TOP 7 FILMS OF 2014

Aside from the films competing for the next crores milestone at the box office, the year 2014 had a few shiny film pearls appear on screen. It is these that make the audience truly vibrate to the emotions evoked by directors, actors and a good story. Here is our pick:

1. THE LUNCHBOX

Director: Ritesh Batra

Cast: Irrfan Khan, Nimrat Kaur, Nawazzudin Siddiqi

The Lunchbox is an Indian film that conquered audiences around the world in 2014. With its high octane casting and a subdued approach to matters of the heart, it carried universal appeal and struck gold at many festivals and amid audiences in India too. One word: Unmissable.

2. HAIDER

Director: Vishal Bhardwaj 

Cast: Shahid Kapoor, Tabu, Kay Kay Menon, Shraddha Kapoor, Irffan Khan

Haider is another one-man exploit, with Vishal Bhardwaj at the front of directing, scripting and producing a new adaptation of a Shakespearian drama. Suffering, insanity, right, wrong and jaw-dropping landscapes are the backdrop of a very well shot and emotionally compelling Haider.

3. QUEEN

Director: Vikas Bahl, 

Cast: Kangna Ranuat, Lisa Haydon

Who does not feel for Rani, an innocent girl from Delhi, when she is shoved aside by a heartless groom? The tale that follows her evolution after heartbreak is empowering and inspirational. Every girl, but also every boy, should make a point to watch this. In the end, it is more than just a chick flick. It is a tribute to human resilience that does not take itself too seriously, therein its timeless charm.

4. ANKHON DEKHI

Director: Rajat Kapoor

Cast: Sanjay Mishra, Namit Das

Aankhon Dekhi honors critical thinking at the same time pinpoints its ridiculous pitfalls. The wise Bauji asks relevant questions and brings change into an otherwise peaceful mini-society, inviting the audience to rethink their existence.

5. FILMISTAAN

Director: Nitin Kakkar Cast: Shabir Ahmed, Inaam Ul Haq

When people who claim to be from fundamentally different backgrounds discover they are in reality much more alike than they would like to think, the setting is right for intelligent comedy. Based on the relationship between Hindi speakers on both sides of the Indo-Pakistani border and their common love for cinema, Filmistaan is an opportunity to embrace that every human being is fundamentally equal. 

6. FINDING FANNY

Director: Homi Adajania Cast: Naseeruddin Shah, Deepika Padukone, Pankaj Kapoor, Dimple Kapadia, Arjun Kapoor

Stolen moments in Goa's off-the-beaten-track locations with one thing in mind: recovering lost love. Homi Adajania's Finding Fanny is a tale of distinctive characters and experiences. The cast, the images, the music result in a journey that is one of a kind.

7. DEDH ISHQIYA

Director: Abhishek Chaubey Cast: Naseeruddin Shah, Arshad Warsi, Madhuri Dixit, Huma Qureshi

When tight writing as well as a tried and tested mega-talented cast are put together, one can expect the likes of a film such as Dedh Ishqiya despite the fact that most sequels are usually not what garners the most critical acclaim. The film has been ravely reviewed across the board and ingredients such as social critique, action, comedy and romance make it a surefire entertainer.

HAPPY JOURNEY: Love Goes for a Spin!

 

Happy Journey is one of those little gems whose scenes one likes to allow our imagination to revisit again and again... A haunting tale whose value slowly permeates the viewer's consciousness for days, weeks or years to come.

Sachin Kundalkar's film in Marathi explores the life of Niranjan (Atul Kulkarni), whose childhood is filled with a constant outpour of innocent and pure love for his newborn little sister Janaki (Priya Bapat). Time goes by and just as he is growing up and discovering the joys of his first teenage romance, Niranjan's sentimentally rich journey is brutally truncated when his parents suddenly send him off to Dubai to earn money for his family. The result is a growing feeling of abandonment that makes Niranjan a hurt and detached young man who gets easily exasperated with his family obligations. It is this angry man who comes back to his hometown when the family is faced with difficult times. Once in India, his charming sister Janaki (Priya Bapat) will take him on a fantastic trip that will ignite an inner discovery.

