The Films of Dibakar Banerjee

For a change, I was there at the start. Before I even knew Dibakar Banerjee’s name, I had heard about his first feature film. In 2006, I was co-programming a Spotlight on India for my film festival. My plan was to program 5 films, one from each corner of the country and then the 5th film was to be set in New Delhi. However, back then it was difficult to find a contemporary Indian film set in New Delhi. The new wave of independent films set in Delhi were a few years away and so were the multiple Bollywood films set exclusively in New Delhi. Through a film critic friend, I was put in touch with a distributor who mentioned an upcoming Indian comedy called Khosla Ka Ghosla (Khosla’s Nest) set in Delhi staring Boman Irani, Anupam Kher. The presence of these 2 stellar actors in a non-Bollywood film was enough to convince me. Of course, back then I didn’t know that film would be the first step in the journey of a director who would turn out to be one of Indian Cinema’s most creative directors and whose rise coincided with the emergence of a new wave of story and character driven Independent films, a world away from the melodramatic song-dance Bollywood films.

After Khosla Ka Ghosla, I treated every new Dibakar Banerjee film as an event. I saw all his films as soon as possible. Yet, somehow I missed his most recent film in 2021. Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar was meant to be released in 2020 but it was delayed like many other films due to the pandemic. The film was eventually released in 2021 but I didn’t hear about it and I even missed the streaming debut near the end of 2021. But, I have finally seen it. This feels like an appropriate time to look back and collect my thoughts on all of Dibakar’s 6 feature films to date.

Note: this does not cover the three short story anthologies he worked on (Bombay Talkies, Lust Stories, Ghost Stories).

Khosla Ka Ghosla! (Khosla’s Nest, 2006)

A perfect movie that truly captures the essence of a Punjabi family living in New Delhi while depicting land/housing issues that plague middle-class Indians in a realistically manner not seen in any previous Indian film. Part of what makes this film so realistic is how it accurately depicts the mannerisms, habits, conversations of everyday Punjabis in Delhi. The complete cast is excellent with Anupam Kher, Ranvir Shorey, Navin Nischol and Boman Irani giving vintage performances. Full credit to Dibakar Banerjee, Jaideep Sahni (who wrote this gem) and the entire cast/crew for bringing this wonder of a film to life.

Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! (2008)

Dikabar’s second feature Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! carries on from the first film in terms of authentically depicting Delhi’s lifestyle. The film mentions that it is inspired by real life events and that feels believable given the scale of robberies depicted in the film.

Oye Lucky!.. is the story of Lucky, a small time crook played by Abhay Deol, who robs for fun and not money.  Eventually, Lucky gets addicted to stealing. When he is bored or can’t fall asleep, he goes on a robbing binge, stealing everything from cars, jewelry, a pet dog or even a stuffed toy. Lucky does not use a gun but simply his confident attitude. In one outrageous example, he walks into a man’s house in broad daylight past the security guard, gets the car key from the house, greets the home owner’s grandmother and orders the security guard to help him keep a tv in the car and drives off, stealing both the car and tv.

The secret to Lucky’s success is his ability to either charm people or emit such confidence that no one can think of him as a robber. Portraying such a confident character is not an easy task but Abhay Deol pulls it off brilliantly and is flawless in his dialogue delivery and body language.

Like his previous film, Dibakar again does justice to little Delhiite details, such as the way instant coffee is made. Only in Delhi homes have I seen coffee made by repeatedly stirring some ground coffee with sugar and a bit of milk until the entire mixture is a whipped up syrupy mixture. The characters in Oye Lucky!.. speak and behave in perfect Delhiite manners, although the film does focus mostly on the Punjabi characters. Plus shooting the film in local Delhi spots adds to the film’s realistic feel.

LSD: Love, Sex Aur Dhokha (Love Sex and Betrayal, 2010)

Three words in the title equate to three interlinked stories about honour killing, a sex tape scandal and a sting operation. Like his previous films, Dibakar takes real life events and fashions them into a story rarely seen in Indian cinema.

The first story related to 'Love' is clearly poking fun at Shah Rukh Khan type romantic Bollywood films but things take a turn into darker territory when the girl’s family does not approve of her relationship with a boy. The middle story around sex features CCTV footage and a store manager’s plan to make fast money by making a sex tape of him with one of his co-workers. 'Betrayal' equates in the third story about a sting operation gone wrong.

The stories are nicely linked and the film’s tone ranges from satire to over the top scenarios and self-referential winks at popular media and Bollywood itself. In this regard, the film is a change from Dibakar’s previous two features.

On another note, LSD is the feature film debut of Rajkummar Rao and one of Nushrat Bharucha’s earlier films.

