Not So Fanaa-tastic

Fanaa finally openend with a lot of expectation and a equal measure of controversy. Luckily controversy had nothing to do with the movie itself and was with the stand taken by Aamir on a social issue. There was also another minor controversy involving Yashraj production bargaining for a bigger share of the earning, why blame them who wouldnt? Thats if ur line up included movies like Fanaa, Krrish, Kabhie Alvida Na Kehna, Kabul Express and Dhoom 2

Expectations were also high considering the movie has most things going for it, a Yashraj Films Banner, Jatin Lalits Music(for the final time too), Two extraordinaire performers who never have been paired before and a director who has proven his worth with tthe very likeable "HUM TUM". So does "Fanaa" live up to all this hype. Lets find out.

To be fair to Kunal Kohli he has got most things right in this movie, nice production vallue, decent storyline, very good performances and quite good direction. But somehow Fanaa fails to raise above the good to a Great movie, which it so easily could have been.

And to the most important question, How is the chemistry between Kajol and Aamir? Is it even close to whats it between Sharukh and Kajol? Different people may have different feelings about this, but I do believe this pairing is absolutely magic on screen too. The two spontaneous actors, work up a lot of magical chemistry between them. This only brings you to a question that "Why on Earth weren't these two caster together before?". This is a question every person in the hall would be asking. :)

Before i go on to the plot let me go through the performances, coz I dont want to ruin it for the people who want to watch this movie.

Performances

Performances in this movie are of the top draw. I feel its a movie where the casting is absolutely perfect. No body could have played the Romantic, Street Smart(not the tapori kind of Ghulam and Rangeela) part of Rehan Khan and the brooding, stubborn(Sarfaroshish) Rehan Qadri of the Second half with as much elan has Aamir in this movie.

Kajol too is at her best. Looking absolutely stunning in this movie, she dislays the vulnerabiity and the blind love of a blind girl in the first half and the steely resolve and the maturity required in the second half with great finesse which can only be expected of a actor of her calibre.

The supporting cast including Rishi kapoor, Kiron Kher and Tabu who is aptly cast thankfully, in a long time in a mainstream movie, all perform their parts well. mention also has to be made of the jr. Rehan, he is too cute in the movie too.

Music

I think this is the most disappointing part of the movie, Expectaions were high from the Jatin lalit pairing considering the kind of music they have delivered in the past. But this isnt a patch on their previous efforts. The song "Chand Sifarish" is the highlight and other songs are passable. The Background music is quite good and syncs well with emotional overotnes of the movie.


The Plot - Plot not revealed completely

The Plot involves a Blind Girl Zooni Ali Baig(Kajol), who comes from Kashmir to Delhi to perform at a concert near the Chief Ministers office. There she meets the charming and dreamy eyed Rehan Khan, their tour guide. Rehan being the ultimate play boy manages to charm Zooni off her feet. The scenes here between Aamir and Kajol are definetly worth a mention, they r quite beautiful and their exchanges are the highlight of the movie. te song "Chand Sifarish" at the beginning of the movie is worth a mention and has been shot absolutey brilliantly with the back drop of Delhi's exquisite monuments.

Zooni now feels she has finally found the prince of her dreams, Rehan tries to convince Zooni that he isnt the right guy for her and she would never be happy with him. But Love has taken root very deep and in true filmi fashion( a la DDLJ with the Train sequence and all) Aamir finally decides that he couldnt live without Zooni too.

So preperations are made for their Nikaah, and Zooni's parents decide to coem down for their marraige. Meanwhile Rehan gets Zooni's eye tested and gathers that a operation could give her sight back. They prepare for operation and on the D day, kajol asks him to go for his work i.e. as a tourist guide. The operation is successful and Zooni gets her sight back, When she opens her eyes she sees her parents there, but cannot find Rehan. news trickles inthat there has been a bomb blast near a tourist spot and Rehan was killed in the blast. Zooni is distraught and shattered.

But there is a twist to the tale yet. Rehan is well and alive and is not Rehan Khan but Rehan Qadri, member of the IKF, a terrorist organization who fight for a Independent Kashmir. the director has appently tried to play safe and not take sides and make the outfit a Pakistani or an Indian one. Apparently Rehan was the master mind behind the blasts.

