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Hyderabad Blues Reviews

Dil Pe Mat Le Yaar, ... Haath Mein Le ......!!!
May 29, 2006 12:51 AM11225 Views

Year : 1998, A movie by an unknown director, Language : Hinglish - More English than Hindi, somehow found distributers in Mumbai, and was released with limited prints, the movie was a techincal disappoinent of a lifetime, be it ameturish cinematography, or floppy editing, or just about average performance. An Ok kind of Direction, and no songs to add to trouble...


The budget less than 2 million desi bucks, thats like what bills the signing amount of a A grade bollywood actor.


The film was Shot in 17 days, thats like time required to stage a decent Stage Play


What can be the faith of the Movie..?


How about a golden jublee ?


Surprise, Surprise... but the fact remains that despite e’thing looking against it, the debutent Director, who has no real knowledge of film making (which is evident from the way movie was executed) , managed to find an audience , and the film went on becoming a cult movie, and started a new trend of film making altogether...


Varun, an NRI, has returned back home after 12 years and finds himself an alien @ indian culture. For his parents and friends , he’s the most eligible batchler in the Town, and like a good son to his parents, he’s expected to do an arranged marrige. The romantic comedy starts off when he meets a young lady doctor who snubs him every time. So he falls in love and woos her. The lady, on the other hand is prejudicised about the NRI coming from the US of A and is not ready to be impressed by the philosophies of an ’American Pseude’. The guy, on the other hand is not able to u’stand, what is that made lady angry, when he tries to kiss her , which he belives, all good lovers do..


For the lady, indian traditions are topmost, and anything like kissing is a big no no before the relation is stamped. For the guy, stamping is premature before testing :-)


So this humour filled tempo follows throughout the movie, with the girl slowly u’standing his thinking and the guy gradually realising the indian in him. ’Thora Thora ’ adjustment from both sides and alls well that ends well ? hehehe, not really, the climax of the movie is yet another let down, which, looks despirate to continue the humorus tempo of the movie, but falls flat miserably...


The casting is good and natural, comprising of little known amateurs. Vikram Inamdar who plays Varun’s friend comes out brilliantly as a chauvinist, standing for all that is reactionary in the film in particular and India in general. His battles with Varun provide for good dialogue.


The high point of the movie was its content, its presentation and its no so famaily friendly dialoges. ’’Dil pe mat le yaar, haath mein le’, ’Just jump and Pump’, and more honest single liners were so often used in the movie, and the youth idetified with them. It was the first time that the young audience saw themselves talking on screen and that worked. They identified with the middle class treatment and with the generation gap conflict, which was presented humourously in the movie.


Also, film hit the right chords among the audience, since almost very urban indian knew a thing or two about somebody who has been to the U.S of A ... the American return confused Indian was a well understood concept.


The director, Nagesh Kukkunor, went on becoming the most promising signature in so called ’parallel cinema’ , a genre with a hinglish lang, not to expensive sets, no big star cast, no big banners, no nothing, .... just a good , gripping story to narrate, and to do it effectively....


Of confused minds and alien cultures!!
Feb 11, 2004 03:48 PM5132 Views

Home!! That place in world where Man feels the most comfortable, that place with which he identifies himself and his surroundings with.. And homecoming, that very relaxing and emotional ritual, that sense of memories rushing in.. It has happened to all of us, at some point of time or the other..


And that is exactly was transpires with the chief protagonist of Hyderabad Blues, Varun(Nagesh Kukunoor). Coming back home to hometown Hyderabad after twelve long years in the US, where he is employed with pesticide(?!!?).. umm sorry Coca-cola.. As soon as he lands in India, he is hit by the unchanged environment prevalent in his city, before he had left.


Back home, he is greeted by the typical family reunion, wherein masses of relatives you never even knew existed gossip about the factualities and actualities of the visit, discuss the contents of the over-laden US returned bag, compare the gold content of the jewels displayed by the far-off aunties, admire the intricate embroidery of the Kancheevaram saree, do everything but let you live in peace. Same is the case with Varun.


Varun's dad is the normal practical Indian father, thinking but at the same time orthodox, strict but lax, coaxing but providing leeways about, while Varun's mother is the typical Indian mother, who is concerned about the foreign food, about the eating habits, about the coming to marriageable age of the son, about the complete disdain shown to the Indian cultures shown by the son. Along with these typical characters, Varun also has two typical friends, Sanjeev and Harish. The former is on the threshold of matrimony while the latter has already taken the plunge.


Varun finds it difficult that his buddies are willing to marry someone whom they have never met before, someone they don't know anything about. Though these are cultures that have been around for centuries in India, Varun had not thought about them or questioned them, until he saw the completely different American culture, which allows one to be oneself, which does not have complex traditions, traditions that have no answers, that cannot and should not be questioned. Facing immense pressure from home to find a homely and cooking-ready bride from the same region, same religion and same sub-caste and creed, he finally agrees to accompany Sanjeev in the latter's quest for his life-companion, so that he can get a feel about what marriages happen in India.


