Sanjay Gupta – Movies of the Soul

Vampire Owl :: Holy Vampire Crocodile! This is Aishwarya Rai, isn’t she?

Vampire Bat :: Yes, it is her only. I don’t understand why you are asking. Did you also lose your eye sight with that werewolf scratch on your arm?

Vampire Owl :: No, it just has been such a long time since I saw her on a movie poster. I am surprised.

Vampire Bat :: You have the right to be surprised and also to watch this movie.

Vampire Owl :: So, you are planning to make me watch this movie.

Vampire Bat :: Yes, and it will be cheapest movie ticket which we would have bought in the last few years. I am sure that it will be worth it, no matter how we see it.

Vampire Owl :: It is good to see Aishwarya Rai returning in a heroine-centric movie. I had a crush on her when I was immortally a little bit younger.

Vampire Bat :: It is quite natural, you know.

Vampire Owl :: Yes, but not for us vampires.

Vampire Bat :: Aishwarya Rai has always been beyond one world.

[Gets the tickets].

What is it about? :: Anuradha Verma (Aishwarya Rai Bachchan) is a very successful lawyer who can gets any person free from prison, no matter what kind of case he is involved in. She has that kind of a reputation which can make anyone jealous. She is a single mother and her only relation in this world is her little daughter Sanaya (Sara Arjun). One day, her daughter is kidnapped and the kidnapper asks her to save a rape accused even though the proof is clearly against him. Meanwhile, her good friend Yohan (Irrfan Khan) is an officer on suspension who needs her help. As Anuradha tries to find something that could save the accused, Yohan helps her, but it turns out that things are not what they seem to be, and other people are involved in the chain of incidents.

The defence of Jazbaa :: A stylish thriller take its form in Jazbaa with its twists and the way in which the whole thing is shot. I have loved how the camera moves around the city and captures the same in a beautiful way. The return of Aishwarya Rai Bachchan should be what defends this movie for the audience more than the rest though. The movie’s final twist is working, and it also leaves the audience with a good message, even though it could have been used frequently within the movie itself. Whenever the movie threatens to go down, the cast successfully keeps it working at a good level, and it leaves us free to make our guesses with its suspense. No, I haven’t watched the original, and so further comment on how well it was adapted, is not possible. From what I have read, it seems to be a lot the same.

Claws of flaw :: With story already there as this is an adaptation of the South Korean movie Seven Days, there was a fine platform for Jazbaa, which it hasn’t used to full potential. A number of twists are predictable concerning a politician and his interest in the case. There is also an extension of the ending after we feel that the movie has ended, and that was rather unnecessary. The movie’s focus is also not always there in the same way. With the return of Aishwarya, the movie could have accomplished more with smartness in action rather having sequences like the heroine running, screaming and even crying in slow motion. In a movie which otherwise leaves exaggeration, doesn’t make the best use of the court room scenes either. A better second half could have brought things to another level. The melodrama should have also been reduced. It should have gone full thriller, and there is loss of strength.

Performers of the soul :: Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is back after the 2010 movie Guzaarish with Hritik Roshan. After five long years, she returns and makes an impact in this movie. Most of the time, she remains strong, but one has to wonder about those melodramatic moments and the slow motion sequence. There is no doubt about that fact that she has made her return a memorable one. But that is not all, as Irrfan Khan and Shabana Azmi often makes a bigger impact. The former’s dialogues are those which make the day instantly better. He plays the kind of cop who is not a hero, villain or a side-kick; he is much more, and he pulls that off in style. The latter is completely at ease here too. Priya Banerjee has a few moments in her short stay. The veterans Jackie Shroff and Atul Kulkarni are unfortunately used less.

Soul exploration :: The movie talks about the complications that the law has, and how justice is rarely fair for the person who suffers. It also talks about justice for a rape victim, and how too many factors affect the proceedings of a case. There is actually the need for change in attitude among the people, and it is to be the first thing. Otherwise, nothing that much positive comes to the scene. Movies will have its stars doing the job, but otherwise, it is in the hands of the common man to make a difference. But as evil is a lot easier, and so is not reacting to evil committed, such a situation is too far away. The movie’s soul could have been the social message which follows a full thriller, and with that kind of a progress, this movie could have got there as the social thriller. Such movies can make the difference.

