The Hurt Locker-Bringing the war home...

There are few movies that dare to explore war from close quarters, they either glorify it, deplore it, take sides or just pack a lot of ammunition and action into a package. But The Hurt Locker differs from the rest in this. Instead of zooming out of war and exploring the big picture, it wears a magnifying lens and goes deep, deep into the life of three soldiers who are three beautifully crafted characters. The story follows this a bomb squad through their last few weeks in deputation, their struggles, emotions, mutual trust or the lack of it, and above all, the inhuman, bloody and bizarre situations they find themselves in, day after day.

Brilliant performances from each member of the cast, especially the rash but lovable Jeremy Renner. The writer of the movie Mark Boal was a freelance writer who was embedded with a bomb squad in Iraq for a period of time (Source: Wikipedia) and it shows in the plain, hits-you-hard-in-the-face kind of realism throughout the movie.

After watching the movie, it is hard to wonder how soldiers survive in places like Iraq, and also makes one wonder if we can ever win this war!

Verdict: One for the DVD collection.

Not so lovely-The Lovely Bones

It is a tragedy to watch a story that could have made a phenomenal movie be dragged down to make an abysmal collage of what could only be described as a director's wild fantasies, seriously what was the guy smoking?!

The story is that of a teenage girl who is murdered by a pedophile neighbor and how post-death she watches over, and helps her father's efforts to get to the truth-or that is what it is supposed to be according to the trailers. I went in expecting to see a gripping drama of a father's struggle with a little bit of supernatural help. But what unfolds instead, is a story that drags on without direction, it is as if the director could not decide whether he wanted a murder mystery, or a family drama, or a kids fantasy movie, there is a little bit of everything, leaving one with a sense of lack of completion on any front.

Verdict: One to avoid.

Meri Ma-Taare Zameen Par

"Meri ma" is a beautiful song from Taare Zameen Par, one of my friends (Kanthi) translated the entire song into simple English...and it is still beautiful:)...IMO, the feelings of a child seperated from its mother for the first time could not have been expressed more beautifully

I never say it .... but I am afraid of the dark ma.....
I never show it off.... but I always care about you ma.....

You know everything right, ma
You know everything, my ma

Dont leave me in the crowd like this ma, that I wont be able to come back home ma
Dont send me so far ma, that i may not be able to remember you ma

Am I so bad, ma...
Am I so bad, my ma...

Whenever dad swings me fast on the swing ma, my eyes always searches for you,
and I think that you will come and hold me ma....
I never tell this to him, but I get frightened ma....
I never let it out on my face, but remain in fear from inside...

You know everything right, ma
You know everything, my ma

I never say it .... but I am afraid of the dark ma.....
I never show it off.... but I always care about you ma.....

You know everything right, ma
You know everything, my ma

“Every Child is Special”- And this movie is too…

The title claims "Taare Zameen Par-Every child is special" and the movie weaves a simple, but beautiful tale to convey that message. The plot is very simple-it's about a boy who suffers from dyslexia and his parents are unable to understand why their child is so slow compared to others in his class. The child's tribulations and that of the family are shown in a very down to earth simplistic style. However what makes TZP steal your heart instantly is the fact that in the first half of the movie, we just see the world from the child's eyes. The sequence where the kid walks on the streets seeing simple things from his different perspective (with a beautiful song running in the background) will probably go down as one of the all-time classic scenes of Hindi cinema! For me personally (as it must be for many of us who grew up in a typical middle-class schooling system), it was a walk down the memory lane in the first half. I have been guilty of putting my parents in the Principal's office a number of times; I have camped (alright…kneeled down) outside class on a number of occasions. I have even had to show my knuckles and get beaten…like a zillion times (yep, I was a big-time trouble makerJ). I have even been thoroughly petrified by the prospects of boarding school! I have been subjected to the typical comparisons to peers that teachers and others make. Maybe we need to re-think the way we have designed the Indian educational system-but that's a different blog post altogether.

The mother who tries desperately to balance her love for her child and her desire to do the right thing for him is depicted wonderfully; the impatient father who throws the weight of his aspirations on the child's head is another interesting character. Aamir Khan plays the role of a teacher who helps the child get through the problem-a mature performance as usual, though I felt his costume was very out of place for the theme of the movie and the school. Another aspect that I felt made the second half fall short was this teacher-student relationship-it could have been built into a profound relationship-but Aamir has decided (probably rightly so) to focus more on conveying a message to all parents (and maybe, in my mind I am comparing this with Amitabh-Rani relationship in BlackJ).

Aamir Khan has a class of his own when it comes to picking movies in which he plays the lead role and that elegance is still evident in his directorial debut. Great choice of characters-especially for the roles of Ishanth and his mother. Moreover Aamir never strays from the theme and still keeps it riveting for the viewer-another great director is born...we could expect some excellent movies from him in the future :).

The songs are very soothing; the background score blends very well with the scenes and takes the movie to a different level. Then the lyrics….expressing a child's thoughts without getting childish is not easy and if you want to know how it is done, listen to "Meri maa" from TZP-Wow! (For a simple English translation of this song click here).

If you love children you will just love the movie, and if you don't love them yet, you will start to, after watching this movie.

PS, there is a small documentary feature that plays alongside the end titles of the movie-do sit through it. One more reason why life is so beautifulJ.

The Toy House stole my heart!

