"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

"Race Gurram" (Telugu Film Review)

"Race Gurram" has come in the middle of a season that is seeing the race of our lives in election.  Directed by Surendar Reddy, "Race Gurram" gets off to a good start  but in the bid to make a blockbuster, Surendar Reddy errs on the heavier side of entertainment with too many twists in a bizarre tale that takes your head for a spin especially in the second half with logic and sanity hit out of the park. 

The story casts Allu Arjun in the title role, which means a horse trained to compete at races. But there is no justification of the title except a footage of horses at the outset and towards the climax besides a cursory mention of the qualities of horses and horsepower. The plot is about two brothers, Ram (Shaam) and Lakshman (Allu Arjun) who grow up teasing and fighting with each other, developing a strong disaffection to each other. Shaam becomes a cop while Allu becomes a vagabond. As their animosity grows stronger, Allu falls in love with Shruti Hasan who keeps her emotions masked under a tough-looking demeanor. Shaam, in one fit of a rage to level the scores with his brother needles his love story with dire results. As a tit for tat, Allu levels scores by hoodwinking his brother  about to nab gangster Siva Reddy (Ram Kishan) with solid evidence before Siva Reddy files his nomination papers for MLC. Allu lifts the police jeep and speeds away with the file unbeknownst. The villain Siva Reddy, having got wind of Shaam's intentions to nail him sends a task force to polish him off but alas, the jeep has Allu, it gets pulped by the villain's gang and thrown into the valley. Allu survives the ordeal and decimates Siva Reddy after hearing of his plot to actually kill his brother. Suddenly, Allu undergoes a paradigm shift that starts a series of confrontations with the villains. The second half shows the massive confrontation between the family of Siva Reddy and that of Allu Arjun that ends with agonizing twists and mind-numbing   concepts liberally followed from films like "Kick" (director's own),"Oke Okkadu", "Singham" and "Arya-2". 

The fundamental flaw that may go against the film itself is the story of confrontation between two brothers which is anti-sentiment. Both brothers go to any extent to undermine the other and this goes on since childhood with parents remaining mute spectators. No film with screwed up sentiment like this has ever succeeded. (Examples, "Chennakeshava Reddy", "Brothers"). Even if Ambani brothers compete with each other, they are doing it in separate homes, never under the same roof. Dragging this sentiment further, director Surendar Reddy introduces a twist before interval block of Allu waking up to the basic DNA of his brother and aligning himself with Sham to fight the villain. The story of the  brother, being a senior cop, unable to dote on his younger brother is quite a flaw that hampers the feel-good sentiment even as the narrative moves at break-neck speed. While the entire story can be summed in three lines - two brothers fighting, cop confronting a criminal and the younger brother also joining the fight, Surendar Reddy builds fat tissue after fat tissue in building the narrative, elongating the sequences and getting sloppy comedy that enumerates a jumbo starcast. 

The starcast has Shruti Hassan as Allu Arjun's love,  Prakash Raj as Shruti's father, Ram Kishan, Mukesh Rushi and Kota Srinivasa Rao as villains, Shaam, the cop in "Kick" playing again as a cop and also Allu Arjun's brother and three ace comedians, including Brahmanandam, Jayaprakash Reddy,Ali and MS Narayana besides new-age comedy artists. There are too many distractions in the narration of the main story which make it tedious despite a whole-heartedly valiant attempt at making a blockbuster. The trouble is, when you set out to make a blockbuster, you should have checked if there are too many blocks to bust your film's chances at box office. Surendar Reddy missed wholly in this giving a free running time of 163 minutes to cover five songs, repetitive run-ins between the brothers, a comedy track with Shruti Hasan in a romantic setting and the cliched introduction of Brahmanandam as the supercop who will bring down the house of the villains, the film travels at a velocity that will gradually numb your senses in the second half.

Shruti Hasan gave her dumbest performance in years despite looking demure and cute in songs. Her role of a girl who conceals her emotions is apt for her insipid acting that oozes mannequin beauty without substance. Prakash Raj and Shaji Shinde bore you with their trite antics. Shaam comes out good in his role as the cop even if its a leaf out of "Kick" performance. Bhojpuri superstar Ram Kishan steals the thunder as a villain with comic timing. Brahmanandam tries to get the biggest laughs, he almost succeeds but how long will his stereotype magic work - the kind of role that comes in the wee minutes of climax and knocks the socks off everybody including the hero and the villains? How long will heroes and directors let him ride out this sucker punch comedy that has become staple fare? The nation needs to know!

