Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Delhi 6- beyond the hype.
Thankfully I wasn't sucked into all the hype of this film and just watched it months after its release, after the dust had settled down with the immense flak it was receiving. But to put it succinctly, the only thing wrong about Delhi 6 is that Rakesh Mehra made it after RDB. Period. Nothing more, nothing less.
Had Rakesh opted to depart from the norm and do a completely different genre of a film- yes, then maybe, he would have pulled it off well, but a film like Delhi 6, which had the shades of RDB in it, certainly is not the wisest of choices for a follow up. Delhi 6 is like a toned-down RDB, less impacting, much more mellow, and just like anything- its expectations that would hinder one from enjoying it. From the way it had been criticized, I was expecting a heavily metaphorical film with abstract narration all over- I wasn't expecting much, and thats exactly why I give it a 9, because it exceeded my low expectations.
I couldn't help but to think that the film is receiving this flak because of the strong anti-Abhishek sentiment, with many feeling that Abhi hadn't been aggressive enough in the film. But, thats the whole point of the film. That precisely is the USP of the film. Roshan is not a participant, the entire film is a journey through Roshan's eyes as to how he transformed from a mere observer of the society and later on became an active participant. He may not be your regular society-changing hero, but that is exactly Rakesh's intentions in this film. To just show to the audiences what he himself had seen through his eyes.
The film's theme is also very self-reflective. The only major metaphor of the film is about self-reflection. It is a direct satire commentary- sending a clear message that we fail to look in the mirrors to see the evil and good inside us, and instead we believe that God will do the good, and that your neighbor or the person across the street is the evil element. It may had made some feel uncomfortable watching this film as well, as it prompts you to take a look in the mirror. One need not take a long, hard look to understand the so-called 'too metaphorical' way in which this film has been done. Yes, there is a metaphor, but its a well done metaphor, not one that is difficult to comprehend or one which is too abstract.
Admittedly, the film does have its flaws, editing could have been slicker to say the least, there are parts which simply drag the length beyond much necessity- but here I have to credit Binod Pradhan for capturing the essence of Delhi. The last time I was transported to a location in which a film is based on was in the 2006 Tamil film Paruthi Veeran, which took me to the dry, dusty, vast open village in Madurai, and Delhi 6 follows suit. I was at Chandi Chowk, or to put it simply, I felt like I was transported to Delhi 6 myself with Binod's camera-work capturing everything about the city.
Music is certainly great as usual by AR Rahman, but again, Delhi 6 required more silence than noise, thus the entire film was made in a similar way, passive characters- passive, slow music, there's something about the city that is always larger than the people, thats what Rakesh had showed in this film. 'Dil Gira Gaaftan' however, came somewhat needlessly, while 'Kaala Bandar' and 'Gehnda Pool' were shot without much fuss and just relied on Abhi's body language to be pictured, which he certainly did well. Being a Hindu, 'Arziyan' was such a serene listening experience that it became one of my favorite all-time songs, and I was glad the song came repeatedly in the whole film and was an essential backbone to the picture.
Some characters could have been developed in more depth, but the assortment of characters, especially those of Boman Irani, Atul Kulkarni, and Om Puri were all interesting to watch and definitely went well with me. Unlike many other viewers, I wasn't expecting typical Bolly romance build up between Abhi and Sonam thus I wasn't disappointed there as well. Sonam is just another assortment along with many other characters, and Roshan happens to fall in love with her- period.And i think she did well enough for the screen time she was given. And the film essentially lacked in showing the 'good people' inside the characters essentially. When Abhi says 'Indian works, the people make it work'- the second part of that phrase is eluded and underdeveloped throughout this film, and this is why I'm taking a star off my rating.
8.68/10
I would readily buy a Delhi 6 DVD when it comes out and keep it in my collection. It might be one of the very few films that is heavily criticized by the so-called pros but loved by me. But, heck, I enjoyed it, and I don't mind watching it again and again and again.
Yeh Delhi He Mere Yaar, Bas Ishq Mohabbat Pyaar
Monday, May 11, 2009
Luck by Chance- a Review
When I first heard about Luck by Chance in the making, I already had a positive expectation of the film due to the names associated with them. Farhan Akhtar seems to be knowing very well what he is doing nowadays, and it would be interesting to see how Zoya, his younger sister fares as a director.
