Chak de! India and India ...

                 
                There are some moments of a movie that stay on with you for a long time. The ones that defines the movie for you, sums up the message for you and evokes emotions in you. There is one scene in the movie Chak de! India which does the same for me. It is the registration for the hockey team scene. A general belief and have been brought forward several times that we are religion first, states first, linguist first and then a nation later, but has been put remarkably in that very scene. In relation to sports this fact takes altogether a different dimension.

                   The scene opens with arrival of the ‘railway’ goalkeeper. Playing for the railways or ONGC is considered most lucrative for just one reason; it earns a desk job and free or cheap accommodation. The hot headed Punjab player arrives getting into a tiff with the auto driver. Such fiery displays, not always of the sport, on field have on numerous occasions earned the country penalties. Then comes the Reddy from Andhra who for a north Indian passes for being Tamillian. For the fact that up in the north every south Indian is a ‘Madrasi’ basically. For the question ‘anyway what is the difference between Telugu and Tamil, the girl shoots back with an apt reply that just that much how different a Bihari and Punjabi is.

                   The viewer is then shown a patriotic Muslim family who for generations have served the country playing hockey. But the viewer also is made to witness that the family is a large one corroborating the general notions of shambles of family planning in Muslim families. The Haryanvi hockey player is shown with a father, who would today pass on for a liberal khap panchayat member, for that is what the image of Haryanvi Jat is carried on these days. The petite girl gives guys a run for their money, but is destined to spend lifetime in kitchen as the mother thinks it to be inevitable. Two girls from Jharkhand which many people consider jus to be a jungle also join the camp. One that many would not know that Jharkhand is a state in itself is true. The apathy for backward class and backward state is demonstrated when the Punjabi girl asks one from Jharkhand to sleep on the floor.

                    The neglected north-east is depicted in its right light. For their culture, their attires they pass on to be a partying lot by the bystander in the movie. And to add to that being called guests was a salvo that should hit hard at the south block. For it is the failure of successive Indian governments to get the seven states into the mainstream since more than six decades now. The Hindi heartland has never been able to or haven’t ever tried to be inclusive in growth and moving forward. The scene ends with the senior players coming in and displaying the typical attitude of we-know-it-all. It has been for the lack of fear of losing their positions that senior players have blocked places that could have easily gone on to more deserving junior players.

                   The movie addresses this issue by coming over these differences, bonding the diverse India together with a common string of nationality in achieving a feat which in the movie is winning the world cup hockey. The players which played for themselves, their states ended up playing for the country. Integration was facilitated and made possible. But without the cup to win, without a motivating coach, how integrated are we? What do we take pride in? In the culture, the traditions, the diversity, the temples, the exotic places, the IT revolution, the Azim Premji’s, the Ratan Tata’s, the remarkable growth story? Yes may be. Or the leaders (read politicians), the cricket team, the infrastructure, the IPL, the Ramalingam Raju’s, the commonwealth games, Kashmir? Maybe not.

                 Unity in diversity is a hallmark of the country is what we are all taught in schools. And by the time we grow up we have become diverse but we are not united. We stand united only when there is a attack by terrorists, we are united only when there is a famine, a flood or a cyclone. It is certainly good to be united then. But for a nation to grow we also need symbols of unity in times of peace. The country needs strong rallying points around which we can script stories of success similar to Chak de! India.

Movie Reviews - Couple of them!

                  The idea of writing a movie review has been stemming since quite some time but the trigger proved to be watching two Hindi movies, just three days apart in two theaters about seventy kilometers apart. Yes, 'Once upon a time in Mumbai' on one fine wednesday in Mangalore and 'Aisha' on saturday in Udupi.

Once Upon A Time In Mumbai:

                 Essentially a gangster movie featuring days of Haji Mastan the first underworld don of bombay and his protege Dawood Kaskar Ibrahim. The heart of the movie is in the right place with the story being interesting, with the sets and portrayal of Bombay of those days, with the styling sticking perfectly to the seventies and eighties and above all with the star cast which settles seamlessly into their characters.
                Good things first. The actors live the roles. Ajay Devgun (sorry its Devgn now) has done what he is best at, playing serious character oriented roles with a negative tinge. We have seen it in recent times in Rajneeti and sometime back in Apharan and Omkara. Playing a character somewhere bearing resemblance to Denzel Washington in American Gangster with a desi angle has worked wonder for the movie.
                Emraan Hashmi has played his part well portraying a no-moral-holding wannabe gangster. Kangana Ranaut despite her horrible hindi accent is a perfect fit with her styling standing out. Prachi Desai's character has no real bone in it and could possibly have been done away with. But her salwar suits and her ability to brighten up the screen, not to mention the 'julie' costume, comes in handy for the director.
              Where the movie could have been better is the opening scene. The scene looses its importance by failing to grip the audience. Randeep Hooda plays a good role but almost none of the dialogues he belts out convey the word meaning of them. The movie lacks strong sub plots and too much has been tried to incorporate int too little a time.
             The plot is strong, gripping most of the times but the sub plots seem to have not been stiched properly. There is a sometimes sense of disconnect between two scenes. The climax was a little hasty and expected. For the message to be sent that the evil has taken over Bombay and made it a hell at times in the history the ending could have been more powerful.
              In toto, a watchable movie and an addition to the library of gangster movies in hindi. But certainly leaves yearning for more.

Aisha:

                  Again a movie with the heart in the right place. Aisha is Sonam Kapoor who wears Gucci and Dior, who zooms past saadi dilli di sadke in a yellow VW beetle, who shops for half a lakh rupees and who takes up hobbies like animal rights activism and is big time into match making. The movie revolves around her as the central character.
The plot is an urbane, chic, upper class, suave, and thus in that capacity caters to multiplex and big city crowd. (when had people in smaller towns and villages heard of Dior or Louis Vuitton).
                   The supporting cast plays a fabulous role led by the character shefali played by Amrita Purie. Cyrus Sahukar plays Randhir Gambhir and he certainly has proved himself over a few movies to be a serious comedian (pun intended). The transitions, the dialogue delivery is just perfect for her. Abhay Deol is very natural and blends well into the role. And him dancing salsa is a delight to watch.
                   Plenty of girls of this age will relate to the movie. Branded wear, good food, rich friends, partying, are all in the working manual of a metropolitan youth today and the movie touches all these aspects very practically and in a precise manner.
                   The high point of the movie are its comic moment. They are the ones to which the youth can relate to. The dialogues are picked up from the daily conversation. The styling, portrayal of delhi and mumbai are the moments that remain with you. Performances are all prim amd precise which keeps the ineterest in the viewer going.
                    The movie lacks in portrayal of the chemistry between the two lead roles. It niether achieves the practicality nor the bollywood effect. A few scenes linger on for too long and is repetitive. The climax is clumsy and lacks the power. An apt review of the movie was given by a young girl whom i overheard while getting out of the theater - 'nice but a shallow movie'.