Kapoor and Sons (2016) – Raw and Real Family Drama.

By The Gorgeous Palah Chinguz

Rating : 4/5

Seriously i didn’t expect anything in this film and it turns out to have everything ; emotional journey, Great assemble of casts, strong plot and extra points for having fawad in the film. He’s such a Bae. I swear my head just wanted to explode because I can’t brain how wrong I am to think that this will be another cliche Bollywood film. A lot of spoiler will be discussed later on as I can’t hold myself any longer. I need to get this thoughts out of my head as soon as possible.

Homosexuality and the society’s acceptance.

Rahul Kapoor, Arjun Kapoor and Tia Malik.

You’re kidding, right? It’s 2016 and we never had a fair share of bollywood films that tried to view homosexuality in a positive way. We mocked gays in the film and always portrayed them as too feminine and flamboyant person. Homophobic much? I get it that our parent’s generation might not accepted homosexuality and their takes on it will be it is not normal. How about our generation? Us? Millennials? Didn’t we saw that changes is coming? The cultural change can be done but it starts with us. With the right mentality, education and open mindedness, we can help them to feel that there are nothing wrong with them. It pains me to see how Fawad portrayed Rahul Kapoor , the perfect son, the successful author and the entrepreneur but still hiding in the closet. He pretended to have a girlfriend and all but deep down wishing that his mother will see right through him so he don’t have to pretend anymore. It was tiring living a double life and be a person you don’t want to be. Up to the point, he even said to his brother, Arjun Kapoor, that he’s willing to surrender his place of being the perfect son in their family to Arjun.

I wont drag my religion into it. Not to be defensive about it actually but i do believe what  you do and whom you choose to love is personal choice. It can only be between you and god. Simple as that. Fanatics, fundamentalists and conservatives might argue differently but let them be. They have no other job aside from being religious police.

Parent’s favourite child.

Rahul Kapoor and… his father’s broken car.

If you can’t figure out whose your parent’s favourite child, that means you are the one. If you can, then it’s real. Don’t cry, your parents are human too. They make mistakes and these are one of their mistakes that we have to make peace & move on eventually. Of course they keep saying they love your siblings and you equally but ……. I think you can figure it out. Sunitha Kapoor and His husband, may not vocally said that their favorite son is Rahul but all acts pointed it was him. In this film, Arjun Kapoor is the innocent victim caught in this parents’ disease (as I called it).Sidharth Malhotra’s performance as Arjun Kapoor is not bad at all. There are moments which you could feel how unfair his parents treated him. Rahul drove and accidentally damaged the car yet their father get angry at Arjun. Rahul’s room remain intact when he’s gone but Arjun’s room being used by their mom to escape from her problematic marriage. Both of them are struggling authors but yet their mother choose to save Rahul’s career by sharing Arjun’s idea to Rahul. That’s really fucked up and no excuses could make up for it. Sunitha has her own reasons to do so , I guess but it was totally unfair.

Infidelity in MArriage.

Harsh and Sunitha Kapoor reminiscing their fun memories.

I may not support polygamy but i know that there is no such thing as monogamy. People fell in love but they also fell out of love. When you get married, you not only need love to strengthen the relationship, you also need tolerance and compromise. I am surprised how many people didnt realized this and yet they wonder why they are not happy in their marriage. The question arose is how much longer can you tolerate and compromise, to what extend can you tolerate and compromise because for me if you tolerate and compromise too much, you’re going to lose yourself. Marriage is good for some people but if its begin to make you feel dreadful and despised it, then fucking leave. Why they bother to stay and try to save the marriage is beyond me. Rajat kapoor totally nailed the character of Harsh Kapoor ; Intense father and grumpy husband. Ive seen Rajat in his best performance especially in Ankhon Dekhi but this role also worth noting too. This is second time Ratna Pathak played Fawad’s mother and their chemistry never cease to amaze audiences. Fawad will always be the favorite son on screen, I presume especially in bollywood. What are the causes of infidelity in marriage? I just cant seem to place it mainly on the major cause.

