The Illusionist (2006)

Director: Neil Burger

Screenplay: Neil Burger (based on the short story by Steven Millhauser)

Cast: Edward Norton, Jessica Biel, Paul Giamatti, Rufus Sewell

Music: Philip Glass

Time: 110 minutes

Bottom-line: Giamatti’s performance stands out

The moment someone says “a film about a magician; came in 2006”, it is very likely that your mind redirects to Chris Nolan’s The Prestige. However, The Illusionist is also about magic, and it also came out in 2006, and sadly, that is probably why it is unrecognised. The film stars Edward Norton as the titular character, with Jessica Biel, Rufus Sewell and Paul Giamatti in the supporting roles.

Norton as Eiseheim

1889, Vienna: Chief Inspector Uhl (Giamatti) announces the arrest of illusionist Eisenheim (Norton) for fraud and charlatanism. Uhl then narrates the incidents up to that point, to the Crown Prince, Leopold (Sewell). Eisenheim was childhood friends with Sophie, the Duchess von Teschen (Biel). Despite their love for each other, they were separated due to the difference in their social classes. Eisenheim went on to travel the world and become a magician, and, fifteen years later, came to Vienna to perform, where he met the Duchess again, now engaged to be married to Leopold. Knowing Leopold’s past incidents of brutality towards women, Eisenheim tried to win back Sophie, but was banished from performing in Vienna. Sophie also admitted to Leopold that she is in love with Eisenheim, and Leopold killed her. Does Eisenheim avenge her death? What events lead to his arrest?

Biel as Sophie

I, for one, have always been intrigued to find out how a magician performs his tricks, rather than enjoying the tricks themselves. That is one reason why The Illusionist didn’t impress me; till the end, the secret of how Eisenheim conjures up spirits (even if they are “illusions”) is never known, and I felt that second half of the plot was too muddled up. The story is nicely set up, with sufficient amount of romance and drama. The scene where Eisenheim publicly humiliates Leopold is the highlight. The plot twist in the end is clever, but there are hardly any hints given to guess it.

Sewell as Prince Leopold

Edward Norton’s acting isn’t that great. He didn’t come off as a showman, especially with his monotonous expression throughout the film (barring a couple of bouts of anger). Biel’s performance was equally dull. Sewell, on the other hand, does really well to play the obnoxious and evil Crown Prince; yes, you will definitely loathe his character! The best of the lot is Paul Giamatti. His character is caught between doing what is just and his personal desire to become Mayor by satisfying the Prince. In particular, I liked the last couple of minutes of his performance, when Eisenheim’s plan finally dawns upon him.

 

Giamatti as Inspector Uhl

The period settings, costumes and the background score make it a treat to watch. The story could have been better, with more emphasis on the magic tricks (though, I did like the bit where Eisenheim explains about how he guesses the correct hand), and I expected more from Norton. In short, if you want a movie about magic, watch The Prestige. If you are a fan of Giamatti, The Illusionist should be on your list.

My Rating: 2.5/5

Rotten Tomatoes rating: 74%

Nadigaiyar Thilagam (2018)

English translation: The Pride of Actresses

Director: Nag Ashwin

Story: Madhan Karky (Tamil version)

Cast: Keerthy Suresh, Dulquer Salmaan, Samantha Akkineni, Vijay Devarakonda

Music: Mickey J. Meyer

Time: 172 minutes

Bottom-line: Has its flaws, but a wonderful tribute to Savitri  

Nag Ashwin’s biopic covers the tale of one of the most popular actresses of the 50s and 60s in Tamil and Telugu cinema – Savitri. The film was simultaneously made in Tamil as Nadigaiyar Thilagam and in Telugu as Mahanati. Keerthy Suresh and Dulquer Salmaan play the lead roles, while Samantha, Vijay and Rajendra Prasad take on the supporting roles.

