Tag Archives: 2009

Movie Review: 3 Idiots (2009)

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4 Stars (out of 4)

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The comedy film genre encompasses a wide range of styles, from slapstick to romantic comedy. Hindi comedies are frequently either mindlessly wacky or overly sentimental. 3 Idiots is funny and perfectly balanced: silly but not frantic, poignant but not sappy.

The movie begins as Farhan (R. Madhavan) and Raju (Sharman Joshi) get a lead on the whereabouts of their friend, Rancho (Aamir Khan), who vanished after their college graduation ceremony, five years earlier. The source of the lead is Rancho’s old university nemesis, Chatur — known as “The Silencer” for his chronic, quiet flatulence — who’s eager to verify that he’s become a bigger success than Rancho.

As Farhan, Raju and The Silencer hit the road, the movie flashes back to their first days at a prestigious engineering school. Rancho seems to be the only freshman not afflicted by the neuroses crippling his classmates: fear of disappointing his parents (Farhan), the burden of being the family breadwinner (Raju) and greed (Silencer). Rather, Rancho is at school because he likes creating machines.

Rancho doesn’t agree with the school director’s motto: “Life is a race. If you don’t run fast, you’ll get trampled.” This earns him the respect of Farhan and Raju, and the ire of the school director, Viru (Boman Irani), nicknamed “Virus” by his students.

During a prank, Rancho meets pretty medical student Pia (Kareena Kapoor). Unfortunately for Rancho, her father is Virus. But Pia succumbs to Rancho’s charms and helps him and his friends during a crisis.

The movie transitions between flashbacks and the modern day, as Farhan and Raju close in on their missing pal’s location. The reason behind Rancho’s disappearance — which is explained halfway through the movie — isn’t the focus, the friendship is.

3 Idiots is a smart comedy. Jokes are well-written, with plenty of call-backs to prior jokes and meticulous continuity. The material is well-acted, proving why it made sense to cast 44-year-old Aamir Khan as a college freshman.

The material is also universal, with few regional or culture-specific jokes. Non-Hindi speakers who stumble into the theater expecting an English-language film needn’t worry about not understanding the jokes. In fact, 3 Idiots is a great Bollywood starter film.

There are a few melodramatic moments, but they’re not overdone, as in typical masala movies. Those maudlin movies are lampooned, as when a trip to Raju’s family home is shown in black & white with a dramatic score, his poor mother and unwed sister slaving over dinner next to his paralyzed father’s cot.

By skipping teary-eyed speeches in favor of funny dialogues, 3 Idiots provides better insight into the nature of friendship and the importance of following your dreams than most dramas. Yet it’s funny throughout, making 3 Idiots perhaps the best Hindi comedy I’ve ever seen.

Note: The movie’s runtime is listed as 2 hrs. 15 min. It’s actually closer to 3 hours long.

Opening December 23: 3 Idiots

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Aamir Khan’s Three Idiots is the only new Hindi movie opening in the Chicago area in time for the Christmas holiday. Khan plays the free-spirited Rancho opposite Kareena Kapoor, who plays his love interest, Pia. When Rancho goes missing, his two pals, played by Madhavan and Sharman Joshi, set off on a quest to find him.

Three Idiots opens on Wednesday, December 23 at the AMC Loews Pipers Alley 4 in Chicago, Big Cinemas Golf Glen 5 in Niles, AMC South Barrington 30 in South Barrington and AMC Cantera 30 in Warrenville. The movie has a listed runtime of 2 hrs 15 min.

The South Barrington 30 is carrying over Paa and Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year through Thursday, December 24.

Other Indian movies showing in the Chicago area include the Malayalam movie Palery Manickyam, which runs at the Golf Glen 5 through Thursday, December 24. Opening the same day at the Golf Glen 5 is Neelathamara, also in Malayalam.

The Tamil film Vettaikaran is currently showing at Sathyam Cinemas in Downers Grove, and it will continue its run through the weekend.

Movie Review: Rocket Singh (2009)

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2.5 Stars (out of 4)

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Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year takes the topic of ethical business practices so seriously that it occasionally strays from cineplex fare into a university lecture. With such likable characters and actors, I wish the filmmakers had had more faith that they’d made their point through their storytelling.

Ranbir Kapoor plays Harpreet Singh Bedi, a recent college graduate whose low marks don’t qualify him for law school or med school like his friends. He opts for a job in sales, where he reasons that persistence and people skills matter more than high marks.

His first job at computer sales firm At Your Service (AYS) isn’t what he expects. Despite the name, the company seems to pride itself on charging customers exorbitant fees for minimal service. Worse, they land deals with bribes, something Harpreet’s Sikh upbringing won’t allow him to do.