Whenever I said Men wanted to be with younger and prettier wife, thats not necessarily true cause ive seen before whereby husband cheated on his wife with someone older/uglier than his wife. Is it because of unsatisfying and repetitive sex or lame bed skills? Could it be one of the causes of husband/wife betraying their own spouse? In this film, it was obvious that the feelings is not there anymore. Harsh Kapoor was having an affair with his colleague until he quitted his job at the bank. His wife knew the affair and thought it was over. She still taunted him occasionally but never in a million years thought that her husband is continuously meeting her behind her back.

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Overall, this is one of the good films that i’ve watched this year. Bad prediction from my side but i was satisfied the way this film turned out to be. Rishi Kapoor is amazing as a grandfather in this film. He is mischievous and playful. Rishi Kapoor take the acting to the next level by wearing prosthetic to portray someone 20 years older than his own age. Im sorry i didnt write much about him though.

2 STATES – 2014 HINDI FILM REVIEW

by Ruby Gege

DIRECTED BY: ABHISHEK VARMAN| WRITTEN BY: CHETAN BHAGAT| WRITTEN BY: ABHISHEK VARMAN & HUSSAIN DALAL| STARRING: ARJUN KAPOOR AND ALIA BHATT

RATING: 9/10 (because this is truly an excellent film!)

One question – is love really enough when it comes to marriage and spending the rest of your life with the man or woman of your choice? Is it wise to disregard other people’s opinions? It is safe to live by the rule that love conquers all?

Or are you the type to actually consider every factors before making the decision? What kind of a married do you want? The one where you are able to include your parents and your in-laws or not?

2 States is a film that deals with this dilemma of such decisions. We are introduced to our main characters, our hero, Krish and heroine, Ananya, at the beginning of the film as two young bright students in a prestigious postgraduate academy in Gujarat. Both of them hailed from completely different parts of India – Krish is a soft-spoken polite Punjabi Delhi boy whereas Ananya is a gorgeous steady Tamilian girl from Chennai. They became friends and eventually, lovers. The chemistry between Arjun Kapoor and Alia Bhatt worked so well here – they matched each other so perfectly. Krish was a young man without a meaningful aim in life, then came Ananya, who often encouraged him to pursue his true passion, writing. 

As the love grows, so does the desire to take the relationship to the next level – marriage – and this is when the movie really starts. 2 States is different due to the fact that it portrays rational-minded young lovers who do not make hasty decisions out of love. Instead, they take their steps slowly and try to make things work and at the same time pleases the people around them. What is so great about Krish and Ananya is that they both are filial dutiful children. How can they not be – their parents raised them well to be the person they were to be. Thus, it is only natural the lovers wanted their parents to bless the marriage as well.

Our Ananya is very adamant about wanting her parents to accept Krish. She could never imagine making them sad. The same goes for Krish, whose mother had sacrificed everything in order to raise him though she had been trapped in an abusive unhappy marriage.

The altercation between Krish’s mother, a typical loud-mouthed Punjabi woman and Ananya’s conservative reserved Tamilian parents are the funniest parts of the film. Literally, I cried my eyes out of funniness in the cinema. The differences in culture is great. Ananya’s parents are more rigid and traditional because they came from a pure Brahmin family, the highest of the caste system. They are vegetarians, which contradicts the Punjabi culture of loving food, including the non-vegetarian ones. The Punjabi culture in courtship and marriage also appeared to be more financially consuming based on how Krish’s mother would indirectly demand gifts from Ananya and her family, defending her opinion by saying that that is the way how in-laws should be treated.

However, the most important factor why Krish’s mother and Ananya’s parents could not get along was because of their clashing personalities. Krish’s mother is the gossip-y type of woman who can be inappropriately offensive at times whereas Ananya’s parents are quiet. Full stop. They don’t start a conversation unless necessary. Thus, always, when the three parents shared the same scene, they were either awkwardly silent or arguing with each other.

