Looking back at the Noughties-2002
PrintLast year we said, ‘Things can’t go on like this’, and they didn’t, they got worse.- Will Rogers
The world entered 2002, reeling from a dot com bust, 9/11 and the Enron scandal. And the eternal hope that things could not get more worse. That the way up from Ground Zero would be only upwards. It was assumed, that 2001 was one of those terrible nightmares from which we could wake up, and then it would be all fine. Unfortunately, real life does not run according to a script, it charts it’s own predictable course. Just when you felt that Enron was a one off scandal, and it was unlikely to happen again, came Worldcom. Like Enron, Worldcom grew at a furious pace in the late 90′s, acquiring MCI, becoming a darling for the investors and biz media. However the recession in the telecom sector from 2000 onwards, and a failed merger with Sprint, hit it’s earnings. For most part of 2001-02, Worldcom used fraudulent accounting practices to cover up the huge losses it was making. It was left to a bunch of intrepid whistle blowers, to expose the fraud going on to the tune of a whooping 3.8 billion USD and it finally went bust up with about 6 billion USD in debt. Bankruptcy, pink slips, job losses, layoffs could have well been the theme song of 2002. It was not just Worldcom, the aviation industry suffered it’s worst year, as airlines after airlines went bust, Ansett, US Airways, United Airlines, Swiss Air the list was long. Not a day passed without reading about some company going bust, and X number of employees laid off.
And if we sought refuge in the movie theaters, to forgot the harsh realities, and just have some entertainment, hard luck. 2002 was one of Bollywood’s worst years ever, hands down, and while this year has been terrible, it had Dev D, Kaminey, Luck by Chance, Gulaal, Paa still to follow. With Lagaan & Dil Chahta Hai, the media had a field day, crowing about how Bollywood had finally arrived, was prepared to storm the world, and finally move on to the next level. Except that the next level, proved to be one step down. Most of the movies had a set formula- Boy Meets Girl, Girl Engaged to Boy 2, Girl loves Boy, Boy goes around trying to convince Girl’s Papa, Mama, Chachi, Chachu, Mamu, Boy 2 steps aside, Boy and Girl happily ever after, all Happy. You could switch characters, switch actors, switch settings and it would not have made the least difference, everything looked just so same. Most of the movies were set in US/UK/Canada/Australia/NZ, all characters seemed to live in grand homes, drive snazzy cars, wear designer clothes, and do nothing else. The audience said “Thanks but no Thanks” and gave a massive thumbs down, only 2 movies that year( Devdas and Raaz) were bonafide hits. Some like Company, Humraaz, Deewangee did reasonably well. The debit side of the ledger though was huge, none were spared. Be it Golden Boy Hrithik, with 3 back to back duds, Na Tum Jaano Na Hum, Aap Mujhe Ache Lagne Lagi and Mujhse Dosti Karoge, each more terrible than other, though i felt Aap Mujhe Acche Whatever Whatever, was the perfect torture flick. AB’s Baby, still continued his flow show, the real life romance with Karishma could not save the sleep inducing Haan Maine hi Bore Kiya Hai, nor did his attempt to play a computer hacker in Om Jai Jagdish really excite the audiences. Actors, producers, directors shocked at the rejection, did a Maa Kasam act, swearing to improve, promising they would be back, though considering the quality of stuff, churned out in recent times, not sure if any lessons were learnt. Anyway comming to my favorites of 2002, in no particular order, here they are. 
Kannathil Muttamithal- Maniratnam for sure is one of the best directors in Indian cinema, and an artist par excellence. Watching a movie of his is like watching a master artiste, work on his canvas, creating an enchanting masterpiece, that sweeps you away just by it’s sheer beauty. But while Mani sir’s movies were as beautiful as they could be, something was missing for me. The camera work, the music, the acting everything was top notch, but still that emotional connect was missing, it was like watching a beautiful painting, you loved it, while staring at it, the moment you came out of hall, you forgot it. The last Mani sir movie that stayed on with me for long was Iruvar, to date one of the finest Indian movies, i have ever seen. And after Iruvar, the movie that again swept me away, lingered on in my thoughts, made me think over and over again, had to be Kannathil Muttamithal. The movie deals with the tale of Amudha, the central character, who is adopted and raised by a middle class couple Thiruchelvan( Madhavan) and Indira( Simran). A happy go lucky child, like any other school kid of her age, she however finds her life in turmoil, when her adopted parents reveal the truth to her about her real mother Shyama( Nandita Das), who is now an LTTE activist. Amudha along with her adopted parents travels to the war torn climes of Sri Lanka, to search for her real mother. This is a movie, that i would rate as one of Mani’s masterpieces, right up there with Nayagan and Iruvar. Check out here for a more detailed look by me at the movie. 
