मोहेंजो दारो: कहो ना ‘बोर’ है! [2/5]

इतिहास के पन्नों में झांकना अपने आप में मनोरंजन से कम नहीं है. हज़ारों कहानियां, और हर कहानी में विस्मयाधिबोधक घटनाओं की भरमार; बशर्ते आपमें तथ्यों को नज़रअंदाज़ करने और घटनाओं की सत्यता पर प्रश्नवाचक चिन्ह न लगाने की सहनशीलता भारी मात्रा में हो. और फिर आशुतोष गोवारिकर की ‘मोहेंजो दारो’ तो बस एक आम सी बॉलीवुड फिल्म है जिसका वास्तविक इतिहास से उतना ही लेना देना है, जितना आपका और हमारे जैसे कम-पढ़ाकू जानकारों का, जिनको बात-बात में गूगल-देव की सेवाएं लेने में रत्ती भर भी झिझक नहीं होती. अगर आपने स्कूल की इतिहास की किताब में सिन्धु घाटी सभ्यता के बारे में वो एक 6-8 पन्नों वाला चैप्टर भी ध्यान से पढ़ा होगा, तो आपको अंदाजा हो जायेगा कि ‘मोहेंजो दारो’’ के साथ, गोवारिकर आपको 2016 से 2016 ईसापूर्व में ले तो गए हैं, पर बॉलीवुड के घिसी-पिटी और बेरस कहानी कहने के फार्मूले को यहीं छोड़ना भूल गए.

नगर बुरे लोगों के चंगुल में है. कभी खुशहाली बसती थी यहाँ, मोहेंजो दारो में, अब झूठ, छल और ठगी का व्यापार होता है. आम लोगों पर मनमाने करों का बोझ लादा जा रहा है. ऐसे में, एक बाहरी साहसी नवयुवक सरमन [ह्रितिक रोशन] नगर में आता है. उसे लगता है उसका कोई पुराना रिश्ता है इस नगर से. यहीं उसे अपनी संगिनी भी मिलती है, चानी [पूजा हेगड़े], जिसे पाने की कोशिश उसे नगर के प्रधान महम [कबीर बेदी] और उसके बेटे मूंजा [अरुणोदय सिंह] के सामने ला खड़ी करती है. सरमन अब जन-जन की आवाज़ बन चुका है. पर अभी और भी कुछ राज हैं, जो उसके सामने खुलने बाकी हैं. उसका इस नगर से क्या वास्ता है? उसका अपना अतीत और नगर का भविष्य दोनों एक ही धागे के दो छोर हैं, पर उलझे हुए. फिल्म का अंत सब सवालों का हल लेकर आता है, पर अहम् सवाल ये है कि इस औसत दर्जे की कहानी को मोहेंजो दारो के ऐतिहासिक चमक-दमक का चोला पहनाने की जरूरत क्या थी?

पीरियड फिल्मों में ‘मोहेंजो दारो’ गोवारिकर की सबसे कमज़ोर फिल्म है. ऐसा नहीं है कि आशुतोष आपको सिंघु घाटी के नज़दीक ले जाने में कोई चूक करते हैं, पर इस बार न तो उनके पास ‘लगान’ जैसा ड्रामा है, न ही ‘जोधा-अकबर’ जैसा शानदार स्केल. फिल्म अपने रोचक, पर बनावटी और कुछ ज्यादा ही अलबेले कॉस्टयूम डिज़ाइन से आपका ध्यान कहानी की गंभीरता (?) से भटकाती रहती है. फिल्म में इस्तेमाल हुए विजुअल ग्राफ़िक्स का औसत स्तर भी फिल्म का एक बहुत बड़ा कमज़ोर पक्ष है. ‘सपने’ को ‘सपीने’, ‘सवाल’ को ‘सुवाल’ जैसे उच्चारण के साथ, आशुतोष उस वक़्त की बोलचाल की भाषा के लिए जिस तरह का प्रयोग करते हैं, वो हास्य उत्पन्न करने के लिए तो सटीक लगता है, पर वास्तविकता से उसको जोड़ने में भरोसेमंद साबित नहीं होता. ए आर रहमान का संगीत ही है, जो एक पल के लिए भी अपने आपको शक के घेरे में खड़ा नहीं होने देता. उनके संगीत में एक तरह का कबायली ‘टच’ है, जो आपको बांधे भी रखता है, और उनसे और उम्मीद करने की छूट भी देता ही.

