Tag Archives: Naseeruddin Shah

Movie Review: Irada

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Irada: Fails in its IRADA to Entertain

Brilliant Concept and a compelling cast are two ingredients of a good movie, but if the screenplay and execution falters both the ingredients is just a waste. Well “Irada” is such a catastrophe.

Irada-movie-review“Irada” tells the story of small town of Punjab where a PPFL, a  Pharma company owned by businessman Paddy Sharma (Sharad Kelkar) has a supremacy in the city and the state, having the CM Ramandeep Braitch (Divya Dutta) under his influence. The company does reverse boring to dispose the chemical waste, wherein the chemical waste of the Pharma Company is drilled inside the ground which in return has contaminated the water and soil. Unaware of all this ex armyman Prabjeet Singh Walia (Naseeruddin Shah) and his daughter Riya (Rumana Molla) lead a normal life until Riya is diagnosed of cancer and she dies. On the other hand a journalist who has evidence of PPFL polluting the city is killed and Maya (Sagarika Ghatge) his girlfriend goes pillar to post to unravel the mystery of the killing of his boyfriend. In the meantime there is a blast in PPFL and the reverse boring plant gets destroyed, to investigate a NIA officer Arjun Mishra (Arshad Warsi) is sent for investigation. What does Arjun find in his investigation and who is responsible for the blast is what the movie is all about.

The concept of Eco terrorism has been explored first time in Bollywood, and it has an element of novelty, but the screenplay unfortunately fails to live up to the novelty. The movie could have been a great thriller but the sequences look scattered and has no logical graph in the events depicted. How the blast was planned and executed is completely written in haste. The characters are also not fleshed out properly and they end up looking like mindless caricatures. The pace is also an issue; it has a lazy demeanour to the pace. Some shocking facts have been highlighted like the cancer train or the reverse boring etc, but a weak narration loosens its impact. The climax looks too amateurish to be true. Overall the script is only able to scratch the surface of the issue, unlike “Udta Punjab” where the issue was researched and presented well. Somehow it is the dialogues which are so well written that it somewhere redeems the bad writing. But the overall script fails miserably.

“Irada” has an impressive cast and their performances do not disappoint. Naseeruddin Shah as Pramjeet Walia does a brilliant job with all earnestness. Arshad Warsi as the NIA Officer Arjun Mishra yet again proves that he is a brilliant actor but it is teh movies that fail him. He is definitely an underutilized actor who has been ignored by Bollywood. Divya Dutta as the CM does her first negative character with brilliance and her cold demeanour gives her character the depth required. Sagarika Ghatge as Maya is good but she gets overshadowed being surrounded by such brilliant actors. Sharad Kelkar as the shrewd businessman Paddy is excellent, another actor who trying to make his mark slowly and steadily. Rajesh Sharma as Jeetu the GM of the company yet again gives a brilliant performance, but I feel somewhere Rajesh is getting type cast in the roles that he is doing, he needs to do some different roles as well. Rumona Molla as Riya has a brief role but she successfully portrays her character with near perfection and could stand up to the stature of Naseeruddin Shah with whom she had all her scenes. It is the performances which redeems the movie to an extent.

Debutant director Aparnaa Singh takes a topical subject and a brilliant cast but fails in execution which hampers the movie completely. I would say Aparnaa loses a brilliant opportunity in creating a riveting cinema, due to its faulty script.

“Irada” fails to live up to its expectation but the performances save the day to an extent; I will go with Two and a Half Stars…

Movie Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars (2.5 / 5)

 

Official Trailer: OK Jaanu

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The hit pair of Aditya Roy Kapoor and Shradha Kapoor is back with “OK Jaanu” after 4 years since their last “Aashiqui 2” which released in 2013 and was a big hit. “Aashiqui 2” catapulted the career of both the actors in Bollywood, who were struggling till then…Ok-Jaanu-Official-Trailer

“Ok Jaanu” is a remake of the 2015 hit tamil movie “OK Kanmani” directed by Mani Ratnam, which had Dulquer Salmaan & Nithya Menen in the lead. Written by Mani Ratnam and Dialogues by Gulzar, the story is of a modern day couple who decide not to get married and go in for a live in relationship…

Directed By Shaad Ali, the principal cast of “OK Jaanu” comprises of Aditya Roy Kapoor, Shradha Kapoor, Naseeruddin Shah & Leela Samson..

