Taare Zameen Par

TZP might have missed out in the Oscar race, but that doesn't take away from the fact that it was a gem of a movie.

Whether it deserved an Oscar or not - i wont enter into that debate as i am not qualified enough & i haven't seen the other shortlisted movies.

I recently saw TZP on the TV. Taare Zameen Par brought back memories of childhood. No, I wasn’t dyslexic - at least not clinically! But there are some things that are common to children - whether dyslexic or not - they create their own world of imagination and love living in it.

I once discussed this with a couple of my friends during one of our late-night never-ending conversations - and we all agreed on one thing - when we were kids, we often imagined ourselves as being heroes - larger-than-life creatures, almost mythical characters. One of us saw himself as a cricketer who uprooted the middle stump with every ball he bowled in his dream stadium located in the living room, while another was the early 90s version of Hrithik – all the moves et al. One even used to imagine himself singing in a huge stadium with the packed-to-capacity crowd chanting his name!

Sorry for digressing.. I am thinking – this is what a movie like TZP does to you, it makes you think.

It doesn’t take a film-critic to notice the attention to detail given by the makers of the movie in as far as the characterization is concerned. Certain things which really stuck into my memory include:

1. The way Ishan Awasthi behaved when he is thrown out of class in school
2. When Ishan is playing with dogs and the kids in the neighbor-hood ask him to get the ball, the dog on his lap is actually sleeping!
3. Aamir’s at times vocal and at-times controlled expressions
4. Facial expression of the school kids throughout the movie
5. The kid at the chai-shop

It is amazing how so many sub-issues can be dealt with without losing sight of the central theme. Certain sub-issues addressed in Tare Zameen Par (besides for the central theme – dyslexia, of course) include:

• Physically-handicapped children
• Teacher-student relationship
• Corporal-punishment in schools
• Parents’ attitudes towards under-performing kids and their over-expectation from the performers
• Society’s tendency to add a “number” to every child – judging him / her solely on the basis of academic qualification / achievements
• Inability to see the other side of things when in a conflict

I haven’t been watching too much TV lately, but I sincerely feel that the music by Shankar, Ehsaan & Loy has been grossly under-rated. The lyrics and the music totally stand-out – both in the context of the movie and even otherwise. What I liked most about the music was the extensive use of guitars and the melodious strumming in most of the songs.

Different movies evoke different reactions from audiences. Bheja Fry might make you laugh. Black might make you weep. Hazaaron Khwahishein Aisi will make you think. Taare Zameen Par will make you do all of these things. Besides, it will make you feel.

Arrogance, Confidence & Pure Entertainment

“There is a very little difference between arrogance and confidence -‘I can’ do it is confidence and ‘Only I’ can do it is arrogance” – Aamir Khan (quote from Ghajini)

SRK and Akshay Kumar consider only themselves as entertainers and no one else. That’s arrogance. Aamir by doing a Ghajini showed them that he too can do a mindless blockbuster entertainer. That’s confidence. And what a confidence - he has just “rub”bed the “King” the wrong way.

In all his pre-release interviews Aamir Khan had clearly stated that the audience, who has become used to his “Hatke” and intelligent movies, will be surprised to find him doing a complete masala entertainer. Yet the critics reviewed the movie as though Ghajini was an intelligent movie. It is not. It was never meant to be. It’s a film which ensures total entertainment for the 3 hours. Hence it was discomforting to read reviews of veteran reviewers like Khalid Mohammed & company who have ripped apart the movie and these are the same reviewers who finds films like Om Shanti Om and Rab Ne…good enough for a three / four star rating. Such double standards.

Though Ghajini is a mindless entertainer, it does not imply that the movie is dumb and unaware because the film caters to everyone amongst us, including the lowest commonest denominator, not because it doesn’t know better, but because it chooses to.

