BOYHOOD: When cinema gives it back to life! Worth it!! [4/5]

‘Slice-of-life’ or ‘Coming-of-age’ were just some random words until BOYHOOD happens to you. This ‘Richard Linklater of BEFORE SUNRISE, BEFORE SUNSET & BEFORE MIDNIGHT fame’ movie is anything but the most evolved & detailed cinematic experiment with human emotions portrayed ever on screen. It’s been done in such inventive and intelligent manner that you hardly look at it as a fabricated fictional product of some creative mind. In here, life happens like it does in real. Things are never dramatic but smooth, slowly but surely moving and coherent.

When was the last time you visited your old days through a big bulky family photo album or home videos on VHS or Hi8? You get flashes of plenty moments rejoiced with family all these years. That is something like a scattered version if putting them on a timeline but with BOYHOOD, it is like being gifted to experience someone else’s life in the wide span of 12 years and by the time you’re done with it, you look back and find every piece of it having likeness of your life. Life is beautiful, really!

As his code of performance, Richard gives us a 12-year long journey of a regular American family but doesn’t change its main cast and shoots the same cast for over 12 years in a row to give us an ample projection of falling in love and growing older & wiser with each one in the cast. So, Mason- a 6 year old [Ellar Coltrane] inquisitive son to a single mother and a visiting divorcee father [Director’s favorite Ethan Hawke] becomes an 18-year old youngster flavoring the sweetness of first love and dryness of real-life complications. His miserably disconnected relationship with her much of a controlling sister has sure come a long way for a quite mutual affiliation. The mother [played by Patricia Arquette] now, shows off more wrinkles on her face and fatty ageing lines on others. The father has added more grey shaded hair in his magnetic persona. And in all these, there are moments of being in love with life in the most natural way such as behavioral changes, physical transformations, emotional mood swings, growing liabilities, glowing feelings of the first love, wisdom of reality and historical timelines in synced with them.

Watch out for the torment Mason goes through while losing his long hair streaks for the first time. It has happened to us all. The sibling rivalry that slowly & casually rolls into a more understanding temperament. Leaving behind a mother with teary eyes when departing for higher education or enjoying the firsts of adulthood with friends, BOYHOOD touches every inch of your life between 6-18 years. Of the performances, seeing Coltrane ageing beautifully from a poor innocent introvert kid to an inhibited but confident young man is an experience itself. Same goes with Lorelai Linklater playing his sister though the plot doesn’t give her equal space to focus more on Mason. Arguette wins accolades for her strong character who never takes a back step in life despite quite a few bad choices made in hurry. Hawke charms with his wit and positive vibes through his lovely character of a responsibly active & concerned parent.     

To sum up, Richard Linklater’s BOYHOOD is a cinematic experience worth every single penny you spend on it, though I would not say the same for the length of the film. 2 hour 45 minutes could make you restless but when it is all about something never seen before, one should not be much bothered about that little ignorable flaw! Go for it. [4/5].         

KILL/DIL: Blame it on Yashraj for another letdown! [2/5]

The all melodramatic, stylish and formulaic 70’s has always been a pet for Bollywood enthusiasts. The obsession is so sky-scraping we have made almost every film from that era a classic in today’s times. A gruesomely awesome villain, heroes with undying attitude & emotional story to back-up their instinct in present, sensational beauties ready to show off their best of designer outfits & born-leniency to step in a song & dance sequence at any given time!

Well, all that could work in sync if smartly put in the mold of a tout script and engaging screenplay but it is like asking for much as for as Shaad Ali’s KILL/DIL is concerned.  So, it turns out to be an average action-potboiler with a clear signage of some good deadpan humor, laudable performances of a couple from the cast, stylish looks and scenic camerawork getting wasted for most. Even Gulzar saab’s poetic commentary all the way through different segments and stages in the plot could not lesser any of your displeasures from the film.

Dev [The all bouncy, jovial & animated Ranveer Singh] and Tutu [Ali Zafar, cool as ever] are two best of buddies raised to be cold-blooded sharp-shooters by their foster-father in crime world Bhaiyaji [Govinda back to win hearts]. Their Maar-keting job is paying them well to do all the debauchery deeds until Dev meets Disha [Parineeti in probably one of her most trivial roles], born & brought in the plot to give a new Disha i.e. direction to Dev’s life. No prizes for guessing, the heart in love creates havoc in the promising plot & in quite enticing lives of both the sharpshooters. The buoyancy in characters gets killed brutally by the saddening melodrama.

