Movie Review: Inception

“Are you watching closely?”

In a year bereft of anything remotely original, packed with remakes and 3D upgrades, comes an idea which is as original as you can get. Inception welcomes you to a narrative labyrinth that, assuming you have the endurance to stick with it, offers up a wholly new imaginative universe.

“Wonders are many, but the most wonderful of all is human mind.”

Dom Cobb (DiCaprio) is an extractor, one who enters the mind while a person is dreaming to steal their secrets. Saito (Ken Watanabe) hires Dom and his team for a different kind of crime: sneak into the subconscious of his main competitor Fischer (Cillian Murphy) and implant an idea that will ruin his empire. While Dom is the big-picture guy, Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) handles the details. Eames (Tom Hardy) is the forger, someone who can assume another identity to control the dreamer. Yusuf (Dileep Rao) is the chemist whose concoction allows them all to turn on, tune in and drop out together. Ariadne (Ellen Page) is the architect, the one who builds the maze-like structure of the dream. Since she’s the newcomer, she also serves as our guide to the brave new world. Her dreams become our gateway to the world.

“You are the dreamer; you build the world.” Cobb tells her.

The movie is as carefully constructed as a Faberge egg. As we go deeper into the multiple layers of dreams, we dig deeper into Cobb’s character. The movie thus becomes a fascinating character study. In fact Ariadne sums it up perfectly in one sequence.

“The deeper we go into Fischer,” she explains to Cobb, “we also go deeper into you.”

This is what elevates the movie to a different level.

DiCaprio continues to subject himself to tougher and tougher acting challenges and astonishingly has nailed almost all the roles in the recent past. He has done a splendid job here too. However, Gordon-Levitt and Hardy are the standouts. It’s high time Gordon-Levitt is accepted as a star in his own right and this film might just do so. But Hardy takes the cake with his portrayal as the suave badass of the group. He is just mesmerizing!

Nolan’s films have always been technically perfect. But this film deserves special mention. Chris Corbould’s visual effects are all unparalleled and utilized beautifully. Hans Zimmer’s brilliant score is deep and thunderous, matching Wally Phister’s richly colored aerial-shot-heavy cinematography and a feeling of perpetual night. How can one forget Guy Hendrix Dyas whose prodution design acts as the backbone of the film? A special mention must be given to the editor Lee Smith who does the Herculean job of neatly blending the real and surreal.

But ultimately Inception is Nolan’s show; and he exerts control over every detail in the film effortlessly. Where Nolan breaks new ground is how deeply he probes the grey matter of both his characters and the audience. He makes no concessions to mainstream notions of plot and character development.

While I was walking out of the theater, I heard the following words to describe the movie. Mind-blowing, mind-bending, mind-fucking, mind-rattling….

For a change, we are associating the word ‘mind’ with a film. There lies the success of Inception.

So until you find your totem, dream on.

(100) Duds Of Summer

Raavan | Raajneeti | Kites | Badmaash Company | Housefull | Phoonk 2 | Prince

If taken a look at the movies released in the last decade, never did such lofty amount of  big budgeted movies release in one summer. And never did so many trash movies release in one summer. So officially this is our WORST SUMMER EVER.

Let’s summarize certain things:-

Bandwagon of honcho-directors – Mani Rathnam, Anurag Basu, Prakash Jha.

An entire warship of actors – Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Hrithik Roshan, Shahid Kapur, Vivek Oberoi, Akshay Kumar, Ranbir Kapoor, Katrina Kaif, Ajay Devgan… almost the entire industry is here.

Now let’s analyze the films which released this summer.

Raavan

It is a visually stunning film. But the plot is wafer thin and uni-dimensional. The director, famous for scripts with multilayered relationships, has painted all the characters either in black or white, without indulging in character shades and the multi-facades much needed. Where is the cinematic complexity, which Sir Ratnam holds high as his USP? Where is the inner turmoil in Ragini’s character? I am not being too harsh, but, it’s too mummified, simplistic, and a collage of a direction-lost script .