The other aspect of Ghajini that the critics are going bonkers is with the comparison with “Memento”. The only similarity between those two movies is that the lead character has short-term memory loss and remembers things via tattoos, photographs etc. The critics should know that an exact copy of Memento would not have rejected by the Indian audience. While adapting the basic premise of the memory loss, the director has created a legible variant, which has to be appreciated. Some cynics screamed that Ghajini does not have the non-linear film-making aspect of a classic like Memento. Why confuse the audience like Memento had done, particularly if the filmmakers’ intention is only to entertain. The same audience who wanted this non-linear shit is the one that had rejected a movie like Chocolate. Yes, the gimmick worked in Rang De Basanti. But Ghajini was not meant to be a classic or intellectual movie but an entertainer. And I bet that those who are talking about Memento now must have never heard about this movie till Ghajini was announced a year ago.

The movie moves back and forth in time, as it juxtaposes an effervescent romance in the past against a brutalized, spaced-out present. Aamir’s violent acts are not justified but you are made to see the reasons for his actions considering his past life. The film is riddled with logical loopholes but the director doesn’t give you enough time to think about them with his strong narration style. The gripping screenplay makes you want to know more about Aamir’s tribulations. Watching Aamir grapple with his 15 minute memory span makes for an engaging watch.

Highlights

The scene where Aamir puts all his things – guns, mobile, wallet into their proper places courtesy the notes and sleeps and gets up and walks into the bathroom clueless and sees the note of “open your shirt” and opens it and sees all his tattoos and burns in rage. This brought out the psychological and emotional state of Aamir.

The scene where Jiah Khan requests for a conversation with Aamir in the canteen. She jots down whatever Aamir says. Notice the irony out here – what is the difference between Jiah and Aamir. He notes down on his body, and she on her notepad. Memory is unreliable.

The scene where Aamir has to witness Asin’s brutal murder was heart wrenching. The audience drew a collective gasp when Asin gets killed.

The action sequence in the climax that is cheerful in its gratuitous violence and enjoyable too. And the chase he gives to the villain along a narrow path flanked by houses – a labrynth - brings out the claustrophobic feel of the space - the way it mirrored the road to Ghajini that was built and broken thousand times in Sanjay’s mind.

The crucial pre-climax sequence where Aamir Khan is lying in the hospital confused and lost after his life-saving tattoos and clues and pictures have been destroyed and the consequent Aamir’s outburst.

Asin’s compassionate nature is brought out through creatively written scenes. Watch her help the handicapped children enter the museum gate and then help a blind man walk to his stop all along informing of the happenings on the street.

And some beautiful nuggets like - Aamir trying to recognise Jiah by her rapid breathing after the chase. A robotic Sanjay beating up a bad guy in cyborg-ish style, Aamir visiting Asin’s boss’s party, the climax where Aamir for a moment forgets what he is fighting for when he comes face to face with Ghajini.

The romantic track involving a tycoon-in-guise-of-common man and a model-in-guise-of-tycoon’s girlfriend does not water down the impact of this action film. It has humour and sweetness. It is this portion that endears the film to the audience and lends the surrounding violence some poignancy and beauty and touches you. You feel the pain of Asin when Aamir informs that he will out of India for 10 days, you have a lump in the throat while watching the scene where Asin hands him money, you want Kalpana to know that Sanjay is indeed a rich businessman before she dies.

Given the unfortunate events, the violence is justified. Even family audiences and children won’t mind it. What sets apart the action from the “Sunny Deol” Rajnikant” type is the total absence of dialogues and the smart camera work.

A R Rahman is in full form in Guzarish, Kaise Mujhe and Bekha. Prasoon Joshi’s lyrics though are a bit of let down. Excellent cinematography (Ravi K Chandran) and tremendous sound (Resul) take the film to a higher level. Action by Peter Hains and Stunt Shiva keeps you on the edge of your seat.

The flaws the critics are so vocal about:
“How come no one recognizes the chairman of a big cellular company?” - Oh yeah, and a common man can recognize the chairman of Airtel, Vodafone, etc. in person?

“The rich boy – poor girl love story has been witnessed umpteen times in Hindi movies”. Really! And what about movies like KKHH, DDLJ, DTPH, etc that were seen umpteen times.

