No Smoking

'Quitter's Inc' is one among the triumvirate of stories that constituted Stephen King's 'Cat's Eye', a Hollywood movie released in the mid '80s. Indisputably the entire movie along with the stories comprising it solely belongs to the genre of horror. Nothing of that sort can be said of 'No smoking' despite the fact that it follows the theme of 'Quitter's Inc'. While sticking to the thread of the original story, director Anurag Kashyap instills a taste of India to the whole concept by bringing in elements of aatma, ishwar, nashwar etc in 'No Smoking'. This laborious effort is comparable to what Rakesh Mehra took for his debut movie 'Aks', where it ended up as an inconsequential blend of Hollywood and Indian mythology.
However none of these factors standout in this directorial venture of Anurag Kashyap as much as the Kafkaesque dramatization that he has unabashedly used in his movie. Franz Kafka, one of the most successful writers of the past century, is known to literature aficionados for his ordinary characters that are forced to deal with trying situations which often blurs the division between the real and the imaginary. Even while being incomprehensible to the linear way of our thought, the sufferings that his protagonists have to undergo on those occasions are recognizable as an offshoot of totalitarianism that was prevalent in the twentieth century. Incidentally, no such hints can be deciphered from Kashyap’s movie despite his claim that ‘No Smoking’ is his struggle against the rule by decree that a few bigwigs have imposed on Bollywood. Sure enough, it is no secret that the industry is driven by a few Chopras or Johars or Khans who not only have set a few templates on how any movie should be made but also enjoy the privilege of having a final say in matters concerning Bollywood.
In the movie ‘No Smoking’, the leading character K (yet another ode to Kafka), played by John Abraham is subjected to physical and mental torture of varying degrees simply because he consults a rehabilitation center to curb his smoking. The insistence of his wife and his friends forces K, who is already aware of his hallucinations that comes to him whenever he spends time in his bathtub, to look out for a mystical ‘baba’ and his rehab called ‘prayogshala’ in the middle of a slum in Mumbai. What follows is a series of sequences with an unhealthy mix of reality and fantasy always brinking on the edge of irrationality and absurdity which leaves the audience baffled to a great extend.
The question is, what is the point in releasing such a movie to the public if the filmmaker already knew that the audience will be unable to comprehend what he is trying to convey? If he wanted to say that the system which governs the society would separate one’s ‘aatma’ from him and destroy it for incorporating him to their world, he should have portrayed it without a large number of dreamlike sequences and an unnecessary attempt at bizarre jokes. But, what we get to see is a disoriented and confusing collection of sequences which could have made a statement had they been crafted on a lighter note.

Shootout at Lokhandwala

I was clueless as to why our film makers opt for making period films with the medieval times or the pre-independence era as the back drop.Why not recreate the past two or three decades instead?It was in February 2007 that a movie called 'Black Friday',a docu-fiction depicting the serial bomb blasts of 1993 walked away with much critical acclaim.Shootout at Lokhandwala makes me think that things have finally changed.That it's not much of an issue if a movie is set in the 90's.
'Based on true rumours' is a tag line that prompted me to watch shootout in the first place.With a narrative heavily borrowed from the Robert Redford-Brad Pitt starrer 'spy game',the movie unravels a world of gangsters who went on a killing spree and that of cops who were no different,save for the uniform that they wore.Romours or not,the movie looks as if it were made on the lines of some true incidents.
Director Apoorva Lakhia creates an impression with the movie and so does Vivek Oberoi in his,say,'comeback' role.It's been five years since Oberoi made his debut in company as a gangster and no other role seems to fit him this well.His portrayal of the blood thirsty 'Maya' is proof enough for that.
Lakhia's eye for the finer details leaves the audience with some memorable sequences.Though there is enough drama,the entire shootout is shown pretty much realistically.Eventually what one gets to see is ripped plasters of the walls,doors with innumerable holes,shattered windows;all from the shootout.A nightmare that grips one of the gangsters,arising from his guilt of slaying an innocent family,is shown brilliantly.The scene in which Oberoi lashes out at a man,kicking him out of his upstairs apartment to the ground floor is shot so masterfully that there is no room for errors.But one fails to understands why Oberoi's sidekicks start shooting like maniacs at the public.Sometimes it's the subtle emotions that grips us than a movie's overall look.Amrita Singh deserves a mention for that.As the mother of Oberoi she appears only on three or so scenes but makes them memorable.
In a complete buffoonery of casting,TushaarKapoor plays the role of 'Bua'.Though overshadowed by the character of Oberoi,an actor with a masculine voice and appearance could have made the role of Bua worthwhile.However,when Shobha and Ekta Kapoor are donning the producer's garb one would be surprised if the kid in their family doesn't walk away with a meaty role of that sort.Arbaaz Khan looks out of place in his cop's role.Something that Akshay Kumar should have played,especially since he has teamed up with Sunil Shetty for many movies in the past.Shetty plays the street smart variety of someone in uniform as opposed to the philosophical Arbaaz.Sanjay Dutt towers over the rest of the cast in his portrayal of Khan and the verbal exchange between him and Oberoi is commendable.The Bachhans are reduced to doing cameo and Rohit Roy plays the faint-hearted among the baddies.Diya Mirza looked the part of a television anchor of the 90's but the hint of a smile on her face after each meeting with the police is puzzling.So much so that I began to suspect a love angle between her and the fiery Shetty.Thankfully the director restrained himself from anything of that sort.
There are three songs in the film which does not blend with the mood or the flow of the narrative.The worst of all is that all three of them have the same scenes.I've seen many mainstream Bollywood movies without songs,in the recent past,and was left to wonder as to why the producers insist on having songs even for thrillers.Despite that and some of the scenes which went overboard in their depiction of atrocity,I feel that 'Shootout' is a sincere effort in the genre of action thrillers. .

