PK -- THE MOVIE

PK (2014)

Language: Hindi

Genre: Drama/Comedy

Director: Rajkumar Hirani

Cast: Aamir Khan, Anushka Sharma

PK, the much awaited movie of the perfectionist, Aamir Khan. The movie came into much criticism from the right wing leaders and religious leaders alike. While in some states, there was an exempt from entertainment taxes on the movie owing to its rich message and veiled attacks on many vices of our society.

The movie was excellent in parts and mediocre in some. Some obvious goof ups were made and some farfetched theories made it a bit plain in the middle. The protagonist PK learns all his vocabulary including the expletives from a prostitute but doesn’t know the meaning of “condom” is a bit lame.

The main message came and went in a jiffy. More time and energy could have been put to make the main story a bit longer and well researched. Instead, the team decided to spend more energy in setting up the story, the background and maintaining the comic timing. A movie on similar lines, OMG (Oh My God) presented the facts in a more descriptive and methodical way.

Anyways, the acting was good by all, especially PK (Aamir Khan). Anushka with her modified look looked good but I felt she was better in her previous avatar. Sanjay Dutt and Sushant Singh looked good in their cameos. Boman Irani was as usual fabulous. The music is good too.

The movie is all set to break all the existing records at the box office. In the end, I would suggest you to watch the movie at least once if you have not done it already. It is high on entertainment and will make you at least think once, “When will we learn? When will we stop putting our faiths blindly on someone?” 

A Prophet

A PROPHET (2009) (Un Prophete)

Language: French

Director: Jacques Audiard

Cast: Tahar Rahim, Niels Arestrup

Genre: Crime/Drama (R rated)

France’s entry to 2010 Academy Awards for the Best Movie in Foreign Language. In this movie, director Jacques Audiard’s has portrayed the grim background of an innocent teenager who becomes a hardened criminal in a span of 6 years in the prison.

The protagonist, Malik, played by Tahar Rahim, tries to survive and fit into the prison culture and tries his best to keep out of the two rival teams of the Corsicans and the Muslims. Malik, a Frenchmen of Arab descent finds himself drawn into the hands of Cesar, a hardened criminal who conducts all his dealings and business from the prison premises, played by the cold Niels Arestrup. Malik tries to avoid getting into the mess but is eventually spiraled to the core of the dirty game. He is a good choice to break into the rival gang of the Muslims as he is an Arab. And the Corsicans too find him hard to trust, as he is not one of their kin. This dual advantage makes him a prime target of Cesar, who plans to gain the maximum.

The story of the movie is fabulous. But, the thing I liked best is the director’s unwillingness to divulge what the characters are thinking. He leaves it to the wisdom of the viewers to decide what is going on in the mind. Unlike many movies where the mind of the character is narrated or is let out through some other characters; here the director keeps you guessing. And the subtlety with which many scenes are projected leaves a mark indeed. The cinematography is also excellent. The murders are gruesome, messy and horrific.

Many important details relating to the plot are deliberately left out, e.g., the crime for which Malik is convicted. Malik is shown to be innocent but the crime which he is convicted of is a mystery. Another good thing to note is the condition of the prisons of France. For authentic and real feel, previous convicts and parole convicts were roped in by the director to play various roles and to set up the set. The condition of the prison seems much better than the facilities we are provided with in our country. Human Rights is given a good priority.

In fine, it is a good movie to watch. Gripping 155 minutes of sensitive portraying of how our surroundings and our environment shape us up.