Film Review- Manjhi – The Mountain Man

High and Dry

Film: Manjhi – The Mountain Man

Cast: Nawazuddin Siddique, Radhika Apte, Pankaj Tripathi

Directed by: Ketan Mehta

Duration: 2 hrs

Rating: * * 

The main takeaway from Manjhi – The Mountain Man is that great stories don’t necessarily make great films. Or not even good films for that matter. In this case, it is the astounding true story and Nawazuddin Siddique’s acting that elevates a worn out film and makes it look average.

Directed by Ketan Mehta who gave us memorable films like Bhavni Bhavai and Mirch Masala the screenplay looks completed jaded and straight from the 70’s and 80’s. The director who was at his best in those films (and that was a long time ago, 1980 and ’87 respectively) understood the social ills and knew how to show case them. Circa 2015, and he looks a little out of his depth when it comes to evoking sympathy from the way the marginalized low caste people were and to a large extent still are treated.

The story is set in the mid 1950’s in Bihar where a young Dashrath (Nawazuddin) runs away from the clutches of a zamindar (Tigmanshu Dhulia reprising a Gangs of Wasseypur kind of role). The young man belongs to the Musahar caste and they treated like dirt. Seven years later when he returns, although there are laws against untouchability, nothing has changed in his village.    

After a very filmi romance with a village belle (Radhika Apte) with whom he was married off as a kid, Dashrath’s life begins to settle down but the social discrimination continues. The script fails to muster up any engaging scenes till this point.

It is only when the protagonist determines that is singlehandedly going to bring a mountain down because of the death of his beloved that some life is breathed in. With a hammer in hand he started breaking the stones, it took him more than two decades to finish what he started and breaking the stones was not his only ordeal. The zamindar’s son (the ever reliable Pankaj Tripathi) throws a spanner in the works prompting the ageing man to walk all the way to Delhi to meet the Prime Minister. The scene where he pushed out of the moving train is a perfect example of what has gone wrong with the writing and the direction.  Or the other dramatic one where a Indira Gandhi lookalike is giving her garibi hatao speech and part of the stage collapses prompting the men around to actually stand and support it while the speech continues. Melodrama, if at all, has to be in the right measure but our film makers very rarely get that right, especially when dealing with real life stories.  And otherwise too.

Nawazuddin Siddique is the saving grace, he effortlessly slips into the role and from the playful young man t a burdened and ageing he hits all the right notes. Radhika Apte is saddled with a role that doesn’t have much potential but she makes the best of it.

Certainly not what Manjhi encountered but this is also a tall mountain to climb. 

 Published in The Navhind Times on 23rd Aug 2015
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Film Review - Bajrangi Bhaijaan

All You Need Is Love

 

Film: Bajrangi Bhaijaan

Cast: Salman Khan, Nawazuddin Siddique, Harshaali Malhotra, Kareena Kapoor

Directed by: Kabir Khan

Duration: 2 hrs 28 mins

Rating:  * * * 1 / 2

To put it plainly, Bajrangi Bhaijaan is the best Salman Khan film by light years. Or conversely, it is an above average film in which Salman Khan happens to participate. Be that as it may, the film scores highly on the emotional quotient in good old Bollywood fashion. Full credit goes to director Kabir Khan who pulls off a rabbit from the hat. While Kabul Express and Ek Tha Tiger were action oriented films, this time he has opted to pull the heart strings. Fair to say, he succeeds in doing and that too in style and when you leave the theatre in admiration of what the filmmakers had to offer. 

Call it prejudice, but the fact is very few walk into a Salman Khan film expecting something off the beaten path.  And a film that has some layers to it and offers more than just entertainment is like asking for the moon. Hence, Bajrangi Bhaijan comes as a pleasant surprise. 

Indo-Pak stories usually are about rhetoric like Gadar or the Heena, Veer Zaara kind of love stories. Kabir Khan looks at the larger canvas. There is no love struck man and woman on the either side of the border, although this is more about love, caring as is taught in moral science.  Barring a couple of state actors there are no villains in it either and yes, this is an India Pakistan story.

