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The Man in the High Castle (2015)
Sheer and absolute waste of time
What happens when a brilliant Concept goes off the rails and yet keeps rolling ahead with all the steam. That's what this series is all about.. a runaway train which has gone off the rails and yet it is unstoppable. I wish producers and directors stop lulling the audience into interminable mediocrity by churning episode after episode of sheer nonsense.
Satyagraha (2013)
It's as if the lion has failed to roar when the time came
A desperately failed & contrived attempt to capture the intensity, passion and purpose of the most important era in Indian political landscape witnessed after Independence - the Anna mass movement against the Indian government.
The film tries to mean too much to too many people, loses track of the purpose midway and tries to appease too many centers of interests including the super stars, politicians or Diaspora of varied audience. In spite of super stellar performance from Amitabh Bachchan, a solid start and a strong subject, the film loses it's grip midway with too many issues, sub plots and customary irrelevant screen time to stars instead of justifying, building & deepening the core plot. It's as if the director in a dire attempt to balance commerce, art and customary allegiance to superstars, loses the grip of the movie in trying to please them all.
Bad implementation, execution, and mitigation, of a possibly hard hitting subject at hand which couldn't be realized. It's like someone has woken you up only to let you return to slumber again. For anyone, who as an Indian watched the Anna mass movement this movie seems to be a faint reflection of the reality, and rather tries to offer center stage to the stars rather than the plot. It lacks the head on audacity which was a must for a subject like this, may be due to censor or other political considerations or may be otherwise, yet it attempts to present itself as a strong heavy weight political voice (without a strong body) . Plastic performance by Kareena Kapoor who at the time of the real time Anna movement was a meek spectator devoid any basic knowledge on the subject( during an interview taken then), takes away the sheen off the subject even though the film tries to make up for it with a dose of sensuousness, glam quotient and spice she has to offer.
If it hadn't been for the face saving intensity of the main protagonist played by Amitabh Bachchan this movie would have seemed a comic assimilation of stars who are trying to vie for screen time to project themselves the flag bearers of a great political subject. One time watch for a good honest attempt and as a support for this genre to prosper.
It's as if the lion has failed to roar at all when the time came.
Madras Cafe (2013)
Probably the best movie of it's genre from the Indian sub continent
Probably the best movie of it's genre(spy/espionage/war/politics) from the Indian sub continent ever. Well researched, scripted and dramatized with a gripping pace and thrilling twists. Indian commercial movies normally have very faint reflection of reality or they go overboard in their desire to please all with more than a pinch of spice, item songs, super hero justifications and other indispensable Indian commercial considerations. But this one beats it all and yet retains the charm of a commercial flick. A perfect balance and a fine confluence of commerce and art,rarely seen in Indian cinema. A very strong script with probably the first ever peep into the working of Indian Intelligence Agencies and a panoramic capture of serious geopolitical subject with utmost honesty. A movie which remains true to the core yet maintains a edge of the seat drama through out. Not to be missed for the lovers of good Indian cinema, meaningful & superbly entertaining.
D-Day (2013)
An intensely focused entertaining thriller.
A surprising cocktail of intense plot, emotion, thrill, espionage, entertainment & action from India. A very well made out film which should have got more attention than it has got. Crisp and powerful in it's implementation, it's a true gem of good commercial Indian cinema. Unlike the shoddy, below par, almost insulting & regressive commercial movies which are churned out every year. This one is a gem of this year with superb performance by Irfan Khan & Rishi Kapoor. Entertaining classic Indian stuff devoid of slap shod histrionics and yet immensely captivating.The treatment of the film is of an action thriller but it's been backed up by a plot and a script which superbly captures the nuances of emotion, bringing depth, intensity and strong purpose to the experience.A great start to this kind of film making in this genre(which is practically non existent or too flimsy, in India). Kudos!