Varun's Word

There are quite a few typical tools in narration. Film-makers accept them, utilise them and move on. But the creators of X-Men movies are a different bunch and the brightest one among these had thought that adopting a “flash-back” within a movie was a redundant narration concept. Thus was born “Prequel”, a new trend in the X-Men franchise. Director Matthew Vaughn could very well be called as the “Screen-Apprentice” to Christopher Nolan. Nolan created a niche for the Batman franchise with his movies “Batman Begins” and “Dark knight”.

Intense is the word for this movie. What carves such depth into Magneto’s (Michael Fassbender) character? Pain, Anger and Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon). Yes you guessed it right, Sebastian Shaw is the torch-bearer of the Mutants movement against Man-kind. Sebastian also has the most special mutation with which he can absorb/ engulf energy and re-transmit it. He envisions the war of worlds so that Mankind perishes leaving the earth to Mutants. In his ambition to identify and train the mutants, Sebastian ends up torturing Magneto so much that he creates his own destroyer. Magneto’s pursuit of Sebastian keeps the movie running. But hang-on, not all the Mutants are anti-mankind. Professor Charles (James McAvoy), a telepath, is a strong believer in peace with humans even when he is facing missiles from human war-ships. Kudos to the screenwriters – Ashley Edward Miller, Zack Stentz, Jane Goldman, Matthew Vaughn for making these three characters so strong and radiating on screen.

Magneto, the clear winner in the race of characters, makes you impatient and fills you with childish enthusiasm, even hours after watching the movie, if you see something made of iron you would stretch your palm in its direction and act as if you want to pull it towards yourself (you would also give out a low painful cry). Such is the intensity that the character leaves in your mind.

Says Professor X to Magneto while they are casually playing chess “Listen to me very carefully my friend, Killing will not bring you peace”. Magneto replies back with a stony expression and still eyes “Peace was never an option!” Divided by ideologies, but united by mutation. Sadly, mutation becomes the cause for their ultimate separation and that’s why we saw them as arch rivals in earlier movies like X-Men, X2, X-Men the final stand.

Watch out for the Hugh Jackman cameo when Professor X and Magneto set out to recruit mutants for the CIA (the crowd just goes all up, even though he doesn’t have those famous side-locks and his claws are normal). Every minute spent in the theater is worth the money!

High on EQ (Emotional and Entertainment Quotient) but low on plot. Get ready for this summer’s roller coaster ride. “Your Highness, watch-out for the Dragon Warrior. He is huge, dangerous, FAT and CUDDLING.” as told by the Wolves army general to Lord Shen (Gary Oldman) the peacock that plays villain.

So when the creators of such a successful venture sit down to write a sequel, where do they begin? Are there any incomplete tales from the original that could be explained in the sequel? How do we strike a balance between the characters in the Original vs. the Sequel ? How not to repeat the gist of the original but keep it as entertaining? Well, Kung Fu Panda 2 does have the answers to all the above questions.

Po (Jack Black) the Dragon Warrior emerges victorious and establishes himself as an iconic figure in the first movie, however his father is a goose and not a Panda. This gives ample scope to build up on the Panda’s roots in the sequel. Where did he come from, who were his parents, why did he get separated? Finally when the script arrives at a point where the Panda realizes that the villain was the cause for his painful separation, well well, you have a “Amithabh Bhachan – Pran” like dishum dishum climax. Did I mention that the plot was weak? Well, if not weak, one could call it redundant !

Now what makes this movie extremely watchable ? Inner Peace. Stealth Mode. Death of Kung Fu. Recovery of Kung Fu. Radish Basket. Kung-fu Panda sized dumpling. Leagues of Justice. Highly decorated and savvy villain who rehearses his dialogues. Acceptance. Daddy Issues. And the list goes on !

Po’s discovery of Inner Peace in this sequel reminds you of his initial journey as the dragon warrior. What starts off as a big joke, becomes intense and world-saving towards the end. One can’t avoid goose bumps, when Po does the Inner Peace stunt correctly. Watch out for the hilarious conversations revolving around Inner Peace between Po and Master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman).

