Review: Life of Pi

Movie- Life of Pi

Language- English

Director- Ang Lee

Cast- Suraj Sharma, Irrfan Khan, Tabu... and others.

Ok by the time you read this, i guess most of you would have known that this movie is a visual marvel (Next AVATAR!, Yeah from all those posters screaming at you!), and also that people (Nowadays it is easier you see) update their statuses in Facebook, twitter saying Wow, awesome, what a movie!, if you are still unsure what to do, just skip to the Overall section of this review, you may find your answer.

I have already read the novel by Yann Martel (Life of Pi), though it is unfair to compare the novel and movie, but it will surely affect your movie watching experience if you have read it, so better go without any prior knowledge of the story and indulge yourself into the experience it provides.

For starters this movie is not about Mr.Richard Parker (The awesome looking CG Royal Bengal Tiger) and Pi surviving the pacific, it is much more, and don't miss the message this movie offers, while experiencing the visual treat it gives us.

Ok on for the review now...

Yes the movie as a visual medium is truly spectacular. Only few movies (OK!  it was only Avatar! and  if you pardon me i would also add "Legend of the Guardians:Owls of Ga' hoole"! although it was still an animation movie) properly used 3D as a medium for the sake of telling the story. What has the technology done the the movie viewing experience is that, it has taken movie watching experience to a new level. You will never believe that everything is CG, except for the humans (Irrfan, Tabu, Suraj etc) everything is computer generated (Even Pi's mama!). It is so realistic, that rather than fearing the storm and the fury it unleashes, we get mesmerized with the beauty of the storm, it is just the most beautiful thing  i had ever seen on screen, and with 3D it is much more spectacular and seeing it in big screen is like experiencing it in real time, you need to certainly see it for yourself.

Not just the storm sequence, another scene involving Pi and the sinking ship is just epic, was totally spellbound (will surely get special effects Oscar for this scene alone!) and also the flying fish sequence and the floating green island with cute Meerkats too rivet out attention. There are some beautiful set pieces, both terrific and wonderful, brilliant scenes where ocean meets the sky, we don't really know whether it looks the same as how it is shown on screen, and we don't seriously care, it is like an art, like a beautiful painting, moving on the screen. I promise that this is one of those movies where in every scene your age reverses and you go from Wow to Aww... seeing the beauty, fury unleashed before you, we transform into a kid, lost in the surreal world created by Ang lee. Thank you Ang lee, for letting out the kid in us and enjoy the nature at its best. And also for letting us visit the long forgotten zoo from our school days.

Technically it is one of the most brilliant films, we get to see no issues in any department, be it editing, camera work etc. (Well you see, since everything is computer generated we can move over to main issue here). We at last get to hear a Tamil song in a Hollywood movie and get to hear Tabu mouthing Tamil dialogues, how interesting is that!

I have more than established that it provides an experience beyond words. And now moving on to plot of the movie. To say simply in a word it is about Survival, well if i say this movie is just about survival, guess i have not understood it completely and properly. The story is in past tense where our grown up Pi, recounts his tale of survival to a budding author who is in search for a story of survival, courage and also to believe in god, did Pi's tale make a believer out of our author, did he manage to get his spectacular story of survival of a boy and fully grown adult male Bengal Tiger stuck alone in the pacific, forms the main theme of the movie.

Pi Patel (The meaning of name will not be revealed here!), lives in Pondicherry with his family (Dad- Adhil Hussain, Mom-Tabu and a brother Ravi), undergoes crisis of identity of what religion he belongs to(He is a Hindu  who gets baptized and offers namaz too!), plays mruthangam, romances (cute looking!) bharatanatiyam dancer Aanandhi. Well Pi's family decide to leave Pondy for good and head to Canada to make a living, hence sell off their zoo and board the Japanese ship, which is also carrying the animals. 

The ship gets into a storm, Pi  manages to escape in a life boat, with an odd company of a fractured Zebra, a Hyena, a orangutan( Orange Juice!) and of course our majestic Richard Parker  Well then rest is you guessed right, survival, did our Pi make it (Of course it is absurd! we know he survived, he is telling this story ha ha!), well it is HOW PI SURVIVED, how he survived the ordeal with Mr.Richard Parker and of course the pacific.

Irrfan khan( Older Pi) is simply superb in his role. The young Pi too sails through and of course Tabu and Adhil too make their performances speak for them. And Suraj the lead, guess has a lot more job to do, except of course catching fishes, whistling at Richard, and Shouting at the Storm, for a new comer it is a good performance and Suraj manages to carry the movie on his shoulders.

