Blog Updates

Check out the review of Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na at http://sensiblegarbage.blogspot.com/. Sorry for the delay folks!

Also, read the 'Senseless Garbage - The Matrix of Life' at http://sensiblegarbage.blogspot.com/ to sharpen your reading skills :-P

Cheers!

Anurag

New Blog Up!

Read the review on The 3 Mistakes of My Life at http://sensiblegarbage.blogspot.com

Sarkar Raj - The Review

Sarkar Raj was an eagerly awaited film. It was deemed to be Ramu’s comeback, rather fightback, film. There were rumors abound about the film being a platform for the Bachchans to show their Maharashtra love. The film scores on both these counts. Ramu is in form or should I say in his comfort zone in the film and he delivers. The Bachchans use the 70MM canvas to seek a place in the hearts of the Marathis who are supposed to hate them following the political outbursts against the first family of Indian Filmdom.

Story:

Sarkar Raj takes off from where Sarkar had left. The slickness is maintained and the pace at which the story moves grips you from the very outset. A foreign power company headed by Anita (Aishwarya) wants to set up a power plant in Maharashtra and for that it seeks Sarkar’s help. Shankar (Abhishek) believes in the project and despite the initial hiccups is able to convince people to welcome the power plant project. In the process he makes new enemies as well who decide to decimate him.

The build up to the intermission is quite good and the interval point reminds you of Godfather, the film Sarkar's initial inspiration. Just as Michael Corleone’s wife was blown up in Godfather, here, Tanisha is blown up. Post interval it’s revenge time for the Nagres as Shankar goes for the kill to avenge his wife’s death. Tensions build up and a contract killer is hired to eliminate Shankar. Shankar meanwhile is oblivious to the lurking danger as he is not able to gauge the larger conspiracy at hand. The result – he is shot dead!

The semi-retired Sarkar comes back to the helm to find the people behind the killing and has them killed. He figures out that a political game was being played by his own mentor to get the reins of power back in his hands. Sarkar foils his bid and shows who the real boss is. The climax is open ended to allow Ramu enough room to cook up another story to complete the Sarkar trilogy in future.

Now coming to the details or as I say, the dissection:

Acting: Amitabh Bachchan is awesome! Only he could have been Sarkar and he plays the character with supreme finesse. Junior B too got into the skin of the character just as well as he did the last time around. His death scene immortalizes his character. Thankfully there is not much drama and that makes it look more real. This is a good thing about Ramu and his films, they don't make death look like a fanfare as in typical Bollywood films. Aishwarya Rai gets to play a strong girl but not that strong a character. She looks more of a 'spectator' than a 'player' in the script. Yes, the climax does augur well for her character in the third part, if it is made. Rest of the cast is ok. The touch that the actor playing an industrialist, Kantilal Vora, brings to his character looks obsolete and very filmy. Should a serious looking villain always have to indulge in some antiques like singing romantic hindi songs to bring out his wickedness to the fore?

Direction: Ramu is a master of underworld films. He delivers this time and that must have been a relief for him. He has his own trademark way of introducing characters and showing a vulture flying over the sky to denote the ‘lull before the storm’. The good thing about Ramu is his technical deftness, the bad thing – his repetitiveness!

Music: Amar Mohile is a veteran and has done a good work with the background score. The haunting tunes come back to you and the chants of ‘Govinda, Govinda!’ bring back the same aura that Sarkar-I had brought. Thumbs up for the score. The other songs are not good. They didn’t have to be, this film did not need any song. Ramu has intelligently played them in the background to break the monotony at times.

Dialogues: Intelligent but a bit too taxing at times. There were a few really good scenes with quality dialogues but at times they went overboard and gave the impression of being forced to give an overdose of intellect in the film.

As for the packaging, publicity and box office fate, they seem have been taken care of quite well. The film will be profitable and will go some way in resurrecting the declining power that Ramu once wielded through his ‘Factory’ that I have heard has shut down now. I hope better sense prevails on Ramu and he gives up his dream to rehash Sholay a second time.

Sarkar Raj is not an entertainer. You would appreciate it but not love it.

Jab We Met - Review

I had seen Jab We Met earlier but not at one go. So I never felt the urge to write something about it. This time I got hold of its DVD while on vacation and I loved it! I know that the review has lost its significance as it comes in a year late but I just wanted to talk about it.

