Chennai Express ( 2013)

Driven by boredom, one fine Saturday I accidentally jumped into the "Chennai Express" ( Courtesy some complimentary tickets ). I had no idea what to expect considering this was my first Rohit Shetty movie. Can't say I was disappointed but I completed the journey with mixed feelings. Overall the movie oozes loads of energy inspite of an insipid storyline

 Rahul ( Shahrukh Khan) a 40 year old Punjabi is entrusted with the task of immersing the ashes of his grand father in Rameshwaram by his grand mother ( Kamini Kaushal). Whereas Rahul has already planned a getaway to Goa with his freinds. To hoodwink his grandmother, he boards the Chennai Express with an intent to get off at a nearby station and join his friends. But life has other plans for him. Playing the good Samaritan and repeating an act from his earlier movie DDLJ ( Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge) he helps Meena Lochani ( Deepika Pedukone )by pulling her into the moving train. He extends the same services to about 4 burly men that follow her into the train. Little did he realize that this act of his is about to change the course of his life. It turns out that Meena is the daughter of a local Don from a picturesque village called Comban based in Tamiltadu. Meena runs away from home to escape marrying the hulky Tangaballi ( yet another Don, though he looks more like a displaced punjabi truck driver with his kurta pajamas), an alliance arranged by her father in hope of strengthening his power. The '4 burly men' are her cousins, deputed by her father to bring her back home. What follows is an action packed roller coaster ride filled with songs and dances, romance, villains, fights, flying cars etc etc. Goa and friends are forgotten and Rahul is forced to follow Meena to her Village Comban which turns out to be an adventure of a lifetime.

This movie is a sure shot entertainer with all the ingredients of a successful Bollywood blockbuster. The journey on Chennai Express starts of quite well with quite a few situations that were uproarious but it tends to teeter along the way specially post interval. SRK desperately tries to re-create his past glory but it is Deepika that takes the cake away for her performance. she looks gorgeous in the traditional colorful south Indian accoutrements. She was able to do justice to her south Indian twang ( well blended in her hindi delivery but seems to be wanting in the English dialogues). SRK was totally lame in his comedy and action avatars. Unfortunately, he did not get too much opportunity to romance which is his strength area and whatever little there was,it quite fell flat due to absolute lack of chemistry with Deepika.
 The movie even tries in vain to promote national integration ( Does the north south divide still exist ? ) and the sermon on women empowerment was not necessary ( leave it to movies like Astitva)
 Subtitles would have been great considering that 30% of the dialogues were in Tamil.
On the whole Rohit Shetty has managed to create a heady concoction with dance, drama, action, romance all blended together fairly well.
Dudley managed to capture the southern natural beauty in abandunce which was a pleasure to the eyes.

 Verdict :- 6 out of 10. A total family entertainer for the masses. You will love the movie if you are looking for some mindless entertainment and can be oblivious to a script that is thinner than the neer dosa.

Memories in March ( 2010)

This is one of the few Indian Cinema's which revolves around a female protagonist. Some parts of the movie might vaguely remind you of the movie Saaransh where Anupam Kher battles with the government policies to collect the remains of his deceased son.  Director Sanjoy Nag aptly described the move as "life after life".

Aarti Mishra ( Deepti Naval) is shattered by the news of her son's sudden death in a motor accident . She rushes from Delhi to Calcutta, where her son was living and working for an advertising firm. She is received by his co-worker Sahana Choudury ( Raima Sen) and taken to the crematorium where she gets to meet Siddharth's other co-workers including Ornab Mitra, the creative director of the firm. After the cremation, Aarti is dropped of at Siddharth's apartment. She had a vivid imagination of Siddharth's life in Calcutta through the detailed letters that he used to write to her. Sahana takes care of Aarti and helps her to find her way around. Aati's perceptibility leads her to believe that Sahana was probably Siddharth's lover.

