THE VOICE OF THE VOICELESS

LA VOZ DE LOS SILENCIADOS

‘Silently effective’

The film is based on true events. The Voice of the Voiceless, directed by Maximon Monihan, like its title tells the story of a teen girl, Olga, who is deaf and brought to New York in fake scholarship to a school from Guatemala. But New York doesn’t appears the way she imagined, she has to sell ‘I am deaf’ trinkets and generate 100$ a day to avoid the harsh punishment. The film with almost no dialogues and only actions is shot around New York.

It is a film which strikes subtly with the issue raised. It makes us feel pity on Olga to see the trauma through which she is going, a never ending nightmare. But on another note she is also trying to enjoy life by spending extra money by saving when she gets more than 100$. The film talks about a whole racket of such physically challenged kids who have to do this in order to survive.

There is nothing much from the cinematography aspect and the music too sounds okay. Director, Maximon, makes it very clear that the film is all about the girl, her imaginations and desires of a better life like any other citizen. Again, the film just arrests you with its end and makes you feel for Olga, the girl. 

THE JAPANESE DOG (Romania/85’/2013)

‘Pleasant’

Been a victim of natural disaster, have came across someone who has seen a flood and lost their close ones? Well, The Japanese Dog, directed by Tudor Cristian Jurgiu, is a story of an old man and his village, which went through a flood in Romania outskirts, taking away everything from them. The old man, Costache (Victor Rebengiuc), is a very strong person who hides his sorrows and does his work alone without expecting or accepting sympathy from anyone for free. Things chance when his son Ticu with his Japanese wife and Costache's grandson arrives for a couple of days.

Well acted by Victor Rebengiuc, the story majorly revolves around him. We only get to see the soft side, the joyous side, when his grandson arrives. The film’s narrative is fine. It is pleasant and humorous at times. Good use of the location, which gives the film a fine look. Other than this, the film certainly lacks a depth, being a good, simple, plain story and fine acting by Victor Rebengiuc it has nothing much to offer.

FOR THOSE IN PERIL (UK/93’/2013)

‘There’s hope’

 Ever got bullied, criticized or alienated by someone in your life? Well, Aaron (George Mackay) playing the role of a young guy, in this film For Those in Peril, goes through all sorts of odd things in his entire life. Being a Scottish village of fishermen’s, he with other five guys, including his brother Michael, go on fishing. They meet a disastrous accident in which only Aaron survives and of which he doesn’t remember anything.

Aaron is ill treated by the villagers and his only hopes are his mother and Michael’s girlfriend. They support him. Slowly Aaron starts believing that Michael is alive and goes in deep sea to kill the sea monster and rescue his brother. In all this alienation he recollects his childhood memories and starts building a world around it.

Director Paul Wright’s debut is promising. The concept of hope after a lot of grief and sorrow has been finessed properly. Exploring a local story of a sea monster engulfing all the people from village and a hero fighting back the monster rescues everyone is told through sensuous visuals. The irony in the end of stirs up the mind and makes us feel hopeful in a way.

MEDEAS (Italy-Mexico-USA/97’/2013)

‘Captivating and daring’

Alienation, loneliness, desire and power all these terms have been wonderfully portrayed in Andrea Pallaoro’s film Medeas. The story is set in outskirts of Italy. Ennis is a farmer who is going through hard financial times. He is finding to keep peace with his work and with his family too. Disturbed by his wife’s relation, he goes through a very fierce emotional change.

 Exploring the journey of alienation of each member of the house, the film makes an impact with its hard hitting execution style. The cinematic expressions are very beautiful and the large landscapes just keep us into the frames. The film is strong and remains daring throughout the end with its issue. It certainly does ring your strings and makes a point. Andrea pallaoro’s debut feature is very promising and he certainly is a director to keep an eye on.

THE PLAGUE (Spain/85’/2013)

LA PLAGA

The film is quite straightforward in its approach about the plague and its resemblance to human lives. Directed by Neus Ballus, The Plague, is a story of people living in the outskirts of Barcelona. Lurie is wrestler who works at the fields after his practise for Raul a farmer. Maria is an old lady who is shifted to the nursing home where Rose is her attending nurse. Maribel is a prostitute who waits all day long nearby Raul’s farm for her clients. All the characters are facing tough situation in their lives. Their frustration increases when things don’t go as they planned.

