‘Aam Aadmi’ is the focus of the present UPA administration in India. At least that’s how they spin it. In the Malayalam film industry, you had a man who imbibed this spirit a long time ago.

Sreenivasan, writer, director , actor and lately producer, is the person I am talking about. He has always portrayed a common man in his movies. He has always written and directed movies about them.

He has portrayed,

-          how a person suffers from mental illness because of jealousy, jealous because his wife is fair and he is dark

-          how a person breaks up his loving joint family due to pressures from his wife

-          how a lazy grown man , with wife and kids, can undo his life because of his fear of taking any responsibilities

-          how a communist worker who follows communism ideals blindly and has to pay a big price for it

-          how a politically minded son forgets all about his responsibilities in his pursuit of a career in politics

Do all the things I listed above sound serious to you? You will be surprised to know all the movies above are well regarded comedies in Malayalam with amazing repeat value. Most of them also have their stories, screenplay and dialogues written by Sreenivasan.

Why Sreenivasan is popular?

Sreenivasan has a great sense of humour. I would define sense of humour as a person’s ability to laugh at himself before laughing at others. Sreenivasan excels in that. Before making fun of any situation or any person, I think he imagines himself to be in their position. That is the strength of his writing, his characters. He understands the mind set of a middle class person and is able to see humour in the situation.

In none of his movies (which he has directed or written) are the characters extravagantly rich. They seem to be school teachers, barbers, unemployed youths, and small business owners (with a clear definition of what business). All of them are characters that the audiences can identify with. And that’s precisely what happened, Sreenivasan is a well respected figure in the Malayalam film industry; he is respected not just by his peers but also by his audiences.

Sreenivasan as a story, script and screenplay writer

Sreenivasan has been going strong for the last 25-30 years in the Malayalam film industry. In this time, among his contemporaries were world renowned writer directors like Padmarajan, Bharathan, M.T.Vasudevan Nair. But amazingly, inspite of such wonderfully talented competition, Sreenivasan has been able to carve a niche for himself in the hearts and minds of Malayalam film audience.

In part it is due to the comedic nature of his writings and movies, though he has portrayed a lot of serious characters in movies from directors like Adoor Gopalakrishnan , Aravindan , K.G.George etc, I don’t think he has ever written a character devoid of humour from himself or others.And in part due to the relevance of his movies, they may be comedies, but the audience can identify with each and every character in his movies. They may be like that or known somebody like that or vaguely heard of somebody like that.

As an example, I would like to present 4  synopsis(synposii?) of stories, screenplays or script that he has written. Check for yourself if you have known somebody like that, ( Please note all the title translations from malayalam are loose, may be off the mark, In case it is way too off, please let me know and i will be happy to change it)

Vellannagalude Naadu (Land of White Elephants):

A movie about socio-economic conditions of a small time civic contractor, played brilliantly as always by Mohanlal, the movie is a critique of an Indian bureaucracy, of how civil servants collude with private contractors to siphon money of various development schemes announced by the government. The movie, directed by Priyadarshan,(wondering how this has not been made into Hindi till now), had a host of characters, including a serious and honest Panchayat President portrayed by Sreenivasan who loses his life in the process, prompting Mohanlal’s character to become honest and bring the culprits to justice. The movie also had Shobana portraying a tehsildar.

The movie had a whole lot of comedic sequences , the most remembered might be the sequence where a road roller being pulled by an elephant goes out of control and rams into a house.

Sanmasilluvarke Samadhanam( People with goodness in their hearts are most satisfied) :

Remade into Hindi by Priyadarshan as ‘Yeh Tera Ghar Yeh Mera Ghar’ starring Sunil Shetty and Mahima Chaudhary, the remake was a poor imitation of the original. I wonder how Priyadarshan thought that Sunil Shetty can match up to Mohanlal from any angle. The movie follows a down on luck landlord trying to evict long time tenants from his house in the city. A sweet movie made memorable by superb performances by the lead pair of Mohanlal and Karthika and supporting performances by KPAC Lalitha, Sreenivasan and Thilakan.

Veravelppu (Welcome on arrival):

A brilliant movie by Sreenivasan-Sathyan Anthikad combination the movie follows a gulf returned malayalee ( Mohanlal) and his attempts to start a business in Kerala in face of rampant trade unionism. The movie was/still is a chilling comment on the negative aspects of trade unionism in Kerala.

Thalayanmantram:

How many times have you heard this story? A family very happy together was broken up because the girl he married did not like anyone in the family.A wife (brilliant Urvashi) wants better life for herself and her family consisting of husband Sreenivasan and a daughter. She feels she is not appreciated in the joint family set up of Sreenivasan’s family with his brother (Jayaram) and brother’s wife(Parvati) being more appreciated. Slowly her plan seems to work and Sreenivasan’s character breaks up his joint family and tries to lead a better life elsewhere. The movie also serves as a commentary on consumerism when the now nuclear family spends a lot of money on buying fridge, tv and car and other luxury items and end up with high debts which lead them back into the arms of the joint family.

Whatever your personal take on the story may be, you couldn’t deny that these things happen and many families have broken up due to these kinds of ego hassles. A well made movie with brilliant performances by every one but most notably Urvashi as the wife aspiring for a better future and Sreenivasan as the hen pecked husband.

A common thread in all these movies is, all the characters are common middle class people. The movie tends to put them in extraordinary situations and makes them react to the situations as humanly as possible. For example, in Vellannagalude Naadu , Mohanlal’s character being a practical person knows that bribing and flattering civil servants can get his bills passed. In ‘Sanmasilluvarku Samadham’ the landlord chances upon an old friend who is now a police inspector and tries selfishly use him to try and intimidate the stubborn tenants. In ‘Veravellupu’, Mohanlal’s character is easily misled by others, especially his family whom he supported by toiling the gulf.Imagine yourself in each of the characters above, I bet that you would also respond in the same way as the characters in the movie did.

Sreenivsan as a director:

Sreenivasan has directed only 2 movies. All these movies have been successful at the box office and are still remembered for unique messages in each of the movies

Vadakanokiya Yanthram (Machine that looks north (Compass)):

Sreenivasan’s directorial debut, the movie starred himself and Parvati. The movie starts off with Sreenivasan’s character writing a letter to a agony aunt/uncle column complaining that the girl he is going to marry is much fairer than him and what should he do to make his skin color fair.

This inferiority complex even after marriage sees Sreenivasan’s character going from bad to worse mentally, he loses all logic in his ever consuming jealousy and ends up alienating his family and wife.He finally goes to a psychiatrist and gets proper treatment.This must be probably one of the few mainstream movies in India to treat mental illness with the maturity they deserve.

A thread of movie is common day occurance, you wouldn’t have to look far to find a husband jealous of his wife in your daily life. Do all them lead to such situations as depicted in the movie, probably not, but then the movie acts as a cautionary tale on how it can end up.

