Comments on: Review: Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag

By: movielvrgrl

movielvrgrl — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 07:08:27 +0000

i don’t know if you’re reading this but I have just read 8 of reviews… and plan on reading more. you are one of the few people who seem to understand the genre of film from both a connoseiur’s point of view as well as the everyday moviegoer.
you and i definitely don’t have the same favorites but i can still understand and usually agree with what you say. moreover past agreeing, it is when i disagree with you that tells the most– even when our opinions differ, i find your knowledge and love of the cinema a wonderful justification for the way you feel.
keep up the great work, because i can’t wait to keep reading it.

By: FLIX

FLIX — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 03:19:23 +0000

Jaiganesh : YES ! U MADE A VERY CLEAR POINT. GABBAR WAS THE HEART OF SHOLAY . THE FILM WAS BOX OFFICE AND REMEMBERED TODAY BECAUSE OF GABBAR . I LIKE TO SUGGEST THAT THE TITLE SHOLAY TO BE AMENDED AS GABBAR AS TO PAY TRIBUTE TO AMJAD KHAN. HE WAS BORNED FOR THE SAKE OF SHOLAY. MAY GOD BLESS HIM WITH HEAVEN. INSYA ALLAH.

By: Oops

Oops — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 15:19:48 +0000

Ok brangan.

To conclude, i’ve read this article where it’s said that Sarkar Raj will release in December. Very bad move. Why so early after Aag ? Just like he killed Darling chances (Brangan did u see this movie ?), he will kill Sarkar Raj. He should wait till January 2008. There’s already too many biggies for the end of this year.

http://hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=11cbd37c-7d5a-4e89-9410-c2d5e97dbca7&&Headline=I+take+full+responsibility+for+my+film%3a+Ram+Gopal+Varma

By: Jaiganesh

Jaiganesh — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 04:11:36 +0000

I am not supporting Aaag by any means here when I posted the previous message. I haven’t seen that movie. I just jotted down what I thought of Sholay and after many viewings which I had to because of friends , I still feel that Sholay sells because of ground breaking technical work that went into it(for a movie of its time). Offcourse even in that aspect is derives its inspiration generously from the western movies. Offcourse acting in Sholay is good. I did not mean that actors did a formulaic job. However except Gabbar, the rest were all regulars. Gabbar was unique and special in conception and execution. The key to gabbar in my opinion is – He is mean, thats a given. He is captivating and because of that, there is a mesmerizing effect he has on audience. He has to be toned down to start with, get menacing by leaps and bounds and off course when he has to say “Yeh haath mujhe dhe dhe thaakur”, he has to reach a crescendo that has to grab the audience’s collective jugular like a cobra’s bite. This was not “hotch potched” like a holi song or an innocent villager killed by Villain. This was “conceived” and the evidence is all there for us to see.

By: brangan

brangan — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 04:19:40 +0000

Gaipajama: Thanks. That’s why you should keep visiting And your Munnabhai reference is spot on.

oops/Jaiganesh: “Too much passion, emotion ! This is just cinema…” But what is cinema viewing if passion and emotion were taken out of the equation? And it’s not about forgetting that Sholay is a myth. What I wanted to do is show how Sholay is a wonderful example of a masala movie — and Jaiganesh, I didn’t mean to say that Sholay was a pioneer in this respect; just that it used all those older elements very effectively — and that what RGV has done is an ineffective remake that neither stands on its own nor stands out as tribute. And Jaiganesh, that point about Gabbar was great. But for me, all the characters worked, and I did not find them “pretty formulaic” at all. In conception maybe, but not in the execution.

By: oops

oops — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 20:31:50 +0000

Sorry, i thought it didn’t work the first time. That’s why i’ve written a second shorter message.

