Taare Zameen Par - Oscar Entry

Taare Zameen Par is India's official entry to the Oscars. Taare Zameen Par (or TZP) stars Aamir Khan and Darsheel Safary and is the second Aamir Khan movie to go for the Oscars. His movie Lagaan had been nominated to the Top 5 in the Foreign Films category. The movie is from Aamir Khan Productions and is directed by Aamir Khan

TZP, the movie is on a dyslexia affected child who is otherwise naughty and normal. The movie is a heartwarming story on the trauma faced by the child because of his problems in reading. The boy (portrayed brilliantly by Darsheel Safary) feels weighed down by the expectations of his parents who without understanding his dyslexic state think him to be unruly and disobedient. He is finally sent to a boarding school where one sees the complete transformation of a happy, cheeky boy to a brooding unhappy child...until one teacher begins to understand him and forms a friendship with him.

As is usual in Hindi movies, the film has lots of songs, some great music by Shankar Ehsaan Loy with heart rending lyrics by Prasoon Joshi, with Bum Bum Bole and Maa being very very good.

Taare Zameen Par also got the 2008 Filmfare Awards for Best Movie, Best Director, Best Lyrics, Best Supporting Actor (Aamir- who else!), Critics Award For Best Actor (Darsheel Safary).

Salman Khan Mein Dus Ka Dum

I have no doubt whatsoever Salman Khan's show Dus Ka Dum is going to be a massive hit! It is a quiz (?) show that targets the masses with the right amount of ribald Salman humor and oodles of Salman-ness! And his personality is such that he carries the audience with him while still maintaining a distance.

The show Dus Ka Dum starts on 6th June and we will have to wait till then for the verdict. Meanwhile, you will find a link to Salman's Blog on the show on the right side of this page.

Aamir Khan Writes On Shahrukh

I would say Aamir's Sharukh dog blog is a compliment to King Khan.

I just read Aamir Khan's blog on Shahrukh! Let me state at the outset that I am a "casual" Aamir Khan fan. I like Shahrukh too, but he is irritating at times and too clever for his own good! What I mean to say that I am not really a Bollywood crazed person, so my views are pretty unbiased.

Now coming back to the blog. What has Aamir said? He says Shahrukh is licking his feet and he is feeding him biscuits while he Aamir is enjoying "jannat ki hawa"...thats the only insulting phrase. Fine.

Can Aamir help it if his puppy licks his feet? Which dog doesnt? He goes on to clarify he hasnt named the dog but it came with the house. Now its too far fetched an idea that Aamir Khan bought a house because there was a dog Shahrukh in it so he could eventually blog about Shahrukh licking his feet! Thats too far fetched for anyone evn of Aamir Khan's far-sightedness! Now if my friend even named her dog after me I would be honored. And I wouldnt mind a little bit a small dig like this. It is irrestible!

I feel the blog is humorus and kool and Shahrukh was right to take it in the spirit it was written. And the people making the most noise about the blog are those who have only heard of it. Like I was apt to before I read it!

Read the blog (right side of page) and judge for yourself!

Om Shanti Om Review

I was fortunate enough to get a pass to a special screening of the movie and just finished watching it in a jam-packed hall early at 9 AM post Diwali.

A thing about Farah Khan's movies that strikes you in the face is the commitment, the intensity. She goes out to make an all out Masala Movie...and in Om Shanti Om (OSO), she succeeds beautifully...only just that she has tried a wee bit too hard in her masala genre...

The movie starts as a tribute to the early 70s..the gestures, the costumes, the mannerisms...she gets them perfect. Its like watching a movie within a movie with Om Prakash Maakhija (Shahrukh) and his family acting out their daily roles and tributes to the industry...Farah is subtle in bringing out all the nuances in a very unsubtle way...

When the Movie shifts to the current Karan Johar GenX, the audience is already living in a huge set...and the plot is lost somewhere...

A star-crazy Om Prakash is re-born as a star OK (Om Kumar - OK!!!) and goes out to get revenge against his murderers...

Karz was so lovable and memorable since it concentrated on the plot of revenge and Rishi's number in "om shanti om" was paisa wasool...in OSO, the paisa wasool scenes are many, so we have sharukh act as a "superman", and also as a limbless, deaf and dumb actor...other than the 32 stars song...there are the umpteen stars in the "Filmfare Awards", there's Sharukh's six pack abs number...and like mostly the case with such star power, no item number, no glitz stands out as memorable...

