Bollywood actress Lara Dutta – Verve Magazine (July 2010). Lara Dutta features on the cover of Verve Magazine for the month of July 2010. Lara Dutta dress in Louis Vuitton for the cover. Lara Dutta looks gorgeous and energetic on the cover. Verve shoot Lara Dutta on the streets of Paris. Stay tuned for [...]
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Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is a familiar name in Hollywood now. She has been brand ambassador for various international brands like Longines, L’Oreal Paris and has also acted in Hollywood projects like the Pink Panther 2, Mistress of Spices, The Last Legion etc.
But the beauty queen has recently refused a Hollywood film, featuring Brad Pitt. [...]
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It’s time for the modern-day version of ‘Ramayana’ to unfold this Friday, exactly two weeks after ‘Mahabharata’. The very thought of watching an epic in the present-day milieu only enhances the curiosity for the film. And if the present-day adaptation of ‘Ramayana’ is helmed by a master storyteller [Mani Ratnam], the moviegoer should, and must expect the moon. Nothing less would suffice. After all, a Mani Ratnam film is not merely an experience, it’s an event!
Mani Ratnam, who has penned the screenplay of RAAVAN, models his characters on the lines of ‘Ramayana’:
An upright cop, the punisher, the law/Lord Rama [Vikram];
His doting wife/Goddess Sita [Aishwarya Rai Bachchan];
The lieutenant he befriends in the forest/Hanuman [Govinda];
His confidante/Lakshmana [Nikhil Dwivedi];
The antagonist’s sister, who triggers off the war/Surpanakha [Priyamani]
And, of course, the antagonist, the Robinhood turned Raavan who kidnaps the top cop’s wife and keeps her in his custody, in his Lanka/Raavan [Abhishek Bachchan].
Mani Ratnam has also included the part where Goddess Sita was banished from the kingdom of Ayodhya due to the gossip of kingdom folk. It was agni pariksha then, but in the film, the husband [Vikram] asks the wife [Aishwarya] for a polygraph test to prove her chastity/fidelity. At the same time, RAAVAN brings back memories of a movie that, coincidentally, had a similar storyline — JUNGLE [Ramgopal Varma].
You’ve come to expect scintillating visuals in the master film-maker’s films and RAAVAN is no exception. But RAAVAN falters in narrating the story with dexterity. In fact, this one’s a game of see-saw, with a dull and lifeless first hour, an absorbing second half and a weak, lacklustre climax.
Final word? RAAVAN comes with the baggage of humungous expectations, mainly for the one name attached to it: Mani Ratnam. Even though comparisons with the genius film-maker’s earlier accomplishments like MOUNA RAAGAM, NAYAGAN, AGNI NAKSHATRAM, GEETHANJALI, ANJALI, ROJA, BOMBAY and GURU are sacrilegious since all belong to diverse genres, RAAVAN is nowhere close to those epics. The benchmarks only get higher and higher every time Mani Ratnam makes a film and RAAVAN, unfortunately, is a step down. Sorry, several steps down!
Dev [Vikram] falls in love with Ragini [Aishwarya Rai Bachchan], a spunky classical dancer who is as unconventional as him. They get married and he takes up his new post in Lal Maati, a small town in northern India. A town where the world of law is not the police, but Beera [Abhishek Bachchan], a tribal who has, over the years, shifted the power equation of the place from the ruling to the have-nots of the area.
Dev knows that the key to bringing order to any place is not to vanquish the big fish; in this case — Beera. In one stroke Dev manages to rip open Beera’s world and set in motion a change of event which will claim lives. Beera, injured but enraged, hits back, starting a battle that draws Dev, Beera and Ragini into the jungle. The forest becomes the battleground. The battle between good and evil, between Dev and Beera, between Ram and Raavan.
Mani Ratnam’s adaptation of ‘Ramayana’ begins with the wife getting kidnapped and her husband launching a massive hunt to track down his wife and nail Raavan aka Beera. The reason why Beera takes this extreme step is revealed much, much later, towards the post-interval portions, which means that Mani Ratnam follows the nonlinear pattern to narrate his story.
