Varun's Word

As a commuter on city roads, you would first notice that the city/ town roads are more regulated. The roads in city have parking lanes, they have no-parking boards, they have red lights, they have green lights, they have street lights, they have pedestrian crossings at every signal. The city roads have speed breakers, the city roads are polluted with smoke and noise. The city roads have no trees.

Cross the city limits, the roads are as free as your blank-mind is. Step out of the city and you’ll see that you rule the roads. You can pee anywhere, stop anywhere for a tea, stop anywhere and sleep off. Take a bath in the open, run around, shout and still no one cares. In Highways you only look forward during nights, you don’t look back because it will be pitch dark. There are no rules. Your true self comes out in no time.

A R Rahman proves why he is the Mozart of the east. Hit the roads with the songs that he has produced for this movie and slap me if you are not moved by the emotions. These are not feel good songs like Dil Chahta Hai title song but it will still disturb you. That’s the dark side of this movie. Patakha Guddi is undoubtedly the best song of the movie, both female version and AR Rahman version.

The only visible flaw I see in this movie is that Randeep Hooda speaks too much in village Hindi or some other language that sounds like Hindi but one is unable to understand the important verses in those dialogues. Watch him cry the only time in the movie, towards the end, if your tear glands are not working at their peak you can go ahead and ask for your refund!!

Oh Man you wait for that frame when you can see a little smile on Randeep Hooda’s face. He was the most understated actor since his debut in Ram Gopal Verma’s D movie where he plays an aspiring professional gangster. He has come a long way since then. This movie could be termed his best performance till date.

Imtiyaz has produced some of the unforgettable movies in modern hindi cinema. He has done his homework very well. “AAOO CHALE” is the slogan on the door of the mini van. It may sound and look like slapstick comedy, but it provides the much needed comic relief in this intense movie.

Alia Bhat who reminds of Jaden smith in expressions and looks (prominent nostrils, semi crescent eyes) has outlived all her performances till date. She excels as the innocent, talkative city girl who realises her true self and her true passion only after she gets abducted and hits the HIGHWAY. Watch her in the scenes where Randeep Hooda breaks down emotionally. Also the scenes where she protests against her parents. The scene where she sits on a rock in the midst of flushing Ganges river in Himachal Pradesh and talks to herself, doubtful if she should smile or cry, is truly unforgettable. Filmfare award for sure for this sweet girl.

Cinematography rocks. Highways are born free in true spirit. That’s what makes them different from the city roads ! You choose if you wanna be restricted like the city ones or be unleashed like the country ones???

—Varun Mannava Gowtham

Hustle in local slang means to earn a living through illicit or unethical means. It is surprising that two movies nominated to Oscars in 2013 were movies on unethical earning. The common American janta is perfectly fine if a fictional movie like American Hustle is based on a con-couple who make their money by cheating the general public at large. However if Marty makes a real life depiction of the Wolf of Wall street they make a lot of noise. How can they like one kind of fraud and not the other ? Maybe because Wolf was a real person. But the movies made on these real people don’t loot your money, instead they give value for your money spent on the movie. Every cent!

Moving away from my obsession on the Wolf, I would write a few lines on American Hustle. The movie portrays the early 60’s – 70’s life in New Jersey where corruption and gangsters play a large role in everyday life. The movie is fast paced in few frames but is painfully slow in some frames too. There is no retiring conman stories of one last and big robbery and then moving on in life. The leading con couple play in the hands of federal agents for a while and then they buy their permanent immunity in the end but ultimately conning the FBI itself ! This scene is worth watching.

It definitely has a gripping storyline and keeps you glued to your seats till the end. But 10 Oscar nominations is a bit too much.

Christian Bale getting nominated for best actor is definitely justified. He plays Irving who even wears a wig to cover his bald head. Amy Adams plays his lady love while Jennifer Lawrence plays his wife. The way he adjusts his spectacles, the way he walks, the way he talks everything works. His dressing sense too. He is not pushing too hard to get the girls but his confidence plays a big role in getting the girls and also getting the money when he is conning around.