Company: Gandha hai yeh, par dhanda hai. As a gangster movie, Company towers above all other Indian movies, in this genre. And even if you take it just as a movie, overlooking the genre classification, it still rates as one of the finest movies ever made, and I would rate this as one of the top 10 Indian movies of the decade. Forget about the references to the D company, the rivalry between Dawood Ibrahim and Chota Rajan, which did form the basis for many scenes. Just take it as a movie, as a cops and gangsters tale, the classic rivalry between the underworld and the law, it emerges notches higher than the average product. I always felt RGV could never better Satya, he proved me wrong with this. The movie is a sweeping, epic reconstruction of the gangster world, taking a look at it’s organized structure, the hierarchies, the relationships. And the characters be it the ruthless crime lord Mallik( Ajay Devgan, brilliant), his former associate turned deadly rival Chandu( Vivek Oberoi in a great debut) and the tough as nails cop Sreenivasan( Mohanlal, as natural and self assured as ever), fit perfectly into the chess board, pacing their moves, counter moves with precision. And the camera angles are top notch, as RGV takes through a series of jump cuts, tracking shots and the dark sombre mood, that actually makes you feel the menace in the environment. Company is the movie that does not make me want to give up on RGV , though he has been going cuckoo in his recent movies. And also makes me wonder what happened to Vivek Oberoi, stunning in his debut movie, but nothing much of note later. 
Makdee: Much before Maqbool and Omkara, there was Makdee, showcasing Vishaal Bharadwaj’s talent as a story teller par excellence. When he is not adapting Shakespeare to an Indian backdrop, Vishaal makes these wonderful charming children’s movies, that are endearing, entertaining and charming. Here he takes the old age tale of Hansel and Gretel, the central plot point of the protagonist, trying to rescue her sibling from the clutches of the wicked witch. In this case the protagonists are Chunni and Munni( Shweta Prasad), twin sisters in a small village. Chunni is the bratty girl, while Munni is the more silent one. Chunni’s best friend is Mughal E Azam( Alaap), the adopted son of the village butcher Kallu( Makarand Deshpande), who ill treats him. When one of her pranks makes Kallu furious, he ends up chasing her timid sister Munni, into an old mansion. The mansion is haunted by an old witch Makdee( Shabana Azmi, with teriffying makeup), who promptly turns Munni into a hen. The movie is about how Chunni strikes a deal of 100 hens with Makdee to get her sister back, and how she goes about it. Vishaal here comes up with a great children’s movie, that has some lovely performances by Shweta, Alaap and Makarand. It also has some great camera work, especially the shots of the haunted mansions. Makdee is the kind of fantasy-fable, most of us have grown up reading during our childhood days. Vishaal here combines pathos, humour, thrills in right doses, the scene where Chunni cries for her siste Munni , remembering her dead mother is touching, while Chunni’s pranks are sure to light up a smile. Inspite of a not too great ending, this movie is still worth a watch.
The Legend of Bhagat Singh: For me one of the best historical movies made in Indian cinema, and also the best of the 4 Bhagat Singh movies that hit the marquee at the same time. Have not seen the other 2, but having Bobby Deol play Bhagat Singh, and Guddu Dhanoa as director, was nothing short of sacrilege. The movie effectively captures the story of Bhagat Singh, thanks to Rajkumar Santoshi’s excellent direction. It has it’s own flaws, the romantic track does not fit in, not really much is made of Bhagat Singh’s philosophy. The fact is that Bhagat Singh was not just a revolutionary, he was a dreamer, he had his own vision, he had his own ideology. The detailing is picture perfect here, and Santoshi effectively captures the spirit of the freedom struggle. Some of the scenes are brilliant, Bhagat Singh’s speech for independence in the court, Bhagat Singh’s initiation into the revolutionary group, his encounter with Chandrashekar Azad, his fast sequence in the jail. To date i still find myself moved by the final scene, where Bhagat, Rajguru and Sukhdev are led away to the gallows. Check here to see a more detailed analysis of the movie by me. 
