Reviews

Only thing that irks me about this film is that there are two different films in it. This could/should have been done seamlessly. The first act acts as a prologue to the main film. But what follows is an overwhelming and beautiful tale of emotions- tragic and comedy blended into one. Benigni, without making any political statement, gets closer to the situation and makes this fable an utmost believable one. I've never cried so much watching a film before, especially at the end scene which is a redemption and revelation, of sorts, both at the same time had me in tears and when I learned that there are no more scenes ahead, I was left wiping my tears for a really long time. Such a joy!

This may be a good story.. the rise and rise of a character-from a sportsman to a soldier to a millionaire- who has an IQ lesser than that needed to get admitted in a state school- where he gets bullied and meets his love of life. This character graph has inspired many Bollywood filmmakers (Rajkumar Hirani, Karan Johar in particular) to sketch their characters, and they have milked their stories with enough drama too. I turned upon this film after watching its Bollywood inspirations. But I wasn't looking for any (melo)drama; but subtlety, of course, which, in my opinion, this film lacked. Lacking subtlety is not a problem but hammering with details being blurted out in voice over is, for me. The overdose of voice-over narration concerns me here... it gives too much of unnecessary information which aren't contributing anything to the narrative or the plot or either emotional value, and many of the details are just repeated twice for no particular reason. And this voice-over is not even breaking the fourth wall but is a narration to strangers. He meets these strangers at a bus-stop and they happen to change from time to time, just like the visitors at the home his mom had let for. (Such symbolism, if you call it one, work.) He starts his story quoting his 'mama' (and to count how many times this Mama's boy calls her out could be one irritating game for viewers). This grown up man taking us into the flashback of his childhood never came across to me as a sympathetic one though the film's 'feather light' treatment (also embodied as a symbolism in the film) worked in many tight scenes but at the same time looked desperate in demanding emotion and sympathy from the audience. (Even that white feather hitting the screen with a whoosh at the end came across as- "Oh look, we hit you so hard with such a heartwarming and light story"). Maybe I'm too cynical but the character, Forrest Gump, looked to me as a dumb throughout. And over-usage of the quote "An idiot is as idiot does" made him look more. And I totally get that the point of the film was to look the cynical world from the prism of an unintelligent man that would make it look more simpler and a winning place, but all I'm saying that this could have been said differently, more beautifully and overwhelmingly and obviously, with some subtlety.

Also I'm not asking to take away its classic status. The way the film depicts and incorporates American history, its thriving new culture and counterculture into its storytelling deserves to be acknowledged and that would have surely helped to achieve this status.

The music score is indeed beautiful. But only if the director had realized that it's also about the 'sight' and not only 'sound', he would have deployed a more focused and centered cinematographer to work who would add his bit to the narrative.

What worries me is that how did a film so repetitive and monotonous in its narration and tone with no powerful visual storytelling win Best Screenplay and Editing awards at the Oscars! But again what overwhelms me is the fact that this film which used visual effects as a requirement and not a motif to tell a story won the Oscar for Best Visual Effects!

Supermen of Malegaon. I thought this title to be misleading as why is it Supermen and not Superman? Obviously I had to be wrong. And how I was convinced to believe the title is the matter.

Malegaon is a small town in Maharashtra known for one of a kind film-making. No less than Hollywood. Due to the prevailing communal tension, Hindus and Muslims reside on the two other side of the town divided by a river. Though mainly Muslims are involved in the film-making, entertainment in the form of video theaters comes to all irrespective of the caste. Though the old orthodox Muslims consider it as a sin watching a film, it is amusing to see how these young cine goers of Malegaon enters a video theater that could give a winning competition to hundreds of crazy bulls left to kill. No wonder why even the gatekeepers fear opening the doors for them. This is the firing passion. Passion to watch cinema and to make them. Where dreams never compromise for big budgets. This is Mollywood.

Shaikh Nasir is the Ramesh Sippy of Malegaon. And to be Richard Donner. After his magnum opus Malegaon Ka Sholay and Shaan, he covets Hollywood as he worshiped its master style of camera angles, lights, and also it was untouched in Malegaon. Comedy has an eternal soul, he believes. And that's the reason he loves making parody films, with his upcoming Malegaon Ka Superman being one. But this time he aspires to be technically more sound and advanced. He needs to use Chroma (read Karoma) to shoot Superman flying. And you find yourself cheering for him when he succeeds in his attempt.

"What I do is known as editing," realizes Nasir after learning it from newspaper ads of Bollywood films. "Why do Bollywood films need so many people to make a single film? How do they connect themselves with the film which only the director visions?" Nasir reasons with passion. Yes, he does an entire film single-handedly. He's the cinematographer, editor and the director himself.

