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Reviews
Bahen (1941)
Classic tale of over protective love
This is a beautiful film with great acting and nice music. Sheikh Mukhtar is brilliant in his portrayal of the over protective brother, and is able to draw sympathy and attraction. Nalini Jaywant plays the young sister with charm and innocence, but it makes for an uncomfortable watch to see her playing the romantic lead at such a young age. Meena Kumari is brilliant in her role and sings the best song in the film, tohe kajra lagau mori rani.
Sheikh Mukhtar's screen presence in this film is comparable to Toshiro Mifune's in Rashomon. He is rough but charming. His acting in this film shows that he influenced later actors like Dharmendra and Manoj Kumar.
Nalini Jaywant looks very natural in her role and clearly shows that she is an extremely talented actress. She displays very good acting also in her other films that I've seen like Nastik and Shikast.
Good cinematography and direction have made this film very pleasing to the eyes. The songs are average but good.
Kaccha Limboo (2011)
Jab Ye Sitare
This film is a sensitive and intimate portrayal of the life of a young teenager in Mumbai who finds it hard to get along with people. It is a slow moving film. The soundtrack is good. Everyone in this film has acted well especially Taher Sutterwala (Shambhu) and Chinmay Kambli (Vitthal), creating some very memorable characters. The writing is good with natural sounding dialogues and a good interplay of languages. The story provides a unique coming of age to the main character. There is a sharp contrast between the life which Shambu took for granted and the life he experiences with Vitthal. The brief adventure they have together is painful for Shambhu yet it gives him a taste of the freedom he was longing for. In the end Shambhu is free from the bondage of his desires for recognition and material possessions and has become a well behaved student and son.
Sonali Cable (2014)
Memorable Characters and a Good Story
This is an emotionally powerful film without any unnecessary melodrama. Without being the typical bollywood it gives some insight into the challenges faced by small business owners from big corporates. The main plot is engaging and well paced but I found myself more interested in the lives of the minor characters. More scenes with the Bengali operator Beedi talking about his past life, and his dreams and aspirations would have been fun. Similarly the lives of other minor characters explored more in depth would have been fun to watch. Anupam Kher could have been more humiliating towards his employees to realise the full potential of his character. I didn't like how he kept a cotton swab lodged in his ear, that was unrealistic. I feel that the director was trying to keep the film mainstream by using colourful scenes with choreographed dances and such but it would have worked better if there was a push instead towards making this film look even more like parallel cinema. On the positive side, everybody acted well and the script worked emotionally.
Laadli Laila (2011)
Kafka in an Indian Village
The plot of this film is an inspired take on Kafka set in a South Indian village. A poor aged farmer unsuccessfully tries to have his goat mate and produce an offspring but loses his mind in the process. He sets out on a long surreal journey to take his goat to a farm in another village and is blocked by some rally that is taking place there. Raghuvir Yadav proves that he is on top of what he does and plays the role of the farmer with chilling sincerity. The film doesn't bog you down with tragic details and keeps you entertained throughout the lengthy parable. It has strong religious overtones and some nudity, though it's not overtly sexual. I'd recommend this to anyone who likes sensitive cinema. With low production cost and minimal sets the director has created a touching masterpiece.
The Phoenix Rises (2012)
Small budget with rushed execution
Other reviewers have already listed the negative points of this film, so I'll list what I feel were the positives. I liked the static effects that were used to show the physical impact of frequency distortion. Even though this effect was done on a small budget, when combined with the sound and tape edits, it gave those scenes a feeling of melting reality. I also liked the main theme of the plot, about scientists working on weather control; and also the comedy elements intermixed with some very scary scenarios (though the scariness of these scenarios was never fully realised). I think this could've been a better film with a bigger budget.
It's Alive III: Island of the Alive (1987)
A Masterpiece of Its Genre
If you like the films of Ed Wood (Plan 9 from Outer Space) and Larry Blamire (The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra), you're going to love this one. I haven't seen any other films of this series and had no expectations when I started to watch it, but I thoroughly enjoyed film for its humour and the depiction of the story. This film has got on your face dead pan humour, with good acting by the entire cast, especially Michael Moriarty who is perfect in his portrayal of Jarvis. Good locations and camera work even though it's supposed to be low budget. It's got some of the best one liners you'll ever come across in a horror movie.