Agent Vinod

The thing about watching a movie a few days after its release is, you know what you’re heading towards. So when I took my seat to watch Agent Vinod, even though I wasn’t really expecting novelty, there were moments which left me entertained.

Agent Vinod is a slick three hour roller coaster ride spanning over 11 countries. The story is very simple- One Secret Agent – One mission - to locate and dislodge a bomb so toxic that it could lead to genetic mutation for generations to come.

As the bomb’s fate travels from country to country Agent Vinod takes us along from Afghanistan to Moscow to Russia to Latvia to Somalia to Morocco to Pakistan to ‘I lost track’ to India – its final destination. The story though pretty simple, most time’s has more being crammed in then required. I may not give it points for brain stimulation but I wouldn’t mind giving it points for its slickness and editing. The use of different camera filters and varied background score (an obvious and smart thing to do) lends an interesting flavor to the story which makes one connect to the country on display.

Mr. Agent for his part is looking very smart and absolutely believable as Vinod…Khanna, Amar, Akbar Anthony, Freddy Khambatta or whtever it is that he moods to disguise himself as. The action directed by Peter Heins many times goes from heart in mouth to overboard, but has added the much needed risqué touch to a story which otherwise may have sagged at many ends. Sriram Raghavan as a director needs no introduction. His direction has the same flavor as that of ‘Ek Haseena Thi’ and ‘Jhonny Gaddar’ but one can easily tell that with Agent Vinod, the meal spread just went lavish! The seasoning, a culmination of a big production house, a big director, a big star couple, somewhere, I felt, overpowered the essence called Sriram Raghavan.

Kareena Kapoor, as many feel, has already given her lifetime performance with Jab We Met. Nothing before and after may have been as worthy as raising an eyebrow. Yes, she looks lovely. Yes, their off screen drama makes them appealing onscreen, But if there’s anyone who can give Hrithik Roshan sleepless nights over auditioning for James Bond, I honestly think it would be Chotte Nawab ( I never thought I’d be able to place Hrithik and ANY other actor in the same sentence!)

Apart from the background score, the album itself is quiet interesting. Pritam’s ‘Pyaar ki Pungi’ I think has cracked what ‘twist’ couldn’t put a figure on. Saif ali khan is NOT A DANCER, and yet his hand and feet coordination in this song - so cute that heck! any Babloo, Chaploo or even Pappu can dance saala! It took me a while to accept Saif Pungi bajaoing, but I think he IS what makes it in the first place anyway. 'I’ll do the talking' had me distracted, and this time it wasn’t Saif! 'Dil mera muft ka' claims to be a techno mujra with no grace in the melody or Kareena’s moves. Raabta’s choreography has strong likeness to khoya khoya chand but it’s nice anywho.

So go watch Agent Vinod, Sriram’s contribution to India’s Bourne and Bond, with an unsullied espionage genre phully Hollywood ishtyle!

Kahaani

Kahaani. Have a story and will tell. One film that breaks all norms of budgets, big star casts, foreign locals, unreal sets, designer costumes, and every other cliché that could be associated with film making.

Vidya (Vidya Balan) and her husband Arnab Bagchi are software engineers settled in London. Her husband moves to Kolkatta on an assigned project. Vidya realizes something is amiss when two weeks pass and Arnab, an otherwise conscientious husband has not gotten in touch. There starts the Kahaani of a 7 month pregnant woman her journey in a city known for its literary, artistic and revolutionary heritage, but most importantly - a missing husband.

Straight out of the airport she heads to the police station to file a missing complaint. Inspector Satyoki Rana (Parambrata Chattopadhyay) offers to drive a very tired and pregnant Vidya, to her hotel, Mona Lisa, the same place Arnab stayed at before he went missing. Once there, Rana and Vidya are both perplexed as to why an NRI like Arnab would choose a run down guest house, or the fact that there are no records of a guest named Arnab Bagchi ever having stayed there.
Vidya slowly begins to realize finding her husband will not be an easy task - how do you find someone who the city claims does not exist?

