#ADecentArrangement #HindiBollywoodFilmMovieReview #JohnsonThomas Rating: * * 1/2

#ADecentArrangement #HindiBollywoodFilmMovieReview #JohnsonThomas Rating: * *1/2

#Picks&Piques/SnippetFilmReview7thNov2014/#JohnsonThomas

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#Picks&Piques/SnippetFilmReview7thNov2014/#JohnsonThomas

#RangRasiya Rating: * * ½   Trivializing art history.An uneven patchwork quilt woven around an tragic-romance between an artist and his muse with some tradition bending murmurings as a paean  to modernity. Picks up steam in the second half but by then it’s already too late to completely engage. #NandanaSen & #RandeepHooda do manage to show off their earnestness to good effect though! #PENInternational #MAYAMovies #DeepaSahi #AnandMahendroo #KetanMehta #RandeepHooda #NandanaSen #PareshRawal #JayantilalGada #ParulGossain #VikramGokhale #DarshanJariwala

#TheShaukeens (Hindi) Rating: * * ½ not-so-seamless Cross pollination of a frugally appreciated age-old lascivious geriatric resuscitation (remake of 1982 classic comedy "Shaukeen") with a personally sponsored ego-trip. Neither hip nor happening with very little to laugh about. #AkshayKumar shows visible signs of performance betterment but the rest just ‘clown’ about!  #NilouferQuereshi #AkshayKumar #LisaHayden #RajeshSharma #AnupamKher #AnnuKapoor #AshwinVarde #MSLMedia #TigmanshuDhulia #AbhishekSharma

#ChaarSahibzaade(3D/Animation/ParulGossain): Rating: * * ½ Though the animation and 3D effects are not of a high standard, they have an amiable quality & the straightforward story telling about the four courageous legends  of Sikhism(Guru Govind Singh and his three brothers) lends a certain piety to the valorous depiction of their brave, valiant, fearless, heroic and gallant acts that have become legendary and proscribes the way of life that Sikhism promotes. #ParulGossain #HarryBaweja #HarmanBaweja #BawejaMoviesPvtLtd

                                                                           

#ADecentArrangement (English) Rating: * * ½ Taking a step backward in the ABCD (American born confused Desi) conceptualised encounter, this one is earnest and interesting enough but a little too light-weight to make the cut for a higher enchantment. #ShabanaAzmi is as always impeccable. #FaridCurrim #NeenaKulkarni #AndrewLaupus #AshwaniShukla #JaiViratraEntertainmenLimited #SarovarBanka #NavneetNisshan #VikramKapadia

Film review

Johnson Thomas

A decent cross-cultural drama

Film: A Decent Arrangement

Cast: Shabana Azmi, Adam Laupus, Lethia Nall, Diksha Basu, Shreya Sharma, Farid Currim, Navniit Nisshan, Vikram Kadapia.

Director: Sarovar Banka

Rating: * * ½

An understated, surprisingly evocative but distinctly low key version of the ABCD experience celebrated at most of the Indian diaspora fests.

Born and raised in America, Ashok (Adam Laupus) decides to seek an Indian bride for reasons never entirely clear. The candidates are lined up with ruthless efficiency by Ashok’s older cousin Preeti ( Shabana Azmi,in excellent fettle) and approved by Preeti’s lively teenage daughter, Suriya (Shreya Sharma). Amita (Diksha Basu), an attractive, well-educated modern woman in her late 20s, is the candidate who just might lead Ashok to the altar. He is willing and so is she but it’s not love really. Ashok in the meantime also gets friendly with a backpacking American Lori(Lethia Niall) and this complicates things(just a little bit) in Ashok’s own mind. 

Sarovar Banka puts out a reasonably accomplished effort in his first attempt as feature director with some really well-knit performances from most of the cast spear-headed by the inimitable Shabana Azmi. 

Shot on Super 35 and accompanied by n evocative score by Neel Murgai, the pic puts forth its American-born hero’s search for an Indian wife through an arranged marriage- while exploring the confusion of a western upbringing with the subtext of an Indianised future. More interesting than the under-issued drama of intra-personal conflict, is the visual exploration of Chandigarh, Le Corbusier’s famed city.  

This film doesn’t have either the sting of poignancy nor the well-sprung of emotion which captivates a cinema goer in India. It’s nevertheless a decent engagement in spite of it’s unaffecting demeanor!

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