Minority Report: I had missed out on Spielberg’s AI, mainly due to the critical reviews, but also was not really in a mood to watch something complex and layered. Come Minority Report, i was in a better frame of mind to accept the more layered story. And rarely having missed out on Spielberg, along with the good reviews for it, made me watch this movie . I was not disappointed, this was one of Spielberg’s best movies, that combined escapist summer blockbuster entertainment with a thoughtful storyline. Or maybe it was due to the US Govt comming up with the Patriot Act, and the creation of the Homeland Security Department, in the wake of 9/11, that found a resonance in the movie’s plot. The central theme of having a Dept of Pre Crime in year 2054, and using the 3 cogs to predict a crime taking place, was eerily similar to what was happening in the US, what with all those numerous acts and laws, that legalized snooping, wire tapping, arbitrary detention. John Anderton( Tom Cruise), one of the top detectives in the Department, and some one who passionately believes in the System, finds himself on the run, when it is predicted he would be murdering another person. Convinced its a setup, he gets the help of Agatha, one of the pre cogs, to prove his innocence, in a frantic dash against time. With it’s stunning futuristic shots, action scenes, and camera work, Minority Report works perfectly as the summer blockbuster. But beyond that, its the questions it raises, that push it a tab above the normal summer movie. What happens when a person who fully believes in the system, becomes it’s victim? Is totalitarianism a must for preventing crime, do the democratic methods have their own limitations in combating it? And is a man’s life played out according to fate, or is there some kind of giant mechanism that does control the actions? I think after Matrix, this was one movie where i would have endless discussion with friends over the philosophy in it.
The Pianist: One of the best Holocaust movies right up there with Schindlers List. Check out this article of mine on the movie. 
Insomnia: Christopher Nolan’s first mainstream venture, after his indie masterpiece Memento was based on a Norwegian movie of the same name. I have not seen the Norwegian original, but the movie sure shows that Nolan is one of the best directors of this decade. Setting it against the bleak, barren landscape of Alaska, the opening credits are vintage Sergio Leone, the plane flying over the vast stretches of ice and mountains to the tune of David Julyan’s haunting BGM score. Nolan beautifully sets up the mood right here, the panoramic shots of Alaska’s landscape, complimenting the more angtsy characters of detective Will Dormer( Al Pacino), a top LAPD cop, called to investigate a murder, as also an opportunity for him to get away from an internal affairs investigation back home. In Alaska, he is some sort of a legend, hero worshiped by the local cop Ellie Burr( Hilary Swank). The suspect in the murder case is the writer Walter Finch( Robin Williams). What elevates Insomnia above the standard thriller stuff, is the way the characters of Will and Walter are delineated. Will’s sleeplessness accentuated by some weird camera angles and blurred out images, Walter is a more cool, clinical kind of antagonist, some one who keeps playing on Will’s insecurities. It is also about Walter battling his own personal demons, it is a story, where black and white merge to form a whole mass of grey. Credit also to Nolan, for getting the best out of Pacino and Williams, two brilliant actors, who can be pretty much of a loose cannon too.
The Hero: One of the best in the Chinese Wu Xia genre. It is a movie, which keeps uncovering a new layer to me everytime i watch it. The colors, the visuals, the graphics and the awesome battle scenes, make it a visual feast, and then the interactions between the 5 principal characters, Nameless, Sword, The King, Sky and Snow are so richly layered. I have given a more detailed take on the movie here.
About Schimdt: If for nothing else, the movie should be seen, just to watch Jack Nicholson, do a role, where he does not have to bully or bluster, unfortunate people around him. But beyond Jackie boy’s change of image, this is a warm, personal, fuzzy movie, that deals with the bitter sweet tale of the title character, a 60 plus insurance executive, retired, feeling irrelevant in today’s world. It beautifully captures the feelings of the older generation, feeling left out , without getting too preachy. The movie works on twin tracks, Jack’s attempt to stop the marriage of his daughter, with whom he feels is an unworthy choice, and then his relationship with a young African boy he has adopted. Watch the movie, and i guess you maybe looking at your father’s feelings in a different manner. And then of course watching Jackie Boy in a performance that is restrained, moving, and wonderful.
Lord of the Rings-The 2 Towers: Making a follow up to The Fellowship was a daunting task. Peter Jackson had set the bar high in Fellowship, be it visual style, narration, content, characterization, drama, that every frame of 2 Towers would be bench marked against that standard. The real challenge was something else, being the second part of the LOTR trilogy, the 2 Towers had no identifiable beginning or end. Most of the characters were from The Fellowship, and the resolution would be coming much later. What Jackson in effect was doing here, was tackling the middle part of a movie, the part where the characters more established, begin to seek their resolution. Often the part hardest to hold the viewer’s interest, who generally love the start and the end. And then making a 2.5 hour movie, of just the middle part, whew. While the continuity with Fellowship does make the transition seamless, for people who have not seen LOTR- Fellowship, it would be hard to follow. Watching the Fellowship is a must, for those planning to see 2 Towers. And yes watch it for the Battle of Helms Deep, one of the finest battle scenes on screen, the siege of the fortress by the forces of the evil Saruman, is spectacle at it’s best. And the ability to skilfully interweave the elements of fantasy, drama and action, is what distinguishes Peter Jackson from Michael Bay & Roland Emmerich.