1981: The narrative follows a structure similar to that of Citizen Kane. Savitri (Keerthy) is taken to a hospital in Bangalore, and she enters a coma. Reporter Vani (Samantha) and photographer Vijay (Vijay) are asked to cover this incident. They learn that just a few days ago, Savitri had written a letter mentioning someone named “Shankar Ayya”. As they find out who this mystery man is, the rest of her story is also revealed. Savitri was raised by her paternal uncle, Chowdary (Prasad), who took her to the world of cinema. After several rejects, she eventually got her big break. She also became close with actor Gemini Ganesan (Dulquer), and, despite him being a family man, they fell in love with each other and secretly got married. As she rose in fame and her husband’s career started to decline, family troubles entered the picture. As people took advantage of her generosity, Savitri’s life slowly got affected by the failed relationship, loss of wealth and drinking addiction, all the way to her pathetic state as shown at the beginning of the film.

 

Dulquer as Gamini Ganesan, and Keerthy as Savitri

First up, you do not have to know anything about Savitri’s life before watching the film. Having an idea might help you relate better, but knowing too much might make you question how true the events shown are, especially the decline of her health and the failed relationship. The story covers all the important aspects of Savitri’s life within 3 hours of screen time: her childhood, rise to fame, her life with Gemini Ganesan, and her descent into poverty. The last half hour of the movie is quite sad, to see Savitri put on a brave smile even as she is being taken advantage of by everyone around her. The Vijay-Samantha romance was annoying; all it did was divert our attention from the main plot. The plot twist at the end, when it is revealed who Shankar Ayya really is, is surprising. The final scene – true or not – is a chilling finale.

 

Samantha as Vani, and Vijay as Vijay

Keerthy Suresh and Dulquer Salmaan steal the show. The former even dubbed for herself, this being her first Telugu movie (the irony being that in the film, Savitri struggles to speak Tamil, but is fluent in Telugu!). The directors back then spoke about how Savitri’s eyes and facial expressions speak volumes, and the same can be said about Keerthy too, whether she plays the successful actress or the alcoholic woman driven to poverty. Dulquer is known for his style, and that’s all he needed to portray the charming and manipulative character of Gemini Ganesan. While the romance in the story eventually fails, the chemistry between Keerthy and Dulquer is really good. Samantha’s acting was decent, but the character of Vijay could have been eliminated totally; the essence of the film would not have been lost. I also liked Rajendra Prasad's acting, especially the humour his character provides. 

The cinematography, make-up and period settings are amazing. The soundtrack is good, with the right amount of time given to dream songs and background songs. Some clips shown with the closing credits give a comparison between the real-life incidents and the ones recreated in the film. As long as you are not too sensitive to the “controversial” elements which show the actors in a bad light, Nadigayar Thilagam/Mahanati is a beautiful watch, and it will certainly make you appreciate the life of actress Savitri better.

My Rating: 3.5/5 

Risky Business (1983)

Director: Paul Brickman

Story: Paul Brickman

Cast: Tom Cruise, Rebecca de Mornay

Music: Tangerine Dream

Time: 100 minutes

Bottom-line: A biting, hilarious satire

The film that established Tom Cruise as a star, Paul Brickman’s debut film is a coming-of-age rom-com, co-starring Rebecca de Mornay in the lead role, with Joe Pantoliano, Nicholas Pryor and Janet Carroll in the supporting roles.

There's a time for playing it safe and a time for Risky Business.

Meet Joel Goodson (Cruise), a high achieving high-school student, whose father wants him to join Princeton. Despite his average grades, Joel actively takes part in “Future Enterprises”, an extracurricular activity encouraging students to start small businesses. When his wealthy parents (Pryor and Carroll) go away on a trip, Joel’s friend urges him to make use of the new-found freedom. Joel hires a call girl, Lana (De Mornay) for a night, but he doesn’t have enough money to pay her. By the time he returns from the bank, Lana has escaped with his mother’s prized Steuben glass egg. Joel and his friend track her down, and end up saving her from her pimp, Guido (Pantoliano), who has locked up all her stuff, including the egg. Lana agrees that she’ll “make a few calls”, get the egg back and never see Joel again, but as Joel destroys his father’s Porsche and messes up his college interview, he realises that the situation has gone way out of control.

