Looking back at the Noughties-2001
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Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn’t.- Mark Twain
Mark Twain’s quote came to life with chilling effect in 2001. It was a year where the thin line between truth and fiction, the reel and the real, the imaginary and the reality became blurred. A year where our worst nightmares became too true for comfort. It was the year of 9/11 and Enron.
Not even Frederick Forsyth or Robert Ludlum, could have conceived what happened on Sept 11,2001. It was one thing, reading about conspiracy theories curled up on a couch or watching a building go up in a Hollywood blockbuster. Watching 4 hijacked jets loaded with passengers and fuel, crash into the Twin Towers in New York, was something else . As the mighty towers, began to fall to the ground, in a heap of rubble, smoke and fire, live on TV, we watched in shock. This was not an Emmerich-Bay disaster flick, where some bad guys are bringing down the Twin Towers, this was reality. And it was not a scripted reality show, not even the most whacked out script writers could have conjured this up. The people running in panic and terror, the flames coming out of the buildings, the slow collapse of the Towers, images we had seen in countless disaster flicks. Only this was not a movie, it was for real, the flames, the buildings, the people, the terror, everything was as real as it could be.
Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn’t
Spot on, had this been a movie, there would have been a heroic attempt by Bruce Willis or Mel Gibson to be the hero, the collapse of the towers would have been stopped. Real life however does not follow a pre ordained script, it plays according to it’s own whims and fancies. Not since the Japanese, had fooled the entire US administration and caught them like sitting ducks at Pearl Harbor, had America been faced with such a dastardly attack on it’s own soil. It was not just the Twin Towers collapsing, it was a challenge to America’s super power status, its very way of life, it’s symbols. The fact that a couple of hijackers, armed with nothing but some pistols and cutter knives, could make a fool out of the entire American intelligence, defence forces, was a damning indictment of it’s system. 9/11, changed US forever, it became a nation polarized, where now any one with a beard, a turban and a typical Mid Eastern accent became a suspect. America would never be the same again.
At the end of 2001, the US was hit by another kind of collapse, that of Enron. There had been corporate scandals before, but the scale and magnitude of the scam in Enron was mind boggling. For years the company, had been the darling of the nation’s pink press, feted for it’s innovative strategies, it’s vision, it’s out of the box thinking. Investors poured their money into it, the employees of Enron were small sized millionaires thanks to the large salaries they receive, Ken Lay and Jeffrey Skillings it’s founders were touted as the heroes of the next century. Enron many gushed would be the way ahead, it would be how companies would be run in future. Unfortunately most of those wide eyed admirers, overlooked the fact that the beautiful building, stood on quicksand, it had to collapse some time. And when it did, it fell with a gigantic crash, that would be followed later by other equally spectacular crashes, notably a certain Worldcom. For a more detailed view point of mine on Enron, check at my blog, here.
Nothing beats the pleasure of movie going, when for 3 hours in a darkened theater, you are sucked into another world, where you lose yourself. For 3 hours, you lose track of time, you become one with the characters on the screen, following every inch of their stories, their trials, their tribulations. And when you walk out of the movie hall, those 3 hours stay with you, the moments you have seen on screen, refuse to leave you. You rush back to the theater again, because to watch such a movie on a small size TV screen, or a DVD player, is criminal. The grandeur, the spectacle, the visuals, the settings, everything must be seen on the screen, and nowhere else. Ben Hur, Spartacus, Lawrence of Arabia, Star Wars, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, epics that deserve to be seen only on the wide screen. I was yearning for that kind of movie in 2001, yes there was Gladiator, but most of the second half was not too great. And yeah there were other 3 hour long movies, that had me, looking at my watch, waiting to run out of the theater as soon as i could.
One Ring to rule them all, One ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.
