Monday 9 February 2015

SHAMITABH: REVIEW



R Balki recently mentioned in an interview that the 'most want to touch person' in this country is a 72 year old. Of course, that 72 year old is no ordinary thespian but has a legacy of his own behind him. Among the numerous characteristics that have defined Mr. Bachchan over the years, his voice remains one of the strongest, which when combined with visuals go on to form what we call cinema. And it is this characteristic that Shamitabh uses to form it's premise & tries to lure audiences. And it could have done so easily, if only the voice had an equally capable personality to match itself.
Shamitabh starts off on a good note. The craze of young Daanish (Dhanush) for Bollywood & anything that spells F-I-L-M  indeed induces a smile on your face as he can even scare off his school teacher despite being mute. From imitations of The Godfather to Nana Patekar's deaf & dumb act in Khamoshi, Daanish grows up on cinema, earning, learning & yearning for the time when he would go to Mumbai to pursue his celluloid dream. After his mother's death, Daanish decides to finally go ahead & pursue his dream. On arriving in Mumbai, he goes through the grind any struggler goes through with stars in his eyes. From sleeping in celebrity vanity vans secretly to trying to reach out to numerous directors (quick cameos here by Rajkumar Hirani, Rakesh Mehra & Karan Johar), Daanish goes through it all, until assistant director Akshara (Akshara Hassan) spots his talent and despite his handicap, decides to kickstart his journey into Hi-Fi. Off they fly to Finland, where advanced technology comes to Daanish's rescue (another medical angle in Balki's film post Paa) and then the hunt begins for a voice that can define Daanish's personality as an actor. That voice comes from a drunkard Amitabh (Amitabh Sinha) lying on the corner of a street. As Amitabh understands what he can do for Daanish & how powerful his voice is, he uses it as a weapon against an industry that didn't give him his deserved chance under the spotlight 40 years ago. What follows is the creation of Shamitabh, an actor with some incredible acting chops & a voice to match. The combo of Daanish's acting & Amitabh's voice is a smash hit in B-Town. But while Daanish climbs up the ladder of success like playing a great round of snakes & ladders, Amitabh is relegated more & more to the background as a valet first & then an almost unknown entity. He realises that his voice which was to be a weapon against the industry has instead backfired on him. Ego issues crop up which affect both the artists' lives. Whether they resolve these issues & come back together as the unstoppable Shamitabh forms the rest of the story.
Let me share an interesting bit of trivia I heard while looking for the story. It was said that initially, Shah Rukh Khan was approached to play the role Dhanush has essayed. While it surely would have been a casting coup had that happened, the King Khan still could not have carried that commanding voice that Mr. Bachchan has. So, considering Dhanush's slender physique, watching him talk with that Bachchan baritone looks like an odd case of syncing the audio with the video. It's like those funny videos where you see a muscled man talk with the voice of a girl. Bachchan's voice not only sounds way too older for a younger Dhanush but is hardly complemented with Dhanush's personality. Also the story tends to get predictable after a while. You know what's about to follow after almost every scene ends, you can predict the climax almost 3 scenes prior. Cinematographer P C Sreeram (who recently shot 'I') doesn't look as much in his element as expected. The zooming-in shots of the actors' close ups tend to look a bit untidy. And the length of the film can be brought down by a few minutes. Despite that, one can't deny the presence & the performance of the Shehenshah as he delivers yet another stellar & dominating performance, much like his famed baritone. Southern heavyweight (no puns here!) Dhanush does a commendable job of being able to stand next to Bachchan & deliver a performance that gets him noticed. Debutante Akshara Hassan is a spitting image of elder sister Shruti and has the acting genes from her famed parents, however she doesn't have much scope here. Her potential can & should be tapped by other film makers. The actor playing the landlord of Amitabh brings in good comic relief. The song Piddi is entertaining & catchy. Director R Balki, from whom expectations were high, underscores a bit after Paa with this one. Overall, Shamitabh is a one-time watch for the great performance by Mr. Bachchan, a commendable attempt by Dhanush & as a tribute to 'The Voice Of Indian Cinema'.
Rating- 2.5/5. The 2 is purely for Mr. Bachchan & 0.5 for Dhanush's efforts.
P.S- Watch out for the scene where Bachchan talks about his being rejected by a radio station. Art imitating life, almost slyly as if Bachchan is having the last laugh. Also Dhanush's bus-conductor montage, supposedly a page taken from the Thalaiva's book. J                              

Monday 29 December 2014

'FICTION'

I am an avid reader. It's been something of a childhood habit for me. To lose yourself in an alternate world, an alternate reality, getting to know people far away from you, some that don't even exist is an experience that has to be experienced to tell how it feels. Their points of view, their opinions. It is the best medium of escapism & just as visual as cinema, if written in the right way.

