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

Mud (2013) Review by Shivom Oza – Muddled Up!

2/5 Stars

Matthew McConaughey is a fine actor. He pulls off these understated, brooding characters really effortlessly. However, is he engaging enough for the audiences? Not quite!

In the film, ‘Mud’, the actor plays a lost-in-thought, lonely, distressed man, Mud. The story revolves around his equation with two unsuspecting 14-year-olds, who come to his rescue.

Everybody has acted well in this film. The actors, who play the two kids, deliver delightful performances. McConaughey too, is fine. However, what really brings the film down is its awful pace, lack of a proper conflict and the terrible climactic sequences. There are several sparkling moments in the second half, but overall, the film is below-par.

Two adventurous 14-year-old kids, Ellis (Tye Sheridan) and Neckbone (Jacob Lofland), set out to an island on the Mississippi River, where the latter has found a boat, suspended atop a tree. Here, they meet Mud (Matthew McConaughey), who is on the run after having committed a murder.

Matthew wants to reconnect with his ladylove, Juniper (Reese Witherspoon) and so, he approached the two kids to help him elope with her!

The story is quite simple, right? NO!

There are needless characters that enter the plot – the track involving Ellis’ parents, Neckbone’s uncle, Ellis’ crush, Mud’s nemeses, Mud’s father-figure etc.

Not that, it’s not alright to have so many characters in one film, but their presence should be justified. 

The film scores in two departments – the kids – their characters, dialogues and performances are absolutely brilliant, and so is the music. The actor, who plays Ellis’ friend, Jacob, is amazing as Neckbone. Watch out for this character, if you do end up watching the film.

‘Mud’, on the outset, comprises one element – the concept of love. There’s hardly anything happening in the awfully slow first-half. It’s in the latter part, when the film actually picks up. Ellis’ character strives hard to find the true definition of ‘love’. While it’s not clear if he eventually manages to figure it out, we, the viewers, do end up getting our own interpretations dented.

Totally muddled up! Pun intended! 

Shivom Oza

Iron Man 3 (2013) Review by Shivom Oza – ‘Stark’ly Delightful!

3/5 Stars

The third installment in the ‘Iron Man’ series, ‘Iron Man 3’ revolves around how Tony Stark battles the dreaded Mandarin, and tries to prevent him from causing havoc.

Even for someone who is not a big fan of superhero/adventure/science-fiction movies (me!), ‘Iron Man 3’ is immensely enjoyable. The film is all – Robert Downey, Jr., as expected. His one-liners and his affable charm, which works wonders for the franchise, have been utilized to their fullest yet again. While it is a visual spectacle, the 3D once again dilutes the impact (a trifle!).

The plot continues from where ‘The Avengers’ ended. A much-troubled Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) has been going through a rough time with his girlfriend, Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), owing to his unrequited obsession with his Iron Man suits.

Stark recollects an incident from 1999 in Bern, Switzerland, when he, along with a scientist Maya Hansen (Rebecca Hall), ignores feelers from the crippled Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce) about creating Advanced Idea Mechanics (a terrorist organization), which in turn will manufacture viruses.

As it turns out, Killian joins hands with a dreaded terrorist Mandarin (Ben Kingsley), over a decade later. In one of the bombings orchestrated by the duo, Happy Hogan, the security chief of Stark Industries, goes comatose. This enrages Stark, who issues a televised threat to the perpetrators and even lets out his address in the media so that the terrorists could get him!

If I tell you more about the film, you’ll cry ‘spoiler’! So, let’s cut this short and get down to how the film fares. There are a couple of jaw-dropping twists in the plot, which manage to make the film engaging enough over its 130-minute-duration.

The action scenes are very well choreographed and Tony, along with War Machine (James Rupert "Rhodey" Rhodes), do a great job pulling them off. The entire team behind the visuals (cinematography, VFX, editing etc.) has done an awesome job. Some of the scenes, especially the one in which Mandarin attacks Iron Man’s Malibu mansion, are absolutely breath-taking (despite the irritating 3D).

Robert Downey, Jr. plays Robert Downey Jr., and the rest of the cast members do well in their limited parts. Director Shane Black and Drew Pearce reinvent the audacious character of Tony Stark with this film. The entire track between Stark and Harley (12-year-old Ty Sympkins) is absolutely delightful! Watch out for the little boy, who does a wonderful job in this small role.

There’s a small funny bit after the end credits roll. The problem is that the credits roll for about 5-6 minutes. So, you’ll have to wait for that long. Besides the fact that you should go for the film anyway!

Shivom Oza

Deewaar (1975) Review by Shivom Oza – Must Watch For Its Performances And Dialogues!

3/5 Stars

‘Deewaar’, the Yash Chopra film made in 1975, is a classic tale about two brothers, who get caught on either side of the law.  

The principal characters of the film, labour union leader Anand Verma (Satyendra Kapoor), his wife Sumitra Devi (Nirupa Roy), elder son Vijay Verma (Amitabh Bachchan), younger son Ravi Verma (Shashi Kapoor) and Vijay’s love interest Anita (Parveen Babi), are essentially victims of circumstances.

Anand Verma is an upright labourer who stands up for his colleagues. However, circumstances force him to go against his principles, and wrong the people that he once stood for. The consequences of Anand’s actions are faced by his family.

