Desicritics Category: Media: Films - Hindi

Movie Review: Gh-aaa-jini - The Tale in 15 Minutes

thedeskjockey — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 04:01:05 EST

I've got a splitting headache...no no, it isn't the 2 glasses of wine or the Himesh Reshammiya album that I listened to. It probably is the jarring crescendo everytime Aamir Khan's socket popping eyes appear on screen...every 15 minutes. I mean thats a hard life isn't it? Here we are, trying to live down our past and forget that time when we left our zip open in front of that gal we were trying to impress...or the time when we got drunk in the office party and puked on the dance floor...sheesh, I'd like to sign up for that anterobabblefrothgulpgulpgrade amnesia please. The things I usually do in life are not worth remembering 15 minutes later anyway.

Not the case for Mr. Sanjay Singhania though. He runs a business empire, falls in love with sickly sweet common girl named Kalpana (can't resist the "agar tum Kalpana ki chaddi pehnoge..." PJs) who can do no sin which, apparently what her real name means, and gets socked on the head because no-sin girl pokes her nose in titular bad-guy's dirty business. And then he goes on a killing spree to get to bad guy, rebooting every 15 minutes like an old laptop with an irritating virus. And that essentially is the gist of the story...which looks and sounds like any old Sunny Deol movie we've seen minus all the cockroach stomping dancing and plus a new medical term for us to remember (apart from Tendulkar's tennis elbow and Rajesh Khanna's lymphosarcoma of the intestine) and a finely rippled Aamir who looks like he also took a dose of steroids every 15 minutes apart from the numerous polaroids and notes.

There is something to be said about the whole saga though. I mean we don't get a lot of movies titled after the bad guy. Kill Bill was one such movie where Mr. Bill lives upto the hype when he finally appears on screen. Ghajini, by the by, I thought initially meant elephant...you know like to remind us of the elephant in the room when no-sin and crazy-tycoon were doing their frolicking. But it apparently comes with an incredible back story (thankfully, not part of the movie) with an unexpected twist on a name...but I digress. Mr. Ghajini, though, ain't no Bill. He is the hackneyed Bihari/Haryanvi goonda with "terror-inducing" lines like "Aaee Saale, main tuhje khatam kar dunga", which actually is less scary than watching Aamir Khan scream. He is also rather inexplicably, the head of a pharmaceutical company. This may be the first time when we have seen the effects of recession been shown on screen with the head of a company supplementing his income by human trafficking.

The one effect of this, that lasts longer than 15 minutes is the feeling that this is not an Aamir Khan movie. The finesse and class associated with his previous movies is just not there. It feels more like a huge ego trip for the actor where he matches the other Khans in body and the Deols in brute force.

And caught in the middle is poor ol' me...looking for a Disprin, which ironically claims to cure this headache in...wait for it....15 minutes.

Slumdog Millionaire Nominated for Best Picture at Golden Globes

smallsquirrel — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 17:35:11 EST

I realize that the film Slumdog Millionaire has not been released world-wide yet, so I will try not to divulge too much in this piece. But I warn you now, there are bound to be spoilers, so if you're going to get angry about learning about plot twists and such, stop reading now.

Directed by Danny Boyle (of Trainspotting and 28 Days Later fame) and based on a book by Vikas Swaroop, this film is set in present day Mumbai and follows one Jamal Malik through a series of life events that truly could only happen in India.

To call this film brilliant would be both an understatement and taking the easy road. This is a complicated film. And although a lot of people are watching it and praising it, I am not sure they GET it.

Jamal is your average slum-dwelling Mumbaiker. His childhood is fraught with things children should not have to think about or endure. He eventually becomes a street kid, along with his brother and a girl named Latika, and the three of them struggle to make life work. The movie focuses on what happens to all three of them as life goes on.

I will be honest with you. I watched this movie on Thanksgiving weekend, smack in the middle of the Mumbai "situation". I thought it would do both my husband and I to go and see a movie about Mumbai in better times. Whoa. Bad call. Honestly, 30 minutes into the movie, both of us were in tears and struggling to stay in our seats. Brilliant does not always translate into easy to stomach, and we had already maxed out on human suffering and the depravity that some people can sink to.

