pk (2014)

Director: Rajkumar Hirani
Story: Abhijat Joshi, Rajkumar Hirani
Cast: Aamir Khan, Anushka Sharma, Saurabh Shukla, Boman Irani
Music: Ajay Atul, Shantanu Moitra, Ankit Tiwari
Time: 153 minutes
Bottom-line: Perhaps the best film of 2014

You have probably heard this a hundred times before, so here it goes once again: only Rajkumar Hirani and Aamir Khan could have pulled off pk. The latest Aamir Khan film is truly amazing, thanks to the brilliant acting, superb storyline, and the way it is presented on screen. pk features Anushka Sharma, Saurabh Shukla, Boman Irani in the lead roles, with Sushant Singh Rajput and Sanjay Dutt in the supporting roles. Aamir’s character of PK was inspired by the real-life rationalist Abraham Kovoor.

Aamir as PK

Rajasthan, India: An alien (Aamir) lands in the desert. He wears (only!) a locket, which is the remote control to call his spaceship. Soon after he lands, the remote gets stolen, and he is stranded on Earth. Over the next few days, he mingles with humans, by stealing clothes and money. He learns Hindi and is able to understand that the thief would have probably sold the locket at Delhi.
Bruges, Belgium: TV reporter Jaggu (Anushka Sharma) falls in love with an architecture student, Sarfaraz (Rajput), a Muslim from Pakistan. Her father dislikes this, and goes to a god-man Tapasvi Maharaj (Shukla), who predicts that Sarfaraz will ditch her. Sure enough, things go as predicted, and a disheartened Jaggu comes to New Delhi.
Back in Delhi, months later, Jaggu, now a reporter, meets the alien, who has been named PK by the people (peekay in Hindi means tipsy), because of his crazy behaviour. On interviewing him for a news story, she comes to know PK’s suffering because of religion. Confused by the different customs and religious practices, PK, in the hope that praying to God will help him get his remote back, only ends up humiliated and hurt. Inspired by PK’s ideas, Jaggu decides to bring about a change in the people’s religious beliefs with his help, with the promise of helping him get back his remote. What they do together forms the rest of the film.

Anushka Sharma as Jaggu, also the narrator
of the story

The story deals with a “sensitive” topic (especially in India): religion. A satire on “God and godmen” (as Hirani put it), pk hopes to be an eye-opener to those who blindly follow the various customs and practices in India. Most of us were, I believe, told not to ask questions about such practices, but to follow them because our previous generations were doing the same thing. Some followed them, some ignored them, but no one really questioned them. Only someone who has never seen such things before, only someone who has been affected by an issue questions it. That’s probably the reason why Aamir’s character is an alien: a rational being who questions everything, to whom everything must have a reason.

Saurabh Shukla as Tapasvi Maharaj, the
main antagonist

After getting whacked several times due to the different rules of religions set by the different “managers”, PK decides it would be best to follow all religions, and this also results in failure. PK’s theory is simple: all of us put a call to God, but we all call the “wrong number”. Some fake God fools around with us, making us perform meaningless rituals. According to him, there are two Gods: one, who created us, and the other, whom we created. The scene where PK asks a bunch of people from different religions to go before Tapasvi Maharaj, to prove that all religions are identical, and the scene where he explains how people’s fear makes them blindly follow things are interesting to watch.

Sushant Singh Rajput as Sarfaraz

That is basically the main theme of the film. The other themes include the romance between Sarfaraz and Jaggu, and, as the story progresses, the romance between Jaggu and PK. (Spoiler) The ending is kind of emotional, but the sentence which Jaggu says is what I found interesting: He learnt from us how to lie, and he taught us how to love each other. He loved me enough, to let me go. There are plenty of jokes, though, unlike 3 Idiots, half of them are meant for adults. The songs were not that great, but they were not bad either.

Aamir Khan’s performance is stunning! From the minute he exits his spaceship, till the last scene, his energy and charisma never reduce, and in every scene, he surprises us, either with his actions, expressions or dialogues. This is one of his best performances yet, and to enjoy it best, you have to see it yourself! The supporting cast has also done extremely well. Anushka Sharma certainly surprised me with a fantastic performance as well (but the reason behind the new hair style still puzzles me!) Boman Irani, Sanjay Dutt and Sushant Singh Rajput have comparatively very less screen time that their roles are more of cameo appearances, but nevertheless, sufficient enough to make an impact.

Sanjay Dutt as Bhairon Bhai, a friend of PK
who helps him till he reaches Delhi

pk puts forth a strong message that all of must follow God, and that we must not fall prey to the meaningless rituals that will supposedly get us what we want. True devotion does not need extra perks to turn God’s attention towards you. Though one can find that some ideas have been taken from other films, the final execution, thanks to Hirani’s direction, and the presentation, thanks to Aamir’s (and others’) performances, make pk unique. There are enough jokes to entertain you, and somehow the message the film is supposed to deliver also sinks in. pk, in my view, is perhaps the best film of 2014.