During one such visit, Varun meets Ashwini. She is the best friend of the homely-girl, whom Sanjeev had come to see. She serves them tea and catched Varun's eye. Sanjeev decides(?!?) to marry this girl and coaxes Varun to get himself introduced to Ashwini. During the marriage as well, Ashwini serves Varun tea when he finally manages to get started on his get-to-know-you ritual.


Ashwini hates anything remotely American. She hates the foreign returned accent, hates the know everything attitude, hates the super-sophisticated aura, hates the I am-superior-to-you feelings, hates Varun. The remnant of the movie deals with how Varun manages to come to terms with the culture shock he faced, how he tries to woo Ashwini, how he seeks his identity...


Hyderabad Blues, released in 1998 during the IT boom time, probably heralded the coming of the multiplex-movies and the hatke plots. Made on a shoe-string budget, it proved that big star casts and multi-crore budgets do not a movie make. With most of the work outsourced (pun intended :-)) to family members and released at low costs to select centres, the movie made it big.


The confusion experienced by Varun is depicted very well, so are the situations he finds himself in. The movie does not try to demean India or her cultures, what is depicted is plain, simple facts.


India, undoubtedly, is the only place in the world where cattle can cause a traffic jam in city rush hours, where your cousin's uncle's daughter's brother-in-law would qualify as a close relative, where Rs.101/- would count as a round figure as an offering to God, where a non-existent police commissioner uncle would allow you to break laws, where prayers are shouted by one so that his/her prayers are heard first by God. Yes, India is all that. But India is also the only place where humility is an equivalent of beauty, where festivals exist for every occasion, where all are happy even if they are not the most well to do, where food tastes the best, where Mother Nature showered her choicest blessings. India defines me, defines the way I act, the way I think, the way I emote. India is in my heart, always was and will be.


Hyderabad Blues is very natural in that nothing seems unbelievable.. Excepting the ending, which was a literal showdown and let-down, almost a hurried ending, the movie is very well made... The conversations between Varun and his friends are filled with the typical expletives and crass gestures, the indifference Ashwini feels towards Varun initially is completely justified by her ideas and the slow acceptance by Varun of the Indian cultures.. Very humourous and ver real, Hyderabad Blues spun off a range of desi movies like Dollar dreams, American Desi, but none of those could quite ride the tidal wave that this movie able to ride.


Brooke Shields, Kalyani et al !!
Aug 19, 2003 11:59 AM5605 Views

Varun (Nagesh Kukunoor) returns home after a 12 year stint in US of A, studying and now employed in Coke. He wants this trip to be a respite from the heavy working schedule and rat race that he is facing in his life.


When he arrives in Hyderabad, he is really excited to meet his Nothing-to-beat-Indian-values father and eat-or-you-will-shrink mother and two childhood friends, Harish and Sanjeev. Soon he realizes that he has changed a lot and can't accept many traditions and rituals which others follow blindly. He finds himself facing a culture shock in reverse - unable to understand any more what he had taken for granted earlier. His parents and a worth mentioning Shashi Aunty ;-) want him to get married before he returns to his job, but he won't take any of it.


He finally agrees to join Sanjeev on his hunt for the homely bride (A euphemism for arranged marriage..;-)) and encounters the would-you-like-some-tea Ashwini (Rajshri Nair). She is a self-made doctor who has preconceived notions about anything even remotely American!! Varun is finally able to convince her for a cup of coffee and then the story moves on. He wants to know her better before committing himself which is not taken in the right spirit by his friends and Ashwini. To top it all, their parents are against this alliance as the two belong to different castes. After some humorous and thought-provoking situations, they decide to go ahead.


Hyderabad Blues is the debut of filmmaker Nagesh Kukunoor (also wrote and produced the movie), and was shot in 17 days on a low budget of 2 million rupees, in of course, Hyderabad. (Ack: IMDb)


The movie is a touching, often very funny comedy-drama, where the writer-director-star compares Indian and Western cultures. The movie has very natural performances and dialogue, and is a unique treat for anyone who likes good entertainment. Ultimately, the well-told story and characters are it's strongest assets! The generation gap is most brilliantly portrayed, including how the elders take the youth on a guilt trip to get them to buy-in to their designs.


Some of the scenes where the elders talk about BMW and dowry and the beer-guzzling sessions of the three friends are hilarious.. without anyone purposely acting as comedian to evoke laughs.


The ending is a bit of a dampener..it goes too fast..tries to be funny but not in the subtle way the rest of the movie is. Let's blame it on the running out of an already low budget.


And don't let that discourage you...this movie leaves the others in the same category (American Desi, Bollywood Hollywood etc etc) far far behind.


A must watch!!


Ohhh...in case you are wondering what in the is the title abt......well....Varun is obsessed with a Brooke Shields poster in his old room (Has helped him pass many a boring nights..;-)) ..while his mom goes into fits when she see the poster. And Kalyani is the world famous beer (ok..ok..Atleast it Rulez in India..;-))


Don't forget to RRC the review.;-))


Adieu!


Nitin


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