this was how i started....

One of my first few reviews

Of moles and midnight escapades

A heap of aromatic jasmine greets us as we make our way hastily to get to the best seats in the hall. Before we settle down and try to understand whats going on stage, shrill bells remind us of the punctual timings maintained by RangaShankara, good for them. Despite the popular voice that the figure on stage was a poster, we see it is not and it is indeed a real man trying hard not to flinch or flex a muscle. Music reminiscent of computer games gone by, TRY to enthrall the audience, but succeeds in preparing a few to take a nap or two.

Rajit Kapur is a good orator and that's that. The script is at its usual brilliance in tune with Karnad's other recent offerings. Interesting metaphors did keep the audience rooted to their seat and so mind boggled were we that it took us a while to realize that the play has ended and the doors are now open to leave and oh yes.. to applaud as well.

FLOWERS offers the viewer a new take on a very old and used theme. A courtesan, A Chieftain, A local Priest in his mid-life crisis and of course not to forget the not so well endowed priest's wife (as said by the playwright not me).

All said and done, the play did have its impact on me: Adorning idols with flowers will never be the same again.

Of Motown blues and ethnic hues

70 Million US $ production Cost
102 Million US $ total gross profit
8 Academy Awards nominations
5 Golden Glode Nominations
3 Golden Globe Wins
2 Academy Awards Wins

16 people in the auditorium (excluding the ushers)

Go Figure !!

Statistics apart, I did like Dreamgirls. Yes, its a musical, Yes, they break out into a song to even cough, Yes, Beyoncé Knowles has really funny eyebrows and YES, at the end of the movie only 13 of the 16 were awake.

Dreamgirls is not a cinematic masterpiece, but it did capture the experience of watching a musical on stage. Jennifer Hudson has done a good job, well worthy of all the accolades she has received, surprizingly she had to gain 20 pounds for the role. Eddie Murphy did liven up the screen with all his gyrations and gut scrunching screeches while Beyoncé Knowles did prove that she CAN act. The director has truly captured the essence of the Motown Experience although a bit more of the Motown Sound would have been appreciated. The cast have put in lot of effort, perfecting their vocals.

Dance Fest !

IF you love to dance, if you love to watch people dance, “Aaja Nachle” is the movie to watch this season. Dancing her way from the high rises of New York to the gallis of Shamli (a sleepy town in MP) Madhuri Dixit does a stellar comeback from her long hiatus. Some amazing choreography coupled with foot tapping music, Aaja Nachle delivers in entertaining the audiences with some spectacular sets and brilliant costume design. Kudos to Anil Mehta on his directorial debut

A runaway bride lured by the charms of an American, deserts her hometown and all that is dear to her only to be deserted again and forced to return to save her dance school and to gain the love of her people. She not only succeeds in saving her school, but also in the process brings together a town full of broken hearts and crooked politicians.

Konkana Sen and Kunal Kapoor, through their love hate relationship and the lead in the musical finale of the movie have certainly outdone all their performances so far and succeeded in rendering the plight and delight of two young lovers caught amidst small town talk and total undying love for each other. Ranvir Shorey and Vinay Pathak have thankfully not gone overboard and the viewers actually get to enjoy their performance unlike some of recent offerings.

A host of other actors, all of who having nicely complimented the simple storyline and danced away for a tune or more does end up making watching Aaja Nachle quite a treat.

Om Shanthi Om

An overdose of colour, an overdose of melodrama fused with clichéd situations and mixed with a mediocre music score makes Om Shanthi Om just about bearable. A flick on re-incarnation replete with broken loves, Om Shanthi Om did not live up to all the hype that was created around it.

TAKE 1
A dreamy junior artiste Om (Shah Rukh Khan) with his wide collared, polka dotted outfits falls head over heels in love with a doe eyed actress Shanthi (Deepika Padukone). Ensue a series of stints and situations that make you yawn at best. Confessions to a movie poster, melodramatic rescues, speeches in drunken stupor, talks with the moon, blah blah blah He finally manages to win the actress’s heart and they go on a date complete with snowfall, moonlight and glittering skylines.

Enter the evil producer Mehra (Arjun Rampal), who shares a secret with the actress. Our dreamy junior artiste now is heartbroken and vows to get over it and protect the actress from all that is evil and bad. Several heart wrenching scenes later, the evil producer succeeds in killing the actress and in the confusion our dreamer also is killed.

