As the Enthiran fever grips us one and all… let us remind you why there wonly won Rajni the Superstar!
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Rajni fever…
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What’s wrong Mani sir?
To begin with, let me not review this film.
I know lots of critics, bloggers alike have ripped it apart and maybe told good things alike.
I have heard more negatives about this film than the positives.
“No, don’t watch it!”
“Mani Ratnam got it completely wrong this time”
“What a waste of a movie”
“I can’t imagine a sensible director making such a lousy film”
“Raavanan? A mistake I did watching it!”
“God my 2 KD went down the drain”
And the whining continued… To the extent that I wowed not to watch this flop of movie ever.
But that freak in me told myself to give it a try and so I did.
I guess even after a year’s release of this movie, I would have managed to write this feature since I am hear to show a deaf ear to all those guys who are still out there ripping apart in shreds a gem of this movie into various bits and shreds.
Poor Mani Ratnam!
I guess talent, name, fame comes with a price. Even when he announced this feature… the critique, blogging continued about this venture and and rest as we all know is history. Movie got released and none I know of till date, liked this movie.
This is where I’d like to come in.
I loved this movie. Quite simply. I mean the Tamil version… Raavanan. And I truly consider this work of his art as one of his best works.
From the starting till the finish… I was quite hooked on to the story. I mean yeah, there are loop holes, some glitches here and there… come on…, let’s give this guy his due. Raavanan is not a bad film at all!
The characterizations of Vikram and Aishwarya are spot on giving some amazing and credible performances. The others do matter and don’t mostly. They matter less and mostly don’t matter and hence I’d not really get into that. That’s where I felt Mani Sir could have given little more thought. But then that’s still okay since most of the films these days do not follow the most common sense and why should we just rip Mani Sir for that sake?
The film has a certain coldness to it which I could feel from the beginning to the end. That’s Raavanan’s character and that kind of encapsulates the entire frames of the movie all the time. The dense jungles, the greenery, the wilderness, the rawness are very well captured in the film. There are few other characters who come and go and in my opinion did well for whatever was written from them. Prabhu, Vaiyapuri (As the Eunuch), Priya Mani lent enough support to carry the story forward. The roles of Prithviraj as Ram and Karthik as Hanuman could have been well written and this is where the movie kind of falters (Though not majorly… but could have been well thought of!)
But I am glad for not having seen the film in Hindi.
I am sure it would not be even ten percent worth for what it was in Tamil. And I just cannot see Abhishek Bachchan in the role of Raavan. It reminds me of a school kid striking a pose in a fancy dress competition.
Music of AR Rahman as usual grows on you.
After listening to them umpteen number of times and then when you watch the film you tend to like the songs in the film. Background score too plays an integral part of the film and has been woven very will into the movie.
Camera work by Santosh Sivan/ V. Manikandan deserves a special mention. This movie wouldn’t have been even half of what it is with out its cinematography something which Mani Ratnams films are good at.
Sequences such as Aishwarya’s intro scene on a boat is just too good, The shot where the camera is held under water and both the boats (Aishwarya and Vikram’s) approach each other, Aishwarya jumping off from the cliff, The rotating shot of Vikram on a lake with the kids… requires special attention.
Dialogues are raw and intense at times. Very well written by Suhasini mani Ratnam.
I missed having watched this film on a big screen.
Dear reader, I truly advise you to watch this film on a big screen or maybe a very good copy that you can get hold of.
If you have already seen it I can’t help much in convincing you otherwise but I am thoroughly impressed with the film.
What’s wrong Mani Sir?
How come you make films for people who like Anniyan, Sivaji, Pokkiri, Villu etc?
My rating
***1/2 out of 5
Director: Mani Rathnam
Camera: Santosh Sivan/ V Manikandan
Starring: Vikram, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Prithviraj, Prabhu, Karthik, Priya Mani
Music: AR Rahman
Lyrics: Vairamuthu
Dialogues: Suhasini Mani Rathnam
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A movie for all the right reasons!
When was the last time you remember having waiting for a movie.
An experience that would change the way you’ve seen anything unlike before.
I remember the longing we all had for Jaws, Star wars in the 70′s, E.T, Indiana Jones in the 80′s, Titanic, Jurassic Park in the 90′s, Matrix, Lord of the Rings trilogy in the millenium and the more recent Avatar.
If we look at these films during those path breaking decades, each of these films had a vision. A vision that would transcend all barriers that could otherwise slowdown the pace, the technicalities of making films in a traditional sense!
