Rann: Bhandarkar wine in Varma bottle

I sincerely apologize for my attempt to sensationalize the title of this write-up. But, more sincerely, as I was watching this film, I could not ignore thick shades of Madhur Bhandarkar's 'Corporate' and RGV's 'Sarkar Raj'. To cut the crap, the film is entertaining enough for a single watch (when aired on TV). Those interested in the crap, can read further.

Every story has a protagonist, who is posed with a challenge and ends up in a conflict; later the conflict reaches a threshold when the protagonist takes action and finds a solution. All the three elements, protagonist, conflict and the solution, decide the flavor of the story. There are audience who wouldn't mind the solution part being idealistic, because idealism carries entertainment; but there are audience, who wouldn't appreciate an ideal solution, especially when the conflict part is utmost real. And that's where RGV's Rann fails. It has a very realistic conflict; but the culmination is foolish and stupid. All the build-up he gives to the theme and story fizzle out because of the idealistic climax.

One can never stop noticing Amitabh Bachchan uttering 'mera beta' like he did in Sarkar Raj. The flow of tears from his eyes haven't stopped since that film. It's as if Abhishek Bachchan died in that film, just to be re-born as Sudheep in this film; but bloody hell, just to die here again!!! Sudheep, inspite of over-scratching his nose and forehead, impresses with his awesome screen-presence. None of the cast perform badly, but they hardly rise above the mediocre, single-expression characterizations.

The most laughable aspect of this film is the BGM. I sincerely doubt if the re-recording sessions were attended by the director. The tone is similar to that used since Sarkar, it's hard to ignore the carelessness in placing the compositions along the run of the film.

Another aspect, Cinematography, though not laughable, was mis-utilized in the film. The execution gets restless right from the beginning of the film; the camera shakes as if the audience should get drunk while watching the film. The shake would make sense had the usage been restricted to crucial situations, mostly with respect to Sudheep's struggles at various points of the story.

Anyway, just to conclude this crap, the film would seem entertaining to those people who hardly care about the crap I mentioned above. But a sensible climax would have given this film more value.

The Last Minute Struggle!!!

I am just two scenes away from completing my first Telugu feature film screenplay. Or may be three scenes away. Three key scenes that reflect the gist of my story. The fact that I know what happens in those scenes isn't being sufficient for me to draft the scenes. Something is compelling me to think more. Or is it just laziness? No, it isn't!!! I think I am unsure of the weight that the conflict in my story carries.

The conflict is similar to what I am experiencing now while trying to finish the screenplay. The last minute struggle to finish! A guy, who works in US and plans to go back to India by a certain date, struggles to face the decision he made as the date approaches. Somewhere, sacrificing the comfort zone of living in US, feels heavy. In the story, the comfort zone is personified by a girl whom the guy always loved. The girl is adamant about settling in US and not returning back to India. As the date of the his return to India approaches, the girl too falls for him, making it difficult for him to return back. Will he convince her? Or will she be convinced? Or are there other options for each of them?

Just trying to think aloud: will this conflict work as a romantic comedy?

Color Correction: My Name is Khan

/*** I felt while watching the teaser of this film, that KJo just missed a unique opportunity to make India's first commercial black-n-white film post the eastman color era. This film deals with not just one, but two aspects of binary nature: terrorism and autism. The following is just my attempt to see if the color correction to black-and-white would add more meaning to the theme. ***/

Original Teaser

Like watching an old spoilt color TV, we see jaded disturbing frames (with weird colors) of Rizvan Khan's childhood trauma. Rizvan is autistic and he doesn't know what it is about. As much as he is confused about his mental disorder, he is even more confused at the treatment he gets from others around him. He cannot understand 'normal' social behavior. His mother consoles him with an easy-to-understand explanation: people are either good or bad. And as he begins to believe that he is good and how important it is to be so, the frames turn into black-and-white.