Animation, being the strong point of this venture, amazes us with the attention to detail. Po’s pupil coloration and contraction, Peacock’s feathers, different textures in the goat’s horns, hats-off to you guys! Custom-made (Chinese-kung-fui) back-ground score by Hans Zimmer and John Powell makes the production team all geeky! Jack Black’s timing and sense of humor is not kid’s stuff. People who don’t have a taste for animated movies or those who thought animated movies are just for kids please be prepared to re-think about your stand.

Master Oogway does the Dreamworkz pictures’ fishing stunt! See that’s how you strike a balance between characters in the Original vs. the Sequel. Keep your eyes and more importantly your ears open if you don’t wanna miss the FUN!

–Varun Mannava.

Magical moments Aplenty!

What truly drives Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp would remind me that I missed to address him as Captain)? Is it the treasure itself or is it the DISCOVERY of the treasure that drives him? “I’ll be a Pirate! Savvy, that’s who I’ll be” says Jack before the end-credits begin to roll. He doesn’t just fight, there is a chase sequence added to the fight, where the ground beneath is constantly slipping or moving away! He keeps you at the edge of your seat and at the same time keeps the humor bell ringing!

“Mermaids”, “The Fountain of Youth”, “Black Magic” these are concepts that you don’t hear on the street everyday. Which is why you need to escape to an IMAX screen to experience them in a larger-than-life screen and feel lost. This is what makes the fourth version of the Pirates venture more watchable. Directed by Rob Marshall, this version does not have the un-necessary ship-wars, no dirty looking sailors. Instead the plot focuses on the treasure hunt for the “Fountain of youth” which keeps it ticking.

Keira Knightly gets replaced by Penelope Cruz (Angelica), and boy, what a relief! She does realize her potential and delivers that exactly, nothing more nothing less. She shares a beautiful on-screen chemistry with Depp and since their characters meet up after many years of will-full separation we get to see some “not so genuine” patch-up sequences that evoke genuine humor. Àstrid Berges Frisbey as Syrena the mermaid is a great find and her eyes make you empathize with her emotions as the captured mermaid, who falls in love with a human.

Jack needs to lead pirate Blackbeard (Ian McShane) to the Fountain of Youth, however it seems to be in hot-pursuit by the British Government and the Spanish too! Our “treasure-hunt” is raring to go with these three major contenders. Who finally gets to drink the immortal liquid? Does it really exist or is it just a myth?

Hans Zimmer, the genius that he is, knows where exactly to pound your heart, and where exactly to break your heart! His back-ground score works like an involuntary organ of the human-body, directly under the control of the sub-conscious mind. The Pirates Venture is usually very conscious of the coustumes and extravagant locations. They live up to the tradition even in this sequel.

Magical summer treat is the verdict !

Gone are the days when corrupt and selfish cops used to be the villains on the big screen! Honest cops seem to be a very distant myth both in real and reel life ! Find a corrupt cop, give him some witty one-liners and what you get is 150 minutes of conspirational entertainment! What keeps this movie different and composed from the block-buster Dabaang is that there are no unnecessary commercial elements, no emotional athyachaars and no glamorous actor/actresses.

“Mr.Realistic” Nana Patekar plays the role of Hanumanth Singh, Inspector – Crime Branch, Delhi . Mohit Ahlawat (Sub-Inspector Mohit) plays the role of Nana’s “Shagird” i.e. “Disciple”. Zakir Hussain (Raj Mani Singh), the famous villain of Sarkar, plays the part of the conspiring politician while Anurag Kashyap plays his right hand who gets caught.

Directed by Tighmanshu Dhulia, this movie becomes more interesting during the second half. Tigmanshu who has also co-written the dialogues, delivers a thrilling cat-mouse chase between Hanumanth Singh, Mohit and Raj Mani which keeps the movie on the run. In Indian mythology we have the famous situation between Drona (teacher) and Eklavya (disciple), where the disciple readily accepts to give up his entire learning at his teacher’s request. So would our Shagird, after learning the corrupt skills from the protagonist, would go on to save his teacher from the evil politician?

The “Nana-Factor” can be witnessed in the scenes where he rags his newly joined disciple, where he freely expresses his liking for classic bollywood songs. His dialogues are probably the best ones in bollywood this year and boy he delivers them to a cracking response from the audiences!

