Angry Young Men - A Review.

 

"Main aaj bhi feke hue paise nahi uthata"- Deewar

 "Jab tak baithne ko na kaha jaaye sharafat se khade raho. Yeh police station hai tumhare baap ka ghar nahi."-Zanjeer

 "Don ka intezar toh gyarah mulkon ki police kar rahi hai.Lekin….. ek baat samajh lo Don ko pakadna mushkil hi nahi, namumkin hai"- Don

 "Aaj mere paas paisa hai, bangla hai, gaadi hai, naukar hai, bank balance hai, aur tumhare paas kya hai?"-Deewar

These iconic dialogues with new storylines reinvented the Bollywood formula, which was romance-centric with a new kind of anti-hero, introducing the "Angry Young Man" in 70's Bollywood, revolutionizing Indian Cinema.

The legendary duo writers Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar single-handedly created this creative shift of popularizing the action-drama genre when they kickstarted the dawn of the "Angry Young Man" with Zanjeer.

Hence, appropriately, a documentary about these two writers and creators, Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar, is called "Angry Young Men." I guess Amitabh Bachchan, who was the face of the "Angry Young Man" and immortalized it, will have to title his life series differently one day ;)

This three-part documentary series produced by the duo's kids, Bollywood actors Salman Khan, Farhan Akhtar, director Zoya Akhtar and others, is on Amazon Prime. Directed by Namrata Rao, it walks through the personal and professional journeys of screenplay writer Salim Khan and dialog writer Javed Akhtar while exploring their partnership as "Salim-Javed," who wrote 24 films together, 22 of which were blockbusters!

The series captures nostalgic memories of their early lives, their coming together as a team, their movies, and their iconic dialogues, which were engraved in the minds of Indian audiences and became common parlance. We hear them talking about their philosophies, vulnerabilities, and personal lives reflected in some of their characters; their angry angst mirrored in the "Angry Young Man" and such. Special mention is the amazing story of their confidence in themselves and the need to get screenplay writers deserving recognition and credits on movie posters with cast and crew; they graffitied their names on film posters of Zanjeer across town. Despite sharing some movie trivia and details, the series keeps the curious cine fan skeptical about what caused their split and why the duo stopped working together.

But in retrospect, while seeing the series, when we think of the "Angry Young Man" in Bollywood cinema, we see the rise in the pattern of male-centric movies with no turning back!  In a conversation snippet, Jaya Bhaduri mentions she was initially uncomfortable and unsure of acting in a male-centric movie like Zanjeer but did it for Amitabh's sake.

But unknowingly, did the writers change Bollywood cinema, the audiences, and the culture towards male chauvinism and a patriarchal society? Though the conversation in the series talks about their screenplays having created strong female characters and not namby-pamby women, as Javed says, the persona-building process of the "Angry Young Man" left no space for women to have an equal share of space.

When you see the present-day ripple of the "Angry Young Man" characters in today's Indian film industry, they have left behind Salim- Javed's "little good and little bad anti-hero" to full-blown immoral misogynist heroes!   By creating the "Angry Young Man" action genre, they may be uncomfortable for being partially responsible Frankenstein creators of today's monster heroes in Arjun Reddy/Kabir Singh and Animal!

Check out the series on Amazon Prime.

 

 

Legally Blonde -Zilker Summer Musical 2024 -A Review

Every summer, for so many years living in Austin, we have enjoyed watching high-quality Broadway-grade productions on the open-air Zilker Hillside Theatre for free! The Shakespeare in the Park or the Zilker Theatre Productions (ZTP).

This summer, we had a fantastic Saturday evening at the Zilker Hillside Theatre with the ZTP show Legally Blonde. Based on the novel by Amanda Brown and the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Motion Picture "Legally Blonde" starring Reese Witherspoon.

Legally Blonde is the empowering story about how Elle Woods, a fashion major sorority girl, enrolls in Harvard Law School to win over her ex-boyfriend. She tackles stereotypes and faces skepticism from her peers and professors, but with unwavering optimism and the support of her new friends Emmet Forrest and her hairdresser friend Paulette, she discovers her true potential, passion, and power of the law degree. 

If you liked the movie Legally Blonde, you would love this theatre production with its lightweight and fun comedy, tongue-in-cheek dialogues and lyrics, high-energy songs and dance choreography, high-tempo music by Laurance O'Keefe and Nell Benjamin, fabulous, eye-catching costumes and pink ambiance lighting. 

Each of the actors has excellent performances, especially the lead actors Megan Hudson as Elle Woods and Will Mallick as Emmet Forrest, and Ashtyn Kahn as Paulette. Besides being pretty in pink, Megan brought out the ethos and spirit of Elle and Reese perfectly.

Elles's empowering journey of self-discovery, perseverance, staying true to oneself, optimism, and shattering stereotypes are excellent themes that need to be echoed and embraced by all for true success.

Dressed in pink, with picnic blankets, picnic baskets with tuna bagel sandwiches, chips and dips, pretzels, snacks, banana bread, drinks, water, precautionary dabs of lavender oils, and mosquito repellant, and a pack of uno for pre-show entertainment, our family was ready for the fun evening. 

