MICKEY VIRUS: [Esc] it to [Ctrl+S] your time & money! (2/5)

Even if the most believable myth of every human being on earth having at least its 6 other look-alikes somewhere in some parts of the world could get applied to movies, first timer Saurabh Varma’s comic thriller MICKEY VIRUS doesn’t come close to the last year’s sleeper-hit and a trendsetter in big-in-content small films VICKY DONOR even in its prettiest dream! Now, the makers can sure terminate the possibilities of their indulgence in any such claims but the fact remains sound that it was positioned as the next in the league!

MICKEY VIRUS shifts you into a world of cyber crime that is new & novel but not complete alien. In the crowds of ‘Nehru Place’s, ‘Lajpat Nagar’s & ‘Connaught Place’s of Delhi, you might have bumped into these young bloods with ‘spiked’ hairstyles, sling bags on back and in printed Tee’s that talk much more than the guy himself. Mickey Arora-the virus (TV actor Manish Paul in his first lead on big screen) is one such youth and a promising-playful & carefree hacker who knows his powers [He can break through any security password for a website] and capabilities but doesn’t bother to channelize it for his own good. No wonder, in such rash practices to show off his talent, Mickey ignorantly lands him in a plot of illegal hacking & serial murders that are never his game of excitement.

Well, picking up a plot that has never been done before is always a smart decision when you try to prove a point (Here it supposed to be giving a hit on the lines of the earlier reference) but then you also need to be upgraded with a smarter writing hand as an anchor to pull out. Sadly, MICKEY VIRUS doesn’t find that support. Hacking a website is described here in verbal as a hard nut to crack (The technical lingo seems too accurate for the ears of a common man to doubt its authenticity) but is shown as an unproblematic smooth pastime for everyone around. Where the cyber-talks are too gibberish and Martian for one who’s not very familiar with the technology, the imagery is over-simplistic for one who might know it inside out. And will you really feel for a hero who’s hypothetically the sharpest brain around but couldn’t smell anything fishy or see it coming, especially when you have guessed it all right much before making a way to the climax?

Surprisingly, film’s strength lies in the performances but mostly from the supporting cast. Film sees the strongly in character Maneesh Chaudhary as ACP Siddhant who wants to make the most of Mickey’s hacking talents to bust a cyber crime racket. The charming Varun Vadola plays an archetypical ‘dilliwala’ police ready with comical one-liners. TV Actor Nitesh Pande is seen after long in a brief but meaty role as the master in hacking, fondly called as ‘The professor’. I wish we could have more of him on big screen. Coming on to the amazingly funny on shows TV Anchor Manish Paul. This is his launch pad to Bollywood and he shows promise but mostly in the comical scenes. In times when he’s trapped in to emotional scenes, he doesn’t look very comfortable. His leading lady on screen (Swedish girl Elli Avram of Bigg Boss 7) too carries only the looks of an accented glam-doll with herself and nothing much to appreciate on acting front.

As a comic-thriller, it does have some flares as intimation but the way it reaches there and unfolds itself is less bothering. This not-so-effective virus can be overlooked. My suggestion? [Esc] it to [Ctrl+S] your time & money! [Cltr+Alt+Delete] the idea of watching it in theaters! (2/5)

CAPTAIN PHILLIPS: A nail-biting thriller with lead’s towering performance as cherry on the top! [4/5]

Cinema creates drama. Drama that drives you to cry when a couple in love gets separated, to laugh at someone’s idiotic misery, to amaze with the power of imagination, to get transported in to a world full of dreams or to be in situation that is just a recreation of a real life event but carries same share of intensity and anxiety characters might have experienced it in real.

Based on a true story, CAPTAIN PHILLIPS by notable filmmaker Paul Greengrass [the man behind ‘Bourne’ movies] throws you in a ‘pressure cooker’ situation where every passing minute escalates the tension in same manner the crew of American Cargo ship MV Maersk Alabama could feel, when Somali pirates invade to hijack.

