Lafangey Parindey - A decent watch!

Sometimes, your reputation precedes you. Pradeep Sarkar carries the reputation of making women-centric movies. Films like Parineeta and Laaga Chunari Mein Daag prove it. Who would've ever thought Sarkar would do a 360 degree turn in his third film by calling it Lafangey Parindey, set it in a chawl and make his characters speak tapori lingo? Hard to digest, isn't it? Frankly, the skilled storyteller takes you on a trip least expected from him.

When you attempt something you haven't attempted earlier or ventured into before, you either fall flat on your face or walk with your chin up in air. Sarkar doesn't slip, although Lafangey Parindey does have its share of hiccups that show up intermittently. Unlike Parineeta and Laaga Chunari Mein Daag, Sarkar narrates a simple story this time around and though it has nothing to do with the Rajesh Khanna - Mumtaz - Meena Kumari starrer Dushmun, you can't help but draw parallels with it, which, frankly, could be a coincidence as well. Yet, to be fair to Sarkar, he ventures in an unknown territory like a seasoned player.

On the flipside, the film has a major flaw and that dilutes the impact to an extent: Casting Neil Nitin Mukesh as a tapori. He just doesn't look like one. Even if he tries very hard to get into the skin of the character, you just can't connect with him since the suave and dashing demeanor makes him look like a Harvard returned, not someone from the streets or wadis of Mumbai definitely.

Final word? Sure, it has its share of shortcomings, but is an engaging watch nonethess.

Lafangey Parindey is about a group of youngsters living in the backstreets of Mumbai. It is the love story of Nandu (Neil Nitin Mukesh) and Pinky (Deepika Padukone).

One-Shot Nandu takes boxing to a new level by knocking down his opponents - blindfolded. Needless to say, One-Shot lives life on his own terms and is a local hero amongst his friends. But all that changes when he meets Pinky.

Pinky works at a mall, but is a kickass dancer on skates. Strong-headed, talented and fiercely ambitious, she aspires to rise above all the 'losers' living in her locality and carve a niche for herself. Two different personalities. Two different lives. Destined to meet.

Lafangey Parindey starts with gusto! Also, it moves on a singular path, without diversifying into unwanted sub-plots and superfluous characters. In fact, the story takes off at the commencement of the film itself and how Neil and Deepika's lives get intertwined makes for interesting viewing.

The film has some truly engaging moments and most of them are in its first hour. Sequences between Neil and Deepika after the accident are wonderful and keep you hooked. However, things begin to slacken in the post-interval portions, when the love story takes over and Neil and Deepika realize that they share a deeper bond. Just when things are about to go downhill, the climax happens and Lafangey Parindey is back on track. In fact, the drama in the finale - when Deepika and Neil have to perform the final act for a television show

- is the highpoint of this film. The skating sequences and choreography are stunning and awe-inspiring.

Blemishes? Oh yes! The love story is conventional and dreary. Also, the investigating officer's track is half-baked and looks like an add-on. Besides, the film is embellished with a mediocre musical score (R. Anandh). Also, the Bambaiya Hindi has its limitations.

Like I pointed out earlier, Neil is the wrong choice for this part. Also, he lacks the fire to carry off the role with flourish. Lafangey Parindey clearly belongs to Deepika Padukone, who suits the character and enacts it with such competence that it leaves you amazed. The pretty lass is only getting better with every film. Piyush Mishra is first-rate. Kay Kay Menon is okay in a brief role. The friends, each them, leave a mark. Especially Namit Das, who's wonderful. Shiamak Davar, Juhi Chawla and Javed Jafferi feature in brief roles.

On the whole, Lafangey Parindey may be predictable, but is engaging and entertaining nonetheless. A decent watch!


Director: Pradeep Sarkar
Cast: Neil Nitin Mukesh, Deepika Padukone, Kay Kay Menon, Piyush Mishra, Manish Choudhary, Namit Das, Amey Pandya

Ratings: 2.5 / 5 



Source: oneindia.in

Aisha: Love the fashion, the girl not so much

I've always found Emma Woodhouse to be one of Jane Austen's most exuberant, winsome creations.

Especially in comparison to Austen's other popular heroines -- the levelheaded Elinor Dashwood (Sense and Sensibility) or a self-respecting Elizabeth Bennet (Pride and Prejudice).

A patronising child-woman, Emma is good-naturedly meddlesome with too much privilege and too little vocation. But for all the advantages bestowed upon her, Emma is a restless creature who offsets her longings and loneliness with her preoccupation at playing cupid.