Raajneeti

The Mahabharata adaptation also suffers due to shoddy script. While the first half is completely decent, it is the second half in which Rajneeti fumbles. It makes a caricature out of all the characters. In the end it becomes a linear revenge drama between the two families. And… let’s just leave alone the Karna-Kunti part.

Kites

Where should I start, please? For one, the filmmaker was probably clueless about the film’s linguistics and has made a complete fool of himself by not putting in ample research on that front. Nothing more on this piece of trash, sorry. I just wish they released Hrithik Roshan’s show reel instead of that cinematic porridge. Atleast the public would have known what they are buying the tickets for.

Badmaash Company

It’s sad to see films like these releasing from a production house which gave us some of the finest films ever released on Indian screens. Seems Yash Raj Films is completely bankrupt of scripts. Since when did con jobs become so boring?

Housefull

Do I need to discuss about the film? It is hands down the worst film of the year. No further comments, thank you.

Phoonk 2

Although this movie is relatively a small budget film, I am mentioning it since the first part was a hit and it’s a RGV production.  But sadly, all the ticket money gave us, was the screeching sounds effects trying to scare the audience desperately. Sound effects don’t constitute the entire film, Sir.

Prince

What can I say about the film? It is special! A film where LCD TV displays the memory of a person and one can fast forward or rewind it, is beyond any mortal’s thinking capacity. They named the film wrongly. Should have been GOD instead.

But not one movie has managed to mesmerize me. This summer has been a disaster of epic proportions. If you count the total budget of all the films mentioned above it will probably reach 400 Crores. An amount large enough to completely revamp an entire state. Yet, yes yet, we did not get ONE good film.

Why? That’s the main question.

The answer is the SCRIPT. If only the producers spent less money on actors, their costumes and concentrated on the backbone of any film, script, we would have had an eventful summer.

Movie Review: The Great Indian Butterfly

Isn’t marriage a journey? Where two individuals, however similar or dissimilar they are, stick together through grooves and crests in search of happiness.

That exactly what The Great Indian Butterfly’s all about. A journey of an urban couple, currently dysfunctional, out on a vacation, to seek happiness.

Their dysfunctionality is due to the same problem most urban couples face: managing career and marriage at the same time. Krish (Aamir Bashir) and Meera (Sandhya Mridul) are two completely diametrically opposite persons. Krish is level-headed, focused and has achieved quite a lot in his career. Meera on the other hand is hyper, stressed out – due to office politics and also due to Krish’s absence from home. Their marriage is not in sync.

Their idea of vacation is also different. While Meera wants to unwind in the beaches of Goa, Krish is more interested to find the Great India Butterflies, a myth, whose roots are in The Mahabharata, which brings love, luck and peace. It is almost a desperate attempt on Krish’s part to seek help from the mythical butterflies to stabilise their faltering marriage.

As their road trip starts, the problem increases. Lisa (Koel Purie), Krish’s ex-girlfriend re-surfaces. Meera, still uncomfortable about Krish’s past-relationship with Lisa, vents out in frustration. Krish unable to take it, rants. And slowly, the skeletons start coming out from the closet. Suddenly, the trip to Goa becomes an even more a-desperate-attempt to save the marriage.

A movie when based on profound, personal relationships, lies solely on the script. Thankfully, that’s where The Great Indian Butterfly scores. It is a spot-on script. At last we have a movie where the couple converse with a natural and real-life tinge to it. They fight like most of us do, they react like most of us do and they try and patch up the way most of us would. Their problems, feelings are genuine and we connect to them.

Another highlight of the film is the outstanding cinematography from Shankar Raman. The entire first half is more or less shot on the road, under the open sky. You have to see it to believe how well it has been shot. I don’t recall any movie which made Goa look so stunning. There are some stunning silhouettes used.

And then the performances! Sandhya Mridul is the film. It should be a career defining performance for her. She makes Meera special. Flawless performance. Aamir Bashir is good too but overshadowed by Sandhya. Koel Purie and Barry John are apposite in their respective characters.

