Avatar: The best visual spectacle ever!

 

Avatar is the latest offering from James Cameron, who returns after a hiatus of 12 years after the biggest blockbuster of all times, Titanic. The expectations: humungous. The promotion: brilliant. The movie: let’s check it out, shall we?

Jake Sully, an ex-marine is shipped off to Pandora to take on the role of his brother as his genome matches exactly. Once on Pandora, he is introduced to the Avatar program; human DNA mixed with the native DNA to create Avatars that look like the natives (the Na’vi) and are remote controlled by the human mind. He plugs in, goes down the rabbit hole, and emerges in wonderland. Once with the Na’vi, he learns their customs, trying to understand what it will take for them to relocate away from their village. The humans need the natives to move away, so that they can come in and mine for unobtanium, the universe’s costliest resource. And if the Na’vi wouldn’t move themselves, well, too bad for them. They would just have to put up with being mowed down. It is then up to Sully to rally the natives to take on the ‘sky people’ with bows and arrows, as they come to destroy the homeland with missiles and napalm.

James Cameron’s return has been hailed widely in all movie circles. This time, his job is immensely tougher than ‘Titanic’ by having to work with all the technology he has in this movie. The introduction to Pandora, the Na’vi village, Jake’s coming of ‘Na’vi age’; everything is done very well and keeps you engaged. Where Cameron falters is in the second hour, while he tries to show the conflict in Jake’s mind and establish the setting for the faceoff to follow. The movie loses steam there, and the visuals strain to move the story forward. Cameron is, however, a master of the finale, and he does so here as well. The scale of execution, the fight sequences just take your breath away.

As tough it is to direct a live action venture, it is equally tough to judge the actors in these performances. But looking beyond that, or as they say on Pandora, Seeing them, Zoe Saldana puts in a great performance as Neytiri, the chieftain’s daughter who falls for this outsider. Sam Worthington is good as Jake Sully, our hero. Sigourney Weaver as Dr. Grace is good, and it is nice to see her back on the big screen with Cameron. Stephen Lang as the archetypal badass villain does exactly what you’d expect him to do.

The visuals are breathtaking, brilliant, amazing. Use whatever synonym you want to, but the feeling shall be the same. It is an immense effort from the people at Weta in creating an entire world with their effects, as detailed and as beautiful as Pandora. The water splashing in the seas, the leaves moving in the wind, the amazing night life of Pandora, the animals, the Na’vans themselves; everything is top notch. Only in one shot, as Tsu’tey falls from the helicopter after getting shot, do you see that he’s not a real creature, but a CG creation.

James Horner’s soundtrack is mostly good, but the songs seem like recycled versions of his old creations. The set design, for the scenes which have a set, is good.

Final Verdict: Cameron was initially planning to release it in July, but delayed it to allow some more ‘finishing work’. I believe the film was ready then, he just delayed it to release it close to the Copenhagen summit. The movie, with its pro-environment message, can capitalize on the timing of its release. On the basis of its story and screenplay, I would rate ‘Avatar’ 3 on 5. However, the movie deserves to be seen in 3-D, with which the visual spectacle raises its overall rating to 4 out of 5. I hope they redo Lord of The Rings with this technology. That would be just brilliant.

Rocket Singh: Zip, zap, zoom

 Shimit Amin returns with his latest offering after ‘Chak De India’, and expectations skyrocket! Sorry, had to get that one out.

Harpreet Singh Bedi, a fresh graduate, has barely survived college, while getting just enough marks to pass muster. Unable to get a well-paying job elsewhere, he decides to go into sales and joins AYS computers as a sales trainee. On his first day on the job, he refuses a bribe and reports the client. Unfortunately, this ends up making him the ridicule of the office staff for his naiveté. Stung by this criticism, Harpreet proceeds to set up his own firm - Rocket Sales, right under his boss’ nose. He gets 3-4 people from the office to join him on this venture, and together they set out to take on AYS in the field.

The story is a simple one, and it has been effectively brought alive by the lifelike characters and dialogues. The screenplay is brilliant through most of the movie, though the final 20 minutes play out a little strangely.

Shimit Amin has an eye for detail. Everything looks and feels like it does in real life, with people drinking from plastic cups in office parties, to no one wearing designer clothes, and Ranbir’s mentor telling him methods to keep the shirt clean. Amin extracts great performances from his ensemble cast as well. My only grouse is that the flick could have been around 15-20 minutes shorter. That would have kept the effort crisper.

