Cinematic Review: Dil Se...

So, everyone must have listened/watched the song Chaiyan Chaiyan, a song visualized on the running train, if not, well you are not a true Bollywood Fan.

The film 'Dil Se' is based on 7 shades of love from the Arabic Literature, namely, Attraction (Hub), Infatuation (Uns), Love (Ishq), Reverence (Aquidat), Worship (Ibaadat), Obsession (Junoon), Death (Maut). The genre of the film is Drama/ Romance. The film was released in the year 1998 and was directed by Mani Ratnam.

It has Shahrukh Khan and Manisha Koirala in the lead roles while Preity Zinta plays a supporting role in the film.

So, apart from fantastic story and melodious songs, the film has a social context attached to it. It works to bring the thought process in the minds of the audience to bring the social change in the country and be concerned about the plight of north-eastern states that they go through.

Also, the film has blended the culture of various places as it has been shot in different locations of India which has their own culture, for e.g.; Ladakh, New Delhi, Kerala, Bhutan and so on.

Historically, the film deals with the thought of north- eastern states who believe that the Indian Government had promised many things which aren't fulfilled and they also think, the only focus that government of India has on, is the capital city of India, i.e. New Delhi. It deals with criticizing the Indian Government and the military rule who persecute/rape the women, burn their houses and kill them too, So, the only concern of those victims is that they want their state to be separated under no rule of Indian Government. For that matter, they do not fear to suicide killings because they think:

ज़रूरी नहीं तुम अच्छे समाज में जन्म लो,

ज़रूरी ये है के दूसरों को एक बेहतर समाज देके विदा लो| 

The film has Shahrukh Khan as Amar Kant Verma as the protagonist, who is a passionate lover. His character goes through all the 7 shades of love in the entire movie and is transformed from a funny and dedicated person to passionate to a desperate lover and finally reaches to death. Also, he works in All India Radio. He interviews terrorists as a part of his job. He takes up a challenge to complete his task and he is dedicated towards his profession.

The film also has a female character, Meghna/ Moina, played by Manisha Koirala as the antagonist. The character of Manisha has been portrayed as a beautiful and innocent woman. Manisha Koirala, being one of the talented dramatic actress of film industry of India, has done a good justice to the role as an antagonist. In the film, she wears simple clothes with solid colors.

She is a kind of a character who has to focus on her mission of suicide attack but fails to express her love/desire towards Amar, the protagonist of the film.

Other actors played their best roles including Preity Zinta, Piyush Mishra, Raghubir Yadav, Aditya Srivastava and so on.

The dialogues of the film are written by Tigmanshu Dhulia ( who also has a small appearance at the counter in a scene). He wrote memorable dialogues keeping in mind, the love story and the terrorism factor and its perspective  to the story line. For e.g.

सिगरेट मत फेको, हिंदुस्तान किसी भी किस्म की बर्बादी को बर्दाश्त नहीं कर सकता|

or

कुछ लोग रेत पर लिखे नामों की तरह होते हैं, हवा का एक झोंका जिन्हें उड़ा देता है|

Talking about lyrics of the film, its written by legendary Gulzar Sahab. In every song of the film, his words works like a magic to the audience. Songs in this film are lovely compositions, like, E- Ajnabi, which has been used mostly in the background. It sets the mood while watching the film of such genre. The song, Satrangi Re has been able to depict the rawness and passion in its characters.

The background tunes are kept in such a way that it matches with the situation in the story line, Sukhwinder's (the singer) voice in the background works perfectly in various scenes in the film.

The costumes which are used in the entire film are casual but vary according to the weather conditions and the song sequences. For e.g. In Ladakh, the costumes are of winter season while in New Delhi, they are of summer season.

The film has been shot in various beautiful locations like in Ladakh, New Delhi, Kerala, Bhutan and so on.  

