Raavanan, and that significant difference.

I watched Raavan, the Hindi version of Maniratnam's take on the epic Ramayana, on the big screen in autumn 2010, with a film festival audience and a friend of mine. After the film, we discussed it together, and concluded it was visually spectacular but could've used more coherence and honing of the plot and the structure. I told my friend about the Tamil version, Raavanan, where Vikram plays the lead role, as opposed to the role of the "Ram" character, as he did in the Hindi version. My friend commented, "I'd be really interested in seeing that, considering he was the better actor of the two in this film."

Now, I'll admit Vikram bias any day of the week, freely, but my friend had never seen him in anything but Raavan. And after finally watching the Tamil version, I'm absolutely forced to compare the two versions, similar though as they are, and conclude that one lead performance can make all the difference.


The good points of Raavan are all present in the Tamil version, naturally. The visuals are spectacular and the film occupies its own strange jungle milieu perfectly. Aishwarya Rai puts in a solid performance as a version of Sita who doesn't merely resign to her fate as a kidnapped wife, but struggles with the sort of independence and strong-headedness that I think a lot of people desired in the character. The soundtrack is not Rahman's strongest, but accompanies the visuals very well.

There are as many versions of the Ramayana out there as there are people, I'm sure, but for what it's worth, this one is a very engrossing take, portraying the villain as the hero, and the hero as the villain, and while it never makes this puzzle difficult for all viewers to assemble, it is a set-up worth remembering.


So what makes this version better? For me, I'll admit it was two things. First, when you've already seen one version, you know what to expect from the other one. This is why I began to forgive some of the narrative niggles me and my friend had when we dissected Raavan together, post-viewing. I kwow precisely where the story was going, and I no longer expected it to blow my hair back. In a sense, my expectations were a lot fairer to the film's intentions.

The second part was Vikram's performance as Veera, the "Raavan" character (also heavily inspired by the real life dacoit Veerappan). It's not difficult to say why - after all, he's not only a favourite but probably also the favourite actor of mine. However, from the stand-point of pure comparison between the two versions, I'm not quite sure why precisely I prefer his take on this character to Abhishek's. Is Vikram more subtle in his performance? Perhaps, but surely that's not all of it? Is Vikram's strength just pure versatility, the fact it seems that Veera can seem like a slightly unhinged brute one minute and a thoughtful, driven but completely rational man the next? His face alternates between these two sides of the character in a way that never feels unbelievable or comical.

SPOILERS FROM HEREON.


That's what makes the comparison so jarring with films like these - the two roles are so identical, yet so different. The dialogues are the same, every scene and every action. It's very interesting, and completely puzzling. In my review of Raavan, I mentioned how I thought that Beera as a character seemed under-written - we see all the different facets of what makes him, but they don't come together in a very believable manner.

With Veera, I get a better picture somehow. There's this guy with a strong sense of justice for his local people, solving problems his own way (as opposed to strictly legal ways). The enmity towards Dev, it's implied, is essentially one Dev has himself produced, in blind and rather brutal search for his version of justice.

Another thing I perhaps didn't entirely like about Raavan was the fact that even though Sita here gets a better characterisation than in many versions of the original story, she is still just a pawn in a chess game between two men. But seeing the story play out for the second time, I realise I was wrong about this. Ragini is a pawn to Dev, because to him she's less important than taking down Veera (this comes as a shock to viewers near the end, because the joy of being re-united with his wife seems to vanish within seconds from his face - and then you understand he's all about catching Veera and nothing else). To Veera, however, the focus shifts considerably when he falls in love with Ragini during the 14 days she's kindapped. It's no longer as much about avenging what Dev did as it is staying in Ragini's good books.

It's as if I missed this radical character development in Abhishek's performance altogether: Veera changes, even though he doesn't necessarily want to, because of Ragini. The feeling between them is not mutual - I think Ragini still has reservations about him in the end (and any feelings she has for him might be tinged with Stockholm Syndrome, mustn't forget!), even though she has more reservations about Dev at that point - but it is important. The moment when she jumps is key: by taking charge of her own destiny, she irrevocably changes Veera's. Whether she wants to or not, in some ways she is now in control of him, despite being captured by him.



