Of boredom and a khoya khoya chand..

A lazy afternoon in one of the oldest halls in India..
Lots of empty seats, and lots of desperate & not so desperate couples..
Movie starts rolling and you are glued to the screen like you are sleeping with your eyes wide open..
As the movie progresses, hush hush about how boring the flick is becomes as prominent as the dialogues..
Finally people around you start to get up and leave the hall in between..
Sonia gives a chuckle in between her yawns and waves her hand in front of my yet wide open eyes suspecting I went into a trance..
"So, how did you find the movie?", she asks grinning..
"Ummm... It depends, you know it's like.."
"why don't you straightaway say it was boring?", said a friend back home.

There could be many reasons behind someone liking a movie not everybody likes.. For one, it could be because you are a weird person with weird tastes.. or maybe cause the plot interests you no matter how poorly it's presented.. or like in my case.. you are more in awe of the emotions behind and in the film than the film itself.. More than being engrossed you are just fascinated..

Coming back to "Khoya khoya Chand", it's a good portrayal of vintage cinema, if not one of the best.
I'm not much into learning about the muck in film industry, the casting couch, the exquisite dresses, the liquor, pseudo intellectualism and its display in filmy parties..
But the tale of hope and broken promises, struggle to keep your pride and seeing it bite dust in front of your eyes, lies, deception, the two faces, love, hate, success, downfall, frustration, the giving up, the coming back.. isn't it what makes the plot of picture of every profession, heightened probably in the Page 3 world?

When you see the nubile Nikhat(Soha) looking sheepishly behind the curtains at the shooting of a song, you see dreams..
When you see the superstar Prem Kumar(Rajat Kapoor) displaying his genius off the camera, you see power..
When you see the fearless Zafar(shiney Ahuja) blatantly mocking the stereotypes, you see fire..
When you see the omnipresent Sharmal(Vinay Pathak) standing up for Zafar, you see friendship..

The story revolves around these four characters.. and in the second half you see how they go about losing everything they achieved.. changing circumstances.. changing people..

When you see tears rolling down the eyes of Zafar making a film of his dreams on his life, you see passion..
And when you see the smile on his face when this film bombs at the box office, on people asking him how hew felt on seeing his film being turned down by everyone, you see pain..
When you see him asking his girlfriend to aid him in getting producers and lashing at her on her refusal, you see weakness..
And when you see him crying in front of his woman, saying he can't take it anymore, you see what failure does to people.. and how difficult it is to hold on..

When you see Nikhat becoming a puppet to everyone she cared for, you see the price of success.. and of love..
When you see her succumbing to drinking and finally see her downfall, you see that nothing is forever..
And When you see the look in her eyes when she surrenders herself to the man she loved, you see hope.. you see redemption..

And when you are able to see that in a flick that seems to be lasting forever.. that means two things.. One, the act put up by the actors was too good.. two, you are thinking too much lately.

I slept while watching "Hazaro khwahishein aisi..", maybe because I was too tired.. or bored.. don't know. :D So can't really comment on Sudhir Mishra. Though I feel bad about it now. For a fraction of second when Om shanti Om flashes through your mind.. you see the clear difference.. of portrayal..
But then there were some things.. like it being too long..(or it just seemed to be.. don't remember) lousy last half an hour.. and a script going haywire.. which spoiled the essence of the film. Sets are beautiful.. one of the most impressive works in cinematography that I've seen in recent times. A good sketch of the cinema in 60s. Not magnanimous but yet appealing. Lovely songs and nicely placed.

Surprise package of the film is Soha.. looking gorgeous.. looking graceful.. vulnerable and her diction.. It's funny, how these stars can't speak a line of hindi without an accent off the camera and how flawless they are in front of it. I guess, that's what acting is all about..

Oh, how was the movie..?
You see, it depends..
on what you see in it..

Pyar ke Side Effects

This is what you get when you set out on a Sunday to watch 'Lage Raho..' without giving it a thought that halls in Gurgaon are jampacked on weekends.You go for any movie whose tickets you can lay your hands on even if it has Mallika Sherawat in it.You go with no expectations at all & in comes your surprise--A feel good & cute Romantic Comedy that will leave you feeling just as fresh..

