Category Archives: Movies

‘Barfi!’ is India’s bet for Oscars 2013!

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When the movie ‘Barfi’ released, a friend of mine suggested I watch it without fail and write an article on it. That’s the kind of

India's controversial official entry to the Oscars!

reaction the movie generated among audiences, many of whom went to watch the movie only because their friends asked them ‘not’ to miss it.

The simple and heart touching story of universal love has not only won hearts of film buffs and snobby critics, but also got nominated by the Film Federation of India as India’s official entry for the Academy Awards in the Best foreign language film category!

This is surely a huge achievement considering there were 19 other critically acclaimed movies that were competing for the prestigious award nomination. Paan Singh Tomar, Dirty Picture, Kahaani, Deool, Eega, Vazhakku Enn 18/9 and Akasathinte Niram were in the race, but it was the charm of ‘Barfi’ that worked!

Infact the soul-stirring rom-com is a complete entertainer with songs for every mood. This song in particular deserves a special mention.

http://youtu.be/4RBIwnM0ulk

All though the film has crossed the magical Rs 100-crore mark it’s still in news for all the wrong reasons: Plagiarism.

Yes. There are serious accusations that Writer- Director Anurag Basu lifted several key scenes of the movie from cinematic creations from around the world. It all started with a blog on Tangeed.com that gave scene by scene examples of plagiarism.

In no time the links went viral on the virtual world, leaving many fans of the sweet ‘Barfi’ feeling bitter (me included!). :-(

Infact many are of the opinion that the movie must not be representing the country at the Oscars because it clearly wears western impressions on its sleeves. There are others who feel that Director Anurag Basu must be lauded for his unconventional take on the lives of

the differently- abled.

We leave it to you to decide if the several scenes of the movie are inspired or copied.

http://youtu.be/0Zk_IK0Yo8A

So what do you think? ;-) Its also ironic that the social networking platforms that were initially abuzz with appreciation for the movie, became the medium for harsh criticisms too!

Don’t you think this controversy could have been avoided if the movie gave due credits to the movie it claims to be ‘inspired’ from. Anurag Basu, writer and Director of the movie has said “It was my shortcoming…I couldn’t think original about it…”

All said and done, the movie surely deserves appreciation for a refreshing take on the lives of disabled people and having conveyed it with minimal dialogues. It now needs to be seen if the movie qualifies for the Top 5 Oscar nominations in the Best foreign language film category on January 10th 2013.

Till now only three films Mehboob Khan’s ‘Mother India’, Mira Nair’s ‘Salam Bombay!’ and Aamir Khan’s ‘Lagaan’ from India have managed to get to the final round of Oscar nominations.

However not a single Indian movie has bought the Golden lady home!

If you are ‘Barfi’ fan, you can customize t-shirts, coffee mugs and posters about the movie on www.allthingscustomized.com and support its Oscar nomination. Aakir support dena toh banta hain na? :-)

Meanwhile, the movie will be competing with 72 movies from around the world. We wish ‘Barfi’ an eventful race at the Oscars! :D What do you think about the movie?

A Silent Promo Captures Hearts!

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A Bollywood

movie trailer is generating a lot of curiosity on social media platforms. If you are a movie buff, you must have seen the trailer of the movie ‘Barfi’ starring Ranbir Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra. If you haven’t, there’s a surprise in store for you!

The much awaited movie trailer has received immense praise from critics and audience, the most striking part being the complete absence of dialogues from the promo!

Yes, you heard it right. The trailer of the film completely relay on background score and emotions to convey its message. A first of its kind promotional strategy and it seems to be working wonders going by the interest it has generated.

The unusual qualities of the preview have left audiences awestruck with over a million views on YouTube and numerous shares on social networking websites. The 2.47 minute fast paced promo mostly has Ranbir Kapoor clowning around with his comic antics and one cannot miss his chemistry with Southern siren Illeana and the talented Priyanka Chopra, who plays an autistic girl with a very unusual look. It certainly seems like Director Anurag Basu has a surprise in store for us on September 14.

