Sushant Singh Rajput : Never given a level playing field !!!

Many vested interests and a section of media have started to defend the present Bollywood set up by putting emphasizes on the fact that Sushant Singh Rajput was not out of work. Some low rung & out of job actors have also rhyming the same lines in the hope of landing a role in the Nepo infested production houses. 

Question here is not whether Sushant was getting work or not. I am sure he would surely be getting it. Rather the question is as to why he was not provided with a level playing field? He had been an achiever all his life. He was ready to fight to reach pinnacle. He was brilliant in all that he did.

Were equal opportunities being provided to him?

 

Outsiders like Manoj, Nawaz or Irfan could never reach the stardom of the khans/kapoors or Roshans. They were/are much brilliant then them but still were always relegated to VERY IMPORTANT character roles. All their solo releases would generally be small budget films and would rarely be commercially very successful. Sushant wasn’t satisfied with the stamp of just being a good actor. He also wanted to have a shot at the super stardom as he was confident of his own craft and knew that he had it in him. In addition, he was much more intelligent than his contemporaries. He had the best chance to replace/join the existing flag bearers of super stardom. And that is where the issue lies.

A big production house shelved an ambitious project of his, knowing very well that he had let go of many good films to be part of the same. They knew very well that he had been preparing day and night for the said role with utmost sincerity for almost a year. And worst is that even after shelving the film they did not offer another big film to him to compensate. After all it was their MORAL duty to do so. Another big Production house did offer him a film but then released the same on an OTT platform with pathetic VFX. Which top commercial actor had his film released directly to OTT till date? There was no corona virus threat then and still he had to face the humiliation of seeing a shoddily edited and half baked film released on OTT.

Where was the level playing field?  He needed big budget movies and the might of bigger production houses to increase his reach. With backing of big production houses comes the media backing as well. And the combination can catapult any actor to the pinnacle.

 

No doubt that even without support of some of the big production houses and bought out section of the Media, his graph was still in the ascendancy. It would have taken time but he would definitely hit the pinnacle that he longed for. But then these flag bearers of Nepotism cannot run away from their wrong doings. They had been the biggest source of frustration & humiliation to an intellect like him and added to his stress. Some level of blame has to lie with them and every effort should be made to held them accountable for their set of wrongdoings.  

JAGGA JASOOS – REVIEW & MY TAKE ON CRITICS

At the outset, I would like to make it very clear that I do not have any vested interest in the project titled JAGGA JASOOS. Through this blog I provide my understanding of the said film.

First things first. I loved JAGGA JASOOS.

Is it the perfect candidate to be a part of any quintessential Indian Film movie list? I would reserve my verdict. Though, in the same breadth, I do feel that any follow-ups in the same genre by the same team may result in a well-rounded and refined product making it a strong preposition for any such lists.

STORY (NON-SPOILER)

Jagga Jasoos is a journey, both inner and outer, of a young man yearning to be one again with his father.  For any set of eyes which give attention to detail, it wouldn’t take long to realize how beautifully the director captures the undying love that the young man develops for the foster father as a child. Giving company to JAGGA, in this journey, is a lady reporter. Together they travel across eastern part of India and different continents to unravel the mystery surrounding the disappearance of  his father. Through this journey the director and writer very cleverly bring to the fore a relevant & burning issue which troubles India ,in particular, and world in general.

Terrorism and unhindered access to arms destroy humanity, hinders development and divides world. Add politics and corruption to the list and the recipe of disaster is ready.

No point emphasizing on the fact that it is a musical in the true sense.

WHAT WORKS FOR ME

• The actors have done their job as per the guidelines dished out to them by the director. Ranbir is an actor par excellence and it is proved yet again. Katrina did her part convincingly. She was supposed to play “disaster in waiting” and she didn’t disappoint. Saswata Chatterjee is A grade. Ditto Saurabh Shukla. Rajatava Dutta, Denzil Smith and Mir Sarwar have rather inconsequential roles but have done justice. Seems like Sayani gupta's role has been the big loser on the editing table.
• Anurag Basu as director is excellent & has done justice to the genre he chose.
• Cinematography rocks. Hats off to Ravi Varman
• Locales are awesome.
• Anurag Basu the concept designer is A grade. He deserves a pat on his back for weaving his story the way he did.
• Amitabh Bhattacharya as lyricist has been good.
• Pritam’s Music is good. His talent comes to fore in few songs. Though it does seem that some others were crying for his undivided attention.

