Imagine a love story with every cliché possible, every predictable twist and turn but it still manages to make you laugh…and in some parts makes you laugh very loudly. I went into this movie with very low expectations and came out with the movie having delivered a notch above.
Sid (Rahul Bose), is a DJ who meets Trisha (Mallika Sherawat) when he is playing songs at her wedding in Delhi and she is contemplating running away. Six months later they meet again, now in Mumbai. They meet some more… they fall in love ! When Trisha proposes marriage after three years, Sid is not quite ready – they then break up, patch up, break up again etc. On Trisha’s side, we have the typical over-protective father, another typical over-protective best friend and as the side love interest, the guy who she was going to get married to but ran away (at least this was something different). Sid, on his corner, has Ranvir Sheorey as a Rhys Ifans (Spike, Hugh Grant's roomie in Notting Hill) style best friend who never bathes / changes underwear, an understanding brother in law / sister, and as his love interest, the wonderfully voluptuous star (Sophie Choudhary) of the album Baby Doll Volume 3 (doesn’t leave much to the imagination, does it ?).
As you’ve guessed, the plot is not really the strong point of the movie. What is great is the style of the movie – its shot in a partly demo style, where Rahul frequently talks to the camera in the middle of scenes, kind of lecturing on what is happening, usually about the side effects of pyaar, engagement, breaking up etc. What is also very good is the honesty of the movie – no topic is taboo, they go and make fun of topics which previously were kind of off-limits (there is a full discussion around bra-straps and why they are so complicated to open for men, there is another conversation between Rahul and his Mr Big). And finally, the jokes are brilliant…I think some of them are lifted from English movies, but no worries because they have indianised them beautifully. We have Mallika’s refreshing take on what makes Delhi women different from Mumbai ones (and around the whole Mumbai vs Delhi thing in general). We have this other discussion around why marriage is not good for men, proof being that no superhero is married (I swear I’ve heard this before, but can’t remember where – in any case its so wonderfully indianised that you’ll laugh out aloud anyways !)
This is the first movie I saw of Mallika’s and I was really pleasantly surprised. I think casting Rahul Bose opposite her was a mistake – he came across as quite wooden, his dialogue delivery is quite stiff, Hindi a bit accented, definitely not as spontaneous as Mallika. Ranvir Sheorey was brilliant again as the best friend, Aamir Bashir was a very believable brother in law, Sophie Choudhary was a very believable Baby Doll Vol3.
So, put the kids to sleep and go enjoy…not one movie that you’re going to see many times or buy the DVD but definitely worth a look-see…
Tuesday, October 3, 2006
Monday, October 2, 2006
Khosla ka Ghosla
Khosla ka Ghosla is a humorous showcase for Delhi, a city I’ve lived in from the 6th standard all the way till end of college and a city with which I have a love-hate relationship !
I love the buzz in Delhi….the feeling that everyone is trying to progress / make money. I hate that in most cases they’re actually trying to make it illegally and its you they’re trying to rip off.
I love the aggression, the enthusiasm but hate the fact that it results in the use of violence almost as a first resort.
I love the feeling of open space / spaciousness (especially vs Mumbai which always feels very crowded) but hate the fact that due to land-grabbing / illegal construction / the conversion of single-storey bungalows into ugly multi-storeyed eyesores in residential areas, this is rapidly disappearing.
Finally, I love the mentality of anything can happen, nothing is impossible and the sheer inventiveness this leads to – the ability of overcoming any obstacle or coming up with ‘shortcuts’ is amazing but I hate the fact that this is accompanied by a complete lawlessness and lack of consideration for other humans.
Khosla ka Ghosla does a brilliant job of highlighting all the wonderful and not so wonderful things which make Delhi what it is – along with the above, you have the helpful neighbours, the chartered buses, the almost ludicrous belief in deities – Mata / Baba etc and the near - idolisation of NRI’s. And its done with a wonderful sense of realism – there are no comic stereotypes, no slapstick for easy laughs. The humour lies in the reality of the situation, the people and how they choose to overcome their problems.
Kamal Kishore Khosla (Anupam Kher), a salaried person on the brink of retirement, buys a plot of land where he can construct a bungalow which can fit all of his family – with a floor for each of his kids… Shortly after the purchase the plot gets ‘grabbed’ by an unscrupulous property developer, Mr Kishan Khurana (Boman Irani). They first try the straightforward methods, all the things you and I would do in the same situation…they meet the person who sold them the land who peacefully points out this is their problem. They meet the land-grabber who equally peacefully quotes his price for vacating the property, they meet the police who offer to get the price reduced but want their cut. They meet lawyers, politicians, activists as well who have pretty much the same response as the police. Bunty (Ranvir Sheorey), his eldest son, a good-for-nothing, good hearted, unemployed loafer comes up with the idea of using ‘force’. He hires a bunch of strong men from the local akhara (wrestling club) but the only outcome is that is father gets jailed ! Mr Khosla is now at breaking point….he is resigned to his fate and is ready to give up his plot.
