The Darth Lord

"The Transformation is complete"....and with these ominous words we see the birth of Darth Vader- and even after so many years it sends a chill down the spine.

The Revenge of the Sith - the last and latest prequel from the Lucas stable once again takes you on a journey a long time ago in a galaxy far far away. The same characters, flashing light sabres, the unbeatable Jedis, 'out of the world' backdrops and of course the anticipation of how and why the talented Annakin becomes Darth Vader - what does one want more?

Yet the film does not quite match up to the expectations. Several reasons for it - a lacking script, a 45 minute movie stretched to 2 hours, no 'real' reason for the transformation, no dynamic Han Solo, too many light sabre fights and a Annakin Skywalker whose computer generated light sabre emotes better.

Which is why perhaps the last 30 mins of the film is when you wake up and feel your pulse racing.

Definitely watch it for going down memory lane -the mystery behind Darth Vader, the birth of Luke and Leia , Jedi master Yoda's self imposed exile (and therefore the swamp adventures of TESB) and of course the irresistable pair of R2-D2 and C-3PO.

This film will not draw you back to the theatre for a second watch but would definitely make you reach out for the original.

May the Force be with us all SW fans.

The Eyes Have It

2 and a half hours of darkness, Urmila’s screeches, a frustrating wish of increasing the film’s pace…no man could survive it…I DID !!!

Naina – the recently released horror (?) flick is a decent, no nonsense watch that tries a little too hard to intrigue. The story revolves around Naina (Urmila Matondkar looking fresh after Bhoot) who starts “seeing dead people” after an eye transplant.

But somewhere the director gets confused as to whether she should see ‘dead’ people or ‘about to be dead’ people. The result – a mixture of scenes from The Sixth Sense and The Dreamcatcher. And all this because the eyes she got originally belonged to a woman who could foresee death.

The film obviously rests on Urmila’s histrionic prowess who proves that she can deliver even beyond the Verma stable. Technically the film is sleek with one of the best computer generated images that one has seen in Bollywood movies. Full marks to I Dreams who have consistently used technology in their movies – remember 16th December and Jajantaram Mamantaram? A pat on the back is also recommended to the entire team for attempting this no song-dance film with a story not seen before in Hindi Cinema.

But where the film fails is in its predictable scenes, a not so taut script and a complete lack of pace. Even the climax of the film fails to deliver because of this forced effort to keep the ‘mystery’ from unraveling.

But perhaps the biggest element lacking in the film is that one does not feel the trauma of either Naina or Jhini – people who can foresee the death of innocent people and are unable to do anything about it. Remember little Cole Sear with his sixth sense - and how you could feel his pain? Well, that’s where Naina fails to impress.

Last but not the least- can someone tell me that how does the eyes of an unclaimed dead body travel to a posh hospital abroad from an understaffed hospital in an obscure Gujrati village? Are there not enough blind people in the country?

It's Black!!!

Sitting in the theatre watching Black and hearing women sobbing (and men trying not to) left me wondering whether I was the only hard hearted brute around.

Well, the people's verdict's out - Black is "Oscar material". No doubt that it is a well made film with high standards of film making in every department. Yet when the film ended, there was a big void in me that yearned to get filled. No, I am not going to compare Black with Sparsh.....I am not going to compare Shah's sensitive performance to Rani's histrionics....I am not going to compare a low budget,straight from the heart film to technical gloss.....my issues with Black are more fundamental (and personal) in nature.

a> The focus of the film is more towards the teacher than the student. The perpective should have been on how a physically challenged person got through her disabilities. The film only touches briefly (read very very briefly) on the character's 'fight to self-dependance'.

b> The film leaves you with a feeling of sadness rather than hope. One feels "so very sad for these blind people" - I would have wanted to leave the theatre with a feeling of "the human spirit can overcome all odds". The film should have been a celebration of the un-dying human spirit rather than a heart wrenching tearjerker. The film should have filled one with a sense of truimph rather than grief.
And that's what a Forrest Gump or a My Left Foot or a Seabiscuit or a Men of Honor does - it does not make you feel sad for the disabled character....it shows you that they are equal to all.

Think about it.

Lastly, one just wonders on the use of English throughout the film.....do Indian films now need to be made in English to have a chance at the Oscars? Is the new trend 'let's make an oscar movie'?