WHAT DIDN’T WORK FOR ME

• This musical needed a tighter screenplay. It seems Anurag the screenplay writer has slightly underestimated this aspect. He forgot to tighten some screws in this department. Mind you the movie worked big time for me as a viewer. It is just that few tweaks here and there (in screenplay) would have aided in gaining universal appreciation and acceptance.
• Editing too missed its mark. The film needed to be a little shorter. 2 hrs 15 minutes should have been ideal. Undue time was given to building up the emotional bond between the father and son. This aspect required attention to set the tone of the movie but then some scenes could have been done away with for an even crisper end product.
• The other candidate for the chopping scissors is easily the narration. The narration is unique and hats off to Anurag for pulling it off. Shows his talent. But the problem here is that this was the wrong film to use this technique/concept. It is but obvious that the treatment of the movie is very children centric. Hence there wasn’t any need to over emphasize the same through narration. This type of narration unfortunately accentuated redundancy. A toned down approach in this regard was the order of the day.
• Couple of graphics (measuring few seconds each) looked unreal and should not have been used in the first place.

MY RATINGS ---- 3.5 Stars

MY ADVISE TO MOVIE GOERS

Please see this movie in theaters. Go without any expectations. And yes please do not carry the “over analyzing” part of your brain to the theater.

Entertainment should never be judged from the prism of a very narrow vision. It is the totality of the package that should help us firm our liking and/or disliking. This movie needs that level of maturity. If undue attention is given to the negatives the movie would become unbearable ( as some put it).

But then this is true for other aspects of life as well. Over emphasis to negativity can result in unbearable pain. Hence elders and wise men advise all to stick to positives.

When people go out on vacations there is every chance that somethings may go wrong. Even the most memorable trips may have some horrible aspects attached to them. But trips become long lasting in our memories because positives far outweighs negatives.

We go to restaurants. Some aspects of the food on table may not be to our liking. But still we may have the best of time. And this becomes possible because positives ( ambience, company etc.) would have outweighed negatives.

Hope the gist is clear. So go and watch Jagga Jasoos.  There are negatives. But then don’t harp on it because ,for a pleasurable experience, positives should outweigh negatives. And this movie is loaded with many positives.

But then each to himself/herself. Just my two bits.

MY ISSUE WITH THE SO CALLED CRITICS

At the outset, I would like to make it very clear that my issue is not with the movie going audience. I strongly believe that not all will be on the same page. There will be difference of opinions and I respect such opposing views.

However it is a completely different ball games when it comes to the MOVIE CRITICS. They are duty bound by the nature of their job to give honest feedback. Accountability , governed by the rules of ethics, should be given paramount importance by such individuals. After all their success stories ride on the back of analysis on movies and movie making.

But sadly many of the so called respected Critics have failed miserably on this count. Either they have lost it or they are playing with people’s emotion to further their ulterior motives.

NOT ALL RESPECTED CRITICS ARE BAD. HAVE HIGH REGARDS FOR FEW !!!

It is surprising to see the way they have reacted to JAGAA JASOOS. Reading their observations and analysis, it becomes obvious to a layman ( oblivious to the reality ) that Anurag Basu has committed a cardinal sin and should be punished for the same.  And all this while I was thinking that Basu should be congratulated for reposing his faith in the never before attempted genre.

Some have called it unbearable. They have also labelled it EPIC DISAPPOINTMENT.

MY ADVICE TO THEM:  Please get back to the drawing board again, flush your dirt and start meditation. Pray to god that he relieves you from the realms of concise mindset. Pray to God that he corrects the disease called “ PAUCITY OF THOUGHTS”.  What is so unbearable about JAGGA JASOOS? I could appreciate the fact you find it disappointing. But is there really a need to add adjectives ( EPIC and all) ?  And these  are the same critics who have given such high ratings to such pathetic movies which have had no connection to the art of movie making. Such rubbish, crap had been decorated with 4-4.5* by these so called intellectuals and experts.

Some have asked Anurag to retire. They too have called JAGGA the crappiest movie of all time. They have used the choicest of words in Hindi to degrade movie, director and principle actor.

MY ADVICE TO THEM: Why do you do it? Again why is there a need to go to such extremes in showing your dislikes? Do business with decency. Convey your disappoint in a manner which raises your stature both as a human-being and as a critic. Not liking anything is not a crime but barking to display this dislike reduces such critics to the levels that turn them into the instrumental source of nuisance value of the worst kind.