However, she soon realizes that it is not Sahana ( though she was infatuated with Siddharth ) but Ornab that was her son's lover. This throws Aarti into an emotional whirlwind. Not only does she need to come to terms with her son's death but also the stark reality of his sexual preference. What grieves her all the more is the fact that her son chose not to confide in her about such an important part of his in spite of them sharing a very close relationship.

She starts of being resentful towards Ornab. But gradually over shared memories and common grief Aarti comes to term with the detritus left behind by her son's death and fosters a special bond with his lover.

The subject of alternate sexuality which is still a taboo in the Indian society was handled with at most sensitivity unlike several other Indian movies where it is generally used as slapstick comedy or treated with an essence of shock/awe.

Rituparno, who is open about his alternate sexuality in real life portrayed the role of Ornab to near perfection. Deepti Naval, the outstanding actress that she is,was a pleasure to watch in the role of Aarti Mishra. She beautifully expressed the emotions of being distressed over her sons demise and gradually coming to terms with his homosexuality. Her changing relationship with Ornab from indifference to dislike following by mutual respect was appealingly characterized. Raima Sen carried off her role quite extraneously as well. Every scene of the movie gradually unfolds and brings with it a fresh essence of the myriad emotions, the spoken and the unspoken both making very profound statements. Brilliant work by debutant Sanjoy Nag.

Good music by Debojyoti Mishra. I particularly liked the song Sakhi Hum .

 The movie is made mostly in English with smattering of Bengali and Hindi.  It was awarded the "Best English feature film" in the 58th National Film awards.

Verdict :- 8 out of 10. Definite watch but not for the masses.

Kai Po Che ( 2013)

"Kai Po Che" is a Gujarati phrase which mean "I have cut the kite". This movie is adapted from Chetan Bhagat's novel " 3 Mistakes of my life' which I couldn't motivate myself to read ( you guessed it...I am not a Bhagat fan). I began watching this movie with some skepticism but it turned out to be quite likable.

This movie is about three friends,Ishaan (Sushant Singh Rajput), Omi (Amit Sadh) and Govind (Raj Kumar Yadav) who are typical today's Indian youth and live in Ahmadabad. The three of them are as different as chalk and cheese - Govind is serious and cautious, Omi does not have a mind of his own and is easily influenced and Ishaan, is an idealist and passionate about cricket. In spite of the difference they are well bonded and together they manage to start a sports academy with Govind taking charge of running the business, Omi supporting with the capital investment (courtesy his politician uncle) and Ishaan managing the coaching center. Ishaan finds a star cricketer in a emaciated muslim boy called Ali. Omi joins his uncle in politics and Govind falls in love with Vidya( Amrita Puri), Ishaan's sister. Every thing is going well with the boys when all hell breaks loose in the form of the devastating earthquake ( Bhuj earthquake of 2001) followed by the communal riots ( Godhra Roits ). The boys friendships is tested and life changes for all of them. 

The movie has it all...the playfulness of the youth, bond of friendship, politics, communal rivalry, regret, love, good music ( loved the song "Manja" by Amit trivedi) and above all forgiveness. But the movie is quite superficial and skims through most of the issues/emotions. Quite fast faced which goes in its favor.

Verdict :- 7 out of 10. Abhishek Kapoor has done a decent job of this movie and you are unlikely to be bored.

What Maisie Knew ( 2012)

“What Maisie knew” is the modernised version of Henry James’s novel by the same name which was written in the year 1897.

Dysfunctional families can be really traumatic for the children. Time and again we encounter examples where the parents are so involved with juggling their various commitments and idiosyncrasy’s that they take their children for granted without heeding to their emotional needs.

This movie is all about Maisie !!! beautifully portrayed by Onata Aprile. Maisie is a little girl who is caught in the cross fire of her parents perennial battles. Her mother Susannah (Julianne Moore) is a fading rock star who loves Maisie but is totally caught up in her chaotic world to find time for her. Her Father Beale ( Steve Coogan), an art dealer is quite self obsessed to really care for Maisie. Very soon Maisie becomes yet another item in their battle with both of them fighting for her custody. They even go to the extent of marrying inapt partners to get an edge over each other in the custody battle. What follows is Maisie being unceremoniously shuttled between the set of parents/step parents.

