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Reviews
3 Idiots (2009)
Bland and Boring......
It is only if I had not lost my movie sensibility, I would have been placed better. The best part about India is that everything has a following and Aamir Khan with his histrionics and verbal spats is in the midst of a great purple patch. Everything he is touching is turning into gold and it takes a modern day genius to do that. He is more like a good salesman then an actor. If you can sell the same college song after 21 years, you sure have to be awarded the best salesman in your industry. Well, the real disappointment is not Aamir, as he frequently makes bad movies...Fana and Ghajini to name just the latest 2 but he also carves out little gems like Taare Zameen Par every now and then. And the disappointment is also not from the fact that he is still playing the college Romeo. The disappointment is with Raj Kumar Hirani who in trying to accommodate Aamir's star power did what Shubhash Ghai did in Yaadein. The Box office verdict has been starkly different for both the movies because young India connects to the message of 3 idiots well. Critics with a few exceptions did not speak their mind because they knew that this movie was going to do colossal business. But the fact remains a fact....the ending was manufactured and seriously pretending. It was like that the script writer was superficially trying to make everybody smile while walking out. It is the first time Hirani has erred and hope that he does not slip again, as he has given 2 most memorable movies in recent memory. This does not even come close. The point of view was excellent, the treatment not.
Dev.D (2009)
Extraordinarily Brilliant....
The depiction of a modern day Devdas could not have been done any better then what Anurag Kashyap managed in Dev D through Abhay Deol. The deciphering of the movie in totality, cant really be ascertained in a single viewing. Subtle nuances keep coming up with every viewing, that is very unlike any regular Hindi potboiler but very much like the work of Martin Scorsesse, Coppola and Stanley Kubrick, the directors who have influenced Kashyap a great deal. Few are able to disencumber the wannabe tag of wanting to create something like the illustrious directors, but Anurag crosses this great divide with Dev D. He is truly the best voice in Indian cinema today because he makes a movie for himself first and foremost, (like the other great directors mentioned) and makes it with all his heart and soul. The result of his dedication can be seen in Dev D which is a flawless flick with bluntness that will raise eyebrows in the western world, what to talk of Indian sensibility? Everything is just that perfect in Dev D.
Cinematography is delightful & vividly colorful. Delhi has never looked better, looks even better then in Mouna Ragam of Mani Ratnam. Abhay Deol pulls off a remarkable character with consummate ease. The depth and the recklessness and the pain and the disarming smile is very reminiscent of the great performance of Robert De Niro in Raging Bull. Is there is any better young method actor in India, then Abhay Deol? Plain simple, No! In a career spanning just a few films he has shown a repertoire that few actors don't achieve in a lifetime. Kudos, Abhay. Mahi Gill is very competent as a village belle and Kalki Koechlin-just superb. Drugs long seen a taboo in the Indian society, though it remains a rampant problem is dealt with great finesse and audacity in Dev D. People may point this as patronizing drugs but that is not it. He wants to talk about an important social issue and he pulls it off with aplomb. It gives a feeling of hate drugs very reminiscent of Trainspotting, and that is not patronizing but presenting a very important social problem with a difference. The remaining cast is solid and helps in the overall movie compactness. Music by Amit Trivedi is very different from the repetitive bollywood music that we keep churning out. It is fresh and strikingly different from anything that we have heard in Hindi cinema. That this movie is a hit should bolster Anurag's confidence. India, is finally ready for his kind of Cinema as he keeps on saying.
Aamir (2008)
Mumbai's Underbelly seen like never before.
In the midst of writing my first screenplay, I was keenly observing reviews from my close ones about the movies they liked and disliked and the reasons for them. I acquainted myself to the grim reality that people still don't want to see something real on the silver screen. Movies are a getaway from reality and there is this unanimous love for their stars. That's why our movies are about glamor, glitz and almost always no impressive storyline. Aamir is fantastically different to the clichéd movie world, we live in India. Cinematography reminiscent of the great Nicolas Roeg's lens work, Alphonse Roy is the hot new talent to watch out for. He managed something that a lot of movies based in Mumbai could not...the only notable exceptions being Slumdog Millionaire and Salaam Bombay. It has a gripping plot and keeps you edgy but isn't devoid of a few Muslim stereotypes. That said, there are a whole lot of other pluses which make it a must watch. Rajeev Khandelwal looks dapper, plays his character and displays angst, fear and horror with great facial precision and makes you wonder why he has not been casted in another movie yet, are we all sleeping or are we just too obsessed with our stars? Editing is first rate, direction has a sense of purpose and the whole ensemble of actors plying their trade meaningfully gives Aamir a definite must watch tag. What is lacks is the finesse of an Anurag Kashyap screenplay, but still is a valiant attempt in trying to change the face of cinema in India. Aamir should be lauded, applauded and celebrated as one of the best, coming out from Bollywood factory in the year 2008.