When I have seen one version of a film I seldom go onto watch another version merely because it’s boring. Of course like any rule of thumb there’s exception to this one also, such as Ghajini and Wanted. But never had I expected that I’d watch an original version of a film totally by mistake. No joke! I watched Vellithirai, an earlier version of Shortkut, without realizing that it was the original of it until the climax. You may find that amusing, others would say it’s stupid and ignorant of me but I say it goes to show what a terrible job the Hindi makers did with the remake that they butchered the film until it reached an unrecognizable state! (I realize that Vellithirai wasn’t the original of the story as it’s a film that stems from Malayalam cinema)
During my research prior to watching the film I’d even gone onto read the story of it and still it made no connection with Shorkut in my mind because Shortkut was marketed as something completely different. First of all it had a ridiculous comic take on the entire story which in reality is rather serious. Secondly the Tamil counterpart is more focused on content and features great performances rather than things like skin-show which was main reason audiences went to watch Shortkut as it was regarded as Amrita Rao’s ‘makeover’ film where she’d be shedding all her inhibitions along with her clothes. Turns out all of that was absolutely unnecessary and to Anil Kapoor Production’s dismay, they may have had an actual recovery from their investment had they avoided such cheap forms of publicity and stuck with the credible script they had chosen to remake at the first place.
The film is essentially the story of a good-hearted cinema enthusiast, a writer and aspiring director played by Prithviraj. He has a very fresh take to cinema that not many understand and perhaps forms the reason as to why he hasn’t gotten a break as a maker yet. In his chaotic and cinematic world is a friend and wanna-be actor played by Prakash Raj. Prakash’s character has no sense of true cinema and is merely obsessed with the idea of becoming a ‘star’ rather than an ‘actor’ despite his unconventional looks and growing age. In addition there’s a reigning actress with whom Prithvi’s character is involved with and thus stems another storyline in the film. How the three lives are intertwined in the world of cinema and how the actions of a backstabbing friend affect the struggling director is the rest of Vellithirai.
Some may say that I am full of praise for this version as it has Prithviraj however I have to argue that the character of Prithviraj’s was recreated by Akshaye Khanna in the Hindi version and till date to me remains to be the ONLY thing that Shorkut got right. The two share a lot of similar mannerisms and were both able to effectively put forward the performance of a struggling, under-dog writer and director.
However apart from the above fact there remains nothing in the Hindi version that did justice to the story. First of all it is not meant to be a slapstick comedy as it was in Hindi but rather an intense drama with substance. Secondly the love story was absolutely unexplained and half baked in the Hindi version.
Whilst it seemed that Akshaye’s character was merely fed up with his wife’s success overshadowing his, in reality, the character is meant to have no such anger but rather simple frustration that he shares with his wife one evening. I distinctly remember this scene in the Hindi version with a lot of screaming and shouting in it but in the Tamil version it’s an emotional intense and subtly performed scene where the wife realizes that it is because of her, her husband is encountering so much trouble. The final outcome is not meant to be some huge ugly battle ending in divorce but rather a heart touching sacrifice from one partner to the other.
In addition the Hindi version had all the markings of a typical commercial flick and was ruined because they inserted all those elements that a required in a Hindi commercial flick when in fact the film in its originality was no such thing. One look at Vellithirai and you know it doesn’t belong in main stream entirely and nor have the directors forced it to. The fact that it did well at the box office was just a bonus I suppose.
Ofcourse the ultimate bonus of a well made film is its performances which truly stands out in Vellithirai. As mentioned earlier Prithviraj excels yet again in a role that actually may be known to him as he played something similar in Renjith’s Thirakkatha. Gopika is given quite a bit of scope and takes full advantage of it. She may not be the most glamorous of actresses but certainly can act. Prakash Raj is a legend in my books so the less I say about him, the more it is. All I’d like to say is that when I read which role he’d be essaying I was a bit confused about how’d he pull it off but after watching the film I have no doubts he was the perfect person for it.
So the lesson of the day for me is that don’t always deny a watch to other version of a same film because sometimes one maker may have taken a film to a whole new direction then intended and your opinion of the very same storyline can be completely altered. I am sure those who’ve watched both Hindi and Tami l versions will agree!
Unlike the majority my views of Raajneeti were long ago decided to be somewhat negative when I tried to watch the film twice and failed each time to get past the first 15 mins. Yes, the film that many deem to be the best release in 2010 leaves me speechless in all the wrong ways! This Prakash Jha film which is very loosely based on the family dynamic of the epic Mahabharata is nothing but a never ending political drama of contradictory characters and usual attempted ‘shock-value’ scenarios you expect from a political saga dedicated to Indian politics.
