The Jungle Book - As Indian movies go the best one so far this year

There’s a great gag doing the rounds right now, that in the race for the Indian box office, a movie with Shere Khan and a couple of songs has gobbled up a movie with two Shah Rukh Khans and no songs, because while #Fan has under-performed - The Jungle Book has shot out the lights!

The times they are a changing and yet the more times change the more they remain the same.

The original The Jungle Book movie is almost fifty years old and I must have been knee high to a grasshopper when I was introduced to Wolfgang Reitherman’s classic cartoon version. 

Hazy memory and all, I still seem to think it was probably the first movie I saw in a darkened cinema (which goes a long way to explain my magical relationship with a screen lighting up) – and thru time I have owned a copy in virtually every format from VHS to DVD.

The animation back then was nowhere near as slick as it is today, but the joy of watching it, and it’s magical aura has never dated.

It’s the characters that evoke such feelings; the unbridled happiness of Baloo, the eeriness of Kaa, the wisdom of Bagheera, the menace of Shere Khan and the charming impishness of the man-cub Mowgli with his inquisitive mind - and a cute nose for trouble. And who can forget those bored Beatle inspired vultures with their mop tops, who kept asking each other the same annoying question “ere wot you wanna do!”  

Today the animation looks dated and yet the movie retains its disarming charm. The six songs by the Sherman Brothers are as catchy today as they were back then, and the one song that those brothers didn’t compose remains the most memorable of the lot, how The bare necessities of life will come to you, a Terry Gilkyson composition didn’t win the Oscar for best song is puzzling, it is an all-time classic!

Get this - that 1967 movie cost Disney $4million to make and its box office return to date is around $206m which doesn’t even take into account the thousands of VHS tapes, DVDs etc. that have been sold.

The thing about the original is that while it was well loved, it was criticized for not being true to the dark and sinister Rudyard Kipling series of stories on which it was based.

The Jungle Book was the last film that Walt Disney himself worked on before his death and legend has it that after ditching his first script writer who he thought was being too sincere to the book, he gave Larry Clemmons the responsibility of rewriting it. 
He also presented Clemmons with a copy of Kipling’s book and advised him not to read it, just to use the characters and to have fun with it - and oh what fun they had.     

That fun element is apparent in this new version, which starts just like the original did... Buena Vista logo usurped into a green dense jungle..but there is a darker more sinister side that makes it more thrilling. 

And although the animal kingdom is more real, the character’s personalities match the original fun versions; the lovable oaf Baloo voiced by Bill Murray, the world wise Bhageera (Ben Kingsley), Shere Khan filled with a menacing ferocity by Idris Elba, Scarlett Johansson’s  hypnotic ssssscene sssssstealing Kaa, and the maternal instincts of the mother wolf Raksha (Lupita Nyongo’o) and then there’s the man cub Mowgli the only real actor in the movie played with impish charm by Neel Sethi.  

Considering he is the one living actor in a movie filled with computer generated characters, it is quite a feat as to how well director Jon Favreau manages to hook and immerse one into this new Jungle Book, turning it into one great big rollicking adventure. The film like its predecessor is a tribute to life in an Indian jungle and as long as those jungles are preserved, our fascination with them and with the wild will never cease to exist. 

Favreau slips in some strong environmental messages; agreement to share water during a drought, the protection of territories, honouring the jungle hierarchy, and the mistrust that beast has towards man but most of all he makes a movie that has the enchanting Disney brand of magic to it.

Pity its already off Imax because it really is a beast of a movie, the kind you want to experience rather than watch, and as Indian movies go - sorry Shah Rukh Khan but frame for frame Shere Khan’s movie is the best one I’ve seen all year.  

P.S. I think it'll be worth buying the Blu Ray / DVD when it comes out as there is a dubbed Hindi version featuring Priyanka Chopa (Kaa), Irrfan Khan (Baloo), Om Puri (Bagheera) and Nana Patekar (Shere Khan). 

#FAN - a double masterclass from the one and only @iamsrk

All hail the king.

The king is alive and well.

Long live the king.

To suggest SRK is back with a bang is a bit disingenuous because it's not like he has ever been away in the first place but for me the 'bang for my buck' went missing from his recent roles so it pleases me to say this role, or if I count properly these roles, are bang on target. 

Here the king dusts off his cloak, spruces up his crown and reminds his subjects, calm down and leave it to me, leave it to the king!

