Django Unchained (movie review)

A spaghetti western with a black cowboy - Who else you reckon would venture into a territory like that? Another hint - a ruthlessly violent, gore and cold blooded revenge saga - sounds familiar? Good Guess - Quentin Tarantino it is. The man's back with his large red font title credits, variegated background score and of-course a cast to die for as he adds another feather to his cap - Django Unchained.

Django Unchained (poster)

Before I begin my review, let me remind you that there are some flicks that owe its ingenuity to a great story (The reader, if I may), some to it's crisp screenplay (let's say The Social Network, or Tarantino's much acclaimed Pulp Fiction), some for direction (for instance The Hurt Locker); and some stand out based on sheer brilliance of performance. Django Unchained is one such movie. So if you are expecting an evenly paced, action packed western, I'd say cancel your movie tickets and shut down that torrent window right now.

Set in the antebellum era (the era in the Southern United States preceding the Civil War), Django Unchained is a stylish account of Django's (a black slave) pursuit to free his wife from a cruel and charismatic plantation owner Calvin Candie. His is aided in this quest by his mentor - Dr. King Schultz, a German Dentist/Bounty Hunter who trains him in bounty hunting and mastering a sidearm.

Django is a caterpiller, so to say. His character does not attain resplendence until the second half of the film and initially appears like a side kick to Schultz. Skilfully portrayed by Jamie Fox, the transition of Django from a hot headed slave to a shrewd, revenge seeking cowboy is gradual and credible. Christopher Waltz's portrayal of Dr. King Schultz is mildly enigmatic. It is difficult to fathom why a bounty hunter, who kills outlaws in cold blood, would take a black slave under his wing and helps him save his wife? Or why would he be so disturbed at Calvin Candie's orders to have of his Mandingo fighters be torn apart by attack dogs. (Yes. The film's not for the weak-hearted). Speaking of Calvin Candie, Leonardo Di Caprio's performance is one of his very best. His condescending conversations with Schultz were almost like a metaphor of revenge on Christopher Waltz for playing Hans Landa in Inglourious Basterds AND winning a Oscar for it. Yes, Leonardo Di Caprio was that good. It's a shame he wasn't even nominated for the Oscars. The rest of the cast doesn't have much scope to be remembered, honestly. Samuel Jackson's as the conniving house slave Stephen does leave his mark though.

Jamie Foxx and Christopher Waltz (Django Unchained)

Unlike other Tarantino Flicks, Django Unchained has a linear narrative, excluding a few flashback scenes. (Visually the flash backs scenes were the best of the lot). Despite being set in the antebellum era and focussed on major social issues like slave trade, the film's historical verisimilitude can’t be said to be one of its highlights. It is brazenly and relentlessly about style, and action. Amidst the bloody mayhem, Tarantino does create some lighter moments with clever dialogues and smart comic timing - one of the funniest scenes being a group of Ku Klux Klan members gunning for Dr King Schultz (Christopher Waltz) and Django (Jamie Foxx) argue over the peepholes in their white hoods. Django's unfamiliarity with high brow English too triggers some laugh out loud moments.

Django Unchained is a bumpy ride - violent gun fights juxtaposed against intense conversations, some may even call the screenplay patchy. Being an epic story in nature, the narration slows down at certain junctures, at the cost of making you restless and wondering ‘where exactly is it going?’ But the climax, in pure Tarantino style completely makes up for those pitfalls, screaming 'and that's how it's done!'.

- by Parmita Borah

Life of Pi - a fascinating story | movie review

I cannot emphasize enough on the word 'beautiful' when I begin to describe Life of Pi. The fascinating story of juvenile Piscine Molitor, the lone survivor of a shipwreck as he travels across the Pacific ocean on a life boat, a makeshift raft and a ferocious Bengal tiger 'Richard Parker' for a companion. The big question - will he make it?

Life Of Pi - a film by Ang Lee

Irfan Khan as an adult Pi does justice to his role. Tabu, Adil Hussain, Vibish Sivakumar as Pi's mother, father and brother too have delivered brief but memorable performances. (Being an Assamese it was a proud moment to watch Adil Hussain be part of something so coveted and well crafted). But, it's the teen actor Suraj Sharma who shoulders the mighty task of carrying the story forward, and does so skilfully by infusing the necessary maturity and innocence to Pi's character.

The most impressive part about the narrative is that although it's an adult Pi telling his story to a reporter (which means Pi actually lives), not once does the plot feels predictable. There are surprises, pleasant and shocking throughout the 127 minutes of exhilarating cinematic experience. Yann Martel's book leaves readers pondering at the end whether Pi's story is an allegory of another set of parallel events or vice versa, and questions the need for rationalizing faith. This was well achieved with Irfan Khan's narration juxtaposed with that of Suraj Sharma's.

Suraj Sharma, Tabu and Ang Lee

Ang Lee avoids the common Indian stereotypes and paints a pretty picture of Pondicherry, especially during the initial few minutes of name casting. With the 3D glasses on, everything appears at an arm's length. The background score is subtle and soothing but you wouldn't find yourself paying much attention to it. The visual effects transcends reality and merges the surreal. There is this one scene in particular where the entire ocean is covered with jelly fishes which makes you feel like 'this is what heaven must look like'.

Director Ang Lee's fascination towards picturesque, visually appealing cinema is no news to anyone, but with Life of Pi he achieved what James Cameron paved way for when he directed Avatar. 

