Fight Club - Complete Mayhem.

The First Rule of Fight Club is that you do not talk about Fight Club.

The Second Rule of Fight Club is "You DO NOT talk about Fight Club".


Well, I am gonna break both of them and talk about it, because this movie is like my Punch Bag. Yes, the bag you hit repeatedly to remove your frustrations. It’s the movie I would watch when I am most frustrated, when I want to boil the scum of this earth and shatter every window I see. Yes, this cult classic is my Catharsis. Its one of the most brilliant and complex films of our generation - a cult of its own - Fight Club starring Brad Pitt and Edward Norton.


David Fincher - the director has stayed true to the book by Chuck Palahniuk, who must have been in one of his most devastating moods when he started his first book. Or probably his hatred for this Hypocritical Life we lead must have been at its Zenith. Whatever it may be, his passion for destruction, his frustrations, his knowledge of the forbidden and the trivial, come out in words as sheer vengeful literature. Yes, I would go so far as to say its modern or futuristic literature, modern philosophy. And the movie adaptation is equally powerful.


Fight Club is narrated through a Nameless character - he could be you, me or any person living this monotonous, routine life trying to go one up on his competition, trying to mimic the fashion, lifestyle, career of someone else, trying hard to be something he is not. This character works, buys every damn luxury item in trend and creates the ideal life - one he believes to be ideal, but he can't sleep. In insomnia - everything is a copy of a copy of a copy, everything is distant, you can't touch anything and nothing can touch you! He goes to various support groups faking to be terminally ill and in their misery he finds solace, happiness, blithe and indeed, sleep. Until, one day, another faker - Marla Singer comes into his life. She's the indigent, suicidal types. Then he meets Tyler Durden - who's everything he isn't, everything he wishes to be. Together they start Fight Club, their medium to channelise their pain, their frustrations and their fast track to nirvana. Every night they die and are born again, as new, invigorated men. Fight Club has 7 simple rules and its popularity grows; so does its reach - throughout America.


The story takes a twist when Tyler starts Project Mayhem. When the Club Fight sessions take an ugly turn, when the arena become the city, targeting the rich, the fortunate, the government, the system. Our nameless hero realizes that things have gone out of hand, but it is futile to resist, because this uprising consists of people who serve food, who do laundry, who protect people while they sleep; they are in the system to break it. He tries upsetting their plans, which he believes would have disastrous aftermaths, but the evil twist towards the end completely takes him off-guard. You yourself are thunderstruck with what happens because it transcends beyond your comprehension or belief. Finally, our Nameless Hero finds a way to suppress Tyler, once and for all, and save Marla - who he loves. But Mayhem continues, as Tyler successfully creates separate pockets of his army, completely capable of acting independently.

The performances are truly exceptional. Specially Edward Norton – our nameless protagonist. His sonorous voice gives depth and life to the sentences and his expressions are flawless. Brad Pitt revels as the leader of the rampage – the true radical Tyler Durden. Helena Bonham as Marla Singer is brilliant. The sound track adds to the fun and is fitting. But the most exceptional part is the direction- because Fincher puts many pieces - incidences in perfect order and tries to make sense, tries to bring sanity in the narration. The screen play has been changed a bit from the actual Novel, but both versions are equally amazing.

This Movie is a cult, because it’s a revolt against the things we take for granted. Tyler says "You are not the clothes you were, you are not the books you read, you are the same decaying organic matter as everyone else, and we are part of the same composite pile! " That’s philosophy for you. Give up all the worldly pleasure, give up your vices and only when you hit bottom will you truly be free. Only when you have given up everything, that you fear nothing. Only when you are close to death do you have a Near Life experience. I think so passionately about this that I could go on and on and on. The movie is full of amazing little fundas. Added to this, the narration is in a chaotic manner. The premise itself is chaotic and it’s accentuated by the dialogues. And within the chaos you find tranquility.


Many would find it complete and utter crap – the movie flopped because it hit a raw nerve - and many more would fall in love with it. After you watch the movie, you want to hit someone --> for completely different reasons. But that’s the point, either you love it or you hate it, but you can't ignore this piece of modern art. Get a hold of it and let your imagination go wild. I am sure one watch will make your mind work in the fight club mode. It’s the fight club effect. I myself stay in the Fight club mode for hours, sometimes days. Most of my best pieces of work come after a quick read of an inspirational excerpt from this book or after watching a scene from the movie. Enjoy complete mayhem. Enjoy.

