Fast & Furious 6 (2013) Review by Shivom Oza – Crashes And Burns!

1.5/5 Stars

In this film, all the members of the crew, who had given up the ‘fast and furious’ life post their Rio heist, come together to bring down a mercenary organization, led by British Special Forces soldier Owen Shaw.

The SIXTH film in the ‘Fast & Furious’ series, ‘Fast & Furious 6’ is another example of how the makers are running out of stories to tell.

The only good element about this film was the dialogue. Tyrese Gibson and Ludacris, who play Roman Pearce and Tej Parker respectively, share wonderful camaraderie. The rest of the film is tepid, to put it mildly. Even the car-chase and fight sequences leave a lot to be desired. Not that one should look for logic in a ‘Fast & Furious’ film, but this one is devoid of entertainment as well.

As we had learnt in the end credits of the last film in this franchise, Dominic Toretto’s (Vin Diesel) former girlfriend Letty Ortiz (Michelle Rodriguez), presumably dead, turns out to be alive. In this film, we learn that she has lost all her memory and is now a part of Owen Shaw’s (Luke Ewans) gang.

Owen Shaw, a former British Special Forces soldier, now leads a deadly gang which is causing much trouble for Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) agent Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson).

Hobbs convinces Toretto to join this mission of nabbing Shaw and his gang, by letting him know that Letty’s still alive. Toretto convinces his now-retired friends to take part in this mission and so, they begin their quest to get Letty back.

Although the premise of the film is quite promising, the screenplay is just not gripping enough. There are a couple 7-8 minute car-chase sequences, which really begin to test your patience, as you’ve seen them all before. The action is ridiculously over-the-top (Yes, even for a ‘Fast & Furious’). There’s a scene in which Toretto gets catapulted at least 40-50 metres from his car and he manages to get hold of Letty, who gets thrown out of a speeding vehicle (a TANK, for God’s sake!), mid-air! Of course, both of them conveniently fall atop a bonnet of another car and end up absolutely bruise-free. Such moments were hilarious, rather than thrilling. The one thing that you always look forward to in such a film, which is the soundtrack, also turned out to be a dampener. The movie falls short on all counts. The only saving grace was the final scene, which is the prelude to the next film. There’s a big surprise in store, but it’s too little and too late. Not worth sitting through two hours of the film itself, certainly!

Avoid the film. You’ve seen it all before.

Shivom Oza

Aurangzeb (2013) Review by Shivom Oza – Mughlai Mash-up!

2.5/5 Stars

Arya, an honest Gurgaon-based police officer, sets up a coup in which he replaces a pivotal member of a gang with a look-alike. However, the coup goes kaput!

Although the cast members (Arjun Kapoor, Prithviraj, Jackie Shroff, Rishi Kapoor, Sikander Kher and Amrita Singh among others) have delivered stupendous performances and the cinematography is first-rate, the film falls flat owing to its convoluted screenplay. The writer tries to mix up too many sub-plots and twists, making the film a very complex and an exhausting affair.

Gurgaon-based police officer Arya (Prithviraj) has to choose between following his late father’s (Anupam Kher), who was an honest policeman till fate did him in, ideals and his uncle Ravikant’s, who is an opportunistic head of the police department, crooked ways. Arya chooses the middle path and ends up facing terrible consequences.

Vishal (Arjun Kapoor) is a simpleton living with his widowed mother (Tanvi Azmi) in a far-off town in North India. The mother has faced a lot of troubles in trying to get away from her turbulent marriage, leave one of her children behind, and bring Vishal up for so many years. Vishal joins hands with Arya and his uncle to help eliminate a very powerful gang reigning in Gurgaon. This gang, led by Yashvardhan (Jackie Shroff), is running havoc with multiple corporate deals and abundant money laundering. Yashvardhan has an errant son Ajay (Arjun Kapoor), who happens to look exactly like Vishal.

How the stories of all these characters intertwine is what ‘Aurangzeb’ is all about!

The characters in this film are very well-etched. Arjun Kapoor effortlessly plays an irresponsible and a conniving ruffian (Ajay) with élan, just like he did in his debut film ‘Ishaqzaade’. However, he surprises with his charming performance as the innocent, harmless man caught amongst rogues (Vishal). The man displays great range playing these two diametrically-opposite characters.   

