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Siraj Syed is the India Correspondent for FilmFestivals.com and a member of FIPRESCI, the International Federation of Film Critics. He is a Film Festival Correspondent since 1976, Film-critic since 1969 and a Feature-writer since 1970. He is also an acting and dialogue coach. @SirajHSyed
Goodbye, Philp Roth
A 1969 production, Goodbye Columbus must have reached India at least a couple of years later, as was the norm for all Hollywood films, due to some policy issues that lasted through the 80s. I had turned 18, and the buzz around the film was exciting enough to draw me to the theatre. It was technically Ali MacGraw’s debut as a leading lady. Richard Benjamin, the lead actor, had worked in television, and it was also his big screen debut. I liked its bursting sexuality a...
Parmanu—The Story of Pokhran, Review: More fission, less fusion
India has carried out several nuclear (parmanu is Hindi for nuclear) tests since 1975. Yet, the 1998 experiments in the desert land of Pokharan, near Jaisalmer, have remained the talk of the nation. These were the tests that put India squarely in the nuclear power league. Records of such defence-related activities are usually classified. Unless the makers of Parmanu-The Story of Pokharan, have been allowed privileged access...
Solo: A Star Wars Story, Review: Buccaneer, Chewbacca, the survival axiom and the deadly coaxium
A long time ago (41 years) in a cinema hall far, far away from my home, I saw the first Star Wars film. What are 41 years in a universe where spaceship pilots are 190 years old? While you Chewbacca, let me tell you that the 190 year-old is a Wookie (closer to apes than humans), and that the aspiring pilot and the star of the movie, Han Solo, is played by an actor who is 29 but can easily pass off...
Book Club, Review: Life begins at sexty
With a combined age of 563 and an average age of 70.4, there’s no way these eight fuddy-duddies are going to do a Fifty Shades of Grey. Well, they did set out to go along that road, but never mind—how about ‘hundred hues of shocking pink’? Just for the record, Fifty Shades of Grey is a 2015 American erotic drama film, directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson, with a screenplay by Kelly Marcel. It was banned in India, for its explicit sex s...
High Jack, Review: Hitting a new low
Several theories come up when you try and analyse what went wrong with a potentially high scoring black comedy. Firstly, it seems to be incomplete, with large chunks either not written at all or left out on the editing table. The second possibility is that the censor board did not take too kindly to a stoner subject and chopped out major scenes. It is also possible that the production worked with a skeletal script and tried to improvise as they went along,...
Angrezi Mein Kehte Hain, Review: Show me that you love me
Delhi-born director Harish Vyas makes his Hindi film debut with an adult love story set in Varanasi where the only thing adult about the theme is the fact that the lead actors are husband and wife and gave a grown-up daughter. In fact, the issue it addresses till three quarters of the film has rolled by is the lack of demonstrative love between a conscientious postal clerk and his devoted wife. Enough to keep you curious and sensitised...
Khajoor Pe Atke, Review: Free fall and die hard
Ventilator, a Marathi film produced by Hindi actress Priyanka Chopra, became the toast of Maharashtra in late 2016. The story of a family, whose eldest and most beloved member goes into a coma and is put on a medical ventilator a few days before the Ganesh Chaturthi festival celebrations, it won eight major awards. A year-and-a-half later, actor Harsh Chhaya releases Khajoor Pe Atke, his version of a ventilator story. Sadly, while the idiomatic ...
Deadpool 2, Review: Wade a minute
Biding his time as a terminal cancer patient, Wade Wilson trades his soul to Ajax in exchange for dear life, and as a man who came back from the dead, he becomes your Deadpool. Now, back in the States, where they find the alliteration in Wade Wilson funny, guess what they must be making of a super-powered contract killer (NO! He’s no hero!) called Deadpool!
Deadpool 2 is no film, it’s a trip. There are fights and weapons galore, villains and vill...
Hope Aur Hum, Review: Hoping against hope
Small-budget indies with clean, wholesome, slice of life content, surface regularly, taking you through bittersweet emotions, sans villains and super-heroes, animation and SFX. You appreciate the effort and admire the commitment. Some go on to win awards and renew your faith in alternate cinema. Some others sink without a trace, unable to match market demands and not measuring up to narrative benchmarks. Still others entertain and engage, raise hopes ...
