CineSketches_Faster Fene : No G to 4G (Faster than we think)

#FilmFasterFilm

In this age and day if someone gives you all the small little goodies which you cherished in your childhood/ teens, like the colorful scented erasers, animal faced bite size confectionary, the stickers you collected from a loaf of bread, cricket balls made up of tire-tubes….The list is endless, but if you get these and even better - wrapped in today's packaging like that of a Ferrero Rocher box of goodies...WOW - Amazing isn't it?

Well that’s what the exact same feeling I was going through during the 130 minutes screening of the film - Faster Fene (#FaFe). Now many who are reading this unfortunately might not know about #FaFe. So need to spend a few KBs;) giving a gist on FaFe:

Sometime in 80s: I was an avid reader of Marathi literature in my teens, and like any other teen the appetite was more for the detective, thriller genre. Amongst others were Sherlock Holmes, Suhas Shirwalkar's Dara Buland, Barrister Amar Vishwas, Firoz Irani; Satyajit Ray's Feluda and so on. But someone got very close to my heart was a brave guy of the same age, having the usual name as boys around, and talking the same language (Marathi) - Well none other than immortal character of Faster Fene penned by legendary author Bha. Ra. Bhagwat. The guy was so adorable and almost became an idol due to amazing quality he has of unearthing the crime sheerly capitalizing on his super intelligence and smartness. Used to get goosebumps - I am sure most of the teens in 80s must have decided to become detective by then to help people and society:-)

In September '17, when released, the first promo was quite appealing and subsequently the trailer endorsed huge potential in the movie. Got to watch #FaFe on first Sunday of the release, regardless to say in a the hall filled upto the brim. The story is a completely reincarnated, contemporary, gadget-savvy #FaFe. Obviously it's a brand new story with even fresh streak of characters. As usual I won't reveal the story but touch upon all the other facets which made this quite remarkable.

Story: When Bha. Ra. Bhagwat meets Salim-Javed :-)

More than full marks to Kshitij Patwardhan for keeping #FaFe true to its character (A bit grown up than original though), and then building onto it to make him the super-smart gadget, technology and social media-savvy teen detective of this era. This story looks so real and blended in today's situations. Awesome uses of today's abbreviations like LOL, MOM and alike. Thankfully no romance, no sub-tracks. But importantly masterpiece is the inclusion of mammoth of a villain: Appa. It’s the most quintessential villain ever crafted in the history of Marathi movies well above #TatyaVinchu. There's also a unique & funny character of rickshaw driver called Ambadas. In summary this story has laid an awesome foundation towards the success of #FaFe as franchise.

Amey Wagh at the first glance looked a bit odd portraying #FaFe, but this could be with folks who have read #FaFe or watched the TV serial by same name in 90s where #FaFe was played by Sumit Raghavan. I would have still preferred a more younger, lankier and sharp featured actor, but Amey gives full justice with his more than 100% efforts making you believe in the acts of #FaFe.

Dilip Prabhavalkar plays Bha Ra Bhagwat in the usual stride - Quite convincing. Parna Pethe is promising and has been consistently delivering through plays, web shows, and movies.

Ambadas played by Siddharth Jadhav is funny and unique - A rickshaw driver who is skilled in driving the rickshaw in reverse and so is called Reverse King. However I believe this character can have a lot more footage for even larger success of the movie.

But the unbelievably epic character written and portrayed in equally powerful manner on screen is of Appa. Girish Kulkarni delivers Appa in style, which is unseen and unmatched at least in the history of Marathi Cinema. You'd be in awe, experiencing the commendable show using expressions, dialogue delivery, tonality, laughter, and the overall body language. You feel intense anger on every entry of Appa on the screen. Appa / Girish Kulkarni I believe has gone past #TatyaVinchu / Dilip Prabhawalkar to become #1 villain of Marathi. In fact it's quite in league to be called as #GabbarSingh of Marathi.

Milind Jog Cinematography complements the Director's vision. Some great drone shots of Pune and outskirts.

Troy-Arif music, mainly the background score is just ok, probably the weakest link in the whole production design.

Aditya Sarpotdar gives full justice to the legendary literature by Bha. Ra. Bhagwat. Not easy task when the story is completely overhauled. His command over the craft is unparalleled, giving one of the best Edge-Of-The-Seat thriller in Marathi. I believe he, Kshitij  Patwardhan and team must have spent good amount of time in pre-production; designing every scene so as to consume less time in Production and Editing. The initial chase scene (reminds of Hrithik in 'BangBang) and the scene in the bus is quite innovative. A Very well made movie. Period! Definitely this will be Aditya's biggest till date at the Box Office, surpassing 2015 flick #Classmates. I hope he continues to bless Marathi cinema by directing more true-to-the-soil content than venturing away, though he will succeed in big way in #Bollywood as well.

