As we approach mid May, we meet up with a few interesting releases. This weekend can be termed as a mixed bag too, because of the genres at the cinemas near you. We have a Romantic Period flick, a hard hitting Thriller, a treat for kids & a Bollywood Masala flick. Big Names are coming to a screen near you today, so be ready to receive them with open arms 🙂 Numerically speaking, we have two Hollywood Flicks, One Bollywood & the fourth a mix or cross between the two.
First up we have The Great Gatsby (Trailer), the big screen adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 1925 novel. The flick tells us about the life of one Mr.Gatsby, who is mysterious to one and all and is known as the guy who throws grand parties. The story recounts the encounter of Gatsby’s neighbor Nick Carraway with Gatsby. It also involves other characters such as , Nick’s cousin Daisy who has a past of her own, her husband – Tom, Daisy; the women with whom Daisy wishes to couple Nick with. The flick also involves further stories about each and every character and all of it has a great link among themselves.
Coming to the cast, Leonardo Di Caprio portrays Gatsby, Tobey Maguire portrays Gatsby’s neighbor Nick, Carey Mulligan portrays Daisy and of course the major attraction for Indians around the world – Big B a.k.a Amitabh Bachchan doing a brief cameo in the flick as Gatsby’s business associate – Meyer Wolfsheim. The Great Gatsby is directed by Baz Luhrmann, the director who made classics like – Romeo+Juliet (with Di Caprio) and Moulin Rouge. The Great Gatsby has an amazing soundtrack made fit for the era it represents – the 1920’s or the Jazz Age. The flick released in the US on the 10th of May and it was the first flick to be screened at the Cannes this year. The flick has been met by mixed reviews from the critics, with some critics not approving of Luhrmann’s direction and others praising the movie’s visual appeal and Caprio’s acting skills.
Hollywood’s next offering this week, marks the 3rd flick this year to be released in India before its release in the US . This one belongs solely to the kids, a summer treat for them and it goes by the name of – Epic (Trailer). The flick is a 3D animated feature from Blue Sky Studios, the animation division of 20th Century Fox. The Studio has released 6 feature length flicks so far, with Epic being the 7th. Notable flicks include – Ice Age series, Robots, Rio, etc. Epic is directed by Chris Wedge, who previously directed Ice Age & Robots. So one can expect a lot from his latest venture. The 3D flick features the voices of Amanda Seyfried, Colin Farrell, Josh Hutcherson, Christoph Waltz, Aziz Ansari, Pitbull, Jason Sudeikis, and Beyoncé Knowles. Epic tells us the story of a young girl voiced by Amanda, who steps into a magical world of miniature warriors called Leafmen. Eventually she is forced to assist these warriors to defeat the evil Boggans and their leader – Mandrake voiced by Waltz and thereby save their world….. The trailer didn’t seem so appealing and the story doesn’t make it any better. Hopefully director Chris Wedge has something in store to amaze his audiences.
As we approach our cross over point to Bollywood releases for the week, we have a another flick up for release today, a flick which is adapted from a novel and premiered at the Venice Film Festival in August last year.The Reluctant Fundamentalist (Trailer) directed by Mira Nair, who is famous for her debut feature – Salaam Bombay !, which won an award in the Cannes and was nominated for an Academy Award in the Beast Foreign Feature Category The Reluctant Fundamentalist is the adaptation of a novel by Pakistani author – Mohsin Hamid. The book and the flick as well tells us the story of a Pakistani lad who graduates from Princeton, about his American dream, about his affair with an American girl and his eventual abandoning of America all together. The flick stars some famous names from Hollywood & Bollywood alike – Kate Hudson, Liev Schreiber, Kiefer Sutherland, Om Puri & Shabana Azmi. The principal character or the Pakistani lad is portrayed by Riz Ahmed, a British actor & rapper. The flick has received average reviews from the critics.
Finally we stumble upon our Bollywood release of the week, with I Love NY yet again getting delayed for release, we have Yash Chopra production’s feature up for release this week. Aurangzeb (Trailer), directed by new comer – Atul Sabharwal, and stars a mixture of new and retro stars of Bollywood – Rishi Kapoor, Arjun Kapoor (x2) (Double Role), Jackie Shroff, Malayalee actor Prithviraj Sukumaran & Pakistani actress and singer – Sashaa Agha. The movie tells us the story of a real estate developer portrayed by Shroff and his illegal works and how he gets away with it all because of his crew member portrayed by Arjun Kapoor. The police capture Arjun’s character and replace him with his look alike to track down Shroff’s illegal activities. The policemen are portrayed by Rishi Kapoor & Prithviraj. This flick marks Arjun’s and Prithviraj’s (his first being Aiyaa) 2nd flick in Bollywood . Pakistani actress Sashaa plays Arjun’s love interest in the movie. The trailer seems to show too much of the movie, so it seems like we have already watched the movie, until and unless the director has a surprise in store for us.
So for the flick of the week….. I am a bit confused… mainly due to the lack of choices… So to be on the safe side, I would select The Great Gatsby & Epic for an enjoyable weekend watch. Gatsby due to its star power in terms of acting & directing and Epic because it comes from a production house that has always entertained the audiences with its animated features 🙂
My Silver Screen 