The issue for us was that the film pinpoints (and then focuses on) many of the negative aspects one can find in India, including: extreme poverty, religious violence, police brutality, exploitation of children, organized crime, violence against women, violence against children, torture, rape, coercion, caste issues, and the list goes on.

What the film doesn't do is highlight the positive aspect of India. Which is fine. This is meant to be one story, and is not responsible for representing the full picture of India. However, when seeing only the negative, it all becomes overwhelming. A bit raw. And this seems to be the bit that is sticking with many non-desis that I have talked to.

"Is India really like that?"
"Did you see any of that?"
"Oh my GOD how did you cope?"

Well, yes and no. Yes. And the answer is not that easy. I saw it but I did not experience it. And as most of us know, while India can be raw and horrifying and all the negative things I mentioned above do happen in India. But it certainly is not the complete picture. India has so much beauty, history, love, warmth, compassion. But this is not a story about those things. And that is alright.

This film has to be among the best-made films I have ever seen. Boyle did not attempt to get any licenses to film in Mumbai, and so many scenes in the film are shot "guerrilla" style. There is even a shot of a real cop telling them to stop filming which has been left in.

It is also an interesting marriage of styles. Boyle is a Brit, but much of the dialog is in Hindi. The soundtrack is by film music giant A.R. Rahman, and much of the cast and crew for production are local Mumbaikers.

None of the leads are very well known. The guy who plays Jamal is Dev Patel who is on a British serial. His brother Salim is played by Madhur Mittal, who has been in some other Bollywood movies, but is not really well known either. And the woman who plays Latika used to be a model. Of course, there are some big names in the supporting cast such as Irrfan Khan and Anil Kapoor.

I would highly recommend this film to everyone. Just do not go to it thinking you're going to get some happy, joyful, feel-good movie. It is a slice of one life, somewhat disturbing, but ending with a message that I think we can all get behind. Oh, and one very tongue-in-cheek nod to a typical Bollywood dance number.

Book Review: Romancing with Life by Dev Anand

Anuradha Goyal — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 11:31:40 EST

I have always loved Dev Anand for all the melodious songs in his films. Having grown up in the Doordarshan era, I have grown on all those black and white numbers, which still keep resonating in the ears. So, when his autobiography was published last year, it was definitely on my list of ‘to be read’ books.

Like most autobiographies, this book also moves in an absolute chronological order, except in the beginning where Dev Anand remembers his life before he moves to Bombay while on a train from Gurdaspur to Bombay. He briefly talks about his family and what he felt when he left them to pursue his dreams. Throughout the book Dev Anand comes across as a constant dreamer, who lives in his dreams and then wakes up to make those dreams come true both in his life and his films. His life is all about films and the women who walked with him in his journey, specially the ones which painted the silver screen with him. At times he met them while being a part of the film and at other times, he met them and then went ahead and made films for them. From the early forties to the 21st century what has not changed is the age of the women he fancied and romanced; it was less than twenty then and continues to be the same now.

In line with his image of an evergreen, timeless hero, he does not mention the years anywhere, though you can make out the rough timing by the films he mentions and the national events that he mentions here and there. But otherwise he has tried to keep the story more or less timeless. He is a man totally in love with himself; everyone else comes and plays a role in his life and goes. He also comes across as someone who lives only in the present, totally in the moment, with the person he is with, feeling the surroundings he is in and weaving out his future dreams from this present moment. He talks very romantically about all the women he romanced on and off screen.

His autobiography also brings out the businessman in Dev Anand. You would admire his networking skills and leveraging his fan following and start status as and when required. The fact that he once tried to launch a political party was a revelation to me. But what I admired about him was his ability to very quickly let go of the failures and move on to the next dream. I was amazed at the care and caution he takes to maintain his image in the minds of his audience, going to the extent of hiding his small disease that he had to suffer, going all the way to England to get a small operation done. All this so that none of his audience see him in a diseased state, something he thinks they can not imagine, their eternal hero can not fall down with a disease.

