Cocktail (2012) - Drama

WOW – what a disaster! Some movies actually turn out to be – how you expect them to be. This was one of those movies that I predicted long back that it won’t be any good – no matter who makes it and what’s the story all about. I will remember this for – what a great fall for a guy like Homi Adjania (Director) from “Being Cyrus” to “Cocktail”. He actually carried so many people from his last movie still this wasn’t a quarter as good as that one. Anyways, what confused me further was – what was the point of making this movie – obviously other than making a movie for money and breaking off the image of “Offbeat Movie Maker” to a “Commercial Movie Maker”, as he will be called now once Cocktail crosses at least a 100 crore mark. This wasn’t entertaining, was this comedy? No, cause I laughed like only thrice, movie with a message? No, I didn’t get any, serious stuff? No, Movie with a difference? Yes, indeed it has a different ending, better than your imagination for sure. Will I watch it again? No Ways. Would I recommend it to anyone? Yeah, the DVD will be out shortly, check it out then.

The Movie: As I said earlier – I had no expectations from this one hence I wasn't shocked with the outcome and those 150 minutes didn't bother me. Saif actually needs a good Director to extract best out of him, no doubt he is a good and proven actor but here in this movie – you actually see an over the top over confident Saif with the corniest lines ever heard in a movie. Movie starts with Meera (Diana Penty) landing in London to unite with her estranged husband Kunal (Randeep Hooda). As expected Kunal throws her out of his life but promises her a Citizenship in lieu of their marriage and money he got from her to come to London. Cut to scene two – we see a carefree Veronica (Deepika) walking in to a grocery store, drunk and needs to use the wash room, guess what Meera is already in the washroom – crying hence Veronica being an India – helps her and takes her home. They come across Gautam (Saif) in a restaurant just like that. Meera had already met Gautam at airport where he tried to woo her with his corny lines before she walks out on him. Hence Veronica takes a revenge on him by throwing the same lines on him in the restaurant in front of his clients. This scene was supposed to be hilarious but I couldn't even smile – let alone a hearty laugh. They meet again in a pub and become friends, so much so that he moves in with them to stay at Veronica’s place. Veronica is a rich spoilt girl with careless parents and oh yeah – she has a SLR so guess she works and makes enough money to frequent pubs in London every night, as if I care. Gautam is a Software Engineer who maintains a 3 day old beard all the time and Meera conveniently gets a job as a Graphic Designer in no time. 

Gautam has a family and a maternal uncle right there in London with a mom somewhere in Punjab who keeps sending him pictures of his future wife. This uncle happens to be Boman Irani in a thankless and pointless role. Although he is the one who is responsible for some fun in the movie after all. His mom is none other than Dimple Kapadia who does gives them a surprise visit – only to find her son having a ball with two girls around – so she picks up one of them as his future wife who wears salwar kameez and looks like the one – who would make a perfect Indian wife. As they do in all the movies – they play a couple as long as mom is around and end up falling for each other. By the time mom goes back they are already in love with a third angle that even Veronica realizes – she too loves Gautam and cant be left out. So she changes gears and becomes all goody two shoes like Meera (At least she tries). Now the big question – who gets Gautam in the end? That’s what you need to see movie for guys. Go ahead waste your hard earned money in a not so funny movie – waste your 150 precious minutes too to know the ending or rather I would say, Google it and wiki has the full story with the ending written too.

What’s my problem: The promo’s and posters tell us a different story altogether – we hoped that it would be a great entertainer at least a good time pass for sure with those cute faces. The thing I did not like was – it had nothing to offer that we haven’t already seen in our movies. Almost no entertainment – if your definition of entertainment is an aged looking guy trying to look chick n hot with those one liners. Deepika is now being typecast in almost same roles in all her movies – she is almost wearing the same cloths too I guess. She doesn’t even look one bit different than how she was in her earlier movies – for a moment we thought she straight walked out of the Item number from movie “Dum Maaro Dum” to this movie set – was drunk too I guess. Boman and Dimple are wasted in such a crappy movie – I guess the Director just wanted to buy some more footage to lengthen the movie to make it two and a half hour long hence the additional characters in thankless roles. Randeep Hooda had hardly anything to do but whatever he did – his screen presence was a kind of relief to me as his character wasn’t a cliché but a normal guy in bad situation. Songs – the less said the better. Cinematography – how many times do we need to see those same locations again and again and again. Actually every 15 minutes spent on the movie – you feel like – what the heck am I watching? And then you tell yourself “Cocktail” cause when everything is added in one drink – that’s what you get. It was actually reminding me of the title every now and then – just like that. If you have seen it or plan to see it – do let me know how you like it.

