Imtiaz Ali's Rockstar (2011): Raises the bar of expression for it's actor and director

I know it’s too late to write this review, but in my case it is always like 'jab jaago tab saavera'...jab dekhoge toh hi toh express kar paaoge. 

A lot of constraints often stop me from watching a film in the very first week of its release. And I’m not someone who goes to a movie because of other’s perceptions…I know that would be a wiser decision…but when it comes to movies I just listen to myself and no wiser decisions come to me then.

Anyways coming back to the film Rockstar, I thoroughly enjoyed the film. The themes, the emotion, the cinematography and yes the music, for sure, all made it a wonderful experience. I want to say I had heard a lot of mixed reviews about the film, somewhat more permuting to the negative side. But after watching the film all I can say is that those negative reviews would have been more so based by those who took the movie’s director’s earlier ventures as a pre-notion in their mind to watch this film as well.

I don’t usually judge audience sensibilities, everyone has their own perceptions and I respect that. I don’t judge your judgment; you don’t judge mine…is what I go by. Anyways, I think that most people, who went to watch this film, had to pre-conceived notions about it before they entered the hall.

Firstly, after looking at the film’s posters and its name, they were expecting an artistic and brilliant look into the world of music and the image of a ‘rockstar’. They were expecting a film based on ‘rockstar’.

Secondly, most people went in holding a pre-conceived image of Imtiaz Ali’s earlier venture. Love breakup reunion drama sort of image, with candy floss romance and diversions.

Now these two notions were in themselves so contradictory in the mind of the audience that a few failed to understand and view the film objectively.

I’m not saying Rockstar is in any way a brilliant cinematic experience, or top notch of the lot, no. The film has its own fault lines. Some casting decisions, certain predictably dramatic portions, a bit of slope downwards in unraveling the plot that slowed it to a snail’s pace; this was all there too. But then again the film’s themes and cinematography and music just fills up your senses so well that you can over look certain parts of that.

One of my friends, Neelakshi, aptly commented on the film by saying; “The main (and only) problem with Rockstar is that the director was unsure whether to pitch his movie for the masala- loving audience who laps up movies like Bodyguard and Ra-One or whether to pitch it for the art critics. In the process, he might have ended up pleasing neither. However for me who falls into neither category the movie was thoroughly enjoyable.”

I too felt the same, Imtiaz Ali wanted to make film that was different to his earlier style, but he might have been unsure of how his traditional followers will respond to the sudden change of his direction, hence the visible fault lines in the plot.

For me the film is ruled by its themes. Themes of a tragic love story, theme of artistic expression and angst, and the theme of self destruction. Yes it might be true that Ranbir’s rise as a ‘rockstar’ starts after pain and heart break enters his life; but it is also true that this pain and heartbreak is not reason of his rise, these emotions unleash the creative expression in his heart and voice, that was otherwise resting as comfortably within him as his own life of comfort. The theme of self destruction is more prominent than all the other.

Ranbir Kapoor’s acting is just brilliant. After Ranjneeti, he has again proved his mettle as an actor very successfully as a Rockstar as well. Anyone anywhere who has watched the film has not stopped praising his acting skills and his constant upward growth as a performer. Nargis Fakhri is just a beautiful face, who shouldn’t have opened her mouth or moved a bit. She reminds me a lot of Katrina Kaif, just a face but moment you open your mouth it just shuns you off totally. Aditi Rao has a small role yet her remarkable performance in that too doesn’t let her get shadowed out. Piyush Mishra delivers a great performance as ‘Dhingra’. Shammi Kapoor’s short appearance is more about his expression through eyes, which are beautifully conveyed, and they just make you nostalgic about his presences in film industry and recent demise.

Music of the film had been a hit even before the film was released, after the film’s release audiences started loving the lesser played numbers as well. I enjoyed the songs ‘Nadaan Parindey’ and ‘Jo bhi main….’ And loved the musical bit with the jugalbandi between Shammi Kapoor on shehnai and Ranbir Kapoor on guitar. In the album it is called ‘dichotomy of fame’, an instrumental piece that I’m sure everyone would love.

