Rukh : A film with Heart

You know what does a good movie does to you, it makes you aware, about yourself, about your surrounding, like deep meditation. It makes you happy and light inside. Yes that's what good cinema does. That is the purpose of it. Maybe that is why it is so important for some people to write and make films because there are stories in their hearts which if not told would remain purposeless forever which is very sad. Whenever I watch a good film I try to remember all the good films I have watched in past and how they made me feel or think and there is one thing which is common in all of them, they complete me or give me a feeling of fulfillment. You know that feeling when you do some great work and admire yourself or when you are proud on the success of someone very close and you feel like you have done it with them and you are a part of their achievement well that kind of feeling.

A film which made me feel just like that today was Rukh. A movie with a heart and soul. A movie which does not aspire to be great or win accolades/awards just a simple story told honestly. A movie without any packaging, a movie not trying to be perfect, a movie where you will not analyze the script or acting or any technical details for that matter because in-spite of its imperfections it feels so close to you. Makes you think and in my case write as well. Believe me I am a very lazy person and it is very difficult to make me do anything against my wish (especially if you are not my manager and are not paying me) but then there are films like these you watch and can't help but spread a word about them. Because the sad part is movies like these don't get audience easily. There were just 10 odd people in the theater today whereas Golmaal is running houseful. I don't have anything against Golmaal it is an entertainer but this state of negligence towards serious and original cinema does makes me sad inside. Maybe as audience we don't deserve gems like Rukh because a movie cannot be made for empty theaters. They deserve attention and respect. I agree there are some indie films which are not for masses and won't attract crowds but then films like Rukh are very different. They are like Guru Dutt, or early Raj Kapoor or Hrishikesh Mukherjee films. They take a very middle path in which a good original story is told very sincerely and lovingly. Remember the way mom used to tell us stories, sometimes the same story again and again and she never tried to make it special, it used to be effortless and full of love. Just like that.

Please go and watch Rukh it is a fabulous film which deserves to be watched in theaters. Although technical aspects in such movies don't matter much but still I would like to mention a few names here. One thing which I liked the most is the pacing of the film. This is a kind of film which do not grab your attention instantaneously, it very slowly and gently sweeps you in it's world, among it's characters where you are with them sitting in the corner somewhere listening to them. Atanu Mukherjee the debutante writer director has done a great job in this sense, also the person whom a director is most dependent on (who is like a pseudo director) to create such a experience is editor. Here Sanglap Bhowmick has done magic with editing. Good dialogues are where you don't 'see' the dialogues much but still a lot is said, Vasan Bala has done exactly that, excellent work. In the end the makers and producers Drishyam films, fantastic job guys. Please keep making such films and I assure you we will come to theaters it will take time but it is happening. 

Again, please go and watch the film people before it is out of theaters.

Jagga Jasoos : An Immersive Cinema

Not all films encourage you to sit with your laptop in the middle of night and write about them. Rarely does it happen and definitely not with Hindi films but I had that rare moment last week, I saw Jagga Jasoos (JJ).

Sometimes I wonder what is the purpose of cinema, is it just to entertain or make audience think or teach them something or to give them an experience they can cherish. There cannot be one answer, it will differ, everyone have their own reasons whatever it is but there is one basic condition, for those 120-150 minutes the film should make you forget about everything . You should not think about the world outside that dark room. If a movie succeeds in doing so, for me it has won the day no matter what the genre or language is, that is the film I recommend to everyone. I have this bad habit of making people watch or listen to anything which resonates with me. So that’s what I’m doing here.

Anurag Basu (AB) took around three years in making this film, Ranbir Kapoor (RK) is producing it and he has dedicated it to his grandfather, the legendary (and my favorite) Raj Kapoor. The film gives him tribute saying ‘Gardish main sitarein rahengey sada’ from Mera Naam Joker (MNJ), one of the most underrated films  in Indian cinema. In a way JJ and MNJ have a few trivial similarities, MNJ was a very expensive film and a long one as well. I don’t know how many of you are aware but the film had two intervals, it was Raj Kapoor’s  magnum opus, unfortunately it didn’t work, they said it was too ahead of its times. JJ is a three hour long film with more than 27 songs, took way too much time to complete, in a way it is Ranbir’s magnum opus. I just hope that it does not end up as MNJ on box office. AB has made a film with heart, it has all the right elements in perfect amount, and nothing has been overdone. It is a simple father son story which kids can watch with their parents and have fun. In a country like ours where everyone run behind the trends (you make one Wasseypur and there will be a dozen films about the same place and the same people, someone made DDLJ 20 years back and people are still trying to tell the same story) it takes guts to write and make a film like JJ.

AB has this natural ability to create moments which are inherently funny which necessarily doesn’t come from the comic part of it but the innocence or naivety of his characters, he creates noise in silence. He loves international cinema and this film too like Barfi has a lot of French feel to it (especially Amelie). But then the references have not been used for the sake of it, the nature of the story and characters are such that these references goes very well with the narrative and nothing looks forced.  

Ranbir and Sasawata Chatterjee (Bob Viswas from Kahani) have given very fine performances. Pritam has done wonderful job, to create a whole film with  music is a task and it has been done with perfection. There is one more hero in the film and that is Ravi Verman, the cinematographer. The film has been captured beautifully and has a dream like feel to it, the result of which is you actually become a part of Jagga’s journey. The screenplay loses it's grip in the third act but then for me it is typical AB style,  he focuses more on creating memorable moments then the actual plot points or structure (it was same with Barfi in which after a point you weren’t even sure what all things are going on), as long as audience are with Jagga and having fun, little matters.  

The film has its flaws; there are continuity breaks, there is Katrina, there are a few ‘Bahubali Moments’ (the escape sequence on ostrich) but that’s the beauty of immersive cinema you tend to overlook the mistakes and just enjoy the film. 

In a lot of reviews I have read people are complaining about the length of the film or they have questions about the plot whereas in the theaters kids were dancing with Jagga and laughing with his father. Maybe sometimes we just need to loosen up a little and be in the moment, children are so much better at this.

Please go watch JJ as films like these are not made very often and the best part is it can be a trendsetter, I hope more films like these are made in future. And we won’t have to watch poorly animated Hanumans or Krishnas in the name of children's films, just to make myself clear I don’t have any issues with movies based on mythological characters but again they are not done with conviction and that is my problem.

Jagga Jasoos is the winner here, give yourself a chance and experience the world of Jagga, you will not regret it.