But this article wont be complete without thanking enough the producers Zee Studios, Mumbai Film Company and more of Genelia and Riteish Deshmukh and Mangesh Kulkarni. It's easy to remake any past hit movie, it's relatively easy to make movie based on historic events (at least to lure people into theaters), its easy to make a Rom-Com, but its very brave of Riteish and Genelia to select a subject which is worthy but may not be mainstream (to entice people across demographics). And then being true to it by not including any romance, songs, item songs etc. Wishing Mumbai Film Company the best for getting the hidden gems from Marathi literature to the fore - be it TV, Web or Cinema. Golden days ahead for the Marathi Cinema!

The script is quite flawless, barring a few which need not be mentioned. However few key aspects missing here are:

• Theme Music: Running across the length of the movie (Like James Bond movie, Karamchand) to create brand recall 
• Signature music piece: Every time Appa is on the screen, there could have been a creepy piece of music to increase fear level
• FaFe Anthem Song: Producers can definitely get this redone leveraging specialist musicians + singers to create brand recall 
• Length of the movie could have been shorter by 20 minutes 
• Appa scenes could have been trimmed, to make Appa more intense 
• Ambadas role definitely definitely need to be rehashed - This character has huge potential to lure masses to the screens

Its a must must watch. You may not be able to relive the complete nostalgia while watching this flick, but you'll recall a few forgotten fragrances and flavors of the scented erasers, or the Rawalgaon candies, while you are rest assured to experience the new age content wrapped in Godiva / Ferrero like taste and packing to get soaked in a proud feeling of seeing Marathi Cinema reaching Global levels. While you relish on this, I believe Mumbai Film Company already must be busy working on the Part 2 of FaFe - Faster ;) than we think.

CineSketches_#Bareilly Ki Barfi (#BKB) - Celebrate Diwali in August

I was eyeing this Pack-of-Barfi since the launch of this teaser, and boy what a treat indeed it is! Well, a couple hours after I am out of the movie hall, still not getting out of  the extra-sweet hangover ;)

If I need to describe in few words - Its out-an-out-family-entertainer.'

In fact it started picking up my attention right from the time when the very rustic colored but flamboyant looking poster launched with 3 youthful new-age actors shown sitting on the hawking cart. And from there the 'kosher' Rajkumaar Rao went straight into my heart and I believe of millions of Indians - girls and guys (obviously the straight ones ;)) .

The story even though not very different, the situations, dialogues and amazing acting puts the screen on fire. It’s a small town story made on a low budget, but with utmost focus on all facets of movie making. Full Marks to the production house BR studios and Junglee Pictures. The story revolves around Bitty (Kriti Sanon), her parents (Seema Pahwa and Pankaj Tripathi) Chirag (Ayushman Khurana), Primtam Vidrohi (Invincible Rajkumaar Rao) and set-up in Bareilly. Like usual I won't delve into the dish, but will cover the bits on  the ingredients :-)

The Barfi looks, feels and tastes like a Barfi albeit a bit Chatpati. The streak of fizzy dialogues, it feels like having a dryfruit barfi with hint of cinnamon, cardamom and chilly to make it Chatpati. Very unusual jugalbandi of dialogues or probably very meaningful 1-liners, which is returning to screen after long. Nitesh Tiwari the 'Dangal' director is master-chef (story and dialogues) along with Shreyas Jain Rajat Nonia. The language is so rooted and the punches are so genuine, you are always glued to the screen, and rolling off your chair.

The Music is the next key element. 'Sweety Tera Drama' will go on to become eternal party / club song. I feel like listening to this one in loop. Undoubtedly its none other than 'Tanishk Bagchi' who is the lead music composer, who gives one more chartbuster 'Twist Kamaria'. I refer to him as 'KingOfClubs' and for the reason: 2017 alone he rocked the screen with hits like - The Humma Song, Tamma Tamma Again, Baarish, and the forthcoming 'Tere Rashke Qamar'. He is one of the talented new-age composers along side Amit Trivedy, Ram Sampath and Sachin Jigar. 'Bairaggi' by Samira Koppikar is another surprise Hindi R&B song. Background score is so apt, gives you a feeling like watching an Hollywood movie / show on BBC.

