Thursday, April 25, 2019

The Tashkent Files (absolutely spoiler free) review


It took Bollywood 106 years to finally come up with a good intense political conspiracy thriller…doesn’t matter if it took me 4 days to finally write this review




THE TASHKENT FILES

DIRECTOR – VIVEK AGNIHOTRI

CAST- SHWETA BASU PRASAD, MITHUN CHAKRABORTY, NASEERUDDIN SHAH, PALLAVI JOSHI, PANKAJ TRIPATHI, MANDIRA BEDI AND OTHERS

As a kid growing up, I was very much attracted to history shows on the Discovery channel…particularly the ones involving some conspiracy theories like Hitler’s suicide, JFK assassination etc. I ahve always said that even though India is a land of mystics, we sadly never had any such cool mysteries. With the exception of a few like Subhash Chandra Bose’s death, the Black Taj Mahal, Nana Saheb Peshwa’s Treasure, the city of Dwarka etc. Our 2nd Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shashtri’s death at Tashkent in Uzbekistan seemed like a decent but least interesting of the lot. I mean an old man died of a heart attack in the middle of the night. Not much to it. Also, no one really cares about Shashtri (This movie will tell you why you should). The factors surrounding the death were interesting – he died exactly after signing a peace treaty with Pakistan and in Soviet Russia during the height of the Cold War (You could add that phrase to anything and it suddenly becomes mysterious and cool. For example: “In Soviet Russia during the height of the Cold War, a lonely cow grazes on an endless collective farm”. Don’t tell me that doesn’t sound like an opening for a John Le CareĆ© or a Robert Ludlum Novel or maybe a BBC documentary on collective farming during the cold war.)  But for me, LBS’s death was nothing more than a footnote on my list of cool Indian mysteries.

This movie took that footnote and made a fascinating study, not just of the mystery but of the Indian socio-political climate. I have seldom seen an Indian movie with such surgical precision peeling off masks of our most generic yet ever present characters. A converted liberal social worker with short hair and derision of authority (Mandira Bedi), a Padma Bhushan awardee Historian who has no time to listen to any other arguments (Pallavi Joshi) , a reporter who’ll stop at nothing to get to the truth (Shweta basu Prasad), a proud Hindu who sees malice behind any muslim name (Pankaj Tripathi), shrewd politcians embodying the notion that politics is indeed theatre (Mithunda and Naseeruddin) etc. These are all characters we have seen in some shape or form on screen before, where Agnihotri succeeds is giving them some sort of depth. Putting them around a mystery and making them a reflection of our times.  They are not just stereotypical cut outs where you realize hours before the climax as to how these characters will exactly react. The drama between them forms a majority of the story….while the ghost of LBS’ death lurks around the corner.

The story is about a hungry young reporter who’ll stop at nothing to be successful, to find the next big scoop. She suddenly gets a call from an unknown source, testing her Shashtri trivia before sending her some pretty revealing documents. Her publishing of the scoop eventually leads to opposition party leader (Mithun) to raise such a ruckus in public demanding an enquiry into Indian govt.’s response to LBS’ death, that soon a committee is called upon. The majority of the other cast comprise of members of that committee discussing the various factors/theories surrounding the death at Tashkent with the exception of ruling party’s home minister (Naseeruddin shah) who appears to have his own plans in mind while constituting the committee.

The majority of the drama and the investigation aspects happen in a single room where the committee is meeting. The interaction of the characters with each other is reminiscent and (knowing Agnihotri’s style) definitely inspired by the classic movie 12 Angry Men. While following such minute details by mere dialogue can be a bit tedious, Agnihotri makes certain intelligent cinematic choices to insert highlighted documents and actual interviews of reporters, descendants of Shastri, references of actual books etc. in the movie. These aspects kind of also lend a docu-drama feel to the movie and makes it more than just some potboiler conspiracy like The Da Vinci Code.