It was a hot evening, but the help desk gave out paper fans along with and the musical programs. I was also lucky to go backstage to meet a friend who supervises the costumes and wardrobe of the musical. At intermission, I even got an answer to my curious query of how Elle changed her costume on stage so fast when she was dress-shopping and prepping for her possible proposal. The astonishing answer is that magnets sewn on the dress snap together fast!

Zilker Theatre Productions Legally Blonde the Musical has been showing July 12 through August 18, 2024, Thursday to Sunday at 8.15 p.m. Blankets can be laid out starting at 6:00 p.m. to secure prime spots for the show. Arriving at 6:50 p.m., we found a slightly diagonal spot with a decent view.

Since it was a Saturday, it drew large crowds, and more than 1000 people were watching this entertaining musical. We saw some familiar faces but because of the large crowd we couldn't spot some of our friends who were there as well.

Zilker summer musicals have been an Austin Tradition since 1959, when Austin's Parks and Recreation Department created it as an annual project. Sustaining the legacy of serving the Austin community through the magic of performing, these theatre productions make the arts accessible, with Broadway-grade productions inspiring artists and audiences and celebrating the spirit of community.   They welcome donations and during intermission, the cast comes out to the Hillside with buckets for donations, too. The program also has QR codes to donate electronically. 

FYI, if you are a dog lover, with the help of the Austin Animal Center, you can adopt one of the animal stars of ZTP's Legally Blonde- The Musical.

 So, get your friends and family together, pack a picnic and head to the Zilker Hillside Theatre- its and experience you won't want to miss. Last day of the show is August 17, 2024.

Jawan stands up!

 Jawan stands up!

Jawan-movie review

• Starring: Shah Rukh Khan, Nayanthara, Vijay Sethupathi, Deepika padukone, Sanjay dutt, Sanya Malhotra, Priyamani 
• Director: Atlee
• Screenplay by Atlee, S. Ramanagirivasan
• Story: Atlee
• Dialogs: Sumit Arora
• Producers: Gauri Khan, Gaurav Verma
• Cinematography:  G. K. Vishnu
• Edited by Ruben
• Music by Anirudh Ravichander
• Rating: ***

(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!)

Not many celebrities in India are brave enough to take a stand or take a mantle to raise awareness, denounce social and political injustices, or point fingers at a broken system.  Shahrukh Khan, using his stardom and charisma in collaboration with Director Atlee, stands as the avenger and vigilante in Jawan for social and political justice and tries to shake the Indian audiences out of the lull to come together for the greater good. 

While he is at it, he also makes a personal retaliatory statement about the persecution of his son with a dialog in the movie- “Bete ko haath lagane se pehle, baap se baat kar.”

Jawan is a soldier, a jailor, and a Robin Hood-style vigilante. His agenda is to expose the recent happenings with faulty systems and improve the lives of the common man. He tries to right the wrongs caused by - the Ministry of Agriculture with the sad plight of the suicidal farmers burdened by debt; - the Health Ministry and their insensitivity to provide government hospitals with infrastructure like simple oxygen cylinders and wrongful blaming the doctor for deaths instead of the real offenders; the faulty weapons in warfare due to underhand arms deals leading to loss of soldiers lives; political deals with billionaire businessmen; and such….All simultaneously with action adventures, high-speed chases, and hostage takeovers of the masked hero & his girl squad of avengers with guns and tech gadgets.

The big negative was the long list of wrongs to right sequenced to fit into one movie, cramming it a little. With the movie already stretched to 169 minutes, the transitions between each tragic flashback story and action-adventures to fix those wrongs were too quick that it lost out on making an emotional impact and meaningful connection. 

But hopefully, if SRK’s fervent speech on democracy and the power of a single vote to help bring about a better tomorrow has influenced the audiences, it’s the biggest positive!

The director Atlee, did an excellent job of representing all Indian audiences, races, religions, and castes in his imagery from the north to the south to the east to west, showcasing the diversity of India.  Though he is known for his blockbuster movies confronting social issues, in this agenda to expose the long list of events that have unfolded in India docu-drama style, he didn’t work his magic effectively in Jawan. Lacking the seamless blending of social messages, emotions, and action affected the movie’s entertainment value.

The South Indian Directors’ influence on the music and choreography is visible in the songs.  ‘Challaya,’ ‘Not Ramaya Vastavaya,’ and ‘Zinda are good but not showstopping numbers.

While SRK in Jawan comes out sometimes as the vigilante Amitabh Bachchan of ‘Shehanshah,’ ‘Agneepath,’ and ‘Akhri Rashta,’ he pleases all audiences across the country by channeling even the South Indian superstar Rajnikanth and his iconic moves with cigar and stunts with motorcycles.

Shahrukh Khan proves himself as a feminist again in Jawan (besides in Pathan) when the women in the movie have an equal footing and show women empowerment. Deepika shines in the small role, while Nayantara also emerges as a strong character. However, Nayantara lacks the same romantic chemistry with SRK. His girl squad, like Charlie’s Angles with Sanya Malhotra, Priyamani,  Sanjeeta Bhattacharya, Girija Oak, and Lehar Khan, are outstanding, but their characters were a little underwritten due to excessive story jamming.

