अलीगढ़ (A): अब नहीं तो कब? [3.5/5]

दो-चार-दस गिनती की फिल्में को छोड़ दें तो हिंदी फिल्म इंडस्ट्री ने समलैंगिकों और समलैंगिकता को जिस बेरुखी, जिस छिछले तरीके से परदे पर अपने मतलब (...और भौंडे मनोरंजन) के लिए इस्तेमाल किया है, उसे साफ़ और पाक करने के लिए कोई एक फिल्म काफी साबित नहीं हो सकती, ये एक शर्मनाक सच है...पर इसी के साथ एक सच और भी है, कोशिशों ने हौसलों का दामन अभी छोड़ा नहीं है. हंसल मेहता की बेहद सुलझी हुई, संजीदगी और सादगी से भरी हुई ईमानदार फिल्म ‘अलीगढ़’ ऐसी ही एक बेहतरीन कोशिश है, जो समलैंगिकता को सनसनीखेज बनाकर परोसने की बेहयाई नहीं करती बल्कि उसे ‘निजता के अधिकार’ के साथ मिलाकर एक ऐसा मुहीम छेड़ देती है जिससे बचना-मुंह मोड़ना और अनदेखा कर देना किसी भी संवेदनशील आदमी के लिए आसान नहीं रह जाता!

प्रोफेसर सिरास [परदे पर मनोज वाजपेयी] अलीगढ़ यूनिवर्सिटी में मराठी पढ़ाते हैं. तलाकशुदा हैं, सो अपने छोटे से कमरे में अकेले रहते हैं. अकेलेपन के दर्द से जूझते प्रोफेसर सिरास को लता मंगेशकर का ‘आपकी नज़रों ने समझा’ सुनना और सुनते-गुनगुनाते व्हिस्की के हलके-हलके घूंट गले से उतारना अच्छा लगता है. उनकी खाली शामें अक्सर ऐसे ही गुजरती हैं, बंद कमरे में! ऐसी ही एक रात अचानक कुछ रिपोर्टर उनके घर में घुस कर उन्हें एक दूसरे आदमी के साथ अन्तरंग स्थिति में होते हुए कैमरे में कैद कर लेते हैं. उनके साथ मारपीट भी होती है पर कड़ी मुश्किलें तब शुरू होती हैं जब समाज उन्हें इस पूरे वाकये के बाद एक अलग संकीर्ण नजरिये से देखना शुरू कर देता है. यूनिवर्सिटी से उन्हें ‘नैतिकता’ की दुहाई देकर निकाल दिया जाता है. इन सबके बावजूद प्रोफेसर लगातार हालातों से समझौते करने में जुटे रहते हैं. आखिरकार, उनकी ख़ामोशी को आवाज़ देता है एक नौजवान रिपोर्टर दीपू [राजकुमार राव] और तब, प्रोफेसर सिरास अपने अधिकारों, अपने सम्मान की लड़ाई के लिए खुल कर सामने आते हैं.

सच्ची घटनाओं से प्रेरित ‘अलीगढ़’ आपको बड़े धीरे-धीरे प्रोफेसर सिरास के करीब ले जाती है, जहां उनकी व्यक्तिगत पसंद-नापसंद से अलग एक ऐसा मासूम किरदार आपके सामने आ खड़ा होता है जो बड़ी समझदारी से प्यार को समझता है और उतनी ही सरलता से समझाता भी है. जैसे-जैसे आप प्रोफेसर को जानने लगते हैं, उनका समलैंगिक होना आपके जेहन से दूरी बनाने लगता है. उनकी कविताओं में आप प्रेम की नई परिभाषाएं तलाशने लगते हैं. उनकी आँखों का खालीपन धीरे-धीरे आपके दिल को कचोटने लगता है, और ये सब अगर मुमकिन होता है तो उसके पीछे है अपूर्व असरानी की दिल छू लेने वाली कहानी और मनोज बाजपेयी का शानदार अभिनय. मनोज का अभिनय बोलने से ज्यादा कहने में यकीन रखता है. प्रोफेसर सिरास को वो जिस संजीदगी से और नजाकत से दर्शकों तक पहुंचाते हैं, एक वक़्त आता है जब आप दोनों को [मनोज और प्रोफेसर सिरास] अलग-अलग करके देखना भूल ही जाते हैं. अदालत की उबाऊ कार्यवाई में बोर होते हुए, ‘हैंडसम’ बोलने पर शर्माते हुए, ‘आपकी नज़रों ने समझा’ गुनगुनाते वक़्त लय छोड़ते-तोड़ते हुए और संगम पर दीपू के साथ खिलते-मुस्कुराते हुए; मनोज एक ऐसी छाप छोड़ जाते हैं जो आपको बार-बार अभिनय में उनके कद की याद दिलाता रहेगा. सधे और नपे-तुले अभिनय से, राजकुमार राव अपने किरदार के साथ बड़ी मजबूती से खड़े दिखाई पड़ते हैं और फिल्म को आगे ले जाने में कहीं कोई कसर नहीं छोड़ते.