The color 'BLUE', is the recurring element that I have observed in the entire film, be it a night scene or the paint in the room or AIR's office. Look below:

If we talk about lighting, then both the kinds of lighting have been used in the entire film, high key and low key; wherever necessary. It gives more dramatic effect to the film. The scene of opening and closing of the door (look above) has been well composed and shot with the blue tint of low key lighting with the blend of high key lighting in it.

Editing in this film is much appreciable. For e.g.; When Meghna is narrating the story to Amar in the end, the blend of her face and the visuals behind it, it adds the variety to the film. The narration is well- maintained where Amar is injured and in the other scene, his marriage preparations has been depicted.

Artistic use of camera work has been done in the film. The shots used in the entire film are mind blowing. Different kinds of shots have been used from wide angle to close up shots. Close up shots are used for expressions of the subject. The cinematography by Santosh Sivan is well- applauded. The shots are taken in Ladakh, depict the beauty and peace with color contrast in it. The visualization of the song Chaiyan Chaiyan on train has been shot fantastically which was something new and creative level of thinking. The movements of the camera has been wonderfully handled at various scenes, especially when Amar catches Meghna and brings her to a fort in the end, the conversation between both of them has been shot through a track so as to move the camera round. Overall, Santosh Sivan has worked great and performed at his best shot.

Talking about symbolism aspect of the film, Green Patta on the terrorist group's forehead symbolizes the terrorism to the country but a sign of patriotism in their perspective.

The title of this film 'Dil Se...' is so apt that it actually do justice to the theme or story line of the film. The male lead has been depicted as a character who do/ think from his heart, whatever he do, be it love or hatred.

Dil Se... is a thought provoking film in the history of Indian Cinema. However, the film couldn't do well at the box office during those times but it is still considered as one of the best film to its audience. The film becomes poetic as this film was the first Bollywood film to depict the 7 shades of love.

Please, Please watch it! 

Review on Bicycle Thieves

‘Bicycle thieves’ is a 1948 Italian film directed by Vittorio De Sica. The film is of about 1 hour 30 minutes and is widely regarded as a masterpiece of Italian Neorealism (also known as Golden Age of Italian Cinema, is a national film movement characterized by stories set amongst the poor and the working class, filmed on location, using non professional actors. It focuses on real life economic conditions of Italy post World War II, representing changes in the Italian Psyche and conditions of everyday life such as, the poverty, oppression, desperation and injustice.)

The story of this film is easily told through real locations. The director De Sica has refrain himself to use any studio locations so as to depict the post WWII view in Italy. The film stars Lamberto Maggiorani as Antonio Ricci, who by the way, was not a professional actor, a man who joins a hopeless queue every morning looking for a job. One day, Ricci gets a job of pasting the cinema advertisements around the city on different walls which needs a bicycle.

The actress playing the role of Ricci’s wife believes in a Wise Woman, who predicts that her husband would get a job. So, to thank her, Maria, his wife goes to her place. However, Ricci advised her not to indulge in this kind of thing.

Now, on the very first day of his work, while pasting posters on the wall, he loses his bicycle. Noticing, his bicycle being stolen, he runs behind the thief but couldn’t reach him. The film focuses on the poverty, oppression and bad economic conditions of the country when having a bicycle for a job was the necessary vehicle to carry out his work especially for the job he took for the living. So, the earning of the character depends totally on the bicycle through which he can feed his family.

The family of Antonio Ricci consists of his wife Maria, his elder son Bruno, his infant son and the Antonio himself. The character of Bruno has been depicted like that of an innocent yet slightly clever child who accompanies his father in search of the bicycle. 

One of the scene aforementioned, can be described as a humorous, when water is pouring everywhere and Ricci and Bruno runs towards a shelter in order to save themselves from the rain, Bruno however, follows his father and falls on the ground. Antonio, unknowingly, stands with other people with his son.

The director of this film was successful in depicting the Italian Neorealism in Bicycle Thieves. In the film, eventually, Ricci spots the thief and pursues him into a brothel. The cop reaches the spot, but Ricci couldn’t do anything because of no witness that can be used to prove that his bicycle being stolen.

