Created by the power houses “Pixar” and “Disney”, Toy Story 2 began with Woody preparing to go cowboy camp with Andy, only to suffer a rip in his arm that cause Andy to leave him behind (And Andy’s mother put him away on a shelf), only to be sold at a yard sale to a toy collector who – to preserve the toys value – locked them away, never to be played with again, in order to sell them to a museum in Japan.

Toy Story 2 took place about three years after the event of Toy Story revolve around whether woody would choose to flee the pampered and protected (but isolated) existence – the life of a collectible – the collector had force upon him, would he or would he not fight for the chances to go home to his original owner, Andy ? Coming from Pixar and Disney label the movie with predictable happy ending – meaning that Woody would choose to go back to reunite with Andy in the end.

The story of Toy Story 2 gives viewer reasons to believe that Woody was facing a real dilemma and one that they could relate to. Off course Woody would made the choice to go back to Andy, but Woody would make that choice with the awareness that doing so guaranteed future sadness, and two simple but important character addition set the course for Woody’s choice.

First, character named – Wheezy the penguin – who tells Woody that he has been on that self for months because of broken speaker. Wheezy introduces the idea early on that no matter how cherished, when a toy gets damaged, it is likely to be shelved, tossed aside – maybe for good. Wheezy then establishes the emotional stakes of the story.

Second, fundamental tweak was to beef up the story of Jessie, a cowgirl doll who had loved her little girl owner, just as Woody loved Andy, only to abandoned when the girl outgrew her toys. Jessie’s message to Woody (would now be wrenchingly told in a message sequence accompanied by the Sarah Mclachlan song “When she loved me”) was that no matter what you want or how much you care, Andy is someday going to put away childish things. Jessie picks up the theme that Wheezy set in motion and her sassy interactions with Woody allow that theme.

Wheezy and Jessie’s addition made Woody’s choice more fraught. He could stay with someone he loves, knowing that he will eventually be discarded, or he could flee to a world where he could be pampered forever, but without love that has build for. That is a real choice, a real question.

“I can’t stop Andy from growing up”, he tells stinky Pete the prospector “But I wouldn’t miss it for the world”.

Toy Story 2 : Story is King was originally published in Filmsy The Second Thought on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Sanju, one the much awaited movie hit the theatre last Friday. I should start with appreciating “Manyata Dutt” The-Pillar of strength of Sanjay Dutt, she stood with him unbiased no matter what he did and why he did, that too in today’s one sided judgemental “mentality” when leaving/breaking relationship is easier choice rather than understand and supporting that too out of self perception. The way Manyata Dutt stood with him even today is truly appreciating.

Sanju, write-editor-director Rajkumar Hirani’s biopic of Sanjay Dutt is much bigger than Sanjay Dutt. Story skip Dutt junior’s childhood and take us through his work on his debut film, his mother’s illness, his rocky relationship with his father, alcoholism and drug addiction, the allegations of involvement in the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts, his arrest under now lapsed TADA, the acquittal on terror charges and conviction under the Arms act, his jailing and ultimate release.

Hirani – have cherry picked facts and bathed their selectiveness in larger doses of affectionate indulgence for their protagonist, for instance, we were told that Dutt acquire three AK-56 rifles and bullets without license out of fear for his dad’s and his sister’s safety following threats to Dutt Sr for his missionary work among Muslim riot victim in 1992–93 in Mumbai. This is a claim Dutt had made on the record in real life, however the film fails to mention that he had also gone on the record to admit that he already owned three licensed firearms which he reportedly told the police he purchased for his love for hunting, so why did he need any more weapons? (Note: He later withdrew the latter statement).

Hirani play this game throughout the film. He make no bones about Dutt’s unprofessionalism, his irresponsible behaviour towards his parents and his lies.

The objective of the film is two-fold: to project Dutt as a misguided but well intention man, and to spacegoat others for his failing. The most well-strategised choice of spacegoat is Media, which is skewered in closing song featuring Ranbir Kapoor and Real Sanjay Dutt himself.

Movie do have its moving portions right through, interestingly all of them involving the Late Sunil Dutt- perhaps because these are the only parts that came from a place of genuiness and/or Sanjay Dutt’ friend Kamlesh Kanhaiyalal Kapasi.

First one is played by Paresh Rawal who undoubtedly has films best written role and later is played by Vicky Kaushal who is thoroughly convincing.

Sonam Kapoor has not much to do in Sanju, where as Anushka Sharma as Sanjay Dutt’s biographer Winnie Diaz has a decidedly unchallenging role.

Sanju belongs to Ranbir Kapoor, who drown out his own personality so completely in favour of the baba persona, that in that closing song when he appears as himself – slim, handsome and not looking ravaged like his character – I had to remind myself that this is actually what he looks like. Ranbir Kapoor delivers an immersive performance especially in scenes of emotional intensity.

Sanju : The Second Thought was originally published in Filmsy The Second Thought on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Official Synopsis:

As the Avengers and their allies have continued to protect the world from threats too large for any one hero to handle, a new danger has emerged from the cosmic shadows: Thanos. A despot of intergalactic infamy, his goal is to collect all six Infinity Stones, artifacts of unimaginable power, and use them to inflict his twisted will on all of reality. Everything the Avengers have fought for has led up to this moment — the fate of Earth and existence itself has never been more uncertain.

Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Mackie, Paul Bettany, Elizabeth Olsen, Jeremy Renner, Chadwick Boseman, Sebastian Stan, Don Cheadle, Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista, Zoe Saldana, Pom Klementieff, Benedict Cumberbatch, Benedict Wong, Sean Gunn, Tom Holland, Paul Rudd, and Josh Brolin.

Avengers: Infinity Wars hits theaters on April 27th.

Thanos snaps his fingers and Earth’s Mightiest come calling. was originally published in Filmsy The Second Thought on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Remember the first time watched Jab We Met an era back — I am sure all was taken in by the madness of an unbalanced and deranged love story. Opposites attract and I have time immemorial believed in the idea (having witnessed a number of happy couples around me). Imtiaz Ali’s movies usually weave this concept in an ideally accepted way. The irony to this has been the fact that I have always loathed love stories — the quintessential Bollywood kinds. They are dramatic, unreal, exasperating, unintelligent, dreamed-up and most importantly, they run around stories you cannot even relate to or imagine happening in the real world. But the stories told by Imtiaz Ali through his films have always been about characters you will come across in your everyday life — some however being slightly overripe — but it could be forgiven considering the lavishly inflated stories Bollywood has forever produced.

I will blatantly confess to having watched the movie Rockstar eight times in theatre and a countless number of times in my DVD player. I was so astounded by the intensity of love portrayed in the movie that I don’t really have a comprehensive word to describe it. I could carelessly and implausibly watch it a million times — counting it among a handful of Bollywood movies I have so far fancied. The reason being that a story so impulsive and propelling to be directed and acted out within a ‘controlled insanity’ was no easy task and I was carried away by a dreamy affair for quite some time thereafter — telling myself over and over again “what is love if not madness” — until reality grounded me in the most obscure way.

I was awaiting the release of Tamasha since the time a friend showed me the trailer. The craziness of love, greed for happiness and peace, the pompous ways of narrating a simple story and at the end a guy meeting a girl in the most unconventional and unexpected way, and adding more life to each other’s lives are pronounced elements in every Imtiaz Ali movie.

Tamasha is no different from it either but what adds more glory to this artsy story is how the film is essentially about two soulmates, their togetherness as strangers and their loneliness in familiarity. It is about how a man fights with his inner self and how he is helped by the lady-love to understand himself and come to terms with who he is and what he actually wants to be. I was thrilled to see how the male protagonist starts to get the answers he had been questioning life throughout and they do leave me feeling warm and fuzzy, but that’s not enough — it is more than just about love. It is more about love adding more meaning to each other’s lives — a sense of understanding the complexities of human behaviour and about strayed strangers journeying towards each other, finding comfort forever thereafter. It is a complex story about people and how often people need people to complete themselves and bring life back to life.

Now Tamasha is not just about finding soul mate — there’s more to it. It is about a character finding answers to his life — battling between the self that he is with the self that he actually should be and how turn of events make him realise the ‘tamasha’ he has made of himself and his life all this while. They are like windows leaping out to open more windows and in the process opening reasons to live life fuller and richer in spirits. What took me aback was the angle of the movie being a story teller’s journey. How art (be it of any kind) can conquer the human mind in gripping ways!

The film is also about a woman who invests in a relationship — the one who expresses her feelings and seeks direction in love. She is also the trigger — the mirror in which the male protagonist will eventually spot his real reflection. The one who will make him realise that he is no average — he is no mediocre — he is much more than what he considers himself to be. The movie neither pretends to celebrate love in pompous ways when it is present nor fake paranoia when it is absent — and that makes the story more close to being real and less of a Bollywood tell-tale.

There’s no denying my inclination for Imtiaz Ali movies and I can heedlessly trust I’ll enjoy watching them every single time but this movie has been a little more of a fanciful affair. The story and the characters of Tamasha will hang on to me for quite some time until, of course, reality comes to ground me in undetermined ways.

It’s crazy how often we can relate to stories in the most unnatural ways ..

Why Imtiaz Ali movies are beautiful and most of all Tamasha? was originally published in Filmsy The Second Thought on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

He is back, since the incredibly successful Bhaag Milka Bhaag. Rakesh Omprakash Mehra is a story teller and this is evident in his films be it Rang De Basanti, Delhi-6, Bhaag Milka Bhaag and at present in Mirzya with his version of Mirza Sahibaan for the new generation.

Although it is difficult for Rakesh Omprakash Mehra directed film but I tried to avoid all the publicity and went to see the movie without any expectations. Must say that good amount of time and effort has been taken be it locations, much talked about music by Shankar Ehsaan Loy click to listen) , story by Gulzar the name itself define perfection and casting Om Puri, KK Raina, Art Malik, Anuj Choudhry or the newbies Saiyami Kher and debutant Harshvardhan Kapoor all are brilliant.

Like Mehra’s other movies Mirzya also has two stories running in parallel — When the film flows, it flows beautifully between scenes, when it jumps, it really does jump. Both Harshvardhan and Saiyami are outstanding as actors. Both managed to carry the dual character performance once as folklore and other set in contemporary times and ensuring that each role is clearly defined but at its core remains the same.

Mirzya is Mehra’s version of Mirza Sahibaan for new generation. Movie has it flaws and its individual choice whether these flaws can be overlooked. There are certain aspects in this film that I am struggling with (I have never seen such glamorous looking blacksmiths) but I appreciate the simple fact that Mehra has pushed boundaries in terms of cinematography and ideas. It is difficult to take something old and essentially repackage it for the new generation, and this is what Mirzya is.

Mirzya was originally published in Filmsy The Second Thought on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.