An Epic Ecstatic Emotional Experience..83

Today relived an era 

A movie which is Epic, Experience and Emotional

83

Kabir Khan decided to thrill movie lovers by taking them on a memorable journey of Team India's cricket world cup victory in 1983 . He did a lot of research and his hard work is seen on screen in each and every scene and charecters depicted.

This Victory of 1983 is what dreams are made off.

Before coming to the movie I would like to share my experience of that world cup 1983.

The first match where India defeated West Indies in the League stages was the day I got my driving Licence.

I had passed 12th and decided to pursue Graduation in Agriculture in Amravati.

The journey started after the first match and ended on 25th June . I was at Akola to submit some documents to the PKV Agri University.

As the match started there was a blackout in Akola .

No source of information on the match till I found a Paanwala start the commentry on a transistor. I still remember the euphoria and ecstasy after the victory even when it was past midnight then.

I was taken back to that era as I watched the movie unfold.

PR Man Singh (Pankaj Tripathi) flies to England for the 1983 world cup along with the Indian cricket team led by new captain Kapil Dev (Ranveer Singh) and featuring Gavaskar (Tahir Basin), Srikanth(Jeeva), Mohinder Amarnath (Saqib Saleem), Yashpal Sharma (Jatin Sarna), Sandeep Patil (Chirag Patil), Kirti Azad (Dinker Sharma), Roger Binny (Nishant Dahiya), Madan Lal(Hardy Sandu), Kirmani(Sahil Khatir), Balwinder Singh Sandhu (Ammy Virk), Vengsarkar (Adinath Kothare), Ravi Shastri (Dhairya Karva) and others. They have an uphill task as they have never won a match in the world cups earlier and their only win was against East Africa. They lose badly in the warmup matches ahead of the world cups. How Kapil Dev is able to motivate his team which has otherwise no hopes and on which even his own countrymen do not have faith to win the world cup and what role his wife Romi Bhatia(Deepika Padukone) played along with wives of Madanlal, Srikanth, Gavaskar, form the *83* story.

The journey and the dressing room happenings and the pre-match preparations are shown in detail increasing interest among movie lovers. Though viewers are aware of the story, Kabir Khan emerged successful in elevating the emotions attached to the journey.

The film focuses only on cricket and has everything that cricket fans could have possibly hoped for. The narrative- highlights and flashes the crucial matches and the moments in-between them, bringing back memories to the big screen after nearly 38 years.

The duration of the film also impacts the result. Kabir Khan to negate them, tried to add masala to it by including humor in the conversation between the team members and he also highlighted how cricket unites the country ridden with communal clashes. This however diverted the story to some extent as it even brings in P.M Madam Indira Gandhi  The same is the case with cross-border firing at the Indo-Pak border. He even attracted the attention of viewers showing young Sachin Tendulkar watching the finals and similarly casting Real Kapil Dev as one of the spectators and Mohinder Amarnath as Amarnath's father Lala Amarnath.

Ranveer Singh came with a stellar performance. He slipped into the role and resembled legendary captain Kapil Dev on screen. He came with good expressions and emotions and his body language and physique are near to perfection.

Boman Irani as the commentator Farrokh Engineer, Pankaj Tripathi as PR Man Singh, Neena Gupta as Kapil's caring and supportive mother, have their moments of on-screen glory. Dialogues are good and at times witty capturing the mood of the team.

The cinematography of Aseem Mishra recreated the 83 world cup atmosphere to near perfection. He took movie lovers into the story and gave them a feeling of watching the entire 83 WorldCup on screen. The background music of Julius Packiam is good. The cinematography and Background music elevated the scenes to another level.

It is a level higher than Chak De India . The 2011 Victory has already been depicted in the Biopic M.S.Dhoni.

We as a nation just love anything that would bring us laurels. But there are some very rare achievements for which we could just go on and on, and rightfully so. The Cricket World Cup in 1983 that changed the entire course of cricketing events in our country is one such moment of extreme pride the echoes of which will resonate for all times to come.

Loved the movie and the emotions which came with it.

Don't miss this film.

