Monthly Archives: February 2012

Big B

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In term of its story development, production and editing Big B seems more like a Hollywood film than a typical Southern Indian action film, so I wasn’t really too surprised to learn later that it was based on a US film called Four Brothers. However there is plenty of local flavour and like all Malayalam films I’ve seen the cinematography is first class with great scenic shots, despite the film being primarily an action thriller. I haven’t seen the American film but after watching Big B I really can’t imagine anyone else but Mammootty in the lead role. Although the other characters are almost all well cast and give good performances, it’s Mammootty who makes an impact as the rather dour and resolute Big B of the title, and it’s his film the whole way through.

The film opens with the murder of Mary John Kurisingal (Nafisa Ali), more commonly known as Mary Teacher, or just Teacher. She’s well known in Kochi for her social work which mainly involves looking after orphans, and over the years has adopted 4 of them.  The opening scenes of Mary as she goes about her daily life helping the poor are very powerful and director Amal Neered succeeds in painting a detailed picture of a compassionate woman in just a few moments. And despite her lack of physical presence, Mary appears throughout the film in lots of small gestures and in body language as her adopted children mourn her loss when they notice the empty place at the table or are reminded of her as they move through her house.

We are introduced to the four brothers through the eyes of SI George (Vijayaraghavan) as he explains to ACP Balaji (Pasupathy) who’s who in the funeral procession and it’s an efficient way of letting us know a little about the characters.  While second eldest brother Eddy (Manoj K. Jayan) has been living in the area with his wife and daughters, working in a tourist restaurant and generally helping his mother, the youngest brother, Bijo (Sumit Naval), is a student in Coimbatore and Murugan (Bala) is a stunt director in the film industry. However the eldest brother Bilal (Mammootty) was banished by Mary Teacher after he killed a man in a street brawl and his entrance into the film is dramatic as befits a character with such a dark past. Bilal’s feet appear first as he gets out of his car into the rain-drenched streets and slowly walks across to join the funeral cortege. It is very OTT but effectively establishes Bilal as a force to be reckoned with.

After the funeral the brothers get together to try to discover exactly who killed Mary Teacher and why. They have no faith in the police investigation believing that corruption in the force and general apathy will lead to a cover-up. There are various other subplots including a couple of romances, but the focus of the film is firmly on the search for Mary’s killers. When Bilal left Kochi he had quite a reputation and he certainly hasn’t mellowed in the intervening years.

Bilal is the driving force behind the investigation and seems to use his search as a way to atone for his previous crime which forced Mary to close her door to him. While Bilal gives Mammootty the opportunity to be menacing, cold and vicious there is a more compassionate side to his character and there are glimpses of this in the way he deals with his brothers. The relationships between the four forms the secondary focus of the film and their differences in background, religion and opinion all disappear when they have a common enemy. Their camaraderie is well depicted and although I’m not very familiar with the actors here, they do all appear to be well suited to their roles.

Manoj K. Jayan is excellent as Eddy and gets it right as the hard-working family man who is more concerned with protecting his wife and children than cornering his mother’s killers. This reluctance to get involved in the investigation ends up making the others suspicious and the scene where the three brothers interrogate Eddy is very well scripted and filmed. I love the way Eddy is framed in the shot here, with a background showing family pictures and his brothers glaring down at him. The cinematography is excellent and the script is fast paced and seems well suited to the action although sometimes the subtitles do seem strange – perhaps this refers to measured speech??!

Not everything works though. The romance between playboy Murugan and Rimy (Mamta Mohandas) is generally well depicted and Murugan’s affection does seem to solidify into something more permanent, but there is a rather oddly placed song featuring the two frolicking around on a beach. It seems as if the director felt a ‘romantic’ song was needed to tick all the boxes for an Indian film, so in it went without any real thought as to how well it fitted with the story – which in my opinion is not at all. However it’s a good song that just needed to be in a different film. I do like Rimy’s character though, as she knows exactly what she wants and goes out to get it. Innocent appears in a brief role as Rimy’s father providing some comedy relief which isn’t particularly funny, but isn’t too annoying or intrusive either.

There is also an item song at the villain’s rather swish lair, which again seems to be rather oddly pictured with lots of tourists roped in to dance around and provide a party atmosphere. Again it doesn’t really work for me as it doesn’t quite give the debauched tone that I think it was trying to convey (and it’s also a remix of a Shakira hit).