I feel somewhere down the line the whole music team themselves enjoyed making the music of this film, and that is what is conveyed in its lyrics, music and vocals. Everything, I know a bit over rated, but for sure was a musical ecstasy for me.

                                        

I don’t want to get too much into the storyline here, because for that wiki is there. Also those who have seen it know what it is about and those who haven’t should definitely see it to know what it is about.

The film is, well everyone knows by now, not about ‘rockstars’. It is more closely related to ‘Devdas’ and ‘Dev D’. It is about an artist’s personal journey to self discovery and realizing that getting your ‘heartbroken’ is not just about refusal of a proposal; it is deeper than that, it is about blindly falling for someone and then realizing that you can never really hold on to them.

I loved the narrative style, the non-linear narration, was a good break from the few recent films I have seen. Also the open-ending is an interesting addition to Imtiaz Ali’s style of filming. It leaves a lot to audience’s imagination and intellect.  Cinematographer Anil Mehta provides a beautiful edge to the film, with his lens realistically and artistically capturing the beauty of Delhi, Kashmir and Prague. No doubt in that I would say he has a remarkable record of work with films such as Khamoshi: the Musical, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Lagaan, Saathiya, Kal Ho Na Ho, Veer Zaara and Wake Up Sid; in his kitty.

I would give Rockstar 4 out of 5. This is all for three reason’s; one being Ranbir Kapoor’s performance, two being its music that is just mesmerizing, and three for Imtiaz Ali for attempting something like Rockstar.

  

Directed By: Imtiaz Ali

Produced By: Shree Ashtavinayak Cine Vision Ltd; Eros International

Starring: Ranbir Kapoor, Shammi Kapoor, Piyush Mishra, Nargis Fakhri, Aditi Rao.

Story By: Imtiaz Ali

Music Director: A.R. Rehman

Cinematographer: Anil Mehta

Bimal Roy’s ‘Do Bigha Zameen’ (1953): a socialistic realistic cinematic portrayal

THERE IS a great Indian director considered a master with his realistic portrayal of society, including its all bitter truths. A director who had a strong command over the narrative and his films were a true look into the era they were set in.

Leave all his other films aside; one of his most acclaimed works is Do Bigha Zameen (DBZ), a socialistic realistic cinematic portrayal. It is a story of an agrarian society slowly been taken over by industrialization and commercialization and vices that accompany it.

As author BD Garga remarks in his book on cinema, “His (Bimal Roy) indignation arises out of one man’s exploitation of the other, lack of human decency and social decay. He questions not so much the political structure as the moral base of the society…in “Udayer Pathey” and DBZ, he despises the deception of the rich…He was a romantic and an idealist to whom exploitation in any form - social, economic or religious- was unacceptable.”

In DBZ, Balraj Sahni showed a vast emotional range. He portrays the role of the peasant Shambhu convincingly that you can feel moved with every emotion that the character goes through. It was perhaps his best-known role as the peasant Shambhu and gives a performance of a lifetime. His realistic portrayal stands out all the more particularly when one considers him in real life being well educated and westernized. It is said he actually rehearsed for the role by pushing a rickshaw on the streets of Calcutta and interacting with other rickshaw pullers who were convinced he was one of them. Nirupa Roy and Rattan Kumar as his wife and son respectively compliment Sahni perfectly.

Every character in the film is a representation of a class, be it a poor farmer who considers his piece of land to be his mother, a lecherous and greedy landlord, a scared and protective wife and mother, a child who travels to a city and sees the trials his father goes through and tries to become a part of it. Other than these there are a lot of distinct characters- like a dying father who only wishes to see his son save his land or characters in the city; like a crude landlady who is soft in the core of the heart.

What is also attractive in the film is the composition of the frame that makes every shot almost as if a work of photographic art. Roy never looses the sense of realism from the narration of the story. The film is beautifully photographed by Kamal Bose.

The story of the dispossessed peasant and the landlord had been told many times before but in DBZ, Bimal Roy with his innate reserve and good taste chooses a much wider context in which to place his narrative thus looking at rural poverty at one end and the brutalizing effects of city life at the other end. DBZ is a sad and moving tale which Roy projects with much sympathy, understatement and simplicity and gives us a film that is very human and has great emotional depth.

