Buddha Mar Gaya Is Just A Sex Comedy
August 24, 2007
The verdict on Rahul Rawail’s black comedy Buddha Mar Gaya released this week is rather discouraging.
“I’m not making any apologies about the raunchy mood of the film, ” Rahul says a day after the film’s release. “It was meant to be a sex comedy, and it is exactly that.
Why are we so squeamish about sexual innuendoes in our films when we have no objection to sex jokes in the American Pie movies? I enjoy watching American Pie and wanted to do something similar in Hindi. And that’s exactly what I’ve done.”
A lot of people are offended by the risqué and ribald quality of the gags, including a bi-sexual godman (played by Om Puri) who has sex with a dead tycoon’s sister and his son.
Rahul ripostes quickly, “Let me tell you, every character in Buddha Mar Gaya is based on real people. Don’t let me open my mouth about who’s who and what goes in these super-rich families.
I wanted to do a savage satire on the hypocrisies of the affluent. And I think I’ve done that. If people are offended by the blunt quality of the humour, let me remind them that this is an adult sex -comedy passed by the censors with an ‘A’ certificate.
I’m quite satisfied with what I set out to do, and with my cast. By all means critics are free to dislike the film. But when some reviewers have criticized my actors I totally disagree with them.
My actors have gone completely with the requirements of the script.”
Buddha Mar Gaya is now behind Rahul. He’s now planning two hardhitting films which would take him back to the gritty action-genre of Arjun and Dacait.
“The first script will be a an indigenous rendering of Sidnely Lumet’s 12 Angry Men about a jury trying five encounter cops. The second film will be set in the
So Rahul Rawail will be back in form?
“Like I said Buddha Mar Gaya is as much part of my creativity as the films of mine that you like, ” says Rahul.
Movie Review : Partner
July 22, 2007
Starring: Salman Khan, Govinda, Lara Dutta, Katrina Kaif
Review: What can we say about David Dhawan’s Partner. It’s a leave-your-brains-at-home comedy that’s been blatantly ripped off from the Will Smith starrer Hitch.
In this desi version, Salman Khan stars as a love guru who doles out romantic tips to those who can’t woo their sweethearts left to their own devices. Everything from how to charm a lady, to how to behave on a first date… Everything from dancing skills to bedroom manners… Love guru is the one-stop problem-solver for geeks and freaks.
But when dumpy Govinda shows up for advice on how to win the affections of his cute-as-a-daisy boss Katrina Kaif, even Love Guru can’t seem to come up with a good enough plan.
Clearly Govinda is aiming for the sky, evidently the dumpling has bitten off more than he can chew. But determined to find a place in her heart, gol-matol Govinda convinces Love Guru to take up his case.
Now in between training his new student, Love Guru himself falls hook, line and sinker for tabloid photographer Lara Dutta, who’s always on the run from a midget gangster whose pictures she’s secretly taken. In the end, both men learn that it’s only good old-fashioned sincerity and a big heart that it takes to woo your girl.
When David Dhawan’s in form, there’s nobody who can do comedy quite like him. But truth is the director’s been slipping up lately.
The problem with his recent films is fairly obvious - there’s just no plot to speak of. Look at some of his most successful films - Coolie No 1, Hero No 1, Judwaa - even if they were madcap movies, each had a very distinct plot and the actors performed within the framework of the plot.
But his recent films - Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya, Shaadi No 1 and even Partner have wafer-thin storylines and the focus is not so much on telling a story as it is about actor-interaction.
In the case of Partner for example, the screenplay has no twists and turns, no highs and lows, no surprises, no thrills.
The director depends entirely on the repartee between his actors to make the film work, the constant leg pulling between Govinda and Salman. All they’re doing throughout the film is delivering one funny dialogue after another.
Now while some of the lines are genuinely funny, let’s be honest, a lot of them just aren’t. Much of the dialogue just sounds forced.