At the famous closing sequence of the film, Ricci is tempted to steal a bicycle himself, continuing the cycle of theft and poverty.

The character of Antonio Ricci is entirely driven by the class and economic need during the post World War II. Simple in construction and profoundly rich in human insight, ‘Bicycle Thieves’ embodies the greatest strengths of the Italian neorealist movement: emotional clarity, social rectitude, and brutal honesty.

The main characters of this film are showcased with brutal honesty and the righteousness in their attitude towards the life. However, the desperation of Ricci owning a bicycle leads to steal a bicycle for which he get caught up and beaten up by the people.

The director has shown the isolation and loneliness of the little man in this complex social world that is ironically blessed with institutions to comfort and protect mankind. Although he has again set his drama in the streets of Rome and has populated it densely with significant contemporary types. 

Every incident, every detail of the frantic and futile hunt is a taut and exciting adventure, in which hope is balanced against despair. Every movement of every person in it, every expression on every face is a striking illumination of some implicit passion or mood.

The music has been aptly written and used to raise the emotional potential—that accompanies the father and son, the music of rolling bicycles and the "morning music," full of freshness and bells. 

Also, this film had a great impact all over the world and especially on filmmakers of parallel cinema in India, Satyajit Ray's 'Apu Trilogy' and Bimal Roy's 'Do Bigha Zamin' was highly influenced by this film because of its neo-realism concept.

It’s a masterpiece film that every cinema lover should watch.

Faqat

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUoDINbMMXg

My first film got released on 12 March 2016. The film is purely a fiction depicting age gap love ( the other way). It focuses on breaking stereotype as what if woman is older than a man in a relationship?

Watch the film.
Share it with your friends and give us your feedback.

Thank You :)

Review on Documentary: The Tears Of India by Akhil Narayanan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K44moMv89Gg

(CHILD ISSUE)

Description of The Video:

This video shows that there has been some work going on in a dhaba. It shows the environment of a food outlet where people are having their food, the cook is busy making the same and there is a boy who is cleaning and picking up the utensils from the table. It’s been 4:35 pm in the clock. Then the video shows a boy (in his teenage) is sitting around the utensils in order to clean them. He cleans all the utensils. He holds all the utensils in his small hands but unfortunately they fall off on the floor from his hands. He becomes terrified. Suddenly another man appears from inside and slaps him and push him hard that he falls off on the floor. He starts crying.

Then the video shows some snaps of small children who lives on the road. And the message is been conveyed in the video itself that These Days A New Born India Is Having Large Effort To Sustain Their Life cause still we are suffering from lot of problems like:

Child Poverty, Child Labor, Street Children, Child marriage, Child disabilities etc.

HIGHLIGHTED POINTS IN THE VIDEO:

According to Mr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, there are two reasons for the underdevelopment of our country:

1: Negative media

Our media focuses on negative aspects of India but actually there is a need to publish positive articles regarding the development of our nation.

2: Effortless development

We blame our government for the under development of our nation but we forget that somewhere or the other we are also equally to be blame. We never steps out to help those people. Also, there is an effortless development where public do not make any effort to help the poor. We are unwilling to work.

We say that: 

1: Our govt. is inefficient

2: Our laws are too old

3: Our railway is a joke

4: The airlines is the worst

The director focuses on Child Issue because he thinks that today’s children are the future of India. We should have a positive attitude towards the development of our nation. He considers himself as behind the tears of India.

My Perspective on this issue:

We have lot of development issues which are prevailing in India. One of them is a CHILD ISSUE. We usually see children on the road who are deprived of what they should have. As the director points out some problems like Child Poverty, Child Labor, Street Children, Child marriage etc. these problems are becoming an obstacle in the development of our nation. We say Children are the futures of our country but today’s children are being deprived of happiness that they should have. Although we have reached on the moon but still we are far behind.

