Ek Niranjan (2009)

So shiny! Let us sing the praise (great praise!) of the director of Ek Niranjan! And the editor! And cinematographer! We haven't seen such shiny, glittering, gorgeous visuals in a film since... well, since Transformers (so much sun! so much sand!). For this reason alone, we ranked Ek Niranjan very high on our personal list of Telugu films (now numbering three and a half). With a hefty budget and such razor-sharp direction and cinematography, it was just lovely.

Essentially the hyper-typical family separation masala opera, young Chottu (a very handsome Prabhas) is your standard goonda with a heart of gold. Working as a bounty hunter for the local police station, he romances feisty guitar teacher, Sameera (Kangana Ranaut?!), in the standard way, and is pursued by the villainous Johnny Bhai (Sonu Sood?!) in a slightly non-standard way. Throw in your usual comedy subplot - starring Brahmanandam... is this man in EVERY TELUGU FILM EVER MADE?! (we say after three) - as well as another comedy subplot in Bangkok (unexpectedly v. funny) - and you have your standard film. So let's dispense with the standard, and move onto what was a bit different:


Spicy and exclusive, yay! And look at the hair texture, vah!

1. The shine!

Some directors have such a fabulous aesthetic, and Ek Niranjan's director, Puri Jagannadh, has a great eye. Some of the songs reminded us of Farah Khan's Main Hoon Na for the use of mirrored sunlight and natural sparkle. Vah! The choreography, meanwhile, was the usual impressive southern stuff - for the Hindi-phile that we used to be/are, we can compare it to Prabhu Deva's magnificent work in Pukar. (Prabhu Deva is also, of course, from the south.) What dynamic visuals! What use of foreground, background and middleground! What use of interesting apertures and focal depths! What diagonals! What golden ratios!

What is a gosh darned shame, however, is the relatively mediocre music. When the studly Prabhas was throwing himself around in such interesting ways to such boring, lethargic beats, we couldn't help but feel restless. Give the man a melody, for the love of God!

2. The Hindi actors?!

Sonu Sood? Kangana? That dude with the bushy moustache from Swades's RV song?

Special note about Sonu Sood: apparently, his Telugu film career is dominated by villainous roles. Who knew! At first, we were skeptical - the cuddly, honorable brother from Jodhaa Akbar as an evil mafia bhai? Yeah, right. Well - we've been sold. He was like the Bizarro young Amitabh Bachchan, like 1978's Don with 2007 Don's mentality. Like the Angry Young Man... gone EVIL. Sonu was very enjoyable as the kinky (sado-masochism?!), slightly drama queen ("I'm the hero here, not the villain!") pin-up model (what pecs!) with the dodgy fashion sense. Indeed, most of the film was a War of Hotness between Prabhas and Sonu. We still don't know who won.


The winner.


The winner. Also: now that we mingle with the stars, we saw Sivaji the other night and were astounded by his tallness. So how tall is Sonu?!

3. A Michael Jackson tribute?!

So all the songs were incredibly rich visual feasts on which to gorge one's eyes (except for the boring Chottu's So Vulnerable song, yawn), but one song - the Michael Jackson vs. Heath Ledger's Joker tribute song - really stood out for its... unexpectedness.

But hey! 1990s children that we are, we loved it. Big time. Moonwalk, baby, go, go!

4. There is no fourth point.

5. Clearly, it's time to learn Telugu.

Pukkah! And someone take the exclamation point away from us! We are abusing it!!!

All the Best: Fun Begins (2009)

Yet another Hindi comedy where the big joke is pretending Woman X is not actually Man X's, she's actually Man Y's?

Intermission walk-out. Don't waste your time.

Wake Up Sid (2009)

Another fun, slightly progressive mainstream fluff film from the Karan Johar people, Wake Up Sid was a lot better than the PPCC expected. The film follows the adventures of the slacker with a Peter Pan complex, Siddarth (a very good Ranbir Kapoor), who slowly - at times painfully - grows out of his video game wastrel ways to become a man with a plan. Dare we say, he becomes enlightened?! This growing up thing is seriously aided by the women in his life - in particular, his roommate, confidante and eventual love, Aisha (Konkona Sen Sharma). This film - which is so perfectly presented, plastic and shiny and be-bop trendy - is hence mildly radical: independent, smart women helping men-children grow up to do the laundry and clean the dishes! older woman and younger man living together in the big city, gasp! And so forth. We appreciated it. It's not a Great film, but it is a very well-made film with a nice heart.