Harpreet’s morals get him in to trouble with his bosses and coworkers, and it looks as though his first job in sales will be his last. But when he goes out of his way to help a cute small business owner, he realizes there’s a better way to treat customers. His covert business — Rocket Sales — takes off, with a little help from a few other disgruntled AYS employees.

Rocket Singh establishes from the beginning that the movie is going to take its time telling its story. The leisurely opening credits are set against the backdrop of slowly changing shots from the interior of the apartment Harpreet shares with his grandfather. The decor is outdated, but every knickknack exemplifies the grandfather’s life’s work and shows his pride in all that he’s earned.

The movie’s best moments involve Harpreet interacting with his co-conspirators: the unchallenged computer tech who spends his days looking at bikini-clad women on the Internet, the pretty receptionist who’s only valued for her looks, the disrespected office tea server. Like Harpreet, they all represent ways in which modern corporate culture devalues individuals.

At times, Rocket Singh deals with this dehumanization with a heavy hand. Copious examples of Harpreet being put down by his boss and coworkers make the movie drag. Harpreet’s college pals ask him at one point why he doesn’t quit his job at AYS, and in truth, he probably only stays because the plot demands it. The movie’s climax is an unnecessary lecture on the importance of treating customers and employees with respect, as that’s what the whole film was about.

Opening December 11: Rocket Singh

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One new Hindi movie opens in the Chicago area this weekend. Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year stars the ubiquitous Ranbir Kapoor as a young man starting his career in sales.

Rocket Singh opens on Friday, December 11 at the Big Cinemas Golf Glen 5 in Niles, AMC South Barrington 30 in South Barrington and AMC Cantera 30 in Warrenville. The movie has a listed runtime of 2 hrs. 35 min.

After earning nearly $200,000 in the U.S. its opening weekend, Paa is sticking around for a second week at the Golf Glen 5, South Barrington 30 and Cantera 30. De Dana Dan, which has earned $913,899 in the U.S. so far, returns to the Cantera 30 and South Barrington 30. The South Barrington 30 is also carrying over Kurbaan (US $736,413 to date).

Other Indian movies showing in Chicago area theaters this weekend include Katha (Telugu), Kerala Cafe (Malayalam) and Saleem (Telugu) at the Golf Glen 5. Sathyam Cinemas in Downers Grove is showing the Telugu film Arya 2.

Movie Review: De Dana Dan (2009)

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0.5 Stars (out of 4)

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Rather than a cohesive movie, De Dana Dan is a muddle of sideplots with no connecting thread. As a result, the talents of Bollywood’s comedy all-stars are squandered in an unsatisfying waste of two hours and forty-five minutes.

De Dana Dan gets off to a bad start for those of us who don’t understand Hindi, as Akshay Kumar’s opening narration isn’t subtitled in English. What I was able to work out is that Kumar’s character, Nitin, works as an a kind of indentured servant for the overbearing Kuljeet (Archana Puran Singh). Nitin’s buddy, Ram (Sunil Shetty), is likewise paying off debts by working as a delivery man.

Nitin’s girlfriend, Anjali (Katrina Kaif), and Ram’s girlfriend, Manpreet (Sameera Reddy), are sick of waiting for their guys to raise enough cash to marry them. So Nitin and Ram concoct a scheme to kidnap Kuljeet’s beloved dog and demand a ransom for his return. Of course, things don’t go as planned.

Meanwhile, a conman named Chadda (Paresh Rawal) tries to arrange a marriage between his son, Nonny (played by Chunky Pandey, who’s only 12 years younger than Rawal), and Anjali. Chadda plans to use her dowry money to pay off his debts. When Anjali lies to Nonny that she’s pregnant with someone else’s child, the conmen target Manpreet and her family instead.

The rest of the movie contains seemingly infinite cases of mistaken identity among the innumerable characters, some of whom — like Neha Dhupia’s dancer/thief — exist only to add to the confusion, not to further the plot. Granted, what passes for plot in De Dana Dan is little more than characters running, shouting, hiding from each other and falling on each other in compromising positions.

De Dana Dan is convoluted and irritating, rather than complex and interesting, and the final product is boring and empty. The romances between the penniless guys and their wealthy girlfriends feel hollow, since both couples are prepared to break up if the dog-napping scheme fails.

Paresh Rawal does his best as the movie’s lead actor (despite Kumar’s and Kaif’s prominence on the movie posters), but there’s ultimately no one to root for in this film.

