Filmistan - The reason why films, and movie buffs must exist

I watched Bombay Talkies last year, a tribute to 100 years of Bollywood Cinema. Despite the 2 gems by Dibakar Banerjee and Anurag Kashyap, I couldn't help thinking that a better tribute could have been made. Yes, I know. The idea behind Bombay Talkies was to exhibit how much Bollywood affects the life of a common man. But there is more to Bollywood than a little boy emulating Katrina Kaif, or the love of old Hindi songs making a happily married man realizing his gay self (oh God, don't get me started on the Homo-Jo story again). The fact that the love of cinema is universal, and transcends borders. That common people like you and me can forget much of our life's' anguish through some moments of celluloid inspiration.

Yesterday I came out of the theatre having watched Filmistan. The departure was marked with a smile and a deep sense of contentment. After a year, my wait for the true tribute to Bollywood had come true.

The basic plot runs like this. The movie's protagonist is Sunny Arora, a (cheerful, and sometimes over-the-top) hardcore fan of bollywood who fails to strike out as an actor and takes on roles of an assistant director. He goes to the Rajasthan Border with an American film crew shooting a documentary. Here he gets kidnapped by Pakistani terrorists (mistaking him as an American) who then keep him hostage in a sparsely populated border village in Pakistan. He meets Aftaab here, another hardcore movie buff who makes a living by selling pirated Bollywood DVDs. The 2 men hit it out once they realize their common connection. Under the watchful eye of 2 extremist terrorists, their actions do much to light up each other's lives, as also the lives of the villagers.

A word first for the director. It takes a lot of guts, and talent, to make a movie like Filmistan. The basic plot encompasses just 2 main characters (Sunny and Aftaab), and the 2 terrorists playing support. No women, no romance. No fancy camera work, no item numbers. No big-budget sets, just a mud house and a non-descript village setting. Despite this, debutant Nitin Kakkar manages to extract superlative performances out of his cast, and holds the narrative together in a script which never deviates from its core theme. He wisely avoids any political/philosophical references, and presents the story in a straightforward manner. Yet the narrative never loses its entertainment value.

The lead protagonist (Sunny Arora) is played by Sharib Hashmi. An actor I vaguely remembered from some TV spoof shows (a more irritating emulation of the already irritating Anu Malik comes to mind), his talent when given a proper character is breathtaking. Sunny never loses his sense of humor in the face of struggle. Even when he realizes he's kidnapped and will probably never make it back to India alive, he accepts his fate and uses his theatrics to amuse the village kids and his hosts. When one of the terrorists gives him a bashing, and the sympathetic Aftaab comes asking "Dard ho raha hai?", he replies "Mard ko dard nahi hota". It doesn't take long to fall in love with this cherubic, living-in-a-fantasy-world type movie buff who will take his Salman Khan over real life any day.

Theater Actor Inaamulhaq plays Aftaab. He pirates Bollywood DVDs not only to earn a livelihood, but because it connects him to his love of movies. When he learns that the hostage (held in his house) is from the film industry, he can't resist sneaking down to Sunny and starting a conversation. As the story takes its turns, the 2 friends reconcile their sorrows and differences through discussing movies.

The 2 terrorists, who maintain an eagle-eye on the lead pair, are a study in contrast. Mehmood Bhai (Kumud Mishra) is the senior, more hardcore extremist who dismisses movies as bad culture, thinks of Sunny as a bhaand (Jester) and is happy to pull the trigger when required. Javed Bhai (Gopal Dutt) is the dumber junior who's been brainwashed into being an extremist, but sometimes his emotion as a human being gets the better of him. I can't say more without giving away bits of the plot.

As I've said before, I tend to carry away some "moments" from all movies that I like. Will take the liberty of illustrating just 2 here.

