Khwabon ke, tinko se, chal banaye aashiyaan...

I had heard a lot about 'Barfi! before I finally saw it... The music was some of the best this season, and that alone would have sufficed to pull me to the cinema hall... The cinema-goers of Bangalore, though, had other plans for me... A house-full first weekend ensured I had to wait a bit longer... This did turn out to be a blessing, since I got to watch it with my significant other... :)

Back to the movie... Now, I'm not going to comment on the merit of the selection of this movie as India's entry to the Oscars... Now that it is done, I trust the Oscar jury much more than the folk who shortlisted it here, to make the right choice...

That said, this movie is definitely near the top of my list of best films this year... A simple, heart-warming story, with a suspense angle to boot, it is further propelled by the stellar performances of the entire cast... We must doff our hats to Ranbir, who continues to pick roles very few others would have, and make them his own... I think he's chosen some excellent films in the past couple of years, and has graduated with ease from the typical casanova roles to the niche Jordan & Barfi... It would be unfair of me to ingore Priyanka Chopra who, like Ranbir, has pulled off another excellent performance... I have always maintained that she's showing an amazing improvement with every film, and there is no exception here... The romance that follows is touching to say the very least... Ileana is the also extremely good in her first Bollywood appearance, and I will not be surprised to see more of her soon... Saurabh Shukla, Ashish Vidyarthi, Rupa Ganguly and the rest of the cast all deliver and make this film an all round joy to watch...

Some people called the movie 'slow' but I believe it was the correct pace to show the story of Barfi. The script is amazing & some of the scenes will definitely move you to tears (atleast they did for me)... Anurag Basu has given us a romance which we will not forget for the rest of our lives...

Thoda sa tera sa hoga, thoda mera bhi hoga... Apna ye Aashiyaan...

Movies... Where dreams are made...

Hi... After another prolonged absence, I return to writing today... I stand inspired by Martin Scorcese, who's directed a cinematic masterpiece that opened in cinemas in the US in December... The name of the movie is Hugo...

Hugo is adapted from an illustrated book by Brian Selznick and is about a boy name Hugo Cabret... That's all I'll say about the story, because frankly that's not what impressed me about the movie... In fact, it's a little slow and I stopped watching it the first time around because it just went on without really going anywhere...

However, the next time I started looking at the other aspects... The movie is simply awesome to look at... The visual appeal is simply stunning... And I saw it in 2D whereas the movie is shot in 3D, so I can only imagine how good it must have been with another added dimension... The cinematography is amazing too (possibly why it won the Oscar for it)...

What interested me even more was that it was more of a telling of the roots of cinema than a simple story... It shows the genius of a man named Georges Melies who pioneered some of the earliest special effects in the movies (way back in the late 1800s & the early 1900s)... Even the Lumiere brothers, who practically invented the moving picture, credit Melies as the 'creator of the cinematic spectacle'... Well, its a fitting tribute by Scorcese, who's created another cinematic spectacle for Melies... However, this part is relegated to a mere 30 minutes in a 2hr long film... The rest of the movie is dedicated to Hugo searching for the truth about his father's death, and that's where the plot is lost... In creating a cinematic spectacle, someone forgot to include a compelling story-line.. That's probably why even though it was met with critical acclaim, it failed to set the cash registers ringing and didn't really earn up to it's potential... Even at the Oscars, the awards it won were all technical ones, Cinematography, Art Direction, Visual Effects, Sound Mixing & Sound Editing...

Well.. I will next attempt to watch another tribute to cinema of the mid-twentieth century, namely The Artist.. This movie pretty much took away all the other big Oscars this year, and promises to be an exciting watch... Till then, au revoir !

P.S.: The title of the blog is a para-phrase of one of Melies' dialogues in the movie to a young boy in his studio - "If you've ever wondered where your dreams come from, you look around... This is where they're made".

Oh Nadaan Parindey, Ghar Aa Ja...

Yes.. This had to be the movie which brought me back to blogging, it being Imtiaz Ali's latest offering to cine-goers... Have there been other movies since July which have been worth blogging ? Hell yeah.. I can count off Delhi Belly & ZNMD right away, apart from a bunch of Hollywood flicks.. But lets not go there today.. Today belongs to Ranbir in & as Rockstar !