But the problem for me personally begins when the movie flows as though you are already aware of all the details and shifts its focus way too many times. When the characters debate small details like a knocked over thermos or introduce us to some rogue spy assassin currently living in Uzbekistan- it gets a bit hard to follow. Mystery is my favourite genre to read and write. I have always believed that to get an audience involved in the mystery the events must primarily be presented first- albeit from a skewed perspective. Then shining a light upon the missing details is the eventual unravelling of the mystery. Take for example a Sherlock Holmes episode (TV series starring Benedict Cucumberwatch)- it gives you a brief glimpse at the event which occurs then sets Holmes onto investigate it. Or look at any Sherlock Holmes original stories – Almost all of them begin with a mysterious client calling upon Holmes and Watson and describing the peculiar incident to them. I am not saying that’s not a format that can’t be played around with- but that’s what a mystery thriller is. If the movie would have took its time establishing the incident with at least known details (perhaps with a dramatic visualization) then it would have been even more interesting to follow. The characters always talk as if everyone knows every goddamn detail of the story and hence there is no one – not even our reporter protagonist- with whom we take this investigative journey.

The dialogue between the characters sometimes natural and organic, sometimes suddenly gets overtly dramatic and becomes a shout fight for no particular reason. However, those instances are few and far in between and the movie does near the end manage to keep the dialogue crisp and to the point. It’s like this, if you asked me how exactly Ragini Fule – our hero journalist- arrives at her final conclusion, I wouldn’t be able to recall that journey. I can however tell you how many times she cried or was frustrated or scared. Just goes to show – Shweta Basu Prasad does a fantastic job as Ragini. Particulary her climactic speech earned claps in my theatre. She has the right mix of anger, selfishness and patriotism in her eyes at all times. The rest of the cast are all stellar performances as well with special mention for Pallavi Joshi in one specific scene and an equally eye-opening pre-climactic speech by Mithunda. That speech is the best ripping apart of our society that I have ever seen.

Now am not stupid enough to assume that the claims made by the movie are 100% accurate but it is definitely some food for thought. Agnihotri is anything if not bold. His last movie Buddha in Traffic Jam was a somewhat messy but courageous endeavor. To make a movie on the Indian intellectual’s elite dubious connections with Maoist terrorist movements is no small joke (Go watch it, its free on Youtube). Agnihotri is a bit of an outcast in hypocritical, ultra-secular Bollywood. But that makes him perfectly placed to make movies like these. If you are even remotely acquainted with modern Indian history- this movie should make you ponder a lot. When the movie towards the end reveals actual KGB documents (with a certain Indian politicians name redacted to avoid direct attacks)...it made me remember Joker’s line from the recently released trailer of Joker (starring Joaquin Phoenix). To paraphrase it- I used to think my nation’s history, its politics was a tragedy…now I realize it’s always been a comedy.

A bit tighter editing and definitely better background music would have earned this movie a higher rating. But as of now it is definitely – Worth Watching Once.

PS – ENDGAME. TOMORROW.

Sunday, April 21, 2019

Kalank movie review


Kalank spoiler-fre…lets face it, no one gives a shit if this is spoiler free or not.




KALANK
CAST- SANJAY DUTT, MADHURI DIXIT, ALIA BHAT, SONAKSHI SINHA, VARUN DHAVAN, KIARA ADVANI, KRITI SANON, KUNAL KHEMU AND SOME OF THE WORST EDITING AND SCREEN-WRITING I HAVE SEEN IN YEARS

Ya well, let me start this in reverse by giving my review in advance.

This movie is a Waste of time.

In my 80+ movie reviews (Ya they got deleted, I managed to restore some of them though) over the last 6 years, this has been my subjectively designed rating system from highest to lowest-

Classic!
Superrific!
Total Timepass
Worth Watching Once
Watch if you have Nothing else to do
Save money watch on TV (and/or on a streaming service)
Waste of Time

Well, call me a generally positive person or misguided cinephile but I usually end up giving even the most forgettable of movies, a “Watch if you have Nothing else to do” or at least a “Save money watch on TV”. As far as I can recall, only 2-3 movies in my film reviewing history have had the lowest “Waste of time” rating. This may also be because I don’t watch all the movies that come out, only the ones which I feel like watching. But sometimes, I just decide to go out of my comfort zone and decide to give a movie which never excited me in the first place a chance. Because I have been wrong before. Tamasha is a prime example of a movie that I didn’t watch in the theatre when it came out and found it to be one of the most fascinating Hindi romantic drama movies ever. I mean EVER.

