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iView Author: Kaustubh Pingle (Pune, India)

Email: kcpingle@gmail.com

Kishore Kumar, Unravelled

My tribute to the Legend who passed away on 13th Oct 1987. 21 years now and still I can feel him everywhere, in everything.

An artist unparalleled and a person yet to be unravelled fully. Trying to demystify, I present a facet of Kishore, which is discussed in many places, in the way that he likes nature, talks with trees, etc. I have a few more stories which show how sensitive a person he was :

He used to like solitude all his life. Always engrossed with his own thoughts, mostly musical in nature. In the childhood, he used to run away from his house, to avoid people and crowd , do at a quiet place at the banks of a river. He used to …

iView Author: vishrant (India)

Email: withheld

Crows Zero

it is takashi miike film. but you need not be apprehensive about blood, gore and sex. it is the most commercial film of takashi miike. and it is oh so stylish. yes violence is there. but it is more visibly mesmerizing than brutal. this is the movie i have repeat watched maximum number of times. the ending of takashi miike films are always something of the beyond. this movie is no exception in that. the end scene of ready to fly fists is my favorite, in the movie filled with amazing scenes one after another. actually you can not pick out a single scene as weak. movie sucks you in right from the word go.

movie …

iView Author: Arthi V (Delhi, India)

Email: vasudevan [dot] arthi [at] gmail [dot] com

3 films, 3 characters, 3 actresses : 3 gems

I watched three films over the past one week. Three films so different from one another and yet quite compelling. Of course, the degree to which I was drawn into the story differed but all the three remained with me long after the end credits began to roll.

A co-incidence, when I think of it now, that all the three stories have the female lead as the protagonist.

Sarah Polley as Hanna in ‘The Secret Life of Words’
Emily Mortimer as Jessie in ‘Transsiberian’
Catalina Sandino Moreno as Maria in ‘Maria Full of Grace’

I do not know yet what exactly am I writing on. The three films? Or the three women who defined …

iView Author: Vishrant (India)

Email: withheld

Mongol

lead actor of this movie is tadanobu asano. my favorite. he acts so well that it seems he is not acting at all. here he plays the initial years of geghis khan.it is the making of genghis khan. biography of one of the most notorious figure in human history. film deals with the events that make genghis khan what he was. historical accuracy - which i am in no way near to comment about - aside it is a beautiful film.

nine year old young genghis khan -temudgin - is traveling is with his father. who is the khan of a wandering tribe in mongolia. his father had stolen his bride from another clan few years back. because of …

iView Author: Oxy (Bengaluroo, India)

Email: oxymoronic [at] in [dot] com

Marathi me kehte hain ki… SHUT UP

I thought I was done with Drona when I wrote its review here and later on I read the interview of Goldie Behl (Director of Drona) and I believe he needs to SHUT UP and yes, in Marathi. That’s up to him how he does that? At least one person (Raj Thackeray) would be eternally happy knowing people are not just speaking but shutting up too in Marathi.

So there goes the interview which he gave and my reaction fed in between it:

Director Goldie Bhel’s recently released fantasy adventure Drona didn’t get an overwhelming response at the box office, but the director is happy with the fact that superstar Shah Rukh Khan and his son Aryan loved the movie.

“It’s important …

iView Author: Vishrant (Unknown, India)

Email: withheld

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Red Cliff
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Red Cliff is movie with real heroes. they are neither bad ass nor sissy. they are real man. rock solid and yet well behaved. vintage john woo. movie is based on chinese history. some of the heroes are still worshiped in china.

cao cao is the prime minister of china. totally on the control of affairs as a weak and young emperor is a puppet in his hands. army is under his command. he forced the emperor to give him the permission to pursue liu bie. liu bie is a brave and good general. because of this some great warrirors are fighting under his command. but the number is not in his favor. as his army is less than cao cao’s. after attack from cao cao, liu …

iView Author: Ratnakar Sadasyula (Bhubaneshwar, India)

Email: ratnakar.techie [at] gmail [dot] com

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Satya- A Decade Later
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Ten years back in a stuffy theater, in Vizag, I caught my first glimpse of a movie. It was a movie that was so violent, so realistic and so gritty, that it left me speechless. Stunned that some one in Bollywood could come up with such a movie, when NRI romances were the order of the day. But then considering the man behind the movie, I was not surprised. He had already created an impact with Shiva way back in 1989, and now he was here again redefining the gangster genre. The movie of course I am referring to is Satya, and the man was Ram Gopal Verma. It has been a decade since the movie …

iView Author: Vishrant (Unknown, India)