The director, Neus, has managed very well to script the nature and human life together. The heat increasing in Barcelona which is affecting all is a strong symbolism of the increasing concerns of the residents. Due to the heat the plague in the farm has completey destroyed Raul’s one farm. He anxiously awaits rain. The film moves from frame to frame jumping from one character to another without any distraction, that’s the beauty of the director. The rain in the end brings rest and happiness to everyone. The film does leave all of us with a hope of new beginning.

THE GOLDEN CAGE (Mexico/102’/2013)

LA JAULA DE ARO

‘Subtle yet arresting’

It seems pretty easy for us to travel from here to a foreign country. If you think so, think again. It is not with the case of the Mexican film The Golden Cage, directed by Diego Quemada-Diez, the film is a journey of four teens, Juan, Sara, Samuel and Chauk, taking us throughout Guatemala and Mexico. The adventure which seems easy at the start later turns out to be a survival journey for the teens. Guatemala is a place with no future so the Jaun, sara and Samuel decide to leave for Los Angeles to live their dreams. They find Chauk on the way.

The film certainly exploits all the shades of a migrant. The director with a very clear vision delivers the story in layers. Whenever the story seems to be settling down, something disastrous happens. Samuel backs out of the journey at the very beginning when they all are caught by local police as immigrants. Rest three are used as cheap laborers in their journey ahead. Sara is kidnapped by a gang robbing the migrants. Juan and Chauk continue ahead, where to cross the next border they need to carry drugs. Throughout the journey Diego shows complete scenario of the political and economical condition of both the states as well as the migrants. The film does make a point and impact!

ANOTHER HOUSE (Canada/105’/2013)

L’AUTRE MAISON

Set in Canada, Another House, is a story of a father (Henri) suffering from Alzheimer’s and his two sons, Gabriel and Eric, who are taking care of him. Gabriel is a correspondent journalist for a press where as Eric is a pilot. Gabriel travels most of the time so Eric, the younger brother, has to bear the responsibility of their father.

The characters speak louder. Henri played by Marcel Sabourin is an extra ordinary performance. Directed by Mathieu Roy, the film speaks about the dilemma of the two brothers. Director has used a wonderful location to make the film. The scenic beauty calms you down. The film is all about relations and trying to figure out the possible solution. The remains realistic and does connect.

THE STRANGE LITTLE CAT (Germany/72’/2013)

‘The cat has noting much to do with the film’

DAS MERKWURDIGE KATZACHEN

Shot 99% inside a residential flat room, The Strange Little Cat is a tough film to get through. Director Ramon Zurcher speaks about a family living in the apartment in Germany. It seems a weekend when the whole family gathers and they are joined by few other relatives. There is not much of a story but the phase through which every family member is undergoing.

The strangeness is in the family members having less understanding with each other. Director Ramon surely knows camera, the framing is very tight which gives a feel of clog and congestion in every character. The brilliancy is in using the limited space to shoot. The acting seems natural but on some narrative ends looks artificial.

The music seems to be dominant, which certainly decides the power of the characters. The noise the machine produces is a metaphor cleverly used. The film is certainly difficult to average cinemagoers. A strong comment of the concept of nuclear family is portrayed. The films is not a piece of cake that can be gulped easily, it takes time to understand what the director says. On broader aspect, the film is meant for above average cinema fans who understand cinema in and out.

THE ROCKET (Australia-Laos-Thailand/96’/2013)

‘Mischievous and gripping’

Like the title, The Rocket, the film too is about it. Directed by Kim Mordaunt, the film shows the journey of a Thai family, as their land is going under dam construction’s affected area. Ahlo is Family’s youngest, a 10 year old energetic, mischievous and courageous boy. While evacuating the village, accidently Ahlo’s mother dies. Ahlo’s grandmother blames him for this and says he is a curse from birth according to their custom. But Ahlo’s father denies this and they continue the journey. In their replacement camp Ahlo meets a young orphan girl Kia aged 9 and her ‘Purple uncle’. Both gel up good and soon share a strong bonding.

