Udta Punjab - Worth all the hype it had created. A really well crafted film from Abhishek Chaubey and his team.The best thing about the film is it's non preachy narrative-you see the film as a 'film', not a PSA.(Which is commendable since Bollywood goes overboard while dabbling into such topics.) The characters and their relationship with drugs stands out the most for me in the film, how Sudeep Sharma and Abhishek Chaubey has interwoven these four completely different characters and made them completely seamless with the storyline.Loved Alia's character the most out of the four-there was something to this nameless character which was with me even after the film ended.No wonder Alia got the best reviews for her acting,she was beyond brilliant.I also loved how her character has been given the least amount of dialogues,her silence adds so much to the state of her character.Rest of the cast was fine as well, I don't know why everyone was calling Kareena the weakest link; I think this was one of those few films where she was really subtle in her acting and did what her character demanded.(Thank god for that,otherwise we are so used to those heavy duty activist type characters in Bollywood films.)
My favourite scene in the film is that small kiss that Tommy and Alia's character shares after which she says 'yeh chod ke sab kuch kiya' (something on those lines).Alia stole that whole scene from Shahid.The only two things that bothered me in an otherwise brilliant film are the opening sequence and the ending sequence.I found the Chitta Ve sequence quite forced,patchy and unnecessarily stylized. Would have rather preferred them throwing the drugs and Alia's character receiving it without any interruption.The ending sequence too was a major bummer.Why did they give closure to Alia's character? It could have been so beautiful seeing her character remain nameless and unidentified throughout the film,that's the state of the immigrants working all over the country at the moment.I personally feel that shot of Sartaj and his brother sitting opposite to each other and the credits rolling with the brother's crying would have been a beautiful end! They diluted whatever they had built up throughout the film with the ending sequence after the main credits.
Irrespective of that, a wonderfully made film! 4/5
Also,this year Bollywood is having such superbly edited films-Neerja,Waiting,Udta Punjab.Hope this continues till the end of the year.
Raman Raghav 2.0- I generally find Anurag Kashyap to be a better mentor/producer than a director.I find his films kind of underwhelming (yet to watch Ugly) despite the hype so was skeptical about watching this film but I'm glad I did.Really liked the film and the concept behind it- taking a famous real life criminal (Raman Raghav),giving them two different characters (Raman & Raghav) having the same soul and making an interesting and engaging film,very creatively written and directed. One good thing about the film is that inspite of having a violent feel, the film isn't really violent. The best moments of the film are in it's small details and dialogues;I won't be able to explain it in words but it's such a pleasure watching the director play with these little witty details and dialogues.Also liked the idea behind breaking the film into several chapters.I personally LOVED 'The Sister' and 'Soulmates' chapters in the film.They were terrific,especially the former. Coming to the cast,Nawazuddin as usual is brilliant though at times he reminds of his character in Badlapur. Vicky Kaushal too is really good, I think one of THE most promising debutants in the recent years in Bollywood; a very powerful actor.However, the one who stood out for me was Amruta Subhash.Been a fan since I watched Killa but here she was brilliant as Nawazuddin's sister.She is the reason the chapter 'The Sister' works the most out of the lot for me. Such an expressive face and natural actor.
The only bits I found vague were again the opening credit sequence-found it to be too forcefully done to give the film a 'trippy' look. Also I think the film could have been shorted or it could have had less chapters. It starts getting boring and repetitive with all the killing in the middle of the film. Overall, a good watch! 3.5/5
Room- Wanted to watch it since Brie got the Oscar but wanted to read the book first and then watch the film and I have to say,despite all the critical acclaim,after reading the book the film is really underwhelming. It works really well as a standalone film but somehow I feel Emma Donoghue's screenplay is weaker than her book. There are so many moments in the book which while reading gives you goosebumps but all of that is missing in the film.Though films never do justice to well written books but since I LOVED the book so much, I was expecting something similar from the film. Somehow, the film looks more like Jose's story than Jack's story though the film begins with Jack's narration.I can't explain how beautiful those little details inside the room and outside it has been described in the book but they have wasted all those by just showing small montages in the film.I was highly disappointed with the way the film turned into something completely different outside the room.I wanted to see more of Jack,his first footstep in the outside world,his reactions but all of them were missing.However,I wouldn't completely diss the film.
They have changed many things in the second half but I liked how they have given more character space to Jose's mother and have shown Jose and her mother's relationship better than the book. Coming to the actors, a much deserving Oscar win for Brie Larson. An effortless performance,loved the desperation she brought into her character as Jose and same goes for Jacob Trembley. He was unbelievable! He too deserved an award (Was much better than one of the nominees Fassbender for Jobs). If anyone has seen the film,would definitely recommend to read the book.It's so much more beautiful than the film! 3/5
Brie in this scene! ❤️
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmV-lPsCL6Q[/YOUTUBE]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmV-lPsCL6Q
Excuse the typos.
Edited by AdaPadaKaunPada - 8 years ago
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