Let Me Tell You a Story: Kahaani

IMDB | TRAILER

Another movie that dares to center its story around a strong female character, Kahaani was a surprise hit that Indian audiences loved even more than similarly "daring" English Vinglish. 

The female hero, Vidya Bagchi, is played by one of India's most talented actresses of our times, Vidya Balan. The London-based NRI (non-residant-Indian) computer programmer is searching for her husband, who has been missing ever since he went to Kolkata/ Calcutta for an assignment. Advanced in pregnancy, Vidya roams the streets of the crowded city that is busy with preparations for the yearly celebration of the goddess Kaali. Even though she finds a helpful companion in police inspector Rana, - who soon falls for the stubborn beauty - Vidya finds that it's not going to be easy to find her husband: there is no trace of him in the city whatsoever.

 

Surely, Kahaani wouldn't have been the same movie without the strong performance of Vidya Balan, just like English Vinglish couldn't have worked as well as it does with any other actress than Sridevi in the lead. Vidya brings just the right amounts of strength and vulnerability to her character, who seems both lost and determined in the narrow streets of Kolkata. No supporting character or actor stands a proper chance beside her, although Parambrata Chatterjee is sweet in the role of the innocent police inspector. The brilliant character actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui also has a small role that manages to capture the viewer in his short screen time. But what really makes Kahaani stand out, especially among other Indian films of the thriller/ mystery genre, is the well-told story. We don't know more than Vidya does, and the short flashback clip rather confuses than helps solve any of the mysteries. There's also a twist that I dare say nobody ever saw coming, which makes the female hero even more special - but no spoilers at this point. People have praised Kahaani for delivering a surprisingly exact and realistic portrayal of the city of Kolkata itself, which is often depicted in a less coaxing way. The movie doesn't conceal the flaws and the dirt of the city, but it gives a more multisided impression of the city and thus is very far from the so-called "poverty-porn". Indian mythology is cleverly woven into the plot yet there's no patriotism - a welcome exception. This way, Kahaani finds a balance between many extremes that Indian movies like to use and finds a good balance between a suspenseful plot with western inspirations and an Indian "soul". The only drawback is the still rather long running time of two hours - I felt that some parts could've been edited out in order to keep up the pace.

STRAWBERRY

Kahaani is a must-watch for fans of Indian cinema, since it delivers a felicitous mixture of many currently trending elements of the industry. The lack of song-and-dance and the Hollywood-inspired narration may also please an audience outside the Indian film scene. 

This post is part of the "2012 Bollywood Essentials".

The New Language of Indian Cinema: English Vinglish

Essential HINDI Films of 2012

IMDB | TRAILER

The simple yet absolutely wonderful movie of English Vinglish was already the 8th Hindi movie of 2012 I watched, but it's safe to say that this is where my journey in 2012's Hindi movies started for real, as it had been a while since I had seen the disappointing Oscar submisson Barfi! and the awesome double-movie Gangs of Wasseypur. The other 6 movies were mainly unnoticed ones that range anywhere between lime explosion and hybrid. I created a little list of 2012 Hindi movies that I'd describe as being "essential" for the common Bollywood fan/ viewer, and as I climb up the ladder to reach comprehension and up-to-date-ness, I'll update and enlighten you as well, the dear readers of my blog. That is, those who are interested in Indian movies - a topic I've not been writing about as much lately, but that motivated me to actually create a blog in the first place.

English Vinglish is a movie full of surprises, the first one being the actual story. It's the story of a woman. A middle-aged woman. And not only a woman, but a housewife. Bingo. All these three subjects are rarely the center of a Hindi movie and therefore I had been thrilled to watch the movie from the moment I heard about it. Sridevi, a classic star of Indian cinema whom nobody probably had expected to see again in anything but the role of a mother, proves that there's a place for middle-aged heroines too, and that there's an audience that actually wants to see them. Especially when they're as relatable and down-to-earth as her overly sweet and innocent Indian housewife Shashi, who struggles with her English and gets mocked for this by her husband and children. Especially her young daughter, an A+ English student, is ashamed by her mother who seems uneducated and stupidly suburban to her. One day, Shashi discovers an unexpected opportunity to (im)prove her independence, as her niece invites the family to her wedding in NYC. Since Shashi is all free to go, she decides to leave for the preparations a month before the rest of the family, although it takes some time to convince her husband of the idea.
Once arrived in the US, Shashi is met by many an uncomfortable situation, but is also deeply fascinated by the American lifestyle. While her sister is at work and her niece at college, Shashi decides to join a 4-week English course where she meets the helpful (and sexily French) Laurent, who is highly attracted to the intelligent, older-than-him housewife in her dashing sari.