The film is humorous but there’s ache hidden in every laugh, scenes such as - when the family along with the girl and her uncle hide to cross security check in a live bomb disposing truck and also when the two little innocent kids accidently pick up a grenade while playing. The performance of both the kids is amazingly extraordinary. They bring liveliness to the frames. The economical comment by the director is strong from very start of the film. The Thai community is exploited by foreign companies and the localites suffer. The film certainly leaves us with joy and rejoices in its final moments.

ILO ILO (Singapore/99’/2013)

‘old but still contemporary material’

Set in the late 90’s and revolving around the Asian financial crisis the film Ilo Ilo, certainly doesn't lets you go off. The simple yet intriguing build up between the newly arrived Filipino maid, Teressa, and Jiale, the only son (10-12 years) of the family, which is portrayed humorously. Directed by Anthony Chen, the film speaks about the problem of all the characters and ways they are trying to overcome it. How their work life is affecting their personal life.

The film makes you for wanting more feel after every frame. You are pushed to ask yourself, what’s next, before the frame ends. With a decent camera work and the presence of natural sound makes the film very natural. The performance of the young boy is brilliant. While watching the complete film, one gets so engrossed that we see the film from a neighbors perspective. It lacks the depth in the script in the middle of the script. But, it doesn't hamper the film as whole. The film is well made and to look for.

TONNERRE (France/106’/2013)

Love, sex aur Dhokha!

Life, love, betrayal and revenge, Tonnerre directed by Guillaume Brac revolves around these words. Maxime, 33 years old, is a musician coming from Paris living with his father in Tonnerre city. He is interviewed by a young local reporter, Melody, 21 years. Their first interview proves to be good knowing each other and they decide to meet again. They both slowly fall for each other ending up making love almost every day at Maxime’s apartment. Till this point the script remains interesting and absorbing.

However, when the second half starts, the script let the hopes down by taking a very usual love triangle shift, with Maxime even kidnapping Melody in the end sequences. The film, which remains intriguing in the first half certainly losses its charm in the second. The story seems to get pretty usual with happy ending for everyone. Still the actor Vincent Macaigne (Maxime) manages well to pullout the film with fine sense of acting in the second half. The film does say about a human caught in dilemma but fell a little short to give the complete meaning to it.

FANDRY - a critic/review.

Many successful Indian films have surfaced addressing caste issue in India, Ankur (1974), Samar (1999) to name a few. ‘Fandry’ is one such attempt to address the caste issue. Directed by Nagraj Manjule, the film tells the story of ‘Jabya’ who lives in the rural area of Maharashtra with his family, father, mother & two sisters, belonging to a low caste. They are poor & Jabya has to manage between work and school. The film exploits the caste system where Jabya’s family is given all sorts of possible humiliation by the rest of the high class villagers. Nagraj maintains a balanced narrative by carrying Jabya’s infatuation about Sahlu, one of his classmates belonging to a higher class. The love story of Jabya and in ways he tries to perceive Shalu has been portrayed well. This provides space for enough humour in the film to keep us intrigued.

The film gets pretty bold in the end with its execution style. But if we glance at couple of recent Marathi films, they have been on similar lines. Nagraj, who also directed Pistulya (a short film), gives a similar treatment considering the script. The film certainly does create an effect in its last moments, appealing to take stand.

-Izaz Ansari.

MAMAY UMENG - FILM REVIEW IN HT CAFE, MUMBAI.

‘Pure festival material’

मुसाफ़िर

एक मुसाफ़िर घर से निकला,

दिल में कई अरमान थे,

एक ओर जंगल ही जंगल,

एक ओर शमशान थे,

मुसाफ़िर के कदम पड़े हड्डी पर,

हड्डी के यह बयान थे,

“चलने वाले सम्भल कर चलो,

कुछ दिन पहले हम भी इंसान थे।”

-गुमनाम।

LOOTERA – A cinematic poetry.

‘A film for cinema lovers!’

