Movie Marathon

There is a movie drought in my life, I realised last week. Within twenty four hours of the realisation, I was a card holding member of COOL DALE - the nearest CD Library/Internet Cafe/DryCleaning/Ice Cream Parlor. Now for some serious movie watching ( as opposed to 'serious movie' watching), I decided. Here's a peek at the movies I devoured in one week

ROCK ON : I have a HUGE crush on Farhan Akhtar. The man sings, writes, acts, directs and smoulders. I'm sure someone like that could also make breakfast, the true crux of my crush. One man in a million for sure ( sadly, that model wasn't in circulation ten years back when I was searching ). Re: the movie, I loved it. Loved all the songs. The ending was a trifle idealistic , hence unrealistic. But hey, I don't watch Hindi movies for a taste of reality ( does anyone ?). RockOn has all the necessary ingredients that make a good plot - dreams, unfulfilled dreams , love, unrequitted love, hurt, pain, death, loss and finally a competition where every one realises his/her true self and path.
Rating : VERY GOOD
ps: Even when they were at their intimate best, all that Aditya Shroff (Farhan's character) and his wife did was to look each other lovingly in the eye! Makes me wonder if she had bad breath. Or horror, does he ???

DEV D : There is this new breed of directors in Hindi out to prove that Hindi cinema has arrived. The most telling feature of such a movie is that everything about it is understated. Especially the crucial bits. Take for instance a scene where the hero realises he has grossly misjudged the heroine. In a run o'the mill flick, this scene would be executed with much clanging of cymbals and the works. But in the new age DevD, it is delivered so casually I almost MISSED it !! DevD is the name of the protagonist. A modern day Devdas who asks his Paro if she touches herself ( within the first ten minutes) and asks her to send him her nude photo. The modern day Paro sends him one such picture too. Sacrilege, but real. There is also the prostitute who falls in love with Dev. The script also has the Delhi public school MMS scandal and the BMW hit and run case woven into it. After all that meandering, the film ends on a happy note. Sacrilege again. DevDas and a happy ending ?? A happy ending after all that drinking ? Abhay Deol as DevD was refreshing. He is a good actor and the true inheritor of Dharmendra's good looks. The girls in the film -Paro and Chanda- have done nothing to deserve another shot at acting.
RATING : AVERAGE. Watch it only if you have a lot of spare time .

GHAJINI : Everyone gets excited about a solar eclipse and an Aamir Khan movie. Reasons (i) they are rare phenomena and (ii) are usually a treat to watch. But watching Ghajini was a torture especially since I own a copy of MEMENTO on which this film is supposedly based. Aamir Khan looks his age. His six packs could not distract me from his wrinkles and the weird expression he sports throughout the film ( he looked normal only when he did the whacko act !) Asin Thottunkal was over made up and overemoted to the point where I wanted to shout at her to please stop and get a life. Jia Khan played the role of a medical student interested in Aamir's case. The type that walks into a stranger's house ( knowing fully well he is whacko) all by herself when he is not at home and rummages through his stuff and goes 'EEEEEEEEEE" when he walks in on her. She must also be the only medical student in the world with french manicured nails two inches long ! Altogether a disappointment and a long drawn-out one at that !!
RATING : AVERAGE. Watch it only if you have a lot of spare time and if you are a die hard Amir/Asin/Jia Khan fan.

HELLO: Chetan Bhagat's first novel The Five Point Someone was a good story and a huge success. But while the film based on it is still in the making, his second book One Night At The Call Centre gets made into a film called Hello. The book wasn't great, the movie is just plain bad. Hello makes Ghajini seem like Rashomon. You have jaded actors like Sohail Khan, Gul Panang and Eesha Koppikkar in the roles of young call centre executives. Hello is irritating because it tries hard to be a new age movie and fails desperately. Salman Khan's cameo and Katrina Kaif's (thankfully) guest appearence only added to my general irritation. The climax of the movie was so contrived, I was surprised Bhagat.C allowed his name to be associated with this shoddy work.
RATING : BAAAD.

LUCK BY CHANCE: mmm.. is no secret why I rented this one. Farhan Khan is the lead actor in this flick based on Bollywood and his sister Zoya is the director. Apparently the lead role was turned down by most of today's leading actors. Farhan was the last to be asked and the first to agree. The highly overrated Kokana Sen Sharma plays the female lead and as always plays herself. That lady looks, speaks and acts the same in EVERY movie. Overall, it was a good film. I liked how the plot played out. But in the end Zoya proved to be garden variety when she got ShahRukh Khan to dole out some life-changing, earth shattering advice to the hero, at which he instantly realised all his mistakes and went about redeeming himself.
RATING : 3.95 OUT OF FIVE

DOSTANA: beat the crap out of all the crappy movies i saw. absolutely , decidedly, unequivocaly stupid, insensitive and crappy. waste of time and money. if i had a working revolver ( and knew how to work it) and it had one bullet, i'd line up the director, the producer, abhishek bachchan, john abraham and bobby deol ( in that order) and shoot them. why one bullet , you ask ? because they all deserve to die , but are together not worth more than one bullet.
RATING : Oh-So-So-Poor

DASVIDANIYA: save the best for last. i envy people who have not seen Dasvidaniya because they have such a beautiful opportunity ahead of them. a simple story with an unassuming cast, so beautifully written and acted it brought tears to my eyes. vinay pathak, the lead actor, deserves an Oscar for his work. the lady who acted as his batty and deaf mother was another surprise. even neha dhupia whose role lasted five minutes left an indelible mark. every character well thought of, created and written with care and executed perfectly.

Dasvidaniya is a movie that makes you love movies.

Ghajini, Hello and what not, Bring 'em on !!