Saturday 31 January 2015

PK


Times today are such, that everyone is trying to cash in by giving their own philosophies whereby they state problems  with the society, talk about how pathetically bad we are and so on. You always laugh at posts like 10 mad things about India, Why some particular thing sucks, blah blah blah. They never try to suggest solutions because, to be honest, they are not capable of it. That is precisely what PK is all about.

 As the film has become the highest grossing bollywood movie ever, one is tempted to sit back and wonder what real business is?  I mean it takes years and decades to earn a name and movies like this degrade it by simply mocking what happens in the world and cashes in 600 crores. Wow..
 Of course the fact that it has been such a big hit doesn’t prove it is such a great movie. Given the number of screens it was released in, the controversy  surrounding it  and the name that the makers have earned with movies like Munnabhai series, this was certainly on the cards. What is surprising is the fact that this movie has the simplest, most linear and elementary storyline that the Producer-Director duo has ever come up with. 


Aamir Khan as the naive alien PK, trying to make his way in this “hell of a place called Earth” and a journalist (Anushka) getting a kicking story-line out of it to avenge the hundreds of ‘cruelities’ done upon her by a Godman is too basic a plot to move a movie for 2 ½ + hours. Of course the makers achieve this by again relying on slapstick comedy, media humour and PK’s attempts of understanding the world. There is some romance too between Anushka and Sushant, between Aamir and Anushka (One sided, mind you) but that is pretty much sidelined by PK’s quest to return home using a remote that has been stolen.


Major Plot hole- When PK supposedly 'downloads' his language from a woman, he should have come to know of the concept of God and religions and all things that keep him confused throughout the movie. This is because language cannot be downloaded exclusive of the associated knowledge. For eg. the words 'dancing car' come with an associated meaning, image and conception of a real car. Similarly, every speck of understanding of the world comes along to PK with the language. Thus, the whole basis of his quest becomes a farce! Story and Screenplay> "Dint see that coming, did you?".

Since most of you would have already seen it (Afterall Rs. 600 crores guys), lets not discuss the plot so much. The songs also aren’t much to be talked about . The technicalities of making a film also seem to have been compromised in order to depict more loudly that how very bad and misguided the Indian society has become. The truth, however, is far from this. While the controversy set due to the movie was pretty much asked for, the movie is not going to leave any impressions on people’s minds whatsoever. I personally had huge aspirations from the film with two of the best acting talents of Bollywood to offer, but the movie was a letdown.
A more or less similar movie to this, OH MY GOD, with a lower budget and less screens was in everyway a better film. That movie, although raised similar questions, but it did that in style and you would remember the sequences, the dialogues, the epic courtroom scenes of the movie. PK is almost a passing affair compared to it.
I would not go about mentioning the high points of the movie, because there are so few of them and those too are dumb-witted. Some pointers though are here-
  • Aamir Khan’s journey from Ghajini has been all downhill. This may pretty much be the end of it. After this, if he wants to sell his movies, he would have to climb the hill again or roam around on the planes of, say, 200 crores.
  • Anushka Sharma has a lot to offer to bollywood and it’s pretty much the first time that a female has got so much screentime in spite of Aamir. Good job at that and way to go.
  • Producer-Director duo- Munnabhai 3 ka kya hua? :p

Bandwidth verdict- Download Oh my God- a smaller and better movie

Friday 30 January 2015

3 Idiots


Some films leave you coruscated, enthralled and inspired. Sadly, 3 Idiots does none of that. It is nevertheless an entertainer and a big time entertainer. It is almost a ‘Shawshank Redemption’ set in an engineering college with a more self-gratifying hero. The movie offers you vicarious experiences and quick superficial emotions that makes the mango audience go gaga over it.

The film moves in two time frames, the present one being Farhan (Madhavan) and Raju (Sharman Joshi) going in search of their lost college buddy Rancho (Aamir Khan).On the way, Farhan remembers the story of his forced career choice, their pitiable college life and how Rancho was a breath of fresh air to it. He wonders what happened to the man who changed so many lives and gives him a saintly status doing so. The film is about what they find out at the end of their journey.

Aamir Khan as Rancho is a prankster at best and a sadist at worst. He is a gifted brainy who barely has to study(or attend classes for that matter)to top the college and humiliates his mortal classmates, who somehow need to study to pass grades, as humourless assiduous crammers. Being a genius, he is licensed to do so, prank teachers and romance the Dean’s daughter (Kareena).
I call it a fantasy because the film is largely a screen portrayal of teenage day-dreams if not a fairy tale.

The film still has great watchabilty by virtue of its clever one liners, engaging speed and songs that stick. In spite of certain clichés and slapstick comedy scenes, sequences like portrayal of Raju’s home, “dost fail ho jaye” and the phenomenal Chatur’s speech leave you gasping for air throughout the film. However, stolen jokes and analogies forcefully incorporated demand keeping your brains at home. The advancement of I.T. in the era of old FIAT cars is downright goofy. But as they say-“Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the public”.

In “Munnabhai M.B.B.S.” by the same director-producer duo, dealing with “tension nahi lene ka” attitude, Munna did not come off as doctor. 3 Idiots shows truant playing behavior awarded and rewarded. The movie has no message whatsoever as conceived by some masses. If the makers tried to do so,then with due respect to them, it is a wrong message.Conclusively, so long as you don’t let the film meddle with your brain, it’s a great movie and “AAL IZZ WELL”.

Bandwidth Verdict: Download it, watch it; delete it, forget it.                                                               

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