Email: withheld

Election

ok. i am charged enough to write something down about election. may be this can help me forming a full sentence. which otherwise is a herculean task. it is based on a triad society - hong kong underworld. they function with certain rules and regulations. a certain hierarchy is in place in the organization. society chooses its chairman for two years. it is time to choose new chairman for the society. two candidates are forerunner in the this election.

we are introduced to the first candidate big d. he is short tempered. in his introduction scene a society member eats a spoon. this kind of loyalty and following the order without any further question is expected from the society members.this spoon eater is going to play important …

iView Author: Aditya Mani Jha (West Bengal, India)

Email: amj91288 [at] gmail [dot] com

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Musings on Life and Love : “American Beauty”
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In one of many poignant moments in Sam Mendes’ “American Beauty”, Lester Burnham(Kevin Spacey) watches his new neighbour, teenaged drug-dealer and video enthusiast Ricky tell off his boss at his part-time catering job, saying “You don’t have to pay me.” Upon seeing the boss confused, he puts on a okay-here’s-how-it’s-done tone and says ” I quit. So you don’t have to pay me.”
Seeing this Burnham, who is trapped in a highly mediocre, humdrum job and a stagnant, rotting marriage, says, in unashamed admiration “You’ve just become my hero….”
Emancipation from the clutches of an “ordinary” and “ordered” existence is one of the key themes addressed in this masterpiece of a film. Lester Burnham has nothing to …

iView Author: Ratnakar Sadasyula (Bhubaneshwar, India)

Email: ratnakar.techie [at] gmail [dot] com

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Kalyanji Anandji- Dum Dum Diga Diga
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When doing one of those numerous Antakshari jam sessions with my friends to kill time, whenever we got the letter ‘Ďa’ on cue the first song would be “Ďum Ďum Diga Diga, Mausam Bheega Bheega”.
Your heartbroken in love, and no better song to capture the mood than “Chandi ki Deewar Na Thodi”.
No marriage in North India would be complete without the marriage band playing “Meri Pyaari Behaniya, Banegi Dulhaniya”.
Think of the disco craze in the 1980’s and the first two songs that immediately pop up in your mind would be ” Aap Jaisa Koi” and “Laila O Laila”.
Or what about the ode to …

iView Author: Deepak (Mumbai, India)

Email: deepakmetro2000 [at] gmail [dot] com

Assistant Director… a true picture required?

Hi PFC family, Thanks for replying to my previous post and bringing more clarity to that

Today I just put a small effort to share some experiences and wanted all of seniors and juniors as well to draw a true picture about the “ROLE AND SCOPE OF AD-ASSISTANT DIRECTOR IN A PROJECT”.

It’s a magical transition of mine from a hard core engineer to becoming a Director. Still doing my daily 9 to 5 job and saving every bit of money to land to the city of Dreams, MUMBAI. It all was started 3 years ago and I joined a theatre group, started with acting I find myself attracted towards direction & writing more than anything else. Written few plays(all commercial) …

iView Author: Oxy ( Bengaluroo, India)

Email: oxymoronic [at] in [dot] com

Drona - A Groan(a)

All I wanted to do on my day off was catch Drona and Kidnap back to back. I saw few young girls coming out laughing and giggling after the noon show of Drona. Oh, girls usually do that whenever you bring in any super-hero. But, soon few middle aged people followed and they were all smiling and giggling too. Few to themselves and others in a loud growling fashion. I was confused. I had not read any review whatsoever of it anywhere. And people’s reaction intrigued me more. This usually is the case when the movie is supremely entertaining or devastatingly horrible or its RGV Ki Aag. I used to believe there is just good or bad cinema until I saw RGV …

iView Author: Krishna (Hyderabad, India)

Email: moviecentric [at] gmail [dot] com

Alfred Hitchcock

I don’t know how many articles were written on Alfred Hitchcock in PFC but here I tried my best to present this article in an unconventional manner. Many of us know that Alfred Hitchcock is one of the greatest and influential director .In this article I am making some points which tries to see Alfred Hitchcock through a different angle.

Cameos:

How it started?

Alfred Hitchcock is known for his cameos in his films. He started this in his silent film ‘The Lodger’. He said that he never had a intention to make a cameo, but that scene in ‘The Lodger’ needed to be filled with people and as there were not enough people in the studio and as the empty seats has to filled he decided to …

iView Author: Jehan Handa (New Delhi, India)

Email: jehanhanda580 [at] yahoo [dot] co [dot] in

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Sinbad The Sailor
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As Paul Coelho rightly said

But there is suffering in life, and there are defeats. No one can avoid them. But it’s better to lose some of the battles in the struggles for your dreams than to be defeated without ever knowing what you’re fighting for.”