Sarthak Dasgupta in his debut film has created a gem. To bring out the exact emotions in a strained relationship is a tough job. And to write a balanced story without taking sides is tougher. His story makes us identify with the leads. And his direction feels so assured. Very few films based to man-woman relationship have tackled the subject so maturely. And for that The Great Indian Butterfly becomes a must watch.

Yes, there are flaws. The second half feels a little muddled. A couple of monologues about peace and happiness and all the joyous things could have been shortened as they are a tad too long. Also, the brownish tinge used to mellow down the bright blue sky looks a little shabby at some places as the blue sky underneath is partially visible. And was it very necessary to show the singers in the film as guest appearances?

But then again, flawed brilliance is still brilliant, right?

March 19, 2010

Love, Sex Aur Dhokha

Films are supposed to be the mirror of the society. Does it really reflect true India? Most Indian films create an utopia of their own where everything is fair in love. But is it the truth? Does it really happen?

Welcome to the world of Love, Sex Aur Dhokha. Get an electrifying reality check!

The movie showcases the dysfunctional urban Indian society which lusts for voyeurism. It is the Indian society which starts and ends an entire day with MMS scandals. It is also the nonchalant Indian society which believes in honor killing because of religious differences and social-hierarchy issues. So far we read it all on the newspapers. Thankfully, someone had enough balls to put in on celluloid.

Told from third person point of view, using camcorders, CCTVs and hidden cameras, the movie tells three inter-weaved stories about Love, Sex and Deceit. On a macro level, the three stories talk about Love, Sex and Deceit chronologically and separately. But on a micro level, we find all the elements in every story.

The film makes a very strong socio-political statement. Albeit sarcastic, it talks about a nation which is shinning thanks to its technological progress but yet has not been able to come out of the wonderland portrayed in films where almost everything is over the top and melodramatic. Where wannabe filmmakers rather than trying to create something new, fresh, follow the easy path to attain box-office success. It also talks about the paradox of morality. A nation which gave birth to Kamasutra, where most people take sadistic pleasure watching the MMS scandals everyday, but cannot talk about sex in the open. The irony is, one such scene where a couple is having sex is pixellated by the censor board even after giving an Adults Only rating.

The master stroke was to cast all newcomers. And all of them performed brilliantly. Be it Angshuman Jha as the wannabe director, Shruti as the rich girl in love with her poor director, Raj Kumar Yadav as the good for nothing guy managing the departmental store and who is in huge debt, Neha Chauhan as the graveyard shift worker in that departmental store, Arya Banerjee as the dancer who is desperate to get herself cast in a music video, Herry Tangri as the pop icon who keeps candybars in his portable fridge right below the whiskey or Amit Sial as the journalist desperately in need of a breaking news.

However the catch-point of the movie is the cinematography by Nikos Andritsakis and the deft editing of Namrata Rao. Using hand held camera, CCTV footage, hidden camera he creates a jerky, muddled world just like that in the film.

The strength of Dibakar Banerjee has always been his script, especially the dialogs. Be it the bitter-sweet title cards at the beginning of each story, the security guard at the store who just doesn’t know when to stop or the departmental store worker who just can’t stop bragging about her boyfriend in Russia. Everything bears the signature of Dibakar Banerjee. Also that he mainly talks about middle class people whom clearly he understand. In Love, Sex Aur Dhokha too baring one protagonist, all others belong to middle class or lower middle class. Here too he creates a platter of real characters with real emotions. The society they live in is dysfunctional, but their narrative is seamless.

And then there is the outstanding last scene where all the protagonists are in one scene. The camera lingers with everyone smiling, rejoicing and the reality suddenly hits you. The happiest scene of the entire film gives you the biggest scare. You start recollecting what happened to those characters, almost like finishing the jigsaw.

Love, Sex Aur Dhokha has given Indian cinema a new genre, itself.

Take a bow Dibakar Banerjee. If not now, then when?