Vijay Sethupathi is a well-known South Indian actor, but maybe due to difficulty in adapting to the language or whatever reason, he doesn't have a strong villainous impact.

SRK, as the soldier, was outstanding and outshined the younger CGI’ed jailor SRK. But what is remarkable is not talking about his acting prowess but his courage to get off beyond the screen and play a ‘true real-life hero,’ exposing the wrongs in today's India.

 

An Action Hero- Movie Review

• Directed by Anirudh Iyer
• Written by Neeraj Yadav
• Story by Anirudh Iyer
• Produced by Bhushan Kumar, Krishan Kumar, Aanand L. Rai
• Starring: Ayushmann Khurrana, Jaideep Ahlawat
• Cinematography: Kaushal Shah
• Edited by Ninad Khanolkar
• Music by Parag Chhabra, Sunny M. R.
• Release date:2 December 2022
• Running time:130 minutes
• Language: Hindi
• Genre: Action Comedy, Satire
• Rating:3/5 
• (The aim and intention of my review 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!)

Lights-camera-action. The action hero throws a punch, shoots bullets, kicks butt, and does his own stunts. This is because the actor is not just playing the part of an action hero, he is living it. When an incident occurs for the hero to escape reel life to real life he has not escaped the baddies chasing him.

An Action Hero is a thrilling cat-and-mouse chase between actor Manaav (Ayushman Khurana) and revenge-seeking small-town politician Bhoora Solanki (Jaideep Ahlawat). It has a well-written, fast-paced plot, comic wit, spunky dialog, punchy, sharp satire, and commentary.

 Yes, there is commentary. Ayushman Khurana, with his mission and hope of improving the world, tackling social evil, and breaking societal norms through movies, imparts another underlining message.  

The movie has incisive and acute observations about politics and politicians showing off power; the rich and affluent society’s expectations of Bollywood celebrities to dance to their tunes; obsession and entitlement of fans' beliefs that they are the makers of the actors’ celebrity status; underworld references; capriciousness of media who can make you from famous to infamous; satire of how media and TRP obsessed news channels and irritating TV anchors are weaponizing media, especially against Bollywood with the dig at the use of #BoycottBollywood for many recent movies.

Director Anirudh Iyer stages the Tom and Jerry kind of play between Khurana and Ahlawat. Where one is trying to kill his opponent, but also getting pally with him! Both the actors Khurana and Ahlawat have strong performances. Jaideep Ahlavat, with his fierce broody looks delivering comic dialogs or revealing unsureness of his revenge intent, was an excellent juxtaposition. Of the umpteen Bollywood action hero possibilities, Ayushman Khurana was perfectly chosen. He is buffed and fit, but importantly he is among the few actors who appear relatable and vulnerable, playing the part of an action hero very well in reel life and real life.

An interesting aspect you notice is this movie doesn’t have any females in the leading cast. Malika Arora is still her hot self in the reprised version of Nazia Hassan’s song  Aap Jaisa Koi ….. Nora Fatehi features her sexy strut in Jehda Nasha as the numbers roll.

This action comedy is now on Netflix and is definitely worth a watch.

 

 

 

Pathaan -Movie review

 

• Directed by Siddharth Anand
• Written by Shridhar Raghavan, Abbas Tyrewala
• Story by Siddharth Anand
• Produced by Aditya Chopra
• Starring:     
• ShahRukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, John Abraham
• Cinematography Satchith Paulose
• Edited by Aarif Sheikh
• Music by Songs: Vishal–Shekhar
• Score: Sanchit Balhara, Ankit Balhara
• Production company: Yash Raj Films
• Distributed by       Yash Raj Films
• Release date: 25 January 2023
• Running time:146 minutes
• Language: Hindi, Telugu, Tamil
• Genre: Action/ Thriller
• Trailer: https://youtu.be/vqu4z34wENw
• Rating:3.5 /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!)

Pathaan is a high-octane Spy thriller, too true to the genre. It is an action-filled entertainer with adrenaline rush thrills, exhilarating adventure, and gravity-defying stunts in the air, land, snow, ice, and water! It practically check-marks all the action sequences possible in any movie of this genre! LOL, I am not kidding; I have listed it below and still feel I missed out a bunch from my memory…. You are promised a total visual treat from the action to the actors;)

 It’s a movie where your favorite Bollywood hero of romance is reinvented as the action hero with chiseled six-pack abs, long locks of hair/a man bun, with suave daredevil moves but, of course, still packed with the SRK charm;)

 This spy thriller is like James Bond meets Mission Impossible, Fast and Furious, and Captain America! With high doses of eye candy, action, thrills, drama, and patriotism! The story involves an Indian secret agent putting together a team of agents to fight international crime and terrorism, hopping across countries, and indulging in games of revenge and betrayal with rogue agents and spies of another country.  Do we have a logical and rational plot? No, it’s best to ignore it and not take all that seriously. Just get visually entertained ;)

