SALEEM - Eternal Bullshit of the Brainless Mind

SALEEM will go into my list of films which should be watched before you die.

Its a big budget film of 23 crores as claimed by Mohan Babu and you can easily see where this huge amount of money is spent when you watch the film.I am not gonna give a plot summary or any spoilers here as there are many chances that it might bring down the amount of horrible effect on you.After a film like OKKA MOGADU one expects Y.V.S to come with a decent film but he surprises us with SALEEM.



We have Ileana as the heroine and Vishnu Manchu as hero.SALEEM is basically a semi-porn film or should is say semi-soft porn film? whatever .. this film gets a U/A certificate from our prestigious Censor board which is still a mystery to me... SALEEM gets a U/A but Magadheera gets a A certificate,looks like i got diverted from the film.. sorry... continuing with the film we see Ileana in torn stockings,translucent navel cover-ups,loose tops,etc... if you are a guy then you are bound to be mesmerized by the costumes.Now moving away from the costumes let us come to Ileana sizes (sorry its not my idea,i am good boy,idea belongs to YVS), YVS teaches the audience the art of measurements for example 'jana bethedu' etc.. and the vocabulory of measurements are conveyed to us by child artist Bharat,what a wonderful idea by YVS.

After the sizes of Ileana i have to talk about what is shown in the film... again sorry,i am a good boy,i am just writing what is there in the film.We see a lot of cleavage,thighs,back,waist and last but not the least the bellybutton,the bellybutton trademark is inherited by YVS from his guru K.Raghavendra Rao,we see bellybuttons in almost every film of YVS,the bellybutton of heroines is common but in this film he uses the ZOOM option available in his camera,he zooms for an average of 1 minute in almost every song and in some scenes.



I have told the best part of SALEEM now let us shift our focus to our hero Vishnu.Vishnu looks much better than his previous films and has decreased his weight....(23 crores a majaaka!). Our hero has some secret background which YVS doesn't wanna show in the first half but he shows us the extraordinary capabilities of our hero.Some of the extraordinary capabilities are mentioned here... Vishnu runs faster than a fired bullet to save his future father-in-law,he re-writes all the laws related to Newtons laws of gravity,he can seize all the airports of Bangkok (is he the Prime Minister of Thailand?) ... there is fight sequence in the film when he meets Mukesh Rishi's people .. who the hell composed this fight sequence?? i think even this fight sequence is idea from the expertise mind of YVS.. and why the hell will anyone take the tigers nail hanging in the neck of an ugly and untidy man?? (evari pichi vallaki anandam).

SALEEM is incomplete without its dialogues,here are some of the dialogues (may not exactly be the same..)

Ileana: Dash ..

Vishnu: Bongu Le...
i was wondering what does 'dash' mean? i know a meaning a 'bongu' .. are there any other meanings of 'Bongu' ?

Vishnu : vere vallu gun tisinaka alochistaru,adi valla MINDSET ,nenu tiyyaka munde alochista,adi na ASSET... wah wah!! what a rhyming.

Vishnu: Vallaki Gun pattukovatam telusu,naku gun to adukovatam telusu ..

Vishnu: Gun chooste love lo padipota..

Mohan Babu: Andaru Gun mata vintaru,gun veedi mata vintundi


Vishnu: Tsunami chusi miru paripotaru.... nenu dani mida adukunta... nenu TSUNAMI (don't worry he didn't change his name,its just a metaphor)

Vishnu: miru BULLET .. nenu ATOM BOMB


and repeated dialogues like...

Vishnu: isariki ila kaniddamule.

Vishnu: dummu repesta..

Mohan Babu: Boom Boom Bhulak .. (does anyone know what it means?)


YVS infuses some amount of patriotism in the film,he says that europeon culture is shit and Indian culture is wonderful,huh..what an irony!The climax is very very very unpredictable, FLASHBACK! hey...there is no flashback,the climax reminds me of 1980's and 1990's flicks where all the family members,villains,hero,heroine meet in a some defunct factory.Mohan Babu tells us some good stuff in the end about true love etc.. "All Izz Well"

Conclusion:

There is a dialogue where Vishnu says to Ileana "ni kovvu anta akkada unnatu undi,anduke burra sarigga pani cheyyatalledu" BANG ON , if she is intelligent she would have never accepted such a script filled with shit.

If you are thinking of watching the film just for Ileana then i would recommend you go to a internet cafe and spend 10Rs which is much worth than this film and because apart from those scenes SALEEM is filled with unbearable stuff.

Please dont carry instruments like knife,blade etc... because there are people waiting for you back home.SUICIDE is a sin.

CACHE - Nothing is HIDDEN

Most of the film viewers try to find the 3 M's in a film ,Does a movie need to have a Motive? Message ? Meaning ?. Michael Haneke's 'Cache' is a film which defines the 3 M's without any definition.Accidentally four years ago i watched Michael Haneke's 'The Piano Teacher' which made a profound impact on me for its disturbing narration without violence and the shadow of darkness lingering in the film. 'Cache' is a similar kind of disturbing film which is infused with terrific images.



Georges Laurent(Daniel Auteuil) and Anne(Juliette Binoche) are married couple with a son Pierrot. The film starts with a long static shot with some credits on it, this static shot is actually the video sent by an anonymous man?, the first video shows that Georges house is under surveillance, when Laurent and Anne watch the first video tape Laurent says 'How come i didn't see him' referring to himself in the video. Later they receive some comic drawings which look intimidating,even Pierrot receives it and asks his father 'Why did you send it to school?'