Of late, I have been developing an interest in this one particular author's books. I found an increasing amount of empathy in the stories. That they were based in real locations added to the empathy. Also, there are no fairy tale characters or fairy tales for that matter in her stories. They are people who you might meet today as you step out of your home, at your workplace, at a cafe, on the street, anywhere. Currently, I am reading a third book by this author and I have to say, this story has got me just as interested as the previous ones. It's also got me thinking & wondering about the parallels between fiction & non-fiction. When I am reading, like say this particular story that I am reading right now for instance, it almost seems to have happened in real life sometime back, real locations, real situations & people too who feel real. There is this amazing one-thing-leads-to-another string of events that is so coherent that I find it increasingly alluring to think that probably the best 'fictional' stories can arise from our very much non-fictional lives. Many people resort to books and cinema as a means of escapism. India can easily boast highly of this, considering a movie like 'Kick', which is as make-belief & superficial as it gets, becomes the top grossing movie of the year. But then if our lives are indeed such amazing sources of stories, why is it that we don't seem to enjoy it as much as we would if it would have been printed in 300 pages? Come on, let us not deny the obvious. We have fancied stepping into a certain someone's shoes & living a life that is in someway, anyway different than our own. Do we at times step aside & see our life, that which has passed & that which is ongoing & simply rejoice in it's nature, regardless of the calamities & catastrophes? Do we find it as fascinating as a 'fictional' story? But is it not? And would packaging your story into say 300-400 pages make you look at your life in a different light?               

I think that is why a book or a movie catches attention & makes us love it to our very core. It's only when the limelight falls on you, your story that you sit up & rejoice in the attention that you get. We all want some amount of attention to be paid. Can you imagine a theater actor reciting the monologue of his life on a grand stage, using every muscle & nerve of his body, with all his life in his voice to an empty hall? You might contend that he probably can, he can just vent out for a catharsis but even in that process, he is imagining a certain someone hearing him & probably smiling or applauding him. I had been maintaining a diary for 5 years until the last two years. Five extremely eventful years of my life have been captured in their true essence in it & apart from the one super embarrassing time that my mother got hold of it & read a few pages, it's privacy has remained sacrosanct. Initially, that's how I wanted it to be, just a reservoir of my feelings & emotions that no one should know about. But now I can't help but think that I indeed wish the concerned people read it, that they were indeed things I wanted to say but I couldn't & so I had this wonderful thought that someone would find this diary innocently, in my absence & just know what I feel, what I want, come up to me & understand & just do what I want. Even today, a remnant of this fantasy stays. Probably after I pass away someone could find it! We want our secrets to not be so sometimes!

Well, whether that would happen or not is completely unknown to me. What I do know & understand is that my life is just as promising & thrilling as any bestseller that have come or will come. I do see my life, whatever part of it has played itself till now, as an amazing journey & I look forward to writing an ending that justifies the journey up till now!      

Saturday 20 December 2014

TO YOU....

                                                                                                                             Sachin Phadkar
                                                                                                                                    XYZ
                                                                                                                                   Nagpur

 Hi,
Hey, do you remember this format of letter writing? We were made to practice this style of writing numerous times in school & this is supposed to be the 'informal letter' style of writing a letter. That is also the reason why I am writing to you in this format, because things had always been informal with us, regardless of how they are at present. I have always told you that I shall carry a certain image of you with me when we depart, and that image will be the reflection of the best times we've had together! So for me, you will always be that girl! :)

So, why am I writing to you? I can see the eyebrows in your mind narrow down, trying to find the whackiest reason there can be to write to you, not to forget my old school style of writing! Well, one, I don't know where you are right now so I couldn't mail this to you, if I could, I would have loved to! The old school charm of a letter never dies, does it? Hence the format. Secondly, I just wanted to speak, speak out rather! I understand that considering our highly differing schedules, we might not converse on the phone & probably we might fall short of things to talk about & there will be awkward pauses in between. Writing has always been our thing (mine more because of you!) and you have never spoken as clearly as through your writing. So I felt it to be the best medium to converse. Frankly, I have thought a lot before I wrote this letter, about many things. First was whether I should write it or not, will you or won't you read it, if you do how would you feel, if you don't, how would I feel. Also what impression would you make of me, what would I want it to be. Too much on the heavy side, isn't it! So finally, I decided to just let go & write regardless of all the mentioned factors. It's good to be like that sometimes.