While pairing a middle-aged Bollywood A-star with a fresh-as-a-mango newcomer is a common thing in Hindi movies, the mature "heroine" mostly has to settle with her role as a mother. There were some few exceptions, as in the 2001 classic Dil Chahta Hai, but otherwise it remains a tabu. Not even the slightest possibility of a happy ending, though if you would like to know whether English Vinglish breaks this tabu as well, you'll have to watch the movie yourself. The important thing is that it dares sketch a relationship between to persons from two very different cultures, the woman being older than the man. And perhaps even more important is the fact that this is never an issue in the movie at all - the only thing Shashi worries about is her marriage and her values. So the movie is left with various opportunities to create a sexual tension between the two, which it utilizes often enough - Laurent being French and all.

In this respect,  hope that English Vinglish will open a lot of new doors in Bollywood or even the Indian film industry in general. Doors for female directors (actually most film industries could gain from that, although I'm guilty myself, wanting to become a journalist instead of a director), doors for mature female actors in the lead, doors for new stories and new perspectives. Change is happening already. Many female actors that have been called "newcomers" are already in their late twenties, while 30 has long been the date of expiry date for them. There's only one thing I can say to that: Sridevi sure as hell didn't look expired in this one.

Final Frame: STRAWBERRY

A refreshing movie that explores the boundaries of Hindi cinema in a suprisingly traditional way. Melodramatic as it may be in times, and some stereotypes aside, this is a triumph for the Indian woman.

HAPPY NEW MONTH: Films of January 2013

The first year with four different numbers since 1987 has begun.

And with it, Award-o-mania, which took hold of me as soon as the Oscar nominations were announced. Having seen each film that's nominated for more than 1 of the precious statues, except for the ones that will be coming to our theaters in February, I'm kind of fed up with 2012 movies right now. It was a rewarding experience though, to watch all these films I had been anticipating, and most of them turned out quite all right. I'm also playing with the idea of hosting a little blogathon about award snubs, something I've been wanting to try for a long time now, except I'm a bit of a coward. If you all promise to consider joining I would take it up on Sunday though.

Otherwise I discovered an awesome tv series this month, with the side effect of me not wanting to watch movies anymore until I've finished the series. Furthermore, I just bought an HDMI cable today, so I'll be able to watch the rest of the series on my TV which is so cool! Not so cool for all the films that want to be watched, but whatever. 

At least I did manage to squeeze in a lot of them last month...

WATCHED FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME

Happy New Month: Films of December 2012

2012 is coming to an end, but I still don't have the feeling that it is...

I was just browsing through all the posts I wrote this year... it was definitely a good year. One of the best years ever. A beautiful year with many wonderful journeys, some new friends, a lot of great new art (movies, books etc.). 

And also blogging-wise, I think it was successful. There were of course times when I had to go on hiatus for a while, I even seriously considered closing the blog but then... I just couldn't. This is the only place where I can express myself without boundaries, writing-wise. Well, except for that novel I'm working - yeah, I said it. It was meant to be a secret but then I though I might as well share it with you... I don't know what the outcome is going to be, but I hope to write about two pages everyday from now on. That would mean the novel would be finished in about three months - I guess.

It's funny you know... just when I was thinking of letting go of that pressure to write something "big" (meaning "long(er)"), just waiting for the right feeling to come on a sports game (Murakami) or on the train (Rowling), the idea just came right out of nowhere. 

But enough about that... let's just see what the future will bring, shall we.

And until then, let's talk about movies.

WATCHED FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME

200 Motels (1971) Tony Palmer, Frank Zappa - USA

I really don't wanna know how many drugs went into the production of this movie... but at least now I have a quite exact idea of what it's like to be stoned. Watch it if you want something completely confusing and ridiculous.

