Movie Review: Superman of Malegaon

Superman of Malegaon, 2012
Cast: .Shivram Krishnamoorthy, Farogh Jafri, Akram Khan, Shafique, Nazir Shaikh
Director: Faiza Ahmad Khan
Genre: Comedy, Documentary

Malegaon is a village where everyone is movie-buff. People of this village are little crazier than others. They have established their own Mollywood to create spoofs of popular movies. Superman of malogaon is a documentary, which is the making of a superman movie's spoof. This malegoan's superman performs every impossible act (which are introduced with side effects in original movie) in the spoof. At the start, it is little odd, but once actual making starts, it makes you laugh loudly and repeatedly.

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This movie was started as a project to produce documentary, which was supposed to telecast in Singapore, but later it turned out to be a nice documentary cum film for all kind of audiences. 66 minutes lively movie entertains us quite well. Without any big names and brands Faiza has directed a gem. Please stay away if you want to see some Rowdy type entertainment. It is jara hatke.

Malegoan, a village approximately 200 Kms away from Mumbai, has lot of movie loving people. So few such crazy people planned to direct/produce movies in their own village. After successfully showcasing 2 big Indian blockbusters' spoof in Mollywood theater, these crazy bunch of people planned to direct Superman in Malegaon. Here starts the hilarious and mind blowing comedy sequences. Superman is flying in sky, catching thieves, fighting bad people, romancing with ladies, and finally finishing the villain. Details of costume, casting, and direction have been covered quite well in the movie.

It is a short movie in comparison to other Bollywood flicks, but shorter length entertains you through out the movie, and does not bore at all. Director could have made it little lengthier, but still this version of movie works fine, and entertains us thoroughly. Hope Bollywood or rather Mollywood could produce more such movies in future, and entertain us more.

Movie Review: Road to Sangam

Road to Sangam, 2010
Cast: Paresh Rawall as Hasmat Ullah, Om Puri as Mohammad Ali Kasuri, Pawan Malhotra as Maulana Qureshi.
Director: Amit Rai
Music by: Nitin Kumar Gupta and Prem Haria
Genre: Drama, Social
Awards: 9th Annual International Film Festival (South Africa) - 2 – 8 November 2009 - (Winner of Best First Film Director) and Many more.

Road to Sangam showcases the zeal of a person who has to fight with the society to complete his duties for the nation. It demonstrates the handicapped state of a person in front of the current social foundation. A Muslim mechanic has been chosen to finish a very important work, which has a great historical significant in the Indian history, but he faces lot of difficulties to complete his work and at the end he has to stand against the society to complete his work.

Amit Rai has picked a controversial topic, but he has removed the controversy from the plot successfully and expressed his views effectively. Paresh raval has showcased his extraordinary talent again. Other actors, who have been part of movie, are hidden under the shadow of Paresh Raval's rock solid performance.

Hasmat ullah, who is a god fearing muslim and mechanic, is popular in community for his impeccable work  Hasmat has been handed over a vehicle which must be used to carry Bapu's ashes to immerse it into Sangam river. For some unknown reasons, the historical significance of the vehicle was kept secret.

Sooner few Muslims were arrested who were charged as conspirators in a bomb explosion. Few individuals, from the same community, took it otherwise and provoked others to stand against the government. In turn they closed their shops, and stood for their community members who were sent to jail. In the meantime,  Hasmat came to know the historical  significance of the car. Now he wanted to serve the nation by repairing the car at time. He could not go against his own either people or nation. So story of his struggles unfolded now. He had to fight with community,  teach people, bring them together and finish his work There were tense moments, and emotions, but finally he repaired and delivered the car to the people.

Though movie was a result of efforts from hundreds of people, but Ghandhian effect and Paresh Sir's marvelous acting worked too well in the movie. Script was great, no spice were added to such a noble but controversial concept. I loved this movie, and I could not understand the reason why these movies are not even advertised well by these directors. Great Movie must watch it.

Movie Review: Antardwand

Antardwand, 2010
Cast: Raj Singh Chaudhary as Raghuveer, Swati Sen as Janki, Vinay Pathak and Akhilendra Mishra
Director: Shushil Rajpal
Music by: Bapi Tutul, composer of Sarkar, Sarkar Raj, and Khosla Ka Ghosla
Genre: Drama, Social
Award: National Film Award for Best Film on Social Issues at the 2009 National Awards.

Antardwand, which literally means a fight within, is depicting a social issue (based on a true story of an IAS officer) in some Indian states. A father, thinking of his daughter's future, abducts an aspiring IAS candidate and force him to marry his daughter. Later this marriage becomes a nightmare, and story ends with the hunger for more.

