The Intern, Turned out Pretty good!

Pic Source: IMDB

I have obviously loved this movie so much that I couldn’t wait to drive back home and start writing about it. This workplace comedy is a must watch, with a very strong script and excellent actors. The fact that Nancy Meyers also has scripted this movie was of no surprise; her direction has no gaps in the onscreen visual interpretation.  The casting of the movie couldn’t have been better, with Robert De Niro who is surely an actor par excellence and Anne Hathaway is indispensable too, although she had apparently replaced Reese Witherspoon, who was originally casted to play her role.

Robert De Niro must have this particular role close to his heart, with his own popular quote “You'll have time to rest when you're dead”; he plays the role of Ben Whittaker a widowed, retired 70yr old ex VP of a company who is looking to make his boring life more meaningful. Ben lands an internship at an e-commerce startup run by Jules Ostin(Anne Hathaway) under a senior internship program. The character of Jules is that of a perfectionist feminist CEO who is trying hard to run her company on one hand and keeping her family together on the other.

The story highlights the passion for work of the two central characters of the movie and beautifully showcases nuances of work cultures of two different generations. I must add here, there is a bit of the exaggeration though, depicting an overly glamorous startup setup (or maybe I am jealous, everyones' got a MAC, including interns), however, this bit is innocuous to the central theme of the movie. It is refreshing to a watch a movie that has no unnecessary infusion of romance, the relationship between Ben and Jules is that of two people who have similar values. Ben finds his purpose by helping Jules center/ balance her life and achieve her goals without sacrificing her passion.

The  comical plots of this movie are hilarious, especially the one where Ben and a group of interns housebreak in to Jules mom’s house to delete an email from her computer. The secondary characters of this movie are well characterized and give you many laughs and awws!.The funny feminist comments and dialogues of Jules took my heart away. I must mention, this movie wasn’t patriotic, or had an heroic ending, yet there was a huge applause from the audience as the movie ended. Truly well made! 

Welcome Back ! Nothing much has changed since

Pic Source:IMDB

You have been welcomed back to a classic slapstick comedy, but hey! I was a bit surprised by the script, it is almost the replica of the first, with an identical plot. I understand this was a sequel but it just feels like 2 versions of the same movie made with minor differences. The dialogues, one-liners and the comic timing of Anil Kapoor and Nana Patekar  makeup for the trite script to some extent.

Anil Kapoor, Nana Patekar & Paresh Rawal are ofcourse the only highlights. When all elements being the same, they aren’t any better or worse than before, except the noticeable weight loss of Paresh Rawal.  John Abraham fails to create the Akshay Kumar effect and Shruthi Hassan is the most dispensable, not just because she had to only dance a little bit and say a few lines. You can completely ignore the lead pair in this movie.  Dimple Kapadia has been wasted in the movie, a strong actress like her could have had perhaps a meatier/funnier role. I must compliment her dress designer though and I really wished she could have shared it with Shruthi Hasan. I wonder what went wrong with Shruthi Hassan, I understand a movie like this didn’t give her scope to act but she was really way off with her dresses, both garish and out-of- date.

Nasserudin Shah is the Villain in this sequel with idiosyncrasies injected in to his character (including physical) to get the audiences to laugh. The graveyard scene is the most comical and the only saving grace to this movie. The movie gives you a few laughs and well if that’s all you are looking to do, it’s not a bad idea to watch it

Katti Batti- the makeup-breakup delirium to avoid!

Pic Source: Wikipedia

What does katti batti mean? - My first reaction was with the name, I then figured it was the term I heard as a child which meant breaking up and making up respectively. So, well the story of this film is based on the katti batti between the lead characters, Payal (Kangana Ranaut) and Maddy/ Madhav (Imran) and when the reason of this Katti or Batti is revealed nothing makes sense. The movie starts as a romantic thriller/ suspense, moves on to be being a romantic comedy and ends as a heartbreaking love story. . I feel like I had a meal which had a real mixed up menu – the starter, main course and desert didn’t really blend with each other. Had they perhaps been treated individually or maybe max two genres’ at one time it could have made an impact.

The story is about a couple who is in a live-in relationship, primarily because the female protagonist, Payal, who is bohemian and completely non- traditional.   The movie starts with Maddy’s delirium over why is girlfriend had left him and is almost completely unapproachable and non-traceable. As Maddy is in the process on unveiling her whereabouts and bringing her back in to his life, the director has made interesting switches to flashbacks to confuse the motive of the breakup in the mind of the audience. The hero does find the heroine, however only to perhaps lose her again. 

Both Kangana and Imran, have played similar characters before so nothing exceptional there. The highlight for me was shankar ehsaan loy’s beautiful background score. I could have given this movie a pass, it didn’t really strike a chord with me both emotionally and logically. 

Dil Dhadakne Do ! Kiskey Liyeh?