Having said that, I didn’t go into Kalank expecting a pleasant surprise of that kind. Because my one and only litmus test for particularly Hindi movies is not the marketing or the even the trailers. It’s the storytellers…the directors/producers. So if there is a movie directed by Sriram Raghavan or Anurag Kashyap or Raju Hirani or Vishal Bharadwaj…I know what kind of movie to expect and whether I should give it a shot or not. As much as I have love-hate relationship with Sanjay Leela Bhansali, I do know when he has written/directed a movie- it is going to be well crafted. Sometimes it’s also about the production house. I mean I know it’s going to be a different movie if Anurag Kashyap or Vishal Bharadwaj or Vidhu Vinod Chopra or Excel productions (Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar) are producing it. If it’s a Dharma productions movie (Karan Johar) it strictly meant candy floss entertainment and a strict no-no from me a few years ago. But since last few years I think Dharma productions started diversifying and producing/distributing fascinating content like Brothers, Bahubali, Raazi, Kesari etc. So when I saw Karan Johar’s name attached to a film…I was intrigued but I didnt know the director or the writer so I wasnt. Then I saw that it starred Madhuri and Alia and I was intrigued but then I saw Varun Dhawan and I…wasn’t. Then I saw Sanjay Dutt and I was intrigued and then I saw it was some multi-starrer family period drama and I wasn’t.

And that exactly what the movie is. Up and down. A confusing mess. Kalank starts with a very stylish title sequence showing only glimpses of the main star cast doing certain things and then flashes back to 2 years earlier to follow the story. While this kind of structure is a favourite structure of mine, the movie just messes it up completely. Suddenly you have Alia Bhat 10 years later narrating this story to a writer. But then the movie shows parts which she couldn’t have known. Even though that can be forgiven as a minor oversight, the movie sometimes includes her voice-over narration and sometimes doesn’t. It doesn’t stick to a tone.

The story is set in Husnabad a suburb or maybe a city close to Lahore (the movie doesn’t make it clear) in pre-partition India. There is no point in me recalling the plot here but it involves Alia Bhatt being forced to marry Aditya Roy Kapur a rich Choudhary news paper owner, whose first wife who is dying from cancer (Sonakshi) arranged that marriage, Sanjay Dutt is his stern father and Madhuri is an aging tawaif / Dancer (Because of course she is) and Varun Dhawan is her illegitimate child she had with some powerful guy in the city. There is a love triangle which between Alia, Aditya and Varun which is a major part of the story and there is a hidden secret which the movie tries to play around with but am sure even reading my plot summary you must have guessed what it is. There are also things like partition related communal riots, artisans losing their jobs because of industrialization, newspapers shaping social opinions, bull-fights in the Hindu Kush mountains  (yes CGI bull fights with a bull who can do only one move), classical music and kathak dancing, elaborate Dussehra festivals in pre-partition muslim dominated areas with performances so spectacular that their budget that would rival modern day movies and of course item numbers. (Kriti Sanon is hot. I don’t care)

The movie at 3 hours is way too long. And although it tries really hard to be a Shakespeare-esque family drama in the line of Hamlet or Romeo and Juliet with family secrets and politics forming the background of a love/revenge story. But a movie like this requires either the raw,dark energy of Vishal Bharadwaj to make it work or the aesthetic grand scale of Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Director Abhishek Varman (2 states) tries desperately hard but fails at it. Only appearing to be a gareebon ka Bhansali with elaborate sets that don’t make sense and aren’t captured as well cinematically. He also lacks the venom and intensity Bharadwaj or even Kashyap could bring to such a drama. The dialogue lacks the flair to be anything interesting. The music by Pritam is passable and even they eventually give Madhuri a chance to dance (I mean let’s face it, they only cast her in that role for her dancing skills. I mean am not complaining. Dedh Ishqiya did it a million times better by giving her a great character too) they have a utterly forgettable song which filmed the dullest possible way you could film a goddess like Madhuri in her element as a dancer.