Big B

I always had nothing but detest for perpetual fans of Malayalam cinema. It arose from the total neglect or ignorance that they have exhibited towards world cinema over the years. It’s because they continue to live in a world of entertainment that the filmmakers of the state have created with substantial help from them. Since the '90s movies made in this part of the world have become overtly burdened with disgustingly stereotypical characters, situations and dialogues. With considerable support from people who choose to have zero access to movies made in languages other than Malayalam, the people who churn out such movies have succeeded in etching certain symbols into the minds of unsuspecting viewers so that these are supposed to be the ingredients of any movie to be made in the local lingo. So we have an array of movies made in the Unni-thatravadu-kindi-montha-dhoti-ma in law-daughter in law-kids-tears-sambar template and we can expect more to follow suit. Therefore, anything different from this framework is expected to evoke wrath in these narrow-minded thick heads and it's in this context that i attempt to review the most sophisticatedly made Malayalam movie of all time-Big B.
I had always found it very difficult to sit through the credits at the beginning of movies made in Malayalam. It always comes up in white against a black or dark blue background (with few variety in the font used) instead of a prologue of the story. Apart from an alteration to this routine, the opening sequence of Big B is so typical that I was prompted to wonder if I had been wrong in my estimation.
But all that was to change with the introduction of the protagonist, played by Mammootty. From then on, debutant director Amal Neerad makes sure that his maiden venture looks like nothing that have ever been made in the movie industry of the State. He might have worked alongside the man who changed the way Bollywood used to make movies, Ram Gopal Varma, for years, but his movie bears an unmistakable stamp of none other than John Woo.An acclaimed cinematographer himself, Neerad uses his camera with such finesse that it brings forth a unique viewing experience in Malayalam cinema. He has drawn inspiration from movies like Hard Target and the resulting super slow motion sequences are so different from those in the rest of the locally made films. The background score is a treat to the ears of those who are fed up with the obscurely monotonous sounds that usually accompany those typical visuals and is the best ever as far as Malayalam films are considered.
Followers of the afore mentioned typical movies may find it hard to digest it but the fact is that Big B is the most stylish movie ever to be made in Malayalam. They may claim that the movie doesn't have a story to tell. And I sincerely don’t know what a story is and as long as a movie is visually stunning the story is what I care about the least. Maybe the hangover of our epics, the Ramayana and The Mahabharata is lingering in these people so that they expect every movie to have such lengthy storyline. I would suggest that they watch a movie like 'Don’t Say a Word’. My mind drew a blank as I tried to imagine the last time i saw a keralite super hero cock a shotgun single-handedly la Schwarzenegger in T2. Mammootty does that in Big B and I couldn't help being elated as I watched it. And I feel that this is the movie that we should show others so that it will speak for itself that this is what we are capable of doing.
Though it is set in Kochi, Big B is not in the league of the cult movie 'Stop Violence' and it's not entirely on the underworld. But it could be rated alongside 'Keerthichakra' for its offbeat treatment.