Movie Review: Chakravyuh…is not worth a view

Chakravyuh deals with a sensitive topic that should be thought provoking and a major cause of concern in today’s context. However, while watching this movie in the hall, there was only one ‘concern’…how much longer would this predictable, over-the-top, pretentious drama still continue!!

The trouble with Chakravyuh is that despite the context in which it is set, its treatment is completely commercial and unnecessarily sensational. What worked wonders in a movie like Rajneeti, is unconvincing and plain irritating, in this different avatar which required considerable research and a well thought out plot. In fact, as a friend of mine remarked, it is such movies that make you realize and admire the level of detailing and in-depth research that a movie like Gangs of Wasseypur had. This, however, is the same old wine in a new bottle and it just doesn’t work

In fact, the last line of the movie that comes in voice-over is probably what the movie should have started with and then told a different tale altogether. Chakravyuh chooses, instead, to just highlight the problem and then makes it a mere background for a clichéd story that has been told many times over. The one saving grace this movie could have had despite its ordinary plot and presentation, unnecessary item numbers and ill placed songs was to have convincing performances from the lead cast

However, when that brigade is led by Arjun Rampal you are heading for failure. Arjun Rampal looks the part sure enough..its the acting that’s the problem. Supporting roles and cameos suit him just fine but when he has to emote through clenched teeth dialogue delivery..well that’s probably expecting too much from him. The usually dependable Abhay Deol is also a touch out of place, especially in the latter half of the movie when his character and his voice lack a certain edge. Top that up with Esha Gupta’s amateurish dialogue delivery and the circle is complete. The only respite is the decent performance of Manoj Bajpai and the surprise package of Anjali Patel who also gives a credible performance

As per its name, Chakravyuh ought to have denoted a conundrum - a puzzling web with no straight answers. With what it delivers though, the answer is simple..Chakravyuh is not worth a hall visit

Movie Review: Cloud Atlas..doesn’t scale much heights

There is an interesting TV series these days, called The Touch..which covers how we are all connected in ways we can’t imagine and while its nothing out of the ordinary it beautifully creates all the links to put across a coherent story at the end of 45 minutes. Cloud Atlas..is the exact opposite to that

What Cloud Atlas delivers is a journey that transcends multiple lives across centuries and then keeps flitting back and forth between them enough to make your head spin. When you tell such a complex tale you need to help the audience connect the dots and follow the plot in wondrous fascination (read movies like Crash and Inception) but Cloud Atlas is merciless in that department. After spending an agonizing 164 minutes, you are still as clueless as ever and wondering what to connect with what. In fact, you would be forgiven to believe that if you took any 6 random lives and drew them up together like this you’ll probably see this much connect anyways

The real hero of this terribly long tale is the, often ignored, make-up department. Most of the time your favourite activity while watching the movie is figuring out who amongst Tom Hanks, Hugh Grant, Halle Berry and the others are you really watching right now. So marvelous is the make up and presentation, that it takes a while to realize that the punk writer you are watching is really Hanks or that the savage you see on screen now is really Hugh Grant under awesome make up and prosthetics. Two thumbs up for that

With such a stellar cast the performances are bound to be good and they are. The entire cast play their multiple complex roles to perfection, no exceptions. The music and background score which ideally should have played a more integral role given the context of the movie is beautiful but limited.

At the end of it all, Cloud Atlas may be a wonderful story penned by British author David Mitchell(in all fairness, I haven’t read it yet). But the lack of connect and the rather ambitious attempt of telling too much of this tale all at once, makes this movie a rather tedious and unsatisfying watch. Other than the make-up, Cloud Atlas didn’t scale much heights for me..whether this journey is still worth your while is up to you

Movie Review: Argo..Just Go!!!

After long last I can describe what has been a near-perfect movie viewing experience watching the masterfully directed Argo. Oh! What a relief.

Based on a true story, Argo has a rather ordinary plotline for a movie. Even if I shared it with you, you’ll probably say..are you sure this’ll be worth a watch? I mean, it sounds rather like a documentary considering the situation it is set in…and I couldn’t blame you. But wait till you enter the theatres and the siege begins. You’ll feel like you are in it, part of the mayhem..maybe even one of the six..ah, but I get ahead of myself.

