Elizabethtown - A look back

When I watched the promos of Elizabethtown my heart skipped a bit. Firstly it was directed by Cameron Crowe whom I rate as one of the finest of our generation.I have always felt a deep connection with all his movies (Almost Famous, Vanilla Sky) but none more so than what I consider his best work to date - Jerry Mcguire which for some odd reason (most likely the timing of it's release) has had such a huge impact on me. No movie in the recent past (save perhaps, The Matrix) boasts of so many memorable oft-quoted lines. I've watched it oh so many times and yet it never seems tiring. Secondly, the promos looked promising.

So given my little history with Cameron crowe movies, watching Elizabeth town, Crowe's most ambitious project (in terms of screenplay) proved to be absolutely heartbreaking. Cos it's a colossal disaster. If the success of a movie can be attributed to the vision of the director, then Crowe's vision in this case is hopelessly incoherent and disjointed. The problem lies in the screenplay which tries to do too much and cover too much ground - suitable for a 600 page novel- but on the screen it ends up under-cooked and disconnected. Somewhere there is a really good movie trying to escape but it's buried deep within the walls the screenplay puts up and what could've really helped was some tight editing. One brilliant scene followed by 2-3 cliche' scenes, which don't work and yet, is allowed to go on and on, far beyond required, tests the patience of the viewers and as a result the movie seems much longer than it really is. Brilliant dialogue which is the essence of any Crowe movie is rather dull here, although there are plenty of memorable quotes sprinkled throughout the movie (some of them are listed below) but they are too few and far in-between to have any significant impact.

There are 3 stories within Elizabethtown, each pulling the movie in it's direction and all of which could work as a stand alone movie.

First layer - Drew Baylor (Orlando Bloom) once the blue-eyed boy of his company, subsequently fired, facing a personal, emotional crisis (loss of his father) goes on to find true love Claire Colburn (Kirsten Dunst), rediscovers his roots and re-connects with his dead dad which in turn begins his healing process.

Second Layer- A fascinating look on the quaint, small southern town of Elizabethtown and Drew's interactions with his dad's family residing within...a look into their lives, the drama and problems

Third layer - A man and his family - Mom (Susan Sarandon) and sister (Judy Greer) coping with the death of the father

The first layer, which is essentially the core of the movie, which contains the best parts, is too similar to Jerry Mcguire in it's theme. Hence Crowe's need to add more layers. The second layer proves most distracting and out-of-place. Significant parts of the the 2nd layer could've been safely excised without effecting the story. Little attention is given to the 3rd layer and Drew's attempts to re-connect with his father. By the time Susan Sarandon performs her stand-up comedy routine the audience has moved way past caring the outcome.

Also infuriating is Crowe's need to plug every scene and also every moment of silence with music where subtle instrumental background music (or silence) could've made those scenes more poignant.

The movie contains three BRILLIANT scenes. The first where Drew discusses the difference between failure and fiasco on his way to being fired, the all-night phone conversation between Drew and claire, and the road-trip at the end.

The connection between Drew and claire is depicted beautifully. The phone conversation scene is one of the best I’ve ever seen, where they’re talking on the phone all night (after seeing a wedding party Drew feels utterly lonely and calls her out of desperation) about every conceivable topic and they keep saying “Well, I’ll let you go,” and then something new comes up and they can’t stop and they’re doing laundry while they talk and clandestinely going to the bathroom and wandering around, the phone pressed to their ears so long they start to hurt. And the whole experience is bright surprises. You fall into this comfortable embrace. You found someone, you’re shocked to realize, that thinks just like you. Has the same sense of humor. And this person is really a stranger. But you can’t stop yourself from disclosing everything there is about you. Crowe handles this scene like a poet.It’s something we’ve all experienced -- not just the phone call and not just the conversation, but that click of something that feels right -- and that’s what Crowe does so well: he gives us that starry, cute, Hollywood romance stuff, but in a way that is so true and honest, so attuned to his characters and to the small details of reality, that we’re instantly involved in something that feels intimate and genuine.

It's thus heartbreaking that the rest of the movie just doesnt lift itself to that level.

Memorable Quotes (Courtesy IMDB) -

Drew Baylor: In that moment I knew success not greatness was the only god the world served.

Claire Colburn: I think I've been asleep most of my life.
Drew Baylor: Me too.

Claire Colburn: Men see things in a box, and women see them in a round room.


Drew Baylor: You know the way people look at you as if it's the last time? I've started collecting these looks.

Drew Baylor: I've just recently decided that the things we know aren't black and white.

Claire Colburn: And so we all became helpers, which I *so* can't help. I can't help helping.

Claire Colburn: I've spent so much time thinking about all the answers to the problem, that I forget what the problem *actually* was.


Drew Baylor: [embracing] Please don't take this as rejection.
Claire Colburn: I really don't.


Claire Colburn: You know, You're always trying to break up with me, and we're not even together.
Drew Baylor: I know... We're not?

Drew Baylor: I'm gonna have to call you back...
Heather Baylor: Okay, just dial HELL and i'll answer.

Claire Colburn: Trust me. Everyone is less mysterious than they think they are.

Claire Colburn: We peaked on the phone.

Drew Baylor: So what are you doing right now? Claire Colburn: [referring to Drew] I'm checking out this cute guy... Drew Baylor: [disgusted face] Why are you telling me that?

-Nav

NY Yankees 2005 Payroll

NY Yankees is a very rich organization which often gives them the luxury of spending Top Dollar to acquire the best talent. Many baseball enthusiasts despise the Yankees cos they believe that Yankees with their dis-proportionate spending gives them a huge advantage over other competing teams who cannot afford such big Budgets thereby effectively "Buying" the championships every year. Several attempts have been made to introduce a Salary cap or a spending limit in order to make it an even playing field for everyone.

