dr. no

finally caught the first bond film, 50 years after it was made. best bond ever. no question.

can't complain

happy tashreefs

i'm mystified by all the italian furniture stores that have sprung up in hyderabad. a while ago, an aunty reported walking into one of them and leaving in a horrified hurry on getting quoted 15 lakhs for a couch. i figured that would be the end of the italian experiment, but what did i know. they dot every major road in the banjara-jubilee area. who buys this stuff? are their tashreefs delighted?

in full flow

nothing like lear

just back from nothing like lear at ravindra bharathi. was interesting, but way too long. atul kumar was excellent. and i was sleepy.

a steaming hot cup of chai

one of the beauties of waking up early in the winters (*cough*) is being able to watch a steaming hot cup of chai do its thing. for about a minute there, it was magic.

until someone in the neighborhood started doing his thing - gargling his guts out. 

aflatoon

was just listening to the english vinglish soundtrack when that word came up again. aflatoon. sounds so much fun and instantly recalls akshay kumar in orange pants.

anyway, i finally looked up the word, and found this great article on how plato turned into aflatoon.

early mtv

clearly, i'm on a nineties trip.

vincent vega

can travolta dance or what?

now playing

kshana kshanam

how often do you find yourself discussing a 20+ year old movie? i find myself talking about kshana kshanam a couple of times a month. something about that movie always comes up in conversations. a line here, a scene there, a song, a character, ram gopal varma, paresh rawal, paresh rawal's sidekicks, venkatesh, brahmanandam's 2-minute side-splitter of a scene. and where to begin with sridevi?

of so many movies before and since 1991, why does kshana kshanam endure so? it was one of the freshest, funnest movies of its time, and in the context of telugu cinema, it was a huge surprise. for once, here was a movie where people spoke and behaved like regular folks. the locations, language and characters were so familiar, the movie could be unfolding down the street from your house. no other filmmaker has managed to capture hyderabad's languid casualness the way varma did with kshana kshanam. the scene where sridevi haggles with autodriver makes me grin every single time. it's a nothing scene. a casual throwaway of an exchange that could've only been written by someone who knew the city intimately.

then there was the music. it was quite the rage in my school too, where most kids didn't speak any telugu. andanantha etha was performed on stage and brought the house down. sheetalvyas has more to say about the movie and the music here.

and then, the humor. always deadpan, to ROFL effect. paresh rawal's telugu dialogues: "music sense ledu", "dabbu ante andariki ishtame", "iddaru chaala... friends aipoinattunnaru... mmm", "bridge evaru kattaru ra, ikkada?". brahmanandam's "nenu, neeeenu, neeeeeeeeeenu pedatanu", "changing room antee... just ala, snanam avi cheskoni..." oh heck, why don't you just watch them?







all this was a big deal for its time. it gave us a glimpse into what the future of telugu cinema could be like. but unfortunately, those years from 1988-93 ended up being just a blip. after the promise of geetanjali, shiva, kshana kshanam, nirnayam, aditya 369, govinda govinda, jagadeka veerudu atiloka sundari, telugu films inexplicably pivoted to crassness and misogyny. the exceptions have been few and far between - okkadu remains a standout in the last decade. it's pity, for there couldn't be a more movie crazy place than hyderabad, and surely the local industry could do better. so while we wait, we go back to the precious few films that we love. again and again.

bollywood bond

just caught anupama chopra's front row special on bond films. she had a hilarious segment on bollywood bonds. i think i saw a sheikh being hauled up into the sky by a bunch of balloons - not entirely sure if that's what i actually saw, but surely i'm not creative enough to imagine such a thing. now i want to find all of them and do a bolly bond marathon! here are some of the names if you're feeling similarly inclined: farz (jeetendra), agent vinod (the one from the 70's, with mahendra sandhu), mr. bond (akshay kumar), suraksha (mithun's famous gunmaster g9). i have vague memories of a tolly bond as well - krishna's gudachari 116.



but before anything, i need to beat out fellow hyderabadi crazies and book first day first show tickets to skyfall. craig vs. bardem should be ridiculously fun.

the thing about rahman's music

is that it catches you unawares. you can be totally indifferent the first time you listen to his songs, maybe hate them even. and then when you're absently looping them, one of them breaks into you. and then they all make sense. 

case in point: the yuva soundtrack. and it just happened with the jab tak hai jaan soundtrack.



p. s.