This spurs his younger son, Chiraunji Lal, aka Cherry (Parvin Dabas) to try to do something. His relationship with his father was never a very good one, even though he is the smart one in the family, the one who bears the burden of all the expectations. This relationship is put under even more strain when he announces to his stunned family that he is about to leave shortly for America. His girl-friend, Meghna (Tara Sharma), is involved in a theatre group led by Bapu (Navin Nischol), and cannot understand how he can just leave, abandoning his father. The second half of the movie is all about what happens next….how a computer engineer enters the world of real-estate and without doing anything beyond the realms of reason, tries to get his increasingly reluctant father his land back.
I really enjoyed watching the movie – I loved the way some of the characters have been fleshed out…I found I could relate to them, understand why they behaved the way they did and could easily spot some of their traits in my circle of family and friends. And I loved the realism…there is nothing shown in the movie that could not happen to you and me. There are also some moments where you squirm – especially in the first half – the primary thought in my head was ‘Shit, this could be happening to me !’. You feel the pain, the agony that Mr Khosla is going through for no fault of his and his helplessness and frustration with the situation.
One more thing I really liked / want to comment on is the start – which was a very innovative way to introduce all the characters in the Khosla family and their relationships with each other.
Everyone in the movie acts very well – Anupam Kher and Boman Irani are truly the chameleons of modern Bollywood – they seem to fit into any role with ease. However, the surprises were Ranvir Sheorey as Bunty, Vinay Pathak as the visa agent and Navin Nischol’s secretary (tried hard but couldn’t get his name) - they all truly excelled in their roles and gave their characters something extra…
Khosla ka Ghosla is like a Coffee Crème Caramel – light, easy, sweet in most parts but with a touch of bitterness. When I was leaving the hall though, I couldn’t help wondering what a non-Delhiite would think of the movie…whether they could relate to the movie as easily as I did and see the humour in the situation ? Or would they think this is something else those crass people up North do ?
I love the buzz in Delhi….the feeling that everyone is trying to progress / make money. I hate that in most cases they’re actually trying to make it illegally and its you they’re trying to rip off.
I love the aggression, the enthusiasm but hate the fact that it results in the use of violence almost as a first resort.
I love the feeling of open space / spaciousness (especially vs Mumbai which always feels very crowded) but hate the fact that due to land-grabbing / illegal construction / the conversion of single-storey bungalows into ugly multi-storeyed eyesores in residential areas, this is rapidly disappearing.
Finally, I love the mentality of anything can happen, nothing is impossible and the sheer inventiveness this leads to – the ability of overcoming any obstacle or coming up with ‘shortcuts’ is amazing but I hate the fact that this is accompanied by a complete lawlessness and lack of consideration for other humans.
Khosla ka Ghosla does a brilliant job of highlighting all the wonderful and not so wonderful things which make Delhi what it is – along with the above, you have the helpful neighbours, the chartered buses, the almost ludicrous belief in deities – Mata / Baba etc and the near - idolisation of NRI’s. And its done with a wonderful sense of realism – there are no comic stereotypes, no slapstick for easy laughs. The humour lies in the reality of the situation, the people and how they choose to overcome their problems.
Kamal Kishore Khosla (Anupam Kher), a salaried person on the brink of retirement, buys a plot of land where he can construct a bungalow which can fit all of his family – with a floor for each of his kids… Shortly after the purchase the plot gets ‘grabbed’ by an unscrupulous property developer, Mr Kishan Khurana (Boman Irani). They first try the straightforward methods, all the things you and I would do in the same situation…they meet the person who sold them the land who peacefully points out this is their problem. They meet the land-grabber who equally peacefully quotes his price for vacating the property, they meet the police who offer to get the price reduced but want their cut. They meet lawyers, politicians, activists as well who have pretty much the same response as the police. Bunty (Ranvir Sheorey), his eldest son, a good-for-nothing, good hearted, unemployed loafer comes up with the idea of using ‘force’. He hires a bunch of strong men from the local akhara (wrestling club) but the only outcome is that is father gets jailed ! Mr Khosla is now at breaking point….he is resigned to his fate and is ready to give up his plot.