The movie also contributes to a distressing trend I’ve written about before: the seeming acceptability of violence against women in Hindi cinema. Early in De Dana Dan, Anjali’s father slaps her hard enough to knock her over. Then he slaps her mother and threatens to break their legs if they defy him.

As the movie progresses, Anjali’s father assumes a supposedly comic role, accidentally groping a woman and chasing after the wrong guy. But how can the audience think him funny when he’s been established as an abusive husband and father?

I accept that physical punishment within families could be viewed differently in India than it is in The United States (although spanking your toddler and slapping your adult daughter’s face are on opposite ends of the corporal punishment spectrum). But I can’t imagine that abuse is so widely accepted that it’s considered funny.

Opening November 25: De Dana Dan

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One new Hindi movie hits Chicago area theaters in time for the Thanksgiving holiday. De Dana Dan stars Akshay Kumar and Sunil Shetty as a pair of loafers who concoct a get-rich-quick scheme to appease their girlfriends, played by Katrina Kaif and Sameera Reddy. Earlier this year, a reporter for Slate wrote about working as an extra for a day on the set of De Dana Dan.

De Dana Dan opens on Wednesday, November 25 at the AMC South Barrington 30 in South Barrington, AMC Cantera 30 in Warrenville and Big Cinemas Golf Glen 5 in Niles. The movie’s runtime is listed as 2 hrs. 40 min.

Kurbaan, which earned $403,678 in U.S. theaters its opening weekend, sticks around through next week at the Golf Glen 5, Cantera 30 and South Barrington 30, which is also carrying over Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani.

Other Indian movies playing in the Chicago area include the English language film Rockin’ Meera, opening on Thursday, November 26 at the Golf Glen 5. Also opening on Thursday is the Telugu movie Arya 2 at Sathyam Cinemas in Downers Grove.

Movie Review: Kurbaan (2009)

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3.5 Stars (out of 4)

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Kurbaan, India’s most suspenseful and compelling drama of 2009, stars real-life lovebirds Kareena Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan as Avantika and Ehsaan, a pair of professors who fall in love in India. After Avantika gets a teaching job in America, where she has citizenship, the couple marry and buy a house in a New York suburb on a cul-de-sac with other Indian families.

Their new life isn’t as ideal as it first seems. Hindu Avantika (husband Ehsaan is a Muslim) doesn’t fit in with the conservative Muslims in the neighborhood. None of the women have jobs, and some are even forbidden from using the phone.

When one of the women tells Avantika that she’s afraid of her abusive husband, only to go missing the next day, Avantika searches for answers. In the missing woman’s basement, Avantika discovers a horrible secret: her neighbors are terrorists. Worse, Ehsaan is involved.

After her discovery, Avantika’s life becomes a daily fight for survival. She’s forced to question whether she can trust Ehsaan and whether he ever really loved her.

During its most intense moments, such as when Avantika realizes she is surrounded by terrorists (and may be married to one), Kurbaan is heart-poundingly suspenseful. Om Puri is menacing as Bhaijaan, the elder statesman among the terrorists. Because Kirron Kher usually plays doting mothers on screen, she’s especially chilling in her role as Bhaijaan’s wife, Aapa, whose duty it is to keep the women in line.

Kurbaan is also brutal. Deaths are graphic, and there’s a surprising amount of gore for an Indian film. But the violence only serves to make the terrorists, well, terrifying.

It’s important that Kurbaan illustrates that the bad guys are really bad, because the movie explores the issue of why one becomes a terrorist. Instead of religious fanaticism or the vague desire to destroy freedom, Kurbaan‘s characters chose their deadly path in response to personal loss. From this perspective, terrorism looks a lot like vigilantism, only on a massive scale.

But the core of Kurbaan is the relationship between Avantika and Ehsaan. Kapoor is spectacular as a woman whose life has been shattered by lies, but who still feels a need for the man who once made her so happy. And Khan is just as good, playing Ehsaan as a man torn between his love for his wife and his commitment to a cause.

If there’s a weak point in Kurbaan, it’s the subplot involving a reporter named Riyaaz (Vivek Oberoi). Seeking revenge upon the terrorists, he does that which only happens in the movies: he decides not to call the authorities so that he can bring the group down himself, from the inside.

It’s a common plot device, but it’s completely unrealistic. Plus, it works against Kurbaan‘s beliefs about terrorism. Riyaaz opts for vigilante justice, so what makes him more heroic than the men he’s trying to stop? Further, he’s indirectly responsible for more bloodshed than if he’d done what any actual person would have done in his position: called the cops.

Opening November 20: Kurbaan

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One new Hindi movie opens in the Chicago area this weekend. Kurbaan stars Kareena Kapoor as a professor entangled in the schemes of a terrorist, played by her real-life boyfriend, Saif Ali Khan.