Review on Documentary Film: Health & Sanitation (Non Profits & Activism)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ux7DbHgWm7U

Description of the video:

This video focuses on development issues which are prevailing in rural India. The video shows group of children beating their drums, making the noises and roaming around the village. They have a message and the purpose ensuring that their voices are heard. It talks about defecation in the village area. A boy named Om Prakash, talks about that when we go to the toilet in open area as firstly, the flies sit on it and then it goes back to sit on their food which causes various diseases. The video has been shot in the remote village of Uttar Pradesh, a state where less than 36% of households have toilets. In other words 6 out 10 do not have access to toilets. Sharda, who studies in class 4 in a local government primary school where he is been taught the real value of sanitation. They are taught to keep their hands clean by washing them with the soap. From an early age, children coming to pre schools are introduced to use baby friendly toilets. Children are taught with the emphasis on cleanliness.

Then the video shows the Ram Narayan Maurya, Headmaster, Government School, Lalapur, talking about sanitation and parents who has to understand the need to install toilets at their homes. This video shows the entire environment of Lalapur village, where lots of people are socially excluded and has marginalized caste. But as the children are now aware of health hazard, so people started to think about their own welfare in constructing toilets at their own homes where they can have access to toilets 24*7. This village is free from open defecation. People who have trouble in walking could now get to go to the toilet.

Rishikesh Singh who is a headman of Lalapur village has worked passionately in ensuring that each and every household has toilets at their homes. Upper caste people were used to harass others not to defecate in their fields but now having their own toilets set them free to use it.

This Change has come from within the community. The village now feels a great sense of achievement and women of this village now feel safe, secure and dignified.

My Perspective :

This video has depicted a village called Lalapur, which is situated in Uttar Pradesh. In this village, the need for proper sanitation is being understood. I think this video can be a proof for the development of our nation. Although we see that there is a dire need for proper sanitation facilities in rural areas of India but the development has already started in some areas. Children have now being taught the meaning of proper sanitation in their schools so that they can practice and advised others to do the same. My perspective says that this video is a good example to show the development. It gives the whole idea how people are now starting to understand that there is a need to use toilets to avoid diseases and various health hazards. Likewise, development should take place at every corner of India so that there is no gap between rich and poor or developed or underdeveloped.

Review on Documentary Film: Death of my Soul- by Deepak Sharma

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_J1UXkF17M

Description of the video:

The video focuses upon the Indian Beggary which is a serious problem and one of the development issues prevailing in our country. It shows that every day whether on roads, at religious places, railway stations etc. we see beggars. Some are disabled who sit at a particular places asking for money, some are children, some are elders. The beggary has now become a profession for these people. This problem may lead to other crimes like kidnapping, injuring and deforming people etc. Public says beggary should be banned. Ravi Kumar from Patna, India says, “This is very big problem especially in our nation, and I also know there is some racket involving beggars where children are made blind and deaf by the people who run the racket. Children are forcefully directed to beg by the people who run the racket who never come in front.” Some says begging is an industry. Begging has now become their profession because they are being told with false promises where there is no escape. Those people pick up small children who are mostly vulnerable, and force them to beg.

My perspective and some measures to take for this issue:

This video focus upon one of the development issue i.e. beggary which has been rapidly increasing day-by-day. The people who are forced to beg are mostly vulnerable. The people behind them run their racket and they make small children deaf and blind in order to gain more sympathy. I think this video makes a good impact on public that we need to step out to remove this problem and government should also consider it a big problem and actually do something about it. The people behind those rackets should be banned who do not even think about those children. Not only those children, but physically impaired people and elders, they spend their entire day with begging around in every corner. We pity on those people and we give them money but actually that money goes in the pocket of their bosses who actually force them to beg.

I think this problem should be removed as soon as possible because this issue also leads to other issues. So the development of our nation depends upon this issue as well.

Some measures which can be taken for this issue are:

1: Change the approach.

2: Do not treat them as criminals.

3: Proper Counseling.

4: Proper rehabilitation.

5: Educational Facilities.