In the next videotape Laurent's childhood home is filmed and he visits his old home where his mother stays who is battling with old age illness,there some important conversations take place.The next videotape leads to a man named Majid who is connected to him in his childhood and Laurent accuses him of sending the tapes which he denies.The way events unfold after this is tragic,horrific and disturbing without letting us know the truth behind the mystery.


I cannot write the whole plot and synopsis here because it will be a spoiler and might decrease the thrill and intensity when you watch the film.The undercurrent of the film is the unseen horror and the disturbing theme which holds on us till the end of the film.Even though the mystery is unexplained the point Michael Haneke makes in the film is clear cut.Haneke shows the hidden and makes a point of what can happen and what is to happen when something is hidden and how things get unnoticed even though they carry much importance and meaning.

Haneke shows what is hidden and hides what we are interested in seeing but everything can be seen if one really wants to see it. Laurent hides some facts with Anne,Pierrot hides something from Anne, Anne expresses her motherly love to Pierrot,Laurent hides his emotion before his wife and others when he cant find Pierrot but ultimately cries in the kitchen,Haneke makes his point in Cache but to understand his point we need to remove our hidden eyes .

Like David Lynch's 'Mullholland Drive' Cache plants innumerable questions in our mind , though we might never comprehend them 100% but the beauty of these films is that they create a silent impact which increases our intrigue towards finding the truth and searching for 3 M's .

-- Did you see Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi in the film?



Do not proceed from here if you haven't seen the film.

1. The film starts with the first videotape and some titles appearing on it,if you are attentive and are blessed with normal vision you can see the title CACHE embedded in it.

2. The conversation between Laurent and Anne while watching the first video referring to himself he says 'How come i didn't see him' .

3. The first video hints that the camera is not hidden and might be an act of voyeurism.

4. Watch the scene in which Laurent meets Majid is there an act of indirect voyeurism?.

5. The videotapes are infused with some images of a boy,which suggest something to us.

6. Listen to watch Majid's Son says when he confronts him in his office.

7. The last and the long static shot where Pierrot meets Majid's son.

and many more..

The above hidden elements and many other hidden elements throw questions instead of answers,the questions are the clues to find the hidden answer (s) ?

Fall in sales of Blackberry in Pakistan

Jailed militant’s hoax calls drove India, Pakistan to brink of war

Islamabad : There is a sharp dip in the demand of Blackberry cell phones in Pakistan.The reason for the sharp decline in the sales is due to hoax call by a terrorist named 'Omar Saeed Sheikh' who made a hoax call to the President Zadari office few days after the 26/11 incident.Its due to his hoax call INDIA-PAK were at the brink of a nuke war.




Omar Saeed Sheikh made a call from his Blackberry cell phone from a Hyderabad Jail where he is held for the chargers of kidnapping WSJ journalist Daniel Pearl.The government was able to track Omar Saeed Sheikh after almost an year with the tremendous help from its Intelligence agency ISI.It is rumored that some ISI officers might be given Nishan-e-Pakistan award for their amazing work.

Under the pressure from INDIA,USA and UK the Zadari government is thinking to ban Blackberry mobiles , X-Box , Play-stations ,Laptops etc... in the prisons where the terrorists are kept.As the news of this ban comes as a shock to all the prisoners they are planning to make a strike in all the jails across pakistan. The strike may have enormous effects as the arms trade business ,Karachi stock exchange etc.. as they are controlled by pakistan terrorists groups, meanwhile the Paksitan human right activists argue that Zadari govt is taking all the fundamental rights of pakistan terrorists and prisoners.



Shockingly there is a allegation by 'Research In Motion' company which manufactures BlackBerry mobiles, the company alleges that the Pakistan Government has a secret deal with NOKIA which has offered N900 sets to all terrorists serving in Paksitan prosons,however the allegation was rubbished by the Government.

Jules and Jim(1962)

The Unusual TRAGEDY

I read the book 'HITCHCOCK' 3 years back as i am a big fan of Alfred Hitchcock.'HITCHCOCK was written by Francois Truffaut,at that time i did not watch Truffaut 's films but the book has made me watch his films as his insight towards films and his critical analysis impressed me a lot and there it started my journey towards films of Francois Truffaut.

My first Francois Truffaut's film was '400 Blows' which i am not gonna discuss here but i am gonna throw my thoughts on his two wonderful films 'Jules and Jim' in this post and 'Two English Girls' in the next post and also the similarities between these two films.

Jules and Jim are two friends who fight for different sides of the World War 1 and they meet a girl called Catherine,who likes both and both Jules and Jim love Catherine. Jules loves Catherine and they get married and have a daughter,Jim visits Jules and Catherine and he develops a relationship with Catherine.... this sounds like a normal story but the real pleasure of watching this film comes after Catherine develops a relationship with Jim.

We cant even predict the next scene,we don't know weather she will go with Jim or Jules,with whom she will share the bed,will she marry Jim?,will she leave Jules and her daughter?,will Jim leave Catherine?,will Jules leave Catherine and Jim for the sake of friendship and for his love towards Catherine?, or will the three stay together?

