Pune 52 (Marathi Movie) Review

 This is a relatively old movie (2013). I just saw it yesterday on Amazon Prime. Couple of scenes will make it one degree short of family friendly, but I think you can watch it with teenagers.

The movie is set in the early 1990s in the Pune 52 pin code area. Amar Apte (Girish Kulkarni) is a struggling detective who gets mostly cheating spouse cases. His lack of earning and their overall situation makes for daily fights with his wife Prachi (Sonali Kulkarni). 

One day Amar gets a case of a woman who is cheating on her husband with a prominent builder, Prasad Sathe (Kiran Karmarkar). While Amar does get incriminating photos of the 2, the police go after him since the builder has clout and files a case of invasion of privacy. As a result, Amar has to forgo his earnings from the case as a bribe to the police.

This leads to further tensions between Amar and Prachi. These are increased by her mother (Bharti Achrekar), who has been helping them out financially.

Enter a mysterious woman - Neha (Sai Tamhankar). She claims to be Prasad Sathe's wife, and asks Amar to spy on him. 
While spying Amar discovers that all is not as it seems. He then starts playing his own game. 

In the interests of not giving too much away, Neha disappears after a series of events. And then Amar starts getting a lot of business from Prasad Sathe and his contacts. The fights between Amar and Prachi totally go away as his earnings start rising dramatically.

But something eats away at Amar, to the point where reality and imagination start to blur. 

Somehow the plot doesn't get very exciting. You keep trying to figure out what the director is trying to say. This film is labelled as belonging to the "Neo noir" category. Which for me means - dark lighting, some weird concept being thrust at you, and some things left for your imagination.

At the end you are left with the thought that this could have been so much better. Amar's character is underdeveloped. The mystery is limited to your imagination. It could have been this, it could have been that. But it isn't great at all (that or neo noir is not for me). 

The superb cast is the main reason to see this film. Girish Kulkarni is damn good. Sonali Kulkarni is a treat, as always. Sai Tamhankar does her job well (even though her character is underdeveloped too). Bharti Achrekar's talent is wasted.

The scenes between Amar and Prachi are too good. Any husband wife will identify and appreciate them :-).

Recommendation: Watch, but with low expectations. 

Bestseller (Amazon Prime Hindi Web Series)

 Not family friendly.

The past can come back and haunt the present. And screw it up badly.

A famous author Tahir Wazir (Arjan Bajwa) has been facing a writer's block many years since writing a very famous novel. He meets a wannabe writer Meetu Mathur (Shruti Haasan) who is a huge fan and has a story of her own. Since he has no ideas of his own, Tahir wants to user her story and so strikes up a friendship. 

Tahir's wife (Gauhar Khan) is a successful Ad agency owner. She gets a new intern, Parth (Satyajeet Dubey), who is bright but has a hidden agenda. That of destroying Tahir and anyone close to him.

A series of whirlwind events, bodies dropping, assaults, and we have a full blown case on our hands. Tahir gets hammered from all sides, and the needle of suspicion points squarely at him.
Mithun Chakraborty and Sonalee Kulkarni are the cops in charge of the case. Mithun has a reputation of not letting go until he finds the truth. But he has a past too.

The truth lies hidden in Tahir's past and the novel he wrote. 

The direction is fast paced. You don't feel bored at any point in time. Mithun as usual, gives a good performance. Shruti is competent, so is Sonalee. Gauhar Khan is so-so. Satyajeet Dubey is good in places, overacts in others. Arjun Bajwa does a decent job, but he could have done much better.

Finally the series left me with a sense of being less than what it could have been. It's a little unsatisfactory. But still definitely worth watching, with a promise of Season 2 clearly at the end.

The Great Indian Murder - Season 1 (Hotstar)

 Watched The Great Indian Murder on Hotstar. 

Not family friendly.

Tigmanshu Dhulia has directed the adaptation of Vikas Swarup's murder mystery 'Six Suspects'. I haven't read the book, so can't compare. 

The series - season 1 - is watchable. But if you are expecting Gangs of Wasseypur level stuff, you will be sorely disappointed. It keeps you engaged, and is pretty decent. But GoW it's not. 

A rich business man and third class human being - Vicky Rai - is killed at a party thrown at his own farmhouse. The list of suspects is long. But mainly there are 6, which include his own father - played by Ashutosh Rana. 

The bonus for me came in the form of Raghubir Yadav. What a delight to see him in action again! Ashutosh Rana and Richa Chadha are good in their respective roles as father of victim/suspect and Police inspector respectively. 

