Well, it's been a week already and I think the hype and all have subsided. Things have become clear on the obvious choice for some. For those of you who have only got the reviews but haven't actually got to watch them yet, here's my take on both the releases.
Saawariya: If you want entertainment, then forget it...go watch something else. This is a movie which has got a very simple story (I know some might say, 'if it can be called a story!', but nevertheless). Boy meets girl...falls in love with her...girl loves some other guy...other guy is absconding...will he come back?
Sounds simple enough? Probably Sanjay Leela Bhansali thought the same too. So what does he do to create the grandeur that we genrally see in his movies? He gives the entire setting a fairy tale look. The look is amazingly suitable for a Hans Christian Anderson kind of a story. A random unknown town, the roads and buildings of which are just like in a storybook. It rains AND snows depending on the mood of the characters. The prostitutes wear colour coordinated dresses (Green or Blue mostly!). People behave so indifferently to the central characters. It's more like there is nothing else happening around. It's just the story of these two youngsters and those related to them. Every now and then they break into a song. With roughly an hour worth of songs in the movie, you feel like bits and pieces of a narration is thrown in between a musical. You would definitely be in a trance. But the likely cause might be the amazing cinematography and the grand sets with the blue and green lighting rather than the brilliance of the story. Innumerable references to Raj Kapoor and the RK banner looks like they wanted Ranbir to be launched under the home banner but probably thought otherwise and just put in the proxies for the effect. But the question one would ask is what exactly was SLB trying to achieve from this?
As far as the newcomers are concerned, they seem to have the talent to be good actors someday. Maybe a different movie, a different kind of a role. Ranbir would definitely do good in a serious/action kind of a role while Sonam looks pretty versatile. But Saawariya was simply the wrong platform. Watch Saawariya only when in a sombre mood. It's not for the regular moviegoer.
Om Shanti Om: That's what I call a real entertainer. Forget all logic. It's not meant to be logical at all. But if you want value for money and 2.5 hours of fultoo entertainment then this is the right movie to watch. The first half sees a lot of 70's drama. SRK overacts like no one can and the best part is that he is meant to do so. All characters have been beautifully enacted by some very very good actors. Kirron Kher in the role of the 'overacting Filmy Maa' is simbly supaarb :-) . Shreyas is brilliant as usual. But the surprise pack is Arjun Rampal. Carrying off such a brilliant negative part in this kind of a masala movie is quite credible. Deepika Padukone, contrary to popular belief, can actually act and she does so brilliantly. She caries of the classic as well as the mod look with such ease that it is difficult to judge where she looks better. The two main attractions of the movie, in my opinion, would definitely be the spoof on south indian movies and the 'Deewangi' song. Watch out for SRK in the 'Rascalaa...Mind It' avataar. Mindblowing! No other word for it.
And the 31 star song does indeed take you back to the old era. Rekha, Jeetender, Mithun doing their jigs with the new brigade is very very entertaining and it really looks like they had one hell of a party at the sets :-).
The movie credits at the end of the film is definitely worth a watch. I don't think any movie-maker has brought his entire backend staff on-screen and given them due credit in this fashion ever.
OSO is a very apt tribute to the Hindi film Industry and to everyone who make it possible for us to love the industry and its movies despite everything. Farah Khan, you rock!
Saawariya: If you want entertainment, then forget it...go watch something else. This is a movie which has got a very simple story (I know some might say, 'if it can be called a story!', but nevertheless). Boy meets girl...falls in love with her...girl loves some other guy...other guy is absconding...will he come back?
Sounds simple enough? Probably Sanjay Leela Bhansali thought the same too. So what does he do to create the grandeur that we genrally see in his movies? He gives the entire setting a fairy tale look. The look is amazingly suitable for a Hans Christian Anderson kind of a story. A random unknown town, the roads and buildings of which are just like in a storybook. It rains AND snows depending on the mood of the characters. The prostitutes wear colour coordinated dresses (Green or Blue mostly!). People behave so indifferently to the central characters. It's more like there is nothing else happening around. It's just the story of these two youngsters and those related to them. Every now and then they break into a song. With roughly an hour worth of songs in the movie, you feel like bits and pieces of a narration is thrown in between a musical. You would definitely be in a trance. But the likely cause might be the amazing cinematography and the grand sets with the blue and green lighting rather than the brilliance of the story. Innumerable references to Raj Kapoor and the RK banner looks like they wanted Ranbir to be launched under the home banner but probably thought otherwise and just put in the proxies for the effect. But the question one would ask is what exactly was SLB trying to achieve from this?
As far as the newcomers are concerned, they seem to have the talent to be good actors someday. Maybe a different movie, a different kind of a role. Ranbir would definitely do good in a serious/action kind of a role while Sonam looks pretty versatile. But Saawariya was simply the wrong platform. Watch Saawariya only when in a sombre mood. It's not for the regular moviegoer.
Om Shanti Om: That's what I call a real entertainer. Forget all logic. It's not meant to be logical at all. But if you want value for money and 2.5 hours of fultoo entertainment then this is the right movie to watch. The first half sees a lot of 70's drama. SRK overacts like no one can and the best part is that he is meant to do so. All characters have been beautifully enacted by some very very good actors. Kirron Kher in the role of the 'overacting Filmy Maa' is simbly supaarb :-) . Shreyas is brilliant as usual. But the surprise pack is Arjun Rampal. Carrying off such a brilliant negative part in this kind of a masala movie is quite credible. Deepika Padukone, contrary to popular belief, can actually act and she does so brilliantly. She caries of the classic as well as the mod look with such ease that it is difficult to judge where she looks better. The two main attractions of the movie, in my opinion, would definitely be the spoof on south indian movies and the 'Deewangi' song. Watch out for SRK in the 'Rascalaa...Mind It' avataar. Mindblowing! No other word for it.
And the 31 star song does indeed take you back to the old era. Rekha, Jeetender, Mithun doing their jigs with the new brigade is very very entertaining and it really looks like they had one hell of a party at the sets :-).
The movie credits at the end of the film is definitely worth a watch. I don't think any movie-maker has brought his entire backend staff on-screen and given them due credit in this fashion ever.
OSO is a very apt tribute to the Hindi film Industry and to everyone who make it possible for us to love the industry and its movies despite everything. Farah Khan, you rock!
4 comments:
OMG! You almost panned Sawariya! :P
@P3 : Didn't really want to...there were flashes of brilliance but the overall experience was too torturous.
The movie credit thing was in 'Main hoon Naa' too. That is Farah's style.
@Debbie: Hmmm...never saw the credit roll in Main Hoon Naa.
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