Kaante 20th December 2002

Kaante completes 19 years today.

A look at the movie .

Based on the story of six bank robbers, Kaante is the Indianized rehash of Quentin Tarantino's hit Hollywood potboiler Reservoir Dogs. The film takes off with the release from the prison of a veteran gangster called Major (Amitabh). Major is tired of life behind the bars. And, instead of reforming, he plans to pull off a grand heist and rest on his laurels for the remainder of his life. So he hatches a meticulous plan to rob a bank and decides to team up with five more accomplices. The first one to tag along is Ajju (Sanjay Dutt), a notorious chap who has had some experience in robbing banks. And soon others come along. They are – Baali (Mahesh Manjrekar) a drug addict, Bouncer (Sunil Shetty) a quiet but dangerous man, and Mak (Lucky Ali) a cool dude with a who-cares attitude. The sixth man Andy (Kumar Gaurav) . The six men assume different identities and names to prevent the plan from leaking out. But someone has already spilled the beans. The D-Day comes when the six get into the bank and rob it at gunpoint. But before they could get away, police arrives and a shootout follows. Somehow the six manage to escape and meet again in a dilapidated warehouse.There, they try to figure out which member of the crew tipped off the police.

Every track in the plot flows as seamlessly and naturally as one can imagine. None of the tracks are forced and each character and storyline maintains a constant level of conviction. A thriller having little comic or romantic respite.The comedy comes naturally from the dialogs (Mahesh Manjrekhar and Sanjay Dutt are hilarious at times), the glamour is built in and not tacked on (Isha Koppikar and Malaika Arora are quite relevant to the plot), and the action is not forced but artistic in presentation.It is this successful integration of Bollywood conventions into a completely unorthodox storyline and presentation that makes Kaante outstanding in the context of Indian commercial cinema. The film is from an unlikely genre, it was shot abroad (Los Angeles) on an international scale, it is consistent in plot and tone, but still caters to audiences exceptionally well.

Technically very fluent director Sanjay Gupta has done a marvelous job.

Performances are brilliant from all the lead players. Each one has an equally weighted role to play here, and they compliment each other perfectly. There is no one show stealer. Let's go one by one

Amitabh Bachchan is superb in his role, as expected. He overflows with style but manages to keep his character vulnerable and human. He is perfectly cast as the brilliant, desperate, forceful and towering leader of the pack.

Sanjay Dutt is incredible as well. He plays his character with a disturbing undercurrent of insanity and the result is one of his best performances.

Mahesh Manjrekar is excellent. In fact, he steals some of the best scenes in the film. As a reckless drug addict, he is both side-splittingly funny and touchingly emotional.

Suneil Shetty is in his element once again, and reminds everyone that he is a performer to be reckoned with. His coolly reserved performance hits all the right notes.

Lucky Ali is impactful. He doesn´t mouth many Dialogue, but his body language and mysterious eyes always make his presence felt.

Kumar Gaurav is also impressive, especially considering he was acting after a decade or so.

Supporting artists are alright.

Malaika Arora is stunningly gorgeous in her dance numbers and scenes, and manages to evoke emotion in the few scenes she shares with Suneil.

Rati Agnihotri is proficient, but has very little screen time.

If there is one jarring performance in the film, it comes from Gulshan Grover. He overacts inhis scenes.

Isha Koppikar is great in her dance number appearance.

Overall, Kaante is well made and a must-watch. This is a thriller that has only one goal; that is, to thrill audiences and keep them glued till the last frame. And the film manages to accomplish this feat remarkably well.

SHAAN 1980

My mind goes back to 1980.

Sholay was five years young and Shaan was to release on 12th December.

Advance Bookings opened on Monday 8th December .

Main theatre was Rahul 70mm.

I was at the theatre at 7am .

I was 25 or 26th in the line and needless to say that there were many black market touts ahead of me.

Some who slept at the theatre itself.

Advance Bookings were to open at 10 but we're preponed to 9.30 am.

After great difficulty I got tickets for Saturday 13 th.

I wasn't disappointed and with confirmed tickets at hand decided to try my luck at low key theatre in outskirts.