"The first step to eternal life is you have to die" - ChUcK PaLaNiUk

Annie Hall - Conversational Artistry!

Overall Rating: 7 outta 10

Comic Rating: 3 outta 5

Taking you back in time, back to 1977. This movie won an ACADEMY AWARD. Crafted by the renound WOODY ALLEN this is a romantic comedy with the Woody Allen stamp all over it. I have seen 2 Woody movies now and they have one thing in common 1) They deal with relationships, trying to make sense of them 2) The movie runs purely on Conversations.

So this particular movie is about a stand up comic Alvy Singer's (Woody) relationship with Annie Hall (Diane Keaton). It traces their relationship from start to its end and afterwards. How Alvy, who's had a particularly depressing childhood, is afraid of being commited and has already divorced twice. How he is obssesed with Death, though he is not suisidal. How he falls for a relatively normal girl ANNIE, pushes her to pursue further education, shares his past and his present with her and finally when its not working out - mutually agrees to part ways. After that he has a few more relationships but they are nothing compared to the one he had with ANNIE and he craves for her. But both have different perspectives in life. While he is obssesed with NEW YORK and DEATH, she wants a relatively laid back life of LOS ANGELES where she could be amidst celebs from Hollywood and she believes in living to the fullest.

In all, the story is just a skeleton for the plethora of comic lines which Woody delivers with aplomb. Being the director, he has let his imagination run wild and has brought many comic scenes through their presentation, particularly when he interacts with the Audience of the movie.

The performances are exceptional. Its not just because of the actors, but particularly because of the director. Woody has an amazing talent to capture stellar realistic reactions and actions from his cast. They seem to be actually living the role, rather than acting them.

Its different from the run-of-the-mill comedies and it needs a certain grip on vocabulary to grasp some of the jokes. It would not amuse many because you need to have a certain taste to gather what is being said. Many would probably be tired of concentrating for 1 and half hour. But once you get into the groove, you are sucked in. Not particularly my taste, I must say --> I preferred the blatant, quirky Cheeni Kum more. But I would recommened it for the DIE-HARD movie fan, because he cannot miss Woody's brand of Movie making. Its a lesson.

Cheeni Kum : A quirky but worky comedy!

Overall Rating: 6.5*** / 10 --> It’s Rocking.
Comedy Rating: 4 / 5 --> Wise Cracks Unlimited
Genre: Comedy
Director: R Balakrishnan

From the ratings you would have realized the general drift of this review. Obviously I had fun during this movie, and yeah, it was because of the movie and not otherwise! Cheeni Kum is an awesome debut by the director because he’s the writer as well and he has done a great job. After all, the whole movie flows on dialogues and situations. It’s a non-stop chain of wise cracks from our Quirky set of Characters.

Mr.Buddha (as in Gautam Buddha and not Old man – Amitabh Bachchan), age 64, is the owner of the finest Indian restaurant in London and his ego is as tall as himself. Nina (Tabu), age 34, enters his restaurant and life, when she comes to London for the first time. And then starts a non-stop bought of wise-cracks between the two characters, both trying to get one-up on each other, while the romance blossoms. The dialogues are smart, to down-right silly, but you love them, because they are delivered with such flawlessness by these 2 wonderful actors. Mr.Buddha still lives with his Mother (Zora Sehgal – amazing energy) with whom he shares a particularly confrontational relationship. She keeps urging him to go to the GYM, which he does once he meets Tabu. Then there’s also a terminally ill kid, who’s Amitabh’s neighbour, philosopher and friend. Christined SEXY by Mr.Buddha, she shares ample screen space with Amitabh and brings out loads of memorable moments. After the brisk romance, Nina and Buddha decide to marry for no apparent reason other than having a physical relationship and Amitabh leaves for India to convince Tabu’s father (Paresh Rawal ). What ensues is a series of failed attempts to convince the father, while the father keeps un-intentionally and deliberately reminding Amitabh of his age. One of the most hillarious scenes in the film is during a song , when Paresh Rawal goes on a hunger strike. Finally he does give in to the amorous couple’s intentions, rather reluctantly.

