Yeh Jawani Hain Deewani : Live your Moment !!

“Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani” is the second attempt at direction by Ayan Mukherjee post his critically acclaimed slice of life movie “Wake Up Sid”. He chooses to tell yet another contemporary story, only this time he adopts a more commercial format on a grand scale, for narration. While the film has its fair share of song and dance drama, to distract you, the film has its poignant moments to captivate you.

The story , juxtaposed between a Rom-Com and Slice of Life genre , offers nothing new in terms of content tohat we haven’t seen in recent times. But to the credit of the director, he manages to still infuse freshness and charm of his own in the movie, with heart rendering moments and sense of realism in his characters. A tale of friendship and love is told over span of 8 years, bringing home the point that it is important to chase dreams but getting the priorities right from time to time.

What works for the film, is the evolution of 4 protagonist in their individual journey, their chemistry with each other and their moments. In those moments, the film manages to create a sense of nostalgia of “Been there, Done that”. The emotional scenes are handled with subtlety and there is no over the top drama or except that one famous cheesy line of female protagonist “Mujhe tum se pyar ho jayega…..phir se”, deliberately added to cash in the real life love story of ex-lovers who also happens to be the lead protagonist. The beautiful locale adds to the romanticism of the movie as much as the silent moments between the protagonists.

At 180 minutes, a film is tad too long, specially the first half post interval. There are few scenes in second half of the film which simply don’t hold strong and just drags the movie. The music and cinematography of the film is first rate, and you have a bonus with a Madhuri Dixit dance number.

But what transcends Yeh Jawani Hain Deewani from a descent film to immensely likeable film, are the performances  and the onscreen chemistry of lead pair Ranbir and Deepika, which varies from tender to smoking hot, duly customized to suit the requirement of the screenplay.

RK as usual is in top form, and gives yet another knockout performance, exuding charm and pathos with ease. Depicting a very believable character, it appealed to me more because I know a person in real life, very similar to the same. Also his dancing skills in “Batameez Dil” needs a speical mention . Known for her freakish, dark and weird roles, Kalki emerge as the sweet surprise of the movie, rising above the character to deliver a very like-able performance. Where Kalki scores, Aditya Roy Kapur, falter and to be fair, his character is also not well written. Farukh Sheikh, as Ranbir’s dad is wonderful, in what can be strictly called a cameo.

But its Deepika who remains the soul  of  the movie –not only she manages to look divine in every frame but  also delivers  one of the most subtle, nuanced performance, with her sublime eyes. Her character lingers in your heart, long after you left the movie hall. The graph of the character is well written. Couple of scenes, when she is about to confess her love, and the poignant moment in the cab, speaks volumes of her growth as an actress.

So if you are yearning for a summer Rom-Com, without exactly looking forward to do a research on the film, it is likely you will end up the liking the film and leave the theatre with a smile. 

“Slice of Life” has been off late my favorite cinematic genre. Be it “Wake up Sid” or “English Vinglish”, the magic of these movies lies in the fashion in which finer nuances of life are captured. The biggest advantage “English Vinglish” has is its storyline –which will be immediate connect to all Indians particularly middle class women –who more often than not have struggled to speak English – which unfortunately is one of the basic qualifying criteria for being a good mother to their kids or equal spouse to their husbands.

“English Vinglish “traces the story of one such house-wife and a caring mother, Shashi, proficient not only in her house-hold work, but also runs a small in-house business of supplying “Ladoo” in marriages successfully. But all these are not good enough, to rank herself equal, among her husband & kids. So she finds her confidence gets rebuked at slightest instances, when she fails to spur out English. While she silently suffers the pain, her family largely remains aloof or chooses to overlook the same. But destiny changes, when Shashi embarks upon a journey alone to New York, to get her niece successfully married and in the process, ends up discovering a new her, oozing with confidence.

Life is also very strange, when we don’t find love & respect among our close ones; it often comes from unexpected quarters who ends up making us feel special. As Shashi finds such warmth in her co-mates in English Class or a staunch supporter in her niece, who supports her in her mission to learn English. It takes her a while to digest the fact that someone random finds her special. The movie captures beautifully small moments of joy without getting too melodramatic or preachy at any point of time. The movie is light at heart with good dose of humour. The music of the film is so soothing to the ears, and perfectly blends with the storyline of the movie. The moments of joy of Shashi when she celebrates small victories over English language with her co-class mates, or her feel-good moments with French classmate and dilemma at the same time, forms the high points of the movie.

