Apur Sansar

A prophet is a brilliantly made violent film set in the French prison. The film is tightly packed with great details given to the actions of the protagonist. The cinematography and editing helps in the translation of the screenplay quite beautifully for the maker. The narration of the film is in an interesting style and the pace is steady throughout the film. Though the film seems to be violent at various portions. One of the best images in the film which is also one of the best scenes in the film is that of Malik seeing the sign of deers as he moves in the car and the content that follows it. The background music and execution of the portion has been quite a shocker!

Walt Disney can be proud that they have distributed a great movie to begin their proceedings in India. Do Dooni Chaar is a small film with a big heart. Rishi Kapoor, Neethu Kapoor, Archit Krishna and Aditi Vasudev appear in the lead roles in this film. A film tells a beautiful story and the characters are have so much life in them. The events in the film progress at a leisure pace but not once did I feel like taking my eyes of the big screen. There aren't dull moments in this film and that's what makes it so feel-good. The film grows to a new level with the plot development in the second half and has some brilliant scenes. There is even a portion where I felt so much love for what the maker has written. Aditi Vasudev who plays the daughter of Rishi Kapoor performs very well and so does the others in the cast. The film reminded me of the Hindi film, Khosla Ka Ghosla which was also a family comedy. However Habib Faisal's making makes DDC different and it maybe noted that ther...

Black book is a smart thriller from director Paul Verhoeven. Paul is the director of Basic Instinct and Hollow-man. Black book may be considered as a much more matured attempt at making a thriller. The canvas of the film is bigger and it is during the second world war. The film is erotic and violent yet the screenplay keeps the events ticking and there are lots of interesting characters. Carice van Houten in the lead manages to pull off the film very well. Her character though does not offer much surprises after the first plot point, she still manages to play her character very convincingly. The film may not be one of those serious films on holocaust but it is indeed one very entertaining film on the same.

PC Sreeram is one hell of a cinematographer. His works in Mani Ratnam films have always been once which I admire a lot! But when PC Sreeram steps into the shoes of a director with Kamal Hassan as the lead player and also the writer of the film, Kuruthipunal just does not happen well. The film does feature interesting moments at regular intervals. It has some brilliantly taken shots as well. Yet, when the two hour plus film ends and the credits roll, the experience does not seem to have been one that I could cheer about. Besides Kamal Hassan, Gautami, Arjun and Nasar, the film suffers a lot in its casting. When the film has some powerful dialogues it too has some very pathetic lines as well. The writing of the film lets down in its narration though the scenes may look interesting when pulled out from the heard and seen. Kuruthipunal may have some good intentions but the film does not bring them well.

Maria Full of Grace follows an interesting tale of a girl. Catalino Sandino Moreno is the lead player of the film and plays the title character of Maria. It is she who drives the film. Even when the writing begins to slow its pace and the proceedings in the film start to look lame, she pulls off some excellent performances and saves the film. The character of Maria is powerful and it has helped her in the performance it seems. I did find an amount of strangeness in the plot but the film did work for me.

Animation has indeed come a long way. And the styles inside it has not been discovered completely. The proof would be the film Waltz with Bashir which showcased a unique and highly innovative style of animation in the documentary film Waltz with Bashir. The film has a great visual appeal while dealing with a very hellish subject - war! Though the film has an interesting narration the film does become very docu-like and less cinematic as the end nears.

Zhang Yimou made an exceptionally brilliant film called Hero which had Jet Li in the title role. Zhang Yimou makes Curse of the Golden Flower in an even more grand scale with Chow Yun Fat in the role of an Emperor.  Curse of the Golden Flower features sets and the costumes rich in terms of colour. But the writing of the film lacks a certain power. A power to overcome the visual grandeur of the empire Yimou has captured for his viewers. There is too much of drama involved in the film. More than a cinematic experience Yimou's film has a more theatrical approach in the proceedings. Besides some flying action sequences shot in different time speeds Curse of the Golden Flower does not even live up to the curious nature of its title.

Love, Sex aur Dhokha was a wonderful film. Three stories of Love, Sex and Betrayal. It may also be seen like the first story was about love, the next about Sex and the third about betrayal. The film works both ways! Khosla Ka Ghosla was one film that I really loved. The director Dibankar Banerjee who made that film made a second film called Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye which I haven't seen. But Dibankar's thrid film LSD is an excellent film in terms of the content as well as the innovation he has made with digital cinema. Having watched a few episodes of the programs such as Emotional Attyachar, I was able to sense an extra life in the film. The references to the television world and the folks who sit for entertainment in front of that box should definitely put on a DVD of LSD and watch! It does not mean that the film is flawless. LSD does suffer some hiccups. The pace of the film seem to alter at regular intervals. Events would seem forced at places. But those are forgettable when the...