Before he could find himself a job in film industry, he worked for the military censor office and had the job of screening letters written by army officers. He probably got lots of romantic ideas from the letters written by army officers to their wives and girlfriends. He also got the idea of quitting the job from one of the letters, which said ‘just do it’. But wherever he was, and whatever he was doing, he was always a Casanova, trying to charm people and specially women around him, always believing he is the best. This phase also highlights his ability to draw inspiration from just about anywhere.

Dev Anand’s career spans almost the whole lifetime of Indian film industry and hence as he talks about himself, his films and his friends and colleagues in the industry, you also get the feel of how this industry has evolved over the ages, how things have changed. Here and there he also mentions his views on the social and political scenarios in the country and the world, giving a feeling of someone who is very connected to the outside world and its happenings and not just lost in his eccentricities.

Having been educated in the British era, he writes in flowery English.I guess the editors have not really changed the text. At places you feel that the language of the book could have been a bit better. There is a chapter for each of the films he made under his banner and some of the films he worked in. Though hardbound, the quality of the physical book could have been better along with the cover design. But now having read the book, I realize that the star might not have wanted anything except his picture on the cover. I would have wanted little more depth in the book, as there is so much the author has to share, but I guess in the interest of the length of the book, he has not gone into too much detail and just touched upon what he felt was important to share. He has hardly spoken about the music, which in my opinion is the biggest contributor to his success. The last portion of the book could have been compressed, as he talks about his films which not many people have seen and have starred people whom no one recognizes.

Read the book to see a man completely in love with himself. A star, who thrived on public adulation, who worked towards it, lived amongst the adulation poured on him from all directions and continued to seek more and more of it. An eternal optimist, who looks back at his life as if everything was picture perfect including the heart aches that we went through.

Humility And Lack Of It

Sakshi Juneja — Sat, 1 Nov 2008 06:46:56 EDT

Call me naïve or a resident of the Utopian world but I have always believed that one’s personal experiences help in forming a humbler outlook towards life and others around. And by others I mean those who are facing similar hardships as you have faced at one point of time.

For instance, during my university days in Sydney, I worked at an Indian restaurant for about a year or so. It was just like any other international student, trying to earn an extra buck in order to make the burden of expenses for those back home a little less. Working there was an eye opener in more in than one ways; cleaning the toilet, picking up leftovers, washing dishes, weekend craziness and the most heart-wrenching of all…serving arrogant ABCD kids from university who for no apparent reason looked down upon us, the off-the-boat students.

I learnt two very important lessons;

a) A job is a job….is a job!

b) I always had the option of walking out since money was never an issue. But the same free will was not available to all.

I guess this experience in some ways made me a compassionate human being. At least so I would like to think. And then I met Rakhi Sawant. Nope, not the boisterous woman who dazzled us with her antics on the small screen and managed to win our hearts via the simplicity route. The Rakhi Sawant I am talking about is one hardcore bitch with a pretentious attitude deeply rooted to her soul.

Shocking! Well tell me about it. As a fan I was disappointed but on a humanity level I was thoroughly disgusted! I mean here is a woman who claims to have had a miserable childhood, equally struggling teenage years before finally fighting her way through the prejudice workings of the Hindi Entertainment Industry. And yet there isn’t an ounce of humility in this woman.

To a certain extent I can understand her throwing her weight around on those belonging to the Industry. For example, the media…production staff, co-stars, etc. One kinda needs to act pricey once in demand such is the workings of filmistan. But the manner in which she treated her very own staff was just incomprehensible. Abuses, taunts, insults were all part and parcel of being the most popular item girl’s employee.

When I mentioned the above (basically my observation over the three days of running behind Rakhi for a 20 minutes interview) to my family, my mum immediately laid the blame on her lack of healthy family environment during her early years. Simple acts of modesty, respect, gratitude are inculcated during adolescent years and not in adulthood. Some things are just khandani, a few of my friends remarked.