TAKE 2
Enter Om Kapoor, the spoilt rich kid with his entourage of stalkers, pretty girls and weeping producers. He is the doting child of Bollywood with loadsa innuendoes that make him look at best like a dumb bimbo. Shah Rukh Khan as Om the junior artiste was at least bearable against Shah Rukh Khan as Om the star here, what with his Botox infused face to his atrocious hair-do to his unbelievable narcissist persona.

The star begins to recollect his past life through a series of fortunate/unfortunate incidents and remembers that he still has to avenge the death of his broken heart. He sources a debutante who looks exactly like our doe eyed actress Shanthi (DUH!) and plots a finale that would make the evil producer confess the murder. What follows is a whole lot of tosh in which he successfully fools the evil producer (who is still around with the same physique as 30 years ago) into believing that the actress he killed is back to haunt him forever.

The much awaited finale ensues where Om belts out the only decent musical number in the movie and scares the Ray-Bans of Mehra. This ends in a tiny little twist in the tale which leaves Om confused yet satisfied and his objects fulfilled.

Plagiarism has always been the stronghold of many a Bollywood directors. Farah Khan is no exception, what with the entire studio settings of “Paramount Pictures” ripped off and projected as “RC Studios” or our Hero belting away lines from “Gone with the Wind” NOTE: Though Rhett Butler told it to Scarlett O Hara in the heat of the American Civil war, this quote is just laughable here between the male leads.

Watch Om Shanthi Om to see good performances by debut actors like Padukone and also be ready to be assaulted with colour, style and whole lotta movie stars.

Girl Power!

A movie unlike the usual colorful montages of dance and drama that have been churned out, “Chak De India!” takes us through the lives of a group of feisty girls all set to represent India in the “World Women’s Hockey Championship”. It showcases the plight that the “National Sport” faces from tea-glugging bureaucrats to the absence of a decent sponsor. To make things worse the team encompasses players from such diverse a background; hardly a minute passes without one stepping on the other with ethnic slurs and taunting words.

While things are looking grim thus, enter Kabir Khan (Shah Rukh Khan). An ex-player besmeared a traitor for missing a crucial goal, fights his way through red-tape to partake as the coach of this team. Promoting the spirit of sportsmanship and camaraderie, Kabir Khan faces many a travails to get the team to play as one and to love the game as he does.

Grueling practice sessions, unorthodox punishments and a lot of full throated speeches later, the team progresses with an alarming pace. What follows is expected and everyone goes home Happy.

The cast of almost all debut performers have shown tremendous potential in perfecting the game and portraying roles from hip city slickers to naïve village belles. Commendable are the efforts of the scriptwriters to touch on a myriad of issues from the plight of Indian women choosing alternative careers to the alienation felt by many a population of far flung states. The music score was just right as was the simple costume design.

Having said this it is evident that the real star of the movie is the “Indomitable Spirit of the Game” well showcased with just the right amount of drama and a little bit of light hearted tomfoolery.

Bheja got fried or what !!

A bunch of bored socialites, away from the imbroglios of their swinging lifestyles, expensive art shopping (29 lakhs for a Manjit Bawa !) and homes smothered by obvious littering of richness device a dinner game wherein each participant brings a guest with a "TALENT". This ensues in a round of laughs and adjudging the most Idiotic bring-along.

In the process, one couple gets their lives messed up and confusions follow leading to more confusions etc., The "TALENT"ed idiot gets involved and tries to make the best repairs for all his antics and in the process more skeletons are out of the cupboard and all hell breaks loose.

All seems well until now…

Bring on the cast members and try HARD to make them fit into the roles.

Things are still looking alright…

Then whip up situations with a healthy dosage of bad jokes and silly innuendos along with a liberal amount of forceful lifestyle attitudes and open ended relationships.

There, that was it! My mind got fried along with all my regards to comedy artists in the movie. Vinay Pathak (Bharat Bhushan) and his stereotypical middle class blue collared lifestyle depictions were just painful at times. I don't know what Sarika (Sheetal Aggarwal) was angry at half the time, nor did Ranvir Shorey`s (Asif Merchant) unibrow infused, belly – showing, Pakistan – supporting, comedic venture bring out much laughs.

