Chaar Sahibzaade (2014) - Heroes from our history, we must know.

Hi There!

Harry Baweja’s Chaar Sahibzaade is a historical event based animated movie. I must appreciate the director and the scriptwriter as they have played well through the thin line margin of it being an historical movie rather than a religious one.

Movie starts with Chaar Sahibzaade, four brothers and sons of Guru Gobind Singh, living in harmony at city Anandpur. The Movie progresses through and the real altercation starts when Quila Anadgarh is attacked and cordoned off by the forces of Faujdaar of Sirhind, Nawab Wazir Khan. The movie is able to deliver the mutual affection and attachment of the siblings with an impact. Songs sung by Sukhwinder Singh blend fine with the scenes, definitely enhances the result. The movie is splendidly narrated by Om Puri, which increases the interest of viewers even more into the story.

Movie’s climax is when the younger two brothers are martyred (bricked alive) at city Sirhind. I must say it was strikingly emotional scene. And it being a real history event which happened around just 300 years back benumbed me.

The animations are done by Mumbai based iRealities. They are not at par with Hollywood (obviously), so don’t go with that expectation. But they are good enough that you won’t feel like watching a robotic show.

The languages in which it’s released are Punjabi, Hindi and English. I have seen it in Punjabi. Punjabi being a language chosen may let some believe that it as a Regional movie and may even affect the viewer base. My take on choice of Punjabi is that it had to be done to have the representation more authentic as the event being pictured happened inside Punjab.

Another fact which may decrease its viewer base is that it’s an animated movie. Some of us still feel that animations are children category. That too a historical event being captured in animation! Well the reason behind choosing Animation is quite valid. In India, when real life actors enact historical figures, either they are disesteemed, if the movie fails to bring the message out OR they are honoured beyond limits. Remember Arun Grover, who played Ram in DD Ramayan.

Chaar Sahibzaade also forces us to think on the lines that we have so many stories of bravery scattered all through India. But they are never shared across. They don’t even are part of our school curriculum. May be, that’s the reason of our impeccable sense of nationality (sarcastic) - We don’t know our Heroes! One more fine example is the ‘Battle of Saragarhi’ and I am sure there are many more.

Finally, I feel it’s a good effort on our Bollywood part. Chaar Sahibzaade is definitely a ‘Good Movie’ and even if somebody doesn't relate to it, should see it once for sake of Indian history. 

Chaar Sahibzaade at IMDB
Chaar Sahibzaade at Wikipedia

PK (2014) - Godmen God or the God, whom we are looking for!

Hi There!!

When I saw the posters for PK, I was never able to understand the depth this character would have in film. Though, I could see him standing in different suits, strapped with a transistor being one of them. My expectations from a Aamir starrer are definitely high so i was not sure of it.


After the movie, all I can say is that I am content and happy that I watched it!! 

PK is a bold movie which takes on the issue of Indian Society’s dual standards on various things including the Religion and the Godmen. Yes!! We already have ‘OH My God (2012)’ and I must say that one or two scenes of the movie are so similar to OMG that I had a sense of Deja-vu. But majorly PK’s script deals with it from totally different perspective and the message comes out even more clearly in a very simple statement – ‘Watch out if its a wrong number!!’. At depth the movie has depicted the life of a common Indian, who is out here into the world and wants to 'do away' all his problems (symbolized by PK's determination to go back home). Doing so how we use all sorts of measures and get entrapped with Godmen (symbolized by PK trying out all ways to communicate with God and eventually meet the Tapasavee.) 

PK also brushed through the issue of Indian stigma on Sex. And I would encourage the readers to NOT leave their Kids at home because of this. Take them along. It’s much much less vulgar than the Item Songs coming on your television sets.   

One subtle but very intelligent decision what I must appreciate the script writer for, is making PK speak Bhojpuri Hindi in the movie. I say that’s a very intelligent on part of the team here, as by doing that the PK’s character has come out very distinctly. And also, the movie has a broader viewer base now, as it will go along with urban as well as lower strata of the society. Hence the actual message would reach many more.  

Direction of the movie is fantastic. The script is beautiful expect some parts in second half. Acting vise it’s a treat having Aamir Khan as PK, Saurab Shukla as TapasveeJi and Anushka Sharma as Jaggu aka Jagat Jannani. Boman Irani and Sanjay Dutt have small roles and have played them fair. Anushka Sharma being the centre role after Aamir, has done full justification to her role. I would say that she is one of the Actresses in Bollywood who can drive a script alone, without a Hero.

Overall the movie has lot many laughing sequences, dancing car as one… hilarious!! Second half is quite serious and at a point it gets too heavy that few of us may start losing interest. Well thanks to the underlying message and the Acting (spl. Aamir), you are continuously kept attached.

Finally, I would say it’s a ‘Good Movie’ with a very good message, definitely a must watch for whole Family.

PK on IMDB.
PK on Wikipedia.

The Art of being a Movie Lover

Some people may think that watching movies is an utter time waste as its not reality. I think, movies can teach us a lot, condition being that it should be an authentic piece of art. I believe that movies shape our society at a very subtle level.

So if you are not one of them, read further.

I personally categorize/rate movies into Torturous, Watchable, Good and Collectible.

Through this blog, I would try to define and list some traits to distinguish the latter two from previous and how we can stop seeing and start loving movies.

What is a Movie?

