Rann - Review

If you expect Rann to be anywhere close to Company or Satya or even believe the reviews that it’s about exposing the media, you will be thoroughly disappointed. Because Rann is about neither. i thought it was good enough as a family drama with some suspense and thrill thrown in. The main action is about the life of the characters than the moral decline of the media. i guess the framework to get the action going could be anything, but in this instance, it just happened to be the media. It’s just a story about a son’s deceit to make his channel beat competiton. The father here is at the receiving end.

The movie certainly lacks the research and incisiveness that make such movies stand out on their own. There are no behind the scene analyses of what makes 'breaking news' or how channels have gone on historically to ‘create’ news than to just ‘report’ it. TRP matches remain in the background. It shows just one fictitious incident that could be a part of any other regular Bollywood fare.

The music is used to heighten the melodrama which the movie doesn’t deserve. Amitabh’s sermon at the end is long and tedious. From being a personal and emotional confession of the channel deceiving the viewers, it transforms into a diatribe against the media. The rant could have been weaved into and depicted through the story.

AB and Preash Rawal are brilliant, as usual. Sudeep, plays the restless and angry Jai very convincingly. Riteish Deshmukh proved that he can carry off serious roles as well as the Apna Sapna Money Money kinds. The only woman in the movie who has a role is Suchitra Krishnamurthy. Gul Panag had to just sit in her casuals at the background every time RIteish did his shots and Neetu Chandra pose in her sheer night dresses. Well, as RGV has already confessed its a movie centered around the men.

Not a trade mark RGV film. Bit overdone for realistic cinema.

3 Idiots

3 Idiots is a typical Hirani film with all the masala and moral of the story in tow. Though the script loses its hold for a while in the second half, it is worth a watch. It’s after ages that i found almost house full and it’s also been quite sometime since a movie gave you genuine humour you could laugh at. The first half is full of scenes where you just can’t stop laughing! Also, amazing is how young Aamir looks in the movie even at his age.

Chetan Bhagat’s book is borrowed as a framework to suit the theme. The best part is the story moves back and forth keeping you hooked on to it with “What next?”. The second half has a chunk we could do without which would trim the movie down to a decent length. This also leaves a kind of bad taste in the mouth and i am not sure if the overall goodness of the movie balances it out with the unwanted bits.

Playing Rancho is a cakewalk for Aamir who has been into characters much intense and dialogue - driven. i kept waiting for a flash of typical Aamir lashing out at the system or something like that. His profound moments also come with a calmness consistent with his character of an idiot-genius. Madhavan and Sharman Joshi support the story well though Madhavan would look more like a student with a few kilos less on him. The trio share an amazing chemistry together. Kareena is her usual self with no great opportunities to showcase her real talent.

A special mention for Boman Irani who is an excellent actor beyond doubt. Here he does his lisp act to perfection proving yet again his sheer genius!

The message of the film is subtly thrown in but of course things are quite easy for the characters since the ending has to be happy. Might not be as easy in real life to throw away an engineering degree after 4 yrs and make it as a successful photographer. But the movie succeeds in exploring the what-you-want Vs what-others-expect-from- you very well. Another true Bollywood stroke - hence unrealistic - is Kareena eloping away without even knowing where Rancho is or if he is still single!! Well! It’s Bollywood after all!!

It is certainly a fun movie and a must watch.

Wake up Sid - some thoughts

Wake up Sid, broadly speaking, has that freshness about it. It’s not the usual mushy Karan Johar flick with loads of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai-isk overdose of melodrama. The plot is simple, real and narrated as simply with no luxurious foreign locales or extravagantly shot numbers, not even for the glamour element. (Though the temptation to do that could have been too strong to resist and would spoil the whole effect of the movie)

Ranbir Kapoor, i think, greatly contributes to the fresh appeal of the film. It’s time that middle-aged men stopped playing college lads in Karan Johar’s films and someone young stepped into their shoes. None of Ranbir’s previous films have worked too well so he is not yet typecast. He perfectly fits the bill of a careless, spoilt-brat-of-a-rich-dad with no aim in life. His verve and spirit of partying and having fun add sparkle to the character. But, thankfully, his transformation is realistic through photography, which is one of his passions. It would be very unrealistic to show him succeed in his father’s business or through a 9-5 job.

Konkana Sen Sharma, unfortunately doesn’t match Ranbir’s fresh appeal. She is as brilliant as ever in her art but we have seen her to many times as the wannabe independent girl in pursuit of finding and maintaining her own identity. (Life in a Metro and Page 3, Luck by Chance are cases in point). Manish Malhotra also doesn’t seem to be too impressive in dressing her up. She’s in boring kurtis all through the film (ok, the glamour quotient is on the lower side in the film, unlike other KJo movies) and she could have been given a better look considering that she is the main lead here and its a commercial film.

Anupam Kher’s performance needs no words of praise as a helpless father of a truant son who refuses to grow up. I have no clue how Kashmera Shah or the old landlady add to the plot. Rahul Khanna is great in his cameo as the editor of Mumbai Beat and looks quite mature.

The portrayal of emotions is quite subtle in the movie. You just feel the helplessness of a father or the growing friendship between two people of opposite sex. i like the pace at which their relationship grows gradually and doesn’t presume love or sexual tension between the two right from the beginning. Sid coming of age is also brought out with ease through his struggle to mend his ways as circumstances force him to do that.

Of course, you see the usual KJo strokes in the revamp of an entire house by the leading lady even wen she doesn’t even have a job. I mean you can afford to paint and furnish your entire house and still afford to pay the rent for a Mumbai property even before you earn “apne paise” only if you have a producer’s deep pockets supporting you.

Overall it’s a great movie with a fusion of fun and emotion. It's worth watching.

Kaminey Faale!

How come thif movie haf become fuch a hit! For me, it turned out to be a dud! I am ftill not fure what waf exactly the focal point of it! Feparated-and-reunited- twin brotherf or a ftory about gang war? The wanton bloodfed (bloodshed) and violonfe (violence) at the end isf abfolutely pointleff. Fahid Kapoor is juft about ok and all the hype about hif fterling performanfe uncalled for. And the villainf too are hardly fcary and don't make for a hair-raifing experienfe. Priyanka's juft herfelf trying her best to lift up the movie....in vain

The ftory initially feems alright with identical twins separated - one vituouf and the other not. But then, i juft kept waiting for the plot to thicken. But even when they exchange placef and i thought there'f going to be fome comedy of errorf. Inftead, they are quickly reftored back to their original settingf. The confrontation that they have at the end and the tragic circumstanfes of their father'f death bring no catherfif (catharsis). The angle comef as an after thought in an attempt to prop up the childhood enmity between brotherf. 

Priyanka Chopra isf running moft of the time and doing thingf a woman in the initial ftages of her pregnancy fhoudn't be doing. She ftill managef to have pretty healthy twinf!!! i know i fhoudn't be ufing common fenfe in a Bollywood movie...but couln't ignore something so obviouf. Shahid Kapoor (the one who lisps, hence no f's) is beaten up all the time and he ftill goes on without any medical attention or firft aid! The blood clot is a perennial feature of his make-up in the second half! 

All in all, 3 hours in the hall were a colossal waste of time for me! Just couldn't wait for it to be over! (mein 'fa' ko 'fa' nahin bolti!)