Ferocity (Hindi)

Animal (Hindi) blew my mind, not because of the level of violence (given Manga and Tarantino we have seen worse) but the attempt at opening up a raw genre of Punjabi gangster-Industrialist movie that shows raw use and abuse of power. Rannvijay (Ranbir Kapoor) channels his inner animal into gratuitous violence - the raison d etre being an unfulfilled "daddy issue" - trying to win his father's affection - but who knows...? Estrangement, an ambiguous moral code, an easy descent into violence, even against one's wife (Geetanjali) and manipulation (Zoya). An unusually unique attempt by Sandeep Reddy Vanga to bring out the best and the worst in a man - you will relate to Rannvijay, occasionally gasp at his behavior, maybe even want to reach out and help... he is an unstoppable force and the only thing that ties him down however frugally are his father and his children

16/20

Flagging Race

Race 2 moves fast, entices, glitters with Jacqueline Fernandez and Deepika Padukone glam, but does not captivate. Ranvir Singh (Saif Ali Khan) is on a  revenge trip against Turkish don Armaan Malik (John Abraham), but whether Armaan’s girlfriend Omisha (Jacqueline Fernandez) and sister Elena (Deepika Padukone) are friend or foe, are to be determined over the course of the movie’s many twists and turns. In the end, Race 2 is an entertainer that does not quite live up to its hype

11/20

Another Mission Possible

Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) begins Mission Impossible – Ghost Protocol with a little help from his friends in getting out of a Russian prison. However, on a subsequent routine if difficult assignment in Russia, things go awry, and the IMF suddenly finds itself under Ghost Protocol – disavowed at the best of times, they are now on their own and behind enemy lines. Under the circumstances, the prospect of thwarting a warmonger’s evil plans to trigger a nuclear apocalypse seem remote indeed. Something that will necessitate a trip to Dubai and – hold your breath – Mumbai – to get things moving. This MI edition will stick in your memory for two distinct reasons. One is the Burj Khalifa – the tallest building in the world – and some rather unforgettable feats related to the same. The other is our very own Anil Kapoor in a meaningful if comic role. Overall, in the copybook thriller mould, Mission Impossible – Ghost Protocol does not disappoint, but does not attempt any transmogrification of the genre either 13.5/20

Thanks for All the Fuss

Slumdog Millionaire, for all the great cinematography, does not really capture the essence of Mumbai. Plenty of Indian movies capture the true stigma of poverty, or the true horror of the underworld, far better. Let us for a moment give Danny Boyle the artistic license, and run through the vignettes here. The depiction of poverty is a sham. The rioting is unconvincing. The beggary racket is trite and equally unconvincing. The fact that each answer coincidentially relates to each (painful) vignette in the life of the protagonist is a cruel joke? Is this even a movie worth making a fuss about? There is great cinematography, but in the end I feel sorry for the legions of Indian directors, unwept unhonoured and unsung, whose far better portrayals of Mumbai go unnoticed simply because they lack the "brand" of a Danny Boyle. If this movie is worth four Golden Globes, some of our movies of 2008 are worth at least as many Oscars

PS: The BBC's Soutik Biswas seems to echo my thoughts - saw this link on 25th Jan 2009: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7843960.stm

Rated 10.5/20