The Last Lear DVD

Product Description When first we meet veteran thespian Harish Mishra (Bachchan), he is gravely ill. The punishments of a film shoot have left the old man in a coma. His co-star, Shabnam (Preity Zinta), is wracked with worry, but their director, Siddharth (Arjun Rampal), keeps strangely distant and refuses to visit his ailing star. In flashbacks, their story emerges. Siddharth first had to woo Harish from the comforts of his retirement, and the interaction between the two yields some of the film's most delightful scenes. The impatient young auteur attempts to win the trust and collaboration of the aged performer, who sits raging against the modern world from the sanctuary of his study. Sporting a silver mane, Bachchan is irresistible here - vain, forceful and impetuous. He trumpets the superiority of Shakespeare over anything cinema can create. And yet, the movies hold out a new challenge. Once he agrees to act in the film, The Last Lear becomes a captivating reflection on the comparative artifices of stagecraft and cinema. As the outsider in the cast, Harish is hilarious in dismissing movie fakery. His theatre skills are grander. Standing on a hillside, he teaches Shabnam how to project her voice clear across a valley to the next hill. Review The film script has been taken from a play by Bengali actor and playwright, Utpal Dutt and the realistic performance of Amitabh Bachchan makes the audience to stay glued to the screens from the very outset. Indian cinema generally has less of Shakespearian stuffs but in Hollywood you have many actors who did Shakespearian roles. Bachchan looks very powerful in the movie, as if everything has been made for him to perform that way; in a way establishing how he is also capable of surviving in Hollywood, too. It s amazing to watch him perfect confident in the film. Amitabh Bachchan is the life of The Last Lear . It s definitely his best performance so far. The actor has been delivering strong performances in the past also. Arjun Rampal is evolving into a fine actor; which is very clear in this film. This is another performance that would fetch Arjun great applause. Preity is ok enough. Shefali Shah is superb. Divya Dutta is wasted. Prosenjit is alright. Jishu is impressive. The good part of the film is that the cinematography is beautifully done. The locations are superb. Most of the shooting has been done in Himalayan location of Uttaranchal. --apunkachoice.com About the Actor Amitabh Bachchan, Born in Allahabad ( 11th October 1942) , Uttar Pradesh hails from a Hindu Kayastha family. His father, Dr. Harivansh Rai Bachchan was a well-known Hindi poet, while his mother, Teji Bachchan was a Sikh from Faisalabad (now in Pakistan).Bachchan made his film debut in 1969 as one of the seven protagonists in Saat Hindustani.The critically acclaimed and commercially successful Anand (1971) followed, where he starred alongside Rajesh Khanna.Amitabh Bachchan's first big hit happened with Namak Haram in 1973. With Zanjeer also scoring unprecedented box-office collections, the year heralded the arrival of the legend called Amitabh Bachchan. About the Director Rituparno Ghosh is a young Bengali film director whose work has met with considerable critical acclaim in recent years, both in his native India and abroad. He has won a National Film Award in India and several awards at international film festivals abroad. Ghosh was born and raised in Kolkata, West Bengal. He attended high school at South Point High School, and studied economics at Jadavpur University. His father was a documentary filmmaker, a painter, and introduced his mother to film making. He cut his directorial teeth in advertising. In 1992, he made a low-key film debut with a children's feature titled Hirer Angti (The Diamond Ring). However, with his second movie Unishe April (19 April), Ghosh attracted serious critical attention. The movie won the 1995 National Film Award in India for best film. Since then, Ghosh has directed a s