"Dear Zindagi" (Hindi Film Review)

The director of “English Vinglish”- Gauri Shinde - is proving to be a film-maker with much evolved sensibilities than her husband R.Balki. In “Dear Zindagi”, she presents a delightful story of a girl who is caught at the crossroads of life and torn between the pulls of her love-life, the struggles to carve out her own identity in career and the stress created by repressed childhood. Alia Bhatt is the twenty-something girl who is undergoing these multiple pangs at the same time and she has help from a psychotherapist Shah Rukh Khan on an unexpectedly overdue trip she makes to Goa – home of her parents. Director Gauri’s strengths are a well-written script, engaging screenplay and a commanding grip on characterization of all the major and minor characters in the film. She makes a point without belaboring the narrative and knows to weave nuances into the main story. All the men in Alia Bhatt’s character breathe fire and passion and so does Shah Rukh Khan who gives a dignified performance even as he takes a backseat in a film of this kind. There is a mathematical precision to his portrayal as Dr Jehnagir Khan and any other person without his aura would have botched the role by lowering the bar of poise and respect that a therapist should have with his patient. Alia Bhatt is of course, the show-stealer. After “Highway” and “Udta Panjab”, this film would pitchfork her as the new Diva of Bollywood - the one on whom long-term bets can be placed – with a fair conviction that she would balance any role. Whether she grooves, hums or shrieks out in anger, her screen presence magnifies her persona better than any million-buck lines written for her. Music by Amit Trivedi dovetails with the scripts of Gauri Shinde – it seems a zone that the composer is comfortable – atypical yet chart-buster variety yet versatile in range. One wonders why many commercial film-makers don’t sign Trivedi on for their scores. I don’t understand why the film got U/A – it deals with a subject that even toddlers can relate to and parents should get beaten about.
My rating: 3.5/5

"2 States" (Hindi) Film Review

Chetan Bhagat’s most successful novel after ‘Five Point Someone’ was '2 States: The Story of My Marriage' which inspired the making of this film released today. The film strikes a lovely chord with all ages, especially those whom cupid strikes early in life but are unable to finish it off with marriage under elderly glare. Armed with a winning script, big studios and the backing of Karan Johar, director Abhishek Varman has embellished an evocative love story with great sensibilities that will linger on for a long time. With a two hour plus length of a film that doesn’t even begin with the statutory cigarette warnings or wild animal usage (the only things wild in the film are those things campus lovers do in between the sheets), the film’s resonance comes in a triple package: One, a fresh starcast of the lead couple who are in their early twenties – Arjun Kapoor as Krish Malhotra and Alia Bhatt as Ananya. Two, authentic hand-picking of the elders rooted in  the two states of Punjab and Tamil Nadu; Ronit Roy and Amrita Singh as the Punjabi Paramesans and Revathy and Shiv Subrahmanyam as the Tam-Brahm couple. Three, without multi-layering the film with side-dish distractions like cheap campus fare or extra melodrama or even comic tracks, the narration is kept closer to the love story as it is driven by the lovers themselves with occasional brakes or accelerators.

The story is not filmy though. A boy and a girl meet at IIM campus, fall in love and decide to marry in the arranged traditions of the family, with the parents’s blessings. Nothing unsual about that as most of the love stories in India suffer from a higher mortality rate than what affects infants in Sub-Saharan Africa. Disdain for each other, distrust and ego tussles besides expectations from one another not to talk of the mental sterotypes that run loops in your mind – all these are exploited in a crisp narrative in the film. In bridging a divide, the plot selects two states whose people harbour maximum prejudices against each other – Punjabis who think that Tamil girls trap handsome, tall Punjabi boys with perks and Tam-brahms who view Punjabis as gluttons and Punjabi mother-in-law as the most dangerous idea in the world.

These stereotypes only complicate the love story as the young lovers try to navigate the waters with help from the negotiation courses learnt at the B-School; the boy helps his prospective father-in-law with powerpoint presentations, gives his future mother-in-law the 15 minute-fame moment in singing while the girl settles it amicably in a Punjabi wedding from a demanding son-in-law to the delight of her would-be mother-in-law. Brownie points earned but what if you don’t like the people at all – that is the million dollar question in Indian families marrying across communities but only if you accept that loves comes in a family pack of four or six people. 2 States is a crash course in winning the elders over  before grinning with them in family videos. The other option followed by the fraction of successful lovers is to consummate the marriage and mend their parents with family additions and granular overtures. The film takes a simplified approach of nudging the parents with part-manipulation and part-affection; as always, all is fair in love and marriage.

However, the end is predictable and the pace is slow sometimes with some characterisations left in the lurch. Ronit Roy as Arjun’s father has the most intense charcterisation but his character is puzzling and inconsistent: why he confronts everybody at home and why he relents and surprises all is a mystery. Amrita Singh essays a fine performance that comes naturally to her, as a mother torn between a disaffectionate husband and a pushy son, she comes out right on top of everyone. Revathy looks graceful as the mother who takes it down but retorts in style, the lovely jingle she sings at a concert inter-mixing her famous duet song in “Prema” is a highlight. Alia’s father Shiva Subrahmanyam puts in a convincing performance too.