It is difficult to watch a Telugu movie. Not because of the loud noise that is so characteristic of every song, not because of the songs with damsels in multi-colored apparels dancing around a rotund hero, not even because of the antics the hero attempts (supported by some really poor graphics)-but mainly because the characters in the movie are all so forgettable-noone quite sticks to you once you are out of the theater! Ofcourse I do not claim to be an expert in Telugu movies nor do I decree that every Telugu movie is of the same genre, lets say all Telugu movies that I have watched fell in this category-until this one!

I jumped at the chance to watch "Bommarillu" (approximately meaning Toy House or கொலு in Tamil) simply because I was tired and wanted to let my brain go numb for a while-what better recipe to do that than a Telugu movie! Boy was I mistaken! The movie held me in rapt attention right from the word Go. "Love makes life beautiful"-is the caption of the movie and the director, Genelia PrakashRaj and Sidharth really make the movie beautiful.

I will not reveal the story here-but it is about a boy who reels under his strict father and lives a double life, playing the obedient son at home and being ranting rebel outside. Enter Genelia, who wins him over with her innocence. and the same innocence is so repulsive to Sidharth's 'obedient' side. Who wins in the end and how is told in a very interesting sequence of events!

Genelia, fills the screen with her presence. That the director could have conceived such a character and brought her alive with Gene is so amazing. For the first time we really see what a talented actress she is. Picture of innocence, then a bundle of emotions (one scene where she breaks up with Sidharth, she dominates the audience totally!). Prakash Raj is setting new standards with every movie! Very few actors are endowed with such incredible natural reactions, you just love this fellow for the ease with which he plays the role! Sidharth too plays a very mature role and peaks in climax.

Now coming to the real reason for this post-Hasini (Genelia), WoW what a character! You really have to see her to beleive it. Such a bubbly charm, such a child-like innocence, such unbeleivable straight-forwardness! She is called "Bommarillu" in a song and this toy house really stole my heart!

Black Magic....

Almost every time we watch a movie, there are a few things that linger on to the mind; a few scenes from movie, or a character, or just a place. And I have a habit of judging the quality of a movie by how long it is able to cling on to my senses.

Well here is one movie that might be able to create an impression for a lifetime. I am hearing the songs (actually the background music) of the movie right now and the scenes run through my eyes...the most visible form of magic for me I should say.

As all of you must be knowing by this time, this is a story of a blind and deaf (and hence dumb) girl and her tutor, played so effectively by a small girl first (I dont know her name anyone?) and then Rani Mukherji and the maestro Amitabh Bachan respectively. This would definitely go down as one of the best performances for both of them. As for the director, very frankly I for one, never expected a story like this from the creator of Devdas. The parallels in the two movies are the breathtaking settings. But thankfully the similarity stops there. The director found something better to fit into the grand settings:). Kudos to Sanjay Leela Bansali.

Some of my friends have been judging the movie by the number of times they cried...by that measure, yes..I did have teardrops in my eyes, but unlike other movies (and also unlike what I expected), these were for most parts, tears of joy..of optimism, of a feeling of a vicarious thrill for the girl on the screen. One heart rendering dialogue which I am still thinking about is this-"Mainae shayad Jindagi se kuch jyada hi maang liyaa thaa..."-which translates into-" I probably asked a bit too much out of life."- the misery of a girl not able to get things that others take for granted couldn't have been put in better words. In order not to spoil the experience for those who are yet to watch the movie I will stop here.

The best thing about the movie is the ringing optimism in it. If you are expecting a teary portrayal of the miseries of a girl with such disabilities, be warned....neither the director, nor the tutor is in a mood for that. There are beautiful jokes scattered here and there which make you smile without losing perspective of the bigger picture.

This movie deserves every accolade film industry can provide...but more importantly it deserves audience's support for producers to be able to do away with the "Murder"s and "Jism"s which have come to plague the Hindi film industry.

After you watch the movie do drop in your comments.

Simple but effective

How many times have great philosophers and analysts emphasised the importance of KISS-Keep It Simple, Stupid (or Straightforward;). But the film industry never seems to be impressed. "What is a movie without a high-flying star, 6 songs and 10 fight sequences and 20 crying scenes?" they seem to ask!! Well for a change I saw a movie which was refreshingly different...Azhagiya Theeyae..



I love simplicity, especially in story-telling and this director seems to be an expert at maintaining both simplicity and the interest of the viewer throughout the movie. He relates the story through one of the characters involved in the story. This is about four friends who are following their dreams and the twist of fate that takes one of them through a journey of friendship, pain suffering and love, finally culminating in their success. The most appreciable aspect of the movie is the way in which each character's individuality is maintained till the very end.



"Love happens in a boom" is the theme of the hero-though I do not subscribe to his views, I am able to appreciate the manner in which it is portrayed. There are no gaudy songs with heroines competing to "open-up", there are no double-meaning dialogues, not even the vulgar cacophonous comedy that seems to have become an inevitable part of any Tamil movie. Instead we have a heroine who is just a next-door girl with a dream and the strength to see it through. There are many instances where subtle dialogues really make you smile, not the uproarious laughter, but the very personal satisfied smile just for yourself to cherish.



The hero Prasanna definitely deserves a mention for his cool acting and very effective dialogue deliveries and director Radhamohan is one more fellow to watch out for. If there are more movies like this one we are definitely going to be back on track for some happy, tension-free;) family outings at the theaters.