Piccolo Posts

‘Badlapur se Bajirao Mastani tak aur Tevar se Tamasha tak’, the hindi film industry delivered some amzing stories and some blockbusters as well. While the much hyped and the commercial giant Bombay Velvet flopped, small budget movies like NH10 and Badlapur made their mark. This year saw Suraj Barjatya coming back to Bollywood and bringing back Prem. Also Aishwarya Rai came back with Jazba.  Let’s roll our eyes on the year 2015’s top ten movies that Bollywood gave us. Badlapur 2015 started off with a bang for Varun Dhawan who smashed the box office and his chocolate boy image with his power packed performance as Raghu, in this movie. Add to that a character with negative shades, so naturally played by Nawazuddin Siddiqui.  Radhika Apte makes 2015 work for herself with her genuine performances in Badlapur, Hunterr and Manjhi – The Mountain Man.  The movie is hard hitting, gripping and its brilliant music score by Sachin-Jigar makes you fall in love with this mo...

Jab We Met is a poetry. The metaphor is that the train symbolises the way of life. There are two passengers, two ways of life and the movie is of two halves. In the first half, we fall in love with Geet, who is a bubbly, young, carefree girl trying to live life as it comes by following her heart. Everything works fine for her that way, till the beginning of the second half.  Aditya is depressed with his life; he does not know what he is seeking but the moment he understands Geet and her world, he gets his answer - C'est La Vie. The second half makes life easier for Aditya who learned to live life to the fullest from Geet. Taking decisions at his family business by following his heart makes his company witness success that it had never seen before. The movie has a connect and the connector is Geet. She is so full of life that after the first half, I wished that their journey from Mumbai to Bhatinda had a little more show time. There is a sweet scene in the second half ...

They say that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. They say it right – I agree with them and Mr. Sajan Fernandes too will agree with them. But Mr. Fernandes has nobody who will want to reach his heart through his stomach. He eats alone; travels alone; works alone and stays alone. He unintentionally glances out at his saamne wali khidki every night after eating home delivered food while he smokes a cigarette from his balcony. That family dines together every night with children running here and there; loud discussions and noise all over. There is a small girl who notices Mr. Fernandes and closes windows. Mr. Fernandes’ house is exactly opposite of them – yes literally too. Meri Ammi hamesha kaha karti thi ke kabhi kabhi galat train bhi sahi jaga pohocha deti hai, says Sheikh who has been newly recruited to replace Mr. Fernandes who Is about to retire in a month. When Mr. Fernandes gets a delicious  dabba one fine day, he goes and praises the hotel guy who...

A movie goer’s perception of Ram Gopal Varma is no more like it was a few years back. A decade ago he made Sarkar. I wanted the Govinda Govinda theme to start playing as soon as I said ‘Sarkar’ in the previous sentence. This tune holds up the omnipotence of Sarkar throughout the movie. Theme songs have always worked in favour of the characters. The theme which plays whenever Maaya bhai and his gang emerges out a winner in Shootout At Lokhandwala or the theme tune in Guru which worked wonders to emphasize Gurubhai's control on the situation in those scenes where the tune was used. RGV is known for crime based movies like Siva, Satya, Shool and Company. He credits Sarkar as a tribute to the classic film - The Godfather. If Mumbai ka king kaun?.. Bhiku Mhatre is the man who lives life to the fullest for himself, Sarkar is people’s man just like Sultan Mirza but not the one who says Dua me yaad rakhna ; Sarkar says, Me kisiko sochne se nahi..karne se rokta hu - such is the ...

An anti-hero and his side kick, a rich and powerful antagonist, a glamorous heroine and a rags to riches story. This is not about the angry young man of the 70s; it is about the new angry young man - Ranbir Kapoor – I am Johnny Balraj, nice to meet you..   The remarkable and vivacious sets recreate Bombay from the 60s and the 70s and make you go for a ride down the lanes of Bombay in style. The amber colour tint to the film brings back the Eastmancolor era.  The classic vintage cars, smoking pipes, double decker buses with monkey brand advertisements, almost empty streets and Amit Trivedi’s jazzy music score only add to the detailing required for a period film. Anurag  Kashyap’s Bombay Velvet is more than just a typical rags to riches story. The story details on how Bombay was reclaimed from the ocean. The seven islands in Bombay were bought together by the then influential people of Bombay.  Jimmy Mistry and Kaizad Khambatta are media kingpins who ar...

