Recently seen movies - 8 - Page 32

The Drop: 7.8

Happy Ending

Whiplash concerns the efforts of Andrew Neyman (Miles Teller), a jazz drummer student who desperately wants to become 'one of the greats'. This desire is fiercely challenged by his perfectionist, borderline emotionally abusive conductor Terence Fletcher (J.K. Simmons).

The performances of the two leads are simply fantastic. Miles Teller, relying on small mannerisms and facial tics, is flawlessly able to come across as a highly introverted, yet highly motivated protagonist. JK Simmons on the other hand, excretes aggression and confidence to deliver one of the most terrifying and captivating cinematic roles I've seen in recent years. An almost definite Best Supporting Actor nominee.

The film perfectly captures the intensity and ruthlessness surrounding those trying to break into creative industries. As opposed to going down the clich-ridden path of showing Andrew being gently fostered and motivated into the jazz scene by a kind, caring professor, 'Whiplash' shows the protagonist being relentlessly put down again and again, almost reaching psychological breaking point in the process.

In adopting this brutal, cynical approach, 'Whiplash' takes what could have been another generic, bland music-themed film and turns it into an intense psychological study of the lengths one can go to to realise their dreams, giving it all the suspense and potency of any classic Hitchcockian thriller. Must-see viewing.

- Suno! Macchli ka khaana kidhar hai?

- Woh toh main batana bhool hi gayi.. MACHHLI KE PET MAIN!

😆 Watched Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya again.

How cute was Sohail in that movie!

1.Source code

Peekay

Admittedly I had written this movie off as the trailers left me underwhelmed and my interest in Hirani's movies had been on the wane for a while now due to their predictability and routine, formulaic structure. Unlike 3I, which I watched first day, first show, it was the positive word of mouth that compelled me to watch it, albeit 2 weeks into run time.

And despite the predictability, I found myself entertained throughout. While the concept was novel when OMG released, I found OMG drab at parts and it lacked the execution despite having winning material to base the movie on. Vice versa, I think execution is where PK has scored in spite of the subject remaining not so novel, it is heaps funnier and with less plot-holes than OMG.

I'll have to eat my words/impression of Aamir, I couldn't fault him anymore, not once did his performance look contrived and overdone which it very well could have done ala Hritik in KMG.

I swear RH may as well be Sanjay Dutt's PR/image management, he always extracts the best from him and Sanjay appears so likable in his movies, he and Aamir made a great and unlikely pair.

Anu was good, thankfully not screechy or in Duracell bunny mode, can't fault the performance, her voice is nice too. However I'm loathe to say, the lips were indeed a distraction, probably cos her appearances lately have been an improvement due to the haircut. The gamine haircut (typical to the stock character of a brazen news reporter) was unnecessary and accentuated the lips. The little love story with Sarfaraz was cute. God knows I abhor Sushant but he was actually endearing in this, due to the character. This is the best he's looked since ages now and he was charming in the initial scenes. I thought the Pakistan Embassy scene was sincere and liked how their story rounded up and was linked to the wrong number' insecurities the dhongi babas feed on to dupe people. Only problem was Sushant's trademark mumbling in that scene, though I guess that was to make it seem sharafat'.

Jaggu-PK love track was redundant to the story but I guess it made way for the cute picturisation of Love is baste of time'. The songs as per the usual in RH films were situational save for a couple and are not hear alone worthy. I know RH is a Shantanu Moitra loyalist but memorable soundtracks would make his movies more iconic than they are.

My contention remains with the train blast scene, the purpose it serves is to rid PK of his evidence against the dhongi baba and shows the worst outcome that religion divides create. I initially thought it was tapasvi's doing but not much is revealed and PK should have placed more emphasis on it during the debate, his end plea/rebuttal seems a little impassioned as a result. Or I think I have missed the point of it here?

I think it does have the worth of 3-4 viewings at least but less repeat value than the Munna bhai franchise/3I. Hopefully the 'wrong number' catchphrase should spread like 'Jaadu ki jappi', 'Get well soon' and 'All iz well'.

Just watched Main aur Mr Right... Barun ❤️