Every scene is like a simple and a silent twist without any huge impact on the screenplay and the story,these three live together for a period of time and Jim tells us that villagers called them as lunatics.Jules is loved by Catherine but she is unhappy with the marriage and tries to have an affair with Jim with the knowledge of Jules,Jules loves Catherine but he is not sure what to do as his love and friendship collide, even though its an unhappy marriage with Jules,Catherine loves Jules.Its funny that we see Catherine spinning her relations with Jim and Jules which are from a confused heart.Jules is in the favor of Catherine having an affair with Jim as Jim is his best friend and wants to see Catherine happy.

The confused plot is the amalgam of wonderful emotion between the three characters who cant live without each other and finally there can be only one perfect ending to such a story,its the TRAGEDY . The tragedy in the film makes it a perfect ending,the tragedy needs to be triggered by one of the characters and the there will be an innocent victim too.The true and complete pleasure of watching 'Jules and Jim' can be felt when we understand the characters and the relationship between Jules,Jim and Catherine.

UPA on Chinese Incursions

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REINCARNATION in TOLLYWOOD

Reincarnation is a fascinating concept,it is a subject which can intrigue everyone.Indian films had their share on Reincarnation like KARZ,Om Shanti Om,Karzzzz etc… recently TOLLYWOOD has witnessed two films on Reincarnation which are breaking all records in terms of Box-Office collections and are being termed as the greatest films made in Telugu Cinema but i would like to differ.Magadheera and Arundathi have some things in common like reincarnation,aghora’s,blood,VFX and DUMBNESS.

Shyam Prasad Reddy who made Ammoru and Anji( Won National Film Award for Best Special Effects) makes a female oriented reincarnation tale Arundathi.Sonu Sood plays the role of Aghora.Resul Pookutty said “When it comes to sound,our filmmakers decide what is enough for our audience” but what we hear in Arundathi is the unbearable sound which is much above 100dB,every silly angle,moments,dialogues in the film is attached with sounds which made my eardrum a victim of poor gimmicks.

Plagiarism is not seen as a crime in our country but when it comes to films our filmmakers they see it as a birth right .The Drum Dance sequence is directly lifted from “House of Flying Daggers” in which Ziyi Zhang pretends as a blind girl but here the dance teacher is a blind girl.

Why even the dance teacher is ‘Arundathi’ is blind?
What is the problem if the dance teacher is not visually challenged?
The simple answer is that to create sympathy towards the dance teacher and to infuse deep animosity against Pasupathi (Sonu Sood) because he would be raping the dance teacher in the next scene.
Who is an Aghora? If Pasupathi can reincarnate how can he be called a aghora? Its very obvious that the producer and director were amused by the look and talk of an aghora but were never interested to know about a real aghora. Bala’s Naan Kadavul (Nenu Devudni) portrays the aghora in the most frightening way,it gives a slight hint to a normal viewer what an aghora is and what he stands for.The plot of arundathi a perfect example of ambiguity and inability.After the completion of an action scene the film has to proceed forward with a frightening scene as there is nothing much in the plot and to create a frightening scene the director has a very simple trick called SOUND ..sorry its called NOISE and we have to prepare our ears for nonsensical background music which tear your ears for no reason.
-Just for the sake of reincarnation Jejjamma sacrifices her life(By breaking coconuts on her head).
-The film has to end at a conflicting point,and how to get a conflicting point?
–By creating an unnecessary logic i.e surrender herself to Pasupathi.
Why does Arundathi surrender to Pasupathi?
–To prevent the death of her family members.
-Jejjamma’s marriage is never shown,we don’t see her husband but she has kids.
The loopholes in the script are naked but still some call this film as one of the greatest film in Telugu Cinema.

---

A producer asks the director to create a Magnum Opus for his nephew, and the director creates a film which is being called as Magnum Opus by many for reasons which i don’t know.Allu Arvind pockets were stuffed with money after the success of GHAJINI and now they are overflowing because of the unprecedented response for his latest film MAGADHEERA. The creator of this so called magnum opus is S.S.Rajamouli who has never seen a commercial flop in his directorial career.
I will remember S.S.Rajamouli for a peculiar reason which is for turning the careers of all the heroes of his films into an insecure mode, all the heroes in the films are strong patriarchal characters, he created Jr N.T.R in ‘Simhadri’, Prabhas in ‘Chatrapathi’, Nitin in ‘Sye’ and now Ram Charan Tej in ‘Magadheera’ , the characters which Rajamouli created are so threatening that the heroes cannot stand up to it in their upcoming films.