“Asin pretending to be super-rich Aamir’s girl friend” - Haven’t we come across so many incidents in real life too – A woman going public that she is SRK’s mother, or a model claiming to be wife of Abhishek Bachchan, etc. So why do you think there is no logic in what Asin does. Moreover, after a point she herself confesses to Aamir (Sachin) about the lie.

“A google search by Asin would have given her the information about Aamir’s indentity” - But why would she want to know about Aamir when all she wants is to take advantage of the misunderstanding of her employer.

“Ghajini doesn’t have a gun in the climax? – Why not assume that he must have forgotten to carry.

“Why was 8 pack needed by Aamir in this movie?” Oh Yeah, and those 6 packs of SRK were so critical to the story of OSO, right dear critics?

And what the villian has to do with pharma industry? Don’t we have real life thugs who are into while collared business but are goons in the sly?

If you critics can go on, so can I.

What I would have liked to see in the movie
Interesting complications like all Aamir’s clues being destroyed are resolved in simple ways.The movie could have taken a better path rather than boil down to the climax.

It would have interesting to know how Aamir transformed from a suave tycoon to a revenge-seeking person.

Cast:

Asin impresses in her debut and though she goes a little overboard in comic scenes she makes it up by acting brilliantly in the second half when she acts serious. When she is scared, we are scared for her too. When she helps a few kids glide past an obstacle or helps a blind man her generosity feels straight from almighty.

Aamir pushes the envelope all the time. There isn’t much of dialogue for him but his well-toned physique, facial expressions and body language does all the talking. Aamir adds his own touch to both the humorous and the intense portions of the film. A rich business man, a lover boy and a short-term memory loss patient - Aamir is absolutely convincing in all the roles.

Pradeep Rawat and Jiah Khan are strictly okay.

Before the films release, Aamir had said that if people walk out with his 8 pack abs in mind, then the movie has failed to connect. But thankfully the audience did not talk about Aamir’s physique but the movie. So the movie did connect with the audience.

Ghajini has two tones, primarily. One that shows Sanjay locked in the grim darkness of his revenge, where the word Ghajini is driving him and the other where the film ends up locking Sanjay in. That might as well be heaven, where he is locked with the divine Asin, and love is guiding him.

Don’t ask serious questions about rationale and you won’t get any wrong answers in this movie. Just sit back and relax and enjoy the great entertainer of 2008.

Finally, the only time the audience hated Aamir in the movie was when he leaves his cell phone in the car when Asin calls for help. If this does not convince the critics that the movie connected with the audience. Nothing will. Not even the record breaking historical Box Office collections !

Reviews , Rains and . . . . .Aditi

Movie Review


Sarkar Raj

“K, its been quite some time now. When’s the interval ?”, said my dad during the first half of the movie.
The lights went on in another minute signaling the interval. I looked at my watch, it just had been 55 minutes since the beginning of the movie.

And, this is where the major flaw of the movie lies. It is only 2 hours, but seems oh-so-long & unbearable.

The movie is a bad follow up to the excellent Sarkar. It is long, slow & has lots of words, dialogues & precious little action.

Amitabh’s silences in Sarkar conveyed so much, much more than his long monologues do in Sarkar Raj.

The acting has been praised a lot, but the movie is so mediocre, that the acting too doesn’t stand out.

The characters of Sarkar were memorable – Rashid, Silver Money, Khan saab, Taklu guy, Kay Kay, Swami even the CM. Here, the characters are mere caricatures. They ve been given no strength & no proper role definition.

The confrontation scenes do not set the pulse racing ala the first scene between Rashid & Amitabh.

Dialogues come a cropper. Compare “Subhas Nagre ek aadmi hai, Sarkar – ek soch. Aadmi ko maarne se pehle, uski soch ko maarna zaroori hai” with “Omelette banaane ke liye anda to phodna padega na” You understand my point ??

Also, how can Abhishek’s character hold Ash’s character’s hand in a romantic gesture just some days/weeks after his pregnant wife has died a tragic death ?

