King of Spades

There are movies and then there are stories. The first one impresses you. The later impacts! Mr.Rajkumar Hirani, always does the later. And he does it with so much of simplicity and earnestness that only few can. Have been a fan of his craft, ever since the Munnabhai series ,which was followed by the evergreen movie 3 idiots. But what he does with Pk is something, which probably no other director would have dared to explore or even delivered. Imagine the plot- An alien lands into a country and then teaches his inhabitants a thing or two about god and religion, just as he discovers their culture.  About how one is real and the other probably man-made. Sounds crazy.Well go ahead, watch the movie to see how efficiently the master executes his craft. Right from scene one, Aamir Khan (Pk) gets into the character of the lovable alien. Absolutely harmless, he has no clue what to do, when the only one thing (a locket) that can get him back to his planet, is flicked by a human. How he goe

Macbeth-Maqbool Othello-Omkara Hamlet-Haider 3 indianised  takes by Vishal Bharadwaj  on the respective legendary works of William Shakespeare. The first time he attempted , the second time he re-created .But this time around, he not only does the above two but also succeeds in perfectly indianising miya Shaik peer. It’s ironical that the co-writer of Haider ( along with Vishal Bharadwaj) is a certain Mr. Basharat Peer! Reincarnation anybody? Seems unlikely given his credentials.Well we’ll leave that to some other blog. Set in tumultuous Kashmir, the state of India where god created heaven and man hell, Haider grips your attention right from the start.  Dr. Hilal Meer (Haider’s father) is taken away by the army for treating and sheltering a militant inspite of the prevailing insurgency.  Ghazala (Tabu) ,his wife takes refuge in the arms of his brother Khurram Meer (Kay Kay Menon) and that’s when the boy suspects a rat. Enter Roohdaar (Irrfan khan ) and the ball is set for Rev

Sometimes in the midst of commercial potboilers and movies made for critical acclaim, comes a Kahaani or Script that takes in the nuances and mixes sensibilities of both worlds. That’s when it stands apart from the routine and leaves an impression on you. You come out refreshed post the movie having seen something new. And Dawat-E-Ishq just does that. Here the central subject revolves around the unfortunate and grim-Dowry system in India. A well guarded secret in most Indian families.  Mostly observed in arranged marriages amongst families, who themselves are the initiators of the match! This is one evil in our society that has withstood the test of time and is deeply entrenched across all earning classes. Even literacy has done little to eradicate this evil mindset. All it has managed is change it to more ‘polished ’ words like gift or help. Doesn’t matter what achievements the girl has, what background she comes from. Her personality is too meager a point to even consider. Appa

Finally got a weekend after quite some time from my busy work schedule recently. The only thing that i wanted to do was to relax and not go out much on those two days. Usually on such lazy holidays prefer either to read or watch movies. Had just finished reading a book so thought will catch up on some film releases. This time around even the options looked interesting . There was Mary Kom which had released recently and Finding Fanny which had hit theaters a day before. While people were going gung-ho about Mary Kom and Priyanka Chopra’s role in it, Finding fanny had Deepika Padukone, a reason enough for most guys in this country to watch a film!  And from the trailers one could make out that, not only was she looking gorgeous, even the story had a nice feel to it. A letter posted by a young guy never reaches his sweetheart and comes back to his life during his twilight years. Add to that a good cast of talented actors set against the lovely Goa landscape and your expectations only s

Talking apes effectively led by a leader who commands utmost respect. Humans who seek their help to reclaim their life. Sounds familiar? Well the sage Valmiki explored a similar legendary storyline thousands of years ago,which in India till today is a revered epic called the Ramayana.The movie- Dawn of the Planet of the Apes,once again explores the beautiful bond that two of the most powerful thinking species known to our Planet,shared once.The bond of solidarity between the primate and the evolved of the species, against the advent of time for the survival for the fittest is beautifully brought to life in this movie. ‘Ape do not kill Ape! Because we are not like human’. This was the belief that shaped the previous- Rise of the planet of the apes.This thought was the foundation on which Caesar founded his dream and established his empire, his Home! Rise of the planet of the apes was a brilliant film to follow and Dawn nearly manages to do full justice to that,the only minor drawback

“Main tumhare baache ki maa banne wali hun.   Mujhe chhodke mat jao ” she used to scream in the 80’s. “Yeh shaadi mat todo Ramesh, main barbaad ho jaungi. Babuji mar jaenge” ran another teary-eyed dialogue. Call it a reflection of the times back then or the safe ‘Tried & Tested’ formula method of filmmaking, the bollywood heroine never really got the spotlight she deserved. Oppressed, cast away and being taken for granted was often mistaken with the holier than thou -Bhartiya Nari image.   Time and again we saw many movies , where the heroine sometime raised illegitimate children suffering innumerable hardships, only to get solace once reunited with her lost lover. She committed suicide after giving birth , because the society just could not accept a Lawaris. A Failed marriage or engagement was reason enough   for the hero’s sister to drink poison or put the ceiling fan in the house to good use.   Sometimes wonder whether these scenes were on purpose, so that our angry youn