SAALA KHADOOS: Performances win close, over Predictability! [3/5]

Films based on sports in India are not too many. CHAK DE INDIA being the sincerest, MARY KOM & BHAAG MILKHA BHAAG being the most commercial ones and LAHORE being the most underrated in the league, you can actually have them on your fingertips. I don’t see the reason why Bollywood is so unsure about good sports films, other than the apprehension of falling into a predictable zone that has been exploited in the west till the time it gets colorless. You talk about boxing in films and the ghost of Rocky Balboa will come automatically in the picture to judge your efforts. I mean who’s not a fan?

First time writer-director Sudha Kongara’s SAALA KHADOOS can also be seen struggling to hit that fear on its face and make it bleed fresh and original. Sadly, the punches in the ring don’t usually reach their mark but the kind of fight characters and the performances produce in the film, SAALA KHADOOS manages to taste the triumph in its last round. It’s a sweet little film where a bunch of well-written characters carries the whole film on their shoulder as ably as their unwavering attitude.

Once a prospective boxer himself and now an ever-offended coach for women boxers, Adi Tomar [Madhavan] is pitched to the least fertile boxing terrain in Chennai. The politics in sports are the forces behind it. Tomar is a strict, ruthless and unsympathetic taskmaster who can also shed his own money if it gets him a greatly potential protégé. And he finds one in Madhi [Ritika Singh], a local temperamental girl with similar madness, anger and untamed frustration. The teaming-up between the two is the hardest ever mission especially when they both are already being mastered by their alter egos and the never-slowing down aggression.

Despite having good knock-out matches, callous practice sessions on field, corrupted selection processes and all the sports-gyaan; SAALA KHADOOS works less as a sports film and more as a freshly brewed love-story between Adi and Madhi. In the very first moments of realization when Madhi confesses her love to her coach, he heedlessly instructs her to continue her practice-session as he’s more of her father’s age, “So? I don’t say I love you to everyone of my father’s age.” She hits back. Sudha Kongara also deserves a pat on back for not falling for customary bollywood romance between the lead pair, though the wide-spread predictability is always there.

SAALA KHADOOS charms you with the uninhibited, wild and fresh performance by Ritika Singh, a professional boxer before making her first attempt at acting. Her free-spirited, loud-mouthed and all moody role-play is efficiently delightful. Madhavan gives SAALA KHADOOS everything it demands from him. He looks every bit of a full-grown ex-boxer with all the attitude, arrogance and aggression in him, hitting the right cord. One of his highly approving works! His mime-act in the climax is a pleasure you’d never want it to go. Mumtaz Sorcar as Madhi’s less-talented and highly ambitious sister is a confident support. Zakir Hussain playing a dominating and over-powering corrupt sports official is good. Special mention to Baljinder Kaur! As Madhi’s north-Indian mother married to a south-Indian father, she looks believable to the core.

At the end, I think SAALA KHADOOS has found two amazingly short-tempered, deliciously cranky and pleasantly foul-mouthed characters in Adi and Madhi, way too unfortunate to have their love-story ended in an unfurnished manner. Bring them back in a more violent love-story, and it will sure knock us out. Watch it even if it doesn’t give you an adrenaline rush like most of the boxing-movies offer! [3/5]   

चौरंगा (A): नाटकीयता से परे, वास्तविकता का सिनेमा! [4/5]

जातिगत विसंगतियों के दुष्प्रभाव, छूत-अछूत के लाग-लपेट और धर्म के नाम पर विकलांग मानसिकता का परिचय देते भारतीय समाज को हमने पहले भी श्याम बेनेगल और गोविन्द निहलाणी के सिनेमा में तार-तार होते देखा है. ‘चौरंगा’ भी काफी हद तक इसी दायरे में फैलती-सिमटती दिखाई देती है, इसीलिए एक मूल प्रश्न बार-बार दिमाग में कौंधता रहता है. ‘क्या कुछ भी नहीं बदला है?’ उत्तर फिल्म ख़तम होने के तुरंत बाद कुछ सरकारी तथ्यों के परदे पर उभरने के साथ ही मिलने शुरू हो जाते हैं. सच में, कुछ भी नहीं बदला है. और अगर नहीं बदला है तो सिर्फ सिनेमा में बदलाव दिखा देने भर से क्या सचमुच बदलाव आ जायेगा? ‘चौरंगा’ की पृष्ठभूमि, ‘चौरंगा’ के कथानक और ‘चौरंगा’ के पात्रों से पुराने होने की गंध भले ही आती हो, पर ‘चौरंगा’ के प्रासंगिकता की चमक पर कहीं कोई धूल जमी दिखाई नहीं देती. ‘चौरंगा’ एक सार्थक कोशिश है भारतीय समाज के उस एक वर्ग को टटोलने में, जिसे हम शहरी चकाचौंध के लिए कहीं अँधेरे में छोड़ आये हैं.

