Y(L)uck!

The only reason why I ended up watching "Luck" was because I was taking a road trip in a bus, and I was not sleepy enough! I "had to" watch the movie that was being screened to keep myself from getting bored to death in the 8 hr journey.

Well, the film didn't quite last the entire time but it might as well have since it was so entertaining! Before you jump to wrong conclusions, I mean that it's entertainment value lies in the fact that it was completely brainless, absolutely silly, and just enough to keep you engaged to see what stupid thing comes next. If I were to review it professionally, I wouldn't dare give it more than 2 out of 10!

The basic plot involves a Mafia boss Karim Moosa (Sanjay Dutt) recruiting "lucky" people from all over the world with the help of his 'right-hand-man' Tamaang (Danny Denzongpa). The idea is to engage these poor, needy folks in a series of life-threatening tasks and make money from bets placed by rich idiots globally. The chosen lucky ones include heavily-in-debt Ram Mehra (Imran Khan), "badla"-seeking Ayesha/Natasha (Shruti Hassan), terminal-wife-to-save Major Jawar Pratap Singh (Mithun Chakraborty), escaped-from-death-row serial killer Raghav (Ravi Kishen), sold-by-parents Shortcut (Chitrashi Rawat), and other firang dudes and dudettes.

From day one it is a game with the basic principle of "survival of the luckiest". Everyday is a matter of life and death...only the luckiest can survive until the end! Each game is more stupid than the previous. There are guns held to each other's head while everyone stands in a circle, there are parachutes, sharks and burning trains. Jaise purane filmo mein bolte they.."aap ko dava ki nahi dua ki jaroorat hain"...waise isme sabko "luck ki jaroorat hain". In addition, there is also a "the script definitely didn't demand it" bikini scene with Shruti Hassan...it is a pathetic attempt to add some oomph value!

However, the last scene takes the cake for me...here's how it goes (sorry for the spoiler but I couldn't resist the temptation! :D)

Imran Khan is the last man standing ("koi shaque" ;) ). He challenges Sanjay Dutt to a shooting game. Each one has a gun with a single bullet. Both fire simultaneously...the luckiest one will survive. As luck would have it, both hit the mark and for a moment one begins to think that both of their "lucks" gave out. However, Moosa survives with the bullet hitting his arm and as far as Ram is concerned.......

wait for it.....

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he survives because his heart is not where it was supposed to be! It is on the right side instead of the left! It was hillarious to hear the doctor say it, and more hillarious to see the bewilderment on Imran Khan's face! Damn...he found this out after more than 20-25 yrs of his life...kya maa-baap kabhi usko doctor ke paas nahi leke gaye?

To add to this silliness, the "Aazma luck" track plays in the background all through the movie. Listening between the lines, it might actually mean "aazma patience aur sahanshakti" to the audience.

"Luck" is supposed to be an action flick but the action scenes lack "dum". The action sequences seem like poor rip-offs from Hollywood movies! The dialogues are cheesy and don't make much of an impact. I would have personally appreciated if they didn't bother to include any songs...just a good background score would have sufficed!

As far as the performances are concerned, Sanjay Dutt and Danny "puck"au you with their endless banter about luck and how Sanju baba is the luckiest dude ever! In my honest opinion, Imran Khan should stick to romantic, chocolate-boy roles...action doesn't quite suit him. Else his luck might give up on him and he might end up as a "one film wonder". Shruti Hassan didn't get a good launchpad as one would have thought about for Kamal Hassan's daughter. She has a lot of work to do as far as her acting and dialogue delivery is concerned. Mithunda is "than"da with cheesy lines like "koi shaque". Ravi Kishen and Chitrashi Rawat have done pretty well in their characters.

All in all, you better duck, because "Luck" sucks, is not worth the buck, and is full of muck...LOL!

Oh Yeah!

Winston Churchill once said “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” This quote precisely summarizes the essence of the movie "Yes Man".

Yes Man is the story of Carl, a very unsociable and aloof man on the verge of being a pessimist. He finds excuses to avoid hanging out with friends, and is stuck in a boring job. He is tired of his annoying neighbor, the overfriendly manager at work, and for that matter, even the guy on the street distributing pamphlets for a band recital. Bottom line is that his life sucks!