Ranbir as Janardan Jakhar (aka Jordan) catches the attention from the very start and shows the immense talent & range he possesses... From a student having fun in the corridors & lawns of Delhi University to an angry musician, it all comes across as a natural performance that few others could have pulled off... It is said that the initial story idea had been pitched to John Abraham who had agreed, but was later replaced since the script demanded someone much younger... I think they made the right choice.. ;) What also works in Ranbir's favour is the amazing chemistry between Nargis Fakhri & him.. Though it is amply clear that both acting & Hindi language are not her best talents yet, she does manage a decent performance as Heer Kaur... For her part, she looks gorgeous for the better part of her presence on screen & that should be enough for most audiences... As a character, Heer is rebellious & adventurous like most of Imtiaz's heroines but at the same time respects her family enough to try & draw a line between family life & naughtiness... Piyush Mishra is his usual brilliant self as a ruthless music studio boss & Kumud Mishra puts in a commendable role as 'Khatanaji', Jordan's well-wisher & manager... Aditi Rao Hydari, Shernaz Patel & the two young ladies playing the roles of Jordan's niece & Heer's sister also give good performances...

Mohit Chauhan does well as the 'voice of Jordan' and this movie could easily bring him back into the league... A.R.Rahman as usual pulls off an amazing set of musicals which seem to be perfect for every setting, be it the live & angry 'Sadda Haq', the sufiyana 'Kun Faaya Kun' or the haunting 'Tum ho'....

To those of you who haven't watched it yet, please do... Rockstar is easily Imtiaz's best from a direction front, though I tend to agree with many that it lacks a certain something in the story... That is made up for by excellent performances, music & overall techincal aspects which make it my current favourite...

Summer of Cinema

There have been a range of releases in the past month or so... I had left off in the 1st week of May and had planned to watch 3 movies then.. I did watch 2 of those... Chalo Dilli & Fast 5... Chalo Dilli was very average fare though Vinay Pathak impressed as usual... Fast 5, however, was quite the entertainer... The action is well-paced & doesn't leave you time to blink... Vin Diesel & Paul Walker have their customary roles & are pursued by Dwayne 'the Rock' Johnson... There's no use going into a storyline, since, there isn't one... :)

After this, there came Ragini MMS... Now, this was a movie big on hype & marketing & had a lot of expectations around it... Well, the actors do not disappoint for sure... The performances are fantastic to say the least... The story, however, lacks depth, when you keep in mind that it is a psychological thriller...

Stanley ka Dabba, was the next in line, and was a treat to watch... A simple story-line, with stellar direction & amazingly natural performances that make your heart melt... This is one that should not have been missed...

After that was the run of the biggies from Hollywood... Pirates - 3, Hangover 2 & Kung fu Panda 2... Pirates was a bit of a bummer & come to think of it, I can't remember the plot all that well apart from a couple of mermaids and Penelope Cruz... :P

Hangover 2 is a fitting sequel to the hilarious comedy & follows the capers of the wolf-pack in Thailand... The follow-up is more explicit, shocking & about as funny, and even has time to pack in a car chase... Can't see how that could go wrong... And for that added bit of luck, there is another cameo from Mr.Tyson as well ! This was a hangover you wouldn't want to get rid of...

Kung Fu Panda is a film that I caught very late, last week in fact, though it has been in theatres for about a month... I really enjoyed it and will leave out any further explanations with the expectations that you watch it too...

X Men - First Class is another of the big hollywood releases that came our way & this too was a good watch.... The film provides a look into the origins of some of the other central characters from this much-loved super hero series... Magneto & Prof.X find their respective characters in the movie as they leave their alter-egos, Eric & Charles behind... We are also introduced to a younger Mystique, a newly created Beast & many other characters that will probably enthrall us in the years to come...

Rounding up the Hollywood brigade was the 3rd Transformers movie... This was released with much fanfare (on a wednesday, at that) so that it could be coordinated with the world release dates... Though the film delivers on the promise of action & excellent visuals (in some of the best 3D seen so far), the plot is too long drawn and one tends to lose interest as the film unfold... At 2 and a half hrs, it is one of the longest Hollywood productions in recent times, but fails to hold the audiences' attention for the most...

At the time of writing this, I have just returned from another film which was been eagerly anticipated... However, this film is deserving of its own personal space.. Hence, I will attempt to write a bigger piece on this movie soon... Bhaag, bhaag ... :)

3 nights, 3 movies

After a long hiatus, this week had a lot to offer for cinema enthusiasts.. As I flipped through the newspaper on Friday, I could see ads for 6 movies which I had been wanting to watch.. As I write this blog, I have watched 3 of those movies and plan to watch the rest over the next 3 days..

The first movie is 'Shor in the City'... I started to want to watch this movie only after hearing the positive buzz it had created in the days leading up to its release... I was not disappointed after watching the excellent performance from the cast, outstanding technicals by the crew & all-round brilliant direction from the film-makers... The script is taut & unpredictable, yet believable (probably since it was inspired by true events)... And the fact that the film-makers have used mostly fresh talent is even more note-worthy...