Allu Arjun is a high-calibre star who has earned the spurs of a Style Icon with a wonderful mix of attitude, hardwork and impeccable behavior. He has also delivered cinema that moves the needle of content towards different genres and acceptability beyond the borders of Telugu Cinema. As a package of dance, metrosexuality, presentability and personality projection, he is a case study on how one can get catapulted into supertardom without conventional good looks and low-timber voice. With that kind of halo, Allu Arjun has done well in the film by himself. There are atleast three scenes where his words spell magic on screen. He emotes fluently and delivers a knock-out performance in all scenes, dances and stunts. Perhaps, with an eye on the growing Malayalam market, Allu also uses a heavy drawl in accent to emphasise words like "Devudaa" differently which gets good laughs throughout his utterances. 

But for that, and a few good laughs, the film falls short of a supergood tag because of hopeless editing, zero attention to logic and consistency and silly comedy in the name of entertainment. If the film is cut by 35 minutes, it would have been a different experience, to cut a long story short. The film is watchable once but only for a while after interval. Music by Thaman is peppy and catchy but the picturization disappoints except in "Gala Gala". This may not be Allu Arjun's worst film but this is not his best. Surendar Reddy's direction has energy but it is time for him to take a calorie count on how much of it is needed to collapse the genres of entertainment with that of action and comedy. He has failed with "Oosaravalli" and "Athidhi" and "Ashok". It's time to go back to the basics of unhurried story-telling. Despite the highs in the film - the dialogues of Allu Arjun, the heavy starcast, the clean comedy, the new villain, the lows of the film outnumber - the length, needless scenes of sibling rivalry, Brahmanandam ad nauseum, bizarre twists that are completely irrational, overdose of everything, the film deserves a rating no more than 2/5.

"Rowdy" (Telugu film Review)

"Rowdy" (Telugu)

"Rowdy" is perhaps the finest moment of acting for Dr.Mohan Babu and a new high for Manchu Vishnu in acting without frills, dimples , warts and all. But for Ram Gopal Varma fans who have already seen "Sarkar" and "Sarkar Raj", the film is a blend of both the films that should give you some indication of the ending.

In order to nativise the original plot in "Sarkar", RGV chooses the factionist setting of Rayalseema to liken the main character "Anna" Mohan Babu to one you can relate with like, say, Paritala Ravi, Bal Thackaray, or a refined factionist in "Rakta Charitra". Anna and his wife Jayasudha are benign leaders with a mass following of their villagers. Eldest son is misguided in his imitation of "Rowdy" dad. Youngest son is Vishnu who is class apart, falls in love with Shanvi (last seen in "Prema Katha Chitram"). A gang of villains - including Tanikella Bharani, Jeeva, a baldie and a pineapple-cake-munching baddie plot the downfall of Anna who is their main obstacle in the kickacks that accrue from "Gangavaram" project. Then the usual twists of betrayal of trust, attempted murder and the climax as per the original versions. The producers must be really bold to ask RGV to remake his most successful brand of cinema into Telugu for an audience who are not alien to its memory.

But RGV has always been like that. The man loves to remake his own cinema. He made "Shiva" in 1989 with a blistering debut at the box office. He remade that film with his muse of the day in 2006. He made "Gaayam" in the 1990s. That film continues to be metastatized in many of his films including "Sarkar" series and "Rowdy". I firmly believe that RGV knows only five stories to tell on screen. One is the "Gayam" Godfather variety. Two, is the "Satya" gang-war story. Three, the "Kshana Kshanam" "Jungle" hit, heist and run to the forest variety. Four, the film-crazy, fan-obsessed story "Mast" "Appalaraju" variety. If he doesn't find new ideas from the four and a new producer to expend, he will make a film which will scare you with new camera angles  - the "Raat" "Deyyam" variety. Directors who came from the RGV school have been attempting bold and different cinema over the years - the likes of Shimit Amin and Anurag Kashyap but our man continues to cannibalise these five stories all his productive career. Despite knowing all the craft and specialist knowledge, RGV keeps assaulting us with films that keep him in the comfort zone.