Despite having a pretty good hunch on how it’ll turn out well ahead, you still can’t be too sure…that’s the kind of underlying tension Argo creates. Most scenes are close up shots and camerawork as well as editing is superlative. The movie may tend to slow down but its just the right pacing for the narrative to be told and once it picks up you’ll probably feel the adrenalin rush. There are practically no explosions or death defying action stunts, yet the movie sends your pulse racing and a plane taking off may never have mattered more

Despite not looking it, Argo is a sure thrill ride. This is achieved through brilliant direction, excellent use of background sounds, great camerawork and slick editing – there’s little one can complain about. The performances are great as well especially from Affleck and Bryan Cranston (from Breaking Bad fame). John Goodman and Alan Arkin provide the satirical humour and most of their lines will make you chuckle
Oh! and be sure to stay back for the credits where you can witness the level of detailing and research that was put in to make this movie what it is or you’ll really miss something

On a side note, What does Argo mean? Well …I am tempted to respond to that but then I’d probably have to use an expletive in this post (something, I try and avoid as a rule)…so go ‘find out for yourself’

Movie Review: Bhoot Returns..yawn..really I hadn’t noticed..

 

At the outset, I would like to state that I haven’t seen Bhoot which I’ve heard is a decent watch. In fact, I avoid horror movies altogether as a genre but have been rather intrigued by it off late. So when ‘Bhoot’ decided to make a ‘return’ I thought I’d check it out. 90 minutes later it was pretty obvious I had made the wrong choice

Remember Aahat? That TV series that was a standout on Indian television for so many years and provided some real spooks? Well, even though I haven’t seen much of it, I can still safely say that even Aahat was much better than the rubbish you get with Bhoot Returns and even that’s putting it lightly.

Most of the first half of the movie is spent in..yawning. I think they shot about 3 scenes and then decided to run them at a quarter of the normal speed. So in extra slow motion you’ll have characters ascending and descending stairs, over and over again. And then there are the regular clichés – the creaking doors, the clock ticking (boy that clock ticks and ticks like there’s no tomorrow) and the jarring sounds that are supposed to shock and awe. Well they don’t – all they do is hurt the eardrums and jolt you just as you were planning to get into peaceful slumber

Worse is, the second half doesn’t make up for it either, going into a tangent of unnecessary humour and bizarre action with a pathetic climax. There are pretty much only one or two sequences which you are willing to admit are nicely pulled off..but that too would be on a relative scale

When the movie is this bad, the performances generally make it watchable. Well sadly that’s not the case here..there’s pretty much amateur acting by everybody and the panic and shrieking is rather forced than genuinely felt by the characters. The 3D effects will make your eyes hurt and there is a huge amount of blurring of images across scenes- lot of catching up to do in that department as well

All in all, Bhoot Returns offers you very little by way of a spooky experience and with the ear splitting background effects you can’t even plan to take a nap in the theatre as well – I can’t think of any reason you should catch this. Bhoot was better off lone and distant – this is an unnecessary comeback

Movie Review: Looper..runs too many circles and delivers nothing

 

Hollywood is known for its original premises and smart plots especially in the sci-fi genre. Looper is clearly not one of them. An intriguing setting is put to waste by a nonsensical plot that takes too long getting to a rather underwhelming result. Plain and simple..avoid Looper in this week’s movie watch list. I know its a sci-fi movie and gems like Inception and Minority Report come to mind but put them aside. Looper is not even a patch on them

Looper starts off well. The movie has quite an odd title but you get to understand exactly why its so, quite early in the movie. The rather unique premise is aided by some no-nonsense explaining within the first few scenes of the movie by the protagonist narrating in voice-over. So far..so very good. But that’s just it. That’s where it ends. Its as if after this even the director was scratching his head – okay so now what. Where do I take it from here..and I doubt he got any good answers

After that, the movie takes you on a roller coaster ride to…nowhere and by the end of it all you are just desperate to see the ending credits. The only somewhat saving grace, comes rather late in the movie and even that is pretty underwhelming, considering what you’ve already endured