The next movie was 'Thor'.. For the uninitiated, Thor is one of the comic book super-heroes who forms part of the 'Avengers', the team of super-heroes from Marvel Comics... Marvel studios has been working on the series of films that will tie-in with its 'Avengers' movie (due for release in May'12).. The previous films in this series have been Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk & Iron Man 2.. Thor is the 4th film, and will be followed by 'Captain America - The First Avenger' which is due for release in July this year... Now that the introductions are through, Thor proved to be an engrossing watch, though, for obvious reasons, it is not an 'intellectually stimulating' movie... There is plentiful action, that too in 'glorious 3-dimensions' and the inevitable subtle tongue-in-cheek reference to the most successful films in the series so far, i.e. the Iron Man duology... The titular character is one that the audience will immediately identify with even though he is derived from a Norse myth - arrogant, chivalrous, brave, powerful... The other familiar faces in the ensemble are Anthony Hopkins, Stellan Skarsgard, Rene Russo & Natalie Portman...

The third movie was Source Code... Wikipedia describes it as a 'mystery techno-thriller' and I broadly agree... The concept for the movie is new, even though it will warrant inevitable comparisons with other films like Deja Vu & even Inception... At the risk of giving something away, I will refrain from revealing any more, but I will recommend it was a good watch...

The next 3 I have in my sights are I Am, Chalo Dilli & Fast 5... I'm hoping to catch these over the next 3 days and will make sure to scribble here about it when I do...

Encore !

i'm not even going to bother explaining this time.. No excuses... But I'll just say that the movie I watched today inspired the title of the blog, which seemed apt in describing the return to writing...

As I discovered today, 'Encore' means 'Once Again' in French... I've heard the word used many times in the context of music concerts, when the artiste returns to the stage at the end of the performance, due to the crowd cheering & demanding 'more' ...

The movie in question here is this week's release, Utt Pataang..

The film reinforces my appreciation of the work done by Vinay-Ranbir-Rajat-Saurabh-friends in making films that entertain audiences with fresh material without going the way of the so-called 'mainstream cinema'... The stories that they tell are as believable as they are unlikely.. The performances of the cast are outstanding, and playing double roles too absolute perfection seems to some naturally to them..

In this case, the double role is from Vinay Pathak, who plays the simple & heart-broken Ram, as well as the French-speaking casanova don, Lucky... Saurabh Shukla plays private detective Nandu, who is Ram's best friend... Mona Singh plays Koyal, a girl who's just broken up with her fiancee and falls in love with Ram... Mahie Gill plays Ram's ex Sanjana, who's now trying to con the don ... They all play their roles brilliantly and give extremely natural performances...

The story & direction is by first-timer Srikanth V Velagaleti, and the screenplay & dialogues are by Saurabh Shukla... They succeed effortlessly in keeping the audience riveted to the events of one night that changes everyone's life...

Anyways, enough said.. In keeping with tradition, I'm not going to divulge any more... Please go & see for yourself...

A Prolonged Absence...

Wow... A 5 month hiatus.. That's a long time... And its not that I've been too busy, or that there haven't been enough good movies to write about... The primary reason why I did not get the urge to write was that I had already read something close to what I'd have written on a subject somewhere else..

Take for instance, the masterpiece from Hollywood this summer, i.e. Inception... I simply loved the movie, and a post on it would have been a natural extension for my post on The Dark Knight.. But I don't think anything I'd have written would be 'original' in any sense, having read so much about it before & after I watched the movie.. Anything that I thought would be interesting about the film would already have been covered...

That brings me to what brought me to write this post today... I have seen a few movies in the past couple of weeks that the critics would have panned for various reasons like lack of a plot, too much violence, predictable storyline, etc etc etc. However, these movies proved to be extremely entertaining, especially to a male, action-loving audience. These are the movies which prove to be excellent breaks from the monotony of office life while not forcing you to think beyond what is visible on the screen. There will be no hidden plot elements that you will intelligently recall as the story develops ("Hey, look at that.. They'd shown that same thing in the first scene, remember!") and no moralistic lessons to learn... The movies in question here are the A-Team & The Expendables.. Both movies are mindlessly fun to watch, though the humour in A-T would score a few extra points ("He's trying to fly a Tank")... It is amazing to note that Sylvester Stallone, at the age of 64, can pull off a movie like this, especially since he's directed & co-written it as well.. Kodos to you, sir.. (P.S.: To be fair, I watched Salt too which could fall into these categories above, but lets just leave that out of the reckoning since it made the audience feel plain stupid. No offence, Angelina)

I also watched Peepli Live & Aisha which I'll not dwell too much upon, since neither impressed me too much, frankly..

Due on my list of must-watches is Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai & Lafangey Parindey...

Till next time... Cheerio...