Stowaway (2021): Space, Time & Moral Dilemma

This was first published on MadAboutMoviez: Stowaway

I had read couple of accounts in newspaper of how stowaways used to cling onto the wheels of the airplane or hide someplace in the cargo containers of ships, and sometimes in toilets; just to escape from whatever they have been facing. It was never for thrill of it, but always for a specific need like illegal emigration to better pastures.

I had never imagined that there could be a stowaway in a spacecraft. And this movie delves into one such situation when MTS-42 is on a 2 year mission to Mars. The spaceship has 3 crew members, Marina is the commander, Zoe is a medical researcher and David is a biologist; and they have been handpicked for this mission.

Soon after launch, when the crew members are settling down and doing a recce of the space vehicle, Marina notices drops of blood on the floor. She finds that the CDRA [Carbon Dioxide Removal Assembly] unit is the source of it. On carefully opening the unit, she finds Michael, a stowaway, who is badly hurt and bleeding.

Michael has no recollection of how he got there, but he had no intention of being part of the crew or the journey. It points to some sort of scuffle and him getting forcibly pushed into that small unit. Michael recuperates while Zoe befriends him and explains how they are currently in space. And he cannot just go back home, anytime soon. Marina contacts the base station to know more about Michael and check if he poses any threats. As it turns out, they too had no such knowledge of a stowaway.

Due to this freak incident, the CDRA system gets damaged and non-functional and that causes a new problem. The amount of oxygen remaining in the aircraft isn’t sufficient for the now “four” member crew. Marina suggests that David “science the shit out of this” and try to manufacture some oxygen. But they also needed a backup plan. This brings us the moral dilemma that, even if David succeeds in manufacturing some oxygen, it may not be enough and one of them has to sacrifice their life. Who would be willing to do so, and save the mission? Obvious choice seems to be Michael, since he was the unintended participant, but can the crew come up with any other plan which would save the mission as well as their lives.

The movie is very interesting in most parts. Toni Collette as Marina is completely in her elements as the commander of the ship and a concerned crew member. Since its her call, it gives Toni more room to revel in the character, playing the good as well as the tough part. Anna Kendrick as Zoe is breezy, and she forms the glue that makes the team stick. She makes Michael feel at ease, after his harrowing experience as the stowaway. She sides up with Michael and explains to David as to why they should think of another solution, rather than having to sacrifice a life. Her presence has a calming effect on all characters.

Shamier Anderson, as the titular character, on whom the movie is set, plays the most difficult part. His role begins with a rude shock when he is discovered stuffed away in CDRA unit, then he goes through a healing process, and finally when he begins to open-up and mingle with the team, he is informed of the lack of oxygen in the craft and how someone needs to take responsibility and make a sacrifice.

Joe Penna, as director of the movie, has extracted good performances from all the actors. Thanks to previous movies on Mars mission, Interstellar, Arrival, Gravity etc, this movie is not burdened with showing the setup, crew selection, prep for take-off etc. The movie easily slips into the main story within minutes of take-off. The dialogs are few, but the background score more than makes up for it.

What interested me more, was the fact that the current covid situation which has pushed people to rush to hospitals due to breathlessness and make arrangements for their own oxygen cylinders, since the establishment is unable to do so, and how this movie also talks about oxygen shortage! Of course there is no messaging that’s been inserted or any metaphor. But our fight with coronavirus hit me instantly, and I could identify with the helplessness and the desperation for saving a life and survival. It makes the movie into an existential crisis, and we can feel that to the bones. Watch the movie to know what it feels like being helpless, gasping for breath and how some decisions can impact others lives.

 

Radhe (2021): Old Wine in an Even Older Bottle

Review first published in portal MadAboutMoviez: Radhe

Some stars have made careers out of making “masala” entertainers, like Rajnikanth, Mithun, Akshay to some extent; and audiences don’t really care for reviews or others opinions on their movies, since they want to watch unadulterated entertainment. Our most wanted bhai’s movie, also falls in this category.

Of course, in last 5 years, Salman has given us some very watchable movies like Sultan, Bajrangi Bhaijaan, Bharat, Tiger Zinda Hai etc; but these are few and far in-between. Rest of the other movies like Kick, Race3, Dabanng series are just money making ventures, and everyone involved knows it.

Coming to Radhe, this movie works more as a sequel to 2009 movie “Wanted”, where Salman played the cop Rajveer, who goes undercover as Radhe. In this movie, he is known to be a no-nonsense cop with 97 encounters to his credit. And he seems to be the only cop who can cleanup Mumbai.

So, we are back in the 1990s and 2000s when drug business was notoriously handled by cartels. In movies like Sarkar, it was shown, how an outsider comes with the idea of dealing in drug while the crime syndicate had limited themselves to kidnap, extortion, and hafta-vasooli. Similarly, Rana makes his entry in a new city to start drug distribution. They don’t show the source of the drugs, from where its coming, and how the cash is being handled, because they don’t want the innocent audience to worry about the business model.  Just take it that, drugs are being used heavily by teenagers. How they are lured into, also goes unanswered. So, we should assume that it’s like Lay’s chips and no one can eat just one.

Rana is ruthless in his approach, has no business ethics, no morality, and definitely no life. He works day and night from dingy locations, so he has no taste for finer experiences of life too. His only aim is to expand his business, but for no apparent reason. No one knows what the big hurry is. If he is suffering from chronic disease that needs cure or some other ailment. That’s a secret, and even the writers had no clue.

So, enter Radhe into the frame, who is exact opposite of Rana. He has a life, is flirtatious, aspiring model, and employed with police department. He has a chance meeting with Diya whom he befriends, unknowingly his boss, ACP Avinash’s younger sister. ACP Avinash is in all his elements as he manages to bring out the inner Johnny Lever in him. A bumbling senior who doesn’t command the respect of his officers, but is bereft of this critical piece of info, since the director hid it from him. So, poor chap puts in a lot of effort, not knowing that in a Salman movie, it will go unnoticed.

Anyways, after few flirtatious sessions, Radhe & Diya are all set to tell the three magical words: Lights, Camera, Action! That’s the clarion call for the climax when all hell breaks loose, and Radhe chases down Rana for the final showdown as he begins the Swachh Bharat movement.

Jackie Shroff as ACP Avinash has the most amount of fun, without sharing any responsibility. He just ambles his way in and out, without any commitment; and that’s how serious his role is. Disha Patani as Diya is like a Russian doll who does exactly what she is meant to do, be decorative, sweet looking, naïve and a bit frivolous. She plays her part well, coming from that small cameo she had in Bharat, she gets to do a little bit more than that in Radhe.

Salman as Radhe is phenomenal, as he sings, dances with Jacqueline in an item number, advices his colleagues about duty, beats up the goons, romances Diya, and becomes hero of the common man. For an actor to carry the movie on his ageing shoulder is no mean feat. But he is ably supported by Randeep Hooda who moonwalks through the show. His raw action sequences, straight out of the 2017 Korean movie “The Outlaws” from which this movie was remade, is gritty. Hooda’s gait and style, his hairdo and the long overcoat, just adds to that invincible feeling of the character Rana, he is playing.

Another thing going for the movie is its length, which is at a merciful 105 minutes only. Its not stretched out needlessly, which means, the director Prabhudeva and his team have made a concerted effort to end the movie before the audience wears out. After all, too much of bhai can be injurious to mental health.

Its old wine, in even older bottle, but the label is brand new. Chalo, whatever is there, is just entertainment. SEETIMAAR !!!