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Reviews
Elippathayam (1982)
Brilliant Character Study
Elippathayam ( Rat Trap) is the third film by Adoor and is supposed to be the first one to bring him international acclaim. However, this is first time I saw any of his films and I was taken aback at the way the movie begins. A household of three a brother and two grown up sisters are disturbed from their sleep as a rat's bites the brother. Immediately followed one of the most OTT scenes I ever witnessed. The three of them run to and fro in the house trying to catch the rat. We see only their legs and hear a weird background score. I was shocked at all this. I had taken considerable pains to come to watch this movie at NFAI and I was like WTF!. Is this a film by the Great Adoor , the director who's supposed to have made 9 PERFECT films in his 43 year career, the man considered to be the heir of Satyajit Ray in the Indian Cinema? But soon my fears were put to rest as the film seemed to have come to senses and everything was shown perfectly. It was as if I was a member of this small family and am watching whats going on the lives of Rajamma ,an over aged unmarried girl who does all the household chores, a college going Sridevi and their brother Unni. The film looks at Unni, played brilliantly by Karamana Janardhan Nair, who's the head of this family and is stubborn, narcissistic,feudalistic and an escapist to the core. And much more. According to the director the film is a "a detailed study of a character at many levels -- psychological, physical, social, even genetic, based on his roots. I gave primary colors to the characters' clothes and a predominant gray to the background. "
Through various incidents that happen in this family, we get to know the contrasting personalities of the three siblings. We see an old family relative bringing up a match of a widower for Rajamma (played brilliantly by Sharada), a stray cow eating the leaves of the banana tree in their yard, Unni trimming his mustache with utmost concentration, thieves stealing away their coconuts, some relatives who drop in on them,the love story of Sridevi, Rajamma falling sick and so on. Amidst all these, we notice that the rat trap set by the younger sister is working and that it catches quite a few rats. And every time a rat is trapped, Sridevi takes the trap with the trapped rat to a pond situated a little away from the house and drowns it there. This scene is in fact a motif and occurs quite regularly - and each time we notice that the camera is located in a particular position vis-a-vis the road , and that Sridevi always walks in a particular style and speed, and a background music composed mainly of the drums used in folk music.And always the scene ends with a shot of a ripple in the pond and a crow singing in the background. Later in the movie, when we see the same scene sans the rat and the trap, we learn what exactly the rat trap Adoor is talking about. However the best is kept for the climax - when we see various people moving to and fro in a house , as we see only their legs and we hear the same weird music which we hear in the first scene, providing us with a brilliant insight. One of the interesting points about the movie is that except in the above mentioned scenes, there's no background music at all. About it, Adoor says "The music was also much more than a mere background score; it was employed as a significant constituent of the film in its thematic development." On the whole a GREAT movie. 10/10.
Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959)
Brilliant photography and songs but a flawed plot
Apparently Guru dutt stopped directing movies after the failure of Kaagaz ke phool at the box office. What a pity! If only he had considered the holes in the plot, being the perfectionist he is, he would definitely have made at least one more film. And Indian Cinema surely needed more from a director of his calibre and taste.
Kaagaz Ke phool ( paper / artificial flowers ) is the story of a brilliant director who gets trapped into a downward spiral of self destruction. As soon as the titles roll down to the tune of "waqt ne kiya", we hear a poignant background song by Rafi , written by Sahir Ludhianvi and composed by S.D. Burman. An old and battered Suresh Singh is seen looking at the studios forlornly. And soon ensues the flash back about how this brilliant director goes through a roller coaster ride, suffers the pangs of a bad marriage, misses his daughter, discovers a star, meets an understanding friend and companion, and how he becomes a victim to the whims of society and loses everything.
There are a few flaws in the plot, especially around the events related to the turning point in the life of the protagonist, which may put off some audience.There is a comedy track, which may not gel well with the present day viewers. However, if the viewer is willing to be generous with his suspension of disbelief, he is in store for an audio-visual treat of a kind that is rarely seen among the annals of Indian Cinema. Guru dutt and Waheeda Rehman do well in their respective roles and most of the cast give good support. But what stand out are the music, the songs and the cinematography. Lyricist Sahir Ludhianvi is a master and "waqt ne kiya" proves it beyond any doubt. And what to say about S.D. Burman? He is an acknowledged genius and here he composes music that captures the spirit of the movie so wonderfully. The cinematography is a lesson for photographers. Some of the scenes,where conversation between the actors is picturized with the actors alternately fading in and out of the focus, have a wonderful effect on the feel of the film.
On the whole, be kind towards a few flaws, and you will not regret watching the movie.
Kaal (2005)
Read this only if you have seen this movie
Well! This is not your usual IMDb comment on this master-piece(of sh!t). This comment is here strictly for philanthropic purposes. You should read this comment AFTER you have seen Kaal.
OKay. You must be thinking that you have seen the worst movie since the big bang ( or the ice-age, if , by nature, you are kind and forgiving ). Well.. I am here to give you a new interpretation to the movie and make you feel a li'l less cheated. Firstly, don't think that this movie belongs to the horror genre. Secondly you should not think that that Kaali was a killer was meant to be a surprise. Thirdly and most importantly, you should not even think that he is a bhoot. Kaali is not a bhoot. He is just a madman who talks about himself in the third person. And he thinks he died. When Villagers beat him black and blue, they did not kill him. He survived. But he lost his senses and started believing that he died. And all the deaths we see in the movie are those that are accidents or murders. The surviving characters think of him as a bhoot. They do that based on some silly evidence. They cant find his image - either in the well or in the video camera. Well, vivek oberai could not see the image in the well because the angle was not correct. And of course Kaali could not be seen in the camera - That was expected. After all, the conditions under which the camera was used were not exactly conducive for perfect composition of film.
Thus, You should look at Kaali as a madman who is mistaken to be bhoot by the rest of the characters. If you have seen Citizen Kane, you would see some parallels here with the "rosebud". If you can see this way, you will understand that Kaal is not the poor man's "Urban Legend" as it is made out to be, but it is an amateur director's attempt at Citizen Kane. Now some advice: Next time you think of going to a movie in which a male actor is doing an 'item number', think again. May be it'd be more enjoyable to get struck in a traffic jam on a hot summer afternoon in an Indian City.