Friday, September 9, 2011

Mini-reviews, lately watched: the Merely Okay Films pile.



Challo Dilli - This 2011 film was rather charming. I mostly watched it for the curious pairing (non-romantic) of Lara Dutta and Vinay Pathak. Both I like a lot, not typically to watch a film for, but I definitely enjoyed them in this. A story of two very different individuals having to road-trip to get to Delhi was paced nicely and shot prettily, showcasing northern Indian sights in a lovely way, and both actors did great. The ending delivers a bit of a heart-tugging twist, but you end up walking away from the film with a smile. S'all good.

Tere Bin Laden - The Pakistani popstar Ali Zafar stars in this and seems to be gaining popularity on the acting front in general. He's rather good! Sadly the film itself was not massively impressive. I think it suffered a bit from a case of overhype for me? It may been a positive surprise for everybody else but by the time I got to it, it was just okay. I enjoyed it, and it didn't drag on, but I doubt I'll ever feel the desire to rewatch and while as a comedy it worked, definitely better than I would have assumed going by the plot premise, it didn't become a favourite.

We Are Family - I know I'm a terrible Kajol fan because I only saw this film now. I've not seen the original film, Stepmom, but if this version is anything to go by, it's a solid, nice film. It's always refreshing to see a Bollywood movie adapt a Hollywood one honestly, with full credit & rights stated in the opening credits.

I grew up in what some people would call a "broken family" based on the fact that my parents were not together (a term I'd obviously disagree with - I know so many friends whose families are more broken than mine, whilst being together) so the topic was close to heart in some ways. I'm however too old to remember what it's like to dislike a parent's new partner instead of being open-minded and thinking "if this person makes them happy", so I didn't feel very sympathetic towards the kids and their little tantrums towards the beginning of the movie.

The other minor problem I had with the film was the role of the father, which was pretty much ..popping by every now and then. I don't normally get very feminist on my Indian films but this one annoyed me because couldn't Arjun's character have done a bit more to help out? It seemed sort of ridiculous it was such a strong assumption that all that housework/childcare was the women's work, not his business.

Other than those two minor annoyances, I enjoyed the film.

3 comments:

Mette said...

We pretty much agree on Chalo Dilli, but Tere Bin Laden I loved, and We Are Family I hated. All the actors did a good job, but Kareena had the only thankful role, and the whole script was too manipulative, I felt.

veracious said...

It's true, the script was hugely manipulative. While I liked Kajol, it was bizarre to me that a grown-up was being so childish about Kareena's character looking after her kids.

Mansi said...

mostly agree with you on all of them... i enjoyed the films as much as the performances...
Lara is a surprise package in CD,, and vinay charms as usual...

TBL is silly and unrealistic but makes you laugh nevertheless... noora playing osama is the highlight of the film without doubt...
Ali is a hot favorite these days...im eagerly looking forward to his meri brother ki dulhan...

meanwhile, here are my reviews on the films you talked about-

Chalo Dilli
http://eatpraylovemovies.blogspot.com/2011/05/chalo-dilli-2011.html

TBL
http://eatpraylovemovies.blogspot.com/2010/07/tere-bin-laden-12.html

We are Family -
http://eatpraylovemovies.blogspot.com/2010/09/we-are-family-2010-2755.html