MAGADHEERA is probably the highest budget film of Tollywood,its a love story with the twist of reincarnation.The titles of the film are presented with a wonderful background storyboards and a small flashback scene,it gives a sense of what the story might be.The film starts with a bike stunt which looks good,now here comes the song ‘Bangaru Kodipetta’ (The Golden Hen) which is the remix from Chiranjeevi’s ‘Gharana Mogudu’.
We copy action,drama,emotion,graphics etc.. from Hollywood films but why don’t we copy the cameo sequences from them? Chiranjeevi garu introduction is good,he looks good in a welding cap but after that he says all the crap which can be said, i really don’t understand why the heck do we need this crap? dont we know how he danced for the ‘Bangaru Kodipetta’ song choreographed by Prabhu Deva? For what good reason this shit is thrown at us?
The first half of the film is almost unbearable ,i just wanted to come out of the multiplex and do some shopping, the hero is behind heroine,the heroine is behind hero and the villain is behind the heroine and after some time he is behind the hero too and after some gap the hero behind the heroine and villain.The hero,heroine,the villain and Solomon(Sher Khan) are the reincarnated souls and the reason behind the reincarnation is shown in the flashback(most of the second half).Actually the villain is a funny guy,he even kills his father for no reason and don’t forget all the villains of Rajamouli films have a bad eye towards women ,we have seen this type of idiosyncrasies of rajamouli in his previous films and he will use them in the future for sure even though they don’t bear any common sense.The scenes are artificially stitched together to make some plot which can be connected to the second half, the heroine and hero are busy with their song in Golconda and god knows why heroine’s father comes to Golconda where he finds his daughter romancing with the hero and blah blah blah… The first half of the film is pure JUNK.
The second half of the film is the only saving grace of Magadheera, it crafts a different episode in the history of Telugu Cinema.S.S.Rajamouli does have some amount of touch with technology,he makes us feel that we are in the kingdom of Udaighad,the horse riding scene does have its impact on the audience,the salt desert which he uses it repeatedly is wonderfully captured in the camera by ‘Senthil Kumar’ ,he flirts with the colors,the film did get a lot of DI but apart from that the way he captures every scene is admirable.The art work has to be mentioned because of the impact it has on the audience,the gigantic statue of Lord Shiva,the sets of Udaighad are the most lavish ones which the telugu audience have ever seen. The last fight sequence in which he kills 100 soldiers of Sher Khan is the best of the film ( inspired from 300).The end of the flashback and the end of entertainment.Now,rajamouli is back to his cheap tactics like Item Song,fights,melodrama etc… and an embarrassing Helicopter and Tata Sumo scene.
Magadheera and Arundathi are two wasted endeavors which will be seen in Telugu film history as half baked cakes.They are made with some honesty and with lot of hypocrisy which can never stand the test of time.Unconsciously telugu audience are addicted to mediocrity and if anything which is just above mediocre is seen as a masterpiece.We do need movies like Magadheera and Arundathi but with some genuineness and frank commitment. Magadheera and Arundathi are films which rely hugely on technology but the VFX effects have the upper hand rather than the script.The Reincarnation is a new found formula which will stay for some time in the industry.

Aamir Khan wants to make Mahabharatha,Salman Khan wants to make Ramayana and others are interested in making similar kind of films but why do you want to make this type of films?

Originally published on Passionforcinema.com

Interview with Satish Kasetty

Satish Kasetty who won National Award for his debut film HOPE is gearing up for his second release “Kalavaramaye Madilo“.Here are some excerpts from his interview.

Even before HOPE released you were quoted saying the film would win a National Award?How and why were you so confident?

My belief in the subject, my conviction in I wanting it, my passion and ability, which I believed in, all these made me believe that I will achieve it.

Tell us something about ‘Kalavaramaye Madilo’?

It is a love story and a family drama, set in the backdrop of music. This film is a tribute to mother hood.

Ilayraja scored music for your first film HOPE ,so why couldn’t we see Ilayraja when ”Kalavaramaye Madilo” has a musical backdrop?

My first choice was Ilayraja, Keeravani was the second option, due to some financial constraints we could not get them.

Did you have ‘Swathi’ and ‘Kamal Kamaraju’ on your mind before finalizing the script for ”Kalavaramaye Madilo”?

No,I choose the cast after i complete the script.Only Thanikala Bharini was confirmed before i completed the script.

Was Swathi the first choice for the role?

My personal choice was Swati, but when I took this subject to few producers before coming to mohan media, they had their choices. In the end my choice was producers choice too…

How was it working with Kamal Kamaraju?

I did not want a big hero in the film.I was impressed by Kamal Kamaraju’s performance in ‘Avakai Biryani’ and then decided that he would be the male lead of the film.He is a very good actor and has a very important role in the film.

How did you arrive at the title ”Kalavaramaye Madilo”?

Dil Raju had registered the name for a love story , so when he heard my story he liked it and gave it.I liked the title of the film when i heard it because “ammyi ki madilo kalavaram” in the beginning of the film and at the end “thana madiloni kala varamayindi”.

Did you have any apprehensions regarding the music as you have gone for a debutant music director ‘Sharreth Vasudevan’?

I knew he is a very learned man but.., my only apprehension was will he understand the language and give me what I want. But then at the end of the day I did learn one more lesson in music, that is there is no language for music. The proof is before you.

As ‘Sharreth Vasudevan’ is the student of ‘Balamuralikrishna garu’ did he feel comfortable while composing music for a film?

This is not his first film, he did plenty of movies in Tamil Malayalam. He is definitely up there as for as his music is concerned. In a recent programmer on Asianet star singer, He said “I am learning to make my music simple”.

It is said that the second song of the film ‘Tholi Tholi Aasalenno’ contains mistakes, is it the part of the script or just a gimmick?

Its not a gimmick,its the part of the script in which the singer makes some mistakes while she sings the song.

As the album contains 8 songs,what is the running time of the film?

The running time of the film is only 2hrs 15 min.

How was it working with ‘Chitra garu’?

Dream come true, god has been very kind to me, I have worked with some of the best people in the industry.She is so down to earth, so humble and has no airs about herself. May be that is how great people are made of.

She sang all the songs with so much ease. The toughest song to sing was the “thoil tholi” song, because it was composed with mistakes. And for such a great singer to sing and make mistakes consciously was tough. But being a professional she is, she took her time and recorded the song. Thank you chitra garu.

Lyrics of the songs are wonderful and every song is written by ‘Vanamaali’, any reason for sticking to one lyricist?

