Saturday 15 December 2018

The Kedarnath after-effects

I was so looking forward to Kedarnath (like many of you, I’m sure!). The unabashed Sara Ali Khan, the cutest-ever Sushant Singh Rajput, the mesmerizing Amit Trivedi’s music and an innocent love story centered around all these. This definitely had many expectations high.
But let me confess first. It has been really long since I found myself under the spell of a Bollywood
movie hours after I finished watching it. So, here I’m, enjoying the after-effects of Kedarnath and
ofcourse, sharing it with you lovely people!



Weep buckets and buckets
The first half had me smiling throughout as hesitantly but gradually Mansoor falls for Mukku. But,
the interval changes the set mood just like the unfortunate Uttarakhand floods changed their lives.
You’ll cry with Mansoor and Mukku, you’ll cry for Mansoor and Mukku.
Keep a box of tissues handy. You’ll need them.




Listen to ‘Lag Jaa Gale’ on loop
The classic, ‘Lag jaa Gale’ from ‘Woh Kaun thi’, sung my the evergreen, Lata Mangeshkar has been
used beautifully to echo the essence of innocent, unconditional love. The moment I left the movie hall,
I put my earphones on to listen to this melody, savouring every lyric. Be ready to fall in love with this
song all over again!

Lag Jaa Gale


Wonder how the fuck did they shoot the climax
I know a lot of people are saying that the climax is ditto of Titanic, which I absolutely agree with.
But one cant ignore the magnanimous scale at which the climax is shot/shown. It all seemed so
real and horrifying. I tried hard to get some BTS of the climax sequence but nothing came my way.
If you have pictures/videos of the shoot of the climax sequence of this movie, do enlighten me as
well :)



Start acting like Mukku
Mandakini or fondly called as Mukku, rubs on you like Geet from Jab We Met and Vaidehi from
Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhaniya. She is unapologetically outspoken, takes her stand ferociously and
loves fearlessly. Sara playing this role has left me awestruck, impressed and inspired. Started her
career with a bang!



Fall in love with Mansoor
This boy is the most adorable. Sushant plays this sweet boy who is a little shy, reserved and goes
out of his way to help random people. The goody goody boy whom you would take home to your
parents. And mahnn, the way he blushes! If you still don’t fall for him, I don’t know what you are
made of.
Of course, once you are done reading this, you can find me drooling at his Instagram pictures and
smiling stupidly to self.



Thursday 13 December 2018

Everything and nothing about NFAI

I had marked my calendar for the next weekend to attend ‘A Festival of Films from Israel’ to be hosted by Pune International Centre. Having not much interest in Israeli films (the perception of which changed soon after) what made me look forward to it? The Festival was being held at the NATIONAL FILM ARCHIVE OF INDIA!

TAADD--AAAHHHHHH

Not excited?

(*mockingly) Only movie geeks would get excited to spend their Sundays in a government office filled with movie posters that too when already staying in Pune for a good time now. I would often find myself peeping out of the window staring at the gorgeous building whenever I would pass by it on the Law College Road.

Anyways, so yours truly was that little girl left to explore a candy shop. I was so happy going around the place, taking pictures, looking at the antique movie posters that adorned the shabby walls, peeping into the administrative area and what not. But that excitement was ruthlessly curbed by the watchman who not-so-politely asked me to not click pictures and there I was, sad again.  I managed to sneakily get some pictures though! Less is better than none, right?

This is not the NFAI building, this is the museum that is housed in the NFAI campus. Beautiful, isn't it?





I wish I had a house like this! *drools
Talking about the Film Festival, it was a beautiful bouquet of Israeli films that opened up a new world for me. After kicking myself for missing out on the first 3 days of the festival, I had managed to drag myself to the last day and spent my Sunday in the company of 2 gems.

Israeli Gem 1 - Footnote

Footnote is a one of a kind story of a father-son duos’ tryst with academic rivalry. This movie fucked my mind completely. To be honest, I slept off midway for a while. Ohh, btw, it was Israel’s entry to Academy Award in the foreign language category in 2012. You could read more about the movie in this New York Times article - https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/04/movies/footnote-israeli-film-by-joseph-cedar.html
And if this intrigues you then please do watch the trailer too - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DjUwSr0VFo

Israeli Gem 2 - Lemon Tree

Lemon Tree is the story of a courageous widow who lives on the Israel-Palestine border with her farm of lemon trees. Her struggle begins when her new neighbour and defence minister of Israel decides to destroy her age old family farm because of security issues. It is beautifully harrowing to see human lives change and struggle amidst political turmoil. Regret leaving this one midway as I had to catch a bus back. (kicking my ass for this one too! :P)Watch the trailer here! I’m sure you will love it! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_j1llK3Fco

And, I brought an end to this trip with some hot and spicy, Idli Sambar - my all-time favourite! Ping me if you wish to share your experiences/opinions about Israeli films or anything in general. See ya! 
All time favourite!