This spurs his younger son, Chiraunji Lal, aka Cherry (Parvin Dabas) to try to do something. His relationship with his father was never a very good one, even though he is the smart one in the family, the one who bears the burden of all the expectations. This relationship is put under even more strain when he announces to his stunned family that he is about to leave shortly for America. His girl-friend, Meghna (Tara Sharma), is involved in a theatre group led by Bapu (Navin Nischol), and cannot understand how he can just leave, abandoning his father. The second half of the movie is all about what happens next….how a computer engineer enters the world of real-estate and without doing anything beyond the realms of reason, tries to get his increasingly reluctant father his land back.
I really enjoyed watching the movie – I loved the way some of the characters have been fleshed out…I found I could relate to them, understand why they behaved the way they did and could easily spot some of their traits in my circle of family and friends. And I loved the realism…there is nothing shown in the movie that could not happen to you and me. There are also some moments where you squirm – especially in the first half – the primary thought in my head was ‘Shit, this could be happening to me !’. You feel the pain, the agony that Mr Khosla is going through for no fault of his and his helplessness and frustration with the situation.
One more thing I really liked / want to comment on is the start – which was a very innovative way to introduce all the characters in the Khosla family and their relationships with each other.
Everyone in the movie acts very well – Anupam Kher and Boman Irani are truly the chameleons of modern Bollywood – they seem to fit into any role with ease. However, the surprises were Ranvir Sheorey as Bunty, Vinay Pathak as the visa agent and Navin Nischol’s secretary (tried hard but couldn’t get his name) - they all truly excelled in their roles and gave their characters something extra…
Khosla ka Ghosla is like a Coffee Crème Caramel – light, easy, sweet in most parts but with a touch of bitterness. When I was leaving the hall though, I couldn’t help wondering what a non-Delhiite would think of the movie…whether they could relate to the movie as easily as I did and see the humour in the situation ? Or would they think this is something else those crass people up North do ?
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Lage Raho Munna Bhai !
I think this movie deserves an Oscar – actually several of them, not least for originality and a quirky Indian-ness which is rare these days where every other movie is set in US or UK or other exotic locations abroad. And also for delivering very powerful social messages in a fun, gentle, non-preachy manner, mixed with such good jokes that you can’t help laughing throughout. I hated the first one (Munna Bhai MBBS), couldn’t understand what the fuss was about…but am I glad they did a sequel because I absolutely loved this one !
Munna Bhai (Sanjay Dutt), a Mumbai toughie, is smitten by a Radio VJ, Jahanavi (Vidya Balan, the heroine from Parineeta). Once, on Gandhi Jayanti, she organises a call-in quiz about Mahatma Gandhi with the prize being a radio chat with her. Munna Bhai, of course, with the able help of his side-kick Circuit (Arshad Warsi), wins the quiz. When he meets her he pretends to be a professor (to explain how he knew so much about Gandhi) and then the fun begins ! Other key elements of the plot include
- Jahanavi lives with her grandfather and a few of his friends, who are all elderly citizens, in a house named 2nd Innings House – which is so named because these retired, elderly folks believe life begins at 60 !
- There is a business man, Lucky Singh (Boman Irani), who is friends with Munna Bhai / Circuit, and he has ‘designs’ on the house Jahanavi lives in…
- Once Munna Bhai has to actually go to a library and learn about Gandhiji and he gets so engrossed in his studies that he spends 5 days non-stop there – and then Gandhiji himself appears in front of his new ‘disciple’ and becomes his Jimminy Cricket / Fairy Godmother style companion
- Soon, inspired by his new companion and his learning about Gandhiji, Munna Bhai starts doing a ‘Gandhigiri’ radio talk show with Jahanavi – advising people on how to solve their problems Gandhi-style…
The movie works at several levels – its got plenty of laughs, extremely lovable, true-to-life characters and also at a more serious, intellectual level where it really does bring Gandhi’s philosophy into modern times. And finally, also the way it debunks and pokes fun at several unique Indian habits….
- The whole obsession with kundali’s / astrology etc
- The new fad of changing a name to change luck – Kkhurana etc…
- The inability of our senior citizens to enjoy themselves after retiring – have fun, let their hair down, do the things they always wanted to do but were prevented by the rat race
- The habit of showing off by putting up photo’s with rich and famous people
All the cast are very good in the movie – however, 2 notable performances were Arshad Warsi who was again brilliant with excellent comic timing and his face a canvas for a plethora of emotions. And Boman Irani – who really brought Lucky Singh as a quintessential Sardarji to life, a ‘villain’ you couldn’t help but love…
Another amazing thing about this movie is the vulgarity and violence – there is none ! Amazing ! I thought this wasn’t possible anymore ?
I watched this movie with my family including my six year old son. And I’m ecstatic that his reaction was to ask me 100 questions about Mahatma Gandhi (about 50 of them during the movie itself)…he now wants to know everything about him / the freedom struggle etc…What more could a patriotic NRI want ? Great stuff…you’ll love it !
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