Movie Review: Luck

Posted on July 24, 2009 by Kishor

It is a business of betting. A group of lucky people are who in dire need of money are randomly selected by a betting syndicate based in South Africa. They are promised loads of money in different levels of the betting game. Like it happens always, this betting syndicate is run by a baddie in the form of Moussa (Sanjay Dutt) who has been super lucky all his life. His ‘recruitment drive’ for lucky people from India or sub-continent is looked after by Tamang (Danny Dengzongpa) who has the wily knack of tracking people who can be used to mint millions using their luck factor. There is a banker (Imran Khan), a serial killer (Ravi Kishen), a major (Mithun Chakraborty), a camel jockey (Chitrashi Rawat of ‘Chak De’ fame) among many others who make it to the ‘betting World Cup’ in South Africa.

The group lands in South Africa only to find the game getting deadly by the day (they kill each other in the first round). Then there is Shruti Haasan in the gang. She is psyched by Ravi Kishen while Imran Khan tries to woo her. As the betting game gets deadlier, the plot gets out of hand, and ends on a pathetic note — hero and heroine triumph against toughest of odds.

The whole movie lacks script or a direction. It is like a rich producer has given loads of cash to the director and asked him to do whatever he wants. Beats me how in 2009 Bollywood can make such crappy movies. The only saving grace of the movie is Danny who does justice to his role. Ageing Sanjay Dutt appears in bits and pieces, and it is almost like he is attending court hearings once in a while. He is neither menacing, not convincing.

Imran Khan again disappoints with his acting. He is yet to get over ‘Kidnap’ hangover. Debutant Shruti Haasan’s major task is limited to skin show and no much scope to judge her acting skills. Mithun overacts and is too loud at times.

With second half of the movie mostly shot in South Africa, it looks like ‘Luck’ was partly sponsored by the tourism department of South Africa. In a scene where the camel race is shown somewhere in Pakistan, the flag of Pakistan is all green with no sign of the white patch. Blunder is not the word. The girl camel jockey is referred to as poor, but is wearing hep and trendy clothes.

I do believe I ran out of luck yesterday to watch this pathetic movie. Even fully faltoo movies like ‘Golmaal Returns’ and ‘Welcome’ had some entertainment value, but not this. There is a general feeling that Bollywood is coming up with thought provoking and non-formula movies these days. But, ‘Luck’ is one more black mark in that direction.

‘Luck‘, what the f**k.

Out of the frying pan into the pyre

Posted on July 23, 2009 by Kishor

Always I used to think why low-paid workers from India opt to work in Oman for low salaries. Low salaries are just one part. To get a two-year visa, they shell out RO 500 (INR 60,000) to agents back home. RO 500 doesn’t come easily; they pledge their belongings in the dream of a better tomorrow.

Two experiences in the last one week sort of kept crossing my head. While returning from vacation, two men from Hyderabad were seated next to me in the plane. They sought my help to fill the H1N1 forms, and in the process I struck a conversation with them. Both were joining a construction company in Muscat and they were to handle road construction work. “What is your salary per month?” I asked. “100 rials,” they said.

The men narrated how they took a loan of INR 50,000 each to bag the two-year work visas. “How much would you be able to save in 100 rials?” I asked them. They said, “40-50 rials.” “Can’t you earn the same amount in Hyderabad?” I asked. “We earn around INR 100-150 (1 rial) per day, but at the end of the day we spend most of the money on booze,” one of them said. “Running a family is a difficult task back home,” they quipped. In the same breath they said 100 rials don’t come cheap in Muscat. They are made to slog from 6am to 6pm with a short break in between. I was just thinking how much they will be able to save to repay the loan plus take care of their families back home. I tried, but numbers weren’t looking good.

Yesterday, I went to my regular barber in Ruwi, and the guy poured his heart out to me. He said he gets a salary of 65 rials per month, and he has to take care of all the expenses minus the housing. He gets around 70 rials per month as tips from customers, and he said that is what keeps him going. “In 65 rials, I have to take care of my expenses and also make sure to send money to my wife and kids back home,” he said. “If not for the tips amount, I would have returned long back,” the barber said. The Indian guy, who is the owner of that barber shop, and many other shops, is eyeing the tips money now, he quipped in a sad tone. Hearing his sob story, I gave him more than the normal tips money, and slowly walked away.

On my way back, I was wondering who was better placed among the two – the construction worker or the barber. Came to a conclusion that the construction worker’s life is hell – he neither gets tips, nor works in the comfort of an air-conditioner.