AK Vs. AK

Do you know what is the meaning of the word ‘Jhakas’? Even Anil Kapoor, who coined this word and popularized it, doesn’t know its meaning. Like the expression Jhakas cannot be described in words, AKVs.AK is an atypical film(a meta movie), which cannot be reviewed in simple language. So here is an attempt to describe AK Vs. AK. Anil Kapoor + Anurag Kashyap+ Quentin Tarintino+ Alwyn Kalicharan+ Vanity Van + Face Time+ Bound Script+ Thriller+ Realistic +Cinema Verite + Films + Flops +Failures+ Revenge +Nawazuddin + Sonam+ Vesova+ United Mills+ Hostage+ Fear+Sweat+Birthday+ Bony Kapoor + Kali Pili + CCTV+ MAMI +Karan Johar+Insecuirty+Potshots+Director’s AD+ Casting Couch +Fact +Fiction+ Twist in the tale+ Asthma+ Experimental+ Hand held Camera+ Branded Watch+ My film, my rules+ Unexpected + Suspense +Edge of the seat+ Dark films + Cuss words+ Fans + Filmfare + Film City + Kidnapping +Dance +Christmas + Family + Son+ Blood+ Bruises+ Arrogance+ Parents + Star+ Michael + Javed +DVD Library+ Plot + Action+ Cut +Story +Midlife Crisis + Drama+ Acting+ Nepotism + Shock+ Daughter +Police Station+ Local Train+ Broken Marriages + Broken Nose +My name is Lakhan FYFI (For your ******* information). After watching this film, I can visualize the sound and the sights of Jhakas. Thanks Vikramditya Motwani for making a Jhakas film.

#AKvsAK #Indie #films#Moviereview#cinema#movies#bollywood

The White Tiger

Don’t cross the 180 degree line is one of the fundamental rules for cinematographers. But there are numerous examples of this rule being broken in filmmaking today. Similarly, ‘Show, don’t tell’ is an old adage for the screenwriters. ‘The White Tiger’ is a film, where the internationally acclaimed writer director Ramin Bahrani has departed from this old sermon and used a Voice Over (VO) to tell a story giving it the perspective of the character, Balram Halwai (a rags to riches saga, reminding you of Slumdog Millionaire in a way) played with a naturalistic flair by a young actor Adarsh Gourav. The objective of a screenwriter is to take the audience into the world of the character-physically and mentally. In this film, which is narrated through a series of e-mails, that the protagonist writes to Premier of China narrating his story of entrepreneurship (set in early twenties, when Indian economy was on an upsurge riding on the wave of internet- based commerce), the director has used the VO to communicate the point of view of the protagonist, especially his emotional strife. Visualize the VO in which Balram describes his dislike for the character Vitiligo (played by Nalneesh Neel), when they meet for the first time in the basement of a five star hotel in Delhi. While craning of his neck back so as to keep Vitiligo’s face away, the scene establishes our deep-rooted dislike for the people with this non-communicable disease; the VO makes the messaging/sub text complete. Mere visual of Balram craning his neck away wouldn’t have conveyed the same meaning. Some really rooted and relatable performance by a newcomer Adarsh Gourav and nice cameos by Priyanka Chopra and Neelesh Neel engagingly punctuate the narrative of the film maintaining the rhythm and tempo of the film aided by Punjabi and Hindi folk. It is believed that Adrash stayed in a village in Jharkhand at a friend’s place and worked at a tea stall in Delhi in order to get under the skin of the character. All his preparation shows on screen. Watch his action of cleaning his hands by rubbing them on his hairs after eating the pan offered by Mahesh Manjrekar before he is asked to sign the confession statement. It will not be out of place to say that Adarsh has carried this film virtually on his lone shoulders.

The White Tiger is an adaptation of a novel by Aravind Adiga, who won the Man Booker 2008 award for this book. Aravind is an Indian-Australian, who hails from Chennai and was educated at Alosys College, Mangalore. The writer-director of the film, Ramin Bahrani is an Iranian immigrant settled in US and has many award winning films to his credit, namely Man Push Cart, Chop Shop and Fahrenheit 451. He is also a professor of film directing at the Columbia School of Arts, his alma mater.

Another notable feature of this film, which makes it rooted are its Hindi dialogues. I could not find in the credit list the name of the Hindi dialogue writer, but whosoever has done it has used the authentic colloquial lingo .For instance listen to the dialogue used by Balram, when he enters the driver’s room at the haveli and the No1 driver says that they will shortly buy a bedding for him. His reply ‘ARE KOI BAAT NAHIN HUM ZAMIN PAR HI PASAR JAYENGE’. The use of word PASAR makes the character truly rooted in the Hindi heartland, where the story is supposed to be unfolding.

In a nutshell, you may find The White Tiger a tad longer, but it is certainly a watchable film.