In one scene, Aftaab invites his villagers to watch a pirated DVD of "Maine Pyaar Kiya". As the scenes roll, the camera focusses on the eyes of the villagers. Simple uneducated men as they are, their eyes light up when the songs roll, moisten when the lead pair are separated, and boil with rage when the hero fights unjust "Gunda"s trying to take away his hard-earned money. Isn't this the point of all cinema, to entertain simple hearts and make them empathize with the narrative? The DVD runs fine till the climax scene, when the audio goes kaput and Salman's tear-jerker speech to the heroine's father (Aloke Nath) suddenly falls silent. Aftaab's repeated attempts to get the audio running comes to naught. Sunny comes to the rescue by mouthing all the dialogues till the end. The movie draws to a close amidst applause from the paltry audience and Aftaab hugs Sunny in gratitude. 2 men separated by nationality, bonded by their desire to entertain, using Bollywood as their means.

In another scene, an injured Sunny is being tended to by the aged village Hakeem. Sunny starts a conversation with him in Punjabi and discovers that the man hails from Amritsar. The old man tells him stories of his childhood in the city and wishes his desire to see his old neighborhood one last time. Brilliant camera work as it focusses on the wrinkled face of the old hakeem and lights up his anguish. Sunny is reminded of his own grandfather, who hailed from Lahore and passed away with the desire that he could see his old neighborhood one last time. "Jisne Lahore nai dekhya o Jamya nai", he used to say. The old man walks away asking him to take care, as the cries of Azaan ring out in the distance.

As I said before, the love of cinema is universal, and transcends borders. Filmistan is a prime example of this philosophy of film making. Please don't miss it. Rated 8 out 10.

Dedh Ishqiya - A movie for the matured amongst us

Ever since DDLJ happened and the man-boy Shahrukh bleated out "Bade bade deshon mein aisi chhoti chhoti baatein hoti rehti hain", bollywood has gone into a sort of adolescence mode. The leading men, all 50 plus, continue to play young men. The leading women continue to play perfect divas, with not a speck of makeup out of place, not a step misplaced in their catwalk. I'm not saying wonderful movies are not made. But the focus is primarily on adolescence and youth, getting your point across in the most direct manner,with the greatest hullabaloo possible.

So it gives me great delight when a movie like (the first) Saheb Biwi aur Gangster comes along. You have actors playing real men, actresses playing women (not girls) and emotions being put across subtly without a 100 extras bursting into song and dance in the background. A movie which makes the mature amongst us think.

Dedh Ishqiya, after a long time, is that kind of movie. The uncle-nephew pair of Babban and Iftikaar from Ishqiya are back. This time they are paired with (or against, depending on how the story turns) two femme fatales played by Huma Qureshi and the evergreen Madhuri Dixit. 4 very capable actors, playing characters cut out for them, and a storyline which is funny and thrilling at the same time.

In the plot, Babban and Iftikaar split up at the beginning when a robbery goes wrong. Babban goes out looking for his beloved khalujan, and with some effort, finds him resurfaced as Nawab of a fictitious Chandpur. Iftikaar is out to woo the widowed begum of Mehmudabad (Madhuri), taking part in a mushaira organized by her with a view to find her future husband. His strongest competitor is Jaan Mohammad (Vijay Raaj), the local MLA and Ganglord who's life's ambition is to become Nawab. Love blossoms between Iftikaar and the Begum. Things get complicated when Babban joins the fray, and falls head over heels in love with Muniya (Huma) the begum's aide. A riot of laughter, conspiracies and shayari follows.

As said earlier, the characters were cut out for the actors. I will mention Madhuri first, who looks every inch the begum, aged like fine wine and a lot of mysteries up her sleeve. She is a delight to watch throughout - when she laughs, she cries, she displays the little facets of adakaari, and of course when she dances. Oh, her dance, her dance. If I had my way, I'd line up all the modern day Divas and make them go through dance classes conducted by Madhuri. She moves with silken grace, and every little muscle on that beautiful face seems to have a different ada. One scene in the first half, when she picks up the ghunghroo after a long hiatus and dances her heart out inside a closed room, is worth watching a 100 times alone.

