The Best Of Bollywood- From Millennium to The Moment (2001-2012)

10- Lage Raho Munnabhai (2006)

It will be a crime worth capital punishment not to include Rajkumar Hirani as one of the forefront mainstream filmmakers of the first dozen years of the 21^st century (despite the contrived ‘Munnabhai MBBS’ and the plasticky and ponderous ‘3 Idiots’). 2006’s ‘Lage Raho Munnabhai’ has to be not only the finest work in his oeuvre but also one of the finest and neatest examples of feel-good mainstream cinema without pretensions. As a loosely held sequel, it not only surpasses the flashes of wit of the original with generous amounts of honesty and sincerity but it is also a far more neatly edged work; Hirani and co-writer Abhijat Joshi belt out a hilarious and heartfelt story that sparkles with wit and wisdom. As the love-struck lovable goon Munnabhai (Sanjay Dutt) embarks on a do-good campaign, goaded by a shimmering illusion of Mahatma Gandhi, and the ever-reliable sidekick Circuit (Arshad Warsi), the film gains unprecedented depths- it is a breezy romance, a rib-tickling comedy, an adequately moving and flexible social message movie all tucked into a film punctuated with splendid performances. Dutt and Warsi have never been better, Boman Irani does much show-stealing as the malicious property-shark while Dilip Prabhavalkar shows up in an inspiring role as the Mahatma himself, endowing the film with solid idealism; yet the film keeps it starkly and admirably real. Hirani’s direction never flags its pace and mints the film a truly stirring experience without sounding preachy.

9- Dil Chahta Hai (2001)

No matter how many young filmmakers may come up with their own stories of coming of age, Farhan Akhtar’s smashingly simple and stirring debut will remain to be the Holy Grail of the genre. It is not just how Akhtar blends the arthouse sensitivity and intimacy with formulaic mainstream elements seamlessly to craft a superiorly entertaining piece; it is also about how his skill at character-building and storytelling lend the film the stamp of genuine honesty. Three friends (played with ample conviction by Aamir Khan, Saif Ali Khan and Akshaye Khanna) embark on different paths of love, relationships and careers after a bitter argument, only to reunite in the end, finding that all they have is each other. Never too formulaic, never digressing into darkness, this is perhaps as smooth as filmmaking can get. But while the smooth edges may blur some of the reality, it never goes in the way of Akhtar’s honest, water-cool observations on growing up and falling in love. Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy’s wonderfully poignant soundtrack blends in with Ravi K. Chandran’s visuals to lend a film a terrific, mesmeric beauty.

8- Rang De Basanti (2006)

Now there are some ( a growing minority) who think that Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s bold, provocative and brilliant urban patriot drama is one of those 80s’ vigilante films which benefits solidly from slick packaging and awesome music. Think again, cynics. By drawing sharp, well-etched and exceptionally nuanced parallels between the youth of the 2000s and the fired-up patriots of the 30s, ‘Rang De Basanti’ sets out to touch a raw nerve with guts and glory. The story- of how an aspiring filmmaker (Alice Patten), goaded by recorded memories of the turbulent 30s in India, unwittingly eggs a gang of friends to rediscover their inherent patriotism, might sound wooly but only on paper. It is Mehra’s superb execution of the material, armed with fellow-writers Rensil D’Silva and Prasoon Joshi, that makes the film a modern, subversive classic. The happy-go-lucky gang (played by the likes of Aamir Khan, Sharman Joshi and a simmering Siddharth) discover a cause celebre when their plane-flying buddy Ajay ( R. Madhavan) is killed in an air-crash and scandal erupts. True, the politics could have avoided some of the stereotypes and the climax is stretched to squeeze a shower of tears but for most part, this is blistering filmmaking, wonderfully leaping from the staccato dash of the modern days to the sepia-tinted violence of the past to make its arguments solid and convicing. Pity then about Mehra’s subsequent efforts- the metaphor-ridden and confusing ‘Delhi 6’ and the incredibly slow and hackneyed ‘Bhaag Milkha Bhaag’.

7- Chak De India (2007)

One of the reasons quite why ‘Lagaan’ is not on this list is because how it starts with great promise and has a great concept- of how unity can defeat an Empire, even in sport- but the film’s meandering storyline and its overlong running time ruin the impact. This is not the case with Shimit Amin’s breathless entertainer- a fired-up, snazzy and amply moving version of the same tale, done with much more precision and packed with more masala than ever. Amin and scriptwriter Jaideep Sahni rarely relax in his full-throttle narrative as they start with hockey hero Kabir Khan (Shahrukh Khan) defamed as a traitor to the country and then quickly cuts to the modern day when the same outcast returns with revenge- to fire up a slack team of women hockey players and make them win the World Cup. Sound familiar? Hardly so because Amin packs in the pace of an action film into the buzz of proceedings- from the verbal battles between the belligerent players and Khan to the turbo-charged hockey scenes unfolding as if Scorsese had a field day on the grounds and goalposts. Sahni himself keeps the central ideology simple and basic but loads it with plenty of clever characterization, ensuring that we cheer for each and every player on our side. And finally, there is Shahrukh Khan in the performance of his career, eschewing smugness to deliver full-throated fire, acid and warmth and confirming his kingship among fellow actors.