Not to say that there arent interesting elements in there. As I said, it has Shakespeare-esque potential and with a tighter script could have worked fairly well. There is a good movie in there, but I don’t think the writer (I don’t know this person. But I can bet he/she is the producer’s cousin, maasi etc.) The film has a very old-school feel to it and I don’t mean it in a good way. It tries desperately to be this long, musical family drama/love story like Waqt or K3G but doesn’t quite have the intensity or the charm to hold my interest. I read that Yash Chopra had conceptualised this movie 15 years ago and it shows. Maybe he or hell even Karan Johar could’ve made it a more fun experience. The movie languishes at a pace which is not keeping with the times and nor with its own story. It has like multiple endings with almost every character narrating a voice over ending when only Alia had started telling the story in the first place. There is a journalist cum writer who is writing this story, as well as modern day Aditya Roy Kapur is also telling this story…also, Varun Dhawan says something when he dies (I already said this is a spoiler review) as well as all the main characters are in heaven like version of Husnabad in white clothes also there is Alia in the end talking to us.  It’s like the writers had 3-4 different endings in mind and they just decided to film all of them. Then they forget to tell the editor which one to keep and the movie got released with ALL of them.

This movie except for one or two scenes was a completely forgettable experience. And a boring one. Very surprising that Alia would choose a movie like this after being in Raazi and Gully Boy. She has become my favourite actress working currently after Deepika and although she is the highlight of the performances, she can’t do much with a movie that doesn’t flow well. The rest of the cast actually have some good performances, some scenes are good but again it’s the overall movie that’s a let-down. I usually respect movies so much that I don’t even go peeing for longer so that I don’t miss anything. I didn’t respect this movie at all. Skip it. Watch Tashkent files instead. Am watching that today. Review coming soon.


PS- Avengers Endgame hype is on!!!



Sunday, April 7, 2019

SHAZAM! (spoiler free) review


“Even though am a huge fan of super-hero movies, I dont think we are getting too much variety. I mean Aquaman was visually stunning but as a movie it doesnt have any repeat value for me. Everything’s the same..even DC is following Marvel formula now. I superhero movie are bor-“


SHAZAM!


“That was magical!”




SHAZAM!
DIRECTOR –DAVID F SANDBERG
CAST- ZACHERY LEVI, MARK STRONG, ASHER ANGEL, JACK DYLAN GRAZER AND OTHERS

DC or Marvel, the reason most of us these days love super hero movies or comic books in general is that may be you relate with the mythological 'Gods among us' aspect that DC stories tend to have or the relatable heroes with humanity aspect that most Marvel stories have. Aside from all the action or the operatic epic story-lines that examine our own humanity through these fantastic characters, think of the very first reason that as a kid attracted you to comic books. It wasn't the psychological depth of Batman or the social discrimination themes of X-men or the jokes the Avengers crack (yes that's what they have been boiled down to these days)..it was purely wanting to be a superhero. As a kid you wanted nothing more than to magically transform into a super-hero... but without all the mutation, criminal activity or alien genocide tragic backstory behind it. The genius of Shazam (Yes I know his real name was Captain Marvel. But there is a wholeass story that I dont wanna get into right now) as a character is just that. Its about a  15 year old kid who can turn into a flying,super- strong adult superhero by just saying a magic word.

Didn't you as kids in lunchrooms ever have the conversation about what would you do if you had super strength or hyper-speed or laser beams? (I mean I still have them coz it matters to me more than budgeting) This movie actually celebrates that aspect of the fandom. The one thing that always bugs me about any fantasy fiction (be it Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings or Spiderman or zombie movies) is when the protagonist finds out that he or she has magic powers or that some fantastic element exist but they initially refuse to accept it or are burdened by their own personal issues to actually be fascinated by it. That's the thing the especially bugs me about Harry Potter as a character. Bitch you are an abused kid who found out he is a wizard...any real kid would be putting their heart and life into figuring out EVERY FUCKING THING that they could do with those powers. It feels many a times that characters in these stories don't ever have fantasy stories of their own.  How can you not want to fly on brooms every damn time if you had that power?! How can you living in the modern world are confused as to why dead people are walking and eating live people? Did you never play a video game?! Didn't you ever read kids stories as a kid?! I mean if you ever had any super-power in real life- be it climbing walls or kicking really fast. I bet the first thing any teenager exposed to so many games,books and movies would do is try to be a super-hero!