Chintavristhaya Shyamala (Shyamala, who does not have any worries)

Sreenivasan’s character a school teacher who has a wife ‘Shyamala’ and 2 kids has been on a long leave from the school that he teaches in. He is a drifter who does not like any kind of responsibility and wants to achieve big things in life without knowing his limitations. At the start of the movie he absconds from his house to direct a commercial without understanding the basics of directing. The central character of the movie is his long suffering wife ‘Shyamala’ who runs the house with the help of Sreenivasan’s parents. After each of his escapades, lasting maximum of 3 days, he comes back with a set of excuses and tries to lead a normal life for a period of time before the itch to abscond starts again. After each of the escapade, Shyamala forgives her husband. At last he absconds for good, tries to become a swami by joining an ashram. Shymala gives up all hopes of his returning and tries and succeeds in becoming the bread winner of the house.

The movie ends with Sreenivasan’s character being thrown out of the ashram by the swami-in-charge for neglecting his family duties and his returning to his home to realise that everything runs smoothly in his absence and that unless he mends his ways he is in danger of losing out on everything that he has.

A lazy man, how familiar are you with one, I know I am, because I am one. The movie shows the dangers of abdicating ones responsibility to oneself, towards one’s family and to the society at large.

Why am I writing about Sreenivasan

Whenever people talk about malaylam cinema they talk about offbeat/artistic movies by Aravindan , Adoor Gopalakrishnan, they don’t talk a lot of the mainstream commercial movies expect for a few names like Padmarajan, a respected writer director who made some memorable movies in his short life. They talk about Mohanlal and Mammooty , brilliant actors, who have portrayed myriad of characters written by Sreenivasan. They talk about movies which have won awards, still do every year at the national awards, which may/may not be good.

They don’t talk about Sreenivasan. They don’t talk about the range of movies that he has done. They don’t talk about the characters he has written or directed which are still in the minds of the Malayalam cinema audiences. Sreenivasan made his mainstream career keeping within the parameters that define mainstream cinema. He wrote/directed successful movies which are still remembered for their humour and message. Malayalam cinema audience knows what to expect from a Sreenivasan movie, for them it is enough that it was written by Sreenivasan.

I am writing this because I believe Sreenivasan is a great talent who is one of the very few in India who can do writing, directing and acting with equal ease. Unfortunately he is unknown outside Kerala. His work might be known to Hindi cinema audiences through butchered scenes in Priyadarshan remake factory movies. I hope my writing this compels you to see a Sreenivasan movie next time you hear his name, or see him while changing channels. You may not understand the language, but I am sure you will understand the gist.

Related posts:

1. Kerala State Film Awards 2008 Announced
2. Aadmi azaad hai or ye hindustan hai tumhare baap ka ghar nahin
3. Malayalam Summer Releases 0f 2009- A Sneak Peek

Are you making your One minute Movie for PFCOne 2010?

Dhiraj Ramakrishnan | Permalink |
© PassionforCinema, 2009.
Post tags: Malayalam, Sreenivasan

Sorry for referring the genius as a blind man. I think he can see and innovate more than what the normal human being can do. He is an ode to the human spirit and also to something that we call ‘perseverance’. Its simply unbelievable to imagine that numerous melodies have been crafted by him. For the people who have not known his past, not known his knowledge, not known his creations, this is a short yet insightful post into the legendary music directors life and a tribute to his creations.

His Life:

Born in the university town of Aligarh, known for its art heritage and culture, Ravindra Jain was a musician by birth. He learnt classical music from ‘Prayag Sangeet Samiti’ and earned a degree called ‘Sangeet Prabhakar’. He is married to the poet Divya Jain, and they have a son Aayushman Jain who, like his father, also gained the Sangeet Prabhakar from Prayag Sangeet Samiti. Ravindra Jain has rightly been honoured with the titles ‘Sangeet Gyaneshwar’ and ‘Sangeet Samrat’.

His Childhood, Study and Interests:

He lead a normal childhood fully devoted to music. His father brought him a harmonium which inspired him to learn and understand music further. He was inclined to spiritualism since childhood, incidentally for reciting bhajans his father used to give him 1 rupee every day. He had a rather playful childhood where he used to wander over many places in Aligarh with his friends and often used to get beaten by his father for over indulging in play. His father was his first guru, teaching him discpline and behaviour. He would also participate in school anthakshari competitions with his friends and sister Laxmi and had won many competitions.

His music guru’s were Master Ghamandilal Jain, Pandit Janardhan Sharma and Pandit Nathuram Sharma. It was under the guidance of Pandit Nathuram Sharma he passed the ‘Sangeet Prabhakar’ examination. His interest was such that he learnt from many guru’s like Jain Kavi Daulatram Madhur Das, Dayanatrao and Budhjan in the future. Most of his guru’s were disciplined and showed keen interest in guiding Ravindra Jain to pursue a career in music.

How he got his first ‘Break’:

The first ever recorded two songs were in Bangla for H.M.V. for which he was paid twelve rupees. As a musician Jain got his break in N.N. Sippy’s Silsila Hai Pyar Ka in 1972 but the film never took off and his first released film was Kaanch aur Heera. In 1973 came his first musically successful film Saudagar, followed in the next year by two hit films: Chor Machaye Shor and Geet Gata Chal.

His Creations:

Some of the singers introduced by him are Yesudas, Jaspal Singh, Hemlata, Aarti Mukherjee, Suresh Wadkar, Chandrani Mukherhjee. Jain also has the rare privilege of working under the banners of R.K. films, Rajshris, B.R. Chopra, Ramanand Sagar and Sanjay Khan. Some of his excellent works in television are Ramayan, Noopur, Shri Krishna, Alif Laila and Jai Hanuman.

Ravindra Jain is credited with numerous wonderful albums on bhajans. Apart from bhajans in Hindi, he has also composed bhajans in Marathi and Bengali.

Awards:

A whole range of awards were won by Ravindra Jain. Ranging from State to National awards and International Awards. Check them
out,they are Raaseshwar, Sur Singer, FilmFare Award, Swami Haridas, Youth National, Ashirwad, Adhar Shila, Uptron, Priyadarshini, Jaycees, Lions, Indigo ‘90, Rotary, Bengal Film Journalists Association Award, Uttar Pradesh Film Patrakar Sangh Award, Sangeet Gyaneshwar Award, Almost Faqir and Sangeet Samrat.

Some of the great songs composed by the genius which I liked are:

Ghungroo ki terah bajta hi from Chor Machaye Shor

Gori tera gaon bada pyaara from Chitchor

Jab deep jale aana from Chitchor

Ankhiyon ke jharonkhon se from Ankhiyon Ke Jharonkhon Se

Sunayana..Aaj in nazaron ko from Sunayana

Ram teri ganga maili ho gayee from Ram Teri Ganga Maili

Sun sahiba sun pyaar ki dhun from Ram Teri Ganga Maili

Main hoon khush rang hina from Heena

Even now I get goose bumps listening to the songs ‘Jab deep jale aana..’ and ‘Sun sahiba sun pyaar ki dhun..’. Awesome music
director! He deserves more for his contributions.

Related posts:

1. Jai ho! geet sangeet
2. Quirk Gun Murugan Sangeet Alochana
3. Predictable don’t you think?

Are you making your One minute Movie for PFCOne 2010?