Farogh Jafri is their screenplay writer with his Urdu language and diction perfect (Believe me, I was stunned to see him ripping apart a pseudo journalist on his misuse of language, later the press screening). He had made a very strong and a clap-worthy point in this documentary: "Be it a film as grand as Titanic or as cheap as Malegaon Ka Superman, the real pain is suffered by the writer as he is the only one who lives with the characters. Only 20% of the writer's imagination finds way into the film, the rest 80% stays with him as a pain which no money can compensate." Mr. Jafri: RESPECT.

Like every film, Nasir says, this too has a hero (our superman Shafique), a villain (Akram Khan) and a heroine (Trupti). Where the villain wants to spread filth everywhere and wants every child to spit around, the match-stick thin Superman fights every odd, from bursting into a rickshaw to getting dragged into a gutter by the school bus, to save his heroine. Superman Shafique while shooting also does other odd jobs but aspire to make it as big as Amitabh Bachhan one day. Sad that he died the next day when Malegaon Ka Superman was screened. May his soul rest in peace.

Faiza Ahmad Khan's documentary delightfully portrays the parallel kind of film-making revolving around the shoot of Malegaon Ka Superman that is so engrossing that you'll forget that you are watching a documentary. And there you learn how ordinary looking men, working at hand-looms burns a fiery passion within themselves to earn a living and live their hobbies at the same time. Indeed, they are the Supermen of Malegaon.

Many filmmakers find their own space of innovation, get their hands on a rolling camera with no backing of (mainstream) producers and ends up with an independent product. Mostly such films are results of first time director's self indulgence with cinema, their obsession with cinema. And this is where they find major disconnect with the masses. Indie cinemas never serves you slick entertainment that this country is obsessed with. Instead it acts as a mirror reflecting the fact that cinema is an art and not business.

Kshay (Corrode) is one such successful attempt, where technology is no barrier and a digital camera (though too zoomed in at many places) does the resourceful with a B/W template set for the narrative of a tale of extreme obsessions.

Chhaya (Rasika Duggal) is an endeared housewife and has an unusual taste for arts while her husband Arvind (Alekh Sangal) struggles to earn a living. Chhaya finds herself fascinated by an unfinished sculpted idol of Lakshmi, goddess of wealth, that costs Rs. 15,000 and desires to have it at her home. Soon, this desire turns into obsession. She doesn't miss any view of Lakshmi photos in the surroundings that just fuels her obsession. All during this you see a brilliant character development of Chhaya who sometimes envisages the roop of Lakshmi as herself, or even the poor sculptor in a suave image near herself only to offer a solution to meet her extreme obsession which has led her to self-destruction (read corrosion). Her emotions on screen has been depicted very artistically and poetically to set the narrative forward and serve you with food for thought. Very poignant.

Amidst the narration, path has been built for multiple cameos. One such is Shruti (Nikita Anand), Chhaya's neighbor who plays the role very calmly and strikes a composing balance between being scared and concern. As the plot is build upon the character of Chhaya, Rasika Duggal manages to do the nuance with one of the best on-screen performance you can see this year. Also Sangal as Arvind is convincing in each scene of his.

Each sequence runs for a time more than seemingly required that you can wonder if this is an extended short-film. But each slack has been filled with a haunting background score and surreal sound design that keeps you engaged and let you squirm under your seat. And with such sequence, each moment on the screen grips you and flashes in your mind even after you've left the auditorium. Be it a SAW like horrifying scene where Chhaya is imagined to cut her hand raw with knife (though this scene doesn't end up being a horror porn like SAW series) or any unkempt thought-pondering scene (it's full of it)!

Before I start, let me tell you that I haven't read Vassillis Vasilikov's Z and neither have I seen the Academy Award winning film by Costa-Gavras. Shanghai based on the same book, for me, comes as an original standalone in Hindi cinema by the double time National Award winner Dibakar Bannerjee.

Shanghai, is what this fictional town of Bharat Nagar will look like with the flourishing of "International Business Park (IBP)", as promised by the Chief Minister (Supriya Pathak). You can expect it to be any other political scam. Dr. Ahmedi (Prosenjit Chatterjee) who believes this project will degrade the living of the poor, lands here to set his march of opposition. Alongwith Ahmedi, comes a Katrina Kaif caricature Tina. While she is doing Imported Kamariya at the IBP (India Bana Pardes) show, Dr. Ahmedi is slayed to death by a truck. His student, Shalini Sahay (Kalki) is stubborn about the fact that it was not an accident but murder. IAS Officer T. A. Krishnan (Abhay Deol) leads the Enquiry Commission set by the CM. Meanwhile, Jogi Parmar (Emran Hashmi), a pornographer reaches an evidence material of the case.

