Trim, snip, chop. And then some...

One of the first lines of Keanu Reeves in Constantine is ' Constantine. John Constantine. A$$#*%^.' He says that to a demon before killing it off. I thought the dialogue defines the character better than any long-winded explanation could. Now, here is, to me, the most unintelligible part of it all:
Why would anyone in their right mind try to edit out parts of a movie whose involved and detailed storyline is about demons, angels and their violent war, try to take it from 'A' to 'PG' and end up showing a movie that is disjointed and unintelligible? Why would anyone want to put this tattered version of a really good movie on prime time and advertise till kingdom come? And why do morons like me end up trying to watch it 'one more time'? No thanks. Will stick to renting out the DVD next time - no ad breaks and unedited. But, no wait, there is still our censor board to think about. They make decisions not only on what kids should or should not watch but also on what adults should. I pity the guy who eagerly paid good money to watch a badly edited, hopelessly mangled censored version of a movie called 'Sex and the city' which, unfortunately for him, should have just been the 'Girls and the city'.

Movie review: Dostana

Enough has been said about Dostana and its whats-gay-about-it theme. So, won't go into the details about the plot and all. Suffice to say that the movie oscillates between OTT hilarity and extreme mushiness. Typical KJo stuff. But what pray is Bobby Deol doing in a movie that is mainly about good looks and awesome locales?? You have Johnnie boy - a cl(ass) apart, the sexy Priyanka Chopra and the passable (thanks to his acting) Abhishek Bachhan. How, how, how can one cast Bobby as the suave and cool guy when he looks neither on screen (whatever he might be off screen).
I had a grouse that I have harboured against Karan Johar since KKHH. So, if any of you know KJo or know how to contact him, please convey the following-
please, please. enough already with the Friends-sitcom-inspired scenes, acting, dialogues and plot-lines. you might like/love Friends as much as I do, but seriously, you can't actually use that much of their stuff in almost all your movies. how does it work? do the actors have to study some of the seasons or something? can you please leave something that is sacred, well, sacred. no more AB jr trying chandler-inspired mannerisms, or priyanka chopra mouthing stuff about 'plans' rachelesque. no no, can't (not won't) enumerate the other instances. just please stop or curb or at least acknowledge your inspirations by, say showing the actors watching Friends instead of KKHH.

Enough said.

Bundled up: updates, thoughts, reviews

Been some time since I posted. Got a bit too involved with the layout thing. Its fun when you get down to it, you know. Anyway, so am going to like list down whatever I had wanted to post here since a week, briefly.

• Updates: Zee Cafe has started to air Sex and the city right from the first season. Yea!! I know, I know, its much easier to watch all the seasons on DVD now that it is available with almost every other DVD rental place. But I dunno, I prefer it this way. Catch it every Monday at 9. They all look so young in the first season!! :) Btw, how cool is the music of Rock On?? I love it and listen to it like everyday. Admire Farhan and think Shankar, Ehsaan, Loy are gorgeous to create such music. Waiting for the movie. Eagerly. The song Pichle saat dino mein is picturized amazingly. Go watch...
  
• Thoughts: Every city has its own distinct culture and hence, driving patterns. In Bangalore, you will mostly adhere to the white line rule at the signals while you will also sometimes drive on the sidewalk. In Pune, you will drive like you are fighting for survival. In Mumbai, as there is a premium of space, you will drive a few inches away from the next vehicle without flinching. Found something new today: There is a huge puddle of water in the middle of a highway. What do you do? In Bangalore, you will treat it as part of a road and not alter your speed. In Pune, you will accelerate so that you can try to displace as much water as you can and see if you can drench the pretty girl walking on the sidewalk. In Mumbai, however, you will slowdown as soon as you see the puddle. God knows what is under the water - an open drain, a humongous pothole, a burst drain pipe - you will slow down. Even if it is a highway. And you are at 70kmph. Even if you know this will spawn a traffic jam (oh sorry, in Mumbai we have either slow moving traffic or gridlocks, no jams). Even if you know that there is nothing wrong with the part of the road submerged under water coz you drive by here everyday. Even if the car behind you protests with persistent honking. Even if that said car contains me.
  
