About R-view

R-view contains some real short reviews of some of the movies I've liked over the years. Most of them are 140 character posts as they used to be my tweets (@mrzoozoo) This blog was created for (the purpose of showing off my INSANE movie review skills :p) some class assignment purposes. So don't frown if you don't find enough text in there to make you like or watch the movie. Hey you can always Google! :)

January 24, 2010

Harishchandrachi Factory

Paresh Mokashi's directorial debut, the movie portrays the story behind the making of India's first feature film. 'Raja Harishchandra' and the man who worked hard for this cause. As a tribute to Dadasaheb Phalke, the father of Indian cinema, it couldn't be better. Made on a shoe-string budget, the movie touches every aspect of a period film, with out-and-out comedy.


Phalke, the street magician/teacher walks into a movie screening tent one evening and it changes his life for ever. Awed at its brilliance Phalke sets out to make his own movie, learning film making by going to England. He uses up all of his resources for this sole purpose and how he succeeds in it makes the story of Harishchandrachi Factory.


Beautifully crafted in comedy, it's a light story which will make you roar with laughter at times. The performances of Nandu Madhav as Phalke and the rest of the cast has to be mentioned for their excellent acting. Such an innocent and positive film, it has succeeded in getting all the attention it deserved.


B.

January 11, 2010

Vihir: The Well

Movies are never simple, like life. A mix of rushing emotions, some of it, humane. Umesh Vinayak Kulkarni in his second feature deals with a collective of such emotions from the point of view of a teenager. The coming-of-age drama in its basic theme, the movie deals with the idea of how children deal with death. Sameer and Nachiket are cousins who are best friends too. Sameer is the ambitious kind with lots of personal fears while Nachiket is a dreamer, the kind that questions his existence and normal human conceptions.

The movie unfolds with Sameer and his family visiting their village for a marriage function. Sameer looks up to Nachiket, who later is disheartened by the fact that Nachiket doesn't want to pursue higher studies as he is not sure what he wants to do with his life. They hang out in their beautiful backyard and swim in the large well. The picture of their close knitted family including some misfits are portrayed along which interests the viewer to seek anything mysterious if possible.

They use a hide and seek game throughout the movie to portray life and death. While Sameer hides from death, Nachiket has his theory that you cannot seek that which is not hiding. Soon we learn that Nachiket drowns in the well the day Sameer leaves town for his swimming tryouts. Rest of the movie takes the viewer to Sameer's acceptance of the death. What if Nachiket is there, somewhere life is not seeking him. Sameer's search for the answer takes him to pursue Nachiket's dreams. It is beautiful to watch him grasp life in its true form through his hands-on experiences.

A unique attempt at raw reality with stains of fantasy, the movie has been shot in natural colour tones which gives the viewer a feeling of having seen a  brilliantly bright French movie in all its glory. Reason of Nachiket's death is left unexplained by the director leaving the viewer to form an own interpretation of the reason. The ambient silence is deafening and frightening at parts where Sameer is lost in his thoughts while at his swim sessions. The film lacked pace in parts though that adds the extra charm. Casting is one of the best things of the movie where the children have all done their best with their natural acting. Vihir is definitely the face of the changing Indian cinema and probably Marathi cinema at its best.

B.