Shanghai (2012)

Shanghai is a brilliant adaptation of Vassilis Vassilikosis’ Z, a vital novel made into an award winning by Costa-Gavras (1969). The original material is thoroughly immersed in Greek society and politics but seeing Banerjee’s film treatment, it feels like the story is purely Indian. This is due to the similarities that exist between Greece and India in terms of the material: corrupt politicians, an angry mob waiting to always pour their hatred out at whoever they are told to, poverty turning ordinary people into criminals. In addition, the three-wheeler at the center of the Greek story exists in India although in Banerjee’s film, a truck replaces the three-wheeler (often known as an ‘auto’ in Northern India).

Some of the inspired casting enhances the film. Abhay Deol, the brazen robber in Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!, plays a rare honest Indian government official in the film. Emraan Hashmi, who made his name in Bollywood films for kissing his female co-stars, is shown to be completely unkissable in this film. Farooq Shaikh, who rose to fame by playing multiple honest everyday characters in 1980s cinema, plays a corrupt politician hiding in an honest man’s clothing. The rest of the cast is packed with arresting performances delivered with relish by prominent Indian actors/actresses: Prasenjit Chatterjee, Supriya Pathak, Tillotama Shome, Kalki Koechlin, Pitobash.

Note: By this stage, other film festivals and the larger film community had discovered Dibakar. Shanghai played at TIFF.

Detective Byomkesh Bakshy! (2015)

Based on Saradindu Bandopadhyay’s character, Detective Byomkesh Bakshy! is a pulp noir delight. Set in November 1942 Calcutta, the intriguing plot features a shifting political WWII landscape. The British are still in India but talk of independence is firmly in the air. Of course, part of that independence involves various groups jostling for power with their own interests in mind. Therefore, the story features a plot involving an underground Indian revolutionary group, a possible Japanese invasion, a Chinese opium trade gang, a femme fatale, spies and a detective on the case of a missing person. All these different threads are smartly tied together and presented in a dark mystery. Near the end, the darkness gives way to horror with some blood gushing violence that is a far cry from other films of Dibakar Banerjee.

The late Sushant Singh Rajput is lovely as the titular character with his perceptive observations rendered with an innocence that cuts against the worldly ruthlessness of Neeraj Kabi’s character (Dr. Guha). Even though the story features multiple characters, the film ends up being a chess match between Byomkesh and his foe, akin to Sherlock vs Moriarty.

Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar (Sandeep and Pinky have fled, 2021)

Banerjee’s newest film is a wicked delight that balances its dark comedic sequences with some moments of genuine darkness. A police officer, Pinky (Arjun Kapoor), has to drive Sandy (Parineeti Chopra) to a location but both are in the dark about their destination. Pinky is a suspended police officer looking to get back in the force and will do anything to get his job back. As a way to get his job back, Pinky’s boss asks him to pick and drop off Sandy. Pinky doesn’t ask any further questions and goes about his job. However, Pinky is jolted awake when he witnesses police officers assassinate what they mistakenly think is Pinky’s car. Now, realizing that both his and Sandy’s lives are in danger, Pinky and Sandy go on the run. The brazen police assassination makes Pinky question who Sandy is and why someone wants her dead. Initially, Pinky and the audience are led to believe that the reason for Sandy’s killing is related to an office affair gone wrong but as the film progresses, we learn that instead the reason for silencing Sandy is due to a multi-million dollar money fraud scheme.

Events unfold in a realistic manner expected of a Dibakar Banerjee film. The two characters’ behaviour and their actions while on the run are entirely believable given their personalities and backgrounds. The film contains some worthy flourishes including an ending sequence which is not what one would have expected given the film’s start. A dark sequence shown in the film is quite stunning in showcasing the transformation of the characters behaviour and body language. In the scene, an otherwise harmless bank employee discovers Sandy’s real identity. Believing he now has the upper hand, he attempts to sexually assault Sandy. In just one sequence, the film shows the fear that women have to live with in India and in many parts of the world.

Finally, the film’s flipping of the two character’s names adds to the film’s humour: Pinky is traditionally a nickname for a girl while Sandeep is more commonly a male name.

Rough Ranking of Dibakar’s films:

1. Khosla Ka Ghosla
2. Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!
3. Shanghai
4. Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar
5. Detective Byomkesh Bakshy!
6. LSD: Love, Sex Aur Dhokha

Bollywood: 2008 Best Film List

Top 10 films

1) Oye Lucky Lucky Oye (Dibakar Banerjee)

Dibakar Banerjee's second feature is a rare thing -- an intelligent entertaining comedy! Plus Abhay Deol puts in a wicked performance while the little details in good old Delhi are captured perfectly.

2) Rock On (Abhishek Kapoor)

Dreams and friendships are easy to come by in one's youth but as one gets older both start to fade away when the everyday realities of job and money demands attention. Given those sentiments, Abhishek Kapoor does a fine job of capturing the essence of relationships in his second directorial feature [note: correction added. Thanks Nitesh]. Plus the excellent vocals of Farhan Akhtar and the touching performance of Arjun Rampal easily make this one of the best films of the year.

