2012 Movie Review

The ancient Mayan calender, with its supposed prediction of a December 21, 2012 apocalypse, has long fascinated assorted fringe scholars, doomsday fetishists and George Noory acolytes. In 2012, the audacious new disaster epic from director Roland Emmerich (10,000 B.C., The Day After Tomorrow), it provides the inspiration for a $250 million orgy of destruction, the likes of which has never been seen on the big screen.

Give the Mayans credit: their chosen method for the planet’s demise in 2012 is anything if not imaginative. The earth’s core, we’re told, is being heated to the point of instability by mutant neutrinos emitted by an increasingly malevolent sun. (The Mayans, a civilization that had little use for the wheel, having apparently identified the subatomic particle several millennia prior to the advent of quantum physics.) The initial signs of this phenomenon — sudden fissures on Earth’s surface triggered by ruptures in its crust — are casually dismissed as harmless earthquakes by government officials.

Ahh, but they know better. In fact, the President (portrayed without a hint of irony by Danny Glover) and his advisers became hip to this neutrino business years ago, but chose not to inform the public for fear of the panic that might ensue. What they fail to realize, despite the pleadings of the film’s requisite Lone Voice in the Wilderness (Chiwetel Ejiofor, bringing kind of a sad dignity to the proceedings), is that the lethal process is accelerating far faster than anyone could have predicted. Personifying the government’s pompous intransigence in the face of obvious calamity is Oliver Platt, who plays the President’s Secretary of Douchebaggery.

And what a gorgeous calamity it is. First come the super-earthquakes, which send Los Angeles plummeting into the ocean. Then the volcano beneath Yellowstone Park erupts in spectacular fashion, blanketing North America with a massive cloud of poisonous ash. Not to be left out of the eco-gangbang, killer tsunamis join the party, bombarding much of Asia and the Indian subcontinent with tidal waves the size of Mt. Everest. Emmerich’s breathless CGI onslaught is truly unprecedented in its scope.

Beyond the awe-inspiring carnage, however, there’s precious little to distinguish 2012. John Cusack leads a bloated cast that largely phones in a succession of forgettable roles. The conspiracy-themed script is painfully trite, rife with cliches and devoid of any and all subtlety. Its heavy-handed message, urging unity across class and cultural lines, feels superficial and soulless. Even the film’s visual effects — doubtlessly 2012’s greatest asset — occasionally come off as distractingly fake. The film even feigns a gallingly faux subversiveness, toppling Christian landmarks like the Vatican and the Christ the Redeemer statue in spectacular fashion, while avoiding Islamic monuments entirely. (We brought it up in our interview with Emmerich — click to hear his eye-opening response.)

All of this clocks in at a bewildering two hours and forty minutes, well beyond the acceptable length for such an empty-headed disaster flick.

Rajamouli’s ‘Maryada Ramanna’ with Sunil Shooting in Hyderabad

Maryada Ramanna, which started shooting in mid-September has begun it’s second shooting schedule in Hyderabad. The film, starring Sunil and Solani Aswani, is directed by S S Rajamouli and produced by Sobha Yarlagadda and Prasad Devineni under the Arka Media Works banner.

After the big-budget fantasy epic Magadheera, Rajamouli wanted to tackle a lighter project and settled on this historical comedy.

The basic storyline was provided by Mullapudi Vara and it was developed into a complete script by Kanchi. According to my sources, the title character Maryada Ramanna is the heroine’s father. As far as the supporting cast goes, Brahmanandam has been roped in to play a pivotal role. Heroine Saloni Aswani, who was previously seen in Maa Voori Lo and Chukkallo Chandrudu, is making her Telugu comeback with this film. Incidentally, Saloni did an item song in Magadheera.

SS Rajamouli said: “The film Maryada Ramanna is a comedy thriller and is set in the backdrop of Rayalaseema. Sunil is apt for this film and he playing a serious role for the first time in this movie. There is also a plenty of scope for comedy in this film. We are mainly focusing on Rayalaseema hospitality in this flick.”