Makes my job easy. Two heads better than many. I had heard his earlier songs and liked them, so I said why not him, Most of the time I go by my instinct. While working with him I realized that I made the right choice.

All the songs are good in the film , which was the toughest to conceive or execute?

Looking back, I think the climax song was the toughest to shoot, considering, the time available to shoot that song. It was tough for vanamali garu also to write the lyric’s of this song. When he sat down to write ,he could write only 4 lines and then there was a block, the rest of the song took 20 days to write after reading the script four times.

Your favorite Directors?

K. Vishvanath , Maniratnam and Shekar kapoor.

Do you have anything to say to the audience?

Watch ”Kalavaramaye Madilo” .. Please encourage good cinema.

Originally published on Passionforcinema.com

Two Lovers(2008)

“Two Lovers” stars Joaquin Phoenix(Leonard),Gwyneth Paltrow(Michelle) and Vinessa Shaw(Sandra), it is rumored that this is the last film of Joaquin Phoenix.The news of Joaquin Phoenix retirement from acting has prompted me to watch “Two Lovers”

The film starts with a dramatic scene in which Joaquin Phoenix(Leonard) attempts suicide by jumping into a bay but he is saved by few men and is in no conscious mood to thank the guy who saved his life.

In Dev.D and in many other films we have seen that a man embraces self-destruction when he loses his loved ones.In “Two Lovers” we see the make and break of relationships with a realistic tone attached to it with infatuation,desperation etc.. as its attributes.The kind of self-destruction which i find in the characters is so natural that we don’t call it as self destruction in real life.

Leonard is a person who is emotionally ill as her fiancee leaves him because of the genetic tests results indicate that they cant have healthy children.Leonard is attracted towards a neighbor Michelle,he follows her to get her attention,he dances with her,he spends time with her,he talks to her from his window and also feels that he loves her.The feelings of Leonard are very much obvious and it is very likely that any person who is under desperation and frustration of a broken relationship will act in the same way.When Sandra sees a scar on Leonard’s hand she says that “I wanna take care of you,i kinda understand you,you are different,you don’t pretend something you are not”. Sandra has a lot of love for Leonard which he acknowledges but his infatuation towards Michelle is his priority.Leonard buys a ring for Michelle but eventually he gives it to Sandra

Leonard does not tell about the conversation which he had with Michelle’s boy friend to make Michelle love him,but instead he depends on himself to make her satisfy that he really loves her and also says that “this is not stupid f**king crush,do you think i don’t know love?”.When Michelle and Leonard decide to leave the town he buys two tickets and a ring for her with the money he has.

Leonard and Michelle,the two lovers are very much inclined towards self destruction, Michelle has a boy friend who is married and has children and she still wants to be with him,Leonard prefers Michelle over Sandra even after knowing that Michelle has a boy friend and about the miscarriage of Michelle.Michelle and Sandra share intimacy with Leonard but the difference between them is quite visible to us.Michelle ditches Leonard and she explains the reason “I am not going.He left his family for me…and we are getting married”.



After the rejection by Michelle,Leonard thinks of suicide and goes near the bay where he throws the ring box and therehe recognizes the gloves given by Sandra and he walks back to his apartment and gives the ring to Sandra.If you observe keenly the first scene of the film where Leonard attempts suicide he sees a light when he is in the water and prompts him to come above the water and after that he meets his real love Sandra and even in the end when he thinks of suicide he is saved by the gloves which are given by his true love Sandra.

James Gray who is the director and the co-writer of the film makes a film which reminds us of the old days where romantic drama films revolved around relationships.”Two Lovers” is not a masterpiece by James Gray but definitely a very good film which explores the relationships of true love.

Originally published on Passionforcinema.com

Preservation of Films

The Godfather

Gone With the Wind

BARAKA

VERTIGO

Film Preservation

Film Preservation Guide

Film Forever

Dev.D(2009)

Why does the contemporary youth of India love Dev.D?
In Notting Hill (1999) Julia Roberts asks Hugh Grant “What is it about men and nudity, huh?” .Well…there is hardly any relation between ‘Notting Hill’ and ‘Dev.D. ‘Why does the contemporary youth of India love Dev.D? It’s an easy and tough question, depends how we perceive it.

The novel which made ‘Dilip Kumar’ a big hero and has shown ‘Akkineni Nageshwara Rao’ an illustrious career, supported ‘Shah Rukh Khan’s’ rejuvenation, is now helping Abhay Deol and Independent Cinema of India. The film starts with a beautiful scene between young Dev and Paro where we are provided with a hint for their characters. Dev (The Dude) leaves for London for his studies but still maintains his love with Paro (Chhamak Challo). Anurag Kashyap doesn’t waste any time in conveying his idea on ‘Devdas’, in the first few minutes of the film itself we are shown Dev asking Paro ‘Do you touch yourself?’ and after that we are again looking at an unusual scene in which Paro faces some trouble getting her photo scanned which she at last sends it to Dev and Dev says “Paro mein a raha hoon”.

The scene in which Paro takes a mattress into a sugarcane field in the early morning so that she can have a good time with Dev, but Dev refuses and we see how her hopes and dreams are shattered and later she shows her frustration on the water pump symbolically, this is one of the best scenes in the film and many might see it with a obvious angle but for me it shows the true love of Paro towards Dev and at what level she has imagined Dev all these years.

