Reviews
Taxi No. 9 2 11: Nau Do Gyarah (2006)
Nice movie made better by some great performances .
This is the story of two absolute losers from totally different walks of life. Their paths cross each other, wreaking havoc in their already messed up life. The story is pretty much really on the edge and most times movies with such stories end up being full of overacting, cheap jokes and loud music. But "Taxi Number 9211" is different thanks to two some great directing and excellent performances by the two lead actors.
OK ... Nana Patekar is not really great in this movie. That's only because of some scenes in which he relapses into his regular madman over-acting mode. But for most parts , he is just as good as he used to be in his earlier days before he started doing the same madman routine for any role that came his way. In "Taxi ..." , he's good for 75% of his screen time and that's saying a lot for most actors these days.
However , John Abraham varies from good to absolutely GREAT almost in all his scenes . Yes , this is the same John Abraham who has only looked like a two dimensional suiting model in all his earlier films! In "Taxi ..." he gives a refreshingly good performance . And its really amazing , for in Bollywood , male leads only start giving some sorta good performances around the age of 40 or beyond ! So , two great performances from the lead almost guarantees an enjoyable movie , but WAIT ...the supporting cast are even better than Nana Patekar! Sonali Kulkarni gave me another clue as to why "Dil Chahta Hai" was such a great movie. For whatever small roles she gets, she gives it her all. Its a pity she doesn't come in bigger roles because she's way ahead of the starlets who are in the movies 'coz of their Mamas and Papas.
There are also great performances by most of the other sideys like the little Hawaldar with his happy smirk when he gets Nana Patekar to the Police-station. Even the police Inspector does his job well. And then there's Mr. Batliwala , whatever the name of that actor. He does it so well , its difficult to imagine him having any other name in real life! There's also the Mr. Bajaj in a little role that he handles very professionally.
All in all a collection of good performances .
Add to that , a great storyline when a whole lot of movies are being made "based on" or "inspired by" or "accidently similar" to some Hollywood movies , this one seems refreshingly original , although I might be wrong.
"Taxi Number 9211" seems to be made with tender care and with an intent to make a good movie. There is attention to detail without being a hindrance to the flow of the movie.
However , I give the movie two negative points for some little things here and there. There's Sanjay Dutt's "Vaat lag gayi" narration in the background. His Bambaiyya accent is definitely over-rated and he does overdo it. A better idea would've been to chose someone with a real accent for lesser money. For some time after the interval the movie is direction-less and threatens to go the way of most Hindi movies that start well. That's another negative point.
However , the movie's end (almost unrelated to the story) is just AWESOME . A Kishore Kumar classic is used in all its full glory without the regular loud computerized trashy music remixed with it. Just vanilla Kishore Kumar ... just blew me away . And so did Priyanka Chopra :) A definite bonus point to make it 9 out of 10 for "Taxi Number 9211".
Rang De Basanti (2006)
A masala movie glorifying mindless jingoism
The first half of the movie was promising out to be a 5 on 10, but then they started the second half which brings it down to the bottom floor :( There's attempt at good movie-making , but obviously they have succeeded in making good money.
I admire the business acumen of the movie makers to put in a little this and a little that to pull in most importantly the rich crowds - the Punjabis in India and abroad. Secondly, it uses some cutting-edge techniques to make the movie LOOK good to critics in India who are mainly exposed to trash after mindless song-dance trash for review. This is the only reason I can think for this movie to get rave reviews. And then , there are ALSO those BIG HIT dance numbers which the yuppy crowd goes into see picturized on the big screen. But does a soundtrack make a movie good ?!! Once the audience are in , the movie preaches and preaches and preaches. Then it preaches AGAIN !
I don't mind the above mentioned tricks 'coz the movie makers want to make money firstly , and hats off to them for succeeding . However , strickly speaking about the movie's quality , it has problems.
Today's India is building itself on its IT and economic policies and capitalism , but this movie preaches about how the youth today should adopt violence against the establishment to make the country move ahead. This movie ( and others coming out of India ) glorifies Bhagat Singh etc. a bit too much. There have been some classics about him in the distant past , but the movie industry seems to inclined to portray these guys as the ones who actually brought freedom to India. Well ... like Mahatma Gandhiji did not exist , Or the World War did not create problems for British enough for them to start pulling out of most countries . A biographic movie about Bhagat Singh etc. would've been tolerable, but this movie PREACHES that the techniques of Singh and Azad are SO EFFECTIVE that they can be successful in today's world. I have doubts about that.