All these problems were the obstacles for our pair of lovers’ tireless effort to be with each other and at the same time, pursue their parents’ blessing. Misunderstandings happen and more than often, between love and family, our hero and heroine would choose family. However, that led to severe unhappiness to the both of them and thankfully, the parents realized this as well.

This film has a happy ending. No worries. And I swear to God I felt so happy after watching it. I smiled like a crazy person because I enjoyed it so much. The last time a romantic film touched me to such depth was a few years ago when I watched Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi.

THE HIGHLIGHTS OF THE FILMS…

1 – Arjun Kapoor as Krish Malholtra

I love the fact that I have found a new Indian actor to love and have been able to follow his career from the beginning. Arjun in Ishaqzaade, his debut work, did not really impress me much. Most probably because I was too overwhelmed by Parineeti’s awesomeness. But then, his second movie, Aurangzeb, completely changed my perception towards him. I realized that he is a good actor and is able to play both rough characters and a low-key moderate type of man as well. In Gunday, where he acted with Ranveer Singh, I do believe he was the better performer. He had great control over his emotions, showing us his humane side whilst playing a gangster.

In 2 States, he played a normal middle-class man and he played it to perfection. I kept asking myself – “Arjun Baba, why are you so amazing?!!!” as I watched him on screen. He seems like a completely new person, transforming himself for his characters. I am definitely, most validly an Arjun Kapoor fan now.

2 – The Pace of the Love Story

I have to confess, I ABSOLUTELY DETEST AND HATE love story that occurred within the span of less than a week or two. Indian films have lots of this films where the hero meets the heroines and within three days, they are in love and a week later, they are willing to die for each other. May I repeat this for the gazillionth time – IT DOESN’T MAKE ANY FUCKING SENSE!!!!!! My goddess Parineeti’s latest film, Hasee Toh Pasee is, unfortunately, in that category as well but her exceptional performance as a mad scientist held the film together for me.

I love how natural and realistic is the relationship between Krish and Ananya to me. They first became friends, then close friends, then casual lovers, then serious committed lovers to an engaged couple, and finally, husband and wife over the course of a few years. It did not happen instantly and they had lots of ups and downs, partly because of their parents’ clashing opinion. The most touching scene to me is at the end, during their wedding ceremony in this super beautiful ancient Hindu temple. Our heroine, Ananya, held down her tears as Krish was tying the thali (a necklace of marriage) to her. She cried because they had to overcome so many obstacles to be together and at the same time, managed to unite their parents as well.

3 – Filial Piety Based on Love, Not Fear

I think in Asia, there is a misconception that children are bound by their parents’ opinion because of fear. That is wrong or an over-generalization. Most children care for their parents’ opinion and seek their blessings due to the deep love and respect. Ananya was steadfast in her stand that they should not elope and seek their parents’ blessing because she loved them. The same goes to Krish. They knew that their parents had sacrificed everything to make them happy. To elope and disregard their roles as children would simply be wrong and selfish. Amidst the intense love they have for each other, they remained reasonable and careful in their choices.

4 – The Music by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy

Listen to the soundtrack and you’ll get why. Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy is my favourite composer team ever. All of their works have never been less than perfect and AMAZING!!! My favourite tracks? Everything!!

In conclusion, 2 States is a highly watchable love story that is able to make you laugh, cry and feel for the characters at the same time. The plot touches you. The issues raised in this film is relatable. Aren’t we all trying to make our parents happy and at the same time, pursue what we desire most? I am so happy that 2014 has been so kind to me by producing such great Hindi films. Let’s hope for many more to come!!!!!!