5.0

Happy New Month: Films of November 2012

Yes, I'm still here. 

Hope you didn't miss me too much, but it's going to continue almost like this for a while. I'll try and write a little more, but I can't promise anything.

Good news is I'm getting back into my film-watching mood/ mode, which really satisfies me more than I would have thought. So even though I don't write much, I do watch more again.

I'm also in SUPER-CHRISTMAS-MOOD/ MODE!

Here's a song for the christmas mood - can't get it out of my head. Need to see Top Hat really soon.

And a video of the christmas choir I'm in, it's from last week. I think we're getting really good. (It's a danish/ scandinavian tradition that girls sing at christmas, with the white dresses and the lights).

Shabd: To Cherish an Illusion or Not To

India, 2005

Shabd

Directed by Leena Yadav

Written by Leena Yadav, Sutapa Sikdar

★ Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt, Zayed Khan

         

2005, Northern Germany: a little girl lies on her bed, looking through her collection of fashion magazines and listening to her currently favourite song, Khoya Khoya from the movie Shabd. She has been listening to this song for at least the past four weeks, watching the trailers of the movie in an infinite loop, and she can't get any of this out of her head. How perfect this movie seems to her! If only she had the chance to see it somehow, but it's hard for a little girl in Northern Germany to get her hands on a copy of a newly released Indian movie. Especially one that flopped.

Happy New Month: Films of September 2012

The new month starts with an announcement: I will take a break from blogging for a few weeks. 

It's all going great at the time with statistic records, lovely comments and all that jazz. I want to thank you, as always, for joining the discussion of the amazing art of film, for you recommendations, criticism and everything else. My writing, I think, is getting better and better and I have written many things that I'm actually quite proud of. And I'm having fun doing it.

The reason why I want to take a break now, isn't because I want to stop doing what I love - writing - but because I want to do even more of it. I don't want to tell you too much, but I have a little project going on at the time and I would like to devote some more time to it. 

You might now that it's Lime Reviews' 2nd anniversary this month, the 22nd October. Of course I'll celebrate this a little, and update my 100 Favourite Films list some time. But otherwise I'll spend my fall holidays writing about something else than movie - and going to London, which is so great! I have a list of London-based movies I would like to watch, and I've already seen two of them, so at some time I will post something about these movies and my experience. 

Getting back to last month's movie experience: it has been a great month for movies. Especially my Journey to Wes Anderson Land has been a wonderful experience, and the first of its kind to me.

Here's what I've watched...

WATCHED FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME

A Clockwork Orange (1971) Stanley Kubrick - USA/ UK

Happy New Month: Films of August 2012

You guys are simply too awesome!

Ever since March 2012, my stats have been going higher and higher each month, and I am so happy about this. Every new month is truly a Happy New Month, so I want to thank everyone who has been following and reading the ramblings I put out here. Thank you.

As I said in the latest Pensieve post, my life is if not chaotic at least very stuffed at the moment, by which I mean that there are lots of things for me to do. Everything of this is my own choice off course - I want to get an education, a driver's license and so on - and yes, it's more important than blogging. If not, I guess I'd have to get worried about my life.

So there's a bit of cutting down on blogging, I'm satisfied if only I can post once a week next month. But like I know my readers, I'm sure you won't abandon this little blog.

Anyway, what's also more important than blogging about films? Watching films. And I've managed better than I thought to squeeze in a movie here and there, especially a lot of classics...

That's How You Do Tragedy

India, 1957

Pyaasa - प्यासा

 "Thirsty"

Directed by Guru Dutt

Written by Abrar Alvi

★ Guru Dutt, Waheeda Rehman, Mala Sinha

        

Sight & Sound, Time Magazine, Indiatimes and the critics and audience of yesterday and today - Pyaasa enchants everyone. It has been one of my top must-see-films, ranking as high as The Godfather, Fight Club and Kill Bill did in their respective times. So I put myself together and figured that my goal of seeing more (especially Indian) classics fit the fact that youtube has become a great source to watch these for free. (Link for this movie).