- by Parmita Borah

First Superstar of India Rajesh Khanna's demise

Rajesh Khanna (1942-2012)

Yesteryear Bollywood superstar Rajesh Khanna passed away on Wednesday afternoon (July 18, 2012) after a prolonged illness. He was 70. News of Khana's deteriorating health  has been making rounds lately and the actor was reported to have visited the hospital thrice due to weakness and BP problem.

He breathed his last at his Bandra house in the presence of his physician and all his family members including  son-in-law Akshay Kumar who returned from one of his shoots abroad in wake of father-in-law's ailment.

Rajesh Khanna shot to stardom between 1969 and 1972 after 15 consecutive solo superhits and is considered the first 'superstar' of Indian cinema. He appeared in 163 feature films and did 17 short films. 

He won three Filmfare Best Actor Awards and was nominated for the same fourteen times. He received the maximum BFJA Awards for Best Actor (Hindi) – four times and nominated 25 times. He was awarded the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005.

He made his debut in 1966 with Aakhri Khat and rose to prominence with his performances in films like Raaz, Baharon Ke Sapne, Ittefaq and Aradhana. 

Rajesh Khanna was a member of Parliament for the Congress Party, from the New Delhi constituency, where he won the 1992 by-election, retaining his seat until the 1996 election. When Khanna was M.P he worked full time as a politician and did not accept new acting assignments. He had since been a political activist for the Congress Party and campaigned for Congress in Punjab for 2012 elections.

The nations mourns the demise of this legendary actor and fondly remembers him for his memorable work.

- EFNI

The Kahaani of Vidya Bagchi

The kahaani of Kahaani was no mystery to me as I made my way to the theater on a Sunday evening, thanks to a thoughtless moron at work who divulged the climax a day before. Having said that, I’d be lying if I said ‘Kahaani’ didn’t have any surprises to offer.  

Vidya Bagchi, a visibly pregnant woman lands in Kolkata all the way from London in search of her missing spouse. While the pursuit of her missing husband continues, she uncovers a much larger political plot with the help of a junior cop Satyuki Sinha a.k.a Rana.

In the late 80s and early 90s there existed a trend of female characters in Bollywood – these women either took a stand against bitter and wicked in-laws or bashed up pervert crooks and extras on a revenge driven mode. That trend although filmy, liberated the women from the mundane roles society and the film industry offered and drove them to discover and unleash their potency. In the years that followed with the ascending popularity of cholis, lehengas, Munnis and Sheilas, that fervor to project women as symbol of strength diminished. The aspiration of mainstream actress incarcerated to being eye candies and arm candies. Vidya Bagchi in its outlandish way is a reprisal of that fortitude from the 80s and 90s, fortunately in a perceptibly subtle and credible avatar.

Vidya Balan
in The Dirty Picture

Vidya Balan scores a hat trick of tour de’ force performance after No One Killed Jessica and The Dirty Picture. From restlessness and helplessness to a composed demeanor, her body language emotes every bit of it effectively; and for a mainstream actress to appear onscreen with sweaty armpits, boy that sure takes guts! Parambrata Chattopadhyay is appealing as Vidya’s aid in investigation and at times adorable for his vulnerability in her presence. A strong supporting cast adds to the spontaneity of the movie.

The multihued Kolkata in the festive season of Durga Puja is well captured through the lens, while a strong script and slick editing raises the curiosity levels from the very first frame. Crisp and conversational dialogues with well-timed humor keep onlookers from snoozing which often happens in movie theaters. Although the movie has an impressive sound track, director Sujoy Ghosh fortunately uses to a minimum during the narrative. It would have been still better had he been tightfisted with the background score as well. For instance, when hundreds of people including kids and infants die inside a metro - you need a moment to let that sink in, you really don't want a heavy rock number like Aami Shatti Bolchi in the next instant.

Finally, like any well scripted movie, bread crumbs are left for the audience to connect the dots and while they are at it, the climax renders them speechless with one hell of a shocker twist.

- by Parmita Borah

The Artist Shines at 84th Academy Awards

The envelope finally opens up and names imprinted in the golden letters goes into the book of cinematic history. It came as no surprise to anyone when France's Michel Hazanavicius won the Oscar for best director for silent movie The Artist, at the 84th Academy Awards ceremony, triumphing over veterans including Martin Scorsese and Woody Allen.

Giving France more reasons to celebrate, this black and white homage to the silent film era also bagged the Best Picture of the year, while Jean Dujardin took home the Oscar for the lead actor. The film topped a field that included "The Descendants," "Hugo," "The Help," "Moneyball," "War Horse," "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close," "Midnight in Paris" and "The Tree of Life".

Hollywood veteran Meryl Streep, won the much awaited and well deserved Oscar for her tour de force portrayal of Margaret Thatcher, her third win third Oscar for lead actress, and her 17th overall nomination.

Christopher Plummer became the oldest acting winner ever at the 84th Academy Awards for his supporting performance in “Beginners,” while veteran bit player Octavia Spencer earned the supporting-actress prize for her breakout role in “The Help”.

Martin Scorsese’s Paris adventure “Hugo” set the ball rolling by winning first two prizes of the night, for cinematography and art direction. It also won for visual effects, sound mixing and sound editing.