But somehow this reasoning is not doing much to satisfy my mental predicament. As I mentioned earlier, for me, my own struggle during my student days (be it of much significance or less) made me sympathetic and understanding towards others needs, especially the less fortunate. However this doesn’t seem to be the case with Ms. Sawant. Her experiences have only made her bitter and for some reason revengeful towards those with lesser stature.

Also personally, being someone who takes everything at face value, I find her demeanor towards other individuals, extremely mind-boggling. When in focus they talk of Jeejus…appreciation…kindness...charity…humanity. And when out of focus, “Sale kutte mera hot water glass kahan hai?”…is what you hear.

From a long-time admirer of Ms.Rakhi Sawant to 'don't know whether to be stumped or disgusted', I don't know what to make of this, do you?

Movie Review: Drona

Mayuri Sharrma — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 14:47:39 EDT

Spoiler Alert!

Aditya (Abhishek Bachchan) lives in Prague with a rowdy, horrendously dressed aunt (Navneet Nishan in a fleeting appearance) who gains great pleasure in treating him badly and referring to him as a 'free servant' The only thing Aditya can talk to is a bi-lingual blue rose petal that wafts in at will. It's supposed to be a fantasy film so...

What poor overweight and unkempt Aditya really needs is a hot bath, a shave and haircut, but along comes Sonia (Priyanka Chopra) dressed way too outlandishly for a body guard. Though, with Rapunzel tresses, flowing, whimsical outfits of chiffon and brocade, a wonder bra-enhanced cleavage, way too much eye-make up and a strange bandanna it's she who is more likely to need a bodyguard. It's supposed to be a fantasy film so...

So, Sonia comes zipping in a yellow beemer, whips out 2 tiny daggers and slays the 6 beefy men who have attacked Aditya with a poisoned dart via a pea shooter, no less.

Aditya comes to in a darkened room that has multiple ugh-shots, sorry, mug-shots of him plastered all over, while the bodyguard has morphed into an item girl and is mutinously writhing and dancing in skimpy clothing to the only song of the film 'Oopja' in a garage above the darkened room. It's supposed to be a fantasy film so...

Item number over, a staircase lowers Sonia, who is thankfully back in the bodyguard groove and costume, into the darkened room to explain to Aditya that he is no ordinary mortal but Drona. When he doesn't get it (I wonder if excess fat can clog the brain, along with the arteries too?) there is another lengthy explanation about Amrit (the elixir of life) being guarded from the Asur's (demons/evil men) who have been chasing it for centuries, so that they could drink it and gain immortality to rein havoc on the world. And Drona and his descendants are the one who guard it. It's supposed to be a fantasy film so...

The Asur in question here is Riz Raizada (K K) a man with eye-sore inducing dressing sense who is a magician and thirsting for the Amrit.

Aditya snaps on a kitschy bracelet, realizes his power and demonstrates it by uprooting a huge iron gate and almost transforms into Drona, minus the gold sequined outfit. To get which he has to travel to Rajasthan after Sonia informs him he is actually a prince and has a real mother who is waiting for him.

An emotionless Aditya is reunited with his equally blank mother (Jaya Bachchan) and they barely exchange a couple of dialogue sheets before Riz Raizada transforms the mother to stone. It's supposed to be a fantasy film so...

To revive his mother Drona has to hand over the Amrit to Riz, which he decides to, after donning the badly tailored ivory and gold sequined outfit, engraved sword, kohl lined eyes and a botched up hair straightening job. And we watch a hammy Riz and a disinterested looking Drona fighting though tacky special-effects, clumsy airborne fight sequences and blackhead and pore enhancing close ups till good wins over bad and Drona slays Riz. *Y.A.W.N*

Abhishek was the wrong choice for a super hero. He looks sloppy, overweight and disinterested as he sleepwalks through a role that could have been a turning point in his career. Add to that is the P.A.T.H.E.T.I.C direction by Goldie Behl, where no shot has any impact.

