ROAD, MOVIE on the road of mystical cinema

You make films to express your ideas, to share your imagination and because you don’t give a shit about how much money the film will gross. That’s what Dev Benegal’s ‘ROAD, MOVIE’ is all about.

The movie to me is very mystical, adventurous and spiritual. It also shows the love for cinema and film making like Martin Scorsese's HUGO.

I had downloaded this movie in mobile format because the torrents print has sucky seeds and I didn’t have the fu**ing money to buy a DVD. Today I saw it on my laptop with my half-broke, half-working ear phone. The movie is about a oil merchants apathetic son who has no goal in his life and he don’t want to sell oil (atma teil) which his father manufactures and wants his son to carry on the family business which is by the way is very swampy. His journey starts when he goes away from his home to sell oil in a far harbour city in his uncle’s old truck. His uncle is a nomad who shows cinema to different villages and towns. Thus begins the adventurous journey of Vishnu(Abhey Deol) across the deserted western India.

The movie was released shorty, a month after the brilliant DEV D but its very sad that it didn’t got any recognition any where near to it. In my opinion the movie has very much to say in the different scenes which are mystical as well as bewilldering.

Though the movie lacked the conventional masala which we call entertainment to amuse people but I enjoyed every bit of it. It also made me think the typicality of link between human and the world and how one affect another.

It looks like reading one of the poulo coelho’s novel ‘the alchemist’ or ‘pilgrimage’. Film is more about expressing something which can’t be tought but only be felt. The cinematography across the deserts and salt lakes and droughted rivers is just mesmerising. The shots of long unmaned land with only a truck gives you chills down your spine.

It’s a content based film rather then performance and dialogues. After a very good performence in DEV D Abhey Deol is so so. the others like Yashpal Sharma, Virendra Saxena, Tanishtha Chaterjee and the boy fits well in there roll. The most remarkable performance was of Satish kaushik as the mechanic. Though there are many dialogues in the movie which are very well written and shows the maturity of thoughts but the movie didn't gave emphasis on them.

The movie is a journey of thoughts, problems, happiness and enlightenment.

"CHHODO NA CHACHA AAJ KO BHOOL JAO KAL TAK KE LIYE"

IRFAAN SINGH TOMAR

Today I had gone for an interview but I was more excited about the new biopic ‘Paan Singh Tomar’. The plan was to watch it in a theater which is situated in b/w my home (UP border :D) and the place of interview(ahead ANANDVIHAR). The reason I choose that hall because the show timing was 12:30 pm adequate for me to reach home in time to avoid quarrel with my family because I wasn’t going to tell them that I had seen a movie today(actual reason: I have only 50 rupees and the theater was world class in 50 bucks).

My interview ended at 11:50 and it’s a 20 min ride to the theater but there is always a Firkin BUT. I had to change two buses and the second bus stop was at the depot so it was far from where the 1st bus had dropped me. So I ran, I ran till my lungs started pumping battery acid and then I ran some more (courtesy FIGHTCLUB). No I didn’t run that much but ya it’s similar to that since I was in formal clothes and shoes. The 2nd bus dropped me at ‘old Seemapuri’ precisely at 12:30 but (again) the theater (MOVIE PALACE) was 5 min far on foot, I ran again.

At 12:33 I reached the ticket counter and ask for the 50 rupees ticket and sprinted towards the hall (I became paan singh tomar today). The film had started and I missed a couple of dialogues (most importantly the controversial one). I tried to approach my seat but it was pitch black. I bumped in to a wall and almost fall while stumbling on the steps three times before recognizing the pattern. I sit on the first seat I saw with the guidance of light threw by the torch man.

Here starts the movie watching. PAAN SINGH (Irfan) was telling his stories to an MEALY-MOUTHED and fawning reporter. After that it was a rollercoaster ride throughout the film. People think that a true story film or biopic will be serious or artsy but this was both artsy and ENTERTAINING.

The story can be seen into 3 parts; golden past, struggle and finally the BAAGHIPANA (Action). After knowing that Tigmanshu Dhulia director of HASIL and also assistant to Shekhar Kapur in the brilliant BANDIT QUEEN my expectations were already up. And he had delivered it excellently and intelligently. Credit to him and his crew and the camera work and the cast in the hostile terrains.
What makes this film enchanting is the paramount performance of the exalted IRFAN KHAN. In Paan Singh Tomar’s role he beautifully portrayed a successful sports person and an honorable family man who loves his wife and children and in the end a forced Rebel (BAAGHI). This was no clichéd Irfan’s trademark performance but this time he clinched a character and played it with a new style. He scored 10/10.

MAHI GILL had a very brief role in the film but she aids in the continuity of the film in the role of a loving wife very effectively. The other cast members had supported Irfan at their best. His character gave comedy, love, obstinately, helplessness, wisdom, leadership and wrath all together very smartly. It is the best performance by anybody this year so far.

I have a request to the film industry (the jury) that please ATLEAST nominate this film, direction and performance in the top category. If not then it will be a great loss to the industry.

Finally I want to say that the film ‘PAAN SINGH TOMAR’ is a great film and if you hadn’t watched it then you are being deprived of good cinema.
So do watch it and enjoy the talent

बीहड़ में बागी़ होते हें, डकैत होते हैं PARLIAMENT में .

HeyDay HUGO

When I first saw its theatrical trailer, Hugo was assumed to be an adventurous family movie by me. And it is actually a family movie which I think (probably) is a genre untouched by Mr. Scorsese before this movie. Since the 'family' genre has ridiculously 'invalid' happy endings so I hate them, but then it was Martine Scorsese and if you are a Scorsese admirer you can't resist him.

I watched the movie (a torrent copy), which is by the way not released here yet (copyright police could now arrest me) on my laptop.

Boy! And Was I mesmerized after it got finished? I had factually clapped a dozen times during the movie (remember I wasn’t in a cinema hall). The first of the claps comes in the opening scene when the introductory animation of the Paris railway station is shown. It was also for the first time Scorsese had made a movie in 3D (which I watched in 2D) and the scene was brilliant.

If you are a movie geek along with a film making euphoria you can tell how perfect that shot was. I am not a fan of animation but I have to accept that Animation do make some marvelous shots possible which can’t be done naturally (or shot practically). It opens an interesting gateway to the variety of options for a filmmaker which aid in the awesomeness of a film.

Like the other family movies this also has happy ending so the family audience need not to be strained by the fact that I hate happy endings and because I had said “this is a great movie” (so there will not be one but there is) because it is the movie of far excellence with a happy ending.

The pivotal reason to me for liking this movie (apart from it’s a Scorsese’s film) is, that this movie is the gratitude (to) and celebration of cinema. It features the HEYDAYS of filmmaking when cinema was an infant in the new world. For the movie vigilantes (just not only for entertainment) like me, this movie is a treat to our soul because it projects the grand splendor and dazzling magnificence of cinema. In addition to which it describes the intense emotions of an artist for his piece of art that he had created with all his soul merged in the river of creativity by the love of art.

BRAVO! MARTINE SCORSESE YOU HAVE DONE IT AGAIN.