Review of Guzaarish (2010)...

It seems with Guzaarish, Sanjay Leela Bhansali (SLB) has come a full circle. Starting from Khamoshi-The Musical(1996) to the current Guzaarish(2010). Though, Khamoshi was not that impressive as a movie, it had some brilliant individual scenes which definitely were a class apart. From there SLB went on to improve with HDDCS and Devdas, before achieving immortality with Black. In Guzaarish again, there are multiple brilliant scenes which really sweep you from your feet, but when put together the movie has come out very ordinary. It is disappointing that a Director of the caliber as SLB has really not done justice to such a intense subject as Euthanasia (practice of ending a life in a manner which relieves pain and suffering).

The Movie is about Ethan Mascarenhas (Hrithik Roshan) a brilliant Magician and now a Quadriplegic, who during one of his shows met with an accident (which one later discovers was a sabotage) and is paralyzed neck down. Ethan is left with no movement or feelings in his body below the neck and has been in that state for 14 long years. He files for a petition in the court to be put to sleep for ever to relieve him from his misery and this is exactly where SLB has faltered. The way the whole petition process is handled is very amateur. Does not seem that part is at all directed by SLB himself. Though his petition keeps getting rejected, he does not give up and keep trying to get his right to die. There is Sofia (Aishwarya Rai Bachchan) who is Ethan's care taker for the last 12 years and there is nothing that can happen in Ethan's life with out Sofia. Another angle added to the movie is of a budding magician, Omar Siddiqui (Aditya Roy Kapoor) who comes to Hrithik to learn his magic tricks and become the best magician in the world after Ethan. These three form the three pillars of the story along with some other characters, but frankly there is hardly anything to write about these other characters. There is Ethan's Mother, a lawyer, a doctor, a former girlfriend and a friend turned foe.

So then what makes this movie special? Its the scenes in which Ethan keeps going back to his magic shows, which are shot unbelievably. The pain that comes on his faces after remembering the kind of applause and adulation he once commanded and now he is constrained to a 5 by 6 feet bed with only a whistle to call for help. He is so helpless, that in one scene there is a Fly which is running on his nose and he is unable to do anything about it other than accepting it a part of his body and let her be. Really a touching scene. Then there is a fight that he has with the droplets of rains falling from his roof on his forehead, he ends up suffering that torture for the whole night helplessly. There are multiple such scenes which are brilliantly used to display the helpless truth of a quadriplegic's life. SLB has captured the helplessness of Ethan so beautifully that you cannot help but feel his pain yourself. The magic shows are done beautifully. Let us not get into the practicality of those, but just the whole execution of them along with Hrithik, it is simply Magical!!! Hrithik is just brilliant in his dance movements in all of them. Specially the one in which he is playing with a Bubble, and the whole dance sequence is at par with Hrithik performance in Lakshya (main aisa kyon hoon), or may be even better than that. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has done a very good job in playing the secondary role to Hrithik in the movie as his care taker and also his emotional bond with life (what ever of that is left within Ethan). She gets her moment of glory in a dance sequence "Mil Gayi" in which she just lets her hair down to blow everyone around. Now coming to Omar, the budding magician, while his role is very key, unfortunately the rendering of the same by Aditya Roy Kapoor is very inconsistent. He is good in some scene but really ordinary in most. SLB should have picked up someone else. If given a choice I would have gone with Sharman Joshi or Shriyas Talpade for that role instead of Aditya Roy Kapoor.

Coming to the Music of the movie, some songs are really good, like "Sau gram zindagi". Unfortunately the thing that took "Black" to being an immortal movie, its background music is a let down in Guzaarish. Again, this assessment is purely based on the comparison between Black and Guzaarish. Stand alone Guzaarish has a nice music, and aptly very few songs in the movie. The cinematography is beautiful, though most of the movie is shot in a single room, to which Ethan is restricted to. Its the magic shows that SLB comes into his elements and proves why he is definitely one of best directors that are there around currently.