Did I just completely miss these facets of these characters on my first watch, because it was my first watch of the film, or was it that the performance of Vikram allowed me to interpret all these nuances? It's impossible to tell, really. (Though in all honesty, I didn't feel like the film was all that subtle about what it was trying to say.) Maybe any film like this requires those two viewings minimum to really get the hang of what is important to the story, and what isn't. In the end, the film is incredibly intimate - it centers around three characters, and almost everything else is window dressing for their story, and their story only.

That's of course not to undermine other performances in the film, but rather to say they never really get a chance to shine.

Prithviraj's version of Dev is rather straight-forward, as was Vikram's role in the Hindi version. This is a cop, this is a man on a mission, but there are some differences, too. It seemed to me that there was a certain ambivalence to Vikram's character longer through the movie until the ruthlessness of Dev slowly began to emerge. He was more determined and humorless.

Prithviraj is easier to identify as a "any means necessary" type of cop, who would go precisely the extreme lengths that the backstory told by Veera eventually elaborates. The scenes where that backstory finally reaches its tragic climax, by the way? I was incredibly moved by it during this viewing, to the point of getting teary-eyed.

END SPOILERS.



All I know is this: I loved Raavanan, and merely liked Raavan. The first is a film I'd love to show friends - the latter I might not recommend at all. And that is rather strange, considering how downright identical the two films are.

The fact I'm not the only one with this preference tells me it's not just my Vikram-bias talking here. And so, while finishing with a small picspam of this visually gorgeous film, I'd like to recommend that everybody seek out Raavanan, even if - or especially if - you've seen the Hindi version.

Trust me.







Thank you for reading!

This is too cool: the Enthiran that wasn't from 1998.

A Facebook site called Tamil Film Updates posted this folder of promotional images for Shankar's "Robo", with the following description:

Years back, Shankar started "Robo" with Kamal Haasan & Preity Zinta to play the roles of Rajjinikanth & Aishwarya in the present Enthiran. But the project didn't take off at that time due to some issues. These are the exclusive pics from the photoshoot.

This was in 1998. I imagine the film would not have been half as epic as special effects, Shankar's greatest love next to a good social message, weren't exactly fully developed in the late 1990s, but I would've enjoyed this pairing, if nothing else, in these roles. In my Enthiran review I didn't give very high marks to anybody in this film for acting, including Rajnikanth. Aishwarya's lack of acting could largely be blamed on the abysmal writing for the character. Regardless, it's an interesting "what might have been"..

I recommend you check out the rest of the album, if nothing else than for the late 90's sci-fi get-ups.

Pushpak(a Vinamam) - the silent movie that speaks.

The title for this review comes from the boast written on my VCD's cover - one that was sent to me by Ramsu, who I am indebted to for telling me about this film in the first place and later providing me with a copy.

The boast is about right, for Singeetham Srinivasa Rao's Pushpak (occasionally going by its full title Pushpaka Vimanam) does manage to convey volumes without any dialogue. It's a black comedy with a social conscious, and though it contains a couple of symbolic moments that aren't precisely subtle, it all the same manages to entertain and provoke thought. The title card comes up in Telugu, as do the credits, but as the film is silent, it's essentially without language, relying on background music indicating certain things and gestures to work as primary communication between characters.

The title also has a Hindu mythological meaning, for pushpaka vimanam or "flowery chariot" is the flying chariot that Raavan stole and eventually rode on. Inside the film, there's a titular luxury hotel with the same name - a hotel whose owner used to just run a tea stall, the film seems to imply.

The nameless unemployed young man (Kamal Hassan) seems rather fed up with his existence when he stumbles upon a drunkard millionaire. In a rather twisted turn of events, he holds the millionaire captive in his small apartment while he lives it up at the Pushpak hotel, in room 3035, using the millionaire's money to make himself more presentable to a girl he likes (Amala), a magician's daughter. He's blissfully unaware that a hitman has been hired to kill the man who rooms in room 3035 of the Pushpak hotel..

