HAYAT (LIFE) (PERSIAN) (2005)

What is life ? Is it a series of challenges we confront or a multitude of solutions to choose from ? Noted Iranian director Gholam Reza Ramezani addresses the above and many other interesting perspectives on life in Hayat (Persian for Life) which is a beautiful slice (a very thin slice at that) of life movie which captures the events of half a day in the life of our protagonist Hayat, a teen studying in fifth grade. It is an important day for Hayat as she has to sit for an exam to qualify for a boarding school scholarship. Hayat is the best student of her class in the village school and aspires to study further. But, her poor family cannot afford to pay for her studies. Hayat understands that her best chance is to clear the tough exam to qualify for the scholarship to the boarding school and has prepared hard for the exam.

  

However, in a twist of fate, her father falls critically ill early on the morning of the exam and her mother has to rush with him to the hospital. Hayat is given the onerous responsibility of staying home to babysit her younger brother Akbar, her infant sister Nabat and to attend to sundry household work. Hayat tries her best to cope with this sudden challenging turn of events which threaten to drive a spoke through her carefully nurtured dream of cracking the exam and winning the scholarship. Watch the movie to find if Hayat succeeds in the face of the difficult situation. 

It is indeed amazing that the director Ramezani could fashion such an engaging movie with a plot so simple and sourced from an event so commonplace. The banality of the plot provides the movie with a near universal appeal. Ramezani steers clear of any melodrama, sermonising or other gimmicks and stays true to the tradition of well known Iranian directors  and adopts a clear narrative arc, a realistic setting. To this end, the natural lighting and sound are optimally harnessed by the cinematography and sound departments for creating a realistic milieu. 

Ramezani's skills as a narrator shines through in his choice of the subject and his presentation in a form that is in equal parts, a slice of life drama and an unconventional race against clock thriller which is laced with humour and subtle pointers on the state of Iranian society. 

The movie benefits to a great extent from its excellent cast. Ghazaleh Parsafar plays the practical and determined protagonist Hayat like a natural and expresses the entire spectrum of emotions convincingly. She creates an immediate connect with the viewer and as a result, the viewer feels her urgency, tension, relief, fear, frustration and silent determination as the movie progresses. The director has also chosen a competent supporting cast - be it Akbar, Hayat's defiant, yet loving younger brother, the head master of the village school who pleads for Hayat, the lady invigilator at the exam hall, the sullen old lady who is the partner of Hayat's mother and surprisingly, even in the baby playing Hayat's infant sister Nabat - who deserve kudos for their competent performance which renders the movie believable and relatable.

The movie also communicates to the viewer at several levels. While at an apparent level it presents the determined struggle of the protagonist to succeed, one can also feel several subtle subtexts underneath. The movie projects a snapshot of life in rural Iran and brings a sharp focus on the travails of the women who remain at a disadvantage resulting from deeply ingrained conservative ideas prevalent in a patriarchal society which see them as lesser beings. The movie also brings out the role of education in improving their lot by equipping them with confidence, practical knowledge and problem solving skills as showcased by Hayat's approach to her challenges as well as the lady invigilator's near instant understanding of Hayat's predicament. It is a clear testimony of Ramezani's talents as an auteur that he could achieve all this in an engrossing movie that is barely 80 minutes long. 

Hayat, promoted by the Children's Film Society of India (CFSI) and a multiple award winner at several Children's Film festivals across the globe, is sure to enthrall the viewer irrespective of their age group. 

A LESSER KNOWN GEM & A MUST WATCH !!

LEIBSTER NOMINATION

Ta .. da.. I have been nominated for a Leibster Award. 

First and foremost, I am grateful to Veturisarma for nominating my blog for a Leibster Award.

The Liebster Award  is an award given by bloggers to up-and-coming bloggers with fewer than 200 followers. In German, “Liebster” can mean a variety of things: most beloved, lovely, kind pleasant, valued, cute, endearing, etc.

This is how the award works ...

• Link back to the persons blog who has nominated you and convey thanks for giving the award.
• Answer all questions posted by the nominator.
• Nominate 10 more bloggers whom you feel are deserving of more subscribers; you pass the award on to them.
• Create 10 questions for the nominees.
• Contact the nominees and let them know that they have been nominated for the Liebster Award!

For as long as I can possibly remember (I confess that memory is not an area of my strengths), movies have fascinated me and have remained an enduring passion. I discovered the joy of writing in my higher secondary years and have been penning sundry pieces off and on to school magazines or even essays for several exams I took. When my rookie submission to  The Hindu's Open Page - Mobcasting Menace - was published in 2006, I was enthralled and grew further in confidence about my ability to write. 