Here are the NY Yankees salaries for the year 2005 -

PLAYER SALARY (US$)
1. Alex Rodriguez 25,705,118
2. Derek Jeter 19,600,000
3. Mike Mussina 19,000,000
4. Randy Johnson 15,419,815
5. Jason Giambi 13,428,571
6. Gary Sheffield 11,496,689
7. Jorge Posada 11,000,000
8. Mariano Rivera 10,500,000
9. Carl Pavano 9,000,000
10. Hideki Matsui 8,000,000
11. Jaret Wright 5,666,667
12. Shawn Chacon 2,350,000
13. Kyle Farnsworth 1,975,000
14. Ron Villone 1,950,000
15. Tanyon Sturtze 850,000
16. Mike Myers 600,000
17. Bubba Crosby 332,950
18. Andy Phillips 317,200

Total Team Salary: 205,938,439

Let's compare that with the other teams in MLB-

MLB TEAM PAYROLL (US$)

1. NY Yankees 205,938,439
2. Boston 121,311,945
3. NY Mets 104,770,139
4. Philadelphia 95,337,908
5. LA Angels 95,017,822
6. St. Louis 92,919,842
7. San Francisco 89,487,426
8. Chicago Cubs 87,210,933
9. Seattle 85,883,334
10. Atlanta 85,148,582
11. LA Dodgers 81,029,500
12. Houston 76,779,022
13. Chicago Sox 75,228,000
14. Baltimore 74,570,539
15. Detroit 68,998,183
16. Arizona 63,015,833
17. San Diego 62,888,192
18. Florida 60,375,961
19. Cincinnati 59,658,275
20. Minnesota 56,615,000
21. Oakland 55,869,262
22. Texas 53,891,258
23. Washington 48,581,500
24. Colorado 48,107,500
25. Toronto 45,038,500
26. Cleveland 41,830,400
27. Milwaukee 40,234,833
28. Pittsburgh 38,133,000
29. Tampa Bay 37,975,067
30. Kansas City 36,881,000


Let's address the whole level-playing field issue- If I were, for instance, the CEO of an organization and I had the requisite resources, would I like to go about attracting and recruiting the best talent available in the industry? I certainly would! After all my vision would be to develop a strong organization. On the other side, If I were a player with a certain skills set, would it be fair that I get paid a certain fixed sum for my services cos there is a salary cap in place whose only purpose is to prevent me from getting paid a higher sum just so the business competitors can operate within their budgets?

But in the end it doesn't even matter. Just look at the salary budgets of the two teams that made it to the world championships - Chicago W.sox and Houston Astros. Baseball is a great leveller.

-Nav

Yankees Acquire Johnny Damon!

After watching other teams -- most notably the Mets, Red Sox and Blue Jays -- make big splashes this winter, the Yankees finally landed their big fish. The Yankees fired the latest shot in their rivalry with the Red Sox, signing Johnny Damon to a four-year, $52 million contract to become their new center fielder. And being a huge yankees fan myself, I'd think that with Damon donning the pinstripes the Yankees are one of the toughest teams to beat with their ALL-Star line up and are serious title contenders come 2006.

While other teams have been grabbing the headlines with multi-million trades, Yankees have been quietly focussing on strenghtening their bullpen and filling up the gaps in the outfield. After adding Kyle Farnsworth, Mike Myers and Ron Villone to the bullpen, the Yankees came to a one-year, $2 million agreement with Octavio Dotel on Tuesday, finishing up the work on the relief pitching. Then the Yankees came to terms with Damon, stunning the baseball world.

The Yankees now possess, I believe a very strong all-round roster with a healthy bullpen (as opposed to last year) with arguably an enviable, yet slightly over-crowded starting rotation - Randy Johnson, Mike Mussina, Chien-Min Wang, Carl Pavano, Shawn Chacon, Aaron Small and Jaret Wright as potential starters, and Rivera, Farnsworth, Dotel, Villone, Myers and Tanyon Sturtze in the bullpen. Al leiter, the LHP, was offered arbritration but refused..I'm hoping that the Yankees will work out a deal with Leiter too.

Just look at this Offensive batting line-up -

Johnny Damon,Derek Jeter, Robinson Cano,Gary Sheffield, Alex Rodriguez, Hideki Matsui , Jason Giambi, Jorge Posada and possibly Bernie Williams as DH (if he accepts). Wow! Can't wait for the season to begin!

-Nav

MTA Strike Day 2

On Interstate 95 between Philadelphia and Trenton, signs warned northbound drivers: "AVOID NEW YORK CITY... MAJOR RESTRICTIONS."

At one subway booth, a handwritten sign read, "Strike in Effect. Station Closed. Happy Holidays!!!!"

At Penn Station — a major hub for commuter trains coming in and out of New Jersey and for Amtrak — an announcement over the loudspeaker told people to "please exit the subway system."


For a city that thrives on speed and convenience, tourists and shoppers, hustle and bustle, there could hardly be a worse time for a transit strike than five days before Christmas.New Yorkers (and let's not forget the 1000's travelling from NJ) faced another bone-chilling commute Wednesday without their cherished subways and buses as a transit strike entered its second day. The mayor, had earlier, put into effect a sweeping emergency plan,to reduce gridlock and keep certain streets open for emergency vehicles.
It included requiring cars coming into Manhattan below 96th Street to have at least four occupants until 11 a.m.
Police officers were checking each car and refusing to let those with fewer than four passengers continue into the heart of the city; some drivers were picking up random people off the street to meet the quota. However, vehicles traveling within Manhattan don't need to have four passengers.

Travelers crammed into Penn Station and Grand Central Terminal and jammed highways last night trying to leave the city. The evening commute was as frigid and spirited as, though perhaps more angry than, it had been in the morning, when even Mayor Michael Bloomberg walked over the Brooklyn Bridge to get to work.In the morning, traffic at the Lincoln and Holland Tunnels from New Jersey was about half the usual volume, and some Manhattan streets seemed more civilized than usual for rush hour.The LIRR, which is not on strike, added extra trains and shuttles to help commuters from Queens and Brooklyn who normally take MTA buses and subways into Manhattan. Metro-North Railroad did the same for travelers from the Bronx.

Drivers, including taxi drivers, were required to have at least four passengers between 5 a.m. and 11 a.m. to get into most of Manhattan. People jumped into cars with strangers, and cabbies picked up extra passengers - often with no additional fare - just to meet the requirement.Two-dozen Santas from Brookstone's department store stood on the bridge to greet commuters as they walked or biked across the bridge. Coffee and hot chocolate was also distributed to commuters there.

According to a CBS news report, the strike could cost as much as $400 million a day because the city is packed with tourists and this is always the busiest time of year at some of the most famous addresses in America — shops on Fifth Avenue and the theatres on Broadway. New York retailers, restaurants and bars are expected to bear much of the brunt of the strike. The week before Christmas traditionally accounts for up to 20 percent of many stores' holiday sales, and consumers who must pay higher taxi fares or face long walks could slow their spending.