The Road to Perdition- Excellent movie made in the gangster genre, with it’s dark, moody undertones, and Sam Mendes deft direction. Set in Prohibition era Chicago, the movie deals with the relationship between the mob hitman Mike Sullivan( Tom Hanks) and the Mob boss, John Rooney( Paul Newman) who treats him as his own surrogate son. When Rooney’s hot headed son Connor( Daniel Craig), has a fall out with Mike, he makes an aborted assassination attempt that leads to death of Mike’s wife and younger son. Swearing revenge on Connor, Mike goes on the run along with his elder son. What works here is the way Mendes depicts the multiple relationships, between Mike and his son, between Mike and Rooney, and Rooney trying to protect his son from Mike’s revenge. In fact i did feel the movie had shades of Govind Nihalani’s Takshak, especially the clash between Tom Hanks and Daniel Craig, quite similar to that between Ajay Devgan and Rahul Bose. While Tom Hanks, Daniel ’007′ Craig, and Jude Law as a pyschopathic killer, pitch in great performances, for me the best performance comes from my favorite Paul Newman, in his last screen appearance, wonderfully portraying a person torn between the love for his adopted son, and a desire to protect his own son. 
City of God- One of the best opening scenes in movie history. The opening credits silent, sudden cut to a knife being sharpened, a series of montage shots, showing chickens being cut up, another chicken looking on , and then a group of boys in the notorious Rio slum, chasing the chicken through the streets. Sheer visual brilliance, the scene bustling with energy. And then the way director Fernandon Meirelles, transitions the shot of Rocket, facing the gang, to go back in time, to narrate his story. Just love this part, Rocket facing the gang, hands stretched out, legs akimbo, and then the buildings around him whirring, the color schema changing, and we see a much younger persona. What follows next is not a let down either. No holds barred look at the gang culture in the Brazilian favelas, their tales, their tribulations, it alternates between the funny, the bizarre, the shocking. Not an easy movie to watch, for most of the part its gritty and raw, and the kinetic camera work, can make you dizzy. But trust me this is a movie worth sitting through, every moment of it.
Couple of other movies, which i liked in 2002
The 25th Hour- Read my review of the movie here.
Russian Ark- Saw it on the reccomendation of one of my friends, and was zapped. One single tracking shot through the entire Hermitage Palace, capturing slices of Russian history, awesome.
Infernal Affairs- Sure Martin Scorcese, is one of the greatest directors, but that is no reason to dismiss this as a B movie flick. No way, this original on which The Departed was based, is one of the most brilliant, most layered crime sagas i had seen. It combines the best of Hong Kong action movies, with a brilliant storyline. And much as i am a fan of Scorcese, i would rate Infernal Affairs and its sequels much higher than The Departed.
Signs- To me this was the last good movie that came out from Shyamalan, another director gone the RGV way. A very impressive storyline dealing with the clash between faith and reason, and how a former preacher, Mel Gibson, who had lost faith in God, after the death of his wife, is forced to question himself, after his rural farming family faces an alien attack. Sadly after this Shyamalan started to go cuckoo, The Village made no sense, and less said about Lady in the Water, the better.
Bourne Identity- Perfect summertime action thriller, with enough twists and turns, and some good acting by Matt Damon, Franka Potente.
The Ring- One of my favorite horror flicks, loved the dark, sombre atmosphere, which keeps the tension on. And then that final shot of Samra walking out of the TV screen, was goosebump inducing.
And not the least, the presence of a certain Naomi Watts. Some movies of the year that are on my Must Watch List- Adaptation, Y Tu Mama Tambien, Pedro Almodvar’s Talk to Her, The Hours, Robert Altman’s The Company.
Tags: 2002 Movies, About Schimdt, ajay devgan, City of God, Company, Kannathil Muttamithal, Legend of Bhagat Singh, Manoj Shyamalan, Minority Report, Ram Gopal Verma, road to perdition, Russian Ark, Sam Mendes, Signs, steven speilberg, The Hero
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Rahul Dholakia
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Varma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Sachin Kundalkar
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
Ah! 2002, the most important year for me, my journey as a cinephile started this year. First time I had entered in a theatre to see a film and also watched my first Hollywood film (though dubbed) this year.
