Movies

6 Quick Rules To Enjoy The Haunting of Hill House

October 27, 2018 Movies
The Haunting of Hill House
The Official Website

To mention The Haunting of the Hill House as a bone-chilling experience is a gross understatement. Being inquisitive by nature, I wanted to know how differently has the series been treated from the 1999 Liam Neeson starrer The Haunting that I had watched, based on the same Shirley Jackson novel? A movie understandably has a limited timeframe to tell the story whereas Netflix’s scope for a narrative is much larger, and hence the eagerness to see this novel cinematic approach. But, halfway through the first episode and I was getting the goose-bumps already, though that might be complimenting the show a lot. It’s horror after all! Trying as hard as I might to complete the series, I decided to create a simple 6-point plan based on my experiences, so that everyone can enjoy the show; ‘enjoyment’ is being ambitious here, but I do hope it works.

Rule #1. Instead of focussing on the screen just prefer to remain distracted in doing something else, stuff which requires focus & brain processing. This way you could avoid being totally numbed by the scary experiences, no guarantees though. Ha!

Rule #2. Definitely not worth watching during nighttime. Because that’s when the horror truly becomes mind-nerving and horrifying.

Rule #3. Without any discredit to the creators of the show, I’m going to constantly remind everyone it’s a work of fiction, with probably some creative freedom exercised. So let’s not try to take the plot & the visuals seriously, at all.

Rule #4. Lower the volume and avoid headphones if you can. There will be long moments of silence then a sudden a frightening scream. Eeek!

Rule #5. Binge-watching is a no-no, if you can. When you start watching any series you can’t help but watch all the episodes in rapid succession. But try not doing it with this one.

Rule #6. Not watching the episodes all alone and definitely not in complete silence. When you have both there’s a chance you might be scared to death easily.

The Haunting of Hill House has won some great reviews with none other than Stephen King posting his views in a tweet. Looking back, it’s a horror series, but it’s also a tragic saga of the Crain family that just isn’t about ghosts and goblins. Enjoy the chills! 

Mersal, The Masala Entertainer

August 29, 2018 Movies
Mersal

To begin with, I feel glad in confessing that my choice of movies is not governed by any lofty standards, nor by Rotten Tomatoes or by critical appreciation (or ingratitude) since there are examples of abstract works in Hollywood and India which have been positively received by audiences. Amid this wrangle between the pundits on the quality of cinematic expression comes a genre called the ‘Masala’ movies that were defined in the 70s & the 80s by the awesome Manmohan Desai (aka Manji) with a string of jubilee hits such as Amar Akbar Anthony, Suhaag, Naseeb, Coolie, Toofan, each an entertaining blockbuster that was devoid of logic and sensibilities, and which catapulted Amitabh Bachchan to the echelons of legendary status. Much as Manji believed in the art of making wholesome entertaining cinema, I too believe that the primary role of movies is to entertain the audiences and then perhaps branching off to other segments of realism or social messaging, and so on. If I had held a critical approach towards all movies, I would have missed the emotional magic weaved so very often by indie producers (Yes, I’m referring to the likes of Tu Hai Mera Sunday and Rowdy Rathore) those which primarily cater to entertain film lovers. So recently when I stumbled upon the beautifully shot songs of ‘Mersal‘; composed by none other than the versatile AR Rahman, I knew I had to watch the movie.

The Entertainment Begins!

[perfectpullquote align=”right” bordertop=”” class=”” cite=”” link=”” color=””]”Man has faith in 2 entities blindly. One is God, the other is a doctor. We tonsure our heads as a vow to God, but we trust a doctor with our life. That doctor should not go astray… A criminal should not be a doctor. Misdeeds happen everywhere, but in the medical field, it isn’t a mere misdeed. It is treachery. There is no forgiveness for that betrayal!”
– Vetri, from a scene in ‘Mersal’.[/perfectpullquote]

An oft-repeated narrative on the rampant corruption, especially prevalent in the medical fraternity of India in which ‘Mersal‘ (translated as ‘zapped’) delivers a strong signal at not just curbing the menace of the doctor-hospital-middlemen nexus but also drawing attention to the government’s apathy on clamping down on this vicious circle of evil. Caught in this inhuman vortex of moneymaking design are the hardworking, poor natives of Chennai and led with wretched indifference by a fellow doctor named Daniel Arockiyaraj (essayed by SJ Surya). In all the murk and malevolence, I’m introduced to a genteel Maaran (Vijay’s most engrossing portrayal in recent times) or the ‘Rs.5 Doctor’ as he’s lovingly called by locals for his humble dedication to the cause of healthcare for the downtrodden, no matter what the complication he’s content with his paltry sum of fees. But wait. No sooner has the audience settled with ‘Doc Maaran’ I also gather that he’s quite adept at magic? The deep anguish in the present-day Maaran has its roots set firmly in the 70s with ‘thalapathy‘ Vetrimaaran and his wife Aishwarya (Nithya Menen)  in a small village in South India.

If there was indeed a definition for ‘Masala’ cinema – one that effortlessly combines good music, delivers social messaging and laced with awe-inspiring action, then Mersal would easily fit in that list. There’s hardly a dull moment, the story moves rapidly without the usual cacophony in the emotional strife between the characters which we’re so accustomed to seeing, and oh the music by Rahman (my personal favourite would be ‘Aalaporaan Thamizhan’). Good heavens, this is one entertaining flick that left me ‘zapped’, and need I say that its director Atlee would have surely made Manji smile!