Bloomberg, said not only is the city noticeably less busy than it is on a regular day, but many food delivery services have not been able to make their runs, schools opened two hours late, hotels were experiencing cancellations and airlines are "on edge."

Here are some of the KEY ISSUES FOR THE STRIKE.

10 Worst Bollywood movies of 2005

Only a few weeks remain in a year, which arguably was a real low for bollywood, punctuated with atrocious displays of film-making, comprising repetitive, run of the mills storylines, simplistic, cheesy remakes and disappointing treatments to much-hyped projects.

No doubt this would lead to much hue and cry, a lot of angry words written in the film journals and publications, calling for the need to overhaul the system, make bollywood more professional and the urgent need to encourage and invest in creative, independent filmakers to compete at an international level. Ha!

Meanwhile here's my list of the top 10 worst movies for the year 2005. It was a tedious task to choose just ten cos they were plenty of movies which had an equally likely chance of being on the list. And also the list restricts itself to movies I've watched. So please don't be upset if a movie you've had a particular displeasure of watching is not on the list. My heartfelt commiserations.

so here goes:-

1) Elaan - Even a multi-star cast and Mithun Chakraborthy's high-profile comeback could not save this from crashing at the box-office and rightly so.

2) Insaan - Mind-numbingly inane, despite the presence of Akshay Kumar, who must be embarrassed to admit being part of this movie. Reminicent of 80's Telugu movie trash.

3) Kisna - Subhash Ghai's much-hyped box-office debacle. Words cannot begin to describe the nonsense allowed to be shown on the screen.

4) James - Mindless violence. Shocking product from the Ram Gopal Varma factory.

5) Bewafaa - Worst of the worst. A pretentious, preachy movie dealing with the issue of adultery featuring bollywood heavyweights Akshay Kumar, Kareena kapoor,Anil kapoor. Manoj Bajpai delivers the most frightening over the top performance. Must be seen to be believed.

6) Waqt - A barely tolerable first half quickly goes down the toilet from which it never recovers despite the presence of Amitabh bachchan, Akshay Kumar.

7) Kaal - Another high-profile horror flick which had audiences laughing their socks off. Not a good sign.

8) Main Aisa Hi Hoon - Movie does incredibly well to insult the intelligence of the average movie-watcher.

9) Yakeen - The most incredible plot ever to be told, with loopholes so large a few trucks could comfortably drive through.

10) Fareb - The movie requires Manoj Bajpai to play a dashing, stylish, playboy..Enough said.


Others worth mentioning : - Koi Aap sa, Bachke Rehna Re Baba, Blackmail

-Nav

Ganguly out and All that Jazz

Indian cricket never fails to amuse me.

Saurav Ganguly, former Indian cricket captain, was dropped from the 3rd test match versus Sri lanka at Ahmedabad, causing public outrage across the nation. I wouldn't say I'm completely surprised by this step taken by the selectors. It's a well known fact that Ganguly had enjoyed the complete support and faith of former BCCI head honchos, Messrs Dalmiya and his deputy Ranbir Singh Mahendra, which without doubt allowed Ganguly to retain his place in the team despite his poor form the past few seasons. However recently held BCCI elections led to the ouster of present incumbents,including Ranbir Mahendra, and brought in a change of guards, most of whom do not have a favorable opinion of Ganguly.

Ganguly's public battle of words with current Indian coach Greg Chappell did not make things any easier.

Ganguly was promptly dropped from the ODI team which led to predictable public furore but mostly from within the state of Bengal. Ganguly went back to domestic cricket where he produced a string of useful contributions in a bid to get into the Indian Test team. He was eventually picked for the first two test matches at Chennai and Delhi. The Chennai test was a washout but Ganguly played some useful , steady innings (39,40) at key junctures at Delhi. Indians won the test match comfortably. But then without warning he was dropped for the 3rd test which really makes us question the timing of the act.
If Ganguly had failed with the bat at Delhi and was subsequently dropped, it probably wouldnt have sparked the kind of reaction it did. If anything, it only seems to bring in a political angle to the whole issue and opens the door for the possibility that Ganguly was not dropped purely for cricketing reasons.

The official stance of the selectors has been "they are looking towards the future..." which in this case would mean Yuvraj Singh who has been in top batting form this season. Selectors feel, and I agree, that Yuvraj would be a more productive selection at the number 6 position. But my question would be- What was the need to drop Ganguly? He could've at best, if not part of the playing eleven, been part of the team and incase of any injuries or such, Ganguly would be a useful batsmen to have around. As it turned out the captain Rahul Dravid, suffering from the flu, was rested and Mohammed Kaif was brought in. It now remains to be seen if the present batting line-up could prove equal to the task at Ahmedabad.

What has also been amusing is how politicians and political parties have pounced upon the issue letting everybody know exactly how they feel to the point where they are actually bringing up the Ganguly issue to be discussed further in parliament. Haha! It's mindboggling that politicians would set aside important issues like I don't know, eliminating poverty or corruption, and instead debate furiously over the "grave injustice" of dropping a cricketer. That's Indian cricket for you. And not to forget the disturbing yet equally amusing Public Protests. Some people have really skewed priorities.

Meanwhile there's Anil Kumble, a veteran leg-spinner who's playing for the last 15 years or so, who was also dropped from the ODI team and from the look of it does not fit into the ODI scheme of things. There were no debates in parliament..no protests on the streets even though he's won more matches for India than any bowler in the recent past. But for a while back in 2001-02 he looked to be muscled out of the Indian cricket team cos of a shoulder injury and the emergence of another deadly champion off-spinner Harbhajan Singh. But he has worked extremely hard and made his presence felt in the team with his consistent performances and now alongside Harbhajan forms a devasting test bowling duo.

A look at his records for the statistically inclined (Courtesy Cricinfo)

If Ganguly believes he has a few more years of international cricket left in him, he'll do well to take a leaf out of kumble's book and prove it to his detractors.

-Nav

The Golden Globes

The 2005 Golden globe awards nominations was announced on December 12th. I've been wanting to mention it earlier but it must've somehow slipped my mind.