The institution called Naseeruddin Shah seems to have enjoyed playing Iftikaar. An aged bandit, young and romantic at heart. He is as much at ease delivering his lines in chust Urdu, as he is picking up a gun or running from the law. In the mushaira scenes, one always cherishes the moment when its Iftikaar's turn to deliver his sher. A commendable performance.

Arshad Warsi, the most underrated actor in Bollywood, is of course the other half of the sizzling chemistry. The young, rustic ruffian with good aim and a natural instinct to avoid death. The only thing that confuses him is love, and the way he tries to bluff his way out of a romantic situation, by covering lust with anger, provokes a good laugh.

Huma Qureshi does a good job at playing Muniya. On one hand she is an aide and a lifeline to the Begum. On the other she is a scheming woman with plans of her own, who doesn't mind using her charms to trap men into doing her bidding. Huma is one of 2 women among modern bollywood actresses (Mahie Gill the other), who I think is suited to playing mature woman roles. My only complaint about her presence in Dedh Ishqiya is when she is pitted into a dance number with Madhuri. In presence of that goddess, she looks out of place and quite like a blimp.

The plot of the movie is tightly wound and very enjoyable. You enjoy the turns in the storyline, as you enjoy Vijay Raaj's commendable performance in making things uncomfortable for everyone else. The dialogues are well thought out. More than anything, the movie makes you think, to delve deep into the psyches of the actors and find out what they are scheming. Overall, a must watch for lovers of good cinema.

8 out of 10 stars.

War Chhod na Yaar

A noticeable aspect of Bollywood in the last decade has been the rise of what I call the SBGM - Small Budget Great Movie. Usually made on a shoestring budget (INR 10 crores or less) they pack a great story, great performances by lesser known actors and make memorable watches. Some find box office success, like Vicky Donor (made at a budget of 5 cr, grossed about 65 cr at the box office) and Peepli Live. Some fail commercially(anyone remember Luv Shuv tey Chicken Khurana?), but live on in the hearts of critics and movie-lovers like yours truly.

One such SBGM was the 2010 political satire - Tere Bin Laden. A Pakistani news reporter, who in his desperation to migrate to the US, hatches up a money-making plan by making a fake Osama Bin Laden video and sells it to a news channel. The plan has unexpected cross-country repercussions, landing him and his entire motley crew of amateurs (including the false Bin Laden) in trouble. Put simply, TBL was a laugh riot. Great performances by the protagonist (Ali Zafar), his bumbling assistant (Nikhil Ratnaparkhi), the false Laden (Pradhuman Singh) - and almost everyone else. For me, TBL also established another important fact - that plots with seemingly impossible storylines can be made entertaining if made properly.

Hence it was with great expectation that I went to see "War Chhod na Yaar" in its first week of release. If you haven't heard of it, or if you don't know what the movie is all about - here's the trailer:

War Chhod na Yaar official theatrical trailer

Why did I have great expectations? First, the plot seemed as impossible as TBL, to make a satire on a historical rivalry between 2 nations. Second, it starred Sharman Joshi, Sanjay Mishra and Javed Jaffrey in lead roles - underrated actors with great comic timing (TBL never had any celebrated comic actors). Third, the trailer really made me laugh and was a sign of things to come.

Debutant director Faraz Haider tries to create a plot where rival soldiers on both sides of the fence are shown to have great camaraderie. They play Antakshari over loudspeakers, joke about each others' food, and generally get along like neighbors. He tries to show (rightfully so) that soldiers are merely human - it is the politicians and their vile motives that is responsible for war. In the end, the human spirit triumphs and the wrongdoers learn their lesson.

A great idea, completely disappointing in its execution. Firstly, there's no real screenplay. Haider seems to have simply come up with an idea for a story and then struggled to stretch it over a 2 hour run-time. As a result, short bursts of brilliant comedy are interspersed with long stretches of boring, mindless activity. Scenes which dazzle you with situational humor 
are succeeded by scenes where the characters either resort to slapstick, Govinda-esque humor, or (worse) get into silly stuff like defacating on screen. Even the talented Jaffrey and Joshi struggle to find their feet as a result.

