Mamma Mia

Enthralling and exhilarating at the same time, Mamma Mia is a must watch for us Indians - just to see how exactly to use song and dance in a movie !! I had to suppress the urge to break out into clapping more than once during the movie (and I wasnt alone in feeling that way as low clapping could be heard at times in the hall). People who have watched the broadway show tell me that the stage version is much better - which makes me regret not seeing it when I had the chance.

About the movie - its a feel-good musical (it can be called a chic flick) - with the best Abba songs for a soundtrack - about a girl who wants her dad to give her away at her wedding. Only problem - according to her mom's diary, she dated three guys in that summer 20 years ago - and it could be any one of them. So she invites all three of them to the wedding (without telling her mom ofcourse) and so the story goes.

The location of the movie is outstanding - a white old style villa on a mediterranean island - and the cast is stellar. And the soundtrack is superb - though I hadnt heard half the songs before. The only bad bit about the movie comes towards the end when a couple of songs in the sad scenes could have been avoided. But overall, a celebration of cinema - definitely do watch.

Coming back to Indian movies, while we have songs in each and every movie of ours, the only movie which came close to being a good musical was Jaan-e-man (the Salman-Preity-Akshay starrer). Most people didnt get the point of the movie - but that is probably another post.