Medal – Super Story, Performance & Grit

Jayesh, Maulik, Story & a gritty Producer = Success

What happens when a you combine a powerful actor with a host of equally powerful supporting actors, a great story and a risk-taking producer? Well, you are awarded with a Medal.

November has been very good for Gujarati cinema with a second good movie hitting the box office.

Medal leaves you with a good lump in the throat for its story, treatment and powerful performances.

This was an elaborate web-series meant for an yet to be launched JoJo OTT, however wisdom prevailed and the series was crisply edited to become a 2 hour crisp film. If you observe minutely, you could point out the pace especially when it comes to training the kids and the abruptness of the love life. But one can conveniently ignore even the fact that Thotha is kabuli chana and simply enjoy the narration and flow of the story.

The story is of PT master-turned-english teacher essayed by Jayesh More who has anger issues, in-law issues, nostalgia issues and issues sticking to a job, especially if it is a well-paying one. After a slightly confusing first 10 mins the story takes track where Ajit is posted to a village school (Government one with pension) where he joins with a sense of purpose, egged by memories of his friend.

You are now transformed to a village life with all its nuances, dialogues, social norms, humour and most importantly the sad state of affairs be it school or the village at large. The day to day clashes between our honest and duty-bound Jayesh More with the  PT sir (Hemang Dave in a super negative role) with three other teachers (who have not been able to unmute themselves all through the film) and the super performer Maulik Nayak (as a peon-cum-clerk). All of this curated by the indomitable principal played by Archan Trivedi.

One by one the students get inspired first to the class then to the playground. All of which is to conclude into a medal seeking challenge at the Khel Kala Mahakumbh. Interspersed within this is the social stigma of untouchability and an aggressive village headman played by Chetan Dahiya (his 64^th film). No wonder he keeps riding a horse without stirrups!

How will the movie end, will our Jayesh More succeed or will he fail and get a bail, the climax is the most-catchy part of this entire movie, leaves you in good spirits.

The Heroes of the movie:

Producer: Hardly does anyone credit this title but Dhruvin Dakshesh Shah (of the Superstar Fame) did well to pick up the story and give it shape and life. It is not easy to take the audience back to the villages and expect them to applaud. Well played.

Director-Writer-Editor: Dhaval Shukal scores big in his maiden Gujarati Film, while the writer and actor Vaishakh Ratanben gives a lot of substance to the story. The dialogues are really earthy and a lot of them are very catchy. Not easy in today’s time. Rraja Choksi & Dhruvin seem to have been ruthless in the editing and that is why the movie doesn’t drag.

My personal favourite, Tapan Vyas (he seems to the DOP for every Gujarati movie) again transforms you to a village with a very classy feel. 

Kushal Chokshi’s music too helps build the story and keep the momentum, with a few  likeable songs like Tarla No Desh and Ehsaas Taro, but nothing beats the ever-favourite Arvind Vegda who makes a couple of cameos and leaves a good impression as DJ Snake.

But the supreme honours ought to go to the most under-represented stars of Gujarati film Industry, Jayesh More and Maulik Nayak. This duo, whenever they pair up produce miracles. Fantastic performances really touch your heartstrings. Hemang Dave should leave comedy and take over negative roles. He excels in this department big time. A plump-postmaster Shaunak & mukhiya Chetan Dahiya too make impacts in the little screen time they get. Of course Kinjal Rajpriya has a decent presence but her character rarely creates impact. In the entire film, their love story grows and deflates.

Despite the film being dominated by such superstars, child artists Bhavya Sirohi, Arya Sagar and Karan Patel leave a good impression.  

There are some continuity issues, some stories don’t go too deep like the Mukhiya and the friend’s story or the love story. The sports preparation too seems ill-planned. A lot of scenes are repeated, but all of that is forgiven for the end product is a good package.

Don’t miss the wall graffiti in the villages, it just lifts the scenes multiple notches higher.

Medal, whether the team wins or not is something you will have to go to the theatre and see, all I can say is I am buying tickets for my parents to watch this movie. It is that nice a product.

Aum Mangalam Singlem - Fun, Funny & Fiesty

Who enjoys a Single life, Boys or Girls!! Watch AMS & find out. 

One of the challenge that is delaying the revival of Gujarati Film Industry is also that good quality film-makers are not making enough films with their teams. I understand it is not an easy process but spacing films this far-out, especially good films, is not fair to the industry.

Yes, yes, let me get it out in the beginning, just so that the hero and heroine’s expression and beauty is caught, they don’t wear helmets!!! If Daaru is banned in Gujarat, where do they  get the Daaru and why is it part of films (with a disclaimer!)