• Reviews: Watched Bachna ae haseeno more than a week ago. The reason that I didn't even feel like posting a review was coz the movie was so damned dull. The story-line was like some 90's reject script, without the fizz or great music. The lyrics range from a really good Khuda jaane to the equally bad 'Small town girl'. The chemistry between the couples is at the best tepid. The locations are good and the acting is mediocre - coz the script doesn't demand much. The only good thing in this movie is Deepika Padukone. She shines in a very small role. The people at Yash Raj should really start thinking why their movies are not doing great at the box-office. Their tried and tested Switzerland formula is no longer a crowd-puller. If only the powers-to-be had invested as much time in the script than relying too much on the gimmicks (like trying to recreate Rishi Kapoor - Paintal magic via their sons and the original Rishi Kapoor song now shot for his son - btw, the choreography of this song sucked. Poor Ranbir, he is a pretty good dancer). Oh, and they don't get their facts right as well.. you know the stuff that make the movie believable? Get this: Microsoft has a development office in Mumbai, and they send you to Syndey as well. A girl who is studying to be a doctor in Australia has time to attend college, study, and take on two part time jobs. God knows, when she sleeps. Well, whaddya know, I did review this movie ;)

Ok, thats it for now. Out.

Movie review: The Dark Knight

Is there a darker, more troubled comic-book superhero than Batman? I, for one, have always felt that Batman is the most complex, lonely, troubled and dark superhero of all. Aside from the unnecessary Robin, the only other person he has is Alfred. Superman has his Lois Lane and Spiderman is now married to MJ. Batman has a long list of both enemies and ex-lovers. Anyway. Bottom line, I love Batman. He is, and always will be my fav superhero and by far the most fascinating.
Most of the Batman movies, in keeping with the comic, have tried to portray the movies as dark (at least in lighting) as they could. You wouldn’t see too many day shots in a Batman movie. But with their plastic suits and target audience as kids, none of the Batman movies could become more than comic book characters come alive. Which is where Chris Nolan’s Batman movies differ. They have intelligent, involved storylines and strong emphasis on character. And strong performances as well.
Heath Ledger as the Joker is outstanding. Move aside all ye Jim Carreys and Jack Nicholsons. This Joker is here to stay as the most creepy, sinister and evil of all. Christian Bale portrays Batman as I think Batman should be – not making eyes at females or wearing his heart on his sleeve but a suave, seemingly-cold, playboy with extravagances that go hand in hand with being someone more interested in adding to his trust fund. But most of all, he plays it with a rigid control that sometimes explodes revealing the underlying, ever-present brutal violence and rage.
The storyline is involved and doesn’t depend upon making caricatures of the characters. The why-they-became-what-they-were Joker or Penguin angle in most of the Batman movies had been hashed and then hashed again ad nauseum. Nothing of that sort here. No Joker laughing maniacally, evilly. The evil arises from his sheer ruthlessness. The special effects are awesome and so are some of the stunts. This time, Gotham is not depicted to be in a land far far away, rather, it looks like present day New York. Also, this time around Batman has a posse of good guys on his side who actually help him and kick asses on their own and no, none of them are superheroes.
The first half of the movie is spectacular, gripping and fast paced. The second lags in pace (but only coz you can compare it to the slicker first half.). The plot-line has a series of sub-plots and none pulls the movie back. The cast, is great in their roles. Gary Oldman as Commissioner Gordan, Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent (will see more of him in the next installment of the movie), Micheal Caine reprising his role of Alfred, Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox, Heath Ledger as the most chillingly murderous Joker ever, Maggie Gyllenhaal as Rachel Dawes and above all Christian Bale as the most dishiest of Batmans (Batmen?? Nah that doesn’t sound right.) ever.
But the thing I like most, is the movie is devoid of marketing gimmicks or publicity gimmicks. Its USP would be its story, characters and stunts. If anything negative, I would say the director takes himself too seriously, but then if the results are so good, hey!! Though I wish they would consider chopping a bit of the 150+ minute running time. Might just be my favorite Batman movie ever. Unless the next one turns to be even better….