The CBI officer leading the investigation has his own agenda and no morals. Played by Pratik Gandhi, this was a disappointment. No pizazz. 

Shashank Arora as one of the main suspects was much better. 

Jatin Goswami as the victim is decent. Could have added more flair, but was ok. 

The main grouse with this series is that I am used to the Hercule Poirot kind of direction where the audience is also presented with the same set of clues as the detectives. And then you also get to do your own detection. You fail often, of course, but that's not the point.
Here you are shown things very late. So you can't even begin to try and deduce anything. It might be that way in the book, but surely there's room for improvement when the medium changes.

Some of the episodes are much better than the others and give a glimpse of Tigmanshu that we love. . Even with this unevenness, it still is watchable.

In For A Murder (Movie Review)

 Saw "In For A Murder" on Netflix. 

It's a Polish film. There's dubbing in English, so that saves you from reading subtitles all the time. 

A bored housewife gets a juicy murder to solve right in her neighborhood. 
By pluck and determination she slowly gets towards the truth. 

There's a spread of suspects to choose from. The inspector is her classmate. He's a bungling sort of chap who can't say no to her meddling in an official investigation. 

The movie is totally child safe. It says 13+, but I would show it to a 6 yr old. 

Don't expect an Agatha Christie level mystery. This is more gentle medium pace rather than hostile fast bowling 😊. 
But its charming. The location -  small town Poland, the characters, are all likeable.

The lead actress is the glue that holds the movie together. She makes it worth watching and keeps you from getting bored. 

A classic this one definitely isn't. But I liked it.

https://www.netflix.com/title/81338273

The Girl with a bracelet (Movie Review)

Saw "The Girl with a bracelet" (La Fille Au bracelet) --> French with English subtitles --> on Amazon Prime Video.

I liked it. Story of a teenager who stands trial for murdering her best friend.

Extremely low on melodrama, and almost devoid of any grisly visuals. Looks almost like a documentary. Only the dialogue in a few scenes renders it not suitable for family viewing.

Very simple, and yet holds your attention. Understated, and a welcome change for me at least.

It touches on generation gap. And questions whether we are too hasty in judging young people for their actions from an older generation's perspective.

The end has deliberately been left ambiguous, and to each his own as to what it means. 

The other kind of classics - 7 - Tiranga

The other kind of classics proudly and patriotically presents - "Tiranga"!

If you are a patriot, you have to love this movie! Else go to...

A competition in obnoxiousness between the great Nana Patekar and the greater Raj Kumar!
Since Raj Kumar is senior, Nana decided to play second fiddle here and be a little less obnoxious (respect, you see).
The film is replete with "main kitna mahaan actor hoon" scenes by both of them. Very enjoyable.

Oh yes, the story. Not much to tell.
3 nuclear scientists are kidnapped by Pralayanath Gendaswami - no shame in body shaming here! The plan is to make his own missiles and destroy India.
Gendaswami is actually Marathi Manoos Deepak Shirke! What a performance, sir!
Brigadier Suryadev Singh (Raj Kumar) allies with Marathi sher Police Inspector Shivajirao Waghle (Nana Patekar).
Lots of twists and turns later, they save India from certain nuclear disaster on 15 Aug 1993 (mind it!)

Boring! It is Nana and Raj Kumar that are the hearts of the film! Do not miss the song "Peele peele o more Raja"...
Mamta Kulkarni is there for a break in the bromance between the two.

Trivia: Nawazuddin Siddiqui refers to this movie in the movie Black Friday while discussing the planting of explosives.


And finally -  those of you poor people who think missile technology is, well, rocket science, that is for mere mortals!
Raj Kumar foils Gendaswami's missiles by removing their *fuse conductors*. That's right, you didn't know that
missiles had fuse conductors, did you? Well they do. It is a critical part, without which the missiles blow only smoke.
See for yourself:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Js_I5EJqQOY

The Other Kind Of Classics - 6 - Sheshnaag

"The Other Kind Of Classics" presents one of the all time classics! If you ever want to see just one of these movies, this is it!!
 
The name: Sheshnaag
Actors: Jeetendra, Rishi Kapoor, Rekha, Danny, Madhavi and Mandakini.

Story: Aghoori (Danny) wants the ichchadhari Naag-Nagin pair of Pritam (Jeetendra) and Banu (Madhavi) desperately.
Bcoz every lunar eclipse they reveal a trove of immense wealth and power - more powerful than the Gods!
 
