The Dirties

What is a great movie? A great movie is a motion picture that sets out to do something new in its genre and not only achieves its goal but also manages to surpass your expectations and set a new benchmark in said genre. Following that definition, the Canadian indie film The Dirties is a truly great film and a near masterpiece.

Written, directed, edited and starring newbie filmmaker Matt Johnson and Owen Williams, The Dirties effortlessly mashes together dark comedy, social commentary, drama, bromance and Hollywood all with a distinctly meta flavor. The film takes on the risqué subject of gun control and school shootings in America and does it in a way you won’t believe until you see it. We’ve had films like Gus Van Sant’s Elephant and We need to talk about Kevin, which were moving, shattering dramas, but The Dirties approaches the subject with a funny bone. This a comedy about two guys who plan a school shooting and making a film out of it. On paper making or watching a dark comedy such as this seems like a morally reprehensible act, and the fact that Johnson managed to pull it off in his bizarre comedic way is evidence of the film’s staggering achievement.

The Dirties won the Grand Jury trophy at this year’s Slamdance Film fest and it deserves a hell of a lot more than that. It’s a found footage film within a film within a film, and it becomes more and more arresting as it unfolds. Matt and Owen play themselves, or at least a younger version of their own selves -  they’re high school kids, childhood friends and also crazed movie geeks obsessed with pop culture and filmmaking. Their school project, a harmless short film becomes a horror movie when Matt muses over how ‘real’, ‘awesome’ and ‘path breaking’ it will be if they actually shot a few people in their school and filmed it.

The entire film ends up as a found footage movie about these two trying to make a found footage film. If that isn’t meta enough, there is a scene in The Dirties where Matt and Owen’s film instructor forces them to make cuts in their profanity laden footage to make it PG-13, and Matt decides to actually kill some people. It’s a brilliant, cheeky stab at the Hollywood studio system which forces filmmakers to turn their art into commercialized populist balderdash. Another fascinating aspect of the film is that it brings out the dark side of Matt’s movie geekiness – he loves cinema so much and he’s so obsessed with movies he slowly begins to lose his grip on reality. In one of the best scenes in the film, Owen, by now clearly shocked by Matt’s increasingly bizarre behavior berates him for living his life as if being in a movie. It’s a moving, poignant scene that throws in a gauntlet or two towards filmmakers and writers lost in objectivity, and like the majority of the movie it’s never been done before.

The Dirties also really gets what movie buffs are about. Like any hardcore movie nerd Matt and Owen (in the film) consume movies like water – they make references to Irreversible, Being John Malkovich, Back to the future, Star Wars and dozens of other films in any casual conversation. Johnson also films these scenes without being ostentatious, thus giving a relatable vibe to them. He also very subtly nails the psychological aspect of it where Matt’s breakdown finally occurs and, instead of making pop culture references, he starts trying to become a pop culture icon. 

Stuff like this wouldn’t have been possible without some excellent acting from the cast. In a found footage film one is constantly aware of either the genuine fakeness or the fake ingenuity of the film, but in The Dirties the acting is so good it fills the void between both scenarios and lets you accept the film for the way you want it to. If your first impression of The Dirties is of a meta film within a film, you’ll go along with the flow; if you think it’s just a movie shot with a handheld camera, you’ll still appreciate its style. I can’t think of a single found footage movie in recent times that managed to pull you away from its gimmicky technicality and let you keep your focus on the story.

With the Sandy Hook incident in the recent past and the pang of Columbine still ringing in the ears The Dirties does a tremendous job of rubbishing the perceived reasons for the incidents and establishing how society glosses over the true nature of youth psychology. Johnson makes it a point to muse that school shootouts are not as simplistic as a reaction to violence in movies. The media always digs out the recent past of the shooters without really delving into their lives and trying to understand what made them resort to such violent behavior, and The Dirties ends at the exact point where the media would start excavating. Little things like these make The Dirties a great movie and Johnson an astute observer and a giant talent, and I won’t be surprised if more and more movies in the future are made this way. 

(First published in DNA)

Movie Review: Singh Saab the Great

One does not simply review a Sunny Deol-Anil Sharma film. It would be like trying to grab a palm full of water, or explaining String Theory in one line. If you’ve seen Gadar, The Hero: Love story of a Spy and Apne, you’ll know that the films they make transcend eons and multiverses, and their sum excellence cannot be quantified because they are beyond the realm of human understanding. Only a far more superior species with significantly higher IQ would be able to fully cognize the various layers and cryptic stratums of the films’ innate art.