Trishna (2011) - Drama

I have seen almost all of the movies of Michael Winterbottom and definitely found some of them to be too good. The most recent one that I saw was The Trip (2010) and I found it to be hilarious. The story of "Trishna" as I read everywhere is an adaptation of Thomas Hardy's novel “Tess of the d'Urbervilles” but I differ as the novel goes from the very start till Tess ages to her late 50’s. But here in this British version they have wrapped it up in hardly 2-3 years of her life. May be they took too many cinematic liberties and botched up the perfect story to make it better for movie going audiences. Now, I know why I couldn’t find that depth in the movie and it sounded more like a drama cum thriller in the end. Good part of the movie is its cast – Trishna (Freida Pinto) fits in the character to the T, with Jay Singh (Riz Ahmad) as rich business man’s son is too good and convincing, Roshan Seth in a small role is good but the best part is cameos by Anurag Kashyap, Kalki Koechlin and Amit Trived (Music Director) with a short item number by Huma Qureshi of “Gangs of Wasseypur” fame. The story revolves around the life of an ambitious lower middle class girl, who needs to supports her family at whatever cost yet need to fulfill her wishes and what it takes to achieve and where she lands in the end is heartening to see. I am sure Ms Pinto will claim yet again that the sexuality shown in the movie was “Scripts demand” but we were definitely shocked to see what they showed, beware if you watch it at home because I am sure it isn’t getting a very wide release anyways as it got a limited release in USA.

The Movie: I actually wondered why they had to shoot this in India and change it as per obviously Indian standards, anyways we are not getting any replies to those questions but how they screwed the actual story is very disheartening to see. The original story as per the novel goes almost 40 years whereas here its wrapped up in a just a couple of years that too with a way too different ending. What further shocked me is while they changed it as per their requirement to make a movie with Indian characters – what they did not change the sexuality of the same. I mean, it was surely a little too much to show on screen the way they showed it. Its Trishna’s story set in the current time that belongs to a lower middle class family based in a small town of Rajasthan. She is very ambitious and educated too. One fine day during her one of the part time jobs in a hotel, she meets Jay who is son of a rich NRI businessman. He is fascinated by her beauty and looks forward to meeting her again and again. Finally, due to her poor financial situation, he offers her a job in his hotel in a nearby city (Jaipur) on a very good salary and she joins them. Jay even offers and enrolls her in a hotel management course too to upgrade her skills, but as they say “nothing comes free of cost” this too doesn’t and she has to pay a hefty prize as he starts making sexual advances towards her, she gives in one time and but leaves the job very next day, later she becomes pregnant and she goes for an abortion without telling him.

Her family situation worsens with her dad’s accident and she is forced to join her maternal uncle’s family and work in a Henna factory. Jay finds her again, offers her to move to Mumbai in a live in relationship. She meets his high society friends, models, movie makers, dancers etc. Right when you think her life is going to change for good the twist comes. Jay’s father falls sick back home in England and he had to rush immediately, he doesn’t return for quite a long time and in the meantime the lease of their flat expires and she has to vacate. She tries her had in film industry too but doesn’t lasts long, goes back to her home and again starts from a scratch. Her parents coax her to go back and get a better job. Jay comes back and again with a fresh hope she joins him back in the hotel, although she had hopes that he is going to marry her but again her heart breaks when she realizes that the only way he treats her is a sex object – he actually never loved her in the first place. The ups and downs in Trishna’s life are amazing stuff. Her ambitious nature sends here everywhere and she is desperate to succeed in whatever she does but life always has a second plan for her. How she is used and abused is totally heart wrenching stuff. What happens next is the rest of the movie; would she take a stand and go back to her life? Or would she take revenge from him? How does it all ends – is what you need to see the movie for. The way they have changed the story altogether works and not works partly. I am sure this movie is going to get mixed reviews – some will like it as an individual movie but when you compare it with the original story – you are going to hate it. Check it out and decide for yourself if you like it or hate it.