And my blog is written very specifically around him.

This movie is for those who have seen SRK evolve from anti hero, to romantic hero, but who have frowned at some of his recent roles. In fact this is a movie for anyone (points at self) who has desperately wanted to marvel at a masterful actor, and has become a little irritated (points at self again) because for that person (like me) here is a masterclass times two.

So how does SRK get his mojo back? 

Well take a man who loves a challenge, and provide him with one, then sit back and watch the magic unfold. Give him the chance to play roles that offer light and shade - and all the many hues in between - and allow him to be. Maneesh Sharma does just that, he gives SRK the platform, the space and the freedom to express himself, by removing him from his self imposed comfort zone and lets the sparks fly.

I've said it before when SRK is good he is great but when he is bad he is brilliant and here we are provided with conclusively proof. The best thing about the movie for me though is that Maneesh highlights the actor's tremendous skill without pandering to his image or to his star status, and it's been ages since any director did so. Maneesh harnesses SRK's image and his status to harvest two of the finest roles he has ever tackled, by creating a thriller of the highest order, a movie that takes you on an exhilarating ride with a thrill around every corner, it shakes, it rattles and it rocks. 

The youngster Gaurav Chandna an obsessed fan with his stiff botox upper lip will justifiably steal the plaudits, as it is that kind of role but the other role of the superstar Aryan Khanna is no less intense, a focused professional who understands his worth, a businessman who will do whatever it takes to safeguard his career and his family. 
Sharp writing.

The beauty of plot for me is that it fingers the patronizing stance that stars are known to display, "I am only here because of my fans" stars will tell you when they are enjoying runaway success  but when those very fans request a few seconds of their time, it is often too much to give.

That in essence is the story; a fan who dubs himself The Junior Aryan Khanna - with a remarkable likeness to the real Aryan Khanna travels from suburban Delhi to the superstar's home on the Bandra waterfront in Mumbai, cherishing just one little hope - to meet his idol and to share an award that he has won for three years running for impersonating him - with him. 
His trip from the country's capital to its film capital mirrors the same path his idol followed, even staying in the exact same hotel he first stayed at and insisting on the same room but the moment his idol tells him "stay away from me. You in your place. Me in mine" his world collapses but the movie progresses. 

Every ounce of energy that the fan has thus far invested into this love affair with his idol feels wasted, and as with any instance of obsessive and unrequited love, is that the hurt party experiences an 'if I can't have you, I will make your life so miserable that no one else will' moment and at this point the thin line between love and hatred becomes blurred and once that line vanishes, there really is no coming back from it...
That is one way of looking at the plot, from the fans point of view but director Maneesh Sharma also explores the self made star's side, a human-being whose fears for himself and his family are no different to anyone else'. This allows Maneeh to leave one conflicted as to how will it end, or more like how one would like it to.

The proceedings are powerful and disturbing. The action thrilling. The pace unrelenting. And the performances, both of them are scintillating. 

Powerful because Maneesh has the guts to target one of the pillars that Bollywood stands on - it's dependence on its stars - and disturbing because it also shows how blind faith in that star system is abused, for instance the global entertainment world is known to foster star rivalries in the media, but the fans of those stars are gullible enough to make those rivalries personal.

If you get a chance take the time to read the responses from Salman's fans to SRK's movies and vice versa and the vitriol that flows is scary, never mind that fans do not have any power to control themselves because some still believe they are capable of controlling or at least affecting the outcome. 
Some fans will go to incredible lengths to prove their devotion, some will even push that devotion to the extreme, its a kind of star terrorism carried out by someone willing to sacrifice their own well-being just to uphold their idol's reputation.
Is it wrong? That's not for me to pass judgement on, because its often done out of love. Is it madness, you bet but that's what happens with obsessive love, it displays behavior that borders on madness.

And Gaurav madly loves Aryan.

To make a plot like this work on a variety of levels, needs expert character development, and script-writing which is apparent but just how much brilliance can you cram into one movie without without overloading it?
Going by this movie? Plenty! 

The proceedings are embellished with some truly breathtaking sequences; Gaurav's stage show at the fun fair, his attempts to escape the police from the hotel, trying to make himself heard amidst the white noise when he first sees his idol in real life, their first eye-to-eye meeting, the chase through picturesque Dubrovnik, the bonfire of all his favorite memorabilia, his visit to the stars home, the Madame Tussaud's episode and the climax; are stand out sequences, expertly constructed and masterfully executed. 
This is the kind of film that will enjoy cult status. Any retrospective of SRK's career will be incomplete without mention of it, just like it is for roles like the one he did in Swades - but the distinction here is that there is no attempt at all for him to emerge heroic from it, this is not a film where SRK saves the world. 