Finally got tickets at Excelsior for Friday .. Booked them and saw Shaan twice in the first two days.

( Followed it with two more times before the first week ended ).

With Shaan Ramesh Sippy returned to the big screen with the big action adventure.  Written by Salim-Javed, the story is an action thriller laced with comedy in the first half and with many of the film elements seemingly inspired by a hotchpotch of James Bond films in the second half. The film starts of with a Bondesque opening title sequence for instance.

Doston Se Pyaar Kiya ..with terrific background by the wizard R.D.Burman himself.

Shiv kumar (Sunil Dutt) is a straight cop who gets an action-packed intro courtesy his star status. he saves some hostages by lobbing a grenade and blowing up a water tank. All in a day's work for this happy family man who is married to Sheetal (Raakhee.).

He has two roguish brothers, Vijay 

( Amitabh ) and Ravi ( Shashi Kapoor), and their many transgressions in the film's initial stages constitute the most entertaining portions of the movie.

fleecing money from corrupt officials and small time crooks. First, they outwit an unwitting Hotel owner Younus Parvez..they then join hands with a Uncle and Niece team ( Renu (Bindiya Goswami) and Chacha (Johnny Walker ) who outwit them by selling them a stolen car ( a well enacted comic caper ).

They are joined by Sunita (Parveen Babi) who steals a queens necklace while posing as a singer crooning ..Pyaar Karne Waale Pyaar Karte Hain Shaan se..

As destiny ( script) has it Inspector Shiv Kumar is transferred to the city and catches them red handed .

and puts them in jail.

His wife Sheetal (Rakhee Gulzar) shares the same values although she has a soft spot for Shiv’s two brothers and is altogether more forgiving than her husband. However, once the brothers are released from jail they make a vow to ‘go straight’ and move in with Shiv and Sheetal in their house in Mumbai.

While Vijay and Ravi have been in jail, Shiv has been making inroads into the criminal empire of a villain known only as Shakaal (Kulbhushan Kharbanda) and his efforts are starting to seriously impact on criminal business. Shakaal sends an assassin Rakesh (Shatrughan Sinha) after Shiv and his family, but after two attempts on Shiv’s life fail, Shakaal ups the ante and sends his henchman Jagmohan (Mac Mohan) instead. After one of the best kidnap attempts I’ve seen onscreen, Jagmohan manages to spirit Shiv to the island hideaway while leaving everyone else totally baffled as to Shiv’s whereabouts.

(The Dog chase is also very well choreographed).

Shakaal’s Den is absolutely wonderful and mixes many of the best elements from various other villain hideouts including James Bond films. It’s located on an island some 300km off the coast of India but in reality was filmed on the island of Steep Holm near the UK. The Den is shown to have  long corridors with rough-hewn rock for walls but fancy modern automatic doors and nifty surveillance cameras. This main cabin room is with a rotating circular table and a retractable floor, underneath which lurks a man-eating crocodile. This allows Shakaal to indulge in a form of roulette to dispose of unsatisfactory employees or anyone else he doesn’t like. Meanwhile sharks (and the odd oversized goldfish) can be seen swimming past the green tinted windows for extra menace. Adding to the ambience in a large audience hall is a massive golden statue of an eagle, and Shakaal has a throne strategically placed underneath for those moments when you just have to be seen to be the head villain! And of course there are plenty of panels with flashing lights and hidden switches– everything your discerning villain could require for world domination

Shakaal has his own distinctive look too combining his bald head with black or white military style tunics featuring his ‘S’ logo prominently displayed. His henchmen all wear identical smart white suits, and later on his henchwomen are attired in silver miniskirts and fetching black blouson style shirts – always good to see a properly style-conscious villain!

(If Gabbar was Rustic, Shakhaal was Mystical).

With Shakhaal disposing Shiv Kumar the film shifts to revenge gear .

Vijay and Ravi now want Shakal's bald scalp and they are aided by Rakesh (Shatrughan Sinha), a sharp shooter who has his own axe to grind with Shakaal and by Abdul (Mazhar Khan) a freewheeling informer who feeds them free information about Shakaal.

