Saree clad heroines romancing their heroes on snow-clad mountains has to be a Yash Chopra flick. “Masala” entertainers borderlining on absurd yet immensely popular from 70s have to be Manmohan Desai.
Since the beginning of Bollywood cinema, filmmakers have found their own trademark style which they stick to. Reason being they are forever remembered because of this unique style. It is almost a mark of identification.
Still many established film makers attempt to make cinema away from their niche. Its a gamble they take, but does it pay off? Ram Gopal Varma catapulted to fame with a love triangle background dancer, her ruffian buddy and a film star. However his forte remains the Mumbai mafia with movies such as Satya, Company and Sarkar
Satya was the imagination of writers Anurag Kashyap and Saurabh Shukla. He starred as the fat, brutal policeman in the Oscar winning Slumdog Millionaire. Anurag Kashyap went on to give cinema a brand new dimension- his very own noir.
Perhaps the chutzpah behind a Kashyap movie remains the fact that he has not yet been classified into a ‘genre’. His first movie Black Friday adapted from the novel Black Friday about the 1993 Mumbai blasts, preceding riots and their investigation, was banned.
Cap- Introductory Scene from Black Friday- when the bomb blasts occur
The censors told me there was nothing ‘entertaining’ about it. Anuraag says in an interview, “I don’t understand how the book can be sold but the film can’t be released.” The film had to wait two years before its release in 2004. It was critically acclaimed. Danny Boyle cited the 12 minute police chase scene is the inspiration for the first scene of Slumdog Millionaire.
His second film Paanch never released. The dark side of a rock band with heavy sexual undertones, drugs, murder was not exactly the censor board’s idea of ‘entertainment’ either. The shooting for his next movie Gulaal was halted. “I had three movies, two were stalled one was banned,” says Kashyap.
Kashyap by 2006 became more famous for his personal life and his verbatim against the industry. He had separated from his wife Aarti Bajaj, whom he dated nine years before marrying. They had a five year old daughter. These three movies took their toll on him and he took to drinking and depression. “I coped with my depression with lots of single malt whisky, lots of sleeping in the bed, lying in the room, lazing around, looking at the roof and walls. I would push myself out to play with my daughter, and then I would start writing.” Rumours about him and his affair with Gulaal actress Ayesha Mohan were abuzz but Kashyap did not talk on it. His next release was No Smoking in 2007.
Phoonk de featuring John Abraham and Bipasha Basu from No Smoking
His repeated potshots on the Indian Film industry gave the tabloids enough fodder to keep him in the news. He accused Yashraj Films, one of the most A-List production house to be the ‘industry bully’. He says, “Yashraj have power over a lot of things; they get away with a lot of things. That’s why I say life is unfair, get used to it.”
He continued writing for penning movies like Yuva, Hanuman Returns, Nayak and dialogues for Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal, Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd. But his film making career got a new lease of life and rose his status in film circle thanks to Dev D.
Dev D Trailer
Sarat Chandra Chatterjee’s ancient novel has been told and retold in nine films so far. None came close to the Kashyap did. The text is refreshingly modernised with the locale set in rural Punjab and Delhi. Dev, son of industrialist, Oxford-educated spoilt, arrogant, aimless asks his childhood sweetheart to send a naked picture but spurns her when there are claims of her not being a virgin. The feisty Paro decides to marry whoever her parents decide- a man much older with children. Here the story moves to Paharganj, Delhi with its decadence, neon light, smoke, drug-selling foreigners. More dysfunctional than ever, he lands in the fushia haven of hooker Chanda.
Here starts Dev’s true decline- he obsesses over the happily married Paro, spurns the loving Chanda, becomes an alcoholic, loses his father and his family leaves him on the road with no cash and is reduced to interacting with a street dog.
At this point can the movie truly denounces the rules. Kashyap’s Devdas does not die at Paro’s doorstep rather decides to give life a second chance. Chatterjee’s Devdas is a victim of his own actions as well as destiny. Kashyap’s Dev takes control and for the first time has an aim- to win back his real love- Chanda.
His next was the long awaited Gulaal which did not generate box office collections but was critically acclaimed. His next writing projects are Rensil D’Silva’s Jehaad, Goldie Behl’s Shor and UTV’s Guru Dutt. Movie projects in the pipeline include Bombay Velvet a thriller based in 60s and action hero flick Doga based on popular North Indian comic series
Kalki Koechlin
His personal life too seems to be on a high. He is now living in with Kalki Koechlin who played Chanda in Dev. He says, “I’m very happy in my relationship with Kalki. She has brought great stability to my life.”