3) Mumbai Meri Jaan (Nishikant Kamat)

A heartwarming film about a few characters trying to deal with the aftermath of the Mumbai train blasts in 2006. The film starts off perfectly when a discussion over Zidane's sending off in the World Cup final turns into a debate about Muslim brotherhood and ends on a tender note with a minute of silence to the tune of Mohammed Rafi & Geeta Dutt's beautiful song yeh hai Bombay meri jaan..

4) Mithya (Rajat Kapoor)

Bollywood's talented gang of 4 (Rajat Kapoor, Saurabh Shukla, Ranvir Shorey & Vinay Pathak) rope in Naseeruddin Shah and Neha Dhupia in this highly creative adaptation of Kurosawa's Kagemusha. A dark descend into Mumbai's underworld and even the human soul.

5) Mukhbiir (Mani Shankar)

An interesting look at three hot beds of terrorism in India (North East, Hyderabad and Mumbai) through the eyes of an informer attempting to break into the gang's inner circle.

6) Welcome to Sajjanpur (Shyam Benegal)

Shyam Benegal's film is a breath of fresh air amid the congested Bollywood films set in the major cities. The films takes the story of a simplistic letter writer in an ordinary village and adds the complicated emotions of jealously yet still manages to render everything with an air of pureness and innocence hardly found in Indian cinema anymore.

7) Chamku (Kabeer Kaushik)

A Bihari revenge tale goes full circle with a stop-over in Mumbai.

8) A. Wednesday (Neeraj Pandey)

A gripping thriller about an innocent man taking revenge for the carnage that inflicted Mumbai in 2006.

9) Dasvidaniya (Shashant Shah)

The gang of 4 (Rajat Kapoor, Saurabh Shukla, Ranvir Shorey & Vinay Pathak) are back with Neha Dhupia. This time around Vinay Pathak gets to play two personas just like Ranvir Shorey did in Mithya. While Mithya was dark, Dasvidaniya is a bright shining light. The story of a man wanting to accomplish a few things before he dies may not be unique but the performances of all the secondary characters are quite strong. Plus the film maintains a pleasant tone throughout.

10) Mere Baap Pehle Aap (Priyadarshan)

A funny film about the role reversal that takes place between parents and their children as the parents age. Plus, the cute smile and expressions of Genelia D’Souza are a pleasure to watch.

Some other memorable moments:

Aamir:Raj Kumar Gupta did an excellent job in adapting the story of Cavite to the Mumbai slums in his debut feature Aamir. A worthy film which raised some excellent observances about 'victims' and 'villains'.

Priyanka Chopra turned in the best female performance of the year in Fashion. Her transformation from a cheery aspiring model to a cold hearted fashion superstar was stellar.

One of the funniest cinematic moments of the year came in the film Dostana, a story about two straight guys (Kunal & Sameer) who pretend to be gay in order to share a Miami apartment. Sameer's mother (Kiron Kher) is shocked to learn that her son is gay but Neha (Priyanka Chopra) tries to comfort the mother by saying that "pyar aandha hota hai" (love is blind). To which the mother hilariously replies that love is not so blind that it can't differentiate between a boy and a girl. The dialogue "love is blind" is one of the most over-used dialogues in Bollywood films so it was refreshing to see how the writers managed to get some more mileage out of this over-used phrase.

And finally a song....

Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na marked the debut of Aamir Khan's nephew Imran Khan. So it was fitting that Imran danced in a video that paid tribute to key aspects from three of his uncle's films over the last two decades. The song Paapu can't dance tipped a hat to the song Papa Kehte Hain from Aamir Khan's debut film Qayamat se Qayamat Tak, highlighted the spoiled rich kids shown in Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander and had the energy of the song Koye Kahe.. from Dil Chahta Hai. The video was infectious, cute and delightful. It was probably the only Bollywood video this year that I could not resist dancing to everytime it came on.

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Overall, it was a pretty good year in Bollywood as there were some outstanding films. Ofcourse, the disasters were much more than previous years forcing me to give zero rating for atleast 5 films and rating below 5/10 for quite a few more. But in order to enjoy the good films, one has to pass through the muddy waters of the awful ones.

Oye second hit film oye!!

Dibakar Banerjee made a stunning feature film debut in 2006 with the wonderful Khosla Ka Ghosla. Khosla.. was a rare cinematic commodity -- an intelligent comedy! No slapstick, no vulgarity and no toilet humor, something most comedies, especially Bollywood flicks, often resort to. And Khosla.. also managed another remarkable feat in capturing the essence of New Delhi perfectly -- accents, behavior of people, attitudes, routines and even the housing scams. New Delhi hardly gets any screen attention in Indian films or even foreign films shot in India, so it was refreshing to see a director and writer (Jaideep Sahni) do justice to the complicated urban jungle that is Delhi.