As for the performances, well those are pretty decent. Joseph Gordon Levitt looks funny (I guess that’s required for his character) but delivers well. Bruce Willis is in a strange role and doesn’t have much to do. Kids have a lot to do in this movie and one particular kid is rather impressive. Emily Blunt also does justice to her role – no complaints there

I, for one, am scratching my head on how the established reviewing fraternity have given this movie a generous 4 stars. Perhaps they didn’t understand the plot or maybe they understood it a little too well – either way I was rather dejected with what was offered. I fail to see how this could be seen as brilliant and thought-provoking. Its original and creative yes but then so were Wanted, Jumper and the like..we all know how those turned out

So don’t get swayed by all the critical acclaim. As I was reading somewhere its been a long time since a good sci-fi movie with a decent plot came out. As soon as they saw Looper they’ve jumped to the conclusion that this is it. Well its not..the wait for that still continues. If you still wanna go for this movie and have your head running around in circles, its entirely your call..I’ve warned you all I could

Movie Review: Killing them softly…fails to hit its mark

Every now and then Hollywood manages to serve up an offering that can be otherwise described as boring and long-winded, yet is technically sound and a treat from a movie making point of view. Killing them softly is precisely such an offering

From a story and plot development point of view, the movie doesn’t even come close. You can be excused for more than a few yawns in the roughly 90 minutes you spend in watching it and you may end up coming out pretty unsatisfied. However, if you look solely at the way its been made - camerawork, editing and direction then you’d realize why this movie would receive high critical acclaim.

There’s no explosive action and yet the movie makes brutal impact in some scenes without making too much noise about it. For the most part there’s a lot of conversation which tells the viewer what’s really happening and since you are meant to understand it all through these scenes alone, amidst all the black humour of the conversation, it means that these scenes are long drawn out. Sure the film takes worthy potshots at the American capitalism system but you are just too wearied to figure it all out

In terms of performances, well, there’s top notch delivery by each and every one of a strong cast of characters with Brad Pitt leading from the front. There’s also a lovely blend-in of various soundtracks featuring a lot of reggae music that are pleasant melodies in unpleasant scenes

For me, though, I was looking for more than just that, so Killing Them Softly failed to make its mark. However, I would still say its all a matter of what kind of movie fare is your cup of tea and if you find such movies fascinating and worth spending time for well, then Killing Them Softly might well manage to hit you hard

Movie Review: English Vinglish…is not an 'aisi vaisi' movie

When I first saw the trailers of this movie I thought English Vinglish would be quite ordinary – the standard melodramatic stuff, over-emphasising the obstacles of the main character, seldom possible to connect to or find realistic and lacking any humour whatsoever. Well, I was in for a pleasant surprise

Despite having a predictable and ordinary plotline, English Vinglish manages to go beyond being the average movie. How? Simply by not over-doing things, as is the case in most Bollywood offerings. Resultantly, what you get is a refreshing presentation, subtle scenes that would bring a smile or even a chuckle and a simple story, simply told. It brings back memories of the clean family entertainers that were the norm in the previous decade and is clearly not set in present day context

Once you accept that and start following the life of Shashi (the protagonist) which you pretty much do from frame 1 of the movie..its hard not to connect and feel for her. However, what really brings Shashi to life is the awesome performance of Sridevi, who makes pretty much a dream comeback, after a rather long hiatus. She has such a refreshing screen presence and her expressive eyes alone are enough to tell you the whole story around how she feels at that particular moment.

As for the direction, I have to say its smart especially considering this is a debut movie. No scene lingers too long and the movie moves quickly. Songs are well woven into the story and do not end up slowing it down. There is less focus on the protagonist’s troubles and tale of woe and more on her steely determination behind her quiet demeanour. Saying anymore will spoil it for you so I’ll refrain, though you should be prepared for plenty of stereotypes in the form of the characters that revolve around Shashi

I won’t go so far as to say that the movie is a must watch – except perhaps for Sridevi’s performance. As a friend of mine remarked, this movie is ideal for TV viewing with the whole family. However, if you do watch it you can be guaranteed a good time at the theaters and a nice, light experience, through and through, that few movies end up offering.