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Cast:  Om Puri, Tabu, Chandrachur Singh

Directed by: Gulzar


Maachis is a 1996 film written and directed by Gulzar. Now Gulzar's name is enough to attract anyone to watch this film and this is just what happened in my case.

Maachis or matchbox is very apt title for this movie. Let me explain why, just like,  to fire a matchstick you have to rub it with the box, a person become an assassin or terrorist when there is a bebasi n bekasi (compulsion and helplessness). But that is not all, once the matchstick is lit; it burns itself and everything that comes in contact with it. Gulzar being the master of words chooses it ably.

Maachis is a journey of a man Kripaal from a caring friend and responsible husband-to-be to a terrorist. He ain’t uneducated, brainwashed religious naïf rather a victim of the corrupted system. After 1984 riots there has been a huge violence against Sikhs, it’s no more a hidden truth. Whose love & care for his friend and soon to be brother-in-law, forces him to revenge the atrocities faced by his friend. In the process of avenging he turns into a terrorist. He shoots Vohra(the inspector responsible for his friend’s misery) in the head and then heads back home only to leave forever and join the group that helped him shoot Vohra. The next mission of this group is a secret but it involves missile launcher and they are waiting for the person who could do that. This person turns out to be Veeran who was Kripaal’s fiancée. What is their mission? Will they succeed in their mission?

Shyam Bengal once said, “It’s this ability of great work to make you see the particular in general and general in particular.” This movie does that, it encapsulates the loopholes within the system, its hypocrisy that provides the breeding ground for people like Sanatan and Bali, also, the turbulent struggle within the hearts and minds of these people along with the physical and emotional struggle of their families. Above all it pose the accountability and sanctity of legislature and their obligation to the people who choose them. It is all of the above and has a soul of Romeo+Juliet. 

To add to this great cinematic experience are the songs. "Chhod aye hum wo galiyan" the visuals of this video are as amazing as this melody. I have reasons to believe that while making Highway Imtiaz was searching the place shown in this song. Then there’s Chappa chappa charka chale which is more or less in the similar lines. Paani paani this song is the most melodious of it all, Tabu’s expressions in the song makes it more soulful.

The performances of the actors are cherry on top, Tabu never disappoints, nor does Om puri as far as their acting capabilities are concerned it’s impeccable and unmatched. Chandrachurna singh as the lead  Kripaal  does his part responsibly, Jasjiet Shergill who I think is Jimmi Shergill shows the signs being of good actor that he is now. The rest of the supporting casts too doesn’t disappoints for a minute.

I’m a nobody to say anything about Gulzaar capabilities other than that I’m in awe with his works, be it the lyrics, writing or direction.

This movie is highly recommended!

Author: Pallavi Tripathi
Author's Rating: ★★★★

It was said by 'Red' [Morgan Freeman], when the "Sisters"; a group of homosexuals in the Shawshank Prison, led by Bogs, beats Andy [Tim Robbins] 'within an inch of his life'. Andy was sent to the infirmary, and that's how Red and the boys plans a welcome for Andy.
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The day I saw the trailer of jOBS, I could sense that something is terribly wrong with it. Yes I am talking about that Ashton Kutcher movie that looked highly commercial and glamorous. The film came and as I expected, it was not appreciated by many including me.

Why did I sensed so? That's because I saw a better film on Steve Jobs and Bill Gates earlier and this was not even close to what I felt while watching Pirates of Silicon Valley.

At the time when I revealed my theme for the AtoZ Challenge, I promised that I will come up with some interesting movie trivia, this is my first trivial post for the month of April.

Forrest Gump is one of the most popular films we know of. Even if someone is not really into movies, they have watched Forrest Gump. Tom Hanks played the role of Forrest Gump and won the Best Actor Award at the 1995 Oscars and the film won the Best Picture.

Here are some interesting trivia about Forrest Gump:

1. The girl in the school bus was Tom Hanks's daughter Elizabeth Hanks.

2. John Travolta and Chevy Chase and Bill Murray turned down the role of Forrest Gump. Travolta did admit later that passing that role was a mistake.

3. It took only 66 days for the film to pass the $250 million mark at the box office.

4. Gary Sinise's character tells Tom Hanks's character that the day Forrest works on a shrimp boat is the day he'd be an astronaut and next year, Sinise and Tom Hanks appeared together as astronauts in Ron Howard's Apollo 13.

5. After the success of Forrest Gump, Author Winston Groom wrote a sequel novel, 'Gump & Co.' (1995), Forrest Gump happens to meet Tom Hanks in the novel.

6. In the 1988 movie Punchline, Sally Field plays the love interest for Tom Hanks's character; in Forrest Gump, 6 years later, she plays his character's mother.

7. In 2007, the American Film Institute ranked this as the #76 Greatest Movie of All Time.

8. On the other hand,  The movie was named as one of "The 20 Most Overrated Movies Of All Time" by Premiere.

I hope you like trivia as I do. They are fascinating.

-Amritt Rukhaiyaar

[This post is a part of the A to Z Challenge in April 2014. Let's celebrate blogging.]

Sources: Google, Wikipedia, IMDb

Before you read this review, Watch this short film which is only 3 minutes long.

Before Nolan made Memento, The Prestige, The batman films, Inception or any other mind blowing film, he made Doodlebug. Now calling Doodlebug as Nolan’s baby steps to film making may be a disrespect because this was in all senses a brilliant short film which shows no sign of the director being a first timer.

