Hail Indian Cinema and its talents, Hail the contemporary age of film making but also Hail the old school concepts and Hail Amitabh! Over the last period or so, quite very often nowadays, I have begun taking notice of the fact that along with the usual plagiarized concept of movies and the typical trend setting commercial Indian entertainers which when once appears, seems to come in a chain or pattern one after the other with the same level of thoughts and stuffs, comes some outstanding masterpieces comparable to the best of World Cinema and compete with the classics of the past and present. Are we having a dearth of talent in terms of versatility in Indian Cinema when it comes to direction and movie making? Well the answer is certainly a big NO! HOW? Well, How about some movies that include taaren zameen par, a Wednesday,Mumbai meri jaan and now add to that..The Last Lear.
I haven't sent much of Rituparno Ghosh's work but I have labeled him as a talented filmmaker but after seeing The Last Lear, I believe first I have to applaud him and then label him as one of the best directors in the country at the moment.It was simply exceptional.I would never had thought that such a movie would ever be made after the days of Satyajit Ray. I was literally in awe of the performances and also the story. I have a taste for movies of every genre and I can separate quality from crap but when it comes to making of a movie as The Last Lear and watching Dr. Amitabh Bachchan give a performance of a lifetime, I just didn't know how to separate quality from quality.
Amitabh Bacchan as we all know is a versatile actor and is a mark of greatness in the Indian Film Industry.Along with the likes of Nasseruddin Shah, Paresh Rawal,Anupam Kher, Om Puri, he has been the pillar of strength only and only in terms of pure acting talent and when it comes to role personification and giving powerful performances.When we talk of acting, we generally think of delivering or presenting the role of a character of a story in front of the audience and playing the character in the most skillful manner possible so that more than anything else the viewers gets to know the character and the character sells the movie to all.But nowadays,it's the actor who consumes or engulfs the character and not the other way round and sells himself and not the character. Almost everyone does that.When we look at a movie, we see a Shah Rukh Khan or an Aamir Khan or Hrithik Roshan or Rani or Preity etc not the characters.In the last lear,after a long long time that I see the character of the movie Harish and not Amitabh Bacchan because what Amitabh did was he became Harish and was not seen anywhere as the personality that he is.Amitabh Bachchan was at his imperious best.The direction and plot was outstanding and the movie was so well conceived that it just grabs you like anything.
Right from the beginning, when we know not as what has happened when slowly till the time Jishu sengupta(the protagonist) brings light towards the events that takes the movie forward and enter the characters one by one. First, Preity Zinta was very good.Portraying Shabnam, an actress troubled with her marriage and personal life, who decides to take a visit at Harish's residence who is dying on the day when his first movie is being premiered.Arjun Rampal meanwhile contemplates some thought that worries him.Soon we get to see the whole plot unveil itself and what exactly happens in it. How amitabh Bachchan, a man who was once a stage actor and used to play the characters of the different plays of Shakespeare being completely obsessed with Shakespeare and still lives in the lines of the plays gets to first meet Jishu and then Arjun rampal. How arjun convinces Amitabh to act in his directorial venture in a film and how the relationship between him and Amitabh(Harish/Harry)develops as between two friends and also between a director and an actor.Also unfolds other strong relationships between Shabnam(Preity) and Harish. The scenes describing the shooting of the Film, the colourful events during the shooting and also the how the film reaches its climax through the film's description.The story of the plot unfolds is narrated both by the protagonist( Jishu) and Preity Zinta who meets Shefali Chhaya(daughter of Harish).The events in the house of Harish that take place in between the scenes of preity, Shefali and Divya Dutta(the nurse) are also quite realistic and well crafted.The small events in Harish's house when he first meets Jishu for an interview about Neeraj marked the introduction of Amitabh in the Plot and it was fabulous.How Harry watches everything from the window outside and scorns the public for anything he sees wrong. From the first lines that he shouts "Idiot" to the mocking of the people who litters on his boundary walls is just amazing. The way Harry suddenly breaks into the Shakespeare characters time and again is superb. The ending of the movie is so very touchy and awesome that the character of Harry just consumes one. The technicalities of the movie were brilliant.The camera-work, background score and editing was fascinating.What really impressed me the most was the cinematography. The way small stories within the major plot take place is also so beautifully crafted. I won't reveal the plot anymore though I 've already spoken a lot but what I can say is a masterpiece has been produced.If anyone is interested in watching genuinely good movies as this one, please watch it and if you like it, write your comment here.I don't think it'll be very different from that of mine.Simply exceptional
I haven't sent much of Rituparno Ghosh's work but I have labeled him as a talented filmmaker but after seeing The Last Lear, I believe first I have to applaud him and then label him as one of the best directors in the country at the moment.It was simply exceptional.I would never had thought that such a movie would ever be made after the days of Satyajit Ray. I was literally in awe of the performances and also the story. I have a taste for movies of every genre and I can separate quality from crap but when it comes to making of a movie as The Last Lear and watching Dr. Amitabh Bachchan give a performance of a lifetime, I just didn't know how to separate quality from quality.