Ranbir Kapoor as Harpreet is great. As refreshing it is to finally see a Sardar in a non-comic lead role, it is because of Ranbir that the character becomes real. Even when he dances at the party, he doesn’t do anything hero-ish. He just dances like a normal guy would.
Naveen Kaushik as his mentor, who joins him at Rocket Sales, stands out. In fact, he overshadows Ranbir in many scenes! Manish Chaudhari as the unscrupulous boss Puri is brilliant, as is D. Santosh as the techie who surfs for bikini-clad women on the net. Prem Chopra as Ranbir’s granddad is a delight. Mukesh Bhatt as Chote Lal, Gauhar Khan as Koena and the many actors playing the sales team are effective. Shazahn Padamsee hardly has 3 scenes in the movie.

The songs in the movie are there only as part of the background score, and serve no purpose. The background score is good. The set design is brilliant. You truly get the feel of the constricted office space and the inside of a regular middle class home.

Final Verdict: The effective story-telling lifts this story, which could have been shorter by 15-20 minutes. I’ll give this rocket 3.5 out of 5.

Paa: A mother-son story

Amitabh Bachchan re-launches himself and his production company with ‘Paa’, and the expectations are huge.

Auro, a 12 year-old with Progeria, a condition that physically ages the patient 5 times faster, lives with his Mum and Bum (grandmother). He doesn’t know who his Paa is, though he knows that he wanted to get Auro aborted, and hence hates him. Later, his mum tells him that the young and upcoming MP Amol Arte is his father. Without telling the MP the truth about their relation, Auro spends time with him, getting to know his Paa before his body clock runs out.

It is a novel story, and is not ‘The Curious Case of Benjamin Button’, though you may find Robin Adams’ ‘Jack’ in it. The screenplay lets the script down though. Was a dig at the media needed? It not only looks enforced, it has also not been executed well. The movie could also have been shorter by about 20-25 minutes.

This is Balki’s second film after Cheeni Kum, and he again displays the same maturity in handling an unconventional subject as he did in his debut. He manages to make the poor screenplay work to an extent as well. His advertising background shines through in the promotion of the film as well. The hype generated, the promos have all been pretty good. But like Cheeni Kum, the final third of the movie drags a bit. Infact, it drags more here than in Cheeni Kum.

Amitabh Bachchan needs to be applauded for taking on such a challenge as a producer and an actor. He pulls off the kid act with ease, and never do you realize that this is actually a 65 year old man and not a 13 year old kid. Vidya Balan packs quite a punch as Auro’s mother. She acts the part like a pro and looks very graceful as well.
Abhishek Bachchan is satisfactory. He tries too hard to seem like a ‘cool’ politician, and that hampers him. Being cool is different from sounding cool. Paresh Rawal is adequate. We finally see him in a different role than his usual hamming comic roles. Arundhati Nag as Auro’s grandmother is good. The child artiste portraying Vishnu, Auro’s friend has the wittiest lines in the entire movie.

The music of the movie is decent. Nothing more, nothing less. Same goes for the background score. The makeup team needs to be given a standing ovation for making Amitabh Bachchcan unrecognizable in his prosthetic makeup. The cinematography is top notch. The title sequence featuring Jaya Bachchan is an innovative idea.

Final Verdict: Paa is good in parts and decent overall. Watch it for Amitabh Bachchan and Vidya Balan. 3 on 5.

Kurbaan: Slippery Slope

 ‘Kurbaan’ is another in the new ‘global-terrorism’ mould cinema of Bollywood. It can also be called the second in a trilogy, sandwiched between ‘New York’ and ‘My Name is Khan’.

Avantika, a Professor at the Delhi University, falls for Ehsan Khan, a new Professor who’s just joined the staff. They get married; move to the US for Anamika to continue her teaching and Ehsan starts a new job there as well. Avantika later realizes that Ehsan is a terrorist and is involved in the bombing of an aircraft. How she tries to get out of this situation is the crux of the story.

The screenplay tries to lift the story above the regularity of what we read in the newspaper reports by putting in Vivek Oberoi’s character into the mix to spice things up, but fails. There are glaring mistakes; like Vivek Oberoi’s unnecessary and unrealistic gung-ho act, FBI agent Collins surviving the powerful blast at a distance of 1 metre while the entire subway station around him goes to waste, Om Puri meticulously planning everything and then failing to do as much as a background check on Vivek Oberoi. Even the much publicized intimate scene is a gimmick and could have been done without.

