Category Archives: Movies

1-By Laksh, ET, Movies

January 26: Some films…

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Happy Republic Day!

Here is a list of my top 10 films that sparked the feeling of Indian in me at various stages of my life

  1. Sikander (Hindi) (1941): Watched it when I was very young on the good old Doordarshan. The scenes where Porus stands up to Sikander, are still fresh in my mind, thanks to my neighbour’s adulation for Sohrab Modi poured into a running commentary 🙂
  2. Alluri Seetharamaraju (Telugu) (1974): I saw this film for the first time when I was 6 or 8 years old, in its rerun in Venkatesa theatre, Hyderabad. Scenes where tribals attack police stations, the climax and super hit song ‘Telugu Veera Levara’ stayed with me over the time.
  3. Gandhi (English) (1982): Saw it first time on Doordarshan and later many times on video. Got to know more about Gandhi and India’s freedom movement from this film, than from any other source. Heroism took a new meaning and so did the concept of being an Indian. Several scenes stay fresh in mind, the most notable is when a choking Martin Sheen relays his message to his office in London.
  4. Peddamanushulu (Telugu) (1954): It touches upon a new angle of patriotism and gives another meaning to being an Indian. A great ensemble of artists (Gaurinadha Sastry, Relangi, Vangara, Lingamurthy, Sri ranjani, Ramachandra Kasyap, Chadalavada) under the direction of Legend K.V.Reddi, makes this a memorable movie. But it is the inimitable voice and music of Ghantasala that reverberates the neo Indianism, in the two songs–Nandamaya and Siva Siva Murthivi Gananadha.
  5. Janani Janmabhumi (Telugu) (1984): One of K.Viswanath’s classics that does an interesting overlay of Indian culture and rural India to create a sense of purpose to young India. Scene where Balakrishna returns from USA in Indian clothes and his conversation with his father is one of the best on Indian screen. Sarada, who plays his mother, represents the fabled Mother India, but her character nicely integrated into the story, without making it allegorical or parallel (Eg.Shekhar Kammula’s ‘Dollar Dreams’)
  6. Rudraveena (Telugu) (1988): An Indian classic. Chiranjeevi, K.Balachander and Ilayaraaja deliver a musical masterpiece that achieves so much in a single film. It touches on many aspects of Indianism, all its scenes  background tuned to perfection by Ilayaraaja. The web is replete with articles about the musical genius of Ilayaraaja in this film, but the one scene that stayed with me over the years is where Chiranjeevi speaks to a woman and daughter who share a single saree.
  7. Main Azaad Hoon (Hindi) (1989): Amitabh Bacchan delivers one of his career best performances in this movie and it is his presence that lifts several scenes to greatness. It attempts to give a voice to the common Indian and who better to do it than the baritone Amitabh. Scenes where he interacts with the audience and bangs a glass of water on the minister’s table, are just two examples of the subtle and seething Amitabh.
  8. Sarfarosh (Hindi) (1999): It came at a time when Pakistan was the common enemy of all Indians and it does a terrific job of crafting an intelligent film. It was one of the few films of India that explored the lesser known geographies (Kutch etc), and featured a brainy Aamir as the hero, making it easy for folks like me to identify with  🙂
  9. Aparichitudu (Telugu) (2005): It takes a fairytalesque approach to mete out instant justice, but I was bowled over by the thought of it. Hold dear to the freedom we achievd after a great struggle, do your bit, take pride in your work and show empathy to fellow Indians…all these glorified through the characters of Rules Ramanujama and Aparichutudu. Interview with the crowd in a stadium, old man talking to his relative in abroad and the climax are some of my favorite scenes.
  10. Guru (Hindi) (2007): It is a testimonial to the spirit of new Indian. My notes here.

In addition to the above, there are several other films that appeal to the Indian in me. Notable among them are Leader (1964), Shaheed (1965), Upkar (1967), Purab aur Paschim (1970), Parasakthi (Tamil)(1952), Vedam Pudhithu (1987), Karma (1986), Chak De (2007), A Wednesday (2008), Swades (2004), Bhaag Milkha Bhaag (2013), Ek Doctor Ki Maut (1990), Kanya Sulkam (1955), Dollar Dreams (2000), Prahaar (1991), Ghulami (1985), Tamas (1987) (TV series).