Amitabh Bacchan as we all know is a versatile actor and is a mark of greatness in the Indian Film Industry.Along with the likes of Nasseruddin Shah, Paresh Rawal,Anupam Kher, Om Puri, he has been the pillar of strength only and only in terms of pure acting talent and when it comes to role personification and giving powerful performances.When we talk of acting, we generally think of delivering or presenting the role of a character of a story in front of the audience and playing the character in the most skillful manner possible so that more than anything else the viewers gets to know the character and the character sells the movie to all.But nowadays,it's the actor who consumes or engulfs the character and not the other way round and sells himself and not the character. Almost everyone does that.When we look at a movie, we see a Shah Rukh Khan or an Aamir Khan or Hrithik Roshan or Rani or Preity etc not the characters.In the last lear,after a long long time that I see the character of the movie Harish and not Amitabh Bacchan because what Amitabh did was he became Harish and was not seen anywhere as the personality that he is.Amitabh Bachchan was at his imperious best.The direction and plot was outstanding and the movie was so well conceived that it just grabs you like anything.
Right from the beginning, when we know not as what has happened when slowly till the time Jishu sengupta(the protagonist) brings light towards the events that takes the movie forward and enter the characters one by one. First, Preity Zinta was very good.Portraying Shabnam, an actress troubled with her marriage and personal life, who decides to take a visit at Harish's residence who is dying on the day when his first movie is being premiered.Arjun Rampal meanwhile contemplates some thought that worries him.Soon we get to see the whole plot unveil itself and what exactly happens in it. How amitabh Bachchan, a man who was once a stage actor and used to play the characters of the different plays of Shakespeare being completely obsessed with Shakespeare and still lives in the lines of the plays gets to first meet Jishu and then Arjun rampal. How arjun convinces Amitabh to act in his directorial venture in a film and how the relationship between him and Amitabh(Harish/Harry)develops as between two friends and also between a director and an actor.Also unfolds other strong relationships between Shabnam(Preity) and Harish. The scenes describing the shooting of the Film, the colourful events during the shooting and also the how the film reaches its climax through the film's description.The story of the plot unfolds is narrated both by the protagonist( Jishu) and Preity Zinta who meets Shefali Chhaya(daughter of Harish).The events in the house of Harish that take place in between the scenes of preity, Shefali and Divya Dutta(the nurse) are also quite realistic and well crafted.The small events in Harish's house when he first meets Jishu for an interview about Neeraj marked the introduction of Amitabh in the Plot and it was fabulous.How Harry watches everything from the window outside and scorns the public for anything he sees wrong. From the first lines that he shouts "Idiot" to the mocking of the people who litters on his boundary walls is just amazing. The way Harry suddenly breaks into the Shakespeare characters time and again is superb. The ending of the movie is so very touchy and awesome that the character of Harry just consumes one. The technicalities of the movie were brilliant.The camera-work, background score and editing was fascinating.What really impressed me the most was the cinematography. The way small stories within the major plot take place is also so beautifully crafted. I won't reveal the plot anymore though I 've already spoken a lot but what I can say is a masterpiece has been produced.If anyone is interested in watching genuinely good movies as this one, please watch it and if you like it, write your comment here.I don't think it'll be very different from that of mine.Simply exceptional