Uttama Villain What a Mess ... Glorious, Noble and Compelling though !

Over the weekend, I was in Chennai trying hard to get tickets to the latest Kamal Hassan opus "Uttama Villian" which off course didn't happen with the finanical issues and the state government capping ticket prices to INR 120 only, if you book a ticket online, with service tax the princely amount goes to INR 150.  Damn I feel ripped off in Bangalore when even a morning show costs you INR 200.


Coming to my thoughts about the movie - SPOILERS AHEAD ! ( it is really a character driven movie rather than a coherent plot)

Synopsis 

Kamal Hassan plays Manorajan (Entertainment)  who is a sell-out superstar who makes masala movies for a living, drunkard, callous and also unfaithful having an affair with a much younger doctor Dr Arpana (Sacrifice) played by Andrea, married to a woman for 20 odd years just for the money aptly named Varalakshmi (Goddess of Wealth) played by the marvelous Urvashi.

On the same day, he gets two game changing news, he has a daughter from a previous affair and brain tumor which does not allow him many more days to live. So he decides to take control of his life and goes back to make a movie with his former mentor Margadarshi (Advisor / Guide) played by real life mentor and directorial legend K Balachandar for one last movie from the heart and not purse strings.

The names of characters do seem to be on the nose on their motivations but it does work rather well.

What Does Not Work 

• The movie is very slow at 2 hours and 52 minutes, I believe it has been trimmed by 15 minutes already. 
• The screenplay is so self indulgent with Hindi, Mayalam, Telugu and Pure Tamil been used interchangeably even the more bi-multilingual audience member will miss several scenes due to loss in translation (Hey Ram once again)
• Although the portions as part of Movie in Movie set in the 8th century was supposed to be rocking comedy, you barely get few smiles on the jokes if one is charitable 
• K Balachander due to bad health couldn't dub his lines so it clearly shows a disconnect 
• Too many songs
• Ramesh Arvind though credited as director seems completely seems ghost directed by Kamal Hassan

What Does Work    

• Kamal delivers a knock-out performance which acknowledges his age and the banality of 50+ year super-stars romancing young girls in dude masala flicks 
• Lots of self referential jokes on his own career, in a way its an ode to the wonderful relationship between Kamal and his mentor K Balachandar
• Hard hitting reality of how one reconciles to impending death and how priorities change so quickly 
• The juxtaposition of Manorajan who is dying in real-life while Uttama played in the movie within the movie is an Immortal (Mitrunjaya) is an beautiful irony 
• There are several scenes which can best be described as poetry in motion, the use of mirrors, metaphors of removing make-up during a key revelation , looking at his family from a window and a game of catching the ball during a difficult discussion with his son. my descriptions cannot do justice to the scenes so I will not even try.

What will stay with me ? 

Will the movie make money, probably not but this is a master-class acting by Kamal Hassan who can conceive, execute and bank-roll this venture. 

The complexity of a lout / sinner (villain) who finds his Uttama (Nobility) in his dying days just opened my eyes how we view life and suffering as life-long but the life-span of a human is so short and we really do know what our priorities are. 

Love is complex and each relationship has its own ups and downs but what matters is expressing it on time before its too long.

Life is short and none of us are immortal but what we achieve in life can and will make us immortal, so make each day count 

Guide – An Enduring Classic

The Guide (1965 ) is based on the novel by R.K Narayan who also wrote the Malgudi Days, the movie adaption directed by Vijay Anand and stars Dev Anand-Waheeda Rahman in stellar performances.

Plot Summary 
Guide is about Raju (Dev Anand) who is a tourist guide and his complex relationship with Rosie (Waheeda Rahman) who is a woman trapped in an unhappy marriage with Marco
who is an archaeologist obsessed with his work.

Rosie turns suicidal but Raju comes into her life and helps her break free from her husband and mentors her to become a classical dancer with great success. They start living together which alienates Raju's family. Eventually his insecurities and access to instant wealth makes him jealous and gets  intimidated by her success. In a moment of indiscretion, he commits a forgery and he gets jailed and the difference of opinions drives a wedge in the relationship of Rosie and Raju. 

Once Raju leaves jail instead of returning to Rosie or his family, he runs away and he is mistaken for a saint in a village. Eventually due to a drought, the villagers persuade him to undertake a 12 day fast to evoke the rain Gods. 