The only saving grace might be the two friends Rajat Kapoor (Ranjit Thadani) and Milind Soman (Ananth Ghosal) and their on screen antics to save the day and Rajat Kapoor's marriage.

A clear miss if you want to spend a nice evening.

CHIMERAS (ki-mare-uhs)

An eclectic ensemble of stories, rendered with an exhilarating mix of dance and drama; Chimeras offered its viewers a delightful treat, taking them through the little known aspects of the lives of three extraordinary women from our great epics.

Sita, the epitome of endurance and beauty, always taken as an example for dutifulness and diligence, pours her heart out to Lakshmana when Rama casts here into exile. Priya Venkataraman, through her piquant performance showed us the many disappointments Sita faced in the hands of her beloved. A heady mix of facts hitherto unknown, showed us the injustice borne by the most pious of women spoken about in our history. The actor truly enacted the emotions felt by Sita, in a narration that shook our conditioned views on “The Perfect Man”.

Draupadi, questions The Pandavas on their intents and motives on the Throne of Hastinapura. Surabhi Herur with her invigorating performance portrayed Draupadi through all her emotions - Her love towards Arjuna, her piety to Kunti, her devotion to Krishna and her woebegone experiences with the world. The actor balanced all these complex emotions in a rendition, which left the audience awestruck. Be it, the mournful episodes of recovery from her humiliation or the joyful experiences of sighting Arjuna for the first time, Surabhi Herur captured the true essence of her character and enacted it in a performance which surely gained deep admiration and appreciation from many a viewers.

Kunti, a woman much respected in The Mahabharatha for her loyalty, her pious nature and her composure is in conversation with Sanjaya. She reminiscences her past and the various travails she bore with her husband and then her children. Manaswini Rao in her debut gave a brilliant performance enacting these situations which brims with hope for an eventful future on stage.

The play was interspersed with Dance routines that showcased the stories of the main characters. Aarti Mohan with her graceful movements and fluid expressions rooted the audience to their seats and left them wanting for more. The artist also choreographed the play and deserves all the appreciation and more for her spectacular performance that conveyed the stories to even the most uninformed of audience.

Vasu Dixit, Kedarnath and Sandeep gave us a heart warming and splendid recital, which proves that live music goes best with plays. Kudos to Amjad Parvez for the simplicity of the Set Design that enhanced the actors on stage and gave them the right edge to portray the characters efficiently. The Light Design done by Kishore Acharya was excellent and it added to the emotions played on stage albeit the numerous switchovers. Surabhi Herur also designed the costumes, which where charming and were well suited on the characters.

Krishna, the Director and “The Great Author” livened the audience with his whimsical notions and light-hearted comments. Three Cheers to his efforts in making this play such a success in bringing out the characters from the entire cast. I applaud a rendition that is by far one of The Best of VODO. I wish him good luck and hope to see many more productions in the future.

Waiting for Lefty...In His Shadows

Only a group like VODO can pull off a successful show despite technical glitches, cast members lurking in each others shadows and some murmurs of discontent.

A play about the New York Cab Union strike in the early thirties, it talks of the indignations the common man faced then and their responses to it fueled by broken homes, shattered ideals and moral responsibilities.

The cast, numbering more than 20 (some planted in the audience- which frankly gave a shock or two to the innocent bystanders) portrayed the characters well and the viewers were truly moved by the renditions of Sid and Florie. I don't know about the lump in her throat, but that scene did leave many amongst the audience spellbound (The music, which failed, nonetheless added some more character to the scene and showed the true plight of the heart-broken couple) Joe's monologue and his fight with Edna were superb! The painful recollections of his unfruitful labor and her genuine need to fend for her ailing children did show the actor's efforts in perfecting the techniques that transported us to their worlds. The doctor's in conversations were so emphatic in their lines that for a bit I had to stop myself and update the conversation (much to the pain of my fellow viewer). Mr. Fayette and Miller showcasing the two ends of an economy were brilliant in bringing about the differences. Mr. Keller, though overdone in the make up dept, delivered - I believe, an exceptionally good narration instigating the Strike. The sets and the costumes were reminiscent of the era – simple, modest and with a lingering recollection of having seen most of it in a school auditorium somewhere :-)

VODO should be proud of the capacity of its members to stage comedy and serious plays with the same amount of passion and perseverance that leaves the audience wanting for more.