While i did know that J.R.R.Tolkien wrote the Lord of Rings series of fantasy novels, i had never read them before, and had no clue at all about the story or the characters. Add to it, most of the Hollywood big screen blockbusters that year, be it Pearl Harbor, or Planet of the Apes or The Time Machine, were downright disappointing. While not too enthusiastic about the movie, i stepped into the theater, and for the next 3 hours, was completely swept away. The Lord of The Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, was the kind of motion picture i had been craving for, big screen, epic, heroic characters larger than life, battles, intrigue, strange characters. For close to 3 hours, i was in the company of elves, hobbits, wizards, and the evil Sauron, all battling for the Ring. The visual effects were stunning, the photography awesome, be it capturing the scenic locales of New Zealand or the gloomy interiors of the woods, the rousing OST by Howard Shore elevates it to greater heights. But Lord of the Rings, is a classic, not just for the visual effects or the camera work, its for the unforgettable characters and the drama between them, that makes this movie. Frodo( Elijah Wood) the Hobbit who has to destroy the ring, Sauron the man who created the One Ring to conquer Middle Earth, Arargon( Virgo Mortensen) the heir to the throne of Mondor who helps out Frodo in his quest, Gandalf ( Ian McKellan) the Wizard and Frodo’s mentor, Legolas( Orlando Bloom) the prince of the Elves, Saruman( Christopher Lee) who seeks to capture the Ring, every character has a role to play in the story. And to think that major studios rejected this movie, Peter Jackson, till then was seen more as a schlock and spatter specialist, through movies like Brain Dead and Bad Taste, fantasies in the past had not done too well, Willow by George Lucas was one big dud, other big screen fantasy flicks like Dragonheart , Dungeons & Dragons were commercial disasters. It was New Line Cinema which took a risk, and it paid off handsomely, the movie being both a critical and commercial success. More than that, Lord of the Rings, to me was a defining movie, it reinvented the fantasy genre, using every visual element of storytelling, embellishing with rich characters and drama, and creating an epic masterpiece, that would be the benchmark in this genre.
Lagaan, while not exactly dealing with elves, hobbits nor having really eye popping effects, was an epic film in it’s own sense. At a time when every other Bollywood movie, seemed to be in US/UK/Swiss/Aus/NZ, every character seemed to walk around in designer wear, and every other movie, was another variant of “Boy Meets Girl, Girl Hitched To Some One else, Falls In love with Boy”, to the extent, you could switch the characters, the actors, the settings, and it would have made no difference, Lagaan was an aberration. It was set in dusty India, the characters were sweaty peasants in soiled dhotis and while there was some kind of love triangle, the basic plot of the movie was about a group of peasants who had to beat the Brits at a game of cricket, the loser gets to pay 3 times the tax they pay currently. While it did have influences of Escape to Victory, the ruled playing against the rulers, Lagaan was what a majority of the Indian cinema often celebrated. The underdog hero, taking on the favorite and winning in the end and combined with India’s favorite pastime, nay religion, cricket, it made for a riveting spectacle. Lagaan came at a time, when i was at a low, laid off from my job, a victim of the dot com crash, having to support a family. As the crowds in Chennai’s Satyam theater, cheered during the final cricket match, for a moment, all my worries had gone, i felt better, more inspired. Critics often downplay the importance of “feel good” movies, but trust me when you have been through shit, its a Forrest Gump or a Lagaan you want to sit through, to get your mojo back. What i loved about Lagaan, was that while Bhuvan( Aamir Khan) was the lead character, importance was given to all the supporting characters, be it the village doctor Ishwar( Sri Vallabh Vyas), the bard cum fortune teller Guran( Rajesh Vivek), the chicken farmer Bhura( Raghubir Yadav), the Sikh soldier Deva( Pradeep Rawat), the untouchable Kachra( Aditya Lakhia), the devious woodcutter Lakha( Yashpal Sharma), the mute drummer Bagha, the potter Ismail( Raj Zutshi), every character had their own place in the narration. And unlike other movies that made a mockery out of cricket, Ashutosh Gowarikar, treated the game with respect, accurately depicting most of the game’s features. And of course one of A.R.Rehman’s finest musical score, every song being a gem in itself. Lagaan to me was the perfect blend of humour, romance, drama, action and music, that made it a great entertainer.
Dil Chahta Hai, Farhan Akhtar’s debut ode to friendship, would be my other favorite of 2001. While some have criticized it as a “rich kid’s story”, i beg to differ here. While the settings were upper class, and most of the second half, is shot in the sylvan climes of Sydney, Farhan focuses more on the characters, and the drama around them, than the backdrop. And fleshing out each character, Akash( Aamir Khan) the happy go lucky flirt, Sameer( Saif Ali Khan) the eternal romantic wearing his heart on his sleeve, and Sid( Akshaye Khanna) the sensitive artiste. The characters in the Mumbai are South Mumbai, rich, upper class, but you could find people like Aakash, Sameer, Sid are some one you could find at any level. At many points in the movie, i could find myself relating to similiar incidents i had with my own friends, the same kind of misunderstandings. Akash, Sameer and Sid, were people, whom i encountered at some stage or other in my life, and that’s what made the movie work for me. However while the first half was great, the Goa sequence especially being a scream, i felt the movie was some what flat in the 2nd hour. Yes the opera scene was good, but after that it just petered out, and none of the female characters were well developed. It was a good movie, but not a great one, again my opinion.
