Movie Review: Lunchbox(2013) : Is A Delicious Break From Dreamy Love Stories

Cast: Irrfan Khan, Nimrat Kaur, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Lilette Dubey, Nakul Vaid, Bharati Achrekar

Director: Ritesh Batra

Seldom do we get to watch a movie where a common man is sitting in his office cafeteria ,relishing his lunch – no dialogues, no dream sequences – just satisfaction and delight on the face,depicting the joy of food in every bite.

Ritesh Batra’s Lunchbox is primarily about the moments similar to the one mentioned above and at times you don’t even realize that you are watching a movie.Documenting the life of Mumbaikars in trains,unbeatable dabbawala service,old songs and nostalgia are part of this brilliant movie.

The story is simple – A neglected wife Ila (Nimrat Kaur) cooks with the expectation that her husband would love the food,constantly consulting with Aunty ji (Bharati Achrekar). The lunchbox is taken by Dabbawala‘s and is delivered but reaches the wrong person (never read about Dabbawala’s making a mistake but for the sake of fiction it is fine) – an old officer on the verge of retirement – Mr Saajan Fernandez (Irfan Khan). When the lunchbox is returned,Ila is surprised that cooked meal was devoured by someone else as her husband mentions another dish- she sends a thank you note on advice of Aunty ji to the person who ate the meal – which kicks of a delicate,sensitive romantic event in both of their lives.

For your viewing pleasure – enjoy the trailer to get an idea about the movie:

The beauty lies in the interaction between the characters and their simple reactions to the events happening around them.There are plenty of scenes worth remembering.

Ila asking Aunty(terrific voice over) about what to cook,and getting tips from Aunty on what’s missing in the dish without even tasting it.Mr Fernandez’s process of waiting and eating the meal,reading the handwritten note with care and admiration and then sending notes back.

The main characters Ila and Mr Fernandez are generally quite serious, but there are light moments also offered – as they share an event – “Things are never as bad as they seem (watch this scene and you will have a smile on your face) – or the third character Shaikh (Nawazuddin Siddiqui ) – a young officer about to get trained by Mr Fernandez before he retires. Shaikh is careless,full of lies,secrets but is always energetic. Nawazuddin plays this character effortlessly.He irritates and admires Mr Fernandez consistently.

Imrat Kaur as Ila is brilliant and gives a performance which is controlled,effective and very real.Its great to see someone new ,deliver a performance like that.Wondering where you saw her : Check it out:

Irrfan Khan is the life of the movie and he literally lives this role on screen,He doesn’t speak much,but lets his eyes,smile,body language do the talking.The painting scene,reading letters,remembering his wife by watching old serials and travelling – he is just perfect and it shows what a powerhouse of talent this guy is.He is consistently part of Bollywood and Hollywood’s acclaimed movies. Irrfan has always made sure his roles were different and the performance magnificent – if there is something you will carry back home after watching the movie – its most likely the glimpse of Mr Fernandez smiling.

Irrfan Khan (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A movie like this deserves viewers attention and love – a simplistic tale of simple people using the simplest way to communicate – letters and notes.It is mark of a great movie that you leave the theater but the movie stays with you.Director Ritesh Batra has written and directed a beautiful movie and he deserves the praise showered at him.

Lunchbox is a delicious break from dreamy love stories – watch it – i bet you will have a smile on your face.

Rating : A must watch.

Related articles

• ‘The Lunchbox’ review: It’ll leave you with a craving to seek your own little happiness (ibnlive.in.com)
• Film review: The Lunchbox offers food for the soul (dnaindia.com)
• http://rajasen.com/2013/09/20/lunchbox/ (By Raja Sen)
• http://mihirfadnavis.blogspot.in/2013/09/movie-review-lunchbox.html (By Mihir Fadnavis)

Movie Review:Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster Returns: Royal,Political And Entertaining

Director : Tigmanshu Dhulia

Cast : Soha Ali Khan,Mahie Gill,Jimmy Shergill,Irfan Khan,Raj Babbar

Continuing from where Saheb Biwi aur Gangster left off,this movie starts with Saheb Aditya Singh(Jimmy Shergill) trying his best to recover from his injury and get back on his feet and Biwi Madhvi (Mahie Gill) continuing his drunk,erratic behavior but now she is also a MLA.

While Aditya Singh is still recovering,he sets his eyes on princess Ranjana (Soha Ali Khan) who is in love with Inder (Irfan Khan) who belongs to another royal family(a family which had its royal past but not anymore).

Aditya Singh wants to marry Ranjana which earns him the bitterness from his wife Madhvi and Inder.

