वो फ़नकार क्यों अलविदा कह गया

यह कविता भारत एवं विश्व में एक विख्यात कलाकार, श्री इरफ़ान खान जी को, जिन्हे हम ने कुछ वर्ष पहले खो दिया,  एवं उनके अभिनय के लिए समर्पित है। 

रूपहले परदे पे छाप थी जिसकी,

अनगिनत ही एक परिमाप थी जिसकी,

जिसने था सबको ही कायल बनाया,

जीने का हर फ़लसफ़ा था दिखाया,

वो फ़नकार क्यों अलविदा कह गया। 

वो फ़नकार क्यों अलविदा कह गया। 

नाटक हो या हो छोटा परदा,

उसने है सबको भावुक बनाया।  

कभी गुदगुदाया, 

कभी था रुलाया। 

अभिनय भी ऐसा कि क्या भूल पाएं,

ताली औरआँसू कभी रुक न पाएं। 

उसकी चमक भी कोई क्या छुपाये,

जब पश्चिम में भी उसने परचम लहराया। 

हो 'मक़बूल', 'हैदर', 'चंद्रकांता' या 'हासिल',

उसका हुनर था तारीफ़ के काबिल।      

कभी बाग़ी बनके बन्दूक थामी,

कभी वो  दरोगा, कभी छात्र नेता।

कभी था वो क़ातिल, कभी मसखरा था ,

हर किरदार में वो हमेशा खरा था।    

वो बहरूपिया अब कहाँ रुक गया ,

वो फ़नकार क्यों अलविदा कह गया। 

Mission : Impossible - Fallout official trailer released

"The mission should you choose to accept it..." are the words that I was waiting for after I watched one of my favourite action thriller Mission: Impossible II. These are the part of the dialogue of the famous Mission : Impossible series. 

What make me an enthusiastic fan of M:I series are the stunts performed by Ethan Hunt, the protagonist of the series (obviously none other than Tom Cruise) and the signature tune of the series. 

Few days back, I felt like being thrown back to my graduation days, when I used to be a die-hard fan of Ethan and M:I, when my friend Ambrish sent me the link of the trailer of the upcoming and probably the last sequel of the series - Mission: Impossible: Fallout. Ever since I watched the trailer (which I did at least 100 times), I am desperate to throng the multiplex on 27th July this year, (the release date of the movie). 

Though the stunts of the movie don't seem to emulate those performed by Ethan at Burj Khalifa in Ghost Protocol (2011) and at Dead Horse Point, Utah in M:I-II, the introduction of Henry Cavil (the face behind Superman) as an agent adds thrill to the movie.  

Rainman: Hoffman prevails over Cruise gun.

This movie is special for me or various reasons. Though you can say that Tom Cruise was in one of the leading roles, his role was overshadowed by the performance of Dustin Hoffman, playing the character of an autistic savant. His performance makes everyone either laugh or cry. Being a very emotional movie, this movie touches heart of everyone.

The music given by Hans Zimmer sets a good theme for the entire movie. He has the art to thrill the audience (as done in M:I:2 or Gladiator or The Dark Knight, or Inception) as well as to make the audience cry in emotion as shown by this movie.

Surprisingly, very few people have seen this masterpiece. It will be better to watch it for Mr. Hoffman's performance. 

The film won four Oscars at the 61st Academy Awards (March 1989), including Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, Best Director, and Best Actor in a Leading Role for Hoffman. Its crew received an additional four nominations. The film also won the Golden Bearat the 39th Berlin International Film Festival. 

This movie has been an inspiration for Subhash Ghai, who copied the plot and character or Hoffman in his 2008 year movie Yuvraaj.

Mission: Impossible - II (2000): stunts are thrilling but plot is dubious.

My review about this movie was long planned by me. But I went through several websites to look into some details of this movie. I found that some scenes of this movie (one being scene, in which Naya meets Ethan at the race course) were copy of some earlier hollywood movies. Now, you might be thinking that not only Indians copy. I also agree.

Apart from it, there is a glitch of overuse of mask in this movie. Even at the climax, you will be bound to ask "how did Hunt get the mask of Stamp". 

But, all I can say is that the stunts shown in this movie. The rock climbing scene in the starting of the movie was performed by Tom Cruise, without any stunt double. Another stunt during the injection gun scene and other in the climax are also thrilling. Even one of the scene has been copied in Dhoom: 2. Also I love the scene, in which Hunt blast the door, using a satchel charge and makes entry to disturb the deal (which is marked by a bird flying into the room and flares appear in the eyes of Ambrose).