Raazi, Review: Lying and spying, willing and killing
As spy thrillers go, Raazi is, at best, average fare. During the first half, it runs the risk of becoming a pedestrian assemblage of trope followed by trope followed by trope. Then, just in time, the writers and the director took booster shots and shaped out the human dilemma, counterpoising it with murder and mayhem. In scale and mounting, Raazi can pass off as a modest Spielberg vehicle, but the total experience remains just about watchab...
The Past, Review: And this too shall pass
Tropes and stereo-tropes, by themselves, do not a horror film make. Yes, the appearing and disappearing humanoids, the moving and rising objects, the possession and dual pitch speech of the living visited by the dead, the exorcists who use religious symbols, etc., are all part of familiar horror genre. And The Past has all of these, in plenty. But to make an effective horror film, you need to either get the mix right or introduce new elements. The Pas...
Monster Hunt 2, Review: Monstrous, preposterous, Wubastrous
Three years ago, a HongKong-Chinese dubbed animation firm in 3D captured the imagination of audiences worldwide. In a mythical land where monsters and humans co-exist, a royal baby born to a mortal father and monster mother became the centre of an epic adventure. It is important to realise that the baby was carried in his ‘womb’ by his father, not his mother. In 2018, when the original is now a Netflix ‘Original&rsq...
Raavan ki Ramayan: Puneet Issar dominates like a colossus
Coconut Theatre and The Films and Theatre Society, staged the play Raavan Ki Ramayan, in two-acts, in Mumbai, on the 5th of May. The venue, Bal Gandharv Rang Mandir, Bandra West, used to be a popular location for rehearsals, and even stagings, back in the 70s and 80s. A couple of years ago, it threw its doors open again to events and plays. The play was revived after one and a half-year with back to back shows, schedules at 5 and 8 pm....
The Bomb, Review: Leaves you ticking
Special thanks go to Abhishek Bachchan for the end voice over, but till then, The Bomb is an effortless enactment of a slice of life in the wretched existence of actor Inaamulhaq, a National School of Drama graduate (Filmistaan, Airlift, Jolly LLB 2) who is still waiting for his big break.
Haq plays a lower class slum-dweller with a sick son and no job for eight years. The three survive on the salary of his wife (Seema Vats), who works as a maid. Poverty ...
102 Not Out, Review: One run short
In India, cricket is a religion and most filmgoers will need no explanation about the title of this movie. But for those who are unfamiliar with the game, in India and abroad, this is what the title means: when a batsman scores 102 runs, which is a major landmark, being two more than a hundred, and continues to play after reaching the milestone, he is said to be 102 not out. Now that you got the context, you need to be told that the film has nothing whatsoev...
MTV’s Date to Remember is an Ex Ex Ex rated show
MTV has brought in a new love-based reality show titled ‘Date to Remember’. Nine male Contestants have participated, with their Girlfriends, but with a Twist. One Present and One Ex-Girlfriend will be there with each male contestant. The list is as follows:
1. Rubdeet Singh with girlfriend Neel Mishra & ex-girlfriend Savina Savi
2. Sikandar Khan with...
Omerta, Review: Omer talk
Alright, Omar, if you insist. His full name is Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh. If you see the film, you will discover that he is a hardcore terrorist who indulged in at least one act of barbaric butchery as well. With a name like that, he has to be a Pakistani or Pakistani sympathiser.
Omerta spans the canvas from Bosnia to the hijacking of an Indian Airlines’ plane to the Mumbai terror attacks. The film derives its title from the Italian term for a criminal code of ...
Daas Dev, Review: Devspeare
Talking about the response generated by Hazaaron Khwahishen Aisi at the International Film Festival of India, Goa, director Sudhir Mishra had told me that all praise was welcome, but he felt a great sense of fulfillment when internationally acclaimed directors had appreciated his efforts. Hazaaron Khwahishen Aisi was liked by a lot of critics as well as a significant number of cineastes. For Sudhir’s sake, I hope that those he holds in esteem see merit in Daa...
