Rudyard Kipling..Re imagined.

Part 2

Raksha/Lupita Nyong'o

The choice has been so right with this character's voice over that I can almost feel her motherhood seeping through that screen.

Her bellowing sound resounds through various shots of the movie as she downright disagrees to let Mowgli out of the jungle.She claims"Mowgli is my child,and will always be".Though of other blood and origin,and from the creators of the "Red Flower"(that's what they called fire) that destroys everything and everyone even without a second glance, that instills fear in small and fearsome animals alike,Raksha stays adamant saying that Mowgli would turn out nothing like those horrible beasts as she had raised him as one of her own.And taking him away was no one's right,not even Akela's.You may know Lupita Nyong'o from the oscar winning gem "12 Years A Slave" which was the very defining step that propelled Chiwetel Ejifor to the walk of fame. Lupita was a very dominating presence in that socially awakening project making her a beautiful choice for this role.Even though her role is sparse,it's no less effective and her love for Mowgli shines on screen.

Kaa/Scarlett Johansson

Scar Jo is one of the hottest actresses there is. And I cannot think of anyone else who can pull off Kaa's sensuous and seductive voice so flawlessly. Johansson's off-screen presence was dominantly proved in "Her", the 2015 Oscar nominated movie where a man,falls in love with an AI(Artificial Intelligence System), the system being played by Scarlett. Her vocal styling holds the whole movie together..making it a very unique and impressive experience.

As Kaa, with the character's signature emerald green eyes and hypnotizing voice, as she reaches out to Mowgli by emotionally manipulating him to believe that she would understand his need to stay in the jungle while all the way thinking how well he would serve as a meal is nail biting to watch.
One of the only flaws in the movie was the absence of Kaa's role.Both the cartoon and the book indulge more into Kaa's character and acknowledge her presence as more than a simple vamp, the depth of her evil being shown in more clarity.

I would have liked to have seen more of this character, and the directors could have easily fulfilled my desire by cutting off some extra scenes of Mowgli climbing trees.Yeah...we know he's from the jungle..enough already!(am I right?).Nevertheless,though negligent at least she was there.

Finally,

I've saved the best for last!

Idris Elba. Shere Khan. Need I say more?

As if his roles in The Avengers and The Thor series wasn't enough,he smashed this one out of the park! The evil..the seething cruelty that emerges from the soul. The hunger of human flesh,the revenge that stems from the rage of being attacked and deformed by the "Red Flower" all was transparently visible through this guy's voice. I will applaud Pixar for matching the body language of the tiger so well with Elba's voice.It was as if, that all the tigers..ever to exist spoke like that. The weight of Shere Khan's superiority was so dominant as he ran after that man cub...seeking his end with this intense need was indeed a great cat and mouse sequence. For whatever it's worth, Shere Khan had his reasons to be pissed at Mowgli, with a)him.being an unnatural addition to the forest and b)his father kind of disfigured Khan's face with fire.I get you Shere Khan,I feel the hate.One of the best scenes in the whole movie(for me) was when Shere Khan, still hot in pursuit after Mowgli fell when a branch broke due to his weight into the fire, the one thing, he was scared of most. His expression was exemplary making me almost relate to him at a human level.

All in all,an astounding treat to the eyes. And I believe, for every kid or adult who loved the book or the cartoon..this recreation was the best in terms of special effects and character-voice placements and frankly for me, it was a way back to my childhood where cartoons actually made sense(yeah..Roll No. 21..pshtt).

I apologize for this MASSIVE post.But, wanted to finish this movie in a sequel.

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Rudyard Kipling..Re imagined.

I have been visiting the theaters a lot lately being completely freed from the shingles that is "School".On my most recent visit I decided to go for a lighter choice but traditional all the same."The Jungle Book'.One of the most admired creations of Rudyard Kipling recreated in various diasporas ranging from animation to semi as well as real time dramas and human interpretations all of which have been more or less popular.

The song "Chaddi Pehen Ke Phool Khila Hai" became no less than iconic after it was released on Cartoon Network as the theme song of The Jungle Book series.I'll admit,my introduction to this classic and all it's types started from this beloved cartoon.Mowgli..being the "man cub" in the jungle was an epitome of adaption and portrayed the capability of homo sapiens to truly fit in almost anywhere.Those who have seen "Tarzan"(as I hope most of you have) will notice a very common plot emerging from both these stories,but as we follow through they take completely different turns making both of these delights equally mesmerizing to watch.

To those who haven't heard this monumental song,here is the first official video.

"The Jungle Book" having a plethora of different characters ranging from the ever protecting Raksha(Mowgli's Wolf mother) to Baloo(The carefree bear who becomes an unlikely friend) provides Mowgli's life with just enough ups and downs to make this story a pleasure to watch or read.

This particular movie took that animation to another level.

Even though the english version missed the famous song that made this book a classic among the little ones, the voice overs of all the characters filled the gap.