The film is strongly influenced by the Italian neo-realist Cinema and particularly evokes De Sica’s masterpiece Bicycle Thief (1949) particularly in the scenes of the father and son in the city.

The film also has a high dosage of metaphors as images like the idea of a man running as fast a horse to support his living. Something that hits me while watching this particular scene is a similar type of metaphor from a different film. I am reminded of Naya Daur (1957), a film too based on the ideas of change in the society. There it’s the negatives of industrialization and modernization and machine culture that displaces human labour. In that film it’s the horse-cart driving labourer as against the machine cars.

A moderate commercial success, the film won Roy much critical acclaim and awards at the Cannes and Karlovy Vary festivals. To quote the News Chronicle on August 17, 1956. The film also went on to win Best Film and Best Director awards at the inaugural Filmfare Awards. But perhaps the biggest compliment for the film was a comment made by Raj Kapoor. On seeing DBZ and being much moved by the film he had exclaimed, “How I wished I had made this film!

Here is a scene from the film that is particularly the start of it all...especially should be seen by those who haven't seen the film so far....

There are a lot of excellent dialogues in this movie, but this scene has one of my favorite dialogues so far:

Sambhu: zameen toh kissan ki Maa hai hazoor....Maa ko baich doon?

Zamindar: Arre rehne de. Zameen par mill lagg jaane se Maa Baap bann jayegi....

Do Bigha Zameen (1953)

Director: Bimal Roy

Starring: Balraj Sahni, Nirupa Roy, Ratan Kumar, Jagdeep, Murad, Nana Palsikar

Producer: Bimal Roy

Writers: Salil Choudhury (story), Paul Mahendra(dialogue), Hrishikesh Mukherjee(scenario)

Music Director: Salil Choudhury

Cinematography: Kamal Bose

Editing: Hrishikesh Mukherjee

Hema Malini’s “Tell Me O Kkhuda” (2011) - Tell me kyun khuda?

When Hema Malini announced that she is going to re-launch her daughter, it was tented to be a magnum opus vehicle, but there were just 3 things that I was sure what that film won't have:
1. Esha Deol's old childish acting
2. Esha Deol crying; and

3. Esha Deol's real parents playing her reel parents.

But well voila! As luck would have it, the last one was actually there in the film. Yes the film had both Dharmendar and Hema in it. And well voila! Again it had the first two as well.

I took my chances with the film with quite some interest mainly due to two reasons; one because of the magnificent stars it boosted of as its cast and two because it was Hema Malini's directorial venture.
There was a magnificent array of stars casted indeed but what I found to be, far too predictable characters and roles. And sensitive subjects were taken up in the plot but their handling showed an immaturity of mind and time.

TMOK is reminiscent of Hema Malini’s debut directorial venture ‘Dil Aashna Hai’, similar central story, somewhat similar characters, and well same upper-handed take on feminism. The movie is filled with predictable story lines and immature handling of a sensitive subject.

The only difference is that there the protagonist searched for her biological mother, in particular, and here the protagonist went out looking for her biological father. Also I believe Divya Bharati was really a good actor of her time. Comparing that to anything that Esha Deol did on screen in TMOK is no less of a shame for the film.

At least after you know about ‘Dil Aashna Hai’ you feel relaxed that as to why throughout you felt the film’s story line to be outdated and something hurriedly rehashed.

So the story is about young author Tanya, she is hip modern and a girl who lives her life on her own terms; yet at the same time she is still grounded, a loving daughter and a great friend. But Tanya’s world comes collapsing all at once, when she gets to know that she is an adopted child; and so begins her search for her real parents. All she has as a start is a hospital bracelet that has just a visible letter ‘A’ on it. Her quest leads her to Rajasthan to Abhay Pratap Singh (Vinod Khanna), to Turkey to meet Altaf Zardari (Rishi Kapoor); and finally to Goa to meet Anthony/Tony Costelo (Dharmendar). In tow are her best friends Kuki (Chandan Roy Sanyal), and boyfriend Jai (Arjan Bajwa).