Despite venturing into the blogosphere as early as 2008 with my initial post, it was to be followed by a lazy fallow period of five years, when my writing was restricted to drab office correspondence and an occasional report as a sarkari babu. It was during the last year and half or so, when I started putting up Facebook posts to share my thoughts on the movies I had watched, I found that there was quite a bit of positive respsonse for them among my friends. The final push came from my good friend, fellow blogger and someone, I can as well refer to as my blogging mentor - Sakshi Nanda (Click here to follow her much awarded superlative blog !!) who in a way dragged me back to my long abandoned blog. Since then, I have discovered, nay rediscovered, a long forgotten joyous part of me. 

Now, I am at the happy intersection of two of my favourite activities and I find that my joy of watching movies is further accentuated by the idea of sharing my thoughts on them through this blog. A double delight indeed. While it is undeniably true that writing to express oneself is a very personal experience, I believe that it is equally true that writing in public domain like a blog is also an interactive experience where the readers are as much a part of the process as the writer and in their own unique ways contribute to what is written. 

I wish to thank every reader of this blog and I hope that posts in this blog bring the same amount joy to them as I have in writing them.

Now, after that loooooong prelude, I come to the business part of the award and begin by answering the questions posted to me by my nominator. 

1.      Which character from any work of fiction you can identify yourself the most with?

           While each of us are unique in our own ways, one character that I find an immediate resonance with is the character  of Guido played by Benigni in Life is  Beautiful  for its persistent positive outlook even in the grimmest of circumstances.

2.      What is your most favorite movie and why?

        There are so many I thoroughly enjoy that it would be not be possible  to identify any one as the most favourite.  Nevertheless, if you were to insist, I would count (in no particular order) The Dark Knight Trilogy (especially The Dark Knight), Old Boy, Joint Security Area,  To  Kill a Mockingbird, 12  Angry Men, Rashomon, Toy Story series, Kung Fu Panda, Wall  E,  Udaan and  several other movies that I've written about in this blog.

3.      What is your reading frequency?

       It has been coming down steadily. I try to read for about an hour or so every day. 

4.     What is the greatest challenge you face in writing?

      To find time at a stretch is the key challenge. Most times, I do it in bits and pieces in the small lumps of time that I manage to pinch from my schedule. 

5.     What makes you want to read a book? It’s blurb? Review from a person you like? Cover Page? Author’s previous works?

    My familiarity with the author and his previous works as well as recommendations/reviews from trusted sources. 

6.      What are your reading patterns?

     I try to read an hour at least every day before I sleep. I also read whenever I have to wait for something/someone.

7.     How do you fight blogger’s block?

      Haven't come across that yet unless you would count laziness as block. So, can't comment on it yet.

8.     Do you think setting yourself a target works in writing?

       No targets. I watch movies and start jotting thoughts in the blog which I develop as and when I find time.

9.      How important do you think grammar is in writing? Especially in English?

       I strongly believe grammar is very important in writing in any language. It may sound a bit out of date. Nevertheless,  I feel grammar brings a structure which renders the writing readable and aids in clear communication of the ideas as intended by the writer.  

10.  What time of the day is the most conducive for you to write?

       

      Quite literally, any time is a good time as long as I feel like it. 

Next up, I am required to nominate ten other bloggers for the Leibster Award. Here are my nominations (in no particular order).

1. Nivedita Louis - http://cloudninetalks.blogspot.in/
2. Sakshi Nanda - http://sakshinanda.blogspot.in/
3. Sibichen Mathew - http://sibi-cyberdiary.blogspot.in/
4. Vishal Kataria - http://alwaysarocker.blogspot.in/
5. Alex Paul Menon - http://alexmenon.blogspot.in/
6. Manivannan - http://manivannan1972ias.blogspot.in/
7. Rajesh Dangi - http://bangalore-city.blogspot.in/
8. Baby Anandan - http://babyanandan.blogspot.in/
9. Sadhu Narasimha Reddy - http://itcsa.blogspot.in
10. Abhishek Dhingra - http://xpress4life.blogspot.in

Finally, here are my set of ten questions for the nominees.

1. Which recent movie you saw would you recommend to others and why ?
2. Describe your ideal holiday?
3. What do you admire most about yourself ?
4. What quality do you find most attractive in others?
5. What would be the best job/profession for you?
6. A dessert for which you would never say no ?
7. What/Who inspires you to write ?
8. What is the best compliment you've received so far for your writing ?
9. Is democracy overrated ? 
10. A subject/language/skill you would love to learn ?

THE BAND'S VISIT aka BIKUR HA -TIZMORET (HEBREW/ARABIC/ENGLISH) (2007)

The Alexandria Ceremonial Police Orchestra, an Egyptian police orchestra consisting of eight artists, land in Israel to perform at a local Arab Cultural Centre. However, when they land at the Israeli airport in their immaculate blue uniforms, they are befuddled to find that there is no welcoming party/vehicle to receive them in this alien land. The leader of the band is a sullen and taciturn Tewfiq (an excellent Sasson Gabai). Thanks to a mispronunciation, the band lands in a wrong place and is trapped in an isolated small town in the middle of a desert without any further conveyance or communication. As there are no hotels to spend the night, the band is forced to accept the shelter provided by Dina (a radiant Ronit Elkabetz), the owner of a local restaurant and couple of her customers in their respective homes. Tewfiq and the Haled (Saleh Bakri) end up at the home of Dina while the others are provided shelter by her customers. What follows is an interesting study of characters of these unlikely hosts and their reticent guests as they interact ever so reluctantly over the course of the night.

