Review of The Body (Hindi Film)

The plot is very interesting, and suspenseful, till the end. Not original, though. I understand it's based on a Spanish film. Nevertheless, it's remade competently. There are some twists/red herrings in the story along the way, that will keep you interested and guessing. There is a dead body that seemingly walks away from the morgue, and that starts the game.

The film essentially is carried by Rishi Kapoor, though Emraan Hashmi seems like the protagonist, and the two women in the lead roles are probably playing second fiddle, as they keep coming or going, sometimes in flashbacks.

Not bad to try and guess whodunit, and keep your brain active. And yes, there is a mandatory kiss, given the star-cast.

Review of The Sky is Pink

True stories are sometimes difficult to handle. The Sky is Pink is an uplifting story of a child (actually, two) with a rare condition at birth which requires expensive treatment to just keep her alive. The treatment works, but with a twist in the tale.

Parenting, which is not easy at the best of times, takes a toll on the parents of a special child. It is all worthwhile, is what the film portrays, and well. My major criticism is the length of it, which is 20 minutes too much, in my view. A little more cheer would perhaps have helped, too.

The Gold standard for films in this genre for me is Anand, which is much more upbeat, and Mili, which was a bit too morose for my liking. This one's somewhere in-between, but will keep you engaged for most of its run. Farhan Akhtar is good, and Priyanka Chopra sometimes overacts, but is still good. Zaira Waseem steals the show.

The touches that make it contemporary, such as the language used by the narrator (the kid herself), are welcome. London being a constant escape route/destination is a bit strange, in these times.

China Gate- The Film Reviewed Late

Very late, because I had never seen the film when it first released- when Urmila Matondkar was a star. She has an item number in this film, and now that she has joined the Congress politically, she seems to be (in retrospect, of course) making a point in that song of hers- something about capturing U.P. and M.P., with her thumkas.

There is a galaxy of good actors in the film- Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri, Danny, Amrish Puri, Paresh Rawal and a few others- Jagdeep, for example, who played Soorma Bhopali so well in Sholay. The similarities with Sholay are many, but of course, without the magic. Most of the actors do not have a well-written role.

And there are no big stars, the dialogues are average, and the plot unfolds in a very uninteresting fashion- of course, you can't compare too many things to Sholay, because they would fall flat. This film did too, in spite of that Urmila number, that comes in too late in the film anyway.

Not bad for a TV watch, but I would not have paid to watch it in a theatre.

Melon ki Aag

This is the story of a Hindi film- a potboiler, if you go by standard definitions.

There are two melons, one rich, one poor. They fall in love. Background song- aha aaye melon ki bela dekho aayee..

But there is a serious problem. Chacha of one of the melons is not happy with the rishta. He therefore kidnaps the other melon, putting a stop to their milan.

The background song- ghadi milan ki aayee, aaja tu chhutti lekar aa ja.. but it's no go.

The first melon now thinks of a plan to flee with the second, as in Happy Bhag Jayegi. But first, he has to find her. So, he puts on his x-ray goggles and asks Alexa for her location. Voila- she's being held in the Flipkart warehouse in his town, among a zillion products.

So the melon dresses up as a delivery boy, and picks her up against a false delivery invoice. On the way, they go to a Domino's and pick up a pepperoni pizza in case they are hungry. And buy a ticket to Mauritius, where they plan to disguise themselves and return to India- no questions asked. 

Is tarah do sitaron ka zameen par hai milan, aaj ki raat. The End.

Completely vegetarian fare, combines the best of current technologies and film ideas. Only some elements are copied.