My Rating: 4.5/5

Despicable Me (2010)

Director: Pierre Coffin, Chris Renaud
Story: Sergio Pablos
Cast: Steve Carell, Jason Segel, Russell Brand
Music: Pharrell Williams, Heitor Pereira
Time: 94 minutes
Bottom-line: Not a great story, but fun to watch 

One thing makers of animated films will worry about, in my view, is that their film might be a bit childish. A good animation film provides regular laughs, has a good story and also some sort of moral that lingers in your mind. Despicable Me has a charm of its own that makes it interesting to watch, even if the story is not up to the mark. The film stars Steve Carell, Jason Segel, and Russell Brand in the lead roles, with Miranda Cosgrove, Julie Andrews, Dana Gaier and Elsie Kate in the supporting roles.

Super-villain Gru

Super-villain Gru (Carell) has just suffered a setback – another new villain has made headlines by stealing the Pyramid of Giza, thereby becoming the more popular super-villain. The thief turns out to be Vector (Segel), a villain who commits crimes with “both direction and magnitude”. To earn back his fame, Gru devices a new plan: he will shrink and steal the Earth’s moon, with the help of his colleague Dr. Nefario and his minions. However, the moment Gru successfully steals the shrink ray from a secret research facility, Vector grabs it from him. When Gru’s attempts to get it back fail, he notices three orphan girls who are able to enter Vector’s fortress because they sell cookies. So Gru decides to adopt the three girls. The adventures the four of them have form the rest of the film.

The girls Edith (left), Agnes (middle) and
Margo

I liked the way the characters have been created. Gru, a so-called super-villain who goes around freezing people with a “freeze-ray”; the incidents during the song I’m having a bad bad day illustrate his “evilness”. Then there’s Vector, who seems like a lame character, till it is revealed that he is the one who stole the pyramid. Each of the three girls has different traits too: Margo, the eldest, who is always protective of the other two; Edith, who is known for her short temper, and Agnes, the youngest, cutest and most innocent of the three. But the main reason the film created an impact on the viewers was because of Gru’s minions: the yellow dwarf-like beings in his lab. Somehow their appearance and voice has made them perhaps the most popular cartoon characters of today.

Vector, the antagonist

The contrast between the characters itself creates some humour. The story focuses on how Gru goes from super bad to super dad. But the story seemed to be directionless... I mean, though all the events are connected, somehow the narrative wasn’t that good. What made it interesting, however, is the animation and jokes. I agree with the Rotten Tomatoes consensus of the film, which states that the film has heavily borrowed from The Looney Tunes. Some jokes resembled those you would have probably seen in The Looney Tunes Show, and if you loved them then, you will enjoy them now. This is what I meant when I said that though the story as such is average, watching the film is interesting.

Some of the minions... 

The score was good, and the animation as well (especially the way the minions have been created!!). The characters, except the three girls, all look kind of weird: Gru, with his Pinocchio-like nose and extremely thin legs (and his monster-like dog), Vector with his big geeky spectacles, Dr. Nefario with his oddly shaped head... Steve Carell has done a fantastic job – it was impossible for me to recognise his voice in the film. The others who have lent their voice have also done well.

Despicable Me is a film that doesn’t quite match the standard of Pixar films, but nevertheless, it is a fun-filled family entertainer. Watch for the animation graphics and the jokes. This is one of those films that somehow manage to lighten your heart as soon as you start watching.

My Rating: 3.5/5
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 81%

Thegidi (2014)

English translation: Deception
Director: P. Ramesh
Story: P. Ramesh
Cast: Ashok Selvan, Janani Iyer 
Music: Nivas K. Prasanna, Selva Rani
Time: 116 minutes
Bottom-line: A smartly scripted detective thriller

I don’t think Thegidi had a good run at the box office here, so the film went unnoticed by me. But soon there came a time when everyone around me was saying, “Watch Thegidi – it’s awesome!” And indeed, this deceptively clever thriller film directed by P. Ramesh, starring Ashok Selvan and Janani Iyer in the lead roles, is quite impressive. What makes it so, according to me, is that it provides the typical entertainment any other normal Tamil film – that runs for about three hours – would provide, in less than two hours.

Ashok Selvan as Vetri

A criminology student and a fresh graduate, Vetri (Selvan) aspires to become a detective. His observation skills earn the admiration of his professor, who advices him to join a detective firm. He soon becomes successful in his job. However, on such a mission, he gets caught by a young woman, Madhu (Janani Iyer). Surprisingly, she turns out to be his next target assigned by the company to him. But he falls in love with her. Things start to get weird when Vetri reads the newspaper a few days later: he comes across articles which say that two of the people he investigated had died in accidents. Though not charged with anything, Vetri feels guilty because he had given practically every detail about them to his company. Are these deaths truly accidental? Or is there a much bigger scam behind all this?

I am one such person who is willing to appreciate almost any Tamil film that deviates from the normal masala type. This happens to be the main reason why Thegidi impressed me immediately. When a film provides thrills, romance, comedy and a good twist ending, all within two hours, one can say that the screen time has been used very effectively. Every scene in the film is “to the point” – it starts where it should and ends where it should. Another thing I liked about the film is the fact that the director kept the main character as a detective, instead of a cop.

