Indian Movies Reportcard -2014

In the first 7 months of 2014 only a handful of movies have done well both critically and commercially, starting with the beautiful chemistry between Khaalu and Babban in Dedh Ishqiya to the stunning hat trick by Alia Bhatt with Highway, 2 states and Humty Sharma. Alia should be declared the man of the series oops the lady of the series of 2014  with UTV and Phantom vying for the honours of being the best production house of the year. Here is a list of movies that have impressed a wider range of audience in 2014 so far.

1. Dedh Ishqiya- Khaalu and Babban were a riot, period, really looking forward to the third instalment by Abhishek Chaubey.

2. Hasee to Phasee – Parineeti Chopra will not win anything for the movie, but the performance was nuanced and brilliant.

3. Queen – Easily the performance of the year by Kangana Ranaut.

4. Highway- Imtiaaz Ali doesn’t need any feedback or applause to produce the kind of work that he does, straight from the gut.

5. 2 States – Apart from Arjun Kapoor all other cast members were brilliantly cast and it was the original Indian story and screenplay which helped it sail through.

6. Hawaa Hawaii – After Vishal Bhardwaj the second best multi-talented person in the Indian Film Industry is Amol Gupte, he acts, writes, directs and produces and he is in love with children. Saare zameen par, I mean critics were floored.

7. Humpty Sharma ki Dulhaniya- I haven’t seen this movie since I am not a Varun Dhawan fan but going by the buzz in offices, malls and neighbourhoods, it seems the movie hit the right cords.

 

Here is PuriCurry’s recommendation of the 6 movies to watch out for in the next 4 months along with their respective trump cards.

22^nd Aug - Mardaani – Rani Mukherji

12^th Sep-   Finding Fanny - A great ensemble cast

2^nd Oct-     Haider- Vishal Bhardwaj    

10^th Oct-   Hawaizaada- Vibhu Puri

28^th Nov-  Bombay Velvet- Anurag Kashyap

19^th Dec-   P.K- Raju Hirani

T for THEATRE presents KAALI GHADI and SHOONYA BATTA SANNATTA- Wed 28th May Akshara Theatre

T for THEATRE presents KAALI GHADI and SHOONYA BATTA SANNATTA- Wed 28^th May Akshara Theatre

Kaali Ghadi

What does a bottle of pepsi mean to you? What does friendship mean to you? Vaibhav and Sukhdev are two friends straight out of the fields of rural India (Literally). They laugh, they gossip, they share a bottle of cold drink but what is so special that everybody talks about them and what changes one day that they no longer remain friends, they just grow up and grow apart. A tale of the dark times that we are living in, honour which is not so honourable, valour which is fast vanishing and friendship which is as fickle as the English weather. Kaali Ghadi is a take on desire, morality, society and Darwinism.

Shoonya Batta Sannatta 

This play is about Rahul Dravid, but wait then it should have been named Sau batta Sainkda, actually this play is about what happens when you are in the middle, just like Rahul Dravid used to be in the middle of the pitch for such long hours of test matches. However while Dravid was busy scoring century after century there were so many other people who were busy following their daily routines, be it bunking school, doing household chores or finding great meaning in a meaningless dialogue, seeking divine pleasure in an unnecessary argument and finding contentment in deferring a decision indefinitely. Whoever said that the journey is more important than the destination was coming out after watching a show of Shoonya Batta Sannatta. Human life is long but the life of a spark plug of an auto rickshaw is very short.

Do catch the wonderful twin delights at AKSHARA THEATRE on 28th of May at 7.30 PM

Entry by Donor Passes

Contact : 9891409187 / 9810026174

REAL FM by ANURAG BASU on MTV

 

Last week as my blog turned 1(ONE-Happy Birthday) , I finally decided to register it on INDIBLOGGER, a website for bloggers across the country which acts like a forum with regular meets and events. To my surprise I got a special invite for a screening of a short film written and produced by ANURAG BASU which was sponsored by HUL for its brand SUNSILK and will be aired on MTV tonight at 7 PM IST. I was absolutely thrilled because I have been a great fan of ANURAG since the time he directed the fabulously entertaining LIFE IN A METRO in 2007 and followed it up with BARFI in 2012. It was also a chance to meet fellow bloggers and to experience first-hand the ground realities of blogging in India. 

REAL FM is a story of three girls in their early twenties who are close friends and suddenly find themselves running a radio station for one day (Independence Day). The circumstances leading them there is for you to find out on MTV tonight. The movie actually has a clichéd start and for people like me who like to write reviews it was like a trap as I had already written the movie off in the first 5 mins and was looking towards exploring the blogging part post the screening and that’s where the story turned. 