So so, is this movie one among the legends, is it so flawless, will it go down in history like the rest of the great ones, it could have, but there are some issues which could bring it down. Agreed! that visually it is spectacular, but somehow there is hollowness, and something is missing.

The main theme of the movie gets lost in the spectacular visual effects, we forget what the story was about and i guess Ang lee also lost his way towards the end. What was a riveting climax is a damp whimper. It could have been visually showcased, but no, lee thought better and the most important part of the movie is said orally by Suraj, and audience need to hang to every word of it to understand what had really happened and in my case(where i watched the movie) many didn't get home the point, and here Ang lee fails the spirit of the novel. For a wonderful visual movie he could have taken any story, and if Life of Pi was taken to be made into one, it had to take home the message the novel conveyed, and failure to do so is a crime in all sense.

The feeling is lost towards the end, the feeling of how Pi managed to survive in the deserted ocean, his spirit of survival is not conveyed properly  Of course it is not a Castaway (Awesome Tom Hanks!), but we never pity Pi, somehow we never feel for the poor guy stuck in middle of the ocean, with nothing but a Tiger to keep company. And also rather than being a movie which  makes us to believe in god, we do not in many places find reference to that of god itself, Only older Pi ( Irrfan) makes some reference at times. Hence the viewer manages to enjoy the visual treat, but loose the message of the movie, message from the tale of Pi, of how he survived, and what made him survive alone in the ocean WITH RICHARD PARKER.

Hence my appeal to my friends who read this review is that, spend time pondering over the tale Pi says towards the end, therein lies the actual beauty of the movie, else it is just a mere visual spectacle. 

Cons: I am summarizing what i wrote above. It could have been THE most wonderful movie, but falls short in certain areas and the message of the movie gets marred in the visual treat Lee has prepared for us. Hence not every movie goer will understand its theme and what the movie actually stands for and also the actual tale of survival. Hence according to me, Pi looks great, but greatness not only comes from the looks alone.

Pros: Could these Cons be overlooked ? could the movie still be called the best. I won't say so. But still, to  say the truth, i really loved the movie, and my lamenting is the fact that, it was that kind of movie that could have gone down in history as one the most spectacular work of art. It is like having feeling of Kunthi seeing Karna and shedding tears that Karna will never be the son that he was born to be. He could have achieved much more greatness, but also, he was a legend in his own terms. Hence giving this movie its due credit, we could see the blood, sweat and toil of Ang in every frame. It gives me shudders to think the amount of work gone in order to make this beauty. Hats off to Ang lee and his team. 

And the most important and the Best part of the movie is Mr.Richard Parker, one would not believe that he was computer generated. He is majestic, totally wonderful, a beautiful creature ever created by man! never ever our national animal has evoked such a massive reaction from people (Yeah people Tiger is still our national animal! no of course not, MMS( you know who) did not change it into COW!). Richard is quite adorable and cute, even though he sometimes give a blood curdling roar. And Richard Parker will be going down in history as the most loved tiger and also the best acted tiger ever (Hopefully he gets a Best supporting actor nominee! and also the Oscar for it! Go Richard Parker!). Other pros i have already mentioned and summarized in two words- A "Visual Grandeur". 

Overall:  Go! grab your tickets, your 3D glasses, Popcorn bucket and cool drinks! Enjoy the show (What more do you expect!).

P.S- Be sure to watch it in 3D, IMAX would be much better. 

Review: OMG Oh My God!

Movie- OMG Oh My God!

Language- Hindi

Director- Umesh Shukla

Cast- Paresh Rawal, Akshay kumar, Mithun Chakraborthy... and others.

Why do we watch movies ? yes of course for entertainment. But is it for entertainment alone that movies are made, don't movies reflect social realities, sometimes they go on to win  the national awards, but do we get to see them, do they actually get their due credit, do they also succeed at box office. So how about a social message in a movie, are we ready to accept them, or do we discard them like the tickets we usually litter outside the theater. 

So what if the medicine is laced with honey and given to you, where our matinee idol Akshay kumar has to play God in order to get in the crowd, where Prabu deva with oomph given by Sonakshi has to dance for an item number. But, does the crowd in theater means that the movie is good, (ha ha) not every time my friend, may be it is for the producer. The victory of the movie is that, when we think about it afterwards, it travels with us, we ponder over it, it lingers in our memory, tries to change our perception of something which cannot be changed, questions the long established traditions,can a movie really do that ?

