Raja Sen in Mumbai
In the fourth part of this special series, Raja Sen lists the best films of the decade that are a must watch! Here's a look at his next batch of movies to cherish.
Click here for the first, second and third part of the series. Feel free to send in your list as well!
Maqbool
Cast: Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri, Tabu, Irfan Khan, Pankaj Kapur, Piyush Mishra, Masumeh Makhija, Deepak Dobriyal.
Naseeruddin Shah and Om Puri star as astrology-obsessed cops in Vishal Bhardwaj's reworking of Macbeth, the two actors standing in for Shakespeare's three witches.
Tabu's version of Lady M is unbearably sexy, while Pankaj Kapur's Godfather-inspired King is the stuff of legend. A wonderful, audacious take on the most often-interpreted classic of all.
Tahaan
Cast: Purav Bhandare, Anupam Kher, Sarika, Rahul Bose, Rahul Khanna, Victor Banerjee.
Santosh Sivan's heartwarming film features a young boy and his donkey, and the travails the two see as they adventure through war-ravaged Kashmir.
It's a lovely story with a smoothly flowing narrative, and Sivan makes sure that he shoots Kashmir simply and spectacularly all at once.
Bluffmaster
Cast: Abhishek Bachchan, Priyanka Chopra, Ritesh Deshmukh, Nana Patekar, Boman Irani.
Rohan Sippy's Bluffmaster is soaked in coolth, right from the trendy Vishal-Shekhar soundtrack -- featuring Abhishek Bachchan, rapstar -- to in-jokes, references and actors all laidback while playing a groovy game.
Bachchan and Priyanka Chopra do well, while much scenestealing is done by Ritesh Deshmukh and Nana Patekar, the latter playing the film's screenwriter, Sriram Raghavan.
Black Friday
Cast: Kay Kay Menon, Pavan Malhotra, Aditya Srivastava, Zakir Hussain.
Based on the book by S Hussain Zaidi, Anurag Kashyap's Black Friday is a gripping film about the 1993 Bombay blasts.
Kashyap's cast is excellent -- especially Pavan Malhotra as Tiger Memon -- and the film is an eye-opening look at how the systems of police and terror operate in a city like Bombay.
The handheld camerawork is thrilling, the highlight being a long chase through the slums of Dharavi.
Bhoot
Cast: Urmila Matondkar, Ajay Devgan, Fardeen Khan, Rekha, Nana Patekar, Seema Biswas, Victor Banerjee.
Set in a typical suburban Mumbai apartment, Ram Gopal Varma's Bhoot is a stark horror film that became iconic because of its very setting.
Relying on standard horror tropes and background score to do the job, the film kept the action inwards and concentrated on scares instead of plot, working very effectively indeed. It brought back the genre.
Makdee
Cast: Shabana Azmi, Makrand Deshpande, Shweta Prasad.
Vishal Bhardwaj's directorial debut is a charming children's film about twin sisters (played very well by Shweta Prasad), who trespass into a haunted haveli inhabited by titular witch Makdee.
Spells are cast, curses are broken and there is much darkness afoot in this enjoyable children's film which takes its audience seriously.
Munnabhai MBBS
Cast: Sanjay Dutt, Arshad Warsi, Jimmy Shergill, Sunil Dutt, Gracy Singh, Boman Irani
Rajkumar Hirani charmed us big time with his first film, about a lovable goon and his enthusiastic sidekick, trying to be medical school students.
The film is made with overwhelming heart, and Sanjay Dutt's Munna and Arshad Warsi's Circuit are as irresistible as Obelix and Asterix. And if you don't agree, there's a magic hug to make you feel otherwise.
Waisa Bhi Hota Hai Part II
Cast: Arshad Warsi, Prashant Narayanan, Sandhya Mridul.
To be fair, Shashank Ghosh's directorial debut is a trilogy, not just Part II.
Part I is the first ten minutes of the film, and Part III is the last minute of the film, and the rest is II. And what a mad II it is!
A twisty narrative with cops and copywriters and gangsters, it's an experiment that doesn't completely come off but deserves definite marks for trying.
Main Madhuri Dixit Banna Chahti Hoon
Cast: Antara Mali, Rajpal Yadav.
In director Chandan Arora's charming first film, Antara Mali plays a diehard Madhuri Dixit fan, one who can perform many a Mads dance, from Sailaab to Beta.
The film is her story, a wannabe actress with a star in her eyes, travelling from a small town to big bad Mumbai and learning that dreams are not all they've cracked up to be.
Swades
Cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Gayatri Joshi.
Ashutosh Gowariker's Swades features Shah Rukh Khan as Mohan Bhargav, a NASA employee who comes to India to find his nanny.
Mohan's trip to the village of Charanpur is a revelation -- as is Khan's acting -- and he decides to pitch in and give the village his support. A stirring, powerful film with a great soundtrack.
Comment
article