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Reviews
Raag Desh (2017)
A courtroom drama and a classroom lecture we must attend !
In the era when Nationalism is blindly followed in India and been understood as the purest form of patriotism, Raag Desh brings an informative theatrical experience on one of the most crucial and underrated events that had accelerated country's independence in a massive way post Quit India Movement. Indian Army's (the desi servicemen of course) moral support over the trial of 3 INA officers followed by the mutiny of Royal Indian Navy in the same year 1946, made the British Raj realise that they would not be able to hold the administration & defense anymore which were mostly been served by Indians - Police, Army, Navy etc under the commands of British officials.
As a movie it stands out fair, specially to maintain historical accuracy and showcasing the limited awareness of mass for the INA activities till the trial started. Also it has successfully portrayed the roles of patriotic bureaucrats, who may not have marched the streets against British bullets but fought the administration from within. And the movie also quite truthfully shows, patriotism is not everyone's stick to keep it high, especially under government oppression where patriotism demands ultimate sacrifices both financially and physically, unlike the social network brawl these days. Not every captured soldier was convinced enough to get dragged into another battle they knew was quite impossible to win, and even when they volunteered, not everyone could walk till the end. That does not make them 'anti national' - but like any other fellow countryman who could not participate in anti British movements or like us who cannot rise up and resist every wrong doing around us because of the desire to have normal family life and live it.
Although its filmed in a documentary style, Raag Desh never drags at any point. The courtroom remains intense, flashback events are crisp and relevant, pacing is thorough. All the lead characters are quite believable, Amit Sadh deserves a special mention though. Music is one of the section where I felt it should have been compelled more powerfully and less melodic. 'Tumhe Namaami' is a fine track though. Action is the other section I was let down quite a bit. I understand the budget crunch Mr. Dhulia has faced in this non starer epic which actually demands & deserves some full phased battle scenes. But even the group contacts could have been handled with more realistic fighting tactics. Although its fair for bollywood but Mr. Dhulia you yourself have raised the bar for me !
But let me thank you for bringing such an important chapter of the pre-independence history which I'm sure can put some light to our little educated country to understand that Shaheed Bhagat Singh and Mahatma Gandhi are not everything we need to know about our glorious past !
Madras Cafe (2013)
Perfectly blended Coffee .... Well served Madras Cafe !!
Madras Cafe serves you the best Political thriller of Bollywood so far. It gives an inside, one man perspective view of the crisis that India faced over late eighties and early nineties. A National crisis to which the Nation was ignorant (other than South elm) until their Prince was assassinated.
Indo-Sri Lanka Peace Accord in late eighties turned into our own Vietnam (mentioned in the movie too !!) when the Peace keepers suffered the brutal violence. Inexperienced in Jungle Guerilla warfare , low on intel, Indian Regular Army took way more heat than the pre-estimate.
This movie takes you right there, when strategies were been compromised, missions failed and search for mole began. And continuing on a thriller ride, it throws you to the conspiring plot of Rajiv Gandhi assassination.
Pros: Authentic, very much detailing in the story line. Fast paced thriller.
RAW never looked so smart, their equipments never looked so real and so do their men. John Abraham didn't become John Rambo neither James Bond.
Lead actress (portraying an NRI journalist) didn't utter a Hindi word in a commercial Bollywood movie. Big Kudos to the Director !!
Combat scenes were gore, short & realistic and not exaggerated. Bullet effects,gun recoil, soldier's positions these usually overlooked areas were been paid full attention.
Good budget brings helicopter long shot, brilliant location and areal photography.
Cons: Only major flaw I felt - Too much shaky camera movement. Dolly tracks are hardly been used. I actually got a headache after leaving the theater.
"Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high" ... Soojit Sircar fearlessly just not presented one of the worst Indian political blunder but also held his head high above the commercial, controversial pressure. He has shown the guts to stay away from masala pricks (not even a single back ground song comes to hinder the pace till very last, no parallel love story building up within the lead pair)
Indo-Pak war / tension even RAW covert missions have been featured in Bollywood for many and in recent times. Its a safe segment to have your audience with a patriotic breeze. But Soojit did not hesitate to read out those chapters which are not very much welcomed in Indian History. This movie may not do good in the box office which is ruled by all the Circus stuffs. But it has set another benchmark in Bollywood, and that will be real hard to reach.
