The Last Lear (2007)

“NOOOOO, it cant be over already!”, was my first reaction when the end credits flashed on the screen. It was such an absorbing watch and so well crafted that I was sucked into the lives onscreen and just didnt want it to end!

The sheer beauty of the film was spellbinding. But once the magic wore off, I was left wondering what exactly the film was all about! Was it about the has-been theatre actor – the titular Last Lear – and his passion for artistic perfection? Was it about the ruthless film maker who would do anything and sacrifice anybody in his quest for artistic reality? Was it the story of three troubled women from vastly different socio-economic strata who all seem to face the same problems and bond over cups of tea at the bedside of an old man? Was it about all of these and their respective places in life? Or was it about that ruthless task-mistress – ART - that leaves no life untouched and affects people who’re not even directly connected with it? I am not sure. And you know what? Frankly my dear, I dont give a damn!

The movie pitches you right in the midst of a story. With no preface or introduction you meet the characters and spend the rest of the movie getting to know them and piecing together their stories from the small windows into their lives that the film opens up.

Mozhi (2007) – the language of romcom.

You know you’ve been watching too many old Hindi movies when:

1. Hrithik’s less than perfect Urdu diction bothers you.
2. Hindi accents in all movies leave so much to be desired.
3. the heroines look like they could do with a decent meal.
4. the heroes look like they’re trying to compete with Schwarznegger.
5. the songs sound like terrible background noise.

So, what do you do? You head down South, to the land where the leading ladies are not on starvation diet, where nobody speaks Hindi, and where modern masala is still “cracktastic”! And who do we meet there? Two regular guys on their way to romance and comedy!!! 

The bad and the beautiful – catching up with 2007 films

My dwindling bank balance has decreed a strict moratorium on DVD-buying sprees. How then to quench the thirst for movies and more movies? This is where Calgary Public Library comes to the rescue! For the past few weeks I’ve been catching up on all the 2007-08 movies that I missed watching on the big screen. Here’s a brief review of some of them:

Salaam-e-ishq – Dard-e-dimaag for the viewer!

I cant say I began watching with a lot of expectations but I still managed to be disappointed! To those of you not familiar with the plot, the movie follows the love-under-threat stories of five loosely-related couples - Ashutosh-Tehzeeb (John Abraham-Vidya Balan) whose young marriage is under threat because of Tehzeeb’s tragic loss of memory; Shiven-Gia (Akshaye Khanna-Ayesha Takia) whose love is imperiled because Shiven doesnt want to commit matrimony; Vinay-Seema (Anil Kapoor-Juhi Chawla) whose marriage is going through Vinay’s mid-life crisis; Kamna-Rahul (Priyanka Chopra-Salman Khan) in whose love-story Karan Johar plays an unlikely cupid; Raju-Stephanie (Govinda-Shannon Esrechowitz) whose love story you hope and pray does NOT take off but does! There is a random sixth couple Ram-Phoolwati (Sohail Khan-Isha Kopikkar) whose unsuccessful attempts to consummate their marriage will [not] educate the uninitiated about the “donts” of marital sex.