Meanwhile, in a small village far, far away, we have Rekha whose father dies. She is left with a foul hubby (Anupam Kher) and
innocent brother (Rishi Kapoor). Bhola loves animals. He can charm any animal with his flute. He saves the nagin (Banu) and hence
is hated by Aghoori and his henchmen.
Meanwhile Rekha suffers a Draupadi fate. Anupam loses her in a wager, and she is surrounded by men wanting to sexually assault her.
So she jumps off a cliff. Banu takes her form and comes back to take care of Bhola. They move into a palatial mansion.
Pritam joins as a servant so he can be close to his wife and help look after Bhola.

Now Bhola falls in love with Kamini (Mandakini) and undergoes training to make a strong man of himself. This training is classic in itself!
But how will these guys stop Aghoori?

Fantastic dialogue of all time:
Aghoori on the origins/chemical composition of his power:
"Aghoori ki srushti Shaitan ne ki hai!
1000 Shaitanon ko mar kar, shamshan ghat mein jalakar, ek raakh tayyar kiya gaya.
Us raakh ko 1000 chipkaliyon ke khoon mein gholkar, ek putala tayyar kiya gaya.
Aur uss putle ko magarmach ke khaal se dhak diya gaya.
Aur uske haathon aur paaon ke jagah bichoon ke dankh laga diye gaye.
Aur uske baad Aghori paida hua!"


The entire movie is available on YouTube.

Finally, we leave you with proof that Alpenliebe stole their "Kaisi jeebh laplapayee" ad concept from Sheshnaag.
Enjoy this song - I am not responsible if your stomach pains with laughter!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzAR7ZdIaN4

The Other Kind Of Classics - 5 - Mr. Prime Minister

"The Other Kind of Classics" presents "Mr. Prime Minister"!

Dev Anand made many wonderful, memorable movies. But then he kept on making a ton of trash ones. Even Jewel Thief was not spared with a hideous sequel called "The return of Jewel Thief". Blow by blow, Dev saab painstakingly dismantled the temple he had created.

But I digress. When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. So it is with this "movie" called "Mr Prime Minister". Enjoy it!

The story - cough, cough! is as follows:

Kutch earthquake survivor Johnny Master (Dev saab) sells newspapers for a living in a small village in Gujarat. Residents of the village form a new political party and make Johnny their candidate. He wins, his opponents kidnap him. After being tortured, Johnny regains his memory to discover that he is Prem Batra, the third richest Indian in the UK! On the day of his arrival in Kutch, he had become a victim of the earthquake.  Johnny busts corrupt politicians and becomes India's prime minister.

The scene below shows Johnny watching 9/11 disaster happening from some unknown hotel window.

Points to be noted in just this one scene:

1. Ranchi waala aircrash bhi 9/11 ko hua tha.

2. As many extras as possible were crammed into the room.
3.  There is a naked guy among the shocked onlookers.

4. A plane crashing into a building must create a mushroom cloud, because it looks exactly like an atom bomb.

5. Dev Saab and Ex-NYC mayor Rudy Giuliani were buddies.
6. Rudy got a check for $1 million from Dev saab. He never quite recovered from this shock and became the raving lunatic Trump supporter that he is today.

7. The lady casually donated blood for *all* the ghayal log in the WTC towers. Manmohan Desai had nothing on her!

https://youtu.be/hkSU-YSYeZI

The Other Kind Of Classics - 4 - Zehreela

"The Other Kind of Classics" is back!

When is a remake not a remake?

When it has been remade in such a way that it takes a life of its own or  irreparably mangles the original!

We proudly present the latter - "Zehreela" starring the one and only Prabhuji urf Mithun da!

Mithun is one actor on whom an entire series of Classics can be written! Throughout his career he has acted in funtastic, crazy films. Classic satisfaction guaranteed in each and every one of them.

In Zehreela, which is an unimaginable remake of "Cape Fear", Mithun has done numerous action scenes, each worth its weight in gold. One of them is a "non-veg" action scene where chicken is literally the bone of contention. Watch, ye mere mortals, as Mithun da pulverizes the goons and turns them into kadhai chicken!

https://youtu.be/R7sGEAC_1Fc

The Other Kind Of Classics - 3 - Andaz (Anil Juhi)

Teachers' Day Special!
The Other Kind Of Classics  presents - "Andaz"!
Teacher: Anil Kapoor
Student: Karishma Kapoor
Wife: Juhi Chawla

A 2nd level remake of a South Indian movie (Tamil remade into Telugu remade into Hindi), the plot is simple. A student (Karishma) falls in love with her teacher (Anil). The teacher rebuffs her and she vows to marry him. Scared, he marries an illiterate (Juhi).

