Kites flew but did not soar

Some Bollywood actors take on one project at a time and give it their all. Most often these artists’ works are eagerly awaited and when they finally come to the cinema near you, they are a visual and aesthetic treat. For the hard work he puts in, Hrithik Roshan’s few and far between movies — have for a while now — been a part of this category. And now there’s Kites.

Bollywood audiences heard about Kites. Expectations ran sky high. When the time came, Kites was flown but it didn’t quite fly high enough to meet the expectations of the eager audiences. Facebook updates — of people who had seen the movie — recorded disappointment. However, I wanted to see it for myself. I finally saw it and this is what I have to say: That’s not a bad movie after all. In fact I thought there was some good art in it.

The movie starts off with a bullet injured Jay (Hrithik) who sets out to look for his lady love. We sure know that there has been violence and the path has not been smooth for Jay and Linda (Barbara Mori). We still wonder how the two met; how, having come from two different cultures got their messages across and all of that. It is not a novel thing to have a flash back unfold the tale. It takes us to crazy Vegas where the two meet, only to tell us that they had already met each other earlier. They were married to each other but each wanted to go different ways to marry into one of the richest families of the entertainment capital. Things take a turn and the two are seen running for their lives.

We know that at some point they do part and and we wonder what exactly could have wrong? An SMS on Jay’s phone reads: I am going. Forget me. Where could she have gone? The answer to this comes only at the very end of the movie. Kites fills the audiences with many a question and manages to hold the suspense, letting go of answers only one at a time and saving the biggest – yet not so big -one for the last.

In retrospect, the movie may not have had an intense plot. Nevertheless it is an intense love story; the story of two people of different races, unified by love and finally unified by what’s in the big suspense. No melodrama here. Barbara Mori seems to have done a good job. She and her hero co-star do not seem too disconnected from each other but there’s no sizzling chemistry (perhaps this was why the movie was not liked that much). There is some action here but it does not really stand out as different or even interesting. However the cinematography was undoubtedly one that deserved some appreciation. Hrithik has once again given his best. We get to see a wee little bit of that dancing he is so well known for. However the actor with the Greek-god-looks looked great with a tan. On the whole the movie might not be a great one, but it doesn’t make an Ullu ke patte of the audience.

Director: Anurag Basu
Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Barbara Mori, Kabir Bedi, Nick Brown, Kangana Ranaut
Producer: Rakesh Roshan
Music: Rajesh Roshan

Blogger’s rating ***

Kirstie’s life is BIG indeed

In the interviews before Kirstie Alley’s Big Life went on air, Kirstie seemed to be talking about how her weight changed her life and said that her show was aimed at screening her weight loss. Kirstie also mentioned that she was so tired of the paparazzi chasing her and trying to get shots of the fat actress. She went on to say that with this mission that she was on, she would never be fat again.

‘Being fat and losing it’ is not new on Television. Reality TV has already been there with Biggest Loser and Rosie. Featuring on A&E, this show is a documentation of a celebrity losing weight. For an actress she was likely to have a well-equipped health club to her support but it was probably to some motivation-to- work out, that viewers looked forward to. I for one, thought it would be interesting to see how the actress was going to do it. I thought it would be fun to watch her life and her work out routines as opposed to the weight loss programme she had earlier taken to. She did lose weight with that and was the face of the brand for a while. When ….Big Life was to premiere, my understanding was that the actress was going to lose weight the traditional way and I was looking forward to watching it.

The first couple of episodes of Kirstie Alley’s Big Life did deal with the weight issue: started off with the scales and the extra pounds it showed and work outs and finding a personal trainer and all of that. After a while we see that the show had little to do with weight loss and seemed to have strayed off the slimming down path or what we thought the show was about. However, this time, I’m not disappointed. If this was all about just that, it just might have gotten monotonous. Good for Kirstie, the series is called Big Life and so there’s space for a lot of other subjects.

It is still a big life that we get to see: there’s a big star, a big house, a big staff in the household and a big number of pets. I’ve never really believed in the authenticity of reality TV. As such, the ‘obviously scripted’ show comes as no surprise. To me, there is entertainment there and that is all that really matters.

It is different from the regular reality shows on American Television, in that each episode has a theme or a subject to play with. The surprise birthday party for Kirstie was good to watch – we’re not really bothered if it really was a surprise to her – it sure was a peek at a celebrity birthday if not anything else. There was a lesson for viewers in the drill where Kirstie’s staff were taught to rescue the animals in the house in case of an emergency evacuation. The episode in which in which Kirstie arranges for everyone in her team to get a feel of being literally big was eye-opening. I also enjoyed watching the that part of the show where she tries her hand at the different jobs around the property.

The episode where Kirstie decides to make a video for her chubby buddy, while the rest of the team go on to think she is having a little something with the new intern, was too dramatic and too made up; but never mind. I have watched several episodes of the show but I still have not figured what Kyle’s job is (call meetings when there everybody thinks somebody is having an affair?). Kirstie’s housekeeper Magdalena is funny and absolutely adorable. She is my new favourite on TV.

Whether Kirstie has put an end to the `Kirstie Alley beat’ of the local paparazzi, we have no idea as yet. Anyway all the staff in her LA house have had some acting classes and practicals too. Kirstie and her chubby buddy are managing to countdown some pounds too, by the way.

Paa – Ace acting in a so-so story

When I first heard that the Bachchan men are doing another movie together, this time with Daddy Bachchan playing the son while Abhishek played the daddy, I just could not wait for the release. Having further heard that this film was the story of a boy with a genetic problem and that Amitabh was doing the role, I was expecting a coming together of an intense plot and skillful acting and another perfect film like Black.