What can I say; of course Pyaasa is as fantastic as everyone says. It's the tragic story of the poet Vijay who is first neglected by his family, love and the publishers, and finds his only friends in the prostitute Gulab who adores his poems, and a poor massager. But the tragedy doesn't end here, for of course Vijay and his first love who is now married, meet again, and Vijay detects that there is more cruelty in the world than he would have ever imagined.

Happy New Month: Films of July 2012

It's never too late - I hope the fifth is okay for a monthly recap.

So, school starts again tomorrow after six wonderful weeks that just passed by. I went to a music festival for the first time in my life, went on a roadtrip with a friend for the first time in my life... hey, I even managed to finally see The Avengers!

I didn't care about not seeing many movies, because there are things more important than cinema in my life (by the way, that is my proudest piece of writing ever because I managed to express my inner chaos as close to perfectly as possible). At the same time these six weeks also revitalized my passion for this art - and for ballet too, in case you care - and I can't wait to dive into blogging, watching etc. again, although I'm also going to have to focus on school more this year as this is my 12th year (only two more until graduation, from now on).

Don't worry though, I'll try not to ever fully abandon the blog. There's even a slightly updated layout on its way. 

But firstly, here's what I watched last month - not much, but mostly good or okay stuff.  

Happy New Month: Films of June 2012

I can't go on calling every month legendary, can I?

Honestly, I'm afraid the bubble is going to burst some time... just like with the financial crisis. I'm on my way into a film crisis, am I not?

Whatever, I'll enjoy it as long as it lasts.

So, I watched a lot of films last month. No idea how or why I did it. Well, one reason is that I was trying to compensate for my lack of movie watching during the Roskilde music festival, which I attended at the start of July (who would've thought there'd be a cinema there!). Also, there movie I watch the more I want to see, and I had a lot of free time in the last weeks of school... so I stayed awake late and watched a whole bunch of classics and must-sees. 

I also bought many DVDs on the flee market, for example Ratatouille and Never Let Me Go, so I managed to finally re-watch them. The cherry on top of course was re-watching The Dreamers, an incredibly experience (no, I don't own the DVD yet, sadly). 

By the way, my stats were topped again, thanks to everybody who out of some reason stopped by and read one or two of my posts. I'm not really prolific, so I'm really thankful for the increase in followers and everything, really my heart makes a jump every time I see a new number (except when someone leaves of course). 

I hope you'll take the time and read about the record high of films I watched this month. 

Happy New Month: Films of May 2012

Topping my 36 films from last month wasn't my intention, but I did expect to have time for a little more than ("just") 26 films. I had some time being sick, but I mostly watched Desperate Housewives then...

But still, I managed to watch a few classics and films I've been wanting to watch for a long time. And then some quite bad films too, but that can't be avoided once in a while.

Although this month held another record in blog stats, I want to excuse for not posting the Fabulous Filmic Fashion Friday post the last two (?) Fridays - I've been extremely busy and/ or sick. I hope I'll have the next post ready for next week. 

Other announcements... well, I might not be able to post from the 22.06 - 09.07, but we'll see. I also changed the sidebar and post layout a little, I hope you like it.

Watched for the very first time:

(500) Days of Summer (2009) Marc Webb - USA

Exactly as fresh and entertaining as I had expected, but much funnier. I loved all the small details and the varying cinematography and other experiments, for example the scene that is shown at two different times with two different dialogues. Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levit are a couple made in heaven, and both play their parts very well. 

Rating: 9.2

What makes Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara a perfect summer movie

For the record: I'm perfectly aware of the fact that 1) perfection is subjective, and 2) I don't have a clue what makes a good movie. A film with similar ingredients as Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara might not have worked anywhere near as good, and maybe there are people somewhere in this world, who didn't fall in love head over heels with this film.
But as we continue, I want you to forget all these thoughts and look at Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara from the viewpoint of a summer-craving, adventure-seeking, latinophilic (there's no such word, is there?) fan, and just sense the love...

Success factor #1: Setting

Happy New Month: Films of April 2012

There's no other way to say it - April was epic. Never since I started counting in January 2011, have I seen so many films in one month, and I'm sure I didn't see as many before I started counting.
So that's the first epic thing.
Second one is that I managed to top my blog stats once more, plus I almost reached 60,000 hits on the total count!
And I watched 12 films from the 1001 list, which is pretty cool too, I think.

