Change Your Image
shoaib104
Reviews
Ra.One (2011)
A Fair Attempt
Ra.One is ambitious. That's the least I can say for superhero sci-fi attempted by the ever 'lover next door' in a country where nothing but 'love fiction' sells. Science or a distant caricature of it hasn't been handled well historically by the Indian film maker. And so, let me start critiquing this movie by declaring this the best ever science fiction movie made in India. That's not saying much really. Most previous attempts at this have been made by incompetent directors on a tight budget or either of those two. In fact, the only semi science fiction movie which I can think of as a wholesome entertainer would be Mr.India. But then Mr.India wasn't so much about stunts as a heart-warming tale with a lot of children to go. So a comparison isn't fair.
What I was most curious to find out about this movie is how good a balance it strikes between Bollywood and sci-fi. Let's face it; an outright sci-fi movie can't be sold in India. It might attract the astute critic's standing ovation but that's not enough to recover the couple of hundred odd crores that have been spent in making this magnum opus. The multiplex audience is good enough for a low budget 'reality bite', but not this. On this parameter, I think the makers have done an averagely decent job. The quirky moments in the first half of the movie involved duplication of oft used situational humor, but was tasteful and cute for most parts. It served to mask well, the mundane yet necessary explanatory scenes prefacing the main storyline. Similar attempts in the second half, though, didn't go down well with me. Forceful introduction of childish humor with unnecessary redundancies like a peek-a-boo of Rajnikanth spoiled the momentum gathered by the action sequences on far too many occasions. The emotional quotient too was a little high in the second half. All this distracted the viewer from the main draw of the movie which was its technical brilliance. The latter half of the movie could have been packed more with high voltage action. Characters like that of Satish Shah were irritating to say the least. The overall screenplay was impressive. Songs too were nicely fitted into the narrative in most cases.
Shahrukh's character baffled me to a considerable extent. It seemed confused to say the least. The first half of the movie saw him play an uncannily childish Tamil computer scientist who could speak fluent Hindi. Too many clichéd attempts at humor were made. The second half, which saw him in his super hero avatar left a lot to be desired. Admittedly Arjun Rampal, with his expression-less face seemed a lot more convincing as a video game character than SRK who just couldn't seem to let go of his signature moves even when they were terribly out of place. Surprisingly though, for those who were apprehensive about Shahrukh looking the part, he did in fact pull that off quiet well.
Credit, in fact is due to all who worked on the visual aspects of the movie. All the characters were presented brilliantly well. The city backdrop, the flying cars, the collapsing buildings, etc were all done to perfection. From the technical standpoint, it's difficult to find flaws in the movie making. It is of a level that Indian audiences have only known to exist in movies from across the Atlantic. For this reason alone, the film deserves a special mention in the pages of Bollywood history.
There is a considerably large population of skeptics who, not amused by "Chammak Challo" had written this movie off long before this release. The extended and almost nauseating marketing stunts have given some audiences reason to pre judge the film. This could be both a good and a bad thing. I expect mixed reactions from Indian viewers with a sizable number tending to either extreme in their reviews. All in all, I give the movie full points for making the attempt. This genre, a hugely lucrative one in the west, will take its time to roll with the Indian audiences but this is by far the best effort in that space. The movie has its flaws but for most parts succeeds in doing justice to both its technical investment and its fundamentally Indian character. Three cheers to that!
No One Killed Jessica (2011)
A waste of a perfectly good story
No One Killed Jessica: A Review
No One Killed Jessica, based on the much talked about Jessica Lall murder case stars Rani Mukherjee, Vidya Balan, new comer Myra Karn and a host of other actors in various supporting roles. Rajkumar Gupta's latest brings back into the limelight, a case which captured the fancies of the media and the nation at large for a number of years.
Set in Delhi (reminded ad nauseum during the movie through an oft- repeated background score), the movie opens with the infamous event of bar tender Jessica Lall (Myra) getting shot by high profile politician's son Manish Bharadwaj. Sabrina Lall (Vidya Balan) sets out to seek justice for her sister, only to be stalled in her efforts by powerful politicians, hostile witnesses and corrupt police officers. She is soon joined in her quest by hotshot, foul-mouth journalist Meera Gaity (Rani Mukherjee) and together they manage to arouse public outrage to the point where the administration gives in and justice is finally delivered.
The movie, for all the interest evoked by the storyline, is a disappointment. While the initial half an hour is racy and crisp, the film quickly takes on an overtly melodramatic and loud tone which continues right through to the end. The direction seems confused. Rajkumar Gupta desperately attempts to inject comedy into the narration of an event which of all things isn't funny. The thrice repeated scene of Manish Bharadwaj's mother whining "Mere Monu ko kuch nahi hona chahiye (Nothing should happen to my son (Monu)" is both unfunny and unwanted. The juvenile treatment of the subject in question is exemplified through scenes like a grieving father sending an SMS to a TV channel and a stupefied sister exclaiming that the biggest tragedy in her life is that she doesn't have a boyfriend. Sabrina's character, for all its complexity, is dealt with only superficially. The principal focus of the narrative seems to be on the Barkha Dutt inspired character of Meera Gaity. Rani Mukherjee, in what seemed to be another attempt at an image makeover to save her dying career plays the no-nonsense television journalist. She proclaims to be to be too busy to have a boyfriend and later deserts her partner in the middle of an intimate act to attend to work. The committed workaholic show is childishly overblown with frequent interjections of four letter words as an apparent display of ruthlessness. It's difficult to decide whether to blame the dialogues or the actor for the colossal disaster that the role of Meera is. While one can give credit to Rani Muherjee for making an honest attempt to look the part, the dialogues fall flat.
There are a few silver linings to be salvaged. The music and background score by Amit Trivedi is delightful. Vidya Balan's performance in the role of the stolid, grieving sister is hugely commendable. So are performances of Sareesh Sharma who plays the father of Manish Bharadwaj and seasoned actor Rajesh Sharma in the role of Police Inspector N.K. Debutante Myra Karn's presence on screen is refreshing. The camera work for most parts is quite brilliant.
A film like No One Killed Jessica begs the larger question about how far our directors are willing to sell out to the lure of commercial success. The superficial treatment of an issue which could have been subjected to a richer and much more serious on-screen portrayal shows how commercial Indian movie-makers still choose box office brownie points over honest story-telling. It should be acknowledged that a lot of Indian films in the recent past have chosen to go against this prevalent trend. We can only hope the imminent commercial success of No One Killed Jessica does not change that.