100 DAYS OF LOVE (2015) - MALAYALAM

Utter waste of time.

This is a Malayalam film dubbed into Telugu and I saw it yesterday.

After first 15 minutes, I decided that there is no point watching this film.  Dialogues are bland and acting is superficial. The screenplay is lame and cinematography should better be not talked about. I have wasted my time watching this and I am wasting more time reviewing it. I just wanted to say all my readers to be warned of the film. I found nothing I can take back or value in the film. Perhaps, a black and white song. Everything looked artificial and manipulative only.

A 0/5 for this.

STONER

AUTHOR: JOHN EDWARD WILLIAMS
ORIGINAL LANGUAGE: ENGLISH

Every human being has a story, every story has its own interesting aspects.The biggest takeaway from the book is this.

After the third chapter in the book, I stopped expecting anything above than a typical ordinary man's routine and I fell in love with the narrative from then. Stoner lives an average person's life. What the big fuss then, one may say. Yet, the essence is to remind us to value life as it is. "I am just a little person, one person in a sea" - Lyrics of a song that I love. Yet, that little man in the world is world to many people. For his family, he is a sea, for his wife or kids he is an ocean.

John Williams put up a normal story and the style is also pretty normal. Fiction, though this book may be categorized into, but there is not even a page that is unrealistic. Not an event, that may not have happened or heard in any of our lives. Yet, to celebrate each of those and understand that it's okay as long as lessons are learned and reflected upon. Mistakes are meant to be made by humans, nobody is perfect they say. But strife for perfection should never be stopped. I am learning new things and unlearning old things. There are few things I carry and few things that I realized to have learnt the wrong way.

Life gives us choices, rather time gives us choices and we pick what we think is right at that point time. Is that the right choice or not, shall again be decided by time. Also, nothing is like a love for eternity. Those who find their true love are lucky I must say. But for most, life ends searching for true love. This book about one of those many lives, which ends in pursuit rather than fulfillment.

I loved the book for its simplicity and authenticity. Stoner avoided the World War and he avoided many wars in his life. It's a book that I can relate to and am connected. It's a beautiful find in my life.

DEAR LIAR (A PLAY) - ENGLISH

The Hindu Theatre Fest present Dear Liar. Produced by Motley and Samuel French Productions.

About the Play: It's a play written by Jerome Kitty based on correspondence shared between George Bernard Shaw and Mrs. Patrick Campbell between 1899 and 1939.


Language : English
Cast : Naseeruddin Shah, Ratna Pathak Shah
Director : Late Satyadev Dubey
Length : 2 hours
Writer : Jerome Kitty

VENUE : RAVINDRA BHARATI, HYDERABAD
DATE : 21st AUGUST 2016

My Review:


Dear Liar, the play by Jerome Kitty dramatises the written correspondence between George Bernard Shaw (referred as Joey) and Patrick Campbell (referred as Stella). This is an excellent adaptation by two incredibly talented actors Naseeruddin Shah and Ratna Pathak Shah who seem to have mastered the theatre in India. The dialogues, “Not Shah, Mr. Shaw.” by Naseer or “I am not older than 39 even though I have a daughter of 28, it happens in India all the time.”  by Ratna Pathak, were timely and brought in the native touch of Indianness. The performances were spellbound and sublime. I was wondering how they can remember each line correctly and enact with such precision. The exploration of characters and their relationship is memorable. There is not even one dull moment in the 2-hour play. Although, most of the credit goes to the writing of the play, yet to get under the skin of the characters and make them alive is a supreme achievement. I am thankful for these actors to choose a historical play and bring it to my city. Directed by Late Satyadev Dubey, the props are well placed; the usage is appropriate, and the improvisation is commendable.

I am grateful to Hindu, a newspaper which strives to keep our art and culture alive. I am a fan of the November Music Festival as well and now the theatre festival will be a part of my calendar

TURMERIC VERMILION FLOWER

Half yellow and half red, it made me think of Turmeric Vermilion tradition in India. Vikarabad, India.

PECULIAR FLOWER BUD

I don't know the name. Looked peculiar thus the name. Vikarabad, India.

GRASS SUNFLOWER

A flower that grows in the grass and looks like a sunflower. Vikarabad, India.

FIRE DRAGON

Felt like a dragon is burning. Campfire, The Grasswalk Resorts, Vikarabad, India.

SHADE OF LAMP

The shade of the lamp. Inside the room. The Grasswalk Resorts, Vikarabad, India.

TEA AND BOOKS

The bench where we read and had tea. Loved the Spot. The Grasswalk Resorts, Vikarabad, India.

CHE (2008) - SPANISH

A terrific film that raises the spirit of a revolutionary to the hilt.

This movie is a 2 part biopic that runs nearly four and a half hours.
When I saw it for the first time at home on in 2009, I just took a ten-minute break after the completion of the first part and was dying to start the second part. After finishing the movie viewing, I was overwhelmed. I was very happy; there is an inspiration that I must make my life worth before I die. There is an incentive to value life.

Ernesto Che Guevara is one of the most inspirational revolutionaries of the centuries the world over. The way he organized and won guerilla wars was something that was a shock to many regimes in the American continents. The depiction of Che by Benicio Del Toro is something that took me by a surprise. Benicio Del Toro was intrepid in playing Che. Never did I feel, I was seeing an actor, all through it was just Che.

The makeup was superlative. For the first ten minutes of the second part of the film, I was stunned. I could not recognise who is playing the character. So right is the disguise and so great is the acting. Cinematography and art direction in this could be used as references for generations to come. The film took me into 1950's and 1960's and made live in those times.