In this year's Oscar nominated movie Joy, Bradley Cooper advises Jennifer Lawrence that an actors hands and voice speak more powerfully to the camera than the face does, that while the hands express the truth, the voice convinces the listener and the first time Gaurav uses his idols voice to tell a girl that he has a small crush on that if he had to love her it would be "Dil Se" in a deep baritone voice like his idol would, immediately establishing the connection between him and his idol and setting the scene for everything that follows.
And pay attention to SRK's hands, they are fascinating to watch.

 

#FAN pays homage to SRK the actor and SRK the star, it is a celebration of both. That and the fact that both character's are instilled with equal but very different intensity shows just how gifted he is, that he can look into the mirror and there are different people on each side and how blessed we are to experience him giving such deep meaning to his art. 

Almost a quarter of a century after he announced himself in spectacular fashion in Deewana, he is still raising the bar.  


What an actor, what a movie, what a timely reminder as to why this is the @iamsrk we know and we love.

And if the gushing admiration seems misplaced, let me leave you with this thought, kya kare main uska fan hoon, yeh type ka performance mujhe pasand hai, tum nahin samjohge...  

@iamSRK looking competition in the eye

Just days to go before the release of #FAN and a double dose of @iamsrk ...

At 50 Shah Rukh is in a competition with just one person. A person that has scaled the highest of heights, the stardom equivalent of Mt. Everest. Not Salman, nor Aamir, Ranbir, Ranveer, Hrithik or even Amitabh - Shah Rukh is competing with himself. 

And like the plot of #FAN where its SRK vs SRK -this is his toughest competition yet. 

Right now he is being measured against what he himself has achieved in a glittering 24 year career, the very career that now casts a giant shadow over him, a shadow of brilliance that he has to emerge from to enable him to add even more glory to it. 

And it could be as tough a challenge as he has ever faced. 

If Shah Rukh's acting trajectory starts going backwards, the doomsayers will be having a field day.  

Granted the SRK phenomena is about much more than just acting, no one can dispute his popularity, or even his status. 

In December Forbes Asia India described him as The Biggest Star in the World... http://www.forbes.com/sites/ranisingh/2015/12/26/shah-rukh-khan-the-biggest-movie-star-in-the-world/#1b8a8a7a1b8f  

At the same time Wealth X placed him second on the list of the world’s richest actors behind Jerry Seinfeld but above Tom Cruise... http://www.imdb.com/list/ls059147425/ 

He is an industry. He is mega successful. He has been at the forefront of Bollywood's rise around the globe. He tops the all time Filmfare Awards winners list. He is a successful businessman, owner of an IPL championship winning franchise, the force behind a world class graphics hub, a global ambassador, but acting is what got him there in the first place and for an actor - acting is the be all and end all - the rest like bank accounts in offshore Panama are just the perks of the job.

And an acting crisis has afflicted the best of actors. 

From Dilip Kumar to Rajesh Khanna to Amitabh Bachchan. 

The Big B went through the bleakest period in his career during the late 1980’s when his films flopped left right and centre. Jaadugar and Toofan were the subject of ridicule, and although there was the odd hit every once in a while, it wasn’t until he began to play roles that matched his age and not the star image that had been established around him that he realized a second lease of life. 

And only when the audience was prepared to accept him in those roles did the admiration return. 

If it could happen to the Big B, no one, not even SRK is immune. 

Truth is his last two films were diabolical. 

Happy New Year with its cringe worthy humour has its place on the scrapheap of Indian cinema, and Dilwale did his and Kajol's glittering filmography a disservice. 

Both were produced by Red Chillies which he owns and both were designed for just one thing: to print money. 
Yes fans flocked to see both of them but in its aftermath the number of people who enjoyed it and those who ridiculed it were closer to each other than ever before and the danger if that balance tilts increasingly towards ridicule is that SRK's career could hit a downward spiral that would take years to rectify. 

And I think he knows it.  

Fans can be intolerant of failure, ask me I'm a @ManUtd supporter I know...