Editing and Background score are the major loop-holes that prevent this movie from becoming a classic like “Apharan” or “Gangajal”! Usually back-ground score needs to make-up for the loss of songs in movies, this movie has a score that makes even tele-serials sound better. The thrilling plot gets little help from editing, especially during Mohit’s “love-angle” scenes.

Average is the verdict for this movie that reminds you of “No Country for Old Men” kind of money chase, for Nana’s fans the verdict is one scale higher!

–Varun.

21st century clearly is an era of informed decisions. And with so much to do in so less time, I bring you a time-saver a.k.a 2-in-1 review of the latest Science fiction movies that released this weekend! Just to mention, this is the first time I am trying out such a comparison, and honestly to my knowledge, I had’nt come across a 2-in-1 review in Indian film critics circle. So this may very well be termed as first of its kind (self proclaimed, ha).

Beware “Period-movies” & “Rom-Com movies”, the “Science-Fictions” are back with a bang this vacation season!
The Premise

“Source Code” is a program that allows Captain Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) to take over someone’s body in his or her last eight minutes of life. Stevens learns from Capt. Colleen Goodwin (Vera Farmiga) that he is on a “Save the World” mission and that they need his help in detecting the bomb and also the terrorists who planted the bomb in a train heading to Chicago city. Dr. Rutledge (Jeffrey Wright) invents this program and is incharge of the mission.

“Limitless” is what (Bradley Cooper) Edward Morra’s brain becomes post a drug called NZT bumps into his life. From a writer he goes on to become a super-smart trader and then finally a Senator, all thanks to “Medication”! Lindy (Abbie Cornish) is his lady love, who almost breaks up with him during the Pre-NZT days and comes back to him to stay for good. Carl Van Loon (Robert De Niro) a wall-street giant who hires Eddie, but eventually can’t keep Eddie permanently working under him.

Story is the King!

If “Source code” churns you through the same 8 minutes repetitively which takes a new dimension each time, “Limitless” takes you through hazy drug-side-effects ride, forcing you to connect with the protagonist (full credit goes to the Director Neil Burger)! Infact the realistic and achievable nature of “Limitless” keeps it far ahead in the fiction-race Vs “Source Code”.

Source Code is not time travel, but it transfers a person’s mind into “Alternative Reality” ! Sounds like a challenging Su-Do-Ku puzzle ha? Connecting the dots is not so straight forward, which thrills you the most. However after the movie gets over, you discover more flaws than plus’es ! Like the wandering question of where exactly does this “Alternative Reality” exist? Clearly the director (Duncan Jones) did not know how to end such a promising fiction and it gives you a feeling if the ending was inspired from “The Limbo concept” of the popular 2010 brain-*uck flick “The Inception”

If one accepts the premise that NZT is a brain stimulating drug, “Limitless” takes one through a series of practical instances in which the brain starts enhancing. A simple voluntary/ involuntary dump of information at some point of time in one’s life comes handy and the brain delivers it,should the situation demand. Ok this, the audiences can believe! Also the scenes where Eddies’ memory is skipping due to overdose of the drug gives the script a reality check instead of being all magical! A carefully drafted and intelligent climax also stands as a strong point (Film is based on a Novel “The Dark Fields” by Alan Glynn).

Strong Performances and excellent VFX

Protagonists in both movies connect very well with the audiences. They realize that the precision of narration is on their shoulders, and they deliver! If one is on a mission to save the passengers on-board, the other is always on the run, trying to keep pace with his limitless capabilities. Vera Farmiga and Robert De Niro excel as supporting actors in the respective fictions, creating depth to the respective scripts. “Source Code” has excellent visual effects to cater to the imaginative appetite of the script. Limitless on the other hand does not need too much help from the VFX department.

The Vote clearly goes to Limitless! Both flicks thrill you equally but Limitless clicks where the other fails!

— Varun Mannava.

Movie starts with a mini trailer of RSE (Rohan Sippy Entertainment), that reminds you of the offbeat movies like “Bluffmaster”, “Sholay”, “Taxi 9-2-11”. Dum Maro Dum fails to beat those movies, atleast does not match up to the creativity of the previous RSE block-buster movies.