Avengers-Infinity War, Review: Ashes to ashes, dust to dust
#Book of Common Burial Prayer, 1662: Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust; in sure and certain hope of the Resurrection to eternal life.
#‘Ashes to ashes, funk to funky’ Artiste: David Bowie,
Album: Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps), 1980.
From all appearances, a large number of Marvel’s Avengers and their partners in common cause have become ashes by the time the film ends. Whether any of them will be Re...
Nanu ki Jaanu, Review: It’s a nu nu
What can you make of this mishmash that is as puerile as its title? Whatever you make, it’s all a nu nu, or no no, to spell it right. Misguided, miswritten, misdirected and misacted, the film revels in flouting the basic tenets of mise en scène. If the Tamil/Telugu original of this remake was worth remaking, the makers of Nanu Ki Jaanu have done it great injustice, beginning with changing the profession of the protagonist from a violinist...
Truth or Dare, Review: How Dare you deny the Truth!
When you begin with a premise that you horror film need not give rational, or at least credible, explanations, you are free to employ any suitable elements that scare and shock the audience. Truth or Dare uses come of these props effectively, but the sheer predictability of the sequence of deaths makes it less worthwhile. Yes, the lead-ups to the grotesque ‘murders’ are imaginatively devised, not so the preceding contortions and...
R. Lee Ermey: Off to the last frontier
Ronald Lee Ermey, Gunnery Sergeant Hartman, in Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket, passed away on 15 April aged 74. Listed as R. Lee Emery in his film and TV appearances, his pet name was Gunny. Gunny’s roar, "What is your major malfunction, numbnut?"remains an iconic line, 30 years later. The performance made him a Globe Best Supporting Actor nominee, and Boston Society of Film Critics Award Winner, for Best Supporting Actor.
B...
Milos Forman: Milostones
News has just come in that Milos Forman has passed away at 86. He leaves behind a legacy of superlative work, in a career that spanned more than six decades.
Born on 18 Feb 1932 at Cáslav, Czechoslovakia, Milos was the son of a Jewish Professor of Education and a Protestant mother. World War II saw both of them working for a resistance group. Caught, they were sent to Nazi concentration camps, from where they never returned. Milos was orphaned at eight, and wa...
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Farooque Sheikh: Memories and Musings on his 70th birth anniversary-II
Ramesh Talwar on Farooque Shaikh
Director Ramesh Talwar, who directed films (Doosara Aadmi, Sahiban, +5) and plays (Apan To Bhai Aise Hain, Darinde and many, many more), directed Farooque when he was still a student at Xavier’s. Talwar had studied at Khalsa College but had already earned a reputation as a man of great merit. Farooque invited him to direct Dekh Kabira Roya (about one boy and three girls) and Mirza S...
October, Review: Shoojit and the Shirker
Names have great significance in director Shoojit Sircar’s October. The month symbolises the blooming and autumn fall season of the night jasmine/coral jasmine flower, known in Bengali as Shiuli. Shiuli is also the name of his heroine, though she is Tamilian, Shiuli Iyer, but because Shiuli was so fond of the flower, they name her after it. Her mother is a lecturer and is called Vidya, meaning education. His protagonist is called Dan until three ...
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About Siraj Syed
 Syed Siraj
(Siraj Associates)
Siraj Syed is a film-critic since 1970 and a Former President of the Freelance Film Journalists' Combine of India.
He is the India Correspondent of FilmFestivals.com and a member of FIPRESCI, the international Federation of Film Critics, Munich, Germany
Siraj Syed has contributed over 1,015 articles on cinema, international film festivals, conventions, exhibitions, etc., most recently, at IFFI (Goa), MIFF (Mumbai), MFF/MAMI (Mumbai) and CommunicAsia (Singapore). He often edits film festival daily bulletins.
He is also an actor and a dubbing artiste. Further, he has been teaching media, acting and dubbing at over 30 institutes in India and Singapore, since 1984.
Bandra West, Mumbai India View my profileSend me a message
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