Sridhar Mayur | Permalink |
© PassionforCinema, 2009.
Post tags: Aligarh, B.R. Chopra, R.K. films, Rajshri, Ramanand Sagar, Ravindra Jain, Sangeet Samrat, Sanjay Khan

Most of the magic in this movie comes from the lead actor Mohammed Amir Naji and the camerawork. The former plays a simple, homely man called Karim who has a job on an Ostrich farm, loves his wife non-platonically and has three kids who he loves and scolds. All of that, however, is beside the point. He is basically an oversized kid who understands the concepts of responsibility and sex. He also has hair that magically reflects his mental state. Except that it’s not magical: every time, you can think of a perfectly good naturalistic reason for the state of his hair. His eldest daughter is deaf, and uses a hearing aid, which gets lost in a sludge-infested water storage that has been blocked for a long time when she is helping her brother (the middle kid) clean it up, so that he and his friends can start a goldfish-farm in it. He is an attractive man whose eyes are a match for those of the master of eye-expression – Toshiro Mifune – himself with a mysteriously endearing bulbous hooked nose. The number of shots of his face probably outnumbers all the other shots in the movie (I watched this movie last night, so you can make of this sentence what I will: that’s what stays on in my memory).

The face

The camerawork: this is one of those rare movies (only other I can remember is Three Colours: Blue) where you don’t feel the weight of the camera in the moments when you are looking at the camerawork. It is so simple – so natural, even – that… it looks it. I don’t know enough about movies and camerawork to be able to say any more. There is, in general, an alteration between close shots and beautiful long shots, used often to trick us and manipulate our feelings, but in a way that they aren’t manipulated to non-existence. Watch out, especially, for his last-ditch effort for finding the lost Ostrich.

Wait right here: I said “Most of the magic in this movie comes from the lead actor Mohammed Amir Naji and the camerawork.” This, the fact that they overshadow the story, is certainly the biggest compliment I’ve given Majidi and Naji. There’s an abandoned, blocked water storage outside his house, which is the one his daughter loses her hearing aid in. He, his son and his son’s friends find it, but it doesn’t work anymore. He finds out he has to go to the city, Tehran, to get it repaired or replaced. He goes to work and asks the supervisor – called Ramezan – for an advance on his salary and is refused. He lets an Ostrich escape, and goes around on his motorbike looking for it. He can’t find it, and is fired. He goes to the city, finds out he needs to either wait for four or five months (the girl’s exams are the next month) or buy it on the open market for an astronomical price. He’s sitting on the curb, on his motorbike, when he unwittingly becomes a bike-cab-driver. This is just the set-up. The really magical part of the story are the complications – Ramezan’s leaving for a pilgrimage, the increasing hedonism, his son getting the storage clean, the accident that happens due to his jealousy that makes him an invalid, the visit to the city after the kids buy the goldfish – and the end. I would love to reveal one part of the end, but since enjoyment of movie is more important than enjoyment of review, I won’t.

I should put in a word for the community in which the movie is set. It is the close-knit type in which everyone helps every one. I didn’t make it sound very charming, but I assure you it very much is.

And here’s the best part: I didn’t enjoy this nearly as much as I could have. I watched it on the Indian channel UTV World Movies which, despite being a blessing for people like me seeking exposure to undubbed world cinema, has a constant static in the background, a fact which makes every movie devoid of silence (further commendment for the channel: I watched it from beginning to end without any breaks).

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3. The RGV PFC… Face Off!

Are you making your One minute Movie for PFCOne 2010?

| Permalink |
© PassionforCinema, 2009.
Post tags: Majid Majidi, mohammad amir naji, Movie Review, persian cinema, The Song of Sparrows, World Cinema

Vishal Bharadwaj at the DVD release:

A few prize moments from ‘75 Crazy People – the making of ‘Frozen’ – co-edited with Shivajee by our very own Kenny DB

Related posts:

1. The ‘Frozen’ DVD Release Pics – Part 1
2. Shivajee is now Frozen on PFC
3. Frozen releases in Bangalore and Kolkata

Are you making your One minute Movie for PFCOne 2010?

Nikhil V | Permalink |
© PassionforCinema, 2009.
Post tags: frozen dvd release, shivajee chandrabhushan

Now that you are in the US, you don’t go about terrorizing the Americans right away. First you get a job teaching Islamic Studies at an Ivy League University and get yourself called a Professor (apart from giving you some pocket money, this job will make you a cool terrorist. [To get the job you will need to have an excellent academic, teaching and publishing record. Also, what about a working visa? But again please overlook these for the moment and stay with me]). Now as you do long hours at the University, you let your new wife slowly discover that you are, well, a terrorist (how do you do that – put her in a trance make her stupid enough to walk into the neighbours’ house in the dead of the night, and, once she’s is there, have the neighbours discuss some big terror plans behind closed doors but loud enough for her to hear. Make her really dim so that she believes them and not laughs her head off… and then you make the ‘Im a Terrorist’ entry!). Professor Terrorist Dude.

You realize you have done not much in the terror department since you left Pakistan; now you need to get on with it and terrorize people – so you start forking people to death (yeah! the cutlery) and as this much action does not seem enough you pick a dead body lying in your basement and drive it to dispose it somewhere (don’t allow anyone to say hey, hold on! why not dig a fcu*#g hole in the basement, bury the body there itself. Yeah make sure the neighbour-terrorists too are dim, very dim indeed). Give the wheels of the car carrying the corpse to a dimmest of them all, make sure he takes a street where there is police surveillance; on being stopped the driver must start to make alarmed faces leaving the Yankee officer with no option but to ask you two to step out of the vehicle. Your action part starts here, you kill a few policeman as a warm up to actual act of terrorizing the city. By doing so you would have given the police enough leads to have yourself and the terrorist neighbours nabbed. So trust your boss to come to rescue here – he decides to go for the kill right away.

What do you do – you botch the whole thing up. No one is going to blame you though; it’s actually your wife who does you in. You see, the night before your D-day, she needed to get her hands on some terror information. She could have easily walked a few paces to the drawers in the living room where the papers with this information are kept. Instead this well-meaning but going dimmer-by-the-day soul takes a long circuited route (mildly recalls your own Pakistan-to-India and Find, Seduce & Marry NRI Girl routine). She first seduces you into going to bed with her, and as you sleep all tired, she tiptoes to the living room and gets the papers. The terror information is leaked out and you, on the other hand, get reminded how much you love her. As a result, none of the bombs go off in a way to do any real damage and all your terrorists friends get killed one by one. Again, not all of this is your fault. Some of your friends were dimwits, remember. They just forgot to blow themselves when they could easily have done so. Instead, they kept clicking their heels till the police could spot them,and then made a run, get caught and get killed.

All of this should not worry you because when you reach the last fifteen minutes of the story no one is going to care any longer for the implausibilities on how you went about the job, they’ll be too absorbed just trying to catch up with the action. Only don’t let the climax action pause even for an instant for you would risk being tied in knots by the endless, gaudy contrivances that you story is filled with. Just one last thing, die smiling and we’ll make sure there is a massive publicity campaign supporting your story. Deal? Deal. Now go give it a try (may Allah be with you).

Related posts:

1. Terror in Mumbai.
2. Terror at the Drive-in Show (The Making)
3. Kurbaan Movie Review : Kuch kuch terrorism hai?

Are you making your One minute Movie for PFCOne 2010?

