Children of Heaven (1997)

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An Iranian film Bacheha-Ye aseman directed by Majid Majidi

A movie that talks about the purity and innocence of kids, shown through a very young brother-sister pair, Ali and Zahra, who belong to a family that lives on the fringes of society. The brother loses his sister's pair of shoes by mistake and given the poverty in his family, he can't afford to tell his father or mother that he has lost the pair as they can't afford to buy a new pair till the end of the month. He and his sister decide to share his sneakers and they wear the same pair to school, as their timings aren't the same. As soon as the girl kid completes her classes for the day, she rushes back to hand over the sneakers to her brother who then rushes back to the school again.

This routine carries on as Ali and Zahra hide this from their parents. As the tagline says, though it's a little secret, it results in their biggest adventure. An adventure which includes many events like one part of the pair falling into the gutter and Zahra chasing the shoe, the brother taking part in a marathon just to get the third prize which is a pair of sneakers, the siblings communicating at night through written words on paper just so that their parents don't find out, Ali gifting a special pen to his sister, Ali and Zahra washing the dirty shoe together and many more little endearing moments.

The movie's musical score has a heavily haunting contribution by the flute. The scenes when Ali and his dad go to the upmarket areas of the city on a Friday to make some money by gardening, are lifted heavily by the music. The aforementioned long distance running competition in the end makes for really emotional viewing as you get sucked into Ali's sincere and almost divine intentions behind taking part in the race. The scene when he convinces his master to let him take part in the race is again brilliantly done.

Amir Farrokh Hashemian as Ali and Bahare Seddiqi turn out to be among the most natural kids ever onscreen. They look so innocent, cute and never once does it seem like they are overdoing or even acting. It is as realistic and endearing as it can get.

One of the best ever feel-good movies for sure. Simple intentions and gives a real emotional high. Salutes to Majid Majidi. 

Jolly LLB movie review

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2.5 / 5
The interestingly titled Jolly LLB has a unique ensemble of talented actors like Arshad Warsi, Amrita Rao, Boman Irani and Saurabh Shukla. Subhash Kapoor is at the creative helm of affairs.

The movie is a legal drama which pits an underdog rookie lawyer who moves from Meerut to Delhi, Jagdish Tyagi aka Jolly (Arshad Warsi), against an influential big shot senior lawyer Tejinder Rajpal (Boman Irani). The matchup arises from a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Jolly in relation to a high-profile Land Cruiser ‘hit and run’ incident, after Rajpal manages to settle the initial case in favor of his rich clients citing lack of proper evidence, to prove the death of the five footpath dwellers.

Jolly’s initial motivation in filing the PIL is to quickly become rich and famous in the media thanks to the high profile nature of the case, but he slowly realizes that money pales in front of the fight for justice.

The movie’s legal drama is engaging and it has been presented in such a way that the rookie Jolly works his way through the case with experience. He observes the much senior Rajpal, learns the legal procedures, experiences his share of setbacks thanks to his inexperience and impulsive nature and finally matures as a lawyer.

There are also bits of humor sprinkled across the legal proceedings which makes it lighter on the audience. Other aspects of legal proceedings like manipulation of facts, evidences and corrupt cops are also there in the movie.

Boman Irani as the rich senior lawyer with questionable virtues is totally convincing thanks to his presence, confidence and command over the language. Arshad Warsi is the earnest underdog who wins our loyalties easily. Though his journey from being self-centered and money minded to an honorable pursuer of justice is predictable, it is endearing nevertheless. Saurabh Shukla delivers the performance of the movie as the judge. His sly remarks, the appropriate displays of restlessness and total command are a treat to watch. The intense scene when he puts down Boman and proclaims that it is his court is the highlight of the movie. Amrita Rao is cutesy and plays her little part in Jolly’s life as his girlfriend.

