MUSIC REVIEW: PHILLAURI

Music: Shashwat Sachdev and Jasleen Royal

Lyrics: Anvita Dutt, Shellee, Aditya Sharma and Neeraj Rajawat

Label: T-Series

Tracks: 8

Singers: Romi, Pawni Pandey, Diljit Dosanjh, Shehnaz Akhtar, Vivek Hariharan, Mika Singh and Jasleen Royal

Starring: Anushka Sharma, Diljit Dosanjh, Suraj Sharma and Mehreen Pirzada

Producer: Anushka Sharma, Karnesh Sharma and Fox Star Studios

Director: Anshai Lal

Released On: March 6, 2017

In a nutshell: Shashwat Sachdev makes a promising debut in a film driven by Punjabi folk inspired tracks

Rating: 3/5

Clean Slate Films’(a film production company founded by Anushka Sharma and brother Karnesh) first production NH10 had a rousing album which, apart from staying true to the theme of the film, offered the listeners songs which could be enjoyed as standalone audio tracks. The NH10 album featured several new composers and the music of Phillauri, Clean Slate’s latest production, has been scored by a new composer called Shashwat Sachdev. There are two songs by Jasleen Royal who has a couple of films to her credit as a music director, not much is known about Sachdev. Since one of the lead characters (Diljit Dosanjh) plays the role of a musician, one expects music to play an important role in the narrative of the film.

The album gives one a glimpse of Punjabi folk music with the very first song on the album titled “Dum Dum”. The track has been rendered by newcomer Romy who sounds a lot like Javed Basheer (“Ye Tune Kya Kiya” – Once Upon A Time In Mumbai Dobaara”, “O Rangrez” – Bhaag Milkha Bhaag”). More than the standard tune, it is the overall feel of the song that keeps you invested in it. There are two more versions (“Dum Dum Punjabi Version” and “Dum Dum Reprise”) of the song. These two versions shine more than the original simply because Shellee writes some spectacular poetry for each of the two tracks; much better than the ordinary lyrics Anvita Dutt comes up with for the original.

The Punjabi flavour is induced in a more contemporary track called “What’s Up”, composed and co-sung by Jasleen Royal. Lyricist Aditya Sharma smartly puts in the phrase ‘What’s up’ amidst Punjabi verses in this robust, colourful number should be played in several functions in Punjab this year. The track is led by Mika who, as always, brings in tremendous amount of energy with his voice. Jasleen, who has shown limited range as a composer (with some surprises like “Nachde Ne Saare”, Baar Baar Dekho) does quite well here.

While one fails to fathom as to why the promotional track is called “Naughty Billo”, Shashwat Sachdev brings in the right amount of spunk in the song which is inspired from a popular Punjabi folk track. Despite uninspired lyrics and a half-baked attempt by Anushka Sharma to rap, the song turns out to be quite catchy and should serve its purpose of working as a marketing tool for the film.

One finally gets to hear “Sahiba”, the track a very tiny portion of which one had got to hear in the trailer. The folksy number has a similar aural structure to “Dum Dum” but has a much more evolved tune to boast of. Pawni Pandey, who recently lent her voice to “Laila Main Laila” (Raees), shows a very different side to her as she sings this mellow number with Romy. The lilting melody has an uplifting tune which reaches its pinnacle whenever Romy sings “Sahiba, Sahiba, chal wahaan jahaan Mirza”. 

Despite being an upbeat track “Bajake Tumba” has a certain amount of warmth to it, accentuated by Romy’s heartfelt singing. The rustic number has a character interacting with the crowd surrounding him and the dialogue-like verses has been set to tune appropriately by Shashwat Sachdev. The song has a situational feel to it but it manages to keep you hooked. The arrangements, including the use of some mickey orchestrated horns, do not let the track become monotonous. 

After showing some promise with “What’s Up”, Jasleen Royal is back to churning the kind of tracks that have forced one to brand her as a composer with limited range. “Din Shagna Da” has some interesting lyrics by Neeraj Rajawat, the orchestral arrangements are nice but the tune fails to ignite any interest in you. Jasleen’s voice also works against the track which needed a singer possessing a more mature, full-throated voice. 

Phillauri brings a promising composer to the fore and serves up with a mix of melodious and peppy Punjabi numbers that one would like to hear for some time. The film moves back and forth between two eras and one can distinguish which song belongs to which time period. Producers Anushka and Karnesh Sharma seem to have a good ear for music what with the music of each of the two films produced by them so far has turned out to be good.

MOVIE REVIEW: COMMANDO 2 THE BLACK MONEY TRAIL

In a nutshell: Scale and ambition cannot make up for a langurous screenplay.