What happens to Zooni after this? Can Rehan leave his love for his principles? These are the questions one leaves with at the interval and these questions get answered as movie moves on.

i wouldnt reveal the ending here.. because I donot want to spoil it for a lot of People who want to watch this movie in its entirety. But for all those people who cannot resist knowing what happened you can move to the section right at the end where I tell all :)


Summary

Overall Fanaa is quite a good movie, definetly worth a dekho, for its performances if not for anything else. Aamir is truly charming and sweet in the movie and shows the amateurs how things need to be done. Am sure he would be competing with his own RDB performance with this movie at the awards.

Kajol is the best thing in the movie, she is absolutely brilliant.. other actresses can take notes. And she definetly proves that when it comes to female actors she still is the Queen Bee.

Kunal Kohli is adept in his craft and the movie doesnot drag too much, but second half could have been a lot better, and the climax was a bit too predictable. But kudos to him to have given something that is bit more than a mushy romance. The locations are absolutely beautiful and are a treat.

So i would recommend you to watch this movie over the weekend if you have nothin else to do. It wont disappoint you much, except for the fact that it could have been so much better.

** And a request Do leave in your comments **


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If you dont want to spoil your movie watching experience stop here
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Plot Revealed

Seven years pass since Rehan left Zooni and now Rehan is on his next mission to acquire a Trigger which is apparently need by the IKF to activate the nuclear missile which now IKF apparenlty possess. Rehan is planted into the Indian Army in disguise of and officer and he manages to get the Trigger, while escaping he get badly hurt and crawls to a house in the midst of a snow storm.

Luck has it and he has come to Zooni's house in Kashmir and he collapses in front of their house. Zooni and her dad cannot recognise him as Rehan had left before Zooni got her eyesight. They nurse him back to health. Zooni becomes aware that its her Rehan. But rehan is adamant on his mission. When they realise his true identity they try to stop him for the Greater Good of humanity. Alas he doesnt listen and kajol is forced to kill a man she so much loves. The film showcases how you can kill the person you love without still any one having any hard feeling about each other.

So another Aamir Khan film ends with his death... the clmax was quite predicatable for them moment we know that rehan was a terrorist. So all you guy s who read this part of my review can go ahead and watch the movie anyway, if not for anything else just to check what I said was right ;)

Perfection Personified

MohanLal, is the best and the most under rated actor in India today . I can quite confidently say that he is the best acting talent that I have seen in India. This I say keeping in mind the other great actors of our times, Kamal Hassan included.

MohanLal’s entrance in to Malayalam cinema was at a time when acting in most of the film industries was overtly dramatic. Malayalam had in itself its greatest superstar then Prem Nazir, who was quite dramatic in his acting. MohanLal’s entry into the Malayalam Film Industry also coincided with the entry of a new crop of directors, In whose association MohanLal would scale the heights that he so self assuringly has.

MohanLal intro into films was as a villain, who stole the spot light in Manjil Virinja Pookal (although this wasn’t his first film technically). He was noticed and destined for greater things from there. Later films like Gandhinagar Second Street, Chitram, T P Balagopalam MA, Nadodi Katte and a few more were the films that gave him the image we all have so much come to love. His simplistic, natural acting and his naïve attitude in these movies endeared him to the family audiences. He could draw crowds now and was well on the way to being a Superstar.

Superstardom finally arrived with the movie Rajavinte Makan, where he got moulded into the action hero image and was branded as an actor who had the range to justify any kind of a role given to him. Along with this movie Kireedam(one of his best performances) established his acting potential, a special mention from the national award jury was only a precursory for the greater things to come. This character which portrayed how circumstances and society can make a criminal out of an innocent lad, was justified to the hilt, especially the vulnerability and the helplessness portrayed is simply unbelievable.

What followed were movie which would take him to the next level both as a Superstar and as an actor. Movies like Ulladakkam, Yodha, Manichitra thazhu, Devasuram, Chenkol, Aaram Thamburan, Kaala Pani, Narasimham, Vanaprastham(for which he got his Second National Award), and more recently Thanmatra(which I am confident, will fetch him his Third).

The greatness in MohanLal the actor lies in the fact that he requires the minimum effort in conveying the true emotions of that character subtly and powerfully directly into the heart of the audiences. As many have said about him, when he is on the screen, he makes the audience connect to the character on screen rather than the actor himself, he lives the character, it’s every emotion, acting and more importantly reacting to his environments.