Secondly, satire does not mean your core characters act like buffoons. In WCNY, only the Indian army looks and acts like poster-boys. The Pakistan army is shown as a bunch of clueless idiots with a sick, delusional commander (Sanjay Mishra) at the helm. They beg to get fed well and new uniforms cause incurable itches. Dalip Tahil plays 4 politicians (Indian, Pakistani, Chinese and American - go figure) all of which are selfish idiots. The Pakistan Army commander plays video games, or chooses to visit the bathroom, when attending a diplomatic con-call. Mukul Dev plays an Afghan intruder - I'm sure a character brought in to just stretch the plot - who's repeated infiltration attempts gets spoiled by an Indian army spy like taking candy from a baby.

Thirdly, what is Soha Ali Khan doing in the movie? She plays a news reporter called Rut Dutta (thank you Faraz, we would have figured that Barkha is a Rut in Hindi) who gets sent to the front by a politician for covering imminent war. As she watches the camaraderie between the 2 sides and realizes who is really responsible, she takes it upon her to set things right. Sadly, she neither acts nor looks the part of a game-changer. We have had better performances from her in RDB and Mumbai Meri Jaan (ah, another SBGM close to my heart!).

Lastly, the ending is really tame. A lot of average movies have turned out extraordinary in the way the climax has been treated. WCNY's climax is so amateurish, it only worsens the whole experience. You just sit through it waiting for the end and trying to remember where you parked your car.

So in summary, should you watch WCNY? Take my advice. Have a good laugh by watching the trailer. If you really must see it, save your money and wait for WCNY to hit the TV channels. May be watched one time for the occasional funny parts.

3 stars out of 10, one being for the funny trailer.

Bombay Talkies

Celebrating 100 years of Indian Cinema through one single movie is a tall ask. Naturally the resultant movie, Bombay Talkies, was to to carry a sea of expectations from viewers. Contrary to my usual habit of skipping multiplexes and buying a DVD later to curl up in the comfort of my couch and home theater, I went to watch Bombay Talkies (BT) in just the second day of its release. To repeat what you already know, BT is a collection of 4 films made by Karan Johar, Dibakar Banerjee, Zoya Akhtar and Anurag Kashyap. The common theme (at least what the viewer expects) was all 4 stories carry a deep love of Bollywood movies. Here's my analysis of the 4 stories:

Karan Johar

If Karan Johar was allowed to rule the world, his motto would be "I'm a homo, and I'll make homos out of you, in real life or reel!" I had heard enough of how his BT venture was far removed from the typical KJo movie-making style. The style is different, truly, but the theme is the same old Homo-Jo.

Rani Mukherjee (Editor, filmy gossip magazine - sexy sarees and low cut blouses) is in a lukewarm marriage with Randeep Hooda (Presenter, News Channel - looking dapper with a toned physique, grey beard and tailored suits). Into Rani's office walks a new intern - Saqib Saleem - self-professed homo and a way with words. In no time they become fast friends, and then she invites him home to meet her husband. Saqib falls for Randeep at first sight. Randeep is initially wary of him (the natural male reaction to homosexuals) but warms up to him as they share their love for old Hindi film music. Saqib wastes no time in professing his love for Randeep and repeatedly hits on him. The stereotype Indian male in Randeep initially revolts, even physically hitting Saqib, but (as expected) he falls for him and shares an intimate moment. When Rani hears of this, she realizes their marriage is a lie, and she has been living it. The story ends with a shot of Rani dressing even more brazenly (why? looking for greener pastures?) while Randeep is shown miserable.

If the storyline puzzled you, welcome to the club. Protagonists of a story loving old Hindi film songs, or a little beggar girl singing "Ajeeb Dastaan hai yeh" add color to the characters, not the industry. Its not celebration of cinema. Its a gay story cleverly tweaked to fit in to the main theme. And don't know about you, but the sight of adult men lip-locking on screen is visually intolerable to me. In an earlier film Homo-Jo made Rishi Kapoor enact a gay old man. In this he makes an alpha male Randeep realize his inner homosexual. Forget the last 100 years of Bollywood, I'm afraid this does not set the trend for the next 100 years!

