DVD Collector wrote:
My list is updated once again. kamran, still waiting for your selections bro.
Sorry for taking so long, DC. I was planning to watch certain titles for the list over my Christmas break, but there was a family wedding going on (therefore, no time, stress, etc). I suppose I'll just update this as I go along. Right now, I don't think I could make a Top 25 that I could feel confident in (two reasons why: firstly, my "to see" list is embarrassingly long, and secondly, there's not much quality out there), so here's a tentative
top 15 + 1. I've included grades along with each title to give you an idea about how passionate/reserved I am on some of them. I hope that I can make this a lot more finalized in the weeks to come. Extended thoughts on the top five...
Runner-ups:
Chameli, Khakee, Hari Bhari, Mission Kashmir, Fiza, Munnabhai M.B.B.S., Parineeta, Company, Ek Hasina Thi, and
Main Madhuri Dixit Banna Chahti Hoon!
16.
Kandukondain Kandukondain (Menon, 00) [
B]
It may be a tad silly and overlong (plus, I despise any director that has dubbing artistes to emote for actors who are perfectly capable doing the job themselves), but Rajiv Menon's update of Jane Austen's
Sense and Sensibility is nonetheless a lot of fun. The cinematography is absolutely breathtaking, and A.R. Rahman's music represents one of his strongest efforts of an already stellar career. Well worth a look.
15.
Astitva (Manjrekar, 00) [
B]
A disastrous performance aside by Sunil Barve (as Tabu's whiny, grating son), this film represents this spotty director's strongest effort. Although a tad overpreachy, Tabu's performance is operating at a level no other actors here are, and the flashback structure enhances the film without devolving into murkiness.
14.
Pinjar (Dwivedi, 03) [
B]
Thoughts to come.
13.
Devdas (Bhansali, 02) [
B]
Excessive, bloated and indulgent, Bhansali's shiny revisioning of Saratchandra Chatterjee 's novel is a stunner in spite (or even because?) of its numerous flaws. Although it never quite becomes camp, I enjoy
Devdas on a perversive, guilty-pleasure level due to its essentially silly nature. I've never read the novel, but the story is a tad excessive (come on, you agree) and even more problematic,
misogynistic ("I'm going to hit you and leave a mark on your head to teach you a lesson about excessive vanity... But I still love you!"). Did Bhansali really need to leave that in? Was it necessary? Because it makes no fucking sense. Before you purists jump on me, remember that he has Paro and Chandramukhi meet in this version. Despite my reservations in this respect,
Devdas is still a lot of fun. The endless whining quickly becomes banal (especially on SRK's part, who gives an atrocious performance), but if you can get past that, Bhansali always has an ace up his sleeve (at least visually). Plus, super performance by Madhuri Dixit (her best) and a brilliant soundtrack.
12.
Meenaxi: A Tale of Three Cities (Husain, 04) [
B]
The only way I can describe this film is "visual wet dream". Santosh Sivan's extraordinary work (possibly his best since
Dil Se..), coupled with the mere presence of Tabu (who has never looked more ravishing without resorting to sleaziness like most other actresses today), creates a delicious, irresistible palette. Husain's direction is always surprising (even when his screenplay lets him down - especially in the miserable third act) in this dreamy, frustrating and ultimately dazzling meta-work.
11.
Water (Mehta, 05) [
B]
Deepa Mehta may be a wildly inconsistent director, but the result of her struggles to get this important, controversial movie made in spite of intense (unwarranted) backlash may very well represent her best film overall. A strong statement about oppressive power structures and the desperate need for change,
Water surprises in its subtle, understated approach (which makes it all the more impactful). The love track considerably weakens the film overall because it seems an easy way to hit at the film's message, but it's a small quibble.
10.
Mr. and Mrs. Iyer (Sen, 02) [
B]
Thoughts to come.
9.
