3 Idiots - Funny and entertaining !!!

Movie adaptations based on books are not as popular in India as it is in the west. We rarely see them happen here. So it was kind of interesting when 3 idiots was supposed to be the adaptation of the successful novel ‘Five point someone’. Hirani had come public and clearly stated that it’s not an adaptation of the novel, but just takes the basic premise from it. Rajkumar Hirani has precisely done that.

He takes the main characters and basic knot out of the book rehashes his cult classic Munna bhai and dishes out his own new product. So we have the story of three friends in their engineering years ( taken from the book), out of three the main idiot Rancho is sketched out to be a mix of Nikumbh from Tare Zameen Par, John Keating of Dead poets society and also has shades of munnabhai . Then we have the strict disciplinarian in Sahastra Buddhe the college dean who wants high scoring engineers and not free thinkers, (this one is straight out of Hiranis Munnabhai where we had the hospital dean endorsing such a philosophy). If it was Munnas tapori attitude questioning the work culture of the doctors there, here our live wire Rancho questions the very structure of our education system in general and Mr. Buddhes way of learning in particular. He also preaches everyone to follow their heart and passion and not to succumb to external (parental/society) pressures (Again an extension of Taare Zameen Par)

3 Idiots works wonderfully well as a comedy. Hirani is in top notch form in his comic sequences and the actors pull of their scenes brilliantly well. Take for instance the scene where Rancho tampers with the speech that has to be delivered on the teachers day function makes for a great laugh. The funny portrayal of Sharman joshis suffering family was a hatke se thinking, like the scene where they mix up all the answer sheets to confuse the invigilator are all nicely done. I seriously wish Hirani had stuck to such smart heartfelt comedy sequences.

But he fills the second half with so many melodramatic sequences and fills in with a whole lot of convenient coincidences which took away all the zest and energy from the movie. Take for instance the most crucial scene where Rancho successfully helps a delivery with the help of doctor through web cam using a vacuum cleaner ( it was shocking that I was reminded of a ridiculous scene from ‘Sabari’ when I was watching this). If that wasn’t enough the baby which is so close to have been dead born suddenly starts kicking alive when everyone says ‘Aall is well’. Even in midst of such a sequence there are shades of Hiranis humor ( watch when Aamir and Boman Irani both instinctively throw the keys to Madhavan to get the Vacuum cleaner asap, you cannot resist from cracking up).

So as much as the serious melodramatic sequences never created the expected lump in the throat, while the comic portions were brilliant and enjoyable. Another big reason why the movie works so well is because of its actors. Though Aamir has the Nikumbh hangover from TZP throughout the movie, his likeable charm and high energy levels works wonders for the movie. Sharman Joshi is underrated and has a brilliant timing in comic sequences ( How does an Induction motor start :P ). Madhavan is restrained and plays his part well. Kareena with little screen space does justice to her role. Boman Irani was strictly ok and looked like he was overdoing it a bit. Omi Prakash who plays Silencer is a brilliant find.

If I end up saying that this movie is a no brainer entertainer then it would be utter cruelty to its makers and as the same time you cannot say that is a satirical comedy that needs brains then I would be fooling myself, so if I may say so it fits in somewhere in the middle of these two categories but assures you unadulterated entertainment. It’s not a movie which might change your life or way of thinking ( as some people portray it), not sure if the makers even intended the movie that way, but it gives you a hearty laugh and big smile on your face for sure !!

Quick bite - The Fall

This movie will top the list of movies that I regret for not having watched it on a big screen. Such stunning visuals. The movie is so aesthetically shot and each frame is such a joy for the eye.

The movie revolves around an injured stuntman stuck in a hospital narrating a imaginary fantasy story of 5 warriors/mythological characters who rebel against an emperor to a young girl whom he gets acquainted in the hospital. The narration is brilliant as we hear the narration from the injured stunt man but the movie visuals are shown as seen by the eyes of the young girl. We see her visualizing these characters in the story with the people whom she meets in the hospital. The sequences in the hospital and the narrated story are contrastingly shot to bring in the difference between reality and fantasy. The fantasy sequences are filled with bright vibrant colors and huge landscapes which gives it a brilliant touch.

One of the underrated movies which is hardly talked about. A must watch!!

Check the trailer below

For more details about the movie visit http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0460791/

Paa !!

Walking out of the theaters after watching ‘Paa’ two of my friends were complaining that the movie never made the emotional impact or never had those gut wrenching scenes which would make us walk out of the theaters with a heavy heart. For me that was one of the many reasons that I like about ‘Paa’. Many movies dealing with physical disability to its protagonist often treads the expected path of showing how difficult is their survival and tries to win over the audience by getting highly manipulative and pretentious.

“Paa’ which is about a Auro 13 year old kid who is suffering from a rare genetic disorder Progeria treats its subject with high sensibility and not for one moment tries to get manipulative. None of the characters treat Auro as a piece of sympathy be it his single mom or his set of adorable friends. Auro himself is portrayed as a bundle of energy with a tongue in cheek humor. There lies the films biggest strength. Take for instance that brilliant sequence where Auro calls up his best friend Vishnu ( brilliant performance ) over the phone to check if he has got any similarities with his dad or the sequence where Auro talks about potty with the minister on his way back from Rashtrapthi bhavan, these scenes are absolutely hilarious and very well written. These are the films highest points. Even the sequences where abhishek asks vidya to get an abortion or the following sequence where vidya breaks her situation to her are treated with utmost subtleness and there is no huge loud of cry.

While Balki the director gets most of these things absolutely right he loses his grip with a needless subplot of abhishek as a revolutionary young MP, trying to bring down a corrupt colleague and as a do gooder to the people. This subplot turns into a mini episode of bachchans taking pot shots at the media which does no help to the movies central theme. How I wish we could have had more scenes with Auro and his gang at school or even a bit more of development between Auro and his father.

Nevertheless but for this glitch Balki should be applauded for his terrific effort. Such ideas will always look brilliant on paper, but here he executes it close to perfection. Dialogues are simply brilliant and his witty one liners are rib tickling. Special mention should be made for his ability to extract such natural performances from the kids. The film belongs to Ilayaraja and PC Sreeram as much the movie belongs to Balki. Ilayarajas music and background score are top notch. The Violin orchestration running throughout the movie gives us a scintillating feeling and simply elevates a scene to a different level (Was utterly disappointed that balki used only 1 min of the brilliant ‘Gumm Summ’ song). PC Sreeram matches IR shot by shot and literally creates poetry with his cinematography. ‘Mudi Mudi‘ song is so beautifully shot and looks purely magical on the big screen.

With taking the mantle of the producer as well for the movie, Bachchan junior gives a decent performance as a ultra cool MP. Surprisingly Vidya balan gets much more screen time and gives a very restrained mature performance. She has never looked more beautiful on screen. Better than these two I loved Arundathi Naags performance as Auros loveable grand ma. Given a very well written character her performance was so natural. Wish we could see more of her. That leaves us with the biggest talking point of the town right now, Amitabh Bachchan. He redefines superstardom and shows the way for all the other aging super stars . Under such a heavy prosthetic make up ( outstanding work, so much of detailing , check out his teeth and single shot where his calf muscles are visible) you are left with very little chance of emoting . The more important issue was to get the body language and his voice modulation right , and he gets that to perfection. Right from the first frame where he is introduced to us to the last frame its hard to believe that it’s indeed Amitabh Bachchan. To reinvent like this and put an effort at this age is nothing short of an astounding achievement.