56th Filmfare Awards: Flattery at its best!

I am an avid movies fan. No doubt about it. 30 years on planet earth and there is not a good movie that I would have missed on earth. I have seen Hindi, Tamil, English and Marathi movies the most as these are the ones I relish and understand completely. Have also seen Bengali, Punjabi, Oriya, Malayalam and Telugu movies with subtitles during the “Door Darshan” days, when the only escape from a Sunday afternoon study session was to watch a regional language movie without understanding “head or tail” of it! Off late, with a lot of spare time and options for experimentation, I have also added Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Yugoslavian, Russian, Spanish, Brazilian, British, Scottish, Irish, Austrian, Vietnames, Iranian, Iraqi, Egyptian, German, Swedish movies to that list of exotic movies seen. When you watch a foreign language movie, it requires a lot of patience to study the body language, mannerisms, the surroundings of the scene and simultaneously reading the subtitles in English and finally enjoy the movie. I have never been disappointed.

Apart from movies, have also been an avid watches of award functions – especially for Indian movies and more specifically – Filmfare Awards. I have almost grown up watching the “Black Lady” being doled out to an army of actors who have entertained us with gay abandon. I have also lived through all those “Thank you” speeches and hearing this dialogue at least umpteen times – “I was made for movies right from the time I was a kid and figured out walking by my two feet. In the bathroom, I have held the soap bar on my hands and practiced my thank you speech for the award for 20 years…and glad to receive this today after so many years. This is for you XYZ”, where the XYZ  can be mom, dad, wife, his pet crow, favorite pair of underwears or whatever! Emotions are a strange thing. They can make normal life look magical. Full respect to the capabilities of the actors and the pleothra of technical teams like Directors, Stunt Manager, Spot Boys, Make up artists, Lyricists and others. They make us forget our miseries through the movies and entertain us.  

In return to their entertainment we adorn the stars of these movies with adulation. Adulation can either be  taken on one’s stride..the difficult part or lead to a self inflated ego...the easy path to self adulation.  It is this force of self ego and "i am better than the best" attitude which is getting bigger amongst today’s actors from Bollywood. Everybody wants an award and if rumor mills are to be believed...almost everyone buys an award. There are islands of powers in these spaces of ego centers. Some of these prominent islands are the Bachhan camp, Khan Camp, Kapoor Camp, Chopra Camp or the recently added “Kumar” camp. 

Each of these camps is boisterous in its own rights and having a tower of ego, that needs to be regularly stroked. They also needed to be given “special mentions”, “special awards” if they can’t be nominated or be winning in a select category.  If you watch any of the awards - especially the most recent 56th Filmfare awards, you always see worship of three centers of powers for no rhyme or reason. In Hindu religion, its just like worshipping “Brahma Vishnu Maheshwara” or saying a “Sri Ganesh” before starting something new. The three power centers worshipped are “Mr Shah Rukh Khan” (SRK), “Mr. Amitabh Bachchan” and “Mr. Yash Chopra”. The worship is either through awards which they don’t deserve (SRK did'nt deserve the Best Actor award for My name is Khan. Mr. Bachhan got an award for completing 40 years in Bollywood. What the heck…40 years is a milestone? How many have already reached that before Mr. Bachhan?) or special mentions of Mr. Chopra that don’t have any merit  (of film industry intermittently being thankful to Mr. Chopra almost adorning him with the role of a living father of Indian film industry).

Mr. Bachchan in his own right – gets the accolades and appreciations and yet tries hard to appear modest. While I say this, I would like to clarify that I am one of the most ardent of Amitabh’s fans right from childhood …having watched even shoddy films like “MARD” 17 times! Not to forget apart from this Khuda Gawah, Jaadugar, Toofan, Shehenshah. Mr. SRK - is a great improviser when it comes to talking and being spontaneous and trying to be funny and intelligent - no doubt about that. The most irritating part is his attitude at times which is very oversmartish and the desperate attempt to be nice. 

I strongly believe that the pre-condition for big stars before accepting invite for any event is – “Award for any category for sure”, “Kiss my ass through adulations intermittently” , “Personal choice of seating in the audience..usually the first row” and of course “Money..money..money”. This unwanted flattery, sycophancy really looks too artificial to be true. 

It just shows that all the Filmfare awards and shows are actually scripted and directed by these actors. Through these functions, they can continue holding onto their “make believe world” and continue fooling the audience like us. No wonder some folks who already realized it – Amir Khan, Ajay Devgan, Nana Patekar and now Salman Khan are no longer attending these events. 

While I hate this flattery and sycophancy, I know I won’t be able to cross my heart and swear - never watch the awards function again. I will for sure watch another award function. That’s the true Indian fan on Bollywood…its in his blood to criticize, but still birthright to watch “Ego massaging award shows”, “flop movies”. This is because he loves “Bollywood”, its movies and actors and will never let it down!