.
Anyway, coming to the post. Yes, this year didnt see much success on the box office if talking about the desi films. The set formula written in bold matches with the plot of ‘Mere Yaar ki Shaadi Hai’ which performed well on the box office. The later half saw the success of ‘Saathiya’, though a remake still a good movie but it were hollywood films that did good business here. The ‘Spider-Man’ was very successful throughout the world. Watching it today, looks formulaic but it was sill a milestone because it paved the way for superheroes and comic-book based movies. though it all started with The Blade (1998) and X-Men (2000) but none were as successful as Spider-Man so its contribution can’t be denied.
The Harry Potter was series also had its second film this year which again did well in India. xXx is among one of my first five foreign films and I loved it for all its stunts. A few years later I watched Equilibrium and it was a good Sci-Fi movie after Minority Report this year. Monority Report was based on the story by Philip K. Dick so it must be purely coincidence that Homeland Security was created at the same time. Pierce Brosnan donned the Bond tuxedo for the last time this year. Die Another Day and Saathiya were released on the same Day.
loading...
Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi hai, was a flop i think, anyway whatever, My Best Friend Wedding itself was a yawner, and i was not watching another version of it, that too with Uday Chopra.
Well Spider Man was good, but i liked Spider Man-2 more, it was the rare case of a sequel being better than the original. Liked Tobey McGuire, though cant stand Kirsten Dunst. Tobey is another good actor, whose Spiderman persona has overshadowed some of his really good performances in The Cider House Rules, Ride with the Devil and Ice Storm.
Equilibrium yep caught it on Star Movies, and was a decent movie, though liked the Gym Kata stuff.
Die Another Day, was like a Rajnikant movie, and Daniel Craig, somehow does not fit into the Bond role well. I think Brosnan made a good decision opting out from the series, he is way too talented an actor to get stuck in it.
loading...
I’ve no clear idea about the fate of Mere yaar ki Shaadi hai but as far as I remember at that time there weren’t many good movies running so this was the only movie which attracted the crowds. Much like ‘Hum Tumhare Hain Sanam’. Which again wasn’t a flop as predicted. Later i met a few people who liked the movie Mere Yaar ki Shaadi Hai so I thought may be it did decently.
Spider-Man. Hmm… Kirsten Dunst never fitted the role. Mary Jane is supposed to be a supermodel who fell for a geek named Peter Parker and Dunst doesn’t qualify the role. Even Tobey Maguire looks too serious in his Spider-Man role. I’m not questioning his acting abilities but think that he was also a miscast. Khair, the producers have no option but to stick with this cast as the fourth Spider-Man movie is in production.
read somewhere that the Gum Kata style was developed by the director Kurt Wimmer himself.
Brosnan was over 50 years of age at the time of Die Another Day so after all it was time for him to leave.
loading...
Well i think he did fit in well with the Geeky image, Mc Guire does have that Geeky, boy next door look. Spiderman-3 however was a mess, too many threads, and add to that a Bollywood style love triangle.
The only reason i remember Die Another Day is because of Hale Berry.
loading...
Well, about Spider-Man I think it’s the fault of the writers because in the books spider-man is supposed to be quick-witted and a wisecrack. In movies he looks too serious. Tobey could have pulled it off but the writers made a mess.
Heh! After watching Avatar, Spider-man 3 and Superman Returns I couldn’t help but notice how Hollywood is becoming more and more Bollywood style.
loading...
I always felt most of their action thrillers were bollywood masala… i still think if wanted is released in US with promotions and all, it may not be an superhit, but for sure successful… everybody needs masala :lol
loading...
Mere Yaar ki Shaadi hai I thought was a hit… and trust me, that year I was releived to see UC and JS …. it was one miserable year… and for some reason I liked this movie, specially being a low budget, and movie having clearly written ‘wannabe’ on it, so the expectations were accordingly there… and the movie was bamm on target to me…
Oh yeah “xXx”released that year.. completely forgotten… the all American Spy, who led to Pierce Brosnan’s retirement from the all so clean spic and span suave British spy to Daniel Craig… though it took me a while to get used to him, now I am comfortable with him.. more or less like him more for being that KICKASS spy who doesnt mind getting dirty… also conviniently, both his movies were the 1 & 2 episode, easily can be passed away as the time when Bond was still learning to climb the ropes…
loading...
