Its All About Building Bridge For Your Loved One !

So, its a the time when Diwali is over and Christmas is still a month away so whats exciting ? Nothing ! well then lets kill some time and watch a movie ! Well the question is which ? Already seen Ramleela, not interested in seeing Singh Sahab The Great Last Vegas showing in very limited screens with minimal shows the only tolerable option left is Gori Tere Pyar Mein. Well that was the mindset of mine when today I decided to see Gori Tere Pyar Mein.

Gori Tere Pyar Mein, tells the story of Sreeram a.k.a Sreedevi (Imran Khan ) a south Indian boy from Bangalore who falls in love with Diya (Kareena Kapoor Khan) a hardcore Eco-Social Sevice type of Delhiite. Although they are north and south pole apart they still like to hang out with each other and eventually fall in love, but like we all know they story has to move further, Sreeram in spate of  a heated argument calls Diya a hypocrite and tells her that shes just a show off when it comes to doing social work, she cannot stay in a real village and do some real social work. The angry young woman who’s ego is hurt packs her bag & moves to Jhumli village in remote location of Gujarat to help them build a bridge which will connect them to the nearby village and cut short the travel time by 5 hours. Facing difficulties to get what she wanted shes surprised (I wasn’t though) to see Sreeram a qualified architect coming to rescue the village ! Then we all know what happens !

Imran Khan should get out of the mould and typecast character of lazy witty boy next door and really try doing something different, we have seen him in such roles ever since he has entered movies, right from Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na, I hate Love Stories, Brake Ke Baad &  Ek main Aur Ek Tu. I think we all understood that you can do it well, not come on show us something new. You are a good actor so try something new and get out of your comfort zone and do challenge yourself. As far as Gori Tere Pyar Mein is concerned Imran has done a good job again not to forget its his home ground playing such type of character where he doesn’t have to put in anything extra.

Kareena Kapoor has done far more better roles in the past and this time to she has held her horses quite well, frankly speaking Kareena has left no stones unturned to reach to the top of the ladder, after having a line up of flops in late 2000s Kareena is back with a bang. This time too in Gori Tere Pyar Mein she not only looks simply beautiful but also gets into the skin of the character. I just wish she improves the choice of her films and gets more romantic & chemistry oriented roles. Otherwise no complains at all !

Shradha Kapoor (Vasudha) does an extended cameo but is excellent in how much ever screen time she has got, she looks stunning as a typical South Indian girl. though her role is very small it somehow seems incomplete, i wish Punit Malhotra had shown some Happy Ending for her apart of Imran’s mom telling him on the phone that she married Kamal, i would have loved to see a few more scenes of her either with Kamal or with Sreeram

Saw Anupam Kher in a negative role after a long time, its quite delighting to see the actor doing his part so sincerely after ages of being in the industry, Anupam Kher is one hell of a versatile actor, you can fit him into any role and you wont be disappointed to see the result. Sreeram’s Mom, Dad Diya’s Mom Dad & M.P Patel are also really good.

The music of Gori Tere Pyar mein is average, two songs that stand out in the album are definitely Tooh & Chingam Chabake rest all are passable, The first hour of GORI TERE PYAAR MEIN! may give an impression that Punit Malhotra is back on familiar grounds [I HATE LUV STORYS, his directorial debut]: urban setting, wittiness and styling. But the movie wins you over as Imran starts narrating episodes involving Kareena and him. The film gathers momentum with every episode and you’re bowled by the simplistic charm the movie possesses at the close of first half. The interactions between Imran and Shraddha are wonderful, while the marriage sequence is brilliant.

On the whole, Gori Tere Pyar Mein is a typical metro-masala film with light moments, a story that is very predictable and drags a bit in the second half, mediocre music some good performances and overall a light hearted entertainer. In short if you don’t have better plans for the weekend you could go and see it !

My Rating 3/5 (Reasons mentioned above)

 

 

 

Painting on a Celluloid Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s “Ram-Leela”

Colours are  the most important part of our lives imagine our life without colours how dull and how boring would it be !! RAM-LEELA is an eye opener and happy realization to Sanjay Leela Bhansali that the world has more colours than blue ! In late Ninety’s I was a teenager and i was in awe of the director namely Sanjay Leela Bhansali his back to back films would make one think how brilliant and gifted a man can be right from Khamoshi, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam, Devdas & Black. I always felt that Sanjay was the director who is path breaking yet commercially successful ! We needed people like him in Indian Film Industry to take us a notch higher. of course there was a slowdown in his career with Saawariya & then Guzaarish but we can easily write it off as a bad phase but you can never write off the credibility of a creative mind !

Ram-Leela is a perfect example of how sheer creativity and conviction can make an old story come to life again and that to with such beautiful set-up. We have seen the Romeo Juliet story man y times haven’t we ? Let me remind you if you cant : Ek Duje Ke Liye,  Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak, Ishaqzaade, Issaq & now Ram-Leela. I am sure you must have seen atleast one of these movies. Ram-Leela is nothing different as far as story is concerned, its about two warring families, two new generation kids of each family falling in love with each other and going against their families to take a stand for their love and getting killed in the end.
Ram-Leela is the liberation of the inner soul of Sanjay Leela Bhansali, the wild side of him which was raring to get out of the type cast that he had become or more over the people had put him into. Ram-Leela is a complete brain child of Sanjay Leela Bhasali and no one can take it away from him. Every scene every song, every dialogue and every set has a distinct signature of SLB, sometimes one has to think that how can one man have so many good qualities ? For your information Sanjay Leela Bhansali is the Producer, Director, Music Director, Editor, Screenplay, Dialogues …… ufff i wonder why he doesn’t act as well !!!