By: Jaiganesh

Jaiganesh — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 14:03:16 +0000

I haven’t seen the movie, so can’t comment if the reviewer was right or wrong. However one thing that comes to my mind is this. Sholay – was a dacoit drama like the westerns. The setting was all too crucial – the vast barren stretches and rocky Ramanagaram was visually the right setting and with horses and trains, the action scenes of Sholay wore a grand look and that is what got the viewers sucked in the very first time itself, for all other dialogue elements were there to be found in earlier movies itself. So I find the glorification of the scene build up by you a tad too naive and simply a fans enchantment blurring out objectivity. If you take the setting out of Sholay, then you are left with only one thing and thats Gabbar – the eery menacing villain whose gun and his mouth were synonymous. The low slow tones he speaks to start with, set the train of expectation starting in your mind, waiting for the station or point when the gun is going to explode. Offcourse his mouth can speak loud too. A Villain who requires three protagonists to bring him down. I guess it is this villain piece that Ramu was enchanted with. It is not just Ramu, even film makers down south drew from Gabbar – what RKSelvamani made with Mansoor Ali Khan in Captain Prabhakaran – another movie closely following Sholay from the settings and action perspective. The moment Ramu decided to take the setting out from the rocky ramanagaram to building clad mumbai, the only hope that is left alive was how Gabbar scales up now. The rest of the characters are pretty formulaic and I am damn sure that the sippys and javeds wouldnt have even broken a sweat in coming up with those. The heart of sholay is Gabbar and the setting and not the formulaic hindu muslim camraderie that you try to bring out or Jai-veeru friendship or the widowhood in feudal setup. These are things that as fans of a movie we try to unearth and relate to so that we can enjoy the main course much better. Just simple tools of fan endearment to an affliction. In simple words Sholay isn’t a master piece that people make it out to be. Just that Amjad Khan breathed fire and the wonderful Ramanagaram rocks that saved the movie. If Ramu had these two today, I guess Aag would have burned more brightly. Again these are just my musings.

By: oops

oops — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 21:23:45 +0000

Brangan, i’m not asking u to like the movie (didn’t say that).

But there is a difference between doing a review and writing a piece full of sarcasm because RGV dared to touch a myth. That i can expect that from anybody… not from a professional reviewer. It’s ur job to judge a movie on his own term despite RGV efforts to recall Sholay, ur job to forget that Sholay is a myth when u write, openning the debate with those who don’t think like you (i think Sholay is a very good movie by the way), ur job to be more objective.
Not a critic toward u but in general, some of the reviewers lack objectivity when they review Aag.

By: oops

oops — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 21:09:50 +0000

Brangan : My point is not “do you love or hate” the movie. See we all know what people think about Aag. And i’m not asking critics to love it (didn’t say that), but to stay professional… because it’s your job to make constructive reviews. Everybody can find a funny or a cruel way to say “ur movie is shit”… just to look cool and brilliant.
I’m asking something else from a professional reviewer, even if it’s to like a movie that everybody hates (u did it with JBJ). But i repeat i’m not asking u to like Aag.

“people being outraged at such a descration of a beloved movie memory”

See ! Too much passion, emotion ! This is just cinema… even when u speak about a movie like Sholay. U have to forget that Sholay is a myth because if u don’t, then there is no debate anymore, and u kill completely “RGV Ki Aag” chances.
U have to judge a remake on his own terms despite the effort of RGV to recall the old one. That’s ur job.

And i repeat, not a critic toward you but i’m disappoint by the tone reviews. Full of sarcasm that is not needed.

By: Gaipajama

Gaipajama — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 08:32:22 +0000

Congrats on the award! I have been away for a couple of months and you have managed to win a national award and write a terrific rahman piece in the meantime. Btw, Is there an Oscar or Cannes equivalent?

I haven’t watched Aag, but after watching sarkar I don’t ever want to watch another “tribute” film by RGV.

“… male-bonding better suited to our more cynical times …”

I think thats where Rajkumar Hirani scored with Munnabhai. In a hilarious reference to Sholay, munnabhai and circuit ride on a motorcycle with a sidecar delivering “hal chalayenge” dialogs. He was able to tap into our collective movie-subconscious while not spoiling the memory of the original.