Alaipayuthey (Ratnam, 00) [
B]
An intelligent story of love in India, avoiding the boring conventions that so many other romantic films fall into. It is a relatively simple tale, but the taking together of Ratnam's strong helming, Rahman's great music, stunning cinematography and winsome lead acting = stellar film. If only all films tackling the same ideas could be this good.
8.
Chokher Bali: A Passion Play (Gharno, 03) [
B+]
Thoughts to come.
7.
Chandni Bar (Bhandarkar, 00) [
B+]
Hard-hitting and completely unrestrained in its depiction of abuse and suffering, this film is certainly no fun. I haven't seen it in several years now, but I don't think I need to revisit it in order to prove its importance and placement on this list. Tabu gives a performance that makes her other portrayals relatively simple in comparison; in that final scene, she manages to literally break your heart in two. As for Bhandarkar, he respectfully avoids sensationalism and exploitation in capturing these images (with perhaps the exception of a scene or two). Devastating.
6.
Kannathil Muthamittal (Ratnam, 02) [
B+]
Strongly avoiding any sentimentality or mawkish moments, Ratnam is nonetheless able to tell the story of a child's growth to maturity, a tale about negotiating a very adult, bleak reality. Balancing moments of tenderness and outright devastation (as the result of war and violence),
Kannathil Muthamittal is Ratnam's absolute best effort since his masterpiece
Dil Se.
5.
Maqbool (Bharadwaj, 03) [
A-]
It's an unfortunate reality that the majority of Hindi-language films (I don't think I can make this claim about other regions, seeing as how I am largely ignorant about other industries/movements) do not use literary works or other mediums as source material. The number of book-to-movie adaptations is rather limited out there, with the exception of a few productions such as
Paheli, or this film,
Maqbool. Irfaan Khan and Tabu give expert portrayals of "Macbeth" and "Lady Macbeth", capturing the spirit of those characters without actually saying the legendary lines of dialogue. Bharadwaj's script impressively avoids too much adherence to the Shakespeare text, updating the material to a modern context. As well, his direction manages to convey a serious sense of gloom, as if a terrible reality is imminent.
Maqbool is a remarkable achievement; I saw it almost three years ago at the 2003 Toronto Film Festival, and it still hasn't left my mind. I look forward to Bharadwaj's updating of
Othello with bated breath.
4.
Khamosh Pani (Sumar, 03) [
A-]
A chilling tragedy that can be read in an infinite amount of ways, through a multiplicity of lenses. On the surface level, this post-Partition (and is it even really "post"? Hmm) drama concerns itself with the legacies of violence that are doomed to repeat themselves in future generations. Even though I like Dwivedi's
Pinjar as well (it appeared earlier on this list, of course), Sumar's film is more powerful because of its subleties, in what it implies (underlined by the incredible work by Kirron Kher in the lead, who received international kudos for her efforts). The film is basically about fundamentalism, and how if we let it, belief in an "ism" or a system of faith can make us overlook the importance of freedom and humanity. On another level, the film can be seen as an allegory about not only the Middle East/Pakistan today, but also the United States, undergoing a tremendous regression into Christian values (and an attempt to infuse those ideas into the policies of the government). I think this film strongly reminds us of the dehumanization that takes place during such times, especially relating to those people who are not given power or a voice in society (namely women, but also other minorities, whether religious, sexual or ethnic). A devastating reminder of the history of violence inherent in the South Asian experience and the extent to which identity is so externally
fixed and made unchangeable,
Khamosh Pani is an extremely disheartening story.
3. [tie]
Lagaan (Gowariker, 01) [
A] and
Swades (04) [
A-]
I know it may be considered cheating or even unfair to group these two films together, but for me, it's impossible to consider them as individual works. You cannot separate
Lagaan from
Swades, or vice versa. Although set hundreds of years apart, Gowariker dives into the complexities of colonial and "post-colonial" India in these films, and does not offer us pacifying solutions. In his earlier piece, Gowariker not only is able to balance commercial and artistic interests, but contributes significantly to academic work being done in South Asian Studies today. By presenting a village of peasants as
political beings struggling against British exploitation through
non-violent means, Gowariker writes back into history the identities and voices that elitist historiography has overlooked or silenced. Yes, it's an endearing cricket film, but look closer at how Gowariker has turned the conventions of Bollywood on its head - working both as populist fluff and scholarly dissertation,
Lagaan is one-of-a-kind.