Honestly, I don't care much for the Golden Globes. Too many categories, too many nominations and EVERYBODY is invited, very similar to a Indian/Bollywood movie awards ceremony where invariably anybody who attends goes home with an award. Golden globes nominations kickstarts what promises to be another long, gruelling awards season leading upto the Oscars. The period in between follows the annual ritual of bitter, aggressive, non-stop campaigning of movies to voters and members, countless T.V appearances, magazine write-ups, unbelivable media hype and coverage, high-stake parties to woo influencial opinion generators such as movie critics& editors, endless politics, backstabbing, photo-ops and the works. Whoever said the life of a movie star is easy?
The Golden globe nominations are usually carefully monitored cos it's a precursor to the Oscar Nominations, which only goes to show how the Oscars have dropped their standards. I feel that the MTV movie awards have more credibility than Golden globes. It's most likely I won't bother watching the Golden globes. Maybe check online to look at the winners.

That being said here are the nominations (courtesy -HPPA) and below each category you'll find my choice of who I think should..or in most cases would win.
Note - All these predictions are as of 12/18/05 cos I've yet to watch potential Oscar heavy-weights such as Munich, Brokeback mountain, Memoirs of a Geisha and a few others.

1. BEST MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA

a. BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN Focus Features/River Road Entertainment; Focus Features
b. THE CONSTANT GARDENER Potboiler Prods./Scion Films; Focus Features
c. GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK Section Eight/2929 Entertainment/Participant Productions; Warner Independent Pictures
d. A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE New Line Cinema; New Line Cinema
e. MATCH POINT Jada Productions; DreamWorks Pictures

MY THOUGHTS - i've yet to watch Brokeback mountain and Matchpoint...both movies have received rave reviews. So my choice as of now would be - Constant Gardner.

2. BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA

a. MARIA BELLO - A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE
b. FELICITY HUFFMAN - TRANSAMERICA
c. GWYNETH PALTROW - PROOF
d. CHARLIZE THERON - NORTH COUNTRY
e. ZIYI ZHANG - MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA

MY THOUGHTS - Most likely charlize theron. Unless Ziyi Zhang or felicity huffman deliver a spectacular perfomance which I doubt.

3. BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE - DRAMA

a. RUSSELL CROWE - CINDERELLA MAN
b. PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN - CAPOTE
c. TERRENCE HOWARD - HUSTLE & FLOW
d. HEATH LEDGER - BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN
e. DAVID STRATHAIRN - GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK

MY THOUGHTS - Philip. S. Hoffman - Hands down.

4. BEST MOTION PICTURE - MUSICAL OR COMEDY

a. MRS. HENDERSON PRESENTS Heyman Hoskins Prods.; The Weinstein Company

b. PRIDE & PREJUDICE Working Title Prods.; Focus Features/StudioCanal

c.THE PRODUCERS Brooksfilms; Universal Pictures/Columbia Pictures

d.THE SQUID AND THE WHALE American Empirical/Peter Newman – Internal; Samuel Goldwyn Films/Sony Pictures Releasing International

e. WALK THE LINE Twentieth Century Fox; Twentieth Century Fox

MY THOUGHTS - Mrs.Henderson presents although Walk the line also stands a good chance, may swing either way.

5. BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE - MUSICAL OR COMEDY

a. JUDI DENCH MRS. HENDERSON PRESENTS

b. KEIRA KNIGHTLEY PRIDE & PREJUDICE

c. LAURA LINNEY THE SQUID AND THE WHALE

d. SARAH JESSICA PARKER THE FAMILY STONE

e. REESE WITHERSPOON WALK THE LINE

MY THOUGHTS - Laura linney.

6. BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE -MUSICAL OR COMEDY

a. PIERCE BROSNAN- THE MATADOR

b. JEFF DANIELS- THE SQUID AND THE WHALE

c. JOHNNY DEPP- CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY

d. NATHAN LANE -THE PRODUCERS

e. CILLIAN MURPHY- BREAKFAST ON PLUTO

f. JOAQUIN PHOENIX -WALK THE LINE

MY THOUGHTS - 6 nominations? Anywho- Joaquin phoenix.

7. BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

a. KUNG FU HUSTLE (CHINA)Columbia Pictures Film Prod. Asia Ltd/Huayi Brothers/Taihe Film Investment Co. Ltd/Star Overseas; Sony Pictures Classics

b. MASTER OF THE CRIMSON ARMOR aka THE PROMISE (CHINA)Beijing 21st CenturySheng Kai/China Film Group/Capgen Investment Group/Moonstone Prods.; The Weinstein Company

c. JOYEUX NOEL (MERRY CHRISTMAS) (FRANCE)Nord Quest Prods. Senator Film Prods./The Bureau Artemis Prods/Media Pro Pictures/TF1 Films/Les Productions de la Gueville; Sony Pictures Classics

d. PARADISE NOW (PALESTINE)Augustus Film/Lama Films/Razor Films/Lumen Films/Arte France Cinema/Hazazah Film; Warner Independent Pictures

e. TSOTSI (SOUTH AFRICA)UK/South African Prods.; Miramax Films

MY THOUGHTS - I found kung-fu hustle to be a real entertaining movie. Although Paradise now is an equally engrossing motion picture.

8. BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE

a. SCARLETT JOHANSSON- MATCH POINT

b. SHIRLEY MacLAINE- IN HER SHOES

c. FRANCES McDORMAND -NORTH COUNTRY

d. RACHEL WEISZ -THE CONSTANT GARDENER

e. MICHELLE WILLIAMS- BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN

MY THOUGHTS - Rachel Weisz.

9. BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE

a. GEORGE CLOONEY -SYRIANA

b. MATT DILLON- CRASH

c. WILL FERRELL- THE PRODUCERS

d. PAUL GIAMATTI- CINDERELLA MAN

e. BOB HOSKINS -MRS. HENDERSON PRESENTS

MY THOUGHTS - Paul Giamatti.

10. BEST DIRECTOR - MOTION PICTURE

a. WOODY ALLEN MATCH POINT

b. GEORGE CLOONEY -GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK

c. PETER JACKSON -KING KONG

d. ANG LEE -BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN

e. FERNANDO MEIRELLES -THE CONSTANT GARDENER

f. STEVEN SPIELBERG- MUNICH

MY THOUGHTS - i've not not watched Munich, Brokeback mountain...So my choice would be Fernando Meirelles although I'm conviced that Spielberg will win it.

