Predictions: Academy Awards 2017.

Academy Awards also known as "Oscars",  are due to be held this Sunday and while they have created a stir...Here is my list of who I think should win the mentioned honors:

 

                            

 

• Best Picture:                                                                                                                                  Nominees: Arrival, Fences, Hacksaw Ridge, Hell or High Water, Hidden Figures, La La Land, Lion, Manchester by the sea, Moonlight.

          Predicted Winner:  LA LA LAND

                                       

 

Best Director:  Arrival, Hacksaw Ridge, La La Land, Manchester by The Sea, Moonlight.

 

                        Predicted Winner: DAMEIN CHAZELLE for LA LA LAND

 

 

                              

 

Best Actor: Casey Affleck(MBTS), Ryan Gosling (LLL), Andrew Garfield(HR), Viggo Martensen (CF) and Denzel Washington (Fences)

 

                                      Predicted Winner: Cassey Affleck for Manchester by the Sea.

 

                                         

 

Best Actor (Female): Isabelle Huppert( Elle), Natalie Portman(Jackie), Ruth Negga (Loving), Emma Stone (LLL) and Meryl Streep(FFJ).

 

                         Predicted Winner: Isabelle Huppert for ELLE.

                               

                                           

 

Best Supporting Actor (Male): Mahershala Ali (Moonlight), Jeff Bridges (HOHW), Lucas Hedges(MBTS), Dev Patel (Lion) and Micheal Shannon (NA).

 

                                           Predicted Winner: Dev Patel for LION.

 

                                            

 

 Best Supporting Actor(Female): Viola Davis(Fences), Niomi Harris (Moonlight), Nicole Kidman(Lion), Octavia Spencer (HF) and Michelle Williams (MBTS).

 

                                     Predicted Winner: Nicole Kidman for LION.

 

                                                    

       

   Best Animated Film:    Kubo, Moana, Zootopia, The Red Turtle and My life as a Zucchini.

 

                                                          Predicted Winner: Zootopia   

 

                                                           

 

Best Cinematography: Arrival, La La Land, Lion, Moonlight and Silence.

 

                                                    Predicted Winner: Linus Sandgren for LA LA LAND

                                         

 

Best Costume Design:

 Nominees: Allied, Florence Foster Jenkins, Fantastic Beasts, La La Land and Jackie.

 

                                               Predicted Winner: Colleen Atwood for Fantastic Beasts

 

                                                       

 

Best Documentary (Feature):

    Nominees:  I am Not your Negro, Fire at Sea, Life Animated, O.J:Made in America and 13th.

 

                                                 Predicted Winner: I AM NOT YOUR NEGRO.                                                                 

 

     So, here are my predictions for the Oscars. Do leave your opinion in the comment section.

 

The Future of Bollywood: Star Kids...........ONLY?

"You’ll play that stereotypical Bollywood biggie, who is like, you know very snooty and completely intolerant to outsiders… and flag bearer of nepotism, the movie mafia." was a line rightly said by an ace Bollywood actress on a very famous talk show. This line perhaps has a lot of truth about today's Bollywood.

 

Bollywood today has been identified by actors and stars of the previous decade/millennium. Where stars like Dev Anand, Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh were all self made, the filmmakers and the casting directors today have become to rely on Star Kids.

                        

 (Source: Desimartini.com and Google.co.ie)

 

Star Kids does not necessarily refer to the kids of only actors or actresses but also to that of movie-makers or producers.  Star Kids have potentially got "everything on a platter." A call to a Bollywood biggie and there they have landed themselves a role. Practically, that is what goes on whenever a newbie has to be launched in Bollywood. They are  99% star kids.

 

What seems around like a very fairy tale world from the outside, is very deep, dark in the inside. Gone were the days where a commoner could make it big in Bollywood and with commoners who entered Bollywood telling their tales of experience with the casting couch tells us as to what standards Bollywood has fallen. Though people like Karan Johar, Vashu Bhagnani, Sajid Nadiawala are keen on only picking star kids for projects pretty much tells us the state. The recently announced debut of Sara Ali Khan opposite Tiger Shroff in SOTY 2, tells a lot about the current scenario which does not seem to change. Bollywood is on its way to completely "Ban" the entry of outsiders into the industry whose talents maybe better than most of the star kids launched/being lunched today. So why are producers so hesistant on putting their stake on new comers? Or why are they only sticking to star kids?