Padmaja Thakore | Permalink |
© PassionforCinema, 2009.
Post tags: Karan Johar, Kareena Kapoor, Kurbaan, Movie Review, Padmaja Thakore, Saif Ali Khan, UTV

Direction: Rensil D’Silva

Rating: One and a half stars

I desisted from writing an instant-noodle review of Kurbaan. I said I wouldn’t, there’s no point etc. Because it raised my hackles to the extent that I wondered whether I was responding to this travesty of a film as a critic or as a Muslim.

I saw the film again, reflected on its content as well as style, and so yes, though I had promised myself that I would ignore the film, here I am for whatever it’s worth giving my take on the widely publicised film (Some love stories have blood on them, went the poster catchline, whatever that means). Because silence at times from a critic should not mean approval or even acceptance.

The most shallow film of 2009, Kurbaan directed by Rensil D’Silva and produced by Karan Johar,borrows its skeletaql plot premise about urban terrorism from Hollywood’s Arlington Road (1999), a film which Johar wanted to adapt and direct some half a decade ago. Presumably he didn’t because he couldn’t put together a script to his personal satisfaction.

The scripting task, in Johar’s mind, has been achieved by D’Silva who had co-written the  superior but flawed Rang de Basanti. In its very concept, Kurbaan plays on dangerous ground. With several inevitable subtractions and additions, it morphs the original’s story about American terrorists operating from the deceptively calm suburbia. Only in this case, the terrorists are Muslims, endowed with rough stubbles, red hot eyes and the biggest cliché of them all, Om Puri as chief exterminator. If this is not irresponsible cinema, what is? Karan Johar credits himself with the story. Wonderful! If he ever adapts Red Riding Hood, he’s likely to take credit for that too.

Saif Ali Khan, as Ehsaan Khan, and all the terrorist baddies are Muslims. Still do note, Kareena Kapoor with those dead eyes and twitch-twitch mouth is Avantika — meaning a non-Muslim is about to expose a sleeper terrorist cell. Applause for the Avantikas of the world! Perhaps a Salma or Shehnaz ,as the deceived wife of Ehsaan, would not have washed with the majority community audience. D’Silva-Johar mistakenly believe that they know the formula. So what if every twist and turn in the dramaturgy is replete with contrived coincidences and are laughably illogical as well. The easy-as-pie manner,in which Ehsaan Khan is okayed by an American Unversity to take classes on the Muslim identity, is a ribtickler.

Now, cut back to the heroic heroine Avantika. She  is aided by a sidey-effect, Vivek Oberoi portraying a Muslim, but he’s more of an add-on than organic to the plot. As awkwardly Dia Mirza, as Reporter Rehana,goes up in smoke in an airplane blast. The sequence is so tackily picturised that you squirm in your seat. Indeed, you fret throughout the two-hour-40-minute film, a brazenly glossy, superficial and blinkered view of post-9/11 terrorism.

No effort is made to investigate the root causes (except for some wonky allusion to global oil prices..and groan, personal vendetta). No effort is made to touch upon the complexities, or the after-effects of the beastly, misguided madness. No effort is made to do anything but be hopelessy irrational. Take the terrorists murdering one of their own jehadi’s wife. Did they wake up one morning to conclude that her kheer and biryani were not up to the mark? Or did they have issues with her smiling beatifically? And what about Big Bad Mamma Jehadi (Kirron Kher doing an Irene Papas-like number) looking more venomous than Cruella Da Vil? More: And what about that giggle-inducing close-up of cyanide capsules? In case of trouble, terrorists are instructed to swallow immediately. Some of them don’t and so have to be pumped with bullets in sleazoid bars. Or at a smashed car’s steering wheel.What a hoot!

Strictly by comparison Jagmohan Mundra’s Shoot at Sight (with a near-similar plot) was good, Kabir Khan’s New York was much better, and with or without comparison, Shoaib Mansoor’s  Khuda Kay Liye was outstanding.

From the first frame to the last, Kurbaan is a lesson in how not to write a script and worse, how to direct it. The romance between the two dandily-garbed professors on a Delhi campus is embarrassing. By the way, a bookish professor sprouts up like a mushroom to display his terrorist fangs.So much bookwas really.

Saif, as Ehsaan on the FBI’s most wanted radar, coolly zips in and out of U S airports (he’s trimmed his beard, and maybe even has a fake massa somewhere). And Avantika turns out to be one ditzy damsel, staying on with Ehsaan even after she dhan ta na, she has learnt of his secret identity. Hello hello! Pregnant with his child, our Avantikaji  beds him to show off that poster-sized bare back. He’s shown bare -backed too, but in terms of screen sex appeal, both need some elementary lessons pronto. Chill!

The FBI agents come off as nerds, the terrorists strike you as puppets on the director’s loose strings, and the action like a car crash, are sloppy. Hemant Chaturvedi’s camerawork in a bid to be coolly stylish is much too obtrusive; as for the transition shots of homes and buildings, they become so excessive that for a moment you feel you’re watching a digest of architecture.

Vis-à-vis the Islamic elements, the kalima is much too randomly used (someone even stops saying it midway through) and precious words are bandied about, like Alhamdolillah, which must be used with care and pure faith. Did anyone care to re-re-authenticate the dialogue and lyrics?  Evidently not.

The tortoise-paced editing makes Kurbaan heavy on both the mind and the heart. And like it or not, the performances are nothing to write home, or anywhere,  about. Saif Ali Khan either looks super-smug or goes smirk-smirk. Kareena Kapoor is irritatingly cosmetic, wearing lip gloss even when she’s zzzzupposed to be in bed, asleep. Vivek Oberoi should stop tearing his eyes to convey shock. And Om Puri should reject such terrorist boss roles, please, please, please – pretty please?

In effect, then, Kurbaan is the sort of film that doesn’t have a clue about the complex subject it is dealing with. It set my teeth on edge. And ha ha , not only because it is revealed at the end that the real name of Saif Ali Khan’s terrorist happens to be Khalid. Thanks Karan, Rensil..I’d just like to see how you guys would respond if your names were used for heinous criminals on screen. Or even in graffiti. Try it.

Clearly the motive for such movies is sheer profit.  Who cares about responsible cinema? Certainly not Johar who plays with faith and terrorism as if they were toys, absolutely designer.

Related posts:

1. Kurbaan
2. Let’s fight movie terrorism!
3. Kurbaan : Trailer

Are you making your One minute Movie for PFCOne 2010?

Khalid Mohamed | Permalink |
© PassionforCinema, 2009.
Post tags: Kareena Kapoor, Kurbaan, Kurbaan Movie Review, Movie Review, Om Puri, Rensil D’Silva, Saif Ali Khan

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1. Danny Denzongpa Talks About “Frozen”
2. few pics from no-smoking – dec28
3. Frozen – A Beautifully Unique Looking Film That Deserves The Big Screen

Are you making your One minute Movie for PFCOne 2010?

Nikhil V | Permalink |
© PassionforCinema, 2009.
Post tags: DVD launch, event, frozen, Kenny, shivajee chandrabhushan

Aar Par onwards Johnny Walker and Abrar Alvi became essential parts of the films of Guru Dutt.

