Patiala House Masand Review on Pg6 - Page 5

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Posted: 14 years ago
#41

Masand: 'Patiala House' lacks subtleties, nuances

Rating: 1.5 / 5

Rajeev Masand , CNN-IBN
Posted on Feb 12, 2011 at 12:24am IST
Cast: Akshay Kumar, Anushka Sharma and Rishi Kapoor
Director: Nikhil Advani Those of you exhausted by Akshay Kumar's now staple brand of buffoonery might be pleased to note that the actor has been kept on a tight leash in director Nikhil Advani's 'Patiala House'. Cast as the silently suffering, Parghat Singh Kahlon, fondly referred to as Gattu, a promising fast bowler in his teens whose professional cricketing career was aborted prematurely by his tyrant dad, Akshay works with minimal dialogue and hangdog expressions. This old-fashioned melodrama, set in the largely Indian district of Southall in London, sees Rishi Kapoor playing the dominating patriarch of an extended Sikh family who has terrorised the dozen or so occupants of his home into obeying his every order. But desperate to break free of his autocratic rule so they can follow their dreams, the younger members of the family encourage Gattu to lead the way by defying his father and making a play for the England team when a spot opens up.

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The script by director Nikhil Advani and Anvita Dutt retreads the familiar 'family drama' formula, packing in every cliche that fits. Advani squeezes in so many characters that it's hard to keep track of who is who, and how one is related to the other. Fortunately one never really needs to piece together this family tree, even in the film's messy second half where every member in the house, and subsequently all of Southall conspires to hide from Gattu's father that his son is playing for the England team. This harebrained plan involves everything from printing a different version of the newspaper for their home, to cutting off the television cable each time a cricket match is about to start. Plotted like those kitchen-sink dramas of the 90s, 'Patiala House' is loud and melodramatic, and shamelessly tries to manipulate you into shedding tears. Even the cricket scenes in the film's second half don't succeed in arousing any of that edge-of-the-seat anxiety because the screenplay is so predictable. Of the cast, the usually bankable Rishi Kapoor hams it up as the bellowing Bauji whose every word is cast in stone. He fails to humanize the character despite the racism back-story, which is evidently meant to justify his tough personality. Dimple Kapadia cuts a sorry figure as his bullied wife; she has little to do in the film, and buried under layers of make-up she resembles a Madame Tussauds wax-work. Anushka Sharma, who stars as a well-meaning neighbor and Gattu's subsequent love interest, knows the character well, having played variations of it before. Still she's easy on the eye, and a welcome distraction from the film's bland supporting cast that play varied cousins and aunts. Akshay Kumar as Gattu who one cousin describes as a "shadow of a man", is earnest and restrained, and barely says a few words in the first thirty minutes or so of the film. Yet it's a labored performance, lacking the subtleties and nuances that could have made it truly heart-felt. This film may work for those who miss old-fashioned melodramatic entertainers, but I was bored. I'm going with one-and-a-half out of five for director Nikhil Advani's 'Patiala House'. Decide for yourself if it's your cup of tea.

Rating: 1.5 / 5

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Posted: 14 years ago
#42
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Mayank Shekhar

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Posted: 14 years ago
#43
Ok I feel really bad for Akshay now!! Poor guy it's all been flops til now!! I really hoped this movie would turn around for him... I found 1.5 a little to harsh..
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Posted: 14 years ago
#44
One thing is for sure,

The day Masand give a movie good rates, I will believe the movie will be good. He is very honest in giving a good reviews!

I dont believe in rates of Tarun anymore.
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Posted: 14 years ago
#45
Film: 'Patiala House'; Director: Nikhil Advani; Cast: Rishi Kapoor, Akshay Kumar, Dimple Kapadia, Anushka Sharma; Rating: ****

It takes us just five minutes to get the hang of this film's narrative structure. It is as nimbly-paced as a fast-bowler playing cricket in a wide-open field trying to avoid all the roar and din of the cheering crowds in the stands.

For a film that has a surprisingly large number of characters (after the 23rd Sikh-Briton running up and down the wooden staircase I stopped counting) the noise decibel is surprising low. The clamour of a crowded Sikh household in London never overpowers the emotional kernel of this film.

The delicate supple bonds that grow among people, who are not just mal-adjusted in a foreign land but are also spiritual and emotional misfits in their own household, are brought out in vignettes that show the hand of a confident storyteller.

