Swings & Roundabouts

Remaking movies – in other words, lifting the success formula from one language and neatly transferring to another – guarantees instant moolah. Or so the belief goes. This, in my opinion, is the reasoning behind remaking a movie. This concept has been employed time and again to varying degrees of success. One of the most successful remake franchises was that of Munnabhai – its Tamil alter ego Vasoolraja and Telugu counterpart Shankar Dada went on to duplicate Sanju’s antics and laughed all the way to the banks.

In the South, Vijay is one of the popular leading actors who employs this tactic regularly, to varying degrees of success. He buys the Tamil rights to a hit Telugu movie, makes it with self as the leading man and hey presto! another super, duper hit ready!! Gilli was one such hit that proved to be a great buy for him, while Vaseegara was a squid. Now, with the rights to Mahesh Babu’s blockbuster Pokiri in his bag, Vijay can almost smell the success once again.

‘Jeyam’ Ravi is another who follows in the same footsteps. He, too, had good runs with his previous movies M Kumaran S/O Mahalakshmi and Mazhai, the remake of MS Raju’s megahit Varsham. When news of Bommarillu hit Chennai, there was widespread frenzy amongst Vijay and ‘Jeyam’ Ravi, amongst others, to net the Tamil rights and sit back and watch the money come rolling in. But things didn’t go their way, with Prakash Raju coming up trumps. But ‘Jeyam’ Ravi needn’t go home with nothing – after all, he’s starring in last year’s Telugu hit Nuvvostanante Nennoddantana (NVNV), which cleared the table at this year’s Filmfare Awards.

In Something, Something, NVNV‘s Tamil version, Ravi plays the role of rich NRI lad Santhosh, the same role that made Siddharth the poster boy of Hyderabad last year. Siddharth owned this role, revelled in it and made it completely his. He was hyperactive, bouncing off the walls, super-cool and full of pizazz. This so contrasted with his mature look in the second half, that it worked really well for him. He, in short, talked the talk and walked the walk and was Santhosh, the super-rich, London-born and bred chap. Ravi, well, didn’t just cut the mustard. Everything about him was a let down.

For starters, he spoke with a marked Tamil accent – strike one against a London-born guy. In the scene where he counted the stars in the sky for Trisha, going ’1… 2… 3…… 10′, I split my sides, laughing. This Santhosh most certainly did not grow up in London! Every single act of his was an imitation of what Siddharth did in the Telugu version – there was nothing originally Ravi in the whole movie. His antics pained me so much that I had to walk out well before the climax.

Maybe it wasn’t Ravi’s fault – that is the cross all remake heroes have to bear. No matter what a brilliant performance he had managed to come up with, he still would have been compared to the original. Well, I’m loosely calling it original but there’s nothing original about the storyline. It is Maine Pyar Kiya and a whole lot of other romantic stories mashed up and served with some fizz. But what it also is a frame by frame copy of NVNV.

One of the biggest drawbacks that Ravi’s got is his voice – he just doesn’t sound macho enough. There’s this scene in Mazhai where he’s supposed to stand up to the bad guys and make them quake in their boots. But in that mousey voice of his, all he managed to do was make me almost wet myself.

Another huge letdown was Bhagyaraj. While I have never been a fan of his, I wept for Prakash Raj as I saw Bhagyaraj take the role so brilliantly essayed by that great actor and bring it down to such a level. In the Telugu version, Prakash Raj is this silent, stoic businessman, who adores his son whilst suffering his wife’s caustic tongue with some admirably repressed passion. In Something, Something Bhagyaraj, in his trademark verbose style manages to make you wonder how such a character managed to amass millions and earn such a major name for himself in England’s capital town. When he tells his brother-in-law and the BIL’s partner that whilst his wife may appear to be the boss during the day, come night he will take charge, how crass can you get? While Prakash Raj was this suave, sophisticated millionaire, Bhagyaraj comes across as this bumbling, uncouth man in ill-suited finery. The scene where he pontificates about the greatness of komiyam (cow’s wee!) in his quest for water to quench his thirst has to rank in the top three as the most idiotic scenes in the whole film.