The character of ‘Chanda’ is totally different when compared toother films on ‘Devdas’. It’s a character which cannot be easily digested by everyone. A College girl turned into a prostitute with a sad background attached to it. This Chanda is an ultra modern prostitute where she has sex chat on phone with her linguistic skills, rides a bike; the brothel house accepts credit cards and some of the visitors even carry the HIV test results.
We see neon lights, Vodka, smoke, bizarre paintings, etc…; Anurag Kashyap breaks all the stereo types’ rules of Bollywood and makes his own film without compromising on many issues. The characters in the film are well written, one may or may not attach themselves with the characters but the way they have been treated is compelling. Amit Trivedi soundtrack and background music is amazing, the composition of every song is different and makes us sing while it’s being played in the film. We even see three balladers dancing in the club for the song ‘O Pardesi’ which is one of my favorite song it starts with the strings of Veena (or Sitar??).

The first half makes a very good impression because of its characters and its unimaginable imagination of Anurag Kashyap. The second half of the film is slightly deviated and could not make a perfect contact with me. It looks like its flirting with its logic and emotions without seriously thinking of evolving out of itself from the first half. The second half lacks the basic eccentricity of the first half but it does not totally disappoint me. The clairvoyance of the viewer gets a beating when Paro visits the room of Dev, if I am not wrong everyone might be thinking of something to happen but eventually turns out to be the other way. The most charming scene of the film for me is when Dev says to Chanda ‘I Love you too you know’ and Chanda says ‘You are such a slut’.

Anurag Kashyap makes Dev.D a special film with in its own limits. The treatment of characters by Anurag Kashyap is filled with honesty. I did not find any compromise formulae for the treatment of characters. Every character has the right to do anything on the screen. The audacity of Anurag Kashyap can be seen very clearly with his wildest and tricky imagination which pulls us into the state of continuous ponder.The film is narrated with the help of songs which is untypical in Bollywood, actually the songs fast forward the film up to 10 minutes. I would remember Dev.D for Anurag Kashyap’s honesty and audacity.

Dev.D is loved by many people, but Gulzar sir gives his point of view about why Dev.D is liked by many of us.How many of us really like or love Dev.D for that reason is an interesting question.

Spanish Film Festival - Hyderabad 2009

I came to know about the Spanish Film Festival through THE HINDU.I was excited and planned to watch every film but due to some reasons I missed couple of films. The films I could manage to watch were “13 Roses”, “Fermat’s Room”, “The Seven Billiards” and “The Oxford Murders”. As I being a big fan of ‘Pedro Almodovar ‘and ‘Guillermo del Toro’ I have good interest and respect for Spanish films.
13 Roses
Original title: Las 13 Rosas
13 Roses is a different film based on the Spanish Civil War. The Spanish Civil Waris used as a background and basis for different Spanish films like Guillermo del Toro’s ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’ and ‘The Devils Backbone’ etc… But ’13 Roses’ is a unique film which honestly deals with the Spanish Civil War. The film is about the 13 women who are arrested for being rebels of the Spanish Military Rule.

The first hour of the film is very good; the director shows the essence of a revolt within the younger generation, the different plans, meetings, love, investigations, interrogations, etc…. There are some very good moments in the later part of the film like the ones where the catholic guard sympathy with the women, the letter of a mother to her child saying that ‘She was always right’, A father eventually says that he loves his daughter etc..


I felt that most of the second half is slightly disconnected from the audience but in the end it’s a good film with honesty and dignity.


Fermat’s Room
Original title: La Habitación de Fermat
Fermat’s Room is one the best thriller’s I have seen in the recent past. The film is about four mathematicians who are trapped in a room, the room shrinks with time and how they come out from the room.

The plot of the film looks simple to hear but the way in which the director takes the film forward is amazing. As the four mathematicians are trapped in the room which shrinks with time, to stop the room from shrinking is to solve the puzzles given to them by an anonymous person through the PDA. Most of the puzzles are familiar to us and the story gets more complicated as the film proceeds. Even though the director is confined to a single room for most part of the film he manages us to drag us to the edge of our seats, he makes us feel that we are in that room and encountering that situation and we get engaged in every frame of the film.

Fermat’s Room is filled with instant energy which does not allow the viewer to even relax for a second. There are few things which are left out in the film but Fermat’s Room is nothing less than a perfect thriller as it has best combination of suspense, thrill and energy.


The Seven Billiards
Original Title: Siete mesas de billar francés
When I heard the title of the film for the first time I expected it to be a sports film but eventually turn out to be film which I am unable to fit in any genre. Gracia Querejeta’s ‘The Seven Billiards’ is an excellent film for those who like watching films which come straight from the heart of a filmmaker.

‘The Seven Billiards’ is mainly about women and their lives. Angela played by Maribel Verdú has lost her father and at the same time she breaks up with her husband and then decides to re-open the ‘Billiards Parlour’ which was owned by her father. Charo played by Blanca Portillo used to live with Angela’s father and has some problems in her life which she can’t ignore them. For me ‘The Seven Billiards’ was a comedy film as almost every dialogue is filled with humor.

The characters of this film are perfect and we can hardly find these types of characters in any other film. The son of ‘Angela’ is a character which will be remembered for many days, the character is filled with humor, emotion and innocence. I could not stop laughing when he used to ask Charo ‘Did you kill him?’ .The scene in which ‘Charo’ and ‘Angela’ have dinner which was pre arranged by Angela’s father after his death on the occasion of Charo’s birthday is amazing. The One-Eyed Man character and his confrontation with the painter and almost every character in the film is filled with originality. The film can be seen as a melodramatic one as it combines all the elements of human emotion connecting it to every character.

