WATER AT OSCARS - A SLAP

Deepa mehta's water has been nominated at the oscars & it is a slap to all those so called saviors of religion who were stopping this movie to be made . it was a shameful act & such people should not be spared who disrupt shooting of movies & violate the freedom of expression of an artist in a democracy . the same thing happend with Shekar Kapur's Bandit Queen which was another brilliant movie that the moral police did not not allow to be screened .

deepa has shown great grit & determination in making this movie & she must be rejoicing her victory over the extremist in India. The icing on the cake is Shantaram with Jhonny Depp & the Big B . The fact that it has been lapped up in Canada is an example of wat a good movie it is that an alien public has even approved of it . Well as a film buff i would love to see Water released in india . Its a pity that we are not being able to see this movie . hopefully we are going to see this soon

As this will be the real victory of a great & gritty filmmaker - DEEPA MEHTA .

GURU - REVIEW

GURU IS BRILLIANT
Guru is the story of one man’s ambition , dreams & his confidence & attitude to fulfill them . Guru is the story of gurubhai (or dhirubhai) . Mani Ratnam tells us about his journey from 15 to 75 . it may be biopic in nature but the genius of manisir never lets it finishup as a boring biography . it is mani’s narrative style that makes the film highly entertaining as well as a superbly scripted film .
Now lets talk about the pre interval portions first . This has to be the strongest portion of the two in the film . The development of the relationship of Abishek with Aishwariya , Mithun , Arya Babbar & Manoj Joshi are excellently written & potrayed along with the journey of guru from a common man to a shrewd business man . Humour are superbly mixed in these scenes , there is no sign of forced or loud humour. Add to it are the great songs like mayya mayya ( Mallika sizzles in it ) & Barso re megha .
The post interval portions does have its share of minor deficiencies . the Mahadavan – Vidya track could have been avoided so can be the Bappi Lahari song which acts as a speed breaker to the narrative which was going on pretty smoothly so far . but despite all this there are several other moments which get your interest back in the narrative . The love-hate relationships between mithun & Abishek , hospital scenes or the scenes at the commission are brilliant . So good was the narrative that I was getting ready to clap & whistle in the climax , but I just couldn’t , something stopped me , something was missing in the climax.
Whatever was that missing link it cannot be denied that guru has the stamp of an ultimate genius of a storyteller – Mani Ratnam .It is Mani’s vision that makes it special & entertaing experience . Guru is a great start to the year .
What adds to the movie are the excellent performances from the main cast to even the one scene actors . right from Rajendranath to Sachin to Arya Babbar to Manoj Joshi all give excellent support to the main cast . The main cast is no less with Aishwariya showing that provided there is good filmmaker she is capable of giving award winning performances , Mithun is a pleasure to watch , being a childhood hero of mine it is great to see him perform with the natural spontaneity which I had never seen in his earlier hindi films . Madhavan & Vidya are honest . But the one person who towers above everybody is Abishek , this has to be his best till date along with Lallan of Yuva . His eyes emote every expression of a dreamer to the achiever whose belief in himself is eminent . Everything else is false . there are instance I the later potions where you see traces of Amitabh Bhachan of agneepath in his performance . but he carrries it off pretty well .
Cinematography is brilliant not too over-glossy or too pale but a mixture of both . the way the rain song is captured is amazing . Editing is good & keeps the narrative going pretty well . Screenplay is excellent , its not easy to write an entertaining biopic of aperson from 15 to 75 , but the genius in Mani pulls it off brilliantly . The costumes & art direction are excellent are great & make you up to date of the constant period change I the narrative .
In all guru is a brilliant movie & a great example of entertaining cinema with meaning .

MY

TOP

10

MOVIES

OF

2006

1 RANG DE BASANTI

I LOVED THE MOVIE . THE FILM THAT MADE US REMEMBER OUR FORGOTTEN HEROES & COMPARED THEIR SPIRIT WITH THE YOUTHS OF PRESENT GENERATION . THE CONCEPT OF PAST & PRESENT IN A SCRIPT IS ABSOLUTELY ORIGINAL & SUPERBLY PRESENTED . THE COMIC SCENES MADE ONE LAUGH ESP BETWEEN AAMIR & SHARMAN & REMINDED ME OF MY EDUCATION DAYS & THE 2nd SERIOUS HALF MADE U THINK & CRY . THE FINEST EDITED MOVIE OF THE YEAR , SUPERB USE OF COLOUR IN CINEMAOGRAPHY TO SHOW THE PAST & PRESENT & THE ULTIMATE INTERNATIONAL STAR IN AAMIR WHO BECOMES ONE OF THE BOYS IN THE FILM . WITH RANG DE RAKESH MEHRA HAS TRULY ARRIVED . RANG DE BASANTI IS A GREAT INDIAN FILM THAT HAS MOVED SOCIETY IN A POSITIVE MANNER WHERE THE CHORD IT STRUCK WITH THE YOUTHFUL AUDIENCE BROUGHT PEOPLE TO THE STREETS FOR CAUSES THEY MADE THEIR OWN – JESSICA LAL CASE OR THE RESERVATON PROTESTRANG DE IS AN ORIGINAL PIECE OF WORK THAT HAS CERTAINLY MADE A DIFFERENCE