Though it was just an old story rehashed, NVNV managed to sustain the audience’s interest due to its treatment and the casting. This is where the Tamil version fails. While Something, Something has successfully managed to remake the Telugu movie frame by frame, remaking the Best Actor award will not prove to be such an easy task!

Wednesday, 10:30 pm BST: I was just lounging on the sofa, after a ‘welcome back’ new season episode of ‘Wire in the Blood’, when the news anchore of the Late News said the words ‘Top Gear’s Richard Hammond was injured in a car crash earlier today’. To say I was shell-shocked would be an understatement. I simply could not believe my ears!

My first thought was ‘Oh no, the poor bloke must have been driving on the M25′. Later, when fresh details emerged and I learnt that the accident happened during a Top Gear shoot, I was like ‘don’t tell me they were doing something hair raising again!’ And so he was! Trying to break the British land speed record in a dragstyle-type car, Hammond’s vehicle ‘veered to the right’ and flipped even as he was travelling at 300 mph. He was ‘critically injured’ and emergency services had to cut him out of the car. He was rushed to the Royal Infirmary at Leeds, where he remained in a critical state for two days, before improving enough to be labelled ‘stable’ by his doctors.

Top Gear is one of UK’s favourite motoring programmes and Sundays at 8:00 pm, you would fine self and family glued to the telly, trying to absorb Clarkson, May and Hammond‘s latest antics. These guys really know their cars and present a show that is informative, entertaining and pure fun, all at the same time.

Richard Hammond, popularly known as ‘the Hamster’ is a great presenter with a ‘try anything once’ attitude. Together with Jeremy (Clarkson) and James (May), he has made Top Gear the most delightful show to watch on the telly. The bonhomie, gung-ho attitude and the three contrasting personalities make compulsive TV. Just how popular he is with the British public can be inferred from Jeremy’s remarks, “”I would just like to say how heartened Richard will be when I tell him just how many motorists and truck drivers on my way here wound down their windows to say they were rooting for him. Both James and I are looking forward to getting our Hamster back.”

Hammond first became introduced to the British public in 1998, when he presented the show Motorweek on the satellite channel Men & Motors. He then did a variety of things before landing his ‘dream job’ of that of a Top Gear presenter, in 2002. The show, which enjoys an almost cult status, is not new to controversy. In fact, this latest trouble has cast a shadow on its future. Top Gear had received criticism from MPs about its ‘obsession with speeds’. Its high octane stunts did not exactly endear itself to road safety campaigners, who claimed it “glamorises speed”.

But for motoring enthusiasts like me, the show is a must-watch. Who can forget the time of the Supercar Challenge, when James, Richard and Jeremy crossed the Millau Bridge in France in a Ferrari 430, Pagani Zonda and a Ford GT? Or the other time when they tested remote control cars in a disused quarry? I can still remember Richard just creasing himself, as James tried to manouver the car inside the tent, breaking every single breakable item in it!

Even as Richard lies in his hospital bed, messages are pouring from all over the country, from his fans who are anxious for his recovery. His impish smile, his cheerful persona and sheer delight in his job have made him the darling of the public. I hope to see him back on Top Gear again, just so we can all hear him go one more time, ‘I haven’t had my teeth whitened!’

I have often wondered about that parody called ‘comedy track’ – this is a concept that is unique to Indian cinema. 90% of our movies have a comedy track running parallel to the main story line; very few of the really good movies have this feature.

Most of the time, these comedy tracks are anything but funny – many of them are so annoying, you feel like slapping the so-called ‘comedy stars’. Goundamani and Senthil, were a comedy duo from the 90′s Tamil cinema and Goundamani used to kick the hell out of his companion, in order to get a few laughs from the galleries. I wonder which fertile brain thought this would be funny but after the 100th performance, I would have cheerfully planted one in the director’s bum myself, gratis!

Sometimes, they degenerate into double-entendres and cheap one-liners. This causes a widespread squirm fest and rarely have I seen any sane, sensible person crack a smile over this. But what really gets my goat is when they try to emulate laughter by making fun of people’s disabilities – like a stammer or a limp.