For me this movie clicked on several levels because of its novel storyline, cool wise-cracks, decent songs and above all of this, the acting of the 2 lead characters. Amitabh with his small plat, his designer goggles, his white suit looks amazing and delivers his lines with amazing ease. Tabu plays this conventional yet adamant character and stays on par with Amitabh in terms of the performance. All the other characters are good as-well.

Apart from a few repetitive dialogues, some cheap insinuations, some unwanted characters, this movie overall is a real delight and would urge you to watch it once again.
If you are an Amitabh fan, you would surely fall in love with him, all over again.

Conclusion: Watch it ASAP and if you a sucker for wise-cracks you would surely love it. Sorry if you looking for subtle , straightforward characters delivering straightforward dialogues –sorry this film is full of unconventional, rather Quiry but Worky characters!!

Regards,
Fundamentor

Please scroll down to see Yogesh's take on this movie

CHEENI KUM- Full entertainment!!!!

rating: 8.5/10

Cheeni Kum- Dont go by its name this movie has all flavours whether its emotion, comedy, performances, music evrything.This movie is actually about mainly two characters Budhadev (Amitabh Bachhan) who is the chef of what he calls “the best Indian restaurant in London”. He takes pride in his job and considers cooking more of an art than a culinary chore. The cooks under him dread him for his perfectionist streak and Neena (Tabu) who is a software engineer.In short abt movie is that how amitabh fall in love with Tabu and finally they get married.

I have to mention here abt little gal Swini Khara who is simply brilliant. Her role and her dialogues have been written very beautifully. Zohra Sehgal who is a mother of Amitabh Bachhan is delightful in a performance incredibly feisty for her age.

Well there is no need to mention abt the performance of Amitabh bachhan And tabu as they are the Icon of our film industries.After Rang de Basanti I think this is the second movie which has some subject and all credit goes to director who handle this subject very effeciently. The first half of movie is amazing , the second half is slow but due to entry of Paresh rawal (tabu father in the movie) u find a gud flavour of comedy between Amitabh and paresh rawal.

Now talk something abt music.... Well for the first time I feel that music is a part of film and u find that songs are move along with the strory.And music is great.

Well at the end I just want to say that Cheeni Kum is a vey nice movie and everyone should watch it.And I hope in future we get some more gud bollywood movies like this which are realy different.

Director R Balki has got almost everything right in his first feature film.

in two words Simply awesome.

Review: Spiderman 3- Its biggest enemy lies within the script!!!

Rating : 4.5 / 10

I went to this movie with a lot of expectations and am sorry to say they were squandered rather brutally. The special effects may be mind boggling but u end up laughing at the predictability of the movie most of the times. It has a plethora of relationships and each person or villian is given a humane- positive side. Also, Its too much like a 80's hindi film, with Bhaiyaa, dosti, sacrifice, uncle, aunty, pyaar, etc etc. You would probably laugh (as most of the audience is) when people turn up in the opportuned place at the opportuned time and you will beat ur head at some corny mushy scenes! The director , the script writer should be whipped for such a cliched movie! Who can bear a super hero crying, dancing, prancing, being jealous all the while. The conflict within is also amateurish - seriously and why the hell after so much distruction does the sand man suddenly turn good in the end? U seriously will have many doubts and dissapointments after this movie.

I am sorry to beat up this movie , but the bigger the movies are , the harder they fall... c it with no expectations and only for a few hi-fi-special effects.

I do hope spiderman returns soon with something excellent.

Regards,
Fundamentor

Review - Life in a Metro ( like in METROPOLITAN and not a Train!! )

Director: Anurag Basu
Rating: 5/10

In short this movie is truly inspired by Madhur Bhandarkar. Anurag Basu has really lost it. He has copied almost all the deprssing tactics used by Madhur in many of his films. A scene is copy pasted from PAGE 3 with the same heroin ( Konkana). There are so many characters and inter-relationships which are inter-twined that u lose track of who is flirting, sleeping, having extra-marital affairs with whom. Its quiet a no-brainer really. All the good actors are wasted - (actors had given me false expectations). In all the songs Pritam and his gang appear in the same dress roaming on the streets (how original!!!) Though the sound track is good, with IN DINO DIL MERA being the pick of the tracks.If you do watch this movie u wud be bored in the first half but in the second IRRFAN KHAN breathes life into the movie with his amazing character. Once again IRRFAN has come on tops in a movie with a plethora of brilliant actors - blame it on their characters.