The casting of KK as Riz Raizada has managed to erase all his previous brilliant performances so far, for me. He comes across as more of a comedian, and a really bad one at that, than a villain. Priyanka is okay and was obviously cast as eye-candy.

The story is novel, for a Hindi film, and had tremendous potential which could have been transformed into a super film under the guidance of a capable director and the casting of a more talented male lead

Drona is supposed to be a fantasy-film, but was nothing short of a nightmare!

Movie Review: Tahaan - Paradise Lost

Just Another Film Critic — Sat, 6 Sep 2008 10:56:58 EDT

Santosh Sivan is one of those very few DOP turned directors that are spoken of nowadays. In spite of their box office results, Santosh Sivan’s films always create expectations. It is not often that we see a wide release of his films. And when they do, it is wise to catch them up on the big screen. Watching Tahaan: A Boy With A Grenade, it is inevitable for one to be reminded of his staggering work Theeviravaathi: The Terrorist (1999), for both graze similar and contemporary themes.

Set and shot is the paradisal Indian (!) state of Kashmir, Tahaan (Purav Bhandare) is the story of a young boy of the same name and his friend/donkey Birbal. Situations change for the worse and Tahaan is forced to separate from Birbal. Tahaan is shattered and decides to get back Birbal at any expense. For this, Tahaan travels from one place to another, meeting one character to another and facing one peril to another, in the end being exploited in many ways, much like Birbal himself. Meanwhile, his mute mother (Sarika) is desperately is search for her husband, who went missing three years ago. Though in utter distress, her only hope is a miracle, which seems to be the only way out for all of the valley’s residents. Amidst the echoes of bombs and bullets in the serene valley, Tahaan’s objective, however, remains simple and straightforward – Get Birbal back. Unlike Malli of The Terrorist, Tahaan’s primary aim is utterly disjoint from the state of the affairs of the country.

Made in the same tradition as Iranian gems such as Marooned in Iraq (2002), Turtles Can Fly (2004) and a few others, Tahaan is tightly grounded in the culture of the state and also in the present political turmoil of the region. Unlike many of its Iranian counterparts that enthrall the audience with the sheer simplicity of their plot, Santosh Sivan’s script tries to bring in the larger issues into the picture, but never once changing perspective or taking a stand. Thus, Tahaan strictly remains a story of the titular character, without any pretense.

Few directors in India remain in the same cadre as Sivan when it comes to visual composition. If it was the haunting and dense jungles of coastline Lanka in The Terrorist, it is the vast and white snowy stretches of Kashmir in Tahaan. Sivan’s cinematography effectively uses the widescreen to capture the awe-inspiring peaks of Kashmir in its entirety. The sound design needs a definite mention for its remarkable ear for detail and naturalness with its borderline synchronized sound.

No complaints in the acting department of the film. Anupam Kher is at his easy best and churns out the best performance of the film. All his lines succeed, in spite of being very mediocre and deliberately inserted. Sarika’s self-assuring quietness and her countenance gel well with her character and makes it a very credible effort. Rahul Bose, after a series of debacles, shines as a dimwit in his earthy and lovable role. Purav Bhandare, who plays the title character, does a decent job too.

Like The Terrorist, Sivan goes totally minimalist, in spite of not being under financial constraints this time around. This particularly shows in the film’s near-zero depiction of on-screen violence and its stubbornness against visual extravaganza, reminding us again of its spectacular predecessor. This not only reminds us that grandness does not necessitate lavishness but also shows how Tahaan is shielded from the trauma of war, which apparently is the need of the hour. However, Tahaan does differ from The Terrorist, unfortunately, for the worse. More verbose and noisier than the former, Tahaan tries hard to elucidate the protagonist’s charm and bring in calculated humour, which could have been made very self-sufficient considering the quality of the material at hand. As a result, Tahaan does not linger in the minds of the viewers permanently and fails to stalk them long after the movie is over.

