Movies To See Before You Die

THE DIRTY PICTURE - Movie Review : 'Zindagi Jab Mayoos Hoti Hai, Tabhi Mehsoos Hoti Hai' - A brave & bold masterpiece showcasing 'Life As It Is' with its four aces - an exceptional script, an intelligent direction, fabulous dialogues and an extraordinary Vidya. (Movies To See Before You Die - Biographical)

2011-12-25T12:08:00.000+05:30

The Adventures of TINTIN : The Secret of the Unicorn - An overview of the phenomenon created by HERGE, brought to life on screen by SPIELBERG. (Movies To See Before You Die - Thriller / Animation)

2011-11-30T12:06:00.000+05:30

ROCKSTAR - Movie Review : It rises above the level of entertainment and is like a smashing mirror on our face making us realize our own filthy self. (Review by Bobby Sing) (Movies To See Before You Die - Love Theme)

2011-11-23T15:43:00.003+05:30

The Diving Bell and The Butterfly or Le scaphandre et le papillon (2007 - French) (Movies To See Before You Die - Biographical)

2011-11-23T15:43:00.001+05:30

DISTRICT 9 (2009) (Movies To See Before You Die - Adventure)

2011-11-23T15:42:00.001+05:30

Dastak (1970) (Movies To See Before You Die - Drama)

2011-11-23T15:41:00.001+05:30

Andhaa Yudh (1987) (Movies To See Before You Die - Thriller)

2011-11-23T15:37:00.001+05:30

BOL - Movie Review : One of most shocking and stunning movies, which will shake you hard as never before. (Review by Bobby Sing) (Movies To See Before You Die - Drama)

2011-09-29T15:43:00.000+05:30

Hachi: A Dog's Tale (2009) (Movies To See Before You Die - Love Theme)

2011-09-29T15:42:00.000+05:30

Yehi Hai Zindagi (1977) (Movies To See Before You Die - Drama)

2011-08-25T14:39:00.000+05:30

NOT A LOVE STORY - Movie Review : "Koi Khud Se Bura Nahin Hota, Pal To Kisi Ka Saga Nahin Hota" That's my one line review of this masterpiece. (Review By Bobby Sing) (Movies To See Before You Die - Thriller)

2011-08-25T14:38:00.000+05:30

The world famous PINK PANTHER series and its movies. (1963-2009) (Movies To See Before You Die - Comedy)

2011-08-25T14:37:00.000+05:30

Bose : The Forgotten Hero (2005) and Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar (2000) (Movies To See Before You Die - Biographical)

2011-08-25T14:36:00.001+05:30

Karma (1986) (Movies To See Before You Die - Thriller)

2011-08-25T14:35:00.000+05:30

ZINDAGI NA MILEGI DOBARA - Movie Review : Its not a film but a OSHO-nik kind of life teaching experience which needs to be watched by all as a must to learn the essential basics of LIVING. (Review by Bobby Sing) (Movies to See Before You Die - Adventure)

2011-07-17T15:30:00.002+05:30

Yaadein (1964) - A first of its kind, artistic attempt in Indian Cinema. (Movies To See Before You Die - Drama) (Did You Know - 29)

2011-06-07T09:32:00.002+05:30

Se7en (1995) (Movies To See Before You Die - Suspense)

2011-06-01T10:54:00.000+05:30

We made 'PEEPLI LIVE' in 2010 and they made 'ACE IN THE HOLE' in 1951 (which goes into my list of Movies to See Before You Die - Drama).

2011-05-23T16:02:00.000+05:30

STANLEY KA DABBA - Movie Review : Irrespective of the Box Office result, this should be ideally considered a more important movie than TAARE ZAMEEN PAR, targeting the dark side of our Society. (Review by Bobby Sing)

2011-05-16T18:07:00.002+05:30

Tamanna (1998) (Movies To See Before You Die - Drama)

2011-05-16T18:06:00.000+05:30

I AM - Movie Review : Where its first half is a subtle, enlightening masterpiece, its second one is like a hot burning coal kept on your bare palm. (Movies To See Before You Die - Drama)

2011-05-08T12:40:00.002+05:30

Dog Day Afternoon (1975) (Movies To See Before You Die - Thriller)

2011-04-24T21:05:00.002+05:30

Road To Sangam (2009) (Movies To See Before You Die - Drama / Historical)

2011-04-24T21:04:00.002+05:30

The Silence Of The Lambs (1991) (Movies To See Before You Die - Thriller)

2011-04-24T21:03:00.000+05:30

My Sister's Keeper (2009) (Movies To See Before You Die - Drama / Court Room)

2011-04-08T22:06:00.003+05:30

Two Brothers (English) / Deux Freres (France) (2004) - (Movies To See Before You Die - Adventure)

2011-04-08T21:56:00.000+05:30

A friend recently asked me that why I love movies so intensely and why I feel that they are so much important for one’s personality development and life. At that very moment I couldn’t find an appropriate answer to the question or any specific movie to name. But the day I saw “Two Brothers”I had an answer in the form of this beautiful visual expression, based on the story of a Tiger’s family fighting with both man and the nature together. The film easily proves why Cinema is the most effective and important medium of creative expressions which uses both the powers of vision and sound together to give you some unbelievable experience in the dark.

One of the few brilliant projects, sensitively made around the characters of animal kingdom, TWO BROTHERS unarguably can be kept in the bracket of The Top 5 movies made in this particular genre till date. And I am bit surprised too that why I couldn’t find its name prominently mentioned anywhere on the famous sites stating the list of world’s worth watching movies over the net.

So, for all the people who can pay their due respects to the innocent creatures not having any ability to express themselves verbally, this is a rare gem not to be missed. Crafted with great sense of emotion, care and concern towards the animal fraternity TWO BROTHERS brings forward the issue of reducing counts of Tigers in a very novel and touching way. Without revealing the main plot of the story, which would surely take you by surprise, I would like to add that if you really want to see some amazing kind of work done with Tigers then go for TWO BROTHERS this weekend and enrich yourself with an enlightening experience.

Having the power to impress the viewer from its first scene itself, the film forcibly makes you think that how on earth the director was able to make the real adult tigers and their cubs act like some human actors emoting as per the script given to them. Obviously the scenes with the Tigers must have been shot separately to be incorporated later on at the editing table. But the way they have been executed is indeed exceptional and commendable. Like, I just loved the director’s poetic or painting kind of expression, when the playful cub hides himself between the other stuffed toys lying in the house in such a cute way. Here I would also like to mention that along with its highly emotional content the film also has its own share of bloodshed and some brutal sequences of Tiger hunting shown in a realistic manner. So its quite possible that the kids watching it may get frightened or may start asking you questions about animal hunting and its reasons. Hence be prepared to tackle these minor hiccups if you are watching the film with all the kids in the family.

But nevertheless, despite of this important concern for the minors, TWO BROTHERS is a rare, not so famous masterpiece which must be seen by all lovers and students of cinema. It not only teaches you the craft but also makes you think about the brutality being practiced with the innocent living beings all over the world in a hidden way. As per my view, I would strongly like to recommend all the SAVE TIGERS organizations to buy the rights of this visual treat and use it in their task of saving the lives of remaining tigers more effectively.

The film has an immense power to save at least a few of the left beautiful creatures in the whole world. So there is no harm in giving it a chance……….MAY the generations coming after us get to see the beauty of this yellow and black together.

Directed By Jean Jacques Annaud

Ab Tak Chhappan (2004) (Movies To See Before You Die – Thriller)

2011-01-27T15:47:00.005+05:30

Describing or praising “Ab Tak Chhappan” is not an easy task since it may not be liked by many viewers due to its cruelty and heavy bloodshed used to portray the undisclosed works of An Encounter Specialist and his two way links. But even then, I would surely like to include the movie in my “Must Watch List” since it is way ahead of many and one of the most superior movies made in Bollywood on the subject of Police Force and their working styles. Based on the controversial and unrevealed life of an encounter specialist, the film undoubtedly deserves your attention due to its various below mentioned merits:

If you love watching Ram Gopal Verma’s earlier movies where the concept or theme used to be more important than its glamour or star-cast then “Ab Tak Chhappan” will not disappoint you coming from the production house of the master film-maker himself.

If you have become a fan of director Shimit Amin after his two more famous movies, CHAKK DE INDIA and ROCKET SINGH then you got to see this debut movie of a talented RGV find Shimit Amin, which I still rate as his best work, out of the three.

If you love Nana Patekar as an actor par excellence then “Ab Tak Chhappan” unarguably stands tall among the Top 5 movies of the veteran actor which calls for a must watch immediately.

And if you want to study that how the rest of the cast (apart from the lead actors) plays the most important role in a movie then you can easily select “Ab Tak Chhappan” to teach you the value of supporting actors in a project. Especially watch Prasad Purandare in the latter half of the movie, who very daringly delivers a solid performance standing in front of Nana.

Other than the above mentioned merits, I simply loved the use of silence in the film by Shimit, which at times goes on to reveal much more than what a well written dialogue could have done. Particularly in the sequence where Revathy dies and later on too when Nana watches her murder file sitting in his Police Station. Moreover the film might work as an informative project for many as it bluntly showcases how the police officials work against the criminals with the help of their own crime associates.

So if you haven’t seen it yet then you are missing one of the most authentic, well directed and most profoundly enacted movies on the subject of the nexus between the Underworld and the Police. Hence you got to see this as your next.

Directed by Shimit Amin
Starring : Nana Patekar, Revathy, Nakul Vaid, Yashpal Sharma, Prasad Purandare, Hrishita Bhatt, Mohan Agashe & more.

Marty (1955) (Movies To See Before You Die – Drama / Comedy)

2011-01-27T15:46:00.031+05:30

Sometimes a film impresses you not because of any particular technicality related to film-making but only because of its simple yet very true to life depiction of a common issue. A film which makes you feel as if you have heard or seen the same story in your own neighborhood or the same has once happened in your own group of friends. In other words it’s the story of every lonely person who is fast passing through his 30s and yet is not able to find his perfect life partner for various reasons. One of the few rare movies, which deals with the subject of Late Marriage or an Over Age Bachelor, who is confused in taking his final decision of getting married.

Marty, the hero of this OSCAR winner movie is such a person who is fighting the tough time of his middle age bachelor life where he has to take decision to do it now or it is never going to happen ever in his remaining life time. The film brilliantly captures the personality changes in a person before and after finding the right girl for marriage in a late age. Both the director and his actors superbly portray the changes in the outlook of a person towards his own mother and friends after he gets the much needed support of a female friend. The film is highly realistic in a literal sense where its most of the scenes seem to be straight out of our real life. The relationship between a mother, son and her daughter in law, the talks between two old ladies, the sudden changes in the conversations between a son and his mother after a new lady enters his life, everything is so true to life that it readily reminds you of any similar kind of character in your own life.

It’s not a big budget movie, nor a film with great production value or glamour. But still it has the charm of being a very truthful, authentic and honest attempt wherein the inner feelings of all the matured characters are depicted in a very genuine way. In the year of its release, many people wondered why the movie was awarded the OSCAR for THE BEST MOVIE in presence of many other good movies. But in my opinion, it was the honesty of the film which got it the award quite deservingly. A very light, entertaining and insightful film, which will not disappoint you, if you are interested in watching something simple, frank and true to life.

Directed By Delbert Mann

Starring : Ernest Borgnine, Betsy Blair and Esther Minciotti

PHAS GAYE RE OBAMA – Movie Review : A loud slap to all the glossy film makers teaching them the lesson that film-making only depends on writing, writing and writing alone. (Review By Bobby Sing)

2011-01-27T15:46:00.030+05:30

One line review of the movie – Simply add the name Subhash Kapoor to the group of new extremely talented directors who are capable of teaching new lessons of cinema to all the big names relying entirely on Big Stars and their glossy film- making styles to save their reputed names in the Industry. PHAS GAYE RE OBAMA is a loud and tight slap to all those starry directors and it clearly reminds them the first lesson of cinema which says that Film-making solely depends on writing, writing and writing alone.

A worth watching experience, not to be missed, PGRO is a big relief after the dull period of watching all those mediocre films coming from the big production houses. In short, this is one of those few movies released this year whose script should be used in all the film making institutes operating in the country to teach the art of script writing and even editing. Not dependent upon any saleable star or hit item song, PGRO is a delightful film to watch which is very intelligently neither made as a complete comedy (like Golmaal series), nor it has been especially designed as a deliberate satire (like Peepli Live).

Brilliantly and thoughtfully written around the subject of WORLD RECESSION, it’s a film which smartly touches many important issues prevalent in our country dealing with crime and politicians. Revolving around the plot of a visiting NRI in a remote area, it mainly deals with his kidnapping being planned by all the DONS operating in the region. How he manages to make fool of each one of them and successfully flies back to America with more money on his side then expected, is what the story is all about. Amusingly written around this thought of an NRI dealing with all the criminals, the writer showcases several major drawbacks of our society in a comical manner. Starting with the scene of groom-kidnapping, it talks about the still existing charm of going to America for earning dollars, the kind of English being taught in the remote areas by self proclaimed teachers, the influence of OBAMA and his slogan “Yes We Can” on the whole world, the kidnapping racket run with the aid of gangsters and politicians and the power of media to change the course of things in just a few hours.

In the next few days you are sure going to hear praises for the movie from all your friends and critiques. But regarding that I would like to state that don’t take PGRO as an out and out comedy in any case. The movie is not anything like GOLMAAL series but is more like a OYE LUCKY LUCKY OYE kind of project where you will enjoy each & every development on the screen with a big smile on your face along with few laughs at regular intervals. Here the director neither uses any silly comic sequence to make you laugh nor does he uses extensive abusive language in his dialogues to make some deliberate ripples in the theater (as done in Peepli Live). But still he manages to impress you hugely with his skilful writing and perfect characterization of his few characters in the script and literally excels in that.

Based on a purely novel thought incorporating the subject of RECESSION in the world of GANGSTERS and UNDERWORLD, it is indeed a first in the world of cinema. The lead hero of PGRO is its well written script which both starts and ends on equally shining notes and leaves a long lasting impact on the viewer. In fact this is a kind of movie which will largely satisfy the cinematic urge of ever true movie lover and student of cinema world-wide. For instance, just carefully look at the costumes, dialogues, gestures and expressions on the face of every actor on the screen, which clearly explains the contribution made by its director in adapting the taut script for the celluloid in such a splendid way.

Performance wise there are several small gems scattered throughout the film, delivered by some familiar names. With no one interfering or overlapping each other in the acting department it is a rare balanced show put up by all the actors. Rajat Kapoor as the NRI is as usual fine in his calm and cool approach. Sanjay Mishra as the disheartened gangster is excellent. Manu Rishi as the “Security” in each deal is simply wonderful. And Amol Gupte in the second half as the corrupt criminal minister is outstanding. He should really do more such films for the sake of good cinema and its hungry viewers. In the female lead, I really loved the look and feel of Lady Gabbar Singh played by Neha Dhupia magnificently. In fact I found her looking more sexy and beautiful in the get up of a lady gangster (with eyes filled with surma) than her usual glamorous looks we normally get to see. With class acts delivered by the entire star cast, PGRO, a songless film, unarguably is one of the surprise packages of the year which once again proves that Hindi Films does not only mean love, song, dance and big stars without any so called script.

In nutshell, it’s a highly recommended flick which at last provides us the much needed break from all the silly romantic projects seen in the last few months. So, do yourself a favour by watching PHAS GAYE RE OBAMA at the earliest and encourage directors like Subhash Kapoor to keep on giving us more such projects in the near future. And thanks to Warner Brothers for supporting such a non-starry product, which solely depends on its merit of exceptional writing.

Rating : 4 / 5 (The film is included in my “Movies To See Before You Die” List mainly because of its new intelligent thought incorporating the ‘Recession’ in 'Underword' and its brilliantly written script. However I only wish it had more hard-hitting and enjoyable one liners in its various sequences.)

After The Fox (Caccia Alla Volpe) (1966) (Movies To See Before You Die – Comedy)

2011-01-27T15:46:00.026+05:30

PETER SELLERS, unarguably remains one of the most reputed and pioneer names in Comedy genre, famous all over the world. Yet in India, for some obvious reasons, still Rowan Atkinson (as Mr. Bean) is a more familiar name in English Comedy both in the kids as well as in the adults. The reason may be the repeated telecast of his successful T.V. series or the recent releases of his theatrical films made around his unique character. But the fact remains that if you haven’t seen the works of the master called PETER SELLERS or just associate him with the name of Pink Panther only then you are indeed missing a long important chapter from the Big Bible of Comedy in World Cinema. In other words, your love for the comedy genre remains largely incomplete if you haven’t enjoyed the brilliant films from the legendary veteran.

Recently the buzz of a big budget film being based on a Peter Seller’s classic made me search this gem of a movie called AFTER THE FOX (Caccia Alla Volpe). And as expected I simply loved the film and its exceptionally hilarious plot written around film-making itself taking intelligent potshots on actors, directors and critiques in an amusing style.
Revolving around the character of a sharp minded wanted criminal who is a master of disguise, the film is based on his assignment of smuggling Gold into the country fooling a whole village and its people in a big way. For getting his task done, Peter gets into the character of a famous director and then visits the village as his shooting location to film his new project. Hearing the news of film-shooting taking place in their own village, the innocent people are willing to help Peter in any way in return of their small roles in the film.

To look more realistic Peter also signs a forgotten star of the past in the lead and makes him feel as if he is still a big celebrity today. With the help of such hilarious characters Peter exposes the fact that how films can influence innocent people in just a few minutes and they are ready to do just anything for that. Along with this, he also showcases the changes in the character of a bygone era star, who is not remembered any more by his die-hard fans and is not getting work from anywhere. Victor Mature in the role of that forgotten star is just superb hamming effortlessly on the screen as demanded by the script. Apart from this, it has a worth watching climax in a court room and several other brilliant supporting performances which are a treat to watch for all comedy genre lovers.

So if you want to have a fun-filled evening with the entire family, then just go for this movie in the next weekend and have an enjoyable good time together.

(Reportedly Akshay Kumar’s “TEES MAAR KHAN” is said to be based on this hilarious comedy. Thought its trailer does give you some hints in this direction, but I would be able to comment in details only after the movie gets released. Till then just see if you can get hold the DVD of this Peter Seller’s classic fun ride and enjoy.)

Directed By Vittorio De Sica
Starring : Peter Sellers, Victor Mature, Britt Ekland and more.

MIRCH (2010) – A dangerous film which might entertain as well as offend both men and women. (Movies To See Before You Die – Comedy / Drama)

2011-01-27T15:46:00.020+05:30

Some films prove you absolutely wrong when you just ignore them in comparison to few big films and then end up cursing yourself for making such a weak assumption about the movie. MIRCH was definitely one of those few under-estimated films which not only surprised me with its bold content but also made me think several times about all the relevant questions raised in its thought provoking script, after a long time.

But before praising the movie further, I would first like to mention that MIRCH is not at all a technically brilliant film from any angle nor it can be included in the list of all those perfectly acted or directed films either, to be precise. Yet, the reason why I am including it in my MUST SEE MOVIES List is that it is a very rare movie which is both likable as well as hateful in a very strange manner.

In fact MIRCH is a novel kind of daring attempt which at one end surely entertains you in a very fresh and mesmerizing style, but on the other hand it may also seriously offend both the MALE and FEMALE genders equally in a very dishonorable way. Talking about four different stories on the sexual relationship between man and women in contrasting backgrounds, the film is a pretty bold sex comedy which strictly calls for an adult viewing without any doubt. And in the end it may also turn out to be a dangerous movie putting many new unwanted ideas into your mind un-necessarily.

In short, its a Vinay Shukla directed film made on a very bold sexual subject, which for the first time explores the topic of adultery from the woman’s side. In all the four stories in the film, it’s the woman who betrays and cheats her husband in a very harsh way, whereas its only the fourth one in which the husband too is doing the similar kind of act on the other side. In each act of betrayal shown in the film, the women play on a certain trick and get away with their disrespectful act very smartly. On a controversial note, even after being a fairly entertaining flick, the film may come out to be both confusing and disturbing for a certain section of viewers who may like to take the depiction of Man and Women in its stories in a bad taste.

Where the women might feel being shown with an intolerably sickening attitude, the men too might feel being portrayed as fools and silly husbands on the screen with a pinch of humor. But at the same time, both the genders would also feel thoroughly entertained deep inside from their heart (which they may choose to hide). And that’s actually what I liked the best about MIRCH, a movie which can generate such wide diverse reactions among the viewers which may go beyond any imagination of human mind.

In bold words, the film may be thought provoking for some and a kind of soft porn for many. It may be enlightening experience for one and a disgusting thought of a pervert mind for the other. It may seem to be a journey into the mind of woman for one and might turn out to be a waste of time for the other. And since there are not many movies which are capable of generating such variety of responses in the viewers, MIRCH becomes an important film to be seen and studied in your own unique way. Here I would also like to add that in spite of being based on such bold subject, the seducing and intimate scenes in the film never go beyond a certain limit and remain un-objectionable, which indeed is a great job done by the director and his cinematographer.

