aditya kumar's weblog

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No Spoilers Ahead
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I would have watched Chak De India even if the Friday reviewers had torn it apart.

Shahrukh Khan. A dozen women. And no love story. Not even close to it. I mean, if this does not ignite my curiosity maybe nothing else will.

I reached the 11 am show just in time and was lucky enough to get a ticket. I have never had a problem getting the Saturday morning movie show ticket because I have always believed that guys who watch the first show on a Saturday morning and that too alone, have nothing much to do in life. Never mind if I happen to be one of them. But today was different. Seeing the crowd discouraged me but for a gentleman who was kind enough to give me one of his surplus tickets for a discount.

Chak De India is a challenge of sorts for everyone associated with it. It sounds like the filmmakers ultimate gamble but with a twist. I mean, in a film industry where films based on sports are as rare as honest politicians in the country, serving to an audience that has always thought of cricket as the only sport and feasts on it for the most part of the year – a seemingly plain dish of women’s hockey is Gamble with a capital G. Add to it a string of unknown cast (well, for the most part).

The hits just keep on coming, don’t they.

But here’s the twist — it just might pay off.

One might expect Khan to carry the movie on his shoulders and being the saving grace. The good news is that Shahrukh khan is not the only one who pulls this off. Instead, he delivers a controlled, rare blend of acting and on-screen persona that makes this movie a must watch. I loved Khan in Swades and I thought that Ashutosh Gowariker, if I may use the word, “handled” him the best. Shimit Amin, the one who dished out “Ab Tak Chappan”, may have taken a cue from Gowarikar on this. The dialogs, an ingredient that assumes even more importance in a movie dealing with patriotism, are to the point, apt. The camera is excellent. The hockey games are realistic, probably the most realistic any sport on Indian cinema has ever been (I say this keeping in mind “Iqbal“); and I think it has a lot to do with the fact that most ‘players’ in the film were real hockey players.

Besides, this is a shot in the arm for the game in India. Indian hockey needed something like this.

Watch Chak De India for India. Watch it for a game that happens to be our national game. Watch it for a brand of cinema that you have never watched. And if you still need a reason more, watch it for the beautiful girls and the almost impeccable Shahrukh Khan.

Note: There are no spoilers in this review.

The gap between parallel and commercial cinema, lately, has been reducing. At one stage the trend seemed to be going towards the Urban, brand-loving society of the cities while lately we’ve had movies like ‘Maqbool’, ‘Omakara’, ‘Iqbal’, which have taken the camera back to the villages and small town India. In that regard, ‘Eklavya’ joins this elite group of movies.

For quite some time, I had a desire to see a Vidhu Vinod Chopra directed movie, made in our times. Before ‘Eklavya’ came, we saw Chopra direct a movie in 2000, with ‘Mission Kashmir’. Bollywood has come a long way since then and it would have been interesting to watch how much Chopra has been with the times.

Let me put the point upfront. Chopra falls short of what could have been a majestic take. Well, Just falls short. In this two hour movie, while the camera work and background score keeps you gripped — the story telling falls apart for brief but critical periods where eventually lies the difference between a 4/5 and a 5/5.

Amitabh Bachchan shows why he is hailed the best of Indian Cinema, even today. As the main character of the movie, the story looks out for being carried on his shoulders and The Big B pulls it off, yet again. The other good thing and perhaps the factor missing in most star studded flicks — is the individual performances of the actors. Saif Ali Khan does justice to his script though I still insist that his best was in Omkara. Sanjay Dutt, whom I expected to play a much bigger role, gives 150% to whenever he is on screen. In that respect, his performance stands apart. Jackie Shroff is his usual self. The actor he is, one wonders why he comes up with those once-in-a-while forgettable movies. Jimmy Shergill plays the arrogant guy, for a change and delivers. Boman Irani and Vidya Balan could sleep walk through their roles.