Now the deal with the story I would say is that how a girl who is a young writer, with a great deal of passion for life and a strong head on her shoulder; suddenly falls totally downwards once she gets to know that she is adopted. And the journey that was should have been an emotional one just became about a girl and her friends going on extensive vacations/ adventures.

Another thing is how is it that if the hospital records shows Dharmendar’s screen name as ‘Tony Costelo’ then how come the bracelet on the baby wrist as letter ‘A’ in it. Does the Hospital staff assume by itself that ‘Tony’ is always short for ‘Anthony’?

Another point is that story becomes far too predictable for me at the time when I realize that there is a slight scope of the girl achieving a happy ending even before the first half ends. When does that ever happen in our typical Indian Bollywood films?

I think the director and producer’s main concern was just one; the film’s supposed to be a Deol re-launcher, so let’s forget everything and just makes sure there is no frame left without her being present there. There is no space for audience to miss her even a bit, at lest I believe separation makes you grow fonder, but this movie proves me all wrong there. Esha Deol’s earlier absence from film industry made no one fonder, but yes her come-back did make everyone sure that there are something’s you can never mend. And yes, also that at times parent’s are ready to do anything for their kids, even though it might be spend their money and time on some tasteless talented offspring, and demeaning their own self and close friends for the sake of same.

You ask me why I’m so overtly irritated by this film.

1. the most basic response-waste of my money and time
2. the waste of good supporting cast, that was over all definitely much better than the one who got all the screen time and space.
3. Talented parents have given birth to such an amateurish offspring and then they are ready to support her even though they too very well know that it is all a waste in the end.
4. The film is just a proof of what extend parents are ready to go to  support their most wasteful progeny, which irritates me, especially if I earlier in the day get a lecture from my parents about my recent credit card bills and shopping expenses.

What irritates me even more Dharmendar’s excessive hamming as the Don Tony Costelo, and listening to Esha Deol as the narrator (I’m telling you there was no escape from her face and sound in this film).

Well other than the star cast and all, even the music and songs of the film are quite. There is no song that catches your attention, both in terms of listening and vision. I just felt that there was just one love track being dragged all throughout, vaguely and weirdly in between at random times.

The story has too many flaws. Not only does it reek of being a rehashed version of ‘Dil Aashna Hai’ and ‘Mamma Mia’, but it is also about loosely integrating unnecessary social issue all in one, just for the heck of it.

So all in all I would rate the film as 1.5 out of 5. One mark for the supporting cast, and seeing Vinod Khanna, Rishi Kapoor, and Dharmendar all together once again in one frame. And rest of the marks for the loving and doting parents, wish mine could learn something from them, and please let me say I’m definitely more talented in my own field that than chick in the film.  

Tell Me O Kkhuda (2011)

Director: Hema Malini & Mayur Puri

Starring: Esha Deol (rest is all the cast that shouldn’t be mentioned in the same line as of her, I believe)

Producer: Hema Malini

Writer: Hema Malini & Mayur Puri

Music Director: Pritam

No One Killed Jessica (2011): A strong women-centric subject and performances

No One Killed Jessica (Nokj) is a strong women centric commercial Bollywood film. For long I have held a soft spot for Rani Mukherjee and Vidya Balan in my heart when it comes to Bollywood actresses. They are so much different than other plastic faced Barbie-look alike size zero heroines. These 2 actresses seem so comfortable in their skins and different roles. But their recent career decisions and movie choices had shaken up that opinion a lot. It had made me feel that their acting talent too had succumbed to the money making commercial Bollywood masala films. Vidya Balan proved me wrong in Ishqiya but Rani was no where to be found still. But then NOKJ came along and my faith in both d stars as actresses was reaffirmed.

The film is based on the sensitive issue and news of Jessica Lal murder case. Vidya Balan essays the role of Sabrina Lal, Jessica's sister who fights till her last strand of strength to get justice for her sister and to see her murderers behind bars.