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MARGARITA WITH A STRAW: Life's Intense Glow

A very special film has been all the rage this year at the Toronto Film Festival and has obtained the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema Award for Best Asian Film. Margarita with a Straw has been rightly called one of the strongest independent films India has produced in recent years. 

Margarita With a Straw hails from the talent of Shonali Bose, the film maker who was highly acclaimed for intense dramas, such as Amu and Chittagong. Her new film might be gathering attention partly because it explores topics that are rare to Indian cinema, such as disability or homosexuality. Nonetheless, the value of the film, which is Bose's most intensely personal project, starring Kalki Koechlin, lies well beyond its novelty. It is the writer and director's (aka Bose's) rare creative poise and humor that give her story a mature hue that is unique to films in India and around the world exploring similar topics, the last one I remember briefly and successfully exploring disability and sexuality being Babel (2006) by Gonzalez Iñarritu.

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JAL: A Majestic Tale of Human Truths

 

There must be something truly inspiring and epic about the Great Rann of Kutch in Gujarat. Films that have had scenes filmed in the austere landscape of the area have seen its strange beauty contribute to their trademark image (some examples are Lagaan or Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela), and Jal is the next in view.

A desert child myself, I was immediately drawn to the incredibly vivid cinematography of Jal from the onset, or should I say, from it's very first trailer.
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YOUNGISTAAN: Rule of the Candyfloss Young

 

Election season is ring-a-ringing and the films coming out these last couple of weeks have been bowing to the debate atmosphere. 

Youngistaan is a film that presents the premise of having India ruled by one of its foreign-educated nationals. It is essentially a love story set in the backdrop of Indian politics. 28 year old game developer Abhimanyu Kaul is a young and independent NRI. He lives in Japan with the love of his life, Anwita Chauhan, a bubbly, passionate and full of life summer intern. Their happy and content life faces the test of time, when blood ties and the pressure of being born into the first family of India tears a young Abhimanyu between his love for Anwita and a promise made to his dying father, the Prime Minister of India.

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Pink Power: QUEEN, GULAAB GANG and GULABI GANG

At a moment at which the limelight is turning towards women empowerment and women struggles in the media (see this week's post on celebrating brave women on Indian television), cinema takes part in this offering through documentaries and what this blogger would call "chick flicks with a bang". Whether it is in the form of Kangna Ranaut's layered big screen entertainer Queen, Nishtha Jain's serious documentary Gulabi Gang or it's Bollywood counterpart Gulaab Gang (starring divas Juhi Chawla and Madhuri Dixit), women are at the center of the discussion table as International Women's Day approaches.

Which of these films might be more effective as entertainment while also being socially inspiring? If we had only one film to pick this weekend to celebrate International Women's Day, which would we recommend? Let us briefly gloss through each plot and trailer.
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DHOOM 3 Review: Get Set... Dhoom!

A couple of hours drive through the California desert to reach San Diego had this lucky blogger enjoying an early Christmas gift from her best friend: a prepaid ticket for the first day and first show release of Vijay Krishna Acharya’s much anticipated Dhoom 3.

I have a confession to make. I would not say I am an action flick fan (I tend to find the genre a bit soulless) and have often been disappointed with the multiple attempts to achieve Hollywood-like results in Indian films or to create the ”Indian James Bond”. Not only do I believe Indian cinema need not use Western cinema as a measuring stick, but in my humble opinion, these attempts have met little success… probably less due to a lack of budget than to faulty scripts. So before starting this review, I wish to give my sincere applause to Vijay K. Acharya and Aditya Chopra for taking a giant box-office title like Dhoom and writing a script with soulful Indian flavor while creating a pretty consistent and entertaining action plot that can appeal to any audience.
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THE LUNCHBOX (DABBA): A Delicacy for the Soul

It is certainly a joy when yet another film being hailed as the true flag of Hindi language independent cinema actually delivers in all departments, particularly in terms of performances and script. After having watched a couple of Hindi indie films in the past few years with less-than-enthusiastic reviews to post, I am glad to say Ritesh Batra has finally nailed it. The Lunchbox has India co-producing along with France, Germany and the U.S., giving it all its chances abroad and among Indian audiences looking for honest niche cinema of great quality.
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ONCE UPON A TIME IN MUMBAAI 2: Of Love and Other Passions

Milan Luthria pairs up with Ekta Kapoor once again and directs the sequel to his gangster hit Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai with generous and unapologetic Bollywood masala and action scene close-ups, enriching this new film with more romance than the first movie of the series.