20 years since roja. sheesh

dasara

it’s dasara. it’s hard to tell. except maybe from the lack of traffic on the roads. used to be a time when we used to count down to the big day. new clothes. the big feast. spotting the paala-pitta. the jambi gathering. 100 rupee notes in exchange for bangaram leaves. time was when dasara used to be special. we never managed to create an alternate city tradition.

yaad kiya dil se kahan ho tum

every year, it's the same story. as summer intensifies in hyderabad, it takes over everyone's minds. the heat is all one can feel, and the monsoons are all one can dream of. so after at least two months of yearning, and at least two weeks of obsessively willing the clouds to gather, the monsoons have arrived today. lazily at first (prompting my mom to taunt the clouds with 'oh, that's all the rain you could muster?') and quite determinedly later, as if to prove a point.

i was supposed to meet a friend this evening when it started pouring. knowing hyderabad's roads, setting out in the rain wasn't the smartest thing to do, but i went ahead and drove out anyway. three hours later, it was still pouring as i drove back home. there's something indescribably beautiful about driving in the rain at night while listening to old hindi film songs like this one on the radio.



have you ever felt like bottling a memory so you can sip from it later? this post is that bottle.

midnight music

well, right now it is paimona by zeb & haniya for me.

how excellent is coke studio pakistan? such a beautiful effort. focused on making great music without any nonsense marketing or pandering to folks on social media. they do their job well, and that’s all that the audience cares about.

here's another favorite.

the world cup

for two years, this blog has not seen a new post. returned today to remind myself of the day we discovered mahendra singh dhoni. what a man. what a captain. what a world cup.

Spoofy Times

Does it feel like we’ve been seeing more spoofs than ever before? That’s because we probably have. It might be a sign of the times – with everything from onion prices to diplomatic secrets to the number of zeros in scam valuations (quick, how many zeros in one lakh crores?) spiralling out of control, there’s been plenty of fodder for satirists. And with traditional media lower than ever on credibility, it’s over to the funny folks to tell it like it is and bring some perspective to the proceedings.

2010 was a breakout year for satire in Hindi films, with Tere Bin Laden, Peepli [Live] and Phas Gaye Re Obama making an impact. Tere Bin Laden was a light hearted farce about a poor chicken farmer with an unfortunate resemblance to Osama Bin Laden. While the film had no explicit agenda to comment on global terrorism and associated politics, it ended up highlighting the farcical nature of the ‘war on terror’ anyway. Nothing about Osama Bin Laden is funny, but perhaps laughter at the thought of him (think ‘Osama does Numa Numa’ on YouTube) is a better response than helpless outrage or fear. Same goes for Hitler and the hilarious ‘Hitler reacts to…’ videos on YouTube, based on a clip from the 2004 German film ‘Downfall’. These spoofs of larger-than-life villains humanize their subjects, dulling their power and hold over the public psyche.

Politicians have traditionally provided rich material for caricature. In recent times, our mainstream media folks have kept them company in the ranks of the ridiculous. Anusha Rizvi’s Peepli [Live], a black comedy about farmer suicides in India, lampooned both our politicians and shrill newshounds. Their seemingly farcical excesses – the search for a suitable ‘yojana’ for an as yet un-dead farmer, the ‘sansani khez’ sensationalism, the mad eagerness for ‘breaking news’, the stunning lack of perspective despite being in the thick of things - were actually all within the realm of what plays out on our television sets every day. In effect, Peepli [Live] felt like a spoof of a spoof – as fun to watch as that was, it rang too true for comfort.

Not all spoofs have a serious undercurrent, of course. Most are made for the sheer fun of it. Bollywood’s favourite spoofs are self-parodies of the kind that Farah Khan has perfected. Or had perfected, given the huge slip-up in form that was ‘Tees Maar Khan’. Still, her ‘Main Hoon Na’ remains a pitch perfect homage-spoof of 70’s Bollywood. Rajendra Prasad’s ‘Quick Gun Murugun’, was a less perfect homage to the Sambar Westerns of Madras. And what can one say about that cult classic ‘Andaz Apna Apna’? It spoofed everything from Anil Kapoor’s ‘jhakaas’ to Ajit’s vintage villainy. By the time Shakti Kapoor made his appearance as ‘Crime Master Gogo’, there might have been a few deaths by laughter. 

Tollywood does a lot of mini self-spoofs in its comedy tracks. Remember how Brahmanandam’s ‘Khan Dada’ from ‘Money’ brought the house down way back? More recently, Rayalaseema factionists were mercilessly parodied in ‘Ready’ to hilarious effect. Which kid would want to grow up to be a factionist after watching that? And therein lies the power of satire. What can’t be hammered home with years of schooling or preaching, sometimes can be nudged home with ridicule. 

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wrote this for channel6, hyderabad.