Some had a broken heart. They were devastated.

My ADVICE TO THEM: I have high regard for one of the critic in question. But am a bit surprised on his take. He had gone ga ga over la la . But when a similar genre is tried in our own country he roams around with a broken heart.  Why ? Because such a genre should not have been attempted by a third world country ? He forgot the fact that la la land was a non-starter in India even though it earned moolah all over. Such genres will find resistance as our Indian mindset is not completely tuned to this. Hence when someone tries to change the monotony you have a broken heart ? You should have been more supportive ( on the contrary). You could have been a little more accommodating. Didn’t it cross your mind that shortcomings could have been due to the many firsts this movie was creating. Didn’t it cross your mind that there were no reference points which conforms to the dynamics that exist in India ?  I expected a little maturity . You may have disliked it but broken heart was nothing but going a bit overboard ( for me).

Some have even pointed fingers at Ranbir’s acting. Katrina too has got her share of brickbats. For some stammering is an issue.

MY ADVICE TO THEM: Show some maturity. Find proper reasons. And yes please read through my observations above. They apply to you as well.  Stop looking for excuses at any cost to pull movie down. Come out of your negativity and enjoy life.

Grow up guys. Show some objectivity. Don’t get blinded by the lure of glamour, finance and power.   

LASTLY, FOR ME THE MOVIE WORKED. BUT I COMPLETELY RESPECT AND SALUTE ANY VIEW WHICH IS CONTRARY. JUST THAT IT SHOULD BE COMING STRAIGHT FROM HEART. FINALLY ENJOY JAGGA JASOOS.

TAMASHA : AN HONEST REVIEW

If love is catastrophic in nature, no amount of distance & no period of separation can erase the feeling. This feeling (of love) could be between two individuals and/or with oneself where the REAL self becomes distant and separated due to various challenges that the life throws. And this is the gist of the great experience called TAMASHA. Hats Off to the Ranbir, Deepika, Imtiaz & Saajid for choosing this subject!!!  

Story

Tamasha is a thought provoking film which forces the cine goer to do soul searching and directs the audience for path correction, if required, before it is too late. A young child is "product in making". Childhood is the period when the observations and actions give birth to dreams for future. But it may happen that when the time to realize these dreams come, he or she may not get an opportunity to achieve the same due to wide variety of reasons. Ved (Ranbir Kapoor) is the protagonist who has adjusted to the norms of life which he had hated in the first place. He seems happy and content. Tara (Deepika Padukone) comes as a breeze of fresh air and becomes the trigger point for the change in Ved. She shows him the mirror. I would resist myself from going further into the details of the story as I strongly believe that, for Tamasha type genre, the end user should throng theaters without being biased.

A word of caution though. This is not a typical Bollywood romance which has gloss and over the top dramatics written all over it. Hence do not go with an expectation of MASALA. As with that mindset I am sure there is disappointment in store.

Direction:

Imtiaz Ali loves to stretch the boundaries of story telling and TAMASHA is no different. He treads a very dangerous path but still manages to deliver a beautiful end product with deft handling. Both screen play and direction deserve appreciation. He is in a position to stick with the tried and tested formula . But he continues to baffle audiences with his work which makes the whole experience of movie watching pleasurable as his brand of cinema exposes the public to a different school of movie making.

Acting:

Ranbir is back and what a way to bounce back. It was one of most complicated character created by Imitiaz ali which deals with life and its intricacies. The character has to laugh, suffer, cry, work and finally come out triumph. And ranbir has excelled to perfection in enacting each of these emotions. Deepika has also acted very well and looks her part. She is the trigger point of this complex yet beautiful story and delivers with perfection.

Deepak and Ranbir together are a potent weapon for any director as they create magic with their great onscreen chemistry. Sincerely hope that they get to experience glory and extreme happiness for the genuine effort put in (in the form of better box office returns and awards).

Javed Shaikh, Piyush Mishra, Vivek Mushran are good in their support roles. And so is the rest of the supporting cast.

Other Departments

Music by AR Rahman is good and goes with the flow and mood of the movie. Irshad Kamil's lyrics is first rate. Cinematography is really nice and captures the essence. Editing at some places could have been a little better.