This doesn’t mean KILL/DIL to be a complete wash-out. Shaad Ali’s average story gets constant boost up from the pokerfaced wit in the dialogues and some of the intentionally-designed elements in the screenplay. In the very first scene, you see a political leader approaching in a car and the number-plate reads ‘Neta’ [Leader in Hindi]. The pun is bold & hard to get unnoticed. Similarly, there is a sequence where a jeweler gets into his regular bargain-mode ignoring the fact that he currently is at gunpoint of his possible abductors. & how can you overlook a Nirupa Roy portrait on the wall, as the founder of a life-insurance company!

KILL/DIL sees the comeback sort of the yesteryear mass-entertainer Govinda in his first outing as the antagonist of a film. He plays the Godfather to Ranveer & Ali and does it with more emotions than just playing the routine villain. He can show off his moist eyes as well as the iniquity in the nature. He talks less but worthy, he laughs good and scary and dances too. Isn’t it enough to celebrate! Ranveer is known for investing loads of energy like a powerhouse. He does exactly same here too. With Ali’s all more unruffled & at ease presentation and some of the best nippy one-liners, his portrayal is pleasantly vivacious. Parineeti does her part well but doesn’t really amaze you much.

On the whole, Shaad Ali’s KILL/DIL could have been better if persistent and confident about its experiment with styling the age-old sub-standard plot as a shinier-slicker & tighter entertainer. It had glimpses and hints but that’s that. For the rest, it is a regular movie-going experience just to kill your time and not the appetite for good entertainment. Home-viewing could be a different story altogether. My quest for a story-department in Yashraj Films hasn’t ended yet! [2/5] 

THE SHAUKEENS: A bad day for comedy! [1.5/5]

Indian men are trained to read between the lines in a way best suited for their ambitions, especially if it has anything to do with women & sex. If a girl throws a generous smile at you, there’s a definite ‘hidden chance’ there to try your dirty luck.

So, when a free-spirited girl living at her own says she will do anything to meet her Bollywood-crush Akshay Kumar, it is more than enough ‘signal’ for 3 true Indian-at-heart, lecherously sleazy old men to run a cut-throat competition between them. Obviously, the girl was nowhere near the ‘understood’ connotation of her enthusiastic announcement and one of the contestants could only get a peck on his bald head and the worth-dying for title of ‘Rockstor’ in return. In the very next scene, he’s seen sharing the all made-up juicy stories of his false-success in the act and getting paid with what she has promised. Finding it funny? Shameful, I would say!

TERE BIN LADEN fame Abhishek Sharma returns with remaking Basu Chatterji’s cutely titillating comedy SHAUKEEN. The new version is called THE SHAUKEENS and the Utpal Dutt-Ashok Kumar-A K Hangal trio is replaced with Anupam Kher-Annu Kapoor & Piyush Mishra. Undeniably, the cuteness is killed by the crudeness and the cheap sex-humor.

Story revolves around three aging licentious, lusty and sex-starving men from Delhi hitting girls of all ages around them. Lali [Anupam Kher] has a wife at home, clearly disinterested in sex and busy ensuring her place in heaven with heavy religious duties. Pinky [Piyush Mishra] is a masala-king having no spices in his life as his wife had already passed away. KD [Annu Kapoor] is a wild-untamable bachelor by choice. Together they plan a trip to Mauritius meant to calm their guilty pleasures and to their best; it is a gipsy-sexy-carefree girl Ahana [Lisa Haydon] who welcomes them as the caretaker of their rented accommodation.

Keeping these 3 extensively indecent, strong-minded & unshakable filthy men’s intentions in mind, I felt good for other girls on the beaches of Mauritius as they looked only focused to one. Film constantly carries scenes of forcefully hugging & caressing the girl and even literally begging her to wear bikni in one particular scene. Following the current statistics of rise in eve-teasing & sexual harassment of women in India, these men tick all the boxes to be considered for serious sentence but here, they are not only calculated funny but also deliberately get blessed with stupid justification of their insufferable behavior- the loneliness and a good harmless heart within. How ridiculous!

