Jha ji's fall

Yet another crafty director has succumbed to the lures of commercial cinema.Thats what one feels after watching Apaharan.
Prakash Jha reaches a trough after the crest of 'GangaJal'.
Apaharan is nothing but a re-mix of Shakti and Company, two hugely successful movies.It has nothing new to offer, rather the talents of Nana patekar and Ajay Devgun have been grossly underutilised.
Prakash Jha seems to have made up his mind.He wants to mint money selling Bihar's woes(with a little help from Ajay devgun of course !!)

Rang De Basanti

I had not written a review for long simply because I haven't watched a movie since many days.Now the mind refuses to watch mindless capers, and I took a chance with RDB after one week of the release of the movie.
Movies like RDB are not made, they just happen once in a while.The movie is one of the few ensemble-cast movies produced in India where an Icon like Aamir Khan is NOT the Hero of the movie, he is just another protagonist.Technically Rakeysh Mehra has reached a new height and regarding the story telling,he has bridged a desert from Aks to RDB,The movie looks at and mocks the present political situation and the corruption prevalent in it.The story has been told through the eyes of an english lady, who comes to India inspired by her grandfather's diary about the indian freedom fighters.The execution is tight and the intermingling of the documentary with the movie has been done deftly.In movies like these, the maximum time and effort is spent in the pre-production part and a little negligence on the screenplay can make the movie lookquite ordinary(as was the case with Shikhar).
Regarding the performances, Aamir plays DJ with aplomb and although he has started looking aged, no else in bollywood could have played the role better.
Atul kulkarni, is a hell of a performer who takes ordinary scenes to extraordinary heights(like the one where he narrates the poem Sarfaroshi ki tammana....).
All others including Soha(thankfully) carry their roles to perfection.
Coming to the most debated part of the movie, the climax which has been appreciated by many and disliked by others.We indians like to live in a ethereal world surrounded by feel good results.The end is not for the easy going people who want to feel good even after watching a hard hitting no-nonsense movie.
The spirit of the movie is captured by Aamir in two lines..
Zindagi jeene ke do hi tareeke hote hain...Jo ho raha hai..Jaise ho raha hai...hone do..bardhaast karte raho..
ya phir jimmewari uthao..use badlane ki..