Movie Review: LONDON DREAMS: Killing with the formula

An ambitious Indian musician making his mark in the London music scene brings along his childhood friend from India to be a part of his band only to discover the friend overshadows him with his gifted talent. Driven by jealousy and madness, the musician must achieve his dreams at any cost, and so unfolds the story.

The premise inspired from the 1984 Hollywood film Amadeus has its moments, but Hindi film escapism and musical song sequences ensure that the effect is fleeting. Salman is a surprise, he does manage to convey the freedom of his character, while Ajay Devgn - playing a man in a maddening pursuit of his dream, though good, is ineffective because his character is too glum, too hidden (despite been a musician).

Watch it for Salman's carefree portrayal, the rest is all old stale wine, in an old bottle.

Movie Review: Ghajini: A great idea wasted in formula

So what should a good movie be like?

For me, it is how well the director is able to communicate to the audience with sincerity and creative liberty, the story and the screenplay. Communicate, by cutting down on elements that are part of the film just because they have 'gone well with the audience' in the past. 

OK, don't yawn...

Ghajini (remake or not) has a great cinematic idea - a man with short-term memory (15 min, to be precise) searching for the killers of his lover. Its execution? A mix of refreshing comic and romantic scenes, repulsive presentation of violence, indulgence in the illogical - the hero beating numerous goons ( the villains never carry guns) in stylised fight sequences, a needlessly loud background score ( where silence would have worked better), and a couple of pleasing songs by A R Rahman. 

Aamir and Asin act their parts with conviction, so if you are strictly admirers of great acting, go for it, otherwise Ghajini is a mindless entertainer. Maybe you can watch the first half for the endearing chemistry between the lead pair and hear the rest of the tale from a friend...

'Ghajini' reviewed by Rajeev Masand of CNN IBN

One of Aamir's six looks for the song sequence - Behka

I tried catching the latest Aamir Khan starrer Ghajini at the nearest theaters but they are all housefull until next week. So here is the link to noted CNN IBN TV channel film critic Rajeev Masand's review of the same who does this show called NOW SHOWING every Friday evening on the channel.
Here is the link to the transcript, that is...
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/masands-verdict-ghajini-is-dumb-and-celebrates-it/81344-8.html

Prabhudeva's Choreography: two video links

From a Micheal Jackson wannabe, Prabhudeva has created some great choreography for commercial Indian films.
He has turned director too, with Pokiri..a film he is currently remaking in Hindi with Salman Khan in the lead..
Pokiri (Tamil) is not much of a film, but has couple of refreshingly choreographed songs.

Here is one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=on99zTWTn3c

and another:
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=ATCJQnID50g&feature=related

Turn on your speakers and enjoy.....

Celebrating the Indian film soundtrack: Song link of the week: Ghajini

Harris Jayaraj at work

By a hazardous estimation, a hundred new songs are being composed in the Indian film soundtrack world every day.
Most of them are for films in Hindi,Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada, the languages in which most of the films are made every year. Most of the films are trash, but for the ironically beautiful music.

Even though you might not understand the lyrics; the songs stand alone. Truly, there is nothing as infinite, as far-reaching as music.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wm8UyF-ZLtQ
(ALLOW THE VIDEO TO LOAD FULLY TO ENJOY THE SONG WITHOUT ANY INTERRUPTION)

Here is a link to the 2005 Tamil soundtrack of Ghajini, the film is being remade in Hindi starring Aamir Khan. The music for the Hindi version is by AR Rahman though.
Harris Jayaraj scored the music for the Tamil version.