Wednesday, February 4, 2009

"Ghajini"


Movie Review: Ghajini – Hindi (2008)

Director: A. R. Murugadoss.

Writers: A. R. Murugadoss

Genre: Action, Drama, Mystery, Romance, Thriller

Cast: Aamir Khan, Asin Thottumkal, Jiah Khan, Pradeep Rawat and Others

Music: A. R. Rahman

Lyrics: Prasoon Joshi.

‘Ghajini’ was one of the most awaited movies of the year. It was biggest movie of the year and as it turned out it was also biggest hit of the year. The movie was talk of the town months before it actually released on 25th Dec 2008. Thanks to new hair cut and eight abs physique of Aamir Khan which he flaunted all over the town and now known as Ghajini look. Which actually help promoting the film in great deal. It kept the curiosity of the people alive till the movie released and after the movie released it became even bigger rage and new style statement.

As for the movie it starts with a medical student Sunita played by Jiah Khan wants to investigate a case of Sanjay Singhania played by Aamir Khan. Who is suffering from anterograde amnesia that means he has very short memory, he can remember things only for 15 minutes nothing more. But his case was more interesting because he lost his memory in an incident in which the bad Guy Ghajini Dharmatma played by Pradeep Rawat killed his girlfriend Kalpana played by Asin Thottumkal and hit him on the head which actually cause his short term memory. So this is a story of how Sanjay overcome his deficiency to get his revenge by killing the bad guy Ghajini.

The movie is a remake of Tamil movie with the same name. It was also directed by A. R. Murugadoss. It was enacted by Surya, Asin, Nayantara, and Pradeep Rawat. I watched this movie in Tamil. Actually I don’t understand a single word in Tamil but that didn’t stop me from enjoying the movie. Even though I could not understand the meaning of the dialogues due to language barrier, I didn’t miss any emotion expressed through these dialogues and I think that will be solely certifies the quality of the movie. So it wasn’t the story which drawn me to the movie theatre, it was Aamir Khan which more often than not means value for money of my Ticket. And I also wanted to find out how he represented or we should say recycled this movie in new colors. Aamir did amazing job on this movie both as producer and actor. The tamil actor Surya also did great job but what Aamir did better was he brought more glamour to the role and as usual glamour is not always realistic, it was more fantastic. I feel like what Aamir did to this movie as a producer is what Dilip Chabaria the famous DC who modifies any car into ultimate beauty. He modified the Tamil Ghajini.

Aamir khan did great job as an actor. He again proved how seriously he takes his job and how much dedicated he is to his films as he worked really hard to get the physique which he is flaunting in this film so often. Then the director A. R. Murugadoss did wonderful as director as well as writer because I find scenes of the movie, plot of the movie was simply brilliant. Ideas like protagonist writing on his body and taking photographs was brilliant and so much more important for the film. He changed the climax of the movie from the Tamil version but that did not make any difference as it wasn’t important how he kills the bad guy but he kills him and gets his revenge with his short term memory. The essence of movie was love story, mystery and a revenge which director handled very well.

Asin was brilliant, even though she is superstar in south this was her debut. And she had a dream debut as not only she gets to work with Aamir Khan she gets a fantastic role to play which any actress will envy to play. This role of Kalpana can only be compared to Geet in Jab We met played by Kareena Kapoor. She played the same role in the Tamil version. Another actor repeated from the Tamil Movie is Pradip Rawat as Ghajini but he fail to impressed he was overshadowed by Aamir Khan. I think when film is titled on villain’s name then they should have cast bigger actor than him. It would have made the movie even better. Jiah Khan’s performance was OK nothing great she should work harder on her accent. She is one lucky girl who worked with two biggest names Amitabh Bachchan and Aamir Khan so early in her career. A. R. Rahman as usual gave 6 blockbuster songs he seems to be competing with himself and coming up with better music with every film.

Lot of people had problem with the violence in the movie. Many people find it hard to believe that man of Aamir’s stature even though with 8 Abs can hit 6 – 7 feet tall bulky guys. Yes it isn’t new thing in bollywood, it has been happening for ages but it was difficult to digest the way Aamir hits them till there turns other way around. It was quite remarkable achievement by him. But let us just say that highly dedicated people like Aamir’s character who badly wanted revenge can do anything at least in movies. And that’s what we love about movie isn’t it the fulfillment of fantasies.

One funny quote I read about this movie came from very famous artist M. F. Hussain. He demanded that the Government should ban this movie as it has unwanted violence. It was surprising and funny to come from him as he himself fighting for creative liberty for his own art and he wants censorship on others creativity.

Anyways for me this is good entertaining movie, may be not list in all time classic movies but surely count in one of the most popular movie in bollywood. After success of this movie I am sure the Action and thriller movies will come back which took backseat for so long. As for Ghajini if I have to rate the movie I’ll give 7 out of 10.