Young Kamal is in this as I usually find him: absolutely effortless in his acting, rather likable and charming, but still not quite to push him into the category of favourites in my eyes. He is perfect for the role, though - starting out a little pathetic, then flamboyant in his rich turnabout. The romance with magician's daughter rather adorable, but the best part is the magician himself, whose little tricks kept me laughing out loud. The killer was also bizarrely hilarious. I won't name his weapon of choice, but it's really quite priceless.

If I had to level a criticism at the movie, it's slow-moving at times. This is probably a feature of the era more than a deliberate choice, though.

The social consciousness that the film possesses is of a world where money matters. We see Kamal's character hopelessly seeking a job in a market where there are only a few available, and a mass to vie for those available positions. Money buys him temporary status, but it's a rather hollow one. The character of the beggar, pictured here, is central to this motif. Much like the other well-remembered 80's black comedy with a social consciousness, Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron, this film lives in a rather grim world.

The dichotomy is strange, but interesting: the film pushes you to consider all these things, but at the same time provides pure entertainment.

International Khiladi - what did I just watch?

Listen up, kids. This is not so much a review as it is a write up. Hence there will be SPOILERS. But ask yourself - do you really care enough not to get spoiled for International Khiladi? This film has been out for ages. It's a soddin' Khiladi film. Getting spoiled for it will mean one of two things: 1) you'll realise what a bullet you dodged not watching it or, 2) you'll realise it's so outrageously peculiar you've got to witness it with your own eyes. Either way, getting spoiled for it is win-win.

Now that we've got that clear, welcome to ...this whole thing. It's not really a review. It's a bit like therapy? For full effect, please listen to the theme song while reading!

At first we get a scene from the conference of the biggest criminals in each country, and some cops talking about blowing it up. Do they ever? Of course not. The criminals are selecting a boss. Democratically, via vote. You know, as you do, when you're members of the underworld. You're all about democratically elected representation. Who gets picked? Who d'you think?

Meet Devraaj, our International (get it?? because they made him boss of crime world over!) Khiladi!

Then there's a cop who discovers a dead body in Devraaj's place and they also find Payal, the sister of the dead person, played by Twinkle Khanna, who in court accuses Devraaj of rape, but says they were also in love. At this point you're thinking, "Wait, it's that kind of movie? Well, he is a bad guy, but goddammit, really?"

The backstory tells us that Amit (played by Rajat Bedi, ie THAT GUY WHO REALLY LOOKS LIKE SHAHRUKH KHAN), the cop we saw earlier, is friends with the dead guy (pictured here, not yet dead). And he's really in love with Payal. Payal dances, he watches with that ridiculous almost-Shahrukh face of his.

Then we enter a god-awful "comedy segment" where Payal and her colleague Focus (YES REALLY, oh wait he's played by Johnny Lever so surely that makes sense? not really) want to interview Devraaj. Comedy hijinks! You know, if this wasn't the WORST criminal on the planet, who could easily get you killed.

Still! Comedy hijinks! (Just kill me.)

Oh yeah, Gulshan Grover plays Thukkral, who is the criminal boss of Pakistan and has got bit of a beef with Devraaj. Colour us all surprised. He speaks in the most ridiculous English/Hindi mix, and I mean ridiculous. He says "I-ko" instead to "mujhko". He says things like "mere dil toh garden-garden hota hai". I just can't even.

And of course he's got some Western female bodyguards who wear golden bikinis and kick ass.

..and whose ass Akki is forced to kick. He doesn't want to. So they have a bit of a tumble in a padded pool.

(Yep, this film is quite weird.)

Payal stalks Devraaj some more for an interview as all ethical journalists are willing to do, even to the point of staying in the rain for three days without any food. Devotion!

So he finally gives in and comes out to chat to her, and of course ends up falling in love with her journalistic integrity. They never actually end up doing the interview, it's almost as if it doesn't matter. (There is a song, though. Of course there is!)

Then Amit goes and tells Payal about all the murders and crimes Devraaj has committed, putting quite a damper on this fledgling romance. Back off, Almost Shahrukh! We don't want you here!

Payal confronts Devraaj about this, so he is forced to bare his TERRIBLE BACKSTORY of woe and death and how basically he is the most noble, ethical person there is, and really the cops are the ones going around raping and murdering, under the protection of corrupt politicians. In a world like this, aren't the criminals really the good guys?

