Monday, September 15, 2008

Rock On!!

Smartly directed!! Magnificently performed!! Briliantly orchestrated!!

It's the story of four friends, the lead guitarist Joe (Mascarenhas), vocalist Adi (Aditya Shroff), Rob (Nancy) with his keyboards & KD aka Killer Drummer (Kedar Zaveri) whose dream was to launch a music album of their group that they called Magik with the motto 'nobody will takeover'! But alas when opportunity came of releasing their album, first the reality bite from the music company's executives and secondly the growing ego clash between Joe & Adi broke their dream and their group in one crushing blow.

10 years went by and we find the four friends diverted to different careers. Aditya, now a married man and a workaholic, never reveals his past and his true inner self to his wife. Rob now works as a composer in the commercials, KD, the jolliest of the four, assists his father in his jewellery business. The dreamer Joe is running a store for musical instruments and his wife Debbie, is running the family business of fish trading to counter the financial crisis of the family.

But a curious turn of fate brought the four frendz face to face and it was up to them to decide whether or not Magik can be rekindled. For this Rob has to fight against his cancerous tumour, Joe & Adi must wipe out their differences, Joe must choose between Magik & his family and KD must keep the spirits high for the group.

Arjun Rampal as Joe is superb and though he has very limited dialogues but his expressions were perfect to convey the emotions of the true dreamer, I think I've never seen him acting with so much passion before. Shahana Goswami, portraying Debbie, also shows a marvelous performace and I can say for sure that we have another of the like of Konkona Sensharma coming up in her. Next to mention is Farhan Akhtar, debutant in acting, though a seasoned director and also a fine singer. His characterization of Adi was just perfect for the role. Luke Kenny (Rob) and Purab Kohli (KD) are also outstanding in their performances, the former depicting what true love to music means and the latter breathing relief to the movie. Last but not the least mention must be made of the performer in the background, the genius of Shankar Ehsan Loy whose 'Magik'al touch is the best gift of this production.

The story is simple and will touch all the deep chords in ur heart and if u've ever lost a dear frend in ur life......................hope he is also watching this movie so that one day when opportunity arrives u can use all the lessons composed by Rock On to repair the broken wires and tune up once again to the music that is being played in ur heart!

Saradindu Omnibus Vol I

It was with a thrill that I took up this volume as I was trying to find some stimulant to freshen up my damped mood. It was neary a decade that I re-read the stories but as usual it was a pleasant experience.

The content, as all the fans of Byomkesh and the author know by heart, runs as
1. Satyanwesi
2. Pather Kanta
3. Seemanta Heera
4. Makorshar Rash
5. Arthamanartham
6. Chorabali
7. Mrityuban
8. Upasanhar
9. Raktamukhi Neela
10. Byomkesh O Barda
11. Chitrachor
12. Durgarahasya
13. Chiriakhana

The super-sleuth (as Shri Sukumar Sen has aptly termed him in the introduction) of Bengali crime-fiction saw its culmination in Byomkesh Bakshi, the best detective ever created by a Bengali author, in my opinion. The thirteen cases penned by his companion Ajit Bandyopadhyay takes us through some exciting puzzles and murder mysteries that required the super brain of Byomkesh to solve. The author Saradindu Bandyopadhyay has never tried to portray his most famous creation as a superman but Byomkesh has been projected much like an ordinary Bengali guy but with a keen intellect that distinguished him from the others. The Byomkesh stories were woven on the fabric of the Bengali social structure and so never had it lost the realistic touch. Also the author has never compromised to use his literary talents to enrich the text but never for once had he been carried away and left the reader miles from the actual plot. The simpleness of the story telling and the distinctive features of the crimes have made these jewels of both crime fiction and Bengali literature as a whole.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Hari Koreche Pratigya

A drama by Sandipan directed by Kajal Chakraborty who also plays the part of the chief protagonist of the narrative.

The story is about Hari, who under the guise of domestic servants is always on the lookout to steal his master's jewelleries for his sweetheart Kusum so as to win him over from his rival Jata, another wooer of Kusum. But Kusum's craving for jewellery is neverending and so Hari is found to switch his job and his name to meet Kusum's needs. But Hari's inner self begins to protest and finally we find him at the crossroads where he gets confused to choose between the life of a common thief and the ascetic.

The chief part of the drama is humorous but the problem is that the entire presentation is marred with a very feeble direction, and loosely woven sequences. Added to this is the inadequate use of background score and stage lighting. The entire performance can only be labelled as average though the individual acting of Mr. Chakraborty as well as the persons playing the role of Janardan and Panu (& the eununch) are excellent.

Monday, September 08, 2008

Maan Gaye Mughal-E-Azam

A situational comedy starred by a fascinating cast of Paresh Rawal, Kay Kay Menon, Rahul Bose, Mallika Sherawat, Zakeer Hussain, Tanaz Currim and Pawan Malhotra about how a drama company going by the name of Kalakar Natak Company saves a city from bomb blasts under the supervision of a RAW Agent, Arjun Rastogi.
The story revolves around the central plot of preventing a severe bomb blast masterminded by an underworld Don operating from Dubai. As RAW gets the information they starts immediate action but a blow to them comes when they discover that the agent appointed for the case is actually a double agent and is helping the terrorists. Then it is upto Arjun who uses the members of Kalakar Natak Company to help him protect the city.
Paresh Rawal is fascinating in his role as Udayshankar Mazumdar, the lead actor and a timid person in heart who rises to the occassion to take responsibility at the risk of his life to save his country. Kay Kay Mennos is also wonderful in his role of a gazal singer cum double agent and though his appearance is brief but he too breathes life to the movie. Mention must be made of Tanaz Currim who, with her distinct dialect, adds a special attraction. Pawan Malhotra is also nice, playing the part of a local goon and playing it correctly while Zakeer Hussain also plays his brief part succinctly. Mallika & Rahul, they are good, but it could have been better still!

Hijack

A hollywood style action packed drama reminding of 'Executive Decision' during the early parts and starring Shainey Ahuja and Esha Deol.

The story starts with the news that a terrorist group under the guidance of the mysterious Abdullah is will be trying to recover Rashid, another con man who had been captured by the police earlier. For this the terrorists stage a skyjack and in the process holds several people as hostages and starts killing them one by one as time passes without the Govt. avoiding their demands. Among the hostages was the little Priya, the daughter of Vikram Madan, the ex-pilot, now a demoted chief of maintenance, who had eralier lost his wife in another air-hijacking. Coincidentally the hijacked plane lands in the port where Vikram was currently stationed and thus began Vikram's ploy of rescuing his daughter and ensuring safety of the other passengers. In this, he is assisted by Saira, the air-hostess and together they carry out their plan to save the passengers and Priya.

The movie contains a good twist near its end and the first half is really quite exciting but the end is abrupt and oversimplified during certain sequences. Also it contains certain unnecessary songs that dilutes the main flow of the movie.