6- Omkara (2006)

No other Bollywood filmmaker can get medieval literature as good as Vishal Bhardwaj does it. And I am talking about none other than the Bard himself. History will rightfully recognize ‘Omkara’ as one of the truest and most spectacular adaptations of Shakespeare’s ‘Othello’ on the big screen. Bhardwaj masterfully transplants the central tragedy of romance and envy into the blistering, sun-baked rural chaos of Uttar Pradesh; his Moor is the tough-as-nails yet tender Omkara (Ajay Devgn) who heads a clan of loyal gangsters working for crooked local politico Bhaisaab (Naseeruddin Shah). After finalizing his plans to marry the high-caste Dolly (Kareena Kapoor), he decides to choose the prudent rookie Kesu (Viveik Oberoi) over the grungy, limping Langda (Saif Ali Khan) and sets into motion a fierce tale of envy as the green-eyed Langda plots his downfall. Faithfully placing the Bard’s legendary lines into scorching, profane lingo and recreating the feudalistic monarchy of the original source with casteism and gender domination in the badlands of UP, Bhardwaj also balances intense drama with subtle character study and sensual romance with near-perfection. Technically too, it is stunning- with leisurely Sergio Leone-style visuals by Tassaduq Hussain and earthy settings by Samir Chanda and Bhardwaj blends them both to create mood and milieu to recast the most dramatic and monumental moments from Bard’s prose in fully-blown beauty and intensity. Add that to the stellar cast- Devgn, Kapoor, Oberoi, Shah and the reliable Konkona Sen Sharma all deliver their thespian best while Saif Ali Khan is simply unforgettable as the limping and repulsive Langda, spewing vitriol and verbal abuse with reckless glee.

5- Udaan (2010)

Coming-of-age genre may have gained its fresh colors from ‘Dil Chahta Hai’ and the like but it is Vikramaditya Motwane’s bleak and brilliant debut that casts the idea of coming-of-age in murky gloom. On the face of it, ‘Udaan’ is the simple story of a young boy confronting a domineering father, who coerces him to join his factory and abandon his simple-minded writing aspirations. Look deeper and you will actually find the shattering revelations in its incisive storytelling. By depicting, in stark honesty, the particularly sadistic tastes of Bhairav Singh, the bad daddy essayed with chilling conviction by Ronit Roy, Motwane sets out to expose the glaring holes in the idyllic Indian idea of parenting and family. Singh is a flawed, furious yet utterly believable character who vents out his inner demons- of a possibly repressed childhood- on his utterly helpless son, Rohan (Rajat Barmecha, an excellent debut). Rohan’s odyssey against the tide of his father’s frustrations is beautifully contrasted against the parallel tracks of his younger step-brother Arjun, who faces Bhairav’s harshest abuse, his genial and warm uncle Jimmy (a mesmerizing Ram Kapoor) and his own gentle aspirations crushed under the weight of his father’s small-town-bred psyche. Along with the searing narrative, Motwane’s stark visuals of an oppressive Jamshedpur, dominated by smoke-spewing factories and cloudy skies (superbly captured by Mahendra Shetty) lend the film a poetic force, coupled by Amit Trivedi’s elegiac yet enlightening score to make the film an everlasting story of coming of age against all odds.

4- Dev-D (2009)

Few blunders have been as grievous as handing out the top prizes- and much undeserved honor- to that bloated, self-indulgent college satire ‘3 Idiots’ despite its sheer entertainment value, in the face of 2009’s true champion- the incendiary, explosive ‘Dev-D’. It is not just Anurag Kashyap and (it must be said) actor Abhay Deol’s snazzy, jazzy, stark and sexy revamp of the ‘Devdas’ saga that makes this film such a potent, heady delight for true aficionados; rather, what makes it more seminal in the recent history of cinema is how it reinvents and debunks all the myths about romance in our filmmaking. The central character- Dev (a stunning Deol) goes the downhill path, not only from a flaw in his character- he is after all a born loser- but also with the urban, sybaritic arrogance that makes him think that he can take even love and feelings for granted. But when rural lass Paro (Mahie Gill in a fiery debut) shows her spine and spurns him, it is time to hit the bottle and hit the streets and this is where Kashyap’s psychedelic chaos kicks in, with gut-wrenching effect. And yet, thanks to the blazing, laconic screenplay (by Kashyap and Vikramaditya Motwane), the heart-stopping, haunting yet spectacular imagery (courtesy of Rajeev Ravi) and the moody, melancholic score by Amit Trivedi (clearly the finest talent we have in recent years to rival A. R. Rahman), the film emerges as a piece of art, an experimental yet instantly accessible and relevant tale of romance and despair that rivals ‘Dilwale Dulhania Le Jaayenge’ in its iconic stature. Further on, by interspersing the parallel track of the lonely call-girl Chanda (Kalki Koelchlin) with a bitter, news-headline inspired past, Kashyap’s film emerges as a miracle of dark, dystopian filmmaking.

3- Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! (2008)

Comedies have been either sparklingly funny (Rajkumar Hirani) or embarrassing raunchy (blame it on numerous Ekta Kapoor and Indra Kumar outings) but it is indeed rare to find comedies which also emerge as finely detailed portraits of social and class divisions in a city seemingly obsessed with wealth, amidst the widening gulf of status in India. Dibakar Banerjee, who made a smash debut with the hilarious ‘Khosla Ka Ghosla’, goes one step up with his second venture- a Barry Lyndon-style tale of a man rising from rags to riches in an extravagantly rich Delhi through his kleptomaniac behavior. In depicting the tale of the smart-aleck Lucky (Abhay Deol), Banerjee along with co-writer Urmi Juvekar and Manu Rishi (who also played the delightful sidekick Bangali) doff their hat at Sai Paranjpe as they punctuate Lucky’s rip-roaring exploits with plenty of incisive, nuanced and satirical depictions of the capital city’s many nooks and crannies- from small-time dealers selling stolen goods, to buzzing discotheques where the super-rich come to play and to the rich, upper-class enclaves. However, while there is plenty of fun from the hilarious dialogues and crackling performances (Paresh Rawal shows up in a three-in-one portrait of the various shades of the city, signposting Lucky’s journey to the top as well as his fall), this is also a film with a darker vein of humor. The laughs are more cynical than full-throated hilarious, the characters are not merely colorful goonies having a ball but rather malicious people who plot Lucky’s decline while Lucky emerges himself as a delusional character, whose starry-eyed dreams go for a sobering toss. Armed with Deol’s charismatic, cocky performance, Banerjee decorates the gripping story with amazing technical finesse as well to craft a truly sensational portrait of a city of pomp and show and a man who wants to be a part of it all. Even with trail-blazing work throughout the years- the caustic ‘Love Sex Aur Dhokha’ and the creepy ‘Shanghai’- this remains to be Banerjee’s most true and unflinchingly comic portrait of human society’s flaws.