The core of the movie revolves around its three principal protagonists viz. - Sasson Gabai,  Ronit Elkabetz and Saleh Bakri as Tewfiq, Dina and Haled respectively and how they handle their unusual situations over the night. Sasson Gabai owns the character of Tewfiq in its all clammed up exterior, circumspect communication and his constant attempts to manoeuvre through the ambiguity of his awkward situation. Ronit Elkabetz shines through as the assertive and confident Dina who uncovers Tewfiq's rocky exterior with her simmering warmth to find a warm, yet lonely individual weighed down by his pensive past. Saleh Bakri is fluid in his portrayal of Haled as somewhat brash and rebellious member of the band. 

Eran Kolirin, the debutante director, deftly navigates through the narrative of this long night when these hitherto unacquainted persons from alien lands have to interact and traverse. But, are they just strangers from two nations which share a mutual hostility ? In the course of their interactions, both verbal and otherwise, over the night, the movie conveys the elemental human craving for communication and reaching out to other souls, which recognise no man-made barriers. 

Eran Kolirin seems to have a gift of framing his visuals which could communicate and presents the loneliness that permeates the town or the predicament of the characters to the viewer without even a single dialogue. Check out the scene at a local skating rink where Haled helps his young host in connecting to his date or the scene at Dina's home after she returns from a dinner with Tewfiq at a restaurant or the sequence concerning an artist and his unfinished piece of music or even the sequence at the local pay phone where a young man awaits the call from his lover even as a member of the band is trying to make a call.

The Band's Visit is an unusual and rather, intriguing slice-of-life drama that strikes a chord. In the garb of a gentle bittersweet comedy, it presents a subtle, yet profound exploration of the very human emotions of loneliness, melancholy, friendship, love, loss and hope which are commonplace and connect people irrespective of the fact that they may consider one another as alien or even enemies.

The movie won the award under the category of Un Certain Regard (Jury Coup de Coeur) at the Cannes Film Festival in 2007 and has adorned several other film festivals where it was highly appreciated. However, it was rejected as the official nominee from Israel at the Academy Awards under the category of Best Foreign Language movie as more than half of of the dialogues are in English.

A VERY GOOD WATCH !!

P.S. -  You can watch this movie on UTV WORLD MOVIES channel which airs it quite regularly.

GRAVITY (2013)

Mexican director Alfonso Cuarón's Gravity is a spectacular enterprise that AWES us from the very first frame with its sheer brilliance and could well be counted among the defining movie experiences of our lives. If movies are an endeavour in collective dreaming, this is one hell of a dream which would remain with us, the viewers, for a very long time. For the cost of a mere movie ticket, the director transforms the audience into astronauts and transports them to space such that the entire movie hall seems suspended in space for about two hours.

The movie's plot, as such, deals with a catastrophe set in space and its aftermath. First time astronaut Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) and her experienced mission commander Matt Kowalski (George Clooney) are on a space walk mission with their team to repair the Hubble telescope. Disaster strikes when a debris cloud from an exploded Russian satellite  comes hurtling at them. The debris destroys their shuttle, the telescope and also kills the rest of their crew and space-walk team, leaving them adrift and spinning in a very vast and lonely space without any means of communication to their command center on earth at Houston. The rest of the movie is a race against time thriller wherein they need to find each other and escape to the safety of terra firma. Yet, at the very heart of the movie is an engaging and inspiring tale of hope, resilience, courage and grit that defies overwhelming odds (of astronomical magnitude, one may add). 

The brilliance of Cuarón  as a director, is in his intelligent and seamless enmeshing of the scientific spectacle, visual wizardry and a very human tale of hope. He creates a very vivid image of the loneliness and utter helplessness that confronts a human being in what could be one of the most hostile environments to endure and survive. Cuarón creates an immersive experience for the viewer by effortlessly switching the viewer from a third person watching the action from a safe distance to a first person when we look at the happenings through the visor of Bullock. As a result, the helpless free-floating spin of Bullock and her breathlessness when her oxygen levels plunge are very real and palpable experiences for the viewers themselves. Cuarón masterfully combines the skills of his cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki and the visual effects team to present striking visuals with a silken flow as they effortlessly pan out to showcase the breathtaking beauty as well as the unending vastness of the space and zoom in to capture the tense expressions of the leads. There is also a remarkable eye for the detail, be it the careful and measured movements of the astronauts at work or their frenetic efforts to grapple at a hold to stem their free-fall or the floating specks of flame or even the globular drops of tears or other pieces of flotsam, which presents a well detailed and realistic setting. 