The Dileep Ghosh directed Commando (2013), that marked Vidyut Jammwal’s debut as a leading man, did not have a great plot to boast of but watching the film turned out to be a fairly entertaining experience because of some brilliantly choreographed and performed action sequences and several clapworthy dialogues. Almost four years later, the producer and the actor are back with a sequel. The sequel has been directed by Deven Bhojani a renowned actor who also has several television show (‘Sarabhai VS. Sarabhai’, ‘Pukar’) to his credit as a director. Despite ‘Commando’ turning out to be a sleeper hit, one did not see or hear much of Jammwal.  He did a cameo in Tigmanshu Dhulia’s ‘Bullet Raja’, played the antagonist in a Tamil film and was one of the two leading men in the stuck-in-the-cans ‘Yaara’. While his fans might have missed seeing the actor on the screen, the good thing is that he has not been over-exposed and there is a curiosity to see the kind of action he pulls off and the performance he delivers this time.

Karanvir Singh Dogra (Vidyut Jammwal) is a commando who, now, is a part of a special cell of the crime fighting unit of the Indian Government. Karan is determined to nab Vicky Chadda (Vansh Bhardwaj), a man who has helped the rich in the country launder their black money to foreign countries.  Karan is aware of several top Government officials and other powerful people’s involvement with Vicky. He makes sure that he is one of the few officers, who as a team, are sent to bring Vicky to India. After reaching Malaysia, they meet a wheelchair bound Vicky and his wife Maria (Esha Gupta). Vicky tells the team that he has been falsely accused of laundering black money out of the country. 

The plot of the film has no connection to its predecessor. It is a standalone film in which Vidyut is again donning the avatar of a commando. In fact, even though he plays a commando in both the films there is no resemblance in the two characters. The hero of this film comes across as much more expressive, and slick than the first part. Here, the character is etched out better. The action is as good, if not better than the first part. However, unlike the first part, which had a decent storyline and the action sequences seemed to be emerging out of the plot, the action, in this film, seemed to be forced at several times. The main culprit is the screenplay which tries to incorporate too many elements in it without justifying most of them. The film boasts of several twists and turns which exhaust you after a while.  A film can have one or a thousand twists in store for the viewers but each and every surprising turn in the story should be justified properly. Most of the twists in the screenplay, especially the ones in the second half, seem silly. 

Black money has always been a topic of discussion in the country and with the demonetisation policy implemented recently, the film could have made a strong impression because of its topical subject. But, the script is filled with glaring loopholes that are hard to ignore. It piques your interest at several points but the plot simmers down eventually. Commando had a simple story which complimented the action sequences and kept one engrossed in the film. This film had too many convolutions that the script did not ask for. The writers (Ritesh Shah and Suresh Nair) seem to have done a fair amount of research on the subject but the screenplay has too many implausible events that are impossible to ignore. Director Deven Bhojani lends scale and some weight to the average screenplay with his skilful direction. Despite the languorous plot, the film has the slickness one associates with action thrillers. The background score (Prasad Sathe) is strictly functional; the ‘Commando Commando’ chants are very annoying. 

Vidyut Jammwal, as expected, is great with action sequences but he also delivers as an actor. There are several scenes in the film which require him to demonstrate his skills as an actor and he does not disappoint. Adah Sharma’s over-the-top Hyderabadi accent gets on your nerves at times but she is endearing as a performer. Esha Gupta gets a meaty role to play and she sinks her teeth into it. Freddy Daruwala does well as ACP Bakhtawar.  Shefali Shah leaves a mark in a brief role. 

Commando 2 has been mounted on a bigger scale and is more ambitious than its predecessor but suffers from a tortuous plot that pretends to be smarter than it really is.  

Rating: 2.5/5

 

JOLLY LLB 2 MOVIE REVIEW

 In a nutshell: It’s February and one of the best Hindi films of the year has already arrived.

Jolly LLB (2013) was, perhaps, one of the first Hindi films that could boast of depicting the Indian judicial system and the legal proceedings that unfold in a courtroom in a very authentic way. Unlike the kind of exaggerated drama and dialoguebaazi, one is used to witness in Hindi films featuring courtroom scenes, the Subhash Kapoor directed film portrayed courts and the judiciary system in a very real and yet entertaining manner. The film also turned to be the much underrated Arshad Warsi’s first hit as a solo hero. While one is happy to see a sequel of the film arriving four years after it released, one is also a little disappointed to see Arshad Warsi being replaced as a the lead actor.  Now, one is not question the credibility of Akshay Kumar as an actor but it would have been nice to see Warsi reprising a character which he did complete justice to in the original.