It is those post-interval, critical periods which could have been better. Either the running is smooth or when it’s not, it’s very intense and suddenly too much seems to be happening. Besides, there is a little forced humor that the movie could have done without. The subject is serious, probably the most serious Chopra has taken up after ‘Parinda’. It gave me an impression that the Director has tried a bit too hard at times, tried to do too many things with lots of stuff happening. Too hot to handle?

If you’ve seen ‘Omkara’, you will know what I am talking about. Vishal, the director of Omkara and Maqbool, is a fearless director. He did well to strike a balance in both these movies. If you’re making a serious movie, you’re making a serious movie. In ‘Omkara’ and ‘Maqbool’, there is not a single scene that the script could have done without. In ‘Eklavya’, Chopra, it seems, is tempted to add some romance, some humor, a pinch of melodrama — albeit in negligible quantities.

But that doesn’t take away the anything from him, Chopra – The Director, someone who has his name on the credit listing of some of the best movies that Indian Cinema has had to offer. My verdict — 4 out of 5.

The middle-class man movie maker is no more with us. Growing up on his brand of movies, I try to find the everyday middle class man in movies of today but I can’t.

It was the 1970s, the golden age of Indian Cinema that made movies for the society. Amol Palekar, wearing a tailor made full sleeve shirt with similar trousers, taking a walk on marine drive of Bombay and having peanuts was the hero of yesterday. But he looked more like me, for I don’t look like the Khans wearing Tommy Hilfiger shirts and driving imported cars. Thats what the hero of today does.

That is why, Hrishikesh Mukherjee, the man who gave us the seedha-saadha Amol Palekar in Golmaal, the funny Dharmendra in Chupke Chupke, the confused, egoist Amitabh in Abhimaan and the funny, yet simply philosophical Rajesh Khanna in Bawarchi, will be missed.

Amol Palekar as Ram Prasad Sharma in Golmaal (image courtesy Wikipedia)

…And who says KANK is a hit? None of the people I know have liked it so far. People are coming out of the cinema hall halfway through the movie. You call that a hit?

This post, written on the 6th of June, posted tonight.

Now, to talk about Delhi.

First of all, I think a lot of people don’t know that I am from this city :P Though I have not stayed here much, I have done a substantial part of my schooling from Delhi (5 years) and have visited this city every year for the last 24 years. (Apart from a period while I lived here for 6 years, that is). So I, kind of, know this place.

I have seldom mentioned about my Delhi connections on my website.

I went ‘exploring’ the city today, all by myself. I went to Connaught Circus/Place and I must mention, that it is the only other place in India that reminds me so much of the fountain area in Bombay. The pavement book-sellers, the cloth merchants, the water-vendors, the snack-sellers, the list does not seem to end. Of course, this time around, there were a few surprises. In my 30 minutes walk around the place, I came across two McDonalds restaurants (or were they three?) and one KFC. Three American junk-food restaurants, packed to the maximum, within a radius of one kilometer. See, this is the kind of foreign invasion we are dealing with here. That is, of course, if you think of it as a foreign invasion.

New Delhi has changed. More for the better than for the worse. The better: The roads are wider, the city is flaunting its gleaming new metro rail, the new fly-overs keep welcoming the traffic. The worse: Delhi has less power, lesser water, as always. And yes, the people are ruder. Sorry guys, I think you really need a crash course in politeness.

Now that I have mentioned the ‘gleaming’ new Metro rail, more on it has to be impending. The Metro, I feel, could be termed as the capital’s pride. I liked the fact that its actually not running empty. It was full capacity during my short afternoon journey from “Rajiv Chowk” to “Chandni Chowk”. More than the fact that it is a top quality product, I think to complete the work schedule on time, cutting the red-tapism is in itself, is a bigger, better achievement. This is how plans should work. If you think about it, its a simple thing. It is nothing but a plan that has worked right on schedule. If this is what it can do for one city, the possibilities could be endless.