Now, let us speak about the popcorn, samosas and drinks that has become the norm with movie premieres. Actually, no, I don’t remember the taste of the same because they were served in the first half and I was too busy laughing, enjoying the word-fest. However, post interval I could focus on the after-taste and realized the samosas were a bit too salty and the pop-corn bland.

Aum Mangalam Singlem’s (AMS) trailer really got me thinking on how would it be to be single (hope my wife is not reading this, can’t afford to get her to think that!!). It actually made me think of all the fun I had being single and much more, so the anticipation of the movie was high, very high. Not to mention a tried and tested team of winners was making it. The movie did not take my being single too far. Telling you why.

But first, one aspect of the film which no one speaks about. Promotion. I loved the fact that it was quick, crisp to the point and only informed and did not impose. Generally promotions as so in your face, so forceful so pushy. None of it happened here.

So, about the movie. There are four Heroes of the movie.

Dialogues: Mitai-Nehal seem to have hit the groove big time. They seem to have the midas touch with words and have really touched the right cords all the time. They seem to have a chemistry with Malhar’s comic timing. Each word hits bulls-eye with him. Focus on the spoken and acted words you would love it big time all through.

Music: What amazing refreshing scores by Sachin-Jigar. They seem to always reserve their best for Saandeep-Aarti. Sawariya just takes off many a times in the film’s narrative. Latko is my personal favourite, Niren Bhatt has worded it perfect too. Khune Khune thi, Sahiyar too complete a great album. It is pleasing to see that directors like Saandeepbhai are focusing on the music to make the film memorable.

Malhar-Aarohi: They are a fluid pair. Pick any emotion and they seem to get it right. Perfect chemistry, great understanding and comforting body language makes them super. Malhar is extremely normal in his comedy skin and excels big time. Aarohi just can't seem to do anything wronng (including her natural talent of dancing).

Cinematography: Well, I have a bias towards Tapan Vyas for the absolute quality of his craft. He makes the film extremely rich, flawless & jerk-less. You feel rich watching AMS, the scenes, the close-ups and the overall emotions are so beautifully captured.

Well, the story is about two school-hood sweet hearts who grow up, finish college and are slotted to be married when they realized they have yet to live a life without each other. So, they take a pause and decide to prepare a singlenaamu and live a life (in the same city sic!). What follows, and everyone knows will happen, happens. Yeah yeah no twists and turns (or are there T&Ts, well you will have to watch the movie and find out).

One gets a feeling that once the core concept was frozen the story, especially the last part was forgotten. It leaves one with so many questions?

• If there are no rules then where did the rules come from?
• Why is it that its always the girls who are right?
• Why do the boys always have to be seen as guilty?
• Girls kare toh vaandho nai, guys bole toh vaandho!
• Anyone can come into the society, shout our daughter's name and sell Soda!
• How easy it is to stop a very determined girl going to London?
• How many Pounds would the father have lost in the cancelled admission/tickets?
• Why does Malhar look like Ranbir Kapoor when he cries?
• Why does a film have to show a happy Malhar crying, he just can’t do it!

The other cast too have good roles to play, especially Bhamini Oza Gandhi & Darshan Jariwala. Tatsat Munshi in his maiden appearance impresses but lack the meat to his role. Again am biased towards Sanjay Galsar’s craft, he too did not have much to do.

All in all, AMS is a movie that starts extremely fantastic then goes into predictable lines and ends happy.

A good family watch.

PS: Yes, seeing Ashish Kakkad and hearing his baritone sure leaves you sad.

Go Watch it, Saandeep-Aarti rarely get it wrong, be it daughters (Aarohi -acting & Sanjana – costumes) and then this second film in their version  2.0.

 

 

Madhav - A Lawyer-Police Word-Fest leading to Satyamev Jayte

What is Law?   What is Justice?  Who is right/wrong? 

These and more are the questions Madhav has tried to raise in its Gujarati Cop Thriller avatar.

But the biggest question that begs us and stares us in the face is, “If Gujarat is a dry state, then why does anyone have to be shown drinking with a disclaimer, Drinking Liquor is wrong, etc etc?” I mean just don’t show daaru. Show Chaas, Sherbet, Mocktails, anything!!!

What promised to be an action packed, daring-baaz Singham-bhai version of the Bolly-Poli movie turned into an action packed Word-Fest, a to & fro Dialogue-Drama. It’s like you promise an Ice-Age movie and it turns out to be a Dinosaur-ki-prem-katha.