So, how are you? From the limited amount of what I see, courtesy social networking sites, you seem to be doing great! Your job, your friends, your books, your songs, everything seems to exude the same exuberance as you do! You haven't written in a really long time, so it must be all of these that are keeping you busy I guess. You are in a big city, a happening city. There must be lots that must be happening everyday, isn't it? Seemingly small things which are actually large?! You must have measured more than half the city by now, walking, visiting & exploring different places. You seem to have put on a little bit of weight. The radiant, good health types. But you seem more or less the same. That must have sounded as if I have seen you after ages but really, the truth doesn't seem too far. It feels so long ago that I knew you, that we used to talk. Time seems to have passed like those cloud time lapses they show on TV. My memories of you are becoming like those 'diary' memories which you open up once in a while and just smile at that time you spent, some instances sketched so vividly! So much has happened between then & now. I only smile at your memory though! I carry a bias when it comes to you, to just retain the good, forget the bad. It's simply not worth it, to carry the bad forward. I left it when we left. 

 I am doing great too!! The geographical & cultural transfer has again been significant, like it was when I came from Nagpur & we met. I am back to my hometown, but trust me, it feels like I am back in a whole new city! I treasure it more, I see more possibilities, I see more opportunity! Mine is what they call a 'small city' but let me tell you, there is huge potential & a lot of activity happening here. There is a challenge but I am confident of overcoming it! I have set off on a rather different road than the one that was planned initially. It is surprisingly great! I had never picture myself like this but now that I do, it's awesome! Now this is it & I have to make my vision come true! Do you know Jack Ma? He is the billionaire founder of this e-commerce firm called Alibaba. I am somewhat trying to walk his way. Do some thing different. Google him. It's what most of us dream of & well....stop at that. I am working on that dream! It seems all glossy & cool from far off but it's tough, really tough at times. There's just this anxiety or fear at times, there are moments of uncertainty & not to forget the practical challenges I face. But I can take it all with a smile. The calling is much more alluring than the gravity of the challenges. Apart from that, my social life is heavily compromised, it is nowhere & nothing like yours. Not a sad thing really. It's.....okay,nothing to frown about. :)

Well, I might be going a bit haphazard now or I might start getting so. I'll stop here for now. Do reply in case you read this. Bye!    
    

Tuesday 16 December 2014

LOVE LETTER



If I had to confess, if you had to guess
What you mean to me; more or less
Nothing could have explained it better
Than this honest love letter.
                                                                                                                        
Why do I love you firstly you'd ask
Answering that is certainly no  task
There are no bullet points, one & two
I love you coz you are YOU!

Look within yourself & you will know
Why I'd never want to let you go
You are all that Love could mean to me
You represent everything I want to see.

It's been a long wait to find the right one
It's been heartbreaking, but all said & done
The wait has finally shown it's worth
  By the way that you came & bought me mirth.

It was all about the notions other people share
This is how you love, this is how you care
But with you, I know what Love really means
It means just Me & You, nobody in between!

Saturday 20 September 2014

A BOY IN BANGALORE

17 years. 17 years later I am back to this city that I have no recollection of in the present. Well, subtracting 17 years from my life would make me a 6 year old, so obviously when I stepped out of that railway station to the roads outside, I kind of already felt the mega-ness of the city. Buses, people, a lot of them, film posters with uncomprehendible names featuring heroines & heroes in all their glory, an address in my cell phone & a purpose in mind, I walked down to find a bus, the one that I was told to board. As I sat, a rather unfamiliar sound & music greeted me. It was a Kannad song. I was in Bangalore!

