Review: Ehsaas

EHSAAS: The Feeling (2001)

 

Director: Mahesh Manjrekar

Screenplay: Deepak Kulkarni

Plot: Ravi is raising his child himself; his wife is dead. Though he loves his son, he can't really show his love to him - or generally show any feelings to anyone. Every day, his son has to get up early in the morning to practice running, because he has to become the best runner in India. 

Written the 10th of September 2010

I didn't expect a lot from "Ehsaas", just some light entertainment, a movie to watch while doing something else. As a matter of fact, I was surfing in Internet at the beginning and just listening with one ear to the movie (I know, I'm a shame for all movie-geeks!). But still, the movie surprised me right from the start, as it began very quietly, without some kitschy introduction and music etc. It went on like that: Very calm camera setting, not much cutting... Not what I expected from a movie, with the title "Ehsaas - time for feelings". That's a positive thing!

Sunil Shetty happens to be a lot better as an actor, as I thought he was; until then, I had only seen him in movies like "Phir Hera Pheri" or "Dus". Really, the man's got talent. He plays convincingly, let's the audience hate his character in some scenes, but also love him. Also Neha, who I didn't know at all before seeing this movie, filled out her character quite well, a little more energetically than

Sunil, but that fits to the character. Also a big praise to many of the supporting actors, mostly

Kirron Kher! Her soft aura spreads through the movie and the story is somehow held together by her.The children were also good and not annoying.

I normally watch all movies in their original language, but I just felt like watching this one in German. Surprisingly, the movie is provided with an extremely professional and very qualitative dubbing that harmonizes perfectly with everything.

As I already said, it's a very quiet movie, so the songs didn't really stick into my mind, but they're placed well and match the movie.

My only “minus” goes to the showdown (the race) at the end. That was, really, too much of the good, and also very unsentimental. Sadly, the good ol' melodram orchestra is at the end allowed to takes its fiddles and do what it has to do, which is a little annoying, as the movie otherwise was not that "filmi" . It seemed like the producers decided that they actually wanted this movie to be commercial in some ways. It's sad.

But in other ways, this one's a... well; I'd almost call it an "Insider", because I hadn't heard anything about this movie before I saw it.

Rating: 6.2

Thank you for reading,

Mette M. K.

Review: Aisha

AISHA (2010)

 

Director: Rajshree Ojha

Script: Devika Bhagat

Starring: Sonam Kapoor, Abhay Deol, Arunoday Singh, Cyrus Sahukar

Plot: The Indian version of "Emma" is Aisha, a girl of the Indian High Society, who spends most of her time putting her friends together to "perfect" couples. But that can't go well for a long time, especially, when Aisha herself falls in love...

Reviewed the 12th of November 2010

I’ve now seen all film versions of „Emma“(at least, these are the only ones I know); The American version “Clueless” (1995), the British Version “Emma” (1996) and now, finally, the Indian one, “Aisha” (2010). Without being biased as an official Bollywood-Fan (after all, it’s not about the country, but about the quality of the movie!), I must say: India made the best job! “Emma” stuck really almost exactly to the literary template, what wouldn’t necessarily have been that bad, if there hadn’t been miserable camera and those endlessly long scenes. I found “Clueless” a 100 times better, the movie has humour, irony and it contributes something own, modern to the theme. But since the 90s, a lot of things have changed… And off course, in “Clueless”, you kind of have that Hollywood-feeling – which is not a bad thing – but I think that “Aisha” just hits the point better, nowadays. True, the houses are huge and sparkly, too, as is Daddy’s credit card, but the flick is still, somehow, sweet and sensitive… You can identify with the characters, all of them. The camera setting is calm and clear, the pictures colourful and… the clothes are luscious – this is the kind of stylist Bollywood needed! “Aisha” is the third movie with Sonam Kapoor, that I’ve seen, and she gets better each time. In “Saawariya” I found her pesky and talentless, in “Delhi-6” I had doubts about how she would master a bigger role, but now, all my doubts have been blown away. Aisha is the perfects role for Sonam (whose personal style I also like very much), and the team seems to have been perfect for showing her talent. It’s all about choosing the right role. As most people know, Abhay Deol has been on my favourite-list since “Dev D”… Every time I’m surprised, how unimpressive he seems to be, when you first see him. Off course it’s not the hardest cinematic challenge to portray this modern Indian Mr. Knightley, but he makes a good job. I’d even say that it couldn’t have been done any better. All the other characters (which were many) can only get positive commentaries from me. I can’t remember all the new names, but really, all of the actors were good – I also liked the fact, that, though the script doesn’t let much room for describing the side characters, you still have the feeling of knowing them… They do not vanish in the background. I really appreciate seeing so many talented new faces – as you know, the latest trend in Bollywood was pairing the big (old) star with the new (young) newcomer. That was kind of witty in RNBDJ, but now it sucks. They somehow did it right with “Aisha”. Off course, the story is a little unworldly and isolated, but that’s what the main character is like, and subconsciously it’s almost a little ironic (as were all Emma film versions – and the book).

