Chez Moi

Take an ordinary, simple storyline; get some brilliant actors; throw in some decent music; give it all a good mix - what do you get? A movie called Bommarillu (means doll’s house). The story is this: Siddhu (Siddharth) is a college lad, in his senior year, whose only wish is to live his life the way he feels like. This may seem simple enough to you and me but not to Siddhu, whose rich, industrial magnate father (played by Prakash Raj) micro manages every single aspect of his life. Just when Siddhu’s dreaming of finding himself a girlfriend as well as charting his own career, well away from prosperous dad’s, daddy dearest throws a bomb in the form of ‘match fixing’ - he arranges Siddhu’s marriage with a homely girl without so much as a by your word.

Siddhu drowns his sorrows in regular drink sessions with his best buds - his life seems to go on the course charted by his father, till the day he literally bumps into Haasini (Genelia). She comes in like a breath of fresh air and wound-tighter-than-a-coil Siddhu loosens up enough to fall in love with her. When dad finds out about this, the household rocks in its foundations and Siddhu tries to rescue the situation by coming up with the drastic plan of getting Haasini stay in his house for a week, so his family could get to know her.

To cut a long story short, Haasini lives with the family for a week and breaks Siddhu’s heart to smithereens by rejecting him at the end of the period. What Siddhu does next to confront his dad and convince Haasini that he isn’t hopeless after all, forms the rest of the story.

Plus: Sid’s acting, period. The boy gives an understated, sublime performance as the troubled son who is unable to live his own life as he is ruled by his loving but domineering dad. His angst is visible in every frame and hats off to him for not overdoing it during his ’sozzled to the gills’ scenes. The work he has put in is obvious in the chemistry between him and Genelia as well as with Prakash Raj, who plays his father in the movie. Siddharth apparently spent a week in Prakash Raj’s house in Chennai, ‘bonding’ with the senior actor so they could develop a decent chemistry - which forms a vital part of the movie.

Prakash Raj, the consummate artist that he is, once again comes out with a dignified performance as Siddhu’s controlling father. Not one wasted word or action escapes this powerhouse. His bewilderment when events unravel in front of his eyes due to no fault of his is priceless. His acceptance of his faults and absolute chagrin at seeing his beloved son suffer due to his actions is a thing of beauty.

Jayasudha, the veteran that she is, makes her presence felt in the few minutes she actually shows her face on the screen. She looks gorgeous as always and young enough to pass herself off as Prakash Raj’s wife.

Sunil is fast becoming a comedy artist of note - I hope that this actor gets some decent roles from now on to actually showcase his talent.

Though I didn’t feel that the music was out of the world, the background score and the songs gel well with the rest of the film. The picturisation’s good too - Sid’s moves to the song ‘We Have a Romeo’ were brilliant!

For a first-timer, Bhaskar has done a great job of directing the movie. It is heartening to see new talent coming up in tinsel town - good directors making movies from their heart and not churning old hits in new guise to make a quick buck is a welcome development.

Having waxed eloquent about the movie’s best points, I should point out the negatives too - what tops my list is the female lead’s characterization. In trying to make Haasini a happy-go-lucky and fun loving ‘live for the moment’ girl, the director’s gone the extra few steps and has endowed her with the IQ of a rather frisky chimp. After ten minutes of her antics, I was compelled to wonder if she was dropped on her head as a baby. I forgive you this time, Bhaskar, as this is your first venture but for future reference, a girl can be fun-loving, friendly, super cool and still possess a reasonably working brain all at the same time!

I have couple of questions though - Why is it that Siddhu’s big sis has no life / house of her own and haunts her parents’ house all the time? Did they forget the ‘kanya daan’ part during her wedding?

Also, who was the lady who gives Siddhu a lift to Haasini’s house in the final scene?

The verdict?

Def. worth watching. The movie does exactly what it says on the tin though - it is a feel good family entertainer, with no unnecessary violence, no baring of skin (Mallika Sherawat - take note, please!), no touchy-feely scenes - just good, wholesome fare that you can enjoy with your whole family without squirming. There’s some brilliant acting, good music, decent story, all delivered in a clean - a good few notches above ‘timepass’.