For a movie that spans about two hours, Gravity depends almost entirely on, its aptly cast, two Academy Award winner leads - viz. an excellent Sandra Bullock and the suave, smooth talking George Clooney. Sandra Bullock puts in a riveting performance as Dr. Ryan Stone, bringing in just the right amount of vulnerability, melancholy and grit to the part. The significance of her performance is accentuated by the fact that, for the better part of this movie, she is the only human element who anchors the emotional content of this movie and in the process, lifts it from being merely a spectacular sci-fi eye-candy. The silent vastness of space filled with enormous, yet, empty distances between far flung celestial bodies and presenting beauty that is both captivating and foreboding alternatively, is the other major dimension of the movie 

Gravity belongs to a small and rare category of movies that succeed in questioning and extending the hitherto known and accepted horizons of film-making. It is also one of the few movies which capitalises on the scope and depth offered by the IMAX experience to the hilt and is sure to be the front-runner for a clutch of technical categories including cinematography and visual effects at all major award events for the year. 

This is a movie experience that inspires the viewers at several levels and is sure to spark many a young hearts to nurture the dream of donning a space suit. One also hopes that it would also inspire many more film-makers to conceive and conjure many such pioneering movie projects which could navigate the collective dream experiences of the audience to hitherto unexplored newer directions.

A UNIQUE EXPERIENCE ! A MUST WATCH (preferably in IMAX 3D) !!

LORE (GERMAN) (2012)

The lasting scars of war are seldom physical. It is the psyche of human beings - both perpetrators and victims - which are irreparably singed by the sins of war and remain as scars for the rest of their lives. Lore is a movie that dwells on the changes in the psyche of its protagonists, wrought by a wasting war. It is based on The Dark Room, Booker shortlisted novel by Rachel Seiffert.

Lore is set in the final days of the Second World War and presents the aftermath of the war on Germany as seen through the eyes of it's protagonist, a German teenager Lore Dressler (an ethereal Saskia Rosendahl). Lore is the daughter of a senior SS officer and has four siblings - a sister and three brothers, the last being an infant. Both her father and mother are staunch Nazis and Lore herself is brought up with their indoctrination from her parents as well as from the organisation of Hitler Youth, of which she has remained an member.

The film begins in the palatial home of Lore when an apparently normal day is abruptly turned upside down as her father and mother race to flee the impending arrival of the allied forces, torching all evidence of involvement with the evil acts of the Nazi rule. Soon, we see both the parents fleeing the rest of the family, fearing possible arrest and incarceration for their misdeeds under the Nazi regime. Lore is forcibly entrusted with entrusted with the onerous responsibility of shepherding her siblings to the relative safety of their grandmother's home near Hamburg. However, that would involve a gruelling trek through the wilds of the black forest and confronting a variety of challenges including hunger, capture, etc. which test them and threaten them. They are also joined by Thomas, an apparent escapee from a concentration camp who shadows the family continuously. Lore is deeply suspicious of his intentions and is unsure if he is a predator or a protector of the family. She feels utter disgust and contempt for him and attempts repeatedly to keep him away from her siblings. Nevertheless, we do find that Thomas coming to the family's rescue more than once and accompanies them in this ordeal. Lore, however, thanks to her years of indoctrination, is unable to resign herself to the thought that she & her family are forced to find shelter under the wings of Thomas, a Jew, albeit being thankful for the same. 

Besides her quandary about her feelings towards Thomas, she is further perplexed by the all-pervasive hunger, ruin, death and destruction of what she hitherto believed to be a just war. Her carefully constructed belief system of the invincibility and the righteousness of the Fuhrer and his war is blown to smithereens when she is confronted with the facts of large scale genocide that he had presided over.

While the mainstay of the movie is about the journey of Lore with her siblings and Thomas and the several events they confront en route, this movie is essentially a coming-of-age tale of its protagonist, Lore. The journey and the destination merely serve as metaphors for the awakening & maturing of Lore and her siblings on several planes. 

The director, Cate Shortland, has helmed this movie with an assured grace and subtlety of a master auteur. The movie also benefits immensely from an effective background score and brilliant cinematography that has provided an aesthetic, almost lyrical, yet very real visual setting. Saskia Rosendahl, playing the lead role of Lore, has given an excellently restrained performance that connects with the viewers and kindles memories of Jennifer Lawrence. Lore, an Australian-German co-production was the official entry from Australia at the 85th Annual Academy Awards in the category of  Best Foreign Language Film, but did not make it to the shortlist of final nominees. 

Overall, Lore is an excellent movie that offers a unique perspective on war and raises several questions on a multitude of issues such as collective belief systems, state propaganda, etc. which are very relevant for our present days too.

A VERY GOOD WATCH !!

STOKER (2013)

Stoker is the striking English language debut of Korean master auteur Park Chan-wook (Old Boy, Vengeance Trilogy, Joint Security Area). He conjures up a brilliant mystery (not exactly a whodunit) which could as well be his personal ode to the master of suspense, Hitchcock. 