2- Maqbool (2004)

When I first watched 2004’s ‘Maqbool’, I felt that it was an innovative twist on the Macbeth legend with an amazing cast. With subsequent viewings, I have only gone on to admire it for the deep, scalding intelligence which Vishal Bhardwaj’s film rolls out with breakneck speed and reckless fury. What particularly amazes us is not just the inventiveness with which Bhardwaj and his cast replay the legend in the scenario of twisted loyalties in a decadent Mumbai gang. Loyal henchman Maqbool (Irrfan Khan) is totally dedicated to his boss- the devilish and aging Abbaji (Pankaj Kapur) but loses his heart to the latter’s devious wife Nimmi (Tabu) and soon is swayed by her and a duo of crooked cops, acting as the Three Witches, (played by Naseeruddin Shah and Om Puri with brash panache), in a cold-blooded scramble for power. While Bhardwaj directs the quirky and lightening quick tale with a flair for dread and ferocious poetry, the genius of the film lies also in how, within Abbas Tyrewala’s rubber-tight script, there lie layers of unconventional wisdom. Abbaji’s Muslim gang operates with the political aid of Maharastrian clan leaders, while Maqbool, himself a devout Muslim, falls prey to the myths of Hindu astrology, which eventually propel his doom. Behind it all, lays a solid slice of cold logic, as cops bend the rules to manipulate the blood-splattered saga unfolding in front of them. Bhardwaj has been on a trailblazing run all these years and while we love him for the mesmerizing ‘Makdee’ and the mad and brilliant ‘Kaminey’, it is this film which thrills us with its grittiness and sobers us with its acid wit. And yes, the performances only feel much more indelible than ever- Irrfan is brilliant as ever, Kapur steals the show with a towering performance, Piyush Mishra, Shah and Puri lend in terrific support while Tabu creates an unforgettably menacing Lady Macbeth.

1- Gangs of Wasseypur (2012)

Okay, so I am cheating here, by picking out two films, which are actually rolled together into one mammoth filmmaking accomplishment. And so what? The truth remains that, even as this is the latest entry into the list of greats, as this decade goes by, Anurag Kashyap’s two-part gangster saga will be commemorated as clearly the most iconic, sensational and legendary movie of our generation. Maybe, we are already lapping it up as the new ‘Sholay’ of current Bollywood. Every single ingredient in Kashyap’s sizzling cocktail of East and West- of Prakash Mehra and Francis Ford Coppola- remains to be as exotic, mesmerizing and spicy as it has been. The performances and the characters are all larger-than-life yet utterly raw and real- from Manoj Bajpai’s deliciously nasty gangster Sardar Khan rampaging on a revenge for his ancestors, (his most outstandingly devilish act since the demented terrorist in ‘Aks) to Tigmanshu Dhulia as the sinister coal kingpin standing in his way, and from Nawazzudin Siddiqui’s fiery and fast Faizal Khan to the women- Richa Chaddha and Huma Qureshi set the stage on fire. Random names entered the vocabulary- from ‘Womaniya’ to gangsters named after mathematic terms- film memorabilia became even more monumental- from tearful 80’s songs in funerals to taunting enemies with posters and songs of Mithun-starrers of yore and the invective-laden lines entered the national conversation. Sneha Khawalkar belted out an avant garde soundtrack- from local Bihari folk singers to calypso crooners while Rajeev Ravi’s visuals captured the nooks and crannies of mofussil life and contrasted it beautifully with the chaos and violence- from Muharram crowds raining blood-splattered blows on their naked bodies to the tense, taut action scenes and the images of exploding mines of Dhanbad. And finally, with true gusto and glory, Kashyap wraps it all up, mixing biting satire and cheeky snark with cold-blooded violence and a wallop of emotions to deliver a magnificent kick on senses. India found its answer to ‘The Godfather’ series while the world got treated to a ballsy filmmaking experience like no other.

The Best English Films Of 2013

          

Okay, so here am I back, to present you all the finest English-language films of 2013. Last year, we toasted 2012’s medalists- ‘The Master’, ‘Django Unchained’ and ‘Lincoln’. This year, we will applaud the finest ten films of the year along with films that almost made it to the list……

Ah, 2013…..

It was an exceptionally exciting year for movies with unconventional ideas and scripts powered by solid filmmakers and spectacular performances made for a great time at the movies. While 2012 was the year for the mainstream audiences, 2013 was the year for the real connoisseurs and aficionados- those who love their cinema loaded with ample doses of style, substance and seminal, incendiary brilliance.

In fact, most of the films in this list are already vying for top prizes in the Oscar ceremony and it rather puzzles me why the usual pundits are placing their bets on only a few of them.

That said, this was a tough race and I had to leave out some really exciting films as well- but rest assured that the ones which did make it to the list are nothing short of breathtakingly awesome.

Okay, then let’s first applaud the runners up-

The 11^th place is for movies which almost made it to the list- brilliant efforts all but somehow lacking the gusto which the real winners had.

Zack Snyder’s ‘Man Of Steel’ packed in a wonderfully sober and sensational twist on the Superman story with enough panache but winded down with a Roland Emmerich-style blow-up climax;  Danny Boyle’s ‘Trance’ was a twisty and titillating trip through London’s groovy nooks and crannies while also handing us a stylishly crafted psycho-noir but became too self-indulgent; Woody Allen’s ‘Blue Jasmine’ featured Cate Blanchett in her career-best turn as an affluent woman going off the rails but lacks the witty, ingenious touch of some of the director’s usual works…

And now we herald the champions…

10- ‘Pacific Rim’

Director- Guillermo Del Toro

Many-a-action blockbuster in today’s times end in a familiar and frustrating mess of collapsing cities battered in incoherent battles. But it was only Guillermo Del Toro’s jaw-dropping, spectacular and sublime monster actioner that made it look like sheer poetry. A wiseass throwback to the Japanese monster films of the yore, ‘Pacific Rim’ is as wet, sensational and thrilling alive as its name suggests- with the master writer-director blending the bare-bones of his robot-versus-monster story with much visual daredevilry to craft a crowd-pleaser for ages.