Hrithik in his Avataar of a Quadriplegic is just magical. One cannot imagine anyone else who could have played this role more aptly than him. He is looking like a Greek god who has descended down to play this role with his beard look and long hair, only to return back to his clean shaven look. Wish we could have has a few more movies with Hrithik in such a look. There is hardly anyone in this Industry, who apart from Hrithik could have carried that look. Aishwarya is perfect fit for the care taker role. A special mention of Goa as being the third most impressive protagonist of this movie. The whole culture, the beautiful locations and the life that is very different from what is there in rest of India. The ending of the movie is something that is a point of view, with which many might disagree, but the whole thing has been handled nicely. It is a night in which Ethan celebrates Life!!! Hrithik is unbelievable in those last 10 mins again.

So then, should one spend 2.5 hours of their life on this movie, for sure YES. It is 2.5 hours well spent, with some magical moments that will stay with you for a long time, some magical performances that you will remember for a long time and some magical tricks, which will take your breath away for some time atleast. Please go and grab a Dekho of the movie as soon as possible and if possible on the Movie hall for sure, else on the DVD. That is a Guzaarish from my side...

Review of Star Trek (2009)...

Space: The final frontier, These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise, To explore strange new worlds, To seek out new life and new civilizations, To boldly go where no man has gone before...

Words that a lot of us have grown up with watching Star Trek the television series and its follow up generations. We are used to these words being recited at the beginning of each series by James T Kirk or to be specific William Shatner. This Star Trek movie ends where the rest of the series begin with, that is with these famour words. This Star Trek, takes us to the very beginning, where it all started from, how the elite crew of the famous USS Enterprise came together, bringing in their share of strengths and responsibilities. But unlike the regular Franchise, in this one James T Kirk is not the Captain of the Enterprise, but rather he is a Rookie, who gets a chance into the Enterprise, thanks to the liking the Captain of the Enterprise Captain Pike has for him, who is followed by Spock becoming the Captain of the Enterprise. James T Kirk remains a Rogue continuing to defy Logic and orders to follow what his instinct says. Kirk and Spock are fighting a Miner from the Future, who after destroying the Home Planet of Spock, Vulcan, is now on his way to Destroy Earth. Eric Bana, plays Nero, this Romulan miner hell bent upon destroying Earth and Vulcan, as he blames them for the destruction of his planet Romulus. The rest of the movie is about how James T Kirk and Spock, in spite of their differences, come together to stop Nero in his plans. There are multiple racy scenes in the movie, which make the viewers pulse go racing. Multiple occasions which will keep you at the edge of your seats. What makes this movie different from the previous Star Trek franchise movies is the pace with which this movie progresses. It is amazing to say the least, with hardly any scenes in the movie that will disappoint you.

The Movie has all new and young actors with only Leonard Nemoy (Original Spock) making an small but very important appearance. And what an impact he has on the whole movie. For me his entry and stay in the Movie is the highlight of the movie. The Movie is gripping and for a running time of 127 mins, extremely fast paced, leaving no time for the viewer to even blink. The Movie beautifully captures the emotions and strengths of each of its characters and how each of them slowly develop into stalwarts that we are used to and have watched them as. Whether it the Engineer head Scooty, or the Pilot Checkov and Sulu to the communication in-charge, Uhura, each of them have a key role to play in the entire movie.

The movie captures the future on Earth for a short period and is mostly shot in the USS Enterprise. The entry of Leonard Nemoy is on a Marooned planet, where he meets James Kirk and makes him realize, how important it is for him to take over as the Captain of the Enterprise. The special effects of the movie are top class, but what sets this movie apart from the other Sci-fi movies in the recent times is the emotional connect that it is able to create with the viewer, specially via the original and old Spock. The emotional connect is amazing and you really feel it when Spock says his customary "Live long and prosper" to James Kirk. The background score of the movie is amazing and captures the excitement and emotions throughout the movie. While the whole movie is amazing, for me the way Nero gets defeated does not match the spectacle that the rest of the movie is. Having said that, Its an exciting re-start to this franchise and makes it super exiting for the sequels of this movie to follow.

I would say, it is Spock, who for me defines Star Trek, and he is the real star of this one as well, whether as a Old Spock or the Young and aggressive Spock. Its worth watching the movie only for his presence in the movie. A movie not to be missed at any cost, Please watch it today, if you have not seen it yet.