Independently, Madhav is good, if only the action-perception would have been managed. We were all expecting flying cars, killer moves, jumping men, bomb blasts and more and we got revolving chair, custodial dandas, high-decibel-ear-shattering vocals & three entries, mixed with a good moral for a story.

Madhav Jadeja (a very dashing looking Hitu Kanodia), an action cop who loves to dance in a Ganesh Pandal, keep making entries in an Enfield Bullet gets the son-of-a-lawyer Yash Desai (an under-rated Vishal Shah) arrested together with his girlfriend (Saloni Shah -3-dialogues) for a frivolous mistake inviting the wrath of the mighty Lawyer Vishwas Desai (a high baritone Mehul Buch).

What follows is a mix of tu-tu-main-main-hoon-konn-chhu-jaa-have-tuu-mane-jaanto-nathi some laughter again hoon-konn-chhu-jaa-have-tuu-mane-jaanto-nathi interspersed with one or two funny jokes by Constable No 1 (a completely wasted talent Chetan Dahiya) & Constable No 2 (even more wasted talent Smit Pandya). Soon the plot opens up and we realise why this entire game was being played out and then one thing leads to the other and the game changes. In-between you may feel angry, frustrated, upset, sometimes entertained and a tad-bit bored at the pace of the film. But all is well that ends well.

You are finally left thinking, “Why did the Lawyer, Vishwas Desai kill himself?”

The king of the product is Hitubhai and carries the role to perfection. If only he would have been allowed to fling more than a chair and kick more than one villain.

Mehulbhai is a close second with a good performance. However, he could have been helped with a bit more depth on the role with more meaningful dialogues and a lot more ammunition to defend his son.

Third in line is the Music. Incorporating both Chintata Chita Chita and Singham feel, the music keeps itself and the drama upbeat.

The story, though unique needed a lot of depth. The entire premise looks frivolous with large loopholes. Come on, you can’t take the Home Minister for a spin, so easily. If you are such a hot-shot lawyer you submit way too easily. I mean me, without a law degree, can know how to spin myself out of this. Jigar Rana could have really added more meat and believability to the story  making it more action packed.

Now, when you have two power packed-dialogue-delivery-actors, the lines need to be memorable. None really stands out except Madhav Aave Chhe or hoon-konn-chhu-jaa-have-tuu-mane-jaanto-nathi, the film needed some whistle-maaring dialogues which could have been a game-changer.

All in all, for a first time Hetal Thakkar has done a great effort of giving a good-looking film. The attempt at creating a cop-thriller-drama has been brave and laudable.

I can bet my money on single screen rural audiences to lap up with a lot of excitement and fervour.

So, Madhav Aavi Gayo Chhe, feel free to go and welcome him.

Vickida No Varghodo – A Comic Timing Fest

I  would have married all three, but Vickido is not like me.

Vickida no Varghodo has been hard for me. It is a film which has made me re-evaluate my unconditional love (spanning more than a decade) for Monal Gajjar. I might be falling in love with Mansi Rachh and her performance. But that for later.

Here are some observations though:

1.      Directors are brave people who are not scared of being Badnaam, producers are, they will never try anything new – This has nothing to do with the movie but to do with a power couple. Yes, this is a private joke - #myblog #myjoke #myspace #taareshu?

2.      I like director Rahul Bhole’s confidence, English subtitles and all, he is confident the product will go big on OTT and other languages…great great

3.      Because this is a comedy film the sub-titles to have to be funny:

Mindha – Mr Foxy

Ganthiyo – Smart Pants

Hari Hari – Hail Lord Ram…and many more 

4.      Gujarati films too are following Hollywood patterns with too many title slides.

5.      How do you know Rahul is from Vadodara? Well, Comedian Manan Desai features in his films!!

6.      Why do Gujaratis never win at badminton – they play in the open, without sweating!

7.      Pretty impressed that they made Salman Khan speak Gujarati dialogues from Tere Naam.

8.      This film confuses us about schools in villages – The Collector’s daughter studies here (has to be a good school), Yet they have just one teacher for Science and Maths and other subjects!!

9.      Villages have so much space for couples to meet, wonder why they still come back to schools in the evening to meet?

10.   Want to know more about a love drug – Phenylethylamine – watch this movie.

I don’t know about you, but I feel Malhar Thakar has given his best performance in recent times. Or shall we say this movie brings out the right combination of great dialogues, fantastic cinematography, beautiful casting and the right amount of logic for Malhar to excel.

As the name goes, the film is about a great comic timing walo Malhar (Vickido) who is to get married. And to attend his wedding comes his school love played by Jhinal Belani (looking very fresh and beautiful). So, you go into a school flashback with amazing comic timing friends and parents and innocent love and badminton in the open and one teacher teaching it all only for it to all end.