Movie review: Jaane tu... ya jaane na

If you are in the mood for nostalgia, candyfloss, good laugh, clean entertainment and bollywood-esque movie climaxes, then this is the movie to watch. The movie engages you from the get go. The cast of fresh new faces and the veterans are marvelous and make the movie simply put, a must-watch. The movie has a fresh feel that the promotions had, the characters have, the locations - all Mumbai - are great but what you really latch onto is the narrative, which is superbly done.
The movie spools as a story-telling/reminiscing session in a group of friends and that in itself could have been terribly handled, but is superbly done. The characters are all one-dimensional - some incidents and character motivations completely illogical - but you don't realise this while you are enjoying this movie. The humour is ever-present, clean and peppered throughout the movie. I think we can all expect great movies from Abbas Tyrewala, he not only manages to elicit great performances from the veterans, but also gets effortless, unforced and sometimes completely frank performances from the newcomers. Both Genelia and Imran seemed like they just walked in front of the camera and played themselves - they both seemed that comfortable in front of the camera and with the lines. Performance-wise I think the best would have to be hands-down Ratna Pathak Shah who not only has a great character to play but does so with great aplomb. The roles of Naseeruddin Shah, Jayant Kriplani, Anuradha Patel, Paresh Rawal are not major ones but they are superbly cast and they do justice to their respective characters superbly. Cameos by Rajat Kapoor and Kitu Gidwani, Sohail Khan and Arbaaz Khan are nicely done and in the latter case, bring comic relief like no other. I am pleasantly surprised, looking back now, that not one actor seemed out of place or had overacted. The casting by Purbi is nothing short of brilliant. The music score is definitely young and hummable. The dialogue, scenes, stories, side-stories, movie settings, clothes are all superb.
The usual, cliched, over-the-top, jhisa-pita bollywood-ishtyle climax seems incongruous later, but in the movie seems completely keeping with the movie story. Interestingly, not even one scene is shot in any college classroom - indeed only one song gives you a glimpse of the college that the young actors attend. So this movie just catches the kids between classes, after classes, after college and between jobs.
But what really hooks you is the young, colleg-y feel of this movie that makes you reminisce fondly about your gang in college, your friends, your addas, your stories. It speaks to you because you are reminded of your own weird group of friends, the get-outta-here happenings and carefree time and picnics. You identify with the college kids so subconsciously that you start smiling at their jokes, personalities and feeling for their, well, feelings.
Enough outta me already, go watch.

Of the city, sex, gangsters, hulks and con-men

Okie, so I have been terribly busy, sorry lazy, these last few weeks. Blame it on the weather. Mumbai, since I moved here with my hubby, has been behaving so beautifully that its too good to be true. No deluges that fill my compound (yet), no sweltering heat, and the winter was beautiful and cold. So much so, that my husband has started to genuinely wonder why I used to complain about Bombay. Well, just you wait, dude, once the Gods are done being nice to this city, you won't know what hit you.

So, anyway, Mumbai or not, the last couple of weeks, saw us watching 5 movies at the multiplex. Yup, five. Not even going to count the DVD ones. Nope, haven’t reached the stage where we can’t stand each other yet. Our dish-tv connection has gone kaput. Wakes up sometimes - when there is absolutely nothing to watch on TV - and does a bunk when I really want to watch Hell's Kitchen, or hubby his F1. If a piddly bit of rain can do this, am wondering what will happen once it starts pouring in earnest. And we used to think cable tv was irritating!! So, multiplex it was. And the new PVR nearby just in time for our dish-tv blackout.

So, anyway, here are very very short reviews of each of the five - I know it’s been a long time and most of the movies are old news, but hey!! you should be happy that I am posting!! In the order we watched them, then:

Sex and the city - If you loved the TV series, you will like this movie. The usual yummy stuff is all there, the clothes, the to-die-for-shoes, the fashion stuff (check out the Vogue photo-shoot) and the gal-pal stuff. What is missing though - other than the usual lack of eye-candy - is the talk: remember the talks/discussions etc that gave made you either giggle or goggle? Well, conspicuously lacking. Surprising, really. Coz, come on, that is one thing you do expect from SATC right? Actually, it’s more of a romantic movie than the dare-to-bare-all-secrets kinda movie. But what surprised me was that most of the clothes in the movie were very wearable. Most of them – not counting the liberal use of gladiator heels throughout the movie - are classics that will never go out of fashion. Final word: Great movie to chill out with your gal friends, and if you don't have THAT great gal friends, watch it with your guy - just a way to show him what high-maintenance really means. Most certainly worth a watch. And own on DVD :)