Movie Reviews: Part 5

1.    A Passage to India

• This is a 1984 British/American drama film written and directed by David Lean. The screenplay is based on the 1924 novel of the same title by E.M. Forster and the 1960 play by Santha Rama Rau that was inspired by the novel.
• Amazing movie which takes out an incident from the times of the Britishers in India.
• The typical awkwardness between the native Indians and Britishers is well captured through incidents which bring them together or keep them away.
• Awesome performance by the Indian and British actors.
• A must see if you are from India.

2.    My beautiful Laundrette

•    My Beautiful Laundrette is a 1985 British comedy-drama film directed by Stephen Frears from a screenplay by Hanif Kureishi.
•    The movie tackles lot of issues like racism, homosexuality, hypocricy of Asian Communities and relationships between Asian and White communities

3.    Hairdressers Husband

•    A very nice French film (saw it reading the English Subtitles) about the fixation that the main character has with female hairdressers since his childhood.
•    The film uses flashbacks throughout and there are frequent parallels drawn with the past. Though Antoine tells Mathilde that 'the past is dead', his life is evidence that on some level the past repeats itself.
•     As a young boy he fantasised about a hairdresser who committed suicide and as a man in his 50s he begins an affair with a hairdresser which ends after ten years in her suicide. However there are differences, Mathilde commits suicide because she is so happy she is afraid of the happiness she has found with Antoine ending.
•    Antonie for some reason has a fixation to dance on some Arabic songs – which he does quiet funnily for 3-4 times in the movie, making u laugh like hell.
•    Would recommend this to anyone who would like to absorb a lot about what a normal life, people and surroundings  in France.

4.    Wendy and Lucy

•    The movie is about a young lady Wendy, who is broke with very little cash, has an old car and a dog called Lucy. She is set out to drive down from somewhere in Central USA to Alaska for a so called high paying summer job.
•    Along the way her car breaks down, she runs out of cash, is caught shop lifting and in the midst of this she loses her only possession in this world – Lucy.
•    With little money, the movie shows how she survives by sleeping inside her car, using the toilets attached to gas stations for having a quick wash. She also has no funds to fix her car.
•    She finally learns Lucy was taken to the local pound and adopted and decides that is better than anything she could offer the dog herself, so she gathers up her belongings and hops on a freight train headed north, leaving Lucy behind.
•    A nice movie on people who live on shoe string budgets, face hardships and at times find kind people who help them (like the guard in the movie, who is ok to share his cell phone with Wendy, when she is on the lookout for Lucy and also helps her with financial assistance)

Movie Reviews: Part 4

 1. Garage

• This movie was an accidental discovery in our Stavanger library – an Irish movie in English language. 
• The film tells the story of a lonely petrol station attendant and how he slowly begins to come out of his shell. 
• Josie – the character has been well etched and portrayed by the main protagonist. At times you feel sorry for him for the state he is in and then when he attempts to get more social and discover his innermost feeling to bond with humans, he is misunderstood. 
• Class locales and good cinematography. If you like watching “Different Cinema”, this one is a must watch. This movie has been selected and won a lot of international movie awards. 

2. The Cement Garden

• This is a British movie with an unusual story, based on a novel by Ian McEwan. 
• A family of four kids and their parents is living its own life in a neglected part of countryside UK, where in a sudden turn of events the father and then the mother die. 
• Unable to cope up with the same and understand themselves or the right thing to do, the kids bury their mother at the basement of their house inside an iron closet. 
• The elder kids begin to discover something forbidden at the very end and the movie draws to a close with the lights of police surrounding the house. 
• An unusual watch and though it won’t scare you to death – this storyline ain’t one for the fainthearted. 

3. Fargo

• This movie is not totally inspired by a true life incident, but inspired by many. 
• Based in the US, the main protagonist is married to the daughter of a wealthy person. He hates his f-i-l is so rich and that he himself is a failure and has to work under him in a car dealer shop. 
• He hatches a plan to kidnap his own wife through some thugs and ask for ransom from his f-i-l. 
• The plan begins to go wrong due to some unwanted murders the thugs commit, which raises the suspicion on a smart lady cop, who is pregnant. She has played an amazing role in the movie. 
• Finally everything goes wrong, lot of murders and killing happen and in the end the protagonist is caught. 
• A must recommend for a Friday night! 

4. 13 Tzameti

• A French movie by a Georgian film maker, totally shot in Black and white (though it was made in 2004-05), which makes this movie very classy to watch. Saw this by reading the English subtitles throughout. 
• A destitute immigrant worker steals an envelope containing instructions for a mysterious job that could pay out a fortune. Following the instructions, the young man unwittingly becomes trapped in a dark and dangerous situation. 
• The film somehow passes the message “all the begins wrongly, ends wrongly”, per my readings. 
• Apparently this movie is also being made in Hollywood, by the same director. 