Dibakar Banerjee

If BT was themed to have just one story celebrating Bollywood, it would have to be this. A screen adaptation of Satyajit Ray's short story "Potol Babu Film Star", the film by Banerjee is an exquisite display of acting, emotions and timing. Banerjee is spot on with his understanding of the director's canvas and the ability to bring out the best from his protagonists, aided with humour.

Nawazuddin Siddiqui is an ordinary man leading an ordinary life inside a Mumbai Chawl with his wife and daughter. No aspirations, no talents to speak of, just the need to sustain himself. He tells the same old stories of Hrithik Roshan and other "heroes" to put his daughter to sleep every night. One day he chances upon an acting opportunity - a bit role (that of a pedestrian) in a blockbuster movie. Somehow, this little act awakens the man in him, as he realizes what he is truly worth in the world.

There are 2 extraordinary sequences in the story. The first shows Nawazuddin practicing his dialogue in a huge courtyard away from the set, with only a (sleeping) dress-man for company. He is aided by a lovely cameo from Sadashiv Amrapulkar (Where were you all these days, sir?). The second is a lovely 5 min sequence where he puts his daughter to sleep reciting his own story. No words, just some lovely music and a flamboyant display of body language by the great actor. When the story ended, I saw the entire theatre audience silent for a few moments. Then they (me included) burst into thunderous applause. Take a bow, Mr Siddiqui and Mr Banerjee. You are truly what make movies - magic.

Zoya Akhtar

This one left me with mixed feelings. As a director, Zoya has the habit of taking run-of-the-mill stories and turning them into magic through sheer acting, cinematography, dialogues and crisp editing. The rags to riches story of a struggler becoming a star is oft-told. But what made Luck by Chance stand out was the performance by Farhan and Konkona, as well as editing that never left the story hanging. The same for ZNMD, where some superb acting by the 3 protagonists (and Katreena, she acted as well as any), smart dialogues and the stunning visuals make the movie a delight to watch.

In BT Zoya takes the story of a little boy (Naman Jain) who hates football and wants to become a dancing star like Sheila (of Sheila ki Jawani). He is reprimanded by his conservative father for being so "girly", yet he chooses to pursue his dreams. The same old story of children not choosing to walk the beaten path preferred by their parents.

The good parts? Surprisingly natural acting by Jain and the girl who plays his elder sister. Some sweet moments, including the realization that films do affect our children in ways we do not think possible. The bad? Lets say Zoya needs a larger canvas (in the sense of timing) to tell a story, and her BT story leaves you feeling unsatisfied. I also couldn't understand why an actor like Ranbir was wasted in such a bit role.

Anurag Kashyap

If the Dibakar Banerjee story is the flagship of the BT Armada, the Kashyap story deserves to be the corvette. The common man does not emote in the way of matinee idols, his joys and  sorrows are well contained (until he is desperate) - and Kashyap is a master of such portrayal.

In BT, Kashyap reminds us that India extends beyond its metros to small towns and villages, where people treat Matinee Idols as Gods and believe they hold healing powers. The protagonist, Vijay (Vineet Kumar - remember Danish Khan from Gangs of Wasseypur?) is an Allahabad town boy. His ailing father tells him to go to Bombay and get the great Amitabh Bachhan to eat half of a homemade Murabba, with the belief that taking bites out of the remaining half will help his father live for long. The dutiful son obeys and sets off for Mumbai to meet Amitabh. He feels he will have a natural passage into the house of the man who is ultimately a Ganga Kinare Wala like him!

