The Lost Stars # Mac Mohan

Mac Mohan,born on 24th April 1938,  as Mohan Makijani, is one of the most popular faces of Hindi Cinema. Playing a strong support to the Villian in many movies, Mac Mohan came to be recognised as the "Stars" among Henchmen of the Big Bad villians. Audiences would swear by his allegiance to the "Bad Guy" & wonder, if the Hero only had as able a support as Mac Mohan, how better things could have been for him

Born as Mohan Makijani, in the Pre Indepence Karachi,in the year , in a family of a an Indian serving in the British Army. Macmohans family soon moved to Lucknow- It is here that he completed his formal education. Not many people know, that the Veteran actor Sunil Dutt & Macmohan went to the same college. Mac Mohan also happens to be Actress Raveena Tandons Maternal uncle

Macmohan had come to Mumbai to become a cricketer, however Fate had other plans. He learned acting at the Filmaya School of Acting in Mumbai. He started his Filmi Career with Director Chetan Anand & debuted in his film Haqeeqat in 1964. The Dharmendra starrer went on win the National award. Mac mohan continued to play small roles in movies. One of the turning points in his Career came with Ramesh Sippy's Sholay, released in 1975. This movie not only further established Amitabh Bachchan as the Next Big Thing, but also gave Bollywood, its most remembered Dacoit Character of Gabbar Singh, played to ruthless perfection by the Late Amjad khan

Macmohan was supposed to have a significant role in the movie & was counting on this movie to establish his mettle as a star. However post editing, a lot of Macmohans role was chopped. This did not go do down too well with the actor, & its said, that he did nott even go to see the movie trials. In one of the Incidents mentioned in an Interview, Mac Mohan says that, One day while taking his father for shopping, a lot of people recognised him & surrounded him & his father, pestering them with snides & jibes. MacMohan could realise that these were in connection to the potrayal of his role as Sambha the Dacoit, who plays Gabbar singhs, key henchman. Macmohan decided to watch the movie & realised that although the screen length of his role was too small, but he made a big impact with this role

Helped by the fact that Sholay went on to become the most iconic cinema of Hindi Films, Sambha, as a character, soared in popularity, with many people enacting the famous scene in their daily lives. MacMohan continued to play the henchman in many movies thereafter. He also worked in Punjabi, Bhojpuri, Haryanvi & many other Laguage movies. MacMohan is the only actor, whose real name has been used as his screen name in many movies, as many of his characters have been called Mac

His last appearence was in Zoya Akhtars, 2007 Release, Luck By Chance, where he plays himself as MacMohan. He died of Lung Cancer on 10th May 2010. A gentleman to the core, very well read & a fine human being, is how all his colleagues remember him

Rest In Peace, Sambha !!!

Moviereview #Tamasha

Just watched "Tamasha" on TV.... had been planning to watch this movie for some time now...The movie did not turn out to be a big commercial hit, but had heard great reviews about it

This movie deals with a subject, which I feel very strongly about, but not been able to do much about it anyways. And that subject is about finding ones self, about finding one's true calling in life, about being able to identify that one thing, at which we can excel at, that one thing for which we have a natural propensity towards, our natural skill set. The movie very deftly deals with that issue in a sensitivity and maturity, that has never been seen before in Hindi cinema..In my limited understanding of Indian cinema, I can't Recall even one single movie that deals with this very sensitive and most important life issue.

We spend our entire lives doing things in a programmed and robotic manner without ever even getting to realise, what we are good at, and to think, that not even one movie that deals with this subject..

Imitiaz Ali and Ranbir Kapoor team up to create magic on screen with this amazing script and storyline....To my mind, Tamasha, is Ranbir Kapoors best work till date. The way he portrays the complexities and pent up feelings and frustration of somebody whose soul seems to be trapped in drudgery and routine and mundane rigamorales of life. A story teller and a filmi keeda, who is forced to follow the pattern, Engineering,Management and then a corporate job, how his pent up feelings erupt like mini volcanoes during various un comfortable but routine interactions, makes one cringe

Some of the scenes of the movie are simply outstanding for cinematic brilliance and sheer skills of the director and the actor..
Ranbirs  scene with his parents, in which he narrtates them the story of his life, is one of the most heart melting scenes of the movie. You can't help but not feel helpless for Ranbir...

