Category: Articles

Dune

Published on by Harpreet ChhachhiaLeave a comment

I saw the movie a couple of hours ago. It’s still resonating in my brain and heart. Like melange – the planet’s addictive spice itself. The movie is just breath taking. Each visual. The cinematography. The landscapes. The vision. Absolutely spectacular.

The mythology in the books has been so well woven in the script that the explanation of it is effortless. It seems part of the fabric of a rich tapestry of sand gold. The movie soars into the air from the very first frame and it just feels like a ballet that shouldn’t ever stop. I was spell bound by everything in it.

Timothée is astounding – as he always is. He is intense yet sensitive. The scene where he is about to be assassinated stands out with its laser lights and his eyes. His face with its clear cut angles seem made for the movie with its sandstone framework. Ever since I saw him in Call Me By Your Name I have been spellbound by his prowess as an actor and there’s not a single movie in which he has been that has disappointed. This movie was hand crafted for him. He is Paul.

The other magnificent creature that sets the screen ablaze is Rebecca Fergusson. Her duty as a Bebe Gesserit and her love for her son are wounds that threaten to tear her apart. She keeps gnawing at them through the movie and speaks of the control of her fear – much like each of us does at some point in our lives.

Zendaya is a dream that hardly has time to manifest. Though I do not mind for the wait for the manifestation. Each scene is nuanced in its calibre. The sand worms find their own larger than life status and they form the antithesis to melange in the deserts of Dune. Paul Lambert and his team have done a phenomenal job at the special effects and Hans Zimmer matches the spectacle of the movie with his musical score.

There’s not a thing wrong with this movie and almost all of the credit must go to the director, Denis Villeneuve for envisioning this opus. What Peter Jackson was to The Lord of the Rings, Denis Villeneuve is to Dune. The script is tightly woven and nothing is set loose like the sands it talks of. “Dreams make good stories,” says Jason Momoa’s Duncan Idaho, “but everything important happens when we’re awake.” Villeneuve makes sure that time, dreams and sand make their way, winding like the worms, surely and rightly, through Herbert’s narrative.

I regret not seeing this movie in IMAX – but I will not be seeing it for the last time for sure. It is worthy to be placed on repeat mode.

Badhaai Do

Published on by Harpreet ChhachhiaLeave a comment

I’ll just say at the onset what I was thinking as I was watching this movie. I thought, and then said it aloud to my partner, who was sitting next to me in the theatre, “Would you have thought we would be seeing movies like this being made in India, during our lifetime?” He shook his head in the negative.

Badhai Do speaks of a marriage of convenience between a gay man and a lesbian woman. The movie is set in small town India, and the main protagonists hail from middle-class, upper caste families. Much like in the depiction of Shubh Mangal Zyada Savdhan. I loved SMZS – because it dealt with the story of two gay men in love, with a fervour and a zeal that made it over the top – like most pioneering statements with a hope for a better future. Badhai Do comes as a strategic step ahead.

It is nuanced and delves within character. There is not much of a back story of the two main protagonists. There is no explanation as to the whys or to the wheretofores of character buildup. They just are and the movie deals with a look into the future prospects of the characters of a certain age. The time when marriage pressure in India comes to a head. That in itself sets the score for the movie. It already comes from a space that looks ahead instead of looking behind.

Raj Kumar Rao and Bhumi Pednekar have done spectacular work in crafting the characters of Shardul Thakur and Sumi Singh.

Raj Kumar essentially brings in the angst of being a homosexual man in a “tough man job” and is in love with an MBA student. The fight portrayed between Shardul and Kabir in a motel room made me rethink about my own past. It may not have happened exactly in the same context, but the feelings of insecurity and need were bang on. In this relationship, ageism – that is such a deep-seeded fear in the homosexual community – also becomes the underlying issue – as Shardul mentions. It is almost karmic. It is so quietly mentioned that only those who have felt it will feel it. It’s the slightest touch of feeling – that leaves such a tremendous impact.

Bhumi’s depiction of a woman caught in a job that most in india would say is unsuitable for a woman talks about misogyny just as much as homophobia. Her sense stands head to head with Raj Kumar’s sensibility.

And then there is the question of living up to family expectations that don’t just end with marriage; but post the milestone of marriage there is the pressure build-up of having children. Something we as Indians, living in the second most populated country of the world, should have taken into hand – but no. It doesn’t just end with marriage, yo! Then there is the take on how women have to face the brunt of not getting pregnant. The whole family must consult a fertility specialist on her account. The man’s virility also comes into question – with jokes about his size and stamina. Apparently, it takes ‘one shot’ for ‘real men’ in our country. It’s just sad and it is so well done it is applaudable. The director Harshvardhan Kulkarni has actually done a brilliant job.

