This year so far, quite a few good movies have come out, which is quite refreshing. I was so bugged watching the same old mindless actions and movies heavily loaded with sfx just for the heck of it. Being an animation and vfx enthusiast, I shouldn't be saying that, but then, I hate movies badly made or movies with bad sfx. And I never enjoy movies with flying cars and ships, tall ultra modern structures and high-tech robots as cab drivers and stuff…the stories set in 2500AD or whenever. I have never watched any of the Star Wars movies. Every time I say that, my friends look at me like am crazy. A movie buff, a guy who loves animations and sfx, and never seen the ultimate out of this world movie, Star Wars?
Nope. I haven't. And that's kind of the reason why I haven't seen it too. Out of this world. Somehow, I don't enjoy them. Star Wars, Fifth Element, Total Recall, Minority Report… many more I guess. The few I liked are The Matrix (especially the first part) and Terminator (maybe coz it's set in our times, though the machines come from 2035) trilogy. A movie like Mask of Zorro, which hardly had any CG works and one like Pirates of the Caribbean, which used CG skills so seamlessly that the movie still had the classic feel to it, is always so welcome in my heart.
Ok, let me get to the movies I saw recently.
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A young English filmmaker comes to India to make a film on the Indian revolutionaries Bhagat Singh, Chandrashekhar Azad and their contemporaries and their fight for freedom from the British rule. But due to lack of funds, she decides to recruit students from Delhi University to act in her documentary. She thus meets and befriends a group of youngsters. These youngsters could be anyone of us today and their lives mirror the kind of lives the youth of today lead - namely a self centered and materialistic existence where ideas like patriotism and making a change are strictly the stuff history books are made of. As the story moves on, it turns out that more than just telling the world about the efforts of the young revolutionaries and the enormity of their contribution to the freedom movement in India, Sue's documentary makes these youngsters stop and stare at themselves for being the actual descendants of these great men and never recognizing and celebrating their courage and spirit. The tagline, A Generation Awakens is so aptly chosen for this movie. It's a highly inspiring and very thought provoking movie. But I certainly wouldn't agree that it's the best. A lot of flaws did exist. Many veteran actors were cast just for namesake and that was a total waste of talent. But it was a wholesome entertainer, with some great music (the song Roo-ba-roo is beautiful) and good performances by the young actors.
Aamir Khan who almost passes well as a college student even in his 40s yet again after DCH, plays DJ who passed out five years back but still wants to be a part of the University because he doesn't think there's much out there in the real world to look forward to; Siddharth of Boys fame plays Karan, a cold and silent character, the son of an industrialist played by Anupam Kher; Kunal Kapoor, quite a looker, plays Aslam, a middle class Muslim boy who is a poet, philosopher and guide to his friends; Sharman Joshi plays Sukhi, the group's baby, innocent, vulnerable and with a weakness for only one thing - girls; Atul Kulkarni is Laxman Pandey, the fundamentalist in the group, and the only one who still believes that politics can make the world a better place and Soha Ali Khan plays Sonia - the sole girl in the group, engaged to Ajay, the dashing airforce pilot, payed by Madhavan. Overall, a good movie. Enjoyable. And it carries a message, which is just great considering the amount of junk our movie industry churns out every year.
Another movie I enjoyed is the John Abraham - Nana Patekar starrer Taxi 9211, the story line for which is "inspired" by the Samuel L Jackson - Ben Affleck thriller Changing Lanes (2002). It's said that director Luthria has only taken inspiration from the film and not copied it blatantly. I did find some scenes to be carbon copies however. Anyways, the casting is great and direction and the performance by the actors are excellent. This is the first movie I liked John Abraham's acting in. And Nana Patekar, even though in his usual short tempered role, was great 'coz in this he wasn't the person who gives long speeches and hard hitting dialogues. He was just a short tempered taxi driver who lies to his wife that he's an insurance agent. John is an irresponsible rich business man. An accident involving the two builds the whole story. And the two stubborn men try destroying each other's lives but end up destroying their own. Well, almost. It's been done pretty well, and the chemistry between the two actors did the movie real good. And this movie has a pretty good message too. I enjoyed it more than Rang De Basanti, to be frank.
A movie that's making news now is Being Cyrus, an English movie from India. I watched it on video, but the copy was too bad to even understand the dialogues well, let alone enjoy it. But from the li'l I did see and understand, I could tell you it's a very well made movie with a dark storyline and great performances by the entire cast. Just a handful of them but doing a great job. It's more like watching a play in a theatre.
The only English movie I watched recently and liked is, Crash. I wanted to
I won't try to explain the storyline or what exactly it is about, 'coz I think it's a movie you gotta watch and feel it. It's a film that challenges audiences to question their own prejudices.
A few lines from the movie that I really loved :
"Live your life at the point of impact."
"Moving at the speed of life, we are bound to collide with each other."
"You think you know who you are. You have no idea."
A movie well done. Do watch it.