Review of Prince of Persia - The Sands of Time (2010)...

The thought of controlling Time has always fascinated humans. The ability to alter one's future when you have control over Time can probably be one of the biggest drug and the ultimate power weapon. You can become invincible, if you have control over time, even if it means for as short a time as a few seconds, as a lot can be done to change things in those few seconds. Imagine having a capability to travel 30 seconds back in time, you can make millions by betting in Horse Racing or at a casino. One can avert an accident and even cheat death, theoretically atleast.

There have been multiple movies around Time travel, whether we look at H.G. Wells "The Time Machine" or Spielberg's "Back to the Future" series or Rakesh Roshan's "Krish". Prince of Persia - The Sands of Time (POP-TSOT) is in the same category of movies. POP-TSOT also tries to do things similar to what have been done in this earlier movies. So then, what is different in the movie.

When you plug together the mystery of an Persian backdrop with Time travel, what we get is an interesting and engaging story, that is what is brought to life in POP-TSOT. A rather long title, but thankfully the movie is'nt, which really helps in giving an on the edge kind of drama to the viewers. The mystic and essence of Persian backdrop stories have not really been captured on the big screen till now. All efforts regarding Sindbad or Arabian Nights have not been very elaborate and successful. POP-TSOT make a first of its kind effort to bring us the charm and magic of the times when the Persian empire was feared and really huge. Add to it the magic and legends related to these stories, and we get a engaging screenplay. Two hours of non-stop action, some of which might seem a little unnecessary, but mostly a very engaging watch.

Coming to the story, Prince Dastan (played by Jake Gyllenhaal, of Brokeback Mountain and Day after Tomorrow fame) is adopted by the King of Persia from the streets and is raised along with the other 2 sons of the king. During one of their missions the Prince happens to get hold of a beautiful Dagger, which has the capability of enabling a person to travelling back in time for a few seconds ( or in other words can make Time stand still for himself). The prince gets framed in the killing of his Father , the King of Persia and is declared an Outlaw by his brothers. He not only needs to prove his innocence, and avenge the death of the King, he also needs to protect the powerful dagger from falling into wrong hands. There are multiple parallel tracks that run in the movie, including that of the real sons of the King, a young brother of the King (Nizam, played brilliantly by Ben Kingsley). But the most interesting angle of the story along with the Prince is that of a Princess, the rightful owner of the Dagger and the protector of a secret. A Secret that can give a human the power to travel in time as much as he wants and change the course of his history. Unlike other magic or time travel movies, where the heroine does not have much to do, in POP-TSOT, the princess is a very integral part of the story and is there in almost all adventures of the Prince, not just as a spectator, but someone who is in the thick of things always.

The movie moves at a very fast pace from scene one, and ensures that one has a Roller coaster ride for the next 2 hours. There are certain theoretical and tactical flaws in the movie, but then when you are going for a good time, you do not bother about them much. Full of action and stunts performed very well by the protagonists, the use of CGI is quiet evident, but is very aptly done as well. The whole set up created to replicate the times of the Persian empire is very engaging, and well captured.

Towards the end the movie does make you think, whether being a person who can control time is really a boon or a curse. Being the only person who remembers what has happened or rather what is in store for us in future, may not always be a easy situation to find oneself in. People who have been so close to you and you develop feelings for, suddenly become strangers. While you have met them multiple times in the future, for them, you are meeting them for the first time. A bit confusing, well watch the movie and you will surely understand what I am trying to say.

POP-TSOT is surely worth watching once on the theaters. Approach it as the same category as movies like Speed or Bourne Identity, only that this one is a Period drama with action, and hence the costumes, sets and era along with the thrills. Go grab a look for this one.

Review of Agora (2009)...

Set a few centuries after the crucification of Christ, Agora gives an account of the turmoil that went through during the days of the Fall of the Pagan (Romans) culture and the rise of Christianity. Set in Alexandria in the late 300 A.D., it follows the life of the Philosopher, Hypatia in the background of the political turmoil that Rome went through in those days. What is really interesting is, that while it has been almost 1700 years since, but the context of those times still seem so relevant to our current times. Yes, we have made progress from those days, but some how the religious turmoil and basic ideology differences between humans still remain similar to those times.

