Wake Up Sid, Smell The Coffee!

So, what’s wrong with Sid? And why is he still asleep? Isn’t there anyone to tell him that morning has long gone and its almost afternoon. Being a night person does not really mean that people get up at dusk!

Ranbir Kapoor as Sid is the right choice. Youthful, exhuberant, curious, romantic, the guy next door etc. But where the screenplay has really gone wrong is in the first half.

A protagonist who insults his mother for no fault of hers, who has no respect for his dad’s hardwork can never win the sympathy of the audience. Sid manages to do that in the second half of the movie, but it was too late. It was a foregone conclusion that the script would take such a turn.

What’s baffling is the fact that we have a guy in his 20’s, who belongs to business family and does not aspire to get into business; let alone his dad’s business. What’s worse, he meets a girl who wants to go on a walk with him and he doesn’t get the idea of sleeping around with her. No kidding, he does not know about the birds and bees. His dad is a tycoon and we don’t see girls throwing themselves on him, not even in parties. What kind of retard screenwriting is this?

The director, Ayan Mukherjee,  knows where he wants to go but does not know how to get there. He uses a dozen of cliches and a bunch of cut-paste jobs from movies like Dil Chahta Hai etc, to fill the void in his movie.

One of the cliches being Rahul Khanna, who has been stereotyping himself and last seen in Love Aaj Kal in the same kinda scenes. And the other cliche being Konkona Sen Sharma as Aisha, what’s wrong with her? Isn’t she tired of playing ‘new girl in the city’. Pick any movie and you get that from her, Laga Chunri Mei Daag, Life In A Metro, Luck By Chance etc. She does well in the movie, giving her piece of mind to Sid and helping him in overcoming his oversleep-disorder. Only if his parents had done that… oh! then then we would not have the movie at all.

The director is unable to handle even the two friends that he created, Laxmi and Rishi. Somehow he kept forgetting both of them. And the moment he recalled them he canned a shot  and forget about them again, almost like memory-lag.

The one thing that Ayan has been able to do well was the ‘coming-of-age’ bit. The romance between Sid and Aisha was handled well, he explored the relationship and helped it blossom. Sid not only wakes up but also finds himself all grown up and mature, albeit a little late. The friendship turning into respect and then love was beautiful, the saving grace of the movie. I sincerely hope that he makes a better movie next time around and does not get carried away by the success of this one.

Anupam Kher and Supriya Pathak as parents were awesome in the movie. Supriya especially was superb as the trying-to-speak-english mom. She emoted so much even without any dialogues, that was touching. Ranbir was awesome, this guy will go places. He acting is improving, it can be seen in the emotional scenes. He did better in this movie than waht he had done in Bachna Ae Haseeno.

Finally, the movie will do well because we have loads of Sids around us who will identify with the movie. Unfortunately, these Sids will go back home after the night show, oversleep the next morning and will continue to be dazed and confused.

 

Amole Gupte – Then And Now

The first ever screen appearance that I remember of Amole Gupte, was in Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar. He wore a grey blazer and was doing a running commentary on the last cycle race … Sidharth Sharma reporting from the first check point at Pykara Junction …. etc. That was more than a decade and half ago, and things have changed since then.

When his name flashed allover the media as a result of his fantastic story/scripting of Taare Zameen Par, I just could not relate the two faces. The similarity between the younger Amole and the older one was zilch, I just wondered how Joker[TDK] would look with his make-up ripped off. It was a similar kind of feeling, seeing Amole with those long strands of silken hair falling allover the face. But that was just the beginning of the surprise. Sometime later when I learnt that he would be playing Priyanka Chopra’s brother Bhope Bhau in Vishal Bharadwaj‘s movie Kaminey, I freaked out. My mind started swirling as I began imagining him playing the creepy character from the underbelly of Mumbai, and at the same time I was confused. How would a sensitive guy, who wrote TZP with such sincerity and innocence, pull off an underworld character who is supposed to be ruthless, gripy, wicked, whacky!