The animation of the jungle and especially the amount of detail on that monkey temple left me absolutely spell bound!It is no surprise though as Pixar puts a huge quantity of hard work in all their animation projects.Takes almost 4 years to complete an animation movie,and that is precisely why they are so immaculate.

The Cast

Bagheera/Ben Kingsley-:

This is why,Hollywood,even after having a much shallower hold of literature than ours truly will forever have a much higher seniority in professing their ideas on the silver screen.

Who can be better for Bagheera,the epitome of protection and father like kindness, the bad ass of the jungle than our very own Charles Xavier?His booming and very intimidating voice brought more than Mowgli in line and his presence was no less elegant on screen.

Holding the no-nonsense flag high,Bagheera is everything that you imagined him to be,to both the book lovers and followers of the cartoon.His chemistry with Mowgli is almost effortless.From when he found him as a man cub to when he became a beautiful boy under the care of Raksha and Akela,Bagheera has always been a constant.

Not one for the limelight,he is seen as the master of shadows, overlooking Mowgli's every step and picking him back up whenever he made mistakes and accidentally showed his "Human tendencies".A flawless job by Kingsley, as he brought an almost fluid like depth to the character,immortalizing Bagheera for adults and kids alike.

This is a HUGE post.More in part 2 where I cover all the other characters that stood out for me.

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The Amazing Story Of Lili Elbe..brought to life.

Right of the bat..let me tell you.I am in LOVE with Eddie Redmayne.This guy has blown a lot of big timers right out of the water ever since he came into the big boy's game.His AMAZING performance in The Theory Of Everything..a documentary of Stephen Hawking(you guys have obviously seen it) and now this.

Let me tell you..you will never ever have an idea how "Transgenderism" works if you don't see this movie."The Danish Girl" has been given a rather lowly 6.9 by IMDB and I'm officially not trusting IMDB to govern my movie picking preferences anymore because this is clearly an 8 or more...yeah..it's more.

Featuring..

Eddie Redmayne as Einar Wegener/Lili Elbe

Alicia Vikander as Gerda Wegener

Amber Heard as Oola Paulson

Matthias Schoenaerts as Hans Axgil

Sebastian Koch as Dr.Warnekos

Director- Tom Hooper

Everything that Eddie Redmayne has achieved has been completely justified by this masterpiece.With beautiful supporting characters like Alicia Vikander and Sebastian Koch and the backgrounds,costumes and moreover the aura of 1926 Copenhagen and Paris captured so magnificently well,it's no surprise that Redmayne and Vikander both bagged Oscar nominations for their monumental roles. 

When I started watching this movie..I had high expectations as Eddie Redmayne had more than satisfied my hunger for good cinema with his incredulous performance in The Theory Of Everything. And I am so glad to accept..1 hour and 59 mins well spent!While many of the reviews that I read about this movie claiming that it was slow or the director had paid much more attention to the visuals of Denmark and Paris and the costumes of the characters rather than the story..I was a little deterred.But as I had been waiting..biting my nails in agitation for another Redmayne movie I decided to go through with it.And to my surprise I realized that this cinema contained another one of my favorite actors in Hollywood right now..Alicia Vikander(featuring in movies like Ex Machina and The Man From U.N.C.L.E) my hope was reignited.And thus began my journey into the world of 1926 Denmark.

You know..whenever I compare Hollywood and Bollywood,I am astonished at how blatantly obvious the gaps in Bollywood seem to be.The subtly of characters,the sophistication of their emotions and finally the non-existence of random musicals makes Hollywood much more believable.Like the notion of people actually behaving like Bollywood characters in real life is hard to believe, the folks on the western side make it a bit easier.

Pulling of the role of a woman inside a man's body in 1926 Denmark is no easy task and it astounds me how easily Redmayne made be believe in his inner turmoil,his desperate attempt to reach the real her..living in a world where the aspect of transgenderism was rare if not non-existent.His discovery of the same is the major appeal of this movie..which he delivers like a boss.

Characters

Einar Wegener/Lili Elbe

Pulling one character off is hard enough,but to do two and that too portraying completely different genders is flabbergasting. And that is what Redmayne here immaculately pulled off.The introduction of Lili Elbe itself was so beautifully done that the transition almost unraveled like a dream.
Einar, a proper gentleman from Denmark,famous for his artistic pieces that involved his disparate recreations of his favorite scenaries,especially focusing on a beloved "childhood spot' he often visited with his friend Hans.(This detail is very important to the whole story,thus the emphasized mention.)


I just realized that this is one FREAKING HUGE post.Sorry guys,really passionate about this movie.More on the characters in the second part of this segment.

P.S- Alicia Vikander won Best Supporting Actress!! YAYAYAYAYAYAY.I knew it..the nominees blew it.Okay,I'm done.

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Bajirao Mastani-Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Imaginary Escapade...