Of course they are!

So Payal believes him and they have a ridiculous song together!

Joy of joys! (Do you remember the rape part from the beginning of the film? No?)

Something happens I didn't pay attention for about 3 minutes and they're on a boat that explodes (?) but Devraaj saves Payal, hurray!

(I'm really sorry but I have to) .. so they dance!

Look at them go!

So happy and in love! (Remember the rape part?)

Well, it turns out Devraaj finds out that Payal's brother is an undercover cop infiltrating Devraaj's organisation, so he tortures the brother and then despite loving Payal, molests her in front of her brother and then kills him and then (the implication is) rapes her.

..yeah, good times.

And thus concludes Payal's testimony in court (oh, you didn't realise 80% of this movie is flashback? silly you!), and Devraaj gets sentenced to death and all's well ends well, right?

No.

Almost-Shahrukh really wants Payal to live in his creepy Payal-worship shrine (read: house) but Payal cannot stop thinking about the fact how they dragged her brother's dead body to Devraaj's house and then framed him for her rape.

...allow me to repeat that.

Amit (Almost-Shahrukh!) dragged her brother's body to her house and told her that Devraaj's men killed him, so they must make sure that Devraaj's gets the death penalty for this crime, and Payal was like, okay, what's the harm in a little framing the man I love for rape that never happened when my beloved brother is dead, probably killed by the man I love.

Except she cannot give her heart to Almost-Shahrukh because she still loves the man who killed her brother!

Woe!

So he gets a woeful song.

Yeah, whatever.

Devraaj escapes jail because even the police know now that he is the Good Guy and does a cool press conference, essentially saying he will find Amit and Payal and give a reward to whoever tells him where they are, and then somebody calls him, and says "They're in Toronto," so being the INTERNATIONAL khiladi that he is, Devraaj flies to Toronto.

But instead of killing Payal like he said he would, he just confronts her at a picturesque locale. And basically says that there's no way he could have killed her brother, because he loves her.

And also? He loves her.

Doesn't she get it? He loves her.

She does get it. Hurray! Happiness and flowers and faked rape!

.. so they dance!

Then we enter the climax of the film, which is ..quite something else. First Amit shows up, wanting to kill Devraaj. Payal protects him. Thukkral shows up to tell everybody that he killed Payal's brother! Shock of shocks!

Amit is heartbroken that Payal loves Devraaj but accepts this fate.

Oh wait, Devraaj has to fight Thukkral's gang of women in bikinis.

And some random martial arts guy who he then has to stab in the back.

And some random black guy in the forest.

You think this would be a fitting climax to an action film? You think fighting a bunch of random enemies would suffice?

No, no, and no.

Turns out Amit is NOT okay with Payal loving Devraaj and anyway, he's the one who killed her brother (we're told in flashback) and then just asked Thukkral to work with him and say he's the one who killed the brother in front of Payal and then he shoots Thukkral and wants to kill Devraaj and run off with Payal but this does not quite work out.

But he does get to kidnap Payal and put her on a cargo plane! (Are you still with me? Doesn't that whole rape thing feel like a millennia ago? I know, right?)

Luckily Devraaj grabs a pair of rollerskates (YES REALLY) and is off to save her! From a moving plane.

Yes.

Really.

His success is varied.

But somehow they still end up here.

.. so they dance!

Actually, they don't, I'm just kidding. But this climax is far, far, oh so far from being over.

So then they fight inside the plane.

And then Payal ends up falling out of the plane, with no parachute (though she is wearing a mysterious backpack but apparently did not plan to fall out of a plane, that silly girl!), and so Devraaj jumps after her, with parachute, and Amit heads to the cockpit to turn the plane around so he can kill them both WITH THE PLANE.

I don't even know.

These the faces of two people about to get hit by a plane.

Look at the International Khiladi.

NO FEAR.

No.

Fear.

It's like that song, "Getting hit with a plane toh darna kya", isn't it?

So they do actually get hit with the plane (well they crash against the nose and DON'T DIE) and end up on the wing, holding on for their dear lives.

Yes, really.