Thank God, the producer is here to save some of his film. Akshay Kumar plays himself and intrepidly jokes on himself ranging from doing same things in every film of his, being compared with wooden furniture in terms of his acting ability [Heartless Critics, I say] and his ‘not really’ but witty wish to win national awards someday. His tracks in the film are similarly intertwined like any parallel comedy tracks in South Indian Masala entertainers. On the performances, Annu Kapoor plays it cool and the most confident about his part. Piyush Mishra shows faith on his theatrics more. Anupam Kher is hammy for the most.

At the end, THE SHAUKEENS dies a regrettable death despite having promising names like Tigmanshu Dhulia as the writer and Abhishek Sharma as the director. Things do get worse on a bad day. It is one such for many, including the viewers and the reviewers. Avoid it! [1.5/5] 

BIG HERO 6: A kid's film, for adults! [3.5/5]

Animation flicks were never really on my list of favorites. No offence to the hardcore lovers but for a genre itself, I don’t find myself very fascinated about it! So I had just one title as the exception [The tremendously endearing & emotional WALL.E] until I happened to push myself for Disney’s BIG HERO 6. And now I have got the second to accompany WALL.E! BIG HERO 6 is a heartwarming, entertaining, engaging and completely enjoyable ride even adults will love in equal measures like kids do.

And by the way, what’s with these lesser known superhero comic-characters? First, James Gunn’s GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY and now Don Hall-Chris Williams’ BIG HERO 6! Being a complete stranger to your knowledge & anticipatory mental mechanism, they come fearlessly, keep it low, act smartly and win your hearts marginally with their simpleton but relatable multicolored individualities. This time, it is a giant, pliable and soft from inside and outside robot named Baymax designed for healthcare assistance. Baymax goes through severe upgrading procedure after his creator gets killed in an unfortunate accident and his new possessor-cum-friend is Hiro- the younger brother and a sharp mind in robotics who wants the retribution at any price.

Despite being a visible victim of ‘not so surprising’ regular storyline, BIG HERO 6 works extremely fine just because it finds its heart in the right place and a superhero armed with complete compassion, warmth & love for mankind. Baymax can fly real high with blazing flames at the other end just as good as Tony Stark’s robotic suit does in IRON MAN. Baymax can punch a huge hole in the wall with force equally relative to Hulk’s in THE AVENGERS but what make him totally amiable are his simplicity, cuteness and delightful presence. He can make your heart bleed too but that’s something you should uncover while watching it.

And then, there is a brigade of young robotics geniuses mastered in some or other scientific inventions used as powered weapon to fight the invincible looking evil. Film is filled with delightful moments that allow you to celebrate constant smile on your face and some natural laud laughs in between. For instance, the customary handshake action between Baymax & Hiro is the most adorable one without registering any single fail. Scenes depicting emotional bonding between the brothers are subtly done but for an impactful after-effect. The action sequences are sharp, crisp, fast and do throw a lot of comical punches on you in midst of its well-executed and delicately designed action parts. The climax is absolutely at par with any superhero movie you remember right away.

BIG HERO 6 does not have a star-face to ease your catch-22 situation of whether to go for it or not but you will definitely take away one with you back home after leaving the theater. Baymax has potential to meet any of your expectations from any superhero with a lot cuter-sweeter and charming nature to admire. There is no viable reason why you shouldn’t take your kids to BIG HERO 6. It is a film meant for kids but you will never regret any minute spent with it in the theater. [3.5/5] 

RANG RASIYA: One of the most hurried, confusing and uneventful biopics! [2/5]

The fact that even today more than a billion people worship Indian Gods in pictures painted originally by the ace painter Raja Ravi Varma in 19^th century, India; alone is a promising motivation to go for Ketan Mehta’s RANG RASIYA. There is also an interesting episode not known to many that Raja Ravi Varma once enthusiastically donated funds to Dada Saheb Phalke as token of encouragement to go ahead with his spirit of making moving pictures. Still, RANG RASIYA turns out to be one of the most hurried, confusing and uneventful biopics made in Bollywood.

Based on Ranjit Desai’s novel on the most fascinating Indian artist, RANG RASIYA is a film that tries to be bold but only in projection and not in intention. The disclaimer itself at the very start declares that the film is not based on true events and any resemblance to anyone dead or alive is purely coincidental. And you are making a biopic! What sort? Only God knows. Film hurriedly moves from one to another event in the life of Varma like Mr. Mehta is only interested in playing ‘touch & go’ but things behave differently whenever there is a sequence of painter’s physical participation with his muse. Mehta suddenly is reminded to bring depth, serenity and artistic satisfaction to explore as much as he could.   