Tribhanga

‘Tribhanga’ is a standing body position or stance used in Indian classical dance forms like the Oddissi, where body bends in one direction at the knees, the other direction at the hips and then the other again at the shoulders and neck. Other poses described in dance theory are ‘sambhanga’ for the ‘figure in equipoise” and ‘abhanaga’ for a slight bend in one leg giving a curve to the figure.

Tribhanga (the film) is a ‘metaphor’ for a story of three generations of women, who make unconventional life choices, live by their choices to follow their passion while unknowingly letting the lives of others around them get distorted due to their unidirectional pursuits of their ‘choices’. It is perhaps the price we all pay for trying to achieve perfection or excellence in our ‘pursuits of happiness’ in whatever area of life we choose to operate. The germs of the story can be seen all around us and it will not be inappropriate to call this film a slice of life film, which will find resonance with urban Indian audience. But what is important here is that this simple story has been brought to life on screen in three different shades of characters portrayed by Tanvi Azmi, Kajol and Mithila Palkar with earnestness and sensitivity. Detractors will have their point of view for criticizing the use of four letter words by the character of Kajol, but to my mind, if the use of ‘gallis’ or the ‘apshabds’ as they are referred to in the film are justified in any story, it is here in this film and for this character, who is accused by her daughter of coming to every PTM with a new boy friend. Her four letter words make her character stand out as a modern day film celebrity perfectly balancing between the chaste Hindi of Tanvi Azami (live-in relations ki sankalpana) and the familiar day-to-day parlance of a Mumbai mulgi. But more important than the characters is the screenplay and direction of the film. I feel compelled to say that Renuka Sahne is a better auteur than an actor. The million-dollar smile girl has this time captivated with her sensitive writing and thoughtful direction. This is her debut as a writer-director and audience will certainly look forward to many more such sensitive films from her. Baba Azmi’s cinematography is charming and Jabeen Merchant beautifully edits the film to flow like the flipping pages of a book. The silent ending of the film reminded me of the theatre tradition, where the silence at the end of the play is filled with the sound of the crowd rising on its feet to give a standing ovation. Clap, clap, clap; more power to you Renuka Sahne.

Platforms like Netflix have been criticized for bringing a spate of template films, but this one is certainly not. I guess name of a celebrity behind the film gave them some confidence to take risk with a kind of an Indie film. Hope we will see more of this kind in future. There certainly is an audience for these kinds of ‘original’ films in India.

Sir

Cinema is a visual medium and a shot well conceived can convey a ‘story’ without the help of any back ups like set decoration, props, acting, dialogues, lights & sound effects. Consider the scene in the film ‘Sir’, when Ratna comes back to look for Ashwin and she finds the apartment door locked. This is a shot taken in the lift lobby of a modern multi- storied building, where we see her coming out of the lift, cut to the lock and she goes back in the lift. In the background, you hear the automated lift voice announcing, ‘Door open, Door close.’ The scene says it all without any fanfare. The credit for visualizing such simply beautiful and meaningful shots and many more such shots in the film (like the one in the bus when she takes off her bangles before reaching the village) must go to the writer director of the film. In this case, the person is Rohena Gera, who made her screen-writing debut with the first season of the Indian comedy-drama television series Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahin. She studied at Stanford University and has a documentary ‘What’s love has got to do with it?’ to her credit. ‘Sir’ is an intimate love story, produced by Platoon One Films (founded by Shiladitya Bora) starring Tillotamma Shome and Vivek Gomber. Tillotama has already proven her talent in films like ‘A Death in the Gunj,’ where she won the award for Best Supporting Actress. She has a Master’s degree in Educational theatre from New York University. In New York she also taught theatre to murder convicts at a high security US prison. In this film, she has made her role as a maidservant coming from a village of Maharashtra to work in Mumbai as realistic as it can get. Her body language is enough to convey the purport of the scene. Besides her we have Vivek Gomber, who is known for acting in and producing one of the best Independent films made in India in the recent past – ‘Court’. As evident in this film he has hugely improved as an actor. Suffice is to say that both Vivek and Tillotama make their silent chemistry create sparks against the backdrop of the rich interiors of a high-end apartment in a redeveloped towers located in the middle of Central Mumbai. Their non-verbal cues have added so much depth to the story. Another notable feature of this film is that most of the crew is from International circuit including the DOP and the editors. But they all seem to have added value to an entirely Indian story. The new visual perspective of ‘Mumbai’ brought in by its cinematographer Dominique Colin is fresh and soothing. Even the Ganpapti Visarjan, which we have seen on screen n number of times, doesn’t look chaotic and over-top in this film. The editing does justice to the undulating rhythm and the taught pace of the storyline creating the right emotional arc in the film. A film stays with you because it has been able to get you hooked on emotionally and also because some of the scenes /shots stay with you. For example, refer to the shots of Ratna carrying her chappals in hand every time she enters the house and the only time she forgets to do that is just after the scene when…(watch the film to figure out!). Don’t miss this 99-minute beauty on celluloid!