Lajja to me has been one movie, that deserved a better appreciation. At a time, when most of the heroines in Bollywood had nothing to do but, get hitched to some random guy, and then fall in love with the hero, this was a movie that had some of the best female characters ever. Critics trashed it as loud and melodramatic, but i feel Raj Kumar Santoshi intended it that way. The movie was a slap on the face, a sort of middle finger to men and their double standards, and slaps are rarely poetic. Naming the 4 main female characters after Sita, the “ideal Bharatiya naari”, and show casing their tribulations at various levels, the movie was a hard hitting statement about the hypocrisy of society. Vaidehi( Manisha Koirala) , rich, NRI, escaping from a cad of a husband, not being accepted by her own family. Maithili( Mahima Chaudhury), the middle class bride, who asks her would be husband to buzz off, when his family makes insane demands for dowry. Janaki( Madhuri Dixit), the theater artiste in the hinterlands , who has to face a terrible price, for daring to question why it is that always a woman has to prove her chastity. And finally the most memorable of them all, Ramdulari( Rekha), the lower caste, village mid wife, who is assaulted by the upper caste landlords, when her son makes the cardinal mistake of falling in love with their daughter. Lajja is not an easy movie to handle, the scene where Rekha is assaulted by the landlords, is harrowing. Or the scene where Janaki is declared mentally sick for daring to question the beliefs, that hits you straight in the face. Add to it some memorable performances from Mahima Chaudhury, Madhuri Dixit( splendid as ever), Manisha( excellent) and Rekha( awesome, surely the best performance of the movie). Watch Madhuri and Manisha bond together, or Rekha speaking her broken English, helping out Manisha, that is acting at it’s best. The ending though was a let down for me, it seemed a cop out. Sort of like Santoshi was saying ” sorry for showing the middle finger all through, let’s make up now and all’s well ends well”.
No songs, no big stars, no comic relief, no Swiss Alps, dark and depressing movie, that too set in the sleazy back alleys of Mumbai, and it’s dance bars. Kaun dekhega, aisa picture? would have been the refrain of the pundits and experts. Fortunately at times, there are movies, that do give a well deserved kick in the ****, to such pundits, which is what Chandni Bar was. Madhur Bhandarkar of late has become “the guy we love to hate”, he is a sensation monger, his view point is uni dimensional, he uses derogatory stereotypes. Yeah ok, true to an extent, but he has also created some of the most memorable female characters in Bollywood, be it Mumtaz in Chandni Bar or Anuradha in Satta or Madhavi in Page 3. Tracing the story of Mumtaz, a poor Muslim women from UP, who ends up in a dance bar, and has to face the lecherous advances of drunken customers , Chandni Bar is again another of those movies, that is not an easy watch. It is a movie, that lays bare the sleazy side of the Mumbai dance bars, and its not a pretty sight to watch. It is ugly, and festering like a raw exposed wound. Add to it some brilliant camera work, especially the low lighting, which gives you the impression of being right there in the bar. And some top notch performances by Tabu in the lead role, and Atul Kulkarni as the gangster Potya, who ends up marrying Mumtaz.
While i did like Monsters Inc and Shrek, to me the best animated feature of 2001, was Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away. Not a very big fan of Japanese anime, i watched this movie on the recommendation of one of my friends. It was one of the finest animation works, i had ever seen, with some of the most richly detailed backgrounds ever seen. Watching Spirited Away is akin to seeing a highly skilled artist at work, as he etches every detail, every character, every shade lovingly on the easel with care and precision. While the story has nods to Wizard of Oz & Alice in Wonderland, what Miyazaki has done is take those influences, and narrate a story, about a 10 year old girl Chihiro, who enters a world of spirits through a tunnel. After her parents are turned into pigs by a witch Yubaba, the witch, she now has to find a way to get them back. The beauty of Spirited Away however lies in it’s storyline, that is deeply layered and profound. For the first time, i found myself watching an animation movie, where i actually had to think at times. Be it the attack on wanton consumerism, in the form of Chihiro’s gluttonous parents, who are transformed into pigs, or the pro environment message, in the form of the river spirit who arrives at the bath house covered with sludge, and who later grants Chihiro a magical herbal medicine, every moment does make you think, reflect and ponder.
