The Godfather

As I started reading the novel for the 1st time, I just couldn’t help comparing it with the film version that I had already viewed innumerable times. So everytime I came across the characters of Vito Corleone, Michael Corleone, Tom Hagen, etc. I just couldn’t keep my mind searching for the image as portrayed respectively by Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, Robert Duvall, etc. This continued till I came to Book III of the novel where I could tear myself from the comparison and could really concentrate on Mario Puzo’s creations.
The story revolves around the family of Vito Corleone, an underworld Don of New York who was forced to escape from his hometown at Sicily at a very young age following the murder of his father. In New York he took refuge in a rented home and started a family of his own. But fortune prevented him from a respectable living as he was forced to leave his job by a local underworld lord. Pretty soon he met the daring Peter Clemenza and the shrewd Sal Tessio and they introduced him to the world of smuggling at a very early age. Vito took the job in a fearless heart and very soon felt that the entire operation lacked proper organization. Meanwhile the local don intervened and tried to put a tax on their earnings. This infuriated Vito and very cleverly he staged the don’s murder and earned the respect of the entire area. This proved to be a turning point in his career as once the murder was committed he automatically managed to instill fear on the minds of his acquaintances. Thus began his illustrated career as Don Corleone in the underworld that culminated in his being held as the undisputed Mafia boss of the New York gambling circuit.
But problems arose in the form of mob war that included the infamous Five (Mafia) Families and the Corleones in their dealings with the upcoming illegal trade of narcotics, the future of smuggling. As Don Corleone refused his help in its introduction, attempt was made on his life that sparked the mob war which led to several members of the Corleone Family including Sonnie, the eldest son of Don Corleone getting killed in the way and Michael, the youngest son, being forced to leave New York. Thus Don Corleone was compelled to come to an agreement on giving security to the narcotic trade and made the return of Michael easy enough though a further attempt on his life could not be prevented that cost Michael to lose his first wife and sealed his destiny to become the next Don, inheriting his father's business. With Michael’s return the Corleone family started consolidating on their massacred empire and in the process many new faces like Rocco Lampone, Al Neri were given more responsibilities. Once the groundwork was done the family planned to move to Nevada and thus the strategist Michael planned for a deathly blow to the enemy. Traitors were identified and killed. The structure of the family was given a new shape. The security was strengthened and Michael was directed by the great Don before he himself passed away. Thus the Corleone family was once again on the verge of supreme power and the readers are kept glued to the words till the very climax.
The author has not only excelled in his description of the operation of the underworld but also the few places where he had detailed the gruesome murders, keep the reader horrified at the brutality of the underworld. But amidst the cruelties of the Mafia world, strangely the Sicilian’s love for their family makes a surprising contrast to this gory atmosphere and I nioticed that families have been given the 1st priority in any dealings. This shows the bondage of the members of the Sicilian Mafia families and their aim of a secured and powerful community for their children.At places, the author has introduced sub-plots involving Johny Fontane and Nino Valenti, Lucy Mancini and Jules Segal, Al Neri, who were closely related to the Corleone family, and in some of these the reader may find a bit disracted. Also portions revealing the more personal life of the characters could have been shortened, if not omitted altogether, that wouldn't have caused any harm to the actual theme.

Khela

A Rituparno Ghosh directed film on a fresh and original storyline with a fitting cast of Prasenjit, Raima Sen, Manisha Koirala and the little Akashneel Mukherjee with an appropriate guest appearance by Rupa Gangopadhyay. Though the story is a fresh one but its effects are only volatile and although the audience won’t feel bored during the viewing of the movie but will refrain to bring it as a part of any serious conversational topic.
The main story is about a movie director, Raja Bhowmick, who apparently can go upto any extreme to recruit his ideal cast. This is made evident by the fact that even though the production finalizes on the child actor to play the lead role in his next movie, Raja carries on his search for a better and a more ideal person. Thus he meets Abhiroop, a primary school-goer whom he feels can play the character correctly but is met with the obstacles while convincing the parents. But fortune favours him as Abhiroop, obviously thrilled by the idea of casting in a movie, hatches a plan of his own kidnapping and requests Raja to take him away fro the six-week long shooting. Raja is at first not so convinced but his perfectionist mind get the better of him and he carries Abhiroop from the his school to the movie site though assuring the child leave a note to his parents about his plans.
A sub-plot also evolves where we find Raja leaving his wife, Sheela, at his sister’s house for the sake of the movie. Here the selfishness of Raja is felt clearly as we find that though Sheela craves for a proper family life with children but Raja always shies away by the mere thought of it.
Thus begins the sequences of film shooting interspersed with a series of flashbacks featuring Raja and Sheela’s married life. These episodes end with the boy running a high fever towards the end of the shooting schedule and the simultaneous arrival of Sheela’s draft for the divorce suite with Raja. Thus as the shooting crew leaves for home, Raja is left alone with the bed-ridden Abhiroop and the decision for his future conjugal status. Though the film ends in a happy note but certain small details remain unexplored.The little Akashneel plays a very jolly role and deserves special mention as also Manisha Koirala in her touching characterization of Sheela Bhowmick. Raima Sen also plays her part nicely though the requirement of her role remains a mystery to me. The best point to note is that Prasenjit, if can be handled by a good director, can portray a very realistic image of the character he plays.