As the trailers of Singh Saab the Great proclaimed, Sunny and Anil come together, and the world suffers a lot. To make you understand how significant this combo is I have to lead you to a Marvel metaphor. Sunny and Anil coming together is an epoch busting event - it's like Batman, Superman, X Men and the Avengers coming together to punch one single ant at the same time. The resultant injuries suffered by the ant are what we experience whilst watching a Sunny-Anil movie. But the pain is sacred and therapeutic, because we’re blessed with what we see on screen, just like the ant is blessed with the touch of Marvel superheroes’ fists.

Now then,

DO YOU LOVE LOTS OF VINTAGE SUNNY DEOL SHOUTING?

DO YOU LOVE RANDOM ACTS OF POINTLESS, LOUD AND OVER THE TOP VIOLENCE?

DO YOU LOVE WATCHING ACTORS GET KICKED, THRASHED AND KILLED IN INCREASINGLY RIDICULOUS WAYS?

DOES YOUR IDEA OF A DATE NIGHT INVOLVE CANDLELIGHT DINNER, WINE AND SOME GOOD OLD HAM ACTING, UNINTENTIONALLY FUNNY WRITING AND DIRECTION?

If so then Singh Saab the Great is the movie for YOU!

STAND UP AND WHISTLE as Sunny Paaji makes his entry on a motor bike through flames and random doves in slow motion.

LAUGH WITH DELIGHT as Sunny Paaji grabs goondas, pours pooja ghee over them, picks them up like a little toy with one hand and hurls them in a burning pyre.

SOIL YOUR TROUSERS WITH EXHILIRATION as the camera zooms a hundred times over Sunny Paaji’s eyes and a TIGER ROARS every time he opens them.

INTRODUCING 19-year-old Urvashi Rautela wearing 57 layers of makeup, displaying tremendous acting skills by smiling despite being paired with a hero 40 years her senior.

CO STARRING Prakash Raj as the only character he has played in the last ten years, hurling Punjabi one liners like a boss in Kannada accent, hamming to the hilt and desecrating over the goodwill he built through Iruvar and Kanchivaram.  

FEATURING a host of cash-grabby cameos from Johnny Lever, Shabaaz Chandrakanta Khan, Sanjay Mishra, Manoj Pahwa, Yashpal Sharma, Rajit Kapoor with their paychecks sticking out of their pockets.

TRY NOT TO DAMAGE YOUR HANDS APPLAUDING when Sunny Paaji proclaims that there is a Gandhi in him, but also Patel and a Bhagat Singh, and kicks a goon in the stomach who lands on an electric fence which catches fire and explodes like in a Michael Bay movie.

TRY TO CONTROL YOUR AWE when Sunny Paaji kisses his heroine on her back, wears sunglasses and says ‘Don’t I look like Dharmendra’s son now?’

TRY NOT TO DISCOLATE YOUR JAW when Sunny Paaji quotes Guru Govind Singh about sorting things out amicably, and then grabs some swords thrown at him in mid-air and engages in a sword fight as an Opera singer bellows ‘Singh Saab Singh Saab Singh Saab’.

WATCH IT!

DIG IT!

Rating: TAD TAD TAD TAD TAD (Five TADs out of Five)

(First published in Firstpost)

Movie Review: Insidious 2

James Wan has said that he has washed his hands off the horror film genre, and this is exceptionally sad news for those who watch Insidious 2. This is a filmmaker who has not only created some of the most seminal modern horror movies over the past ten years but has also managed to craft a haunted house horror sequel that manages to be a genuinely interesting watch rather than a cliched shameless cash grab.

Picking up immediately after the events of the first movie, Insidious Chapter 2 builds on a nice little mythology that expands into a fun and terrifying story. Those who’ve seen the first movie will be familiar with the horrific photographic image of the old lady in the black wedding dress who crossed over from The Further into the world of the living. The sequel focuses on this interesting character and we get to check out what fresh hell this woman is capable of unleashing upon us.

The Lambert family is once again under stress, as Renai (Rose Byrne) is convinced that her husband (Patrick Wilson) brought back something terrible with him during his astral journey and killed the medium. Despite changing houses the bump-in-the-dark noises at night continue, much to Renai’s chagrin, and no one seems to be willing to listen to her.

Sounds cliched? No fear. Wan compensates the familiarity of the plot with his trademark flair for scaring the liquid potty out of you. This sequel is more intense and frightening than the first movie, that too by a significant margin. To achieve this, Wan pulls a few tricks from The Conjuring into Insidious 2. The atmosphere is constantly, unrelentingly creepy and the lack of blood or gore is even more impressive for a film this unsettling. By now he’s pretty much mastered the art of making you feel uneasy, and not resorting to cheap tricks for the same. It helps that the story was written with some effort and not as an afterthought to the jump scares. Even the title card is frightening, which is hilarious and unbelievable when you think about it. It just suddenly appears in big, red bold font with hair raising music and you're left screaming in your seat.