Shushil Rajpal wanted to show a social problem on a big screen. So he searched a little and came up with such an uncomfortable, but an astounding revelation. Shushil opted actors who could not only act but also provide resemblance to the theme's background. His decision for not signing big actors has not given much market acknowledgement, but this movie has received huge appreciation by critique community. Movie's name attracted me quite a lot so I searched about it and found it the right candidate to watch.

Raghuveer, an IAS aspirant, has come to his village to meet his parents, and tell them about his girl friend. At the same time his father is dealing with Janki's father (Akhilendra Singh) who is willing to spend any amount of money in her daughter's marriage. But Raghuveer's father (Vinay Pathak) does not even consider the proposal. Next day Raghuveer has abducted and taken to a remote place. He is brutally beaten by abductors to convince him for marriage. Even after using force in inhumanly manner, Raghuveer does not give up. So to solve the riddle, Raghuveer is married to Janki in unconscious state. Such marriages are never accepted to anyone and time does not heal the wound. After spending one month in a single room problems still sustained between the couple. Raghuveer keeps searching for the ways to elope, but he does not find one whereas Janki keeps trying to persuade her husband, but she too is not successful yet. This movie revolves around the abduction, persuasion, and post marriage problems.

Lead protagonists have acted quite maturely. Irrespective of their smaller bollywood career, they have shown tremendous potential of the acting. Location depicted and language used is way too nearer to core areas. Story is narrated quite well in decent amount of time. Length of the sequences is checked by showing required shots without compromising with the essence of sequence.

Showcasing such social issue on a big screen poses lot of challenges to the team, but Shushil directed a master piece. Instead offending people, he received appreciation and accolades for his direction. I would recommend this movie to anyone and everyone who wants to watch something HAT KE.

Movie Review: Barfii

Barfii, 2012
Cast: Ranbir Kapoor as Marfi, but mostly known as Burfee, Priyanka Chopra as Jhilmil and Ileana D'Cruz as Shruti Ghosh
Director: Anurag Basu who has directed Life in a metro, Kites, and other well acclaimed movies
Music by: Pritam
Genre: Romance, Comedy

Barfii is a romantic comedy, which unfolds the romance between a deaf and dumb guy, and an autistic girl. Murfi/Burfii falls in love with Shreya Ghosh, but their love story does not hold ground against social stigma. Due to uncharacteristic circumstances, Jhilmil, who is an autistic girl, starts developing emotions for him, and rest of the story revolves around the difficulties in their love.

Anurag, Ranbir, and Priyanka have excelled in their performances so much that their last best performances are forgettable. When Indian cinema is looking for renovation, at such critical time this movie fits perfectly into the old structure, and stamps unforgettable feelings into the mind of viewer.

Murfy, who lost his mom when we was born, is deaf and dumb, but full of life. He is quite popular in surrounding, and is known as Barfii. One rich girl, Shruti who is already engaged, comes to Darjeeling with her parents, and Burfii falls for her. Within sometime they both fall in love, but quite as usual they could not succeed to convince Shruti's parent. Life moves on. Due to father's illness Burfi has to abduct Jhilmil, an autistic girl and Barfii's childhood friend. Within sometime Jhilmil starts developing a feeling for Burfi. She starts believing in him, and finds a nice companion in him. Whereas Shruti was not yet finished. She is waiting for a miracle, which happens. Things start turning from this point, and take us to a ride of romance with comic scenes.

Ranbir has not got any chance to speak in this movie, but his performance as an actor must get him a national award. His mute act has put a star on his shoulders. Priyanka has done wonderful job this time. She has told her critiques that she has a potential, and industry must acknowledge it. Songs and music in the movie is soothing and praiseworthy. Pritam's work is brilliant, and his work adds one additional star to the movie's performance.

Direction of the movie is good apart from few places. At few places sequence was little loose and lengthy. Length of the movie was also little distracting for Hollywood savvy people. The director has moved in time so many frequently that it was little difficult to join the pieces, but all in all it is well directed and thought movie.

I loved the cinematography. Actually I loved each and every shot of the movie. It seems to me that every shot was taken with different angles, colors and motions to find best position of the camera. Shot's background never lost its charm even if actor was running, or walking in grass, or riding the bicycle. Viewer got a chance to view beautiful green Darjeeling in the most delicate way.

Apart from few glitches, I loved the movie a lot. There were moments which stuck to my mind and those moments would remain there for a long time.

Some classic movies from my past

Today me and my roommate were discussing classic old Bollywood flicks. I do not remember how did we start the discussion but we ended up counting n number of great movies. Due to perishable brain memory I could recall only a few. These recalled movies are always fresh in my memories so I dint have to stress much to remember them back. Among these movies a few changed the momentum and Bollywood trend, a few were edited and acted exceptionally well and the magic these movies created was not ever recreated in any other movie, a few were greatest dose of laughter, a few were great emotional drama and a few were just simple enough to watch and enjoy.

