'London Dreams' (Movie Review)

Vipul A. Shah's sombre-and-straight narrative goes the predictable way by Subhash K. Jha

Cast: Salman Khan, Ajay Devgn, Asin Thottumkal, Ranvijay Singh, Aditya KapoorDirector: Vipul Amrutlal ShahTwo childhood friends, Arjun and Mannu, share a common dream - they both wish to see Mannu become a big singing star. Arjun migrates to London with his sullen uncle, runs out of the airport and becomes a rocker almost overnight! Small and very accommodating world. The sequence where Arjun, now grown into a punk-styled Ajay Devgn sings at Trafalgar Square and within few minutes acquires three band members, could be a self-defining advertisement for opportunities of Asians in Britain. British soil never seemed more welcoming. Although Salman Khan playing the wild and warm Mannu is allowed to make innumerable digs at India’s old colonisers, London seems to say namastey (hello) most warmly to all the characters in the film. How is the city to be blamed if the characters hide a deep, dark and negative side to their personality that bubbles to the surface in toxic fumes burning and destroying the music and harmony of the spheres? Vipul Shah's "London Dreams" aims for a more penetrating and profound look at the life of Asians in Britain than "Namastey London". The characters here are far more complex and dark. But their presence is constantly challenged by the predictable and often banal narrative. From the first few frames, when we see the two friends in rural Punjab share Arjun's international musical dreams, we know exactly the way this story is heading. And that includes the love triangle that grows in London among the intense self-flagellating Arjun, the carefree Mannu and the happy-go-'lanky' girl-next-door Priya. One of the film's seven-eight truly warm sequences shows Asin practising Bharatnatyam in front of her conservative Tamilian father. The dance steps transform into jig the minute dad ain't looking. Such moments are far too few in Shah's sombre-and-straight narrative. Spontaneity is at a low premium among these wannabe rock stars. No matter what the length of the rock band members' hair, no one is in a hurry here to let their hair down. They'd rather let each other down. The dramatic confrontations work when they're done unselfconsciously. Some of them, like the confrontation between the two Pakistani brothers in a back-alley of London after the one tells the other about Arjun's treachery and betrayal, are plainly mawkish. Because the film forever has its pale heart in the right place, the length (nearly three hours) is largely excusable. The meandering atonal music score by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy is not. Why would a stadium filled with the whites be screaming at our rockers singing these listless songs? And what does the dream of the band London Dreams really mean? Move on to the wider questions of jealousy, insecurity and over-ambition and the film delivers wispy wallops in a steady and honest tone. Though the music is plainly awful, the background score by Salim-Suleiman fights a pitched battle against the mediocrity of the songs. Sejal Shah's cinematography is outstanding, often capturing the characters in various phase of emotional breakdown against the quaint neat London backdrop. Among the cast, Ajay gets to the heart of his troubled and overreaching character and pulls out a well-balanced performance, though he hardly looks like a rock star - the multiple earrings and other exterior preparations make us cringe. The curly-haired newcomer Aditya Roy Kapoor is an interesting presence.

Ramchand Pakistani (Movie Review)