I will not rant about how useless political films are to me unless you have a fresh take on them that I haven’t seen before, because I think my Prasthanam review did that well enough. Ofcourse because by now, if you watch Indian cinema regularly, you know that they come in types. There’s the crude and dark shaded ones or the candy-coated ones that speak of Utopian India. In either scenarios I get bored because I’ve seen it all done a million times. So yes lets not dwell on that lack of creativity by Prakash Jha but rather forcus on the disastrous charaterisations in Raajneeti that were neither, white, black or in the grey zone.
Perhaps because he wanted to draw parallels between Mahabharata family dynamics caused this ridiculous set of characters to be created or perhaps they were ridiculous to begin with. Who knows?! Either way its disastrous!
Jha has created a bunch of characters who are down right confused. One moment they’re protecting family or saying romantic lines(scene: Arjun’s scene with Katrina in the bedroom and how every night he sleeps on the couch and you the audience are expected to think that he’s so righteous and understanding), the next they’re killing brutally like a psychotic serial killer (scene: Arjun Rampal’s killing scene with the baseball bat) and the next he’s saying some big righteous speech as a politician with a patriotic background score as if you to make you think that he’s doing this all for his country.
The same set of contradictory scenes but to a higher extent are featured on Ranbir’s character. He has forever been in denial of his political heritage, yet divulges deep into it for the first time in his life without hesitation and goes onto use some of the most brutal tactics in the political game that even his elders haven’t, without showing any sign of remorse or hesitation. When he does show remorse right at the end you’re expected to believe that he had no choice and that it was the black-magic of the political game that enveloped him and compelled him to do all those things.
Oh! and how can I forget Katrina Kaif’s character Indu who’s characterisation is as unreasonable and ridiculously structurd as the others, if not more. Too bad she performed so well for this insane character that made no sense.
Only two characters that remain in tact throughout is Manoj Bajpai and Ajay Devgn’s. The former being a selfish and jealous cousin brother sick of being second in line and the latter being a truly righteous man who has been caught up in this family feud and is almost a pawn in the game.
No doubt the performances by all the above are fantastic but as I mentioned the characters are so far fetched and ridiculously compiled its just plain annoying that you’re expected to take it on board! Was I meant to not use my brain?!
The background score of patriotic music and tracks like Kora Asmaan angered me even more because the film has no sign of patriotism nor does it have any indication that these characters even care for their country. Its just a supposedly shock-value filled film about Indian politics which in fact fails to shock because we all know that it is a brutal and ugly game. If anything Prakash Jha may have exgeated for cinematic purposes.
When you finish watching a film you reflect on your final sentiments as credits roll and that becomes your opinion. For Raajneeti my sentiment was ‘anger” because I sat there thinking “what was the point of that”?! After all that blood shed and “hoo haa” Samar’s character goes “oh politics is so mean it made me do all those things” and then he goes out and hugs the man who’s son he killed so brutally.
I have seen a lot of films and directors have made me believe a lot of out-of-this-world things but never have I been expected to understand and empathise with such ridiculous characters. I have also seen plenty of films with grey shades characters who are neither good or bad but carry shades of each side such as that of Farhan Akhtar’s character in Luck By Chance, and I can safely say that I these characters weren’t grey. They were just poorly crafted or perhaps followed logic that doesn’t sit well with me. Either way it made the film a painful experience with me that sadly I will no be able to wipe from my memroy.
Now ofcourse I am in the minority when it comes to disliking the film so be sure to watch yourself and make up your mind.
Since the film I am reviewing in this post needs no introduction what so ever I am just going to jump the introduction part and get to my conclusion…which is? That Rajshree Ojha’s Aisha is exactly how I want the ever so ‘filmy’ Indian cinema to transform in the 21st century!
Its the usual makings of your typical Hindi flick. Glamorous exterior, colours, cultural events, families, romance, comedy and so much more which is what Indian cinema is all about. Its about mixing all the emotions together, making it all look outstandingly pretty and delivering it with systematic marketing to ensure an out-and-out escape trip for the audiences. All of the above describes Aisha to the core!
