Of Blood , Sex and Severed Limb

C U at 9





Another sleeper, I don’t even recall the year of it release, I avoided watching it for as long as possible because there was nothing written about this film anywhere and neither did anyone spoke about it to me.. that left me perplexed, everytime I used to visit my local DVD rental store to rent out a film , while browsing through the album of films, this particular film used to turn up (very cleverly stacked under the category of Erotic Thriller with the likes of Basic Instinct, Sliver and almost all of Zalman Kings popular films) and yesterday, since there was nothing better to watch and I was actually looking for some popcorn entertainment, especially from which I cant expect anything.. out of curiosity I rented this one out.. i went back home, popped the DVD in ,took to my couch and allowed it to roll, well !! to tell you the truth, I was not very impressed with the start ,the introduction of characters but then as events proceeded, I was drawn.. not because of the screenplay, but because I realized that it heavily borrows from Takashi Miike ‘s Audition.. yes ( Jafar Bhai you heard that right)..All this time I was expecting and hoping and contemplating that one of these days I will get to see a Hollywood’s remake of Audition..not realizing that there was one that existed right under my nose all this while.. so, as I said earlier..I was drawn, because I can see what was coming and I was really curious that how will the get away with an audacious climax like that of Audition (it’s a Indian Film for crying out loud)..and boy oh boy, I was in for a big surprise, never again in my life will I underestimate a low budget Indie film done by a bunch of nobodies , because they have gone all out with a style although they could have done away with the excess hamming of Kim (Asami in Audition) towards the end and atleast not have her sing “kambakht ishq hai jo “ in a monologue.


The other thing which surprised me is how this film has pushed the envelop in terms of depiction of sex and violence ( I was finding it hard to believe, how a conservative censor like that of ours have agreed to pass few things in the film ) Severed limbs, decapitation ,mutilated corpse, sex and orgasm its all there. God bless the censor board and I hope they stay this way till eternity , providing more space to a film maker to express himself/herself creatively so that we can watch something beyond the regular masala that has been served to us until now.



The Film starts with multiple people receiving random phone calls from a wrong number ,the girls voice on the other side asks them to see her at 9,most of the people hang up expecting it to be a prank call, but our hero (Romeo) decides to play along and fixes up a place where those two can meet, what follows next is basically Audition meets Sisters (Brian de Palma), one thing that I immediately noticed was the quality of cinematography for a budget like that of this film, it was quite good, the grainy and bleached out texture of the film adds to the atmosphere.


Yes it is a flawed film and derivative one too ,it does go through the most common mistake a novice film maker commits ie not following the rule : Don’t use Dialogues to express things which can be visually understood by the audience. But those are minor quibbles, until you are looking for substance in a film otherwise the acting is better than average, Cinematography is top notch, Direction is pretty decent for a first timer.. the film is a labor of love, it’s a well executed piece of work, although it went un-noticed at the time of its release, I am sure this film will gain a cult status in the future , any given day I will prefer watching this film over a Dhoom2 or Jhoom Barabar Jhoom..





ps : IF You ARe Squimish and are easily offended by blood and gore..AVoId this film, its an exploitation cinema done right and it has a niche Audience ,these films are not for everybody's taste..so please dont take my write up at its face value and look at the images that i have posted..if you are in for it,go ahead watch it and enjoy

डोले शोले

Anotomy is so much fun..did some sketches today..also tried a different style in the 3rd one..

ऊँगली कर दी .. माफ़ी चाहूँगा !!

I was emotionally manipulated,coxed and was talked into digitally touching up few of the snaps that i had clicked earlier..so here i am posting the touched up version of them..

कार्टून

here are a couple of quick doodles.. that i did a couple of days earlier, thought i will post it today..