Well , Youth of India ,thankfully you don't have the guts to practice the lessons from this movie. However if you DO , please don't! India is progressing fine, thank you. In fact, India can do with a little lesser crime.
Other irritants abound in this movie. One I can think of right now was the evil corrupt and mean politician with an IQ of bird-droppings. Now ... politicians anywhere might be mean , evil and corrupt , but they're generally among the smartest people on earth. But this one was so dumb that he actually criticizes a dead pilot! Not surprisingly , people were not pleased with him.
The list of unbelievable irritants can go on , so I'll end with one last thing about this movie which which is WRONG - it leads u to think Punjab is the only place in India !
But hey ,the movie has the regular masalas for a block-buster - Romance , loud music and violence. Add to that a lot of patriotic hoohaa. Then there's Hindu-Muslim solidarity. So , keep your intellect aside and you might enjoy the movie.
Salaam Namaste (2005)
Movie about a condom gone wrong .
Javed Jaffry is great in this movie . A genuine classic comedy character up there with Sholay's Soorma Bhopali or Padosan's Masterji. Unfortunately , he can't live the movie enough to make me give it anything more than 1 point . For Javed's 15 minutes of screen-presence , I had to go thru' Preity Zinta's 2 hours.
How dumb can a Hindi movie be , when 3 people are sitting on a table and two are talking in Hindi , when the third one butts in and says 'English , Please' ?!! And why in the name of God , does this movie have to be based in Australia ? Is it to prove the Australia doesn't make good contraceptives ? ( By the way , the movie is about a contraceptive gone wrong ) The first half had some light watchable and listenable moments , but the second half was Ufff .... TOO MUCH SHREIKING for my pleasure . Abhishekh Bacchan enters supposed as a likable bumbling doctor. But he doesn't look like any doctor . He just looks like Abhishekh Bacchan with bad makeup and horrible overacting , possibly as a result of some contract gone wrong with the producer.
Overall , a bad movie . Worth watching on pirated DVD's just for Javed JAffry.
Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003)
SRK makes it worse
There's a lot of good that can be written about very little things in Kal Ho naa Ho . Actually , Saif Ali Khan's performance is awesome , no doubts about that. And there some slick editing . And clever dialogs . Preity Zinta looks great and does a commendable job with her limited skills as an actress. Satish Shah is terrific . So many good things in parts. But the overall picture is overshadowed by SharRukh Khan's presence. His performance brings down the whole effort at film-making like a tidal wave would wash away a little girl's pretty sandcastle. Just when you've settled down to enjoy a movie well begun , Shahrukh's makes his entry on the screen. Saif's comic scenes , Preity's restrained acting , and the peripheral crews little bits and pieces just struggle to keep the movie interesting , but Shahrukh Khan's overacting again and again will make you bring your claws to your hair.
Beware , he'll try to make you laugh , but you'll cry at your fate. He'll then try to make you cry at his plight and you will growl at your stupidity for not having run away to someplace safe . His effect on the whole movie is such that very soon the whole movie will turn against you and make you cry..and CRY ...and REALLY SOB YOUR HEART OUT , but in reality you just will keep hoping this will end sometime soon. But the movie will get the better of you because its so long. If you're watching it at home , you will try to fast-forward the weepy-song in the end , and just when you think its gone , it will rise like Phoenix and start all over again.
The movie had one positive effect on me in the end. I realized how interesting it would have been if I'd done my laundry on already washed and ironed shirts. Certainly more interesting than a hair-jerker like Kal Ho Naa Ho.
Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India (2001)
Over-hyped junk
Contains Spoiler Just another Hindi movie where the overtly good prevails over the overtly evil , in the most absurd circumstances. Regular Hindi movies feature a hero bashing up 10 hoodlums ( maybe multiplied by another 10 ). This one features 11 non-cricketers ( including physically and mentally handicapped guys ) , who defeat 11 Eglishmen at their own game. Of course , to make things realistic , they DID get trained in the finer skills of the game by an English woman !
The story starts off with the English guys being cruel enough to levy some unbelievable taxes on the poor villagers. The they turn sadistic enough to challenge the poor villagers to a game of cricket , and if the villagers win , they get to TRIPLE the taxes. This is the start of absurdities ...leading to more than an hour of badly photographed cricket , and Englishwoman falling in love with one of the villagers who happens to look like a Bollywood star ( Aamir Khan ). Of course , the chocolate-faced Bollywood boy shuns her for the local village girl . This village girl , played by Gracy Singh , is the only breath of fresh air in this gigantic mess of a movie , replete with over-acting , misfit music and a totally predictable cricket match.