I watched two extremely appealing movies this week. No one killed Jessica (NOKJ) and An Education. My take on the same.
While watching NOKJ (despite it being a good movie) I could not help but think about the whole deliberation scripts put into some roles/acts. Be it a cuss word spouting hot shot journalist or a all flaws overlooking, typical mother of a spoilt brat. In such situations I can’t make up mind whether its the actor who should have tried better to make it real or the screenplay. And that is why NOKJ as a platform for Rani to change her mold or come up with something radical (as she claimed in her interviews) failed for me. It was a very well versed story for all of us, so movie wise there weren’t any surprises. Plus the director Raj Kumar Gupta’s earlier mindblowing debut film Aamir was proof enough that this would be a refined product technically and otherwise.
But then Rani Mukerji proclaimed that how she was a bit**. Meh.
Jenny of an Education on the other hand was such a starry eyed character with its nuances right in place that one could easily relate with her. Carey Mulligan is a wonderfully self aware actress. She is delicately pretty and expressive. So when she falls in love with an older man and is ready to throw away all her future, all her Latin essays, her teacher’s advice, her Oxford dreams just because she wants to lead a fun life and not a drab and dull life like her parents and teachers do, you want to go on her journey and experience for yourself, how it must feel like. I am not sure then, if one should applaud the script or the actor here. An education is a wonderful movie. As they say, the act of discovery is not about finding new places but seeing with new eyes.
So is Jenny’s journey.
So such is life. I like real, I can relate with characters. And I love Rani Mukerji too. So it is a huge disappointment when I have to see her movie after 2 years and get nothing but a caricature out of the movie. But then as they say movie watching is about optimism.
Better luck next time to me!
~nightflier
5 responses to “of caricatures”
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@upasna: good to know that I have company!
@tanvii: I enjoyed NOKJ too but could not love it as much as Aamir.
@nepo: It was really impossible to have missed any interviews of Rani before the release here in India. Almost everyone including herself were going gaga over *how different* the role was! Education on the other hand had such a simple for that matter routine and dull story but Mulligan infused life in it, me thinks.
@ketaki: I have problems only with the portrayal. Its an overtly ferocious on the surface and no substance inside kind of character, who gets a super hero-ish walk at the end. It disappointed me big time! -
I haven't seen NOKJ but I think they put in Rani's character the way they did to make the movie entertaining.. A normal, routine reporter might have made the movie boring which is anyways the risk consodering the topic of the movie..
Haven't watched an Education but will sometime soon. -
in NOKJ, I think Monu's mom was intended to be a caricature :D.. I agree what you say about Rani.. She was good, but not different. Fortunately, I did not see any interviews/reviews before watching the movie, so that helped 😀
I had liked 'An Education' when I had watched it a couple of months back. The best way to learn is not by blindly listening to others, but to follow your gut feeling and experience the other side, and learning from its experience.. The movie portrayed this 'education' very well, me thinks.
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I enjoyed NOKJ … yet to see An Education! Looking fwd to Dhobi Ghat! 🙂
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Felt exactly the same abt Rani Mukherjee's character and role. That singlehanded killed the movie for me
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