Laughter soared inside the Kodak Theaters when TJ Martin one of the co-directors of “Undefeated”, in his excitement, uttered the F-Word after winning the Oscar for best documentary. Another with Oscar “Oops!” moments, we could say. 

-by Parmita Borah

Film Noir - A Fleeting Walk Through

Toshiro Mifune in 'Stray Dog'

Bathed in shadows, a vague figure walks through a seedy lane, followed by a gun wielding detective, both possibly trying to track down another victim in an isolated house, somewhere in the outskirts of a bustling city. Sensing the hint of a crime fiction? Well, close enough. The scene, rightly perceived as a crime scene, draws its elements from arguably one of the most complex and creatively challenging styles of film making – Film Noir.

Deeply rooted in German Expressionist Photography, Film Noir, French for ‘Black Film’, essentially incurs low key black and white visual style of the 1940s and 50s. The years immediately following the end of World War II witnessed the emergence of Noir, cinematic and literary. Several concurrent developments like a number of downbeat crime movies in Hollywood, an increase in the publication of crime novels in France, paperback novels in America etc.  led to the widespread fabrication and acceptance of Noir.

Film Noir is often recognizable via a key set of visual and plot elements. Visually, one would notice low-key lighting, chiaroscuro effects, deep focus photography, extreme camera angles and expressionist distortion. From a plot perspective, the most common facets are a subjective point of view, shifting roles or the morally ambiguous nature of the protagonist, possibly an ill-fated relationship with the society and ways in which 'noir' itself functions as a socio-political critique. The plot’s female lead usually appears as a femme fatal (an archetype that more or less emerged from this style) or a chased or tormented victim. The stories are set mostly in urban locales. Voice Over and semi-documentary style also form a part of the narrative.

However, it is possibly the fatalistic attitude of Film Noir that gives it its engaging appeal. Contrast to the American happy endings endorsed by movies like ‘Sound of Music’, Film Noir depicted 'crime culture' based on jagged edged storylines. More often it would be about an average citizen making a mistake that snowballs into much greater problems. In Film Noir lingo it is called the spider web of deceit suggesting a an eruption of hysteria and panic.

The Maltese Falcon (1941), Double Indemnity (1944), and The Big Sleep (1946) are probably some of the early Hollywood offerings in the Noir category of films. Humphrey Bogart, biggest name in Film Noir, derives his distinction for exemplifying the hard boiled detective in movies like The Maltese Faction. His iconographic status in the realm of Film Noir however comes from many non investigative Film Noirs such as High Sierra (1941), Dark Passage (1946) and In a Lonely Place (1950). Bogart's roles in these movies suggest the different forms Noir took as it developed during forties. This also led to the surfacing of the pathos of the aging gangster, a falsely accused/wrongly convicted man or even the violence of a psychopath. The core concept was to make people identify with such characters.

The other key iconic figure of Noir is, of course, the fatal woman, who donned provocative outfits on film posters and pulp covers. In her sensuous and aggressive demeanour she posed as the prime distraction for the male protagonist and even the antagonist, often resisting their assertion and playing with their minds. Rita Hayworth’s portrayal of the self –assured sexually irresistible femme fatale made her a known face in Film Noir.

Outside of Hollywood, Noir has been attempted and successfully integrated into film making by many directors, celebrated Japanese director Akihira Kurosavo being one of them. Drunken Angel (1948), Stray Dog (1949), The Bad Sleep Well (1960), and High and Low (1963), easily identifiable as Noir have added the oriental flavour to this style of film making.

In the new millennium, Park Chan-wook of South Korea has been the most prominent director outside of the United States to work regularly in a Noir mode with ultra-violent films such as Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002) and Thirst (2009.

Christopher Nolan, of Inception (2010) fame, has played with Noir elements in all his Batman movies (Batman Begins and The Dark Knight), while his previous works like Memento and Insomnia established him as a connoisseur one of Neo Noir. The graphic novels inspired films like ‘Sin City’ and ‘Kill Kill Faster Faster’ encompass Neo Noir reflexivity. Tech Noir and Teen Noir are other styles that have evolved from  Noir.

Whether it is a genre or not is a topic of constant debate, mostly because of the sundry aspects that are a part of it; scholars and film historians have often said that Noir is more of a style and too diverse to be tagged as a genre.

-by Parmita Borah

Jolie to Play the Iconic Gertrude Bell in Ridley Scott's Next

Angelina Jolie will soon be seen stepping into the shoes of iconic woman leader “Gertrude Bell” in her upcoming movie with the same name, to be produced by Ridley Scott’s production company.

Scott is also contemplating directing the biopic, after completion of his Alien’s prequel-of-sorts Prometheus, which hits theatres in June.

The project’s screenplay is being written by Jeffrey Caine, who wrote the script for 2005’s “The Constant Gardner.”

Gertrude Bell, a British woman, pioneered the mapping the Middle East in early 20th century, which became the framework for what would become Jordan and Iraq.

Bell won widespread admiration among Arabs for being instrumental in founding of Iraq during World War I and is often described as the female ‘Lawrence of Arabia’.

The Tomb Raider was roped in by the makers of this film for her history of playing strong female characters. The Oscar winning actor has previously portrayed periodic characters in movies like Alexander and Changeling.

-by Parmita Borah

"The Three Musketeers" - a Review

Alexander Dumas's classic novel ‘The Three Musketeers’, for all those who didn’t know already, is sort of an epic tale about a young peasant eager to join the Kings' three musketeers Athos, Porthos and Aramis. He falls foul of the scheming Cardinal Richelieu and his men while attempting to save the Queen from public scandal, which could lead to an impending battle between France and England.

