Bhaag Milkha Bhaag

I recently watched Bhaag Milkha Bhaag last Saturday late night show which was week later due to my busy work schedule. 

The man who trashed by breaking the records and made India proud. Its the story behind his struggle of how he achieved the goals enacted by Farhan Akhtar in 187 minutes movie which at time seemed stretched but well paced and edited with ear pleasing heart pumping soundtrack. The good use of archival footage with CGI (Computer generated imagery) and picture perfect scenes of  Ladkh where Milkha trains with a heavy Tyre to break the world record. 

Bhaag Milkha Bhaag is a biopic film directed by Rakesh Omprakash Mehera. Offcourse some of the scenes have been dramatized but the movie is a biopic on the great Indian athletic legend from India Milkha Singh or better known as the "Flying Sikh". 

The story is set in backdrop when Milkha Singh has thrashed the international 400 meter athletic record and Panditji (Pandit  Jawaharlal Nehru then Prime Minister of India) announces a friendship match with Pakistan and Milka Singh is chosen as the leader of the Indian contingent at Lahore which was fixed with the Pakistani General. But he refuses to go stating his bitter past during the partition. 

The movie also depicts women falling in love for Milkha. Sonam Kappor as Biro, Meesha Shafi as Perizaad, Rebecca Breeds as Stella are the actors who play love interest on screen. 

Prakshraj plays the the strict army instructor at Secunderabad in Andhra Pradesh . Pawan Malhotra and Yograj Singh play Milkha Singh's coach. 

Dalip Tahil plays the iconic character Jawaharlal Nehru on screen.

Lootera Review

Lootera (Robber) is a love story between Varun Shrivastav a con man played by Ranveer Singh and Pakhi Roychoudhary played by Sonakshi Sinha the daughter of zamindar of Manikpur played by Barun Chandain set in Bengal in the post independent era of 1950's when electricity started reaching small towns and cities in India. This is a era when the government has brought in the act to abolishing the feudal system of zamindari.

The movie takes place in rural Bengal when Varun Shrivastav and Pakhi Roychoudhary both meet up on a chance encounter and series of events and they fall in love.When their love flourishes and they decide to marry against the wishes of his uncle Bajpai played by Arif Zakaria who has taken care of Varun and his best mate Vikrant Massey who plays Devdas a big fan of Dev Anand shab who are partners in the crime for robbing from kings and zamindars and the rich always fleeing away with the loot hence the title lootera. But Varun has fallen in love with Pakhi but he has to flee sighting that there is no future due to the constant danger which lurks on him. He steals away with a precious item on the eve of their marriage only to meet again after he breaks the heart of the zamindar and Pahki. She is suffering from illness alone at Dalhoise where she is trying to write a novel but the heartbreak and losses make her weak but soon they meet again as Varun comes back in her life but inspector K N Singh is after the duo. There is also sweet humor and funny bits that makes you laugh which sets the love equation between Phaki and Varun.

A beautifully shot film by Mahendra J. Shetty and wonderful performance which makes the film come alive. The production design of the film is well down like in the scene where the Varun meets up with his uncle Bajpai in the park street restaurant which resembles like Mocambo in its hay days. A popular restaurant joint in Kolkata then known as Calcutta or a Adda (A place for chat) which is surrounded by well dress high society Bengalis, businessmen and youth in their suits. The realistic zamindar house and old cars. The movie is well edited by Dipika Kalra setting the right pace with wonderful lyrical songs written by Amitabh Bhattacharya and Swanand Kirkire, composition by Amit Trivedi sets the mood and the emotion and the geography and the period.

Vikramaditya Motwane has done a commendable job with teaming up with a creative team. He has put his heart in the film with great background score, songs and the production design the way the movie progresses it makes you live the era.

Low Cost SD to HD digital conversion

Assuming your master video file is at 720x 576 pixel size. You can do it cheaply using Adobe After Effects with a 30 day trial version.

In Adobe After effect make a 'New composition' 

(Press Command+ N in mac or Control+N in windows) 

Click to open the screenshot in new tab

Now create comp with the custom preferences of 1280x720 (Width x Height) and set the right frame rate and then 'Import' the video in after effects.

Now drag & drop the the video clip in the timeline or in the 'comp' in the browser window.

Right click on the visible clip and go through the pop up menu to Transform and click on fit to comp (Alt+Command+F in mac or Alt+Control+F in windows)

Now the Adobe after effects will automatically resize the canvas.

Now select the clip in source comp windows besides the time line and go to composition in the menu and select Add to Render (^+Command+M in mac or ^+Control+M in windows)

Now a render window will open in the timeline window 

Go to Output module and set your encoding setting and then go to 'Output to' and set the destination for the output.

Even though this is a low cost remedy process to upscale a video there is a marginal quality loss for which you may need to set the contrast and brightness. The higher you scale lets say 1920 x 1080 P there will be some kind of pixel stretching.

Ghanchakkar Review

Ghanchakkar literally in Hindi means 'heavy spin' or in simple terms fickle minded. The movie tends to serve humor with lots of " Heeanh..!" by the Punjaban kudi Neetu played by Vidya Balan. A average housewife with very fashionable clothes married to Mama's boy Sanjay a.k.a Sanju played by Emraan Hashmi who is a master lock breaker who happens to rob a bank with Pandit played by Rajesh Sharma and Idris played by Namit Das the kiddish mobster with a gun as his only power.

