Reviews

Hitler is definitely one of the most enigmatic and larger-than-life personalities to have lived in the 20th century. His views, ideologies are very disturbing and smell of hatred and detest towards a particular community. His actions confirm his distorted view of the world and the amount of damage that it inflicted on humanity as a whole.

'The Downfall' captures the last few days in the life of this person as seen by a lady personal assistant. It is most certainly one of the best movies to have been made on Hitler. The Direction, cinematography, acting, are all top class. Most of the movie is shot inside the famed bunkers of Hitler.

Movie shows how Hitler in spite of realizing that the war was lost, kept on making fantasy plans of how he would be defending Germany while his closest troops stood in silence. One of the highlights of the movie is the portrayal of Hitler by Bruno Ganz. It is as if one is seeing Hitler himself, and not some actor trying to impersonate him. He is that good.

Some of the scenes leave a lasting impression. Like a mother poisoning her children, Hitler's assistants not leaving him even when they are sure that it will lead to death, Hitler's own suicide with his wife.

Do watch this movie, and get enthralled by a spectacle...

Are movies made to entertain people or are they made to send a message? Do our filmmakers have a moral obligation to fulfill in terms of giving social messages to the masses via their movies?

I am not sure of the answers to these questions. Some people say that movies are only meant to entertain and some argue that it being a mass media having a great scope to influence, filmmakers ought to make movies which have socially relevant messages. I guess these arguments will keep on happening. But once in a while, there comes a movie which satisfies both the arguments outlined above. It entertains and at the same time successfully transmits a socially relevant message which cuts across societies, class, gender and age. 'Taare Zameer Par' is one such masterpiece.

I saw this movie last week. It starred Aamir Khan and Darsheel Safary. Darsheel plays an eight year old dyslexic boy Ishaan. He has trouble reading and writing and scores poorly in almost all of his subjects. His older sibling on the other hand is a brilliant student and a top performer in class. His poor performance in school is troubling his parents a lot and as any Indian middle class parents they hope to see their kids become engineers/doctors when they grow up. Not realizing the basic problem with the child, Ishaan is sent to a hostel thinking this will teach him a lesson and he will improve.

This had a negative impact on the kid and he goes into a shell. Enters Aamir Khan, as a temporary arts teacher. He, being a dyslexic cured child himself, is able to understand Ishaan's problem and helps in his recovery. Also, he is able to nurture the kids ability as a painter and encourages him to draw and even manages to make him a celebrity at school because of this. More importantly, he is able to convince his parents that their kid has a problem which needs to be tackled. That not all kids are the same and we should not be imposing our expectations on them. Each child is unique and has a some special talent. As parents its our responsibility to understand this and nurture these talents of our kids rather force them to join the rat race to score well and become engineers and doctors.

The movie has some brilliant performances by Aamir, Darsheel and Tisca (Ishaan's mother). But it is Darsheel who steals the show. As a dyslexic but very naughty kid, his natural flair for acting and his facial contours are simply a treat a watch. Aamir as a first time director is awesome. In fact, it is one of the best debuts that I have seen in Mumbai Film Industry for a long time.

Its a must watch movie for every kid, for every parent and would be parent. It is specially relevant in India. A country where every lower and middle class parent hopes to see their own unfulfilled dreams through their kids. Its a lesson for those parents who loose sleep when their kids have exams. A lesson for parents who feel if their kid is not in the top percentile at school, then his/her future is doomed. A very relevant film that has the potential to change the way Indians think and act with regards to their children.

I saw Babel two days back on Saturday evening. It had been a tough & tiring week and I had hoped that watching a movie will be the best way to relax. Having watched Babel, though i thoroughly enjoyed the experience, but I wouldn't say "it was a relaxing experience". Babel is a well thought-out, intelligent film that has also been presented and edited brilliantly. The word 'Babel' means 'a confused mixture of sounds and voices'. The movie tries to highlights the differences among various cultures and how language can prove to be a barrier among people. It is a complex interplay of four stories going around parallel to each other, but converging together at the end. Babel has some nice performances by Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, and a host of other characters whom I did not recognize. I don't think the movie was made to give users any message. It is just a story of how cultures differ and how sometimes small mistakes/decisions can lead to devastating consequences. Babel is a tense thriller and a must watch for anyone who enjoys intelligent film making.