Meeting of every two aforesaid characters is marked with playful scene like entering of a ball in the newly setup office of Krishnan between a heated discussion, or the English conversation of Jogi with Shalini.

Leisurely paced, the first half is cooked up with two songs where Bharat Mata Ki Jai is just abrupt, misled and serves no purpose to the story. That's what you wanted Mr. Producer, right? An item song and a peppy track? But what makes the direction extra-ordinary are the detailing with the arts and sound design in almost every scene. Note that sound of a crying baby in the background amidst the tensed situation when Dr. Ahmedi is admitted to the hospital. Whereas the background score in most of the parts is overdone with the same beats.

For its running time of 114 minutes, this thriller grips you leisurely with not many scenes that brings you to the edge of your seat but its raw treatment and toning , fine editing and engaging performances. Emran Hashmi stands out of the lot with his best performance of his career. You are never let to believe that you are actually watching the same Hashmi. The most experienced actor Faroque Sheikh draws every attention in his scene. Kalki plays the deepest character of the film with mild tone and louder-than-words silence. Abhay Deol is in the skin of the character of a generous officer with his Tam accent. Pitobash is almost similar as you have seen him in Shor In The City.

By the end, things resurface to the top, gets unfold, and many unanswered questions are left to you to think. Dibakar doesn't hammer you with the dark side of the political system but asks many questions. Prominently, Is India really shining? Judge yourself. But Indian Cinema is really shining with this movie at the theaters.

Though I don't account Shanghai as DB's best work (for me, it's still L.S.D.), but it is the best political thriller you could ever see.

Hindi films have had many thrillers, most of which revolve around similar plot of gangster action, and off late hardly such films have accounted to classics. Kahaani, from trailers and posters, seemed to be an offbeat commercial cinema: a lady (pregnant) in search of her missing husband in a city where she finds herself lost in a labyrinth. Like that in That Girl In Yellow Boots? No. Good that it's not. We are offered with some chilling suspense and thrills. Move on.

Vidya (Bidda) Bagchi arrives Kolkata from London in search of a man called Ornob Bagchi whom she claims as her husband. Fails to learn anything substantial about him, she is supported by a policeman Rana (Parambrata Chatterjee). Look into Vidya's character, she seems stubborn, a fighter but somewhere you expect her as a typical Indian woman with melodrama to burst out as she grows. And she proves you wrong every time! She is a computer programmer, fixes bugs of police database system and boils up when sees a old rugged hard-copy records at the guest house. This is a subtle way of her characterization that she is way beyond intelligent than we expect! As soon as the story moves ahead, with its pace set to engage you and the characters infuse into the plot, you are given with many dots to connect. Solve the riddle. Say that you predicted the entire story. The movie still has things unrevealed to fool you. I bet. It's a smart & witty tale if you ignore some doubtful flaws and get carried away.

And what makes this tale happening is the top notch direction by Sujoy Ghosh. Bringing a pool of characters into the play, using them and eliminating them eventually, keeping the pace composed and delivering thrills and shocks with moments justifies the script and contends the audience at the same time. Ghosh pays ode to his hometown - Kolkata, where the plot is based, emanates its colors time to time. Also, not to forget, his respect for R.D. Burman (remember Jhankaar Beats?) with his songs in the background. Background score with mainly Aamhi Shotti Bolchi in the opening credits and Ekla Chalo Re in the closing, rest are not much derived from the album. Tore Bina rhythms at the scene where Vidya is seen waiting at the door for his husband, is delightful.

Coming upon performances, characters portrayed by Nawazuddin Siddiqui as Khan, Bob Biswas played by Saswata Chatterjee and Rana will stay with you even after you move out of the auditorium. And by now we are habitual to see Vidya Balan outperforming in each of her movies since years. So lets just awards speak the rest! All and all, Kahaani is a mind bender, thoughtful film that gives you from balls in mouth moments to gulp in throat! After the cult Jhankaar Beats, and many flops later, Ghosh is back in action!

Steve Jobs, the 'ex' CEO of Apple Inc. once said, "It isn't consumers' job to know what they want." This mantra fits well for the new age cult filmmaker Anurag Kashyap, who has drawn a strong line between the mainstream and the parallel with all his movies as a director or a writer. Following those words, made them respected names in their arenas.

