So I saw it last weekend or so and and still not sure what to make of it. I think I can conclude I thought it was an extremely well directed but not well scripted movie.
It was a very conflicted movie about conflicted people. The basic premise follows Jhumpa Lahiris book about an immigrant bengali family who make the move in the 50's from Kolkatta to New York. They give birth to two children, and Ashoke decides to name his first child -his son, Gogol because of an emotional attachment to the name and author. Gogol struggles against his own identity for a long time before embarking on a slow journey towards self-discovery, which forms the premise of the film. It isnt so much a movie as a series of episodes cut-and-pasted together like stringing together disconnected memories from a photo album. While this tactic probably works well with people who revere the book, it seems disjointed to those who either havent read the book or like me werent overly attached to the book.
But what bring about those sparks of brilliance are two of India's most amazing and most undervalued actors..Irfan and Tabu. I can safely say I'm a fan of both, but this movie was entirely theirs from start to finish. Their chemistry is amazing, their scenes together are so heartwarming, and Irfan takes you through his entire journey of emotions with such ease that when tragedy strikes we feel the loss as much as his family members. There were moments of sheer brilliance and then moments when you just zone out because whats going on on screen doesnt really excite your attention. All the scenes about Gogol's love life and college life are insipid and completely lacking in depth, In fact a majority of the scenes involving Gogol not involving his family could easily have been in some cheesy tween chick flick, and didnt belong in this sensitive portrayal of the immigrant condition, of families and of dealing with loss. I could see why Mira was showing these scenes, the movie was supposed to be showing us the development and progression of Gogol's character, but it just doesnt work. As far as direction goes, I think this is Mira's finest work (though I would say Monsoon wedding is her finest film). If only she had resisted the commercial urge and gotten rid of the redundant flashbacks. I dont understand why directors feel the need to resort to such gimmicks? I mean surely mira realises her movie catered to a niche audience and not the regular pop corn crowd? sigh, anyways. I really loved the way she interplayed scenes of Boston, New York and Kolkatta and used the bridges and rivers as conencting elements so they felt like one city. I also loved the way she showed Ashima (Tabu) on her second trip back home...carefree, natural, playful...like she finally felt at home. Her direction of the India trip made me feel like I was visiting again...the fragrances were real, the people were real, it was just so authentic, it was like visiting India all over again. Oh and did I mention how gorgeous Tabu looked? woah. In those saris and giant red tikas and wavy hair...just beautiful....and Ashoke was such a lovable character....such a sensitive husband...a father trying so hard to connect with his son but not getting through.... Some of my favorite scenes: -Ashima and Ashoke's arranged marraige scenario. -Ashima at the laundromat...the spat and making up that followed. -Gogol avoiding his parents call 
-Asima reacting to news of her father's death, and Ashoke's handling of the situation -Ashima's break down after the phone call and her speech at the end 
Favorite dialogues: -I dont want to go back...I dont want to meet them in mourning...I dont want to raise my son in this lonely country. -Our whole family was born out of Gogols overcoat...some day you will understand. So yea, I'm not sure how I'd rate it as a film just yet. But one thing is for sure, it had a pretty big impact on me, and made me appreciate my mom and dad and everything they've been through...and clearly I wasnt the only one because every single one of the group I went with came out of the theatre and called their parents 
Khosla Ka Ghosla
This year Indian Cinema lost one of the most significant filmmakers it has ever produced, Hrishikesh Mukherjee. One of the few people to have successfully managed to walk the middle path between "commercial" and "art/offbeat/etc", his films resonated with the Indian audience, because they were connected to the middle class and yet managed to make their seemingly mundane world seem entertaining and even noble.But he is gone and yet here forever, because he has clearly managed to influence a good deal of the new wave of directors, Rajkumar Hirani, Chandan Arora and now Dibakar BanerjeeKKG is a simple story about a family with typical family dynamics and the life crisis they go through. Anupam Kher plays the typical aging patriarch, who invests his entire life savings into a plot of land, and he sees his life crumble around him when a crooked builder encroaches on their plot. He's obviously extremely emotionally invested in his younger son and has generation gap issues with him. Afore mentioned son (Parveen) is a grave individual, attempting to be detached from the chaos of both his house and country, and hoping to escape to NY for a job offer he's recieved. Symbolically, in a crunch, he cuts out his own picture from a family picture for a visa application. His theatre-actress bindaas new age friend/girlfriend (Tara) acts as his voice of conscience. From the beginning the film is set up perfectly, we immediately see Khosla's little world through his own eyes, in the form of his hilarious nightmare, and clearly see Khosla believes his family to be completely apathetic towards him. In the following scene we immediately see the flip side of coin. The film progresses at a fairly regular pace, and we understand all the dynamics of the family before the crisis strikes. The build-up to Khurana (Boman's crotch scratching slimy builder) is really well done. Gradually we are taken to a roller-coaster second half and a pat-dry finish. There is a lot lacking in terms of transitions of scenes, Khosla's continued opposition gets annoying, and Bapu (Navin Nischol)'s stammering in the second half makes proceedings much less plausible. But the inherent simplicity and characterisation more then makes up for any shortcomings.All the performances were excellent. Boman Irani is as expected fabulous, fitting into his sleazy role with a panache that almost makes his lewd character endearing. Anupam Kher lends an innocence and annoyingness to his character that gives you such a sense of deja-vu while watching, havent I met this person before? isn't this the uncleji next door? Tara Sharma is shockingly cute and natural, but her hysterical cackling should have been left out. Parveen is just first-rate, and holy crap is he hot. The biggest surprise for me was Ranvir Shorey as the good-for-nothing elder son Bunty, he got the body language and mannerisms just bang on. In fact this film just screamed delhi in so many ways, in the people. attitudes, slang, etc without showing a single monument or landmark from the city.Memorable scenes:-The nightmare/funeral scene-The pehelwaans and their mentor's portfolio photo album -Khosla's discussions with Saini, practical and realistic "Jawaan bete sab compromise karo to fir budhape ka insurance mil jaata hai"-Khosla's first site visit...Khosla ka Ghosla on the outset has a lot of similarities with Munnabhai series, both see the corruption and daily hassles involved with being in the Indian middle class through comedy-tinted glasses, both are feelgood without being saccharine sweet. Most interestingly, both have a very layered style of film-making. While many desi films typically can be sectioned off into "comedy-slapstick" portions that typically occur before "serious-drama" portions, here the light moments overlap the serious ones and occur when you least expect them, quite like life itself. Is KKG a landmark film? No, but its a definite step in the right direction. Its easy to laugh at things that are outrageous and hence ludicrous, which is why slapstick works so well. To make someone laugh at their own life is much more tricky, and thats precisely what this film seamlessly achieves.