Sarkar Raj - Watch it. Walk out. Forget it. Yup, imminently forgettable. Agreed, Sarkar was a tough act to follow. But, seriously, when even thinking of making a sequel, isn't it taken for granted that the second one should be AT LEAST as good as the first? This movie is nothing on the first one. The dialogue is forced and weird. The camera angles, well, sooo Ram-Gopal-Verma-on-steroids that it irritates you to try to watch Amitabh through the legs of a table. Where Sarkar was slick, fast-paced and intense, Sarkar Raj is intermittently plodding, brooding and boring. The movie seems like most part of it was improvised on the sets itself. The sudden inclusion of Aishwarya in almost every scene post interval seems weird and illogical to say the least. Until the climax. That is when you realize that it was all done to set scene for the next movie. The human element in this movie is blatantly ignored, till it suits the director to find it for the latter part of the movie for Amitabh Bachchan. Till the, when the wife dies, with child, not a tear is shed and in a matter of days the guy is thinking of another woman. When the father, though emotionally estranged, is murdered, a widening of the eyes is the only evidence of having acknowledged the news. In the first movie, RGV had proclaimed that the movie was his tribute to The Godfather series. He incorporated a lot of details in this movie as well. But the problem is, in this movie it kind of seems put together or hastily incorporated whereas in the first installment, most of the stuff was part of the story. So you see a car bomb killing the Appolonia-esque wife, the Sarkar senior going into semi retirement (and shown almost helpless and uninterested in his business) after junior takes over the reins, the grieving mother sidelined and not shown at all etc. Too many situations that are illogical, the stark one-dimensional black-white characters, stilted dialogue make this movie a strict one-time watch, if you are a RGV fan. I guess we should just expect aberrations like Sarkar from RGV once in a while and not a string a brilliant movies.

21 - A smart movie. With the required twists and turns and excellant performances. Not worth a theatre watch though. A Sunday afternoon DVD-kinda movie. About a handful of MIT students who try to each win a shit-load of money by trying to count cards in Las Vegas at blackjack. All are genius at math and their professor is the brains behind the whole operation. I loved the premise, story and the execution of the movie. Definitely worth a watch.

The incredible hulk - When does a movie stop being a documentary and start becoming a movie? For me, when I can identify with a character. No, that didn't come out right. Ok, try this out for size - in a movie, the lead protagonist is being victimized and hunted through no fault of his own. Wouldn't the director want to play on the audience's empathy for him to get the audience hooked onto the narrative and indeed, sit through the movie coz they care what is happening, and going to happen, to the said guy? Well, this is the one main thing that is missing in the movie. It doesn't hook you. The actors are all great and all and so are the special effects, but it makes you go 'Get on with it'. On the bright side though, Edward Norton in this avatar is a little new to me and does full justice to the role, Liv Tyler looks good. The hulk, however, is the best. He is better depicted here than in the movie Hulk - the one with Eric Bana - where the hulk looked like some overgrown rubber or plastic toy. The action scenes though are few and far in between. Wished there were more fights and action sequences. The story is interesting and the surprising addition at the end of the movie is what you will talk about more after the movie than the movie itself. Not a movie that is made better by the large screen - you will like it as much on DVD.

De taali - Don't ever watch this movie. The only reason I decided to watch it was coz the only promos I saw of this movie was being aired between FRIENDS re-runs and it said that it is about friendship. Note to self - never ever watch any Bollywood movie which is about friendship. It might just mean a bunch of 25-something brats sniveling in a tree-house that they call their 'club' or worse .... oh forget it.. Don't want to be reminded of that terrible movie. How terrible? Well the only song that is bearable- the title song - starts just after the title. Should have left then...

Review: Jodhaa Akbar

'The love-story of Jodhaa and Akbar has been the least documented and known love-story' says Amitabh Bachchan's voice-over. What Ashutosh Gowarikar does is try to fill in the gaps in history by his storytelling. First things first, if you are looking for a historical epic, steer clear of this one. This movie isn't, and hasn't been promoted either as, one. Its a love story out and out, full of mush, deceit, misunderstandings, sensuality, and politics. The pace of the movie is slow throughout. Most of the time is spent in establishing the numerous characters and not much time has been devoted to establish the then political scenario (some voice-over introduction or story would have done the trick).

