Totally Filmi

Tezz (dir. Priyadarshan, 2012)

 

“He watches a lot of English movies, I’ll give him that.”

Anil Kapoor’s character talking about Ajay Devgan’s train bomber in Tezz.

 

 

It may surprise you to find that Tezz is not the worst film I’ve seen in 2012.  That said, I still don’t think it’s worth much of my time writing it up, so let’s play a game of Twenty Questions, shall we?  Most of these were scribbled down as I watched the film, some were contributed by Mr. Totally Filmi:

 

1. I thought they were cutting the item number.  Why didn’t they cut the item number?
2. Blackface and afro wigs.  Really?
3. Wait.  Did she just pick up the bomb from inside the garbage bag and walk onto the train with it?
4. Why do most of the employees in the rail control office speak with American accents?
5. Why does Anil Kapoor’s character pick up the cigarette butt with a forceps?
6. Why do I not care one bit about any of these characters?
7. Why is Ajay Devgan’s character such an arse?
8. Why were they transporting the guy who sold the explosives from London to Glasgow?
9. And how did he get out of his handcuffs?
10. Ajay Devgan’s character is deported, and the immigration department doesn’t even have a photo of him?
11. Kangana’s character was sent to prison for 6 months for defaulting on a loan?
12. And she became a kindergarten teacher after being in prison?
13. Ajay Devgan’s character is deported, and his wife (who is pregnant with his son) can’t get on a plane to go visit him in India?  Even after getting out of jail?
14. Ajay Devgan’s character claims he didn’t want to endanger anyone, yet he puts a bomb on a freaking train?
15. The restaurant where Boman Irani’s character is supposed to find the instructions for defusing the bomb just happens to go up in flames?  Really?
16. Is Farah Khan really the only director to ever get a decent performance out of Zayed Khan?
17. How did Anil Kapoor’s character know where to find Zayed Khan’s character?
18. And after all that parkour running around London, how did Ajay Devgan know which bridge Zayed Khan’s character would jump off of?
19. And how did Ajay Devgan’s character know that there’d be a jetski just where he needed it?
20. Why did they run a ladder between the two trains instead of something more solid?

 

So, all in all, Tezz is a bit of a mess, a pastiche of many other films, and does nothing new or original with the material.  There are split screens that really serve no purpose, there are backstories that still don’t manage to convey much more information about the characters, or make you really care about them in any way.  There is absolutely no tension at all, none, zip.

Tezz, did, however, turn out to be probably the most unintentionally funny films I’ve seen in a while, and I actually felt kind of guilty in the theatre, because Mr. Totally Filmi and I were laughing hysterically all the way through – and we were the only ones.

That said – Tezz is proof that Mohanlal is a terrific actor even when you put rubbish dialogues in his character’s mouth; that Boman Irani deserves his place on my list of favourite actors; and that Anil Kapoor is still one of the coolest, most stylish guys in the business.

Personally, though?  If I really wanted to see a multi-star film that makes me care about the characters, that uses the need for speed to create tension, and that makes terrific use of hyper-link structure, I’d go search out Rajesh Pillai’s 2011 Malayalam film Traffic.  And if I wanted to see a great film about a fast train, I’d watch Ravi Chopra’s magnificent film The Burning Train.

Malayalam Films 2012: April 27th

Two films this week -- first, from director Madhu Thattampalli, there's Loomiear Brothers (which Wikipedia kindly translates as Lumiere Brothers, which fits into the film within a film thing that seems to be going on):

 

 

I'm thinking not even a Saif Ali Khan joke would save it for me, but in all likelihood, it won't turn up with English subtitles.

Also opening this week, from director Ajmal, is Doctor Innocent aanu, starring Innocent.  Sadly, the only trailer I could find I couldn't embed.  If it turns up with English subs, I'll likely watch it for Innocent.  My money, though, is on it not arriving on DVD with subtitles.

Let me just insert a wee sob here.  Dulquer Salman's debut film, Second Story, which I have been dying to see, will be out shortly on DVD.  However?  NO ENGLISH SUBTITLES.  I am gutted.  Seriously gutted.

I'll likely watch it anyway, out of sheer curiousity, but, seriously?  My need for Malayalam lessons grows with each film that is not released with subtitles.

 

Malayalam Films 2012: April 20th

Two films this week.  First, from director Sreejith Paleri, MLA Mani 10-aam Classum Gusthiyum:

 

 

Also,  K. K. Haridas gives us Josettante Hero.  For the life of me, I couldn't find a trailer anywhere, but a couple of the songs from the film are out there on the innerwebs, so here's one of them, "Karakanakadale", sung by Yesudas:

 

Baishe Srabon (dir. Srijit Mukherji, 2011)

 

 

“I'll disrupt and destroy
I'll split all into pieces for the sake of art
There isn't any other way out for Poetry except suicide.”

From the poem “Stark Electric Jesus” by Hungryalist poet Malay Roy Choudhury.

 

 

A series of strange and brutal murders baffles the Kolkota police.  Investigating officer Abhijit Pakrashi (Parambrata Chatterjee), under pressure to solve the mystery and capture the serial killer before he can strike again, is encouraged by his superior officer Amit Srivastav (Rajesh Sharma) to seek the help of Probir Roy Chowdhury (Prosenjit Chatterjee).  Probir has an impressive network of contacts and experience cracking serial killer cases.  There’s one problem, though – Probir has been suspended from the police force because of his brutal methods and nasty temper.  However, the pressure to solve the case is too great, and Amit feels that Probir’s experience and intelligence are worth taking a risk to reinstate him, and he encourages his young officer Abhijit to learn as much as he can from him during the investigation.