Rosie, his mother and friends try persuading him to give up his fast but he refuses as he does not want to break the faith of the villagers. Eventually the faith of villagers is rewarded and Raju dies in the end but in the end after achieving true peace of mind and transforming from a man to an ideal.  

Takeaways from the Movie  

The first and most daring plot device of a woman in an unhappy marriage and her courage to walk out and have an affair with another man. For the 1960's India it was tremendous leap ahead to show a live in relation between Raju and Rosie. 

Secondly Rosie's pursuit of her dreams to become a dancer and how that leads to souring of her relationship with Raju who eventually succumbs to the typical insecurities. The depiction of an imperfect relationship is quite a refreshing change to the typical goody two shoes romances of the 60's Hindi cinema. 

Thirdly when Raju goes to the village, the depiction of rural India, abject poverty and the willingness of the masses to follow anyone as a spiritual guide / leadership. The rich have the luxury to entertain ideas of atheism and the triumph of science over religion but for the poor, only faith in a higher power God is the only comfort to live on another day. 

Fourthly the movie deals is the exploration of Hindu beliefs of the eternal soul and impermanent body, so when finally Raju dies for the village, it is not an unpleasant choice but actually an evolution in his mindset. The transformation of a impostor to an spiritual being is quite plausible and engaging.

Guide as the Metaphor 

The “Guide” is quite the metaphor, in the first phase, Raju is 'Tourist Guide' guiding people as his work, then he becomes 'Guide-Mentor' to Rosie to end her unhappy marriage and also become a successful dancer. The Third phase of his life is 'Guide-Guru' to the masses as the spiritual Guru. But the most significant transformation as 'Guide to Himself' when he is able to rise above his ego, attachments and pettiness to sacrifice his life for the people.

In the name of 'Bold' movies we are subjected to semi-pornographic movies these days but to be honest, Guide sans skin show was a bold, unconventional movie.  

Words do not do enough to describe this great classic of Indian cinema, I recommend you the reader to catch it soon. 

The Striver and Drifter

Yesterday I watched 2 interesting movies Black Swan and 7 Khoon Maaf. This post is not a movie review per say but looking closer at the title characters played by Natalie Portman (Nina) and Priyanka Chopra (Suzanna) and how they represent 2 distinct character types the striver and the drifter.

The Striver: Nina is a good ballet dancer who has had an unremarkable career for almost 4 years. Her dream is become the lead dancer and achieve glory and perfection. When she gets the dream role her real ordeal begins. The rest of movie looks at how coming so close to achieving her dream changes her equations with her family, friends and her own self worth.

Characteristics of a striver

• Extremely passionate, hardworking and ambitious person 
• The ambition is very lofty and borders on almost unhealthy obsession 
• Unfortunately hard work is no substitute in some cases for raw talent. 
• The person focuses too much on skill/techniques than you stop enjoying life 
• Family and friends become secondary, that you are like a horse with blinkers 
• You lose perspective and unable to handle failure or pressure. 
• A striver often ends up hurting oneself emotionally than any enemy ever could. 

Needless to say, although ambition, drive is essential for one to succeed in one’s chosen field, but an unhealthy obsession doesn’t helps cause. Sometimes person does not even know his/her own key strengths and her purpose in life and may be chasing some fancy or living out a parent’s unfulfilled dreams.

The Drifter: Suzanna is a woman with considerable beauty and wealth at her disposal. In her quest for true love, she constantly re-invents herself to match up to her current husband/lover. E.g.: becoming a rocker girl for her rock star boyfriend, a deep interest in Urdu when she courts a poet. She soon finds something wrong in her life and she kills her husband and but soon enough she is optimistic again to pursue true love.

Characteristics of a drifter

• A distinct lack of an ambition/ focus in life
• Although natural talent helps one achieve his/her short term goals there is no real effort to achieve perfection
• Prone to blame others for one’s problems with a victim complex
• Extremely fickle minded, today want to become a swimmer tomorrow a violin player.
• Unable to break a vicious self destructive pattern in life

The Real world: Although each of us really wants to achieve success in our chosen field, success has several components: - skill, efforts, networking, ability to unlearn and relearn, luck and patience.

Sometimes we may just not have what it takes to reach the pinnacle. Although millions want to become a Sachin Tendulkar or a Roger Federer only a handful will ever reach that space.

