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Aashayein...Movie Review

Starring: John Abraham, Sonal Sehgal,

Written & Directed by Nagesh Kukunoor

Rating: *** ½

This is a film about coping with dying. But that’s not what makes it such a special experience. It’s the writer- director’s profound understanding of human nature that furnishes the simple story with a lucidity and coherence even when the protagonist’s mind is so numbed by physical pain he can barely think straight.

Aashayein is structured as a journey from a bright delusory light into a place where the radiance comes from a consciousness of why mortality is not to be feared.

In John Abraham’s eyes are mapped the entire history of the human heart, its follies and foibles as it struggles to make coherest the indecipherable logistics that define our journey across that bridge which everyone crosses from this world to the next.

As that very fine actress Prateeksha Lonkar (a Kukunoor favourite) says, “The only difference between the healthy and the ill is that the former don’t know when they are dying and the latter do.”

Between that state of blissful oblivion where we all think life is forever (and a day) and that one moment when our delusions come crashing down there resides some very fine cinema. Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s Anand where Rajesh Khanna smiled his way though that wobbly bridge taking us to the next world, is an interesting reference point in Aashayein.

I also thought of the actress Supriya Choudhary shouting into the dispassionate mists in the mountains, “I want to live.”The echoes reverberate all the way to Kukunoor’s heartwarming funny and elegiac exposition on the truth that lies on the other side of that illusory mountain we call life. Kukunoor pays a homage to life per se, and life as we know in the movies about death.

Even in the most poignant places in the art Kukunoor ferrets out some humour.When John’s lovely girlfriend (Sonal Sehgal) hunts him down in his exilic place of the dying John quips, “So you are not going to behave like one of those heroines in films who dumps the dying hero?”

The fantasy element creeps into the hospice (yes, that’s the spotless space that the story inhabits unostentatiously) with the least amount of fuss. There’s a little boy (the bright and expressive Ashwin Chaitale) who weaves mystical tales borrowed from the comicbooks for the desperate and the dying. Here Kukunoor brings in an element of rakish adventure borrowed from the edgy hijinks of Indian Jones.

Who says money can’t buy love? John uses bundles of cash to bring a smile into these doomed lives. When he doubles up with pain in womb-like postures of helplessness we feel his pain.

John in Harrison Ford’s hat and whip cuts a starry figure. He has never been more fetchingly photographed. John’s smile reaches his eyes, makes its way to his heart and then to ours. This film opens new doors in John’s histrionic hospice.It’s a performance that heals and nurtures.

John’s finest moments are reserved for a hot-tempered sharp-tongued 17-year old girl on a wheelchair, played with intuitive warmth by Anaitha Nayar. He guides the relationship between these two unlikely comrades of unwellness with brilliant restrain and candour.She wants him to make love.He does with his eyes using his unshed tears as lyrical lubricant.

Here is a performance that defines the character through immense measures of unspoken anguish. Rajesh Khanna in Anand? Nope. John pitches his performance at a more wry and cynical world where true feelings are often smothered in worldly sprints across a wounded civilization.

This is unarguably Kukunoor’s most sensitive and moving work since Iqbal. We often find little sobs pounding at the base of our stomachs. Not all the characters or situations are fully formed and fructified.

But even the partly-realized truths in Aashayein convey more common sense and uncommon affection for life than the “entertainers” of today’s cinema where laughter is generated through cracks in places very far removed from the heart.

This one takes us straight to the heart.

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Help....Movie Review

Starring: Bobby Deol, Mugdha Godse, Shreyas Talpade, Sophie Handa, Jyoti Dogra and Salim Fatehi

Director: Rajeev Manoj Virani

Rating: **1/2

Rajeev Manoj Virani's Help is a well made horror film that succeeds in giving you the requisite chills and thrills expected out of a good horror film but the problem lies with the unoriginality of the plot that seems heavily inspired from Thai film Alone.

Vic (Bobby Deol) is a filmmaker in a relationship with Pia (Mugdha). There relationship is going through turmoil because of rumours linking Vic with his actress Sussane (Linda Arsenio).

The couple has to immediately fly to Mauritius, after they get a call about Pia's dad (Salim Fatehi) having a heart attack. But after Pia comes back to her ancestral house strange things start happening with her. She starts seeing her dead twin sister Dia who had died when she was five.

After it is known that Pia is pregnant the spirit of her twin sister completely possesses her body even making her a murderer of her near and dear ones. A baffled Vic then decides to take the help of a parapsychologist Aditya (Shreyas Talpade) to solve the mystery and save Mugdha. But as they dig deeper, Aditya and Vic are shocked by the revelations behind the strange happenings!

Agreed it is an inspired film but full marks to debutante Rajiv Manoj Virani for keeping his narrative focused on the main plot and making a technically superb film. It doesn't look like his first attempt at all.

For those who haven't seen the original, Help has enough genuinely spooky moments to keep you on the edge of your seats. Just like Bhoot, this film succeeds in scaring you in broad day light sequences too.

All the spooky sequences have been extremely well shot be it sequences when the spirit of the little girl crawls on the ceiling scaring the daylights out of Mugdha or the climax after Shreyas comes back to Bobby and Mugdha.

The final revelation is least expected and a true shocker in every sense of the word.

Mugdha enacts her difficult role fairly well. Bobby Deol is earnest and does well in his part. Shreyas Talpade is very impressive, especially in the climax sequence. Salim Fatehi is good and so is Sophie Handa who plays Mugdha's best friend. Jyoti Dogra playing Mugdha's mom is terrific and gives you the chills whenever she is on screen.

