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

December 23, 2016

Cast: Aamir Khan, Fatima Sana Shaikh, Sanya Malhotra, Sakshi Tanwar, Zaira Wasim, Suhani Bhatnagar, Girish Kulkarni, Ritwik Sahore, Aparshakti Khurrana

Director: Nitesh Tiwari

A national level wrestler forced to forego his dream becomes obsessed with training his daughters to accomplish what he couldn’t – winning gold for the country.

Dangal is a fine film that works on two levels. It’s the kind of inspiring sports movie that gainfully employs all the tropes of the genre to deliver a rousing experience for the viewer. It also makes a strong feminist statement about girls being just as good as boys (if not better) in what has traditionally been the stomping ground of men.

That predominantly male bastion extends not only to the contact sport in question, but also to Haryana where this true story is set; a culture so steeped in patriarchy that neighbors volunteer helpful tips towards producing a male heir to parents who’ve birthed multiple daughters.

The film is interested in the story of Mahavir Singh Phogat, former wrestler and father of four girls from a small village named Belali, who coached his eldest daughters Geeta and Babita towards triumph on the world stage. Aamir Khan, grizzled, potbellied, and seldom cracking a smile, practically disappears into the character of Mahavir, a hard taskmaster who puts the girls through the wringer, ignoring their protests and those of his wife.

Mahavir is in equal parts determined and unmistakably selfish, practically robbing the girls of their childhood, denying them normal pleasures in his obsession with discipline and his quest for excellence. It’s a tricky area to explore and a braver film might have gone down that road, but given that this is practically a biopic, the script steers clear of raising uncomfortable questions. What we get is one line, late in the film, where Mahavir acknowledges that the only fault of his daughters is that their father is a madman.

Co-written and directed by Nitesh Tiwari, Dangal scores big on authenticity. The rigorous training the girls are put through, the sniggering from a chauvinistic society, the clashes with sports authorities, and the thrilling, nail-biting bouts all ring true without a hint of artifice. There are layers too, if you seek them. One of the best bits in the film is a scene in which Mahavir and Geeta wrestle. On the face of it, it’s just that – father vs daughter. But simmering beneath the surface is so much more.

It’s these layers, tucked away but easily sought, that separate Dangal from your standard sports movie. The script digs deep to give us genuinely affecting moments like Geeta’s discovery of her own feminity, and her first brush with boys outside the akhada, not to mention her sheer amazement over the effect a romantic Hindi film can have on a hostelful of girls.

Very often I find my fellow critics say when they’ve loved a film immensely that they’re willing to overlook its occasional bumps. I am too, but I’ve discovered that with near-perfect films, the smallest flaws stick out like a sore thumb and nag me endlessly. The same is true here. I couldn’t get over the shoddy characterization of the National Sports Academy coach (played by a grossly underutilized Girish Kulkarni) who is portrayed as a one-note villain. I also couldn’t for the life of me buy into a twist in the film’s final act which came off as completely unconvincing. And don’t even get me started about the shrewd manner in which they tug – no wait, milk – our patriotic sentiments by throwing in the National Anthem in the end.

But frankly, Dangal succeeds despite these missteps, and a big reason for that are the performances. Tiwari, who previously co-directed Chillar Party and helmed Bhootnath Returns, once again draws winning, spirited performances from his younger actors, in this case from Suhani Bhatnagar and particularly Zaira Wasim who play the younger incarnations of Babita and Geeta respectively.

A word here also for Ritwik Sahore who plays their cousin Omkar, and the source of much amusement in the film, courtesy his role as a reluctant sparring partner for the girls in their growing up years. Aparshakti Khurrana plays the older Omkar, and he’s terrific too, bringing humor in unlikely places.

Sakshi Tanwar as Mahavir’s wife, and Sanya Malhotra as the older Babita are well cast and look their parts to the T. A chunk of the heavy lifting is taken care of by Fatima Sana Shaikh, who plays the older Geeta with just the right balance of youthful innocence and steely grit. Your heart goes out to Geeta, and her conflict is entirely palpable when she must choose what approach to take when she reaches the Commonwealth Games.

But at the heart of the film is an incredible performance by Aamir Khan, who doesn’t just play Mahavir he becomes him. There isn’t a hint of vanity in Aamir’s portrayal of this overweight, ageing man, and you understand what drives him and you forgive him his methods. Underneath the tough exterior, Aamir imbues Mahavir with a tenderness that occasionally slips through.

Dangal is not a perfect film, but then few films are. It’s overlong at 2 hours and 41 minutes, and it’s both simple and simplistic in places. But it’s a solid and satisfying watch, a well crafted look at what went into the creation of two sporting champions. It’s a film that makes the heart swell…when it isn’t pounding from all the excitement of the bouts. I’m going with four out of five.

(This review first aired on CNN News18)

December 09, 2016

Cast: Ranveer Singh, Vaani Kapoor, Armaan Ralhan

Director: Aditya Chopra

Leaving the cinema at the end of Befikre, having spent two hours and ten minutes in the company of its shallow protagonists, I felt exhausted. Just flat out drained watching how much of an effort the film makes to appear effortless. How hard it tries to give the impression that it’s not trying at all.