But this Farah khan venture needs to be seen to be believed and appreciated. Its a homage in all senses to Bollywood. No promo, no review is going to do it justice except big screen viewing...Those of you who will see it streaming online...its not worth it. If a movie has been made for 70mm this is it.

The one problem with a Shahrukh Movie is that its always Shahrukh everywhere...unless the script is strong. This script is not and so we see a LOOOOOT of Shahrukh. Well Deepika is there, but her awe of him is evident on the sets too...She is beautiful, graceful and acts as if she was born to it, to give her credit.

I loved Main Hoon Na, I loved Jaan-e-Mann (Shirish Kunder's) even more, this movie disappoints me a little bit as compared to the other two but not enough that I wont go back...it will go down in history as the movie in which Farah tried too hard!!! Because she is going to make history, this feisty lady.

ps - review originally written on 10/11/2007

Saawariya Review

This is a first person review of Saawariya. Let me just start with a prelude...THE THEATRE WAS ONLY HALF FULL ON THE FIRST STAURDAY NIGHT!!! The closest I have come to an emptier theatre was while watching "Jhoom Barabar Jhoom" but that was in the 2nd week. Based on this I was prepared to go through 2-1/2 hrs of torture...But what happened on screen was...

Sheer sublime poetry...the sets were incredible (since there was just one set I guess SLB hasnt really spent too much on the movie - 20crs seems overestimated with just 2 newcomers starring), and the movie was just magic...only thing is, it could have been one hour shorter. The music was a huge disappointment, except one song. There were just too many songs...as seems to be the case with most movies these days. The pace too could have picked up in the middle and end. But the Sanjay Leela Bhansali touch was evident throughout. It is evident SLB has tried Raj Kapoor's format here....what started with Awaara, continued with mera naam joker again picked up with raju ban gaya gentleman (with shahrukh)... has finally been attempted by Sanjay Leela Bhansali - the losing hero. Raju has become Raj and the sets are just slicker...but the underlying theme is the same, the good looking lion hearted hero who is a loser in life...and love. The surprise package is definitely Rani.

About the newcomers, Ranbir Kapoor is the true flag bearer of the family male genes (Karan and Kunal Kapoor were mishaps!!!) He is outstanding...and he does try to do a Raj Kapoor in his style! Sonam...well I reserve judgement on her. Her role was not really that meaty and she seemed hidden under clothes, umbrella, hair most of the time fo one to make a true assessment of her capabilities. She did seem sweet and comfortable when she was visible...

The film's not got the drama associated with SLB, its more of a poetry...and a long one...Later I got to know that the movie was screened on another nearby hall too, maybe the audience had gone there!!!

ps - originally written on 11 Nov, 2007

Downlad And Watch Race

Race Movie Review

Race the movie is aptly named. Do you remember "Naqab" by Abbas Mustan? How the plots and subplots and the twist in the tail had you gripping the edge of the seat throughout the movie. Well Race doesnt have Abbas Mustan favourite Bobby Deol, but it has a more than capable Saif Ali Khan. And of course Akshaye Khanna has to be there! He excels himself in movies of this genre. But having seen him in all these similar kinds of Abbas Mustan thrillers, I feel he should start experimenting.

Saif (Ranvir) and Akshaye (Rajiv) are brothers. Saif runs a stud farm (the biggest and best in Durban) and Akshaye drinks and makes merry. Saif is the over-achiever, a Richard Branson like character, always out for the thrills, living life on the edge...till someone tries to kill him. The lady loves of the brothers are Bipasha Basu (a top model) and Katrina Kaif (Saif's Secretary). The plot changes as frequently and as rapidly as a model changes clothes in a show! And at times I am left steps behind on the story (I had my infant son with me).

Anil Kapoor has a unique role in the movie. He plays a mercenary detective RD with the Samira Reddy as his dumb assistant (remember Karamchand and Kitty). They get some of the best dialogues and Samira gets a lot of laughs. Anil Kapoor is like the proverbial wine, at his maturing best! All three of the ladies impress as does the entire cast. All the characters have their grey areas. No black and white or good or bad classification. Life is a Race and everyone does all he or she can to win the Race.

The locales are breathtaking as also the horse racing and car racing sequences at the beginning and climax. The editing is superb with not a single redundant sequence. The songs will be around in the discs for a while but nothing really that will stick around for long!

The movie is fast paced, racy, cool and well worth watching. But not really memorable!

Download and watch the movie at this link