The other disappointment is the villain of the story. Tony (Sherveer Vahil) is a horribly hairy man with a disconcerting habit of rolling his tongue which does make him sound appropriately villainous. But he’s too much of a caricature with his depraved and immoral parties, drug taking and enjoyment in beating up his minions as a bizarre form of training. He seems too unbalanced and quite frankly too psychotic to be able to lead a gang competently, let alone organise the killing of Mary Teacher. His co-conspirators are better and are more menacing and believable as bad guys, with the much appreciated added benefit of not removing their shirts unnecessarily. I warn you – Tony has no such scruples.

Big B is a relatively violent film but it’s all integral to the plot and the fight scenes are excellently choreographed by Anal Arasu. The casual brutality that Bilal displays is as much a part of his character as his ability to reason through the connections to find his mother’s killer. Bilal’s links to the various figures in the underworld and his fearsome reputation are also essential elements to determining exactly who was involved in the murder. But each of the brothers has their part to play in the investigation and the final showdown has a good mixture of suspense and action.  The background music by Gopi Sundar seems to fit the film better than the songs by Alphons Joseph although the ‘Yo Big B’ theme music and the beautiful Vida Parayukayano are excellent. The clip below does feature Bilal’s attack on a street thug so skip from 2 min 45 to 3 min 15 if you don’t like violence but the song is lovely and beautifully sung by Shreya Ghosal.

Apart from horribly hairy Tony the support cast are all good and overall it’s a slick and well-made film that looks fantastic. Amal Neered started in the industry as a cinematographer and early in his career worked with Ram Gopal Varma which seems to have been an influence on his directing style. He makes very good use of cinematographer Sameer Thahir’s camera work and as ever Kerala looks amazing – even in the rain.  I’m a Mammootty fan and have enjoyed all of his films I’ve seen so far, but I love him in this film as he gets everything right – he’s cold and ruthless when he needs to be but there is still plenty of emotion raging away underneath. Big B is well worth a watch for his performance and for a film that is a little bit different in its approach. 4 stars

Temple says:

I’m not sure what Heather means by saying this film is more Hollywood in style. To me it bears many  hallmarks of South Indian cinema – beautiful visuals, a sense of place/locality (in Kochi), a story heavily centred on the male star, flashy editing and sound effects, an emphasis on family loyalty, songs whether the film needs them or not,  a flexible attitude to the law, and a long lead up to a crunching finale.

It all sounds good on paper. But despite Mammootty delivering a compelling performance, there just isn’t enough to keep my interest throughout. I kept picturing the production team watching the rushes, congratulating themselves on bagging a brilliant actor and then one day asking each other that awkward question ‘Did YOU remember to write the rest of the story?’. The opening is brilliant and builds up the suspense and sense of loss very economically. But then the film wallows in repetitive scenes of the brothers’ unhappy reunion, and it starts to feel laboured. There isn’t enough conflict, character or relationship development to consistently keep my interest over the first hour. It’s all quite predictable, and while the actors are competent, I never cared much for the characters apart from Mary and Bilal. It is too easy to work out whodunit and who is marked for death so there is little suspense. Once things do ramp up in the quest for revenge, the story becomes more engaging but then goes off the rails again. As Heather said, Tony is a caricature. The opportunity for a real menace was lost so Bilal is the only convincingly scary bad guy in the final confrontation.

The songs were badly placed and poorly picturised, serving only to pad out the running time. The background score is probably OK if you like florid strings and angelic choirs but I found it intrusive and it detracted from the acting. Visually, there are far too many instances of the freeze frame, fast edits, quirky camera angles and accompanying sound effects when they aren’t really warranted. I felt that they were trying to inject some excitement into the draggy scenes by using effects. But what they needed was a bit more work on the story and structure.

See it for the excellent characterisation by Mammootty and the beautifully filmed scenery and interiors. 3 stars.

Ala Modalaindi

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Ala Modalaindi is a romantic comedy, full of improbable happenings and twists. There are songs, misunderstandings, mistaken identities, fights, significant jewellery and even a dog who helps change the course of the story. But there are also characters I like and can relate to with a view of relationships that seems fairly healthy and positive. I particularly enjoy the way director/writer Nandini Reddy plays with filmi conventions and delves into the bag of tricks to give a simple story some zing.

So. A young man meets a young lady at a wedding where their exes are marrying each other, and they get drunk and messy.

