sayan_ganguly Reviews

Finding Fanny (2014)

A Classic Road Movie

[9/10 · 17 September 2014]

Okay, Homi Adajania is back ! His first venture 'Being Cyrus' was at par with Hollywood standards; however, his next 'Cocktail' was equally disparaging. So, when I went for Finding Fanny, I did not know what to expect from this movie. And boy, what a movie it was !

This movie is at par with directors like Alexander Payne and Alfonso Cuaron. In fact, half way through the movie, one might even forget that he is watching a bollywood movie. The cinematography, the direction, the background scores are breathtakingly beautiful. The ensemble cast of five, carry the movie amazingly well. The story, as in all road movies, is almost the same, five quirky characters set out on a road trip that will change their lives forever. The brilliance of any road movie is in that of the portrayal of the characters involved in it, and that being said, the real challenge of any road movie is in its characterization. That is where this movie stands out ! The performance by veterans like Dimple Kapadia, Naseeruddin Shah and Pankaj Kapoor is brilliant. However, in my opinion, it is Pankaj Kapoor who shines above all. He is the Indian equivalent of Paul Giamatti !

Finding Fanny would give one the feel of watching a Wes Anderson or a Alexander Payne movie; and people who loves movies like 'Everything is Illuminated', 'Sideways', 'Little Miss Sunshine', or our Indian equivalent 'Road, movie' (The Abhay Deol starrer); would definitely love this one.

Bombay Talkies (2013)

India's 'Nuovo Cinema Paradiso'

[10/10 · 4 May 2013]

"I don't think that writers or painters or filmmakers function because they have something they particularly want to say. They have something that they feel. And they like the art form; they like words, or the smell of paint, or celluloid and photographic images and working with actors. I don't think that any genuine artist has ever been oriented by some didactic point of view, even if he thought he was." – Stanley Kubrick

Much like the American or Italian movie industry, who made movies such as 'Hugo' or 'Nuovo Cinema Paradiso', which celebrates the art of movie making; Bollywood has its 'Bombay Talkies'

Celebrating 100 years of Indian Cinema which was born in1913, we have four directors narrating four short stories in this movie. The stories though being each of a different flavor, has one common theme –how the life of the common man is percolated through movies. A similar themed movie was released few years back, Dev Bengal's 'Road, Movie' also explored the same arena; however, it's best not to compare these two movies at this juncture.

The film opens with Karan Johar's segment. The story explores the hypocrisy and insincerity surrounding homosexuality. The segment delivers itself so perfectly, that one at times wonders that if Karan Johar has wasted himself in cheap commercial ventures for so many years. This is possibly Johar's most serious piece of movie making so far. The metaphorical usage of old songs such as Ajeeb Dastan and Lag Ja Gale, accompanied by sharp witted dialogs makes it a compelling watch. Also, this is the segment where Urban Mumbai is captured very beautifully.

Dibakar Bannerjee's segment is arguably the best segment of the movie. Inspired from Satyajit Roy's 'Potolbabu Film Star', the story revolves around a man from lower middle class, a struggling actor trying very hard to make ends meet, suddenly landing up with a role in a movie. The protagonist portrayed by Nawazuddin Siddique, is one of the most layered characters that one would get to see in Bollywood ventures. Siddique has proved his worth time and again, but this time it is his absolute best. Also, Bannerjee's adaptation of a kid's story and changing the backdrop from the somber Kolkata to the rustic Mumbai is greatly commendable. The final scenes of the story, shows Siddique's profundity as an actor. It also proves that the duo of Dibakar and Nawaz is deadly on screen. Sincerely, hope that they make more movies together.

Zoya Akhtar's story is about a child protecting his dream and the parent's urge to follow conventionalism. Child actor Naman Jain shines a light and so does Ranvir Shorey as a disciplinarian father. The final scenes would remind some of the Hollywood flick 'Little Miss Sunshine' at times. Nonetheless, the story remains very original.

The last story by Anurag Kashyap is about a small towner's journey to Mumbai to meet the legendary Amitabh Bachchan to make him taste a half of 'murabba' as a part of his ailing father's wish. Anurag Kashyap who is usually known to think out of the box, dark gritty storytelling and using vivid imagery, surprises with a story that is so hopelessly positive. The movie is not only about the manic cine fans but also about a lesson learnt in life – of the need of drama in our lives and of the guts to fulfill one's desires. The story resembles the Tom Hanks starrer 'The Terminal' at times but is awfully delightful and makes one hug himself with joy. The performance by Veneet Kumar is top notch.

Bombay Talkies not only marks the 100 years of Indian Cinema, it also marks the coming of age of bollywood. For an industry which have only a handful of directors focusing on art house cinema so far – that too mostly on independent banners; this movie is surely a benchmark which prods a truly ensemble cast and a tout ensemble directors that earmarks this industry into manhood.

Ek Thi Daayan (2013)

Great concept reduced to average horror flick

[6/10 · 22 April 2013]

There is something wrong with Bollywood these days! Too many good movies with above average concept, and they just throw it all away in the end. After Taalash, Vishwaroopam, Nautanki Saala; Ek Thi Daayan follows the same regime.

Now, I am not a fan of the usual horror genre. However, all the controversies hemming in this movie, especially by the Wiccan priestess Ipsita Roy Chakraborty, made me eager to see this one. But alas! All was in huge disappointment. The plot, in its first half was quite different and intelligent. The story follows Magician Bobo The Baffler (Emraan Hashmi) whose hallucinations about his childhood coerce him to seek psychiatric help (Rajatava Dutta). Going through regression hypnosis, a terrifying story about his childhood surfaces, involving a lady named Diana (Konkona Sensharma) who is perceived by the child Bobo as 'Daayan'. The first half consists of a fair share of chills, some of which made audiences jump out of their seats. However, it was the second half where the movie turns to a regular spook fest where not only Daayans, but Pishaach (Male occultist) were introduced, and the sure sign of these ominous creatures were huge dilated pupils (which somehow reminded me of Dobby the elf from Harry Potter series) and as all of them fight in The Matrix style; the stark dark venture goes for a toss.

Whereas, the script contains more holes than what Liam Neeson made in the bodies of the antagonists in his 'Taken' series. the movie contains fabulous performances both my Emraan and Konkona. Kalki is simply underutilized and Huma Qureshi fares well. Also, excellent performance by the kid that plays young Bobo.

As for the controversies are concerned, the movie does in fact state some facts about 'Daayans' such as: they usually stay underground (below the basement - in hell) but can assume the avatars of a house lizard; their power resides in their long hair tied in plats which wriggles when they gather power ,they have their birthdays on 29th Feb. The daayan can only die if an innocent child or man cuts their long plats and then they disappear as grains of sand, etc. Somehow, this makes me think that they objections of Ipsita Roy Chakraborty might not have been completely out of place.

All in all, the film is reduced to an average horror flick which tries to be intellectual at times but only end up being a pseudo intellectual. for those looking for a better concept in this genre, try the movie '404'.