5. Déficit

• Déficit is a 2007 Mexican feature film with subtitles in English.
• It talks about the current state of affairs in Mexico, where the affluent people can afford the world of comforts, best of schools – Harvard Business schools and have servants to do all the work.
• It exploits the class barriers in Mexico and how the youth are split between doing well in career, enjoying life and its pleasures by partying, binge drinking and having drugs.
• It makes you realize the caste barriers seen in India are in some way reflected in Mexico in between classes. 
• A good movie to watch! 

6. The Laramie Project

• This film is a true life story which talks about the hate crimes in America especially in the countryside of Wyoming. 
• It tells the story of the aftermath of the 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard in Laramie, Wyoming. It premiered at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival. 
• The film is based on 200-300 interviews taken from people in Laramie following the aftermath of Matt’s murder.
• Amazing movie to watch.

Movie Reviews: Part 3

1.       "Six Days Seven Nights"

•                    Starring Harrison Ford,Anne Heche.

•                    Nice storyline and some good "stranded in the island" adventures.

•                    David Schwimmer's role (the Friends guy - Ross) is more of a wimp than anything else!

2.       "The American"

•                    A good Georg Clooney movie, with not that much of a story - but some good action and tp stuff.

3.       "Angadi Theru"

•                     A Tamil movie - amazing movie - showing the gory realities behind the scenes of the big, plush stores in Ranganathan Street in Chennai, India.

•                    I was glad to hear from my friend KK that after this movie, the Govt sent random inspections to these stores to ensure Quality of Life for the employees of these stores. Hats off!

4.       "The Emigrant"

•                    Egyptian movie with English subtitles - Director Youssef Chahine's

•                    Amazing movie. Was very controversial and stirred up quite a storm in Egypt and was banned for sometime .

•                    When the movie was allowed to be released, it became one of the biggest grossers of all time in Egypt!

5.       "The night of the sunflowers"

•                    Saw this Spanish movie with English subtitles.

•                    Amazing movie which leaves you thinking during and after the movie.

•                    Good plot of interconnecting different stories.

Movie Reviews: Part 2

1.       "The Japanese Wife"

•                    Bengali movie by Aparna Sen with some dialogues in English

•                    The movie could have been better, but nevertheless the story line and rural Bengali background combined with some sweet Bengali dialogues and Japanese background music make it more endearing.

2.       "Zeitgeist"

•                    An amazing documentary - kinda shakes your belief on the "truth you believed so far" across 3 different topics!

•                     Dunno to what extent it is true, but this will make you question everything that you indisputably accepted so far.

3.       When Father Was Away on Business

•                    A Yugoslavian film set in the post World War II Era.

•                    Amazing movie with good wit and storyline.

•                    Undoubtedly it won the Cannes award in 1985!

•                    Worth watching – though you have to read the English subtitles all the way through!

4.       "Siddhartha"

•                    Amazing movie which tried to explore the true meaning of human existence.

•                    From saying, "I can think,fast and write" in his youth, Siddhartha (Shashi Kapoor) finally comes at peace with himself in the end.

•                    In the end you are left pondering..whats the use of all the materialistic needs that we humans so selfishly pursue till we breathe our last?

5.       "Sicko"

•                    My first ever Michael Moore movie - "Sicko".

•                    Awesome insights onto the healthcare system in US as compared to the ones in UK, France, Canada and Cuba!  He has gone to the extent of going to these countries, speaking to locals about their system.

•                    The benefits of a socialist healthcare system as compared to a capitalist healthcare system were indeed mind boggling!

•                    When will India have an all encompassing healthcare system?

Movie Reviews: Part 1

Yes, self- admittedly I am a movie buff. I self-realized it later in life. I also realized my inclination was more towards the non commercial movies. The movies which are more realistic than idealistic / super hero / action times. Though I have no issues in watching the movies where hero-beats-villain-gets-his love, I still prefer watching art movies / real life movies, where the main protagonist can still be a failure at the end of the movie. I would share my thoughts on some of these movies that I keep watching in this space.

1.       "Driving Miss Daisy"

•                    Amazing movie starring Morgan Freeman and Jessica Tandy.

•                    Good story around the times of racism and prejudice in the American society. Has mentions of JT attending one of the talks of Marthin Luther King.

•                     In 1989 this movie won 4 Academy awards out of 9 nominations.

•                    I love Morgan Freeman’s movies – watched Shawshank Redemption, Seven, The Maiden Heist and this. Just amazing! Another movie that you can watch of JT is Fried Green Tomatoes. Simply Amazing!

•                    A must watch!

2.        "Hachiko: A Dog's Story"

•                    Starring Richard Gere, Georg of Sienfeld fame.

•                    Amazing movie exploring the deep connection of dogs with human beings.

•                    Hachiko the dog waits for his master in the same railway station everyday for 10 years after the master dies.

•                    Based on a true life story in Japan.

•                    If you love animals especially dogs, this is a movie to watch!

3.    "The Guatemalan Handshake".

•                    Kind of weird a movie, which revolves around a small electric car in an odd shape and the various owners it had.

•                    In the end all charachters are heading in different directions in their lives.

•                    This film won the Special Jury Prize in the Sundance Film Festival.