The Critique

Dir: Indra Kumar Starring: Vivek Oberoi, Riteish Deshmukh, Aftab Shivdasani, Urvashi Rautela Dur: 2 hrs 10 mins Genre: Comedy Rating: 1/10 Comment: The jokes, gestures and costumes are sexually suggestive. An absolute waste of time. “What an opening line”, you might think. But to say otherwise would be an absolute lie. This film is in fact, a great grand waste of time. It’s horrible whichever way you look at it. The story is weak and thrives on cheap thrills and sorry jokes. The actresses are no doubt eye-catching but the rest is all a blur. The comedy is in fact tragedy and the film attempts to play on the basest desires of man. It’s unbelievable that actors like Riteish and Vivek would do such a film. I am not a big fan of bollywood but I still feel bad when I see bollywood making films like these. All of a sudden, I see that sex is being propagated through Indian cinema. The views of sex are changing and filmmakers and actors are not hesitating to take on unconvent...

Dir: Tinu Desai Starring: Akshay Kumar, Illeana D’Cruz Dur: 2hrs 30 mins Genre: Drama Rating: 4/5 The poster of ‘Rustom’ carries the caption “Three shots that shook the nation”. I won’t call it a bad caption but it doesn’t authentically reflect the reality. The three shots shook a lot of people but it is presumptuous to say that it shook the nation. For the vast majority of Indians, myself included, Rustom, or should I say Naval Officer, Nanavati, is an unknown person from an unknown era who did… who cares! Nobody even remembers. And yet here we are with Rustom , trying to bring into our dulled or perhaps indifferent consciousness, a historical action that created a wave in an otherwise fairly still lake. The film is based on the Nanavati case, wherein Naval Officer K.M. Nanavati, shot and killed his wife’s lover. The whole issue is not so much about whether what he did was right or wrong, although that aspect is also brought out very beautifully in the film; the key...

Raksha Bandhan is a yearly feast that many young girls and boys look forward to. The boys look forward to it more than the girls for reasons I will mention a little later. This is a typically Indian feast which celebrates familial ties between brothers and sisters. The words ‘Raksha Bandhan’ mean quite literally ‘Bond of Protection’. The festive celebration centres around the sister tying a ‘rakhi’, which is a decorative thread adorned with beads and other trinkets, on the hand of her brother. This is an ancient Hindu festival that ritually celebrates the love and duty between brothers and their sisters. The sister performs a Rakhi ceremony, then prays to express her love and her wish for the well being of her brother; in return, the brother ritually pledges to protect and take care of his sister under all circumstances. It is one of the several occasions in which family ties are affirmed in India. The tying of the rakhi is preceded by the performance of aarti and t...

Dir: Todd Haynes Starring: Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara Dur: 1 hr 55 mins Genre: Romance Rating: 2/5 PG: A love-making scene. “Love”, they say “comes in different shapes and sizes” and I may add, even in different types. Gay love isn’t looked upon anymore as something rare and forbidden. Although in the time of the film, i.e. the 1950’s, it was taboo. The LGBT movement is gaining momentum and every now and then they stage a massive rally and hog a lot of media publicity. Carol is a story about lesbian love between a married woman (Cate Blanchett) with a history of lesbian activity and a young maiden of marriageable age (Rooney Mara). The film is romantic but only melancholically so. Love is not fulfilled here. It’s frustrated and love that is frustrated can never be upbuilding and enriching. That’s the case here. We have two people in love but such is their situation that their love helps neither of them. In fact it only worsens their situations. Carol (Blanchett) is...

Dir: David O Russell Starring: Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper Dur: 2 hrs 11 mins Genre: Drama Rating: 1.5/5 PG: There is a semi-nude scene, revealing clothing, quite a bit of swearing and shared kisses. If I may summarize my feelings about this film in a line it would be: A lot of fuss about nothing. I remember reading a review which said that the movie is really good and a lot of other blah blah… The only thing I would agree with is the good performances of the cast. Besides the acting there is little else the film has to offer. It’s all American sans any hustle. The plot is a bit winding and after a while you begin to feel like not so much drawn into its intriguing vortex as much as sucked into it only to be spit out later all high and dry. Many reviewers especially Americans heaped a lot of praise on the film but as I said earlier, it does seem misplaced to me. The story revolves around a conman, Irving (Christian Bale) and his par...