The Lunchbox:Review

The Lunchbox is a movie about hope and the associated life with and without it.

The story revolves around Fernandez and Ila who accidentally get introduced to each other via notes/letters slipped into the wrongly-delivered daily lunchbox. As it turns out, this exchange is their way to connect with one own self, reflect upon their lives, and eventually brings about crucial changes in their life.

Barring the initial awkwardness in the interaction between the main protagonists, The Lunchbox is quick to impertinently sway the audience along with (read it, dupe) the characters of the movie. The character’s emotions are palpable and frequent guesswork as to what will happen next by the viewers follows as a natural consequence.

The Lunch Box has no mention of mobile phone or internet (email is mentioned though) and it’s only post-movie, you think over and ask yourself: Why don’t the main characters simply connect via the fastest medium available? This is reflective of the intoxication affect of the movie.

The sensitive thread of the movie is the fact that there are little face to face interactions — the characters talk to the perceived images of each other, and each time that happens the scene changes. Maintaining continuity when there is a frequent scene change is no mean feat to achieve. The Lunchbox keeps the viewer’s imagery moving forward uninterruptedly.

This movie apart from its very enjoyable fresh humor is amazing on its relentless, meticulous detailing.

Unfortunately or otherwise, as the credits roll, the Lunchbox leaves you with many unanswered questions. Now if one has little affinity towards similar narratives, The Lunchbox will be a huge disappointment even though you may have enjoyed each bit of it.

That, to me, is the way it was meant to be; a normal’s person life is: Open ended, full of uncertainty and hope.

So, what’s the recommendation?

Umm…let me put it this way, one should watch it for the fact that it is a very well made movie, near perfect performances by all and that you never what comes out of it — as they say in the movie, “kabhi kabhi galat train bhi sahi jagah pahuncha deti hai!”

I would give it a 4.5/5 with the half point loss attributed to a sudden acceleration of events in the later half.

P.S.: If the first viewing clicks for you, you are sure to discover newer things in the subsequent one.

Shudh Desi Romance: Review

Shudh Desi Romance is out and out movie for the youngsters. It stares you on your face, more so if one is 30+. The more you are away from that figure, bolder is the attempt and lesser is the probability that you may associate with the characters.

The movie presents a diversified perspective on the love life of the youth and attempts a comical take on their perpetual flickering state of mind. To top it all, guidance from the elderly (reflective of a generation that has little connect with them) ends up adding to their woes.

It challenges the concept of marriage and goes one step further. It subtly portrays a hypocrisy that has seeped into this pious institution: The very-much-required premise of love is missing altogether, and a ‘commitment enforcement’ by the society is what it has become today.

The movie touches convincingly upon pertinent topics: increasing separation of the youth with their families and its downside (their off-the-cough decisions, little availability of mentors, instant gratification, etc.), and that the premise of job-security, past relationships and to say the unmentionable — casual sexual involvement — are the least worrisome topics for them.

Having said that, even if Shudh Desi Romance excels on its fresh handing of a topic (which is staring on our face now) it fails miserably on a number of fronts.

All through the movie the characters take a toilet-break — their time to think about their lives and it’s impending decisions. Presented in a comical manner, it is repetitive and one wonders what could be the intent behind such breaks? Unfortunately, there is nothing decisive to conclude.

Post interval, the movie loses the grip on the plot because of repetitiveness and predictability. Narrations by the characters (explaining their take on the situation) is gobbled up. The slow pace and single-threaded story dampens one’s spirit to finally seal the fate for the viewer.

If one associates oneself with the youth of the country — defined as per the pertinent topics listed above — this is one movie to go for. It is 4/5 for you.

For the rest, if you have not caught up with the life of the largest chunk of the society, it is a 2.5/5 for the reality check it inflicts on you and a few fine performances by Rishi Kapoor and Sushant Singh.

Madras Cafe: Review

Madras Cafe is well-crafted, deeply researched and a fast-paced movie. Many movies fit this description but fail to make it to the top-bracket of movies based on real events. Madras Cafe, fortunately, has not landed amongst them.
With the backdrop of one of the most talked about topic of our teenage (today’s population in thirties) — Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination — this movie falls under the category of must-watch movies. More so because, when Chennai Express is a hit for its entertainment quotient, this one deserves a watch for its fine thought provoking and unbiased (well, almost) handling of a delicate topic: LTTE v Srilankan forces and Indian involvement in it in the decade of 80s.
With a powerful script, excellent cinematography, apt dialogues and a tight direction, one wonders, ”Then what is there to deliver for the front-men, i.e. the actors of the movie?” Even on this front, the movie scores excellent thanks to constrained but yet powerful acting by John Abraham and many others whose role was very well framed and executed too.
The movie isn’t that gory as one expected it to be. The tinge of justification of the acts of powerful people is conspicuous throughout the movie. On the front of futility of a war, the movie makers score a perfect score but by the end of the whole affair, one can only wonder who was ‘more-wrong’. That is the only way to provide solace to one’s cacophonous mind after a whole plethora of complex information is bombarded on the audience throughout the movie.
The movie offers you high-level conspiracies, western economic interests and their persistent monitoring/interference in sub-continent matters, a few good men operating with their exhaustive networks, complex co-ordination between huge armed forces of the country and, on top of all, a narrative that holds all of them together.
With a few small glitches here and there — too many characters to assimilate in a short span of time, often changing frames, unnatural Hindi of Siddharth Basu, a few ‘namoone‘ sitting in some offices in Delhi — the just above 2 hours movie is a riveting one.
One should go for it, certainly not with their children, but surely with their parents. The oldies are sure to enjoy the finer details of this one that comes from the times when their source of information was only a newspaper, a few magazines and a single news channel.
All in all, Madras Cafe is zero on family entertainment but much high on everything else. (No prizes for guessing that this movie may win awards but will be poor on ROI–Return on Investment — for the movie makers!)
P.S.: This movie may develop a slight admiration for one of the most charismatic political leaders of the country. It may be difficult to be wary of this upshot.

Satyagraha: Review

Satyagraha throws light on how each person involved in a social-political movement against corruption has their own agenda. (Correlations with Anna Hazare and co.’s movement in Apr 2011 are not purely coincidental)
The star-studded movie is a dampener when you know the director of the movie has Gangajal and Apaharan to his credit. It falls in the bracket of Rajneeti, Aarakshan, etc.

The movie lacks a genuine character evolution and many times you fail to understand their motivations, a number of things suddenly and randomly fall in place as the movie progresses, has irrelevant angles of love and emotional family drama, has a loose script and lastly it deals with a number of topics/characters in the short span of time that a movie gets to have.
The only emotion/reaction that arouses during the movie is: ‘Arey!’ (with a gentle grunt)
That’s because many scenes in the movie lack freshness – they are just depictions of what you read in your newspapers so they don’t really surprise you.

And for all those BigB fans, his is a ‘guest appearance’ in the movie, well almost!

However, Manoj Bajpai’s acting and a few very well directed scenes are the only things one can check out this movie for.

PS: Prakash Jha has a cameo appearance in one of the scenes as a part of the mob. For what reason I am not sure but I felt amused!