Gloriously vague, but not dismissable, Sandy’s views on JTHJ

Saw the film today at Inox, was nearly 55-60 per cent full. The feeling I have is that the film is doing reasonably well, but clearly is no blockbuster success.

Personally I quite liked the film and I believe it will age well. I thought Shah Rukh was wonderful, very consistent and in character throughtout. This is one thing I have to hand him compared to the other Khans. As an actor I believe he has been the most effective and he tends to pitch his characters correctly, something which Aamir has not managed to do all the time.

The story too worked for me. I didnt find it puerile as some others did…perhaps my expectations were lower. I found the story perfectly plausible, but was let down severely by having a weak actress in the lead. Now the central love story required passionate lovers – no matter what the makers tried – making Kat gyrate, having her wear off shoulders, innumerable smooches, she cannot elicit the slightest bit of oomph. That’s the problem here. Zero sexuality and chemistry…and this is no fault of SRK. This weakens the premise a lot. When Kat makes a re entry, and the couple reunites it should have given the audience goosebumps (remember Amitabh-Rekha in Silsila, Rishi-Sri in Chandni, Ash-Salman in Hum Dil, or SRK-Kajol in DDLJ) . That doesn’t happen because Kat is incredibly dull as an actress. She looks beautiful of course but is very listless. This is felt most in scenes where Anushka and she share screen time. The former’s performance throbs with life, and though she’s getting repetitive and Im no fan of her overt smugness, Anushka knows how to act, how to say her dialogues..and pull off her role with elan.

I didnt mind the coincidences so much. It doesn’t outrage your sense of logic any more than the average 70s Bolllywood film does. I found Fanaa a bit more incredulous in fact. JTHJ stays engaging throughout and there is always the curiosity to know what will happen next. The most admirable aspect of the film is SRK’s character. Within the span of the film his role still remains a bit shadowy, but there is the right illusion of depth to his character. JTHJ actually has a story that could well have been a novel, because there seems to be a lot in the characters and situations that is left unsaid. For example the crucial parting scene and its strange circumstances. It might have seemed quite plausible if one read it in a book, as much of the happenings are in the characters’ minds! There is complexity befitting a book. As a film, there are limitations and not everything gets executed well. More explaination was needed about SRK leaving too. So the film kind of seems a bit ambigious.

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Sandy’s Review Of The Dirty Picture

The Dirty Picture

Starring: Vidya Balan, Naseeruddin Shah, Emraan Hashmi, Tusshar Kapoor

Director: Milan Luthria

By Sandhya Iyer

Ekta Kapoor and Milan Luthria, as producer and director respectively, get many things right about ‘The Dirty Picture’. Firstly, this was a smart subject to chose. When you make a bio pic on Silk Smitha, automatically a large part of the film’s screen time can legitimately belong to the lead’s heaving, bountiful breasts, that are captured in all its glory through its running time. Vidya Balan’s casting is another master-stroke. The actress, though a very attractive personality, has never been viewed as a sex symbol., and with her roles in ‘Paa’ and ‘Parineeta’, she’s always had a halo of respectability around her. ‘The Dirty Picture’ subverts this. So as soon as the promos came on television and people knew Vidya was playing Silk, gyrating lustily in a low-cut blouse and skirt to Bappi Lahiri’s blazing chart-buster, ‘Oo La La… Oo La La’, the public were on board from that minute.

‘The Dirty Picture’, for a good one hour, is a complete cracker of a film. It dodges well what could have been a potential pitfall. Normally filmmakers have no clue how to use a southern setting without compromising on the language that the characters speak. Here, the film does not transfer its 80s movie setting from Madras to Mumbai to justify use of Hindi. It keeps a Southern setting, certain names are Tamil etc, but there’s no great fuss.

