India Masala
Bollywood and culture in an emerging India
Mausam: Several seasons too old
If director Pankaj Kapur hadn’t gone to pains to establish that “Mausam” plays out between the mid-90s and the early years of this century, you’d be forgiven for thinking this film takes place in the 20s — when there was no internet, no phones and no technology. Why else would two, reasonably well-off, intelligent people who obviously have access to technology be unable to trace each other? It makes no sense, and instead of feeling sad for them, you feel frustrated.
That, in a nutshell, is how you feel about “Mausam” anyway. The promos describe the film as an “epic” love story, but the only thing epic here is the running time. The film runs for almost three hours, during which Kapur plays out the same meet-separate-meet-separate theme till you tire of it.
Shahid Kapur plays Harinder (Harry), an outgoing young lad in rural Punjab who falls for the mysterious new girl in town Aayat (Sonam Kapoor). Over stolen glances and secret letters, they fall for each other and Kapur builds up this part of the romance really well. For the first 45 minutes, you like this love story. Then, he starts taking himself too seriously, and loses the plot.
Kapur weaves in significant events from India’s history in the storyline, so that just as Harry and Aayat are about to confess their love for each other, the Babri Masjid is destroyed and her family moves out overnight, not even leaving a forwarding address. They only meet seven years later, in picturesque Scotland, where he is now an Indian Air Force pilot and she’s running a shop with her father and his best friend.
A few romantic songs and scenes later, just as they are about to decide on a wedding date, the Kargil war strikes and Harry leaves — without so much as a phone call — and again, no forwarding address. Aayat calls his sister once, but when she finds an answering machine, gives up, and doesn’t think of calling her again.
And so it goes on. When the war gets over and Harry looks for her, he finds that she has moved from Scotland … and you guessed it, left no forwarding address.
The fact that the lovers and their families are affected by everything from the 1984 riots, the Babri Masjid demolition, the Mumbai bomb blasts, the Kargil War and the Gujarat riots is a bit too much to handle. The pace of the film is indulgent and Kapur lingers on many moments. While some of them work, some don’t. The romance is very old world, and while that is charming, the problem begins when things turn serious.
Milenge Milenge: Outdated and unwatchable
Watching “Milenge Milenge” is like finishing an entire bottle of tomato ketchup. Ketchup that was manufactured a decade or two earlier. So eating it/watching this movie will ensure that a) you won’t enjoy it and b) it will be harmful to your health because the product is long past its expiry date.
This is one of those films that didn’t get released at a time when it should have — that is when Kareena Kapoor’s peroxide hair was in vogue, landlines were more in use than mobiles and sequined dresses were considered fashionable.
Unfortunately, like all of the above, this film is way past its “best before” date and hence almost entirely unwatchable. Kareena Kapoor plays Priya Malhotra, an incredibly gullible girl who decides she wants to spend the rest of her life with a boy based on the three days she spends with him.
Shahid Kapur plays Immy, an incredibly arrogant young man, who thinks he can get a girl to fall in love with him by lying to her and pretending to be holier-than-thou.
Somehow, the two fall in love but when it becomes clear that Immy is a drinking, cigarette-smoking liar (all qualities Priya hates), she dumps him.
When he pleads with Priya to get her back, she decides to let destiny decide their fate. This somehow involves a 50-rupee note and a 30-rupee book on numerology. Don’t ask me to explain further.
Immy doesn’t agree initially, pointing out their meeting is destined because they meet at a mall which is called ‘Destiny’. It gets better but don’t let me spoil the fun.
Paathshala: Punished for three hours
If any real-life kids went to the school shown in Milind Ukey’s “Paathshaala”, you can be sure they would hardly get any studying done. Instead they would be busy dancing, singing, ogling at teachers, romancing and participating in reality TV shows.
The teachers in this school aren’t any better — they also sing, dance, wear inappropriate clothes and generally do everything but the things you are expected to do in a school.
Director Ukey may have wanted to make a film on the ills of the education system (like “3 Idiots”, “Taare Zameen Par”) but instead manages to make a manual on “how not to make a film”.
“Paathshaala” starts off with the principal of a boarding school, Aditya Sahai (Nana Patekar), calling his staff and telling them the school would be undergoing some changes in order to “progress”.
These changes include the students giving up studies and participating in reality TV shows so that the school gets publicity (Yes, really).
They also involve the kids being made to participate in auditions for TV ads and cruel directors who want the kids to get hurt and cry so that they will get higher TRPs. Where do they come up with such things?
As you can imagine, “Paathshaala” is an incoherent mess of a film which takes a serious issue and manages to run it to the ground.
I haven’t watched the film but if Shilpa has written so then I would appreciate the total outcome of the film-”Paathshala”. I mean why we all study?? to earn our livelihoods in a better way so what if the Principal of such school is preparing children from the beginning and the aspiring truth about Indian Studies in general is you mug up all and puke some in the Exam-Hall. Remember some and forget all. Look around and you will find MBA’s everywhere but what they do? MNC’s in the name of aspiring career give them targets, HR guys has the target of recruitment/finding right guys/interviews besides daily routine operations within, Finance guys are now not left as they are part of Global Marketing Department and not much difference has been left between Sales & Marketing and Finance guys. Journalists- scoop, scoop, scoop and more scoop….
So, its all about boasting yourselves, be a part of recognizable society, being in the news, being one of the known personality.