His latest offering That Girl In Yellow Boots, co-written by Kalki, is "socially" not intended for the audience we see in this country. God knows how he arrived at the concept of this movie...may be after getting intoxicated and sunken into the pervert sex stories? After scripting this idea and actually materializing it into a feature film needs gutsy balls. Said it. Indian producers are obviously not that ballsy to produce it, only if they get time and money from puke-like sugar candies and silly remakes. So valid is the irony of this filmmaking: 13 days to shoot the entire film and 2 years to release it! Coming upon the movie, Ruth Edscer (played by Kalki) in her metaphoric Yellow Boots is trapped in labyrinthine Mumbai, in search of a man who she hasn't seen since childhood and he also happens to be her father. In this quest, she comes across men of all kind- some "Men is Dog" kind at foreigner's registration office, a generous Diwakar (Naseeruddin Shah) at the massage parlor with the name "Aspaspa" where she works without a permit, his druggie boyfriend Prashant (Prashant Prakash), gang-man Chittiappa (Gulshan Devaiya) are some to mention. The numerous male characterization sets layers for the story to proceed: Makarand Deshpande as post master, Ronit Roy as a humble but unhelpful policeman, Piyush Mishra as a rickshaw-wallah and also Rajat Kapoor.

Fixed with the plot, the film runs for around 1hour 30 minutes with each frame mellowed with dark creativity of arts and lights (reason: low production this time, may be) adds a charm to the kind of the tale it is paced to tell. Rajeev Rai's camera work with some guerrilla technique shots, trademarks the Anurag Kashyap kind of filming. Editing by Shweta Venkat and the parallel storytelling carves to enter the dark psyche of the protagonist. The debut music director Naren Chandavarkar grips harder onto the film with the background score- a striking folk genre sung by Shilpa Rao to portray the lead Ruth.

Performances of almost every character, as they appear on the screen, hits hard - be it Makarand Deshpande only for seconds or Naseer Saab in all his short appearances. The other support Prakash and Chittiappa are worth watch. And to find a humor in this dark tale, there is Maya as the manger of Aspaspa, played by Puja Swaroop. Kalki is thrilling as Ruth, speaks with silence and her eyes.

Kashyap, as always, asks his audience to feel the movie rather than to enjoy it. And, once you are sunken into the concept he pictures here, you are shocked with its disturbing climax. With the Indian Censor Board passing this concept and National Film Development Corporation producing it, I see some maturity in them and expects the same from the audience. Digest this. Have Gelucil. No puking.

An urge to the Bollywooders: If a director, known for his critically acclaimed work, risks it with his future on stake and has balls enough to throw an idea beyond the scope of Bollywood that producers will never risk, isn't it your job as a part of liberal cinema lovers to see the bar rising just at the cost of a movie ticket and some time? Like. Dislike. Your say. Ideas need to be projected.

Amole Gupte's directorial debut Stanley Ka Dabba pictures a kid who never brings his dabba (tiffin box) to school, gets attracted to his classmates' tiffins, gets scolded by his "khadoos" Hindi teacher and sometimes just manage to satiate his hunger with tap water. The kid is Stanley. From bruises on face to his incapability of bringing tiffin, he finesses with false reasons for all, cutely wrapped in his juvenile voice. Dressed with unwashed clothes, torn pocket and bag, one really expect a reason for it and a story beyond it. Though somewhere on a predictable note, the story telling promises it in a refreshing way. "Khadoos", the Hindi teacher, played by Amole Gupte himself, has a lust for food which becomes his weakness that deviates him from teaching Hindi in class to discussing the size of tiffin boxes of children.

Stanley's dabba gang has varied characters who marks their presence with genuineness and innocence, from the tiffin rich kid to the true friend. But Stanley is the star in his own way. With his gifted talent, he never fails to cherish his sweet Rosy Miss (Divya Dutta) and also the audience!

In such a simple-straight story telling which is yet beautiful, how does it matter much even if the back cast performances are felt amateurish? Not much, really. With Partho - the star kid, Amole Gupte, Divya Dutt making their presence very real, the film flows gracefully. Also, the art-direction right from the kitchen to the classroom makes the movie look more real. Background score sounds well and also the song picturisation adds flavor to it. Jhoola Jhool in the voice of Hamsika Iyer being my personal favorite.

With not much packed in it's first half, Stanley Ka Dabba offers you a light hearted, not-at-all spicy, healthy treat in its course of less than 2 hours. It brings smiles, tears and not only serves you a delicious entertainment but also a cause to realize! Watch for it!

Stanley Ka Dabba! Have it!

Ratings: 6.5/10