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 !!

BUENOS AIRES, 1977 aka CHRONICLE OF AN ESCAPE (CRONICA DE UNA FUGA) (SPANISH) (2005)

This Argentinian movie set in the 1970s presents the real life story of four prisoners who manage a successful escape from their military junta captors during the Dirty War era in Argentina. The Dirty War era was a dark and infamous period in the history of Argentina when the right wing military government was responsible for the disappearance of several thousands - some estimates put the number at about 30,000 - of Argentinians on the pretext that they were suspected left wing terrorists.

This movie retells the real life story of Claudio Tamburrini and three of his fellow prisoners who manage to escape from a secret detention center. Claudio is a goalkeeper in a minor league soccer team and is abducted by the military secret police who suspect him to be a leftist terrorist. Their suspicion is merely based on the questionable testimony of another captive and they swoop down on an unsuspecting Claudio at his residence. Before Claudio could even grapple with the happenings, he is whisked away to a desolate detention center in a suburb where he is held as a blindfolded captive for several months along with others without any due process. The captives are put through a daily rigour of sadistic violence and humiliation in the name of interrogation by their captors who tend to play dangerous mindgames with the hapless captives. This movie is based on the autobiographical account by Claudio with further inputs from his fellow escapee Guillermo who leads their audacious escape on a stormy night.

The focus in the movie is on the daily ordeals faced by the captives and the unflinching cruelty of the thugs of the junta who inflict unspeakable horrors on them. The movie has a dark and foreboding tone throughout to provide a realistic edge to the happenings with just tiny flecks of rooted situational humour and the final act of escape is set as a thriller, albeit, sans any heightened drama. However, the movie does not bother acquainting the viewers with the social context to the unfolding events. Perhaps, this is one reason why there is a sense of something amiss while watching the movie. 

Nevertheless, this competently acted movie is successful in presenting a very real account of the chilling, visceral torture meted out to the captives without being overtly gruesome and has a gripping and taut narrative which keeps the viewer tense throughout.

A VERY GOOD WATCH !!

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

MY NEIGHBOUR TOTORO (TONARI NO TOTORO) (JAPANESE) (1988)

My Neighbour Totoro, celebrating silver jubilee of its original release this year, is an animated classic directed Hayao Miyazaki. Popularly considered that the best Japanese animated film, it has found global acclaim over the years and remains one of the best animated family entertainers ever made.

The story begins with Tatsuo Kusakabe, a university Professor shifting into a rickety rural house with his two daughters - Satsuki & Mei - such that they could stay close to the nursing home where their mother is recovering from an illness. Upon settling into their new home, Mei & Satsuki notice some strange happenings, but are not too perturbed and merely approach them with an innocent curiosity of a child. One fine day, little Mei while playing near the home, comes upon an oversized bunny like creature under a giant camphor tree. She finds the cuddly creature to be a friendly spirit refers to it as Totoro. Eventually, Satsuki also meets the creature after her initial skepticism in what turns out to be a wonderful scene when she waits with an umbrella for her dad to return home from work on a rainy night at a bus stop. The rest of the story follows the encounters between Totoro and the two girls set against the imminent arrival of their mother from the nursing home after her treatment.

For most of us who have grown upon a staple of modern digital animated movies churned out by famous Hollywood studios like Pixar or Disney, this is a welcome throwback to those wonderful years of our childhood when we used to be enthralled by animated movies/series such as the Jungle Book, Spiderman, He-Man, etc. Made in the classic style, the colourful creatures and the lush landscapes which are brought to life with great detail and richness in each frame of this movie are an ode to the tireless efforts of the animators who have hand-drawn each frame with oodles of vivid imagination and great passion. 

This movie treads a path that is markedly different from the several norms of the contemporary animated movies from Hollywood which rarely explore outside a set three act mould of story-telling. There are no superheroes, no fearsome creatures, no bad characters, no life-altering choices or challenges and definitely, no underdog aspiring to ace the masters. This movie, despite having creatures/spirits based on fantasy, portrays a natural flow of life  which is close to reality that is unadulterated by the compulsions of creating any onscreen drama. 

Miyazaki keeps the story line childishly simple and does not bother a great deal on the construction of a plot. Nevertheless, he fleshes out his characters with enough personality to engage the viewer - be it a father who is sensitive, patient, tactful and sensible; or the daughters who are caring, understanding, helpful and responsible; or the mother who is warm and confident despite her ailment. Even the minor characters like the granny and her grandson make an impact on the viewer.

The genius of Miyazaki is in the way he seamlessly synthesises the realms of reality with magical charm to present a movie that transports us back to an idyllic world of a joyful childhood filled with innocence, fantasy, mirth and fearless fascination for the unknown. That, in no small measure, explains the overwhelming global success of My Neighbour Totoro which remains an enduring and endearing classic for the whole family to cherish even after two decades of its original release.

A CLASSIC ! A MUST WATCH !!