Like any other biopic, A Beautiful Mind, faced the standard criticism of not being true to John Nash’s real life story. My take is simple, a movie maker has his own constraints, while making a movie based on a real life person or a real life event for that matter. In this case the movie maker, has to do a tightrope walk, ensuring that too much attention to facts, does not make it look like a documentary, at the same time ensuring, the character is not too distorted. End of the day, for me what matters is how effectively, the movie maker has been able to narrate the story of the person, and on that aspect, A Beautiful Mind worked for me. Especially love that particular scene, where John Nash( Russel Crowe) figures out the Nash Equilibrium part of the game theory, at a bar with his friends, while looking at a woman there. Also the scenes between John Nash, and his wife, Alicia( Jennifer Connelly) are heart warming, without getting too mawkish. The movie was more of a feel good inspirational story, of a person having to cope with his disability, schizophrenia in this case, and how he is able to do well inspite of it. On that aspect, the movie worked perfectly for me, or maybe the fact that i have a soft corner for such kind of stories. Russel Crowe was superb as John Nash, especially in the schizophrenia related scenes, he should have got the Oscar for this, while Jennifer Connelly proves her worth as one of the best actresses around.
Memento is what made me a die hard fan of Christopher Nolan, it is one of those rare movies, where a strong premise coupled with a brilliant execution, makes it memorable. Leonard Shelby( Guy Pearce) an insurance investigator is on the look out for the person who raped and murdered his wife. The issue is that he suffers from Short Term Memory loss, he can’t remember something he had just seen, he could meet the same person umpteen times, and each time, he would be as blank as he was when he first met him. He has to rely on a series of Polaroid shots, annotated to help him recall. He is helped in his quest by Teddy, and a mysterious Natalie( Carrie Ann Moss). While the premise is interesting enough, its Nolan’s execution that makes the difference. The ending of the movie, where Leonard kills his wife’s killer, is what kick starts the movie, and then moves backward in a reverse direction, tracing to Leonard alone in a motel room, with a VO describing his story a bit. The very next scene, shows Leonard meeting his wife’s killer, travelling to an abandoned building. So while we have one segment that goes backwards explaining how Leonard tracked down his wife’s killers, the intersecting segment moves forward narrating a parallel tale. While the movie went right over my head the first time i watched it, subsequent viewings, did help me in decoding the main mystery, at the point where both the threads intersect. Nolan has gone on to more mainstream fare, but to me Memento would be his finest movie.
Ghost World, a quirky, witty, satiric take on American suburbia to me remains one of the best movies of this decade. The story of Enid( Thora Birch) and Rebecca( Scarlett Johansonn) , two rebellious high school teens, who decide to chart with their own course in life, is engaging. For a more detailed take on the movie by me check here.
One movie that was quite under appreciated in my view was Sean Penn’s directorial effort The Pledge. After The Crossing Guard, this was Penn’s second directorial venture that had Jack Nicholson in the lead role. Interestingly both the movies showcased Nicholson as the protagonist obsessed with revenge. In The Crossing Guard, another under appreciated movie, Nicholson was the hero, seeking revenge on the person who had killed his daughter in a hit and run accident. The Pledge again has Jack Nicholson, as a retired cop, who is obsessed with finding out the killer of an innocent 8 year old girl. While a straightforward murder mystery on the surface, deeper within the movie looks at the obsession that nearly destroys the lead character. How his quest for finding the killer, affects him personally, as well as his relationships with people around, makes this a must see. It has to be one of Nicholson’s finest performances, shorn of his mannerisms, while Benicio Del Toro, Mickey Rourke, Aaron Eckhart, all pitch in with some superlative acting. If you are seeking a movie, that relies on old fashioned values like script, characterization, acting, and less on visual gimmickry, go for this.
Some other not too well known movies of that year which i would recommend are Buffalo Soldiers, a dark comedy of sorts, taking a satirical look at the American soldiers in West Germany just before the fall of the Berlin Wall. Watch it for some great acting by Joaquin Phoenix, Ed Harris and Anna Paquin. The Tailor of Panama, a pretty good adaptation of John Le Carre’s novel, featuring Pierce Brosnan as a secret agent, who strikes a deal with a tailor in Panama City, Harry( Geoffrey Rush) to get information about activities inimical to the British Government. The catch is that Harry keeps comming up with fanciful conspiracy theories, that might not be true exactly. With a complex plot, some excellent acting by Geoffrey Rush, and a chance to see Brosnan in a non 007 role, this is one movie for the collection.
Tags: 2001 Movies, 9/11, A Beautiful Mind, Chandni Bar, Dil Chahta Hai, Enron, Ghost World, Lagaan, lajja, Lord of the Rings, Memento, Spirited Away, The Pledge
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
lovely post Ratna sir…..nice satire in the image related to enron btw
That was the time….remember being in my college hostel during 9/11 and arriving to the TV room after classes. Couldn’t quite believe what I was watching….had a sinking feeling that the world would never be the same again….