All in all, it is a movie that can be watched, but fails miserably as a sequel to Sarkar. It is too much of complicated politics, complicated much more by the directors need to explain each & every thing to the audience .. some things should ve been left unsaid. And, some sequels unmade.

Aamir

Aamir is a brave effort. Laudable.

Very well directed, with excellent cinematography. Well casted & enacted.

It is a very hard hitting film &just shows how innocent Muslim’s get trapped into wrong doing by fanatics.

It is a bit slow, but must be watched for the effort put in by the debutante director & is a must buy DVD.


Book Review


3 Mistakes of my life

I loved it. Period.

The book by Chetan Bhagat is interesting, fast paced, witty & much much better than his last offering – One Night at the call centre.

The story is of 3 friends & their lives over a 5 year period in Gujarat. What is so nice about this book is the way it integrates the story of the 3 friends with the happenings in Gujarat over those tumultuous 5 years – the Bhuj earthquake, Cricket Matches, world cup, the Godhra riots. They are all a part of the book, and not just as a passing reference, but as a means to take the story forward & serve as the twists in the story.

The book is written in the same witty vein as his 1st book – 5 point Someone.

Sample – “the best maths teacher in town has just become a champi man”

This book has definite trademarks of the author.

1. The book is about struggle – to move ahead in life, to fight society & everyone’s inward struggle. Same theme was there in 5 point & in Call centre
2. The mandatory sex scene - the "progressive" Indian girl, the kind which is not afraid to show their true feelings, not afraid what society might think & certainly have a mind of their own.

Small examples are
In 5 point – the female asks for a cigarette after sex

In Call Centre – the female wants to & has sex in a car

In this book – the female wants to just escape her home town & go to Mumbai to achieve her dreams, she is not afraid to seduce the guy, has sex on her 18th birthday.

The characters of the 3 friends are very well etched & somewhere everyone can identify with some trait among the 3 friends. You feels drawn into their conflicts & struggles and live their lives.

One gets the feeling that the author has written this book with a future movie in mind. It fits exactly into Hindi movie mould, especially the ending. That’s my only complaint.

We are waiting for your 4th book, Mr, Bhagat.

Btw, any reason why you have numbers in the titles of your books – 5, 1, 3… and come to think of it, all odd numbers … all prime numbers ….


RAINS


Monsoon is the only season where the weather changes in an instant. Summer takes time to roll in, winter takes time to set in, but monsoon – one shower & the season changes. It’s not that hot any more, not too cold & the smell of the rains is in the air. That’s what I love about the monsoons.

Yes, Mumbai’s infrastructure collapses at the first instance of rains, the open manholes become dangerous, and disease spreads.. but we are not going to talk about that..

The earth becomes greener, there is that certain aroma in the air, there is romance in the air.

Imagine –

Sitting on your window sill at 2 in the night & just listening to music while sipping hot coffee

Caught in a coffee shop with someone special at 11 in the night with no car, no umbrella…. But lots to talk about

Jogging on the beach in the morning & suddenly it starts pouring & you r completely drenched before you can run for cover … and then you don’t want to run for cover & continue running in the rain.

You eating hot pakodas with mom oiling you hair.

Lonavala, bhushi dam, 15 friends, vada pavs & steaming corn cobs

A dance party on the road with friends & street kids…

Heavy rains, marine lines, sea face, one umbrella, 2 people….

Many such moments & more make up the monsoons …

My current favourite song is “kabhi kabhi aditi…” from the movie Jaane tu ya jaane na … it’s an extremely catch tune with nice lyrics .. I just cant stop singing it ..

I've dedicated the song to someone very special.

Also, there is a friend of mine, let’s call her…. Aditi, that had mailed me saying, “you blog reader is waiting.” Well, she is not going through some tough times… well, I can’t dedicate the song to anyone else now, but I ll sing these 2 lines for her …

“Aditi, maana kabhi kabhi saare jahaan mein andhera hota hai . . . . .lekin raat ke baad hi to savera hota hai…..Aditi has-de, has-de, has-de tu zaraa . . . . .”