tax Officer with a passion for Hindi films and a penchant for blurting out the wrong thing at the wrong time. The hilarious events of a single night – when Music Producer Ranjit Thadani — Rajat Kapoor finds that an encounter with Bharat Bhooshan screws his life out of shape. A cameo by Ranvir Shourey, as Bharat Bhushan’s IT colleague Asif, is brilliant. If you are a technophile then this may not be the best film for you. Over 95% of the film is in a single location. And it works very well. Thankfully, neither the camera movements nor the lighting distracted attention from the incredibly funny dialogue script. Rajat Kapoor as the ‘intelligent’ music producer – who is a complete piece of shit — is very good. Understated but good. How this sophisticated urban SEC A1 gets his life put out of joint by the complete Desi IT officer – Vinay Phatak, as Bharat Bhushan – pat down to safari suit and hair with middle parting – is the crux of the story. I am told that it is a rip off, oops, tribute, to a French Film. If it is so, it is a good rip off. If not, then kudos to those whose idea it was. A short, tight film that keeps you laughing. Worth the price of entry. Go see it.

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Re viewing The Truman Show

Films 1 Response »
Apr 162007

Last week, while the PC was playing dead, I re-saw Peter Weir’s, almost prophetic, The Truman Show

Long before (well actually, a couple of years before) popular reality shows that dot the tv landscape, or the 24 by 7 Big Brother style coverage, The story, for those who haven’t’ watched it, is simple. Truman Burbank – played by Jim Carey – is the star of the 24*7 reality soap – The Truman Show . Except that he doesn’t know that his life is a soap, and all his friends and relatives are characters. As he slowly begins to realize that his life is not quite what it seems, he begins making plans to escape it.

Ed Harris who plays God - the TV producer Christos – whose brain child is the TRuman Show – is chillingly accurate when he says:

We’ve become bored with watching actors give us phony emotions. We are tired of pyrotechnics and special effects. While the world he inhabits is, in some respects, counterfeit, there’s nothing fake about Truman himself. No scripts, no cue cards. It isn’t always Shakespeare, but it’s genuine. It’s a life.

If any of us wonder, why reality is doing well, this is as good a reason as any. At the core we see everything hanging out, and that is what hooks us to come back. We want to see the ugliness and the naked emotion. I am not sure whether we want to see people win as much as we want to see them lose.

The Truman Show remains one of my two favourite films on the media, the other one being Network If you haven’t seen either film, do try and snatch a view. Both are very different in nature, and both are entertaining views.

Apart from being a comment on the nature of TV, the film is primarily about individual liberty. It asks the intrinsic question, is a well ordered, comfortable, ‘prison’ better than an uncertain future ?

There are moments when I feel like Truman. I want to drown my mobile, unplug my computer, burn my credit cards and go off into the mountains. But, is that really freedom?

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Ekalavya - The Royal Guard

Films 1 Response »
Feb 162007

… should have possibly been called Eklavya – the Royal Stud. Because that is really what the story was about. Once upon a time, somewhere close to now, in the beautiful state of Rajasthan – and Vinod Chopra has shot the quintessential 'visit Rajasthan' film -

Once upon a time there is a very, very gay King – Boman Irani wonderfully brilliant – who can't do it with his wife. So the mother-in-law and wife,Sharmila Tagore ,go off to the banks of the Ganga along with the Royal Guard Ekalavya – Amitabh Bachchan to find a priest who will do the neeful (as per ancient customs). Both Sharmila and the mother-in-law 'trust' Ekalavya more and he does the deed. Harshvardhan (saif) and the'idiot' savant (except that she is a painter) Nandini (Raima) are the offspring. The film essentially explores what happens when the King finds out, and what are the consequences of his actions on everyone. And of course the quandry that faces Ekalavya who has sworn to serve the kings.

A take of on Hamlet with a heavy dose of the Mahabharat and exploring concepts of what is Dharma. The films opens up with a number of interesting possibilities – but the desire of the director to linger longingly on Amitabh Bachchan's grizzled close ups means that meat in much of the story is lost. There is style in the film – each scene looks wonderful, the low angle shots of the fort and the palace create a stratified atmosphere, some scenes are brilliantly shot – but it is more style than substance. I was truly disappointed with the film. The story sagged. The scenes creaked and the dialogues felt as though they were made up by actors as they went along. The audience at Fun Republic was cracking up at 'emotional' scenes.

