But then, the movie has some anti-dalit dialogs that come from the alleged upper caste people. And again, I would say that Jha has handled things very carefully here because while it’s not possible to make a good movie on the subject without including at least some such dialogs, he has put the counter-views in the same place to keep the balance.

The interesting thing here is that while the villain here are clearly politicians and businessmen who try to get their own profits out of every policy, Jha has shown the plight of everyone who becomes a victim. While on one hand he explains the problems of ‘dissimilar start line in race’ very clearly, he also shows the pain of an upper caste peon’s son who could not make it to the college of his choice because of reservation.

And then, there is his hero who does not want to believe in caste, does not believe in untouchability in the least bit, but asks his ‘Pandit’ peon not to touch his feet saying he’d be a sinner if the peon does that, even though not seriously. But most important of it all, his hero believes that he as a teacher should be above caste etc. but gives free education to those who are less affluent and do not have ‘equal’ means, irrespective of caste, and on the same ground he personally supports reservations so that everyone can rise.

So, in a way, the movie can be called pro-dalit, or anti-anti-dalit as it goes against those who are anti-dalit, but it can not be termed as anti-upper caste. Calling it anti-dalit is not even a possibility, even with the presence of a few anti-dalit dialogs in the beginning of the movie, because while Jha has tried to show the problems and emotions of everyone, including a mother who thinks a rule that goes against her child’s life/career is wrong. Yes, she sounds biased, or rather is biased, but she is true too. And towards the end, he has tried to give a solution as well, though it is not too practically applicable at a large scale and which needs highly selfless politicians which looks next to impossible today.

But overall, I’d say that the movie is almost as good as it could be. And while watching the movie, at some point I was feeling that Amitabh was right in asking Rajdeep Sardesai to watch the movie and then comment, especially in view of the former’s own character in the movie.

(Views expressed here are my personal views about the movie and do not endorse any political or other agenda)

Then the title song is of course what you have heard on the TV in the promos. The rappish number is hummable but not much musical and hence not very good without the video.

After that, the Dub step version that also brings in Vishal Dadlani, is not an instantly likable thing, but then in some places the processing of the song is interesting and if you are one for technical stuff in songs, you might want to try the song once.

The last song of the album is Sunidhi’s Main Chandigarh di star, picturised on Raveena Tandon. The song, almost completely in Punjabi, has some interesting music, but much more interesting lyrics. In my opinion, if the video is good, the song may click well.

As for music, there is nothing much in the album except for the one Haal-e-dil, in which Big B sounds very musical, at least to the his fan in me. Rest of the album should be just enough to support the movie.

I still remember, when I switched the TV on, a lady had won Rs 40,000, Yes, ‘ F o r t y T h o u s a n d ‘, and she could win 80,000 if she answered this question right. And lose it all, and get just 10,000 if she answered it right. She had some idea but then, how could one risk so much money on just an idea? So she decided to quit. And then Amitabh Bachchan asked him, _____ ji, yadi aapko is sawal ka jawab dena ‘hota’ to aap kya jawab detin?

Lady: Option C. Mohinder Amarnath.

Amitabh Bachchan: Computer ji, ______ ji keh rahi hain ki wo Option C ko lock kartin, batayiye sahi jawab kya hai….. OOoooh, ye sahi jawab hota.

Long sighs everywhere. The lady has a face with a natural expression that is confused whether to be happy or sad. And me? I’m still under the spell. Probably even today as I live the moment again. That was the magic of KBC. Of that legend known as Big B.

And now, KBC is coming back, in its fourth season, with Amitabh once again. As Amitabh whistled the KBC music in the darkness of the same old set during an ad, I was near getting goosebumps. No, I don’t think that the magic will be here again, but surely, it will be a treat to watch Big B once again with all those questions, answers, phone a friend, janta ka poll, fifty-fifty and uh oh, samay samaapt.

If I go back to the time of KBC (now KBC 1), I recall so many things. Of all things I remmeber a fat notebook where I used to write answers for some of the questions. Mostly those beyond the 3,20,000 stage. Not because I thought I could go there (KBC was for 18 plus and I was merely 14) but because I loved knowing it all. KBC first told me about Edwin Lutyens and KBC only told that the southernmost point of India wasn’t Kanyakumari but Indira Point.

well, now it all comes back. At that time I won thousand, sometimes lacs of rupees in many shows. Pretend money of course, because I was not 18. But now, I am 18 and I realize that I don’t know half the things I knew back then. So when the show starts after Indian Idol gets over (that’s my guess since the day I knew it would come on Sony) I think I’ll have to sit back and enjoy with the pretend money again. In any case, I crave for that magic.