So after a wonderful debut, could Dibakar’s second feature Oye Lucky Lucky Oye repeat the magic again?

The answer is a firm YES! Oye Lucky Lucky Oye is not only intelligent and funny but it once again captures the lifestyle of Delhi perfectly. The film does contain a tag that it is inspired by real life events and given the story of a small time robber, it is believable that someone could have managed so many burglaries.

Oye Lucky.. is the story of Lucky, a small time crook played by Abhay Deol. Lucky does not rob for money but more for fun.

Eventually, Lucky gets addicted to stealing. When he is bored or can’t fall asleep, he goes on a robbing binge, stealing everything from cars, jewelry to a pet dog or even a stuffed toy. Lucky does not use a gun for stealing but simply his confident attitude. In one outrageous example, he walks into a man’s house in broad daylight past the security guard, gets a car key from the house, greets the home owner’s grandmother and orders the security guard to help him keep a tv in the car and drives off, stealing both the car and tv.

The secret to his success is his ability to either charm people or emit such confidence that no one can think of him as a robber. Portraying such a confident character is not an easy task but Abhay Deol pulls it off brilliantly. Even though Abhay has picked some very interesting Bollywood roles in the past such as in Socha na Tha (his debut feature), Ek Chalis ke Local, Honeymoon Travels & Manorama Six Feet Under, his acting left a bit to be desired. But in Oye Lucky he is flawless in his dialogue delivery and body language.

Dibakar does justice to the little Delhiite details, like the way coffee is made. Only in Delhi homes have I seen coffee made by repeatedly stirring some ground coffee with sugar and a bit of milk until the entire mixture is a whipped up syrupy mixture. The characters in Oye Lucky.. speak and behave in perfect Delhi manners, although the film does focus mostly on the Punjabi characters. Plus shooting the film in local Delhi spots simply adds to the film’s realistic feel.

There are some additional casting decisions that enhance the film’s appeal. For example, Paresh Rawal plays three different un-related characters.

1) He plays Lucky’s father when Lucky is 15 years old.

2) He plays a local thug leader, Gogi, for whom Lucky steals.

3) And finally, he plays an ‘honest’ man, Dr. Handa, who cons Lucky out of money, albeit in a loving manner.

Rawal is wonderful in all three roles and using him in two additional roles is appropriate because both Gogi and Dr. Handa form a fatherly figure for Lucky. While Lucky rebelled against his real father, he forms a good bond with Gogi before eventually turning against him. Lucky is so taken by Dr. Handa that he ignores the fact that Handa and his wife (Archana Puran Singh at her best) are clearly extracting money from him. In the end, he is betrayed by Handa and the fatherly figure that he liked most turns out to be the most ruthless.

Then there is Lucky’s love interest, Sonal (Neetu Chandra). She is exactly the kind of everyday girl that one could find in any Delhi street and her casting is just icing on the cake.

And similar to his first film Khosla, Dibakar uses a very catchy Punjabi number (the title song) as a background score.

Overall, very impressed with this film. Enjoyed every minute of it and didn’t want it to end. Easily one of the best films to have come out of Bollywood in 2008.

Rating: 10/10

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Official Film website

Asian flavours kick off 2007

There is something to be said for continuity. A trip to Asia marked the end of 2006 and the final film I saw as the year ended was the Korean flick The Host on Dec 31. So it shouldn't be a surprise that 3 Asian films were the first movies I saw this year. Of the three, one was a film that I wanted to see for more than 6 months, a second was a movie that I had heard about but was not eager to see and the third was a repeat viewing of a personal favourite from last year.

Invisible Waves (directed by Pen-Ek Ratanaruang): Rating 8.5/10

I had wanted to get this film for CIFF last year and attempted to get it for our upcoming Pan-Asian film festival this year but the producers never replied to our queries. So I was delighted to finally get a chance to see this film as it was released on DVD.

In the end, it is a worthy watch. Ofcourse, since Christopher Doyle shot the film, there were was never a question about the film's visual beauty. Just like Pen-Ek's previous film, Last Life in the Universe, Doyle has perfectly chosen an appropriate palette to match the story's somber mood. The story is that of revenge & murder yet the peaceful mood projected by the film makes one forget that. On that of that, Pen-Ek has ensured the film has no un-neccesary extras or dialogues. The only people one sees on screen are meant to be there. Streets, bars and ships are empty, devoid of any life whatsoever. As a result, we can spend our time focusing on only the characters on hand and drawing our own conclusions.