Camerawork by Dhimant Vyas is very good especially for the night sequences. Ashu's music is passable.

Help is a fairly engrossing watch for those who like horror films. Sure it is an inspired film but which film isn't nowadays? This technically well shot film is paisa vasool where chills and thrills are concerned.

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OMKAR DAS MANIKPURI - NATHA

Omkar Das Manikpuri belongs to the state of Chattisgarh, in Central India. He started his career as a performer in the local form of folk theatre called Nacha.

Performing often in makeshift and open air stages, he honed his skills as a singer, dancer, mimic and a stand-up comic. He then joined Naya Theatre as an actor. With them he has performed in India and abroad such timeless classics as Agra Bazaar, Charandas Chor and Sadak. Peepli Live is his first feature film.

RAGHUBIR YADAV - BUDHIA

Raghubir Yadav is one of India's leading arthouse actors and a highly gifted musician. At the age of 15 he ran away from home and joined the Parsi Theatre Company, Bombay. He later moved to Delhi, where he joined the National School of Drama (NSD).

In his stage career as an actor and singer he has performed in over 70 plays and about 2500 shows. Massey Sahib (1985) was his first feature film for which he won the Fipresci Critic's Award, Venice Film Festival, 1986, and the Best Actor Silver Peacock, IIFI, 1987.

Three films that he has acted in have received Academy Award nominations for Best Foreign Language Film (Salaam Bombay, Lagaan and Water). He was the first actor to be cast in Peepli Live. He has also sung for the film.

MALAIKA SHENOY - NANDITA MALLIK

Malaika is a Mumbai-based model, actor, and voice-over artiste. She has anchored and hosted many programs on Indian television and has appeared in a number of advertisements. She won the Best Actress Abby at the 2003 Indian Advertising Awards for Toshiba.

Her experience as a TV presenter came in very handy for this film where she appears as a star reporter and presenter. She is also a part of the vibrant English theatre movement in Mumbai. She has appeared in two independent feature films before Peepli Live.

Natha a poor farmer from Peepli village in the heart of rural India is about to lose his plot of land due to an unpaid government loan. A quick fix to the problem is the very same government's program that aids the families of indebted farmers who have committed suicide.

As a means of survival Farmer Natha can choose to die!!! His brother is happy to push him towards this unique 'honor' but Natha is reluctant. Local elections are around the corner and what might've been another unnoticed event turns into a 'cause celebré' with everyone wanting a piece of the action.

Political bigwigs, high-ranking bureaucrats, local henchmen and the ever-zealous media descend upon sleepy Peepli to stake their claim. The question on everyone's lips - “Will he or Won't he?” As the mania escalates what will be the fate of Farmer Natha; nobody seems to care how he really feels?

SHALINI VATSA - DHANIYA

Shalini Vatsa holds an M. Phil degree in Political Science from the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. As an actor she has worked with various acclaimed Indian theatre directors such as Habib Tanvir, Barry John, B.V. Karanth and has performed all over India and abroad.

She also trained with Barry John for Theater in Education and worked with children across sections of society including those with physical and learning disabilities, and still continues to do so. She is a full time member of Habib Tanvir's Naya Theatre repertory and essays leading roles in plays like Zahreeli Hawa, Charandas Chor and A Midsummer Night's Dream. Peepli Live is her first feature film.

NAWAZUDDIN SIDDIQUI - RAKESH

Nawaz is a graduate from The National School of Drama, New Delhi, India. He did theatre for many years before he started working in films. He has worked with several acclaimed and award winning directors in India. Peepli Live is his first lead role in a film. Hailing from a small town in Northern India, he was able to pitch the character nearly perfectly.

FARUKH JAFFER - AMMA

Farrukh Jaffer has been a radio actor, announcer, and film and television actor in a career that has spanned over 5 decades. She started her career at Lucknow, in Northern India, with radio plays and diversified into broadcasting, writing and compering radio programs.

She has appeared in two feature films before Peepli Live. An Urdu scholar as well as an expert on proverbs, idioms and phrases of rustic speech, Ms. Jaffer proved to be a great asset for Amma's role. She was the final lead actor to be cast for the film and was selected after nearly a hundred auditions in many different cities.

VISHAL O SHARMA - KUMAR DEEPAK

Synopsis

Vishal is a Mumbai-based television and film actor who has appeared in a number of mainstream Hindi films. A self-trained actor, he was born in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, and moved to Kota in Rajasthan.

Vishal's gift for improvisation proved very useful for his role of an ambitious and unscrupulous reporter in the film. Kumar Deepak in Peepli Live is his first major role in films.

Natha a poor farmer from Peepli village in the heart of rural India is about to lose his plot of land due to an unpaid government loan.

A quick fix to the problem is the very same government's program that aids the families of indebted farmers who have committed suicide. As a means of survival Farmer Natha can choose to die!!!

His brother is happy to push him towards this unique 'honor' but Natha is reluctant. Local elections are around the corner and what might've been another unnoticed event turns into a 'cause celebré' with everyone wanting a piece of the action.

Political bigwigs, high-ranking bureaucrats, local henchmen and the ever-zealous media descend upon sleepy Peepli to stake their claim. The question on everyone's lips - “Will he or Won't he?” As the mania escalates what will be the fate of Farmer Natha; nobody seems to care how he really feels?

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