So advice is get a DVD or CD from somewhere and watch it. Else save ur precious stipend/ money etc and go for PIRATES :)

Regards,Funda-mentor

Parzania - A compelling story

Parzania – The Wonder world of a 10-year-old boy, abound with chocolates and vanilla ice creams, where cricket is supreme and all time is fun time – no bedtime! Such is a world in which his heart is and where he feels secure. The real world blends into serenity when he enters Parzania. And he takes his sister along. Such is a world far away from this real, cruel world where people kill each other for no reason.

Parzaan belongs to a Chaal Dwelling middle class Parsi family of 4. His father (Naseer – working in a theater), mother (Saarika – house wife) and a sister, make up his beautiful real world. But this world is shattered by the after-math of the Godhra Train Burning episode. Hoards of Hindu Fanatics barge into their Chawls, destroy everything and in the melee Parzaan is separated from his mother. The rest of the film depicts the plight of the parents, their hardships, their fight with the reality and their desperate pleas to get their child back. Along the way, they are helped by an American Novelist who has come to Gujarat to learn about Gandhiji and is shocked by the behavior of the people in Gandhiji's land.

The film is both powerful and real. It has a very simple narrative and tells a story without cowering from the truth. Yes, it portrays the reality, as it is. Hindi films tend to be hiding behind veils to be diplomatic, as if not to enrage anyone. But yes, the trend is changing for the better with directors like Anurag Kahyup - Black Friday, coming to the fore. The background score is haunting – gives an amazing impact. The film was supposedly made in ENLGISH, because the director never made it for the Indian audience. No, it wasn't because he didn't want to release it in India or he just wanted awards in foreign festivals, but because he was sure the Government would never approve of it. And now that it is through the government and censor board, it's faced with Mob rioting in Gujarat. Anyways, we get to see it, I'm happy.

I'm happy because I got to see some brilliant and power-packed performances from amazing actors. Naseer delivers like always, you can see his genius in this one scene where he breaks down after desperately searching for his son. The director delivers that particular scene with such brilliance that you are really left speechless - feeling the pain of a father deprived of holding his son, of the feeling of losing his son. Kudos to Sagarika. She just amazes you with her endearing looks and spot-on performance. The supporting cast is great as well. It's really shameful to see that such a good film gets released in 5 theaters with 10 shows a day, while crappy films like Salaam-e-Ishq runs in 50 theaters with 500 shows a day! But then again, that's what the public wants. Sad, but true.

My advice, go for it. I am sure it will set your pulse racing, would move you and would compel you to think about the issue. Dis-claimer: It's real, gory, with graphic language and scenes of rioting, with bodies burning and dead bodies laying abound. But that's life. That's the real world – far away from Parzania, the little boy's serene and imaginary world.

Regards,
Viru aka Fundaementor

Rock-ing Balboa .. All Heart...

Genre : Drama
Rating : 5.5 / 10

"It's not how hard you HIT, but how quickly you can bounce back after getting HIT and surge ahead.." thats the message Rocky gives to his son in this Rocking comeback. "One last time" Rocky entralls us, delights us, makes us feel for him, makes us happy and gives it all he has. Rocky Balboa - the movie is all heart, much like the 2 - time champion who faught hard and never gave up.

You can't help but laugh at the subtle jokes, jog through the good old memories with "Sly", marvel at the 60- odd year old superstar, cheer him when he's giving his best in the ring. You simply dis-regard the slow pace of the movie, because you wanna see more, you wanna hear more fond stories, wanna go through those amazing flashbacks. If you go to the theaters expecting action, please be aware that ROCKY was never about those fights, it was never about the action, but about the "pure will of a great fighter", his life, his experiences, its celebration of the fighting spirit of man and thats what the latest franchise is all about. Maybe you would laugh at the idea of a 60 year old man going back into the ring to fight a 20 odd year old heavy weight champion. But you quietly sit through the raw emotions and smile. Its a terrific feel good movie.

