At the movies...

I have written about how people can be annoying in the movie theater- especially those who get on their phones and just don’t hang up. Today, I had a different kind of experience. There was a mom with her son and a daughter and her mom in the row behind mine. The movie began, the little one kept asking the mom in tamil what was happening and then the lights came on to indicate interval. I felt a jolt on my seat and turned back to see the kid jumping up and down near her mom. And then suddenly the boy sitting on the other side, few seats away from mine [behind my row] started throwing up. He threw up nonstop for a while. Instead of giving him water or something to drink, the mom kept shouting at him. And then she decided to take him to the loo, before which he threw up again down the aisle..

The grandmother swished her saree for a few mins in the air knocking off any vomit on her saree and sat back with the girl. The mom and son came back, the son sitting next to the gramma and no sooner had he sat down did she begin scolding him – Enna sapta, enna panina.. ippadiya panradhu, konjam kooda eppadi nadanthukkanum therila, naaye shaniyan [ what did you eat? What did you do? Is this how you behave, no manners at all.. curse words]… I was quite appalled.. The gramma kept at it… The child looked about 6-7yrs of age and ready to cry. Poor thing! The gramma then gave him a plastic bag and said he was to quietly vomit in that and not trouble them.

What is wrong with people? The child’s eyes were red- he could have been running a temperature or had a bad stomach.. the Movie was more important than your child’s health? Amidst the children who scream and shout, this upset me the most~~ 

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button....

I had been getting mixed reviews about this movie, only my friend Anita had said its a good movie, watch it, i know you will like it... :) our tastes do match!!! Anyways, reached Satyam around 6.40 and made our way inside and eagerly waited for the movie.. I had no clues about the movie, hadnt heard the story or anything...

A movie that  is a narration, kind of a flash back through Benjamin's diaries helps us relive his days in this world.. For an english movie, it is quite long..nearly 2 .40 hours, but the time goes by, not a moment of it is boring [ except for the silly Interval with the annoying ads...]...  

The Cast includes.......... 

 Benjamin Button - Brad Pitt
Daisy - Cate Blanchett
Queenie - Taraji P. Henson
Caroline - Julia Ormond
Thomas Button - Jason Flemyng
Tizzy - Mahershalalhashbaz Ali
Captain Mike - Jared Harris
Monsieur Devereux - Elias Koteas
Grandma Fuller - Phyllis Somerville
Elizabeth Abbott - Tilda Swinton
Preacher - Lance Nichols
Ngunda Oti - Rampai Mohadi
Daisy age 7 - Elle Fanning
Daisy age 10 - Madisen Beaty

Benjamin's diary recounts his entire extraordinary life, the primary unusual aspect of which was his aging backwards, being born an old man who was diagnosed with several aged diseases at birth and thus given little chance of survival, but who does survive and gets younger with time.... 

Set in 1920s, around the time when World War I ends, its a tale about a baby[Benjamin] born with diseases and looks like it is 100yrs old,..His Mother dies at childbirth and the dad runs away with the baby leaving it at the footsteps of a senior citizens home... Queenie, ablack woman who works there stumbles upon the baby and brings him up!!! What starts there is the journey of Benjamin who grows younger physically as he grows older... 

The costume... The make up will have you wondering how this movie dint run away with all the Oscars.... It won 3 Awards only.... 

Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett  were simply outstanding.....

An amazing tale that left us all speechless... His every action..discovery of who is father is... the way he embraces the changes his body goes through... the love, the wait, the family., the maturity and the ending... Gosh, i dont know where to start!!!  

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is one of the most moving stories , collectibles infact.... A movie that one needs to experience and cannot enjoy simply by reading a review!!!!

A movie that tells us it does not matter what you look like,your outer appearance is just a shell to your inner soul ..... :)

[Movie] Slumdog Millionaire!!!

After all the hype and the Golden Globes, i finally managed to watch the movie- Slumdog Millionaire !!

I had read the book "Q & A by Vikas Swarup" about 2yrs back, and vaguely remembered the story.. That was when KBC was this very popular and happening show on TV...!!

This movie opens the police inspector (Irrfan Khan) interrogating and torturing Jamal Malik (Dev Patel) who's from the Dharavi slums on how he managed to answer correctly on 99% of the questions on the Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (Kaun Banega Crorepati), hosted by Prem Kumar (noted Bollywood actor Anil Kapoor). They want to know if he was cheating? 

 

This is where Jamal starts off offering an explanation for each of the questions, relating them to his childhood days till today. This includes scenes of him obtaining the autograph of Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan; the death of his mother during Hindu-Muslim riots in the slums; and how he and his brother Salim (Madhur Mittal) get friendly with this orphan girl, Latika (Freida Pinto).

