Month: June 2012

The Rollercoaster Ride – Ferrari Ki Sawari

I have been an absolute sucker for Hrishida’s films. I don’t recollect the number of times I’ve watched his films – the classical common man, his struggles, his attitude to see the positives despite those struggles, the ever smiling characters, the films that epitomised that humanity is the strongest of all bonds in this world.

I grew up in the 80s and 90s where movies were a bit of disaster, then there was the KJo wave – the gloss, the glamour, the action movies got to me – the horror ! And then the 2000s saw some refreshing cinema hit the screens – dark movies, intelligent films, real films and then came the Rajkumar Hirani-Vidhu Vinod Chopra movies.

They are my generation’s movies that come close to HrishiDa’s genre of films. The Munnabhai Series, 3 Idiots and now Ferrari Ki Sawari. They are feel good, they are light-hearted, they are emotional, and they remind us of the simple middle-class folks whom we have forgotten exist in our world – we are chasing brands, we are chasing exotic vacations, showing off our fancy possessions, we are chasing the big bucks and job promotions, getting caught in the crazy rat race.

The simple common man is still chasing his small dreams and still knows the value of every little joy that life has to offer.

These movies take me back to my childhood and teenage days. I come from a simple Maharashtrian family where my parents strived hard to give me the best life. Being a late child I never really saw their early struggles, but when they did tell me it made me swell with pride seeing them in the place they got to from where they started. And though I may have done reasonably well now – the middle class roots help me keep grounded. There was joy in the simplest of things and that joy can never be bought even if you have millions of dollars.

This time around Rajesh Mapuskar, assistant director to Hirani in his previous movies takes us on a fun, emotional rollercoaster ride with Kayo and his Dad Rustom. The third wheel in this fun ride is the disgruntled grandpa Behram Deboo. Rustom is a head clerk in the RTO office – honest, sincere, obedient son, and a doting father. His son is his world and his son’s world is cricket and Rustom a.k.a Rusy will do his best to make his son’s dream a reality.

Kayo is the best player in the circuit but Rustom struggles to make ends meet and fund Kayo’s cricket – be it buying him a bat or a new pair of shoes. But the ever cheerful and happy son-father duo always look at the positive side of life and move on. Kayo gets a chance to be selected to a coaching camp in London but the fees are INR 150,000. There begins Rustom’s dilemma  – he wants his son to get the best opportunity but does not know how to raise the money in 2 weeks.

His EPF loan won’t come in quick time – a nice dig taken at the workings of Government and if any higher authorities watch this movie hopefully they take a lesson from this. He has to fight his grumbling dad Deboo who thinks cricket is a waste of time and is fighting with ghosts of his past. In this chaos he meets Babbu Didi – a wedding planner who needs a Ferrari for the wedding of a local corporator’s son. She suggests that if Rusy can get her the car on rent for 2 days she will pay him the 150,000 in cash.

Only one man in Mumbai owns this car and Rustom decides to go visit him and request him for the car – however Sachin Tendulkar is not at home to meet Rusy to grant his request . How Rusy gets the car and runs into a crazy adventure to fulfil his son’s dreams is what the whole movie is about.

The movie could’ve done with a bit of editing and deleting the melodrama at the end but those are too minor points to criticize the movie. Sharman Joshi steals your heart with his endearing, honest Rusy – you sail along with him – through his emotional turmoil, his struggle to to fulfil his son’s dreams, his constant endeavour to get back his father.

Then there is Boman Irani –a permanent in these movies, the villain with the heart of gold. He shines as the grumpy Grandpa, how his grandson’s talent turns him around – the scene is worth watching over and over again.

Seema Bharagava as Babbu Didi, Aakash Dabhade as Mohan the household help and Deepak Shirke as the Security Guard give fantastic performances and are responsible for all the laughter breaks in this crazy ride. The trio eases into their characters and this is probably what they say is “natural acting” – they are perfect fit for their roles  and the characters stay with you even after the movie is over.

But Kayo steals the show – you cheer him when he puts his pads on, you cry in anguish when he falls a run short of victory, you feel like smacking those corrupt cricket officials who won’t let him go ahead cause of politics, you along with his Dad Rusy, Grandpa Deboo, his coach, his best friend, his colony folks want to go to any lengths to get him to Lords.

His smile is like that of SRT – that just sealed it for me and now everytime Sachin takes strike be sure to hear this song play on your TV sets!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbMb5VzonDM&feature=related[/youtube]

There are scenes in the movies that stay with you for long and get you thinking – the one where Rusy breaks the Red signal, the way Rusy gathers his savings to buy the 2800 Rs bat for his son in time for his match , the EPF loan story from Rusy’s boss at RTO, The honest traffic inspector who won’t think twice in towing the “big cars” off the roads, the MCA official Paresh Rawal who reminds us of the dirty politics that exist in the game (One of my best friends quit cricket despite being among the best owing to the politics). Rajesh Mapuskar keeps it real for most parts in the film

I don’t know about you but I identified with the film a lot – the characters & the struggles of a single parent – it touched my heart and it wooed me. I know the plot sounds a bit far-fetched but what the hell the execution is so smooth, you start thinking what if – what if !

I’ll probably hit the theatre again or wait for the DVD to hit the stands – this one goes in my prized collection – I’ll suggest you try this rollercoaster ride called Ferrari Ki Sawari atleast once!

P.S: Vidya Balan in a “lavani” item song is so wrong – if they wanted they could have just asked Amruta Khanvilkar or Sonali Kulkarni!

Netherlands Chronicles – KeukenHof

Remember Amitabh-Rekha singing “Dekha Ek Khwab Mein Hain Silsile Hue”? That song is the primary reason that has led most Indian tourists to see Keukenhof

The gardens are open for only 2 months in the year to tourists – so always ensure that if you ever visit Netherlands, you plan a trip during March-May and not miss a visit to these gardens.

My parents loved gardening – even in our 2BHK in Mumbai – Papa had made mini gardens in all the rooms by converting some windows to box grills, there were plants within the rooms as well – especially bonsai plants. Roses, hibiscus were housed in those gardens and both took great care of the plants – like they were their children. Even though I’ve not inherited their gardening skills or love, I still enjoy being amongst plants and flowers.  My mumma loves flowers – all types, all colours, she loses herself in them and how I would’ve loved to have her with me among those colourful Tulips I saw at Keukenhof.

Long stretches of tulip blossoms – white, yellow, purple, red, pink – the arrangements in different pavilions in the garden are a sight to see. Some told me the gardens are over-rated but if you love flowers and being amongst them – I think you must plan a visit to this pretty place.

It is well connected to the main stations in Netherlands – Leiden and Schipol with buses every 10 minutes. Owing to spring season it is open till late in the evening – you need atleast 3-4 hours to view the gardens so make sure you get there in time. Also very important to check the weather before planning a trip there. We were lucky we got a bright and sunny day when we visited this April.

Leaving you folks with some snaps to soak in the beauty of  the place

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