W ciemnosci (2011)
The dark tunnel.. which has a brighter end
Humanity is a part of human psychology and as every other, it changes, evolves and even destroys. And that makes Leopold Socha more a human, not a hero. There were Schindler's Jew, and here we got Socha's Jew. But the task was much more difficult without money, influence and support. Socha's initial hatred turns into need and then into affection and responsibility as well. I could feel the emotion when Socha rushed to the rain flooded tunnel, or when he was bringing them up after the war. It was like more of an achievement, a personal victory to save those people. And that it should be. I was overwhelmed to see the focus in this feelings than of the survivors. It builds the story more in mud and stone.
There are some flaws and hitch in the movie, some questions unanswered. But Im not going to darken a dark story which has a brighter end. 'In Darkness' shows that in desperation of survival one can beget any abominable situation. On a normal day, one will not even want to peek inside the sewer tunnels but its the urge to live that makes the same person to stay there with a limited ration of food, water and light, as well as the hope for 14 long months. Its a brilliant true story telling the triumph over death at a period of time when human lives were valued the least. Imagine death all around and when it becomes so obvious and expected, life and survival itself become a miracle rather than belonging to normal place of act. And that indeed requires celebration and attention, kudos to Agnieszka Holland for bringing that us.
Shanghai (2012)
And Yes... Bollywood digs out gore reality
Its really comforting to see recent Bollywood is been blessed with a bunch of talented and eager film makers who are honest with their frame and don't seem to compromise the portrayal against Box Office success. Dibakar Banerjee is surely the front liner amongst the elite.
The story telling, characterization, brilliant drama and clinching suspense along with a superb performance from the entire cast was good enough to lift up this movie, but what made it a masterpiece was the perfectly delivered 'Real' ending. I wont spoil any, but the last 10 mins just blew me away. I have seen many movies plotted on socio-economic crisis/ issues and they wind up with a conventional ending of good sprouting over evil. One has to consider his film acceptance among the audience before delivering. And I'm sure majority of the happy go like audience will turn back on Shanghai just because the way it ended. Kudos to Dibakar for his guts to stay in real ground till the very finish line.
The film has inherent honesty so one can relate the agony and absolute hopeless situation, the frustration of characters for their incapability. Symbolic use and character development is not an easy task for such a fast paced thriller, yet done in almost flawless manner. The disturbed girl, emotional attachment of a tyro videographer, blunt innocence of a criminal were painted beautifully. The song 'Bharat Mata ki' was so ironic. The movie forces you to realize in a Power backed corrupt country like India, best living policy is to play the 3 monkeys role of Gandhi. Don't hear Wrong, don't see all the wrong doings (keep your eyes shut to it) and don't talk about Evil or against it. Keep a safe distance from all these and you may be able to live an earnest life with daal-roti.
This movie entirely belongs to the Directer who didn't show us cure or hope, but has thrashed us over the solidity and deed of our society, country and future as well.
Hanna (2011)
Did someone from Production house actually watch it before launching???
6.9 IMDb rating??... Come on guys, give me a single reason for it. I cant believe one could produce such a sloppy stuff. And of-course it didn't come with 'screw your sense' tag line so I will oppose people who are saying 'dont go for detailing and watch the movie'.
Come on, a born assassin, prepared to take down top agents does not know what is passport. She is not familiar with electricity, TV but can recognize the camera and quite aware of the importance of shooting them down. The research facility does not have guarded corners (even no cams) but some bunch of security personnel who run every here and there in groups. She did better than Chuck Norris in grabbing and leaving the Humvee. Weird girl got a weirder friend and much weirder parents who can discuss all the emotions and religion topics but didn't bother to ask how a girl with no penny and luggage is conducting her Morocco tour!!! And oh Mama!! A girl who saw electric switch for the 1st time went to cyber cafe next day and found out what her abnormal DNA report reveals.. Lesser talk about the rest of characters are better. Gum freak agent Marissa, Tranny Killer and his two punk sidekicks and of-course, Super assassin (or super Swimmer .. he just swam across the sea) Heller. I am a huge fan of Eric Bana but this was utter disappointing.
Action scenes were pathetic, Hanna can overrun an entire Research facility security but cant take down the tranny. CIA agent holds his fire till Erik throws a knife. And the Tranny group decided to kill Erik with bare hands and in one by one fair fight.
Now can anyone please explain me why it got such a high rating?? And even I saw reviews where people are quite convinced with the smart direction and screenplay. Have I watched the same movie????