Amy Adams looks hot and plays convincingly well. She is a strong contender for the best actress award. What surprises me is that why Jennifer Lawrence is undoubtedly the darling of the academy. Her role is pretty funny and she plays it with ease but that’s not academy award material.

Bradley cooper extends his Hangover performance where he looks lost most of the time. He is the ambitious federal agent who does not mind bad mouthing his boss and even attacking him if he tries to stop his progress. The party scene where he enacts his boss is the funniest.

Overall watch this Hustle if you want a few lessons in conning people. Good job David O Russell you seem to understand the pulse of the Academy awards. Silver linings playbook also got nominated in 2012 but Life of pi took away the best direction award. Maybe the Academy is conning you into this?

–Varun Gowtham Mannava.

I have never faced a situation like this before. Writing a review for a movie was never so tough for me. Words are flowing but I am thinking where to start, what all to capture in a 500 word review. What if I tell you that every frame, every minute, every dialogue uttered in the movie is worth watching, would that be sufficient ? Not according to me but let me start and try to end it short.

Whats the wildest thing that you have done? Ever rubbed off your nose with a 100$ note and threw it in the dustbin? Everybody loves money right. For common people like you and me watching this movie in its un-edited form itself would qualify as the wildest thing you can ever come close to.

If you thought throwing money in the dustbin was the best scene in the movie, you are mistaken. You are in store for countless scenes like that in this movie. The movie starts humbly where Jordan Belfort steps into wall street. The scene where his mentor teaches him how he needs to hunt for money and keep the hunt on is one gem of a scene. Listen to the details.

Another gem of a scene is where Jordan begins selling penny stocks to stupid but hardworking people who have the money but not the brains or expertise on where to invest that money. Dony (Jonah Hill) just quits his job instantly to join Jordan in his hunt. And boy since then there is no stopping this duo.

Jordan gets a sudden sense of conscience on looting hardworking public by selling them penny stocks for zero profit. He does not reform. He only takes a wilder form and unleashes his attack on the 1% of rich Americans. Does he stop there ? No way. He’s just getting comfortable. He goes on with a mind boggling IPO of Steve Madden, the stupid shoe designer. He makes 24 million in 3 hours of the IPO. His staff is mostly down trodden and greedy Americans who feel desperate to make it rich in their lives.

The speech that DiCaprio delivers before Steve Madden IPO will win him the Best Actor at the Oscars 2013. Jonah Hill might be a good competitor for the Best supporting actor. Best Director. Best Editing and Best Adapted Screenplay. 5 in all at Oscars or may be more. But 5 for sure!

The encounter with FBI on Jordan’s private yacht is another master piece. Then comes the speech where he wants to quit the company he founded. But will he quit ? You have to find it out for yourself.

400 words already and I haven’t even started talking about Martin Scorsese, the director of this movie. He has presented this movie in such an unforgettable narrative. You would never forget the sequence of events in the Godfather movie would you ? The events in this movie are so fluent and tailor made that its just not a biography on how Jordan Belfort created and lost his wealth but its a gripping thriller too. Now how many people can pull off a thriller out of a biography ?? Only one and one only. Martin Scorsese. Man this guy pulls off the most complicated scene where Jordan’s wife calls for a divorce immediately after making out with him for one last time.

I can go on and on all night. But I guess you already have a piece of my mind now.

FIVE STARS ON FIVE.

–Varun Mannava Gowtham

Ok. It’s pretty ambitious. Even before I write this review, the movie has already made 150 crores at the rate of 30 crores per day. So is it just in the league of all those stupid movies that made 100 crores just like that ? May be not. This movie has a secret and the secret saves the day for Aamir Khan. He does choose the scripts very carefully and he is all set to deliver.

Since Aamir Khan is the bread winner for the 3rd version of the Dhoom franchise, it would be just to talk more about him rather than the not so important characters that surround him. He keeps getting the lion’s share in the movies that he makes of late. Also when he’s around, viewers cant get enough of him so focusing more on him is justified too. He’s done his homework well. He marvels in his thief acts, circus skills and looking nerdy with gadgets. In all, he robs a particular bank four times. We are not sure how he robbed the first time. But we can presume that after stealing the bank he would have donated all the money to general public just like he does the next 4 times. Its not the money he is after. So how does he get the money for all the hi-fi BMW convertibles is a BIG question. Not to mention how he designs them. He’s just a circus man and circus these days does not make so much money. Nor are we familiar with his geeky background that makes him so proficient with techno devices that can make him fly from a terrace in Chicago. Bond movies franchise moved on from these funky gadgets for God’s sake. I guess I have made my point clear.

