Sunday, July 8, 2018

Sanju -A Movie Review




Producer: Rajkumar Hirani, Vinod Chopra, Fox Star Studios
Director: Rajkumar Hirani
Cast: Ranbir Kapoor, Paresh Rawal, Ranbir Kapoor, Vicky Kaushal, Dia Mirza, Manisha Koirala, Anushka Sharma, Jim Sarbh, Sonam Kapoor Ahuja, Aditi Seiya
Story: Abhijat Joshi
Music Director: Rohan Rohan, Vikram Montrose
Lyrics: Puneet Sharma, Shekhar Astitwa
Genre: Biopic
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1J76wN0TPI4
Rating 4****/5

 (The aim and intention of my reviews is to critique and recommend while not revealing the whole story to enjoy the movie when seen. But minor details have been divulged for a proper review!)


Sanju, One man….Many lives; “Bad choices make interesting stories”; There is many such lines which can explain out this movie but it takes a genius like Raj Kumar Hirani with his creative artistry to make a movie of this complex a character like Sanjay Dutt, with a roller coaster of a life, and make it interesting and heartwarming to the audiences.

No man’s life can fit into a two hour movie and especially not Sanjay Dutt’s many shades of life…..hence Sanju covers only chapters of  Dutt’s life- like his tryst with drugs and alcoholism, his arrest and tribulations in the Arms Act, his relationship with his father, his mistakes, falls, his emotional turmoil  fighting his personal demons and recovery  on the strength of his father’s motivation and shoulders of friendship.

 Many a celebrity in both Hollywood and Bollywood has lived and even died because of insecurities, anxieties, mistakes and flaws they have made in their lives. Sanju shows the story of and how this celebrity son feels, his inability to measure up to his idealistic father and parent’s expectations, and his failure to handle emotional distress and pressure, led him to make poor decisions and fall for distractions like drugs and alcohol.  It also shows how a compassionate father and a good friend were pivotal and helped him recover and rise back from that mistake of his life. But Sanju has made many bad decisions, errors in judgement including getting involved with shady people and gotten into situations without understanding the gravity of his actions. This of course led him to go through many trials and tribulations, arrests and years of jail time, besides defamation and condemnation for him and his family. The story reveals some truths and gives deep insight into his complicated life with a laugh here and a tear there.    

The excellence of this movie is the extraordinary direction and craftsmanship of Raj Kumar Hirani with his ability to weave in emotional and sensitive drama of Dutt’s life with heartwarming narrative and humor.

 The other merit of this movie is Ranbir Kapoor’s excellent acting. When we see the character as Sanjay Dutt and not as the actor who is portraying Sanjay Dutt, it shows the actor has carried out the role with finesse and brilliance. The acting, makeup and Sanjus’s characteristic details of drugged, blank, broken look, his confused and distressed persona, to the lanky swagger, awkward postures, body language and gait were all on point. The other performance which stood out was Vicky Kaushal’s endearing acting as Sanju’s friend who stands by him at all times.  Paresh Rawal as Sunil Dutt and Manisha Koirala as Nargis, Dia Mirza as his wife Manyata, Jim Sarabh as the bad influence, all had excellent performances too. Anoushka Sharma’s acting and the fictionalized role written into this biopic were subpar and weak and could have been skipped.  

The movie is absolutely worth watching with 4 stars for its brilliant execution of a biopic in a not sequential style with a balance of laughter and tears for a heartwrenching story of Sanjay Dutt. Whatever bad decisions the protagonist may have taken in the journey of life, they don’t equate to what life has dished out for him and the formidable forces which have tried to crush him. My personal hugs to Sanju and best wishes for life ahead.








Tuesday, January 23, 2018

Oscar Nominations 2018

Oscar Nominations for the 90th academy awards

This year's Oscars will be awarded on Sunday, March 4, 2018, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, airing at 8 p.m. EST on ABC.

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
NOMINEES
TIMOTHÉE CHALAMET
Call Me by Your Name
DANIEL DAY-LEWIS
Phantom Thread
DANIEL KALUUYA
Get Out
GARY OLDMAN
Darkest Hour
DENZEL WASHINGTON
Roman J. Israel, Esq.


ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
NOMINEES
WILLEM DAFOE
The Florida Project
WOODY HARRELSON
Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri
RICHARD JENKINS
The Shape of Water
CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER
All the Money in the World
SAM ROCKWELL
Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri


ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
NOMINEES
SALLY HAWKINS
The Shape of Water
FRANCES MCDORMAND
Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri
MARGOT ROBBIE
I, Tonya
SAOIRSE RONAN
Lady Bird
MERYL STREEP
The Post



ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
NOMINEES
MARY J. BLIGE
Mudbound
ALLISON JANNEY 
I, Tonya
LESLEY MANVILLE
Phantom Thread
LAURIE METCALF
Lady Bird
OCTAVIA SPENCER
The Shape of Water


ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
NOMINEES
THE BOSS BABY
Tom McGrath and Ramsey Naito
THE BREADWINNER
Nora Twomey and Anthony Leo
COCO
Lee Unkrich and Darla K. Anderson
FERDINAND
Carlos Saldanha
LOVING VINCENT
Dorota Kobiela, Hugh Welchman and Ivan Mactaggart
CINEMATOGRAPHY
NOMINEES
BLADE RUNNER 2049
Roger A. Deakins
DARKEST HOUR
Bruno Delbonnel
DUNKIRK
Hoyte van Hoytema
MUDBOUND
Rachel Morrison
THE SHAPE OF WATER
Dan Laustsen
COSTUME DESIGN
NOMINEES
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
Jacqueline Durran
DARKEST HOUR
Jacqueline Durran
PHANTOM THREAD
Mark Bridges
THE SHAPE OF WATER
Luis Sequeira
VICTORIA & ABDUL
Consolata Boyle
DIRECTING
NOMINEES
DUNKIRK
Christopher Nolan
GET OUT
Jordan Peele
LADY BIRD
Greta Gerwig
PHANTOM THREAD
Paul Thomas Anderson
THE SHAPE OF WATER
Guillermo del Toro
DOCUMENTARY (FEATURE)
NOMINEES
ABACUS: SMALL ENOUGH TO JAIL
Steve James, Mark Mitten and Julie Goldman
FACES PLACES
Agnès Varda, JR and Rosalie Varda
ICARUS
Bryan Fogel and Dan Cogan
LAST MEN IN ALEPPO
Feras Fayyad, Kareem Abeed and Søren Steen Jespersen
STRONG ISLAND
Yance Ford and Joslyn Barnes
DOCUMENTARY (SHORT SUBJECT)
NOMINEES
EDITH+EDDIE
Laura Checkoway and Thomas Lee Wright
HEAVEN IS A TRAFFIC JAM ON THE 405
Frank Stiefel
HEROIN(E)
Elaine McMillion Sheldon and Kerrin Sheldon
KNIFE SKILLS
Thomas Lennon
TRAFFIC STOP
Kate Davis and David Heilbroner
FILM EDITING
NOMINEES
BABY DRIVER
Paul Machliss and Jonathan Amos
DUNKIRK
Lee Smith
I, TONYA
Tatiana S. Riegel
THE SHAPE OF WATER
Sidney Wolinsky
THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI
Jon Gregory
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
NOMINEES
A FANTASTIC WOMAN
Chile
THE INSULT
Lebanon
LOVELESS
Russia
ON BODY AND SOUL
Hungary
THE SQUARE
Sweden
MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
NOMINEES
DARKEST HOUR
Kazuhiro Tsuji, David Malinowski and Lucy Sibbick
VICTORIA & ABDUL
Daniel Phillips and Lou Sheppard
WONDER
Arjen Tuiten
MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)
NOMINEES
DUNKIRK
Hans Zimmer
PHANTOM THREAD
Jonny Greenwood
THE SHAPE OF WATER
Alexandre Desplat
STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI
John Williams
THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI
Carter Burwell
MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG)
NOMINEES
MIGHTY RIVER
from Mudbound; Music and Lyric by Mary J. Blige, Raphael Saadiq and Taura Stinson
MYSTERY OF LOVE
from Call Me by Your Name; Music and Lyric by Sufjan Stevens
REMEMBER ME
from Coco; Music and Lyric by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez
STAND UP FOR SOMETHING
from Marshall; Music by Diane Warren; Lyric by Lonnie R. Lynn and Diane Warren
THIS IS ME
from The Greatest Showman; Music and Lyric by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul
BEST PICTURE
NOMINEES
CALL ME BY YOUR NAME
Peter Spears, Luca Guadagnino, Emilie Georges and Marco Morabito, Producers
DARKEST HOUR
Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Lisa Bruce, Anthony McCarten and Douglas Urbanski, Producers
DUNKIRK
Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan, Producers
GET OUT
Sean McKittrick, Jason Blum, Edward H. Hamm Jr. and Jordan Peele, Producers
LADY BIRD
Scott Rudin, Eli Bush and Evelyn O'Neill, Producers
PHANTOM THREAD
JoAnne Sellar, Paul Thomas Anderson, Megan Ellison and Daniel Lupi, Producers
THE POST
Amy Pascal, Steven Spielberg and Kristie Macosko Krieger, Producers
THE SHAPE OF WATER
Guillermo del Toro and J. Miles Dale, Producers
THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI
Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin and Martin McDonagh, Producers



