Great Expectations....

I missed you my Dear blog..I'm sure you missed me too :) I've been a bit busy, a bit more lazy and a lot less inspired. Anyway, here's a little something before we all go on a break again..

Couple of days ago, I got a chance to see a preview of one of the most awaited Bollywood movies of the year - Don 2. Although I didn't love the earlier Farhan Akhtar - Shahrukh Khan outing - mostly because I felt the it was clunky. There were too many unnecessary throwbacks to the original Don and that simply looked out of place in today's context (especially the remixed songs - which were atrocious!). I did like some of the twists (in the old one) and the promos for the new one looked super slick and so I was quite excited to get a free pass to Don 2.

The movie takes off where the last one left. Don's many enemies are conspiring to kill him. Cut to Malaysia, where we meet SRK who is leaner, meaner and has a very bad hairdo (which he does get rid of soon though). A few seconds later, he has single-handedly taken care of about five men. Daniel Craig would have been proud.

Credits roll, backed by great sound track by Shanker-Ehsaan-Loy. I have a big smile on my face and my friends look at each other with a thumbs up sign.

After the customary introduction of the oh-I-am-too-cool-for-Bollywood Priyanka Chopra, Don is re-united with Boman Irani and we see a well-executed jail break. So far so good.

But then, the plot begins to look very much like it was in the 70s -we are explained every detail of the plot (twice: in English and Hindi). Don (who controls the drug cartel of Asia) suddenly wants to steal "printing plates for bank notes". Really? In this day and age of plastic money, e-money and m-money, our very intelligent Don wants to steal bank notes! And how will he steal, these printing plates you ask? But of course, we use Bollywood's mantra - when in doubt about how to break into a high security vault, please refer Ocean's 11. Sure enough, we are introduced to a computer hacker, a bomb expert etc etc..Farhan Akhtar, et tu??

You get the gist..of course, there's some customary melodrama thrown in for good measure. Farhan tries to bring some twists into the plot, some work some don't. Some of the dialogues made every one burst into laughter, not because they were witty, but because they were so out of place and ridiculous.

Overall, I thought the action sequences were very well shot. SRK as Don does an admirable job (yes yes, I have always been an SRK fan!). He beats up everyone, masterminds the whole plot, charms everyone including PC (who I'm sorry to say, has nothing really to do in this movie..why is she there anyway?). Don suddenly begins to look more like Ethan Hunt! (maybe that is why Mr. Cruise released MI4 earlier in India). But then makes me wonder where all his henchmen went? Whats a Don without his army of followers?

Boman Irani is good. The others are either bad or completely wasted in their roles.

Oh well, so much for expecting a rockstar movie!

Speaking of which, I was really looking forward to Imtiaz Ali's Rockstar. As a  AR Rahman fan, I loved this out and out rock album. The promos looked convincing, with Ranbir looking like he knew how to act like a Rockstar.

First things first, Ranbir did indeed know how to act like a Rockstar. Every frame in the movie belonged to him. At every stage, he was pitch perfect in showing how a simple college going kid became "the bad boy of rock music". How he got fame and money, but he lost everything he had and became completely disintegrated from society...

The music of course, had a life of its own. On screen, it looked and sounded like magic. Rahman at his creative best!

What went wrong then? The plot, of course. The first half of the movie was good, but then the second half was so slow that you could feel the frustration in the air. Everyone was itching and really hoping that the movie would redeem itself and something would actually happen! The songs which were the movie's best assets began to feel like a burden when there were 3-4 songs in quick succession. The other problem was the lady who played Jordan's love interest. While Nargis' character was obviously "inspired" by Kareena's from Jab we Met, Nargis is no Kareena. Her eyes never light up and her voice (dubbed) actually sounds so screechy, that you don't want her to speak!

As someone rightly said, Ranbir is so good in the movie that he makes the rest of it look ok!

Oh well, so there we are, the end of another year. A year that started with great expectations, but fell a bit flat. The markets had started to look up and seemed like we were on the brink of economic recovery. Alas, the recovery was short-lived and soon we were back danger zone, just like 2008.

Personally, it has been a roller coaster ride for sure, but I wish things would move forward instead of moving around in circles...

Anyway, I hope that the next year brings better tidings for everyone.Here's wishing you a brilliant 2012!! Happy Holidays everyone :)

Of movies and music..

Everyone who has ever watched a movie with me will tell you that I am a very harsh critic, that I find faults with most movies, especially Hindi ones - which seem to be remarkably short on logic, reason, plot, screenplay, acting - pretty much everything..

So I recently saw a few Hindi movies (some new, some old) that I really liked (like a lot of people out there) and I thought I should write about them, well just to prove that I actually do appreciate a well made movie!

Dev D - Relatively old movie, I know! But I only recently saw it. I think what makes this movie great, is how Anurag Kashyap has taken elements / stories that have happened in the recent past and weaved them into an age old story that we all know and have seen many times over. The narrative is crisp, to-the-point and extremely contemporary. The characters are bold and un-apologetic. The performances are brilliant, especially Abhay Deol, who goes on a very convincing path of 21st century style self destruction.

Not to be forgotten, is the music. Amit Trivedi and Co, have put together a soundtrack that not only gels with the movie, but is extra-ordinary as a stand alone album. Most tracks are experimental and Amit Trivedi has been fearless and mixed rock, Indian classical, Jazz, Folk, Electronica, Western Pop / Soul and of course Bhangra. My favorite tracks are (not surprisingly) "Nayan Tarse", "Payaliya" and "Emotional Attyachar (rock version)".

ZNMD - I was very apprehensive about this one. Does this have a "Dil Chahta Hai" hangover? Does it over-promise and under-deliver? Maybe this is like Rock-On - another saga on friendship... Even after reading the good reviews, I still wasn't sure if I will like it. But when I saw it, boy, was I happy? I loved it! I wanted to see it all over again, I felt like making a movie myself!
For those of you who haven't seen it, its about three thirty something men who go on a "bachelor" road trip. Its a feel good movie where the three friends embark on an almost life altering trip where they all fight their own demons. I, of course, identified the most with the character played by Hrithik Roshan, as I have too worked many long hours, scheduled my plans while on holiday around work calls, reviewed documents in a cave hotel and would have completely lost it someone threw my blackberry out of the window! The movie works because the lead actors gel together. Farhan Akhtar is at times too goofy, but excels in his moment of truth. And aah yes, Abhay Deol...he makes his role look so easy, and almost plays third-fiddle to other two. But watch out for the expression on his face in the last adventure, and you know that this has been a class act once again. However, the real star is Zoya Akhtar, although I still think "Luck By Chance" might be better in terms of screen play and story telling.

The music is superb - Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy definitely don't disappoint. Its easy to see why "Senorita" is so popular, its melodious and the mix of Spanish and Hindi as well as the interplay of the "lead" singers is quite good. I can't decide between "Der Lagee Lekin" and "Sooraj ki Baahon Mein", but hey, both are good!

So here I am raving about movies I saw recently. I do hope you see these movies (if you haven't!), but definitely listen to the soundtracks, as while one is more "mainstream", they both provide a complete contrast to each other that always is a good thing..