The veterans Jackie Shroff, Rishi Kapoor and Amrita Singh too, deliver top-notch performances. Sasha Aagha delivers a passable performance, playing Arjun Kapoor’s love interest. Her real moment of reckoning, though, is when she belts out the foot-tapping ‘Barbadiyaan’. She is an amazing singer, and should definitely sing more often in the future. As far as performances go, the pick of the lot is Prithviraj. Be it the body language, dialogue delivery or the acting, the South actor enthrals and how! His character is the least-complex among the entire cast, and perhaps that helped the way it transcended on to the big screen.

It is the story that lets the film down. ‘Aurangzeb’ has too many plots, sub-plots, characters and side-characters. The action scenes have been very well-executed, and the premise of the film, based on the real estate-police nexus, is extremely interesting. However, when logic goes out of the window, no amount of slickness can salvage the product.

Director Atul Sabbharwal directs well, but his writing leaves a lot to be desired. ‘Aurangzeb’ is full of crests and troughs. However, the latter outnumber the former.  

Shivom Oza

The Great Gatsby (2013) Review by Shivom Oza – ‘Great’ In The Film’s Title Is Justified!

3.5/5 Stars

An adaption of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 1925 novel of the same name, Baz Luhrmann’s ‘The Great Gatsby’ revolves around the equation between a mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby and his neighbour Nick Carraway.

Although the 3D was quite needless, everything else about the film (visuals, music, performances, subject, dialogues, and screenplay among other notable aspects) is absolutely terrific. The most awesome part about ‘The Great Gatsby’ is that it encapsulates so many elements – love, betrayal, friendship, greed, selflessness, trust, conceit and ambition, in one story. The length may seem a bit long at 2hours 23minutes, but the emphatic climax is worth the wait.

The film starts with a dishevelled-looking Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire), assumed to be an alcoholic, narrating Gatsby’s (Leonardo DiCaprio) story to his psychiatrist.

According to Nick, Gatsby was the most hopeful man that he had ever met. He reminisces about the summer of 1922, when he had recently moved to New York City, and started working as a bond salesman. Nick says that he got himself a small house on Long Island, right next to the grand mansion owned by a certain Mister Gatsby. Having been a witness to his grand and wild parties at his palatial residence, Nick finds himself enamoured by this faceless, mysterious person called Gatsby.

After finally coming face-to-face with him (with a little help from the petite common friend Jordan Baker (Elizabeth Debicki)), Nick can’t help but get carried away by Gatsby’s infectious smile and energy. 

Inevitably, both of them become good friends in no time. Nick, often, wonders about how Gatsby collected such enormous amount of wealth, but as time passes, his trust in the man grows stronger. One day, Nick learns that his cousin Daisy Buchanan (Carey Mulligan) had been Gatsby’s lover, and that the latter wants her back.

This leads to a roller-coaster ride for everyone involved – including Daisy’s temperamental husband Tom Buchanan (Joel Edgerton).

How Nick manages to sort this situation out, and eventually lands up at a shrink’s is what the film is all about!

The biggest positive about the film was the way it tackled rights, wrongs and relationships. Through the course of the film, you will find several real-life connections with its principal characters. Daisy, Tom, Gatsby and Tom’s mistress Myrtle Wilson (Isla Fisher) play complex characters. They’ve all made errors in judgement and eventually, do face the repercussions. However, you can understand everyone’s predicament at the end of it all. Relationships are about give-and-take, but the truth is that ‘give’ and ‘take’ never attain a stable equilibrium. ‘The Great Gatsby’ is about how much are you willing to give and how much can you let go, in a relationship (be it in friendship or love).

The film also talks about ‘hope’. There’s a famous quote from the 1997 film ‘Good Will Hunting’ – “I'm just going to put my money on the table and see what kind of cards I get.” Yes, sometimes one just needs to give a relationship his/her all, and just wait for how it all ends up!

The film’s climax will leave you a bit overwhelmed. Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire deliver astounding performances. The film is primarily about the equation between these two principal characters, and the actors do a marvellous job.

Amitabh Bachchan, who plays Gatsby’s business partner Meyer Wolfsheim, has superb screen presence. The Bollywood megastar shines in this two-minute role.

Another aspect that shines out in the movie – the visuals (the 3D, albeit unrequired, is really, really good); comprising wonderful production design, cinematography and special effects. Craig Armstrong’s enchanting musical score wonderfully tailors into the screenplay.