Another scene between Ranbir Kapoor and Piyush Mishra, is so damn intense, it will make you, sigh for sure. Piyush Mishra, as the old story teller, does a great job in his very short but impactful role.

The scene between Ranbir and his boss, Vivek mushran, where Ranbir loses his mind, is a great narrative for exploring the fragileness of our minds, and how years of pent up desires and ambitions, can create havoc on our minds

Ranbir, had delivered the performance of a lifetime..A very unusual subject,These are the kind of subjects, that generally dont find much resonance with audiences, as "finding one's true calling" is never really a top agenda for most people....With this context, being able to handle such complex subject and bringing out the pathos, complexes, pangs of sadness of unfulfilled desires, the void of not being able to do justice to ones calibre, all of that has been captured and portrayed to perfection, without philosophiisng the subject

Great effort by Ranbir and Imitiaz...Hats off...Deepika  did great justice to her part and very much prove why she commands her current position, but Tamasha, is all the way, Ranbir Kapoors, magnum opus.....Super Impressed

#MoviereviewTamasha #VKMoviereviews #Tamashamoviereview #VKReviews

Movie Review#Jolly LLB Part 2

Watched #JollyLLB2 yesterday. Well it has been the most anticipated release Of the year, being sequel to one of the better movies made on courtroom dramas and stories of chasing justice..JollyLLB 1 also happened to be a big surprise hit of the year and it won Saurabh shukla, the national award for the film.

And being sequel to a very well made movie, creates a default comparison with the previous version. For me Jolly LLB 2 is a very fine movie as a standalone cinema, but unfortunately being a sequel, leads to unavoidable comparisons..I can count only one Sequel, which to me, bettered its prequel in content, screenplay and performance.and that sequel was, "Lage  Raho MunnaBhai"...Most of the sequels, have unfortunately stuck to the same template...There is a big difference here...One can use similar star cast, same names, same actors, similar concept  but the screenplay concept and it's template needs to be online with the new story that one is portraying...Dabang, ABCD, VAASTAV, all the sequels followed a similar template and hence dished out movies weaker in content value

JOLLYLLB2, for me, lacks in performances and characterisation...The biggest dissatisfaction for me, was a pure disconnect in the Lucknow settings..There was very limited or poor context of Lucknawi language or dialect in the movie..Akshay Kumar, plays a Kanpur born Lawyer and he seemed to do a very poor job of getting under the skin of a character..I guess that's what happens, when directors want to cash in on star values of a big star, at times it ends up being a slight compromise on the real essence of the character or the story......

Annu Kapoor......has an author backed role...a strong prominent role, which does some justice to his immense talent..He fires up the screen for sure, however, once again, one doesnst see the Lucknow touch...I was wondering, why did they have to base the story in Lucknow, when there was no context of the Eastern UP Region , that could be built....

Saurabh Shukla, is the obvious scene stealer in the movie, thanks to some cracker dialogues and his lazy charm on the screen..It was obvious that one would expect shukla to be big in the film, considering, that he had packed the biggest punch in part 1..However, Shukla does get repetitive,and there seems to be extra attention on shukla, for comic relief...Especially the scene  showing him preparing for a dance for his daughters wedding....That to my mind, showed the director , straying away from the plot and ensuring To cash in on Shuklas comic talent and dialogues delivery...This and other scenes, while do provide a great comic relief, but do take away from the gravity of the subject and look as forced humour, akin to movie of 1950s and 1960s, when popular comedians like Mahmood , asrani, would have parallel scenes and tracks, completely unrelated to the story....

Huma Qureshi, is wasted and doesn't even do good justice to her role.....

Overall, the movie is quite entertaining, but weak on message, unlike part 1, which had a strong message...Even the closing arguments of both the lawyers in part 2, pale in comparison to the ones in part 1..I still remember, having goose bumps, after Arshad warsis closure speech......."Footpath soney ke liye nahi hotey, par footpath Gaadi chalaane ke liye bhi nahi hotey "..