If these loopholes in the script were taken care of then Aamir Khan could have retained the crown of ‘Thinking Actor’. Now he has lost this crown. He has joined the league of entertainment movie bandwagon that needs more of Magic over Logic.

Now just because Aamir gets the ultra-slow motion close up stunts, Abhishek and Uday want their deal as well. So we get an auto rickshaw that can break walls and ride on rooftops in Indian slums. This was clearly not required. Grow up guys.

Katty does what she does best – smile and wave, although the strip song could have been avoided, considering the movie would be watched by all family audiences. May be the makers thought they wanna give a bit of Emraan Hashmi feel to the movie.

Welcome back Jackie Shroff, you were given the most logical and sensible role in the movie. You see, you take a loan, you have to repay it. No matter all your magic tricks and no matter if you are in the USA. Their debt ceiling is high but not that high. So killing yourself was the most logical solution.

Watch the movie for its SECRET. Rest all is not thought out so well.

–Varun Mannava Gowtham

Wanna watch a no-nonsense flick ? Head straight to Pizza 2 – The Villa. This has nothing to do with the Italian delicacy Pizza. This is just a Franchise of horror movies. Pizza 1 set the trend for independent horror movies, off beat horror movies, low budget horror movies, high returns horror movies, spine chilling horror movies. This is why the production house and the director went ahead and decided to keep the name as Pizza 2 even though it is no way related to Pizza or the first part. In fact this movie elevates the Pizza franchise of horror movies to stellar levels. Something that Tamil cinema has never witnessed till date.

One tuning fork and a gong can give you so much thrill and fear? Watch this movie to experience what I mean.

The plot is pretty straight forward and focussed. Use of black magic to predict future through artistic forms. There is a French black magic expert who performs an exercise that fills the Villa with negative energy. This makes the residents predict future in artistic forms like poems, paintings, fiction stories. What’s amazing is the freshness in portraying evil. The director Deepan has done his research well. As long as he has not picked this up from some scary Korean horror movie, he has done an amazing job.

Positive Energy and Negative Energy are the two main protagonists of this movie. The explanation that the psychic gives for negative energy is mind blowing. Especially the reason why humans feel the positive vibes in a temple and not anywhere else. And how human hairs play an important role in absorbing positive energy.

With story playing King, the actors are just playing their role aptly. You can cast new comers or existing artists. It does not matter. But what matters is this movie gives the new comers the biggest break in their careers.

There are no scary faces, no blood oozing from skin but yet the movie manages to scare every nerve inside your brain. Where does Tamil cinema go from now is a big question mark. However I would suggest we just enjoy this golden era of Tamil moviedom where small budget and unexpected artists can become superstars just by sticking to logic and not getting attracted to regular formula. Pizza did it, Soodhu Kavvum did it, Moodar Koodam did it. So can Villa!

–Varun Gowtham Mannava.

One thing is sure about this move. You will be amazed at the comic like imagination that Selva Raghavan has. We all know he is the Tragedy King of Tamil Cinema ! But this movie graduates him to the Fantasy specialist.

Look, who would watch Lord of the Rings and claim its illogical ? Similarly the crew has taken enough care to create a Parallel Universe where people live like earthlings, misuse women only as objects of pleasure, celebrate their heroes and hate their villains. Care has been taken on small things from what people wear in this parallel universe to what they eat. In such an universe there is a GOD who craves for a couple to fall in love. Possibly the best scene in the movie is when flowers bloom on the entire planet at the vibes of love for the first time. I mean who can imagine such a world where there is no love and why should flowers bloom at the first instance of love? That’s the magic Selva Raghavan weaves around us!

