"Madras Cafe" Hindi Film Review

Rajiv Gandhi's assassination in 1991 is one of the most dramatic events in world history and deserves a film for the multi-layered twists and plotting that went into the act by the perpetrators  - the LTTE. For some reason, the Gandhi dynasty was more than forgiving of the whole episode and didn't want to de-classify the details of the assassination or probe further even after incriminating evidence reported by the SIT Chief D.R.Karthikeyan in the book "Conspiracy to kill Rajiv Gandhi: From CBI Files". There was also an exhaustive video film on the filming of the investigations into the plot to assassinate Rajiv Gandhi which was available for sale until a few years but now seems to be off-limits for some uncanny reason.  Even though the wounds have cleared up, "Madras Cafe" is a brilliant re-interpretation of the plot by the Tigers of Sri Lanka to eliminate Rajiv Gandhi at the height of a fiercely fought election.

Shoojit Sircar, who made "Vicky Donor" earlier, is the director who has picked up an intelligent array of artistes  - John Abraham as the RAW officer, Siddhartha Basu (remember India's original QuizTime Star) as the IB Chief, Piyush Pandey (O&M Country Head, India)  as an important Cabinet Secretary, Prakash B as a double-crossing Intelligence Director camping in Lanka and Nargis Fakri as a foreign correspondent. In 130 minutes of footage, Shoojit Sircar takes us on a gripping tour of those tumultous years of Indian Foreign Policy misadventures on creating the cauldron of IPKF Army to quell the LTTE uprising in a civil-strife Sri Lanka. While it starts off as a re-run of the strategic moves by the think-tank team of Rajiv Gandhi who were working behind the scenes, the film's screenplay moves at incredible speed to give edge-of-the-seat excitement about the buildup of the efforts by the rival teams, the LTTE, to finish off Rajiv Gandhi. Most of the narration moves forward but reminds us of the milestones at various times before the d-day of Assassination - three years before, two years before, six months before and so on. Besides, "Madras Cafe" is the actual place where the members of LTTE alongwith the arms dealers etc. have met for the conspiracy. "Madras Cafe" ends with the Ex-PM's assassination and the team's frustration in  preventing  the fateful end despite nailing the linkages to the LTTE. What makes the film worth watching is the racy and crisp narrative of Shoojit Sircar; he  modified the story to suit the documentary style with promising story-telling and little deviations into the realms of controversy - no reference to history of the conflict in detail between the Sinhalese and the Tamils, no sighting of the Sri Lankan Army, no insinuations about dark-goggled politicians, or the involvement of the local people. Whatever be the failings of the film, Shoojit Sircar stuck to basics of crafty direction with an equivocal stance on the contentious issues facing Lankan Tamils. 

Performances by the starcast are just apt and measured for the emoticons they display: Nargis Fakri is strictly professional with John Abraham, Siddhartha Basu is the trusting boss of John Abraham with a precise brief and then the important trio of LTTE including Prabhakaran, played by well by a veteran Tamil actor. The actor who steals the thunder is a veteran Kannada theatre artist  Prakash B who plays the role of a boot-legger, corrupt Intelligence officer who calls the shots until his cover is blown by John Abraham. John Abraham looks appropriate but his acting never got the better of his cool body. Dialogues are pithy and journalistic in appeal, more like soundbytes that appeal to the intellectual senses. BGM score by George Joseph and T Tambi is a backbone of the film that helps build the tempo and the crescendo. Shantanu Moitra is a folksy music composer who gets the credits as music director but only one song is shown in the end as the credits roll. 