Agora follows the life of Hypatia (played beautifully by Rachel Weisz), who is trying to solve the cosmic dilemma of that era, whether Earth is in the center of the world or the Sun. She happens to be a professor in the great library and University of Alexandria, and witnesses the almost complete annihilation of the library, tipped to be a Wonder of that era. While she is busy solving these mysteries, Rome is undergoing a Massive change with a big revolution taking place in the form of "Rise of Christianity". Christianity is gaining mass support, specially amongst the "Have not's" of the society and a mob situation is getting created in Alexandria. Over the span of a few decades, that are covered in the movie, not just does Christianity take over, it kind of takes a Talibanistic form. There is a religious leader who reads his diktates from the Holy Book, there is a moral police which takes charge of the Morality of the society, going to the extent of punishing men and women for what they consider immoral activities as per them. The religious leader declared the working of females as immoral, and also men working under the direction and guidance of females to be against the wish and declaration of God. There is a hard hitting scene where this Moral army, punishing a group of Jews for enjoying Theatre, as they consider it to be anti-god.

There is also the character of Davus(played by Max Minghella), who is a slave of Hypatia and a Christian himself, but musters the courage to fall in love with her. He though sees the atrocities on Christian by his master (Hypatia's Father) from close proximity, an hence ends up becoming part of that moral police. The movie portrays multiple human emotions like curiosity, love, forgiveness, violence, political and religious oppression,these bring conveyed through the dilemmas that Hypatia and Davus go through.

Though all this is happening in 300 A.D., if we look at the current times, we still have these issues. Christianity might have attained a reformist outlook, we can clearly see Islam taking over the role of gaining mass support amongst the "Have Not's". We have moral policing being done by some self proclaimed groups across the world, we have religious leaders reading out Diktats in various forms, some being named as Taliban, some as Rama Sene. But the context remains the same. So how much have we as a Human race really progressed. I guess, the basic premise remains, everything is a circle, and things are ought to get repeated.

The movie ends on a very hard hitting note, and has multiple ironically nodes. And while, the movie ends, it leaves you thinking for a long time, whether we should be judgmental towards the so called Anti-society elements? What was Anti-society and talibanistic in 300A.D. is now a reformist and liberal religion. Why would'nt the same happen to the current Taliban in another 300 years? History might forget all this and consider them as liberal and acceptable in the society then. Will that put a stop to the circle though? No, there would be a rise of something else then to take on the aristocratic governance.

The only way to cut this cycle is by bridging the gap between the Have's and the Have's Not's, and until that happens, human race might take leaps and bounds of steps in progress, we shall remain entangled in this cyclical web.

Coming back to the Movie, the story telling is very compelling with some unbelievable performances by the main characters. Though the movie moves at a slow pace, it keeps you engaged during its entire duration.

Please make sure you do not miss this one, definitely a must watch. Is surely going to get your thinking juices flowing.

Review of Raat Gayi, Baat Gayi? (2009)...

One sometimes wonders whether the Indian society is a "Society of Guilt" or a "Society of Shame". Most people in India will try to justify their acts, not because of their Guilt of committing them but actually from the fear of Shame that their act would bring, specially once they become known to others, be it their neighbors, friends and family. Raat Gayi Baat Gayi also has this theme in its background, though it is a very subtle one. A low budget movie, released without a lot of hop-hoopla last year, RGBG will surprise you with its wittiness and constant twists. Released last year, having a cast of actors and not stars, this is a movie that is fast paced, comic, gripping and most importantly very unpredictable. Loosely inspired by the movie "The Hangover", the movie tracks a day in life of Rahul (Rajat Kapoor), who is unable to remember the what happened the previous night in a party after he gets overtly drunk. But the similarity ends there. This is an entirely different story and a very different treatment. The main character here is trying to find out what exactly he ended up doing and who all are aware of that act. More out of Shame of that act of his, than the Guilt of committing that act. Interestingly, there are other characters in the movie who find themselves in the guilt of their act more than the shame. Hence it makes for an intelligent viewer ship for this type of movie.