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The Dark Room and The World Of Nagaraj – Share your favourite story by R K Narayan

http://sandyi.blogspot.com/2011/10/r-k-narayans-dark-room-and-world-of.html

Very few readers will dispute the talent that R K Narayan was. He was the first Indian writer in English to acquire such a name for himself both among native as well as foreigners readers.
V. S Naipaul has written how his image of India was entirely shaped by reading R K Narayan’s books and all that happens in Malgudi, the fictional small-town in South India that the author set his stories in. His tales came with a parochial delight, yet encompassed a world of human emotions and characters. This was enchanting as much as it was universal in appeal.
Still, every now and then one hears of a not-so-flattering comment about Narayan’s prose. At times it cannot be completely dismissed as it comes from say a Shashi Tharoor who in his wonderful book on his literary passions, Bookless In Baghdad writers candidly about Narayan’s weaknesses calling his style ‘flat and monotonous’
Tharoor writes, “Some of my friends felt I was wrong to focus on language – a writerly concern – and lose sight of the stories, which in many ways had an appeal that transcended language. But my point was that such pedestrian writing diminished Narayan’s stories, undermined the characters, trivialised their concerns.”

It’s not completely unfair to say that Narayan’s writing had its flaws, but hardly anything so serious to make it any less enjoyable. His English was perfectly good by the standards of the day. In any case, one gets a perfect sense of what Narayan might want to convey.

Narayan’s writing for most part remains simple, yet profound, a feat not as easily achievable as he makes it look. His trilogy, Malgudi Days, The Bachelor Of Arts and The English Teacher are largely autobiographical, but also offer some of the most poignant and wonderful narratives. His stories bristle with the nestling beauty of warm domestic scenes. His characters grapple with seemingly trivial concerns, but to them, these are profoundly impacting and life-altering things.

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Sandy’s review of Mausam

An uninspiring Beauty

Mausam

Starring: Shahid Kapur, Sonam Kapoor, Aditi Sharma

Director: Pankaj Kapur

Stars: **1/2

Much was expected from Pankaj Kapur, given his own credentials as an intense actor and the meaningful films he’s been a part of. The promos of Mausam, though a bit affected, did evoke some curiosity, given that the film seemed to have been put together with a fair bit of effort, ensuring that it is a treat for the eyes. But this is one of the prime reasons for the film to also become unbearable to watch after a point.

Only a psychologist can perhaps analyse why Kapur might be so obsessed with framing pretty frames all the time. His whole focus seems to be to make a good-looking film. Even in scenes of deaths at graveyards, which are intended to evoke sadness, the director’s camera pans on dainty little flowers around. He seems to love having carriages, horses and flower beds everywhere. Needlessly, the film travels to Scotland, giving way to a bunch of implausible situations. The only rational explanation for this is because Kapur wanted to shoot in a beautiful place. Logically it makes no sense.

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Vital or fatal – Which way will ‘Ra. One’ go?

http://expressbuzz.com/entertainment/news/vital-or-fatal-which-way-will-%E2%80%98ra-one%E2%80%99-go/314217.html

Sandhya Iyer
Express News Service
Last Updated : 16 Sep 2011 01:27:19 PM IST

It happens once or twice in a decade that one witnesses a real epic, dream project. These ventures are generally so high-budget and so crazily-hyped that while under production they are viewed with a mix of curiosity, hope and skepticism.

As can be expected, a dream project always involves a top star or a veteran filmmaker, attempting something grand and unforgettable. It’s natural that every famous artist in his lifetime should desire to create an extraordinary piece of work, that posterity can remember him for.

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The Lion King (3 D) review

Sandhya Iyer

There is a great deal of nostalgia one attaches with The Lion King – Walt Disney’s animation film of 1994 that was hailed as an instant classic when it released. Over the years, the spell-binding music, story, characters have all became part of cinematic lore. The movie now returns with a 3 D makeover, and if this ends up introducing a fresh new generation to The Lion King – the effort would be completely worth it.

All it takes are a couple of scenes for a first-time watcher to realise he/she’s watching a great film. The rapier sharp wit, the nuanced characters, the simple but universal story-line — all make a deep and profound impression.

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My best of 2011 (with videos) ext of Fasel’s thread

Fasel, Im making a video thread of the ‘My best of 2011 list’ These are my favourites so far.