Rana decides to help Vidya out of compassion and together they set out to find- National Data Centre (NDC) the place Arnab was assigned his project at, has no employee records in his name. The school he told Vidya stories about, the neighbourhood he grew up in, has no recollection of a family named Bagchi. There are no flight records of Arnab Bagchi having left London, or landing in Kolkatta on the dates specified.The only lead that may look like a candle of hope is that Arnab’s face resembles an ex- employee of NDC - Milan Damji – who too, by now, has no evidence of existence. Vidya's candle in the wind keeps getting spat over by The Deputy Chief of Intelligence Bureau, Khan, who keeps aggressively ‘suggesting in good faith’ that Vidya should give up searching for her missing husband and forget the name Milan Damji. Every time Vidya and Rana come close to hope, it ends up in the shape of a dead body. As mystery embroils further, Vidya is convinced that things are not what they appear to be, there is a deep connection between Arnab resembling Milan and both men missing. Thoughts of maybe he just deserted her or almost getting pushed in front of a speeding train only strengthens her belief that she’s closing in on finding the truth. A truth nobody wants her to know.

As the story progressed every inch of my muscle got deeply involved in this Kahaani, the anguish of a 7 month pregnant woman, her vulnerability of maybe never finding an answer for her unborn child - whatever did happen to his father? Sujoy Ghosh’s narrative magic and the cinematography for me, was like an out of body experience. I felt it was me in Kolkatta’s body - it’s furious creative energy, it’s streets and by-lanes, the tram rides, the landmark Durga Puja, the graffiti of colors, all of this made Vidya Bagchi’s nightmare alive!

Not for one minute in the two hours of watching the film did I ever sit back distracted, my usual ‘all knowledgeable of movie plots’ self sat puzzled, un-puzzling, all through the popcorn break. Sujoy’s direction, Vidya’s flawless acting (Vidya being Vidya), Rana’s earnestness, L Hamre’s story took away my custom ending to most movie outings, I did not get to smack my hands in pride while exclaiming “aahhh!! Knew it! See rubbish!”

There was however one scene, where in , Vidya breaks down at the thought of life without her husband and child, which I thought did not add anything to the story and its purpose was to largely play to the gallery, but we’ll let that go, cause by then Sujoy and team have already accomplished what they’d set out for.

The music of Kahaani reflects the soul of Kolkotta, switching from being enigmatic, to dark, from being soulful to lingering. It may not fetch a spot in being a collector’s item but the two tracks Shotti bolchi and Ekla chalo re have great potential. Ekla Chalo Re, is originally a Bengali patriotic song written by Rabindranath Tagore in 1905 and has been beautifully rendered in the film by Amitabh Bachchan. This is what it means:

Jodi tor đak shune keu na ashe tôbe êkla chôlo re,
Êkla chôlo, êkla chôlo, êkla chôlo, êkla chôlo re.
Jodi keu kôtha na kôe, ore ore o ôbhaga,
Jodi shôbai thake mukh firaee shôbai kôre bhôe—
Tôbe pôran khule
O tui mukh fuţe tor moner kôtha êkla bôlo re.
Jodi shôbai fire jae, ore ore o ôbhaga,
Jodi gôhon pôthe jabar kale keu fire na chae—
Tôbe pôther kãţa
O tui rôktomakha chôrontôle êkla dôlo re.
Jodi alo na dhôre, ore ore o ôbhaga,
Jodi jhôŗ-badole ãdhar rate duar dêe ghôre—
Tôbe bojranôle
Apon buker pãjor jalie nie êkla jôlo re.

Translation into English by Rabindranath Tagore himself

If they answer not to thy call walk alone,
If they are afraid and cower mutely facing the wall,
O thou unlucky one,
open thy mind and speak out alone.
If they turn away, and desert you when crossing the wilderness,
O thou unlucky one,
trample the thorns under thy tread,
and along the blood-lined track travel alone.
If they do not hold up the light when the night is troubled with storm,
O thou unlucky one,
with the thunder flame of pain ignite thy own heart
and let it burn alone.

The Bengali language, substitutes the syllable “v” for “b”, by doing so it also predicts the future – make room, for BIG B (Bidya Balan) has arrived!