human development

Ang Lee’s much-awaited film version of Yann Martel’s bestselling adventure saga, Life of Pi, is a shimmering visual spectacle. Coming close to James Camerons’ Avatar, this film too has made optimum use of 3D technology along with heavy CGI effects, which eventually makes for a unique watching experience. This story about a young man trapped on a lifeboat with a tiger, has an artificial premise but if you’re sold to the contrivances, the movie turns into a spiritual, life-altering saga.

Life of Pi is narrated in flashback by the older Pi (Irrfan Khan) to a reporter (Rafe Spall), who is in search for an interesting story – “A story that will make me believe in God,” he says. Pi recounts the incredible experiences he went through during his 200-day ordeal on sea with a tiger. They have  narrated how different religions influenced him as an impressionable child and how his faith had been questioned when he was stranded in the middle of the ocean.


Life of Pi is a film difficult to make. Most of the story takes place on a lifeboat, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. The shipwrecked hero (Suraj Sharma) doesn’t have a human soul to talk to for several days, except Richard Parker, a full-grown 450 pound Bengal tiger. This is one glaring problem faced by any aspiring filmmaker – How can they create a mighty tiger and make it look real?  Well, it's amazing what they can do with special effects these days. Richard Parker is such a fabulous and fully realized creation, perhaps nothing seems impossible to film now.

Claudio Miranda's luminous, glossy, color-saturated cinematography gives the movie a picture book quality which impresses to say the least. Especially the night portions at sea, when the water reflects the deep glimmering stars. Or the cameo made by the fluorescent painted whale that makes the scene look so magical. You almost start to believe that Pi, even while he’s stranded in the middle of the ocean, is living a better life than yours.

Ang Lee’s film is stronger as a visual experience than an emotional one. Right from the opening credits to the last scene, each and every frame is like a painting. There are scenes which do not help the story move forward but they determine Pi’s existence and his journey towards finding the actual meaning of life. However, the ones who’ve read Martel’s book will understand the visual metaphors of the film, much better than those who haven’t. Simply because this film is like a spiritual experience, you’d understand only if you connect.







For instance the film is about the desire to survive and will to live. Pi believes in three different religions and always performs their rituals. But when he’s on the life boat in the open sea, he’s unable to perform those rituals. He can’t pray towards Mecca and he eats fish in order to survive, even though he’s vegetarian. In a truly terrific scene between him and Richard Parker, Pi exclaims how the need for survival powers over any conviction.

The problem isn’t in the execution. Scenes with the tiger may be examples of movie magic but it doesn’t give enough meat for the audience to understand and accept what’s been thrown at them. The problem many would face is, ‘It’s all beautiful but what does it all mean?’

As for the cast, Young Suraj Sharma anchors Life of Pi with a confident performance. Irrfan Khan as the older Pi brings a lot of meat into the character. Watch out for the scene when he remembers Richard Parker while narrating his story to the reporter. Tabu and Adil Hussain as Pi’s parents are cast well.



The more you say about Ang Lee, the less it feels. He’s showed us the magic that can be created on-screen with 3D and CGI.  He’s made us believe that one just needs to have a vivid imagination and courage to back it with conviction.

Life of Pi is a fitting adaptation of Martel’s book. There have been umpteen arguments for how movie adaptations of novels ought to work. But ultimately, the movie has to stand on its own. If you haven’t read the book, the visuals of this film will entice you like never before. Perhaps the central message of Life of Pi works better on the printed page rather than moving images. But if you have read the book, then this film is an alternate reality; magnificent and one of its kind, waiting to be explored.

After 'Don' and 'Agneepath', Priyanka Chopra is working in 'Zanjeer' but Farhan Akhtar has warned the actress about getting typecast by doing too many remakes.

Farhan directed Priyanka in the remake of 1978 film 'Don' and then the 30-year-old actress went on to star in the new version of 1990 film 'Agneepath' opposite Hrithik Roshan.

