class product from the 'factory'!!

it's so difficult to be simple sometimes... but this movie does that with utmost simplicity!

there wasn’t a single person in the theatre who wasn’t having a hearty laugh during the show..after wonderful movies like shwaas, tingya, sukhant, natrang, jhenda, etc. this is one recent marathi film which really tickled my funny bones..a very charming n delightful account of the making of 1^st motion picture Raja Harishchandra by the awe-inspiring Dadasaheb Phalke who founded the great Indian cinema during the British rule..every Indian who loves cinema owes it to this man for bringing this wonderful magic to our soil..it’s compact (90 mins. only), with no frills / stars, witty, light (reminded me much of Malgudi Days, Charlie Chaplin), a very positive tale which looks more like an adventure..

Mr.Phalke a.k.a ‘professor kelpha’ comes across as eccentric, sharp, witty, someone who is determined to bring his vision to fruition with his wide-eyed innocence and a huge passion for cinema..you can only feel tender sympathy for the characters who appear sincere in their efforts in dealing with all the difficulties and opportunities present in that era, place and scenario..Mr. n Mrs. Kelpha seemed like a fun couple! i actually came out of the cinema hall feeling that even ordinary and powerless people can do extraordinary things :-)

..the script n dialogues were wow n ably supported by the brilliant cast n performances..the back-ground track n art direction were equally good.

halatya chitrancha vijay aso! :)

kabhi socha na tha..

..that i'll end up being fond of abhay deol (the only other deol i was ever fond of is dharmendra since his bandini, anupama, chupke chupke days)! though i admit i'd loved his n ayesha takia's presence in his debut flick socha na tha, i never ever thought he would go on to carve a niche for himself without flexing his muscles or the famous surname!

will continue this post tommorrow..

inspiring idiots indeed!

finally! the movie i looked forward to for sooo long this year released on 25th this month n i got around seeing it only yesterday with my sis in tow..again, i am not going to review this one..it is just one of those things i simply feel like talking about..and i might as well warn you in advance that i'll come across as very biased, after all this movie has aamir khan (for those who don't know me, i actually find it quite difficult to be objective as far as aamir khan n rahul dravid are concerned..am one of their loyal fans since the time they started out in their respective careers! :-)..and no my bias is not just to do with aamir.. i love movies which are full of wit n also make you ponder a bit ;-)

i read it somewhere that aamir would like everyone to watch this movie (nothing new!)..the reason i would also like everyone to watch this movie is not so that it makes more money for the people concerned, it is because it deserves to be seen by everyone in our country; and not just the youth but more so the elders! the noteworthy message in the film ought to reach everyone pronto..both the writers rajkumar hirani & abhijat joshi have taken efforts to come up with a story full of optimism, affable characters n dialogues which the audiences instantly connect with (like they did in Munnabhai series)..it ‘not-so-seriously’ talks about our ‘not-so-sound’ education system which encourages - rote learning, ranking system and appeasing society’s notions of ‘success’ n ‘promising careers’!

‘aal ij well’ works for me as much as ‘jaadu ki jhappi’ did few years back..3 idiots is a typical hirani style of cinema (reminds me of hrishikesh mukherjee at times) all the way with ample support from ALL its actors esp. aamir (can’t imagine the flick without him he absolutely steals the show as rancho..after tare zameen par, this is an effortless performance once again..i’d watched ghajini only for its unique storyline n aamir factor but i still prefer memento anyday!) and of course sharman joshi n maddy (i love him since his banegi apni baat days) n omi vaidya (he’s just too good as chaturlingam)!

few other things i loved about the movie : :

• i want to watch it again to savour it some more!
• cinematography esp. the aerial scenes shot over manali, shimla n ladakh…WOW is the word! am still dreaming about those places..
• simple, effective lyrics by swanand kirkire (esp. ‘give me some sunshine’) n melodious compositions by shantanu moitra
• all throughout the movie i found myself wishing for a friend like rancho in my growing-up years..well, it’s never too late to follow dreams with or without rancho :-)
• it’s definitely worth being a part of my list of memorable movies released this year along with Dev D and a FEW others!

ooooh am toooo pleased as punch to write much! :-) :-) :-)

'paa' packs a punch! :)

at last! yesterday, i ended up watching a movie all alone @ a cinema hall for the 1^st time ever (i’ve watched a lot of plays all alone in the past) and the experience turned out to be just fine..maybe cos’ the movie happened to be paa, release of which i was looking forward to for sometime now..i do not happen to be a huge fan of either of the B’s..the reason i was looking forward to it was more to do with the fact that this is a 2^nd project of director R. Balki after Cheeni Kum (which am in totally love with still!). here’s one director who loves to ‘think n offer’ something different to the audiences every time n does a darn good job of it too! so far..

naah, am not going to write a review for the movie although i can’t help gushing about it since the last 24 hours..Bachchan Sr. (minus the trademark baritone n tall brooding persona) has pushed the envelope once again and am full of awe n admiration for him! the movie’s surely not ‘perfect’ but it is much much much better n levels ahead of the terrible crap that’s churned out in the name of cinema in bollywood every weekend! barring the media bashing by Bachchan Jr. & a couple of scenes here n there, the movie worked for me all the way without any hichakis (hiccups)!..

here, the story / script / dialogues take the cake (it’s simple, warm, poignant without actually being over the top most of the time!) and everybody has supported with their competent performances be it Auro (his eyes speak a lot here! witty, charming, sharp, smart n no air of self-pity whatsoever!), Mum (wow! Vidya Balan's such a cool n composed single mom!)), Bum (even more wow! it was definitely a pleasant surprise to have Arundhati Nag play a granny on the big screen!), Vishnu (haha!) or Paa (Bachchan Jr. was quite affectionate himself!) in that order..i sooo wished that the movie was called ‘Maa’ instead, given the beautifully balanced bonding portrayed between Mum n Auro..

apart from the above factors, these are the things i absolutely loved about the movie (not in any particular order though) :: credits narration by Mrs. Bachchan, casting, art direction (lot of attention to detail!), cinematography, costume designing (esp. for Vidya’s styling!) & most importantly lyrics n music of the film (incl. the background score!), …

thank you Mr. Balki n the entire team of paa to come up with something so ‘waah’! take a bow Mr. Bachchan, you've earned a huge fan in me with this film at the age of 67!! :) :)