"Madras Cafe" is going to be a classic in the way an assassination plot can be made to look engrossing with almost zero emotional and entertainment value. Director Sircar gives a good spin to the story of the plot by bringing in inferences to the Military-Industrial Complex, Arms-dealings, Economic Hit Men without fully explaining them. He  doesn't show the people of Sri Lanka, how they are affected, how their government and the army was thinking, what is the context in the conflict between the Sinhalese and the Lankan Tamils ( I covered this earlier in my blog)  and how the IPKF operated in Sri Lanka which caused so much consternation amongst the Tamils. It could have been an emotional high if some sympathy could have been created either for the Lankan Tamils or the Eelam Tigers fighting for their causes. By concentrating on the Intelligence Taskforce efforts to fix LTTE and later unravel the plot to assassinate Gandhi (in vain), Sircar misses a golden chance to resonate with the audience. 

Even if there's nothing offensive in the film, "Madras Cafe" is banned in Tamil. In the end, the authenticity of the original events does  not hold up  to the real  events that transpired post-assassination. There is no mention made of the Justice Verma commission in passing or about the people who were eventually exonerated - Cabinet Secretary Vinod Pande, Intelligence Bureau Chief M K Narayanan (Siddhartha Basu), Secretary Ministry of Home Affairs Shromani Sharma and Secretary Security GS Baj Pai. All the four officers excluded themselves saying they were immune from any actions as they had already retired. But in the film, they show that Siddhartha Basu himself resigns. Eventually, as history proved, Congress leaders themselves allowed Justice Verma commission report to die a natural death. But "Madras Cafe" lives on, its a moving feast of slick adventures and misadventures of intelligent cops who couldn't finally prevent the assassination of their ex-Prime Minister. "Madras Cafe" may not be the last word on the subject but its a welcome experiment by Bollywood to make more relevant cinema that throws light on issues burnt into our national consciousness. Rating: 4 out of 5 for a gripping watch.

Malathi Chandoor - A life of wisdom, clarity and simplicity

Malathi Chandoor's passing at age 87 hasn't got the due attention amidst a day of a high-profile Telugu wedding and the never-ending saga of Telugu state divisions. Malathi Chandoor has been a literary sensation in her own right for over seven decades. She inspired many women to move out of their comfort zones and become economically productive. My mother owes her formative years to becoming a die-hard fan of Malathi Chandoor since she began a column "Pramadaavanaalu" in Andhra Prabha weekly. That column, my mother says, had  covered most FAQs in crisp capsules on topics ranging from The Consitution of India and Career Planning to History, Science, Economics, Astronomy and even Culinary sciences. 

Over the years, she earned respect as one of the most-well-read and well-informed Telugu writers getting an audience that spans all ages. I remember "Vantalu, Pindi Vantalu" (Recipes, Traditional recipes) which my mother used to refer for cooking up delicacies we used to gorge on - Mysore Pak, Bisibele Bath, Sambaar - dishes that have now become commonplace. But in those days that book was handy for winning plaudits in the kitchen for womenfolk.

Malathi Chandoor wrote several easy-reading novels with clean  fare that may not have found the dizzy appeal for  cinema scripts like Yandamoori Veerendranath and Yaddanapudi Sulochana Rani. But she had her mark that found her niche audience. She has also translated over 300 famous English and European language novels into Telugu; "Paatha Kerataalu" was one such successful column. Telugu novelists like Yaddanapudi have outgrown fiction to write lengthier treatises on self-help themes to cater to a wider audience but Malathi Chandoor stuck to her forte of penning the occasional novels but maintaining her sagacious grasp of matters that baffle us everyday - Personal Finance, Legal problems, Subprime Crisis, Corruption in Society, Received wisdom in bringing up kids, What to look for when marrying, How to balance work and life, Importance of learning history etc. In a world that's full of information, hers was a voice of clarity that struck gold with lakhs of readers. Often, the questions posed by her readers are longer than answers but you will never find an out-of-place solution to the dilemmas presented by her audience. Concise, practical and crystalline are her answers. "Swaathi" the Telugu weekly carries her column and many readers who grew up on her writings like my mother might be reading the columns to all family members at the dining table. For most of what my own mother achieved in her life be it taking up teaching, rearing up kids, making them read and study well, taking up Social Sciences, pursuing a Ph.D, writing articles and starting a Girl's college - she owes much to Malathi Chandoor. Infact, we now tear off the page of Malathi's column and make a bound copy of her summary on a diversity of topics. I strongly hope that "Swaathi" publish her columns into books. Ditto with Andhra Prabha columns.

