Red vs Khaki

RED VS KHAKI

Some films are usually made to make money, some are made to entertain but very rarely do we have movies that make us think. In general Prakash jha’s works are intended to instigate the viewer’s thought process. Be it Gangajal, Apaharan, Rajneethi or Aarakshan, keeping the results apart Mr.jha has always attempted the contemporary social issues. Chakravyuh is just one among his preferred genre of film making. My discussion may misinterpret the readers that this is something like a documentary stuff. But this is what in which Mr.Jha expertises in, he takes up the burning social issues and depicts them to the grounds of public interest. Neither of his works appears like art movies though the stuff conveyed has the scope for documentary style of taking. Chakravyuh is the story that deals with the challenging problem that India has been facing post independence period. Yes, it is naxal’s movement. Strictly it’s such a sensitive issue where one has many bounds in scripting it and it’s certainly a path breaking task for the people working off screen. It’s no exaggeration to accept that the director has pictured it nothing less than a nail biting and thought provoking action thriller.

                                  To cut it short, it is the story of two friends from college whose ideologies repel. As life moves on one turns out to be a successful police officer named ‘Adil’ (Arjun Ram pal) and the later one ends up being a nobody with a disastrous career as an engineer turned entrepreneur. The later one’s role is casted by Abay deol, named ‘Kabir’. The story gets on to the track when kabir convinces Adil and joins the naxal movement as a police informer intending to help his fellow friend. Things get complicated from then; there comes a situation where their friendship gets crushed under “red” ideologies and filthy politics. The rest of the story deals with how they strive to safeguard the paths they have chosen for the rest of their lives.

                                   My discussion becomes pointless if it doesn’t include the groundwork that the scripting people have done to improvise this sensitive issue to an extravagant action-drama genre flick. The ground work is simply appealing on-screen with all the facts he stated under a rugged voice over and stunning visuals. Speaking about the best parts, the former one that I need to mention is the way how director has balanced the story. He doesn’t stay biased at any point and intuitively keeps us busy in involving with the characters and their situations. Though script being its plus point, it had many versatile people to portray it to the heights of excellence. Om puri and Manoj Bajpai were stupendous in their roles. Arjun ram pal makes a promising stay throughout the movie. Abhay who played a different role will certainly bag applauds for all the efforts he has put on. The movie has some breath taking stunts which were clean and spotless. Most of the action sequences were appreciably near to reality. Cinematography was just perfect. Sameera reddy who charms in a cameo for a song performs it very well (but the song is tiresome and it’s the least remembered, tune wise). The woman who played the role of Juhi (a woman comrade) was sharp and bold in her looks; her Jharkand accent remains the striking feature for her role. She was pleasing.

                                                                        The movie has the least scope for any vulgarity and the director has taken measures to maintain that till the end, it was superb. The movie packs up with a “never-ending” notion; perhaps the director played it safe by depicting the scenario rather than being judgemental with deciding “notations”. The title “Chakravyuh” has been justified in a perfect way that it has to be and it’s truly appreciable. Music sounds like Vishal Bharadwaj’s style of tuning. It was apt. There is nothing in particular that is a con for this movie. It all depends upon one’s view towards the concept that is discussed on screen. It’s completely a personal issue on how you accept these stories and the way it was portrayed in the director’s point of view.

On a whole the director manages the 152 min run to lead us happily through this breath taking and completely engaging social issue. A perfect watch for this weekend.

Three cheers for the “red” vs “khaki” fight.

puri tho rambabu

                                                         PURI THO RAMBABU

Post watching CGTR when I tried to re-“view” it; my head buffered with some nostalgic thoughts of my 5^th standard, where my English miss was dealing Tenses. Future tense was a night mare for me. Don’t ask me about “future perfect”. All the time when I was watching the film the line that played through my head was “it would have been better....” yes the creepy future perfect tense.

                                      CGTR is definitely one of the most anticipated movie for both Pawan and Puri fans. Yes, it’s a typical Puri film with an abnormal hero characterization and his witty dialogues. The movie opens with an interview that acquaints the audience with the recent political scenario and slowly gains it pace with the power star’s (Ram babu) entry. Ram babu reacts similar to that of pawan’s real life character and ideologies. The only thing that bothers the viewer is its lack of reality when Ram babu goes public.

                                      As a mechanic turned journalist Ram babu behaves far from reality. He easily takes down the law into his hands and is never questioned by the public officials. This segment is purely illogical. Meanwhile comes Tamannah (ganga) ,who is extremely good and with least hesitation one can consider her as a combo with glamour plus action. Her role is genuinely acceptable with a shade of tom boy mannerisms and one thing that needs a mention is her dubbing, which was pitched perfect.