Inder teamed with Ranjana’s father(Played by Raj Babbar) plans to take Aditya Singh down as he forcefully arranges for his engagement with Ranjana.

And the game of power and politics begins and is fairly entertaining throughout.However the movie drags a little in second half.

Packed with sharp dialogues and impressive performances this movie will please critics and masses alike,though it never reaches the outstanding mark,it keeps viewers engaged.

Performances wise Jimmy Shergill nails it – he is terrific as Saheb,helpless,arrogant and still in his royal glory – he has got the ‘tashan’ of a royal king as he says in one of the scenes: Raja hain hum with believable authority.Soha Ali Khan looks good and also acts well.Raj Babbar is in good form too.

Irfan Khan gets his dialogues right and gives another solid performance but never overshadows Jimmy Shergil.Mahie Gill was terrific in the first part but does not deliver a solid performance this time,at times she irritates.

Tigmanshu Dhulia as a director gives us another example of good storytelling but it is definitely not this best.However he is one of the best directors we have in this era and he proves it again.

Watch it for amazing performances by Saheb and Gangster with some solid dialogues.

Movie Rating : 3.5/5

Related articles:

• Masand review: ‘Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster Returns’ (ibnlive.in.com)
• Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster Returns – Watch it for Saheb & Gangster (muvicritic.com)

Movie Review: Oblivion (2013) : Visually Brilliant Scifi Tests Viewers Patience

Director : Joseph Kosinski

Cast : Tom Cruise,Morgan Freeman,Olga Kurylenko

Tom Cruise is no stranger to sci-fi and action movies and Oblivion is no different.When i saw the first trailer of Oblivion,i was happy to see the visuals and the combination of Tom Cruise and Morgan Freeman and that led me to watch the movie as well.

It is set in Futuristic Earth where everything has been destroyed due the war between human race and you guessed it ‘aliens’.Now humans eventually won the war but the effects of nuclear weapons and radiations have almost destroyed earth and the moon.Tsunami’s,earthquakes have ensured that earth was not a place to live anymore and hence everyone is transported to Titan to ensure safety and life.

Tom Cruise is Jack Harper and his wife Victoria (Andrea Riseborough) describe their team as a ‘Mop Up Crew’ – which implies they are a team which looks into the drone maintenance and record all the activities.They stay in a house which is a spaceship and fully equipped.They are about to return to Titan in couple of weeks to join other humans.Jack Harper has flashbacks/dreams of past life and he is always confused about the same.

Tom Cruise (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

However in one of his maintenance tours Jack Harper finds Julia (Olga Kurylenko) who appears to be a part of a spaceship – he saves and brings her back and this event spins the movie as Julia reveals few secrets – leading Jack Harper to meet another character Beech (Morgan Freeman).

Olga Kurylenko (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Now one thing you can be rest assured is : the visuals are stunning but not in quantity but quality. The director makes sure that there are limited spaceships,drones etc and they are created beautifully and sleek cinematography transports you into this carefully crafted world.

And this is where the problem starts,the story suffers and the screenplay falters. The twists are either too obvious or too boring for the viewer to care and clocking 2 hours few minutes the movie starts testing your patience.

This also has to be a role Morgan Freeman agreed to play for bills – there is nothing for him to do and as an audience you are left unsatisfied as you get nothing out of this fascinating acting legend.As far as Tom Cruise is concerned he can do this role in his sleep and hence there is nothing special to look out for.Olga looks beautiful as always and gives in a decent performance.

Morgan Freeman(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Director Joseph Kosinski who directed visually stunning Tron Legacy(2010) does not falter here too with his imaginative special effects and world he creates,but ends up giving us a story which probably he was also confused about how to conclude.

To conclude this one is a visual delight but a disappointment when it comes to story and direction. You can watch it for stunning visual imagery but if you are looking for an epic sci-fi you should just skip this.

Movie Rating : 2/5 – Ditch it – you won’t miss anything.

Related articles:

• 27 Hi-Res Images from OBLIVION Featuring Tom Cruise, Olga Kurylenko, Andrea Riseborough, Morgan Freeman and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (collider.com)
• Oblivion – review (guardian.co.uk)

Movie Review: Matru Ki Bijli Ka Mandola

After a lackluster 7 Khoon Maaf from Director Vishal Bhardwaj ,we expected him to come back with a bang.He came back with Matru Ki Bijli and as the promo was released – we saw Pankaj Kapur,Shabana Azmi,a different Imran Khan and strangely a pink Buffalo. That left me and few friends stumped and doubts about the movie were sure to cripple the minds of movie buff’s.