We And 'The Cinema'

Cinema plays an important role in our lives. Isn’t it?

It has a direct relationship with human minds. Human mind evolves and so does the Cinema.

As with the change in the thoughts and ideas in our mind, we begin to think in a different way. The filmmakers put new and innovative ideas while making a film which caters to his trendy audience. As their film success depends upon his audience, they work according to the taste of the audience.

Filmmakers try to satisfy his audience by Entertainment, Reality, and Imagination/Fantasies etc. i.e. by which his audience can relate completely.

If we talk about Bollywood, many filmmakers came and gone. Some got the success, some did not. In the past years, we have seen new filmmakers like Rakesh Omprakash Mehra, Imtiaz Ali, Anurag Kashyap, Dibakar Banerjee, Zoya Akhtar, Karan Johar, Raju Hirani, etc. who caters to their audience in their own film making genres. And we must say all filmmakers are fabulous in their own style.

I am a huge fan of Anurag Kashyap’s films, as he has a totally different taste in films. His Gangs of Wasseypur(2012) was a crime film and which has its cult following. Kashyap has been described as a film maker who makes film on post independence era of modern India. He often shoots in a guirella style where there is no permission to shoot, no good props, mainly shoots in real locations, and makes his actors to improvise their dialogues on the sets. While watching Gangs of Wasseypur’s making, I noticed that he actually tore down the script of Richa Chadha who plays Naghma in GOW. He asked her to act impromptu on the sets. His first film as a director was Paanch, then came Black Friday (2004), No Smoking (2007),Dev D (2009), Gulaal (2009), The Girl in Yellow Boots (2011), Ugly (2014). And now we are waiting for his much awaited film Bombay Velvet which will release on May 15 this year.

Another director who has been received applause from his audience is Amol Gupte, which I personally find quite interesting person as a film maker. He has altogether a different taste from all the directors of Hindi Cinema. He is a screenplay writer, a director and an actor. He has worked as a Creative Director of Taare Zameen Par (2007) and has directed some films such as Stanley Ka Dabba (2011), (in which he introduced his own son Partho Gupte as a main lead in the film), Hawa Hawaii (2014). He had a small appearance in Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar (1992) as a race commentator. But his actual first role as a villain came in Kaminey (2005). His Bhope-Tope is surely a famous dialogue from the film. His other films as an actor are, Phas Gaye Re Obama (2010), Stanley Ka Dabba (2011), Bheja Fry 2 (2011) and Singham Returns (2014).

His two films (Stanley Ka Dabba & Hawa Hawaii) as a director were based on development issues of India. Stanley Ka Dabba depicted Child Labor as a very serious problem, which is disclosed at the climax of the movie. His thoughts of making films are different from other directors of Indian Cinema.

 Hawa Hawai which has Partho Gupte and Saqib Saleem in the lead role is an outstanding movie by Amol Gupte. He has written, produced and directed this film. The film released on 9 May, 2014. His style of making a film like this is commendable in Hindi Cinema.

I watched this film today and I observed that he has included different development issues of India in his one film. He included Child Labor, Farmers Suicide in Maharashtra, no health care facilities in rural areas, Poverty, beggary on streets etc. Amol has focused on all these issues in the form of one single film. These types of films do surely have some specific audience who are actually satisfied with what they expect. In the film, Amol has shown two different world; World of Education and World of Poverty.

The bifurcation of two different worlds in one single film and also focusing on various development issues is a commendable work by Amol Gupte. His films actually impacts people like those who wants something different to watch.

The film serves as a reminder and a lesson - in hope, in empathy and gratitude. Amol has juxtaposed the lives of the under-privileged with the ones who have an easier urban life, he manages to set the tone which helps you understand kids who are working for a living rather than go to school. It also makes you thankful for the life that you have while making you respect the dignity of the worker. Amol Gupte uses a good trick to take out your emotions from the inside of your heart.

You Smile, You Laugh, You Brood, You Cry too.

Go watch the movie before it’s too late to understand what you are thankful for.