Lamhaa

Critic's Rating: 3.5
Cast: Sanjay Dutt, Bipasha Basu, Kunal Kapoor, Anupam Kher
Direction: Rahul Dholakia
Genre: Thriller
Duration: 1 hour 55 minutes


Movie Review: From the communal cauldron of Gujarat 2002 to the scarred battlefield of Kashmir, filmmaker Rahul Dholakia carries forward his tryst with political cinema with a refreshing seriousness and gravitas that defies the demands of commercialisation.



If Parzania portrayed the nullity of communal violence with extreme sensitivity and pathos, then Lamhaa is a no-holds-barred look at the multi-layered turmoil in Kashmir, with so many real-life references that you end up with just one conclusion: now here's a real film about a real problem.

The highpoint of Lamhaa is the fact that it doesn't use the political overboil as an exotic setting for a love story, nor do the fiery Chinar trees and the serene Dal lake double up as sylvan scenery for romantic duets. There is romance, but a mere suggestion of it, between the ex-militant, Aatif (Kunal Kapoor) and the firebrand female activist, (Aziza) Bipasha Basu. The twosome, who are fighting their individual battles for a better future for their state, know the bitter truth: it may be ever-after, but in another paradise,when the bullets have stopped flying and the bombs have been silenced. Till then, Aatif wants to try the power of the ballot -- he wants to fight the elections --having realised the nullity of guns and bullets; and Aziza wants to shed her militant garb for a more workable solution. Our agents of change do realise it isn't going to be an easy task, specially since nobody seems to be in favour of normalcy. Neither the fundamentalist Pakistani leader, Pasha (Yuri Suri), propagating his factories of misconstrued jihad across the border, nor the machiavellian spiritual heads like Haji (Anupam Kher) and the rest, spearheading a hate wave within the state, nor even the sundry middlemen, moneymakers and dubious official agencies drawing their moolah and clout from the Kashmir conundrum.

Also, the film refreshingly -- and realistically -- posits no solutions. Seriously, can a political film actually dare to resolve a complex issue that has claimed millions of lives and has been plaguing a sub-continent for almost three decades? All it dares to do is transport you to one of the most dangerous places in the world that lies at your doorstep and take a hard-hitting look at the movement for self-determination and the role of the Indian state in post 1989 Kashmir. So, don't go looking for a cinema that follows a traditional format, offering made-to-order recipes and instant nirvana. Of course, the film maker has enough hooks to draw you in, the most important being the relentless pace of the film which unfolds like an action-packed thriller. Another alluring factor are the performances.

Most of the ensemble cast creates convincing characters, with Sanjay Dutt delivering a rock-solid and restrained act after a long time. Anupam Kher's enigmatic and shrewd spiritual leader is chilling and matches up to Yuri's malevolent Lashkar-Jaish leader look-alike. Both Bipasha and Kunal are completely non-starry and quite convincing as the voice of the young Kashmiri, longing for a semblance of normalcy. Just one word of caution: you might end up losing the link, now and then.... there are simply too many people and players who keep bursting onto the screen in unmitigated frenzy. But if you remain patient, you will see them fitting into the bigger picture.

A word about the cinematography: James Fowlds camera captures Kashmir, both in its beauty and its sinister shades. Mithoon's music score too has enough lilt to draw you in. Serious and sensible cinema, Lamhaa is meant for the movie buff looking for something more....

Udaan

Critic's Rating: 4.0
Cast: Rajat Barmecha, Ronit Roy, Ram Kapoor, Manjot Singh
Direction: Vikramaditya Motwane
Genre: Drama
Duration: 2 hours


Movie Review: Udaan is unconventional Bollywood at its biting best. The film is a moody, introspective and ekdum different look at teenage angst: an issue that has never been given the importance it deserves in Hindi cinema which has by and large relegated the 16-something story to teeny-bopper rolls-in-the-haystack romances.

But Rajat Barmecha's Rohan isn't your run-of-the mill Hindi film teenager. He has more substantial (read realistic) problems than to find a girlfriend and discover sex, even though his dad does ask him -- in a delightful sequence -- sex kiya ki nahin?! For him, the issues are mostly existential....Like, how does he cope with a father who seems to be a clone of Hitler; how does he pursue his dreams of becoming a writer, when disciplinarian dad insists he must join him in the factory; how does he learn to love a step brother he doesn't even know; how does he get back to a family that doesn't exist; and how does he adjust to a small town with its uneventful life and its middle-class morality.