Imtiaz Ali is one director who reminds you of directors like Hrishikesh Mukheji who made simple, light hearted but entertaining films. Jab We Met, like Socha Na Tha (Imtiaz’s debut film with Abhay Deol) has characters that are straight out of life. The dialogues are not filmy and story is the king.

Jab We Met has a lot of things working in its favor. A good story to start off with, an intelligent director and protagonists who share great onscreen chemistry. The film rode on the Shahid-Kareena break up story to become one of the top grossers of 2007.

Story: If you have seen both of Imtiaz Ali’s films, you would note that his stories have that element of ‘confusion’ playing a key role in the story. Socha Na Tha had Abhay Deol being confused about the girl he wanted to marry. Jab We Met has Shahid and Kareena helping each other overcome their respective confusions in different phases in their lives. You get engrossed in the story right at the beginning when Geet and Aditya are introduced. The lively pace at which the story moves keeps you interested. The only time I felt a slack was in the closing fifteen minutes of the film when Geet, Aditya and Anshuman return to Bhatinda and find themselves amidst the confusion where Geet’s family mistakenly takes Aditya to be Geet’s husband. I call that cinematic liberty but this is one point in this intelligently written film that irks you.

Direction: Imtiaz Ali is a director to watch out for. This reticent looking director explodes behind the camera and brings out the best from his lead actors. Kareena has been on the scene for almost a decade now and Shahid has been around for six years in the industry. But it is with this film that they have come of age. Kareena did have Omkara to boast about but the towering Saif Ali Khan as Langda Tyagi overshadowed everyone then. Imtiaz has raised the expectations manifold with this film. I just hope that he lives upto them.

Music: I hate to say this when it is Pritam at the helm but the fact is that the music rocks. I lost all respect for this guy when I got to know that most of his ‘original’ tracks were ‘inspired’. But that doesn’t take away the fact that he has good musical ears. This guy sure knows what the listeners would like. He keeps giving hits despite his trade secret having come out in the open. The tracks have distinct flavor. A couple of bhangda tracks and a few soft romantic numbers make this an extremely likable album. Pritam is from the same stable as our other popular inspired music directors Bappi Lahiri and Anu Malik. Hate him or loathe him but he is here to stay.

Acting: The film is about two people and the circumstances they are in. It was imperative that the actors involved showed that maturity in their portrayals. Shahid and Kareena do complete justice to their parts. You walk out of a theatre with strong macho characters in your mind. I am strictly speaking of the male audience for a reason here because it is Geet’s character that stays with you when the film ends. Kareena has deservingly won all Bollywood film awards this year. Shahid too has delivered a power packed performance. Something from Pankaj Kapur seems to have rubbed onto him.

Dialogues: Funny, powerful and original! The conversations between different characters in the first half generate mirth. The second half is not funny but the dialogues still make the whole affair very real and likable.

The negatives as I said are not too many and I don’t want to dig into those just to sound like a real critic. I feel that the film did lose pace in the second half and could have been trimmed a bit. But overall Jab We Met is an enjoyable experience. I am sure most of you would like it.

Race - The Roller Coaster Ride!

I finally feel like coming out of a hibernation period. I did not attempt to write anything for the past two months primarily because I was not getting any good thing to write about. Not that I have it now but then I couldn't have waited forever for that to happen.

A few days back I saw Race directed by the whitewashed director duo of Abbas Mustan. The promos were interesting and I was compelled to watch it. After 3 failed attempts to get the tickets, I finally managed to sneak a peek. Boy! It was a film that will remind you of a giant roller coaster ride that doesn't seem to stop. Now that the film is already 3 weeks old, I can take the liberty of spilling the beans and letting you know of the story, rather my interpretation of the story assuming that those of you who have not watched it do not intend to.

The story begins with an accident and then shifts to a derby ground. The story goes to a flashback and we see a stud farm where Saif and Akshaye (Khanna and not Kumar) live together. If this reminds you of Brokeback mountain, hold on - the first twist is here! Both these guys are brothers and are very strange to say the least. Saif on his part overlooks all attention he gets from his oozing with sex appeal secretary played by Katrina and Akshaye Khanna wears an ensemble of blue jeans, orange shirt, brown jacket, red shoes (Who says Govinda days are long gone!) and a wig but still oozes the confidence of a casanova. Didn't someone say that it’s not the exterior that counts? Saif lays all gayish connotations to his character at rest by getting an arm candy called Bipasha who plays an upcoming Indian model in South Africa at the age of 30.