May be they can, may be they cannot(it can never be proved), the success of the director in this case lies in making at least an individual, take away the message from the movie. These kind of movies are hard to come by. And sadly they sink soon without trace, but the actual fact is that, people who have watched it cannot forget it, may be never, it leaves an imprint forever. Oh My God is one such Gem of a movie coming from the trash( Yeah most of the time!) of the Bollywood  It takes guts to bring about a movie of this kind, where even mention of religion stirs up some obscure organisations ire. 

It is of course not a comedy movie as mentioned in most places, yeah could be called a satire, but for me it uses comedy as a medium to take a wonderful message to the people. And confining it to the comedy genre is a disgrace done to the movie, and to the makers and even the GOD( YEAH!). It is a social movie, where our protagonist Kanji lalji mehta( played brilliantly by versatile Paresh Rawal), takes the God to court, and in process questions the so called representatives of God( Self declared swamis) and shakes the faith of people, also teaches them( us ) a lesson or two.

This movie was a stage play(Kanji Virudh Kanji)in Gujarati  where Paresh Rawal played the lead, it was good sense from the director to bring the play to a larger audience, kudos to the producers(Akshay and Paresh) too. Kanji lalji is a middle class shrewd business man, who sells artifacts especially idols of gods for a living. Sadly in an Earthquake( of 3.5 Richter!) , only our kanji's shop gets destructed.

When everyone cries, kanji with his head held high visits our insurance guy( These poor people are always either shown as dumb, stupid and the villain, sad creatures!). Who says earthquake is an act of God, which sets of our Kanji to court to sue Mr.God. Hence in process creates a storm, hurting businesses of our swamis( played with a hideous wig by mithun da! reminded me of someone very familiar!). And God descends(Akki in a Golden chopper! YAY!), and what happens to the case, to Kanji, to the hideous wig swamiji, does he become a believer or does he  succeeds in making us an atheist like him, or so forms rest of the story.

Plot wise there is not much of a suspense, we all know what will happen in the end. But hold, though the ending is somewhat predictable, but still there is some surprise element present. The dialogues are wonderful, and in many a places deserves applause. Not much to note about camera work, it was pretty decent. Editing was good, makes the journey of the movie peaceful. Himesh( Yeh the same cap guy!) deserves praise( Seriously!)  the background score is really good and songs too are not too jarring and helps keeping the mood of the movie. It also questions other faiths(like Islam, Christianity and see the movie to know WHY!), though the titular fight is between Krishna and kanji.

The lesson derived from the movie is not new, time and again some great people are born to teach us, lead us in better path, but in the end their teaching becomes obscure, and gets lost in history(But remembered by poor souls who prepare for competitive exams, sad creatures!). As said in the movie every faith tells the same, Gita, Quran, Bible, serve the man, God can be found anywhere and everywhere, let alone in temple.

The gravity of the message is too big, even great leaders have not succeeded in changing the people, you can ask what can this small movie can do. Well it acts as reminder, a wake up call to many. Some may take it home, some may leave it, but in the end it is a wholehearted effort from the team, raising a very sensitive but very relevant and much debated issue. And it is certainly not about having no belief in god, it is about having faith in humanity, which lets us become the God we are and also the monster( we are).

Cons: The Item song could have been avoided( Though Sonakshi looked hot!). Introduction scene involving Akshay was overdone, the graphics was poor, could have been little realistic. Hideous wig of Mithun chakraborthy creates nightmare. The character of the swamis look cliched. Looks Bollywoodish, little more realistic, would have enabled connection with the character. Actually we don't really feel sorry for the Kanji's loss of his shop, little more character development would have added more weight. The heart of the movie is in right place but it has erratic beating.

Pros: The cons were just minor hiccups, which in no way affect the message of the movie, and is delivered Crystal clear. Also it is not a preachy kind of movie, which we all hate, it does not stuff the message down our throat, it just establishes the facts as it is, it does not even degrade any religion or questions the base, it just questions the interpreters of those faiths, it is like a buffet meal, we can take what ever we like, either the message(Main course), the comedy in it( the Dessert), or else even Sonakshi( the Starter). Well done movie, and does not lag or bore you at any point. The comic scenes are also well done. Paresh has once again given a excellent performance. Akshay plays subtle and often smiles a lot( Yeah! after a point it gave me creeps).  

