Just as the year 2006 comes to an end, I am proud to announce the name of yet another Bollywood movie that has made me sit up and take note of a young director named Kabeer Khan who has made his debut with 'Kabul Express'.
The movie, thankfully, doesn't have the usual trappings of a Bollywood vehicle and deals with a subject which many acclaimed directors wouldn't want to touch with a barge-pole. It is set in the contemporary war-torn Kabul, capital of Afghanistan, portraying the raw wounds that has left the country at strange crossroads, post 9/11 and the ousting of the Taliban regime. The director has already had some experience as a documentary filmmaker and seemingly finds himself at ease exploring the backdrop. Chronicling the experience of a couple of journalists wouldn't have been anything new; but 'Kabul Express' is a landmark Indian film for the deemed travesty and the daring that might irk the average or below-average merited offerings that make moolah. The motley group of characters include an American woman journalist, an Afghan who is a Taliban-hater and a Taliban extremist who is later revealed to be a secret Pakistani commander. The best thing about the movie is the cinematography that stunningly captures the real locales. The heart of the movie also happens to be in the right place, deliberating a politically incorrect realism would have been sheer harakiri for the filmmaker, he is after all backed by the Yash Chopra banner. Far removed from the mindless Yash Chopra romances,
'Kabul Express' is film that would surely find its place amongst this year's top 10 Indian films, alongside other gems like 'Rang De Basanti', 'Being Cyrus', 'Omkara' and 'Khosla Ka Ghosla'.
http://www.sakagaze.blogspot.com is the blog address for some of the cool and not so cool observations by Anindo Sen, a passionate Kolkatan. Kolkata is likely to feature prominently on this blog, just as it is likely to feature the personal preferences - as far as films, books or music or other finer aspects of life are concerned.
Popular Posts
-
This is a list of 100 of my favorite Bangla films that I have had the opportunity of seeing over the years. I would like to recommend vie...
-
ROCKSTAR is going to be Ranbir Kapoor's next release. It's releasing on the 11th of November. The music from the soundtrack ...
-
Ek Main Aur Ek Tu is the new film from Karan Johar's production house. It's the perfect Valentine's Day movie. Or...
-
Aamir Khan has always been distinctive. Even his harshest critics would have to agree on that for sure. He had always had a perfect Mr Cl...
-
Who'd have expected vultures to hover over Park Street ? After all, Park Street has always been the happily-bustling passageway, where b...
-
New age cinema, world cinema, experimental cinema, parallel cinema, offbeat cinema - call it what you may, but we haven't had it this...
-
2011...... the year that was It's been more than two weeks into the new year. Yet, I think it is the right time to look back i...
-
If you have a chance to express yourself, to speak your mind, to get listened to, you should grab it with both arms, grab the chance ...
-
Abosheshey (At the end of it all) is a film that has touched me deep. My heart went out to the characters, my heart melted with the prot...
-
Learning lessons, I mean life's lessons and not the school lessons that we learn by rote, is actually fun and not boring when the lesso...