Sridevi acts as if she was born to play Shashi. One would fall short of adjectives to describe the élan with which she plays the role – in one word “impeccable” – her eyes almost traces the graph of the story – from her pain to joy or her dilemma to confidence. Truly, class is permanent. Always believe to make a great film, supporting cast has to be equally strong – and “English Vinglish” can boast of each of them. Be it Mehdi Nebbou as her French admirer or Adil Hussain as a insensitive husband or her empathetic niece, each of them are stellar in their individual performances. The fact that each of the character is so well defined only adds to the realistic value of the film.

Final words of the film needs to be reserved for the hero of the film- Gauri Shinde – who has crafted this masterpiece – Take a bow, lady !!!! While the credit rolls, it drives home two very important point – if you love some-one or vice versa, that doesn’t give you a right to treat him or her as door-mat, respect is as important as love and if it takes a French suitor to make a Indian wife or mother to make her realize her true self and most importantly serves as a wakeup call for their husbands, so be it!!!!!!

Rendezvous with "Barfi" :-)

Must admit after long I was excited to watch a movie. And after watching Barfi, am super-excited to talk about a movie, which is like a beautiful canvas, painted with all those unspoken emotions. Kudos to director Anurag Basu for visualizing and sketching such poignant moments, that you get to watch in plenty, throughout the movie. While the film is not entirely free of blemishes, but the positives are so inherently strong that it clearly outnumbers the flaws.

“Barfi” may be hyped as a film about people with disabilities – but  it is purely a love story at heart – falling in love, heart break and loving back the person who loves you the most. Don’t remember a Hindi movie, where love has been so beautifully portrayed sometimes through silence and such heart rendering moments in recent times. Set at the exotic location of Darjeeling, the story unfolds at a lucid pace, with romance and suspense at core. While a lot of hindi films focusses on tragic tales of these people, this films sets a completely different trend. It chooses to tell the same tale of love, joy, pain , jealousy but through the eyes of people, whose way of expression somewhat different.

Barfi, is a story set in 1970, covers three time period, and traces the journey of deaf and mute Barfi, mentally challenged Jhimil and near-perfect Shruti to bring home the point,  while one do not need to be perfect for discovering simple joys of life and all that is perfect necessarily do not transcend to happiness. One of the standout elements of Barfi is that in all those happy moments between the protagonists there is an underlying slithering pain. As a audience, there are so many moments when you are laughing while subconsciously your eyes are moist with pain. Those simple moments of joy between Barfi, Jhimil & Shruti are so delightful that it leaves you wanting for more.

A very special mention for film’s music and photography which forms the perfect backdrop of this fluid lyrical experience. Another outstanding aspect of the film is usage of props in the film be it mirror or mask. On the flip side, length of the movie is bit too long and there are some loopholes in the plot like Barfi s   sudden change of heart for Jhilmil looked a tad unconvincing.

Ileana as “Shruti” personifies best, what “first love” is all about – pretty face, beautiful eyes and long hair –  too good to be true and yet compelling enough to make you fall in love only to break your heart.This extremely talented actress speaks volumes through her eyes and lingers in your heart for long. Must say she looked stunning in those Bong saris and mascara-laced eyes.

Priyanka Chopra as “Jhilmil” grows on you, slowly but surely. She is extremely natural in her autistic act and portrays “innocence” beautifully, keeping the character as real as possible on screen, unlike her “fake” off-screen persona.

The supporting cast of the movie delivers a stellar performance be it Saurabh Shukla as cop, Haradhan Chattopadhyay as Jhilmils godfather or Rupa Ganguly as Shruti’s mom and enhances the overall quality of the film.

However “Barfi” belongs to Murphy who mis-spells his name as “Barfi” instead – who takes you  to his fairy tale world of love, joy and pain - Yet another superlative act of RK – whose performances are so captivating these days that it seems he can do no wrong – he chooses to act with his body language this time. His charming performance works in silence, knits weave around its audience and leave them spell bound in this web of magical act. Watching him perform is like watching someone you know in real life right in front of your eyes.

Kudos to Anurag Basu for such a masterpiece...Flawed yes but then but a little bit of imperfection works perfect for us. The best part about Barfi is that there is hardly a dull moment and despite being of experimental genre, it is highly entertaining. It’s works like a awesome dessert that is visually delightful, and melts beautifully in your mouth and leaves you with a lasting sweet taste. 