But it is certain neither a drifter or a striver will ever be happy in life as their approach is very much skewed. Ironically although a drifter and striver seem very different on the surface but what they are doing is actually the same thing. Having a fixed pattern in life and keep repeating it over and over.

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different result - Albert Einstein

PS: What I really thought about the two movies;
Black Swan an amazing concept well executed and great performance by Natalie Portman and others.
7 Khoon Maaf is tad gimmickry driven, although the premise is interesting it is led down by predictable linear screen play. Although Priyanka Chopra was valiant enough to attempt this but the role was way out of her league.

Some Movie Gems which deserved better and some movies which could have been better !

One of my favorite passions is watching movies, I have a great threshold for pain, I can watch any B grade hindi potboiler or a dubbed southern movie for kicks. On a serious note, there have been some great movies which audiences never appreciated. Also some movies I seriously wished the directors had done a better job of since I watched them with so many expectations only to be led down.

Luck by Chance (Director Zoya Akhtar)

One of the most layered and character driven script written and executed in recent Hindi cinema, it is tale of 3 struggling actors and how each one makes individual choices with varying degrees of success in the film industry. The fickle relationships and ease with which star kids get a privileged entry into cinema is well treated. With a number of stars playing cameos Luck by Chance drives home a subtle message, success is not easy, one has to work for it and even if one is hard working, the ability to create visibility and networking is crucial only then does Luck favor you. Farhan Akhtar is aggressive attends film parties, builds contacts with producers and charms the star-kid co-star while his friend believes in honing his art and doing theater. It’s any one guess who succeeds in the end.

Mumbai Meri Jaan (Director Nishikant Kamat)

An ensemble cast of how people reacted to the July train blast in Mumbai, how an unemployed Hindu youth Kay Kay becomes a bigot, why a true blue Mumbaikar Madhavan cannot take a local train again, why a poor man Irfan Khan who is denied entry into malls makes fake phone calls to spread panic and fear. How Soha Ali Khan a journalist who loses her fiancé in the blast is exploited by own channel by asking the most obvious and vulgar question “Aap ko kaise lag raha hai ?”. The best performance belong to Paresh Rawal a police havaldar who has seen the old Mumbai where there was no fear and how he could go inside the airport with his wife to see the planes take off. That one line conveys how India and world were once at peace when terror and fear was not part of our daily lexicon.

Iruvar -the Duo (Director Mani Ratnam)

Fantastic biography of Tamil Nadu’s two popular chief ministers Karunanidhi and MGR, the tale of 2 friends who rose from obscurity in cinema and then made the leap to politics and finally ambition got the better of their friendship. The movie also highlighted the multiple affairs the men had and was not an air dashed eulogy. Predictably it was opposed by supporters of both political parties and it bombed at the box office. Ashwiarya Rai played the young Jayalalitha in the movie and years later when Simi Grewal interviewed Jayalalitha, she admitted she did like Ash to play her role in a biopic.

Anbe Sivam (Director C Sundar)

The tale of 2 men an atheist communist Kamal Hassan and a god fearing ad-man Madhavan and how they come to understand each other’s point of view over a course of journey from Bhubaneswar to Chennai. Instead of seeking God externally; one should realize that love and selflessness of a fellow human being is the true manifestation of God. In the climax when the henchman realizes his folly and does not kill Kamal as instructed, Kamal said he is no longer an atheist he just saw God in him.

Rocket Singh – Salesman of the Year (Shimit Amin)

Very few Indian movies focus on an office story and very few explore the life of a salesman. Rocket Singh was a take on why companies resort to corruption and fake promise instead of delivering genuine products and building lasting relationships. Towards the end of the movie, Ranbir Kapoor tells his nemesis and former boss, “You cannot run a company on numbers alone, you need the people to come along”. Although the movie is bit indulgent and has dialogues repetitive the authentic depiction of typical characters in an office and cynical bosses was very good.

Movies which didn’t work

There are some movies which I am sure when the director and script writers began with the concept it must have seemed fantastic on the story board but somewhere in execution the movie went for a toss. I feel with a bit more of control and focus on character development these movies could have been classics.

Raavan

When there is enough of blogs on the internet panning this movie, but the relationship between Beera (Abhishek) and Ragini (Ash) could have handled more maturely. It seems Mani Ratnam copped out from presenting a bold love story. Also there was no back story for either Ram and Ravaan characters or justification for the choices they make. Visually the movie was stunting but undone by the weak screen play.