Also the music given by Hans Zimmer has made me a fan of him. The tracks like Bare Island, Mano-a-mano, Injection Gun define the art of Zimmer. Apart from this, how can we forget the song Take a Look Around by Limp Bizkit? This song has used the M:I theme track very beautifully and in an interesting way. 

Behind Scene Facts (iMDB):

1. John Woo's final cut of the film clocked in at 3-1/2 hours. The studio balked at this length and told him that the final length could not exceed 120 min. This could explain why there are so many plot holes and continuity errors in the theatrical cut.
2. For the "knife-in-the-eye" scene, Tom Cruise insisted that a real knife be used, and that it stop exactly one quarter-inch from his eyeball, instead of somewhere vaguely near his eye, as John Woo suggested. The knife itself was connected to a cable that was measured carefully in order to achieve the effect and Cruise insisted that Dougray Scott use all his strength in the ensuing struggle.
3. The famous rock climbing sequence was filmed at Dead Horse Point in Utah. Tom Cruise was on cables which were then digitally removed. Ron Kauk was the climbing double and the overhang stunt was performed by main stunt double, Keith Campbell. John Woo was so scared each time but "Tom insisted on doing it".
4. The scene where Tom Cruise "peels off his face" to reveal Dougray Scott was achieved in one shot by shooting both actors against a green screen. Cruise, not wearing a mask, was simply told to place his hand in a pre-arranged position under his chin then pull his hand across his face. Scott wore a plain mask with sensors that could provide a computer with a three-dimensional view of his face. He then peeled off this mask to finish the scene. Cruise's face was superimposed on the mask as it is pulled away and the two images morphed together in the computer; the background of the 747 cabin was added in to replace the green screen. (Watch the scene with frame advance and you will see a slight transitional 'swirl' on the mask halfway through the scene). Kevin Yagher contributed some more traditional latex mask effects for other face-peeling scenes. 
5. This is the first movie that Metallica ever agreed to write a song for. 
6. Dougray Scott was originally slated to play Wolverine in X-Men (2000), but had to pull out when shooting on this film went into overtime.
7. The part of Mission Commander Swanbeck was originally offered to Ian McKellen. He was not able to accept the role, due to a prior theatre engagement in London and the part eventually went to Anthony Hopkins.
8. Luther Stickell's line "It's that simple, huh?" after hearing Ethan Hunt's explanation of what he thinks "Chimera" is was a joke about Mission: Impossible (1996), which was widely criticized for having an overly complicated plot. 
9. Tom Cruise's then-wife Nicole Kidman suggested Thandie Newton (Kidman's co-star in Flirting (1991)) as the love interest for Ethan Hunt. She was cast before the script was written.
10. SERIES TRADEMARK: At Hunt's meeting with Mission Commander Swanbeck, Hopkins offers him an espresso or cappuccino. At the preliminary meeting with Jim Phelps in Mission: Impossible (1996), Hunt asked if they could get a cappuccino machine.
11. The sunglasses that Tom Cruise wears at the climax of the climbing scene providing him with his mission brief are modified Oakley Romeos that are now discontinued. They were modified for their appearance in the film in three ways: the ear stems are different (the commercially available model had curved ear stems while the movie version has straight stems), the lenses used in the film aren't mirrored (to prevent the film crew being seen in the reflection) and the most obvious modification being the earpieces grafted on to the frames.
12. According to Robert Towne, much of his script was written around action scenes that director John Woo told him he wanted to able to direct in the movie. 
13. Anthony Hopkins' character becomes the first person in any Mission Impossible episode or movie to actually use the phrase "mission: impossible." Ronald D. Moore and Brannon Braga also wrote the screenplay for Star Trek: First Contact (1996) which featured the first cinematic use in dialogue of the phrase "star trek." 
14. Andrew Lesnie was the film's original cinematographer. He left less than a month into shooting, due to "stylistic differences" with director John Woo.
15. The movie initially was rated "R", but was re rated "PG-13" after many action scenes were cut and the violence was trimmed down considerably. 
16. Oliver Stone was the first director attached to this film in the period after the first film's release. He reportedly wrote a treatment but backed out due to scheduling conflicts resulting from Tom Cruise's prolonged stint on Eyes Wide Shut (1999).
17. SERIES TRADEMARK: Ethan is suspended by a cable while infiltrating the Biocyte Labs. See also Mission: Impossible (1996) and Mission: Impossible III (2006). 
18. Steve Zahn was originally cast as Billy Baird.
19. Production was delayed because Tom Cruise was shooting Eyes Wide Shut (1999) with Stanley Kubrick for over a year.
20. Both Tom Cruise and John Woo attended a test screening of this movie in Warrenville, IL. 
21. Stuart Baird did uncredited re-editing work on this film and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001) for Paramount in order to get the job of directing Star Trek: Nemesis (2002).
22. Triumph Motorcycles supplied the Speed Triple and Daytona models used as Tom Cruise and Dougray Scott's rides respectively.
23. The knife used in the fight scene at the end of the film is a Kershaw Amphibian.
24. A brief shot of children playing "Ring Around the Roses" is shown. This is a subtle reference to the plague that would ensue should the Chimera virus be released onto the world. According to popular belief, "Ring Around the Roses" was a kids' song based on the medieval Black Plague. In this theory, the "ring around the roses" represented a ring of people around a grave with roses on it. "Pocket full of posies" refers to people carrying flowers in their pockets during the plague, to combat the stench of the corpses in the streets. "Ashes, ashes" refers to the mass burnings of bodies. "We all fall down" refers to the multitudes of people dying. In fact, the rhyme dates from Victorian times, and originally did not contain these specific references, which were created in improvisational children's playing. Nevertheless, the legend connecting the song with the plague persists.
25. In the final battle, the building's security systems shows a problem in Level 42, the name of a 1980s band with hits that include "Lessons in Love" and "Something About You".
26. Shipped to theaters under the fictitious name "Doll House" to deter potential thieves.