Udaan is essentially a performance-based film that scores mostly in the characters it dabbles with. Ronit Roy's cold and emotionally stunted father-figure, bogged down by middle-class fears and obsessions about a `secure' no-nonsense future for his son is actually quite familiar. Even as Rajat Barmecha's dreamy, rebellious teenager who wants to escape rut and routine, is representative of the hundreds of youngsters who have run away from authority and an uninspiring future, with nothing but a pocketful of notes and a heartful of dreams. Add to this, Rajat's younger brother, a victim of domestic abuse, his understanding chacha (Ram Kapoor), and his bunch of edgy friends (both in boarding school and in the dead town) and you have a compelling character study of growing up in middle-class mofussil India.

Hailing from the Anurag Kashyap school of cinema, Udaan has the edgy feel and the bitter sweet emotional core characteristic of India's neo wave cinema. No, life ain't all ha-ha-hee-hee and families that eat together don't always stay together, happily-ever-after. There's a lot of rough-and-tumble-beneath the gloss and that's where all the real drama actually lies. Get down to some real business. Enter some real homes. Grapple with some real problems. And feel some real joy....

Red Alert: The War Within

Critic's Rating: 3.5
Cast: Suneil Shetty, Bhagyashree, Seema Biswas, Sameera Reddy, Naseeruddin Shah, Ashish Vidyarthi
Direction: Ananth Narayan Mahadevan
Genre: Drama
Duration: 2 hours 5 minutes


Movie Review: Now what could be more topical than a film on India's most burning issue of the moment: the Naxalite movement that has metamorphosed into a civil war that seems to be setting our nation on fire. Ananth Narayan's film, scripted by one of our finest women directors, Aruna Raje, is doubly important. First, it literally takes off from the headlines that have been glaring in your face in the last few years. Second, it dares to enter not only the geographical territory of the war within, but also explores the more tricky ideological terrain. Is there any justification at all for the maoist movement which has created heroes out of people who are allegedly responsible for unprecedented violence and death? More importantly an ideology which is gradually growing into a mass movement, resulting in an ever-growing Red corridor, running through the heart of India.


Most of the drama is centred in a Maoist camp and witnessed through the eyes of Suneil Shetty, a humble cook who has no political leanings whatsoever. All he wants is to be left with his simple wife Bhagyashree and his two kids, after completing his job which entails delivering food for the fugitives. When one such mission causes him to be caught in the crossfire between the cops and the ultras, he is forced to join ranks with the rebels and ends up under the tutelage of the firebrand leader Ashish Vidyarthi. Vidyarthi leads a hungry pack of guerrilla fighters, hellbent on snatching their rights -- land, food, development -- from a supposedly unresponsive state. So, you have a gun-toting Seema Biswas, a Kohl-lined Ayesha Dharker, and a totally de-glam Sameera Reddy, riding the red wave, as Shetty hurdles up with them and pesters them with the pertinent poser: how justified is it to kill your own people? Ditto, queries Vidyarthi and lays down the matrix of the Maoist movement as a human rights movement, when viewed from the other side of the fence. The film essentially unfolds as the transformation of Shetty the apolitical cook, to a politicised citizen who is forced to pick up the gun, first for one camp and then another.

The film is naturally made within the confines of our Censor Board which means it must tread the middle path or cross-over to politically correct terrain (read the Indian State). No, Red Alert, refreshingly doesn't become a state-sponsored documentary, despite its sensitivity to Chidambaramspeak and all that terrorist versus revolutionary debate that springs from the Arundhati Roy camp. By and large, it races and paces through safe territory, and unfolds like a thriller that keeps you on the edge most of the time.