Addition of Rakesh halfway into the film is a masterstroke, adding uncertainty to the second half and also an opportunity for another good car chase and action scenes.

It all leads to the final showdown on Shakaal's island and inside his gadget-filled den of vice after the leads have disguised themselves and sing Yamma Yamma with Helen. Many punch-ups later, Vijay knows exactly what buttons to press on Shakaal's control panel to finish the villain's tyranny and the island is blown up just as the key players take off in a Helicopter.

Shaan didn't fare well in the first outing ..this on analysis can be too many characters and too many stars. Also, their individual tracks run parallel and are often not interwoven into one narrative. What results is a collection of vignettes revolving around each major character or star. And also a collection of multistarrer cliches -- not once but twice an actress is tied up for ransom rendering the hero helpless in the hands of the villain.

Another point was it's constant comparison to Sholay although both are of diffrent genres even if the soul is similar.

The film was re-released twice and subsequently now declared a cult film of sorts.

G P Sippy spares no expense to provide the film a patina of grandeur. Ramesh Sippy directs the action sequences with characteristic flair .

Music and Background score by R.D.Burman is top class.Pyar karnewale is a peppy club number as is the underutilised Usha Uthup's Doston se. Janoo meri jaan is a catchy multistar love song so typical of the 1970s and 1980s and Yamma yamma is one of the better climax songs from the heroes-in-disguise-in-the-villain's-den genre.   

Hit yarn spinners Salim-Javed's script surprisingly throws up no memorable dialogue -- not even for the villain. To have the villain respond to the accusation that he knows 'kaafi kuch' with a line like 'Kaafi nahin, sab kuch' is all too predictable. 

They use up their imagination conjuring up novel fight situations for the characters -- like dunking a man, car included, in water. In the climax, Amitabh fights a crocodile while Shashi and Shatru share a gas chamber with gas-masked villains.

Shatrughan Sinha gets the " Agar Kisi Ne Hilne ki Koshish Ki" moment.

Shaan is worth watching. I love every minute of Shaan and recommend viewing for a great all-round entertainer again and again

(For the record I have seen it on the big screen 21 times ) the last being in 2005.

Sooryawanshi : A Review 7th November

Finally after a long time after 19 months and 25 days, saw a movie in the theatre (Multiplex).

Theatres in some areas had opened earlier and movie's like Bell Bottom (Akshay Kumar) and Chehere (Amitabh Bachchan) released.But Maharashtra Govt opened up on 22nd and the the first big release to hit theatres on 5th November was Sooryawanshi. (Rohit Shetty has a penchant for Diwali release too ).The film is tagged as "Aa Rahi Hain Police'.

Raising the curtain with ’93 blasts in Mumbai, the story focuses on a suspected major chunk of explosive material left from the 1993 blast,( 600 kg as is mentioned) linking it with a couple of fugitives who managed to escape back then.

These are Bilaal Ahmed(Kumud Mishra) and Tiger (not shown but told is in Islamic country).

The case is handled by Kabir Shroff ( Javed Jaffery in a very dignified role )in 1993 who subsequently becomes ATS chief.

Now the Lashkar kingpin Omar Hafeez (Jackie Shroff) further sends some 40 ISI agents in to India who are led by Riaaz Hafeez (Abhimanyu Singh) under guise 

Cut to current day.

Police get a lead that Riaaz is in Rajasthan under the camouflage of a Hotelier.

Enter DCP Veer Sooryawanshi ATS who goes there and arrests him after a shootout.

It is then shown that he lost his parents young owing to the 1993 serial terrorism bombings that had taken place in Mumbai.

He meets his wife Dr Riya (Katrina Kaif) at a hospital that he stumbled upon to get treatment from while he was shot. They have a son Aryan ( now that's a coincidence that this name is already so much in the news ). Their story comes to a temporary halt when their son gets grazed by a bullet during an unexpected car chase creating Friction between them.