But let's start with introductions. Sid's college exams are finished, and he and his friends have a night on the town, charged by freedom and funded by Dad's (an excellent Anupam Kher) credit card. Sid is, in effect, an innocently immature wastrel. He plays video games. He is forever dressed in a t-shirt and jeans (including Star Trek and Star Wars silk screens!). He stuffs himself with chocolates, beer and pizza. He is selfish, at times even petty. He's impatient with the house's servant, he yells back at his parents.

One day at a party, he and we meet Aisha. She is seven years older than Sid, freshly arrived from Calcutta to start her new life in Mumbai. Aisha is classy and go-get-'em, she reads Jhumpa Lahiri and likes the smell of books (us too!), and while she admits being "very scared" at the prospect of being alone in the big city, she's also willing to face the challenge. You go, girl! Anyway, Sid is lightly smitten, but it's mostly puppy love, and they become fast friends. The friendship cake is topped with some "I'll help you move into you fab new bachelorette pad!" icing, which then turns into a Friends-like sleepover after Sid - following a fight with the fam over his exam failure - runs away from home at intermission.

And indeed it's the post-intermission stuff which is the most rewarding, as we finally watch Sid bloom under the care of Aisha. What's even more interesting is that - apart from stern, loving Dad - there's narry a male role model in sight. Instead, this film is all about getting in charge of things and maturing, and maturity is equated almost exclusively with women. There's an interesting sequence in which a self-pitying, out of work Sid is scolded by a number of different women, eventually culminating in one of them taking pity on him and teaching him how to fry an egg. (Hey, baby steps.)

That said, for however unimportant it is to Sid's enlightenment, the Dad role is pitch perfect in this film - Amrita's already mentioned how unbelievably excellent and oddly moving Anupam Kher's performance is and, maybe because we were prepped for it, maybe because this whole film cut a little too close to the bone, but the PPCC basically cried every single time Anupam Kher said anything. We tell you - this man can be SO GOOD when the role requires it. Is this the same guy who ruined Beta with his shrieking slapstick? The same shrill buffoon from Lamhe? Unbelievably, yes. It's also the same Mr. Kher who wowed us from 1942: A Love Story, and it's much the same vibe: the loving, wounded, disappointed father figure.

Actually, the performances in this film were all pretty great: this is the first Ranbir Kapoor film we see and he was a very good, if not particularly memorable, performer. Konkona Sen Sharma is well-known as a Good Actress - what with her work in all the independent stuff - and indeed, whenever she's in something mainstream, you know it's going to a bit smarter than usual. The supporting cast was dependable and generally lovable. The music was mostly disappointingly dull (no dance numbers!), though the romantic qawwali-esque Iktara was pretty glorious.

If you liked Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na, Dostana, or any of that new breed of over-perfect, open-minded fuzzy, urban and young stuff, this is another very likable addition.



...and a happy Diwali from the PPCC!

Mahatma (2009)

The sweet-natured, child-like Mahatma is one of our favorite types of films: the social pop masala. Think of it as a less intelligent, less over-the-top Nayak, but with the same vibe of do-gooder concern, moral redemption, and glassy-eyed Indian patriotism which still acknowledges the country's problems (particularly, political corruption). Using the memory of Gandhi as a focal point, we follow the exploits of the rascally goonda-turned-good-guy Das (a boyish Srikanth) who decides to challenge his local politician's might by forming his own party: the Mahatma Party. Initially a bit of a strategic move to get votes (hey, everyone likes Gandhi!), Das soon finds himself converting to the philosophy of satyagraha and ahimsa, reforming himself into a morally upright upholder of social justice. Overlaid over this are some criticisms of local Andhra Pradesh politics, as well as the required romance (quite sweet!). Opinions in our group were pretty polarized following the film, and we at the PPCC were pretty much on the fence: it was OK. Also, well, it was in Telugu - which we don't speak (yet!).

