Rockstar

Rating : 8/10
Release Date : 11th November, 2011
Time : 155 minutes
Director : Imtiaz Ali; Writers : Imtiaz Ali, M Beg; Music : A R Rahman
Starring : Ranbir Kapoor, Nargis Fakhri, Aditi Rao, Piyush Mishra, Kumud Mishra, Shernaz Patel, Shammi Kapoor


Despite its length, numerous logical and other flaws, what kept me hooked was the scintillating music, Ranbir’s performance and the crazy, goofy, improbable love between the ‘hi fi', 'neat & clean’ Nargis Fakhri and the Jat boy from Pitampura who wants to be a musician



The love begins as an unlikely friendship. She is the poster girl of the college, coveted by all in a very physical sense. He is more often than not the butt of jokes, spends most of his time in the canteen. However, the soon-to-be-married Nargis strikes a deal with this cartoonish lad to fulfil a few of her baser desires (no, its not what you think). Ranbir goes along for the ride. And we find through the movie that the ride never quite stops….



Ranbir’s growth as a musician juxtaposes with the different emotions he goes through. Expulsion and numerous thrashings by his family. Life as an unwanted wasterel in a dargah. Separation from Nargis. A trip to Prague, where she is now settled after marriage. Meeting her again. Then again. And his rising star in the music world, along with the growing sense of being incomplete without her.



Its hard to imagine any other actor of the younger lot being able to carry this role out. Ranbir manages to look good in just about anything (though full credit to Aki Narula for his threads). His locks & looks change length and character as frequently as he is forced to. From the bumbling, innocent kid to the friend for life to the castaway wastrel to the assured musician to the angry young man who has it all. From looking goofy to innocent to angry to cool, sometimes in a matter of minutes. I also liked the realism of the Delhi University setting, the terms used (palangtod, jannat hai yahan etc), the different characters, the foggy mornings and the idea of college being a place more for extra curriculars than for studies (I think we saw the inside of a classroom for all of 2 seconds).


And rising above all this, almost linking it together is AR Rahman’s near mystical music, haunting, enthralling, with a life of its own. From the divine ‘Kun Faaya Kun’ to the angst driven ‘Naadan Parindey’ to the self doubting ‘Jo Bhi Main’ to the funny ‘Katiya Kahun’ to the rousing, angry, anthem like ‘Sadda Haq’. Excellent lyrics by Irshad Kamil. And kudos to Imtiaz / ARR for keeping Mohit Chauhan’s voice constant for Ranbir. It helps build the character, make it more real.



It did get repetitive towards the end. You wished the two would make up their mind. The illness angle was possibly not desired, though I loved the stupidly romantic notion of a relationship where you feel so incomplete without the other that you fall physically sick and all the wealth / fame in the world doesnt seem enough. You wished it was edited better, a few jerks & jumps and also the length, with the film seeming longer than its actual running time. All the fun moments are concentrated in the first half, with the second mostly running on raw music & emotion.

It worked for me. I didnt want to miss a single frame, or its stunning locales, or the expressions or the musical notes (listen to the shehnai piece, in the background in the movie, from the CD, its just amazing). It works partly because its Ranbir. But sure its not for everyone.

Blue

Rating : 5/10
Release Date : 16th Oct, 2009
Time : 117 minutes
Director & Co-Writer: Anthony D’Souza; Co-writer : Jasmine D’Souza; Music : A R Rahman
Starring : Akshay Kumar, Sanjay Dutt, Lara Dutta, Rahul Dev, Zayed Khan, Katrina Kaif (special appearance)
The audience verdict on this one is likely to be split. For the people like me, who are completely in touch with Hollywood, who’ve seen films like ‘Into the Blue’, who’ve seen National Geographic and Discovery undersea documentaries, we’re going to find nothing new here in terms of locales / settings and a very weak storyline. For all the others, it promises to showcase the beauty of the big blue, as never seen before on Indian screens and a story that is about average when compared to most other Indian films and so likely to be a commercial hit...


The story involves the mystery of a treasure ship, ‘Lady in Blue’, a mysterious character named Aarav (Akshay) who seems to be rich, but no one is sure of how much or even how, Saagar (Sanjay Dutt), who is befriended and employed by Aarav, but has a mysterious reluctance to share the whereabouts of the missing treasure ship. Then there is Sam (Zayed Khan), Saagar’s younger brother, who wants to be all mysterious and cool but ends up coming across like a spoilt brat, the kind who are good for nothing and assume the world owe’s them a living. All he does in the film is get the bad guys to come after the good. Gulshan (Rahul Dev) is the official bad man, a role he plays well. Mona (Lara Dutta) is the official eye candy, while Katrina tries to be the eye candy but the miniscule length of her role and her dreadlocks seem to impede her from doing so.


What the film does well is the underwater shots – its beautiful, nice, aesthetic and sensuous. Apparently, the first question Akshay had asked when the script was narrated was ‘can you pull this off ?’ and here his worries proved to be unfounded as debutant director Anthony D’Souza manages to get this part right. My only crib here, in fact would be that there wasn’t enough action sequences set underwater. It also does justice to its two locales, Bahamas and Bangkok, capturing the relaxed Bohemian spirit and the natural beauty of the former. And the contrasting concrete jungle, seedy underbelly / steaminess of the latter.



Where it is a let down is in terms of the script / story…too complicated / unnecessary sub-plots (involving the parents of some of the characters) and even worse, not enough done with all the ‘mystery’ – the answers to the treasure / Aarav’s past / Saagar’s reluctance are too trite, lacking depth and therefore leave you with an incomplete feeling. Also, none of the characters are built up well enough – you feel nothing for any of them – it is critical for us to care for the main leads of an ‘action’ film else they become nothing but ‘action figurines’, which sadly enough, they do in this case.


Finally, casting is a serious issue in terms of Sanjay Dutt, who I fear is no longer suitable for action roles – he is clearly overweight and unfit and it shows. Also, his nickname in the film is ‘Sethji’ ? What was that about ? He is also way too old for Lara and so their romantic scenes together leave you bemused more than anything else. Akshay is fine but here he was let down by his poorly fleshed out role and also, once again, by his desire to look cool – his goatee doesn’t suit him and neither do some of his costumes. Rahul Dev, in the most uncomplicated / straightforward role, is actually done well. And Lara is lovely – bubbly, easy on the eye and refreshing in a bikini. Always looking good.



This film seemed intent on spending a lot of money. The whole sequence with Kylie was unnecessary, fitted even less into the story than Denise Richards in Kambakkth Ishq. There were several vehicles blown up, which didn’t need to be. They should’ve spent more time and money fixing the script, maybe even eliminating some of the characters (Zayed ?). Then, even with possibly half the production budget and definitely a fourth of the marketing budget, it would’ve been a better film and a bigger hit.