11. BEST SCREENPLAY - MOTION PICTURE

a. WOODY ALLEN- MATCH POINT

b. GEORGE CLOONEY & GRANT HESLOV- GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK

c. PAUL HAGGIS & BOBBY MORESCO -CRASH

d. TONY KUSHNER & ERIC ROTH-MUNICH

e. LARRY McMURTRY & DIANA OSSANA-BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN

MY THOUGHTS - Syriana is not even nominated? Ridiculous. Munich.

12. BEST ORIGINAL SCORE - MOTION PICTURE

a. ALEXANDRE DESPLAT -SYRIANA

b. JAMES NEWTON HOWARD -KING KONG

c. GUSTAVO SANTAOLALLA- BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN

d. HARRY GREGSON-THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE WILLIAMS LION, THE WITCH AND THEWARDROBE

e. JOHN WILLIAMS- MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA

MY THOUGHTS - Does anybody really care? Syriana.

Umm I skipped the Television shows nominations.

I've probably post my list of potential nominees for Oscar 2005 soon.

-Nav

Bluffmaster - Review

I've been hooked onto the soundtrack of Rohan Sippy's Bluffmaster. A soundtrack often reveals a lot about the movie and this soundtrack consisted primarily of unique, groovy, 70's inspired retr0-mix numbers which led me to believe that this, perhaps would be a fast-paced, clever con movie, something along the lines of Ocean's Eleven, Out of Sight, Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown and maybe even a subtle nod to the cheesy 70's bollywood caper movies like The Great Gambler or Do aur do Paanch. The promos also seemed to suggest the same.

Soundtracks, like promos can often be deceiving too.

The movie begins with a clever job pulled off by con artiste Roy Kapoor (Abhishek Bachchan) and his crew. And he is indeed a con ARTISTE. He's an experienced, smooth operator with an uncanny ability of picking out his targets, cool under pressure and coming up with ingenious ways to hoodwink his victims. Or so the director would like us to believe cos Roy rarely exhibits any of these skills on screen. But for sake of convenience let's assume that it's all true and move forward. He's involved in a romantic relationship with Simmi (Priyanka Chopra) who loves him dearly and they plan to wed. But as fate would have it Roy is exposed for who he really is,on the day of his engagement no less, and Simmi, shocked and betrayed, promptly breaks off the engagement.
A dejected Roy meets with a young, aspiring, yet not fully polished con artiste, Dittu (Riteish Deshmukh) and after much persuasion agrees to take Dittu under his wings. Roy takes on the role of Master and Dittu the apt pupil as he attempts to teach the tricks of the trade, and other important lessons of life (which would include comparing life to an ocean and humans to fishes) and this allows the two to form a close bond. But just as things seem to go 'swimmingly' well, Roy discovers he has a malignant tumor in his brain and another three months to live. Also his repeated efforts to woo Simmi back seem to have limited success.
Given his condition, he decides to help Dittu pull off their biggest con job. The target - Chandrakanth Parikh aka chandru (Nana Patekar) a ruthless, sleazy business tycoon with powerful connections . Dittu is nursing a personal vendetta cos Chandru destroyed his dad's small business causing him to go insane.
In order to achieve this, Roy and Dittu take up the identities of diamond thieves on the run from the police seeking to "hide" in Chandru's hotel. All pretend ofcourse but Chandru believes they are the real Diamond thieves and is keen to acquire the diamonds from them. The bait is set. What follows is a predictable game of who's conning whom and anybody with half a brain could figure out how the movie is gonna end.

The film attempts to be witty and fast-paced and fails on both counts. The blame should be placed squarely on the director. Visual style is essential in any con movie. It's an absolute must in the absence of a strong plot. Quick, inventive camera movements needing to convey suave chutzpah, the slick sleight of hands, creating a sense of urgency. Directors often employ multiple angles, split screens (Brian DePalma is a master of such visual creativity) to allow the viewers to grasp all the angles involved in the con similar to how the mind of a con artiste works. But director Rohan Sippy chooses to present the story in a rather straight-forward manner with minimum style which brings about a certain dullness to proceedings. The one con scene (besides the one at the beginning) is credible but the director allows it to drag far too long.
Then ofcourse there is the Simmi-Roy romance which is an annoying distraction. Every scene featuring Priyanka and Abhishek brings the movie to a screeching halt. It's obvious that not enough attention was given to this part of the story. How else would you explain the lame, repetitive, melodramatic dialogues? They share no chemistry to speak off and everytime the viewers would hope that the director would stop with the romance and just get on with the con.

Priyanka Chopra seems distinctly uncomfortable everytime she's on screen. She delivers a wooden performance. However the screenplay should also share the blame for not giving her much to work with. For instance, during the first half, Abhishek tries on numerous occasions to patch things up with Priyanka but she categorically lets him know that she is thru' with him. But as soon as she finds out that he has a life-threatening tumor and only few months to live, she breaks off her engagement with her present fiance, and declares her desire to spend the rest of her days with Roy. Talk about a remarkable U-Turn!

A lot has been riding on Abhishek Bachchan from this movie even though he has had a fantastic year. He is under pressure to deliver a solo-hit. His performance in this movie is uneven to say the least. There are some portions where he excels but for a major portion of the movie he chooses to play it straight without that certain pizzazz, smoothness or finesse which the role so desperately required. He needs to work on some dance moves. Dancing is not one of Abhishek Bachchan's strength's but he developed his own unique style in YUVA (Dola Dola song) which worked and was successful. But now it's getting repetitive .

Three fantastic reasons why this movie is worth watching once- Riteish Deshmukh, Nana Patekar and the humor they bring to the movie. Riteish might well be the suprise package of the movie. He's one of those actors who's been making quiet yet steady progress. He has come a long way from his disastrous debut - Out of Control, turning in a fine comic performance in Masti. In this movie too he shines as the wannabe cool, eager to please shishya (student). He oozes confidence and provokes consistent laughter with his comic timing and funny dialogues.

But Nana's performance blows us away. He virtually steals the show every time he appears on the screen. The movie has reserved some of the better-crafted lines for nana to chew on and he delivers them with spontaneous ease leaving the viewers in splits. Boman Irani is strangely subdued.

The music is awesome, but the picturizations leaves a lot to be desired. Clearly Indian directors and choreographers are hell bent upon importing the American Hip-hop influence into their movies. Good for them. Let's see how long this trend shall continue.