"Sach aur Sahas hai jis ke man mein, Ant mein jeet usi ki rahe...." The quote is from the movie 'Lagaan'. You must be wondering what this quote is doing in the review of a movie which was released about 20 years back(1985). The reason is that the basic theme in some ways is still the same. Mirch Masala is one of the most powerful film to have been made in India. A low budget movie, starring Nasseruddin, Smita and Om Puri in one of their best performances ever. The story is of a pre-independence Kutch village in India, the British deployed Tax collectors enjoy a total monopoly over the villagers and they have transformed into Bandits, looting and snatching from the villagers whatever they desire: money, cattle, land or women. The head collector (Naseer) is one such guy and on one of his trips to this village comes across a woman (Smita) and immediately develops a liking for her. He tries to woo her a couple of times but finally manages to get slapped by her in front of his goon army. Then starts the chase. The lady runs and finds refuge in a Spice factory guarded by an old Muslim (Om Puri). The factory has 20 odd women working and they are trapped inside too. Naseer tries to lure her out but fails. Om is pressured by many including the factory owner as well as the Village Head (Suresh Oberoi), but he comes across an honest old man willing to sacrifice his life. The movie tackles many social issues like women education, women empowerment etc. The ending scene is very motivating and captivating where a group of 20 odd women (and the old guard) are able to achieve what the 100+ plus villagers could not. That is, rise against the handful oppressors and teach them a lesson. How they manage to do it is something that should be watched rather than told. Excellent movie that can be watched any time and for any number of times.

I am always excited to see movie which stars Denzel Washington. The guy has the ability to transform ordinary roles into memorable ones. Courage under fire is good movie on war heroes. It starts out with Lt. Colonel Nathaniel Serling(Denzel) being assigned to investigate an incident that took the life of Captain Karen (Meg Ryan) during a rescue operation in Iraq (Operation Desert Storm). As Denzel questions different people involved with the operation, it emerges that each of these people have a different version to the story.

At this point of time I was reminded of the Classic 'Rashomon' (Akira Kurosawa). This really got me intrigued and I started thinking is this a Hollywood version of the Japanese Treasure.

As it turned out, I was wrong. The movie changed its course mid way and became a typical Hollywood nationalist cinema. It ended predictably with notes of national pride and Honour. Though it has impressive performances by Denzel and Matt Damon.

But I was a bit disappointed in the end. May be my expectations increased mid way because of the resemblance to the Rashomon...Anyways it is worth a one time watch and I would give it a 7 out of 10.

I had owned the DVD of the above movie for quite some time but was not getting an opportunity to see it. I saw it, finally, last night. The movie surpassed all my expectations and was a treat to watch. I guess, there is something about the Italian cinema that truly fascinates me. Especially the movies that deal with the people of small towns, going about there lives in a lazy manner. I guess it may have to do with the fact that we live in a very fast and noisy world and probably find our escapes in the movies. I would love to trade my position (I am sure many of us would) with these simple people of the last century, living their simple lives, laughing, chatting, playing guitar....

Well, coming back to the movie, it is based on a beautiful relationship between an old man (Alfredo) and a small boy (Toto). Alfredo is the cinema-keeper in a small Italian town theater. Toto is his friend and keeps coming to his place quite often. Toto is besotted with movies. Their friendship deepens after an incident in which Toto saves Alfredo's life. Alfredo looses his eyesight, and Toto, the only other person in the town who knows how to operate the projector, gets his job. Toto grows older, falls in love, and the drama continues...

The movie is actually in a flashback mode, where Toto has grown up to become a very successful movie director. And he starts thinking about his past life when he comes to know that Alfredo is no more.

