Three Movies and a Play

Shrek III: The 3rd edition of one of the popular icon of our times teaches the lesson, ‘don’t get bothered by what others think of you...just stay true to yourself’. Nicely fairy-taleish and executed in the same brilliance, of the preceding two editions, it’s an easy and funny watch. Though nothing can take away the charm of the first one, purely because it’s the first time you are introduced to the characters and 'Far Far Away'. One thing that has been consistent in all editions of this tale centering on the green monster is the brilliantly timed usage of music…whether its Jason Wade’s version of ‘You belong to me’ in Shrek or Led Zepp’s ‘Immigrant Song’ in the latest one.

Later, I realized that we were one of the first few ones to have watched the movie, as it hasn’t been released officially in the Bombay theaters. Apparently, we had caught the paid preview!

Vivement Dimanche or Finally Sunday (1983): This Black & White tribute to Alfred Hitchcock by Francois Tuffaut (of 400 Blows fame) is an out and out murder mystery with a very attractive looking Fanny Ardent playing the lead. It happened on a Sunday afternoon on Zee Studio, thanks to Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra & UTV combine effort. Truffaut was an expert on Hitchcock and great admirer of his work which explains the deliberate usage of Black & White.

King of Comedy (once again 1983): Along with Taxi Driver and Raging Bull, this movie forms an unofficial trilogy of films by Scorcese and De Niro portraying obsessive characters. It’s a great satire on the cult of celebrity with great performance and among Scorsese’s best. In fact, Scorsese claims that its De Niro’s finest performance under his direction.

Aapki Soniya, a play by Javed Siddiqui: This one is a sequel to the highly popular ‘Tumhari Amrita’ which had Farooque Sheikh & Shabana Azmi. While the impeccable Sheikh continues as the same character from ‘Tumhari…’, Soniya, the new character has been enacted in an unexpected good manner by Sonali Bendre. The format remains the same…which is that of letter-reading between the two characters.

If you appreciate and understand the beauty of Urdu, this one is a must. Mr Siddiqui writes very well with ample amount of Ghalib and Zaukh thrown in at the right moments. So, despite a starving stomach, I enjoyed the play. More so, because my friend’s father (who was also with us) used the interval to ‘pick my brains’ (as he said) trying to understand the nuances of the language. I was glad to be of some help. The play ended in a rather disappointing manner becoming unnecessary soppy like a typical Bollywood movie. But, without getting turned off by the last sentence, go ahead and form your own judgement by watching the play.