It takes courage to make such a film. Yes. Though Vikramaditya was inspired by a story, it takes great determination and sheer perseverance to make a film like this which takes the audience on a completely different journey all together.  The film mesmerizes you and makes you nostalgic if you ever had faced the similar kind of things in your life. Well, that can be expected from a director whose first film was Udaan. Vikramaditya Motwane takes a bow to the commercial cinema side of Bollywood with his latest venture Lootera. Although the film is immensely inspired by the story of O.Henry’s Last Leaf, at no point in time does it make you feel that you are re reading the short story.  Lootera is a complete new thing in itself.

The film has everything, which is required for a hit the box office. Most of the reviews, as the critiques have died somewhere down, gave a four star rating. I don’t believe in star system though. If a film is good, people do watch it, no matter what the stars suggest.

Well, for Lootera, everything falls in line. The story has its own charisma. You know what is bound to happen but you do get a few surprises, which wakes you up and says – Hey! Wake up, this is not reading the book thing, you are watching a movie.

Motwane has, in very good fashion framed the location. It is so pleasing to see Bengal through the lens of Motwane and in the second half the snowy 1954 Himachal through the same craftsmanship. He is surely a well trained student of Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Some of the song sequence, with panning and dollying cameras, reminds you of Bhansali’s work.

Well, Sonakshi did a pretty good job. But Ranveer for me was not apt for the film. Motwane should have thought of someone else but if the budget refrained him from doing so, it’s understood. We all do compromise in our work, don’t we?

Ranveer is good looking guy, but the seriousness just didn’t match with his image. He still looks and acts like a Delhi wala boy from Band Baja Baraat. Well, Divya Dutta is ‘deaf’ & ‘dumb’ in the film. The one guy to watch out for is Adil Hussain. He is a superb actor and with his presence on the screen he makes the reel look so real. You will know what I am talking, if you have seen lessons in forgetting. 

Amit Trivedi has done a wonderful job by keeping the frames together intact with his superb sense over music. Shikayatein and Zinda are my personal favorites. All that happens when you have two choices to make and on the contrary both of them are important, so what is the situation like? All this is included here in LOOTERA. Everything you want to know could be seen in the movie. I don’t really want to go deep into the story because there’s a difference in “Seeing and Reading”. So when you can actually enjoy the cinematic beauty, why should I waste it by telling you!

I am always open for your precious feedbacks! Let me know what you feel, if you have seen the film.

“मेरे याद किए हुए दोहे।”

यूहीं एक शाम बैठे-बैठे मुझे हिन्दी टाइपिंग का बुखार चढ़ गया। बस फिर क्या था, कम्प्युटर आँन किया और जो मन में आया लिखना शुरू कर दिया। गनीमत तो यह है कि, शुरू भी किया तो दोहो से, जिनका मुझसे बड़ा पुराना रिश्ता है।

“मेरे याद किए हुए कुछ दोहे।”

क)   करत करत अभ्यास के, जडमति होत सुजान।।

रसरि आवत जात ते, सिल पर परत निसान।।

ख)   रहिमन निजमन की व्यथा, मन राखो ही गोय।। (रहीम)

सुन इठलैहे लोग सभैं, बाट न लैहैं कोए।।

ग)    बडा हुआ तो क्या हुआ, जैसे पेड़ खजूर।। (कबीर)

पंथी को छाया नही, फल लागै अति दूर।।

घ)    रहिमन धागा इश्क का, मत तोड़ो चटिकाए।। (रहीम)

जोड़े से फिर ना जुड़ै, जुड़ै गाठ परि जाए।।

ङ)     काजल की कोठरी मे, कितनो हि सयानो जाए।। (हमारे हिन्दी के शिक्षक सुनाते थे)

एक लीक काजल कि, लागी है पैलागी।।

च)    बुरा जो देखन मैं चला, बुरा न मिलया कोए।।

जो मन देखा आपना, मुझसा बुरा न कोए।।

हिन्दी भाषा को लेकर मैं सदैव ही बड़ा भावुक रहा हूँ। बहुत साल बीत गए, लगभग 8 साल, मैनें हिन्दी लिखना छोड़ सा दिया था। पर अब जो पुनः शुरू किया है तो देखिए कब तलक साथ चलता है।

(दूसरे दोहे (ख) का श्रेय मेरे दोस्त एवम सहपाठी, राम को जाता है।)

धन्यवाद।

(यदि कोई टिप्पणी करना चाहे तो बेशक किजिए।)   J

TREK TO MATHERAN – a meeting with the clouds!