Maybe that is why the angry young director of Bollywood seems to be more calmer now, reconciling a famous tiff with director Karan Johar. He is now penning Karan’s next movie. “Today, I realise where I had gone wrong in my earlier cinema. I’m working on my weak points.”
Posted 1 year, 4 months ago at 8:44 pm. Add a comment
Bhais, Khokha, Peti, Supari are certain Indian terminologies beyond the knowledge of the world population and most Indians, barring those from Mumbai. Its only been in the last 20 years that the whole nation is familiar with them.
Bhai: (n) ruffian, gangster, literallly means brother.
Khokha- One lakh rupees, literally means a box
Peti- One crore rupees, literally means a large box
Supari- contract handed out by one party to a gang or gangster to kill person/s
Amitabh Bachchan as underworld don Vijay
The Mumbai mafia is now an integral part of Mumbai culture. It began in 1940 when Afghan ganglords started whorehouses exclusively for the ruling British. Soon their activities included smuggling, extortion and contract killing. The mafia kept up with the changing city rapidly establishing a stronghold over it. Much blood was split due to gangwar on Mumbai streets.
The 80s and 90s were particularly marked with an escaled scale of gang activity. One of the biggest dons Dawood Ibrahim was allegedly behind the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts which claimed 150 lives while the subsequent riots flamed by mafia claimed 257 lives. Over the years the mafia suffered from fragmentation and by 2001, although very much existent, no more has the same stronghold it did for 60 years.
Amitabh Bachchan again as Don
The dons, their lives, the functioning of the mafia is showcased frequently in popular culture in two categories- as part of a larger setting or the entire film or book dedicated the topic. The mafia life has been chronicled extensively but what is intersting is the treatment meted out to the topic.
The two iconic movies of the 80s were Deewar and Don. Deewar has actor Amitabh Bachchan as an underworld who was an underworld don, outlining the former category. Don (again with Bachchan) was focussed around the glamourous lifestyle of underworld kingpin surrounded by his female moll, loyal croonies and wanted by the police. The most famous dialogue aptly describes the mafia potrayal. “Don ko pakadna mushkil hi nahi, naa mumkin hai” (It is not just tough to catch the don but impossible to do so)
Sanjay Gupta, producer-director who is known for the stylised action movies he creates, says “Earlier in this genre, Bollywood was only aping the west. Our underworld was largely dacoits. We started having this particular theme of Mumbai mafia only from the 80s onwards.”
Gupta still contests the depiction of reality. He says, “We have never gotten realistic cause what is real is very unglamourous, stark and boring. The way actual gangsters live has nothing to do with what we show.”
The man who changed this glamourisation of the underworld was Ram Gopal Varma. He entered the industry with the superhit Rangeela a love story however went on to create some of the most critically acclaimed movies of the underworld. The biggest feature common to them all - reality.
Director Ram Gopal Varma
Since childhood, Ramu as he is popularly known as was drawn to power and he believes this is where his underworld fascination comes from. “You may be a social peaceloving person but you are still attracted to someone in power, whether to you look up or down at him. In school, one is scared of bullies. In a neighbourhood, if there is a gangster who lives by his own rules, good or bad, you can’t ignore him. That’s power,” he says.
His first foray into the underworld was Satya in 1998. On how the conceptualisation, Ramu says,
“In 1997, a man was killed by gangsters. I happened to be with a policeman friend who was discussing how what the victim was upto before he died. There it stuck me, what about the killer? What was he doing before he committed the crime, did he have breakfast etc. I realised the only time we ever heard about the killers was when they committed the crime or were caught by the police.”
Satya chronicles the life of Chakravarthi (J.D Chakravarthy) an honest man jailed for no wrongdoing and soon becoming one of the most wanted hitman. He also falls in love with struggling singer Vidhya who is unaware of his profession. With police closing in on him, does he convince Vidhya to escape with him, forms the movie synopsis.
Scene from Satya plotting killing of Mumbai police commissioner
Inspite of having two very strong writers Anurag Kashyap and Saurabh Shukla, Ramu believes the script is improvised making the film so real.
Satya shook the industry. Never before has Bollywood reality actually been real. Sunday Mid-day hailed it as “India’s first gangsta film attempting to penetrate the whys of criminality”. The Times of India gave it a five star rating saying “nothing but the truth.”