A movie is a recorded presentation where actors represent a story to audience, by impersonating the characters involved. The actors act, doing the dialogue and action as instructed by the director. Its merely done for the enjoyment of the viewer and sometimes for his learning too.

Motive - Why you would see a Movie?

There are different answers to it - lighten the mood, time pass, enjoyment, learning etc. That depends on your personality.

I think enjoyment is the primary factor for people watching a movie. With that I personally feel that learning is another trait a good movie always has.

For example, in Tare Zameen Par, Dyslexia was presented as a not-so-rare syndrome in children. Many of us, who are parents, now know this and are better aware.

Point is - Psychologically, when we get something out of a media, we bind with it better. It doesnt fades off easily.

A Good Movie always needs to have Enjoyment as well as Learning factor in it.

Whats your liking? How you can select a Movie?

Some factors you can consider to start choosing your taste in movies, are:

1.       Select your Genre

Movies are categorized into different genres (Action, Horror, Comedy, Romance, etc), i.e. it defines its audience base. So it wont be wrong to say that a Movie chooses its viewer. I personally relish horrors, actions, mysteries and comedies, so their DVDs have higher chance to find their way into my shelf. Thats me.

So you need to know what you like to see.

Now for a good movie, its very important to commit to one or few genres and then meet them. That saves us from surprises. Think the frustration level when you wanted to see a genuine horror and end up watching an action flick on Ichchhadhari Nag!!

Bad news is that Indian movies usually dont get into single genres, as the producers want a bigger audience base - gives them a higher chance of good sales. What we get are the Masala-Tadka movies having action, adventure, comedy, romance, drama, music, mystery, even horror all in one pack. It makes them Jack of all, master of none and forces people like me to HollywoodL.

Trend of Indian movies has changed a lot though in recent years. Now there are movies which are very well directed, acted and satisfy ones expectation. One fine example is The Stoneman Murders (2009) which just falls under mystery/thriller section only. One more recent one in same category is Kahani (2012).

2.       Patronize them.

Three pillars of a movie are: Direction, Storyline (screenplay), and Acting (dialogue delivery and action).

                 I.            Direction:

A Proficient Director is a commanded requirement for a good Movie. There has to be a brainy behind the scenes who knows the what-to, how-to of the presentation of a script onto screen. Few Good Directorial are Do Aankein Bahraan Haath(1957), Chupke Chupke(1975), Sholay(1975), Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro(1984), Munna Bhai MBBS(2003), Rang de Basanti(2006).

                 II.            Storyline:

Good storyline is the base ingredient of a relished Movie. It could be based on a novel, a comic story, a history excerpt, a real-life character, a real-life incident or just a thought. Some good screenplays are be Devdas(1955), Guide(1965), Deewar(1975), Johnny Gaddar (2007), Bheja Fry (2007), Aamir(2008).

                 III.            Acting:

A gifted actor is the one whose representation of any character, is so real that the viewer starts feeling with the character and stops acknowledging that its just the actor acting the scene. You could feel it while watching Shahanshah Akbar in Mughal-e-Azam, Shankar in Naya Daur, Prabhakar Anand in Aarakshan or Phunsukh Wangarru in 3 idiots. Methodological actors of the past had a way of dialogue delivery which audience liked and still likes.

                 IV.            Songs: Indian movies have this extra fourth element.

I personally feel that Songs should not be part of the actual play, though I dont mind if they are running in background of the scenes. In Indian movies they are usually fitted-in abruptly breaking the story sequence. Now-a-days so called Item Numbers are added to have an overall add-on in sale. I personally dont feel that they contribute anything in making of a good movie. Songs are nice-to-have, not must-to-have.

So to get good stuff, dont miss flicks of your favorite directors. Keep an eye on any movie which comes out and is based on a good novel or history event etc. At last, dont forsake your favorite actors, watch all movies of themJ.

3.       Dont follow Box Office

One misconception we all have is that every blockbuster is ought to be a good movie!

Well for a business man, it is. But for a movie lover it might not.

A blockbuster is not necessarily a good or collectible piece. A Blockbuster merely means that it was a high profit making piece at box office AND its grey print (hall print) would be out in market sooner than the others. Chennai Express (2013) would be the best example here.

Similarly:

A Flop need-fully, is not always a torturous movie. It could be that it was a sensible piece with a very less audience base and was not able to meet the low perception levels of the larger chunk of viewers.Lakshya (2004) for an example.

4.       Follow the Masters

Another way to get good stuff is to follow a film critic or film reviewer whom you believe is intelligently fair. You can also refer to movie rating sites for the same, like IMDB.com. But unfortunately, most of them are prominently just for Hollywood movies.

Conclusively, I would state:

To be a true movie lover, you need to first clearly define your motive for watching a movie. If it comes out to be Enjoyment and Learning, and not just time pass, Congratulations!! You are eligible to be a movie lover. You just need to select your taste now.

A Good Movie is the one which has the correct mixture of the three components discussed. It fully satisfies its genre(s) and has the enjoyment as well as the learning factor in it. You see it and you enjoy it.

A Collectible is a good movie which is a master piece, an epic, a classic, having the perfect mixture of the elements. We see them, we enjoy them and we live them for many years to come.

"They give you an offer which you cant refuse"

On a relaxing weekend sitting in your living room, slacked-up on your couch... with something to bite and drink. What is the charm of watching a collectible in such a panorama, only a Movie lover could knowJ.