Hollywood had always had a tendency to alter plots and characters from adventure stories to fit them into adrenaline driven, action packed screenplays, sometimes not so successfully. The 2011 incarnation of The Three Musketeers created by Paul W.S. Anderson is no exception to that propensity.

To begin with, the three musketeers Athos, Aramis and especially Porthos have undergone massive transformations, from being legends to being superheroes. The most inedible transformation however is seen in Milady de Winter, from a villain to ahem, a Ninja, particularly when she pulls of Mission Impossible -like bungee stunts, but of course, if it’s Mila Jovovich portraying Milady, she’d simply do what she’s good at, kicking ass. It would have certainly helped if her stunts were toned down to suit the nature of a woman of that era. Nevertheless, her pretty face and sexy thighs are always a treat to watch.

Another totally pointless alteration was putting a pirate inspired patch on Rochefort, when according to the book he had a scar in his cheek. Christopher Waltz and Orlando Bloom try to salvage their underwritten parts, but it was Luke Evans as Athos who should be credited with adding some substance to the film.

On the brighter side, The Three Musketeers comes as a pleasant surprise after the epic fiasco of the much hyped Resident Evil-Afterlife. Instead of pop outs (like we’ve seen in Transformers), the movie has an Avatar like effect where the onlooker becomes a part of the scene. The fight sequences are decent; the violence is casual and humorous, although some sequences accompanied by the background music appear like a cocktail of Bollywood/Matrix/Sherlock Holmes rip offs. The flying airships forced into the script seem to serve no purpose except the obvious increase of 3D usage.

The plot and the twists are predictable from the very beginning while the accent of the cast dangles somewhere between British and French. The costumes and the sets, well, go unnoticed. Precisely a costume drama meets tried and tested Hollywood action, The Three Musketeers suffer from the familiar malady of being all glitz and no soul. It’s certainly possible to sit through one watch, but feel free to give it a miss, if you will.

-by Parmita Borah

Bad Guys We Love - Best Bollywood Villains (Part 1)

Back home, Bollywood Baddies have varied from gangsters, local goons, and corrupt cops to wicked step moms and mother -in-laws. There is also a breed of Bollywood Villains who are known for a different genre of notoriety. Their speciality lies in molesting wives, girlfriends and sisters of the protagonists. They scandalized our aunties, make them wipe their misty noses with tear soaked cotton handkerchiefs and blurt out, ‘Kaminey tere ghar mein ma behen nahi hain kya?’(Rascal, don’t you have a mother or sister at home?) Off late, the existence of such nasty felons is sort of on the decline with candy floss romances, cheating husbands, bikini babes and item numbers taking over. So let’s take a quick trip down memory lane and track down some of the most iniquitous characters seen on the silver screens of Bollywood.

Bhavani Devi - Sau din Saas Ke 

Played by Lalita Pawar

Schemer, envious, spiteful Matriarch Bhavani Devi runs her regal home with an iron hand. A fly wouldn’t dare move an inch without her permission. Trouble starts when her sons marry women against her wishes, worse the blushing brides didn’t being a lot of dowry with them. Bhavani Devi would go to any extent to instil fear in the hearts of her daughters in law, and resorts to extreme measures like hitting them and burning their pretty toes. Her tyranny goes well, till the entry of her second daughter is law, Reena Roy in the guise of an subtle iron woman, who has the guts to say “Bas Kijiye Maaji”. (Enough already mother).

Member of Parliament Chaturvedi – Aakhree Rasta 

Played by Sadashiv Amrapukar

He is so sly that he sends the husband of his muse on a rail roko andolan. While the ignorant hubby David D'Costa (Amitabh Bachchan) is out there as a devoted political party worker, rising politician Chaturvedi pays a quick visit to the naïve and unsuspecting wife-Mary (Jayaprada). He strips her off a 9 yard long saree and ahem, does it with her, as she squeals ‘Bachao’ (all the while verbalizing graphic details of his carnal aggression). When husband D'Costa discovers what happened, Chaturvedi pays off some cops to put him behind the bars before any confrontation can happen. After serving his term, a vengeance driven D'Costa (who now wears a grey wig) is out there to pound Chaturvedi to death, to avenge his wife’s dishonoring. Chatturvedi, watch out, Big B has spent two decades with a bunch of hardened criminals and beating you in your own game, should be cake walk for him! (Rama Shetty in Ardha Satya and Maharani in Sadak are two of the other notable negative characters played by Amrapukar. I would have written about them too, but my mean editor has given a word limit).

Shakaal - Shaan 

Played by Kulbhushan Kharbanda

Shakaal-the name itself is intimidating, isn’t it? There’s something about this authoritative first names that makes Bollywood Bad guys more villainous. Shakaal is bald, wears designer costumes custom made to suit his personality, and parks his arse on a colossal throne. His calm demeanor and sardonic smile makes him one of the most sophisticated and avant-garde villains Bollywood has witnessed. Besides what do you say about a guy who has his own island, controls it from a roomful of switches and has his own shark? I’d pretty much stay out of his way.

