Agent Vinod: Few moments to remember

Frankly speaking, ever since I have heard about the production of this movie, I was very excited. There are various reasons that can be attributed to this excitement. First of all, spy movies are rare in Bollywood. Secondly, it is a daunting task to make such a film in India, because a substantial amount of budget is required in the creating a wide canvas, which is a must requirement for spy movies. Third reason is that there are rare personalities in Bollywood that can fit into the character of a stylish and intelligent spy.

Director Shriram Raghavan (who gave us movies like Ek Hasina Thi and Johnny Gaddar) took the challenge of making a desi bond flick and I must applaud him for the courage, but after watching the film, I was both disappointed and exhausted. The movie comprises of high twists and turns, but completely missed out the fast pace that makes an audience intact with the theatre seat. The movie is made with a lot of vigour, but I must say that the maverick filmmaker hang in between Hollywood styling and desi comfort, thus made this movie a boring cocktail.

There are few moments of relief in the movie that I love to share. The best scene is 3 minute shootout sequence in ballad that shows the creative imagination of director. The song “Mujra” also comes as a relaxation syrup. The opening sequence is also picturised beautifully with some amazing stunts followed by a brilliant chase scene. Besides, Saif Ali Khan looks perfect in the character of an Indian spy. It will be a treat to see him again in this role.

A courageous effort by filmmaker Shriram Raghavan, but a tight screenplay could have done wonders for the film.
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Agneepath: An epic saga of revenge

Frankly speaking, watching new Agneepath at first time doesn’t make any special impact on my mind. The reason is simple, the Bachchanalia Saga of the original one still revolves around. But watching the new version again is a completely different scenario. Everything seems fresh and hyper toned, that makes a high impact. The movie surely consists of various hiccups, but in the end delivers the whole story in a brilliant way.

Karan Malhotra had a high responsibility on his shoulders for handling the remake of a movie that is a legend in itself. Making remakes are not an easier task, especially when you are making remake of an Amitabh Bachchan movie. The characters portrayed by Mr. Bachchan all through his life are incomparable, and it engraves the audiences in an amazing way. Vijay Dinanath Chauhan is a character that is in the memory of every person who is a fan of Amitabh Bachchan. Revisiting this character comprised a lot of risk but director saved it in a beautiful way.

To save the comparison between old and new Vijay, Karan Malhotra changed the whole outlook of the character. The old one is stylish, more vibrant and graceful. The new one played by Hrithik Roshan is a simple low profile guy who doesn’t have a smile on his face, but just anguish on his heart and one aim in mind, to take revenge from Kancha for the death of his father. In the way of his revenge he manipulates people, sacrifices his love, took the hate of his mother, makes distance with his sister and lives a depressed life. The anger clearly depicts on the face of Hrithik who ensured that all through the movie, the feeling of revenge doesn’t remove at one single moment, which is the core of the movie.

In older one, Danny Denzongpa played the villainous Kancha Chinna in an elegant way, more of a Mafia outfit. In current version, Sanjay Dutt gave the character a much tougher look, a larger than life Villain, and made this role in his list of path defining performances like Khalnayak, Vaastav and Munnabhai. His witty dialogues complement with his bullish look and improve the overall look of the movie.

In the form of Rauf Lala played by Rishi Kapoor, a new character added in this version. This character is a totally negative one, but a more real life character, completely opposite to Kancha. I must say this is one of the best performances of Rishi Sahab. In a negative role, he delivers every single scene so perfectly that many times you get confused that he might be not the same bubbly face lover boy we have witnessed in movies like Bobby and Karz. There will be no surprise if will be offered a long list of villainous roles in future.

It seemed that the role of Priyanka Chopra is completely wasted here. She just got the task to fill up the emotional scenes of the movie, nothing more than that. In a movie like this, when there are three strong characters already present, there is little scope for character of Priyanka Chopra. Rest of the cast doesn’t get much attention.

I strongly felt that it is one of the best revenge stories told in recent times, but some tight screenplay and editing might helped the movie a lot. The background score is created in perfect synchronization with the theme of revenge but it gets too loud till the movie reaches its climax. Watching a full length revenge movie after a long time is a beautiful treat, no matter how much loose areas it contain. It’s a movie that works with a fast pace and highly moves with strong performances from the actors. I congratulate Karan Malhotra and Karan Johar for taking such a big task and deliver it with a deliberate attempt.

