Ishqiya, Unapologetically Bold

Ishqiya, a weird word which does not exists in dictionary. One can only wonder why Vishal chose such a word for naming his film, but then Vishal, as we know him never spoon feeds his audience. So it is bit natural he would like his audience to think through the name and come up with their own interpretation of it. It could be Ishq kiya squeezed into one word, but on watching the film, the meaning of Ishqiya takes totally different significance.

The movie starts with someone singing “ab mujhe koi intejar kahan, Wo jo behte the aabshaar kahan”. A soft light slowly lit the voluminous contours of Krishna (Vidhya Balan) in a dark room. The image and lyrics beautifully depicted the agony and happiness of a wife who waits for her husband and now that her husband is back, her life is lighted and tears are gone (Aabshaar means waterfalls. Here it means the tears falling from her eyes). Such is the power of lyrics by Gulzar. Needless to say similar beauty in the lyrics has been bestowed over the entire film. The best one would be the romantic ballad Dil toh bachha hai ji which beautifully shows the emotion of an aged man going through the juvenile emotions of love.

Aisi ulji nazar unse hatt ti nahi
Daant se reshmi dor katt ti nahi
Umar kab ki baras ke safaid ho gayi
Kaari badari jawani ki chatt ti nahi
Walla ye dhadkan bhadne lagi hai
Chehre ki rangat udne lagi hai
Darr lagta hai tanha sone mein ji
Dil to bachcha hai ji
Dil to bachcha hai ji
Thoda kaccha hai ji
Haan dil to baccha hai ji

Krishna is widow of a Verma ji, a local gangster who died in an accident in explosion of gas cylinder. Khalu Jaan (Naseeruddin Sah) and Babban (Arshad Warsi) are two thieves who double cross their boss and are on the run. They landed in the house of Krishna in Gorakhpur to take  shelter and cross the border to Nepal. But what starts here is a tale of love, deceit and revenge.

A great of deal of attention has been paid to the names of the character. Vidhya balan is called Krishna. The Sanskrit word Krishna means “black”, “dark” or “dark-blue” or some one with dark blue skin. Here the meaning goes skin deep. The character is dark and her feelings blue. Also if one thinks of Krishna as in Krishna bhagwan it seems apt for her character with multiple love interest. Naseerudin Sah is called Khalu Jaan which means uncle suiting his age and the portrayal of old age love. Arshad warsi is Babban which brings into mind Babban Sher, which means a wild and crude creature. Babban is similar in terms of wildness and crudeness of his sexuality.

The high point of direction by Abhishek Choubey is the location and the dialogues. Shot in real locations, it brings out the life in UP very well. Whether it is the dilapidated house on the shore of a river or the lanes of gorkhpur, locations are stark real.  The dialogues by Vishal are pitch perfect with creating the right atmosphere without any dilution. Take the scene when Krishna tells Khalujaan that he can not lie properly. Khalujaan replies “Agar aurat hota toh pata nahin chalta ki pari hoon ya tabayaf” telling her that he knows about her and babban’s relation. Or the dialogue by Babban “Ye sahi hai Khalu, tumara Ishq Ishq aur hamara Ishq sex”, showing the attitude towards love between two generations. The dialogues have a crisp feel with none of the person talking more than 2 – 3 lines at a single stretch. With melodramatic dialogue coupled with a normal one liner to give a comic touch. Like when Krishna says “Ishq mein sab bewajah hota hai”, Babban replies “bag phata hua hai, koi aur bag hai?”

Ishqiya is actually Sholay revisited in western spaghetti . The impression of Emir Kusturika style is evident in many scenes. The dance sequence between Khalujaan and Babban in the starting, the brass brand background score while they follow Kakkar to the beauty parlour. Infact the look of the character khalujaan seemed similar to the ones of Miki” Manojlovic in Underground. The starting of the song Dil toh bachha hai also seemed very much European.

If it could be said, Ishqiya is a film on the vagaries of love. Innocent love by an aged man, blossomed over small flirtations and old songs. An adult love which starts when the carnal desires are fulfilled. Obsessive love that leads to revenge or love as cards in the card game. Only here the game is much bigger and dangerous. The only redemption in this complicated tale of love is that none of the love that has been shown is amateurish. This is the love between adults with meaning much deeper than what normal love stories attributes Love to be. This is a bold take on love where Love means different for different person.