With spectacular, crunchy, gob-smacking action sequences between the relentless Kaiju monsters and the human-controlled juggernauts, and enough of Del Toro’s trademark visual camp and some surprising warmth between the proceedings (watch out for a stirring, stunning nightmare scene set in a ravaged Tokyo) this is unashamedly Hollywood blockbuster formula cooked up into a massively entertaining, off-the-wall crazy action film which knocks other, mediocre franchises like the ‘Transformers’ as neatly and spectacularly as it can. It does get predictable but trust Del Toro to make even cliché sound and look cool.

9- American Hustle

Director- David O. Russell

Style, rather than substance, rules the roost in David O. Russell’s unashamedly lavish caper film set against the Abscam sting operations of 1970s. The eclectic characters, from jaded conmen and nervy FBI agents and their devious, gold-digging wives and sweethearts, are all larger-than-life and swagger more than frequently on the screen, compelling us to make our jaws drop with sheer perversity of it all. And while Russell’s film may abandon the usual genre elements, it has the sheer confidence to make them the real explosives in the film.

It is all shiny, swelte and even indulgent to a fault but ‘American Hustle’- Russell’s soap-operatic love-letter to the 70s comes off as a ravishing and raw human drama, punctuated boldly and brashly with staggering performances and much visual cheek thrown into the cocktail, right from Scorsese-style long-shots to the rambunctious score and flashy editing that never let you up. Nearly everyone in the film- the paunchy and wig-wearing Christian Bale, the cleavage-baring Amy Adams and the lovably gullible Jeremy Renner- delivers solid acting punch while Jennifer Lawrence steals the show again as a fiery housewife with a penchant for creating disaster.

8- 12 Years A Slave

Director- Steve McQueen

Hollywood usually shies away from baring the more-than-skin-deep horrors of slave trade in pre-Civil War America- save for Tarantino’s brutally funny ‘Django Unchained’- a Western reimagined as a morality tale in the South. Steve McQueen, one of the most unrestrained and uncompromising directors in recent times, comes up with his own sweltering, bloody and emotionally raw take on the premise and the result is a film that, while being predictable, delivers a magnificent punch in the gut.

Faithfully based on the memoirs of real-life survivor Solomon Northup (essayed here poignantly by Chiwetel Eijofor) and his psychological and physiological struggle with the nature of slavery, McQueen’s film ends up being a harrowing yet rousing story of one’s man’s survival against the brutality inflicted as a result of his race. Contrasted incredibly against the idyllic Southern settings, the unforgiving tenor of the violence gives way to a sentimental and way-too-idealistic climax but this is more than compensated by the extraordinary performances- watch out for Michael Fassbender’s vicious and wicked slaver Epps, whose bursting, Bible-quoting badness makes all screen villains look like school bullies.

7- Captain Phillips

Director- Paul Greengrass

Few can direct the action thriller format as convincingly and thrillingly as Paul Greengrass, the man who made Ludlum’s spy novels and the 9/11 hijackings come alive in full, throbbing tension on the big screen. In this film, a masterly recreation of the Maersk Alabama hijacking by Somali pirates, Greengrass does something phenomenal- turning a regular hostage situation drama into a tense, sweltering and grittily authentic Herzog-style survival story that inspires yet instills dread.

Tom Hanks is nearly flawless as the titular protagonist- a disciplined mariner facing the biggest storm of his life as the malicious yet vulnerable pirate chief Muse (played with chilling realism by Barkhad Abdi) holds him hostage in a vicious game with heavy stakes. Greengrass, armed with master lensman Barry Ackroyd, superbly contrasts the verbose tension with the literal fireworks while smartly keeping politics out of the fray and crafting a remarkably objective character study that is as thrilling and sobering as the film’s splendidly brittle action scenes itself. And that shocking climax is sure to break many hearts as well.

6- Rush

Director- Ron Howard

Sports films will never be the same again.

Blending brash, bold and beautiful visual aesthetic with Peter Morgan’s turbo-charged, bloody and brilliant script, the relentlessly energetic Ron Howard has crafted a rare feat- a glorious, deliciously-off-the-wall Formula 1 racing film that celebrates the sport’s breakneck, brutal speed and the glory of finishing first. It is also a solid story of red-hot rivalry, captured faithfully in history’s milestones, between the diligent, ingenious racer Nikki Lauda (Daniel Bruhl) and the flashy and dashing champ James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth) as they battle it out in a historic 70s tournament that is both sizzling and shocking to the senses and the soul.

T

he racing action is savage and shot with thrilling urgency, with Howard and wildly inventive cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle plunging us into the frenetic pace and hefty stakes with brash skill while Morgan’s script blisters with the scorching sparks between its leads. Both Hemsworth and Bruhl face off with terrific chemistry and emerge as heroic yet utterly real people, torn between their soaring ambition and their turbulent personal lives. And through it all, with the aid of sharp dialogue, superb supporting performances and tension enough for a Hitchcock film, Howard makes history thrilling alive, fast and furious.

5- Gravity

Director- Alfonso Cuaron

Talk about miraculous. Alfonso Cuaron turned the often-abused survival story format into an existentialist masterpiece set in the depths of open space and crafted a rare film- a 3D miracle that stuns us with the shattering yet sublime thrill, chill and beauty of its visuals, while keeping enough meat in the plot to give us that energetic and visually stunning kick that only great cinema can provide.

At its basics, this is a story often told- nervous first-time spacewalker Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) is stranded in zero-G chaos along with the talky and terrifically charming Matt Kowalski (George Clooney) and has to make her way back, to land her feet on solid earth. But Cuaron, with the skill of a technical visionary and compelling storyteller, turns the premise into a film which blends brittle, breathtaking thrills and wiseass humor with just the right blend of emotion and visual beauty to make a spectacular adventure.