The only downside to the film is the length. At two-and-half-hours, ‘The Great Gatsby’ may leave you exhausted. However, it’s a stupendous effort and a must-watch.

The ‘great’ in the film’s title is justified.

Shivom Oza

The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2013) Review by Shivom Oza – Revenge Is No Solution!

3.5/5 Stars

The film, ‘The Reluctant Fundamentalist’, is an adaptation of a 2007 novel of the same name by Pakistani author Mohsin Hamid. The film is unlike most ‘post-9/11’ films that you’ve seen before. It revolves around a young Pakistani man, Changez Khan, who dares to live the American dream but is faced with a bitter reality check, post the catastrophic 9/11 attacks.

Without getting technical, let me put it as simply as I possibly can – ‘The Reluctant Fundamentalist’ is a ‘realistic’ portrayal of an average Pakistani, who must have had to face the repercussions of living in the United States of America prior/during/after 9/11. The issue of racism has been touched upon in a very subtle manner. In addition, the protagonist does not undergo sudden bouts of extremism, owing to the treatment that he is meted out by suspecting Americans because of his religion. Not all those who have been wronged, end up with weapons and blood on their hands. This is the film’s core principle. And yes, it is the right way to go about it.

An 18-year-old Changez Khan (Riz Ahmed) moves out of Lahore and goes to study in America, as he doesn’t want to be financially inept like his poet father (Om Puri). Changez wants to live the American dream and make it big in life.

And he does that, at least initially. In his early 20s, he lands up a job as a financial analyst at a big firm, where the Managing Director Jim Cross (Kiefer Sutherland) takes him under his wing. Changez shows his mettle very early into the job and impresses his colleagues and his head Jim. The man even manages to find a great partner in Erica (Kate Hudson), a creative, independent woman coping up with the loss of her boyfriend. Back home, even though his father isn’t too impressed with the kind of work that Changez does, things get a lot better – financially.

Changez’s situation begins to go wrong as the twin towers go down in New York City (September 11, 2001 attacks). Suddenly, he is at the centre of it all – only because of his colour, nationality and religion.  

While he is at the job, not once is he looked down upon or judged owing to his religion before/after 9/11. However, one incident at the workplace and one while he is working outdoors, really changes his perspective and makes him take an extreme decision.

How it gets him face-to-face with an American authority Bobby Lincoln (Liev Schreiber) at a coffee shop in Lahore in 2011, is what ‘The Reluctant Fundamentalist’ is about!

The film seems a bit long at 130-odd minutes, but the story is immensely gripping. Changez’s politics defies anything else portrayed in films made on similar subjects. There are a few moments in the second-half, when one feels that the story is digressing from the main issue. The climax is a bit half-baked, the only genuine complaint that I have with the movie. However, the monologue at the end will make you forgive every infirmity within the film. The best things about ‘The Reluctant Fundamentalist’ are – it doesn’t celebrate America, it doesn’t offer terrorism as an unresolvable issue, it doesn’t justify extremism in any manner, it doesn’t offer any sympathy to those who pick up weapons after being wronged by society, or any other ‘cliché’. The film offers change! The lead character speaks on several occasions about how the weak would have to become more self-reliant.

Music plays a very important role in the film’s screenplay. The lyrics (which are mostly in Urdu but aided by well-translated English subtitles) are absolutely out-of-this-world. Even the poetry had so much to say between-the-lines. If you do end up watching the film, listen to the poetry and the lyrics/ keep a close watch on the subtitles.

Another notable aspect about this film was the selection of the locations. Here, Pakistan looked like Pakistan, Turkey looked like Turkey and USA looked like USA. Thankfully, there was no make-believe stuff here!

The lead actor Riz Ahmed has done a brilliant job as Changez. The other actors in the ensemble, including Om Puri, Shabana Azmi, Kate Hudson, Kiefer Sutherland, Liev Schreiber and Imaad Shah, deliver amazing performances.

Don’t want to get too technical – but the people behind the music (Michael Andrews), cinematography (Declan Quinn), editing (Shimit Amin), casting (Cindy Tolan) and production design (Michael Carlin) must be lauded.

Director Mira Nair is back in form, and how!

