Between Reviews: A Few Good Moments
A FEW GOOD MOMENTS
DEC 28, 2008 – AKBAR WIGGLES OUT OF AN EMBARRASSING SITUATION: One of the great comic moments in Jodhaa-Akbar is when Jodhaa fences her husband into a corner, during a swordfight, after which the nascent emperor – the blades mere inches from his exposed neck – proves why he’d go on to be such a renowned diplomat. He could simply command her to back away, but that would only rouse her Rajput contempt. So he manipulates her sentiments instead, gruffly intoning, “Malika-e-Hindustan, yeh mat bhooliye ke hum aapke suhaag hain.” In a trice, a hero is reduced to a mere husband.
THE DUPE MEETS HIS DEATH: Ranvir Shorey, in Mithya, gives the year’s best performance as a bumpkin who finds himself in the shoes of a lookalike mob boss, and the film (along with this performance) is essentially one long buildup to the scene where he meets his end. He’s in a car with the girl who loves him. His pursuers surround them. They drag her out, but not before she’s kissed him on the lips, and taken leave with this one word: “Bye.” And then, he takes his leave, again with one word, one heart-stopping word that leaves you not just sorry for his fate but shattered.
THE BITCH IS BACK: Bipasha Basu landed herself a magnificent character in Bachna Ae Haseeno, where she navigates the full course from victim to victor. Dumped on her wedding day, with that eternal cliché of mehndi-steeped palms, she pulls herself together and becomes a top model (and one hell of a scary diva-bitch). When the man who broke her heart returns to apologise, she twirls him around her little finger, for sport, till she lets go of him (and her past) at a sensational scene at an airport. She reveals herself to him for just a moment, then the outsize sunglasses go back on. The armour is back – so is the bitch.
AJAY DISSES EK DUUJE KE LIYE: In a rambling sequence in U Me Aur Hum that comes together beautifully at the end, Ajay Devgan admits that he was a huge fan of Ek Duuje Ke Liye when he first fell in love – but as he keeps drinking, he becomes more honest about his feelings. He declares that Hum bane tum bane is the fakest song ever – because no one’s there ek duuje ke liye, for one another; everyone’s really looking out for their own interests, which is why Ajay packed off his Alzheimer’s-afflicted wife to a care facility instead of caring for her at home. It’s a rare moment in a mainstream movie that allows such an unflattering glimpse into a guilt-wracked soul.
AN UNHERALDED TEARDROP COURSES DOWN A CHEEK: With Subramaniyapuram, Sasikumar made a stunning bow as director, taking what would seem an archetypal story about small-town gangsters and then carefully crafting characters out of these archetypes. It’s extremely rare to see, in Tamil cinema, a director who doesn’t feel the need to cue his audience with helpful asides (after assuming them to be brain-dead), but it’s a mark of Sasikumar’s confidence and maturity that when the character in his framing device sheds a tear on his deathbed, you’re not entirely sure if the motivation is remorse or relief.
JAI PICKS THE PERFECT LOVE SONG: Jai (Imran Khan) and his friends discuss how they’d go about serenading the girl of their dreams. The first one picks the hyper-intense Tu hi re, which suggests a love that’s far too involved. The second one goes with Aaja aaja, main hoon pyaar tera, which is ageless, yes, but also too frivolous. And thus we get a key to Jai’s character, when he launches into Mera tujhse hai pehle ka naata koi… Jaane tu ya jaane na. Not only has he justified the film’s title, he’s also the perfect embodiment of this aw-shucks song about lovers just meant to be.
THE BAND SELLS OUT: Rock On wasn’t just about the terrific music, it also showed how terrific friends can be, especially in trying times. The foursome is aware that they need to raise money to buy recording equipment, so these strugglers become stragglers, deviating from their chosen path of Rock into (did you see this coming?) Disco Dandiya. When a doleful Farhan Akhtar, that pop-prince of cool, mouthed the banal words to a massy Nadeem-Sharavan hit, you knew this moment was one for the ages.