इतने सब के बावजूद, ‘अलीगढ़’ में अगर (मुझे) थोड़ी बहुत शिकायत रह जाती है, तो वो है इसका ‘शाहिद’ की तरह का धारदार न होना. ‘अलीगढ़’ आपको सोचने पर मजबूर तो करती है, आपको प्रोफेसर सिरास की शख्सियत से बखूबी रूबरू भी कराती है पर पूरी तरह झकझोर देने में कहीं न कहीं कमज़ोर रह जाती है. फिल्म में दीपू सेबास्टियन का प्रेम-प्रसंग भी फिल्म में किसी तरह का कुछ ठोस, जरूरी और जायज़ इज़ाफा नहीं करता. पर इन चंद शिकायतों से परे, हंसल मेहता की ‘अलीगढ़’ एक बेहद जरूरी फिल्म है जो समलैंगिकता को कठघरे में खड़ा नहीं करती बल्कि उसे आपके ड्राइंग रूम में जगह देती है, आपकी बातचीत का हिस्सा बनती है और बेहतर समाज की तरफ एक अहम कदम बढ़ाती है. आखिर अब नहीं तो कब? जरूर देखिये! [3.5/5]

TERE BIN LADEN: DEAD OR ALIVE : Sequel or a Spoof? [2/5]

Satires backfire if not handled seriously. The characters can look goofy on screen to any extent but the writing should always be smart and considerate. TERE BIN LADEN (2010) followed it all as basic principles and the code of conduct. No wonder, it was unanimously loved and tagged as year’s one of the sleeper hits. The sequel too was expected, though never this late. 6 years later, the team is back with TERE BIN LADEN: DEAD OR ALIVE. Nothing has changed eventually except the writing has imbibed the goofiness and the characters have become smarter than you think. So much to change the end results in a bad sense! Abhishek Sharma’s TERE BIN LADEN: DEAD OR ALIVE is plenty dry, partly funny and largely a disappointment that works less as a sequel and more as a spoof to its previous part.

The film establishes its original franchise as a film itself that has become hugely successful in Bollywood and the beneficiaries include dimwit Punjabi lad Paddi Singh [Pradhuman Singh] as the doppelganger of Osama Bin Laden; Ali Zafar plays himself and so are the rest of the cast. Manish Paul joins the cast as Sharma- the director of TERE BIN LADEN ‘film’ in the film. Riding high on the success, Sharma announces the sequel of the film but to his bad luck, Osama gets eliminated in Abbottabad operation by US Army.

Plot thickens when everyone from US President Obama to a fading Jihadi-leader in Pakistan wants the Osama look-alike for their own good. Mr. President wants him dead in recreation of the operation Abbottabad to have concrete proof for the world to believe. Jihadi-leader [Piyush Mishra] wants him alive to rebuild the terrorist organization. Sharma doesn’t want to lose his road to success in him. And thus, starts the mayhem delivering some genuinely funny satirical takes far and away between silly, tasteless and repetitive jibes one after the other.

TERE BIN LADEN: DEAD OR ALIVE is not entirely unwatchable or vice-versa. The colorful characters make up for the most part even where the script starts sounding illogical, stupid and strained. Piyush Mishra in his seasoned avatar is seen organizing Olympics of Terror in Pakistan where relay race is performed with live bombs being passed on. Pradhuman Singh confidently revisits his author-backed role in the previous part but sadly doesn’t add up any more flavors to the part. Manish Paul makes constant efforts to entertain and gets successful in some too but the show-stealer without any doubt is Sikander Kher!

