Little Black Book

Directed by first time director Ali Abbas Zafar and produced by Yash Raj Films, Mere Brother Ki Dulhan is a take on the age old bollywood formula of love triangles. We have been conditioned to foresee the end even before we step into the theater. And you are not surprised by the end of the movie. Love triangles to the Indian audiences are much like comfort food. But this comfort food was neither comforting nor edible. Ali Zafar, makes his debut as the ‘brother’, the third corner in the triangle. And brightly does this corner shine. Imran Khan, reprises his role as the boy next door, Katrina is the Dulhan, completing the triangle. The movie is pegged as a romantic comedy. The romance is missing and the comedy is spread far and thin. But the movie does have its plus points, they are few in number, but they are there. Starting with the revelation that Katrina can dance. She did prove it when she was Sheila, but this movie makes you take note that she is not just a pretty face...

Can you recall the last movie which made you drop your defenses and your cynical view of the world and relationships? Can you recall the last movie which made you yearn for something which you knew was all reel but you hoped that it was real? Can you recall the last movie which made you invest so much in the lead characters that you forgot where you were and cried your soul out? Can you remember the last movie which made you reminiscence of a time when you truly and really believed in fairy tales? I do, well some of them anyway, couple of movies do pop in mind which might answer most of the questions I ask, ‘Jerry Maguire’, ‘Love Story’, ‘The Notebook’ and ‘50 First Dates’. But if you look at the release dates of each of these movies, Jerry Maguire – 1996, Love Story – 1970, The Notebook – 2004, 50 First Dates – 2004, it has been more than a decade since I have seen these movies.  2004, apparently seems to be the year, fairy tales for the new century were written and tra...

Written by the newly married couple of Anurag Kashyap and Kalki Koechlin, ‘The Girl in Yellow Boots’ is like a black moor fish, swimming alone in a pond filled with gold and koi fish. The girl in yellow boots is a story about an English girl named Ruth who comes to India in search for her father. And in her search she comes across the myriad characters who make you smile, squirm, make you react physically and verbally. The whys and the how of the search for her father form most of the screenplay, and it in these areas that the writer duo shines. The detailed shots are a joy to watch and, it makes you think about the possible symbolism of every single artifact which is in focus and even those which are out of focus. The silence in the first half of the movie forms as much as a part of the background score as the haunting and lilting rustic music by Naren Chandavarkar in the second half. The movie progresses like the rising tide. Slow to begin with, and for those who don’t enjo...