Congratulations

12 Friday 11th December, 2009 “Bottom Line: This would-be tearjerker without the musical num- bers of typical Bollywood fare is Compiled by Jeffrey for die-hard NEW YORK — The lat- est pairing of 67-year- Amitabh old Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan and Bachchan fans his movie-star son Abhishek Bachchan, only. the tear-stained soaper Paa (Dad), seems designed to evoke the Executive frisson of Henry and ” producer: Jane Fonda together in Anita On Golden Pond — it’s the Anand duo’s first family drama Zutshi that doesn’t involve a mob Director family. of pho- Reversing the real-life togra- dynamic, Abhishek plays phy: P.C. father to Amitabh’s proge- Sreeram ria-stricken 12-year-old, Art whose accelerated aging director: makes him look about 90. Sunil And while Bachchan’s por- Babu trayal of the pre-teen protag- Music: onist is a tour de force, it can’t buoy a tedious tale that might appeal to his longtime fans but will likely turn off stateside audiences looking for either exotic Slumdog drama or the lavish musical escapism of typical Bollywood extravagan- zas. Unlike Robin Williams in the similar Jack, Bachchan, as the aged-looking Auro, brooks no senti- mental shtick. Playing a student at a tony private school in Lucknow, the capital of the northern Indian state of Now showing @ Liberty Uttar Pradesh, he deftly portrays a typically status-con- scious, sullen pre-teen boy edged with a nicely self- named “Bum,” Auro only knows that his father had .Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek aware sense of entitlement due wanted him aborted, and that med-student Vidya had Bachchan, Vidya Balan, Arundathi Nag, to his special condition. had the child herself and disappeared from the father’s Paresh Rawal Bachchan knows just how life. Director/screenwriter: R. Balakrishnan Abhishek Bachchan far to push to make the boy When idealistic young Parliament member Amol (credited as R. Balki) and Vidya Balan headstrong and infuriating Arte (Abhishek Bachchan) visits Auro’s school, he Producer: Sunil Manchanda without having us lose sympa- becomes taken with the spunky lad, neither knowing thy or understanding, and the their relationship with each other, and forms a friend- Big B, as Amitabh is fondly ship that, while believably tenuous and a bit uneasy, known, continues to prove he’s never exhibits any growing emotional bond. When the not only the Clint truth is inevitably revealed, it proves too late and lead- Ilaiyaraaja Eastwood/Paul Newman/Sean en to have much power or impact. Costume designers: Sabyasachi Mukherjee, Akki Connery hybrid of Indian cine- A go-nowhere subplot involves Arte’s plan for urban Narula, Falguni Thakore, Vijeyata Manchanda, Rahul ma, but also a brilliant charac- renewal of an open-sewer slum. We see him as a Agasti ter actor who can submerge Kennedyesque figure visiting shanties of grateful Prosthetic makeup: Christien Tinsley, Dominie Till into a role that calls for gen- untouchables — who later turn on him when a ruthless Editor: Anil Naidu uinely childish — and not for- developer visits and seemingly flips a switch in their mulaic “childlike” behaviour. brains. The son of a successful, sin- The serious news media, depicted in the typically gle-mom gynecologist, Vidya Bollywood way as all tabloid scum and paparazzi, like- (Vidya Balan), Auro is casually wise goes after Arte through some vaguely articulated accepted by his schoolmates as mob reasoning, leading Arte to go on air and, in so just another kid albeit one a many words, compare the press to terrorists. By this few heads taller and occasional- point, the movie, produced by the Bachchans’ company, ly prone to collapse and need- AB Corp. Ltd., seems to have gone from fictional family ing oxygen. Living with his drama to Bollywood dynasty drama. Neither proves mom and grandma (Arundathi very satisfying. Nag), whom he’s cheekily nick- Congratulations Congratulations Coupon No. 55 (Daily Island) The correct answer is ’Three’ 1. Hansanie Kumarage Colombo 3 2. N. S. Weeratunga Piliyandala 3. Janneth Ismail Mt. Lavinia 4. Hilan Weerasinghe Colombo 13 5. J. de Mel Colombo 3 6. H. D. C. Thushari Nugegoda 7. G. A. B. Silva Maharagama 8. Devika Udugampola Colombo 8 9. Sanya Ansar Colombo 3 10. Kumar Ranawake Nawala Your complimentary tickets (2) will be delivered by EAP Film & Theatres (Pvt) Ltd. shortly. Congratulations Coupon No. 16 (Sunday Island) The correct answer is ‘Three’ 1. Rinosh Loshana Malabe 2. W. T. Ananda Dehiovita 3. Isuruni Fenando Moratuwa 4. G. D. Saldin Hokandara 5. Lasindu Ranasinghe Thalawathugoda 6. Shohana Azeez Battaramulla 7. Pearl Perrett Moratuwa 8. Noeline Pietersz Nugegoda 9. Shirley Hector Galle 10. Jehan Devadasan Colombo 7 Your complimentary tickets (2) will be delivered by EAP Film & Theatres (Pvt) Ltd. shortly..

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