Saw an assorted range of movies in the recent past that don’t really deserve a more detailed mention than below
Gayab’ (Vanished!) (2004) is another one of Ram Gopal Verma’s factory movies fresh off the production line. Directed by: Prawaal Raman, Cinematographer: Pietro Zuercher, Produced by Ram Gopal Varma
It’s a niche movie a bit away from the standard formulaic masala movies but nevertheless retaining essential elements to attract crowds and retain the ethos of Bollywood.
It’s about a miserable loser in life (Tushar Kapoor) who manages to become invisible and then sets-about trying to fulfil his dreams, resorting to villainy if required.
There are 3 reasons why anyone would watch this pretty below-average movie: Rasika Joshi as the nagging mother (of Tushar) and wife (of Raghubir Yadav), Tushar Kapoor who so fits the character and Antara Mali, the sensuous dusky beauty.
Rasika Joshi is aptly cast and is a tremendous character artiste. Tushar Kapoor proves he is a very good actor (his transformation from a timid and pathetic personality is a worthwhile watch) but with his non-filmi looks its always going to be tough for him, pedigree (he is Jeetendra’s son) notwithstanding.
And as for Antara
Watch this movie also for its cinematography. Lots of unusual camera angles, crane shots and crisp editing
Watch this:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8073268394714291893&q=antara+mali&total=76&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0
Bees Saal Baad (Twenty Years Later) (1962)
A puerile detective-cum-horror story moving at an imbecilic pace and a script with a decidedly odd ending for an Indian movie particularly of those times. Soppy acting all round, especially from the lead actors, Waheeda Rehman and Biswajit. The beautiful Waheeda acting a bit silly at times as village girls were supposed to do in those days.
With those clichéd techniques to enhance the scariness quotient of the movie: the eerie music, the camera movements etc., the villains trying to conform to bookish definition of villains (i.e. a patch covering the blind eye, funny white and black leather shoes, overcoats, sideways glances etc.etc., your patience will be severely tested.
About the only saving grace being 2 songs which are hummable to this day and age
Kahin Deep Jale Kahin Dil
Bekarar karke hame yun na jaiye – Lyrics are pretty average though
Playback: Lata and Hemant Kumar, Lyrics: Shakeel Badayuni, Music and Produced by Hemant Kumar
Chakra (The Wheel) (1980)
An ‘art’ film based in a slum and about the pitiful life of its inhabitants. Based on the novel ‘Chakra’ by Jaywant Dalvi (the famous Marathi writer), the movie is singularly bad in most respects.
Witness the low production values, as visible in the poor quality of the raw film stock, the patchy sets. A dusty and grainy movie just like the slum it roams through. A slum surprisingly shorn of chaos, with lots of open spaces albeit rocky and dusty. Extremely poor editing, sub-standard dialogues, songs that flit through incongruously like ghosts, slum dwellers behaving like caricatures of themselves, Characters trying to act like characters who are trying to say something serious, thought-provoking and deep. The trouble is, you can see through their fake-ness. The movie fails to evoke the pathos of the situation that we see the characters going through.
You almost feel you are intruding upon the script by actually listening to the dialogues. Starring such luminaries of Hindi cinema as Smita Patil, Naseeruddin Shah, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Rohini Hattangadi; the quality of supporting actors is pretty low
At the end you are no wiser then you were in the beginning.
It is so bad that I would like to put on record the people associated with making it: Special Asst to the Director: Raj Kumar Santoshi, Original background music score arranged by Amar Haldipur, Lyrics: Madhosh Bilgrami, Playback Singers: Lata, Bhupendra Singh, Suresh Wadkar, Ravindra Sathe, Chandrashekhar, Sponsored by NFDC, Script and Dialogues by Shama Zaidi, Javed Siddiqui. Edited: Bhanudas, Photographed: Barun Mukherjee, Original Music composed by Hridaynath Mangeshkar, Produced: Manmohan Shetty, Pradeep Uppoor, Screenplay, Written and Directed by Rabindra Dharmaraj
Sarfarosh (Fervour) (1999)
A relatively modern hit movie starring Aamir Khan and which addressed the problem-of-the-season during that period: Terrorism (specifically the kind carried out by Pakistan-based terrorists) in
Although the film garnered much praise (dunno, what for!), scratch the surface and it’s just another masala movie. Nothing about it really distinguishes itself: the script, the acting, the songs, cinematography etc.etc.
The Pakistani ghazal singer (Naseeruddin Shah) as a terrorist recruiting agent really takes the cake!! What the fish, as the ‘OSO’ Shahrukh would say!!!
Die-hard Aamir Khan fans could probably find some take-aways from the movie. The character of AK is unnaturally rude and impatient in the movie but what I like about AK is his studiousness about the character and the script and his insistence on a certain integrity to run through he movie
His companion in the film is the sensuous Sonali Bendre who manages to look sexy without looking vulgar. Though her ‘don’t mind’ takiya kalam gets quite irritating after a while.
If you must watch any particular scene let it be the end confrontation between AK and NS. Two Muslims in real life acting out parts as an Indian and a Pakistani confronting each other and spouting some home-truths. If that isn’t meant to convey something specific, what is? And for a change,
So lets turn to the key songs, some of which are quite hummable:
Hosh Walon Ko (lyrics: Nida Fazli, Sung by Jagjit Singh. Choreography: Farah Khan) – a delightfully picturised song and Sonali looks sooooo charming
Is Deewane Ladke ko (lyrics: Sameer, Singer: Alka Yagnik, Choreography: Farah Khan)
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