The trio loots a bank with funny mask of Dharmendra, Amitabh Bachchan and Uttpal Dutt which we all have seen in the trailers which takes away the element of surprise but its still fun to watch the film with trio wearing mask of famous Indian movie stars which makes the scene hilarious and creates a association. After the trio loot the bank they decide to meet again after 3 months to avoid being caught but there is one problem Sanjay meets with an accident and he forgets about the robbery due to amnesia. The vital details where he had hid the money is gone as he tries to trace with little clue available. The quest for search of their money and with his co-accomplices struggle to make Sanjay remember where the money is hidden which makes him question his wife and friends who will he trust and how will he get through the hurdles is what keeps the audience on their toes.

The movie celebrates retro amnesia in glory. One one of the scenes where the characters tries to figure out the name of Ghajni lead protagonist where they all go wrong and also in another scene doctor trying to figure out the patient Sanjay which glorifies the human nature of all us being a fickle minded or a 'Ghanchakkar'.

The film also tributes Rajesh Khanna when the character played by Emraan Hashmi tries to trace the lost money as he explains Neetu about his whereabouts much like Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro "Antonini Park" pun Sanjay describe his is at 'Rajesh Khanna Park'.

The sound design of most of the film is like a arcade video game. The movie does not have too many playback songs in between expect Allah Meherbaan and Lazy lad as title sequence which is sweetly animated which gives some clues about the movie.

The train action sequence scene edits and camera work are very interesting to watch.There is also a cameo shot of director of the film director Rajkumar Gupta.

One disappointment too much in film branding affects the narrative structure and the flow of the film.

In my conclusion life is short but a pinch of salt little or more can make or break the balance so do watch the film at cinemas near you.

Fukrey Review

Fukrey in hindi which literally means cheap. The film portrays the struggle of 4 guys trying to take shortcuts to reach their goals. The wired guy played by Varun Sharma as Choocha the dreamer, the confident Pulkit Samrat as Hunny the school students and Lali the sweet guy played the son of Bali Halwali doing correspondence in Delhi followed by Ali Fazal as Zafar graduate and a budding musician who devoured his life to music who is still struggling to make a foot.

Fukrey is a hilarious satire a small slice of our Indian education system on reel when students migrate from school to colleges and the anxiety of public exams to score goods marks to get into desired college. This is a period when students crave and count days to start their new college life. These anxiety leads Hunny and Choocha the lottery buying easy money seekers who get into trouble with Bholi Punjaban played by Richa Chadda the money lender and also a dangerious criminal which drives them to do illegal businesses.

Neetu, Zafar's ex-fiance played by Vishakha Singhwith whom Zafar is in still love with leaves her when she confronts to Zafar to choose her or music but he chooses music. This sets the underline theme of conflict shortcut VS struggle. 

But only fact that has to be noted which strikes me is that they never show any back story of Hunny like his family or other friends expect Choocha as his best friend and Priya played by Priya Anand as love interest.

Pankaj Tripathi as the corrupt security guard and the man walking on the street with a hearing problem whom Lali inquires when the beggar takes away his motorbike parts or cylinder adds humor to the story which did make the audience laugh their hearts out loud.

Ambarsariya and Raba are refreshing songs.

Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani Review

Yeh Jawaani hai deewani is a emotional journey. Its a film worth watching at cinemas. Ayan Mukerji as a director is successful in evoking the emotions as I walk out of the cinema hall one can not let away those good deep heavy feelings as you leave the theater with the small moments and the soul touching song and lyrics just like he did in his previous movie Wake up S!d.

Ranbir and Deepkia are good pair on the film and even the actors Farooq Shaikh and Tanvi Azmi makes you feel home who play the parents of Ranbir Kapoor who prefers to be called as Bunny.

The friends Aditya Roy Kapoor and Kalki Koechlin are confusing but they do spice up the screen with humor and support to bunny even though Bunny is lost in his world of ambitions to live his dreams to travel the world.

The special appearance by Madhuri Dixit as Mohini in the song does add up to the film where Ranbir's character a out going and adventurous young lad explores the world as he dances with Mohini in a intership for a foregin tv crew as the first song of the film looks too forced and early but it sets the character of Bunny a 'besheram' (Shameless) a person who lives the moment.

The character of Deepika as Naina the 'scholaar', the character who takes on taking challenges as she transforms from a reserved bookish topper to a fun loving girl.

Off course is a commercial Indian movie and it showcases foreign locations but also captures the Indian hill stations of Manali and Kashmir. 

Hangover 3 Review

Hangover 3 is a continuation of disaster before a wedding at a bachelor party but Hangover 3 seems to be a reunion more of a intervention to Zach Galifianakis as Alan lives his reckless life. Its a laughter riot. 4 friends coming back together once again. The movie also takes on famous Hollywood iconic scenes which is cool to watch. Leave your brains and just enjoy the joy ride with the wolf pack.

Chow