Amitabh Bachchan with his co-stars

Film Review: Pink

Director: Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury

Writer: Ritesh Shah

Music: Shantanu Moitra, Faiza Mujahid, Anupam Roy

Cast: AmitabhBachchan, Taapsee Pannu, Kirti Kulhari,AndreaTariang, Piyush Mishra, Angad Bedi, and Dhritiman Chatterjee.

Rating: 4.5 stars.

The story begins even before the credit titles come on the blank screen and by the time the credits end, the director has embroiled you in his intriguing drama about three roommates: Minal Arora(Taapsee Pannu), Falak Ali( Kirti Kulhari) and Andrea Tariang sharing an apartment in South Delhi.

One night, the girls meet three friends at a rock concert and agree to dine with them at the farmhouse. What follows is a nightmare that changes everybody’s lives.

The first half of the film focuses on the incident and the repercussions on the characters superbly unfolded without the slightest fuss or frills. The second half is a courtroom drama featuring lawyers Piyush Mishra and Amitabh Bachchan.

What works about the film is the gripping suspense, the intriguing narrative, razor sharp editing and believable characters and dialogues. The writing is detailed and the lyrics and music add to the anxiety of the characters.The single girl is a character in the film, so is the city of Delhi, sinister by day and evil by night skillfully photographed by Abhik Mukhopadyay.

All the performances are extra-ordinary – the three boys and the girls particularly Taapsee Pannu. Dhritiman Chatterjee in the role of a judge brings credibility to the role while Amitabh Bachchan breathes life to yet another unforgettable character, bi-polar Deepak Sehgal. The defamed lawyer looms large in the frame, he is frail and forbidding but once in the courtroom, Bachchan displays a gamut of emotions with perfect timing and rare ability to make every dialogue his own.

Pink is a film about perceptions, more important, about choices. It is also about mental health, about senior citizens and most important, about our youth. It addresses issues of promiscuity, autocracy, minority and double standards of society. It is about the corruption, injustice and gender in-equality and Amitabh Bachchan is the new feminist championing for women’s rights.

Watch Pink for Amitabh Bachchan and wait till the end for his poetry rendition.

A still from the film Pink

@bhawanasomaaya

My previous posts can be visited on the following link :

http://bhawanasomaaya.blogspot.in

Vikram Bhatt

Stories are more than just entertainment – they are a reflection of the cultures they come from and impact and alter the very way societies operate. It is to showcase the power these new-age stories through a video-based format that Sony LIV, the complete digital entertainment platform with content for audiences across genres, has partnered with acclaimed storyteller and director Vikram Bhatt for its latest offering, Once Upon A Time with Vikram Bhatt that went live on September 8 is a 104-part web series where Vikram Bhatt will narrate some of his most popular self-written short stories on camera..

Vikram Bhatt who started his career with Bhatt brothers and is a successful writer/ producer/ director of many successful films including Ghulam, Raaz, 1920 is the man who introduced the concept of stereoscopic 3D in India in 2011 with Haunted – 3D, which also set the record for the highest grossing Hindi horror film of all time. He is as well known for horror movies like 1920: Evil Returns as for his critically-acclaimed Hate Story series.

Actually Vikram has dabbled with every subject under the sun be it detective fiction, social issues or interpersonal relationships. What makes the project path breaking is that Sony LIV will be releasing the stories every Monday and Thursday on both web and mobile platforms.

@bhawanasomaaya

My previous posts can be visited on the following link:

http://bhawanasomaaya.blogspot.in

Poster of the film Wrong Side Raju

Film Review: Wrong Side Raju

Language: Gujarati

Director: Mikhil Musale

Cast: Pratik Gandhi, Asif Basra, Kimberley Louisa McBeath, Kavi Shastri and Hetal Puniwala

 Rating: 3 stars
After the success of Kevi Rite Jaish and Bey Yaar director Abhishek Jain had a dream to take Gujarati cinema to a different level and he could accomplish that if he left the creative reins in the hands of an able associate producer and focus his energies to global audience and alter the perception of Gujarati cinema.Phantom Films combined force with CineMan Productions and the result was a three film deal of which Wrong Side Raju is the first.