 

Cruise as Joel

Instead of just being a slapstick comedy like Home Alone, Risky Business explores several other themes too, like materialism, and loss of innocence. The irony of the story begins with the name of Cruise’s character: Goodson. He has been good too long, and now, it is time to break loose. The other irony is the incident with the egg: the whole confusion starts because Lana steals the egg, and in the end, when everything seems to be back to normal, Joel’s mother still gets angry because of a crack in the egg (“Joel will pay for a new one!”, says his father). The college interview is another key point of the story, when Joel realises that life is not about materialistic stuff and doing whatever it takes to have an impeccable record - “Sometimes, you just have to say what the heck and go with it”.

 

de Mornay as Lana

19-year-old Cruise rose to fame with his role as the happy-go-lucky school kid, dancing in his underwear and driving his dad’s Porsche, and at the same time having the first taste of adult life. Cruise has never been one to show emotion, but a character like this just needs a lot of energy, and Cruise provides that. He has a charm of his own, and combined with the chemistry with de Mornay, the two of them steal the show. The humour content is really good: from plot twists, from dialogues and from Cruise’s charisma. I liked the ending, where Joel pitches his idea of his enterprise as “serving human fulfilment”, for which he earned $8000 in one night.

This is easily one of the best high school/coming-of-age dramas I’ve ever seen. It has the right balance between teenage drama elements and adult content. Risky Business is 100 minutes of guaranteed entertainment.

My Rating: 3.5/5

Rotten Tomatoes rating: 96%

A Few Good Men (1992)

Director: Rob Reiner

Screenplay: Aaron Sorkin (based on his play of the same name)

Cast: Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson, Demi Moore

Music: Marc Shaiman

Time: 138 minutes

Bottom-line: Brilliant screenplay and solid acting

Nominated for 4 Academy Awards, Rob Reiner’s courtroom drama relies heavily on Sorkin’s biting screenplay and the powerful lead performances of Cruise, Moore and Nicholson and a large supporting cast. The film uses a lot of courtroom and military terminology, so while it may be a tad difficult to follow, it certainly makes the watch all the more realistic.

“You can’t handle the truth!”

US Marines Lance Corporal Dawson and Private Downey stuff a rag down a fellow Marine, Private Santiago’s mouth in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; Santiago dies an hour later, and both the Marines are court-martialled. Santiago was known to have poor relations with others, and even broke the chain of command. While Santiago’s executive officer, Lt. Col. Markinson (J.T. Walsh), requests Santiago to be transferred off the base, Colonel Nathan Jessup (Nicholson) denies this. Naval investigator Lt. Commander Joanne Galloway (Moore) thinks that the Marines carried out a “code red” ordered by some other officer, and believes they are innocent. However, the case is given to Lt. Daniel Kaffee (Cruise), an inexperienced and carefree lawyer. Despite the initial hostility between Joanne and Kaffee, as the case progresses, each one admires the other. They are also assisted by Lt. Sam Weinberg (Kevin Pollak). Are the three of them able to prove the Marines innocent?

 

Cruise as Lt. Kaffee

To me, it was a surprise to see Cruise take on such a serious role as this, having always pictured him as Ethan Hunt. For the first part of the film, he is this jolly “lawyer” whose interest and passion lie solely in baseball, but he slowly transforms into a matured and professional lawyer as the story goes. Kaffee is one hell of an energetic character, and thanks to Sorkin’s script, he packs a lot of cunning and intelligence, evident from his gruelling cross-questioning. Jack Nicholson was nominated for the Oscar in the Supporting Actor category even though he has a short screen time. With his menacing exterior and powerful lines (“I eat breakfast 300 yards from 4000 Cubans who are trained to kill me,” he says), his ten minutes in the courtroom is enough to command your respect.