2 LAGEY RAHO MUNNABHAI

WELL IF RANG DE STRUCK THE RIGHT CHORD WITH THE YOUTH THERE WAS ANOTHER MOVIE THAT MADE AN EFFECT WHICH IS LAGEY RAHO MUNNABHAI . WHAT AN ENTERTAINING FILM – IT ENTERTAINED , MADE U THINK & TACKLED VARIOUS ISUES LIKE SUPERSTITION , OLD AGE LIFE & MANY OTHERS . BUT WHAT BECAME THE STAR ISSUE WAS ‘GANDHIGIRI’ . THE FORGOTTEN GANDHIAN IDEALS WERE PRESENTED TO THE NEW GENERATION BY THE LOVABLE NEXT DOOR GUNDA MUNNABHAI & IT CAME ACROSS BRILLIANTLY . ARSHAD & SUNJAY ARE ONCE AGAIN AWSOME . BUT THE STAR OF THE SHOW IS DIRECTOR RAJ KUMAR HIRANI – THE WAY THE FILM IS WRITTEN , PRESENTED & EDITED IS PERFECT . THE HIGH POINTS WHERE I ENJOYED THE MOST ARE THE RADIO SCENE – WHER MUNNABHAI USES GANDHIAN IDEALS TO SOLVE PROBLEMSSO GANDHIGIRI WAS REBORN THROUGH LRM & WAS EVIDENT IN LUCKNOW WHERE ROSE WAS USED INSTEAD OF SLOGANS & STONES . & ONE WORD FOR THE GENIUS HIRANI –‘ LAGEY RAHO RAJUBHAI’

3 KABUL EXPRESS

THIS YEAR HAS BEEN THE YEAR OF SOME AMAZING ORIGINAL SCRIPTS WHERE A MAKER WANTS TO MAKE FILM ON IMPORTANT ISSUES AS WELL AS ENTERTAIN THROUGH IT . KABUL EXPRESS WAS ONE SUCH ENJOYABLE JOYRIDE . THERE IS NO HERO , HEROINE , SONG BUT JUST CHARACTERS 5 0F THEM . THE GENRE A COMIC ADVENTURE THRILLER IS QUITE A UNIQUE ONE TOO
THE FUSION OF THE GRAVE –LIKE DESTRUCTION OF THE LOCALES OF KABUL BRILLIANTLY CAPTURED BY THE CINEMATOGRAPHER & SATIRIC COMEDY WITH SOME WONDERFUL PUNCH LINES LED BY ARSHAD WARSI IS WHAT MAKES IT A FILM OF A COMBINATION WITH GRIM SOUL & FUNNY BODY .
KABIR KHAN IN HIS 1st FILM IS THE REAL HERO OF THE MOVIE . HE ALONG WITH YASHRAJ SHOULD BE LAUDED TO GIVE US DIFFERENT & ENTERTAINING CINEMA .

4 GOLMAAL

THIS HAS TO BE THE FUNNIEST MOVIE OF THE YEAR . THERE IS NOT A SINGLE MOMENT WHERE I RELAXED , I JUST LAUGHED , LAUGHED ……. AND LAUGHED IN THE WHOLE MOVIE . NEERAJ VORA ONE LINERS ,PUNCH LINES & SITUATIONS ARE THE JAAN OF THE MOVIE . THE 4 PRINCIPAL ACTORS ( AJAY , ARSHAD, SHARMAN, TUSSHAR) ARE BRILLIANT . ROHIT SHETTY’S PRESENTATION , CHOICE OF ACTORS & THE WAY HE HAS EXTRACTED WORK FROM EVERYONE MAKES U BELIEVE THT HE IS VERY GOOD AT HIS JOB & IS SOMEONE TO LOOK FORWARD TO .