If you’re not into history/current affairs, you might find this film slow and uninteresting  But, I’d suggest that you watch it anyway! Revenge is no solution, friends. Let’s work towards making our own lives better and ignoring negativity!

Shivom Oza

Garm Hava (1973) Review by Shivom Oza – Whose Country Is It Anyway?

4/5 Stars

M.S. Sathyu’s ‘Garm Hava’, which roughly translates to ‘Scorching Winds’, is based on an unpublished Urdu short story by Ismat Chughtai. It was adapted for the big screen by Kaifi Azmi (Shabana Azmi’s father) and Shama Zaidi (director M.S. Sathyu’s wife). The film revolves around how a Muslim family, living in Agra, copes up with the repercussions of the India-Pakistan partition. 

The movie is an absolute must-watch. Any Hindi film, which borders on religion and communalism, doesn’t come close.

‘Garm Hava’ is about how the Mirza family, based in Agra, India, comes to terms with the after-effects of the India-Pakistan partition. The family, headed by two brothers; Salim (Balraj Sahni) and Halim (Dinanath Zutshi), takes care of its livelihood by running a shoe-manufacturing business in the city. However, post the partition, things start to get difficult for this relatively modernist Muslim family. Even though the Mirzas are keen to stay back in India, circumstances in the country make it difficult for them to lead a peaceful life.

So, Halim, who is a major leader of the All India Muslim League, backs out and leaves for Pakistan, along with his wife and son Kazim (Jamal Hashmi), after pledging initially that he would stay back in India to look after its Muslims.

This results in a lot of troubles for Salim, who doesn’t want to leave his home country to settle elsewhere. Moreover, his ageing mother (Badar Begum) doesn’t want to leave the place where the family’s forefathers have been buried.

One shouldn’t think of Salim as egoistic. He loved his country (India) and always hoped for everything to get back to normal. However, Salim and his elder son Baqar Mirza (Abu Siwani) cannot get a loan, or retain employees or win their clients’ trust. This situation makes it next-to-impossible for them to run their shoe-manufacturing business. Moreover, the house that they lived in belonged to Halim, who fled to Pakistan. So, the Indian government had every right to take away their mansion, which it does eventually. Salim’s other son, Sikander Mirza (Farooq Shaikh) can’t get a job, because of his religion.

Salim has a young daughter, Amina Mirza (Gita Siddharth), who falls in love with Kazim, but is left heart-broken after Halim’s family moves back. That’s one of the other important side-plots of the film. ‘Garm Hava’ realistically portrays the condition of a normal, peace-loving, nationalistic Muslim family. Although the circumstances have changed a lot since the painful divide, the film remains very relevant, even today.

To talk about ‘Garam Hava’, one can go thousands of years back in history. A particular community settles in our country over a thousand years ago. For hundreds of years, they adopt and adapt to, the culture of the natives, and give it their own touch at the same time. The two leading communities live peacefully on the same land for eons, until a foreign nation squanders it all away. Yes, pre-partition India equally belonged to the Hindus and the Muslims. It was politics that led to the creation of a separate nation, Pakistan. However, just because a few people want a separate country and government, do you impose it on everyone? Sure, all Muslims did not want to go to Pakistan. They have every reason to call India their ‘home’, as much as people belonging to any other religion do.  When you live in the same place for years, it’s really difficult to move on. That’s why; it’s difficult to understand the predicament of the Muslims at that time. Pakistan offered an alien land but a new opportunity; whereas India was always ‘home’ but it had turned hostile.

Imagine a family, which has been living in a country since time immemorial and has its roots, culture, lifestyle imbibed within the nation, suddenly being asked to move to a foreign land?

That’s the Mirza family. The politics of the film is very clear, especially from Salim Mirza’s point-of-view. Your heart goes out to every character in the story, which gets judged just because of his/her religion. There is no negative character in the story. Everybody is just a victim of circumstance, which makes the film look and seem very real. At some point, the film may make you ponder if anything has changed at all in the way that we look at minorities.

We may call ourselves a secular and a democratic country, but the truth of the matter is that there are prejudices even today. It takes a lot of gumption to stand up to the system, and while watching the film, I was glad that Salim Mirza stuck to his guns and did not relent to the political pressure. Along with the millions of other Salim Mirza’s living in India!