From the word go to the last frame, there is perfection in craft technically. The spirit of revolution is in place. Cuba, Fidel Castro, Revolution, Bolivia, UN conference, Che, wow so many overwhelming elements.

Kudos to Steven Soderbergh and perhaps this is his finest effort. Also to Benicio Del Toro. Benicio, you will live on as Che forever.

A 5/5 for my favorite revolutionary films. One of the all-time great films this.

RAMAN RAGHAV 2.0 (2016) - HINDI

                      

The eerie, scary and a satisfying film that I watched in a long time. 

This is terrific by Anurag Kashyap and I believe he is back to his best. His best was "Black Friday" and followed it up with films like "No Smoking" and others. He took the bar of narration higher and with this Raman Raghav he is back from limbo. Last year he made a dud called "Bombay Velvet" with a lot of money. Perhaps, he was robbed of the luxury of money and was asked to find his ground. Thus, he made a film like this that is devoid of any budget.

My hunger for watching a great film has been satisfied.

I was happy with the terrific performances in the movie. Nawazuddin Siddiqui nailed his bit; this is something superlative even from a man who has set highest standards in acting. Vikas Kaushal played his part with the needed poise. Shobhita Dhulipalla was excellent showcasing her vulnerabilities.

Zodiac was the last film I can remember on a psychopath. There was a mystery in Zodiac, but here it gives a shock right in the first few minutes. You know the murderer, and you know how he murdered too, but that’s not all. He sits in leisure and explains the whole story to police. The way the protagonist narrated made my hairs stand and spine chill. It was a hard hit on me to hear such lines.

The screenplay is fantastic in the form of chapters. Anurag Kashyap used such a format for his supreme accomplishment “Black Friday” and he repeats the format here and it comes organically. The size helped a lot in killing the time. I did not even know when each chapter finished. They were engaging from start to finish. In this film, we can never miss a moment.

Writing drives the film. There is humour, horror, drama and thrill. What else is needed, engaging elements are in dialogues itself. Kudos to the writers who have done such a fabulous job. 

A 5/5 for my favourite film of the year so far.

FORCE MAJEURE (2013) - SWEDISH

During an emergency, will you protect your family or not is the question.

The film is too long I felt strongly. The title Force Majeure means "Act of God." 

I missed the fun part of the film. The conversations are up to 5 minutes, and there are some ten conversations like that. Okay, these were adding little value to the story. Once, the point is established it was about taking the point forward with an interesting narrative. Here the conversations revolved around the same point. After 45 minutes into the film, I thought it was just a drag and dozed off. I ended up completely watching the film the third time. 

There are some terrific points. The concept of the movie itself is interesting. When I put myself in the protagonist's shoes, I was baffled. The director took up an interesting point and toyed with cleverly. Kudos to the director.

The writing was just too lame I felt. I believe that too much of writing was do to make the film realistic. The intent perhaps was to keep the conversations real. Alas, they made the film less fun.

The cinematography was fantastic. I felt like I was experiencing the Alps rather than merely watching them. To shoot at such an altitude in a steep terrain takes a lot of pain. For the sheer efforts of the team, I applaud them.

Editing could have been crisp. At least 20 minutes could be cut, and it would have made a world of difference to the whole film.

I loved the use of music of Vivaldi's Four Seasons - Summer. Happy to be listening to classical music in a modern cinema.

Overall, a 3/5 for a good film that could have been great.

PELLI CHOOPULU (2016) - TELUGU

A laugh riot that's realistic and well put.

After a long time, I enjoyed a Telugu Film and felt happy after coming out of the theatre and also watch it another time. Last time I had such a feeling for a Telugu Film was for "Mithunam" and it was four years ago.

The good thing is that this film does not have any dances, there are no fights, there are no melodramatic dialogues. Though the sentimental part drags the movie, the humour overtook the drag and added a pull. It's the fun I took back home and was happy with the feeling this movie gave.

The protagonists were new for me and of all the characters I liked the character of "Kaushik". It is played by "Priyadarshi". Of course, the film belongs to Ritu Varma as "Chitra" who reminded of "Roopa" in Anand (Anand is a 2004 film). 

It's refreshing to see a new director make a movie that's terrific in content (the writing, narration) and make the actors do an excellent job. Kudos to Tharun Bhascker. He has a long way to go if he sticks to non-commercial films and believes that content is above all else.

The cinematography and editing are two departments which impressed me. The camera was invisible, as there are no specific long shots. The whole movie is shot in a straightforward and realistic way which is a huge bonus. From locations to interiors decors it was all well put and also colorful at the same time. There was life all through the film and hardly there was any dull visual. Also, the film was fluid with very few dull moments (dull moments were mostly in the sentimental last half hour). The cuts done were nice; there were no jump cuts and it is simply put. So, Telugu Film Industry can look forward to Nagesh Banell the cinematographer and Ravi Teja Girijala the editor. These are two good finds from the film.

I was impressed by the use of music too. Taking the budget constraints into account Music is a commendable job done by Vivek Sagar. I loved the usage of the song "Raalu Raaga Poolamaala." Also,  I must appreciate a huge fact this film is done in Sync Sound. That is there is no dubbing used; a terrific challenge is handled well and the results are seen in the movie.

I am not putting the story or any dialogues out here. I am sure the Telugu Film Audience will embrace a film like.

A 4/5 for a Telugu Film. A rarity from me but this is one film I will watch multiple times.