I am on a blogging overdrive today. This is my third post in a span of perhaps 8 hours. Wonder what that says about me? Don't get it wrong, I have a job (something to do with defunct constitutions in defunct countries - the less said about that, the better - I'd rather block any memories of work).
Movies - I live, sleep, drink, talk and walk movies - apart from my work that is. They make me cry, laugh, smile, sleep, happy, sad, aware. They annoy me, soothe me, make me feel alive, cold and warm. As I said elsewhere "I could live my life as a movie." More on that later. Here I attempt my first movie review:
I just finished watching the last installment of Life in a Metro - the vagaries of life (along with the guilt inducted me by grad school and the fact that most Bollywood movies are inordinately long) do not allow me to watch a movie for more than 45 minutes at a time.
Warning: The following post might contain plot spoilers - read it at your on risk!
Question: Why is the movie named "Life in a Metro"? Don't people outside the metros fall in love? Don't non-Metro people have extra-marital affairs?
Agreed, that Life in a Metro (henceforth LIM) is not your traditional non-metro, rural area fare. In fact, it would probably rankle the sensitivities of even the metro-residing we-are-cool yuppies. Case in point: my friend L (born and brought up in Mumbai) who thought the movie was worth enough for a bakwaas label because everyone was sleeping with everyone else. Actually, just the reason I liked LIM - it acknowledges the darker side of human relationships and in fact, colors it often too. I am getting on its case, largely because the name of the movie alludes that extra marital affairs/ sex-before-marriage are a Metro-level phenomena - something that living in a big city automatically translates into (I have in fact personally experienced this unfortunate misconception: resident of a big city + student of a big city university = oops! a loose moral character?!?) which I am sure it clearly is not (now I am not a sociologist and haven't really come across studies that would support such an inference.
That said, Anurag Basu (director) does a great job of inter-weaving the lives of 6(?) love-seeking individuals living in the 'big, dark, cruel' City. The script flows well and is extremely taut, with some decent acting. Irrfan as the uncouth but multilingual Bihari/ UP bhaiyya who spares no chance to ogle at cleavages and bare legs is perhaps the best of the lot. Shilpa Shetty, to my amazement has evolved as an actor and does a decent job of portraying the verbally-abused-neglected-and-lonely homemaker. Kay Kay's loathsome character, despite surprisingly mediocre acting, evoked strong hostility from me (perhaps because I am a woman?). Konkana Sen Gupta is dull as an actor and commonplace as a character. And really? Whats with all her characters stumbling upon boyfriends with other men?!? (see Page 3). It evoked sympathy the first time around, but in LIM, it just seems forced upon the storyline - an afterthought at most - an answer to: how to we make this character even more miserable for her to hate all men? Shiny Ahuja is nothing great as an actor and has little to do in the film, but the almost-love-making scene between him and Shilpa's character are brilliantly and aesthetically shot. Watch the film for the amazing three second chemistry between them, if not anything else.
About the rest, the less said the better. The sub-plot scenes between Dharmendra and Nafisa Ali are schmaltzy (yes! I finally get to use the word) and thus annoying. Even more annoying is Dharmendra's freshly dyed hair (people! there is nothing wrong with grey hair!)
Oh! and Kangana Ranaut - can someone PLEASE tell her that acting is a skill that cannot be compensated by looking cute? And the scene where she gets a mini-orgasm when she gets her cell phone back, goes in my annals of worst movie scenes ever! If thats how you feel and act after getting back a lost cellphone, move over men! sign me up for a lost and found service.
Indeed, most of the characters are well defined and a lot of effort seems to have been put in by Anurag Basu to bring them to life. Kudos to him!
All in all, I would recommend LIM, if you can stand some real bad acting (thats what the ff button on the remote is for) amongst some bordering-on-brilliance performances, not get annoyed by three unkempt singers randomly popping up in the middle of the narrative and do not mind some of the artistic licenses that Anurag Basu adopts (like the horse galloping in the middle of city roads - isn't there a law against it?).