  

Listed are the ever-so-many Action Sequences:

 

• þ  Hand-to-hand combat
• þ  Guns, Knives, and Glass bottle Fights
• þ  Missiles & Rockets
• þ  Bombs & Explosions
• þ  Biowarfare 
• þ  Waterboarding & Torture
• þ  Car Chase: Hummer vs. Dodge Charger
• þ  Fight Scene on top of SUVs & Trucks
• þ  Helicopter Chases, Fights, and Hanging from Helicopters
• þ  Zip Lining between Helicopters
• þ  Hanging from Glider Airplanes
• þ  Mid-Air Chase in self-propelled Flying Jet Wingsuits 
• þ  Fight scene on Top of the Moving Train; Fight scene in Moving Train
• þ  Bridge with train tracks burning; running up the falling train bogies
• þ  High-security vault Heist
• þ  Motorbike Chase on Snow
• þ  Motorbiking on a Frozen Lake
• þ  Ice skating on a Frozen Lake
• þ  Underwater Rescue
• þ  Hologram technology
• þ  Cliff Jumping         
• þ  Rappelling on high-rise glass skyscrapers  

 

Director Siddharth Anand presents Pathaan like a Hollywoodesque superhero movie for the YashRaj Spy Universe Series. Some accolades go to the multiple stunt directors in the cast. At the same time, the writers Shridhar Raghavan and Abbas Tyrewala write into the movie some humor and dialog with a few old SRK movie references, which he smoothly glides in with his charm and wit.

 

Shahrukh Khan works well as the six-packed abs tough but vulnerable Superhero, not the indestructible kind. He is the type who gets beaten up but still comes out as the chivalrous hero who saves the day. It looks like he has carved new ways and roles to shine in Bollywood at 57. Despite SRK being the protagonist, the movie balances out prime time with John Abraham as the handsome villain with his own set of chiseled Abs, tattoos, strength, moves, and subtle humor (I love his joke about dating among spies) Adding to the battle of equals is Deepika who gives off sexy, sultry glam with kick-ass action moves. She proves she is not just some eye candy or love interest but another action hero!

The songs Jhoome JoPathaan and Besharam Rang (with the orange bikini, controversial for ridiculous non-reasons) are visually appealing in the cinematography and choreography, while the music by Vishal-Shekar and the lyrics are reflective of the action thriller.

 

Lastly, don’t miss the fun cameo of Shahrukh Khan and Salman Khan discussing Bollywood after the numbers roll.

 

Recommend checking it out in theatres for the visual treat from the action to the actors;)

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oscar Nominations 2023

 The Oscar nominations are listed below, time to start checking out the movies and start rating your favorites...

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

AUSTIN BUTLER-ELVIS
COLIN FARRELL-THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN
BRENDAN FRASER-THE WHALE
PAUL MESCAL-AFTERSUN
BILL NIGHY-LIVING

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

BRENDAN GLEESON-THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN
BRIAN TYREE HENRY-CAUSEWAY
JUDD HIRSCH-THE FABELMANS
BARRY KEOGHAN-THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN
KE HUY QUAN-EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

CATE BLANCHETT-Tár
ANA DE ARMAS-Blonde
ANDREA RISEBOROUGH-To Leslie
MICHELLE WILLIAMS-The Fabelmans
MICHELLE YEOH-Everything Everywhere All at Once

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

ANGELA BASSETT
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
HONG CHAU
The Whale
KERRY CONDON
The Banshees of Inisherin
JAMIE LEE CURTIS
Everything Everywhere All at Once
STEPHANIE HSU
Everything Everywhere All at Once

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

NOMINEES

GUILLERMO DEL TORO'S PINOCCHIO
Guillermo del Toro, Mark Gustafson, Gary Ungar and Alex Bulkley
MARCEL THE SHELL WITH SHOES ON
Dean Fleischer Camp, Elisabeth Holm, Andrew Goldman, Caroline Kaplan and Paul Mezey
PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH
Joel Crawford and Mark Swift
THE SEA BEAST
Chris Williams and Jed Schlanger
TURNING RED
Domee Shi and Lindsey Collins

CINEMATOGRAPHY

NOMINEES

ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT
James Friend
BARDO, FALSE CHRONICLE OF A HANDFUL OF TRUTHS
Darius Khondji
ELVIS
Mandy Walker
EMPIRE OF LIGHT
Roger Deakins
TÁR
Florian Hoffmeister

COSTUME DESIGN

NOMINEES

BABYLON
Mary Zophres
BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER
Ruth Carter
ELVIS
Catherine Martin
EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE
Shirley Kurata
MRS. HARRIS GOES TO PARIS
Jenny Beavan

DIRECTING

THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN
Martin McDonagh
EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE
Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert
THE FABELMANS
Steven Spielberg
TÁR
Todd Field
TRIANGLE OF SADNESS
Ruben Östlund