There are several elements in ‘Garm Hawa’ – love, nationalism, religion, betrayal, hate, greed and politics among others, and each one of them has been dealt with, finely. The cast of the film is absolutely terrific. Balraj Sahni is the pick of the lot, but everyone’s done a great job. The music of the film deserves special mention. You will fall in love with the instrumental pieces, composed by Aziz Ahmed, Bahadur Khan and Khan Warsi.

What else to write? The film is sheer genius, and you must watch it!

Shivom Oza

Gippi (2013) Review by Shivom Oza - Over-the-top, Yet Delightful!

3/5 Stars

'Gippi' is about Gippi (real name - Gurpreet Kaur), played by Riya Vij, a 14-year-old overweight, ordinary-looking, clumsy, poor-in-sports, poor-in-studies, unpopular girl, who lives with her divorced mother, Pappi (Divya Dutt), and her adorable brother Booboo (Arbaz Kadwani) in Simla. Gippi's life revolves around her family, friends and her collection of old Hindi film songs. Being a huge fan of Shammi Kapoor, Gippi lets her hair down whenever/wherever his songs start playing.

The only time she starts to get insecure is when she attends school. Having to deal with the constant bullying by the most 'popular' girl in school, Shamira Chauhan (Jayati Modi), and her gang of girls, Gippi goes into a shell and starts thinking of herself as inferior to the other students. Moreover, having to deal with the physical, emotional and social changes that accompany a growing teenage girl; Gippi only gets more cranky and introverted. In order to impress everyone in school, Gippi befriends a much-older high school student, Arjun (Taaha Shah), and tells everyone that he is her boyfriend. But, the truth comes out when Arjun publicly tells Gippi that he always thought of her as a friend.

This gives Shamira and her friends one more reason to belittle their favourite target. The clash reaches such a level that Shamira challenges Gippi to stand against her in the student elections for the position of the head girl. So, the battle lines are drawn. Our much-troubled girl's brother, Booboo, and friends, Anchal and Ashish (Aditya Deshpande), who is terrific as the nerd besotted with Gippi, help her out in marking certain goals (Hot Body, Popularity, Boyfriend and the likes) that would make her win the elections. The film is about how Gippi overcomes the odds at school, in addition to helping her mother cope up with her father's (Pankaj Dheer) second marriage.

Another important part in the film is Kabir's (Mrinal Chawla), the most popular boy in the college. Watch out for what he does in the film!

The film showcases several delightful moments - Gippi and Anchal talking about puberty, Gippi's inspirational speech during the student elections, her equation with Pappi and Booboo, Gippi’s makeover among others. The actors, who play the school students, have done a brilliant job. These teenagers have been given the best scenes and lines, and they charm you with their effortless performances. Among the adults, it's only the formidable Divya Dutta who impresses. The rest of the cast, comprising Taaha Shah, Pankaj Dheer, actors playing the school professors among others, have poorly-written roles and so, don't quite leave an impact.

There are various outrageously over-the-top sequences in the plot. One of them involves an apparently-introverted Gippi, who assumedly gets stage fright, suddenly breaking into a dance in a bizarre costume, while giving her student election speech. While it may evoke a guffaw or two from the viewers, the scene does seem terribly out-of-place and isn't in line with what Gippi's character is supposed to be. Another low for the film is the underwhelming climax.

For films such as this one, which deal with the coming-of-age of an underdog, you would expect a cracker of an ending. However, what you get is a very tepid version. Even the music, composed by Vishal-Shekhar, doesn't quite stay with you. The only hummable number in the soundtrack is 'We're Like This Only', sung by Dadlani. The rest of the songs do not go well with the theme of the movie. Leaving these aforementioned drawbacks aside, 'Gippi' does pack in several feel-good moments and considering that it's been made by a debutante director Sonam Nair, the film is a decent effort. The best thing about this teenage movie was that it ENTIRELY revolved around a girl, which seldom happens in our part of the world. Obviously, we love 'Gattu', 'Stanley Ka Dabba' among other children-based films, but it's good to know that someone has made a 'Gippi'!

For those of us who've passed out of school and college, 'Gippi' is a fairly good nostalgic ride. Those of you who are still studying, you may watch and learn.

The film teaches you to get rid of your own insecurities and accept other people's weaknesses. And, one must add, it does a good job of doing that!

Shivom Oza