Apne Swepts Overseas Audiences Off Their Feet
July 12, 2007
After leaving cinegoers across India ”moist eyed” with their ”heart warming” presence in Apne, the strong bond of love and togetherness between the yesteryears’ matinee idol Dharmendra and his sons Sunny Deol and Bobby Deol has also swept overseas audiences off their feet.
Having won box office success and critical acclaim galore at home, this ode to the deep bond of love and togetherness between Dharmendra and his sons Sunny and Bobby, has rocked the box office in various overseas markets.
‘Apne’, which has yesteryears’ Bollywood idol Dharmendra team up with his sons Sunny and Bobby for the first time on the Silver screen, has drawn in huge audiences in the US, Canada and the United Kingdom, becoming the first Bollywood film featuring Dharmendra or Sunny to make a mark overseas.
Released on June 29 all over the world, ‘Apne’ made it to the top ten on the box office charts in the United Kingdom in its opening weekend, figuring on the seventh position among the top ten films.
‘Apne’, had box office earnings of 179,457
‘Apne’ figured on the chart alongside Hollywood blockbusters like ‘Shrek the Third’, ‘Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer’, ‘Ocean’s Thirteen’ and ‘Pirates of the
What is further remarkable about the film’s box office performance in the UK is that ‘Apne’ had the second best per screen average of 4,377 UK pounds (Rs 3.5 lakh) among the UK top ten films, behind only ‘Shrek-The Third’ (which had a per screen average of 31,103 UK pounds).
The place in the
The film also attracted packed crowds in cinema halls in the
In
Trade sources said hundreds of fans of Dharmendra and Sunny in the Canadian city of
Dharmendra was given a lifetime achievement award by DBR Entertainment while the Punjabi newspaper Quami Ekta honoured him for his contributions to the Indian cinema.
Featuring the three Deols along with Kiron Kher , Shilpa Shetty and Katrina Kaif as their leading ladies, ‘Apne’ is the story of a disgraced boxer (Dharmendra) who wants to get back his honour by making his elder son (Sunny) a boxer of international repute.
However, ultimately it is the younger son (Bobby) who steps in to fulfill his father’s dream when the elder one refuses to become a boxer.
Apne: Movie Review
July 5, 2007
Starring: Dharmendra, Sunny Deol, Bobby Deol, Shilpa Shetty, Katrina Kaif, Kirron Kher, Victor Banerjee
Directed By: Anil Sharma
They all hug each other quite often. The men hug up-front, unabashedly. The ladies creep up on the men from behind them and hold them close to their heart.
In Apne heart and craft come together to create an amazing graph. Apne is a very warm film. It exudes the comforting, heady scent of lives lived in a ruptured repose manifested in scenes that are written with the lavish and meticulous exactitude of emotions invested prudently in long-term action plans.
Yes, the narration is lengthy, sometimes tedious. What, for example, was the need for that ridiculous ‘rock’ song with one of Bobby Deol’s hands in his pocket?
The length is understandable in a film that puts forward Dharmendra, playing a Punjabi Stallone who has been diagraced in the boxing championsip, and his troubled relationship with an elder son (Sunny) who won’t box, and his younger son (Bobby) who can’t.
Caught between the ‘can’t’ and the ‘won’t’ of lives that share tears and chuckles as destiny reigns hard blows on the knuckles, this portrait of bona- fide emotions is free of naqal.
Full marks to Neeraj Pathak’s screenplay for creating a near-perfect vehicle for the trio of Punjab da Puttars who excel in shedding tears, together and apart. Papa Dharam and his two sons share another common ground. They are seem to suffer a perpetual bad- hair day.
Let not the awkward toupees and hairstyles come in the way of appreciating the deep-focussed melodrama’s undulating motions of light and shade.
Cinematographer Kabir Lal paints the frames in colours several shades deeper than life. And that’s the way it is meant to be.
Though the ladies are engagingly portrayed (Shilpa Shetty as the introverted Sunny’s exuberant wife reminds you of Kajol in Karan Johar’s Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham) this is a patriarchal story, populated with men who fight for self, family, country and morality on territory as far-ranging as the terrace of a Punjabi village, the boxing ring in New York and most importantly, the human heartland where most of life’s most ironic games are played by God and man.
