Tag: Reviews

Gangubai Kathiawadi

Published on by Harpreet ChhachhiaLeave a comment

The movie is Alia Bhatt. I am aware of the actor’s prowess. The role of Gangubai Kathiawadi didn’t seem to be a fit for the petite frame, or the age, Alia possesses. Yet, I went in to see the movie because of her. And as usual, the lady doesn’t disappoint.

Apart from the tragic – and horrific – circumstances of how her character falls into prostitution, the entire movie depicts (sometimes with shades of heroic grandeur) the stoicism of Gangubai Kathiawadi. The story is truly dark and morbid – something the opus of a Bhansali production probably needed. His typical, over the top direction depicting royalty even when the plot has no traces of royalty seems toned down because of its very subject. It’s a good pairing this: Bhatt and Bhansali. They make for good film.

The writing is compact and has great monologues. I particularly like the one that talks of the different shades of white. The metaphors in it are stark and vivid. Like the tones of this movie, muted greys and blues. The whites stand out like beacons in the dark. The writers, Prakash Kapadia and Utkarshini Vasishtha, hand in glove with Sudeep Chatterjee have created brilliance again.

It’s a woman-centric film. The supporting cast does a worthy job – Seema Pahwa deserves an honourable mention – but the film belongs to Alia. Though I shall mention that without the cameo of Ajay Devgan, the quintessential, hindi-hero character, Gangubai wouldn’t have scaled the heights her character reached. But given the era and of course, filmdom being misogynistic, a man had to ultimately be the saviour. Although it’s important to note two things. One, Karim Lala did help Gangubai in the way depicted in the film. Two, all the men in the movie have their own price tags. A good innuendo.

I will note, being from the LGBT community myself, that depicting a Hijra as the main antagonist could cause more prejudice against the community. A community that already faces enough ignorance, violence and hatred. The character could have just as easily been another female. And if indeed depicting the antagonist as trans was necessary, why Vijay Raaz? Why wasn’t a trans person considered and cast? These questions shall have their excuses as answers. Like one that said that Vijay Raaz is a phenomenal actor. Agreed. So why not cast him as Gangubai? (Just following the line of argument.)

Apart from this, the movie resonated with me. After Khamoshi, I think Bhansali has done something truly worthy. And it is this film. But I end how I began: most of the credit should definitely go to the phenomenally gifted Alia Bhatt.

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.

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.