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A 70’s story retold with designer tears - Laga Chunri…
Well just got out of a theater in Bangalore 30 minutes ago and still wondering how it went wrong.
When you start to think that YRF is coming out to the good side and you start to feel elated after “Chak De”, they throw you back on terra firm by providing you a movie like “Laga Chunri..” The EMPIRE STRIKES BACK
The movie started of really well. I mean the introduction song was good and the story had a sense of realism in it. We were getting a view of middle class rural India and suddenly it all went wrong.
I mean “Laga..” is a pretty dated story and if you were a viewer of fare from the 70’s in any Indian language or even Swahili, you would have seen a movie like this.
A girl torn under circumstances has to choose that inevitable path that she never wanted to trod. This topic has been discussed ad nauseam in my native language Kannada except that the protagonist is the hero here and he is also from a village but he takes the path of crime. This is the cliche that is the killer of Laga Chunri..
I am not sure why it had to go the way it went but well..Yash Raj..What can be said. Why were there Songs between Konkana/Kunal and Rani/Abhishek. They were really jarring.
The other thing was the Transition. Not the technical/editing kind but the character transition. Rani, a small town girl took it quite easy to take that path and there was really no option out later for her. The parent venal part was shown OK but somehow that whole aspect of a path not taken was never shown well.
We all know there is a path of sleaze in all the big cities but did it have to be shown so fabulously. The sadness, trauma and the sadness within was never shown. I mean “Chandni Bar” tore apart the beer bar network and led us into the lives of these souls and here we have a women from a small town who is seen sashying around in Mercedes, living in a high rise and talking on a “Vertu”. Yes it was a vertu. I mean it was not some silly fangled Nokia but the Vertu phone
Ok, that’s the nerd in me talking. Getting back to the movie, it went wrong after Abhishek landed on the scene. Literally. You will get this when you see the movie. He lands, handles a meeting, sings a song and then goes away for about 8-10 reels where we are hit by all sorts of emotion but really do not feel for any of the characters. He returns, sings, dances, proposes and then gets married. Huh…This is the YRF way of “Wham Bham..Thank you Ma’am”
Then the other part is the silly sodding romance between Konkana and Kunal. It was too cliched and well really a tad loud. Rani looked out of place in many scenes but Konkana looked fantastic in all her scenes even though her act of a sister who does not know her Sister is a Escort is a little far fetched. I mean how many 10 Std fail/pass people get to live in high rise alishaan apartments and have the life everyone dreams of even if they are in event management. I know some folks there and they do not get paid a deadly sum but a MBA grad Konkana does not get it till she sees his Sis going towards the act. Pithy Nonsense
Well sum & substance, the movie had many ways it could work but the story is so oft repeated and to this dirge, add the standard YRF fare of designer tears, clothes, food , ambience..you get to see Laga Chunri and you can guess in the first few reels itself how badly its going to fail
I would recommend “Laga..” to you only if you are really bored, your DVD guy has gone on a bandh, the piracy guys in those kopche corners have all vanished into thin air, your DVD burnt down, you have never ever seen a “Maa..Mein Maa banne wali hoon” sort of movies, You are caught in heavy rains and they are scheduled to stop in 3 hours and you are in front of a theater showing it..You get my drift.
Well that’s my 2 cents on the movie after having seen it and let me know how you all feel.
Cheers & Good Night
Deepak
27 Responses to “A 70’s story retold with designer tears - Laga Chunri…”
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Hi Dinesh,
This was the same comment i had posted on Karthik’s post earlier :)
What a regressive story here, maybe Yash Raj & Co should watch Aakhir Kyon, a movie starring Smita Patil and Rajesh Khanna made way back in the 80
I had a feeling that the movie will be too predictable… is it predictable like its promos suggests. Rani a charming girl of Benaras, her father falls ill, she goes to a big city, falls into the hands of Pimps, starts to like Abhishek… blah..blah.. blah…
Dinesh
Guess maybe this movie should b called Laga Yash Raj Ko Vaat. And after TRPP,JBJ, guess this is their 3rd Vaat this year.