Other recent films like Rahul Rawail’s Jo Bole So Nihal, Gurinder Chadha’s Bride & Prejudice and Vipul Shah’s Namaste London have gone to
Anil Sharma gets it right, in almost every frame. The stretched-out plot takes the Deols and their elegant women and surprisingly-restrained adversaries through several continents and time zones.
Proving himself a master storyteller, Sharma never loses the threads of the plot as the characters scatter across the contients trying to restore family honour in hostile circumstances.
Yes, the narration gets excessively dramatic towards the end. But the magic of the real-life family being alchemized on screen is preserved until the very end.
Let’s stand and applaud Anil Sharma for attempting a theme so vast and dramatic showcasing two generations of Deol plunged into the vortex of a battle that takes them through several levels of emotions and revelations to arrive to a kind of liberating denouement that comes our way in the movies once in a while.
Indeed this Anil Sharma’s Gadar of the boxing ring. It takes hungering leaps into the hemisphere of the Deols’ most precious family ties. Sharma picks up threads of lingering sorrow and abiding ties to weave a tale that’s as sweet tender strong and resonant as any grandma’s tale about the simple god-fearing family which didn’t buckle under pressure.
It’s not the content as much the tightly-clenched treatment that gives the film a feeling of uncompromised ardour.
Swarming with characters and over-sentimental songs about family ties, Apne manages to hold its head high above the intrinsically treacly situation that Anil Sharma creates for the Deols.
The performances are fine as long as you aren’t looking for Brandos and Azmis in the cast. The immensely -gifted Victor Banerjee’s as the Deols’ sounding board is the odd one our specially when he materializes with prayer beads on screen to pray for Bobby’s quick recovery.
Good God!
This could have been one more mawkish attempt to bring together a family that suffers and celebrates together. Instead Apne is our own Rocky.
In fact, better. Not only are the boxing sequences first-rate, the emotions that the macho men invest into each other’s lives makes them look like giants who think big and act for the camera fearlessly.
Movie Review: So How Exactly Is Nishabd?
March 2, 2007
A film that attempts to break new ground in terms of subject and storytelling should be applauded. And in that sphere, Nishabd doesn’t hold back. Yes, it does try to soften the blow to an over-protected audience used to tamer stuff, but the blow is still there.
Domesticated 60-year-old photographer Vijay (Amitabh Bachchan) has a teenaged daughter Ritu (Shraddha Arya) and a wife of 27 years (Revathi), with whom he describes his life as having “no complaints”.
Enter his daughter’s friend Jiah (Jiah Khan) who comes to their home to spend the holidays. She’s everything he’s not – young, free, irreverent and brash. An attraction develops, fuelled by Jiah’s playful flirtations with him. They confess their love to each other and the story takes it from there.
Before seeing the film, one wondered what would happen — would the film see their attraction find a conclusion, or would it be a safe touch-and-go romance, like in Dil Chahta Hai? The answer is, it does both. While the film boldly explores their guilty relationship, it also has the most hurried and unexplained endings, that leaves you feeling cheated.
This is one mistake that several filmmakers who touch upon unconventional topics commit – they dare and then they duck. Like in DCH, where the older woman- younger man relationship was conveniently taken care of by the abrupt and unconvincing death of Dimple Kapadia’s character. Here too, the film takes a stand, but then shifts.
The interludes where Bachchan’s Vijay directly addresses the audience and “explains” how and why the relationship happened are truly unnecessary, and pull down the pace of the film. Is it really necessary to spoon-feed the audience with preachy clarifications?
Predictably, the film rest on Bachchan’s able shoulders, as he emotes with all sincerity and brings forth the nuances of his complicated situation. He’s especially delightful in a scene where he breaks into an uncontrollable, spontaneous laughing fit recollecting Jiah’s antics, as his worried wife looks on, and he can’t tell her why.
Jiah Khan, perfectly cast, ably supports him. She’s a delight to watch in her effortless rendering of the straight-talking girl who loves making everyone just a bit uncomfortable.