शीवाजी की जय

Watching Sivaji is like watching a part of cinematic history unfold in front of you. .more than a couple of decades later, this will be a story you will be narrating to your grandchildren, its not just a film , its an event that acts like a template of time.. its like you telling someone “ummm…that’s the year I saw Sivaji, I must be 30(or what ever your age is) “, Shankar unlike his earlier works, has done what Kurasawa , Felini , Tarkavosky, Bergman are known for – telling a very simple story, in the simplest possible way, no timeline jumps no twist in tale sort of gimmicks..this film would have worked even without Rajni, with Rajini in it..its just becomes larger than life.. the best part that I really loved about this film was, it’s ability in not taking it self seriously and actually parodying itself..like for example there is a lot of reference to Rajini older releases (the most prominent and reoccurring one is reference to Chandramukhi ) the other example is a particular song which has been shot in a very retro style and where Rajini Does a take on various generation song and dance routine, his imitation of Akkineni Nageshwar Rao, NTR and Chirranjivi is spot on..and then there is a part where Rajini again parodies his Manik Badshah character..also there is a throwback at early 70’s romps, the drive in theater sequence ,with King Kong playing in the background.. you just cant help but notice the nudge nudge wink wink effect and smile.. the songs, are colorful, tastefully shot, but not humable..(but that’s how A.R.Rehman’s Songs are, aren’t they.. you don’t like them in the beginning, they just grow on you..), the action remains ordinary throughout (my main crib) up until the end and then ..what I got to see on screen was probably one of the most beautifully shot climax ever filmed in last 20-25 years, something that Michael Bay or John Woo shall be proud of.. Oh yes, in the middle of all this..there is a story too, a story of a NRI who comes back to his country aspiring to give something back to his motherland, but instead of redemption he finds retribution, corruption and beaurocracy,he tries to fight his way through the honest means,but gets evicted from his land and property, he fights back and almost succeeds until he gets convicted and send to prison .. how he overcomes all the obstacles and finally becomes the BOSS (Bachlore of Social Service)..thats what Shivaji is all about.
Although it’s a Rajini’s film, he has underplayed himself , which is a good thing as it’s a welcome change not watching him as the usually over the top protagonist with a signature dialogue( here he just says “cooool”..thats it..!!), Shreya looks good, acts well and cries even better, Vivek is his stereotyped self..his part just looked like an extension of his part from “ Aniyan”.. and Raghuvaran does good with French kissing another man- but not in a gay sort of way..
This is a perfect film to watch on a weekend and watch it in theater don’t bother if you don’t speak the language, cause it wont matter.. just watching Rajini’s entry in the film and the way half the theater cheers when he comes on screen for the first time in the film, it is enough to make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up and take notice ..
Watch this film!!

for more on Shivaji also check http://anjelo.blogspot.com

यह थोड़ी और फोटू घर के आस पास कि और सह-कर्मचारियों की ..

I am using a old fashioned(not Digital)SLR Camera -a Vivitar 3800N..most of photographs had been shot in very low light (using exp as low as 4 and 1 and fstop of 3.4 the negative stock is Kodak Gold,100 iso), no artificial source of lighting is used and none of them have been touched up digitally..




















few more shots..

अरे ..अब मे भी फोटू खिंच सकता हूँ ..माँ कसम!!

Recently..after watching some really good works on the net, i finally managed to get my self a hobby..(last time, i checked ..it used to be drawing and sketching ,until it became my profession)..only much later and very recently , after wasting huge amount of film stock and money..i figured i am interested in photography..and since it has been a really long time since i updated my blog,and as i am not getting enough time to sketch(read Artist's mental Block)..i have started divulging my self in Photography..here are the few decent ones which i felt were being worthy of being put on this blog.

ऑडिशन

Okay! I usually take time to judge a film, i try to think about it watch it over and over, because i have figured that there are few films that you start liking once you start thinking about them, they tend to grow on you, also i have realized that the first opinion that you usually form about a film are mostly prejudiced, because you already know what you are going to watch-be it due to trailers and teasers you get to see on Television or internet or due to reviews that you read somewhere its hard now a days for a film to catch you off guard and say GOTCHYA!!