To begin with, I did not find the storyline much novel from the many films about the movie industry and stardom which I have seen before. Instead, it was a totally predictable film- almost nothing caught be by much surprise, except the final reels of the film, which culminated to a highly sensible ending. I was expecting a run-of-the-mill happy ending but the way Zoya wrote the climax has to be applauded immensely as it made the whole experience of watching this film something to cherish.
The first and final scene of this film reveals that this film is all about the development of one character- Konkona Sen Sharma's Sona Mishra. The film starts with her journey to filmdom, the wandering wannabe actor who entered her life, charmed her, and thanks to her hand, managed to make his success, and later strayed away with the usual addictions stardom provides. But amidst all this, there is Sona, finding a reason for optimism all the time, and how she finally finds happiness by just doing what she loves to do everyday and not concerning herself with the desperate chase for stardom.
Farhan and Konkona were both splendid to say the least, and Farhan should be applauded for taking up a grey role and not a typical hunk role and playing it to perfection. His is a flawed, human character in every way possible. Konkona meanwhile is someone that had always proved her acting credentials right, and she could proudly tally in Luck by Chance into her list of wonderful performances.Among others, Rishi Kapoor and Dimple Kapadia simply own their roles, while Isha Sharvani does an adequate job. However, the only flaw in terms of characterization seems to be Juhi Chawla's Minty- a character which does not have any kind of substance. Or it could be that her character is a metaphorical parody, but that parody definitely missed me by.
Javed Akhtar's dialogues are a great backbone to the film, but certainly Zoya pulls off a more than convincing directorial debut with LBC. Though she could obviously improve few more aspects of her film-making, she did a commendable job for a newcomer, and just like her brother, had the conviction to leave stereotypes and do a different film as her very first (Farhan did Dil Chahta Hai).
All in all, LBC is a mellow, meaningful drama about stardom, success, failures, and doing what you love to do. A good film laced with an important message which is not preached but instead slowly treated to the audience- definitely worth one (or two) views at least.
Rating: 8/10
To begin with, I did not find the storyline much novel from the many films about the movie industry and stardom which I have seen before. Instead, it was a totally predictable film- almost nothing caught be by much surprise, except the final reels of the film, which culminated to a highly sensible ending. I was expecting a run-of-the-mill happy ending but the way Zoya wrote the climax has to be applauded immensely as it made the whole experience of watching this film something to cherish.
The first and final scene of this film reveals that this film is all about the development of one character- Konkona Sen Sharma's Sona Mishra. The film starts with her journey to filmdom, the wandering wannabe actor who entered her life, charmed her, and thanks to her hand, managed to make his success, and later strayed away with the usual addictions stardom provides. But amidst all this, there is Sona, finding a reason for optimism all the time, and how she finally finds happiness by just doing what she loves to do everyday and not concerning herself with the desperate chase for stardom.
Farhan and Konkona were both splendid to say the least, and Farhan should be applauded for taking up a grey role and not a typical hunk role and playing it to perfection. His is a flawed, human character in every way possible. Konkona meanwhile is someone that had always proved her acting credentials right, and she could proudly tally in Luck by Chance into her list of wonderful performances.Among others, Rishi Kapoor and Dimple Kapadia simply own their roles, while Isha Sharvani does an adequate job. However, the only flaw in terms of characterization seems to be Juhi Chawla's Minty- a character which does not have any kind of substance. Or it could be that her character is a metaphorical parody, but that parody definitely missed me by.
Javed Akhtar's dialogues are a great backbone to the film, but certainly Zoya pulls off a more than convincing directorial debut with LBC. Though she could obviously improve few more aspects of her film-making, she did a commendable job for a newcomer, and just like her brother, had the conviction to leave stereotypes and do a different film as her very first (Farhan did Dil Chahta Hai).
All in all, LBC is a mellow, meaningful drama about stardom, success, failures, and doing what you love to do. A good film laced with an important message which is not preached but instead slowly treated to the audience- definitely worth one (or two) views at least.
Rating: 8/10
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)