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE FILM

ALL THAT BREATHES
Shaunak Sen, Aman Mann and Teddy Leifer
ALL THE BEAUTY AND THE BLOODSHED
Laura Poitras, Howard Gertler, John Lyons, Nan Goldin and Yoni Golijov
FIRE OF LOVE
Sara Dosa, Shane Boris and Ina Fichman
A HOUSE MADE OF SPLINTERS
Simon Lereng Wilmont and Monica Hellström
NAVALNY
Daniel Roher, Odessa Rae, Diane Becker, Melanie Miller and Shane Boris

DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM

THE ELEPHANT WHISPERERS
Kartiki Gonsalves and Guneet Monga
HAULOUT
Evgenia Arbugaeva and Maxim Arbugaev
HOW DO YOU MEASURE A YEAR?
Jay Rosenblatt
THE MARTHA MITCHELL EFFECT
Anne Alvergue and Beth Levison
STRANGER AT THE GATE
Joshua Seftel and Conall Jones

FILM EDITING

THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN
Mikkel E.G. Nielsen
ELVIS
Matt Villa and Jonathan Redmond
EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE
Paul Rogers
TÁR
Monika Willi
TOP GUN: MAVERICK
Eddie Hamilton

INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM

ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT
Germany
ARGENTINA, 1985
Argentina
CLOSE
Belgium
EO
Poland
THE QUIET GIRL
Ireland

MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING

ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT
Heike Merker and Linda Eisenhamerová
THE BATMAN
Naomi Donne, Mike Marino and Mike Fontaine
BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER
Camille Friend and Joel Harlow
ELVIS
Mark Coulier, Jason Baird and Aldo Signoretti
THE WHALE
Adrien Morot, Judy Chin and Anne Marie Bradley

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)

NOMINEES

ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT
Volker Bertelmann
BABYLON
Justin Hurwitz
THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN
Carter Burwell
EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE
Son Lux
THE FABELMANS
John Williams

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG)

APPLAUSE
from Tell It like a Woman; Music and Lyric by Diane Warren
HOLD MY HAND
from Top Gun: Maverick; Music and Lyric by Lady Gaga and BloodPop
LIFT ME UP
from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever; Music by Tems, Rihanna, Ryan Coogler and Ludwig Goransson; Lyric by Tems and Ryan Coogler

NAATU NAATU
from RRR; Music by M.M. Keeravaani; Lyric by Chandrabose
THIS IS A LIFE
from Everything Everywhere All at Once; Music by Ryan Lott, David Byrne and Mitski; Lyric by Ryan Lott and David Byrne

BEST PICTURE

NOMINEES

ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT
Malte Grunert, Producer
AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER
James Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers
THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN
Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin and Martin McDonagh, Producers
ELVIS
Baz Luhrmann, Catherine Martin, Gail Berman, Patrick McCormick and Schuyler Weiss, Producers
EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE
Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert and Jonathan Wang, Producers
THE FABELMANS
Kristie Macosko Krieger, Steven Spielberg and Tony Kushner, Producers
TÁR
Todd Field, Alexandra Milchan and Scott Lambert, Producers

TOP GUN: MAVERICK
Tom Cruise, Christopher McQuarrie, David Ellison and Jerry Bruckheimer, Producers
TRIANGLE OF SADNESS
Erik Hemmendorff and Philippe Bober, Producers
WOMEN TALKING
Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner and Frances McDormand, Producers

PRODUCTION DESIGN

NOMINEES

ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT
Production Design: Christian M. Goldbeck; Set Decoration: Ernestine Hipper
AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER
Production Design: Dylan Cole and Ben Procter; Set Decoration: Vanessa Cole
BABYLON
Production Design: Florencia Martin; Set Decoration: Anthony Carlino
ELVIS
Production Design: Catherine Martin and Karen Murphy; Set Decoration: Bev Dunn
THE FABELMANS
Production Design: Rick Carter; Set Decoration: Karen O'Hara

SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)

NOMINEES

THE BOY, THE MOLE, THE FOX AND THE HORSE
Charlie Mackesy and Matthew Freud
THE FLYING SAILOR
Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby
ICE MERCHANTS
João Gonzalez and Bruno Caetano
MY YEAR OF DICKS
Sara Gunnarsdóttir and Pamela Ribon
AN OSTRICH TOLD ME THE WORLD IS FAKE AND I THINK I BELIEVE IT
Lachlan Pendragon

SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)

NOMINEES

AN IRISH GOODBYE
Tom Berkeley and Ross White
IVALU
Anders Walter and Rebecca Pruzan
LE PUPILLE
Alice Rohrwacher and Alfonso Cuarón
NIGHT RIDE
Eirik Tveiten and Gaute Lid Larssen
THE RED SUITCASE
Cyrus Neshvad

SOUND

NOMINEES

ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT
Viktor Prášil, Frank Kruse, Markus Stemler, Lars Ginzel and Stefan Korte
AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER
Julian Howarth, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Dick Bernstein, Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers and Michael Hedges
THE BATMAN
Stuart Wilson, William Files, Douglas Murray and Andy Nelson
ELVIS
David Lee, Wayne Pashley, Andy Nelson and Michael Keller
TOP GUN: MAVERICK
Mark Weingarten, James H. Mather, Al Nelson, Chris Burdon and Mark Taylor