With an implicit fear of the same, the cool-calm-composed but aging Captain Rich Phillips [played by the enormously gifted Tom Hanks] starts his sailing but soon in the middle of a mock-drill session, smells the alarming possibility of getting hijacked by pirates. Sadly, he fails to stop them from getting on board but never lets go the string of hope and courage for even an iota of a second, to come out of this misery of his lifetime.

10-12 minutes in the film and you know what is going to happen next but the way Greengrass unfolds the story with an intimidating sense of ‘what is coming after’ and the smartly edited intercuts between the ship and the pirate-group, you would always find yourself on edge of the seat with nails between your teeth. The camerawork effectively roams around for shaky close-up shots to give the narration an anxious-panicky-edgy feel and does a brilliant job while capturing the hijacking event. Though in the second part, film falls into being restricted & repetitive with the location of the story getting narrowed to one small life-boat, the anxiety-angst & intensity never go for the toss.

As other but very prominent strength of the film, the casting and the performances excite you the most. Barkhad Abdi as the gruesome-ghastly leader of the pirate-group plays mostly an underdog in the first part. With his regulated look, you actually never recall his first appearance in the film but later when he arises as the spearhead of the group, he shocks you with his performance. So does Mr. Tom Hanks, his calculated act as a captain determined to save and safe his crew is remarkable. Watch him in the last act where he is rescued by the armed forces and is now dealing with the trauma he’s been in. A performance that deserves appreciation!

CAPTAIN PHILLIPS is easily the year’s one of the best thrillers coming from Hollywood. It’s a well-directed, intensely acted, smartly written inspiring tale of survival that keep you engaged and involved for the most part. A must-watch! [4/5]

SHAHID: A strong evidential piece of cinema that enlightens! Strongly Recommended! [4.5/5]

I feel ashamed of myself for not knowing Shahid Azmi- a slain lawyer and an altruistic humane activist before Hansal Mehta came up with a strong evidential piece of cinema that does not merely solve the purpose to entertain but also dares to enlighten our unresponsive- unsympathetic minds confined into its own safe but scared place to stay put.  We probably have become either numb to whatever happens in our neighborhoods or blatantly reactive about just anything that comes in way without assessing what is right and what is not.

‘SHAHID’ is the need of the hour.  It demands and shows the guts to start a never-ending movement [if not on the roads, definitely in our heads] to bring change in the system by joining it and not wiping it out or denying its very existence.

Shahid [played by ‘Kai Po Che!’ fame Raj Kumar] could be anyone of thousands who gets trapped into the torturous custody of Indian Police known for its tactical power-driven machinery and is thrown into Jail for beholding a name that comes from a certain section of people in minority…but where the most would disappear in the galore to turn radical against country & its governing bodies, Shahid decides to stand out. While his tenure in longing to get set free, Shahid keeps his conscience alive and opts to be a helping hand for those who have nothing but an assurance of not being guilty.

SHAHID is an extraordinary effort in terms of writing and direction. Based on the real-life criminal lawyer-cum-human rights activist Shahid Azmi, film amalgamates facts and fiction beautifully. It is a biopic that is handled with sheer honesty, clarity in thoughts, rightly positioned screenplay, brilliance in execution and a very very significant memorandum to all human beings. Hansal Mehta never and never loses his grip on the subject. He keeps it as real as it is happening in a gully adjacent to my living place. Special mention to the replication of Indian courts’ undramatic-untheatrical-dreary modus operandi where there is no usual Bollywood ‘order-order’ but an actual exchange of verbal spats. Camera work by Anuj Dhawan captures the environs and the emotions equally good. Dialogues are crisp, colloquial and taut.