Hmm Dinesh, i think we criticize the 70’s a bit too much. Some of the movies in that period had much better storylines and scripts, than the current crop of masterpieces.
today is quite an interesting day :):w;
Dinesh, so u too from Namma Bengalooru, i was in Namma Bengalooru till late, currently in Seoul,S.Korea.
By the way this is a 70’s movie in a sense. There was this Mumtaz-Rajesh Khanna weepie called Aaina, where i guess Farida Jalal plays Mumu’s sister, it was directed by K.Balachander, is there any Tamil version of it.
Mumu becomes a hooker to support her family, RK falls in love with her, blah, blah, blah.
Ratnakar, I think you are calling ‘Deepak’… ‘Dinesh’
Eesh Yes Oz, is there no way i can edit the comments. Hey Deepak sorry for the name switch.
Movie’s essence : Daag Achhey Hain..Agar Bajrang Bali peechhey hain…(I mean the movie’s conflict and crisis is resolved courtesy Lord Hanuman and just knowing Hanumaan Chalisaa!)
Oye!…Blore theater? which one? which show?
[...] unknown wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptWe all know there is a path of sleaze in all the big cities but did it have to be shown so fabulously. The sadness, trauma and the sadness within was never shown. I mean
Oz, Har Shukravar, Hum logo ka “Shani”Vaar Ya Mangalvaar!!
Ofcourse Freaky Fridays will be Interesting! This is the holy day for both mullahs and movie maniacs!
By the way, Deepak, who was the lucky client who got to spend time with Rani Mukherjee? Do they show scenes while they are “doing” it? :D Do they just show Rani’s close up staring at the ceiling, with a tear drop escaping her eyes or participating as actively as she introduces herself as “Hi I am Natasha” in her sexy voice?
Ahh,now i’m really tempted to watch this movie :D
The K.Balachander movie is “Arangetram” - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arangetram_%28film%29
There is one more movie on the topic of “human trafficking”. It is the thamizh movie “Ammuvaagiya naan” starring Parthiban. Lets c what cliche that movie sticks to.
Now only Aaja Nachle is left from the YRF stable.Wonder what it’s fate is gonna be
@Machar
Considering Yash Raj’s tendency for Family Friendly Porn it could be its gonna be shot in a luxurious 4 poster bed, with Ms Mukherjee showing off myriad expressions of ecstasy :))
IS there any Yash Raj movie in which they showed a proper sex scene :D
Well Vikram i guess Salaam Namaste, but again what i call Family friendly Porn :))
@Vikram
Well im gonna watch Aaja Nachle for Madhuri dear, aah after months of watching Preity-Rani, her appearance is a sight for sore eyes.
Madhuri please come back, we really need u.
Yeah man,only consolation this year has been Vidya Balan:x:x:x:x:x
suddenly this has become passion for madhuri.com???:o
sambhaalke uske pathi doctor hai. tume kahi lag jaayega.
Only if u are in Amreeka :D
There’s one more reason to watch Aaja Nachle: JAIDEEP SAHNI. He’s written the film. So hope lies there.
Laga Chunari Mein Daag seemed pretentious and superficial from the start itself..when will people accept the fact that you cannot do good without a beautiful script..and lagaa seems to be time warped!
Machchar: You pretty well predicted the shot. Rani was only shown in his position of distress. Thankfully there were no birds in a cage or a rose being squashed photos as the act was going on. I really expected them as the other parts of the movie were that cliched
Tushar: I am from North Bangalore and saw the movie in Cauvery. I somehow hate to see movies on first day in a multiplex. Its so darned quiet aur mere andhar vaala Filmy Jaanwar cannot take it as there has to be snide remarks, whistles et all when I watch a movie
Guys you all forget that sick shitty film “Neal & Nikki” where Tanisha was practically undressed most of the time and that was no way a family flick. It was porn all the way but since the stalwarts did it, it was asthetic and not really porn. If some other director had doen it, then it would be “TACKY & Cheap”
It doesnt take a rocket scientist to predict that shot. And Machchar is not one either.
But seriously why are so many people talking about a movie like this? The promo said it all. It was a 2 hr music video(a very bad one).
cheers
@Deepak, got your point. Me too a shor-sharaaba waala first day first show fan, but have somehow lost that frenzy living in this pseudu town all these years. wo majaa abhi bhi yaad aata hai….