Tag Archives: Ashutosh Gowariker

TV Reviews

TV Review: Kaala Paani

STORY

The Andaman and Nicobar Islands is threatened by the horror of the pandemic when the territory is infected by a mysterious disease. When hell descends and starts to take the lives of the affected, people from all walks of life struggle to survive. Solidarity embarks, families and friends get disjointed by the unwanted incidents. The medical experts and the decision-makers are muddled with such a complicated situation.

Kaala Paani, in these seven episodes, folds the viewers in the mighty scare of the widespread and makes us watch the toughest times of getting stuck in a situation where there is no escape.

REVIEW

This Netflix series brings back the COVID vibes. The entire setting of the screenplay that painfully welcomes disease precisely reminds us of the world we began to experience in 2020. Staring at people coughing in the public place, distancing from the affected ones, spraying on the doors and locks, wearing masks; it is a victory for the show that they settled the viewers with discomfort.

Kaala Paani’s writing grows in the nerves because the show runs several stories, dig in the lives of the main characters, and give us a deeper look in the complexity of human relations, their getting distanced, expressing their fear of losing someone or themselves.

The emotion code will break the viewers when they watch Kaddu struck with epilepsy, when Chiru is in state of shock receiving his mother’s ashes, when Dr. Ritu’s father is slapped in front of her, when Santosh listens to his wife’s hiccup and starts crying.

In fact, Santosh is the most heartbreaking character of the show. A husband who lost his wife, a father who lost his son, traveled with pain in quest of his daughter. Vikas Kumar has boiled his Santosh character with severe desperation. His slipping in to the hole settled our mind that he will have to overcome fear and somehow escape. And boy! what a physical performance that was. All his crying scenes were jaw-droppers.

Besides, the other standout performer was Sukant Goel as Chiru. Watch him when he offers himself to Dr. Shashi for the test and when he reacts over his mother’s demise.

Some parts of writing are very interesting. The panic in the festival was intense, so was the car almost crashing Kaddu. When water became a concern, notice the governor dropping only few drops of water on his toothpaste.

The show must be praised for its technical productions. If the series is based and shot in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, surely the camera work is one of the preferred focus. And we happen to watch some amazing shots throughout the show by Ewan Mulligan & co. Rachita Arora‘s background score, Dev Rao Jadhav‘s editing, and Biswapati Sarkar‘s writing are a few names to mention that they are responsible in the making of an excellent series.

And an Indian film or a TV show meeting a technical finishing with excellence rarely happens. But now I get to know that the show is renewed for the second season. And I cannot stop myself from admitting that I am a little impatient about the show’s return.

CLOSING REMARKS

Kaala Paani has a deeper message about the human evolution and survival. The entire defense of the governor on his action against the Oraka tribe is thought-provoking. Something inside us tell you that the failure in survival has put halt to many races and civilizations. To shape the world in the better direction or for a sustainable future, the old world has to collapse and disappear. Whether the wind of fortune takes them away or the poison of ego and hatred writes off their history. Only the strongest survives by defeating and killing the weaker. Kaala Paani just showed us the picture we do not want to see at all.

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Film Reviews

Film Review: Brahmāstra: Part One – Shiva (2022)

STORY

Shiva and Isha fall in love at first sight and during their kesariyapa, Isha learns that Shiva has supernatural powers and some force is foretelling him that some evil powers are going to destroy their universe. But Shiva can rescue if he finds out where his powers came from.

INTRODUCTION

Brahmāstra is director Ayan Mukherji‘s brain temple and as per Ranbir Kapoor, Ayan has spent six years of his life in shaping the project into an outstanding story. I was personally interested to watch this epic for a couple of years. Because I sensed potential and growth in the plot. When the first trailer arrived, I realized I was right.

Another point that build my interest for the film was that in 2017, producer Karan Johar had already planned to turn Brahmāstra into a fantasy trilogy that indicates how much efforts were made for nurturing this project. Bollywood industry doesn’t reveal such magnitude of planning for producing a film. And that too a fantasy genre where Bollywood compromises over the visual effects that surely will never match to the outer world. But guys! the times they are a-Changin’. If you observe some mega projects, you will see the visual effects do are striking the chords. After the success of the first part of Brahmāstra, Ayan has now announced that the second part is coming in 2026! We are still three years away from the happening!

