I don’t know how far it is true, but I speak from my personal experience – separating a man from his moustaches is quite an impossible task. Hrishikesh Mukherjee built an entire comedy revolving around mouches – remember Golmaal? And Utpal Dutt’s indignant stand – munch nahin toh mard nahin! I sport one. But unlike Utpal Dutt in the film, I do not twirl any morality into them; but yes, it seems without them I would be not complete.
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It’s been nearly a year and a half in Nepal but I haven’t ever had a haircut here. Now, don’t be unduly shocked. For those who have seen me recently would vouchsafe that I do not carry kale lambe ghane reshmi tresses on my head – in fact, I don’t even flaunt hair long enough to match Hritik’s Mowgli inspired Krishh style (nor do I have the body to go alongwith it, but that’s a different story).

The reason for not trying Nepalese barbers is that, usually, I make once-a-month trip to Delhi, and get the needful done there, in comfortable and familiar surroundings. But during January’s trip I barely stayed home, hence did not get time at all. True, I had few hours in Mumbai, but then, I am confident Priyangini wouldn’t really have relished the idea of having a meet at a barber’s shop!

Thus, by first week February I was looking quite unruly. Also, long hair irritates – whether on my head, or someone else’s. I firmly believe a man looks best with short cropped hair (and inversely, a girl’s beauty is enhanced by her crowning glory). So before the matter got out of hand, I decided to do something about it.

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This review was written the same day I saw the film, which was on 4^th February. But seeing the overwhelmingly positive reactions for the film didn’t have heart to publish it. Till the time I told Anubha about its existence. She reprimanded me for not putting it up and reminded me that on my blog I had complete right to write whatever I felt. True, perhaps I have been playing to the gallery quite a lot, and taking ‘the popular’ tag a bit too seriously than warranted. Thanks Anubha for the reality check! 

Blame it on the huge expectation – but fact is I found Rang De Basanti just about ok, a different film, but just about that. Somehow it couldn’t involve me into its narration. There were too many incoherent details which left me cold – some were minor quibbles regarding Delhi’s depiction: why the hell did Sonia (Soha Ali) take Sue via Red Fort if they were going to University from Delhi Airport?  There is a much shorter and convenient route! And then, that was clearly not anywhere close to Delhi University for sure! It was India Habitat Center passed off as DU! 

Even though Rakeysh Mehra struggles to deploy a conventional story telling format, he is unable to fully discard the now-standard jump-cuts and fast-track editing styles; at few crucial points these neo-modern techniques crop up horrifyingly. The post-interval lathi charge scene is one prime example. Instead of gripping the audience in a tight-fist and knocking a solid punch, he shows a collage alternating between slow-motion and hazy movements with a dull song in the background. The entire sequence’s steam, whose build-up begins with Ajay Rathod’s death, dissipates away like a pressure cooker rudely taken off the burner! 

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Film Review

A day in the lives of Mr. Wood and Mr. Grumpy (with Ms. Hefty thrown in) is what sums up this short but fairly interesting film. Milan Luthria moves several notches upwards from Deewar and Chori Chori, but does not still encompass the flourish exhibited in his debut Kachhe Dhaage. In principle Taxi 9211 is much like that film- two men from extreme strata of society meet, and their destines intertwine making them realize about some harsh realities of life.

The story is quite nice, and I won’t reveal it here leaving the viewers to discover it – that’s the fun of watching the film.

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