Movie Review: Tanu weds Manu Returns..with quite the swagger

This is how sequels should be made. But before I go on and wax lyrical on how well Aanand L Rai has told the story right from where he’d left it off in the original, pop quiz time – Have you seen the original? You see I wasn’t as impressed as the world was with Tanu weds Manu (in fact, it gave me a headache when I saw it in a flight on the laptop) but at least I’d seen it. The trouble is, if you haven’t seen it, you won’t connect with the sequel as much. And the original movie isn’t that great. If you ask me, a visit to the plot section of Tanu weds Manu on Wikipedia is very much warranted.

For Tanu weds Manu returns is every bit worth the sequel it is – clearly better than the original in my opinion. A large measure of the praise goes to the reigning queen of Bollywood, Kangana Ranaut – who is in sublime form and there’s twice of her this time. The Harayanvi act is particularly impressive and she manages to give a plain looking girl a ‘swagger’ of her own and will have you rooting for her. Kangana carries the film on her shoulders and puts up a near flawless double performance. There isn’t much room for anyone else in this well crafted plot.

That’s not to say the others haven’t done a great job because they surely have. Madhavan looks a little out of sorts in the hilarious opening, but becomes his familiar self as the movie progresses. Deepak Dobriyal provides much comic relief and while he is a bit over the top, his lines are well written and provide much laughter. The new additions are welcome ones as well in the form of Swara Bhaskar and Zeeshan, old cohorts of the Aanand L Rai stable. Almost missed mentioning Jimmy Shergill and while there isn’t much room for him to perform, his character is quite pivotal to the whole storyline and he does his usual, dependable job.

Writing was a very strong point in Ranjhanaa, Aanand L Rai’s best so far, and Returns..again features some good writing. The second half is a little extra dramatized with an extended climax that can make you weary and wonder why the director is spoiling things after doing such a good job so far. Clocking at around two and a half hours, the movie exceeds its acceptable runtime somewhat and could’ve easily done without some melodrama and a few songs. That said, the second half also brings some monologues on important social issues, delivered with panache.

Making a good sequel itself is a tough act. First, the main characters have already been established by the original and told a story of their own. There is quite a tightrope to walk between that and bringing in new characters and storyline as well as maintaining connect with all that had happened previously. Aanand L Rai does this to near perfection and joins the rather short list of dependable directors in Bollywood. He had already demonstrated his ability to tell a good story with Ranjhanaa, but with this one he cements his place.

Oh and don’t leave your seats till the end credits. The last scene is sure to have you in splits and wishing there was more of this. Nice way to do it Mr. Rai if you ever wanna plan a ‘re-returns’'

Movie Review: Bombay Velvet…not as lacklustre as its being made out to be

Bombay Velvet, Anurag Kashyap’s magnum opus (considering this is the largest budget he’s worked with for a film thus far) is an exquisitely made film from a quality of film perspective. The script though, falls short of the monumental effort that has gone into other aspects of the film. The second half, in particular, succumbs to the pressure and goes the predictable clichéd route. That said, it isn’t half-bad a watch. Definitely not as bad as people are making it out to be.

There’s plenty to appreciate about this film - the visuals are dazzling, you feel as you have been teleported to the 60s – every little detail has been thought through and given painstaking attention. From the newspapers, to the cars, to the trams to even the match box and bus banners – everything looks apt. The music is jazz all throughout and while it isn’t particularly memorable, it remains faithful to its genre.

The directorial touch is plain for all to see. There’s plenty of gloss that the script demanded – yet that too has a distinct sheen in the way its presented. The context is built slowly and with deliberate attention – might even remind you of Gangs of Wasseypur at times – and while the love story is central to the plot, the context becomes a perfect backdrop to the sequences that follow. Bombay Velvet is a picture perfect title to the context that is built in the movie. The intermission is a little bit of a letdown and unfortunately post that at least story wise it doesn’t really get much better.

There are plenty of clichés and some might even strike the emotional chord. However, it doesn’t seem to be an Anurag Kashyap presentation especially after the first half. This kind of emotional drama simply isn’t his style and one wonders where all this comes from in a story that should’ve ideally taken a very different route. Kashyap is known for his realistic grey or even dark grey characters. Here, its much easier to paint them in black and white.

While the characters aren’t that great, the performances certainly are. Ranbir Kapoor seems to be trying a little too hard and it is actually Anushka Sharma who seems more convincing in the earlier parts. However, as his character develops Ranbir shows us exactly why he is miles ahead of any of his contemporaries. Karan Johar makes a decent debut though his dialogue delivery leaves a lot to be desired. KK Menon is completely wasted given his acting prowess.

With a better second half and less predictable storyline, Bombay Velvet could’ve been a smooth as silk presentation, through and through. As it stands though, while its film-making has a distinct velvety texture, as an overall package, it does end up being more than a bit rough around the edges.

Movie Review: Mad Max–Fury Road…insane metal action but not much else

Hollywood critics be damned..all of them. I usually don’t bother with reviews and general perception of a movie before deciding to watch it. Mad Max was an exception. My instinct told me it isn’t my kind of movie and yet so warmly did the hollywood critic fraternity praise this film, I ended up watching it anyway.. Next time, am listening only to my instinct.