Even though the film is on different varieties of love, the backdrop of the story provided enough scope of social commentary without actually getting deep into it. It gave us a peek on how kids play with guns in the hinterlands of UP. In the words of Nandu “Chuttar dhone se pahle tamancha chalana sikhate hai”.  The kidnapping spree in the cities like Gorakhpur and north UP and Caste wars that is going on for years in that region were also touched upon without moving away from the actual story line.

Coming to acting department, nothing needs to be said for Naseer. Arshad has also proven himself. Both work as charm in a chacha bhatija role. But the stealer this time is Vidhya Balan. She proves that to look sensuous you need not shed clothes, nor to look the part you have to try hard. She was just their perfect as Krishna with her eyes doing what she lost on the accent front.

All in all a great film from the stable of Vishal Bharadwaj and kudos to first time director Abhishek Chaubey for coming up with a film which entertains yet do not undermine the intelligence of the audience.

The day of photo rendezvous

My first trip to onsite and I was hell excited. Not because I was travelling to a totally unknown country within 1 year of my professional career but more because of my prospect of earning some disposable cash and be able to afford a good digital camera for me. My passion for photography was just kicking in and it was a damn good opportunity for me. After much  online research I zeroed on Canon S3is which I felt was the best choice for me at that point of time (Year 1996). Later I regretted my decision of not buying an SLR but I had my reasons at that time. I had a history of losing my interest in something sooner than I start building it up and I did not want to spend some obnoxious amount on a SLR which I might not have used after buying it. img_0500

Cut to 2009, my passion for photography only increased with time as against my other interests (Thanks to my friend Soumyo as well) and now I feel it is the right time to graduate to a SLR. But wait do I need a formal lesson in photography before I embark to a more complicated equipment. I thought NO. In past 3 years I have read a lot about photography ranging from the technicalities like Aperture Settings, Shutter speed, ISO etc to composition details like rule of third, positive and negative spaces, frame with-in a frame and what not, all thanks to vast resource available on net. And photography is something no one can teach you, it has to be felt and understood.

Once while surfing through net, I stumbled across this site by Kalyan Verma, a wildlife photographer from Bangalore. What made me interested in his site was his honesty towards the skill. No frills attached to his calibre and a sober way of exhibiting his works. I have seen many photo blogs where pictures are great but somehow you do not relate to them. There is an air of arrogance associated with those sites which says ‘See how great an artist I am’. I respond humbly, you may be a great one but what to me?
Building at Night

From his site I came to know about the workshop he conducts in Bangalore every month. Although I am not that interested in wildlife photography or rather put it this way I am more interested in fine art/people photography, I thought of giving it a shot.

I reached the venue almost on time that is 9:30 am on a Saturday morning. Some passion drives you to do what you felt would be totally unimaginable otherwise. Getting up early on a Saturday morning is one of them. Attired in starched white shirt and trousers, Kalyan was standing at the gate of hotel. Seeing him so fresh early in the morning I also kicked my sleep away and that set the tone of the two day workshop that was going to start.

It all started with basics of photography. How camera works, how to play with aperture, shutter speed and ISO. What is an exposure and how to get the correct white balance? Even though these were all theoretical in nature but his enthusiasm in the class and an interactive session made sure that everyone has there eyes wide open.Floating market

We had a great buffet lunch (Includes in the package) and then started off with the most interesting journey for any photographic workshop or at least for me. Understanding the composition, or to put it simply learning what makes a photograph great. It is good to know the technicalities, but the camera is and should be just a tool at the end of the day. What you click is more important than at what camera settings you click. I felt this was the most informative session of the day where I learnt how small things make all the difference between a normal shot and a great shot.

IMG_4280All in all a great and tiring day with lots of learning to chew.

For me Sunday started at 6 in the morning all thanks to Kalyan. We had to take a field trip to Lalbagh. Needless to say I had never been to Lalbagh that early in the morning and was totally baffled to see the crowd even at that time. People do not sleep even on Sundays. Huh.. Anyways we had great time trying out different things with our cameras and had couple of small sessions on portrait and flash photography. We came back to the hotel and then started with the rest of the session where Kalyan asked everyone to get 5-6 of there best shots and reviewed them. I personally felt it was very informative as only when you review your work you learn about the mistakes and can correct them. IMG_4292

We had a session on post processing and couple of small sessions on cameras gears, which all gears to buy, how to sell your work etc. My biggest takeaway from the workshop was learning how to take my work forward. It gave me a great push towards my passion and will soon have my first SLR. It was awesome interacting with people who share same passion and gave me a great high. I hope my enthusiasm continues. All in all a great workshop and two days well spent.