Komal Nahata, film critic and film trade analyst describes it as “landmark and cult.”
His next underworld venture Company explained the working of the underworld inspired from the real life don Dawood Ibrahim and his famous split up from associate Chota Rajan. “There was so much material left after researching Satya.” The movie’s precise portrayal of the don’s business model was praised. Also Manisha Koirala and Antara Mali’s characters showed the change in depiction of mafia women. The underworld moll which earlier was usually added to up the glamour and sex quotient was now an intelligent woman aware of her partner’s profession providing inputs and emotional support.
OST Company- Ganda hai par dhandha (its dirty but its business)
With D which flopped, Ramu had created his underworld trilogy which he says was not a consious decision. The next big mainstream underworld movie was Farhan Akhtar’s Don which was a remake of the 70s hit starring superstar Shah Rukh Khan. It returned to the stylised extravagant approach earlier used. It fared well in India doing more business internationally. Nahata attributes this to the Shah Rukh Khan factor. “The international audiences love him”
Financially Ramu’s budget has been rather modest in contrast to usual Bollywood fare. On the other hand Sanjay Gupta is known for lavish sets, multi star-cast and no-expense spared style budget. He believes there is definitely a market for his genre. “If these films didnt work, I wouldn’t be sitting in this grand office right now.” Nahata believes such movies are profitable but you cannot expect a blockbuster. He says,
“There is a section of audience who wants reality but 90% of Indians still want their cinema to be ‘masala’ entertainment. The international audience is more traditional preferring song-and-dance, ostentatious weddings and typical Indian mileu films. Hence movies on the underworld have a limited appeal not appealing to a wide spectrum of audience.”
Posted 1 year, 4 months ago at 8:26 pm. Add a comment
The producers strike due to the dispute between Bollywood and multiplexes has resulted in no major movie releases this April leading to losses on both sides.
Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan at a news conference about the issue
“The industry has lost over 50 crore rupees in a month,” says producer Mukesh Bhat, the head of United Producers Distributors Forum.
The two big movie seasons in India are April, when schools and colleges break for summer and November, when its Diwali- the main festival for Hindus.
Actor Aamir Khan said, “We value the contribution of the multiplexes, but there is a need to re-examine the revenue-sharing model.”
Already the strike has taken its toll on the recession-hit industry with total losses expected to be over a billion rupees. The multiplexes too are estimated to lose 3 billion rupees by June.
“Over 250 multiplexes in the country will close rather than accept what certain Bollywood producers are proposing,” says Atul Goel, CEO Essel group which operates FUN cinemas and chairman of the Multiplex Association of India.
The strike began on April 4 and since then no announcements have been made on when it will cease..
There are four big issues contested. Firstly multiples owners retain 60% of profits and gives the remaining to Bollywood. Producers are demanding a 50-50 share in profits. Actor Shah Rukh Khan calls it “fair rights for friday nights.” Multiplexes will only agree if the movie is profitable which according to Bollywood is a ‘subjective’ matter.
Atul Goel, head of Multiplex Association of India.
The credit crunch coupled with big-budget movies like Chandni Chowk to China, Billu Barber and Delhi 6 flopping at the box office has to the industry facing heavy losses. Moneyflow has dropped and slowed down in Bollywood. Hence financing is an essential. The multiplexes are sympathetic to the issue but are demanding a better deal.
Multiplexes are accused of deducting entertainment taxes even in states where they are not imposed. Also there is an additional charge of 2-8% on service tax which goes straight to the multiplexes. Aamir Khan says, “Some people have been charging that and keeping it for themselves.” Multiplexes have denied charges saying ‘not everyone is the same’
Also another issue is irregular ticketing. “We have found that if a deal is on 100% booking, the last two seats are not sold. Multiplexes though have denied such accusation sayin all -ticketing is done online.
Multiplex have sprung up all India since the last six tears. There are 240 multiplexes and about 850 screens in India. Ernst and Young reports that around 3.7 billion cinema tickets are sold in India per year. Vishal Kapur from FUN Cinemas says, “We can only recover 4-5 lakh rupees per month We have come close to losing 40 billion last month.” With the average cost of running a multiplex 2-3 million rupees of which only a fifth of it was recovered.
Although no big budget movies were planned for the summer, beginning June many movies are in the pipeline such as Vishal Bharadhwaj’s Kaminey, Vashu Bhagnani’s Kal Kissne Dekha, Yash Raj’s New York and Vishesh Films Jashn. Bhatt says, “The industry is bleeding and we all stand united in this problem.”