Rani Mukherjee plays the role of journalist Meera, who is hard core and crude. Meera refuses to pick the news story of Jessica Lal’s murder as she feels it is an open and shut case and justice will soon be delivered to the Lal family. But still when court after court and session after session it becomes apparent that justice is not just being delayed but also being denied, that is what jolts Meera out of her peaceful belief in the legal system of the country.

She then does everything in her power and with the power of the country’s 4th estate, media, behind her; she is in fact able to garner a large public movement in support of the reopening of Jessica's murder case and see to it that the justice is indeed served.

It is after a long time you see such powerful women protagonist at the forefront of a Bollywood film. Bollywood films are usually driven by male characters; well that is what has been happening in last few decades. NOKJ brings to forefront that it is not the gender of actors that is to be blamed for their stereotypical viewing in cinema. It is rather d characters that are written in a script by the writers; and offered to them by directors and producers.

NOKJ is a powerful and emotional crime-thriller based on a real life situation and most of the characters have drawn inspiration from those real life situations that surrounded the event. But one problem I found was in the pace of the film. For such a lengthy film the pace of the plot fluctuated a lot from too slow to too fast. And yes at times Rani does become too loud, but that fits well with her character as well, I guess.

The film has a lot of subtle and not-so-subtle symbols. Like the scene when Sabrina is walking on the road consumed by her mental thoughts she doesn’t see the approaching elephant. And the smart integrations of Rang De Basanti in the plot, which actually acted as a catalyst in lending a spark of fresh activism in the Jessica Lal murder case.

The film went on to be a huge hit at the box office and was able to garner positive reviews as well, and that most of it was due to the leading ladies of the film. The magic that these talented actresses exude on screen is very captivating. Also the way the narration takes an active turn with number of symbols and a steady movement between past and present.

The film is a sensitive handling of a delicate and controversial issue. It is an exploration of a person's struggle for justice against a corrupt power lobby system. It is a true story, about Sabrina Lal and her struggle for justice for her sister Jessica Lal, who was murder by son of a powerful minister. And what follows is a story of justice being denied at the hands of corrupt officials, sold out witnesses, and well plain simple delay in the country's legal system.

Vidya Balan plays the sensitive soft yet strong character of Sabrina Lal who fights to her last strand of courage to get justice to her sister's murder. And then there is the hard brash and muhfat character of journalist Meera Gaity, played by Rani Mukherjee. Rani did actually go on to win Dadasaheb Phalke Award for her role in the film later on.
Two different women but both want to fight for same thing Justice. One wants to get justice for her dead sister while other wants justice from a dead system.

Even the performance of side characters is quite exemplary. Every actor in the film carried out their roles well be it Rajesh Sharma in the serious role of the inspector in charge of the case, or Neil Bhoopalam as the prime witness of the case who later turns hostile; or Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub who essays the role of Manish Bharadwaj, based on Manu Sharma. And the most remarable is the new comer Myra in the role of Jessica; she sensitively and skillfully fits in the character. The film boosts of a well balanced and well placed cast.

The music and the background score of the film plays a strong role in complementing the plot well. Songs are not something that you feel as being meaninglessly introduced. Every song well accompanies the emotion and sentiment of the plot. I feel the song 'dilli dilli', from this film, is a far better tribute to Delhi than the song 'yeh Delhi hai meri jaan', from the movie Delhi 6. The music composed by Amit Trivedi, is both sharp and edgy.

The dialogues of the film are sharp as well as straight forward, there is nothing flowery or over idealistic about them. Dialogues seem something as if a part of real slice of life.


A taste of film, its subject, characters, music, and dialogues can be experienced through this trailer of the film.

No One Killed Jessica (2011)

Director: Raj Kumar Gupta

Starring: Rani Mukerji, Vidya Balan

Producer: Ronnie Screwvala

Writer: Raj Kumar Gupta

Cinematographer: Anay Goswamy

Editor: Aarti Bajaj

Music Director: Amit Trivedi
Favorite Dialogue: "aggar ek goli aur ek crore mein chunna ho toh aap kya choose kareinge. Mujhe ek crore nahi chaiye, lekin mujhe ek goli bhi nahi chahiye...."; 
Best Song: Dilli Dilli...., Aale re....