Stoker is the story set in a wealthy Connecticut family living in a huge mansion surrounded by sprawling woods. India Stoker (Mia Wasikowska) is distraught when her beloved father Richard Stoker (Dermot Mulroney), with whom she shared a (perhaps her only) close relationship, dies in a car accident, on her eighteenth birthday. A shocked India and her grieving mother Evelyn (Nicole Kidman), with whom she has a frosty relationship, are joined at the funeral by her Uncle Charlie (Mathew Goode) whose existence she was hitherto unaware of. When the enigmatic Charlie quickly wins over Evelyn with his wit and charms his way into the family's fold, India feels a rising sense of uneasiness and fails to warm upto him. Nevertheless, she also a senses a strange connect with him even as he goes overboard to be caring and protective of them. India also senses a similar sense of discomfort is shared by her caretaker and her visiting aunt Gwendolyn (Jackie Weaver) towards Uncle Charlie. Curiously, both of the caretaker and the aunt  go missing without a trace. Without revealing any further, let me just add that the title of movie refers to more than just the name of the family at the center of all action here. And no, it does not refer to Bram Stoker or Dracula and none of the characters jump to take a bite at other's throats.

Is Uncle Charlie plainly eccentric or is there something even more sinister to him ? Is he actually the globetrotter he claims to be ? Why hasn't he ever made any contact with any of them in all these years till the untimely death of India's father ? Is Evelyn just an emotionally fickle person who merely leans on the shoulder of Charlie for emotional support ? And, what does one make of India herself, with her reticence and compulsive aloofness ? What should one make of her inherently paradoxical connect to her eerie Uncle, her lurking aggression and her acute sensory gifts ? 

The rest of the movie unravels answers to all these questions and more through meticulously mounted frames, rich with details, where Park works on the deepening mystery surrounding the Stoker family. The viewer is made continuously aware that there is more to these characters than what meets the eye and their curiosity is piqued to decipher their actions and motives. 

The three main leads, aptly cast, have played their parts beautifully portraying the necessary level of ambiguity about the characters and are successful in keeping the viewer engrossed and guessing. Mia Wasikowska is first rate as India Stoker packing several layers of nuances under her apparent plain looks. She puts in a riveting performance as the lonesome, serious and introverted teenager who is curious about the mysterious happenings around her as well as within her. Nicole Kidman is convincing as an emotional messed up woman with a chilly relationship with her daughter. Mathew Goode is exceptional as he brings to life a twisted character who oozes charm and eerie menace in equal measure.

While there is no doubt that this a well concocted mystery, it is indeed the atmospherics that Park builds up the tension with each passing frame that make this movie outstanding. He seems an artist working intricately at each of his visuals to create the eerie aura of rising suspense and tension. He is assisted in his task by brilliant cinematography and a potent score - check out the scene at the piano when India is interrupted and later, joined by Charlie. While Park is well known for his stylish, bloody and twisted stories of vengeance, the violence in Stoker, save for a few parts, is confined almost exclusively in the psychological sphere, which makes it all the more effective. It is the mastery of Park that he successfully maintains the aura of unease and nervous expectation of an impending explosive event throughout the course of the movie. 

Stoker works on a subtle level and straddles more than one genre in a manner that is so unique to it's master director. It delves into the dark recesses of the human mind and presents its punches in an unhurried manner even as it keeps the viewers on the edge with each unfolding disturbing twist of event. 

Overall, this is a SUPERB, twisted, gothic and accomplished thriller from a master in his prime that is sure to spook the viewers even as it keeps them glued and guessing. 

 A MUST WATCH !!

THE RELUCTANT FUNDAMENTALIST (2012)

The Reluctant Fundamentalist is the screen adaptation of the Mohsin Hamid's famous novel of same name by Mira Nair. The story beings in Lahore with the abduction of Rainier, an American professor by extremists who demand the release of several hundreds of their brethren from jail as well as a hefty ransom. Bobby Lincoln (Liev Shcreiber), an American journalist working with the CIA, meets Changez (Riz Ahmed), a fellow lecturer at the univeristy at a local Tea House frequented by the students of the university. Bobby feels that Changez is involved with the abductors and intends to persuade him to help in the release of the abducted professor. Changez comes across as slippery and insists on narrating his own story first which is presented in a series of flashbacks.

Changez is from an upper caste family in Lahore. His father is a famous poet (Om Puri) and his mother (Shabana Azmi) is a housewife. He wins a scholarship to Princeton and after his successful studies, is employed by a coveted Wall Street investment banking firm. Changez loves America and is enjoying every minute of living his American dream even as he is swiftly climbing the corporate ladder by his sheer hard work and brilliance. He also has a girlfriend in Erica (Kate Hudson), a photographer who is still grieving her deceased boyfriend. But his dream life unravels and comes crashing down quite literally when the planes strike down the twin towers. Changez finds his adopted homeland through the eyes of an unwanted alien who is seen with suspicion and is humiliated repeatedly by a nation and people who are themselves jolted to their core.