London Dreams

The plot is about two best friends Ajay Devgan who is ambitious and hardworking whilst Salman is talented and easy going. The jealousy which Ajay experiences when faced with his own best friend Salman effortless success in his chosen field and his subsequent treachery was a nice premise which was squandered.

Tashan

The original B-Movie with outrageous heroes and villains set in lawless land. The movie was meant to be kitschy movie which of the 80’s &90’s like Tridev and Main Khiladi Tu Anari . Instead of been a parody or high octane action comedy instead it stuck to a very predictable plot franking boring. However action movies are back with hits like Ghanjini and Wanted doing well these days.

Salaam-e- Ishq

Remake of the extremely popular English movie Love-Actually, but it was led down terribly by weak subplots and predictable performances. Clearly Nikhil Advani proved to be one movie wonder after making a decent movie like Kal ho Na Ho, he delivered 2 flops back to back like Salaam-e-Ishq and Chandini Chowk to China.

There is a Dev D in all of us somewhere ….

Needless to say, my last weekend's watch was Dev D and it was not a waste of my money or time. Although I would not call it a classic by any stretch of imagination but definitely it is a creative fare with wonderful music and contemporary story telling avoiding cliches in the narrative. The most refreshing aspects was the characterization, the choices reflect free will, in cases people may seem flawed but still no one seeks refuge behind the excuse of fate or family pressure.

The character of Dev D does not create any sympathy for himself and rightly so. He is a selfish, pathetic arrogant soul who gets his just desserts. Paro is fiesty and quickly moves on her life without brooding too long. Anyways I do not want in more detail about the movie as it already has great reviews and I do not want to add to that list.

Coming to the question, why is Dev D the ninth adaption of the old novel about a coward who did not have the guts to fight for his love and dies a broke alcoholic so appealing to the film makers and film goers as well.

Possible reasons why Dev D is so popular

• He is extremely arrogant and realizes his only folly in hindsight

• He cribs a lot and wallows in self pity

• He is neurotic and guilt trips Paro, his family by his chronic lethargy and self destructive habits

• He gets to booze first thing in the morning ( yeah many people would like that :P am sure )

• He derives pleasure in his own self inflicted pain and assumes he is doing a great sacrifice

In all the reasons, mentioned below many of us have experinced a similar emotion. It may not necessarily a lost love (GF/BF variety), It could be missing out on a dream job, vacation or promotion. Although conventional wisdom suggests we should dust ourselves and keep moving on, there is a morbid pleasure in cribbing and lying on the floor and drawing self sympathy and attention of others.

The overdosing need not be just be on alcohol, it can be over focusing on the job, excessive shopping or even calling up friends/family and restating the same old story on how tragic your life is. In this sorrow you find the purpose of your life, that you are alone in the world and you alone have faced such a calamity. In some way the world, God is against you and you are being victimized. This feeling makes you feel important and wanted some how. Any kind of advice sane or otherwise is just brushed off and you continue on the same vein. In a way, it is a classic attention seeking behaviour to pander to personal ego.

That is the precise reason, why Dev D is so integral to all of us, he reminds to us how as humans we all are fallible and can be petty enough to be self destructive. Dev D is about been stupid,egoistic and on top of it being proud about it.

As the movie Dev D ended on a surprising happy note, let us also find our own redemption and the inner strength to fight the Dev D in us from entirely taking over our life. Life is tough, it does not become any better with a lousy attitude.

“All of us are lying in a gutter, Only few of us are looking at the stars” - Oscar Wilde

Slumdog Millionnaire – an ode to Bollywood and Western Cliches

Finally I succumbed to the intense hype around the Slumdog Millionaire and especially regarding the music of A.R Rahman winning the Global Globe. Before I go into details about what I thought about the movie, I will say one thing, the movie was engaging even if I do not consider as the most classic movie of the year.

The plot is about a 18 year old slum kid who works as chai wala in a call centre knows all the answers to questions in KBC because each answer lies in his past experiences in life.

Reasons why the movie worked for me

• A. R Rahman demonstrates a wonderful range in his score, an amalgamation from pure western tracks, gangster rap to Ringa Ringa – an unabashed tribute to Lakshmikant Pyaarlal's Choli ke Peeche.