Meanwhile the terrorist Bilaal is traced and commits suicide ( after a couple of social and antisocial dialogues and height of coincidences). This has to be avenged and a plan is set up with the 600 kg RDX which is retrieved by them. Helping them is a self proclaimed clergymen Kadar Usmani ( Gulshan Grover)

The film now takes its own sweet time to lay out the dense details of the hero's mission: the prevention of a repeat of the 1993 Mumbai serial bomb blasts.

This leads to the action, moving out of India occasionally, to Bangkok, the site of a car, copter and ski boat chase that culminates in the hero nabbing a man (Sikandar Kher) accused of helping a terrorist. 

In between the scene shifts to a village on border of Goa and Maharashtra where another member of the sleeper cell Mukhtar (Nikitan Dheer) is assembling RDX bombs in cars 

The scene moves fast now and the climax is at Police Head Quarters Mumbai.

This warrants the entry of Simba (to get Mukhtar) and Singham to help Sooryawanshi. Ajay Devgan and Ranvir Singh doing their bit not at all looking out of place.

Rohit Shetty knows his audience well and clearly understands what fits their taste. From action-packed car chases to blowing up things every five seconds, the film had a surprise element at every turn.

The humour has been maintained even in the Climax which makes Sooryawanshi different or a cross of Singham and Simba.

Background music by Amar Mohile is good.

The song Tip Tip Barsa remixed by Tanishk Bagchi is well choreographed and nostalgic but Katrina can't match Raveena.

Katrina otherwise doesn't have much to do but looks amazing and her playing the role of a mom is something new.

Akshay Kumar is competent as always .His whole act is divided into two parts, the first kind you’ve already seen in movies like Baby, Holiday, Bell Bottom & the other kind as you’ve seen in De Dana Dan, Phir Hera Pheri & Bhaagam Bhag.

The other supporting cast has done a good job.

As mentioned the guest stars Ajay Devgan and Ranvir Singh are apt in their entries and roles.

Singham hints of a new episode with Omar Hafeez (Jackie Shroff).. the story continues..

So the bottom line.

Is Sooryawanshi worth the wait ?

Yes it is..

See it for the sheer magnanimous canvas.

and start the wait for Gol Maal 5 and Singham 3 ( Again part 5 of his Rohit Army).

A Good Deed. 30th November 2021

Today I did something which made me smile for myself after a long time.

Did a good deed for the day.

As I reached office had to adjust some two wheelers to park my car. While doing so I saw a key left in a parked Scooty . 

I thought the owner will come and collect it but even after I Had parked and logged in(after some 10 mins), the key was hanging as it is.

I felt it would be criminal to leave the key as it is and I took it with me. But I realised that this would not help the owner .

So I hit on the idea that I wrote a sticky note and mentioned my contact number and stuck it on the Scooty.

The day went by in official choirs , and as I was to leave I realised that the key would need to be left where the owner could collect it if he or she called me.

I talked to our office landlord and arranged for the key to be kept and informed him that if I got a call..I will give his reference.

The evening went and I thought that the person must have got a duplicate key and let it be.

However at 7.15pm.

I got a call about the keys.

A worried voice but I explained that the key is safe and guided her.

She was overjoyed and one could feel the releif she experienced.

She expressed her gratitude and it made me feel happy, a sence of satisfaction.

I could help someone with just a small act as a Samaritan.

Small things Big pleasure 🙏

Just felt like sharing.

Dont let a molehill become a Mountain

It’s very easy to lose perspective, especially if you're stressed and things are not going as per plan or expectations.

And so a molehill can become a big and terrifying mountain in your mind.

I’d like to quickly and simply share couple of steps to handle these situations so they don’t get out of hand.

Iam trying them myself

Here’s what I do

Say stop.

In your mind, shout “STOP!” or “NOPE, we are not going down that path again!” as soon as thoughts of this kind start to spin in your head.

Think Positive

After you have disrupted the thoughts by shouting stop sit down and just be still and think Positively .There must be a positive.

Refocus.

Question your mountain building thoughts by talking to someone close to you and getting a more grounded perspective on the situation by just venting or by getting his or her input.

Hope this helps..

It's helping me in this time of uncertainty.

The Final Days

It's 7th March..

It's now 6 years that he left us for his heavenly abode.