Karishma is mortified by what she has put Anil through. So she tries to improve Juhi - education, manners, etc. wise. Matters get complicated when Karishma moves in with them after her father dies.

But the real reason why this is a classic because this is a combined skeleton in both Anil and Juhi's closets!
Both of them have not done anything cheap in their careers. Except here.
Since it is a David Dhawan film, cheapness is guaranteed. So also here there are 2 songs with double meaning.
"Khada hai khada hai .... Dar pe tere Aashiq khada hai"
And
"Mein maal gaadi tu dhakka laga". What poetry!

Presenting one of the daags on the chaands (Juhi and Anil).
Please see when alone.

https://youtu.be/9pDOSg2IBGs

The Other Kind Of Classics - 2 - Jiyaala

The Other Kind Of Classics proudly presents - "Jiyaala"!
This hidden classic has remained hidden for a reason. Actually 2 reasons. The hero and the heroine.

Hero: Siraj Khan. Such powerful expression - one. Used throughout the movie for all scenes.

Heroine: Poonam Jhawer: Such a wasted talent. Just look at her eyes! Kya nahin that uske paas? Naysayers say kuch nahin tha. But we ignore such ignoramuses.

Bonus: This song, blasted out by Kumar Sanu. If you can tolerate it, see from 4:07 to 4:18. Such expressions have never been seen on the silver screen. And God willing, will never be seen again.

https://youtu.be/6a6eC-9BDZQ

The Other Kind of Classics - 1 - Meri Awaaz Suno

This is a series of post which lists films that are "the other kind of classics". These are basically films that are so bad that you like them! Sounds contradictory, but that's the way it is.

First example is the great Jeetendra doing a fantastic double role in "Meri Awaaz Suno".
One good cop, and the other an apparently bad one called Kanwarlal.

Admire the genius of Jeetendra as he tries to play the 2 characters as differently as possible...

https://youtu.be/l1CMo_qvu8c?t=2m25s

Diary Notes from my child's school

"Please send 4 onions, 2 karelas and a brinjal with your child next Monday."

The note. The dreaded diary note from school.

You have just come home from office, and are chatting with your better half and the little one. Somewhere in the conversation, the kid casually says "Oh BTW, there is a note in my diary. Teacher has asked parents to read it."

The conversation stops. My better half and I look at each other, trying to keep a poker face. But internally there is churning. As Spider Man would say, "My spider sense is tingling!"

With trembling hands, we open the school diary. Pinned with a stapler pin is an innocuous looking small white piece of paper. On it are typed the latest instructions to parents - kind of like the mafia boss instructing his minions to do his bidding. Disobedience is not an option. Consequences will be severe.

This note has a sequence of instructions, akin to a complex puzzle.
"Next Thursday there will be a monthly competition."
(Me): Ok, no probs.

"Your child has to make a pen stand."
(Me): So far, so good.

"The materials have to be found at home."
(Me): Oh oh.

"The density of the materials sent must be between 0.69 to 2.7 grams per cubic centimeter."
(Me): Google!!!

"Sketch pens allowed but minimal usage recommended. Glitter can be used maximum of 5 dots per square cm. Natural colors preferred."
(Me): I should send turmeric and red chilli powder. Maybe dhaniya powder and garam masala. Ekdum natural.

And so on.

Sometimes you have to make charts (healthy food VS junk food).
Sometimes you are made to rummage around the streets like a crazy person (find stones that are rhombus shaped).

Sometimes you visit 20 costume rental shops (Armadillo costume kidhar milta hai bhai?)

You gather all the required materials, and send it with your sweetie.

At the end of the day you ask, "So what did you make with it?"
Sweetie: "Oh, Fantasia Luktuke from my class got a lot of material from her parents, so we used that only. I kept mine aside."
(Me): $#@*#$@$!

We finished our education without our parents having to even bother what went on in our class. Here I am getting a second, forced childhood. I am learning things I don't want to learn. Any of the parents can pass the school exam tomorrow, because we know their syllabus by heart.

What cannot be cured, must be endured.

The weekend approaches. Bliss will be mine!!

Sweetie: "Oh Daddy, another diary note!"
(Me): Spider  sense ....

Note: "Please grow fungus on bread, paper, grass and cow dung. Each must be watered and studied every 2 hours. All materials must be sent on Monday."
(Me): Sweetie, how much fungus can Fantasia Luktuke's parents grow?