Final Verdict

Definitely a watch. Keeping in mind the various factor that effect the movie going experience, I would give 3.5 stars. Personally I love this type of movie making and hence if I were the only one watching this movie in the entire world I would have given definitely given more than 3.5 stars.

Tamasha: Box Office Prediction & Analysis

Tamasha: Box Office Prediction & Analysis

Tamasha beckons tomorrow and it is apt to predict/analyze the film's box office returns.  Before delving into number crunching using some models based on a combination of various factors such as extrapolation, historical data points etc., It becomes important to understand what may or may not work.

What works for Tamasha

• Pairing: Ranbir & Deepika as a combination has delivered one of the biggest romantic blockbuster in the recent past. Their pairing looked fresh and was highly appreciated. There definitely is excitement to see them together again on the Big screen.

• Writer/Director: Imtiaz Ali is known for unusual story line and has a knack of weaving magic when he directs his own stories. More often than not he has come up with intelligent handling.

• Timing: Tamasha has got one of the best free run at the box office. There is no major release till 18th December. There could be a little pressure owing to school/college exams. But still Tamasha is staring at 18 days of uninterrupted run as the only other major release in the interim is HATE STORY which is a different genre and will attract a different set of movie goers. Both film has the capacity to run independent of each other without cutting into each other's business.

•  Lyrics & Music: Irshad is known to write meaningful songs and Rahman needs no introduction. This combination along with presentation of songs by director would definitely be a BIG plus.

What doesnt'work for Tamasha

• Ranbir's dismal Box Office returns: Ranbir Kapoor's last three movies have been big disasters at the Box Office. And as a result his stature and dependability has taken a big dent. The excitement is missing for a Ranbir film. He is an amazing actor but badly needs a good outing.

• Imtiaz Ali: Being an intelligent director has its disadvantages as well. Such directors tend to tread a dangerous path where the complexity of their story needs deft handling. The good thing is that Imtiaz , the director, is directing Imtiaz , the story writer. This makes sure that complex yet delicate intricacies would be handled deftly. However there is always a chance to go wrong which could make the whole experience messy.

• Sajid Nadiadwala as a producer: Sajid is known to be a big producer. His choice of films in the past makes it clear that his idea of Bollywood is over the top action and gloss. Having said that I do see a shift in his production choices with 2 states, Tamasha and Rangoon in 2016. But still. For this movie he is teaming with Imtiaz who has a completely disparate approach. Highway didn’t matter as it was low budget and there would have been limited interactions. Imitiaz more often than not would have got his way. But here the case is different. This is big budget movie and a lot more is at stake. A lot more money is involved and so Sajid’s inputs would definitely be more. This means trouble when the story is complex. Also more money at disposal for a director of Imtiaz's caliber adds to this trouble. I mean he would not know how and where to use this additional budget and so in order to make things grand and appealing he may deviate from his philosophy. Similar stuff happened with Anurag Kashyap who when given a big budget floundered. Though his movie was loved by purists, it was rejected by the majority. In short for the likes of Imtiaz Ali & Anurag Kashyap it is the content & direction that matters and they should not deviate from this fact just because of their access to big budget.

Verdict

I have read many critics in the years gone by and have realized that the big names in the business seem to be having some vested interest and hence are duping people with incorrect reviews. I intend to give an honest opinion as I have no financial interest and am doing this as a hobby. Make note that I am an avid movie follower and though I term it as a hobby there would not be any letup in the seriousness associated with this effort.

I am using a logical approach to predict the box office for Tamasha. Based on the stars that I give after I get a chance to watch & review the movie and using my statistical model I have come up with the following Prediction as far the Box Office returns go:

1. Stars :  < = 3.0 ----> Box Office Collection would be 70 -80 crores
2. Stars:   = 3.5   ----> Box Office Collection would be 110 - 120 crores
3. Stars:   > 3.5   ----> Box Office Collection would be 145 - 155 crores

I sincerely doubt that the movie of this genre will earn more than 155 crores even in the best case scenario.

Note:

To give credence to my diligence, on the 4th day of PRDP release (15^th November), I had made the following tweets and it is there for everyone to see:

By disaster I meant it would not be anywhere close to 300 crores or even 250 crores. Even 225 would be tough but achievable.