Highway (2014): Bollywood Movie Review

My Rating: 4/5

Alia Bhatt was amazing in Highway (2014). A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!  I have to confess after I saw her acting in Student of the year and how snobbish she was during the interview, I hated her. I hated everything about her. Highway changed my perception towards her and you could say, I am pretty much looking forward to see her other films. Unlike Parineeti, Alia was born into the filmy background. Having a father as a famous director and uncle as famed actor, she was pretty much exposed to it in the very young age. Well, when Karan Johar launched Alia Bhatt’s career, you could presume it was all because of her father’s connection and contact. I didn’t want to be bias but man, if you watched student of the year, you would say ‘Is that really acting?’ I know Alia Bhatt will go far at that time but not because she was good in acting but come on, who doesn’t if you are the daughter of Mahesh Bhatt. Highway pretty much altered the notion I’ve had about Alia. She proved me wrong. I am not going to be her biggest fan but she will definitely be in my radar. Imtiaz Ali did bring out the best of her. She delivered her emotion very well as a girl with a dark childhood and has no say in her future.

Alia Bhatt as Veera Tripathi

Stockholm syndrome often occurred to a kidnapping victim whereby they will feel empathy towards their kidnapper or some of the worst case reported, they even fell in love with the kidnapper. Highway tried to show that the empathy feeling grows little by little and always depending on how long the victim will be spending time with the kidnapper. Alia’s portrayal as Veera Tripathi is one of her top notch acting by far. I already watch 2 states but Alia did not shine in that film. Arjun Kapoor did. Anyway, Ruby will review 2 states later so I am not going to write anything about it. The film begins with Veera and her family prepared for her wedding. The preparation and process is being recorded in the shopping mall and the house. Veera receives so many attentions to the point she finds it really suffocated. She then escaped from her house during night and met her fiancé for an hour. Her fiancé does not want to participate in Veera’s demand to drive in the middle of night but he conceded due to Veera’s Stubbornness. Later they stopped at closed petrol station and Veera get down from the car to get a fresh air.

Randeep Hooda as Mahabir

Her fiancé, Vinay asked Veera to get in the car as soon as possible because anything can happen to her and they are not in the familiar area. That’s when Veera saw a group of criminal chasing and shooting each other at the very short range.  Veera panicked and freeze herself at the moment. That’s when Randeep Hooda who portrayed Mahabir, one of the criminal gang members dragged Veera and kidnapped her on the spot. Vinay stayed in the car and he was afraid to confront with the kidnappers. You know what did Vinay said to Veera when Veera called out his name asking to be saved? Vinay said ‘I did say it, Veera but you didn’t listen to me’. Well, a real classy comes in from fiancé who cowardly sitting in the car. Veera’s hand and mouth was tied and she was put in the lorry and drove off to the unrecognizable area in the country side.

The Kidnapping of Veera Tripathi

Veera’s Kidnapping has been a matter of disagreement among Mahabir’s gang member. Knowing that she was a big business tycoon’s daughter will put them in jeopardy. Almost half of them agreed that she should be returned back to her father but Mahabir disagree. He left early in the morning with a few members in the gang who wanted to follow him. He treated Veera as humanely possible (though he still slapped her a few times) but considering she’s not getting rape or sexual assault, Veera is still considered lucky to me. They arrived at an old place of salt factory and decided to stay for a few nights there. In the middle of the night, Veera seek an opportunity to run but get caught by Mahabir. Mahabir was furious and he pushed Veera to run and try to save herself. Veera run as fast as she could only to find that there is no way out and she returned back to Mahabir with tears in her eyes. One of the Mahabir’s gang members try to molest Veera but get caught by Mahabir right away. Mahabir chased him away and they decided to continue traveling.

Their relationship grows within the time.

Along the journey, Veera develops feeling towards Mahabir and vice versa. Veera felt a freedom for the first time and with Mahabir by her side, she does not have to think any consequences for her action. She does not have to behave and she can pretty much do anything. At some point, when the truck crossed the border and the police forcefully wanted to check the truck, Veera hides from them. Mahabir and her friend confused with Veera’s action but Veera said she also confused with her action. Later, when their relationship begins to bloom and Mahabir aware that it could not proceed further considering he is a low life criminal and Veera is a daughter of rich and upper class family, he decided to send her off. He sent her to police station and tries to escape from her by disappearing at the bus station. Veera was enraged and try to search him at the station. Mahabir was happy that Veera didn’t return to her family and decided to stay with him a bit longer. They ran away together and stayed at the hilltop house for a few days. They relish the moments knowing that police will find them soon but before that happen, they find shelter and refuge in each other. Later, Mahabir was shot dead by the police and Alia tried to stop them but it was too late. He died on the spot and Alia was brought back to her family.