The main character, a chef (played by Asano Tadanobu), commits a murder hoping that is his ticket to freedom. However, a murder is never that easy. Especially, when the chef has made the mistake of shattering the invisible yet firm boundaries of trust and loyalty. After the chef has committed the murder, his boss, who had hired him for the kill, asks the chef to leave Macau for Phuket. But trouble follows the Chef onto the ship and eventually in Phuket. How the chef evades trouble and returns back for revenge forms the final hour of the story.

The peaceful background score and the earthy visual colors give the film a very dreamy feel. Even though the film drags on near the end, if one is sucked in by the leisurely mood, one won't notice the time ticking away. But if is not enchanted by the film's look, then the last 30 minutes might feel like the work of an over-indulgent self-absorbed director. Either way, there is something to be said for the style that Pen-Ek brings to his films and how Christopher Doyle perfectly manages to give the visual look to accomplish Pen-Ek's vision.

Just like in his previous film, Pen-Ek has chosen the Japanese actor Asano for the lead character. Asano is a worthy choice as the chef (Kyoji) because he only shows the barest emotion required of his character. Kyoji is calm before the murder, while he is having an affair, after the brutal killing and unfazed despite being mugged and beaten up in Phuket. All the characters fit with the film's framework. There is a tiny but interesting cameo for Eric Tsang who normally is found in Hong Kong gangster movies. In the end, while I liked this film, I am still not fully convinced this is a great work. It is certainly good but the deliberate omission of extra characters and background noise makes one feel that they are watching a very controlled film.

Exiled (directed by Johnny To): Rating 7.5/10

Macau. Two gangsters knock on a door. A woman opens the door. The men are looking for Wo. The woman informs them that no one by that name lives there and closes the door. A few minutes later, two more gangsters arrive asking the same question. Once again, the woman slams the door and the men leave. These two men run into the other two men waiting half a block down. They all know each other and not surprised to find themselves at this location. The woman looks nervously from her window while taking care of her baby. A few moments later, a truck packed with furniture appears. The driver is none other than Wo, who sees the four men but continues to drive on. He opens the door to his apartment, followed by one man from each of the pair. The three go upstairs. The apartment is mostly empty but Wo bends down to open the bottom drawer of a cupboard and takes out a gun. He starts to fill in the six bullets. The two men empty out 6 bullets from their multi-cartridge weapon so that they are all on level terms with 6 bullets each. Then the three face off, pointing the gun towards each other (the scene is inspired no doubt from Reservoir Dogs). A moment passes by, the wind blows through the apartment and then poetically, the bullets start flying. After the firing had ended, Wo’s wife enters telling Wo that the baby needs food. Wo looks towards the other two and asks if they can sit down and talk. But one of the men says that there is no furniture. The next few scenes can only take place in a Johnny To movie. The five men (Wo + the 4 gangsters) empty all the furniture from the truck, fix the place up, cook fresh food and all sit down together to have dinner.

It turns out all the men know each other -- two men were sent to kill Wo because he had tried to knock off the big boss and two other came to inform Wo out of loyalty. Eventually, the five men sit down and chat regarding Wo’s future. The next morning, the five go off in search of a final job. The rest of the movie is as stylish as most Johnny To films but unlike the Election series, these movies contain a bit of dry humor like that present in To’s P.T.U film. With a lot of the actors being the same from those movies, at times the movie feels like similarly covered ground. What sets this apart from past To films is the choice of Macau and the two stylish gun shoot out scenes, the second one being near the end. For kicks, a Red Bull can is tossed in the air while on the ground, the bullets fly. I have not seen the original Mission film which might have been a prequel for this film as it contained the same actors. If I had not seen enough Johnny To movies in the past, I might have liked this film more.

Khoshla Ka Ghosla (directed by Dibakar Banerjee): Rating 10/10

Very rarely do I see a movie more than once but I had see Khosla Ka Ghosla again, a film I consider as one of the best films of 2006. I had helped book this film for CIFF last year just on instinct that it might be a good movie given the star cast of Boman Irani and Anupam Kher. I barely knew the story and there were no reviews of the film as no one had seen it. The movie was to be released in India on September 22 and it showed at our festival on Monday, Sept 25. The word from India was very good on the opening weekend and that helped ease my worries. Still, I walked nervously into the theatre on Monday evening. I was still nervous during the film’s opening 15 minutes but gradually I eased into the film, got comfortable and duly loved the film.

But on this second viewing, I was able to give this film my undivided attention. And I loved the film even more. It is a perfect movie from all accounts. Not only is the story shockingly realistic, the dialogues are very true of a Punjabi family living in Delhi. One has to listen carefully to how the dialogues are delivered (the tone) and pay attention to the little expressions and acts of fidgeting that signify a character’s mental state (example: Anupam Kher’s discomfort at bringing home a bottle of alcohol). I can’t think of a finer North Indian movie that I have seen in the last decade than this one. The complete cast is excellent with Anupam Kher, Ranvir Shorey, Navin Nischol and Boman Irani giving vintage performances. Even though I have singled out these few actors, the entire ensemble cast & crew deserves credit for giving this story life (Jaideep Sahni wrote this gem).