Problem is Mohabattein kept me off Yashraj for some time, and Mujhse Dosti Karoge, did not help things either. I do like the heroine in MYKSH, Sanjana something, she was quite cute.
loading...
100% with you about mohabattien…and MDK… and cant blame you .. they did push Uday C for too long… check out Sanjana AKA Tulip Joshi in Matrubhumi … I think it was the movie and not her acting but you will literally feel for her… one heck of a movie..
loading...
Yaar problem is a kind of Deja Vu. MDK was based on The Truth about Cats and Dogs, and then we had seen a similiar kind of story in Saajan, and then Uday C’s character was like Salman’s in KKHH, and Kareena again another Poo character after K3G, I was like GIMME a BREAK pls. Kunal Kohli had a field day, ripping movie directors on his TV show in the 90′s, but his movies are as bad.
loading...
Tulip Joshi. A few days ago I watched her this year release Runway and her item no. is the only thing I remember from the movie.
loading...
XXx was good masala stuff, but even from that aspect, loved the Bourne series, it had some smart action scenes, great visuals, and good plotting. Though having read Ludlum’s trilogy, the movie version was a drastically altered one. The actual novels were much more complicated, but i guess the summer audiences would have found it a bit too hard to follow.
loading...
oh yes, Bourne series were suddenly an out of the league movies for me… I hadnt read the book, and to see the movie kept me wondering how do they manage it… how do they keep coming up with concepts… though later I felt the Wolverine Story in X Men and Bourne kinda were the same :notsure:
loading...
Saathiya was ok, but then for me Alaipayuthey itself was quite average, the stunning visuals notwithstanding. In fact i like Shaad Ali’s Bunty Aur Babli more than Saathiya.
loading...
I personally like Alaipayuthey a lot … it had those smaller integrities of people, relationships and reactions, which is what makes me adore Mani R… even now I think Mouna Ragam was superior to Alaipayuthey, but overall Alaipayuthy was a good movie
loading...
finally…amazed u found 10 good movies in 2002 as well
… to me devdas was a vulgar display of money.. nothing more… cant stand that movie for more than 10 minutes… (of course, its my opinion, not a fatwa on the movie…).. one of the reasons why 2002 was not the step forward after 2001 is cuz most movies were under production pre Lagaan/DCH… aap mujhe achche lagne lage :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: … mujhe toh bilkul ache nahi lage…. but was it in 2002???? though its a timeless marvel… m pretty sure Hrithik Roshan might be playing it for any unwanted guests in his house…
Somehow Minority Report loses the fizz in the middle for me, and Insomnia never worked too much … LoBS didnt watch it … no reasons… just too mnay bhagat singhs happening that time….for sure will try to catch up with the movies that you ve mentioned and I havent seen yet….
loading...
well actually it was not an easy task, i had to dig in and that’s when i found out some underrated stuff like The 25th Hour, and then the better ones, like Road to Perdition. I guess the problem with LOBS, was that it was released at the wrong time, too many movies on the same subject clashing together. But seriously as a historical movie, found it way better than that Multi crore Saas Bahu drama called Jodha Akbar.
For starters Devdas was never one of my favorite stories, i could never identify with some one who drank himself to death, just coz his girl left him, whatever fundaes you give about Pure love and all that. And SLB’s treatment put me off big time.
loading...
and unlike Anand (a lot people I know compared the deaths) I was like getting frustrated that he wasnt dying.. too much of melodrama in a death scene… it made me feel like strangling him to death myself… unlike Anand, where you know death is at doorstep and then he dies… sudden… end… devdas was pure torture to me…
loading...
:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: saas bahu drama … Jodha Akbar had some real good performances… but that was about it I guess… I mean quite honestly the story never had anything great coming out of it…
loading...
One good popcorn picture, i missed out in the list was David Fincher’s The Panic Room, i guess his first attempt at a hard core masala flick. Jodie Foster, taking on a gang of thugs led by Forrest Whittaker, was total kick ass.
Hard core Hollywood masala flick of the decade would be the Transporter series, right down to the dialogues.
loading...
:rofl: transporter and Crank… jason stathom doing a what indian heros ve been doing for ages now…. beat time goons and destiny :rofl: … actually hollywood does have a lot of masala flicks that never get released in India.. there are a 101 sad movies which nobody in India gets to know, the holly reputation stays intact.. guess Russia might be thinking of Bollywood as a great land of story telling as well
loading...