VISUAL EFFECTS

NOMINEES

ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT
Frank Petzold, Viktor Müller, Markus Frank and Kamil Jafar
AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER
Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon and Daniel Barrett
THE BATMAN
Dan Lemmon, Russell Earl, Anders Langlands and Dominic Tuohy
BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER
Geoffrey Baumann, Craig Hammack, R. Christopher White and Dan Sudick
TOP GUN: MAVERICK
Ryan Tudhope, Seth Hill, Bryan Litson and Scott R. Fisher

WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY)

NOMINEES

ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT
Screenplay - Edward Berger, Lesley Paterson & Ian Stokell
GLASS ONION: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY
Written by Rian Johnson
LIVING
Written by Kazuo Ishiguro
TOP GUN: MAVERICK
Screenplay by Ehren Kruger and Eric Warren Singer and Christopher McQuarrie; Story by Peter Craig and Justin Marks
WOMEN TALKING
Screenplay by Sarah Polley

WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY)

NOMINEES

THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN
Written by Martin McDonagh
EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE
Written by Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert
THE FABELMANS
Written by Steven Spielberg & Tony Kushner
TÁR
Written by Todd Field
TRIANGLE OF SADNESS
Written by Ruben Östlund

Gangubai Kathiawadi – Review

 

Gangubai Kathiawadi – Review

 

• Direction: Sanjay Leela Bhansali
• Screenplay: Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Utkarshini Vashishtha
• Dialogue: Prakash Kapadia, Utkarshini Vashishtha
• Story: Hussain Zaidi (story is based on a chapter from the Book- “Mafia Queens of Mumbai: Stories of women from the ganglands” written by Hussain Zaidi & Jane Borges)
• Producers: Jayantilal Gada, Sanjay Leela Bhansali
• Starring: Alia Bhatt, Shantanu Maheshwari, Vijay Raaz, Indira Tiwari, Seema Pahwa, Ajay Devgn (Guest Appearance)
• Cinematography: Sudeep Chatterjee
• Editing: Sanjay Leela Bhansali
• Music: Sanchit Balhara, Ankit Balhara
• Movie Release: Feb 25, 2022
• Genre: Drama; loosely based on real life story.
• Length: 154 mins
• Review: Birjis Adeni Rashed
• 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!)

White is the color of clouds, pearls, milk, snow, salt, paper, ice, swans…..it’s not just an illustrious  dialogue of the movie,  the color white is an unblemished marker for purity and I guess it can help illuminate the literal and figurative ills of society!  Hence Sanjay Leela Bhansali may have chosen the color white to clad the queen of the red-light district in shades of pristine white in stark contradiction to dark views on prostitution and sex trade.

 Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s artistry is not limited to the lead character of Gangubai, but reflected in the whole set and visual scenery. All the large scale scenes have the grandeur and aura of white and his whole movie has a white color scheme elevating the protagonist to a larger stature.

The movie is loosely based on the real life of Gangubai Kathiawadi. Based on the chapter The Matriarch of Kamathipura of the book Mafia Queens of Mumbai, written by S Hussain Zaidi and Jane Borges.  It chronicles the journey of a young, small town girl who gets conned with lure of Bollywood dreams to be sold in the lanes of Kamathipura, Bombay’s notorious red-light district.  Staging through the shameful, sad, painful times, to the strong fight- for- her- life stage, to an activist and advocate for the rights of fellow sex workers, to the queen of Kamathipura, crusading for the sex worker community, and lobbying for legalization of prostitution. Her journey is loaded with challenges, vile brothel madams, conflicting opponents, social stigma, police and politics which builds her to stand up strong for basic rights to education, banking, equality and dignity, for the sex workers and their children.

The empowered and feminist Gangubai who supports her sisterhood is nicely reflected in the equally powerful, feminist Bollywood movie about her, with exceptionally fiery dialogs, getting mouthed out by the female lead protagonist. Such audacity of strength and power used to be reserved for angry young man roles, in Amitabh Bachchan like movies only….. Towering applause goes to the dialog writers Prakash Kapadia, Utkarshini Vashishtha for all the remarkable and outstanding dialogs. Interestingly the feministic part is reflected in paradox of how a sex worker like Gangubai shows importance of consent. Her love interest waits for her consent, the policeman is scared to touch her feet, and the goon is beaten up for trying to get violent with her. 

 And finally it’s time to applaud Alia Bhatt for her brilliant acting skills. She would not have been the first Bollywood actress one thinks of for a role of a sex worker.  But she has matured and grown as an actress to depict such complex emotions from pain to joy, fear to strength, shining in every moment. Her paused and impactful dialog delivery, her sweet expressions and confident swagger in this movie show she has the acting chops perfected.

 Ajay Devgn shows strength and power in his strut and gait in his brief role as the upright Pathan-don Rahim Lala. Jim Sarbh with his role as an encouraging journalist with his subtle performance adds interesting interludes. Seema Pahwa as the vile brothel madam, Vijay Raaz as the Trans Razia add some melodrama. Scenes with Indira Tiwari, Gangu’s friend, are full of pathos and pain, be it the letter writing one, in sickness, or the dead scene. Shantanu Maheswari as the shy love interest of Gangubai brings some old fashioned sweet and shy romance and cute moments to the movie to contrast the sad, bruised and tragic realities.