Let’s talk about the factors that pull this film down. First and foremost, when you’ve a title like RAAVAN, the demon king, who couldn’t be vanquished by Gods, demons or spirits, you expect Raavan aka Beera to be equally powerful, who could send a chill down your spine, who spells terror and fear. But, in RAAVAN, Beera comes across as a psycho. The streak of madness in his character makes a mockery of the character itself.
Also, his makeup and also the shabby avtaars of his family/henchmen is not something that makes them looks menacing. In fact, it makes the entire gang look repulsive.
Even the finale leaves a lot to be desired. Ideally, the film should’ve ended after the fight on the bridge, but the entire track thereafter seems like an add-on, which is forced into the screenplay. Ash having a change of heart for Abhishek is equally unpalatable and makes you wonder, how and when did she develop such strong feelings/emotions for Beera? The writing is flawed, no two opinions on that!
On the plus side, the track, which starts from Nikhil’s kidnap to the entire flashback portion, is attention grabbing. The factors that prompt Beera to spell havoc in Dev’s life are apt, although Beera’s sister’s portions, while narrating the atrocities committed on her, aren’t easy to comprehend in entirety. What was she trying to say, frankly? Yet, the impact of the flashback portions is worth noting.
The fight on the bridge — between Abhishek and Vikram — is astounding. One hasn’t watched something like this on the Hindi screen yet, I’m sure. In fact, the execution of each and every stunt [Shyam Kaushal, Peter Hein] is exceptional. Every Mani Ratnam film is embellished with stunning visuals and RAAVAN boasts of mind-boggling visuals as well. Shooting the film at tough locales isn’t easy and Santosh Sivan and V. Manikandan’s vision creates magic on screen. Every frame is worth admiring and applauding.
A.R. Rahman’s music is excellent and the visual appeal only enhances the impact. I’d like to single out ‘Behne De’ and ‘Thok De Killi’, two tracks that I’d like to hum even after the show has concluded. In fact, the latter is very energetic in terms of choreography. Vijay Krishna Acharya’s dialogue hit you like a sharp object at times, which is in sync with the mood of the film.
I’ve admired Abhishek’s work in Mani Ratnam’s earlier films YUVA and GURU, but despite putting his best foot forward, for some strange, inexplicable reason, Abhishek doesn’t look convincing for the part. Also, the dialogue delivered by him aren’t coherent at times. Aishwarya is wonderful, looking ethereal and enacting her part with conviction. Vikram is first-rate, although the role isn’t substantial enough. Govinda fails to create any impact whatsoever. Amongst the plethora of actors, Nikhil Dwivedi [a revelation; very good], Ravi Kishan [nice] and Priyamani [perfect] stand out.
On the whole, RAAVAN is a king-sized disappointment, in terms of content. From the business point of view, a Mani Ratnam film might ensure a healthy opening [at plexes mainly], but the weak script on one hand and the heavy price tag on the other will make RAAVAN see red.
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Normally the Bachchans have a rigid rule about not mixing business with pleasure. But on Thursday morning, when Aishwarya Rai Bachchan landed in Mumbai from Paris, she broke the golden rule when she dropped in unannounced, to meet Abhishek at the Reliance Web World where he was doing out-of-town press interviews.
Says a source, “Lately [...]
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It set me thinking as reel after reel of Gurinder Chadha’s IT’S A WONDERFUL AFTERLIFE unspooled. We [the Bollywood reviewers/critics] are extremely harsh on films produced on hometurf. We go hammer and tongs after these film-makers, as if they have committed a crime that they cannot be absolved of. We tend to ridicule films, its makers, the actors in those films… in fact, just about everyone associated with those films.
How about using the same yardstick for movies attempted by names that command tremendous respect in the West? We forgive them, most of the times. We even turn a blind eye, ignoring the deficiencies only because the West holds them in high esteem. The thought crosses our mind pretty often: Wouldn’t we come across as complete nincompoops if we ridiculed them, even if they turn up with pure trash?
