Buddah Hoga Tera Baap - Movie Review!!

A geriatric hello, FreEk fellows!!

It is with fond remembrance, that most of us remember handcart driven chinese-outlet next to our college or first work place. These joints more often than not called "hungry eyes" or golden dragon" , having the nepali cook, to give us that "chinese-chef" feeling, served food in the filthiest of plates and surroundings, and quite of a few of us probably had a run to the loo after one of these meals, and yet such days are now remembered with fond nostalgia.

South director Jaganath Puri's masala flick starring none other than Amitabh Bachhan (AB) is somehow reminiscent of those meals!!

What it is: Buddah Hoga Tera Baap (BHTB) tells the tale of a retired gangster (AB) who returns to Mumbai to settle some scores, and kick -ass, all the while romancing much younger women and wearing enough blinding outfits to put an entire Manish Malhotra wedding collection to shame!

What works: Needless to say, this is AB's show all the way, the movie unabashedly recaptures his angry young man image, and dialogues, song tributes from his previous films are scattered throughout. Other actors such as Hema Malini, Raveena Tandon flitter around the screen in inconsequential roles. Perhaps the only inspired casting seems to be in Sonu Sood ( a dead ringer for the young AB) as an inspector, possibly as a tribute to AB's "cop movies" such as "Zanjeer".

What Doesn't: For a movie that doesn't pretend to provide anything other than unabashed AB adulation, BHTB certainly delivers. Yet having witnessed AB's acting forte in his recent works such as Cheeni Kum, Black and of course PAA, one wishes the character would have been better nuanced!

Verdict:


Three Freekies!!


Chutney on the side: As a child of the 80s, one vividly remembers the rise of AB into a one man industry. The biggest sign of his superstardom was the larger than life characters that he played in self-titled films such as "Toofan", "Ajooba", "Aaj Ka Arjun". As the the cine-world grew tired of the larger than life credo, his stardom failed, with "Mrityudaata" being the nail in the coffin. To his credit, and unlike recent aged Bollywood stars such as Dharmendra who still attempts to cavort nubile starlets (remember Tinku Jiya?) AB accepted his age limitations and churned out some modern day classics such as the above Cheeni Kum etc. BHTB, then is like a visit to that old chinese food stall, it brings back many memories, but you know why it is that you had chosen to move on.


FreEk

frEEking exclusive: PAA! vs. JACK!

hellos my frEeK fellows,

The Promos for R. Balki's "PAA" have created a stir! featuring Amitabh Bachchan in an unecognisable get-up, PAA's posters are already generating curiosity for the film.

With a cast that includes AB Jr. - Abhishek Bachchan and Vidya Balan, PAA is the story of an aspiring politician played by Abhisheik whose son Auro (played by Amitabh) suffers from a rare degenerating condition, which causes him to age far more rapidly than children his age. As a result, Auro, while in third grade already looks older than his father! The movie also features Vidya Balan as Abhi's wife and Auro's mother struggling to come to terms with Auro's condition, and Paresh Rawal as Abhi's father and political mentor who urges him to keep his "special" child under wraps. The papers these days are abuzz with news of Amitabh's astounding performance and the hours of makeup it took Amitabh to get in Auro's character. What they won't tell you is the amazing simlarity that PAA bears to an nondescript hollywood movie called "JACK"


directed by Francis Ford Coppola. and starring Robin Williams, it tells the story of a similar child (Robin Williams) who suffers from a similar degenerating disease, that makes him look like, well Robin Williams, while he is still in school!! Bill Cosby, plays Jack's teacher who encourages his parents to come to terms with their special child, the movie also focuses on Jack's efforts to get accepted with children his age in school. Jack, did dismally at the box office, and is perhaps remembered best for being one of Jennifer Lopez's first on screen appearances.

While there is really no doubt that Big B's stellar performance combined with solid support from actors like Paresh Rawal, will make PAA a definite must - watch, you now are in the know from where "PAA" was inspired from!!!

extra frEeky: u always hear it first here folks!!

Let Sleeping Slumdogs Lie!!!

Hello fellow freekies,

is been a while that I have been visiting these pages...is a new year, a time for new beginning, and from the media buzz screaming at you from every rooftop, it is the year of the dog or rather the SLUMDOG!!

That's right fellow Freeks, Slumdog Millionaire, seems to ready to topple "Gandhi" as the most widely watched movie, that ever featured us Desis!! (umm, there was that little number called Monsoon wedding).

Given its fast frenetic and unapologetic pace, Slumdog has come in for equal amounts of pace and criticism including some from that aby-baby sr. himself! (perhaps he is miffed upon being caricatured in the film?...surely Mr. Bachhan, u are aware that imitation is the best form of flattery! )

Adapted from the Vikas Swarup novel "Q&A" (which ironically had its share of sales increased in no small amount by who else, but slum kids peddling it across traffic signals; the movie features the twists, turns and trysts (yes, i alliterate quite well , thank u!) of Mumbai slum-kid Jamal Malik (voiced in a Brit accent by the otherwise earnest Dev Patel) who has to come to terms with his winning the jackpot in India's version of "Who wants to be a millionaire!" , all the while trying to win back his ladylove Latika (played by the lithe Freida Pinto!!) from the clutches of the stereotyped Mumbai king-pin (played by Mahesh Manjrekar) the movie also features crackling cameos by Hollywood's favourite Indian Irrfan Khan, and yes, Anil "jhakaas" Kapoor!

The movie, in an uncanny way bears semblance to Boyle's other masterpiece "trainspotting" in its frenetic pacing, wicked dialogue, and yes that scene involving a toilet (or well at least the indian slum equivalent of it!) .

To give the devil (or in this case, the slumdog) its due the movie, has its share of flaws, the very very least of what could be the stark portrayal of the Mumbai street-life; and the alleged "stereotyping" of Mumbai's poverty by a "firang" or "gora" aka white director, but then is it such a raw deal? for mountains of trash, and shit that dot the mumbai slums in which the protagonists thrive, can only be portrayed as well...mountains of trash and shit, and isn't our own bollywood guilty of stereotyping the "gora" as either the foreign business-man or drug lord out to rob Indian treasures, or ravage the modesty of the buxom bollywood beauty - only to be thwarted in his plans by the son-of-the-soil hero! ask our very own Bob-Christo (yes click on the link!) or Tom Alter who have paid their bills for years in playing such stereotyped roles. And in resting my case, isn't the aforesaid Mr. Bachhan guilty of at the very least, of all such stereotypes in just of his movie masterpieces called "MARD!"

So , fellow Freekies flush away your frets , for beneath all its sheen, and wisecracks, Slumdog is at its heart, a coming-of-age movie, and nowhere is this more evident than in the scene where the street kid of today (Dev Patel) sits across the host of "Who wants..." played by Anil Kapoor.

yes that very Anil Kapoor who has played the street-element in several movies of yore (Tezaab, Mashaal, Loafer and even Parinda, which bears an uncanny resemblance to the latter portion of this movie), this fellow freeks is a passing of torch moment from the old street "tapori" to the new "slumdog" the new breed of Mumbai's street-smarts who are not just content with running the local gambling-den, or flirting with the grocer's daughter, but are gunning for the big-time, the prize-money, the girl, and yes the celebratory dance at the end of it all!!

"JAI HO!"