Abrar Alvi , like a true wordsmith provided the solid ground to the dreamy visions of Guru Dutt and their complementary combination created a wonderful cinematic world through the films Aar Paar, Mr and Mrs 55, Pyaasa, Kaagaz Ke Phool, Chaudvin ka Chand and Sahib Bibi aur Ghulam.
He directed SBG while few of the songs were directed by Guru Dutt himself.

Abrar Alvi was the last person who sat and talked with Guru Dutt few hours before he died.

Alvi Saab died yesterday.

May his soul rest in peace!

Related posts:

1. Guru Dutt : Genius ? Part II
2. Classics and Cash – Guru Dutt’s speaks !!!
3. Lost To Life: Guru Dutt

Are you making your One minute Movie for PFCOne 2010?

Rk | Permalink |
© PassionforCinema, 2009.
Post tags: Aar Paar, Abrar Alvi, Chaudvin ka Chand, Guru Dutt, Johnny Walker, Kaagaz Ke Phool, Mr and Mrs 55, Pyaasa, Sahib Bibi aur Ghulam

Johnny (played by Sikandar Agarwal), the title character is a migrant kid who makes his living in Mumbai serving chai. His daily routine brings him closer to a few of his customers – a drug addict, Vishal (Karan Nath), a model/ actor, Preeti (Soha Ali Khan) and Parvez (Neil Nitin Mukesh). Johnny hopes that someday one of his customers would help him find a better life and facilitate his goal to work in Dubai. Sudhir wastes no time in providing rich topographical details of Mumbai, exposing the vagaries of a city fractured by the socio-economic class system. The characters of Vishal, Preeti and Parvez are introduced with an elaborate voice over from Johnny’s perspective. This is probably the only part that made the writing look a tad sloppy. Yes! I am indeed referring to the classic, cardinal rule – “Don’t Tell, Show! ”

Johnny’s customers include Begum, the trans-gender ‘madam’ operating a brothel (played by a ridiculously convincing Saurabh Shukla) and Chiple (Kay Kay Menon), a corrupt police officer. Parvez carries on an extramarital relationship with Chiple’s wife Divya (Shahana Goswami). With these characters as a backdrop, Parvez, with Johnny’s help carries out a heist from an apartment where Chiple stores his corrupt earnings from bribes.

Preeti and Vishal on the other hand share a dysfunctional live-in relationship. A TV Network owner exploits Preeti’s vulnerability (played by an extended Hitchcock-ian cameo by Sudhir himself). He obsessively stares at TV monitors only to pick out Preeti as his object of desire. I felt it was not rationale enough for me to question that – Why her? If you are still keeping up with me, here are a few more characters; Vishal’s client played by Aditya Bhattacharya whose business dealings are dubious and has for some reason employed henchmen whose only job is to collect money that he lends to others. Don’t ask me why he lends?

Begum has a love interest, a drug dealer. The drug dealer, besides giving blowjobs to Begum and using Johnny to push drugs plays a trivial role in the plot. Then there is Johnny’s friend, another struggling kid, whose only characterization in the movie is that a middle-aged man sexually abuses him. While we are with the subject of sexual abuse, Johnny himself comes close to getting raped by a police officer. I am not sure if Sudhir’s recurring references to the act of sodomy had anything to do with newly passed section 377 that has now decriminalized same sex intercourse.

So with this many characters in a movie, one might question if Johnny is indeed the protagonist? But, that’s where I was clearly mesmerized walking out of the theater – Johnny was able to sustain my interest, helping me sympathize with these characters, rooting for Johnny mostly and then be agitated about some of the other characters wanting them to fail in their motivations. And oh! did I forget to mention about Anurag Kashyap – he makes a cool cameo as well as Sudhir’s henchman.

I have to confess, the style of narration and Johnny’s character reminded me of Ramin Bahrani’s Chop Shop, a story about a tough Dominican kid in Queens who tries to provide a better life for himself and his 16 year old sister by stealing auto parts from cars parked near Shea Stadium. Of course, Ramin presented his unique sensibilities and grip of the subject in Chop Shop by keeping the camera very unobtrusive and almost giving it a neo-realistic texture.

All said and done, Sudhir’s Is Raat Ki Subah Nahi and Hazaron Khwahishen Aisi will still remain my top picks followed by Koya Koya Chaand. Johnny is slated to release in India in January and if you are a Sudhir Mishra fan, you will  walk away very pleased.

Related posts:

1. Khoya Khoya Chand – Tera Kya Hoga Sudhir?
2. Khoya Khoya Chand review: Bhansalification of Sudhir Mishra
3. An Evening With Sudhir Mishra

Are you making your One minute Movie for PFCOne 2010?

Girimohan Coneti | Permalink |
© PassionforCinema, 2009.
Post tags: Anurag Kashyap, chopshop, giri coneti, girimohan coneti, johnny tere kya hoga, Movie Review, neil nitin mukesh, ramin bahrani, Soha Ali Khan, sudhir mishra, Tera Kya Hoga Johnny, Tera Kya Hoga Johnny movie Review

By making it an open public debate, there may be many a tendency to veer off the topic, pick on small points of others and go way off from what this debate is intended to achieve. Hence the commenters are strongly requested to passionately put forth their views and debate this sticky issue that seems to erupt on every Friday with every new film release.

Nikhil V
With all due respect to everyone , when will we stop reviewing the film before it releases? Really. Why don’t we just show it to the reviewers after the first cut and get it over with…

Vijay
Nikhil, the only way to stop early reviews is to have the press show on Thursday afternoons. You cannot stop the press from writing once you have given them access. So make sure the access is timed correctly.
It’s not just here. Look at the reviews for so many films on RT, and you will see how many critics write reviews weeks before the release of a film.

Nikhil
VIjay sir, I really think the press screening is hogwash. Let them watch it on a Friday. Buy tickets and see it. Why should they be shown the film early in any case? You have good things to say – say it on Saturday. Bad things – Saturday. The breathing space that any film requires to find any feet is almost over now – today, most of my friends already are not going to watch the paid previews we were planning because the lady very kindly almost lists out the entire plot too…this review, if I may be so bold as to say, is a marketing strategy review, as is the case probably with most of the reviews that come out weeks before the release of the film. Either planned like that or because someone trashed it after watching a screening so the producers have to counter it. But I still stand by – no shows for critics before the audience gets to see it.

oz
I’ve personally deleted portions of reviews from PFC’s authors blogs, (that they see at film festivals) – when Production houses or producers have come to us and  said it was revealing the plot of their unreleased movie. Well now comes the debate, why take it to festivals then? The moment you screen it in a festival or limited release or special release or whatever new kinds of releases we have, it comes into the public domain. I’m seriously confused here over the path to take, this needs to be debated in all seriousness, I personally do not reveal plots of movies I see at festivals in reviews except for one – Paanch, where I still did not reveal the twist in the end, but what it did was start a serious discussion with Anurag over what could have been done in some portions of the movie. I loved that debate.

Ram
unless the film has got a spoiler ending, what is the problem with revealing the plot.. anyways paper and screen never look the same … I guess the Production House said that to you that cause the review was negative.. If it were a positive one everyone would have been happy…

Vijay
Nikhil, I am with you man. I am all for doing away with press shows, and letting the movie take its initial based on the marketing. I would rather just send complimentary tickets to the press for the opening day. But the issue is not them. There is no written rule that there have to be press shows. But the producers want good reviews on Friday morning in the papers.