Last but not least, most of the films that I saw were really good, and I even managed to re-watch a few darlings. But read for yourself...
(And in case you haven't already, check out my updated 100 Favourite Films list).


Watched for the very first time:


A Wednesday! (2008) Neeraj Pandey - India | review
A surprisingly realistic and not religiously motivated film about terrorism with a superb performance by Naseeruddin Shah.
Rating: 8.6


All About Eve (1950) Joseph L. Mankiewicz - USA
I was truly taken aback by the turning point... Otherwise, who wouldn't fall for some old school Hollywood glamour?
Rating: 8.4

Amores Perros (2000) Alejandro González Iñárritu - Mexico
Been waiting to watch this film ever since I first heard of it - this director is starting to become one of my favourites (despite his exotic name). Wanted to write a review, but somehow I couldn't. Anyhow, this could soon make its way into my favourite list.
Rating: 9.4

Against the System

A Wednesday!

India, 2008

Directed and written by Neeraj Pandey

★ Naseeruddin Shah, Anupam Kher, Jimmy Shergill

 The first half of A Wednesday seems like a mixture of the most basic, well-known, mainstream terrorism thriller elements; a police officer receives a call from a stranger telling that he has planted bombs in various places of a big city (Mumbai). The police officer wants a proof, he gets it. The stranger wants some terrorists with muslim names to be released.
And that's where the film gets interesting. I don't want to say much about the plot from that point on, except that this is not your typical Indian terrorism film at all.

Happy New Month: Films of March 2012

I feel this has been an exceptionally good month, film-wise.
Even though I have "only" seen 24 films, most of them have been great, and there were many of them that I had been anticipating for a long time.

This month, I tried out two digital "offers" that I found to be quite helpful:
Renting films on iTunes, which is a great way to watch movies you don't get anywhere else, especially when there's no DVD rental store near you.
And the IMDB "Recommended for you" widget that inspired me to watch Mysterious Skin, An Education and Babel, all of which I loved. This is a helpful widget if you can't decide what to watch, because personally there are probably millions of films on my inner watchlist, and another million of films I should watch but have never heard of. So it's nice to have some (very effective) algorithm decide for me, at least once in a while.

Before I start talking about the films I've seen, there's one announcement I'd like to make: I have compiled a new 100 Favourite Films list, and as soon as I get together all the pictures and words, I'll let you now. There are many new films in it, that's all I want to say.

Here's what I have been watching last month...

Watched for the very first time:


An Education (2009) Lone Scherfig - UK/ USA | review
I don't know if you can say that, but I feel that this film set my mind on fire. I really thought about it for a long time, so I had to write a review on it, and it also served as an inspiration for another coming-up post.
Rating: 8.3 (by the way, you can see my new ratings' icon revealed in the full review)

Babel (2006) Alejandro González Iñárritu - France/ USA/ Mexico
At the time this film was released, it was seemingly everywhere - I remember seeing the ads all the time. But I was 11 then, little did I know about this film and its greatness... From the title to the actors, the cinematography, the screenplay and the settings - everything fit so perfectly, it almost hurt.
Also, this was the first time Mexico in the movies reminded me of the real Mexico. My favourite story was the one that took place in Japan, though - that performance was mind-blowing.
Rating: 8.8

9 Great Bollywood Films You Shouldn't Watch With Outsiders

"Bollywood kitsch revisited by Ritan Chauhan" - image source

It has never been easier to convince friends and acquaintances of the normality and non-kitschy/awkwardness of Hindi films by showing them a contemporary one.
Be it Luck by Chance, Dhoom:2 or Dostana - all of these count as successes for my inner missionary of Bollywood. Personally, I would even prefer many other films over the latter two, films that are more profound, to put it that way. It is important to keep the balance between trash and snobism when introducing your friends to an exotic film industry.

But while my journey through and with Indian films has certainly broadened and improved my cinematic taste, there is another phenomena amongst non-Indian Bollywood-viewers, namely one I don't mention very often.
I'm talking about the side of Bollywood, that is darker than any Anurag Kashyap film you have ever seen... In fact the secret of this darkness is a mixture of bright colours that blind the eye, which is already confused by curtains of glycerin tears, all of this resulting in a never-ending darkness of... greatness.