Star wars was and is still considered to be one of the most prolific and visionary movie of it’s Genre.
Same goes for Matrix where a single action scene was shot across various angles which would become a trend for most of the films to follow. Such a technique was unimaginable before Matrix. And now it’s become a norm for most action and thrillers.
Coming to Lord of the Rings, the book written by JRR Tolkien. Such a piece of fiction cannot be literally brought to life on screen. To bring words and put them as pictures was not an easy task. Peter Jackson broke the usual norms of conventional film making. Peter Jackson sourced out each and every artist who had contributed some images for the original work. It was not an easy task. Each of these artists had dispersed and moved on with life. I guess the movie saw the light of the day once all these immensely talented artists were brought together to create an unimaginable magic onscreen. Each frame of the movie was captured at a particular location with this creative group of people who sat together and brainstormed as to how the sceen would look and then sets were created accordingly.
And as we all know LOTR went on to win major oscars for all the three films.
The much recent Avatar has not only broken all time box office records. A special camera was actually invented during the filming of this movie. This camera is tied around the actor and it captures each and every nuance of the actor in terms of their facial expression which gives amazing and realistic looking scenes in the film. The film is an experience by itself. Now most of the films to follow (Atleast the major ones) will be shot in 3D which has caught up big time with viewers alike. Similarly most prominent films might be re introduced on a 3D version. Even the TV technology today is gearing up towards this concept…
So what else should we expect as viewers? Is there anything new that we can expect? Or we have seen enough and we all guess that this is the end of creativity in terms watching a film?
I guess as long as we as humans have the capacity to think and go beyond selfless norms, to have a vision, mission and the will to follow dreams… there is always a possibility of exceeding everyone’s expectations!
Having said that the only worthy concept that comes to my mind is the great epic “Mahabharata”
I guess no matter what we see in terms of a myth, mystery or adventure… each of them would in a way be similar to what we have seen the past in terms of their look and feel…
Mahabharata goes beyond all that.
Mahabharata has a major story line and various sub-plots within the main story. A trilogy would just work perfect.
Now, imagine this movie on a big screen. The finest actors we have in Indian cinema today. You name the actors and they all are there. (The list would be too much to mention, but yes, the best ones we all know who they are)
It should be a trilogy. Shot one after the other. A collaboration of minds and not egos! A creative vision and not just a financial one.
The best directors (Mani Ratnam, Vishal Bharadwaj, Bala, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Ashutosh Gowarikar and various other regional visionary directors) The best music directors (AR Rahman, Shankar-Ehsan-Loy, Amit Trivedi, Illaiyaraja just to name a few) The best lyricists (Gulzaar saab, Javed Akhtar, Prasoon Joshi etc)
Each and every department should work towards getting the best and the most talented and above all the most deserving candidate.
Corporates should join in to finance this project showing their solidarity, integrity towards such a project.
This will be multilingual film as it has to be shot in various languages to make it to national viewing.
This will be the face of modern India. The one that the west is yet to experience.
Are we really ready to do this?
I guess the answer is a Yes and big No?
Yes, because we are still a very talented lot. We still make movies that attract a lot of international attention. Our premise is different. Music, Colors, Drama et all
A big no. Yes a very Big NO, I would say.
Let’s first give talent its due credit. Most of the award ceremonies that we see today are a farce. A group trying to impress the most happening person in the industry. Let’s first get away from that.
Secondly, let’s first have a great story, a good screenplay, a great cast, crew and a vision!
I guess we have got the first and third. What we need is the second and the last in the list.
Are we ready to keep working on the script and the screenplay till we know that we have achieved that perfection?
The best movies were not done in months or even few years.
They were fruits of labor that were conceived by passionate men who were ready for anything to better their chances of creating that episodes in time.
To begin with, do we have that patience?
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Aall izz well… with 3 idiots!
A story about chasing your dreams…
A story about friendship…
A story about the importance of learning and not studies…
A story about chasing excellence…
I have not read the book “Five point someone by Chetan Bhagat” but this movie is loosely based on this novel and well adapted to the big screen.
The three idiots central to the film are Farhan, Raju and Rancho. The story goes in a narrative style with the voice of Farhan (R Madhavan) as he encounters on a journey with his college buddy Raju (Sharman Joshi) and Chatur (Omi Vaidya) who are on their way to meet Rancho (Aamir Khan) the free spirited and smart-ass amongst all the students.
The entire story unfolds in a flashback mode as these three friends approach their destination to meet Rancho which blends seamlessly into the story telling!