 

 

Probir’s methods may be unconventional, but they produce results.  Probir and Abhijit soon realize that the snippets of Bengali poetry left at each of the murder scenes not only describe the method of killing each victim; but the dates each murder takes place correspond to the death date of the respective poets.  They soon begin to focus on a potential suspect, Hungryalist poet Nibaron Chakraborty (played by veteran director Gautam Ghosh).  Chakraborty spends much of his time working on his poetry and on the phone with a publisher trying to get his work published.  Disgruntled and disillusioned, having served time in prison for setting fire to the Calcutta Book Fair, he seems to be the perfect suspect.

 

 

 

Too perfect, in fact.  Chakraborty’s suicide, complete with a poem that serves as a confession to his involvement in the serial murders, ties the case up with a nice, tidy bow on top.  The officers celebrate solving the case, without realizing there is one more important date they have missed, that of Baishe Srabon (the 22^nd day of the Bengali month of Srabon), the death anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore.

Bhaishe Srabon is one of the most literate films I’ve seen in a long time.  Hungryalist poetry, in particular, with its emphasis on confronting colonial ideas and its focus on those who are disaffected or alienated, has been called the poetry of chaos and death, and its use here in the film – it’s no surprise that all the killer’s victims are from the lowest social orders, and their murders produces a kind of chaos that makes everyone nervous about what will happen next – is brilliant.

The mood of the film is supported by the cinematography and camera work.  Dark shadows fall across narrow laneways, and the shaky hand-held camera feel at times serves to emphasise the nervous tension of the film.

If there is one quibble I have about the film, it’s that the attempt to force not only a love story, but a love triangle at that, only serves to diminish the dark, suspenseful mood.  Amrita (Raima Sen) and  Surjo (Abir Chatterjee) are friends and colleagues, working on a television series about serial killers in order to tap into the mood of a city already in the grips of one (and how much do I love the fact that, in the story meeting for what is obviously a kind of sensationalist programme, their boss wonders if any of the great Bengali writers have written anything about serial killers).  Amrita has recently broken up with Abhijit; Surjo wants to be part of her life.  The love stories and the songs that fuel them are incredibly distracting – instead of lightening the mood, they only serve to break the rhythm of the film.

 

 

One of the relationships I did relish was the one that develops between Abhijit and Probir.  Abhijit is nervous, moody, emotional, and at times naive.  Probir is dark, bitter, slightly mysoginistic, and brilliant.  The two find that loss gives them a little common ground – Probir has lost his wife and child, Abhijit his father and now his girlfriend Amrita.  Probir advises Abhijit to get her back – buy her roses, he suggests, noting that the old clichés still work.  On the subject of chocolate, however, he is firm:  nothing Swiss, only Cadbury will do.  Fruit and Nut, he proffers.  And to Amrita, pulled between two men, he suggests she learn the difference between Dal-Rice and Biryani.  The former, he tells her, is a necessity, the latter, a luxury.

 

Prosenjit Chatterjee is brilliant as Probir Chowdhury.  He gives us a portrait of a man who is difficult, brilliant, brutal and broken.  He manages to make Probir likeable even though we know there are dark and unpleasant corners to his personality.

I actually have one more small quibble about Baishe Srabon:  the film lays out its cards too obviously, making it really easy to pick up the clues and figure out what’s going on.  Happily, though, the film reserved one final surprise that was completely unexpected, and that more than made up for my disappointment at solving the mystery far too soon.

 

 

Malayalam Films 2012: April 13th

This!  This!  This is the film I have been waiting for, and it's killing me that I'll have to wait a few more months for the DVD.

I quite liked Aashiq Abu's first film, Daddy Cool.  I adored his second film, Salt 'N' Pepper.  And I'm willing to bet I will love his latest offering, 22 Female Kottayam even more:

 

 

 

The film is being described as a commercial thriller, and it tells the story of Tessa, a nursing student.  The film's title is taken from how Tessa describes herself:  22, female, from Kottayam. 

Rimi Kallingal, who plays Tessa, is an actor I have been watching with much interest over the last year or so, and I'm excited to see her given an opportunity in what seems to be definitely a female-centred film.  And I rather liked the segment of Kerala Cafe she and co-star Fahad Fazil were in, I'm looking forward to seeing them together again in this film.

 

 

Add to the mix music by Bijibal and a background score from the fantastic Malayalam alt rock band Avial and you've just about got my idea of movie bliss.

 

 

 Sigh.  I can hardly wait for this to come out on DVD.

Malayalam Films 2012: April 12th

April 14th marks the New Year festival of Vishu in the state of Kerala, so it's perhaps no suprise that there's a film just perfect for the occasion coming out this week!

 

 

The film in question?  Cobra, directed by and starring Totally Filmi Casa Fave Lal (he of Salt 'n' Pepper) along with the megastar himself, Mammootty!

Let's have a look at the trailer, shall we?

 

Frankly, I don't care what it's about.  I'm sure it's going to be a romp. 

Malayalam Films 2012: April 6th & 7th

Playing catch-up, because I've been very under the weather the last week.  Three films released last weekend -- first,  Pulival Pattanam (directed by Santosh, and which I can't find a trailer for).

Then there's Track (from K. P. Venu - Abraham Lincoln):

 

 

And finally, from director Jose Thomas, there was the much hyped Mayamohini.  Much hyped, of course, because of Dileep's turn disguised as a woman.

 

 

I'll be honest and admit I'm not feeling the love here, despite the fact that I really like both Biju Menon and Baburaj quite a lot, and am even a bit of a Dileep fan.  This was where I also dipped into the song promos to try to whet my interest.

First, "Ullil Kothi Vidarum":

 

Next, "Aavani Padam Poothalo":

 

Actually, I think my love for Biju Menon just rose a few notches here.  But I'm just not feeling the whole Dileep as a woman thing.

Fortunately next weekend there is at least one really ripping film to look forward to.