Loin - Kalicharan 

Played by Ajit

Say hello to another suit-boot walla angrez type villain in Hindi Cinema. Nothing beats the “Saara seher mujhe loin ki naam se jaanta hain”. (The whole city knows me by the name of loin).Din Dayal is an honest rich guy who rules the empire of crime and Mafia under the alias of Loin. He is the man under whom black-marketing, smuggling and robberies flourish in the city but makes sure to maintain a clean image in the public eye. It takes the iron will and hand of Inspector Kalicharan to crack a duplicitous nut like Din Dayal a.k.a Loin

Prem - Bobby 

Played by Prem Chopra

In the 21st century, Prem would have been an average promiscuous commitment phobic bachelor, who dates the pretty supporting actress and ditches them due to his lust for the heroine. His brief cameo in Bobby as Prem Chopra and the famous one liner ‘Prem Naam Hain Mera, Prem Chopra’ (The name’s Prem, Prem Chopra) sort of encompasses an entire career spent on the wrong side of the law. Prem Chopra a.k.a. Prem the sleazy bad boy, who even manages to attract pretty girls, perhaps the only one of his kind during his time.

Rahul Mehra - Darr 

Played by Shahrukh Khan

He may be suspending from invisible cables and shaking his booty to the beats of Chammak Challo with Kareena Kapoor; but long before science had its way and transformed a curly haired geek into a spiky haired Superhero, Shahrukh Khan played a star-crossed psycho stalker. He anonymously sings love songs for his love interest and his naughty crank calls professing his love for k-k-k-Kiran keeps getting crazier and scarier as the film progresses. Worse, he fell for a woman married to none other Sunny Paaji, the owner of a dhai kilo wajan wala haath (an arm that weighs 2.5 kilos). Yet the pretty boy manages to slip the grip of the mighty Sunny Deol, bump off a few guys and almost woos his lady love till he gets shot by her angered husband.

Ma’am - Kaun 

Played by Urmilla Matondkar

A white collar worker and a thief posing as cop manage to enter the lavish house of a solitary girl on a rainy night. The girl had seen a piece of news about a serial killer earlier that evening and it appears that either of the two men could be the serial killer from the news. But hold on, what do we see? The seemingly innocent girl is actually a psycho herself! She stabs her victims for no apparent reason, throws them off the roof and sings nursery rhymes. Urmilla Matondkar’s convincing portrayal of a nameless psycho killer (addressed as Ma’am by the other two characters) would completely leave you baffled and gasping for breath. You better not look into those eerie looking eyes, for she could make you freeze with her gaze.

Kesariya Vilayti aka BAD MAN – Ram Lakhan 

Played by Gulshan Grover

Time for some iconic Bollywood villains, one of them being the Kesariya Vilayti a.k.a Bad Man! When a man calls himself bad, well there’s no stopping him. There’s nothing much one remembers about this character but for his name and the way he says BAD MAN! The notorious gangster pretty much plays his cards right but the government slaps a reward for him, and he gets captured by street urchin named Lakhan.

Mogambo - Mr India 

Played by Amrish Puri

When one is making a list of Bollywood Baddies, is it possible to leave out Mr. Amrish Puri? He had convincingly portrayed so many negative roles that it was hard to accept him as a good man when he graduated into character roles. It is safe to say that Mogambo is the most iconic villain role Amrish Puri has ever performed. He dresses like he’s walked out of Buckingham palace, has blonde hair, but speaks excellent Hindi. His den looks like a sci-fi set, he has Chinese scientists making missiles for him, and a minion that chants in chorus ‘Hail Mogambo’. He is out there to promote bonding and alliances in the community of international terrorism and his control room is bigger than Shakal or Loin’s. When he is happy he says ‘Mugambo Khus Hua’ and it takes the might of an invisible hero like Mr. India to take him down.

Gabbar - Sholay 

Played by Amzad Khan

Amitabh Bachchan seems to have had trysts with most of the baddies on our list during his hay days. Amzad Khan’s debut as a super villain Gabbar Singh in probably the Indian version of The Good, the Bad and The ugly has a cult following till date. Every single dialogue that he uttered in Sholay, his repugnant laughter, and his tobacco spitting (Khak Thu) has attained an iconic status among cine goers, then and now. Gabbar’s leads and feeds a bunch of sidekicks, the most accountable ones being Samba and Kaaliya. His Return on Investment model is taxation on the people of Ramgarh village. His only mistake was to chop Thakur’s hand (sort of the village headman) instead of wiping him off completely. The handless Thakur backfires by hiring two city bred ruffians to put an end to Gabbar’s regime. Gabbar Singh is credited some of the most immortal lines of Bollywood history, the most famous ones being ‘Kitne Aadmi the’ and ‘Yeh Haath mujhe de de Thakur’.

-by Parmita Borah

Bad Guys We Love - Best Hollywood Non-Human Villains (Part One)

Hollywood's fascination for revulsion stretches further and beyond the human realm. They have created bad guys who creep into your dreams and slash your intestines, throw magic spells, pounce on you with their fangs exposed, eat you as meals and sometimes multiply. We remember them here on this post with much awe and wariness.

Freddy Krueger - Nightmare at Elm Street 

Played by Robert Englund and Jackie Earle Haley.