My final verdict  .Great entertainment, value for money, average story, great screenplay, cracker dialogues, strong effort by Annu and Shukla.......but extremely poor characteristaion.....and hence performances look average despite great efforts..Weak on message

#moviereviewjollyLLB2 #Saurabhshukla #Annukapoor #AkshayKumar #KumudMishra

Movie Review# Dangal

Watched Aamir Khans Dangal...The good things 1st....A truly inspirational story about fighting against all odds to back your dream..An able man with an unfulfilled dream and passion..His journey to achieve that dream..Fighting so many stereotypes along the way...Girls from a rural village in Haryana or perhaps any other part of North India(being a hard core patriarchal society)would be subject to several of such gender bias in their daily lives...Where dangal is special in a way is that it very beautifully touches upon the bond between a father and his children...Parent children relation0ships in bollywood have made a ritual out of mother children relationships, and almost ignoring the role that fathers play in our lives...It's a story which inspires you on so many counts...A girl beating the shit out of guys, almost replays the classic David vs goliath story..A father without much resources at his disposal, manages to get the best for his children, struggle of an athlete who dips after a  huge success and rebuilds herself bit by bit, or at a slightly different level, it is also about how children, at times, on achieving much deserved success after years of labor, tend to completely think of it as their own self made success and forget the role that their parents played....

Super impressed by some of the performances ...The young girls who played Geeta and babita, just nailed it with such mature and nuanced performance....They looked and lived the part perfectly on screen...Even the elder Versions of Geeta and Babita, was played to perfection..The complexities, the insecurities, the frustration ..All of it was brilliantly captured...

I expected much more depth from Aamirs role....To begin with, he didn't get the accent right..For a man known to be Mr perfectionist, his accent, just didn't sound convincing....Dangal has the kind of story , screenplay and direction, that even with average to good performances, one can create a huge impact ...Aamirs character lacked nuances, emotional layers and the pathos of a highly passionate man...Obviously with his calibre, he was good, but a biopic, needs much more than accent and putting on and losing weight..

For me, Aamir felt short of living the character...He was definitley good...but such a role and screenplay, deserve great and not just good

#moviereview #Dangalreview #FilmiGupp #Kaultimes
#Dangalmoviereview #VKreview

Movie Review# Kaabil

Just watched the Movie  Kaabil....Had heard great reviews about it..Bollywood fraternity went gaga  over this Hrithik Roshan starrer and praising the performances and direction to the Sky...I think Kaabil  has been the most applauded movie in the Bollywood circle for a long time once can remember.....Let me share my View on the Movie......

The story of Kaabil  is not novelty stuff for sure...We have had multiple revenge sagas..The unique twist of the revenge of a blind man has also been explored in a movie called Aankhen...This movie starred  biggies like Amitabh  Bachchan, Akshay  Kumar, Paresh  Rawal and Arjun  Rampal ........So i don't think revenge dramas are seldom watched for story...because stories are known..Revenge dramas are watched for the Intensity...It needs to choke the audience......It should make the audience a part of that revenge....a revenge drama that doesn't make you throw  one or 2 punches in the air or hurling  out some expletives on the villain,has not done its job..A revenge drama that doesn't make you clap for the hero and that doesn't make you cry or choke, for me,hasn't done its job well.....a revenge drama needs to make you atleast for a second think of all the wrongs that happened with you and how you reacted...It has to trigger the raw nerve of anger to flush out all those emotions and then you  get the audience involved

Kaabil, unfortunately doesn't tick any of those boxes....I need to admit that Hrithik Roshan has definitely  put his life and soul into this...This is probably hrithiks  most nuanced and powerful  performance but he is clearly let down by Sanjay  Guptas direction and a week screenplay ..Yami  Gautam is a revelation and one wonders why we don't see much of her on the big screen..She is a naturally gifted Performer whom the cameras just love.....
Ronit Roy, who towers the screen with his personality has been wasted in a role that doesn't offer much for his prowess.....I need to find out about the actors who played the Cops..They seem to have done a pretty decent job....The characters of the main villains Rohit and Ronit  Roy haven't had any dimension or depth and hence end up looking just plain bad guys  who don't strike venom or fear on the screen....I feel that week characterisation  has been one of the big flaws  along with a week  screenplay.....

The characters seemed to lack any depth and definition......Didnt sound convincing enough.....Sanjay  Gupta  is known  for Films high on style and low in content...Kaabil  is slightly better than  his average directorial  work  thanks to the earnesty that Hristhik put in his role...It would have been great had Roshan  Senior  taken on the directors hat  and not left it to Sanjay Gupta....

A career  best performance by Hrithik and Yami but poor direction, weak characterisation and average screenplay.....

#moviereview #Kaabilreview #FilmiGupp #Kaultimes #VKreview #Kaabilmovereview #VKMoviereviews