November Ekadashi || एनर्जी आत्मा वगैरे मंडळी कधीच बदलत नाही फक्त रूप बदलते, ह्यातून त्यात त्यातून ह्यात || After delivering a bunch of superhit marathi movies like Lai Bhaari, Duniyadari, Kaaksparsh, Natarang, Essel Vision has come up with a sweet children oriented movie set in Pandharpur. The film gets its timing right with its release date on Children’s Day and just after Kartik Ekadashi. Paresh Mokashi of Harishchandrachi Factory fame strikes a chord with the next generation with a group of talented kids in the movie. Shrirang, Sayali, Pushkar playing Dnyana, Zendu and Ganya respectively act so effortlessly that it almost feels that they have lived the characters from birth. Dnyana’s family has a loan to pay off. The bank guys snatch the sweater weaving machine, which is the only source of income, as mortgage. However, the bank gives them a deal – Pay Rs. 5000, take the machine back and the interest will also be waived off. But 5000 is a huge amount for them...

Image source: Mukesh Chhabra's facebook page When was the last time you said after watching a movie, “Ah! That new chap was good. What’s his name?” You might have even tried to google ‘that actor’ who caught your attention. Ever wondered who discovers these new talents? The overwhelming number of talented actors; be it from the theaters or the NSD or the other acting schools, has given rise to a new class of professionals in Bollywood whose job is to find out the face(new or nurtured) of that character in the script – The Casting Director. Of course somebody always did the casting; may be the producer or the director but being a casting director, is now being in a completely different trade. It is a sought after profession now-a-days with a casting director also getting his/her name mentioned in the credits. Didn’t notice? Check out the start credits when you catch a movie next time. And while you will be doing that, the name that you will find the most number of ti...

Every time I think of writing a post, I fail to find anything worth writing. The random topics that I write come to mind at times when I am not at all thinking about writing. The Mumbai Local came to me while I was working. A horrifying steep slope on one of our treks prompted me to write God of a second . A trip full of hurdles which turned to be fun with friends made me think of A Trip that wasn't . My interest in the Punjabi culture and music inspired me to write The-Lure Mehndi . Bagicha   happened while studying! Out of nowhere an idea sprung into my mind and I continued with the story instead of studying. It makes me so happy that I thought of something like Bagicha. The things around you; people, animals, vehicles, surroundings, the smell, and the actions inspire you to write. The more you observe, the more ideas you get. You have to be a good observer to be a good writer. You get inspired by these observations. The scenes in your story knowingly or unknowing...

      The Indi Pop panorama has always been lavishly alive with Punjabi (read Punjjabbbi hereafter ;-)) pop songs. The Punjabi pop songs ruled the Indi pop for the most of the time; be it Bolo Tara Rara or Dar Di Rab Rab or Ho Jayegi Balle Balle by  Daler Mehndi, Mundian to Bachke Rahin by Punjabi MC or songs by Gurdas Maan, Jazzy B, Bally Sagoo, Sukhbir, Dr. Zeus and a medley of Punjabi pop stars including Yo Yo Honey Singh not until recently with his hits like Brown Rang, Angrezi beat amongst others. I remember those childhood days when we used to switch to MTV as soon as we woke up and dance to the pop numbers.        The most influential Punjabi on a non-Punjabi brain was Daler Mehndi. Daler Mehndi was the flag bearer of the Punjabi pop with his first album being the best selling non-soundtrack album in the Indian Music history. His groovy dance steps, catchy dhol beats made Punjabi pop music the most sought-after music gen...

WHEN THE SILVER SCREEN TURNED RED      The Attacks of 26/11 is not a movie that should be evaluated by its star ratings. This movie pays homage to the innocent people and the brave policemen who were killed in the horrendous attacks on Mumbai by ten brainwashed men with grenades and AK-47s in their hands.      The movie demonstrates the state of mind of the then-Joint Commissioner of Police Rakesh Maria as the attacks were taking place. Director Ram Gopal Varma does not bother going into the details. He reduces the attacks at Oberoi and Nariman House to dialogues. How could he skip the NSG operations?      Ram Gopal Varma shows idols of God at places where the attacks took place as though he is challenging the mere existence of God. Nana Patekar delivers a power-packed performance. His aggravated emotions in the scene where he explains Islam and Jihad to Kasab are sure to leave you gnashing your teeth against the evil killer...

Matru ki Bijlee ka Banjo Banjo Matru ki Bijlee ka Mandola is a satire that reveals the atrocities of the Rulers - the Politicians - the Powerful - the System. It brings out the the poignant state of the farmers – how they are forced to sell off their lands to the Government at lower than market rates only to give it to bad  businessmen like Harry Mandola a.k.a Mandola(Pankaj Kapoor) who will earn huge money by developing malls, factories and housing projects on that land. Chaudari Devi (Shabana Azmi) is the corrupt bureaucrat. She will help Mandola earn the farmers land so that the Mandola will share the profits with her. Mandola is addicted to Gulabo (name of the beer he drinks). His daughter Bijlee Mandola (Anushka Sharma) is fed up of him. Hukkam Singh  Matru (Imran Khan) secretly plays the saviour of the farmers – Mao Tse-Tung. He likes Bijlee (by the way each one of us will like stunning Anushka Sharma) but never confesses.  Director Vishal Bharadwa...