-Shashank

A note to INTOLERANT KABIR KHAN

My endeavor to understand the meaning of "intolerance" in its totality made me open a dictionary and what I saw has left me aghast & deeply hurt. Intolerance means "unwillingness or refusal to tolerate or respect persons of a different social group, especially members of a minority group." I am shocked and appalled that learned and highly articulate Muslim friends such as Kabir Khan uses this word "intolerance" without even thinking once for the MAJORITY of HINDUS like me. He conveniently forgets the fact that more than 80% of the total population that resides in this country are Hindus. And if the HUGE majority of these Hindus were not TOLERANT he would not have achieved the success that he has.

He puts forth his view point by forwarding the case of three FILM ICONS. Like millions of indians, I too have immense love and respect for the three of them. For me they are India's flagbearers in the field of Art & Entertainment. But Mr. Kabir Khan by bringing them in such partisan context, you have made me realize that, in your eyes, they are MUSLIMS first and Indians later. You use them to quote the happenings of the recent past to further your point and I would not like to go in detail of them as that is beyond the purview of this topic. But you conveniently forget the simple fact that they are 1-2-3 of Indian cinema and what they say & when they say is very closely followed by a large section of the society. And obviously if they say something which borders sensationalism or which is irresponsible there is bound to be repercussions. Why only them. Even the Prime Minister of India faces flak lot of times. Have you seen the educated Hindus up in arms to counter the unwanted flak he receives? No. You know why? BECAUSE HINDUISM IS ONE OF THE MOST TOLERANT RELIGION OF THIS WORLD. Could you or the likes of you (aka fascist Hindus/Muslims/Sikhs/Christians) make such utterances outside of India say in a USA or a UK or a Germany or any middle-eastern country against the majority?

You get upset when the art & cultural activities with Pakistan stops after a terrorist attack. And you register your protest in public. Do you even know what your unwarranted utterance does to the cultural fabric of India? It incites Hindu Muslim alike against each other. Tell me one thing. When there was a terrorist attack in France, the French didn't wait to initiate dialogue with ISIS or for that matter Syria. They just went ahead and pounded and pounded Syria for two full days. Americans destroyed Afghanistan after 9/11. Mind you, sadly, INNOCENT people too lost their lives in such attacks but they went on and on. And in our country you regret not being able to enjoy bon homie with Pakistan? Shame on you. Are you out of your senses? A brave INDIAN soldier dies. His young daughter suddenly becomes fatherless and his wife a widow. And instead of looking at that or talking about it, you regret not having an evening of Ghazals !!! You should be thankful that you are in a country which is tolerant in nature. I dare you to utter these things in USA or a UK. Let us see how tolerant would they be. I have immense respect for ISLAM as a religion but I love my religion too. And I would not allow you and your likes to go scot free for making comments which could be perceived as ANTI INDIA, ANTI ISLAM and ANTI HINDU. Your marrying a Hindu woman doesn't give you a license to blurt expletives against my community.

You are a celebrity. Millions follow and appreciate your film which is very obvious from the box office analysis. But then you selectively prefer to suffer from anmesia and only remember what certain fringe elements say. You do not see the praise a common Hindu gives to an Aamir or a Salman or SRK. You do not see the euphoria that gets created when a Gherua song is released. All you see is misguided youth directing ill against you in the social media. Sometimes I feel all this is done to get maximum mileage to further the cause of a film.  Do not worry Mr. Khan and do not stoop to such cheap levels of publicity. Indian crowd (Hindu & Muslim inclusive) is very smart and will throng theaters if the film touches some chords.

Let me remind you as to what happened when PK released and Aamir Khan faced issues from a certain miniscule section of my community. The majority came out in hordes and the result is history. PK is number 1 as far as the box office return go. Even Hindu GODMAN such as Sri sri sri Ravi Shankar supported him and the film. Our PM, presently the most powerful man in this country, could have easily put roadblocks for the film if his thinking matched with those of the select few. Did he do anything to harm the movie? A BIG NO. See the positives and be happy. Understand the fact that fascists are on both sides. They should at best be ignored. Do not try to become one with them. It shows you in very bad light.

The likes of you & SRK, from your positon of power, should instead be talking about poverty alienation, development, Improvement in basic infrastructure & Education. Please come out of your virtual space which is full of unwarranted complexes and irrational thoughts. Let us then together talk of Development & Infrastructure which the people of this country badly needs. And when I say people I mean HINDU, MUSLIM, SIKH, CHRISTIANS, BUDHISTS and others. Let us give a promise to this great motherland of ours that we, the educated lot, will only talk sense with the single point agenda to turn her into a country of repute in the true sense.

