FullReview #Astu #MarathiIndianFilmMovieReview #JohnsonThomas

FullReview #Astu #MarathiIndianFilmMovieReview #JohnsonThomas 

 #PicksAndPiquesSnippetFilmReview15thJuly2016 #JohnsonThomas

                       

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#PicksAndPiquesSnippetFilmReview15thJuly2016 #JohnsonThomas

#GreatGrandMasti(Hindi) Rating: * *  Run for your life. Three sexual predators try hard to sex up the fun but their antics are so juvenile that it seems crass. The crudeness thereof  is just untenable. There’s a ‘virgin’ ghost setting them on that course of self-degenration. The jokes fall flat, sexual innuendo is in-your-face distasteful,  performances are limp and the barbettes on show are so heavily made-up that they look like mannequins on the loose. The script & dialogue wavers between chest high and groin deep while the music, raises expectations and delivers nothing. This is neither great nor grand and the masti is sorely missing. The ‘zaade’ behind this affront need to get their heads examined!   #AftabShivdasani #ReiteshDeshmukh #VivekOberoi #UrvashiRautela #IndraKumar #AltEntertainment #ShobhaKapoor #EktaKapoor #SameerNair #AmanGill #AshokThakeria #ShriAdhikariBros #AnandPandit  #ShraddhaDas #MishtiChakraborty #PoojaBanerjee #SanjayMishra #UshaNadkarni #KangnaSharma Runtime: 134 mins

#IceAgeCollisionCourse(English/3D) Rating: * * ½  Barely entertaining, this sequel(5^th in the series) story seems to have run out of gas. The plot is pretty much way out of left field and the science of it( what seems like the Big Bang Theory) is sometimes questionable. You can smile at some of the antics of the cutely animated animals of a long extinct past but for most of it you are just waiting to be hit on the head with something vividly imaginative and entertaining. All you get are giant sized life reaffirming diamond crystals and a meteorite shower that looks like firework leftovers from a 4^th of July celebration. Scratter-brained, is more like it! #FoxStarStudios #BlueSkyStudios #20thCenturyFoxAnimation #20thCenturyFox #RayRomano #DenisLeary #JohnLeguizamo #QueenLatifah #WandaSykes #SeannWilliamScott #JoshPeck #SimonPegg #KekePalmer #JenniferLopez #StephanieBeatriz #AdamDeVine #JesseTylerFerguson #MaxGreenfield #JessieJ #NickOfferman #MelissaRauch #MichaelStrahan #NeilDeGrasseTyson  #MichaelThurmeier  #LoriForte #ChrisWedge #CarlosSaldanha #MichaelWilson #MichaelBerg #YoniBrenner #JohnDebney #JamesPalumbo #MichaelKnapp #IceAgeMoviesdotcom #GalenTanChu Runtime: 94 mins

#Astu(Marathi) Rating: * * * 1/2  #SunilSukthankar & #SumitraBhave’s  most lucid and accomplished work yet, this film gets you involved in the minutest intricacies of the mental illness (Alzheimers) being highlighted through the story of  Sanskrit scholar, Professor Emeritus and retired Principal, Chandra Shastri’s  happenstance displacement- and the effect it has on his close family, specially his older daughter, primary care-giver Ira and her nuclear family constituting her husband Dr Madhav, daughter Shweta and son. The intricate tapestry of relationships under siege by worry, envy and guilt that the director duo weave around the disappearance makes for a intriguing, informative and in-depth study of a family struggling to deal with the mental illness of a loved one. Sibling rivalry, new age callousness and modern preoccupations lend depth and fortitude to the central drama that plays on as wisps of memories floating in and out of the narrative. It’s a philosophic, heartfelt portrait of a degeneration aided by a multilayered script, meaningful dialogues, exquisite performances , amazing sound and intriguing camerawork. A cinematic triumph this!  #IrawatiHarshe #SunilSukthankar #SumitraBhave #MilindSoman #SaritaJoshi #DrMohanAgashe #AmrutaSubhash #GauurikaaProductions #NatchiketPurnapatre #DevikaDaftardar #SheelaaRao #IlaBhate #OmBhutkar #AditiKulkarni #MilindJog Runtime: 123 mins

 #BestFilmsReleasesThisWeek15thJuly2016 #JohnsonThomas

                       

#BestFilmsReleasesThisWeek15thJuly2016 #JohnsonThomas

#Astu(Marathi) Rating: * * * 1/2  #SunilSukthankar & #SumitraBhave’s  most lucid and accomplished work yet, this film gets you involved in the minutest intricacies of the mental illness (Alzheimers) being highlighted through the story of  Sanskrit scholar, Professor Emeritus and retired Principal, Chandra Shastri’s  happenstance displacement- and the effect it has on his close family, specially his older daughter, primary care-giver Ira and her nuclear family constituting her husband Dr Madhav, daughter Shweta and son. The intricate tapestry of relationships under siege by worry, envy and guilt that the director duo weave around the disappearance makes for a intriguing, informative and in-depth study of a family struggling to deal with the mental illness of a loved one. Sibling rivalry, new age callousness and modern preoccupations lend depth and fortitude to the central drama that plays on as wisps of memories floating in and out of the narrative. It’s a philosophic, heartfelt portrait of a degeneration aided by a multilayered script, meaningful dialogues, exquisite performances , amazing sound and intriguing camerawork. A cinematic triumph this!  #IrawatiHarshe #SunilSukthankar #SumitraBhave #MilindSoman #SaritaJoshi #DrMohanAgashe #AmrutaSubhash #GauurikaaProductions #NatchiketPurnapatre #DevikaDaftardar #SheelaaRao #IlaBhate #OmBhutkar #AditiKulkarni #MilindJog Runtime: 123 mins