Sikander amazes you with his out-and-out double dose of comedy. While playing a manipulative confidante of Obama, he’s almost unrecognizable. It’s a part where he doesn’t lose his grip on it even for a second, and in due course, often reminds you of Jim Carrey in his style, presentation and efforts. In other act, he transforms himself into a paunchy Punjabi trying to lure Sharma & Paddi Singh in his evil plans. Sikander is definitely the surprise package of the film!

At the end, TERE BIN LADEN: DEAD OR ALIVE falls short of expectations. While the original was an honest, simple and refreshing satire in times of silly slapstick comedies, this one merely rises from the dust to meet the standard set by itself. In one of the few hilarious tracks, Obama is seen taking psychotherapy sessions after Osama’s dismissal and his remark says, “I see dead Osama!” So true for the franchise! The opportunity has been killed. [2/5]      

THE REVENANT: Bloody Brilliant! [4/5]

Tarantino’s most-celebrated blood-porn and Terrence Malick’s spiritual and emotionally enriching visual-narratives have found a beefy believer in Alejandro G Inarittu’s latest revenge drama THE REVENANT. Though this is not the first time Terrence Malick has shared his confidante behind the lenses Emmanuel Lubezki with Inarittu, [Lubezki has already won an Oscar for the latter in BIRDMAN OR (THE UNEXPECTED VIRTUE OF IGNORANCE)] but this time the plot itself, an expected yet absorbing one, allows him to bring into play his trademark masterstrokes on the moving picture canvas. The same also encourages the film to be as wintery, gory and gruesomely beautiful as Tarantino’s last THE HATEFUL EIGHT; in fact, in a more riveting and gut-wrenching outfit.

Set in 1823, the story tracks down a group of trackers in fur trading business being attacked by some Native Americans while returning to their homes. The most-experienced Hugh Glass [Leonardo DiCaprio] is leading the fleeing troop till he himself gets badly hurt in a terrible bear attack. Considering his hopeless physical condition, the troop decides to leave him and his son behind with a couple of members to accompany them. Abandoned by his own team, Glass is forced to survive through many physical challenges of extreme nature and intense mental trauma to deal with. A strong desire seeking revenge keeps him going even when going gets tougher.

THE REVENANT doesn’t overwhelm you with its crude, simplistic and naïve American legend as the basic plot but undoubtedly excels as a gritty documentation of a survivor’s story. The glory belongs to a taut screenplay that never offers you a dull moment. The severity and intensity of physical assaults on Glass are such brutal that you never expect him to breathe life again but the way Inarittu crafts and constructs the rise of the fallen is tremendously absorbing. Inarittu orchestrates scenes like an extended opera; they decline to cut the shots in between and go on and on with a continuous thrust scenes demand. The precise scene where Glass is seen attacked by a grizzly bear is one of the most gratifying part in the film, not only as a visual fascination for the viewers but also as a textbook example in VFX advancement. There is never an iota of disbelief in what you see and hear huffing, roaring, grunting and purring on screen.       

Setting frozen rivers, frosted trees and widespread snowfields as the film’s scenic canvas, Inarittu alongside Emmanuel Lubezki ensures you’re taken to the same territory with no hesitation, no apprehension and with all the certainty to experience the events to its maximum but it is only the second best asset THE REVENANT owns. The top one on the chart is DiCaprio’s categorical, precise and career-best performance as Hugh Glass. Watching him sinking deep in the character that needed extreme physical participation (He crawls, creeps and slithers in most of the reels), intense acting skills (He hardly mouths verbal expressions) and a seasoned expertise in evoking transferable pain from his haunting past is an ecstasy. You don’t need to be a fan to recognize and recommend his talent for the Oscars’ pride. Tom Hardy as his counterpart Fitzgerald- a mean, sly and egotistical teammate provides a great support.