In the Telugu filmdom, there’s this funny chap named Sunil, whom I think has the potential to become on of the current generations greats. But because our filmmakers have this strange idea that to be a comedian, you must be blessed with an IQ of that of a retarded flea or it won’t just fly. So poor Sunil ends up looking like a gormless idiot, film after film after film. In one of his scenes in ‘Nuvvostanante Nenoddantana’, he upsets a tray of hot coffee cups on the leading man and is told he doesn’t have any brains. That sums up the requirement for the comedy talent.

It wasn’t always like this – we had some great comedians in the days of yore. N S Krishnan was an ole Tamil funny man, who had people rolling in the aisles. He literally cracked people up. His facial expressions, his words, everything was rip-roaring funny. There were loads more of his ilk – Manorama, ‘Cho’ Ramaswamy, ‘Kathadi’ Ramamurthy, to name a few.

Even in today’s cinema, we have some comic guys – Vivek does a good job of it mostly, but the other so-called ‘comedy heroes’, I’d rather roast them in oil and serve them with chips. Vivek is quite different from the others, in that, he touches upon loads of current issues in his gags. Be it a gentle dig at the reigning govt, local happenings, general state of affairs – he would utilize them in his script and more often than not, bring down the house.

I have noticed that many of the really good ones doing this. American stand up Lewis Black pokes fun of everything and everybody. Though his routine is littered with swear words, it still rises more than a few laughs.

I feel that there are many, many good comedy actors out there – but either the director’s lack of trust in his abilities in carrying a movie forward without anything bawdy or the comedian’s own sense of ‘comedy’ makes things take a left towards Ick land. I sincerely hope that the quality of our funny interludes increase before it degenerates into something incomprehensibly worse.

Take an ordinary, simple storyline; get some brilliant actors; throw in some decent music; give it all a good mix – what do you get? A movie called Bommarillu (means doll’s house). The story is this: Siddhu (Siddharth) is a college lad, in his senior year, whose only wish is to live his life the way he feels like. This may seem simple enough to you and me but not to Siddhu, whose rich, industrial magnate father (played by Prakash Raj) micro manages every single aspect of his life. Just when Siddhu’s dreaming of finding himself a girlfriend as well as charting his own career, well away from prosperous dad’s, daddy dearest throws a bomb in the form of ‘match fixing’ – he arranges Siddhu’s marriage with a homely girl without so much as a by your word.

Siddhu drowns his sorrows in regular drink sessions with his best buds – his life seems to go on the course charted by his father, till the day he literally bumps into Haasini (Genelia). She comes in like a breath of fresh air and wound-tighter-than-a-coil Siddhu loosens up enough to fall in love with her. When dad finds out about this, the household rocks in its foundations and Siddhu tries to rescue the situation by coming up with the drastic plan of getting Haasini stay in his house for a week, so his family could get to know her.

To cut a long story short, Haasini lives with the family for a week and breaks Siddhu’s heart to smithereens by rejecting him at the end of the period. What Siddhu does next to confront his dad and convince Haasini that he isn’t hopeless after all, forms the rest of the story.

Plus: Sid’s acting, period. The boy gives an understated, sublime performance as the troubled son who is unable to live his own life as he is ruled by his loving but domineering dad. His angst is visible in every frame and hats off to him for not overdoing it during his ‘sozzled to the gills’ scenes. The work he has put in is obvious in the chemistry between him and Genelia as well as with Prakash Raj, who plays his father in the movie. Siddharth apparently spent a week in Prakash Raj’s house in Chennai, ‘bonding’ with the senior actor so they could develop a decent chemistry – which forms a vital part of the movie.

Prakash Raj, the consummate artist that he is, once again comes out with a dignified performance as Siddhu’s controlling father. Not one wasted word or action escapes this powerhouse. His bewilderment when events unravel in front of his eyes due to no fault of his is priceless. His acceptance of his faults and absolute chagrin at seeing his beloved son suffer due to his actions is a thing of beauty.

Jayasudha, the veteran that she is, makes her presence felt in the few minutes she actually shows her face on the screen. She looks gorgeous as always and young enough to pass herself off as Prakash Raj’s wife.

Sunil is fast becoming a comedy artist of note – I hope that this actor gets some decent roles from now on to actually showcase his talent.

