Burn After Reading – Movie Review

Burn After Reading – Review ( English Film )

Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that’s creativity

– Charles Mingus

 

Burn After Reading is Joel and Ethan Coen’s first movie after their Academy award-winning No Country For Old Men. A black comedy set in an urban neighbourhood, the directors have woven a simple story with a bit of a twist and of course, morbidity — a Coen trademark.  

 

The cast is absolutely star-studded, with John Malkovich, Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Frances McDormand and Tilda Swinton. Osbourne Cox (Malkovich) plays a drunkard CIA analyst who decides to quit after being demoted (almost fired) by his boss. His idea of penning his memoirs doesn’t go down too well with his wife Katie (Swinton), who thinks of her husband as a nincompoop. She plans to divorce Osbourne and at the behest of her lawyer, copies several documents from his personal computer onto a CD.

 

Things go haywire when the lawyer’s receptionist accidently leaves the CD at her gym. Physical fitness trainer Chad Feldheimer (Pitt) gets a hold of it and along with his co-worker Linda Litzke (McDormand), decides to blackmail Osbourne. The funny part of it all is that when Osbourne refuses to co-operate, the naïve duo decide to hand over the CD to the Russian Embassy.

 

In the meanwhile, Katie is having an affair with Harry Pfarrer (Clooney), a married womanizer who works as a treasury agent. Harry meets Linda on an Internet dating website and starts dating her too.

 

The CIA, in the meanwhile, is keeping tabs on the Cox household to make sure Osbourne does not prove a serious embarrassment to them — and the complicated plot takes a radical twist with the death of Chad in Cox’s apartment.

 

I won’t reveal any more because this is one of the movies where any kind of explanation fails to do justice — but I assure you its worth a watch. All the actors have done brilliantly well, especially Brad Pitt and Frances McDormand. Burn After Reading is pure entertainment with an added dash of zest. The background score, according to me, is apt and sometimes delightfully deceitful. It’s not another No Country For Old Men, but it’s certainly a classy, light version of the Coen magic. Keep smiling and prepare to be surprised.

 

Rishio Rating – 3.9/5

 

 

 

 

Dasvidaniya Review

 

Big budgets don’t make a good movie — good scripts do.

 

This review is going to be short. Dasvidaniya is brilliantly directed and the actors have done their job to the fullest.

 

If I had to hear the script without seeing the movie, my thoughts might have been a little different. But the good part about Dasvidaniya is that a very simple (mostly inspired) story has been executed exceptionally well.

 

It is simple yet touching. The protagonist (Vinay Pathak) gets to know that he is dying of stomach cancer and decides to make a list of the things he wants to do in the short time he has left. Eventually, he fulfills each and every one of his desires.

 

The movie has nothing that one hasn’t seen before, but it still manages to hold the viewers’ interests. The chemistry between the actors is noteworthy. Ranvir Shourie and Rajat Kapoor both have miniscule roles, but they leave a mark.

 

They, along with Sarita Joshi, have done justice to their respective characters. Neha Dhupia (who up until now I thought was quite a dud, where acting is concerned) has delivered a surprisingly noteworthy performance.

 

Overall, Dasvidaniya is worth a watch – it’s the complete entertainment package.

 

RishiO Meter – 3/5

 

 

 

Tingya Review – Marathi Movie

Tingya Review – ( Marathi Movie )

 

Tingya is dedicated to the 1,31,040 farmers who committed suicide between 1993 to 2006 – that is 9,360 a year, 780 a month and 26 a day. In this era of globalization who can be luckier than ‘we, the living’.

 

The movie starts off along these powerful lines. It is one of the few works that has revived a massive interest in Marathi Cinema and has made it to this year’s Oscars as an independent entry. It was also competing for the spot of official Indian entry in the Foreign Film category, but that honour eventually went to Taare Zameen Par.

 

The plot is carefully woven around the plight of farmers in Maharashtra, focusing on one family among many that face the brutal and harsh reality of survival. First-time director Mangesh Hadawale tells the touching story of the relationship between Tingya (the protagonist, a young boy) and his pet bull. The animal takes seriously ill, causing the family a lot of hardship as they can neither afford treatment for it nor buy a new one.

 

Tingya’s father decides to sell the bull to a butcher at the village fair, so that another one can be bought to replace it. This angers the young boy, who is deeply attached to it. Till the very end Tingya hopes for a miracle, so that the bull can remain his pet and not be sold to the butcher. But unfortunately, reality strikes hard and Tingya has to contend with the hardships of life.

