Chance Pe Dance : A Wasted Opportunity

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Lots of times a one line story idea sounds great, but when stretched into a movie format, it just doesn’t work. This movie turned out as one of those nice concepts which could not be put well on screen. And most of the blame for it must go to the screenplay and shoddy dialogues. The writer/director just knew where they wanted to go, but had no idea of how to get there. They had the start and finish lines ready, but the roadmap of the journey was clearly amiss.

I worked late till Friday evening and was really tired, hence movie viewing on Saturday was out of question. And why I wanted to watch the movie? Simply because I liked Shahid’s previous works, ‘Kaminey’ being the best of them. And also due to Shahid-Ken Ghosh association, this is the tird time they were coming together. The first time they worked together was in Ishq-Vishq, a nice breezy college romance. Their next movie was Fida, ripped-off from Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Following’. The movie was well made, but the love-angle was over-emphasised and that killed the drama. What started off as a romantic thriller, ended neither on a love note nor a action thrill drama. It was a bit of a let-down to kill Nolan’s storyline with so much suffocation of a love-story. It should have remained a thriller.

Anyways, this time I hoped that they would make an entertaining movie, given that dance was the theme. And with this hope I was standing at the counter window for tickets. I was at the theatre on Sunday by 4.30pm for a 7.45pm show, hoping that the tickets were not sold out. When I was handed the tickets I felt lucky. I mean, for a Shahid Kapoor movie that released two days back, to get balcony tickets on the first weekend without advance booking, was being plain lucky.

I returned to the theatre at 7.30pm for the show. Entered the auditorium and was pretty pleased to see quite a few rows of occupied seats. Yeah! more people like me, I thought! But my smile soon vanished when the movie started with a song that was forced into it. The credits were not rolling while the song was on. The song was pinned there for the heck of it. An unintroduced and over-enthusiastic Shahid and Genelia were tapping their foot to glory and there was no hint of beginning credits. After 3 full minutes the song ended and then the movie credits began which took another 7 minutes. That itself gave me a hint that the movie would turn out bad and I should have listened to the reviews.

Coming to the movie, the intent was there. There was a thought in process, of showing a middle-class guy who moves to Mumbai from Delhi much against his dad’s wish, to become an actor….NO… a dancer… NO… a star …. NO …. a hero. What??? I mean, what did Sameer want to become? Neither the director was clear on it, nor the screenwriters. I think the guy, Sameer, had a great sense of music, could shake his feet to rhythmic beats, and so he was labelled a good dancer. But in actuality, he wanted to achieve stardom and that would be possible only if he became a hero, not an actor but a hero. This is exactly where the movie messed up. If the guy wanted to become a hero, the director should have shown him accepting side characters or smaller roles of some kind. If the guy wanted to become a dancer, the director should have shown him as a support dancer in some dance troupe. But I think he wanted to become a star. So, why movie? Sameer even prays to Michael Jackson at the start of the movie. But MJ was no actor or hero, yet he was a star…superstar!

Moving on, I dropped the question and watched further in utter dismay. The non-existent romance between Genelia and Shahid, much as the director tried to convince us of the blossoming love, it was painful to watch. When Shahid uttered the three magical words to Genelia, in slow breath I uttered my own three magical words – WTF! There was no warmth, no magic, no feelings and definitely no chemistry.

If you thought that Shahid-Genelia romance was incredible, just wait to see the school boys lift the dance trophy. After being out-of-job and out-of-pay, Shahid takes up a job of being a dance teacher in Model High School. But the inane sequences that follow makes you sympathise with Shahid and how he was stuck in a film that had no script, just a few scenes stitched together in a rag-tag movie. The manner in which he encourages the students and teaches them to dance was another teeth-grinding experience.

The only believable bits of the movie was his interaction with Mohnish Behl as Rajiv Sharma, a director of repute who decides to launch Shahid after watching him dance in a club. But his verbal contract with Shahid was as beguiling as was his reality show for a talent hunt. The script was so half baked that the director did not even show a few genuine contenders in the reality show, it was Shahid all the way. Had this movie been a YRF production with UC as lead or Rakesh Roshan movie with Hrithik in the lead, everyone would have termed it as self-promotion. But since it was a Ken Ghosh movie, people will forgive and forget easily. The entire movie was laid out to portray Shahid and his dancing skills, nothing else. All scenes were built around to showcase Shahid. And frankly, he is no Amitabh Bachchan or Akshay Kumar or either of the Khans to carry a movie entirely on his shoulders. Shahid’s antics neither make you laugh nor excite you.