Movie Review: Kick

Summary: Go watch it!!

Saw Salman's "Kick" recently. This turned out to be yet another "paisa vasool" movie from Sallu Bhai! Keeps you entertained throughout, if you don't demand that logic is a necessary part of a film.

Story: Salman (Devi Lal Singh) is a daredevil who gets a "kick" in life by doing risky things.

Salman meets Jacqueline (Shaina) and they fall for each other. But he can't keep a steady job as it becomes too boring. So they break off.

Cut to a spate of robberies where the thief is always ahead of the police. Using a prototype mask discarded by Hritik in Krrish, and a "mark" discarded by Hritik in Dhoom 2, the thief robs truckloads of money. It turns out later that the thief is none other than - hold your breath - Salman (gasp)!

Randeep Hooda is after the thief - named "Devil". He also falls in love with Jacqueline.
But Jacqueline to Salman ni! Her heart still belongs to Sallu Bhai.

Randeep figures out that "Devil" is actually Devi+L of Devi Lal Singh, thus achieving a major breakthrough for all mankind.

In between there is a brief cameo by Nawazuddin Siddiqui as a demented greedy head of a Medical empire, with a corrupt Chacha as minister to boot. These become Sallu's enemies.

Many twists and turns later, the inevitable happens. Sallu wins - everything.

There are some good action and chase scenes in the movie.

Salman does what he does best - entertainment, entertainment, entertainment!
Jacqueline is passable, although her accent needs work.
Randeep is good and holds his own throughout.

Mithun da as Salman's father is, as usual, solid gold. (Koi shaq?)

Nawazuddin is good but has a smaller role than he deserved.
Archana Pooran Singh goes over the top in her portrayal of Sallu's mother. Saurabh Shukla is good as Jacqueline's dad.

Wasted was Byomkesh Bakshi (Rajit Kapur). So also was Sanjay Mishra. Both deserved more.

Book Review: The Salvation of a Saint

Is it possible to kill someone from hundreds of miles away?

This is the fundamental question that Detective Galileo (Yukawa, who is actually a professor of Physics) has to answer.

Intriguing? Definitely. 

This installment of the Detective Galileo series from Keigo Higashino may not match the masterpiece ("The Devotion of Suspect X"), but it is also very good nonetheless.

The plot is simple. 
Yoshitaka was on the verge of divorcing his wife. He is poisoned by coffee spiked with arsenic and dies. The most logical suspect is naturally his wife, Ayane. However, there is a glitch. Ayane was hundreds of miles away when he was murdered. 

Yoshitaka was not a saint. He had other women in his life at various times, and had treated them badly. That includes Yoshitaka's mistress. But none of those suspects is as strong on motive as Ayane. But her (lack of) opportunity to commit the act at the fatal hour is a major obstacle for the investigators.

To add to this, the lead detective (Kusanagi) unfortunately falls for the prime suspect . He just refuses to believe that she could have had anything to do with the crime. 

However, his assistant, a lady by the name of Kaoru Utsumi, thinks exactly the opposite. Her woman's intuition tell her to go after Ayane, even if the facts don't support her theory.So she does what her boss has done for years when stymied—she calls upon Professor Manabu Yukawa.

Yukawa and Kusanagi had damaged their relationship during the previous case ("Devotion ..."), and are not on speaking terms. But Utsumi's interference forces them to work together again. And being thorough professionals, they do that quite well.

Higashino follows his tried-and-tested method of hiding everything in plain sight. When the end is revealed, you might end up kicking yourself for not guessing the plot.

Book Review: The devotion of Suspect X

This is not a "who"dunnit. It is a "how-was-it" dunnit. 
You know the crime, and the criminals. What you don't know is how the crime was covered up. 
The author hides everything in plain sight, and does a wonderful job of it.

The story begins innocuously, with the central characters (Tetsuya Ishigami and Yasuko Hanaoka) going about their normal routine.
Yasuko Hanaoka is a divorced, single mother who works at a restaurant that delivers packed meals. She has a daughter called Misato.
Ishigami is a very intelligent Mathematics teacher. He is a next-door neighbor of Yasuko and Misato.

One day Togashi (Yasuko's loser ex-husband) shows up at Yausko's apartment to extort money from her. He threatens to keep doing this and to intrude in their lives. The situation quickly goes out of hand, and Togashi is killed by mother and daughter.
Ishigami overhears the noises, and puts 2 and 2 together. He offers his help in taking care of everything - including getting rid of the body and also covering up the crime.