PRDP - MY TAKE & UNDERSTANDING

As I begin to pen my thoughts, I would like to make it clear that barking on social media is not my cup of tea. I find it utmost irritating when people discuss nonsensical topics with the sole intention to show OFF. Hence I generally tend to keep myself away from the likes of FB, Twitter, whatsapp largely chipping in once in a while to know the wellbeing of friends and family no longer in direct touch. During one such sojourn recently I was forwarded a link by a friend which when clicked took to KRK’s review of Prem Ratan Dhan Payo. I was shocked to see his presentation and disgusted to hear his choice of words and content. A question crossed my mind. Was PRDP so bad?  I decided to explore more on the reactions of this film and the best place to do so was twitter. The more I explored the dirty it got. There were many who loved the film but then there were others who were trashing it using the choicest language. I knew something was wrong as I have been following Salman & Sooraj right from MPK and knew for a fact that even their worst effort would  still be simple, heart touching & beautiful. Such unwarranted reaction by a section of movie goers gave me an opportunity to bring out the writer in me who has stayed dormant & over shadowed by the technical IT person that I have become to be known as. Yes I have a writer in me who tries to convince me to move away from IT world. Long ago I wish to be in the creative field as I would think, capture & analyze different aspects of life but the educated lot in my family convinced me to rather complete higher studies in USA and then make a mark in the field of IT. But I have never let this writer die. Stories after stories reside in my mind. I have analyzed multiple times the movies I loved and the movies I hate. The only reason was to understand the reason for these extreme emotions.

Before I move forward, as a disclaimer and to add a level of authenticity, I can CONFIDENTLY vouch for my ability to create, develop & analyze stories based on the years and years put in which sadly in the current environment was tagged as a “hobby” as my household expenses were/are the direct result of my association with the IT industry. So I decided to put the writer’s head & watch PRDP with the sole purpose of analyzing the pros and cons. I watched the movie came back home and thought about it for a couple of days and this is what I have come to conclusion.

It is one of the most complete story of recent times. I can say with a good amount of conviction that it is the genius at work. Hats off to Mr. Sooraj Barjatya !!! Salman Khan is already a legend in the field of movie making. And with him in every frame there is every chance that a director & writer may deviate from the original to accommodate the larger than life image of the star that Salman is. And Sooraj did do that very smartly without EFFECTING the original idea. Hats OFF.  I openly contradict and challenge the views circulating all over twitter by vested interests that story sucks. The story is beautiful, tight and through silence and body gestures conveys a lot more than that visible. YES YOU HEARD IT RIGHT. And if anyone has any issues with that I propose that we have a decent & healthy debate to prove our respective points on any forum of mutual choice.

Let me try to decipher the sore points openly discussed over the social media by the movie watchers

1)      Too many songs:

Any story needs a medium to connect & weave different chapters for a seamless end result. How can this be achieved? Well it can be made possible either through immaculate narrative or forceful action or crisp editing or SONGs. I find it surprising that people are finding it annoying and/or are surprised at the number of songs. Sooraj has always opted SONGS as medium to take story forward. The critics need to understand the fact that these songs take movie ahead. They weave the story. One scene seamlessly blends into another. The emotions of the principle characters come to the fore. It is sad that in trashing these songs they have missed listening to the lyrics which are so easy to understand and yet so effectively take the story forward.

I have a detailed write up why each of the song present in the movie is required and removing either one will make the story weak. But this much detailing can be taken up some other time.

2)      Story is Dated:

How can human emotions date? I do not get it. Have we ceased to be humans? How can relations become dated?  This movie is about brothers, sisters, loyalty, misplaced hatred. Don’t we encounter these aspects on a daily basis?  Or have the electronics become so strong that they have taken complete control of our emotions and our need to pure love & sentiments ? It is a BIG NO. It is just that we are lost. It is such an irony. We feel alone and then we use whatsapp, twitter & facebook and make plans using these tools to meet. And after the initial hullabaloo of the meeting when the decorum returns, instead of loving each other’s company, the hands unwittingly move towards the electronic medium and before you realize half of the time go in using it rather than spending quality time with the fellow being sitting on the other side. Visit any hotel, visit places of interest. Everyone is busy with the little stuff in hand instead of living the REAL moment. They are busy making memories. Everything is being looked through those few inches of the electronic dimension.  We have become superficial so far removed from the reality. This movie is a mirror to let us know what we are and what are we trying to project.