Film’s another failure is the baffling screenplay where the judge at the court is named Richards but speaks Hindustani full of Urdu words. This is never a justice to the art but the artist as the actor here is the veteran theatre artist Tom Alter. Aren't we done with him? Offering him roles respective of his skin color and tonal quality! Same goes with the most of the casting; starting from foreigners talking in infuriating Hindi pronunciations to the lead actress [played by Nandna Sen] trying to impress you with her best of emotions but a Bengali touch in the intonation kills most of it. and if you look at the lines they are given to articulate, you would notice that very conveniently one uses English words or popular Urdu words in the middle of all the ‘Sanskrit driven’ Hindi sentences.

The biggest relief is Randeep Hooda, cast as Raja Ravi Varma. He’s the blessing in disguise for film. He’s the only one looking more interested and attached to the film than the director. Nandna Sen plays the part well, mostly when there is not much to emote. In rest, there are a dozen of small roles done by known faces but most are typical with no signs of any surprise element. Music is strictly average, so are the dialogues. Camerawork is efficient but the unevenness in the settings is too visible to trust the time zone.

Overall, it is a story that needed to be told but in a more in-depth impression and a lot more authenticity in the execution. The story of a defiant artist who dared to gift Indian Gods a face and a line of art accessible to common people breaking all the barriers planted by religious extremists, is anyways pertinent even in today’s much liberated times. Hadn’t Mr. Mehta taken the liberty to focus on intimate moments between the painter and the muse and to at least the intense confrontation between him and the social establishments, film would have been a worthy tribute. Watch it on Home-video! It will bring back glimpses & hints of episodes from some good old Doordarshan Serials, at the max! [2/5]

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]      

FURY: In real, War hardly does any good. For the film, it does great! [4/5]

“Ideals are peaceful. History is violent.”

Writer-director David Ayer’s war-drama FURY is an on-site experiment on how war inhumanly takes it all belonging to the human life and still, could make you feel heroic at the end…with its two major participants of diverse psychological establishments. Fondly named as Wardaddy in the film, Brad Pitt plays a US Army veteran in World War II. He’s been somehow busy killing Germans through all of it and the home is now his armed tank marked as ‘Fury’.

Things get harder for him when a fresh new recruit joins him with certainly no experience in the war-field. For Norman, played by Logan Lerman what matters the most is the sense of being righteous in whatever one does. In his own words, he is a soldier whose conscience is still intact. ‘FURY’ sees the casualties of war through the perspectives of both, getting concluded in a much wider panoramic view of life getting celebrated and survivors/fighters being christened as the ‘Heroes’.

FURY is a well-directed, authentically executed, visually unsettling, gut-wrenching war movie that believes not in taking sides but in transporting you to the vicinity of piled-up dead bodies, smells of air filled with gunpowder and explosives, taste of blood dripping over the face and everything else a soldier goes through mentally and physically in any war. Just as we repeatedly see the caterpillar tracks of the tank crushing mangled bodies and blast-wrecks on its way, film too crushes a lot in your inner self. Realistically done war action sequences are the big differentiators here, from the regular ‘highly relied on visual effects’ movies! You feel the pain and the coarseness of war in a larger and true essence.

FURY connects to you also because of its totally consistent and convincing humanly characters and the performers just getting it right while presenting it on screen. Shia LaBeouf surprises as an interestingly ‘holier-than-thou’ God-fearing gunner having Bible in his hands even in the worst state of affairs. Michael Pena and Jon Bernthal create most of the laughter pieces with their amusing enactments. Lerman as the newly enlisted fresher thrives in communicating the dilemma of his inner conscience. In his inhibitions at the first and transformation later into a more vigorous fighter, he holds your attention with his balanced act.

Finally, it is Brad Pitt the film finds a shoulder in to rest on. Watch him forcing Norman to perform his first kill on the warfront or leading his troop by example at every single spot. He sure wears the character with definite conviction and distinct shades in the persona like his own skin. Pitt has played something like this earlier in INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS but this one is more believable & less theatrical. At the end, FURY celebrates the complexities of war in a very authentic manner and considering the recent downpour of VFX driven war-films, it is a surprise you must visit. War hardly does any good, in real. For the film, it does great! [4/5]