I put my alarm on snooze and went back to sleep. Suddenly, I realized it’s no ordinary morning. It was 05:20 hours and I woke up. If I would have overslept, then I don’t think I would have been able to share all this.

It all started with our MA batch, when our Professor Mangesh planned the trek. He usually takes us to trek twice every year. But unfortunately I have missed all the opportunity prior to this one. This trekking trip to Matheran was my first and boy it was a trek! I was amazed and felt rejuvenated. Planning for the trek went as usual. Just a few different things in my bag pack this time, as it was a trekking trip and not a picnic.

I left early from my house, took the ticket and boarded 06:26 hours Panvel local. After reaching I met my fellow classmates, now ‘the trekkers’. We sat at the Panvel ST Bus stand for about an hour before catching our bus to Dodhani village from where we were suppose to actually start our journey of trekking.

Alas! We reached Dodhani village on foot where the bus left us. As soon as I stepped down the bus I took a good long time and took a glance, a 360 degree view. It was incredible! I have never seen nature such beautiful. So peaceful that you could smell the fresh mud, feel the breeze and hear the nearby water flowing down the stream. It was fantastic!

Then came the moment! Sir gave the signal and we, a bunch of 24 trekkers, started climbing. It hardly took us 15 minutes to reach our first stop. From there our goal, the final point, was clearly visible. We sat there for around 10 minutes and begin climbing again. This time it was a lengthy. It took us almost half an hour to reach the second point. It was a small stream going down the mountain. I was wearing converse, didn’t knew they would slip, but they slipped and fell for the first time. I was scared! Never felt something like that before. If my fellow trekker wouldn’t have held me by my bag, I would have hit myself against the rock. But as the rock was close, so it wouldn’t have caused much damage though. So, no harm done there!

After that we again started, only this time the climbing became more serious. For me it was a step by step climbing because I already experienced something, which I didn’t, wanted to happen again. After reaching a plain part of the mountain, which was not so plain, I decided to turn around and have a look. I was amused! The view was so heavenly! I fell in love with it. I stood there for about a minute when one of my fellow trekker called me. I turned and started climbing again.

The rain god was happy with us, I guess. Because whenever we felt the heat or thought that the humidity is increasing, there was a shower of around 2 minutes, which cooled us down. I enjoyed every moment, every single moment. It was my first trek and I can assure you that there are many more to come. It was so superb that to make you believe such things you must visit the place ones and of course on foot.

Finally after about a walk and climb of 2 ½ to 3 hours we finally reached our destination. For me it was like an achievement in true sense.

Share your thoughts and views if you too had done such a journey.

MY SHOWREEL 2011-12.mpg

A Story well narrated!

लापतागंज – शरद जोशी की कहानियाँ

I remember how I became a television addict in my childhood days, watching the cartoons on DD metro and Shaktimaan on DD National. I grew up and barely memorize that I watched a serial after that. I hated watching regular shows and later when I was introduced to reality shows,  it was not impressive either.

I remember watching the ads of Lapataganj before its telecast and was certain about the soap that it would do the same, mockery of the system with some routine drama. But, later when I saw it, i was proved wrong.

I remember watching the show from the very first episode. And way later after my childhood I became addicted to one, i.e. ‘Lapataganj’. I remember each characters name, their role and their act which they performed on the show. The show closed down on 11 January with the title song of the show playing at the very end.

The show was not much different from the other shows of SAB TV; it had the typical formula of storytelling. Coming up with a problem and then solving it in 2-3 or maybe a week’s episode.

But what really made the structure of the narrative different was the dialect and characterization. It was, what I believe, the USP of the serial. I will miss the simplicity of the serial and would definitely remember this one of a kind.