Performance wise, the film boasts of a strong ensemble cast, though one does feel fine actors like Seema Biswas and Ayesha Dharker have too little to do. Had they been given a larger role, Red Alert would have been molten lava. Suneil Shetty and Ashish Vidyarthi are earnest and engrossing while Sameera Reddy is unrecognisable and adequate. Scene Stealer? Naseeruddin Shah, despite being relegated to just a single scene. Vinod Khanna? Just okay as the Naxal ideologue who engineers a bizarre finale. It may be politically correct in its tenor, but Red Alert does make you sit up and demand attention. Specially in a season when political cinema is raising its banner in Bollywood.

I Hate Luv Storys

Critic's Rating: 3
Cast: Imran Khan, Sonam Kapoor, Samir Dattani, Samir Soni
Direction: Punit Malhotra
Genre: Romance
Duration: 2 hours 16 minutes


Movie Review: First things first. Imran Khan and Sonam Kapoor make an interesting pair. After the Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif coupling, this seems to be the most refreshing jodi that's jaunting and jiving on screen. Nice chemistry. Nice tu-tu-main-main (sparring). Nice physical compatibility. And a well-balanced emotional quotient. Kudos to the two of them to carry forth a film which once again doesn't really have anything to boast about in the `storys' department.

Thematically, I Hate Luv Storys, is extremely simplistic, uni-layered and terribly predictable. Imran and Sonam do begin on the we-hate-each-other note, with Imran squirming at any and everything that's filmy while Sonam swears by it all: pink teddys, bunches of blooms, candle-light dinners, Karan Johar films, cuddly Cupid's bows, shooting stars, soppy dialogues and all that made-for-each-other mush. But we all know the way the wind blows, from the word go. Mush shall rule, and how! For all the digs that producer Karan Johar allows on himself (filmmaker Samir Soni is actually a spoof on KJo), we know the film's going to end up reiterating KJo -- and all he translates into onscreen -- as king.

So, Jay Dhingra, who likes girls, but hates girly stuff, is gonna end up crying like a girl very soon. Of course, first he must ridicule Simran for all her `stoopid' misconceptions about lurrrv, including her boyfriend Raj who besides being a frumpish bore, wears `fugly' shirts too. But it doesn't take long for the tables to be turned, twice over. On the one hand, Simran discovers her penchant for Mr Wrong (quirky, irreverent Imran), rather than Mr Right (politically correct Samir). And on the other hand, sceptic Imran succumbs to the love bug, red roses, rain-drenched songs, airport encounters, et all. Only, their turn-overs are mistimed. So that, when Simran says `haan', jokey Jay says `nah!' and when Jay wanna say `yes, yes, yes!', it's a punctilious let's-be-just-friends from the sobered Simran.

Kya khali-peeli confusion, all this babalog blah. But hey, blah can be timepass too. Specially when it has loads of icing on it. Debutant director Punit Malhotra layers his first film with oodles of sugar coating: great locales, mast music (Vishal-Shekhar), a yummy 'n yuppy lead pair, some laugh-out-loud moments and a lot of laugh-on-ourself sequences that ridicule the romcoms that roll out of the Bollywood factory (there are jibes on almost all of Karan Johar films), only to finally reiterate them as pills the public wants. On the performance front, watch out for Imran's endless emoticons (eyebrow lifts, smirks, smileys) and his pronounced pout. And for Sonam's svelte form and pleasant screen presence.
Candy floss floats. Popcorn rules. Go, chew on it.

Raavan

Critic's Rating: 3.5
Cast: Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Vikram, Govinda, Ravi Kishan
Direction: Mani Ratnam
Genre: Drama
Duration: 2 hours 6 minutes


Story: Cop Dev Pratap Sharma (Vikram) has just one mission in his life. He wants to capture the local outlaw, Beera (Abhishek Bachchan) who may be a Robin Hood for the tribals around, nevertheless, he is a law breaker. More importantly, he has kidnapped the cop's beautiful wife, Ragini (Aishwarya Rai Bachchan) to avenge a personal grouse and has escaped into the dense jungles. Turn ofevents: the kidnapper falls in love with his trophy victim who too gets indecisive about where her loyalties lie....

Movie Review: The epics return again to contemporary cinema. After a re-telling of the Mahabharata against a political backdrop in Prakash Jha's Raajneeti, cineastes can now feast their eyes on a modern-day rewrite of the Ramayana, against a cops-and-robbers canvas.