साहब (संजय सूरी) गाँव वालों के लिए हैंडपंप लगवा रहे हैं. पंचायत के पैसों से ही सही, लेकिन साहब ने आज पूरे गाँव के लिए भोज और सिनेमा का प्रबंध कराया है. साहब दलितों को लात मार सकते हैं पर दलित अगर साहब का पैर छूने जाएँ, तो साहब छिटक पड़ते हैं. रात के अँधेरे में तो साहब और भी दयालु हो उठते हैं, सूअर पालने वाली धनिया (तनिष्ठा चैटर्जी) से ऐसे लिपटते हैं जैसे चन्दन के पेड़ से सांप. धनिया भी क्या करे? मौका देख के साहब से बेटों की पढाई-लिखाई का इंतज़ाम करवा ही लेती है. बड़ा बेटा बजरंगिया (रिद्धि सेन) खप गया है. पढ़ाई के साथ साथ इस विकृत सामाजिक ढाँचे को जानने-समझने लगा है पर छोटा बेटा संतू (सोहम मैत्रा) अभी भी सवालों का टेपरिकॉर्डर लिए घूमता रहता है. साहब की बेटी से प्यार होने लगा है उसे, और उसकी मानें तो लड़की भी कभी-कभी देख लेती है उसकी ओर.

‘चौरंगा’ का संसार सिनेमा के प्रभाव में फंसने की गलती नहीं करता. वास्तविकता के चित्रण में नाटकीयता का थोड़ा भी दखल महसूस नहीं होने देता. बिकाश रंजन मिश्रा अपनी पहली ही फिल्म में इस उंचाई को बड़ी सहजता से छू जाते हैं, देख कर ख़ुशी भी होती है और हैरानी भी. बजरंगिया और संतू के बीच के दृश्य फिल्म को बांधे रखते हैं. ये वो दृश्य हैं जहां कच्ची उम्र की मासूमियत भी है, बन्धनों में जकड़े रहने की पीड़ा भी है और सब कुछ तोड़, भाग निकलने की उमंगें भी हैं. फिल्म के कुछ किरदार अँधेरे में बहुत भयावह लगने लगते हैं, जैसे यौन कुंठा से ग्रस्त अंधे पुजारी बाबा [धृतिमान चैटर्जी]. पर मिश्रा कहीं भी फिल्म को सनसनीखेज बना कर बेचने की भूल नहीं करते.

अभिनय की दृष्टि से संजय सूरी सबसे ज्यादा हैरान करते हैं. उन्हें इस तरह के ठेठ गंवई किरदार में देखने का तजुर्बा किसी को भी नहीं रहा है, और वो बखूबी जंचते हैं. ‘माय ब्रदर निखिल’ के बाद ये उनकी सबसे बेहतरीन अदाकारी है. तनिष्ठा को हम पहले भी इस तरह के किरदारों में देखते आये हैं. उन्हें तो एक तरह से महारत हासिल है. धृतिमान चैटर्जी का अभिनय किसी सपने जैसा है, आपको बार बार खुद को एहसास दिलाना पड़ता है कि आप सिनेमा ही देख रहे हैं. और अंत में दोनों बाल कलाकार, अभिनय में जिनकी सहजता और सरलता लाजवाब है.