Rensil D’ Silva performs decently in his directorial debut, considering he’s hampered by the poor screenplay. At some places, the story moves a little abruptly; but that will get better as he makes more movies. He is also able to bring out good performances from most of the cast.

Kareena Kapoor as Avantika is the soul of the film. She’s at the eye of the storm and puts in a great performance. She is the best performer in this movie without a doubt.
Saif Ali Khan looks old and burdened. This might be deliberate to show him as the hardened terrorist, but he fails to give you the scares. Om Puri as the mastermind of the operation is effective in his brief role. Kirron Kher has a refreshingly different role from the usual benevolent motherly roles she plays and she does very well. Vivek Oberoi is decent, but his gung-ho act and inconsistent accent takes away from his performance. Dia Mirza is OK in her brief role.

The music is hummable. No song stands out, but no song grates on your nerves either. The background score is mostly effective, but in moments of tension, there seem to be some mirthful beats playing, and that sounds strange. The cinematography is good. The actions scenes look real, with an explosion looking like an explosion and not something superimposed on the scene.

Final Verdict: Kurbaan is a decent movie, hovering somewhere between average and good. Ideally, I would give it 2.75, but I’ll go with 3 out of 5 for the excellent production values.

Up: Floating

‘Up’ is the latest movie from the Pixar stables.

Mr. Frederickson, an aging widower, fulfils his lifelong promise to his wife of flying to South America by attaching helium balloons to his house and taking off, after his home is in danger of being torn down. His adventures in the Amazon constitute the story of ‘Up’.

It’s a refreshing plot about one’s dreams, but there is one jarring note. Why is Mr. Frederickson’s idol shown to be the bad guy? He’s not trying anything illegal. That note, and the subsequent storyline that stems from it, took away the charm for me.

The visuals of the movie were refreshing. The wide, flowing waterfalls; the wildlife of the Amazon, it all contributes to the larger-than-usual canvas of ‘Up’.

The voice acting by the cast is extremely good. The dogs, the eagerness in the kid, the sinisterness in Mr. Frederickson’s idol’s voice comes out beautifully.

Final Verdict: ‘Up’ is an interesting concept handled very well. The jarring note about the idol aside, the movie keeps you engrossed thoroughly. 3.5 out of 5.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs: Tasty!

‘Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs’ was a popular children’s book in the 1970’s. It has been adapted to the big screen in this animation feature.

Swallow Falls, a small island in the Atlantic has only one thing to boast of: Sardines. With time, exports die out, people get bored of eating sardines all day long and despair settles on the town.

Enter Flint Lockwood, a regular nerd with big dreams in his eyes, who has been trying to invent something useful since his childhood. He finally succeeds, inventing a machine that starts raining food from the sky. What happens afterwards forms the crux of the story.
The screenplay continues on the innovative theme in the story and bombards us with delectable food items falling from the sky, until greed settles in. How Flint resolves the situation that arises from this is handled pretty funnily.

The visuals of ‘Cloudy...’ are different, unlike what we normally see in a Pixar movie. The food looks delicious, but that’s just about it. The cast, led by Bill Hader and Anna Faris, does a good job. James Caan as Flint’s father, and Bruce Campbell as the mayor are excellent.

Final Verdict: ‘Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs’ is a simple movie, uncomplicated by the regular ‘deeper meaning of life’ fundas of Pixar. Good for a home viewing. 3 out of  5.

A visual feast: 9

Shane Acker plunges into a full-length remake of his 2005 award winning short of the same name. An apocalyptic world is something Hollywood evidently loves, what with the recent release of 2012 and countless other apocalyptic adventures.



The Plot: ‘9’ is set in a post-apocalyptic world where all humans are extinct. We meet ‘9’, a rag doll with life, given sentience by the humans. The purpose of this gift is unknown to us. The world around ‘9’ is barren, lonely and scary. Corpses and debris fill the landscape, and there’s an enemy around. The last of the machines is still activated, on a vicious mission to destroy any life forms.

From the very outset, it is clear that this is not a feel-good animation movie for kids. It’s dark and scary. At times, the story does feel predictable, but the innovative setting and slick action more than makes up for it. The roots of ‘9’ lie closer to ‘Terminator Salvation’ than ‘Wall-E’. What makes ‘9’ different from other post-apocalyptic flicks is its strange set of characters/creatures. The last time a doll was the main character in a movie, Chucky was tearing up unsuspecting kids with a knife.