I wanted to be here, I needed to be here, I have been planning my documentary series called SUPER START-UPS for sometime now. And to be actually going on the floor to implement it, to make it happen feels amazing. So, basically this series, as you might have gauged from the title is all about start-ups, those outgoing, those adventurous, determined people who are made to make a difference, who have ideas, some quirky & extremely innovative/creative ideas & who, more importantly dare to step out & make them happen & click with people. I empathize strongly with their spirit as I too, kind of am an aspiring start-up and so I set out to capture that spirit & the stories behind that spirit. Bangalore is an extremely important city for such people as it fosters an entrepreneurial spirit like no other city in India and it gives them scope to share their ideas and make them happen. I had got a start-up who was willing to share their story with whoever wanted to hear & I was more than happy to help them. Today is the pen ultimate day of our shoot & now back from an exhaustive yet satisfying shoot, I am here sitting in my guesthouse room which is way too opulent for me, the window open with superb cool air coming from it & presenting to me a high, panoramic view of a section of the city with the lights & sounds of the traffic. 'Manva Lage', a song from SRK's next blockbuster Happy New Year (it WILL be one obviously as a sea of SRK fans await it's release!) plays soothingly in the room & goes with the happiness that I feel today! Now this song will always remind me of Bangalore! Tomorrow will be the wrap of chapter 1 of SUPER START-UPS:THE SERIES! I also received three-fourths of my costing for the project! I wish making money feels as awesome every time I make it! It feels great, to see this project come alive. I hope it sustains & sees the light of day as a series. It has been a great start & I wish to see it continue, to go to different cities, explore different ideas & bring them out in the limelight. I want this series to benefit the start-ups, get them their audience. 

I will be leaving the city on Tuesday but I really wish to come back soon and explore more ideas. This one week here has been simply amazing and eventful to the core, and it still hasn't ended. I also promise to learn to read & talk some Kannada the next time around so that I can at least talk to the bus conductors & auto waalahs and ensure I get down at the right stop, which I haven't been able to since the last 3 days! Cheers Bangalore! You rock!     

Thursday 11 September 2014

BLACK OR WHITE

This is becoming a habit now!! The last few posts that I have written have had only one excuse, that I needed to while time while a video gets uploaded on Youtube!! Not that it is the ONLY reason, I love to write at that time as well. Takes away the tedious waiting process & when you are not thinking about the gazillion things that cloud your mind and concentrate on one thing, that concentration is like the high you'd get at a party when you've downed vodka like water. Okay, highly under qualified to make that statement but I am guessing it must be similar. I remember the one time I had vodka, it felt like drinking nitric acid & I spit it out two seconds after it went in, unfortunately partly on someone's footwear! She must remember that experience better than me!
So, this video that I am uploading, it's about the supposedly 'next to life' level important thing for today's generation! First there was water, then air, food & now it's FAIRNESS CREAM!!! Yup, it's about that 'necessary evil'! I can't think of a more apt term for it! It seems so necessary for people who are in their most evident state of escapism & disbelief when they tell me how important it is for them! The power of advertising, I swear it has the power to manipulate generations. Although the majority of people in my video said that they find the very concept of a fairness cream stupid- forget the actual cream- it is not without reason that the Fair & Lovelies & The Fair & Handsomes are laughing their ways to the bank whilst I make this video. Back in the 90's, some legendary artist said in a song of his- It don't matter if you're black or white and he was the epitome of racial attack by the world! And today's morning newspaper told me that while an average Black guy has 4 black friends in a group of 10, a White guy has 1 black friend in 10 and an Indian shuns Black friends when in foreign land! An Indian is intrinsically White, it said. Shall we blame it on the 150 years of British rule? The succession of generations seeing as they did that the 'gori chamdi' always got the bow & the 'kaale log' the belt?I don't know, maybe. Anyways, I will let my video do the rest of the talking & please see it and give your honest opinions on it. :)

http://youtu.be/RpVmtcdThzM

Sunday 31 August 2014

RETURN....



A look into the past
So deep & vast
The way we talked
And the plans we chalked.
A smile on my face
And longing in my eyes
Could we just return back
Can you take me by surprise?

I thought we would stay
But something came in the way
It's been way too long,
Since I heard one of your favorite song.
                                                           I want to hear, I want to say
What we dropped midway.
I have changed, and so have you
But should we let our old friendship change too?

I don't want to push, I don't want to force
I just want to return to the course
Of a journey that was too promising to break
Where all was true, none was fake.
Can we let go off things gone by?
Can we get back to the smiles, forget the wry?
 The silly conversations, the random dance
When, for me, you took a stance.

I feel bad, yes I do
At how we let this thing let through
We should have got back up, sealed the creases
But its no use picking up broken pieces
Need is not what I need, Want is what I want
Our friendship is what I want to flaunt
  We can get back and you know better
And it should start now than any later.