Friday, January 15, 2010
CPD+TWR
Chance Pe Dance
It is educative to watch a film like Chance Pe dance in a multiplex hall full of screaming teenagers yelling ''So cuuuuute'' every time Shahid Kapoor looked at the camera and made a cute face (which he does a lot) or did a dance step (which he does a lot too). But in between Shahid Kapoor's cuteness and his dances, there is not very much else in Ken Ghosh's film.
It is the typical story of Sameer (Kapoor) a young man who comes to Mumbai to become a ''hero''. He leaves his father's sari shop in Delhi to try his luck in films. But he has to face disappointment because he has no connections. Every time he gives a good audition and is promised a role, he ends up losing it to someone with clout.
As can be expected, he finds a female, Tina (Genelia D'Souza—delivers generic chirpiness) to offer help and support. A struggler's tale has been done recently, and much better in Luck by Chance. There is not much more that Ghosh can add to an aspiring actor's story. The only unusual touch is that he gets thrown out of his rather fancy rented pad and has to live in his car.
To make a living, till he gets his big break, he teaches dance at a school so there's a sub-plot, about how he whips reluctant kids with 'loser' attitude into a winning team. But at no point is there an emotional connect with the character and his problems, more so since it is inevitable that he will succeed.
For once, you also wish that a film were longer, because neither Sameer's work with the kids, nor his own troubles, are seen with any depth. More than an actor, Shahid Kapoor is an 'item boy' in the film, building up towards an eight-pack revealing climax. Now he deserves better.
The Waiting Room
This little film sprang up without any promotion. Chances are that regular moviegoers haven’t even heard of The Waiting Room.
Directed by first-timer Maneej Premnath, it is a nicely shot and well acted suspense story set in the waiting room of a small railway station. The train has been delayed, four passengers are sitting in there, and around then there is drama going on, over the hunt for a serial killer.
It is raining, the atmosphere is eerie, the lights go an and off, the TV delivers macabre news of chopped-up murder victims. Tina (Radhika Apte) fears that the man trying to be too friendly (Raja Choudhary—the actor from Gulal) might be the killer and is jumpy. Karan is suspicious of an older couple, a jeweller (Sandeep Kulkarni) and wife (Pratiksha Lonkar), who also suspect that the younger ones are a runaway pair. Suspense about the identity of the killer is gradually built up.
Unfortunately, the film’s one-location setting and TV-serial like look, might work against it in the cinemas, but it is a good one-time watch on home video.
It is educative to watch a film like Chance Pe dance in a multiplex hall full of screaming teenagers yelling ''So cuuuuute'' every time Shahid Kapoor looked at the camera and made a cute face (which he does a lot) or did a dance step (which he does a lot too). But in between Shahid Kapoor's cuteness and his dances, there is not very much else in Ken Ghosh's film.
It is the typical story of Sameer (Kapoor) a young man who comes to Mumbai to become a ''hero''. He leaves his father's sari shop in Delhi to try his luck in films. But he has to face disappointment because he has no connections. Every time he gives a good audition and is promised a role, he ends up losing it to someone with clout.
As can be expected, he finds a female, Tina (Genelia D'Souza—delivers generic chirpiness) to offer help and support. A struggler's tale has been done recently, and much better in Luck by Chance. There is not much more that Ghosh can add to an aspiring actor's story. The only unusual touch is that he gets thrown out of his rather fancy rented pad and has to live in his car.
To make a living, till he gets his big break, he teaches dance at a school so there's a sub-plot, about how he whips reluctant kids with 'loser' attitude into a winning team. But at no point is there an emotional connect with the character and his problems, more so since it is inevitable that he will succeed.
For once, you also wish that a film were longer, because neither Sameer's work with the kids, nor his own troubles, are seen with any depth. More than an actor, Shahid Kapoor is an 'item boy' in the film, building up towards an eight-pack revealing climax. Now he deserves better.
The Waiting Room
This little film sprang up without any promotion. Chances are that regular moviegoers haven’t even heard of The Waiting Room.
Directed by first-timer Maneej Premnath, it is a nicely shot and well acted suspense story set in the waiting room of a small railway station. The train has been delayed, four passengers are sitting in there, and around then there is drama going on, over the hunt for a serial killer.
It is raining, the atmosphere is eerie, the lights go an and off, the TV delivers macabre news of chopped-up murder victims. Tina (Radhika Apte) fears that the man trying to be too friendly (Raja Choudhary—the actor from Gulal) might be the killer and is jumpy. Karan is suspicious of an older couple, a jeweller (Sandeep Kulkarni) and wife (Pratiksha Lonkar), who also suspect that the younger ones are a runaway pair. Suspense about the identity of the killer is gradually built up.
Unfortunately, the film’s one-location setting and TV-serial like look, might work against it in the cinemas, but it is a good one-time watch on home video.
Labels: Cinemaah
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