“(8) Sinbad the Sailor Ek Jahaaz Mein Jab Chala, Mere Yaaro Sunlo Sunlo
Dhoond Raha Tha Ek Nayee Duniya Ka Pata, Mere Yaaro Sunlo Sunlo (8) “

Abhishek Kapoor a.k.a Gattu entered Bollywood with starry eyed dreams like any other actor, had the same desires as any other new entrant. Not every body has success stamped on their feet, neither did he, but who knew almost 14 years …

iView Author: Ratnakar Sadasyula (Bhubaneshwar, India)

Email: ratnakar.techie [at] gmail [dot] com

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Paul Newman - A Tribute
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A bit late in the day, this tribute of mine to Paul Newman, was something I had been planning to pen, but could not. Anyway as they say, better late than never.

My first view of Paul Newman on screen, was in the 1974 disaster flick The Towering Inferno. It is the standard adrenaline filled Hollywood blockbuster, pretty much enjoyable nevertheless. The movie stars Paul Newman as Doug Roberts the architect, who has to battle a fire that has broken out in the skyscraper he designed, mainly due to faulty construction. There is a scene in the movie, when his character, walks into a cocktail party, …

iView Author: Jehan Handa (New Delhi, India)

Email: jehanhanda580 [at] yahoo [dot] co [dot] in

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Mumbai Ko Dekhiye Meri Jaan
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The promos intrigued me. They told me on the face, that there is a film you should go and watch, it does not need to have an Abhishek Bachchan or Salman Khan doing a guest appearance, it does not need to have Malaika Arora doing a sleazy item number, all it needs is a heart, something most of us seem to have lost, somewhere in today’s fast paced, cosmopolitan society, we seem to have lost that power to shed a tear at an emotional moment, or spark a laugh at life’s small pleasurable moments, all we find is instant entertainment, that dies down as the sun takes its rise the next morning. It was Mumbai Meri …

iView Author: Ratnakar Sadasyula (Bhubaneshwar, India)

Email: ratnakar.techie [at] gmail [dot] com

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Shankar Nag- A Maverick, A Genius
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As they say, those whom the Gods love, they die young.

It is 19 years since Shankar Nag or Shankar Anna as he is lovingly called by the Karnataka people, died at a young age of 35 in a road accident near Davanegere. A brilliant actor, director and a technician, he was a visionary in every sense. To people not from South or Karnataka, Shankar Nag would have been familiar with the TV series Malgudi Days, which he directed. The younger of the Nag brothers, his elder brother Anant Nag, was a leading actor in Kannada cinema, and also familiar to Hindi audiences in mostly offbeat movies like Ankur, Nishant, Kalyug, Bhumika to name a few. Shankar Nag …

iView Author: Suprateek Chatterjee (Mumbai, India)

Email: supchats [at] gmail [dot] com

In Bruges

In Bruges. Directed by Martin McDonagh

Rating: 3.5 on 5

In Bruges does for the comic-hit man genre what several Guy Ritchie capers could not - elevate it to a film which deals with real human emotions, risqué humor and a tantalizing premise. Featuring a getting-better-with-each-film Colin Farrell who turns in one of his best performances, a brilliantly sympathetic Brendan Gleeson (Mad-Eye Moody from the Harry Potter series) and the inimitable Ralph Fiennes playing one of his most memorable roles as a psychotic mob boss, this Sundance Film Festival crowd-pleaser packs quite a punch. If only the ending wasn’t as forced as it seems, but more on that later.

The premise is appetizing – two hit-men from England need to cool their heels for …

iView Author: Ratnakar Sadasyula (Bhubaneshwar, India)

Email: ratnakar.techie [at] gmail [dot] com

A trip down Masala Lane

I am one of those who grew up on a steady diet of 70’s, 80’s and 90’s masala movies. Even to date, i have no compunctions in sitting through a good old masala flick on TV. Yeah even some of the torture series ones, just for the campy fun. I was one of those movie goers, who thronged the single screen theaters, standing in the queue, jostling for tickets, watching movies in theaters, with no proper air conditioning or fans and gorging on the watery snacks. Even now, i prefer to watch a movie, in a theater, i just don’t get the same kind of experience in a multiplex. Anyway the masala movies of yore had …

iView Author: Evelyn Tu (Princeton, U.S.)

Email: withheld

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Unfolding “Amélie” scene analysis
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Can it be only seven years since Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s “Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amélie Poulain” was released? Despite valleys and peaks and valleys in its fortunes, “Amélie” has grown so large in my estimation that it’s hard to believe it hasn’t always existed.

A while back, I had to write up an analysis of an impressive scene for my directing class. I don’t know why I thought I’d find something written on this aspect of “Amélie,” but that wasn’t to be. It’s very lucky that Jeunet included a generous amount of background and commentary on his DVD. As I studied the care he lavished on every detail, it occurred to me that the deeper subtext of “Amélie” is his love letter to the unlimited possibilities of …