Believe it or not; the more Bollywood films you see, no matter what quality they are, you will feel yourself more and more accepting and in the end getting closer to the dark side of Bollywood, until finally, it has become a part of you. You may try to shake it off with the help of long Fellini-DVD nights, but there is nothing you can do. Once a member of the club, always a member of the club, that's the only rule.

If however, you feel too ashamed by your little dark secret, there are ways to conceal it. Most of the ways to do this are in fact passive ones, in casual conformance with the motto "Don't ask, don't tell". So don't start a movie blog. And if you have one, don't write posts called "9 Great Bollywood Films You Probably Shouldn't Watch With Outsiders", or anything similar. Everybody will know then, and you don't want that to happen, do you?
Another advice from my side is: don't talk about the films, to any. body. Not your sister, your brother, your parents - even your best friend might be a spy from the commission of officially high-quality motion pictures.

Any unsolved questions? Oh yes, thank you for reminding me: what if the films from the dark side have become such a big part of your life that you loose the ability to distinguish between dark and bright films?
In case you are confronted with this problem, there is little I can do for you. But if you're truly in desperation, this list I just created might be a help for you - these are the worst great films I could think of, and you should never. ever. mention the titles of these films in front of anybody else than yourself or your lawyer. Did you understand me? You look a little pale... Hey, it's for your own safety.
And remember: the higher the film is in the list, the more dangerous is it to mention its name in public.

List of those-who-must-not-be-named-ever-after

9. Kuch Kuch Hota Hai (1998) Karan Johar

Too childish for an adult movie to be taken seriously by people from ages 11+... ahem.

Your official opinion: „I'm so glad these freakin' 90s are finally over.“

8. Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai (2000) Rakesh Roshan

Almost the same as the previous, but even less realistic. And the two halves fit even less (officially).

Your official opinion: „Well, Hrithik had to start at some place.“

7. Josh (2000) Mansoor Khan

A guilty pleasure that many people don't even know... seriously, Romeo and Juliet in Goa? Awe... I mean gruesome!

Your official opinion: „Shah Rukh can't sing, salla.“

6. Mohabbatein (2000) Aditya Chopra

I still hear Amitabh speaking the introduction-speech... this film is just epic. 

This is the essential epic kitsch fiesta. Which can be seen as a negative or positive description.

Your official opinion: „See, nobody of the youngsters got famous. Told'ya, Aditya.“

5. Murder (2004) Anurag Basu

Most people will either be embarrassed or crazy about the first half, but they most probably won't like the second half. I don't care - and by the way, I have no idea why I like this movie either.

Your official opinion: „Disgusting. Hitchcock for poor teenagers.“

4. Yes Boss (1997) Aziz Mirza

The kitschiest and cutest introduction sequence ever. 

I want this movie to become a teddy bear so I can put it in my bed and cuddle up to it whenever I feel sad.

Your official opinion: „No wonder Juhi never got her big breakthrough.“

3. Action Replayy (2010) Vipul Shah

Why was this film not bad again? Oh yes, because it's freaking hilarious.

Believe me, I wanted to hate it. It wasn't my fault.

Your official opinion: „Annoying and far beyond its time.“

2. Tees Maar Khan (2010) Farah Khan

And the same for this one: I practically hated it before seeing it. 

Little did I know about the genius Akshay Kumar.

Your official opinion: „Another slapstick mass production from the hands of Mr. Kumar. Farah Khan disappoints with her second feature film.“

1. Ram Jaane (1995) Rajiv Mehra

This film... Don't watch it. Just don't. 

You still have time to run away - this is something nobody should know nor like.

Damn. WHY did you do this to me?!

Your official opinion: „Do I need to say anything?“

-------------------------

I hope this will serve as a little help for you.

Thoughts on: "Tagore Stories on Film"

Biting the bullet: silent, black-and-white, Bengali.

On occasion of the 150th birthday of the acclaimed literature-nobelprice winner from India, Rabindranath Tagore, the Indian government published a filmset consisting of six films concerning the literary legend. This was done with the help of the National Film Development Corporation. 