After a string of flops like Jhoom Barabar Jhoom (2007) & Kill Dil (2014) whether Shaad Ali will redeem himself with “OK Jaanu” is yet to be seen…

The music of “OK Jaanu” is composed by the ace Music director A R Rahman…

“OK Jaanu” has been produced by Mani Ratnam & Karan Johar under the banner of Madras Talkies & Dharma Productions respectively…

The official trailer gives us a peek on the premise of the movie which looks similar to “Love Aaj Kal”….

“OK Jaanu” releases on 13th Jan 2017….till then enjoy the Trailer…

 

Movie Review: Waiting

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Waiting: A beautiful catharsis

Some movies just touch your heart and make a lasting impact, “Waiting” is one such movie which explores the grim reality of life and shows us how we can have a positive outlook in such situation…

“Waiting” is a story of two strangers Shiv Kumar (Naseeruddin Shah) and Tara Deshpande (Kalki Koechlin) who meet in a hospital waiting room, both are in the same situation, Shiv’s wife Pankaja (Suhasini Mani Ratnam) is in coma for last 8 months and Tara who is newly married, her husband Rajat (Arjun Mathur) has met with an accident resulting in coma due to severe head injury. How Shiv and Tara cope up with their respective situation is what the movie is all about….waiting movie

Story & Screenplay written by Anu Menon, Atika Chohan & James Ruzicka beautifully showcases two different generations and their thought process through the two principal characters Shiv and Tara. Shiv represents the older generation, who is more composed and has hope that is wife will recover, because for him the person with whom he has spent 40 years of his life is the most important hence he does not want to let go his relationship. On the other hand Tara who represents the present generation, who is impatient and practical and thinks that if her husband cannot return to normal life then trying to save him is futile. The writing beautifully captures the essence and the ideology of both the generations and justifies the same as well. Both the characters Shiv and Tara are written with a lot of depth which is the highlight of the movie. Other than the principal characters even the supporting characters like the Doctor Nirupam, or the Ishita, Tara’s friend or Girish employee of Tara’s husband’s are very well etched. Where the movie is a bit of a downer is its pace which slows down a bit in the second half. But kudos to the writers they keep the essence of the movie intact without taking the regular Bollywood track as a climax, it may be abstract for many but then it sums up the title and premise of the movie…Overall a good job as far as the writing goes…

Atika Chohan dialogues lifts up the screenplay, she gets the character’s dialogues bang on, whether it is Shiv’s dialogues which is more restrained or Tara’s which is care free and more verbose, or of other characters. Atika has paid special attention to the premise of the characters and then written the dialogues, and kept the language also as per the characters, where the dialogues needs to be in English it is in English, where ever it needs to be in Malayalam it is in Malayalam and where ever it needs to be in Hindi it is in Hindi…and there has been no effort to translate the dialogues to make the audience understand… really a commendable job…

It is the performances which takes the movie to another level. Naseeruddin Shah as Shiv is just PERFECT, there no other word to describe his performance. Naseer yet again proves his brilliance as a performer. Kalki Koechlin as Tara, the free spirited girl in a grim situation gets her act spot on. Tara’s character was a complex one but Kalki just breezes through the portrayal like a fresh air, undoubtedly one of the noteworthy performances of the year so far. With “Waiting” Kalki makes her presence felt in Bollywood. Rajat Kapoor as Dr Nirupam, portrays the cold and calculative doctor with panache, another brilliant performance by the actor. Rajeev Ravindranathan as the simpleton Girish takes your heart away with his underplayed performance.  It was a pleasure to see Suhasini Mani Ratnam after a gap as Pankaja, Shiv’s wife who is in coma, though she has a relatively a small role but she brings a freshness with her performance and her Hindi brings a smile to your face. Arjun Mathur as Rajat, Tara’s husband brings the required chemistry with Kalki as the newlywed, and was a delight to watch… Ishita played by Ratnabali Bhattacharya also does a good job though she does not have much to do in the movie. In a nutshell the performances make the movie a must watch…

Kudos to Anu Menon first for choosing this subject and second for narrating it beautifully with balancing the two points of views portrayed by the principal characters. She balances the emotion quotient well without making it melodramatic or over the top. After her not so successful “London Paris New York” and her short story in “X-Past Is Present”, Anu Menon comes to her own with “Waiting”….impressive job…

The two principal actors Naseeruddin Shah & Kalki Koechlin takes the movie to a different level with their superlative performances…I will go with 4 stars…

Movie Rating: 4 out of 5 stars (4 / 5)

Movie Review : Finding Fanny

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Finding Fanny: A quirky tale with a Soul

Homi Adajania is back after his commercial mainstream outing in “Cocktail” to what he does best, tell another Finding Fannyquirky tale of dysfunctional individuals which he convincingly told with his debut “Being Cyrus”.