Inevitably the body turns up and is identified. Kusanagi (the detective investigating the murder case) starts looking at Yasuko as the obvious suspect. He tries to poke holes in her alibi but is unable to do so. 

Kusanagi frequently (unofficially) consults with Dr. Manabu Yukawa, a physicist and his college friend. Yukawa and Ishigami are also batch mates from the same college.

Yukawa initally does not suspect Ishigami and he only meets him to catch up with his old friend. But slowly Yukawa is convinced that Ishigami is not just an innocent witness. 
Then we are treated to a battle of wits, where Ishigami tries to protect Yasuko and Yukawa tries to unravel the layers of deceit and get at the truth.

In the end, Yukawa does decipher what happened. He is awestruck by Ishigami's devotion which even surpasses his considerable intelligence.


The prose isn't very elegant - probably because this is a translation from a Japanese novel. But it doesn't matter. The substance more than makes up for the lack of style.

My favorite quote from the book:
"Sometimes, all you had to do was exist in order to be someone's savior."

Movie Review: Race 2

Summary: Even if you keep your brain aside, your head will still hurt while watching it!! :-)

Details:

Arman Mallik (John Abraham) is a ruthless rich creep who only loves money and can do anything to get it. His partner-in-crime is Elena (Deepika), who also happens to be his step sister. He was a street fighter and still fights whenever required.

Ranveer Singh (Saif) is out to get revenge on John (for what is revealed later). He takes the help of Anil Kapoor to achieve this. The entire movie is about how the revenge is taken.

Omisha (Jacqueline Fernandez) is John's girl friend, and has her own agenda. Anil's secretary is Amisha Patel, who only motto in life seems to talk about carnal pleasures. There is also Aditya Panscholi as Godfather Anza. Anza wears dark glasses all the time, presumably because he too does not want to see where the story is heading ...

The plot is wafer-thin. There are the usual twists and turns galore. But while they were enjoyable in the Race, in Race 2 they seem to be put in there forcibly. Also the twists can be seen from a mile away, so the punch is lost.

Abbas Mastan have tried so hard to make this entertaining that they have lost sight of the fact that a story is also needed. So we are treated to an continuous parade of mansions, discotheques, yachts, casinos, etc. There is a lot of skin show - with all the 3 ladies in a "race" for the top slot.

There are many unintentional hilarious scenes in the film - playing cards in high stakes poker being changed digitally due to "micro sensors" fitted in them, Jacqueline's attempts at fencing, John's attempts at acting.

But the icing on the cake is a car being driven out of an aeroplane, and then landing safely because 4 parachutes pop up from the upper 4 corners of the car!! "Allah Duhai hai" is right!! A miracle!!

Saif is competent. Deepika delivers a good performance. But both of them fight a lost cause (the film).

John Abraham proves once more that you can get by in Bollywood without acting, so long as you maintain your good looks. Ditto for Jacqueline.

John wears a constipated wooden expression most of the time, even when fighting.

Anil Kapoor is wasted in delivering perhaps the most lame, vulgar and cheesy dialogues in his entire career. Amisha has a limited role, and you thank your lucky stars for that.

There are some good, some "classic" (the other kind) and vulgar dialogues.

Good

"Dilchaspi kisi na kisi tarah nazar aa hi jaati hai"

Classic (the other kind)

• Jacqueline:  "Men are many, but money is money"  (profound)
• Deepika: Agar life ka one third hissa sokar ki guzarna hai ... toh akele hi kyun (even more profound)
• Anil: Sabar ka phal meetha hota hai, aur usse bhi zyada meetha hota hai ... sabere ka phal
  
• Jacqueline: Aaj tak kisne mujhe is tarah choone ki koshish nahi ki
  Saif: Bura laga toh bata deti
  Jacqueline: Meine yeh kab kaha ki bura laga?

Vulgar

Pretty much all of Anil Kapoor - Amisha Patel ones.

See it if you don't want a story, and are happy with glamour / attempted glamour.

Life of Pi - Review

I found it to be a visual spectacle worth seeing. Ang Lee has used the 3D medium fantastically and created a treat for our eyes.

Do not see it in 2D - 3D is the only way to go.

The story is interesting as well. I had not read the book beforehand, so had gone in with a clean slate.

The story is told in flashback mode by the senior Pi Patel (Irrfan Khan). When he was young, Pi is introduced to multiple religions, and his experiences help him later in his life. This does not go too well with his "rational" father, but he does not get in his son's way and keeps on teaching him useful things anyway.

