And the OSCAR goes to

The Aviator!

What a movie!!! Before we go into it, one bit about the change in my opinion about Leonardo's acting ability. He was brilliant in his first movie (Basketball Diaries), but then it was all downhill. I stand somewhat corrected. In this movie, he is a revelation and puts in an awesome performance. I think it has something to do with negative shades of the character. That is the only thing I can find common in both the roles.

Coming back to the Oscars, since the jury likes epic productions (among equals), I am tempted to put my money on The Aviator to win the Best Picture.

The other main candidate, Million Dollar Baby (MDB), was good and Clint is the jury's blue eyed boy, but I would say it lacked the 'punch'. It wavered off a lot midway through and wasn't great movie making, notwithstanding the woman/ fighting spirit angle.

Best Actor is a tie between Leonardo and Jamie Foxx. Clint has no chance here (With all due respect: Why is he here? Oh! I almost forgot his blue eyes) neither does Johnny Depp who was great while being subtle in the magical Finding Neverland. But I think Ray was exceptionally well handled by Jamie Foxx:

The scene where he gets the phone call about Margie's death -- Wow! That single scene is enough for anyone to win an acting Oscar; And the fact that Ray Charles died last year can get Foxx closer to the statue, but because of some weird reasons, like --

(a) Foxx has already won both the Globe and Guild for the best actor!
(b) Denzel won it only a couple of years ago!!
(c) Ray was a distructive rebel force, while Howard Hughes was only an eccentric!!

The chances are that the jury would give it to Leonardo. I would not be unhappy with that, considering he changed my opinion about his acting in 2 hours flat!

Aviator also has a brilliant role from Cate Blanchett, she should win the best supporting actress. But I haven't seen all the other nominees to emphatically say so (But for Natalie Portman in Closer -- another must watch movie)

Supporting actor definitely is Owen (Closer) in my count, though sentiments might favor Morgan Freeman. Thomas in Sideways was extremely good, but the jury doesn't favor indies, and might give Sideways _only_ the adapted screenplay Oscar (And original screenplay to The Aviator, though Kaufman was his usual brilliant in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind)

Hmm, that leaves us with the Best Actress & Director. Hilary Swank was very good in MDB, but she has already won once (So what?). Though I loved Kate Winslet's easy ways in ESOTSM, according to the experts, Staunton is going to win.

And for the Best Director, would it be Martin Scorsese's lucky year at Oscars? According to many, he is the best director never to win an Oscar, probably tied with Hitchcock. Clint Eastwood didn't do a great job in MDB, Sideways was brilliantly directed, but this time Martin deserves it the most. Forget that he is an Italian; He has made some of the best movies on/of America, and The Aviator is right on top of that list, IMO.

Mumbai - Kerala Express

Priyadarshan, a popular Malayalam film maker mostly known for his slap-stick comedy films, picks hit films from South and remodels them for Hindi. Unlike Mani Rathnam, who simultaneously makes his films for Tollywood as well as Bollywood; Bombay or Yuva, for example.

Priyan took Bharathan's Thevar Magan (in Tamil) and made Viraasat, then picked his own first movie, Poochakkoru Mookkuthi to make Hungama, remade the amazing director duo Siddique-Lal's 'Ramji Rao Speaking' as Hera Pheri, Godfather as Hulchul, Fazil's Aniyathipraavu as Doli Saja Ke Rehna and probably has many more in the pipeline.

The above movies were remade, not copied. There was enough credit given to the makers of the originals. Many of them faired very well also, in the boxoffice and as films I think.

It would be an interesting task to make a 'viable for a remake' list of films from Malayalam -- which can boast of an unending stream of amazing film makers who actually invented the cross-over films.

I think Bollywood is yet to discover (and copy) films of brilliant directors like Padmarajan, Bharathan, Aravindan, Hariharan and the new brigade of Sibi, Lohithadas or Jayaraj.

Bollywood's only original idea

I was reading about the storyline of Sanjay Dutt-Aishwarya-Zayed Khan starrer Shabdh and it sounded startlingly similar to the story of a Malayalam movie from early 80's called Rachana (Creation). Looks like copying is Bollywood's only original idea :-)

Rachana was about a middle aged writer with a writer's block, researching suitable subjects for his next novel. When his wife tells him about this naive young man in her team who is attracted to her, he asks her to play along as idea for his new novel. She reluctantly agrees and shows affection towards the young man.

One day she invites him to her house for dinner. After the dinner, while the young man waits in the bedroom, she introduces him to her husband, the writer. The young man is devastated; The writer is thrilled by the reaction while the wife is upset. The situation takes a nasty twist when the young man commits suicide. The wife becomes a mental patient when she hears about the death. In fact, the movie begins from the scene where doctors write off her case as not curable.

Rachana, written and directed by Mohan became a super hit and triggered a series of touchy, real life movies in Malayalam. I dont know for sure if Shabdh would go the same way; especially since it has been poorly rated in reviews, and more so because the wooden Rai is acting it (Rai? What a stupid choice for a role with such potential; Srividya won the best actress award for her role in the original). I am tempted to check the movie out, but Ash is a deterrent factor -- I just cannot stand her acting 'skills', if there was/is any.