Nikhil Advani's admirable episodic structure of 'Salaam-e-Ishq' failed because of its inordinate length. This time Advani takes no chances with the length. Economy of expression is paramount to the effectual storytelling in 'Patiala House'. Not that Advani shies away from taking risks. The self-assured manner in which he aggregates the characters in a house run by a patriarchal Sikh in Britain (Rishi Kapoor, firmly in command) without crowding and asphyxiating the canvas shows Advani's deep empathy with the characters who drift into his range of vision.

At heart, 'Patiala House' is a father-son story. Akshay has done them before. One immediately recalls Suneel Darshan's 'Ek Rishta' where Amitabh Bachchan was the father who drove son Akshay to a state of smothered silences. In 'Patiala House' Akshay's silences scream in wounded protest every time papa Rishi Kapoor's iron hand falls on the boy's dreams.

In many ways the screenplay (Advani, Anvita Dutt Guptan) is a compendium of cliches -- despotic dad, timid mother (Dimple Kapadia), unfulfilled son, encouraging girlfriend, her precocious surrogate-son (he reminded me of Kajol's boy in My Name Is Khan). Advani converts familiar characters into real believable warm endearing characters whose lives begin to matter us as we watch them in their Southall setting.

The historic data about the Sikh community in Britain is kept at a bare and bearable minimum. The narrative never feels the burden of the cross-cultural migratory journey made by the plane-load of characters. And that's the film's USP.

Even as the peripheral characters make a fleeting but coherent impact (Rishi Kapoor's pregnant daughter-in-law's anguish at watching her husband being treated like a doormat is as apparent to us as the family's daughter Hard Kaur's tattoo on the arm), we are constantly seeking out the next chapter in the repressed Gattu's wretched-going-on-glorious life.

Akshay plays Gattu with a restrain that never shies away from tears. Every time he thinks of his ruined dreams a trickle of a tear comes down from the side of his cheek. It isn't done for effect. Akshay embraces Gattu's shattering dreams and makes them his own.

Is this Akshay's finest performance to date? For the sheer mastery over the heart and soul of his character and the dignity he brings to the loser's character, yes, this is Akshay's best.

Akshay and Rishi don't look like father and son. And that's the best compliment one can pay to the film's theme. How can they look like a family, when the father has spent all of his son's growing years denying the boy's sense of the self? Oh, Rishi is a bellowing volcano of arrogant prejudices. Brilliantly bravura as always, Rishi almost echoes the tyranny of Prithviraj Kapoor. Player kiya paida to darna kya?

His sudden reformation at the end is unconvincing. The unhurried grace of the rest of the film gives away to an urgently-claimed culmination. One can't blame Advani for abandoning the pace at the end. He knows the audience wants a hurried send-off.

Anusha Sharma remains effervescent in her volubility. But she needs to play a less talkative character.

Though scarce, the moments between Akshay and Dimple are very precious. There is a specially evocative sequence at the hospital when the invalidated Rishi Kapoor tells his screen-wife Dimple Kapadia to shut the door on their screen-son Akshay's face.

The film has some exceptionally emotional moments bolstered by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy's resplendent background score. Santosh Thundiyil's cinematography adds precious little to the proceedings. London doesn't seem to come alive beyond the cricket field.

The editing (Manan Sagar) could have been less generous. Portions of the narrative lose their energy. Before it sags, the director swoops up his characters' dreams into curvy shapes. The narrative never loses its way in the maze and clutter of the characters and ambitions.

Gattu finally finds his groove. The film never loses it.

[www.sify.com]
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Posted: 14 years ago
#46
What is going on?? Why a bad opening? What is peoples problem? Akki tries to improve and then they dont see the film😡
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Posted: 14 years ago
#47
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Posted: 14 years ago
#48

Originally posted by: KatForeva

What is going on?? Why a bad opening? What is peoples problem? Akki tries to improve and then they dont see the film😡

i'm scared now if Akki would try something serious now,but i hope that Prabhu's action masala n action/thriller AOUTIM2 work for his sake😭
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Posted: 14 years ago
#49
First Day First Show Of 'Patiala House' Audience reaction is quite positive😳
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Posted: 14 years ago
#50
word of mouth better save this film I wanted it to do well for Akki 😭

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