How it finishes :: Talvar had very less number of shows here which meant that I ended up missing it. Thankfully for Jazbaa, it does get enough screens here, and the credit to the same should go to Aishwarya Rai Bachchan making the grand return in a heroine-centric movie, making the audience clearly interested. The movie has its positives and negatives, but what it surely manages to be, is a movie is worth watching this weekend. There is enough in this flick to inspire a one-time watch, and I am saying this with an attempt at the original still pending a try. I would like to hear from someone who has watched Seven Days, and I am sure that some of the people who are reading this should have had the opportunity for watching the Korean version.

Release date: 9th October 2015
Running time: 122 minutes
Directed by: Sanjay Gupta
Starring: Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Irrfan Khan, Shabana Azmi, Priya Banerjee, Chandan Roy Sanyal, Jackie Shroff, Atul Kulkarni, Siddhanth Kapoor, Sara Arjun

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

There is always something about John Abraham, whether with his debut movie that is Jism, the special ones which were Kabul Express and No Smoking, my favourite performances of him which are Zinda and Taxi 9211 or even his most stylish performance ever, that is Force – as long as the fans of Dhoom won’t disagree. To add to it, however you look at it and whatever some of the critics say about it with an artificially created anguish which has created a fake reflection of imperfection which is more applicable to Chak De India, Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal was also something special. Dostana didn’t fail to impress me and Garam Masala is of lesser importance only because of its Malayalam original eclipsing it. He has always been underrated, as all the fans stood by the actors who have a famous family background, and our man is more of what I would feel to be a self-made man, something which I consider to be of great importance in a world of pride, prejudice and reservations. As the Vampire Bat thinks a lot about where he is from, it is something which always catches the legendary bat attention. Well, once you catch the attention of the Vampire Bat, there is no lack of the paranormal analysis which would be based on a few cups of tea and the absolute truth which can be obtained only by seeking in the sea of lies which is shown to the common movie watchers through some reviews.

Consider Django Unchained for a change – what was in it? Nothing other than racism supported by gore. It leaves the intellectual ones with more wrong questions than anything else. If the performance of those actors alone would make that movie superior, our own shootout would be far ahead with an all-round performance. Well, this movie does take them all aside, and happens to be John Abraham’s best performance ever – from now on. No, it is still not going to mesmerize you, as that step is still far away. The movie is the sequel to the 2007 film Shootout at Lokhandwala, and is based on the book Hussain Zaidi’s Dongri to Dubai – but as I haven’t ventured into these two initiatives and my knowledge is limited, I shall not comment on them. Its dramatization of the first-ever registered encounter by Mumbai police is also something I know nothing about – by nothing I mean a perfect void which would justify all the absence, and I shall not talk about something which happened before I had fallen into this world of misery in an official way. For now, I would know that there is a location called Wadala and there was an encounter there, and the rest shall be my immediate conception of fiction through a movie which has already been praised enough by the critics – for this praise is the absolute truth and nothing else.

Well, as I don’t fall prey the type of nonsense which says like “Sholay is the greatest Indian cinema” kind of stuff, and the stereotypes like “men with muscles can’t act”. The presence of pride and prejudice is so much, and the absence of sense and sensiblity is evident even in this age; may be Jane Austen knew this when she named her novels. As the second axiom shall be easily proved when one watches the movie, I knew all the time that Sholay was so overrated that even the word would be ashamed of it. Even from a long time ago, I knew that it made no sense. It would always remain an unsuccessful imitation of the West in the most ridiculous manner. It had absolutely nothing to generate any feeling, and none of the events were of significance. The presence of only the DD National channel at home would still force people to watch it more than once, and it is surely this nostalgia that has helped in making it attractive even at this age. But, I will not compare this movie to that pseudo-classic, as this belongs to the new world. They would still make them worse with remakes, as there was Aag, as well as movies like Agneepath which might be the worse of them all. Coming back to this movie, it is beyond all those over-hyped movies. It is also not your typical masala entertainer even if the elements are there.