Producer Shobu Yarlagadda said: “This is our first movie on our Arka Media Works banner. We made several serials TV serials in the past. There are 5 songs in the film. Nagineedu (of Prasad Labs) and Brahmanandam are playing key roles in the film.” Arka Media Works is the same banner that’s producing Allu Arjun’s Vedam.

Sunil said “After Andala Ramudu, I listened to many stories but was not impressed. But I was very excited after listening to this script. It is a fabulous story and mine is a challenging role. I was supposed to do a film with Rajamouli under this banner long ago but the time has come now for us to work together.”

As for the rest of the crew: M M Keeravani is composing the music, Shyam K Naidu is handling the camera, Kanchi wrote the script based on Mullapudi Vara’s story, Ravinder is overseeing the Art and Rama Rajamouli is in charge of the costumes. Originally, Chota K Naidu was hired for the cinematography, but due to scheduling conflicts with NTR Jr’s upcoming Adurs, he was replaced with Shyam K Naidu.

Currently, the audio release for Maryada Ramanna is scheduled for December, and the film release is slated for Sankranthi 2010.

Jailhouse Mock

In Madhur Bhandarkar’s Jail, there is a scene where two inmates are chatting, before they turn in for the night.

One of them, a grizzled old veteran with a Tagorey beard called Ghosh Babu, is asked by his companion why on earth he’s languishing in prison despite getting so many international awards. Ghosh sighs and explains that he was accused of siding with the Naxals and thrown into prison, and that ‘when the Government gives rewards like this, it doesn’t look at awards.’

As that little vignette on Dr Binayak Sen illustrates, it’s this harebrained topicality-as-gimmick approach that mars most of the director’s efforts, trying to cash in on everything he reads in the papers. Sorry, everything everyone’s read in the papers.

So a wealthy upstart inside for a hit-and-run casually mentioning he mowed down six people (not four, not seven) on the road isn’t a coincidence. Honestly, by now, Madhur should really dispense with the obligatory ‘all characters and events are fictional’ disclaimer at the front of his films.

And for our part we really should stop treating them like films. Bhandarkar’s modus operandi is simple, to pick out a subject, decided on its stereotyped negatives, ones that are already more than well-entrenched in the public consciousness, and then vilify it. Yet even by his usual standards, this latest project suffers from a cinematic sin even worse than self-righteousness: Jail is a bloody bore.

Neil Nitin Mukesh , still sticking to looking frightened and perplexed, plays Parag Dixit, imprisoned on a drugs charge based on circumstantial evidence. That’s pretty much the synopsis of the entire film, one that drags on and on without either narrative reprieve or anything compelling.

The detailing is shoddy, the characters cardboard and the dialogue plain laughable. Jail is a formulaic, below average Bollywood headache, slowed down to lugubrious dullness. So much so that even ever-disastrous background score man Amar Mohile ditches his overloud hoo-ha for some insipid piano tinkling. Groan.

Leave it be, this prison of cardboard and cliche. We all deserve better.

Genelia Gets Her Dream Man

Actress Genelia D Souza has been a fan of actor John Abraham for a while now. And it is almost like a dream come true for her when she found herself sharing screen space with him in her next film, Hook Ya Crook.

This is a crush which probably dates back to Genelia’s college days when John attended the college fete. The actress, who shot into prominence after the success of Jaane Tu… Ya Jaane Na, is also working with actors like fardeen Khan and Harman Baweja in films like It’s My Life and Life Partner.

The actress is currently being offered a lot of roles which have her cast in girl next door mould. But she has no problems with that right now. She is open to challenges and even open to doing an all out commercial film or even action movies. Despite not having become an overnight sensation like her co star Imran Khan, Genelia, like her name, is quite genial, and has no qualms about that. Right now, she is quite happy finding her feet in Bollywood once again.

 

Deepa Mehta signs Preity for Heaven On Earth

Of late Preity Zinta has been gravitating towards a neo-realistic cinema. After working with Rituparno Ghosh and Jahnu Barua in The Last Lear and Har Pal, Preity’s latest creative acquisition is none other than Deepa Mehta who has earlier worked with ‘method’ actresses like Shabana Azmi and Nandita Das.