Then comes the day when he meets an old pal, who seems to be in seventh heaven. He reveals the secret of his happiness and suggests that Carl become a "Yes Man" and get out of the rut. Carl attends the self-help seminar recommended by his friend, and then takes a vow to say "yes" to every question asked in order to seize every opportunity. What follows is Carl's journey of living life king size, doing things from bungee jumping, guitar lessons, and learning Korean, to taking a random flight, saving a stranger from committing suicide, going out of his way to give a hobo a ride home, and registering on a Persian bride finder website; things that he had never thought about before. It is a story of how seemingly useless things that he does willingly or unwillingly turn his life for good. He becomes optimistic about everything around him. Most of the humor is generated from things going haywire due to his over-zealousness until he learns to strike a balance.

Jim Carrey is amazing as Carl; he breathes life into the character. The rest of the cast is also well suited. The film has several funny moments, and some typical Carrey-isms.

Overall, it is a wonderful movie.

That said I would like to share some nice quotes on optimism-pessimism that I came across:

“Pessimist: One who, when he has the choice of two evils, chooses both”

“The optimist already sees the scar over the wound; the pessimist still sees the wound underneath the scar”

“An optimist laughs to forget, a pessimist forgets to laugh.”

“Between the optimist and the pessimist, the difference is droll. The optimist sees the doughnut; the pessimist the hole!”

“In the long run the pessimist may be proved right, but the optimist has a better time on the trip.”

“A pessimist only sees the dark side of the clouds, and mopes; a philosopher sees both sides and shrugs; an optimist doesn't see the clouds at all--he's walking on them.”

“Both optimists and pessimists contribute to our society. The optimist invents the airplane and the pessimist the parachute.” 

Murder They Wrote...

It has been a while since I saw a well-acted “murder” mystery in Bollywood. The reason I put murder in quotes is that this film is a murder mystery without a murder.  The tag line says it all…”How do you murder a man who has already committed suicide?”

The film opens slowly, a tad boringly. We see a typical Bollywood-style dysfunctional marriage with a once-successful, drunk, slightly older husband (Naseeruddin Shah) with a young, attractive, and probably gold-digging wife (Neha Dhupia).  And there is a family friend cum confidante cum lawyer, Boman Irani. A near-death DUI experience for the husband brings an average Joe, Paresh Rawal, into the household as a driver. As the plot progresses, we are introduced to the hopelessness and eccentricity of Naseeruddin Shah’s character.  Then comes a day when he decides to screw his wife’s life for good…he reveals to her and  the driver the secret about his Rs.250,000,000 insurance and the twists and complexities involved in claiming it,  and then commits suicide. All the wife needs to do is prove that he was murdered in order to claim the money. At this point begins a tale of twists and turns, trust and betrayal, and double cross, which keeps the viewer engaged. There are several moments when the movie is totally predictable (at least it was to me!), but it is enjoyable nonetheless.  There are some obvious plot holes and inaccuracies but overall it is a good effort.

Paresh Rawal excels as the driver Subhash. It is a good change to see him as a character-actor rather than a comedian. Boman Irani and Naseeruddin Shah have done a great job as well. Surprisingly, Neha Dhupia is good too! Om Puri is good, but wasted in the miniscule role. The only thing I didn’ t like much was the title..I would rather name it differently, and try not to give away the entire story through the tag line!

This movie is an adaptation of a Gujarati play by Paresh Rawal. It is pretty decent as a film, but I believe it would be more engaging as a play. The screenplay is a little play-like and seems designed to be performed live on stage instead of the silver screen.

In conclusion, “Maharathi” is a good entertainer, with a nice plot, and a stellar cast. Definitely worth a dekko.  

Wake Up And Smell The Coffee...

"Pay It Forward"…an extremely impressive and moving film. I rented the DVD purely based on a hunch. Boy, am I glad I’ve a great sixth sense when it comes to choosing movies! I thoroughly enjoyed and absolutely loved this movie!

The movie spreads the simple message of "One Good Turn Deserves Another" in a very heartwarming manner and from a slightly different angle. It is not about returning favors or paying back; it is about paying forward...it is about someone helping you do something you can't do by yourself, you helping three more people, each of them helping three more, and so on, thus leading to a chain reaction of goodwill and kindness.