ASTRAVERSE

Brahmāstra is the first chapter of the cinematic universe that is now officially called ‘Astraverse’. So what is Astra? Astra is a celestial weapon created by the Lord and presided over by a specific Deity. That Deity must have the required knowledge about the astra. So when that Deity properly invokes, the astra becomes functional resulting in deep consequences. Astras have their significance in Hindu mythology as many astras were summoned by deities involved in the books of Ramayana and Mahabharata.

So Ayan coined an idea that by knowing the significance of the power of astras, why not apply the mythological elements of the ancient India in the modern state to fight against the evil powers and shape it into a cinematic universe?

REVIEW

When you watch Brahmāstra, you will get a different vibe about the story and you will start growing with the film but after roughly 38 minutes. Yes, the existence of a stereotypical content is a distraction and no one can fix that in India. It is a three-hour film and several times I opine that a film can be concluded in 90 minutes. But this is an exceptional case. Because first it is a fantasy and then a mega project concluding in three films. So a lot has to be detailed.

When it comes to detailing in long breathing, the origins of the main characters, Shiva and Isha, were not touched. I am fine with that due to the fact that they are some ordinary people with nothing special in the background. But Shiva’s mother was briefed only because that mattered in the plot. Ayan emphasized on Shiva’s character development which worked slowly in the middle of the film.

BUDGET

Brahmāstra is produced at a gigantic budget of around ₹450 crore out of which ₹150 crore is spend on VFX. And after watching this film, I can declare by all means that I have never watched a Bollywood film in my life with such a high command on the visual effects. From a typical Bollywood standard, visual effects are the most compelling portion of their cinematic presentation. Especially, from the second half when picturising the world of Brahmānsh (Āshram), a secret society. Knowing the supernatural school requires more VFX work, the result is fabulous. Especially in the track ‘Deva, Deva‘, you will get a different feeling like never before. The whole proceeding in the song was outstanding. The element of passion, joy, and wielding of power is well-picturized.

CASTING

The other means of costing in the production budget that much is also due to a star-studded line-up of actors involved in the project. Starring Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt, Brahmāstra has a supporting cast of Amitabh Bachchan, Dimple Kapadia, and Nagarjuna. Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone have important cameos too.

Coming back on Ranbir and Alia, they were in relationship when Brahmāstra was filming, and newly married when released. Knowing that they were in love, it made their on-screen chemistry more natural, faithful, and more dedicating. But I must say that Ayan could have made their relationship building more natural in several ways. We are squeezed with Bollywood’s eternal romantic artistry that a boy and a girl have to fall in love at first sight and pace that up gradually.

HOW COME?

Some commonsense were also compromised in the continuity. How come no one happen to catch Mohan Bhargav in the open sky with his astra? The news went viral about his death the next day. How come no camera caught the sight or a CCTV footage checked what happened that fateful night? 

Shiva and Isha travel Varanasi to save someone’s life. Knowing the fact that the killers are arriving soon, they or Ayan Mukherji preferred to do Kesariya first. The song ended with Shiva’s hand firing in the water. How come no one nearby noticed that at all?

Isha, throughout the film, is a larger-than-life character. She came from London, met Shiva and fell in love. And realized that Shiva was a different being. Next day, she decided to trust his supernatural explanation and go with him to Varanasi and stop a guy to be killed. Her mind and body settled for such showdown, just like that. Alia Bhatt usually selects the films where her character has substance. This time she was just a typical heroine who will stand for her hero in any given situation and give him the center stage for all heroism. The dialogues could have been better but were cringy and flat.

RETURN OF THE SCIENTIST

An innovative method was used for Brahmāstra’s story that is continuing an established character of a certain film which is not at all connected. Shah Rukh’s famous character of the NASA scientist Mohan Bhargav from Swades was revived in Brahmāstra. Mohan is shown that after returning to India, he wielded supernatural power. Although, it was quite an interesting idea but Mohan no way reminded me of Swades thanks to Shah Rukh’s stereotypical performance that vastly distinguished from his original version of Mohan. There was a staggering difference in executing both roles. How did Ayan reprise Mohan Bhargav? Both Swades and Brahmāstra are financed by different production companies. The one common factor that bridges the film is Ayan himself. He co.wrote the script and assisted Swades’ director Ashutosh Gowariker. Perhaps the latter has something to do with it.

CLOSING REMARKS

I want to appreciate Ayan Mukherji for believing his instinct and working on his creativity. Spending six years of life over a thought deserves better prospects. With all the mainstream elements surrendering the film’s main motive, I will say that Brahmāstra has still managed carrying to success on the shoulders of an interesting plot, magnificent VFX, and impressive sound work. Without a doubt, Brahmāstra is the promising beginning to an exciting universe.

RATINGS 6.5/10

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Film Reviews

Film Review: Lunana – A Yak in the Classroom (2019)

While I was doing a wiki on the recently released nominations for the Oscars, I observed this film, Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom, in the Best International Feature Film category. What surprised me was the fact that this film came all over from Bhutan. I had never watched a Bhutanese film before and Lunana created history to represent Bhutan for the first time in the Oscars. After further research, the film’s reputation impressed me that this film has reached various film festivals for screening and won a couple of biggies like Palm Springs International Film Festival and had a World Premiere at the BFI London Film Festival.

Lunana is a beautiful remote valley of Bhutan. With a few houses and an extremely limited population, people here make their living from yaks and sheep. The film is about young Ugyen who is enrolled for training in teaching. But his heart is in becoming a singer and moving to Australia for a better living. The institute moves him to Lunana for a temporary period to teach small kids. Meeting some new social challenges and way of living getting tougher, Ugyen experiences life like never before.

This film heavily reminded me of Ashutosh Gowariker‘s Swades and Greg Mortenson‘s famous book Three Cups of Tea because Lunana excitingly had elements of both. Like rural simplicities, hospitality, and generosity from both, Himalayan mountain climbing to teaching in a least-facilitated school from the book, reluctant of adapting rural methods but going 360 for the betterment from the film. Lunana is a hybrid sense of finesse for a film and a book.

Watching a Bhutanese film for the first time, I actually am impressed with the filmmaking as obviously there has to be the reason why this film came to international fame. The first forty minutes have quite a slow and steady buildup to the story. Ugyen’s character development is the clear winner. His character complexity in traveling Lunana to enthusiasm for children are the best parts of screenwriting. The audience goes with the flow; the audience travels to Lunana with him and feels his jeopardy.

With a delicate sense of detailing, the director Pawo Choyning Dorji has shot the film with meticulous care. A lot of small portions are taken care of that means a lot. There is a thoughtful moment when in Lunana, Ugyen observes the old villager without shoes. He reasons that he doesn’t have money to fill his feet. In the next scene, his child shows up to his bare feet in her shoes. Very touching. The scene had nothing to do with the plot but these are the segments where the director gives value to the sub-detailing that builds the characters and gives the audience their part of the theory.

There is a scene where Ugyen teaches ‘C for Car’ but the kids do not recognize what a car is. So he replaces the car with a cow because they are familiar with that. In the world of automobiles, the director gives the audience their chance to realize that there are remote places where a thing called a car can neither exist nor humankind can imagine such a thing to exist.

I keep writing about the film being Bhutanese but I am compelled due to the filmmaking brilliance that I wasn’t expecting to be that good. Yes, it is a predictable story with the script nowhere meeting its tragic anti-climax or any sign of negative energy about an outsider influencing people of a certain place; but the productional aesthetics and the screenplay are just marvelous.

Lunana successfully conveys the message that the simplest ways of life can transform a human into happiness. Reaching the Oscar is a historic moment in their history and the film deserves its piece of the limelight. Lunana is a beautiful drama and highly recommended to all the viewers.

Ratings: 8.3/10

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