Talvar- Film Review

I don't remember what Meghna Gulzar made before this film. But this one is directed well, and the casting is perfect. Every character is well-portrayed by the actors. The standout actor of course, is Irfan Khan, who is fast becoming my favourite. His 'Lunch Box' I thought was outstanding, with Nimrat Kaur also doing a fantastic job there.

Anyway, this one is based on the Arushi Talwar case, and its dramatic turns from the first pronouncement that it was an honour killing, by the local cops, to a completely different possibility that the man-servant's friends were the killers, and back. The twists are brought out well, in the process exposing and shaming almost everyone. The Talwars themselves, without evidence, suspect their man-servant, until he is found dead. The local cops, for destroying most evidence, the CBI and the courts too, for their actions, the media for sensationalising, the public for baying for someone's blood. Almost no one comes out looking pretty, and that is the strength of this film.

It is definitely worth a watch, if only as a mirror to the times we live in, and ourselves. Impressive. The war of words in the Home Minister's office between the rival CBI teams is hilarious, and lightens up the proceedings briefly. Particularly, the takeoffs on "The Missionary Position," and the dialogue Hindustani router hai, jab marzi chalta hai..about the router going on and off on the night of the murder. The Tabu angle is unnecessary, and could have saved around five-seven minutes.

O Maaria Redux

Ok, I will admit I don't know what exactly redux means but it sounds good here. I think (hope) most people in India exposed to the media will get this. The promotion mystery rather than the murder mystery is at the heart of this poem- all situations are imaginary, and have no relation to reality. Read and sing in Hindi, to the tune from film Sagar.

O Maaria o maria, o Maaria ho ho
O Maaria o maria, o Maaria ho ho
Arre Peter jab bola tha tujhse
Shaadi karega Indrani se
Kaise kaha tha yeh bata aa aa aa
 
O Maaria o maria, o Maaria ho ho ho
Arre Jo bhi bola tha tujhse
Tu Home Guards mein baith ja re
Kaise kaha tha yeh bata aa aa aa

O Maaria o maria, o Maaria ho ho ho
Shola sa tan man mein ek bhadka to hoga
Devendra ki baaton se dil bhadka to hoga
Sun ke woh baatein kya tu chup ho liya tha
Mummy se poochhunga kya aisa bola tha
O Maaria ha, o maria ha
O Maaria ho ho ho ho ho

Whodunit and Whydunit

This saga unfolding on Indian shores beats anything that I have read in terms of mystery stories. Tragically, it is a true story. A mother stands accused of killing her own daughter from her first marriage. Her collaborator in the crime seems to be her second (? not sure of this) husband, and her third (?) is a star media man-pun intended, as he headed Star TV in India around the time it started operations here.

What was the poor girl's crime (the daughter who was killed) is not clear yet. It could have been the fact that she was dating the son of her mother's current husband (the star). Or it might have been something else. There is further muddying of the waters because the mother (and accused) passed off her daughter (the victim) as her sister, for reasons best known to herself, to her current husband.

It is also suspected that after killing the daughter, she (the mother) used her cellphone and impersonated her in text messages, including one where she announced a breakup with her boyfriend (the current husband's son). The murder lay undiscovered for three years.

Bizarre, to say the least.

Vanishing Cream- Part 2

I like this theme, so I decided to extend the franchise, a la Dabangg, to part 2. Adding to the list of vanishing entities, let's see where we can go..

If Chetan Bhagat vanished, we might just have good literature being written. But publishers might have to work harder to find it.

If Lee Falk had vanished before he wrote The Phantom, we would not have any Old Jungle Sayings- like the gem "The voice of the Phantom froze the blood of a tiger," or, "the Phantom moves faster than lightning." What a pity that would be!

If the makers of Murder 2/3 vanish, we would not have anyone murdering our enthu for films, and maybe we would get some films with Arth (meaning).

If all Mallus vanished, there would be a big 'gulf' between demand and supply- for them, you know where.

If oil vanished from the earth, we would have to rig the rigs to dig for water. Might even find enough to go around.

If godmen vanished, men may find God easier, and cheaper.

If Business schools vanished, Kotler would take up farming.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

Search for the killer in a serial murder situation. Countless books and films have done the honours before 'The Girl...', but this book has certain pluses going for it.

One, the setting is corporate (and journalistic) battles. One can identify with those shenanigans, as they are universal. Second, the locale is Sweden, an exotic land to most of us. Even within Sweden, the isolated village-island makes it even more interesting, with a cast of characters who are fairly weird. Most belong to the Vanger family, one of the corporates involved. The hero is an outsider hired to solve a disappearance from among the family, and how he does it is the story.

Then of course, the heroine. This is a singular (Holmesian terminology, but it fits in this case) character, well-developed by the author. And I think finally she makes it all different from the rest of the books in the genre. Rightfully, the title is based on her character. In a way, she is the hero too, or as much of one as the male lead, a journalist who is set up by a corporate rival whose shady secrets he tries to unravel.

Found it a good read, and might end up watching the film one day.

Castle and Suspense Serials

Over the years, I have watched some suspense serials on TV, starting with the classic Sherlock Holmes which Indian TV Doordarshan used to telecast on Sundays many decades ago.

After that, I watched several episodes of Murder, She Wrote, Tehkikaat starring Vijay Anand, Bomkesh Bakshi ( a very good one), a few episodes of CID, Remington Steele which I like a lot, and now some episodes of Castle last year. Castle has been now revived on Star World, both old and new season episodes.

X- files is of the same type, with Gillian Anderson and Mark Duchovny (hope the names are right) playing the investigators. That reminds me, I saw Gillian Anderson recently in a movie starring Mr. 'Bean" Atkinson (a hilarious Bond spoof called Johny English Reborn).

All these in their own way are good, engaging serials if you like the genre of murder or other mysteries. Some better than others. I also loved the black and white Perry Mason series (starring Raymond Burr) that I watched on American TV many years ago in their re-runs. It takes a lot of imagination to churn out engaging characters like Perry Mason, Della Street and in hundred plus intricate stories, all with a courtroom angle.

Among Indian film producers, B.R. Chopra made a few good courtroom dramas, like Kanoon, Dhund, Hamraaz, Gumraah and so on. A part of Nikaah was shot at Osmania University Arts College, and we saw a few minutes of the shoot- boring, I must add.

On a different note, read somewhere that The Great Gatsby is being made with Leonardo Di Caprio. It is a nice book I read last year, after missing out on it for many years. Like The Old Man and the Sea, and Zorba The Greek. All great finds.

Murder2 and Zindagi Na Milegi..Review

The sequel to Murder has one major flaw- the story is old hat. The movie is still watchable for its surprise package-Jacquelin Fernandes who looks very pretty. Emraan Hashmi is his usual character, and the villain does his act competently. The songs are not a patch on the original, though.

The road movie Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara has another surprise package-Spain. If Sangam was an all-Europe tour of the sixties, this one is all Spanish tourism. But apart from that, it is a story well told, of three guys discovering a little about themselves and their important relationships, while taking a bachelor road-trip interrupted at various times by a suspicious wife to be, and romantic interests of the other two guys.

The story is well told, the dialogues are good after a long time, photography superb, and a couple of the songs are really good. It makes Katrina look natural rather than her usual fake avatar, and brings in some nice touches that only a female director could have thought of- watch the film to find those. Thoroughly enjoyable.