It is a story of a little boy's vision about doing something to change the world. It starts as a 7th grade social studies assignment and grows into a national movement. All it takes is passing the torch of benevolence.

The film is very well-made, with a perfect cast to complement the story. Haley Joel Osment is extremely adorable and sincere as the 12 yr old visionary, Trevor McKinney. Helen Hunt has done a commendable job as his compulsively alcoholic mother, trying to make it work with her son, while juggling 2 jobs, a deadbeat and drifting husband, and a budding romance. Kevin Spacey excels as the motivating teacher with a sad and haunting past. The other supporting cast is also very good. The biggest virtue of the movie is that all the characters are multifaceted and explore a wide range of emotions.

Watching this inspiring movie made me pause and think, as if Trevor were asking me instead of his teacher, "What did you ever do to change the world?" I hope that at least some of us will get inspired enough to pay it forward and be a part of this simplistic way to bring about a change in the world. The most important lesson to be learnt is that changing the world does not require power, money, or material possessions. All it needs is each one doing whatever they can, whenever they can, with whatever they have.

One of the dialogues from the film summarizes its essence perfectly.

"Some people are too scared or something to think things can be different. The world's not exactly...shit. I guess it's hard for some people who are so used to things the way they are - even if they are bad - to change and they kinda give up and when they do, everybody loses."

F.R.I.E.N.D.S. Forever!

I have been thinking about doing a post on one of my most favorite TV shows ever, but never really got to it. Finally the time has come to pay homage to one of the best sitcoms...F.R.I.E.N.D.S.

I was introduced to this legendary show a long time after its cessation. Although I am not one of those who followed the show from start to finish while it was on air, I have probably watched all the episodes more number of times. It is almost impossible to get bored of F.R.I.E.N.D.S. The more you watch it, the more insight you get into the characters, and the more you love them. You can never get tired of Chandler's sarcastic one-liners or Phoebe's eccentric behavior. Joey will always charm you with his "How you doing?" and his silliness. Monica’s discipline, Ross’s nerdiness, and Rachel’s fashion never get old.  Could I BE more right about this?

The six main characters are brilliant, and so is the supporting cast. The show would not be the same without Janice, Gunther, Frank Jr., Ross and Monica’s parents, Chandler’s parents, Mike,  to name a few. I’m trying really hard to pick my favorite character but that just seems like an impossible task. All of them are so different, and yet so essential to the recipe of fun…it wouldn’t have the same flavor if any of them was missing. That said, I can personally identify a lot with Monica’s character, being an over-organized (read: crazily disciplined) person myself, though I wish I could be as pure hearted as Phoebe.  

Some may find this silly, but I have learnt a lot of things about America and Americans from F.R.I.E.N.D.S. I started watching the show when I was new to the US, and I got a great glimpse into the American way of living, in terms of traditions, culture, cult classics, jokes, and even to some extent slang. I was exposed to a lot of different things which I could possibly have never encountered in personal life. It may not have been a perfect picture, but it did give me a head start on fitting in better.

The bottom line is that F.R.I.E.N.D.S. rocks! The show's essence can be summarized from its name. Here’s my two cents worth on what the name symbolizes

Freaky Phoebe

Riotously funny Chandler

Idiotic Joey

Elegant Rachel

Nerdy Ross

Disciplined Monica

Superb Supporting Cast

90% Talent, 10% Luck

I must admit that like so many other girls, I was swooning over Farhan Akhtar after watching “Rock On”. I was waiting to see more of him in Bollywood. That’s the reason I jumped on the first opportunity I got to watch “Luck by Chance”.  

It is a good movie, rocking debut for director Zoya Akhtar, and another feather in Farhan’s cap. The film has all the ingredients of a masala movie, and yet it is not spicy enough to cause heartburn. Everything is just right.  The story progresses at a steady pace and is well executed by the cast. Farhan has done a tremendous job as the not-so-perfect struggling actor. Konkona has done a swell job as usual. Among the others, especially worth a mention are Rishi Kapoor, Dimple Kapadia, and Arjun Mathur. Although Juhi Chawla was great, her immense talent was totally wasted in that role.  I wonder if Isha Sharvani was acting or being herself…in either case there is not much to talk about her abysmal acting skills! Among the cameos,  Anurag Kashyap, Shahrukh Khan, Hritik Roshan, and Karan Johar got the meatiest ones.

