Film Impressions

REVEW: Issaq

LOVE’S LABOUR LOST

Prateik has a heavy cross to bear given his mother’s towering reputation and devoted fan following that hasn’t ebbed over the last 25+ years. Tempting then, to treat him with kid gloves simply because he inherited Smita Patil’s eyes. At the same time it can’t camouflage his stiffness––at 22 she had already tackled a career-defining Bhumika with exceptional maturity. Her son, born just two weeks before her untimely death, is still lost in the woods after half-a-dozen screen appearances, the only serviceable ones being his debut in Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na and Dhobi Ghat.

REVIEW: D-Day

FAR-FETCHED ENTERTAINER

For once the underworld don isn’t a dashing hero––all swagger and invincibility merely because he’s essayed by current reigning star. But he's obviously modelled on Dawood Ibrahim––with whom Bollywood’s long-standing fascination continues––as Nikhil Advani’s D-Day blatantly plays the emotional card meandering through the streets of Karachi, implausible plot in tow, to bring back ‘India’s most wanted’.

REVIEW: Bhaag Milkha Bhaag

THE MAKING OF A CHAMPION

Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra can’t really be blamed for his grandiloquent approach to Bhaag Milkha Bhaag. This is exactly how epics are designed in India and lauded around the world—from Mother India to Lagaan (both Oscar-nominated), heroism, melodrama and a three-hour running time have gone hand-in-hand. You’d think BMB’s inspiration in real events should have sufficed––although truth in hagiographic terms is always selective and particularly so in a project blessed by the protagonist himself. 

REVIEW: Baandhon

SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL

A bickering old couple, Dandeswar and Hkawni (Bishnu Kharghoria and Bina Patangia) are sitting in a lawyer's office to file for divorce. They’re nothing like the protagonists of a Bergman chamber piece baring their souls to the camera or even of the Iranian gem A Separation, young and determined to change the course of their lives. Instead they remind you of your grandparents, who grew up in the same village, married for love and spent a lifetime together through many ups and downs including the tragic death of their only son and his wife in an accident. Still they want a divorce because they can't stand each other's snoring!

REVIEW: Lootera

BEAUTIFUL BUT SOULLESS

A certain school of filmmaking in Bollywood equates lavish production design, pretty people in gorgeous locations, melodious songs and operatic background score with great cinema. I’m thinking of Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s 1942: A Love Story, Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Devdas and now, Vikramaditya Motwane’s Lootera, which could be politely described as ‘misguided epics’. But in an environment where Black was quickly anointed a ‘classic’ bringing Saawariya and Guzaarish to our doorstep, their failings aren’t likely to be discussed with any seriousness.

REVIEW: The Iceman

TRUE LIES

As Richard Kuklinski, Michael Shannon's cold blue eyes don't betray any emotion. Not even when a threatening gun is pointed at his nose by Mafia boss Roy DeMeo (Ray Liotta). It earns him the sobriquet 'Iceman', and a reputation as ruthless contract killer whose victim count over a period of about three decades ranges between 100-300 according to different estimates. Incredibly enough The Iceman is based on a true story and therein lies the rub. For a film about a maniacal murderer there’s a deliberate effort to romanticise him, as the film’s tagline advertises and the screenplay faithfully bears out––‘Loving Husband. Devoted Father. Ruthless Killer.’