Apsara Theatrer Mamla

A not so very well known but quite intriguing Satyajit Ray’s Feluda story based on mysterious disappearances and murders of stage actors tuned to the rhyme of today’s scenario by Charbak and directed by none other than Sabyasachi Chakrabarty who plays the lead character of Feluda. The play may be thought of as a tribute to the golden days of the Bengali theatre projecting the devotion of the artists as a part of its theme. Though the essential facts remained the same as the original story but sub-plots relating the producer’s desire of selling up the Apsara Theatre to an estate promoter much against the determined wishes of the performers and the director has been added, as has been the inclusion of female characters in important roles, a rarity in Feluda stories.
The main theme is a sudden disappearance of the lead actor of the Apsara Theatre followed by a murder of the replacement after three months thus considerably jeopardizing the proposed show schedule. Several motives evolve and Feluda is held in confusion to the real identity of the criminal. I won’t give away the story but will surely point out that two equally significant motives have been introduced that was not in the original story. The play is not only an entertaining watch for the Feluda lovers but also serious critics may find in equally enjoyable. Special mention must be made of Kheyali Dastidar, who not only plays a character that was not in the original story, but plays it better than all the others. Sujit Ghosh, playing the character of the greedy producer, is also a new addition to the plot but he also is superb in his role. The third best performance, according to me, is by Subir Roychoudhuri as Jatayu who excels in his role and I think Sandip Ray can now think seriously of casting him as Lalmohan for any upcoming Feluda movie. The stage and the scene plans are also superb that is best noticed in the scene where the murder takes place in a dark lane in front of a taxi. Light has been expertly used to project the various moods of the story as it progresses. On the whole, a pleasant watch and a nice tribute to the golden past of the Bengali theatres.

Mere Baap Pehle Aap

Normally a Priyadarshan movie with Paresh Rawal can at once set the audience looking forward to at least two-and-a-half hour of constant laughter. But quite surprisingly fun is not the main theme this time. Priyadarshan’s composition must be given credit as he brings forward a very serious social problem, that of remarriage, and presents it to the audience wrapped up in a package of merriment. Though at places the movie is quite side tracked and main theme unfolds only after an hour but the presentation is nevertheless quite nice. Curiously I can’t say that any of the principle actors have acted wonderfully but the entire presentation is quite good. But even then mention must be made of Nasiruddin Shah who, though makes a guest appearance, but adds to the gravity of the story considerably. Also Archana Puran Singh, playing the part of the lady police officer excels in her role.

Three Men In A Boat

A hilarious novel by Jerome K. Jerome, aptly described by Anthony Armstrong as a comedy full of ‘calculated exaggerations’ in the introduction. This is possibly the most notable contribution of Jerome K. Jerome to English comedy. Actually intended to be a tourist’s guide of the Thames, the humour of the narrative got the best of it and what we received was a priceless piece of literature. It was quite a long time that I re-read the book but the fun seemed more and more fresh as the chapters commenced one by one.
Basically the story centers three friends, George, Harris and the author himself who, bored with their monotonous lifestyle, plans for a fortnight’s boating holiday on the Thames. What follows is a hilarious epic of fun, laughter and mirth that not only freshens the reader’s mind but brings to light the comical side of everyday happenings that remains hidden in the shadow of our apparently serious attitude to life. The beauty of this classical piece is that though set in the background of England, but the theme of the story has surpassed the boundaries of regions and has never gone beyond happenings that are actually quite ordinary and commonplace.The piece is blended with notes of some historical sites along the Thames and vivid description of nature at places adds to the richness of the text.

Jane Bhi Do Yaaro

An enlightening 1983 comedy directed by Kundan Shah featuring Nasiruddin Shah and Ravi Bajwani as two professional photographers, Vinod and Sudhir respectively, trying to set up business in the city of Bombay. But their plan of a successful inauguration of their studio is met with no response from the prospective customers. Thus began their ill lucks in the business till they met Shobha Sen, the editor of a daily 'Khabardar' that is popular in exposing corruptions.
Shobha, played by Bhakti Bharve, appoints them in a covert operation to extract information on the secret dealings between a dishonest builder, Tarneja and the municipal commissioner D'Mello. Also they are asked to keep a lookout for Ahuja, another corrupt builder who is supposed to be a rival of Tarneja. While gathering informations, the photographer duo stumbles upon some snapshots that shows Tarneja killing D'Mello. The duo then launches an investigation on their own but they couldn't locate the corpse.
Meanwhile in a humorous situation we find the coffin containing the corpse is being taken home by the drunk Ahuja while remaining unaware of its actual content. In the meantime Vinod and Sudhir realizes that Shobha is playing for money and so they tries to search for the corpse on their own. But the information of the whearabouts of the corpse reaches all the persons at the same time and it becames the centre of a race where Vinod, Sudhir, Tarneja, Ahuja, Shobha all takes part. The photographers ultimately recovers the body with the others in close pursuit and in order to dodge them, Vinod and Sudhir enters a theatre hall. Situations forces them as well as the others to take part in various scenes of the ongoing drama of Mahabharatha and from thereafter it follows a hilarious episode with the tale of Mahabharatha geting twisted to the great enjoyment of the crowd and at a later stage a part of Salim-Anarkali act being acted in the middle of Mahabharatha.
As police arrives on the scene the photographers explain them about the murder but the end of the movie is a surprise to everybody and it proves to be a classic in the hindi movie world.
At times the humour of the movie seems to be a bit stretched and forced but the clever acting of Nasiruddin Shah and the ever vibrant Satish Shah blended with the natural acting of Om Puri and the finer touches of Pankaj Kapoor, it never is boring and the story & screenplay writers, Sudhir Mishra and Kundan Shah must be praised for the wonderful storyline. This yester year movie is really a cellector's item.