The story centers around a small neighborhood located somewhere in busy Hyderabad. Here we meet Das (Srikanth), and his band of loafers - his henna and kohl-bedecked buddy, Something (Some Guy), some other dude who is a suspended cop, and a variety of other pot-bellied guys lazing around the base of the derelict neighrborhood Gandhi statue, drunk and rowdy. Das doesn't seem to have any great ambition in life, though he does occasionally dishoom dishoom some guys and he flirts with the idea of pursuing a career as a Telugu film star. On the way, he runs into the cute Girl Next Door (Bhavana), which, after various mix-ups and taunts and one excellent "Falling in love in Hyderabad!" song, gets the romance going.

Meanwhile, the local politicians are engaging in their usual corruption nonsense - with the local politician, Fire-breathing Woman (apparently a parody of a real-life Andhra politician), aggressively trying to open up yet another huge shopping mall ("Fab City"!), and the other scary politician, Big Dude (Some Big Guy), giving her trouble. When Big Guy hires Das as his premier thug, Das engages in all manner of ass-kicking in a moral vacuum. But, because Das's heart is golden, he eventually can't take it anymore and dumps Big Guy in order to start his own challenger party: the Mahatma Party. But can Das give up his drinking, loafing ways? Cue the sermons on turning the other cheek, practicing self-discipline and being a Good Person. Cue the diet Nayak stuff. Cue a brief reenactment of Gandhi's life.


Srikanth and Bhavana, in a lovely number in Kerala. Sooo cute.

Now, this is our third Telugu film, and so everything is still so shiny and new for us - and we are very forgiving. Plus, watching something which takes place in Hyderabad still fills us with demented glee - OMG! The Banjara Hills/Jubilee Hills flyover! OMG! Charminar! OMG! The Big Buddha in the Hussain Sagar lake! Oh, Hyderabad, Hyderabad, Hyderabad! Indeed, the "falling in love in Hyderabad!" - with its sweetly (and unexpectedly) realist portrayal of text messages, motorcycles, temple visits and Hussain Sagar really just hit the spot, man. Also, we probably missed all the inane/clever/whatever dialogue, thanks to our complete lack of Telugu skills ("koncam!" can only get you so far).

Srikanth was likable enough as the boyish, rogueish Das. He had an Anil Kapoor-ish quality - but maybe that was the whole moustachioed socially-minded rascal thing. Bhavana was adorable as the shining light of goodness-type girlfriend, and our heart broke when Das disappointed her by not resisting the liquor. The songs were pretty fabulous - bright! shiny! energetic! - especially the first item number, Jajjanakka, which was just all over the place and fabulous. We were THISCLOSE to dancing out of our seats, man! We said it before and we'll say it again: Telugu choreography owns Hindi dancing.

Inglourious Basterds (2009)

Brassy and demented, Inglourious Basterds styles itself an old, wartime pulp, from its hokey title cards ("Chapter 1: Once upon a time in France...") to its staccato use of melodramatic music. The ultimate WWII revenge fantasy, it's almost scary in its over-the-top portrayal of evil Nazis and bad-ass Allied soldiers decimating those Nazis. That's not to say it's not also ambiguous. Quentin Tarantino is too smart a director not to be drawing uneasy parallels between the carnage of both sides - indeed, both the "good guy" Allies and "bad guy" Nazis are sadistic and cruel, with the body count tallying up for each. And, as The New York Times' Manohla Dargis notes, with some concern, the ultimate ambiguity is that the film's show-stealer is the villainous "Jew Hunter", Standartenführer Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz). But more on him - and he is pretty disturbingly spectacular - later.


Brad Pitt did some serious channeling of Lee Marvin for this role, which we really appreciated.


Oh Lord, party games.

The plot is large, almost unwieldy, and the characters come in groups (separated by the "chapters") who eventually come together in one ensemble showdown. The story begins with Standartenführer Hans Landa, who is in France to seek out the remaining Jews. One Jewish girl, Shosanna (Mélanie Laurent), narrowly evades his clutches and eventually becomes a cinema owner in Paris. There, she meets a seemingly bumbling young Nazi soldier, Private Fredrick Zoller (Daniel Brühl, of Goodbye Lenin!), who falls for her big time. Meanwhile, a group of hard-bitten American commando types, led by one Aldo Raine (a very grizzly Brad Pitt), are terrorizing Germans everywhere with their ultra-violent guerrilla tactics - their mission is to make an example of every Nazi soldier they find (cue some of the awful violence), and, given Hitler's (Martin Wuttke) various meltdowns, it seems they're working. On the other side of the channel, the British (including a nearly unrecognizable cameo by Mike Myers!) are sending their top film critic/spy, Archie Hicox (Michael Fassbender), to Paris in order to assassinate the top German brass. Uh... what?


