Film Review- Pathaan

 It's slick, and it has some good locations where it's shot. But it's at least 30 minutes too long- the last fifteen could easily have been eliminated without any loss to the narrative. And it seems like a hotch-potch of various action films I have seen, including a few Bond films. And the cheeky one-liners are missing. Bond heroes are suave, and well-dressed, except in bed. 

Not sure what to make of the action scenes. For one, they are too long. Even Amitabh, thirty years ago finished off his job pretty quickly. What takes Shah Rukh and Salman bhai so long?

The infamous song is ok, no big deal. In general, the dialogue sucks. Dimple and Ashutosh Rana are believable. The hi-jinks action is not. Some of it, like the bikes on a frozen lake, are almost comical. John Abraham does reasonably well as a villain.

5 out of 10 would be a fair rating, in my opinion. But then, it's my opinion.

Dil in Hindi Film Songs

The fact is 90 percent of Hindi films are romances, and therefore, about the heart, or dil in Hindi. The songs (again, almost all Hindi films are musicals) too have loads of romance. Here are some common uses of the word 'dil' in songs -

Dil machal raha hai..hard to translate, but roughly, the heart is exuberant..

Dil beqaraar sa hai..again, tough to achieve an accurate translation ..but restless heart could be close.

O mere dil ke chain..addressing the loved one as the balm for the heart.

Dil ek mandir hai..the heart is a temple.

Deewana leke aaya hai dil ka taraana ..the heart as a gift to the beloved.

and of course, Dilwaale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge..it started as a song in Chor Machaye Shor, and went on to be the title of a blockbuster starring one of the best screen pairs -Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol. Literal translation..the guy with a heart will take away the bride.

Drama Queen-Suchitra Krishnamoorthi's Book-A Review

Remember the cute heroine of Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa, a Shah Rukh film? That's her. Remember Shekhar Kapur married her? And then they divorced? That's her too.She also did her share of pop albums.

Drama Queen takes off a few years after the divorce, and is a rollicking, no-holds-barred look at her life, including her fantasies about killing er girlfriends, Ram Gopal Verma, and her mom in a big blaze, among other things. Written in a completely different style, its novelty may not appeal to everyone. You either will like it or hate it. I did like it, after I got used to her style. Also, I had a soft corner for her because she is Telugu (and I grew up in Gulti-land- not because she is cute).

Her outings with her shrink get a largish, hysterical coverage, and is antithetical to what you may expect after seeing Dear Zindagi where Shah Rukh played a likeable shrink. Her dogs also get lots of cverage, but surprisingly, her mom gets a lot more than her daughter- and it's not reverential, exactly.

All in all, a new-gen storytelling style, and I liked her girlfriend's attempts to do her good by buying her a ..well, I won't give it away.

Happy New Year- The Film Review That Wasn't

Like 'The Week That Wasn't', a spoof of the news during the week, let me attempt a review of a movie I did not watch.

Shah Rukh Khan dances his way into the audience's heart, matching steps with Abhishek Bachchan. Two of the best dancers ever!

Abhishek Bachchan does a fight, a disco, a comedy sequence, and a tragi-comedy sequence. That's more than he has done in years. Happy or not!

Farah Khan directs. She was great in Main Hoon Na (disclaimer- I saw that), greater in the last one (I forget the name of that one) and is the GREATEST in this one.

The producer is laughing all the way to the bank. So some people are happy-the bank and him. What about the viewers? Some people called me up just to tell me NOT to watch this and remain happy. What could be simpler? Forget Yoga, Meditation (Vipassana, the silent meditation, is especially hard on the incorrigible talkers), Reading, Music, Partying with friends, Long holidays in the mountains or at a beach, and all those things which cost a bomb. Just chill, and Don't watch a film! Can't get easier than this, the new Happiness recipe.

Happy New Year! Oh, oh, did you say you just watched it? :) :)

Film Review- Chennai Express

Having seen Bol Bachchan, I knew what to expect..kind of. Like David Dhawan before him, Rohit Shetty seems to have a brand of humour mixed with action, of his own. It works, mostly. Leave your brains behind, and it's fun.

A Don whose lovely daughter runs away from an unwanted marriage, and is abducted by his goons (and her cousins!) to be brought back to his 'territory' sounds corny enough, but in the days of khap panchayats and honour killings, it is believable. Trouble is, our hero gets embroiled in it, and despite many attempts to get away, he remains embroiled. Until he falls in love, that is.

There is a lot of humour, and though it's not as sparkling as some other films old and new, it's probably the best one can expect in today's age. The LOL days (Angoor, Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi, Padosan, Bombay to Goa, Chashme Baddoor) are long gone, I presume. But Shah Rukh, whose last few films I had boycotted for obvious reasons, does a pretty decent job of this courage-lacking character for the most part. Deepika actually steals the show, and looks great in her South Indian avatar. Satyaraj, the Tamil villain, acts his part well as her dad.

Dudhsagar falls, Goa, ( I presume) where the train stops for the goons and their catch to get off, looks spectacular. The village where the lead pair take shelter later on also looks beautiful. The action is a bit hackneyed, but provides a change of pace.

All in all, not a bad way to spend 2 hours plus. The pace is pretty decent. Songs are OK.

Yash Chopra and His Films

Kabhi Kabhi was one of the most poetic films made in Hindi cinema-even more than Silsila. The protagonist was a poet, and sang a song which won the lady's heart at a college gathering. In an age where disco was rampant, this was indeed novel.

Deewar had an undercurrent of violence and revenge, but it was far less macabre than what we have witnessed in recent times. And less crude- much less.

Trishul was actually quite a well-made movie about corporate shenanigans like bidding intrigue. Sanjeev Kumar had a really good role, akin to his Sholay character in age. So did Shashi Kapoor and Hema Malini. Kitaabon mein chhapte hain chaahat ke kisse , haqiqat ki duniya mein chaahat nahin hain, were some good lyrics in the song Mohabbat bade kaam ki cheez hai.

Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge was an updated version of Sangam (he did not direct it, Aditya did, but his stamp was on it somehow), with a romp through Europe and some melodrama to close the narrative. Very beautifully filmed, and both Kajol and Shah Rukh were awesome.

Ittefaq, a murder mystery, Waqt, a lost and found tale with a zabardast song Ai Meri Zohra Jabeen, and Joshila with a mesmerising song- Kiska Rasta Dekhe, ae dil ae saudai, were some of his films I remember a lot.

Will miss his brand of movie-making. aesthetically pleasing, soft, and powerful.

Detain A Celebrity- A New Game

Immigration clerks are a bored lot. Day after day (or night after night), they look at passport photos (in itself a depressing sight), and ask some dumb questions to passengers who are about to slip out of their grasp. So what do they do?

Invent a game, of course. It's called detain a celebrity. Why should only cops who bust gangs of smugglers or a haul of opium hog all the limelight? Just detain a celebrity for an hour or two, and you can appear on national TV- without any talent whatsoever, not even needing to proclaim your love for Mother Tersa, and wanting to save the starving children in Sub-saharan Africa (where is that?).

So the game is on. First Abdul Kalam, for sporting a suspicious hair-style, and Shah Rukh, for laughing in a kinky manner, to Kamal Haasan, for appearing to be a good actor (and therefore, having things to hide). But forgetting an important dialogue in the process. Khel tumne shuru kitya hai mere dost, magar ise khatam main karoonga. Wah, wah. Taaliyan.