Friday, October 14, 2011
My Friend Pinto
One Night in Mumbai
Stories of village innocents lost in the city were done with a certain lyricism by Raj Kapoor (who was inspired by Charlie Chaplin). In trying to make Prateik fit that hat Raaghav Dar’s My Friend Pinto suffers from a spectacular case of miscasting. The actor does not have that unspoiled innocence on his face—he looks doped—nor does he have the sunny personality that would make one believe that he spreads happiness wherever he goes.
Michael Pinto clutches a bag, walks with a reluctant gait, bumps into and breaks things all the time, and blinks like he needs sleep. He could perhaps pass off as a slightly retarded. He lands up uninvited to visit his friend Samir (Arjun Mathur), who has problems with his job, his wife (Shruti Seth), with life in general. He is due for a life altering experience, which his friend Pinto is expected to provide.
While Samir is stuck in a traffic jam on new year’s eve, when, it also rains (amazing! rain in Mumbai, in December!), Pinto accidentally embarks on a series of adventures that involve a gangster (Makrand Deshpande) because a Mumbai by night film can never do without a don. The don has an aide (Raj Zutshi) whose dentures are worse than his hairdo, two moronic twin buttonmen (Amin and Karim Haji), a drunk mistress (Divya Dutta) and a bag full of missing money. Pinto also encounters two squabbling men, a gambler, several urchins, a pup and a runaway girl (Kalki Koechlin). Before you say Is Raat Ki Subah Nahin, the entire cast assembles at a new night club owned by the don.
The only remarkable thing about the film? Mumbai’s theatregoers will be able to spot many stage actors and faces that are seen hanging out at Prithvi theatre.
Labels: Cinemaah
Mujhse Fraaandship Karoge
Cyrano for the FB Age
This is probably the first film in Bollywood that has understood and made use of the way today’s generation uses a social networking platform like Facebook. All the youngsters in Mujhse Fraaandship Karoge are networked on laptops and smart phones. A lot of their interactions are on chat, which is quite what it is like, at least in cities today.
Like in most YRF films (this comes out of their Y banner that makes films aimed at the youth), this one is also about a bunch of affluent students with liberal or ‘cool’ parents. If friendships are easygoing and relationships are superficial, then it is reflective of urban lifetstyles today.
The lead characters in MFK study (presumably they do, education doesn’t seem to be a priority) do fun stuff—Rahul (Nishant Dahiya) is a rocker, Vishal (Saqib Saleem) is an aspiring writer, Malvika (Tara D'Souza) is a fashion designer and Preity (Saba Azad) a photographer. Vishal and his buddies are also the college pranksters.
Like Cyrano de Bergerac or Saajan closer home, the ordinary-looking Vishal woos hottie Malvika on Facebook, pretending to be the handsome chick magnet Rahul. But instead of Malvika, it’s the tomboyish Preity who is chatting with Vishal, thinking he is Rahul. Offline, Vishal and Preity cannot stand each other, but Rahul and Malvika get along. But they hold back because they think their friends have an FB crush on each other.
There’s not much to go on, in terms of plot, but the tone is light, the lines funny and capturing the mixed Hinglish youth lingo rather well. The actors (Saba Azad is the best of the lot) are fresh-looking, have an easy, natural manner, uninhibited body language and chic wardrobes. How the dual love stories criss-cross is predictable, but not boring.
Mujhse Fraaandship Karoge is a light romcom—the formula is tossed energetically and spiked with wit. The young people it is about will probably relate to it.
Labels: Cinemaah