Bhaag D K Bose Aandhi Ayee (Delhi Belly)

Badmash Dil (Singham)

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Whimpers more than roars – Sandy’s review of Singham

Singham

Director: Rohit Shetty
Starring: Ajay Devgan, Kajal Aggarwal, Prakash Raj, Anant Jog, Sachin Khedekar, Sonali Kulkarni
Rating: **

Hindi
Sandhya Iyer

Even considering that South remakes are in vogue and have given
Bollywood huge hits by way of Ghajini and Wanted, the announcement of Singham did seem somewhat odd. The Tamil film that starred Suriya in the lead (he was the hero in the Ghajini original as well) was purely a showcase for the lead actor who has become a rage down South in the last few years. As is the case with such endeavours where the star is the point of the film, the Tamil Singham peddled an extremely workaday story that somehow passed muster thanks to the lead star’s appeal and a fairly well-pitched romantic track. But barring that, it is just too unremarkable a film to warrant a remake. Which is why one was curious to see how Rohit Shetty, who started his career with an actioner (Zameer – decent) before his Golmaal series’ success, would make it worthwhile.

Now I believe any good film- whether it aims at classes or masses or both – must maintain a sense of plausibility to be truly enjoyable. If situations get too trite or exaggerated or facile, they slowly start to disengage. That is one of the central problems with Singham. It starts off with an incident of a police inspector shooting himself because he gets falsely victimised. Now this is a regular situation in a film. However, it is treated in such a cliché ridden manner – the kind where notes are stuffed into his car and everyone shouts ‘thief’ thief’ It’s easy to guess from some of these early scenes that Rohit Shetty’s version is not going to aim for the least bit of subtlety or originality. It tries to makes a virtue of all that is formulaic and unimaginative.
The Southern version was paying obeisance to its leading man in every shot, capturing his every moving hair in slow motion and morphing his face literally into that of a lion while he took on the baddies. Thankfully, Shetty and his writers act a bit saner. But the hero is still treated with much reverance in any case. There’s a grand scene where Devgan emerges from the waters, with temples and lights in the backdrop with chantings, followed by a Dabangg style song where random things go on, establishing what a regal lion he is. And just so that you don’t miss the title’s reference, the hero and the dancers make a strange claw-movement with their hands. There are plenty of such unintentionally funny moments in the film.

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Two beautiful songs from Shreya Goshal. Singham and Nauka Dubi

The first is from Singham. Music is by Marathi composers Atul-Ajay who are extremely popular after their score for Natrang – the National award winning film. This song is so lilting and the antara is one of the most sweetest … Read More

Hit Melegi Dobara – Sandy’s review of Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara

Director: Zoya Akhtar
Starring: Hrithik Roshan, Katrina Kaif, Abhay Deol, Farhan Akhtar, Kalki
Stars:***1/2

Sandhya Iyer

Zoya Akhtar’s latest, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara – after a promising debut with Luck By Chance – is a film driven by atmospherics and chemistry of its lead character rather than any real drama. But the tone of the film is so subtle, the direction so seamless, the texture so unique and warm, you don’t necessarily miss the lack of dramatic movement for a very long time. The film holds your attention, thanks to its freshness and main players. There’s only one moment in the beginning where you worry whether Zoya might have brought her heavy-handedness to the filmn (displayed in Luck By Chance) – wherein she tends to literally make her characters enact what is going through in their minds. This happens when old buddies Arjun (Hrithik) and Imraan (Farhan) meet. They have a history and there is an obvious discomfort. The act comes across too pronounced. But that becomes a niggle when you consider that the direction for most part is flawless and very impressive. Take a bow Zoya!

The film introduces you to its three main protagonist – childhood friends who have come together again after years for a road trip to Spain. There is a clear shadow of Dil Chahta Hai (DCH) and perhaps this could be seen as a take off point from where the three friends in DCH talk about how they might never be able to make time out for such a vacation again. Not much time has elapsed though, and in their fairly well-to-do lives there’s no big crisis coming. Zoya’s brush-strokes are gentle yet deep enough for you to understand the conflict of each character within the scope of their world. Arjun is a workaholic and has a private sorrow. Imraan wants to meet his real father in Spain. The most plausible and well-etched part is that of Kabir
(Abhay Deol) engaged to be married to Natasha (Kalki). The Hrithik portion – showing him to be a dull Jack gets overstated and repetitive by the end. But the actor himself is in fine fettle and is a delight to watch on screen.

