Yeah, this is what I’ve been doing as part of work over the last few days… Life can be tough you know… 😀
1. Karkash:
Was wondering what Suchitra Pillai was doing in that movie until the later half of the movie! 😀 Usually, if you’re watching a film about an oppressed rural woman, whose husband abuses and cheats on her, you expect the woman, especially in a festival film to
a. leave him. walk out on him, Astitva types.
b. take revenge on him.
c. cheat on him having an affair
d. kill him.
But this one, ladies and gentlemen, defies all standard rules of Indian parallel cinema and has a rather… er… ahem ahem… over-the-top solution…
e. She f***s his brains out and he becomes a good man! Waah! Just one more point to prove what simple needs men have… ha ha!
But I don’t think any woman in Indian cinema, has had the guts to shoot the lovemaking scene the way Suchitra has… Not even Mallika Sherawat! cuz, this one’s not about nudity as much as it is about passion! Hawt!!
2. Manasarovar:
Anup Kurian won a lot of critical acclaim for this one, including the Gollapudi Srinivas Memorial National award for Best Debutant Director. And you can see why.
It’s a very simple story of unrequited love and rural-urban disconnect shown with great depth and intensity. It can’t get more real than this. But Anup denies that it has anything to do with reality. “Entirely fiction,” he said.
Watch the movie and you’d think he’s lying!
Fantastic performances by Atul Kulkarni and Neha Dubey.
3. Tesis (Thesis):
This Spanish movie I went to watch at the Chennai International Film Festival cuz it’s directed by Alejandro Amenabar, the guy who made ‘Abre Los Ojos’…
And wow! Awesome… What seems like a script one would write in film school is fleshed out with great detail, with the suspense wrapped with reels and reels of mystery. A film student writing a thesis on violence comes across this snuff video (like the 8mm movie) and begins investigating, only to get drawn into the web of psycho killers who film how they torture and kill their victims. Not as good as ‘Abre Los Ojos’ but certainly worth a watch.
4. Well Tempered Corpses (Bosnian):
Can anyone else make films on death with such irreverence? Trust a war-ravaged country to do it. This one begins in a morgue with the docs on duty placing a bet on how many corpses will arrive that nite before 1 a.m. Four of them arrive and the movie cuts back to four parallel stories each of them about one of those brought dead. It cuts back to the morgue for a hilarious climax. All four stories are connected and you can’t help but go Wow!! It’s a commentary on the state of affairs post war… its profound, dark and gives a detailed insight on life and death in Bosnia.
5. Life is a Miracle (Serbian):
This one from the neighbouring country is the exact opposite of the previous film and good I saw them back to back. If the previous one’s is on a bleak post-war near-death scenario, this one celebrates life during war. It’s a classic, which has to go right up there with the likes of Life is Beautiful. The imagery is captivating, the love story is most passionate and director Emir Kusturica is a genious, especially the love scenes — the best you can ever find, outside of a porn film, ha ha!
6. Bluffmaster:
This had the best lines we’ve heard in a Hindi film of late. It’s a story told with refreshing casual coolness and a laidback pace. Where it falters is in the plot. Also, watching Bluffmaster, you can see the numerous nods to his sources of inspiration: Vanilla Sky, Fight Club, Jerry Maguire, Oceans Eleven, The Game and the local ones too: Sholay, Shaan, Do aur Do Paanch. There’s just one reason however to watch this in the theatre: Nana Patekar!! And Abhishek too does a wonderfully underplayed role. Rohan Sippy is a neat director, now he just needs a good script! Shridhar Raghavan is a good screenwriter too, his lines rock… now he just needs a good plot!
7. Kanda Naal Mudhal:
The best romantic comedy I’ve seen in Tamil in recent times.
If ‘Minnale,’ the story about two sworn enemies in love with one girl was any indication of what Gautam is capable of, then ‘Kanda Naal Mudhal,’ the story of two best buddies involved in one girl who is one’s sworn enemy, is ample indication of the phenomenal talent of debutant director Priya. True that she’s been aided by the best technicians in the business and she has a definite Mani Ratnam hangover (she was his associate) but Priya’s original style and sensitivity comes out in the face-offs between the leading pair, who have given mind blowing performances. Prasanna especially delivers the performance of the year with his now-subtle, now-intense casual performance, breathing life and love into a well-etched out role.
Must watch! Just forgive the mandatory heart-attack sentiment, derived from Mani’s movies and you will totally enjoy this film!
8. Vaah! Life Ho To Aisi:
Some one tell Shahid Kapur that he aint Shah Rukh Khan. He seems to be convinced that he IS Shah Rukh Khan trapped inside Shahid’s body.
This movie mixes Mr.India with Koi Mil Gaya and Ghost with Hanuman Chalisa and Indian mythology and thinks people will enjoy it even if it does not have a well-fleshed out plot.
So as a result we have invisible superhero ghosts who protect their family with the help of Yamraaj M.A. (Sanjay Dutt) a cross between Munna Bhai and some failed Brit actor, so much that when Sanjay actually appears at the end of the movie, you can’t tell the difference between the character Yamraaj and the actor!
Dumb kids will love the film… the others wouldn’t mind watching it on TV.
9.Sandaikozhi:
Why did I go for this movie in the first place???
Cuz my friend M took me hostage.
But it wasn’t all that bad BUT for that thing out there which is tall, dark and ugly as hell. He tries hard to act but that certainly aint his department.
But for this producer’s son in the film, Sandaikozhi is a film with wasted potential. The direction is pretty neat, so is the pace and the secondary characters. Now, if only it had someone else in the lead!
10. Zubin Mehta concert:
Echooz me, they said he’s a conductor… but he dint issue tickets for the show..
And he didn’t play any instruments, he just kept swinging his stick, making faces at his orchestra while it tried hard to concentrate on the notes kept in front!
Kuchi-aataruthukku evalo build-up ah? (So much hype for just swinging a stick?)
Lol!
Seriously, awesome show… mind-blowing to say the least… loved every second of the concert!
There is no better high than the one live music provides!
MADRAS INK. 