The problem with the first Insidious was that the Darth Maul antagonist, despite having an awesome appearance was poorly written, didn’t really add to the story and we never got to know what he actually wanted. Wan and his writer Leigh Whannel iron out this kink this time around and give you a villain that is hackneyed, but certainly more well defined in intent. Sure, it gets a little convoluted towards the end but it’s thrilling and fun, and definitely better written and scarier than the first movie to keep you hiding under the popcorn bucket. There’s some hope for more Insidious mayhem because the ending opens a door to a sequel, and hopefully it’s only a matter of time until Wan finishes his Fast and Furious movie and gets back to filming spooky houses.

(First published in MiD Day)

Movie Review: Ram-Leela

Just when I was becoming sick to death of Bollywood’s flimsy love stories, toothless commercial baits, and insipid mush marathons created exclusively for populist consumption, along comes (Goliyon Ki Raasleela) Ram-Leela, a wonderfully cynical movie that re-energises my movie-love batteries and gives me a chance to like the song and dance genre of desi cinema. 

Romance, humor, action, drama – there’s a lot of everything in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s film, almost to a fault. At two hours and 40 minutes, with a song every five minutes, the film seems like bonded labour on paper. And yet, the seemingly countless songs and gigantic running time are not enough to extinguish the fun found here and it still winds up as a smart, funny, frequently exciting love story that is packed with strong performances, solid direction, several colourful characters, and best of all, some tremendous lines. 

Bhansali’s earlier films have delivered two or three half-hearted attempts at a tragic romance, only to follow the poignant moments up with aimless, wandering plots, set gazing and cheesy acting. Ram Leela, on the other hand, has intensity, fire and energy in every single scene. It’s also laden with a few surprisingly powerful plot contortions that you probably won’t see coming. 

Ram Leela has the soul of a cynical old noir peppered with a few small glimmers of masala. We all know the story by now. Borrowing a few pages from Shakespeare’s play and more so from Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet, this movie is the epitome of formula. The setting is a crazy ‘Bhansalized’, fantastical trigger happy version of a place in Rajasthan-Gujarat, where a guy and a girl from two rival, constantly-clashing mob gangs fall for each other while the others are spraying bullets and shedding blood. Therein lies the simple appeal of the film, but Bhansali subverts your expectations with some unexpected twists and even a shrewd political turn that makes the film a compelling watch. It helps that the leads Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh have terrific chemistry to complement Bhansali’s frenetic direction and the truly gorgeous set pieces. 

There are many terrific moments strewn throughout Ram Leela, like the ‘Aankhon ki gustkhiyan’ style sequence between the two leads and Bhansali’s rendition of the famous balcony scene. But the reason his movie works is because it’s a lot more than the sum of a few fantastic parts. Even in the opening sequence during which a shootout breaks out, Bhansali finds the faint line between arthouse, commercial and populist. It’s evident that even he’s tired of an industry that’s becoming more and more standardised and heartless with every passing year. He brings a lot more style and passion to a film that, in the hands of a less accomplished commercial Bollywood director, would be a hollow mess. A scene where a bunch of hoodlums pull out their guns and start shooting bottles has the comic irreverence you generally expect in a Vishal Bharadwaj movie, and it offers a glimpse of how commercial Bollywood cinema is capable of tipping the scales, just a bit, in a new direction. 

Sure there are a few things the film could’ve done without, like three to four songs, and Raza Murad’s hammy cameo, but there are enough goodies in the film (especially the dialogues) to make you overlook the rough spots. The direction, outstanding production design, gorgeous cinematography are supported by a surprisingly strong cast, and Padukone is a wild-eyed anchor in a sea of formula. Three years ago you’d never have expected her to improve so drastically and command the kind of energy she does now. Ranveer, on the other hand, is a weak link. It’s a whole different movie whenever he isn’t in a scene. It’s not that he doesn’t try, but that he tries too hard to chew scenery and he just doesn’t have the effortless charm of someone like Ranbir Kapoor. 

Their co-stars do a fine job of bringing the typical stereotypes to life – Gulshan Deviah, Richa Chadda, Abhimanyu Singh, Sharad Kelkar each have their own moments and at least a semblance of wit and colour. But Supriya Pathak as a god-fearing matriarchal mob boss is awesome here, with a rascally twinkle that intermittently threatens to turn villainous. Watch the scene early on in the film where she shouts at her fumbling masseuse and you’ll know that she should do more movies. 

By the time Ram Leela winds down with a finale that would make Luhrmann proud, Bhansali does a pretty good job of winning his intended audience over. It would have been so easy for the film to wallow in opportunistic schmaltz or obvious sentimentality but instead Ram Leela is a slyly fun movie, and one that is best appreciated on big screens.

(First published in Firstpost)