The brothers are rich, thanks to a big fortune left by their Dad. Saif takes care of the business while Akshay takes care of the city's Daaru ka thekaas. At a party thrown in to celebrate Saif's homecoming after a near fatal accident, Akshay meets Bipasha and then has a heart-to-heart talk with his brother:

Akshay: If only I get this girl, I will have no reason to drink anymore.
Saif (thinking): Ek romantic song to ho jaane diya hota uske saath uske baad kehta ye sab :(

Akshay: Bhaiyya, get me married to her and I will quit drinking and become a good boy
Saif: If that makes you happy, I will play the Rajinder Kumar from Sangam and have her marry you. I am anyways too much into my romance with Kareena and she might not like it if I dance around with Bipasha.

The deal is sealed and Akshay beguiles Bipasha and all seems to go smooth when the story writer wakes up from his slumber and dishes out a twist. Bipasha is actually a runaway girl who has had a criminal past. Akshay knows it all too well and then he tells her about his plans to get Saif knocked off to claim the insurance of $100 million. Katrina meanwhile is relegated to play a demure secretary who has a stock line to deliver:

"Sir ye hain wo papers jinpe aapko sign karne hain"

To break this monotony, the Burmawala brothers plot to take Saif and Katrina to a pub where Katrina sings to woo her love. The lyrics go something like this:

"Bin tere sanam, is jahaan mein, bekaraar hum
dum dadam dadam"

Any guy could have fallen for that 'dum dadam dadam' part but Saif doesn't melt! You begin to think - Is his character gay after all?

The gripping story moves on. Akshay plots to murder Saif by throwing him off a roof top. Another twist is thrown in - Bipasha is still Saif's lover! And I did not tell you guys about that romp Saif and Bipasha have in the stud farm one stormy night (damn the cliches in a hindi film!!) because I want this blog to be 'U' certified. The twists go out of control as Bipasha switches teams at the last moment and helps Akshay throw Saif from the roof top.

Enter a Karamchand-Kitty incarnation in Anil Kapoor-Sameera Reddy. At 48, Detective Anil Kapoor is at his wittiest best as he mouths one double meaning dialogue after another to generate mirth. The subject of all his 'friendly' banter is Sameera whose job as a secretary is to maintain a record of Anil's daily dose of fruits. The detective takes up the case that seems more tangled than Andrew Symond's crop of hair.

Enter Katrina at this stage who now claims to be Saif's wife. During interrogation, she recites the songs that the two of them sang on their business trip to Cape Town. Strangely enough, though she has a British accent, the words used in the lyrics of the song she sang had an earthy feeling (sample these - batiyaan, saiyaan, jiya, piya) and that irks the sharp detective. He follows her trails. The audience is left agape when they see Katrina on a beach with, hold your breath, her brother-in-law Akshay Khanna! Anil Kapoor catches them red handed. Knowing that corruption is not the proprietorship of Indian police only, Akshay offers money to Anil and he gladly accepts saying - "Pehle fruits khaata tha, ab dry fruits khaaunga"

After the money exchanges hands, Akshay decides to bump off Bipasha. As she stares at death from close quarters, Saifu - the super hero makes a comeback and saves her. The audience is sent into a tizzy. "What the hell is going to happen now?" is the question on every lips and no one seems to have an answer. I chew my nails and wonder if this is going to turn into a ghost story. The experience of the directors comes into play at this point. In order to counter the low IQ of the audience, they decide to recount a step by step break up of a series of events to show how Saif was saved with Anil's help.

Akshay Khanna and Katrina Kaif are left with no place to hide so they engage Saif in a motor race to claim the property. I wonder if a horce race was more befitting as the initial setting was a stud farm. Anyways, the two step brothers go all out to race for a $200 million prize money (and you thought that only IPL is highly paying). Villainous Akshay plots again as he gives Saif a car that does not have brakes. While driving, Maryada Purushottam Saif jokes to Akshay saying that he too had a bomb planted in the car Akshay was driving. Akshay takes it a bit too seriously and ends up paying with his and Katrina's life.

Saif is the victor and he goes back with all the money and Bipasha in his arms.

