Paan Singh Tomar - Flawless Performance

"The marathon is a charismatic event. It has everything. It has drama. It has competition. It has camaraderie. It has heroism. Every jogger can't dream of being an Olympic champion, but he can dream of finishing a marathon." - Fred Lebow

Cut the damned wind, bring rythm to the breathing, sharp pain run through the legs, every stride reminds of the distance to be covered, and the passion pushing you towards the finish line and then it happened, I finished my first ever International Mararthon in 2004 followed by six more later.


Am I lucky? or am I Lucky? Both the passions of my life offered together at the same time and it was an awesome threesome session for 2 hours and 15 minutes. Me, Marathon and Movies.

Even flawless has flaw in it, but not Irrfan Khan's performance as Paan Singh Tomar, A farmer turned an Indian Army soldier turned seven times National champion in steeplechase turned notorious dacoit. Irrfan is perfect as an Indian Army soldier, long distance athlete and as the dreaded dacoit. The transformation from an athlete (who created records and broke his own records in Indian and International Games) to a dacoit in rusty look just blows your mind. His expressions are priceless as his eyes does most of the acting. You will not be able to take your eyes off him as Irrfan gets into the character.



Some of the scenes leave a lasting impression. One of the best scenes is when Irrfan does a steeplechase alongwith horses. And the movement of his fingers everytime he runs reminding that the athlete is still alive in him.


Irrfan has raised the bar to an all time high. Will Farhan Akhtar be able to meet the standards as Milkha Singh is a thing to watch out for. Tigmanshu Dhulia and Irrfan complement each other with the Director narrating the story with great control and the talented genius portraying the various shades of the unsung Indian sports hero. Mahie Gill as Irrfan's wife does justice to her role. Exquisite narration of the story with a neat blend of drama, humour and tragedy has also earned a place and praises for the movie in British Film Institute London Film Festival.

The regional dialect with some of the superb lines fit the rusty look of the Chambal valley.. Watch Irrfan deliver these lines with great comfort.At the end of the movie you will be left wanting more from this talented genius. Wish we get to see more from this gifted actor.


Abhi bina waqat barbaad kiye, Paan Singh Tomar dekhne chalo, kaho hau

 

Midnight in Paris - Makes your day

Il n’y a que deux endroits au monde où l’on puisse vivre heureux:  chez soi et à Paris.

(There are only two places in the world where we can live happy:  at home and in Paris.)

                                                                                         -  Ernest Hemingway


The 76 year old magician is back with his most successful commercial movie of his career. Woody Allen is a treasure in the world of movies. He is an accomplished Actor, Director, Screenwriter, Comedian, Musician, and Playwright (how many do you know who is all of these?)

Owen Wilson as Gil is a Hollywood screenwriter who comes on a trip to Paris with his gorgeous fiancee Inez (Rachel McAdams) and her parents. While strolling alone in the city, an antique vehicle rolls up and its occupants urge him to join them. He travels back in time with them to a party where he encounters F Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway and Cole Porter – and falls in love with Pablo Picasso's mistress Adriana (Marion Cotillard). As he moves back and forth in time, the comic timing of Woody Allen's sophisticated witty storyline is fun to watch.




The grandeur of Paris, accomplished artists of the yore are captured with finesse. Woody Allen handles the story with great control to find a logical end to the fantasy in this Rom-Com. A well deserved Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.

Watch the talented Woody Allen narrate a light hearted Oscar nominated romcom Midnight in Paris which will make your day.

Hugo - Magic of movies

For the love of movies, Hugo is a tribute to the makers of early cinema and for their pure creativity. 


Martin Scorsese moving away from his usual gangster flicks creates magic on screen with a simple story of a kid (Hugo) who lives in Paris raliway station winding all the clocks at the station. Hugo has to repair a remarkable automation and a next level to cinema special effects in post world war 1 era with the help of its creator Ben Kingsley

If you thought Martin Scorsese can only do magic on screen with gangster flicks, think again. If you have patience to watch a movie for 2 hours you are in for a visual treat with an extravaganza of colours and special effects in 3D. Watch it for the love of movies and you will know why they won 5 Oscars this year in technical category.

Moneyball - Statistics aint everything

En Vazhi Thani Vazhi

                         - SUPERSTAR Rajni

Leaders tread the unwalken while, followers follow the beaten path. The cut throat business of the national game of America called Baseball, where players are sold and bought at the wink of eye between teams (I see this happeing in IPL very soon). 

In Moneyball, Brad Pitt plays Billy Beane, 44 year old general manager of the underfunded Oakland Athletics team(also called A's). Jonah Hill, an economist from Yale(who has never played baseball), comes with an idea of creating a team of individuals who have a proven track as per his STATISTICAL ANALYSIS but other teams think otherwise about these players. Watching the movie was more like a deja vu with my superboss, an American return, and his crazy idea of increasing business only by statistical methods and manual intervention a clear no-no .....God bless America for this crazy idea and God save my company.....

The players are bought at cheap rates and they go on to win a straight 20 games creating an American League record with their uncenventional team and method of buying the team. But in the end remember that they never won the final game (Just what I fear whats gonna happen to my company and will be more than happy if proven wrong)


Watch Brad Pitt in his Oscar nominated role and Jonah Hill do justice to their roles in this biographical sports drama.

Oscar 2012 - Laughter is back

He's back for the 9th time. He yells at the top of his voice in a silent movie, smooches George Clooney, imitates as the baseball coach, hangs out with Justin Bieber, barges into the ladies room, jumps out of Al Burj better than Tom Cruise, renames Kodak Theater as Chapter 11 theater. And you know the magic has begun. That's the talented Billy Crystal for you.