To conclude, THE REVENANT is a gritty, gutsy and grave revenge drama that is not for the faint-hearted. After all, when was the last time you saw someone clearing out the insides of a dead horse to make it a potential shelter in a bone-freezing sleet or someone chewing blood-soaked raw meat from a freshly slaughtered Bison? MAN Vs WILD lovers can come up with many such stories but this is some rare cinematic experience! Go for it, you might end up watching an Oscar wining performance! [4/5]                             

NEERJA: She’s the Hero! [3.5/5]

Real-life heroes are way better than the ones we see, create or admire on big screen. They might not look perfectly decked-up all the time, make a grand entry and an even greater exit from the frame in the most overrated slow-motion shots. They might not be so exceptionally skilled to kill every bad man in their way; on the other hand, they might get killed at the end. And trust me if they do so, it’s never pre-designed to sympathetically benefit their own image amongst their fans. Real-life heroes also necessarily don’t have to be always a ‘Hero’ to inspire; they can also come in as a bold, fearless, strong-headed and proud 23-year old girl from the next door! Ram Madhvani’s inspirational biopic NEERJA successfully brings us closer to one such hero, most of us wouldn’t have known of if the efforts were not made.

Neerja Bhanot [played on screen by Sonam Kapoor] is our regular girl next door who doesn’t miss her vanity box while leaving for work. She is a head purser in a leading international airways company. She has a promising career in modeling also but she prefers this ‘Mazdooron wala kaam’ as her mother [Shabana Azmi] ironically complains about the wee hours at work. She is just two days away to celebrate her 23^rd birthday and her plane gets hijacked by a terrorist group seeking their associates’ freedom in return of 379 passengers on board. NEERJA confirms for the grave situation, tensed air and frightening faces of fear as we proceed further in the film. NEERJA also observes the bravura instinct of ‘never lose hope till it ends’ in Neerja Bhanot- an ardent fan of yesteryear Bollywood superstar Rajesh Khanna and his popular dialogue in Hrishkesh Mukherji’s ANAND, “Babu Moshay, Zindagi badi honi chayiye, lambi nahin!”.

In Neerja Bhanot, there is a lot more than just a submissive, fearless and sensibly human flight staff. She is an awful and abusive arranged-marriage survivor too. Ram Madhvani skillfully manages to showcase both of her traumatic positions in past and present where she has to make choices that could make or break her identity as an individual. She could have chosen to die in peace by going ahead with the ‘adjustment clause’ in the marriage most mothers preach to their daughters or else could live long with the guilt of not standing with the right. She picks to die for humanity and live long for the human race as a great example of unshaken courage, undying hope and incomparable heroism!

NEERJA doesn’t hit every cord right especially in the first half where Madhvani tries to convince us investing in the characters emotionally. The excessive mentions of the Rajesh Khanna references are also not well-received at all the time. In fact, this is the part where you know with your experiences in the past that what exactly comes after. The good thing is Madhvani smells it sooner than you think and doesn’t wait too long to go jump in the pool of terror where an extraordinary tale of great courage awaits to unfold. With an abrupt interval point, Ram also dares us to think again about bringing the much-needed and long-awaited ‘No interval’ initiative in the current Bollywood scenario.

NEERJA is a surprising set of some grounded performances. Sonam Kapoor handles to make us believe in her skills well. If she is not bothering you as Sonam while watching it, you should know how blessed you and the film are. Shabana Azmi is the strongest when it comes to target your tear glands. Yogendra Tiku as her father and the actor playing Khalil- one of the hysterical terrorists deserve a special mention!

At the end, NEERJA makes you feel indebted, obliged and appreciative towards such brave souls. In the desperate times of ‘pseudo-nationalism’ taking over the spirit of individual’s freedom, choice and humanity at large, it has the guts to show a mirror to the society. A 23-year old teaches us to live and die as it should be; and now, it’s time to respect her sacrifice!  [3.5/5]  

VISARANAI [TAMIL]: Unbearable, Unsettling and Alarming! [4/5]

The system sharks are after the most vulnerable fishes in the water. A fake confession will work well for both the parties but getting one from the innocents needs lot of muscle wrestling exercises. Police brutality in India is probably the most accepted illegal practice today in our system, by our system and for our system. The powerful have been using it for ages to force their control over the powerless but the torture, pain and brutality Vetri Maaran’s Tamil Film VISARANAI (INTERROGATION) shows is excruciatingly sickening, shocking and real.

