Film: Piku
Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Deepika Padukone, Irrfan, Moushumi Chatterjee, Raghubir Yadav and Jisshu Sengupta
Director: Shoojit Sircar
The posters and the title scream aloud, Piku – Motion Se Hi Emotion and true to its title, there is nothing holding it back, literally and figuratively.
Shoojit Sircar, along with his team, who earlier gave us Yahaan, Vicky Donor and Madras Cafe, this time with Piku delivers a gem, that can go down in the annals of Indian cinema as one of the most entertaining films of the year.
“Piku” is a slice of life that tackles the “basic” truths with candour and humour.It portrays a dysfunctional Bengali family to the core.
Based in Delhi’s Chittaranjan Park, Bhaskor Banerjee (Amitabh Bachchan) is a cantankerous, hypochondriac septuagenarian, who constantly fears that he is “critical” with issues relating to his bowel movements or the lack of it.
He suffers from chronic constipation and his life solely revolves around his defecation.This leads his daughter Piku (Deepika Padukone) to sacrifice her personal life to take care of her ageing father. She is largely tolerant and indulges most of his idiosyncrasies.
So much so, that she willingly agrees to a road journey from Delhi to Kolkata when he insists he wants to visit his ancestral place, to where he belongs.
The duo, accompanied by their Man Friday Boudhan and the owner of the taxi company, Rana Choudhary (Irrfan) as the driver, embark upon the journey.
Throughout the journey, the film captures the fine nuances of its quirky characters through their bickering and squabbles.
Amitabh plays the senile old Bhaskor Banerjee to perfection. He captures Bhaskor’s spirit with such aplomb that he is repulsive and endearing at the same time.
With this role, which includes the Bengali accent et al, director Shoojit Sircar has ensured that Amitabh has pushed the envelope further. The only flaw, albeit that can be overlooked, is Mr. Bachchan’s clumsy get-up.
His protruding stomach and unkempt wig were a tad unwarranted. Perhaps minus those, Bhaskor Banerjee would have looked more realistic.Deepika, too, lives her character. There is something endea
ring about her Piku that probably only she could portray. She is natural and convincing as the independent, but family-oriented Bengali girl, who cares deeply for her father.
Irrfan, though excellent as Rana Choudhary, getting into the skin of his character, largely plays himself.
His no-nonsense and matter-of-fact attitude is an extension of his personality, but he fits the character of Rana equally well.
As an actor, he holds his own against Amitabh Bachchan when he nonchalantly states, “Death aur sh*t, kabhi bhi, kissi ko bhi, kahin bhi, aa sakti hain”.
The rest of the cast. too, laudably essays their roles effectively and leaves a lasting impression on the viewers.
What contributes to their performance, is undoubtedly the well-etched characters.
Apart from the performances, it is Juhi Chaturvedi’s writing that is brilliant.
The script is taut and also verbose, but that’s the way it was designed.
The screenplay has the right combination of light and poignant moments.
The din created by the endless chatter of the characters too, is unbelievably real.
The sarcasm in the witty dialogues is intense and packed with subtle messages and humour. Naturally then, these keep you in splits.The background score by Anupam Roy is apt and mellifluous. The songs blend seamlessly into the narration, thereby enhancing the quality of the scenes.
Visually, the film is atmospheric. The dark frames by Kamaljeet Negi capture the mood and the moments clearly, but the snappy edits of quick shots in the initial scenes and a few jerky frames are a bit jarring.
Although Piku keeps you in “motion” for two hours plus, it is one of the most entertaining and enjoyable rides about life’s fundamental needs, which you will thoroughly enjoy! (IANS)
Film: The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water
Cast: Tom Kenny, Douglas Lawrencce, Bill Fagerbakke, Clancy Brown, Carolyn Lawrence, Matt Berry and Antonio Banderas
Director: Paul Tibbitt
Based on the Nickelodeon television series SpongeBob SquarePants, created by Stephen Hillenburg, Paul Tibbitt’s Sponge Out of Water is a sequel to the film, The SpongeBob SquarePants, which was released in 2004.
Treated like a story within a story, like in the first film, this one too, seamlessly integrates live action and animation, where the story blends two worlds; the live world and the animated universe.
It is an ideal action packed adventure film that will appeal to young kids, this summer.
The narration rolls on with Pirate Burger Beard traversing to a remote island to obtain a magical book.
Once he lays his hands on the book and is back on his ship, he narrates the story of the loyal cook who protects the restaurant’s secret recipe, to the seagull minions.
He transports you to a place called Bikini Bottom, where, the childlike sea sponge, SpongeBob SquarePants (Tom Kenny) works as a cook at Mr. Krabs’ (Clancy Brown) Krusty Krab Fast Food Restaurant.
Their Krabby Patty Burger is the most addictive and sought after snack in town and their Krabby Patty recipe is a highly guarded secret.
Their arch rival Plankton (Douglas Lawrence) from Chum Bucket has an eye for the recipe.
He makes fruitless attempts to steal it.
Then one fine day, while he is in a tug-of-war with SpongeBob attempting to steal, the recipe mysteriously disappears.
In the meanwhile, chaos prevails in Bikini Bottom due to the scarcity of the Krabby Patty Burger.
Everyone blames Plankton, except SpongeBob.
He believes that Plankton is innocent. So he proposes that Plankton team up with him to get the formula back. But then Plankton does not understand the meaning of “Team Work”.
So together, they create a time machine to track the sequence of events.
Unfortunately, they travel too back in time and come across Bubbles, the magical dolphin, whose job is to oversee the cosmos.
They eventually succeed in retrieving the formula, but it turns out to be the fake Plankton had left.
Not happy with this ending, the Pirates’ Seagull minions discard the last page of the book and rewrite the ending so that Burger Beard gets the formula.
The discarded last page lands in the bottom of the sea on the dome of Sandy Cheeks, SpongeBob’s friend and a squirrel living underwater.
Sandy thinks this page is a sign from the “sandwich gods” and to appease the god, he suggests a sacrifice to be made.
And they decide that SpongeBob would be the ideal sacrificial offering to appease the gods. But when the crowds surface, they smell Krabby Patties.
They follow the scent and soon nab the thief.
The 2D animation rendered in 3D effects is fresh and exciting.
The voices rendered by the star cast are sound perfect too.
Antonio Banderas as the lone live action character, Pirate Burger Beard is over-the-top and unwarranted.
He grows on you but in general he does not add any substantial entertainment value to the film.
The background score and music adds some elevating spirit to the narration.
Considering this to be a children’s film, the plot is a bit complex and a torture to keep track of.
The humour too is not focussed; it oscillates from catering to the adults and children.
Ultimately, with the chaotic excitement of the adventure, the little life’s lessons for the kids are lost in the narration.
Nevertheless, kids will enjoy the film. (IANS)