Thus begins a black-and-white film about the story of Khan, who lives in San Francisco with his brother and sister-in-law. Khan, as a grown-up, still believes in the binary (good and bad) shades about life. The black hues dominate the frame when he is facing some daily hardship and the whites dominate when he is feeling happy. And one day...... the sun shines brighter and the screen becomes pleasantly bright and sensitively white.......

Mandira walks into his life. A single mother, Mandira, strikes good rapport with Khan. As their relationship builds gradually, we see the white hues dominate all the while in Khan's life. Slowly and subtly, colors (all the seven shades in white light) begin to flood across the screen. And Khan begins to enjoy the beauty of each color. He likes being with Mandira as much as he likes the beautiful colors flashing around him. And the most colorful day of his life is the day he marries Mandira.

As if fate couldn't choose a better time, the twin towers are attacked on 9/11 and the film gets back to black and white mode. Mandira and Khan's relationship breaks and Khan takes on a journey across the country to talk to The President, and get his beloved Mandira and the color back into his life.

/*** Does the color change work? ***/

Pray, or check the Possibilities!!!

It's been a week since the New Year (2010) began. A lot of life has passed. My first public puking experience, got sick, solved a production issue at work, hit the gym, got sick again, spoke to a lot of friends, spoke to my sis after a long time. Lots of life has gone through in one week. But insomnia all throughout the week makes me feel as if I wasted a lot of time (when I wasn't sleeping, I was actually wasting time trying to sleep). But why I am feeling so guilty about wasting time?

I think it isn't guilt; but fear. Not the fear of wasting time. But, Fear of uncertainty. The day of my decision making is getting nearer. I have waited nearly an year for this day. Planned for it. Worked hard to save my job and save some money. And now, it's like butterflies in my tummy. Continuing to save my job and save more money is seeming very easy and comfortable.

I made things hard for myself by unlearning how to pray, a few years ago. If there is anyway I could learn what I unlearned (with respect to praying), I wish I could pray to get some strength to fight this fear and go ahead with my dreams. But when I unlearned, I simultaneously learned how to see the possibilities. So let me do it now.

What am I getting afraid of? To leave a stable job? To leave the comfort zone I am standing on? Probably!!! So let them be the stable and comfortable aspects that I am planning to leave. Isn't there a possibility of setting my foot on something stable and comfortable, when I get into films? There is; but it's a very meek chance. I should be able get a chance to work as an assistant under a good film-maker. Isn't there a possibility to make whatever I put my foot on, to lead me to a stable and comfortable zone? There is. I can try to go through a film course for an year and make my mind get used to the dynamics of the film world. Stability and Comfort are all in the mind. I think a film course would be a great stress reliever and a mind-setter.

But what if I am in a grave situation where I can't do either? Even then, there is a possibility....... Pray. Should I? Or is there any other possibility? Let me think.....

3 Idiots: Follows Success, Ignores Excellence

Given it's sheer success at the box-office, different people have liked Raju Hirani's latest film on different accounts; the most obvious one being the immense entertainment quotient. I myself have been entertained every bit (including the baby delivery scene) on both occasions when I watched the movie. But after my second viewing, as an aspiring filmmaker I began to dissect the film. So let me confess that whatever is written below is just a different take that goes beyond the obvious entertainment that the film profusely provides.

The film preaches "Don't follow success; follow excellence"; but the film itself follows the success formula and ignores excellence. It shamelessly follows the Bollywood cliches (like the same education system which it complains against) and imparts bookish ideals at regular intervals to entertain those, who funnily and temporarily feel rejuvenated at realizing the ideal through the film. Like Rang de Bansathi, this film has the misleading-the-youth shade as well. Most people don't like studies, not because they are skilled at other things; but because they don't want to do anything. They just want to wander around without learning or doing anything. This film provides ample sunshine for such people to make hay.