Besides her versatility and knowledge, Malathi Chandoor was gutsy. She carved out her own cult distinct `from her husband Chandoor Nageshwar Rao who was a creative writer since age 20. She didn't give up her writing after her husband passed away recently as she traverses a range of topics. She recently protested against Ramoji Rao of Eenadu group for publishing false reports about Potti Sreeramulu University. Unlike many writers who became saints from questionable background (like Malladi Venkata Krishna Moorthy) or writers who built reputation on faulty pillars of values (like Yandamoori) or writers who created exceptional impact on the women of the Telugu society for a generation or two with  nativised Western sensibilities (like Yaddanapudi), Malathi Chandoor lived a life of simple living and high thinking from beginning till the end. For her column in "Swaathi", she uses a tagline that goes something like this: "Human Happiness and Moral Duty are inseparably connected." That line itself says a million words without expanding much and that itself should seal the nobility and the timeless appeal of Madam Malathi Chandoor's writings. One only wishes Malathi wrote more books of non-fiction considering that her popularity could have outsold those who had lesser credentials. 

She has always understood the power of a word, the power of a written word that can make someone's mental makeup right, heal someone, inspire a professional or nudge a housewife into budget planning or give hope  to a Retiree couple. Incidentally, the last "agony" our Aunty answered was from an elderly couple who are living off EMIs coming from their house under "Reverse Mortgage" now getting pressured by both daughter-in-law and daughter to sell the home. Malathi's suggestion? File a PIL through an advocate against both of them to leave the old couple in peace. Hints and Tips like this are more than a household suggestion that can help millions of hapless old parents who are getting torn between affection and insensitivities of children. Mrs.Malathi Chandoor  - you have been a writer that inspired many like my mom with writing that is practical, homely and clear. You were the original "agony aunt" for many readers like my mother. Cancer has withered you away  but your worldly-wise nature will win you more fans in the other worlds. 

"Once Upon a Time in Mumbai Dobaara" (Hindi Film Review)

Milan Luthria is a stylish film-maker who must have been fed on the crazy films of the 70s and 80s when film scripts were revolving around only three or four things - hero, heroine, villain and the xtra factor  - which is either an item girl, the sadist rapist, or the occasional vamp. He has been lucky so far with stars who love a throwback to that era - the era where villainy was glorified, heroism was hedonistic and heroinism was objectified beyond today's off-limits of feminism. Milan revels in creating motifs that Bollywood has painfully outgrown in the last two decades after the last Superstar moved on to better scripts - chain-smoking heroes in James Bond suits, uber-rich metrosexual villains masquerading as well-oiled and swashbuckling heroes, heroines with heavy bosoms and heavy-metal costumes and heavier makeups.  "OUTMD" is every foot carrying the signature style of Milan Luthria but this time despite the props and a fresh-looking starcast that combines youth and experience, the film fails to deliver fully. It starts off with the usual promise of Milan - the swagger, oomph and spice that almost pulls off till the first half but later peters out, infact meanders pointlessly in the second half ending with a sick feeling in the end.

Story is loosely resembling the plot of "Muqaddar Ka Sikander". Shoab (Akshay Kumar) is a Don who commands Mumbai (first rushes mirror the personality of Dawood Ibrahim). He employs Aslam (Imran Khan) and Salim in teens and helps them grow under his shadow. Enter Jasmine  (Sonakshi Sinha) who is friendly with both Shoab and Aslam who think they are in love with the girl without realising that it is the same "x" until the last reel. Meanwhile, Mahesh Manjrekar is the villain who is out to finish Shoab (Akshay). Shoab plots to eliminate Mahesh by setting up a drama where Aslam has to be the lover of Jasmine and her guardian angel. In truth, Shoab has unfolded a sequence that makes a fiction truth. In the drama that unfolds, Shoab finds out the real truth, trains his guns on the real culprit Aslam but instead gets killed by the Mumbai police in the climactic chase. 