• The kids who play the role of slum kids in the beginning of the movie are simply adorable and make it seem so real

• Anil Kapoor although with a limited role as the game show host who cannot accept the chaiwallah making a fortune, the insecurities, fake friendliness and underlying prejudice was very convincing.

Reasons why the movie did not work for me

• It puts in all the cliches the western world perceives India is all about- the slums, rioting, tourists getting ripped off, the Taj Mahal and off course their latest pet peeve Indian call centres

• The story is too sugary with all villains miraculously getting punished and the guy gets the girl against all odds and he doesn't even care about the millions he makes in the process. If it was a true blue Hindi movie, people would have taken much more pot shots about it.

• Dev Patel who plays the 'slumdog' seems way too sophisticated and his British accent doesn't add credibility to his performance at all.

• The character of Salim the elder brother is very quirky and uneven he plays the role by being Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde to bring twists to this movie and deliver the final happy ending.

In summary, it is a good old Hindi Potboiler which would make any Bollywood director proud while pandering to the stereotypes which the West thinks about India. It does make a valid point about how the slum kids in India actually face life in passing. The entire thin plot is summarized which also explains why this movie has become such a phenomenon probably it was destined to succeed.

Because It was written ….

P.S : I would really glad if an Indian movie would succeed in the global market without it having to rely on the poverty and dark side of India society but showcase India as an emerging superpower.

Of Bhandarkar's Fashion and the 'fashionable' thing to do ....

For this blog, I thought I would shift focus on my other major interest which is off course movies diverting from the philosophical rants of the first 2 blogs. The movie I caught up recently was Madhur Bhandarkar's Fashion, I cannot say I was very eagerly looking forward to it.

What can you expect when the promos pretty much summed up the movie, "you have to loose more than just your morales", really in Bhandarkar's view nothing comes easy especially success !

Several movie critics gave this movie a must watch and 3 star ratings considering the good reputation Mr. Bhandarkar has made for making 'realistic' movies.

The reasons the movie didn't work for me ......

• the predictable plot, a small town girl has dreams , she tastes success early, she brushes off her good friends and loving boy friend, has an affair with a powerful business man and then fails professionally and personally and in the end makes a fairytale comeback.
  
• Kangana Ranagaut's perfected melancholic alcoholic girl gone bad act after Gangster, Life in a Metro does not cut much ice either and its really repetitive
  
• You really don't feel any sympathy for Priyanka's character because she succeeds without any compromises and picks up all the bad habits and short comings after she becomes the supermodel .... the saying "how you treat people who cannot hurt you tells a lot about you applies here"
  
• The usual stereotypes galore all designers are gay and all rich media tycoons hit on women .and many more supportive mom , strict dad etc
  
• finally the length of 3 hours more makes the ordeal seem much longer.
  

Apart from what I thought about the movie itself , there are two points to ponder .....

Why do people want to get into the glamour industry if its so bad and evil ??

The most basic aspect of humanity is the ego and the degree of inherent narcissism. I mean if you cannot stop checking your self out in a mirror daily, then imagine the high you can get to be featured on a magazine cover or a billboard.

Secondly a bit of attention in college or a beauty pageant perhaps accentuates that feeling/craving for attention which drives people to a field with such a small window for success.
In cases, people do end up rationalizing the means does justifies the end.

Why do the common folks deride the glamour industry vehemently and do follow the gossip columns even more religiously ??

The outsider view of the fashion industry ... how tough can it get to sway down the ramp in fancy clothes which you cannot wear on most occasions and have a hazzar flashbulbs and give a 100 watt smile and appear in page 3 dos, perhaps a inherent tinge of jealous fuels this feeling.

The second aspect is the holier than thou attitude to look down at the glamour industry, that they indulge in drinks, drugs and sleep around, basically to stereotype people and run them down.

The reason why the two questions are relavent to this discussion, so what must have prompted Madhur Bhandarkar to make this movie 'Fashion'? I really wished it was the exploration of the first question, unfortunately the movie plays to the gallery and doesn't rise beyond the obvious.

Perhaps Fashion as a standalone movie would have been refreshing, but as a follow up to Corporate, Satta and Page 3 , it seems more like a standard Bhandarkar formula and definitely not the reality.

Atleast in Chandini bar you can sympathize with the characters considering the poverty and situations, for urban educated characters in the other movies who know what they are getting into, I cannot shed a tear...