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The next time you walk into your bedroom, look carefully at the television sitting quietly in one corner. Look carefully and you might realise that it, perhaps, is in the Standby .mode. It is an amazing mode....the Standby Mode. It is alive yet not living. It is dead, but still not dead. It lies there with innate knowledge that it is its destiny...to be a mere onlooker, or at best, a dormant participant. It can only console itself with the knowledge that sometime it will serve a purpose. Sometime, the intimate conversations would stop, and it would become a part of the bedroom, a part of the family. Till that time comes it has to wait. But it cannot just switch itself off. It has to prepare itself for that moment, when that button is pressed and he has to come alive and then try and entertain the occupants. It knows that this moment of glory causes a lot of pain, every pixel burns a hole in the skin, but this is its moment of glory, and to endure pain is its destiny. And then suddenly when the mood changes, with a flick of a button, it is forgotten, and it lies there in the corner licking its wounds, trying to reconcile itself, and preparing to play a part once again.

Billu B*****r (2009)


Dir:Priyadarshan (sorry couldn’t get hold of his phone number!)
Cast: Shahrukh Khan, SRK, brand Khan, Red Chillies Entertainment.
Music:Bullcrap

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It seems like that recession has even made a dent in the image of Bollywood’s biggest brand. Otherwise why would a superstar of the stature of Shahrukh Khan make a three hour long advertisement? Yes, I am talking about SRK’s latest venture Billu B****r. Priyadarshan’s (the film is produced by SRK’s Red Chillies Entertainment) ‘modern’ take on Krishna – Sudama tale is no better than a very long advertisement on Brand Khan. .

This film is absolute junk, and the only relief being the other Khan...Irrfan Khan, who gives yet another sizzling performance, as Billu/Sudama. Manikandan’s photography is brilliant in patches, and so is Lara Dutta’s back...Deepika’s abs...Priyanka’s eyes...and Kareena’s.....sorry, can’t think of anything good in Kareena!

My suggestion: Switch on the television, and watch ads...They are much more entertaining than the film.

Dev D (2009)


Dir: Anurag Kashyap
Cast: Abhay Deol, Mahie Gill, Kalki Koechlin
Music: Amit Trivedi
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I sat for hours in front of the computer trying to think of the perfect opening line, but my mind just kept drawing a blank. It had never happened before. Every film leaves an imprint, evokes some emotion. But his one left none. And that is what makes this film special. Anurag Kashyap has freed the spirit of Devdas from its fossils. It has managed to break free of the shackles of sentimentality that had kept it bound for ages.

Kashyap’s Dev D is intensely political, played out like a Brechtian drama, and yet at some level managed to capture the changing emotional topography of a rapidly changing psychological landscape. Unlike a tragedy from the classical mould, the protagonist is not a victim of circumstances; rather, he is caught in the structures he has created for himself. Thus the film is devoid of any emotion of sympathy for any of the characters. Although, Chanda does have a rather sad past, her actions too, are of her own accord, and by her own admission she seems to be content with the dual life that she leads. In a sense, Chanda exemplifies the Kashyap’s philosophy. In this overtly existential film, the characters are responsible for their own actions, and there is no sense of regret or revenge. Even Dev’s descent has little to do with unfulfilled love. Rather it is a tale of a protagonist trying to forge/find an identity for himself.

Instead of being mere cardboard cutouts (as they were, in the previous versions) Kashyap’s Chanda and Paro, are made of flesh and blood. Paro’s sexually confident, and she is not shy in taking the first step. In a brilliantly composed sequence, Paro vents out her sexual energies on a handpump, after being denied by Dev. Similarly, Lenny is not afraid of flaunting her sexuality, (her fascination with riding a bike can be read in the same light as the handpump scene) and even after she’s been cheated on, Lenny has the courage to move on. She is a ‘randi’ and does not take refuge in euphemisms. This sheds light on the conceited psychology of the patriarchal society. As long as Lenny wanted to remain Lenny, her presence was uncomfortable and unacceptable, but the moment she became Chanda, her presence became not only acceptable but at some level desirable too.

Kashyap’s Dev D is not a mere rereading of an old text, it is a new rendition altogether... a story so powerful, that even Sarat Chandra would have been proud of it. But does it make a good watch? You bet.

Inspite of it being heavy on philosophy, nowhere in the film does it weigh you down. It is rather quirky, crazy and to certain extent even funny. The casting is brilliant, and so is the photography. Infact, the photography is so good that it manages to induce a heady feeling, and you come out of the theatre on a high. Just go and watch this film to realise (and acknowledge) that films can be political, sensitive and yet score highly on entertainment value.

Luck by Chance (2009)



Dir: Zoya Akhtar
Cast: Farhan Akhtar, Konkona Sen Sharma, Rishi Kapoor, juhi Chawla, Dimple Kapadia, Isha Sharvani.

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Bollywood is holding up a mirror for itself? I don’t know. And to be very honest, my feelings about this film are ambivalent. I can not call it a bad film, then, I can’t even call it a brilliant or even a good film. It is, at best, JAF (Just another Film). I don’t even know what to make of the latest fad of realism that all of a sudden has gripped Bollywood (I am using the term in its truest and most commercial)

At one level, the new wave of realism... outgrown realism, seems a good idea, It provides us with a much deserved break from the excesses of the last decade. But on the other level, it is perhaps, undesirable. I call it undesirable, because, somewhere I feel that it is a foreign concept, and we are adapting & adopting, to accommodate this in Bollywood. Perhaps, we are trying to transform Bollywood into Hindi Film industry, and LBC is a step towrds that.

Luck By Chance, at least for me, is essentially is a ‘realistic’ film on the ‘(melo) dramatic’ Bollywood. However, on the apparent, it is a coming of age tale of a ‘struggler’. Cross an Andy Warhol movie crossed with a Dil Chahta Hai, and the result would be similar to LBC. It is lengthy, dull boring, with flashes of brilliance (the last shot, with Konkona in an extremely long scene) but lacks an overall entertainment value. Farhan Akhtar is good, in his usual understated way. Konkona is brilliant as usual. Isha Sharvani should seriously take Vikram’s (Farhan Akhtar) advice and take some acting classes. If the young brigade was good, the old guards were brilliant. Rishi Kapoor, as Rolly the producer, is fantastic, and so is Dimple, as the fading superstar of the 70s. The music is nothing to write about. And the photography is, at best, ordinary.

So, should you go, and watch it?

Well... if you want to see the things you have already read about in the numerous film magazines, just go ahead, and watch it... it’s really not that bad!!!