And the college love begins with Mansi Rachh (Wowow, you just fall in love)!. Fresh, lively, bubbly and oozing with great confidence this love story progresses. Only for us to come back to Vickida no Varghodo where Monal Gajjar (the eternal beauty) re-makes an entry with Mareez ni kavitao.

It all boils down to who will Vickido marry? Thankfully not a Salman-like situation here.

I repeat, Malhar has excelled in this role, with full credits to himself. Guess it needs two directors & writers to get the best out of him. Rahul Bhole and Vinit Kanojia have shown brilliant sense of timing in their screenplay and dialogues. The beauty of this film is that even the cinematographer Suman Sahu contributes to some great comedy moments. But Rahul Bhole, deserves this box office hit after a badly marketed classic, Chor Bani Thangat. Rahul has shown that he has the mettle and come back stronger.

Special mention to Anurag Prappana for carrying out the role of Vicky’s father. He too contributed flawlessly to the humour (watch out the ladder scene).

While, Monal Gajjar still ranks my favourite, she did not get enough screen time to really justify her role. Yet, when on screen she just amazes with the fluidity of her essay.

Mansi Rachh simply steals the heart with her performance. Watch out her command over her craft in the pre-kiss scene. Wonder where was she all the time! 

Jhinal Belani too does a natural job and justifies her cute looks by carrying off the school girl role well.  

The music is great, personalized (Heer toh badi sad hai - vibes) and really hits well. Draksh Khaati song probably keeps the humour quotient as well as the pace (giving Rugamiffin Manan good entry points). 

And yes, I was told to write this, Kairavi Buch is one of the singers of the song Kaanha Re 😁😀(Family First). 

But Seriously, Amar Khandha, his team of lyricists and singers did a good job.

All in all, a fantastic family watch, full of laughter and funny moments.

A tad bit long, but then you don’t mind it. 

So, I leave you with a question that Chirayu Mistry (what a great actor) asks in the movie, If suicide is a crime, who gets punished?

Watch Vickida no Varghodo, TODAY.

 

 

Prem Prakaran

A love triangle between the Hot, Hotter & the Hottest.

First & Foremost hats off to the team for withdrawing their release to accommodate The Kashmir Files.

A rare gesture.

Such rarity is also the film, rare to see a good, classy and cool Gujarati film.

The film is a great product.

The hero of the film is the music. Begins and ends only at the climax. Take a bow Amit Trivedi, you have created pulsating scores that not only maintain the pace but also gives a brilliant direction to the entire prakaran. Songs like Laagni, Zidd, Yaado Taari Tu Nahi To, Kori ne Kaachi liven up the entire experience of the prakaran. Niren Bhatt’s lyrics too touch your heart, though none have yet become hummers. Singers Jigardaan, Ishani, Siddharth Amit Bhavsar too have responded very well.

But first, there are some Prem Lessons you will get:

Prem is Love

Prem is like a label

Prem is not like cigarette.

Prem is like Nasha.

Prem is like Memory.

Prem goes but memories remain.

Prem needs to take memories with it.

Prem is a letter from the past.

Prem break-up & make-up always happens best on a bridge.

Prem is not all signals.

Prem failure makes you paddle your cycle harder.

God so much pressure on Prem, wonder what would happen to his performance.

 Furthermore, we learnt:

If you are a science student you will do arranged marriage.

If a girl gives the mother a chitthi meant for a boy, she will not read it.

MICA has an MBA and MNC job pays only Rs 22,000, might as well have joined a local.

Now, lets get serious. I went to the movie to watch two of my favourite actors, Deeksha Joshi & Sanjay Galsar. They did not disappoint. Deeksha at her goofy and beautiful best and Sanjay in his normal elements always stole the show.

But as I came out, I had added two more to my favourites list.

Director Chandresh Bhatt. Man, you are a find. What a great package.

Esha Kansara. Always liked her act, but here she completely lit up the screen from her first scene. What an amazing essay.

The story is about Aditya (always-teary-eyed, Gaurav Passwala) who falls in love with his school mate Aarti Vyas (Deeksha) who friend-zones him and life goes on. A series of turns later Aditya is dejected and shifts to Ahmedabad where not only does he become rich (wonder how!) but also classy and beardy. But his love continues to burn for Aarti till one-sad-rendition-of-the-sad-song-hothon-se-chhu-lo-tum, a rendition so sad, even Jagjit Singh cried in his grave, he meets Riya (Esha Kansara).

Now the story takes off from here and comes to point where it forms a triangle. Who will Aditya choose? That you will have to go to a theatre and watch the glamour in person.