Bluffmaster - Unimpressive effort.

-Nav

Bush being Bush

Hello

This blog is meant to be a forum through which I could voice my opinions and general commentary usually pertaining but not restricted to movies, music, books, sports and any other subject which captures my attention. That being said let me get to the point.

I just read that President Bush has an idea to help with the gasoline problems. He recently said,

"We can all pitch in … by being better conservers of energy," Bush said after hearing a briefing at the Energy Department. "I mean, people just need to recognize that the storms have caused disruption and that if they're able to maybe not drive … on a trip that's not essential, that would be helpful."

If ideas like that makes a person become president, sign me up. COME ON! Gas is already like $2.18 per gallon! What moron wouldn't know to limit their driving?!
President Bush also held a meeting on TV the other day about the hurricanes. I've never heard a person so unprepared. He also made this comment:

President Bush: I will do everything possible as long as the law allows.

Last time I checked, he has most of the say in things. Isn't he, in a round about way, the law?! Come on!!

If this guy was applying as Donald Trump's apprentice , he'd be fired by now!!

-Nav

Bollywood at Work

Alright! In one of my earlier posts I'd mentioned how Bollywood producers and directors conveniently rip off or are "inspired" by foreign movies especially Hollywood. So I went about and did a little bit of research and came up with this list of hindi movies that were released this year (2005). I'm sure they were plenty of such movies released in the years before..but I feel this year the number has been particularly high. I've also provided links to reviews of the Original movies for you to compare the degree of inspiration. So here goes:-

1) Ek Ajnabee - As I've mentioned in the movie review, this is a blatant copy of the Hollywood flick "Man on fire". Not only does Ek Ajnabee present similar set-up scenes and set pieces, it also has characters mouth the same dialouge!

2) Deewane Huey Pagal - The basic story structure of DHP is a copy of the hit farelly brothers comedy "There's something about Mary". Director Vikram Bhatt has a long history of desperately looking towards hollywood for inspiration soon after he directs something original-- cos most of his original work is garbage. It's actually quite remarkable how this person is still permitted to make movies. But I must admit that I enjoyed watching DHP. Although both movies follow a similar storyline, DHP contains fantastic, humorous dialouges and slapstick situational comedy. Presence of Akshay Kumar, Paresh Rawal, and others make this an enjoyable film. The Music director does his bit too and virtually dubs Kevin Lyttle's International hit - Turn me on. I guess anything goes in a Vikram Bhatt movie.

3) Ek Khiladi Ek Hasina - Although I'm yet to watch this movie..reliable sources inform me that this is a remake of the hollywood movie - Confidence starring Ed Burns and Dustin Hoffman.

4) Siskiyaan and Dansh - Not one but TWO movies share the plot of Roman Polanski's psychological drama - Death and the Maiden. Siskiyaan stars Neha Dupia and Sonu Sood. Oh god. A word about Neha Dupia. I personally feel she's not any worse than some of the current actresses out there. I admire her for her gutsy role in "Julie" which in the hands of a better director could've turned out to be better than the sleazy, exploitative and ridiculous movie it ended up being. Somehow Neha Dupia has got typecasted as a glamour girl an image she's trying hard to shed. But it's not so easy.

Dansh Starring Sonali Kulkarni and Kay Kay menon immediately finds more credibility cos of the level of performances provided by the lead actors. Both Sonali and Kay Kay s are serious, thinking actors. It's a slightly better remake and keeps the viewers interested till the end.

5) Chocolate - The essential storyline is inspired by cult Hollywood favorite - The Usual Suspects. Although director Vivek Agnihotri plays around with the plot introducing minor changes and songs and such. Nevertheless viewers who've watched the original will be well aware of which way the movie will turn out.

6) Maine Pyar Kyun Kiya - This is a clever rip off a classic American comedy Cactus Flower with Salman Khan, Sushmita Sen and Katrina kaif playing the roles of Walther Mathau, Ingrid Bergman and Goldie Hawn respectively. Incidentally Goldie hawn won an oscar for best supporting actress for role in this movie something which I don't expect Katrina kaif to emulate although she is one on primary reasons i'd watched this movie. Arshad Warsi proves that he is a comic genius.

7) Dus - The basic premise of Dus is a copy of Usual Suspects (See above for link). The director and screenwriters attempt to build a story around it..but it fails.

8) Fareb - Starring Manoj Bajpai and shetty sisters. This movie is a remake of the late 80's Harrison ford starrer Presumed Innocent. It's quite shocking that some directors do not have even the ability to remake a movie. How hard can it really be? A sad bit of filmaking.

9) Bachke Rehna Re Baba- Everybody knows this is an almost scene by scene remake of Heartbreakers. The original was crappy enough..and the remake is so horribly distasteful that it almost makes the original seem like a great piece of filmaking. Hats off to Mallika sherawat and Govind Menon and others associated with this production.

10) Main Aisa Hi Hoon - To an outsider viewing this movie it would seem like Ajay Devgan had just delivered a brilliant parody of Sean Penn's performance in I am Sam. But no. This is a real, serious performance. while the original managed to provide some sort of emotion to the proceedings..the only emotion one would get after watching this mind-numbing POS would be to actually go out and shoot somebody.

11) Zeher - Emraan Hashmi, Udita Goswami star in this listless, dull remake of Out of Time.

12) Kasak - Lucky Ali stars in this dreadful, misinterpreted remake of the great Krzysztof Kieslowski's White which was part of his Red, Blue, White Trilogy. Kieslowski's movies are revered and represent some of the finest in modern moviemaking. One would forget kasak within a few hours...if you're lucky!

13) Jurm - Director Vikram Bhatt's been busy this year. Jurm is a remake of Ashley Judd's Double Jeopardy.

14) Sarkar - RGV proudly announced that sarkar would be his tribute to the Godfather. well atleast he's being open about it. Or rather was there any choice? GodFather is probably one of the most watched movies of ALL Time. Surely somebody would've noticed the similarity in the plots.

- Nav

India's Comprehensive Victory at Kotla

India comfortably defeated the visiting Sri lankan team by 188 runs in the 2nd Test match at the Ferozshah Kotla.
Anil Kumble once again proved how dangerous he can be on sub-continental conditions and also his special affinity for the Kotla (also the venue where he picked 10 wickets in the an innings). He won the man of the match award for his overall effort of 10 for 157.