The Freedom For Cinematic Creativity

July 21, 2018 Movies

Netflix - Cinematic CreativityI’d define ‘cinematic creativity’ as the vision for storytelling scripted by the filmmakers in context with the purposes of delivering content of entertainment value or the likes. In that sense, there are multiple reasons why movies in India, one of the largest movie industries in the world, do not get released in the cinemas, while most of them get heavily censored — meaning the so-called offensive scenes and dialogues are sliced by the CBFC and the original content is pruned to make it more viewer-friendly, so to speak. In short, what you eventually see on the big screen is not what the makers intended to showcase for the public. At times, the trailers depict one thing while the final cut of the movie does not have the scenes or the dialogues from the trailer which is disappointing! Luckily, nothing of that sort happened with ‘Sacred Games’ thanks to a platform like Netflix. Clearly, the likes of Netflix are not just an instance of a digital platform for streaming of original content, it’s an ecosystem for cinematic creativity and storytelling for filmmakers of any scale. It’s quite practical, that an underworld epic like the ‘Sacred Games’ would have been completely stripped off of its originality had it been released in the theatres in India, that lesson was bearing heavily on my mind as I was awed by the profanities in the script, albeit, it never seemed unwarranted or thrust upon us merely for its darker content. This is also an opportunity for a deserving sequel to a fully Indian-made series, what the magnificent Powder couldn’t achieve. Then again, unlike some other movies, there are those with a good content value which could never release in India for lack of a distributor which got a voice on this platform. ‘Sacred Games’ was brilliant, but I’d also say, “Viva, Netflix!”

‘Ringan’ Is The Rekindling of A Spiritual Bond

May 6, 2018 Movies

Ringan - Movie PosterAs a fan of regional art cinema, it’s the best time to live right now. Especially more satisfying to realize that the current spate of Marathi cinema continues to enthral audiences by deviating from its commercial attitudes — also possibly the reason why it’s become harder for sensible cinema to find distributors, such as Kaasav, for example, which is disappointing. Nevertheless, it’s precisely this matter-of-fact approach of the scriptwriters, in that, deliberating emotions through personally identifiable characters have created some critically acclaimed and award-winning cinema such as Killa, Fandry, and Deool. In continuing with this trend, Ringan portrays realistic human values in an unvarnished personality, with a poignant tale of a struggling father and an adorable youngster against the backdrop of socio-economic repression in rural Maharashtra.

The title of the movie originates from the Hindu festival of Ashadhi Ekadashi held annually in the city of Pandharpur where a large number of devotees of Lord Vithoba (the ‘warkaris’) congregate to sing and dance making a circular formation that’s commonly referred as a ‘ringan’ in Marathi. It completes a beautiful analogy of this unique celebratory pattern in the film depicting a cyclic order of desolation or dejection, happiness or jubilation in a human’s life span. Which is precisely what a poor and heavily indebted farmer named Arjun Magar (Shashank Shende) has been experiencing in a drought-ridden village in Maharashtra . A widower, and surviving on meagre earnings from his parched land which hasn’t yielded any crops he’s on the verge of surrendering to his fate. But for his dearest son Abhimanyu (Sahil Joshi) and often overlooking his repeated transgressions, it keeps him away from becoming suicidal and to start believing in himself. Frustrated and dejected, he finally decides to dump his tragic past and undertakes a bold journey to Pandharpur braving hunger and fatigue to break free of his misery.

Ringan is a heart-wrenching and a powerful narrative representative of different world views. The perspective of a father facing a bleak future of hardships and later coming to terms with his ultimate destiny, and of a 7-year old in pursuit of discovering nuances in a web of personal relationships as each traverses life-altering situations. Honestly, the simplistic voyage capturing the highs and lows of a father & son’s bonding as they find a new meaning through their emotional & spiritual turmoil, it easily underlines Ringan’s value as one of the greatest cinematic experiences of our times.

The Facts vs Fiction In ‘Steve Jobs’

March 30, 2018 Movies

Steve JobsHaving enjoyed Walter Isaacson’s insightful book ‘Steve Jobs’ ages ago, and after amassing enough confidence, I was left disappointed watching its cinematic version recently. Especially after a feeble attempt was made in the ‘Jobs’ movie wherein Ashton Kutcher helmed the legendary Apple founder’s role my expectations from the official film had peaked. In the book, Isaacson has detailed the vibrant journey of Steve Jobs; personal and professional, and his varied mix of emotion, passion, vision, and an unfettered streak of wisdom which distinguished him from his contemporaries and enabled him to build Apple and NeXT. As a long time devotee of Steve Jobs one thought that the biopic written by Aaron Sorkin (The Social Network) failed to do justice not just to the Isaacson book on which it was purportedly based but to Jobs as well who continues to captivate the industry even today, pathetically reducing his awe-inspiring story into a dramatized narrative.

The movie outlines 3 events which shaped the life and times of Jobs beginning with the launch of Apple’s flagship Macintosh computer in 1984, Steve Jobs’ famed departure from the company after his tumultuous association with CEO John Sculley (Jeff Daniels), and his grand comeback to Apple with the iMac launch. Throughout, the film captures the complex relationship with his estranged daughter Lisa and his colleagues all of which was truthfully captured in the Isaacson book though regrettably, that content has been sensationalized on the big screen. For instance, scenarios such as Steve Wozniak (Seth Rogen) having an argument with Steve Jobs (Michael Fassbender) and Jobs’ badgering of Andy Hertzfeld (Michael Stuhlbarg) 40 minutes prior to the launch of the Mac to fix the voice demo never happened in reality, likewise there is a list of instances where the movie deviates from the book itself. Alas, with a personality such as Steve Jobs, the film could have ended up becoming a splendid saga of triumph & trials, instead, the makers could only manage a burlesque version to keep the audiences entertained.