Interview with the vampire (1994) - Horror / Drama

After reading a friends review on the same – couldn't resist but got myself a Director’s Cut DVD rip with an interview with the cast, director and critics too. I relived those haunting memories from the past. This in today's time should be considered as a crash course in vampirism, telling you everything about the same, how a vampire is made, taught to survive and what all they go through in the life which technically never ends. I was so looking forward to that never given warning at the very start of the movie “Do not try this at home”. What a fantastic movie this turned out to be with that amazing casting of Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Antonio Banderas and Kirsten Dunst that too in one movie with almost 120 minutes of sheer fun. But mind it – its not for the weak hearted – I saw it today afternoon and my lunch was served in between and wifey was shocked and said “How can you watch this and eat your lunch in the meantime”. It is gross to say the least with some scenes actually showing how vampires are made, vampires sucking blood of humans, in one particular scene they pick up a rat – slit it open and squeeze it into a wine glass and drink it – how cool is that. One hell of a movie – which shocks you, moves you, makes you sympathize with them yet at one point you want their powers too specially the one that they survive for hundreds of years and still look young. If you love horror / thriller / vampire movies – you shouldn't miss this.  

Brad Pitt and Kirsten Dunst

The Movie: Starts in modern day today with a reporter (Christian Slater) taking an interview of Louis (Brad Pitt) who claims to be a vampire. The very first scene when Slater asks Brad to prove that he is vampire and we get a close up of Brad’s eyes is scary with excellent chilling music in background. Right at this point you imagine what is it going to be to see his whole life open in front of us while he tells his story right from the beginning. After his wife’s death in the childbirth along with the baby – he has no wish to live and was thinking of ending his life. One fateful night when is drunk with a prostitute and her pimp holds him back on knife point – Lestat (Tom Cruise) appears and kills both the pimp and the prostitute, picks up Louis and flies with him drinking his blood, Louis anyways wants to die but he suddenly changes his mind and Lestat makes him a vampire which he agrees to become. Louis a different kind hearted vampire who couldn’t drink human blood hence survives on animal bloods – the scenes where he sucks blood out of a Rat and other animals are gross and not everybody’s cup of tea. The way Lestat sucking blood of humans is totally out of this world experience – at least I saw it for the first time in such details that too in this movie which was made in mid 90’s. Louis later finds a sick child Claudia (Kirsten Dunst) with her dead mother; he bites her and makes her a vampire daughter. Lots of years go by and Claudia realizes she will never grow – furious she tries to kill Louis by making him suck blood from already dead people knowing this will weaken his powers and slits his throat, they burn the whole building down and flee to Paris from the spot in a ship.

Making Claudia a Vampire

Louis tries to find out how the vampires came to be in the year 1870 in Paris and are there any more like them? There he meets Armand (Antonia Banderas) who invites him to a vampire theater. What goes in the theater with a human female in front of the human audience with no idea what’s happening is a treat to watch. It’s predictable but awesome to see on screen. What follows next is a conflict of interest between Armand and Louis. Amazing is the word for what happens next. How Claudia gets killed with the female she decides to make a vampire before Louis leaves her. Again decades pass by, Louis survives moves to USA, gets to see the first sunlight in so many years in a movie theater watching “Superman” and other movies. But the question remains – is Lestat dead? Or he will be back. What’s going to happen to the reporter? Will he get the story of a lifetime and achieve success as he plans and looks forward to? Would Louis and Lestat come face to face ever again? The ending is too good but leaves quite a few questions answered. Its an amazing watch – this was surely one of the best vampire movies I ever saw and will always remain closer to my heart.

The Adventures of Goopy and Bagha (1969) - Bengali

Satyajit Ray’s version of Dumb & Dumber – we saw it today and it turns out to be a total laugh riot. This movie he actually made for his son, who was behind him to make a movie for kids like him and I was delighted to see – what he made, too good. Even the story of Goopy and Bagha was written by his own father. This became one of his most known films in Bengal and in India but was the least seen or known around the world. I was discussing with a friend of mine yesterday on Hollywood’s “Dumb and Dumber” and an upcoming movie from the same genre “Three Stooges” and end up seeing this one. The story is quite simple, two guys discarded by society – one for his lousy voice – who wakes up his own king thinking he is going to get a reward and another one is a bad drummer – both of them were exiled to forest where they play the drum and sing to scare a tiger away and in the process attract some ghosts. The ghost king gets fascinated to their out of the world music and gives them three boons – what they chose and how their life changes after those boons is a roller coaster ride with some damn good Bengali songs thrown in – superb entertainer. It actually made me and my wife laugh out loud multiple times with their on-screen histrionics. 