After James Franco and Anne Hathway had dried up the jokes out of Oscars last year, it was a relief to have the dependable Billy Crystal again. The laughter was back. The Academy Award veteran in his signature style breaks into a song and dance routine and then makes you laugh out loud before concluding his opening speech "Nothing takes the sting out of a recession like watching millionaires present each other with gold statues."

Chris Rock, Gwyneth Paltrow, Emma Stone, Robert Downey Jr were a good competition to Billy with their wit and comic timing.

As customary I was awake early to watch svelte chics sway on the Red Carpet in their designer wear. And believe you me its a treat to eyes.






The 84th year of the Academy Awards and many records galore:

Kodak Theater has been renamed as Hollywood and Highland center

The Artist is the first Silent movie to win an Oscar post World War I. The last silent movie to win an oscar was in 1929 called "Wings". As I had predicted earlier, it was a Silent kill with The Artist winning all the major awards, Best Actor, Best Director, Best Original Score, Best Film and Best Costumer Design.

 



Meryl Streep was nominated for the 17th time (many actors donot even last 17 movies) and won her 3rd Oscar for The Iron Lady(after losing for 12 times in a row) to join the club with Jack Nicholson,Ingrid Bergman and Walter Brennan. It was the moment to enjoy when she said "When they called my name, I had this feeling I could hear half of America go, 'Oh, no, why her again?' But whatever"

 




It was fun to watch 2 elderly people reunite when the 82 year old  immensely talented Christopher Plummer (of Sound of Music fame), the oldest acting winner for "Beginners", said 

"You are only 2 years older than me darling, where have you been all these years".

Woody Allen won his fourth Oscar after being nominated for a record 23 times.
And it was no surprise when all the Technical awards went to Martin Scorsese's "Hugo"

 
 84th year at the Oscars and as always the best was recognized

Best Picture: 'The Artist.'

Best Actor: Jean Dujardin, 'The Artist.'

Best Actress: Meryl Streep, 'The Iron Lady.'

Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer, 'Beginners.'

Best Supporting Actress: Octavia Spencer, 'The Help.'

Best Director: Michel Hazanavicius, 'The Artist.'

Best Foreign Language Film: 'A Separation,' Iran.

Best Adapted Screenplay: Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, 'The Descendants.'

Best Original Screenplay: Woody Allen, 'Midnight in Paris.'

Best Animated Feature Film: 'Rango.'

Best Art Direction: 'Hugo.'

Best Cinematography: 'Hugo.'

Best Sound Mixing: 'Hugo.'

Best Sound Editing: 'Hugo.'

Best Original Score: 'The Artist.'

Best Original Song: 'Man or Muppet' from 'The Muppets.'

Best Costume Design: 'The Artist.'

Best Documentary Feature: 'Undefeated.'

Best Documentary Short: 'Saving Face.'

Best Film Editing: 'The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.'

Best Makeup: 'The Iron Lady.'

Best Animated Short Film: 'The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore.'

Best Live Action Short Film: 'The Shore.'

Best Visual Effects: 'Hugo.'

See you next year, same time, same place. Till then have fun at the movies.

BAFTA 2012 - The Artist rules

The 65th British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) was held on 12 February 2012 at the Royal Opera House in London.


It was a clean sweep by "The Artist" team as they turned black and white to gold.

Best Film : The Artist

Best Director : Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist)

Best Actor - Male : Jean Dujardin (The Artist)

Best Cinematography : Guillaume Schiffman (The Artist)

Best Original Screenplay : Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist)

Best Original Music: Ludovic Bource (The Artist)

Best Costume Design : Mark Bridges (The Artist)

 

Best Actor -Female : Meryl Streep (The  Iron Lady) 

Best Supprting Actor - Male : Christopher Plummer (Beginners)

Best Supprting Actor - Female : Octavia Spencer (The Help)

Best Editing : Senna

Best Animated Film: Rango 

Orange Rising Star Award : Adam Deacon

The Artist - Silence is Golden

‘मौनं सर्वार्थ साधिके’ - Silence has the power to convey all meanings.

Its been proven since ages by Charlie Chaplin in 1940 in "The Great Dictator", Mel Brooks in 1976 in "The Silent Movie", Kamal Hassan in 1987 in "Pushpak" or "Pushpaka Vimana" that Silence is Golden and Old is Gold.

Its a reminder by the extremely talented Jean Dujardin and Michel Hazanavicius that they can sweep away all the awards without uttering a single word. After a clean sweep at the BAFTAs, get ready they might even rule at the Oscars.

After watching the movie, the only thought on my mind was that The Artist is a pure form of movie unblemished by nuances of the current talkie movies. A perfect tribute to the era of black & white and Silent movies.

 

 Jean Dujardin as George Valentin, the dashing and handsome superstar of Silent Movies in 1927 and Bérénice Bejo as Peppy Miller, a dancing extra in silent movies and the future superstar of the Talkie movies grace the screen with great passion and make you laugh, feel angry, cry, fall in love, sulk and then jump  in joy with their delightful expressions.

Michel does magic on the screen with his simple but exquisite narration of a simple lovestory and the ups and downs in the life of a movie superstar backed by the music score by Ludovic Bource. One of the best sequences in the movie is how George and Peppy fall in love during the successive retakes of a dance sequence. Believe you me, its witty, charming and makes you fall in love with the bygone era.

For the Love of movies - The Artist is a real masterpiece. Dont miss it when it hits the theaters