Liar Liar (English)

I think one of the funnier scenes I've scene in recent times is the scene from Liar Liar where Jim Carrey has to say out what his opinion is about a big boss in the Law firm. Alas, he cannot lie that whole day...so he has to speak the truth. Truth he spake! :-)
The whole room of lawyers is rolling with laughter at the end of the scene (and so are you) thanks to all the insults Carrey is throwing.
The last I laughed so much was with Analyze that.

The movie itself is a classy, a gem among all the broo-ha-ha Carrey has attempted.
Go watch it! Two-thumbs up (or whatever those Ebert and Roeper say)

Anybody seen 'Kyoki mai jhooth nahi bol sakta'? I bet it wouldn't have been this funny and touching at the same time.

Stumble (English/Kannada)

IMDB link: Stumble

aahh....Sheer brilliance!!!

As Rajat put it to me a couple of days ago 'Madhu - take a break from all these movies dude!!! but wait on second thoughts you are seeing sensible stuff'
You bet ...this is one of the most intelligent movies I've seen in some time.
Screenplay - meticulously crafted
Actors - Aptly chosen
Acting - Delivered as if they were living their lives
Dialogues - No moment inappropriate, although making an English movie with Kannada actors can be a double edged sword.
Direction - Does anybody who has seen Garva and other creations by Prakash Belawadi need a second opinion??

Kudos to Anant Nag and everybody else in this venture...I felt like I was watching one of those Shankar Nag movies again, (particularly Accident) the screen dazzling with intelligence, but not losing the audience with high-headedness ever. Note the use of typical south indian accents, the pun on Business and management lingo, and the various other pot-shots. It's dark, it's funny and ultimately very realistic....

A pity it did not get noticed by the cynical unconcerned audience around us, who can get anything in their way of watching and appreciating movies ...from language barriers, to presence of not-so-popular stars, to non-mainstream themes.
Well not that I care much....only that it might be tough for you to find. I also felt the writers were never un-realistic in the portrayal of the SW and ITES industries and all the hype around it. Wonder how they are so informed..

I think i'll write this into a CD and keep it with me, in the fear that I may never find a rental of this movie or may never catch it on a channel..
The only downside is maybe the length of the movie, could have been a bit more crisp.
Congrats to Mr. Belawadi on the movie, and congrats on the 2003 Silver Lotus Award too!

ps: HEY GUESS WHAT I HEAR SOON AFTER THE START OF THE MOVIE..THEY ARE FIRING 'MADHU' IN THE MOVIE....MADHU RAO !!!! :-) Pallavi Dattu plays Madhu Rao in the movie .. heh.

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A Clockwork Orange (English)

IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066921/

Have you ever come across a movie that claims to be Witty, funny, satirical, political, thrilling, frightening, metaphorical, sardonic, exciting, bizzarre - all these things at the same time? That should be a Crazy movie right?

You said it eh,brother!!!

Let me start another way....Have you come across a movie that 'seems' so revolting that you want to *actually* throw up? (Or was it only me when I "attempted" to see this movie the first time)

Well some say Stanley Kubrick was a genius and another equal number of some say he is a nutcase. I finally saw the whole movie yesterday and I would think if there was ever a thin line between cinematic genius and lunacy - lo behold - it's Stanley Kubrick !!

Click here for the Trailer

The trailer itself, to start with, is of a kind which I've never encountered before. 100's of stills and sequences from the movie all juxtaposed with each other in intervals of milliseconds and also interspersed with the adjectives I listed earlier; Ludwig Van Beethovan's symphony topping it off as the background music. Quite novel indeed.

If these have not piqued your curiosity to watch the movie first thing after you are done reading, then I shall go ahead and write about the movie.
I will not leave any spoilers here, but will WARN ALL YOU BROTHERS READING THAT THIS MOVIE IS STRICTLY NOT FOR ALL TASTES

Malcolm McDowell plays Alex DeLarge. Alex and his droogs, whom he calls brothers, embarke on a night of the old ultra-violence and are generally running amok spreading terror in the city. The first half of the movie is *SO* graphic and in your face that you may decide not wanting to have anything to do with this rotten movie!