There is much to love in the film- from the painstakingly created, awe-inspiring outer space scenarios (kudos to Cuaron regular photographer Emmanuel Lubezki and special effects geek Tim Webber) to the snappy repartee between Kowalski and Stone, and from Bullock’s intense, heartfelt and stirring performance to Cuaron’s mastery at balancing tension with dramatic weight, lending the film with ample doses of danger, heroics and pure narrative and visual poetry.

Whoa! Spielberg and Kubrick, please take a bow!

4- Inside Llewyn Davis

Director- Joel and Ethan Coen

Few people can depict the American landscape as skillfully and authentically as the Coen Brothers do. In this hilarious yet utterly humane story of a down-on-his-luck musician trying to grapple in frosty 1960s New York and its crazy characters, they reveal their hidden gift of crafting a truly melodious and melancholic musical which portrays one’s man’s vain attempt to make it big and reconcile with the people around him.

Oscar Issac delivers the performance of a lifetime as the jaded and jittery Llewyn Davis, an inscrutably unlikable yet magically gifted guy who has knocked up his girlfriend, lost the cat, belonging to a benevolent friend and has lost his fellow struggler to suicidal depression of the era. As he embarks on a quirky quest for self-discovery and redemption, the Coen Brothers paint an everlasting portrait of a nation and its hidden shades- of an outcast losing his last chance to reconnect with his fellow humans, and a musical that is unafraid to celebrate life’s mediocrity with a stirring tweak of the guitar strings.

Shot evocatively, pitched with deadpan humor and profound sadness and acted with solid conviction (check out Carey Mulligan as the hot-headed yet helpless girlfriend and John Goodman as a decadent artist), ‘Inside Llewyn Davis’ takes us inside its messed-up character as well as the usual mess of everyday life. And therein lays its beauty, which stands out against the aching turbulence all around.

3- Dallas Buyers Club

Director- Jean-Marc Vallee

It is perhaps rare that a film centering on a terribly imperfect character may end up nailing him as the hero of the piece. And no, we do not feel for Ron Woodroof, that cowboy-hatted, foul-mouthed homophobic hustler, simply because he suffers from AIDS and is unable to get his hand on the medicines that can lessen the death sentence. Nah, rather, we feel for him simply because, in spite of everything, that man makes us wolf-whistle at his charisma, at the sure-footed swagger.

And yet, Woodroof is hardly a guilty pleasure because  gifted director Jean-Marc Vallee and writers Craig Borten andMelisa Wallack- and a super-capable actor in peak form- turn Woodroof into a constantly charming character- a character whom we want to improve as a person, and a character whom we want to live and come up as a hero.

Blessed with Vallee’s graceful and grittily realistic direction and Borten and Wallack’s rapid-fire narrative, ‘Dallas Buyers Club’ emerges as a rousing film- a heartfelt, hilarious and always heroic tale of a man pitted against odds and who won’t give up at all. And through his fast-paced, drug-driven quest for a new lease of life, he comes across people who change the way he lives and gives Vallee enough meat to inject solid, sizzling drama into the proceedings.

Jared Leto, as a transgender siding up as an unlikely partner for the vitriol-spewing Woodroof, creates wonders in an affecting performance while Jennifer Garner, as a troubled, unsmiling doctor lends the film’s its most harrowing moments. But this is a film about that one great man.

Matthew McConaughey has beaten almost every other actor in this generation by transforming from hunky eye candy to the scrawny, lean-limbed yet dashing Woodroof and yet, the change is not merely physical. Diving deeply and gloriously into Woodroof’s moral muck, McConaughey reveals his immense histrionic potential with what could be one of the most towering, intense, free-spirited and moving performances of all time.

2- Her

Director- Spike Jonze

Romance is a fine old wine that most filmmakers pour and pack it in stinky bottles that ruin the entire flavor. And we should thank our stars that we have Spike Jonze in terrific, wonderfully whimsically form- a kind of wunderkind, a vibrant, younger version of Spielberg who, with much bold imagination and plenty of oozing warmth, pours good ole romance into a hipflask that comes with some sizzling futuristic wizardry and tender emotions.

The result is ‘Her’- a sci-fi romance so sweepingly majestic, so striking sublime and so shatteringly relevant that it does not feel like a futuristic film at all.

Lonely guy Theodore Twombly (played exceptionally by Joaquin Phoenix) buys a quirky and nifty OS, which can behave like a human and boy, it does…like a lovely woman. Hold on, it has named itself Samantha and it has a lovely, lovely voice, one that belongs to none other than the supremely sexy Scarlett Johannson.

Between the two, an unusual and unlikely bond blooms and Jonze fills up the canvas with a riot of color, frolic, sensuality and intimacy to craft a heartbreaking romance for ages.

To call the film merely ingenious is a hell of an understatement. Jonze ensures with his blazing script along with his idyllic and intelligent direction that the fanciful yet utterly coherent ideas rarely interrupt the romance between the duo and while there is much to smile at, right from the quirks of modern technology down to the sunny moments between Theodore and Samantha, this is also a film that teaches us the quintessential importance of human affection and love.

A film about broken relationships, of broken hearts. And above all, a film about loners, both real and virtual, seeking contact, seeking romance. If this is not essential cinema, that nothing else is.

1-The Wolf Of Wall Street

Director- Martin Scorsese

Hold on the wolf-whistles for a moment please.

Martin Scorsese’s off-the-wall, insanely ingenious and unashamedly nihilistic masterpiece has won its own share of bravos and brickbats and indeed, a cinematic experience as unhinged and uninhibited as this does divide the audiences. What many people may not realize is that Scorsese, at 71, and only him, is capable of blowing up cinematic territory with terrific gusto.

And his latest- a radical 3 hour biopic rolled into the blackest of black comedies- is one hell of a storm.

Jordan Belfort, the hero and villain of the film, essayed by Leonardo DiCaprio with rippling energy and loathsome repulsion, is at the center of this outrageously true story of the boiler room scams of the 90s that burst into a carnival of sin- flooded with hooker sex, heroin and hard cash. Loved by his equally depraved cronies (Jonah Hill slams it as the slimy and slippery Donnie Azoff), lambasted by others, Jordan is nothing less than a Caligula of the stock boom era- a man who sinks deeper and deeper into his excesses and yet stays compellingly albeit guiltily lovable.

