uncle_g1234

This is not Mistress of Spices, or Bride and Prejudice, or The Namesake, or Life of Pi. A lot of it makes no sense to me. Ethnic eateries do not seek out small towns in rural areas. They gravitate to where the most worldly people live. So, the base premise is faulty. And the vignettes are forced as a result. The sloppy mixing of languages caused me to be uncomfortable. In English speaking countries, Indians have no trouble since they always learn English in school. Putting it in France forces rural French to speak English, and that simply sounds a false note. If it were set in Norway where school children do take English, it would have been more interesting and more logical. And I also question that Helen Mirren's role was given to an English actress. As if there are NO French ones capable of filling the role.

Honestly, the thing that vexed me most was the brevity of Juhi Chawla's role. That could have been given to any minor actress from England or India. Juhi deserved a full role like Om Puri. I went to the movie in large part from seeing Juhi in the cast. Feel like the ticket price was taken under false pretenses. This won't, of course, matter to those with little knowledge of Hindi movies, people who just want cute scenes of Indians getting by in alien places. But for me, it is a major deal.

The biggest plus in this movie is the way Nana Patekar carries the movie on his shoulders. He is, without question, an elite artist in Indian-language movies. He comes as close as anyone can to perfection on every outing. I think the world is shockingly ignorant of this gem of India. The people it acknowledges are, almost totally, far beneath his stature.

There was an imbalance in the movie. Varma seemed to revel in scenes of vulnerable people being shot. I hope this isn't some sick obsession of his. I really did like Satya and Company. There was brutal violence in them, but way short of the first part of this movie. Focusing on the fearful eyes of small children takes it a bit too far for me.

On the other hand, the whole NSG part of the story was brushed aside with a single line. I wanted to see how the movie would handle that. Varma decided it wasn't worth the time or expense.

The part of the movie focusing on Kasab during his imprisonment was worth dealing with. We have no idea if any of the action happened in real life, but it did send a worthwhile message. It made me want to find out what the final disposition of the terrorist bodies was. I can't see a "respectful burial" for people who had no religion but spilling blood of innocents.

Another epilogue is the fate of the handlers back in Pakistan. If ISI could sneak people this easily into Mumbai, could RAW repay the gesture? Look what Navy Seals did with Osama Bin Laden.

But back to the very best quality. Nana. He deserves the highest artistic honor India can give him. I've seen other actors who've gotten it, and very few deserve it more.

I've had a positive opinion of Ang Lee in the past. But having seen this movie, I think his stature and the state of the financial world is ruining him. The best movie of his I've seen was Eat, Drink, Man,Woman. I found that truly original and accessible. This movie seems more influenced by things like Thor and The Avengers. Wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy too much use of special effects. Plus, the storyline is way too much like The Namesake. Both movies have Irrfan Khan telling a story, including an explanation of the name. Gogol or Pi. Tabu was the main female character in both. Both protagonists end up in North America. Mira Nair told the story of The Namesake in the same way that Ang Lee told the story of Eat, Drink, Man, Woman, very personally and with some subtlety. I really prefer Mira Nair to tell Indian stories. I even prefer Danny Boyle. Ang Lee is, at best, third. He approaches it with the awkwardness of a foreigner.

Slumdog Millionaire and The Namesake didn't burst like sensations on the movie scene. But once word of mouth got around, they ran for months and months. I am skeptical that Life of Pi has that kind of legs.