Naturally, the great big city doesn't care about him or his emotions. He meets many sorts of people in his quest, and endures great hardships before he gets to meet God (Amitabh Bachhan himself, in a 30 sec cameo). Unfortunately things still don't go as planned. To Kashyap's credit, every second of the story is gripping, and the viewer alternates between laughter, and sympathy for the poor small-towner. Another story which left me laughing at the end and the audience applauding.

Conclusion

Except the Homo-Jo story, Bombay Talkies is a collection of stories which speak to you and me, and truly tell how Bollywood affects our lives. It is not just a movie which marks a celebration. It also has 2 little gems which warrant a watch in their own right. I would rate it 6 out of 10. 

On a different note, if I wanted to spend a Sunday afternoon watching an anthology, it would not be this one. It would be Dus Kahaniyan, released in 2007 and an absolute Gem.

Abohoman

"What is a film all about?" asks the celebrated director to his son. "Moments" replies his son, an aspiring director himself. "Moments". Whispers the father. "We catch fleeting moments together, and call them "capture". Not fair, not fair"

And that statement defines Abohoman, in my opinion the best made Bengali movie of the last decade.

What makes Abohoman worthy of this praise? Great direction, great editing, superlative performances from Dipankar Dey, Ananya Chatterjee and Tanusree Sankar. But essentially, it is a caravan of moments - and cinematic magic - that the viewer immerses in. At the end of the movie, as the experience sinks in, he is left speechless.

Aniket Majumadar (Dipankar Dey) is a celebrated Bengali art film director. His dream project is to make a biopic on Nati Binodini, the celebrated Bengali stage actress of the 19th century and her relationship with her mentor - Natyasamrat Girish Chandra Ghosh. Aniket's wife Dipti (Mamata Shankar) discovers raw talent in a small-time stage actress called Shikha Sarkar (Ananya Chatterjee) and asks her husband to consider her for the title role. Initially Aniket hates Shikha's unsophistication. But Dipti's insistence, and her grooming of Shikha to meet Aniket's expectations, ultimately wins over. Soon, Aniket starts loving Shikha's spontaneity. As he transforms her into a sophisticated actress (now called Srimati Sarkar), he gets more and more involved with her. His evenings are spent in her North Kolkata residence, and his family dinners interrupted by her phone calls. It causes much distress to his wife, who cannot take the fact that her own protégé is now her husband's beloved. Aniket's son Apratim (Jishu Sengupta) is distressed at his mother's plight. He writes an article in a Bengali film journal elaborating his father's affair and how it has affected their family life. Later, Aniket falls severely sick and goes to Kurseong for a weather change, accompanied by his son, who is now a one film old director himself. Father and son share many an aspect of life - personal and professional. On coming back, Aniket passes away. Apratim decides to make a movie about his father.

The storytelling of Abohoman is wonderful. It starts off from the end, where Aniket has passed away and his house is visited by many important people. The entire movie goes into flashback mode from herein. It is a multi-layered tale, as scenes of the present share screen with scenes of the past, intermingled by scenes from Aniket's Binodini. Superb editing holds the narrative together as the different facets of the characters are unveiled.

Ananya Chatterjee effectively plays 3 roles - the raw unsophisticated Shikha Sarkar, the dignified actress Srimati, and her characterization of Nati Binodini. She embodies the tragic puppet and her complex relationship with her mentor - first through being Binodini, then Srimati. To her credit, every role is played the way it should be. She deserves every bit of the National Award she got for this movie.

I felt sorry for Dipankar Dey's character. As the talented director immersed in his work, it is really Aniket's cloak of sophistication that hides his personal feelings. He is aware that his affair has distanced himself from Apratim. His son writes a magazine story about his personal scandal, yet he praises the quality of writing for being unemotional and factual. Apratim makes his first movie, and Aniket prefers buying a pirated CD to watch it rather than ask Apratim himself. Only in the last days of his life, battling failing health, the guise of the celebrity director falls apart and the loving father in him shows through.