Vijay Dinanath Chauhan...........Poora Naam

I think this dialogue is heard by every movie buff of India, or at least the million devotees of Mr. Amitabh Bachchan. I am moving here to a little pro-Angry Young Man (as I always) by saying devotees instead of “followers” or “fans”, simply because every time a character is played by him on the screen, it suddenly becomes a legend. The first visual I had in my mind since my mind became conscious is that of Mr. Amitabh Bachchan and it is quite obvious that I love him more than I love myself. The dark portrayals played by him are simply spell bounding performances but for me the most memorable one is this one from Yash Johar’s classic “Agneepath”.   

The very first scene of Vijay Dinanath Chauhan as an adult, sitting on a chair, one hand behind the chair, an eye to eye contact with police commissioner, I think it says all. That very first scene tells how strongly a character like this can be portrayed in an introductory scene. I have never seen more powerful introductory scene in Bollywood than this one. Many people remember the movie through this scene only. That is the power of this scene.

It’s a popular saying that “the more powerful is villain, the bigger the film”. “Kaancha Cheenha” is one such character that needs that high attitude and flawless personality that doesn’t seem like fiery but depicts strength. Danny Denzongpa comlpletely justified his selection in the role and is still remembered for the portrayal. Similarly, the supporting role of Mithun Chakraborty provides a firm stand to the character of Vijay Dinanath Chauhan.

There are a numerous favorite scenes from the film but just two apart from the introductory one that are worth talking about. The first one is the initial confrontation between Vijay and Kancha during an attempt for the assassination of Vijay. Those few minutes setup the whole theme of the movie from where unfolds a tale of revenge. The second one is restaurant scene where Vijay feels humiliated.

This post is never ending for me as it is a film close to heart. The film directed by Late Mukul S. Anand not only come as a reward to him but also garnered various awards including a National Award for Mr. Amitabh Bachchan.

Bimal Roy - A Tribute to the legendary Film-maker (Part 1 - Madhumati)

Do Bigha Zameen, Parineeta, Sujata and Bandini are just names of a few films that are created by the master of Indian Cinema known as Bimal Roy. He is arguably the most sensible film makers of post independence era who created a flare in the storytelling. Till date, no one can reach the flawless level of direction that he created and his contribution of Indian cinema is outstanding. Since my childhood I have admired Bimal Da a lot and so I am starting a series of posts for some of my favorite films directed by him.

He always picked characters close to real life with which audience can attach themselves easily. Shambhu Mahato in “Do Bigha Zameen”, Adheer and Sujata in “Sujata”, Biraj Chakravorty in “Biraj Bahu”, Kalyani in “Bandini”, all of them are so realistic characters that they left unforgettable impressions on the mind of people. Bimal Da had a great command over the human strengths and weaknesses of human nature and he depicted in his movies in the most beautiful way.

 In the context of commercial films, he created the legendary “Madhumati” that eventually became the landmark and still continues to inspire filmmakers. It is the one of the earliest movies dealing with the concept of reincarnation and with the beautiful theme it surrounds, it garnered worldwide critical acclaim and achieved commercial success as well. With a string of beautiful songs (“Chadh gayo papi bichhua”, “Dil tadap tadap ke”, “Aaja re pardesi”, “Jungle mein mor naacha”, to name a few) it also embarked beautiful example for the future lyricist and musicians. The film received 9 Filmfare Awards and multiple nominations in other categories. Important to note here is that it is the only collaboration between Bimal Da and legendary filmmaker Ritwik Ghatak.

Cast: Dilip Kumar, Vyjayantimala, Pran, Johnny Walker

Story: Ritwik Ghatak

Dialogues: Rajinder Singh Bedi

Music: Salil Choudhury

Lyrics: Shailendra

Editor: Hrishikesh Mukherjee 

My Name is Khan-Journey of a Philanthropist

In the year 2010,  we saw some projects of some big directors like Karan Johar, Maniratnam, Prakash Jha, Sanjay Leela Bhansali. I think that My Name is Khan is one of those few movies that has something special in it which was not discovered in the past. The feeling of humanity is at its maximum in the movie.Seemingly inspired by Forest Gump, the movie is based upon the hatred and bias towards the Muslim community because of the terrorist activities by certain groups, especially in USA after the unforgettable 9/11.

The movie very correctly emphasizes that a person should be assessed as a good person or a bad person only whatsoever religion he may be practicing. Why should a good and kind-hearted Muslim and his family face the hatred and discard when they are in no way connected to the anti-human deeds of the Muslim terrorists. Their religion is their identification and their faith. If they are good, loving and kind towards the other communities and the mankind in general, why should they suffer?