Well i actually think that most of the Holly flicks released in India are the hard core masala stuff. The more meaningful stuff, comes on DVD’s or TV. Mel Gibson’s Patriot was a Sunny Paaji flick in Hollywood, right down to that shot of Gibson running in the Battlefield with the American flag.
loading...
weird.. thats true as well… toh India mei chun chun ke they release the crafted masala flicks… though thankfully they dont release High School Reunionor Gutterball and kinds….
loading...
Good list Ratnakar… I would like to include Kaante also in this, even though it was copy but as a copy it was quite good and Sanjay Gupta style was in full action… and BTW you forget real gem of 2002…i.e. JAANI DUSHMAN EK ANOKHI KAHANI…hhmm.. I think you too believe in the philosophy that classics should not be touched so its better not to discuss it… (RIP JAANI DUSHMAN EK ANOKHI KAHANI)
loading...
Dudee, Jaani Dushman Ek Anokhi Torture, would make it in another post, the So-Bad-Its-So-Good genre of movies of which some are there in the Noughties. BTW i have seen it around 20 times, take that. The other such movies for me are Garv, Maa Tujhe Salaam, Kranti,Jurm, Bichoo. I have to give it to the Deol brothers for keeping the flag of the hard core masala flick flying high. Salman had a Wanted and a Garv,but most of the time, he came in those soggy romances or family dramas. Akshay shifted to meaningless comedies, and then later his attempts to go hep with Blue, CC2C have not really worked.
loading...
Actually I did like Kaante, and even Musafir too. But somewhere down the line, Sanjay Gupta overdid the coolness factor. He has got stuck in a rut, characters wearing shades, black dresses, black overcoats, stylish walks.
loading...
Adaptation is one of the most imaginative works of Kaufman.Its his best IMHO.great list.:)
loading...
yup cannot ignore Kaufman…. it is one of the best.
loading...
As i mentioned, that is one movie on my Must See list.
loading...
Would add Aankhen and Phone Booth in my list too.
While Aankhen had a unique story line and was thoroughly entertaining, phone booth was unimaginative cinema for me.
Taking hostage in a phone booth and making it look believable didn’t look possible to me before watching phone booth. And the villain’s voice was the master stroke of this movie. I will rate this as one of the finest movies of 2002.
loading...
I meant imaginative and not unimaginative :wacko:
loading...
hmmm, 2002 was a major step backward for bollywood…. each movie more cringe worthy than other. In this heap, the movies that you mentioned really stood out.
Am glad that you mentioned Makdee. It really moved and entertained me which I never expected from a movie primarily aimed for children. (oh yeah, Vishal did it again with Blue Umbrella)
Legend of Bhagat Singh had the misfortune of being clubbed along with other 3 or 4 bhagat singhs and never really got it’s due. For me, not only was it the best Bhagat Singh movie but one of the better historical dramas to come out from Bollywood
Liked Saathiya quite a lot. Haven’t watched the original but I always catch Saathiya whenever it is running on tv. They got the middle class sensibilities spot on (For me the railway quarters were pure nostalgia, having stayed in something like them during my chilhood) which maybe helped me connect with the characters more.
Have watched most of the holywood movies on your list albeit not in 2002 but much later and they are real good picks. I’d have added one more movie to make the list perfect: Catch Me If You Can which I guess was released in 2002. Watched this movie only after some jerk commented that Oye Lucky was ripped off from CMIYC. Though the basic plot may be similar (conman on the run) both movies are vastly different and none is lesser than the other.
loading...
Vishal to me does an equally great job with children’s movies, as he does with those dark underworld tales. Both Makdee and Blue Umbrella mark him out as a storyteller par excellence.
Dont think there was anything common between OLLO and Catch Me, kuch log to yuhin kuch bhi bol dete hai.
loading...
I loved ‘Anbe Sivam’.
loading...
Yes Ratna 2002 was super bad.Some more films I like would be Aankhein ( AB- Akshay- Vipul Shah), Kaante ( rip off but stylishly executed ),Bend It Like Beckham,Chhal ( fairly underrated ), Mounam Pesiyadhe ( Taml-Ameer’s debut movie with Surya and Trisha ), Nandanam
( Malayalam- Renjith’s 2nd movie as director which introduced Prithviraj ).
Purely as entertainers I also found Meesha Madhavan ( Malayalam ), Pammal K.Sambandham and Panchatanthiram ( both Kamal Haasan comedies in Tamil ) to be fairly enjoyable.Jaani Dushman- Ek Anokhi Kahani is an altogether different league
loading...
Aankhein i thought was a very well shot thriller for most of the part, except the ending. Dunno why Vipul Shah, has taken the Barjatya/Yashraj route, making all those Sog-A-Thons later.