However with fingers crossed , i booked the tickets anyways.Movie starts with a drunk Pankaj Kapur(Mandola) with Matru(Imran) smashing a small liquor shop with their car and then mandola inspiring villagers and then helping them to revolt against the ‘evil himself’.

Well that was a quite a start -:) – now Mandola(Pankaj Kapur) is a land-hungry guy who wants to grab villagers land and then turn it into an industrial plant,shopping mall  – his partner in crime is the Minister(Shabana Azmi).The deal also has Mandola’s daughter  Bijli(Anushka Sharma) engaged to minister’s son played by Arya Babbar.

Mandola has an assistant matru(Imran Khan) and he does everything for him – including stopping mandola to get drunk – which is almost never succesfull.What follows is a ride full of halluciations – Mandola witnessing a Pink Buffalo(an after effect of getting drunk by the local Drink Gulabo). The movie focuses on SEZ(special economic zones),land politics to even corruption from village to city. For the complete picture please go ahead and watch the movie.

Vishal Bhardwaj stamp is visible almost everywhere.His affection for movie making,story telling and and sharp dialogues is evident too.Few sequences are brilliant and leaves you praising him as a master storyteller.

Indian director Vishal Bhardwaj (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

However the first half is simple – nothing special honestly,it is the second half of the movie which makes this movie special.Filled with superb sequences back to back- Shabana Azmi’s speech or rather a rehearsal in front of his son explaining the ‘why the marriage between her son and Bijli’ is important is outstanding.Mandola explaining his dream project – with detailed explanation and stunning visuals.

Now a word about Pankaj Kapur : Spectacular.Finding it impossible to resist – here is a paragraph about Pankaj Kapur – He is in smashing form – whether its his hallucinations,his manipulating,power hungry “other side” as Mr Mandola or the super drunk social servant’ish himself, or even while dancing his soul out. Not only he acts well – he is very well the soul of the movie.Absolutely mind-blowing performance by the veteran.

Now if Pankaj Kapur is spectacular-you cannot help but think about ‘always awesome’ Shabana Azmi – oh lady – how many times do we have to praise you- you act so well that other actresses look like a joke.She is in top form as a minister and a power hungry lady.Her eyes,presence and body language only tells you one thing – she is the Queen of acting – the best in Bollywood and one of the best in worldwide cinema too.

Shabana Azmi (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Imran Khan does well,though the veterans don’t leave much scope for him- Anushka pitches in a decent performance too.The side characters also chip in decent performances and tag along well in this crazy ride.

With few flaws – this movie does manage to leave an impact on the viewer and Vishal Bharadwaj easily proving his command over his craft yet again.The movie has absurd and brilliant moments both – its theater like scenes and “not a laugh-out-loud humor” may not appeal to all.

It will not set the box office on fire but it still remains a fine movie.It is up to the viewer to decide – Brilliantly absurd or Absurdly brilliant 🙂

Movie Rating : 3.5/5 – don’t miss this one – if you want to see something really different.

Related articles

• Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola: 10 cracking dialogue (ibnlive.in.com)
• ‘Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola’ review: The year’s first gem has arrived, don’t miss it! (ibnlive.in.com)

Movie Review : The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (HFR 3D)

The Hobbit is the prequel to the Lord of the Rings(LOTR) written by J.R.R. Tolkien.

These books are insanely famous and considered a must read for all fantasy/adventure readers.

Director Peter Jackson gave us Lord of the Rings (part1,part2,part3) and created something so magical that personally i consider LOTR trilogy the greatest fantasy series ever made. As soon as the Hobbit was announced – so was its HFR (high frame rate controversy) and later the trilogy.

Hobbit (i bought the book and read 6 chapters of it) is a single book and it was announced as a trilogy,and not a single movie.

Needless to say everyone was doubtful about the trilogy announcement.

I watched The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey(IMDB) in HFR 3D as Peter Jackson shot it and recommended – i can start with saying – It is outstanding.

This part covers first 6 chapters of the book and the conversion on-screen is spectacular.

Bilbo Baggins – the hobbit is played by (Martin Freeman) is asked by Gandalf to join the group of dwarfs for an unexpected journey to the Lonely Mountain to reclaim a their stolen mountain home from a dragon named Smaug.

So the journey starts with :

Far over the misty mountains cold
To dungeons deep and caverns old
We must away ere break of day
To seek the pale enchanted gold.

The movie starts off slow;setting up the mood and then as the events are placed – its nothing short of a spectacle.

If you loved LOTR – you must love this too and by the time it reaches the end, one is left begging for more :).