Moore as Lt. Commander Galloway 

By the time you’re done watching the film, you will also have learnt a good set of military and courtroom vocabulary. While the story gets technical that way – the plot wouldn’t make sense if it wasn’t for the strict rules and regulations and practices of the military – it presented in an entertaining manner that you enjoy every bit of it. The tension in the courtroom atmosphere is brilliantly portrayed, and all the counter-arguments and rebuttals have that aha effect.

 

Nicholson as Lt. Col. Jesup

The climax will make you debate over whether justice was really served, but by then, what you take away from the film is perseverance and effort of Kaffee and team against all odds. How far will one man go to find the truth, and how far will one go to keep his honour? When everyone is desperate to cover up their crimes, how many people do their job right? A few good men… and a woman.

My Rating: 3.5/5

Rotten Tomatoes rating: 81%

Raazi (2018)

English translation: Agreement

Director: Meghna Gulzar

Screenplay: Bhavani Iyer and Meghna Gulzar (based on the book by Harinder Sikka)

Cast: Alia Bhatt, Vicky Kaushal, Jaideep Ahlawat

Music: Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy

Time: 140 minutes

Bottom-line: A smart thriller driven by Alia Bhatt’s powerful performance

One of the best Indian films in recent times to feature a female protagonist (another notable one being Kahaani), Raazi is a spy film directed by Meghna Gulzar – the daughter of Gulzar, who is also the lyricist for the film. The story takes place just before the 1971 Indo-Pakistani war. The book by Harinder Sikka, Calling Sehmat, is inspired by true events.

 

Bhatt as Sehmat

Sehmat Khan (Bhatt) is a college student in Kashmir. As her father’s dying wish, he wants her to serve the country like he did. She is married to a Pakistani Major General, Iqbal (Kaushal) to spy on him and his family. Sehmat is hastily given training by RAW agents, led by Khalid Mir (Ahlawat), but she picks up basic self-defence and Morse Code quickly. Once in the new house, she is liked immediately by everyone except for one manservant, Abdul. Despite her narrow escapes, she conveys whatever information she gets back to India, but she is eventually caught by Abdul. With no choice but to kill him, Sehmat finds herself in more trouble every day. She also starts to genuinely love her husband, and is caught between patriotism and humanity.

 

Kaushal as Iqbal

Like most military films, Raazi is also dramatised to make it more entertaining. There are also a couple of plot devices to keep the story going. Overall, I really liked the way the film maintained the tension, instead of making the story predictable. As Times of India said, Raazi makes use of emotions instead of explosions. Sehmat puts herself in a situation where she has to murder her family members to keep herself safe and also to help the Indian Army. There is one scene where Iqbal gifts Sehmat with her favourite Hindustani classical music record, and she surprises him with his favourite, pistachio. The encounter between them when Iqbal finds out her true nature is filled with emotion, because Sehmat does love him, but still has to do what her job demands.

 

Ahlawat as Khalid

Alia Bhatt’s performance in Raazi, Highway and Udta Punjab are arguably the best of her career so far. Be it her sigh of relief after her narrow escape, or her breakdown after murdering the manservant, or her sweet attitude to the children or her anger and sadness at Khalid towards the end, Bhatt excels at everything (though, the scene where she sings to the children has such an egregious change of voice by the dubbing artist that you might end up laughing like I did!). Kaushal and Ahlawat have done well too.

The score and soundtrack of the film are superb. The songs Ae Vatan and Dilbaro are composed and sung really well. The story gets a little difficult to follow because the Hindi is mixed with Urdu, and there are too many unnamed characters, but the film is a well-written, brilliantly acted thriller, that will guarantee entertainment. Worth the watch.

My Rating: 4/5