If anyone does not laugh or even smile while watching this film I can confirm that even Nitrous oxide (Laughing Gas) cannot make them laugh.


The Oxford Murders

‘The Oxford Murders’ is a mystery film which deals with the sequence of murders. The film stars Elijah Wood, John Hurt and Leonor Watling. The film is directed by ‘Álex de la Iglesia’.

“There is nothing like Absolute Reality.”

Martin (Elijah Wood) is a student who wants Arthur Seldom (John Hurt) as his supervisor at the Oxford University and he stays in an old women’s house who is first murdered and the first one in the sequence of murders. Accidentally Arthur Seldom and Martin get involved in this murder mystery and continue to solve this mystery with the help of their mathematical knowledge as one murder is linked to the other with a mathematical symbol. The film sometimes takes itself so seriously that the audience gets disconnected with the plot and wants to jump to the next scene. Leonor Watling character provides some distraction and some relief. The best shot scene is the one which takes just before/after the murder where the camera continuously moves from one end to other and includes all the pivotal characters.

‘The Oxford Murders ‘ could have been a much better film but it loses itself in its plot and logic but finally makes a good impression on the audience.

“FAKE is Absolute Reality.”

The films which were screened were good and i enjoyed the Spanish Film Festival and eagerly waiting for the next year.

Originally published on Passionforcinema.com

Shyam Benegal’s BHUMIKA (1977)

Does a man’s philosophical perspective change with time? Does a man’s convictions change with time? Does a man’s view towards a piece of art change with time?.. for all the above questions my answer would be YES because few days ago I watched Shyam Benegal’s BHUMIKA for the second time, the first time I watched it was few years ago when I was in my third year of engineering, when I was watching it for the second time I could not resist myself from viewing every scene with a microscopic eye.The first time was a good watch with the sense of feelings of diversion from the mainstream cinema, a wonderful and screenplay, remarkable performances and good direction. The second time was a little different, the shots and scenes are like bubbles in a hot water which just come for few moments and vanish before the other ones are ready to come.







BHUMIKA is a story about a film actress who undergoes through various stages and various situations in her life which have been challenging throughout her life. The untypical narration of the film which moves to and fro with the flashbacks and the present and the thought provoking screenplay makes BHUMIKA a masterpiece. Instead of writing the plot and my views on it I would rather go by few moments, resemblance, symbolism and characters of the film that made me feel BHUMIKA a distinct film of the 1970’s-1990’s era.




The film starts by shooting of a song which stars Usha (Smita Patil) and after the shooting she waits for her car but eventually Usha gets into Rajan’s (Anant Nag) car and after that we see a movie poster ‘Agni Pariksha’ being moved by some men which hints us at the life of Usha. The film title is used in many instances of the film. The next scene in which we see Keshav Darvi (Amol Palekar) and Usha arguing on some issue and we hear the dialouge from Usha




“Meri Kamayi ki zarrorat hai isi liye hain na?”.


After this dialogue i was expecting a slap from Keshav Darvi instead he lights a cigarette with a furious look and continues his dialogue.In the next scene Benegal at a time involves 4 characters Usha,Usha’s Daughter, Usha’s Mother and Keshav demonstrating encapsulation and capturing the emotions and feelings of all the characters within less time. If the previous mentioned scene was to be directed by a normal mainstream director he would have perhaps made Usha meet every character then show her emotions and then leave the house.







In the flashback which is in Black and White where Ushas mother beats Usha for being rude and after that to show the love between the Mother and Daughter he uses only one scene in which Usha comes towards her mother and sleeps beside her. Shyam Benegal infuses some humor and comedy too, the scene where Usha goes near her grandmother and test her breathe whether she is alive or dead. The scene in which the heroine of the film tells that she has been selected and leaves in her car the next scene is the car scene in which Usha leaves the house.








To show the relationship between Usha and Rajan Benegal uses very smart visuals like the shooting a sword fight scene in which Rajan refers to the character as Usha and the portrait of Rajan and Usha hanging on a wall, throughout the film we hardly find any desperate dialogues between the characters. The screenplay is built in such a way that the viewer unconsciously gets into the mood of the characters.







Sunil Verma (Naseeruddin Shah) and Usha (Smita Patil) :

Sunil Verma is the most distinctive role played by Naseeruddin Shah.Sunil Verma is a film director who does not believe in Emotional and Sentimental issues, he sees life as a job and nothing else.The most interesting dialogues come through Sunil Verma’s tongue, when he uses his daughters death as a excuse to not to play HOLI which actually uses it as a trick.He feels that Reincarnation,soul,etc… are bullshit.



“Apne is desh mein dimak se koi sochta nahin hain,Dil se sochte hai sab.”

“Haqeeqat ko nazar andaaz karna hum logo ki qasiyat hai Usse bhi mann nahi bahla to Aatma.Punar Janm ki baton se mann behlayenga”.

“Accident mein marna mujhe pasand nahin hai,mein maroonga to khud kushi karke,Aatma Hatya,lekin us waqt nahin jab mein gambhir and mayoos hoon,kushi aur itminaan ka lamha chunoonga”.

“Zindagi ke hakeeqat to tune hamesha rangeen chasmo se dekha hain”.


After talking all the above nonsense eventually he gives us a surprise leaving Usha in the state of dilemma.