अभिनय में, नितीश भारद्वाज [बी आर चोपड़ा की ‘महाभारत’ के कृष्ण] एक बिलकुल नए रूप में आपको बहुत अरसे बाद परदे पर देखने को मिलते हैं. ताज्जुब होता है, भारतीय सिनेमा उनसे इतने दिन तक दूर कैसे रह पाया? उन जैसे ही अभिनय-प्रतिभा के कुछ और धनी नरेन्द्र झा और मनीष चौधरी भी फिल्म में दिखाई तो पड़ते हैं, पर महज़ खानापूर्ति के लिए बनी भूमिकाओं में. अरुणोदय सिंह अपनी कद-काठी के साथ अच्छा प्रभाव डालते हैं, अच्छे लगते हैं. कबीर बेदी इस तरह की भूमिकाओं में हमेशा सहज रहे हैं, हालाँकि उनसे बहुत कुछ की उम्मीद करना भूल ही जाईये. पूजा हेगड़े बहुत अलग सी दिखती हैं. उनकी अगली फिल्मों का चयन काफी हद तक उनकी पहचान बनाने में अहम साबित होगा. ह्रितिक पूरी फिल्म अपने कन्धों पर ढोते नज़र आते हैं, पर इस मुकाम पर इस तरह की औसत फिल्मों में उनका होना उनकी सारी मेहनत, कवायद और शख्सियत के लिए शायद एक उल्टा खेल साबित हो.

आखिर में; ‘मोहेंजो दारो’ ऐतिहासिक स्थलों के उस टूर की तरह है, जहां लोकेशन्स अपनी एक अलग कहानी बयां करने की कोशिश कर रहे हैं, पर आपका टूर गाइड रटे-रटाये तरीके से, अपनी सहूलियत के हिसाब से, आपको अपनी गढ़ी हुई एक अलग ही कहानी बताये जा रहा है, जो न तो सच है, न ही रोचक...और कभी-कभी तो बहुत बोर!! [2/5]       

TAMASHA: A Bioscope to life, and to your ‘self’ within! [3.5/5]

I dare not go any sentence further in approving Imtiaz Ali’s most personal artistic take on love, life and limitless conflicting conditions around the both, before having a word of strict advice for you that TAMASHA is not an easy watch. It neither is just another ‘boy-meets-girl’ love-story to write, shoot, edit and release. Only an Imtiaz Ali can helm the project of such risky, self-destructive and boomerang-like nature; and my suggestions here are heading towards Imtiaz Ali of today and not of pre-ROCKSTAR. If JAB WE MET and SOCHA NA THA were busy twisting the lighter side of love, if ROCKSTAR and HIGHWAY were falling for the darker region; TAMASHA is a multihued psychological exercise to reinvent, reestablish and renew your ‘self’ under mystically painful care and custody of love. TAMASHA is not an extravagant, star-studded, all flashy WIZCRAFT production of a celebrity world-tour but a cute, tiny, little bioscope which immediately transports you to the world of your dreams and your aspirations; where you’re the ‘Tamasha’ and not just a sitting idle spectator.  

In the very earliest scenes, Imtiaz makes Piyush Mishra playing an older than the old storyteller in the film mouth an exposition when he mixes up with two different stories of worlds poles apart, “toh pareshaani kya hai? The story is always the same. Do not fall for their names, places and other details. Just sit back and enjoy.” and that’s enough to hint you about the most predictable plot one can have for a love-story. Boy meets girl, on the beautiful locations in Corsica, France. They decide not to reveal their identities and be complete strangers to each other. Both part their ways. Four years down, the girl still in awe of the vibrant personality of the boy reaches to him. He is now succumbed to the all emotionless, motorized and mechanical race of the corporate world. The girl rejects the new bore. The dejected boy is now looking for a new end to his story. After all, it is never too late to start a fresh. Now as an easy entertainment seeker, you may voice a question that why always the same story, even the tagline on the posters suggests the same but then, I think TAMASHA was never about the story. It doesn’t take the easy route with over-simplified solutions to the monstrous-looking problems but decides to go on the ‘self-discovery’ mode to find some of the toughest answers only you and life can juice it out together.

