Vicky Donor

I had been reading all these fab reviews of Vicky Donor and I was very curious. I actually thought it must have been funded by the Fertility doctors of India Association. With all its emphasis on sperm donors, I thought the message being rammed was a bit excessive. Felt as if Aamir Khan was promoting something.

The movie had some delightful characters, especially the mom and grand mom of the protagonist. Annu Kapoor showed once again how underutilized he is in Bollywood. The setting of the movie, the Lajpat Nagar vs CR Park was too good, although I do wish somebody finally shows that some culture other than the Punju prevails. It is sickening to see as if the only culture worth emulating is the loud Punju song and dance and the other ways of life are staid and boring and not worth practicing.

The movie also seemed to be celebrating the "male" all through. The lead had to be an "innocent divorcee". Hindi movies still cannot seem to get away from the virginal image of the heroine. For all the hero's seeming acceptance of the heroine as she is, the plot still had to be twisted to ensure compliance to all Hindi movie norms. The lead pair could only adopt a baby who was born from the protagonist's sperm. That seemed quite regressive especially when the views of the grandmother in the movie were so progressive. Also wish that the movie showed the natural progression in the interest that Annu Kapoor has for the protagonist's Mom.

As with so many movies, it seemed to be on the right track, before somebody in the interests of the commercial viability of the movie derailed the script. Still, despite the derailing, an interesting movie and maybe shows some respect for the audience's maturity.

Prasthanam

I have been wanting to write about Prasthanam for quite sometime. I was worried that my enthusiasm for the movie was coloring my perspective but I guess I do have to write. Although the movie released in 2010, I saw it only this year. My brother gave me a copy of the movie way back after the movie was released, but after seeing the first few minutes of the movie, I couldn't go farther, as I was not sure what my reaction would be. I finally saw the complete movie this year and it has been an absolute revelation!

Hamlet has been an inspiration to many, but this is a beautiful adaptation and I did not think Telugu film industry had the wherewithal to actually make a movie like this. Although the screenplay is significantly different from the original play, but the plot remains the same. It has however, been the characterization  of Loknath - step father of Hamlet that has stood out. In India unfortunately, the character that slays the so called villains and romances the girl is called the hero, but to me it was Loknath that was the hero of the movie. His motivations, aspirations, weaknesses, frailties around which the movie centered. It was also the war that was between unconditional love and love tinged by weakness. To me, Mitra, the character played by Sharwanad that was the supporting character. 

The director virtually takes us through the mental map of both Loknath and Mitra. Such powerful characterizations are so rare in Telugu movies. It could also be the power of Sai Kumar's performance that I am still raving about the Loknath character. The dialogues and the delivery are something so rarely seen in the recent past. I have also been watching some of the older Telugu movies like Thotukodallu and Mangalyabalam. I was struck by the relative ease of acting in those movies instead of a preponderance of heavy sighs and dramatic lines and exits although quite a few artistes in the star cast came from a theatrical background. Wonder when the regression in Telugu movies actually took place. 

Coming back to Prasthanam, the other think that struck me was the diction of Sai Kumar. I think we tend to confuse between dialects and diction. Recent heroes in Telugu movies just cannot speak the language properly. Their diction is terrible. It is almost as if they are doing a disservice to the very language and art form that is sustaining their millions and lifestyle.

The only place where the movie disappoints is in the placement of songs. These actually act as speed breakers in the movie. The songs by themselves are beautifully written and composed. But in the context of the movie all barring two - the title song and "Evado Vadu" are irrelevant to the movie. I like the song "Murali Lola" song very well. A beautiful rendition of a mythical tale and in a tradition that we seem to be forgetting. 

All in all a movie I would definitely recommend and would want to re-watch so that I can see all those nuances that I have missed previously.