Having said that, the film "Rowdy" is squeaky clean with arresting narration. If you have not seen the originals, you will feel the thrills of convincing characterisation and multiple twists. 121 minutes is a definite plus as there are no lagging sequences except at times when the gang of villains gag with citations from "Vedams" and all that. Mohan Babu comes out with a hurrah performance that comes but once in a lifetime. Acting without makeup and wig, he delivers dialogues differently and emotes well with a body language and a swagger that is apt and stylish. For an actor who has hit the limelight with garrulous dialogue delivery and idiosyncratic body language, this is crowning glory. Manchu Vishnu seems overawed by the presence of his dad in most frames directed by a veteran but he holds his own. He seems to get back to his median weighty body frame. Tanikella and Jeeva are over the top and could have been edited out except a few dialogues. Jayasudha is the only person who must have used makeup in the film but she gives a memorable performance. RGV used to mention that after Sridevi, he had a crush on Jayasudha after seeing "Adavi Ramudu". In this film, he had used her well to relay her strengths  in many emotions. Dialogues are sharp and uncinematic - a hallmark of RGV. BGM and music by Sai Karthik hit some good notes. Despite a deja vu plot, "Rowdy" is stylish and watchable and yes, neat for family viewing too.  I rate this 3/5 for the compactness, performances and telling a good story neatly for Telugu audiences. 

"Legend" (Telugu) Film Review

"Legend" is a mighty entertainer that is more intense than a T20 match and a perfect film for Balayya's aging persona which suits his films one way - the highway of high-octane action, violence, anti-gravity stunts and rabble-rousing and of course, sentiment. The film generated unprecedented buzz after its satellite rights were bought by Gemini for Rs.9 crores - that's the highest for any Telugu film. 

"Legend" is all about a 160 minute duel between the family of Balakrishna and Jagapathi Babu, a factionist who thrives on terrorising people and building capital. Jagapathi Babu sets foot on Vizag for a marriage alliance and runs into rough weather with Suman, father of Elder Balayya over a road accident. Jagapathi Babu is chastised by the folks and hauled up. Unrepentent Jagapathi Babu decides to make Vizag his new "adda" and systematically eliminates Balayya's mother and father Suman. Enraged, the young Balayya annihilates the brotherly gang of Jagapathi Babu. The never-ending saga of violence forces young Balayya's grandmother to isolate him into oblivion and pack off the younger one, again Balayya to Dubai. Destiny pulls both into finding their mojo in  aggrandizing weapons when confronted by Jagapathi & Co. On the whole, a regular fare but when you infuse this story with many layers of masala fare, glam dolls Sonal Chauhan and Radhika Apte to serenede the two Balayyas, an item song, bazooka violence, and  the tested  "Basha" flashback trick to elevate the character of the elder Balayya, the fans have got the feast of a lifetime from director Boyapati Seenu.

Performance-wise Balakrishna sizzles as the elder Balayya. He has the best dialogues in the film and delivered them with all the weighty modulations they deserve. His body language has shifted over the years with non-invasive hand-movements (unlike the late NTR) and that is working wonders for Balayya and getting scripts that dovetail.  The absence of other big stars in that space of godfatherly roles has increased the charishma of Balayya whenever he dons such roles. Boyapati Seenu's  strength in exploiting Balayya's strengths on screen once again creates a magical chord as the crowds erupt in joy and clap louder than the sounds spewed out of multiplex speakers. Dialogues by M Ratnam are some of the sharpest as the lines insinuate all glory of the Nandamuri lineage and take potshots at the new princes, submerged leaders and politics defining our age. 

The surprise packet in the film is Jagapathi Babu who reinvents himself as the salt-and-peppered hair villain with a million-buck beard and a baritone that haunts. It is not easy to flaunt an overnight body language for a villain when the opponent is a legend like Balayya. But with minimal dialogues and maximum eye-ball movement and subtle body language, Jagapathi hit a home run that will surely get him meaty roles. He has less than half page dialogue but registers his screen presence strongly against a verbose but imposing Balayya. 

There are weaknesses in the film, though. Story is the biggest letdown. Boyapati has picked two mighty stars in hero-antihero roles but hasn't concentrated on giving their confrontations the mileage it deserves. There is no variety, creativity or chutzpah to underscore the duel between the two. By choosing a story that just shows Jagapathi spitting venom all the time against Balayya's family and about four not-so-strong scenes of confrontation, director lost a golden opportunity. Even in Mahabharata, the story between two families had unprecedented twists but this one is just a tailfish story with grotesque violence upon grotesque violence. Boyapati concentrated on showing Jagapathi in one way throughout the film but it must be said that that may work wonders for his career because Jagapathi can save his new tricks for a pronounced career as a villain.

Incredulity is another weakness. So much anarchy happens in mainstream Vizag and the police is shown hand-in-gloves with wilful criminals vandalizing people and properties. Violence also grates. More people are routinely killed, shot dead or butchered in this film than all the people who died for the cause of Telangana. By showing a juvenile Balakrishna (son of Balakrishna?) who kills thirty people in 12 seconds, Boyapati Seenu had shown children can get glorified in their violence - a shameful feat that will remain unparalleled. No wonder, the film got A certificate. Films like this may even become blockbuster films but the atavaism they promote will come back to haunt our society more.