Finally, the movie is perfect for a nice evening with the girls (or even alone). If the movie is good for men, I can’t tell, but who came through “SATC”, will experience “Aisha” as a salvation: No Botox. Okay, I like “SATC”… But honestly: “Aisha” is just as good, and at least not that embarrassing.

And now, please: Pounce on the DVD-shelves (slash, Online-Shops)! (At least all the feminine creatures here).

Rating: 6.6

Thank you for reading, 
Mette M. K.

Review: Delhi-6

DELHI-6 (2009)

Director: Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra

Screenplay: Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, Prasoon Joshi, Kamlesh Pandey

Starring: Abhishek Bachchan, Sonam Kapoor, Waheeda Rehman, Rishi  Kapoor

Plot: The NRI Roshan comes to India (more specific: Delhi) for the first time in his life, together with his grandmother. While everyone in the city is afraid of the "Kaala Bandar", a human large monkey that causes trouble ,Roshan learns a lot about his roots - and falls in love, too...

Reviewed the 12th of August 2010

"Who would voluntarily leave the streets of Delhi?", asks a famous indian poet, and is often citet in "Delhi-6".  At the beginning only by the supporting characters, later also by main character Roshan, as he recognizes his love to the city. It is a love-hate- relationship, that somehow - although on a smaller scale - rubs off on the audience. Even people like me, that have never been to India, or for that matter Delhi, can get a rather realistic view on life in the capital of India. The movie probably shows only a fraction of the different groups of population, but masters it wonderfully by portraying the seemingly stereotypical characters in a more of a "grey-zone" way. In some ways, the film resembles "Rang De Basanti" - it plays in Delhi, shows the problems of young Indians and the political turmoil in India. Nevertheless, there are small aberrations; the political aspect isn't as extreme, as in "RDB", and even though, it in the beginning, Roshan (Abhishek) and Bittu (Sonam Kapoor) seem to be the most important characters, the many (and often older) minor characters are very important for the film, and surprisingly profound, too. Particulary surprising is Divya Dutta, who usually is known for small and rather unimportant roles. Here, she plays a woman from the lowest caste, who has got a lot more in her brain, then some of the more distinguished persons. A similar (but male) character is played by Atul Kulkarni, who also contributes much to the film. Sonam Kapoor is unexpectedly better, than in "Saawariya", after which many (including me) had already almost given up their hope for her. She convinces as a young, rebelling representative of the Indian middle class, who's on the search for her identity and wants to be free, instead of submitting herself to a man. We can be curious, if Sonam will master a bigger role too - however, she's very good in this one. The leading character of the movie is played by Abhishek Bachchan, and there could not be found a better one for this part. Firstly, he speaks with a real American accent, contrarily to many other NRI-mimes. Furthermore, he plays his part calmly and naturally and doesn't steal too much attention from the smaller roles. He's passionate too - after a while, most of the characters recognize, how narrow-minded and oldfashioned they act. 

All of this is accompanied by a wonderfully modern and multifaceted soundtrack from the pen of India's favourite composer, A. R. Rahman. The songs match Delhi perfectly - thoroughly Indian, but also very new and creative. 

With "Delhi-6", Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra succeeds in making a modern portrait of India, a little similar to "Rang De Basanti", but also with many new aspects, that "RDB" didn't come up with. 

Rating: 8.3

Thank you for reading my review,

Mette M. K.

Review: Kites

KITES: THE REMIX (2010)

Director: Anurag Basu

Screenplay: Anurag Basu, Robin Bhatt, Akarsh Khurana

Starring: Hrithik Roshan, Barbara Mori, Kangana Ranaut, Kabir Bedi

Plot: J is an Indian dance teacher in Vegas on his search for wealth. When he meets Gina, a rich girl who's in love with him, all his problems seem to be resolved. He joins Gina to the engagement party of her brother, but when he meets his fiancé, the Mexican woman Natasha, everything changes...