Farhan took to Twitter to remind the actress about her fondness for the remakes of Amitabh Bachchan starrers.

“Priyanka Chopra, do you realise that this is the third official remake of Amitabh Bachchan you are in? Be careful you don't get typecast,”.

'Zanjeer' remake is being produced by Amit Mehra, who is the son of the original director Prakash Mehra. The 1973 film starred Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya in the lead roles.

Apoorva Lakhia is helming the new film, which also stars southern star Ram Charan Teja.
Priyanka is currently in Hyderabad for the shooting of the film.

“In Hydrabad for 'Zanjeer'. Starting a new film always makes Priyanka Chopra nervous,”.

Indian animated movies 'Hey Krishna' and 'Delhi Safari' feature in the list that has been submitted for the 85th Academy Awards in the Animated Feature Film category.
  Directed by Nikhil Advani, 'Delhi Safari' is a 3D animation movie which follows the story of a bunch of animal, who travels to Delhi to protect their habitat.
The film features voices of actors Akshaye Khanna, Govinda, Suniel Shetty, Boman Irani, and Urmila Matondkar.

'Hey Krishna' (Krishna Aur Kans) is also a 3D film directed by Vikram Veturi.
 A total of 21 animated films have been submitted for the Oscar race. Other movies which make it to the list are 'Wreck-It', 'Ralph', 'Brave', 'Madagascar 3', 'Adventures in Zambezia', 'Dr Seuss' The Lorax', 'Frankenweenie', 'From Up on Poppy Hill', 'Hotel Transylvania', 'Ice Age Continental Drift', 'A Liar's Autobiography:
The Untrue Story of Monty Python's Graham Chapman' and 'The Mystical Laws'.
Several of the films listed have not yet had their required Los Angeles qualifying runs.
 Submitted features must fulfil the theatrical release requirements and comply with all of the category's other qualifying rules before they can advance in the voting process.
 The final nominations will be announced on January 10, followed by a gala awards ceremony on February 24.

INDIAN Bollywood star Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has been named as an ambassador by the United Nations AIDS agency and will be tasked with raising awareness to prevent HIV among children.

One of Hindi cinema's most famous faces abroad, Rai Bachchan in her new role will be mainly advocating for the Global Plan, launched in June last year and focused on India and 21 countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

The scheme aims to eliminate new HIV infections among children by 2015 and keep their mothers alive, partly through improving access for women to HIV prevention and treatment services.

"Spreading awareness on health issues, especially related to women and children, has always been a priority for me," the actress said in a statement from UNAIDS after her appointment as a goodwill ambassador on Monday.

"And now, as a new mother, I can personally relate to this - the joys and concerns of every mother and the hopes that we have for our children. I strongly believe that every baby should be born free from HIV."

Rai Bachchan took the Miss World crown in 1994 and made her debut in Bollywood in the late 1990s.

She has since gone on to star in more than 40 mostly Hindi films as well as a few foreign movies, including The Pink Panther 2.

She married fellow actor Abhishek Bachchan in 2007 and is well-known for her appearances on the red carpet at the Cannes film festival. She had her first child in November last year.

Rani Mukherji and Kareena Kapoor who share screen space with Aamir Khan haven't shot a single scene together.

But those who are trying to read more than what is meeting the eye well, the script and the story doesn't demand such a scene where the two characters of the film come together. Also, much against hearsay and rumours Rani and Kareena are extremely cordial with each other in real life.



There are scenes and interactions with Aamir's character but their characters have no interactions at all. in fact the entire 45-50 day film schedule there never was a single day when all three of them were required to shoot.

The spokesperson of Talaash confirms "The story is such that the two characters of Rani Mukherji and Kareena Kapoor never come face to face with each other."