For a while it looked like Srilanka could take control of the match, eyeing a sizeable 1st innings lead after Muralitharan had worked out the Indian batting. But a mini collapse ( 4 wickets for some 20 odd runs) put India firmly in control of the match. This match would also be remembered for Sachin's record breaking effort. He now is the highest scorer of test match centuries.

The next match is scheduled at Ahmedabad. Another "traditional" typical Indian wicket designed to favor the Indian spinners. Saurav Ganguly has been dropped for the next match. This would only lead to more speculation as to the future of Ganguly's Test career.

-Nav

Lara and Tendulkar - Part One

For all those avid cricket watchers who grew up and spent their formative years in the 90's and early part of this decade, no two other cricketers have had such a tremendous impact on our collective viewing experiences. They have inspired us with their heroics and their often thrilling, match-winning knocks. They have completely different batting styles but both are equally capable of destroying bowling attacks.
Lara's an artist with the willow. His relaxed, languid and very often lazy approach to batting is a treat to the eyes. He weaves his bat like a magic wand. He can play the most unconventional, yet elegant strokes with exaggerated bat swing often mocking field placements. There is no better sight in world cricket than watching Brian Lara in full flow, his nimble footwork , the flick of the wrists resulting in a flurry of boundaries all over the ball park.

Tendulkar is a naturally attacking player. Like a lion waiting to pounce upon his prey, he targets specific bowlers (usually the best bowler of the opposing bowling attack) and unleashes the most exhilirating array of shots usually hit with minumum fuss but with maximum power. How often have we seen Tendulkar hit those shots straight down the ground past the bowler with a straight bat. Or perfectly execute the cut shot past waiting gully and fielders positioned at square? Or his famous slog sweep which he uses most effectively to counter leg spinners coming around the wicket to exploit the rough? Or his delectable late cuts or the paddle sweeps? Tendulkar can play all the shots in the book.
During his magical years (1995-1999) he virtually dominated every bowler in world cricket except perhaps Glenn McGrath, the great Australian opening fast bowler. It was during this period that Tendulkar was at the peak of his physical, athletic ability and supremely confident in his own batting to take on any bowler under any conditions. This was quite evident during the 1996 ICC cricket world cup where Tendulkar emerged as the highest run-scorer and perhaps singlehandedly brought India close to their second world cup finals. Unfortunately, although Tendulkar was enjoying huge personal success ,the Indian cricket team, as a whole ,were progressively moving from bad to..very bad, in light of their disastrous Tour of England(1996)

More disappointments were to follow.Tendulkar was offered the captaincy in 1997 which was well deserved but could've not come at a worse time. He had to lead weak, inexperienced teams who were not quite ready to face the pressures of international cricket save for players like Ganguly, Dravid and VVS laxman, who had showed glimpes of their potential and who along with Tendulkar, would form the back-bone of the re-emergent Indian team in the years to come. The burden of captaincy was increased by the continous lack of professionalism and ineptitude displayed by the selectors by bringing in the below-average (Rathour, W.V.Raman), persisting with the over-the-hill (Azharuddin, Sidhu,Manjrekar) and by not adequately strengthening the bowling rotation - inclusion of Dodda ganesh, Harvinder Singh,David Johnson, N.Hirwani was nobody's idea of progress.
The subsequent, wretched away tours to South Africa and the West Indies thoroughly exposed the inadequacies of the Indian cricket team. Tendulkar was relieved of this burden (thankfully) although his own personal batting form was never effected (posting more than 1000 runs per calendar year) and he promptly went about destroying the visiting Australians at home (1998). His "Controlled Agression" batting took new levels with his now memorable and often discussed exploits at Sharjah.


1999 might've well been the year Tendulkar (reluctantly?) paused and reflected on his game and his revised role for a what would appear to be a string of much needed changes initiated towards the end of the year and beginning of a new millenium. The public outcry for these changes although long over-due was brought about for two primary reasons, in addition to what had been a generally depressing year - The disappointing 1999 World cup campaign in England where India once again failed to create an impact and Tendulkar's performance was moderate at best (Tendulkar's father passed away during the World cup and he missed a game to attend the final rites and returned to score a century against Kenya in the next match) . Once again Tendulkar was offered the role of captaincy but it prove to be equally disastrous as his previous tenure with the absolutely horrifying tour to Australia. India could only manage a solitary win in a series mercilessly dominated by the Aussies. Tendulkar was the only player who could withstand the Australian bowlers but his innings was often cut short by some poor umpiring decisions.
How often have we witnessed the aggression and genius of one player creating a spark within the team inspiring them to greater and bigger things? Sucess feeds more success.But the exact opposite holds true also wherein even the best player can succumb to the continous failures and desperations of a team. Tendulkar seemed personally effected by the team's poor performance and the Australian bowlers cleverly exploited minor chinks in his batting, as he barely contributed in the ODI games which followed. Tendulkar has not been the same batsmen ever since. As the dust settled, fringe players (S.Ramesh, D.Gandhi, H.Kanitkar) were set aside and intense re-evaluations were conducted.

The dawn of a new year ushered in the Era of John Wright-Saurav Ganguly; a time for re-building and discovering new and exciting players, widening the resource pool, emphasis on the team. Tendulkar was content to play the role assigned to him, preferring to step away from the spotlight and carrying the burden of Star Performer. As one grows wiser they start looking at success differently. There is a loss of innocence..or Exuberance of youth as Sidhu would say. Tendulkar has embraced the success of the team. Not that he wasn't committed to team success earlier. But this time he has willingly altered his way of batting to suit the needs of the team,something which he's never done before. Or perhaps this a natural transition. This would include cutting down all "risky" shots (he hardly plays the pull shot) playing percentage cricket, occupation of the crease and compiling runs rather than bludgeoning them.

This new role has gone well with the new look Indian team. They've emerged as a strong, vibrant, intelligent team in world cricket, under the tough leadership of Saurav Ganguly. Their first test was the World-beating Australia's tour to India (2001). In short India beat the visitors 2-1 in one of the best test series ever to be played. And they continued to make rapid strides fiercely challenging England and West Indies at their own backyards.

And exactly four years after the traumatic 1999-2000 season, India powered by an exceptional, all-round team performance hit a winning streak to secure a place in the 2003 ICC World Cup Championships. And when India toured Australia later that year it proved to be a fantastic sequel to the epic 2001 contest with both teams trading blows in a keenly contested series with Australia narrowly escaping a series defeat at home.