But even before TZP was in the making I fleetingly recalled that Amole was the host of a talk-show called Bindaas Bol which was telecast on SonyTv in the mid-90’s. It was more of a discussion forum, much like We The People, hosted by NDTV which started years later, much after Bindaas Bol had come and gone. Even in Bindaas Bol, Amole was a fiery host/moderator with a ponytail. I don’t remember all the episodes, but two of them I can vividly recall. One of the topics of discussion was on ‘Acceptance Of Gays In Our Society’ and I was quite impressed by the depth and maturity of the chat that took place, way ahead of times for mid-90’s. I was really appreciative of the guy. The other topic was about ‘techno-chor’ where they were discussing how to cheat in exams using technology. Sanjay Dutt did that in Munnabhai MBBS, much much later, using hands-free. But the guys who participated in the discussion were using satellite communication and had that connected to their watches and other gadgets which was their own small-time inventions. It blew me off, I too wanted to do that for my 10th Board Exams back then. Well, he raked up a few other politically relevant issues in his show, some controversial and others not so much. But I don’t seem to remember other episodes so well.

Anyways, Amole is a multi-talented personality. Being a product of FTII – Pune, he spent more than a decade there, learning all the various facets of film-making. He was a fantastic painter during his schooling days. I guess we all know that the characrter of Nikumb was based on his school teacher. Even in TZP, those paintings and caricatures/cartoons were all done by him. He put a lot of himself in the movie. Not just painted, he also wrote the song Mera Jahan:

A Little Sweet, A Little Sour
A Little Close Not Too Far
All I Need, All I Need
All I Need Is To Be Free

What a beautiful thought told with such innocence and child-like feelings, simple and straight. And here’s the best part of that lyrical piece by him:

Udne Ko Sau Pankh Diye Hai
Chadhne Ko Khula Aasmaan
Mudne Ko Hai Karwat Karwat
Aur Badhne Ko Mera Jahan

The flights of fantasy that we all want to indulge in, but always skeptical of our own potential is very well worded here. The will to break free was always there. Then of course, the age old philosophy of one-life so live it well on our own terms. Beautifully expressed!

Bachpan Ke Din Chaar
Na Aayenge Baar Baar
Jee Le Jee Le Mere Yaar
Jeib Khaali To Udhaar
Jee Zindagi

I am still surprised that Children’s Film Society of India [CFSI] turned down the script. All the panelists had approved of it, but the head Sai Paranjpe. She rejected it. Of all people, Sai Paranjpe, I am actually more than surprised, I am shcoked. Anyways, destiny works in weird ways.

He wished Akshaye Khanna could play the character of Ramshankar Nikumb. Reason being that, he was impressed with Akshay’s portrayal of a sensitive painter who goes against societal norms, Sid in DCH. He went around with his script but never could meet Akshaye. That’s when Aamir borrowed the script and read it, with due permission of course, and he wished to be a part of it. What transpired between them, I seriously don’t know. All I know is that, TZP was made well, an awesome movie that swept the awards, was India’s entry to the Oscars etc. Neither Amole nor Aamir want to broach this topic, again. Its a karmic cycle which will catch-up with either of the two or both, soon enough.

By the way, even before his freak appearance in JJWS[Tom Alter was supposed to play the part of the commentator, but that did not happen since he failed to turn up], he had done a movie with Aamir Khan. It was Ketan Mehta’s movie Holi. A movie that I am still looking for, wonder if anybody can provide me some exclusive viewing of this. His association with Ketan Mehta was not new, he was the Assisstant Director of Mirch Masala, another fabulous movie by Ketan Mehta.

Coming back to the Bhope Bhau character in Kaminey, I am dying to see him perform. I wonder what he would bring to the screen. And not just this movie, I am also looking forward to his next venture Sapno Ko Ginte Ginte. It’s a film revolving around children, I hear. Lets wait and watch!