Kids Beware! This scary looking bad boy waits for you till you are asleep. While you are snoring merrily, he quietly creeps into your dreams and bam-his long razor claw slashes your intestines. No big deal, huh? Wait till you see this disfigured dream stalker throw that grisly grin at you, right before he, well, kills you. Freddy Krueger was lovelorn as a child. As a reprisal act, he took to torturing little kids in their sleep and became that serial child killing monster. He was born of a human mother but the methods he uses to kill his victims certainly seem non-human. Freddy uses anything and everything he can ‘dream up’ to torment his prey before finally skewering them on his razor-fingered glove.

Feel like taking a nap, eh? Go ahead. Just don’t tell us that we didn’t warn you!

Regan MacNeil - The Exorcist 

Played by Linda Blair

Her chubby cheeks and cute smile would have made her a teacher’s pet any other day. I honestly feel like singing ‘It’s not your fault’ to her like Phoebe Buffay sings to her smelly cat. The poor girl was possessed by Satan himself (like stepping into adolescence wasn’t enough trouble already). Next we see her screaming and swearing bearing horrendous scar marks on her pretty face. Not just that, she can turn her head 360 degrees, her eyes go awry and she levitates in the middle of the night. Don’t even get me started on her throaty voice, just thinking of it gives me the willies!

Damien Thorn - The Omen 

Played by Harvey Stephens, Jonathan Scott-Taylor, Sam Neill, and Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick

Another innocent face with pure evil in the heart! Damien Thorn is the Antichrist and the son of the Devil, destined to bring the apocalypse. He has the 666 birthmark to prove it. What makes him so petrifying is probably his gumption to push his mother off a balcony, making her lose her unborn child, all in cold blood. You never know when the innocent gaze of a toddler turns into a menacing stare that could actually make lightning strike and concrete fall on your head! Better stay out of his way. Besides, he is protected by wolves!

The Wicked Witch of the West - The Wizard of Oz 

Played by Margaret Hamilton

We should probably thank her for making the witch costume a trend during Halloween. The Wicked Witch of West is fiercely intimidating and you certainly don’t want to be stuck with her inside an elevator. She is jealous, hateful and like The Joker from The Dark Knight, is hell bent on causing chaos. She’s got some malevolent magical tricks up her sleeve and has a bandwagon of minions to delegate her wicked acts. Her speciality is torturing harmless animals and scaring lost little girls.

Lord Voldemort - Harry Potter Series 

Played by Ralph Fiennes

In the magical realm exists another devilish being. We call him "You-Know-Who", "He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named" or "the Dark Lord" for even the mention of his name maybe catastrophic. Lord Voldemort is the arch nemesis of the courageous good will ambassador Harry Potter. Lord Voldemort’s quest is to gain ultimate power by killing Harry Harry Potter since he was born and the latter always manages to escape his fatal yet futile attempts.

Alien - Alien 

Played by Bolaji Badejo

It isn’t Signoury Weaver alone that he torments. This baddie takes an entire space ship crew down, killing them one at a time. The titular Alien in the movie Alien is enormous and causes trouble of gigantic proportions. It is from the beyond and the malignant creature simply makes your blood freeze with fear. Hats of to Signoury Weaver for taking down the vicious, virtually unbeatable alien on her own!

Bruce - Jaws 

Played by a seemingly convincing mechanical model

Toothy is cute? That holds true for Bugs Bunny not for this toothy predator that basically eats human. Why? Well, because human blood titillates his sense of smell and taste. We are his staple food precisely. When Bruce the shark, pops out of the water...God save the world. This gigantic shark’s basic instincts made people scared of water and waves for a long time. Go to the beach, end up being Happy Meal for a shark!

Cujo the Dog - Cujo 

Played by a St. Bernard whose real name was Daddy; Vocal effects performed by voice actor Frank Welker

More teeth on their way- this time they’re actually fangs. Dracula? Yeah you wish! No folks this is your neighbourhood canine. Cujo is an offspring of Stephen King’s vivid imagination. He is your average lovable pet dog transformed into a vicious killing machine with an insatiable need for blood. We see his nose getting wetter and gallons of saliva dripping down his tongue as he pounces on humans and tears of their flesh. Cujo is a nightmare, especially when you are awake. Want to adopt a pet puppy? Make sure it is properly vaccinated.

Darth Vader - Star Wars 

Played by David Prowse, voiced by James Earl Jones

Another Lord, they call him Lord Vader or Darth Vader. This masked baddie is evil personified. Worse he is dark, disciplined and quite intelligent too which makes him all the more perilous. Vader's signature black helmet, echo-box breathing and portent-of-doom musical theme made him the #1 super villain after Dracula.There is a little explanation where we get to see why he is the way he is. We realized there was so much more to the guy in the walking coffin, and when he dies, one can’t help but grab a tissue. Now that is a great villain.

Agent Smith - The Matrix Triology 

Played by Hugo Weaving

Simply love the way he says “Hello Mr. Anderson”. He is suave, sophisticated and there are so many of them.. Agent Smith is a rogue program, resurfacing in various spots all over The Matrix without being controlled by the machines. He despises human beings, thinks they are parasitic and is out there to destroy them all. As he grows his number making every one he touches a clone of himself, he almost manages to bring an apocalypse till he was stopped by Mr Anderson or Neo, the white knight. His Men in Black attire, composure and brilliant sarcastic speeches make him an echelon of manovalence. 

-by Parmita Borah

(Click Here for "Best Hollywood Villains")

Bad Guys We Love - Best Hollywood Villains

They are mean, menacing and merciless. They are bad to the bone. We love to hate them, root against them and applaud when the good guys beat them to a pulp with bare hands. Yet there’s something about these cold-blooded creatures that makes them unforgettable. Here’s our pick of the ten most memorable baddies of Hollywood.