The movie has another really hilarious character in Mukund Bhatt as Jolly’s ‘hardly fit’ bodyguard and his antics will surely make you laugh in one particular song.

Jolly LLB could have done without its songs as they are mere speed breakers. The background music, the cinematography and other elements are handy enough and the core legal drama isn’t hassled by these departments in anyway.

Given the fact that legal dramas are generally bound to be interesting due to the inherent tension and emotional core, Jolly LLB is no exception either.

Verdict: This ‘underdog’ legal drama has its heart in the right place

Dead Poets Society (1989)

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The movie is set in the Welton Academy, one of America’s most prestigious preparatory schools where discipline and conformance to rules is of prime importance. All the students here are molded to be among the herd with academic brilliance being their only motive.

In such a setup, arrives an imaginative, intuitive, 'out of the box' and extravagant English teacher Mr. John Keating, a former student of Welton himself. His teaching methods are delightful and interesting to say the least. He encourages the boys to seize their moment and to make their own way with independent thoughts. ‘Carpe Diem’ is his simple motto for the students which means seize the day and the students are inspired to say the least. Each of them takes up the activity which is closest to his heart and follows it with complete passion and involvement.

Thanks to a ritual/meeting which Keating took up during his student days, one by the name Dead Poets Society, the boys’ lives are changed forever. While their thoughts are liberated and they even go to the extent of being ant-establishment, one of the boys, Neil Perry, isn’t able to balance his love for acting and the stress, pressure that he is put under by his conformist parents.

How Neil’s fate changes the lives of all the other boys and Mr. Keating, is the finale of this moving tale. The film is sure to move you with its uplifting intentions. The final scene in particular stands for the power and positive influence that a teacher can wield over his students. Goosebumps moment.

Robin Williams’ is a true master-class performance and the actor is free-spirited to the core. Ethan Hawke as Todd Anderson, the kid with confidence and inferiority complex issues, delivers a very subtle and natural performance. Robert Sean Leonard as Neil Perry, Josh Charles as Knox Overstreet - the kid who is madly in love with Chris and Gale Hansen - the rebellious kid, complete a wonderful cast list which delivers big time.

The music soars at just the right moments like when the kids enjoy a lighter moment with Mr. Keating on the field and during the emotional scenes.

If this movie doesn’t impact you after it ends, then nothing ever will. MUST WATCH

The Color of Paradise (1999)

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Iranian film Rang-e khoda directed by Majid Majidi


Mohammad is a kid with special abilities but God doesn’t give him sight. He studies in a blind school in Tehran and is very industrious, studious and constantly keeps revising his lessons even in the things and objects that he feels and touches. He has a special connect with nature and constantly listens to what animals and birds are communicating and also feels the little elements of nature that he can. He tries to decipher a pattern in all the objects that he feels through Braille. That scene when he puts a couple of newly hatched fledglings back into their nest on top of a tree is such a touching little one. The innocence and purity behind his actions are truly humbling. The young kid indeed resembles a young Rafa Nadal, as my friend pointed out.

During his 3 months summer break, he is taken back to his village by his reluctant dad who feels his blind son would be too big a burden for him to handle. He has two daughters and his mother and is a poor man who struggles to make ends meet. He is eyeing another marriage and is somehow hell-bent on sending Mohammad away from home. He just wishes to pass on the burden and responsibility of raising Mohammad on to someone else.

Mohammad is overjoyed on being at home and enjoys the company of his sisters, his grannie and above all his outside trips with them. Mohammad is also showered with a lot of care and affection by his grannie and his sisters and he even impresses the teacher and kids at the local school. How his father’s self-centered motives and actions affect the family and what happens to Mohammad is the crux of this tale.

Straightaway we connect with Mohammad and more than a feeling of pity, we also start admiring his innocent and likable ways. The fact that he is intelligent is another admirable treat in him. Other characters like the grannie, the teacher at the blind school, the blind carpenter and the two sisters also impact you with their compassion towards Mohammad.