With big budget movies facing drastic money cuts and bombing at the box office, 2008 can be called the year of the small budget films. A film like Oye Lucky Lucky Oye was nominated in the same categories in award ceremonies as a Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi or a Rock On!!. Audiences watched A Wednesday as enthusiastically as they watched Dostana. With the trend continuing in 2009, it seemed perfect timing for Little Zizou.
Director Sooni Taraporevala who earlier penned scripts of Diaspora films like Salaam Bombay, The Namesake and Missippi Masala gets down to her first directorial venture. Little Zizou piqued enough interest before release with its overall look. Set in the Parsi community (which was earlier tributed in the successful Being Cyrus), the storyline deals with current issues of identity and fundamentalism pervading the community, all narrated through the eyes of Little Zizou aka Xerxes, a 11 year old motherless and longing-to-be-loved Parsi boy
The dynamics of the Parsi are remarkably different from other religions. The old generation continues to live the same old world they always did. (“We have been living in the same house for four generations where do we go now?” remarks an old lady when told of eviction)
The middle generation is stuck having to choose between two polarities. One is fanatism and protection a dwindling community represented by self proclaimed preacher Cyrus II Khodaji (Sohrab Ardeshir) who has formed the Parsi Liberation Army to cleanse the community banning converts and unions with non-Parsis. The other side is given by free-speaking liberal-minded Boman Pressvala, (Boman Irani) who inspite hating Khodaji never discriminates against his children. His beautiful wife Roxanne (Xenobia Shroff) is Zizou’s surrogate mother much to the displeasure of her human-hating animal-loving daughter Leah (Inayah Bativala).
Zizou can’t connect to his older brother Artexerxes (Imaad Shah) because Art is “Lost in his own world” With being busy writing graphic novels, trying to build a flight simulator and wooing Zenobia (Dishad Patel), Pressvala’s older daughter, Art represents the youngest generation disillusioned with fundamentalism and his ‘bogus humbug father’.
Taraporevala scores in the first half which is full of delightful character sketches. With Bollywood always reducing Parsis to mere caricatures of ‘Rustom’, the film succeeds in going beyond the usual bawa cliches. Each character is lovingly etched with the director also showing how they shaped up to who they are as she is aware the film is an introduction of sorts to the Parsi world. Being a ‘bawi’ herself, she makes sure to give an in-depth picture.
However the second half takes the form of a docudrama and thats where the charm factor dulls down. Somehow the issues between the two warring parties come across as individual problems rather than larger community issues. All it takes for Boman Irani is to have a heart ataack and he has public support. The track featuring Roxanne’s mother (Mahabanoo Mody-Kotwal) and Zenobia’s boyfriend Arjun (John Abraham, in a guest appearance) is left midway. Cyrus Broacha and Kamal Sidhu hardly have screen time. Bend it like Beckham maintained the actresses fascination with the footballer throughout the movie. However amidst the chaos Big Zizou is forgotten.
The acting matches the hype it created. Boman Irani once again delivers a perfect performance of a man being the lone voice of reason and his interaction with wife Xenobia Shroff is highly endearing. The film is full of spectacular supporting starcast- Mahabanoo Mody-Kotwal as the grand old dame still living in her past is regal. Imaad Shah, inspite of being non-Parsi stands out while Sohrab Ardeshir creates pity and hatred for his character with the audiences.
However the two stars of the show are the children Jahan and Inayah. Jahan’s narrative role never clashes with the story rather offers an unbiased view of it. His desire to establish a connection with his mother (He asks his brother, “Did she see me before she died?”) and his talk about ghosts and angels with Inayah strikes a chord
Special mention to the highly qualified technical team- Arjun Bhasin and Shahnaz Vahanvaty’s costumes, Nitin Desai’s production, Amrita Singh’s art design and Bickram Ghosh’s music contribute minute details all which creates the perfect setting for the old, quaint Parsi world.
In all, watch Little Zizou. Get a glimpse into a hitherto unknown world and come out feeling good with a smile.
Posted 1 year, 4 months ago at 4:13 pm. Add a comment
Delhi 6 was unanimously expected to be the first hit of the year 2009. Its song Masakalli was on top of the charts.The quaint old bylines of Chandni Chowk, Delhi with postcode 6, were sepia-toned one notch giving it the old world charm. With his previous movie Rang De Basanti being one of Hindi cinema’s greatest, there was no way Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra could go wrong.
