Once Upon a Time in Mumbai

Rating : 6/10
Release Date : 30th July, 2010
Time : 135 minutes
Director : Milan Luthria; Writer : Rajat Arora; Music : Pritam
Starring : Ajay Devgn, Emraan Hasmi, Kangana Ranaut, Prachi Desai, Randeep Hooda
Milan Luthria gives an interesting take on the development of the underworld in Mumbai. He seems to suggest that it may not have been just gang warfare that threw up its current rulers but maybe something else. And he recreates the era very well, in terms of the look and feel, making us relive the era of flairs and long sideburns, and does so without the gore we normally associate with gangster films.


It’s a story of 3 men. First is Sultan (Ajay Devgn), a refugee from Chennai who’s fought his way to the top and now rules Mumbai with an iron fist cased in a velvet glove. He has principles, prefers to divide Mumbai amongst the existing Dons rather than indulge in inter-gang warfare and also unlike the rest, has no issues in leading a lavish lifestyle, dating the top heroine of the times, Rehana (a lovely Kangana). The second man is ACP Agnel Wilson (Randeep Hooda), who is determined to break Sultan’s reign. And the third is the weapon he picks to destroy Sultan, Shoiab (Emraan), a brash, cocky Sultan wannabe who is determined to be rich and powerful, no matter the cost or consequences. Shoaib has a supportive girlfriend, Mumtaz (Prachi), but she is a mute spectator to his shenanigans. And lets just say things dont exactly pan out as the cop would've liked...


The good thing is that the movie actually has a point of view, is trying to drive home a message and it does so by merely showing five characters, we hardly see anyone else, yet an engaging story is developed. The ending is not clichéd, the styling is retro yet interesting (Kangana looking divine, Ajay in whites, Emraan in the many colours of the rainbow) and the dialogue crisp and in places witty. The performances are very good. I’ve been saying since the days of Omkara, that few brood better on screen than Ajay Devgn. Emraan comes across as quite believable and Kangana demonstrates quite capably that she can play something else other than an alcoholic psychopath (and look great too).


The pace flagged in a few places though. And it wasn’t always clear what was the film we were watching. Was it Sultan vs the other Dons ? Or Sultan vs the ACP ? Or Sultan vs Shoiab ? Right till the end we’re not quite sure. A couple of relationships are also not fully understood / explained – Shoiab and Sultan’s being one of them and Shoaib and Mumtaz being the other. There are hints but no clarity.



This is a mood film though. There was a time when it was aspirational to be a smuggler. When games of ‘cops & robbers’ were played, there were kids who only wanted to be robbers. They coveted the lifestyle of the smugglers, who had it all, lived in big bungalows, dated film stars, threw big parties, had / drank brands which no one else could. And were feared. The film does a great job of recreating that time in Mumbai….

Inception

Rating : 6/10
Release Date : 16th July, 2010
Time : 148 minutes
Director & Writer : Christopher Nolan; Music : Hans Zimmer
Starring : Leonardo Di Caprio, Marrion Cottillard, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, Tom Hardy, Ken Watanabe, Dileep Rao, Cillian Murphy, Tom Berenger, Michael Caine, Pete Postlethwaite
Confusion and intrigue.


Its about dreams. People who can come and extract your thoughts from your dreams. Of dreams within dreams. Of people who can protect themselves from extractors using their sub-conscious. And of inception. The planting of an idea within a dream, which is so real that it stays with the person even when he awakes….



Whats summarised above is the intrigue part. Confusion stems from the myriad rules that surround this concept. Of killing yourself to wake up. Or having a totem. Or going into limbo. Or needing a kick. The unstability of dreams within dreams. The projections. The ability to feel pain without regaining consciousness. And most of all, the character of Mal. Leonardo’s wife. Who can interrupt every dream involving him. Cause he has a secret.

Its interesting, innovative. Some superb special effects, great visuals. None more interesting than when a cute Ellen Page begins to get the hang of the rules, decides to tamper with the laws of physics, or when the buildings / crates start exploding all around her. But eventually though, none of the characters was sufficiently built up for me to care about them. And that’s why, it remains interesting without touching the scales of brilliance.


I hesitate to talk any further for fear of giving it away. Of ruining the confusion that adds to the intrigue and you’re never quite sure of what you’re watching is a dream or is it reality ? And that merely adds to the confusion. And the intrigue. Enjoy.

I Hate Luv Storys

Rating : 5/10
Release Date : 2nd July, 2010
Time : 135 minutes
Director & Writer : Punit Malhotra; Music : Vishal - Shekhar
Starring : Imran Khan, Sonam Kapoor, Sammir Dattani, Samir Soni, Bruna Abdullah, Anju Mahendru

I hate Bollywood love stories. People seem to fall in love too easily. The characters are usually stereotypical, too black or white. And they’re very very predictable. This film is no exception, with only a certain freshness from its lead pair, Imran and Sonam, and some decent humour carrying it through. It is also so heavily inspired by the romantic track within Dil Chahta Hai that it could almost classify as a remake of the same (there is as much similarity between the two as between Chetan Bhagat’s book and 3 Idiots)


Imran, hates love stories or mushiness of any kind. He has a revolving door girlfriend policy. He works as an Assistant Director to a Bollywood director who specialises in corny love stories. And to make things worse, his new boss, Sonam, the art designer, is also as corny as they come, loves pink, chocolates, flowers and lovey dovey-ness of every kind. She’s engaged to be married to Sammir, childhood sweetheart, family friend, but boring, investment banker types, with romantic, weepy eyes and a disposition to match (gives her one white flower everyday, doesn’t drink on weekdays, for example, not that he seems like the kind who parties hard even on weekends). Sonam now has to choose. Who do you think she’ll go for ? (it’s a rhetorical question, BTW)

Leaving predictability (most love stories suffer from this) and imitation of DCH aside, what makes this film a strictly one time watch at best is the lack of depth of its lead characters. We don’t really understand them, understand the emotion they’re experiencing or really connect with them, remember them after the film. The line between friendship and love seems to blur too easily and conveniently. Imran and Sonam work as a pair, he being stiff and cute enough to have a girlfriend a day policy and she being candy floss-ish enough to make her character believable.


Some genuine funny moments are Imran’s interactions with Gabbar Singh, and also his experience with the cue-sheet towards the end. His friend, Samir, seems interesting (especially his T-shirts, graphs and advice) but is never sufficiently built up and neither is Sammir’s character. There was a more interesting angle in the film, why do good looking women fall in love with Mr Wrong vs Mr Right, but its never fully explored. Apart from Bin Tere, I found the songs also highly forgettable, esp the one song right at the end where we see too much of Imran (pun intended).


This film is cute. Works for a certain audience. I was never into cute…..