What I like most about her the most is the self-assured tone of her opinions, however foolhardy, and her delightful lack of enthusiasm for matrimony -- a refreshing departure from the average Victorian lady.

Not so surprisingly, there have been several cinematic interpretations of this 19th century heroine essayed with marvelous distinction by the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Beckinsale and Romola Garai.

Circa 2010 is a brand new era altogether. And voicing one's opinion or opting for a live-in is no biggie for the fairer sex of Highbury or Delhi. Matchmaking, even so, hasn't lost any of its credibility amidst all this progress and forms the singularly retained essence of director Rajshree Ojha's adaptation of Austen's frothy classic.

And so Emma becomes a Beetle-steering Aisha (Sonam Kapoor) and fashion wears the face of feminism. Considering her sleekly-documented reputation as a star with a penchant for haute couture and vintage pieces, Sonam Kapoor is tailor-made to portray a dazzling cross between Cher Horowitz and Blair Waldorf. An astute knowledge of style is, perhaps, the only genuine counsel she's able to impart to her pet-project, a daft and dowdy Shefali (Amrita Puri) along with the equally (if not more) chic BFF Pinky Bose (Ira Dubey).

Unlike Kapoor who's trapped in the middle, limited by a screenplay (Devika Bhagat) that doesn't ask her tremendous talent for more than a disapproving raised brow or babyish pout, Puri and Dubey have a ball playing the quirky gals on either side of the spectrum. If Puri goes wild by means of her hilarious Punju accent, Dubey is all edge and spice with her fiery sarcasm and steady cattiness.

Boys aren't a neglected lot in this relentless chick flick. To begin with, I cannot imagine a better Knightley than Abhay Deol. Like Aamir Khan, he's fast acquiring the image of someone whose films are something to look forward to. And though it's a relatively uncomplicated role for the actor, it's cool to watch him out of his comfort zone, namely unconventional cinema. If Deol's just downright irresistible, Cyrus Sahukar lends his bumbling Randhir Gambhir a sense of awkward realism making his antics both -- believable and droll. He says some of the funniest lines with such unrehearsed spontaneity, it's most chuckle-worthy.

Ojha's desi Emma dumps the mysterious subplot involving Frank Churchill-Jane Fairfax (the objects of jealousy for both Sonam and Abhay's characters), which means Arunoday Singh (doesn't have a grabbing screen presence) and Lisa Haydon (so hot, so wasted) are as imperative to the plot as Sonam's fancy Dior-dominated wardrobe. Instead she incorporates a teaspoon of Pride and Prejudice that involves an unexpected romantic compromise between two unlikely protagonists. I rather stay ambiguous about this than risk a spoiler.

Long before Ojha conceived the idea of a modern-day remake, Hollywood writer-director Amy Heckerling humorously reworked Austen's book to helm Clueless around a spoilt, wealthy girl from Beverly Hills, high on Alicia Silverstone's breakthrough performance and a still-popular lingo of 'As if's and 'Like, ever'.  What made this contemporary edition such a hit is its remarkably witty script that's got enough cheek and pizzazz to make light of the very superficiality it embarks on. A quality amiss in Aisha.

In its source material, Emma shares an unusually close bond with her father who cannot bear to see her out of his sight even for a day. Because of her confined, sheltered existence she's perpetually on the lookout for new endeavours and matchmaking fits the description perfectly.

It's given that this sort of set-up doesn't fit in today's milieu and that is why Aisha's joblessness doesn't make much sense as opposed to Clueless wherein Heckerling justifies and mocks the inactivity by writing her as teenager in high school.

If one tries to dissociate Aisha from Austen and perceive it as a standalone rom-com, far less faults are to be found. There's much too freshness in its texture, expressions and candour to not be endeared. For those who've read the book, a lot of missing sub-text in the film needs to be drawn from memory. For those who haven't, focus on the glamour.

Beautifully shot (Diego Rodriguez) and packaged (Shruti Gupte) with a fabulous soundtrack (Amit Trivedi) and superlative ensemble cast (including an excellent M K Raina, Anuradha Patel), Aisha, quite often, gets caught up in a self-created tangle of brand-led vanity to ever let one get acquainted to its leading lady.

Yes, I love her clothes (styled by Pernia Qureshi). I love her makeup. I love her black nail polish. I love her hair. I love her heels (also the subject of an amusing episode in the movie). I love her life. I just don't care enough about her. Except that I really want to.

