Sunday, December 17, 2006

Lights Camera Action and ...??

The last couple of weeks have seen a lot of movies released, watched and they have come in all sorts of packages.
Errr for instance the complete clueless, hyped "Dhoom2".Worked all night and went straight to watch a morning show. That might have been cause of the tainted view of this much hyped movie .But in retrospect...even in my woken senses, the storyline did not make sense. Abhishek looked pregnant and completely not there. Biphasha seemed like a prop used to give audience a view to bikini clad women and skin.She was optimized to play heroine for two of the heroes Abhishek and her twin sister for Uday.How original and innovative can Bollywood get Aishwarya with her "like" in all likelihood should do some serious thinking about her acting skills.Uday was a natural and brought in the few moments of laughter much needed in the 3 hour long ordeal Hrithiks performance was the only saving grace of the movie, albeit not enough to make your penny worth the watch. The story had so much scope for better twists and plots ..it almost seems like a shoddy job done and a waste of such a large and top heavy star cast!

Also watched "Don" and to my surprise it turned out to be not as bad as I had expected it to be for a remake.The original Don was completely an actors movie and this one a directors. SRK did not make the movie unbearable as I had anticipated him to. However Don would have been a success SRK or no SRK..It was out and out Farhan Akhtars movie. The movie was sleek and modified to changing times. Of course it had its flaws but the direction went to show again that Farhan can make some seriously good stuff,

Then came "The Departed". Brilliant performance by Jack Nicholson and goes to show that there is hope for good cinema. Loved the subtle digs showing how the world is hypocrisy and filth at every corner.Was violent though and language was kind of crappy:) But then despite that a movie I will remember for a long time.. This one prodded me to pull out my old collection and watch - As Good as it gets. Every time I watch the movie I tend to like it even more. Jack Nicholson only gets better each time I watch it.

"Dor" by Nagesh Kukunoor was another rare movies with unexpected performances by Gul Panag and Ayesha Takia. A movie about women's emancipation.What struck me most about the movie was purity of most characters . Just makes me wonder can purity ever be found like shown in the movie. Do people without any sort of Malice exist?

"Woh Lamhe" was also a good recount by Mahesh Bhatt. Arth has always been a movie ahead of its times and the story it said was a lot more true and non glamorous than the KANKs of today. Arth was a bag of brilliant performances from all accords- Smita Patil, Shabana, Kulbhushan and Mahesh Bhatt.Arth showed the effect of the affair from the wife's point of view. Woh Lamhe, if what is said is true, is about Parveen Babis angle to the story and amazing how Mahesh Bhatt has the grit to tell us his own story over and over again in different forms.Maybe life and its experiences are more inspiring.

Finally after much thought and with remakes being the theme of the year gathered my guts to watch the new "Umrao Jaan" and argh!! Lesser said the better about the movie. No comparison to the original and amen "Rekha" !

Cough Sneeze and Bangalore always manage to get me sick and tucked in bed around this time of the year. A good time to pull out my precious collection and watch , re-watch and find new dimensions to movies I have loved, performances which mesmerize and stories which leave an effect.

So some recommendations:
  • Masoom
  • Hazaron Kwaishen Aisi
  • Before Sunset ( Before Sunrise )
  • Ice Age:)