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‘Market reality is the only reality’ – Sandy’s interview with Mahesh Bhatt

Excerpt
Mahesh Bhatt is all about quotable quotes. You ask him about the blood and gore in Murder 2 and he simply says ‘That which bleeds, leads’
The Bhatts might have been butchered by the critics but the boxoffice figures have come as a vindication, and they can’t stop talking about it.
Ask him about the blatant commercialism his banner seems to have embraced and he says he has stopped pandering to the soul. ” We are carering to the senses now. We are not deluding ourselves. I’ve always said I am a prostitute standing with a rate card, a circus clown, a snake charmer. We are all about spectacles. Cinema is about spectacles ,” he says.

Sandhya Iyer chats up with Mahesh Bhatt and Mohit Suri about their film Murder 2 and why they have turned commercial with a vengeance

Reviewers may have thrashed the Bhatt banner’s latest sequel Murder 2, but the makers in question, Mahesh Bhatt and director Mohit Suri were quite non-challant about it, in the wake of some splendid boxoffice figures. “If the reviews are scathing, that’s a good sign,” smiled Mohit, who had come to Pune Sayaji Hotel for a post-release informal press meet.

The film is an obvious attempt to cash in on the success of their previous Murder, which proved to be a huge pan India hit. Audiences came in droves to watch the sequel in the hope of seeing some erotic drama and thrill. “What’s wrong in cashing in on Murder?” asks Mohit. Mahesh Bhatt, who accompanied him, made no bones of the fact that the film was made for the lowest common denominator, and it’s sole purpose was to make money. “We were reeling under so many flops. Crook was a disaster, so was Tum Mile. Jashn did very badly. We needed a hit and a lease of new life. With Murder 2, we recovered out investment in one day (it earner in the vicinity of 7 crores. The second day collections took care of the print and publicity costs. From Sunday we are getting an overflow. Now we are relieved. We can make films for another five years now,” says Bhatt. Then looking at Mohit, he smiles, “He has got a life-line with Murder 2. Now he can dedicate himself to this franchise.”

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A rare film with conscience (Deepa Gahlot) – review of Chillar Party

Directed by Vikas Bahl & Nitesh Tiwari Cast: Naman ]ain, Divij, Sanath, Vedant, Aarav, Chinmay, Sherya, Rohan, Visshesh and Irfan and others Rating: Three stars

There used to be—still is—a Children’s Film Society of India that was supposed to make … Read More

Delhi Belly and the recurring theme of retribution

Sandhya Iyer

This is something that occured to me when I saw the film, but it took me a while to really gather my thoughts and pen it down

The fact that this Akshat Varma penned script, stylishly directed by Abhinay Deo is a tightly-woven, smartly executed one is something all reviews have agreed. Varma – probably on account of having studied script-writing abroad – follows one of the essential rules of filmmaking – not to waste details. Every scene and reference in small or big ways adds to the development of the film – sooner or later. The story by itself is not novel, but it is this adherence to a simple scripting rule that makes this mad-cap, irreverent flick seem instantly fresh and unusual from the run-of-the-mill Hindi-film experience.

But I come to a different point about Delhi Belly. This is not a film that is particularly bothered about appearing intellectual and profound – it is happy to be a dark, wicked comic thriller. And yet, I felt the film is very strong on subliminals. It’s not like the writer is necessarily aiming for it, but I detected a strong theme of retribution in Varma’s work.

Retribution is the idea of justice. You are punished for what you do wrong and rewarded what you do right. The three guys in the film (Imran, Vir, Kunal) stay in a dump, leading the most wretched, lazy, indifferent life. This is not uncommon with bachelors, but the writer recogonises that his protagonists need to wake up and gives them the jolt of their life. The film picks them up and throws them in the deep end of the sea, and challenges them to find a way out now. The fact that Varma has some affection for his protagonists goes without saying. These are well-meaning, decent chaps. But he raises a storm – makes everything go wrong for them – until they take stock of their life – a coming-of-age of sorts. They are rewarded in the end. Imran gets the girl he wants, and the three of them get to keep the pickings.