PRODUCTION DESIGN
NOMINEES
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
Production Design: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
BLADE RUNNER 2049
Production Design: Dennis Gassner; Set Decoration: Alessandra Querzola
DARKEST HOUR
Production Design: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
DUNKIRK
Production Design: Nathan Crowley; Set Decoration: Gary Fettis
THE SHAPE OF WATER
Production Design: Paul Denham Austerberry; Set Decoration: Shane Vieau and Jeff Melvin
SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)
NOMINEES
DEAR BASKETBALL
Glen Keane and Kobe Bryant
GARDEN PARTY
Victor Caire and Gabriel Grapperon
LOU
Dave Mullins and Dana Murray
NEGATIVE SPACE
Max Porter and Ru Kuwahata
REVOLTING RHYMES
Jakob Schuh and Jan Lachauer
SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)
NOMINEES
DEKALB ELEMENTARY
Reed Van Dyk
THE ELEVEN O'CLOCK
Derin Seale and Josh Lawson
MY NEPHEW EMMETT
Kevin Wilson, Jr.
THE SILENT CHILD
Chris Overton and Rachel Shenton
WATU WOTE/ALL OF US
Katja Benrath and Tobias Rosen
SOUND EDITING
NOMINEES
BABY DRIVER
Julian Slater
BLADE RUNNER 2049
Mark Mangini and Theo Green
DUNKIRK
Richard King and Alex Gibson
THE SHAPE OF WATER
Nathan Robitaille and Nelson Ferreira
STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI
Matthew Wood and Ren Klyce
SOUND MIXING
NOMINEES
BABY DRIVER
Julian Slater, Tim Cavagin and Mary H. Ellis
BLADE RUNNER 2049
Ron Bartlett, Doug Hemphill and Mac Ruth
DUNKIRK
Mark Weingarten, Gregg Landaker and Gary A. Rizzo
THE SHAPE OF WATER
Christian Cooke, Brad Zoern and Glen Gauthier
STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI
David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Stuart Wilson
VISUAL EFFECTS
NOMINEES
BLADE RUNNER 2049
John Nelson, Gerd Nefzer, Paul Lambert and Richard R. Hoover
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2
Christopher Townsend, Guy Williams, Jonathan Fawkner and Dan Sudick
KONG: SKULL ISLAND
Stephen Rosenbaum, Jeff White, Scott Benza and Mike Meinardus
STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI
Ben Morris, Mike Mulholland, Neal Scanlan and Chris Corbould
WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES
Joe Letteri, Daniel Barrett, Dan Lemmon and Joel Whist
WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY)
NOMINEES
CALL ME BY YOUR NAME
Screenplay by James Ivory
THE DISASTER ARTIST
Screenplay by Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber
LOGAN
Screenplay by Scott Frank & James Mangold and Michael Green; Story by James Mangold
MOLLY'S GAME
Written for the screen by Aaron Sorkin
MUDBOUND
Screenplay by Virgil Williams and Dee Rees
WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY)
NOMINEES
THE BIG SICK
Written by Emily V. Gordon & Kumail Nanjiani
GET OUT
Written by Jordan Peele
LADY BIRD
Written by Greta Gerwig
THE SHAPE OF WATER
Screenplay by Guillermo del Toro & Vanessa Taylor; Story by Guillermo del Toro
THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI
Written by Martin McDonagh