(Pic Source: desimartini.com) added graphics

So who does my heart beat for in this movie? Surprisingly it is not really the younger star cast, rather it was Anil Kapoor and Shefali Shah who are the highlights of this movie. The story is about the Mehra’s who are out to celebrate their thirtieth anniversary on a cruise with friends and family. Along the way, on this fun and hilarious journey, a few secrets are unearthed, love is lost and found, and finally the family rediscovers each other.

For some reason, the characters of Anil Kapoor and Shefali Shah reminded me of Richard Gere and Meryl Streep in the Arbitrage- an affluent couple in the middle of both a financial, as well as a family crises. In his Grays, yet very dapper, Kamal Mehra(Anil Kapoor) & the very poised Neelam Mehra (Shefali Shah ) are the very typical high society Delhi couple that lead a superficial modern life masking their hypocritical traditional values. Ranveer Singh’s character, in most of his movies is rather zany, and so it is in this one, but with a tinge of nativity and sweetness, I can actually call his character (Kabir Mehra), adorable. Priyanka Chopra plays the role of Ayeesha Mehra- a brilliant and classy business woman on one hand, and a submissive daughter and wife on the other. Anushka & Farhan play disappointingly shorter roles, that of the love interests of the Mehra siblings. The casting of the other smaller characters has been done with a lot of detail and they go perfectly well with the overall “opulence feel” and “comical screenplay” of the movie

The movie is fun to watch and entertaining but is it as good as Zoya’s previous ones? I would say No! I feel a few characters were not utilized well and that I would have liked a few flashback scenes (of Farhan) than a Dog narration. A special appearance of Aamir than his voice-over to a dog would have worked for me ;). The movie builds you a nice mood, and so I have no complaints!

Dil Dhadakne Do!..Kiskey Liyeh?

                                                          (

                                                                                    Original Pic Source: desimartini.com) added graphics

So who does my heart beat for in this movie? Surprisingly it is not really the younger star cast, rather it was Anil Kapoor and Shefali Shah who are the highlights of this movie. The story is about the Mehra’s who are out to celebrate their thirtieth anniversary on a cruise with friends and family. Along the way, on this fun and hilarious journey, a few secrets are unearthed, love is lost and found, and finally the family rediscovers each other.

For some reason, the characters of Anil Kapoor and Shefali Shah reminded me of Richard Gere and Meryl Streep in the Arbitrage- an affluent couple in the middle of both a financial, as well as a family crises. In his Grays, yet very dapper, Kamal Mehra(Anil Kapoor) & the very poised Neelam Mehra (Shefali Shah ) are the very typical high society Delhi couple that lead a superficial modern life masking their hypocritical traditional values. Ranveer Kapoor’s character, in most of his movies is rather zany, and so it is in this one, but with a tinge of nativity and sweetness, I can actually call his character (Kabir Mehra), adorable. Priyanka Chopra plays the role of Ayeesha Mehra- a brilliant and classy business woman on one hand, and that of a submissive daughter and wife on the other. Anushka & Farhan play disappointingly shorter roles, that of the love interests of the Mehra siblings. The casting of the other smaller characters has been done with a lot detail and they go perfectly well with the overall “opulence feel” and “comical screenplay” of the movie

The movie is fun to watch and entertaining but is the as good as Zoya’s previous ones- I would say No! I feel a few characters were not utilized well and that I would have liked a few flashback scenes (of Farhan) than a Dog narration. A special appearance of Amir than his voice-over to a dog would have worked for me ;). The movie builds you a nice mood, and so I have no complaints!

Detective Byomkesh Bakshy- he went missing in the movie, go find him!!

                                                         (Pic Source: Wikipedia)

My first encounter with Byomkesh Bakshy, the bengali detective novel/stories was watching the televised version of it over Doordarshan as a child. This Indian Sherlock homes took over most Indian households in early nineties. I guess many of us, if we ever saw Rajit Kapur anywhere, would call him Byomkesh Bakshy first, such was his screen presence and the mannerisms of his character- the smirks, the contemplative look and the classic pauses just before he would reveal the mystery of each case. 

Fisrtly, Kudos, to the production & art design department, the movie does take you back to the Calcutta of the 1940’s with every minute detail you could imagine being spot on. I could imagine all the effort and the monies gone in to creating a few of the sets. They have really researched that era so well, the cars, the trams, the buildings, etc. and recreated the pre-independence Kolkata beautifully

The plot of the movie revolves around young Byomkesh Bakshy’s (Straight out of college)trying to solve a case for a friend whose father goes missing, however this plot intensifies and goes broader with murders, the national movement, opium drug dealers, Japanese invasions,etc. Is it a muddle? yes it is. Unfortunately there is too much there to show in one movie, that you can’t really savor one aspect of the movie completely and it really moves to the next- really fast. When you recreate something that has already been famous- you have to keep a certain essence intact, or perhaps enhance it, for instance mannerisms of Rajit Kapor clearly made a mark on the audience, but same doesn't hold good with Sushant Singh Rajput. Do I blame the actor for this? No!. Its 2 things really here, one is the casting itself- Sushant Singh Rajput does not look Bengali to begin with- this could have changed,  if perhaps he would have put on some weight, maybe a little dialect training, the unibrow couldn't alone suffice. Secondly, it is the job perhaps of the director or the script that have to give room for building and highlighting those “mannerisms” that give a clear outline to the actor to create those onscreen. 

