The Conjuring 2

Movie Review

I am a big fan of horror movies. No, not the Ramsay banners please! I pick up a horror film expecting a unique content, but end up disappointed. The Conjuring-1 garnered lot of public attention with its different presentation. The team thought of continuing the legacy with a sequel. Want to know what happened next? Okay then, read on.

The plot- A single mother Peggy Hogdson stays in a big house in London with her four kids, struggling hard to make needs meet ends. Their life turns upside down when her eleven year old daughter Janet sleepwalks and converses with a spirit. Things go ugly when the screams become frequent and Janet is possessed by a demon who claims the house to be his own.

The incident reaches media and ultimately paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warrren who were popularly known for investigating the AmityVille murders. Lorraine had a vision of Ed being killed by a demonic Nun figure during the investigation of AmityVille shootout.  In fear of Ed’s death, she takes a break from work, trying to stay away from investigations. When they are approached to help Janet, Lorraine agrees reluctantly, asking Ed not to get involved closely in the case. Both reach London as observers instead of investigators.

The local investigation team finds out Janet is possessed by spirit of Bill Wilkins but soon call it it a fake show when they see Janet in a video recording purposely throwing things. Being challenged on the legitimacy of spirits, an angry Peggy asks them to leave the house. The Warrens half heartedly return but turn around when they discover Bill Wilkin’s spirit is not the main culprit. Lorraine sees the same Nun demon from her previous vision haunting the Hogdson house. What was the connection? Why does she see Ed dead? Does Ed make it to the end? Well, you gotta watch it for yourself.

My views- Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson as the Warren couple, play their characters well. They efficiently portray calm, ready to help, no nonsense, sweet people. The real couple in real life was also as sweet and loving as shown in the film. The backdrop, the set of the old house gave it an authentic look of 70's. Madison Wolfe as Janet Hogdson was convincing for her age. 

Frankly, I missed the core horror factor. Same props and dim rooms no more attract the audience. Please try something new. Unlike the prequel, Conjuring -2 lacks the spine chilling factor. Why do demons or spirits make their presence felt only at night? Objects flying, tables shaking, hideously spooky faces are old school! (No offence to demons okay). Power cuts in the presence of spirits, creeky doors, disturbance in TV sets- seriously people? Who finds these creepy at all? Given the history of late 70's, I agree nothing much could have been done. Still, making it spicy is in the hands of the director, ain't it?

For those who still enjoy this level of horror, please watch it. If you are looking for something new, then this is not your cup of tea. 

By the end of the movie, I felt I could have invested time in a better movie. Conjuring 2 is good to watch if you have no other movie or sitting idle while travelling in local transport. 

Genre- Supernatural 

Duration- 134 minutes

Direction- James Wan

NH10- Movie review

Director- Navdeep Singh, Producer- Anushka Sharma

Cast- Anushka Sharma, Neel Bhopalam, Darshan Kumar, Deepti Naval (in cameo)

Plot- A well off, working professional couple, Meera(Anushka) and Arjun (Neel Bhoopalam), stay in Gurgaon. Often known as the concrete jungle, it offers dream jobs with high pay packages, lavish lifestyle with dark naked truth underlying in its wraps. A good lifestyle may not mean secure roads. That’s what happens one night, when Meera is attacked in her car by unknown goons as she drives to office from a friend's party. She manages to flee from the spot in nick of time, but the incident leaves her shattered. Scared and scarred, Arjun applies for licensed gun for her safety. Soon, he plans a short vacation in a forest resort, close to Gurgaon for Meera's birthday. The road trip goes awry as they witness a couple being beaten at a road side dhaba. When nobody approaches for help, Arjun intervenes, only to be slapped by the gang leader Satbir (Darshan Kumar). 

An insulted and upset Arjun, spots the SUV of the goons on the way and detours to follow them with the gun. Meera’s plea to stop him, fall on his deaf ears. He watches horrifying “honor killing” of the same couple. The girl was the goon’s sister. As Arjun prepares to run away from the crime scene, he bumps into a mentally challenged lad, a bother of one of the gang members. The gang catches hold of the Arjun & Meera, hit Arjun and plan to kill both of them. In an attempt to escape, Arjun accidentally shoots the mentally challenged lad.