You may find more details about the workshop at : http://kalyanvarma.net/workshops

My first trip to onsite and I was hell excited. Not because I was travelling to a totally unknown country within 1 year of my professional career but more because of my prospect of earning some disposable cash and be able to afford a good digital camera for me. My passion for photography was just kicking up and it was a damn good opportunity for me. After much of online research I zeroed on Canon S3is which I felt was the best choice for me at that point of time (Year 1996). Later I regretted my decision of not buying an SLR but I had my reasons at that time. I had a history of losing my interest in something sooner than I start building it up and I did not want to spend some obnoxious amount on a SLR which I might not have used after buying it.

Jaane Tu….Ya Jaane Na (Review)

Abbas Tyrewala, the acclaimed writer of movies like Maqbool and Munnabhai MBBS has chosen a rather simple and no frill story for his directorial debut. The story of Jane Tu…has nothing much to offer in terms of its content but the way story has been told made all the difference. Jane tu…by no parameter can be considered a path breaking teen film like we have seen Ishq vishq or dil chahta hai. You will find traces of films like Chalte Chalte, Ishq Vishq, Dil Chahta Hai or even Hum Paanch (Ratna Pathak speaking to Naseerudhin Shah in photo frame) along with airport climax which has been tried nth time in bollywood. Basically it seemed that director tried to spoof old scenes of tried and tested love stories of past something that he already tried although as a writer in “Main Hoon Na”. But except few occasions it worked fine.

 

It’s this kind of candid, relatable freshness that characterises Abbas Tyrewala’s directorial debut, a deftly made film about friendship. There’s a pretty distinctive line between films trying to be innocent, and films that actually come across as charmingly naive as this one. The best thing of Jane Tu…is even though it’s a teen flick; it does not indulge itself in bath room jokes to tickle the funny bones of the audience which is very easy temptation post American Pie days. Its take on the friendship and relations is as innocent and naïve like small town school kids.

 

Another fact that makes Jaane Tu a little special — as is the case with most films about friendship — is a rock-solid ensemble cast that is mouthwateringly perfect. Take a bow, casting director Pakhi, this is a helluva nice set of good actors, with refreshingly unfamiliar faces.

The story revolves around a set of friends, there life in general and focuses on one couple that’s in love. They mistook their feelings as mere friendship and needed a series of events, match making etc to make them understand and acknowledge their feeling towards each other. Khan plays the peace-loving Jai Singh Rathore, more for the promise he had made to his activist mom Ratna Pathak rather than his real traits. He himself is oblivious of his actual self and keeps watching weird dreams of a masked man in horse with a sword. The story involves his friendship with effervescent Aditi and in process of finding love for himself; he ends up finding his own self.

 

We have seen similar stories time and again in bollywood but Jane Tu….stands out just because of the way subject has been handled and the performances of each one of the actor.

 

 

Here are few things in the movie that worked

 

1. The characterisation of each actor has been perfect and no way has any character been left without a proper boundary within which they have to perform. Even a small role of Rajat Kapur stands out and has been properly etched.

 

2. The acting is top-notch all through the film. Ratna Pathak is magnificent, Prateik Babbar bestows the film with angst and maturity, Jayant Kripalani and Anuradha Patel make a great affable couple, Rajat Kapur’s is awesome in such a small role, Naseeruddhin Shah is hilarious and paresh rawal as usual a delight to watch. But the onus of the entire film was on the group of six friends who carry the film on their shoulder. Each one does justification to there role whether its Karan Makhija as the pessimistic yet lovable Rotlu, Alishka Varde as Bombs, Nirav Mehta as highly accented gujju Jignesh, the one persistent yet affectionately etched caricature in the film and then there’s Sugandha Garg as the spirited, nickname-giving Shaleen, full of spunk.

 

3. But the actor to watch out was Genelia. It is really Genelia who steals the show. The actress is a real livewire on screen and conveys those annoying feelings of jealousy, confusion, irritability and fake happiness without any problem. Although her Hindi diction in many scenes was not proper but needless to say that added to her cuteness. I loved her in Boys many years ago but watching her in a Hindi flick is a treat.