Reportedly the film is partly inspired from the Italian Classic “The Decameron” by Giovanni Boccaccio and partly from “Panchtantra” as mentioned in the movie itself. However, I was quite surprised with the reference of “Panchtantra” in it, because I only had a vision of ‘Panchtantra’ as a collection of moral stories for the young ones. May be I would have to research on it a little more. Anyway, along with its interesting concept, director Vinay Shukla uses his entire talented star-cast in an intelligent way where no one looks like doing something wrong on the screen and also entertains. It only takes few initial moments to move into the actual theme of the movie and then it starts making its impact pretty fast.

On the whole, MIRCH is a movie which should be seen by all as a must because one cannot guess what actually you will make out of it in the end. After watching it, you may get a feeling close to the one mentioned above or in other case, you might go on to discover something of your own in the four stories unfolding on the screen one by one. But you essentially got to see it first to make your own decision.

Directed By Vinay Shukla
Starring : Konkona Sen Sharma, Raima Sen, Rajpal Yadav, Prem Chopra, Ila Arun, Tisca Chopra, Shahana Goswami, Boman Irani, Arunoday Singh, Saurabh Shukla, Sushant Singh and Shreyas Talpade.

The Blair Witch Project (1999) (Movies To See Before You Die – Horror)

2011-01-27T15:45:00.019+05:30

Based on a real life case of three film students who went into the woods, to enquire about a local urban legend, this is not anything close to the usual horror movies you must have seen. The three students, who went on an expedition to investigate about the Blair Witch in the woods, went missing and never returned. Almost one year later the video footage shot by them was found lying in the woods, on the basis of which this film is made in a pure realistic manner.

Conceived on the basis of all those unclear yet terrifying findings of the students, this is a fine piece of art which is both directed and enacted in quite an exceptional and unconventional way which can scare you like hell. Without showing any kind of horrifying spirits, blood or using special effects, the film takes you into a completely different world altogether where you will feel like lost in the dark only waiting for something strange to happen any moment around you with a strong feeling of fear.

Here I would also like to state that for some viewers, it may not be an easy task to watch “The Blair Witch Project” as a movie because it has not been made like a normal film project in the first place. The hard hitting realistic depiction of the real events shot (in a documentary style) with a handheld camera, in black & white, night vision may become unbearable, annoying and head spinning for many. So just opt for this scary movie keeping in mind the vision with which it has been made as per the footage found in the woods.

For instance, many times the screen will go dark without anything happening in a clear way with only some voices coming from a distant place. And that only will make you feel the terror in a unique way. The film neither gives you any concrete answer nor does it reach on any kind of conclusion towards its end. But it surely gives you an experience of a life time which stays with you for long. So watch it as a must if you want to see something novel in the genre of horror movies. But don’t try watching it along with your young kids as it may leave a weird kind of impact on their innocent minds.

Directed By Daniel Myrick, Eduardo Sanchez

Starring : Heather Donahue, Michael C. Williams and Joshua Leonard.

The Sixth Sense (1999) (Movies To See Before You Die – Horror / Suspense)

2011-01-27T15:45:00.017+05:30

A masterpiece which established the brand name of M. Night Shyamalan in the world of suspense, mystery and horror films was the most talked about film in the year of its release. Nominated in six different categories at the OSCARS, “The Sixth Sense” remains one of those rare examples of cinematic achievements where the viewer is taken for a ride in the whole film and then gifted with a big unexpected shock towards the climax which leaves him awestruck with surprise.

Dealing with spirits roaming around the house of an innocent kid (who can see the dead) and his friendly relationship with a psychologist, it’s based on a fascinating storyline having some exceptional twists and turns to tease the viewer. In fact as the movie ends, its outstanding climax makes such a powerful impact on the viewer that one wishes to watch it once again (more attentively) only to see that how he couldn’t guess what was actually happening in the movie in front of his own eyes and still he couldn’t make it.

A rare mixture of thriller, suspense and horror genres, “The Sixth Sense” rates high in the list of MOST APPRECIATED MOVIES by all the famous critiques all over the world. Therefore even if you are not a fan of horror films, still it is highly recommended to watch this impressive classic only to experience that how an intelligent and thoughtful treatment of a visionary director can deceive the viewer for almost two hours of its duration.

Directed by M. Night Shyamalan
Starring : Bruce Willis, Haley Joel Osment

RAAT (1992) – A masterpiece from RGV which gave birth to BHOOT in 2003. (Movies To See Before You Die – Horror)

2011-01-27T15:45:00.016+05:30

With “Bhoot” Ram Gopal Verma scared everyone out there with his innovative camera tricks and brilliant use of sound effects in the year 2003. The film certainly was a first for many Indian viewers who were earlier only familiar with the Ramsay kind of routine movies offered in the name of horror. In other words “Bhoot” converted the horror genre into an enjoyable one with its different kind of scary treatment given by the master director Ram Gopal Verma.

But in reality, “Bhoot” was a kind of remake of RGV’s own masterpiece “Raat” which came in 1992 and couldn’t make an impact due to the unwillingness of the viewers to accept any kind of invention or breakthrough in this particular genre. In fact “Raat” was way ahead of its time, stressing completely on the horror element in its script without including any kind of song, dance or romance angles. And that may be the reason why RGV took the same subject again and presented it before the New-Age audience in 2003 with a more relevant title of “Bhoot” taking huge help of the now available advanced visual and sound technology.

This time RGV was able to convert it into a Big Hit since after more than a decade of Cable Revolution the audience was ready to take it in full spirits. Hence if you loved “Bhoot” but have not seen or even heard of “Raat”, then you haven’t watched the original source of this modern day Hit. Released more than a decade before “Bhoot”, “Raat” is even more impactful and to the point as it does not majorly depends upon any visual and sound technology alone. It has got more tension prevailing throughout which is handled superbly by the director right till the end when the rescue man (Om Puri) arrives in the haunted house.

Moreover its brilliant multi-talented star-cast (featuring Revathi, Rohini Hattangidi and Om Puri) makes it even more powerful and impressive, which in turn forces you to keep thinking about it for days after watching it. Though RGV does seem to be inspired from the famous horror movies of the West such as “The Exorcist”, “Rosemary's Baby” and “The Omen”, but still his end product does have his own distinctive stamp which undoubtedly makes it a worth watching experience for every lover of horror movies all over the world. So go for “Raat” now.

Both Films Directed By Ram Gopal Verma

Starring : (Bhoot) Ajay Devgan, Urmila Matondkar, Rekha, Nana Patekar, Fardeen Khan, Seema Biswas and more.

(Raat) Revathi, Rohin Hattangidi, Om Puri and more.

Lady For A Day (1944) (Movies To See Before You Die – Drama/Comedy)

2011-01-27T15:44:00.015+05:30

If you love watching all those down to earth, light hearted comic yet enlightening movies of Hrishikesh Mukherjee, but still haven’t seen any of FRANK CAPRA works then you are simply missing a lot. In straight words (with due respect), I strongly feel that the master film-maker FRANK CAPRA must have been a constant source of inspiration for the Indian maestro since both have the same kind of feel, warmth and affection in their famous films.

Out of the rich Capra repertoire, here we are talking about one of his earliest “Lady For a Day” made in 1933, which remains the most important film of the director’s career because he chose this particular film to be re-made as his final contribution to the world, (his last film) re-named as “A Pocketful of Miracles” in 1961. So clearly the script must have been very close to Frank’s heart for all these decades of his illustrious career.

Based on an emotional story of a poor old lady and her loving relationships with the people around her, the film still feels fresh and lively even after almost 80 years of its making. With everyone shining bright with their brilliant performances, well written dialogues and emotional sequences, it is a must watch for every movie freak who is gifted with a tender heart full of feelings. Without revealing its main plot I would only like to say that the movie builds up very calmly introducing every small character on the screen to the viewer and then delivers a superb climax which will surely bring tears to your eyes along with a faint smile on your lips. It teaches a very adorable lesson to all that every person in this world, whether good or bad, does have a soft corner in his heart for love and emotions.

“Lady For A Day” also remains a landmark film in the World Cinema as its theme and characters later inspired many more films in the other parts of the world which include Jackie Chan’s JI JI or MIRACLE (1989), Dharmendra’s LOAFER (1973) and the most recent Akshay Kumar’s SINGH IS KINNG (2008). So that gives you another reason to watch this ORIGINAL CLASSIC as a must at the earliest.

Ironically its remake by Frank Capra himself, titled “A Pocket Full of Miracles” in 1961 didn’t work at the box office since it lacked the real depth of emotions as in its Original. Hence “Lady For A Day” still remains the first choice of movie lovers all over the world out of its two versions by the gifted director.

Directed By Frank Capra
Starring: May Robson, Warren William and more.

Ringu (1998) & The Ring (2002) (Movies To See Before You Die – Horror)

2011-01-27T15:44:00.012+05:30

A film which simply transformed the way Horror movies were conceived remains one of the most influential works done in this particular genre in the recent times. A film, which forced every movie lover to take the Horror genre more seriously as a craft to be enjoyed and admired. With never seen before kind of stylish shots and an intelligent interpretation of a dark secret, this surely can be rated as one of the best Horror movies made all over the world till date.

Though the English version titled THE RING may have become more famous among the movie lovers due to its universal appeal. But the truth is that its original source which happens to be a Japanese movie called RINGU (released in 1998), has its own merits and strong points which has often lead to a decent comparison between the two among the movie critiques. However even the Japanese Original is reportedly based on a novel “Ringu” written by Koji Suzuki which was published in 1991.

Revolving around the story of a cursed video tape, which results in mysterious deaths of all the people who watch it, the movie is a must watch for all, as it open new undisclosed windows of horror in front of the viewer in a mesmerizing style. If you still haven’t watched it and opt for it now then you would surprisingly find most of its scary scenes as already seen before in several films. And that’s because THE RING series (also continued as THE RING TWO) has been an inspiration for almost every horror film director since its first release in 1998. In other words, the movie has unarguably achieved a cult status in the world of cinema in the last decade and therefore becomes an essential watch for every movie freak without any exception.

Directed By Hideo Nakata (Japanese) & Gore Verbinski (English)

Sunset Boulevard (1950) – (Movies To See Before You Die – Drama)

2011-01-27T15:43:00.014+05:30

Films made on the subject of film-making showcasing the real happenings over a shooting or behind the scenes, have always been interesting to watch and enjoy. There is a particular section of viewers, which gets pretty excited for such films as they take them closer to the real life of their favourite actors and make them feel the heat. Every decade witnesses several films written around this amusing plot, but still “SUNSET BLVD.” remains probably the best movie made on this engrossing subject till date for some valid reasons.
Rated as one of the finest creations of director Billy Wilder, Sunset Boulevard, released in 1950 is an enlightening as well as frightening journey into the last years of a forgotten actress of the Silent Films Era. A Powerful and unforgettable black & white dynamite which will force you to think about the scary life lived by all the actors in the film-world. Widely acclaimed among the 100 BEST MOVIES EVER MADE, its a film which will give you an insight about how dreadful it can be for all those successful stars in their later years of life when they become old losing their famous beauty and charm.

Based on a very realistic and cleverly written script, the movie is beautifully shot and displays a rare balance of realism and black comedy. The story revolves around an unexplainable relationship between a struggling script writer and a forgotten silent era film-star Norma Desmond. Rightly considered as a landmark Hollywood film it has numerous well directed scenes and dialogues with many hidden & deep indications towards the other side of the glamour world.

Its brilliant performances revealing many ugly truths about the life of A Bygone Era STAR can easily be an eye-opener for many young and aspiring actors. A true masterpiece from its first frame to the last, SUNSET BLVD. is strong enough to change your whole outlook towards the film-world and its enigma. Especially, its climax and the sequence where Norma visits the studio once again after a gap of many years, strikes the viewer pretty hard and stays there in his mind for long.

In comparative terms, SUNSET BLVD. can easily be considered as a Classic Masterpiece from Hollywood enjoying the status quite similar to the one given to Guru Dutt’s KAAGAZ KE PHOOL in Bollywood. Therefore it’s a must watch for every lover of good and meaningful cinema who wishes to have some more food for his thinking mind. So if you are really feeling the hunger then do watch this Billy Wilder’s Oscar Winner famous gem at the earliest and feed both your thinking mind and soul together.

Directed By Billy Wilder

Starring : Gloria Swanson, William Holden and more.

Rififi (1955) – (Movies To See Before You Die – Thriller)

2011-01-27T15:42:00.009+05:30

Considered as the “Grand-daddy of all the Heist Thrillers”, RIFIFI is said to be the inspiration behind every famous heist movie made after 1955 for a long time. Reported to have influenced famous works of directors ranging from Stanley Kubrick (The Killing) to Quentin Tarantino (Reservoir Dogs), the movie is a sheer treat for all the heist movie lovers living in any part of the globe.

Frankly speaking in its initial half an hour, you might not get impressed. But once the actual robbery sequence starts, its detailed execution in the dark drags you in right away and never lets you take your eyes off the screen. Along with its brilliant direction, great performances and an entertaining climax, the film has one such UNIQUE point in its favour which till date has never been repeated by any director in his film on a similar theme.

The USP is that out of its nearly two hours of duration, RIFIFI has an approximate 30 minutes sequence happening on the screen literally without any dialogue or additionally created background score. This is the actual heist sequence being executed in a Jewellery Shop, where the whole notorious team interacts with each other in the dim light, only through their eyes and body gestures. An undoubtedly daring innovation, successfully incorporated by the director Jules Dassin which is a must see for every lover of cinema irrespective of any language or region. But why this was not repeated by any film maker in the later years?.........That’s because it needs a great amount of confidence and guts to try such a long time on the screen without any dialogue or music. And that makes RIFIFI an important masterpiece in all respects, which is full of text book material on cinema in its totality.

So if you are a die-hard lover of movies (especially of those made on the theme of big heists), then you have simply got no right to keep on missing RIFIFI. A must watch for every movie freak like an essential course material to be studied on the subject of film-making.

Directed By Jules Dassin

Starring : Jean Servais, Carl Mohner, Robert Manuel and more.

Inherit The Wind (1960) - (Movies To See Before You Die - Court Room Drama)

2010-09-18T14:30:00.002+05:30

Court room dramas are mostly written around conspiracies, murders mysteries and ‘Who done it!’ cases. But here’s a classic, talking about one of the weirdest cases ever, which interestingly actually took place in America in the year 1925 and was called as“The Monkey Trial”.

Now the reason, why it has been referred to as weird is because it revolves around a case filed against an innocent school teacher for teaching the authentic Darwin’s Theory of Evolution to his students. The people of the state along with their religious and political leaders are simply against the famous theory and they don’t want to accept their relation with animals as their ancestors. Hence they file a case against the teacher for misleading the younger generation resulting in his unjustified arrest. A famous attorney, who has his own differences with the prosecution lawyer comes forward in his support and decides to defend the teacher using his own tricks of the trade.
And then what happens in the court is highly interesting, enlightening as well as entertaining for viewers of all age groups.

Undoubtedly one of the most intriguing court room dramas ever made, which neither revolves around any murder mystery nor has anything related to any crime committed by a person. In few words “Inherit The Wind” is a pure masterpiece, based on a real intellectual kind of case, well transformed into a motion picture by the master director Stanley Kramer. Supported by some brilliant performances by its lead characters, it’s indeed a worth watching film made on an interesting chapter of American History. Highly recommended for every movie lover, who seriously wishes to see something out of the routine!

Directed By Stanley Kramer
Starring : Spencer Tracy, Fredric March, Gene Kelly, Dick York, Harry Morgan and more.

Topkapi (1964) - (Movies To See Before You Die - Thriller / Suspense)

2010-08-25T01:20:00.009+05:30

If you are a huge fan of thrillers based on an engaging and well planned heist plot, but still haven’t seen “Topkapi”, then you are really missing one of the most entertaining movies made in this particular genre. Though not included in the World’s Best Movies List by many critics, still “Topkapi” is a well made classic, having all the essential elements of entertainment just in the right dosage, ranging from comedy, action, drama and suspense.

It makes you fall in love with all its key characters, right from the first scene of its brilliant script. In few words “Topkapi” is a rich experience in all respects with some worth watching performance and highly enjoyable sequences related to the planning and execution of the actual robbery. Based on an original idea of stealing a valuable dagger from a museum, the style used in its heist, probably later on also inspired a similar sequence in the famous “MISSION IMPOSSIBLE”, involving a person committing the crime hanging upside down without touching the ground.

“Topkapi” also reportedly had two different kinds of climax at the time of its release. But in the current available format we can only enjoy the one in which the whole group of crooks gets caught just because of a small innocent flying bird. And as I am told the other climax showed the dagger being snatched away by a petty thief after the team successfully steals it from the museum. Indeed an amusing thought put in by the writers and the director.

The movie has an OSCAR connection too since Peter Ustinov, who played a small time thief falling in the trap of the actual heist planners, also won his first Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his amusing performance in the movie. So if you just want to have a good weekend enjoying a movie full of comic entertainment and suspense then go for “Topkapi” without any second thoughts and you will never regret your decision. A true delight for everyone in the family, irrespective of any age or gender.

Directed By Jules Dassin
Starring : Melina Mercouri, Peter Ustinov and more

Make Way For Tomorrow (1937) - (Movies To See Before You Die - Drama) : The film which was adapted by "Baghban" after 66 years as its subject was still relevant to our present developed world society.

2010-08-22T20:05:00.002+05:30

A movie made way back in 1937 revolving around an emotional family drama may not appear to be inviting or exciting for most of the people reading this article. The response is obvious as it needs a lot of patience as well as passion to opt for a 73 years old black and white movie in this present fast paced monetary world. The same was the case with me too as I was also pretty reluctant to watch the classic due to its uninteresting theme and old age status.

BUT within 15 minutes of watching this masterpiece I realized my mistake as I knew that I was witnessing one of the most emotional, lovable and socially relevant movie made ever in the history of cinema. A film, which talks about the old age people and their last dependent days in the most expressive manner ever. A film which brilliantly showcases the pain received from their own flesh and blood, in their final years. And a film, which undoubtedly can still be crowned as the BEST MOVIE made on the subject even after more than 70 years of its making.

In simple words, I would like to rate “Make Way For Tomorrow” as one of the TOP 10 English Movies made on the theme of love and family values. And you just have to watch it at the earliest to feel why it deserves all those praises showered upon the creation in the above lines.

Interestingly Leo McCarey, the director of the movie very smartly knew about the value of the masterpiece he had crafted in the year 1937. And he was very right in believing in it as his finest film. But surprisingly he was awarded the BEST DIRECTOR OSCAR in 1937 for his other movie “The Awful Truth” which also released in the same year.

So while accepting his BEST DIRECTOR TROPHY on the stage, he said “Thanks, but you gave it to me for the wrong picture”.

“Make Way For Tomorrow” is a story of an elderly couple (superbly played by Victor Moore and Beulah Bondi), who after losing their old house are forced to live separately with their own children in different states. There are many well directed and realistically enacted scenes in the film, which will make you smile and cry both at the same time. And that I suppose is the best way to express love for each other in the old age when you feel like crying at your own helpless state and also smile for still being loved by your companion at the same time.

Interestingly, the film was based on the novel “The Years Are So Long” by Josephine Lawrence, which was later adopted by Ravi Chopra for his Amitabh-Hema starrer “Baghban” in the year 2003.

Now here it’s both shocking as well as shameful for our current modern society that the plot which was relevant long ago in the year 1937, still remains equally relevant and in existence in the year 2010 after more than seven decades. The news of disrespecting the old parents and leaving them to live on their own can be still heard in our surroundings and that’s the reason why so many Old Age homes have suddenly come in to existence in the last few years.

So, hoping the movie may bring some change to our modern thinking patterns and living styles, I would like to recommend it to my every reader from any age group to see this classic masterpiece as soon as possible taking time out of their busy daily schedules.

And I would end this with a quote of ORSAN WELLES about the film, in which he described it as, “A movie that could make a stone cry”.

Directed By Leo McCarey
Starring : Victor Moore, Beulah Bondi, Thomas Mitchell and more.

The Battle of Algiers (1966) (Italy) - (Movies To See Before You Die - World Cinema)

2010-08-22T20:01:00.006+05:30

There are several films made on the fictional account of terrorism all over the world. But there not many films made on the realistic history of terror faced by various countries. And among those few important projects, “Battle of Algiers” stands tall as one of the most authentic, experimental and truthful movie made on the subject of terrorism and revolution.

Released in the mid sixties, “Battle of Algiers” is a docu-drama kind of feature which makes your aware with the inside truth about the Algerian Revolution in its pre independence era. Interestingly shot in Black & White format, the film does take a few moments to sink in. But right after its initial introductory minutes it grabs your attention entirely and starts impressing you with all its breathtaking bomb blasts sequences showcasing ruthless killings both by the revolutionists as well as the Police.