Although this is a great effort on Zoya’s part, this film reminded me of Madhur Bhandarkar’s style throughout. It is usually he who wants to show people “the other side of things” and is one of the best  at it.…be it Fashion (the other side of the fashion industry), Chandani Bar(the other side of bar girls’ life), Page 3 (the other side of the glamour world), Satta (the other side of politics), Corporate(the other side of the big industrialists), and so on. 

Every once in a while I was comparing the progress of the storyline of Luck by Chance to that of Fashion and I found lot of similarities. For example, the transition of Farhan’s character from a simple Delhi boy to a selfish and uncaring star was parallel to the transition of Priyanka Chopra’s character in Fashion.  Also Konkona’s character was a female counterpart of Arjan Bajwa’s character.  

Also, every time I saw Arjun Mathur’s character (Abhimanyu) on screen, I felt that there was something more about him coming, and that he would add a possible twist to the story, but it never happened! He was giving out mixed signals throughout the movie, as if something important involving him was in store.  However, that’s just a minor glitch, and so is the not-so-great music of the film. Other than that, I loved the movie.

Lots of people have been complaining about how they didn’t like the end of the movie. I felt that it was totally justified. In the movies of this genre, it is not about a “..and they lived happily ever after” kinda ending,  but rather, it is about practicality and realism. The end really tied it all together.

All in all, Zoya has done full justice to the story. Not once did I feel that someone else could have done it better.  Farhan is as charming and cute as ever.  Konkona is an amazing actress and simply reiterates that fact. Most of the supporting cast is also “all star”. Apart from Farhan, Arjun Mathur seems like the one to watch out for in the future. He has a lot of potential.  

Overall, this venture is not a lucky success – it is a big scoop of talent sprinkled with a pinch of luck. 

Slumdog Millionaire for the Oscars...Really???

So many people were raving about the greatness of the new movie "Slumdog Millionaire" that I was desperate to see what's so good about it! When I finally got a chance to watch it, I was disappointed! I was trying very hard to understand what was so outstanding but failed to do so.

I'm not saying that it was a bad film, but, there was nothing extraordinary either. To me, it looked like a tweaked, tad glamorized version of Mira Nair's "Salaam Bombay". Personally I think that "Salaam Bombay" was very powerful and portrayed the life in slums of Mumbai as realistically as possible. The authenticity of the film lay in the fact that many of the child "actors" were actual street kids, and of course some stellar performances by actors like Nana Patekar and Raghuvir Yadav. "Slumdog Millionaire" failed to make the same impact on me.

First of all, a westerner making a film on life in the underbelly of Mumbai sounds like a strange phenomenon in itself. Some might argue that Mira Nair is also a westerner, but being of Indian origin can make a huge difference. An Indian can identify with certain aspects of Indian culture and society that might seem alien to a westerner. However, that's not the primary reason for me to dislike the film. I felt that the lead actor Dev Patel was too “polished" to be a "slumdog". Although he played the part well, the hint of a British accent in his dialogue delivery bothered me quite a bit all through the film. A thought crossed my mind one too many times that if Jamal (Dev Patel) was so sharp, intelligent, well-versed, with a good command over the English language, why the heck was he still working as a chaiwala? And since when did the questions on "Kaun Banega Crorepati" become so simple? If that was the case, India would be overflowing with millionaires! I also felt that the arrogance and sarcasm of Anil Kapoor's character was a bit overdone and a total contrast to the behavior of actual hosts of KBC like Amitabh Bachchan and Shahrukh Khan.

On the bright side, the overall plot was pretty decent, and most of the actors did proper justice to their parts. A.R.Rehman's music score was good. The film-makers managed to successfully capture various facets of street-life in Mumbai.

All that said, does the film really, really deserve to be nominated in so many categories? Or is it getting all this extra attention simply because it is made by a westerner? As an overall experience, I felt that from the past few years, "Taare Zameen Par", "No Smoking", "Manorama Six Feet Under", or for that matter even "Dor" would have been better candidates for nominations.

All said and done, to end my thrashing of this film, I would say that in my honest opinion, all the hype and hoopla about "Slumdog Millionaire" is a plain case of "much ado about nothing!"