The Visuals: Brilliant. The imagery on show is the best aspect of ‘9’. It wouldn’t have counted for too much in any other film; but as it is an animation flick, you have to give it the plaudits it deserves. The landscape, the machines, the dolls; everything is extremely well-eked out.

The Cast: It’s hard to go wrong with actors like Christopher Plummer, Elijah Wood, Martin Landau and John C. Reilly. The voice acting is indeed very good, especially by Plummer in the patriarchal role of ‘1’. He brings an air of self-assumed grandeur to the character that you feel like shaking him by the scruff and making him listen to 9. Full credit must go to the cast for making the dolls believable.

The Verdict: 9 is visually stunning, and has a good story to boot. Watch it on the big screen if you can, but do watch it. 3.5 out of 5.

'Ajab' Prem ki not so 'Ghazab' kahani

Given the hype and promotion surrounding the release of this movie, not to say anything about the rumors surrounding the lead pair; you would have to have been living in a cave for the past few weeks not to have heard about this one. So, what is this Kahani all about, and is it worth a watch?


Prem(Ranbir Kapoor), a simple small-town guy, runs a Happy Club in the town with his bunch of cronies. He stays happy and lives life to the fullest, uniting distressed lovers and getting scolded by his father and shielded by his mother, something seen in countless Hindi movies. Prem’s life turns topsy-turvy when Jenny (Katrina Kaif) comes to town and he falls for her immediately. As the two get acquainted with each other, a series of incidents follows, some humorous, others romantic. Just when Prem starts to think about settling down with Jenny, she tells him that her boyfriend (Upen Patel) is waiting for her. Heartbroken, he sets out to unite the two, as that is the right thing to do. There’s nothing too ‘ghajab’ about this kahani, honestly speaking.

The screenplay increases the quality of the product a little, embellishing it with dialogues and situations that sometimes make it hard for you to stifle a smile. Cases in point, the Saawariya spoof, the Katrina top incident and the ball dance.

Raj Kumar Santoshi attempts a new genre in Ajab Ghazab, the rom-com. People have harkened back to Andaz Apna Apna, but the two films are as different as chalk and cheese. While Andaz Apna Apna was a slapstick comedy that would have gone wrong in a less experienced director’s hands, this is a romance with parts of comedy that has been the main bread-earner of studios like Yash Raj. Santoshi slips into this mode effortlessly, and nowhere does it seem like this is his first attempt. The problem is, unlike the screenplay that did add to the movie, Santoshi’s direction does not add to it. He just plays out what he got like how he got.

Ranbir Kapoor is a class act. This is yet another movie where he performs brilliantly. He rises above the average story and actually makes it work. Be it the comedy scenes, the romantic scenes or the dances, he does it all with aplomb and charms the females in the audience while he’s at it. It’s fair to say then, that this movie would have failed without him. This Prem is surely ‘Ajab-Ghazab’.

Katrina Kaif has grown better as an actress with time. Watch her in APKGK, and compare it to her earlier works and you’ll see the difference. She may not be the finished article yet as far as acting goes, but she’s getting there. And she looks STUNNING! Sigh. The supporting cast, featuring Smita Jayakar and Darshan Zariwala as Prem’s parents, Govind Namdeo as Upen Patel’s father and Zakir Hussain as a madcap gangster, does a commendable job. Upen Patel expectedly disappoints, and you wonder if he was meant to.

Pritam delivers another hit soundtrack with APK… The songs fit well with the narrative and don’t jar on your ears. Main Tera Dhadkan Teri, Tera Hone Laga Hoon & my favorite, Tu Jaane Na are all chart-busters. The Salim-Suleiman duo does a decent job with the background score. Goofy and romantic sounds expectedly fill the background for most of the duration of the movie.

The cinematographer does a good job of showing us the small-town. After all, there are only so many ways you can portray the same city on celluloid. The editing is good and consistent, save for one occasion when Katrina is suddenly shown to have been kidnapped. To be fair to the filmmaker though, it could have been deliberate. The visual effects, though present for only a short duration, are good.

Final Verdict: Despite claiming to be a ‘Ghazab’ kahani, APKGK is a run-of-the mill rom-com that only rises above the regular product courtesy of the great performances and taut direction. The end result: it’s a one-time watch for the excellent performances. Did I mention Katrina looks stunning? Sigh! 3 out of 5.