The Story line is simple yet holds your attention, excellent camera work (the images captured are wonderful), good direction and melodious background score. Its a movie made from the heart and will appeal to all those people who like good cinema.

The trouble with watching a Scorsese film is that your expectations shoot up tremendously. So you do not expect the movie to be good, but you expect it to be brilliant. But here lies the problem...The Departed falls short of being called a great movie. Its good, story is brilliant (had to be as it was based on a superb script of 'Infernal Affairs'), actors are very convincing as well, dialogues crisp, scenes and situations well thought out..hey, u would be wondering then where did it lack...this question is troubling me as well...why did I not enjoy this movie as much as say a 'Goodfella'?...what was it that this movie lacks? I do not have a very clear answer for that..but my guess is that probably it is a combination of many factors..Too many characters..too many co-incidences...and I feel there should have been more time spent on building up the characters..showing more of their childhood events...I have always felt that by doing so, you can grab the audience attention very well..here it was just 1 minute sequences shown here and there...nothing that can hook up the audience...

But hey it still is a good movie...DiCaprio has really matured (and this performance should finally answer his critics for good), Nicholson is Nicholson..always in his own zone...and a surprise package in the form of Mark Wahlberg..a very good performance...probably his best performance yet.... So do watch this movie...you definitely will like it...but do not have expectations of a movie which is in top 100 of the IMDb 250 list...:)

Well an 8+ rating on the IMDb site does raise the expectations for any movie. Add to that some good recommendations by friends and I was really wanting to the see the movie. 'Hard hitting' is what I will like to describe this movie as. A work of a genius.

The movie is about drugs and their effects on young lives. I haven't seen a better movie made on the harmful effects of the drugs. It hits you hard, in your face. Brilliant performances by Ellen Burtyn, Jared Leto and Jennifer Connelly. Ellen is simply superb in the portrayal of a single, lonely aging mother of Jared. She even won an Oscar nomination for that.

In the end, its a sad movie. But that is what a movie on drug addiction should be. Sad, Lonely and Frightening. It serves the purpose. I would highly recommend it to all. Especially to those who think that having drugs is fun. Watch this movie and you will leave drugs for good.

Being a great fan of Mr Kubrick, it was with great expectations that I saw this movie. And I was not disappointed. Its a cult film, an in your face, dark comedy on the state of affairs during the cold war days. The characters are very cleverly created and portrayed in even better manner by some very talented actors like George C Scott, Peter Summers and more. I was particularly impressed by George. The storyline, the characterization, the situations, are all top class.

Its a story about how a lunatic general makes a mockery of the various safety procedures, that our Governments keeps promising us with respect to the Nuclear Arms and their usage, and orders his B52 bombers to attack USSR with nuclear warheads. What follows is a crazy sequence of events in which the USA govt tries its best to some how control the situation and recall the planes.

In between it also makes an attempt to bring to notice to strange ways with which the Govts and Defence Establishment work together. The telephonic conversations between the two head of states of USA and USSR are very hilarious.

Its a movie not to be missed. 10 out of 10 for me.

Words escape my mind as try to write a synopsis on this movie. Path breaker, revolutionary, creative, Out of the Box etc are the kind of the words that come to the mind when one thinks of Jaane bhi do yaaron. This first movie as a director for Kundan Shah was made on shoestring budget.It was more of an experimental effort. And what an effort it turned out to be.

The story revolves around two photographers(Naseeruddin Shah and Ravi Baswani)who are starting their career by opening a photo studio. Their initial struggle to find work, their chance discovery of a murder and the body, the ensuing struggle between various people to get hold of the body and the climax where the murderers are caught(or not) is what the movie is all about. Though the script itself is not too great, it is situations and acts created that are simply awesome.

The situations created are extremely hilarious to say the least. Add to that some amazing and memorable performances by Naseer, Ravi, Om Puri, Satish Kaushik, Satish Shah and Pankaj Kapur. Its a total laugh riot from the start till the end.