Set against Gujarat’s infamous hit and run accident case occurred during Navratri festival, the story tells about a resourceful chauffeur Raju Bambani(Pratik Gandhi) employed by a real-estate developer Amitabh Shah(Asif Basra). Shah’s heir Tanmay Shah’s (Kavi Shastri) car one night crashes and kills two policemen on duty and driver Bambani is implicated of the crime.

Written by Karan Vyas and Niren Bhatt what works about Wrong Side Raju is the youthful writing, gripping narrative and Sachin Jigar’s music.  The film addresses multiple issues on multiple levels like the social (rich v/s poor) the legal (truth v/s lie) and the moral (wrong v/s right) and makes you empathize with all the characters.

What doesn’t work is the length (the editing could have been sharper) and the pace (the courtroom scenes drag unnecessarily).

All the performances are praise worthy particularly Hetal Puniwala in the role of a lawyer but finally it is a toss between the very effective Asif Basra and endearing Pratik Gandhi.

This is probably the first Gujarati film that pays attention to detailed production design and does not restrict to language boundaries. Kimberley Louisa speaks English; some other characters speak Hindi while the protagonists mostly converse in Gujarati.

In the year 1965 Hindi cinema witnessed Raju/Guide on wrong side of love and committed crime of passion.

Almost 50 years later, in 2016 Gujarati cinema witnesses another Raju, again on the wrong side of law committing another crime of passion.

It is not the name or the message of the film, what appeals is the energy and the irreverence.

BhawanaSomaaya/ @bhawanasomaaya

My previous posts can be visited on the following link :

http://bhawanasomaaya.blogspot.in

Film Baar Baar Dekho

Film Review: Baar Baar Dekho

Director: Nitya Mehra

Cast: Sidharth Malhotra, Katrina Kaif, Amrita Singh, Sarika, Ram Kapoor

Rating: 2.5 stars

Time and again we have been prepared for a love story that is different and we find out it is the same. Well, this time the story is different for sure. It is about Vijay Verma(Sidharth Malhotra) who saw tomorrow and is therefore able to rectify his today. Writer Sri Rao travels you through the lives of two engaging characters- the irresponsible and the absentminded Vijay Verma, a mathematic genius who dreams of completing his thesis while teaching at the Cambridge University and the wise and practical modern artiste Diya Kapoor(Katrina Kaif) who romanticizes a perfect future with her beloved.

Vijay and Diya have grown up together and are so compatible that they are like an old married couple and yet when Diya pops the inevitable question, Vijay is flustered and commitment phobic. He gets cold feet and drinks all night and wakes up after what appears like 60 years with a magic solution that there are no equations without balance!

What works about the film:Is the refreshing premise, the sparkling lead pair and the divine message that life has to be lived in the present and love has no logic.

What does not: is the tedious flashbacks and flash forwards narrative. Writer Sri Rao emphasizes the importance of little joys in life but forgets to follow the example. She misses on all the small details of her protagonists. For example, if Vijay Verma is such an academic why don’t we ever see him toiling over his desk or researching libraries?

Same with Diya who is a popular artiste but we never see her working in a studio. The art director thoughtfully plants toys in the kitchen but forgets to give a glimpse of an easel or study books in any corner of the couple’s home. And yet wonder of wonders Harward University is impressed by Vijay’s thesis and he sponsors bowled over by Diya’s exhibition, I guess because both are naturally gifted.

There’s more, in the frequent flash forwards,Siddharth Malhotra goes grey hair and wrinkled but the sacred red thread on his wrist doesn’t fade or maybe this was deliberate but it was jarring!

Baar Baar Dekho addresses urban youth and raises issues related to their career and life. The film is a bit strange, a bit vague but well intended and entertaining in parts…If you are a fan of Sidharth Malhotra and Katrina Kaif you can watch Baar Baar Dekho one time for sure.

BhawanaSomaaya/ @bhawanasomaaya

My previous posts can be visited on the following link :

http://bhawanasomaaya.blogspot.in