If you are a die-hard SLB fan and are awed by the art direction in his movies and the sets, then you are in for a disappointment in Jodhaa Akbar. No lavish OTT sets and costumes. Everything that is in this movie is taken with reference to paintings and descriptions of those times. So, if the sets seem a bit less extravagant than what you would expect the great Akbar to live in, then just put it down to SLB spoiling.
The performances though, are exemplary. Hrithik as the controlled Akbar of many facets, Aishwarya as the proud Jodhaa and especially Ila Arun as Hrithik's evil surrogate mother are superb.
The sheer number of extras/artistes in some scenes boggle your mind if you think about the effort involved to synchronize their dance. Amazing. The few war scenes use special effects like the ones used in LOTR series and lately Troy. A few of the action sequences, esp the one-on-one fight between Akbar and his bro-in-law are very uncannily similar to those in Troy.
Repeat: Its more of a love story than historical epic. So, go prepared.
The music is good, although there are hardly 3-4 songs. Khwaja Mere Khwaja is the most hauntingly beautiful song I have heard in some time. Can't stop humming it. And Kehne ko jashne bahaar is already downloaded the day i first heard it.
A bit more on Hrithik and Aishwarya. Their body language and diction is impeccable. Hrithik's role especially called for more of diction, voice modulation coaching than Aishwarya's but the effort involved doesn't show. Every dialog is delivered with panache and effortlessly. The language [more than anything else] throws you back to Mughl-e-azam. Hrithik as the controlled, sometimes brutish, sometimes unsure of himself, sometimes playful Akbar is mind blowing. His best performance after Lakshya. His restrained performance alongwith the regal performance of Aishwarya are the main highpoints of this movie. Ash looks stunning and the movie and the couple's sentiments and the story is mainly played out through glances and eye-speak and is so eloquently emoted by both that you don't feel the lack of dialogs at all.

The art direction I think sticks to the realistic side rather than go overboard, a la Mr Bansali [not that I don't love his OTT stuff], the actors are great, the sappy as well as sensual moments are tastefully done and whats more, you get a full 2-3 minutes devoted to solely charting out every muscle on Hrithik's torso. Would just go and watch the movie for that only. A visual treat!!

And all them protesting and all, well, if this movie was supposed to be realistic and depict what was, then it would have been a documentary and not a motion picture, would it? But I guess, mudslingers just need an excuse to go on protest/rampage. Am I confused, or does it seem like the protests over movie dialogs/lyrics/clothes are getting insanely ridiculous??

Anyway, last word, go and watch if you love a visual treat, some good music and don't mind the long length [three and a half hours]. Go watch.

Takhliya.

Movie Review - Taare Zameen Pe

A long overdue review of the movie Taare Zameen Pe. I had heard the amazing reviews before hubby dragged me to the theater. Me, am not a sensitive soul and a senti movie with a message, in my opinion, is something one should watch on DVD and fast forward when the sappy stuff gets too much to digest. But then, am saddled (or should I say, that I have saddled myself) with a guy who loves to watch such movies, on DVD or the silver screen. Ah, well. Shouldn't complain.

Ok, focus, the movie. Great, in one word. The performances are uniformly good and the boy (Darsheel Safary) and Amir Khan exceptional. It is all the reviews say and more. And am sure you have been bombarded with reviews talking of how great the movie is and what the storyline is and what the performances are. So, am going to write about that part very briefly and elaborate on the various messages (other than the 'every child is special' one) that the movie tries to convey.

