ZNMD: The Rat-pack's coming of age...

With a little bit of artistic liberty and a flight of imagination, one might say this cinematic season in India has been dedicated to celebrating the Indian rat-pack. Some might disagree with the observation and purists might scoff at the thematic semblance I choose to draw with the timeless but quintessentially American legend.

That is where I drop the intellectual subterfuge :) and get right back at the business of discussing the movie that it was!

Looking at the lineup of movies remaining for the year, I believe ZNMD was the perfect finish to the riot that started with Pyaar Ka Punchnaama, carried a notch or two higher with Delhi Belly, and then peaking with Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara.

So here's what you ideally should know even before you set out for the movie:

a) "Trader", in the rich man in London/NY scheme of things, is not your regular trader. In the hierarchy of the filthy rich men in the financial world, traders one-up the fabled i-bankers and on good days can make the latter look like underpaid overworked slaves. Liars Poker, will give you an ample insight. (Appeal: Someone snitched my copy sometime last year. Please return, no questions asked. Just remember, karma is a bitch.)

b) We are all fools when young. Some fall for the wrong girls, some fall for the wrong girl their friend falls for. And yes, then, some - take sides. Much worse than the previous two - because, hey at least they had a whole lot of fun! Thomas Moore, did a lot more than poetic justice, while writing this piece.

c) Lastly, a loosely borrowed and slightly doctored idea, which I agree with - no matter how ugly or poor you already feel, there is a director at work somewhere, slowly and painstakingly plotting a scheme with a single aim: to make a film that makes you feel more so.

The Plot

Set in the familiar territory of college friends, caught in myriad mundane roles, coming together to relive life, through a few memorable days in guise of a bachelor party. And when money, like it never is in movies, is not a constraint - the locales are bound to be exotic, the bachelor pad has to be luxurious, with a view and lastly, an instructor - who is Katrina Kaif (need i say more?).

In a setting so flawless, not much can go wrong. What sets the movie apart from the run off the mill bachelor party saga, is the purpose. And 'face your fears', did not sound like a bad one. So you have deep-sea diving, sky diving and running of the bulls thrown in.

The Sub Plot

The sub plots for the movie were presented through the internal turmoils of the three protagonists. While they all had their fears in the worlds outside - of water, heights and of course, dying, the conquests of which form the larger plot. The internal conflicts set the stage for the subplots. The collective fears, carved immaculately and ingrained within the characters - make for a well rounded story, with depth.

Here's my theory about a set of three friends: Pick up any set of three friends and you will have a) the "Uptight"; b) the "Nice guy" doing the only thing he knows to do: be nice; and c) the "Joker". The Joker and the Uptight shall, for the very virtue of their characters, have conflicts.

From the epochal DCH to the current ZNMD, the theory has withstood the test of time for the very simple reason: art imitates life.

True to the master plot - Hritik plays the Uptight, Farhan the Joker and Abay the Nice guy.

The High Point(s)

There are a few combinations that spell synergy. Singularly good, but outstanding when clubbed with a certain element. Rehman rendering his voice to some of his songs is one. Javed Akhtar writing poetry for son Farhan's movie is the other. The poetry written by Javed Akhtar and voiced by Farhaan is definitely one of the high points.

The other strength lies in the stunning photography stamping its brilliance throughout the movie. The sweeping panoramic shots used to capture the scenic landscape of the spanish countryside are complimented by the intense close-ups. Add the two points - and you get the sequence that stands out in the movie, at least for me.

I strongly recommend the movie, for it marks the rat pack's coming of age. In Indian cinema, on the silver screen and of course in my mind. For someday, life shall imitate art.

-

ReviewKaka.

Delhi Belly: *Punch Drunk Love*

I promised a counter-view to A's take on Waking Life. As much as I hate procrastinating, I shall hold my guns for some time. The real challenge for now: Delhi Belly.

To the angst and disbelief of many-a-parents, we did not find the movie obnoxious and yes (if not all) some/most of it is true.

Right on the heels of Pyaar ka Punchnaama, we knew AmirKhan Productions really had to pull out a rabbit from the hat to keep the BoxOffice score-sheet divided between AamirKhan Productions and everything else. And a rabbit he pulled. Not just any rabbit, but an all singing, all knowing, all dancing - king rabbit, but disguised cleverly and mischievously. But yes, we all laughed, and all who laughed knew the mischief.

As for me, as I sit down to write this piece, after watching the movie for the second time in the first week, the real challenge lies in how to stay true to the experience and treat that it was, without indulging in ravings about Poorna Jagannathan and my oft-declared-in-the-past-week love for her.

I shall try.

I remain assured that you, the rare and precious reader of this obscure piece on the web, have already seen the movie. I shall not, even momentarily or customarily, assume that you have come here without having already seen the movie.

Instead, I dedicate this piece to celebration of all things that end well. A celebration that lasted a good 4 hours past the movie, with laugh riots and DK Bose jokes filling the air :)

For me personally, it marks a rare departure from - you know they should have killed that central guy/character in the end. I liked the movie in-spite of all characters kept alive. Though that is not to say I wouldn't have liked it dark, Mithya being the point of reference.

As promised, earlier, I will not even pretend that I am reviewing something. I will just share the things I loved the most. To begin with - Poorna J, as Maneka. Correspondent with the Times of India in Delhi. Single, divorced, pretty and charming.. um errr.., Yeah and there are other good things too - the music from Ram Sampath (I hear a friend say he is quite a popular name in the Indian rock circuit.., I will take his word for it). The music is indeed, a surprisingly strong part, inspite being goofy, all the tracks make for good listening. Personal favourites being Jaa Chudail

and Tere Siva. The latter for quite obvious reasons. The tag line of the movie "shit happens" quite succinctly describes the plot and somewhere 20 minutes before the climax you could sense that all roads from here on lead to a shootout at an everybody-meet-everybody else scenario. But as I said earlier, the rabbit out of hat this time around is a clever rabbit and the movie stands apart. Vijay Raaz with his 'ever so pure' dialogues delivered with the 'ever so pure' mannerisms singularly holds the greys of the film and imparts just the right amount. I remember Monsoon Wedding, and I remember Vijay Raaz from Monsoon Wedding - he was good then and has only gotten better since then.

The surprise element of the movie though is Poorna J.

I remember watching DCH in my early teens and I remember walking out of the movie theater feeling 'punch-drunk-love', for the first time. It was Ms. Zinta then. More then a decade and some 50 odd movies later, I walked out of another theater, quietly smiling to myself as I quietly updated the mental status to 'punch-drunk-love'. It must have been a good movie.

I conclude wishing you all an equally joyous experience.

PS: Inspite of probably knowing the entire existing readership of this space by first name and the last, I still pray that Poorna stumbles upon this post. So at the cost of sounding like a eff-ing irritating chain mail, may I request you to please help spread the word and pass on the link to 10 people. After all its just six degrees of separation :)

Cheers,

ReviewKaka