Ratings: 3 / 5



Source: Rediff

Review: Despicable Me is pure fun

Gru (Steve Carell) has had two dreams since he was a little boy -- to go to the Moon; and to make his mother (Julie Andrews) proud of him.

He attempts the latter by trying to become the most feared super villain in the world and to achieve Number One Super Villain status, he draws on his other childhood dream, the Moon. His big plan – to steal it. So when a new villain named Vector (Jason Segel) comes along and makes it nearly impossible for bald, beak-nosed Gru to achieve his goals he has to think differently. What he does, and how he does it, is the story of Despicable Me.

This is a film where the positives extend across the length and breadth of the movie. The characters are well etched, the animation is top notch, the laughs are frequent and the soundtrack is noteworthy too (look for the excellent title track by rapper/producer Pharrell Williams).

The real fun begins when three little girls -- Margo (Miranda Cosgrove), Edith (Dana Gaier) and Agnes (Elsie Fisher) come into Gru's life. Although we've watched big meanies in other movies have their hearts changed by little children, and you know the same is inevitable for Gru, the journey is so much fun it hardly matters that you've seen this kind of transformation before.

Each of the little girls has her own character, which comes through very clearly in the storytelling and when the film ends, everybody is likely to have a favourite girl from the trio. Mine was Edith.

This movie proves, yet again, that 3D is best employed in animated features. The first-person views of the trip down a rollercoaster will actually induce a racing heartbeat and make you feel like you are on some crazy ride. The revelation of the mischief Gru's cute but nutty minions can get up to along the depth of the frame is also amusing to experience.

Animation has been a tricky realm. Whereas the wizards at Pixar consistently deliver movies that are the right balance of storytelling heart and visual pizzazz, other studios have had hit-and-miss records, mostly in the story department. With the passage of time Despicable Me is certain to find its place amongst the classics.

Despicable Me's strength is good old fashioned storytelling -- excellent characters, attention to detail and a journey that is just pure fun. This is a movie that will play well to everyone from six to sixty (and beyond).

Ratings: 4 / 5


Source: Rediff

Predators is predictable

Ever since he burst onto the filmmaking scene nearly two decades ago, Robert Rodriguez's oeuvre has been best described by one word -- economical. And even though he has only produced Predators, it is very clear from the start that this movie is going to employ economy for every bit of its run time.

The film opens on Adrien Brody's character, unconscious and falling through the sky. When he wakes up and realises that he is not dreaming, he tries as hard as possible to open his parachute; to no avail. Until it activates upon reaching a certain (distance from the ground perhaps?) threshold and sends him crashing through dense, and confusing foliage to land hard on the ground. Before he can fully orient himself, a few other people crash land around him and he somehow becomes the leader of a ragtag bunch that includes a death row inmate (Walton Goggins), a mysterious woman (Alice Braga), a Yakuza (Louis Ozawa Changchien), a Russian (Oleg Taktarov), a Mexican (Danny Trejo) and a doctor (Topher Grace).

As they try and understand how they got to the jungle that no one can identify and figure out why they were brought there, all hell breaks lose and finding answers becomes a secondary priority because they are all suddenly trying very hard to stay alive.

Even if you haven't watched the 1987 original featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger you know that large, menacing aliens are involved. Tall, with tentacled heads that make them look like dreadlocked warriors from a scarier planet, we already know that they can see using infrared vision (thereby enabling them to see track humans by their heat signatures), that they possess a cloaking device that renders them nearly totally invisible and that they possess fearsome ammunition and killing blades with which they can make quick and easy work of their human prey. 

That is pretty much what the ragtag bunch of humans is up against in this new movie. They are being hunted and though they have access to some pretty cool weapons, they are still outclassed by the technology at their pursuer's disposal. Whereas the device of literally dropping the audience and the protagonists into the movie without any preamble is a good one and gets the movie off to a decent start, that same economy eventually robs the film of a lot of its drama.

When (what should be) spectacular kills are carried off in a totally matter-of-fact manner it makes the whole movie seem like a race to the finishing line. If you've ever watched this type of movie before, you could tick off which player gets killed off, in what order, without even breaking a sweat.

Predators is totally a guy's movie filled with grisly violence and foul language of a level we are all familiar with and yet not entirely used to hearing off the big screen.

Sadly that is all there is to it. That and the fact that once-skinny Adrien Brody sports a physique that calls to mind Aamir Khan's Ghajini transformation. If you feel like blowing off some steam this weekend, go see it, you won't be disappointed. But I can't help thinking that you won't feel fully satisfied either.

Ratings: 2.5 / 5


Source: Rediff