Rajeev Masand – movies that matter : from bollywood, hollywood and everywhere else

September 30, 2011

Honeymoon travails

Filed under: Our FIlms — Rajeev @ 11:16 pm

September 30, 2011

Cast: Jagrat Desai, Sasha Goradia, Vinay Pathak, Riya Sen, Sushmita Mukherjee, Darshan Jariwala

Director: Deepa Sahi

Tere Mere Phere is a loud and exaggerated comedy whose opening scene sets the mood and the tone for the roughly ninety minutes that follow. A man and woman seated beside each other on a flight get into a squabble over hogging a common armrest. It leads to something of a riot in the cabin when other passengers join in, throwing bags at each other, spilling food all over the place, and generally creating such a nuisance that even the pilots have to ditch control of the plane so they can try to break up the fight.

Actress-turned-director Deepa Sahi helms this awful film that tests your threshold for pain as it goes about its business trying to make you laugh at its pedestrian humor. The film is centered on a pair of newlyweds who find themselves getting on each other’s nerves – and ours – as they traverse the gorgeous Himachal landscape in a luxury trailer. The honeymooners (played by newcomers Jagrat Desai and Sasha Goradia) bicker endlessly through the journey, smashing crockery when they’re exasperated, and throwing mud at each other’s faces. Watching their romance turn sour, Vinay Pathak, playing a fellow passenger who’s hitched a ride with the couple, gets cold feet about eloping with his own lover, played by Riya Sen.

The film has no script to speak of, merely a string of arguments and quarrels in place of a story. To add to that, the performances are so embarrassing, it’s as if the four principal players were competing in a championship for bad acting. Tere Mere Phere offers no great insights into man-woman relationships, and neither are the couple’s clashes in any way amusing.

On the upside, there is some eye-pleasing cinematography of the Himachal landscape; and the only interesting character is the teenage brother of the male lead, who appears wiser than his years…and wiser than every other character in the film, in fact.

I’m going with one out of five for Deepa Sahi’s Tere Mere Phere. Carry cotton to protect your eardrums from the shrieking, shouting, and incessant arguing.

(This review first aired on CNN-IBN)

Joy ride

Filed under: Their Films — Rajeev @ 11:10 pm

September 30, 2011

Cast: Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Albert Brooks, Ron Perlman, Bryan Cranston, Oscar Issac, Christina Hendricks

Director: Nicolas Winding Refn

Ryan Gosling shines as a nameless auto mechanic and Hollywood stunt driver who uses his skills behind the wheel to moonlight as a getaway guy for criminals in the moody, existential thriller Drive. Clients get five minutes only, no more no less, for them to do their dirty work and hop back inside to evade the cops. Then Gosling burns rubber.

This highly stylized, meditative piece from Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn is an arthouse-meets-action movie that appeals both to the head and the heart. Drenched in a kitschy neon glow, and accompanied by a soundtrack reminiscent of the electronic pulse of 80s pop, Drive has the look and feel of classic noir.

Opening with a thrilling chase scene that quickly establishes Gosling’s character as a strong, silent brooder who knows his way around Los Angeles’ streets, the film proceeds to introduce us to its other key players. Bryan Cranston is the crippled garage owner who sets up our hero with his jobs, both legal and criminal. He also draws him into contact with two local mob bosses, played by Albert Brooks and Ron Perlman. After befriending a neighbor, played by Carey Mulligan, who lives alone with her son, our hero finds himself in an awkward position when her husband is released from prison and returns home. Out of inherent decency, he offers to help the husband pull off one last job so he can pay off the criminals who’ve been threatening the wife and kid. Things, however, go badly wrong.

Drive takes a simple story and sexes it up with funky treatment. The scenes move leisurely in the film’s early portions with minimal dialogue, but as the plot kicks in closer to the halfway mark, the stage is set for some brutal, visceral action. In many scenes, the tone changes unexpectedly from a dreamlike tranquility to sudden bursts of violence, like one particularly memorable sequence in an elevator.

The acting is top notch from the entire cast, and the sexual chemistry between Gosling and Mulligan is beautifully understated. Mulligan, in fact, is radiant and brings just the right hint of melancholy to the part of a damaged woman. But the film is anchored by Gosling’s quietly charming performance; as a character with no back-story, his appeal lies in the air of mystery that surrounds him.