The movie storyline is a simple one but the execution is great. Amir Khan manages to avoid falling into most of the pits that make Bollywood inspirational movies preachy, repetitive, emotionally-overloaded, corny and tear-fests. Not all, but most. And the result is a movie that tugs at your heartstrings and still manages to get the message across. It is a great story about a dyslexic boy and how his own family is unable to understand him and how salvation arrives in the guise of an art teacher who himself is a dyslexic but has overcome his affliction and sees a bit of himself in the kid. You have a small number of characters the family of the four - mom, dad, two sons, the younger of whom is dyslexic, the teachers who try to teach the boy and Amir Khan(who comes in after the interval). Most of the characters are beautifully etched while others (mostly the teachers) are caricatures. The unconditional love of the mother and her confusion and hurt at being unable to help her son is convincingly emoted by Tisca Chopra. The father who is unable to understand, and more importantly doesn't want to understand, his son who fails almost every subject is the most realistic character in the movie and is, thankfully, devoid of clichéd stereotyping. Plus, the movie stops short of being judgmental. The father, mother and teachers are not shown to be the villains but just plain ignorant. The brother of the Ishaan is a character whom I loved. A straight-A kid who excels at sports, the brother is also shown to be very close to his brother and also defends him and is encouraging of his smallest painting. Amir Khan as the teacher who wears his emotions and tears on his sleeve (or eyes) and is the compassionate savior who strives to makes sure that the kid is accepted by his family as he himself never was, is brilliant. But the best performance and character is that of Ishaan Awasthy. The kid who is unable to understand why he is the way he is and soon becomes ashamed of it is played with admirable aplomb and confidence by Darsheel. The movie, I am sure, required humongous research and enormous effort, as is evinced by the length of the credits at the end of the movie.

The two scenes that I loved in the movie, both in the second half, involve Amir Khan trying to tell the parents what their troubled kid needs. In the sequence where Amir Khan breaks the news to the parents that their kid is dyslexic but a very gifted painter, the father blusters "woh kya fayde ka hai?" ("what is the use of that?"), upon which Amir Khan goes on about the rat race that every kid is put through and the mould that all kids are expected to fit into that I am sure you must have caught in the ads. The reactions of the parents are simply brilliant in this scene. Later in the movie, the father - who thinks he has come to terms with his kid's problem and tries to regain some semblance of stature in the eyes of the teacher - is shaken to the core when Amir Khan very calmly, succinctly with barely restrained derision, rips his beliefs into shreds by telling him in a Marc Anthony-ish way what caring really means. I think that was one scene where we can all take notes. Yes, we all have known the effects and side-effects of the reality of the rat-race that is life today. The movie drives home the point very beautifully that at the same instant we are pushing our kids to prepare them for this life ahead, we too are subscribing - blindly - to the very concept of rat race ourselves, daily. That we forget to question our actions, and our motivations behind them, in our day-to-day life. When we dismiss the craft homework, or the paintings with a smile and a 'very nice' line but spend hours on explaining how important it is to excel and give your 100 percent. Do we think that, maybe if I consider the painting or the craft a part of study and praise it as it should be I would be instilling more confidence in my kid than any number of 24/25 could? No, we subconsciously think of our office hours, and how hard we work and how we wouldn't have been there if our parents in turn hadn't driven us to achieve perfection. How would our kid fare in such a world with not-so-perfect percentages? Are we thinking of their emotional needs? Do we put ourselves in their position and wonder if we would have liked to be told what we are telling them now? Or more importantly, if it really would help them? And, finally, if being perfect is really the be-all and end-all of success and life. The movie asks you at every point, what happens when you aren't perfect? Still trying to find the answer. Was wondering, how I would react if I was in Mrs.Awasthy's situation. Now that I have moved onto the gabby mode, I think that its time I stop before you zap into a catatonic state. The movie wasn't preachy or this stretched out so I shouldn't be either. Will leave you with one last thought (come on, you have made it this far, am sure you can read a couple of lines more). What is lacking in us that we blindly strive for attaining perfection, both in ourselves and our family? What drives us to drive our kids to be perfect? Like Amir Khan says in the movie, if you like to drive someone to become what you want them to, why not breed horses?
Over and out.

