Caramel

Rating : 6/10
Running Time : 95 Minutes
Release Date : 9th August 2007 (Lebanon) / 4th July ‘08 (India)
Director : Nadine Labaki
Starring : Nadine Labaki, Yasmine Elmasri, Joanna Moukarzel

This is a good example of a slice of life film. Nothing really big ever seems to happen but it showcases what everyday life can be. Full of little details, uneventful, yet busy, filled with small victories and cluttered with frequent disappointments.

The film revolves around a women’s beauty salon – where women go through through understandable rituals like hair cuts and other more mysterious ones like waxing, threading, colouring etc. It follows the lives of the three women who work there (Rima, Nisrine and Layale) and the people they come in contact with including one of their permanent clients, Jamale, an actress who frequently goes for auditions, a seamstress who does their aprons (Aunty Rosa), a traffic cop who has a crush on Layale.

The movie is filled with memorable moments like the Nisrine and her fiancee’s altercation with the police, Auntie Rosa and her prince Charles, Lili’s make-believe world where the neighbours are waiting for dinner, the traffic fines are letters from her lover and her plane is always ready to take-off, Layale’s secret lover who is a married man and her trials and tribulations with him, Nisrin’s mothers coy bees-and-flowers talk with her daughter prior to her wedding.

I enjoyed the pace of the film. Its never too slow to grip you yet is leisurely enough to think about life – the one shown on screen and our own. I enjoyed thinking of different incidents and comparing them to life in India – thinking at times ‘this could never happen here’ or ‘that’s just like us’. For example, the altercation with the policeman could very easily have happened in India. But the politeness with which the cop spoke throughout the incident, could never have happened here. It’s the kind of film which doesn’t bother to tie-up all the ends yet when it finishes you suddenly realize you’ve learnt about another culture. Likeable, yet not every ones cup of tea.

Original name : Sukkar Banat, A Lebanese film, released in India as part of NDTV's Lumiere series

Jaane Tu

Rating : 9/10
Running Time : 155 Minutes
Release Date : 4th July ‘08
Director & Writer : Abbas Tyrewala ; Music : AR Rahman
Starring :
The Gang : Imran Khan, Genelia D’Souza, Karan Makhija, Sugandha Garg, Nirav Mehta, Alishka Varde
The Fiancee’s : Manjari Phadnis, Ayaz Khan
The parents : Ratna Pathak Shah, Naseeruddin Shah, Jayant Kriplani, Anuradha Patel, Kitu Gidwani, Rajat Kapoor
Others : Sohail and Arbaaz Khan, Pratiek Babbar, Paresh Rawal

Don’t read this review, don’t think too much…just pick up the phone and book your tickets for the movie…Done that ? Now proceed with my thoughts on this beautiful cinematic experience that makes you feel young again.

Right from the time the ‘watercolour’ treated opening credits flash on the screen, you see some young kids singing the old Hindi song ‘Jaane Tu…ya Janne na’ at the top of their voices in a car, you know you’re in for something different. Its youthful, exuberant, irreverent and cool…and all this without trying too hard. In short its zara hatke…but without seeming to be trying to be….

The story is not important here…its basically about two inseparable friends (Imran and Genelia) and how their relationship progresses (or not) and how it impacts those around them (their close friends, parents etc). What is important is how its been treated, how the situations simply flow, how the characters just seem to be doing what they do, however crazy, just naturally. It reminds me of Friends, with each person in the film having a very sharply defined character and the interaction between them seeming the most normal thing to do…even if someone appears in the film for 5 minutes, you know what they are about, how they would behave…whether its Genelia’s parents (Jayant Kriplani & Anuradha Patel), Imran’s (Ratna Pathak Shah and the delightfully dead Naseeruddin Shah) or even Inspector Waghmare (the delightfully alive Paresh Rawal).