Veera enjoying her freedom for the first time

[SPOILER] There are 2 scenes that make me sobbing like a mad girl. There is one scene when Veera told Mahabir about her dark past. She has kept it for so long and she felt that telling Mahabir would relieve her burden for a second. She was molested (and possibly, raped) by her uncle repeatedly in the toilet. Her uncle would bring a chocolate to lure her into toilet and closed her mouth and did his dirty crime on her. Veera tried to scream and cry but her mouth is closed by her uncle’s hand. She told her mother about the event but her mother asked Veera to not tell anybody about this. The molestation and possible raping has stopped but her uncle still visits her and the family (even act like nothing happened around her). Veera cried while told Mahabir this story and Mahabir felt sympathy towards Veera. The second scene that makes me cried like a mad girl is when Veera returned to her family after Mahabir’s death and irritated that her family tried to continue the wedding and managed everything for her without asking her first. She exploded and while crying, she told what happened in her childhood and what her abusive uncle had done to her. Everybody gasps and shocked about what they hear but you will be surprised of what her father said in that matter. “Veera, we are a sensible person, we can talk about this”. UN-FUCKING-BELIEVABLE. Your daughter just told you she was sexually abused during her childhood and you told her to be sensible. The trauma that she endures for a past few years, the pain she felt and has no one to talk to and here you are, talking about sensibility. That was a very heartbreaking scene for me. Veera then left the house and tried to get away from her family. She returned to the mountain and lived there and cherished every memory she had with Mahabir there.

Is this a love story? I don’t know. Is this a story of a bizarre relationship built by 2 fucked up people from a very dark past? Yes, it did capture the essence of the story. Overall, Randeep Hooda as Mahabir also deserved praise as he dealt an unresolved abandonment issue with his mother. Yes, He is a criminal but isn’t that some of the criminal are triggered by the element that made them what they do. That’s the story Imtiaz Ali tried to tell. Mahabir maybe a criminal but deep down, he still a human being like us, fragile and vulnerable when being confronted by the past and hidden memories of ours.

 

Student of the year (2012) : Bollywood Movie Review

By the Gorgeous Palah Chingu

My Rating: 2.5/5

It’s not that I hate this movie entirely, trust me because there are brilliant casts in the Student of The Year (which I assume is not well  appreciated) and the story line which is a bit peculiar compared to other love story in bollywood films. However, there are few unnecessary scenes though which make me go cringe when I saw it. Karan Johar, we all got it. Your main cast, which is Siddarth and Varun, is very hot and good looking. Exposing more skin irritated me somehow. Isn’t that less is more? It’s not that I don’t enjoy their freaking 6 packs, I did (I am a fucking pervert) but the film keep showing those 2 main cast either shirtless, or button less, or in sleeveless where those muscles cannot be unseen. Surprisingly, everybody loves this movie. I can’t even find one person who had the same problem like me. Ouh i forgot to mention, ruby already watched it and wish she could unseen this movie. I don’t hate new comers in bollywood. I even like ranveer singh before everybody goes crazy over him. It same goes with Arjun Kapoor. Maybe because Karan Johar made an approach on showing how hot they are in the movie and kind of driven myself away from seeing their acting ability. Maybe i made the wrong choice by watching this movie. Maybe this movie should be put in the folder as a ‘Pure entertainment movie’.  Maybe, Karan Johar just wanted to appeal and attract much younger audience to watch this film (which is for sure i am not belonged in that target group).

WAS THIS SCENE REALLY NECESSARY???

