Category — Movies

I haven’t yet had the chance to catch Farhan Akhtar’s indulgent remake of ‘Don’, but the reviews from professional critics as well as the feedback from friends and acquaintances has been anything but enthusiastic.

And the reason for that has been the inevitable comparison with the original, that a remake evokes! Nostalgia invariably plays a huge role in such comparisons and that tilts the balance, fairly or unfairly, in the favour of the original. I am not saying that the original ‘Don’ wasn’t any good. Far from it! I thought the Amitabh-starrer was an awesome entertainer… and a representative of the kind of movies in vogue during those years. However, it was anything but a classic!!… something that this review explains in much better words. Chandra Barot’s ‘Don’ was technically quite shoddy. What kept it from sliding away as ‘just another Amitabh movie’ was Amitabh’s bandwidth as an actor. Based on Shah Rukh Khan’s body of work, I am not convinced he has the same bandwidth!

As I read review after review flaying Farhan Akhtar, almost chastising him for attempting a remake, I can feel a certain fanboy anger on the part of these reviewers who seem to have convinced themselves that the original ‘Don’ was a sacred cow that could not be touched! For God’s sake, comment on the quality of the movie! … not on the way it apes or deviates from the original! I concede that some amount of comparison will be inevitable, but the review should not end up being one huge comparison!!

A Congress delegation will meet Maharashtra CM today, to ask for tax exemption for Lage Raho Munnabhai.

The problem is… the movie has already been declared ‘Tax Free’ with effect from today!

Well, I haven’t seen Lage Raho Munnabhai yet, unqualified praise, like this, from peers is a huge thumbs up for the director and the movie.

We live in a cynical world, but even in such times, sometimes a person, book or film comes along and shows you a tiny crack in the wall behind which there is a lot of light, and suddenly your heart is full of happiness. Lage Raho Munnabhai is one such film that makes you laugh, makes you cry, and also makes you feel good to be a human being.

I think I’ll go check it out soon!

I know who I am. No one else knows who I am. If I was a giraffe, and someone said I was a snake, I’d think, no, actually I’m a giraffe.
- Richard Gere (June 2002)

[Source: The Quotations Page]

Errr… I’m not sure whether that is zen philosophy or good ‘ol gibberish?! But I dare not laugh. After all, his is the ‘profession that deserves respect‘!

Cinema equals escapism for most film-makers. Some, however, know that cinema is a medium for visual expression. And these film-makers give us movies that speak to us through that medium. And then, there are rare souls who consider cinema as an art-form and create stunning works of art that make you want to stand up and applaud.

With ‘Black’, Sanjay Leela Bhansali attempts to recast himself into one of those rare souls. And to his credit, he succeeds. ‘Black’ is like a master artist’s first masterpiece… maybe not yet perfect, but getting there!

Do not let the title, ‘Black’, mislead you into conjuring up notions of a morose, painful film about disabilities. Far from it, the movie is all about perseverence, belief, hope and dignity. Rather than a negative, melancholy strain that this movie could’ve degenerated into, a positive note rings clearly through the narrative and performances.

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