The best thing about DC movies has always been that they place Gods among us. They place these weird characters (even non-superpowered ones like Batman) in our real world and see how they would actually react and how the world would react to them. Remember the first flight scene in Man of Steel when Clark Kent first learns to fly? He is smiling like a kid who just learned he could fly. Coz thats what just happened! (People still think MoS is an emotion-less movie). In Wonder-woman too, when Diana first discovers her powers she immediately wants to know what else she can do with them. Even in Aquaman where young Arthur is told by Vulko that he can swim really fast and breathe under-water, he is awed by the things he can do.

While the earlier DC movies have concentrated on how we as a society would react to these meta-humans (Man of Steel, Batman V Superman, Suicide Squad), the later movies are beginning to concentrate on how these powerful beings would react to us. Wonder Woman is between the two-capturing both society’s reaction to a God as well as our impact on her. From Aquaman onwards, this has started moving into the other direction where Arthur Curry deals with his identity as well as his responsibility to his hidden underwater kingdom. Shazam takes this focus on the personal lives of a meta-human to another level.

When Billy Batson  gets his powers, he isn't completely freaked out by it or wants to turn back. The first thing he does is find out his recently made foster home friend Freddy. Freddy is a huge DC fanboy who has a collection of real world DC memorablia like the Batarang from BvS and numerous paper-clippings, merchandise etc. Billy and Freddy are maybe initially freaked out but within minutes they get to what any god-damn 15 year old would do if he was transformed into a magical super-hero... start testing powers. This is how Shazam even being a comedic movie still is weirdly realistic. The humor comes organically from what would really happen if two teenagers were testing out powers for the first time and not because Iron Man hasn't cracked a joke for 10 minutes.

Other than the appealing to the wannabe superhero little boy in you, what the movie really has going for it is the family aspect. I mean most movies particularly the ones appealing to kids, try to shove in a family message which doesn't appeal to me personally. But this movie treats the family part very sincerely and genuinely stopping just two steps short of being cheesy. There were scenes in the movie especially when a 3 year old Billy Batson is unable to find his mom, that teared me up a bit. When Billy finally finds out that who is real family is and then has to transform into Shazam to save them...fucking hell..that scene really hit me in the heart. In the age of epic inter-galactic battles or a toxic society reacting to super-heroes, a movie having that kind of heart was refreshing.

Zachary Levi as the adult superhero Shazam captures perfectly the feeling of being a child on the inside. Even though they never share screen time, Asher Angel as Billy Batson and Zachery Levi as Shazam have the perfect chemistry that each looks like a magical progression of the other. The surprise package was Jack Dylan Grazer as Freddie. I could relate to him the most as he is a sarcastic, know-it-all comic fanboy who uses his knowledge of comic books to mask his insecurities. (That got a li'l too personal). Freddie and Billy slowly but surely develop a natural friendship which forms the core of the movie. All the other supporting cast is great especially Faithe C Herman as lil Darla is just wayyy too cute. Billy Batson's foster parents especially Cooper Andrews  as Victor Vasquez is a perfect gentle giant fatherly figure. While a movie like this understandably concentrates on the hero, it surprisingly opens with the villain's backstory - giving Dr. Sivana a slight bit more depth than I thought it would have.  Mark Strong is of course a great actor especially in negative roles. While in terms of other DC villains, he is not the greatest as a character coz well Dr. Sivana isn't that interesting as it is. Any comic book fan knows who Shazam’s real villain is – Black Adam. (Oh Btw, The Rock has been slated to play him). I understand why they use him in the first movie coz if they had Black Adam (THE FREAKING ROCK) in Shazam’s first movie obviously the hero would’ve been overshadowed.

