The Hindu : New Delhi News : Oscars and others, love and hate, give and take... .

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Mar 05, 2006

New Delhi

New Delhi

Oscars and others, love and hate, give and take... .

ZIYA US SALAM

TRANSAMERICA

(At PVR Saket and other Delhi theatres)

Words fail you, prejudices seep out of the closet, and at the end of it you feel naked, stark naked, after a film that exposes many a lie, touches every heart. This Duncan Tucker movie is only incidentally about a transgender woman - actually a mother who is a biological father to her son - but basically about all the biases that cloud societies across the world. How the world, for all its liberalism, appreciates conformism and abhors anyone who dares to answer the inner calling. It is no sermon, no harangue - there is barely a shot in the film when an actor raises his voice. Yet dissent is not stifled, rather celebrated. What's more, even the shadow of hedonism does not touch the frames. There is a silent melancholy, the understated joy that is so bewitching, and performances that are top drawer. Everything flows so smoothly that one does not realise when one gets sucked into the complex world of a man turning a woman who must meet his/her son once before the final operation.

Felicity Huffman playing a man aspiring to be a woman - "a work under process", she says - has already won the Golden Globe for the Best Actress. It will be nothing short of incredible if an Oscar does not find space there too. Then there is Kevin Zegers, as the son who turns hustler taking care of the needs of the wayfarer. He brings an unmatched intensity to his craft as the guy who must come to terms with the fact that his father wants to play a mom. Not much sulking, no moaning, little fist-smashing stuff. Just controlled anger and body language befitting a guy who has spent time with flies and bushes.

Watch "Transamerica" simply because, for all its niche story, this film is all about the universal values of love and hate, give and take, and respect for people not quite like us.

WALK THE LINE

(At PVR Priya and other Delhi theatres)

Here finally is a film that makes nostalgia a worthwhile exercise. No wistfulness, just a film that stays young and cherubic. And in an absolute show of rarity, here is a bio-pic that is no eulogy; no favours asked for, none conceded. James Mangold's film confers on Johnny Cash no bonus points that fawning admirers often tend to bestow on their icons. He instead depicts the trials and triumphs of the man, "steady like a train, sharp like a razor". This is one musical you cannot have enough of. Prepare to swing along, but keep a little space for some dreams, some emotions that add substance to the moment. And some moments that stay with you long after the credits would have rolled.

As you keep a date with ditties you knew from your grandfather's rack, spare a thought - and genuine appreciation - for Joaquin Phoenix who has lent his voice to Cash's timeless songs. It takes some doing, a braveheart, a reckless enthusiasm, and no mean skill. Phoenix shows them all with an endearing performance in a film that stands out for the sheer joy it transmits.

Keeping him able company is Reese Witherspoon, she of a dishy smile and affable mannerism. As the girl who is a charmer on stage, and absolutely serene off it, she is a foil Cash needed.

But director Mangold steps in at just the right moment. Hey, this is a film based on Man in Black, and Cash: The Autobiography all right, but it is still Mangold's baby, right? So he gives us more than a nodding acquaintance with Cash's father who had no love lost for him, his first wife, who loved Cash but Cash loved his music more. On such threads he weaves together a film that leaves a lump in the throat. Not for long, though, because soon enough we get songs that take us to a world where dreams abide, where happiness is the besotted, the dreamer the seeker.

Watch it for sure. It is worth going a few miles to watch "Walk the Line". Five Oscar nominations, fine performances, great music, breezy pace: it has them all. And then there is the small matter of Cash's story, a typical rags-to-riches saga to begin with, but one that assumes unseen shades as the mercurial man tempts destiny.

CAPOTE

(At PVR Priya and other Delhi theatres)

Hollywood slips into retro mood again with this story of Truman Capote set in 1959. This is nothing but an indulgence of a writer who pays a porter to praise his work in front of his companion, walks down to the prison cell to meet an inmate virtually awaiting death; yet the guy must live for the writer to finish his novel, a piece of "non-fiction", and die, so that the writer gets his conclusion right! If this is not literary vanity, few things are ever going to pull you from the mirror. Then director Bennet Miller compensates for an author's vanity with an artist's sensibility, making "Capote" a film to watch when solitude is what you have, impudent wit is what you desire, and don't mind a peek into the life of a man often judged by the last few years of his life.

But be prepared for a dark brooding essay where the liveliest part is played by the cameraman with some really beautiful shots of trees in autumn, the sun all ready to set, leaves all set to fall.

Perfect symbolism for a film uplifted by a nice performance by Philip Seymour Hoffman.

THE PRODUCERS

(At PVR Spice, Noida; and Delhi theatres)

It takes unbounded optimism to release a Hollywood film that has no Oscar nomination in this season of awards for the picking. However, it is still a winner - it has won 12 Tony Awards all right. Reckless? Maybe. Foolish? Not quite.

Simply because the target viewers of this film would be a world removed from those savouring the gentle humour of say, "Walk the Line", or "Transamerica". This comedy caters to the lowest common denominator with time-tested, time-tried lines like "If you have got it, flaunt it". It has an 80-something woman acting as a sex kitten. It has a balding producer acting as a maniac. And of course it has girls clad in nothing but pearls.

That is all on the fringes. At the centre it is the story of a Broadway producer and a creative accountant who wants to be a producer too.

They hit upon a novel way to make money: Churn out a flop, fudge the books. And guess what do they do to make that flop? Foray into the glad and gay parts of Hitler's life, with one eye on a possible ban on the play.

Of course, that gives the director licence to make a parody of people with alternate sexuality. And considering the producer is from Broadway, the characters often sing and swing along. Ignore that.

Keep your values in the closet and you might just enjoy Mel Brooks' film with many a funny joke, many a rib-tickler.

Of course if you don't leave your brains in the fridge, and ask questions of common sense you might be disappointed for this film is theatrical at best, outrageous and scandalous at its worst.

Some call it funny, sunny and witty. Take your pick.

TEESRI AANKH

(At Shiela and other Delhi theatres)

Almost five years after the much talked about "Gadar", Amisha Patel reunites with Sunny Deol. He still scowls and screams. She still simpers and sighs. This time the spark is missing, only the very faint embers remain.

Here Amisha is a girl with a speech impairment, and Deol a cop out to get the guys using a hidden camera for their nefarious ends.

There are gals from beauty contests caught on the camera, there are those caught in their changing rooms with all the expected sound and fury.

Sounds familiar? Yes, director Harry Baweja is walking down Mohit Suri's lane. He replaces the subtleties, the dark undertones of "Kalyug", with a more in-your-face approach.

He goes for the jugular and uses a sword where a butter knife would have been in order.

Expect no understatements here. You will get none. Ask instead for the Deol style machismo and you won't be disappointed.

Expect not much substance either. You will get typical fare for the frontbenchers, those who clap when Deol makes an appearance on the screen, whistle when the mute girl desperately "heaving" her way kicks the guys where it hurts.

Interested? Go ahead. You will get plenty of fare that gets the adrenaline running for the gutka-chewing crowd. Baweja on his part maintains a decent pace, marred only by those occasional songs that people utilise to attend to personal business. Not interested in another lesson on "maryada", "Bharatiyata" and melodrama? Well, just close your eyes and sleep well.

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