Evening, I watched “Da Vinci Code” at PVR Rivoli. Every old cinema hall nowadays has a “PVR” prefixed to its name. Put in good interiors, add a little polish, a little ‘garnish’ and sell the tickets for Rs.200. Coming back to the movie, what a waste. No, not just the money. I am talking about Tom Hanks. You don’t need Hanks to play the role of Langdon. How to play Robert Langdon? Just keep popping your eyes in curiosity, appear to think all the time, keep mumbling to yourself, say “code” most of the time and keep listening to Sophie. Heck, even Tom Cruise could do it!

I first watched “The Rainmaker” in Delhi, when it was released in 1997. It was the first english movie I saw and also the first time I went to a multiplex. In fact, they didn’t even call it a “Multiplex” at that time.

There was one more reason why I remember that movie. Karan Thapar was there, standing alone, waiting for the show to begin. I could not be sure at that time though, but it was confirmed when he mentioned his own movie experience in one of his columns for the Hindustan Times a couple of weeks later.

I liked the movie so much that I wanted to buy the book minutes after the show ended. I could not afford to buy that book at that time but I purchased it a few months later and went on to read all of John Grishams in the next two years.

I have seen the movie a few times and I love to see it because Rudy Baylor, a fresh law school graduate, the main character of the movie (played by an always impressive Matt Damon), is a hero of sorts. He is nothing less but the guy next door but as the story progresses so does the stature of his character. He doen’t know that you are supposed to ask the judge’s permission before you approach the witness but he does not repeat his mistakes again. He is imperfect, yes, and that’s the beauty of it. He is scared but not intimidated.

And Somewhere in the movie you realise he is telling you to be the same.

Watch it if you can. If you like good cinema, you will love it.

“It’s hard keeping my mind on Leo Drummond and his people.
They’ll be flying in first class, and after dinner, they’ll discuss my destruction.
When I check in to Motel Six, they’ll be sleeping soundly in their suites.
They’ll wake up fresh and rested and ready for war.
It’s my deposition, but it’s their turf.”

NO Plot/Story Spoiler ahead, so read ahead, don’t worry :)

I watched the movie, first day, second show at Goa’s Inox multiplex. Rang De Basanti (the title of the movie name constantly reminds me of the Radiocity Bangalore DJ, Basanthi),like the other, new-generation, “good” movies carries most of those attributes that one relates the modern times with — Slick photography, Brilliant cinematography and camerawork with awesome music score (well, most of it) but lacks where it matters — The story.

I don’t know what’s up with these new-age directors. Screenplay, music, camerawork, all top class. They can make anything look so good! If you consider movies like Swades, Paheli and now, Rang de Basanti, you will see that how much they have stressed on India, it’s values, it’s people, the culture. Just when we thought that the focus had almost entirely shifted on urban India, we see the Indian countryside and the villages and they look refreshed like never before. Colorful, full of energy. And suddenly you want to be there. The next coming weekend, you want to explore the outskirts of the city, maybe go on the highway, find a dhaba and eat lunch.

But then where do movies like these go wrong? They mess up with something very basic. Most of the times, the casualty is the storyline. Making everything look beautiful and modern, they try a little too hard and in the process, go off the basics of movie making. It’s like eating special bhelpuri with almost no salt. Get what I mean? Rang de Basanti (RDB) is no different. But then again, it’s not at all bad.

It is clear that the makers of RDB want to give a message to the youth, in the youth’s own language, own style. In that sense, I thought it is very similar to Maniratnam’s Yuva. I thought RDB falters because the message to attain a purpose is given alright, but the means to achieve that purpose is wrong. A few more details, and I would be spoiling your movie, so I stop here :)

Final verdict: Even though most of the story actually happens post intermission, it’s a movie to watch. It has got enough positives to buy a ticket and watch it in the theatre (with Dolby!). AR Rehman’s music adds a whole perspective in itself. And one more thing — The perfomances by the actors are worth not just to be seen, but experienced. (Another complaint though, I thought the much acclaimed, Atul Kulkarni could have done with a more demanding role. He is such a delight to watch and he makes most of the screentime that he gets). RDB is not a “just-Amir-Khan-all-the-way” movie. Watch it.