Shazam is a small, personal (low-budget at around 70-80 million) super-hero movie. And it keeps its focus on the personal aspect of it. That's not to say there isn't a grand climactic battle with some slo-mo and POV punches (nods to Man of Steel and a certain Mr. Snyder)  Director David F Sandberg has mostly made horror movies up to now and he uses those skills here as well. Shazam might be a kids movie but there are some interestingly dark moments in it. Sandberg also has a charming social media presence and a hilarious taste for comedy. This is felt wholly through out the movie and mainly its marketing. I really think a lot of movies could learn a thing or two from this movie’s marketing.  What you see in the trailers just gives a basic idea of who and what Shazam is going to be about – A 15 year old kid who lives in a shared foster home, suddenly gets transported to a magical cave where a wizard grants him powers that turn him into an adult powerful superhero. In case you didn't know absolutely anything about Shazam, that's what the trailers let you know. And that my friends isn't even 0.5% of the movie. The trailer so brilliantly choose to hide its best parts that you’ll never complain that it showed a lot.

Although the music is a bit too nostalgia baiting for me (They literally re-purposed the John Williams Superman theme for Shazam) it isn't too bad. Most of the humor as I said is organic to the premise of a kid discovering his powers, but some of the jokes look a bit forced. (almost Marvel-esque) But not more than a few. Sandberg has said that the inspiration behind the movie were kids movies of the 80’s –Gremlins, Goonies, Ghostbusters, E.T. etc. Adventure + horror + family. And He really does well to emulate the feel coupled with some modern comic book movie sensibilities.

Even though I still hate Warner Bros. /DC for butchering Justice League (#ReleasetheSnydercut) and Suicide Squad and stopping their directors from elevating the genre to newer heights. I kinda like the new direction they are taking after that debacle. Even though the movie is chock-full of references to the Worlds of DC, it isn't set within any particular continuity. You don't need to watch 8 movies to enjoy it. WB is concentrating more on making self-contained movies that you should enjoy on their own. They are also offering so much variety from an immigrant story/first contact movie (Man of Steel) to a socio-political operatic epic – (BvS), from a first world war story/discovery of humanity (Wonder Woman) to a fantastical underwater kingdom (Aquaman) to a kid’s movie about a teenager who turns into a adult superhero. Its a more wider buffet to choose from. Which except for the Snyder’s 5 movie arc was the original plan (If only the fuckers would've let it happen Snyder basically was making an Endgame before the Endgame). They are making a truly diverse multiverse. Not TV episodes for the next season.   Although a mid-credits scene sets up a sequel, I personally thought it was unnecessary, since the movie ended on a Super note. (Also, Warner Bros really needs to sort its actors’ contract issues out)

So go ahead, take your kids to it to enjoy this one, go in yourself and let the kid within you enjoy. Shazam is Total Timepass!

PS:- I have been told by multiple people that they like me listing Easter Eggs/references, so here they are (mild spoiler alert. But don't worry, I will list them without context) 
  •       The Batarang, Superman bullet etc. Are obvious. Am skipping the really obvious ones. 
  •          Shazam and Freddy are playing Mortal Kombat in which Shazam is playing the Thunder God Rayden. Shazam himself has lightening based powers. DC has frequently collaborated with Mortal Kombat creators to create games like Injustice. A certain character also screams “Finish Him” in Shao Khan’s voice from Mortal Kombat. Same character who also looks a bit like Ryu from Street Fighter also screams “Hadoken” while throwing a laser ball. That's a Street fighter AND Mortal Kombat reference in one movie!
  • .       Although the movie is set in Philadelphia, the name of the school the foster kids go to is Fawcett school. This is a reference to Billy Batson’s city in the comics and also to the original company that owned Shazam before DC bought it- Fawcett comics.
  • .       There is a scene where Shazam and Freddy are discussing the length of his powers – When they say “More powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound”. This is a reference to Superman’s description in the widly popular Superman radio serial from the 50’s –“Faster than a speeding bullet, More powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound”