Movie Review – THE AVENGERS

A little later than I thought, but I did catch a show of the most anticipated superhero flick ever. The Avengers played its smartest card when it started the Build-up back in Iron Man when Nick Fury introduces himself in a cut-scene at the end of the film after the credits. The hype spread like wildfire among Marvel fans like myself and Movie after Movie the build-up kept on rising. Everyone sat through the end credits just to catch the last scene that would give them a little piece of the big franchise.

The Avengers turned my companions to the theatre into sleeping beauties and the beauties that weren’t sleeping i.e. a bunch of girls who had enough of ‘dhishum-dhishum’ felt better when they started a round of clicking pictures for their facebook profiles. I didn’t know the popular display picture location moved from the infamous bathroom to a cinema hall when an awesome film is running.
So, Why was I the only one having a nerd-gasm?
Because I was the only one who ever read all the comic books Graphic Novels, followed the popular characters right from the first movie and was guilty of being actually thrilled because I had an idea about every damn superhero on the screen.

The Avengers would pretty much suck for you if you’re not a fan of Superheroes, Marvel, Sci-fi or amazing action.
If you happen to be someone like me, be ready to have, again, a nerd-gasm, at first, and then be disappointed by how boring and stretchy the build-up is in the first half and how the climax is pretty much like a better choreographed, better scripted and better directed version of the climax in Transformers 3 – Dark of the Moon.

These are the only two drawbacks of the film that would hardly make a difference to the sheer awe and surprise it would be to watch the Superheroes in action. One more thing, the story isn’t well thought of. And You might as well catch yourself wondering whether Loki’s army was bought in bulk from the now out-of-job Megatron.

Nevertheless, The Avengers has a lot to offer.
Here’s what you MUST go watch this movie for -

• Action Choreography
• Direction & Cinematography
• Visual Effects
• Comedy. Smart and Funny combine in this one.
• Iron Man!
• Hulk!
• Scarlett Johansson
• Scarlett Johansson, again. (She deserves two places in my list)
• And the word comes again – Nerd-gasm.

Joss Whedon’s Direction is snazzy, he did went over his head with the whole build up in the first half that could’ve frankly been used to establish Hawkeye and Cobie Smulders’ Character. (Robin deserved more screentime!) The Avengers is a big Level-up from his recent award winning web-series starring Neil Patrick Harris – Doctor Horrible’s Sing Along Blog (Yes, its Awesome!)

Seamus McGarvey’s Cinematography is tasteful and mind-boggling. Budding Filmmakers should keep their eyes open to learn that you CAN experiment with Camera angles and movements. It is not a sin, people!

Lastly, I’d be honest. I have been obsessed with the character of Iron Man ever since I was a kid. (Dont worry, Batman. You’re still my favorite too.) I pretty much went for this movie expecting an awesome Iron Man fiesta, as did a lot of people, all thanks to Robert Downey Jr’s witty humor and charm in the last two Iron Man movies. But here’s the surprise, Mark Ruffalo beats them all to it. He becomes an immediate winner as the Hulk and take this seriously coming from a hardcore Iron Man fan – The Hulk is the new Awesome.

PS. Do stay on till the end credits roll over.

MORE FILM FLUFF-
Hindi Film Review – PAAN SINGH TOMAR
VICKY DONOR v/s DELHI BELLY
Documentary Review – KYMATICA
Short Film Review – ONE TRACK MIND

 

“Daaru peeke chala raha hai kya?”

“Daaru peeke chala raha hai kya?”
(“Are you driving drunk?”)
It takes a man of great character and self-worth to speak those words while having half a peg of whisky in one hand and a bottle in the other. Such great men only bump into you on the streets of Delhi.
Note-to-self: Trying to be a good Samaritan isn’t always a good safe choice.
A meek little fellow, who barely has enough skin on his bones to call himself alive, rides home on a bicycle he probably waited a good time to buy. The empty street at night is nothing for him to be alarmed about, or is it?
A fairly unaware young fellow walks home on the same street, getting back as fast as he can to avoid another earfull from his folks.
A car sits silently parked in a portion of the road that’s supposedly meant for moving traffic. But well, its Delhi.

A moment passes. A few bystanders glance, smirk and get back to wrapping their business up and getting the hell out of there.
The cyclist lies on the road.
The young fellow rushes to his aid.
The car that looked dead a while ago had come to life in a split second and knocked the cycle down in an instant. The cyclist gets up, he looks dizzy, some would say he looked high. He could be, who knows. But he is no mood to be accused.

A man steps out of the car. And without any remote realization of his own folly, remarks “Daaru peeke chala raha hai kya?”
The young fellow watches as the man docks his peg near the handbrake and steps on the accelerator.

“Abhi test kar lo mujhe! Abhi test kar lo!”  (“Test me right here, right now, if you want”) mutters the cyclist as he watches the rich and powerful tyrants of his city whiz by.

READ MORE ABOUT DELHI-
THE BIG AND WORTHLESS DELHI DEBATE  

 

Hindi Film Review – PAAN SINGH TOMAR

“Sala desh ke liye daaude kisi ne na puchio, abhi baaghi ban gaye toh sabhi naam japp raye saare”
(“Nobody cared when I ran for the country. Now they won’t stop talking about me ‘cos I’m a rebel”)

This is one of the few Significantly repeated dialogues in Paan Singh Tomar that are meant to hit you hard. Repetition, like in poetry, is a powerful tool in Cinema as well. It is a sign that a lot of emotion has been put into the artwork, and I bet my last rupee that a good amount of angst and pain has been in the back of the mind of the writer while penning this awesome story down.
There’s nothing more hard-hitting than an actor who doesn’t give a rat’s ass what the trend is or how his fellow actors (Rivals, if anyone cares) perform. He oozes a certain rawness with his portrayal of an army man, and smartly blends that character into not one, but two dimensions.
Paan Singh Tomar is a fictional story based on true events that deserves to be considered as the most serious piece of work Indian Cinema has dished out recently. It is a pity that a performance of such epic measure is being rivaled by what are marketed as comedy films, but seem more like overrated pieces of junk shaken and stirred with a few calendar models. I’m sorry, but even my drunk monkey doesn’t approve of the comedy that the Hindi Film Industry has been dishing out. Pardon him.
Back to the awesomeness, this Film is about a man who starts off as a young and naive army guy, bounces into athletics thanks to his supernatural running abilities, which is the prime backbone of this film, and ultimately gets hit in the face by the reality of Indian rural extremism (Read: Chambal, Village Politics, Land dispute. Everything gets a definite and deserving screen time). But that’s not all, this film is about a man who is disappointed by the country he loved and was ready to die for. That is when the story gets you.
That’s when the shit gets real and all hell breaks loose.

Tigmanshu Dhulia is one of the few filmmakers who work with a different perspective and work hard on a subject. His noted works include films like Haasil, Charas and the recent Saheb, Biwi aur Gangster. The genius of this motion picture lies in the fact that every character is deeply rooted within the story line, Dhulia makes sure you feel the angst when the goons raid Tomar’s home and force his family to flee, he makes sure you get a good history lesson – but with his unique perspective. Mahi Gill, otherwise noted as quite a seductress thanks to Dev D and for a brief act in Gulaal, handles her part differently unlike most overrated female actors who’re made to throw around bare meat to sell the film, yet she remains elegant in a way of its own that compliments the film perfectly.

My verdict is –  watch this movie if you want some genuine Hindi Cinema, without reading another review and trying to make up your mind. This is the change you need from the run-off-the-mill-assembly-line-shit-flicks.
USP – IRRFAN’S ACTING!

MORE FILM FLUFF -
VICKY DONOR v/s DELHI BELLY
Documentary Review – KYMATICA
Short Film Review – ONE TRACK MIND

 

 

How ‘Vicky Donor’ does what ‘Delhi Belly’ couldn’t

SHIT HAPPENS – was the tag-line that Delhi Belly basked in the glory of.
Apparently, when Shit Happens at such an alarming rate, the result is pretty much…well…Shit.

Apparently, Shit DID happen. And a LOT of it.

So, I had the opportunity of catching a late LATE show of Vicky Donor this weekend. Watching a movie that glorifies Delhi IN Delhi means a cinema hall full of over enthusiastic Punjabi people who come loaded with their one-liners, whistles and maa-di/bhen-di shit.

Recently, there are just two movies that can be mentioned for glorifying the Capital. That was how they were marketed, at least. The problem was, while one glorified the Capital, the other Capitalized on it.

Vicky Donor is a fantastic film experience that blends its characters so finely that you can relate with each and every detail that the actors have paid attention to.
Delhi Belly, on the other hand, amplified the profanity and the ‘Shit’ and expected the audience to find it awesome.

Rum-Rum-Rum-Rum-Rum-Oh-Whisky!

The problem with movies that concentrate on the ‘Delhi experience’ or the ‘feel’ of Delhi is that they either get too deep into it that they lose their plots, or they focus too much on the story that the above-mentioned ‘Delhi’ experience can hardly be felt.

Vicky Donor gives you a landscape of differences. There’s your everyday Punjabi studboy and there’s your immigrant who’s miffed with the way we all Delhiites are. Who can blame them, anyway? I remember writing about it in a previous post. (Read: The Delhi Debate )
While Delhi Belly, no matter how impeccable in cinematography, left a sour taste because of an overload of toilet humor, slapstick humor coupled with blood (which wasn’t executed well) and action.

Vicky Donor appeals to the down-to-earth Delhiite in you (Yes, we do exist), Delhi Belly might appeal to the little Delhiite in your pants.

MORE FILM FLUFF - 

Hindi Film Review – PAAN SINGH TOMAR
Documentary Review – KYMATICA
Short Film Review – ONE TRACK MIND

 

The Priceless People Network

Get interacting with other amateur heads here.

So, this is another post to brag about the development on my Priceless People project.
Behold, the Priceless People Network.
This awesome little thing has been made thanks to the Oxwall Software community. You’d get it if you’re a techy. If you’re not, well, read the rest.

Well, don’t take this as your yet another social network where insecure girls and boys can put up duckface pictures of themselves and beg you to like them or they’re gonna CAPS LOCK the hell out of you. This is merely a forum for like-minded people to Communicate.
The pages have been strategically named for your convenience.

MY PROFILE – That’s your basic profile page which we expect you to showoff your work on. Brag, my lad, Brag away!

MY GREEN ROOM – This page is like a pager, it gives you the news feed and all like your friendly neighborhood facebook. But the news feed is a part of your Dashboard, you can clean it up, mix it up and do whatever you want to do with it. Sort of like a make-up room where you touch yourself up and update yourself on other performers to get yourself started.

RESTING DOCK –   Understand this one as the name suggests you to. The people are the ships, so are you, and this is your pretty resting dock where you lock down your Titanic and get chatty with the other sailors.

THE PEOPLE – This is pretty much a list of Priceless People, all with their jazzy tags and roles. (You’d learn about these once you sign up)

SHARING PIT – The sharing pit is a bowl of visiting cards, if you may. Although, you’re supposed to drop in your important links here. If you want people to appreciate or review your work, just drop in the Link here and it will get appreciated, Guaranteed.

TALK OUT LOUD – THIS, people, is my wild card. This little page is your one-stop-skype. Video or Voice chat with anyone who’s got the very same page opened anywhere on the Globe. No need to install a heavy software, no need to bump into an update, just open the damn link, ask your friend to open the same link and Bingo! You’re connected. Talk Away!

How to get there -

Click here on http://pricelesspeople.co.nr

DIRECT LINK TO THE PRICELESS PEOPLE NETWORK
READ MORE ABOUT PRICELESS PEOPLE

 

Introducing – PRICELESS PEOPLE

Friday, the 13th of June 2009.
One underdog teenager had had it with the disguised lack of recognition and the douchery that was creeping in the system that placed itself at the forefront of Talent in his city, New Delhi. What started with ire, a little thought filled with enough rage against a system that only preferred the well known or the famous or the rich, coupled with a young head full of rebelliousness post Rang De Basanti and entrepreneurial zeal post Guru, the two hindi films that poised enough Indian people with different senses of enthusiasm, an initiative began with the name of ‘SsizZ’. It was the most amateurish effort of all time, crazy as it was, there was a reason behind it all – to get every unrecognized talented young individual on the platform for everyone to see. I had no money, no good contacts, not many people but just a few friends who were simply psyched to do something different. That’s how we all tend to be when we’re nothing but 17 years old in New Delhi. Although we weren’t psyched about getting our Dad’s cars tinted and pimped like an exotic from The Fast and The Furious series, neither were we psyched about anything that appealed to people our age, we were psyched because we felt, very strongly, that we could make a difference.
But we didn’t.

Friday, the 13th of April 2012.
Almost Three years later, my mind wasn’t as young and naive. There were no hindi film influences to spin me or anyone into action. The thought of making a difference to a mindset that was comfortable with zero accountability and an immaturity that years of experience couldn’t cure – had taken a backseat. I realized my major concerns were more akin to Surviving in a savage world. Well, I guess, as you grow up, you learn that you really have to look out for yourself or the world will eat you up. But one instance after another, the thought in the back of my mind creeped up again to haunt my reality. I wasn’t happy. I was secure, but I wasn’t truly happy. There’s not much bliss in being a run off the mill robot like the millions we see everyday at work, at college, at school or even in the government for that matter.
There still wasn’t any new thought.
Change hadn’t come to India, or even Delhi, or even the Artist community for that matter.
People still pushed their kids to become engineers or doctors.
Teachers still smirked when you said you wanted to do something creative and not academic. (No matter how much academia creativity involves)
We were still a stagnant bunch of humdrum people.
And I looked closely, I realized our culture was just a bunch of history books and psychobabble blurted out by hindu extremists, we weren’t even remotely creating anything new, let alone encouraging new thought.

And Priceless People was born.
Friday, the 13th of April 2012. 

PRICELESS PEOPLE is a collective initiative by a group of individuals to connect amateurs in the field of creativity & promote offstream media.

The project is the 3rd initiative of Anmol Ahuja Initiatives, a one man independent project.

PRICELESS PEOPLE is a platform for young creative heads to pool their resources, share their collective vision and lay the foundation of a much mature subculture in our haywired society.
The Strategy of this initiative is to garner as much as support from the amateur community as possible, enrich that community with valuable inputs from Professionals and Guest Mentors, pool all of this talent and energy creating one single hub for intellectual amateurs who can guide other amateurs and so on.

Help yourself (and us) by referring to the following links -
http://www.facebook.com/thepricelesspeople
http://pricelesspeople.co.nr  

READ ABOUT THE PRICELESS PEOPLE SOCIAL NETWORK

 

In the fond memory of the Anonymous of Orkut

Facebook came in like the big fat bully that sweeped everyone off orkut in a jiffy. Only some of us would remember how it used to be in that weird old blue Social Network. Yes, I’m not talking about the new modified look Orkut has adopted in vain.

The next generation is at loss of some cheap thrills, I must say.
Two of them that come to my mind right now have to be -

1. The Anonymous Posts
This happened in your favourite forum, yes. Now, you knew that everyone in that particular ‘Community’ belonged to your School/College. But the bloody prankster would deliberately click on the option – Post as Anonymous – and send you into the abyss of mystery. Haha! That used to be fun. Before you go on and say that that is harmful, I would kindly like to bring your attention to facebook’s feature that makes your pictures and posts publicly visible by default unless you go beneath the messy privacy setting panel and tweak as you please.
2. The Profile Visitors
People craved this little bastard of a feature so much that it is one of the most popular spam messages that float around facebook even now. How much we all crave to believe that we’re not forever along. Stalking someone isn’t so easy when that person can track you back and if you’re lucky, might also stalk you back.

Facebook has just turned into one of those lame cafeterias where everyone knows everyone, yet there isn’t one single spark of thrill, mystery or even interest.
So much for the loss of cheap thrill!

 

Short film Review – Answers

If there is one thing this Short film needs to be remembered by, it has to be the writing. Ankit Manchanda’s story writing is worth notable appreciation.
‘Answers’ is a short motion picture by an entity that has been mentioned in the opening credits as ‘The Rebellious Army’. The name seems anarchistic but the undertone of calmness in this film doesn’t leave you with an aggressive after taste, which works for itself.
The film opens with a  gray scaled noir-like feeling that has been put there to make a subtle awareness that the story has an angle of glamour to it, a sort of glamour that is woven between the thin lines of old detective depictions and modern era mysteries. The effort is clear in vicinity.
However, a few clips might give you the impression that the dialogues might be preachy. However that may be, it seems to suit the story well. (Remember ‘Once upon a time in Mumbai’, anyone?)
The thought is one to ponder upon, you really have to peel beneath the layers of a film enthusiast’s frenzy.
A Film Enthusiast’s Frenzy – the amateur filmmakers among us would understand. We’re young, and the excitement of making a movie takes the best of us.
Which is something that could be related to one of the dialogues in the film about searching for ‘the high’ all your life, but when you have it, it has you completely.
Warm acting on Ankit Kohli’s part, who was very different yet very suitable as the lawyer. Its nice to see that he wasn’t depicted as a stereotypical law authority that we have been seeing in countless typecast hindi films.
Costumes could need some help though.
All in all, a great job by the crew, who happen to be people I personally know. Great job on the music as well.
Here’s the YouTube link -

 

Irrelevance – a dumb society strikes again

What I am going to bring your senses to are some cases that I have noticed since I opened my eyes to the farce of a society we have here in Delhi.

Please note that while you read this, there are countless victims of social rage who will be giving up.
Giving up on what is my real concern.

Let’s start with the most simple of these situations.

The newbie artist trying to promote his work just so he can finally reach the noble mentor he needs, and earn some quality feedback that might help him become the great photographer, filmmaker or musician he intends on becoming will give up just because he tries to be different than his fellow people, or maybe he is just too scared of the bullies that bring him down.

The average commuter will be giving up on standing up to road bullies just because he is scared that he will be killed brutally with a brick in the middle of the road while the traffic whizzes by.

The common Indian girl will face a curfew after a certain time, will be restricted to go certain places, will have her clothing monitored and will be questioned on every step she intends to take in her love life just because she lives in the rape capital of her country.

The rape victim will be giving up on seeking any aid from the police or any authority just because the accused belongs to a powerful family and if she does file an FIR, we cannot offer her the dignity or even the credibility of being concerned and helpful. Rather, we’d throw her in a pit full of media bulldogs and sell every piece of her as a story about ‘What women should wear’ and ‘Western Culture ruins Indian Society’ while the accused are never talked about.

These people will ‘reform’ to ‘adapt’ because us, delhiites, have become comfortable with zero accountability and believe in serving our asses in plates made of gold to the powerful and tyrannical.
We have lost our spine, if we ever had one.

Irrelevance.
Yes. We resort to it when we know we are to blame.
When we know that the tyrants are wrong with their brutality and insanity, we crush the victim, the already scared with claims that are irrelevant in the highest grade possible in a society we, as dumbasses, are so fucking proud of.

Irrelevance is blaming an amateur for trying, for bringing him down because the first thing he does is experimental. Blame yourself for not being a good role model and/or for stalking a newbie and bothering to shower him with your opinions – inherently revealing what you have too much time for. Pun intended.

Irrelevance is blaming a commuter for foul mouthing a lane-cutter or someone who just hit you or an offender on the road. Blame yourself for not standing up to that bastard WITH that poor chap.

Irrelevance is restricting your girl from interactions with the opposite sex. Blame yourself for shying away from imparting sex education when it was important.

And last, but the most enraging, Irrelevance is blaming a girl for wearing provocative clothes or indulging in recreational activities. Blame yourself for being the first one to run when a bunch of goons come around to manhandle her, and blame yourself for failing to be good parents to a son who finds raping as recreational an activity as pinball. Blame yourself for projecting an all-male-superior image in front of your kid all your life that he finally grew up to be a man who thinks he can have his way with every woman he lays his eyes on.

 

Behold the glory that returns on thy world

Oh well, this is going to be a personal one.

So, I’ve been off the grid for quite some time now. My friends and people I work with and for might’ve noticed, or not. That just goes to fill in some introductory lines while my mind gargles with the fresh glory that it has been dumped with. Ah! What Joy it is to play with words! Pseudo-cool people shall never understand.

But the Professor is back from his cave. Oh, the theatricality that sentence has! Hah!
No, I am not high or intoxicated. This is just a celebration of expression, an expression that was held captive yet allowed to grow and mature into its sheer fineness with time.

The break, as I call it, was one of those famous movie sequences you see in your movies where the protagonist (Okay, ‘Hero’, if you say so!) goes all quiet and intense, orchestra plays in the background as he thinks and everything is nearing its end with a dramatic montage. It is so to make you feel that its all over. The man has lost and he shall go no further. But we all know, like any perfect happy ending type commercial sellout movie, the man shall rise. However, reality is different. But more about that boring shit later.

In the glorious words of the internet meme I don’t quite remember, “Haters gonna Hate!” 

Alright, I’m done.
Scram!