The same story would be appreciated if there are over the top dialogues, over the top steps, over the top of action, weird make ups. It is sad that something shown so simply and so beautifully is trashed by the so called youth.  

Well the very fact that this movie sounded and felt dated & boring means that there is a strong need to introspect. In the garb of modernization we are moving away from the basics. And the more we do so the more we will encounter unfathomable problems in future. Remember Depressions, anxiety and many such diseases unheard of in the era gone by have become trillion dollar industry. It is good to introspect and do some path correction when it is not too late. When simple things tend to look boring it is a signal that something is not right with the individual experiencing such emotions.

3)      Gaudy sets:

Other than the VFX for the sheesh mahal wherein the structures are shown in the water, rest everything is so elegant, so rich and so kingly. I can clearly see the detailing gone into coming up with those sets. The Garden, the entrance, the setting everything is grand and beautiful.  Sheesh Mahal itself is so beautiful and amazing. And as for the decent VFX for the sheesh Mahal position in the water, well I am sure that is only possible in Hollywood where the budgets of such big movies run into 500 crores or so. They have needed finances to be even more authentic. We still are working on relatively tighter budgets owing to the different dynamics that govern our movie going experience and movie making finances. And hence some aspects are going to look a little less authentic. What is the big deal?

4)      King/ Prince looked all fake and out of place in today’s world

The critics started comparing the Prince and his kingdom to the time gone by. They forget the simple fact that the title “Prince” is decorative in nature in today’s world. It is unfair to the makers of PRDP to compare this film with the likes of Mughleazam as that movie was pure history and a story of the era gone by.

5)      Football game is dated and funny  

I do not get it that why don’t people who are making such sweeping comments try to understand a simple fact that this is not a serious football match but a FUN match in a very cordial environment with an ultimate aim which has nothing to do with football. It is family playing and they all are having fun. It is obviously not a Chelsea vs. Manchester United.

6)      Climax after climax after climax

Well only a fool could think that the fight at sheesh mahal is the climax. Even my daughter, all of 7 years, knew that finally Prem would get the princess. Prem goes without the princess because at that point Vijay doesn’t understand the seriousness of the situation as far as the love aspect go. And as very aptly shown that some time lapses before the princess is one with Prem. So what was not shown but was very visible was the fact that Vijay would have found out slowly that Maithili has no liking for him and Maithili too would have found out that however hard she tries she cannot live without Prem. And when that happens the climax arrives. Beautiful writing. So clear.

There were so many untold stories hidden in this experience called PRDP which fascinates me to the core and encourages me to run my imagination wild. There was a story associated with each character of prominence. A story which was untold but had love, sorrow and emotions. For example Prem seems pure because he doesn't have a family. That is what I concluded. He longs for a family. He understands the meaning of family and hence the dialogue "Woh khushnsainb hoye hain jinki family hoti hain" is very impact ful becuase of the fact that it comes from his mouth. It is his pain which comes to fore. Beautiful !!! Loved the writing here. It is these small things that if the audience had understood in the true sense they would not even think to demean this movie. The other one beautifully brought out is the one where the Prince touches the feet of the OTHER mother. That one moment tells the story of the years gone by. How he loves and respects that family to the core. But that it was not in his hands what happened. And that though he loves his sisters to the core he woult not make the first move. Beautiful. Amazingly inacted with those eyes by Salman Khan. Such scenes is what makes this movie really awesome and beautiful for the writer in me. The scene between Diwan and Prem in the end when they hug and cry depicts the back story of the Diwan of personal pain or loyalty of sacrifice. There are many such instances.  

Hats off the team of PRDP !!! Hats of the writer in you Sooraj Ji. Hats off the Salman, Sonam, Anupam Sir, Neil, Armaan, Swara, Deepak and others.

Hope better sense prevails and people who are avoiding the film make it a point to see it with a better perspective of life. Maybe then there would be some level of appreciation. It is advisable to not get influenced by the so called self-proclaimed critics. Instead watch the movie and judge it yourself. There is no bigger and better critic then one self. I am sure of one thing then. It can still happen that you may still not like the film. But I am sure you will not trash it the way it has been done by some.

-Shashank Bharadwaj

PS: Comments welcome at shashank75@gmail.com