Though I didn’t feel that the music was out of the world, the background score and the songs gel well with the rest of the film. The picturisation’s good too – Sid’s moves to the song ‘We Have a Romeo’ were brilliant!

For a first-timer, Bhaskar has done a great job of directing the movie. It is heartening to see new talent coming up in tinsel town – good directors making movies from their heart and not churning old hits in new guise to make a quick buck is a welcome development.

Having waxed eloquent about the movie’s best points, I should point out the negatives too – what tops my list is the female lead’s characterization. In trying to make Haasini a happy-go-lucky and fun loving ‘live for the moment’ girl, the director’s gone the extra few steps and has endowed her with the IQ of a rather frisky chimp. After ten minutes of her antics, I was compelled to wonder if she was dropped on her head as a baby. I forgive you this time, Bhaskar, as this is your first venture but for future reference, a girl can be fun-loving, friendly, super cool and still possess a reasonably working brain all at the same time!

I have couple of questions though – Why is it that Siddhu’s big sis has no life / house of her own and haunts her parents’ house all the time? Did they forget the ‘kanya daan’ part during her wedding?

Also, who was the lady who gives Siddhu a lift to Haasini’s house in the final scene?

The verdict?

Def. worth watching. The movie does exactly what it says on the tin though – it is a feel good family entertainer, with no unnecessary violence, no baring of skin (Mallika Sherawat – take note, please!), no touchy-feely scenes – just good, wholesome fare that you can enjoy with your whole family without squirming. There’s some brilliant acting, good music, decent story, all delivered in a clean – a good few notches above ‘timepass’.

What’s happening to Indian cinema these days? More and more, I am reading about blokes who want to become directors, become some big shot’s assistant and then end up catching the eye of a director and end up being cast as the main lead in their next movie and…. you can guess the rest.

Or…. a normal, middle-class chappie, with no connection to filmdom whatsoever, gets bitten by the movie bug fairly early in life, completes his education (in most cases, at least a master’s degree) and then moves to the local tinsel town and starts churning out films.

Siddharth (assistant director – Kannathil Muthamittal, actor – Ayutha Ezhuthu, NVNV, Rang De Basanti, Bommarillu), Kunal Kapoor (assistant director – Aks, actor – Meenaxi, Rang de Basanti), Madhavan (actor – Alai Payudhey, Minnale, Ramji Londonwale), Siva Kumar (director – Chukkallo Chandrudu), Shekhar Kammula (director – Anand, Godavari), Bhaskar (director – Bommarillu) – the list is increasing by the day.

There has always been a steady influx of wannabes in the industry – but what is different with these guys is that they are just regular blokes like you or me (well not me, exactly, but you get the picture!). That being so, they have spent most of their lives watching movies, dissing storylines and the actors like all of us; being unrelated by blood to the movie industry, they also have a healthy dose of reality running in their bloodstreams, which makes the roles they essay, much more plausible.

What’s more, they are real savvy when it comes to marketing their products too. Directors like Shekhar Kammula and Siva Kumar, who did their masters in American universities, have a clear understanding of the NRI movie-going crowd and consider the diaspora when making their films. Now it isn’t just the ‘masses’ that are being pandered to – the urban moviebuff (which could mean anyone from Chennai to San Francisco) is being taken seriously as
audience as well. I, for one, am quite happy at this as the movies these directors churn out are of the sleeker, more polished kind. Releasing their movies in the foreign markets also dramatically increases their profits – as they have no doubt realised.

In short, it seems like the movie industry isn’t the playground of filmi spawn anymore. The success of these regular guys has proved that you don’t have to be the neighbour of A.R.Rahman’s neice’s best friend or Mani Ratnam’s wife’s distant cousin’s thrice removed, to enter the Land of Make Believe. With a bit of pluck and effort, some luck and the gift of the gab, you could be well on your way to becoming the next superstar!

Crossposted at Naachgaana and DesiCritics.

The movie is due to be released on August 9. Till then, here’s a trailer to tantalise you. Sid dances to ‘We have a Romeo’ and it sounds / looks just like it is a continuation of Girlfriend (Boys). Is it just the Sid – Genelia connection or is it something else?