March 5, 2010

033 – Review

What defines a city?

The people living there? The old monuments reminding of the eras gone by? The food? The dress-code? The amalgamation of all these factors? Or is it nothing?

In the movie 033, this is exactly what the band members are trying to find out. There are two parallel tracks in the movie. A woman (Swastika Mukherjee) in search of her roots, with an endeavour to know Calcutta (the film is set in the 90s and so it is still officially Calcutta) from her foreigner point of view. The other being, the struggle of the band members (Parambrata Chattopadhyay, Shaheb, Rudranil Ghosh, Dhruv Mukherjee and Mumtaz Sorcar) of 033 (the band) to find an identity of their own with their own songs and not by playing remixed covers of old classics.

The Bangla band tradition started in the 1970s. One of the firsts being Saptarshi who later renamed themselves as Moheener Ghoraguli. Over the years the band culture faded. It came back with a bang in the 90s with bands like Cactus, Parash Pathar, Chandrabindoo etc…

033 narrates the story of one such fictional band and their struggle for existence.

This is a film about the debutants. The director, editor, writer and an actor are making their debuts. In such a scenario, one fears that the collective filmmaking might take a backseat and showcasing of individual talent might become a priority. 033 suffers exactly from that.

Every film has its own pace. But 033 is inconsistent. What hampers the most is the sudden use of frontality in between a scene. I know it is the age of experimentation. But sometimes less is good. The sudden shift to in-your-face frontality of Swastika comes across as caricaturish, very gimmicky. Also continuous use of montage hampers the film. Why do you need to use so much montages? Infact it seems the film is one big montage. The editor, Debaloy Bhattacharya, almost felt that since this is his first Bengali film, he needs to show all the editing transitions known to him. It feels that he used all the buttons in Final Cut Pro trying to impress his director. Pity! Since it comes across as amateurish.

Somak Mukherjee is a cinematographer par excellence. But somehow his work gets muddled up. There are some fascinating wide and long shots, a few superbly composed scenes, but when it comes to larger perspective, the film, it all looks gimmicky. It feels like there are multiple cinematic set pieces deliberately composed within one film to attract attention. The songs are shot like music videos with flashy editing but hardly makes any sense when it comes to the narrative. They stand out like a sore thumb.

The movie has an ensemble cast. Sadly, no one performs well. The sooner Parambrata understand he needs to shift away from the same role he has been doing over and over again, the better it will be for him. Swastika disappoints big time.  She’s the main protagonist of the film. Yet, we as audience do not feel for her. She just doesn’t connect. Also her diction is flawed. It is sad to see a performer of Rudranil’s caliber wasted like this. With a horrible wig and an umbrella as prop, he is made into a caricature.  Shaheb and Dhruv goes over the top. Mumtaz Sorcar, the debutant, looks good on screen.

I had huge expectations from Birsa Dasgupta. But clearly he bit way more than he could chew. He tried to do far too much experimentation with his first film. Almost like he wanted to show that he is comfortable with aspect of filmmaking. Sadly, it doesn’t quite gel. However, there are quite a few scenes which does show his talent. They are superbly executed. Wish he focused more on the narrative/content and less on visuals.

What stands out in the movie is the music. The score by Chandrabindoo is superlative. Few of the songs (especially Rain Machine) are very well shot. But mostly they feel like independent music videos in context of the movie.

033 thus becomes another film that could have been great rather than becoming one. It is a pity considering it had all the ingredients. If only the proportions were rightly served.

Jan 28, 2010

Zombieland

A zombie spoof on the lines of Shawn of the Dead. Thankfully this movie is equally funny too. Great starcast giving superlative performances.

Super fun!

Jan 27, 2010

Sherlock Holmes

Finally watched the movie. And it was totally worth it.

It is incredible how Guy Ritchie managed to transform the most famous detective character ever written, set in late nineteenth century, into a superbly entertaining popcorn blockbuster without damaging the sensibilities.

Add to that superb performances by Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law. Highly recommended!