Stellar performances make it an emotionally engrossing watch

by Arpana

Cross border problems is the basic theme of first time Pakistani director Mehreen Jabbar's "Ramchand Pakistani". Since partition in 1947, India and Pakistan have fought three wars, excluding the Kargil conflict. Six decades after partition, the common man continues to pay a heavy price for the tension between the two countries. There are several cases of innocent people from India and Pakistan who are caught and sent to jail on mere suspicion. Mehreen's film focuses on the human sufferings on both sides of the border and she has succeeded in giving it unbiased treatment. The stellar performances by the entire cast make "Ramchand Pakistani" an emotionally engrossing watch.Set in 2002, the film, inspired by a true story, is about the accidental crossing of the Pakistan-India border by a boy and his father."The film is based on actual events. My father (former Pakistani politician and filmmaker Javed Jabbar) works a lot in the areas close to the desert. One day he came across a father-son duo who narrated their story to him. That is where we got the inspiration to make this film. I am sure it will reach out to audiences," said Mehreen.The film revolves around Ramchand, an eight-year-old Dalit Hindu boy. He lives with his parents - mother Champa (Nandita Das) and father Shankar (Rashid Farooqui) - in a village in the border area of Pakistan.One day, after a fight with his mother, Ramchand runs away from home. While walking aimlessly, he accidentally crosses the border not knowing this will cost him his freedom. His father spots him crossing the line of control and tries to stop him. In doing so, he too crosses the border. As expected, the boy and his father are caught and put in a jail in India. After that starts their long battle to prove their innocence and secure freedom.While at the mercy of jail authorities, Shankar tries to cope with the trauma of forced separation from his mother. His mother is shattered by their sudden disappearance. Nandita is the only non-Pakistani actor in "Ramchand Pakistani". Well-known Pakistani TV and stage actors like Rashid Farooqi, Maria Wasti and Farooq Pario's performances are specially noteworthy.Fazal Hussain, who plays the eight-year-old protagonist Ramchand, has been particularly appreciated for his outstanding performance."The younger Ramchand has been played by Fazal Hussain. A friend of mine who is a director himself suggested him after a lot of search. The older one, however, is 14 years old. He is the son of a mechanic in Pakistan and has acted for the first time ever in any film," said Mehreen. The no-frills film is made at a nominal budget. Technically, the film is not of high quality, but Mehreen's narrative manages to hold the viewers' attention till the credits roll out.Cast: Nandita Das, Rashid Farooqui, Noman Ijaz, Syed Fazal Hussain, Navaid Jabbar Maria WastiDirector: Mehreen JabbarIndo-Asian News Service

'Fruit And Nut' (Movie Review)

Likely to drive you nuts

by Joginder Tuteja

Cast: Cyrus Broacha, Dia Mirza, Boman Irani, Mahesh Manjrekar, Rajit KapoorDirector: Kunal Vijaykar"Fruit And Nut" is a film which is neither sweet as a fruit not crunchy as a nut. In fact the best way to describe it is that its makers must have actually gone totally nuts in sanctioning a film - if it can actually be termed so - like this. It is one thing to go bizarre, break the norms and come up with a quirky affair, but it's an altogether different thing if the makers become completely overconfident, try to be extra smart and ultimately fall flat on their face. "Fruit And Nut" falls in the latter category. For a movie that has been sold as a quickie comedy, there is not even a single scene that actually makes you roll with laughter. At most, there could be a faint smile or two at a few junctures. The film by itself is not even silly enough to be laughed at, if not laughed along with. In fact the latter half is so unbearable that you actually contemplate walking out of the auditorium. Thankfully, it is the 'unusual suspect' Mahesh Manjrekar who actually manages to make you at least remain seated till the end credits start rolling. "Fruit And Nut" tries to pack a lot in the overall narrative by introducing newer situations and characters practically every 10 minutes. Cyrus Broacha is a loser who doesn't fit into any role, whether it is being an office clerk, radio jockey, watchman or even a help at a pizza shop. He fumbles at every step, literally so. Exaggeration is the name of the game here and though one understands where director Kunal was coming from when he created a character like this, it becomes a little too much to digest just 15 minutes into the film. Dia Mirza as the "lady in sari" is a pleasant watch though and carries a touch-me-not persona around her for most of the film. As a young woman who has been kidnapped, she does exude vibes of being someone who deserves to be rescued. However, the kidnapper in question, Boman Irani, gets annoying at places with his 'Breakfast Kiya' phrase. Of course the purpose here was to irritate but then there is always a thin line between an irritating character and an irritating actor. Thankfully, this is where Mahesh Manjrekar comes in handy as his one liners do manage to bring on smiles at frequent intervals. Yes, just like all other characters in the film, he too is quite bizarre. One doesn't quite mind that since the dialogues mouthed by him - a mix of Hindi, English and plain gibberish - belong to never-heard before variety. His novelty too starts fading as the reels progress. In between all this 'hardly amusing' madness, there are additional characters like the villain's henchmen, a cop, hired assassins Salim & Sulaiman, a beggar turned RAW agent and a scientist - all of whom only make this 100-minute film seem like double its length. In the past, there have been quite a few quirky movies made and all have met with diverse results. "Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd" worked while "Bheja Fry" paved the way for many more humorous films to come. However, in the last few months, there have also been releases like "Aagey Se Right" and "Quick Gun Murugan", none of which managed to make any impact whatsoever at the box office. "Fruit And Nut" is all set to suffer a worse fate at the theatres. Indo-Asian News Service