King of Spades

Nautanki Saala, coming from the house of Sippy’s was expected to be a good light-hearted entertainer. And why not, their last comedy- Bluffmaster was indeed one. This movie had the latest comic hero Ayushmaan ‘Vicky Donor’ Khurana in the lead. He even sang two songs hoping to replicate his debut success. However let’s not get into the comparisons and stay focused on the movie.  Went for it this weekend and rest assured its Nautanki delivered! The story revolves around its main protagonist RP (Ayushmaan Khurana) who comes upon this eternal loser of a character , Mandar Lele (Kunaal Roy Kapur) one night, as Mandar is about to commit suicide. What starts from that point is a complete comedy of errors. Inspired by a French movie ‘Après Vous’ meaning ‘After You’ , the humour here is situational and not over the top. There is no attempt made at to make the dialogues crass, which is the usual trend these days. Simple lines are delivered with such comic timing and punch that it gene...

“Mother, I want to live,” she wrote on a paper undergoing the worst pain anyone possibly could. Her spirit was high, irrespective of the fact that her life would never be the same again. The doctors called her brave. The media christened her Nirbhaya while the public named her Damini. The outpouring for her was a huge and unprecedented sea of humanity never seen before. Quite possible since her story had woken them up from their deep slumber of years. Through her plight she had managed to touch everyone. She was just like any other normal, fun loving, college girl a few days back. But today she had become Nirbhaya- the courageous one. The entire country was shocked beyond measure on learning about her brutal rape and sexual abuse. Still remember my mother getting very depressed and putting the paper away on reading about the same. I myself could not come to terms with the fact that someone can be so demonic without even a slight ounce of humanity in their hearts, to commit a crim...

Life of Pi released in theatres a couple of days back. It is based on a book of the same name by Yann Martel. The experience of reading a book can never be compared to watching a movie. Personally feel one must not compare but enjoy both experiences. Know many book lovers who never watch on –screen adaptations since they feel movies hardly justify the books they are based on, case in point- The Da Vinci code. However even though i am an avid reader myself, guess whenever a movie is based on a book, it just makes me more curious to see how it has been interpreted on-screen. How the director has bought to life the different scenes that we usually imagine while reading a book. It is not easy to match everyone’s imagination and portray it alive on-screen. Which is why making a story come alive on –screen when most people have read it, is all the more challenging i believe. And this is where Life of Pi scores. I had not read the book, so just went without any background or inhibition...

  The truth about the Dark knight is that he can take the blame… The truth about the Dark knight is that he can live in pain... The truth unveiled in theaters last Friday and has got me wanting to see it again!. Had huge expectations out of what was said to be the conclusion to the Batman trilogy. Perhaps similar to the expectations of the people of Gotham from Batman! The movie not only matched but went on to surpass it. This Dark Knight definitely rises and is mind-blowing to say the least! In the first one, fear made BruceWayne become the Batman… In the second, the Joker made Batman become the Dark Knight … But however in this conclusion to the trilogy, Batman overcomes his own fears to go beyond what he never did before and that’s what makes it a triumph of hope and human spirit. A narration of strong emotions where a man, not born super puts his mind over matter and rises to the occasion to conclude what is the best of the series so far.  Near-epic! ...

A simple heart-warming emotion is often the toughest to portray on-screen. Whether it was the carrom board shot in Munnabhai to revive the old man or the lie that Rancho narrates to make his friend speak in 3 Idiots, the scenes ended on a happier note with a feel good factor. The difference in Ferrari ki Sawaari is that the emotion stays on… case in point the scene in which Rustom, played by Sharman Joshi, goes to a bank to ask for a loan for his son. The simplicity of the character and his endearing emotion as a doting father lingers on even after the scene ends. It does not translate into a happier moment and that’s what makes Ferrari ki Sawari a common man’s story. Wouldn’t agree much or comment on the Parsi angle since am yet to meet a single parsi who is in need of a loan in the first place! The plot: Rustom (Sharman Joshi) plays a common man aka Raja Harishchandra and a doting father to his son Kayo. As the head clerk of the RTO, his income is less but that does not stop ...

7 Khoon Maaf----This was one of the most awaited films of the year and why not! Priyanka Chopra is among the leading actresses today in Bollywood and the director Vishal Bharadwaj has his own reputation of making unconventional subjects into a commercial success. Add to that the peepy soundtrack and the intriguing trailors and people were all geared up to watch this movie. The release date was also ironical – around Valentines---Daaarling! I too wanted to catch the film during the opening weekend but then couldn’t do so, due to other commitments. Just saw it the other day a well one month after release, but then guess by then 8th (aathva) khoon ho chukka tha! What reviews man and what negative publicity for the film. People just went overboard. FaceBook status messages, word of mouth ,Tweets all came heavy on this one. From messages like “7 khoon bilkul maaf nahi” ….to “Mera khoon ho gaya!!!” , the criticism of this film was everywhere on social media. This actuall...

Sex-Among the favourite Human Pastimes. Morality-To each, his own definition. Censorship-Something we all love to rebel against, in all walks of life. Now when one has all these three words as a single title, it is bound to catch your attention and that’s exactly what happened! Surfing through the papers on a lazy Sunday morning, i noticed this interesting title. What followed was a quick online booking of tickets and me and my friend were well on our way to this play at Prithvi. On entering the first thing that strikes you is the nicely decorated set using light bulbs that add their own rustic charm to the stage . The play starts off as a dialogue between a Tamasha artist and a Shahir both facing the onslaught of the so called cultural censorship of their trade. They are soon joined by a historian who supports the Shahir in taking the Tamasha artist and with her, the audience through the play of Sakharam Binder.Sakharam Binder was a play written by the late Vijay Tendulkar in 1...