 

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BHAAG MILKHA BHAAG: A Real-Life Tale of Inspiration

Rakeysh Onprakash Mehra had me conquered with Rang de Basanti and I had been awaiting a new tale that would feature his unique directorial punch. Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, a patriotic and epic account of runner Milkha Singh's life, features spot on performances by the cast and a wonderful and highly involved lead performance by actor/director Farhan Akhtar, who trains, sweats, bhangras and romances with all his heart. Prasoon Joshi’s script tell's Milkha Singh’s story through a long series of flashbacks that make the full story materialize at the end of the film.
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HARUD: Kashmir's Free-Falling Leaves

Slow but effective, Harud starts with scenes that grasp the viewer and, even though one might find the film’s long silences heavy to watch, the eyes and the heart of art cinema lovers will wait patiently to see what brave story unfolds.

Rafiq (Shahnawaz Bhat), Harud’s main character, has an elder brother who has disappeared due to the tension in the Kashmir region. His mother and father have difficulty in dealing with this disappearance and the ambient violence, to the point that his father (veteran Iranian actor Reza Naji) starts slowly losing his mind to depression. Rafiq’s daily life unfolds listlessly until he finds his older brother’s camera and starts to use it, finding some respite from a grey existence. 

A special mention goes to actors Mohammad Amir Naji (Rafiq's father), who is already known to be immensely talented, and to Mudessir Ahmed Khan, who despite being a starting actor, gives the film a tinge of  joy or magic to each scene he takes part in. Equally strong applause goes to Nakul Kamte. As I was watching the film, I kept wondering how such guerrilla-style film making could achieve such quality in the sound department, and it was only after I saw his name in the credits that my mystery was solved. 

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GURU DUTT: The Percentage of Tears

Guest post by: Tiru Pradyumna Editing by: HINDI CINEMA BLOG

Tiru Pradyumna is a theatre director from Bangalore. Interpreting and finding precious things in Indian cinema which are apparently not understood by normal audience, as well as articulating the concept of aesthetics and semiotics in cinema are some of Tiru's many talents shared with us today. Check out the blog at:  http://tirupradyumna.blogspot.in/

 

“Koi Jab Roke, Koi Jab Toke, Gun Gun Karata Bhaage Re”

 

This line flashed at me when I saw a poster of a film near a theatre in Bangalore. The title matched the “ORIGINAL” for the most part till “Saahib Biwi Aur ...”, but in a few seconds, my intellect felt guilty, because the resemblance was only between two film names and only that much. The memory of that poster remained only for couple of seconds, while the memory of the ORIGINAL film (which remains a classic even after five decades) will remain forever. My "guilty" comparison of both films led me to compare the “Golden Era of the HINDI FILM industry” and current “Bollywood” (that is what they call it). The span of twenty years in which legends like Raj Kapoor, Yash Chopra, Shammi, Rafi, Kishore Da, Burmans, Kaifi Azmi, Abrar alvi, Sahir ludhianvi, Anand Bhakshi and Guru Dutt were brand ambassadors of the Hindi film industry is compared to nowadays, when actors are only meant to be brand ambassadors for TV commercials... let's say the comparison cannot even be balanced on the same pole.

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THE PRESENT AND FUTURE OF HINDI FILMS

Image from IBNLive.com

By Swanand Kirkire (Edited by Mayank Shekher for the MAMI Film Festival)  

I remember when I was a newcomer to Hindi films, I had met the iconic actor-filmmaker Kamal Hassan at a social function. He had then mentioned to me that, over the years, movies in India had worked for us simply as a magic show. Most people watched moving images on silver screen more as theatre audiences experiencing magic playing out before their eyes – without knowing or thinking of the technology that went behind bringing those images to life. With the explosion of technology in later decades, this illusion of magic slowly began to fade away, and cinema 2000 onwards, I suspect, started to reflect that change.

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GATTU Review: A Child Conquers the Sky

When a movie without special effects, exotic locations, huge stars and song and dance sequences is released, it tends to be classified in the art film category and is immediately slotted for an intellectual or purely regional audience. Gattu breaks the mould and brings us not only Indian entertainment but also simple and meaningful cinema.