Performances wise – AB played Ekalavya as Atal Behari Vajpayee. Laboured, tortured and full of pauses. While he brings in a tremendous amount of pathos to the part, he is let down by the script. Of the cast Boman Irani as the Rana, who has been cuckolded by his Royal Guard, is brilliant. Jackie Shroff as Jyotiwardhan has had a meaty role to bite into after a long time, and he makes the most of it – when they die, you lose interest in the rest – their performances were truly riveting – and that kind of performance across board, would have lifted it from what it is to a truly brilliant film. The elements are there – it just doesn't all add to gether. Of the rest, Sunjay Dutt provides a menacing sort of comic relief in the film. But if you wrote out his part, it really would not be missed. An interesting story line is opened up with his introduction – the son of a 'Dalit' he has used modern Indian democracy to become a DSP – but the conflict between the old and the new, never really plays out. Saif Ali Khan and Vidya Balan had some of the worst dialogues I have heard ever. And I suppose delivering such lines with a straigth face can be tough, however good you are as actors. Jimmy Shergil whose character is a catalyst for much of the drama – is good but doesn't really have the screen time. And Raima as the 'pagal' Nandini is not irritating.

The cinematography was brilliant. As far as the story telling goes – there were scenes that were absolutely fantastic. Like the scene where the Raja reacts to the Rani calling out to Ekalavya. Or the scene where Ekalavya confronts Udaywardhan. or the scene between Jyotiwardhan and Udaywardhan. Or indeed the scene where the car with Ekalavya and the Rana is stopped between a railway crossing and a huge herd of camels. But, by and larges scenes didn't hold. when audiences start laughing at supposedly 'serious' scenes, there is something really wrong. The single song in the film is decent. hummable. But the background score is heavy – an overlay of chants from the Bhagvad Gita, and an inexplicable use of the 'Gayatri Mantra'.

Worth a watch ? – don't know. I have seen more entertaining movies that glorify 'feudal' Rajasthan – Kshatriya, Rajput, . But, if you can find a Rs.50 ticket a great idea.

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KBC 3 week 1 - A review

India, Media, TV 3 Responses »
Jan 292007

It rocked. And it rolled. And, as my mother pointed out, the highest density of dimples that any show in the world can ever claim. Man, the smiles and the dimples were out full force – and if nothing else, I will watch the show to see them, feel good about the world and switch off :) The show – Full of energy. Wit. Charm. A departure from the court culture – and it own overt humility and annoying politeness (get to the point, I wanted to scream ) – to a more modern assertive India, that is to the point, funny and not afraid of taking potshots at sacred cows. From the moment SRK went hip hop with ‘Kar le kar le tu ek sawaal’ dancing out one of the highest energy numbers I have seen on screen for a long time, till the end – he was a hit. I loved his opening bit about the use of shudh Hindi. You almost expected him to say at the end of the babel – excuse me please, my name is anthony gonsalves!! I like his style of questioning – a lot more informal, a lot less end of the world in its demeanor. And I liked his conversations with the contestants – light, friendly and very "hum hai na". If talking like Bachchan was like talking to God (as in the Judeo Christian Islamic mythology) then talking to SRK was like talking to someone from the Greek or the Roman pantheon. Possibly a Pan or even a Cupid. Powerful. Yet accessible. Just a guy from ‘our’ neighbourhood, who has made it big – and hasn’t lost his ability to be ‘one’ of us!. What didn’t i like – I didn’t like the over familiarity. Shoulder massages for contestants is a definitely an ugh point. Mein gale lagna chahta hoon made me cringe. Please, please look at something else. The Aap replaced by a Tum jarred a bit. I kind of like Freeze kiya jaaye. And the hi5′s definitely add to the energy. My parents are hooked. Dad sees the show and smiles. Mom gushes. I look goofy. I guess that he works. The only issue is format weariness. But I guess, not much can be done about that!

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