The fact that Bajirao Mastani took on Dilwale without even half the hype and then proceeded to smash it for critical acclaim must have troubled him no end. And not even the consolation of Dilwale overshadowing Bajirao in the global box office race would have appeased his inherently competitive streak.

Winners don't like losing be it at the box office or playing board games. 
And winning is in SRK's blood. 

His upcoming film choices certainly seem to suggest that acclaim is uppermost on his mind. That he wants to prove why he deserves more than the record 15 Filmfare Awards that have gone his way. 


Awards have always mattered to Shah Rukh as this unforgettable dialogue when he receives his Filmfare award in Om Shanti Om reminds us

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1fyfaZOxi1M  

"Itni shiddat se maine tumhe paane ki koshish ki hai ... ki har zarre ne mujhe tumse milane ki saazish ki hai" ("I have desired you so truly, so absolutely ... that the entire universe has conspired to bring us together").

Pause for a minute and digest this, its been five years now, since his last Filmfare Best Actor award. 

Five years since My Name is Khan. 

Five years.

So how is he attempting to fix it?

Red Chillies' next is a co-production with Excel titled Raees about a booze bootlegger in the dry state of Gujarat, and following it is a take on bridging the romantic generation gap where SRK is opposite Alia Bhatt, Gauri Shinde who directed the utterly charming English Vinglish is handling it, both are hardly a conventional choice as they have no sign of the word 'masala' applied as an adjective for entertainment. 

These movies may not necessarily rewrite Box Office records, although I hope they do, but they look likely to highlight and test the actor in him because even all the money in the world wont satisfy the free creative spirit that is Shah Rukh Khan.  

His other prospective projects look as interesting, an Imtiaz Ali film and one with Tanu Weds Manu director Aanand L Rai. 

Two filmmakers who love trying out fresh subjects. 

All the above plus the imminent release of Maneesh Sharma's #FAN - a thriller with a difference.

From what you have read so far you're probably thinking what's with the anti-SRK agenda? 

That couldn't be further from the truth. 

The release of #FAN cant come soon enough. For two reasons and both have to do with Shah Rukh's roles; when he is good, never mind how bad the movie is, he is very good but when he is bad - he is brilliant and in this movie, the bad guy is back looking as young as ever and as wicked as when he was that young. 

My introduction to Shah Rukh the actor will always be that guy who tormented his co-stars in films like Baazigar and Darr, I developed an admiration for the actor long before he became the romantic sensation that we all fell in love with.
This movie brings every one of those guises together along with a superstar, a man with an obsession and a lover. 

As a fan it's right to feel nervous and excited about #FAN's release as it could either be an affirmation of his standout star status or see him being shoved into a direction where he would need to begin a process of reinventing himself. 

The stakes really are that high. 

And the higher the stakes the greater the anticipation. 

in the aftermath of Dilwale articles like these emerged, http://blogs.tribune.com.pk/story/31483/shah-rukh-khans-career-is-now-officially-over

Most were written by those hoping to sound the death knell to the SRK phenomenon. I for one hope he is able to remind them of that fabulous Mark Twain quote "reports of my death are greatly exaggerated" and shut them right up. 

Aur agar happy ending na hua to picture abhi baki hain mere dost.

Ki & Ka. Kareena & Arjun - role playing Kapoors

Ki & Ka seems an unusual title for a movie until you realize the words are shortened versions of boy and girl or lad-Ki  and lad-Ka.

Safe to assume then that this is a movie about a girl and a boy, or to be more precise about a woman and a man. 

The title and the plot are put into perspective when Arjun Kapoor’s character Ka-bir poses the following question when discussing his relationship with his wife Ki-a (Kareena Kapoor), “why are men expected to perform roles that are classified feminine in Hindi, for instance why are men expected to do the naukRi (work) while women are expected to do the male thing pakhana (cooking)?”

Why indeed?

Because according to him “it would not be out of place for the role to match the gender so men can cook and women work and society should have no issue with it” fair point I suppose and you know modern society will be cool with it… and why should individuals care if society isn’t?

And that’s the crux of this movie, swap the roles get the girl to be the career woman and the boy to be a home executive - a houseband - and see what happens…
So which box does that fit into? 
Is it evolution or revolution?

Neither just a neat concept treated lightly for the most part but still cleverly enough to be different, progressive and meaningful and if none of those words grab you, try this one: delightful. 
This is a delightful movie.