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SPECIAL 26 Review: Thrill is the Word

A Wednesday was the first Indian film I believe I watched in India and without English subtitles. I still remember a friend translating for me the parts I did not fully understand and feeling how the plot was getting entangled and detangled in my brain. Such a stimulating film had me looking forward to acclaimed director Neeraj Pandey's Special 26 (aka Special Chabbis) and I am glad the waiting is over.

While the director might have been facing nervousness this week before the release, one has to say that a trip to the cinema this weekend to watch it is pretty well worth it!

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Bollywood Infomercial Sleek: RACE 2 Review

 

Let us quote and interview of Johann Verheem, founder of a weight loss company who became famous overnight due to one of his infomercials: “It's not just that sex sells, but one of the other things very important in direct selling, in infomercials, is that a product looks different enough for someone to stop and watch it.” (Inc. magazine)

Verheem's expert knowledge of "what sells" completely matches my impression of Abbas and Mustan Burmawalla's Race 2, where a score of gorgeous males and females show off their tanned and chiseled bodies and brand clothes in luxurious settings while trying to appear cool by emoting as minimum as possible and handling uncannily humongous sums of money (plus the shroud of Turin!) throughout a plot that unfortunately keeps craving for an ending well before the intermission.

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MATRU KI BIJLEE KA MANDOLA Review: Bhardwaj's Off-beat Genius

It was enough to see the promos featuring a smiling pink buffalo, Gulabi Bhains, prior to a Talaash screening to convince us we needed to watch Matru ki Bijlee ka Mandola. Seeing Vishal Bhardwaj's name appended to it convinced us further...

Though the plot has been analyzed and sometimes criticized by first-time viewers across the press expecting a mainstream movie with a dash of quirkiness or originality from Vishal Bhardwaj, I have to say I find most critics who were disappointed with Matru ki Bijlee ka Mandola have missed its point. In my very humble opinion, the movie's disjointedness and wackiness was written on purpose. One scene jumps to the next, the absurd creeps up every other scene and the plot includes a critical view of Indian village society while at the same time providing funny cracks. The film might not have the duality of Kaminey or the straightforward drama of Omkara; it might at times seem like Bhardwaj wrote a set of unfinished brilliant sketches for a set of characters he fleshed out in advance; but ultimately, the film follows a thread of veiled, surrealistic but effective critique of India that can absolutely not be brushed off.

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USTAD HOTEL: The Beauty of Nonchalance

Every now and then, there is a regional film making its way into a review by the Hindi Cinema Blog and Ustad Hotel, a 2012 Malayalam film written by Anjali Menon and directed by Anwar Rasheed merits such an occasion.

 

Ustad Hotel´s subtle cinematography and its richly colorful images paint a refreshing and simple story. Faizal, nicknamed Fayzee (Dulquer Salman) grows up amid his sisters until they are "married off" one by one. Fayzee hopes to be a chef, much against the aspirations of his father. He goes to Switzerland to study hotel management at the University of Lausanne. When he returns, the possibility for an arranged marriage is broken off by the bride-to-be Shahana (Nithya Menon), who also reveals to one and all that Fayzee has secretly completed a chef's course and not a career in hotel management, as agreed. This event shatters his father's dream of opening a five-star hotel in his home town of Kozhikode. Fayzee feels so cornered that he decides to move in and work with his grandfather Karim Ka (Thilakan), who is also a chef and runs a beach restaurant called Ustad Hotel. Fayzee's philosophy of life matures and evolves under the formative eye of his grandfather in this lovely coming of age entertainer. 

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DABANGG 2 Review: Chulbul Pandey Came and Went

Bombay moviegoer's expectations were ablaze viewing the giant posters of Bollywood’s most masalaic hero pointing a gun at cars passing by on high avenues. The sequel to one of the cinema industry’s most recent box office monuments, Dabangg, was about to conquer the Indian psyche, or so it seemed...

While I am aware of the huge following Salman Khan has among Indians and while I do believe the icon he has become can become an acquired taste for those of us who did not grow up with masala as a run-of-the-mill method of storytelling, this blogger remains nonetheless underwhelmed with the result of the sequel to a very innovative and entertaining original Dabangg.

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