Somewhere along the most picturesque side of the Pakistan border lives a little girl named Shahida (Harshaali Malhotra, incredibly expressive). She can’t speak hence her mother brings her to Nizamuddin dargah in Delhi but in a twist of fate she is left behind. Her parents lament “Hindustan mein koi to khuda ka ek nek bandah hoga jo hamari beti ka khayal rakhega” The nek bandah, is Pawan Kumar Chaturvedi aka Bajrangi (Salman Khan), the biggest bhakt of Lord Hanuman and someone who will never ever tell a lie. Such characters are likable, even if they exist in films because you know in real life they are hard to come by.   

Pawan takes her under her wings not knowing anything about her background or parents. As is mandatory in Bollywood and most certainly in a Salman film, romance is also the order of the day and the glamour quotient is fulfilled by Rasika (Kareena Kapoor). In a progressive tilt, her father (Sharat Saxena) bluntly refuses a marriage proposal for her because she is not inclined to it.  These subtle touches are what make the movie rise above the ordinary.  

The story gets going when Bajrangi crosses the border in search of the little girl’s parents. Nawazuddin Siddique plays a news reporter who lends them a helping hand and he steals the show with his wisecracks and terrific sense of timing. The finale will bring a lump to your throat and if your lacrimal glands are stirred easily, then a tissue box will come in handy – even Manmohan Desai would have been proud of the climax. In fact the last ten minutes is perhaps the only time when Salman Khan actually plays a character and not himself.

It is the overall conscious effort of portraying optimism and heart warming characters that strike a chord. Good guys still finish first seems to be the message and it is narrated with conviction. After Rajkumar Hirani, this seems to be the first attempt to entertain and yet tell a story that talks about values, even though on a relatively smaller scale.

Of the cast, Kareena Kapoor has an insignificant role to play. The little Harshaali Malhotra charms you with her cute looks but more importantly, she can act. Salman’s character is such that he gets to play his usual self and to be fair to him, he is sincere and earnest in some of the key scenes. Nawazuddin is first rate, as he usually is.

So, believe it or faint, this Salman Khan film deserves a strong recommendation.  

Published in The Navhind Times on 19th July 2015

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Film Review - Miss Lovely

Melancholic Ecstasy

Film: Miss Lovely

Cast: Nawazuddin Siddique, Anil George, Niharika Singh

Directed by: Ashim Ahluwalia

Duration: 1 hr 53 mins

Rating: *  *  *

Long before DVD’s, internet, streaming and torrents came on the scene, people used to throng the theatres to watch soft porn flicks. The trend still continues in many cities but the scale has reduced drastically. 

Director Ashim Ahluwalia’s Miss Lovely is a tribute to those seedy B and C grade films that were made and screened in shady theatres. It premiered at Cannes in 2012 and after a considerably long wait, it has finally hit in the screens here.

Whether you watched those B grade films or not is a different story but surely everyone who was around during that period must be aware of them that stood out for their titles as well – Pyaasi Nigahen, Khooni Panja, Woh Bhayanak Raat. There were also films which had a ‘story’ and ‘plot’ but suddenly an X rated scene was inserted out of the blue, which had no connection with the film, pretty much like many a present day item number songs.

Set in the late 80’s, 1988 to be precise, the main protagonist here is Sonu Duggal (Nawazuddin Siddique), his elder brother Vicky (Anil George) is a film maker of soft core porn. Sonu is very much his partner but some what reluctantly. The films mostly have horror and sleaze and duo arrange for the ‘actors’, the shoot and then hand it over to distributors.  

Sonu usually follows his brother’s orders and does all the errands but he wants get out of this business and to do something different, a romantic film perhaps. Vicky meanwhile is having an affair with an actress who gets bitten by the jealousy bug when he sets his eyes on a newcomer, Nadia. 

