Old joke, new illustration.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Friday, September 9, 2011
Thursday, September 8, 2011
That Girl In Yellow Boots (review) - psychopath extreme!
There are few movies in the recent times in Hindi film industry that have changed the way everyone looks at the movies. Previously tabooed things have been represented so well in these movies that Indians have changed thier parochical mindset about them. One such recent movie is Delhi Belly. Delhi Belly has made swearing look cool to a certain extent. People were not affected by the ample use of curse words because of the way they were aptly used in the movie. Delhi Belly significantly helped to set new norm in the Indian cinema where you can swear on screen without being marked as cheap.
Take a look at the psychopaths in Hindi films. People have this preconceived notion of pshychopath's portyal in Hindi cinema. It often includes a madman who at first would look like a charmer or a perfectly sane person with obvious crazy streak. The writer and director would give us enough hints to let us know that something is definitely wrong with the guy. This image of the psychopath was created not by keeping actual psychotic behavior in mind but the audience's expections of psychopaths. Often the audience is to blame for this kind of thing. Nobody wants the psychopath to be some guy in the background who you know would never matter in anyone's life. They don't want to be outsmarted by some guy with loose screw. They need psychopaths be some blatant goodlooking dudes who they can pick from a line up. So writers and directors pampered audience's notion of being-smarter-than-the-bad-guy-to-know-who-he-is. The psychopath was never shown as real world psychopath. The authors often bestowed at least one quality upon him to make people feel bad about him or at least make him feel less of a psychopath. One such example is Shahrukh Khan in Darr where despite being a psychopath he was shown as an underdog and we kind of feel bad for the poor guy. But now it looks like Anurag Kashyap has said enough is enough and he is going all the way to set a new norm regarding audience's perception of a psychopath with That Girl In Yellow Boots(TGIYB).
The psychopath in TGIYB is the guy who you see everyday but never notice. He is the one who does his dirty work right under your nose. He outsmarts you everyday while you are smugly thinking how no one can sneak up on you ever. What really amazes me is that how no one made any fuss about this movie despite it being so bold. But many times it happens that the 'fuss makers' are the movie makers themselves trying to enjoy some cheap publicity. It looks like Anurag Kashyap is in no Hurry for that.
The story is about a girl(Kalki) from England who works as masseuse in India while searching for her father. She has never seen his photo, just knows his name. There are pretty strong characters that Kashyap has created in the movie. Kalki's protogonist who is fed up with the Indian emmigration people in Visa related issues and at the same time exhausted in search of her father is very well portrayed. There is one talkative receptionist who acts as a comic relief. The character which got most laughs and my accolades is no doubt Chittiappa. He is a south Indian goon Kalki's boyfriend has taken money from. The way he talks desi english is simply hilarious.
I wouldn't spoil the movie for you by telling you the whole story and the whereabouts of the psychopath. The ending was certainly a big surprise for me. I wasn't expecting Kashyap to drop a surprise bomb.
Anyway the movie is good. But don't watch it if you don't like serious-realistic movies. You might end up missing the point that the director is trying to make.
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
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