Hans Gruber - Die Hard 

Played by Alan Rickman

It appears that all this two-bit criminal cares about is money. But hang on! Apart from the $600 M at stake, this fellow actually enjoys tormenting people. Whether it's dealing with hostages or acting like one, Hans knows just the right buttons to push and always stays in charge. Is he a petty thief or a terrorist? No matter what the label is, he is a murderous felon. His calm, cool, and collected delivery of every word outweighs the need for any stereotyped villain costume.

Michael Corleone - God Father 

Played by Al Pacino

Now this is an antagonist you do not mind empathizing with. He wasn’t born with a gun in his hand, but came from a ‘family’ that did. He had an initial dislike for his ‘family business’ and wanted to escape it. But when his father dies, his intelligence and cunning comes to the fore as he takes on the big bad world of Italian Mafia, inflicting terror in the hearts of his opponents. Al Pacino brings out the character’s conflicts with such sophistication that it’s hard to imagine God Father with another actor playing Michael Corleone.

Amy Wikes - Misery 

Played by Kathy Bates

Whoa! What do we call this one - the poor little, ahem, crazy girl? The woman’s outward rigidity conceals a tempestuous interior driven by suppressed anger, hysterical passion, and religious fanaticism. While she tends to Paul Sheldon (James Caan) with tenderness, there’s no stopping of that monstrous might when he refuses to oblige to her demands. Contrast to that, Annie’s demands are not materialistic or sexual as one would expect, all she wants is a minor tweak in the story that Paul Sheldon is writing. She probably is more like an over grown tantrum kid with a baseball bat. Sure to scare the poop out of her playmates and their parents. Kathy Bates terrified both James Caan and audiences as Annie Wilkes in “Misery.” She got an Oscar, we got the creeps.

Frankenstein’s Monster - Frankenstein

Played by Boris Karloff

It wasn’t his wish or choice to become the monster he was. Rather, he was created with that kind of inhuman imperfection. Often confused with his creator Frankenstein, the monster, was the outcome untamed desire to challenge and tinker with nature. One can’t help but feel sorry for this monstrous creature - inside out that seems to have no way to redemption. The monster is often used as a metaphor for politics, nuclear science, genetic engineering and other agents of change to warn against experimentation that are against nature and beyond human control.

Nurse Ratched - One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest 

Played by Louise Fletcher

Little boys and girls are dead scared of the hypodermic needle, but it takes a pair of acerbic eyes and condescending stature to instil belonephobia amongst adults. It probably takes the might of a tyrant like Nurse Ratched to maintain order in a mental asylum, though her ways do agonize the patients. The various trysts that she had with Jack Nicholson’s character, makes her brawl like a wild beast whose territory has been challenged. Despite that eerily composed facial expression and her sparkling uniform, Louise Fletcher, emits an aura of feared authority. Hold on, fellas! She’s out there to scare mankind - one man at a time.

Norman Bates - Psycho 

Played by Anthony Perkins

In one scene Norman Bates is a sweet natured, slightly effeminate young man, who offers his hospitality to a young woman on the run. He is a regular guy next door, stutters and stammers at the sight of an attractive women. The next moment he is a slash killer who brutally stabs that woman till she lies lifeless in a pool of blood. The debatable topic of dissociative personality disorder gained credibility on the silver screen for the first time, thanks to the haunting performance by Anthony Perkins. Who can ever forget the ghoulish stare that pierces right through the areas inside the skull that causes fear? We will always remember Norman bates as the terrifying mama’s boy who in all probability hatched a new phobia - the fear of taking showers.

Hannibal Lecter – Silence Of The Lambs 

Played by Anthony Hopkins

Our bad guys seem to get weirder and weirder. This one is a super intelligent, disciplined cannibalistic serial killer who takes a fancy for a novice FBI agent. That’s not all - he actually goes out of his way to help her track down another crazy bum who kills people and skins them for leather. “What has the world come to”, like my grandma would say. While he despises another interrogating officer, clubs a guard and actually eats another, Hannibal Lector has a mentor-like attitude towards FBI agent Clarice (an undeclared protégé of his). Anthony Hopkins’s bloodcurdling portrayal of Hannibal Lecter with occasional interludes of humour and wit confuses the viewer while deciding whether to like him or hate him.

Alex Forrest - Fatal Attraction 

Played by Glenn Close

Hell hath no fury like the woman scorned - who know it better than Michael Douglas's character Dan Gallagher in Fatal Attraction. A happily married man has a one night stand with the insanely attractive book editor Alex Forrest. He gets her pregnant and returns to his regular life hoping to get away with it. He is in for a surprise. This woman is no Hester Prynne and she’d rather kill him and everything he loves than letting him part with her. Glen Close certainly scared the pants off promiscuous men when she stepped into the fatal shoes of Alex Forrest. In this riveting cultural phenomenon that altered the way men looked at gorgeous women, Glen Close proved that female baddies needn’t be scary or overweight. Thanks to her enraged portrayal of a scorned lover, Fatal Attraction carved itself an iconic spot in Popular Culture

Catherine Trammell - Basic Instinct 

Played by Sharon Stone

Our villains seem to be getting sexier and crazier. Whoever said ‘if looks could kill’? Her stone cold looks make men so desperate that they’d die for a single speck of her attention; and she in turn is happy to oblige. Be it the infamous leg uncrossing scene, or her consistent provocative body language, Sharon Stone’s portrayal of Catherine Trammel in Basic Instinct titillated the basic carnal instincts of her onlookers and catapulted her to stardom. The mystery and enigma that surrounds Catherine proves to be a distraction from all the sadistic crimes she commits making her all the more attractive to the investigating officer played by Michael Douglas.