But what make it an exceptional biopic are the performances. Shahid’s fearless-in your face-uncomplicated character could never come so strong if Raj Kumar has not given it his flesh & blood. This man can make you laugh with his charmingly simplistic behavior [watch it when he is trying to be comfortable with his lady-love still unaware of his feelings] and also can make your heart bleed with his heartrending silence when attacked for his forgettable past. Extended applause for his bravura performance! Prabhleen Sandhu as his wife too is a gifted actor. She brings with herself an unpolished charm that hits every chord she aims to. Md. Zeeshan Ayyub here has not much like in RAANJHANAA to overwhelm you but still he keeps your expectations fulfilled. Kay Kay Menon and Tigmanshu Dhulia play their parts efficiently with a sparkling presence on screen.

After PAAN SINGH TOMAR, here comes an earnest biographical drama that I hope could change the way Indian Cinema thinks about our real life heroes. This is also a film that raises many a questions about humanity and its survival in today’s times. It also shows our judiciary system in true lights. As said in the film by the character Kay Kay Menon plays, “waqt lagta hai par ho jaata hai. It works.” Painfully correct!

On the whole, very few people dare to rise and take a stand to tell a story that might have been vanished from lives & in files if not attempted. Hansal Mehta joins the same league. Respect for giving us SHAHID- a film that will find a place close to your heart very easily but not without stirring-shaking & moving your soul. STRONGLY RECOMMENDED! [4.5/5]

BOSS: Another milestone in senseless action-comedy aimed to touch 100 Cr mark! [2/5]

First rejoinder:

I don’t recall when was the last time I wanted to cheer for the villain beating the hero to his guts out till I sensed myself ready to whistle for Ronit Roy in his final collision with Akshay Kumar in Anthony D’Souza’s BOSS. Reasons could range from my fondness for the prior [Thanks to Motwane’s UDAAN] to his completely black yet the most consistent performance in the film or it could also be my ‘controlled till now’ patience blasting and demanding nothing but someone from the cast taking a stand and whipping-thrashing & battering the character of Akshay Kumar for all the mindless action he does in the film. For me, the performance of DCP Ayushman Thakur played by Ronit Roy is my takeaway from the film! Rest is forgettable!

What is it?

Exactly. What was it? at the most, plot could be described best as a distant relative of all the recent mindless potboilers including Akshay Kumar’s own Rowdy Rathore, Khiladi 786 and hundreds of late 80’s Dharmendra/Mithun chakraborty popular action entertainers. No wonder, in the similar manner you see the hero being introduced as ‘in & as’ format only after 30 odd minutes in the film followed by opening titles in another 10-12 mins after.

Surya- the black sheep in the family of ‘adarshwadi Masterji’ of Banares [played by Mithun Chakraborty], is now in safe but dirty hands of Crime-syndicate Tauji of Haryana [Danny Dangzopa]. 15 years later, Surya [the one & only Akshay Kumar] emerges into a self-loved transporter who bashes up all the goons to save poor villagers but ironically also wears the hat of a money-driven contract killer. In one alike situation, he’s given instructions to kill none other than his younger brother. Shockingly, father also doesn’t have much option left than dragging his abandoned son into this with his powers to save the kid and thus starts the final journey to a picture-perfect happy ending sans my favorite villainous brother of the bride J

How is it?

Films like BOSS are made to run on the star-power, so it is all the way an Akshay Kumar film. You don’t really have to use your mental muscles to imagine in what manner the action, jokes or for that matter even the songs would shape up. Performances are loud, regular and totally in sync with the likings of its targeted audience. Only exception is Ronit Roy as the cold-blooded, merciless, power-driven lawman of his own set of laws. In one scene, when Akshay the Boss is seen jogging/jumping on the trucks [mind you, it’s not the regular track but a chain of trucks] while his first face-off to Ronit- the DCP, you can easily make a distinction between their intensity in the performance! At 2 hour 30 min long duration, it serves you ‘baasi’ ingredients in the name of entertainment.

Who should go?

Watch it if you are an Akshay Kumar fan. Watch it if you already have learnt the lyrics of the ‘yo yo honey singh’ songs in the film by heart. Watch it if Mithun Chakraborty was your first super-hero in Bollywood. Watch it if your mind-heart-soul still adore late 80’s formula action thrillers.