In fact I would like to rate this movie as an immensely influential project in context of the recent Mumbai terrorists attack seen in 2009. The reason for relating the film with this current inhuman act is that while watching this classic I found its few sequences exactly similar to what was seen in these sudden attacks. The bomb blast in a famous Café of the city full of regular clients and merciless firing on the people walking on the road out of a moving van can be seen in “Battle of Algiers” too in the same manner as witnessed in the November 2009 attack on Mumbai.

Apart from this strange real life similarity, the film enlightens the viewer about the freedom struggle in Algiers (which many of the viewers may not be familiar with) and also brilliantly portrays the tough times experienced by the people who faced the heat. I strongly believe that the film must have been there in the mind of Anurag Kashyap when he was making his own classic “Black Friday” on the subject of Mumbai blasts.

The film never allows you to remember that its not the real footage but only a group of actors enacting their roles realistically. In all, a must watch masterpiece for every film buff, student of cinema and anyone willing to know about the past and its bitter truth. Indisputably one of the best movies made on a historical revolution of a country.
Directed By Gillo Pontecorvo

Gauri - The Unborn (2007) : A film, which adds a completely new perspective towards the problem of girl foeticide in our country. (Movies To See Before You Die - Horror)

2010-08-17T00:45:00.007+05:30

First of all I would like to mention that this particular film has been added to the “Must See Movies” list here, solely on the basis of its novel story plot which has its own importance and power to change the sick mindsets of families who are only interested in having a boy child from their daughters-in-law.

The film belongs to the HORROR genre and is strictly okay as far as its direction, performances, music and execution is concerned. There are no worth watching special effects nor any great shocking scenes in its narration. But if we look into the hidden potential present in its fresh story idea, then the movie possibly can be used as an important tool against a burning problem in the country dealing with the merciless killing of the girl child before her birth.

Just think of a case where a husband and wife decide to abort their girl child due to their willingness to have a boy instead. Now years later when they do have a boy child, out of a sudden, a spirit starts haunting the kid and the whole family in some peculiar ways which remind the parent couple of their ugly past. Actually it’s the spirit of that unborn girl child who has now returned only to make her parents realize their mistake of killing her while she was still developing in her mother’s womb. She makes their life miserable and returns only after they ask for her mercy and realize their inhuman mistake from their heart.

Now, I agree that this may strengthen superstition, but when all other means have failed to stop this evil practice in our society, then why shouldn’t we try this brilliant idea to scare all those devils who want to kill their daughters’ right in the wombs. At least this thought will frighten them of having an insecure future and they would not dare to take this step thinking about its scary consequences.

Though in the present movie, the couple aborts the girl child due to their career prospects but nevertheless it clearly gives out an ultimatum to anyone watching that if they also ever took this kind of deliberate decision in their life, then they should be ready to face the trauma as suffered by the couple in the film.

“Gauri – the Unborn” is also recommended for its final 15 minutes, when the spirit of the unborn girl questions her parents that what was her mistake and then explains her pain of not being given a chance to live. While moving away she asks them for their permission to let her come to meet them whenever she needs their love. The scene is capable of transforming even the coldest heart and will right away bring tears to every male or female watching the movie.

And for the viewers, who would like to argue that how’s this possible…, the answer is given by Anupam Kher, who acts as the grandfather of the child in the film. In his words, “If Abhimanyu can listen & learn, the art of entering the Chakravyuh while he was still in his mother’s womb then why can’t the girl child hear all about your plans of brutally killing her right from the inside”.

Do watch and recommend it to all your friends, if you like and support the idea of using the movie against this social evil of our society.

Directed By Aku Akbar
Starring : Anupam Kher, Atul Kulkarni, Rituparna Sengupta and Rushita Pandya

(Note : The present flick is added in the “Must See Movies” List, purely for its socially relevant novel story idea and not for any kind of cinematic achievement in the project.)

Ek Doctor Ki Maut (1991) - (Movies To See Before You Die - Drama)

2010-08-12T10:47:00.004+05:30

The corrupt, unethical and shameful condition of Indian bureaucracy is not a hidden or unknown fact for anyone living in today’s media driven world. But unfortunately the condition was exactly the same few decades’ back too. And that is the reason why this subject about the awful working style in the government offices has been a favourite of many writers and directors in the past as well as in the present.

Just few years before, the small screen gave us a brilliant serial on this theme called “Office Office” and recently in the present year we had a fine movie coming from the house of the maestro Shyam Benegal made around the departmental corruption in villages titled “Well Done Abba”. However, till date the most powerful, believable and meaningful piece of art on this relevant topic remains“Ek Doctor Ki Maut” directed by Tapan Sinha, featuring the gifted actor Pankaj Kapoor in the role of a talented but ignored ambitious scientist.

The film is an honest interpretation of the pain and helplessness felt by a man who loves his profession and who remains deprived of the fame he truly deserved for his medical discovery. The open conflict of a doctor, who very well knows what he is doing, clearly reveals the sick minds of the people around him posing as his higher officials. Apart from the bureaucracy, the film also talks about the difficult relationship between an obsessed husband and a caring wife. The story truthfully portrays the ugliness behind the professional jealousy, responsible for not giving a deserving candidate an opportunity at the right time and at the right place. Supported by artists such as Shabana Azmi and Irfan Khan, it is indisputably among the best works of both the director Tapan Sinha and the exceptional actor Pankaj Kapoor.

And this is the same Pankaj Kapoor who after more than a decade, once again mocked about the faulty system in a comic way in his award winning serial “Office Office”. And he was equally brilliant in both his ways of cursing the bureaucracy.

In short, If you love artistic kind of meaningful movies and still haven’t seen this then you are truly missing a commendable achievement of Indian Cinema. A film which deserves to be shown not only in theaters, but in school, colleges and all technical institutions to teach the value of man and his indefinite capabilities. Highly recommended!

Written and Directed By Tapan Sinha
Starring : Pankaj Kapoor, Shabana Azmi, Irfan Khan, Vijayendra Ghatage & Deepa Sahi.

Ankahee (1985) - (Movies To See Before You Die - Drama)

2010-08-12T10:44:00.002+05:30

This is a rare and rather unknown classic from the well known actor director Amol Palekar. A film which talks about an extremely important and interesting topic of Jyotish, Astrology and future gazing, in a simple yet highly effective style. Amol truly deserves all the praises for raising such a relevant issue in his movie, which can really make or break anyone’s life so easily.

Astrology, Palmistry or Jyotish are no doubt part of a deep study and the research does have many valid favourable points to prove its truthful applicability in real life. But here veteran Amol Palekar, very intelligently asks a question that what will happen to the confidence of a common man if he is straight away told something negative about his future which cannot be averted. And moreover what is the use of telling him all about it when it has to happen and we cannot avoid it in any condition.

The opening sequence of the movie itself raises this debatable question in a well written sequence of a hospital. Vinod Mehra is a doctor who is going to do a delivery operation of a lady. But just before he is going to operate, Dr. Shri Ram Lagoo who plays a well known astrologer in the movie, tells him that the lady is not going to survive as written in her Kundali. Ignoring his prediction, the doctor performs his duty skillfully but unfortunately the lady dies. And then comes a short but impactful confrontation scene between Vinod Mehra & Dr. Lagoo which can easily disturb any person’s views about the topic, putting him in a dilemma.

In real life, whenever we are facing a tough time, we all tend to bow down in search of some alternative solutions to our problems provided by Astrology, Gemology or Numerology. But “Ankahee” comes up with a simple question that if everything is written in our destiny to happen as planned without any exception, then firstly what’s the use of trying to know it and further what’s the use of even trying to avert it or change it.

Supported by Deepti Naval with her superb performance the film is a must watch for all who are interested in watching Hindi films made on some new and unexplored subjects. It’s a well directed film based on a brilliant script revolving around an untouched issue. And as an added merit it also has some soulful classical songs rendered by Pt. Bhimsen Joshi. So if you want to experience something completely out of the box and yet relevant, then just search for its DVD at the earliest and serve your thinking minds with this worth watching film from Amol Palekar.

Directed By Amol Palekar
Starring : Amol Palekar, Deepti Naval, Dr. Shree Ram Lagoo and more.
Music : Jaidev Verma (featuring Pt. Bhimsen Joshi)

Satya (1998) - (Movies To See Before You Die - Thriller)

2010-08-12T10:37:00.002+05:30

Bollywood has always been associated with movies revolving around the Underworld theme right from its Golden black and white era. But after Ram Gopal Verma made “Satya” the whole definition of Underworld in Hindi Movies was redefined in a highly authentic and superior manner leaving behind every other famous movie made on the same subject in the past.

“Satya” unarguably was responsible of setting new standards of both film-making and acting in the Hindi Cinema. Hugely acclaimed by both the masses and the classes it strengthened the innovative image of director, Ram Gopal Verma and also gave the industry an immensely gifted actor named Manoj Bajpai. Giving new dimesions to the characters of gangsters, the movie was a runaway success and amazingly after its release it was the villain (Bhikhu Matrey played by Manoj) and not the hero (Satya played by J. D. Charavarthi) who became a youth icon in the country with his famous one line dialogue, “Mumbai Ka King Kaun…Bhikhu Matrey”.

Apart from its brilliant execution and performances, “Satya” has two more aces down its sleeve and they are its Musical Score and Background Music. The movie has great songs composed by Vishal Bhardwaj and penned by Gulzar like “Sapne Mein Militi Hai”, “Goli Maar Bheje Mein”, “Badlon Se” and “Tu Mere Pass Bhi Hai”. It was only due to the genius of RGV that almost all the songs of “Satya” are still remembered and enjoyed till date despite of the fact that the movie was an intense flick made on the subject of terror and underworld operating in Mumbai.

Along with that it has one of the best background scores of Hindi Films composed by Sandeep Chowta. In fact such was the impact of his brilliant score that, months after the release of the movie, a separate CD of its background score was released by the music company to encash its huge popularity. Looking at all these achievements of this pure masterpiece, now it can easily be said that “Satya” has indisputably acquired the same cult status in Bollywood, what the famous “Godfather Series” enjoys in the Western Cinema. So, if you still haven’t witnessed the good and bad characters in this Ram Gopal Verma Classic, then do yourself a favour and see it at the earliest.

Directed by Ram Gopal Verma
Starring : Manoj Bajpai, Urmila Matondkar, J. D. Chakravarthi, Saurabh Shukla and more.

Music : Vishal Bhardwaj and Sandeep Chowta.

Kaun (1999) - (Movies To See Before You Die - Suspense / Mystery)

2010-08-12T10:34:00.002+05:30

“Kaun” was the movie which more or less established the out of the box thinking director image of the ace film-maker Ram Gopal Verma. It was a first of its kind of attempt in Indian Cinema which though couldn’t be a box office success but was widely discussed as an innovative project. At the time of its release majority of the viewers were not sure of what kind of product it was due to its very short length, novel concept and never seen before treatment on Indian screen. There were mixed responses within the audience where in one section highly praised the movie for its guts and the others who couldn’t really appreciate it at all.

Nevertheless, “Kaun” was indeed a path breaking film in Hindi Cinema which somehow forced the Indian Filmmakers to start experimenting with some new ideas and scripts. Its basic plot revolving around only 3 characters in a bungalow is quite similar to “Signpost To Murder” (1964), yet it moves way ahead of just being an inspired movie and has its own original twists and turns to frighten the viewer.

Without revealing its surprising storyline I would like to say that if you really love the genre of thrillers and suspense movies then “Kaun” is a must watch having three superlative performances by Urmila, Manoj Bajpai and Sushant Singh. Even with a slow narrative style it’s highly exciting and keeps the viewer guessing about what’s going to happen next. A not to be missed new age mystery movie which arguably was one of those few ventures which became the foundation of a new movie making and movie watching style in Bollywood.

Directed by Ram Gopal Verma
Starring : Urmila Matondkar, Manoj Bajpai and Sushant Singh.
Background Music : Sandeep Chowta

UDAAN (2010) - (Movies To See Before You Die - Drama)

2010-07-22T23:05:00.009+05:30

There are certain subjects which rarely get selected for a full length feature in our Indian Cinema. Adolescence is one of those rare subjects and we haven’t witnessed many movies made on the theme of those crucial teen years in the early life of a young boy. Therefore UDAAN comes as a pleasant surprise from a debutant director Vikramaditya Motwane, who boldly makes his first movie on an important subject and delivers a fine polished product proving his unique thought process with a style.

First of all the film is not preachy as it may seem to be from its look and promos. And neither it is interested in giving any sort of a message to the society in a boring way. It’s a simple story of a young boy and his relationship with his rigid father and helpless younger step brother told in the most simplistic way. But as it is said, ‘The beauty lies in its simplicity’, UDAAN becomes worth watching because it’s truthfully simple without any added flavors or colors and talks about a debatable aspect of our society.

The movie starts superbly with its first 20 minutes depicting the mischievous days of 4 young friends living in a boarding school. The sequence of their running from the school to watch an adult movie in the night show sets the mood in for the viewers. But this particular section of the film indisputably belongs to Manjot Singh alone (the young Lucky from ‘Oye Lucky Lucky Oye”), as he clearly outshines everyone on the screen with his famous realistic dialogue delivery style and comic persona. Though he vanishes off the screen after these initial enjoyable moments, but even then he makes you feel his presence through all those well written phone conversation scenes at regular intervals.

After its funny half an hour, UDAAN takes a serious turn and then moves into a completely different shell talking about the difficulties faced by a young boy while interacting with his ruler kind of a father. At this stage the narration becomes serious and the pace slows down drastically. But the director sticks to his main subject and characters in a convincing way and very soon you find yourself involved in this little family of three men (of different age groups) living in the same house as strangers.

In every family, a young male child always has his own contradictions with his father. There is difference of opinion, difference of vision and most probably the fight is over the issue of the stream or line in which the child desires to make a career in. UDAAN rightly focuses on this relevant issue and therefore every young boy watching the movie would easily relate to the script and the characters in a big way.

The movie may not find a thumbs up from every section of the viewers as its basically meant for the fans of realistic cinema who are used to a slower pace and can appreciate the social subject of the script without any songs or relief moments. It also has some minor flaws in its charactersiation like, how can a child steal money and car from his father who has a reign of fear in the family and yet cannot revolt right away or what was the cause of the father’s strong stubbornness towards his both sons. But even after these minor glitches, it still remains a well crafted film standing out of all those usual projects offered to us in 2010.

In real terms there are few visible and one invisible aspect of “UDAAN”, which makes it a worth watching project.

The visible aspects mainly include the outstanding confrontation sequences between the father and the son about their different styles of living and choice of professions. Both Rajat Barmecha as the young boy andRonit Roy as the father truly excel in their scenes together. Then just watch out for the young kidAayan Boradia, playing the silent step son, who mutely keeps suffering the merciless beatings of his father and doesn’t utter a word. He is simply adorable and loving with his innocent smile and dialogues. And then there are two sparkling performances by Ram Kapoor and Manjot Singh. Especially the silent conversation scenes between Ram and Rajat are a treat to watch. Finally the most impactful visible aspect of the movie remains its climax where Rajat along with his writer Anurag Kashyap and director Motwane defines the meaning of their title “UDAAN” in an exceptional way. In fact the concluding scene of the movie is capable of lifting up every viewer from his seat in sheer joy.

Coming to the invisible but in my opinion the most important aspect of “UDAAN”, which puts it in a completely different league, is the way it expresses the need of A MOTHER in every child’s life.

The film makes you feel the incomparable role of a female or a mother in a family who cannot be replaced by any amount of love, compassion or care provided by the other members. A mother, who can finish off all the differences in a family with her kind presence, love and calmness. A mother, who in disguise is just GOD living in our homes for taking care of us in the needy times. And a Mother whose debt we cannot repay in any form in our whole life on this planet.

Both the director and the writer need to be congratulated on this hidden aspect of the movie which may not strike all the viewers at first. But if you can think for a moment, then all the sufferings in the movie are only there due to the missing factor in the family called “MOTHER”.

So, in a way “UDAAN” also makes you realize this Biggest Gift of God to the mankind by very softly portraying the fact that a family becomes completely dry and stiff in absence of a motherly abode. I hope the film encourages every son or daughter to remember that they are blessed to have their mothers around them in this tender age and they do take care and love her to the best of their abilities forever.

Summing up, its a recommended flick since it has an important message for all fathers and families having their kids in the adolescence age. And indeed a must watch for its invisible merit, indicating the role of a Mother in a happy family.

Ratings : 4 / 5

(The movie right away finds its place in my “Movies To See Before You Die” list cause it makes you realize the most precious gift of God to us and that’s our Mother.)

TERE BIN LADEN (2010) - (Movies To See Before You Die - Comedy)

2010-07-22T22:58:00.002+05:30

Its good news for all Comedy genre lovers as here comes a fine tuned comic flick with some great performances after a long time. Out of all the genres of film-making I consider Comedy as the toughest one since each individual viewer has his own kind of sense of humor and it’s really tough to make everyone laugh at the same time. Any comic attempt can easily go over the top if not equipped with some right, powerful and timely punches. And if you are dealing with a concept based on the identity of the world’s most famous personality OSAMA BIN LADEN then the vision of its makers really matter a lot.

Fortunately “TERE BIN LADEN”, comes up as a clear winner, offering you a highly enjoyable time in the theater with a fresh and daring subject. As a sigh of relief at last we get a well written comedy to enjoy, where people are not just running after one another or greeting each other with mistaken identities as seen in countless comedies in the last few years. The movie once again proves a strong point of film-making that a pleasing project solely depends upon its writing, script and execution more than its star-cast. The fact was earlier proved decades before by “Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron” and more recently by “Khosla Ka Ghosla”. Now “TERE BIN LADEN” proves it once again, as the common man is appreciating it, even when he is not familiar with any of the faces seen on the screen.

Based on the subject of creating a fake personality of OSAMA and then shooting his forged tapes to earn some quick bucks, the film is immensely likable right from its first sequence of deporting the lead hero by mistake. The other big factor which becomes an instant hit with the viewers is its perfect casting where every characters is able to bring in some more laughter with his own unique lines. For instance, the Channel owner, the helpless editor, the witty cameraman, the makeup girl and the voice over artist, each one of them has a different quality to win over the audience. And on top of all there is Ali Zafar, the hero with his impeccable timing and Pradhuman Singh who is made to pose as the fake OSAMA in a highly hilarious manner.

Beside this, what really works is the mixed language used in the movie with insertions of Urdu, Hindi and Punjabi lines written intelligently. In fact it’s the Punjabi abusives used by Pradhuman dressed as OSAMA which makes you laugh aloud and you really want him to keep abusing at regular intervals. Yes, the movie does take some huge liberties while showcasing the retaliation of White House (after watching the forged tapes). But if you are dealing with a theme on OSAMA then America and White house has to be there as a mandatory clause. So, considering it as a hilarious satire on the system, it’s a fine funny take on the whole world fighting with the current situation of terror.

A comedy mainly works, when a well crafted script gets an ample support from its performers and they all have a good time working together. Luckily, that is the main USP of “Tere Bin Laden” where everyone gels together perfectly and contributes a lot to the overall experience.

Frankly speaking, performance wise, the movie was a pleasant surprise for me as I knew Ali Zafar, the lead hero of the film, only as a talented singer-composer and Pop Icon of Pakistan. He did a successful pop album for us in India titled “MASTY”and you might remember the hit song from the album called “Sun Ri Sajaniya”. But I never knew that Ali had such a hidden acting talent in him. He is surely the find of the season for both India and Pakistan and should soon be getting more deserving offers of acting.

Among the rest of the cast, Pradhuman Singh as OSAMA is too funny playing with his Sikander (the chicken). The film could have fallen flat if he would have faltered in his role of a fake OSAMA. But he is simply superb looking exactly similar to the real one. Piyush Mishra, Sugandha Garg, Nikhil Ratnaparkhi, Rahul Singh and Chirag Vohra as a collective team are all terrific. Berry John gives another controlled performance of a US representative. Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy’s music supports the feel and pace of the movie completely. The music grows on you and as the end credits are rolling you feel like loving it. Cinematography is fine but the dialogues and its one liners are just fantastic.

In all, I could only find one small glitch in this almost perfect movie, related to its main region of operation. The film confusingly keeps shifting between different regions of India and Pakistan. With its major characters and sequences representing the neighboring region it gives you a feeling of a collaboration kind of project which is sadly not mentioned anywhere in the film credits. So the unexplainable regional disparities in backgrounds, getups and physical appearances remain the only hick-up in this immensely likable comedy.

If “Khosla Ka Ghosla” gave us Dibaker Banerjee then “Tere Bin Laden” has given us another ace debutant writer-director Abhishek Sharma. And I am really expecting more worth watching movies coming from him pretty soon. So, stop thinking and just go for it with your entire family at the earliest and have a good time.