I’m going with three-and-a-half out of five for Drive. It’s a flashy firecracker of a film that’s held up by a smoldering central performance. Don’t miss it!

(This review first aired on CNN-IBN)

Ryan Gosling shines as a nameless auto mechanic and Hollywood stunt driver who uses his skills behind the wheel to moonlight as a getaway guy for criminals in the moody, existential thriller Drive. Clients get five minutes only, no more no less, for them to do their dirty work and hop back inside to evade the cops. Then Gosling burns rubber.

This highly stylized, meditative piece from Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn is an arthouse-meets-action movie that appeals both to the head and the heart. Drenched in a kitschy neon glow, and accompanied by a soundtrack reminiscent of the electronic pulse of 80s pop, Drive has the look and feel of classic noir.

Opening with a thrilling chase scene that quickly establishes Gosling’s character as a strong, silent brooder who knows his way around Los Angeles’ streets, the film proceeds to introduce us to its other key players. Bryan Cranston is the crippled garage owner who sets up our hero with his jobs, both legal and criminal. He also draws him into contact with two local mob bosses, played by Albert Brooks and Ron Perlman. After befriending a neighbor, played by Carey Mulligan, who lives alone with her son, our hero finds himself in an awkward position when her husband is released from prison and returns home. Out of inherent decency, he offers to help the husband pull off one last job so he can pay off the criminals who’ve been threatening the wife and kid. Things, however, go badly wrong.

Drive takes a simple story and sexes it up with funky treatment. The scenes move leisurely in the film’s early portions with minimal dialogue, but as the plot kicks in closer to the halfway mark, the stage is set for some brutal, visceral action. In many scenes, the tone changes unexpectedly from a dreamlike tranquility to sudden bursts of violence, like one particularly memorable sequence in an elevator.

The acting is top notch from the entire cast, and the sexual chemistry between Gosling and Mulligan is beautifully understated. Mulligan, in fact, is radiant and brings just the right hint of melancholy to the part of a damaged woman. But the film is anchored by Gosling’s quietly charming performance; as a character with no back-story, his appeal lies in the air of mystery that surrounds him.

I’m going with three-and-a-half out of five for Drive. It’s a flashy firecracker of a film that’s held up by a smoldering central performance. Don’t miss it!

September 28, 2011

Lata Mangeshkar: Six decades of Hindi film music

Filed under: What's new — Rajeev @ 11:20 am

VIDEO!

In this interview recorded in August 2007, India’s nightingale Lata Mangeshkar reminisces about six decades of Hindi film music, remembers her favorite composers, and speaks about the songs that remain closest to her heart.

(This interview first aired on CNN-IBN)

Dev Anand: Restless at 88

Filed under: What's new — Rajeev @ 11:08 am

VIDEO!

In this interview, 88-year-old legend Dev Anand talks about his new film Chargesheet, about investing his movies with passion, and why he doesn’t cast young, popular stars.

(This interview first aired on CNN-IBN)

September 24, 2011

Rajkumar Hirani on the film that changed his life

Filed under: Video Vault — Rajeev @ 1:55 am

In this interview, 3 Idiots director Rajkumar Hirani talks about the film that changed his life.

(This interview first aired on CNN-IBN)

Animal behaviour

Filed under: Their Films — Rajeev @ 1:53 am

September 23, 2011

Cast: Kevin James, Rosario Dawson, Leslie Bibb; Voices of Adam Sandler, Sylvester Stallone, Cher, Jon Favreau, Maya Rudolph, Judd Apatow

Director: Frank Coraci

Like cigarettes, some films ought to come with a health warning.  Zookeeper, in which a down-on-his-luck schlub gets romantic advice from talking animals, will give you a migraine, and is likely to invoke a lifelong hatred for simians.

This idiotic film stars Kevin James as a caring zoo attendant who wants to get back with his old flame when he runs into her five years after she dumped him for being in a job that wasn’t good enough. He loves what he does, but he can’t decide if he must change his personality in order to woo her. To help him make the right decision, the four-legged residents of the zoo break their code of silence, and tutor him in the art of courtship.