Who should stay away?

If you think Bollywood is changed! If you think entertainment doesn’t have to be formulaic! If you love Indie Cinema more than regular releases! If you believe cinema is a sensitive art form! If you still are reading my review!

Final outcome:

A Presentation of ‘Cape of Good Films’ [really??] Anthony D’Souza’s BOSS is another milestone in senseless action-comedy aimed to touch 100 Cr mark. I don’t see any hurdle in that because as the character of Akshay kumar would have said in his Haryanvi, if asked “apne ko kya hai, apne ko toh bass paisa bahana hai”! [2/5]    

THE PAST [Le Passé]: An intricate emotional thriller that stays in your heart [4/5]

Nothing can be as layered as human relationships. And our attitude towards people around us or the approach towards the very life we are in is solely responsible for making it either an enjoyable exercise to explore many a phenomenal stratums underneath or even more complicated to ruin the fascination. To move on, is a must to learn but even returning to the past can have a prolific side-effect to make things brighter on the other side.

The man behind A SEPARATION – 2011’s Oscar winner in Best Foreign Film category, Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi is back with THE PAST [Le Passé]- an intricate emotional thriller [I am still looking for an apt genre-segmentation to place it justly] that not only skins off an assortment of emotional acquaintances between every possible relationship under a roof but also evokes required empathy for every person and his/her ability to tackle it in his/her own way.

After 4 years, Ahmad [played by Ali Mosaffa] is in town to meet his 3-times married ex-wife Marie [Bérénice Bejo of ‘THE ARTIST’ ] & to co-operate with her in settling down the divorce process between them, a must for her before marrying a new boyfriend. Ahmad lands up in her house for a short term stay where he re-makes heartrending connection with her daughters and her boyfriend’s son from past marriage. Soon, he starts smelling the combustible emptiness within the walls and before he could really do something about this, the outburst happens to form a big emotional turmoil for everyone in the house.

The beauty lies in the simplistically naïve plot that never looks made-up or adulterated to create drama. Characters take their journey through plausible events and a well-conceived screenplay that justifies every single move taken by them. The emotions are not rare but as raw as anyone would articulate in such situations. Twists in the tale unravel in such flow that neither makes you overtly shaken nor leaves you unreceptive. You don’t really become ‘awestruck’ by the revelations but will sure make a connection here with the events and its grounds.

Performances are convincingly believable and well-defined. For once, your will never find a negative character but the situations that bring out some ‘not so favorable to all’ choice of acts. In fact, every character has its own charm to allure your constant attention. Though you might get little apprehensive about the pace of the film and would probably feel exhausted by a little too much twists in a stretch to reach a feasible end but the top-class cinematography and the slice-of-life look and feel of the film never loses its grip on you.

Experience Ahmad’s soul-stirring relationship with the daughters. Feel the helplessness of a single mother trying to deal with her teenage daughter’s disapproval of her moving on with life. Sense the daughter’s guilt of creating mayhem in her mother’s life. And a kid who’s going through an emotional crisis no one tries to understand. There is so much about life & relationships in Asghar Farhadi’s THE PAST. How much can you learn or unlearn, find out yourself! It is here to stay…in your hearts! [4/5]

WAR…CHHOD NA YAAR: Leave it! Go for your favorite comedy TV shows instead. [2/5]

No one wants war. No one likes to participate in something that harms common people’s peace, prosperity and harmony. We all believe that. At least, we tend to believe that. So when it comes to our ‘not so sweet’ political relationship with our neighboring country, we all at some level have tried to imagine what if the circumstances at the border were not as tensed as it may look sitting in our drawing rooms. The very same is the premise on which first-time writer-director Faraz Haider tries to build nation’s first war-comedy WAR…CHHOD NA YAAR!

