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nitin-kundra
Reviews
Jeux d'enfants (2003)
Game for it?
Its a story of two childhood friends who grow up together exploring the different layers of their relationship leading to the eternal love they share. What makes the movie interesting is the background in which this story is played at- that of a dare game being played by the two friends with each other where each one dares the other to do something to win back a specific toy. What starts as a child's play turns into a scary and often nightmarish game between the two. The movie manages to raise several emotions in the viewer primary among them being "what if". It makes one wonder what if he could change the way he is living and do something really stupid/ different.
The movie is marked by good performances from both the lead actors with others having too little a role to play. The director has managed to entangle too many layers in the story that the movie can be watched several times. There are many places where you can debate about what is actually happening and what is just a dream. This totally works in the context of this movie- giving viewer the choice of believing what he wants to.
To summarize, if you are looking for an escapist movie which takes you to see things that you may never do in your sensible mind, this one is perfect. On the other hand if you get bored by seeing the weird characters whose motives you simply cannot understand, this one's not for you.
La cité des enfants perdus (1995)
Old wine but the bottle is damn lovely!!
There might not be much that is new in the basic storyline (a mad scientist trying to do something destructive and a bunch of novices trying to stop him when there loved ones are harmed), but the way the nuances are built in, twists are introduced and the characters are developed takes the movie experience altogether to a new level.
Jeunet is awesome in the way he puts his imagination to work. The details about the various characters, their appearances, the sets are spell-bounding, turning the movie into a painting on celluloid which you can just enjoy watching even if you know where the story would be heading. Small things like the mysteriously explored relationship of the two leads will give goosebumps to you.
The lead actors are perfectly cast in their roles. Judith Vittet was the one who stole the show for me though. She is charming and portrays the complex role of Miette awesomely.
All in all a good movie to watch especially if you wanna give treat to your eyes!
Raajneeti (2010)
Great potential but a little above average movie
I have always loved Prakash Jha movies. They are honest, hard hitting, have great dialogs, are tight and marked with great performances. Rajneeti scores well on the first two aspects but fails miserably in the rest three.
Rajneeti had the potential of becoming a great classic (possibly the best Prakash Jha movie ever) given the subject Jha had chosen and the way he had intertwined it with the story that every Indian knows by heart. Its ironic then that its the same story that brings down the movie. Just imagine something like the LOTR trilogy being compressed into a 3 hour movie with all the twists and turns still shown. This is exactly what Jha does. He compresses the epic tale of Mahabharta into a 3 hour drama showing us every minor plots and sub-plots. In turn what he ends up doing bombard the viewer with scene after scene of high pitched drama with characters who are not given any time to develop or connect with audience. Add to this the dialogs and the vocabulary they use and the connection with the viewer is completely cut. (Who the hell uses words like "jyeshtaha putra" in a normal conversation)
Jha had a terrific cast but with half baked roles and poorly sketched characters, they are not really given any chance to perform. Two of the best characters in Mahabharta- Karna and Krishna are treated as mere spectators hence providing little chance to Devgan and Nana to perform. Naseerudin Shah is anyway in a guest appearance kind of role which you are bound to miss if you are 5 minutes late to the theater. While Katrina does look good, I guess you'll still prefer her in her regular eye-candy avatars. Ranbir who is the central character (Mahabharata being told from the point of view of Arjun- well interesting but not quite up-to the mark) gets another film to showcase his immense talent in a different role and he does not disappoint. The show though is stolen by Manoj Bajpayee as the modern day Duryodhan. The guy is just terrific in whatever he does in the film- he'll probably end up winning several awards for this.
All in all, Rajneeti might still work for you if you like the politico drama type, chess and checkers movie but if you like your movies served slick and smooth, you may like to give it a miss. (7/10)
Keulraesik (2003)
Sweet movie for a romantic evening . . .
If you are looking for a movie that helps you spend a sweet romantic evening full of hugs and cuddles with your spouse, Classic will fit the bill perfectly.
As the name itself proclaims, its a classic love story full of all the clichés (or as the film says classics). Whichever language or country you belong to, you'd have surely seen numerous movies on similar theme. The beauty though lies in the way the movie connects with the audience at every level with some really cool romantic scenes sure to give goosebumps to people in love.
The background score is good and the locations fantastic. The lead actors may not be the best in business, but what they lack in acting they compensate more then enough through the charm they bring along and the awesome chemistry they share with each other. The director does impress you a lot with the way he turns a perfectly routine clichéd story to a classic (though I think he does go overboard with all those jokes on sh#% which are not that funny). The editing too could have been a bit better- the movie does seems a bit stretched at times.
Go and watch it if you want some good time with your spouse!
Metroland (1997)
Must watch for people who feel boringly settled in their life!
Every person, once in a while, during his adolescent years, dreams of doing something different- something more meaningful. But then he grows up and makes the choices- mostly ending up on paths that many had taken before him and many will take after him. While traveling on that path of course, he often stops and wonders whether he made the right decision- is this the right path for him. Metroland beautifully explores this state of mind when a person is half way down the road and wondering whether the decision he took was right or whether he should really become that rebel he always dreamed of becoming. The fact that this movie (made in nineties) is shot in the context of seventies emphasizes this point even further- the situation doesn't change with the decade- or with the ages.
The acting is brilliant with Christian Bale on the top. The two leading ladies are OK though not too impressive.The direction is the one that truly steals the show. The director is able to create the effect of the viewer actually being part of the journey with the protagonist, where he starts from the feeling of what if and ending up in the awakening. A must watch for anyone past there 20s and feeling settled in their life.