The news was confirmed through Amitabh’s blog, bigb.bigadda.com.

Do I need say more?

Follow him at http://twitter.com/SrBachchan

But then, in the second half the movie moves ahead and we get to see some great performances, especially from Amitabh, who makes a perfect mathematician in the movie. There are some good dialogs too, one of Ajay Devgn about ‘better luck next time’ being my favorite. Talking of performances, all the students of Amitabh, who are majorly new faces, have given quite good performances, in the limits of story and direction.

The major drawbacks of Teen Patti are, the writing, that makes the movie go up & down, and with the exception of Amitabh, and to some extent Madhavan, you do not get a clear picture of anyone’s mind; and the direction, that falters so badly at some points that I wonder if there are some Priyadarshan scenes lined up ahead. Adding the two, you get that the movie is not smooth as it should have been. But the person who makes up for it all, not all the times though, is the one and only Amitabh Bachchan. The end of the movie, especially the part where it all comes to Amitabh and Ben Kinsley, is definitely the best part of the movie.

By the way, I count on Amitabh as the mathematician and would not comment on the logic or way they use to earn money in the movie. Whether that is something beyond logic and practicality is not under the perview of the review.

Talking about other things, music is mostly made for the movie and works in its place. But then, you go home with a Neeyat that is definitely kharab. Salim-Sulaiman’s background is good too. Choreography shows its color in Neeyat again. Cinematography is interesting with all the effects added to numbers though it reminded me of Taare Zameen Par’s beginning scenes.

Overall, Teen Patti is a could-be-good, average movie. The reason I say average may be my high expectations from the film but a cast of Amitabh and Ben Kingsley does deserve that attention. Still, both Amitabh and even Ben in his small role deliver good performances. Watch it if you want something new and are not afraid of getting bored in search of that new.

Rann is a lot. It’s a good movie on a good topic. It’s Ram Gopal Varma back to the form; quite as he was in Sarkar. It’s an actor’s wonderful entry in Bollywood (though he was in Phoonk and is a well known Kannada hero). And above all these, it’s something that we should see.

Rann is a story of a person who is an ideal journalist in today’s time, ready to sacrifice TRPs for content and real news. A person who believes that a newspaper/channel should not take anything from anyone and knows there are no free lunches. But the good part is that even with Amitabh Bachchan playing this iconic role of Vijay Harshvardhan Malik, the movie is a story that does not completely belong to one person. The story gives space to its characters and you can see shades of grey in most of the characters even if they are in black or white.

The story of the film is definitely good and keeps you there even though many times you get an idea what is going to happen in the next scene. And then, there are moments in the movie which give you a high, making the movie what it is. The story has pace and looks quite crisp and though the end is a bit too long, it’s all worth a watch and thinking.

The best part of the movie is… it’s story, direction and acting. While the story and direction were good, actors have given some great performances in Rann. Amitabh is perfect for the role, even though he reminds one of Sarkar at times, while being all powerful and authoritative. Sudeep as Jai Malik is a watchable performance that matches Paresh Rawal’s awesome work in the movie.

Riteish Deshmukh is simply good while Gul Panag looks natural in her little role. Mohnish Behl gets a wonderful role and he performs with his usual sincerity. Or rather does better than his usual good. Suchitra Krishnamurthy is fine, but not as good as I was expecting from her, being so experienced. Rajat Kapoor doesn’t have much to do. But Rajpal Yadav gets a good role and while doing a better kind of comedy, he shows quite some truth.

The only disappointing part of the movie is its music. While a few songs are good in background as expected, some are unnecessarily obscene, especially Gali Gali mein shor hai. Even the background music in the movie gets too high when not so required. Still, that doesn’t give an overall bad effect.

In short, Rann is certainly worth a watch if you like reality, watch films for more than just entertainment, or have been an RGV fan sometime. Maybe you become one again.

Either you’d be shocked by that, or you would have guessed the movies I am talking about.

Well, for now, my most awaited movies include Rocket Singh Salesman of the Year, Ishqiya, and Teen Patti. Followed by Rann and My Name is Khan, the latter more because of Kajol than SRK.

First I will talk about Rocket Singh. Rocket Singh Salesman of the year is a movie so awaited because of one brand name. Shimit Amin. I liked Ab Tak Chhappan. I loved Chak De India. Now, I want to know what is that the man has made. To me, it really doesn’t look like a comedy. In fact, the song, Pocket mein Rocket, suggests that it’s the story of a person who can do anything to move ahead in life, a person who wants to be on top, as fast as possible. Remember the lines, Tata Birla Kaisa, Tere Mere Jaisa…

Then comes Ishqiya. Naseeruddin Shah, Arshad Warsi, Vidya Balan. No, other than Naseer the names were not so big, but the trailer was. I loved the trailer of Ishqiya. Or more than that, I saw a promise in that. It makes me want to see the movie. Dying to see it.