PKS was good, but somehow did not really like Panchathanthiram, nowhere close to other Kamal-Crazy Mohan classics like MMKR or Apoorva Sahodaragal. Seen the telugu version of Meesa Madhavan and it was quite decent.
loading...
Aankhen had an alternate ending for overseas audiences giving away a scope for sequel with Amitabh in the railway platform and Akshay & Arjun near window pane of the train..Had seen it in a pirated print…wonder why it was not carried out here, but agree that the way it turns comical in convincing the cops about AB was very comical which disappointed big time….Meesha Madhavan even had a Tamil version with Surya in lead & Jyothika.
loading...
Yes even I’ve seen the alternate ending & found it cool.
Ajay- there’s no Tamil remake of Meesha Madhavan, probably you are refering to the remake of Kunji Koonan.
The Telugu remake mentioned by Ratnakar is Dongodu.
loading...
Oops i goofed up…You are right Sethu, it was indeed Kunji Koonan.
loading...
Thakshak reference can also be seen in Eastern Promises between the 2 characters…. TLOBS had to be the film of the year & Santoshi’s best in this decade; 2002 was also responsible for the kick ass music of KAANTE. Nice you mentioned HERO as its truly a breathtaking piece of audio visual experience…
loading...
What Takshak? Govind Nihlani’s Takshak or what?
loading...
Yep unless there is some other Takshak which i am not aware of. But if you see Road to Perdition, the angle of the rivalry between Tom Hanks and Daniel Craig, is quite similiar to the one between Ajay Devgan and Rahul Bose in Takshak. In fact found Daniel Craig’s character, quite similiar to RB’s in Takshak. Again the Virgo Mortensen- Vincent Cassel angle in Eastern Promises was very much similiar to the Ajay D-Rahul Bose track.
loading...
Now i know that Road to Perdition,itself was based on a graphic novel, and from what i understand, Takshak was based on a Mario Puzo novel. So it’s not a copy, but both movies have a similiar thread to some extent. Beats me though why critics slammed Takshak, and praised ROP. For me it was a well made movie, and had some great acting by Ajay Devgan, Amrish Puri, Rahul Bose and Tabu. And a superb soundtrack by ARR.
loading...
It was not properly promoted and was devoid of any commercial masala like Govind’s movies….Jumbalika was a sheer torture for eyes but have to rate Khamosh Raat as an all time favourite because the way it changes track in between…Jeene ka tha hum mein dum par nahi tha koi humdum.
loading...
Havent seen Takshak but now I wonder why you didnt include it in 2000′s post.
loading...
or it was released in 99..
loading...
Road to Perdition … is one of alltime favourites … so really glad to see it here. The gun fight in slo mo and shot in silence in the midst of pouring rains is one scene i can watch again and again. Plus Jude Laws really slimy portrayal … his pock marked face after the accident is outstanding … the reflection of the dead body in the bathroom door of Paul Newmans son after Tom Hanks kills him … Tom Hanks and his sons bonding … Paul Newmans awesome delivery of the lines “And there is only one guarantee, None of us will see heaven” … Brilliant … Never really understood why Sam Mendes gets so highly rated for American Beauty but RTP is so unbelievably underrated. Why ???
loading...
Road to Perdition to me was one of the best gangster flicks. And i don’t go by what some critics claim, that Tom Hanks was miscast as a gangster. Hanks was not meant to be a De Niro/Pacino kinda character, he was the sober guy, taking to crime to support his family. It has one of the best climax ever.
loading...
As someone said earlier, Chhal should find a honorable mention here….also regarding LOBS, it had amazing music….in fact AR Rehman got some award for Saathiya I think, and publicly declared that he would have been happy if it was given to him for LOBS. It is an amazing album IMHO.
loading...
I can only give a mention of movies i have seen, I have not seen Chhal and can’t comment on it. LOBS was one of ARR’s best scores, especially the Rang De Basanti song in the climax, as also Sarfarosh ki Tamanna and Desh Ve.
loading...
Ratnakar…no mention of Mr and Mrs Iyer…guess you didn’t like it that much for it to find a place in this list? would you include it had it been a list only comprising indian films released in 2002?
loading...
Well i know there are many fans of Mr & Ms.Iyer, but honestly speaking found it quite underwhelming. The initial scenes were good, but the love story track just left me cold. And the ending just seemed to go on and on. Again this is my own view, there are many who rate this as a masterpiece, but for me its a good but not too great movie.
loading...