'Dus Kahaniyaan' -An interesting medley

Sanjay Gupta’s ‘Dus Kahaniyaan’ is an interesting, engrossing and entertaining watch. The movie is a rare experiment, comprising of ten different short stories by six directors.
The tales in ‘Dus Kahaniyaan’ almost reminded me of short stories by O Henry. Though there is no Henry-esque humour in the film, every story has some coincidence, contrived circumstance, or a twist in the tale. And the best part is that every short film has been shot and presented realistically, lending a strong credibility to each tale.
It would be unpardonable to give away the stories in detail, so here are just the rough outlines of them.

Matrimony

One of the best short stories in the film, ‘Matrimony’ by Sanjay Gupta has Mandira Bedi playing a bored wife of a businessman ( Arbaaz Khan ). Secretly, she is having an affair with another man (Sudhanshu Pandey). The affair comes to an end when he has to leave the city. But before leaving he gives her a gift that coincidentally unravels a new, shocking secret to Mandira.

High On the Highway

This film by Hansal Mehta is slightly ambiguous as the doped minds of its protagonists – Jimmy Shergill and Masumeh Makhija , film students who like to get high and hit the highway. But their lives change on the fateful, farewell night after an incident on the highway.

Puranmaasi

Of the ten kahaniyaan, this short film by Meghna Gulzar is the best, solely because of its superb story. In a small village in Punjab, a mother ( Amrita Singh ) gladly conducts the engagement ceremony of her daughter ( Minissha Lamba ). As Amrita’s rude talking husband leaves to buy things in city, the daughter (Minissha) dresses her mother with her own engagement dress and choodiyan, just to see how Amrita looked as a bride. It is the night of the full moon, the night when someone from Amrita’s past comes calling on her doorstep.

Zahir

Except for the twist in the end, the story of ‘Zahir’ looks plain and dull. Manoj Bajpai , a struggling writer shifts in as the next-door neighbor of Dia Mirza . In no time the two become thick friends. He makes the first move and kisses her. She rebuffs and walks away. Then a disturbing truth about Dia comes to the fore. But there is another truth that is more shocking than this one.

Strangers in the Night

Beautifully shot, this short story by Sanjay Gupta is a tad disappointing. Neha Dhupia plays a wife telling one of her secrets to her husband Mahesh Manjrekar . This is a ritual the couple follow every year on their anniversary. The secret looks like a sexual episode from the wife’s past. But it is more than that.

Lovedale

This is the dullest short story in the medley. Neha Uberoi gets down a train following a mysterious woman and ends up at the house of Aftab Shivdasani , a painter living alone in a house in the hills. The two share many tender moments but then comes the time for her to leave.

Sex On The Beach

This one is a bizarre film by Apoorva Lakhia . Dino Morea finds a book on a beach and what he reads in it comes to life in reality. A sexy girl ( Tarina Patel ) walks up to him and puts forth the proposal of the three-letter word. But what turns out knocks the daylights out of Dino.

Rice Plate

Directed by Rohit Roy , this is one of the best short stories in the film. A devout Hindu woman ( Shabana Azmi ), who abhors Muslims, quarrels with a Muslim man in a railway canteen over a rice plate. It is an incident that changes her belief.

Gubbare

The appeal of this short film is more emotional than intellectual. After a petty squabble with her husband during a busride, the wife sits next to a peculiar stranger ( Nana Patekar ) with many balloons. The stranger tells her the balloons are for his wife who is cross with him. But a different reality unfolds when the stranger gets off the bus.

Rise and Fall

Old habits die hard. Sanjay Gupta shows his old penchant for making stylistic crime movies in this short film starring Sanjay Dutt and Sunil Shetty as two gangster friends divided by power. It is also about two kids who came to the city and got sucked in the whirlpool of crime. It is literally about their rise and fall.
The appeal of ‘Dus Kahaniyaan’ lies in the novelty of its concept. Almost all the stories are about ordinary characters in extraordinary circumstances. Sanjay Gupta emerges the frontman with five stories directed by him, ‘Matrimony’ and ‘Gubbare’ the best of his lot. Meghna Gulzar and Rohit Roy share the second spot with their impressive films ‘Puranmaasi’ and ‘Rice Plate’. Hansal Mehta does a commendable job in ‘High on the Highway’, but he leaves a few questions unanswered. Apoorva Lakhia’s ‘Sex on the beach’ is spooky. Jasmeet Dhodi disappoints with ‘Lovedale’.
Among performances, the ones that stand out are by Amrita Singh, Nana Patekar, Shabana Azmi (if you ignore her contrived accent), Mandira Bedi, Jimmy Shergill, Manoj Bajpai and Dia Mirza. The rest, including Sanjay Dutt, are ordinary.
All in all, with the exception of a few dus kahaniyaan, the movie is definitely worth a watch.

