Tag: Bollywood

Padmaavat – with an “I” for beauty.!

Movie Review, Uncategorized

 

There are movies that look grand, there are movies that appear beautiful and there are movies that the likes of Ang Lee and #SanjayLeelaBhansali do – enchanting, beautiful and grander than the grandest! Hit the pause button at your will, and any frame that freezes is a plush rich painting!

I might be being a bit lavish in my praises for the movie – but that’s only because of the lavish experience that I had, while watching the movie – #Padmaavat!

 

Based on an epic poem #Padmavat of 15th century, considered as history by many and argued as fiction by many others, this ‘Padmavat’ is a visual poetry painted on screen!

Hmm… but take away the grandeur, the aesthetic beauty and you will see the holes underneath.

Screenplay is engaging, but not on par with the excellence that the rest of the departments have brought on screen! If only the screenplay had been improved by a notch or two – this could have been a timeless piece!

There are no surprises in the screenplay – the planned surprises are way too predictable. There are are no true turbulent journeys for the protagonists – there is no peaking success but only diving failure. For the antagonist it’s the polar opposite. All that he does is win, win and win..!
One of the important aspects (not like a rule of sorts) of screenplay is to make the audience empathize with the characters and make them find an alter ego in either or both of the protagonists. Yet, I repeat – It’s engaging!
Inspite of knowing the climax of the movie ( which everyone anyway knows), the portion does pull the right strings and puts an arrow right through your heart.!
However, this minor imperfection could also be because of the “cuts” that were ordered to facilitate the screening.
Other “minor” complaints are – #Padmavati termed as the most gorgeous beauty by the characters in the movie.

It becomes important to make the audience also feel the same. Amidst the stunning locales, sets and pretty women like #AditiRaoHydari; #DeepikaPadukone in the role of Padmavathi does look beautiful, but not “out of the world beautiful”.

Had the glamour in the costumes, sets been toned down and had the other females looked less gorgeous, Padmvathi would have surely looked one of her kind beauty in the movie. (This is strictly my opinion).
#ShahidKapoor has acted well, but doesn’t look like a king who could inspire bravery and instill confidence in his citizens.

Or is it the side effect of being cast alongside energetic #RanveerSingh, who in the role of Khilji – has KHILLED it.!
If only he hadn’t gone overboard in couple of scenes and only if #Bhansalihad painted his scenes less beautifully, he could have had a terrorizing impact.

Well.. As I said these are only minor complaints. It’s like walking into an expensive restaurant, with state of the art interiors. The food might not be the best thing that you would have ever eaten, but you wouldn’t mind as long as it’s good and the ambiance is ‘never-experienced-before’ and ‘enchanting’. Had the food been great, it would have been a fulfilling experience!

Padmaavat is an experience to absorb! Not to undermine the efforts put by #Bahubaali, but for me this is the greatest cinematic effort to come out of Indian Industry. #SanjayLeelaBhansali as a film maker does inspire jealousy and makes you feel a lot inferior.
He has given us a text book of film making – where all the chapters might not be relevant, but ones that are relevant are the ones that are must learns.
PS: Call it my lack of knowledge, but I couldn’t understand how a movie which heaps praises on #Rajput valour and pride, offends them.!

AND IF YOU HAD THE PATIENCE TO READ THIS LENGTHY PIECE, YOU ARE INDEED GREAT.! 😀 😀 Couldn’t even proof read it, such a lengthy one to give a second read..! 😛

 

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Dear Zindagi – A Detailed Analysis

Movie Review, Uncategorized

 

It’s been long since I have written a detailed analysis of any movie – could be because none of the watch was motivating enough for me to write or could be that I haven’t watched some of the best movies that got released in the recent past.

“Dear Zindagi” – The latest offering from Gauri Shinde, stands as a testimony for the earlier accolades that she had received for her first outing – “English Vinglish”.

Being an ad filmmaker that she is, it’s for sure that every frame of the movie would be tidy – spick and span, Abundance of light and props only adding to the aesthetic decorum.

The movie might not be inspired from them, but it does remind you of “Good will hunting” and “Dead Poet’s Society” in parts.

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Plot:

The movie revolves around the life of a female cinematographer Kaira (the loveable Alia), going through a phase of “Distress and Desperation” and how she, with the help of a psychiatrist Dr Jehangir Khan (our dear SRK) manages to overcome it.

It’s this very one lined plot of the movie, which manages to strike a chord with the audience with it’s personal touch.

“Phase of distress and desperation” is bound to visit everyone’s life, every now and then. The unwelcomed guest that it is, it does no gender biasing – treating men and women alike. That said, even I am not spared.

It’s highly improbable to prevent its visit, but what you could certainly do is – Mastering the art of getting yourselves out of it, as soon as you get into it.

At the surface layer it would appear that “Dear Zindagi” is trying to give life lessons on how you could help yourselves get out of the phase. But what it does in real is, asking us to identify our own specific ways of overcoming the distress.

Everyone has his/her sources of distress – job, love life, family, economy, social stigma etc. For Kaira, it’s her failed relationships and a childhood deprived of parental love.

Some of us are Kaira, some of us are Jehangir Khan and some of us are both of them. I think, audience identifying themselves with either or both these characters, is Gauri’s biggest victory as a writer and filmmaker

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Performances:

Time and again, Alia has reminded us that she is one of the best actresses that we have got. This movie is no exception. Wide range of emotions that she has brought on the screen, seemingly natural and pulled off with so much of an ease, proves her mettle as a brilliant actress.

Nothing could be more delighting than watching Shahrukh in such performance oriented roles – maintaining a good hand distance from his stardom. I can’t speak for others, but as a die-hard fan of his, I found him excellent in this role.

Angad and Kunal manage to impress in their brief appearances.

Yashaswini as Jackie, is also someone who might stay in your mind for quite some time, for her cute performance.

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MUSIC:

Amit Trivedi has worked magic with some of those numbers – that have shades of his earlier works in Lootera.

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WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN IMPROVED?

It’s of my personal opinion that the cinematographer part of her character has not been effectively written/ brought out. Several forced “superficial” elements put in to justify the cinematographer aspect. But that hasn’t done the movie any damage.

Her “childhood deprived of love” could have been much effectively depicted.

I don’t know if it exists for real – but the melodramatic family that she has including her uncle and aunt, appear far from real. I would discount that, considering it to be a creative liberty taken to entertain the audience.

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Bottom line:

You “might” like this movie, if you have loved – Good Will Hunting, Dead Poet’s society, Highway, Devil Wears Prada, Wake up Sid.

I wouldn’t say that every one of you might love the movie – A family that sat next to me, had their fair share of complaints.

But it’s certainly one the beautiful cinemas that I happened to watch in the recent past.

For the love towards SRK and for the love of Cinema…….!

-Chan