RIFLE RANGE BOY

Rang De Basanthi (Colour me with colours of spring, Colours of Sacrifice, Hindi; 2006) The story is the same, irrespective of the times. It is always the own people going after their kind. The people in the lowest of the pecking order are still the victims. The leaders cajole the general public to agree on something. It then becomes a decree. Failing to conform to the law is classified as high treason and death become a justified form of punishment to the lawbreakers. The modus operandi is always the same. Only the setting differs. This movie is said to be a milestone in stirring the nationalistic spirit commonly found in modern-day India. The culture of speaking out in the open against the powers that be, candle vigils and on the spot media coverage of 'breaking news'seems to have permeated into modern day living so seamlessly. Creatively, this film tries to portray how the general public just ends up being slaves. If we look at a time before Independence, the people are t...

Dhoom 3 (Blast 3, Hindi, 2013) I may not be the best person to write a review as I was hovering between slumberland and consciousness just an hour into this 3 hour long movie. No, there  was nothing lack of noise and gravity-musculoskeletal defying matrix infused type of mind boggling stunts to complement the story. Neither was there dearth of breathtaking scenery and landscape of Chicago (only the aesthetically pleasing parts of the city) or attention arousing Bollywood hip swaying  dances to excites you. Even the story which was plagarised from Christopher Nolan's 2006 film of 'Prestige' ( review ) could not stop the drooping eyelids. Perhaps Mr Bean would have used toothpicks! Even the pre-viewing meal washed down with double expresso could not do its trick - as it was way too long! My favourite Hindi actor, Aamir Khan, gave a stellar performance of a disgruntled acrobat who had a bone to pick with the capitalist minded bank which was the reason for the suicide of h...

Talaash (Hindi, Search; 2012) This is another Hindi movie that whet my appetite for a wholesome film with a darn good story line. It is a combination of many plots which all search for the truth. The first is about a mysterious car accident, the second search is to come in term with the loss of a boy to his parents, the search of escapism from the vicious circle of poverty and prostitution and more... On a quiet esplanade in Mumbai at 4am, a car plunges into the sea. Investigating team finds more questions than answers to the event and the victim, a famous actor Armaan Kapoor. His widow and his best friend cannot understand why he should be driving when he has a driver and a personal assistant. In another scene, we find some hoodlums in the slums, somehow, involved in the whole fracas. And there is a lot of backstabbing, all in pursuit of wealth and happiness. Then, the protagonist, Inspector  Surjan Singh Shekhawat (Aamir Khan), the investigating officer h...

Happy at work at Dhoby Ghaut Just the day, I was having a friendly chat with an acquaintance who happened to be an Indian citizen and was passionate about Indian movies. Just for the record, I do not think you can pick out any Indian from the Indian subcontinent who is not crazy about movies. The silver screen plays such an important role in their everyday lives that only in India, you can have ladies going into labour in cinemas, adding more drama for the viewers. The scenes could either be too emotional for the mothers to stomach that they just went into spontaneous labour or that the mother just had to see the movie before she was  put under 'house arrest' - due to cultural beliefs that a post partum mother is unclean and weak, hence she is not to be outdoors as evil spirits may eat on their souls together with her offspring!. We were discussing about the recent Aamir Khan's offering from Bollywood named 'Dhoby Ghaut'. It is what one in India would call an ar...