October

What happens when you are faced with a grave decision of either turning the life support machine off or giving your loved one’s organs a fair chance, to fight it out for themselves?

Every step you take is weighed down by the pressure of a huge block, piling on your already bending back. Life as you know it, becomes slow - And that’s what Shoojit Sircar’s movie October may be – slow, yet beautiful.

Shuili Iyer, played by debutant Banita Sandhu and Dan (Varun Dhawan) are hotel management interns. There is no bond between them initially to write about in the books.

A freak accident finds Dan unexplainably drawn and attached to his bed ridden colleague Shuili, and how a bond with no previous foundation is born, is what October is about.

Varun Dhawan has played eccentric Dan to the hilt. He’s maintained a consistency in his character’s idiosyncrasy and the complexity of a 21 year old, unlike that in Tamasha (In spite of my undying love for Ranbir and Imitiaz) where the character changes as per the demand of the locale and lyrics.

Dan’s aggressive nature set in by boredom and continuously doing the grave yard shift gets him into a lot of trouble. He is that person we all know, who means well, yet can’t please anyone.

While watching the film, at no point did Dan leave me behind in his journey, a superstar never reared his ugly head. That, I think is the most commendable thing any actor can do.

Varun Dhawan, with this performance will prove that while he can climb onchi buildings jab lift teri band hai, he can also hold your hand gently as you patiently wait with him in the hospital room.

When Juhi Chaturvedi the writer of the film was asked "what is so special about Dan?" She said, “If there is something called unconditional love, something called surrender, something called ‘purity of emotions,’ like when you do things knowing that there is nothing you are going to get in return, Dan is the kind of character who will force you to believe in that kind of love.”

Banita Sandhu is a risk taker. Not to choose songs, bikinis, beautiful locals for a debut, but instead, a film with three dialogues, a hospital bed, and prosthetics for a disfigured face, takes guts.  

I believe she’s created enough mystique about herself for people to want to see more of what she’s got. Her stillness and silence speak volumes.

The dry humour in Juhi's writing is situational and the lack of melodrama in any emotional scene, prevents you from falling apart at the seams. This, I think has left many confused. What you feel is a grey space. You feel for the characters, but we’ve been taught that breakdowns are not credible without tears. Gitanjali Rao’s brilliant performance as a confused, loving, grieving mother holds you together. There are no songs, scenes or dialogues reminiscing the good old days, forcing the audience to reflect on the harshness that life has vetted out. It’s all a matter of fact. Shit happens, life steps in it, out of it and then walks on, taking it's stench along. 

The background score is not distracting and Shantanu Moitra’s melody in Theher Ja, has been on a loop in my life for a while.

The one consistent thing written about this film is that, it is mind numbingly slow & pretentious. However, I’d like to point out, the pace picks up every time the scene is not about Shuili or her family but calms back like a receding wave, when it becomes about them. This is the stark difference, between the lives of those directly affected and bystanders – period.

The editor Chandrashekhar Prajapati has done a commendable job editing, letting scenes breathe in silence. Less is more.

But if silence in Udaan and Lootere made you uncomfortably shifty, then I suggest you give this one a miss too and go drink at your local bar instead, there’ll be plenty of action there.

October is true to its tagline – It’s not a love story, it’s a story about love.  

Neerja Bhanot.

I went in to watch Neerja with really low expectations.  It is a story based on true events, we’ve seen many biopics go downhill, it’s directed by a revered name of the advertising world, but so was ‘Hansi to Phasi, it’s got Sonam Kapoor playing the lead of the film, her acting abilities can be summed up in a word.

But this is that one time when I can happily say, I was wrong, and on all accounts.

Neerja is an emotionally exhausting experience, the after math of which leaves you drained even hours later (now that’s a film!)

Neerja Bhanot was the senior flight purser on the ill-fated Pan Am Flight 73 flying from Mumbai to USA, which was hijacked by four armed men on 5 September 1986 at Karachi airport in Pakistan. The aircraft was carrying 361 passengers and 19 crewmembers. After the terrorists boarded the plane, Neerja’s quick thinking alerted the cockpit crew, who evacuated the aircraft through an overhead hatch in the cockpit as per training, so that the aircraft cannot be forcibly flown in the event of a Hijack

The film takes us through the next 17 long hours of incarceration in the lives of the hostages, how the terrorists panicked when their demands were being negotiated, ended up killing hostages in the process, and how through it all, one person with the help of her crew members tried keeping the situation as much under control.

The beauty about the way Ram Madhavan has directed Neerja, is that it is not merely a display of guts of a single person alone. His film could easily have been about the first acting feather in Sonam’s hat or a futile attempt to AIRLIFT shades of patriotism (pun intended), but instead he made this film about the incident  - the hijack.

This film makes you feel for the characters - the grandmother who watched her son die and then sat there for the next 15 hours in-consoled. For the passengers, who didn’t know whose next! For the fellow cabin crew, who even in the face of death continued distributing water/ food to a panic stricken aircraft. One even feels for the terrorists who start belting under pressure & frustration, as their unity weakens realizing they might fail in the very task they’ve been training in.  The irony of the situation – the terrorists feeling that their lives will be wasted in vain, if they cant succeed in their mission of crashing the plane!

Never once do we feel that Sonam is not Neerja. Never once did Ram try and put Neerja up on a hero pedestal. Mithesh Mirchandani’s camera work does not let us forget, even for a minute, what the 389 people on board are going through. The edit just does not allow you to sit back in your seat. 

The drama of the hijack with the parallel story of a mother’s bond with her daughter Neerja, provides little scope for the lump in your throat to move down or a breather for your tear glands. 