I have a friend who is virtually a houseband; he works when he wants, travels well, eats at the most swanky places and seems fulfilled. So too is his wife who is a wiz in the corporate world, one of the best at what she does, and one of the most fun people to hang out with. 

He laughs when asked about his life, so does she and mostly so do we at their expense off course but they’re content and as long as both are doing what they love, so they should be... no big deal, no revolution just an easy evolution…

In this movie, the man Kabir is just a little too perfect. He makes perfect food – including perfectly fluffy omelettes, keeps perfect house, hosts perfect kitty parties for the ladies in the hood, cries perfect tears, gives perfect advice, is perfectly stereotyped. 

Fortunately his wife is not, she throws tantrums, jumps to conclusions, is temperamental, just the kind of woman that you can love before you can adore and she is the more realistic person in the relationship. 
If either of them are in need of our empathy it is she because what she has to deal with is far more challenging, society judges women differently to men, if the guy does something unusual like being a houseband his mates will snigger which is the biggest challenge he will face but questions will be asked of the woman, judgement passed, and that is the strength of this movie, it shows it and without ever labouring the point.           

In marriage as in the movies, conflict is inevitable. For a while in this movie it almost appears unlikely, you wait for something to happen and you wait and you wait some more but it’s a slow burner because once the conflict arrives, it threatens to engulf everything.

Straight off the bat let me admit to not being a big fan or either of the lead Kapoor’s - Kareena or Arjun but I enjoyed watching them, almost enough to become one. 

With Kareena I swing between having massive crushes or just complete indifference, it happens all the time. 

I found myself liking her after Refugee, Ashoka, K3G, Omkara, 3 Idiots, Jab We Met and Bajrangi Bhaijaan but the feeling generally passed. Her spunky performance here though has brought a new found and for me I hope longer term admiration. 

She plays it very admirably.

As for Arjun much as I liked him in Two States and Finding Fanny, stuff like a Gunday and a Tevar irritated me… but he too captivates in a sensitive portrayal and credit for that must go to the way producer, director and screenwriter R. Balki who gets the best out of them.

Wait! The lights have just gone on. I do get it! When you are born R. Balakrishnan and change your name to R. Balki you would naturally be prone to changing ladki and ladka to Ki & Ka, and that explains it, I should’ve spotted that a mile away! 

Balakrishnan, ladki, ladka become Balki, Ki & Ka there is a method to his thinking!

Balki is a filmmaker who regularly goes where others won’t even program their GPS systems to…  Cheeni Kum dealt with an old guy (Amitabh Bachchan) who falls for a younger woman (Tabu) and the older I get the bigger a treat that film is. Paa with Amitabh playing a 12 year old with a rare genetic condition - deservedly scooped awards left right and centre, and Balki’s last Shamitabh was a  novel idea about a mute actor (Dhanush) who uses a hobo’s voice (Amitabh again) to secure stardom but unfortunately it stopped at being just that - a novel idea - plus there’s one other little movie that I can’t ignore English Vinglish which he produced about Sridevi mastering the English language to the utter surprise of her family which sums up just how innovative a filmmaker he is, and how gender agnostic and gender embracing his subjects are.

Amitabh has become a permanent fixture in Balki’s movies even making a memorable cameo in English Vinglish and his cameo here is stunning. 

It's one of those, now I remember why I love the Big B moments.

Balki calls on his advertising background to create a setting that matches the mood of the proceedings, always applying a modern, contemporary feel to it. 

The dialogues are equally snappy, “I’ve got my chums” says Kia raising the red flag. It’s cute. And since the movie unfolds almost episodically there are some memorable moments, the maid scene, the Dharmendra Delhi bus episode, the stairwell scene in the hospital etc etc. 

The one scene that was hilarious but didn’t really answer a key question as to how their relationship would eventually deal with reaching a crossroads was the pregnancy test scene. I am still wondering what would they do?

Admittedly this blog has been written tongue in cheek, but the film is not all tongue in cheek. 
As much as most of the situations have been conveniently set up so as not to over challenge its audience, Ki & Ka still manages to touch on an important issue that ego and jealousy will destroy any relationship not just one where we are wondering about who wears the pants in it.

I’m recommending it. I enjoyed it. It made me feel content. 

And that's it, I'm off to try to convince my wife to set up my man cave to look like a train set or better still the Star Wars Millennium Falcon… 

May the force be with me!