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It seems Delhi Belly is on its way to be a cult film – Komal Nahata

http://www.koimoi.com/box-office/delhi-belly-23-crore-bbuddah-6-crore/

Delhi Belly had a very good weekend at the box-office. The Aamir Khan Productions’ film made a total of Rs. 23.25 crore (all-India net collections) in its first weekend (July 1 – 3, 2011). The Imran Khan starrer had a good opening on Friday (Rs. 6.25 cr) and collections picked up on Saturday (Rs. 7.5 cr) and Sunday (Rs. 9.5 cr). Some theatres saw packed houses even on Monday! It seems that ‘Delhi Belly’ is on its way to be a cult film for the youth.

Bbuddah Hoga Terra Baap, on the other hand, did not fare well, as predicted by Koimoi.com. After taking a slow start on Friday, the collections barely inched up on Saturday and Sunday. The Amitabh Bachchan-starrer made Rs. 6.65 crore over the weekend.

Day
All-India net collections (in Indian Rupees)

Delhi Belly
Bbuddah Hoga Terra Baap

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Outstanding, outrageous – Mayank Shekhar – 4 stars (Delhi Belly)

http://www.hindustantimes.com/Mayank-Shekhar-s-review-Delhi-Belly/Article1-716183.aspx

Delhi Belly
Director: Abhinay Deo
Actors: Imran Khan, Vir Das, Kunal Roy Kapoor
Rating: **** Delhi Belly, most would know, is a fairly common bowel problem. Usually firangi, low-budget backpackers get these loosies, when they hang out in Third World countries (like ours), where their food and water supposedly comes mixed with 10 per cent shit. It’s called the Traveler’s Diarrhea. Which is what Nitin (Kunal Roy Kapoor) is apparently suffering from. You’re not surprised. Along with his two lazy buddies, Tashi (Imran Khan) and Arun (Vir Das), this fat beardo lives in a serious dump. Even the apartment’s ceiling could collapse with gentle persuasion, it seems. The room should be healthy habitat for rodents and insects. Water’s in short supply. Nitin relieves himself in the loo, where the metal flush could fall on his head. It does. He cleans himself up with orange juice thereafter; his butt cheeks, he says, are now stuck to each other. Grrrotesque.

His loony loosies in fact is what this film is named after. The movie has little to do with Delhi itself (unlike, say a Band Baaja Baraat, or No One Killed Jessica). It could’ve been set anywhere, unless Raj Palace for Delhi’s Taj Palace counts for much. This story, in any other city, would’ve probably been just as much a rollicking ride.

A film of this Jackie Brown genre usually has a package that a chase is occasionally centred on. Guy Ritchie’s Lock, Stock, And Two Smoking Barrels is often the chosen, ultimate template for underground cool. Yet, this pic doesn’t seem a fake derivative at all.

There’s a Russian doll in here that the guys in the film have to deliver to a designated address. Between a trip to the clinic and the given address, Nitin’s stool sample gets interchanged with the doll. As the Mafia don (Vijay Raaz: for once, calm and under-stated) patiently spreads out a black cloth to inspect the diamonds he’d ordered, what he finds instead is sticky liquid with a gooey lump of human dung, making a map of Africa, on his desk. Grrross.