Apt title, inspiring back-ground score, clear-cut characterization and the fact that the plot deals with pest-control of a social-evil are the sole strengths of the movie. Director Rohan Sippy has taken a cue from his father’s Sholay, where the characterization made the actors larger-than-life. People still remember Gabbar and not the original name of the legendary hindi villain. So will ACP Vishnu Kamath (Abhishek Bachchan) be remembered for long? One needs to wait and watch. However Deepika Padukone’s item number fails to evoke the same response from the crowd as did Helen’s Mehbooba number.

Right from the word go, AB punches the thugs in their faces, the background-score helps elevate the character. Thankfully, the ACP does not have a family through the course of the movie, avoiding the “emotional atyachar” from the villian’s side. In most of the cop movies (even as recent as Dabaang), families become a major weak point for the protagonist and boring for the audiences. Early loss of family turns ACP Vishnu Kamath revengeful against Drug-Mafia, setting the foundation for an action-packed script. Sadly for ACP Vishnu, there are no memorable punch dialogues that the crowd can take back with them.

The first half of the movie exposes the drug-trafficking methodology in the GOAN union territory, introduces the characters, their strengths, their flaws and how they are interconnected. A simple connect-the-dots exercise for the movie viewers.

The second half of the movie is a la “Who is John Galt” pursuit. John Galt is a fictional character in Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged”. Right from page one in this book, there is a mysterious question “Who is John Galt”. Few think of him to be a pirate, a mafia, a shadow, a representative of destruction. Uttering his name would mean death. In Dum Maro Dum, we have the “Who is Michael Barbosa” pursuit. And the discovery of Michael Barbosa thrills you in the same as the discovery of John Galt, though the process of discovery is slow, elongated and at times torturous!

Pratiek Babbar’s expressions remind you of Actor Siddharth’s. So is there a proven theory of Plagiarism in movies/ acting? If yes, then Siddharth could sue Pratiek ! Rana Daggubanti does a neat role. However he needs to spend more time in-front of the mirror, for he may think he is emoting but his thought needs to transcend down to the audiences as well. Other than AB, it is Uber-hot Bipasha Basu and equally hot Mariah Pucu and a witty twist in the end offer you some redemption for your ticket charge. And you get Goan sight-seeing too! Wait for a month and you could catch this movie on Set-Max, as they are raking in good profits from the IPL 4!

— Varun Mannava.

Teen Maar is the struggle of a philanderer and his not-so-recent lover to stay together forever. And why do they feel such bonding? It’s because they feel very light hearted when they are together and don’t need to resort to fake things to impress the other. The leading pair Micky (Pawan Kalyan) and Meera (Trisha Krishnan) live up very well to the above characterization. Superb chemistry!

Pawan Kalyan (minus the Power Star attitude) fits the role even better when he keeps calling himself a pervert philanderer. The mischievous and peppy college-goer in his earlier movies like “Khushi” has matured into a middle aged onscreen Casanova with great ease. His dialogue delivery has always been a strong point, and with Trivikram Srinivas penning the dialgoues it a treat for the ears. Ofcourse only those that understand Telugu ! Trivikram should continue writing instead of directing movies (remember Mahesh Khaleja ?).

Teen Maar is an entertainer, and hence it needs to cater to all classes. There could be some stupid scenes but Pawan carries them off with grace. He has carved a niche for himself which is used aptly by the director. Like the street fight which looks so realistic, the collar-rub gimmick when he gets angry, the “Hey Chiquitha gumostas” line.
Exceptional use of parallel screenplays to move the story forward, like Arjun Palwai (man from the past) predicting how lovers would behave 30 years later and Micky behaving exactly in the same manner ! You are in a tussle whether you like Arjun Palwai (Man of principles) or Michael Velayudham (The Casanova) better? Trisha Krishnan has pulled off this role with commendable ease. Full marks to her.

Telugu Mainstream, mass-puller movie has NEVER seen such adulation. The same could be discounted since (a) Micky stays in Cape Town and (b) Micky’s characterization as a Casanova. As long as they behave well during their visit to India its fine with the censor board.

The movie’s plot revolves on how people fell in love 30 years ago vis-à-vis how people fall in love these days. Light Hearted but definitely not a family watch ! Go watch the movie with your boyfriend / girlfriend.