Music wise DSP gives a different twist to the tunes- they are catchy and peppy and a few songs stand out in melody and rhythms. Radhika Apte, the girl who acted in "Rakta Charitra" sizzles in the film better than Sonal Chauhan. Brahmanandam is actually a bore in the film, don't take him seriously. The one who steals her share of limelight is the lady who plays Balayya's grandmother - watch out for her as the new maternal mom, last seen in "English Vinglish". The scene where a set of MLAs discuss what the voter wants in today's democracy is the most telling commentary on the state of affairs - that is itself a paisa vasool sequence.  On the whole, a comprehensive masala film with an overdose of violence. It deserves 3 out of 5. But don't go near it if you hate violence.

Khushwant Singh - the man with the pen which didn't have a condom!

At 99, Khushwant Singh would have been the oldest Indian writer of pre-Independence era to vote in the ensuing elections but death bowled him out before he could turn 100. For millions of Indians, Khushwant Singh has democratised writing in ways that even his peers and legends who followed him, couldn't. His writing unlike some of his Nobel Prize co...ntemporaries had a magical mixture of elegance, simplicity, information, amusement and food for thought.

It will take many biographers, maybe the likes of Humra Quereshi and Shobhaa De to cover his majestic sweep of works in prose, poetry, fiction, non-fiction, travelogues, histories and biographies, edited anthologies, letters, reviews, essays, obits, profiles and of course, those jokes on everything the Indians love and abhor. You can take "Train to Pakistan" as a moving novel that's semi-autobiographical. Or, you can discuss his stamp of authority in volumes on "The History of Sikhs" (which can be compared in affections and passion for one's homeland with Winston Churchill's body of work in "The History of the English-speaking people"). The man has written about thirty two books and nearly a dozen short stories. He has edited such diverse newspapers and periodicals like "Yojana" (a neat journal on economic issues) and "Hindustan Times" and "National Herald". And he has edited a periodical which fired a generation of readers, including my father, who were trying to unshackle the colonial pangs. Known as the "Illustrated Weekly of India", Khushwant Singh made it a national rage covering topics from economics, politics, art and religion to buxom beauties and saffron swamijis. That it sold over four lakh copies at its peak should tell you how reader-centric Khushwant Singh was. He wrote on sex and sublime matters with ease and always cared for the reader who read his writings with respect, humility and time-sense. You could measure each piece of his for the insights per page; if there was no insight it humored you well with low-downs on people that entertained you.

I got introduced to Khushwant Singh's writings by my father - that propelled me to take up atleast part-time writing, it spruced up my life in ways I cannot imagine. My father used to read out loud his column "With Malice towards One and All", make me underline crafty expressions and turns of phrase and fetch their meanings. Just his range of writing is enough to inspire many writers into the profession of reporting and writing. It is inconceivable he had an opinion on so many aspects of our culture, literature, polity and socio-economic situations.

I still bump into many strangers and acquaintances who bond me with in their love for Khushwant's writing style. While I have followed most of his writings and books, it is the step-up in the pace of his writing during the last ten years that amazes me. In this period, he penned his autobiography "Truth, Love and a little malice" which summed his life in the most honest manner including his foibles and false loyalties with fallen angels like Indira Gandhi and her son Sanjay Gandhi. He wrote a few more pieces of fiction: "The Sunset Club", "Burial At Sea" and "The portrait of a lady". He encouraged more compilations of his pieces including those that hijacked his tranquility (as he was forced to respond more cheekily and non-chalantly): titles like "The End of India', "Inside the Great Indian Circus", "Book of Unforgettable Women", "Why I supported the Emergency", "Death at my doorstep." and more books on malice, jokes and gossip.

Three books stand out for those who love to read more of the humanist and the freethinker he was till the very end. One is "The Khushwant Singh treasury" which includes his favorite prayers, poems, proverbs and profanities for each of day of the year. An entry for 18 November reads thus: "Work is worship, worship is not work". For 19 March: "The one commodity we Indians are never short of - natural gas".

Two, a book of profiles compiled with Humra Quraishi "The Good, The Bad and the Ridiculous" which gives a peep into his lust for painting even the drabbest personality with colors an spice. You could read just two profiles on Dhirendra Brahmachari and Giani Zail Singh to get the money's worth but there's more to it than the two much-maligned people.


