The best of Hindi cinema in 2007 – that went unnoticed

04Mar08

With the Filmfare awards also ignoring some of the brilliant movies made last year, here is a round up of those overlooked gems of 2007:

1. Dharm: Dharm is not a religious film. It is a thought provoking treatise on the true interpretation of religion (Dharm). Pankaj Kapoor plays Pandit Chaturvedi, a devout priest in Benares who believes only in the scriptures and does everything by Dharma. His will is tested to the core by people who want his downfall and when communal clashes are rampant, Pandit Chaturvedi is forced to go back to the scriptures and understand their real interpretation to reinvent himself. The movie has many poignant and thought provoking scenes. Especially magnificent is the conversation between a Sadhu and Pandit Chaturvedi, on the ghats of Benares. The Sadhu recites a doha to tell Pandit Chaturvedi – When God didn’t discriminate between people who is man to do so? Pankaj Kapoor politely replies: I have also read the scriptures. The reply establishes the character of Pandit Chaturvedi. The movie is filled with such powerful moments. Memorable performances by Daya Shankar Pandey, KK Raina and Supriya Pathak raise the level of the film up by many notches but it is Pankaj Kapoor who owns the movie with his powerful performance.

2. The Blue Umbrella: Ruskin Bond’s sweet little story was adapted brilliantly on screen by Vishal Bhardwaj. Shreya Sharma is brilliant as the small girl Biniya who has the fancy Japanese umbrella. Pankaj Kapoor is menacing as well as heart warming in the role of Nandkishore Khatri, the tea stall owner who loves his pickles, cheating small kids out of their small trinkets and the blue umbrella. He makes you go through all emotions in one of his best performances. The sheer range of the man leaves you speechless. There are actors in India and there is Pankaj Kapoor. I liked the movie a lot more than Makdee and the sole reason is Pankaj Kapoor’s brilliance. The scene in which Nandkishore gets his new umbrella is pure joy. Watching him frolic with an umbrella in slo-mo was the most joyous moment of Hindi cinema last year. I just can’t stop raving about Pankaj Kapoor.

3. 1971: Prisoners of War: One of the best war movies ever made in India and the finest ever to tackle the issue of Prisoners of War. Period. Watch this movie for some fantastic cinematography and riveting performances which do true justice to a very good script. A welcome change from the over the top jingoistic Suny Deol flicks and the J.P Dutta extravaganzas, 1971 is all about the people who fight a war, human emotions and their pride. Hats off to Amrit Sagar for this achievement in direction. Manoj Bajpai does a star turn along with very able support from Deepak Dobriyal and Ravi Kishen.

4. No Smoking: Avant Garde surrealism (if one can put it that way), belonging to the David Lynch / Darren Aronofsky School of movie making. Technically the movie is top notch with its liberal doses of CGI and brilliant cinematography. It’s as close to Hollywood standards as it can get. Even the way the opening credits roll is very interesting. No Smoking sets benchmarks in experimentalism in Indian Cinema. Way to go Mr. Kashyap. No need to be apologetic. No Smoking kicked ass. The movie is also embellished with a brilliant performance by Paresh Rawal and arguably the best OST of the year.

5. Manorama Six Feet Under: The movie is inspired by Chinatown. Big deal. If “inspiration” was the key to make a great film than Sanjay Gupta would have been the Francis Ford Coppola of India. Similar in feel and structure of the Polanski’s Chinatown Manorama captures the desert like never before. Breathtaking cinematography transcends this brilliant movie to a modern masterpiece. A socio-political thriller, this movie had a brilliant yet understated performance from the lead Abhay Deol who showed for once, given the right script he can do magic. Impressive acting by Kulbhusan Kharbanda and Vinay Pathak.

6. Johnny Gaddar: Starting from the opening sequence and the Technicolor credit sequence, that looks like a Warhol collage, to the climax it is fast and furious entertainment. The director Sreeram Raghavan (He of Ek Hasina Thi, The Eight Column Affair and Raghav Raman fame) is not making any conscious effort to pass any message or awaken the moral. A throwback to the retro noir style thriller of the 70s its unabashed entertainment for your visual and aural senses. A tribute to the genius that was Vijay Anand who gave us memorable thrillers like Jewel Thief, Johhny Mera Naam and Teesri Manzil, Johhny Gaddar is a treat. Powerful performances by the ensemble starcast including newcomer Neil Nitin Mukesh who is a great discovery. Soundtrack is a rockbluster smash.

7. Gandhi, My Father: Another brilliant screen adaptation in the year 2007. Director Feroz Abbas Khan adapted his searing play ‘Mahatma virudh Gandhi’ on screen for producer Anil Kapoor. Akshay Khanna and Darshan Jariwala burn the screen with their intense performances in a film that focuses on an altogether different facet of Mahatma Gandhi, that of a father to his own son Harilal. After the ‘Gandhigiri’ hullabaloo its moving to see the human angle of Mahtama and kudos to the director who didn’t deify Bapu but showed him as a normal human being. Shefali Shetty is incredibly brilliant as Kasturba. Powerful is the only word that can describe the movie.

8. Bheja Fry: Mahesh Bhatt once said, “If you can hide the source, you are a genius”. Unfortunately for 1st time director Sagar Ballary he couldn’t. Clearly inspired from Le Dîner de cons, a French comedy, Bheja Fry still should be hailed as a great work of hindi comedy that entertains you without ever being slapstick. Vinay Pathak in the performance of a life time plays a bumpkin to the boot. The movie gave me my biggest laugh-out-loud moments since ages. Trivia: Aayega Aayega mein ‘aayega’ kitni baar aata hai? For answers watch the movie. Truly hilarious.

9. Ek Chaalis Ki Last Local: A Tarantino inspired thriller Ek Chaalis owes its brilliance to the fantastic script about a call centre employee who misses his last local at 1:40 a.m and comes across the weirdest people one can meet in a lifetime. That he also meets a certain Miss Neha Dhupia, needless to say, creates precarious situations beyond his control. An incredible adventure in one night or should one say an early morning. Interspersed with some spine chilling as well as some hilarious situations the movie impresses with its narrative and dialogues. A commendable effort by the entire crew.

10. Dil Dosti etc: 2007 was a fantastic year for newcomers and my line up is rounded off by the incandescent Dil Dosti etc. According to director Manish Tiwary the character of Apurv (Imaaduddin Shah) is basically his interpretation of his favourite character Apu (from Satyajit Ray’s Apu trilogy) in this modern world. A dynamite of talent that is Imaad Shah explodes in one of my favouite movies of 2007 as a character straight out of the 70s parallel wave of Indian cinema. He is a directionless young man who finds a meaning to his life in a challenge against his friend Sanjay (Shreyas Talpade). How Apu goes about winning the challenge, discovering friendship and love and in turn goes on to lose everything is what the movie is all about.

Filed under: Alternative Cinema, Bollywood, Entertainment, Review   |  5 Comments
Tags: 1971, Akshay Khanna, Anurag Kashyap, Apur trilogy, Avant Garde, Best movies of 2007, Best of2007, Chinatown, Cinema, Communal, Dharm, Dharma, Gandhi, Gandhigiri, Hndi Cinema, Johnny Gaddar, Le Dîner de cons, Mahatma, Movie, Neha Dhupia, Neil Nitin Mukesh, OST, Pankaj Kapoor, Prisoner of War, Religion, Reviews, Roman Polanski, Ruskin Bond, Satyajit Ray, Slapstick, Sreeram Raghavan, Tarantino, The Blue Umbrella, Thriller, Top 10, War movie