Sly- old'sylvester is amazing. He captivates you with his expressive eyes, his short repartees, his old stories, his emotionally charged dialogues, his will, his strenght, his relationships with his son, a lady named "Little Mary", her son and ofcourse Pappy - his old trainer. He's a one man army, who cannons you past the 2 hours film in a jiffy.

Watch this film, if you are a die-hard rocky fan, coz u wont be dissapointed. Dont go with an intention to see a bout - but go to watch a splendid FAREWELL, a tribute, a homeage to one of the greatest on-screen characters in the history of cinema "ROCKY".
To those who have'nt seen any of the ROCKY movies - go and watch it to see the power of a man - everyone thot was finished. I am sure you would be inspired to see all the other movies.

Regards,
Fundamentor

Review of 4 movies "Hatrick, Eklavya, Pursuit of Happyness and Last King of Scotland"

1)

Hatrick : Stumped , Caught and Bowled!
Genre: Drama oops Comedy oops Even the Director doesn’t know!
Rating: 3.5 on the scale of 10

Well, should have been more like “Run Out, Handling the Ball and Hit wicket!” All embarrassing to say the least. It starts off really well, with the story of these 3 crazy cricket lovers (Kunal, Paresh and Danny) and 1 “Khadooos” Doctor (dunno what’s the problem with Nana’s character!!) Another director trying out his hand on a “Crash” style story of seeming unrelated stories joined by a common string (this time its cricket and nothing else) Infact the stories don’t even converge. The director tries hard to push emotions into this comedy (and really really spoils it). Recreating the magical simplicity of emotions in Munnabhai is amazingly tough and the director of Hatrick falls flat on his face trying. He wants to make you feel for the characters and at the very next moment laugh at their jokes. Even the tension seems to be forced and by the time you have hit ur watch for seemingly having stopped functioning about 20 times the movie ends! Thank god. It’s a pity what starts off with such promise ends a total dampener!

Advice : Cheq out Sizzling RIMI SEN ( but on TV !!!) Please don’t venture into the cinema hall for it, download it or get the DVD if you must see it.

2)

Eklavya : The royal Guard
Genre: So called Shakespearean like Saga
Rating: 2 on 10

You feel frustrated looking at this so called SAGA. An artistic creation of a visionary director – My foot!!! What you get on screen in EKLAVYA is the creation of a director who is so full of himself that he wants to be the hero in all the scenes. The director wants to overshadow each actor on screen. He makes it clear that he is GOD and everything belongs to him and no body can steal his spotlight. Mr. Vidhu Vinod Chopra should get a reality check and dump his ego in the pothole! The camera moves round, zig zag , up and down etc etc and each scene is shot made to look aesthetically perfect! In this exercise the actors lose their existence. The conceited director forgets that he needs his cast to have lines – not lengthy pauses, he needs a story – and not just a savagery of beautiful long shots, he needs good songs etc etc.

I would put this in one of the worst directed movies of all times just to deflate the director’s BLOATED ego. Eklavya : the royal guard is a reminder to Vidhu Vinod to stick to Producing Munnabhai. Maybe, that way he could retain his credibility.
3)

Pursuit of Happyness
Genre: Drama
Rating: (5 + 2) on 10

Here’s a movie with its heart at the right place, specially made for the Oscars J It’s a true life story of a black guy struggling to keep afloat and feed his family. He has made this investment into an obsolete product and struggles to get his money back. While his wife steps outta his life because of the perpetual state of penury, his son is his lease of life. The movie is the pursuit of Happiness – quiet literally. How this guy burns the midnight oil, manages his son, does his course, does his sales business and stays afloat pursuing the dream of one day making it big. It’s a simple story with a tremendously motivating theme. Will Smith is absolutely fabulous and makes you laugh, cry and breathe with him. His sincerity in the role makes it one of his best.

5 for the movie and 2 added for a truly INSPIRING story + great acting performance.

Go for it – it’s a good story, well packaged and had good performances.