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‘One of the smartest scripts to hit the horizon’ – Nikhat Kazmi (Toi) 4 stars

Critic’s Rating: ****

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/moviereview/9049864.cms

Cast: Imran Khan, Kunaal Roy Kapur, Vir Das, Shehnaz Treasurywala, Poorna Jagannathan, Vijay RaazDirection: Abhinay DeoGenre: ComedyDuration: 1 hour 36 minutesAvg Readers Rating: Rate this movie 1 (Poor) 1.5 (Below average) 2 (Average) 2.5 (Above average) 3 (Good) 3.5 (Good +) 4 (Very good) 4.5 (Very good +) 5 (Outstanding)

Smart and intelligent entertainer

Story: Three young professionals who happen to be roommates — Tashi (Imraan Khan), Nitin (Kunaal Roy Kapur), Arup (Vir Das) — inadvertently become couriers for a cache of diamonds, smuggled in by a Russian gangster. The diamonds have to be delivered to a local gangster, Vijay Raaz. Unfortunately, a strange mix-up causes a weird package to be delivered to him instead. This is the beginning of the troubles of the happy-go-lucky threesome which obviously has no experience in tackling Delhi’s crazy underworld.

Movie Review: So who’s the real hero of the film? Is it writer Akshat Verma who has given Bollywood one of its smartest scripts to hit the horizon since a long long time? As a comedy, Delhi Belly is such a refreshing change from the run-of-the-mill Hindi film laugh riot which almost always borders on the juvenile. The humour is all situational, beautifully woven in the script and never having to depend on a banana peel skid. Grow up all you comedy filmmakers who insist on treating your audience as retards!

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Of motion and emotions …Sandy’s review of Delhi Belly

Of motion and emotions

Direction – Abhinay Deo
Starring: Imran Khan, Vir Das, Kunal Roy Kapoor, Vijay Raaz, Poorna Jagannath, Shenaz Treasuryvala
Stars: ***1/2

Hindi/English

Sandhya Iyer

This tightly-woven film gets to business rightaway with the strains of Saigal Blues (excellent) in the title credits – as the camera takes you nook by nook through the bachelor pad of the three room mates – Tashi (Imran), Nitin (Kunal) and Arun (Vir). The house is in a terrifying mess – the roof is crumbling, the tap water runs unattended, crumbs of food lie scattered as smug cockroaches abound. This setting itself offers some lush possibilities for humour, before each of these characters get into problems of their own.

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Twice, not so nice – Sandy’s review of Double Dhamaal

Director: Indra Kumar
Starring: Sanjay Dutt, Arshad Warsi, Riteish Deshmukh, Mallika Sherawat, Kagana Ranaut, Jaaved Jaffery
Stars: **1/2

Double Dhamaal, a sequel to the well-received Dhamaal, that seemed uproariously funny in the promos turns out quite tame in the end. Full credit to those who cut the trailers smartly, but the film itself relies too much on the regular tricks and centres around a not-so-interesting plot-line. Of course, bearing in mind how low the bar for comedies is in Bollywood, Double Dhamaal at least has a semblance of a story and structure. And Indra Kumar — even at his worst — knows how to deliver a fairly passable film. The director has had a terrific record with romantic comedies like Dil and Beta, after which he turned to all out comedies like Masti and Dhamaal, which gave him decent success. With this film, the director tries to up the ante with the gags and jokes, adding two glamorous heroines to the pack. But in spite of all this, Double Dhamaal doesn’t pack a punch, mainly because of an extremely poor first half.

The humour is entirely driven by referencing and mimicry. The one-liners are not bad, but most of the sequences and gags are just not engaging enough. Of course, those who didn’t mind Salman Khan blowing fire through his mouth in Ready or Akshay Kumar getting into a slapping contest with a monkey in Housefull might not make any fuss about it, but for a lot of others, the slapstick and loud scenes will start to get tiring. To be fair, the film doesn’t slip to the juvenile levels of many low-brow comedies. Yet, it never gathers any steam until much later in the second half, by which time a lot of the charm has already worn off.

So Double Dhamaal starts where the earlier film ended. Riteish (Roy), Manav (Jaaved Jaafery), Adi (Arshad Warsi) and Boman (Ashish Chaudhary) are extremely jealous seeing that their old foe, Kabir (Sanjay Dutt) has turned into a millionaire. He has a sexy wife, Kamini (Mallika Sherawat) and a loving sister, Kiya (Kangana). The four fellas who are always devising short cuts to earn money latch on to Kabir. When the latter refuses to entertain them, they blackmail him and gain entry into his company. But Sanjay and his team — consisting of the two ladies — prove too smart for the foursome, and upstage them. Frustrated and vengeful they turn up at Macau where Kabir and co have set up their new casino. The four guys get determined to destroy Kabir by wrecking his personal and professional life.

