2006: The Year in Film

TWENTY-TWENTY

Looking back at a few standout moments from the year’s Hindi and Tamil cinema…

DEC 31, 2006 – 1. MEETHI GOES HOME: Is the titular address of 15 Park Avenue a material home or a metaphorical comfort zone? Only the schizophrenic character played by Konkona Sen Sharma may have the answer, for by the film’s devastating end, she’s clearly gone someplace where her heart is, and that, as they say, is… home.

2. FAMILY MEETS family: In the opening scenes of Family – Ties of Blood, the year’s most unfairly dismissed masala movie, we’re given a (soon-to-be-blurred) contrast between the mafia (courtesy Amitabh Bachchan) and the middle-class (courtesy Akshay Kumar). The way we crisscross up to the differences – and similarities – between family and Family, it’s classical old-style filmmaking, which unfortunately got branded as old-fashioned.

3. THE GANG HANGS OUT: Choreographing a dance is easy. Choreographing a bunch of people so that it appears that they’re not doing what they’re asked to do but merely being – that’s right up there with comedy; dying is easier. Just before Interval, the young cast of Rang De Basanti is asked to just be, to the exquisite strains of AR Rahman’s Tu bin bataye. It’s a beautiful slice of calm that makes the storm-to-come all the more heartbreaking.

4. SUNIL AND MALTI LOOK INTO A MIRROR: The husband and wife in Mixed Doubles are about to go partner-swapping – and we glimpse a delicate bit of intimacy between them, in front of their bedroom mirror. The couple in the reflection seems to presage the couple that’s to come into these people’s lives, into their bedroom lives. Are they the voyeurs, or are we?

5. MRS. SHASTRI COOKS FOR HER HUSBAND: In Taxi No. 9211, Nana Patekar’s wife (Sonali Kulkarni) is about to leave him, but before she walks out, there’s a wordless scene where she makes sure he has something to eat for at least a day or two – and we see at once what they mean to each other. There are times in a relationship you don’t have to speak; what you do can be just as eloquent.

6. SANDHYA STOPS, BUT SELVA KEEPS WALKING: Bharath may be a killer-for-hire, but he’s also a deaf-mute. One evening while escorting his girl (Pooja) to her house, she stops, having reached her destination, while he keeps walking, unaware that she’s no longer by his side. Pattiyal asks us to empathise with protagonists who deserve no empathy because of the work they do; and because of bits like these, we do.

7. DINSHAW CHARMS KATY, THEN STRIKES HER WITH A SLIPPER: Naseeruddin Shah cuts himself. His wife (Dimple Kapadia) starts squawking when she sees the bloody wound. He reveals how he hurt himself; it was while trying to get some flowers for her. She smiles, possibly remembering why she fell for this crusty coot in the first place. Then he jolts her reverie by accidentally hitting her with his slipper. The lifetime of a relationship is telescoped into one deftly-staged sequence of Being Cyrus.

8. SIMRAN RAIDS THE TRASH CAN: Kangana Ranaut staged an explosive debut in Gangster, as a B-movie mystery-woman who’s also an A-grade alcoholic. It isn’t just that she enjoys her booze; when she discovers she’s exhausted her supply at home, she races to the trash can outside, on the street, and rummages through the filth in the hope that at least one of the bottles would have a last few drops for her. She’s that kind of alcoholic – and her desperation wallops us in the solar plexus.

9. SHAMMI KAPOOR RETURNS: Well, not exactly – but the fluffy spirit of his girl-finds-love-with-roguish-charmer films certainly made a comeback in the first half of Fanaa. (The less said about the second half, the better.) Some felt the shayari came off as corny, but how can you not love a love scene that has the hero declaring, “Aag sooraj mein hoti hai, jalna zameen ko padta hai/mohabbat nigaahen karti hain, tadapna dil ko padta hai!”

10. KUMAR LEARNS TO KILL: In a wickedly twisted variation on the senior police officer showing a rookie cop the ropes, an experienced hit man initiates Dhanush’s newbie-gangster in Pudhupettai into the art of cold-blooded killing. The patient meticulousness of the instruction could bring back memories of your First Standard teacher helping you master cursive writing – and you’re not sure if the appropriate response is to cover your eyes or clutch your sides.

