::more than somewhat::

Now I’m not much of a movie-goer, but in the past two weeks, with a few days off in hand, I decided I’d catch up with all the movies people have been extolling the virtues of.

I’m shocked at the number I’ve managed to see.

Ghajini
Fashion
Aamir
Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Dostana
Jodha Akbar
A Wednesday
Oye Lucky Lucky Oye
Sorry Bhai
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Slumdog Millionare
Dasvidanya
Meera
Maharathi

Special thanks to Ruchi Jaiswal for her movie recommendations!

Ghajini: Aamir Khan looks absolutely lethal with his tattoos, weird hairdo and the famous eight-pack abs. Come to think of it, he looks a bit like a human nuclear reactor. The movie definitely gripped me, but after a bit I think it began to throttle me altogether.

The plot, apparently lifted from a Tamil movie in turn lifted from Mememto,is that an eligible businessman and a mischievous overly-cheerful good-hearted young girl fall in love. Just when everything is happening for them, the girl gets involved in rescuing a bunch of women from a gang of traffickers. Nasty bunch of guys. They hack her up with a huge iron rod and try the same with Aamir, who survives to live another day. However, he now has 15-minute amnesia sessions.  Regardless, he wants to kill all his dead fiancee’s killers. Violence and confusion ensues.

The girlie, Asin,was amusing but sometimes annoyingly perky. She definitely made me feel like reaching out for the fly-swatter on more than one occasion. There were a pile of most unnecessary songs. They did nothing for me. I also can’t believe they’re AR Rahman; he’s surely losing it. But hey, just where did they get those thugs! They’re ugly brutes and very real! And so is the chilling, abandoned violence throughout the film. Let’s put it this way:  after this film, I feel considerably more unsafe. Thank you!

A co-worker who had to escort his mother to this movie said he had to tie up his head in a wet bandage for the rest of the day, it hurt so much.

Fashion: What’s with the Priyanka-fest? She’s suddenly everywhere! Okay, I’m not sure what I think of this movie. I certainly wouldn’t go so far as to say it was entertaining.

Small town girl is hell bent on becoming a supermodel. Somehow that comes across as horribly fake. She descends on the fashion world and makes it. Not without sleeping with big important mentor, of course. She then proceeds to get arrogant as they come. And obviously falls flat on her face and runs crying back to mommy and daddy who didn’t want her to go modeling in the first place. But hey, now daddy dear has a change of personality and apologises profusely to her and persuades her to go back and try again. So she descends a second time on the dahlings and gays that inhabit the fashion world. This time she just about makes it. Of course, now all has changed and she’s a good little supermodel.

I’m not sure what describes it best. Duh… or Ew. Perhaps a combo.

Aamir: A young dude i know is extremely worried that everyone will feel sorry for terrorists after they see this film.  Well, I don’t, but I did feel sorry for Aamir (Rajeev Khandelwal) specially as he looks a lot like another young dude I know!

Young Indian Muslim doctor goes to the US and comes back to Mumbai for a visit. I guess he instantly wished he hadn’t because trouble befalls him from the moment he leaves the airport. Someone throws a cellphone at him. He should have missed the catch. Unfortunately he didn’t and went on to receive phone call after phone call of instructions from a don from somewhere in the underbelly of Mumbai. The don was clearly not alone and soon a whole network of people who all seemed to be in the know trapped the innocent and clueless Aamir. He had no choice but to follow a trail of incomprehensible instructions. He was being set up to carry a bomb on to a bus. I won’t spoil it any further because someone shouted out the ending to me and I’m still out to kill her.

This was quite a gripping movie and gives you a glimpse into what it could possibly be like for young men who become terrorists. The whole atmosphere of squalid ugliness in certain parts of Mumbai is awful. So is the brief look at the network of people involved in a terror plot.  Gripping and depressing. Also alarmingly real. My friend Roshun thinks the whole underworld network was real and the guys were just paid to act regular on screen. Well-made movie.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall: Frankly you’d be better off just forgetting the movie. Honestly, I can’t understand what is it that makes this movie appear on lists of good movies in 2008. It’s a bunch of bad jokes threaded together by a deeply unremarkable story.