CAT AND MOUSE MEET BRIEFLY, AFTER PLAYTIME: Yes, it was completely irresponsible as a message movie, but taken as a thriller, A Wednesday was an utterly unexpected treat, if only for making heroes out of two terrific (but often trivialised) actors, Anupam Kher and Naseeruddin Shah. The cat-and-mouse stuff was chilling, sure, but the grace note that ended the film was in a class of its own. Who knew that the simple action of two people ambling towards one another could produce such an emotional epiphany?
KRISHNAN DROPS HIS SON OFF AT THE BRINK OF ADULTHOOD: When early word came that Vaaranam Aayiram was the story of father and son, of how father affects son and how son is shaped by father, you got the inkling of a collaborative effort – father (Krishnan) and son (Suriya) marching through life, hand locked in hand. But in a most wonderful development, all Krishnan does when Suriya goes off to college is smile and remark that they’re both grown-ups now, leaving unsaid that Suriya’s future is simply what he makes of it. It’s a remarkable life lesson, not least because it’s delivered with remarkably little fuss.
AMAR PUTS ON A SHOW FOR HIS HEARING-IMPAIRED MOTHER: Were it not for Shah Rukh Khan (see below), this would have been the sweetest moment of the year – the scene in Dasvidaniya where Amar picks up his guitar and puts his newly learned strumming skills to use. Sarita Joshi is a hoot as his mother, not least when she, midway through the performance, discovers her hearing aid isn’t in place and makes the necessary adjustment. So what exactly must she have been thinking when presented with a soundless vision of her son emoting like mad? The very thought leaves you with a severe case of the giggles.
SURINDER WOOS HIS WIFE WITH A ROSE… WELL ALMOST: The year’s sweetest moment came to us courtesy Shah Rukh Khan in one of his most endearing performances. (Let’s, for now, forget the other, not-so-endearing avatar of Shah Rukh in Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi.) He extracts a rose from a vase on the dining table and places it next to a note he’s written for his wife, but an instant later, he changes his mind. The rose goes back into the vase – but not before a smile that suggests how happy he is that he thought of this heart-on-sleeve gesture, even if lasted all of twenty seconds.
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That was a superb round up. Are you coming up with the best of 2008 list? Should be very interesting, especially the Hindi one.
Everyone mentions the last scene in A Wednesday and it finds itself in everyones best of 2008 list. Did you watch the scene in Aamir when he is checked more extensively during immigration because of hos name? Many miss Aamir while they talk about A Wednesday and Mumbai Meri Jaan
I loved the Jodhaa Akbar moment – it was so old-Hollywood/Bollywood – the sweeping camerawork, the courtyard, the impossibly beautiful leads, and the palpable chemistry.
I’d probably have Kareena coming out of the sea in Tashan as one of my great moments, just because it was so spectacular, but that’s just me.
If the censor board had allowed the blood dripping from the faucet scene in Ghajini, wouldn’t that be the moment of the year!
On a serious note: the Mithya scene is my moment of the year, and Mithya my favourite movie of the year, the only film in 2008 that came a bit close to perfection
BR: Well, I presume you still have not caught OLLE.I think when Abhay Deol raises his hand to slap Dr. Paresh Rawal, but does not slap and walks away….it is a lovely moment. Come to think of it, it is a movie of moments. You must catch hold of it.
Baradwaj, since you’ve included Tamil cinema too, how about that sequence from ‘ Anjaathey’ where the hero takes a critically injured guy to the hospital in his bike with the help of an old lady..that was a great moment too
Anand beat me to this comment. You really must see Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! I suppose its omission from this list means you haven’t caught it yet?
Adithya: I don’t do a list as such. This is the only round-up.
Sal: If I were to take a Tashan moment, it would be the ‘Dil dance maare’ sequence (plus a bit oif the preceding scene).