These animals are voiced by the likes of Sylvester Stallone, Cher, Maya Rudolph, Jon Favreau, Judd Apatow; and Adam Sandler in particular as an annoying monkey. But what’s even more implausible than the sight of these talking critters is the suggestion that at some point in this film, not one, but two attractive women would fall for our loser hero. Kevin James spends the most part of this film running into things, falling flat on his face, and basically making an ass of himself. In the film’s most lazy, ridiculous portion, he sneaks a grumpy gorilla (voiced by Nick Nolte) out of the zoo, and takes him for a night out on the town, pretending it’s one of his buddies dressed for a costume party.

For a comedy, this film just isn’t funny. For a romance, it’s entirely predictable, and has no spark or chemistry. For a kids’ film, it’s too focused on the love story. I can’t understand who this film is meant for! I’m going with a generous half out of five for Zookeeper. By the end of this awful film you’ll wish the animals had eaten Kevin James. Or each other.

(This review first aired on CNN-IBN)

Bean there, seen that

Filed under: Their Films — Rajeev @ 1:50 am

September 23, 2011

Cast: Rowan Atkinson, Gillian Anderson, Rosamund Pike, Dominic West

Director: Oliver Parker

In Johnny English Reborn, sequel to that forgettable James Bond parody from 2003, Rowan Atkinson reprises his role as the bumbling British super-spy. It’s been five years since he exiled himself to a monastery in Tibet, after botching up his last mission in Mozambique. When we first meet him in this new adventure, he’s busy honing his martial arts skills, which include such unorthodox exercises as holding back the pain from a kick in the groin, and dragging a large rock tied to his penis. But when the new MI7 chief (played by Gillian Anderson) learns of an attempt against the Chinese premier’s life, she summons English back and reinstates him in his job so he can help save queen and country again.

The film sees Atkinson fumble with secret gadgets, and repeat many of the same slapstick gags he delivered in his outings as Mr Bean. The only genuinely funny recurring joke in this film involves a mean, Asian assassin impersonating a cleaning lady who shows up repeatedly to take down our hero. It’s the film’s best joke, and culminates in a hilarious scene at the end of the film.

The rest is sporadically funny, but feels very familiar…like a scene in which English takes advantage of a mechanical wheelchair to dodge the secret service. Or one in which he can’t control the vertical function of an office chair while in a conference with the British PM. Or then the scene in which he applies lipstick and pretty much goes bonkers while under the influence of an unpronounceable drug.

If you enjoyed the previous film, perhaps this one’s for you. The suspense element in the plot is revealed and resolved too conveniently, and there’s very little in it for anyone seeking new and original humor. I’m going with two out of five for Johnny English Reborn. Expect to be smiling a lot, but don’t count on too many big laughs.

(This review first aired on CNN-IBN)

Stormy weather

Filed under: Our FIlms — Rajeev @ 1:47 am

September 23, 2011

Cast: Shahid Kapoor, Sonam Kapoor, Supriya Pathak Kapur, Anupam Kher, Manoj Pahwa

Director: Pankaj Kapur

Pankaj Kapur’s Mausam is an unfortunate mess of a movie about a pair of young lovers who spend more time apart than together, because they don’t know how or where to reach one another when they’re repeatedly separated. The film opens in 1992 and spans roughly 10 years. In the age of email, answering machines, and mobile phones, these dim-witted lovers never leave forwarding addresses or contact numbers. To think Bhagyashree had better luck getting a love letter across to Salman Khan using a pigeon!

The romance in Mausam unfurls in a small town in Punjab where a cocky drifter, Harry (Shahid Kapoor), and Kashmiri girl, Aayat (Sonam Kapoor), find themselves falling for each other over quietly exchanged notes, and hushed whispers on a rain-soaked terrace. These early establishing scenes are the film’s best portions; a believable portrait of youth, in which lazy afternoons are spent chewing sugarcane with friends after sneaking off with an uncle’s impala, or stealing furtive glances at one’s crush during a noisy wedding.

Director Pankaj Kapur infuses his story and his characters with a delicate, old-fashioned charm that is pleasing and quaint at first, but gets progressively exhausting when logic goes out of the window. The romance is first interrupted by the events surrounding the destruction of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, and then repeatedly by such tragedies as the Kargil War, 9/11 in America, and finally the riots in Gujarat in the wake of the Godhra massacre. Far from giving Mausam a sweeping feel, these interruptions in their romance — and the harebrained suggestion that the helpless lovers have no means to communicate when separated — make a case for how passive these characters are.