Vinayak Kale (Amrish Puri) and Usha (Smita Patil):

The first encounter of Usha with Vinayak Kale (Amrish Puri) was a rough one in which Vinayak Kale exudes his disrespect towards actresses but later Usha is comfortable being a pampered mistress of Vinayak Kale.The character of Vinayak Kale is filled with masked evil. At the first meeting itself he tries to dominate Usha by showing his disrespect without any fear and later when they are on their way to Vinayak Kale’s palace he says





Vinayak Kale :Woh dekho mera Beta.
Usha:Tumhara Beta ??

Usha:Tumhe muje kabhi bataya nahin…

Vinayak Kale :Usha? Maine tumhe bataya nahin ya tumne mujse poocha nahin… ya ..yeh baat hi nahin nikli..yeh sab mumkin hain

…………….
……………..

abhi bhi waqt hain. agar tum wapas jana chahti ho to driver tume wapis drop kardega.


After stepping into the house of Vinayak Kale when she comes to know that she cant step outside the house and her life is confined to the palace she approaches for the help of Keshav. The scene in which Keshav comes with the police and takes Usha away from the palace,the scene is shot without any dialogues and the camera is placed at a crazy angle which hardly any other director would attempt to do it but it has a profound impact.










BHUMIKA has high technical values like the Cinematography, large part of the film is shot in Black and White, I have never seen such a wonderful Black and White Cinematography. The Screenplay is the greatest asset of the film which is written by Satyadev Dubey, Shyam Benegal and Girish Karnad for which they won the National Award,the screenplay is simple with some powerful expressions.






There is a scene in which Smita Patil faces the Mirror which reminded me of a scene from Wim Wenders ‘Wings of Desire’. I am not trying to say that Wim Wenders copied from BHUMIKA,those are few hints which one could find from a directors work to guess that he is great director.




The above written stuff may be a little exaggerated to many readers but this is something really true which i have witnessed after i watched it for the second time.

Delhi 6(2009)- Bad Deja Vu by Kala Bandar

Many years ago we all might have heard about the “Monkey man” who was creating panic.We all were hearing and reading about the monkey man in “Doordarshan” and Daily Newspapers.Now we have a film on the character ‘Monkey man’ as ‘Delhi 6′.

The film tries to exploit the Unity in Diversity with the help of the cultural background of Delhi. “Abhisekh Bachchan” is the grandson of “Waheeda Rehman” who’s last wish is to die in her homeland who are currently living in America.Abhisekh Bachchan takes back her grand mother to Delhi there he gets a warm welcome.The rest of the film is about the unity and hatred between religions over some consequences which take place in the city of Delhi.
‘Rakesh Omprakash Mehra’ uses different themes to project his idea on the screen,he uses the ‘Ramayana’,unity and diversity concept, and of course the ‘Kala Bandar’ which is the heart of this film.The love factor also plays an important part in the film which is filmed between ‘Abhisekh Bachchan’ and ‘Sonam Kapoor’.The cast of the film is filled with big names like Waheeda Rehman , Rishi Kappor,Om Puri,Prem Chopra,Atul Kulkarni etc.,.The first half of the film is dedicated to the introduction of the culture,traditions,brotherhood between Hindu’s and Muslim’s in Delhi.The ending of the first half is infused with a scene in which ‘Abhisekh Bachchan’ jumps on the roofs of houses.(Very much inspired from District B 13 )

Best Foreign Films of 2008

I am listing out the best Foreign Films of 2008 which I could lay my hand on.The term “Foreign Films” means Non-English films,they might be even Indian films.


I’ve Loved You So Long
Original Title: Il y a longtemps que je t’aime
“I’ve Loved You So Long ” is a very rare film which we find these days,it reminded me of Ingmar Bergman films. “I’ve Loved You So Long ” is a film which is filled with emotions of a depressed sister who is released from jail,feelings of a younger sister who she used to love when she was a child,pain of Juliette Fontaine which she never exudes.The film wonderfully depicts the sense of alienation with in a women,the difficulties of life,the desperate attempts of Léa Fontaine to make her sister feel the love and affection which she has towards her and Juliette’s encouter with every day life by facing the truth that she has lost the most loved one.Director Philippe Claudel makes a remarkable debut by handling and balancing such a sensitive story.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button(2008)

When i first heard the basic story outline of “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” i was filled with “Curiosity” and was eagerly waiting to watch the film and at last i did watch it.
Benjamin Button is born on the last day of World War 1 with abnormal features . He is born old with the appearance of a 86 years old and physically grows younger by the age.Seeing the nature of the child’s birth Benjamin’s father abandons him in the front of a nursing home.Benjamin is brought up in the nursing home with old people.The film is narrated with the help of a diary written by Benjamin Button(Brad Pitt),which is read by her daughter Caroline(Julia Ormond),as she is insisted by her mother Daisy(Cate Blanchett) who is on the death bed in a hospital.

Slumdog Millionaire(2008)

The film starts with this question
Jamal Malik is one question away from winning 20 Million rupees. How did he do it?

A: He cheated
B: He's lucky
C: He's genius
D: It is written

Anil Kapoor escorts Dev Patel(Jamal Malik) to the hot seat in the game show "Who Wants to be a Millionaire." The next scene is where Jamal Malik is brutually interrogated by the police in the suspicion of cheating in the game show.The film escapes into flashbacks,game show and the police interrogation.