What happens when the person you are so deeply in love dies. What happens when the person dies in the most un-imaginable yet realistic way ? you will either go mad or commit suicide! In most of the movies this happens at the end of the movie. However in this movie, the protagonist is faced with this gruesome reality at the intermission. It is almost like an extension to Selva Raghavan’s super hit 7G Rainbow colony. When you lose the love of your life in this universe you don’t have to worry. You can look for the same love in another universe. Sounds pretty crazy but we are not looking for crime report here. We are looking for imagination and fiction. This movie satisfies your hunger for fantasy.

Anushka does a tremendous job as Ramya the doctor on Earth and as Varna the wannabe warrior in the parallel universe. Arya has his wooden expressions but manages to be his micschevious self in both the roles. There is freshness in the love story that happens between Arya and Anushka on the earth. There is newness in the story between Arya and his father on the earth. Similarly there is a new angle to the love story between Varna and Arya in the Parallel universe. They both never realise that they are in love till the end of the movie. Thanks to the GOD of the parallel universe, they are in a situation where they realize their crazy love for each other.

In this time of formula movies, Tamil cinema has the guts and the money to create different movies. This may be a bit commercial but you have to appreciate the crew for targeting something that has never been attempted before. Fantasy!

The movie ends with an attempt to a third universe where Arya meets a third version of Anushka in a totally different universe. That’s the beauty of fantasy. There is no need of logic and rationaility. Enjoy the feel and visual effects of LOVE!

–Varun Gowtham Mannava

Alright! This movie is a decade old. And unfortunately I was never aware of this Brazilian jewel! Ayitha Ezhuthu by the genius Mani Ratnam looks strongly inspired from one aspect of this movie. The revolving scene around an accident in Ayitha Ezhuthu movie which was released in 2004 was the USP of the Mani Ratnam flick. But City of God released back in 2002 and it has such a revolving screenplay much more classier that gels more and is more invisible. Trust me Slumdog Millionaire is nothing compared to the expose’ in this movie.

The plot revolves around a bunch of kids who were notorious in the slum called ‘City of God’ in Brazil. These are the places that wont get covered in your places to visit nor a picture of their residents be published on Brazil post card which you can send it to your friends to claim ‘ From Brazil – with Love’! This is reality in its 50 feet depth of crap! These kids grow up to become what they always dreamed of. Girls, drugs, money and power!

Lil’Dice to Lil’Ze : What happens if you get access to a gun at the age of 10 ? You will probably be scared to even touch it. Not the case with the character named Lil’Dice in this movie. He turns a motel into a death rampage just to enjoy the sound of people dying. This was at the age of 10. Imagine what would happen when he turns 18. He changes his name from Lil’Dice to Lil’ze and hunts for power like a merciless creature.

Benny: This merciless creature in Lil’ze manages to find a good friend Benny. His friend Benny is a rational guy. He wants to dress like a playboy and is cool with young boys and girls. He wants to befriend them because its cool to hang out with a big group and also they are his customers. Who ever says they wont mix business with pleasure need to learn from this guy! Benny is my best character in this movie because there is a reformist angle on his side. He listens to his girl and wants to quit all this drugs business and killing for power. He wants to go and work in a farm like a true hippie.

Rocket: Every story needs a protagonist. Rocket is the character who uses his mind rather than trigger. There are several scenarios where he eventually wants to get dragged in the business of crime. However he is never capable of pulling the trigger. Instead he pulls the trigger in a camera. He has a passion for clicking pictures and this lands him in a job with a newspaper.

The opening scene where a chicken pisses in its pants looking at another chicken being be-headed, dressed and roasted is the scene where Brazilian movie universe is shouting out loud to the world saying they have arrived. In terms of Editing, in terms of cinematography, in terms of revolving parallel screenplay, in terms of exposing the drug mafia, in terms of displaying the gore, in terms of capturing gang wars on screen. Brazilian movie had indeed arrived since the movie was nominated for various awards mostly for direction and editing and it did walk away with quite a few awards at BAFTA , Toronto and NewYork critics circle !!

Its funny when Brazil can send such a slick and bold movie to the Academy awards in 2002, India sent DEVDAS in 2002. Nowhere in comparison !!

–Varun Mannava Gowtham.