At the end of the two-hour, 21-minute movie, this is what I have to say: It is an `ok’ one. The concept was a good; that of a child with Progeria, a genetic disorder that advances ageing in a child making a 12 year old look like an over-60 year old. There is a lesson in genetic science there, alright, but the plot could have had more depth. Titled `Paa’ the story promises to narrate a `very rare father-son, son-father story’ but ends up to be more like the story of a single mother and her genetically disabled son, who manages to bring his father and mother together again, not quite living up to the expectation of the title and tagline.

In my opinion, his movie should have been simply called `Auro.’

Auro is the name of the central character; the boy played by Amitabh Bachchan. Big B has done an excellent job here. Flaunting the superb make up with wrinkled skin and the abnormally big head, the big Bachchan did great work by transforming himself into a boy of 12 and 13. He did good with his voice, his body language and gestures with these eyes, resulting in an overall splendid performance.

Vidya Balan has one more time, done justice to her role. Playing a character of the same name, Vidya plays a a mentally strong yet protective and loving mother. She beautifully portrays the emotions of a doctor, a mother, a single one at that, and balances it with some tact that a parent needs to have to handle that-sometimes-difficult child. She has definitely put forward some great acting for the way she treats her son, considering she had before her in that role not just somebody much older to her but one of the biggest names in bollywood: `the’ Big B himself.

Abhishek Bachchan ( here MP Amol Arte) too did well as daddy, not to mention the smart, charismatic and `cool’ politician of contemporary India.

The direction and editing is neat. The music is pleasant and very Illayaraja-type. Directed by R Balki, Paa has also managed to do fairly well without all that glitz and glamour that a Bollywood flick is usually known for. However it does have a guest appearance of Jaya Bachachan, but not in a way you would imagine. She announces the credits. A novel feature for a hindi movie, huh?

My take on Paa: It is a simple movie. Go without too much expectation. Enjoy the performances; they have all acted well.

Station goodwill; off the beaten track

Movie: Passenger
Cast : Srinivasan, Dileep, Mamta Mohandas, Nedumudi Venu
Direction: Ranjith Shankar

What would it be like if you were to have a little chit chat with a fellow passenger and part with him, only to see that barely 24 hours later he has left an indelible mark in your life? What if in that one day he has saved your life, your spouse’s life, your spouse’s job and the lives of a whole community you are closely connected with, and at the end of that day, you realise that you don’t even know his name?

Or sample this: You are just done with a train journey and as you are leaving the platform, you see that one person you acquainted yourself with in the passing, is being kidnapped. Would you take the trouble to inform that person’s near and dear ones, leave alone try to save his life? These are the questions one will tend to ask oneself after watching Passenger.

Directed by Ranjith Shankar, this Malayalam movie has no complicated plot, no romantic numbers or even comic scenes, yet it manages to get the audiences sitting up straight and getting engrossed in it. This story begins with a scene on the Venad Express which is famous for transporting office goers. A common sight here is that of womenfolk peeling and cutting vegetables such that by the time they are home in the evening, they are ready to be cooked for dinner. For some other regulars on the same mode of transportation, travelling is a time for recreation (read playing card games). One passenger from among this group of men, happens to take a late night train one day and what follows is the enfolding of the gripping plot of this movie.

There’s a kidnap, a not-so-unfamiliar side of the dirty side of politics, some heroism and a good Samaritan in present-day Kerala. The message you take home is a noble one. However Passenger is no Moral Science lesson. It just leaves one with the feeling that there is some good left in the world.

From rags to riches

Movie: Slumdog Millionaire

Director: Danny Boyle

Cast: Dev Patel, Frieda Pinto, Anil Kapoor, Irfan Khan, Mahesh Manjrekar

Slumdog Millionaire tells the story of boy’s journey from rags to riches; the story of Jamal who was born in the slums of Dharavi and later as a young adult, goes on to participate in Indian television’s version of Who wants to be a millionaire and ends up winning a big fortune.  

This being a one of those odd situations, the creativity in the direction of the movie manages to make the story quite convincing. Slumdog Millionaire begins with a scene of police investigation where a cop is trying to find out how this boy with hardly any education was able to answer so many questions of a quiz show on national television and in the process win several millions of Rupees.

The movie moves back and forth in an interesting way putting together the pieces of this seemingly impossible victory: from the police station to the studio where the show was shot to various incidents in Jamal’s life that gave him many an answer to the questions that he was asked.

Through these justifications that Jamal gives to the police officer, Slumdog Millionaire gives a picture of the life of a boy in Dharavi, India’s biggest slum. Jamal who loses his mother and his home in a communal clash in the locality, along with his sibling tries a hand at several trades, some of them illegal in order to fend for themselves. In due course the two part ways and while Jamal ends up working as a chai wala at a call centre in Mumbai, his brother Salim turns to the world of crime.

Although the director is British, the movie walks shoulder to shoulder with Bollywood. The cast is all Indian and features some popular faces like that of Anil Kapoor, Irfan Khan and Mahesh Manjrekar. So what if the `hero’ and the `heroine’ are new faces? There is romance, there are fight scenes and what’s more; there’s a happy ending with a song and dance.

Slumdog Millionaire shows the making of a great film except for the sudden change in language when the boys find themselves before the magnificent Taj Mahal. Jamal and Salim who were conversing in Hindi all the while, suddenly take to English. Yet another thing that surprises the shrewd audience is that when Jamal goes looking for his long lost friend Lathika, the teenage girl (mind you, it’s not the same girl  who played the role of  little Lathika when the two first met and parted as kids) recognizes him without his having to re-introduce himself.  But maybe that can be over looked an instance of sixth sense.