 

4. The cinematography is good and the urbane feel has been captured properly which is very essential for a film like this.

 

5. Another thing that needs special mention is the back ground score. It is the back ground score that makes many scenes special. It hits you right at the time and never goes over bound or making it loud.

 

 

Things that did not work in the movie

1. This is the launching pad for Imran Khan and thus should have been the showcasing film for him. He might be cute but surely he did not have the charisma like his mamu jaan, at least not in this movie. His body language was quite restricted in initial scenes and facial expression stiff. Although in few scenes he was good like when he saved Manjari in the disc but that’s not all. He need to work more on his screen presence and body language as he might not be as lucky next time with such a great supporting star cast and great execution.

2. The film is painfully long. By the time film ends, it seems like an eternity. Editing was badly required for a lot of scenes. After some time, few sequences seem to be repeated.

3. The characters of love interests of Jay and Aditi was given more screen time than required.

4. Character of Amit (Aditi’s brother) as a physically or mentally challenged fellow was not properly etched. There was no explanation provided for his behaviors as well.

5. There is no variation in the pace of the film; hence it feels all the more slow and draggy sometimes.

6.  Screenplay could have been more taught and grappling and that would have made the movie all the more effective.

 

All in all, this is what is called popcorn entertainment with lots of popcorn and soda in Sunday afternoon with friends.

 

The 3 mistakes of my life – Review

This is the new novel by “Chetan Bhagat”, and those who have already read 5 point someone or one night @ call centre would not need any introduction. For those who haven’t, please grab a copy of 5 point someone and finish it off. It is worth reading. I would not say the same for one night @ call centre though. Anyways, let’s get to the purpose of this blog and that is the review of his latest venture.

There are few things we Indian can not live without. They are
1. Religion
2. Politics
3. Cricket and
4. Emotions

And if the story includes friendship, father-son troubled relationship, mom-son bonding, love angle with your best friend’s sister, urge for success, riots, cricket matches, deaths of beloved one and finally suicide, I think the entire gamut of emotions are covered. Chetan has done exactly the same. He knows what the pulse of an Indian reader is. Everyone can identify with a guy who wants to make it big in his own business, a guy who wanted to be a cricketer but failed badly, a guy who just has no aim in his life and can do anything for his friends, a girl who just wants to be free from the clutches of small town family mindset etc.

The basic plotline is similar to 5 point someone, with three friends and there struggle for success, their mistakes and the outcome of it. The only thing is setup is much bigger and real here to accommodate the entire generation of youth as the audience rather than keeping it to handful which was the case with 5 point someone.

There are few things which are worth mentioning

1. CB wanted to keep the setup as a small town so that to connect to the larger group. The city (Ahmedabad) chosen was perfect as it has all the development and infrastructure a big city would boast of but still it contains the small town mentality.

2. The entire story was given a real feel so that readers feel as one of the protagonists portrayed. CB has brought himself intelligently in the narrative to bring that authentic feel. The timing of the entire setup was chosen such that it could encompass the real events like ‘Bhuj earthquake’, ‘historical match between India and Australia’, ‘godhra kand’ etc which enhances the real feel.

3. He has applied the optimization techniques (might be learned in MBA school) on each emotion and dished out a very perfect balanced and tasty story.

4. “3 mistakes” captures a reality where young people in small town India are less likely to make out in bars and discos than on building terrace. The Indian style love story where ‘true-close-friendship’ can happen while studying maths problems together rather than at a coffee shop – especially in small town India.

5. The feisty of a small town girl where medical entrance exam is just an excuse to escape to an anonymous place. Where your brother won’t be standing by to thrash every guy who gives you a second glance.

There are number of pitfalls as well. There is nothing much in terms of the literary content in the novel and if you are looking for some real good literary work then please keep away. This is pure masala. The climax is bit filmy and the end was predictable. There are some sequences which does not seem believable, like the kid flying to Australia for cricket training etc.

I feel he is more of a script writer rather than a novelist. His language is lucid, fast paced and youthful. Something that we loved in films like “Socha na tha” and “Jab we met” (Both by Imtiaz Ali and recently Chetan Bhagat has teamed up with Imitiaz for a film. Hope it delivers double shot keeping the fact it conjure the efforts of 2 calibre person)

To cut the story short, if you are looking for some light and masala read, pick up a copy.