                                                                                    

A house in a posh colony has been robbed. The top cop at the local police station is feeling the heat to solve the case sooner than one can imagine. A group of homeless, poor and powerless men Pandi (‘Attakathi’ Dinesh), Murugan (‘Aadukalam’ Murugadoss), Afsal (Silambarasan) and Kumar (Pradeesh) are arrested. Knowing common language is the only link that connects them with the real culprits. So, the confession of the crime is a must to put the seal on the competency of the police. The interrogation process begins with lathis being charged over bare skin and then, slowly reaching its next level where the damage is done on one’s mental strength. There are times it gets hard to keep looking at the screen. It’s that atrociously real. In one of the scenes, a police officer pleads in order to convince the victims to confess as this would be a ‘favor’ to the top cop.

VISARANAI (INTERROGATION) is an unsettling film that works because it makes you root for its totally defenseless, naïve and fragile characters. They don’t even smell something fishy when cops try to fool them by playing with their hopes to be free someday. The hearts go bleed when you see them joking in pain at each other’s terrible condition. Film in the next half, exposes another interrogation far different from the previous but with the same degree of intensity in terms of brutality. A reputed auditor famed for his higher connections in the political and corporate worlds is seen being grilled in an air-conditioned room. He is made comfortable as per his convenience but not for long. Even he gets crushed under the nexus between political power and the ruthless system when not of use. When discussing the ways to take care of an eyewitness, a wise policeman speaks in volumes to establish the importance of a human life and finally, gives it a rest suggesting killing him but not without making him an accused in a pending case. “No human life should go waste”, he concludes. They are too many and all around us.

The film is based on a book by the only survivor in the group having his real life experiences with the visceral police procedural. Though the film does make you feel like watching a thrilling drama at the first that could give you an equal amount of entertainment while opening your eyes towards the heinous human race in uniform around you but sooner or later, you only remember it for being a highly disturbing film. There are moments absolutely existent where I couldn’t trust my intelligence as it is being acted or is a documentation of some actual events captured. VISARANAI (INTERROGATION) is a must-watch because it pinches you to wake up in reality. A reality we all have been denying and becoming numb about! [4/5]                    

FITOOR: Oh, you (Hopeless) beauty! [2.5/5]

Apart from the jingoistic emotions and vigorous political projection attached to it, India has advanced another reason to not lose its possession over Kashmir. Bollywood loves to shake down this heavenly geographical part & pride of India to its maximum, sometimes by planting a great Shakespearean saga of love, power and betrayal under the grime of its atrocious past [Read: Vishal Bhardwaj’s HAIDER] or sometimes just by using its picturesque postcard locations as a canvas to paint someone’s cinematic dream. Abhishek Kapoor’s FITOOR fits the bill for the latter. Along with his man behind the lenses Anay Goswami, Abhishek stuns you with magnetic visuals capturing icy lakes, snow-clad wooden foot-over bridges, crimson-red mansions and some equally wooden-evenly frosty faces in and around too, in identical respect.

Official adaptation of Charles Dickens’ GREAT EXPECTATIONS, FITOOR is a tale of two star-crossed childhood lovers. They look nothing more than puppets in evil hands of fate dancing on someone else’s tune. Impoverished Noor [Aditya Roy Kapoor] finds a manipulative curator in Begum Hazrat [Tabu] and a susceptibly shifting lover in her daughter Firdaus [Katrina Kaif]. Their ways go apart to meet again but destined to demand more from their lives. The obsession fueled by the love and longing is ready to self-destruct all the dreams and hopes one is always lived for.

FITOOR is very much like the actors playing parts in it. It looks as ravishing, radiant and exquisite as Katrina Kaif on any given day. You can look breathlessly at both until they try to communicate with you. Ms Kaif’s weird diction and pronunciation force you to look out for a ‘never there’ remote control that could either fast-forward the scene or just mute her to make you switch to the ‘beauty-admiration’ mode again. Film also starts behaving like Ms Kaif, at times. It speaks, and a lot but expressions do get lost while being translated on screen. Guess what? Ms Kaif goes to London in this film too. Why? To get her admired accent. How many more times Bollywood will bless her with that added explanatory mention for her accent??