The movie goes quickly from one twist to the other, the actors from one emotion to the other, so much so that, I personally couldn't absorb it that fast. I agree that the character of Byomkesh Bakshy was supposed to be young (24yrs or so) and hence you expect some naivety, not the very confident and calm older TVwala Byomkesh Bakshy. Yet, for some reason I could feel more swiftness, rebel and restlessness in protagonists’ character that takes away the wit, intelligence and prudence which should have been showcased more prominently. Yes, he had those eureka moments played well while solving the mystery at each step, but the emotion from where the wisdom came from remains uncaptured.  At the end of the movie Byomkesh proposes to Satyawati and you think- what? When did he fall in love? You really feel the proposal came from nowhere!...

This was a family movie for us, with it being my Dad’s Birthday eve. The birthday boy didn't get the movie at all, while I was thoroughly warned by my brother not to write one bad thing about the movie since it clearly was a lot of effort on directors and crews part – which it was and it should be really watched for that only. The script doesn't give you the time to wonder/guess which is the primary fault – cause the audience loves playing detective too, until the mystery is solved- leykin yahan par time hi nahi miltha. I could be so square too!! I missed my TVwala Byomkesh Bakshy at every step ;) and really wish the pace of the movie could have been a little slow!

NH10...gets you thinking and feeling the thrills!

                                                                      (Pic Source: Wikipedia)

An impactful movie that jolts you for several reasons, not just gets you thinking but also feeling. So what is NH10 about? Is it a movie about one social issue -honor killing? Not really!! This crime thriller doesn’t just highlight that one social issue that it is made out to be. It is an intelligent amalgam of the current socio cultural reality of the two extreme strata of society (Urban/ rural) within the modern India we live in.

The story begins with Mira, who represents the very corporate, plush and modern  Indian woman who has to rush back to work from a party, unfortunately her flamboyant sociopath husband(Arjun) is reluctant to drive her and she decides to ride herself. She meets with miscreants on the road, who try to knock her and she narrowly escapes with injuries. To her absolute dismay Arjun decides that she must keep a gun with her always. To cheer her up and get her mind off this traumatic event, Arjun plans a vacation on Mira’s Birthday to a destination which is on the National Highway (NH10).

While on their way they happen to take a break at the Dhaba where Mira has a chance encounter in the restroom with a woman who pleads to help her and her boyfriend from abductors.  Mira decides to overlook the plea, with enough drama and trouble that she had faced recently. However, later the couple does get involved, when Arjun tries to show his heroism but has to back off, however his ego is hurt and he decides to teach a lesson to the abductors.  Arjun’s intervention fires back and the couple become witnesses to an honor killing and the abductors all are all out to kill them. The gun that Mira owns comes to good use in the process of saving themselves. Arjun is badly injured in the process and Mira decides to get some help, while she manages to hide him safely. The gruesome killing spree goes further intense when she runs to the police and finally to the Sarpanch (Deepti Naval) of the Village to help her. This is the part where the audience will be at absolute shock, which is perhaps the real truth about that part of the Indian rural society where castism, domestic violence on women and honor killings are still prevalent, yet carefully masked by so called protectors and governors of the law themselves.

I absolutely love the character sketch of Mira- a confluence of both feminine and masculine characteristics, which is where the modern Indian woman is at, perhaps today –running on higher testosterone levels with the survival instincts of a hunter, yet it is the man in her life who will make  key decisions alone, on owning a gun or jumping in to an unnecessary brawl. Her character has a certain maturity and class where you see how she handles slandering remarks from male colleagues and the absolute disregard from her husband with utmost dignity, which depict her true feminine side

The plot of the story is definitely seems inspired by facts, resembling actual occurrences, one would have read in the papers at some point in time. To me this movie was not just about social, political and economic imbalances in the two distinct strata, but also the imbalances that we see in personal relationships in the current Indian society. Including roles of a man and a woman which are so severely confused and the modern woman is not any more liberated than the woman in a village. When I think deeper, I realize that liberation cannot mean having to ride alone in the middle of the night or owning a gun or smoking a cigarette/ having a drink. True liberation means having the right to think for yourself and perhaps make an intelligent choice of not driving alone at an odd hour, above all liberation is never real without the feeling of security and safety. Simply put, the movie is more about basic human rights to women and not so much about feminism.  Anushka Sharma was just perfect  and I must say a very smart choice of story and director for her first production

The movie is a must watch, keeps you on the edge of your seat, not just thought provoking but also for the nerve racking thrills in the plot and Also, I haven't really revealed the suspense either;). The theme of the movie doesn't override the entertainment factor, its a good mix. The gruesome climax has some real blatant ugly yet heart touching moments, including my favorite line from the movie- jo karna tha so karna tha….