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Friday, January 30, 2009

Jumanji





Movie Review: “Jumanji” (1995 - English)

Director: Joe Johnston

Writers: Jonathan Hensleigh, Greg Taylor

Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Family, Fantasy, Thriller

Cast: Robin Williams, Jonathan Hyde, Kirsten Dunst, Bradley Pierce, Bonnie Hunt, Bebe Neuwirth, David Alan Grier and Others.

“Jumanji” is a name of a Board game which is at the centre of the film so the movie is called by its name “Jumanji”. The movie is based on a picture book story of the same name written by Chris Van Allsberg. Movie will easily rank in top 20 entertaining movie I watched ever in my life so far. It has everything contents of Adventure and Action, bit of Comedy, Fantasy, Thriller, lot of Special Effects. But most of all it will be classified a movie for children. But I enjoy the movie every time I watch it although I am all grown up now.

Movie start with two kids burying the “Jumanji”(a board game) in ancient time. Then movie skips forward when Alan digs out the game outside his father’s shoe factory. And he decides to try his hand with his friend Sarah. And after that as the tagline of the movie says “Roll the dice and unleash the excitement”. That’s what we get, as Sarah rolls the dice thousands of Bats flies out of the game. And if that wasn’t scary enough when Alan rolls the dice, he gets sucked in the game itself. And he has to be there for next twenty six years of his life. Sarah needs treatment for her insanity.

The story again skips forward by twenty six year when two kids Judy (Kirsten Dunst) and Peter come to live in Alan’s home with their aunt. They also found out that the game is calling for them, when they get to the game they also decide to try their hands on the game. And they also discover the fun of the game when Judy rolls the dice Mosquitoes attack them, next roll some crazy monkeys come out of the game, next roll the lion comes out and when they roll again Alan himself comes out of the game. But this time he is all grown up. But real action starts when Alan and kids realized that they are playing the same game which Alan started twenty six earlier. And if they want to undo everything done by the game they had to finish the game. So they need all the four participants including Sarah. They make Sarah to participate in the game once again. After that movie gets even more adventures because as they roll the dice they encounter even more scary things like a Hunter with big gun, wild man eating trees, Animal stampede, big deadly spiders, crocodiles and crazy jungle monsoon.

So story takes you to the end how they manage to overcome every obstacle and manage to finish the game. And eventually able to undo all the disaster created by the game.

After watching the movie the person who should be admired is Director of the movie Joe Johnson. Because in Special effect movies like this it is very easy to overdo the special effect to make it more glamorous. But in the process story might lost which didn’t happen with “Jumanji”. The special effects may be at par with the time when the movie released but we can see movies are coming out with better special effect. In the movies like Jurassic Park, Twister, Godzilla, Narnia. But I really enjoyed the sequence of stampede and the cute hippo lagging behind them. On the whole all the actors did brilliant job. Movie will surely be enlisted in my Must watch movies before you die.

If I have to rate the movie I will give 9 out of 10 for this pure entertainment movie.




Friday, January 16, 2009

Will Oscar come to India?


Will A R Rahman win an Oscar? For the answer we have to wait, watch and hope as no one knows that today. But two things are certain even today, that he is most deserving candidate to win this award and after winning ‘Golden Globe’ he is just inches away from the glory of Oscars. ‘Golden Globe’ is seen as precursor of Oscars. And Rahman has got strong will power of one billion people backing him and hoping for his success.

But thinking of Oscar we should not forget to celebrate this moment also as ‘Golden Globe’ is also one of the top most honor anybody can get in showbiz. So we can not underestimate his achievements and enjoy it irrespective of his winning the Oscar or not. He always mad all of us Indian proud but when he received such internationally acclaimed award we feel even more proud of him. He is musical genius and is a true ‘Mozart of India.’ He is brilliant at what he does and he is doing it consistently for about two decades now. His success lies in his versatility. He had created some unforgettable romantic, soulful composition but at the same time he is able to create many feet tapping numbers too. He has big fan following in India who always waiting for his next creation eagerly. He is the best and busiest music composer in India who always gives original music. The word original should be highlighted in bold letters as it is a big achievement of him when we are considering current Indian composers. Because many of the Indian composers’ inspirations come easily and so naturally that they never realized that they are copying someone else’s creation.

A R Rahman already won many national and international awards in his flourishing career. If you want to find out nearly unending list you can visit A R Rahman’s official website. And this list is going to be longer and longer in coming years. But ‘Golden Globe’ award is in many ways special for him and for Indian music as this will put both of them on the top of International music radar. Both of them get the recognition internationally what they deserve from long time. And if he wins Oscar it will be icing on the cake. Actually before this award I used to think why we wait for any international awards or Oscar for that matter. We have our own 1 billion people and awards of our own. Why do we care about Oscar so much? But I must admit watching A R Rahman winning the Golden Globe and accepting the award thrill me never the less. And it is the biggest talking point for not only news channels but for general public. And what was more thrilling and exciting was A R Rahman’s speech after winning the award. He didn’t forgot to thank one billion people of India because he knew how much it meant for Indians.