Jason Segel (icky, sloppy Peter) suddenly finds his sexy goilfriend has unceremoniously dumped him. After going somewhat hysterical, he goes off to Hawaii, which is also where Sarah Marshall and her new rock star hippee boyfriend are hangin’ out. Basically nothing happens and then some more nothing happens and everyone makes rotten crude jokes and then Peter begins to get to know Rachel (Mila Kunis) and like her rather a lot. Over five long days and lots of help from eccentric friends, Peter grows up a bit. Yeah, maybe I’m being a bit mean. It’s about growing up and all. I get it, I get it. Yawn.

Dostana: Now there’s a movie to give you brain freeze. Abhishek Bachchan and John Abraham are funny dudes and have good chemistry. It’s all very hilarious. For about ten minutes. After that it gives you a rash. I couldn’t sit through the rest of it and thanked my lucky stars I wasn’t in a movie theater.

Jodha Akbar: I doubt that the real Akbar or the real Jodha (existence hotly debated in Rajasthan) ever looked so good as these two did. They made an exceedingly pretty couple. I watched this online in a zillion parts, so I wasn’t as fatigued as some who saw the movie at a theater. Besides, I quite like this king and queen stuff. It takes me back to some of the books I curled up with when I was a kid.

This movie is basically about the love story that someone’s dreamt up between Akbar and Jodha bai. How sweet. Lots of intrigue and palace settings and all. Actually quite enjoyable.

A Wednesday; This film will forever be associated with the horrible 26th November 2008 terror attack on Mumbai.

A man calls up the police commissioner of Mumbai and informs him that he’s planted bombs in places in the city.  He wants the release of 4 terrorists. To prove he’s serious, he leads the police to a bomb right in the police station.

Lots happens. I don’t want to spoil it for anyone. I found the movie deeply absorbing and was glued to it in horror right through. No one looked like they were acting. It seemed every bit real. Except maybe the wonderful Naseeruddin Shah, who seemed a little too elegant. Not that this affected his acting. I have a big problem with the message of the movie though.

Oye Lucky Lucky Oye: Bwahahaha! Where can I learn to speak like that? Endearingly no holds barred Panjabi, very amusing, very long.  Bad, bad idea to glamorize crime any more than it already has been, for heaven’s sake.  This one is about a cheeky and lovable rouge who goes audaciously stealing stuff from right under everyone’s noses. Of course he has his share of troubles too. But he absolutely never loses his sense of humor and his courageousness.

Sorry Bhai; Ah well, I’m not sorry to have watched. It was not bad. Two brothers end up entangled with one woman. The brother who gets the girl is feeling downright apologetic.

Slow lazy movie. You need lots of beer to go with it.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: Couldn’t handle it. It was too annoying.

Slumdog Millionaire: Oh dear! It quite upset me to see this shell-shocked kid being tortured by the cops! I stopped watching. I have to get back to it soon.

Dasvidanya: Dull pumpkin-like dude gets stomach cancer.  Understandably, he’s pretty upset. But luckily for him,  his alter ego arrives and jeers at him for caving in and being so boring. So the guy gets it and ups and makes a things-to-do-before-I-die list.  He has a good time finally “living”. Of course, he pops off. He has to — his name’s Amar. Mr Bheja Fry (Vinay Phatak) is a good actor,  but here, bheja sautes. The movie’s overcooked and in some way, cheesy. However, there’s one scene I completely love. That’s when the much-bullied Amar suddenly ups and pours a drink over his obnoxious boss’s head. Ha ha haaaa!

Meera: This beautiful movie is a favorite with me and the rest of my family. It’s from way back 1979. It’s a Gulzar film and the music - lovely, vibrant, unusual music - is by Ravi Shankar. The movie didn’t do that well commercially. Someone should relaunch it! It was really lovely. Meera, in this movie, is Hema Malini. I’m no fan of the “dream girl” but in this movie she was only Meera. This is her best piece of acting ever.

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