Post 9/11, he finds that the America is a nation transformed and is no longer the most hospitable nation or his adopted home, he was so fond of. While his colleagues do not change their attitude towards him as an individual, he senses a rising sense of anger and hostility in them against his religion and his part of the world. This brings about a profound transformation in his own self. He, quite abruptly, drops his American dream and heads back home to Lahore where he begins working as a lecturer in the university. Even as Bobby finds his patience wearing thin as he feels that every minute lost could endanger the life of the abducted professor, he indulges Changez hoping to find some useful lead that could aid in the release of the professor. The tension is compounded when the students gather to protest against police as well as the local CIA unit which has been listening to the conversation between Bobby (Bobby is carrying a wire) and Changez decides to swoop down on them. The film continues on a tense which is filled with suspense even as the viewer is engrossed in a suspense on what would transpire of the conversation and what would be the fate of the professor, Bobby and Changez as well his students who appear to be poised on the verge of a violent eruption.

There is no doubt that Mira Nair's movie is an engaging political thriller. Yet, at it's heart, it is an observant drama that studies the multiple transformations at various levels through its characters. Perhaps, it is this conflict arising in trying to meld the two genres and Mira's pronounced inclination to lean more to the drama part of it results in the thriller part of it being underwhelming. It is set against the background of the events of 9/11 which has irreversibly transformed the world. While we see the life of our protagonist, Changez, transformed by the changes in his external world, he also transforms within, as a reaction, perhaps more than the world around him. How much does he change ? Does he still love America despite being jilted for no fault of his or is he still smarting on the deep wounds inflicted on his psyche ?

Ahmed gives a measured and mature performance as Changez. Liev Shreiber, Kate Hudson, Keifer Sutherland, Om Puri and Shabana Azmi pitch in as effective, albeit, minor cameos. The movie is technically brilliant with a lively music and brilliant cinematography which captures the earthy and rich hues of Lahore as well as the urgency of the narrative. Nevertheless, there are parts of the movie which are not fully convincing and movie itself could be better paced. The movie engages the viewer and stokes many relevant questions that have captured our collective conscience post 9/11... 

 VERY GOOD WATCH !

THE LUNCHBOX (HINDI) (2013)

Love could well be blind, but, the makers of The Lunchbox convince us that, it sure has an appetite for tasty cuisine. Debutante director Ritesh Batra takes the age old adage "the way to a man's heart is through his stomach" and redefines it in a refreshing romantic recipe.

The Lunch Box is the unconventional, albeit endearing love story that is sure to charm its way effortlessly into the heart of every cinephile. And as with the best of recipes, it depends on minimal, yet dependable, ingredients (read characters), to cook up a delightful dish. 

Irrfan plays Saajan Fernandes, a reticent widower on the verge of retirement after more than three decades of number crunching and pushing files. Nawazuddin Siddiqui plays Shaikh, the effervescent incumbent who is to be the understudy. Nimrat Kaur plays Ila, a young homemaker in a middle class household who is distraught to see her life being slowly shredded in the mororse mechanical existence in a loveless marriage. The magical, yet maddening metro of Mumbai, which - with its overcrowded public spaces filled with lonesome souls and a chaotic bustle tempered by the six sigma precision found in the traditional technology of the dabbawalas - embodies the many of its magnificent ironies, is the other major character in the story. It adds a dimension that provides Batra's story with context and a rich texture that permeates throughout without in any way being intrusive in the narrative.

When, by a stroke of sheer serendipity (literally, one in a million at that), the lunchbox containing Ila's culinary delights aimed to rekindle the romance in her marriage with an indifferent husband, finds its way to the desk of Fernandes, it triggers a journey of these two lonely souls fuelled by gastric juices. 

They begin a communication through simple handwritten notes - him writing in English & she, in Hindi - exchanged through the lunchbox. Hitherto strangers, they confide in each other with such openness in their conversation through these notes and begin to forge a beautiful connection that brightens their individual worlds.  What follows is a poetic and wholesome journey of these two souls as they open up to each other and traverse down a path of unconventional romance even as they rediscover long forgotten shades of themselves. Batra garnishes their romance with several small, yet remarkable characters - be it the unseen chatty aunty who stays on the apartment above Ila's who communicates only with her voice (an excellent Achrekar pricing even an unseen voice could be a very real character) and a basket lowered down to the floor below, her comatose husband represented by the old fan, a young girl who resides in the home across Fernandes' or even the old lady in the train who appears in a singular scene and steals a place in your heart with her toothless grin. 