Jagdishwar Mishra aka Jolly (Akshay Kumar) is a small time lawyer who works under the tutelage of Rizvi (Ram Gopal Bajaj), one of the most respected lawyers in the town. While Jolly is always on the lookout for a case, Naqvi treats him like a handmaiden and makes him do jobs ranging from serving him paan to helping his wife with cooking kebabs for the guests. To make ends meet, Jolly goes to the extent of reciting answers to students in schools and helping them pass in their examinations.  Jolly’s dream is to have a chamber of his own where he could practise as a lawyer from. Jolly, who has already paid eight lakhs, needs to pay two lakhs more to get a chamber to his name. Hina (Sayani Gupta) has been trying to persuade Rizvi into taking a case for her but Rizvi does not even meet her. Jolly lies to Hina that Rizvi has finally agreed to fight her case. An overjoyed Hina immediately agrees to pay the two lakhs that Jolly asks of her. Jolly gets a chamber and celebrates her success with pomp and show. However, his happiness is short-lived as an untoward incident makes him realise his blunder. He vows toset things right and fight to get Hina and her father-in-law justice for the wrongdoings of the system.

In ‘Jolly LLB’, writer-director Subhash Kapoor maintained a fine balance between satirical humour and hard hitting dramatic scenes. Here, he does that with even more dexterity. Apart from peppering certain scenes with the requisite amount of humour, he makes sure that the seriousness of the case Jolly is working on comes across well. The film has the beats of a thriller and constantly makes you wonder what happens next. There are times when you feel that the film or rather the case has reached its culmination but the narrative unfolds very smartly, opening a pandora box of twists and turns that keep you on the edge of your seat. The final showdown between Jolly and the main culprit which also results in one getting to hear some terrific dialogues, ends the film on a emotionally charged note. Subhash Kapoor successfully raises the bar of the franchise by several notches and delivers his best film till date.  The writer and the director in him, both, are to be equally credited for this compelling film. The dialogues are much better than the ones in the original (which also had some memorable dialogues). The songs act as a major liability as apart from being far from memorable, they slow down the pace of the film. 

Despite the film sticking to realism and authenticity for most of its part, there are certain portions in which you are forced to put your thinking caps down and cut the director some slack for taking creative liberties. A court of law does not approve of polygraphy test or narco-analysis. However, it is show to be allowed in the film. You also feel a little boggled as Jolly gets a convict all the way from Srinagar to Lucknow to testify in the court. You might ignore these glitches while watching the film as these sequences have been executed well.

If, like this writer, you were disappointed with Arshad Warsi’s ouster from the franchise, it might take a few minutes to get used to seeing the new Jolly but rest assured, you will warm upto Akshay Kumar’s Jolly soon enough as the actor delivers one of the best performances of his career.  Also, his turn as the devoted husband is bound to bring a smile to your face. Huma Qureshi gets limited scope as Jolly’s wife but her character turns out to be memorable as Kapoor presents her as a smart, independent woman who speaks her mind. Thereare subtle ways in which the couple is projected as progressive. Pushpa has not changed her maiden surmname post marriage and Jolly has no qualms about cooking for her wife and chioild or serving alcohol to her wife.  Annu Kapoor never comes up with a performance that is less than extraordinary but it is not very often that we see the actor playing substantial roles. In this film, he gets role worth his talent and he, as one would expect, delivers a memorable performance. Sourabh Shukla reprises his role from the first part and here, his character has a few more quirks that makes it more interesting. Kumud Mishra looks sufficiently vile as the senior police officer. Sayani Gupta gets a very different role to play from the kind she played in her earlier films (‘Margarita With A Straw’, ‘Fan’) and leaves a mark in a brief role. Manav Kaul, too, is highly effective in a cameo. 

Very few sequels turn out to be better than their predecessor and Jolly LLB 2 is definitely one of them. Both the drama and the humour is several notches higher than the first film in the installment.  The film has the essence of the original film but tells a new story with much more effectiveness.

Rating: 4/5

                                  HIGH ON 'HIGHWAY'

'Implosive Silence' , the music piece that was played at various junctures in the film, plays on my mind as I write this....

The end credits started rolling at 1:37 p.m.  My hands were shivering, I was breathing heavily. 

Clearly, Imtiaz Ali's latest film had done something to me. What? I don't know. It's been a few hours since I watched 'Highway' but I am yet to figure that out. Actually, I don't want to know what this feeling is. Just like the female protagonist of the film who discovers a new world, is confused but one thing she knows for sure-she is getting to see a world which is refreshingly different from the world that she has been living till now. The world which, on the surface seems to provide her all the security, comfort that she needs but as one looks deeper into it, one finds it to be as shallow as it gets.

