Movie Review: Aarakshan

It’s an ideal picturization of a true teacher who is portrayed beautifully in the movie. This teacher, in his personal capacity, dauntlessly gives a strong fight with his robust principles to the airheaded and discriminatory dolts who are anti-quota and pro-outside-coaching. But why is it titled ‘Aarakshan’ when it was just a small morality-tester? It should have been ‘Shikshak’ or ‘Shiksha’ or whatever better-suited but this. Given title might have been expected to work out as a marketing tool but it backfired instead and got the movie banned in three states. There are a few good punches relevant to the subject chosen and a lot of unnecessary emotional hammerings, totally irrelevant to the subject which created uncalled for hoopla. It is a movie made to highlight the ironic game between the politicians’ power and today’s teachers’ greed, naming it an Education!

Bachchan smoothly carries the centre of gravity of the movie on his shoulder and Bajpai effortlessly pulls off his cunning bit. Saif's character, grown up under the shadow of his school principal and mentor, Bachchan, is a promising dalit-representative who does justice to the pressing-issue related dialogues assigned to him. Deepika, as tough teacher’s daughter, has nothing more to do with words than expressions which also are not challenging enough to demand her acting skills. Movie overall is okay but honestly, easily ignorable. May be that’s why even I didn’t bother going into the depth for telling a story which has a diluted topic and a different preaching.

Movie Review: Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara

ZNMD is a get-up-my-dear-take-on-your-fear kind inspiring, engaging and musical tale of three friends struggling through inadequacies and finally succeeding to cultivate the ideal approach to life. It is awesomely architected story which effortlessly and convincingly portrays the fact that it is not difficult to re-programme your mind regardless of your age, especially when your best buddies are around!

It’s a story of three different-minded yet emotionally-connected friends getting together after a long time before one of them ties the nagging knot. The victim is Kabir (Abhay) and this tying the knot is a knotty affair for him as it is nothing more than a funny accident. He lets himself slide through others’ overpowering emotions and ends up proposing a girl named Natasha (Kalki) who ecstatically agrees to this proposal as she claims to love him. Before virtually hanging himself by the mundane marriage knot, he plans of arranging a bachelor trip – a boys’ hangout to some fab place. 

This hangout just can’t happen without either of his two closest pals, his pact-mates Arjun (Hrithik) and Imran (Farhan). Arjun is totally into money-making as he’s a financial broker and enjoys keeping himself proudly stuck in his business drudgeries. Imran, on the other hand is a facetious freak by nature, freewheeling flirt by behavior, writer by profession, poet by passion and yes, a royal pain in Arjun’s ass. The trio heads on for a 21-day road trip to the beautiful Spain to enjoy the seventh heaven. Men turn to boys (bwoyz) and go crazily “mental”. Three of them break their comforting shells and quench for the thrill of the moments full of uncertainties. State of uncertainty has its own excitement and charm. All put themselves in top gear before plunging into spine-chilling adventures. During this trip, one charming babe, the diving instructor, Laila (Katrina), a totally contented and never-regretting soul joins the pack and shares the life-secrets through easily understandable demos, especially to her love-at-first-sight Arjun.

Now, everyone, sooner or later, comes across one solid transformational threshold in his life which takes him to the state of fearlessness; a state of being so light yet so powerful that gives him the courage to boldly go for what he wants. Here, our three heroes experience the same Buddha-moment in this Spain trip of three weeks. Nicely woven by Zoya Akhtar, all these independent realizations are immediate results of the encounters with their greatest individual fears. Hydrophobic Arjun, having deep-dived in the mid sea, washes him off his fears and finds the beauty of life while his swimming underwater translates to pleasing introspection. Acrophobic Imran gets rid of his fear in skydiving by nosediving from the plane. Socio-phobic Kabir overcomes his problem by being true to his ownself rather than pretending for society in order to please everyone. 

Overall, Abhay is really good. Hrithik is really cool. Farhan is super-duper-cool. Katrina, for a change, is a hot life-coach and Kalki is a role-filler. The movie certainly has the potential to touch a chord with the audience of all ages. The concept is fresh and the contexts are new; for instance, showing gift for mom being misinterpreted as engagement ring by a girl, silly school pranks, punching situational poems, catchy adventure sports of surmounting shortfalls, Tomatina festival and emotional bonds within the bounds of practicality etc. Bollywood was thirsty of something so refreshingly youthful since long. This movie for which a few may gently complain of being a little overstretched is yet undoubtedly very much enjoyable. ZNMD claims by meaning Zoya Nailsdown a Master Director.