What makes the film tick in the first half is the stamina of dialogue writer and lyricist Rajat Aroraa which makes Milan Luthria films a resounding watch. Akshay and Imran keep getting their amazing one-liners which are each worth a million bucks. A dialogue on love: "Aajkal Pyaar Naukrani ki taraf hoti hai...Aati, Bell Bajati, Apna Kaam Karti aur phir chup chaap chale jaati." There's one on mosquitos: "Macchar jis aadmi ka khoon peeta hai usike haath maara jati." One on men and women. "Ladki jab roti hai kaaran kahi hai par ladka jab rota hai, uska kaaran sirf ladki hi hai." One on the common man: "Aam Aadmi Aam ki taraf hai. Koyi Aam ki juice choosleta hai, to koyi use kaat leta hai ya phir koyi use poora khaa leta hai." One more on Love: "Pyaar googly jaisi hai - mile tho badam nahin tho moonphali." One last on Mumbai: " Mumbai sirf do cheeso se chalta hai - luck aur local - ek gayi tho doosra aayi." One-liners like this sizzle almost every four minutes in the 160-odd minute long film. Probably, a few less than what you heard in "The Dirty Picture" but make it count for the entertainment quotient with adult appeal. Normally, Milan's idiom for film-making is the original flavor of entertainment that films like those made by Manmohan Shetty, Prakash Mehra and Ramesh Sippy used to stand  for. (No wonder I noticed the head of distribution is Ramesh Sippy).                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Akshay Kumar as the swashbuckling Don looks fabulous in the film with neat performances by both Imran Khan and Sonakshi Sinha. Sonakshi has looked better in other movies than this one, either she hasn't stopped putting on weight or she needs a new makeup-man. 

Music by Pritham is a highlight - both the BGM which reminds of the flamboyance of yesteryears and the songs splendidly picturised. Milan Luthria has hit jackpots with a hundred-crore film with "The Dirty Picture" but in this film, he has taken a flimsy story with a cliched ending and failed to fire up the last-mile hurrahs that makes a stylish film. He has failed in characterisation - all three leading stars' portrayal leaves something incomplete in the end; Sonakshi is friendly to both but warms up to Aslam almost in an instant, Imran is faithful to his master but turns his back in the last, Akshay is consistent throughout as a mercenary who eliminates competition but fails to relent when his sounding board Sonali Bendre convinces him to let go of Sonakshi. On the whole, despite flashes of brilliance, class and entertainment appeal, the film doesn't sustain the interest for long after the interval. You could walk out at interval because that had the best lines, best songs and the best entertainment. Milan will have to think hard how long he will cast the spell of nostalgia to breath fire into frames that still hold enormous talent and promise as a film-maker. He continues to get the patronage of Balaji Films but is he barking up the wrong tree or can he commission stories that are current? His making lacks improvisation and variety in screenplay, pace and melodrama. 2.5/5 for a film that fails to engage till the last.

Happy Independence Day, India!