 

   

(Source: Desimartini.com and Daboo ratnani) 

 

Being a biology student, I can gurantee that there is only 25% chance of a kid to have the same character as that of parent. So even if we take into consideration that the child gained all the acting skill from the parent, they still need to work upon the 75% to be an actor as fine as their parent(only if the parent was that refined in acting). Bollywood forever has been racist by typically casting "beautiful faces with Zero expressions" rather than " 2-3 dimples with 100% expression."

Though this can't be ruled out that having a Bollywood kid in from=nt of the camera helps the promotion of the movie even before the start of shoot but it MAY also put the producer in a very likable position when it comes to money as which parent won't promote their kid?

 

Though there can be exceptions like Siddharth Malhotra when it comes to commoners but one still can't ignore actors like Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Vicky Kaushal who have immense untapped acting potential which got unleashed by Anurag Kashyap. Jackky Bhagnani is a clear cut example of a failed star kid and there are many others like Faisal Khan( Aamir's real brother), Harman Baweja, Bilal Amrohi(Kamal Amrohi's grandson)etc to name a few.

 

        

Source:IBT Times

 

Exceptions have always been there and star kids too, have exceptions of Alia Bhatt. Perhaps, she is the only star kid to have gone past  the expectations of people. Shahid Kapoor on the other hand took 12 years to win his first Filmfare contrary to what Ranveer Singh did in 6 years of his launch. The gap of 6 years tells a lot about the difference in the acting skills of a star kid( whose father is an actor par excellence) vs a commoner.

 

                        

 (Source: Wikepedia and Shortday.in)

 

And with rumours  of more star kids "polluting the industry", it seems that Bollywood is soon going to be more of a "Family Business" rather than a secular world like it used to be, back in the early 80s and 90s. God save the dreams and aspirations of all those who desire to enter Bollywood amidst this era of Nepotism.

 

 

Bollywood: Everyone's Soft Target?

Valid or invalid. Bollywood and controversies go hand in hand. Whenever a big movie is up for release, there is a controversy associated with it. The recently released Jolly LLB 2, received a lot of flak from a shoe company which claimed that the movie portrayed them in wrong light. Or the Padmavati incident, where there was no validation as to why such incidents occur. Another incident where the title of another Sanjay Bhansali movie, "Ramleela" was changed to "Goliyon ki Raasleela Ramleela"and there was a small group which protested against the title of the movie stating that it "hurt their religious sentiments". For such people, I would like to question, "How can ur religious sentiments be hurt with a title Ramleela?" Ramleela is a play enacted every year on Dussherra and why not protest there? Why only Bollywood? Agreed, that the movie was bold and revolved around the characters, Ram and Leela but comparing that portrayal to the sacred epic is just not valid! What followed was that the protesting group received a lot of attention thanks to the media and yes, it did benefit the movie as well. But was it all worth the controversy?

                                              

                                      



On one hand, we say that we have developed a modern outlook but then such incidents only show how narrow minded we still are.

 

If one keenly sees then, even for a very stupid, tepid reason there is protest towards Bollywood movies. Why is all this protest and controversy around Bollywood only? Ever wondered? My Name is Khan controversy is an example. All that SRK said was, "Pak players weren't bought in IPL 2010."Is it a reason for a controversy? No. it is not. But a political party found it. SRK received a lot of flak from the party and they even tried to stall the release. Was it even a reason to stall the movie's release?

                               

 

The simple reason is that Bollywood is a world of glamour, as seen from outside. This world of glamour attracts a lot of attention from the media. Media is a very powerful tool for one's publicity. The only source of publicity is the media.