Mithya - Review

When I watched Bheja Fry, I really felt that one actor who was not given his due was Ranvir Shorey. He has been a brilliant actor and he finally shows here how good he can be. Every scene in Mithya revolves around him and you do get your doses of laughter and fun moments. The sad thing was that the theatre had around 40 people in all despite it being a weekend and the second day of the film. I was surprised to see that lukewarm response despite people knowing the fact that the trio of Rajat Kapoor, Vinay Pathak and Ranvir Shorey were coming together again. Was it bad promotion? Shouldn't Arindam Chaudhari have spent more on promoting the film and cashing on the legacy of Bheja Fry? After all, this was a commercial effort and there was no harm in letting it be known. Another thing that can go against the film is that it will be compared to Bheja Fry and that doesn’t augur too well for this film commercially at least.

Rajat Kapoor is an able theatre director. His shows with Ranvir and Vinay have been huge hits and the intellect of this sensible director shows in the film. The comic scenes are really good but if you compare it with Bheja Fry (the comparisons!!), the dialogues lack the humor that Bheja Fry had.

The film is not offbeat. It very much treads the lines of a formula film and is supported by an efficient army of actors who carry the film forward. It builds quite well in a riveting manner. The scenes leading upto the intermission are gripping. Things begin to get complicated and stretched in the later part of the second half when the identity crisis of the Don/VK comes to the fore. Again, I am not saying that Rajat Kapoor could not handle it well. All I am saying is that the idea looks more theatrical than filmy. I am sure I would have liked it more if I had seen a theatre adaptation of this film because for a general film buff the end left a lot to be desired.

Ranvir Shorey is top class. I just hope that the industry rises to brace upto this fine actor and offer him roles of substance. He brings out the finer nuances of a struggler in the industry with panache. Vinay Pathak plays a goon and does not get any meaty scene. He plays the side-kick throughout the film. Naseeruddin Shah and Saurabh Shukla are the scheming Dons living under the shadow of Bhaisahab while Neha Dhupia plays Ranvir’s love interest. All in all no one really disappoints but neither do they look as if only they suited the part.

I did get bored in the closing 15-20 minutes of the film and my verdict for the film is – A courageous attempt that might not hit the bull’s eye, not even with the multiplex audience. Personally, I would any day spend my bucks to watch the team perform. You feel like an elitist just by watching them ;) I won’t call Mitthya classy or trendsetting but yes you can give it a shot.

Taare Zameen Par - Review

As I sat through Taare Zameen Par, I struggled to come up with a befitting epithet for Aamir Khan. He might not be in the same league as the dazzling superstars of today who descend in dozens in the farcical award shows every year to get recognized for their crappy work. He creates cinema like no one does and keeps doing it time and again. He is an institution in himself. Aamir is legendary, he is Iconic!

If you thought that Lagaan was a once in a lifetime thing, he came up with Dil Chahta Hai and Rang De Basanti. Just when you thought that his ammunitions won’t last long, he came up with his mesmerizing directorial venture. Aamir lets the actor within him take a backseat to let the film be led by an eight year old kid. I don’t think even seasoned directors will have the guts to let go off an opportunity to cash in on Aamir’s presence on screen. But this guy does, his film is a gutsy effort that scores with the audience.

Now something about the plot. TZP has a message but it is not preachy. TZP has Aamir Khan but he is not the hero of the film. TZP is a film about kids but it is not a kids’ film. It talks about how we tend to overlook what we have to chase dreams in a result oriented world. A dyslexic child finds himself out of place in the real world. It is a story of his struggle, the world’s failure to understand his problem, his fight back and finally his triumph.

Getting into the individual strengths and weaknesses, let me start off with the positives first:

Darsheel Safary: The child can knock anyone out with his antics. He gives a seasoned performance. It is hard to believe that this kid who is all of eight years could display such a maturity in his performance. Everyone else looks like a support cast around him, Aamir included!

Direction: The best works of the year as far as my ratings go. Extracting such a poignant performance from a kid could be difficult but Aamir does it brilliantly. He deftly handles the subject which could easily have gone haywire to look like a documentary. The way he brings out some emotional moments look so special.

Story/Idea: Amol Gupte, as pointed in several promotional events has been the source behind the idea of TZP. The film does show his research on the subject. A very non filmy story that still holds its own and more importantly delivers in conveying the message in a pretty straightforward way.

Background Score: Very good background score that goes very well with the film.

Moments: Special mention of some very special moments from the film.