Set in a dystopian future, Mad Max may be all that previous die hard fans would’ve hoped for. For the uninitiated, this is a reboot of an already popular franchise, though its taken 30 years for them to make this reboot. From a pure action perspective, Mad Max is not only good – it significantly raises the bar. The realism of the action, without any bullet time and slow mo sequences is a credit to the quality of direction and cinematography. However, that can’t be all there is to a good movie.

All that talk of Mad Max being in a league of its own, one of the best movies of 2015, a movie that can teach other superhero movies a thing or two about storyline and depth is simply nonsense. I can only imagine this is homage of current die hard fans who understand this genre and kind of storyline and who’ve received much more than they expected. For us, unsuspecting newbies the movie does very little and while the action doesn’t stop one bit, one frequently looks at the watch and finds themselves yawning, wondering how much more of this they will have to endure.

I’d talk about the acting, if there was any acting to talk about. There are precious few dialogues. Most of the focus of the movie is on the action. It stars Charlize Thereon and Tom Hardy, but it could well have taken debutante actors for all the ‘acting’ it demands. If this were a video game, it’d make far more sense. Voice actors in character driven video games have more and better lines than those offered to these established actors in this movie. The background score is really good but ill-placed. An action sequence in the middle of the movie will have you believing this is the climax, if you went by the background score alone. The weird electric guitarist featured in the movie doesn't help matters either

There is virtually no plot or storyline. The only thing to appreciate is the action and visuals. Great wide angle shots and precious attention to detail make this dystopian setting believable and a grim reminder to the future we might all be headed to, in generations to come. There was potential for some depth and subtle messages or some dark humor at the very least. Instead you get one chase sequence after another, the movie is relentless with those. There’s gasoline, retro-fitted muscle cars, lots of explosions, the sound of metal hitting metal, a desert landscape and lots of sand. That’s all that’ll stay with you after Mad Max closes.

If Mad Max is a great film then so is the entire Transformers series, the Fast and Furious Series and the king of them all, Pacific Rim. So if these movies took your breath away then sure, go and experience the manic nature of Mad Max. For all others who look for some kind of substance in a good film – stay away from this one

Movie Review: Piku Motion Se Hi Emotion..a clear albeit not so clean drama

I have waited for Piku with a great sense of anticipation and a certain amount of trepidation as well. While Vicky Donor was an unexpected hit and most sang praises of it, I wasn’t as impressed especially with the second half of the movie. The trailers of Piku weren’t that promising either, with a fair amount of focus on ‘motion’ rather than emotion, to attract its audience. The good news is that Piku delivers on most fronts – though one wishes it had been a tad shorter and snappier

From its opening moments it becomes abundantly clear that there isn’t going to be much of a storyline to Piku. This one focuses on the characters and the writing more than anything else and the constant bickering between its main characters makes for all the laughs. Further it handles sensitive issues in a refreshingly direct manner. Two lines is all it takes to make its point and then that’s it – no unnecessary melodrama or exaggerated effect. In fact, its in the attempts to impress by literally saying it out loud where Piku actually falls flat

The over-focus on motion itself is perhaps a subtle message to be less prejudiced and more open about one of our most natural and normal activities. One could argue that the movie over-does it, though I wouldn’t really go so far as to label it as toilet humor of the Delhi Belly variety. Despite it coming up in every few dialogues there is still an air of subtlety about the way its done – a feature that extends across the movie – right to its product placements as well

Piku is very clear about how it wants to portray and address certain issues and in those terms deserves all the applause. It doesn’t beat around the bush, tells it like it is and covers a decent amount of ground – the right argument for women’s liberation, the mutual responsibility of children and parents towards each other (this is exactly where Baghban made a mess of things) – all very neatly done.

Deepika Padukone dresses in plain clothes throughout the movie with minimal make-up. However she looks gorgeous and her natural beauty shines through. Her expression is near-perfect as ever and there is even the hint of modulation to her dialogue delivery so things might finally be looking up for her as an actress as well. There are moments of hysteria or panic which she still makes a mess of though, screeching rather than sounding over-wrought. Big B makes no such mistake and delivers his customary solid performance. Irrfan has possibly the best character and the best lines and he delivers them in his trademark no-nonsense fashion, which suits the movie perfectly.

Despite all the good news, the stuff that irks the most is those long passages of time which do nothing for the story, yet they are just there. The movie veers off course a bit, but there’s nothing to be achieved by doing so – its meandering path is puzzling and disappointing and makes for the many moments that add to the drag in its run-time despite being fairly short by Bollywood standards at 2 hours and 5 minutes. That’s a real bummer because otherwise it offers quite the joy ride

There are many who would object to the ending of the movie but in my view it was perfectly apt given the context. To say more would be to say too much.

Despite being a bit of a drag towards the end, Piku is definitely recommended as a watch. It balances both its motion and its emotion really well and will keep you entertained for most of its journey - twenty minutes shorter and it would've been a real cracker. Oh well, we can't have it all...