At the same time it has a certain level of realism that the audiences of 21st century have begun to demand. For example, when Aisha is in the garden she doesn’t have GHD straightened hair blowing in the wind and perfectly inappropriate clothes, no! She’s got her hair tied up like you and I would when outside, with a hat and light clothes as you expect. Sorry to pick on Karan Johar ones again, but had this been his film she’d have been in a Manish Malhotra gown, probably a corset, hair blowing , make up which is 11 inches thick and so out the door would go all the realism. ( if you don’t believe me, go watch KANK again and just see how ‘glammed’ up Rani looks when merely vacuuming her NY appartment!) Sonam looks stunning and no doubt screams that she belongs to the upper class of Delhi but at the same time she doesn’t look ridiculous. Its small things like that that were given attention to by the makers that has made the film so impressive in my eyes.
Ofcourse the reason why the film impresses so much has much more to do with the genius work of script and screenplay writer Devika Bhagat. She’s a crafted the Jane Austen classic beautifully to suit the Indian audiences and has fitted the story brilliantly in a whole new setting like the perfect set of glass slippers. More than that she’s ensured that the brilliant script doesn’t lose credibility because of a poorly structured screenplay. Perhaps the fact that the script writer also put on the hat of the screenplay writer helped the film because only she knew her vision so well to bring it clearly to the screen scene by scene. The film flows smoothly and so efficiently that you forget you’re watching a Hindi film! There is absolutely no time wasting and for someone like me who has not enough hours in the day I truly appreciate such well crafted screenplays.
Two other names influenced the film’s outcome heavily and that is dialogue writers Ritu and Manu who wrote such witty lines! Everyone can write ‘filmi’ lines that are uttered with dramatics and loud background scores, but I find it to be more impressive when a writer is able to craft a simple conversation, be it a fight or a romantic dialogue, in a genuine and realistic manner. In addition, the dialogue writers include a very brilliant mish-mash of English and Hindi and utilise English vocals that the younger generation speaks yet our cinema has failed to recognise.
Abhay Deol and Sonam Kapoor may be the only stars you hear off from this film however they alone did not make the film but inf act would have seemed rather useless without their brilliant ensemble of co-stars, predominantly made up of new faces. In particular Amrita Puri and Ira Dubey shine as does Cyrus Sahukar. Abhay is, as always, rather flawless despite being so new to the art. He’s calm and composed persona was very much appropriate for the character and very different to roles he’s done in the past such as the bratt in Socha Na Tha or the arrogant Dev in Dev D. Sonam gives a much more than decent performance and surprises me. Perhaps she may be ‘standable’ when enveloped in a credible script. However I did feel that Aisha’s life would be much similar to Sonam’s so the fact that they were similar perhaps would have been the reason she was bearable as oppose to her other films so far. (Ofcourse this is my mind working overtime and a mere speculation that Aisha and Sonam are similar!)
Amit Trivedi is the true superstar of the film who’s music is the best of this year without a doubt! Whats more is that its beautifully utilised in the film and not wasted or butchered. Kudos to choreographers Terence Lewis, Ashley Lobo and Karan Boolani for doing justice to the tracks.
So I guess I should wrap up just about now and to conclude I’d say that this one is getting a big, fat thumbs up from me for the many reasons outlined above. I know it was over publicised and you may feel nauseated after seeing the umpteen posters, promos and screaming fans of the film who’d decided it was blockbuster much before its release, but try and compartmentalise and watch the film for a credible debutante director who truly deserves to take a bow! Rajshree…you go girl!
I say this over and over again and will forever continue to say it and that is that it truly pays to watch the lesser hyped and talked about films that comes out of the Indian film fraternity. It marks the advent of directors who trust their film and refuse to create hype that may in turn prove to be the film’s worst enemy (in recent times I believe Raavan’s overhype cost it its misfortune). Kabeer Kaushik, director of Arshad Warsi and Dia Mirza starrer Hum Tum Aur Ghost (HTAG) clearly belongs in this range of directors. Ofcourse one may never know if the lack of hype for the film was due to lack of publicity or due to the confidence the people behind the film had in their work. Either way it works beautiful for HTAG as you sit there knowing absolutely nothing about what to expect and get taken away on a brilliant cinematic journey.