                                       Where you lack a proper script, be it a power star or mega star that portrays the lead, the audience turn out scratching their scalps. The same happens with Puri’s Ram babu story. Puri tries to implement some humour from Ali who conducts some discussion portals that we see in news channel s regularly. It’s considerably engaging. The director doesn’t make an impact by gradual way of ascending Ram babu’s character; instead he becomes an iconic figure overnight. Though most of the scenes being boisterous; none of them turn out to be elevating the film any further. ‘Man of the show’ is Mani Sharma for his engaging BGM.

                                         The movie resembles Business man (staring Mahesh) with a few similarities like Prakash raj’s character (his costumes were almost identical) and the way Puri handles the script. But sadly the director fails to elevate the levels of emotion that he pictured in his former film (Business man). Prakash raj, kota and bharani did a decent job all together. It’s again the same piece of cake what Prakash raj offers with his role. The first half offers an average watch with some catchy lines like “veedi chavuni nenu discovery channel lo chudali”, “naa pogaru calculate cheyataniki naa pogaru oppukovali kada” etc.

                                           Second half turns out to be the same in terms of screenplay and its portrayal. Here it bags a social message with a couple of songs. Songs were hummable. Except a couple of songs none of them were greatly choreographed, they just filled the space. Tamannah was splendid in “extraordinary” and “melikel” songs. As usually Brahmanandham shines in a couple of scenes which were smart enough to tickle oneself. But the saddest thing is part of his sequences are trimmed due to the recent Telangana agitator’s revolt. The sequence where Ram babu comments about the film actors is adorable.

                                           On a whole Puri had very little to say from this script. Cutting out the songs the movie runs for about 90 min where the director fails to idolize his concept. In parts the scenes were meaningful but on a whole they lose grip and fade out completely. Despite having some stalwarts in the film , it finally lets you down and records another average flick in Pawan’s career. To be precise ; if you are a fan of Pawan this is for you else don’t complain as it not a paisa vasool.

Two and a half cheers for puri tho rambabu’s effort.   

"students" of the year

                                                 “STUDENTS” OF THE YEAR

Student of the year.......the drama king KJO who was away from the megaphone past 2 years , here comes up with a story that happens in a no-man’s land, around a school named ST.TERESA. It’s definitely hard to believe and adopt the atmosphere that he exposed to the existing scenario of Indian sensibilities. From the titles part the movie appeals to be a visual grandeur excelling in costumes & art department. OK  first things first, it has been deliberately proven that KJO is still a consummate in picturing songs. The colors, sets & artists were always at their best dancing to the tunes of his film. Radha & disco dewane were magnificently pleasing. Coming back to the discussion, the films adapts a screenplay that swaps you back and forth in chronological order which engages the viewers.

                                              The “trio” (Siddharth malhotra, Alia bhatt , Varun dhawan) were simple and lovable. Dhawan & Alia need a special mention who made their presence more remarkable. Their innocent and cute looks were pleasing, in cut short a perfect stuff for bolly-wood has been delivered. Siddhartha’s role was restricted to more of the looks part and trimmed performance wise. It was a cake walk for him to deal the role. The movie forays heavy casting like Rishi ji(rishi kapoor), Farida ji(farida jalal), Ronit Roy who were surprisingly not used to their content. One who expects a greater performance from these veterans will turn off disappointed. Ronit roy who did an intensified job in the critically acclaimed “Udaan”(father's role) has nothing to offer here but some silly scenes to perform. Sticking on to the title, the movie completely balances on the younger cast on a large scale of its footage. The movie portrays some icing moments which immensely draws one’s attention, like the sequence at the wedding where the emotion is completely carried by the piano being played behind the colorful slow motions. It was impeccable. The film includes a couple of scenes that tickles the audience’s aesthetic sense.

                                        The premiere con of the film is its abrupt way of ending few scenes that has seriously downtrodden the emotional quotient of the viewer. Audience definitely feels uneasy at some part of the movie narration, it doesn't touch one’s instinct and most of us feel “where the hell is this SOTY(student of the year) competition leading us to...” then and there KJO imparts a dynamic performance from a new comer which stands out to be convincingly enough to accept and of course becomes the “soul of the film” to be brief. Unlike his previous films which had a great melodrama in them, this flick cuts out all the emotional blackmailing by the cast and stands out be a mild narration. It would have been a feast for the viewer if the director had given a little more emphasis to the script work to fill it in a more lucid and effective way. The female lead who seems to be confused in between the duo love interests doesn't justify any reason but end up marrying one of the male leads. It’s definitely not a worthy ending that one expects from KJO, who is terribly good in depicting love sagas.

                                           On a whole KJO manages the film to be falling in between being average and good. Performance wise everyone was good except Siddhartha malhotra, who needs to be flexible in his moves and expressions. Finally the movie appeals to be a meal without a relishing dessert but definitely a grandeur launch project for some promising "students"of this year (debuts).

Only two cheers for SOTY......