Movie Recommendation: Manmarziyan

Manmarziyan is an Anurag Kashyap film in which the only thing dark was the theatre. It is an age old love triangle with fresh characters and music. The characters are rather realistic and relatable and in many ways an honest representation of the youth, who is really fucked up when it comes to relationships. The growth of the characters is quite linear and the ending makes sense. This is the kind of film that Imtiaz Ali would have easily fucked up but Anurag Kashyap is a fine film maker.

Vicky Kaushal is mesmerising. In less than half a decade he has shown more variations in his acting than many Bollywood superstars have not displayed in 3 or 4 decades. He becomes the character he plays. Taapsee Pannu has done exceedingly well and proved that she is an actress to watch  out. She has perhaps the most beautiful smile among all current Bollywood actresses.
Abhishek Bachchan acted as well as Abhishek Bachchan can. The supporting actors did phenomenonally well. Excellent casting.

Amit Trivedi has put in some amazing  compositions once again. While  most songs are situational. A couple of romantic songs can last longer in our collections.

Watch this film for amazing performances of Vicky and Taapsee, Amit Trivedi's music and a mature treatment by Anurag Kashyap.

Movie recommendation : Dhanak

Theme and Plot

Dhanak is a Nagesh  Kukunoor movie  which celebrates the spirit of secularism and  religious tolerance.  Two greatest religions of this country live in harmony.  The 8 year old  boy,  a Salman  Khan fan and his sister,  a  Shah Rukh Khan fan, shares a relation of immense fondness and compassion for each other 

The above lines were meant to be funny.  But this is true that Dhanak is a touching story of sister-brother love and  affection.  The eight-year-old boy has lost his vision because of poor nutrition.  His two-year elder sisters goes out of her ways to help him get his eyesight before his 9th birthday.  Her master plan is to seek the help of the good soul,  Bollywood  actor,  Shah  Rukh  Khan.  And so she takes her younger brother through a 300 km journey to Jaisalmer. 

Treatment

The story is a fairly tale set in a realistic setting.  What happens at the end,  whether the children actually get to meet SRK and whether  he helps them or not is not important.  What happens to the children as they undertake this odd journey,  is what is  worth watching. They have  good and bad experiences,  just like a fairy tale.  And much like any top class fairy tale,  this movie has got great humour and music. 

Acting

Excellent acting by the two child protagonist. I often find Indian child actors act in a very irritating manner  (That Piyu  girl in Yeh hai  mahabitein  and Bade  acche lagte hain)  is a prime example.  They are pampered,  over smart,  stupid and simply irritating.  But the characters of these two kids were believable.  Their.dialogue delivery,  expression and screen presence was commendable.  All the other actors,  not much to say about them,  acted just according to the script.  That guy,  who played Ishan's father in Taare Zameen par,  whom we hated so much,  plays a very nice guy (he is the uncle and  the guardians of the.kids)  And you like him in this character. 

Music

Music is a high point of this movie.  The songs take the movie forward and are not there just for the sake of it.  The fusion song is a treat to the senses. 

Discussion point

I would like to share an observation.  While watching this movie I was thinking that isn't it true that people living in cities,  the multiplex audience like films set in a.village or remote settings and the village people,  mostly the single screen audience like films depicting fast city lives? There is something about my notion,  no? Multiplex audience watches Anurag Kashiyap and Nagesh  Kukunoor  while single screen loves mainstream Yash Raj  films and Vishesh films.  We want to watch what we are not. 

Conclusion

You know a B.Ed guy always ends an article with conclusion. I can say: Watch Dhanak  if you like good cinema.  But people have different definitions of good cinema,  so I will break it up. 

If you enjoy movies with children playing the central characters like Rockford ,  TZP, Stanley  ka dabba,  Hawa Hawai,  this one is for you. 

If you like movies with clean and instinctive humour,  this one is for you. 

If you love fairy tales,  then this one is definitely for you 

If you want to watch a movie with your family and children,  there are not many options,  this movie is a great one. 

If you know me,  and trust me,  you know I recommend good movies without any favours. 

Thank you for reading.  If you watch the movie based on my recommendation,  do come back to thank me later.  Chao.