All I can say is, you know who it would be and yet you will enjoy the reveal.

The movie is at least 20 mins too long, but the music does not make you feel the length. There are times when you wish it would pace up. But the overall chemistry among friends, lovers and the team, makes it really stand out.

Gaurav Passwala looks good and carries the role well. Besides the lead even the friends are well chosen and the entire team led by Maulik Chauhan, Manan, Deep, Aariz, Mehul Nilesh do a great job in keeping the film lively. Even the Katko, replaced by Chashma act of Manan is good.   

The frames are Bollywood, the feel is classy Suraj & Pratik have done a good job on the camera. Even Junagadh looks classy in the entire experience. Heck even the costumes are truly a class apart lifting the film.

All in all, it is a good movie, worth investing your time and money. It is not every day that you come across such good movies from

One dialogue stands out: Past is a good place to visit not to Stay.

Go Watch it Today 

Mrugtrushna - A Children's Film for Adults

Darshan is a friend and hence I can say confidently that what I saw in the movie was something unimaginable.

Story of four friends living besides a river. Their fantasy/dream is to cross the river and explore the land beyond. Each caught in their own web of life, end up pursuing the dream despite multiple obstacles and eventually, like they say in the reels section of Instagram - Wait for the End

The film is an eye opener, a lovely lesson on what it takes to dream and achieve. Written in a local adivasi dialect, the kids have done a great job at acting headlined by Arya Sagar and Nishma Soni. The innocence is extremely well captured. Brilliant act by Jayesh More, Ragi Jani, Happy Bhavsar.

Music is where this movie really stands out, especially the title track Nadi ni Pelle Paar Jau by Saurav Moni gives you a Bhupen Hazarika moment...adding to the rustic appeal. Nishith Mehta has done an excellent job here too.

Equally stunning are the visuals captured by Anil Chandel doing full justice to the locations. The story too is quite unique for our times. Lyrics too bring out the best of the narrative, Tushar Shukla is a veteran at that.

All in all, it is a nice movie which sets a good pace and leaves us with a lot of thought for the present and the future.

Rarely do Producers get accolades for backing such an experimental project, Mrinal Kapadia needs to be patted for such a good decision. 

Don't miss this award-winning presentation, Darshan Ashwin Trivedi, good start to a triology, you have set a benchmark that will be interesting to follow up.

Sonu Per Bharoso Karai

Sonu Tane Mara per Bharoso Nai Ke

A TV from Chor Bazaar can make you chaotically rich

Honestly, considering the name, I was confident that this would be one of those regular slapstick movies that come about. I have known the director Henil Gandhi to be good with stories, I have known Ragi Jani to be a fantastic actor, Off late Malhar's choices of films too have been pretty good, yet this movie. I was mentally prepared for one more disappointment.

But what I saw completely floored me. Of course, not before it had its disappointments.

The Story is straight simple situational. A middle class family lose their TV (in an unbelievable and painful fashion) and decide to go to Chor bazaar to buy a new one. What they discover in the TV is much more than just gold, but confusions, honesty, murders and much more chaos.  

Let us handle Disappointments first:

The first 25 mins need to be endured. It is something that shakes your faith.

Again the villain and the Hindi saga continue. Why do villains have to speak hindi? We are not South India! 

Some dialogues and narratives are more confusing than funny. 

The background music initially was just too loud, it only levelled out later...

There are some scenes which kill the entire flow and have no relation and could have been chopped especially the salon lady and the gangster meeting and seeking help (no this is not a spoiler). It is just there, doing nothing. Adding no value.

Now let us come to the Good things:

Dialogues: Punchy, funny and a lot of time PJs by Suraj Baraliya are rocking. They elevate the movie and take it from slapstick to outright funny in situations.

Ragi Jani: Take a bow. You just took the movie to great heights. There were shadows of Siddharthbhai, still the movie is all standing on Ragibhai and he carries it well. Actually very well. Always talented, he just proved himself all over again.

Malhar: He is himself and that matters. He does a good job at being goofy, funny and likeable. This is one good movie to headline.

Ditto Jayesh More: His chemistry with Ragi is just a treat to watch. Both veterans elevate the movie.

All other support characters fit in fine.

The title song, rocks. What a catchy song. Rahul Munjariya takes it a notch higher. Not to mention the Song in between, again very classy.

All in all, it is an enjoyable movie to take the family out to. Henil Gandhi, welcome to the Good Cinema club. You have actually found Gujarat it very own Priyadarshan. More power to you.

And yes, Malhar's head is more important than that of Nijal because he was wearing a helmet (honestly, a good start).