Monsieur Lazhar (Brief Comments)

Monsieur Lazhar is a rare gem, heart-wrenching and heart-warming at the same time. It reflects on and confronts death through tender emotions of blossoming school children. Covertly, film touches on many subtle issues such as political correctness of modern public behavior vs wisdom of traditional community interaction. A must watch 90 minute wonder that gently leaves a thundering impact.

Mee Sindhutai Sapkal

'Mee Sindhutai Sapkal' has hurt deeply and encouraged further to walk the path I have chosen. Salute to Sindhtai and core strength of a woman that the modern world of 21st century still fails to recognize.

Killing Fields (of Cambodia) - A Review

Saw Killing Fields again after 10 years and was quickly reminded of why I had fallen in love with the film. 

This is a hymn to the kind of love story I have come to love. There is no question of physical or platonic; it is a human love story (between Dith Pran and Sydney), a poignant reminder of the power of journalism. Salute to all sensitive and daring journalists who are more loyal to their journalistic principle - to give voice to the voiceless (Cambodia) - than to their nation or even their personal life.

The movie had changed me then and it certainly movedChandni Sheth today, who is re-watching the film with Director's commentary as I post this.

Highly recommended for cinema buffs and political junkies alike

Bloody Sunday - A Review

A fine evening spent with Chandni Sheth watching 'Bloody Sunday', a classic about the choices people make in the battle for civil liberties , the instigation for 'The Troubles' in Irish-British conflict and timely reminder that strong military action is the surest way to alienate people on the fringes and arouse them into full-scale mutiny. 

Blame it on Fidel - A Review

Blame it on Fidel

If I were to recommend you to watch ‘Blame it on Fidel’ for a light, afternoon children’s fare, I would be spot on. Strangely, I would also be right if I were to claim that it is a subtle examination of political system and economic organization of our time. Yes, this contradiction and the film’s ability to pull it off with aplomb makes it a must-watch gem.

The film sets out to explore the turning of Anna and her brother, Francois’s life upside down in the midst of widespread political upheaval sweeping across continents and their very home.  Their parents are liberals hauled into the swirling political winds of 1970s France in part due to guilt of having ignored their social belief in order to build a comfortable life  of well-adorned home and manicured gardens. In an effort to right the wrong and embrace a new life of bohemian adventure and iconoclastic ideology, they start with gusto. But Anna is not so sure.

Francois provides the much needed comic relief in this adorable tussle between the elder child and her parents. In the aftermath of one such battle, Anna storms out of the house hauling Francois (perhaps to save him from her parents) onto the streets of Paris. The lilting melody of those moments becomes the troubling memory of the film. Audiences will, at once, find themselves smiling at the girl’s fiery temperament and profoundly touched by the love between siblings.

The movie is particularly effective by not answering the very questions it poses. Anna does not simply accept her parent’s theories at face value. She resists, she prods, she questions before she embraces. Essentially, what begins as a journey to educate Anna on a certain ideology also ends up being a lesson for parents themselves. In the process, audiences are left delving deeper into their own minds wondering if they can differentiate between group solidarity and sheep mentality, if they always know when they are sure, if it is ok to simply throw crumbs at poor farmers and workers in the name of charity or do we need to bring fundamental change to right the wrong of generations past.

Nitin Sonawane

India After Gandhi - A review

India after Gandhi is an exasperating account of India’s social and political turmoil from mid-1940s to mid-2000s. Anecdotal proof is as important as empirical evidence in deciphering emotions locked and simmering over generations. The book serves that purpose of anecdotes and is fairly balanced in its broad strokes. It is carefully researched and certainly written with ardent passion. As an Indian citizen, the drama will make our heart swell with pride and head hang in shame in equal measure. The book is not People’s History of India on the lines of Howard Zinn’s great treatise because it relies mostly on government archives and officials, scholars & experts’ interpretation rather than that of the people. However, it serves the reader with adequate depth and introduction to sweeping changes in Indian social sphere since Independence. The book’s must-read quality lies in the fact that there is barely any comparable book on modern history of India and the authors success in building an engaging narrative. The author himself laments the utter lack of material on popular Indian figures and landmark moments in our history. For those Indians who care to understand themselves, this book is highly recommended. A must do item on your bucket list. 

Must watch Features & Documentaries

The listing below is an effort to share my experience and expose friends from non-film backgrounds to variety of ideas and thoughts via films. Some films are already popular and mainstream but there are others that deserve more attention than they get. A link is included for films whose short review is complete.

