Movie review : Gulaal

WTF?!

(Yes, that's it.)

Spirit of the Man! - Review of Guru

First up, I loved this movie. The first time I've actually liked a Mani Ratnam movie. Had completely missed the 'message' in Yuva etc. But in this one - the story, the screenplay and the acting is superb! the only downer is the music - the songs are like speed-breakers on an expresway - totally unnecessary and annoying in the middle of an otherwise tight narrative!

Guru, to me, is all about the man. He may not be the most ethical, and his naked ambition may not be appreciated by the socialists in the country - who still believe self-denial is virtuous. But to the generation of free-thinkers and dreamers who will lead this country's march into double-digit GDP growth, he is an unquestionable role model. His clarity of thought, his humongous dreams, and his drive to realize them, all with a smile and simplistic demeanor, are endearing to say the least. Even the other characters - the failure father who's always discouraging, the rustic mother, the egoistic partner who forsakes wealth for pride, the socialist media moghul who must oppose, the self-destrutive incompetent bourgeoisie - are so real. And to see our man conquer them all - pleases just like Howard Roark does in the Fountainhead. And of course, all the actors are GOOD!

Another interesting charater is Guru's wife - the independent woman, who is willing to elope with a man who has less balls than she. Who throws a few tantrums when she finds out he married her for the dowry, but still comes back and supports him like a rock. The proverbial woman behind the successful man. Inspirational!

If you've not seen this movie yet, watch it. And thats a life worth living

Bigg Boss

Every now and then comes along a new program that I like, and follow every episode of. There were The Pretender and The Practice on Star World quite a while back. Then there was Nach Baliye on Star One more recently. And now there is Bigg Boss on Sony.

Some people who believe the whole thing is staged, with everyone playing a part as they have been instructed to. But I prefer to believe its all genuine, because these people really are capable of outrageous behavior without outside intervention, incentive or infleunce. Rakhi Sawant IS stupid and loud (and I totally understand why she keeps getting into controversies with local authoroties and Mika Singh and suchlike). Kashmera Shah IS a scheming bitch (or, I gleefully correct myself, WAS). All the men ARE egomaniacs.

Come to think of it - these are all showbiz people - which I dont think is a profession for the most intelligent. They dont realize they are making fools of themselves when they behave a certain way, and provide entertainment at the cost of their reputations, on national TV. Its fun to watch.

They are all small-fry, wannabes or have-beens. Each one likes to think of himself or herself as a celeb, but doesnt respect the dubitable achievements of the others. One funny moment was Kash disdainfully calling Rahul Roy a one-movie wonder (though she herself cant claim to have achieved even that much). This lack of mutual respect creates trouble. Its fun to watch.

Some of them think they are really smart and the others are dodos, forgetting the age-old adage 'You can fool some... But you cant fool all the people all the time'. Thats the mistake Kash made - she thought she could manipulate everybody and everything. She ended up being embarassed, and her misplaced pride only prompted her to say things that made her look even sillier. Again, its fun to watch!

So, we have this house with these dumb, egoistic, politicking bunch of 'celebs' facing a lot of the problems we face in our own lives - dealing with idiots, dealing with schemers/back-stabbers, dealing with short-tempered people, dealing with jealousy, dealing with isolation, or simply having to deal with people we are different from and dont like. Its frustrating at times, but we keep our feelings bottled up. Here a situation has been created such that confrontations must happen. And people who are much more 'rich and famous' than most of us can ever hope to be - are suffering much more than we do. Thats probably why its fun to watch.

Moral of the post: Watch Bigg Boss.

Fraud. James Fraud

Owners of the 'James Bond' franchise have decided to spoof themselves. In a stellar example of brand suicide, ladies and gentleman, they introduce Daniel Craig as James Fraud in Casino Fuck-all.

This is not the first such attempt. Earlier this year, MI:3 was released - with none of the SFX one expects from an MI movie, and with Ethan Hunt favoring marital bliss over adrenaline rush. We also had Batman Begins and Superman returns, where you got to see the humane, confused side of superheroes.

Gimme a freakin break. I dont care about Bond's feelings, or Ethan Hunt's desire to settle into a normal life with a nurse. I have all those issues in my own life. The reason i love these movies is that these are larger-than-life characters, disdainfully above all these 'normal' issues. They are not expected to fall in love and to face personal, emotional crisis. They are just supposed to kick ass in breathtaking, gravity-and-all-physics-defying action. Thats what I paid for - a high-paced, noisy action movie. Not melodrama. I want entertainment, not philosophy. I want to admire and be in awe of these guys, not to empathise with them in their moments of weakness.

Not to say that movies that explore personal dilemmas and emotions should not be made. Go ahead and make them by all means. But position them that way. And let them be seen by people who want to see such stuff. There's a time and place for everything. A Bond movie is NOT where we expect to see people seriously falling in love. And when i pay through my nose and struggle to get a ticket, struggle to finish work early and watch the first day, first show, I want what i expect. No surprises please.

And now for the facts. This Bond introduces himself as 'James Bond', not 'Bond.. James Bond'. He doesnt care if his Martini is shaken or stirred. He falls in love with a girl - for real - and is willing to give up everything for her. And he admits it to her. The Bond tune (most recent version by Moby, I think) - the tune thats played in the background since the first Bond movie - does not accompany the action on the screen at any time. He doesnt flirt with Moneypenny (or whatever the secy's name is). He does not blow up any of Q's inventions. And he actually fights and gets bloodied. Bond is NOT supposed to do that. He's supposed to just screw everyone and walk away straightening his tie. I expected all this and paid to see it. None of it happened. Hence, my disappointment.

Maybe its not such a bad movie. But anyone who wants to see Bond the way they are used to seeing Bond, should avoid this fart.

Review on M:I 3

In one word, avoidable!
In two words, what fart?!

The most disappointing sequel ever. You wouldn't realize it was M:I but for the theme music that plays during the credits (and not even in the movie - i thot the theme was a key part of the M:I identity, but then so was action - but this one had neither)

You pay good money to watch Ethan Hunt pull off some amazing daredevilry. Gravity, logic and credibility - defying stunts. Not to get married and get senti. What the hell will they come up with next?

Imagine going to the next James Bond movie and to find him married, and playing in the garden with his 4-yr-old girl and 2-yr-old boy for the most part, while his plain-lookin wife cooks inside. And if he goes on some fairly short and uncomplicated mission in the second half only to save his captured family. ANd its his wife who shoots the bad guy in the end while he lies unconscious.

Sheesh! I'm so disappointed I'm almost angry. One should spend good money only on beer - at least it doesnt throw up any unpleasant surprsies, unlike movies and girls.