The story opens with Rajat Kapoor having a huge hangover from a previous night party, and he starts to recollect his flirting games with a beautiful young female, Sofia (Neha Dhupia). He is able to recollect the series of events up to a particular point in time, beyond which his memory goes completely blank. While he is trying hard to remember what actually happened, he sees his wife walk out of the house with their daughter. This triggers a panic situation of him where in it becomes extremely important for him to find out what all actually happened in the party, that has led to his wife walking out on him. Parallely we have a close friend of Rahul, Amit (Vinay Pathak) who gets thrown out by his wife as she finds out that he is chatting on Pornographic web sites. So, both the heroes start travelling to no where in the day, one trying to figure out what happened the previous night, so that he can get back his wife, and the other trying to run away as far as possible from his wife. The movie traverses back and forth in flash backs and present time in a very interesting manner. The movie also has the characters of Dalip Tahil and Navneet Nishant in whose party all these events take place. Both have done wonderfully well in their respective roles. There are constant twists and turns in the story that will keep you extremely engaged and also attentive.

The reason I say attentive is because the story is extremely smart and so are the dialogs and situations in the movie. Some of the sequences and dialogs are frankly to die for. Unlike the David Dhawan type of comedy, here the director has assumed the viewer to be intelligent, hence has extremely smart and witty jokes. The movie has Situational comedy along with dialog comedy. What made this movie special for me was the overall casting. Every actor in the movie has done wonderfully in their respective role. The timing of every character is impeccable and so is that of the director. The movie also stars Anu Menon (from Lola Kutty fame), who plays the wife who throws her husband out, instead of walking out on him. Iravati Harashe (I remember her in the serial Shanti), plays the wife of Rahul, and has done her part with extreme sleekness and sexiness. Neha Dhupia is very Sexy in her role as the seductress who plays with both Rahul and Amit to the maximum possible and has them running after her in the party. If I have to find a flaw, it would be the shortish role for Ranvir Shorey, who surely would have added to the already masaledar story if was given a little longish role.

The movie is directed by Saurabh Shukla (Kallu mama of Satya). Am sure, he would have found it extremely difficult to resist not being in front of the camera with such a wonderful story. Full marks to him for his directorial effort. Now coming to the music of the movie. That also is a very refreshing part of the movie. The music is extremely suave, very lively and most importantly each songs really fits into the slots they are brought in. Very Chirpy music and extremely fresh.

A product from group of people who have given us movies like "Bheja Fry", "Dasvadaniya", "Mithya", RGBG is another feather in the cap for this team. Their movies are targeted for the Multiplex audience and they surely deliver to the mindset of such audience.

Make sure you catch this movie, whether on a DVD or at a Multiplex near you. Definitely worth every penny that you will spend watching it. This one is bound to leave a big smile on your face. Watch out for the last dailog of the movie by Vinay Pathak, for me that was ending with a bang!!!

Review of the Courtship of Eddie's Father (1963)...

Sometimes you accidentely chance upon a movie that you did not plan to see, but it really catches your eye. Same happened a couple of days back when I started to watch this movie with a long and funny title. While scanning through the TV channels after putting our daughter to sleep, we chanced upon this movie running on MGM. "the Courtship of Eddie's Father". A very simple story line with a feel good factor to it. If you a Hrishikesh Mukherjee or Basu Bhattacharya fan, you are bound to make an instant connection with the movie.

The story actually follows the bonding between a father-son duo, after they loose their Wife/ mother to illness. The movie has small events which lead the son to realize that he needs to find a new partner for his father and hence starts on the look out for the same. There is a friendly neighbor who is a nurse who helps both the men in their hours of need. The relationship between the father and the neighbor sees multiple ups and downs, as the neighbor herself is coming out of a Divorce and has to come to terms with that herself. The movie goes ahead with the father starting to like a Fashion designer who is very self confident and believes in women empowerment. A topic which was very much in discussion in America in the 1960's. The son though has a dislike towards this new interest in his father's life, and in-spite of numerous attempts by the father to change the same, the feeling remains that of detest. There are a series of events that follow, with the Father ending up proposing for marriage and the son also trying to convince his father not to marry to this lady. There is a very interesting angle that parallely develops between the Nurse neighbor and the Father-son duo. There is a Mexican house keeper and also a wanna be Miss Montana who add good flavors to the story line. The story also touches upon the emotional ups and downs that the men go through when they loose some as close as their wife or mother and the sacrifices that both are ready to make for each other's happiness.

