Ma kasam, filmy hoon

Let me begin by saying that I am no particular fan of Shah Rukh Khan. But then this is one time I am happy to have been proven wrong. This is one time I am really grateful to my friend who in his own genteelest way persuaded me to watch Zero. But I didn’t give in that quickly. I spent quite a good amount of time in the morning searching if any theatre in Delhi-NCR was playing Badhai Ho or Andhadhun or even Greenspot simply because I didn’t want to watch a Shah Rukh Khan film. Even though the teaser and trailer looked great and the trailer did raise my curiosity with the rocket lifting off towards the end, I didn't want to watch a SRK film  even with the great gutka and sperm dialogue . The only Shah Rukha Khan films I have ever admired are Swades, Chak De and Kal Ho Na Ho. But then my friend insisted that we watch at least Zero for our annual year end catch up over lunch and a movie. Last year we had a ball over Fukrey Returns and if I were carryin...

https://youtu.be/dA4n1F0ksPI

https://youtu.be/JuNEEeqPOVc

Electrifying!!!!! And I kept thinking throughout the day as to how could a newspaper get it wrong that the Indo-China war took place in 1967 and not 1962! Not once but it was printed twice as 1967 in the Hindustan Times today. It’s only now that when I saw the JP Dutta film Paltan’s trailer that I learnt about such an event in 1967, if any. After the slight disappointment of LOC Kargil, Paltan looks slick, sharp and promising, if the electrifying trailer is anything to go by. Looking forward to it to see if it matches or surpasses his Border, though both films in a way shouldn’t be compared given the 21 year gap and that the battle it was based on is quite different to the one being talked about in Paltan. Let’s see  Paltan trailer

I am yet to see Mary Kom, Mukkabaaz and many other sports movies or sports based biopics. But if I were to rate Soorma as a movie among the ones I have seen so far like Lagaan, Iqbal, Chak De, Bhag Milkha Bhaag, Saala Khadoos, Dangal and MS Dhoni: The Untold Story then here is my ranking: 1.       Dangal 2.       Lagaan 3.       Chak De and Iqbal 4.       Saala Khadoos 5.       MS Dhoni: The Untold Story 6.       Soorma Dangal takes the top place for me any day and Chak De takes the top place for any film based on hockey so far. And that’s what happens when you go to watch a film in a genre that has already seen gems. Comparisons are bound to happen and despite my best efforts I couldn’t stop myself. So let me start with what’s good about Soorma. It’s certainly an inspiring story to bring to a wider aud...

As I was watching this Josh Talk How an outsider broke into bollywood , what struck me are the parallels with management lessons. While there are other interesting lessons and parallels from this talk to which I will revert shortly, I want to begin with management lessons from Anurag Kashayap's life-shaping experience as a film maker. I will ask one of my forthcoming batches on managerial effectiveness training to watch this Josh Talk by Anurag Kashyap before we actually do the training session on managerial effectiveness. The talk is inspirational too when at a particular point you remember the message from the  the famous motivational father-son talk from Rocky Balboa  and the stunning parallel with a life-realisation that Anurag talks about here - The world doesn't owe you anything. You then also remember another famous movie that came in 2006 as well and this scene from that film - The Pursuit of Happyness. My own life-learning has been that the sooner we can t...

Further to my review of Sanju last week given its strong father-son relationship story, here’s an interesting mix of famous father-son films in Malayalam language -  https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/fathers-and-sons-look-malayalam-cinemas-complex-relationships-84337?amp And of course while each one of them is close to my heart including Sphadikam and Paithrukam and while I resonate with Deshadanam at a totally different level given my equation with my son; my all time favourite is also the first one mentioned in this list - Kireedam (Crown). This movie released in 1989 and was later on remade in Hindi by Priyadarshan as Gardish in 1993 starring Amrish Puri and Jackie Shroff in the father son roles. (Incidentally, 1989 was a great year in Malayalam movie history when two more outstanding pictures came out - Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha (A Northern Legend) and Mrigaya starring Mammotty). Kireedam is my favourite in this list for a number of reasons - including the fact t...

“Ek subah apun uttha. Apun ne dekha ki apun ka baap thaich nahi. Bohot kuchh tha apne andar usko bolne ka tha. Lekin saala sab andar hi reh gaya.” It’s a line that went deep inside me the very first time I watched Lage Raho Munnabhai in November 2006. And something in Sanjay Dutt’s eyes when he said those lines in the movie told me that maybe he isn’t just acting but speaking his heart out through those lines. This movie Sanju is about a number of things in life: friendship, faith, will power, media trial, human frailities, misunderstandings, reconciliation, redemption and greatness that comes from grace, civility, manners, honesty, courage and responsibility. You will find the last of all the adjectives personified in the late Shri Sunil Dutt as beautifully portrayed on screen by Shri Paresh Rawal. While the hooting, clapping and whistles started within the first 5 minutes of the movie and the last song is the surprise factor here where again, we all threw our hands up i...