Cinema Cinema

Mani Ratnam's movies are special, for he is a director who has chosen themes that are dense, complex and often dark. Box office success has sometimes welcomed him; and sometimes eluded him; but this has never stopped the maker from trying out new visual forms, narrative forms and darker themes. This time he is back with Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai and Vikram with perhaps his most polarizing work - Raavan. The movie was always a subject of speculation - whether the film is based on Naxalism/Maoism or based on Ramayana. This question can finally be laid to rest. Raavan is about both. Though, it is not the story of Kobad Ghandy. Essentially, a story of two different worlds, a tribal, under-privileged sect of the society and the other being the law-enforcers the upper class. Raavan inspects the worlds of Beera (Raavan) who "controls" Lal Maati. He is the protector of the marginalized class and the voice of theirs. In this world, comes Dev Sharma (Ram),...

Christopher Nolan has created a body of work that's both enviable and also exemplary. Exemplary not because he has tasted commercial success; but exemplary because in spite of tasting big commercial success with movies like Batman Begins and The Dark Knight; he is one film maker who has gone ahead and given his most accomplished, most radical and most original work. Rather than bowing down to the box office dictats, Nolan has instead taken not just himself but also the audiences world-over on a trip! For people who have been following the filmography of Chris Nolan, they would be familiar with one recurring theme that he has embodied in all his films - Perceptions of Reality and Desire for Redemption. To that extent, Incepetion is again no different. This film again deals with both the issues mentioned above. However, the one area where Nolan and Inception score is that this film is the most fully realized documentation on these two themes. What's known? Leona...

There is a thing about great film makers - they really know how to grab you by the gut and take you on a ride. Few film makers have that capability; one such film maker is Oliver Stone, the brain behind classics such as Platoon, JFK, The Doors, Scarface (writer), Midnight Express (writer) and Wall Street (co-writer and director). After years of giving the mantra "Greed is good", this activist film director strikes back to give us the new mantra "Greed is legal". Yes, that's the new mantra Mr. Stone throws at us this time around when he brings Mr. Gekko "back from the dead". Wall Street 2 begins where the Wall Street ended; or should I say that the movie is a part of a continuum. If back then, Mr. Gekko was sent to prison for market manipulation and insider trading; this time he is back as a redeemed (?) soul who writes a book questioning his own mantra (Is greed good?). He is out and he predicts, as a true-blue Wall St...

Dhobi Ghat, the debut feature of Kiran Rao, is a love letter to the city of Mumbai. When you see the movie, the one feeling that stands out is the dominant presence of the city as the central character. But the beauty of the film is, while the city is the major character; it is also the silent spectator to the lives of many of its citizens. 4 characters in the film are nothing but metaphors for the varied residents of this "Maximum City" who come here with aspirations, dreams and hopes; but over a period of time just lose a part (a significant part of their own being). A couple of beautiful shots in the film - very subtle; yet very poignant - convey the very meaning of this film. One shot where Aamir gets into his new apartment and opens the drawers to clean it up, he finds some boxes and some personal stuff left by the previous occupant. And the second shot again features Aamir standing on a beach and sees a statue of Ganesha being thrown at the sh...