The main story happens on sea. When going with his family to Canada on a freighter, the ship hits a freak storm and starts to sink. Pi manages to clamber aboard a lifeboat, with a tiger (called "Richard Parker") who also survives.

Pi's epic 227 day struggle for survival in the ocean, with just a tiger  for company changes him drastically. What he experiences takes him closer to God, and the whole philosophy of the "nature" of God.

The new actor, Suraj Sharma, has done a very good job. His interaction with the (CGI) tiger, are the "meat" of the film. Some are funny, some are intense. The tiger has been captured extremely well and makes you feel that he is almost human - lovable at times, and frighteningly predatory at others.

There is a heavy dose of spirituality, esp. in the beginning and end of the film. Some may like it, some might not.

We are told another story about the same sea saga later. Nobody is sure whether the 1st one is correct, or the 2nd one, a mixture of both, or none of them happened. But the beauty is that it doesn't matter.

The main reason for recommending this film is Ang Lee's direction and fantastic use of 3D. The colors in India and the ocean are shown vividly. There is an extremely effective representation of the storm  - water is tricky to get right in 3D, but Ang Lee has mastered it here. The tiger is shot very well - a combination of (supposedly) 4 Royal Bengal tigers and CGI effects. The luminescent shots of the waters at night, and the whale arising majestically out of the water. All will stay in your mind long after the movie ends.

See it just for Ang Lee's craft. If the story gets to you, it is a bonus.

Rating: 4.5/5

Movie Review – Raaz 3 (Hindi)

A movie that is a worthy successor to “Haunted”! The category is not pure horror, but “entertainment” horror.  If you are looking for classical horror movies, don’t see this one. But if you like the “other type of classic” movies – ones that you can look back on and say “I survived this one”, then this is for you.

Story Summary:

Not much. A fading movie star Shanaya Shekhar (Bipasha Basu) wants to ruin a rising one - Sanjana Krishna (Esha Gupta) to become number 1 again. When “normal” means fail, she resorts to taking the help of black magic. A film director Aditya Arora (Emran Hashmi) who is in love with Shanaya and owes her his career becomes an unwilling accomplice in making the black magic work on Sanjana. In the process, he (naturally) falls in love with Sanjana and tries to help her.

Vikram Bhatt throws the kitchen sink at the audience in trying to scare them. Unfortunately, the sink has rotted and rusted and the only danger that it can pose is a case of tetanus. The film’s attempts at ghoulishness remind you of Ramsay brothers. Blood running out of taps, grotesque creepy characters making “Grudge” like noises, a slimy creature moving around, you name it and the film has it. Vikram even throws in Ganapati Bappa as a last resort (in the hope that maybe He will be able to salvage the story).

The central theme of the movie is that an evil spirit – Tara Dutt (Manish Choudhary) gives Shanaya some magic water that will help possess Sanjana’s spirit. The water has to be given to her by someone she trusts. Since the corner stone of the movie is so corny, you know what to expect.

In keeping with the Bhatt tradition, Vikram has thrown in a lot of erotic scenes. However, they are pretty badly written and directed and so fail to make much of an impact. The music of the film is surprisingly below par for a Bhatt film.

The dialogues of this film definitely deserve an award. Samples:

·         “Science jism ko janta hai, aatma ko nahi” (reminding the audience that Bips starred in Jism)

·         “Yeh meri jagah hai, Bhagwan ki nahi” (reminds you of your boss)

·         “Ek raaz tumhare andar bhi hai...ek raaz mere andar bhi hai jo tumhe kahin ka nahi chodega” (I know what you ate last night)

·         “Jo khak se aya hai vo khak me mil jata hai” (reminds you of what the film will become)

And the award goes to:

v  “If you love me, you can be stupid for me” (intended for the audience?)

What works for the film is the slickness in direction and the performances.

Vikram Bhatt has a good command over the medium and his direction is slick. The 3-D effects deserve a special mention for being quite good.

Esha gives a decent performance (when she is not shrieking). For a newcomer, she has managed to hold her own quite well.

Manish Choudhary gives a good try at being an evil spirit. He is handicapped by the screen play. When you have to make growling noises while alternating between a maggot infested look and a flour-dosed one, it kind of handicaps you. But he tries manfully and does succeed to a large extent.