The performances are top notch which make Batra's characters very real, endearing and close to the viewer's heart. The ever-dependable Irrfan performs with such nuance in a role that speaks very little and that too in measured responses which are free and far apart. Yet, he conveys volumes through his body language and expressions, be it the bored irritation on being accosted by an ebullient Shaikh, the contended smile on smelling the fare in the lunchbox, the surreptitious glances around before reading the note in the lunchbox, the tense anxiety - a mini thriller in itself - with which he awaits the lunchbox after hearing the news of a suicide earlier in the morning or even his attempts to fight the withdrawal from the habitual smoking or even nervously contemplating an upcoming meeting with Ila. This is a masterly performance by one of the best, albeit oft-ignored/under-utilised actors of Indian cinema which deserves all the plaudits and awards that are sure to come his way. 

But, it is newcomer Nimrat Kaur who is the find of this movie as she beautifully complements Irrfan with such an authentic performance as a lonesome housewife who is drawn into an unconventional romance. She is convincing in her portrayal of Ila as someone who enjoys her cooking and puts in a winning performance through her expressive eyes as in the scene when she is waiting in the restaurant. Nawazuddin Siddiqui deserves a special mention for another pitch perfect performance for, with any other lesser performer, his character could have gone over the top or become phony, so easily. It is to his credit that he brings an air if dignity to the cameo of a pesky trainee and he lights up the screen with his ebullience in every frame he appears.

The Lunchbox exemplifies economical film-making at its very best and it  could be seen in every aspect of the movie which is reminiscent of the master director Ramin Bahrani (Man Push Cart, Goodbye Solo, Chop Shop). The background score relies almost entirely on the sounds from the natural setting like the bustle of the city, sounds from the commute or the songs played on the cassette player from the apartment above. The cinematography too captures the banal visuals of everyday existence of a city as they would be seen through the eyes of any common man which accentuates the realistic edge of the narrative and make it so believable for the viewers who are engaged in the unfolding events and feel connected to the characters. The director and the cinematographer show a keen eye which captures several minor nuances of life in Mumbai and weave them seamlessly into the narrative.

"Sometimes even the wrong train can take you to the right destination" is a line we hear more than once in the movie and it encapsulates the entire journey of the movie concisely. The debutante Ritesh Batra has arrived as a much awaited blossom in the garden of Indian cinema  in its centenary year. If hundred years is what it takes to come upon such a perfect directorial debut, I would say the wait was still worth it. Ritesh has dared to debut with a rare and mature movie sans the staple Bollywood cliches, melodrama and song n dance numbers. It is profound, poignant filled with subtle humour that is sure to make the viewer chuckle (mostly of it coming from a brilliant Nawazuddin) and keeps a brisk pace. Now, that his initial offering has whetted the appetite of gourmand cinephiles, one hopes for many more delectable delights and meaningful cinematic journeys in the future. 

A MASTERCLASS  DIRECTORIAL DEBUT ! A MUST WATCH !!

LUCIA (KANNADA) (2013)

My first ever Kannada movie, Lucia, turned out be a veritable delight and an engrossing entertainer. Lucia opens with the following metaphysical verse from the 16th century Kannada philosopher-poet-saint Kanakadasa - 

Are you a creature of illusion? or illusion is your creation?

Are you a part of the body? Or is the body a part of you?

Is space within the house? Or the house within space? 

Or are both space and the house within the seeing eye? 

Is the eye within the mind? Or the mind within the eye? 

Or are both the eye and the mind within you?

Does sweetness lie in sugar, or sugar in sweetness? 

Or do both sweetness and sugar lie in the tongue?

Is the tongue within the mind? Or the mind within the tongue? 

Or are both the tongue and the mind within you?

Does fragrance lie in the flower? Or the flower in fragrance? 

Or do both the flower and fragrance lie in the nostrils? 

I cannot say, O Lord Adikeshava of Kaginele,

O! peerless one, are all things within you alone?

It is followed by another famous quote from the Chinese philosopher Zhuangzi which is as under -

I dreamed I was a butterfly, 

flitting around in the sky; 

then I awoke. 

Now I wonder: 

Am I a man who dreamt of being a butterfly, 

or am I a butterfly dreaming that I am a man?

While the immortal verse of the poet sets the tone and is the underlying thread that runs through the movie which explores themes of reality, virtual world of dreams and their intersection in a unique and intricately constructed plot, it is the the quote from the Chinese philosopher which appears more apt for Lucia's plot line which is set in two parallel tracks for the most part which converge and enmesh into each other towards the finale.

Lucia begins with a heavily bandaged patient surviving in life support after a fall from a high rise which has triggered a media debate on euthanasia. Simultaneously, we see that the police are investigating the cause of his state even as they are trying to round up a gang involved in drug trade with the help of an investigator from Mumbai. 

A swift cut to a flash back shows the protagonist Nikki (Nenasam Satish) as a poor villager in the metro working as an usher in a dilapidated single screen theater run by his benefactor Shankaranna (an excellent Achyuth Kumar). Thanks to Shankaranna's steadfast rule that his theater will only play Kannada movies, he finds himself deep in debt with the theater in a downward spiral of loss with predatory creditors and land sharks circling to gobble up the property. Despite the paltry remuneration he receives, Nikki loves his job at the movies and reveres Shankaranna. However, he is afflicted with insomnia which forces him to wander the streets late at nights. One such night, when he is presented with a magic pill - Lucia - that could cure his insomnia and could also help him in lucid dreaming (hence the name), he accepts it gleefully. On consuming the pill, he enters a self-constructed dream world where he is Nikki, a reigning superstar in Kannada cinema. 