1-By Laksh, ET, Movies

‘The Living Daylights’…

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‘The  Living Daylights’ was the first Bond movie I watched on the big screen. Pretty early on, in the Gibraltar’s sequence, there’s special sound effect when a monkey jumps on Bond.   It was pretty good back then, it grabbed my attention, and probably my first introduction to the world cinema sound.

After a few decades, I revisited the movie in full on a blu-ray. Even now, it takes a while to get used to Timothy Dalton as James Bond. Once you do, the movie doesn’t disappoint. Spread across a multitude of locations all over the world, with a nice little love track thrown in, the movie has enough going for it, in the thrills department.

timothy

Like all Bond movies, the prelude shot on the rock of Gibraltar, hooks you on and the rest of the movie comes across at a decent pace. John Barry’s music as usual, is brilliant with the title song by A-Ha being one of the best amongs title songs.

In many ways, ‘The Living Daylights’ indicated a shift in thinking of James Bond portrayal. Interestingly this was picked up when Daniel Craig reprised the role.

Tail piece: A blogger feels that the monkey scene might have been after thought. Here is the weblink: https://operationgrandslam.wordpress.com/2014/12/30/the-living-daylights/).

1-By Laksh, ET, Movies

‘I’…

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Somewhere in the second half of the film, Vikram has to emote a variety of feelings just with his eyes. First, a tinge of anticipation mixed with a fear that his lover wouldn’t  recognize/accept him, second, a disappointment due to his lover’s aversion, third, his heightened anticipation when she calls him near her car window, fourth, his inexplicable and sorrow and finally, his sense of utter defeat before the will of God. Vikram does it all.

One has to give it to Vikram for his outstanding performance in scenes like these in the movie and his effort to get into the skin of the character. In every scene that calls for his histrionics, he delivers like no other.

If only his presence had translated into something more meaningful in terms of a wholesome movie. Instead, Director Shankar, squanders away Vikram’s accomplishments and weaves an outdated revenge fare.’ I’ is poor cousin of Director Shankar’s previous films.

  

I found the basic premise of inflicting wrong and the revenge formula around it, not enough for the story to scale.

  • What starts off an interesting aspect, that of an aspiring bodybuilder, doesn’t build into the next level.
  • The enemies the hero make, don’t look menacing enough for the hero’s fight against them. They are cliched to say the least. Other than the wrong inflicted on the hero, rest of their villainy comes across as a charade.
  • Shankar in his previous films used the cat and mouse game between hero and villain to good effect  (Gentleman, Anniyan, Indian etc). In ‘I’ the villains are more of brawn and less of brain. So, the duels between the hero and villain are less, less physical, given the deformity of hero. On top of that,  Shankar fills up the film with unnecessary stuff to make it a 3hour+ film.
  • I guess, inspired by the brawny nature of the plot, Shankar decides for an exact amount for exacting revenge, and his ‘anthaku minchi’ ends up being too fleshy and gory on screen, and with little purpose.  It’s as if he tried a blend of ‘Jeffery Archer’s novel ‘Not a penny more, Not a penny less’ and the movie  ‘Inglorious Bastards’ or ‘Django Unchained’. (I was also reminded of Pran-Jeeven scenes of  ‘Amar Akbar Anthony’)

In the end, ‘I’ ends up a movie only for die hard fans of Vikram and Shankar . It does make you wonder about the 100+crore of the budget of the film. Where did it go? Make-up? Peter Jackson’s Weta? China footage?

Tailpiece : Shankar seems to have applied logic only to the ‘amount’ of revenge and nothing else. Budget included.

Related links:

Amar Akbar Anthony Scene 1: Jeevan – Pran – Robert Mocks Kishenlals Poverty

Amar Akbar Anthony Scene 2: Pran – Kishenlal Teaches Robert A Lesson