And DCH…ohh boy….the cable fellow showed it in the evening, and we sat from 9:00 pm onwards so engrossed that we forgot to have dinner altogether
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Again nice post which reminds me that there are quite a few movies which I have to see. Among the English ones I’ve only seen Memento, The Tailor of Panama and Beautiful Mind. Among the Hindi movies I must say that Lajja was totally unexpected. Good to see someone recognizing this movie.
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hmmm… 2001. 9/11 imagery still remains fresh in mind. my b’day falls on 12th sept and I was up late night on 9/11 and the initial reaction was mind numbing. aaj tak added to the hysteria with the headline “War declared on America”
Coming back to the movies, the list more or less covers the year comprehensively. might have probably added Black Hawk Down and Ocean’s Eleven as well
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Yeah Ocean’s Eleven was good, more of a masala flick, time pass stuff.
Black Hawk Down, well it had some great photography and performances, but somehow did not like this as much as Saving Private Ryan.
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I also think ki Ocean’s 11 ka to naam hona chahiye tha. Masala stuffs are not bad when made right. And, I think this was definitely a good movie with great starcast and decent con storyline. Italian job is another that comes to my mind.
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thnx for reminding me of 2001…it was kind of a redemption year for Bollywood…Watching Lagaan I thought that finally Bollywood has risen above its dreaded formula…most people though so in fact…I still remeber the India Today cover story “Amir Khan Breaks the Jinx and gives India Classy Cinema” (Although I though AG should also have been mentioned)
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Also nice to see Miyazaki in the list…To me, Spirited Away along with Princess Mononoke, are the two greatest artistic achievements in the field of animation…
Also, would like to mention two competitors of Lagaan at the Oscars, Amelie & No Man’s Land…they have to be among the finest of not only that year but of all time…
BTW r sure Memento was released in 2001 & not 2000?…
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Well though Memento was released in a few countries( France, Germany, UK, Canada, Italy) in 2000, the movie was not released till 2001 in US. Only after the Sundance Festival it got attention, when critics were bowled over by it. But even then most of the major studios, were reluctant to release it, as they felt it would be too confusing, including Indie champion Miramax( one thing Weisenstein still regrets). It was released later through one of the lesser known studios, and went on to become a surprise hit with the US audience.
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Amelie and No Man’s Land are still in my Must Watch list, along with Amores Perros.
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ok one more comes to my mind….Donnie Darko….
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Donnie darko… wow.. this one seems to be doing some rounds around me lately… havent seen this one yet, but quite a lot of folks I know of, totally unrelated to each other, have been talking about this movie lately… netflix had this movie showing up in their list of recommendations for me… looks like I am getting haunted… I better watch it immediately now
:D
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do watch it…in fact I’m not sure why I liked it…but I liked it!…
…
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Will do for sure… and also let you know how it was for me…
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I think I already recommended it to you when you once asked for the movies with Time Warp kinda things. Yes, it is one of those movies.
It also had its sequel S. Darko which features Donnie Darko’s sister. It was one of those sequels which are made to cash in the popularity of the movie and not technically an official sequel. Do not bother to go for it if you happen to like the first one.
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O yeah, I didnt quite remember all the movies you had called out there, I remembered 13 Monkeys and Primer, which I saw…. Primer took me 5 attempts to nearly understand what exactly was going on … by the end of it I had taken a break off the movies… then when I wanted to return back to the list I completely forgot which post had we discussed those movies…. couldn’t find it again, saw cashback and few other silly ones that NetFlix had to recommend (surprisingly when I was looking for time sci fi s it didnt show up DD… now when I was looking for ‘mindbenders’ it did :D …. Donny Darko .. here I come!!! :D
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eeps … sorry .. make it 12 monkeys… I was the 13th one watching it and still not getting the name right…
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The Jacket and Timecrimes were also recommended.
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Hey, thanks again …. Jacket and timecrimes on my list now…. !
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Donnie Darko was one hell of a movie, dealing with dreams, personal interpretation, kind of movie, which needs multiple viewings.
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And, I love these kind of movies. Probably the only movie of this kind made in India is No Smoking.
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I thought Abhay was trying something like that… they ended up making a kitch… otherwise I think we should have some regional cinema in the ‘mind bender’ lines…
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Well we have been the other kind of “Mind Bender” cinema for long, too big a list there.
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I hav been away from PFC for a long while..
Cudnt hav been a better post to welcome me back!