AUDITION(Odishon) does this for me,especially because this is a lesser known Japanese film that has fortunately managed to evade the Hollywood radar for such a long time, otherwise a remake would have been out by now.Its a sweet and heartwarming lovestory that works on various level,its a family drama and a equally effective comedy as well..its starts with the Ayoma (Ryo Ishibashi) loosing his wife ,who leaves behind a son and then the story jumps to few years later when the son has grown up and is 17, and he is worried about his father who have buried himself under tons of work and his professional commitments in order to deal with his grief and loneliness, the son wants his father to start dating again, fall in love and get married and manages to convince his father,well almost.
Ayoma works for a production house and his colleague device a plan to help him choose the right girl, the plan is to hold mock -audition for a film. Ayoma takes liking for mysterious Asami (Eihi Shiina) ,he is enchanted by her beauty and of the fact that she has lead a very difficult life but still haven't given up on it, at some level Ayoma starts to identify with Asami and fall in love with her. Asami is oblivious to the fact that the auditions were fake and looks at Ayoma as just another producer trying to exploit her but since she is aware how important that film is to her ,she leads Ayoma on instead of declining his advances,but the more time they spend together the more they get to know about each other and eventually end up falling in love, Ayoma confesses that the Audition were fake and Asami forgives him only on one condition that he (Ayoma) will love her and only her..
Its hard to find a film these days which is so simple and modest, a film that juxtaposes loneliness with true and unconditional love and how much are people willing to sacrifice for it- The son wanting his father to start dating again and ready to move out of the house once his father gets married, the colleagues of Ayoma who are taking efforts to hold mock audition just to get Ayoma a partner, Ayoma himself who has enough courage to confess to Asami that audition that meant so much to Asami, were actually a ploy and above all Asami who forgives Ayoma stating she doesnt needs the part in a film because she has got much more in the bargain(love of Ayoma).
The film takes its own time in establishing its characters, one good thing about the characters here is that they are not fairy tale good people, they are all gray ,they all make mistakes,they all feel the pain and guilt,the film also attempts to explain how complicated is the emotion called Love and how the interpretation of love is different for different people.
Watch this film before a remake of it comes out in America,watch this film because its so simple and straight forward and watch it with your family (errrrr..or maybe just watch it yourself and then decide if you want your family to watch it) .



GOTCHYA........!!!!!

Kerela - The lighter side of life.

When you are backpacking across a state,you sometimes get more than you can bargain for,not just the knowledge of there culture or photographs of immensely beautiful places in and around but some smaller details like for example this particular photograph that i am posting here separately,its by far the funniest film poster i have seen..



i mean, who puts a half naked Police officer caught with his pants down on a film poster..seriously..if this is not funny, then i dont know what is.

Kerela Reloaded.

Another trip to Cochin, another set of photographs- this place is Fort Cochin,Fort Cochin is the site of the St. Francis church which was built in 1510 by five Portuguese priests who arrived with Albuquerque. This church, said to be the oldest European church built in India, was the original burial site for Vasco da Gama in 1524 (Fourteen years later his mortal remains were exhumed and sent to Lisbon, Portugal.) Later the church was successively taken over by the Dutch in 1633, the British (when it became the Anglican Church) and, finally, the Church of South India. Telling this hoary history are gravestones inside the church as sell as an 18th century register of marriages and baptisms.

Also in Fort Cochin is the Santa Cruz Cathedral, a Roman Catholic church close to the St. Francis Church, also built by the Portuguese. It is said to have suffered severe damage when the British fought with the Dutch to take control of Cochin. Its attractions include some beautiful paintings and a decorative ceiling.
Unfortunetly-when we visited the Church, i had already exhausted all the battery of my camera,and therefore wasnt able to click any photographs there..but on my next trip i shall do a exclusive on St.Francis Church.

whoooowww..!!

This is a photograph that i came across recently, i was told that its of a shop in Bihar, i don't care where ever it is from..its just down right hilarious.





Relax..!! I think they mean " CHILLED BEER"

Thought i died and gone to heaven.

I havent been posting for long..as i got a little busy at work,but the payoff was highly rewarding as i got a chance to see a lot of Kerela (Cochin especially), i am just posting a couple of snaps which i felt relevant for this blog..have a look and envy me cause i was there.. :D