Welcome ~~~ A comedy of errors ~~

StarringAkshay Kumar .... Rajiv

Katrina Kaif .... Sanjana

Paresh Rawal .... Dr. Ghungroo

Nana Patekar .... Uday Shetty

Anil Kapoor .... Majnubhai

Mallika Sherawat .... Ishika

Feroz Khan .... RDX
Director : Anees Bazmee

Producer : Firoze A. Nadiadwala

Exit from the hall at the end of the movie was the better part of watching ‘Welcome’, director Anees Bazmee’s latest comedy film. The movie falls way short of expectations.
Firstly, the film does gross injustice to an actor like Akshay Kumar , someone who has time and again proved his prowess at comedy. In the crowd of characters in the story, Akshay’s seedha saadha Rajiv gets lost somewhere. Not because Akshay is incapable of holding his own, but because the writers do not care to give more meat to him.
Secondly,the comedy in the film is so childish that I felt embarrassed watching most it. Please bear this sample: Katrina tries to make an April fool out of Akshay and pretends that she has lost her priceless necklace somewhere. Akshay spots the necklace next to a teddy dog alongside a pool. As he is about to pick the trinket, the stuffed dog lets out a bark, and scared Akshay falls into the pool while Katrina laughs at him and wins the April fool contest. Now, this was supposed to be funny. But it left me with my jaw dropped disappointedly.
There is not much to write about the film’s story. Rajiv (Akshay Kumar), a handsome, robust and eligible man has remained bachelor so long, thanks to his uncle Dr. Ghungroo ( Paresh Rawal ), who wants a bahu from a decent family in which no one has ever been to a police station.
But Rajiv falls for Sanjana ( Katrina Kaif ) without knowing that she is the younger sister of the biggest don in the city – Uday Shetty ( Nana Patekar ). And there is also Uday’s henchman Majnubhai ( Anil Kapoor ), a toughie who likes to hold people still at gunpoint and then paint their portraits. “Live Painting” is what he calls it.
While the two don bhais try to make the match between their sister Sanjana and Rajiv, there is a strong opposition from Rajiv’s uncle. So the two lovers decide to reform the dons. Following their plan, Ishika ( Mallika Sherawat ) enters the lives of Uday Shetty and Majnubhai. Expectedly, the two dons fall in love with the bimbo, and their crime business takes a backseat.
But then comes in the biggest don of them – RDX ( Feroz Khan ) to set things right.
Anees Bazmee pulls every possible string to make you laugh. But he fails to give the right strokes. He concentrates only on providing one hilarious sequence after another, but he completely ignores relating the sequences together. As a result, ‘Welcome’ ends up like a poor collage of comedy scenes, lifted shamelessly from Hollywood film ‘Mickey Blue Eyes’.
The saddest part in this purportedly humorous film is that Akshay Kumar has been denied the punchy lines and funny sequences he is best known for. The actor has been used like a prop in the huge cast ensemble. Still, he makes you grin ear-to-ear whenever his Rajiv blushes.
Rather, Nana Patekar’s role has more meat. And the actor does make you chuckle with his impulsive don who once aspired to be an actor. Anil Kapoor, too, is funny at times, playing a somewhat caricaturish Majnubhai. Paresh Rawal is just about okay.
Katrina Kaif looks terrific and hasn’t been burdened with scenes that require her to act. The same goes for Mallika Sherawat, who plays a bimbo without getting to flaunt what she is best known for. The two ladies, however, do add glamour to the film. Feroz Khan does the same for men.
The less spoken of the film’s music the better it is. With the exception of a Himesh Reshammiya track, the songs come and go like mandatory eyesores in this directionless film.
Anees Bazmee has done nothing but put several assorted funny sequences back-to-back in the name of directing this unoriginal movie. And he goes completely over the top in his attempt to make you laugh at the end of the film – in the dangling-house-on-a-cliff sequence, lifted straight from a Charlie Chaplin classic.
To see ‘the end’ of Bazmee’s film was a welcome relief for me. And when the movie’s after-effects faded away, I felt my sense of humour returning back.