A crisis in the family, young generation which is not motivated enough, a girl scared of her family, exams, boyfriends, office tensions, it couldn’t have been more mundane and boring to begin with, but that is the beauty of REAL FM as it is showing you the reality of average people who are so obsessed with their own struggles to not know “in which part of the country is TRIPURA located” and that is where the narrative picks up, confronted with a gigantic task of running a Radio station for a day, the girls come with the idea that instead of playing anthems like other stations they will play a song each from every state of the country and thus begins a journey which mesmerises with melodies from every corner of the country, the music clearly demonstrates BASU’s knack for picking great beats as he has demonstrated in METRO and BARFI. 

Many characters are introduced in the middle just like a lot of characters were beautifully woven in METRO and they all play their parts to the T, but the highlight remains the musical tributes from all the states of the country and the girls who bring them together on REAL FM. Catch this wonderful journey of today’s youth who might not know where TRIPURA is for starters but have their heart in the right place to acknowledge and embrace it whenever they come to know about it. 

 

               So catch the hour long feature directed by AKARSH KHURANA tonight on MTV at 7 PM.

QUEEN- A STORY OF LITTLE JOYS

             QUEEN- A STORY OF LITTLE JOYS

The little joys in QUEEN are evident from the first frame as the entire family is dancing away to glory (LONDON THUMAKDA) to celebrate the joyous occasion of RANI-QUEEN-KANGANA’s wedding and after 5 minutes they are shown mourning together once the wedding is called off. A weeping rani facing the social rejection closes the door on the outside world, but you see the mother standing outside the door for the entire night, just right behind where she should be (her daughter’s back) and the grandmother is shown motivating RANI (sitting outside the door) about the wonderful things that the future has in store and the tempo is set. 

The casting of national award winning actor (FASHION) KANGANA RANAUT and stunner LISA HAYDON is impeccable as both of them hit the right notes from beginning to the very head, their combination is like the classic Fast bowler spin bowler (A la Mcgrath and Warne) duo. They are out there to take wickets oops I mean win hearts and they absolutely succeed in doing that. The screenplay by VIKAS BAHL, PARVEEZ SHAIKH and CHAITALLY PARMAR is top notch and keeps you on the edge of your seat even though this in not a thriller. 

Reality of girls like RANI is that they are very much a part of the society till date, slotted somewhere between unfortunate girls who are abused in every nook and corner of our country to the more privileged liberated girls out to conquer the world. As a drunk RANI says in a monologue “MAINE HAMESHA SABKI BAAT MAANI HAI, KABHI KOI GALAT KAAM NAHI KARA” at that point you don’t feel funny but you feel her pain and that is the beauty of KANGANA RANAUT’s performance that it is very believable and transparent. 

The real hero of the movie/project (Kangana is the reel hero) is the director VIKAS BAHL, who has had such an amazing life till date that most of the people out there including yours truly would (not be jealous but) be in awe of a journey which has been nothing short of the LIFE OF PI, after graduating from film school he learnt the ropes in advertising (NON CREATIVE), but just as he was getting to the corner office he moved on to television where he was the business head of SAB (some of the best comedy shows in Hindi in the last decade) and took it to the no.1 spot in its segment, then he moved on to UTV where under the tutelage of the legend Ronnie Screwvala produced movies like AAMIR, DEV-D, UDAAN and NO ONE KILLED JESSICA, just as UTV was about to be acquired by DISNEY and BAHL’s prospects were about to get more global he left to co direct a marvel of an effort called CHILLAR PARTY and followed it up to start a production house with ANURAAG KASHYAP and VIKRAMADITYA MOTWANE called PHANTOM which has given us LOOTERA , HASEE TOH PHASEE and now QUEEN.

You don’t give stars to a movie like QUEEN, just like you don’t give stars to the neighbourhood halwai ka boondi ka ladoo and just gobble it up instead of singing its praises to the world, the same ladoo that rani had when she got up the next morning (after the wedding was called off) and decided that she would proceed on her journey alone, such is the power of a ladoo and such is the effect of QUEEN.

 

HOUSE OF CARDS – INDIA IS WAITING

HOUSE OF CARDS – INDIA IS WAITING

The impact that the Indian adaptation of American hit series 24 has had on the audiences has been phenomenal, as most of the television critics have rated it as one of the game changers for the Indian television industry, the Indian edition was produced by Anil Kapoor who also starred in it, the series had a brilliant ensemble cast which is the second most exciting thing after a solid script, the two dozen episodes did well and people are looking forward to a second season.