I really love that the next day they could talk to each other, be embarrassed, laugh it off and that was it. No judgements were made relating to alcohol or failed affairs. Gautham and Nithya cross paths again, and a warm friendship develops. His feelings deepen but he is reticent; struggling to know when to speak out and not sure what he really wants to tell her. She has her own complications that emerge over time. It is obvious that they make a good couple, but will they ever get it together? Guess away, dear reader.

Gautham is a director on a news program. He has family, good friends, failed romances and a flair for the dramatic. The story is mostly told from his perspective, so I felt that I got to know him better, and I appreciated Nithya through his eyes as he came to understand her more. Nani is an appealing guy next door kind of hero. I think it’s his dimples. Plus he seems to have a sense of the ridiculous that was very endearing in this role. But Nani doesn’t play Gautham as all happy and smiling.

I found his portrayal of Gautham’s grief really moving. I could relate to the things that triggered his tears, and sadness permeated his body language at times. When he realises what he wants to do about his feelings, he does it. His journey takes some crazy detours, but that was part of the fun, not a silly distraction. I also like Gautham’s developing self awareness through the story. He really does change in some significant ways, and learns to recognise and deal with the parts of his own nature that he doesn’t like.

Gautham’s mother Revathi (Rohini) is my new favourite filmi ma. It is so nice to see good parenting in a close mother-son relationship (maybe I’ve been watching too much 70s Nirupa Roy). Some of my affection for Gautham stems from seeing him with his mum. He has context, a background that had helped make him the guy he is. She is an intelligent, positive woman who had been widowed when her kids were in their early teens. She advises Gautham that you can either dwell on the past and be sad about your loss, or remember all the good things and take that happiness into your future. It was a clever scene as it was not just about her own past, but advice for her boy on how to move on.

Nithya is a good example of how to make a character happy and bubbly but not a Manic Pixie Dream Girl. Like Gautham, Nithya has a family, friends, work and ideas about more than love and romance. She is smart and emotional, opinionated but not rude. There are issues in her life that bring some more complexity to a fundamentally sunny nature. When Nithya realises she has made a mistake, she takes the decision and deals with the consequences. She is no passive wallflower waiting for the hero. Her qualities are sometimes shown in small almost insignificant moments, sometimes in big filmi set pieces. Nithya Menon is a perfect fit for the likeable role, using her expressive face and vocal modulation to great effect. And how good is it to see someone who isn’t the stereotypical leggy model with a maximum range of two expressions? Nithya is a pocket Venus with oodles of talent, also dubbing for herself and singing on a couple of tracks.

Nithya has a close relationship with her easy-going dad (Uppalapati Narayana Rao). Her mum (Pragathi) is worried about getting Nithya married and what must people think. On the surface it seems like a difficult marriage but Nandini Reddy shows that this couple aren’t at war, they just irritate each other a bit. Nithya asks her dad if he ever considered divorce and they chat about commitment. Her mum joins them and whinges about her dramatic family, but then they all start smiling and their pleasure in being together is evident. People have to work at getting along sometimes.

It’s not that the plot is unpredictable, but the way things happen is delightfully offbeat. In one of the obligatory fight scenes, Nithya takes on the loafers and belts the bejesus out of them as Gautham watches on. Gautham and his family are movie fans and use filmi terms in conversation. Nithya makes fun of Gautham’s job, doing dramatic voiceovers of everyday events. It’s a playful style.

The film is cohesive, and is well balanced between character and incident driven scenes. The dialogue is peppered with pop references, but it doesn’t seem too try-hard. People generally look and sound the way I would expect them to. It put me in mind of Basu Chatterjee’s romantic comedies a little, just the flavour of the dialogue and the middle class settings. I have some minor issues. There is a gay joke that made me sigh just a little at Nani wearing pink and mincing about to Kajra Re.  And there were some dubious medical shenanigans, only one of which was purely for humour.

The music (by Kalyani Malik) is average, but the song picturisations are where low production values seem most evident. I just can’t help thinking that two backing dancers is less than optimum, even if they do ninja up for the occasion. The choreography is very achievable for those inclined to have a dance-along at home.

There were a few less familiar faces in the support cast. Gautham’s friends are fun and not the usual anonymous followers. They all had jobs and commitments and their own points of view. Their conversations provide most of the humour and there is no separate comedy track as everything eventually ties back into the main plot. Villainous stalwart Ashish Vidyarthi has a pivotal yet stupid role as the shady John Abraham (mercifully wearing a lot more than his namesake). I don’t for the life of me understand why Sneha Ullal still has a film career.