Many a scene where other actors could have played it over the top, just to convey the depth of the emotion to the audience( I hint to Kamal here.. cause he is the only other actor who could match up). MohanLal would underplay it. Sometimes when an emotion is overplayed it get surreal and audience fails to connect. I would also like to clarify her that I am the greatest fan of Kamal. He is definetly the most complete actor/performer in Indian cinema. But on sheer acting ability MohanLal would score more. I am sure people who have observed both would agree.

Tragedy lies in the fact that Malayalam cinema has very few audiences outside of Kerala, due to its linguistic constraints. I do believe the World as a whole has been deprived of truly appreciating the actor that is Lal.

Accolades also needs to be given to the directors who moulded him, some great co actors with whom he could tune so easily and to the scripts which allowed him to showcase his versatility. Malayalam cinema and MohanLal have shared a common Golden period, whether it is merely incidental is totally upto the context. The real people who have gained are the audiences of Malayalam cinema who could watch a truly great actor in some truly Great movies.

My New V3I

I am going to review Motorola RAZR V3i on 5 basic criterion Design Usability Music Camera Voice Quality and Battery life Motorola RAZR V3i takes the stylish yet featureless V3 and adds features to it like Megapixel Camera, Expandable memory and iTunes.. It tries to give you the best of both worlds, style and substance... lets see how it fares..... Design This phone belongs to the Impressive lineage of RAZR phones which have revolutionized the industry by their sheer looks. This phone is the typical RAZR with the super slim looks and impressive cuts. Actually this phone goes ahead and has a casing with a metalic glow. On the looks department it surely scores the perfect 10. Sleek, Stylist, fashion statement are the words used to describe the RAZR family and V3i is no exception. Rating 10/10 Usability For its super sleek looks, the RAZR is surprisingly comfortable to usse. It has a nice big display on the inside, which holds its own in bright sunlight too and a smaller external display. The Extendable memory slot sits safely under the back flip and the card can be inserted and removed,without powering off the phone, this has become quite standard in todays mobiles. The chemically etched keypad is quite a delight to use, and a visual treat too. On the flip side, RAZR gives you a delicate feel. You feel as if its one drop away from disaster and I dont want to find out if that is True. The menu’s are simple and most things are easy to find, but the Ui isnt a patch on the ones given Sony Erricsson and the rest. Rating 7/10 Music Motorola RAZR V3i has a differentiator when it comes to music, the iTunes supplied with the phone. It certainly has to be the single most desirable thing on the phone. Its such a cute and easy little software to use. I really feel for the rest of the world where iTunes are not available yet. You guys really are missing something. The sound quality on the supplied headphones are adequate to good. But the sound on the external speaker, especially while playing a song leaves more to be desired. the Volume level is quite low when compared to other phones of its class. Rating 8/10 (with iTunes that is) Camera Camera is the big improvement from the previous V3. Here a 1.23 MP camera is provided, capable of taking pictures of 1280x968 resolution which is quite decent. The image quality although not brilliant is decent enough. I do miss the flash on the phone though. The images taken are always in the potrait mode. It also has a good video recorder which can record videos at 176x144 which is quite good. Overall the camera and its features are pretty nice. Rating 6/10 Voice Quality and Battery life Both Voice Quality and Battery life are decent. Rating 7/10 I would really recommend this phone, for people who want their phones to be a style statement. if you are looking for features alone, and want to use it to read mail or view documents, the phone is definetly not for you. Overall rating 8/10

Pros : Looks, iTunes Cons : Delicate, External Speaker Sound Reception : Good--I can hear 'em all Usage Convenience : Fairly easy to use Looks & Style : Slim, Sleek and I Love it!

Some Say Love.....

A nice poem.. describing all that is love..

Some say love, it is a river
That drowns the tender reed.
Some say love, it is a razor
That leaves your soul to bleed.

Some say love, it is a hunger
And endless aching need
I say love, it is a flower
And you - its only seed.

It’s the heart afraid of breaking
That never learns to dance.
It’s the dream afraid of waking
That never takes the chance.

It’s the one, who won’t be taken
Who cannot seem to give.
And the soul afraid of dying
That never learns to live.

When the night has been too lonely
And the road has been too long
When you feel that love is only
For the lucky and the strong

Just remember in the winter
Far beneath the bitter snow
Lies the seed that with the sun’s love
In the spring becomes the rose.