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Reviews
Bajirao Mastani (2015)
Spectacular visuals but falls short
Watched Bajirao Mastani. Must say I was disappointed. Not because the movie was bad. By any standard of cinematography and direction, it was tremendously beautiful, but then which SLB's movie isn't? Perhaps I had raised the bar for it in my mind too high?
Here's my gripe with the movie: 1. Editing: very shoddy. Scenes just jumped around with little to no transition. There seem to be two stories told in the movie, the triangle love story and the battles. There was no fluidity in the editing between the two. 2. Bajirao and Mastani: in terms of acting, everyone did a good job. However, I felt like I have seen Deepika as Mastani in other movies as well. She was really good but I wanted to see a phenomenal performance (high expectations). Ranvir's acting is probably his career best but it still falls short in a few scenes. Some of it looks forced and tedious. Coming to the characters of these two, it's hard to like a movie and connect with it when you don't feel empathy for the leading characters. The two love struck characters are clearly shown in grey. It is difficult to feel sorrow for the ailing couple when you know that their affair has caused pain to a loving wife. This made me most uncomfortable. When the narrator proclaimed their love as eternal, it didn't resonate with me as their love was infidelity on Bajirao's part. 3. Unnecessary songs: SLB has a knack for incorporating beautiful, visually stimulating songs into his movies. This one is no exception. However, there are a couple of songs like Pinga and Bajirao and boys' celebratory song which stuck out like a sore thumb in terms of placement in the movie. 4. Rushed ending: don't want to get into details and spoil the ending but it looked like SLB was tired of 12 years of thinking and making the movie and he just ended it. 5. Striking similarity to Devdas and a little bit of Jodhaa Akbar: this one may just be me, partly because Devdas is one of my favorite movies of all time and also because I have watched it more than a dozen times. BM has so many similar themes as Devdas. Take the premise of two women longing for love of their man (I agree this is a pretty common theme), the ethereal dialogues, the widowed mother who seems to be a thorn in B and M's love saga, the choreographed duet song-dance spectacle with Mastani and Kashibai, the eventual fall into intoxication of Bajirao (there's even a scene with him in water very much like Devdas towards the end), war strategy inspired by Jodhaa Akbar, the mirror hall song reminds me of maar dala and kaahe ched, etc.
Having said all the above, I still think it is a good movie, just not SLB's best.
Watch it for Priyanka's brilliant acting as the forgotten Kashibai in a small but significant role. She delivers her lines in full flow, tugs at your heartstrings and makes you feel her pain. Watch it for a beautiful coming together of spectacular costumes and set design, grand music and choreography, larger than life dialogues and theme. Watch it for the movie it is, just don't believe the hype or you're bound to be disappointed. 3/5.
Lucia (2013)
A refreshing change
Let me start off by saying I had great expectations before I saw this movie. And boy, did it deliver! I was pleasantly surprised by the maturity of every scene in this movie.
It was evident that every line, every move was well thought and well executed. It is a truly global movie. You need not be a native Kannada speaker to understand this movie. The subtitles are well done. The background score keeps in pace with the pulse of the story. The movie is never too slow or dragging, never too emotional or never trying to be too clever. It has got just the right amount of subtlety, suspense, drama and feels.
I can see why some people are referring to it as the Kannada answer to Inception. It is definitely based on the theme of dreams, and a scene here and there which look inspired by Inception. But that's about where the similarity ends. Lucia is by itself a clever, refreshing Kannada movie, which will not fail to make you think and entertain you at the same time.
Watch it if you want to see how good movies can be made without forcing you to keep your brains on a desk.
And Then There Were None (1945)
A wonderful adaptation(A tribute to Agatha Christie)
I am a great fan of Agatha Christie. She says in her autobiography, that 'And then there were none'(it was titled differently) was one of the most difficult and satisfying books to write. I read the book when I was 13 and was blown away by the sheer genius behind it.
Now the movie which I watched a couple of minutes earlier offers a fresh view into the story. The direction is simply superb with perfect casting. The story remains as faithful to the book as can be (except for a few changes in names of characters and the ending of course). But all these changes shouldn't bother you. The movie remains as gripping and tense as well as subtly humorous as the book itself.
I would suggest reading the book first. However, the movie maintains a stand of its own and deserves all these lovely comments it has garnered.
Acting was brilliant especially by Barry Fitzgerald as the judge, Roland Young as Blore and Judith Anderson as Emily Brent.
Something I noticed in the movie was that in addition to the 10 characters, there was a 11th one. The cat!! I believe it was a very clever move by the director to add a hint of inhumane air to the whole story with the cat hinting at the turn of events.
Overall, it remains to be the best who-dunnit I've ever seen. Watch it with some friends and try to guess who the culprit is for the extra thrill.
My vote- 10/10