Peepli Live

The last time I had seen a comedy that was fun and hard hitting in its message was a long time ago, It was the legendary Jaane bhi dho yaaron. Peepli Live is a satire on the way farmers are treated by the brood of politicians and that of the hungry media. Many people who had seen the movie had given a thumbs down to it, probably they didn't have the right expectation before walking into the theater and they might have helped me in bringing down my expectations to the bare minimum. The movie opens by following the travails of the two farmers Natha and Budhia, both have lost their land and are at their wits end as to how to survive. A wily politician recommends them to commit suicide, saying the government would give money to their family. Natha decides to take the leap, the news leaks and the mayhem begins.

 The dialogues are rustic and has a generous stream of expletives thrown into it, but many times these expletives are simply hilarious. On one layer, the film is fun but on the other layer, it makes you realize that how difficult the life of a marginal farmer is. One of my friend made a comment that it is fun to watch the movie but really hellish to imagine oneself suffering through the travails faced by the main characters in the movie. 

 I would recommend this movie to everyone, but don't enter the theater with the hope that this will be another  run of the mill comedy. It is a very serious subject told in a comic way. The stamp of Aamir Khan has not let us down in the recent times.

Road, Movie

People may expect a lot of things from this movie, after the likes of DevD and Oye Lucky Lucky Oye, Abhay deol has become synonymous with the alternate cinema trend. One of the best movies that I have seen of Abay Deol is Manorama Six Feet Under.
Road, starts of with the Abhay’s character looking for a direction in life. His fathers failing oil business beckons him but he willingly grabs an opportunity to take a rundown Truck which is a moving theater to be delivered to a museum across the desert. His escapism isn’t for real though since he keeps a count of the number of days that will keep him away from home. On the way he encounters different kinds of people with their own issues and problems, a young urchin trying to a find a better job, An old mechanic who wants to reach a Mela which no one knows where it is and a sultry Banjarin girl who is searching for water in the desert all by herself and joins the motley crew without a second thought.
The film maynot have a very smooth flow but the director tries to capture a lot of things in a very symbolic manner. The scene wherein the Water Dacoit leader falls for Abhay’s staterment that by applying his hair oil, the Dacoit will become a real Mard looks very superficial and he exchanges hair oil for water. It was only later when my friend paresh gave his take on the scene did I appreciate the fact that this is what the real world marketing is all about, Water being the most sought after product is the currency and Abhay comes to his elements by selling his fathers hair oil in the most difficult of the places.
Cinematography as well as the music is very good. A decent watch, but only to those who appreciate such movies. The script could have been made more realistic though.

Psycho-Kannada movie review

The songs for the movie Psycho were a super hit long before the films release, Even though I had heard the songs and had liked them, I didn't have much of an expectation from the movie thinking it to be another gangster movie. It was only after a friend told me that the movie revolves around a boy stalking a girl and the hero may not be seen at all in the movie that it caught my interest.

The movie starts with outrageous camera angles and it takes some time to get used to this as this seems to be the signature of the director and continues for the whole movie. Pavana is a TV anchor and hosts a show on love, the Hero (His name is not at all mentioned) is madly in love with her, follows her wherever she goes without her knowledge and keeps calling her through different mobile numbers. He beats anybody in to pulp who misbehaves with her, and even looks after her family even to the extent of helping her to remember her mother's birthday. At first the heroine is discomfited with the calls, but seeing all the good he keeps doing to her starts falling in love with him. The movie takes a sudden turn after the heroine comes to know about a secret of her stalker. The secret due to which the movie is named Psycho.
The movie which was marketed to be a suspense thriller turns out to be a decent thriller alright. Music is superb and also picturisation of the songs is good. The lead pairs could have done a better job, though they are watchable. The major letdowns for the movie is the director and the dialogues. All in all a very differently made movie, but still does not match up to the hype created by it's superb music. Also the hero is very much visible in the movie, so the hype that the hero is never shown was false.
The best scene of the movie for me was when the hero looking through his mother's letters in a box, spotting a cockroach on the lid smashes it with his head and says "Ammand kagada thinthiya" (You eat my mother's letter) .