At some point, Harry has grown into a proud, mustachioed Indian Air Force pilot, and Aayat into a graceful ballet student in Edinburgh. Harry postures like a Ray Ban model each time he’s standing against his jets, and Aayat only seems to speak in whispers. The problem with Mausam is that it’s shrouded in a cloak of self-importance; everyone from the actors to the writer-director appears to be taking himself too seriously, as if determined to deliver nothing short of an epic.

Plodding along for close to three hours, Mausam loses steam early on. By the time the film hobbles to its end at a riot-stricken Ahmedabad fair, all you can do is gasp. Gasp in complete shock at the inconceivably embarrassing climax that involves a Ferris wheel, a crying child, and a horse. This one scene alone hints at just how desperately this script was begging for a rewrite!

To be entirely fair, Mausam isn’t without its moments. The film’s first 30 minutes are fresh and enjoyable; and while he doesn’t quite cut it as a convincing IAF pilot, Shahid Kapoor is terrific as the small-town brat. Sonam Kapoor has a grace about her that’s charming, although she’s saddled with the kind of corny lines that would make even a thespian lose his nerve. But what both actors lack together, unfortunately, is sizzle — they have the chemistry of a pair of strangers.

I’m going with two out of five for director Pankaj Kapur’s Mausam. As you leave the hall exhausted from the sheer length of this misguided enterprise, you cannot help but note that despite its many flaws, this is a noble failure. The film doesn’t work, but not for lack of trying.

(This review first aired on CNN-IBN)

Hokey practice!

Filed under: Our FIlms — Rajeev @ 12:20 am

September 23, 2011

Cast: Vinay Virmani, Anupam Kher, Rob Lowe, Camilla Belle, Gurpreet Guggi

Director: Robert Lieberman

Speedy Singhs is a bargain basement version of Gurinder Chadha’s Bend It Like Beckham, borrowing the exact same premise but leaving out the sharp wit of that cross-cultural comedy. Newcomer Vinay Virmani stars as Rajveer Singh, an NRI kid in Toronto who clashes with his father (played by Anupam Kher) when he defiantly pursues his interest in ice hockey, instead of focusing on his blue-collar job at his uncle’s transport company.

It’s a harmless by-the-numbers underdog story that taps every cliché associated with the genre. Unable to secure a spot on the gora team, the hero assembles a local band of misfits who’re whipped into shape by a white coach (played by Rob Lowe) seeking his own redemption. In no mood to upset his father, the hero lies that he’s given up the game, then gets thrown out of the house when daddy discovers he’s been playing all along. Predictably the young chap falls for a white girl, whom he brings to an Indian wedding, where his family looks on disapprovingly. Speedy Singhs also raises questions about cultural identity and the freedom of choice, but these are both addressed and resolved in the kind of superficial, sanitized style that so many diaspora films before have mastered.

What’s crucially missing in this movie is a sense of drama in its sports scenes. You barely see the team practice or strategize for their games, which is why their sudden proficiency in the final matches appears contrived, and their underdog status repeatedly mentioned but never justified. What’s more, given that Speedy Singhs is intended clearly as a starring vehicle for Virmani, who wrote the script himself, you’re not surprised the film spends barely any time establishing a bond of friendship or sportsmanship between the teammates, choosing instead to focus on Rajveer as the central force of the team.

On the upside, the film benefits from some clever banter between Rajveer and Russell Peters, who plays the obnoxious fiancé of his cousin. The soundtrack has some hummable hits, and leading man Vinay Virmani has a likeable presence. But the film delivers no more than time-pass entertainment because it offers nothing that you haven’t been served before.

I’m going with two out of five for Speedy Singhs. It’s old wine in an old bottle.

(This review first aired on CNN-IBN)

September 16, 2011

Ryan Gosling can’t relate to his character in ‘Crazy Stupid Love’

Filed under: Video Vault — Rajeev @ 11:41 pm

In this interview recorded in New York, Hollywood star  Ryan Gosling reveals that he didn’t identify with the smooth ladies man that he plays in his new film Crazy Stupid Love, but did the film because he was keen to work with Steve Carell. He also admits it was ‘awkward’ to film a nude scene with Carell.

(This interview first aired on CNN-IBN)

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