‘चौरंगा’ उन सभी लोगों के लिए है, जिन्हें अक्सर शिकायत रहती है कि अच्छी फिल्में अब कहाँ बनती हैं? ‘आँखों देखी’, ‘मसान’, ‘अमरीका’ और ‘चौरंगा’ जैसी ‘भारतीय’ फिल्मों के साथ नए भारत का सिनेमा अब अपने मानक खुद तय करने लगा है. थोड़ी पहल आपको भी करनी होगी. जरूर देखिये! [4/5]   

INTERSTELLAR: Out of this World! Nolan does it again!! [4.5/5]

The world is changing. And it’s changing for the worst. Crops are dying. Food-crisis is taking over the interests in technology. “People don’t really want engineers but farmers” as one powerfully states. Throwing away hefty share of funds in scientific research & space missions are no more concern of priority. So, NASA is forced to go underground.  Human race has the fear to lose its existence, sooner than we believe. One of most intelligent minds at the premise [the veteran Michael Caine] opens up, “We are not meant to save the world. We are meant to leave it”.

Decoding Christopher Nolan’s mesmeric & equally mystifying world of gigantic prospects irrespective of time & place [mostly space in this case] is the trickiest job for any common movie-watcher like me. So coming up with a proclamation like ‘I am fully done with it”, is nothing but a steep example of audaciousness! I wouldn’t dare! An Ex-NASA pilot Cooper [Played by Matthew McConaughey] is now a farmer with two of his kids & an old father to deal with. Some strange events and his exploratory eyes to see things in their scientific orientation lands him to a space-mission responsibly designed to locate possible rescue-stations in outer world to reinstate mankind in space-colonies. And then starts the tremendously amazing expedition filled with moments of fear, panicky situations, killing betrayals and affecting insights about life.

INTERSTELLAR is a 2hour 50min long canvas of a highly competent & thoroughly manipulative mind called Nolan. He cleverly makes you resting with the most vividly done human emotions in a very enigmatic way and then knocks you off with the layered plots revealing in the most outrageous manner. No wonder if in the first half, you only wait for the ‘Nolan-effect’ [earned authoritatively after the extravagant thriller ‘INCEPTION’] to come and squash & squeeze you from left, right and center, the second half does the needful in more ways than you would imagine. With an astonishing camerawork and persuasive background score by Hans Zimmer, INTERSTELLAR takes you through galaxies, planets with extreme climates, grasping black holes and radiant light patterns falling over various space-objects like some ravishing fireworks in the sky.

INTERSTELLAR fills you with a magnanimous feeling of being in a celestial world that is enticing to the core, unbelievably real and assertively sharp. Travelling through different time-zones and the race against time to save humanity creates an effervescent, tensed yet disturbingly calm mood to be felt much longer. McConaughey’s rigidly in skin characterization gives film a strong reason to watch. Watch him going through the video messages from his family on earth over the period of 23 long years or him leading the space-expedition with total conviction, he dons the hat of a skilled performer in both. Anne Hathaway as Cooper’s fellow explorer doesn’t impress much though it is not a wasted performance. Jessica Chastain in the role of Cooper’s daughter shines. Matt Damon’s is a shocking surprise best left undisclosed much.

With a much longer duration, your past gratifying tryst with Alfonso Cuaron’s masterstroke GRAVITY and the astronomical usage of science terminology, film might incite killing impatience in you but just have faith in Chris Nolan and his successive idea to shock, thrill & stun you, despite all odds! INTERSTELLAR is hugely rewarding, considerably relevant, fearlessly inventive, sensitively thrilling and the best you can do with the storytelling and technology amalgamation! Book your Tickets…now! [4.5/5]      

HAPPY NEW YEAR: 8-pack doesn’t disappoint! Laughter pack does! [2/5]

Farah Khan’s HAPPY NEW YEAR has blockbuster written all over it. So is Farah Khan’s trademark sense of humor coming out of anything & everything from sexist scrutiny and racist remarks to murderous-merciless mocking at the purest human emotions people usually love to cherish! So if you find nothing bad in ‘alag sirf NAME hain, baaki sab SAME hain’ comment on how Korean and Chinese people look relatively identical to a common ignorant Indian; there are chances you will love HAPPY NEW YEAR for its unarguably pathetic gags, hamming performances and an uneventful heist-plot even any of Farah Khan’s cute triplet could come up to start with.