Ratings : 4 / 5

("Tere Bin Laden" finds its place in my "Movie To See Before You Die" list as its an out of the box comedy based on a rare and daring concept.)

Black Friday (2004) - (Movies To See Before You Die - Drama/Documentary)

2010-07-04T21:39:00.001+05:30

The title refers to the deadly Friday which witnessed the most lethal series of bomb blasts in India (Mumbai) in the year 1993 leading to severe loss of the life and property. The incident is said to be responsible for changing the life styles, relationships and daily pattern of living in the business center of India, then called Bombay.

The movie is a true to life account of sequences before and after the blasts, boldly taking actual names of the accused as per the records. It’s just like watching something straight from the Police records with very authentic portrayals of raids, interrogations and arrests made by the Police in those years. Hence it may not be a normal film experience for many viewers since it requires a completely different kind of mind-set to watch it in absence of any default settings of a Bollywood movie.

Incidentally “Black Friday” actually took a few years to reach the silver screen with a proper release due to its very realistic filming of the incident. The authorities feared that it really had the power to trigger on something deadly again in the society, if it was publicly shown before the result of the ongoing trial in the court. After its release, though the film was not a runaway box office success, but it was rightly accepted as a pure masterpiece of the Indian Cinema directed by Anurag Kashyap, the famous new-age film makers of the current times.

If you really love meaningful cinema and don’t mind watching extremely disturbing films based on real life inhuman tragedies around us, then give yourself a treat and watch “Black Friday” at the earliest. The movie holds three aces in its sleeve in the form of its highly impressive direction, explosive and realistic performances and the haunting background music which makes you feel the blood splashed on the screen. The words sung by “Indian Ocean” would definitely stay in your minds for long after your have watched this true to life gem. And they go as,

“Arey Ruk Ja O Bande, Arey Tham Ja O Bande, Ke Kudrat Has Padhegi……Ho…”

Directed by Anurag Kashyap
Starring : K.K., Pawan Malhotra, Aditya Srivastava and more.
Music by Indian Ocean – The Rock Band.

My Dinner With Andre (1981) - (Movies To See Before You Die - Drama)

2010-05-26T12:19:00.002+05:30

Before writing about the movie itself, I would like to raise a few questions for my fellow readers here……

Do you sometimes think about why we are living this routine life going no-where? Do you sometimes feel lost like a wandering soul in search of the unknown? Have you ever tasted the difference between the state of Loneliness and Aloneness? Can you easily sit down in a comfortable posture doing just nothing for a few minutes, simply enjoying your being? Have you ever thought about the only certainty of life….which is DEATH or Does the word DEATH makes you nervous and fills you with a shivering fear of losing all the loved ones around you?

If the majority of the answers to the above questions are NO, then please don’t even try to see this movie as it has nothing in the name of entertainment but has got everything in the name of enlightenment. If you haven’t ever thought of all the above things in your life for a single moment then it’s of no use spending your precious two hours on this unexplainable phenomenon which goes beyond the normal thought process of a human mind. And if you still go on to try this rare gem……then in all possibilities, it will be like watching a regional flick whose language you don’t understand in the first place.

BUT if you have YES to most of the questions asked here then this remarkable gem of Cinema will be like a precious discourse of your Loving Spiritual MASTER which may bring about new changes in your life and your thinking patterns.

In clear words “My Dinner With Andre” is not a movie at all. It’s entirely a new and unusual experience to have which may or may not strike you on the positive side. It has dialogues like a sharp knife piercing down your soul resulting in deep wounds. And at the same time it has such calm and soothing lines which may work like an effective medicine for your open scars.

The movie revolves around only two characters chatting with each other on a dinner and the third one is only the waiter serving them the dinner at regular intervals. Throughout the two hours the two persons on the table are just talking about their strange but important experiences of life without any attempt of reaching at any conclusion. Their valuable, explosive and enlightening discussion is left with an open end by the director, leaving the viewer to have his own interpretations of the talks. Hence it is not an easy task watching and understanding “My Dinner With Andre”. It may make your restless, it may be hugely disturbing and it may even bore you for a few moments in the mid. But at the end, if you are able to stick with those two old persons talking on the screen for about two hours, then the movie will surely be like a refreshing & rejuvenating shower after a tiring day.

Frankly speaking, if you have ever experienced the presence of an enlightened master in your life and have also tasted the fruits of the calm meditations then “My Dinner With Andre” will be exactly like meditating with an open mind. As I see it, it’s an important movie, which should essentially be watched by everyone who is walking on his own spiritual path of life towards an unknown goal.

In the end, I would seriously like to request to find it, borrow it, buy it or rent it, but grab it somehow and watch it in the dark along with your lovable companion holding your arm. Watching movies could never be more meaningful with flicks such as “My Dinner with Andre”.

Directed by Louis Malle
Writers and Actors : Wallace Shawn and Andre Gregory

(Chek out the Complete List at www.bobbytalkscinema.com)

Anatomy of a Murder (1959) - (Movies To See Before You Die - Court Room Drama)

2010-05-26T12:04:00.011+05:30

Rated among the Best Court Room Dramas around the globe, “Anatomy of a Murder” is no doubt a worth watching thriller for all the lovers of this particular genre. But frankly speaking the movie is included in my Must See Movies List purely for its direction, execution and performances. Because as far as the story content and its investigations are concerned, I found them not so exciting, lacking the expected brain teaser kind of twists & turns in the screenplay. But what bowled me over, were its brilliant performances and the intriguing style in which the two lawyers compete with each other on a controversial case of Rape and cold blooded Murder in the court.

In fact the movie unarguably features one of the most authentic depiction of a court room drama, wherein the lawyers are dying to overshadow each other in order to win the case with their own unique tricks of the trade. Even when the script doesn’t have any great shocking moments to offer to its viewers, it’s the characters on the screen and their true to life acts which take the movie to an entirely different level of excellence.

Featuring one of James Stewart’s finest performances of his career, “Anatomy of a Murder” can easily be crowned as the best thesis on a Lawyer’s behavior in the court. In other words if you want to study the finer details of how a attorney (both defense and prosecution) actually fights and proceeds in front of the honorary Judge, then you got to see this as a compulsion. The movie quite honestly shows the viewer, the qualities of a Lawyer, who proves to be intelligent, sharp, witty, humorous and spontaneous while arguing for his case. But at the same time it also reveals the ugly side of the profession when he goes on to the level of being cunning, distasteful, disrespectful and full of hatred in his attempt of winning the case and proving the accused guilty.

Incidentally the movienever shows you any original happening of the crime and the case actually starts, days after the actual offense has been committed. But still it successfully manages to keep you glued on to the ongoing case hearings and arguments put forward by both the lawyers in front of the final authority. It also ends with few open questions left on the individual understanding of the viewers which further leads to many different conclusions of the case and its verdict.

Hence, I would really like to recommend “Anatomy of a Murder” solelyfor the worth watching performance of James Stewart as the good lawyer, with a not so good track record. And if you love the genre of Court Room Dramas sincerely, then you are sure going to cherish the commendable act by the well known actor for long.

Directed By Otto Preminger
Starring : James Stewart, George C. Scott & more.

(Chek out the Complete List at www.bobbytalkscinema.com)

Judgment At Nuremberg (1961) (Movies To See Before You Die – Court Room Drama)

2010-05-11T13:02:00.001+05:30

Court Room dramas are usually famous and liked by all the die-hard lovers of the genre due to their unexpected twists and turns, interesting revelations and surprise elements coming normally towards their end. The two attorneys fighting against each other with their own explanations and accuses, do excite many viewers feeding the grey cells of their thinking minds.

But here is a movie which though has got all the essential ingredients of an intense court room drama, yet it is not interested in only providing some thrilling entertainment moments to its viewers. Here is a film, which is capable of teaching you, the real meaning of a trial and is only concerned with talking about Justice and Justice alone. With its brilliant portrayal of the courtroom proceedings, the movie makes you understand the constant ongoing process taking place in the mind of a Judge, while he is dealing with an important and crucial case of a national importance. The director beautifully shows the dilemma faced by the Chief Judge, while making a choice between what’s actually right as per the law and what’s otherwise expected from him as a loyal citizen of his country.

Based on a fictional account of a trial faced by 4 Judges who served Germany during the Nazi regime, “Judgment at Nuremberg” cannot be considered as a routine court room drama from any angle. If you wish to watch it only for some more exciting thrills to enjoy, written around just another murder plot as usual, then chances are that you may get disappointed big time. But if you are really a game for a thought provoking, exceptional and important film which enlightens you about the bitter truths of the humanity, practiced in the historical Holocaust……., then do yourself a favor and watch this magnificent piece of art at the earliest.

A sequence in the film showcases the actual visual footage filmed by American soldiers after the liberation of the tragic concentration camps. And those few moments of the history are simply more horrifying than any other horror film you may have seen in your entire life. The footage can prove to be hugely disturbing for all the youngsters who get to see it for the first time. But on the positive side, it teaches you the value of your present gifted life in a unique style. The movie ends on a strong note, when the Chief Judge reads out his final verdict serving The Right Justice, ignoring his own country’s essential need at that particular point of time. And thus explains the real meaning of a Court, Law & its Integrity.

Considered as one of the best All Time Classic Court Room Dramas till date, “Judgment at Nuremberg” an Oscar winner, is a pure example of excellence achieved by its entire star-cast lead by Spencer Tracy as the Chief Judge, Burt Lancaster as the Accused Judge and Maximilian Schell as the Defense Lawyer. Superbly directed by Stanley Kramer, it’s a must watch for all who consider cinema as an important mode of expression, capable of giving a message to the society and a much bigger medium than just being mere another source of mass entertainment.

Directed By Stanley Kramer
Starring : Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Maximilian Schell, Marlene Dietrich & more.

(Chek out the Complete List at www.bobbytalkscinema.com)

Kabuliwala (1961) (Movies To See Before You Die - Drama)

2010-05-11T12:56:00.005+05:30

The legendary Nobel Prize winner poet and writer, Shri Rabindranath Tagore’s famous novels & short stories are known for their simple, soulful and heart transforming content. His writings sincerely represent those hidden emotional qualities of people, which unexpectedly get discovered in the tough times of life. “Kabuliwala” is also one of his most appreciated works revolving around the life span of an Afghani Pathaan, who comes to India for earning money but ends up spending his major years of life in jail remembering his own daughter and mother waiting for him in his home town.

Bimal Roy productions and director Heman Gupta skillfully transform this beautiful story on the celluloid along with the most natural actor, Balraj Sahni, playing the role of an Afghani Pathaan in a highly authentic style. His gem of an act is simply outstanding and undoubtedly one of the best performances of Hindi Cinema till date. Throughout the movie he never gives you a single moment, where it seems like he is acting. And if one is not familiar with Balraj Sahni’s huge and reputed status as an actor, then he is sure going to take him as a real pathaan performing the lead role in the movie.

Such is the impact of Balraj Sahni’s incomparable act in “Kabuliwala”. Especially in the scene towards the climax when he fondly calls the small girl of his memories to come out to meet him, but finds a young grown up girl standing in front of him instead. And further when he is told that the girl is going to be married in just a few days, then the expressions on his face are sure going to make you go numb.

The movie very gracefully shows the pain of working away from one’s own mother land. Along with that it very tactfully enlightens the viewer with both the strengths and weaknesses of its main characters originating from two different regions of the world. In other words “Kabuliwala” truly represents the Golden Era of Bollywood, when simplicity was used in the most effective manner to express the emotional stories taken from our rich literature.

With a classic musical score by Salil Chaudhary, which includes two memorable and meaningful songs, “Aye Mere Pyare Watan” sung by the great Manna Dey & “Ganga Aaye Kahan Se” sung by another legend Hemant Kumar, “Kabuliwala” is a cinematic masterpiece which should be considered as a mandatory watch by every true lover of Indian Cinema living anywhere in the world. So if you love Bollywood from your heart then you simply can’t afford to miss, Balraj Sahni & his “Kabuliwala”.

Directed by Heman Gupta
Starring : Balraj Sahni, Sajjan, Asit Sen, Sonu, Usha Kiran and more

(Chek Out The Complete List at www.bobbytalkscinema.com)

Hustle & Flow (2005) (Movies To See Before You Die - Drama/Musical)

2010-05-11T12:44:00.004+05:30

Generally speaking, a Musical is a particular genre of cinema in which a story is mainly expressed in the form of frequent song sequences coming on the screen, specifically written and conceived with a motive of taking the story ahead. But very rarely comes a movie which though is based on a musical theme but still goes miles ahead of just being a song and dance extravaganza.

“Hustle & Flow” is such a movie, which not only blows you out with its strong performances and brilliant songs but also enlightens the viewer about the way a song is conceived, arranged, sung and then mixed to reach its final shape. There are not many movies in the world of cinema which give you a first-hand experience of how one Hit Song is made right from the initial stages when its lyrics are written on a small pad lying in the pocket of its writer. Interestingly “Hustle & Flow” is based on a screenplay which has an important sequence showcasing the entire session of producing a song in the recording studio and the movie is simply worth watching for these few minutes of music making alone.

Along with this above mentioned rare merit, “Hustle & Flow” also makes you witness the pain and hardships suffered by the people involved in the flesh trade. Based on a story of a pimp and his female associates, the movie revolves around his journey from the roads to a Rap-Star. Terrance Howard delivers a power packed, career best performance as DJAY who re-invents himself in the form a creative person and for that he rightly won the prestigious OSCAR nomination for The Best Performance in a Leading Role.

The movie has been directed by Craig Brewer, who’s unique and sensitive treatment of the subject proves to be the backbone of this must watch musical masterpiece. The splendid tracks in the movie also indicate towards the terrific musical sense possessed by its director. And that was the reason why “Hustle & Flow” also Won an OSCAR for The Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures in the year 2006. The awarded song “It’s Hard Out There For A Pimp” has got the right punch and it keeps growing on you even days after you have watched it in the movie.

So, if you are an avid fan of Hip Hop music and really want to feel the right groove then “Hustle & Flow” should be the next move you make in your musical journey. But please note that the movie holds the Restricted Rating (R) and strictly calls for an adult viewing since it has got a lot of abusive and offensive stuff going on along with its pumping music. Nevertheless, it’s a must watch for everyone who is musical from his heart and soul.

Directed by Craig Brewer
Starring : Terrance Howard, Anthony Anderson, Taryn Manning, Tarji P. Henson and more.

(Chek out the Complete List at www.bobbytalkscinema.com)

Shaymchi Aai (1953) (Marathi) - The First Film in India to be awarded with THE NATIONAL AWARD for The BEST FILM in 1954. (Movies To See Before You Die - Drama)

2010-04-10T16:04:00.003+05:30

I was recently introduced to this great piece of art proudly representing the Marathi Cinema wave in the country. Directed by Prahlad Keshav Atre, “Shaymchi Aai” (meaning Shyam’s mother) was released in 1953 and was widely acclaimed by both young and old at the time of its release. Based on a book with the same title written by Sane Guruji in Marathi, the film revolves around the innocent and divine relationship between a child Shyam and his mother ‘Aai’, who teaches him the essential lessons of life with her true love and affection.

In order to make you relate with this old black & white regional classic in a more modern way, I would like to associate it with two immensely famous movies of Hindi Cinema, namely “Mother India” from the past and “Taare Zameen Par” from the current times.

“Shyamchi Aai” made be remember “Mother India” as it also has a similar kind of strong character of a mother (like Nargis), who is willing to fight all the tough times of poverty and grief along with her loving husband and children. She is soft as a flower petal, yet strong as a mountain, having the spirit to face every storm of life with her great courage. And the priceless lessons she teaches her young children in those hard times, make the movie an essential watch for all lovers of good and meaningful cinema. In fact the well written scenes between the mother and the child can easily be rated as one of the best sequences depicting the most respected relationship in the mankind. Certainly both the writer and the director, along with Vanamala playing the mother, truly deserve all the praises they received for their splendid efforts. And for this reason, I would readily like to call “Shyamchi Aai” as the famous “Mother India” of the Marathi Cinema.

Now, coming to “Taare Zameen Par”, the movie reminded me of this recent masterpiece mainly because of the brilliant act performed by the child actor Madhav Vaze, playing the character of Shyam in it. The kid undoubtedly delivers one of the finest acts by a child artist in the history of Indian Cinema till date. His confidence, style and conviction is simply worth watching. Actually it’s his performance in the movie which enhances the impact of the pain felt by her mother on screen to many folds. In other words after Darsheel Safary in TZM, or rather before him, it was Madhave Vaze performing as Shyam in “Shaymchi Aai”, who was able to set his own new benchmarks in the Indian Cinema way back in the year 1953. In reality, the innocent mannerisms of Shyam keep walking down the memory lanes of your mind, even days after you have watched this famous classic. And that’s the magic of this simple and impressive movie from P. K. Atre.

The movie has numerous scenes teaching the right values of life to the viewer and the sequences also posses the power to transform. For instance, there is one particular scene in the film, where the family is facing their tough days of poverty, but still having a decent dinner together. Now the mother, who has cooked the food, has forgotten to put salt in the dish. But everyone in the family goes on eating the food calmly with no complaints of any sort. Even the child Shyam is having his food, though he refuses to eat that dish, but still is saying nothing about the salt. The moment the mother herself eats the dish, she comes to know that there is no salt and then she asks her husband that why nobody said anything about it. And then the husband answers, “You have made this food with so much love and affection and have taken great pain to give us this lovely dinner in our days of poverty. Then how can we complain of anything to you about your cooking. Instead we are grateful that you are here with us to take care of our hunger and provide us this tasty food.” Now if that cannot teach us anything then nothing can.

The other gem to cherish in “Shyamchi Aai” is its melodious music by Vasant Desai. Though I didn’t understand the language, still I enjoyed all its songs immensely, especially the ones filmed on all the children playing in the school.

The movie was the first film in India, to be awarded The First National Award or Golden Lotus Award for The Best Film in 1954. And the fact says it all for its cinematic importance.

Being a regional flick, it may not appeal to the people, who have no time to watch the old time gems and might not be appreciated by the hip generation which is more interested in living their lives at the maximum speed. But if you love watching black & white classics of different regions, have the patience to sit through its old age pace and want to enjoy a hugely famous landmark classic of Indian Cinema, then just look out for the DVD of “Shaymchi Aai”. It is worth your precious time in this fast progressing monetary world and has some great teachings which must be passed on to all the young kids roaming around in our houses in their playful mood.

Directed By Prahlad Keshav Atre
Music : Vasant Desai

(Originally posted at www.bobbytalkscinema.com)

LOVE SEX AUR DHOKHA - (2010) (Movie To See Before You Die - Drama / Comedy)Review By Bobby Sing)

2010-03-21T11:05:00.002+05:30

Welcome Mr. Dibaker Lucky Khosla back onscreen, representing the new age Bollywood Cinema of the current times from the front. With a completely unexpected, novel and experimental kind of project, the director returns with a bang, walking on his own invented path, breaking all the pre-existing molds of film-making in India. His latest may or may not get instant appreciation from the common man, but will undoubtedly be remembered as an important breakthrough in Indian Cinema and its thought process on the medium.

First of all, don’t go for this movie, simply expecting many over the top, sexual sequences showing the skin, as suggested by its title. As a matter of fact, if you are just there in the theater, to watch a sex-movie then you are going to be disappointed a lot. Because this is not merely a sensational piece of work, trying to cash on its title and sex scenes. On the contrary LSD is a thought provoking film, which forces you to think about whether there still exists any private life in this fast progressing technical world around us?

The movie basically showcases three distinct youthful stories, which have the important ingredients of love, passion, greed and lust in different dosages. All the three, are related to each other in a peculiar way, quite similar to the movies of the world renowned director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu of Amores Perros, 21 and Babel fame. However, Dibaker

shows the interconnection between the 3, only towards their respective ends which actually provides another surprise element into the narration and works to a great extent. As far as camerawork is concerned, he also seems to be inspired from the recent Hit project shot on handy cam called “Paranormal Activity”.
Content wise, once again the director indicates his immense liking towards subjects inspired from the real life incidents. The movie is full of cases which you may have heard or seen on the net in the recent past. There are clear references of real life episodes such as Miss Merrut’s sting operation, MMS clips of a newly-wed, Sex clips of a young couple in a store and a Hip-Hop singer speaking Punjabi and getting involved in the case of casting couch. In fact Dibaker Bannerjee has got an unmatchable skill of using the real life news clips in his projects. And this is a proven fact, taking into account, both his previous movies which were highly inspired from real life facts and characters. However, his films might not always be a pleasant experience to watch with the entire family due to his overuse of abusive language and inclusion of highly suggestive sexual scenes in the scripts.

