During a recent conversation with a few friends, a few movie names cropped. Movies not watched. A few movies 'before our time' or too bland or too serious, and movies that we now read the synopsis of and go 'Hmmm! That actually sounds pretty interesting'.
This is an attempt to dig up some of those names.
The first movie happened yesterday night during an extended bout of insomnia.
'Shatranj Ke Khilade'
I had learned to fear the name Satyajit Ray. Only Bengalis, old people, and artsy movie types watched his movies, or so I had believed.
It is the story of two friends who spend a brief phase of their generously funded span between birth and death playing chess with each other. A new-found love that soon turns into an obsession making them seek out a quick-fix game even in the most inopportune moments, like two lovers breathlessly making out in the plane lavatory.
The story is set in the waning period of Wajid Ali Shah's reign in Awadh as the Brits are posed to nudge him away from the throne. The level of fatalism and Nero level fiddling even as India burnt is instructive in explaining how the British were able to hold sway over this vast country.
There is some tehzeeb-bhara humor; humor, a quality I had not ascribed to Satyajit Ray. It is not the kind of humor that makes you laugh out loud, but it provides the kind of haw moment when a very serious adult cracks a mischievous joke. It is pleasant for how unexpected it is.
The movie also shows that not every addiction is related to substance abuse and addicts of any kind can be jugadu-max to get a fix.
Of the cast, Sanjiv Kumar is expectedly brilliant and is a treat to watch, Saeed Jaffrey is competent but the unexpected moments come from Amjad Khan. To see Gabbar Singh as an effeminate pudgy Wajid Ali Shah is just mind-bending!
Mildly Spiced Verdict: Must watch.For the typical 2017 audience, this might be too offbeat, but it might come as a surprise that a movie can entertain without Yo Yo songs and cabled slow-mo stunts
'Shatranj Ke Khilade'
I had learned to fear the name Satyajit Ray. Only Bengalis, old people, and artsy movie types watched his movies, or so I had believed.
It is the story of two friends who spend a brief phase of their generously funded span between birth and death playing chess with each other. A new-found love that soon turns into an obsession making them seek out a quick-fix game even in the most inopportune moments, like two lovers breathlessly making out in the plane lavatory.
The story is set in the waning period of Wajid Ali Shah's reign in Awadh as the Brits are posed to nudge him away from the throne. The level of fatalism and Nero level fiddling even as India burnt is instructive in explaining how the British were able to hold sway over this vast country.
There is some tehzeeb-bhara humor; humor, a quality I had not ascribed to Satyajit Ray. It is not the kind of humor that makes you laugh out loud, but it provides the kind of haw moment when a very serious adult cracks a mischievous joke. It is pleasant for how unexpected it is.
The movie also shows that not every addiction is related to substance abuse and addicts of any kind can be jugadu-max to get a fix.
Of the cast, Sanjiv Kumar is expectedly brilliant and is a treat to watch, Saeed Jaffrey is competent but the unexpected moments come from Amjad Khan. To see Gabbar Singh as an effeminate pudgy Wajid Ali Shah is just mind-bending!
Mildly Spiced Verdict: Must watch.For the typical 2017 audience, this might be too offbeat, but it might come as a surprise that a movie can entertain without Yo Yo songs and cabled slow-mo stunts
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