Motherland. Fatherland. Homeland. Native land. The description of land as mother and father is a recognition of its generative power. Yet, I find many of us Indians, you and me included, have become more cynical, depressive, hopeless and critical of the generative and even re-generative powers of India as a land of opportunities. If individuals like us have weathered more storms and crises to move on and come up better, India with a collective strength of 1.3 Billion individuals like me has greater potential for opportunities, optimism and happiness. More importantly, it stands a greater chance to become a better nation at age 67 than many other nations. Remember, India is a country of nations, as I said earlier, not just a homogenous nation. Like Earth spinning on itself at tachyonic speeds and yet remaining stable, India is seeing delta changes at incredible speeds in all aspects and yet we are more stable despite chaos all-round - which lesser diverse and heterogenous nations in East and West haven't been fortunate enough to see and remain united. It's a privilege and a blessing we must applaud and celebrate. When we were far happier and nationalistic and patriotic when we had poor roads, fiat cars, non-AC theatres, dirty surroundings and lower per-capita incomes, what stops us being happy and energetic and passionate about India now? Let's not abrogate our right to be happy and optimistic about the future  - it is never more brighter than now - and fool ourselves into depression by believing our politicians and mediapersons. When we say "Happy Birthday" to someone, we mean it. Let's mean it too when we say "Happy Independence Day". India deserves it more and Indians which make India deserve to mean and live it too by becoming better individuals which make up a country.  Again, Happy Independence Day folks. A very happy I-Day to all my Indians who carry Indian-ness across the planet. I am proud and happy to be born into an independent nation. Are you? If not, why aren't you? We don't give up on ourselves. Why do we give up so easily on India?

"Chennai Express" Hindi Film Review

Most Superstars of Bollywood merely adopt the antics of South Film Industry in a bid to taste success but few connect with the masses as Shah Rukh Khan. Despite a string of flops in recent times, SRK has been working assiduously for over a year on the script of "Chennai Express" which was passionately narrated by Action King Director Rohit Shetty. SRK follows the South Film Industry's phenomenal reach keenly and at the last South Filmfare Awards Ceremony, he was entranced by the magical world of Southern Stars and even danced in front of Kamal Hassan reluctantly. With that backdrop, "Chennai Express" was going to be the ultimate blockbuster that SRK planned with Rohit Shetty who loves pace, action, melodrama and romance with a minimalism that connects with the masses. With over 3500 screens, SRK pulls out all stops to make a comeback film - he ropes in lucky star Deepika Padukone as the "Oru G Nali T" Tamil girl, music duo Vishal-Shekar and a maverick production house of UTV Motion Pictures. Except SRK and Deepika in the lead, no recognised artiste from Bollywood can be seen. On the contrast, Rohit picks a fresh team of irregulars as the bevy of villains in the film, including the venerable Tamil star Satyaraj. Satyaraj is an unlikely choice for the role of the heroine's father because he is a hardcore Tamil nationalist and heads an organisation for Tamil lingustic movement in real life. 

If imitation is flattery, "Chennai Express" pays tribute to the surreal world of Tamil and Telugu Cinema with its simplistic romantic tracks over-invested with heavy-duty violence, villains who ooze out menace and drip out sickle-and-sumo violence, sidekick villains who are built like mountains and unshaved girth, comedy thats instantaneous and situational, and costumes that flourish with a garnish amidst plenty of rural prosperity. In short, "Chennai Express" is a Bollywood version of "DDLJ" and "QuickGun Murugan" with plenty of masala fare that rejuvenates your love for South Indian films - if you are already not tired of watching them in the original or in dubbed versions on Desi channels. The story is simple: Rahul (SRK) is a rich Grand-dad's Inheritor of Wealth but is trapped in running the family business of Sweets in Mumbai. His best chance to branch out in pursuit of his real passion comes when his grand-dad dies. His grandma requests him to take one urn of the grand-dad's ashes to Rameshwaram even as she takes another Urn to immerse in the Ganges. Rahul reluctantly agrees even as he is planning a detour to Goa with his friends. He jumps onto Chennai Express waved off by his grandma but destiny lands him into a spot with Deepika Padukone who is helped by him to board the train in a DDLJ fashion. The twists take him to the village of Deepika's father Satyaraj who want to marry her off to a baddie. Deepika mutters in Tamil that she is in love with SRK and they are planning to marry. Predictably, all hell breaks lose and there's a massive chase that doesn't end until the climax. SRK and Deepika fall for each other's charms meanwhile as the chase becomes an ordeal first and a ritual that romanticises life. It's an ordinary story but Rohit Shetty makes it quite a pacy and adorable screenplay with explosive performances by the lead pair and unprecedented entertainment, atleast in the first half.