Oz, the second problem is that we don’t have critics. You think the Bombay press is bad, come to the south. Every review will reveal the plot in more detail than what even the director is privy to. And there will be one paragraph at the very end commenting on the movie. Either, the editors of publications have to crack a whip and demand good reviewing, or the writers have to learn to review without revealing plot details, or filmmakers have to get rid of press shows. At the end of the day, whether the plot is revealed on Friday or Saturday, what’s the difference?
Whether you screen your film at a festival or have a press show, you do it only for one reason – Exposure. You want the word to spread about your film and expect that in turn to translate into sales. When you do that, its fair game, whatever is said about your film. Filmmakers just need to accept that and move on.

oz
well, you’re right… the problem is the hint of arm twisting that comes into their communication when Production houses mention in their emails – ‘We will be forced to take legal action’… Maybe 10 years ago I would have slammed them for this sentence, shown them the finger cause there’s no legal case, it was shown at a festival, first amendment, California laws etc. etc… Now, I just let it pass. Many of these Production houses have done good and are backing indie cinema. But I would like to see how everyone sees and views this issue. This is a constructive debate I would like to see.

Nikhil
Ram sir – when you spend 5 months staring at a blank screen until drops of blood form on your forehead, you learn to appreciate plot as well  It’s like saying Carver’s stories are not as good because they don’t have a Maupassant twist ending :p But seriously, I have the same issue with our promo-makers…they seem to work on a simple principle – take best scenes of film – put in promo – put music – flash cut – rinse, repeat…no worries if the story is laid out completely…

(I know I have a very small idea about the whole fest scene but here goes) Well that’s a personal choice I guess – take it to a festival, then it’s out there in the open. If ‘Kurbaan’ was at a fest I have no problems with the review being out – also because in all probability a fest will have some lag time before the film releases. And festival reviews are not our hindi mainstream reviews and even that most people forget if the fest is a month before the film releases. And even that doesn’t work because sometimes films are planned to premier on certain festivals and then they are shown in India in a day or so. An example of that would be ‘What’s Your Rashee’ where the Variety critic was called in to view it and he said that it was more than 3.5 hours long…a good example would be ‘Fatso’ and ‘Raat gayi…’ both shown at SAIFF and both not on the radar as far as reviews go other than them being appreciated there.

My problem is with a review out on a Wednesday/Thursday when a film is out on a Friday. It doesn’t make marketing sense to show it to people and in the age of Twitter risk bad WOM getting around, and all because the reviewer/viewer didn’t get his or her plate of samosas at the screening as promised. It happens, really. You spend 5-10 crores on marketing a film and then a few days before it releases, reviews are out. What’s the point of spending that money then?! You market so people come to theaters, not so that they wait for reviews and come to theaters…
And Vijay sir, by exposure policies, don’t you think producers are merely jumping into it blindly – not planning it, just – keep a screening, let people talk about it. There are some films that should not be talked about like this. Some that need to spread their word in a different way. I’m sure of that.

oz
Very interesting views here. So far I’m viewing this as – if you don’t want your movie plot to be revealed before Friday, don’t show it anywhere until Friday and if you show it, show it to a focus group with legal docs signed that they don’t mention the movie to anyone.

Ram
Nikhil ji, I appreciate the bloot-letting, and dont reveal anything in what I write.. and the debate is not about importance of a plot, its about the choice of revealing it or not to prospective viewers..
In my view, film makers hate plots being revealed only on two occassions, mostly, exceptions are there, however they are not general examples
a) the plot is thin, beaten-to-death or unoriginal, where the producers stand the chance of losing audience… in other words they cannot fool the audience, who realize that acid factory is unknown only after sitting through two hours and spending 300 Rs per head in a theatres….
b) it has an O Henry ending..
otherwise, there is no need of hiding the plot….

Nikhil
I thought that was the way it was usually done…was stunned to walk into screenings with friends and walk out and be free to write about it…and it’s not about the plot as much as opinion of the movie that I’m concerned about…because as you know, most people are too lazy to form their own opinions, they like to piggyback on those of ‘experts’…the newest fad in town is to talk about the ’screenplay’ – even two coffee-shop guys were talking about ‘yaar, film ka screenplay weak hai’ at a mulitplex :p I am no snob but screenplay as the new buzzword is stunning. Especially since you see the film, not the screenplay.

Ram sir – I beg to differ  And with all due respect, most stories are beaten-to-death and unoriginal. Case in question – Dev.D It’s the treatment and the plotting of them that defines them. You’re probably referring to story when you say plots can be revealed. My bad

But yes, I still stand by – don’t reveal the plot – reveal the story.

Vijay
Nikhil, find me a producer other than Ronnie Screwvala who has any remote understanding of targeted marketing in India?
Ronnie saab identifies his target audiences, and sells hard to them. He has a different way of selling to each demographic. It’s not just about spending money. It’s about the work you put into it. The other producers who claim to be marketing gods are those who make films with huge stars, and mass market in a blanket strategy by pissing away crores. Give them a film without stars that they would have to market based on the content, and then we’ll see who has a clue about what to do.

Producers are not really bothered about a good review. They will give the press the free booze, the samosas, the white envelopes, simply to make sure they dont write anything scathing. As long as its not damaging, they dont care. Plot revelation is the least of their concerns.

But you cant ignore reader demands either. I used to review movies for a website while I was in college, before i found PFC. Every other critic on the team would have long drawnout passages detailing the story. I used to avoid doing that as much as possible. But the comments I used to get emailed to me from readers…75% complaining that I didn’t tell them enough about the story of the film, for almost every review I have written.
So now who can you blame?

Sethumadhavan
Ideally the reviews should at max come out earliest on friday mornings so that atleast people who have planned for the day will still go on to watch it.Better still could be to have press shows ( if required ) or press invites sent for regular shows on friday morning/afternoon so that the reviews anyways come out only by friday afternoon/evening.
But there is another problem to what I’m suggesting here.a lot of movies have the paid previews and the premieres happening around wednesday/thursday so how do we then stop the early reviews?Paid previews have turned out to be a great way to make money and generate buzz so not sure if people would put a stop to it.

oz
But Nikhil, you just can’t control anyone to toe your drawn out line “don’t reveal the plot before the release of the movie”… I’ll understand it, many here understand it, but it’s like the pirated movie or music online. you just can’t control everyone from clicking the download button.
I would say don’t release your movie to festivals or limited audience before friday… I’m saying this cause I’ve “surrendered” to the fact that you can’t control people to your point of view which is : if you see the movie, don’t reveal the plot online.

Ram
Nikhil ji, my plot can be revealed and yours cannot..  OK ji, take Dev D as an example, tell me what can be revealing in a review about that film.. nothing.. even if you write scene by scene on DEVD, with screenshots, people will go and watch it… thats the difference…

Vijay
You cannot change the fact that when you make your movie accessible to a group of people, it is bound to come under scrutiny, its details are bound to be revealed. Whatever further discussion happens on this issue, who ever we ask to change, it wont make a difference. Ethics evaluated and formulated by people based on what is advantageous to them.
You want journos to stop revealing your plots in their reviews, then make it worth their while. You give them white envelopes during the press show. Let them know through your PROs that if they refrain from revealing the plot in their reviews, they can swing by the production office and collect another white envelope.