HTAG is essentially a love story between photographer Armaan (Arshad Warsi) and magazine editor Gehna (Dia Mirza). However like any love story theirs too has its very unique twist. No its no villainous father, in fact the father is a rather humrous one, nor is it the battle of religion. Rather its the divide between life and death. Confused? Well let me explain. As the title suggests the film has a strong touch of a supernatural element in that Armaan is one of the rarest personalities in the world as he can communicate with the dead. (insert “I see dead people” jokes) He manages to convince his best friend Mini (Sandhya Mirdul) about this unusual occurrence in his life however his girlfriend Gehna remains a skeptic and is convinced, thanks to support given by Armaan’s psychytrist, that her boyfriend is suffering from schizophrenia. However that is not all that there is to HTAG’s story line. Armaan also has a special purpose for seeing these departed souls and that is that they all have some sort of unfinished business they need help with and Armaan being the only person who can see them has a long queue of souls to guide to the shining light at the end of the tunnel. Their problems range from trivial things like their love for Aishwarya Rai and love for cricket to more serious matters such as finding happiness for their widowed wife or tracking down a lost son. How Armaan manages to help the souls in need at the same time maintain his sanity and relationship is the hilarious, emotional and engrossing journey of Hum Tum Aur Ghost.
The first round of appalause for making this phenomenal piece of cinema has to go to writers Arshad Warsi, Arshad Ali, and Soumik Sen. Perhaps the combination of so many creative minds is the key to success behind this innovative script that quashes all the cliches and defines its own path. Despite being a supernatural film it doesn’t have obvious cheesiness i.e. its not copied from a Hollywood flick such as I See You was.(I argue that any similarity with any Hollywood film is coincidental because lets face it countless titles have tackled with the issue of people communicating with the dead) In addition it doesn’t take to the path of supernatural flicks that are essentially horror films and support all the cliches in the book created mostly by RGV films. Nor does it take to the trend of dark comedy. It steers clear of all the above and chooses to keep it all very ‘light’ and comic essentially. A strong love story backs the script throughout as does a very prominent family element.
Secondly the three writers mentioned above also deserve credit for the brilliantly crafted screenplay that is utterly flawless with zero dull moments, zero dragged out portions and zero holes. It keeps you entertained and engrossed throughout.
In addition the three writers get an additional applause for the fabulous dialogues of the film which turn out to be its biggest strength and so impressive that you notice it as each line is uttered. Its a realistic mixture of English and Hindi with candidness and a non-filmi touch. It has punch lines to leave you in fits of laughter in the first half and as things get more serious you truly see how potentially lines in the dramatic portions i.e. portions where the characters are fighting etc, could have turned out oh-so-different to what they were. There was enough chance for writers to make emotional dialogues into the usual cliched, overdramatic and totally unrealistic lines we’ve been hearing from time immemorial but instead they chose to ask the very important question which is that “how would people word such an argument in real life?”.
I truly cannot gush about this fabulous writing trio anymore and will end by saying that they need to combine their talents again in the future and hopefully they’re not disheartened by BO results of the film.
Moving on from one technical element to another that truly stands out which is the cinematography of the film. Even though shot in overseas it is not candy-coated or sugar-coated like a YRF or Dharma productions film but in fact remains very realistic still. Set design is also impressive in particular Armaan’ apartment which truly looks like a bachelor photographer’s apartment that occasionally gets a feminine touch from his long term girlfriend. In addition kudos to the team for creating a magazine-office set that is in fact realistic and unlike those we’ve seen in Indian cinema so far. i.e. the one in Dostana looked like a hotel lounge more and office less. Costumes add to the realism and keep it classy yet not over-done especially those for Dia Mirza. She needed to look like a woman who knows fashion but also at the same time a woman who has work to do so isn’t overly dressed up.
Last but not the least its all topped up with fabulous, out of this world performances by Arshad Warsi and Dia Mirza. Arshad ofcourse we knew long before this film was a phenomenal performer but Dia truly and finally gets to shine! The actress has always been a favourite of mine and I always cringe that she isn’t given enough scope on screen but finally director Kabeer Kaushik does it and I cannot thank him enough. Dia shines in dramatic and comic portions. In addition the two actors share fantastic chemistry which is most prominent in the argument scene that takes place in the office corridors when Gehna suspects that Armaan is cheating on her, one of the most phenomenally put together scenes in recent times! Sandhya Mridul impresses yet again in a small yet scene-stealing role. Boman Irani is a delight as always but sadly doesn’t stay for the full length of the film. Zehra Naqvi performs her part well too.
SEL contribute with fabulous music that adds to the finished product and is utilised very well as montage pieces. Javed Saab’s lyrics are the real stars of the tracks.
So despite the lack of hype and the ‘reject’ sign from the box office I demand Kabeer Kaushik to take a bow for this brilliant film which entertained me, kept me engrossed and delivered all emotions of cinema within a couple of hours. It was Indian cinema at its best because we’re known for never limiting ourselves to one genre but packing it all in one which is what HTAG does. This one comes with a ‘highly recommended’ tag from me! A film not to be missed!