Troubled by the constant taunts and humiliation from Anand’s (who eventually runs away) nemeses, wife Sumitra Devi is forced to move from their hometown to Bombay city. Here too, she finds it difficult to earn enough to bring her two children up. So much so, that Sumitra and Vijay have to go on about their menial jobs, just so that they can earn enough to send Ravi to school.

Vijay, who goes through the turbulent experience of having ‘mera baap chor hai’ (My father is a thief) inked on his forearm, gets deeply disturbed by all that happened to his family, and starts holding their poverty responsible for their family’s condition. He even refuses to go to the temple, as he has lost all faith in God!

The two sons grow up and while Ravi ends up becoming a police inspector, Vijay, owing to fate, gets on the wrong side of the law. ‘Deewaar’ is about how the drama unfolds between the two siblings!

The film captures several realities that we associate with the 1970s – the real estate boom, labour strikes, clout of the underworld, victimization of the poor etc. However, the basic essence of the film is about how there is no clear ‘wrong’ or ‘right’ on show. We may think of Vijay Verma as the villain of the story, but the crux lies in what forced him to do what he did!

The dialogues and the one-liners in the film are the scene-stealers. Who can forget the iconic ‘mere paas maa hai’ dialogue? The confrontation scenes between the Verma brothers are ‘power-packed’, not just for Salim-Javed’s writing but also owing to Bachchan and Kapoor’s performances.

Amitabh Bachchan, Shashi Kapoor and Nirupa Roy are terrific in their respective roles. Neetu Singh does a good job in her limited part. Parveen Babi, who plays Amitabh’s love interest, is shown as a liberated Indian woman who smokes, drinks, gets into relationships and is modern-in-thought and spirit.

Watch out for A.K. Hangal’s cameo in the film. The minor sequence, involving him, leaves a huge impact on the viewer’s mind.

The songs of the film are good, but certainly not extraordinary. ‘Keh Doon Tumhein’, sung by Kishore Kumar and Asha Bhosle, is a nice, peppy track and the pick of the lot! The plot may seem a bit bizarre at some portions, but considering that the film was made in 1975 and has been a reference point for so many screenplays written since then, ‘Deewaar’ should be watched!

‘Deewaar’ is not Yash Chopra’s best film. However, there are a couple of elements in it which should not be missed – performances and dialogues!

Shivom Oza

Lessons In Forgetting (2013) Review by Shivom Oza – The Good Kind Of Different!

3/5 Stars

Based on Anita Nair’s book of the same name, ‘Lessons In Forgetting’ revolves around a middle-aged, divorced man, J.A. Krishnamurthy, trying to discover the truth behind a fatal accident involving his estranged 19-year-old daughter, Smriti. In the process, the father encounters several inconvenient truths about his daughter.

The story of the film, a portion of which deals with the issue of female foeticide, is very relevant and poignant. Adil Hussain (we’ve seen him before in ‘Agent Vinod’, ‘English Vinglish’ and ‘Life Of Pi’) delivers a strong performance as the beleaguered father, who is trying to come to terms with his daughter’s rebellious past and tumultuous present. The rest of the cast, comprising Maya Tideman, Roshni Achreja, Raaghav Chanana among others, do a fine job. While the film has its share of flaws, it is socially relevant and offers a very different kind of treatment to the story. ‘Lessons In Forgetting’ is different (of the good kind!).

A middle-aged, divorced man, J.A Krishnamurthy (Adil Hussain) comes to know that his estranged daughter, Smriti (Maya Tideman), has been found severely injured near the beach at a small town in Tamil Nadu. The 19-year-old girl, found in a near-dead-state, is almost paralyzed and thus, bedridden and taken care of by a full-time nurse. 

J.A. Krishnamurthy, who is devastated after finding about his daughter’s fatal accident and her present medical condition, wants to find out the truth. So, he starts looking for clues that will lead him to find out what actually happened to his daughter. In the meantime, he crosses paths with a middle-aged woman, Meera, who has been going through a tumultuous time herself after being abandoned by her husband, and left behind to take care of her two children and her mother and grandmother all by herself.

The film also comprises a touch of the ‘Save the Girl Child’ issue. The social issue has been excellently tailored into the plot of the movie. There’s not a single moment, when you may find the film overtly educative/preachy! ‘Lessons In Forgetting’ is about several more aspects; parent-child relationships, life after separation, abandonment, teenage angst etc.

All the characters have been well-written, with the exception of Meera. Her backstory was not necessary at all. Although the actress playing this character (Roshni) has done a great job, Meera wasn’t required in the film at all. Her side of the story has been introduced in an elaborate manner, but left untouched thereafter. A few scenes in the film do make you introspect about certain things. You may reconsider the way you behave with your parents/children after watching the film. It strikes a chord there! Other notable aspects about the film are; the absolutely terrific opening credits of the film and the excellent background score (Kumaresh Ganesh). The dialogue delivery of the actors was very good, which is a rarity for English-language films made in India! However, subtitles could have been compiled in a better manner (as there are a few portions in Tamil).

‘Lessons In Forgetting’, ultimately, is about how you strive so hard to know the truth, but once you know it; you desperately want to forget it (makes sense?). Anyway, watch the film! Take a bow, director Unni Vijayan.

Shivom Oza