Movie Review: Bajirao Mastani

Besides an epic love story, Bajirao Mastani offers a glimpse of grandeur of The Maratha Empire whose greatness is bereft from our history books.

Each of the three actors deserves a standing ovation for one of the finest acting-with all the distinction and precision.

The character of Baji Rao, swollen with Maratha pride and driven by the motivation to defeat the might of Mughals, found an apt answer in Ranveer Singh.

Priyanka's portrayal of an unprotected simplicity in the character of Kashi Bai and Deepika's look of stressed sensuality in Mastani are one of the immediate reasons why Sanjay Bhansali is still a master-director.

And the cinematography will beat the bejesus out of one's mind.

Baji Rao Mastani is a toast to art. Cheers!

Movie Review- Ye Jawani Hai Deewani

There is Siddharth Mallya and then there is Ranbir Kapoor; both born to purple and inherited DNA of great potential. The former is an unmitigated disaster while the latter has signature of class and stamp of authority. Ranbir Kapoor arrived in the industry with a towel carrying an onus of huge expectations of the Kapoor lineage. Since then he has grown leaps and bounds, and has now reached a height where everything he does appears natural and effortless. It’s incredible how much of talent is stored in his 6 foot framework. In his entire but short oeuvre, he has already turned into a poster boy of young India, blazing a trail for others to follow. Girls adore him while guys imitate. He set the trend of photography in Wake Up Sid (Cannon & Nikon should be grateful to him for the surge in the sale of SLRs) and after this movie globetrotting and ear piercing are next.

Precaution encourages caution and a caution plays a significant role in prevention. If you belong to a tribe who like to watch a movie which makes sense then prevention is better than cure. The movie has clichés, weak storyline and tad slow second half but the performance, songs and glamour override them. Bunny aka Kabir Thapar (Ranbir) is a new age cool guy who was an LLB (Lord of Last Bench) in school, believes in philandering which keeps him healthy and has no marriage no children type attitude. He has a scrapbook which contains to-do list of globetrotting and he wants to realize his dreams with no strings attached. In his other to do list is Naina (Deepika Padukone), who is simple, studious and geeky medical student in the first half but turns luscious, ambrosial, and captivating lady in the second half.

Naina joins Bunny and his two friends on a trek to the Himalayas in Manali. Avi (Aditya Roy Kapur) is shown as unshorn helpless inebriated loser while Aditi (Kalki Koelchin), wild and impulsive, is a treat to watch in a new avatar. Naina falls in love with self-absorbed Bunny but before she could accost, he goes to the US to pursue his dream, leaving behind his friends sulking. After eight short years he comes back to attend Aditi’s lavish wedding in Udaipur and then the movie becomes unpredictably predictable. At the end, Bunny had to choose between his to do list of globetrotting and his other to do list -Naina. Given the inexplicable need of human contact, he chooses what every guy worth his salt will choose after looking at the contours of Naina’s body.

Ayan Mukerjee tried adding some parts from his previous hit Wake Up Sid but fails miserably. The hostile relation between Bunny and Avi looks unconvincing when compared with Sid and Rishi of WUS. While Farooq Sheikh (Bunny’s father) and Bunny’s not so strained relationship does start an emotional wheel reeling but was ephemeral. The movie questions the moral story of Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (Review) which tried to impale the audience to follow your dream whatever it takes.

Pritam’s music has always been soothing to the senses wherever it might have come from. The not so sufi song, Kabira, will touch every single chord in your heart. Badtameez Dil and Balam Pichkari will be the flavors of this wedding season. The brilliant choreography complements the songs. Madhuri Dixit looks gorgeous as ever in her item number. The cinematography is colorful and glossy as anyone would expect from a Karan Johar movie. The editor could have done a better job as the second half stretches a bit and becomes slow.

Inspite of not so good script, Ranbir and Deepika saves Ayan Mukerjee from being a disaster. A fun watch!

Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara - Movie Review

After lot of search which would have made even Christopher Columbus proud, I finally discovered the best scene of the movie which will touch the chord in your heart. The three beautiful horses galloping in slow motion on the lush green field with a tinge of soft dewy music playing in the background when the stellar trio were motoring to Silvia in Spain. I was stunned by the stunning marvels of the moment. Carlos Catalan, the director of photography, was at his majestic best when he copied the neighing horses from the canvas paintings and pasted to the moving giant screen in slow motion while Hrithik, layered upon emotional thoughts, was still in disbelief that Katrina has smooched him.

