Color has gone out of Ghai's Black & White world

Yeah, I am referring to the fate of his much touted arty film Black & White. It has bombed and so have his hopes of breaking the jinx that seems to have stuck to him like glue. Yaadein, Kisna and now Black & White. The list is growing long and alarmingly long. And this despite him taking a break from directing in between to concentrate on his Whistling Woods Institute and producing other directors movies.

So in between he did have movies like to the credit of Mukta Arts. So at least that would have cheered him up. When one tries to recollect the last time Ghai got a hit, one would have to go back to the stone ages. Heh hehehe. Joking. Actually the 90's. Now that may not be a long time for the lifetime of a person, but for a director/producer of Ghai's repuation, it sure seems painfully long. The movie that can be considered a hit would be Pardes (Taal was a semi-hit or average I would say).

The problem with him is that he hasn't grown as a director. Our film people are extremely formulaic, superstitious (all heroines should have names starting with M), and have delusions about their own grandeur. No good bound script, no research, no thorough study of the subject or taking characters that suit the role. Its more of let me take my two best friends in the industry and make a movie. And lets also take that nubile young thing who is very agreeable to 'everything' and launch her movie career. And then we get a dud of a movie.

In his defense he did try to get away from the regular tripe he dished out to audiences, but he was not rewarded. He needs to have another go at such a genre. Go Ghai, GO!

Subhash Ghai is all excited about his next movie - Black & White

Though Subhash Ghai has a large body (you thought I was referring to his girth didn't you?) of work, he is till excited and nervous as a young school boy about his next movie - Black & White. The one obvious reason is that it is the first movie in a couple of years that he has directed. Seems to be a good decision too, if you see his last masterpiece (of course I am sarcastic), Kisna. That movie singularly pulled Vivek Oberoi from the star orbit to struggling actor ground level. Ghai had done a Kisna of Hrithik Roshan too with Yaadeein. Though one must say Hrithik had the backing of his father Rakesh Roshan, who helped with recover with Koi Mil Gaya and Krrish. ANd of course he later had Dhoom 2. Unfortunately Vivek had no sugar to bail him out.

Media reports are supposedly carrying good reports about Black & White, and even the man Ghai is talking about it favorably. The visuals are good and it seems to have a good topic. Of course one has to eventually see if the movie is deep and meaningful and has a soul or not, or Ghai has randomly picked up a plot and stretched it to make a full length feature film. He is notorius for not giving importance to a strong story line. So lets see if his optimism this time is misplaced or worth the price of a movie ticket.

"Mithya" movie review

Well I finally caught Mithya. And just in time too. Finally because I have been reading good reviews about it on the internet and only last week a friend told me that he saw it and loved it. he also said Mithya is your kind of movie and you will love it. Just in time because even though it is a great movie, it is fast disappearing from the theaters.

So much for the intelligent movie goer in India or for that matter in urbane Mumbai. Here comes a great movie and even after great reviews, positive feedback and great word of mouth it really isn't pulling in crowds like it should. My feeling is that it didn't have item numbers (sad situation na?), not major undressing of the heroine(s) or the hero (as is the norm nowadays), and perhaps lack of front line stars. Anyway the movie has received critical acclaim, earned decent movie and given recognition to people like Rajat Kapoor, Ranvir Shorey, and even hot bod Neha Dhupia.

Now about the movie - a short review of Mithya.

The movie is awesome! The way the character of Ranvir Shorey is developed is great. The finer points, the nuances, the pettiness of the thugs, their take on their gruesome lives. All very well researched and thought out. Ranvir Shorey is obviously the star of the movie. Within minutes you feel for him and start sympathizing and empathizing with him. He is gullible, funny and a coward. Yet at times he is brave, street smart and brutal. Confusing? Mixed up? Isn't that how all of us are. At times fearful, at times brave.

Neha Dhupia has got a nice meaty role and she does competently. It does help that she is extremely easy on the eyes. She dresses like a wannabe actress and looks good in the role. She also is a gangsters moll and plays it well with style and bitterness well balanced in her performance. Naseer has a small role but is adequate. Vinay and his side-kick play their thug roles with aplomb. We also get to see former telly actress Irawati Harshe after a long time. And she looks delectable. She is attractive and charming as the don Raje's cute and understanding wife.

All in all engaging cinema and a great successful venture for Rajat Kapoor as a director. May he make many more films like this in the future. Also expected to do well in the coming week are films from Subhash Ghai, Black & White and a comic caper/gangster slapstick One Two Three which should be out in theaters soon.

Subhash Ghai's Black & White may turn out to be a surprise hit

The movie Black & White which is to be released by Ghai's Mukta arts soon may actually surprise a lot of people and become a hit. And the person who may be surprised the most might be Subhash Ghai himself!!! Thats because the last time he gave a hit, we were in the stone ages.

It has been a sad degeneration of a film maker who was handed the title of Showman, previously belonging to Raj Kapoor. Obviously the pressures were too much or he got carried away and got too conceited. For any person, and more importantly a professional artiste, growth is very important. What is success without intellectual growth. Perhaps thats why they say that failure hands out more lessons than success. Perhaps thats what happened to Mr. Ghai. He got big successes - perhaps easier than others got them. That went to his head and he assumed he knew all there was to film making. But film making is nothing but story telling in a audio-visual medium. And one needs to be able to read the lessons every day life gives you. Not announce films without stories, re-use formula's and pay more importance to the name of the actress you are launching. And in many cases rename her so her name is more correct numerologically (is there is any word like that).

And the trap is truly set when film makers go to controversial stars with criminal backgrounds just to ensure they get a chunk of the media bytes (Sanjay Tada Dutt?). The movie he made in that case Khalnayak was trash (cept that raunchy Choli number by Ms Dixit) and it was badly received but for Mr. Ghai it was good enough to count as a hit. Now thats where you know a person has fallen on hard times when he finds mediocre success thrilling. I found even Saudagar all tripe. And then things went worse. Movies like Yaadein, Kisna though he got a Pardes in between. That i reckon was his last hit.

Now the erstwhile Showman has started producing more movies in the hope of improving his success rate. Makes sense na? If it clicks, its a Mukta film. Else the director botched up the vision. As had Nagesh Kukkunoor in Bombay to Bangkok. Sigh!!!

Anyways, Black & White is carrying reports (planted I guess) that the young kid, Sinha is impressive in the film and it make even a seasoned pro like Anil Kapoor insecure. How insecure we will see after the movie releases. The music is by Sukhwinder and he has given the expected Punju flavor and the title song is good- earthy and catchy. The trailers look promising. The story seems ok. Lets see the movie. Best of luck, Mr. Ghai.