My Celluloid Zone

April 2020 is over.  Closer to the end of lockdown - Hell Yes! Wish not to see brilliance of Hindi Cinema not darkening in the last 2 days - Hell Yess!! I was never a fan of the Kapoor sons until Ranbir Kapoor rocked the screen.. But since the last few months have been following Neetu Kapoor's Insta and Rishi Kapoor's death yesterday, seemed too close than I thought. His works in Mulk and Do Dooni Char were more close to home than the ones he was known for years.  But Irrfan Khan is a different story.  News of his death made me sad. Really sad. Have never been a die hard fan of his work or personality or roles that he played in the movies that I saw of him, but without an ounce of a doubt loved the characters he played and the way he played them. Be it the quiet admin executive in Lunchbox, talkative friend of Metro, quirky and irritating travel partner of Piku or the simpleton husband in Namesake... They left an impression. Long after the TV screen is s...

YMI.. Yeh Mera India.. The title sounds very very patriotic to any cinema goer.. And within minutes of the movie you start getting the feeling - its way farther from being patriotic! It just isn't.. The commentrator starts to criticize India and the other facts as soon as the movie starts unfolding!  I was almost tempted to get my fiction while shoving this movie in the background.. But I sat a little longer.. Just to see where does it go.. Just to know why is an Indian director being such a critique of our country that has just started boasting of her being shining amongst the developing countries of the nation! And I am glad I did.. Its a nice movie.. Very extreme I must say.. But comes right out and slaps the anti-peace people in our country!  Seriously, you won't get that feeling in the beginning...You start getting the message very very subtly as the movie progresses..and it comes like a bang in front of your face by the time it comes to its last 30 minutes or s...

There were several reasons that I could list out - why I wanted to watch the movie..the primary being the popular song sung by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan - Dil to bachcha hai ji...I fell in love with the song the minute I heard it on a video link posted by a friend on Facebook.. One  Sunday morning I & husband were enjoying listening to this song over n over.. we went into discussing how the song would be picturized on Naseeruddin Shah envisioning Vidya Balan..And that piqued my interest to the most.. I was expecting a lot from a movie with such a combination of cast & crew..But my spirits were dampened quite a bit as the movie kept unfolding... I knew that Vishal Bhardwaj hasn't directed but the impression of Omkara lingered on mind anyhow.. I didn't like his Kaminey as well..but that's a different story..  Naseeruddin Shah paired up with Vidya Balan sounded like an enigma which was followed by high expectations..  It will be safe to say -...

Celluloid...Cinema...Picture...Feature Film...Movies............ Interesting synonyms to a very interesting entertainment medium we have today! I sometimes wonder what our lives would have been without movies around us! Some might find this amusing or even funny..But having been brought up in India - a lot of us are influenced by the Hindi film industry - popularly known as Bollywood! And when I say influence - I really mean it! I was in High School when HAHK (Hum Aapke Hain Kaun) hit the screens and every other teenager/person in love was coughing his/her heart out !!!! Anybody who has seen the movie knows exactly what I am talking about :-) However for those who haven't..here's a quicky. "The lead characters Prem & Nisha are having this chemistry amongst themselves ever since they meet up. The coughing starts as the mimic of an older accountant around. And it carries on toward the end of the movie as a sign or symbol of teasing between these characte...