Looking for Rom & Com

Somewhere along the way, in the attempt to modernize and keep up with the changing times, the heart’s gone missing from our movies. What pass for romantic comedies these days are bland, bloodless bores, always perfectly manicured and trendily attired, but wary of emotion and short on charm. Our filmmakers have upgraded their style quotients and production values – attention is paid to the minutest details, and sets are often immaculately designed - but the characters that populate them are often hollow mannequins, hard to engage with, let alone feel for.

It’s hard to think of more than a handful of memorable rom-coms in the last few years – “Jab We Met”, “Jaane Tu… Ya Jaane Na”, and the recent “Band Baaja Baaraat” come to mind. Right from its first trailer, “Jab We Met” sparkled with a rare charm – one look at Geet (Kareena) taking off on a bewildered Aditya (Shahid) with “Koi doubt mat rakhna dil mein, Sikhni hoon main Bhatinda ki!” was enough to get excited about the movie. It turned out to be absolutely wonderful – honest, funny, superbly well written, with crackling chemistry between the leads, and a strong emotional core. “Jaane Tu… Ya Jaane Na”, too was beautifully written – down to earth and relatable, with just the right amount of whack thrown in with the “Ranjhore Ke Rathore” fable. The most recent of the lot, “Band Baaja Baaraat”, turned out to be surprisingly winsome – not too many people expected much from this latest YashRaj offering, but the production house that was built on the successes of its romantic movies showed that it still knows a thing or two about conjuring magic.

So then, of course Bollywood has what it takes to make great rom-coms. And yet, most of the time it delivers the plastic likes of "Pyaar Impossible", "I Hate Luv Storys", "Anjaana Anjaani" and "Break Ke Baad" – teflon coated movies that simply won't stick in minds or hearts, however much enthusiastic movie buffs might try. Even directors of the best rom-coms in recent years have fallen short when given bigger budgets and higher expectations. After “Jab We Met”, Imtiaz Ali went on to make the far less satisfying, although commercially successful “Love Aaj Kal”. Same with Abbas Tyrewala, writer-director of "Jaane Tu.. Ya Jaane Na" - his "Jhootha Hi Sahi" opened to dismal reviews and a cold box office reception. It's unfair to compare movies, of course, even those made by the same director. But it's rather curious that the moment these talented writer-directors shifted their stories to unfamiliar foreign settings, they seem to have lost their essence. I can’t, for the life of me, fathom why movies about young Indian folks need to be set abroad all the time (*all* the turkeys listed above were either set, or moved rather abruptly, to foreign shores) – do our filmmakers really think our NRIs can’t ‘identify’ with stories set in India, or is it simply a practical matter of sops and easier shoots abroad?

Even when these movies stay in India, they seem to be set in an India that no one can actually recognize. The characters are ridiculously rich by default, their neighborhoods look like they belong in New York or Beverly Hills, most don’t have to work at all, or have “dad ka business” to manage. With all regular human struggles and conflicts eliminated, the only thing left for these characters to fight is their own insecurities, laziness, selfishness or most times, sheer dumbness – small wonder then, they make for very dull movies. What’s there to root for? Who’s going to cry for poor little rich Aisha (Sonam Kapoor)? It’s not that Aisha’s too rich for sympathy, it’s just that she’s way too hollow to evoke any reaction at all. Remember “Dil Chahta Hai”? That gem from a decade ago had all the pitfalls I just mentioned and yet, when Aakash (Aamir Khan) broke down on the phone with his father, it was a heart-wrenching moment. The movie and character arcs built up to that moment, and when it arrived, there was genuine emotional heft.  As opposed to the caricatured emotion that Jai (Imran Khan) evoked in pretty much the same situation in “I Hate Luv Storys” – a laughable attempt by an actor clearly out of depth, in a situation that was clearly too shallow to fish for audience sympathy.

With Bollywood struggling to do what it used to do best, there’s little else to turn to – Telugu romances have gotten stuck in a strange, almost surreal rut, where the same characters and situations get played over and over and over again, movie after movie after movie. The actors remain constant, the actresses keep changing – but their voices remain the same, lest audiences get startled with too much variety. There is an endless parade of fresh new faces with each new Telugu film, and they all speak with the same high-pitched, faux-accented, supposedly chirpy voice. Who speaks Telugu like that? And what are these characters sniffing? They’re always, determinedly, exaggeratedly, cloyingly bubbly. The low-budget “Ashta Chamma” was the last delightful rom-com from the Telugu industry. That was way back in 2008. Last year’s “Ye Maaya Chesaave’ was no masterpiece, but was at least the characters were fresh, and the voices too. Everything else swayed between crass and clueless.