As for
Swades, Gowariker explores an India that commercial cinema often overlooks; moving into the heartland of the country, the film's protagonist Mohan arrives with well-meaning (although selfish) intentions to bring his childhood nanny back to the U.S. However, as he is affected by the people, problems and limitations in the village, he begins to find his priorities shift. A messy discourse which asks the question "What do you owe to the country that raised you?", Gowariker's screenplay does not shy away from tough ideas. Yes, the ending is something of a cop-out, but to recognize Gowariker's passion and plea, the optimistic turn is understandable (and welcome).
Swades will hopefully find an audience over the years; it may not be perfect, but it represents potential in the mainstream industry to tackle issues more significant and interesting than whether "Rahul" will choose "Priti" or "Nandani".
2.
Monsoon Wedding (Nair, 01) [
A]
Mira Nair is my idol. She ranks among the best directors working today, and her work here in the award-winning and box-office hit
Monsoon Wedding is utterly flawless - hypnotic, playful, lively and nostalgic, sometimes even within a single frame. Though the narrative is relatively straight-forward (the capturing of a wedding taking place in a hectic household - hasn't this been done before?), Nair's approach is anything but. I see it as primarily as a love-letter to the city of New Delhi, as well as - essentially - a celebration of life, in all its glories, mysteries and disappointments. The film beautifully captures slice of life in India, with the rich sounds, images, smells seeming to literally fall off the screen and intoxicate all of our senses in tandem. A superlative ensemble cast brings to life the characters of this incredible piece, with Naseerudin Shah and Shefali Shetty standing out with tremendous performances (that certainly deserved a lot more attention, in India and on an international level). Not enough can be said about the perfection this film is; each time I see it, I fall in love even more than the last time. When the credits roll, I find myself disappointed that I can no longer engage in that environment Nair creates.
1.
Zubeidaa (Benegal, 01) [
A]
It was a close call between Nair's and Benegal's masterpieces for the #1 position, but it's this revisionist "biography" penned by Khalid Mohammad (easily his best screenplay) that I keep returning to. Part fairy-tale, part homage,
Zubeidaa is an brilliant epic (yes, epic) that explores life, marriage, cinema and the problems associated with memory and story-telling. As Zubeidaa is "seen" only through the perspective of others, Benegal offers us an endless list of possibilites. Questioning historical narrative and how it is constructed, the film asks its audience to reconsider how we ourselves remember and write the past. Mirroring her son Riyaz's quest to "find" his mother in history, we are constantly aware that we are not seeing Zubeidaa as she really was. She has now entered the realm of myth and what person can explain on conclusive terms who this person was? Celebrated by some as an actress and cursed by others who saw her as a traitor, by the end of the film we are left with more questions than answers. Aided by absolutely pitch-perfect performances, including Karishma Kapoor's stylized, award-worthy work (the likes of which which we will probably never see from her again) and Benegal's masterful direction,
Zubeidaa is no mere "film". It's a classic for the ages.
Pending:
Matrubhoomi, Raincoat, Black Friday, Page 3, Hey! Ram, Netaji, Lakshya, Iqbal, Mitr, Makdee, My Brother Nikhil
Thanks, but no thanks:
Aks, Main Hoon Naa, Tehzeeb, Dev, Black, Yuva, Kal Ho Na Ho, Saathiya, Koi Mil Gaya, Hum Tum, K3G, Dil Chahta Hai, Paheli, 3 Deewarein, Morning Raga, Lajja, 1947 Earth
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