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pranavb83
Reviews
Krrish (2006)
Pretty good, one of the best products in years!
Krrish draws parallel similarities to many Hollywood movies in terms of scenes and stunts; But The movie is well made and it stands out overall and seems to be paying "Homage" to these greats! One would have to be very negative in calling Krrish a rip-off/hackneyed, considering the core story is general showing the genesis of a hero and the destruction of evil. I'd say about 10% of the movie's screenplay has been copied from Hollywood movies such as The Matrix (some fight sequences), Shaolin Soccer (Some fight sequences, volleyball match), Batman Begins (Angry Krrish fighting thugs), Daredevil (Jumping at times), Spiderman (saving kids from burning circus and jumping through a truck with a container attached), Superman I (running past a bus with kids in), Kevin Costner's patented swimming from Waterworld and more importantly PAYCHECK (The lab, the equipment and the concept of seeing the future and trying to change it)!!! The end bit though made many people including me laugh (not meant to) when the computer (From The grandpa era) makes the same sounds used initially to contact the aliens. On the whole .. enough songs not to bore you and enough action and fantasy for your money's worth for the first time in years!!! The background music is on par with Hollywood big budget movies yet it falters when they show the villain .. The Roshans do a very good job overall, All the characters seem three Dee .. 6.5/10!
Krishna Mehra's father was killed in a laboratory fire overseas (minutes after he was born) and his mother died as she could not bear her husband's death. Krishna at age 5 was discovered by his school's headmaster and his grandmother to be able to answer questions that usually search grade twelve 'science majors'. This becomes a problem for some reason for the grandmother and she and Krishna disappear from the eyes of people they know into the wilderness. The boy is so gifted, he has feet that can walk on water and air, he can outrun a horse (reminicent of Shadowfax from LOTR), he can climb mountains and trees faster than apes. The boy turns into a handsome man so innocent and untouched by the outside world that he seems too naive for his age. His only friends are birds, fishes, apes, some village kids, an idiot and all other creatures you can imagine (leave out the poor roaches!). One day he miraculously rescues an angel who fell from the sky onto tree tops because of a parachute accident (Priyanka Chopra), a series of funny incidents follow which include ghost stories and Priya's (Chopra) camp organizer Mr. Komal (Puneet Issar) recording a fever of 104 C. Soon everything is out in the open, Krishna is in Love with Ms. Priya (she isn't) and her holiday ends and she's back in Singapore. Since she and her friend Honey are late, Honey cover's their butt by convincing their boss of a story for their channel 'STAR' which will show the Indian Superboy (??)! Priya unwantingly cajoles Krishna to come to Singapore and ask her hand in Marriage from her mother else she'd be married off elsewhere. Krishna decides to go for it and has an argument with grandma as to why he can't leave? Grandma the wise explains "Your father was gifted with special powers and was renowned worldwide for his intelligence. He died because of a lab fire caused in the presence of people who exploited his powers for the innocent boy he was. MAMA died in grief. I don't want to loose you too!" However she gives in and tells him "Go ... get her"
Post-Interval, Krishna is in Singapore and what follows is his glamorous and spectacular display of martial arts skills (he picks up by watching for a few seconds) to get some money for a disabled Asian girl's operation. Next he rescues (now wearing a mask not to reveal his identity as grandma said so!) people from a burning circus (again jaw dropping). "Krrish" (kid asks name .. 'Krish' comes out) is all over the news and reward is offered. Krishna's friend (asian girl's brother .. Chirs Lee) finds his true identity and is joyous for him. Krissh doesn't want the reward or fame and tells Chris to claim the reward by giving Chris his mask to have enough money to get his sister operated on (a small piece of the mask was extracted from the circus and would be used to match in order to present the S$25,000 award). Meanwhile, Dr. Aryan has almost completed his 20 year dream of building a machine that can see the future (project started by Krishna's father; this was the lab where destruction and death took place). Krish has to discover a truth about his father's past and rescue the world from this power-mongering megalomaniac.
Rang De Basanti (2006)
Not only the youth ... the government should learn too!
What can one expect when artists of high caliber work together and try to make something unconventional? It has been seen in the past that they usually falter (according to the box-office)! Take for instance movies ahead of their times such AKS! The movie was brilliantly made ... technically sound and with a well said story. Yet it seemed indigestible most of the viewers! Going into the theater to watch Rang De Basanti (RDB), did not create doubts in my mind that it would be unconventional, yet for some reason I had this urge to measure it against Dil Chahta Hai (being a very commercial film -- But 6.5/10); perhaps due to the campus life stressed on by the promotions. Once the ride began, I was in splits by the time the movie had an interval. Sharman Joshi (Godmother, Style) being the naturally comic maestro, was the source of this and well supported by Aamir Khan (Lagaan) in the department. Serious sentiments were stimulated by Atul Kulkarni (Page 3) and Kunal Kapoor (Meenaxi: Tale of 3 Cities) once in a while (Hindu Kulkarni disliking the Muslim Kapoor). Alice Patton should be proud of her excellent dialog delivery in Hindi (fine acting too) ... Soha Ali Khan (Antar Mahal) was apt till the interval but quite an actress in the later parts. Siddharth (Boys) was the perfect actor cast as the carefree and aimless son of an official military dealer, Anupam Kher(Saraansh, Maine Gandhi ko Nahin Maara) who just wants to leave the country because of the going-ons in this day and age (read "the system").
Post-interval the movie deflects into a totally different direction due to R. Madhavan's (Rehna Hai Tere Dil Mein) death and the subsequent events that unfold! Aamir Khan touches the audience with the sentiments and with the brilliant mix of humor thrown in here and there. In fact since all the actors were so good I would like to elaborate, but it would be a waste of space ;) Overall, RDB is very well made. Youngsters can identify themselves here and so can those who have delved deep into corruption. In fact the movie has the power to make people have second thoughts to induce/accept illegality. Finally, the movie has a very unconventional ending; the sort I was hoping for. I was not sure how the campus culture could be shown gelling in with the 'Indian struggle for Independence story', but to my surprise, Rakeysh Om Prakash Mehra (AKS) pulls it off, in a grand style!! Hats off mate! Easily one of my top ten favorite Hindi movies. I give it an 8/10.