The history of Indians distorting culture to provide for themselves is nothing new. Sanjay Leela Bhansali is no exception. He, on the the contrary goes one step further to make sure that his projections(in the most well-mannered way possible)are entrenched in peoples' minds, not only diverting them further away from the truth but also catastrophically giving them an unrealistically larger than life scenario of how things work.Well,let's not blame him solely for the latter,that's what Bollywood does anyway.

Let's start from the beginning shall we?

Cast-
Bajirao Ballal- Ranveer Singh
Kashibai - Priyanka Chopra
Mastani - Deepika Padukone
Radhabai - Tanvi Azmi

Let's just start by talking about the casting of this movie. What is this obsession with placing hugely famous movie stars in roles that don't even match their personalities let alone their physical appearances? This immense need of Bollywood to beautify everything way out of proportion makes me completely speechless.

For Ex-:

The Left-Bajirao Ballal(Original)
The Right-The Buffed Up Bajirao(Bhansali Version)
Is it not blatantly obvious?Bhansali's aim to blow things out of the water has been truly successful with this one,Bajirao(in his version) has a perfectly toned 6 pack whereas originally Bajirao though very athletic,was known for his strategy formation and attack plans.






The Left - Mastani(Original)
The Right -The overtly gorgeous Mastani (Bhansali Version)
This one is just plain embarrassing.They could have atleast tried to make Deepika look like the real Mastani! Mastani in real life was a sword wielding,hot tempered woman who was great at war and horse riding and held her pride on top of everything else,here,Deepika literally leaves her father who she apparently loves immensely to follow the Peshwa like a disease!She shows     practically no self respect..aahh..such is love!

The Left - Kashibai (Original)
The Right -The Glammed Up Kashibai
(Bhansali Version)
The first thing that comes to mind when I see these 2 pictures together is how simple the Original Kashibai was,and Priyanka on the other hand looks like she's just stepped down from a Marathi fashion show.Again,the light of glamour completely outshines this character's importance.A descendant of Kashibai claimed that Kashibai suffered from an arthritis-like ailment from a very young age and was bed-ridden most of her life,whereas,Priyanka has absolutely no problem in swinging with the beats of Pinga (the song performed by both Priyanka and Deepika).

The only character that seemed to be played beautifully well was that of Radhaibai Ballal (Bajirao's mother).This is no surprise as this character is played by the talented Tanvi Azmi.

As she is has a very strong personality in real life it's no shocker that she played Radhabai so well.Throughout the movie Radhabai is shown as a dominant and very clever mother who would go to any lengths to protect her son from all kinds of peril.From helping him in wars to preventing him from breaking his Brahmin traditions to marry Mastani, she has everything in her mind's eye,Though Radhabai has been shown as a ruthless woman trying to squish the peshwa's love for Mastani,I believe that her character could be seen in a much more complex light,something Bhansali has again,ruefully missed. Though Azmi did a well enough job of portraying Radhabai as intended,she could have had a lot more to do with the story.

That's all for now folks,this is Part 1 of my review and also my first post..so please be kind.Part 2 comes with loopholes in the story line..which(believe me)is going to be long and lots of other near and monumental misses by Bhansali bhai,so keep reading to know how this film turned out!

With this,I take your leave.

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Opening Credits!!

Like in the very beginning of every single movie..my blog starts with a black screen..the name of the director rolling in from the very top.

In this case,that would be me. Akanksha..an avid film buff..a true blue lover of Gore and all things grotesque,a nocturnal being(as most of my movie viewings take place at night)and an amateur film reviewer.My sole purpose of releasing this film blog is to portray my own perspective of the films I've had the privilege to see and also of the ones that have imprinted on me...in both positive and negative aspects.I believe that films not unlike words leave shadows within our minds that affect us long after we have left that theater or our laptops.While some leave fond renditions of picturesque societies and people..others point out the brutalities of everything around us.Some introduce us to things we never knew existed and some make us feel non-existent...and then there are those lying in the in-between.

My blog shall consist of the films that I found thoughtful to write about and maybe even ones I couldn't go through.Some weird,some pleasant,some downright disturbing!..and some,well,warm and mushy.Maybe this would give you an insight to my taste.Now,while some of you may feel that my taste borders on the absurd as we go forward..I assure you that all the explicit content written in this blog about any of the films..if any(there will be)will come with a definite warning,so that you know exactly what you're getting into.Maybe it will save you from wasting your time and help to warn you about some disasters people call films or maybe it would lead to complete viewing elation.

Finally,I would love it if you guys can suggest some movies that you love..so I can check those out too!!(for me..more the better!).I thank all of you reading my previous blog..Nothing But Ordinary Glances At Extraordinary Things and encouraging me to start this little "experiment".I hope I can live up to your expectations and expectantly give you guys an honest picture of the movies I watch.

So here's to a new literary journey...

Camera...Rolling....Action!