Kamal's Take
Review of movie “Special 26”
Special 26 is a crime drama movie (won’t call it a crime thriller or crime suspense). The movie has a good plot of a big heist, much like what have been seen in many movies like Ocean’s 11 and it sequels. In spite of great story, it has lot of holes in the screenplay, if one apply the logical filter. But the thrill & suspense very well covers those shortcomings. Could see audience getting excited on each twist & turn and clapping. But I was able to guess lot of those twists (can get into the director’s psyche) - a different point altogether.
In spite of that, it is a great movie to watch. Why? “Execution”. The movie has been very well executed with some great performances by Akshay Kumar & Anupam Kher. Both have done tremendous justice to the role without any sort of over-acting. Full points to Neeraj Pandey for the superb execution. Not many movies, will you find audience getting surprised and excited as the movie goes on. The movie certainly keeps the audience engaged.
And people who have always doubted Akshay Kumar’s talent, certainly must watch this. Not his fault if he keeps getting the stereotyped roles to play, in spite of his huge potential.
In all, a good movie to watch that keeps you engaged and keep guessing on the Special 26!
Review of movie Inkaar
Humans are a complex being. How they interact & react to each other is even more complex. Hence it is a very complex task to depict different facets of human emotions. Lot of our movies try to do that, mostly the ones in the drama genre.
This is where Sudhir Mishra has completely nailed it in Inkaar. Not seen a movie in long time, that has handled human relationship & emotion with such a maturity. Made on the theme of office politics and sexual harassment, it could have been easily diverted and lopsided to show woman as victim kind of movie in a patriarchal society. But Sudhir Mishra kept it quite balanced, keeping it completely competitive between an ambitious man and an ambitious woman.
Screenplay too supported this balance in a great way. Showing the same incident into two different forms based on who was narrating the story, was the highlight of the movie. Absolutely done in a beautiful and mature manner. One of my best is the scene where Arjun Rampal is sitting on sofa next to Chitrangada’s bag. When Chitrangada narrates, Arjun is completely leaning on the bag as if to obstruct her from taking it. But when Arjun narrates, he is far off from bag sitting decently on the sofa. (Liked the depicted nuances so much, hence mentioned the entire scene. Otherwise I hate spilling story or scenes in a review). But true devil lies in details. And Sudhir Mishra have been an absloute devil in that.
Very strong performances by Arjun Rampal & Chitrangada Singh. Both looked hot as well as powerful in their role of ambitious professionals. But could see so much “SRK”-isation in Arjun’s acting - but who is complaining if he is better at that even than SRK himself ;). Chitrangada looked absolutely hot, making it worth a watch even if one doesn’t like the maturity and the directorial nuances.
All in all, a great movie incarnating the new level of maturity Bollywood has attained in the recent time. Can’t do an “Inkaar” to this movie and brilliance of Mr. Sudhir Mishra!!
Say a local goon beats up a family member & you can’t do anything because of his clout. But when it comes to playing Cricket with him, you see no wrong. Does this really happen in real life?
Why something that doesn’t make sense in personal context, sounds all fine in larger context? Lack of attachment?
Perhaps the greatest faculty our minds possess is the ability to cope with pain. Classic thinking teaches us of the four doors of the mind, which everyone moves through according to their need.
First is the door of sleep. Sleep offers us a retreat from the world and all its pain. Sleep marks passing time, giving us distance from the things that have hurt us. When a person is wounded they will often fall unconscious. Similarly, someone who hears traumatic news will often swoon or faint. This is the mind’s way of protecting itself from pain by stepping through the first door.
Second is the door of forgetting. Some wounds are too deep to heal, or too deep to heal quickly. In addition, many memories are simply painful, and there is no healing to be done. The saying ‘time heals all wounds’ is false. Time heals most wounds. The rest are hidden behind this door.
Third is the door of madness. There are times when the mind is dealt such a blow it hides itself in insanity. While this may not seem beneficial, it is. There are times when reality is nothing but pain, and to escape that pain the mind must leave reality behind.
Last is the door of death. The final resort. Nothing can hurt us after we are dead, or so we have been told.
OMG - Oh My God !
A great subject and bold treatment. Everyone know the reality & can quickly associate to it (different story that how many of us have been ridiculed in there & will really change).
However very badly executed. Very poor direction. Portrayal of Mithun is the biggest example of that failure. Same subject with a good director would have made it go sky high. Thanks to Paresh Rawal to salvage it to whatever extent he could.
Late-sate watching than never..
Probably 2012 will be year of plain story telling. Earlier Barfi, now English-Vinglish. Simple story, no melodrama, beautiful direction and what a performance by Sridevi. I won’t call it comeback, it is actual discovery of Sridevi. A must watch !!
There were instances where the Director could have given some limelight to other characters or add a little more melodrama. But perhaps she just wanted to keep it a clear focus - a single message & a single Star !! To the Ladies-Vadies !!
See the thing is, I don’t know where to start. Where it started with YOU I am able to remember and all. But then, what to say, how to say, that is a little difficult. It has been so many years no…
And yet, after so many years, I am not able to forget you. You know why? Because of the…
You do one thing. First you grow up. Because, if you grow up means, automatically your son will grow up. And when your son is growing up, give him a pack of condoms. Now don’t give that confused look and all. Seriously, give him a pack of condoms. Along with that, give him a lot of free advice….
Rockstar is an unusual Love Story, of a musician who turned rebellious with all the sufferings in his life. Good enough material to make a nice & different movie. But didn’t turn out to be case.. What killed the Rockstar?
Cast. High time that Bollywood directors start casting actresses rather than the beauties. The biggest letdown of the movie is Nargis Fakhri. Not knowing how to act, she was more of an irritant in spite of her looks. Even promising talent like Aditi Rao was a waste. Ranbir Kapoor portrayed the aggression of a pained musician well, but then had heavy doses of overacting playing the lover boy. Nice to see Shammi Kapoor in his last movie.
Script. The director wanted to portray pain & the resultant aggression in Ranbir Kapoor. But miserably failed to provide a logical explanation to that aggression. Though the same aggression, worked out well for Ranbir Kapoor to exhibit a bit of his acting talent.
Length. Imtiaz Ali picked up an unusual story but then was not bold enough to break the Bollywood mould & make it a shorter movie. Should have helped the movie a lot. After a time, the story become repetitive. The Director had nothing new to add, beyond a point.
Music is the only saving grace for the movie with wonderful music by AR Rahman. Imtiaz Ali really got it wrong. In all, an average movie to watch (which could have been a great movie).