Besides this, the other exclusive master touch possessed by the director is the way he uses Punjabi language in his dialogues and also names of famous places of Delhi in his sequences. For instance just notice the way, the morning shift store girl (in the second story) speaks her dialogues with a distinctive Delhi Punjabi accent. It clearly shows the strong influence of Delhi and its friendly punjabi life style on Dibaker. Frankly speaking, I can easily vouch that till date the most authentic portrayal of the city Delhi and its life style can easily be found in all the three movies coming from the talented director in the recent years.

Coming to the technical aspects of the movie, Yes, the camera is shaking, the images get blurred and there is a substantial use of night vision. But these all concern you only for a few initial moments and that’s it. After the first few scenes, the subject takes you in and you simply forget about all the technical hitches coming on the screen at regular intervals. Especially the opening titles of the movie explain it all and help in building up the right mood for the movie’s novel concept and treatment.

Cinematography is simply superb, very realistic and leaves such an impact that at times you don’t even remember you are watching a movie in the theater. Particularly the use of Handy cams, security cameras and spy cameras is really commendable. Editing is fast, crisp and very close to the real life movement we all witness in our daily lives. Musically, the title track is very catchy and already popular in the youth. Another song of the movie, which had very vulgar lyrics, could not make it to the screen due to the strict censorship. But strangely, it is openly discussed by the characters in the third story. Also the creative artwork of the movie deserves a special mention as it highly innovative and suggestive. The film consists of all new talents who are able to impress and never ever show the signs of their first project on screen. Everyone just looks like his or her character in the script and their collectively effort is a real treat to watch.

The ruling queen of the small screen, Ekta Kapoor has made a very noticeable debut in the genre of experimental cinema, which will surely bring her both profits and appreciation together. And what to say about the director, Dibaker Bannerjee! He won millions of hearts with his first two movies and now once again delivers a worth watching & path breaking project consistently. Unarguably, he is one of the most talented and innovative directors of our times who can ensure you serious content along with his own stamp of comedy and satire.

In simple words, if you eat, live & drink cinema then you are sure going to love this great piece of art. And for all other friends, who only watch movies as just another form of entertainment, you may or may not like it…..but you will not be able to neglect it.

(Great! But more shocking content was being expected)

(Originally posted at www.bobbytalkscinema.com)

Pancham Unmixed – R. D. Burman (2008) - (Movies To See Before You Die – Biographical / Documentary)

2010-01-08T22:18:00.001+05:30

Human species especially the kind residing in our part of the world, have a long tradition of recognizing the talent and capabilities of a master, only after he has left this beautiful world. A perfect example of this old tradition is the life of great R. D. Burman who ironically became hugely famous and got his due recognition for all his innovative and path-breaking works, only after his untimely demise on 4th January, 1994.

Interestingly, all the praises, the euphoria and the aura, now existing around the name of the Legendary R. D. Burman was nowhere in sight in the late eighties and early nineties. In fact the whole Filmy world was not even interested in giving RDB any more opportunities to prove himself once again. But there was only one person, who still believed in the genius and gave him his golden chance of making a grand comeback. He was Vidhu Vinod Chopra who gave RDB, “1942 – A Love Story” which sadly became the last memorable masterpiece from the master. With his classic compositions in the movie, Pancham Da once again showed to the world, the mettle he was made with and then left the world in peace after proving the musical genes he had inherited from his gifted father S. D. Burman.

The above part of his life may not be known to many, but unfortunately, it is a bitter truth which Pancham Da was forced to experience in his last days on the planet. But now, the world rightly remembers him as the most versatile, inventive and original music composers of Bollywood, whose creative compositions are still considered miles ahead of the work done by the current generation of tech-savvy music composers.

If you loved reading the above references about the untold life of the master musician, then you will immensely enjoy a brilliant documentary made by Brahmanand S. Singh on the life of great R. D. Burman titled, “Pancham Unmixed”. It is a well directed account of the happening life lived by the maestro, which also enlightens the viewer about both his happy and sad days with great sensitivity and concern. The movie has many unique moments to share about RDB’s music, his style of working and his caring relationships with his fellow musicians. Along with the excerpts from his classic repertoire of immortal musical gems, the documentary is a highly emotional journey for all RDB fans still hooked on to his music even today.

The movie has exclusive footage of RDB speaking about himself and many other stalwarts of the Hindi Film Industry sharing several rare anecdotes about their days spent with the incomparable musical soul. It showcases many hidden aspects of RDB’s immensely talented identity, which makes it a real divine experience for every die-hard fan of the genius.

Personally I simply loved watching Shammi Kapoor talking about the maestro in his own lovable style with some adorable emotional expressions. And Vidhu Vinod Chopra who was the only person (in the nineties) to believe in RDB’s inner talent and also provided him the opportunity of making his immortal swan song for the uncaring world.

Lastly, I would like to thank the makers for coming up with this much needed documentary which will make the world repent on the way it treated the master in his last few years. In short, it’s highly recommended for every music lover, who adores Indian Film Music and still remembers the timeless classics from the great R. D. Burman.

(The Documentary has been released by Shemaroo Entertainment in an exclusive Collector’s Pack which also has a Coffee Table Book on the life of the master, along with a DVD of his most famous songs.)

Directed by Brahmanand S. Singh
Starring : R. D. Burman himself and most of the Indian Film Industry stalwarts.

(Originally Posted at www.bobbytalkscinema.com)

Zindagi Ek Safar – Kishore Kumar (1989) - (Movies To See Before You Die – Biographical / Documentary)

2010-01-04T13:39:00.002+05:30

For lovers of Indian Cinema and its melodious film music from the Golden Era, here comes the much awaited rare piece of creative work, recently released in the DVD format. It is the one and only video documentary made in 1989, on the happening life of the most versatile musical phenomenon called Kishore Kumar. Directed by Sandip Ray (son of the renowned film-maker, Satyajit Ray), the movie talks about Kishore Da’s lesser known childhood, his energetic career as an actor and his incomparable contribution as a singer along with famous clips of his uncountable melodious songs which are still cherished by hindi film music lovers living all over the world.

Intelligently compiled by Sandip, the movie not only showcases the brighter side of Kishore Da’s persona but also talks about the grey shades of his identity, which were sadly publicised in the media as an eccentric behavior towards insanity. Ironically, Kishore da himself talks about it with Lata Mangeshkar in an interview featured in the documentary. Exploring different phases in the life and career of Kishore Da, as an actor, producer, director, singer, composer and lyricist, the movie smartly makes us familiar with the real truth behind many famous myths about him.

However, the only missing point in the movie according to me was to avoid the era in which there was a healthy competition seen between Mohd. Rafi and Kishore Da. The narration completely skips this particular part of his career, when R. D. Burman was rising towards the peak and along with him few other music directors also started preferring Kishore Da to sing for their films. Apart from this it’s a brilliant piece of documentation in which so many famous personalities are brought together to talks about their favorite singer and actor ranging from the veteran Dada Muni (Ashok Kumar) to the voice of the current generation, Shaan.

A must watch for all who love Kishore Kumar and his multitalented career of an immensely creative personality. (The DVD has been released by Moser Baer Home Video and should be easily available at all leading stores.)

Directed by Sandip Ray
Starring : Kishore Kumar and most of the Indian Film Industry’s stalwarts.

(Originally Posted at www.bobbytalkscinema.com)

Sadma (1983) - (Movies To See Before You Die - Drama)

2009-12-29T20:41:00.002+05:30

Somehow I missed this important and brilliant movie in my list of Must See Cinema till now, but it has always been there in my collection and a movie close to my heart due to four major reasons. One, because this was the first movie in which I was literally convinced by the flawless acting of Sridevi who efficiently played the role of a grown up girl having the mind of a six year old child. Her authentic portrayal of an innocent small girl made me respect her as an actor in a much bigger way than ever before.

Secondly it had my favourite and one of the most versatile actors in Indian Cinema, Kamal Hassan who equally supported Sridevi on the screen with the same sincerity and elegance. In fact, both Kamal Hassan and Sridevi can easily rate “Sadma” as one of the 5 best movies of their sparkling careers. In reality, the movie is still remembered as the key representative of Kamal Hassan’s Hindi Cinema span in particular.

The third reason being the unforgettable musical score by the maestro Illayarja, which actually deserves to be there among the Best Original Soundtracks of Hindi Cinema ever. Songs like “Aye Zindagi Gale Laga Le” and “Suramayi Akhiyon Main”, continue to be the favorites of even the current generation of the changing times. Accompanied by the meaningful lyrics of Gulzar, the compositions have the power to take away all the pain of the listener and generate a soothing meditative impact on the mind.

Lastly and most importantly, the movie still haunts me with its highly emotional and moving climax sequence when Sridevi regains her normal condition and simply forgets about Kamal who was the only helping hand in her days of suffering. The last scene of the movie at the Railway Station where Kamal tries his best to make her remember his very existence is still fresh in my mind even today. The scene clearly justifies why Kamal Hassan stands tall in the list of the most talented actors in the History of Indian Cinema (irrespective of any language or region). And that’s the power of this touching movie called “Sadma”. If you the love the genre of emotional & meaningful drama then just don’t miss it at any cost.

Directed by Balu Mahendra
Starring : Sridevi, Kamal Hassan, Gulshan Grover, Silk Smita & more.

Music : Illayraja

(Originally Posted at www.bobbytalkscinema.com)

3 IDIOTS : Hirani and Aamir once again prove themselves as the two most precious assets of Bollywood. (Review By Bobby Sing)

2009-12-25T21:25:00.001+05:30

Let me start with a unique experience I had while watching “3 Idiots” paid premiere in one of Delhi’s leading multiplex on Thursday night. The house was full and everyone was pretty excited to see the last most awaited film of the year 2009. The show was to start at 7pm but unfortunately the print got stuck somewhere and there was a delay announced in the hall of about half an hour. Unusually the wait became long enough to complaint, and the show started 3 hours late at around 10pm. But not a single person in the theater abandoned the show and went back home. Everyone just stayed there in their seats waiting for three long hours along with their kids and family. The ambience made me feel the power, magic and expectations associated with two big names of Bollywood, namely Aamir Khan and Raj Kumar Hirani. And as the movie ended, everyone stood there clapping as refreshed as ever, even after they had spent more than 6 hours sitting in the cinema hall.

In few words, “3 Idiots” fulfills every promise it made and entertains the viewer completely with its engrossing and enlightening content based upon some real life happenings, we see and read about every day. Loosely inspired from Chetan Bhagat’s novel, “Five Point Someone”, it starts with the story of two friends, who are in search of their third adorable room-mate of the engineering college who actually helped them both in finding their own desired path in life. Commencing with a phone call to Madhavan, about their lost friend, the movie keeps shifting between the present & the past and majorly talks about the days they all spent together in the college studying engineering.

The first half is full of highly enjoyable moments which have a distinctive Hirani flavor and are sure going to be liked by everyone of any age or gender. The pants dropping humor may be a bit weird for some but the youngsters would not mind it at all for a change. However the engineering college campus and the in-class sequences in the movie do remind you of all the famous medical college scenes in Hirani’s debut masterpiece “Munnabhai M.B.B.S”. The entertaining first half ends on a mystery note, which straight away gets solved post intermission and then the story moves on towards the search of the third lost idiot, Aamir. Though the second half has got some dragging moments in the mid but overall, it makes a good impact on the viewer with a masterstroke used towards the climax having a pleasant surprise twist. And in the end, it makes you leave the hall clapping with a cheerful smile.

Director Rajkumar Hirani brilliantly writes all his scenes along with the talented Abhijat Joshi and the experienced Vidhu Vinod Chopra. The ease with which he showcases serious issues like Suicides by Students, Ragging in Colleges, Faulty Education System based on memorization and the unnecessary competition creating tension is simply commendable. He politely gives his own message through many comic and hilarious sequences in the movie which also have much bigger hidden indications for the society. Further, he humbly goes on to remind you that Are you doing the job you always wished for…? Or you also have just compromised and bowed down to the demanding needs of your greedy surroundings and still regretting the major decision of your life.

To be straight, “3 Idiots” is a director’s movie completely. Though it has been more publicized and awaited as an Aamir Khan project, but it would be completely unfair to treat it at par with the perfectionist’s earlier movies where he is in full force as a solo hero. In fact, every big and small character in “3 Idiots”, strongly makes his presence felt, which in turn restrains anybody from calling it an Aamir Khan movie alone. Having said that, I would also like to add that with “3 Idiots” Aamir once again proves his unmatchable understanding of the medium and willingness to work better with a team spirit. He consistently delivers another flawless performance of his shining career under the expert direction of Raj Kumar Hirani. His commitment towards the works shows from the unbelievable slim physique he gets into for the role of a college student after the famous body building act of “Ghajini” and comes out as a clear winner.

After Aamir, the next best act comes from Sharman Joshi who very convincingly portrays a complex character of a student caught in a dilemma. It’s unarguably the toughest role and Sharman’s the best performance of his career till date. A truly award winning act by the young lad in the Best Supporting Act Category this year. The third idiot, Madhavan equally impresses in the role of an engineering student, wishing to become a wild life photographer from heart. Madhavan, never makes you feel his huge star status in the south and impressively plays his part with a quite conviction. Boman Irani is superb as earlier seen in the similar role a University professor. Actually, he has mastered this particular kind of character by now and looks great in his messy get up in the movie.

Kareena Kapoor hasn’t got a big role in the script, but she still manages to catch your attention through her new look with the glasses. Mona Singh is cool in her few scenes but Javed Jaffery is wasted in a two scene role. The actor playing the studious friend of the 3 Idiots is first rate and Parikshit Sahni thankfully is there with a controlled act. Cinematography is worth mentioning especially in the scenes where the three friends meet at the top of a high rise structure, the beautiful roads in the mountains and the climax scene shot along the blue water lake of Ladakh. Shantanu Moitra’s music is not worth buying as an album, but it impresses and leaves a mark after you have watched the movie in the theater. The song “All Izz Well” keeps growing on the mind, once you understand the real meaning of its lyrics in the movie. Background score suits the mood of the script well and is used creatively in the scenes.

Summing up, there is no doubt that “3 Idiots” is one of the finest movies of 2009 and will be a great success at the box office, but at the same time I would like to share a few points I have in mind about the movie :

Firstly, the basic format of the movie remains very close to Hirani’s debut venture “Munnabhai MBBS”. It has many similar (not identical) scenes of college classrooms, lectures and exams (though the subjects are different). The interaction between Boman and Aamir is on the similar lines of Boman and Sanjay Dutt. There is also a Hospital Sequence of Sharman getting paralyzed and Aamir curing him with his miraculous ways (quite identical to Carrom Board Sequence in Munna Bhai). And lastly as there was “Jaadoo Ki Jhappi” in Munna Bhai and “Gandhigiri” in “Lage Raho”, similarly here we have a new phrase “All Izz Well” used in 3 Idiots to woo the audiences. So I somewhere felt the basic framework of the movie written around the same commercial elements used in Munna Bhai.

Secondly the pregnancy sequence of Mona Singh, where Aamir has to perform as a doctor on the online guidance of Kareena, was a kind of deliberate, filmy and quite far from reality.

And thirdly, I couldn’t appreciate the way, Hirani hilariously treated the poor family of
Sharman Joshi and the character of his paralyzed father. He mercilessly used the poor character as a comedian and made the audience laugh at his helpless situation which I didn’t find very amusing. This particular part was not as per the standards set by Hirani himself through his earlier two masterpieces and was an avoidable patch on an otherwise brilliant and highly entertaining flick from the master craftsman.

Incidentally, as seen in his previous blockbusters, the master director continues to give you a glimpse of his western influences and favourites by using the animated scene of millions of sperms racing towards becoming a baby, which is highly inspired from a similar sequence in Woody Allen’s “Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex”.

But despite of the above mentioned points, the talented trio, Rajkumar Hirani, Aamir Khan and Vidhu Vinod Chopra have a sure shot winner in their hands, which will be unanimously liked by all the section of the viewers together and should turn out to be a big success. Raj Kumar Hirani once again proves himself as one of the most talented, gifted and capable directors of Hindi Film Industry. As his third offering, he proudly presents an important movie for all youngsters, which teaches them to just follow their inner dreams and desires. The movie has an ultimate message for all that “You should first aim at enjoying and achieving brilliance in your work and then success will automatically follow”. A must watch indeed.

Rating : 4 / 5 (Missed 4.5 due to the unwanted treatment given to Sharman’s poor Family)

(Originally Posted at www.bobbytalkscinema.com)

ROCKET SINGH - Salesman of The Year (2009) (Movie To See Before You die - Drama / Comedy)Review by Bobby Sing)

2009-12-16T11:02:00.001+05:30

What are the characteristics of “Progressive cinema” in a country? The phrase can only be used when the viewers get some new unexplored subjects to watch with no unnecessary subplots or deliberately added commercial angles in a movie. And Shimit Amin’s “Rocket Singh” unarguably stands tall among the few recent movies representing the “Progressive Cinema Movement” in the Hindi Film Industry. In short the best month of the year is here with another worth watching movie for all the desperate viewers after the last week’s gem “Paa”.

Frankly speaking, “Rocket Singh” is not the usual bollywood kind of movie with the same ages old ingredients of action, love & comedy. It may not be appreciated by the masses, but for a change it’s a simple and refreshing flick with everything just in the right proportions as required. The movie neither has any sick side stories yelling loudly to impress the viewers nor there are any silly unwanted songs jumping into the screenplay from nowhere. In other words it’s a great piece of art made by a thinking team strictly on the lines of innovative Hollywood projects which are based on variety of subjects written around our daily routine life.

The story talks about a fresh and honest graduate who is looking for a descent job to make his future career. The wickedness of his colleagues and seniors in the office helps him transform into a clever and strategic businessman. But in the process he also has to opt for some unethical means and uses his present job office and resources for his personal benefit. The innovative plot not only enlightens us about the cut throat competition in the Sales line but it also showcases the hardships faced by the innocent customers due to the evil practices adopted by the service providers. The film commences slowly and starts growing on the viewer with its to the point narrative and highly realistic sequences. In fact most of the viewers will find it very easy to relate with various characters in the script portrayed just like the real life people we meet every day.

After his masterpiece “Chakk De India”, Shimit returns with another brilliant work which again has a huge contribution coming from his writer Jaideep Sahni. Shimit’s subtle treatment of the subject never slides down and he maintains a firm grip on the movie right till its impressive climax. Interestingly, all the incidents in the movie strongly point towards some similar personal experiences of either Shimit or Jaideep in the past. Jaideep splendidly comes up with the most original description of his characters quite close to his “Khosla Ka Ghosla” which also revolved around Delhi and its Punjabi culture. Actually the whole setup of a computer company and its premises in “Rocket Singh” is more relevant to New Delhi’s computer hub, Nehru Place (which Jaideep must have seen) and everyone who has visited the premises would readily agree to that. Taking into account all their works together in the past, the writer-director duo is a great team in formation and you can easily expect many more brilliant projects coming from them in the near future.

In the performance arena there are good things to write about almost everyone in the cast. With the most authentic Sikh character’s portrayal on the screen till date, Ranbir Kapoor once again excels and makes everyone in the Kapoor family feel proud of their young energetic and hardworking kid. His choice of projects after the unexpected debacle of “Saawariya” clearly proves his gifted cinematic sense and intuition power. While watching him on screen, not even once you feel that he is in a fictional get up of a Sikh. In simple words he just slips into the body of Harpreet Singh Bedi and delivers an effortless, enjoyable and the most impressive performance of his career.

Prem Chopra delivers a lovable cameo. Gauhar Khan impresses in her role of a receptionist and she surely has got the oomph factor to burn the screen. Shazahn Padamsee is fresh and confident as Ranbir’s customer cum friend. Everyone else in the team lead by Rocket Singh is perfectly chosen and they skillfully act as true to life realistic characters, especially the computer engineer and his sexy desktops glowing in the night. Cinematography is nothing exceptional and Salim-Sulaiman music is just above average with all the songs used shortly along with the background score.

However, the only probable mistake, the marketing team of “Rocket Singh” has made is that they wrongly promoted the film as a comedy. The promos with Ranbir dancing to the tune of “Pocket Mein Rocket Hai” clearly give you an idea of the movie being a funny take on office politics and life of an salesman. Whereas in reality it’s a sensible story of a fresh graduate who goes on to make a confident mark in his very first job of a salesman. Though it has many comedy sequences coming in at regular interval throughout, but still that doesn’t allow anybody to simply call it a comedy movie. In fact all the viewers coming in for seeing just another routine, over the top, bollywood comedy may get highly disappointed from the end result they get. So, once again it’s an example of wrong promotion tried by the makers to bring in some more crowds in the opening weekend.

But if you ask me then just don’t take it as a comedy and go for it if you really want to see a fresh, cool and uplifting movie completely different from what we have been seeing in all this year. In short, “Rocket Singh” is one of those few rare movies which are made without thinking of any favorable box office results. If majority of the viewers like it then that’s a good sign of progress being made in the Indian Cinema. But if most of them take it otherwise then that will be the most unfortunate outcome of 2009.