Thanks Ratna sir..
Loved the way u started off, left me wondering what u were upto.. [:D] My qns were answered pretty soon though..
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Waiting for your list for 2002 and 2003…. these were the years I had lost it when switching on TV, seeing the trailers and feeling like my life support system had lost its charm… yeah there were a few Ajay Devgan flicks here and there, some ‘family entertainers’ from Aishwarya Rai, but other than that I still feel like I had yellow fever (dont ask me about the relation, I got no clue…) {and yes it includes the Devdas and Plan) ….
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and yeah, take company off… I guess we had this discussion once… humraaz and agnivarsha and 16th december were okayish, but overall barring Company 2002 was a disappointer for me … (disclaimer, I am not sure of release dates for a lot of hollywood flicks… awaiting if there were some great movies I liked which were released in 2002, that you’d end up reminding me off) and also take 2003 off… there were quite a lot of movies I enjoyed that year… was looking forward to the cinema awards nominations that year….
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Well though most of the Hindi movies in 2002 were plain rubbish, there were some great movies that year- Minority Report, The Pianist, 25th Hour, Bourne Identity,City of God( Brazil), Infernal Affairs( the HK original of Departed), Insomnia which i can recall.
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I somehow never got anything for Minority report, same thing about insomnia, the only nolan flick which did not evoke much out of me…. guess I still want ready to see 2 big stars in a Nolan flick…. the rest… great reminders… now I am actually looking for your list for 2002… considering this reply of yours as a trailer.. picture abhi baaki hai ..
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Typo “guess I still waSnt ready to see 2 big stars in a Nolan flick” … error regretted
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Insomnia was a remake of a Norwegian film of same name so it was not entirely Nolan’s movie in trademark Nolan style.
Minority Report…hmmm I remember it was rated A in India and I didn’t watch it then because I wasn’t 18. I was a fool.
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Jahan, Insomina was Nolan’s first mainstream attempt, and i have not seen the Norwegian original. But from what i heard, the Euro version was more darker, and with a more downbeat ending. But liked the movie, for the grey tones it gives to it’s lead character, in fact taking another look at the heroism angle. Also for managing to restrain Al Pacino & Robin Williams, 2 actors who when given a free reign, can be real loose cannons.
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Wow, I didnt know that about Insomnia, thanks for sharing that info… did you get a chance to see the movie in Norwegian? any idea how was that movie?
@Ratna sir…. yes Al Pacino and Robin Williams were a lot more restrained, somewhere I guess I still lost the movie between the focus played on these 2 actors…. the ususal Nolan’s way of the ‘anticipating the next scene’ was somewhere missing for me (purely for me) ….
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Once I got my hand on he Norwegian insomnia. I copied it in my PC’s hard disk and it’s still there. Yet to watch it though.
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As I mentioned it was not the trademark Nolan style movie because it’s storyline was not his own (or his bro’s Jonathan Nolan). I guess that’s why ‘anticipating the next scene’ type thing was missing.
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Isn’t Jonathan Nolan also a short story writer… from the first movie where I saw his name as the writer, I have this very strong urge that we ‘ve had his short stories as a part of CBSE English text books or MCBs or whatever we used to call them….
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2003 again had a lot of turd stuff, but it was a year that had some great Indian movies- Anbe Sivam, 3 Deewarein, Pinjar, Gangajal, Haasil, Munnabhai MBBS.
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An oh BTW 2002 had Kannathil Muttamithal, one of Maniratnam’s finest movies, right up there with Iruvar and Nayagan. This was the movie that should have been sent for the Oscars, instead of Devdas.
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wow… KM was in 2002? time sure flies by… or the movie was a timeless one… for some reason I still feel like I saw the movie a couple of years back … B’lore – Cauvery… time sure flew by…
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I wonder why Maniratnam’s Tamil movies are downright classic while his Hindi movies though better than others in the herd, not yet great. Is it because Bollywood is an industry with big players who ultimately control the product?
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In Tamil I guess Mani Ratnam has the complete control in every department including the pulse of the audience, while in hindi, I guess he still needs a translator… now in itself can be a hinderance, when you are unable to pass your 100% conviction to the performers… additionally in hindi he seems to be trying to put in too many things for the commercial audience, right from the starcase, while in Tamil, he chose his actors as per his movies… arvind swami and madhavan are 2 examples who primarily had a downsizing market and population but MR had his conviction set with these actors… similarly getting Mohanlal to play MGR or Mamooty to play the character of Duryodhan in dalapathy, there has to be this understanding between the director actors… in hindi I guess he’s had these issues…
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He made only 3 movies in Hindi.