There are more than a couple of reasons when I call Imtiaz the new-age ‘Yash Chopra’. The way he makes it happen, the way he breaks into the susceptible space of separation and the way he paints the pain, is meticulously relatable, unswerving and apt. He hardly creates a situation; he just opens up another unseen layer buried deep within his characters. Apart from the dialogues that rarely sound anything written, scrumptious camerawork, soul-pleasing soundtrack by A R Rahman and imaginatively decorated lyrics by Irshad Kamil, TAMASHA marks towering performances from both the leads. Though the film belongs more to Ranbir Kapoor’s character in the central role, let me honor Deepika Padukone first to talk about. The cranky, complaining independent girl of PIKU here shows off her complete different avatar in a more edgy, persuasive and in pain character of an anxious lover. You don’t have to make an extra effort to notice some of her atypical expressions you sure haven’t seen anywhere else. If she effortlessly makes your heart bleed in ‘Agar Tum Saath Ho’, she also steals it with her sparkling eyes even while being utterly there in playful conversations with Ranbir.  And now the boy himself! TAMASHA brings back Ranbir in the race. The inconsistent ‘velvet’y touch is forgiven and forgotten. The all new and fresh Kapoor shifts gears like a pro. The bathroom scene, the story-telling session at home, the apology scene; there are moments that will haunt you even after full night sleeps in the next couple of days. Undoubtedly, one of the best performances this year!

Despite going into a self-pleasing theatrical mode and uncommonly imprecise scenes of creative satisfaction, Imtiaz earns full marks on taking the risk most of the filmmakers today hesitate. Otherwise, who would dare to compose scenes with profile shots of the leads when they are busy sporting the most unforced yet intricate emotions on their face? TAMASHA is not flawless. TAMASHA is not regular. TAMASHA is inspiring. TAMASHA is mesmeric. TAMASHA is a journey you should take at least once in a lifetime to make it all right you couldn’t dare all these years. [3.5/5]     

2 STATES: beautiful film but no signs of newness in the plot make it strictly watchable! [2.5/5]

In order to impress his hardcore Tamilian future in-laws when Krish [Arjun Kapoor entering into a completely new territory of Bollywood’s safest road to win hearts; the romantic comedies], a Punjabi Chap brings Engagement-rings for everyone in the family, the statement comes out loud and clear, “Marry one-marry all”. Indian weddings can never get more comprised than in this particular scene in debutante Abhishek Verman’s 2 STATES. Impressive, moving and very well done but the biggest question here is if fine film-making could really save a film with absolute no meat in the plot and all ‘done in the past’ predictability that comes handy in any such Bollywood Film. Sadly, the answer falls in negative.

Based on the bestseller of Chetan Bhagat’s kind of autobiographical novel of same name, 2 STATES tries to bring two different cultures, two different families helmed by their own set of lifestyles and ‘hard to break or mold’ establishments in thoughts, under one wedding-Mandup. Krish falls in love with Ananya [Alia Bhatt comfortably stepping in the shoes]. Ananya falls for Krish too but their families don’t as one comes from the loud Punjabi culture and the other backed by Tamilian traditions.

The boy and girl try to woo their parents in any which way they could but rather than getting excited and on your nerves to find out how, you would end up waiting with a big ‘when’ on your face. The plot that shares similarities with most of the Indian love stories produced in the past never actually rises from just looking great, vibrant and immensely fresh in every frame. No one should sink in doubts that this is one of the finest in terms of cinematography and set direction. There is hardly any frame that doesn’t make your heart feel drenched in true Indian colors.