Though more overtly dramatic and conventional than The Terrorist, Tahaan may, to an extent, serve as a companion piece to it. The Terrorist depicts how the basic human nature is interminable and unalterable be what the external situation whereas Tahaan shows how the innocence of childhood is unduly exploited by (anti) social elements, although it remains untainted by them.

Movie Review: Mumbai Meri Jaan -Saluting the Spirit of Bombay

Gauri Warudi — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 12:31:23 EDT

Mumbai meri jaan - oh yes!

Director Nishikant Kamath (of Dombivali Fast fame) has painted on a huge canvas, a picture of M'me Mumbai in all her resplendence, her beauty, her ugliness, her moles, her warts and her dimples. Her warmth, her wickedness, her attractive side and her terrible appearance. In all its starkness. No frills, no make-up.

It should come as no surprise that Kamath has managed to capture the raw emotions and the hostility of Mumbai in its whole self. The insecurities, the smugness of Mumbaikars, the envy, the hatred and the warmth and spirit and will to survive against all odds.

Amidst the insecurities, amidst the deep distress and urge to runaway, the fear factor of living in India (not just Mumbai) post the 1993 blasts, post 7/11 - it is all laid bare on this huge canvas that Kamath calls Mumbai Meri Jaan. This is his debut Hindi film.

For those of us, who have been brought up and lived in Mumbai all through our growing years, but had to move out for various reasons, this film is nostalgia, for good and bad reasons.

Five parallel stories, five lives that are affected by the 7/11 local train blasts in Mumbai, is what makes up Mumbai Meri Jaan. With an almost perfect casting and a neat script, MMJ couldn’t have worked any better. Kamath has everything in place.

MMJ is not so much about HOW the blasts happened, but HOW it affected the lives of ordinary people. Paresh Rawal as head constable Tukaram Patil and KK Menon as Suresh, an out-of-work computer salesman with his bigoted views, are like any other person you’d meet on the streets or the local trains of Mumbai. So is Maddy (Madhavan) as Nikhil, a software guy, who is torn between his heart(which wants to improve India) and mind which screams, US!!

Soha Ali Khan as the TV reporter Rupali Joshi, who has until 7/11merrily joined in the news channel’s TRP bandwagon, sensationalizing every incident, faces the camera as a victim/subject of coverage, when her fiancé dies in the blasts. “Rupali Joshi reporting”.simply becomes just another program titled “Rupali bani Rudali”, highlighting the insensitivity of TV channels to human emotions.

Irrfan Khan as the ‘tambi’ cyclist kaapi-wala, who envies the rich, and gets his own kicks out of creating fear in the ‘mall crowd’ does complete justice to his character, which craves for forgiveness and awaits redemption from his guilt, after realising his folly.

Besides histrionics, which are the undisputed strength of the film, the camera work is impressive and the cleverly crafted train blast leaves you numb. By far Paresh Rawal is brilliant in his portrayal of Patil. Special mention must be made about the dialogs, which are quite simply woven into the narrative and not deliberate or clichéd, with some wry humour thrown in.

Although there may be a teeny weeny feeling of jingoism, MMJ still sees you leaving the movie hall humming, Rafi saab’s song, “Ae dil hai mushkil......yeh hai bambai meri jaan”

A MUST WATCH

Movie Review: Singh Is Kinng

Deepti Lamba — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 06:14:52 EDT

With the movie-Singh Is Kinng making well over $20 million so far, Akshay Kumar is surely the ruling Pasha of Bollywood. With his bashful smile and twinkling eyes Akshay has won the hearts of his fans once again.

The movie lacked depth but rarely are Akshay Kumar movies known to have serious elements in them. That is the beauty of the movie; it was comedy from beginning to end without descending to making fun of a community as was previously done in Bollywood. Take movies like Parosan, Amar Akbar Anthony where the idea of comedy was to exaggerate the characteristics of different communities of India and many a times they were extremely racist.

Singh is Kinng took another route. It highlighted the characteristics of the Sikh community that makes them endearing. Qualities such as being people of their word, having a strong sense of integrity and being large-hearted.