Nikhil
Ram sir, people watch movies for the darndest reasons. I didn’t watch Dev D for the exact same reasons you mentioned :p Saw it much later, once the hype had died down. And I guess we are just too diametrically opposite POVs on this, so that’s that.

Vijay sir, I completely agree about Ronnie S versus the rest. I’ve been part of a massive budgeted film that opened to 10% audiences because no one figured out how to market the thing. So I’ve suffered at the hands of the other ‘marketing god’ producers – don’t even get me started :p Am not blaming you or anyone else for that matter – it’s just something that I and my wife gave very serious thought to and debate constantly even today. Because I came across someone on Twitter who was tweeting EVERY 5 MINUTES from a screening of a new movie. Inane stuff but it was constant. And most people are on the lookout for new movie reviews so that’s that. It gets around. I think my issue lies with the very basic premise that makes it OK to reveal details of the film before it is open to the general public, for which it was made. A concept that if, like you did, you don’t reveal the plot, people don’t like your reviews. And that is something you can only blame the reviewers for. Because they man that ship, they set that course.

Oz sir – I understand the helplessness you feel – one can only control one’s own stuff. The rest is like pirated music – they will download. So maybe the trick lies in figuring out how to counter piracy. Or at least make it a debatable issue. Have people say ‘piracy is bad’. Here it’s, like Vijay-san said, incumbent that you give out plot in the reviews. Almost like piracy is the way to go, yo! If you’re not on board, you’re an idiot.

Look at ‘Avatar’ – the ‘Avatar Day’ thing that the producers did so people could see and comment. That was a few months back(?) When fans heard Peter Jackson was making LOTR, they signed a petition to New Line to stop the film since the director had previously made only shlock horror movies like ‘Braindead’ and ‘Bad Taste’. Peter Jackson called a small bunch of these people on set, showed them around on the condition they didn’t take pictures unless allowed to and didn’t talk about the plot. The result – the group became theonering.net, which till date, is one of the most updated Peter Jackson site in the world, a place he drops in to himself often. If it’s done with the intent of expose, I can understand. If you’re taking it to a film fest, then you can’t really say ‘don’t reveal the plot’ – but mainstream ‘critics’ can, of course, have a policy of not talking about the film until release date? It’s a product in the end. Unlike a car that will go from 1 to 100 in 6 seconds for everyone, a film is very subjective. To not allow people to form their own opinions is criminal. And as an industry, Bollywood needs to understand that this is harming them more than helping them. So many movies are just swept under the carpet because most reviewers are dog-tired by the time they’ve seen the first movie and another looms large on the horizon and they need to see both on Thursday so both reviews also need to be written that very evening… We can’t keep doing this.

Ram
Nikhil Ji, yes maybe opposite in our views…
But a question that I would like to pose to everyone who are in this debate
Name a few good films which have failed due to downriding reviews or revealing reviews?
Many good ones have failed due to bad marketing, but that doesn’t need to counted here… The point is that bad films fail due to revealing reviews because they are bad films.. it is correct that they failed…
If we believe that there are film which are good and it failed because of revealing or downriding reviews, then I have nothing to add and agree to your points about not revealing the plot…

Nikhil
Ram sir – how many films have failed and flopped miserably due to piracy? But that doesn’t make piracy right, does it?  
But then that’s my POV. I guess most people would want the plot revealed. I wouldn’t, and I’m the lesser for it. But such is life:) I hope you are not taking this personally – I am a bit old-fashioned in I like to keep the wonder of watching a movie intact. A revealed plot does it for me, even the promos  
And everyone – my first reaction was and still is a problem with the review being out today, a full day before the film releases. Revealing plot and everything else is a detour…

Ram
No Nikhilji.. its never taken at a personal level … the only thing that really baffles me is when film makers look for all sorts of reason for failure, but never admit that they have made a bad film and it was supposed to fail… I stand by reviewers who impartially admonish such films and help the viewers in making a good choice… after all the monetary resources of the viewer is also limited
There are reviewers who go by ‘white covers’ and keep mum about mediocre films, or even syndicated ones who praise a bad film ….
Some are of the opinion that let audience decide for themselves, what is good and what is bad.. but suggesting an analysis is not harmful, right? when it comes from a well-analyzed platform, the value of the suggestion increases..
It can never be compared to piracy…
Agree that all good films need not be box office sucess… but it is not due to reviews, in fact, they get brilliant reviews… the audience are not mature enough to stand good cinema.. that is an accepted fact..
Similiarly all bad films are not failure,… like our own 2012 is collecting 250 million in 4 days…inspite of bad criticism all over the world in every forum will all the plot points revealed… so the fate of the film seldom depends on the review.. it can definitely save some hapless souls who might walk into a bad one inadvertently

Sudhir
I am not in favour of putting reviews before Friday. But if you do want to review, then it’s ok in by me if it’s a positive review. If it’s a bad review then putting it before Friday really means that you are hell bent on spoiling the movie’s chances.
One thing I like about YRF movies is that they don’t have any press screenings before the movie releases. So there’s no chance of anybody writing earlier.
And what I really hate is writing in all the points or doing a detailed scene analysis while writing a review. It’s ok to do an in depth analysis after a month or so after a movie releases. When I read a review, I just want to know what the writer thought of the movie. I don’t want to know all about a movie via a review.
Having said this, in the age of microblogs like Twitter, there is no way one can control the flow of info. In our site, we may be able to make some rules, but from a producers’ point of view, it’s very difficult to stop stories or spoilers from coming out on the day of the movie release.

Ratnakar
Nikhil, in the age of Twitter, and when every other person, has his/her own private blog, how exactly can we put this restriction.
Sure CNN-IBN might give a directive to Rajeev Masand not to review any movie before Sunday, but it can’t stop him from sharing his thoughts on his own personal Blog or via Twitter or maybe on his FB page. I got to know of Rajeev’s views on MAMK and Tum Mile much before the movies were released, when he was all over on Twitter sharing his thoughts with people who followed him.
I think reviews affect mostly the “In Between” movies. If you are speaking of a movie like Luck or Blue or Do Knot Disturb, they have a hard core fan base, who will watch the movies, come what may. People who watch Transformers would most likely be fans of the series, or those who like special effects Bling, so they don’t really care much for the critics. Now if it’s a movie by Tarantino, Anurag Kashyap, Vishaal, Lynch, these are directors who have their own dedicated fan base again, and critical acclaim is the additional motivation.
The problem comes for movies like Aagey Se Right, not directed by a very well known director, nor having big stars. Did not receive favorable reviews, and died out at the BO, because in such cases people do take a look at the reviews and make a decision. Again if we do try to put a clause that such kinda movies, should not be reviewed till Sunday, its like entering into a grey area.