Highly recommended for everyone yearning for a change in Bollywood’s choice of subjects.

Paa (2009) - You got to see this cinemtaic excellence.

2009-12-05T18:25:00.002+05:30

Before writing about the movie experience, I would first like to comment over the intelligent, controlled and subtle promotional campaign planned by the team of “Paa”. It was indeed worth praising that despite of the fact that the film revolved around a rare disease causing serious physical and mental disorder in a person, the campaign never showed any signs of a complain looking for some sympathy from the viewers.

The marketing team very pleasantly came up with a positive feel in its promos accompanied by some soothing music and captivating dance movements featuring the main character “Auro”. The balanced amount of promotion hesitated in creating any over hype for the movie and that’s where the makers won half their battle at the box office.

Talking about the movie itself, it evidently proves that Bollywood has still not lost it all and we still have film-makers who can deliver movies at par with the other parts of the world. Yes, the story-idea may have been borrowed from Francis Ford Coppola’s “Jack” and the make-up may remind you of “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”. But at the same time, it’s also true that “Paa” has nothing else related to these two names. In fact it undeniably surpasses both the above mentioned flicks in terms of director’s approach, his characterisations and the emotional portrayals by his actors.

“Paa” certainly belongs to its director R. Balki and the phenomenon called Amitabh Bachchan. Just when everybody thought that this man has done it all, he comes up with an extraordinary and out of the world character named “Auro”. What’s even more astonishing in his portrayal is that you never find the real Amitabh Bachchan anywhere on the screen in those two hours. In the entire past comprising all his mammoth blockbusters, Amitabh has always been there as a Bollywood persona hidden in his onscreen characters. But here is a movie where you know that there is Amitabh featuring in it, but you still can never feel him on the celluloid. He simply adopts a completely different soul minus his world famous style and baritone voice structure. And that’s the magical spell, cast by the magician actor. Truly speaking, Amitabh literally sends every reviewer in search of new words to praise his impeccable and incomparable act of ‘Auro’ in “Paa”.

Right from the first scene introducing “Auro” in his school function, the veteran actor makes you believe what you are seeing. He humbly forces every viewer in the theater to admit that he is watching the most accomplished actor of all times who has just walked beyond any number games and Bollywood Titles. Especially in the scenes where he is interacting with his kid friends in their own school lingo and in the emotional climax sequence inside the hospital, Auro goes on to set new benchmarks for the entire Indian Film Industry. Though the script has some unnecessary references of political activities and slums which could have been easily avoided, but the spotless performances of the entire cast don’t let you ponder over these needless insertions and the movie goes on impressing you continuously.

Unexpectedly Amitabh is not the only one to watch out in the movie. He is superbly supported by three highly talented people in the cast lead by Vidya Balan as a tough mother who raises Auro on her own with the help of her mother. For Vidya’s effortless performance, I would only like to say that in all these years of movie watching, she is the only female actress who reminded me of Jaya Bhaduri Bachchan and her flawless natural acting.To feel what I am trying to say, just carefully watch the scene where Vidya gives Auro her approval to visit Delhi. She exactly acts like Jaya in that particular scene.

Abhishek Bachchan as the truthful politician and father of ‘Auro’, delivers another polished act on the lines of his “Guru” and “Yuva”. He comes up with a very controlled emotional performance and never tries to outshine any other person in the scene. Both Vidya and Abhishek share a very cozy chemistry on screen which actually helps a lot in enhancing the overall impact of ‘Auro’ on the viewers.

The third worth mentioning act comes from Arundhati Naag, who plays Vidya’s mother and Auro’s naani, whom he fondly calls as Bums. Her praise worthy act emerges as a strong pillar in addition to the other stalwarts present in the movie. Paresh Rawal again remembers his immense talent after few irresponsible acts in some brainless movies. Last but not the least come all the child artists in the movie, who are intelligent enough to understand the pain and suffering of their friend “Auro” and try to help him out wherever they can. It was really nice to see that ‘Auro’ was not being teased in his school as suggested by the promos. In fact it was very thoughtful to show all the kids having the empathy to feel the abnormality ‘Auro’ was born with.

Musically, the film has the maestro Illayaraja to give exactly what was needed as per the subject. His theme music is pleasant and his songs don’t act as a hindrance in the narration. R. Balki very skillfully uses the songs in their short versions and in the background wherever needed. Dialogues are intelligent, witty and well written. Cinematography by P.C. Sreeram is remarkable. He brilliantly uses innovative camera angles to portray the character of “Auro” and his abnormal body structure. But what makes “Paa” so believable is the unimaginable make-up done by Christien Tinsley and Domini Till. Kudos to the duo to achieve this herculean task and hats off to Amitabh Bachchan for undergoing such a painful process in this age.

Honestly, the main highlight of the movie is that even when the story revolves around a diseased character with an abnormal behavior, the director is simply not interested in taking you onto an emotional journey at all. So, “Paa” is not just another tear jerker as expected by many. On the contrary it’s a very enjoyable movie having many light entertaining moments with ‘Auro’ for everyone in the family. And for that the director R. Balki rightly deserves all the praises.

Everyone remembers the golden era of Hindi Films when all the talented directors were more interested in telling fresh stories with a simple treatment. “Paa” is a perfect example of a movie made on the similar lines of those timeless classics. It is a fresh story told in a simple way with many incredible performances to cherish.

In short the movie is an amazing must watch experience for everyone still enjoying the gift of life at any age. It makes you realize the importance of all your days left in the count. And on the top it has a performance which can easily be kept along with any world class act by any actor in the entire globe. In other words, only one statement can match the unbelievably expressive and impressive act of Amitabh Bachchan in the movie.

He once again proves that at present he is the only "Big Paa" for the entire Indian film Industry.

(See the complete list at www.bobbytalkscinema.com)

Mirch Masala (1985) - (Movies To See Before You Die - Drama)

2009-11-26T17:59:00.007+05:30

One of the finest artistic movies made on the suppressed lives of Indian villagers living in the British Raj, “Mirch Masala” is a pure cinematic masterpiece from the director Ketan Mehta. It proudly represented Indian Cinema all over the globe in those golden years of art movies in the eighties. Still remembered for its well written, engrossing theme and perfect execution, the movie surely deserves a place in every “Must Watch Movies List” compiled by any serious lover of world cinema.

It realistically showcases the life of poor villagers in that pre- independence era, when they were forced to live on the mercy of their tax collector called ‘Subedaar’. At that point of time, the Subedaars acted as a God for the villagers and nobody dared to oppose them in any way fearing severe punishments in return. “Mirch Masala” also revolves around such a cunning Subedaar (enacted by Naseeruddin Shah), who treats villagers as his slaves and feels no sympathy for them even in the times of poor harvest and drought. His cruel reign comes to an end when once he crosses all the limits of human dignity and demands a village lady (Smita Patil) for his own personal pleasure. That triggers an unexpected revolt in the village, surprisingly coming from its women community. Opposing the disgraceful demand of the Subedaar, the women get together in a “Mirch Factory” and refuse to open the doors getting their only help from an old caretaker who has a gun to safeguard them all.

And when the doors are opened forcibly, we are made to witness a well conceived climax, shot in a stylish way which rightly justifies the title of the movie, “Mirch Masala”. The director brilliantly uses the backdrop of a Mirch Factory into the story plot, which unarguably gives it a fresh and unique feel of its own.

With a huge ensemble of talented actors (mentioned in the end), it is a precious cinematic gem with many worth watching sequences canned superbly. It skillfully portrays the miserable life led by the women of that era, when they were merely treated as a means of entertainment and were not permitted to study or move out of their small kitchens. Among the best scenes of the movie include the one where the villagers see a gramophone record for the first time, the traditional dance by the village women in their colourful dresses (edited in fast cuts) and the well directed climax sequence with its famous surprise twist.

In short it’s a must watch for all lovers of serious cinema and especially for those who still adore the eighties Art Movies Wave in Hindi Cinema.

Directed by Ketan Mehta
Starring : Smita Patil, Nasseruddin Shah, Om Puri, Raj Babbar, Dina Pathak, Deepti Naval, Mohan Gokhale, Paresh Rawal, Suresh Oberoi, Ratna Pathak, Supriya Pathak, Benjamin Gilani & more.

(Check out the complete list in details at www.bobbytalkscinema.com)

Before Sunset (2004) - (Movies To See Before You Die - Love Theme)

2009-11-24T21:02:00.007+05:30

(Should be ideally watched after you have seen its first part - Before Sunrise, reviewed in the subsequent post)

A sequel to “Before Sunrise”, the movie starts after 9 years from the day those two lovers met on the train and spent a few hours together. Now, once again, destiny brings them in front of each other with their new outlooks and changed attitudes. The man is now married and known as a famous writer, who has written a book based on those few hours of experiences he had with the stranger girl nine years back. And the girl, still single, now works for an environment protection organization, which gives her an opportunity to work in different parts of the world with different people. The mindsets have changed and the preferences have been altered, but still the same spark of love is very much alive in their hearts which brightens up as they unexpectedly meet after so many years.

With only a few hours left to spend together, they stroll through the streets of Paris, talking about the good old time they had once enjoyed and the nine long years they had lived differently. Sharing their intimate experiences of life, they try to find out the reasons why they didn’t meet after six months as promised and whether they still have the same feelings for each other or not. The spirited talks between the two are more like a well written thesis on the subject of Love and Relationships which is surely capable of changing the way one values the feeling of Love in his life. Their discussion makes you remember all those lovable old friends, whom you have not met from so many years but are still there in your loving memories.

However, here I would also like to mention that “Before Sunrise” or “After Sunrise” are not recommended for the viewers who are just looking for a good time with the same old dosage of love, sex and drama. The movies are strictly for the mature lovers of cinema who are willing to study them as two important and spiritual books written on the subject of love. Incidentally “Before Sunset” was also deservingly nominated in the Oscars for its commendable screenplay and writing.

In few words, these two movies give you the real meaning of those “Unexplained Loving Relationships” which one experiences while moving on the path of life. Besides that, they also introduce you to some new emotional expressions of the soul, which cannot be found in any of the normal dictionaries of the world. Hence if you want to move ahead of a “Man-Woman Relationship” and really want to discover a new meaning of the most commonly used word “Love”, then you must see these two movies together in one go. And I am sure every viewer will find a different meaning of his own after watching them.

Directed By Richard Linklater
Starring : Ethan Hawke & Julie Delpy

(Check out the complete list in details at www.bobbytalkscinema.com)

Before Sunrise (1995) - (Movies To See Before You Die - Love Theme)

2009-11-24T20:55:00.005+05:30

Just think about a movie which has only two people on the screen, who meet up as strangers in a train, talk elaborately about themselves and eventually go on to become mature lovers within a span of a few hours. But even after developing a definite liking for each other they willfully decide to part at the end of the day and promise to meet again after a period of 6 months if they still feel the same way. That’s a sweet synopsis of a lovingly delightful movie called “Before Sunrise”.

A mature take on infatuation and love, the movie is miles ahead of any normal love story between two strangers. With just two characters talking about their longings, dreams, hopes and life styles, it takes you onto an entirely different journey beyond any of your creative imaginations. In other words the movie is quite a spiritual and cathartic experience as it explores many hidden layers of our human psyche superbly. It teaches how a man and a woman can learn so much from each other simply moving above the normal experiences of love, sex, lust and passion. It opens the human heart as never before and gives you an enlightening experience to cherish for a long time.

Simply put, it’s an inventive work of art by the director Richard Linklater, in which he successfully manages to make you feel for the characters with the help of their deep & thoughtful verbal discussions on various aspects of life. It’s one of those rare poetic movies which effortlessly makes a place in your heart and stays there for long. Absolutely beautiful, honest, subtle and refreshing, it deserves to be seen at the earliest by everyone who has a loving heart filled with emotional feelings for his or her partner.

After the movie ends with its two key characters moving away from each other, it leaves many unanswered questions in the mind of the viewer with a strong urge to watch more. Hence with such a positive impact being made all over, the makers were bound to make a sequel to this timeless classic where the two lovers unexpectedly meet each other after 9 long years of life in some new circumstances. And that gave rise to “Before Sunset” made in 2004. If possible watch the two movies back to back in order to have an unforgettable, loving and enlightening experience.

Directed By Richard Linklater
Starring : Ethan Hawke & Julie Delpy
(Check out the complete list in details at www.bobbytalkscinema.com)

The Thin Red Line (1998) - (Movies To See Before You Die – War Movies)

2009-11-17T09:26:00.003+05:30

“The Thin Red Line” is one of those great but under-rated movies which didn’t receive the actual praise they really deserved at the time of its release. Facing huge competition from Steven Spielberg’s “Saving Private Ryan”, which had already made its mark in the war genre in the year 1998, “The Thin Red Line” got a rough treatment both at the box office as well as at the Academy Awards that year. Nominated in 7 prestigious categories, the movie won none of them, whereas on the other hand Spielberg won 5 Oscars for his highly appreciated work on a similar theme.

No doubt, “Saving Private Ryan” was a brilliant flick, based on a novel plot, well conceived & directed by Steven himself. But at the same time, I also strongly believe that the two reputed names of Spielberg and Tom Hanks were in fact more responsible for those big wins at the OSCARs in 1999. And it was really strange and unexpected of “The Thin Red Line” not winning in even one of the categories of its nomination. It was surely not that kind of weak competitor from any angle. May be the precious message in Terrance Malick’s insightful masterpiece, got lost in the huge ensemble of stars in the movie. The star-cast took away the lime light and the viewers felt like misguided in the end since none of the big names had a full length role on the screen. But if you can move over these minor glitches, then here is a great movie on the subject of war, which has a unique viewpoint of its own, especially for the thinking viewer.

Actually, “The Thin Red Line” is not a movie showcasing the heroic elements involved in a war. On the contrary it’s a movie completely against the concept of War. Beautifully capturing both the winning and scary minutes of the warfront in some brilliantly shot scenes, it forcefully makes you think about the war, its reasons and its ugly consequences. Starting calmly with some quite scenes, the movie goes on to impress you majorly because of its three worth mentioning aces, the Direction, Cinematography and the Background Score.

Apart from the two most visible aces on the screen (Direction & Cinematography), just pay your attention towards the Background music composed intelligently, which is not aggressive as usually seen in the war movies. It’s one of the most impressive soundtracks in a motion picture I have ever heard till date. And the movie indeed deserved an OSCAR for this out of the world musical score if not for any other category in the nominations.

Equally supported by many thoughtful dialogues which leave you with no explanatory answers, “The Thin Red Line” is a must watch for every thinking person concerned about the world and it’s much needed peace. Just sample this invaluable quote (as I can recall) which still comes to my mind whenever there is a talk on war and its brave soldiers:

“In War, it doesn’t matter what training you have got or how well prepared you are for the fight, cause it’s only about being at the wrong place in the wrong time to get hit by a wandering bullet.”

The movie superbly reads the mindset of different soldiers on the front in a great philosophical style and that too without going into any uninteresting preachy format. It also achieves a difficult task of incorporating poetic expressions in a war movie, brilliantly canned by the camera. In few words it’s a film which truly deserves to be there among the most beautiful movies made on the theme of war and its soldiers. So, if you want to have a realistic experience of a battle front and also wish to study the inner psyche of the soldiers fearlessly fighting for their countries, then “The Thin Red Line” is the flick your should go for at once. Highly recommended for all serious lovers of the medium.

Directed By Terrence Malick
Starring : Sean Penn, Adrien Brody, Benjamin Green, John Cusack, Nick Nolte, John Travolta, George Clooney & more.
(Check out the complete list in details at www.bobbytalkscinema.com)

Saving Private Ryan (1998) - (Movies To See Before You Die – War Movies)

2009-11-15T14:21:00.002+05:30

Steven Spielberg’s “Saving Private Ryan” is a widely appreciated war movie, rated among the 10 greatest films made under this particular genre. But it’s not entirely based on the theme of war between two countries. In fact it has a more emotional and human plot to deal with talking about a family of four brothers who are all brave soldiers posted at different places in the war. Unfortunately three of them die on the warfront leaving the fourth brother, Private Ryan, still fighting unaware of the cruel truth at an unknown location.

After learning that Ryan is the only bread earner left in the family, the government decides to find him and send him back to his lonely mother on humanitarian grounds. But the problem is that they don’t exactly know whether he is still alive or at what place he actually is behind the enemy lines. Hence a rescue mission is planned to find Ryan and bring him back. The search is led by a Captain (Tom Hanks) with a squad of few men who are not at all happy with the idea of risking their own lives for one person alone. And that’s what gives rise to the name “Saving Private Ryan”.

Along with its unique plot, the other appealing merit of the movie is its opening beach attack sequence brilliantly shot in a highly realistic style. The first hand war experience simply stuns the viewer with its shocking and bold execution where bodies are falling on ground every second like nothing. And those few brutal minutes in the movie are sure going to blow you mind away like never before. In the acting department, along with his impressive supporting cast, Tom Hanks once again gives a splendid performance as the Captain who was a teacher before joining the Army. The movie won 5 Oscars for the Best Director, Cinematography, Editing, Effects & Sound in the year 1999.

However, I was not able to appreciate the movie a lot on its emotional content as it lacked the famous human touch associated with the name of Spielberg. But still I liked it’s out of the routine story plot executed in an excellent way by the director, which unarguably makes it a not to be missed experience. If you are a diehard fan of the war genre, then you must have already seen the movie in the first place. But if you haven’t seen it yet, then just go for it as your next choice of a war epic.

Directed By Steven Spielberg
Starring : Tom Hanks, Vin Diesel, Matt Damon & more
(Chek out the complete list of movies at www.bobbytalkscinema.com)

Waqt (1965) - (Movies To See Before You Die - Drama)

2009-11-15T14:18:00.001+05:30

A film describing the importance and power of TIME in our lives is known as a spectacular trend setter in the Hindi film industry. A film which laid down the basic foundation of all the “Lost & Found” movies was one of the first big & impressive take on the famous Bollywood format. In fact all the major blockbusters (based on the formula) which ruled the box office in the 70s & 80s took their major clues from this classic directed brilliantly by the legendary director Yash Chopra.

Starting with a well written sequence depicting the supremacy of Time, the movie shows us the tragedy faced by a rich man and his family, which in few seconds sends them into the lap of poverty and mercilessly separates them from each other for years. Living their individual lives far away, the characters once again are brought together by the uncontrollable power of Time after a few decades. They get to meet each other unknowingly and with the changing times, find themselves entangled into a new web of relationships beyond imagination. The story which starts as a family drama unexpectedly ends in a courtroom sequence where the whole family unites again accepting the undeniable power of TIME. With a talented ensemble of actors (Sunil Dutt, Raj Kumar, Shashi Kapoor, Sadhna, Sharmila Tagore, Jeevan, Madan Puri, Moti Lal & more)
, the classic is a great piece of art, lead by the one & only Balraj Sahni. His splendid portrayal of a proud man refusing to accept the power of time makes you think about the each & every second of our life, which we go on living without knowing anything about the next one. In simple words, the movie deserves to be in the library of every School of Acting and Cinema mainly because of Balraj Sahni alone.

Interestingly, the movie has given a lot to the Hindi Film Industry in terms of content, style and music. First of all it gave the most overused formula of “Lost & Found” to the other film-makers such as Manmohan Desai, who later came out with some brilliant versions of the same in his own unique and entertaining style. It also established Raj Kumar with his incomparable persona and impeccable technique of saying “Jaani” forever. His few dialogues from the movie are still rated among the most famous and imitated dialogues on stage and films till date. Apart from the above, it gave us one of the richest “Film Soundtrack” of Bollywood which has songs precious as gems, including one of the most famous Qawwali of all time, which is still played in every marriage and family get together even in this twenty first century. In fact the qawwali “Aye Meri Zohrazabin” remains the one & only song associated with the Old Age Romance by every lover of Hindi Films living anywhere in the world.

Lastly the movie gave us the most romantic director of Bollywood, Yash Chopra, who later came up with several Unforgettable Romantic Gems with never before kind of content on Indian Silver Screen. It was one of his first movies which must have given him the much required confidence and command over the art which later resulted in many equally precious masterpieces for the movie lovers. Hence “Waqt” is an important movie from all angles, not to be missed by any person of any age who loves Bollywood and its magic.

Directed By Yash Chopra
Starring : Balraj Sahni, Sunil Dutt, Raj Kumar, Shashi Kapoor, Sadhna, Sharmila Tagore, Jeevan, Madan Puri, Moti Lal & more.

(Chek out the complete list of movies at www.bobbytalkscinema.com)

The Last Days (1998) (Documentary) - (Movies To See Before You Die - Historical)

2009-11-15T14:02:00.006+05:30

Words like ‘The Holocaust’, ‘Concentration Camps’ and ‘The Gas Chambers’ were more heard and less understood before I watched this immensely disturbing documentary aptly titled “The Last Days”. I strongly believe that more than fifty percent of the people living in our part of the world, especially India, may not be familiar with the above words and the mass human killings they are synonym with. And most of the rest also, more or less just have a vague and rough idea of the terrifying and dreadful act practiced by the Nazis against the Jews and many others.