HAPPY NEW YEAR is nothing but a wastrel celebration of two Khan’s collaboration for a gala event where audiences are cordially invited but their sensibility is taken for granted at many levels. The man on mission here is Charlie [Shah Rukh Khan], a son seeking revenge of his father’s unjust fate from a rich heartless fraud [Jackie Shroff]. To give him back what he deserves, Charlie plans to rob him of his diamonds worth gallons of millions. And there forms, a group of six losers as they love to call themselves with a mother-powered unmarried Parsi [Boman], a tapori [Abhishek], a bar dancer [Deepika], a young tech-savvy hacker [Vivaan] and a strapping & stripping stuntman [Sonu Sood]! But before the D-day comes, they have to be on stage participating in the ‘World Dance Championship’ i.e. ‘India’s got talent’ goes global!

Being unapologetically self-assured about her idea of mass-entertainment, Farah hardly tries to sound or look smart when it comes to give us a plot tagged with predictability as its only nature. Do not think harder or rather not even attempt it and you will easily foresee the next sharp turn ahead. Same goes with the gags. It’s either someone who can’t speak English or someone who has hearing impairment to produce cheap word-plays. Before Shah Rukh playing the master-planner and the captain of the ship comes up with the punch line spoken thrice in the film, “Every loser gets at least one chance to emerge as the winner”; let me tell you the concept of losers shown here. The Parsi brat stammers. The bar dancer constantly gets humiliated as being ‘Bazaaru Aurat’ by no one lesser than our leading man himself and easily falls in trap with his charming looks and English speaking skills. How pitiable can our Indian ladies be! At least in bollywood movies! On the other hand, we have Sonu Sood playing a strong-built single-headed who can jump into a fight soon someone shows disrespect to his mother but he himself doesn’t hesitate mouthing foul words having sisters in center. Double standards! Whatever creates humor!

With a tiring, tedious and repetitive 3 hours of duration, HAPPY NEW YEAR falls short of juicy dialogues, enjoyable dance numbers and praiseworthy performances. Only breathing space you notice is Shah Rukh’s magnetic screen presence, Deepika’s charismatic dance moves and Abhishek’s comic relief but as if Farah would not compromise with her instinct to ruin all emotions, she brings patriotism in the scene just before you try to locate the exit. You can be talent-killer. You can proudly be a robber. You also can be insensitively rude towards your fellow member of human race but just one patriotic song at the end with a tricolor in the backdrop and no one could ever question your heroism. Anyways, who bothers if the man in question is the king of Bollywood himself!

I clearly remember having greater laughs in a couple of ‘Comedy night with Kapil’ episodes on TV where the cast of HAPPY NEW YEAR appeared as its promotional routine. Well, I better go search those on YouTube after resting my case here.  That was epic! This is gimmick! A wafer pack full with air, if you get it! Watch it if you must! [2/5]

THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL: Year’s most beautiful Film! A Masterstroke on screen…literally! [4/5]

‘The former Republic of Zubrowka’; now I don’t have any clue even in its most blurred vision that where on earth this breathtakingly mystical state of God’ own artwork is located at but it definitely finds a place in your heart with its most charming narrative, simply unbelievable picturesque visuals and most sophisticated yet chaotically hilarious characters I have ever come across. Wes Anderson’s THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL is a magic-box full of color-decorated candies that not only appear the most fascinating objects of desire at the nearest confectionary store but also put assorted, surprising and tickling flavors on your taste-buds.

Inspired by the writings of Austrian novelist Stefen Zweig, THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL transports you to a magnificently painted world where every sight is a visual treat with colors flowing all over; even under the skin-tissues of its highly adorable characters. The writer of a memoir [Jude Law] recalls his widely treasured stay in the most celebrated establishment of its times and manages to discover interesting incidents happened between the present owner Zero Moustafa [F. Murray Abraham] who had once started as a lobby boy  there and its then caretaker-cum-supervisor Monsieur Gustave [Ralph Fiennes]. Monsieur Gustave is an adequately dressed charming man who certainly knows how to make his guests’ day and that doesn’t make him any uncertain to go under sheets with rich women much older than him.