Rohit Shetty's strengths are cutting the boring part of South films and infusing more energy and nativitiy of the Hindi Cinema as he did in "Singham". But in "Chennai Express", he lets the narrrative and grammar of South film sensibilities to dominate his story-telling. So, you find larger-than-life sets and picturesque scenes on the river-banks, the rustic splendour, extreme close-up shots depicting villainy that is normally inconceivable, the pulverizing violence that gives body blows, the stress-testing limits of endurance for Stuntsmen who dangerously fly the machines we cannot even water-cross - motor cycles, jeeps, buses and lorries. Deepika Padukone fits the part of the authentic Tambram heroine majestically as she rattles off Tamil and Hindi ambifluently. It's her thick English accent that sometimes grates on you and I can say you won't like it if you are a Tamil English-speaking girl. Deepika's expressions and demeanour give the velvety touch to the romance and the agony and the triumphs of the hero in his journey from Mumbai to Chennai. Shah Rukh Khan, as Rahul gives one of his finest performances. He is known for some of the freewheeling comedy that sets him on fire on Filmfare and other stage concerts. Jokes like "Tamil Terima" ("Teri Ma  - what did you say to my mother?), "Which part of Punjab are you from?"  - All body parts), Miss Subtitles and so on abound in the film and SRK gets it on a platter to give a riot. About 30 per cent of the film is actually in Tamil but SRK's expressions and quirky acting put him in a slideshow that delights mostly  - a refreshing change I find in many many years. Even if the dialogues are penned by a duo, SRK carries the film on his shoulders with his original kkkkaka..accent and dumwit dictionary of one-liners. His improvisation and quick sense of comic timing gave us some amazing moments of laughter. (I have never laughted as much in a previous SRK starrer).  It takes courage to accept a script of this dimension and SRK who is smitten by the rising popularity of Thalaivar and other heroes of South Film Industry has decided to do an original film thats a parodic take on South rather than buying re-make rights of South films that his competitors and "friends" do. 

What are the highlights of the film? Music by Vishal Shekar seems to get better with every SRK film; they became the third reason after SRK and Deepika to hit a home run. Surprisingly, the songs are unevenly spaced. First half has just one song  (a nervous Priyamani shaking a leg with SRK) and all the remaining songs in the second half. Anthakshari is introduced by way of a code language between the hero and the heroine in the film and is refreshingly sung in original voices.  Some of the scenes in the first half are loosely borrowed from "Maryaada Ramanna" in respect of the house arrest of the hero in the heroine's home. Despite a relentless charade of visuals meant to evoke humor and occasionally poke fun at the South film texture, Rohit leaves some gaps in the story and the narration. There is no linkage between the flashback and the narration in the second half. There is no realism in the clothing of the lead pair - one scene you see Deepika decked up in temple jewellery and next you see her in different attires without a carry bag, whereas SRK is in immaculate dress  - the same but ironed everytime even if he carries a backpack containing urn. There is no attempt to show SRK trying to contact his family and friends after losing a mobile phone in the train, how can anyone forget the landline number of one's home?  Also, there is a concocted scene where SRK is hidden in a bunker in a police station and the next moment he re-surfaces in a boat like a "Life of Pi" hero. Minor blemishes  maybe these, but they don't deduct the entertainment value of the film - its a dizzy cocktail of fun and masti. Rohit Shetty has truly assimilated the idiom of the eye-popping masala film of the South by inter-mixing hundreds of DVDs; it reached that potential of globalization and universal appeal because of the stamp of SRK's approval. Running time of 142 minutes, about 125 minutes is pure fun of which 30 minutes must accompany subtitles because of Tamil.  SRK has used five words in Telugu too - "Konchem", "Evadu", "Po", "Telusu" and "Chaala". Lungi-Dance which comes as a tribute to Rajinikanth has been well choreographed. 3.5 out of 5 for the effort and it's a SRK film all the way.