The story tells us the journey about these three friends who join the engineering college and how their attitudes change towards their careers and in turn their friendship forms the crux of the movie. The college Principal Viru Sahasrabuddhe (Boman Irani) is always at loggerheads with Rancho and the other friends. They fondly call him Virus. Pia (Kareena Kapoor) is the daughter of the principal and love eventually blossoms between her and Rancho!
I do not want to limit this post by revealing the entire plot and hence would like to tell you the highlights of the film…
This movie sure has raked enough moolah and much higher than what Ghajini did during its release. So I guess this is a declared hit.
The positives first…
Kudos to the team of Raju Hirani and Abhijat Joshi for penning some of the most memorable, witty, slapstick lines in this film.
This is truly a writer/ director’s film. Nowhere do you get to see Aamir overpowering the entire film inspite of the film revolving completely around him.
A 40+ year old pulling off a college lad is not a joke and one has to commend Aamir for easily transforming himself into this loveable Rancho with so much ease! Imagine shedding off the Ghajini six pack abs and then playing badminton continuously for 3 months to be in fit and form like a college lad is what only an Aamir can do!
With so many movies oft repeated in the same formula style ala Dil Chahata Hai, Rang De Basanti… etc, I really wondered if there’s anything more to be done with this kind of premise and with Raju Hirani holding the baton… he does it well and in full splendor!
This movie does have some awesome moments to begin with…
- Watch the speech by Chatur… truly rocking!
- Whenever the story revolves around Raju’s family, it is shown in B/W… watch it to know why?
- Raju’s interview scene
- Farhan’s discussion with his dad
- Rancho’s first meeting with Pia (Kareena Kapoor)
- Rancho is asked to take up a class by Viru Sahasrabuddhe
- Raju admitted in the hospital and how Rancho brings him back to life… Simply awesome!
- MM or Manmohan or Milli meter… leaves quite a mark!
- First it was Jaadoo ki Jhappi in Munnabhai MBBS, Next it was Gandhigiri in Lage raho, now with Aal izz well… Raju Hirani scored a hat trick!
Yes, this film does fall into its own trap here and there…
I guess with such directorial liberties, sometimes it takes you too far…
The “Aall izz well” situations seemed too put on rather than taking it up to a certain level (Unlike the Jaado ki Jhappi or Gandhigiri in his earlier films)
Who said you can really go to any lengths with the college professors (Like peeing on their doorsteps, stealing exam papers) which goes a tad too far!
Rancho’s character ends being unidimensional and does not really show much shades. Being produced in Bollywood Rancho ends up being the quintessential hero who solves all the problems of his peers while nothing really happens to him inspite of some over-the-top situations! I guess this is a typical Bollywood problem and we still can’t do much about it! We expect our hero to rise above anything and that’s what Rancho does… and with Rancho being Aamir… You can imagine the pressure!
You don’t expect the songs to be great in a Raju Hirani film! His movies are too good to care about songs… But if they are any good then it’s just an added bonus.
Well, besides Aal izz well, there are no great songs worth humming…
I guess 3 idiots would truly end this year on a very high note. And just another feather in Aamir, Raju Hirani, Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s cap! Besides the box office status, 3 idiots still remains the best movie of this year.
Coming out of the theatre, going back home and then waking up in the morning I guess I couldn’t recollect much scenes from this film although I thoroughly enjoyed them at the theatre. I don’t know if I will watch it once again…
But you know what?
Aal izz well… is what you feel when you watch 3 idiots!
3 Idiots
My rating **** out of 5 (4 out of 5)
Director – Raju Hirani
Writers – Raju Hirani/ Abhijat Joshi
Music – Shantanu Moitra
Lyrics – Swanand Kirkire
Starring – Aamir Khan, R Madhavan, Sharman Joshi, Boman Irani, Kareena Kapoor, Omi Vaidya
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Sholay… in less than 55 words
Sholay remains the ultimate Bollywood movie of all times.
That’s when I got inspired to write a story of this film in less than 55 words…
Hope you like it!
Jai-Veeru are notoriously famous convicts.
…Yeh dosti…
Thakur summons them, he has a plan!
…Mehbooba….
Gabbar took everything from Thakur.
Family, happiness, peace, his hands!
Village is always quiet!
Basanti, the love of Veeru’s life.
She talks for hours.
Jai is attracted to Radha, Thakur’s widow.
Happiness prevails.
Thakur finally kills Gabbar.
Alas, Jai dies
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