A Sunday Blue

Blue: Hindi film 2009: A Post Mortem :( 


Weekends are a luxury for any professional slogging for five days a week. Yes, it's that time of a week when I get a much wanted late morning sleep ... actually pine for it. On the 22nd of Nov, I took some time off to watch the latest movie 'Blue'. Pls dont be surprised at this decision or action of mine. Let me explain this!! I had read the movie reviews everywhere, but somehow could not satiate my curiosity to see the 1st Indian underwater action movie. So finally I plunged in to the desire!! So here's my opinion...
If you ask me about the plot... in a word, I will call it patchy and extremely weak.. the suspense created in the beginning fizzles out ultimaltely and too quickly.. Basically there is no story at all. The screenplay is appalling to say the least. It illustrates the director's intention to please the viewers by packing in luscious beaches and the awesome Lara Dutta for some visual delight. Seems Mr Anthony D'Souza had forgotten, in today's parlance, CONTENT is KING and nothing else sells, and brings in some moolah for the hit-starved Bollywood. The cast including Akshay kumar, Sanjay Dutt, Zayed Khan and Rahul Dev Verma (exclaiming- 'where was this guy so long'!!) are wasted.
But the scenes under water are definitely a feast for the eyes. Indeed similar cinematography is rare in Indian cinema. We are sure both Akshay and Sanjay are capabale of even more exemplary performances.
About Lara Dutta, I can only wonder, what made her sign this film.. 'was she in need of money and work, that she signed this film'. She defnitely has more to offer that being just an arm candy of the leading man and flashing those perfect curves of hers. And frankly speaking, though the director wants us to believe Sanjay is cash-strapped, his beautiful house damaged by Gulshan (Rahul) hardly proves so.
Katrina in her 'blink- and-you- will - miss-me' act looked gorgeous as usual.
At Blue's debacle, I feel sorry for the enormous amount of money invested in this film- 80 crores.. even 10% of this money would have contributed to some poor family's welfare. And what has happened to A R Rahman? He is a brilliant composer, but only one song of this movie can hope to be a chartbuster.
In short, like the "Lady in Blue' that sinks in the beginnig of this movie, Blue too sinks without a trace!!

Morning Walk

A Post Mortem

Cast Anupam Kher, Sharmila Tagore, Rajit Kapoor, Divya Dutta and Shayan MunshiAfter growing up on a staple diet of the 3 hour saga of Bollywood films , punched with song, dance and dream sequences, it was tough to digest that Hindi movies can be shorter too..
Well Morning Walk did open my eyes !!
To begin with, Morning Walk is a short and crisp film with some very predictable turns and twists. The laudable fact about this 2009 film is Anupam Kher... seems his Saaransh days are back!! Weren't we tired of seeing him waste as a comedian and a stupid villain? There's much more than this man can do on-screen and Morning Walk proves that to a certain extent.
A morning walk turns the life of Joymohon (Kher) upside down. He suffers a heart attack, post which, he is compelled to shift from Kolkata, to his son's residence in Mumbai. This helps him to mend ways with his daughter-in-law, Divya, and re-visit his bond with his granddaughter (Avika Gor). In Mumbai too, he sticks to his regular morning walk and during one of these , he meets his old student and love-interest, Neelima (Sharmila) in a park. She is a single mother of two children and has her own personal problems. Joymohon and Neelima reminisce about their old days and the past is revealed to us - Neelima's daughter Anjali being the biological daughter of Joymohon and Neelima, who became close when Neelima's husband hits her about 20 years back. Joymohon was visiting the place at that time, where Nileema stayed. However, Joymohon realises this when he meets Anjali in Mumbai on the very day he meets Nileema in the park. He learns Anjali wants pursue doctorate from the USa, but Neelima is not in a position to fund her daughter's education.

On the otherhand, before Joymohon learns about Anjali's wishes, he promises his son (Rajit Kapoor) and daughter-in-law (Divya) that he will help them buy a new house by selling off his Kolkata house. But he decides against helping his son. Instead, he helps Anjali and reveals the reason to his son. His son and daughter-in-law are filled with rage and hatred. Anjali is also told about the truth of her parentage. She accepts her father and is happy at the completion of her family.

The actors, Kher, Sharmila and Kapoor essay their roles with ease. But Divya Dutta clearly over-acts when she expresses her depression, after her dream of owning a house shatters. Shayan Munshi plays a minuscule role and so does Nargis. The music is soleful and soem of the songs charm the ears.

The Verdict: The film is not one-of it's kind. It's predctable and a one-time watch, but rest assured, it's slow-paced, something that the 'timepass' movie lovers would not enjoy!!


Will be back soon with some more of my musings....