 

In Hollywood there is a trend of heroines who when they enter into the age bracket of thirties and even forties take the lead in carrying the films on their shoulders with their co-stars brand value at the box office not holding an element of importance, rather the whole package riding on the brand equity of the heroine making an impact at the box office, and Angeline Jolie, Salma Hayek, or even Sharon Stone, being the illustrious flag-bearers in this category.
In the Hindi film industry this kind of slotting was available to a certain extent in the art film genre, but the genre was not an important entity in the commercial space. In the commercial space, for quite a long time the heroines were heroines till they were married and after marriage they either used to walk into the sunset or started appearing as mothers, sisters etc. But the times are changing in India as well, and the lead is being taken by the breed of female actors who created new paradigms of acting on the silver screen on acting and the shining luminaries include, Bipasha Basu, Karisma Kapoor, Sridevi, Preity Zinta, and Rani Mukerji.
And each of these actors is getting a chance to experiment with the roles, Karisma Kapoor with DANGEROUS ISHQ entered into realm of rebirth, Bipasha Basu with RAAZ 3 seems to be carving a niche for herself in the era of horror laced with ample doses of sexuality to titillate and scare the with out- sexy and dangerous, while Sridevi is perhaps pandering to the national sentiments and enacting a role in ENGLISH VINGLISH that would be a song for the diaspora- especially the spouses who have face existentialist questions when they arrive in lands where English is the mother language. In the same manner, Preity Zinta perhaps wants to underline the fact with ISHKQ IN PARIS that finding love is not a phenomenon that is restricted by age, and Rani Mukerji in AIYYAA plays the role of a stalker, an act which otherwise was played by the male of species in the world of cinema.

The title lead of the movie is deaf and mute but not for a moment in the movie do you bemoan that Barfi can't speak. Ranbir Kapoor skillfully makes up for the deficiency with his animated expressions and endless energy. And while director Anurag Basu subtracts some significant senses from his protagonist, he adds much more than he takes away. Barfi is 'visually' stunning, 'smells' of freshness in every frame, 'touches' your heart every second and is so 'tastefully' treated that its excellence 'speaks' for itself.

Barfi has the potential to make the stonehearted go soggy-eyed with its sheer sensitivity and the capability to make even cynics open up to its warmth. Without a single line to mouth, Ranbir Kapoor expresses much more than any average actor could even dream of. The actor oozes of such continual charm that you can't help but fall in love with him.

Such is the uniqueness of the film that it starts with the protagonist on deathbed, goes in flashback mode and despite the imminent tragic tone, still ends on a happy note. The protagonist derives its name from the popular radio brand of 70s - Murphy, but ironically can't speak or hear.

Fondly called Barfi (Ranbir Kapoor), the film traces his journey as he grows up in the quaint hill-station of Darjeeling, falls in love with a tourist Shruti (Ileana DCruz), is left heartbroken and then forms another tender bond with his childhood friend, an autistic girl Jhilmil (Priyanka Chopra).

To start with, Barfi is not a film about the trials and tribulations of a deaf and mute human in this supposed normal world. The idea is never to seek sympathy towards the protagonist. Rather Barfi comes across as a perfectly normal guy and exudes more life than any all-right mortal. In fact his natural joie de vivre attitude, notwithstanding the deficit, imparts distinctiveness to his blithe biopic.

If you analyze the film technically, it doesn't rely on a very inventive storyline. However it's Anurag Basu's delicate handling of the narrative that takes the film to an altogether different level. The love story between Barfi and Shruti is confined within the age old rich-girl-poor-boy syndrome. But not for a moment does the track seem cliched.

Rather then resorting to melodrama, Basu shows restrain esp. in the scene where Shruti's mother (resourcefully played by Roopa Ganguly) puts across the dilemma to her daughter with her similar love story in the past.

The subsequent bonding between Barfi and the autistic Jhilmil faintly reminds of Kamal Haasan-Sridevi's masterpiece Sadma. What adds individuality to this episode is the fact that while Barfi is sane, he can't express wholly and while Jhilmil can express she is not completely stable.