There is another very exciting American show which goes by the name of HOUSE OF CARDS (HOC) and is being broadcasted by NETFLIX and has a good potential to be imported and customized for the Indian palate.

HOUSE OF CARDS is currently in season 2 in the states and ZEE in India is showing the first season on their English entertainment channel ZEE CAFÉ.

In lead role we have one of the finest actors of this generation KEVIN SPACEY who is etched in our minds for his portrayal of LESTER BURNHAM in AMERICAN BEAUTY which won him the best actor honours at the Academy awards in 1999. SPACEY along with FOREST GUMP star ROBIN WRIGHT bring to you a delightful depiction of an extremely driven American couple out there to CHANGE things.

The plot of HOC is as old as the civilisation with subtext of deceit, revenge, obstacles and success which translates into a universal theme. A lot of inferences on how people have reached a “certain “ position after “certain” struggle really grab your attention and will be easily absorbed in an emerging economy like India with half the population below 35.

To the team of HOUSE OF CARDS and BEAU WILLIMON, INDIA is waiting for its delightful import.

 

BIRDIE NUM NUM – THE PLAY

BIRDIE NUM NUM – THE PLAY

It was a lovely Saturday afternoon when I decided to book my tickets for BIRDIE NUM NUM being staged at AKSHARA Theatre. The play is written and directed by MADHAV MEHTA who happens to be a friend and a stand-up comic, to add to it my guruji MAHEEP SINGH the noted stand-up comic, shayar, playwright and lyricist was moving to the centerstage as an actor to portray the debonair PAPPAN PILO out to seduce/capture the birds (The meaning of Driving from Delhi to Gurgaon has changed for me forever). I was really looking forward to see maheep on stage and so I reached AKSHARA sharp at 7.30.

As it turned out that it was a hurricane called MALLIKA DUA who stole the show with her portrayal of LILLY KHOSLA the chirpy punju secretary of PAPPAN PILO. To all the people out there who have straightaway moved into an MNC set up after their college/MBA degrees would think of lilly as a figment of the imagination of the director, but for people who have interned in Architects/Lawyers/Chartered Accountants offices (I am one of those) before their degrees have come across LILLY KHOSLA’s in their lives.

Kudos to MADHAV and team at EPIC SHIT ENTERTAINMENT for such a well-researched role and to MALLIKA DUA for bringing to life on stage one of the most originally humorous characters in Northern India’s offices.

The cast of KRITI VIJ, SHIVAM PRADHAN, SHANTANU ANAM and RAHUL TIWARI add to the laughter as the other characters interestingly woven in the story. The sound design by RITWIK DE was very impressive and really added to the production.

All in all a great and entertaining play which you should catch if you are in or around Delhi or travelling to the capital.

DEDH ISHQIYA- THE FIRST 4 STAR MOVIE OF 2014

DEDH ISHQIYA- THE FIRST 4 STAR MOVIE OF 2014

Dedh Ishqiya is a game changer to say the least, as it is one of the most original and inspired pieces of writing in the last one year. Abhishek Chaubey who also helmed the original ISHQIYA is a force to reckon with for the coming years as he presents a crisp and tight tale of KHALU (Naseer) and BABBAN (Arshad) falling for BEGUM PARA (Madhuri) and MUNIYA (Huma Babe Qureshi) respectively.

I am a huge fan of Vidya Balan but to be fair to the movie she was not missed at all in the sequel as this was a MADHURI show all the way and one of the game changing facts is that Madhuri is here to change the rules of Bollywood again by choosing a script which was written for her and she dazzels all. IFFFFFFFTEKHAAAAAAR. Yaa Alaah.

Naseeruddin Shah is the second game changer who essays the role of Nawab of Chandpur- Ifteqar Hussain with great aplomb, he serenades with his lyrical poetry and cracks you up with his rustic camaraderie with Arshad ‘s Babban.

Arshad Warsi is a treasure with his comic timing and expressions, regaling the audience with a good hearted laughter. Huma Qureshi as the supporting actress and Vijay Raaz as the antihero are strong character actors who hold the audience spellbound. The casting director Honey Trehan should be acknowledged for his sense of casting, it is casting directors like HONEY TREHAN for Vishal Bhardwaj camp and MUKESH CHHABRA for Anuraag Kashyap camp who are showing us some real talent from across the country.

Finally the real star of the movie are the dialogues and the subtle exchanges between the actors penned by the co –producer of the film VISHAL BHARDWAJ (A LEGEND), I enjoyed some of the dialogues so much that for this effort called DEDH ISHQIYA, Vishal ko 7 KHOON MAAF bhi maaf.