11. BILLO CHAMANBAHAR SHAKES HER BOOTY: Omkara had one of the best soundtracks of the year, and some of the best-picturised songs of the year – especially Bidi, where the small-town dancer played by Bipasha Basu puts the “shake” back in Shakespeare. The way the camera weaves in and out of the revellers, like a lurching drunk, you may feel you’ve had a peg too many yourself. Intoxicating stuff – the number, and the movie.

12. RIA GIVES DEV ONE TIGHT SLAP: There were many divergent opinions about Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna, but defenders and detractors alike cheered when Preity Zinta’s character had a go at philandering husband Shah Rukh Khan. Karan Johar should have done himself – and his audience – a favour by sustaining this intensity and scrapping the corny comedy. The “Black Beast”? Really!

13. RAGHAVAN USES A DICTAPHONE: At one point in Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu, the protagonist follows a hunch and lands up at the exact location of a corpse. Yeah right! But then we’re shown that Raghavan records his thoughts (about his cases) into a Dictaphone that he keeps replaying, and you see that the facts of each investigation are so seeped in his subconscious that, yes, he would be able to just stop his car and walk to the spot. Isn’t it nice when a Tamil masala movie leaves it to us to connect the dots in our head?

14. MUNNA SAYS “SORRY” TO CIRCUIT: Vidya Balan may have been the romantic interest in Lage Raho Munnabhai, but the real love story was the one between Sanjay Dutt and Arshad Warsi. Not only do they have the superior chemistry, that scene where the former apologises to the latter and recalls the history they’ve shared – it tells you why friends are forever.

15. MALLIKA SHERAWAT TAKES OFF HER BRA: Yes, she really does that in Pyaar Ke Side Effects, but the surprise of the scene – and the film – is that her presence isn’t intended to titillate. When she removes said undergarment from underneath her shirt, it’s not in-your-face sexy, but that apparent lack of making a big deal of the moment makes her all the more hot. Who knew we’d rediscover Mallika’s appeal in a movie where she kept her clothes on?

16. ZEENAT BIDS HER HUSBAND A TEARY FAREWELL: As the character played by Gul Panag packs off her spouse to the Gulf, she extracts a teardrop from the corner of her eye and says it’s her “aakhri aansoo” – the last tear – till he returns. That one early indication is all you need to sense the reserves of steel in her, without which the rest of Dor would be unimaginable.

17. THE DISCO ERA COMES BACK: From gadgets-in-shoes to split screens to Bruce Lee T-shirts to glitter balls to the slinky, shimmery costumes to Kareena Kapoor’s wheels-in-motion dance steps in Yeh mera dil… the only time the new Don was fun was when it invoked an older time.

18. SOME RANDOM DUDE PLAYS THE SAX: For all the extravagant song-and-dances in Jaan-e-Mann, what lingered was a rather inconsequential shot where Preity Zinta’s New Yorker climbs the stairs that lead to her apartment building, and nearby, there’s a man playing a saxophone. When was the last time you saw a musical in which you saw the music as part of the scenario?

19. SMALL-TOWN GIRL GIVES IT TO BIG-CITY GUY: In the lead up to the arranged marriage in Vivah, Delhi Boy asks Madhupur Girl the typical question about hobbies. She says she likes to read. He asks what her favourite books are. She names Parineeta and Swami. He comments that these are nice “Hindi” books. She retorts, “Inke English translations bhi achche hain.” Touché! Leave it to Sooraj Barjatya to proudly champion our national language in these multiplex times.

20. MURUGESAN WOOS THANGAM WITH A PROJECTOR: He’s the projectionist at the local rundown theatre. She’s the girl who scrubs utensils at the local roadside joint. When they meet in his projection room, when he places his hand in front of the projector, when the film plays on his palm… It’s as if he’s gifting her what no one else has; he’s colouring her drab life, if only for that instant in Veyil, with the magic of the movies.

Copyright ©2006 The New Sunday Express

Posted in: Cinema: Hindi, Cinema: Tamil