Overall: Watch it for heavens sake! May be you change for better. Only once in a while we get to see these kind of movies, do support them and do watch it with your whole family, it will be lapped up by everyone. 

God Help us all!!!

P.S: Well if you think you still don't believe in God, trust me God exists( OH! its not Akki!), It's the one who  wrote this piece and the one who is reading it now( ha ha! I was just kidding). 

P.P.S: Do we still go to temple, do we still believe in the swamis, do the channels rake in crores, what has changed, NOTHING. May be we change for better. Could someone tell me where the NUKES are!

  

    

Review: Thattathin Marayathu

Movie- Thattathin Marayathu

Language- Malayalam

Director- Vineeth Srinivasan

Cast- Nivin Pauly, Isha Talwar... and others.

So, yet another love story. We all know the "Story" of the Love story. Two young love birds, probably from different caste/religion, else the girl is either rich or boy is rich, there is a villain element in either of the father or else in the family, there are a group of friends who help the lovers, and of course they do provide comic relief at times, and yeah there is a wonderful music(most of the time), and there is suspense whether they are going to end up together or not, if it is a cynical director(well whose story ended in tragedy, says its the reality(God bless!)) and Kills of the love birds(sad!) or else it happy happy ending.

So i have summarized the story line of the love stories of the Indian cinema for the past 100 years(Yeah people its century...YAY! ) or so and also probably for the coming 100 years. So what makes directors take up LOVE STORY every now and then. Well its because they have a different story to tell(Probably names differ i guess) every time, many a time it does not succeed and gets lost in time, only few stands out, in these few movies everything comes together... the story, the director, the leads, the photography and of course MUSIC. These few movies are the history makers, creating a cult following and you may wonder why so much rant about nothing with the movie, but it is what it is. 

Thattathin Marayathu is that kind of movie, a cult, which has everything going for it. Its an art, a beautiful piece of creation, such dedication from the Team, and only few instances we get to see such a beauty on screen and don't miss this beauty at any cost.

Vineeth Srinivasan has hit bulls eye, and the movie achieves a cult because of its treatment. The photography is brilliant and suits the mood of the movie and captures the mood of the movie. Do not search for any logic here, because love does not see that.

Our hero a Hindu,Nair,Communist and a Thalassery guy... who falls in love with Aisha Rahman. Vinoth played by Nivin falls head over heals in love with Aisha(Isha Talwar... I going a dedicate a para for her <3), yes its love at first sight for our Nair boy, who with help of his playboy friend abu( and others...) and S.I Premkumar(Played brilliantly by Manoj K.Jayan) tries to get his girl, which he does or not forms the climax. 

Aisha... what a girl... Isha Talwar makes an impact, though her first movie, it does not seem so, she gets into "Aisha" and make the lead role more believable. She looks ravishing and gorgeous in her salwars and even  beautiful in a burkah(WOW!). We instantly get hooked to her. And for the first time, we notice the work of the costume designer... awesome costumes for Aisha, and with a beautiful cinematography creates a surreal experience. 

 The love scenes are well etched out and brings out the mood of the film. And kudos to Nivin too who emotes well and hence the love scenes do not seem forced. The movie is also well edited as we can find no lag and the flow is smooth and quick. Comic relief by Hero's friends is not seemed forced and blends with the movie and hence makes the movie even more believable. The scenes involving a little cute girl is really good and the cuttie acts well too(She creates the line of communication!). The Director does not exploit the theme of hindu-muslim love though it forms the crux, communism also forms a little element, but everything seems little compared to the LOVE STORY... which is what the movie is about, a simple Love story between a boy and a girl, nothing more and nothing less(With liberal dose of comedy of course!).

MUSIC by shaan provides the necessary backbone for such a love story. A soulful music is a absolute must for the movie's success especially a love story and shaan makes no mistake and gives us some wonderful melodies which with a beautiful actress and a awesome cinematography makes our heart skip a beat more than just once. You can sure experience your once loved love(May be your first!), you could see yourself in the hero's shoes, waiting to be seen by his lady love, waiting to steal a glance and makes us walk down our own memories, thank you Vineeth.

A wonderful movie indeed. Two thumbs up for Vineeth and Team for giving us this movie. Let go yourself  and enjoy this movie and experience Love once again. 

Catch it, make sure you do.

P.S(Especially for Guys)- And Don't complain, if you like me have fallen in Love with Aisha, Inshallah Allah, kya ladki hey.