But I've gotten carried away by India's success while the emphasis should've been on Tendulkar. Tendulkar's is an integral member of the Indian team, his mature, responsible knocks, building vital partnerships often pulling India out of a spot of bother and into a position of strength. He has now developed other facets of his game and hardly plays a shot in anger. This is quite evident when a bowler bowls one a bit wide of the off-stick and Tendulkar either patiently let's the ball pass harmlessly or taps the ball in the gaps and accumalates singles. So to answer what everybody has been asking- Have we seen the best of Tendulkar? I say no..the best is here. We're witnessing the best of Tendulkar. His performances are finely tuned to team requirements, effective batting in place of glorious batting. He is building a strong legacy.

But every once in a while, when we watch Tendulkar blasting one through the covers, standing tall on his follow-thru', admiring his shot, those who were priveleged to witness those magic years, may not be able to contain a brief smirk, and proudly point out to the un-initated .."That's Vintage Sachin"

And I will think to myself, like that eloquent quote from the movie ElizabethTown - "In that moment I knew success not greatness was the only god the world served. "

-Nav

Sachin Tendulkar - The Man, The Legend.

It had to happen at some point. This seems a season for new records. Coming close in the heels of Lara's achievement of overtaking Allan Border and becoming the leading run scorer in test match cricket, India's own cricketing genius, Sachin tendulkar, went past fellow countryman Sunny Gavaskar's long standing test cricket record (almost 20 years) when he reached the magical three figure mark for the 35th time in his career on day one of the 2nd test match at the Ferozeshah kotla.

For almost a decade now, most observers predicted that Tendulkar would break most, if not all, exisiting cricketing records and he has delivered. A cursory glance at his perfomances, in both formats of the game, speaks volumes of his abilities. Highest run scorer in One-day internationals? Most prolific century-maker in One day internationals!? Most number of ODI appearances!? Number 3 or Number 4 in highest Test averages amongst current players? Surely he is one of the best to have ever played the game.

And I'm quite certain that this back to back record breaking season would re-open the contentious debate ; Who is better batsmen - Lara or Tendulkar? Also I know it is rather impolite to be skeptical at such a joyous ocassion yet many within cricketing circles and individuals amongst the general public, including yours truly, feel the need to raise a pertinent question - whether we've seen the best of Tendulkar? It's an question which would sharply divide the cricketing fraternity and perhaps in some odd way this has affected Tendulkar's performances. But more on these debatable issues later.

Meanwhile here are some fascinating statistics for all those number-crunchers to help analyze Sachin's performance over the years courtesy Cricinfo

---> Look at the Numbers


-Nav

Ek Ajnabee Review

Alright just came back from the screening of the hindi movie "Ek Ajnabee" Starring Amitabh Bachchan, Arjun Rampal, Perizaad Zoraiban.

It was a rather amusing viewing experience at this popular cineplex in Jersey city as the movie was interrupted several times much to the chagrin of the paying audience ; inversed screens, images without audio and vice versa and other technical difficulties. This may have in part effected the continuity of the movie thus lessening the overall impact.

But the movie is not without its flaws. This movie is an almost scene by scene remake of the Tony scott directed hollywood flick "Man on Fire" starring Denzel washington and Christopher walken. I could spend more time analyzing "Man on fire" but that I'll probably save for my next post. But what really annoys me, and this should be a cause for concern, is bollywood's disturbing trend of merrily "adapting" foreign movies. Are there no creative screenwriters in bollywood? Or they must have a real narrow view of indian movie watchers. But I digress. This shall also be the subject of a future post.

The reason I say "almost" scene by scene remake is cos a few extra scenes are added inorder to infuse some humor into this relentlessly bleak action drama. But the extra scenes, sadly, dont work and seem awkwardly out of place.

For those who've not watched "Man on fire" the story is as follows:

Amitabh Bachchan plays Retd. Colonel Suryaveer Singh, a closed-off loner with a troubled past. He is brought to bangkok by his close friend and former army pal Shekar (Arjun Rampal) who quickly hooks him up with a job as a bodyguard to Anamika (Rucha Vaidya) the young daughter of a wealthy indian businessman, (Vikram Chatwal) and his wife (Perizaad Zoraiban). Kidnappings are strife in the city of bangkok and kids like Anamika are ideal targets. Initially Surya resists Anamika's advances to become friends but as the movie progresses they become close and he takes on a father-figure role. However things go awfully wrong one day when Anamika is kidnapped and surya takes a few bullets in the process. While recovering in the hospital the ransom delivery attempt fails and Anamika is killed. An enraged Surya decides to eliminate anyone and everyone involved in the kidnapping. What follows is a trail of blood, torture, and retribution coupled with a few "desi" twists.

Amitabh Bachchan plays his role to perfection although it would be interesting yet unfair to compare his performance to that of Denzel washington. Amitabh potrays all facets of his character arc, troubled loner, father figure, vengeful killer, he does with charismatic ease. The pivotal aspect to the whole story is the relationship between Surya and Anamika and the director Apoorva Lakhia does well to meaningfully craft their encounters.
Rucha vaidya who plays Anamika does an effective job of creating a heart-warming character. She is sweet, likeable, and shows maturity beyond her years and when she is kidnapped the audience gets pulled into the story and they too seek violent retribution.
Arjun Rampal doesn't have much to do and does whatever little he has to do well. Perizad Zoraiban impresses as the grief-stricken mother. Kelly Dorjee and others are provided very little screen time.


The music intrudes the flow of the movie causing it to lose momentum at critical junctures. Especially the one song right after intermission where Amitabh goes after some low-level operators at a nightclub. The song and the choreography accompanying it is totally inappropriate. The music can at best be described as amatuerish with some outrageously funny (not intentional) lyrics. The intent was obviously to push for tough, in-yer-face lyrics but it falls flat. The background music is also inspired from the hollywood version and at one point an instrumental version of Marc Anthony's song is used.

Director Apoorva lakhia does a good job of mimicking Tony scott's patented, MTV-ish visual style. While this style seemed more suited to the hollywood version with the quick camera cuts, editing and stylized color formats accurately capturing the furious energy of Mexico city and the simmering rage prevelant throughout, it seems rather forced here.

But then how difficult can it really be to copy someone else's work?

-Nav