Acting is obviously the soul of this magical recipe.  Kriti Sanon is a wonderful surprise. She definitely have taken immense efforts to do justice to a full-blown-female-lead-role. She could have been better but she definitely impresses everyone with her true-to-the-character-expressions and wonderful looks. Ayushman Khurana has done this before, but both his and Rajkumaar Rao's character have sweet-chilly (grey) shades in them. Especially trapped-in-emotional-conflicts-lover was a difficult part, but Ayushman portrays Chirag effortlessly. Seema Pahwa has been a known face on TV since the good old 'Hum Log' days (played Badki, in first soap opera on DD in early 80s) and creates another memorable mother on the silver screen. Pankaj Tripathi is studious and talented NSDian and had proven himself in number of movies. His portrayal of a liberal and loving father is just stunning. Rohit Chaudhary and Swati Semwal as Munna and Rama are quite convincing. Especially Swati goes with the theme of the movie really well looking too sweet on the screen.

What will linger in your mind for long will be Pritam Vidrohi portrayed by invincible Rajkumaar Rao. Full marks again to Nitesh and team for building such an astonishing-range-of-behavior-in-a -ingle-character. Pritam at his core is a very soft and a bit of feminine character. And on the other hand he is pushed to become a very Dabang, Rangrez, Rowdy - Bhai type character aka Vidrohi. No he doesn’t do it in a double role, but he does the swing in his roles, gestures, expressions in a blink of an eye. Wow what a portrayal - It's the biggest treat to watch him act - Performance Powerhouse! His so called entry after the transformation from Pritam to  Vidrohi just before the interval is Super. You will be enthralled, will have goosebumps, and for a moment will feel like you yourself getting into the skin of character - Like after getting out of the movie hall doing the exact set of gestures - riding your bike with your cool shades on, and towering people with thick rough tonality that will even scare any Bhais loitering in nearby 'Nukkads'. Full marks to Rajkummar Rao - He is next Nasiruddin Shah, Robert De Nero of Indian movie.

How can I forget the host of this Party - Ashwany Iyer Tiwari has delivered cracker of a movie and it feels like celebrating Diwali in August. The way she has orchestrated the whole recipe is just unparallel. Clearly has a great creative vision and moreover deep passion and directorial skills to execute the same. The second half is all about multiple twists in the story, which used to be the forte of Imtiaz Ali, however the #BKB twists are a lot original (not unnecessarily twisted), not melodramatic and yet appealing to viewers. Ashwani Iyer Tiwari will be next leading director in Bollywood - Hope she will make movies quicker unlike Reema Kagti (another stunning female director in Bollywood, with less body of work)

So if you still haven't tasted, please rush to a movie hall near you to relish on delightful 'Raj'bhog Rao, Gulabjam Khurana and Imrati Sanon. You will feel like celebrating Diwali during Ganapti. And yes a DVD / Blue Ray at home is highly recommended as a standard staple diet for a rainy day. 

Rx - Equally good for the Diabetics, Petite and Obesse - It won't harm you as it only builds healthy calories injecting endless laughter.

CineBlog: Sachin A Billion Dreams……Worth a Zillion

For first time while I've been writing for last 10 odd years, absolutely stranded at my thoughts on what and how much to write about this movie. In fact struggling at where to start. But considering this is a movie on Sachin, couldn't resist myself to write in the form of a longish Blog, instead of just a quick review.

My initial views about the movie weren't that great. Last 1+ years after announcement of the movie and the teaser released a year ago was not enough exciting to match the stature of career and persona that Sachin has carved for himself. Even the trailer a month back was not appealing at all. Honestly very odd feeling, that the legend that I adored from 1987-88 (clearly remembered I started following him from his jaw dropping unbeaten partnership of 664 with Vinod Kambli); I'm somehow not sold on to watch the biopic on him. We'll talk about the reasons later. But then Zinnia (my younger one) wishing to watch the movie, was the trigger. Also by then the 1st weekend was over, a lot of positive reviews have started pouring in from all around the media (Print, TV, Radio). The theater had @70-75% occupancy for a Monday morning show and that itself was giving a lot of cheer in the air as we entered the movie hall.

I have to give just one spoiler and you will actually thank me for that. If you have not cried for a long time, this sure is the remedy to vent all those emotions that you must have hold on to for a while.