  

Marathi Film Review

Johnson Thomas

A heartfelt Derangement

Film: Astu( So Be It)

Cast: Mohan Agashe, Iravati Harshe, Milind Soman, Nachiket Purnapatre, Amruta Subhash, Devika Daftardar

Directors: Sumitra Bhave, Sunil Sukthankar

Rating: * * * ½

Runtime: 123 mins

Mental Illness is really difficult to portray, especially if you want to do it with depth and understanding, on film. ‘Karthik Calling Karthik’ was the only mainstream effort in the recent past that came somewhere close to giving Bipolarity a voice. Of course, in the alternate cinema parallel, writer-director duo Sumitra Bhave and Sunil Sukthankar have been working their hearts out making cinema solely concentrated on giving mental illness a resounding retort. Unfortunately, despite being celebrated nationally and internationally,  their films don’t always make it to the cinemas. 

‘Astu’ the current film under review, is one such effort, which despite winning state, national and International recognition, found it difficult to get enough financial backing for a release. Thankfully, the filmmakers and producers sought alternate routes to exhibit their film and have finally succeeded in getting a multiplex release.

Astu- So be it, is a spell-binding story of a respected Sanskrit professor, Chandra Shastri(Dr Mohan Agashe) in his sundown years, losing his way by virtue of an incurable but medically manageable mental illness- Alzheimer’s. Ira(Irawati Harshe) his oldest daughter lives with her nuclear family-husband, Dr Madhav(Milind Soman), teenage daughter Shweta( Aditi Kulkarni)  and a pre-teen son in a gated community while his younger daughter Raahi, a lecturer in a Mumbai college, who is a free spirit of sorts is too busy living her life to spare time to give personal attention to her father. 

 So it’s up to Ira, who lives in the same city as her father, to take on the responsibility. And she does her best until it becomes too much for her to handle. So, shying away from a rehab centre, alternate arrangements are made so that Prof Shastri can live in his own independent home with a young student/caretaker Ram(Om Bhutkar) and a day servant Malti kaku( Jyothi Subhash)to do the chores. But one day, Ira is called upon to take care of her father for a day, while Ram goes for his exams, and she gets on the job. On her way home with her father in tow, she makes a stop at a busy intersection for some dress material that her daughter needs urgently for a school performance. Leaving her father in the car, she makes way through the busy street, to the designated shop. Her father, despite warnings from Ira not to get out of the car, sees an elephant on the road and goes into a philosophical trance. He leaves the car and mindlessly follows the elephant and it’s mahout Anta (Natchiket Purnapatre) and inevitably develops a sort of tender for the mahout’s family- a wife Chanama(Amruta Subhash) and young girl child.

    This film though is not an adventure saga about an Alzheimer’s patient on the run. It is in fact a intricate study about the traumatic effect a mental illness can have on the close family and also makes a strong point on how the educated and uneducated world looks on mental illness. While responsible and dutiful Ira,  and caring, her family and sister are all compassionate about their father’s condition, they are also too practical to let it rule their lives completely. In direct contrast Anta’s wife Chanamma, though nomadic in lifestyle, thinks nothing of opening up home and hearth for the child man who she believes is a learned God walking into their midst.

Anger, distrust, pent up frustrations, guilt, sibling rivalry, teenage & urban preoccupations make significant inroads into the emotionally charged set-up of the family trying hard to cope with a distressing situation. Ira, a theatre professional has had to give up her workshops in order to devote more time to a father, she holds deep-seated resentment towards for an alleged affair he supposedly had with Mrs Gupte(Ila Bhate)during his stint as Principal of a college. The narrative in fact begins on a peaceful note with Ira taking a class of theatre students through the semantics of role-playing viz a meditative opening. Thereafter the turbulence sets in.

The director duo in fact are so attuned together that they rarely make a misstep here. The metaphysical and metaphoric aspects of the narration come through beautifully. The script is beautifully prosaic, thoughtful and philosophical. The dialogues are poignant and paint an exquisite  picture of tremulous disharmony. The performances are so beautifully rendered that you actually experience the anxiety and pain that the family is going through. The intent here is not to apportion blame but to point out diverse views on mental illness without belittling the efforts of either parties. Such balance and empathy in a film is pretty much a rare occurrence. While Irawati Harshe, Dr Mohan Agashe, Milind Soman and the other cast members put on evidently chiseled performances, and Sarita Joshi’s cameo is interesting, it’s basically Amruta Subhash as Chanamma who elevates the film to a luminous experience. Milind Jog’s interestingly intimate camerawork, together with the inventive editing technique and experiential sound effects, enrich the overall experience. This is certainly the most honest, balanced and empathetic study on mental illness, seen in a long time!

johnsont307@gmail.com

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