Despite this movie’s virtues, I still can’t help but ask the question: who will watch this movie? Most Indians used to Bollywood song and dance films probably skipped this comedy as there are no songs, no melodrama (Even though, the soundtrack contains a very lively pulsating Punjabi dance number). And will this movie get distribution so non-Indians can get a chance to see this? I just hope that word gets out and people try to watch this film. The positive thing is a lot of the people I talked with in India last month loved it. I just hope more such Indian movies are made and get wider distribution. Along with Being Cyrus, Khosla Ka Ghosla is proof that good Indian movies can be made within a branch of the nonsense studio system with Bollywood actors. Both these worthy films were released in 2006 and both were works by first time directors. Boman Irani was the one common actor in both films and along with his performance in Lago Raho Munnabhai cemented his status as one of the best Indian actors working in the film industry today.

Best Films of 2006

It was a thoroughly satisfying personal film viewing year. I had more chances to watch festival films than previous years, while at the same time conducting personal film festivals (World Cup Film festival in the summer) or having theme festivals gifted to me (January 2006’s a tribute to Jean Cocteau and a Soccer Film festival for my birthday). In the last 10 years, I made the least trips to a multiplex this year and stayed away from quite a few hyped up Hollywood titles.

I can’t claim to pick an objective top ten as that is just impossible. So I compiled a short-list of all the movies that I loved watching this past year, from which I picked ten out. Overall, it was a truly rich year for movies and the diversity of the films is reflected in the choices. Just a note on the film selections: I only selected movies that I saw in 2006 because they were either released in the theatre this year (commercially or at a film festival) or released on DVD in 2006. Some movies in this list were released in film festivals last year but never made it out to Canada or to my city. Likewise, my favourite film of 2005 was a movie that was Brazil’s official entry to the Oscars in 2006 -- Cinema, Aspirins and Vultures was the finest film I had seen in 2005 thanks to the London Film Festival. However, that film won’t be out in most North American theatres until early 2007. Also, I separated the docs from the features. Each film title is followed by country name and director name in the bracket. So without further delay, here is the list:

Top Ten films of 2006 (in order of preference) :

1) The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (Romania, Cristi Puiu)
2) Dosar (India, Rituparno Ghosh)
3) El Violín (Mexico, Francisco Vargas Quevedo)
4) Tzameti (France/Georgia, Géla Babluani)
5) The Bet Collector (Philippines, Jeffrey Jeturian)
6) Khosla Ka Ghosla (India, Dibakar Banerjee)
7) The Descent (UK, Neil Marshall)
8) The Lives of Others (Germany, Florian Henckel Von Donnersmarck)
9) Election 2 (Hong Kong, Johnny To)
10) Sympathy for Lady Vengeance (South Korea, Park Chan-wook)

Remaining short-listed films (in no particular order):
Being Cyrus (India, Homi Adajania), Paradise Now (Palestine, Hany Abu-Assad), Still Life (China, Jia Zhangke), The King and the Clown (South Korea, Lee Jun-Ik), La Moustache (France, Emmanuel Carrère), A Scanner Darkly (USA, Richard Linklater), A Prairie Home Companion (USA, Robert Altman), Requiem (Germany, Hans-Christian Schmid), The Host (Korea, Bong Joon-ho)

Note on Jan 2: I forgot that Three Times (Taiwan, Hsiao-hsien Hou) should also be added to this year's short-list. I incorrectly thought that I had seen this film last year.

Top Docs of the year (in order of choice):

1) Iraq in Fragments (USA/Iraq, James Longley)
2) Bombay Calling (Canada, Ben Addelman, Samir Mallal)
3) Riding Solo to the Top of the World (India, Gaurav Jani)
4) Mystic Ball (Canada, Greg Hamilton)
5) Mo & Me (Kenya, Roger Mills)
6) The Trials of Darryl Hunt (USA, Ricki Stern & Anne Sundberg)

Festival notes: A tale of two Black and White Masterpieces

10 days of CIFF have just wrapped up. An exhausting 10 days where I managed to squeeze in 22 movies! Now I have a few days to rest before I head off for an exciting weekend at VIFF to watch some more enticing titles. There were some interesting flicks at CIFF that deserve longer write-ups. But in the meantime, here’s a quick summary of the titles: (*** donates my fav's)

Day One: Friday, Sept 22

Posdata (North American premier, Director Rafael Escola): Rating 6.5/10

A train breaks down and the strangers within the compartment are made to confront their fears/desires as they pass away the time. However, there is a passenger on the train who seems to know more than he should about the others. Clues are given as to this person’s identity and after a while, it is obvious who this person really is. This would have been better as a short film and feels labored at 94 minutes.