The funeral in the beginning, the videocam introduction of the friends, the 2 characters on the horses (Arbaaz and Sohail Khan), the three people who meet towards the end in jail and all have nicknames from Jungle Book, the man at the end with the Godot placard…the movie abounds with lovely touches. However, none as brilliant as the interaction between the erstwhile Naseeruddin Shah’s painting and Ratna Pathak Shah and the whole Ranjhaur ke Rathore thing. That was pure genius, simply outstanding. Everyone acts very well – fits in perfectly – it would be unfair to single out the lead pair (who rock !) or anyone else for special mentions. The songs are lovely, flow smoothly into the film (I really loved Kabhi Kabhi Aditi and Pappu Can’t Dance).There are no item numbers (no skimpily clad blonde bombshells shaking legs and/or other body parts), there is no brand endorsement in the film (as compared to LoveStory2050, the comparison can't be more stark on both these counts). I thought based on the current bollywood trends you couldn’t have a successful movie without these two ? Just another example of ‘zara hatke’ thinking from the director / producers.


I’ve deducted one point for the really ‘over the top’ ending – just the last few frames – it’s the only time in the movie when I could say ‘that’s not possible in real life’. But maybe it is and I’m just carping…I do know that I almost dread going for the next film, as I know after this its going to be such a letdown and Bollywood needed such a film in 2008

And I also do know that I haven’t laughed this much in a very long time – the first half truly delights you ! I want the DVD. I want to watch it again. I want a sequel. And all of this tomorrow !

Love Story 2050

Rating : 3/10
Running Time : > 180 Minutes (definitely feels like an eternity)
Release Date : 4th July‘08
Director & Story : Harry Baweja ; Music : Anu Malik
Starring : Harman Baweja, Priyanka Chopra, Boman Irani

I think I know what happened here. The Baweja’s spent so much money on the Australian locales and special effects / animation on the 2050 part that they ran out of money and employed themselves as the story / screenplay writers and also forgot to employ an editor. The result is a movie reeking with inane, hammy dialogue (the next time Harman said 'I dont need luck, I have love' in that goofy way of his, I swear the entire audience would've lynched him) , a story crammed with unnecessary sub-plots and silly twists and turns. And I honestly think they put every scene they shot up on the screen. They forgot the editor or his scissors…

He-man type, xtreme sport loving Harman falls for a Mills & Boon type, pink colour loving, Priyanka who writes a diary, scribbles hearts, and names toys ‘Winkydinks'. Harman woo’s her by breakdancing and doing all the silly things that work only in movies and never in real life. He also immediately transforms from an alpha male character into a mushy, soppy mass of goo, who breaks into tears at the drop of a handkerchief. Enter an uncle, a cliched mad scientist type, who has a time machine, some more very silly twists and turns, and we’re off for Mumbai 2050.

There are three glaring examples of sub-plots which didn’t need to be there at all
 The two kids : Priyanka's siblings. Firstly I know of no kids like them, they’re irritating, try to be cute, are all senti-mushy-yucky and mouth sentences no self-respecting kids would. Secondly, there’s not one reason why they had to exist on-screen.
 Harman Baweja’s Dad : again, the whole father-son relationship thing was unnecessary. The story wouldn’t have changed one iota, if Harman had simply remarked ‘mera koi nahin hai’ and we would’ve saved fifteen minutes of screen time
 The whole Hoshi angle : an unnecessary caricature of a villain they introduced in the 2050 part of the film.

Come to think of it, they could’ve just shown Harman and Priyanka to be dating already, spared us the whole courtship thing and gone ahead directly with the 2050 part. So whats good about the film ? The locales in Australia are very nice, well-chosen and for a change its not about Sydney, the opera house and Sydney harbour but something more interesting. Priyanka is all pouty, but looks decent, even in red hair. And the futuristic animation / special effects are good. Not great, but good and with a couple of nice touches (the Kantabai hologram and the paan-making robot were interesting thoughts).

Harman can dance, look good but is overly made-up (the lip gloss is too prominent) and is very bad at dialogue delivery. His character, during courtship, is also shown doing a couple of things which are very silly (getting up while a rollercoaster is moving and stealing a toy) and kids may take up on that. And eets long, this movie, very painful and eets very, very long (some 30-40 people left midway into the second half, after having shelled out Rs200 for the preview).

I went more for the 2050 part but unfortunately it’s the Love Story part that dominates – they don’t let go even in the 2050 part and spoil that too. When I first heard the toy name ‘winkydinks’, my instinct was to get up and run. I didn’t obey it and sat through. Big mistake. Big. Huge !