Aashiqui

How many of you remember this song?

Jungle Book

There is no chance on earth that you must have missed listening to this song in your chaddi and banyan days. At one point of time, this song seemed more popular than the national anthem. I remember that once someone started singing the first line on stage and the whole school turned out to be a chorus as every kid knew the lyrics by-heart.



Even the kids down south could recite it, even though they could not make head or tail of what the hell "Chaddi pehen ke phool khila hai" made. I think the Jungle book was telecast on Sunday mornings at 10 AM and all we neighbourhood kids would start our morning cricket match after this cartoon. Some characters I remember were Bageera, Ka and Sher Khan.

I dont know how many of you know, but Sher Khan was voiced by the amazing Nana Patekar. This was in my humble opinion one of the best dubbed shows to ever appear on DoorDarshan.

Quite pessimistically, life seemed much content and better when we didnt have much choice to make and we were happy with whatever we had. :-)

May Maadham

I dont know if it is the haunting score of ARR or the meaningful and tearful lyrics of Vairamuthu or the heartfelt rendition by SPB, but for sure this is an amazing number. Close your eyes and listen to this song and you will understand what I mean.



Quite coincidentally, this is the month of may...and I am quite feeling the same. :(

Summer oh Summer!!!!! - 1

Almost the entire human fraternity hates summer. The gleaming hot sun above your head, the sweat that trickles every inch of your body, the lack of breeze everywhere...ah....you wish to stay home forever.

Unless.....you are a student or a film buff.

The summer is the period when big blockbusters release all over the world to cash in on the vacation crowd. The students are on vacation and what better idea than to milk their money on some movie. So Hollywood or Bollywood or kollywood, they love to release big budgeted block busters in summer and laugh all the way to bank. Hollywood in particular have their own plethora of Box office releases.

The previous summer was a dud with all 3s like Spiderman3, Pirates3, Shrek3 and Oceans 13 all turning out to be one worse than the other. If not for Bourne Ultimatum, the whole summer was a bloody waste of money. Let us have a look at some of the most anticipated releases this summer.

The Dark Knight

Move over all Super heroes. The Dark Knight is back.

This one is my personal favorite as I have always loved Batman even in the Cartoon versions. And after watching Nolan's serious take in Batman Begins, it makes you feel all the more better. God bless Clooney that he threw away the nipple Batman outfit to dogs. Christopher Nolan is one of the best Directors of the younger lot and definitely the man means no-nonsense. Be it Memento or Insomnia or Batman Begins or Prestige, the young man has showed a panache for serious cinema in commercial format.

The trailer looks all the more promising as it features the hysterical and famous Joker's sinister laughter. The last time Jack Nicholson played Joker, he immortalized it. But this time, it remains in the news for a reason altogether. Inspite of heavy weights as Robin Williams, Adrian Brody, Paul Bettany and Steve Carell expressing their desire to play the ultimate super villain on screen, Heath Ledger pipped them all to play the Joker. Although fans raised their own doubts on the actor's caliber, they seem to have been out to rest once the trailers arrived.

Ledger certainly seemed all business and I wonder if he might over shadow the talented Christian Bale who plays Batman. Unfortunately Ledger would not live to see his moment of glory on the big screen. May his soul rest in peace!!!

Release Date: July 18

Wall-E

The first time I saw the trailer of Wall-e, I certainly had no clue as to what this was about. But then the same logic applies to Ratatouille. The way the guys at Pixar wonderfully translate an idea on screen, makes you wonder if they all are men with two brains. It’s not just the amazing colors shown in animation, but also the emotions they show and evoke. You are made to feel sorry or triumphant for the characters in the films and by the time you remind yourself that you did this all for an animated character, you are out of the theatre. Heck, even live action films fail to do that.



Wall-e is about a Robot who is abandoned on earth by the humans who leave this planet to occupy another one. For almost 700 years Wall-e survives lonely yearning for a soul mate (Its ok. Atleast they emote better than Arnold, Vijay or Sam Anderson). A robot called Eve appears from other planet and Wall-e falls head over heels....ooops....top over tracks for her. What happens next forms the crux of the story.

Definitely being a pixar release, the film is bound to have a bumper opening considering the swarm of family audiences’ queuing up. Expect another Pixar super block buster.

Release Date: June 27

Halla bol - Aur zor se bolo

RajKumar Santoshi is one of the few filmmakers in India who has attempted every possible genre of films (except Horror). He is very versatile and his films in particular action and drama have been iconic.

Halla Bol is again Santoshi's attempt at issue based cinema where he digs the Jessica Lal Murder case on silver screen. So how does he fare here? Well....considering his expertise I should say that he doesnt rise much. The story is based on Superstar Samir Khan (Ajay Devgan who's name here seems to be an amalgamation of the Khans) who is head strong and career driven. He witnesses a murder of a young girl and refuses to co operate. But being the hero, his conscience hurts and what happens next forms the rest of story.

Santoshi takes pot-shots at all stars regarding endorsements, dancing in marraiges, stupid and cliche roles, cast couching and so on. This is not Ajay's best role but yeah better than the listless Cash type films. Vidya Balan is totally wasted. Darshan Jhaariwaala is good but hams at times as the evil politician. Pankaj Kapur shows why he is one the best actors in Indai who can speak with minimal dialoge with maximum impact.

The problem with the film is the hurried ending and lack on conviction. You dont feel much sorry for Ajay as he loses his stardom and status. Nor you feel much anger towards the evil politician. The film has some good scenes as Ajay's monologue during Awards ceremony and Pankaj kapur's outburst against media. But barring these handful points the film dissapoints.

As you watch the movie you realize that this is something that happens without any shame and remorse. People who raise voice against injustice like Amir Khan are called REBELS and every action to intimidate them happens without restraint. How much ever we talk, the end point is that the same useless jokers are voted back to power and do the same shit in the name of god and caste.

Then what is the bloody point calling ourselves a democratic country?

Deewar

I dont know how many more movies would be named as Deewaar, but there will be only one real DEEWAAR and that would be the one made by Yash Chopra. How many ever times I watch this movie and however by heart I know these dialogues, I still anticipate them in the rich baritone of Mr.Bachchan.

Probably this was the golden era of hindi movies when dialogues were powerful and garnered whistles and claps from audience. Salim-Javed will remain probably the best scriptwriting duo of Indian cinema. Till date these scenes and dialogues from Deewaar have been spoofed numerous times and it lingers into public memory as fresh as ever.

I hope no one dares to remake and kill this movie :(

Contradiction

"Probably Katradhu Tamizh is the most understood or most misunderstood movie of 2007" read a review somewhere. I cant summarize it more better.

Ask anyone who has seen this movie about their opinion and it would weigh on the 2 opposite spectrums of "too good" or "too boring". You may not find anyone remark that it is an average movie because of the subject and the treatment. Agreed that the film does have its share of controversies regarding the portrayal of s/w enggs, call center employees and characterization of Tamil literature read Prabhakar as Lunatic, but inspite of all this what stands out is that at the heart the movie remains a love story.

Jeeva was simply mind blowing in a role that no other young actor would even dare to touch. The new heroine was a refreshing change from the regular duet accompanying and running-around- the-trees chick. The camera and editing were in perfect sync. And yeah...the music. Yuvan is someone who can get really touchy if the director is able to extract work from him and here he does the same. Watch out for this song which is one of the rare melodies in recent times in a haunting Ilayaraja's voice.



Try to watch this movie if possible and you will know what I am talking about.