India Masala

Mod: An intricate tale of love

Nagesh Kukunoor’s “Mod” is simple, yet intricate and extremely powerful cinema that combines his directorial skills with an interesting cast and a story that stays with you long after it is over.

Andy, who introduces himself as a classmate from school, begins visiting Aaranya on the pretext of repairing his watch. Soon they begin spending more time with each other and Aaranya even introduces him as her boyfriend to her aunt.

All seems well until one day, Andy ignores Aaranya as she calls out to him in the market. She follows him and sees him walk inside a recovery home. She returns, puzzled, concluding that she fell in love with a mentally unstable man. Her aunt allays her fears momentarily and asks her to find out the truth.

Wanting to know more about Andy, Aaranya visits her school and makes a shocking discovery.

Aashayein: Don’t hope for much

Nagesh Kukunoor’s “Aashayein is one of those films that you will forget the minute you leave the theatre – there isn’t much in the film that will keep you gripped from start to end, but it isn’t so repelling that you want to get out of the theatre and leave. For a film that is supposed to tug at your heartstrings, this one barely manages to touch them, and except for a few moments, hardly any of the characters or their stories make an impact on you. John Abraham plays Rahul, a compulsive gambler and cricket better who wins a large sum of money and just as he is planning to spend it, he discovers that has lung cancer and only three months to live. Angry at the world, he leaves his city apartment, his fiancée and friends and heads to a hospice where people come to spend their last days. Of course, he meets a whole host of characters who make him realise how precious life is. He also makes friends with a rebellious teenager, Padma, who also has cancer. Together the two of them start a wish fairy club, and go about fulfilling the wishes of all the inmates in the centre. Rahul also befriends Govinda, a young kid with supernatural powers, we are told, who gives him cryptic messages about some tasks that he has to follow. We are then shown dream sequences where John Abraham is stuck in a dungeon with badly made-up ghosts and searching for a elusive whip, of all things. This, it is safe to say is the most ridiculous part of the script. This dream is supposed to represent Rahul’s search in real life, but it ends up looking ridiculous. John Abraham tries hard to make this one work, and Anahita Nair as Padma is very good. The supporting cast, which includes accomplished actors like Girish Karnad and Farida Jalal are under-used and stuck with limited roles. Also, if you are making a film like this, please don’t show us clippings of “Anand” within the film. It will only remind the audience of how your film doesn’t even match up to 100th of the Hrishikesh Mukherjee classic. This is one of those films best watched on television when you have nothing much to do.

Nagesh Kukunoor’s “Aashayein” is one of those films that you will forget the minute you leave the theatre – there isn’t much in the film that will keep you gripped from start to end, but it isn’t so repelling that you want to get out of the theatre and leave.

For a film that is supposed to tug at your heartstrings, this one barely manages to touch them and except for a few moments, hardly any of the characters or their stories make an impact on you.

Tasveer: Not so picture perfect

 

There are films that grab you instantly and don’t let you go till the credits roll. There are those that start off on a great note but lose the plot midway. And then there are those which don’t start off on a good note, nor do they end on one.

Nagesh Kukunoor’s “Tasveer” falls in the third category. The film starts off at a sluggish pace, but by the time the second half rolls in, it graduates into a half-decent thriller and you start to think that Kukunoor may be on to something after all. You are wrong. But we will get to that in a bit.