Analysing films

The problem with sports films in India: either you make a tear jerker or you create one with heavy dose of adrenalin rush. The former fits in Toofan nicely while the latter will have Chak De fit in. But a Chak De works better in the sports genre, for the fact that the genre is about the down and out scenario or the rise of the underdog or even rising from the ashes. The West (read Hollywood) has clearly laid templates and they usually do not move outside of that; unless you are creating a Moneyball or a Million Dollar Arm or Remember the Titans. Each had a story in the story. So, if it is the Longest Yard or the Million Dollar Arm or Curve Ball and the many other they produce, is all a template. But, remember sports movies inspite of being in templates are hard to make. They need to be believable and convincing. Production is hard and so are character building. Watching Toofan you shall realize the hard work that the lead (Farhan) has put in. Unless the characters look convincing, a sp...

The passing away of Dilip Kumar was kind of anticipated for quite some as he was in and out of hospital in the last few years, quite often. The thespian was 98 years old, and it spoke of the tenacity of the man in cinema and life too. He was not the one with a large filmography. Just 60 of them and they were enough for a generation and thereafter to remember him and his work. A lot of yesteryear stars from Amitabh Bachchan to much later Shahrukh Khan swear by his name and acting. Three things that stood out in his acting was the dialogue delivery , nuanced approach to acting and finally his body language . Each one left a long-standing impression. His contemporaries, Raj Kapoor and Dev Anand had also developed their own style. Raj Kapoor was often compared to Chaplin and Dev Anand to Gregory Peck. In that respect, Dilip Sahab managed to create a unique space for himself.  The 50's brought in these faces to Hindi cinema, which had till then witnessed, Ashok Kumar, Prithviraj Kapo...

Family Man 2 is the news for all the right reasons. It pretty much stays on course from where it left off with Season 1. Except that Season 2 focuses less on the family and more on the action and chase part of the discourse. One character out of the whole melee that takes off is, Chellum Sir (Uday Mahesh) and has virtually got Social Media on fire. Amongst so many tower house characters why did Chellum Sir become so viral. He is what we want to be or be like him. Have answers and solutions to all problems, no matter how complex it is. And the solution remains in a matter of fact way. This is what 2020 and 2021 has been all about. Rise of the niche world. Super stars, item numbers, blockbusters have all crashed. Across industries (Telegu and Tamil remains an exception though) it has been the rise and rise of meaningful cinema, and meaningful content. Perhaps Hindi cinema is the worst affected. And the OTT boom has further decimated the hopes. Take for instance a film like 83 which has ...

One thing that remains clear after watching Sherni (it streams on Prime Video); never judge a film by the trailer. I remember a Srijit Mukherjee film (not a big fan anyways of his film) Zulfiqar released in 2016 and it had a promising trailer to boot. The trailer had created so much anticipation about the film and eventually the film turned a big Dud. With Sherni, the trailer did not hold, and I was only hoping to sit for a couple of minutes to see through the proceedings. However, the film just took off. Amit Masurkar took his own time after his debut, Newton launch his second outing and he continues to hold his mettle. Sherni is an important film not just for the context of the plot but also for understanding what happens when mankind and animal kingdom clash. This has been a phenomena affecting the animal kingdom globally. A brilliant documentary on Apple TV, The year the earth changed showcases when the humans where locked up at home in 2020, nature started reclaiming it's rig...

  Mandela has to be one of the definitive films of 2021. Mandela and Karnan (featuring Dhanush and another 2021 release) trudge the same path of caste based oppression but the genre of the two remains starkly different. While Karnan pretty much follows the age old path of revenge, violence and the down and out protagonist fighting back; Mandela takes a completely different route to addressing the issue of caste based oppression. In a small village Soorangudi (Tuticorin district) a small time low caste barber suddenly becomes the most important man in the village, as his only vote will decide the future of the village elections and the gram panchayat. The village has a history of conflict with the northern and southern part of the village at loggerheads (a caste based divide). Both the sides have their respective leader and who are ironically the sons of the local panchayat head. The head has strategically married two women from the two different sides of the village, but it still d...

Titli released in the summer of 2014 after having earned rave reviews in the international film circuit. A heavily awarded neo-noir and Kanu Behl's debut film, it is definitely not for the faint hearted. It opens to a title of the film in blood red and that pretty much sums up the sequence of events. Titli has a very Fargo kind of feel from the Coen brothers. Fargo plays out in the cold and mountainous North Dakota and Titli is set in the very rustic and dusty part of Delhi. It does intermingle with the narrow and shabby by lanes of North East Delhi where the buildings and the people are virtually breathing down on each other. Titli takes us into the lives of three brothers and their father. The relationship amongst them breathes the parochial and patriarchal mindset which is to say the least, toxic. The elder brother played brilliantly by Ranvir Shorey understands only one thing which is what he inherited from his father and thereon. The language of physical abuse and an extremely...