Mamata Shankar and Jishu play the mother and son who make up the less celebrated main cast of the story. There couldn't have been a better choice to play Dipti, who holds her sophistication and restraint through the turmoils of her own life. She bears the agony of seeing her husband having an affair with her own protégé, yet like a high society woman accepts it and moves on to protect his public image. She plays the dutiful wife, attending to her octogenarian mother in law, discouraging her son's display of malice against his father and maintaining the household.

Like the other 3, Jishu's own character is multifaceted. Throughout the movie he plays the obedient restrained son, who has distanced himself from his father yet serves him diligently in his last days. You enjoy Apratim's transformation from being a carefree kid playing guitar in a rock band, to a serious film director, an obedient son and a patient husband.

The support cast does a good job too. Ria Sen plays the dumb-belle that she is. Laboni Sarkar plays Shikha's "differently abled" sister, displaying her acting skills even in such an insignificant role. Sumanta Mukherjee brings necessary gravity to the role of Natyasamrat Girish Ghosh, though his pronunciation skills get a bit in the way of "Aste Gela Dinomoni" - see the movie to understand. The most unexpected cameo comes from the woman who plays Aniket's octogenarian mother. As a lady who's lived her life and waiting for death to come and take her, she displays the mentality of a child when she demands her daughter-in-law serve her "pulao" and "Chow Mein", and breaks into an innocent smile when she's given chocolate.

A word about Rituparno Ghosh's direction. To start off, I've never seen a director who understands women so well, or brings out their feelings better. Some of his finest movies - Dahan, Dosar and Sab Charitra Kalponik - have had a woman as the central character who survives in a world where rules are set by the men. To give him credit, they are all brilliant movies. Sometimes Rituparno completely loses it - like Antarmahal or Chokher Bali, sometimes he makes mediocre movies like Raincoat. But in Abohoman, he is truly at his best. On one hand he brings out the best in Ananya and Mamata Shankar. On the other, his portrayal of the father-son relationship between Aniket and Apratim leaves you spellbound. A lot of filmmakers choose to portray superficial, single sided human relationships (everyone is either good or bad) to keep the plot moving. Rituparno dives into the core of the characters, brings out their innermost feelings and arranges them on cinematic canvas so succinctly and beautifully that you feel one with them. I also appreciate his queer technique of occasionally blacking out the screen where a character is citing a monologue. Perhaps it gives the viewers a chance to reflect on what is being said, rather than who's saying it. In Abohoman the technique is used very effectively.

The music is good too. Songs are largely absent and heard only in the most apt of places. “Krishnakali” with its cheeky lyrics (Did the poet know that Krishankali’s doe eyes were a result of her using too much Maskara?” brought a smile to my face.

Above all, as I said earlier, Abohoman is all about moments. Moments that tug at your heartstrings, moments of delicate emotion. There's one scene shot in a hotel room in Kurseong where Apratim has taken his terminally sick father for treatment. Apratim stands at the window reciting a Rabindranath Tagore poem. Whenever he forgets a line, you can hear his father shouting out the line from inside the bathroom. This little father-son game goes on for some time till suddenly there is no response from the bathroom. Apratim heads to the door, calling out to his father and fearing the worst. The door opens. You see Aniket standing with a helpless look on his face - "The Pyjama string has gone inside". Apratim breathes a sigh of relief and helps his father to the bed. As he's made to lie down, Aniket looks up with hazy eyes and asks his son "Are you taller than I am?" It pains you to see that even the great director Aniket Majumdar is after all a helpless father counting his last days.

In another scene, Apratim visits Shikha after his father's demise. He hears Shikha's account of the affair for the first time. He realizes Aniket was not really in love with Shikha herself, but with "Srimati", his ultimate creation, his puppet par excellence. In the end, Shikha asks Apratim if he would consider being in love with her. Apratim's hatred for the woman who destroyed his mother's personal life comes through. He says women like Shikha can only have affairs, they can't really love anyone. He says she is such a talented actress that most women would fail to understand the difference. Shikha doesn't reply. The sound of a conch and temple bell is heard in the distance. Shikha looks at the sky, closes her eyes and folds her hands in prayer. Her world merges with Binodini, a woman who’s theatre persona overshadowed her real self, who the world just wanted to conquer but not love, the woman who braved the storms of her life without a companion, the woman whose only solace was her undying faith in Thakur Ramkrishna Paramhansa.