And through it all, Scorsese, forever the smarty pants director, armed with Terence Winter’s explosive script, makes us run and hunt with these hounds as they scavenge for cash- making us see with wide-eyed wonder at the ugliness which we all secretly crave for.

And so, ‘The Wolf Of Wall Street’ delights in its morbid spoils, speeding like a Ferrari in full throttle and plunges all the venality and horror at our face, willing us to react and therein lies the knockout punch of this chaotic party.

It is this generation’s ‘A Clockwork Orange’- and even better and with far more resonance for Marty is not merely making a political comment- he is asking us out open- is this the life- the corrupted one- that one should really lead? And the answers are as jolting as a bolt of lightning.

Go watch it. And yes, we can now have the wolf-whistles. Awooooooo!

Inside Llewyn Davis- A Musical Milestone

Ah, America….

America, that nation for everyone and no one. America, dubbed the New World and the word ‘New’ magically attached to its states, districts and suburbs. America captured in different shades by the best of its directors- the small-town idyllic existence in Altman’s comedies and Spielberg’s UFO classics, the dark and psychedelic mean streets of Martin Scorsese, the buzzing, broad romantic rendezvous in Woody Allen’s twisted rom-coms and more. And for the Coen Brothers’ latest film, a finely crafted, deeply melancholic and mesmerizing story of folk rock in 60’s New York, America, with its alternately whimsical and grimy shades, comes alive in full glory, set to the scratchy acoustic tunes of a man’s guitar.

That man- named Llewyn Davis- is the heart and soul of this amazing film- an existential plot revolving around this straggle-bearded man as he scavenges for fame and fortune in a world which, as it seems to him, is manifestly unfair.

And woven around its deceptively simple premise is a stellar soundtrack of both improvised and established folk classics- classics exceptionally used by Coen Brothers and gifted cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel to smashing effect as they tug us into an innocent era, with just the lightest touch of political turbulence- a rousing studio song harkens at Mr. Kennedy and yet the tone is vibrant, wonderfully whimsical.

However, this is mainly the story of Davis. A struggling musician who jumps from couch to couch, Davis is hardly what can be called a hero. He is cynical, dry-witted to begin with and he has also messed up his life- the way his pregnant, one time lover Jean (a superb Carey Mulligan) puts it- ‘everything he touches turns to shit’. Indeed, we can see it in his lost prospects, in his desperate attempts to make it big and yet deal with life’s little and major problems.

The Coens, taking the story a full circle, beginning and ending with Davis getting beaten up in a dark alley, explore the American 60’s deluge through Davis’s extremely melancholic wandering. This is a New York we have rarely seen- its subways and streets clogged with snow- the disappointment for Davis lies in the air itself. And yet, the film wills us not to love this man. Davis’s failing is more of his social inadequacy rather than his musical gifts- he is a man who is not really worthy of redemption and yet the loneliness and alienation which shrouds him is shattering.

Because the Coens, who have also written the immaculately intelligent and snappy script, know how to make our feelings turn. The moment Davis plucks a tune in his guitar, we feel alive; suddenly, the lights come on and even the snowbound, sad New York streets come to life and vigor. ‘Inside Llewyn Davis’ is a triumph of emotion because the Coens know exactly how to use their craft exceptionally- the desolation of Davis’ soul shows in the film’s starched, saturated images set to the profoundly moving score while the bouncy, flexible narrative just packs in the right amount of whimsy, doomed romance and hope to make this more than just a solid character study.

A good time of the film goes on gazing at the brooding Davis- a character who rarely smiles and justifiably so. There is little to smile in this oddly pessimistic story, enlivened at times by the deadpan humor rolling smoothly in the dialogues (the Coen Bros continue to be masters of the spoken word and the visual idiom) and the film’s sidetrack- of Davis carrying and pursuing a cat whose owners have forgotten its name. 

The cat in Coens’ film is an excellent device- a metaphor for the last link that Davis has with his fellow human beings, as is his failed romance with Jean, which the writer-directors explore with both snappy lightness and sobering grimness in unexpected, quietly extraordinary ways.

It is indeed pessimistic. The Coen Brothers are clearly gunning for more than just a character study. In the characters that Davis encounters in his twisted odyssey, the film becomes something deeper- an affecting, effortlessly poignant and painful look at life and its ups and downs. From Davis’ domineering sister- who insists that he better correct his language when he tosses out the F-word in her house- to the hopelessly doped and downbeat jazz artist Roland Turner (played with marvelous authenticity by John Goodman) right down the instantly unlikable Pappi (Max Casella) who blurts out that the audience at the rightly named Gaslight Café is only interested in sexual favors, this is one of the Coens’ darkest films since ‘No Country For Old Men’ in the way how they capture society’s decadence and mediocrity with disarmingly raw humor.

And yet Davis remains to be both the film’s light of hope and source of darkness. As the film’s unlikely moral compass, Davis is a character trapped in the surrounding gloom. Oscar Issac, giving the performance of his career, is incredible as Davis. He is constantly unpredictable, he seldom gives us answers and yet he is a character we root for. We can feel Davis’ cynical anger when he sings along making funny sounds in the studio song; we can feel his obvious flaws when he cries out in panic that he has lost the cat and he feels bad about it. Through it all, Issac is tender, melancholic, more befuddled than happy and totally, totally unforgettable.

Some of this might be familiar with last year’s ‘The Master’, that extraordinarily challenging masterpiece which also looked at a particularly harrowing era of America through the prism of an unhinged, misguided man driven by his id. The Coen Brothers’ film is far more inert and subtle than Paul Thomas Anderson’s incendiary, radical bromance but the difference in treatment does not make the arguments less convincing.

Go watch ‘Inside Llewyn Davis’. It is a film which does not make you break into tears or roll down the aisles in chuckles. It is a film however that makes you tap your feet with its instantly catchy folksy tunes and sing aloud as well. It is also something that gives a genuinely flawed character who represents everything that is wrong, messed up yet redeemable about our world. And above all, it is a musical that comes off as the finest portrait of humanity. As Mrs. Gorfein, with her quirky glasses, may say- ‘Music is the best way of expressing your soul’.