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‘I think Delhi Belly has a fair chance of being a hit’

Imran Khan believes that Delhi Belly is once in a life-time movie and he would have given anything to be a part of the film. Sandhya Iyer chats up the actor

You seem to be really enjoying yourself with Delhi Belly judging from the promos…

Yes, it was very enjoyable thanks to my two co-stars, who are very fine actors and cool people to be around with.

Personally as an actor, how important is Delhi Belly to you?

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Heartbreak House – Sandy’s review of West Is West

Director: Andy DeEmmony
Starring: Om Puri, Aqib Khan, Linda Bassett, Ila Arun, Vijay Raaz
Rating: ***
English

In East Is East we saw a harried Jehangir Khan aka George (Om Puri) with his dysfunctional Anglo Pakistani family, running his shop along with his firang wife Ella (Linda Bassett), and trying fruitlessly to instill a sense of Muslim rootedness and tradition in his 7 children. The family lives in Salford, UK in lower middle class circumstances.

Twelve years later, the makers have come up with the sequel to the British comic-drama, where Jehangir is disappointed over most of his children turning completely English. The period is still 1970s. His last hope rests with his youngest son, Sajid (Aqib Khan). He is keen that the teenager should develop pride for his Pakistani roots. However Sajid is a tough cookie, and is already upset at being referred to as ‘Paki by a few school bullies. He is not willing to bend down to his father’s tyrannical ways.

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First Day First Show: Book Review

Author: Anupama Chopra
Pages: 376
Publisher: Penguin
Price: 499

It wasn’t exactly fashionable to be a film journalist when a 20 something Anupama Chopra set her mind to write on Bollywood. Her intellectually inclined family was taken aback by her decision. Even more bemused was the India Today editor Arun Poorie who took her interview. “So you came back from America with a journalism degree to write about Bollywood?’ he asked incredulously, giving her the job anyway. Through the 90s and mid-2000, she wrote extensively on Hindi cinema, covering various aspects of Bombay’s dream factory. In the course of this time, she also wrote two books, one on the epochal Sholay and the other, her all time favourite film, Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge. Currently, as the consulting entertainment editor for an English television news channel, she does weekly interviews and reviews. Her latest book First Day First Show is a compilation of her numerous articles — comprising interviews, quotable quotes and pithy observations, that give a panoromic view of Bollywood in the last two decades. The concentration is essentially on the 90s though.

In her prologue, Anupama tells us how she started working in a period when the mainstream press rarely took film journalists seriously, and movies were primarily the domain of popular magazines like Stardust, Filmfare and Cineblitz. Some of these were PR driven, while others were all about salacious gossip and spicy interviews. The language had plenty of spunk and chutzpah. However, these were entirely star-driven magazines with no place for serious film criticism. This was also a time when the industry was anarchic in its working patterns. Stars would be hopping sets like headless chicken, doing 20-25 films at one time. The distributor lobby – insisting on randomly inserting action sequences or a sexy item number – made the movie business cruder than ever. Formulas ruled, and much of the scripts were frame-by-frame copies of Hollywood blockbusters. To compound matters, the industry’s murky links with the underworld had been exposed.

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Ram Gopal Varma’s reaction to D K Bose – ‘It’s brilliant!’

I thank Aamir for forcing us to grow up: RGV

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/bollywood/news-interviews/I-thank-Aamir-for-forcing-us-to-grow-up-RGV/articleshow/8771362.cms

Priyanka Dasgupta, TNN | Jun 8, 2011, 10.46am IST

After singing “Baba badnaam hui” on his micro blogging site, RGV says the explicitness of the lyrics of “DK Bose” will unleash a new genre of films.

Trust Ram Gopal Varma to come up with a unique way of expressing his opinion. With everyone sharing their opinions on the Baba Ramdev’s actions, RGV has come up with his own take. The director, who is as known for his controversies as his movies, had earlier written in his micro blogging site that he didn’t know who Ramdev was since he was not into Babas.

