talaash तलाश (2012) (5/10)

talaash तलाश is a Aamir Khan movie in which he seems to hang the principles people seem to suppose he possesses. Some spoilers after this sentence completes, so don't read beyond the fullstop if you plan to watch the movie but just be warned that it is not worth watching anyway. The acting is good, the story seems good initially but then it starts clinging to supernatural stuff, the last thing the Indian masses need from someone like Aamir. The movie is slow in the middle though it keeps moving. Some inexplicable bits are interspersed and some mysterious ones, essentially deliberate wrong leads.

The dog right at the start suggests something supernatural but it seemed more alien like - but I guess that is a bit too much to expect. Mediums, and ghosts, and opening car doors inside water despite the large pressure. This is not what one has come to expect from Aamir. But he is a showman, said someone. Really? Isn't he in idol? The review may be a bit misdirected, but somewhat on purpose. तलाश - द लाश.

Teorema aka Theorem (1968) (5/10)

Dubbed as an intellectual thriller about passion and death, the film doesn't say much, neither do the characters. But there is a haunting atmosphere in the somewhat jumpy film. Its about an Italian family and the transformation of its members by a single individual, a visiting stranger. Some people are bound to find the proceedings objectionable. Does it make a statement? I think so. Is it clear? Perhaps not. It has many references that are hidden and so shall the interpretations be. Its almost entirely upto the viewer as to what to make of it.

Teorema aka Theorem (1968) (5/10)

chakva (2004) (4/10)

A Marathi movie from 2004 which does not have an IMDB page in 2008. May be that sums much of it. The storyline could have been developed as there were two parallel mysteries to be solved which are strangely interconnected. The recourse to the supernatural is okay if (1) it is done well, or (2) it indroduces some new techniques. The sentence at the end (after the movie) that says that the actors do not believe in the supernatural seemed to suggest that (1) but it is true anyway, or (2) they have to work in such movies for their daily bread. I wish they could at least have show more of the Konkan beauty.

chakva (2004) (4/10)