What’s happening to Indian cinema these days? More and more, I am reading about blokes who want to become directors, become some big shot’s assistant and then end up catching the eye of a director and end up being cast as the main lead in their next movie and…. you can guess the rest.

Or…. a normal, middle-class chappie, with no connection to filmdom whatsoever, gets bitten by the movie bug fairly early in life, completes his education (in most cases, at least a master’s degree) and then moves to the local tinsel town and starts churning out films.

Siddharth (assistant director - Kannathil Muthamittal, actor - Ayutha Ezhuthu, NVNV, Rang De Basanti, Bommarillu), Kunal Kapoor (assistant director - Aks, actor - Meenaxi, Rang de Basanti), Madhavan (actor - Alai Payudhey, Minnale, Ramji Londonwale), Siva Kumar (director - Chukkallo Chandrudu), Shekhar Kammula (director - Anand, Godavari), Bhaskar (director - Bommarillu) - the list is increasing by the day.

There has always been a steady influx of wannabes in the industry - but what is different with these guys is that they are just regular blokes like you or me (well not me, exactly, but you get the picture!). That being so, they have spent most of their lives watching movies, dissing storylines and the actors like all of us; being unrelated by blood to the movie industry, they also have a healthy dose of reality running in their bloodstreams, which makes the roles they essay, much more plausible.

What’s more, they are real savvy when it comes to marketing their products too. Directors like Shekhar Kammula and Siva Kumar, who did their masters in American universities, have a clear understanding of the NRI movie-going crowd and consider the diaspora when making their films. Now it isn’t just the ‘masses’ that are being pandered to - the urban moviebuff (which could mean anyone from Chennai to San Francisco) is being taken seriously as
audience as well. I, for one, am quite happy at this as the movies these directors churn out are of the sleeker, more polished kind. Releasing their movies in the foreign markets also dramatically increases their profits - as they have no doubt realised.

In short, it seems like the movie industry isn’t the playground of filmi spawn anymore. The success of these regular guys has proved that you don’t have to be the neighbour of A.R.Rahman’s neice’s best friend or Mani Ratnam’s wife’s distant cousin’s thrice removed, to enter the Land of Make Believe. With a bit of pluck and effort, some luck and the gift of the gab, you could be well on your way to becoming the next superstar!

Crossposted at Naachgaana and DesiCritics.

August 15 - whenever this day comes around, it always brings to my mind, the song “Fanaa” from the Mani Ratnam movie Ayutha Ezhuthu (Yuva in Hindi). Sid and Trisha are bouncing up and down on the dance floor and Trish quips “this is my last August 15″. This bought a huge bubble of laughter to my throat when I watched the scene for the very first time.

Never once in the 23 years that I spent in India did I actually acknowledge August 15 - certainly not by celebrating it at the local disco! But that’s in the past. Being gazillions of miles away from the homeland makes the well of patriotism rise up and swell periodically and August 15 is recognised with the cry of “Happy Independence Day” at the sight of every desi.

At the height of irony is my location - celebrating Independence Day, sitting comfortably in my chair in merry England. Well, what does that say? I suddenly realised this yesterday when I blurted out to my colleagues “Well, hell, tomorrow is Independence Day” and one of them went “Isn’t that on July 4?”. To which I parried “Only if I am American, which I sure ain’t!!”. This brought the question, “Who did you get your independence from then?” I just looked at everyone and went “Well, you lot!” and there was absolute silence for two minutes after which one went “oh, yeah” while the rest just grinned.

All this brings to my mind the question - how to commemorate our Independence Day? I do believe it should be celebrated in some way, at least as a way of appreciating and recognising the sacrifice of the millions of freedom fighters who cheerfully gave their lives so their future generations could breathe the free air. (Quoting Rakesh Mehra here!) We all know who Bhagat Singh is now, thanks to RDB - but how many know Vanchinathan, who was strung up in the rail station of Maniyachi? There are so many unsung heroes, who deserve to be remembered.

In that sense, should Independence Day be more of a Thanksgiving Day?

The movie is due to be released on August 9. Till then, here’s a trailer to tantalise you. Sid dances to ‘We have a Romeo’ and it sounds / looks just like it is a continuation of Girlfriend (Boys). Is it just the Sid - Genelia connection or is it something else?