Janani as Madhu

The title sequence is interesting: just like that of Catch me if You Can, the scenes during the opening credits display scenes from the film, which occur later. There are a couple of songs, but the good thing is that during the song “Vinmeen vithayil”, the whole “romance” between Vetri starts and ends, in the sense that no extra time is wasted for this purpose. And of course, the song was quite melodious as well. The story progresses at a break-neck pace, especially in the second half. The twist ending is sort of unexpected, and the climax is brilliant... similar to a Nolan film, if I may say so.

The cast is almost entirely new. This is Ashok Selvan’s third major film, so though his acting was not exactly “first-class”, he has done a decent job. Janani Iyer has performed well too. Jayaprakash, who is probably the only experienced actor, comes only in the second half, as a police inspector who helps Vetri. So though acting is the only aspect where Thegidi doesn’t come up to my expectations, in every other aspect, it is one of the best films of 2014. The script, score (in particular), songs and the climax are brilliant. Thegidi has no big stars, no lavish settings, no big-budget song or action sequences, but it provides your money’s worth of entertainment with no shortcomings.

My Rating: 4/5

Kahaani (2012)

English translation: Story
Director: Sujoy Ghosh
Story: Ritesh Shah, Sutapa Sikdar, Sujoy Ghosh
Cast: Vidya Balan, Parambrata Chatterjee ,Nawazuddin Siddiqui
Music: Clinton Cerejo
Time: 122 minutes
Bottom-line: A new, interesting type of thriller... enjoyable all the way

In recent times, for once, a Hindi film that is categorised as a thriller, actually is one! Following No One Killed Jessica and The Dirty Picture, Vidya Balan stars in yet another “woman-centric” film, Kahaani. Taking place in the city of Kolkata, the film tells the story of a pregnant woman in search of her husband. Parambrata Chatterjee and Nawazuddin Siddiqui play the supporting roles.

2008, Kolkata: A poison gas attack kills several people in one compartment of the underground metro.
2010, Kolkata: In the festive season of Durga Puja, Vidya Bagchi (Balan), a pregnant woman, lands at the Kolkata airport, from London. She goes straight to the police station, introducing herself as a software engineer. She says her husband, Arnab, is missing. With the help of another friendly inspector, Rana (Chatterjee), she goes around, investigating in all the places her husband had been in. She comes to know that her husband resembles a certain Milan Damji, whose very name becomes responsible for the news of Vidya reaching the Intelligence Bureau. Soon, two other people become involved: IB officer A. Khan (Siddiqui), and an undercover assassin, Bob Biswas. When there is festivity all around, what does one woman do to uncover the truth about her husband, who (as the story progresses) seems to be nothing more than a kahaani?

Vidya Balan as Vidya Bagchi

The way the script has been written and the way the film has been shot are such that all the events seem to be very realistic. Kahaani made use of a technique called guerrilla film-making. Basically it means that the crew used the locations in the city instead of sets, and they took quick shots without warning or obtaining permission to shoot. In this way the film portrays the culture and tradition of Bengalis (during Durga Puja) without taking too much time.

The story is narrated at a brisk pace. Initially you are made to think that the story is just about a woman searching for her husband, but by about thirty minutes into the film you sort of realise that there is much more to the story than that, especially after the entry of Bob Biswas’ character. The first sequence of the poison gas attack seems unrelated, but its significance is known soon enough. Kahaani enters my list of films where the twist ending is in some ways the best part and in some ways, is a major disappointment. The hundred and five minute build up till the climax puts loads of questions into your mind, almost all of which are answered in the last few minutes. The only problem is that the ending puts some new ones into your mind, for which you can decide your own answers. As a viewer you may expect some hints (as I had written in my review of Now You See Me) and in Kahaani, the hints are very subtle, but nevertheless, they are good enough for you to guess the twist ending.

Parambrata Chatterjee as Rana

From her role in Paa, Vidya Balan has given several successful, powerful roles as the lead character, especially in films categorised as “woman-centric”. In fact, her roles in such Hindi films have earned her the tag of “female-hero”. In Kahaani, her performance was a class apart. Despite being pregnant, and though it seems certain that her husband does not exist, the way she shows courage and determination (even breaking laws to get what she wants) was quite interesting to watch. Chances are that you will be speechless (if not shocked!) after seeing this performance. Though Balan’s show may have overshadowed the roles of Chatterjee and Siddiqui, who technically are the other “lead actors”, they have given commendable performances as well.

Leading from the front, Vidya Balan is perhaps the main reason for the film’s success. Of course, the script was excellent, and, like I said before, the story actually is thrilling. I personally felt that the climax was fitting (though I had to create my own answers for few unanswered questions) but the point is, no other ending could possibly tie up all the other loose ends. This is one film that hardly disappoints... certainly worth a watch!

My Rating: 4.5/5