But he did- largely with the explorative mode of the script. Mehra established the basic storyline- NRI grandson comes back with dying grandmom back to her old Delhi home so that she can die there, and soon discovers Delhi-6 and subsequently India. Roshan wanders about Delhi interacting with the interesting bunch of loving peaceful residents. One of them is Bitu, (Sonam) a sparky ambitious girl refusing marriage and dreaming of being the country’s next singing star.
Love obviously follows next but a tad too late in the movie and that’s where the problems start. Once the premise is given, there is nothing for Roshan to do. No explanations on his life back in America, job, girlfriend and why does he just not do anything except observe others and try changing and sometimes interfering in their lives.
The hot topic which has got all tongues wagging is attacks by a black monkey man. All strange incidents and murders are quickly blamed on him. No one has ever really him, but the rumours get stronger day by day. The previously communally peaceful neighbourhood soon begans to doubt the other.
On the upside, each actor is handpicked by Mehra. Rishi Kapoor as the wise Ali, Supriya Pathak as the loving older sister in law, Waheeda Rahman-graceful in each frame- each of add wonderfully to the film. Atul Kulkarni’s meek act and Divya Dutta as the beautiful untouchable sweeper stand out amongst the performances This may not be his best performance, but you can see the hardwork put behind Roshan by the Junior B. Its good to have Sonam Kapoor back on stage.
One can tell Mehra knows Delhi. However the blend of a variety of themes under a large one does not leave a good taste in the mouth. The whole monkeyman is based on a real incident but sounds surreal in the movie. Roshan-Bitu’s love story gains prominence only in the last shots. The Ramayana depiction is not an apt metaphor for current events, (Mehra achieved the Bhagat Singh juxtaposition in Rang De Basanti perfectly)
The music features in ten best albums by AR Rahman. Masakalli, Delhi 6 title track and Genda Phool are on top of the charts. Prasoon Joshi’s lyrics are outstanding
Overall if you don’t go with any expectations, you may be able to feel good. But a movie with this star cast and a director like Mehra, its impossible not to expect and hence Delhi 6 is a let down.
Starring- Farhan Akhtar, Konkona Sen Sharma and pretty much the rest of Bollywood
Director- Zoya Akhtar
Running time- 156 mins
Rating- ****
Tribute to Indian cinema can either be full of cliches as seen Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi’s hit song or . However a real Bollywood has not yet been since the 1994 blockbuster Rangeela. Who better to bring that cinema back than a debutante director with star parents, a star brother/director and close interactions with the whole industry?
Zoya Akhtar brings us Luck by Chance. Cinema with all its charms, glory and realities- none melodramatic rather subtle with none of the starcast going to histronics.
The story about budding actor Vikram Jaisingh (Farhan Akhtar) who by chance gets a call from producer Romi Roly’s office. Roli (Rishi Kapoor, absolutely hilarious) usual hero Zafar Khan chooses a Karan Johar movie over Roli’s love story and walks out. With no other actor avaible, he goes in for a newcomer. Vikram lands the lead role due to his charm and appeal to women, as decided by the pretty … (Juhi Chawla, delighful) in love story starring opposite pretty bimbette Niki Walia (Isha Sharvani, charming and completely gorgeous). Her mother Neena is the yesteryear diva (who better than the ever-youthful Dimple Kapadia for the role) who along with her daughter has the hots for Vikam. Little do they know, he is already seeing struggling actress Konkona Sen Sharma stuck with side roles and ad films. But does fame make Vikram forget those who supported him when he was no one?
If Ram Gopal Varma used his three lead characters to successfully describe the industry, Zoya goes all out bringing the whos who of the industry together. If Farah Khan got 31 stars for one star, Zoya coos even the most reluctant stars (Aamir Khan cameos in the film’s first five minutes) to the unknown (writer Mushtaq Sheikh responsible for Om Shanti Om) to the cameo-friendly (Abhishek Bachchan for atleast five minutes is a must in every movies nowadays). The two main actors- Farhan Akhtar and Konkona Sen Sharma are top-notch and even amongst an A-list starcast hold their ground.
The strength of Luck By Chance is that its main theme of representing the Indian film industry is done by the best in the industry themselves. The script however does go weak towards the last half hour becoming preachy and the end is highly abrupt.
Do watch the movie, get a glimpse behind the scenes of India’s most sought after industry. Finally, Bollywood is captured for what it truly is.