Very Dirty Dozen.

Now, if you've seen one Quentin Tarantino film, you've seen them all - in the sense that the giddy carnage and whimsical touches (was that a David Bowie song at one point?) are pretty standard Tarantino, as is our ability to laugh and cringe and perversely enjoy a film that is, fundamentally, pretty sick! But, sick though it is, it was also quite clever and endearingly in love with its medium: cinephilia in film is always nice to see. Did any of these movie references mean anything? We don't know. Do any Tarantino films mean anything? Hmm.


The glorious Christoph Waltz.


Crazy!

Anyway - now onto the star of the show, Christoph Waltz! Who is this guy? Whoever he is, he was spectacular in a way that's rare and delightful: an unknown actor completely stealing the attention and charming everyone's pants off. At our forced "interval" (ah, we love you, Indian cinema), the entire group was all a-lather about, "But who's that incredible Nazi?!" He had a sort of evil charisma similar to Daniel Day-Lewis' performance as Bill the Butcher in Gangs of New York. Except whereas Bill the Butcher was just fearsome and fascinating, Hans Landla is also delightfully insane and quite hilarious. Two scenes in particular stand out: the opening sequence (which is perhaps the best part of the film, masterfully done) and the scene when Hans confronts the actress-spy, Bridget von Hammersmark (Diane Kruger), at the theatre. He embodied the film's vibe - demented, lunatic, comical, violent - in a way that was over-the-top, enchanting and completely pitch perfect. Everyone is and was talking about this guy, and we can only join the clamor: Mr. Waltz, encore!

Do Knot Disturb (2009)

David Dhawan's Do Knot Disturb, a remake of the French film La doublure, is much as you would expect: a low-brow comedy filled with the usual stereotypes of the adulterous husband, the saucy temptress, and an assortment of goofy, lusty supporting characters making pratfalls while they chase after supermodels. It reminded us, actually, very strongly of something Italian actor/director Cristian De Sica would have made - think Merry Christmas, in particular - and indeed Govinda seemed to be channeling De Sica with his smarmy, middle-aged bumbling infidelities. Maybe because of this familiar vibe, or maybe because our expectations were rock bottom, or maybe because Ranvir Shorey has a small role, or maybe because one of the songs was quite catchy, we actually found ourselves mildly enjoying this film!


Govinda made good use of his cheesy smile, and Sushmita Sen of her "don't waste my time" vibe.

The story opens with smarmy, middle-aged Raj (Govinda), who is harried both by the demands of his gorgeous wife (Sushmita Sen) and the demands of his gorgeous lover, Dolly (Lara Dutta). When Raj is inadvertently photographed with Dolly one day, he concocts an elaborate story that the third person in the photo - a clumsy waiter (Ritesh Deshmukh) - is actually Dolly's boyfriend. In order to give credence to the story, he hires the waiter to play the part. The waiter - who is Dolly's biggest fan (Dolly has a job?) - is only too happy to oblige. Yet Mrs. Raj suspects anyway, and so sends her devoted friend (Ranvir Shorey) as detective to investigate the waiter-Dolly pair. Meanwhile, an increasingly jealous Raj also sends his own detective to make sure things don't go too far. Pretty lame jokes ensue.


The photo in question.


Goodness - compare Govinda in this pic to De Sica in the third pic on the Merry Christmas review. They went to the same school of acting!