Let me come straight out and admit to being a hard core fan of Euphoria. I was smitten the day I listened to Maaeri, way back in year 2000. That song was the best song I had ever heard in my life till then. Even today, it still remains a firm favourite of mine.

For those who have come in late, Euphoria consist of DJ (bass), Benny (keyboard), Hitesh and Gaurav on guitars, Ashwani on drums, Rakesh and Prashanth on dholak and tabla and Palash, the singer-songwriter, the “brain” of the band.

Euphoria’s music style is something uniquely desi. It is full-on fun, full of colour and somehow, something magical. Their latest offering, Mehfuz, is no different. The album contains twelve tracks and each one is a beaut.

The album opens with ‘Soneya‘, a typical Euphoric number, reasonably pacey and with good mixing, followed by the title track ‘Mehfuz‘, which is a slow, melodious number. Guitar chords start the song off beautifully, with Palash singing in his trademark style. Another great song Roshni, with lyrics by Gulzar, is a wonderful, ensemble number.

If Phir Dhoom brought in shades of Punjab, with Maaeri, Mehfuz has some Goan influence in ‘Dil’, with Benny penning some parts in Konkani. There’s some heavy stuff with Sant Kabir and Raheem’s dohas putting in an appearance in the appropriately titled ‘Doha’.

The only song that didn’t sit well with me is the English one ‘She’s Beautiful’ – though the tune is good and the words are alrighty enough, Polly singing away in angrez is taking me some getting used to. I would rest happy when he belts out in good ole Hindi – not that you didn’t do the song justice, Polly ole soul but when you sing in good ole Hindustani, it stirs me up!

Barring that, I could list the 11 remaining tracks and praise them to high heavens for the rest of the day (and night) – and still I would find myself bereft of words. Every one of them has a special something to it – all of them have a familiar feel to them, making you feel like you are among old friends again and Palash’s voice rings out strong, song after song after song.

If, like me, you are far away home and are feeling home-sick, then slot this CD in your player, get your headphones out, relax with a cuppa chai and you will be transported to India. Kabhi aana Euphoria gully!

The audio of Siddharth’s new telugu flick, ‘Bommarillu‘, was released on July 15, after much delay. I, for one, was eagerly awaiting this, not least because the music director, Devi Sri Prasad, seems to have gone through some sort of revival since last year’s blockbuster, Nuvvostante Nenoddantana.

There are seven songs in all in the album and while I wouldn’t lie through my teeth and say they are all absolutely fantabulous, most of them are good. There’s a heavy Western influence – I think we have my favourite, A R Rahman, to thank for that! In some places, the beats seem to intrude a bit but most of the songs are of the foot-tapping variety.

Appudo Ippudo – Siddharth, the multi-talented boy wonder, sings this song. His pronounciation has improved manifold since his < days. This is a fast number and in my opinion, the best track in the album – it has a good pace to it, it makes an easy listen and Sid’s trademark bouncy energy has permeated his delivery, which makes it for a great number. His pronounciation has improved 100% since his Chukkallo Chandrudu days. If you cannot believe me, then go back and listen to Yadalo Eppudo and you’ll understand what I am talking about.

Bommani Geesthe, sung by Gopika and Jeans Srinivas, is a melodious number. The lyrics are very sweet and the music the song is set to is quite good too. It is a slow number, one of the two in the album. The flute in the beginning of the start of the song, sets the mood quite well.

The composer turns singer with Kaani Ippudu and does a decent job of it. The song has a catchy tune and a nice, swinging beat. Your feet start tapping to the beat before you realise it. I am sure we will be hearing the song’s remixed versions on the club floors soon enough.

The opening chords of this song, We have a Romeo, reminded me of those of the song ‘Karka Karka’ from Vettaiyadu Vilaiyadu. This is a fleeting similarity and the song branches off into its own route soon enough, with the bloke singing about looking for his Juliet. Typically, he lists the characteristics of his girl and the song proceeds well enough. When Andrea comes in with the English verse, it somehow doesn’t sit well. I reckon the references to Romeo & Juliet have something to do with this interlude – as long as it doesn’t translate to a Genelia on a balcony, with Sid somewhere on the ground level, singing his heart out, I shall be happy!

