siddharthkan

A Lame excuse for a biopic. Its more of an attempt to justify many disappointments that Milkha had his fans go through because of his epic failures. Be it in Melbourne Olympics when his loss is attributed to his stormy affair with that firang with the a song justifying his actions in the background. Or at Rome where that defeat is attributed to the murder of his parents. My proposition gains credence by the manner in which his successes are reduced to a collage/montage lasting some 30 secs. Sad part is that the incompetence of the Director reflects badly on the living legend that Milkha Singh is. Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra has totally lost the plot of movie making after Rang De Basanti. Worst part of the whole proceeding was the ending which tries to drum up the usual jingoism that has come to be associated with the Indo-Pak Cricket Match. Actors don't disappoint, its the Director who failed us and Milkha Singh.

Irritating show right from the start. Repetitive Dialogues ("My son is trying to communicate with me")Stupid stories. I watched the first five episodes thinking that Kiefer's presence will lift the show later but show has disaster written all over it. Maybe we expected too much from him after 24. This show deserves to be cancelled. Kiefer should create some distance between himself and the show to revive his career otherwise it is bound to sink with this show. Tim Kring, it seems has run out of ideas. It sucks as bad as his "Heroes" in its last two seasons. There are so many other great shows currently on. Tim should watch them to get some ideas. TV is meant to give you wholesome entertainment. One is not expected to watch a show with with a father trying to connect with his child by running around the city looking for the numbers. Must be fun for the Father but highly irritating for the audience.

I just saw the movie after an year of its release. I can now understand why it was a flop or only seen by a few film aficionados in India. Indian audience is not ready for such path breaking, abstract and surreal cinematic experience. Maybe that's the reason why our filmmakers are also readily catering to the lowest common denominator. There is rarely any director or producer who is ready to invest his time and money to create art rather than potboilers.

Slowly and steadily, all this is changing. Directors like Anurag Kashyap, Amir Khan, Dibakar Bannerjee,Rakesh Omprakash Mehra, Sriram Raghavan, Vishal Bharadwaj etc. who are doing things differently. If more directors transcend the mercenary concerns and come up with the films like these then I am sure the audience will also evolve and seek out better movies than the regular song and dance, money crunchers like Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi.

No Smoking is the clean entertainment for the intellect. There is no skin show, no dance numbers, no clichéd dialogues what it has is a focused story, thematic songs (some selling out to commercial cinema, but all songs are apt and add to the story, great acting by all especially, John Abraham and Paresh Rawal. The movie is very Indian in its look but very International in its feel. One is reminded of Lynch's Lost Highway and Blue Velvet other movies like Fight Club, etc. While watching it.

Great Movie Universally Recommended

Its a Laugh riot all the way. Like the American or the British series, The Office which deal with one office, this Indian version follows a different format. (Here I am not in anyway trying to say that it is the copy of the UK's Office, No Sir, it is original.) Here in this series we follow Pankaj Kapur as Mussadilal as he goes to different government departments of India and deals with the ingrained corruption and rusty system which can only work if it is well greased with bribery. Mussadilal represents every ordinary man's struggle to get things done from these government offices.

The show is popular because of its dark humor and expansive social satire. Anyone who ever had to deal with any of the bureaucratic government department riddled with red-tape-ism, favoritism, and corruption where any work takes years to be done, can identify with the show. And mind you almost everyone at one point or the other has been in the situation in which Mussadilal is placed every week.

This show is also a great break from the "K"ekta Kapoor's usual family dramas that have ruined Indian TV.

There is so much that has been said already about this film in the previous comments. I just want to add my bit about what I liked in the film. Recently lot of films coming out of Hollywood are daring to explore the question of identity. After 9/11, US government and its institutions are now looking beyond Latin America and Europe. There is both a positive and negative engagement with the other cultures and civilizations. Negative comes out in its dealing with Iraq, Afganistan, Korea and Iran.

Positive form of engagement is seen in the genuine interest in their language, culture and migrants from these countries. There is now a renewed vigour among the American students to learn Arabic, Urdu, Bangla, Hindi, Chinese and other Asian and African languages. Now there is more grant for University Departments dealing with these areas in US. Overall, people are reading more, listening more and watching more to understand more about these people. These nationalities are not just "out there" but they are also "in here" living amongst them as a silent, though a vibrant and prosperous minority of the US society.

Two films dealing with the similar theme of cultural identity and rootlessness came out in theaters this year namely, The Namesake and Shanghai Kiss. Both of them describe a protagonist who is lost and feels isolated and rootless in the cold and desolate American cities. Both have a protagonist that undertakes a journey home to rediscover his roots but comes back feeling more rootless. Both explore the basic question that every migrant faces: Where is the Home? And both the films in some way or the other try to answer that question by invoking a universal emotion called LOVE.

I being an Indian should identify more with The Namesake but thats not the case. I found Shanghai Kiss a lot better. The Namesake was backed by the bestselling book by Jhumpa Lahiri for its story but the story limits the flow of the movie in more ways than one. The pace is slow, very slow and it drags. Arty Stuff, Haan! But Shanghai Kiss dazzles us with its witty dialog, fast pace and great performances by all the actors. Even when it explores the question of identity it never resorts to over-sentimentalism.

I recommend Shanghai Kiss to everyone who is looking for a great Comedy. Although I am not a big fan of comedy (Drama is my thing) But once in a long while there comes a comedy that makes U sit up and take notice. Last time it happened when Elizabethtown was out and now it has happened with Shanghai Kiss. And you can clearly see why? Both films explore the same themes, both involve a journey for the protagonist to trace one's roots, both have great dialog and both are also cute love stories.

Go and watch Shanghai Kiss, if you loved When Harry Met Sally you are going to digg this one too.

P.S. I heard the producers trying hard to get The Namesake nominated for Oscars. Producers of Shanghai Kiss Wake Up!

Karan Johar is not known for presenting Indian reality in his cinema. All his films are just big-budget,eye-candies with huge star cast. Be it, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai,with its own Riverdale High, with its Archie(SRK), Betty(Kajol), and Veronica(Rani), last two with the obvious role reversal. Anyway the point is that in KKHH Karan Johar seems to say that a tomboyish, independent girl is good as a friend but thoroughly unfit for marriage and love until and unless she is properly subdued, demure and docile. Similarly in KANK, Karan is so gung-ho about love that he seems to forget that the two protagonists are married to separate people. Although he highlights the fact that both Abhishek and Priety love their spouses and are ready to make adjustments to save the marriage but marriage has to be dissolved at the alter of love.

Fault lies with the characterization of both SRK and Rani. SRK is a jealous ,cribbing husband of a very successful working wife(Priety). He is suffering from inferiority complex. While Rani is frigid,forever nagging woman married to Abhishek who intensely loves her and is ready to do anything for her. But she finds his love for her childish. Now SRK and Rani meet and fall in love and dissolve their own marriage to be with each other. All this would have been fine but for the fact that both SRK and Rani are the ones who are at fault in their own marriages.

Is Karan Johar trying to say that: 1) If your wife is earning more than you then get a divorce, 2) If you are good for nothing except endlessly cribbing, then find someone submissive enough to listen to your rant. 3) If you are cold in bed, immensely boring,then get a divorce and, 4) If you find your husband's dancing at parties childish then get a divorce. Well, Karan a piece of advice for you, making money in the overseas market is alright but better start making films that has something to do with Indian society. Indians in US and UK will anyway pay to see your movies with such a big star cast but what about the Indian audience who don't identify at all with your take on Indians whether living in India or abroad.