LOST IN TRANLSATION

LOST IN TRANSLATION

Firstly I need to warn you that this movie is slow. The movies approach is very clear,smooth and profound.The writer/director understands the script very clearly(which is a major factor), this helps her come clean without many shots going haywire or wrong. The story basically has two main characters stuck in a classic midlife crisis, One rich Hollywood actor who is stuck in what he thinks is a failing relationship other a young philosophy graduate who is having critical thoughts on her early marriage. The actor being Bill Murray and the damsel in distress played Scarlett Johansson.They both happen to be in Hongkong with different agenda. The film grows from there mutual boredom to some of the best times they spend together.

What appealed to me about this movie was how the director choose to express her idea of love,relationships and its subtle aspects with realism. I thought she choose to beat down a different path to get across her idea, message and she does this with finese. Ive mentioned this before but need to again, the importance of the director understanding the script, characters, location clearly and more closely. This widely helps her in narrowing down what information she wants to convey scene to scene in a smooth way. She has a clear view of what she needs out a every scene, discerning finer aspects which add to the potrayal of the characters realistic personality.Even the locations are choosen to add more pulse to each scene. The characters are scripted with more than a hint of realism, the conversations are very well written considering the real life ordeal the script deals with. They finely explain the situation, experience they find themselves in and how they feel about it.The conversations are very realistic, filled with inquisitiveness and details that people day to day deal with, it deals more importantly to how they would react or take care of such a situation in there respective relationships in a more self righteous way. There are few particular scenes that dont have any dialogues and end up to being the most expressive ones. I felt there was lot of effort put into crafting this movie because of how elegantly the story transcends from one page to another. The locations are shot very well,its not just the usual busy city but a lot more.

There are some funny scenes in this movie stemming from Bill Murray's display of witty sarcasm which he does ever so well. His role requires him to dwell more on the intimate aspects of the character,which he covers very well. He fits into his role perfectly. The way he wears the restless feeling or the laziness and the sarcastic replies go to show his understanding of the role. I felt that his dialogue delivery was very well balanced, he managed to keep his restless soul and that of a married man on an even keel. He delivers finely both the comic and serious part that his character demands. Scarlett Johansson requires her to be more quiet role for the starting part of her role. This aspect of her character requires more thinking,less communicating.This changes when she meets Bill Murray who she recognises to be fellow as bored as she is. This leads to many hanging outs, trips around the city and end up talking about there life etc. Conversations lead to a unique bonding which helps both of them finding themselves. The dialogues some of which are very funny help in providing the right energy to there thoughts and understandings. The movie ends beautifully with a both of them heading back to their lives with just the right energy they needed.

3IDIOTS

3IDIOTS

While watching this movie, I added up in my mind what I was expecting from this film. Few of the highlights of this list was a different film(because of the director-hero pairing), very good chemistry between the 3idiots, a level which was higher than that set by chetan bhagat( though the books was good, the truth of matter is he chooses to play with the readers or audience alike), a strong message, I hoped that this movie would link the bridge between the general SUPER HIT movies and WELL MADE movies. Other points include a very good performance from aamir khan himself.

The movie has Boman Irani playing the dean of IPE, one of the top institutions in the country. His attributes can be drawn to collimate with most other top institute deans.He is a strickler for discipline, shrewd, doesn’t put up with any silly antics from students, harsh and more importantly binds with a strong belief that Life is a race, If you are not fast enough you will never win the race. We have never seen Boman Irani play a serious character role, this movie is no different. He enacts this role with more than a hint of comedy, some of which include him being a lisp ,he arriving daily on a cycle, spends the lunch hour listening to opera and has trained himself to be ambi dexterous. As expected people around him fear his presence. He expects every student to work hard round the clock, get a job and settle down in life. IT is his strong belief that because of his competitive attitude has steered his college to one of the best in the nation. He has two daughters and a son.

The main character of the film played by aamir khan is called Rancho Das. Rancho is a smart student whose principle is life is simple chase excellence, success will follow. He doesn’t allow fear to impede his inquisitiveness. Is driven by his passion for science rather than grades and jobs like his fellow mates. He influences the people around him with his idea of free will and courage. More importantly he plays the role of someone who can be found in every class room. He doesn’t spend much time with his books, ends up with top score. He doesn’t believe in the education system, it makes more machines and less students. Education system should be able to provide more opportunites to students of all interests and not just engineers, doctors, lawyers. There are many plots in the movie which clearly aim at showing the type of different thinker he is. He does have a lot of fun during the process. He proves to be successful in urging his friends to not follow the “Life is a race” principle and end up becoming a part of the student rat race. Rather he instills in them a more braver approach to life which aims at learning more from every experience.

The other two idiots are played by Madhavan, Sharman Joshi. To sum it up in short Madhavan plays a student who hails from a typical middle class family. Father sacrifices a lot so that the son can have all privileges. He has a passion for photography but hides it in obvious fear of his father’s outbursts. He is a big admirer or rancho and his approach towards life. He also like many students though hates but obliges with the rules and regulations. He doesn’t complain, walks the line without raising any doubts. Fear unfortunately happens to be the driving force. Sharman Joshi plays a student from a poor background. With family responsibility on his shoulders, he is on a mission, first study hard, earn a job and take care of his ailing father. He is against rancho and his thinking habits. He fears that following him would lead to his career downfall. The last character worth mentioning is Chatur . His character that of a stereo type class topper. Impressing the teachers, distracting other students at time of exams et c. He is more of a I don’t care about you, my future is on the line here type of character. His role is a well balanced and neatly written. Apart from the witty part, he portrays a role which is again very common in the student society of today.

The aim of this film is to drive the obvious message.This movie has all the requirements to fit the billing of a super hit movie.I felt this movie was well made movie, not a well crafted movie. Because there was no proper plot which was constantly being focused it was falling apart at the end of the first half. As Mentioned I expected a better chemistry between the 3idiots, unfortunately it wasn’t there. Sharman joshi’s character should have been given more space I felt, from what his performance from RBD goes to show, he obviously enjoys playing the student. For moments during the film I felt Aamir khan hasn’t researched well enough for his student role. Though the charm was obviously there,he seemed dazed, confused in some of the shots. The plots are very episodic and appear to be in a rush to roll over. The writer has done a good job mentioning the important aspects and loopholes of today’s education system. The script on an overall view opens up to be more of a formula, rather a revelation. There is no creative energy flowing through the film. Many scenes are blatantly screaming fortuitous potholes which aim at drawing the audience down a familiar path, rather a new one. The script is neither revolutionary nor breaking ground type of stuff and this is crystal clear.It aims more at giving the audience the usual package of comedy, emotion, romance, the usual chases etc. Even though there is a cheap cat fight regarding the story and the novel . The movie runs on the same nerves and energy of the book FPS. The director like in his previous movies does his job of delivering his message. He clearly lives up to the tag of an Indian film maker. I am surprised at the script was developed over a long period of 3 years. It doesn’t bridge the gap between a super hit movie and a well made movie, this is truly disappointing.