On the very first scene, we see our Indian army commander Rana [played by Sharman Joshi] and the chief of Pakistani army outpost [played by Javed Jaffrey] secretly leaving their bases in the darkest hour of the midnight, only to meet at the ‘no man’s land’ not for some revenge seeking war but a card game [Later, they have been shown playing Antakshari also with their respective teams]. The intention is very clear. Make every situation funnier that you think it could be but the problem is the writing lacks originality and innovation. The gags and wits are as if taken from either common man’s raw understandings and presumptions about issues and the mechanism or from an old book of anti-Pakistan jokes. You really can’t be biased with showing most of the good-hearted smart people at your side and the dumbest ones on the other [exclude politicians; they are all the same everywhere]…especially when at the end, you are heading towards a solid meaning message to all the humankind.

Film sure shows a humorous take on the political intervention of other countries [China providing innovative weapons and artilleries to Pakistan, Uncle Sam giving a generous financial aid to India to launch the war] and the caricature-ish low-IQed politicians from both the sides. There is also the TRP-hungry media that masters in how to fabricate regular News feeds to make it large enough for grabbing more eye-balls.  

Performances are strictly average and very conventional & unsurprising. Sharman Joshi and Soha Ali Khan Pataudi are just as you expect them to be. Javed Jaffrey is confident and looks the most promising of them all. Sanjay Mishra repeats himself roles after roles and offers nothing new. Dalip Tahil plays multiple roles of politicians from all sides but if anyone can really make you laugh whole-heartedly is out of the question. Mukul Dev plays an intruder terrorist from Afghanistan who always gets caught by an Indian intelligence officer in disguise patrolling over border-line.     

At the end, WAR…CHHOD NA YAAR is comical but only in its concept & the aspiration it dreams to achieve. I wish the gags would have been fresh and a little matured in nature. Being loyal to your country is one thing but demeaning others by attacking continuously on their state of financial crisis is completely other. Wait for the satellite release and you may like it on a lazy Sunday but as of now, it is not better than a 1-hour episode of comedy shows on your popular TV channel. [2/5]   

GRAVITY: 3D gets a new dimension! And we, a chance to live our dreams to be in space! [4.5/5]

Days are not quite out of sight when the human race will have residential colonies on extraterrestrial zero-gravity space stations but in its own time. And till the time, when advanced science & the technology constantly making headways in getting breakthroughs achieve that, we have another power to experience what may suggest the future in its own way…the vision to create, replicate, reproduce and design the ‘dream-come-true’ ultramodern set-up into another brilliant piece of art never less than the predicted and the expected one.

For Alfonso Cuaron’s sci-fi thriller GRAVITY (3D), adjectives like breathtaking, heart-pounding, awe-inspiring, spine-chilling, nail-biting are not merely some words mentioned in the phrase book but an experience at large. Or else you can say that these words look just plain simple formation of random alphabets when the jaw-dropping visuals of GRAVITY happen to you in the most extraordinary way that has never been tried before. It’s ‘out of the world’ in literal and every sense.

In an unpredictably splendid scenic celestial beauty, when the crew of a space-shuttle undergoes with a critical accident caused by destruction in another satellite, 2 crew-members find themselves detached from their space-stations to float around in the vast environs of zero gravity world. Oxygen level is dropping down persistently. Connections to the base are lost. Hopes are the only survival instinct. Undying Spirit is the only way out. But aren’t these the rules of earth they have left long way down?

Filtering GRAVITY to extract one hero, to credit its success in the name of, will not be an achievable choice. Camerawork that makes you believe what all you see is never done in a comparatively tiny little studio covered in green, is absolutely picturesque and mesmerizing. Watch out for the opening sequence of a 10-12 min long one shot and you will be submerged into thoughts that how could they even think of it. Visual effects and the 3D technology have really gone beyond expectations. They don’t just make you jump or cringe into your seats for the sake of it but they grab & grasp you firmly to enjoy every bit of it like you are in there in all of your flesh and with your entire soul.