So you have to decide whether to be like me commenting some blogs or “Shilpa Jamkhandikar”- a journalist writing some Masala Blogs or “Shahid Kapur”- hearthrob of India. No Offense Shilpa
Chance Pe Dance: Fails to rise above ordinary
Ken Ghosh’s “Chance Pe Dance” is not what you would call an original film, choosing to tell the age-old tale of a struggling actor looking for a chance to make it in Bollywood. From the first scene, you can predict exactly how the story is going to go.
That said, a lot of films do tell oft-repeated tales. But many of them do it with such panache and imagination that you are hooked all the same. Like last week’s “Pyaar Impossible”, “Chance Pe Dance” doesn’t pass this test.
This is a film that fails to rise above the ordinary at every step and in every frame, and makes two-and-a-half hours inside the theatre seem like an ordeal.
Shahid Kapoor plays Sameer Behl, an upbeat, at times too cheerful actor who is waiting for his big break in films. He has no money to pay his rent but manages to wear branded clothes, sports designer shades and drives a car through the length and breadth of Mumbai.
He is spotted at a nightclub by a director who offers him a role in his next film, based solely on his dancing skills (now we know how heroes get made in Bollywood). But of course since this happens within the first twenty minutes of the film, you know this isn’t the end of the story.
So of course, Sameer does not get the role, gets thrown out of his rented house, spends nights in his car, and finds a job as a dance teacher in a school where he teaches the kids some extremely inappropriate dance moves.
He falls in love with a pretty choreographer Tina (played by Genelia D’Souza), delivers an emotional speech in the pre-climax scene and of course dances up a storm.
After Kaminey, ‘Dil bole hadippa’ and Chance pe dance’ are real disappointments from Shahid Kapur… even though he must have signed / worked on these films before Kaminey became a hit.. but still these movies certainly drag down his image as a good actor.
Dil Bole Hadippa: Clichéd, average fare
When director Anurag Singh set out to make “Dil Bole Hadippa”, he must have stumbled upon a book called ‘The Big Punjabi Book of Bollywood Clichés’ and decided to put in each one in this film.
As if that wasn’t enough, he has taken elements from every successful Yash Raj film and added that to the film. So you have glimpses of “DDLJ”, “Chak De India”, “Bunty Aur Babli”, “Veer Zaara” and “Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi”.
If that doesn’t sound like hotchpotch, there are ample doses of speeches on women’s rights, India-Pakistan friendship and even the token secular touch. Not an encouraging sign at all.
“Dil Bole Hadippa” stars Rani Mukherjee as Veera Kaur, a feisty Punjabi girl who has a passion for cricket. Her dream is to be part of a local team that plays an annual match with a Pakistani team for the Aman Cup, a tournament started by two friends — one Indian, the other Pakistani.
Unfortunately, the Indian Tigers never win against the Pakistani Champs, causing its Indian owner (Anupam Kher, hamming away to glory) much grief.
In desperation, he asks his cricketer son Rohan (Shahid Kapoor) to come back from London to help salvage the team. Veera decides to try out for the team but is shooed away at the gate by a watchman who says cricket is not for girls.
Desperate for a chance, she comes back as Veer Pratap Singh, complete with turban and moustache. While she tries to impress Rohan with her batting on the field, she bats her eyelashes at him off it and a romance blooms.
Contrary to this review, I checked out Dil bole hadippa yesterday and was enchanted by the actors and the scripts. I think that becoming numb to “ideals” such as Indo-Pakistan positive relations, or to women’s rights, or to true love is the problem. I thought the script and the actors were fabulous and I would nomnate Rani Mukherjee for an award for her versatile performance! It is a shame when movie reviewers become so jaded that they no longer understand positive ideals and instead encourage negative ideals. This movie is a hit with the NRI Indian community and with Westerners. So it is a tribute to India’s lively, colourful, and idealistic nature!
by Fearless
Kaminey: The director is the real star
Sometimes you get the best insights from the most unexpected sources. Like my mother for instance — she isn’t much of a movie person but asked me how “Kaminey” was.
“Is it like ‘Omkara’? Because I didn’t like that movie at all at first, but now that I think about it, I think it’s a great film,” she said.
And that’s when it struck me. It’s the same thing with “Kaminey“, except that you don’t dislike the movie at first watch. You just realise how brilliant it is a few hours after you’ve watched the film and then ruminate over it.
On the face of it, director Vishal Bhardwaj gives you a fast-paced, thrilling caper film littered with twists at every turn. So gripping are the happenings on screen that it’s only later you have time to marvel at the director’s attention to detail, his mastery over the craft and also the immense skill it must have taken to shoot a film like this in real time locations.
In what can be termed a highly unconventional double role (especially by Bollywood standards) Shahid Kapur plays Guddu and Charlie, twins whose life philosophies are so different they hate the sight of each other.
Guddu is the “decent” one, getting an education while working at an NGO. Charlie, on the other hand, is a gambler who hedges bets at the race track and lives life on the edge.
Guddu is in love with Sweety Bhope (Priyanka Chopra), who discovers she is pregnant. (Watch out for this scene, especially because it comes at the end of a song where Guddu is preaching safe sex to sex workers).
Kaminey rocks!!! Fantastic performances, the screenplay has such details and nuances that only Vishal Bharadwaj could have brought to it…the music is awesome too. I think it’s one of the best movies of this decade easily. Smartly and sleekly made– it really involves you, from the start and the dark humour at certain points is so brilliant. I think any perceptive, thinking person would see what a gem of a movie it is….love it!
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The Wall
