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Piprabidya (2013)
Expectations Never Fulfilled!
I was not sure in the morning of October 25th that I was going to watch "Pipra Bidya: Ant Story (2013)" in the afternoon; Nor did I know that I will be going to review this title! After reading a massive article by the writer-director himself, I felt interested.
Eventually, I found myself with two friends in Star Cineplex standing for the national flag. It was really disheartening to see some boys and girls of this generation are more interested in checking Facebook status than standing to respect our national Anthem!
As noted by many others, a poster of this film reminded me of 5 Oscar winning title "The Silence of the Lambs (1991)". A second simile (which was unnoticed by many) is the striking resemblance of Noor Imran Mithu, the lead character, with British star Clive Owen (that's not a problem or his fault; stated just for sharing).
Starting sequences automatically stirred curiosity in mind. Plot was non-traditional capturing the commonalities of our day to day life which made it quite different from others. Reality of a Multi-Level Marketing company, trade of a stolen cellphone, video footage of a popular female actor with her boyfriend and some other characters promised something special. After some hilarious sequences, I expected the plot to grow deeper. Unfortunately, nothing like that happened. Moreover, the theme and script didn't run together after a while. The trigger never worked.
The script could have been much better. It seemed that unnecessary dialogues were inserted just to reach one and half hour mark. The story might reach any climax, but landed nowhere. I felt that this story demanded a solid end; but all that remained was an open-ended question for the viewers. May be, the director didn't want to change his basic style.
I noticed that a MacGuffin was used in the movie; but may be the director was not aware of it since he never mentioned it in any interview published till date. However, it's nice to see such approach in a Bengali cinema. MacGuffin might be a goal, desired object, or any other motivator that the leading characters pursue. In this movie, the video clip is the MacGuffin since it had slight or no narrative explanation and importance to the overall plot.
On the bright side, cinematography was very refreshing. Visualization of the passive listener than active speaker in the car and dreaming sequences in the stair before knocking the door seemed distinctive. As far as the acting performances are concerned, Noor Imran Mithu (as Mithu) looked natural and was nearly perfect in his act. While he kept the tempo most of the time, Sheena Chouhan (as Rima) looked flat. Other actors looked out of place and not in character; I still cannot decide, which one was the worst: Ayon or Mithu's ex-girlfriend's husband.
The weakest point of the film is music and as a music-lover, I felt cheated. Even I couldn't find a single note of background music that may be admired. For a Bengali film, ignoring or misjudging or undervaluing the music is totally unacceptable. Most probably, we will see more sincere approach in casting and music in their new projects.
Promises, uttered by the makers, created high expectations; but never fulfilled. As Viewers, we can surely expect some more maturity. If I knew in the morning, how I would feel in the afternoon, I might have skipped it. Shockingly disappointed! Don't know; maybe I am wrong, haven't mastered the Ant-Education, should start going to school like Mithu!
Raanjhanaa (2013)
Sorry, Disappointed..!
I was really impressed by the music as well as lustrous & vibrant movie posters. So my expectation from Raanjhanaa (2013) was quite high.
The first half hour was really nice, but after that the tempo began to fall; sometimes high, sometimes low. Although they tried to put several twists in the story, but none of them clicked well. The script (by Himanshu Sharma) was not well composed; seemed like "links missing". It was tough to find or relate what the writer wants to tell and where he wants to go, may be it was because of immature editing (by Hemal Kothari)!
This movie reminded me of Saawariya (2007)! That was one man show by Ranbir Kapoor; here's the same, one man show by Dhanush. The similarity and reminding point is Sonam Kapoor; in both, she was really very flat. This is the point where she needs to improve a lot. She looked uncomfortable in the role. She looks young and beautiful, but all she needs is to act.
Dhanush was flawless throughout the film. He was perfect for the character than Shaheed Kapoor. May be more Bollywood is coming for the boy. Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub (as Murari) and Swara Bhaskar (as Bindiya) did splendid job with their roles.
If there was no A R Rahman involvement with this cinema, this might be a disaster! What to say, all the tracks were unique in their genres. The vocal Percussion & vocal Shehnai by Chinmayee and Aanchal Sethi for the song "Ay Sakhi" was remarkable. Melodic "Tum Tak" & crispy "Raanjhanaa" will provide piece in soul for a long period of time.
My actual rating is 3, but bonus 1.50 for A R Rahman & 0.50 for Dhanush making a total of 5. In a nutshell, not recommended; but can be seen at your own risk!
Bapi Bari Jaa (2012)
Easy & Enjoyable..
The best & comfortable part of this movie is its "simplicity".
As the fourth joint-venture of the Director-Duo "Abhijit Guha & Sudeshna Roy", it was bound to be worthy. The youngster theme with modern emotion-conflict worked well.
At 20, a girl looks more mature than a boy; Innocent-Childish Debutant Arjun Chakrabarty (Bapi) & Sweet-Sexy Mimi Chakraborty (Dola) expressed that flavor perfectly. Tulika Basu (Bapi's Mother), Shalmi Barman (Sheuli) (worked as trigger in the film), Anindya Chatterjee (Jijo) & Tista Dutta (Hasna) kept tempo by fair & decent job with their roles. The maid-servant of Bapi's family is the Bonus-Track!
Cinematography (by Sourav Goswami) was fantastic, specially with the focus-play. Some framing of outdoor shots reminded me of "Slumdog Millionaire (2008)" more specifically- near to the end, When Dola with Yellow Tops went to meet Bapi, looked some-what-like Latika (Freida Pinto).
The music (by Jeet Ganguly) could have been better. Erotic track "Sajna Barse" & crispy "Grow Up Bapi" are the notables among six.
Reasonably recommended.
How to Rob a Bank (and 10 Tips to Actually Get Away with It) (2007)
Simple but Beautiful Enough!
This movie is simply beautiful and surely this is not what you are expecting after hearing the title.
Though nothing remarkable happens, but it will definitely keep you in track as sufficient suspense is presented there. It reminds me of "The Blair Witch Project (1999)" where the mental pressure of fear, mystery and suspense was more intense than those were graphically presented.
Erika Christensen (Jessica) and Nick Stahl (Jinx) looks perfect in it. Especially sweet and very sexy Erika did a decent job with the role. The unspoken chemistry between them was pleasurable.
Debutant Andrews Jenkins was creative both in writing the script and directing the movie. The theme with something new in it worked well.
Not highly recommended but yet enjoyable.