KESARI - FILM REVIEW

It was an impromptu decision to watch Kesari on opening day and I guess it was a good one. The Film which is based on the true story of one of the greatest battles fought - the battle of Saragarhi is an exceptional piece of cinema, a film very well made. 

War is gruesome, traumatic and depressing yet Anurag Singh documents the Battle of Saragarhi with an effervescence flavour of Indian cinema giving the audience a reason to laugh even in the midst of war and be involved in the narrative. Most of the 21 characters had a personality trait or an individual back story that is very deftly stitched along with the protagonist' Ishar Singh, essayed so naturally by Akshay Kumar. Patriotism is definitely Akshay's domain from the erstwhile repertoire of actor Manoj Kumar. 

Although the film is 150 minutes long, most times you are drawn into the narrative with the expectation of what's next. There are some moments in the first half where things are slow, perhaps it is to put you into that place of isolation 'the war ground'. The actual war sequence pans out in the second half and you can witness the bravery and valor of the men of the 36th Sikh Regiment, that stood their ground fighting, even though they knew; they would never come out alive. 

On a subliminal level, the film makes you question the very concept of war; is it about protecting and defending one's boundary or is it merely a tool used by those who perpetrate it; either for profit or personal gain? Kesari - The film is not only a cinematically documented account of history but also a lesson to the modern day students of Philosophy. A definite must watch!

- Ashford Menezes

RATING: 4/5

That Thing Called Love...

I don’t know what really to call it, intriguing, amusing, impulsive etc etc and for all the words that don’t seem to come into my head to put into perspective what I want to say. I wanna talk about hmmm… you know what, and given that I love the filmy world, let me tell you a story, and I’ll stick to the characters made famous in Bollywood -  Rahul and Anjali…

Yup, you might have heard their names - Rahul and Anjali. They had never met before, they belonged to their own worlds and were comfortable in that space. And one fine day, as fate would have it, they crossed paths, at a common friend's typical page3 type party, but unlike cinematic journeys, this one was real, wherein they didn't stop and stare at each other, nor did violins play in the background. They were aware of the other’s presence, like at every party one is aware, but carried on with what they were doing mingling and dancing in good spirits, which was what all do at parties.

Life went back to normal and the two didn't even have memories of each other. But as fate would have it, they'd meet ‘again’, but this time it’s a not a hulabaloo kinda social gathering, but a close knit family affair. Rahul’s best friend had gone to see a girl, you know, the arranged marriage types, and that girl was Anjali’s first cousin. What a small world it is!!! So when the two familiar faces met, what happened next? No, they din’t break in to a song sequence. The personality type of the two individuals was far different from those we've seen on screen, and in this case, both of them were complete introverts, and let me tell you, similar personality types attract even better than opposites. Coming back, it was after a little fumble and some small talk, that Rahul and Anjali finally got know each other and with that phase1 was now complete. So what is this phase 1? Well, I’ll come back to it a little later… Moving on, as time passed by, the distance got shorter, and a 1000 sms, whatsapp, likes, comments, tweets, pings, later, like a typical scene out of a film, one proposed and the other accepted. No, it wasn't for a big fat Indian wedding; it was for some shuddh desi romance, which happened over coffee, cinema, Chowpatty and some more coffee. Phase 2 completed. Yea, now I know I haven’t told you what phase 1 was, and I am already talking about phase 2.

Relax, I will not only tell you about phase 1 & 2 but will also tell you all about all the 3 phases together. Yup, there are three. As the bond grew, somewhere and somehow so did the space, perhaps Rahul and Anjali had their own lives to manage and deal with and one thing led to another. Every conversation turned into a misunderstanding and that led to lesser talk, which led to even more misunderstandings till finally, there was no talk and that was the phase 3.

Together put, this is how it went:

· Phase 1: From being strangers to friends

· Phase 2: From being friends to more than friends

· Phase 3: And from being more than friends to complete strangers again

And this is what I find hard to put into words - the three steps - all put together, you can call it whatever you want, maybe for some it might be intriguing, to some other amusing, or maybe even impulsive. But I guess it is best described as ‘Crazy little thing called Love…’