Talking of moments, I really wanted to narrate the last scene, where Aniket is lying on his deathbed and tells his son "Is the light ready, I want to take a shot. Call Srimati now". I also wanted to mention the scene where Aniket has just passed away and Dipti is explaining to his mother why they are having a “party” and there are so many people in the house. But they might be spoilers, so I'll stop here.

Instead, I urge you to go watch Abohoman. If you're a Bengali, watch it today. If you're not, but you appreciate good cinema, still buy a DVD (the one's that come with English subtitles) and watch it today! It’s sad that I saw this more than 2 years after it was released. 


A full 10 out of 10.

An Introduction

"Why a dedicated blog on movie reviews", you might ask? "Who do you think you are, Raja Sen"?

For starters, unknown to many, I am a complete movie buff. I enjoy watching movies - any kind, any language, any genre. I watch them in greater detail than is possible for most human beings - down to remembering exact dialogue sequences in an entire scene, or what a certain character was attired in and how relevant it is to the scene at hand. Movie music imbibes itself in my brain, so much that years later a small portion of the main piece can make me recall what movie (and what scene) this music was from. This causes endless snubbing in the hands of my wife, as I reportedly don't enjoy even a fraction of my celluloid recall capabilities in real life!

I have long maintained that good cinema is not about a singular aspect. It is not about acting, direction, technique, cinematography or editing. There may be exceptions to this rule, like The Dirty Picture, where Vidya Balan's brilliant acting rescues an obvious plot and ordinary direction. But essentially good cinema is a combination of all things.

Sometimes, all these tangible elements come together to create something intangible, something that can be called just - magic. That's when good cinema becomes great cinema. Difficult to define magic, but easy to give examples. Take the scene in Casablanca, where Ingrid Bergman comes to Humphrey Bogart to plead for her husband's life. She has betrayed him in love earlier, and it’s not easy to seek sympathy from a scorned lover. She cries, pleads for her husband's life, while the usually reserved Humphrey Bogart blazes on all guns and demands to know why she betrayed him. As the camera pans on to her beautiful face, tears on her cheek, bathed in moonlight streaming through the window, it creates a sort of cinematic magic the attentive viewer immerses himself in.

Or take the scene in Slumdog Millionaire - a much criticized film - where the slum children play cricket on the airfield and the guards shoo them off. They run through the dirty bylanes of Dharavi, being chased by the guards. All the time the camera shoots from the top. The clothes hung out to dry in the open, along with the polythene sheets that form the roofing of many shanties, create a cheerful ambience that brings a sense of colour and joyousness to the dreary slums.

The third "must mention" is the scene in Kurosawa's Kagemusha, where the beggar - who has been asked to play the king - discovers himself in the King's bedroom. The viewer enjoys the confusion on his face as he gets intimidated by the scale and grandeur of things, notably the bed. After loitering around for some time, he tries his best to make himself invisible. He huddles up into a corner of the room and goes to sleep on the floor. Again, superb acting, direction and photography blend into a magical scene which you want to rewind and watch again and again.

What should you expect from this blog? For one, I'm not a professional movie critic, no one invites me to premieres. Many great movies have lived their theater life and receded into video discs available over the counter at a discount store, before I've had the time or inclination to see them. So don't come looking for reviews of the latest and greatest.

What I do plan to write, is in-depth reviews of movies that have TOUCHED me, compelled me to watch them again and again, and then pick up the pen (ok ok, the keyboard) and write why they touched me. So the only reason I want you to be here, is to find unbiased, critical, objective analyses of movies. Trust me, anything that gets above 7 stars in my 10 point scale is worth a watch!

And now that you know I'm not a very humble man, lets share another personal opinion. Raja Sen, I think, is a biased and not so smart movie critic :-).