Siddarth Malhotra as Abhimanyu Singh

Varun Dhawan as Rohan Nanda

Let’s talk about the storyline first. It first started with Sudo got a phone call from the coach of football team from his former school. The coach informs Sudo that the dean of St Teresa College is sick and has been hospitalized.  Sudo has been asked to call a few friends from St. Teresa which he himself rarely contacted for 10 years.   He managed to get through to them and inform Jeet, Tanya, Shruti, Abhi, Shanaya, Abhi and rohan. The first four that came early to the hospital is Jeet, Tanya, Shruti and Sudo himself. They met, pretending to be nice to each other where Jeet pointed out that back then in school, they wanted to kill each other. It was awkward and felt a bit like a small reunion. The main character which are Shanaya, Abhi and Rohan by that time, not yet arrived to the hospital. Four of them sat at the rest area in the hospital and starting to reminisce their past at st. Teresa college.

Jeet, Shruti, Sudo & Tanya

Shanaya and Rohan are already famous in St. Teresa. That’s probably because Shanaya and Rohan both came from a freaking rich family. Shanaya and Shruti were so close back then even though Shruti does not like rohan at all. Jeet thought rohan as his best friend but well, throughout this film, Rohan treated Jeet not more than his own slave. Sudo belonged to the other group, the one that entered St. Teresa because of their academic achievement, not because their father is billionaire. Not so long after that, came Abhi (well, classic Karan Johar usually will emphasize how peculiar and good looking the hero is in his film and its little bit remind me of how hrithik Roshan came to the college where Kareena study in Kabhi Kushi Kabhi Gham). Abhi enter St. Teresa with sport scholarship and refuse to mix with either group, the rich one or the smart one. The rest of the story, I am sure you can guess. Abhi befriended Rohan. He found himself fell in love with Shanaya. Shanaya confused with her own feeling. Blah…blah..Blah.

Its like Dhadkan in more shallow version. haha

Why does the title of the film ‘Student of the Year’? The Dean of St. Teresa College played by Rishi Kapoor in this film offering the scholarship and trophy for those who win the student of the year competition. All of them committed to enter the competition. For rohan, he wanted to prove his father wrong. Abhi, on the other hand, coming from poor family has been eyeing the scholarship from the beginning. It same goes to Sudo and Jeet. Shruti just for once, wanted the spotlight only for her, not Shanaya. She’s fed up of being in Shanaya Shadow. I don’t know what was the reason Shanaya and Tanya enter the competition; maybe they just can’t stand seeing each other more successful. In the end, Rohan won the competition and settled his old score with his own father. He proved his father wrong when he became a very big rock star and make a name for himself. However, His friendship with Abhi is over after he caught shanaya and him kissing in his room. Shruti and Shanaya also did not talk to each other because shruti slyly talked to shanaya to drop out from the competition. You can say thie student of the year competition has been jeopardizing their friendship and now, after 10 years, they found themselves talked to each other again.

Their tight friendship 10 years ago.

more and more scene of skin exposure in this film:

he’s hot. we get it. theres no need to zoom his muscle.

Oh god, this is the first time i felt weird watching this kind of scene.

a wardrobes malfuction, just like ruby said.

another wardrobe malfunctions

another 6 packs scene.

This is by far maybe the sweetest pair in the film*if it was truly a gay movie, i may find myself rather enjoying it than this unrealistic, cliche and shallow film.

The gay dean who had a huge crush on his coach. There was a particular scene where i find touching. The gay dean told the coach that they maybe made for each other in their next life. *well, India’s supreme court restores ban on gay sex recently.

Kayoze Irani (Boman’s Irani son) who acted as Sudo in this film should earn a praise from critics:

Anyway, if i ever had to choose between Siddarth Malhotra and Varun Dhawan, i would choose Varun Dhawan. His acting for me is much more alive (though he’s such a jerk in the film). Sorry for not reviewing about Shanaya which is portrayed by Alia Bhatt, I dont find her interesting at all. She’s just pretty and eye candy. If she is brilliant like Parineeti Chopra, i would give 10 pages review without any doubt.