Taare Zameen Par ! ~Every Child is Special ~~

Director : Aamir Khan
Producer : Aamir Khan
Musician : Shankar Ehsaan Loy

Very rarely do you get to see such great films that touch your heart and make you a better person. Hats off to Aamir Khan for giving us an exceptional film. Exceptional, because it serves the higher purpose of art, cinema in this case.
‘Taare Zameen Par’ is about a little boy, or shall I say a little flower that has been nipped so many times in the bud that it begins to wilt. But then comes the gardener, the man who lets, and helps, the bud to flower fully.

Ishaan Awasthi ( Darsheel Safary ), an eight-year-old naughty kid is often scolded and scorned at by his teachers and parents for being poor in studies. Life and its joy begin to seep out of him under the burden of the expectations of his parents (his demanding father, in particular) and teachers.

Through the bars of his classroom window he often sees nature and life outside in its natural and free progression. He gets to taste this freedom for one single day when he bunks the school for not getting his test papers signed from his parents.

Punishment – much against Ishaan’s wish, his father sends him to a boarding school, where whatever little glimmer of life’s joy that remained in Ishaan begins to fade away. And he even turns his back to his passion for painting.

But then comes a new arts teacher in the boarding school. Ram Nikumbh (Aamir Khan) knows how to reach out to children and make the process of learning enjoyable for them. He spots the silent and brooding Ishaan in class and decides to help the boy.

The rest of the film is about how the shattered confidence of Ishaan is restored and how he overcomes his disabilities and how he even surpasses his teacher in his favourite passion – painting.

‘Taare Zameen Par’ is a film made with enormous sense and sensibility. The story by Amole Gupte never intends to arouse in you sympathy for kids with lesser abilities. Rather it gives examples of great personalities, scientists and artists, to drive home the point that even a dyslexic child has a great potential.

The film is full of amazing moments that will make your eyes well up. An angry, bleeding and helpless Ishaan runs to the terrace of his building after being beaten by other kids. Or when his father slaps him after finding out that he bunked from school. Or how Ishaan keeps running around the sports ground in silent anger and frustration when his parents visit him in the boarding school. Or how Ishaan tries to hide his face when his arts teacher spots him kneeling in punishment outside a classroom. The killer scene comes in the end when Ishaan’s talent gets recognition and everybody looks out for him but he sits fearfully hidden in a crowd of children.

Darsheel Safary is the real hero of the film. No two thoughts about it. Aamir Khan is the second fiddle.

It is incredibly difficult to make a child act. And how good a job Aamir has done as the director is apparent from the stunning performance he has extracted out of Darsheel. In my opinion, Darsheel’s performance is the best we have seen from any male actor this year in Bollywood, including the Khans and Bachchans. The range Darsheel brings about in his character – from notoriety to vulnerability, and from buoyancy to lifelessness – is truly the work of a genius. Writer Amole Gupte and Aamir Khan have found a diamond in Darsheel.

Aamir, the dependable Khan, is up to his credentials as an actor. But it is as the director that he scores. Aamir has handled the subject with great sensitivity. His cinema is not about style but substance. Without straying into the usual trappings of a regular Bollywood film and at the same time blending the superb songs by Shankar Ehsaan Loy smoothly in the narrative, Aamir keeps TZP focused solely on the story and its essence.

And what a story it is. Amole Gupte deserves no less credit for penning such a touching tale. It is a story that shows the helplessness of a kid who is not able to perform tasks that are beyond his abilities. It also shows the lack of understanding on part of teachers and parents while dealing with such kids. And, last but not the least, it is a story of hope. It is a story that not just touches you but also transforms you. That, for me, is the higher purpose of art. And that is precisely why ‘Taare Zameen Par’ is an exceptional film.