However Karan Johar could not find himself to underscore this point through a normal Muslim individual. For his cinematic convenience, he has created the character of Rizwan who is suffering from Asperger’s Syndrome. He is naive and innocent like a child and hence believable with all his mannerisms. After losing the little child who was born to his Hindu wife through her earlier marriage, in the post 9/11 hatred in USA towards Muslims, Rizwan has to face the brunt of his beloved wife who feels that she is a loving wife later, first a grief-stricken mother. Challenged by the discarding wife to meet the US president and convince him that despite being a Muslim, he is not a terrorist, Rizwan starts a journey covering many people and events full of sensitivity. In typical bollywood style, Rizwan ultimately succeeds in meeting not George Bush (to meet whom he had started the journey) but Barack Obama. Reason ! The US gets a new president, an Afro-American one, till Rizwan’s journey comes to conclusion. Obama (the actor and not the real Obama) tells him - Your name is Khan and you are not a terrorist. And Rizwan Khan is happy to have achieved his objective and quite naturally his lost love.

The treatment of the story by Karan Johar is highly sensitive. The character of Shahrukh Khan is simply lovable courtesy his marvelous acting through which he has put himself aside completely and attained the soul of Rizwan Khan, a golden hearted person suffering from Asperger’s Syndrome. However, some incidents are unnecessary as well as making the look of the movie a bit unreal. The easier path has been followed by the director to bring his movie towards the desired complex. However for the first time, a director has shown the courage to depict a Muslim showing mirror to Muslims themselves by quoting Kuran Sharif and the Muslim legends like Hazrat Ibrahim, warning them to beware of the Satan (the misguiding Muslim leaders in the modern sense).

Shahrukh Khan has a depth in this performance that can impress even those people who were earlier his critics. It is simply a gem of performance by him. Kajol comes with his evtergreen natural performance. But the complete supporting cast deserves a special mention for the cameos by different characters making a greater part of the movie’s ultimate impact upon the viewers. Zarina Wahab, Sonya Jahan, Jimmi Shergill, Vinay Pathak, to name a few. The child artists have also done a splendid job. The music is according to the mood of the movie. The art direction and the locations are highly impressive. In my opinion, My Name is Khan is a  thought provoking movie, to say the least.

Definitely the movie contains a divided opinion.But at least the movie deserves an standing ovation of the courage of Karan Johar for taking this large canvas into the big screen. In fact, this one adds to the list of meaningful cinema of Shahrukh Khan after Swades and Chak De India. I hope that in future we will get more of this genre from the duo of Shahrukh Khan-Karan Johar.

SHOLAY-My Favourite of all time

The movie that always strikes in my mind whenever i thought of Bollywood is Sholay.There are hundreds and thousands of books written about Sholay and I am not going here to describe any specific trivia for this great movie.What I am going to write is my thoughts about some characters that made a deep impact on my mind ever since when I watched it for the first time in the year 1991.

Ramesh Sippy released this saga of a powerful star cast in the year 1975 and since then all of its characters have become legends.Although all of it’s characters have a depth,but the one played by Amjad Khan is the most memorable character of all time.It gave the a new face of Bollywood villain that is most applauded by the audience than every other character in the movie.

Sanjeev Kumar played the role of Thakur Baldev Singh with a brilliance and his screen presence is the most powerful aspect of the movie.The character of Sanjeev Kumar is the central theme to combine all characters in a single platform and it is beautifully portrayed by the writer-duo of Salim-Javed.

The one man whose eyes are louder than his voice in the movie is none other than Amitabh Bachchan.His expressions in the movie are timeless and every single dialogue written for him creates a sensation on the screen.The one scene that i enjoyed the most is when he went to aunt of Basanti for the sake of marriage of Veeru and Basanti.Jaya Bhaduri also performed his part in a brilliant manner.

Although the heart of the film is very serious from the first scene but Dharmendra,playing the role of Veeru, made the moments of laughter in a perfect sense of humor.He was supported at the best level by Hema Malini whose role of Basanti is still considered the best one by many critics.

The supporting cast includes one of the finest actors of Bollywood and they provide a powerful stand to the movie.

The praise about the movie is a never ending story and every time I watch this movie it is a new experience for me.It is a movie with a large canvas that was very well created by Mr. Ramesh Sippy.