The background score supports the mood of the film aptly.

The finishing touch was a masterpiece.

On Neerja’s first death anniversary, her mother, while addressing supporters and survivors of the ill fated flight, remarks “I always taught my daughter to avoid altercations, to walk with her head down, in case of danger look after your safety first. But I had no idea my daughter was so brave… where did she get the courage from, sometimes I wonder, who was she? “

And that’s so true for most parents, who know their children only to be what they’re raising them to be.

Be ready to cry for at least 80 out of the 122 minutes. But I can confidently say that your time spent crying will be well worth it, because very rarely comes a film where EVERY SINGLE ELEMENT from the acting (one particular hijacker deserves the supporting cast award), direction, edit, cinematography, background score, hell even the background artists make you believe the story they’re telling you.  

Some things I read:

1.        Neerja’s dad’s moving piece in1986: “Goodbye Lado, please keep coming…”

2.        One of the children, then aged7, is now a captain for a major airline and has stated that Neerja Bhanot has been his inspiration and he owes every day of his life to her.

3.        Neerja was recognized internationally as "the heroine of the hijack" and is the youngest recipient of the Ashok Chakra Award, India's most prestigious gallantry award for bravery during peace time.

4.        The actors who played theterrorists also came from theater background but to maintain authenticity in their performances, they were kept away from the rest of the cast who played passengers. The first time they saw each other was the time when the terrorists hold a gun on Sonam Kapoor and the passengers' faces

5.        Even though her family feels Sonam resembles Neerja, Neerja’s mother before passing away told Sonam that her daughter Neerja was prettier J

Saiya, Banu Mein Teri Maiya!

It’s a man’s world. Let’s face it.

We can demand equality in jobs, walk streets topless, hold candle marches, but in a deep rooted subliminal cube floating in our existence somewhere, we accept.

I am by no means implying anything that could open doors for a volley of meaningful conversation. I’m simply stating observation from an article on Bollywood couples, that I recently read.

It was about actors that played each other’s love interest and then, blood relations, a few movies apart. Priyanka Chopra and Ranveer Singh will soon be playing a couple in Bajairao and siblings in Dil Dhadakne Do. SRK and Aishwarya have done it too.

But a choice of role I found really interesting - Rakhee played Amitabh’s love interest in Kabhie Kabhie and later his mother in Shakti. The two movies were released 7 years apart.

So 7 yrs later, the Indian audience was still willing to clap and sing along with Mr. Bachchan as he romanced his new muse, but their tolerance level towards the female protagonist had her slotted into the role of a mother (I’m sure one of substance)

Big B also romanced Waheeda Rehman in Adalat, and 7 yrs later played a dutiful son to her in Coolie. With all due respect to Rakhee and Waheeda Rehman, their decision to play mother to a colleague they once romanced, shared equal poster space with, must have born out of circumstantial pressure of an imprudent audience.

A topless Salman Khan will still encourage cat calls, but a Preity Zinta (not topless) does not have it in her anymore. There will be a Pa, a Cheeni Kum, a Bhagban but how many English Vinglish?

Call it balls, call it talent, but hats off to the ladies, for giving a different meaning to the scene while holding the same man to their bosom, merely 7 years apart, one as lover then as a mother!

We still love a trotting Salman, but do we want to hear sweet nothings from Madhuri anymore(“Uhu! Uhhuu!”) We’re proud of the fact that “Aunty police bulalegi par party yuhin chalegi”, but why does Raveena not get Mast Mast? We’d swayed along with SRK when he asked Juhi “Aur Kya” but did anyone want to see her being his “Chamak Challo”?

We fight for rights and then discard them. 

I’d like to see Priyanka play Ranbir’s mom. Haa! There will be more Gunday’s  and other wall décor stuff, until one day a come back will be announced. People wouldn’t have even noticed the absence, cause all along her male contemporaries were in your face romancing a few talented and other look alikes. But always there!

Hasee to Phasee

Hasee to Phasee starring Parineeti Chopra and Siddharth Malhotra, is Vinil Mathews directorial debut into features.

Vinil who is known to have created magic with brands like Cadbury and Airtel , was roped in by Phantom to direct the story written by Harshvardhan Kulkarni.

Nikhil (Sidharth) a struggling business man is in love with Karishma (Adah) who is an aspiring actress (yawn).

Meeta (Parineeti) is Karishma’s estranged sister who ran away from the family and is a bit delirious and addicted to various pills.

To try and weave some sort of a story around the three – Meeta returns back after 7 yrs to attend Karishma’s wedding. Karishma in turn entrusts her sisters responsibility onto Nikhil, she doesn’t want Meeta anywhere close to the family thinking it may ruin the wedding preparations, considering the circumstances under which Meeta last left.

Nikhil starts baby sitting an eccentric Meeta, who keeps oscillating between longing to get one glance of her father and at every other opportunity suggesting that he (Nikhil) should break up with the sister and marry her instead (poker faced)

Thus continues a mindless charade between wedding preparations and baby sitting the sister.

I was honestly looking forward to this movie because the promo’s promised Parineeti in a different avatar, Sidharth in a more than ‘flexing the jaw line’ kind of contribution, but alas, all I kept doing was trying to find a reason to stay cause every movie deserves that much, I feel.  

Their plates did have a different menu to offer, but an inconsistency in the characters and direction, average cinematography and not thought through story line overshadowed the credit they deserved. 

Amar Mangrulkar is the only saving grace in the film.  Zehnaseeb and Ishq Bulaava are two of my favorites from the album.

If anyone figures out the connection between the story and the title, call me!