Charlie Wilson and his war

The first time I felt some interest in knowing more about Afghanistan was when I started reading Syed Mujtaba Ali's works. It was fascinating in itself, because of his wit and his skill of using the borrowed words from Arabic, Parsian and Sanskrit with the everyday Bangla. But some of his writings depicted his experience in Afghanistan, rich with the historic, cultural and political references. I feel sad for those who cannot read Bangla, because such masterpieces can never be translated into any other language.

Recently one gentleman named Charlie Wilson who originated from Texas caught the attention of the American people towards this country. Though this small country has been in the news quite often for all wrong reasons including the Taliban connection, the Bamyan Buddha incident, and many other politico-religious reasons, their USP is probably their unique location near central Asia, bordered by Pakistan, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, and of course China. No wonder the big players of the world would be interested in having a presence there. This movie (based on George Crile's 2003 book on Democratic Texas Congressman Charlie Wilson's role in the CIA covert operation during the 80s) talks from an American perspective about the war there.

People who like to see modern day history in movies (and the distortions as well) might find this one interesting. Though it is seen through American eyes, this is no total propaganda, and that surely is a relief (remember Independence Day and OUR president?). I am not a big fan of Tom Hanks and his too-eager-to-be-versatile approach. This one surely is no Castaway, and I have no issue with him in films like Catch Me If You Can. Julia Roberts is breathtaking and stylish. But the best one comes from Phillip Seymour Hoffman (I regret that I have not seen Capote yet). It is a nice film, fast-paced, crisp dialogues, and the flamboyance of Charlie Wilson helped in spicing it up. The best thing I liked (after Ms. Roberts of course) is the stand the filmmakers have taken, to bridge the gap of what happened during that time and where we stand now. The covert operation ended and America washed of its hands, and we all know what happened next. Charlie Wilson tried to raise funds for rebuilding the demolished schools and the other buildings, but the source was dry already. And the movie ends with his comment "These things happened. They were glorious and they changed the world...and then we f***ed up the end game". We can correlate between what happened then and how that country has gone into the hands of politico-religious rulers, no elaborations were required.

Watch the film if you could get out of the Holiday Hangover, if not, then I would suggest you see Enchanted. It is a typical Disney film blending the magic of animation and reality, and fairy tale land and modern day New York. Of course the characters are two-dimensional and there are too much of melody and color and pretty things, but isn't that what we expect in such movies? There are funny moments, Amy Adams looks pretty, and so are Patrick Dempsey and James Marsden (yes, unfortunately pretty would be the word for them too). But it is less fairy tale than I expected, and that was good.

August Rush

Though it is a Hollywod movie, I have to use some references from the Bollywood world. So if you are not familiar with this parallel universe, it might be bit difficult for you to appreciate the idea.

"August Rush" was released before Christmas, and with some interesting casting (including Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Robin Williams and Terrence Howard, a very unique combination indeed) I was expecting good drama (probably in a feel-good way, but I can take that as long as it is not too cheesy). I should have known it better. Last Christmas we had "Holidays" with another unique startcast including one of the best actors of our time, Jude Law (entirely my opinion, you have every right to shout, scream, laugh or give that sarcastic smile). And we all know what we experienced. So I shouldn't have expected anything. But the name was good, is a wholesome and dreamy way, something that would probably be little midwest with a hint of New York glitter, and some British accent to enhance the taste. And I love that kid, Freddie Highmore, he was so brilliant in a very vulnurable way in "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory".

And then I made the mistake. Of deciding to watch it. I shouldn't have. But now the damage is done and I have to share it with you, so that if you haven't done the same mistake already, you can save ten bucks at least. The movie is so Bollywood that it would put Karan Johar to shame. And not just the too much drama too much melody way, it also demonstrates another Bollywood quality, plagiarism. At some point you would wonder, is it a modern day version of Oliver Twist? And I checked in Wikipedia, they did mention about it without much elaboration.

According to Pam Grady of the SFO Chronicle the film is "an inane musical melodrama." Grady said "the entire story is ridiculous" and "Coincidences pile on, behavior and motivations defy logic, and the characters are so thinly drawn that most of the cast is at a loss." I would thing I needed a new word for Coincidence, this word never faced a bigger challenge to describe something so ridiculous that US seemed to be a small village where you living in NY can bump into someone in Chicago while you open your door to pick up the morning newspaper. Yes it actually is that small, and they shamelessly picked up places like LA, Chicago and NY to show how big the canvas is. And yes, I can buy the fact that musical talent could be inherited genetically, but a kid who has never seen a piano before (and had no musical training whatsoever) can actually write notations while composing a symphony within hours from when he touched the keys of the instrument? Come on, even Karan Johar and his clan would roll on the floor laughing at you!

We have seen Robin Williams in various avtars, but here he plays Fagin straight out of Charles Dickens's world. As much as we accept the fact that he is a talented and versatile actor, he never seemed to be more out-of-place in any movies he acted in. All the time we expect a change of heart in him (which we never wanted in One Hour Photo), the way it happens in Bollywood movies where the evil monster becomes a person with a golden heart by shading a drop or two of tears of repentence. and that never happens (though it would not save the disaster anyway). We have a Artful Dodger as well, in the form of a afro-am kid who plays guitar in the central park's one corner, one of the many spots our Fagin reserves for his business involving little kids who earn the money for him. They live in a delapidated auditorium at the center of NY, where real estate property should be so expensive that no one in his senses would leave that place that way.

Then there is the music school where they take a new boy protégé and arranges for a open-air show in central park to provide a pedestal for his talent. We have come a long way from the Dickensian era, people seem to be too kind these days. Except for one bully in the first reel, the world loves him and cares for him so much all through the movie that it seems like being an orphan is no big deal. But then, this of course is no big deal in the world we see here, in a very fairy tale way, where the boy and girl meet on a roof top, exchange couple of sentences and then kiss and sleep. For all those ladies who try to conceive a baby, this one would make them real angry as the girl get pregnant from that one night. Then there is a evil father who not only forces her to move away from her one-night lover, but also dumps her baby while she remains unconscious on the operating table. I do not recall any such extreme studipity in any Bollywood movie in the post Jitendra era.

Anyway, this was way too much for me, I had to watch something better to wash it off, and so there was Ratatouille. I would prefer British accent anyday over the French variety, and a human company than the rodents, but this August Rush made me feel a reverse way today. And Ratatouille is fun, and deserves more space than this stupid insipid melodrama without a soul, so may be we will take up this one another day and talk about the ingredients of good fun, good food and good movie.