Now in a sudden and unexpected move Deepa has finalized Preity Zinta to play the battered Punjabi wife in Heaven On Earth. Preity is over the moon. “I met Deepa a while back at the IIFA. She saw my film The Last Lear and loved it. I’m so glad I did this film. It has opened an entirely new door for me. I feel I’m born anew. Right now I’m hungering for a new kind of acting challenge. Doing Deepa’s film is another step in the same direction. She’s one director I’ve been longing to work with. When I read the script I said, this is it.”

Deepa who decided to do this start-to-finish quickie before plunging into the Hollywood biggie Luna with John Abraham, Rachel Weisz, Dustin Hoffman and Chris Cooper, was on the look-out for the right face, personality and approach for the role.

“And I think Preity is perfect!” says Deepa from Toronto where she’s now preparing to shoot Heaven On Earth. “I first met Preity at IIFA earlier this year. I was stuck by her positivity and her hungering for opportunities to stretch herself as an actress. We talked about the real-life character of a Punjabi housewife who goes through the nightmare of domestic violence. Preity was keen. But the dates were a problem. They’ve now been worked out. And Preity is on.”

The shooting for Deepa (and Preity’s) first Punjabi film begins in October. But before that in the middle of September Preity will be attending a workshop in Toronto. “To understand and come to grips with the character’s milieu and body language. I think Preity can look very very Punjabi,” observes Deepa.

Deepa Mehta Signs Shriya Saran

Director Deepa Mehta has signed on actress Shriya Saran for her next film, Komagata Maru. The director has already signed on Akshay Kumar to play the male lead in the movie.

The director is currently in India to promote her film Videsh, which is based on the story of battered Punjabi wife, which has been essayed by Preity Zinta on screen. The filmmaker will then be moving on to Komagata Mary after which she has her sights set on Salman Rushdie’s Midnight Children.

 The author himself is expected to be collaborating with her on the screenplay for that film. But in the interim, the director will be working on Komagata Maru. The story of the film is about the journey of an ill fated ship, which sets out on its voyage from India to Vancover. Shriya will be playing the younger of the only two female passengers who are on board the ship. Akshay plays the lead in the movie.

Deepa and Akshay go back a long way as the director had initially signed him on to play the role, which was later essayed by John Abraham in Water. This was when Deepa was making the movie with Shabana Azmi and Nandita Das. But the film ran into a lot of controversies in Benaras which forced the director to abandon the film then but not give up on it.

 A few years later, she shot the movie in Sri Lanka with a different cast and Water did win quite a few accolades internationally. Since that project was not to be for Deepa and Akshay, they have now come together a second time to work on a film. This time, matters are expected to progress smoothly. The shooting of the movie is expected to begin in September this year.

 

Aishwarya may be the new face of Barbie in India

London: Beauty queen-turned-actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan could be the next to join the league of female Hollywood celebrities like Beyonce Knowles and Elizabeth Taylor to have the next ‘celebrity Barbie’ doll modelled on her.

Representatives of the 35-year-old were reported to be in negotiations with Barbie’s manufacturer Mattel as it plans to give the iconic doll a Bollywood face and sell throughout India.

If the deal happens, the new Barbie will have Aishwarya’s green eyes and wear outfits created by top Indian designers

Jolie’s first movie as child actor to release

  Hollywood star Angelina Jolie’s first movie role in a forgotten 1982 comedy is set for release—27 years after it was made.

Jolie was four when she appeared alongside her actor father Jon Voight in director Hal Ashby’s Lookin’ To Get Out, but her part was cut and the film only had a limited release, reports contactmusic.com.

Ashby re-cut the film before his death in 1988 and his family and Voight have worked tirelessly to get the new film a release.

Voight is now thrilled the film will eventually be seen as his director friend Ashby had intended.

The director’s cut of the film, which also features Ann Margret and Rocky star Burt Young, will debut at the Sarasota Film Festival in Florida next month, ahead of the movie’s DVD release June 20

FIRAAQ

There is little respite in Firaaq. Nandita Das begins her debut film with scenes from a mass burial. Bodies are dumped from a truck like trash.