The ride begins when one of Gustave’s devoted patrons Madam ‘D’ [played by Tilda Swinton] takes her last breath in mysterious circumstances and Monsieur Gustave has to take part in her last ceremonies including reading of the will. Inheriting one of the most valuable paintings she possessed, Gustave is now on the top in the ‘hate-list’ of family members and the ‘Hit-list’ of a cold-blooded assassin [Willem Dafoe in his most surprising avatar] they have hired. The younger version of Zero Moustafa as the lobby boy [Tony Rivolori in his impressive debut] accompanying Gustave is the prime and constant witness to the story.

Two key fronts on which THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL scores highest, are the technical brilliance and the smartest of wit in the writing! This is probably the finest example of putting writer’s imagination perfectly right on the bigger canvas of cinema. The eyes of the viewers are always found in conflict with the mind if the frames on screen are of a motion picture or a painting on wall? If detailed and the most scrupulous production design or excellent camerawork from tranquil track shots to crisp zoom-ins does wonders for the look, subtle humor-sophisticated wit and very reasoned  smartness in the writing fills you with utter joy. The performer-brigade helmed by Ralph Fiennes is outstanding. Ralph’s Monsieur Gustave will charm you with a flawless and delightful performance. In rest, Willem Dafoe amazes you as Jopling-the assassin. Edward Norton and Bill Murray’s special appearances are enjoyable.

But one thing that can’t be missed out in this whole 100 minute stay at THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL is the signature stamp of Wes Anderson all over it. The characters having more colors than its vivacious backgrounds and the frames with more characters to them! This is a cinematic experience that will leave you ‘Gespannt wie ein Flitzebogen’; on the edge of your seat, it means. DO NOT MISS IT! [4/5]      

CHEF: Taste life like the best dish on menu! Sweat, simple and delicious! [3.5/5]

You don’t really have to be a cook yourself to like Jon Favreau’s tasteful slice-of-life drama CHEF, but if you are a life-lover you hardly can stop yourself from falling in love with it. Alike every nicely-cooked & well-presented dish in any of your favorite restaurant, life requires nothing but a demanding preparation, monumental effort and a good heart to top it all. CHEF takes its inspiration from the very same idea and turns out to be a deliciously sweat, simple and delightful film that has its heart right in the place.

Coming from the director of highly technological, imaginative and illusory IRON MAN & IRON MAN 2, comedy-drama CHEF emerges as a surprising but an appetite-full creation of Jon Favreau. Besides being the writer-director, he plays Carl Casper- a passionate chef trapped in a commercial restaurant run by the money-driven, dominating and unreasonable Riva, played by Dustin Hoffman. Life takes a drastic turn when Carl gets bashed up from left, right and center by a reputed food critic for not being innovative and imaginative in his servings. This is the time when his personal life too is on the edge. He should spare some of his life-chunks for his 10-year old son living with his divorced wife and in the meantime, also be looking for what he misses the most i.e. cooking what he likes to.

CHEF tempts you not only with the luscious, lip-smacking dishes of all kinds being grilled, baked, chopped, basted, fried and served artistically in the most enticing manner; in fact there is hardly any scene where the food is not being celebrated; but also with the heartfelt emotions in a simple yet relatable plot of human relationships. The sentiment of not being permitted to experiment and innovate for what you think is right and often surrendering yourself in the name of what your employer thinks is right, is never an extraterrestrial for any man of creative values. Chasing your dreams and following your heart may not be possible for everyone but when you see Carl getting on to it, you never feel isolated from the sense of achievement and contentment Carl is gaining gradually on screen.

Film also succeeds in throwing pleasant surprises on regular intervals with the most delectable short & sweet star appearances in recent. Scarlett Johansson woos the screen as Carl’s colleague at the café. Dustin Hoffman as a bossy owner is a luxury to have on board but leaves you unfulfilled wanting more of him. Robert Downey Jr plays a romantically witty more like his Tony Stark in IRON MAN. Russell Peters joins the cast as a selfie-lover cop who can’t stop asking for clicks to upload on social networking sites. Emjay Anthony as his son and Sofia Vergara as his ex-wife come up with endearing performances but CHEF is all about Jon Favreau. As the writer-director, he not only pushes his boundaries but also blesses the screen with a wonderful character lovable in all given situations.

Though in between courses you might notice something very regular and recurring, at the end it is a sweet, simple and delicious feast you won’t regret booking your table for! Likeability is guaranteed! [3.5/5]