Mera Naam Joker

Why I saw it?
Just for old time's sakes. Noticed it in the SJ library, so picked it up. I did not remember it much so decided to check it out!

Performances
~~ The genius of Raaj Kapoor is hard to miss on this one. He carries the movie out and out! Rishi Kapoor's debut as little Raaj is also an eventful one! Both father and son have done a great job!

~~ The special appearances by Dharmendra, Rajendar Kumar and Manoj Kumar are really powerful. Lot of character is shown by each one of these men in Raaj's life.

~~ The women are all just about okay and none of them stand out in these important roles. Padmini borders on the irritating. Her character is sort of negative and that adds to the hate factor. The Russian girl is at most cute, but since there is not much of a role, she does not stand out. In her small role, she emoted well. Simi Garewal as teacher is pretty good, but she fades away quickly into the background as soon as Manoj Kumar (as David) comes into the screen.

~~ Shankar Jaikishen Music is a mixed bag, where the songs are great and the picturization is a mess at times. Also it seems as if there are too many songs. Jeena Yahan, Jaane Kahan and Kehta Hai Joker are usual favorites.

Noticeable
~~ The obvious ideas that Autograph or other modern movies get from this one is easy to see. There are so many ideas in this movie and that's what makes it so special!

~~ The chapter 3 of the movie which starts out interestingly, with Meenu Master, Mothi and Raju, drags quite a bit in the end.

~~ The end of the movie makes it even more of a classic, but could also have been the reason why it flopped big time at the box office. But for those who get totally into the emotion cannot have held back their tears at several parts in the movie!

~~ In chapter 3, where the trio of Kumar, Meena and Raju are in the flight carrying the magazines of Fortune, Time and Life was simply awesome direction.

~~ The Joker connection between each story which is asserted by the doll coming back to him time and again is a beautiful piece of art!

Verdict
Awesome movie to some and a dragging tragedy to others. This movie is a true classic for performance! If you are not the kind who would watch a long movie, then you should split this into 3 sittings. The feelings are bound to stay with you if the sittings are not too wide apart! But if you watch this movie, you may not like any present day movie that much! Saturday, October 15, 2005 at 9:02 PM

Saajan

Why Did I watch?

Simple. I simply love this movie and have watched this so many times already, that when I feel like feeling good, I watch it! This time though, I came across this in the SJ Public library, so just picked it.

Noticeable
The attention to detail in this film was simply awesome! Everything from the Hanuman picture in the tea stall to the awesome portrait of Madhuri that is shown as if Sanjay draws it. When you watch the movie, you do feel as if you are in the small Ooty Mall road!

The striking contrast between the characters of Salman and Sanjay don't leave you in a hurry. The handicap factor makes you feel very sorry for the Sanjay character especially when he laments at his being handicapped at the church. Employing the Shayari as a tool is awesome and provides an apt background for this strong storyline, making it way too different from other love triangles.

Performances
This movie is BIG on performance! Madhuri, Sanjay and Salman in that order have done brilliantly! After seeing this movie, even once, you tend to remember them as Pooja, Aman and Akash rather than their real names. This is what Shahrukh Khan needs to learn.

The storyline is awesome and so are the lyrics of the Shayar. Music by Nadeem Shravan is awesome and despite their notoriety off the scenes, you can't not enjoy their music in this movie.

The support cast in Reema and Kader Khan have done a good job. Kader and Salman click very well in comic timing. The comedy from Lachimee is sometimes monotonous and irritating, but otherwise, the performances are awesome!

Verdict
There is nothing that remains to be said about this awesome movie that in my mind classifies as a true classic love triangle! at 11:54 AM

Paheli was in my opinion, a very warm feel good movie. Did it deserve to go into the Oscars? Well, I really don't care! It was a good movie, it did beat others into the nomination, such as Mangal Pandey, Anniyan and many others that I do not know of.

The big point for me is, none of these movies would actually have won the oscar. It is perhaps a bold prediction that Paheli may not make it, but my thought was that if Lagaan (or even Devdas) did not, there is little chance that Paheli will. Of course, we have no idea about the competition (I did not think too high of Amelie, by the way ;-))

I wish Paheli all the very best from an Indian perspective. Sunday, October 09, 2005 at 7:13 PM

Some musings on Malayali actresses in Kollywood....

If Asin carries on the same tempo and acting, she will be the next Simran! One of my friends says Gopika is set to be the next Revathy, but that maybe a little premature to judge. It seems to be universal that Nayantara is in it for a short time unless she completely surprises with a good performance somewhere. at 5:32 PM

I just discovered that the 3rd guy that says "Repeattu" in the introductory song, "Devuda Devuda" in Chandramukhi was Rajinikanth's driver in Karnataka, Khaja, long long ago, when he was a bus conductor! Saturday, October 08, 2005 at 10:54 PM

This movie got into the news for wrong reasons. Simbu had a fight with the producers on some song sequences with costly models (or prostitutes if you are Thankar Bachchan) or something I cannot remember.

Why I watched?
I was eager to see Simbu's next most talked about movie after Manmathan and Gopika after a strong show in Kanaa Kandain. Plus, I got a free DVD/VCD with my grocery shopping ;-)

What's new?

Nothing. Really nothing. Same old same old. Perhaps the only new thing was watching Deva Singh Sodhi (a la Lagaan) in Tamil. But I swear it was not a pleasant experience.

Noticeable

Simbu has delivered a commendably energetic performance yet again. His climax fight reminds us of Devar Magan's Kamalhassan. He has maintained his poise and done a good job, especially in the train and bus sequences. The little guy who played junior Totti Jaya was a good selection and he has done well.

Gopika looks ravishing yet again and takes a screen name not seen very often, Brindha. Her dubbing artist is the same as Sneha's and both these actresses have some degree of similarity in their styles. But Gopika in this movie does not have much to do except for running and crying. She has done very well in the train sequence.

Deva Singh Sodhi was simply unbearable. He was too loud and the screen name of "Seena Thaana" did not suit him.

Technically the movie was weak. It seemed like a low budget movie, or was it my low budget VCD. More likely the latter. Songs were okay and the picturization was not too special, so I do not see what there was, to fight about. The timing of the songs in between very exciting sequences is not new to Tamil cinema.

Verdict:

You can watch this once, but prepare to put on your ear plugs when Seena Thaana comes on!
Friday, October 07, 2005 at 3:16 PM