Reviewed 24th of October 2010

Knowing that Kites was released at the same time in both India and North America and shot at several “exotic” locations, I was still somewhat surprised seeing it at a DVD-store on my holiday in México (actually, part of the story takes place there). Naturally, I had no other chance but to buy it – as is would seem to any other fanatic Bollywood-Fan, this “coincidence” seemed to me as a sign of destiny! “Kites” had to be perfect.

Well, I can assure you: It is not. “Kites” does have several flaws. For the better understanding of these flaws, firstly, I need to mention one of the best things about this movie: The idea. Though it is a often warmed-up plot (two poor people on their way to wealth fall in love and forget everything about money), I quite like the idea of the mixed-cultures setting (a Indian man and a Spanish woman in America), which isn’t yet totally common in Bollywood. Add a handsome Hrithik Roshan and the good-looking (+ sympathetic) Barbara Mori, a couple that definitely has some chemistry – and there you have a fun Summer-Movie/ Movie-for-DVD-nights-in-cold-winter! Or: you would. For there are some aspects in the movie, that calm out the fun a little. Firstly, and don’t get me wrong: I do like action, like burning cars etc., but there are sequences, where the violence just goes one bit to far for a Action-Romance movie. Then, some parts of the plot seem a little too unlogical to me: For example, the falling in love just happens too quickly. Investing some more in this part of the plot would certainly have been very healthy for the movie.  There are some more small errors, but all right, I think I can close one eye and just forgive the makers. And… well, maybe I’ll some day be able to forgive Hrithik for his song “Kites In The Sky” (but I need to think about it). No, just kidding, the song wasn’t that bad, and thank you for giving you best, Hrithik – but please stick with dancing in the future! As for dancing: The movie has some great dancing scenes, which also include Kangana Ranaut, who is a great dancer, but her character leaves no room at all for showing her great acting skills. Same for all other supporting actors: None of the side characters are very profound; they are all just decorating objects.

Despite all those flaws, “Kites” is a true Entertainer, a masala-movie with some new ingredients, and it’s not at any time boring.

Rating: 6.6

   

Thank you for reading my review,

Mette M. K.

Review: 3 Idiots

NB: This was my very first post, so read it with caution.


3 IDIOTS (2009)

Director: Rajkumar Hirani

Screenplay: Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Rajkumar Hirani, Abhijat Joshi

Starring: Aamir Khan, Madhavan, Sharman Joshi, Kareena Kapoor, Boman Irani

Reviewed 10th of August 2010

In India, "3 Idiots" became not only the biggest Blockbuster ever - it also succeeded in winning (almost) every major movie award of 2010. At the beginning of the movie I found myself asking a simple question: "Why?". What was it about this movie, that amazed the Indians that much? There was one fact, that, for me, spoke rather against the movie: Aamir Khan is TOO OLD! He does (surprisingly) look more handsome than in RDB... And he plays well, as always. But come on, playing a college student while being 44 years old?! I didn't know, what to think of this. However, the movie is funny - even though some of the jokes seem a little like American Pie to me, a movie I do like, but my amusement is always a little overshaded by guilt: I ask myself - Is this actually funny, or is it just stupid?
Main essence of the movie seems to be: Have fun in your life, do what you want to... or so. I translate this to the fact, that we should just forget some of our moral values for a while, and just enjoy the experience of watching "3 Idiots". This was something I realised, when I already had seen half of the movie: Do not take this movie too seriously - it is not supposed to be. Neither the characters, nor their actions and attitudes, nor the rushing shift between joke and melodrama. (Oh, but I have to say, the actors were fantastic!). You must let yourself be lulled by the overexcited "All Izz Well" or the sweet "Zoobi Doobi", and be amused about Ranju's cute black-and-white house. Because, when I accepted all that, I found "3 Idiots" to be a rather succesfully made movie. Not the best Indian Movie ever, not for me, and it does not at all come anywhere near Avatar - but when the credits rolled over the screen, I was truly satisfied by this movie, and I was happy. And isn't that just, what a good movie should make you feel like?

I think, the Indian comedy is on it's right way! (Please (!!!), no more Phir Hera Pheri or Bhagam Bhag)!

PS: Well, Akshay Kumar can't let it be, can he? Just saw the beginning of "Housefull"... I turned it off, when Malaika wouldn't marry him and the Loser-song came up... Never again will I watch a stupid Akshay-Kumar-Comedy. 

Rating: 9.3

      

Thank you for reading my review

Mette M. K.