Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

Rating: 3/4

Four Harry Potter movies in a row and director David Yates has crafted what is visually his best HP movie. With a color palette restricted to darkest of shades and a score to accentuate it, he has created an atmosphere of gloom that plays a role almost as important as the plot itself. The visual effects are, if not entirely original, spectacularly vivid. However, the movie itself can be slotted slightly below Order of the Phoenix and The Half-Blood Prince. This has more to do with the bifurcation of the story than with movie craftsmanship. Deathly Hallows Part2 is thin plot-wise and interesting sub-plots in the book do not make it to the movie. I am pretty sure that a 3-hour Deathly Hallows movie in one-part would have made for a better experience than a 4.5-hour two-part one.

(Spoilers ahead)

The story picks up right where it left us in Part-1. Harry, Hermione and Ron are continiuing on their destructive quest for horcruxes. A thrilling break-in into Gringotts and a telepathic eavesdrop later they get a horcrux and a lead about another hidden at Hogwarts. Harry's return to Hogwarts sparks open war between Snape and McGonagall. Snape escapes apparently to join Voldemort who has amassed all his followers for the attack on Hogwarts. McGonagall takes charge of Hogwarts' defenses comandeering anyone willing to fight. Considering the the amazing build-up to the central fight, the fight itself is a bit of a let-down because the focus shifts to the less interesting Horcrux hunting trio. By the time the Horcruxes are disposed off, Hogwarts' defenses have fallen and the fighting is almost done. We are shown that Lupin, his wife and one of the Weasley twins -people we have come to care about - are dead, without any hows or whos. Fortunately the major plot twists are pretty well handled. Snape's story is rendered very well which make his flip-flop between good and evil believable. The tragedy of the unsung hero of Hogwarts hits us with great intensity especially in the epilogue where Harry tells his son, Albus Severus Potter, who he was named after. The whole Harry-the-Horcrux revelation which was a shocker to the book-folk is likely to at least surprise the movie-folk too.

The most often heard complaint is that the climactic Voldemort vs Harry bout is wrapped up pretty quickly. I say, give poor Voldy a break - he has been dying one Horcrux at a time since as early as Chamber of Secrets.

For most Potter-fans the release of Deathly Hallows the book was a landmark event, the movie is mostly a curiosity; they just want to find out how it all translated to screen. But, they are 'all' going to find out, which is why Harold, the most popular Potter, is ruling the box-office in the muggle world right now.

Delhi Belly

Rating : 3/4

So it has finally happened; a mainstream bollywood flick with few holds on profanity and vulgarity- no beeping over 'fuck' or its derivatives, the arse is off taboo list, crudeness is hiked almost to the point of celebration and, in occasion, used as a plot-device. It is a pleasant surprise that this movie made its way out through the censor board.

Unrelated chains of events with unfortunate but hilarious consequences, criss-crossing randomly and culminating at one shoot-out at the end of 1hr 30 mins- thats Delhi Belly in single breath. No, its not a Guy Ritchie film, but DB's writer and director are definitely influenced by Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch. The template is copied but the dark filling is thankfully a fresh brew. Three friends/roommates - Tashi, Nitin,Arup - have a bad start when they forget whose turn it is to move the buckets to under the tap one morning. Meanwhile, a gangster is having a bad day too when he has to search for a delivery that hasn't reached him. A series of coincidences and mix-ups later, the trio unwillingly join the hunt while trying to survive the chase.

The gangster's emotional arc - frustration at his inept teammates, patience when cajoling a girl, coldness when torturing a middleman, resignation when he isn't allowed to do room service for quality reasons - all conveyed with a straight face contributes to some of the best laughs. Imran's Tashi feels as fake as his black-eye. He stands out as a guy reciting someone else's funny lines. His only good scenes in the movie are when he is fully covered up or when he doesn't speak much. His friends - Nitin and Arup - however, are very believable and provide the rest of the comedy, given the same screen time as Imran. In fact, Nitin's Disco Fighter revenge is the most original and my personal favourite comic episode in the movie.

What I found a little hard to understand is why the writer and/or director wanted everything to work out perfectly well for the threesome in the end, so much so that they were brutal to everyone else who might even hint at trouble.

The screenplay is not clever enough to pack any surprises, but thats easily excused because it takes us where we expect to reach, bloody cheerfully.