Akshay did a few stunts on his own, looked hot and even Katrina Kaif looked pale before him. In fact Katrina's role was no more than that of a bimbo (supposedly a soon-to-be lawyer but seemed more of a fluff-brained twit) who looked pretty and laughed all through the second half of the movie.

Neha Dupia in fact had a far more significant role to play in the movie and along with Kiron Kher delivered a character portrayal as well as the rest of the cast.

The formula of the movie was predictable but the lightheartedness and aplomb with which actors acted as bindaas Sikhs made the movie a pleasure to watch.

The numbers were foot tapping and the song with Snoop Dogg awesome. Two thumbs up for the movie and a definite watch with kids.

DVD Review: Taare Zameen Par

Cine Cynic — Sat, 9 Aug 2008 13:11:13 EDT

The DVD of Aamir Khan's Taare Zamee Par hit the Indian stores recently. Aamir wrote in his blog that Walt Disney, which bought the distribution rights in U.S., U.K., Australia, New Zealand and Canada, will however take another three more months to release in these countries.

In school, I had a classmate who could never read without making funny mistakes. He drew pencil sketches and painted better than anybody else in the class. None of the students and teachers were mean to him. I confess, however, to have laughed at him during most reading sessions along with other students. I now wonder whether he was dyslexic. Dyslexia, the inability to learn to read, is surprisingly common and does often go undiagnosed.

Ishaan Awasthi is an eight-year-old boy with a vivid and peculiar imagination, and with a "crippling" disability to learn in the traditional manner. This disability—which some of the audience might guess as a textbook case of dyslexia—alienates, torments, punishes, frustrates and ultimately pushes the young soul towards suicide.

This takes place in a gradual progression over a period of 150 minutes and is something that we won't complain about. How the boy gets rescued and his happiness restored forms the rest of the story. Filled with vibrant colors and well-used CGI, Taare Zameen Par is a movie that keeps our hearts heavy even days after watching it.

Darsheel Safary has a potential to become a great actor. Apart from pulling off difficult scenes like holding back tears from spilling out of his brimming eyes, it is his understanding of Ishaan's character that is most commendable. Sachet Engineer as Dada is good too. A big brother who is protective, supportive, but mostly helpless owing to his own young age is a very realistic and well-played character.

Personally, having a soft corner for mother-child relationships, Tisca Chopra made a special impression. She provides solid support to the movie as Maya, Ishaan's mother, making us feel the plight of every loving but concerned mother, without going overboard. Darsheel and Tisca were able to extract copious amounts of water from my eyes in every scene they missed each other (which is the entire second half).

Aamir Khan donned the hats of director and Ishaan's god-sent teacher Ram Shankar Nikumbh. While directing, he was able to use his own experience as an actor to milk out memorable performances from the cast. I only wish that someone else played Nikumbh. However well Aamir might have acted, I could sense the undeniable presence of a star power, especially glaring itself through the hip costumes. An actor without such star presence, who could look more like a teacher, would have filled us with hope that there are teachers in our schools who care.

Full credit goes to Amol Gupte and Deepa Bhatia. It is their brainchild, their labor of love. The couple shared the roles of writer, creative director, researcher and editor.

The movie has its cheesy elements but is still very original, starting with its theme concerning a dyslexic child. It succeeds on a very important level in that it makes us think, not just feel nostalgic. My only complaint is the movie's tagline, but let us take that next week.

Umrao Jaan - A Story of The Indian Girl Child

Madhu Chandra — Fri, 8 Aug 2008 09:41:41 EDT

Umrao Jaan is a Bollywood film produced by Muzaffar Ali in 1981, which was remade by J. P. Dutta in 2006. It is based on the Urdu novel Umrao Jaan Ada written in 1905 by Mirza Hadi Ruswa, based on the life of the famous Lucknow courtesan.

It is a story of an Indian girl child who laments her agony of life, composed in the form of poetry and music, with soul-gripping lyrics.

“Agale Janam Mohe, Betiya na kijo”
“In my next birth, Oh God, don’t bring me as a girl child!”