Dil Se – Faulty Execution.
Yuva – Right up there. Top notch stuff. Bad casting – Ajay Devgan, VO. Surya and Siddarth were superb in the Tamil version.
Guru – Brilliant..could have been an all time classic, if he didn’t play it to the galleries. This is the only one that made money for him though.
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Guru is my example of a possible hinderance due to language barrier… agreed AB jr is not as good as Mohan Lal or Kamal Hassan or Prakash Raj, but keeping these things aside, it looked like Mani tried to put across his conviction in the best possible manner and AB Jr also tookas much as he could, but something somewhere was missing, which was flawlessly almost mind read by the other actors mentioned who literally seemed to be living what Ratnam was thinking… walking in his thinking world…
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Well i guess directors work best, when they make movies on their native millieu, something they are completely familiar with. Its not just Mani, Wolfgang Pietersen made a classic Das Boot, but his Hollywood output has been nothing too great. John Woo’s HK flicks are any day superior to what he has done in Hollywood. Ang Lee, i guess has been one of the rare directors, who has been able to make the transition well.
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oh I saw KM a few years later and was wondering why it never went to the Oscars…then I found out who went instead…
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saving private ryan and black hawk down are two different movies I would say. Black hawk down is technically so brilliant n they have shown the modern warfare. Spr is a class apart but black hawk down is one of the best among the recent war movies
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Baring Dil Chahta Hai I completely agree with ur opinion abt other movies…Dil Chahta Hai didn’t work for me..but music was good..
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Ratna- great list there and maybe I’d also add Oceans 11 here.Other movies that made an impact in 2001 would be IMO- Aks ( I think it was a movie made slightly ahead of its time ), Gadar- for the kind of the craze that the movie generated inspite of clashing with a much better movie- (Lagaan),Monsoon Wedding, Minnale ( Gautam Menon’s debut movie also remade as Rehna Hai Tere Dil Mein ) is one of the best romantic flicks in the last decade.I cant forget my experience of watching Lajja- saw it @ Denzong cinema in Gangtok
( Sikkim ) on the friday it released.DCH was a rage in campus- Koi Kahe was a major hit in in all our parties then.
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Aks, was a good attempt, and one of the few remakes( Fallen), that was decent.
Gadar actually was good in the 1st half, but 2nd half, the movie went down fully.
U saw a movie in Sikkim, now that must be some kinda experience.
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Yes it was a great experience.Denzong Cinema @ Gangtok proudly had the distinction of being the first cinema hall in the Himalayas to have Dolby sound system
the travel bug in me makes me visit lovely places in me as possible and the cine bug in me makes me visit theatres even in such places haha!!!
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Sikkim .. wow… personal visits or professional ones? nice ya… I ‘ve always imagined visiting Sikkim and nearby areas… duniya ki doosri our pahunch gaye, never could manage to get to all parts of my own country!
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Well PS- places like Sikkim,Ladakh,the North East etc can be better enjoyed if its a personal trip.My official trips mainly take me to the standard places.Actually India has so much of variety in terms of geography-that its wonderful.And checking out means of entertainment/cinema in these places is another past time of mine.
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Jealousy and admiration all at the same time….
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The campus crowd loved DCH for obvious reason, while to many like me just entering into the 30’s, it was a throwback to our own care free, slacker days, when we had really no clue nor idea about what to do.
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Manoj Bajpayee was awesome in Aks…It lost steam after his character killed off although the apparition kept appearing…had similar feeling with Ransa in Gulaal…
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It is the dream of my life to sit in a movie hall and watch LOTR trilogy with a bunch of my friends. I missed quite a few of such screenings due to my ignorance of things happening in the locality, and now it seems like would never happen. LOTRs are the greatest things that happened to films in recent years. And those who say the adaptions are not faithful to the books, up yours..
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@Tejas : Metro cinema in Mumbai had done back to back shows of LOTR trilogy during the launch of Return of the King in the sense that 3 pm show was Fellowship , 6 pm was Two Tower and 9 pm was RoTK. Was thoroughly disappointed to see a total of 6 to 10 people watching the 3 pm show including me and my wife.
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9/11 happened when i was in college with almost no access to tv or mobile phone. One friend of mine actually came to my room to tell me about it and describe the visuals. So not much visual memories of the event. But saw the WTC movie with Nicholas Cage a few years back and felt very disturbed by its near claustrophobic execution.
On the list : Fellowship still remains the only movie that i have watched repeats on consecutive days in theatre. Saw it again in theatre later during release of RoTK.