Grade: B+
Movies - I live, sleep, drink, talk and walk movies - apart from my work that is. They make me cry, laugh, smile, sleep, happy, sad, aware. They annoy me, soothe me, make me feel alive, cold and warm. As I said elsewhere "I could live my life as a movie." More on that later. Here I attempt my first movie review:
I just finished watching the last installment of Life in a Metro - the vagaries of life (along with the guilt inducted me by grad school and the fact that most Bollywood movies are inordinately long) do not allow me to watch a movie for more than 45 minutes at a time.
Warning: The following post might contain plot spoilers - read it at your on risk!
Question: Why is the movie named "Life in a Metro"? Don't people outside the metros fall in love? Don't non-Metro people have extra-marital affairs?
Agreed, that Life in a Metro (henceforth LIM) is not your traditional non-metro, rural area fare. In fact, it would probably rankle the sensitivities of even the metro-residing we-are-cool yuppies. Case in point: my friend L (born and brought up in Mumbai) who thought the movie was worth enough for a bakwaas label because everyone was sleeping with everyone else. Actually, just the reason I liked LIM - it acknowledges the darker side of human relationships and in fact, colors it often too. I am getting on its case, largely because the name of the movie alludes that extra marital affairs/ sex-before-marriage are a Metro-level phenomena - something that living in a big city automatically translates into (I have in fact personally experienced this unfortunate misconception: resident of a big city + student of a big city university = oops! a loose moral character?!?) which I am sure it clearly is not (now I am not a sociologist and haven't really come across studies that would support such an inference.
That said, Anurag Basu (director) does a great job of inter-weaving the lives of 6(?) love-seeking individuals living in the 'big, dark, cruel' City. The script flows well and is extremely taut, with some decent acting. Irrfan as the uncouth but multilingual Bihari/ UP bhaiyya who spares no chance to ogle at cleavages and bare legs is perhaps the best of the lot. Shilpa Shetty, to my amazement has evolved as an actor and does a decent job of portraying the verbally-abused-neglected-and-lonely homemaker. Kay Kay's loathsome character, despite surprisingly mediocre acting, evoked strong hostility from me (perhaps because I am a woman?). Konkana Sen Gupta is dull as an actor and commonplace as a character. And really? Whats with all her characters stumbling upon boyfriends with other men?!? (see Page 3). It evoked sympathy the first time around, but in LIM, it just seems forced upon the storyline - an afterthought at most - an answer to: how to we make this character even more miserable for her to hate all men? Shiny Ahuja is nothing great as an actor and has little to do in the film, but the almost-love-making scene between him and Shilpa's character are brilliantly and aesthetically shot. Watch the film for the amazing three second chemistry between them, if not anything else.
About the rest, the less said the better. The sub-plot scenes between Dharmendra and Nafisa Ali are schmaltzy (yes! I finally get to use the word) and thus annoying. Even more annoying is Dharmendra's freshly dyed hair (people! there is nothing wrong with grey hair!)
Oh! and Kangana Ranaut - can someone PLEASE tell her that acting is a skill that cannot be compensated by looking cute? And the scene where she gets a mini-orgasm when she gets her cell phone back, goes in my annals of worst movie scenes ever! If thats how you feel and act after getting back a lost cellphone, move over men! sign me up for a lost and found service.
Indeed, most of the characters are well defined and a lot of effort seems to have been put in by Anurag Basu to bring them to life. Kudos to him!
All in all, I would recommend LIM, if you can stand some real bad acting (thats what the ff button on the remote is for) amongst some bordering-on-brilliance performances, not get annoyed by three unkempt singers randomly popping up in the middle of the narrative and do not mind some of the artistic licenses that Anurag Basu adopts (like the horse galloping in the middle of city roads - isn't there a law against it?).
Grade: B+
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