He lived a contended life but with his art of living and his dicipline we feel he should have been still around.

I still remember the sequence of events.. it was 30th November 2016 at 4 pm I got a call from Pondecherry had Sad was not well and had to be admitted. The second call was at 6pm and Papesh K. Lenka with Professor Mohanty urged me to come to Pondecherry. I remember I was driving back from office, my heart skipped a beat as in a tense mode I reached home. In a rush booked myself on a midnight flight to Chennai from where a Taxi would take me to Pondicherry or Puducherry as it is now.

I reached Pondecherry on 1st December. My arrangements were in the same suite alloted to Dad.

After freshening up I reached the hospital PIMS..( Pondecherry Institute of Medical Sciences).

Daddy was in ICU..he was feeling better and he told me it was a false alarm.

The day passed by he was feeling better and it was predicted he would be discharged in a day or two. Next day

Dr Mohanty took me to the cardiologist who told me that it was a massive heart attack and that he will have to be careful and hinted at an angiography 

Daddy refused and insisted on being discharged. I talked to the Cardiologist and asked if I could take him back to Pune in Sunday 4th December.

Dr said he looks fine but you will need to consult a Cardio Surgeon in Pune.

In good spirits he was discharged on 3rd Morning.

He was very cheerful and was mingling with his students all of whom were in awe of him. We had the flight on Sunday Morning..

I couldn't sleep that night .

On 4th morning we reached Chennai airport  Prof Mohanty and Aprameya Mohanty  dropped us at the airport.( The Experience of Chennai Airport was a nightmare but.more of that some other time ).

We reached Pune in the afternoon.

Dad was tired but in good spirits.

4th December was my anniversary

We had gone out for dinner where he had a frugal Dinner with Mona and Sneha Sushant Aggarwal .

On 6th I took an appointment with Dr Anil Katdare a renowned Cardiologist.

I showed him the case papers .

He asked me to get dad to see him next day.

After great reluctance dad agreed to see him. On 7th he was checked and Dr Katdare told that he needed to be admitted urgently .

He was admitted in ICU and subsequently responded to treatment. My brother Gouranga came in from Dubai to be with him and us . 

His Angiography was done and it was found that in his condition Angioplasty could not be done. Next day there was another test at Ruby to access the condition of his heart.

It was clear he needed a bypass heart surgery . 

Now the shocking part was the dye had reached his kidneys and they were affected. He was taken for dialysis and later discharged to be kept under observation.

These complications continued..

He has to be readmitted again in 2nd January. This time he was under the observation of the nephrologist.

Dialysis schedules were worked out.

Gouranga came again on 8thJan.

This Hospital run of Dad was truly long almost 15 days as he was discharged on 18th January. The dialysis was to continue at Aditya Birla Hospital (comparitivly nearer ) on alternate days thrice a week.

We had kept a help for him Sanjay..who had adapted being with Dad and his demands. I adjusted my work.accordingly

The Dialysis surjourn continued He was feeling weak and discomfort but it was inevitable.

March Came.. On 5th March Sanjay needed leave and gave a replacement.

Dad was not happy he had got used to Sanjay and initially refused a replacement. Being a Sunday we agreed and the replacement came on 6th.

On 7th Morning before leaving for office I assured Dad I will book an uber for him as I used to do for his transit to the hospital for dialysis.

Everything went as usual until I got a call at 2.30pm from the attendant that I should come to the hospital.

I rushed to the hospital and got to know that during Dialysis Dad's Blood Pressure dropped and was not recovering. I reached some half an hour later and they decided to shift him to ICU.

They tried all procedures to revive him

I called Mona over as I was having the jitters. She reached at 4 pm.

I was not getting any details on the progress..and finally at 4.35 omon they announced he was no more.

I was shocked..broken.. possibly he had sunk when I last touched him.

We pulled courage and intimated the near and dear 

An illustrious life had dome to an end.

7th March 2017.

The funeral was on 8th after my brother Gouranga arrived.

For me those 2 hours are unforgettable.

I lost the person to whom I owed my being.

It's 6 years today.