Because Bollywood enjoys a lot of media attention so people/organisations think and act in such a way that they feel that putting up stupid, tepid allegations on a film/ song would help them make quick bucks and receive some wide-spread publicity. "What's to lose for a pauper?" is mentality the people/organizations have while gearing to protest against a movie. They think that "Except their time, nothing is at stake and a small publicity is sure to be received by such people." A classic example of publicity received is the Hindu Mahasabha. Though they might have done good things for the people but certainly nothing for Bollywood except problems.  From challenging Khans to turn to Hinduism to criticizing Taimur Ali Khan's name, Hindu Mahasabha has got it all against Bollywood! They all of sudden from being a lousy organization has become an active one as they found a soft target to hit- Bollywood.

                               
                                    

 People might say, "Bollywood also succumbs!"". When one has so much of money riding on for a movie, anyone can succumb. Because there is a lot of sweat, patience and most importantly time gone into making something. The producers generally have no option but to succumb to the demands for this very reason. Unless and until, there is someone like Anurag Kashyap, producers succumb owing to financial considerations.

                                   

 

Anurag Kashyap, did something that should go down into history for his udta Punjab controversy. The way he battled all odds was simply commendable and that too for the right reasons. The censor board does need to group up. From troubling ADHM, UP, Rustom, Wazir, Raees, GGM  Censor board does need to grow up.

 

                           

 

There is a simple hope that other producers learn something from Anurag  Kashyap and go forward with their original idea and bring it out as original as it can be. Yes, there is financial risks involved but as it is said, "Any publicity is good publicity." should be thought of before any course of action. 

Jolly LLB 2 Review: A Jolly Good Watch!

Akshay Kumar starrer, Jolly LLB 2 hit the theatres this Friday. A "supposed" sequel to the 2013 hit, Jolly LLB which had Arshad Warsi  as the leading star. The movie begins on a funny note and an introduction to the Indian court follows.

 

The story after beginning promisingly, becomes stagnant for around 30 minutes but the comic timings of various characters and their introduction holds the attention of viewer and after these 30 minutes begins the court trials which are real, funny, intriguing, serious and thought provoking. The validations that Justice Tripathi makes in the climax are so valid in today's times that one starts  feeling for the judges who are currently working in India. 

 

                              

 

Akshay Kumar as Jagdishwar Mishra Jolly, is funny, emotional and intelligent. His comic timing, convincing arguments and an emotional side is simply impeccable. He nails his role as Jolly. It was heartening watching him portray an emotional and funny character with so much ease. His portray of a Kanpuria Brahman Lawyer is par excellence. (3.5/5 for his portrayal)

 

                                           

 

Like this man infused life and comedy into  the 2011 hit movie Vicky Donor, Annu Kapoor does it again but for Jolly LLB 2. His portrayal of Pramod Mathur, Lucknow's most prominent and shrewd lawyer, his portrayal is rightfully better than Akshay's that of Jolly. His dialogues are explosive, on point and interesting. (4.5/5 to him)

 

The winner in this movie is Saurabh Shukla. His portrayal of Justice Tripathi, the newly transferred lawyer from Delhi to Lucknow is amazing. His on-screen presence is more than enough to prove his mettle. His character has just grown in terms of content and comic timing. A special mention of his "gulaabo" dance is simply excellent.  He, by all means overpowers both Jolly and Pramod. A 5/5 for his character.      

 

                                         

 

Kumud Mishra's character of Inspector Singh has nothing much to offer. Unfortunately, his crucked character is disappointing. There is not much meat to his character. Huma Qureshi's Pushpa is nothing more than a dummy. She comes, sits and leaves the court proceedings. In other words, she just tells us about Jolly's emotional side.

 

A Special mention: Neha Sharma's Hina has a small role. Her character is barely there for 20 minutes of the movie but she character, her eyes have a long lasting impression on the viewer.

 

The movie's 137 minutes, are so well maintained and Subhash Kapoor's direction, editing, cinematography, art direction are amazing. Locations of Lucknow and the court have been captured very well.  The unnecessary background score, music hamper the viewing. Some unnecessary emotional content could have been avoided. The screenplay as said lags somewhere in the first half but then is made up of. What I missed terribly in this movie were the dialogues. They could have been much more substantial, heavy and impactful. The storyline is quite well and has it's heart at the right place.  But, overall Jolly LLB 2 is a must watch and can be one's treat this weekend. Watch it! I go for a 3.75 stars out of 5.                                               

  Out of Raees, Kaabil and Jolly LLB 2, I believe Jolly LLB 2 is the  best of 2017 so far. This movie re-affirms my faith that Content is the King.