A still from NH10

The couple are chased throughout the night by bloodthirsty gang members, for whom law & order don’t exist. Arjun is brutally hit again. Meera, the protagonist puts up a tough fight to save injured Arjun. She secures Arjun under a railway line bridge, promising to return with help. She runs from pillar to post in the murky no man’s land asking for help. Scared but determined, Meera does not give up in spite of being hurt, exhausted and alone. She gets hunted several times, is pelted with stones, takes shelter in a labor’s hut, kills a corrupt cop, meets with an accident and lands into the village sarpanch's home. This is where the climax again takes a spine chilling turn.

Characters- After playing a kind, good, supportive husband in Mary Kom, Darshan Kumar plays the rustic, dominating Harayani man, who has no qualms in killing his sister for his family honor. Tough, untamed and raw, he carries off the uncanny role really well. Kudos to the director and the scriptwriter who created the thrilling frames.

Anushka does a brilliant job with her memorable performance. Her acting skills would be etched in the audience's mind for a long time. Watch out for her body language and eye expression as she lights up a smoke and patiently waits for Satbir to rise up with his fractured leg. Deepti Naval as the village sarpanch impresses in a cameo. All characters essay strong roles which give that edge to the film.

Background score adds excellence to the film. The entire movie keeps you glued to your seat without letting you blink an eye.Cinematography deserves big applause. Filmed with realistic angles and backdrop, NH10 has the power to scare you in spite of not being in the horror genre. Navdeep has an eye for detail which is very apparent from the reality touch he has given. The audience get to view Gurgaon's shimmery lights and tall buildings through a car window, where the couple is heard chatting. It is the usual private conversation between a husband and wife which instantly hooks audience. The forest areas, half constructed buildings, sandy hills, scattered houses in village, barely maintained police chowki, all add real touch. Even the villagers, who reluctantly and sarcastically tell direction to Arjun for forest resort, would make you nod heads in agreement and anger.

NH10 does not suggest measures to the social evils portrayed.  What it does is reveal the horrid truth that sobs silently beneath the glittering city lights. It lashes out to the patriarchal society for its gender bias and an apocalypse world who confines women in houses and stab them if they get married in the same gotra. When Meera lodges a police complaint against the attack on her, the cop asks her not to venture out alone at night. He also warns sarcastically that law & order remains confined to the visibility of malls. The former vanishes when malls disappear. Sad but true. 

Several things leave the audience seething as the film shows the harsh reality, which are- When Meera asks for helps from the cop at police station, he instructs her to complaint at the thana where the incident took place. Jurisdiction depends on location; else FIR would not be registered. Happens often, yeah? No education can change the mind sets of people who kill in the name of family honor. In this case, it’s a woman who initiates and supports the evil. Cops join hands with criminals by covering the social evil. What could be more disgusting that this? A woman trapped in such a family tries her best to save Meera by lying, but gets slapped.  How many times have we noticed or heard such incidents in these shady villages? Shamefully, countless times. That is why Meera picked up the iron rod to teach the bad guys a lesson, jabbed a ball point pen into the evil cop's eye, crushed her attackers under the wheels and shouts at the sleeping society. She ends with 'Jo karna tha so karna tha' leaving a message for the disgraced world who refer to women with derogatory words on toilet doors or walls of public property.

I admit I was disturbed and scared after watching the movie. I was not able to sleep well at night, as the movie thronged my thoughts. A must watch of this season is NH10. Go for it!