Bhansali who is known for his genius of visual production, adds glamour and grandeur and artfully downplays the painful details, suffering, sexual exploits and exploitations of sex workers.

Gangubai Kathiawadi is a well done movie and worth a watch. It’s in theatres now if you want to enjoy Bhansali’s visual artistry and Alia Bhatt’s larger than life role. It will be also released on Netflix later in the month.

 

 Gangubai Kathiawadi Trailer:

Oscar Nominations 2022

 

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

NOMINEES

JAVIER BARDEM

Being the Ricardos 

BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH

The Power of the Dog

ANDREW GARFIELD

tick, tick...BOOM!

WILL SMITH

King Richard

DENZEL WASHINGTON

The Tragedy of Macbeth

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

NOMINEES

CIARÁN HINDS

Belfast

TROY KOTSUR

CODA

JESSE PLEMONS

The Power of the Dog

J.K. SIMMONS

Being the Ricardos

KODI SMIT-MCPHEE

The Power of the Dog

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

NOMINEES

JESSICA CHASTAIN

The Eyes of Tammy Faye

OLIVIA COLMAN

The Lost Daughter

PENÉLOPE CRUZ

Parallel Mothers

NICOLE KIDMAN

Being the Ricardos

KRISTEN STEWART

Spencer

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

NOMINEES

JESSIE BUCKLEY

The Lost Daughter

ARIANA DEBOSE

West Side Story

JUDI DENCH

Belfast

KIRSTEN DUNST

The Power of the Dog

AUNJANUE ELLIS

King Richard

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

NOMINEES

ENCANTO

Jared Bush, Byron Howard, Yvett Merino and Clark Spencer

FLEE

Jonas Poher Rasmussen, Monica Hellström, Signe Byrge Sørensen and Charlotte De La Gournerie

LUCA

Enrico Casarosa and Andrea Warren

THE MITCHELLS VS. THE MACHINES

Mike Rianda, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller and Kurt Albrecht

RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON

Don Hall, Carlos López Estrada, Osnat Shurer and Peter Del Vecho

CINEMATOGRAPHY

NOMINEES

DUNE

Greig Fraser

NIGHTMARE ALLEY

Dan Laustsen

THE POWER OF THE DOG

Ari Wegner

THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH

Bruno Delbonnel

WEST SIDE STORY

Janusz Kaminski

COSTUME DESIGN

NOMINEES

CRUELLA

Jenny Beavan

CYRANO

Massimo Cantini Parrini and Jacqueline Durran

DUNE

Jacqueline West and Robert Morgan

NIGHTMARE ALLEY

Luis Sequeira

WEST SIDE STORY

Paul Tazewell

DIRECTING

NOMINEES

BELFAST

Kenneth Branagh

DRIVE MY CAR

Ryusuke Hamaguchi

LICORICE PIZZA

Paul Thomas Anderson

THE POWER OF THE DOG

Jane Campion

WEST SIDE STORY

Steven Spielberg

DOCUMENTARY (FEATURE)

NOMINEES

ASCENSION

Jessica Kingdon, Kira Simon-Kennedy and Nathan Truesdell

ATTICA

Stanley Nelson and Traci A. Curry

FLEE

Jonas Poher Rasmussen, Monica Hellström, Signe Byrge Sørensen and Charlotte De La Gournerie

SUMMER OF SOUL (...OR, WHEN THE REVOLUTION COULD NOT BE TELEVISED)

Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, Joseph Patel, Robert Fyvolent and David Dinerstein

WRITING WITH FIRE

Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh

DOCUMENTARY (SHORT SUBJECT)

NOMINEES

AUDIBLE

Matt Ogens and Geoff McLean

LEAD ME HOME

Pedro Kos and Jon Shenk

THE QUEEN OF BASKETBALL

Ben Proudfoot

THREE SONGS FOR BENAZIR

Elizabeth Mirzaei and Gulistan Mirzaei

WHEN WE WERE BULLIES

Jay Rosenblatt

FILM EDITING

NOMINEES

DON'T LOOK UP

Hank Corwin

DUNE

Joe Walker

KING RICHARD

Pamela Martin

THE POWER OF THE DOG

Peter Sciberras

TICK, TICK...BOOM!