It is the song of a woman, whose childhood was looted when she was kidnapped by her neighbor Dilwar Khan for revenge against her father for testifying in a criminal case which led him to be imprisoned for several years. She was sold to a brothel at Lucknow at the age of eight, and was later adopted by a couple to bring her up with the same parental care, education, dance, poetry and music, only to charm the wealthy as a famous courtesan of Lucknow.

Ameeran, her parental name was changed to Umrao Jaan (love). The love she earned from wealthy men, who came to the courtesan, also brought her the label “Bazaar Aurat, a prostitute”

In the remake, former Miss Universe and Bollywood Super Star, Aishwariya Rai acted as Umrao Jaan along with Abhishek Bachchan as Nawab Sultan and Sunil Shetty as Faiz Ali.

At the age of 20, when she was fully grown and matured, Umrao got the title “Jaan” after performing a charming courtesan dance and singing at Lucknow, where Umrao caught the eye of wealthy princes, kings, and Nawabs.

Nawab Sultan was one among many such wealthy men, whose love was stolen by the charms of Umrao at first meeting itself. Soon, Umrao got into the net of Sultan, with true passionate romance, not knowing her love for Sultan would be rejected soon. Sultan’s father did not want to see his family defamed by his son marrying a “Bazaar Aurat” and disowned him.

When Sultan didn’t have a penny after his father disowned him he went to live with his uncle at Grahi.

In the absence of Sultan, Umrao was noticed by wealthy Faiz Ali, who wanted her at any cost. Faiz Ali turned to be a dacoit and got arrested during a journey to Grahi with Umrao. Sultan heard the news about Faiz Ali and Umrao’s coming to Grahi, and questioned Umrao about the suspicious relationship with Faiz Ali.

Brokenhearted, Umrao, finally decided to return back to her cage of courtesan at Lucknow, where on her arrival, she was raped by her childhood friend in the brothel, and yet, later, she forgave him unconditionally.

Soon, the British attacked the city and forced her to leave Lucknow. She decided to go to her forgotten childhood home at Faizabad. She found her father dead and her mother and brother refused to accept her because of her profession.

Umrao, shunned by her family, her lover and society, leaves to return to Lucknow, but fate plays another joke and on her way out of the city, she encounters the man who kidnapped and sold her to the brothel in the first place. Poor, wretched, homeless and injured, the man begs for pity, not recognizing that she is Ameeran, and she essentially forgives him.

Shunned by all and having forgiven those who destroyed her life, she lives the rest of her days in Lucknow with her poetry and ill fate.

Umrao Jaan’s story reflects what a girl child often experiences in Indian society where the issues of crimes, abuse and gender discrimination to the girl child are debated continually.

It is a story that reflects the life of a girl child, whose choice is nothing but slavery throughout life, beginning under the dominion of father at childhood, husband at married life and son at old age.

The story reflects the gender discrimination, female foeticide, and female infanticide in our society. The story reflects the trafficking of children, pushing many into the life like of Umrao Jaan.

After being shunned by her mother and brother, Umrao laments,

Tell me. Have you seen such a farewell?
Nor mother, nor father, nor brother.
No one is there.”
Tears are the ornaments and the palanquin of sorrow.
The locked doors are bidding farewell to me.
Never return here even in your dreams.

Look at my lover, he has broken my heart
After abandoning me midway,
He is setting a new life
As like a child gets new toy,
Plays with it for some days and then forgets
Don’t make me a doll like this, who cannot even cry

In the next birth of mine,
Oh God, don’t birth me as a girl child!
Whatever you have done now,
Oh God, don’t do it again.

Where Umrao Jaan was shunned and forsaken, no one could hear the song that narrates her misery, but it was Mirza Hadi Ruswa, who heard as she cried,

You call me, “the voice of broken heart.”
I am the instrument, which contains all melodies
Who am I, what and am I, for whom am I alive?
I myself do not understand.
Tell me the secret.
Tell me the secret.