Lajja – finally , thats why i come back to pfc … so many movies that i loved are loved by others here. Rather than breaking my head with other friends who do not see my point of view.
DCH – way too brilliant … had never known anyone like the characters (the south bombay kids) then but still loved every single moment of it … met very similar characters in life later who became friends … saif owes his career to this movie. will make it my top 10 all time hindi film list.
Chandni Bar … was actually depressed after seeing the film and next day being Day 0 of summer placements in my b school only added to my misery. have never really had the courage to sit through this movie even during its re runs on tv. the end with tabu s kids is too harrowing.
On Beautiful mind , great movie no doubt but winning best picture ahead of Fellowship and director ahead of Jackson was unfair. Infact even the acting awards seemed motivated by non merit criteria. Denzel winning best actor ahead of Crowe in Beautiful mind was kind of balancing the fact that Denzel was not awarded for Hurricane. In my opinion Kevin Spacey winning with American beauty ahead of Denzels Hurricane or Crowe’s Insider 2 years back was a joke that had to be balanced. Hence Crowe winning for Gladiator in 2000 ahead of Hank’s Castaway followed by Denzel in Training day. Infact both Will Smith’s Ali as well as Sean Penn in I am Sam were way superior to Denzels winning act.
2001 was also the year of AI – Kubrick and Spielberg , long , slow , but bloody good … I loved Haley Joel , Jude Law , the visuals … oh man … the end … Haleys act will remain one of my all time favourite child artist performances.
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The Academy has this habit of giving “Sorry, We did not give you last time, so let’s make it Up” awards. So Crowe does not get it for Insider, make it up with Gladiator, and overlook A Beautiful Mind( his best performance to date). Denzel does not get one for Hurricane, so make it up with Training Day. The reason given out by Academy, both the movies were involved in controversy, come on, why penalize the actors for it.
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Have not seen AI, most of the critical reviews put me off, though off late, i have been hearing a lot more positive stuff about it. BTW when AI was released, the general consensus was that Spielberg altered the climax to make it more feel good kind, but from what i hear now, the climax was Kubrick’s idea itself.
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Lajja and Hey Ram, are two movies that to me deserved much better- critically as well as commercially. The way Hey Ram was just torn apart by most critics, without looking at it’s positives, of which it had many was baffling. It sure had it’s weaknesses, but some of the scenes were outstanding, and this was one of the rare movies this decade where i got to see Shahrukh Khan “Act”. The scene where Kamal runs into SRK in Delhi, and he pleads with him to spare the lives of the Muslims, was superb. Also the performance by Atul Kulkarni as Abhayankar, mind blowing.
Again Lajja was criticized as being too melodramatic, but again the scene where Madhuri questions about Sita’s Agni Pariksha in the Ramayana drama scene, and the one where Rekha is raped, were harrowing. And the performances by Madhuri, Manisha, Rekha were top class.
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Quite honestly both Lajja and Hey Ram were great movies but had pretty bad marketing ….they movies never appealed when their trailers were out…. the trailers were a confused lots without an understanding if the movies need to marketed on the basis of their storyline and core point or on the star value…
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Hey Ram did suffer from this, the movie was marketed on the basis of the “Smooch-A-Thons” and Hot Scenes between Kamal-Rani & Kamal-Vasundhara in the movie. I think distributors felt, audiences could be better attracted that way.
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Same thing with Lajja… the trailer never needed the presence of Anil Kapoor Jackie Shroff and Ajay Devgan landing in the middle of nowhere as a gunda mouthing -”ganga maiya ki saugandh and kinds” … neither did the movie require the 2Ms dancing as the focal point of promotions.. somewhere the mix was not right…
Hey Ram was a different league altogether… Hey Ram started to establish the point that Kamal Hassan is a great actor but very bad in publicity and marketings… that his focus of promotions were more or less limiting things to himself more than even the script…. for not even a minute the promos could show the hard hittingness that the movie carried… somewhere during this phase I guess both SRK and Kamal Hassan were convinced more in their Star power doing the trick than what made them the stars… the same dismal could be seen in PBDHH (even in the whole movie) and Asoka…
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I think Mulholland Drive released in 2001(as per IMDB). For me, Mulholland Dr. is one of the best US movies I have seen.
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Yep, but that’s one movie, i have never been able to complete, found it one of the hardest movies to watch, again my opinion.
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I personally think that David Lynch’s Lost Highway, Blue Velvet, Eraserhead are much better than MD. Though MD was the first mmovie of his which that I saw due to much reputation.
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