A R Rahman is in a true sense ambassador of India and Indian culture. He is down to earth, and humble although little bit of arrogance from his side would have been neglected by everyone as he on top of the world. So let’s cross our fingers and hope for the Oscar but he is already a winner in our hearts.

P.S. : Whenever I think of A R Rahman first thing comes to mind is the song ‘Vande Mataram’ sung and composed by A R Rahman. Whenever I listen to this song I always gets goose bump and I am sure all the Indian feel the same.



Sunday, January 11, 2009

Must Watch Movies Before you die - 2



21. Munnabhai MBBS (2003) - Hindi

Director: Rajkumar Hirani

Writers: Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Rajkumar Hirani

Genre: Comedy

Cast: Sunil Dutt, Sanjay Dutt, Arshad Warsi, Gracy Singh, Boman Irani, Rohini Hattangadi, Jimmy Shergill

One of very best movies made in Indian cinema which made you feel good.

22. Masoom (1983) – Hindi

Director: Shekhar Kapur

Writer: Sampooran Singh, Gulzar

Genre: Drama, Family, Musical

Cast: Naseeruddin Shah, Shabana Azmi, Jugal Hansraj, Urmila Matondkar, Saeed Jaffrey, Supriya Pathak, Satish Kaushik and others

The movie dealt with infidelity and its consequences. A soulful movie is with equally soulful songs. This was directorial debut of famous director Shekhar Kapur.

23. Forest Gump (1994) – English

Director: Robert Zemeckis

Writers: Winston Groom (novel), Eric Roth (screenplay)

Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance

Cast: Tom Hanks, Robik Wright Penn, Gary Sinise, Sally Field, and others

As the tagline of movie says it is the story of a lifetime of Forrest Gump who might not a be a intelligent man but quite remarkable person and big time achiever.

24. A Few Good Men (1992) – English

Director: Rob Reiner

Writers: Aaron Sorkin

Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller

Cast: Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson, Demi Moore, Kevin Bacon, Kiefer Sutherland, and others

Movie with some brilliant acting performances. Movie tells the story of a battle between army men but not on a battle field but in court room. A battle which is not for land but for honor.

25. Vazir (1994) – Marathi

Director: Ujwal Thengdi

Genre: Drama,

Cast: Ashwini Bhave, Vikram Gokhale, Ashutosh Gowarikar, Ashok Saraf,

Political drama, Ashok saraf with his best performance, May be climax could have been better but over all movie is top class.

26. Socha Na Tha (2005) – Hindi

Director: Imtiaz Ali

Writer: Imtiaz Ali

Genre: Romance, Comedy

Cast: Abhay Deol, Ayesha Takia, Ayesha Jhulka, Apoorva Jha, Rati Agnihotri, Sandhya Mridul, Suresh Oberoi and others

Movie is like fresh breeze of air, good light hearted romantic film. No unnecessary drama or glamour involved.


27. A Wednesday (2008) – Hindi

Director: Neeraj Pandey

Writers: Neeraj Pandey
Genre:
Drama, Thriller

Cast: Naseeruddin Shah, Anupam Kher, Jimmy Shergil, Dipal Shaw, Aamir Bashir

The solution provided in film against terrorism and terrorist may not be right but film one many hearts as it portrays agony of victims of terrorism.

28. Black Friday (2007) - Hindi

Director: Anurag Kashyap

Writers: Anurag Kashyap, Hussain Zaidi (book)

Genre: Crime, Drama

Cast: Kay Kay Menon, Pavan Malhotra, Adutya Srivastava, Dibyendu Bhattacharya, Kishore Kadam, Gajraj Rao, Zakir Hussain, Imtiaz ali, and others

The story of the Mumbai bomb blasts, it is one of the most shocking, black and intense movie made.

29. Shwas (2004) – Marathi

Director: Sandeep Sawant

Genre: Drama, Family

Cast: Arun Nalawade, Ashwin Chitale, Sandeep Kulkarni, Amruta Subhash, Ashwini Giri, Ganesh Manjarekar.

It tells us to always keep positive attitude towards life.

30. Tare Jamin Par (2007) – Hindi

Director: Aamir Khan

Writer: Amole Gupte

Genre: Drama, Family, Children

Cast: Darsheel Safary, Aamir Khan, Tisca Chopra, Sachet Engineer, Vipin Sharma, Tanmay Chheda.

As the tagline of the movie says every child is special. And Darsheel Safary comes up with exceptional performance. It is also debut od Aamir Khan as Director.


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