Random Musings

Have seen three movies recently. Waqt, Bunty aur Babli and Parineeta.

Waqt was a decent attempt. Some semblance of a story which carried through the movie. As expected, a good performance by Amitabh, and a smart one by Akshay Kumar. They seem to have good chemistry, they have had some good performances together. The story was not substantial. There were too many holes. But in present famine times (in terms of getting good movies), the effort was okay.

I had much more hope from Bunty aur Babli. The promos generated good interest. Seemed like it would be a smart one, with Abhishek and Rani pitted against AB Sr. Well, as it turned out, it was a damp squib. Well, at least it disappointed, against the expectations that were generated. There were some high points – a few energetic and well picturised songs (Kajarare kajarare, dhadhak dhadhak to name a couple), sincere performances by the three stars. But where it badly hurt was in the main execution. It is supposed to be a film of con game and chase. These two are the main pillars of the story. And neither were shown with any degree of conviction. The con game was shown of a very amateurish standard. No serious planning or execution shown. And the chase was almost non-existent. The chase part was restricted to Amitabh mouthing some high sounding dialogues. But no real thinking-outthinking kind of chases, of the kind that we have seen in movies like “Catch Me If You Can”, for example. So all in all, it was a big let down.

The best of the three movies, was the last one that I saw, Parineeta. Clearly the most effort put into the movie, amongst the three referred here. A lot of work has gone in to make it look authentic of the times – 1960s Calcutta. The “Oh Calcutta” factor, with Moulin Rouge, Flurrys, the period train to Darjeeling with the Raj hangover still to be seen, were very well picturised. Saif Ali comes up with a creditable performance. A serious role, playing the lead for once, he does a good job. The new girl, Vidya Balan, is also good. Although Vinod Chopra has only produced the film, and not directed it, there appears to be his stamp on the film. At least as far as making the new girl look good. I remember Manisha Koirala’s transformation from a gawky awkward girlish look in Saudagar, to a phenomenally beautiful and matured look, in 1942- A Love Story. Likewise, cannot forget Priety Zinta, singing Bhumro Bhumro, in Mission Kashmir. That look had the director’s touch written all over it. Vidya Balan has been made to come out equally impressive here. If it is Pradeep Sarkar who has created that character, then hat’s off to him to. Sanjay Dutt does not have much of a role and his small bit is done without much ado. The best part is the story. Being adapted from a famous work of literature, there is certainly a depth to it. So that part is taken care of. However that still needs a screenplay to convert the novel to a feature film, especially to adapt an original 1930s story, to one of the 1960s. That is done very creditably.

Not quite a classic, and certainly not as ostentatious as Devdas (same author, similar theme, similar sets, period, etc.), it is still decent value for money, and 2.5 hours well spent! But surely, there is a famine at this time – good movies are hard to come by, very few and far between.. !