I must not forget to mention how important it is – for those who live a closeted life to meet those who live out of the closet. Both the main protagonists fall in love with out individuals. Self-assurance is hailed. And rightly so.

The coming out of the main characters takes its toll, as it always does. It is wonderfully portrayed – with the strength and gravitas that is needed to come out itself. But then, there in, I find a flaw within the narrative. For things to become alright, post leaving the closet, is the adoption of a child. It would seem without the adoption of a child there would be no forgiveness – no reconciliation – no acceptance. Then again, as I said earlier to my lover, a movie like this is big in itself – why ask for more?

But I think I shall. Maybe in the next venture, there won’t be a lavender marriage, there won’t be an adoption. There will just be love. And that will be enough.

Eternals

Published on by Harpreet ChhachhiaLeave a comment

The lockdown ended. I have healed in body. I rejoined the gym. I got done with my double vaccination. I wanted to go for a movie in the theatre. So my partner, sister and I went for Eternals at INOX, Malad. I was excited to see Angelina Jolie play an immortal. She being as old as I, I wished to see how we compare. Delusions of grandeur, but they are what they are, then.

It was at the back of my mind that I had not gone for a movie since February, 2020, when my family was full and I had not lost two people I love. Shubh Mangal Zyada Savdhan had been the last movie I saw in the theatres before the virus attack and the crescendo of chaos that followed.

We went to the same theatre. The mood was not truly festive, though I tried making it so with selfies and snapchat. The mall was lovely. The theatre within, grand. I forgot though how I had felt after my losses. The moment you remember past experience at a certain spot: a selfie there, a touch there, a hug there, holding hands in the theatre and sharing popcorn.

The seats were the same but there were alternate placements. We were separated by a seat on either side. The experience was not the same.  Loss glared and memories churned. The movie –

Eternals is a brilliant movie. It is different from the scale and brightness of the Avengers, but it, too, resumes after loss, after the deaths of heroes we shared a decade with. It begins with the creation of all being, it transports us through time, intermittently with the present. It is not confusing, the time leaps or flashbacks are placed more to prevent confusion. It is not like the earlier marvel films, it is more adult, and more inclusive.

And let’s just get this out of the way, the reason for it being banned, please, nonsensical. One of the superheroes is gay, has a lover and a child and shares one same-sex kiss. If people still have a problem with this, in this day and age, then it truly is their problem.

Moving on, the film is more mature, despite all the naysayers, it is. I mean, we are talking about dazzlingly handsome gods with hammers flying around in other Marvel movies. Here, we see the Eternals being given the task of protecting humanity from the Deviants. They have been appointed this task by the Celestials, “superior” immortals. They are not supposed to interfere in events that humanity itself creates, or the wars and destruction humanity also creates. That is the long and short of it.

So now, I imagine the High Elves of Middle-earth, who were appointed to the task to guide the second children of Eru, Men. Being immortal, one has to face the weariness of life and the sheer stupidity of humanity. But also immortality makes one understand that humanity is capable of greater things. More importantly, being immortal, one begins to take on human emotion. When one recognizes love and its vessel, the vessel itself needs to be protected.. That is what the crux of the film actually is. It may be maudlin. It may be a bit of a cliché, but it is what it is.

Chloé Zhao succeeds in bringing this to the forefront. People who don’t want to appreciate what the film is trying to convey, will not, and it is alright. The director has done well with creating a superhero movie. It is not bad, like the Superman vs Batman movie, it is not as good as the first Wonder Woman, but it makes for good fare. It brings up issues like the horror human beings have in their hearts to commit, the weight of living life as an immortal and the idea of love that can be understood even by those who are not human.

For me, Angelina Jolie stands out as goddess of war, Thena, and Gemma Chan has done a fair job as the gentle Sersi. Salma Hayek. as the motherly Ajak, completes the main female trinity. The film has well-crafted action scenes. Angelina is made for roles like these, by the way.

The movie had two scenes which touched me. One where Barry Keoghan as Druig confronts Ajak and tells her that he cannot remain an idle bystander while human beings commit atrocities on one another. Two, where Thena speaks to Sersi and talks to her about why humanity needs to be protected. The themes are simple and they are treated simplistically. These are gods who can do something about something and they do it. Simple.

I went there to watch Angelina and I ended up liking the movie. In the last Avengers movie, I went to see – I don’t even remember who I went to see. I probably will see this movie again though. It made me think about the love I have lost and the love I have gained. It reminded me that life is shit and our purpose here is to try and stop it being shitty. I left the theatre not feeing cheated of the seven hundred bucks I paid to watch the movie, and scenes from the movie remain with me hours later.