4)

The last King of Scotland
Genre: Reality
Rating: ( 6 + 2 ) on 10

Wow, finally a movie that rocks. Last King of Scotland is simply amazing. 6 for the movie and 2 for the superlative performances by the two main leads!

It’s the true story of the totally bonkers DICTATOR of Uganda – Idi Amin . The personality of this guy is simply riveting – at once a saint and the very other a devil. Idi Amin lives again through Forest Whitaker. The story is of a young doctor from Scotland who comes to Uganda for a social cause and is tricked into being the personal physician by the dictator. The young doc becomes his most loved and closest advisor – whilst he is unawares of the Dictators evil ways. I wouldn’t want to disclose anything, coz I wish you watch it.

Simply put its entertaining. Watch it positively – 1) for actually knwing what kind of misery was inflicted in Uganda by this eccentric Dictator and 2) for the superb performances.
A Mast - Must Watch Movie!

300

Film : 300
Genre: Action (Fundoooooo waalaa)
Rating: 7 out of 10


No doubt about the title. The movie is truly DEADLY. Maybe I am just an action fanatic and the sight of blood invigorates me – Maybe I am biased to this genre. Whatever may be your deduction, I loved this film.

The film is packed with unknown actors as heroes with almost Herculean strength and chisel-cut, godly physique. It has beautiful, almost perfect heroines. Their performances don’t matter. It’s made from a Frank Miller graphic novel and is equally graphic – kudos to Zack Snyder.

This film is about the Spartans (Greeks) being attacked by the Persians. The Persians give the Spartans an ultimatum to lay down their weapons and accept defeat. But the Spartans, who don’t have fear in their dictionary, would rather die a decent death on the battlefield, rather than kneel in front of anyone. What ensues is a story of politics, of deceit, of valor, of strategy, of glory, of sacrifice, of love, of honor and most importantly of raw and brutal battle scenes. A battle of 300 Spartans against a Million Persians. Yes, a Million. A couple of battle sequences are just mind blowing and the audience is left spell bound. The choreography of these battle sequences are almost poetic. Also, the background (animated) enhances the look of the film. The background score also sets the mood and the pace of the scenes.

The rating is purely for the raw action, without any stress on the authenticity or any weightage to the story. It should be seen as a pure Battle film and nothing else.

On your marks, get set go – for this film. You have to catch it in the theaters. The battle scenes would have you begging for more.

I watched this movie for 55 bucks; I would have gladly dished out 300 !

Review : Apocalypto and Ghost Rider

Film : Apocalypto
Rating : ( 5.5 ) outta 10

Mel Gibson's Apocalypto takes u back to the Mayan age. Its kind of a transition period for the clan who live oblivious from the civilised world. Its a period when the concept of INDUSTRIALISATION is in its incipient stages, its during the decline of the Mayan civilisation.

The story is very FILMY. Almost like a Hindi movie. Its got a small tribe where our hero lives happily with his family and his tribe. But their humble abode is destroyed, elders killed, children abandoned and men/women enslaved by this group of maniacs who are creating a city and need labourers. In the melee the hero hides his wife and kid in a well. After that starts the journey of the hero to hell and back. The hero runs against all odds and saves his family.

Well, this has some pretty gory action aswell, coz these guys use axes and spears and daggers etc. Pretty nice recreation of the lost age. Its kinda lenghty and some portions are boring and dragged. But overall its a watchable movie. The action towards the end is good. Also, the movie is in the ancient Yukatec Mayan Language, so u have to read the subscripts and keep up with the scenes.

Timepass stuff. Watch it as a sincere attempt to make a simple story based in a lost era.


Film : Ghost Rider
Rating : 3.5 outta 10


OK, so Nicholas Cage had this fantasy of playing Ghost rider, which was fulfilled in this movie. But other than that nobody is impressed. Ghost Rider is literally on fire from head to toe in the film, but doesnt fire up our imagination or our interest. Its a simple story of this guy who sells his soul to the devil in exchange of his fathers life and is double crossed, but now has to serve the devil and do as the devil commands. Then a bunch of luncatics along with the Devi let (the devils son) come along to dethrone the devil and own the world. The devil calls upon his aid to finish up these mischief mongers n so he does. Oh yaa he also has this lady in his life, who is there for the usual "Villian kidapping heroin and gets hero to do his work in exchange for his life" routine!!!