REALLY.

And then the plane crashes but they somehow survive and Amit gets killed and they get married I guess?

THE END.

I think it'll take me about a lifetime to digest this viewing experience.. I thought I was made of such strong stuff, and then. Fake rapes! ROLLERSKATES! Plane fights. Plane crashes to the face! Happy ending!

I just.

Yeah.

Project Consistency.

As fun as blogging is, it often takes a surprising amount of time and effort. Often I'll have an idea for a blog post and then find myself spending closer to two hours typing, editing, looking up pictures for it. I know, my blog posts don't come off as especially honed to perfection, but I do tinker with them, and that takes big chunks of my free-time.

And to be honest? I'm lazy. That's why I still haven't got around to doing some reviews I've meant to have done ages and ages ago. That's why some reviews just have promotional photos and not screencaps. And when there's a time in my life when an hour of free-time is precious, I usually don't spend it blogging.

But I don't want to let this blog fall by the wayside even when my life does get busy, so I'm going to try to write and then queue up at least one post per month for the rest of 2012. Right now I've got an obscene amount of free-time so hopefully this will work.

What you can expect:

• Reviews of films I've been meaning to do but haven't for the longest bloody time (including Kandasamy, Ayan).
• Reviews of films with screencaps that I previously reviewed without screencaps after the first viewing (Kaminey, bunch of others).
• Just random picture entries (I've got so many vintage Hema Malini pictures that are gorgeous and deserve an entry of their own).
• Random song entries, because I don't talk about music half as much as I should on this blog.

Let's hope this entry works as a commitment device for me to keep this promise..

London Paris New York: globe-trotting for the broken-hearted.

Two people meet, on three occasions, in three different cities, but always for merely one day.

Sound familiar? In some ways, it probably does. When Rum told me on Twitter that London Paris New York was accused of being a rip-off of Richard Linklater's classic Before Sunrise, I wasn't that surprised. The similarities are definitely there. But hopefully there's enough originality here for me to focus on.

LPNY actually reminded me a little of Hum Tum, which also has that whole "meeting in different cities on different occasions" going for it, and also the theme that both characters gradually maturing with each meeting. However, if Hum Tum was flawed in the random animation, it stood on firm ground when it came to characterisation; LPNY's biggest tragedy is perhaps that it quite doesn't.

There's nothing fundamentally wrong with the characters - Ali Zafar plays Nikhil Chopra, a rich producer's kid who sees his future in films inevitable. He's as superficial and self-confident as you'd expect. Aditi Rao Hydari's Lalitha is from a different world - middle-class, feminist, book-worm, education-minded, with a clear plan in leaving a mark on the world. As filmi logic dictates, he must mock her for her seriousness and bookishness, and she must conclude he's kind of a sleaze, albeit an absolutely charming, adorable one.

Both leads have an easy chemistry with one another, and they chat to each other in a way that feels grounded in current reality. You feel as if you could actually meet these two people at an airport somewhere, and they'd be exactly as they are here.

The problem, however, is that I never felt like the characters actually mature enough. The complications to their relationship aren't all that well-written, and Nikhil is just kind of an ass in the way that he harps on Lalitha for her perceived flaws. Why does he like her so much if most aspects of her personality are so objectionable? How come her book of facts she's gathered about different cities of the world is not fascinating to him but makes her a bore? And for such a rational girl, Lalitha sure makes the most stupid mistakes to create conflict between the couple. The issues just feel so contrived that it removes the charm of the enjoyable dialogue between the two in each city. The script also makes the cardinal mistake of making Nikhil say he's matured, but failing to show it in his actions.

But as films go, despite these problems, it's not an altogether bad viewing experience. Ali Zafar is pretty close to making a fan out of me, and the songs are a delight (especially with Zafar's voice!). For a newcomer, Aditi Rao Hydari also does a good job - I look forward to seeing more of her.

Beginning of Y-Film but Luv Ka The End.