Hollywood has been even worse – serving up washed up old movie stars in the most obviously formulaic fashion. Between Jennifer Aniston, Sarah Jessica Parker and Jennifer Lopez, we got “The Bounty Hunter”, “The Switch”, “Sex And The City 2” and “The Back-Up Plan” – all prime candidates for Razzies. Sandra Bullock & Ryan Reynolds at least managed a bit of charm with “The Proposal”. And then there was the Twilight series that drove teens crazy worldwide, so maybe there’s some hope there. But given that even Ekta Kapoor has jumped onto the vampire love story bandwagon, the trend is a little frightening. What next, a Ramsay brothers’ rom-com?

All right then, I’m done complaining for 2010. Let’s brighten up for the brand new year. And hope that someone, somewhere is listening to the heartfelt plea of all movie buffs the world over – pray, do someone put some heart back in them movies. And while you’re at it, put some spark back too. Happy 2011.

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wrote this for channel6, hyderabad.

Awards [Live]

It’s that time of the year. When temperatures dip, vacations happen, and connoisseurs of the world gather to judge the best and worst of the year gone by. The international movie awards season is upon us, and soon there will be a deluge of nominees and winners – the BAFTAs, the SAGs, the Golden Globes, and finally, just when you think you can’t bear to see another red carpet, the Oscars. There’ll be hype, there’ll be hoopla and there’ll be controversy. But before all that, there will be hotly debated lists of contenders.

So who are the frontrunners for Best Picture this season? While a lot of movies aimed at the awards season release in December, most are previewed at festivals earlier in the year. So there’s already a pretty good sense for the movies in contention this year. As always, it’s a mix of festival favorites and critically acclaimed mainstream movies.

Remember Inception? It was touted to be the movie of the year till The Social Network came along. Both told rather untellable stories – one a sci-fi tale about corporate espionage in the world of dreams, the other a real-life inspired tale of the geeky beginnings of the Facebook phenomenon. Both were executed with incredible skill and received with enthusiasm by critics and audiences worldwide. Both are strong mainstream contenders for Best Picture. Toy Story 3 is another mainstream success that might possibly become the first animation feature to get nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars this year.

Among the festival favorites, there’s Colin Firth’s The King’s Speech – a period comedy-drama set during the Second World War, based on the real life story of the King of England who was crippled by his stammer at a time when his nation needed to hear the calm voice of its leader. The film just won the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival, and is slowly gathering steam just in time for the biggies. Another much talked about movie is Darren Aronofsky’s psychological drama, Black Swan, starring Natalie Portman. Danny Boyle is back in contention too, with his 127 Hours starring James Franco, based on the true story of an intrepid climber who survived five days trapped under a boulder in Robbers Roost, Utah. Other names being thrown around are Derek Cianfrance’s Blue Valentine, Lisa Cholodenko’s The Kids Are All Right and Matt Reeves’ Let Me In.

In the super competitive foreign film category, there’s Alejandro González Iñárritu’s much acclaimed Mexican film, Biutiful, for which Javier Bardem won best actor at Cannes this year. There’s the winner of the Cannes Palmes D’Or from Thailand, Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives. Other contenders include Semih Kaplanoglu's Bal (Turkey), Igor Sterk's 9:06 (Slovenia) and Javier Fuentes-León's Undertow (Peru) – all winners in the festival circuit. And then there’s Anusha Rizvi’s Peepli [Live] – the third Aamir Khan production to make it as India’s official entry to the Oscars. Lagaan got close with an Oscar nomination back in 2002, and before that Mira Nair’s Salaam Bombay and Mehboob Khan’s Mother India were the only other Indian films that made the cut. With Aamir at the helm, Peepli [Live] has been promoted better than most of India’s past entries – it duly did the festival rounds, got in front of several foreign reviewers and managed to make waves. It faces tough competition, but we’ll cross our fingers anyhow.

No talk of the awards season can be complete without that ode to the best of the worst – the annual Raspberry awards. The Razzies restore balance to the world. They are the Yin to the Oscars’ Yang. Announced a week before the Oscars, they burst the self-important, self-congratulatory bubble that envelopes the awards season each year. Some of this year’s contenders - Sex And The City 2, The Bounty Hunter, Remember Me, Valentine’s Day, From Paris With Love, The Last Airbender, Clash Of The Titans – each sounds horrendous in its own right. May the worst film win.

Movie awards are never just about cinematic achievement. There are usually political, social, even historical dimensions to the selection criteria that warp a purely cinematic order of merit (if there can even be such a thing, but that’s a whole other discussion). Last year’s battle of Avatar vs. The Hurt Locker was telling. As was the Slumdog Millionaire sweep the year before. It’s subjective territory anyway – at best a celebration of a fraternity’s work, at worst an eyeball-garnering commercial opportunity. The reality lies somewhere in between, and as long as they’re orchestrated right, the awards make for a good excuse to discover and re-discover some great movies.

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wrote this for channel6, hyderabad.