It’s important that you watch the trailer before we continue to talk about it! :)

http://youtu.be/yZxrao3zou4

Don’t you think it’s pretty brave on the part of the markers to release the promo in this (very innovative) package, considering it may have backfired by creating confusion for the audiences. But don’t confuse the silent promo as only a promotional strategy to generate interest. The promo infact conveys the theme of the movie as both Ranbir and Priyanka play the role of differently abled characters and hence have no dialogues in the movie. They will have to rely on their acting skills to convey their emotions.

Going by the promo it’s quite obvious that Ranbir has drawn inspiration from legendary characters “Charlie Chaplin and Mr Bean” to portray his deaf and mute character ‘Murfy’. Just to clarify the title of the movie has nothing to do with the Indian sweet Barfi. In the movie ‘Murfy’ is mispronounced by everyone as ‘Barfi’ and their lies the connection for the title. It’s also interesting that the initial choices for the title were ‘Silence’ and ‘Khamoshi’ which would

have perhaps gone well with the theme of the movie.

The silent promo was so striking that people thought the whole movie would be a silent film. Finally the movie’s director Anurag Basu had to deny the rumors.

The movie is supposed to be a dark romantic thriller set in the 1970’s. Not to be letting out the suspense, the movie is a love triangle with a twist as Ranbir and Priyanka portray differently abled characters (you will have to wait for the movie to know more).

If you remember Bollywood has had movies on disability; Black, Guzaarish, My Name Is Khan and Tare Zameen Par have dealt with various issues sensitively. It needs to be seen if the movie is successful in enthralling audience with its script and charm.

Staying with the silent promo, silent movies have had a long history in Indian cinema (1913-30) but with time we seem to have left the bygone era to the past. While Bollywood shies away from producing silent movies, ‘The Artist’ (a French silent movie) has bagged 5 Oscars this year. (Seems like we have the recipe for an Oscar win, anyone’s listening?) :)

For now the promo has changed audience perceptions and set high expectations. We will have to wait and watch if the movie is as sweet as the title.

What do you think about the promo? Share your views with us and let us know if we are right! :)

 

How do you think Avengers contained Loki, Thor,… ?

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You must have already seen the Avengers movie. If not, a quick plot summary without spoilers is that the super heroes (Iron man, Hulk, …etc) save the world from the threat of Norse gods Loki, Thor, and their cohorts. I hope I did not spoil the story because there is much to the story and lot more in the graphics and the 3D animation.

Anyway, do you think that the super heroes on Earth will fight the gods all by themselves? Think again. Wouldn’t they need some support from a super-super hero? At least, some moral support…Ohh, Come on,…after all they are mortals! Well, you may or may not like to hear this but the fact is that the super heroes on Earth got support from none other than God “Shiva”.

You still don’t believe this ? Then why do you think Agent Romanoff is sent to India to recruit Dr. Banner(Hulk)? Don’t you see any undercover operation movies? The real deal is that she needed to get God Shiva on their side and not the other gods! Shiva ofcouse stays at his home, Kailash in India. So, poor girl, where else could she go? So, you connect the dots…Ahhh, so now you ask why Shiva is not seen in the movie. That’s easy! because he is media-shy. Nevertheless, he is caught guarding the world and “ON CAMERA”. Ohhh myyyy! now you want to know how we knew about his presence. Okay that’s it! This is the last question that you are asking. Period.

Remember, last Sunday evening, the sky turned unusually reddish in color over Bangalore. We were afraid that the Norse Gods were spewing some action and scanned the skies. Then when we saw Shiva, we were happy, delighted, and then relieved!! We went back indoors and continued watching the soap opera!

Below is the picture that we captured. (Move the mouse over the image in case you are not able to identify him. we can assist you). Okay, no more questions… thanks for your attention. Bye. See you. Bye Bye. Good luck. Have a nice day. Bye!!