5 Khosla ka Ghosla

KHOSLA KA GHOSLA REMINDED ME OF THE OLD FEEL GOOD SMALL FAMILY FILMS WHICH DID MAKE U LAUGH ALOUD BUT SMILE ,WERE A REPRESENTATION OF THE SOCIETY OF THAT TIMES & DID NOT HAVE ANY BIG STARS IN IT .
KHOSLA KA GHOSLA IS EXACTLY THAT FORM OF CINEMA . DEEPANKAR BANERJEE’S SUPERB EXECUTION OF THE STORY ALONG WITH A BRILLIANT SCRIPT BY & FLAWLESS PERFORMANCES BY EACH & EVERY ACTOR LED BY ANUPAM KHER , BOMAN IRANI , RANVIR SHOREY , PRAVIN DABBAS , NAVIN NISCHOL .
KHOSLA KA GHOSLA IS ONE FILM WHERE EVERYBODY CAN RELATE TO SOME CHARACTER OR THE OTHER & MARKS THE RETURN OF RELAISTIC FEEL GOOD CINEMA

6 GANGSTER

YET ANOTHER ORIGINAL STORY BY YET ANOTHER NEW TALENT ANURAG BOSE . THIS TALE OF DECIET , LOVE , EMOTIONS WHERE THERE ARE NO POSITIVE CHARACTERS KEPT ME HOOKED TILL THE VERY END . ANURAG’S WAY OF EXECUTING THE STORY MAKES THE PROCEEDING EVEN MORE INTERESING . ADD TO IT WAS THE SUPERB MUSIC BY PRITAM &THE WAY THE SONGS ARE USED IN THE FILM
ANURAG IS ABLE TO EXTRACT GREAT PERFORMANCES FROM EACH & EVERY ACTOR ESP THE MAIN CAST SHINEY ( FLAWLESS) , KANGANA (GREAT DEBUT) , HASHMI (RESTRAINED) .
IN ALL GANGSTER MARKS THE ARRIVAL OF ANOTHER EXCITING FILMMAKER IN ANURAG BOSE .

7 PYAR KE SIDE EFFECTS

THE CLEANEST SEX COMEDY ONE HAS EVER SEEN . IT MAY HAVE BEEN INSPIRED BY HOLYWOOD STARRERS BUT WHAT MAKES THE FILM IMPRESSIVE IS THE DIFFERENT PRESENTATION OF DIRECTOR SAKET CHOWDRY . THE SUBERB HUMOROUS ONE-LINERS HELPS THE MOVIE . THE FILM IS DIFFERENT IN PRESENTATION FROM THE USUAL HINDI FILM STUFF & THE ENTIRE CREDIT HAS TO GO THE DIRECTOR . THE LEAD CAST RAHUL BOSE (BRILLIANT) & MALLIKA SHERAWAT ( SURPRISINGLY NATURAL) IS AIDED BY A BRILLIANT SUPPORT CAST LED BY THE SCENE STEALER RANVIR SHOREY .
THERE ARE NO SIDE EFFECTS OF THIS TOTAL TIMEPASS MOVIE

8 MALAMAAL WEEKLY

I M A HUGE PRIYADARSHAN FAN . THIS MOVIE HAS TO BE ONE HAS TO BE ONE OF HIS BEST EFFORTS . THE FACT THAT HE MADE A FILM ON THE RUSTIC VILLAGE LIFE IS AN ACCOMPLISHMENT IN ITSELF . A GROUP OF PEOPLE THAT HAS BEEN FORGOTTEN TO A CERTAIN EXTENT . PIYADARSHAN EMPLOYS HIS NOW FAMOUS COMIC FORMULA AIDED BY THE UNSUNG NEERAJ VORA’S ONE-LINERS . WITH PARESH RAWAL & OM PURI ADDED TO THE CURRY IT MAKES AN EXTREMELY ENTERTAINING DISH & PRIYADARSHAN HAS DEFINITELY MADE HIS PRODUCERS MALAMAAL

9 YUN HOTA TO KYA HOTA

I HAD AN ASSUMPTION THAT NASEERUDIN SHA’S FIRST MOVIE WOULD BE SLOW ARTY KIND BUT I WAS COMPLETELY SURPRISED BY THEFACT THAT ‘YHTKH’ IS AN EXTREMELY FAST PACED MOVIE THAT KEEPS U INTERESTED TILL THE LAST MOMENT . NASEER HAS EXTRACTED FLAWLESS PERFORMANCE FROM EVERYONE . THE 9/11 THAT SHOOK THE WORLD IS USED AS THE CATHARSIS IN A BREATHTAKING CLIMAX . WE WOULD LOVE TO SEE MORE OF NASEERUDIN SHAH AS A DIRECTOR IN 2007 AS WELL .

10 DOR

I M A HUGE NAGESH KUKUNOOR FAN & I LOVE HIS STYLE OF SAYING COMPLEX STORIES IN A SIMPLE FORMAT . THIS IS SO EVIDENT IN HIS NEW MOVIE DOR . THOUGH THIS IS NOT HIS BEST EFFORT , THIS MOVIE STILL IS AN EXAMPLE OF GREAT STORY TELLING . WHAT IS NEW IS THE WAY THE LOCALES ARE CAPTURED IN THE MOVIE . AWARD WINNING PERFORMANCES BY AYESHA & GUL ALONG WITH SHREYAS ‘S COMIC ANTICS MAKES IT AMOVIE WORTH WATCHING