Firaaq is set in Gujarat one month after the horrific 2002 communal riots, which left according to Human Rights groups some 2,500 people, mostly Muslims, dead five years ago, although officials put the toll at about 1,000. The film is a fictionalised account woven out of, it says, “a 1000 true tales.”

Several stories unfold. These aren’t connected in any obvious way but each one explores the aftermath of the bloodbath, the anguish, fear and loss. There are no scenes of actual violence and yet violence permeates the frames. You know that at any point, randomly, the anger and loathing will spew into something unspeakably ugly.

Firaaq delves into all demographics. So, we have an affluent Hindu-Muslim couple, who are preparing to shift to Delhi because Sameer Shaikh, played by Sanjay Suri, is afraid of what else might happen. A meek, abused middle-class housewife, played superbly by Deepti Naval, is haunted by guilt because she did not open her door to save a woman who was running from the mob. Shahana Goswami is the fiery Muneera, a poor Mehndiwali, who is trying to rebuild her life after her home has been burned down and Naseeruddin Shah is Khan Sahab, a musician, who at one point, bent over with age and grief and resignation simply says: Sirf saat suron mein aisi kabliyat kahan ki aisi nafrat ka samna kar saken.

In 24 hours, these and several other compelling characters live out a lifetime of pain. We know that in this world, dark clouds don’t come with silver linings but thankfully, Das does give us a sliver of hope as Khan Saheb and two of his disciples, both Hindu, strike the chords again.

Interweaving stories requires impeccable skill and control as films like Crash and Babel have shown us. There are areas in which Das, a first-timer, stumbles. The pacing drags and the transitions become clunky. Also, Sameer and his wife exchange far too many stilted English dialogue such as: “Whatever doesn’t kill you makes you.”

But I recommend that you look past these shortcomings. Firaaq, which means both separation and quest is a brave and compelling film. It will disturb your sleep and make you ask uncomfortable questions. Firaaq correctly and quietly implicates us all. It is essential viewing.

STRAIGHT

STRAIGHT – Ek Tedhi Medhi Love Story is about the twisted love life of Pinu Patel, played by Vinay Pathak, a man who owns a restaurant in London and drives a Mercedes but can’t seem to land a girl.

Of course it doesn’t help that Pinu is sweet but seriously uncool and that he’s also a virgin. Pinu’s life gets complicated when he starts to think that he may be gay and needs to hop into bed with a woman, only to prove to himself that he isn’t.

Unfortunately this sounds like way more fun than it actually is. Director Parvati Balagopalan had the material and the actors to create a witty comedy of love and sexual identity. But Straight is a staggeringly tedious film.

Pinu’s confusions take the whole first half to surface and his attempts at bedding women are so silly and unfunny that you almost want to suggest that he hire an escort and put us all out of our misery.

The writing is clunky and the dialogue, unintentionally funny. At one point, Gul Panag, playing a cartoonist cum accountant whom Pinu falls in love with, says, “artists are fascinated by imperfection, that’s what make us all real.” To which Pinu replies, “You’re so deep Renu.”

Parvati has a nice eye for visuals. Her plea for love, straight or gay is heart-felt. She creates some nice seamless transitions between scenes and a few poignant moments when you genuinely feel sorry for Pinu and his loveless state. But these are too few and far between.

Vinay Pathak, who is in almost every frame, works hard to flesh out Pinu’s complicated affairs of the heart – his insecurities, his loneliness, his feeble and nerdy attempts at mastering modern mating rituals. But Pathak is saddled with a thankless and predictable script, which goes on and on.

In the climax, Pinu’s cousin and confidante Rajat paraphrases Shylock’s classic speech from Merchant of Venice to declare that gays also have feelings. “When you prick us, he asks, do we not bleed.” Actually viewers have feelings too.

Skip this one and if you want to enjoy a superbly funny sexual comedy, pick up Judd Apatow’s The 40 year old Virgin instead.