N.B Some films cannot be rated it is just experienced !!!!

Heart Unplugged…..!!!!

Blue skies above, puffy clouds meandering with drowsy eyes 
Treaded by path of fallen petals, my ambrosial abode 
Below meadow greens, grazing calves and fluttering butterflies

Flight of Fantasy, en route to my beautiful escapade

In the canvas of my heart, sketched her a thousand time

Oh such purity and passion, in that kohl laced eyes

  Jingle of her bangles echoes in my ear, a musical rhyme
    Intoxicated by potion of her love, wonder how time flies     

Alas, the perilous journey is ready to embark

Mind and Heart, entangled in internal mutiny
Beckon my vessel to charter beyond Noah’s ark
Let duty for nation, be my final destiny


Heart filled with pride, storm ahead pose lethal
Her love makes the battleground look like path of fallen petal….

Format Used : Shakespearean Sonnet (ABAB CDCD EFEF GG)


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Image Courtesy: Google Images - Nature Pic, Ship Pic
Special thanks to my friend Sonia for letting me use her pics

Review : The Moment ( Film by my friend Sandeep Balan)

Link for view and read below for Review

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Dsg4jd6GyLt4%26feature%3Dshare&h=eAQHBWwqB


( Please use a ear phone for better clarity)

Short Films or Home Video formats are a more common concept in Western world and currently an emerging trend in India, under experimentation by many aspirant filmmakers. In the present context, the film in question “The Moment” which is the latest release, in YouTube and Face book, last Friday is a screen adaptation of Sandeep Balan’s  blog “The Moment”, who has also directed this film. This is Sandeep’s first attempt on serious cinema, after serious of spoof videos, including the most popular “Madhosh Madira”, thanx to immensely likeable   protagonist who featured in the same, coupled with hilarious voice over.

“The Moment” talks about a love story between lead protagonist and how each moment of the relationship makes a lasting impact in their lives. Though the story of the film has nothing new to offer in terms of content, but the novelty of the film lies how the story unfolds beautifully in 10 minutes. The beauty of any love story lies in the fact that it can be presented in a unique fashion each time. The director, Sandeep Balan, laps up this opportunity with both hands, and tells the story just like a delicious brownie, scooped with vanilla ice-cream, served in platter, for viewers to enjoy till the last scene. The fact that the story is written by director Sandeep himself, helps to recreate his vision onscreen, exactly how he envisaged it while writing . The scenes are well written by Sandeep.

The background music makes a stunning impact as this tragedy unfolds. The editing is crisp and perfect to hold the viewers attention. The movie also captures the mood of Mumbai, in it rains and again directors hits it, by blending it beautifully with the story. Photography of the film , is worth a mention, specially the outdoor scenes. The fact, that story is told to the viewers in the narrative format, adds to the drama. The first couple of minutes may appear slow, but the film gets better with each passing moment. Full marks to the director, for bringing out an effective performance from his lead actors and also to his attention to minute details.

The fact, that cast is new, adds to the freshness of the film. Saurabh Bhasin, as Sid, gets the melancholy of the character right, and captures the same with his somber looks and sincere performance. But the movie gets elevated by few yards, with a top-notch performance of female protagonist Aditi, played by Sangita, who is a complete natural on screen. Her vivacious smile and eyes speaks volume, and arresting enough to make her audience, skip a beat. Watch her emote in the penultimate scene, its a treat. The chemistry between lead pair sprinkles innocence. In a special cameo, Naishy as Aditi' s friend Ayesha is a stunner and oozes with confidence. As described in one of the dialogues, she truly is the "fringe benefit" of the movie. It would have been interesting to watch her face to face, with lead protagonist in the climax scene, which director chooses to avoid, for some reasons.

As first attempt, Sandeep is a promising talent to watch for and his eyes for details especially the last scene of capturing the protagonist’s “hand” speaks about his eye for creating finer moments. Dialogues goes in line with the mood of the story, and some cheeky lines in between will leave audience with a smile. On the flip side, the sound of the movie is not so effective. The dialogues may look slightly more for a short film of 10 min. Dubbing of the film, in the initial portions could have been better. However the positives of the film, ensures you to overlook the weakness. A story told from heart, directed with lot of love, and performed with all honesty by the lead actors, is good enough to hold on to  your attention. I will go with three and half star for ”The Moment”. Three for the movie and half star more for the director's vision well complemented by the background score.