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This fortnight’s Time Out Mumbai highlighted a documentary titled “Supermen of Malegoan” which aired on NDTV 24X7 over the last weekend. It seemed interesting so I decided to give it a watch. And it sure turned out to be a gem of a documentary.

The documentary is set in Malegaon which is a small town about 175 miles from Mumbai. The town is based around the power loom industry and the town cinema hall provides a much needed escape from the drudgery of everyday life to the people residing there. Nasir, a videographer who helps run the cinema decides to shoot his own movie in Malegaon. Having previously shot such masterpieces like “Malegaon ke Sholay”, he wants to go all Hollywood this time. He decides to remake Superman into “Malegaon Ka Superman”. From here on the film follows the mad cap antics of the film crew as they go about bringing their dreams on to the silver screen.

He ropes in Shafique, who works in one of the local looms to play his “Superman”. Nasir explains that his “Superman” will be different, and will suffer from a variety of disease like asthma from flying in the polluted skies.  So he chooses Shafique, who looks like anything but Superman. And he chooses Akram to play the bald villain with a penchant for filth. (Excellent dialogue delivery by the way) As the movie progresses, you begin to see the joy that the simple act of making a film brings into their lives. They shoot with makeshift gear, green screens, a handy cam, a bicycle for a dolly and have many accidents on the way to completing the movie. And the local newspaper keeps referring to their production as “Spider-man”.  At the end of it you are convinced that even that scrawny set of bones playing “Superman” can fly! Such is the magic of cinema!!

The film crew is uniformly funny, from their attempts at green screen magic (quite successful actually), to the leading man playing Superman to the mishaps on set. The movie is darkly comic at times, and brings about the aspirations of simple people beautifully to the screen. It also highlights some of the problems that small town India faces like lack of power, clean water and other facilities. But most of all, the movie’s sheer brilliance lies in the manner it brings the joy of movie making to the audience.  Highly recommended stuff.

PS: The film has one kick-ass theme song  :)

Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes hasn’t seen many big budget movie adaptations in recent years, and when I heard that Guy Ritchie (of all people) was making a Sherlock Holmes movie, I was particularly intrigued. It came out in theaters here in India on 8^th January, and I managed to catch a show yesterday. To put it in 140 characters: Conan Doyle’s Holmes it ain’t, but thank you Guy Ritchie for giving us a new action franchise

The movie opens with Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jr) and Dr. Watson (Jude Law) stopping a black magician called Lord Blackwood (Mark Strong). Blackwood is put behind bars and sentenced to death. Meanwhile, Holmes is in a bit of a rut, with no new cases and long time pal Watson getting ready to move out of 221B and into the marital home. Blackwood is executed and he shortly rises from the death and begins his reign of death and terror, leaving Holmes with one big mystery to solve. In the middle of this, enters Irene Adler (Rachel McAdams) who wants Holmes to track down a man for her mysterious employer. What follows is a roller coaster ride of pure action with Holmes displaying the customary use of “ze little grey cells”. (more…)

Every once in a while, an actor is given a role, nay a chance to excel, that is so dazzling in its execution that it becomes almost immortal. In recent times, Heath Ledger did it with his portrayal of The Joker in last year’s hit “The Dark Knight” and Christopher Waltz does it this year with his portrayal of Nazi colonel Hans Landa in Inglourious Basterds.

But Quentin Tarantino’s masterpiece is not just about Hans Landa, and rests on strong performances from all its cast. The story is typical Tarantino fare, but set in World War II and tells of an alternative ending to the war. It’s divided into five chapters with the first being called “Once Upon a Time in Nazi-Occupied France”, a nod to Sergio Leone’s spaghetti Westerns. It opens in typical western fashion with the Nazi’s led by Hans Landa driving in from the distance. Hans Landa is hunting for Jews and suspects that they may be hidden on a farm. What follows is a tense, suspenseful scene with Landa menacing the farmer in German, French and English!! Waltz gives a thoroughly mesmerizing performance as the Nazi colonel, with some of the best lines throughout the movie. The chapter ends with Shosanna Dreyfus (Mélanie Laurent) escaping to Paris to run a theater which later plays a focal role in the climax.

In subsequent chapters we are introduced to Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt), the leader of the OSS commando squad nicknamed “The Basterds”. Dropped behind enemy lines, Raine’s squad brings terror to the Nazi hearts with their scalp taking apache ways. We also meet Oberschütze Fredrick Zoller (Daniel Brühl), a German war hero and now movie star, who is smitten by Shosanna and Sturmbannführer Dieter Hellstrom (August Diehl), a diabolically clever Gestapo Major.  Other characters like the german movie star / Allied spy Bridget Von Hammersmark (for Diane Kruger) and the suave British soldier / film critic Archie Hicox (Michael Fassbender) pop up as the plot chugs towards its climax. The climax ends in typical Tarantino fashion, with violence, explosions and gunfire, a fitting ending to an absolute gem of a movie.

At just under 3 hours, Inglourious Basterds is long, but thanks to the superb performances you don’t really notice it. My favorite scene is the extended showdown in the tavern between Dieter Hellstrom and Archie Hicox, Bridget and the Basterds, with the suspense hinging on something as little as an out of place accent. And I also liked Pitt’s performance as Aldo Raine and in particular his brand of “eye(I)-talian”. And last but not the least, enough praise cannot be showered on Christopher Waltz. He brings a diabolical sparkle to the proceedings, probably will get nominated for an Oscar (and maybe even win) for the role.

To conclude, Inglourious Basterds is brilliant, diabolic, funny, violent, brutal, human, typical Tarantino and a must watch (if you haven’t already seen it).