A special mention must be made of the penultimate 'Ram Lila' scene which is so well shot and executed that it is difficult to find a better comic sequence in the entire Hindi movie database.

That one could make such a brilliant movie in the first attempt speaks volumes for Kundan's ability. What started of as a first time attempt involving fresh graduates (the movie included in various roles some of Kundan's peers at the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune; Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Sudhir Misra who later became top directors in the Mumbai film Industry), actually turned out to be cult movie, an attempt that was never before experimented in the Indian film circuit.

I have seen the movie more than a dozen times and it still makes me laugh like a kid.

Definitely 10 on 10.

I guess when a director (that too as acclaimed as Tapan Sinha) starts off with a script as strong as this one, the expectations are bound to be high. And to our very good fortune, the end product lives up to its expectations. The story is that of a doctor(Pankaj Kapur....FYI...Ek Doctor Ki Maut means 'Death of a Doctor') who is trying to find a cure for leprosy.

The trouble is he works for a Government Hospital, and all the research is being done at his home laboratory. With no one to support him except his wife(Shabana Azmi), he has to fight his way out of the system to get his work noticed.

Ultimately when he actually finds out the cure, due to lack of proper facilities, he publishes the paper a bit too late. Some other researcher from another nation had already presented the cure.

All through the movie the doctor(played as convincingly as possible by Pankaj Kapur) has to fight the press(who think he is playing a con), his fellow doctors(to try to suppress him and later try to steal his invention) and the bureaucracy and red tap-ism of the system.

By the end of the movie one becomes hopelessly frustrated with the system and begins to feel the pain and anguish of the doctor. As the movie ends on a tragic note, one is left to wonder how many other doctors, scientists, inventors of India(or other such corrupt developing nations) have missed out on their chance to fame and glory.

Its a movie made from the heart. Don't miss it !!.

Very rarely does Clint Eastwood deliver a product that is not up to the mark or below average. 'Mystic River' is definitely not one; in fact it is one of his bests ever. In Mystic River he tries to explore how incidents in our childhood affect our lives in a big way, in fact they probably shape our destiny. ( I am sure this was intended - The starting scene where the three kids are embossing their names on a freshly cemented pavement, just before Tim is picked up by the padeophile, is conveying the above message. Later On, a grown up Tim sees the same pavement, with the partially completed names, once again. Surely God is in the details...bravo !! CLINT...bravo!!)

The story is that of three boys growing up in the same neighbourhood. One of them suffers at the hands of a paedophile. He grows up to become a slightly mentally disturbed, lost guy played amazingly well by Tim Robbins. His other two friends become a local don (again played beautifully by Sean Penn) and one a homicide detective (Kevin Bacon). Sean's teenage daughter is murdered and thenstarts a whodunits chase. Both Sean and Kevin want to catch the culprit first. The former wants to seek revenge and the latter to seek justice. Tim's role in the murder is not ruled out as he was in the same bar as the girl just prior to the murder.

The movie is simply amazing to watch for its sheer intensity of acting by Sean and Tim. This is probably Tim's second best performance ever after 'The Shawshank Redemption'. Excellent direction by Clint leaves the audience at the edge of their seats for almost the entire duration of the movie. I will not ruin your suspense by telling you the end.

It is a must watch for the Clint Eastwood and Thriller fans.

I have never in my life seen a movie that so truly symbolizes its name and its message. Roberto Benigni - 'The Italian Treasure House' has probably given to his viewers his best. The story, the performances, the entire theme of a person performing his duties as a husband, as a father is very 'moving' and inspiring. 'Life is beautiful' as the name goes is about a Jewish man, who falls in love with a non-Jewish lady, marries her, has a kid and who is then taken as a prisoner in a concentration camp along with his wife and kid. But the way he protects his kid from the horrors of the genocide, how he always tries to find ways to make his wife and kid smile and laugh, is what makes the movie, a MUST SEE.

It is certainly one of the best movies that I have seen.