My New Year was no celebration at all, I was browsing the internet on my computer at home. But yes, music is an important aspect of anything that I do on days like these, so I played U2’s “The Unforgettable Fire” and “New Year’s Day”. I needed Bono’s reassuring, full-of-hope voice.

Bono’s like an old friend to me now. So even if he sings a sad song, I manage to pull out some hope everytime I hear him.

We all have our problems, small and big. It has been a tough year for the World as well. The Tsunami aftereffects, The London bombings, the Delhi bombings, the Kashmir Earthquake, to name a few. People have lost, people have grieved. For me, there has been a personal loss as well.

The New Year is hope for all of us. It’s that time when we have the opportunity to start over, to wipe the slate clean and to give everything a fresh start. I hope that it turns out to be a year that is good and full of hope for all of you, the readers of this blog whom I know, and those who choose not to comment and decide against letting their presence felt.

It would be naive to believe that problems shall go away. They will persist, like always. Here, I wish that the “fine balance” is achieved. Its something that is explained below in the post, so please continue reading.

Meanwhile, A Very Happy New Year.

On a lighter note, the Truman Specials for this year. In no particular order.

1. The Best Album Truman listened to

Without doubt, U2’s “How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb”. It grows on you, and finally gets you! What an album this!

2. Errr.. The Best (Non-U2) Artist/Album Truman listened to

I feel it has to be Coldplay’s X&Y. Oasis comes a close second with “Standing on the shoulder of Giants”. Figures say a little different story though. In the second half of the year, I listened to 285 songs of Oasis and 197 songs of Coldplay. (U2’s count for the second half of the year? 694 songs)

3. Best Hindi movie Truman watched full screen

Iqbal. But do I have a choice? Hardly good movies released this year! (I liked “Sehar” too)

4. Best Hollywood movie Truman watched full screen

Cinderella Man. No doubt. But Harry Potter comes a close second. “Finding Neverland” comes third.

5. “If-only-I-could-see” movie for this year

Anniyan. I wish to see this movie. But I can’t understand Tamil. I wish I could!

6. Cricketing action of the year

The Ashes, what else? But then again, the England-Pakistan series was such a downer.

7. Arrogant Cricketer of the year

Andre Nel of South Africa. Click on the link to see his face and you shall know who we are dealing with.

8. Best place Truman visited this year

Home :)

heh, actually, Kasauli. And I intend to visit it again. A close second comes, Karwar

9. Last but not the least, The Best Indian Author book Truman read this year

Difficult. Very, very difficult. Hmmm.. I would say “A fine balance” by Rohinton Mistry.

This is the “Fine Balance” line I was talking about, something that applies to all of us: “You cannot draw lines and compartments, and refuse to budge beyond them. Sometimes you have to use your failures as stepping-stones to success. You have to maintain a fine balance between hope and despair…In the end, it’s all a question of balance Pg 231, ‘A Fine Balance’ “.

Dr. Amitav Ghosh’s “The Glass Palace” comes very close. These books are very moving, in their own ways. Essentials of Indian Literature, these.

But the common factor in these books, is this feeling that overwhelms you, that is reflected in the words below:

‘Holding this book in your hand, sinking back in your soft arm-chair, you will say to yourself: perhaps it will amuse me. And after you have read this story of the great misfortunes, you will no doubt dine well, blaming the author for your own insensitivity, accusing him of wild exaggeration and flights of fancy. But rest assured: this tragedy is not a fiction. All is true.’

— Honoré de Balzac, Le Pere Goriot

The best thing for me, at a personal level, has been the literature I have read. The treasure is endless and it is priceless. The year gone by, has been the year of the Indian Authors. And no, I am not just talking about the Authors who write books. Just as important, are the Writers who exist in Blogosphere. I want to thank you, to each one of them, for Writing. Writing for a cause, Writing when provoked, Writing to Inspire and more importantly, Writing with responsibility. They know who they are.

Thats it for now, signing off!