The father is a man who has been weakened by the losses in his life and he starts doubting his survival even more due to the presence of his blind kid. Towards the end, he repents for his actions and decides to make amends as the consequences of his motives and actions start increasing the toll on his life.

The visuals bring about the pristine beauty of the hills and the various seasons. The musical score reaches a crescendo during the poignant and touching moments and increases the impact.

A delicate treat for movie lovers, in all

Mere Dad Ki Maruti movie review

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3 / 5
Maruti couldn’t have asked for a better in-film brand integration campaign as Mere Dad Ki Maruti has more than a fair mention of one of Maruti’s cars, Ertiga, in almost the entire duration of the movie. Other than being just a vehicle for promoting Ertiga, the film offers plenty of wacky fun thanks to the situations which keep cropping up.

The plot is about Sameer (in his own words an irritating, irresponsible and good-for nothing college kid) who sets his eyes on the new Maruti Ertiga that his dad has purchased, on the eve of his daughter’s marriage, as a sign of goodwill to his son-in-law. Sameer uses the car to impress the hottest girl in his college, Jazzleen, on their first date. After having his share of fun with her, Sameer goofs up and loses the car due to his typically reckless attitude. All hell breaks loose and how he manages to restore parity is the crux of the movie.

The movie works due to the performance of all the actors, be it Ram Kapoor as the loud Punjabi dad who can’t tolerate his son’s hasty ways, Saqib Saleem as the boyish Sameer who has the IQ levels of a kindergarten kid, Rhea Chakraborty as the ultra-hot, girly but dumb Jazzleen and Prabal Panjabi, Sameer’s partner-in-crime and another typically immature college kid.

The lingo spoken by this college trio is typically Gen Y and their easygoing irresponsible attitude and way of life is sometimes baffling, though it is passed off as comedy. If this is how majority of the Indian youngsters really are but you deem it odd, then obviously there is a generation gap between yourself and the characters on screen. Nevertheless, the movie does have many appealing moments on a mainstream level as well, like the climax which is the real icing on an even otherwise enjoyable youthful comedy.

With a running time of just 101 minutes, the movie doesn’t drag one bit and the screenplay is coherent as it’s mostly about Sameer’s efforts to get an Ertiga in time for his sister’s marriage which is fast approaching. The Punjabi flavor in the movie is overwhelming and this is actually a Punjabi movie masquerading as a Bollywood movie. The dialect spoken is pretty hard to follow at times for the uninitiated.

The movie’s soundtrack is again soaked in Punjabi pep and rhythm and Sachin Gupta’s score for the title song and the end credits track is foot-tapping to say the least. Other elements of the movie are functional and in line with the movie’s flow.

If you are looking for a quick de-stressing outing, try Mere Dad Ki Maruti. It doesn’t have any serious intentions and its only motto, entertainment, is delivered uninterrupted and in good spirit.

VERDICT: This ‘young at heart’ entertainer is sure to leave you with a smile.

Paradesi movie review

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3.75 / 5

The daring and gutsy Bala has chosen to portray the lives of impoverished and enslaved tea plantation workers in pre-Independence India, in his latest Paradesi. The movie has absolute focus in its script and after the initial half an hour or so when the director portrays the happy camaraderie in the Salur village, he shifts base to how these villagers are taken to work in the hills, on the basis of false promises of a decent standard of living.

One may feel that Bala is glorifying pathos, sorrow, torture, pain, hunger and other dark emotions as the second half is one deep and disturbing experience indeed. Paradesi is definitely not for the 'entertainment oriented' among the audience.

The intermission visual and the climax also score high on the impact quotient thanks to the hard-hitting realism and the performance of the actors. There are many such scenes when the actors' torture and pain get to you as well and you feel so sad for their plight.

