Random Expressions

It is the comeback season. Not mine. That is still time away. (I will continue to visit this space off and on for some more time).

But two of my favorites have come back with a proverbial bang - Director duo Abbas- Mustan and author Jeffrey Archer.

Isn’t it curious how much a fan accepts his loved artiste’s failure as his own, and then tries to defend it weakly or pompously (as his character is wont be)? Well, this post is not to dwell on a fan-artiste relationship. That would need to much of input and time, and more concentration that what this cyber cafe offers (with the lady at the desk happily viewing sobbing bahus in variety of soaps spread over multifarious channels).

Fact is, last year, when Abbas-Mustan gave a vastly off-color Naqab, I had offered a polite review to all, though secretly hoping that the flick would simply veil itself in oblivion (which, mercifully, it did). The one before that, 36 China Town, had been interesting but it still lacked the full-on punch associated with the director-duo-in-forever-whites.

When Race released, I worriedly booked myself the first weekend (that it was a Holi-weekend, and I was in Delhi, aided). Would it be what the promos promised? Or, would it be as weird and lack-lustre like Naqaab?

Race, thankfully, is a thumping comeback for Abbas-Mustan. The film is a full-blast thriller, and despite few loop-holes and some cliches - and excuse my using cliches - it is full of thrills, chills, spills, with enough race and pace and grace and dollops of action, humor, emotion and anything and everything that makes up a fine commercial masala entertainer.

The film is exceedingly well written and executed, with the viewer given no space to use his mind above the never-resting adrenalin-rush that gushes in your veins, and as twists over twists pile on in an unwavering avalanche, you have to submit to the director’s magical concoction unspooling over the silver screen. I won’t bother you with the story (it’s about two brothers and the power-play between them), nor with finer details, for that would mean revealing some surprise packages that are best left experienced.

All the six lead characters look glossy and generously glamorous - Akshaye delivers another power-punch performance, and Anil Kapoor (much seasoned, and looking fresh) notches up yet one more success; Saif Ali holds his own with his freshly-toned body and freshly -honed expressions. Clearly, he has come a long way since his ridicule-aspiring days of Aashiq Awara and Parampara - via the route of Omkara two years back. The ladies are in second-line, but the porcelain-fragile Katrina Kaif evinces maximum audience interest, followed very closely by Bips Basu (in not a very strong role, and often in very familiar territory).

Kudos to Abbas-Mustan for a well-directed film.

Overall - Must see

Now for the second comeback of this season - Jeffrey Archer. His last two fiction releases left me pretty distressed. The master story-teller left me bored with his collection of short stories - Cat O Nine Tales. His prison-days were taking a toll. After the three prison diaries, the obsession with crime and prison and that hangover, continued in all the stories, and frankly, I think it was getting a bit too much.

And when he did a Dan Brown in False Impression, it was disheartening & demotivating.

I had almost resigned myself to several re-reads of the outstanding saga sweeps of Kane and Abel and Sons of Fortune (the last novel before his imprisonment) or the clever crinkles of Not a Penny More Not a Penny Less.

But not any longer.

A Prisoner of Birth still has the prison hangover. But it is most unmistakably in Archer’s own style. No Dan Brown cuts. No running across continents. It is a simple story, simply told, in a simple setting. Just the way good ol’ Archers were meant to be.

I am still half-way through the book (and I started reading it only in the morning), so am yet to know how it turns out to be overall. But from what I have read, I can safely say it has the same familiar story narration style (that I love and often emulate).

And despite half-read, I can safely recommend - it’s a must buy.

( To all readers who left messages and wishes in my last post - many thanks. I read each one with interest and eagerness, though was unable to reply like in the past. Continue to leave your messages, and be rest assured, I read them all).

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This entry was posted on Sunday, March 30th, 2008 at 7:49 pm and is filed under General, Film Reviews, Books and Authors. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.