A Few of the flicks, that I could remember yet, were the following.

Anand - This was the first to strike to my mind. Melodious songs, awesome theme and superb acting of tragedy king were awesome features of the movie. There were moments in the movie which were memorable and touching and those moments are still fresh in memories.

Chupke-Chupke - Baap of all comedy movies. You can watch this movie n number of times and can laugh on the same dialogue again n again. Apart from that Darmendra dint use his pet words "KUTTE MEIN TERA KHOON PI JAUNGA".

Andaj Apna Apna - Wow, one more to compete with Chupke-Chupke. I think this was Salman's best onscreen performance ever and Aamir's one among best performances.

Sholey - There was basanti, there was drama, it had action and it had love. Was there something which was not part of the the movie? Epic of all time. Gabbar sequences, Darmendra water tank drama, holi songs and amitabh's coin have not staled yet.

Golmal - Amol Palekar, what an actor he is? His acting had spread magic in the movie. Watch anytime, you will enjoy every part of it. I feel Palekar dint receive what he deserved...

Jane Bhi Do Yaron - It was best Dropadi cheer haran. Another great comedy to watch anytime either of TV or laptop.

Dosti - This is my personal best from my childhood. This movie has very settled story line. 2 friends, one blind(Mohan) other PH with leg(Ramnath) are on Indian roads begging for living. All of the sudden one teacher finds one guy intelligent and teacher's philanthropy injects venom in friendship and with that movie speeds up to end happily after few events.

I barely recall other movies now but there are many more which changed the Bollywood movie tracks and were the blockbusters of past and are the blockbusters of present

Old time: Doordarshan

Now on television there are lots of reality shows, thriller shows, normal saas bahu programs and many other junk shows. But this was not similar 20 years back. Earlier, either when television was not so developed or when few channels were on air, there was less scope of throwing junk at the audience. In that era, in spite of having lesser amount of air time, diverse genre were telecasted.

Until Zee TV had not reached the rural junta, we were fond of DD1, or in other words we were dependent of DD1. On DD I was fond of few specific programs. I think Sunday was my favourite day. I used to watch programs through out the day.

Every Sunday morning 7.15 Rangoli used to cover all latest and classic songs. Once Rangoli was over we were asked to take bath and have breakfast. Once done it was time for chadrakanta, a story of princess deeply in love with the prince of Vijaygarh. DD had pulled out the telecast before completing the series, so I never come across the end of this series. After chandrakanta it was time for Indian superhero Shaktiman, who used to fight with evils to save the world from dark. Malgudi days, an awesome treat to watch, used to follow it. Then few more interesting mythological, and classic shows were telecasted back to back. At 1PM DD used to telecast NEWS for deaf and dumb people. After a while it was time for Shammy Kapoor or Amitabh's movie. Ending time of the movie  used to clash with our playing time, but with little coordination of the friends we used to watch weeping sequence or action sequence of the movie. Once back from most important work, we were again infront of TV searching clues of murder mystry with Mr Vyomkesh Bakshi, who used to solve every non socialistic mystery with his extra ordinary mind. This was general routine for Sunday excluding inevitable last time changes.

Apart from Sunday's telecast there were few big shows on DD. Shanti was my one among my favourites, watching Mandira Bedi fighting with world for her rights was treat to my aunts and me. If I remember Mohan Kapoor's Office-Office series was also started from DD. Few programs which I can not really remember were also in my must watch list and I used to enjoy big time.

As with time things changes and people get to know more about world. Same happened with us. Zee was introduced on our cable. Zee replaced DD and things changed. Now rangoli was replaced with Top 10 with additional spice. Ramayan was more idealistic so Zee chose Krishna to idealize and other things were changed. Zee also brought different variety. Hum Panch, story of husband stuck between one wife hanged on wall and other on neck and father of 5 female monsters, was always enjoyable. Then I do not remember much apart from one that I always wanted to see and could not ever watch on TV.

First horror show, in the history of Indian television, Zee Horror Show was introduced. I used to hear a lot about it from people in my school. They used to talk about the story and thrill of the horror. I myself decided to have a look on the show. I prepared myself to watch the show with whole family as it was famous in my family as well. The show used to start with the cat's voice. That was it. I heard the sound of cat and never ever watched Zee horror show. I was so frightened that it took almost 2 hours to settle my nerves down. After almost 16 years I watched few episodes of it on youtube and found out how silly i was to get so scared with such an idiotic and childish horror.

Anyways law also forbid to punish a minor, so as I forgiven myself for such a childish act. But that television era has left permanent spots in memory which are not yet faded a little and I do not think they will fade down further.