Welcome Change

After all the hustle-bustle surrounding the marriage, our family decided to relax and what better way to relax than watching a movie. So I booked tickets for the Aamir Khan starrer Taare Zameen Par . The ease with which I got tickets in PVR bang on the first day of release surprised me so did the big price on it too! An Aamir Khan movie that too on the first week is quite a good recipe for the malls/multiplexes to cook up a good price. But I say the movie was worth every penny spent.

Taare Zameen Par is a brillant movie by all standards. Although the movie conveys a message it can neither be categorized as one of those boring art movies nor as a meaningless entertainer, it is a genre by itself. Mr.Perfect Aamir Khan displays his versatality with his directorial debut. He has portaryed the seriousness of the movie in a beautifully entertaining manner. But it is the little one Darsheel Safary as the dyslexic child Ishaan who walks away with the honour. He is a taci-turn boy who doesnt depend on the dialogue delivery for acting. It is astonishing to watch the boy use only emotions as a tool to act. Kudos, to Aamir for bringing this out in the boy. Aamir Khan's acting is flawless as usual, further he proves the point "men look better with age"........... :-). The movie has some hummable songs too.

Though the movie centers around a dyslexic child and his parents, it doesnt emphasize more on Aamir training the kid to get out of that cocoon. Because the movie is not only about a dyslexic child alone but its about parents letting children be what they want to be. The reviews recommended tissues for the second half and I recommend the same too. When the movie ended, I heard a few ppl in the hall applause............. definitely this movie needs a standing ovation.

Movies like Taare Zameen Par, Chak De India, Iqbal are the much needed whiff of fresh air on the Bollywood scene challenging the usual dancing around trees themes. These movies stresses the need of India's position in the global film circuit.

Un refusable Offer...:)

Its quite rare that a good book has been translated to a good movie. There are many illustrations in Hollywood to support this point. For ex the movie Da Vinci Code did no justice to the book… considering the craziness that book created ! Or take The Bourne identity…the book is amazing and the movie by itself is good......... although the gist remains the same, deviations are found. Movies like The Firm, Air Force One are a few exceptions which follow the book.

Among all these “books made into movies” ritual, one which adheres to the tradition is “Godfather”………….. I finally got myself to watch the first part of this movie over the weekend…. well if u r thinking “what took me this long to watch GODFATHER !!”….. well then let me introduce u to my ever procrastinating self. The way I got to read this book was funny actually. First time I heard of this book was when in college…… the whole mafia description abt the book put me off … although all my fnds had good things to say abt the book !…. But 2 years bak when I’d a leg injury and was confined to bed for a few days… the only book I’d to pass my time with was godfather...and it did captivate me immediately!

Now that I’m in a spree of watchin ol’ classic English flicks… godfather was one among them.
This flick is virtually the book itself in action.... expressive and descriptive. When comparing a book to a movie, I sometimes feel when we get engrossed in a movie, we fail to recognise the subtle descriptions mentioned in the book. But in godfather I noticed all the subtlities… maybe bcos the author Mario Puzo has done a part of screenplay along with the director Francis Ford Coppola. Movie is marked with powerful performances by Marlin Bando and Al Pacino..... nothing too boisterous but just a silent yet impactful dialogue delivery. Al Pacino’s performance is very convincing... he conveys a hundred thoughts thru his eyes.
Although it has been 2 years of me having read the book… as the movie unfolded, the characters and the story came flooding bak to me…. It surprises me specially owing to the memory power I’ve ! But the last scene of Kay going to the church with her mom-in-law is skipped. Nevertheless the movie is just perfect…..

And this was my first movie whr I saw Al Pacino so young and swear it… he is truly handsome… Italian men, famous for their looks :)
On the whole be it the book or the movie The Godfather experience makes me go into a trance.

Soapy Impact...:)

Has a TV soap ever inspired you?..... and that too when it is a daily soap!!
Well with a zillion TV channels trying to prove their mettle, the quality of serials has been deteriorating, thanks to Ekta Kapoor's revolutionary or should I say evolutionary mega serials.....well! Gonna are those days when every serial on Doordarshan was a gem! Even the simple chitrahaars and rangoolis were eagerly awaited. But days now, I switch on the TV, aimlessly surfing channels and endup seeing nothing completely! But among all this mess, offlate I've started watching a daily soap diligently and that has actually impacted me !

"Manthana" telecasted on a daily basis in ETV Kannada is a serial with brains! Its protagonists are mainly the females (NO!...not the Ekta Kapoor heroines) and have got a slight feminist angle to it. But looking at the problems women face in today's world, there is a necessity for every female to have a small degree of feminism in herself. The script is evidently a compilation of pragmatical and the rational problems faced by a woman in balancing her professional and personal lives.

Story goes something like this: A commissioner in the Income Tax Dept set out to do her duty honestly encounters tough resistance. A lady when young took to a thorny path, now cant think of heading back but struggles to reach the destination. A daughter whose family life has been anything but peaceful. A wife’s dilemma whether to back the son or the husband. Well these stories might be a common affair but the beauty of the serial is the simplicity in which these are portrayed. The script raises the problems like boulders but tactfully they are reduced to pebbles. It brings about the individuality in every person and no matter how close you are to a person, you have no right to humiliate that individualism. And when such an individualism is provoked, the person stands up straight and bites you back.

My favourite character in the serial is ShivShankarReddy, as an illiterate but a shrewd and a cunning businessman. For a debut in direction, Mr.Sethuram has done a fantastic job. The USP of this serial are the dialogues which are witty one-liners - concise and powerful.

It illustrates the fact that shortcuts to fame are shortlived and it defines practicality in simple terms…….... listen to your heart but follow your mind because your heart can only feel and not think!..........:)