Baryachda Paha (BP) || Su-sangati sada ghado su-jan vakya kani pado Kalank Maticha zado Vishay sarvatha navdo Sadanghri-Kamali dado Muradita Hatane ado Viyog ghadata rado Man bhavccharritri Jado Gurur bramha Gurur Vishnu Gurur devo Maheshwara Gurur  sakshat parabramha Tasmai shrigurve namah a || The story set in the mid 1980’s  is about four inquisitive teenagers - Avya , Chiu , Dolly , Bhagya . In their quest to find the answers to the questions their parents fail to retort, they find a sexually enlightened Vishu who is almost the same age . Vishu tutors the four protagonists with adult books and adult movies (BP). The  curiousity to know more makes these kids grow older  in a very small age. Many funny scenes including how these guys read those books, make arrangements to watch the movie, getting almost caught, fall in love with a 22 year old (Sai Tamhankar plays a bold chatacter once again after No Entry (2012)) makes it a fantastic rib-tickli...

DABBA-NG       Arbaaz Khan owns a brand called Dabbang and its brand ambassador is none other than the crowd entertainer - Salman Khan. It seems that whenever Arbaaz Khan will be in need of money, he will release a Dabbang :-D.  The impact that Salman Khan makes on the masses could be seen by the whistles and cheers every time he made a gigantic entry. Some of his acts and stunts remind me of Rajnikant.  I had decided not to watch the movie in a multiplex to experience the craze for Salman but I did not miss a percent of the thrill, the aura even in the multiplex.      Arbaaz Khan annoys you by inserting songs at equal intervals. Though you will like the songs but will somebody please concentrate on the plot? Oh! There is no plot. The movie runs for 2 hours by the grace of Salman Khan, Mind-blowing Action sequences and Kareena-Mallaika yukt item numbers (more whistles and cheers and comments!) Sonakshi Sinha sulks (read ‘sulks’, i...

Advanced Search  The movie starts with random scenes from the darker side of Mumbai followed by the accident scene (supperb!). The movie takes us through a detailed investigation of this accident which involves  a superstar Armaan Kapoor. Director Reema Kagti shrewdly blends  Surjan Singh Shekhawat’s (Aamir Khan) personal life and the Talaash-shuda life. The story co-written by Reema Kagti and Zoya Akhtar is gripping throughout. Nawazuddin Siddiqui plays the character so proficiently that he makes you think that he limps in real-life too. Kareena Kapoor plays a prostitute named Rosy who helps Aamir in the investigation and also with his disturbed maritial life with Rani Mukherjee. The intemission  kind of breaks the flow of a very cautiously threaded movie. The climax disappoints. It definitely stuns you but with Aamir Khan out there I expected a supperb ending to the thriller. The songs donot disturb. A special mention to Farhan Akhtar  for the dialogues ...

A SWEET LOVE STORY Life mein sabse bada risk hota hai kabhi koi risk na lena... Barfi is a film about the life and love of a Darjeeling born boy named Barfi. The film is set in the 1970s and runs into flashback from the beginning. Barfi (Ranbir Kapoor) is our protagonist who is dumb and deaf. He bicycles through narrow lanes, jumps quickly down a house and pinches buttocks. He charms Shruti Ghosh (Ileana D’Cruz) with his unique and naughty tactics but he finds true love in Jhilmil Chatterjee (Priyanka Chopra). Jhilmil is autistic and belongs to a rich household. Her grandfather dies and his Will says that all the money would belong to Jhilmil and it would be kept with trust called Muskan where Jhilmil grew up. Ranbir Kapoor with is inspirations from Charlie Chaplin and Mr. Bean is impressive along with Priyanka Chopra who has shed her glamorous avatar for the movie. Illeana who has given many Telugu blockbusters including Kick (2009) and Pokiri (2006) which remade in...

CINEMATIC  ECSTASY Kasam khoon ki khayee hai, sheher nahi Shanghai hai… The movie starts off with Bhagu (Pitobash) wondering about the English word for ‘mutton’! Bhagu is one of those party workers who do the dirty work for the well-dressed bureaucrats and politicians. The story, adapted from Vassilis Vassilikos’ novel Z (also made into an Oscar winning film with the same name) is set in a fictitious town in India called Bharatpur. The Bureaucrats plan to set up a business park under the project called IBP. The voice over says that its stands for India Business Project while the hoardings and pictures in the movie suggest that its International Business Project (flaw :-P). Dr. Ahmadi (Prosenjit Chatterjee) is seen in a cameo playing an activist who opposes IBP. Shalini Sahay (Kalki Koechlin) is an associate, student and lover to an already married Dr. Ahmedi. There is a scene between two where you might think that Dr. Ahmedi is killing Shalini but you soon r...