And believe me there is not a hint of melodrama, neither any emotional blackmail nor any outbursts, no it wont have the sensational elements that you usually get to see to accentuate the greatness of the 'Greatest' - It solely doesn’t do any of these. It’s a story of a middle class boy reaching the heights, and in the journey gets almost what he 'dreams' of, at various junctures in life - be it the first willow that was gifted to him by his elder sister, to getting to Ranji and the International Cricket at an unbelievable young age of 16, his love-marriage to Anjali, and all the other milestones he achieves during the long 24 years he was in the International Cricketing arena. While he achieves 'What' he dreams, the actual drama and the emotions are loaded in the 'How' and to a certain extent the 'Why' part. And that too me is a lot more authentic and hugely credible aspect of the movie as against situations like, being poor, controversies and politics in the career, failed relations etc. etc. and that touches any sports-loving person to bottom of his / her heart.

And most importantly I believe is the life that my generation (almost of the same age) went through in parallel while he was exceeding on the cricketing field all these years. While most of us must have achieved a lot in our lives and some probably a lot more (than they themselves expected) who have started their careers around or little later than his, seeing him creating this kind of history as a Highest Run Getter, Longest playing and most Successful Cricketer, achieving Highest levels of Brand Endorsements, and most importantly becoming the most beloved athlete in the world, while being utterly humble, underlines the difference between the common man and a Genius / a Legend. During 140 minutes of screening it actually created mixed and uncanny emotions of Nostalgia, Pride, Success, Satisfaction, Hard-work + Passion + Determination, Disappointments, Strong Family Bonding and many more. In your mind you go through the similar life span of yours (last 35-40 years) and inadvertently also re-live the moments of your success, failure, emotions along with his, although yours most likely would be at altogether different level as compared to the Legend's.

It’s a ~140 minute movie, with Sachin in every frame, well almost. It's a docudrama and a biopic. A very different and difficult medium that is launched as mainstream commercial cinema, surrounded by Bahubali 2, Pirates of the Caribbean and other big movies being screened in the movie halls. But the response that 'Sachin…' the movie received is very much credible. And the success of the movie lies in it’s story-telling and editing primarily. But before that also a lot to do with huge amount of research that must have gone in to create a tight and crisp script. The Research team must have gone through reels of footage to capture few seconds of bytes. And it borne a colossal risk as most of these moments / pics / footage / stories have been known to most, as he has been having an enormous fanfare across the globe. But the director (less known James Erskine) has immensely succeeded in capturing a lot but precise moments on and off the field about the legend. In my mind (and not to disrespect the Indian directors) the docudrama demanded someone from the house of BBC (or alike) to give the justice to the movie that it deserves. The style is very eminent of any extravagant BBC documentary. The other key success factor is, Sachin seems to be one of the (hidden) producers. Its apparent as the movie is very well kept to the point, not melodramatic and very authentic to the motive of his life, they were able to use lot of bytes from his personal collection.

Would there be anything better?

1. The bit of initial unwillingness to watch the movie was to do with dull branding & promotions. The teasers and promos could have been made more enticing, revealing a bit of drama to fetch the viewers to theater. For instance, the 1st Saturday after the release of Bahubali, the producers have given just one picture in the front page of most of the Newspapers, showing bunch of grannies outside a theater in Bangalore giving 3 cheers to Bahubali 2. By doing this the producers have appealed to the entire strata of the society.

2. I strongly believe there has to be at least 1 super-hit anchor song in the movie, and considering AR Rahman's magic, something on the lines of 'Jai Ho' could have been huge crowd puller.

3. Stalwart Distribution houses like 'Disney' and/or 'Dharma' could be an icing

4. I would dub this in Spanish and Chinese for a true blue global reach

5. And no I'm not talking from the Trade Analyst and Commercial Success point of view, it's more to do with the reach and viewership this movie deserves - And to me it actually has a vast global appeal. I would have included a few bytes from his close friends 'Roger Federer', 'Michael Schumacher (unfortunately is in Coma)', 'Mark Knopfler' (Dire Straits Lead Guitarist, by the way incidentally I've been huge fan of 'Dire Straits' and in the movie Sachin is shown listening to a popular number from the album 'On Every Steet'), and His and Her Highness from Royal Families and many more. I am sure the movie would have gotten a wider global appeal.

There's loads that can be written on the brilliant movie. And thanks a zillion to both Sachin for the happiness he spread in billions - and made us see and realize the dream of winning the world cup (Well, that was just one of the many dreams), but more importantly for instilling the respect within / for ourselves and also for pulling in the millions of dollars and pounds in this country through not just the sports itself, but also through the endorsements and contracts never heard before, boosting the already thriving Indian economy to a large extent.

The highest rating I usually provide to movies, is to keep the DVD / Blue Ray in the personal collection. For this one I guess it can not be a mere personal collection, but also has to be worshipped, especially for the hypnotic roar of Sachin….Sachin! that would reverberate in your ears forever - At least that’s what we mortals can offer to a Demigod.