Bollywood doesn’t do romantic comedies very well. What starts out light and frothy inevitably ends up in mawkish melodrama. Mercifully, writer-director Aditya Chopra avoids these traps, keeping the film’s tone consistently breezy and seldom seguing into rona dhona. Delhi boy Dharam (Ranveer Singh) and Paris-born Shyra (Vaani Kapoor) haven’t even known each a few hours before they’re swapping saliva and slipping between the sheets. But not for one moment does their shared chemistry burn up the screen. For all the kiss-kiss-wham-bam, the sparks are missing.

It’s been 12 years since the iconic sitcom Friends winded up, and god knows many of us are addicted to its reruns. But Chopra appears to suffer from an unhealthy obsession with the show, lifting scenarios and modeling his leads after those characters. In his very opening scene, he borrows from that famous break up between Ross and Rachel where he demands his shirt back from her.

But Dharam’s standup comic character is actually inspired by Joey from the sitcom – the stag who hits on every woman, and doesn’t believe in commitment. On the surface, tour guide Shyra seems tailor-made for him – she isn’t looking for a relationship, is always up for a dare, and the two decide early on that they’ll never say “I love you” to each other.

The pair lives it up in Paris, singing, dancing, wolfing down waffles and beer until they do fall in love. The problem is that the script doesn’t quite know what to do with them. They flit from one scenario to the next – French kissing endlessly, going through a breakup, becoming friends a year after the split, going on double dates, getting engaged to other people in a very Love Aaj Kal kind of way. But none of this ever seems to touch us. Dharam and Shyra just come across as fake.

What’s even more tiring is that the two strip down at the drop of a hat – to their underwear, to g-string bikins, to wrapped-up bedsheets, and in Ranveer’s case, even going bare bottom in one scene. They also must be the world’s most nimble-footed standup comic and tour guide – they hip-hop, tango, salsa and waltz like they’re competing in the finals of So You Think You Can Dance.

The typical Yashraj tropes are all here – eye-watering foreign locations, a conversation that links parathas to following your heart, Punjabi parents who watch benevolently, a Bollywood karaoke session, and yes, self-referencing the studio’s films endlessly. Just one moment in all this seems clever – when Shyra turns the palat scene from Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge on its head.

The rest of Befikre is sheer silliness, especially an Anees Bazmee-style climax scramble in a church. Vishal-Shekhar’s infectious tunes and the glossy cinematography are easy on the ear and the eye, but the film ultimately wears you out.

Ranveer Singh does everything he can to elevate the material with his unputdownable energy, at times running the risk of overdoing it. Vaani Kapoor (who might want to have a word with the cameraman for shooting her most unflatteringly) goes for spunky but it’s hit and miss.

What the film lacks is genuine feeling. Yes, even the frothiest of rom-coms need something real to keep you invested in its characters. I’m going with one-and-a-half out of five for Befikre. Aditya Chopra may have made one of Hindi cinema’s most enduring love stories, but this is a soufflé that sinks like a stone.

(This review first aired on CNN News18)

December 02, 2016

Cast: Vidya Balan, Arjun Rampal, Jugal Hansraj, Amba Sanyal, Kharaj Mukherjee, Naisha Khanna, Manini Chadha

Director: Sujoy Ghosh

Kahaani 2 opens on a chilling note when a woman, played by Vidya Balan, slips into a coma after being knocked down by a taxi while rushing to save her crippled daughter who has been kidnapped.

Less than ten minutes in, the film has got you by the nuts.

Directed by Sujoy Ghosh, who is making a habit of throwing Balan in front of speeding vehicles, Kahaani 2 is an entirely different film from 2012’s Kahaani, although it shares with that film its leading lady, a West Bengal setting, and a strong sense of atmospherics.

Balan plays Vidya Sinha, a middle-aged single mother living with her daughter Mini in Chandannagar, a small town on the outskirts of Kolkata. When sub inspector Inderjeet Singh (Arjun Rampal) begins investigating her accident, he chances upon her conveniently detailed diary, which provides a window into her life before arriving in Chandannagar. A time when she went by the name Durga Rani Singh.

Ghosh and co-writer Suresh Nair raise the stakes by giving us a story at whose heart resides complete and abject darkness. This is cold, creepy, uncomfortable material, and the makers navigate it both skillfully and with sensitivity. They deserve credit also for casting against type, particularly in the case of Jugal Hansraj and Amba Sanyal who have key supporting roles. Arjun Rampal is in very good form as a world-weary, laconic cop and he summons up a nicely internalized performance.

The first hour of Kahaani 2 moves briskly to reveal a Pandora’s box of secrets and lies. Cutting deftly between the past and the present, the breathless pace of the screenplay never lets up. Post-intermission, however, the warts begin to show. The writing becomes sloppy, and the contrivances pile up. Repeatedly you find yourself asking: “Is that really what this character would do?” The twists too can be spotted from a distance, and an attempt to deliver a Bob Biswas-type unlikely assassin fails completely.

But even as the film hobbles, its leading lady continues to take giant strides. Balan is first rate in a fully fleshed out role, offering a performance completely free of vanity, and full of genuine feeling. She powers Kahaani 2, glossing over its rough edges.

Despite its bumps, the film is seldom boring, but it’s hard not to mourn for what could have been. Kahaani 2 starts out with so much promise but peters out before the end. I’m going with two-and-a-half out of five for the film and an additional half star for Vidya Balan’s knockout performance, which makes it three out of five for Kahaani 2. There’s a lot to like here, but consistency isn’t one of its strengths.

(This review first aired on CNN News18)