Atharvaa knocks you out with his performance as Otti Paruki aka Rasa. He is the man who does all the dirty jobs in the village and he is an absolute workhorse who does these jobs for some food and a few annas in change. He isn't respected by the folks in his village and they even hesitate to feed him properly. That scene when he feels gutted on being snubbed for food by the villagers after a marriage is heart-wrenching. His bonding, with Angamma and his grand mother, is his only solace. Atharvaa's plight will surely leave you with a lump in your throat and his climax performance is the icing on the cake. The physical and mental effort that he has gone through for this role in immense. Kudos Kid ... Hope you grow as big as Vikram and Suriya.

Vedhika as Angamma is joy uninhibited and she shows that she can emote with the ease of a veteran in the emotional scenes as well. The chemistry between Atharvaa and Vedhika shines through in the delightful Avatha Paiyya number. Dhansika as Maragadham has also invested her heart and soul into the film and a pat on her back too. The bonding between Atharvaa, Dhansika and her kid is among the few solaces in the second half which is packed with how these poor souls are exploited by their heartless employers.

G.V.Prakash's BGM score places the movie on a pedestal and furthers the drama and intensity. A-Class work by the youngster. Most of his songs are dedicated to showing how the villagers suffer in the face of adverse working conditions. The way plague spreads due to their unhygienic living conditions in the tea plantation is sad to say the least. And the state of their medical care and attention is pathetic.

Chezhiyan's cinematography, the apt color tone and the shots in the dark are all perfectly in place as well.

Bala has also sarcastically portrayed how Christians went about converting the masses of the state and this takes a lot of guts too. Wonder if the Christians will have something to protest at the utter irreverence with which they have been portrayed. The British bosses have all been portrayed as evil womanizers who have a major addiction to alcohol.

On the whole, Bala's intentions of showing the dark and distressing tales behind the tea that we enjoy daily works big time, due to his uncompromising stand and hard-hitting film-making. In that sense, the voice-over by Rajkiran before the movie starts, is on the mark. The performances are of the highest order and all the technicians have shined in their roles.

But some are bound to question Bala's continued indulgences with the darker side of humanity. He stirs you, shakes you and leaves you pondering. If you are looking for a film to de-stress you, Paradesi is the last option as it will distress you, on the other hand. 

Vathikuchi movie review

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2.5 / 5

A share auto driver living in the outskirts of Chennai gets into trouble with three sets of people, who are after his life. The reason being his proactive helping nature which gives him an urge to question and act against the anti-social wrongdoers in the city.

It seems Chennai is replete only with gangsters and other crooked minds, as evidenced in movie after movie.

We also have his loving family, his girlfriend and her family, thereby completing a typical commercial action entertainer with its share of romance in place as well.

The movie is fairly interesting thanks to the screenplay which is engaging but it gets too far-fetched at times thereby eliciting laughter from the audience even in some serious scenes.

Deliban is convincing in the action scenes but not so in the romantic portions. Anjali repeats her Engeyum Eppodhum act and her character also has shades of Asin from Ghajini. Her experiences at the Spoken English class, her friends from the class and her episodes at trying to be the typical city girl are hilarious and entertain the audiences. Her dressing is also typical of middle class girls with some weird clothes at times. She better watch her flab.

Jegan, Sampath and Jayaprakash are the antagonists and they are all either bashed or outsmarted by the hero. Jegan's so-called evil reactions are repetitive beyond a point. Saranya Ponvannan plays another of the zillion mother roles that she has done till now.

Ghibran's songs and background score lift the movie a notch, for sure. Amma Wake Me Up has been picturized interestingly and so are Kuru Kuru and Kanna Kanna. The action choreography with ultra slow motion shots is attractive though it becomes repetitive as well.

On the whole you may give it a shot, you won't complain. The narration is interesting and though the portions with Anjali are a speed breaker, the movie on the whole is a decent action flick though it becomes illogical and unbelievable on occasions.

Forget logic, switch off your minds at some instances and you may savor this fare.