The movie really begins after that frightful night passes. Kubrick's premise is simple 'Do not punish criminals, because after a certain point they might enjoy the punishment. Instead, reform them.' Sounds a simple deal doesn't it? Well, it's the exact suggested mechanism that .............

That said, there is a point in the movie where you start resonating with the central idea that the director wants to point out. At that point you also start wondering about how the weird colours, the loud dialogue delivery, the choice of Beethoven's mesmerising music to form a strong part of the movie in SUCH a bizzarre way - all these aspects enhance the story telling, and whether you want to admit or not, it's brilliance in film making.
VERY VERY WEIRD and FREAKY but still brilliant. The music is as haunting as is the performance of our "humble narrator" played by Malcolm McDowell.

So if you are game for the old fashioned ultra-violence, and the in-out in-outs (!!!) and all the large scale vandalism, then don't miss this movie ...
Nope not the intention to scare you. All said and done, this is a creative movie and should be seen as one (albeit told in a highly sardonic tone).

My Wife's Murder (Hindi)

IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0451824/

'Jab loha garam hai, toh maar do hathoda'
What can be better than a movie review as soon as you're done with the movie?!

End credits running up in my TV here, and I'm sitting down to write about a movie which I feel did not get its due credit. A realistic, no-nonsense effort by 'The Factory' and one of the most sincere efforts by a lead Actor in Bollywood that I've observed in recent times.

RGV and thrillers, need not beat the bush here. No introductions needed about how well he works with this genre. Although there have been some forgettables and take my word for it, you'll come out thinking this is not one.

Ravi Patwardhan, played or rather very well under-played by Anil Kapoor, is a film editor with problems in his married life. His wife Sheela, played effectively by Suchitra Krishnamurthy, suspects that Ravi has something going on with his assistant Reena. Reena's role is played by Nandana Sen who looks pretty but in my opinion fails to deliver the goods, mainly due to her accent. (Why O whyyyy does RGV have this craving for regional actors speaking on their own??? What happened to that age old practice called Dubbing...I mean creativity is one thing, but distracting the audience with 'supposed-to-be-creativity' is not done. Eg: Mohan lal in Company ..hee hee. It's not as bad as that here)

In the first few minutes of the movie, the director establishes the main plot which is the murder, starting with subtle hints like Ravi editing a murder movie, and such..soon sheela is shown as an over suspiscious wife who is finicky about everything the husband does. Soon there are significant altercations and Ravi becomes cause for his Wife's murder!!!
Well NO this is not a spoiler, what were you expecting with a name like 'My Wife's murder'?
It's the skill with which RGV's team (director Jijy Philip and writer Atul Sabharwal) and Anil carry the rest of the movie ahead, that's noteworthy. I did not find too many spots where the audience is lost.

I think Anil deserves 10 on 10 for his performance. If you notice, Anil has a lot of his trademark mannerisms over the years (Tezaab, Mr. India, Raam Lakhan, Beta, Taal etc etc) that invariably gets into every performance of his, be it his dancing, his emoting, his happy moments - every aspect of his acting. Lately he has been *trying* to experiment with his acting and has been successful to a certain extent. I really loved him in 'Nayak:The Real Hero' although there were several of his cliched acting moments. You can almost mimic his acting.



NOT HERE - OH my god does he pull off a wonderful role? The way he underplays Ravi Patwardhan - somebody who is sincere but at the same time deceitful, one who doesn't let the audience see through him - is commendable.

Is this a remake of a Malayalam movie? I remember hearing that somewhere, if yes please let me know. Strangely Anil seems to pull off some remakes well (Virasat, Nayak) He does full justice to the ending, and I'm curious to see the original.

Now did you think 'Alright here is a blog of a desi guy who's gone weird he is hung up on Hollywood movies....shucks what a waste of such good talent' ;-) Nope ...it's just that I hadn't seen a Bollywood movie from some time (and certainly not any that made an impact on me) so I hadn't written.

In other cast, Boman Irani does really well..he seems so comfortable in the role of the cocky suspicious Inspector. I think RGV gang feels like 'choDna mat!!! pakde rehna!!!!' towards highly talented actors like Boman.
What else? Oh yea no songs ..so all the more effective.
Go watch it friend, unless you want me to be the cause of 'My Friends murder'!!!!

Naaaaahhhhhhh :-)