My Rating- 5 Stars

Captain Phillips- Tense Filmmaking Ahoy!

The premise is nothing new. We have seen it all before- an idealistic, instantly likeable protagonist finds himself- or herself- in a situation fraught with danger and dread in which he or she has to survive against all odds. Add a slightly sentimental touch to the climax and you have done the job. But while many-a-filmmaker- from Alfred Hitchcock to Andrew Davis- has done the same job again and again, you need to remember that with Paul Greengrass, the man who revitalized the action genre with the two solid ‘Bourne’ outings, it is anything but Hollywood formula.

Because ‘Captain Phillips’- a sweltering account of the true-life freighter hijack by Somalian pirates some time back ago- is more than just Hollywood’s clichéd take on a real-life hostage situation- what it has is smartly crafted, brittle action and peril, a solid, pacey plot and enough intelligent characterization to satiate all our hunger for real thrills and chills.

Captain Richard Phillips (Tom Hanks) ships out for a mission on the massive freighter Maersk Alabama and halfway through the seemingly routine journey, moments after receiving an alert about sea piracy, is plunged into a deadly game of cat and mouse. It is barely 15 minutes into the film and Greengrass, that typically competent action master, tugs us into the scenario, building up a storm of cold sweat and choppy sea spray. This is a film that cuts us loose from every bit of assurance or safety- it plunges the action right on our face.

Tension seethes throughout and matters are made even more sudorific as Phillips is eventually hauled up at gunpoint by the pirates, led by their de facto leader- the opportunistic, wily and utterly determined Muse (Barkhad Abdi). And it is from this heart-stopping confrontation where Greengrass pulls out all the stops and what unfolds is thriller-filmmaking bordering on masterpiece territory.

Greengrass has always been a master of solid action sequences, sequences that pull you by your collar and cram you into claustrophobic situations and ‘Captain Phillips’ is no different. Authenticity reeks throughout the super-charged sequences of move and countermove- from the early splashing chases through the sea waters to the edge-of-the-seat tension on board the ship. And later, when the film heads into more murky water, the tension and excitement mingled with dread and paranoia never really dip.

But what powers this gritty actioner is how Greengrass keeps the characterization and screenplay intact without letting down on the speed, energy and dramatic thrust. This is a film which is not afraid of conversations- both heated and introspective- as an increasingly jittery Phillips tries to negotiate with Muse, while the others- from the desperate crew members to the slick SEAL troops and to Muse’s fellow agitated comrades- make their own silent and nifty moves.

Writer Billy Ray delves an expert-like precision into the proceedings and capitalizes mostly on the verbal sparring between the two unlikely captains- Muse calls Phillips as ‘Irish’ with a sneer of confidence while Phillips tries to probe for chinks in his armor, trying his best to reason with a fellow captain who is wise yet embittered, essentially a torn apart soul. Abdi gives it his all and this is indeed a startlingly effective performance- coming from one who is acting for the first time. Despair shows up in his eyes, in his heated actions while he is wily enough to stick to his own position as a captain with honor. And towards the grilling finale, the seams begin to show and it is here that Abdi shows his real edges- his vulnerability in muttering a simple sentence ‘I have come too far, I cannot give up.’ Priceless.

Greengrass of course is the real captain of this tight ship. His approach is now endowed with enough emotional balance; he finely contrasts high-stakes peril with enough emotional heft and yet knows precisely how not to make it sentimental. Phillips is an every-guy- we feel a natural sympathy towards him but our sympathies also lie with Muse, our anger directed towards the world that makes people as desperate and ruthless as Muse. Greengrass smartly keeps politics out of the scenario and adroitly avoids stereotypes. 

Barry Ackroyd’s urgent, crackling cinematography perfectly captures the contrast between the two men and their lives- early on, the insulating, comforting greys of Phillips’ Vermont abode with the scorching, blazing heat and dust of Somalia and Muse’s makeshift shelter. Greengrass uses the contrast to full effect to draw up superb parallels- Muse’s attempt at capturing leadership prior to the raid is perfectly held up against Phillip’s democratic attempts to keep his panicking team intact in the face of danger.

It is up to Tom Hanks to play Phillips out, complete with the every-guy essence of the person and to be true, it is clearly a challenging performance. Stripped of his usual comic charisma, Hanks is in a completely different light here. And yet, he lives up to the challenge completely. He is calm throughout but beneath the surface there lies an emotionally tortured soul, one which springs out in a shattering climax- in which he breaks down into a mess of disorientation, shock and dread. It is a moment that confirms quiet why Hanks is one of the finest actors around here.

And Greengrass pulls it off with terrific flair. It is a moment of truth for us all- a moment where we expect release from the grip of tension that precedes it. But Greengrass wants us to remember- he wants the tumultuous events, their hidden causes and dramatic effects to linger. ‘Captain Phillips’ does not just thrill you. It sobers you to silence.

My Rating- 5 Stars

American Hustle- Worth Being Conned For!

David O. Russell's 'American Hustle' begins with a wordless moment of sheer brilliance.
In a room in Plaza Hotel, a paunchy and bald-pated Irving Rosenfield (Christian Bale) is seen dressing up...his hair. He first combs out a strand, then takes a toupe and applies some glue on his bald pate and then applies the wig with heartbreakingly meticulous care. The entire sequence takes merely a minute or so but Russell and Bale do not shy away from the stark, obsessive precision of the procedure- for that is how Rosenfield, a skilled con artist, would want his life to be; both actor and director lay down the groundwork for the elaborate deception that follows.

And therein lies the wonderful revelation of a film as obsessed with style, sensuality and quirk as 'American Hustle'- that this is a story in which people put on masks to become different people, to hide their messed up selves and their inner demons, simply to survive. And while this is as brazen and breezy as a really good caper can be, the genius of 'American Hustle' lies in occasions in which these secret lives come out open to create a glorious mess.
Indeed, a mess but this is the kind of a messy meal that nevertheless sharp to taste and lip-smackingly, ingeniously delicious.