Nikhil
Ratnakar-san, that was a point I made some time back too – at least let us debate this and question the ability of ‘reviewers’ to share reviews on blogs before the film releases…and I’m saying, for the industry as a whole, not just ‘in-between’ but any type of movie should not be reviewed beforehand. Producers are to blame because they have these screenings so I’m not saying have no reviews or ban reviewers. The idea was to rethink the entire strategy of these screenings before release. God forbid if critics had hated Dev.D and trashed it on Thursday night, where would we be? Actually, Taran Adarsh gave it 1 star and called it ‘No Smoking 2′! Rajeev Masand called it average but said watch it and decide for yourself. Now, all these, if they came out on a Friday morning – plus a few more – and I’m certain Dev. D would also be under a lot of pressure. Now I’m not certain how the reviews came out that day but I’m just giving an example – even with a ‘fan base’ no director is ever safe. Roland Emmerich died with The Day after Tomorrow and 10000 BC from what I know. And Jackie Brown was no feather in Tarantino’s cap…Lynch had his ‘Inland Empire’.

But that’s there – I’m talking about, and basing all this, on how we do our reviews nowadays. And all I’m saying is – give a film a day at least to breathe. Let people discover it and then accept or reject it. And don’t have reviewer screenings. Don’t give the power to dismiss a film to a bunch of people who have no real authority to do so. Because you and I might not pay heed to reviewers and take their opinions as just that, but for most people – that’s the gospel truth. Because it’s someone with a position of authority, writing in newspapers or putting it out on TV who is doing so. And that is enough for the general populace to consider that person an expert.

wb
Nikhil bhayya – Vox populi.
Oz – Can we take this to main?

Ratnakar
Nikhil, in that case the call has to be taken either by the Professional Movie Reviewers or the Movie Industry. Now i am not sure movie websites like Indiafm.com, Idlebrain.com or IndiaGlitz.com, would fore go an opportunity to not publish the movie reviews on Friday, that’s the time they get the maximum hits.
Or the producers decide to do away completely with paid previews, pre release screenings, get it released on Friday, and ensure that reviews come out say on Sunday or Monday, giving some “breathing space” as you say.

Nikhil
Ratnakar-san – I’ve stopped reading reviews other than for sport. Some of them are so bizarre they are entertaining, like the TOI one today. All we can do is when we make movies, try and get the producer on our side and not have the screenings and paid-previews. Asking movie sites to not review is really like Oz-san said, asking people not to download from the net. If it’s out there, they are in their full rights to review. Because there is no ‘unsaid’ rule about giving a film a breathing space. Heck, no one even listens to written rules here…
Read the ‘Backlash’ article here – quite interesting http://www.reelviews.net/reelthoughts.php?identifier=616

Ratnakar
assuming most of the reviews are misleading, and reviewers are jokers, the question remains WHO WILL BELL THE CAT? Obviously not the sites or the media where those reviews are published, so it has to be done by the movie makers themselves. Now are they willing to put their differences aside, and put in an agreement with Professional Critics, stating that movie reviews must be published 2 days after the movie is released.

Ram
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/masands-movie-review-dev-d-not-for-fainthearted/84673-8.html
Rajeev Masands review of Dev D.. he says its tiresome and boring…what was its impact?

Ratnakar
Ram, Dev D was aggressively marketed by UTV, and also promoted a lot on PFC, plus the soundtrack made a huge difference, if not for nothing, people went in for “Emoshional Atyaachar”.

Nikhil
Ram-san, this review, if I’m not mistaken, came out that Friday night – Feb.7 . It was just an illustrative example – what if this was on a Friday morning?
And my point was this too – we spend crores marketing, then why get the reviewers in a couple of days before?! It doesn’t make marketing and business sense! Even if the reviews don’t matter.
And Ratnakar-san is absolutely right – UTV are gods as far as marketing goes – other than a few off days, they’ve been bang-on every film these past couple of years.

Ram
My argument is simple.. if you have confidence in your product.. go for reviews before release.. It will boost up the marketing…
If there is less confidence, let your defense tactics in…

Ratnakar
I guess this is the best approach
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/4741259.stm
No hassles here. Kya bolte hai.

Sethumadhavan
In this age where everything happens instantly its going to be tough to say no to reviews till friday/sat.While even I’ve mentioned earlier that its nice to have the reviews coming out by friday eve if not later- how do we ensure the same.
Dharma Productions has arranged for mind boggling number of paid previews for Kurbaan across the country later tonite.So anyways by midnite a huge number of people would have watched the movie.So by tonite you ( Dharma Productions ) are anyways going to open the floodgates , so what happens?Maybe here they are very confident of the product and so they dont mind facing the risk.

Satish Kasetty
Interesting discussion.. but what i fail to understand is, what difference does it make if the review comes on Friday or Monday…is the film maker going to recover all the money in that two days.
the effect of the reviews are very little, there are films with bad reviews doing good at the box office and films with good reviews doing badly at Box- office.
It is the promotion of the film which decides the fate of the film.. if the right audience come to see your film the word will spread. If the film is really bad then no one can help it. That is when the film maker blames the reviews for its failure, because he thinks he made a good film…( Every guy who is making a movie thinks, that he is making a good film. Otherwise he won’t be making it.)
I feel 85% of the success of your film depend on promoting the film and telling the audience, what the film is about, and expect the right audience to come to see it. If the wrong audience come to see your film, then the reviewer has written your epitaph.. sorry to say he is also a part of the audience with a unique power of his position….
I like to see a film on the first day, that is when you get to see these crazy fans, film buffs, and people like me, to whom films are a passion. Both In the break time and after the film is over, I keep my ears really open. People in the cafeteria, in the toilets, in the corridors, everywhere, are on their cell phones, spreading their opinions. First half is good, comedy is good, interval bang is good, songs are good, hero is good and heroin is bad. They even decide, it is a one week film two week film, three week film. They will be talking to a guy in another district where the show must be over, and trying to know how the second half is.. it is crazy… in the days of such communication the word spreads fast, real fast.

That is why I keep saying and I am saying it again, get the right kind of audience for your film… tell what the film is about, ell what to expect from your film.that alone will decide the fate of the film, follow it by strong PROMOTION…

@Sethu- KVM was shown to the press fifteen days before the release of the film, but the reviews came only on Friday evening. it is possible if you have a good PRO. at least it is possible here.

Sethumadhavan
Satish- I’m really happy to know that you were able to manage the same for KVM.I’ve heard of similar things happening in Mumbai as well in the past.Dont think such things happen these days there though.

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© PassionforCinema, 2009.
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Director : Werner Herzog

Writer: William Finkelstein

Release Date: 20 November 2009 ( USA )

Cast: Nicolas Cage, Eva Mendes, Val Kilmer

Producers: Edward R.Pressman, Stephen Belafonte, Alan Polsky, Gabriel Polsky, John Thompson ( IV )

Music: Mark Isham

Cinematography: Peter Zeitlinger

Film Editing: Joe Bini

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Are you making your One minute Movie for PFCOne 2010?

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© PassionforCinema, 2009.
Post tags: Alan Polsky, Bad Lieutenant Port Of Call New Orleans, Bad Lieutenant Port of Call New Orleans Movie Review, Edward R.Pressman, Eva Mendes, Gabriel Polsky, Joe Bini, John Thompson ( IV ), Mark Isham, Movie Reviews, Nicolas cage, Peter Zeitlinger, Stephen Belafonte, Val Kilmer, Werner Herzog, William Finkelstein