news views and analysis

A good friend of mine, Bijoy Ramachandran and his brother Premjit have completed this excellent movie on the life of B V Doshi, one of India’s greatest modern architects.

A preview clip can be seen at the movie’s website.

This movie will be screened in New York as per details below.

UPDATE (there has been a date change, the screening now is as follows)

Date: Thursday October 02, 2008

Time: 6:00 pm

Venue: Center for Architecture

RSVP at the AIA Website.

From a press communique

In a nutshell

Bijoy and Premjit Ramachandran have made a documentary feature on Balkrishna Doshi, Architect, Academician, and Philosopher. The film presents Doshi’s architectural work, his role in the setting up of arguably the best school of architecture (Center for Environmental Planning & Technology, CEPT) in India, and posits these roles within the larger narrative of his philosophies on life and his relationship with people. The film is not a biopic, but a series of
conversations around his projects and it serves as an insight into the way Doshi approaches life.

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The Sound of Music is one of the all time great movies. Having won the Oscars way back in 1965, it is even today one of the most watched and loved movies.

Ever wondered about the actors who were the 7 kids of the Von Trapp Family?

Yes these kids? Well they re-united after 40 years and these are what they look today.

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Pangea Day….celebrated this year on May 10 this year.

Pangea Day is a global event bringing the world together through film.

Why? In a world where people are often divided by borders, difference, and conflict, it’s easy to lose sight of what we all have in common. Pangea Day seeks to overcome that – to help people see themselves in others – through the power of film.

In a series of wonderful videos….I came across this one. Kenyans on the outskirts of Nairobi are singing the Indian National Anthem…Jana Gana Mana…

Check out the Pangea Day website.

After nearly two months (or whatever it was exactly) Jay Leno’s Tonight Show will be back on air on January 02, 2008.  I am an unabashed Jay Leno fann and DVR every single episode and watch it later. Shirrin thinks I am nuts and does not think very highly of Mr Leno. We cordially agree to disagree on this topic .

So, tune in at 11:35 pm EST on January 02.

Through a good friend, Shirrin and I got to see a press screening of Saawariya today afternoon. This was before the official premiere here in NYC. The press screening was at the lovely AMC 25 here in Times Square. The theater had just a handful of “scribes” and two tough looking guys walking the aisles, lest we sneak in a video camera and do a screenprint.

The movie starts with Rani Mukherjee narrating about a dream. The location is a virtual city of dreams. The debutantes Ranbir Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor are systematically introduced into the movie.

Sonam definitely has the looks and the makings of a good actress. Her character Sakina is an innocent young girl who falls in love and loses her heart to a paying guest Imaan. Salman Khan as Imaan is for once completely clothed in the movie. None of the pumped up muscles or torso. He has a short cameo in the film, more like a special appearance.

Ranbir Kapoor I felt tried too hard to act. He was good in bits and parts but by the first half hour it was evident that he was trying too hard to make the acting cut. His wardrobe and mannerism had more than a striking similarity to his grandfather the late Raj Kapoor in Mera Naam Joker. Even the bar, where he sings in the movie is RK Bar. Blech !!

Rani Mukherjee gives a polished performance, but I felt her role was more of an afterthought. She continuously flits in and out of the movie but has no real substance.

The old Anglo-Indian landlady is nicely played by Zohra Sehgal who brings in some humor in the movie. However a lot of the scenes in the movie did not make sense. There is one where Ranbit Kapoor wraps a towel around his waist and then stands at the window and gives a free show to the outside world. He then dances around in the towel to a senseless song. Who ever thought of that crazy sequence.

Except for the title song, none of the others are noteworthy. Cinematography is good in some instances but is average otherwise. I think that the location and lighting throughout the movie could have been reworked a bit.

All in all an OK movie, and nothing you will regret if you don’t see it first day, first show.

There. That’s it. My first hindi movie review on my blog. To read a more thorough and professional review hop on over to Filmiholic who was with us during the screening.

Technorati tags: Saawariya, Ranbir Kapoor, Sonam Kapoor, Rani Mukherjee, Salman Khan