The movie begins with Suhel Seth announcing his daughter Natasha’s (Kalki Koelchin) engagement with Kabir (Abhay Deol) stating the most clichéd bollywood dialogue ever
"I am not losing a daughter; I am getting a son instead"
Suhel Seth is a phenomenon.We all have grown up reading his columns during the late 90’s. His transition from Survival Strategy columnist(See this) in The Telegraph supplement to a fake intellectual talking gibberish on news channels debates and then to Big screen is really exemplary as well as pitiful.

The story revolves around three friends who had a pact in their college that they would go for a road trip and each one will choose their own adventure sport in which the other two will participate unanimously. Kabir, an opulent builder, chooses scuba diving which was an Achilles' heel of Arjun (Hrithik Roshan). Gautama Buddha got enlightenment under a tree while Arjun got it under the sea but only after sucking through Laila’s oxygen mask (well who won’t?). The weeping scene of Hrithik was mesmerizing while he leveraged that good acting by over-acting in the scene where Farhan throws his cellphone out of the car (will remind you of his over acting in the movie Mujhse Dosti Karoge). Laila, a scuba diving tutelage, played by Katrina Kaif looks quiet bland and unhot while her epic dialogue in fake hindi accent “Mujhe afsos karna nahi aata” and the unpassionate kiss that follows doesn’t help either. She looked more comfortable and voluptuous in the Aam Sutra ad, dropping the mango juice on her lips, than osculating Hrithik.If her pulchritude and gorgeous smile is called acting then she is indeed a good actor. It’s hard to fathom why Zoya Akhtar chose not so glamorous role for overtly hot Katrina. On one hand my patriotic heart was so proud watching the Royal Enfield bullet on Espana road while it was petrified seeing the fake shots of ‘nervous’ Katrina on the Indian marquee. A Kareena(See this)would have fared better.

Arjun chooses sky diving which seems like a Waterloo for Imran, played by Farhan Akhtar. Akhtar who is a legitimate wearer of several hats has outdone himself in imitating Akash (Aamir Khan), the protagonist in DCH. The movie gives a feeling that Farhan regrets not acting in Dil Chata Hai. Javed Akhtar’s superb poetry doesn’t complement Farhan’s voice when spewed as a monologue for Hrithik who remains dissolved in emotions on a bad hair day.
Finally Imran chooses the notorious bull fight as his adventure sport which dreaded Kabir who longed to dump his fiancé if he survives. Natasha is pictured as an evil character while she seemed a pretty normal girl friend who is practical and little possessive. It gives a feeling of hyperbole and doesn’t spring forth any emotions when Kabir decides to dump her for any valid reasons. Just for the sake of doing something after surviving bull fight seems the only reason of dumping her.

The movie goes through lot of jams and thrusts while trying to appear uber-cool and minty fresh. The jam makes the movie slow while the thrust somehow pushes it. Like in the game of Angry Birds, the jam (to kill the pigs) has to be cleared by catapulting the birds with a thrust, similarly Imran’s joke will thrust your mouth to exert to a certain extent while sometimes you will grin sympathizing with his poor and annoying jokes (eg: Arjun, jo aaj humare beech nai hai, thrna nai aata to kya…doobna to aata hai na) In whole movie he was jumping like a popcorn on a frying pan.Humour comes best when diffused unexpectedly.At one point of time the frequent display of Bagwati becomes so blasé that you feel like empathizing with Imran.

One thing that stands out is the cinematography of Carlos Catalan. The picturing of Spain was dressed as attractively as dishes by any chef in The Taj Bengal. The under water scene of the aquatic plants along with the myriad of golden fishes were shot so perfectly that it reminded me of the Accenture ad but only with segregated fishes. One more thing audience will realize is everybody looks like Kalki Koelchin when under water ;-)

If you ever try comparing the star cast with real life 'characters', you will fall flat on your face.The relationship between the trios seem plastic from the start. There is no warmth of friendship evident may be because the director wanted to portray the characters that way but it was not as gelling as it was in DCH. Zoya Akhtar tries desperately hard to achieve the greatness of Dil Chata Hai but fails miserably.