With every question, we are taken into the lives of this young man,and the turmoils he has gone through to reach where he has now.. At one point brothers loose track of Latika, only to later rescue her from forced prostitution. The would-be lovers are again pulled apart when Salim, who has turned to a life of crime, forces her to become a part of his crime lord’s harem. Jamal’s impetus for being on the game show, and his motivation to continue his focus, and he is on it not for the money,but in hope that his Latika will see him and they can reunite. I dont want to write in detail about the various aspects of the movie, but one must watch it to understand the depth!! 

A movie that had me disturbed, wondering if this is really how bad certain parts of our country is, has been well made by Danny Boyle!!  the one scene where we, the audience is bound to burst out laughing is towards the end, when in all innocence Jamal asks Anil Kapoor "Are you nervous?" !!! :)

Amazing acting by the kids, all of them !! . Anil Kapoor was ok as the host of the KBC show, could have been better, but he did play the part of the evil host to the T... crass and rude at times, he is good...  

Music by A R Rehman needs no special mention, what with all the Awards he has snatched already!!  

The final track Jai ho is a surprise, as the kids burst out into a dance and song routine right there at the station... fun to watch.... 

"O, Saya", a song that has some amazing electronic tones, is a peppy track..... Perhaps the most attractive aspect of this number is the international collaboration between A.R. Rahman and M.I.A. As for "Ringa Ringa" its an upbeat track that has various shades of Indian culture in it... Raqib Alam’s lyrics stand apart....

“You are my waking dream. You’re all that’s real to me. You are the magic in the world I see. You are my prayer I sing. You brought me to my knees. You are the faith that made me believe. Dreams on fire…higher and higher. Passions burning…right on the pyre…” – Blaaze and Wendy Parr

   

Latika’s Theme, in essence, is the instrumental of the very soulful “Dreams On Fire.” However, Rahman realizes that the beauty of the original song lies within the melodic power and vocal gentleness.

Watch it once!!!!

[Movie] The Fall

Couple of days back, my sis and i went to the DVD store and raided it clean!!! was fun!! Thanks to all the work, and projects flowing in, i've not been to a theater in over 2weeks... so decided this was the best way of destressing~!! :) One of the movies i brought home was THE FALL by Tarsem Singh

The movie is set in 1915- 1920 at a hospital in Los Angeles, where a dejected stuntman,Roy (Lee Pace) is recovering from a mishap that has left him bed ridden. Scampering around the hospital is Alexandria (Cantinca Untaru), an adorable girl with a broken arm, who carries around a box that has her treasures in it. She speaks English with a bit of an accent and isnt really fluent in it, which adds to her character. 

 

She meanders into Roy's room one day, and Roy, upon hearing her name, tells her about Alexander the Great. She is so entranced by his yarn-spinning that she wants to hear more from this mysterious man.... Roy goes along....

From then on, every morning Alexandra makes her way to Roy's room, and he starts to weave a tale of old-fashioned adventure. The story is about a band of five men from all over the globe who are united by their hatred of an evil man named Governor Odious. They are: a former black slave (Marcus Wesley), an Indian man (Jeetu Verma), an Italian explosives expert (Robin Smith), a masked bandit [who finally turns out to be Roy himself] and, finally,err, ummm.. Charles Darwin (Leo Bill), accompanied by a monkey that gives him advice from within the satchel in which he is carried (and the monkey is always right)

The five revenge-seekers, each wearing costumes of a different predominant color, travel the world to reach Gov. Odious, guided at one point by a babbling mystic warrior (Julian Bleach) who comes out of a burning tree(amazing visuals).... 

The masked bandit's tiff with Odious is that Odious killed his brother[Blue bandit]. In real life, the Odious stole Roy's girlfriend[which is why Roy is so depressed and feeling suicidal]. In between the story, Roy and Alexandra's lives are also woven in... Roy tells Alexandria he is unable to sleep and that he wants her to get him some MORPHINE [ she reads it as M O R P H I N 3 :)], and obliges since he says only when she gets it for him will he resume.... the story goes on till finally Alexandra is part of the tale, and ends up rescuing Roy..... :) 

"you always stop at the same part, when it's very beautiful" - a dialogue Alexandra says everytime Roy stops the story..... 

 Darwin--- "Shoot, you animals. They'll pay you well for Darwin's hide."

The settings in which the story unfolds are mind blowing.... fascinating.... and most parts have been shot in india.. If one has seen Jodhaa Akbhar, you will know what am talking about... all the forts, palaces that come in that movie are here! except they look grander and majestic!! 