The Movie: The three boons that they pick are: One that they can order food or cloths whenever and whatever. Two they get one pair of magic shoes each with which they can actually teleport anywhere with the blink of an eye and third they can mesmerize anyone with their singing and drum so much so that everything comes to a complete halt when they sing and play. The only condition for all those three boons is that they need to clap together once they wish anything in such a way that they should be using one hand each together. It's a laugh riot right from the very start – the encounter with the king followed by their meeting in forest followed by the tiger and finally the meeting with Ghosts and their king is totally hilarious. It becomes better once they get those powers as their quality of singing goes up they visit the kingdom of Shundi where a singing competition is going on. They do end up winning it and the king accepts them as his courtesans. Soon, the twist comes in the form of kings own brother attacking their state and these two guys take up the job of stopping the war. King promises them that if they do it successfully – he will marry his daughter with one of them. What happens next is again a damn good journey of both the guys on an adventure trip to the next kingdom, save their king, marry the princess but which one is going to get her? You really need to see the movie – if you want answers to those questions. We totally loved it – the comic timing of these guys is totally rocking, even in black and white this one was too good.

Days and Nights in Forest (1970) - Bengali Movie

Another classic from Satyajit Ray in the 70’s which got nominated for Golden Bear for Best Film at 20^th Berlin International Film Festival – and now I know why.  It’s a simple story of four friends from a metro breaking the routine of daily life – go out for a drive in the jungle, stay at a guest house, come across another family from the city, gel well, enjoy, relax, chill and get back to their regular life after couple of days. Like any other typical Satyajit Ray movie – my eyes search for a visual of a Train and he didn't disappoint me here too as this had a goods train passing by their guest house in the dead of the night – I totally love his fetish for trains in almost all his movies. What I loved about this movie is Gorgeous Sharmila Tagore looking damn good in trousers and the way he projected her widowed sister in law, I am sure none other Director would have dared to show her the way he did, gelling well with strangers in front of her father in law, wanting to live life as it should be for all. It’s a damn good one time watch for all cinema lovers as haven’t we all done the same at some point in our life? Too good and what fun it was to see this one.  

The Movie: It’s a very simple story of a group of four friends, who are on a road trip to some part of Bihar which they have never visited earlier. They just look forward to some good quality time in each others company. In the first half hour of the movie, we realize they all are way too different and are all unique characters. Asim (Soumitra Chatterjee) being their leader, owns the car that they drive in with three of his friends Sanjay, Hari and Shekhar. They bribe the caretaker of forest rest house to allow them to stay without the knowledge of the forest ranger. All the characters are so well written and cut out from the regular people like you and me, who do not plan to shave or do anything on the vacation but just chill relax and have fun. They all get drunken big time drinking the local wines barring one of them who is the joker of the pack so he could control them and bring back to the guest house once they are totally drunk. They do come across a gang of local tribal girls getting drunk in the local liquor bar cum shop – one of them happens to be Simi Grewal and that was a shocker for us to see her in that kind of a role, they call her Miss India jokingly.

Sharmila Tagore and her Sis in Law

While they stay in the forest rest house, the twist comes in the shape of the forest officer that visits them and informs that the ranger may come and visit one of these days but they pay no heed to it. They do come across a family quite close to their rest house and they become friends with them quite fast as they become the only company to each other from the same life style back in town. It has its own little twist and turns with some shocking moments which I am sure would have got debated back then, but for now they aren’t that big a shocker – you’ve got to see it to believe what I am trying to say here. Like, the way Sharmila’s sister in law falls for one of the guys and the scene following that. The game that they play in the woods, one of the friends falls for the tribal beauty and what comes out of it, the ranger’s visit to the rest house, getting drunk and making a scene on the road etc. But it’s too good a movie and totally hilarious in parts cause of the lively cast it had. Sharmila Tagore and Soumitra Chatterjee are a revelation for me at least in this one, never imagined that she could look this good that too in a Ray movie of all. Check it out guys – if nothing else – it does entertains you thoroughly.