Now,this review might be biased owing to my personal excessive admiration for the lead actor(Read 'I love Rahul Bose' :D )So,you can skip it if you want..:D

Best thing about PKSE is that it doesn't focus endlessly on the mush factor of love viz. ultra torturous Humko deewana,Fanaa,Kya yehi pyaar hai..n Oh my Gawd!!KANk :/That means,it doesn't have dialogues like "I love you Rahul.Abse main tumhara roz subah usi bus stop pe intezaar karungi,jahan tum mera kiya karte the.." or "Apni aankhe band karlo..ab mera haath thaam lo..Socho ki hum yahaan se bahot door nikal aaye hain..daro mat jia..batao tumhe kya dikhai de raha hai" & KANK's gem "Tumhari train aati hai 10:55 pe..meri aati hai 10:45 pe..fir bhi main kyun roz apni train miss kar deta hoon taaki kuchh lamhe tumhare saath bita sakoon?" :o :oHere,dialogues aren't half as ostentatious (thank heavens) but very witty & humorous.

No unsituational songs & running around the trees in transy saaris & even when it means Delhi/Mum ki galiyaan instead of Switzerland's vaadiyaan,I'm fine with it!Coz cinematography is anyway just as good..

This movie is unconventional & here's where lies its strength.It takes you behind the scenes of an affair without being bitter.And even when Rahul is talking about Pyar ke side effects,engagement ke side effects,shaadi ke side effects & break up ke side effects,you can't trace a hint of cynicism.You know all of them are true & yet you laugh.

The film's characters haven't landed from fairyland.They aren't perfect.Guy isn't taller than the girl here,he doesn't earn more than the girl here,he doesn't win every competition,he isn't a perfect dancer,he isn't afraid of talking about his problems with a girl n he's not ashamed of crying!These are real people.Here,boy & girl don't transform themselves or each other.It's more like men will be men,& girls will remain girls.Be it Cricket,Commitment phobia,aversion to shopping,nasty friends,domi father & blah blah!

Rahul's awesome as always,no one can carry off those one liners like he does..but Mallika's good too.She looks so beautiful & quite amazingly so gracefully feminine.Hers was the best act in 'Darna Zaroori hai' which I thought was by luck but here,she does deliver but Rahul steals the show..:D

Sophie on the other hand is awful as always.Vulgarity impersonified! & She must get a jaw surgery done ASAP!!!Ranveer shorie..:D is at his disgusting best but he's so incredibly funny.You might say "EEEEEEE" at his actions,while he sends you into splits..

Songs are lovely,be it Is this love,feeling blue,pyar karke,dil tod ke or Baby Doll..I loved 'em all (kindly note the rhyme..:D)

& I didn't mind the OTT & senseless climax even.Afterall,in which movie will you ever see heroine fleeing from her wedding in an Auto while her groom's chasing her on a ghodi..;)
That's anyday better than the climax where bride's car rolls off upside down after the wedding(with her unharmed)& hero tries to take her out ignoring her pleas of "mujhe mar jaane do"(??) while the groom stares at the scene thinking.."ye dono ek doosre se kitna pyar karte hain.." D'oh!

Fanaa

Ahhhh...fanaa...

When I had come out of the theatre with a long face...I had thought I couldn't enjoy the movie because of the nasty backache I had which lasted throughout the movie n cured miraculously as soon as I sat in the car..(guess they got something in the seats.. ;P)

As for the movie..I second with everybody that it was an Okay movie..i found it to be very impractical..but then most of them are..

Kajol luks fabulous in the muvi..The glow on her face can't go unnoticed..n her smile just lights up the screen..
Amir..just when u think..awwww,he luks soooo old..he luks so strange..His new look in the second half makes u say..oh he lukd so better in long hair..
Then there is this kid..n he's the most beautiful part of the movie..I was so much in a hurry to leave the hall that i cudnt stay to look for the name..but this kid is very cute..n the dialogues that were given to him were very cute too..It was a treat to watch him..

Performances were gud..storyline..naah..n sum things in the muvi just get to you..especially in the first half..all that sick sms shayri..n that ws too much of it actually..I mean,if at all it was required..cudnt they put their lyricist to sum work n write new ones 4 them...??instead of directly stealing it all..except one or two..all were lame..n their romance..in the start..that makes u feel so uneasy..soooooo..u know.. :D

n second half was disappointing too..or mayb it was just my backache..i jst dont know.. :D
Songs..Subhan-allah is as everyone knows a lovely song..but i really loved the video of "mere haath mei.." a lovely song n a beautiful video to go with it..that rain song was okay too..apart frm tht rest two r just ordinary..If sumbdy's havin MCs..i think fanaa's remix is also very gud..n tht instrumental theme..

N then there wre lot of random characters..added just to put weight in th muvi..in random 30 seconds roles..some lasted till 1 minute of the screen time too..n they hv hiked ticket rates fr fanaa..i wnder why..As if 150 wasnt enough.. But still..the movie is okay for a one time watch...not good..but not too bad either..But kajol fans shudnt be disappointed at all..both luks wise n actingwise..she dusnt disappoint..