So, the feature was a big eye opener for me, as I got to see the brutal and unthinkable kind of torture faced by thousands of innocent people in those terrible times. Executively produced by Steven Spielberg, the OSCAR winner documentary is rightly rated as the best feature made on the Holocaust of 1945. It gives you a comprehensive picture of the actual happenings in those camps with the help of some rare real life footage and pictures. And the feature even becomes more intriguing and touching as it includes the genuine interviews of 5 remarkable personalities, who had the first hand experience of the tortures, but were also blessed to survive the holocaust.

In simple words, the expressive narration of their personal experiences is just equal to a high density earthquake for a thinking mind. Watching them speak about those difficult times, you will feel like someone is stabbing you hard with a knife into your heart. In other words, the documentary is capable of shaking you deep inside and for many it might be even more frightening and scary than a well made horror movie. The thought of those experiments conducted on children and adults, the life taking pressure in the gas chambers and the lifeless bodies piled on each other forming a mountain will surely take away the sleep of many thoughtful minds.

So unless you are ready with an open mind and can handle the most brutal truth exposed in a highly expressive way, I would not suggest to go for this explosive work, directed by James Moll. In other words, the documentary is not for the weak hearted, but it’s for the people who can feel from their hearts and want to know the bitter truths of our History which we don’t ever want to be repeated again.

A highly recommended documentary for every individual’s self enlightenment. In simple words it is one of those important works in the world of cinema which will make you realize the priceless value of every fresh breath we are blessed with.

Directed By James Moll

(Chek out the complete list of movies at www.bobbytalkscinema.com)

Lawrence of Arabia (1962) - (Movies To See Before You Die - Adventure)

2009-11-04T09:06:00.004+05:30

This is David Lean’s world famous epic, widely considered as one of the Top 10 Movies made in the history of cinema. As a requisite, the movie has to be there in every Must See Movies List compiled by anyone on the globe. And in absence of the incomparable masterpiece, the list would be taken as incomplete. Based on the life or T. E. Lawrence and his emotional war experiences in Arabia, the flick is a fine example of cinematic excellence unbelievably achieved in the year of 1962. In other words, it’s nearly impossible to even think of making a movie with such a vast canvas and grandeur in the current times. It’s both practically and financially unimaginable to do that. And that proves how important and influential the movie is for every film-maker in the world of cinema.

“Lawrence of Arabia” excels in every department of its making and for that it deservedly won 7 Academy Awards in 1963 including the Best Picture, Direction, Cinematography and Musical Score Awards. It is unarguably, once in a lifetime kind of work done by the legendary director David Lean in which he successfully painted the screen with never seen before sort of images, magnificent locations and stunning sequences. Along with its splendid cinematography and execution, the director makes you watch the screen with your eyes wide open. The never before kind of shots unfolding on the screen, force you to think about how on earth they thought of doing it and that too with such amazing elegance and conviction, beyond comparison.

But frankly speaking, in my opinion the movie would mean more to the people who understand the medium and its making. It is superb piece of art for the ones involved in the similar arts and for the students of cinema. But for others, who just watch a movie for entertainment and passing time, it may not appeal to that extent due to many reasons. First of all the length of the movie which goes over three hours, may discourage their spirit of watching it patiently. And secondly the current generation who lives in the age of jet speed and instant coffee, might find the classic too slow in its proceedings. Putting it differently, it requires your complete attention, interest and a lot of time to grasp this monumental kind of work in the field of cinema. It doesn’t deserve to be seen just like another Friday movie in the weekend.

The milestone is a text book to be studied by the young film-makers from different angles. It actually requires repeated viewing by the students in order to study the finer aspects of its each department individually. Especially the cinematography, which in reality is almost impossible to recreate in the present scenario. With Computer graphics available at the next door, now, who cares to shoot an actual sunrise, standing in the dark with the whole team ready? And who can think of a long shot in the desert wherein a person is coming on his camel from a long distance into the camera at his actual speed. Undeniably, a definitive work in the field of cinematography aptly acknowledged as the best ever in the history of cinema.

I really wish I could see the well crafted work on the wide big screen. Watching it on the small screen in the cinemascope format is just not the right way of enjoying it. But with no choice left, I had to watch it more than once to have a satisfying experience for myself. The movie starts impressing you from the first frame itself and you at once realize that you are going to watch something real big. Just see how Sir David Lean makes use of every tiny part of the screen carefully. The vastness of the wide desert, the emptiness of the screen and the huge war sequences are a real treat for the eyes. In fact, each time you see it again, you are bound to see a different aspect of the screen image and that’s the beauty of his flawless direction.

But here I have to accept that the movie definitely impressed me more with its direction, cinematography and unbelievable execution and less with its story plot inspired from real life. But nevertheless, it remains one of the finest movies in the world of cinema which has to be seen by every lover of the art as a mandatory clause.

Interestingly the hugely famous movie has also got its big connection with our own Bollywood. The famous actor, comedian & director I. S. Johar is there in the movie playing a significant cameo of Gasim, who gets saved by Lawrence himself. And it was indeed a proud feeling to see an Indian actor featuring in one of the Top 10 movies made in the history of cinema.

That’s another reason you must see “Lawrence of Arabia” at the earliest and moroever they are not going to make anything like this ever again in the future.

Directed By David Lean

Starring : Peter O’Toole, Alec Guinness, Anthony Quinn, Omar Sharif, I. S. Johar & more.

(Chek out the complete list of movies at www.bobbytalkscinema.com)

I Am Sam (2001) - (Movies To See Before You Die - Drama)

2009-11-04T08:59:00.004+05:30

Just think of a storyline where a mentally retarded man becomes a father of a girl child and on the very first day of them returning from the hospital, his wife leaves him standing in the middle of the road holding the few days old little baby in his hands. She leaves him because that’s not the life she wished to live with a retarded husband and his baby. But the man takes it from there and brings up the child in every possible manner he could. He feeds the little baby taking time clues from the TV programmes at the Cartoon channel and raises the girl in a near normal way with his own new self found courage.

Years pass and the little child transforms into an eight year old girl coming at par with the mental age of her own father. Knowing that her father can only think as a child, the girl finds it tough to learn more than her father can. She doesn’t want to grow beyond the age where she leaves her father behind. But life has to move on and she starts accepting the truth she has to live with. However, the destiny has its own plans for them, when the Child Care Council takes the girl away declaring that the father is not capable of looking after her anymore. The matter goes into the court and now SAM (the father) has to fight a case to win his own daughter back, whom he had raised all alone without any help.

That’s the plot of a gem called “I Am Sam”, brilliantly directed by Jessie Nelson and with a mind blowing performance by Sean Penn as the retarded father fighting for the custody of his daughter. In fact the movie has more than one star to write about with Sean Penn leading them all. Sean’s performance is undoubtedly one of the best acts I have seen till date portraying a retarded character with so much love, emotions and pain. He just moves into the body of his character with such an incredible ease which should be considered like a lesson by every young student pursuing acting and cinema as his career.

Along with Sean, the second star of the movie is Dacota Fanning, playing Sean’s young daughter. She is simply superb in her role showing tremendous understanding of the scenes and dialogues she is given in the movie. At such a small age it was indeed a great piece of work presented by the now young lady. The emotional masterpiece has another star act put forward by the group of Sam’s friends who are also retarded characters with a very limited ability to think. Their few scenes with Sam and in the Court Room are very well written, well acted and highly enjoyable. The credit of their notable performances goes to the director and the writers who gave them a soothing presence in the movie as the friendly helping hands of Sam.

And finally the fourth star of the classic is its outstanding camerawork which realistically captures the tender moments of the movie as required by its theme. The intelligent handheld camera movements, the intense close ups, the fast cuts and the zoom in, zoom outs simply take you into the scene as if you are a part of the real happenings. The superb shot taking style makes you feel the same as the characters on the screen. Especially the well shot sequences in the Court Room where each testimonial contributes its own unique angle to the case. Apart from these, Michelle Pfeiffer as the lawyer and Dianne Wiest as Annie are also just perfect in their sensitive performances, equally contributing in making the movie a touching worth watching emotional experience, not to be missed.

And you are sure going to remember the innocent SAM in the movie, for a long long time.

Directed By Jessie Nelson
Starring : Sean Penn, Dacota Fanning, Michelle Pfeiffer, Dianne Wiest & more.

(Check out the complete list in details at www.bobbytalkscinema.com)

Hiroshima (1998) (Docudrama) - (Movies To See Before You Die - Historical)

2009-11-01T17:11:00.002+05:30

It happened more than 60 years back, even before the birth of majority of people reading this article. But till date, this ugly black patch on the World’s history still remains the most haunting disasters witnessed by the people on this earth. Created and planned by the man himself, the tragic, mean and inhuman attack was the most questionable decision taken by the authorities to destroy their rivals at that time.

BBC remembers the horrifying incident with a remarkable docu-drama feature which covers the proceedings of that particular day along with the first hand experiences of the people involved in it. Brilliantly conceived & directed by Paul Wilmshurst, the feature enlightens you with the actual story behind the atomic bomb and the reasons responsible for the decision of dropping it at Hiroshima. Along with that it also shows the dreadful impact of the bomb on the innocent civilians who never expected this kind of brutal, massive and heartless attack on their city. The shocking and horrendous site of the enormous explosion actually even shook the people responsible for it, leaving them with a strange feeling, filled with mixed reactions.

The feature is an intelligent mix of actual interviews of the people who witnessed it and a very passionate reconstruction of the awful incident in details with a good use of computer graphics. In addition to this, the movie also showcases the available real archive footage of the proceedings, which in turn makes it a must watch docu-drama for every single human being enjoying the blessing of life. In fact, I would like to recommend every University in the world to show this movie to their young students which will surely help them to have a better understanding of the History and will encourage them to build a better world to live in for the coming generation.

I wish somebody from the schools and universities reads this article and shows the movie to his or her students as a step to make a difference in their lives.

Directed By Paul Wilmshurst

(Check out the complete list in details at www.bobbytalkscinema.com)

Andaz Apna Apna (1994) - (Movies To See Before You Die - Comedy)

2009-10-31T15:33:00.004+05:30

One of the most famous and appreciated comedies the current generation, “Andaz Apna Apna” is directed by Raj Kumar Santoshi, who is more known for his hard hitting emotional dramas and thrillers. It was his first comedy movie featuring the two big Khans, Aamir & Salman, who were also coming together in a project for the first time. With the new age kind of humor, intelligently directed by Santoshi, the movie scores high on the entertainment quotient and has many well conceived comedy sequences to enjoy.

Along with the boys, both Karishma Kapoor & Raveena Tandon also contributed equally in making the movie a Classic Bollywood comedy of the hip generation. Moreover, the hilarious acts of Paresh Rawal in a double role and Shakti Kapoor as Crime Master Gogo hugely helped the movie in acquiring a cult status in the world of comedies, on the lines of the immensely famous “Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron” & “Padosan”. Especially the last thirty minutes of the film wherein all the lead characters are having a blast in the Don’s den are a real treat to watch in this highly enjoyable classic.

Ironically, the movie was completely rejected by the audience at the time of its release in 1994. However, I still remember the great time we all had while watching it in the big cinema hall of those times but somehow it couldn’t establish the right connection with the viewers universally. May be the one liner witty humor in the movie was way before its right time. And that might be the reason why “Andaz Apna Apna” later received its much deserved appreciation from the younger generation and is now currently included among the Top 10 comedies ever made in the Hindi Film Industry.

So, the next time, you want to have a good fun time together with your family then this is what you should go for at once. A highly recommended flick for all Bollywood comedy lovers.

Directed By Raj Kumar Santoshi
Starring : Aamir Khan, Salman Khan, Karishma Kapoor, Raveena Tandon, Paresh Rawal, Shakti Kapoor, Deven Verma & more.

Ghar (1978) - (Movies To See Before You Die - Drama)

2009-10-30T18:18:00.002+05:30

Very few movies are based on stories capable of shaking the viewer with a shock treatment and making him think. Very rarely comes a realistic story on the screen which sends shivers down your spine and makes you feel sorry for the characters facing the unexpected tragedy. “Ghar” is one of those rare well directed movies from Bollywood, having an unfortunate story to tell which happens to be both realistic and disturbing at the same time.

Revolving around the life of a newlywed couple, the story depicts the tragic trauma faced by both the husband and wife when they become victim of some bad elements of the area while returning from a late night film show. The harsh and unkind tragedy with the couple, completely changes their outlook towards their own existence and they have to fight real hard to overcome the unfortunate even of that dark night. Interestingly, “Ghar” has a unique story plot which was quiet bold and a first in Hindi Cinema at the time of its release in the late seventies. And that was the reason it also won the Filmfare Award for the Best Story in 1978.

The novel plot of the movie got its much required support from the talented diva, Rekha, who plays the traumatised wife of the helpless husband enacted by Vinod Mehra. Unarguably included in one of her top five performances, the movie has Rekha in a completely different avtaar (role), as never seen before or after “Ghar”. She brilliantly portrays the fear, pain and grief felt by her character in the script in the most believable way which touches the viewer deep inside. Vinod Mehra also compliments the lifetime performance of his co-star in an impressive manner which in turn makes this movie a worth watching emotional experience, not to be missed.

Director Manik Chatterjee emerges as a master film-maker in this touching portrayal of human emotions. He captures the inner fight of his characters on the screen in a splendid way. But sadly he could give us only two movies in his lifetime as a director. Though his second movie cannot be termed as a classic comparitively, but it still has her favourite actress, Rekha featuring in & as the “Bhaurani” released in1989. Along with his master music director “R. D. Burman” & legendary lyricist “Gulzar”, Manik also showed a tremendous sense of music & lyrics in his “Ghar”. With musical gems such as “Aaj Kal Paon Mere”, “Tere Bina Jiya Jaaye Na”, “Phir Wohi Shaam Hai” & “Aap Ki Ankhon Mein Kuchh”, the movie will be always remembered as one of the best sensitive and socially relevant films made in Bollywood. So, if you havent seen it yet, then just go for its DVD at once.

Directed By Manik Chatterjee
Starring : Rekha, Vinod Mehra, Dinesh Thakur, Prema Narayan & more.
Music by R. D. Burman

(Check out the complete list in details at www.bobbytalkscinema.com)

Changeling (2008) - (Movies To See Before You Die - Suspense / Drama)

2009-10-30T18:13:00.004+05:30

As the few opening words describing this unbelievable piece of art, I would only like to say that.....

“They Still Make These Kind of Movies in 2008”.

The emotional experience named “Changeling” made me a bigger fan of Clint Eastwood, the veteran actor director who earlier hugely impressed me with his “The Bridges of Madison County”. Also featuring Angelina Jolie in the main lead, the movie completely shatters the immensely famous image of the beautiful actress and introduces you to a new, talented and emotional side of her lovable identity. Eastwood inventively, extracts a highly impressive and life time performance from Angelina, along with worth praising acts from the entire supporting cast and comes up with yet another gem in his exceptional career.

An outstanding adaptation of a shocking true incident, the movie remains unbelievable even when you are told that it is all based on the TRUE happenings. The story revolves around a single mother living with his sweet nine year old kid in Los Angeles in the year 1928. Their simple & happy life moves on to different path altogether when one fine day the little kid simply vanishes into thin air and can be found no-where around. The crying mother keeps searching for her dear child and in the end reaches the police station to file a complaint. And from there on the movie takes a sharp turn and drives you into a completely unexpected arena with some devastating truths being told on the screen which actually happened in the life of that victim lady and her child. I will not like to reveal anything more about the plot as that will certainly take away the spirit of watching this emotional and engrossing tale, well told by the master craftsman Clint Eastwood.

But I will surely like to end my brief review, with a quote that “Changeling is undoubtedly one of those rare movies which have the power to make you forget all the essential and urgent assignments of your daily life and would compel you to see it in one go, sitting on your favorite couch in the room.”

A terrific suspense drama, which deserves to be seen at the earliest.

Directed By Clint Eastwood
Starring : Angelina Jolie, John Malkovich and more

(Check out the complete list in details at www.bobbytalkscinema.com)

Damini (1993) - (Movies To See Before You Die - Drama / Court Room)

2009-10-21T23:11:00.002+05:30

Rajkumar Santoshi directed “Damini” (Lightning) is indisputably one of the finest movies from Indian cinema representing the suppressed voice of a woman and the power of truth. Remembered for its bold subject the film exposes the ugly and decayed face of Indian traditional values which have now lost their real sacred meaning in the current times. Revolving around the gang rape of a poor and helpless maid, it depicts the wide class system still prevailing in the Indian society even today. It impressively showcases how the poor continue to be exploited by the richer section in the cities and how it’s still difficult to raise a voice against this exploitation in absence of a clean and pure judiciary system.

Meenakshi Sheshardri gives a power packed performance in & as "Damini" playing the newlywed entrant in the house who declares war against the inhuman act done by the young members of her own in-laws family. And there is no one to support her in the new home, not even her own loving husband who loves her a lot. A drunkard & loser lawyer, living a deserted lonely life comes to her rescue and fights the court case on her behalf. Brilliantly directed by Santoshi, the intense emotional drama has four award worthy acts, simply not to be missed.

Meenakshi as the lady fighting for her human and traditional ethics, Rishi Kapoor as her husband caught in a moral dilemma, Sunny Deol as the tough lawyer fighting the case for her and Amrish Puri as the cunning, dishonest lawyer fighting the law suit against Sunny in the court. But surprsingly along with the director only Sunny Deol won the Filmfare awards that year. Sunny even got a National Award for his punchy performance but sadly the most deserving of all, Meenakshi Sheshardri, didn't receive any major awards for her realistic and thoughtful portrayal of a woman fighting for the dignity of her maid.

To sum it up, if you love intense emotional dramas leading to some highly engrossing court room sequences then "Damini" is one of the best Bollywood movies made in this particular genre. It is touching, emotional and also immensely entertaining because of the fiery interaction court room scenes between Sunny Deol & Amrish Puri. In fact Sunny's famous dialogue from the movie "Dhai Kilo Ka Haath" has now achieved a cult status among the famous Bollywood dialogues of all times. A highly recommended masterpiece, especially for the younger generation.

Directed By Rajkumar Santoshi
Starring : Meenakshi Sheshadri, Rishi Kapoor, Sunny Deol, Amrish Puri, Kulbhushan Kharbanda and more.
Music by Nadeem Shravan

(Check out the complete list in details at www.bobbytalkscinema.com)

Fiddler On The Roof (1971) - (Movies To See Before You Die - Drama / Musical)

2009-10-02T21:08:00.002+05:30

For friends, who are not interested in English Musicals, I would like to vouch for this remarkable work released in 1971, with a sincere request of giving this movie a chance. I strongly believe that “Fiddler on the Roof” will undoubtedly change your whole outlook towards foreign musicals, within its first hour itself. And for friends who are already familiar with this particular genre, it will certainly be a worthwhile experience to watch this great epic with all your family members together. Frankly speaking, I wasn’t expecting much from the movie as it started. But the moment I witnessed its opening introductory sequence about the “Value of Traditions” and “Family”, I simply stood awestruck with its mesmerizing impact. The magnetic pull of its innovative musical notes accompanied by the captivating act of Topol (the lead actor), was simply one of the best starts I had ever seen.

It’s the story of a loving father living with his wife and five lovely daughters in a village called Anatevka situated in Russia. The period is of early twentieth century when “The Family Traditions” still played the most important roles in the life of people living in that village. The main plot revolves around the conflict elders have to face when their own children refuse to agree to their ages old traditional values and start revolting. The dilemma experienced by the loving father is depicted brilliantly in this Oscar Winner movie, also rated as one of the best musicals made till date.

In fact the main reason, why you should watch this period movie is the actor Topol, who plays the carefree and full of life father of his five beautiful girls. The way he infuses life into his lively character is quite remarkable and entertaining. His immensely enjoyable dances, his one sided monologues with “The GOD” and his well written dialogues with repeated phrases of “On the other hand” truly deserve many repeated viewings by anyone who loves the medium of cinema from heart.

Though the movie proceeds at a slow speed in the middle, but it still successfully leaves a highly positive impact on the viewer in the end. The creative genius of the director Normal Jewison along with his master mind cinematographer is clearly visible all through the movie, especially in the precious life teaching scenes of Topol, where he is all alone talking to his animals, himself and his GOD.

In few words, with a life time performance to study, “Fiddler on the Roof” is a pure musical gem, deserving to be seen at the earliest, for its highly entertaining and enlightening moments for all.

Directed By Normal Jewison
Starring : Topol, Norma Crane and more.