One sore point – Jiah is shown to have divorced parents, hence the insinuation that she’s from a broken family…therefore a bit unstable…therefore susceptible to such a romance, is an unacceptable cliché, and very disappointing.
On the opposite spectrum is Vijay’s wife, another cliché – a sacrificing, plain, devoid of any sexuality, saas-bahu serials-watching, strict housewife who does ‘kit kit’. What’s also putting off is the unnecessary and too-much emphasis on Jiah’s sexuality.
Apart from provocatively licking a lollipop, her legs miraculously find their way into the frame of almost every shot. Then of course there’s the garden hose pipe scene where she’s in the garden, drenched and playing with the water pipe (who does that?) as Vijay rushes to click her pictures.
The cinematography (Amit Roy) is noteworthy and the camera effortlessly glides and ponders over the protagonists’ lives. Costumes are stylized, and Jiah’s look with her noisy junk jewellery and Bachchan in his dapper jumpers and jackets are a treat to watch.
One can admire a film for breaking convention but there are other factors that come into play when one must decide whether to recommend or not recommend a film — how convincing is it, how absorbing, how moving?
Nishabd, though partly all three, is never fully any one. And part emotions simply don’t work in a cinema hall. Watch the film, without expectations, if you are a severe Bachchan fan and like to sample variety in your films. Else, rent out the far more complex and intriguing Lolita instead.
Traffic Signal Banned In Himachal
February 8, 2007
Himachal Pradesh has banned Madhur Bhandarkar’s just-released film “Traffic Signal” for using the word ‘kinner’ to denote eunuchs.
Tribals from the state’s Kinnaur district are upset over the use of the term in the film, which takes a peek into the lives of people living near traffic signals in metros.
The people of the district maintain that under the constitution only they have the privilege of being called ‘kinners’. They have demanded that the film be banned across the country.
The state government took the decision to ban the film late Wednesday.
A state government spokesman said that unless the objectionable word ‘kinner’ was removed, the ban will continue. Bhandarkar reportedly refused to oblige.
In 2001, the government banned a film titled “Kohram” as it had a villain called Virbhadra Singh, the name of the chief minister. The ban still continues.
Movie Review: Bhagam Bhag
December 28, 2006
Starring Govinda, Akshay Kumar, Lara Dutta, Paresh Rawail, Rajpal Yadav, Jackie Shroff
Directed by Priyadarshan
Rating: No Clue!
In a Priyadarshan comedy one is always comforted in the chaos of colliding characters by the thought that somewhere in the on-going blizzard of bacchanalia there’s a rhythm and a rationale.
It’s that thought which keeps you smiling through the exasperatingly juvenile games of one-upmanship between Govinda and Akshay Kumar in the prolific director’s latest ode to rude- awakening calls from the shudder-world.
While Bhagam Bhag lacks the working-class anxieties of Hera Pheri, it certainly captures some of the colour, flamboyance and friskiness of a dance troupe from Mumbai which arrives in London for a performance without a heroine. Both the heroes, tongue-in-cheekily named Bunty(Akshay) and Babla(Govinda) as tribute to Abhishek and Rani’s ongoing boisterousness from the back-waters in Bunty Aur Babli, are asked to get a girl for the play.
Movie Review: Kabul Express
December 18, 2006
Cast: Arshad Warsi, John Abraham, Salman Shahid, Hanif Humghum and Linda Arsenio
Director: Kabir Khan
Kabul Express takes a look at the lives of five individuals from different worlds who are linked by hate and fear, but brought together in Afghanistan - a country devastated by war.
The movie is set after the 9/11 incident in New York. It focuses on the American bombing which destroyed the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.
It also shows Taliban soldiers trying to flea to Pakistan to avoid the wrath of the Afghan people.
Amid this turbulent backdrop, Jai (Arshad Warsi) and Suhel (Suhel Khan), two Indian television reporters in search of the ultimate news scoop arrive in Afganistan. Their aim is to interview a Talibani.
