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Patiala House (2011)
awesome film
It takes us just five minutes to get the hang of this film's narrative structure. It is as nimbly-paced as a fast-bowler playing cricket in a wide-open field trying to avoid all the roar and din of the cheering crowds in the stands.
For a film that has a surprisingly large number of characters (after the 23rd Sikh-Briton running up and down the wooden staircase I stopped counting) the noise decibel is surprising low. The voice of a crowded Sikh household in London never overpowers the emotional kernel of this film.
The delicate supple bonds that grow among people, who are not just maladjusted in a foreign land but are also spiritual and emotional misfits in their own household, are brought out in vignettes that show the hand of a confident storyteller.
Nikhil Advani's admirable episodic structure of "Salaam-e-Ishq" failed because of its inordinate length. This time Advani takes no chances with the length. Economy of expression is paramount to the effectual storytelling in "Patiala House". Not that Advani shies away from taking risks. The self-assured manner in which he aggregates the characters in a house run by a patriarchal Sikh in Britain (Rishi Kapoor, firmly in command) without crowding and asphyxiating the canvas shows Advani's deep empathy with the characters who drift into his range of vision.
At heart, "Patiala House" is a father-son story. Akshay has done them before. One immediately recalls Suneel Darshan's "Ek Rishta" where Amitabh Bachchan was the father who drove son Akshay to a state of smothered silences. In "Patiala House" Akshay's silences scream in wounded protest every time papa Rishi Kapoor's iron hand falls on the boy's dreams.
In many ways the screenplay (Advani, Anvita Dutt Guptan) is a compendium of clichés -- despotic dad, timid mother (Dimple Kapadia), unfulfilled son, encouraging girlfriend, her precocious surrogate-son (he reminded me of Kajol's boy in My Name Is Khan). Advani converts familiar characters into real believable warm endearing characters whose lives begin to matter us as we watch them in their Southall setting.
The historic data about the Sikh community in Britain is kept at a bare and bearable minimum. The narrative never feels the burden of the cross-cultural migratory journey made by the plane-load of characters. And that's the film's USP.
Even as the peripheral characters make a fleeting but coherent impact (Rishi Kapoor's pregnant daughter-in-law's anguish at watching her husband being treated like a doormat is as apparent to us as the family's daughter Hard Kaur's tattoo on the arm), we are constantly seeking out the next chapter in the repressed Gattu's wretched-going-on-glorious life.
Akshay plays Gattu with a restrain that never shies away from tears. Every time he thinks of his ruined dreams a trickle of a tear comes down from the side of his cheek. It isn't done for effect. Akshay embraces Gattu's shattering dreams and makes them his own.
Is this Akshay's finest performance to date? For the sheer mastery over the heart and soul of his character and the dignity he brings to the loser's character, yes, this is Akshay's best.
Akshay and Rishi don't look like father and son. And that's the best compliment one can pay to the film's theme. How can they look like a family, when the father has spent all of his son's growing years denying the boy's sense of the self? Oh, Rishi is a bellowing volcano of arrogant prejudices. Brilliantly bravura as always, Rishi almost echoes the tyranny of Prithviraj Kapoor. His sudden reformation at the end is unconvincing. The unhurried grace of the rest of the film gives away to an urgently-claimed culmination. One can't blame Advani for abandoning the pace at the end. He knows the audience wants a hurried send-off.
Anushka Sharma remains effervescent in her volubility. But she needs to play a less talkative character.
Though scarce, the moments between Akshay and Dimple are very precious. There is a specially evocative sequence at the hospital when the invalidated Rishi Kapoor tells his screen-wife Dimple Kapadia to shut the door on their screen-son Akshay's face.
The film has some exceptionally emotional moments bolstered by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy's resplendent background score. Santosh Thundiyil's cinematography adds precious little to the proceedings. London doesn't seem to come alive beyond the cricket field.
The editing (Manan Sagar) could have been less generous. Portions of the narrative lose their energy. Before it sags, the director swoops up his characters' dreams into curvy shapes. The narrative never loses its way in the maze and clutter of the characters and ambitions.
Gattu finally finds his groove. The film never loses it.
How I Met Your Mother: Last Words (2011)
really awesome
I thought the show was going downhill lately, but the past two episode have been amazing. Sad, but amazing. Last nights was a mixture of every emotion. Laughter, sadness, etc.It was definitely a great episode with a lot of heart and meaning. Caught myself getting teary-eyed several times. Sent out a great message that I am sure a lot of people needed to receive.I thought the show dealt with the death of Marshall's father in a very touching manner. We should all think about our words and imagine that they are our last ones.to all the people who say this episode sucks, you need to realize that this series is one of the best the most absorbing television series that's come out in years.It's a comedy but it's also about the lives of these people. And the writers wanted to show them go through life as we all do, with the loss of people we love.cant wait to meet barneys's "uncle jerry"
How I Met Your Mother: Bad News (2011)
brilliant but sad
i am absolutely speechless.This is why I love HIMYM so much. It intertwines the serious with humorous very well. Although, I will say I was a bit shocked at the end of the show last night. You go from laughing to just....sad.For anyone saying HIMYM is only a comedy, go back and watch from episode one... There have been true to life moments throughout the run of the series: Marshall sitting in the rain after Lily leaves, Victoria moving to Germany, Ted "cheating" on Victoria with Robin and having them find out, Ted and Robin, Ted being left at the alter, Robin and Don, Barney and his brother's meeting of one of their dads.
People get so wrapped up in Barney's funny over-the-top antics that they forget the show gained notoriety because of the "close to home, I remember when that happened to me" feel the episodes had. The death is just the most impactful to date. i think the thing that did it for me was when Marshell tried to put on that tough face for Lily and not cry in front of her, but then it hit him like a punch to the face and he couldn't hold back. I was welling up before then but when that happened I lost it.
And don't forget how much timeline jumping is done, the dad I bet, is far from gone in the series. You've made me cry twice now HIMYM.... When Lily left Marshall and Ted found him sitting in the rain is the only one to come closeThe count down was very misleading, as was said in one of last seasons episodes that when they saw Barney's dopple ganger Lily and Marshall would have a baby. I thought the count down was for Lily to tell Marshall that she was pregnant and my wife and I were even counting down to good news and then WHAM! completely surprised and devastated at the ending