Roshni, andhere mein

Seldom do we celebrate ad films, or commercials. But I'd love to give a shoutout to a really special one, since it celebrates movies, rather the movie watching experience in theaters. 

"Iss andhere mein bahut roshni hai (there's light in this darkness)" - the poem by Vineet Panchhi, featured in the PVR ad is something that connects with me - with all of us cinema lovers, I'm sure - on a subliminal level. It has been filmed to celebrate the completion of 25 years of the PVR Cinema chain in India, and stars Aamir Khan, our favorite.

The emotions that the audience in a darkened auditorium traverses, as the magic of movies unfolds on the big screen, the bonding with cinema, escaping to a fantasy world, when the lights go down.... all these have been brilliantly conveyed in this short film, in the voiceover by Aamir Khan. 

After having watched it across social media, I had to watch it on the big screen (at PVR, where else) as I was told by my good friend Sayantan that it was showing before the screening of 'Laal Singh Chaddha', starring Aamir Khan (which I rushed to watch for the second time, essentially for that promotional), and it brought such joy! Kudos to the makers! 

I need to mention here that I was also reminded of the unforgettable Tom Cruise speech at the 2002 Oscars which celebrated the movie watching experience. People's habits have changed, cinema has evolved, watching movies is no longer the same (nor is it expected to remain the same over the years), but the thrill and the joy at the movies can always be cherished, the PVR ad does bring back the memories of all the good times.

Films Seen in 2013: Top Ten

Which are my selections for the best films seen in 2013?
You must be wondering.
Let's see if my pick for the top ten movies this year matches yours.
Well, it's easy to guess my favorites because I have already spoken or written about them, be it here or on any of the virtual platforms for exchange of ideas, viz. Twitter, Facebook.

'ParaNorman'

Here's the Top Ten list of mine:

1. Amour (2012)
2. Prince Avalanche (2013)
3. Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012)
4. Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
5. The Master (2012)
6. The Fall (2006)
7. ParaNorman (2012)
8. Ship of Theseus (2012)
9. Shabdo (2013)
10. Shahid (2013) 

'Barfi!' - a heart-stealer!

BARFI! is the latest cinematic offering from Anurag Basu.
As a filmmaker, Anurag has already proven his worth with some entertaining and thoroughly engaging feature films, and even with some interesting work on television. But this one sets him apart in many ways. He has hardly compromised with his creative vision, despite the film having an A-list star-cast and a big studio-backing. 

The film tells an endearing story. Two of the protagonists - including the eponymous one - are differently-abled (challenged, according to the so-called politically incorrect) and yet the film has happened to strike just the right chords, it has hit the right notes at the box-office too. The film has been called a mini-masterpiece by some, while some have lauded it as the most broad-based emotionally overwhelming film made in recent times. 

Anurag Basu has told the tale with some amount of freshness and with a lot of passion and optimism. Ranbir Kapoor in the title role (Murphy, which in the flawed utterance becomes Barfi!), as a deaf-mute guy, oozes cherubic warmth and divine energy, and Priyanka Chopra, as the autistic girl, Jhilmil, has her own moments of brilliance. There is also the other important character, Shruti (played by Illeana D'Cruz, making her Hindi film debut), that stands out in a refreshingly muted way; ironically it is she who threads the narrative with a voice-over that breezes all over with back-and-forth forays (flashbacks and 'super' flashbacks!). 
The viewers would love the ride. I loved it, honestly. I chuckled, smiled, laughed, sobbed and relished the magical moments that played out on the big screen. I cheered for Barfi, I delighted in his exploits, I surrendered to the simplistic charm and innocence in the synthetic recreation of the Seventies.

I would excuse Basu the digressions and the indulgences (which has a distinctive flavor of the Tamil/Telugu films) and also the show-offish excesses. They are but minor flaws. What I took home was the abundance of love and tenderness and sensitive portrayals, and some meaty moments packed in minuscule segments. The film celebrates life, love, and hope.
In one of the promotionals for the film, the cast members put it brilliantly, that a viewer would take from this life-affirming film the kind of flavor that essentially defines him/her and the kind of flavor that he/she would like to permeate in his/her life. 
Barfi, the character, is a heart-stealer, and so is the film.