Scene 1: Ishaan begging his father not to leave home. The scene is not all that important but I still liked it. It captures the innocence of an eight year old kid who thinks that his father is all set to leave the house after he picks up a fight with a neighborhood kid. I found it straight from life and was reminded of one of my childhood experiences :)

Scene 2: Ishaan’s mother turning the pages of his drawing book in the song ‘Maa’. Touching! Watch it to feel it.

Scene 3: The one where Ishaan refuses to light crackers thinking that he will be saved from going to the boarding school.

Scene 4: Aamir Khan’s meeting with Ishaan’s father in the hostel where Aamir brings it to his notice that he too had a part to play in destroying his self confidence. I specially liked the way Aamir Khan made him realize his folly by describing how they felled trees in Solomon Islands.

Negatives:

Pace: Some people would find it moving at a slow pace in the first half. I personally feel that the build up was necessary at that pace but this won’t go down too well with everyone I am sure.

Loopholes in script: Some loopholes do exist. For instance, I couldn’t understand why Ishaan’s parents did not turn up to take their kid back when they got to know that he was in fact dyslexic.

Mother-Son bond: There is an entire song on that but the bond doesn’t come out all that well in the film. It would have served to have a couple of scenes to depict that.

When you watch this film, you will be reminded of faces from your school days - Good boys, bad boys and then of course yourself. The film is the boy’s journey from being an outcast to getting accepted. You’ll sure feel good.

Dus Kahaniyaan - Review

A brave, stylish and intelligent attempt at storytelling. Brave because attempts like these have failed earlier and bringing this style back with such a huge cast was definitely like playing a big gamble. It is stylish, just as every other Sanjay Gupta product is. Technicalities are deftly handled. It is intelligent because it picked its cue from films that were attempted in this genre but failed. Darna Mana Hai and Darna Zaroori Hai too had different stories but they all shared a common supernatural/horror theme. Therefore, by the end of it all the audience got fed up of watching similar looking ghost stories. This is where Dus Kahaniyan is different from them. Each story in the film is unrelated and has a different theme. With 6 different directors at the helm, each story comes out with a different flavor. The fact that each story has a twist only adds to the experience of watching this collection of short films.

Another good thing about the film is that the better-done stories outnumber the not so good ones so you don’t feel cheated by the end of it. An able ensemble cast ensures that you get what you invest in the film – your time and money!

Now since this is a collection of films, let me pick each one and write something about them.

'Matrimony'
Cast: Mandira Bedi, Arbaaz Khan and Sudhanshu Pandey
Director: Sanjay Gupta

A story well told with a sudden twist in the tale revealed in the closing minute of the film. Thumbs up for this one.

'High On The Highway'
Cast: Jimmy Sheirgill and Masumeh
Director: Hansal Mehta

It went over the top of my head. Hansal seemed to be paying a tribute to Quentin Tarantino by trying to weave incidents from one day with those of the present. But where was the story Mr. Mehta? I did not like it at all. A big thumbs down.

'Pooranmashi'
Cast: Amrita Singh, Minisha Lamba, Parmeet Sethi and Vishwajeet Pradhan.
Director: Meghna Gulzar

I carried this story out of the theatre too. Very well written and executed. It explores how messy things can become if you stray that one bit from your bounds. The best story according to me. Double thumbs up for this one.

'Strangers In The Night'
Cast: Neha Dhupia and Mahesh Manjrekar.
Director: Sanjay Gupta

The storyteller again recreates the magic here. Gives a new dimension to what was easily mistaken for lust when the story started to unfold. Extra ordinary circumstances but good nonetheless. Thumbs up!

'Zahir'
Cast: Manoj Bajpai and Dia Mirza.
Director: Sanjay Gupta

The twist looked a bit kiddish. It made me laugh even though that was not intended in the story. I did not like it all that much but my friends did. No thumbs for this one. I’ll leave it to your judgment.

'Gubbare'
Cast: Nana Patekar, Anita and Rohit Roy.
Director: Sanjay Gupta

A story whose twists and turns you can easily foretell but it does not bore you. That again reaffirms Sanjay Gupta’s finesse as a storyteller. Rohit Roy gets a special appearance in a 10 minute film. It is Nana Patekar all the way in this one. Thumbs up for the emotional quotient.