Through all these turmoil in her life, Maisie keeps her dignity and realizes that she needs to make some decisions of her own to find happiness in this world.

Onata was brilliant and a pleasure to watch. On the whole I enjoyed this movie directed by David Siegel and Scot McGehee.

Verdict :- 7 out of 10. Worth the watch.

Le Fate Ignoranti ( His Secret Life ) – 2001

A beautiful Italian movie written and directed by Ferzan Ozpetek, the Turkish screenwriter and movie director. “What you see is not how it is”!!! This movie explores the complexities of human relationships and how unconventional family units can also happily survive with love and devotion for each other. Life is also about accepting the realities and moving on. Antonia ( Margherita Buy) is a doctor specializing in treating patients with Aids. She happily married to Massimo(Andrea Renzi) and they are very much in love. On a fateful day, Massimo is killed in a motor accident and Antonia is grief-stricken. As she goes about sorting her late husband belonging she chances upon a painting which leads her to believe that Massimo was leading a duel life and he had a long-standing extra marital relationship. Antonia is shocked and devastated. However, she gets a grip of herself and embarks on a journey to discover Massimo’s other life which leads her to interesting experiences.

This movie is simple and powerful without any unnecessary melodrama. Loved Steffno Accorsi in the role of Michele and I thought the ending very good.

Verdict:- 7.5 out of 10 and a definite watch.

The Sixth Sense ( 1999)

I am neither a Night Shyamalan fan nor does horror movies appeal to me. But ‘sixth sense” sure did captivate me. “I see dead people….walking around like regular people……they do not know they are dead” pretty much sums up the movie. eeire…right ???

This movie essentially revolves around Cole Sear ( Haley Joel Osment) and Dr. Malcom Crowe ( Bruce Willis).Cole is a very disturbed and an isolated child due the fact that he can see dead people all around him and he is terribly scared at all times. Dr. Malcom Crowe ( Bruce willis) , a child psychologist takes up his case and starts spending a lot of time with him.

Dr. Malcom himself is quite tormented by an event in his professional life and his rapidly failing marriage. He looks at curing Cole as a way to right the wrong of his professional life which he considers as a personal failure.

The movie beautifully explores the emotion called “fear” through its various characters – Cole tormented by the ghosts, Dr. Malcom of his failing marriage and professional failure, Lynn ( Mother of Cole) of surviving as a single parent…

Sixth Sense was nominated for 6 Academy Awards including the best film of the year and went a long way in establishing Night Shyamalan as a director and screen writer.

Verdict :- 8.5 out of 10 and a must watch ( even for people averse to horror movies )

The Japanese Wife ( 2010)

This movie is based on a short story written by Kunal Basu and made into a movie by the famous Bengali Actress / Director Aparna Sen. “Japanese Wife” is a touching love story, almost surreal in its innocence and depicts the immeasurable strength of love. This is the story of Snehamoy Chatterjee ( Rahul Bose) and Miyagi ( Chigusa Takaku). Shehamoy lives with his Aunt in a remote village of Sunderban in West Bengal. He finds a pen friend in Miyagi who lives in Japan. There remote relationship soon transforms into love for each other and they have a virtual marraige with a promise to meet each other soon. Their mutual love and respect for each other grows over time even though they have never met.Its amazing to see how their relationship thrives in spite of Snehamoy being ridiculed by village community and various other constraints they face.Temptation to succumb for Snehamoy comes in the form of Sandhya ( Raima Sen) the young widow who comes to live with them along with her little boy.

This is a slow movie with each and every emotion prodigiously depicted. The simplicity of the movie and yet the profound statement it makes, takes ones breath away.

Verdict :- 9 out of 10 and a must watch if you like unconventional movies.