Movie Reviews

Saw a couple of fine movies over the last week and a couple of really bad ones too.
There is a very positive trend going on in India right now. At least as far as the kind of movies that are being made in this country. It's no longer about film makers copying hit foreign films and making it into Hindi (Of course the superhit block busters are still the ones which are copied). But some film makers have really started to make an effort to make films which say something. Good story telling, good direction, good writing have become the norm.
So let's get on with the films I saw:
Mumbai Meri Jaan: ****
A brilliant film about people in Mumbai and how they are affected by something which has become almost a way of life everywhere in India in general. In this case, it is the 7/11 bomb blasts that rocked the Mumbai local trains. A lot of people died but there were a few who survived- but survived with a permanent scar on their psyche, on their soul. This film deals with some of those people and their families.
Brilliant characterizations, good writing, decent direction, excellent performances from Paresh Rawal (He is the best), Kay Kay Menon, Irfan Khan.


Maan Gaye Mughal-E-Azam:*

The title of the film was very promising and the fact that the film was copied from a classic Hollywood film of the 40s, made me believe that this would be a decent watch. I mean, how much can anyone fuck with a classic, yaar? But no, the director has managed to do exactly that. The film is unbearable to the extent that you can walk out in the first half hour and not regret it for a moment. Need I say anymore? Ironically, Paresh Rawal and Kay Kay have given their worst performance in this film. But you can't really blame them too because they did not know their characters well for the simple reason that the writer didn't know the characters too.

A Wednesday: **

A pacy thriller which has a good message in the end. But one has to view it as only an action thriller rather than an emotional story about the common man because it does not connect emotionally at all. The twist in the end is highly predictable (at least for me it was- I knew it in the first 15 minutes of the film) . SO after that it was all just a pointless wait for the end. But it has a pacy screenplay which keeps the viewers hooked. I didn't connect to it for the simple reason that the director had not done enough research before treating such a sensitive subject. I mean the police, the terrorists are all so unreal- straight out of some Mithunda film of yore. (That gave a bit of a B-grade feel to it). But Naseeruddin Shah takes the cake. You take him out of the film and the film actually becomes a B-grader. The 2 stars are only for Naseer's performance in the film.
But otherwise... it's definitely a much better film compared to the other shit that we are subjected to. I just wish the director would have researched more about cops and their characteristics. (Jimmy Shergill is loud and very badly etched out character). There is a scene in the film where he goes to catch the said terrorist alone. Can you imagine that??? To top it, the senior cop tells him to take Jai with him (He is another cop). More shocking. A senior cop sending 2 cops to arrest a terrorist who has held the city to ransom and then Jimmy's character refuses point blank and just rushes alone with a revolver to catch the terrorist. Ahem! Now that was a little too filmy like most of the other sequences in the film. Also, Mr. Director who did your background music score? He needs to be spanked on the back side because whatever little likeable about the film was fucked by this guy. Headache is guaranteed, boss.

Rock On: ****

After a long time, there comes a film with real situations and real people. The story about 4 best friends who had dreams of forming a successful rock band when they were young are suddenly put into situations where each one drifts into the monotonous routine of life.
Nice screenplay as it flits from the present to the past. Brilliant Camera work and direction and to top it an excellent performance by Farhan Akhtar and Arjun Rampal.
The music is excellent, although only a limited audience would be able to relate to that kind of music. But then it is not a story about music or rock as such. It is more a story about these 4 friends. So it works for all kinds of people. So feel free and take your families with you to watch this one.