Kurbaan, listed at some cinema websites by its English title, “The Sacrifice,” will open at the AMC South Barrington 30 in South Barrington, AMC Cantera 30 in Warrenville and Big Cinemas Golf Glen 5 in Niles. The movie’s runtime is listed as 2 hrs. 32 min.

Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani sticks around for a third week at Golf Glen 5, South Barrington 30, Cantera 30 and AMC Loews Pipers Alley 4 in Chicago. Tum Mile earned a second week at the Golf Glen 5.

Other Indian movies in theaters this weekend include Kanden Kadhalai (Tamil) and Magadheera (Telugu) at Sathyam Cinemas in Downers Grove and Kurradu (Telugu), Heer Ranjha (Punjabi) and Bettadapurada Ditta Makkalu (Kannada) at the Golf Glen 5.

Movie Review: Tum Mile (2009)

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tummile2 Stars (out of 4)

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It’s unfortunate that Tum Mile — a rare Bollywood disaster movie — was released on the same weekend in the U.S. as the Hollywood disaster epic, 2012. Scenes of catastrophe take a backseat to romance in Tum Mile, and the characters never really seem to be in mortal danger. It’s the obvious second choice for theater-goers looking for thrills.

The action in Tum Mile takes place on July 26, 2005, the day historic rainfall swamped Mumbai, causing mass strandings and over 1000 deaths. Think of the destruction Hurricane Katrina caused to New Orleans about one month later — only in a city with 28 times more people than pre-Katrina New Orleans.

Lead characters Akshay (Emraan Hashmi) and Sanjana (Soha Ali Khan) meet unexpectedly on a plane bound for Mumbai. They used to be lovers, but they haven’t spoken in several years, since a painful breakup. They exchange business cards upon landing and go their separate ways, as the rain begins to fall.

The bulk of the film consists of flashbacks chronicling the couple’s initial meeting, obstacles to their relationship and their eventual breakup. It’s more detailed than is necessary to show that Akshay and Sanjana still harbor feelings for each other.

In fact, the excess of backstory has the effect of making Akshay an unsympathetic hero. While dating, Akshay first resents Sanjana for financing his floundering art career. When he follows her advice and gets an office job, he resents her for making him abandon his art.

At one point, Sanjana asks, “Why does he have to make it so hard for me to love him?”. Khan plays Sanjana as understanding and self-confident, and it’s hard to believe that she’d still have feelings for him after so many years.

The present-day story arc kicks in when Mumbai’s streets start to flood, and Akshay gets a sense that Sanjana is in danger. He sets out to search for her in the rain. On foot. In a city of 14 million people.

Miraculously, he finds her after she’s escaped from a flooding car — not that the audience actually gets to see her escape. One minute she’s in a flooding car, and the next minute, she’s walking through the flooding streets. Rule #1 of disaster movies: show the escape.

Akshay and his buddy, Vic, take shelter with Sanjana on a stalled bus to wait for the waters to recede. A tree falls on the bus, threatening to roll the bus on its side, blocking the main doors. Everyone on the bus panics as though death is imminent, though an inconvenient escape via the rear exit or windows seems the worst likely outcome of a tipped bus.

While floods are unquestionably deadly, the “danger” in Tum Mile never feels very dangerous. In Titanic — a movie that clearly inspired Tum Mile, right down to the scenes of the male lead painting the female protagonist’s portrait — the ship is in danger of sinking to the bottom of the ocean. The prospect of a bus rolling on its side in four feet of water on a city street isn’t nearly as terrifying.

Opening November 13: Tum Mile

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One new Hindi movie opens in Chicago area theaters on Friday, November 13: the disaster flick Tum Mile. The movie stars Soha Ali Khan and Emraan Hashmi as a pair of star-crossed lovers who must brave the floods that shut down Mumbai on July 26, 2005. Based on this preview, it looks pretty exciting:

Tum Mile will open in the Chicago area at the Big Cinemas Golf Glen 5 in Niles and AMC South Barrington 30 in South Barrington. The movie has an official runtime of 2 hrs. 20 min.

The enjoyable comedy Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani sticks around for a second week at the Golf Glen 5, South Barrington 30, AMC Loews Pipers Alley 4 in Chicago and AMC Cantera 30 in Warrenville.

In addition to Hindi films Tum Mile and APKGK, the Golf Glen 5 is also showing Heer Ranjha (Punjabi), Kurradu (Telugu), Olave Jeevana Lekkachara (Kannada), Swa Le (Malayalam) and Village Lo Vinayakudu (Telugu).