'Love Dale'
Cast: Anupam Kher, Anooradha Singh, Aftab Shivdasani and Neha Uberoi.
Director: Jasmeet Dhondi

Supernatural twist but watchable. Since I am so used to watching love stories taking shape in a good 3 hours after all that song and dance that this 10 minute love story looked incomplete to me ;). Okayish. No thumbs for this one.

'Sex On The Beach'
Cast: Dino Morea and Tareena Patel.
Director: Apoorva Lakhia

Ramsay or shall I say Ramu effect coming into play. This again has supernatural element in it. It shows you how your pleasant fantasies can sometimes go wrong if they come real. Nothing great about this one. Thumbs down!

'Rice Plate'
Cast: Shabana Azmi and Naseeruddin Shah.
Director: Rohit Roy

Debutante director Rohit Roy handles the theme deftly. Shabana Azmi is good. You don’t get much of Naseeruddin Shah in this one which made me feel a bit let down. A thematic story that scores. Thumbs up for this one.

'Rise & Fall'
Cast: Sanjay Dutt and Suniel Shetty.
Directors: Hansal Mehta and Sanjay Gupta

The last story should have been a stunner. The audience should have left the theatre thinking about it. But nothing of the sort happens. With Sanjay Dutt and Suniel Shetty at the helm, you sure expect some fire crackers but there were none. A thumbs down for this story.

Overall, not such a bad experience. You sure would like a couple of stories. I was wondering whether Anurag Kashyap should edit his No Smoking to fit in this 10 minute slot. His psycho shocker film would have been something to watch out for had it been a short one and what’s more no one would have panned him so severely for a 10 minute long act. Now, why did I get into pulling poor Anurag Kashyap down here.

Watch Dus Kahaniyan folks! It gets over in 2 hours flat.

Dil, Dosti, Etc - Review

It’s been more than a month since this film released and the review comes in quite late in the day. But can’t help it, I have not been watching movies for a long, long time. Dil, Dosti, Etc might not go on to become a cult film but I would still call it a decent attempt. Coming from the stable of Prakash Jha (he has produced it), Dil, Dosti has a high reality quotient associated with the film. The scenes in the film are straight away pulled from life. The college environment depicted in the film is not the Lovedale College set up shown in candy floss movies and neither do the characters break into a jig every now and then to woo their lady love.

When you are young, you feel that the possibilities are endless – This film revolves around two people, their aspirations and how they go about achieving it with the backdrop of university politics at DU. As for how it fared, I felt that the movie gained pace from the very outset, reached a crescendo and then plummeted. I might be wrong in judging it this way but I feel that the script was flawed.

I went in to watch the film with a hangover of Haasil which marked the arrival of Irfan Khan and I couldn’t keep myself from comparing the two films. Both had the backdrop of University politics but Haasil was more filmi and commercial in its approach while Dil, Dosti has a more arthouse flavour. The film has its share of a few ‘bold’ scenes too.

High points:

Performances: Shreyas Talpade gives a clean performance, getting his Bihari accent correct and suiting the part he played. I felt that he was underplayed in the film and seemed more like the support hero. Imad Shah is a revelation. He does not have that chiseled look or anything that can be called heroic about him but the director has tried his best to give us a new Emraan Hashmi avatar. He gets to lip lock with all the girls who are given some screen space in the film – lucky b******!

Characterizations: Manish Tiwary, the director of the film hails from Bihar and it seems that he has also been a part of the DU milieu. Both these aspects were evident in way he has created the characters, not just the protagonists but also the supporting ones. The ragging scenes reminded me of the superman days some of us had to brave during our own ragging days at college. I almost felt a part of the whole set-up.

Dialogues: The film has good and measured dialogues. Nothing over the top. Smart lines and the point is put across.

Lows:

Script: Imad’s character lets go off an offer from Yale to live and experience life that thrives in the nooks and corners of India. He goes a step further to leave the cool, cosy comforts of a Mercedes Benz to drive around on a Yezdi (which people rode eons ago). I don’t know what prompted him to take on the bet of bedding three girls in eight days. Although the film started with him trying to search for love and Shreyas trying to find his bearing in the political arena, the one sided bet seemed to have become the whole premise of the story by the time it ended.

Having said that, I must also point out that you cannot keep yourself from praising the way the writer has actually brought out all that goes through the minds of a young college going kid. Imaad’s portrayal of a confused and searching young ‘pseudo-intellectual’ as he is referred to in the film as well as the depiction of the cosmopolitan and middle class values through different characters is praiseworthy.