REALITY SHOWS

I have been  watching “FEMINA MISS INDIA -the making “ on Zoom. Couple of days back I was following DANCE INDIA DANCE on Zee Tv. Sony TV is busy showcasing INDIAN IDOL these days like each year. Colors channel gained good TRPs with KHATRON KE KHILAADI and India’s got talent.TV channels have been bustling with unlimited reality shows and surprisingly people watch it whole heartedly inspite knowing the reality behind the scenes. Ah! that holds true for me too!! I loved Dance India Dance . India’s got talent inspired me to learn contemporary dance. Every reality show holds a special importance in everybody’s life. My friend Sid participated in Indian Idol-1 but was shown the exit during the initial screening. Still he watches Indian Idol without fail! My ex-colleague Swati was a part of MTV Roadies who watches the series with equal enthusiasm till date despite being voted out so heartlessly. She definitely cherishes the moments of adventure and fun.

But what makes the reality shows so exciting for everybody? Why do people watch these with so much interest and charm? Why do people flock to the gates of the auditions when they know they are not well trained? Well, there could be many reasons. Everybody wants to be in limelight, famous and be in news for some reason. One never knows where does the luck factor works or who knows the judges might like somebody instantly. There are many testimonials to this fact in end number of reality shows.  Indian Idol, Fame Gurukul etc are few shows to begin with the list of examples.(Of course I don’t want to name the participants on this social networking site lest their fans should outburst against me and write venomous messages for me!!)

All the ideas are copied from the western reality shows, none of Indian origin… anyway who cares!! !!! Big Boss , was one pathetic  reality I ever watched and hate it from the bottom of my heart( Fans please don’t kill me!!) I hated “Is Jungle se Mujhey Bachao” where the participants were asked to consume mixture of animal spleen, liver, testicles, do all sorts of crazy things in a so called jungle and crown the winner for the jungle mania!! (By the way, what was Mankea Gandhi doing then? I shouldn’t be saying this..I am a member of People for animals after all. Ok , don’t jump to conclusions before I say anything. The animals were domesticated ones which are nor endangered and are consumed in daily lives.) Whatever, I simply hated this horrible reality show of the jungle mess, the celebrity tantrums and the loosely written script.

Ya…reality shows are scripted, don’t be surprised. Even the results are pre-decided. Public voting just occupies the public and huge income for the telecom giants. A participant from a particular community, caste or tribe attracts audience from the same social circle who pleads for votes. No wonders why do people glue to these reality shows to vote for their “favorite” participant. No offences meant, my mom does that each time! A Bengali participant occupies a special place in my mom’s heart always…be it a singing show or dance competition.

Want to see real footage? Switch to National geographic or discovery yaar!!At least they make some sense!

My name is Khan

Friday,12th Feb'10 experienced a massive crowd towards the multiplexes for the awaited KHAN and KAJOL starrer 'My name is Khan'. The movie was given a five star rating by the leading dailies and media went crazy publicising the movie.Surprisingly my sis was able to e-book tickets for Sunday, so I watched it yesterday.

Frankly speaking,I dont think the movie deserves a 5- star. Infact I believe that it was over-rated. Undoubtedly the message which was conveyed was good and valuable.Characters portrayed the real incidents so well that I found 50 percent people sobbing.

The story was well woven around the plot of 9/11 and the strong consequences on the lives of the people with specially the Muslims being racially discriminated and abused. SRK has delivered a powerful performance as a autism patient.I am sure this message has been conveyed to all that an autistic is different from an abnormal and also has desires to fulfil,a life to live,a right to be well treated. Kajol, needless to say was remarkable again. The trauma,the fright, the anxiety post 9/11 was very well played by the actors. 'My name is khan and I am not a terrorist' was the theme of the movie.However the second half of the film was stronger than the first half. The first half seemed to be a fairy tale cum merry go round story. Music by Shankar, Ehsaan,Loy was good ,so was the cinematography.

I felt the movie was a little above average.If I had to rate it,i'd give it a three star or genoursouly a 3.5.  A five star was over publicity I guess. If there are SRK fans who read my blog,please don't kill me.I am rating the movie ,not SRK.

King Khan has done a great job. Karan Johar ,I think,had consulted some astrologist,so for the first time, the name of his movie doesn't begin with  K. But the title does have 'K'han in it,his lucky charm ....Hehe..