(Chek out the complete list at www.bobbytalkscinema.com)

Haqeeqat (1964) (Movies To See Before You Die - War)

2009-09-28T00:17:00.010+05:30

Unlike the West, Indian Cinema hasn’t got many movies made on the subject of War. The filmmakers lead by financial motives, somehow did not find the genre commercially viable or capable of resulting in profitable figures. But out of the handful movies attempted by some serious directors in this genre, we still have a worth watching Gem to recall with an apt title “Haqeeqat” (The Reality). Thoughtfully directed by the legendary Chetan Anand and melodiously equipped by the musical maestro Madan Mohan, the black & white Classic still remains “The Best Project” on the subject of War and its consequences in Hindi Cinema till date.

Based on the Indo-China war, it’s a realistic take on the War Front where thousands of people are shot like lifeless targets. Where along with soldiers from both the sides, the undisclosed victims of a war are the innocent civilians living on the borders in their small villages. Directed from the prospective of a nation which has never attacked any neighboring country, the movie is unarguably full of text book material on film-making. Shot on the original and beautiful location of Laddakh and superbly acted by every single person in the star-cast, “Haqeeqat” is a strong & worthy representative of Indian Cinema all over the world. With immortal songs like “Main Yeh Soch Kar”, “Hoke Majboor Mujhe” and “Kar Chale Hum Fida Jan-o-Tan Sathiyo” it becomes a mandatory watch for every Hindi Cinema lover around the globe and you simply cannot afford to miss it.

Directed By Chetan Anand
Starring : Balraj Sahni, Dharmendra, Vijay Anand, Sanjay Khan, Priya Rajwansh, Sudhir, Mac Mohan, Bhupinder & more
Music : Madan Mohan
Lyrics : Kaifi Azmi

Click Here to Read another article on "Haqeeqat" and its immortal lyrical songs :
Haqeeqat (1964) : About the persons, very important in our lives, who we don't know about.

Pakeezah - A magnum opus (with its amazing unknown facts)

2009-09-20T00:16:00.002+05:30

“Pakeezah”, a magnum opus of poetic expressions on celluloid remains as pure as its apt title, even in these progressive years of the twenty first century. It still has the power to teleport you into those innocent years of the bygone era, wherein music, poetry, dance and love were cherished as the most valuable possessions of a living human being. Featuring the legendary tragedy queen, Meena Kumari, the movie is considered to be an important milestone in the history of Hindi Cinema. It enjoys a huge cult status due to it’s out of the world direction, poetic dialogues, realistic performances and pure immortal music.

Incidentally, as it was destined to be, the movie which got launched initially in 1958, took almost 14 long years to shine in the darkness of the theaters. And in this long span of time, it witnessed several break ups, separations, changes and additions, which are still unknown to many film lovers all over the world.

CLICK HERE to read about some of those amazing facts and trivia related to the making and completion of this musical classic called “Pakeezah”.

Jaws (1975) (Movies To See Before You Die - Adventure)

2009-08-30T22:01:00.003+05:30

If a movie can scare a good majority of its viewers, creating a highly tense atmosphere within few minutes of its start, then it certainly deserves a respectable place among the Top 10 thrillers made in the history of Cinema. Coming from one of the most highly rated directors of the world, Steven Spielberg, “Jaws” is included among his best works till date and remembered for the euphoria it created at the time of its release in 1975. The impact of the movie was so huge that people were reportedly feeling scared of entering the sea water after watching this entertaining fast paced thriller.

Based on the merciless killings made by a dangerous shark moving freely in the water, the movie creates an incredible ambience of fear. It grabs you from the collar and makes you feel the trauma faced by the people living on the famous beach city. It shows the genius of the director Spielberg, when he simply generates a tremendous amount of tension in the viewers mind without even showing the shark on the screen. He simply bowls you over with the brutality of her attacks and the half eaten bodies lying lifeless on the sand.

In recent times you may have seen great terrifying thrillers like “Saw”, “Final Destination” and more. But in the seventies “Jaws” was the first of its kind leaving an unforgettable impact on the viewers. The haunting background score representing the presence of the shark, still sends shivers down to the spine. The movie became a huge success and an all time top grosser at the box office. Its famous poster showing the big deadly jaw of a shark, can still be seen in movie stores and DVD libraries all over the world. Though the makers tried to cash on the craze with its subsequent sequels, Jaws2 and more, but it was only the first one which could make the real dent in the market.
In short, “Jaws” is like sitting through a dangerous bumpy ride and enjoying the thrill along with fear. The tension hidden in the unexpected killer shark attacks, is a must have experience indeed. So, just go for it now and have your turn in this roller coaster ride from Steven Spielberg.

Directed By Steven Spielberg
Starring : Roy Scheider, Lorraine Gary & more

The Black Stallion (1979) (Movies To See Before You Die - Drama/Adventure)

2009-08-27T22:06:00.003+05:30

How often we can use the phrase “Poetry on Celluloid” for a movie. How often we get to see a movie like a painting on the screen with various colors of love, affection, care and fun. The ratio is too low to discuss and we are seldom offered a project which can induce new spirits of life into every child, young and old in the family. “The Black Stallion” is such a movie, telling us the tale of a rare friendship between a child and his horse. It’s a song, which teaches us the value of life force, flowing in every living being on this earth, other than the human race.

It is seen, that the moment you talk about a children movie, many of the viewers lose their interest, expecting it to be on the same old patterns seen many times before. But..... do not consider “The Black Stallion” as a children movie alone. It’s a unique experience of its own kind and not just another Kid movie talking about the loving relationship between a child and an animal. In fact it is a technical masterpiece excelling in every department of film-making, which should be seen as a must, by all involved in studying or praising a movie experience.

The main merit of the movie is that it does not try to exploit you emotionally. The director is not interested in telling us the tale with some painful sequences or scenes where we are supposed to cry. In fact the movie even does not have too many emotional scenes. But what it has.....is the feel of a fresh soothing breeze, flowing smoothly through your body with a feathery touch. The story may sound familiar but it surely has a novel majestic treatment to offer which you may not have seen before on the silver screen.

Apart from its expressive star-cast and impressive direction, the other two important aces in the movie are its spectacular Cinematography and brilliant Background Score. The scenes when the boy and his horse are playing all alone on a deserted island are brilliantly canned and visualized. It’s like you are looking at the visuals of a beautiful dream. (May be Tom Hanks & Robert Zemeckis got the idea of “Cast Away” from here only.) Especially the scene where the boy is face to face with a deadly snake increases the level of your heartbeats. The picturisation stays in your mind and you want to experience it again.

The climax sequence has a stunning race course event where The Black Stallion is running with the young Jockey boy at his back. The chase simply drags you in with its outstanding sound effects and brilliant musical notes. The heavy breathing of the horse, the sound of his feet touching the ground with an unbelievable speed and the blood coming out of his wounded leg, brings you on to the edge of your seat. And as he crosses the finish mark you feel like standing, jumping and cheering for the “The Black Stallion” and his small master. A true masterpiece with breathtaking cinematography, amusing musical score and a worth praising directorial effort. A must watch for all in the family together.

Directed By Carroll Ballard
Starring : Kelly Reno, Mickey Rooney & more

Shaheed (1965) (Movies To See Before You Die - Historical)

2009-08-22T11:25:00.001+05:30

Hindi Cinema has produced only few quality movies based on Indian Independence Movement which can be considered as Text Book Material for the younger generations. And if we start thinking about them from the start then “Shaheed” stands tall among the top 3 movies on the subject. Without touching any sensitive issue of religion, the movie talks about the inspiring life of Shaheed-E-Azam Bhagat Singh with an authentic depiction of the tough fight he gave to the then ruling British Authorities. Such was the strength of his spirited revolt that the British Empire was forced to give him and his fellow supporters the death penalty. And it is still believed by a stronger section of people that the cruel hanging of Bhagat Singh, Rajguru & Sukhdev laid a strong foundation for our Independence, we later got in 1947.

Although many current film-makers have also come up with their own versions of this historical chapter (Rajkumar Santoshi, Ajay Devgan, Sonu Sood & the Deols), but S. Ram Sharma’s “Shaheed” still remains the most realistic and moving movie made on the Legendary Bhagat Singh’s life.

A valid explanation for the movie, still being the best is that it was made by the people who were more close to that era. May be there were also people who had lived those years themselves and could recall the time with their first hand experience. You can feel the exact passion and emotions in the superb acts portrayed by every single actor in the movie. Moreover “Shaheed” also had the most patriotic person of the Indian Film Industry playing the lead role, Manoj Kumar, who later also became famous as “Mr. Bharat” due to his memorable movies made on India and its social values. Apart from the lead, the most impressive character in the movie is played by the then famous bad man, Pran. He entertains as well as makes you think, with his well written philosophical dialogues. You will simply fall in love with the way he speaks in his own Punjabi style. And on the day he makes his last wish, you can feel the pain felt by him making his final hand shake with Bhagat Singh.

The concluding 30 minutes of the movie are the highlights of this highly appreciated historical classic when Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev move towards their end with smiles on their faces. And when they strongly hug each other for the last time, you are bound to have tears in your eyes respecting their brave sacrifice for the country. Along with its immortal songs such as “Mera Rang De Basanti Chola”, “Aye Watan Aye Watan“, "Pagdhi Sambhal Jataa” & “Sarfaroshi Ki Tamanna”, the movie becomes an unforgettable experience for everyone feeling the love for their nation and its people.

Another USP of “Shaheed” is that it is miles ahead of any caste and religion differences. It completely focuses on the revolutionary efforts of Bhagat Singh, his friends and their valuable contribution in our freedom struggle. If you want to teach your children, about how we earned our independence in 1947 then this is one of those most important movies to be shown to the younger generation with great pride and honour. Don’t take it as a just another weekend movie since it has the power to define the foundation of many future lives and careers. A must watch for all.

Directed By S. Ram Sharma
Starring : Manoj Kumar, Pran, Prem Chopra, Kamini Kaushal, Nirupa Roy, Anand Kumar, Madan Puri & more.
Music by Prem Dhawan

Kill Bill : Vol.I (2003) (Movies To See Before You Die - Action / Thriller)

2009-08-15T13:22:00.003+05:30

This Quentin Tarantino’s amazing masterpiece finds it place in most of the “Must See Movies Lists” by critiques and cinema lovers all over the world. It is one of those rare stylish movies where the spellbinding treatment by the director simply blows you down within few minutes of its strong opening. The movie makes you believe the unbelievable happening on the screen. And you are bound to watch the outstanding bloody action sequences conceived with a wild yet creative imagination by Tarantino, known for a class of his own.

Rated among the best works of the director, the movie also provided its female lead, Uma Thurman, a more solid ground in her career and she is still remembered for her fiery performance in the movie with an incredible touch of meditative calmness. Uma is simply superb fighting with her unbeatable opponents having a calm and cool smile on her face. And that is what takes this movie miles ahead of all the other flicks made in the genre.

Yes, the movie is a simple tale of revenge by a female victim with uncountable killings and fight sequences throughout. But what makes it worth an experience is the artistic feel of the movie, the intelligent use of animated computer graphics and its unique style of narration. You also might recall many Asian actions movies having a similar theme but the difference here, is in the novel presentation style and a first of its kind innovative direction. Uma Thurman looks equally ravishing both as the young bride and as a ninja fighter with blood all over her face. She magnificently lived the role of a wounded tigress on the screen and made her way into one of the Top Rated Performances of all time. The vengeance tale continues in the second part of the movie (Kill Bill: Vol.2, 2004) too, but it’s the first one which finds a better place in your memory and keeps haunting you for months. If you love deadly action movies with solid clashes between the titans, then this is one of the Biggest of them all, simply not to be missed.

Directed By Quentin Tarantino
Starring : Uma Thurman and more.

Khosla Ka Ghosla (2006) - (Movies To See Before You Die - Comedy)

2009-08-08T19:05:00.005+05:30

This small budget movie got released after playing a long hurdle game within the distribution circle. And within days of it hitting the screen, the word of praise spread like fire. Suddenly the multiplexes were full with people of all ages coming to have a good time with their entire families, especially in the north region of India. The movie surprisingly entertained every single viewer with its classy middle class humor and superb realistic touches. Above all the main USP of the movie was the true to life Punjabi living style of Delhi, portrayed in the most impressive way on screen, till date.

The story is based on the nexus of Property Dealers operating in Delhi and its NCR, who forcibly capture the properties owned by people living far away and are on constant lookout for abandoned land lying without any visible caretakers. It revolves around a Punjabi family living in West Delhi area who becomes the victim of a wicked Property dealer Khurana, (also a Punjabi), famous as the Don of this Property Mafia. Now how this innocent family and their friends manage to fool Khurana and take their property back from him is the small gist of the story.

The movie can surely be termed as the New Age Masterpiece with a simple yet impressive direction accompanied by a brilliantly written screenplay. The entire talented star-cast lives each moment penned in the script with the right enthusiasm, resulting in many highly enjoyable sequences having a great repeat value. Especially the scenes featuring Ranvir Shorey, his wrestler friends and his incredible one liner dialogues. The narration starts entertaining from the opening sequence itself and you simply start loving it from thereafter. As I feel, the movie can easily be termed as the “Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron” of the recent times, where every individual actor, small or big, contributes in his own unique way towards an exceptional cinematic experience.

Another ace in the movie is the authenticity with which, director Dibaker Bannerjee, shows the city of Delhi, its citizens, their language and the life lived by them with an amusing Punjabi flavour. The young and talented director continued with his unmatchable love for the city in his second movie too which was “Oye Lucky Lucky Oye” released in 2008. In fact, I rate both “Khosla Ka Ghosla” and “OLLO” as the two most authentic movies showing “Delhi” and its people on the screen in the right spirits. It also won the National Award for its great entertainment value and mass appeal.

So, if you are a lover of light comedies made on the lines of “Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron”, then “Khosla Ka Ghosla” should be the very next movie you watch after reading this write-up. Along with that I would also like to recommend the director’s second movie, “Oye Lucky Lukcy Oye”, which though is not a straight comedy, but has a similar feel and impact if compared to “Khosla Ka Ghosla”. Hence, just go for your double treat …now!

Directed By Dibaker Bannerjee
Starring : Anupam Kher, Vinay Pathak, Ranvir Shorey, Boman Irani, Tara Sharma & more

(Click here to read the review of "Oye Lucky Lukcy Oye", the second movie of Dibaker Bannerjee, featuring Abhay Deol, as the famous thief from Delhi)

Kanoon (1960)

2009-06-11T19:07:00.003+05:30

A well made, ahead of its time movie, which raises significant questions about the Law and its grounds of making a judgment. Can a person be charged for the same crime twice? The movie starts with this intriguing question and then moves on towards unmasking deeper loop holes in the judiciary system. The story revolves around a plot where a murder is committed but an innocent person is caught due to his untimely presence on the spot. Now should he be hanged only on the basis of some dicey witnesses and can the Judgment be turned over with some forged testimonies, are the points intelligently raised in “Kanoon”.
It’s true that the Law does take its decision on the basis of witnesses available and doubts can always be raised on the authenticity of all those testimonies. But that’s the way Law forces work, which can anytime punish an innocent person for a crime not committed. May be that’s the reason, Law is said to be blind and that is the basic theme of this captivating court room drama called “Kanoon” directed by B. R. Chopra. In fact I recall reading an article which mentioned that B. R. Chopra made this movie to prove that Indian Cinema is not only few songs and dances put together. To show the brilliance and talent of our Indian filmmakers and its actors, B. R. Chopra made this song less classic court room drama in the times when songs were treated as an essential ingredient of film-making.

The director is well supported by his talented star-cast which includes Ashok Kumar in the lead role as a Judge. And the narration holds you till the climax which has a shocking revelation to make. In few words, “Kanoon” is not a normal Bollywood movie of the Sixties. But it’s an important path breaking attempt, made well ahead of its time, raising notable questions about the Judiciary system of the world, still prevalent in the current times. So, if you want to see a thrilling, court room drama, then go for this All Time Classic in the nostalgic Black & White format.

However, I also remember this similar theme being used in two different mediums before and after “Kanoon”. In 1983, Amitabh Bachchan raised the same question standing in the court that “How can you charge a person twice for the same crime”. That was in “Andha Kanoon” also featuring Rajneekant, Hema Malini, Reena Roy, Prem Chopra & Pran.

And before the release of “Kanoon” in 1960, there was an episode of “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” T.V. Serial, titled “The Motive” aired in 1958. In that episode too, there are two friends who have a bet on a point that a murder can be committed without being caught, in the similar manner in which Ashok Kumar has a bet with his fellow Judge. The sequence may be inspired but that doesn’t take away any merit from this B. R. Chopra’s worth watching Classic. So just go for it!

(Originally posted at www.bobbytalkscinema.com)

Cast Away (2000)

2009-06-06T15:11:00.008+05:30

“Cast Away” is a different experience of its own kind, with a novel concept and an unique storyline. The movie is not an usual drama or love story as you may expect, but on the contrary it’s a film entirely based only on a single character. Hard to believe, but it’s true that in major part of the movie, Tom Hanks is there alone on the screen, talking with the nature and a ball.

The plot is about a young energetic person (Tom Hanks), living a happy life with his lady love (Helen Hunt). While flying for a professional tour, his aircraft meets an accident and gets crashed into the ocean. Being the only visible survivor, he reaches an abandoned island and now has to find a way to get out of the absurd situation. Sadly, he is not able to find a solution and has to live on the island alone for four long years. A real scary plot it is, acted superbly by Tom Hanks and directed intelligently by Robert Zemeckis.

It’s indeed tough to make an entertaining movie with only a single character there to play around. But here, both the actor and the director, break the normal mould of movie making and deliver a fine, polished, intellectual product for the lovers of cinema. The way, they have conceived the solitary moments lived by Tom Hanks on the island alone are worth watching for every single appreciator of the art. And the professional commitment of Tom Hanks, to play the character living 4 long years on an island alone is simply remarkable.

Realistically, any person living alone on an island, surviving only on coconuts and fish is bound to have an extremely thin body in years. So, to give it an authentic feel, Tom Hanks took the challenge, worked hard for months and turned himself into an unrecognizable figure as seen in the picture on the left. The method acting art followed by the veteran in the movie is like an essential text book material for every student of film-making.

Cast Away, also scores on the emotional level as it has a philosophical climax, depicting the bitter truths of life when people tend to change with time and circumstances. The movie takes an unexpected turn when Tom gets rescued after four years, returns to his normal life and meets his lady love again. For his friends and relatives he was a dead person and now as he returns, he is made to witness some unpleasant changes in the characters of his loved ones, leaving him alone again in the crowded city.

But, instead of making it sad, the director keeps the spirit of life alive, with the small doses of humor incorporated smartly towards the end. For instance, when Tom returns to his old life, one of his friends says, “We had a funeral and a coffin for you”. And to this Tom laughs and replies, “What was in it?”……… A true masterpiece, representing commitment towards your passion, simply not to be missed.

Directed By Robert Zemeckis
Starring : Tom Hanks, Helen Hunt & more

(Originally posted at www.bobbytalkscinema.com)

Forrest Gump (1994)

2009-06-06T14:59:00.003+05:30

Another masterpiece from Tom Hanks, who surpassed his own set standards of acting and reached new greater heights in his inspiring career with “Forrest Gump”. The movie is about a loving personality with a low intelligence quotient but a heart full of emotions. The story talks about his journey from his childhood to his youth and how he faces all the complexities of life with his saintly smile and ease. He overcomes his fears, fights with his limitations and wins every heart on his way. He earns name, fame and glory with his inspirational and innovative acts and goes on to become a Hero in the eyes of a common man.

However the only thing he remembers in every phase of his life is his childhood love, Jenny. His emotions and expressions whenever he thinks or talks about Jenny are simply adorable. Later in his life, as there are more great events happening around him, he still has Jenny in his mind, as always. It’s also fun to see the animated graphics where Forrest is there interacting with some great historical figures of the past with his lovable smile.

The director uses many novel sequences in the movie where Forrest Gump is shown creating history in his own style, which also becomes funny at times. For example, when Forrest just decides to run and run for several days without any motive or aim and people also start following him blindly…..it all seems to be funny and weird at the same time. But the exceptional act of Tom Hanks makes every single step of Forrest, believable as real. His inimitable and worth praising performance makes every single flaw in the movie simply vanish in the thin air. And there lies the beauty of this movie called “Forrest Gump”

In fact, the much appreciated act of Hrithik Roshan as a low I.Q. person in “Koi Mil Gaya” also seems to be inspired from the Academy Award Winner performance of Tom Hanks. If you haven’t seen this yet, then you are missing one of the most famous and highly admired acts in the world of cinema. And as Forrest’s mama used to say, “Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get”………So, it’s indeed worth trying.

Directed By Robert Zemeckis
Starring : Tom Hanks, Sally Field, Robin Wright Penn, Gary Sinise

(Originally posted at www.bobbytalkscinema.com)