Music: There was not much scope for music in the film. They still managed to have that item number forced into the plot. Some might say that the song actually took the story forward but I will never be convinced. To add to it, the song and its picturisation were awful.

Dil, Dosti is a film that DU people should not miss out on. As for others, I would call it a casual film. Casual because you don’t plan to go and watch such films, you watch it when you either have nothing to do or you have no better thing to do.

I am now looking forward to watching No Smoking, not because of the lineage it boasts of (directed by Anurag Kashyap of Black Friday fame) but because I have been challenged to weather this high voltage, abstract, infathomable..hmm..lemme rather reserve the epithets till I watch the film. Is its DVD out?

Some Spill Over and a Refreshing Attempt in Creating Music Albums

I finally feel that my blog might finally arrive some day. A look at the comments to my last post gave me that glimmer of hope. True, only a couple of people contributed to it but what the heck! The comments did make the last post look very relevant even though it wasn't exactly meant to be so.

There can be no last word on whether PhD has 99% quacks and 1% genius or whether it is the other way round. I might not even qualify to judge them because I am not in their seat. PhD to me is a career choice – made with a lot of thoughts put in or maybe by just following the herd mentality with no idea of where one would end up being. Some research papers published might serve or support future research but there would still be a lot more that would languish as volumes of crap in a quiet corner of a library and would be reminiscent of wasted funds allocated to (re)search.

Getting into PhD does not necessarily guarantee intellect. So all you PhD’s out there, don’t expect reverence just because you are certified somewhere as a Doc. You burden this earth as much as anyone else does!

Today I got to hear 11 of Gulzar’s poems in Dus Kahaniyaan and I must say it was a novel experience in contrast to what we get to hear in the name of giving a ‘different’ touch to music. I couldn’t understand half of the words used (mamool, jumla-hukuk) but still it was a refreshing change amidst the hordes of remixed stuff that we are exposed to. Kudos to Sanjay Gupta for thinking of such a concept. I might not like his habit of picking stories ‘as-is’ from world cinema but this one scores an ace.

The poems are recited by different actors and from what I get; they give you a gist of each of the 10 stories in the film (10 stories in a film?? Didn't the director learn something from Ramu's Darna Mana Hai?). I wonder why they have the 11th extra poem. I specially liked the one recited by Naseeruddin Shah, titled Khuda. This is how it goes:

Poore ka poora aakash ghumakar baazi dekhi maine,
Kaale ghar mein suraj rakh ke tumne shayad socha tha mere saare mohre pit jayenge.
Maine ek chirag jalake apna raasta khol liya.

Tumne ek samandar haath mein lekar mujhpar dhel diya,
Maine Noah ki kashti uske upar rakh di.
Kaal chala tumne aur meri jaanib dekha,
Maine kaal ko tod ke lamha lamha jeena seekh liya

Meri khudi ko tumne chand chamatkaaron se maarna chaha,
Mere ek pyaade ne tera chaand ka mohra maar liya.
Maut ki sheh deke tumne samjha tha -- Ab to maat hui!
Maine jism ka khol utaar ke saaunp diya aur rooh bacha li.

Poore ka poora aakash ghumakar ab tum dekho baazi..

This one has that arrogant touch to it and it somehow reminded me of that Hero Honda ad shown a few years back. This is how it went:

I am not a star.
There is no halo over my head.
Fate doesn't like the colour of my eyes.
Struggle and strife are old friends of mine.
Who am I ?
I am survival. I am guts. I am pride.
I like odds.
Especially when they'restacked against me.
Because there will come a time when I will stare them in the eye.
And smile the smile of the one who's pulled it off.
I am the guy who will have deep lines on his face someday.
And it'll make me look good when I laugh.
Because that is the dayI will fear no fear.
And taste sweat that is sweet.
And look back for the very first time and say,I did it my way.
The long hard way.

Most of the other verses in the CD3 of the album released have an undercurrent of separation, longing and search. I would rate it as a mixed bag. Good rendition of the poetry by the actors that can be classified as typical Gulzar stuff. How about "4.6 billion saalon ki umar beet chuki hai, kitni der laga di tumne aane mein" ;)

As for all you Himesh and Pritam fans don’t lose heart. I hear that Himesh just went on a film signing spree which will see him back at the helm as actor-singer-music director and Pritam’s next set of inspired but “original” compositions might also be round the corner.