Her ‘sexy’ face looks more like she has acute gastric pain and she is not that good an item girl. But, leaving aside the why, even her character Kavya becomes more sympathetic as the film unfolds.

I do not subscribe to the belief that an upbeat ending is intrinsically less worthy or realistic than a tragic ending, and this is a film that provides a near perfect balance of substance and entertainment. Ala Modalaindi is a pleasant and engaging romantic comedy, with a great cast making the most of strong writing and character development. 4 stars!

Heather Says: Ala Modalaindi starts with a version of Que Sera Sera over the opening credits and since it’s one of my favourite songs from my childhood, I was smiling even before the action got underway. And my smile just got bigger and bigger. The introduction of a kidnapping right at the beginning was a novel way to start proceedings and it proved to be an excellent start to a rather different take on the romantic comedy genre.  But where the film really won me over was in its likeable main characters and a storyline that was plausible, funny and entertaining.

Nani is hapless enough to be funny as the jilted boyfriend at his ex-girlfriends wedding and he just gets better as the film unfolds. His delivery in the comedy scenes is excellent and he is just as good in the more emotional scenes. I like the way that he uses his posture and facial expressions to get the most out of his scenes and doesn’t rely solely on the dialogue. He’s believable as Gautham and he does make a very sympathetic hero, even if he’s not the one who gets involved in the fight scenes!  I knew I had seen Nithya Menen somewhere before, but it took a little time before I realised she appeared in Aidondla Aidu and that she even sang one of my favourite songs in that film. She’s even more impressive here and does a very good job with her portrayal of the feisty Nithya.

It’s rare to see a good Telugu movie where not only the heroine, but most of the female characters have very strong roles which are just as important to the storyline as that of the male hero. Nathya’s behaviour is very natural and while her character is out-spoken and vivacious she never becomes annoying. Director Nandini Reddy develops all her characters with attention to what would be likely ways for them to react and each character has a valid reason for their inclusion into the story. No superfluous comedy uncles lurking in the background for instance, which is yet another reason to like the film! I loved Rohini in particular as Gautham’s mother and wished she had a little more time on-screen. In fact the entire supporting cast were just as good as the main leads and even if Sneha Ullal was a little more glamorous than my local vet, I think she made a reasonable attempt to be more than just a pretty face.  I didn’t like her character and the item song left me cold but there were some moments where she did make me laugh. I do like Ashish Vidyarthi though and the way his character became embroiled in the final scenes made his presence in the film totally worthwhile for me, despite sometrepidationabout his character early on. It was good to see him in something a little different from his more usual bad guy persona too.

Ala Modalaindi is an intelligent and funny film, and although not all of the twists and turns work it’s generally an enjoyable watch.  4 stars from me.

Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu

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I must confess upfront. My friend Jess appears as an extra and dancer in Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu, and without that motivation I probably wouldn’t have gone to see it. But I am so glad I succumbed to the friendly emotional blackmail! It’s a well constructed piece nicely executed by first time director Shakun Batra and writer Ayesha DeVitre. Imran Khan and Kareena Kapoor were appealing and relatable, and demonstrated their comic flair. The standard masala trappings of big songs, blingy costumes and unnecessary subplots are for the most part missing, but instead I was treated to some good character development and writing with a slightly unconventional and very pleasing end.

Jess told me that she did ‘something’ in the opening scene but wouldn’t say what. If you’ve seen the film, the young lady giving birth is Jess. That was definitely unexpected. My friends (one of whom is very pregnant) and I cheered along as Jess grimaced and puuuuuushed!

Rahul Kapoor (Imran Khan) is introduced in a neat montage with a voiceover describing his childhood. With a distant demanding father (Boman Irani) and a vain socialite mother (Ratna Pathak Shah), Rahul learned to do what was expected and to navigate his parents ambitions. He grows into a nervous young man who never voices his opinions let alone acts on them. Drifting into a career as an architect, he moved to Las Vegas. Sadly his lack of passion for the career translated into lack of success and he was sacked. His instinct is to hide the truth from his parents and try to cope alone but he lacks the self belief to get going again. His dad’s friend, and indeed everyone else when asked, seems to think the cure for his malaise is sex and lots of it. Rahul is uptight, prissy and unlikely to heed this helpful prescription. He would think wearing un-ironed socks was totally wild behaviour.