 

Acceptance of Parallel Cinema: Has Bollywood failed it or we, the audience?

Bollywood movies that come under this category are known for their serious content, realism or naturalism. These movies tend to take a subtle dig at socio-political scenario of the times and generally refrain from having any kind of songs. The name that is bound to strike people is that of "The Lunchbox." Why? "Kyuki aisi movie ka promotion kaafi kiya tha aur Irfan Khan jaisa actor hai" would be the reply.

 

                                        

                                                   

                                  

 

Parallel Cinema is a term which now has begun to be referred to offbeat/art house of cinema. Bollywood has seen a great increase in art house films but has been outdone by commercial cinema since  the introduction of art house cinema in 1955 as Satyajit Ray's "Pather Panchali".

                                                 

                                                 

Movies under this category are known for their serious content, realism or naturalism. These movies tend to take a subtle dig at socio-political scenario of the times and generally refrain from having any kind of songs.

 

 

 Movies like Bombay Talkies, Bollywood Diaries are some of the mentions of art house movies made in the recent times. Specifying these two movies, they are an ode to the much popular back then, The 100 Hundred Years of Indian Cinema. Movies under parallel cinema come quite often back in the early 70s and 80s but had been on an unprecedented decline from the early 1990s to 2010. The major reason for this decline was because these movies have a limited appeal hence, the return on investment for such films is not guaranteed because the cost of production is high. Coming back to the question, " Has Bollywood failed to accept this cinema or is it we, thee audience?"

                                                                                  

 

 

I am pretty sure that people reading this, have probably not heard about the movie, "Bollywood Diaries", so it is only possible if the producer did not want to invest a lot on the promotion of the movie. What led to that the producer did not want invest his money? The answer is that WE, the people are responsible for it. The producers do not want to invest money on something which we don't appreciate. There are a handful of art house films that have managed to recover their investment and give some profit to the producers. Movies like Meghna Gulzar's Talvar, Aamir Khan's home production Peepli Live, Nawazuddin's Haraaamkhor, Rajat Kapoor's Aankhon Dekhi and Mira Nair's Salaam Bomby are perhas those of the few art house movies which managed some noise at the box office either because of the cast or because of the subject they were related to.

                    

 

 

 The movies named here, "To sab ne suni hongi, but aisi picturon ke liye cinema kaun jaata hai?" is the type of mentality everyone has. The avoidance of such precious gems of the indian cinema can be because of 2 reasons: 1.) One does not have a  "niche" for such a genre. 2.) One does not have the guts to face the hardcore reality of the country.

There is no third reason why these movies should fail. I am not saying that everyone should watch these movies, at least those who belong to "aisi picturon ke liye cinema kaun jaata hai?" category of audience should watch it so that they do their part by propagating Meaningful and Realistic cinema and it may indirectly help their box officer response.

 

Just to bring to the notice of the people is that  it is the Parallel Cinema that represents India at the global level. And they receive immense critical praise and their somewhat earnings overseas is much higher than that in India. Aankhon Dekhi and Salaam Bombay are examples of such movies. 'The Last Lear', 'Liars dice' have been India's representatives at global scale.

 

Parallel Cinema has been promoted by Bollywood celebrities in the form of waving off their fees for such movies. The most "generous" person in such cases is Nawazuddin Siddiqui, who did not charge a single penny for Haraamkhor or Liar's Dice. Amitabh Bachchan did the same for "Liar's Dice" and everyone who has acted did their bit.

                    

 

It has rightly been said, Bollywood does not make Good movies because we as audience don't appreciate them. Masaan, Madaari, Waiting and Phobia are the recent examples of such movies. The want for propagation of meaningful cinema can only happen if we, start appreciating good movies and disregard movies like Housefull 3, Singh is Bling, Son of Sardaar, almost every movie of Sajid Khan, Entertainment etc., which slowly and steadily is happening.