And finally there is Teen Patti. A story of two geniuses of mathematics, played by Amitabh Bachchan and Sir Ben Kingsley. Isn’t it enough to keep you intriguing? To me it is something worth waiting for.

Other than these three, there are some more I have some expectations from. And one of these is, somehow, RGV’s Rann.

I have no idea what Ram Gopal Varma has in him but even after so many disasters, he manages to keep some of his projects high-profile. Rann is one of them. I do not know how it MAY turn out. But as of now, I want to see this Amitabh Bachchan-Ritesh Deshmukh starrer. Also, I am waiting for My Name is Khan, not because of SRK OR Karan Johar, but because I would love to see Kajol act again.

3 Idiots is certainly on my watchlist but I don’t have very high hopes with the movie. I know it will be watchable for sure but do not know if it would have something that will make me watch it twice. The way I watched Taare Zameen Par twice in a hall, or the way I want to go for Paa again.

And while Pyaar Impossible and Chance pe Dance look like above average movies right now, I have Zero hopes from Shahrukh Khan’s Dulha Mil Gaya.

So the last movie I am going to talk about is Veer. No, I don’t think it’s going to be anything I am waiting for. But I’m feeling like it may be not-that-bad. And if that happens, it may do wonders, as Salman Khan is anyways going to sweep off the small towns, so if it manages to stay OK with multiplex audiences, it may be a big hit. OK. I am waiting for it. Just to see which hand pump Salman is going to remove this time.

Big B has been accused of poking fun at people with disabilities.

The case has been filed by Patna High Court lawyer Shruti Singh in the court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate under The Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995. It has also been filed against director R. Balkrishna.

“I filed a case in the court demanding a probe into whether ‘Paa’ violated the act or not,” Singh said Saturday. As a result, the lawyer’s name has come to the front page of the Times of India and I hope many other places. So her work must be over.

“My stand is simple: If it violated the disability act, the authorities should act against the producer and actors of the film for making a joke of disabled people,” she added. Now, after watching everybody using all their spare tissues to wipe their faces, I’m wondering how Auro and co. made a joke of disabled people.

Wasn’t there a fine of 10000 bucks or something on useless PILs? Well, 10k well spent by the lady then.

3 Word Review: Just Loved it!

2 Word Review: Go, Watch!

1 Word Review: Paa.

Rating: 9 on 10. In the hope that Mr Bachchan may still have some surprise someday.

My WORK is over. But if you still want to read on, you sure can.

Now that you have shown the willingness to read ahead, I should give you the story from start. Abhishek Bachchan joined Twitter on 3rd November. The promotion of Paa started on 4th, right one month before the release. And I was mad about the movie ever since I saw Amitabh Bachchan’s face on the evening of 4th November.

Since that day, Paa team has been saying ‘Introducing Amitabh Bachchan’ which I felt was a little too much for a mere film, however good it might be. But today, after watching the movie I’d say they are right. They HAVE introduced a new Amitabh Bachchan today. Hats Off to Mr Bachchan.

And now, I come to the movie.

It starts off well. An idea-l* politician, a courageous doctor-mother, an even more courageous, more understanding grandmother, and a mature with mind, witty and too mature with body Auro. That makes a small, perfect cast for the wonderful story of Paa. I don’t want to give the spoiler here so I wouldn’t talk much about the story. All I can say is that the story is amazing and so is direction and acting of Amitabh, and even Abhishek, Vidya, and Arundhati Naag. The only thing that beat them all in the movie is the look of Amitabh which does not let you think at any point of time that it’s him. Paresh Rawal hasn’t got as much as others but has been good in whatever he gets to do.

One line for the Hollywood fans. PAA IS NOT BENJAMIN BUTTON. (Though make up artists could be same, they both have superb getups)

Ilayiaraaja’s music is wonderful and even a small Halke se Bole is effective.  And while make up artists are as good as Amitabh, Cinematography of PC Sreeram is good too.

Overall, Paa, which belongs to Auro, is probably the best movie of the year. It’s big on emotions, good at wit, harsh on media, gives some funny moments, and has imperfect characters who strive to do good. It has negatives but it gives you a lot of positivity too. Go, watch it.

PS: The only question on my mind about the movie is why was the movie named PAA and not AURO. My guess is somebody must have thought of that name, and seriously.

* – Pun Intended