What kills the chance is the obviousness in the way story moves forward. The sweat couple in love put one after another fall like house of the cards but towards end, it doesn’t take more than a couple of minute to set all the puzzle-pieces together. Convenience at its best! Jokes are clearly more on colour, rituals, taste and choices in art and food and anything you could think of easily. Though Verman controls himself from making characters stereotyped [Alia doesn’t carry any south-Indian accent] and that should be praised wholeheartedly!

In a deliciously ensemble cast, Amrita Singh plays a bitchy-overtly possessive Punjabi mother to Krish with fine nuisances. Ronit Roy as his unapologetic yet emotional father excels in most to bring lumps in your throat especially at the end. Shiv Subramanian and Revathy play it smooth, subtle and sweet as Tamilian parents to Ananya. Watch out for Revathy singing the soulful ‘Saathiya, yeh tune kya kiya’ from her 1991 film LOVE! Lovely addition!!

Of the lead, Alia looks garden fresh and emotes too. Her presence sparks the screen making it a picture perfect sight to rest your eyes. Arjun as a geeky, confused, nervous lover boy shows his growing confidence as an actor. In conclusion, 2 STATES is a beautiful film let down by a superficial plot and a stretched at long duration only to ruin all the promises that could have turned the table in a better direction all together. Alas, no signs of newness in the plot make it strictly watchable! [2.5/5]

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]

THE LUNCHBOX: A 7-course meal for cinema-lovers with good appetite for quality cinema! [4/5]

If local trains are one inseparable lifeline for Mumbai, dabbawallah are unquestionably the other. Delivering food for love/love for food in dabbas to more than 2 lakh people working in their respective fields of interest everyday…that too by a comparatively smaller number of a few thousands dedicated Dabbawallah on their toes, impermeable of bad weather, terrible traffic issues, unfortunate terrorist attacks and uncalled natural disasters! No wonder, surveys indicate that the chances of failure in this 130-year old mechanism fall to once in a 6 million deliveries.

 

Ritesh Batra’s ‘already riding high on appreciations allover’ slice-of-life, middle-age romantic drama THE LUNCHBOX finds its foundation on that very one mistake, an endearing one that turns into an overwhelming, appetite-full, high-on-emotions love-story between two lone souls lost in the overcrowded city of dreams, Mumbai.

Ila, a housewife and a mother of a 7-year old girl, seeks help in making new delicious recipes for her husband’s lunchbox either from master chef Sanjeev Kapoor on radio/TV or from the neighboring aunty who lives on the second floor with her husband in coma. Interestingly, we hear only voice of her crashing to our ears. Besides that, Ila’s other pastimes limit in washing dirty linens, waiting for her husband to come home and watching him finishing his dinner in some way attending panel discussion on TV news. Loneliness is subtle but the pain is quite visible.

Saajan Fernandez is a face that you see everywhere around yourself. He could be an account manager in your local bank. He could a wrinkled postmaster with all names & addresses on his fingertips. He might not be updated with technology and gadgets our new generation uses but he is there behind his desk for like more than 35 years. This particular face we see on screen is on the edge & age of retirement. He is a widower too. Here again, the loneliness is subtle but the pain & emptiness in his eyes is clearly visible to make you uncomfortable within.

So, when one day the dabba for Ila’s husband reaches mistakenly on the desk of Mr. Fernandez, the old-fashioned yet very amusing-very charming practice of letter-writing takes place to share their individual emotions. They write about the lip-smacking dishes Ila cooks, they write about their personal life experiences and they also share their fears about how life could take a turn on them.

Meanwhile, there is frustratingly funny Shaikh who is about to take place of Saajan after his withdrawal. Lively as anything! He is an orphan but still likes to start his saying with ‘my mother used to say…’ as he thinks it would give it more ‘vajan’.  

THE LUNCHBOX creates an aromatic ambiance for two separate worlds of Ila & Saajan. With pile of files on desks, old ceiling fans & bleak faces, Saajan vanishes in a typical government office. Ila’s world is restricted to the kitchen platform and window attached with to make regular conversations with aunty. In others, there are crowded local trains crawling on tracks and an artist on the pavement who paints same painting everyday.