All in all, predictable, run of mill stuff with a little special effects. Thats about it. Dont waste any money on this. Watch it on computer if u must.


Happy Cinemaing
Taliho....
Viru urf Fundamentor.

Review: The namesake - Highly recommended

Film: The Namesake
Rating: 8** / 10

Some movies have unimaginable stunts, some hi-fi animation; some have out-of-this world special effects which make us watch in rapt attention and then there are movies that do not need any of these, just a moving story with decisive moments of life, lovely dialogues, emotional interplay, human interactions, and some heart-rendering performances. The namesake is one such movie.

Poignant to say the least, this movie sucks you right into the life of “Bengali Baabu” Mr. Ashok Ganguly (Irrfan Khan - outstanding), who after a near fatal train accident decides to settle in the U.S. He finds companionship in his wife Ashima (Tabu – fabulous). (Kal Penn – talented) Plays Nikhil urf “Gogol” Ganguly – son of Irrfan and Tabu. The story is about how this family copes up with their life abroad. How they pine for their motherland, but stay abroad to give their children a better life in the land of opportunity. It’s about relationships – between a person and his homeland, a person and the land that wins him his bread, between a husband and a wife, between a father and a son. It’s about moments; the defining moments those shape their lives. It’s probably one of the best stories on Non-Resident Indians, the radical change in their life-style when they abroad and how they cope with this change. It’s about the children finding it tough to relate to the Indian values and how they attach those missing links.

Mira Nair’s movie is an adaptation of Jhumpa Lahiri’s book. Though I haven’t read it, if the book is half as good, I would definitely read it ASAP. The performances are brilliant and engaging. Irrfan khan gives testament to his versatility by his flawless depiction of a Bengali Babu. Tabu’s portrayal of a wife, a mother, a widow is simply amazing. Kal Penn, whom we know as a comedian, plays his multi-layered character with ease and is brilliant. Though the movie meanders along, you want more. The pace adds to the poise of each scene. Some scenes touch you deeply and make you think about your life, your regrets, your relationships. Yes, there are times when you feel the film is dragging along towards the end, but then you realize that those scenes though seemingly insignificant are important.

I highly recommend this film. Devoid of MASALA this film is for the Classes, though I wish the Masses would appreciate good cinema. If you found Pursuit of Happyness good, this in my opinion is better, simply because of the complexity of emotions it handles with such grace. The movie has a line “That is what books are for; to take you to a far away land without moving an inch”. The movie does the same; it takes u through a Roller Coaster of life without you having to move an inch. Well done Miraji!

Bheja Fry -- Pointless Fun

Sometimes you don’t need a script, you don’t need complicated relationships, you don’t need songs or vulgar insinuations or over the top shenanigans to make people laugh. Bheja Fry is one of those times.

Sometimes you need no reason to smile, to laugh. All the same, Bheja Fry gives you loads of reasons to do so. In fact, it makes you jump off your seat a few times!!

Pointless – because its got no story, no reason. And Fun – because the film is simply a riot! There are just characters and situations. And then there’s Vinay Pathak – absolutely brilliant.

The plots like this à An idiot named Bharat Bhushan (Vinay Pathak) believes himself to be a super singer. Mr.Thadani ( Rajat Kapoor) – a music company owner, has this group dinner every Friday night where they call one Idiotic talent and have fun on his or her behalf! Mr. Thadani comes to know about Bharat Bhushan and calls him for the Friday night dinner and then all hell breaks loose at Mr.Thadani’s place, with Mr. Bharat Bhushan wrecking havoc in his life!

There are other characters like Mr.Thadani’s wife (Saarika), his friend (Milind Soman), his doctor (Tom Alter) and an IT inspector (Ranvir Shourie), but these play small parts in this wholesome comedy.

You simply have to see Vinay Pathak playing this amazingly irritating character and how he gets into the skin of the character and under the skin of others through this character!! Sabka Bheja Fry kar deta hai!!

Verdict – a great movie to cool off in this summer time, with loads of fun. Go watch it. No tension, no message, no nonsensical plot of wasted emotions – just pointless fun.


Funda-mentor Urf Viru