It is also on the likes of Aditya Roy Kapoor. He makes his presence felt on screen but does it at such a lifeless pace and with such a static force that you can never call it ‘a moving experience’. A self-destructive youth caught in the ill-fated love; haven’t we seen him before in such pitiable state? But the one where the film never ceases to hold the power to impress and ignite emotions on many levels is the performance of Tabu. This role earlier had the never-aging, ever-young Rekha in it but Tabu owns it now. From the sharp and shrewd lonesome soul to the hysterically remorseful aging beauty, she looked never so exposed. In other, the casting does have some surprising names from Lara Dutta and Aditi Rao Hyderi to ghazal singer Talat Aziz, mostly in favor of the film.

FITOOR doesn’t often satisfy you as a great drama or a gorgeous love-story but with the controlled direction, some amazing musical renditions by Amit Trivedi and a totally outstanding cinematography, it remains one of those unfortunate cinematic efforts that doesn’t get a full support from its lead pair and dies in a tough fight to survive its killing pace. [2.5/5] 

GHAYAL ONCE AGAIN: Where Pain replaces the Punch! [1.5/5]

Nothing hurts more than a second-rate sequel to a classic. I am not being unreasonable here with mediocre script, sloppy direction and forgettable performances; they come and go like seasons in Bollywood but how you can be so careless and recreational while even trying to replicate the magic of one of the most powerful ‘anti-system’ revenge dramas on Indian screens. If I would love to remember Rajkumar Santoshi’s GHAYAL for its sheer intensity in the hovering emotions that could turn a common man into a roaring, raging, rebellious bull, GHAYAL ONCE AGAIN for me is just a poor example of outdated, formulated and shamefully flawed filmmaking.

Ajay Mehra [Sunny Deol] has served his 16 years’ sentence for killing Balwant Rai [Amrish Puri] and now runs Satykaam- a news agency that dares to stand up against injustice of all kinds. Satykaam is more of an organized anti-crime movement with a technically sound work-base buried under ground and hundreds of activated members flaunting their ‘I am a Satykaam’ badges and stickers. Ajay is seen fighting with his reminiscences from the troubled past [in a set of weirdly conceived and poorly executed graphic visuals] until his friend-cum-admirer Joe D’Souza [Om Puri from the original cast] gets murdered. The war is inevitable between a powerful businessman [Narendra Jha] on one side and the man himself with Dhai kilo ka haath and four youngsters [They have captured the crime accidentally] on the other. And the whole city will stand still to watch the grand show.

Sunny Deol gets a deserving applaud for setting his story in a present day. The timeline of the events looks credible. Ajay Mehra has aged, but not in his anger management. The corrupt syndicate between the business world, politics and media is hinted well. One such easygoing news channel has office walls painted with famous Bollywood dialogues. I have no idea who’s on the receiving end. But that’s the only thing positive about the film. Once he decides to build a gripping story around all this, he gradually loses his sense of authenticity to the conveniently bad filmmaking.

Some films are a visual treat; GHAYAL ONCE AGAIN is a visual [graphics] disaster. Imagine Sunny Deol banging his head on the wall with exactly 5 visual windows playing old footage of GHAYAL around his head! The pain is so transmittable, I tell you. The editing jerks could be an additional chapter in any film school syllabus. At one, Sunny is trapped in a traffic jam only to appear in the very next scene controlling a hijacked helicopter. Don’t leave the theatre if it offences your intellect; wait until he rams into a skyscraper abode of the villain. Now, you can.

One of the very few watchable moments has Narendra Jha playing the influential businessman and a father in a catch-22 situation. He is no typical villain who loves to share every move with his family. He hides his drink when his little daughter shows up. He gets worried as a parent when his drug-addicted son commits murder. He is no Amrish Puri to Gulshan Grover or Dan Dhanoa. Jha proves his fitness for the part but the writing is so one-dimensional, you only have sympathies for him. Sunny Deol directs himself and makes sure he sets the screen on fire especially with the action sequences. Watching him entering into a frame running towards camera in slow-motion is the only part I can relate to the Sunny Deol of GHAYAL. For the rest, he doesn’t bring anything electrifying or amply satisfying. In fact, the scenes showing his emotional outbursts are amusingly testing.

Overall, GHAYAL ONCE AGAIN lacks the punch. The same punch that GHAYAL still manages to knock its viewers out even after 26 years in a row. The man had his own share of stardom with the film. The film deserved a better tribute from the man. [1.5/5]