Lunacy (Director Jan Svankmajer): Rating 8/10

The midnight showing of this Czech movie was an interesting event! We were warned before hand that there was plenty of “animated meat” in the movie, and sure enough, there really was. The idea of using meat pieces to symbolize the humans trapped in the madness of this world was a great idea but it does get tiring after a while. Nonetheless, this crazy movie is a weird watch but in the end, it makes sense, despite the constant lunacy. Beneath all the layers of sex, religion, meat, the story is a simple experiment in what is the best method to run a mental asylum – whether the patients should be left free or they should be tortured and controlled?

Day Two: Saturday, Sept 23

Mo & Me (Director Roger Mills): Rating 10/10 ***

Salim Amin has made this wonderful touching documentary about his father Mohamed Amin’s interesting life! The movie is perfectly balanced with Salim’s personal family story along with Mo’s struggle to bring the true pictures of Africa to the world. Salim was in attendance
and I ended up having an interesting chat with him about soccer (as it happens we support opposing teams :), middle east and politics.

Blessed with Fire (Iluminados por el fuego, Director Tristán Bauer): Rating 6/10

An Argentine movie about the horrors that the Falklands War left on certain soldiers. The film covers  familiar ground although to its credit, it does deal with the impacts of post-war trauma on people. Unfortunately, the movie never goes deeper than the surface.

Requiem (German film, Director Hans-Christian Schmid): Rating 9/10 ***

Requiem is an amazing movie which served as the original basis for the ..Emily Rose film. What makes this movie worth watching is that the audience is left to figure out for themselves whether the main character is possessed by the devil or not. The tight cinematography enables the audience to be up close with the characters while trying to decipher the situation for themselves.

Day Three: Sunday, Sept 24

The Fight for True Farming (Pas De Pays Sans Paysans, Director Eve Lamont): Rating 8/10

Following the footsteps of last year’s amazing doc The Future of Food comes this interesting film about how our food sources are being corrupted by globalization and corporations. And this is the 3rd documentary in the last 3 years which once again lists the same corporation (Monsato) as the bad guy. Will the corporations win out in the end and force us to eat junk all the time? Or will we be able to return to the pure agricultural ways that ancestors used to before the chemical companies started taking over?

Citizen Duane (Director Michael Mabbott): Rating 7.5/10

A light hearted Canadian high school film about one student’s quest to become town mayor! This was a refreshing movie in the middle of a film festival and will surely get commercial release in Canadian theatres.

Day Four: Monday, Sept 25

Khosla Ka Ghosla (Director Dibakar Banerjee): Rating 10/10 ***

A wonderful Indian comedy about land disputes which anyone living in India can relate to. Anupam Kher, Boman Irani and Ranvir Shorey are just amazing.

The Guatemalan Handshake (Director Todd Rohal)

Right after a wonderful comedy like Khosla.. I had to sit through this offbeat American indie comedy. More people attended this film than Khosla.. and the audience was divided on the final verdict – some liked the originality and others were not too fond of it. The movie had some original scenarios and characters but the quirky characters and non-linear narratives feel forced and don't mesh completely within the film's well shot framework.

Day Five: Tuesday, Sept 26

Monkey Warfare (Director Reginald Harkema): Rating 9/10 ***

A delightful Canadian film about two ex-revolutionaries! Any movie with Don McKellar is an interesting flick and this one is no exception. McKellar is perfect in this movie. A simple story which manages to combine the past exploits of 60’s and 70’s revolutionaries with modern day youth looking to start Fight Club like movements.

La Moustache (Director Emmanuel Carrère): Rating 9.5/10 ***

A man shaves off his moustache but his wife, friends and co-workers don’t even notice the change. In fact, they believe that he never had a moustache in the first place! That sets him off on a journey where he starts unraveling his life and finds some interesting revelations. I loved this movie. It demands a longer write-up on my part which I will do once I am done all the festival screenings.

Day Six: Wednesday, Sept 27

Dosar (Directed by Rituparno Ghosh): Rating 10/10 ***

Konkana Sen Sharma put in another stellar performance and gave Penélope Cruz (Volver) a fine run for one of the best female acted roles from this year's festival selections. On top of that, Konkana's face was the object of the camera's affection unlike in Penélope's case where the camera gazed elsewhere at times.

Day Seven: Thursday, Sept 28

Radiant City (Directors Jim Brown, Gary Burns)

Nicely covers one of the hottest topics in North America: suburban sprawl. There is a fascinating twist in this film which blurs the line between reality and fiction. In the Q&A after the film, both directors mentioned that this film should get people talking, which hopefully happens. Cinematographer Patrick McLaughlin has done an excellent job in making Calgary look so good on screen.