Russel and co-writer Eric Warren Singer take quite some time to linger on each of the lovable pretenders at the helm of things, much at the risk of plot and tension. But it is wholly welcome as long as each one of them delivers the fireworks of romance, intrigue and wiseass humor in huge dollops. 

And that is why 'American Hustle' is one hell of a caper.

Rosenfield is a self-made man, a con artist who 'would not get taken' the same way as his glass-selling father and he meets his match when he encounters the sensuous and gold-digging Sydney (Amy Adams), a girl who smoothly moves from a stripper to a mundane job in 'Cosmopolitan' and whose infatuation with glamorous attire further leads him to love Rosenfield as well. Both know each other's true selves which further puts them together even as Rosenfield's devious and divorce-averse wife Rosalyn (Jennifer Lawrence) refuses to relent.
The rest is something that goes against Rosenfield and Sydney's plans- curly-maned Federal bloodhound Richie DiMaso (Bradley Cooper) manipulates our happy couple into a crazy plot to entrap the top brass of New Jersey's politicos in a real estate development scam. And from then on unfolds a wicked game that is both a wild, swinging party and a nail-biting game of chess with every player making move and counter move.

Obsessed as it is with a cast of charisma-flaunting characters, Russell's film comes off as a strikingly realistic character study, which is quite an accomplishment given the sumptuous aesthetic lavished on the film. Russell has always been a master of visual style- from the scratchy, bleached out war-torn visuals of 'Three Kings' to the ducking-and-diving fast shots of 'The Fighter' and this film's authentically preserved milleu gives him plenty of opportunity to use style to the maximum. Along with lesnman Linus Candgren channels his inner Scorsese and Altman but all of the style is put to amazing use- never a shot feels indulgent but extremely well used to capture the quirk that flows out of the script and the romance that blooms between its characters. This is an energetic film- a film which rumbles and races even as its plot slows down and all of its blazing visual brilliance just shows how Russell has now mastered balance as a director.

But this is also a film in which laughs and tears come in equal measure and 'American Hustle' seamlessly shifts gears from the actual scam (loosely based on the Abscam operations) to the sexual fireworks and verbose repartee that unfolds between the leads. Together with hilariously written dialogues and pitch-perfect characterization, Russell and Singer craft an oddball comedy, a farce of epic proportions, a comedy of manners and a heartbreakingly hilarious romantic comedy all rolled into one. And as the masks come down one by one, this is where the drama ratchets up.

While slightly indulgent, Russell's focus on his main players mostly pays off because he endows his flash and dash with welcome nuance and heartfelt emotion. The film revels in the detailing that emerges from the characters- Rosalyn and a fellow upper-class housewife discuss nail polish scents which would seduce their respective men, while Irving's supposed mark, the want-to-do-good Mayor Carmine Polito (Jeremy Renner) enters unwittingly into a warm friendship with the very man who is about to con him. Sydney, trying to put on more than just a single disguise, struggles with her feelings while DiMaso's high-strung, nervy actions are propelled by his personal demons, demons which he hides away. It is only Rosalyn who emerges as the real revelation in the film.

It is undeniably stylish, pacy and thrillingly sensational and sexy but Russell also has a gift for subtlety and it is the self-assured, slick way in which he mixes suspense, romance, humor and drama in a cocktail that gives you a high which lasts long. Russell's flair for quirk and humor is now in top form with the cleverly flowing humor gaining a welcome satirical tinge- such that the mirth comes off as intelligent and yet chuckle-inducing. And the way he blends music with stylistic imagery and split-second editing is perhaps a sign of his emerging brilliance as a major filmmaker.

And finally, there is his ultimate triumph- the superb cast of 'American Hustle' who further take this con-game and make us willingly fall prey to it. Amy Adams is utterly delightful and exceptionally seductive as Sydney- a woman who emerges as vulnerably tender yet slyly clever in turns and twists. In a particularly emotionally raw scene, she filches from simmering sensuality to lingeringly painful and she nails it with a full-throated scream to match the loud music in the background. Terrific.

Yet, magnetic as she looks with her strategically revealing dresses, she is no match for the dynamite that is Jennifer Lawrence. Her Rosalyn is mostly kept aside from most of the center stage action but she is still an explosive character, a ticking time bomb who is never predictable. Lawrence might look a tad young for the role but her essence more than compensates. Not only does she deliver some of the finest, most crackling scenes and lines with blistering confidence and aggression but she also emerges as the most poignant character in the film. It is a masterclass performance.

Bradley Cooper is slightly disappointing as the constantly tense DiMaso. He does some comic, standalone scenes very well indeed and in a priceless scene with curlers in his head, he shows off his nasty edge without fear, even when he is pitted against his own boss. But the overall impression is slightly overwhelming, given the solid competition around him. And somehow, he feels like the douche bag he is intended to be.

Jeremy Renner, in contrast, is a true surprise as the firm yet warm-hearted and generous Mayor Carmine, carrying off his Joe Pesci-inspired hairdo with elan and delivering a memorably lovable character worth rooting for.

Yet, no one hits the mark quite as Christian Bale as the film's leading man and the closest that the film has to a hero. Right from that unforgettable opening sequence to his flirtatious banter with Adams' Sydney and from the intense stares from inside his glares to the De Niro-style dialogue delivery, right down to the despair with which he tries to sort out his life's mess, it is such a marvelous performance that has the 70s written all over it and the talented actor captures acid, anguish and anxiety all in a stunning act. Then, there is the man himself- De Niro showing up himself in the film's most tense scene as a sinister gangster who sizes up the crowd around him.

'American Hustle' feels like a lavish meal served on a gala occasion. It is served extremely in deceptive fashion so that we willingly dig in into its indulgence. And yet, as we find ourselves tasting it deeply, there is much to admire at the nuances and clever ingredients that Russell and his cast bring into the meal. And then you feel that it was worth being conned for.

My Rating- 4 and a half stars out of 5