Riana Braganza (Kareena Kapoor) is messy, extroverted, and affectionate. She rockets through life dealing head on with whatever setbacks she encounters and changing course as she deems fit. She has recently broken up with a boyfriend and it seems to have also made her break up with their friends who she accused of spying on her. She is looking to start again and get her life and career as a hairstylist back on track. Her parents are supporting Riana financially and emotionally after her break up. They talk openly about her relationships and dreams and she seeks their advice without feeling obliged to follow it.

Of course these opposites meet, and predictably enough Riana turns Rahul’s life upside down. There are several contrived plot set ups to bring the pair together and to keep them in contact, including a drunken Vegas quickie wedding. I have a sneaking fondness for the Elvis wedding celebrant idea. One of my friends got married there as he and his wife are atheists but they both believe in Elvis. Even though the catalyst was so filmi, the friendship between the pair felt quite substantial and the way the relationship developed was quite organic. Unlike other films where I have wondered why people stuck together, I believed that they were drawn together for a number of smaller reasons that eventually amounted to a significant bond.

Sensing that Rahul needs a break, Riana persuades him to come back to India with her when she visits her family. This eventually brings the story to crisis point. Is it friendship or love he feels? Is she just a compulsive hugger or does she have feelings for him? What will he do about his parents with their unrealistic expectations and social pretensions? If someone loves you do you feel obliged to love them back? It is so refreshing to see characters having some mature conversations about their feelings and what they might mean.

Imran has a youthful good boy look that suits Rahul, and initially seems withdrawn and listless. He loosens up and becomes more impish and demonstrative as Riana draws him out. He has a few moments of cutting loose where he seems to channel the Muppets, and generally hits the spot in his dialogue delivery and expressions. I particularly liked Rahul’s fixation on his teeth. At one point Riana tells Rahul that he is perfectly average – a compliment meaning he was balanced and didn’t do anything to excess. I think that sums it up. Imran gives a measured and deft performance in a film that has no real extremes.

Kareena’s performance is just right in terms of energy and sparkle, and she delivers the more emotional scenes with restraint and intelligence. There are shades of Geet from Jab We Met but Riana is more mature and self aware. Kareena’s rapport with Imran seems quite spontaneous and reinforced the feeling that I was seeing a friendship developing.

The story pivots on Rahul and Riana so the support cast is minimal. I really liked not having an unnecessary subplot. The actors who played Riana’s crazy family were all good, and they helped cement the sense that Riana was a real person and very much the product of her upbringing. There is one character who might fit the comedy uncle designation, demonstrating the vulgarity of the Kapoors’ social milieu, but he was a minor irritation. Boman Irani and Ratna Pathak Shah have perfect timing in their reactions.

The visual design is clean and uncluttered. There are some cute calendar graphics to illustrate the days as they pass, and they suit the laid back modern quirkiness of the story. Shakun Batra uses some wonderful shots of Las Vegas, and I liked seeing the overseas location treated as more than just a song backdrop. When the action moves to India the interiors are perfect for the two families and contrast their vastly different backgrounds. Both Imran and Kareena looked the part, with costume design that was mostly flattering and appropriate.

There are some nifty touches. For example, when Rahul is talking to his dad there is footage of a lion killing a zebra playing in the background, with the action in that sequence matching the ebb and flow of the dialogue. Or when on a date with Rahul, the girl (an old flame) sends a text to ‘Avantika Malik’ saying how dull he is. It’s a well thought out film, with a high level of craftsmanship.

The soundtrack by Amit Trivedi (lyrics by Amitabh Bhattacharya) is OK but a bit heavy on acoustic guitar and navel gazing. The songs do fit in the drama and the lyrics – while unsubtitled – seemed relevant from what I could make out. Aunty Ji is a highlight for upbeat fun and cheesiness. Imran has clearly been working really hard on dancing and looking like he enjoys it. Plus Jess – post ‘childbirth’ and now a backing vocalist and dancer! Yay!

Given there is usually only a choice of two possible endings, romantic comedies rarely surprise. Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu gave me some characters I liked, actors who did a very good job at realising their roles, an entertaining journey and a conclusion that was fresh and satisfying. It’s not a ground breaking masterpiece, but it is a pleasant and intelligent film. Recommended!