Three, the last of his books published by Penguin India in 2013 called "Khushwantnama: The Lessons of my life" - an abridged autobiography for those who dont' have patience for reading all his life's labor, it contains the right chapters about the man's life along with his views that will bone you up with stuff to get inspired. The chapters have so much of wisdom that it can be an epiphany for those who share his interests in the state of the nation, the state of writing in India, what it takes to be a writer, the twelve rules to live long and happy, use of humor as a lethal weapon, state of journalism in India, dealing with death and the importance of Gandhi.


While I regret I haven't been been able to meet or exchange a word with him, I feel connected with him through his writing like millions of readers. Reading his concise writing pulls you into a fellowship of articulateness that speaks much about the man and his values- on how to be a good Indian, a tolerant Indian, an Indian who loves the roots but is truly secular, doesn't put religion before humanism, loves life, celebrates controversy and good sex in utmost loyalty, get disciplined about lifestyle, laughs at self more often and develop good humor and helping nature at all times. Khushwant Singh has achieved every award in India - from Sahitya Akademi Award to Rockfeller Grant and the coveted Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan in time unlike writers like Anita Desai and Ruskin Bond who only got Padma Shri late. He lived a life rich with action throughout -whether as a diplomat, lawyer, teacher, editor or a writer. He was not the craftiest writer who wins Pulitzers and Nobels but he carried himself well right through his innings.

Someone asked Khushwant Singh his comment about being a prolific writer. His response: "No one has yet invented a condom for the pen." Long live the pen in its modern format. Long live Khushwant Singh - the man who erased his original date of birth, 2nd February and celebrates his birthday on the 15th of August. R.I.P.KS.

And the Oscar doesn't go to...

And the Oscar doesn't go to...

So even the Oscars couldn't defy "Gravity" its anti-gravity moment. The mexican director would have lived out his space in  trance as his film bagged seven oscars out of ten. Predictable? Not so much. Or maybe. Because over the years, the awards have a degree of giving out max to those films which generate the maximum adulation from the global audience. This could be because the Hollywood Studios and their gargantuan think-tanks are hitting  a dry run when it comes to big markets like China, HongKong, India, and the MiddleEast where cultural dissimilarities are making their films come a cropper. "Gravity" collected Rs.62 crores in Indian theatres despite the hoopla. "Dookudu" and "Gabbar Singh" generated a higher RoI than that film.

On that count, you can see why films like "Slumdog Millionaire" and "Gravity" sweep the awards even if with  diluted standards and dumbing down of English for the global audience. It is like a Miss World contest or Miss Universe contest - Hollywood which represents the apogee of American Culture wants  and crowns film-makers who strike gold with more eyeballs rather than film-makers who are altruistic (Oliver Stone), brazenly American (Martin Sorcerese), uncompromising (Steven Spielberg) or self-obsessed and controversial (Woody Allen).

 If the trend continues, 20 years down the lane, I think there will be more foreign language films competing for the Oscars or film-makers with the American sensibilities but a global pulse like Eduardo. That leaves the Indians with a terrific opportunity - don't make films for the Oscars, try to beat them in sensibilities and cultural opulence and larger-than-life sliceness. One day, with SFX a "Bahubali" or a "Hanuman" or a "Mahabharat" will gross as much as a Spidey or a Batman. Americans have killed more film industries since the 1920s by their clinical imperialism of the culture of Americana which has a distinct closeness with most Western cultures except the Koreans, the Chinese and the Indians. Watching the Oscars this time became more boring than a Pogo channel where the anchor hustles with a masked face. No wonder, the Oscars are now looked down by those who covet the BAFTAs, the Golden Globes, the Cannes or now the Sundance where unconventional yardsticks of measuring success are bringing out such exciting films like "Boyhood" and "Wajdah" (2012). 

On the contrary, Oscars are still stuck on  criteria that the critics and the audiences don't seem to agree often but are determined by quixotic whims and messages from the masters who call the shots at the industry. Any idea why Sandra Bullock didn't get the best actress award? Any thoughts why Leonardo Dicaprio continues to be at the non-receiving end of the awards? Despite a uni-dimensional way of judging the films, the Oscars get the maximum mileage but still lesser than what the Superbowl or FIFA World Cup command. 

Today, close to seven billion people are watching films and a fraction of them are wanting to make films in as many unique way as their sensibilities and paradigms motivate them to. The Oscars can go to anybody who is trained to give a well-rehearsed elevator speech. But lets not think that their success is a benchmark - don't be misled by the UNESCO heritage-type statements going out when the Oscar goes to a film that talks about slavery in Africa, a war waged in Afghanistan or Iraq or a legend in South Africa. There are more ways to watch a film, make a film and even review a film. Remember tonite that Oscars may be more anti-diluvian in ways you haven't  yet realised.

"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.