Movie Review: 'Shamitabh'

A confident village lad, Daanish (Dhanush) overwhelmingly crazy about movies, spends his childhood living in his fantasy of being an actor. However the nature has a condition with him that he could only be a mute actor which he has no problem with but the world at large wants otherwise. He is rejected by many but he gets lucky to be spotted by a wanna-be-director girl, Akshara. She even though looks down on him and often calls him Monkey, becomes a fan of his acting. She finds a way that a voice can be embedded into the dumb actor which can give his facial expressions and moving limbs some understandable meaning. The actor then chooses the voice of an old, shabby, serial whisky-drinker Amitabh Sinha (Bachchan), whose acting career wasn’t taken off due to rejections for his voice, and who spends his life in hangovers in the middle of a graveyard. With the help of technology the strengths of both the artists are put together and they rule the Box Office without letting out their secret. The villager becomes the talk of the town and gains enough fame to cause indigestion to his voice donor. They argue, fight, and abuse to prove that the other is less talented and often convey that by lowering the alphabets of other’s name parts used in Shamitabh, the pseudonym they make for their combined endeavour. Egos clash, both separate, and when wisdom strikes, join hands again. At this time of the movie, R Balki, the director, pitches in and makes his presence felt.

Both the leads exhibit power pack performance and is fun to watch before things begin to cross the fine line between adequate and over-the-top. The bits that delighted me the most are - the intensity of Daanish to be an actor, and music, which is a touch of a genius named Ilaiyaraaja. The movie celebrates the most popular and dearly loved baritone of Indian cinema and is certainly a good watch especially the concept is novel and a few directional touches truly deserve thumbs-up.

Movie Review: 'Birdman'

If you hear of any Hollywood movie with a title ending with Man you know that the superhero is blessed and designed by the Almighty in his happiest hour. He possesses super powers that can woo women and patronize villains first by his trademark costume and then by his stunts. Birdman does neither of them or rather, can't to any of them. He is no way close to the charisma of even the antagonists of the usual super hero flicks. In here, the protagonist aka Birdman (Michael Keaton) is a sloppy, wretched, flabby middle-aged theatre actor who in the nineties became famous as Birdman before fading away under the glitz of technology-borne omnipotent charmers. He is in search of his lost identity especially when he is still a passionate actor and simply cannot bear the prevailing stain-on-acting, formula stars bask in the fame that is meant for pure acting. He decides to pull off a play in Broadway and in the process he battles with his ego, love, producer friend, newly found actor and his idiosyncrasies, his daughter’s rehab, stalking social media, and above all, his career.

It’s a raw satirical tale that stands tall on the back of its fine performances from all the actors without any glamour peppered over. The movie offers more laughs than scowls and silences. Keaton's dialogues with his ego, shown as the nagging character in the Birdman suit (with the voice like that of Batman, somehow!), his frequent scuffles with the actor he hires for the play, his arguments with the biased critic - all bundle up a package of desperation stuffed with fun. Also, the amazing thing is, it looks to have been shot in a single take. The camera is in awe of Birdman and never gives him a break. It is like almost chasing him throughout the movie! You must watch it if you have patience and sense of admiration for the heavy art. Else, stay away from this if you want everything to be logically connected without loose ends. You know which side you stand.