Dinesh Kamath’s column ‘New movies released in Navi Mumbai’ (Tamasha, Creed and The Hunger Game: Mockingjay) that was published in Newsband

New movies released in Navi Mumbai

By Dinesh Kamath

Tamasha

Tamasha (English: Spectacle) is an Indian romantic drama film written and directed by Imtiaz Ali and produced by Sajid Nadiadwala. It stars Ranbir Kapoor and Deepika Padukone in lead roles. Tamasha tells the story of character "Ved" (played by Ranbir Kapoor) who loses his self by living according to the social conventions expected of him. Principal photography began in Corsica, France in July 2014. Post this schedule, filming continued briefly in Indian cities—Shimla, Delhi, Gurgaon and Kolkata followed by two-day schedule in Tokyo, Japan. The filming concluded in Mumbai by August 2015.

The film score and soundtrack album are composed by A. R. Rahman, with lyrics from Irshad Kamil.

The film has Ranbir Kapoor as Ved Vardhan Sahni, Deepika Padukone as Tara Maheshwari, Javed Sheikh as Ved's father, Nikhil Bhagat as Tara's father, Faraaz Servaia as Tara's brother and Punam Singh as Tea Executive.

The soundtrack album and film score is composed by A. R. Rahman with song lyrics by Irshad Kamil. The music in the film has been used as a narrative to enhance the inherent drama of the situation without dialogues whereas the lyrical work presents human emotions in different flavours.

The story of the film is interesting. There is something special in you. Don't ignore it. Don't try to change yourself to fit into this world. Please... give yourself a chance. She reminds him of who he is. He is the small town boy who has grown up in the world of stories. He belongs to that world. He is not suited to the corporate rat-race. The journey he goes through to reach himself is the stage for Tamasha. It's a personal journey - passionate and quirky - that dismantles his life, so that he can become how she sees him... the exuberant story-teller. Exotic island, youthful abandon, far...far away, Ved and Tara - a story begins.

Ved has grown up amongst stories. As a kid in Shimla, he would collect money; even steal money so that the old storyteller would tell him stories. Ramayan, Helen Of Troy, Laila Majnu, Heer Ranjha, Aladin, Romeo Juliet... The storyteller would also say that all stories are the same. Ved wants his story with Tara to be different. So, they decide not to tell each other who they are and to only lie about themselves. And, after returning from the island, never to meet each other again.

But they do meet again. The question is whether they will be able to shape their story in the way they want. Will the muse be able to make an artist of a common man, will Ved be able to break the shackles of ordinary existence, escape the corporate rat-race and become the way Tara sees him - the exuberant story-teller?

Corsica, Shimla, Delhi, Kolkata, Japan - all the world is a stage - as the drama of Ved and Tara unfolds. Frolic, rage, quirk, laughter, defeat, victory. Tamasha.

Creed

Creed is a 2015 American sports drama film written and directed by Ryan Coogler, co-written by Aaron Covington and produced by Robert Chartoff, Irwin Winkler and Sylvester Stallone. The film stars Michael B. Jordan as Adonis Johnson Creed – Apollo's son – and Stallone reprising the role of Rocky Balboa. It also features Tessa Thompson, Tony Bellew and Graham McTavish. It is the seventh Rocky film, both a spin-off from the original series and the indirect successor to 2006's Rocky Balboa, and also reunites Jordan with Fruitvale Station writer/director Coogler and also Wood Harris, whom Jordan worked with on The Wire.

The movie has an interesting plot. In 1998, Adonis Johnson, the son of one of the many lovers of former heavyweight champion Apollo Creed, is serving time in a Los Angeles youth facility when Creed's wife, Mary Anne, pays him a visit and offers to take him in.

Seventeen years later, Adonis walks away from his job at a securities firm to pursue his dream of becoming a professional boxer. Mary Anne vehemently opposes this, remembering how her husband was killed in the ring 30 years earlier (against Ivan Drago in Rocky IV). He tries to get a slot at Los Angeles' elite Delphi Boxing Academy, but is turned down. Undaunted, Adonis travels to Philadelphia in hopes of getting in touch with his father's old friend and rival, Rocky Balboa.

Adonis tracks down Rocky at Adrian's, the Italian restaurant that Rocky owns and operates named after his deceased wife. When he hears Adonis' request to train him, Rocky is reluctant to get back into boxing, but eventually agrees. Adonis also finds a love interest in Bianca, an up-and-coming singer and songwriter.

Adonis, now known as "Hollywood Donnie," defeats a local fighter, and word gets out that he is Creed's illegitimate son. Rocky gets a call from the handlers of world light heavyweight champion "Pretty" Ricky Conlan, who is due to be forced into retirement by an impending prison term. He offers to make Adonis his final challenger--provided that he change his name to Adonis Creed. Adonis balks at first, wanting to forge his own legacy. However, he eventually agrees.

While helping Adonis train, Rocky learns he has non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. He is unwilling to undergo chemotherapy, remembering that it wasn't enough to save Adrian when she had ovarian cancer. His diagnosis and the fact that his best friend and brother-in-law Paulie Pennino - Adrian's brother - has now passed away in addition to Adrian and Apollo further force him to confront his own mortality. Seeing Rocky shaken, Adonis urges him to seek treatment.

Adonis fights Conlan in Conlan's hometown of Liverpool. Many parallels are present between the fight that ensues and Apollo and Rocky's first fight forty years earlier (Rocky). Adonis not only wears American flag trunks similar to the ones Apollo and later Rocky wore, but he gives Conlan all he can handle and goes the distance. Furthermore, even though Conlan wins on a split decision (just as Apollo retained his title by split decision against Rocky), Adonis has won the respect of Conlan and the crowd; Conlan tells him that he is the future of the light heavyweight division.

The Hunger Game: Mockingjay – Part 2

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 is a 2015 American epic science fiction war film directed by Francis Lawrence, with a screenplay by Peter Craig and Danny Strong. It is the fourth and final installment in The Hunger Games film series, and the second of two films based on the novel Mockingjay, the final book in The Hunger Games trilogy, written by Suzanne Collins. Produced by Nina Jacobson and Jon Kilik, and distributed by Lionsgate, the film stars Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Julianne Moore, Sam Claflin, Jena Malone, Philip Seymour Hoffman (in his final film role), and Donald Sutherland. The first part of the Mockingjay adaptation, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1, was released on November 21, 2014.

The story follows Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence), as she prepares for her ultimate fight against President Snow (Donald Sutherland), the tyrannical Capitol and her choices that will define Panem forever, in the final, death defying "76th Hunger Games".

With the nation of Panem in a full scale war, Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) confronts President Snow (Donald Sutherland) in the final showdown. Teamed with a group of her closest friends – including Gale (Liam Hemsworth), Finnick (Sam Claflin) and Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) – Katniss goes off on a mission with the unit from District 13 as they risk their lives to liberate the citizens of Panem, and stage an assassination attempt on President Snow who has become increasingly obsessed with destroying her. The mortal traps, enemies, and moral choices that await Katniss will challenge her more than any arena she faced in The Hunger Games.