“Finding Fanny” let me warn is not your run of the mill movie, it is abstract in its narration but the soul is at the right place.

Homi Adajania adapts Kersi Khambata’s story again after “Being Cyrus”. “Finding Fanny” primarily tells the story of five individuals Angie (Deepika Padukone), her mother-in-law Rosie (Dimple Kapadia), her naïve affable friend Ferdie (Naseeruddin Shah), her mother-in-law’s admirer Don Pedro (Pankaj Kapur) and her brooding secret lover Savio Da Gama (Arjun Kapoor). Based in a small village of Goa Pocolim, the story unfolds when these five principle characters take a road trip to find Ferdie’s love, whom  he confessed love 46 years back Stefanie Fernandes a.k.a “Fanny” (Anjali Patil). How each character comes to his own and discovers themselves is what the story is all about.

The story premise by Kersi Khambata is wafer thin but it is the screenplay which accentuates the narration. It is the situations that make the story funny; each character is defined well with their set of eccentricities and insecurities. Kersi has done a brilliant job in defining the characters well. But I felt the proceeding goes from quirky to awry as the movie comes to an end. The climax could have been written better. But overall the pace never dips and at the end you have a smile. Well as I said earlier this is not your conventional film so do not expect the obvious.

The Dialogues written by Kersi and Homi is the highlight of the movie which complements the narration and lifts the scenes. They are brilliantly written with subtle humor but the impact is hilarious.

It is the performances by the ensemble cast which is a major highlight and the reason why the movie is a delight to watch. Homi undoubtedly had an enviable cast. Naseeruddin Shah as Ferdie, the emotional affable post master is brilliant. Naseer underplays his character,he has modulated his voice and his body language to portray Ferdie and the outcome is just mind-blowing.  Pankaj Kapur who plays the eccentric lusty painter Don Pedro, he again proves his brilliance with this portrayal. Although amongst the five characters, Don Pedro’s character is wafer thin as far as the writing goes but Pankaj Kapur with his portrayal takes the character to the zenith. It was delight to watch both the thespians in one frame. Dimple Kapadia as Rosie is brilliant and gives one of her best performances; she captures the nuances of Rosie’s character well. Deepika Padukone again gives a good performance with Angie, Homi extracts another cracker performance after her Veronica act in “Cocktail”. Arjun Kapoor as Savio, the brooding loser and lover shows his range as an actor.

Anil Mehta’s cinematography is so breathtaking that after watching the movie you want to take a trip to Goa. He captures the old Goa so well, something which has not been highlighted well after “Trikaal”. Goa‘s beauty lies beyond the beaches as well and Anil has captured it brilliantly.

Costumes by Anaita Shroff Adajania are so well done that it actually blends with the narration and does not look out of place. Production Design by Manisha Khandelwal is another highlight, every detail is painstakingly executed. The last highlight being the Music by Mathias Duplessy especially the backgrounds score, it just transports you to another world.

Homi Adajania breaks the conventional norms of film making and tries to create an Indian “Little Miss Sunshine”; well he partially succeeds as well. The movie’s unconventional take makes it for niche audience and it may not find takers in the masses. I will go with Four Stars….

Movie Rating: 4 out of 5 stars (4 / 5)

Trailer Finding Fanny

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Homi Adajania is back with his second English film after “Being Cyrus” and his third feature film after “Cocktail”, “FINDING FANNY” with a superb cast of Deepika Padukone, Arjun Kapoor, Naseeruddin Shah & Pankaj Kapoor. This is Deepika & Arjun’s first English movie….Releasing on 12th Sept’14…..it will also release in Hindi as well…the Trailer is funny and expect some crackling performances by the ensemble cast..