 

The movie has been brilliantly shot in the deep farmlands of Maharashtra and is rumoured to have been made at the cost of a mere Rs 27 lakh. The director has taken a very bold step in choosing this script. The cinematography, contrary to some critics’ opinions, is extraordinary. Among the actors, Sunil Deo and Sharad Goekar stand out; they are absolutely fabulous. Technically, Tingya could have done a little better, but with a budget like that, hats off to you Mr. Mangesh. I have also heard that many producers refused to finance the movie after reading the script. My sympathy goes out to them, may their souls rest in peace.

 

The movie has won several national and international accolades and in my opinion deserved to represent Indian cinema at the Oscars. Most filmmakers who are inspired by real-life issues tend to lean more towards documentaries. But Tingya is not one of those — don’t miss it. And don’t forget it was competing with Taare Zameen Par, which had a budget of a whopping Rs 50 crore.

 

Rishio Review Meter – 4/5

 

 

Dostana Review

The Filmmakers dream, the viewers nightmare

Climate is what we expect, weather is what we get.
A thing long expected takes the form of the unexpected when at last it comes.

The moment you think, “Isn’t it time for the interval?” it means something is wrong for sure. Friends who saw the movie before me said the film was tolerable till the interval, but for me, it should have ended after the first 35 minutes. We all loved the “Kaantaben” scenes in Mr Johar’s earlier film, but I never expected an intelligent filmmaker to make a 3 hour special on Kantaben.

The film revolves around two losers who have to lie about their sexual preference to stay in an apartment. I wonder why? The script takes a nosedive the moment they move in with Priyanka Chopra.  She plays a 27 year old independent lass who works for a fashion magazine and is piped to become the next editor-in-chief. The two wannabe gays, John Abraham and Abhishek Bachchan, fall in love with her and try to woo her by taking her out on romantic dates. In the meantime Priyanya’s boss “Boman Irani” who also plays a gay ( real gay ) role, tries to hit on the two losers ( John and AB ) when he is invited to her apartment for dinner. Kiron Kher ( the only tolerable actor in the movie ) plays Abhishek’s mom, who thinks her son has flown off the handle bar (all of them actually have, including the director and the producer ). Bobby Deol replaces Boman Irani as the editor-in-chief and Priyanka is disappointed. In the meantime John and AB apply for US residency. The officer who is attending them when they are in line is also gay. Why O Why?

I won’t bore you’ll further with the story because it’s not worth it. It’s quite apparent that the filmmakers have lived their dream by making such a film, if you know what — or who(!) – I’m talking about. John Abraham’s body is highlighted so much throughout the film that one is bound to feel the  producer was in love with him. Shilpa Shetty dances in one song in Miami (which could have been shot at Marve Beach). I would like to ask Shilpa “ Shilpa why O why O why do you wear a sarong over your bikini?”. For the viewer its like having water and telling yourself its whisky. Karan Johar is written in each and every frame of the film and its difficult to believe all the new directors that Mr. Johar works with have the same style.

Some advice for Mr Karan Johar. PLEASE DON’T GIVE ANYMORE REFERENCES TO YOUR EARLIER MOVIES IN EVERY NEW ONE YOU MAKE. WE KNOW YOU HAVE MADE KUCH KUCH HOTA HAI AND ITS VERY CLOSE TO YOUR HEART. AND THE ACTOR OF THE FILM IS ALSO VERY CLOSE TO YOUR HEART. BUT ANY MORE REFERENCES AND REMINDERS WILL JUST GET MORE IRRITATING.

The theatre was half empty on a Saturday evening show ( 2nd day), but this is one of those films where the producers will say that we have made the money in Indian markets abroad. There are very few filmmakers who write a script with the freedom of knowing that budget is not a problem; what is sad is that these very scriptwriters write films like these. It would be a pleasure if the production house thinks about the viewers and not only their bum-viewing dreams, when they decide to make their next film (and no, we do not want to see another actor’s backside).

What is even more irritating is that if this film flops the producers will say that the audience is not ready for such a script, when actually the audience is ready for everything, provided the film is good. This is not a risky subject, it’s just a bad script.

Don’t waste your money. Wait for a month or two and you will watch this film on one of the channels on television.

RISHIO REVIEW METER – 1.5/5