A cool catch

Recently, I have caught some cool flicks on video,
I know 'cool' is a much abused word, it is so randomly
used today to mean a bizarre range of things......
yet it can often fit as an apt qualifier when one has to
group an otherwise disparate but appealing group
of objects, and, here, I am using the term for the very
same reason...... it's a wide range of films, it's an
impressive array nonetheless. Each of these films has entertained
me, and I am sure it would entertain all cine-buffs, in
different ways though. They represent our times, as the makers
have made them in recent times; even when they represent
different periods from history, they have contemporary
treatment, and ethos. Some these films provoke, make us question;
some of these touch just our hearts, our souls, with some
kind of magical power. Whatever be the genre, each of these films
strikes a chord with the viewer and engages him to appreciate
life as such.
I hope my readers will join in, to pour their views
on some or all of these films. Here they are:

360 (2011)

Bel Ami (2012)

The Conspirator (2010)

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen (2011)

Womb (2010) 

Hanna (2011) 

Detention (2011)

Margaret (2011)

The Raven (2012)

The Hunger Games (2012) 

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2011)

Donkey Punch (2008)

First show!!! First time!!!!

On this day, in 1895, at 44 Rue de Rennes in Paris, the Lumière Brothers screened 'Workers leaving the Lumière factory' - the first piece of cinema!

I think it is apt for us to look back at the inception of cinema, as we know it now, as the entire world has been focusing a lot of recent cinematic attention on 'The Artist' and 'Hugo' - both excellent movies on their own.

I had earlier mentioned 'The Artist', in listing my Oscar favorites for the year, it celebrates silent cinema and opens the eyes of the new-age film enthusiasts to this very genre from the past. I have written about my being charmed by 'Hugo' in an exclusive piece too. Recently, I read somewhere that 'Hugo' is Martin Scorsese’s cinematic love letter to Georges Méliès, the famous French illusionist and filmmaker. I loved the befitting tag.

We often neglect history. It's a shame. We must never fail to honour our illustrious past. The Lumière Brothers, Auguste and Louis, could not possibly fathom the ramifications of the cinematic explosion that was destined to happen, and their first screening - or rather the series of screenings which began - was not even meant for the general public (the first public screening was to take place in December that year, at the Grand Cafe on Boulevard de Capuchines, Paris), but history was made with the exposure to the filming and film viewing experience.

Movies have come a long way. Yet, they are still marvelled at. They still fill us with awe, admiration and amazement. The best of the films inspire us, educate us, enlighten us. And moving images or moving images are best interpreted, universally, as movies; they move us, emotionally. They affect us. They affect social changes even.

However, movies are now not just watched, they are consumed!

Movie-making has undergone a sea-change, or rather witnessed waves of changes, waves of revolution, one after the other. Cinema is one of the most dynamic art forms. Cinematic brilliance is honored and revered like never before.

The skeptics have foreseen death of cinema; well, it is yet to happen and is hardly foreseeable in the near future, although evolution has been the order of the day, it is the key to sustenance and survival after all.

an LSD-esque grandeur

New age cinema, world cinema, experimental cinema, parallel cinema, offbeat cinema - call it what you may, but we haven't had it this good since last year's "Dev. D".
With as provocative a title as "Love, Sex Aur Dhokha", a movie-goer can well expect to be shocked. It is clearly an 'adults only' film, most would reason from the posters or the promotional stills, but what one would not easily understand is the fact that it is anything but a sleaze-fest!
It is a film that screams out loud to be included in the contemporary classics hall-of-fame. It is absolutely magical as a journey; a journey through the modern, easy to grab, free for all, technology aided back-alleys of voyeurism that makes its presence felt in our daily lives through umpteen scandalous 'breaking news' headlines that are assimilated by the entire household along with our daily dose of tea/coffee, desensitizing coverages of murder and mayhem, and the television-serials. Yet, we take nothing from them. We do not learn the much-needed lessons in sanity and sensitivity, we are the de-classed voyeurs who do not give a damn about our fellow human-being's privacy. "LSD", as a film doesn't get us high on the titillation, instead its success lies in its hitting base with the powerful reality check, without any attempt at sermonizing or moralizing.

There are three stories, incidental for the all-important concept that holds the key to the experimental narrative structure, and three couples therein who are intricately connected to one another. Without giving away much of the clever intermingling of the narratives, it can be said that each of the stories has at its centre a realistic conflict and/or turmoil involving secret recording through hidden camera. The hidden cameras are thus the dynamic protagonists, alive in their own way, revelatory and sensational. The edge film stars no known (or lesser known) actors and is entirely filmed with the digital camera. The quirky, unconventional camera angles, the jerky movements and the documentation-style 'footage' can be unnerving and unsettling for the first five-ten minutes - especially for the normal cine-goer. But the flow of events has an easy grip on our attention thereafter, and the tantalizing tales readily blend with the style or manner of storytelling.
The cast includes Arya Banerjee, Neha Chauhan, Anshuman Jha, Atul Mongia, Amit Sial, Herry Tangdi, Raj Kumar Yadav, and Shruti. The cinematography is by Nikos Andritsakis. Namrata Rao is the film-editor, Mustafa Stationwala is the production designer, and Atul Mongia the casting-director - all of whom deserve a praise. The original music of the film has been composed by Sneha Khanwalkar and Dibakar Banerjee.