From this point on, the movie traverses the two planes of his real world as well as dreamscape. The people and events from both these planes reflect each other. So, when Nikki, in his dreamscape, falls in love with an aspiring actress Shwetha (Shruthi Hariharan), the theater torchbearer Nikki, falls in love with Shwetha (Shruthi Hariharan) working in  a pizza store. When Shankaranna and Nikki  are threatened by goons to hand over their theater for unpaid debts, in the dreamscape, there are extortionists who demand ransom from Nikki, the superstar and his manager (Achyuth Kumar). What follows is an intriguing set of events that pepper the parallel worlds building upto a collision of these seemingly parallel worlds which results in a surprising finale. 

In this fascinating juxtaposition of fantasy and reality, we find that even as the humble theater usher dreams of having the life of the superstar, the superstar himself, who is lapped up in luxury, dreams of leading a life filled with the struggles of a simpleton. There are also sub-plots in the form of a police investigation concerning a drug gang, Shwetha's futile attempts to make Nikki learn English such that he can work as an usher in a multiplex and Shankaranna's life-long ambition of releasing a Kannada movie he made years ago which found no takers.

Lucia has a complex and layered narrative and succeeds to a great extent in keeping the viewer interested and curious about the unfolding plot. It presents an intricate plot that is imaginative and cleverly inter-weaves the events in the real and dreamscapes so well that soon, the thin line separating the two planes disappears to intrigue the viewer. The plot brilliantly uses the fact of Nikki being colour blind to capture his dreams in in black and white while the real world is captured in colour. The closing sequences of the movie which melds both the parallel worlds is sure to stoke debates in the viewer. In its handling of the realm of dreams and probable dreams within dreams, there are definite streaks of Christoper Nolan (Inception).

Though the movie is billed as a psychological thriller, it also presents a simple romance between Nikki and Shwetha garnished with situational humour besides several sub-plots holding pointers to diverse elements including the crassness of commercial cinema with heavy reliance on item numbers, choppers, contemporary society's craze for everything Western, consumerism, the vanity with English, class differences, euthanasia and the travails of single screen cinemas which are an endangered species in the age of multiplexes. However, trying to cram in several such strands into the plot results to some amount of meandering of the narrative. This remains as a minor blemish, in an otherwise engrossing watch of about 135 minutes of its running time. 

Lucia is a pioneer on many fronts. It is the first ever Kannada (if not, the first South Indian) crowd-funded movie.  In less than a month, the 30-something director of Lucia, Pawan Kumar, could raise about Rs. 50 lakhs from more than 100 contributors through a Facebook page and his blog with an assurance to share the returns with all such contributors. Some 110 names popping up as associate producers as part of the opening credits is a sight to behold and is indeed heartening. It is also the first mainstream Kannada movie released with English subtitles. The story explores vistas hitherto considered the exclusive preserve of movies from Hollywood or some distant shores. Made on a paltry budget of about Rs. 75 lakhs, it stands tall among its well-endowed peers which present their at best prosaic fare as "hatke" entertainers. 

Nenasam Satish emotes well and has showcased a wide range of expressions convincingly. He shares an easy chemistry with the impeccable veteran Achyuth Kumar as well as Shruthi Hariharan who has ably supported him. The movie also greatly benefits from the background score of debutante music director Poornachandra Tejaswi who has also provided a few catchy tunes. Siddhart Nuni, the cinematographer (the movie is supposedly shot on a DSLR) shows his mastery in presenting a polished look for a movie made quite literally on a shoe-string budget.  

Whenever I watch movies like Inception and The Matrix, I, like many other desi fans, have wondered why such themes are never explored by Indian filmmakers. Lucia comes as a sight for sore eyes which have been yearning so long to find desi movies to explore such intriguing themes. It also shatters the multiple myths that nay-sayers propagate that Indian movies are constrained by budgets and our audience do not appreciate such experimental fare.

Lucia premiered in the London Indian Film Festival (LIFF) where it won the Audience Choice Award for the Best Film. With its unique story and a plot that is constructed around the world of movies and theaters, it is, indeed, a fitting tribute in this centenary year of Indian cinema. 

This brave venture of writer-director, Pawan Kumar is sure to win ample accolades of a wider audience of Kannada as well as non-Kannada cinephiles. 

Despite its flaws, Lucia remains a commendable experiment which intelligently engages the viewer and raises several pertinent questions in their mindspace. 

Take a bow, Pawan Kumar. I LOVED IT !! Your efforts are sure to inspire many more such meaningful experiments in Indian cinema.

A MUST WATCH !!