Film’s biggest strength is the writing. Every sequence conveys and leaves some or the other emotion with you. Be it Ila’s imagination to a suicide story or Saajan’s reluctant behavior towards his new colleague! With low-light, grainy visuals to show the realism within the on-location shoots, cinematography is apt & a top class. Sound designing is also something to look out for. You can actually smell the ambiance through those sound bits. Ritesh Batra scores high in creating a simple love-story with a perfect mix of emotions and cinematic brilliance. A story has been told the way it should be. No extra ‘masala’, no unnecessary ‘tadka’!

On the performance side, Irrfan as Saajan Fernandez delivers as much as you could expect from him. He speaks in silence. He throws silence while speaking. Nimrat Kaur in her acting debut surprises you the most. She can be very emotive at one and equally amusing at the other. She makes you feel for the character and in the most simple and impressive way. Her unsophisticated & refined but raw portrayal of Ila will leave you speechless. & then comes, Nawazuddin as Aslam shaikh! Smiles come easy & entertainment is handy when he’s there in the frame.

Overall, THE LUNCHBOX is bittersweet but a rich-in-taste culinary experience like no other. Perfectly cooked-nicely served! Make reservations for weekend in advance! Book a table now! It’s a 7-course meal for cinema-lovers with good appetite for quality cinema! [4/5]

Special Note: Dear Bollywood! Bless me with one LOOTERA, one SHIP OF THESEUS, one LUNCHBOX every year and I’ll forgive you for all your sins of producing ‘HOUSEFULLs’ ‘GRAND MASTIs’ & ‘ZANJEERs’!

SATYAGRAHA: Formulaic Exploitation of Freedom of speech! Corruption hits cinema! [2/5]

Corruption in our system has been in practice for so long now that you can easily find its traces in our day-to-day life. It is so rehearsed-so exercised that we might not even consider it now a threat to our society but when the same strikes in art like cinema, it still hurts, badly. Prakash Jha’s so-called social drama SATYAGRAHA is a victim of corruption in cinema. Formulaic approach of Jha’s own league contaminates the power of story-telling. Forced Star-value pollutes the intensity and effort.

Taking a prominent lead from Anna Hazare’s anti-corruption movement and a few other sensational news headlines in the past, SATYAGRAHA roams around an idealistic retired principal [played passionately by Amitabh Bachchan] who is so much confined into his ideas that he can be very blatant with anyone against his concept of morality. Trust me, in few scenes you would be thanking God that your father in real is not like him. After losing his extremely talented engineer son in a road-accident [referring to the Satyendra Dubey murder case, if you remember], in frustration to not know how to deal with corruption in the system, Daduji slaps the district magistrate and is now behind the bars.

To set him free, joins hands an ambitious businessman of promising future [Ajay Devgn in his usual], a local crowd-pulling youth leader [Arjun Rampal wasted in his ‘Rajneeti’ look] and a dedicated journalist [Kareena Kapoor Khan-the most irritating of all] who merely believes in just one rule of journalism that you should look presentable. So, you never find her without heavily done make-up in any of the frames she’s in. Manoj Bajpai slips into a caricature-ish comical politician who’s naively uncomfortable with the concept of lawmakers taking instructions & suggestions to improve from public as a part of democratic system. So, the conflict to bring inevitable change in the system turns into a final showdown between the government and team Satyagraha.

Problem with the film lies in its too idealistic characters to make connect and events happenings in the most suitable manner. Film struggles to speak loud and clear on the issue and ends up in an exploited version of the ‘freedom of speech’ that can also be referred as the ‘freedom to preach’. In its 2 hour 32 min of excruciating duration, it goes on and on and on till an equally infertile dramatic climax.

All I can request/warn/suggest Mr. Jha that please rediscover his own self beyond this fixed parameters of star-driven half-cooked hopeless social dramas just for the sake of making it or the day is not very far when we would have another ‘Ram Gopal Verma’ in Bollywood. If not in the right manner, some statements should not be made at all as you are killing the opportunity for someone else. [2/5]