300: Rise of an Empire: finally happy again to find my answer.

No doubt that the Hollywood movie makers invest huge and also do a good R&D for movie business. So, they did in this movie. 

Though they have shown graphics and actions scenes very beautifully, that deserves applauds, it didn't seem to be at the equal footing to its previous part. 

Also, what I want to share is that we always think that Indian movies only have crap stunts and scenes. Then, we think whether Hollywood movies also have such craps. So, we can find answer in this movie.

I must emphasise that there is a scene in the climax, in which the hero of the movie Themistockles (role played by Sullevan Stepleton) shows his extra ordinary capacity to take his horse though the broken ships to the ship of the enemy without caring about the ocean in between. Guess, what he finds. He is able to take the horse successfully (no sensible person will find any logic behind such stunt). He might have been insipred by the performance of Chetak (legendary horse of Maharana Pratap).

Concluding my review,I would suggest that if you want to go for action scenes and bloodbath, you should go for it.

Transformers: Age of Extinction (Trailer)

This summer, Michael Bay bets on Transformers with resurrecting Optimus Prime.

Notable Roles: Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight)

To write a post about the The Dark Knight (2008 movie) will be best if the focus is on the dominance of the villain of the movie. Truly, speaking, this movie belongs to the Joker (performed by the late Heath Ledger). 

What makes this movie different is that his performance had every attribute of the most cruel, smart, unfaithful, awful and most explosive character. I became his fan after I watched this movie. What catapulted his performance towards perfection was his dedication for this role. You will be surprised to know that he spent 6 weeks in an isolated hotel room without any worldly contact during that period. He just imbibed the whole character of Joker in him.

But I was quite disappointed to know that this Joker guy died in the year of release of the movie, months before its release.

My conclusive statement in this post is that rarely such masterpieces are born in the millennium to have done something most remarkable. With this disappearance of this card of Joker, the whole cinema structure standing on cards has just thrashed.

Here is the proof of what I said:

Why so serious.

Kill the Batman.


This city needs a good class of criminals.
 
Two Face and Joker.

Gladiator: All about heart-touching music and superb direction.

Watching this movie, I came to know what makes the Hollywood masterpieces different from ours. The Academy Awards winning movie of 2000 makes everyone conclude that the movies are not only about story, performance and direction. They are also about the sweetness of music. 

Talking about a particular scene of the movie, I loved the dialogue between Maximus and Ceaser in the arena, when he says:

"My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius, commander of the armies ofthe north, general of the Felix Legions, loyal servant to the true emperor, Marcus Aurelius, father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife and I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next".

The artists like Anurag Kashyap, Shoojit Sarkar and Dibakar Banerjee have the courage to make such masterpieces in Indian cinema.

Being a masterpiece of world cinema, I enlist this movie in the Must Watch section of my blog.