A lovely warm movie that left me feeling "wow" and "am glad i picked this up".. yes, there are parts that are unbelievable... but hey, it is just a fable that Roy is creating !!!

[movie] Taare Zameen Par :)

I saw this poster about a month ago when i had gone for another movie, and knew i wanted to watch it.. not only cos Aamir was in it, but it looked adorable, like a cute movie.. and i was damn right...

time flew by.. and it was Dec 21st.. the day when Taare Zameen pe was due to be released... i had not seen a single trailor or ad for the movie on Tv or theaters... but was hoping to watch it sometime, little did i know i would watch it on the very 1st day..wowwwowww...~!! there were just 2tickets, and i booked em..yipeee.. it was for Dec 21st, fri @ 6.30pm show.. All geared up, headed to the theater and waited with bated breath for the movie to start...

The titles were all made of clay like fish, octopus, rockets, and other figures flitting about... each one transporting us into a child's world... from the beginning till the last scene, the movie is beautiful..

Aamir's debut venture, a sensitive issue of a child suffering from Dyslexia, and a family that fails to understand the boy, but finally manage to come around... the boy,Ishaan awasthi, played by Dharsheel Safary, has done a mind blowing job.. he looks so innocent and fits the role to the T. His brother,Yohaan is adorable.. so caring and sweet.. you just want to hug him... the mom and dad are like any parents, except the dad is much more focussed on getting his kids to ace in everything and come out winners.. i guess this is waht happens when in a house there are 2 kids, and each one is at an extreme. Yohaan is first in everything while Ishaan does not even pass his tests, he has repeated class III twice, and the 2nd time is when his dad threatens to put him in boarding school and succeeds in doing so.

Ishaan is a cute little boy, all of 8yrs old, who has problems figuring out letters, alphabets and says they dance.. numbers dance around confusing him.. his hand writing is bad, he writes letters in reverse... the only thing he loves is to paint, and his room is proof of his passion. the walls are adorned with beautiful enigmatic fishes, starts, UFO's and what not.. its a sight to be seen to understand... every morning he is woken up, and sent to school to be ridiculed by his class mates and punished by teachers, each being a blow on his self confidence.. and so when he goess to boarding school, he withdraws into the shell knowing what is in store for him.. the friend he makes there, Rajan(who relies on crutches to move around) is a sweet kid, who helps Ishaan with studies and they are a sweet twosome...

It is only when the substitute art teacherr makes the entry that Ishaan's world changes.. Aamir, playing the role of Ram Shankar Nikhumbh(who works at the Tulip school for mentally challenged kids) makes a cool entry looking like a clown singing songs in gibberish that appeals to all ages(and he looks hotter than ever. with a cool Mohawk hairstyle).. he gives the children full freedom to draw what they want, when he notices Ishaan's paper blank. he then digs in, understands the situation, and goes to Ishaan's home to talk to the parents.. it is then that he takes it upon himself to help the boy go through something that bogged him as well. the flip book Ishaan's made when his dad decides to send him away is "Wow", dont have words to describe it...

The scene where kids are asked to go out in the open and create something is beautiful.. Ishaan sits in a corner making a makeshift boat and lets it float in the water, and it actually moves,with the help of a propeller he has made with wood and leaves...

Knowing that Ishaan loves painting.. he organizes a painting mela for the entire New era school. that breaks barriers, brings teachers and students closer,... Ishaan walks in late, but steals the day, winning the 1st prize... and when he sees what his favorite sir(aamir) has drawn he is stumped.. Aamir has done a painting of Ishaan laughing... the whole mela is so much fun, kids making fun of their serious teachers, each one chiding the other and having fun... and the moment when Ishaan is given the prize brought tears to my eyes... and the way he runs and hugs Aamir is so touching...

Till the end, when finally Ishaan;'s parents understand and come to terms with their boy's special needs and their visit to the boarding school, and surprise on seeing Ishaan's progress has been well shot..

A movie that is so different from the rest..
A movie that will leave you thinking
A movie that makes you appreciate and love your child more
A movie that tells you " its ok, if ur kid is not a whiz in studies, motivate them in what they are interested in and be there for them"
A movie that is so simple and beautiful
A movie that touches our soul, deep deep inside...
A movie that has you so involved that you are yearning to reach out and tell Ishaan "its ok" or give him a hug..
A movie for every person... to watch, to learn, and to carry with them through their life...

Hats off to Aamir for taking on such a project..he is the only one who could have made it so perfect....
The songs blend in with the movie and its storyline.
Not a scene is out of place or odd.
it is a heart warming movie... worth watching over and over again....

here is the movie site for more -http://www.taarezameenpar.com/

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written by "A very touched and smiling Aaarti.... " :)

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