Much like De Sica's Merry Christmas, this story is funny in its moments of zany, absurdist comedy (De Sica's tongue piercing sequence, Govinda's suddenly shrill falsetto), but is pretty dull in its attempts at more racy humor. At least, how many double entendres can you make about plugs and outlets? TVs and DVD players? God, spare me. Thankfully, the bathroom humor didn't go too far - always a risk in movies like this. Instead, it played it safe - although this is a comedy about infidelity, it's actually quite tame (or, at least, juvenile) in its handling of sex and seduction. The one rare moment when it all fell together and actually worked as a sort of joyous celebration of love-making was in the very catchy song, Zulfaen Khol Khal Ke, sung between Govinda and Lara Dutta in their Presidential Suite (of adultery! and sitars!). The fun and frollic of these two - both actors who we're quite fond of - was just charming! And gosh, Govinda's dance moves!

Which segues nicely to the performances and other stuff. As we said, we're actually quite fond of the entire cast here - Govinda, Lara Dutta, Sushmita Sen and Ranvir Shorey are always fun to watch. Rajpal Yadav was, as expected, way over-the-top and played very hammily to the "front bench". The songs ranged from fairly "meh" to peppy enough that we were ready to dance out of our seats (the previously mentioned Zulfaen Khol Khal Ke, and the bhangra New Year's number). David Dhawan's direction made fab use of energetic cross-cuts - this actually kept things moving quite nicely when the plot and forced humor threatened to drag everything down. Overall, a C effort - not terrible, but nothing to go out of your way for.

Eastern Promises (2007)

David Cronenberg's Eastern Promises shares many similarities with his earlier film, A History of Violence: a steely Viggo Mortensen as anti-hero, organized crime, super-blunt ultra-violence and a straightforward, slightly pulpy story with the lightest sprinkling of sardonic wit. The most unique aspect of Eastern Promises is its look at the Russian mob - a rarity in most Hollywood films. Also, this, coupled with its setting of modern-day London, gave the movie a serious Graham Greene vibes. Yay Graham Greene!


Tattoos are a big thing in the film (and in the Russian mafia, apparently).

The relatively archetypal plot centers around Anna Khitorva (Naomi Watts), a midwife at London's hard knocks Trafalgar Hospital. One evening, she delivers the baby daughter of a 14-year-old heroin addict. When the mother dies, leaving Anna her Russian diary, we accompany Anna as she follows the diary's trail straight into the Russian criminal underworld. There, we meet patriarch Semyon (Armin Mueller-Stahl, of Shine), who is all cuddly teady bear on the outside, scary mob boss on the inside, his wastrel son, Kirill (Vincent Cassel), and his wastrel son's stoic buddy/driver, Nikolai (The Viggo). Some sparks fly, a lot of vodka flows and much blood is spilled.

We can't quite pinpoint what we enjoyed so much about Eastern Promises (much as we can't pinpoint what we liked about A History of Violence). Neither film is our "type" - violent crime dramas with a cynical bent. Yet there's just something about them - a lack of heaviness, a clarity of aesthetic - which is very appealing. Both also feature incredibly shocking scenes of violence; shocking because it is both mundanely portrayed and chillingly grisly. We thought nothing could beat the crazy stunts of (the very aptly-named) A History of Violence, but Eastern Promises features an intense, over-the-top fight in a public bath which had us - unexpectedly - laughing out loud. Goodness me!


Vincent Cassel and the Viggo - quite a pair.

The performances are all fairly straightforward - with the always-fascinating Viggo Mortensen getting to display, yet again, his hefty skills in language (Russian!), grit (public bath stuff!) and moody humor. Mortensen's style is perfectly suited to David Cronenberg's directing. And, gosh, we love Jeff Goldblum, but can you imagine Viggo as The Fly? That would be a new brand of awesomeness. Naomi Watts is OK as Anna, though admittedly she is just a cypher through which we learn about the Russian mafia stuff. Vincent Cassel is way crazy as Kirill, but he always appeals due to his natural, weird charisma. We were particularly fond of Armin Mueller-Stahl, who has perfected that whispery, slightly sinister old man stereotype - think Richard Harris as Marcus Aurelius in Gladiator, or Michael Gambon as Dumbledore (only with extra evil).


Check out that perspective! Creepy.

The film has an odd touch of contextual realism, as a year before its release, former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko passed away in a London hospital. We were convinced this would have some bearing on the film... but, well, it doesn't. Nonetheless, relevant or irrelevant, this film is smart, fun and provocative. Beware - it definitely earned its R rating - but, if you can take some very gory moments (or do as we do and cover your eyes!), it's a rewarding watch.