Well, by the time I finish deconstructing these pseudo-classics, the fake movie lovers will come up with more lies. There is this unreal world created by these people which doesn’t need to be turned upside down, but there is the need for the existence of the real world, the world of truth. But I am not going to publish them in detail as a movement against the majority who are brainwashed to believing that the name of the best movie is “blah blah” and “mr. blah blah” is the best actor. I am beyond these lies though, as now I know that the medium is the message. I would never watch a movie according to what the critics say, and I believe the same would be the case of anyone who has some individuality left within them. The media manufatures consent and makes you believe, and now the critical reviews seem to keep people from watching movies or preventing them from doing the same. In this movie’s case, there are a good number of positive reviews, which is a good thing to see, but for all the negatives, there is something we don’t know. It can still be subjectivity and the powerful assertion of oneself, but then, why would a common man read those reviews looking for objectivity? We can only hope that they are just personal opinions, in that case, I really wish they were all blogs like mine which is not really read by people before going for a movie.

With some apologies for thinking and being different, lets focus on our movie of the moment. John Abraham has done a fantastic job as the protagonist/antagonist, with a powerful transformation from the college student who aims at the ceiling to the merciless gang leader who aims at the clouds. From the man of fear to the man who creates fear, he has done a great job, and the latter works perfectly for him. This is quite different from all the roles he has done so far, as it is the main role and it requires so much effort, and he hasn’t lagged behind. He is the one who carries the movie forward on his shoulders, even as Anil Kapoor as the valiant police officer also comes up with a strong performance and the presence of Jackie Shroff as another police officer never ceases to bring some old memories back; but a cameo it is for Jackie. Kangna Ranaut is good in the limited screen presence required for an action movie. Tusshar Kapoor, Manoj Bajpai and Sonu Sood actually seem to come up with something better every scene. The first one surely requires a special mention for the moments he creates.

There is clearly the battle between two sides, plus another extra side, if you could find it. Between all these, there are three item songs, by Sunny Leone, Priyanka Chopra and Sophie Choudry, and the first one even if the most revealing is closer to the story than the others. The other two would seem to add more colour to the whole movie which is full of action, blood and gore – not as gory as your favourite Hollywood slasher movie, but by Bollywood standards. The second item song by Priyanka Chopra could actually be avoided as not belonging to its genre, and the third one by Sophie Choudry might be the most surprising and the more appropriate to what has been happening in the action scene. As the second one pales in comparison, and there is one other song, the whole world of Manya Surve gets so much longer than the average viewer would like. There is also a bit of slow-motion action to add to it, but the Keralite viewers has seen the biggest use of it, and it might not be even big enough to not notice. The power of the movie lies in the fact that it was executed so well, even as there is nothing extraordinary in there, neither in the script nor the adventure which moves a little towards predictability in the end.

Another thing is that this movie came so close to ending the legacy of the non-Indian named movies in my movies list, but with the words “shootout at”, the statistics remain that I have never ventured into reviewing a movie with a non-Germanic-Romance language name – it could be said non-English, but one has to think twice about the words like “Amen”. So this is a legacy which this movie too shall not break, and instead would choose to continue, with a place name which is out of it, but in totality an integral part of the legacy. As all those Tamil, Malayalam and Hindi movies which I found interesting to review had those type of names, it is interesting that most of the movies with local names have failed, especially in Malayalam; starting from Annayum Rasoolum, going through Lokpal to Natholi Oru Cheriya Meenalla. Well, this movie makes sure that the non-native titled movies keep their status above average. The two or three Malayalam movies in the theatres also continues this legacy, and so does a number of upcoming movies; therefore lets see if I can get to bless the reviews list with a movie of native title; Akam had come so close, but just missed out – that should make the masala entertainer/superstar flick fans who try to impose their lies in a violent and baseless manner incredibly happy.

Release date: 3rd May 2013
Running time: 155 minutes
Directed by: Sanjay Gupta
Starring: John Abraham, Kangna Ranaut, Anil Kapoor, Tusshar Kapoor, Manoj Bajpai, Sonu Sood, Jackie Shroff (cameo), Sunny Leone (cameo), Priyanka Chopra (cameo), Sophie Choudry (cameo)