Oscar award winner Sandra Bullock earns all your emotions to be with her character in all good and bad times. Her commitment to excel is very much visible through her emoting muscles and in physical appearances also. George Clooney plays an ‘out and out’ charismatic astronaut who, even in the worst case scenario, doesn’t lose his calm and the pleasurable flirtatious attitude. Don’t miss the softer moments between them…of love ‘in no air’.

After Stanley Kubrick’s philosophical sci-fi drama ‘2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY’, this is the most astonishing 90-min long trip to space, no one should give a miss. I am not sure how many of us will make it to the futuristic space-colonies in their lifetime but here’s a chance to live your dreams like never done before. Watch it in IMAX 3D if you have the privilege! [4.5/5]

Special Note:

Don’t forget to cheer when you hear a crew-member at space-shuttle singing ‘mera joota hai Japani’!

BESHARAM: It is not so bold & shameless but a shameful out-dated entertainer! [2/5]

In a scene where Ranbir Kapoor, playing a car-thief named Babli, tries to escape by tying up an ageing police inspector, played by his off-screen father Mr. Rishi Kapoor, with a bedsheet and refers him as ‘mota! dharti ka bojh!’ [Fat man! The useless burden on the earth!], you laugh, of course; but not at the situation, not at the forceful wit lines throw at you but for the very fact that they both share a father-son relationship in real life. The pun was intended and achieved! I wish if the same goes with the most of jokes in Abhinav Singh Kashyap’s second directorial venture BESHARAM. I seriously wish…

In a lifted paper-thin storyline that’s no indifferent from the bollywood hits of 60’s, 70’s and of 80’s to some extent, Babli [played by super-charged Ranbir Kapoor] is an orphan who masters in stealing posh cars. No prizes for guessing that he contributes most of his hard-earned money to the orphanage for the welfare of the kids and now wants to leave all this for his love of life Tara [newbie Pallavi Sharda in her full-fledged debut]. Meanwhile, the Law enforcers dressed as Chautala duo [absolutely adorable Rishi Kapoor & ravishingly charismatic Neetu Singh Kapoor] and the lawbreaker Hawala-king Bhim Singh Chandel [Jaaved Jaffrey in a delightful surprise package as a grim-faced villain] both are waiting for him to settle the final score. What waits for you in the store is anything but a breathless, mindless, action packed climax!

With his first the fearless ‘DABANGG’, Abhinav impressed all of us with a style of unseen fresh writing and a solid hand in well developed characterization but in this shameless ‘BESHARAM’, it’s only the writing that lets him down. You are never out of sight as what will come next. In swear to be bold and blatantly unashamed, all he could come up with a few dialogues here and there that talk about ‘fart’ & ‘shits’ in literal. In the screenplay, songs come back to back as if either you are watching a musical or a ‘Chitrahar’ on Doordarshan.

Film, if even for once, could be pronounced as watchable, it would be the performances. Ranbir Kapoor alone has his charm to run shows houseful. Though there is not much to surprise, he is confidently there to stand tall. Pallavi Sharda is good but I don’t see the promise to bring something fresh on screen with her typical looks. Amitosh Nagpal as Ranbir’s friend does create some cackling moments. Rishi Kapoor too has been exploring an impressive second innings in Bollywood with his notable selection of films but I could never stop my heart beating at a speed of a bullet train whenever I had my privilege to watch Ms. Neetu Singh Kapoor setting screen on fire with her spontaneity and marvelously aging beauty!

At the end, it is a film that will be under scrutiny because of the expectations people have from Abhinav Singh Kashyap’s being the Captain of the ship and the track-record he has set with ‘DABANGG’. Alas! We have to wait for another to judge his potential better, as of now BESHARAM is bold, shameless & funny in parts; but for the most, it is a formulaic forced entertainer that is filled- loaded & packed with all the masalas of Bollywood potboilers we have been watching from ages. And this is probably not the best time to serve ‘run of the mill’ stale meal. An average entertainer and a big disappointment! Watch it if you really have to! [2/5]