El Violín (Director Francisco Vargas Quevedo): Rating 10/10 ***

Pure beauty! Just like Dosar, this was another example of vintage black and white cinema. This movie also deserves a longer write-up which I will do so in the upcoming weeks.

Day Eight: Friday, Sept 29

A jam-packed day where I attended 4 screenings – two docs and 2 American Indies!

Conquistadors of Cuba (Director Arto Halonen): Rating 7.5/10

An interesting movie about cars and revolution! Back in the 60’s, big American cars were the rage in Cuba. Everyone either owned one or dreamed of owning one. Now in the present time, these big American cars are even more valuable -- the cars are collectibles because of the original owners, be it a dictator (Batista) or a revolutionary (Che). And because of the embargo with America, it is impossible to maintain this cars as the parts are not available. Maximiliano is the only person in Cuba who can fix Che’s car. The fact that he is going blind does not stop him for attempting to preserve a piece of Cuban history as he attempts to restore Che’s car. In between clips of Maximiliano’s life are gorgeous shots of Cuba, archived newsclips and excerpts from an automobile tv show which helps trace all the owners of these collectible cars.

The journey of Vaan Nguyen (Director Duki Dror): Rating 8/10

Here’s a story you don’t hear often – second generation Vietnamese people growing up in Israel! As it turns out, an influx of Vietnamese left their war torn country in the 70’s to take life up in Israel (a war free country, of course). Some continued to live in Israel but others opted to return back. But what about the newborn Vietnamese kids who grew up in Israel? Are they considered Israeli or Vietnamese? These kids face the same problems as other second generation non-white kids growing up in ‘white’ western countries. In the case of this doc, Vaan is the Israeli born girl in question. She speaks Hebrew and has no connection with Vietnam. But she has to examine her identity as her parents attempt to return back home. Ofcourse, the land her parents left behind has being taken over by others and as a result, her parents have no real roots left in their homeland. This is an interesting doc which takes up the common question of identity that ‘white’ western nations seem to force on other non-white immigrants who migrate to lands once not owned by so ‘white’ people.

Mojave Phone Booth (Director John Putch): Rating 7/10

4 short stories intertwined around the real life case of a phone booth in the middle of the Mojave desert. Three of the stories were interesting but the fourth one was dull yet it was required to tie everything else together.

Mutual Appreciation (Director Andrew Bujalski): Rating 8/10

One of those purely independent movies which are either loved by people or simply loathed. I saw plenty of walk-outs during this film which was a shame. You just have to be in the right mood to watch three twenty something friends discuss their lives, career and their desires. Oh this indie is shot in black and white as well.

Day Nine: Friday, Sept 30

Iraq in Fragments (Director James Longley): Rating 9/10 ***

Iraq really is in fragments. It always was. But don’t tell that to the invading occupying forces. They won’t listen, they won’t stand for it. They like to believe they made things better. What I personally feared three years ago is becoming very true now as the Sunni’s and Shia’s exert their own voices. And what about the Kurds? This beautifully shot doc has three parts – the first is a street life story about a Sunni kid, the second is set in Sadr city and the third is a peaceful journey in the northern Kurdish region. The middle section is the most interesting and also the fastest in terms of pace. In fact, the beautiful footage from the Sadr city segment could be easily slotted into a Ram Gopal Verma film or other mafia gangster flicks. Expertly edited and superbly shot (albeit using filtered lens), this was one of the better docs I have on Iraq (or anywhere for that matter).

Mystic Ball (Director Greg Hamilton): Rating 10/10 ***

From one great doc to another! Mystic Ball is a must see simple film about Greg Hamilton’s love of chinlone, the national sport of Myanmar (Burma). Mr. Greg (as he is called in the movie) finds peace and happiness in this simple sport, which unlike other sports is not competitive. This is just a wonderful film that has to be seen by everyone, especially soccer players like Ronaldinho and Henry, who have performed similar skills shown in the movie on a lesser scale. The cinematography is just amazing as the camera footage of the chinlone tournaments is captured superbly.

The Elementary Particles (Director Oskar Roehler): Rating 7.5/10

Two Half-brothers who are completely different go their own voyage of self-discovery! Technically, there is nothing wrong with the movie. But there is nothing that great shown in the movie.

Day Ten: Sunday, Oct 1

The 4th Dimension (Directors Tom Mattera, Dave Mazzoni)

Despite the slick Black and White shots, the film ends up being disappointing. Especially since many aspects appear to be borrowed from Pi, such as the quick cut repeated scenes which show the main character washing his hands a few times. In Pi the quick cut repeated scenes had the main character opening a cupboard, taking his pills, etc.

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Overall there were some very interesting movies that were shown in this year's festival. And for the first time, I crossed over 20 movies watched over the 10 day festival. The two masterpieces in the title refer to two black and white movies, Dosar from India and El Violín from Mexico. Vintage Cinema really!!!