Varun's Word

Amid Telangana Bandh and Holiday crowd, I was lucky to have got a ticket for the Morning show.

 

As soon as the movie starts, you get the Dil Chahta Hai feeling. Two friends meet after many years and they cant wait to meet their third friend, who is the most interesting and thought provoking.

 

The movie definitiely has fresh vibes and takes the audience through the experience of IIT (renamed in the movie as ICE). One’s got to do what one desires and not something that is forced upon them by teachers or parents. This is demonstrated very well and at times quoting examples of student suicides.

 

The story also holds a suspense and everything falls in place logically in the end, thanks to Mr. Perfectionist.

Kareena looks fresh and does a neat job.

 

There are two characters whose ideologies clash from the start till end ( a la Munnabhai ), Aamir Khan vs. Bomman Irani, the latter realizing his mistake in the end. Colleges should be the centers of Innovation and not factories that produce future Labourers. One could say Aamirs character as an extension of Nikhumbh in Taare Zameen Par.

 

The humour is fresh and tickles your funny bones. All izz well except for one, Aamir Khan, Sharman Joshi and Madhavan definitely dont look like COLLEGE students 🙂

 Where are they selling Chetan Bhagat’s Five Point Someone.. after watching the movie, I feel like reading this book 🙂

 

 –Varun.

 

"Starts with a scene similar to Dhoom 2" would be a deccan chronicle way of putting things across. Ha !

 

The starting scene deifintely sets the pace for the movie, high adrenalin rush sequence with believable stunts involving the Vin Diesel and gang. What follows post the opening scene is a running chase sequence where our FBI undercover protagonist is chasing a tipper who would lead him to a bigger drug trafficking group. Post – Casino Royale any chase sequence in any movie would remind us of the James bond chase for sure, re-affirming the fact that the former is more excitiing.

 

The car racing sequences are set in unclosed streets as seen in Tokyo drift, however the tunnel racing stuff is much different.

 

Plot is as usual. Ratiing would be between 2.5 to 3 on 5.

 

–Varun.

Now who (Indian) would appreciate the theme of a movie which explicitly shows a section of people cannot survive unless they cheat / rob. The "Have nots" robbing the "Haves". I would only accept the reality (with my head bowing down in shame).

 

Of course people love the Robin-hood type of stories, but this one though is much of a struggle for existence where people have no time for ethics / moral values. All they need is money to survive. The protagonist, however, finds the path of hardwork and honesty as much preferrable after a certain age in his life. This is one admirable and the only saving face in regard with the theme appealing to the INDIAN Audience. The rest of the movie does not appeal or strike a chord or inspire since the movie is more of a revelation of Inidian poverty to the world’s eyes. Inspiring movies like Lagaan a far better in terms of theme.

 

In terms of depicting reality, this movie has truly international standards. Its not something new to the Indian audience, as there have been a lot of hollywood movies depicting reality-bites. Not sure why this craze in India for this movie.

 

I would say except for the background score, I woud forget the rest of the movie for good as the ultimate victory is also not too satisfying / inspiring.

 

I would rate it a 2.5 on a 5 scale for the technical capabilities of the movie. Definitely not the most awaited movie of the decade. Sorry Anil Kapoor !

 

–Varun.

Since I have grown up watching the Tamil version of Ghajini .. that was released in or around 2005, I would like to focus on the difference between Hindi and Tamil versions of Ghajini.

 

Aamir Khan – known to be a perfectionist, has indeed proved the claim in more than one instances, which has made the difference for the Hindi version and has placed it on par with any Hollywood Action – thriller movie.

 

Sanjay (Aamir Khan) the protagonist, suffers with Retrograde Amnesia, (short term memory loss) due to an incident which injures him but kills his love interest Kalpana (Asin). The incident not only is the reason for Aamir’s memory loss but also the fuel for the plot and the Revenge.

A determined Sanjay (dressed like Jason Bourne) overcomes his memory defect in order to avenge the loss of Kalpana. This is where Perfectionist Khan comes into foray.

 

From labelling the draws as "Camera" ; "Gun" ; which he would need to store and retrieve every day, to what the protagonist does when he wakes up into emptiness every morning and how he regains the incident which played spoil sport in this perfectly happy life ! This was missing in the Tamil version. Rest fall in place perfectly in sync with the Tamil version, however I thought that the Background score for the Tamil version was better ! Modifying the Climax also proved a plus to the Hindi version. "Guzarish" is already a hit with the audiences, who cheer, whenever they hear this tune in due-course of the movie. "Kaise mujhe Tum mil gayi" is also appealing to the emotional content of the plot.

 

Who is Ghajini .. Find him… Kill him .. goes like KILL BILL where ‘Ghajini’ is the name of the Villain. Hail Aamir and his crave for perfection. The movie is now Perfect !

Guess almost after3 years since the first version of the Madagascar movies released, the sequel, promises to be as good as the Original.

 

The sequel being upto my expectations, add to that IMAX movie experience, made my weekend.

 

The film opens with the usual Dreamworks trailer boy, fishing, sitting on the Crescent moon, when the captian of Penguin-Fly beats the boy up and the foursome penguins takeover the boys’ fishing stick and get a big catch too.

 

Alex is this cute little cub, growing up in the care of his father ZUBA, the Alpha Lion. Alex by birth is more interested in Dance moves than hunting lessons. Alex gets lost from his home, Africa, due to the inhuman hunters, and reaches the New York ZOO where he becomes famous almost instantly because of his dance moves.

 

Then we get to see that Alex(Lion), Marty (Zebra), Gloria (Hippo) and Melman (Giraffe) are all set to leave to New York from Madagascar, thanks to the Penguin geniuses who get a flight ready. The four main characters come out singing "I like to move it .. move it" one of the best introductions in Animation movies.

 

They unexpectedly land in Africa, which is the ancestral home of all the four lead characters, how they find out that though they are different from the others, they still have to prove their uniqueness, which they ultimately do.

 

The best scenes to watch out for are

"King Julien’s explanation on Sacrifice to Volcano gods, and once they are satisfied, how they will create rain !",

"The Penguins hijacking safari jeeps"

"King Julien explaining Melman (Giraffe) on how to propose to his love interest"

 

Finally when you come out, satisfied, King Julien and the four penguins leave an everlasting impression. Hail King Julien and then King Alex

 

–Varun.