 

 

 

                                                                                           

                                  

                                                          

                                                       Box Office Collection: 3.2 crores*

 

 

                                              Box Office Collection: 2.65 crores*

 

 

                                                                                                                                 *(Box office India)

 

 But to bring Bollywood back on track, we need to start appreciating movies even quicker before such cinema dies out. Though, there has been some improvement but not to the level one expects.

Reel v/s Real : Youth's Interpretation from Bollywood Movies.

The youth today, forms a major chunk of audience that goes for cinema viewing. Ever wondered why there are so much of extremes views of a movie? The reason is that the person begins to relate to the movie. Bollywood has influenced lives beyond expectations and may continue to do so.

                                         
Here are some instances of what happens after a young person begins relates to after watching movies:

Love Life:

The hottest topic among the youth is Love. There may not be money but a Love Life is necessary. When it comes to having a boyfriend/girlfriend the person always looks for the hottest he/she can get. I would like to divide this part into 2, one for a guy's perspective and the other from a girl's perspective:
1) Guy:
 A guy always looks for the hotness of Alia in a girl and a character of Alok Nath's daughter i.e. Sunder, Susheel and Tameezdaar in a girl, whom he would like to spend his life with. 
Characters like Nisha (Madhuri Dixit) from Hum aapke Hain Kaun, Meera (Ayesha Takia) from Dor, Aditi from Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na, Aisha( Shraddha Kapoor) from Ek Villian or Pooh (Kareena Kapoor) from K3G are the general choices a guy looks for in his girl.

           

In search for such a girl, most boys generally end up with a girl which either qualifies either on hotness quotient or on the sanskari part. Sadly, movies have been inspiring people such great extents that they have even asked their better halves to change as per the character that has inspired them! In an ode to have such a life partners, original character of that girl is lost.  

 

2) Girl:

A girl also has a similar requisites for a life partner. If the boy ticks the boxes, well the girl is his and then begins her demands. Do this, do that and so on. Basically a girl wants someone like Arjun (Abhay Deol) from Aisha, Rahul(SRK) from K3G, Prem(Salman Khan) from HAHK or Prem(Shahid Kapoor) from Vivah.

          

 

Sadly, if the guy fails to tick her boxes, the guy is dumped and the girl goes onto marry someone wealthy. Someone, who is neither hot nor cute but wealthy. 

 

 

Friendship Goals

 

Youth is very skeptical about friendships. There have been people who look for a Aditi(Kalki) from YJHD or Avinash(Aditya Roy) from YJHD or an Akash(Aamir) from Dil Chahata Hai or for that matter all the characters of ZNMD. The youth waits to find people who can give them so #Friendship #goals or ends up being completely ALONE or neglected in his friends circle.

In some cases, lucky are the people like Naina (Deepika Padukone) from YJHD/ Arjun (Abhay Deol), who are lucky to have friends who take them through all phases of life highlighting that "3 a.m." friends do exist.

Family Goals

"Family" is the only one, one feels secure about. But gone are the days and times of "Hum Saath Saath Hain", "Hum aapke Hain Kaun", which highlighted the family relations among others. The families these days are no less than the Mehras from DDD/ Kapoors from KNS. Not in touch nor close to each other.
  

The youth today wants families to  be cool like that of "PRDP" but yet close like HAHK/HSSH. The youth wants family bindage but without keeping in contact for years. Sadly, the youth does not realize that being in touch is an important for any relationship, not just families. A similar situation was depicted in K3G or Baghban. "Piku" is a perfect example of what a young person does NOT wants from his/her family members.
                


In Tough Situations
 It is depicted as in Bollywood movies, a girl and a boy are in a relationship, taking a long walk and suddenly goons appear and the guy beats up the goons mercilessly and again wins the heart of the girl.
Infact in real life, the guy gets mercilessly beaten up on the verge of death just because he wants to show some 'pseudo-machoism'. People want to show it just because just like in movies, the girl gets impressed.

I have just tried to highlight how Bollywood has tried and succeeded at influencing lives. We just hope that instead of such movies, movies like Neerja, Akira, Kahaani should influence people/ women so that we have something good to boast of.                 *SIGH*