Myron Kerstein and Andrew Weisblum

INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM

NOMINEES

DRIVE MY CAR

Japan

FLEE

Denmark

THE HAND OF GOD

Italy

LUNANA: A YAK IN THE CLASSROOM

Bhutan

THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD

Norway

MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING

NOMINEES

COMING 2 AMERICA

Mike Marino, Stacey Morris and Carla Farmer

CRUELLA

Nadia Stacey, Naomi Donne and Julia Vernon

DUNE

Donald Mowat, Love Larson and Eva von Bahr

THE EYES OF TAMMY FAYE

Linda Dowds, Stephanie Ingram and Justin Raleigh

HOUSE OF GUCCI

Göran Lundström, Anna Carin Lock and Frederic Aspiras

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)

NOMINEES

DON'T LOOK UP

Nicholas Britell

DUNE

Hans Zimmer

ENCANTO

Germaine Franco

PARALLEL MOTHERS

Alberto Iglesias

THE POWER OF THE DOG

Jonny Greenwood

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG)

NOMINEES

BE ALIVE

from King Richard; Music and Lyric by DIXSON and Beyoncé Knowles-Carter

DOS ORUGUITAS

from Encanto; Music and Lyric by Lin-Manuel Miranda

DOWN TO JOY

from Belfast; Music and Lyric by Van Morrison

NO TIME TO DIE

from No Time to Die; Music and Lyric by Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell

SOMEHOW YOU DO

from Four Good Days; Music and Lyric by Diane Warren

BEST PICTURE

NOMINEES

BelfAST

Laura Berwick, Kenneth Branagh, Becca Kovacik and Tamar Thomas, Producers

CODA

Philippe Rousselet, Fabrice Gianfermi and Patrick Wachsberger, Producers

DON'T LOOK UP

Adam McKay and Kevin Messick, Producers

DRIVE MY CAR

Teruhisa Yamamoto, Producer

DUNE

Mary Parent, Denis Villeneuve and Cale Boyter, Producers

KING RICHARD

Tim White, Trevor White and Will Smith, Producers

LICORICE PIZZA

Sara Murphy, Adam Somner and Paul Thomas Anderson, Producers

NIGHTMARE ALLEY

Guillermo del Toro, J. Miles Dale and Bradley Cooper, Producers

THE POWER OF THE DOG

Jane Campion, Tanya Seghatchian, Emile Sherman, Iain Canning and Roger Frappier, Producers

WEST SIDE STORY

Steven Spielberg and Kristie Macosko Krieger, Producers

PRODUCTION DESIGN

NOMINEES

DUNE

Production Design: Patrice Vermette; Set Decoration: Zsuzsanna Sipos

NIGHTMARE ALLEY

Production Design: Tamara Deverell; Set Decoration: Shane Vieau

THE POWER OF THE DOG

Production Design: Grant Major; Set Decoration: Amber Richards

THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH

Production Design: Stefan Dechant; Set Decoration: Nancy Haigh

WEST SIDE STORY

Production Design: Adam Stockhausen; Set Decoration: Rena DeAngelo

SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)

NOMINEES

AFFAIRS OF THE ART

Joanna Quinn and Les Mills

BESTIA

Hugo Covarrubias and Tevo Díaz

BOXBALLET

Anton Dyakov

ROBIN ROBIN

Dan Ojari and Mikey Please

THE WINDSHIELD WIPER

Alberto Mielgo and Leo Sanchez

SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)

NOMINEES

ALA KACHUU - TAKE AND RUN

Maria Brendle and Nadine Lüchinger

THE DRESS

Tadeusz Łysiak and Maciej Ślesicki

THE LONG GOODBYE

Aneil Karia and Riz Ahmed

ON MY MIND

Martin Strange-Hansen and Kim Magnusson

PLEASE HOLD

K.D. Dávila and Levin Menekse

SOUND

NOMINEES

BELFAST

Denise Yarde, Simon Chase, James Mather and Niv Adiri

DUNE

Mac Ruth, Mark Mangini, Theo Green, Doug Hemphill and Ron Bartlett

NO TIME TO DIE

Simon Hayes, Oliver Tarney, James Harrison, Paul Massey and Mark Taylor

THE POWER OF THE DOG

Richard Flynn, Robert Mackenzie and Tara Webb

WEST SIDE STORY

Tod A. Maitland, Gary Rydstrom, Brian Chumney, Andy Nelson and Shawn Murphy

VISUAL EFFECTS

NOMINEES

DUNE

Paul Lambert, Tristan Myles, Brian Connor and Gerd Nefzer

FREE GUY

Swen Gillberg, Bryan Grill, Nikos Kalaitzidis and Dan Sudick

NO TIME TO DIE

Charlie Noble, Joel Green, Jonathan Fawkner and Chris Corbould

SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS

Christopher Townsend, Joe Farrell, Sean Noel Walker and Dan Oliver

SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME

Kelly Port, Chris Waegner, Scott Edelstein and Dan Sudick

WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY)

NOMINEES

CODA

Screenplay by Siân Heder

DRIVE MY CAR

Screenplay by Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Takamasa Oe

DUNE

Screenplay by Jon Spaihts and Denis Villeneuve and Eric Roth

THE LOST DAUGHTER

Written by Maggie Gyllenhaal

THE POWER OF THE DOG

Written by Jane Campion

WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY)

NOMINEES

BELFAST

Written by Kenneth Branagh

DON'T LOOK UP

Screenplay by Adam McKay; Story by Adam McKay & David Sirota

KING RICHARD

Written by Zach Baylin

LICORICE PIZZA

Written by Paul Thomas Anderson

THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD

Written by Eskil Vogt, Joachim Trier