But the biggest letdown of the movie was its music. Some un-inspired music with some more un-inspired lyrics was a recipe for disaster. Adnan Sami should stick to melody, please ask him to compose few more tunes like ‘Tera Chehra’ and ‘Lucky’, and leave the hip-hop stuff to others like Pritam and SEL.Coming to the acting department, Shahid was good in bits. Genelia has a long way to go in acting. To start with, she must first improve on her accent and pronunciations; and then the tone of her voice. Her dialogue delivery was quite irritating, I had disliked her in JTYJN; but the screenplay of JTYJN was able to hide all her flaws. Mohnish Behl was clealry in a haste, I think being-busy could have been shown better. And his character was uni-dimensional, that could have been altered to the movie’s advantage. But then, as I earlier said, no thought has gone into the writing.

I call it a wasted opportunity because the movie could have been so much more. There was a perfect platform set for an expose of reality shows and talent hunts, but the writers did not explore that. The struggle could have been a little more realistic than living out of a suitcase or making a home out of a car or showering in a school washroom. And re-gaining lost glory by making the school students win the trophy could have been handled with more humanity and spirit than some cheeky comments like ‘girls love guys who dance’. The falling apart and coming together of father-son was again forced into the movie to show some bonding where it was not required. And the choregrapher and a struggler falling in love could have been handled with some subtlety and believable romance than a chance meetings time and again. Everything was cliched and predictable, from Shahid not getting to debut in the movie to him winning the contest. It was neither interesting nor entertaining.  Another failed attempt by Ken Ghosh.

After getting out of the theatre, the only thing I recalled was Shahid’s lungi ad. That was the only genuinely funny moment when they show a small memory-capsule, Shahid’s shooting for AirTime lungi with the tagline ‘easy flow’. How I wished the movie too had adopted the tagline of the ad, instead of making it such an excruciating watch!

This post was first published on PFC

 

kaminey : movie review and first feelers

this is one movie i have been waiting for and its finally gonna release tomorrow. looking forward to seeing shahid after a long time and vishal’s direction is the talk of the town. the songs have already created a buzz and now the movie. i am quite sure the movie will be a ‘dhan-te-nan’ stuff. the first review is out and the movie seems to be excellent. here are the first feelers

Once in a particularly blue moon, comes a film that makes you wolf-whistle. One that then ties you to the edge of your seat and forcibly pins you there and pounces on you, eventually leaving you sitting in the dark, drained and grinning and more satisfied than a film has any business leaving you.

the reviewer is extremely happy with the movie, its theme and the presentation. check this

Yet before getting into the breakneck chaos, it is this unapologetic figure-it-out stance that we must initially applaud. Too often are our caper films and thrillers compromised by oversimplification and spoonfeeding, by filmmakers believing audiences need things spelt out and giving them bite-sized flashbacks to easily digest each twist. No more, says Bhardwaj, throwing us a delicious jigsaw and letting things fall into place in their own sweet time.

i would love to put more excerpts, but its better u read the review here
another reviewer starts off his review with these words

When was the last time you came out of a film wishing you could go back in and watch it again immediately so the excitement in your stomach stays longer?

he goes on to praise the movie and the genre that it falls in

It’s an unpredictable crime drama that combines violence and dark humor in a manner that’s reminiscent of the films of Quentin Tarantino, Guy Ritchie and the Coen Brothers. And yet Kaminey is so original and inventive in the manner in which it takes Bollywood’s favorite formula – twin brothers – and turns it on its head.

last of my excerpts

The real strength of Kaminey is its writing. The non-linear screenplay is filled with unfamiliar twists and confusing turns that are likely to baffle you along the way; yet they’re all neatly tied up and culminate in a thrilling climax which is violent and comical in equal parts.

read the entire review by clicking here

do watch the movie, i am sure it will be fenfational, fuperb, fexy and fatak.

 

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!