Of good samaritans

Two issues to write and ruminate about. Went to watch the movie Aaja Nachle last night. Had been eagerly waiting to watch it.
Lotsa big banner movies are being made these days. Going the Hollywood way, what with SLB getting together with Sony Pictures for Saawariya and Yash Raj and Walt Disney coming up with Roadside Romeo, it looks like the audience is going to be bombarded with one mega-movie after another. The Diwali releases were certainly not worth the hype, wait or the watch. Saawariya was an 'art' film promoted as a commercial one and enjoyed only by the 'enlightened' few. Om Shanti Om was SRK on adrenaline made only for die-hard hedonistic SRK fans with no storyline or music. Hindi movies are now being promoted - and more importantly, watched - not for the story or anything, but for such things as amazing art design, 40+ year old superstar's new-found six-packs, 'it-has-close-to-5-F1-scenes', '31 movie stars in one movie', some star couple breaking up, blah blah blah. The audience used to use these excuses to watch movies but nowadays entire movies are promoted as the last movie in which two stars were a couple before they split up. I mean, come on! Yup, I watched both of them, unfortunately, what with being saddled with a hubby who considers it his moral responsibility to contribute in making sure every movie released, at least, breaks even. Ok, got sidetracked, more on these two movies and the craziness surrounding it in another post. It deserves its own post :)

Ok, so watched Madhuri sashay back into every body's hearts yesterday. Call me illogical, but this was the movie I was waiting for this 'festive season'. ('Festive season' as the trade pundits put it; as if watching movies is an integral part of any festive season or is it that as it is festive season, read bakshish season, we should consider tipping the movie industry by watching a movie as a bakshish??)

Concentrate, concentrate. Okay, Madhuri. Well, since I was a kid, I used to secretly love her for her vivacious smile and graceful dance moves - she could, and can still, dance Indian classical, fusion and western dance forms with equal aplomb and grace. I actually idolised her coz she was one of the few Indian actors ever who could carry off Indian and western looks, characters and act convincingly without any trademark simpering mannerisms.
Overall, the movie didn't leave behind a 'wow' feeling. But it wasn't bad either. Logical (which is saying a lot in Hindi film industry), great music, amazing choreography, great acting and endearing characters. I guess, one of the reasons it left me a tad cold was because I couldn't identify with any of the characters - on any level whatsoever. And the story of the town's favorite gossip-fodder turning into the good samaritan (yup, Madhuri does the good thing by rescuing a defunct dance theatre from demolition and thus manages to save the town from death by boredom) was a bit far-fetched. I am guessing this movie will be more appreciated in the smaller towns than by the multiplex crowd.
The performances are superb though. The ensemble cast of Konkana Sen Sharma, Irfan Khan, Raghuveer Yadav, Vinay Pathak, Kunal Kapoor do their job and how! But the belle of the ball truly is Madhuri. She emotes, smiles, dances her way into your heart and wows you throughout the movie. A must watch for all Madhuri fans and dance lovers as well. I heard someone saying that 'she is looking her age'. Methinks, if any woman could have Madhuri's figure, her skin, her joie de vivre and her dancing grace, she wouldn't mind a couple of comments about her age.

Our good samaritan: Our house sits on a major road which is currently being spruced up into a concrete eight-laner. Traffic jams are routine since work started about 10 months ago. Yesterday evening though, we were caught in the worst of it - when we were leaving to catch the movie, and were already late, and were the ones who had the tickets for our friends too. Didn't get past our housing complex main gate. Had to ditch the car and try and hail a rick, which considering that there was a traffic jam on the other side, there was a paucity of. A Maruti pulled alongside and asked if we wanted to hitch a ride. I was struck dumb. Seriously, was I hallucinating or was this an angel? When I was a kid, someone gave me the first three installments of the Chicken Soup for the Soul franchise and I was touched and had started saying and leaving I-love-you notes for my mom and sis. But to actually offer other people - nah, strangers- help? Especially when they don't ask it? Novelty! Oh, letting someone overtake me or easing up on the horn coz the guy up ahead is your grandfather's age is one thing, but this!! There we were in his car talking away and the 'i know's and 'exactly's were flying around. Icing on the cake, the guy was a treat to talk to for the next 10 minutes! When in the middle of the ride he found out that we were on our way to a movie, he took a 1km detour to drop us off at the theatre. A self-confessed movie buff and (from his talk) has an eclectic taste in books, Gautam catapulted me back to the Chicken-soup-for-the-soul-naive years. We decided that we liked the novel feeling and were getting pretty jaded if we considered the whole incident 'weird'. Plus, the sappy smiles and the surprised look he caused were infectious too. We have decided to pass the smile along, two or maybe three times over. So, yes, the next time when someone in front of you pays for your car parking ticket, just pass the smile along.