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‘I was struggling at the fringes’ – Sandy’s interview with Ram Sampat

The success of D K Bose and Delhi Belly’s soundtrack has elated music composer Ram Sampat. He talks to Sandhya Iyer about getting a new lease of life, and takes on director Anubhav Sinha for making remarks about Aamir Khan

The first time one really heard of Ram Sampat was when he took on the might of the Roshans and dragged them to court over a plaigirism issue. Rakesh Roshan had to cough up four crores for the Krazzy 4 number, which angered a section of Bollywood hitherto not used to being held accountable. Though Sampat was a known name in advertising circles, the period after the controversy proved to be an especially trying one for him. “I was out of work for a while. What I felt was pure indignation. I was upset that so much disrespect was being shown. Here, I am asking for credit for what I have created and is genuinely mine. It made me wonder why I am in this business at all? It was great the way the judiciary acted. I just needed to present facts and the decision was made,” he says, recollecting the incident with mingled emotions.

The industry was divided over the issue. Some supported him, some didn’t. “And among those who did was Aamir Khan,” he says. When the actor offered him Delhi Belly, it meant the world to Sampat. “I was struggling at the fringes, so bagging Delhi Belly was huge. In the beginning, there was supposed to be just one song in the film, and the background music. The song was Jaa Chudail… After doing that, I was pretty much left to my own devices. As I went through the script again, I realised that a lot could be developed. Meanwhile, the film’s writer, Akshat (Verma) had left a few hook words for me like Jaa Chudail and Teri Tirchi Nazar and Bhag D K Bose…they were just ideas which he thought we could work on. The film was still developing at this stage and was going through an edit change. Aamir was busy with Ghajini, and I asked him if he could hear some of the songs I had created. He heard it and was like ‘Wow’. He was very excited,” says the composer who has also lend his voice for D K Bose.

But Delhi Belly’s music is not what one would immediately associate with Aamir Khan, isn’t it?. “That’s the thing. He’s anything but conservative. He’s a hip guy and a hip producer,” says Sampat.
Once Aamir gave him the go ahead, the composer swung into full action, and created seven highly original and experimental tracks. The theme of the underdog in the film and the accompanying frustration fuelled his imagination. “Sure, I was going though the same feeling,” he laughs, “But basically, the tracks came out of a strong feeling to express myself. I was sick of music that said nothing. Also, there were highly talented people who I wanted to introduce through this album. Besides creating something fresh and original, the idea was to reinvent the way songs are used,” he says. Now that the tracks are out, he’s thrilled with the way the songs are being promoted, with special music videos.

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Ready, unsteady – Sandy’s review

The first half bored me terribly, while I was okay about the second, even liking some of it. The film feels harmless while you are watching it, but if you do a rethink, the utter stupidity and pointlessness of it hits you hard. So on hindsight – though I didn’t exactly hate the film – I found it difficult to be kind to it in a review.

Director: Aneez Bazmi
Starring: Salman Khan, Asin, Paresh Rawal, Mahesh Manjrekar, Sharat Saxena, Akhilendra Mishra, Anuradha Patel, Arya Babbar
Stars: **

Ready is exactly the kind of film that gets made when a lead star is going through a lucky purple patch in his career. The script then moves along with a smug consciousness of having a superstar as its chief mover and shaker. The assumption is that most of the film will revolve around the star, who will play to the gallery and draw heavily upon his various signature styles. Not that Salman Khan’s films are known for their scripts, but Ready particularly hopes to ride on its male lead’s shoulders without bothering to come up with anything new or remotely interesting.

In many ways, Ready looks like a residue and cheap imitation of some of Govinda’s 90s romcoms, which anyway had far more spunk and humour. Right from the tacky title credits to the stale script and insipid treatment, Ready seems like a blast from an unwelcome past. The first half is especially trying, as the film drags along endlessly with unfunny gags and a nonsensical plot-line. The second half gathers some pace, and there are the occasional scenes which elicit a faint smile, but none of that pulls the film from its mire of inanity.

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