Alia Bhatt is a big draw with her youthful effervescence and stunning looks. Those who didn’t see enough of her bubbly moments in “Highway” will have a colorful feast of her grace and beauty decked in bright colour costumes. But she doesn’t look the part of a Tamil Brahmin girl because her accent and her body language deny her projected origins. That is clearly unconvincing. Arjun Kapoor as the bespectacled, writer-backed narrator of his own story in Chetan Bhagat’s words is the best character in the film and deserves a hurrah. Subtle and Under-emoting, he balances the many shades in the film while being the committed lover to Alia. Technically, the film scores brilliantly on all the fours – cinematography, editing, dialogues and music. BGM by a different technician enhances the emotions while Shankar Ehsaan Loy deserve a high five for a beautiful score that blends Punjabi beats with South Indian rhythms; the trio always put in efforts to give music new spins in sound and arrangement.

In sticking to the basic novel that already resonated well with the youngistan, director has given a routine story the canvass it needs to reverberate the message of inter-caste and inter-community marriages powerfully which will strike instant chord with both seniors and young rebels. For over 2000 years, ancient Indians married freely across communities and cultures according to a joint study by CCMB in Hyderabad and Harvard Medical School – published in the American Journal of Human Genetics. After a few centuries, the mixing stopped because the populations became endogamous. Caste and other differentiators entered our regional consciousness making traditions of inter-mixing unwelcome. After Ek Duje Ke Liye (“Maro Charithra”), a new-age BPO version tries to convey the same message with happier ending and modern sensibilities. Highly watchable with family but don’t bet on a movie better than the book, if you have already read it.

Rating 3.75/5

"Highway" (Hindi) Film Review

“Highway” is a surprisingly pleasant and at one level a bold film by Imtiaz Ali. Pleasant because he breaks the mould of regular commercial fare with an irregular theme that will stop you on your tracks. Bold because there are more than one or two messages that run undercurrent to the main narrative which are disturbing in the pace of modern life. I am taken in by the titles of Imitiaz Ali always because he is one of the few directors who hits the bull’s eye on putting titles that sum it up while conveying motifs that he wants to linger on you long after you left the movie hall. Look at his previous films – “Jab We met” , “Love Aaj Kal” and “Rockstar” and you will find one main theme but also many subtexts embedded. Likewise, “Highway” is a motif for what happens when a contract killer kidnaps a girl about to enter an arranged wedlock and both of them hit the highway of life as they are compelled by circumstances to travel together across the “roadiest” surfaces of North India.

In 133 minutes, Imtiaz Ali transports us to a world of rich visuals of snowy peaks and sylvan surroundings, rough roads and dingy corners but the perimeter for everything remains the highway where in a truck Randip Hooda drives down without knowing where the destination is in order to escort away Alia Bhatt (debutante) from police interception before deciding to leave her, because he realizes he had actually kidnapped a rich girl of mighty surname of a biggie –“Tripathi”.

The story moves, layer by layer with the girl actually feeling more comfortable with the kidnappers and enjoying the ride as one helluva ride of a lifetime, away from the suffocations of air, life and outlook that are common in affluent households. Aliah is the girl who shows maximum variation in her characterization as she moves from being terrified to diffident to curious to comfortable to confident in her interactions with the kidnappers. As she opens up to the largeness of life in the open, she realizes these kidnappers are a lot less harmful than the people of her cocooned life at home, where there are insensitive parents and predators like her uncle. In one scene, she blurts out about the same uncle who used to haul her up physically while tempting her with imported chocolates since the age of nine.



Randip Hooda is a hardened criminal who melts with Alia’s childlike innocence and frankness. He also opens up gradually and becomes someone the girl begins to develop more than a trusting relationship before the dramatic end. Watch that end because it has the same quirk that marks all the climaxes of Imtiaz Ali’s films - something out of everybody’s comfort zone. I don’t agree that the film looks like a documentary at all because a documentary cannot bring life into a narrative without a voiceover.

In “Highway”, Imtiaz Ali uses two instruments to bring that narrative to bear pristinely – cinematography and music. Anil Mehta gives a stunning output in his picture frames, of course aided by the eye for detail of the director who revels in novel stuff. Eating on top of ant-hills, sky-kissing your way to see the clouds fritter away, keeping your head at the edge of the highway road while the vehicles speed in and out or dripping your hands into the swirling water currents meant for water-rafting – Anil Mehta gives us spectacular visuals. AR Rahman, of course, gives an original score that is in sync with the moods. Compared with his previous films, Rahman uses good pauses at times to sometimes use silence to elevate the impact of the scene – like when the girl speaks out against sexual abuse or when Randip and Alia interact. Rahman also uses some folk songs and a famous beat of “Wanna Mash up?” as a necessary interlude in the film, to show the contrast between his music and somebody else’s composition. A sporting move which other legends hardly attempt. In a collaboration of such fine talent, a worthy addition indeed is Rasool Polakutty’s diligent sound design – you can know every sound has a meaning and a context to why you hear.

Even if humor is subtle and unsubstantial, you have some laughs here and there, and that comes between the two main characters. The only gaps in the film are the establishment of the motives of the gang that originally kidnaps the girl and characterization that throws little light on them. It could have elevated Randip Hooda’s role better. Despite all of that, he emotes well. One can attribute this film to be an attempt by Imtiaz Ali to bring different and meaningful cinema to the urban folks. Are today’s girls more safer outside of homes than people at home – that’s a strong message. Are mothers and fathers playing their roles as parents well in giving the kids everything they need but not enough time and attention – that’s the underlying message. And finally, the broad message is that when the rubber hits the road, you might realize that the destination is less important than the journey and often goodness can come from people you dislike at first – almost like an Austen sensibility.

It is unlikely this film will boil well at the kettle of box office but it leaves you with a good impression and a lasting message. For that, I rate it 3.75 on 5 and take away points for the bits that didn’t add up.