–Varun Mannava.

Who doesn’t fly when his eyes come in contact with those of a beautiful girl? Apparently our rare species of parrot named “Blu” doesn’t. Even when he comes to know that “Jewel” is the only girl left for him on this planet! But then that’s not because he does not love her or because he sounds like the nerdy Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg has given the voice), it’s because he is a domesticated bird who never had a strong need to fly all his life. Until he met Jewel (Princess Diaries fame Anna Hathaway has given the voice and hence the name Jewel?) !

We have Blu, a Blue Macaw, whose character is inspired by “Alex” the Lion of “Madagascar” movie. They just love being in domesticated environment for the rest of their life. They love their cage and their master. However they are forced into a disturbance which ultimately lands them in a Jungle. And what you know “It’s a Jungle out there!” It’s not only Blu’s characterization that reminds of Madagascar movie, we have the group of tiny monkeys that co-ordinate in a fashion just like the notorious Penguins!

If RIO was a bird watching class, I would have learnt and remembered very well that Parrots are the most intelligent birds. They can mimic alarm clocks and ambulance sirens. They could also perform fancy tricks. All this but not a word on why Blu and Jewel are the last remaining birds of their species. Doesn’t that leave your bird education incomplete? Is it because of Global warming or Excessive bird hunting etc?

Animation captures human imagination in a spectacular way. The degree of perfection in capturing all the emotions of the animated characters and the lip sync is awesome in RIO. But there are few things which look better in their original form, and that would be the exuberance of an event like the Brazil’s Rio Carnival. You just don’t get that excitement watching it in a cartoonic form. Animals talking, Cars expressing their emotions, penguins plotting, cat and mouse fights look great but RIO CARNIVAL ? Just not happening. The carnival does not play an important role in the script too, so the animators could have very well skipped it. But I guess they love challenges, exciting for them, but not so exciting for the viewers. And besides, you need to justify the title too, right?

To quickly run you through the plot of this movie, Blu, a blue macaw is the last male species alive on earth and Jewel is the last female species. The scientist, who insists that the species should continue, succeeds in bringing BLU from Minnesota all the way down to Brazil. But then, the rare bird couple falls prey to bird smugglers. Even though BLU knows how to escape from cages, he cannot fly. So will they get back to their birds sanctuary? Will BLU ever learn to fly?

If I were a kid I would love this movie. If I were a bird lover, I would worship this movie. But if I was looking for some entertainment, I would just watch this movie on HBO.

What’s a back bencher’s wildest answer to address the question of “No-Admission” – create your own college!

Ok, that sounds crazy but possible, what do they do after creating the college? Realize that they do not like books and re-discover their passion and start pursuing it seriously! A movie that reminds you about “Munnabhai” (there it was a fake hospital, here it’s a fake college) and “3-idiots”(walking the unconventional career path), despite fresh thinking lacks a loop-hole free script. The screenplay is flawed in more than one ways too.

Jackky Bhagnani as “Ritesh” does a neat job, however he needs to avoid the blunt close-ups till his facial expressions improve. Pooja Gupta as “Pooja” plays pretty and is happy to share the screen presence along with Jackky. Angad Bedi as “Nanj” and Chandan Roy Sanyal as “Vishnu” complete the group of four friends around whom the story revolves. Arshad Warsi as “Google Chand” and Riteish Deshmukh as Baaji Rao add only a pinch of maturity and reality to the script. Boman Irani is not utilized fully to his potential.

Some scenes, like the ‘examination’ scene, ‘pleading the peon for admission’ scene, evoke genuine laughter. Fakirchand and Lakirchand tickle you too! The best part in the movie is the final song’s composition and choreography. Remo D’souza who is the director of this movie is a dance choreographer too and it definitely comes handy. What is also evident is his inexperience in handling a script like this.

These days when a movie is heavily publicized, one gets suspicious about the entertainment quotient of that movie. FALTU stands up to its hype, though not exceeding it. Today’s party-loving youth are happy to have a new song to shake their leg while on dance floors (Party abhi baaki hai).

‘Watchable-but-don’t-search-for-logic’ is the verdict for this movie.