Last month I reviewed Mujhse Fraaaandship Karoge, a fun youth caper of purposefully mistaken identity and then some. Out of curiosity I decided to check out Y-Films' first venture, Luv Ka The End, another tale of college-age kids and their bizarre relationships. And while watching this film, a realisation suddenly hit me: Y-Films is essentially importing the American teen comedy format into an Indian, middle class/upper middle class urban setting. And why not? Teen comedies work, and even if the kids are a bit older here, they seem to act in the same way that they do in the American ones: they care about cliques and clothes and friends, and they especially care about the opposite sex. Parents, on the other hand, are barely visible, as they merely get in the way of fun.

The sad thing is that if MFK is Clueless, Luv Ka The End is American Pie. It's not just the crassness of the humour, and the vaguely offensive elements (like homophobia) that makes me conjure up this comparison -- it's also that MFK, for its flaws, has the potential to be a fun youthful little film that's rooted in a very certain time but will probably be worth watching for years to come, whereas LKTE already feels try-hard and annoying.

But let's talk plot: Luv Nanda is the boyfriend of our female lead, Rhea, and on her 18th birthday, she has promised to spend the night with him for the first time. However, soon after Rhea being forced to cancel the date due to unexpected circumstances, she finds out that Luv, who seems to care more for his car than for her, is indeed a grade-A asshole, to a ridiculous degree. Together with two of her girlfriends, she hatches a plan to revenge him for cheating on her.

It's like Ladies Vs Ricky Bahl, only on some sort of overly sweet teenage party juice, that makes the film feel hyperactive, every single character needlessly exaggerated (and I'm not just talking filmi exaggerated), superficial and hopelessly devoid of any genuinely likable characteristics. It's a shame, because this could have been Ladies Vs Ricky Bahl, just with a lesser budget, and taking place during the course of one night. Instead the film is just kind of unpleasant to sit through. As awful as Luv's character is (and trust me, he is truly a despicable character!) you don't feel much sympathy for the girls seeking revenge, either, as they're also loud, stereotypical and annoying. Where MFK breathed life into its characters, this film fails to do so.

There's a guest appearance at the end of the film that almost made the watching experience worth it for me; fans of the guest star will probably already know who I'm talking about. But even so, I wouldn't recommend this one.

Ekk Main aur Ekk Tu: the film fitting of flat adjectives.

Passable, serviceable, bland. These are just some of the words that passed through my mind when watching the Imran Khan-Kareena Kapoor starrer, Ek Main aur Ekk Tu. Not all of these words have negative connotations - to be passable is perfectly fine in many ways. If you want to take the "glass half full" approach to life, you could say being a serviceable film actually sets a film ahead of the majority of forgettable, plain bad feature films that are out there.

So let's focus on the positives for a while: I was not once bored, nor did I find the storytelling or pacing awkward. The film chugs along at a nice pace, event after event, and though almost every turn is predictable, there's no fast-forwarding or scene-skipping that needs be done. The songs are overall quite nice as well, the leads both do fine, and the characterisations are consistent and mostly believable. The film tackles some age-old subjects, like identity of young people, parental expectations, knowing what you want in life - and then trying to get it. It doesn't re-invent the wheel, but it never claims to try, so that's fine.

The problem? Well, it's like Ramsu's review put it: the film does absolutely nothing right or wrong. It's just flat, and bland and rather tasteless, with no sharp edges or points of exuberance or irritation. It doesn't annoy nor does it inspire. It just is. Like that. You know precisely who the characters are, and there are no significant flaws in the way that they are written; Kareena's Riana is spontaneous and free-spirited where Imran's Rahul is uptight and conformist. But you just don't find yourself caring too much about their happiness or unhappiness. Charisma, chemistry or any kind of spark seems to be missing.

It's hard to say, with films like these, where the blame lies, and then - being that I am such a forgiving person - even harder to say whether one should even really blame the makers. The blandness of the film makes sure that you walk away from it, not even feeling all that annoyed that the film didn't rock your world. I spent less than two hours with it, and didn't hate the experience - it's just that it wasn't even that much of an experience.

Surely films are made to make us feel something, whatever that something may be?

Bollywood free association.