There have been many filmatizations of the stories and novels that Tagore has written, but the government and NFDC have selected the following for the compilation:

Khudita Pashan (1960) - Tapan Sinha, Bengali

Teen Kanya (1961) - Satyajit Ray, Bengali

Kabuliwala (1961) - Hemen Gupta, Hindi

Ghare-Baire (1984) - Satyajit Ray, Bengali

Char Adhyay (1997) - Kumar Shahani, Hindi

BONUS DVD:

Natir Puja (1932) - Rabindranath Tagore, Bengali

Rabindranath Tagore (1961) - Satyajit Ray, Bengali

I promised you to write about the filmset by the time I'd be finished watching all seven films, so here I am, talking about three things I thought I would never fully be able to appreciate as much as I wanted:

1. Silent films (Natir Puja)
2. Black-and-white films (Natir Puja, Khudita Pashan, Teen Kanya, Rabindranath Tagore)
3. Bengali films (Natir Puja, Khudita Pashan, Teen Kanya, Rabindranath Tagore, Ghare-Baire)

With the exception of the silent film, which I simply cannot truly adjust to, I've grown fonder of the latter two than I had excepted initially - but what am I rambling; let's start to dive deeper into the subject...

MY THOUGHTS ON THE FILMS

(including a few of those essential trying-to-be-objective remarks)

Happy New Month: Films of February 2012

The first ISHQ-issue containing my articles came out yesterday - my God, I can't believe it! I'm totally excited to finally get to see them in print!

Sorry for starting with something so completely egoistic, but it's very important to me.
Anyway, I went to the cinema to watch Hugo on the last day of the month, and that was actually my fourth visit to the cinemas this month, of which one was a double bill. You can read my first thoughts further down the page.

What else has been happening this month? Well, the Oscars of course... I'm still a bit tired, but never mind - it was worth it.
Most surprisingly, I watched only good films this month, can you believe it? There was indeed no trash whatsoever! The lowest rating I gave a film is 6.4. I also believe I've never seen as many black-and-white films in one month as this time, which is related to the "Tagore in Films"-DVD-Box I got as a christmas present. You can look forward to a whole post on the six (?) films.

Furthermore, you might remember my post on Kate Winslet, where I listed five Kate Winslet films I wanted to watch before I turn 17? Well, as there are only 9 days left, I'm in quite a hurry, but there's only two more to go: Heavenly Creatures and my long-awaited Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. And my expectations for the latter are sky-high, so I prey for not being disappointed. In any case, I'll also do a post on my reactions to the five films by the time I've watched them.

So, let's take a lot at what else I have seen this month...

Different language, same film - or is it?

Read also: Raavan - A Wet Experience (review)

In 2010, Mani Ratnam was the first director to use the Shahrukh-Darr-phenomena* in a filmatization of the holy Ramayana. But why did he make the same film two times?

Raavanan (2010)

Directed by Mani Ratnam | India

Written by Mani Ratnam & Suhasini

★ Aishwarya Rai, Prithviraj, Vikram

     

Mani Ratnam is what you may call an offbeat film maker, whose films sometimes happen to gain commercial success. Hearing the word "offbeat" scares a vast amount of people, which is why they are called the main stream, while others feel interested only when they hear this word.
There is one more group of people however, who think that the word offbeat is a label for many good films, but not a guarantee for that.

I belong to the latter group of people, and maybe that is the reason why Mani Ratnam is one of my favorite directors. His intention seems to be not to make offbeat films, but to make good films that are "difficult" and thought-awakening, and on the other hand comparatively easy to understand and get in to. Ratnam's latest two films, Raavan and Raavanan happen to be a fusion of all these factors. While the first one didn't do that well at neither box-office nor critics, the latter had quite some success and has been praised by many writers. If you remember my review of Raavan, you might now that I - unlike many others - very much liked Ratnam's new interpretation of the Ramayana.

People told me that the Tamil-version was much better, because it had Vikram as the main lead, and already then the thought crossed my mind that: why has Ratnam made two versions of this film, instead of just letting one be dubbed? I was about to find out...