Ventilator

Film: Ventilator (Marathi)

Producer: Priyanka & Madhu Chopra
Writer/Director: Rajesh Mapuskar

Cast: Ashutosh Gowariker,Jitendra Joshi, Sulbha Arya, Sukanya Kulkarni-Mone,
Viju Khote, Boman Irani

Stars: 4

Large families come together mostly during weddings and funerals. For Kamerkar family, the get together is always the Ganpati festival celebrated with aplomb at the ancestral home. The festival is just three days away and while everyone is rushing with preparation a phone call bursts the bubble.

An elderly uncle in the family, Gajju kaka is in coma and put on life support – the ventilator. Chaos ensues as relatives from the coastal village arrive in the city and park in the hospital lobby and some more are expected from abroad too.

It is not an unusual plot in the sense we have watched films where families resolve conflicts in crisis. Set inside a hospital where the waiting area and the corridors become reasons for volatile outbursts and reconciliation, the director travels you through tattered, fragile relationships, daring to untangle stubborn knots.

All intimate relationships are vulnerable and the film addresses anguish accumulated over years of unexpressed communication.

The best thing about the film is the splendid writing. Simple, sincere and effective, there is not a false chord in the narrative and you laugh and cry with the characters without even being aware of it.

On the downslide the big Indian family is of course exaggerated. They monopolize the hospital lobby and are never thrown out. The frenzy of the festival diligently established in the opening credits (the best one has ever seen) is sorely missed after the story shifts to the hospital.

All the performances are praiseworthy and special mention must be made by Hindi actors (Priyanka Chopra, Boman Irani) to speak in Marathi.

The elephant God in the film teaches a few valuable lessons to the Karmekar family.

The Ventilator can prove a life transforming experience for your family.

@bhawanasomaaya

My previous posts can be visited on the following link:

http://bhawanasomaaya.blogspot.in

Mahayoddha Rama

Film: Mahayodha Rama

Producer: Contiloe Films
Director: Rohit Vaid

Music: Aadesh Srivastav

Lyrics: Javed Akhtar

Stars: 3.5

Animation films take a long time to be made, so has Mahayoddha Rama but despite being in the making for a rather long time is far from outdated.  What makes the film unusual is that his is the first time that Lord Rama, the Indian hero from the Vedas is presented from Ravana’s perspective.

Ravan was called Dashanand because he was the owner of ten heads and Rohit Vaid is probably the first writer director who has as made effort to unravel the ten different characters as a result we are introduced to many shades of Ravan interacting with each other and expertly emoted by different artists like Gaurav Gera, Roshan Abbas, Ameen Sayani, Sadashiv Amrapurkar, Kikku Shardha and Gulshan Grover as the main villain.

There are four reasons to watch Mahayoddha Rama. It is contemporary and breaks stereotypes in costumes, attitude and dialogues as a result Rama and Laxman are dudes with designer haircuts and Goddess Sita is empowered and far from the damsel in distress. The content is refreshing and skips the mundane and melodrama and believe it or not Ravana is actually likeable.

All the artistes Kunal Kapoor/ Rama, Gulshan Grover/ Ravana, Jimmy Shergill/ Laxman, Mouni Roy/ Sita specially Lilette Dubey/ Kaikahi lend credibility to characters and late Aadesh Shrivastava’s music combined with Javed Akhtar’s lyrics add to the story telling and ambiance.

Mahayoddha Rama packages delightful animations of fluttering butterflies, mountains, streams and animals, there are colorful gardens, magnificent palaces, demons and and forbidding forests. It is the bestplace for children to explore their imagination. Mahayoddha Rama is the best way parents can educate mythology to children and maybe discover stories they have long forgotten too.

@bhawanasomaaya

My previous posts can be visited on the following link:

http://bhawanasomaaya.blogspot.in

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@bhawanasomaaya

My previous posts can be visited on the following link:

http://bhawanasomaaya.blogspot.in

Bappi Lahiri

The original Disco King of Indian music Bappi Lahiri has entertained a generation of moviegoers and is now he is back with his new song. The Shiny Singer croons his way into Disney’s next fun adventure animated gem – Moana with a song called “Shona” (Gold).

Following the tremendous success of Vishal Bhardwaj and Gulzar’s reprisal of “Jungle Jungle Baat Chali Hai!” and the Hindi localized version of “Bare Necessities” featuring Vishal Dadlani, the studio is all set to localize their forthcoming film Moana and has collaborated with Bappida to voice the dialogues and sing for the character of Tamatoa, a giant crab with a fondness for shiny treasures found which he hoards!

Speaking of this collaboration, Bappida says it is a pleasure to associate with Disney and Moana. “I am always looking forward to doing new things and this is the first time I’m dubbing for an animated character which is strangely very similar to my own personality. I am hoping that people will enjoy this avatar of mine and shower their love on me like they have always done. It’s truly a ‘golden’ memory”

Moana stars Auli’i Cravalho as the titular heroine and Dwayne Johnson as Maui. Moana showcases the life-changing journey of a tenacious 16-year-old who teams up with the mighty demigod Maui to fulfill an ancient quest.

@bhawanasomaaya

My previous posts can be visited on the following link:

http://bhawanasomaaya.blogspot.in