Aditya Pant: Oh certainly
And Mithya remains my favourite too.
Anand/shrabonti: Nope. Still waiting to catch OLLO.
Raj Balakrishnan: That’s a major miss. I wish I’d included something from Aanjaathey. I’d written about it in a Between reviews column, and for this list, I quickly scanned through the reviews only, and forgot all about that film.
Hey ,
I guess you forgot the scene in Sakkarakatti , where the Shantanu and Vedhika drop some sugar cubes into their coffee in a restaurant , thereby justifying the film’s title.
How could you forget the moment in ‘Nayagan’ , when JK Ritish dances for a remixed tamil rhyme ‘Nila nila odi va’?
‘Nayagan’ has incidentally been named as Time Magazine’s “Top 8 films to watch before you die “.
Was wondering why you skipped Anjaathe as well. I guess the movie didn’t age as well as something like Mithya did.
Just curious, what would you have picked from Anjaathe?
Some of the entries on the list look like you had to stretch yourself to come up with 20 moments for the year.
I don’t know if you have watched Schultze gets the blues, but the Dasvidaniya moment reminded me of that movie.
PS: Could you do a similar article from all the hollywood movies you see over the year? Maybe a once-a-year write-up just for the blog.
The Normal Guy: That’s funny. But seriously, one of my resolutions for 2009 has to be to catch new Tamil films in the first week itself. Otherwise, they keep getting appeneded to the to-see list and vanish from sight forever.
Gaipajama: “I guess the movie didn’t age as well as something like Mithya did.” Another reason could be that Subramaniyapuram came along and made me forget about it
I think I’d have picked that scene where the little boy tries to get through to his father, who’s just been shot dead. That was a beautiful moment showing the cliched “gangsters are people too,” but in purely cinematic terms.
Beautiful!
Oi, was just talking to Sudhish about how you mightn’t have enough good movies to do this year’s alphabet… heh.
Happy o’nine to ya, and to our cinema. May things only get better — and they should in a year when we’re gonna have a new Hirani movie and a new Bhardwaj movie, if not much other surprising goodness.
No Oye Lucky on board yours? Man, you gotta catch that one.
RajaSen: Oh, but that’s why I do a list of moments, not movies. If I went by movies, I’d barely have a handful this year, but even the so-so movies can have some nice moments.
Excellent collection, Baradwaj. Must have been quite a task to try and string something like this together for this particular year in movies, although I suspect I may have added a few moments from “Mumbai Meri Jaan” as well.
Am meanwhile awaiting my DVD of “Subramaniyapuram” which I’ve been dying to see for quite a while, not least because of your review.
Happy New Year!
Rakesh Nair: Yes, it’s been a generally underwhelming year, but even if it had been a good year (like 2006), I’d have gone with this “moments” format. I find it very annoying and counterproductive to compare films and come up with a list that says, say, “Lage Raho Munnabhai” is “better” than “Dor.” Happy New Year to you too.
PS: Earlier annual roundups are here and here.
Oh yeah, I’ve seen the older collections and I think it’s actually a nicer and more effective way to go about the annual roundup than a traditional 1-10 list. Far more fun to read, too. Thanks.
sorry to be tone deaf…but what *is* the last word that VK utters in Mithya and hwy is it so shattering ? (I saw the movie, liked it but I am probably too dense to love the movie, and can’t recall the last scene). someone email me!
just curious if u’ve heard about/seen sam anderson and his debut film titled yarukku yaro? jokes apart, i promise you that it will, hands down, be the most unforgettable film u’ll ever see. the film is one long, extended special moment. jus lemme know if u can’t get hold of the full version of the film.
Mr.B, I thought you’d slip in that completely unexpected and frankly quite shocking (for me at least) narrative turn in “Sarkar Raj” precipitated by an assasination scene whose victim took even this jaded viewer by surprise:-)