Laloo Darvaja didn’t make much of an impression on me. The same thumping beats that is found in every song plays a prominent role in this one as well. After a verse and a chorus of this, there’s a slow interlude by the female singer which doesn’t get at all with the main song. After this, the song continues on its previous vein, making me wonder what just happened.

Nammaka Thappani, sung by Sagar and Sumangali, is the other slow number and is a decent one as well. But by now, the thumping beats have begun annoying me. The composer has to pay special attention to the use of the same four beats – after a bit, it feels quite repetitive.

Though the album is a decent enough listen, it lacks the freshness of NVNV. The best bit, for me, was Siddharth belting out Appudo Ippudo – it remains to be seen if that is enough to make it a hit.

My favourite Indian band of all times is Euphoria. Palaash and gang have completely transformed Indian music scene with their HINDROCK (which totally rocks!). Their 2000 hit, Maaeri, is my favourite song EVER, bar none. I also like their other songs, like Aana meri gully (starring none other than the Parineeta herself, Vidya Balan!) and Ab na ja.

In their own words, the guys can be described as….. DJ, “the backbone” on bass; BENNY, “the fingers” on keys; HITESH, “the heart” on guitars; ASHWANI, “the legs” on drums; GAURAV, “the pulse” on guitars, RAKESH and PRASHANT, “the arms” on dholak and tabla and PALASH, “the brain” on… err….any topic in the world!!

*** SPOILER WARNING: While I have tried my best not to give the plot and the ending away, you might come across some surprising bits from the movie Fanaa, so please be warned ***

Last night, I went out to see Fanaa with my family. After a long time, we went to a movie hall to see an Indian movie, rather than waiting for the DVDs to arrive and catch the flick sitting comfortably in our lounge. But this time, I wanted to make up for missing RDB on the big screen so I decided that we shall make the trip to the cinema and catch Kajol & Aamir in action.

I ‘prepared’ for this outing by listening to the songs so I can get into the groove. It gave me an idea of what the movie is going to be – you can guess that there’s a kid in the movie after listening to the song ‘Chanda Chamke’; ‘Des Rangila’, the typical NRI song (which makes our expat hearts beat fast with its strains of Vande Mataram), is bound to be an on-stage number – well, you get the picture.

After the movie, my first thought was ‘hmm, not a bad movie – good timepass’. There were bits were the implaucibility of the plot was almost laughable but I thought, well, let’s not nit-pick here. Let us excuse poor Mr Kohli of his minor misdemeanors and rise above it. Kajol looked amazing; Aamir looked super cool as he strolled across the airport and the locations were pretty fab.

Of course, by then, the songs were buzzing non-stop in my head and I was playing them in my iPod on the way home as well. Had a discussion about the movie with the half a dozen mates I bumped into at the temple and the restaurant we went to afterwards and heard favourable noises from most.

Then I logged onto the ‘Net today morning and one of the first things I read was the review in Rediff. Suffice to say, after reading it my enthu levels dipped. I began questioning myself – did I really enjoy the movie last night? Was it worth enjoying? None of the reviewers had said much in favour of it. They had taken it apart bit by bit and it wasn’t a pretty sight.

Am I such a bad judge of movies?

Then I sat thinking of all the times I had gone to the movies and come back to find that none other than me liked it much. After that, I didn’t like that movie either and this trend has continued pretty much on and off over the years.

But what is the point of a movie anyway? Is it to take you to a different plane, a different zone as such for 2.5 hours? Is it to make you forget the marital squabbles, exam results, work deadlines and all the other strands of reality for the span of the movie? And what makes it a ‘good’ one? A great storyline, fantastic plot execution, brilliant cinematography, a fab casting, feet stomping music – or should it leave you with a feeling of not just having spent £6.80 on tickets plus £10 on popcorn, fizzy pops in return for a thumping mad headache?

I think from now on, I shall decide if a movie is good or not by checking with my internal monitor – do I like it? Yes? Then it is a good movie. Was it a bit of a blah? Then I shall give it a 10 on the headacho meter. And bully to the critics!