The Joker - The Dark Knight 

Played by Heath Ledger

“Haha Haha haha” he says “Why so serious?” It’s hard to say if Heath Ledger's untimely death immortalised “The Joker” in The Dark Knight; but those who have seen the Hollywood movie, can’t deny that his flawless acting as Batman’s nemesis, added unfathomed layers to The Joker. In The Dark Knight we see The Joker as a rebel without a cause with an ice prick for a heart and a ghastly scar for a smile. He wears a purple suit, has golden hair and blinds a guy with a pencil. He is eccentric, erratic, relentless, and has no sob stories to justify his acts. The Joker wants to watch the world burn, simply to prove the fact that everyone in Gotham city is as ugly inside as he is outside. Many have opined that Heath Ledgers portrayal of The Joker does not align with the comic book character, but isn’t that what actors are supposed to do - bring characters alive with a personal touch? The critics and cynics may have their say, but this maniacal anarchist crime lord The Joker successfully immortalised Heath ledger as an actor of highest calibre.

-by Parmita Borah

(Look out for our pick of best non human villains)

Contagion - A Contagious Flick

The 1995 Dustin Hoffman starrer ‘Outbreak’ probably set a landmark for all epidemic/pandemic movies made thereafter. Contagion as a movie of that genre may or may have not surpassed the calibre of ‘Outbreak’, but certainly has succeeded in creating an identity of its own. 

A lethal communicable virus spreads across the globe, causing scores of death, while the health departments try to contain it; pharmaceutical companies try to leverage it and the affected try to come to terms with it. That’s precisely the story of Contagion. The appeal of the movie though lays not much in the story as it does in the story telling.

A Global Operations Manager of an American Company Beth (Gwyneth Paltrow), the unwitting host of a fatal airborne virus is seen chewing peanuts at a Hong Kong airport, waiting for a flight. Beth is unaware that like a Midas effect, everything she touches gets infected with the virus she is carrying. Soon in an ill-fated turn of events, people from all over the world begin to suffer from coughs, nose bleeds, collapse and immediately die. It is later shown in the movie through security tapes that the first recorded deaths were of the people who came in direct or indirect contact with Beth.

The quiet yet alarming infection slowly creeps its way into human nerves through door knobs, busses, papers and cups, unnoticed by the characters in the film. All they can notice is an escalating death toll with every passing day.

Marion Cotillard

There are several human sub plots – a man who discovers his wife’s infidelity while he is mourning over her death (played by Matt Damon), a pharmaceutical company hoping to mint money out of the crisis, an Epidemic Intelligence Service officer who has to convince local bureaucrats to commit resources while herself becoming infected, a scientist who identifies a potential vaccine and inoculates herself for a human subject test, World Health Organization epidemiologist who is held hostage for a batch of the vaccines. 

All of the characters have been treated with balanced empathy and make for the drama that a story like this requires to make it human. The film's usage of concepts like "R0" and "fomites," and genuine challenges like not having a state-of-the-art technology to mass produce vaccines depicts how well-illustrated the script is.

There’s also the conspiratorially-minded freelance journalist Alan Krumwiede (Jude Law) who creates uproar and public mayhem by releasing startling information on his blog; and Dr. Ellis Cheever (Laurence Fishburne) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who is torn between the right and the wrong. These two characters in particular bring out the multiple dynamics of an epidemic situation - the sufferers and the profiteers, the survivors and the favored, the powerful and the powerless. Both the characters in their own way bring a few surprises to the story by slowly exposing their intents and instincts.

The most intelligent aspect of the movie is probably its beginning - it starts from 'Day 2' rather than 'Day 1'. This may strike as confusing to many, because of the initial lack of information; but as the story progresses, the plot gets clearer, saving a few surprises till the end.

The background score really adds to the grim tale that Contagion is. Despite a multi star cast, the film remains plot centric and not a star centric high intensity drama, kudos to casting for roping in such a great cast and to Soderbergh for utilizing them so well. Kate Winlset, Marion Cotillard and Jennifer Ehle stand out with their subtle yet potent presence. Cinematography can’t be claimed to be extraordinary but certainly sets the paranoid mood. Certain scenes like Beth’s autopsy are visually disturbing and may not be suitable for children. Frequent close-ups of people touching objects like glasses, cell phones, credit cards, door knobs and elevator buttons manage to instil that arcane paranoia that film makers strive to create. The scenes leave one with the horrific feeling that you could be the next victim.

Overall, Contagion is a brilliant screenplay (by Scott Z. Burns), well-executed by Steven Soderbergh. Soderbergh, known for his distinct story telling, makes the audience realise yet another time, why his movies enjoy both commercial and critical triumph. The treatment of the movie however, screamed out “TV movie” rather than a theatrical release. What was the purpose of a multi-star cast still beats me when Contagion could have catapulted many Television actors to BAAFTA and EMMY. 

-by Parmita Borah