While the story might sound very simple, it is the performances of the characters which is extremely pleasing, specially the one by the little Kid Eddie. On doing some research on the actor, it did not come as a surprise, when I found out who this actor is. The actor playing the little boy is "Ron Howard", the man who recently gave us "A Beautiful Mind". The performances by the other actors is very pleasing and the movie keeps you involved throughout its running time of 2 hours.

Watch this movie on a weekend night over DVD, specially for a wonderful performance by Ron Howard, this time in front of the camera instead of behind it. An extremely pleasing movie, that will leave out with a feel good factor. Happy gold hunting over "Metro Goldwyn Mayer", as they say, "Old is Gold", while for most of the time.

Review of Julie & Julia (2009)...

Hollywood has a nag of taking real life stories and converting it into reel life stories. Julie & Julia is one such story, or should I say two such stories about two main protagonists Julia Child (Meryl Streep) and Julie Powell (Amy Adams) whose lives are set apart 50 years. The movie portrays the situations that both the females face in-spite of being generations apart and the fact that while generations separate the two and the world has seen tremendous progress, how somehow the environment around the two females create similar challenges for them. The story is a first hand account by Julie Powell and how she gets inspired by Julia Child's cook book "Mastering the Art of French Cooking (1962)" and goes on a 1 year journey that changes her life to say the least.

The movie tracks the lives of Julia and Julie in parallel, switching back and forth between 1950's and 2002. Julie Powell(2002) is a government insurance official who is unhappy with her job, and that starts to reflect on her personal relationships including that with her husband. She is encouraged by her husband to start a blog to take up a challenge to recreate Julia's 524 recipes from her cook book. So the blog is created, challenge is taken to complete 524 recipes in 365 days. While Julie is trying to discover her flair in cooking, the movie also tracks the life of Julia (1950's) and how she ended up actually creating one of the best cook books written on French cooking. Julia is posted in Paris with her husband and on being unable to find a good French Cooking book in English, decides to learn French cooking taking cooking classes. One thing leads to another in her journey of learning cooking, and she starts writing a book herself.

Interestingly the movie tracks Julia's life for couple of decades where as only an year of Julie's. In this one year, Julie ends up experiencing some of the situation that Julia found herself in, almost half a century back. What is interesting is that both these stories are based on separate books actually written by Julie and Julia on their lives. The director has taken two autobiographies and beautifully entangled them together. A unique idea, and it comes out really well. While the duration of the movie is around 2 hours, it does go on a very constant pace.

Characterization wise, Meryl Streep is tremendous in her role as Julia Child, playing it almost to perfection. She does not seem to do anything wrong. She has created the demur of Julia Child ( 6 feet plus) fantastically. She actually wore huge heals in order to remove the 6 - 8 inches height different between her and the actual Julia Child. Amy Adams is decent in her portrayal of Julie Powell. We also have Stanley Tucci as the back bone for Julia supporting her in her journey throughout, which he plays quiet well.

The story also tries to handle the long discussed question, "Should one do, what he/she likes?" or "Should one like, what he/she does?". Interestingly there are frustrations in both, as is evident in the movie. When one tries to like what they are doing, they get frustrated slowly and steadily, while when you try to do what you like, even a small failure leads to big frustrations. Clearly there are no perfect answers, as there are no perfect situations.

Julie & Julia is not a perfect movie, and neither does it perfectly capture the lives of its protagonists. But then, who cares till the time you get to see some unbelievable performances, specially by Meryl Streep. I would highly recommend watching it on DVD's, but keep in mind, that the movie goes on a slow pace and on a single track, with no major ups and downs.