Feature films:

10 out of 10:

1. Blame it on Fidel (French)
2. Out of Africa
3. Bicycle Thief (Italian)
4. A Peck on the Cheek (Tamil)
5. All the King's Men (1949 version)
6. Citizen Kane
7. Life is Beautiful (Italian)
8. To Kill a Mocking Bird
9. In the Name of Father
10. Dead Poets Society
11. No Man's Land (Bosnian)
12. Gandhi
13. The Lives of Others (German)
14. Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (Turkish)
15. The Shawshank Redemption
16. Before Sunset 
17. American Beauty
18. Casablanca
19. Gone with the Wind
20. LA Confidential
21. Titanic
22. The Lord of the Rings
23. A Beautiful Mind
24. Che - The Argentine Part 1 (Spanish)
25. 12 Angry Men (USA)
26. Pinjra (Marathi)
27. Machucha (Chilean)
28. Selma (USA)
29. Winter Sleep (Turkish)
30. Children of Heaven (Iranian)
31. 
    

9 out of 10

1. North Face (German)
2. Motorcycle Diaries (Spanish)
3. Killing Fields
4. Welcome to Sajjanpur (Hindi) 
5. The Secret in their Eyes (Argentine)
6. The Deer Hunter
7. Scent of a Woman
8. Born on the 4th of July
9. JFK
10. Nixon
11. Shwas (Marathi)
12. Good Night and Good Luck
13. Chicago
14. Network
15. All the President's Men
16. In the Heat of the Night
17. One flew over the Cuckoo's Nest
18. Schindler's List
19. Thirteen Days
20. The Insider
21. Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Swedish)
22. Path To War (HBO film)
23. The Sixth Sense
24. Apocalypse Now
25. The Gladiator
26. Malcolm X
27. Khamosh Paani - Silent Waters (Punjabi)
28. Battle for Algiers (French)
29. Casino
30. The Usual Suspects
31. Paan Singh Tomar (Hindi)
32. Les Misérables - 2008
33. Wind that Shakes the Barley (Ireland-English)
34. Omar (Palestinian)
35. Shatranj Ke Khiladi (Hindi)
36. Legends of the Fall
37. Court (Marathi)
38. OTTAAL (Malayalam)
39. Unforgiven
40. Sairat (Marathi)
41. Innocent Voices (Salvadorian Spanish)
42. The English Patient
43. Natsamrat (Marathi)
44. Amadeus
45. Rain Man
46. Even the Rain (Spanish)
47. Mississippi Burning
48. Heat

8 out of 10

1. A River Runs Through It
2. Chaplin
3. Mystic river
4. Bridge on River Kwai
5. In Brudges (Belgian)
6. Into the wild
7. Annie Hall
8. Harishchandrachi Factory (Marathi)
9. Uttarayan (Marathi)
10. Taryanche Bait (Marathi)
11. The Social Network
12. Westside Story
13. El Violin (Mexican-Spanish)
14. A Separation(Iran-Persian)
15. Kolya (Czech)
16. Unstoppable
17. American Gangster
18. Any Given Sunday
19. Million Dollar Baby
20. Revolutionary Road
21. A Single Man
22. Hotel Rwanda
23. Black Hawk Down
24. Fargo
25. Kings Speech
26. Traffic
27. Bloody Sunday
28. Shaala (Marathi)
29. Special 26 (Hindi)
30. Tell No One
31. Syriana
32. No (Chile-Spanish)
33. Frost Nixon
34. What Maisey Wants
35. Before Midnight
36. Journey of Hope (Turkish)
37. The Hunt (Danish)
38. Z(French)
39. The Manchurian Candidate 
40. Nowhere in Africa (German)
41. The Edge of Heaven (German-Turkish)
42. Fandry (Marathi)
43. Mongol
44. Bas Vakit (Turkish)
45. Flame and Citron
46. Bullhead (Dutch)
47. Salvador
48. Whats eating Gilbert Grape?
49. The Great Beauty
50. Butterfly (Spanish)
51. Downfall
52. Revanche
53. Two Lives (German)
54. A Streetcar Named Desire
55. Showgirls
56. Pelican Brief
57. People Vs Larry Flynt
58. Primal Fear

7 out of 10

1. Road to Perdition
2. Last of the Mohicans
3. 
   

Special Mention (Features)

1. Me Sindhutai Sapkal (Marathi)
2. Shahid
3. Kon-Tiki
4. Match Point
5. Driving Miss Daisy
6. Monsieur Lazhar (French)
7. A Hijacking (Danish/Somali)
8. The Grey
9. Viva Cuba (Cuban-Spanish)
10. Departures
11. Force Majeur
12. Flame and Citron
13. Sling Blade

Best Documentaries

10 on 10

1. Planet Earth Series
2. The Untold History of United States of America
3. Inside Job
4. Virunga
5. CitizenFour
6. The War on Democracy

9 on 10

1. Inequality For All
2. End of Poverty?
3. Too Big to Fail
4. Senna (Brazilian)
5. Life and Debt (on Jamaica)
6. Blackfish
7. Year Zero
8. Close Encounters at the end of the world
9. Meru
10. Bhutto

8 on 10

1. Wild China Series
2. Fidel
3. South of Border
4. Frontline: Ten Trillion and Counting
5. Zeitgeist Series
6. Katiyabaaz (Powerless)
7. Dirty Wars
8. Who killed the electric car?
9. The Summit

Worth watch due to unique value