Dibakar Banerjee, the creator of the movie "LSD" is a film-director par excellence.
He is the one who has been thumb-nosing at the diktats of Bollywood,
and has been conquering new vistas by daring to go beyond the "what-works-and-what-doesn't" stereotypes.
He has been the real game changer in the world of new-age Indian cinema, with his first two features, "Khosla Ka Ghosla" (it was not only a sleeper hit, but was also a true contemporary classic) and "Oye Lucky Lucky Oye", having been toasted for sheer sheer energy and raw exuberance. With "LSD", he has extended his horizons. I am thrilled beyond delight to have my faith in this new-age film-maker being vindicated. He knows his Delhi (especially the city's underbelly), he knows his craft, he knows how capable he is in executing what he believes in (the confidence makes him unapologetic in his use of cinematic idiom borrowed from world cinema, but very much moulded in his own way!) and my good wishes to him for breaking more barriers and giving us substantial films which enthrall, and thus entertain.

How Popcorn Shot to FAME

Having popcorn while watching a movie at the theater has a unique charm of its own. It is a luxury that always makes the movie-going experience so special for me. The Fame multiplex, at South City, Kolkata, is one of my favorite best places to eat flavored popcorn by the tub and watch the latest blockbuster. One can take one's pick of movies, snacks and beverages, all at once!

Recently, as I went to to the said destination, to watch a rather insipid film, just because I had some spare time and the urge to recline in the cozy comfort of the air-conditioned auditorium, I decided to order for popcorn at the onset and munch along. At the interval, I was in for a pleasant surprise when in the lights of the auditorium I read the stuff printed so colorfully on the notoriously over-priced popcorn pack's wraparound! It had an assemblage of movie trivia & tidbits, plus a poem dedicated to the specialty popcorn. I humbly reproduce the poem, unedited, to amuse my readers..... here it is:



How Popcorn shot to Fame

Depressed with his two-tone hue
Corn wanted something new.
He wished to be more glamorous
More glorious. More Fame-ous.

It was the 15th century though
He had to settle for less than more.
Pondering CORN stumbled on some hot coal
Then his head began to throb and roll

Suddenly his body began to split
And then CORN exploded
In seconds it was over with
He was snowy-puffy... splendid!

CORN had become POPCORN
But centuries later we still love his charm.
That's how he shot to FAME
Have him Salted. Cheese. Caramel. Or just plain.

Movie viewing....... 2007

For a die-hard movie buff like me, the temptation of movie viewing is too hard to resist. Early this year, I had resolved that I will limit my movie viewing this year to an all-time personal record, but it seems that the movies are luring me ever more. Like a true addict I am succumbing to the pleasure of movies.
It is not even the middle of the year, and I have given in to the charms of some fine (and not so fine) films in English, Hindi and Bangla. Here is a list of some noteworthy films that I have seen already - within the first three months and a little more - hope my readers pour in with their comments on them (if not, I will oblige myself!):

1) Trainspotting (1996)
2) My Son the Fanatic (1997)
3) Babel (2006)
4) Blood Diamond (2006)
5) The Departed (2006)
6) The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)
7) The Constant Gardener (2005)
8) The Last King of Scotland (2006)
9) The Queen (2006)
10) Jarhead (2005)
11) World Trade Center (2006)
12) The Man Who Cried (2000)
13) Cinderella Man (2005)
14) The Man Who Wasn't There (2001)
15) Mrs Dalloway (1997)
16) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
17) The Usual Suspects (1995)
18) The Manchurian Candidate (2004)
19) Dave (1993)
20) The Devil Wears Prada (2006)
21) A Soldier's daughter Never Cries (1998)
22) Dreamgirls (2006)
23) Music and Lyrics (2007)
24) Goal! (2005)
25) The Holiday (2006)
26) A Good Woman (2004)
27) Moonlight Mile (2002)
28) The Brothers Grimm (2005)
29) Proof (2005)
30) An Awfully Big Adventure (1995)
31) Awakenings (1990)
32) The Ninth Gate (1999)
33) The Namesake (2007)
34) Provoked (2006)
35) Water (2006)
36) Black Friday (2005)
37) Honeymoon Travels Private Limited (2007)
38) Casino (1995)
39) Jana Aranya (1976)
40) Mohulbanir Sereng (2003)
41) Guru (2007)
42) Anwar (2006)
43) High Noon (1952)
44) A Cat in the Hat (2003)
[The listing is random. Given alongside each is the year of filming and/or release.]