Isn't it ironical that a lot of films that preach do not actually follow what they preach. A film that preaches peace, does it only after showcasing an entertainingly shot violent war scene. In most films, the hero winning over the wrong-doer happens only after a temptingly shot rape scene has entertained the front-bench-folks. More worse are those films that showcase sensuous bare-backed-ladies, while calling themselves conservatively traditional family dramas. What's even more crazy about these films is, they turn out to be the bigger block-busters at the ticket-window. With enough mediocrity that excites the Indian massses (including me), '3-Idiots' no doubt is an all-time block-buster.

But inspite of the film theading the success formula, there is one scene in the film which deserves to be called excellent. Rancho, having made some modifications, makes Joy Lobo's heli-camera work. He, along with Farhan and Raju, decide to surprise Joy Lobo with the working machine floating at his window. So, there is an intercut between them and the monitor which displays what the camera is capturing. The helicopter is made to fly across the hostel and everyone are excited to see the video on the monitor. Joy Lobo's room is on the 2nd floor. The helicopter is lifted to the first floor and we see a guy dancing in his breifs. Everyone, including the audience, laugh. The helicopter is lifted higher to Joy Lobo's window. The audience, like the characters in the film, are now tuned to the happy mood; just then, when the helicopter reaches Joy Lobo's window, we are cut back to the monitor to find Joy Lobo hanging from the ceiling of his room. The very next shot, we see the three heroes running as fast as they can to Joy Lobo's room. They see Joy Lobo's dead face above. But, we are only shown his hanging legs. And the focus shifts to the words on the wall: I quit. This scene, in terms of screenplay, editing, acting and background score, is the best scene to have been churned out in the recent Bollywood releases.

For me the excellent part of 3 Idiots is: Joy Lobo.

AVATAR: The Pride of Human Imagination

If there is anything that can capture human imagination to the best, it's -- cinema. If there is any cinema that clearly shows the ethereal beauty of human imagination, that's -- James Cameron's AVATAR. And if there is any line that can sum up the brilliance of this film...... then that bloody line is absolutely fake.

The story is about human greed that spreads beyond the limits of earth and tries to disrupt the placidity of a Heaven-like planet named Pandora. The story is also about human goodness that restores the flora and fauna of the deservingly beautiful world. Lastly, the story is specifically about a nice guy who feels crippled among the corrupted mankind and yearns to live among the pristine alien race.

James Cameron and Co deserve Heaven for making this movie. I don't know who can give them that. But, all I can do is..... add a few more dollars to their gross revenue, by watching this movie a few more times. Is anyone ready to join me in this divinely devilish delight?

MNIK teaser -- Pangs of Fanaticism

Sincerely, I felt it hard to appreciate the first teaser of the upcoming SRK film -- My Name is Khan. Probably because it isn't anything beyond what the director Karan Johar has been flaunting about for the past three years. There isn't anything that would excite me about the film, as the theme has been handled very recently in our own very Bollywood through films like New York and Kurbaan. Also, the film tends not to stick to the 911 incident; instead it wants to handle every major calamity that happened in the US and link it to the minority bashing. For me, that's the trace of a bad film. Had they stuck to 911 alone, it would have atleast been a sincere effort, though not a great one. And SRK, once again, seems to be a victim of insipid, one-sided, monotonous, melodramatic characterization.

Watch MNIK Teaser

The more I want to mock at SRK's arch-rival Aamir's upcoming film - 3 Idiots, the more I tend to fall in love with the teasers of that film. Aamir looks absolutely promising and there is a lot to expect from the film in terms of emotional depth. And to add, I am immensely impressed at the unique marketting strategy applied by the producers (Aamir's disguise drama).

And what on the earth has SRK been thinking when he walked out of 3 Idiots and Maniratnam's Raavan, to dedicate himself to this uninspiring theme and Karan Johar? And to add to my fury, his upcoming line up is very insipid -- A Farah Khan venture, An Anubhav Sinha sci-fi and Don2. So for another three years, the SRK fanatic in me, has to live disappointed. Such painful pangs of maintaining fanaticism!!!!

P.S. found this interesting article in a forum on religious indifference across the world: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/intolerance-is-a-twoway-street/553467/0