Emran gives a good performance as usual (when he is not in the mandatory erotic scenes). His acting has grown better by leaps and bounds. He portrays Aditya as a very human character who becomes an unwilling accomplice and then tries to back out after he realizes what it actually is doing to Sanjana.

Bipasha is also good in this movie. She also struggles with having to spout corny dialogues and the forced evil laughter. But otherwise she conveys the intensity of the character and the emotions that drive her pretty well. She is one of the highlights of the film.

In short, see this for entertainment. If you are looking for a classic ghoulish movie, this is not it :-).

Book Review: Dongri To Dubai – Six Decades of the Mumbai Mafia

Book Review: Dongri To Dubai – Six Decades of the Mumbai Mafia  by S. Hussain Zaidi

This is a niche book. It is only for those interested in the underworld, and the stories that lie within their murky world.

The book is like an encyclopedia of crime in Mumbai, right from India’s independence to the current times.  

As expected, Dawood Ibrahim is the “star” and gets maximum coverage. But there are a lot of other criminals that are listed here. Some of the characters are well known - Haji Mastan, Varadarajan Mudaliar, Chhota Rajan, Arun Gawali, Chhota Shakeel, Abu Salem, etc. have been mentioned in various media at one point of time or the other.

But some were totally unknown to me before I read this book.  Sometimes the book resembles the Mahabharata in the sheer number of people mentioned. This can get quite boggling. But once you get past that you start appreciating the research that forms the backbone of the book.

There are many facts that are already known to the reader – through papers, and especially films. But Zaidi reveals some unknown ones that shed an interesting light on some of the subjects.  E.g. that the mastermind behind the killing of Dawood’s brother Sabir was apparently an avid James Hadley Chase reader and that the actual murder plan was inspired by Chase’s novels.

The book is fast paced, and does not slow down even a little bit. Nor does it feel boring anywhere.

Bollywood has had an unending romance with the underworld and has tended mostly to glorify its inhabitants. This book does no such thing. Pretty much everything is written in a matter-of-fact manner, without any embellishments. Zaidi does not believe in extra adjectives J.

Many of the incidents have been depicted in Hindi films or are well known. Haji Mastan’s dalliance with Bollywood, Varadarajan Mudaliar’s rise from a menial laborer, the attack on Chhota Rajan in Bangkok by Chhota Shakeel’s men. Gulshan Kumar’s murder on Abu Salem’s orders.  Mandakini’s association with Dawood, and Monica Bedi’s with Abu Salem.  The shootout at Lokhandwala (which is described very drily in the book unlike the film). Chhota Rajan’s parting ways with Dawood.

There are a few gruesome descriptions of murders that took place. But these constitute a fraction of the book, and overall does not make the book unpalatable.

The chapters on Haji Mastan and Varadarajan Mudaliar end abruptly. Also there is no mention of Chhota Rajan after the Bangkok attempt on his life. The book’s focus is clearly on one person.

Back to Dawood. The central character of this tome’s “rise” makes for fascinating reading. How the son of an upright police constable (whose name was highly respected not just in the police force but in society as well) landed up where he did is quite remarkable.  

The Mumbai police decided to cut the reigning Pathan gang by propping him up.

This was done (apparently) in filmi style. Senior police inspector Ranbeer Likha is shown complaining about all the problems caused by the Pathan mafia to the journalist Iqbal Natiq.

Natiq replies, ‘Sahab, Sholay.’

‘Sholay?! Have you lost your mind Iqbal?’ Likha asks.

‘You use iron to combat iron,’ Iqbal Natiq tells Likha.

In the bargain, they created a monster that continues to haunt this country even today.

The lack of coordination between government agencies has proven costly in India many times. Apparently the IB (Intelligence Bureau) decided to send 2 of Chhota Rajan’s sharpshooters to Dubai to eliminate Dawood on the occasion of his daughter’s wedding. But they failed to inform the Mumbai Crime Branch. An enthusiastic police officer arrested the sharpshooters on their way from India!

Dawood’s main strengths are shown to be his planning and adaptability. Even when he is forced to shift base (from Mumbai to Dubai and then to Pakistan) he manages to flourish in the new environment and rule over it.

Occasionally Zaidi does deviate from pure facts and strays into conjecture/hearsay. E.g. the assumption that Dawood did not know about the full extent of what was planned for  the 1993 Mumbai blasts. Zaidi’s analysis is that fundamentalism is not an inherent part of Dawood’s character, and that Dawood merely went with the flow for his own survival.

Overall, this book is an excellent compilation. I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in the history of Mumbai’s underworld in general and Dawood Ibrahim in particular.