Tag Archives: Avinash Arun

Karwaan Movie Review: Zindagi Ek Safar Hai Suhana

Death is a concept that has left itself open to many interpretations and reactions. To some, it’s the unshackling of the chains of responsibility. To some, it is merely a journey into the unknown. Some react to it by unleashing a torrent of grief, some pragmatically and some take their own time to process the loss.

Akarsh Khurana’s second directorial effort after the stoner comedy High-Jack attempts to give us a glimpse into the lives of 3 individuals, all dealing with their own definitions of loss, but the question is, does it translate into a satisfactory cinematic experience?Continue reading “Karwaan Movie Review: Zindagi Ek Safar Hai Suhana”

Madaari Movie Review: Why not stay with Irrfan and his haunting eyes? Revolution could have waited.

If only a gifted actor and a promising idea could guarantee an engaging film – Madaari would have gone down as a winner. But alas, gifts and promises are not always a precursor to happy endings. Are they? And in that sense, films and relationships have so much in common.Continue reading “Madaari Movie Review: Why not stay with Irrfan and his haunting eyes? Revolution could have waited.”

Vees Mhanje Vees: Trailer

Vees-Mhanje-Vees-poster.The National Film Development Corporation’s (NFDC) next Vees Mhanje Vees (20 Means 20), written and directed by the debutant filmmaker Uday Bhandarkar is a Marathi language feature, that is set to release across Maharashtra on June 10.Continue reading “Vees Mhanje Vees: Trailer”

The Best of Indian Cinema in 2015: A Perspective

2015 has been an interesting year overall for Indian Cinema, there have been a lot of films across languages which appealed to both the audience and critics alike. Writers and filmmakers seem to have shown their willingness to explore a variety of topics, often surprising people in the process. As for Hindi Cinema it was a decent if not an excellent year and there were quite a few interesting developments observed. There were some good Hindi films in the first half of 2015 including Baby, Badlapur, Dum Lagake Haisha, NH10, Piku, Tanu Weds Manu Returns etc. This clearly indicated that variety was key and that even a big star like Akshay Kumar was keen to try out meaningful films within the commercial boundary. The third quarter of the year was dominated by two biggies, Baahubali and Bajrangi Bhaijaan, while thankfully a relatively smaller film like Masaan also got noticed. Baahubali’s success in Hindi is unprecedented, as no dubbed film has performed anywhere close to how Baahubali has performed in Hindi. It will be interesting to see if this remains an exception to the norm or whether there will be more such films to follow. The last quarter of the year saw some interesting films like Talvar, Titli and Bajirao Mastani, while the success of Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2 took everyone by surprise. SRK showed that he definitely is good at marketing, but that alone can’t change the quality of a film like Dilwale. Sooraj Barjatya returned after a long hiatus with Prem Ratan Dhan Payo, which despite having Salman Khan in a dual role, didn’t do as well as expected.Continue reading “The Best of Indian Cinema in 2015: A Perspective”

Drishyam (Hindi) Movie Review: Looks can be deceptive

Drishyam is an official remake of the Malayalam film by the same name. I haven’t watched the original so I wasn’t biased (positively or negatively) before watching this one. The trailer of the film was fantastic and the film looked promising. Thriller isn’t a genre that Bollywood delves into quite often. Even when it does there are a handful of films which are executed to deliver the punch, Kahaani being the sole exception I feel. But we haven’t had a “Sixth Sense” or a “Saw” wherein we the climax will leave you flabbergasted. I had to watch the last five minutes of both these movies again and again in awe and astonishment about what just happened. So does Drishyam come any close to any of these? Read on to find out.Continue reading “Drishyam (Hindi) Movie Review: Looks can be deceptive”

Drishyam (Hindi) Movie Review: Much Ado, Little Impact

Drishyam is like a steam engine that runs out of steam right before it is about to reach the destination. Enough tension is built, a few thrills are thrown in between but the finale is rather underwhelming and somewhat predictable. The fact that I could pre-empt Nishikant Kamat’s ‘ace in the pack’ well 15-20 minutes before the climax, left me with a bad taste in the mouth.Continue reading “Drishyam (Hindi) Movie Review: Much Ado, Little Impact”

Ghosts of Ganga and the Dazzling Display of Death in Masaan

When I try to paint a picture of the Ganga in my mind, I mostly imagine a pristine river with the rising Sun at the horizon. That’s how we all have been conditioned to imagine the holy river. Ganga stands for purity, tranquility and piousness; a river that may have been abundantly polluted over the centuries but, as per the millions’ belief and reverence, still holds the magical power to purify the polluted. Neeraj Ghaywan’s Masaan paints such a contrasting picture of the holy river and its mythical home –Varanasi that it shakes your conscience and unravels the ghosts that lie quietly somewhere deep inside the river bed.Continue reading “Ghosts of Ganga and the Dazzling Display of Death in Masaan”

In Conversation with Neeraj Ghaywan: On the Making of ‘Masaan’ and More

Neeraj Ghaywan, an engineer and an MBA, moved on from his corporate career in 2010 to pursue filmmaking. He has assisted renowned filmmaker Anurag Kashyap on the two-part film, Gangs of Wasseypur and was the second unit director for Ugly. He has also made two short films The Epiphany and Shor, the winner of the Grand Jury Awards at three international film festivals in New York, LA and London. However, at this point of time, he is best known for the man who gave us “Masaan” – the film that won FIPRESCI prize (International Jury of Film Critics prize for the Un Certain Regard section) and the Promising Future prize in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes, 2015.

Here’s the excerpt of the conversation I shared with him on Masaan and more…(Spoiler Alert-note the conversation includes some heavy spoilers,so ideally it is advisable to read this if you have already seen the film)Continue reading “In Conversation with Neeraj Ghaywan: On the Making of ‘Masaan’ and More”

In Conversation with Avinash Arun: On Killa, Masaan and More

Avinash Arun is a Director – Cinematographer from Maharashtra, India. Born in the textile town Solapur in 1985 in a middle class Maharashtrian family, he started assisting in FTII Diploma films at the age of 16. He eventually graduated in Cinematography from FTII in 2011. In 2010, his school project “The Light and Her Shadows” won him the cinematography award in Kodak film school Competition. His diploma film “Allah Is Great” was the official entry from India for Student Oscars. It also won several awards including the National award in 2012. Avinash has worked on “Kai Po Che!” (Berlinale Panorama section 2012), Deool (National Award winner 2011). Killa is his first feature film as director. He is also the cinematographer on this film. KILLA won the Crystal Bear for the Best Film awarded by the Children’s Jury in Generation Kplus section at the 64th Berlin International Film Festival. He has recently shot MASAAN, the double award winner at Cannes and Ajay Devgn and Tabu starrer DRISHYAM.

Given below are excerpts from a conversation with Avinash Arun that MAM had recently.Continue reading “In Conversation with Avinash Arun: On Killa, Masaan and More”