Imtiaz Ali is one my most favourite Hindi film directors but his last two films (as a director) , Love Aaj Kal and Rockstar, though boasted of some terrific dialogues, moments et al left me somewhat underwhelmed. I found the screenplay of both the movies, more particularly that of Love Aaj Kal to be incoherent but being a fan of the two movies (Socha Na Tha, Jab We Met) he directed, the films that he was associated with as a writer (Ahista Ahista, Cocktail) and having seen and liked some his work on television, I keenly looked forward to Highway.

Having seen the 45 min episodic Highway ( under the umbrella show Rishtey) that Imtiaz Ali had made almost fifteen years ago, I had a basic idea of the plot but I was surprised to see that most of the original script was retained in the movie. Most of the scenes in the first half ( in terms of writing ) were familiar to me but that's where the treatment came into the picture that truly distinguished it from the TV film/episodic. While the TV episodic was reasonably well made, the financial constraints, the restricted time frame and various other factors made it look like a rushed up job. One can't really blame the filmmaker there. One thing that stood out in the TV version was the fact that it boasted of terrific performances by the lead pair Aditya Shrivastava and Kartika Devi Rane. While I had huge respect for Randeep as an actor I did not think too highly of Alia's acting capabilities. Add to the fact, that she was going to reprise a character that was originally played by Kartika Devi Rane ( last seen in the 2008 film Hulla ), who happened to be my most favourite actress at one point ( I'm still a huge fan; remember 'Captain Vyom', 'Hum Pardesi Ho Gaye', 'Kangan' ? ). The scenes that are similar to the TV version are as follows : (P.S Have tried to keep it as spoiler free as possible)

•     The first one is the obvious- Veera being kidnapped by Mahaveer and his gang members while her fiancé looks onhelplessly, blaming her for the same.

•     Veera suddenly disappearing from the truck; the dialogue that follows
•     Veera making a startling revelation about something that happened to her as a child
•     Veera hiding inside the truck at the toll gate
•     Mahaveer setting Veera free but she refuses to go

 Imtiaz is one of the most respected filmmakers in our country today and given the fact that he had the complete freedom to bring forth the story that was lurking within him for years, exactly the way he wanted to, I knew that film version was going to be far more superior than the TV version.

 Highway depicts the journey of two individuals, coming from two completely different strata of the society, each of them bearing the scars inflicted upon them by the same society they lived in all their lives and how they understand each other's pain, the pain which brings them together.

While the TV version was primarily centred on Veera's character, the filmmaker gives fair ( if not equal) importance to the male protagonist in the film version. Though the characters played by Aditya and Randeep are pretty much similar, Aditya was named Vijay in the TV version while Randeep here is called Mahaveer Bhati. While Vijay had no back story, viewers are given an insight into Mahaveer's childhood so as to explain or rather justify his present. Randeep's character, undoubtedly, is far more layered than Aditya's character. As I pointed earlier, the overall treatment of the subject matter is very different from that of the TV version. The quality of the screenplay, for one,  is several notches higher. The TV version had a somewhat convenient, unconvincing ending while this one has a heart breaking but brilliant ending. Must say, the penultimate fifteen minutes are the highpoint of the film.

A.R Rahman have always carried this reputation of delivering music that is true to the movie's theme and Highway will be remembered as one of the foremost films to validate this fact. While 'Rockstar' had music which stayed true to the film's theme yet had mass appeal, 'Highway' has music that, though soulful, will find it tough to climb the popularity charts, even if the movie does well. The minimal background score works well for the film what with the most dramatic scene in the film plays without any background music. Anil Mehta, the veteran cinematographer who has lent his expertise to some of the most iconic films over the years, does some of his best work here. Be it editing, sound design...the film is a technically superior product.

One almost runs out of adjectives describing Alia Bhatt's performance. She delivers a performance that one expects from a seasoned performer. Her nuanced performance lends multiple layers to Veera, doing complete justice to Imtiaz's vision.. Just one film old and she gets the role of a lifetime! Randeep, as always, is terrific but how one wishes his characterization, though fairly well defined, were as layered as that of Veera's. The supporting cast, each one of them, was very good. The actor playing Randeep Hooda's associate, the one who accompanies both the lead characters in their entire road journey, deserves special mention.

Highway turned out be one of the most important cinema watching experiences in my life. I felt a sense of liberation within me. The film depicts what this cruel world does to its people-the circumstances that force an innocent child to become a hardened criminal, the society which silences a nine year old and makes her feel like being the culprit when she, in fact, the victim of sexual abuse.

 It's a film which will linger in my memory for ever. I don't know whether this film will be loved, hated, remembered, forgotten....all I know is that watching this film has turned out to be one of the most defining events of my life.