The direction is superb and director Peter Jackson knows his craft very well.The casting is perfect and this movie, start of a fantastic trilogy. Then we have THE Gollum – one of the most fascinating characters ever created on-screen( i am really sure about this) – the moment Gollum appears on the screen – every minute with this character is a treat to watch on screen – just out of the world – those minutes with Gollum.

CG depiction of Gollum created by Weta Digital for the Lord of the Rings film trilogy (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Now a note about HFR and negative reviews (additional links below) : The movie looks gorgeous in 48 frames/sec ,the action scenes and dark scenes look very crisp in 3D – yes it looks very real but you feel as if you are on journey with the characters –  and probably the length can be considered as a negative but not so much to take any credit away.
So if you love clarity( we live in the world of High Definition content anyways) – do not miss it.

Negative reviews on sites : Be rest assured about one thing – these reviewers made up their mind way before watching the movie and they were all out to shoot this one down – trust me go watch it yourself – if you liked LOTR there is nothing to hate about Hobbit – it’s just great film-making – few might find it slow in the start  but you will not regret when the movie ends.Cinematography and CGI is jaw dropping and the background score perfect to set you up in the mood.

Action : there is plenty to keep you entertained and is very well done – the beasts,sword fights,mountains,middle earth, you name it you have it – and it looks very cool in HFR.

Do yourself a favor and watch this on big screen – its brilliant.

Eagerly waiting for the next part – Hats off to J.R.R. Tolkien for writing this fantastic story and Peter Jackson for bringing the movie to screen.

Rating : Must watch.

Few more articles for your reading pleasure:

• High Frame Rate and ‘The Hobbit:’ The Allure of Middle-Earth is Crystal Clear at 48fps (slashfilm.com)
• Book vs. Movie Review: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey or There and Back Again (disneynerd242.wordpress.com)

Movie Review: Life of Pi (IMAX 3D)

Based on the Booker price winner book of the same name by Yann Martel(GoodReads) – this is one movie – critics were skeptical about and so were the book lovers.
Ang Lee director of Crouching tiger,Hidden Dragon(imdb) and BrokeBack Mountain(imdb) had a difficult task on his hand ,but everyone also knew his caliber for delivering excellent drama.

On the surface – this is the story of Pi patel and his journey across pacific ocean with a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker,after being ship wrecked and left in a boat.
This story is about the survival instinct we humans posses ,also it is a story about faith in God and self discovery.

Director Ang Lee not only gets the drama right,his vision and visuals he brings to us are outstanding,would be an understatement.
This movie is visually so stunning that you literally are sucked into the world of sea,pi and Richard Parker.I watched it in IMAX 3D and it was worth every penny spent.

Without giving any details – Older Pi played by Irfan Khan is narrating his story to a writer and claims the story will make the writer believe in God.Pi as a kid is bookish by nature and also wants to embrace 3 religions – Hinduism,Islam and Christianity.Pi and his family in India are moving to Canada for a better life on a Japanese ship along with zoo animals,a storm destroys everything leaving young pi,a zebra,hyena,orangutan and the tiger Richard Parker.

rohanwrites.wordpress.com

Survival of the fittest holds good here too and Pi survives in the ocean with Richard Parker for 227 days and lives to tell the story.On being found by Japanese authorities,they question him about the ship sinking and he narrates the whole story to them,at this point there is a twist and it’s yours to experience.It depends on what your interpretation of the story/movie is ;it will differ from viewer to viewer.With a dose of spirituality,philosophy,human’s survival instinct and God theme it makes a compelling watch on big screen.

You have to watch the visuals in IMAX 3D (i insist) to see the fantastic world Ang Lee has created.
Wonderfully directed and brilliantly visualized and brought on screen, and performances by both Pi’s Irfan Khan and Suraj and last not the least Richard Parker.
Go for it watch on it big screen – it’s a must watch.

5 /5 for visuals.
4/5 for direction and performances.

Book to Movie : The Kite Runner

There is a way to be good again…

And the novel starts – but as most of you know me – this post might come as a surprise to you.

Yes i am more of a movie person – but once in a while i read and hence the post.

As i started reading the book, i also found out that i had the movie by the same name.The very moment i decided to read the novel and then watch the movie and check how the adaptation turned out.

The Kite Runner is written by Khaled Hosseini and it tells the story of Amir and his servant and friend Hassan. The story is set in Afghanistan – starts from Kabul and then moves to US,Pakistan and circles back to Kabul and US.

Cover Picture of the novel

The story is as much about Amir and Hassan’s friendship,betrayal and family secrets,as it is about the Afghanistan’s disastrous events – Soviet invasion, and then refugees going to Pakistan and US for better life, also describing the take over by Taliban.