[This is the post you write when you really don't know what else to write about - essentially, one of those exercises they always make you do in writing classes, just writing whatever comes to mind on that moment, clearing your head. ]

I really want to see Agent Vinod, not just because I've been waiting for it for a small eternity but because, well, I feel like I want to believe in a film again, and also wow, remember when Saif used to be good? You might not, it's been like six years, six goddamn years! Unbelievable. And also, remember when Salman wasn't good? And now he's in pretty much everything and he's always pretty much pretty good, or you know, Salman good, which on the scale from one to Salman is pretty friggin' Salman.

I don't know, it just comes back to that old problem of having to keep my distance because my access to films is so limited. There's no use in getting swept up in the hype when forced to wait for a DVD release and I don't want to get all, "you don't know how lucky some of you are, kids" but hey you don't know how lucky some of you are, apart from those of you who aren't, and come to think of it, a lot of you might be worse off than me in terms of Indian film shortages so what am I even talking about it.

I was talking about Robot with a friend of mine who also saw it at the film festival I saw and we had the best time just recalling everything that happened and everything that happened that didn't make a lick of sense (which was most of it, to be honest) and I just kept wanting to show my friend some Shankar films that do actually make some sense because I guess I just want to make sure that she would understand why I don't think his films are as rubbish as Robot kind of was, in terms of characterisation and story, and don't you just hate it when people - whoever those people may be, fans or haters or whatevers - assume that's just how Indian films are, senseless and pointless? Like yes, some, of course, Hollywood has got Fast & Furious, too, and did you see Transformers 2 (I didn't) but still there's characterisation there and

Wow, I really should rewatch Lagaan. I always wonder what are other people's "I really need to rewatch that" films because I feel like I'm personally always just rewatching some and then letting others rot in my DVD shelf even though it'd do me good to re-evaluate how much I like them now, like Beth mentioned Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron and I was like "holy hell I saw that way back when I was a newbie and liked it but did I even get any of it? I got that it was a dark comedy and Naseeruddin Shah as a youngster" so anyway I guess my point was that I need to rewatch that.

And also I guess Naseer-saab wasn't that much of a youngster in JBDY but you know, I'm a young kid, I ride shotgun.

It's been such a long while since Bollywood stars have made guest appearances in my dreams and that's pretty sad in a way, like you always hope that you end up with dreams full of magic and wonder, but the other week I had a dream where I just made awesome to-do lists and worse yet, Vikram was not on that list and

..now I am really uncomfortable with that joke even as I made it because again, being such a youngster, I'm reminded, Vikram's older than my dad, so like

These things are best just not thought of at all. But I do genuinely want to see Agent Vinod, and I should hope it's a good film.

Muhjse Fraaandship Karoge: triple-A rated Y-Film.

Buzz or hype are both ridiculous-sounding words for a very real phenomenon, which can often make or break a film-watching experience. If you've heard a film praised to high heavens, it can be hard to reconcile the fact that you didn't find it that good. As a rule, I tend to avoid reading that much about films before seeing them, to avoid this, but sometimes, you've really got to glad for the existence of buzz.

This is one of those times.

I'm sure not that many of us have been keeping a keen eye on Y-Films, Yash Raj Films' youthful out-shoot. Their first film, Luv Ka The End, wasn't exactly popular with the audiences. But thankfully despite this, some people did go see Mujhse Fraandship Karoge (that's three A's, just so you know!) and reported back, and that reporting back seemed to unanimous: this is a fun, little film, definitely worth seeing.

And so, with this little online buzz behind it, I checked out MFK and also found it delightful. The premise is a bit of silly spin on You've Got Mail, which was in itself a silly spin on The Little Shop Around the Corner: two people, who in real life loathe one another, and are constantly running into arguments, interact with each anonymously via other means (in this case, Facebook) and discover to have great chemistry together. You can see the premise coming a mile away, but the way the film deals with this and the complicated little web of lies the leads form, is refreshing. The film is well-directed, well-edited, and well-acted. It doesn't reach for mountains but manages to be a better film than a lot of films with bigger budgets and bigger stars.

So consider this short review another push for more eyes to see this flick. It's not without flaws (for example, I had my doubts whether the film portrays the hip youthful college culture as accurately as it wants to), but it aims for something and absolutely succeeds in that aim, in my eyes. It's a good, fluffy Hinglishy film, that doesn't fail to entertain.