Long before he made us indulge in dreams within dreams within dreams or in the magic tricks by a couple of rival magicians, he started with Doodlebug. Doodlebug reflects the illusion with which Nolan makes his films. His mentality to make the audience use their brains at all times while watching his film is pretty much evident in this short film as well.

Christopher Nolan doesn't allow you to sit back and have fun with his films, you will have fun but you will have to figure out, this is how it is done while we are into a Nolan made film.

A man with his shoe in his hand is trying to hunt down a bug or something only to find later that he wasn't after the bug but a smaller version of himself, what comes later is even more disturbing. A greater version of the same man is hunting the man with a bigger shoe in his hand. So, there were 3 versions of him, one he is after and another who is after him.

What is brilliant is that he fascinates his audience in a short film of hardly 3 minutes. There might be no bug at all but the man’s phobia about bugs and his constant uneasiness that a bug might hurt him, so he is trying to hunt that disturbing thought and not the bug actually. This is why he kills it even after finding that it isn't a bug but his diminished version. He is so obsessed with it that he didn't even care to listen to the person on the phone. 

This was brilliantly shot in black and white and was incredibly creative which only a genius can think of. Nolan did prove his genius act again and again after every couple of years. Either it’s the non-linear story line of Memento, the ultimate revelation of the prestige, the brilliant batman films or his tampering with dreams in Inception. Nolan never failed to impress. He is a true genius.

Movie Geek Rating: ★★★★

Cast: Jeremy Theobald

Directed by: Christopher Nolan

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Author: Amritt Rukhaiyaar

[This post is a part of the A to Z Challenge in April 2014. Let's celebrate blogging.]

Cast: Jason Biggs, Alyson Hannigan, Eddie Kaye Thomas, Seann William Scott, Eugene Levy.

Directed by: Paul Weitz, Chris Weitz

Also featured in IMDb Critic Reviews


American Pie was released in 1999, the year when some of my most favorite films released, which includes American Beauty, Fight Club, The Matrix, The Green Mile, Sixth Sense, Cruel Intentions, Magnolia and of course American Pie. In fact even Wikipedia believes that 1999 was the year that changed movies.

This film has a pact, some friendship, love maybe, some hilariously awkward father-son encounters and Steve Stifler. Now if you haven't seen this film, watch it for the stifmeister. American Pie is about the gang of 4 pretty loser high school buddies, losers in matters that include woman/girl, otherwise they were pretty cool.

When I will write about the most loved characters in Cinema, Stifler will certainly make the top 5.

The directors Paul and Chris Weitz made sure that every character is equally hilarious and important in their own way. So if you ask people who their favorite American Pie character was, they will all come up with different answers. Jim was the lead according to many, while many believes that American Pie is all about Stifler.

This is a funny film which is immensely enjoyable and have some really hilarious dialogues by everyone. Most high school sex comedies ends up being the pursuit of the most obvious element that is getting laid but this one is different.

Noah Levenstein and Jim Levenstein, having the "hilariously awkward father-son" moment.

I'd say even if you get offended by Sex Comedies, I will still recommend this film to you because there is much more to American Pie than being just another Sex comedy. Try to ignore the offensive parts and understand the sarcasm, it has some really genius humor there. It is a gem in the comedy genre of Cinema.

You gotta taste the first piece of this Pie.

The Shawshank Redemption, a movie which finds its place in almost every movie enthusiast's list of greatest films. Among many other important depiction of human emotions, it showed the friendship of two prisoners over a time period of almost 2 decades; Andy and Red. The supporting characters included Heywood, Lloyd, Brooks and Tommy. There was a great equation among these characters. However these characters could be completely different, if the actors who were first approached agreed to portray these characters .

Let’s start with Andy; this role was offered to Tom Hanks and Kevin Costner but they couldn't do it because of issues with the dates. Though Tom Hanks went on to win the best actor in a leading role at the Academy Awards for playing Forrest Gump, Kevin Costner strongly regret his decision for turning down the character of Andy Dufresne. Not only the two, even Tom Cruise, Johnny Depp, Charlie Sheen and Nicolas Cage were considered for the part of Andy Dufresne which finally went to Tim Robbins.

Red; the role for Ellis Boyd ‘Red’ Redding was determined to go to Clint Eastwood, Harrison Ford, Paul Newman or Robert Redford. In the Stephen King's book, Red was a white Irishman, so it was meant to be played by a white skinned actor in the first place, but director Frank Darabont wanted to cast only Morgan Freeman as Red. 

Frank Darabont made sure that his favorite character actor James Whitmore must get a role in this film, so he asked him to do the role for Brooks. The role for the character Tommy Williams played by Gil Bellows was first going to Brad Pitt. Though this character had a small part, it was an important role in the film.

Given the great actor Tom hanks is, we would have loved to see Hanks do the Andy part, or Clint Eastwood being Red, but then, could Shawshank achieve the cult status, it has achieved now? I doubt.

Happy Mother's Day to each and every Movie Geek.
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So, when Jules [Samuel Jackson] and Vincent [John Travolta] tells The Wolf [Harvey Keitel] that he loved to watch him work on the problem they created by killing Marvin in the car. The Wolf was amused at the compliment and tells his girlfriend, about respect and character.
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PS: Since Movie Geek's Blog is trying to determine the greatest movie ever made as voted by its readers, will you please take a minute to vote for your favorite movie(s) on the right side bar of this blog?