Without giving too much details in here – reading this novel is smooth sailing till 100 odd pages and rest assured you will like the characters as well.As the story moves it slows down and drags a bit – but once you get past 180 pages it get its grip back again.

There are repetitions as well – but mostly the descriptions and writing is good – but you cannot help realize that this is something which can be made into a movie.

As far as the novel goes i read it – at a slow pace and i would like to say i do not regret reading it.

Novel has some really amazing,well written lines -listed below are some of the bests line i liked  from the novel :

“For you, a thousand times over” (you will remember this line)

“There is only one sin. and that is theft… when you tell a lie, you steal someones right to the truth.”

“it always hurts more to have and lose than to not have in the first place.”

“There are a lot of children in Afghanistan, but little childhood.”

“Time can be a greedy thing-sometimes it steals the details for itself.”

“After everything he’d built, planned, fought for, fretted over, dreamed of, this was the summation of his life; one disappointing son and two suitcases.”

There are many more – for this post the above lines would do.

About the movie by the same name : the movie length seems perfect and the director has carefully chosen the scenes from novel to be included in movie.The acting is good and so is the direction.

This is not the usual movie review like the others i did on this blog – this review has more to do with how the novel was adapted.
Book expands more into the relationship between Amir,Hassan,Amir’s Baba and other characters and yes the movie is not as detailed as the book – but i would not blame it as i think if they did – length of the movie would have suffered.

Recommendation : You can go through it once – read the book or watch the movie as it is not a fun story, but if you choose to do both – read the book first.

Book Rating :4 stars (Recommended for anyone who can handle Drama)

Movie Rating : 4 stars(if you did not read the novel) –  3.5 stars (if you read the novel)

Movie Review :Little Miss Sunshine

Little Miss Sunshine is the story of Hoover family and their quest to take their younger daughter into the finals of a beauty pageant.

The family consists of Richard (Dad),a motivational speak who is trying to sell his 9 step success method, and eventually fails. A caring Sheryl(Mom), her suicidal genius brother Frank,Dwayne the teenage son who has taken a vow to remain silent until he becomes a pilot and drug addict,profanity king Grandpa Edwin. These characters are all frustrated and struggling but everyone loves the youngest member of the family Olive.

With their individual struggles in place,everyone teams up to take Olive into the finals of Little Miss Sunshine. The rest of the movie shows how they accomplish this task ,with lot of difficulties and mishaps;yet manage to stay together as a family.

Everyone in the movie has done their parts with honesty and as a viewer you will easily accept them as a family.The whole journey is full of funny,sad and family moments and  will leave you smiling as it reaches the end.

There are few wonderful takeaways as well.

• Refuse to lose : Winners don’t quit.
• Acceptance: it is ok to be yourself.
• Importance of trying : if you try, you are not a loser.
• Family : a good family stays together and supports each other when needed.

You can watch it only for the cute little Olive’s performance as well.

Go ahead and watch this movie – i am sure you will love it.

Movie Rating : 3.5/5

Movie Review: The Dark Knight Rises

Christopher Nolan had a big task in hand when he decided to create a fitting end to the Batman saga.

He had to make sure he connected the dots from last two movies and tied them together with the current theme of finale.

He makes a point that he does all of the above without fail, adding some heart to it.

The Dark Knight Rises unfolds 8 years after ,the events of The dark knight.

Note : This is the story of Bruce Wayne and the rise of Batman – it’s emotional,grand and with a war mood to it.The story in short : Bane takes control over the Gotham city while Batman is gone – and it revolves around the come back of Batman to save Gotham city.

Revealing anything more about the story will spoil the fun as this movie deserves to be seen in a theater.

Coming to much talked and at times criticised villian Bane,i will go ahead and say it – Joker is not missed – why? – as the setting does not need him,it however is perfect for Bane –  strong,intelligent and ready to fight Batman one on one.Don’t sweat the remarks about his voice,its clear enough to understand.Tom hardy deserves credit for acting with the mask on and still making the right impact.

Anne hathway is sexy,sharp and definitely the best version of catwoman.

Gary Oldman,Michael Caine,Morgan Freeman,Marion Cotillard have done their parts with sincerity.

Christian Bale gets an equal part wayne and batman role and is perfect in both roles.

Director Christopher Nolan has done it again – by delivering a brilliant movie.His direction and storytelling is brilliant.He gives us the struggling batman and makes sure you connect to the character ,wanting batman to rise.

The Dark Knights rises, rises above the usual endings of super hero movies and gives us a compelling action drama finale.

A must watch – watch it without fail.