I am not going to mince words. With IT’S A WONDERFUL AFTERLIFE, celebrated film-maker Gurinder Chadha hits a new low. It actually makes me wonder, was BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM a fluke? IT’S A WONDERFUL AFTERLIFE is so insipid and hollow that it makes her previous film BRIDE & PREJUDICE, considered by many as her weakest film, look like an epic in comparison.
Final word? IT’S A WONDERFUL AFTERLIFE had everything going in its favour. But let’s not forget that great vegetables don’t necessarily make a yummy meal. This Gurinder Chadha curry is just not palatable!
Mrs. Sethi [Shabana Azmi], a widow, can’t bear the thought of her daughter being alone and unhappy. When Mrs. Sethi can no longer stomach the rudeness of families who refuse her daughter, she takes matters into her own hands with the only way she knows… suddenly a police hunt begins for a serial murderer.
Mrs. Sethi doesn’t feel too guilty until the spirits of her victims come back to haunt her, as they are unable to be reincarnated until their murderer dies. Mrs. Sethi has no problem killing herself — she’ll get to see her dead husband again — but how can she go before her daughter is married? The spirits realize that helping Mrs. Sethi find a suitable husband for her daughter, before the police catch her, is their only chance for a wonderful afterlife.
On paper, perhaps, the story of IT’S A WONDERFUL AFTERLIFE may sound tempting and alluring. At least I found it attention-grabbing when I first heard it, several weeks ago. But sitting through those 1.40 hours of this cinematic journey is an ordeal. Seriously, what were writers Chadha and Paul Mayeda Berges thinking when they wrote the screenplay? Barely a few minutes into the film, you realize that Chadha has lost the plot already.
To state that the screenplay is shoddy would be putting it mildly. The only aspect that’s amusing and which bears the unmistakable stamp of Chadha are the sequences between Shabana and the spirits. The love story is a total yawn, while the emotional moments are weak and the investigation of the murders is half-baked too. In fact, an investigating officer gets killed in the backyard of Shabana’s home and guess what, the crime is conveniently forgotten, except when Senthil talks about it to Shabana. And why the beaten to death ‘cancer’ end? Gurinder seems to be watching too many [terrible] Bollywood films, seems like.
Talking of performances, Shabana is dependable, as always. Goldy Notay as Shabana’s daughter is efficient. Sendhil Ramamurthy is alright. Jimi Mistry doesn’t get ample scope. Sally Hawkins is first-rate. Mark Addy is passable. Sanjeev Bhaskar is wonderful. Shaheen Khan and Zoe Wanamaker [Shabana's next-door-neighbour] are decent.
On the whole, this one’s a woeful experience, not wonderful by any standard!
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New Delhi, Bollywood star Aamir Khan has decided to catch up with his blog fans in Paris when he is there on Sunday.
“I am going to be in Paris on May 2 and would very much like to meet up with those of you who are interested. Will restrict the group to five,” Aamir posted [...]
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New Delhi, Bollywood actor Aarya Babbar will don a look similar to that of Anil Kapoor’s unclean, moustached look in the 1989 superhit film “Ram Lakhan”, for his role as a cop in Farah Khan’s “Tees Maar Khan”.
The actor has been sporting a moustache these days and says he loves the comparison with Kapoor.
“Well [...]
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Guwahati, The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) Monday appeared to back the Shiv Sena by calling for a nationwide boycott of Shah Rukh Khan’s “My Name is Khan” but took objection to the Sena’s Mumbai-for-Marathis stand and said every inch of India belonged to all Indians.
“People of India must boycott ‘My Name is Khan’ as [...]
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New Delhi, (BollywoodWorld.com) Stating that nobody would be allowed to disrupt the release of superstar Shah Rukh Khan’s “My Name Is Khan”, Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan Monday dared the Vishwa Hindu Parishad to stop its screening, saying he will watch the movie with his family.
“Nobody can take the law into their hands. We will [...]
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Mumbai, For Abhishek Bachchan, constant comparisons with dad Amitabh are an “honour” and not a problem. But as he gears up for his television debut with game show “National Bingo Night”, he says he is not competing in any way with Bachchan senior, who hosted the popular “Kaun Banega Crorepati” TV show in 2000.
“If you [...]
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