Sonu meanwhile falls truly madly and deeply in love with Pinky (Niharika Singh) who is trying to establish her acting career. He wants to make romantic film with her titled Miss Lovely and even gets himself in a spot of bother to fulfill that ambition.  But it all falls apart after the police crackdown on this ‘industry’ arresting anyone associated with it.

The film strikes a chord with the mood that it sets. K.U. Mohanan’s cinematography brilliantly captures the sleaze and the underbelly of Mumbai. Where words are not enough, the visuals also try to tell a story. It falters at times especially when very little happens in the fast half and then moves to fast forward mode towards the end. 

Beyond the film business there is also the story of the man who is trying to break free of the rut. But no matter how hard he tries, he can’t break free. 

Anil George may not be a well known name but as the Sonu’s elder brother he makes the cut. Nawazuddin Siddique has already carved a niche for himself and here, he has added so much more to his character than perhaps what the screenplay suggested.

For those who like discerning cinema, Miss Lovely beckons you to the theatre. 

(Published in The Navhind Times on  19th Jan 2014)

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Film Review - The Lunchbox

A Fabulously Sumptuous Treat

Film: The Lunchbox

Cast: Irrfan Khan, Nimrat Kaur, Nawazuddin Siddique

Directed by: Ritesh Batra

Duration: 1 hr 50 mins

Rating: *  *  *  *  *

The protagonist in The Lunchbox wistfully laments “We forget things if we have no one to tell them to” Truer words were never spoken. Directed by Ritesh Batra, the film has several moments, dialogues and scenes where nothing is said but yet it stays with you long after the film is over. It’s time to uncork a bottle of champagne and celebrate one of the best films you’ll ever get to see.

 Moreover, it is so heartening to see that films like these are being made and are reaching out to the audiences. Here’s more power to the spirit of independent films and things can only get better if the likes of Karan Johar add their voice to it. Viva!

The film touches upon on love, loneliness, nostalgia, longing and which better city than Mumbai to tell the story. Mr. Fernandes (Irrfan, super brilliant) is an accountant who is on the verge of retirement. He lives all alone, leads a lonely life and his wife is long gone. In another part of the city, we have Ila (Nimrat Kaur, excellent) who is trying to bring the spark back in her marriage. With considerable help from her neighbor who is heard not seen (the distinct voice of Bharti Acherekar), she cooks a dabba (tiffin) for her husband.

The problem is, instead of going to her husband, the tiffin lands on Mr. Fernandes table. Gradually, the two start interacting by sending letters to each other in the tiffin. A trainee accountant (Nawazuddin Siddique) joins his office and the joy those letters bring in his life makes Mr.Fernandes a more friendly man. Even the neighborhood kids start liking, not that he was a person otherwise, he was just more reserved.

There are strange and simple things in life that can make one happy to the extent of changing his or her personality.

Adoor Gopalakrishnan’s Mathilukal (Walls, 1989) was about a jailed man who falls in love with a lady in the next compound but never meets but here Batra uses the city to tell a story that is more than about just two individuals.

In one of his epistles, he tells Ila that he has been offered a vertical burial plot – “I’ve spent my life standing in trains and buses and now I will have to stand even when I’m dead.” he laments. And what could be a better description of the city –“There are too many people and everyone wants what the other has” he says.

Virtually every scene in the film offers more than just what is shown or said. And it is not a serious film all the way, take the dabbawallah scene where he argues with the Ila that even Harvard university came to see them and so did English royalty!

On the technical front, it is exquisitely shot by Michael Simmonds with razor sharp editing by John Lyons. Nimrat Kaur as the housewife has delivered an extra ordinary performance. She has captured all the nuances of her character with precision. You would expect Nawazuddin Siddique to nail it and of course he does. Irrfan Khan however dishes out more than you expect. His performance is in the league of the best you have ever seen on the silver screen.

Do what you please but don’t miss The Lunchbox. 

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