Ranveer Singh plays Ram (Ramji Rajadi) a heartthrob of Ranjar village in kutch which is plagued by cultural rivalry between the Rajadis & Sanedas. Ram believes in love and peace against the ideologies of his  clan members who believe in fight for rights. he loves being in love and does everything to woo girls. He finally falls in real love when he attends a Holi celebration in  the enemies house the Saneda’s.  Ranveer suits this role to the perfection I cannot see anyone else doing Ram as good as Ranveer with this he will be in the list of the top actors of the country who look good and can act as well ! His real life character is much similar to his carefree attitude int he movie and thats what make him fit the bill. Dont be surprised if you see Ranveer in more character oriented roles in future, hes a “LAMBI RACE KA GHODA” !!

Leela (Deepika Padukone) is the most favourite person in the Saneda family and is the wild cat by nature she is not scared of anything and is ready to take up a fight for her cause.  truly, madly, deeply in love with Ram she will go to any extent to get with him. Deepika has time and again proved that she’s a deadly combination of beauty with brains, with 5 back to back 100- Crore hits Cocktail, Race – 2, Yeh Jawani Hai Deewani , Chennai Express & now Ram Leela which sure will make to 100-crore by the week finishes she can be titled as the 100 Crore Actress ! Deepika easily fits in the shoes of Leela and makes the character completely believable.

The supporting cast of the film is par excellence although there are no Big names attached but as far as performances are concerned its par excellence, Supriya Pathak as Ghangor (Leela’s Mother) is the best character of the movie her sense of humour and the villainous attitude is just awesome, i haven’t been scared of a female in a long time the last time someone scared me was Urmila Matondkar. Richa Chaddha is another actress to watch out for after Gangs of Wasseypur she has once again proved that she can carry some amazing characters on her shoulders. Barkha Bisht Sengupta looks very sweet and has quite a potential in herself as an actress. Sharad Kelkar & Abhimanyu SIngh have small but quite significant roles.

The music is the highlight of the film the songs are superb and easily etch on to your soul Nagada Sang Dhol is the best of the lot, Tattad Tattad, Ang Laga De, Lahu Munh Lag Gaya, Ishqiyaon Dhishqiyaon are all superb. The choreography is worth a mention the typical Gujarati Garba steps are amazing and look like flowing water on the screen. The Highlight of the film is the colours, the art direction of Ravi Varman in the setup of Ranjar, Nakhatrana & various locations are mind blowingly beautiful.

There are of course a few loop holes in the movie the one of the biggest is the n number of unwanted lip locks and love scenes between Ranveer & Deepika the second half of the movie also becomes a little dull and there are few questions which SLB fails to answer : (SPOILER ALERT…DONT READ FURTHER IF YOU HAVENT SEEN THE MOVIE YET)

1. Do It: The birds and the bees – that’s what you got married for. Don’t delay the act. Consummate your marriage at the earliest given chance, if you wait… you’ll die talking about how you never got the chance! And for heaven’s sake don’t go drinking with your friends on your blessed Suhaag Raat.

2. Don’t show the finger: Don’t instigate your enemies. Especially with your finger.

3. Don’t Agree To Lead The Enemy Camp: If you’ve been forced to come back home alone after eloping, don’t say yes to become the leader of the same people who were against you and your lover being together, in the first place!

4. Don’t Kill Your Partner’s Relatives: I think this one is pretty self-explanatory. Killing your lover’s siblings, parents and family members is an absolute no-no.

5. Open The Door! If you’re planning to kill each other in the end… atleast answer the damn door first!

On the whole Ram-Leela is a great movie with all the required formulas of a successful movies, there is nothing that can stop this film from becoming a Super Hit or may be even  a bumper Hit. the heroes of the movies chronologically are Sanajy Leela Bhansali, Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh, Supriya Pathak, Art Direction, Music, Cinematography. With it’s share of minute drawbacks Ram-Leela is a definite Thumbs up and a must watch !!!

 

My Rating 4/5 (-1/2 for Some un-answered questions & -1/2 for  too much physical romance)

 

 

 

 

 

GrAND MASTI (There’s always a hidden Message)

We all had seen Masti & had definitely loved it, it one of the very first movies in Indian Cinema with adult humour, and we can say that it opened up new gates to the audience with the modern sensibilities & taste for adult humour. Then there was a line up of such films like Kya Kool Hain Hum, Mirchi, Desi Boyz, Delhi Belly, Kya Super Kool Hain Hum,  KLPD, and so on !

Grand Masti is a sequel of it’s first installment Masti, it starts of from the college days of Amar(Aftab), Prem(Riteish) & Meet(Vivek) who are crazy or should i use the word HORNY lovers who believe that life is better when their wives do Kamasutra than wearing Mangal Sutra. The story starts when they are invited for a college re-union after 6 years and they are eager to go expecting to see hot girls and have lots of MASTI ! But unfortunately the complete scenario of the college has changed after the principal Robert (Pradeep Rawat)  has been very strict with student and does not allow any romantics in the college. What happens to Amar, Prem & Meet ? Do they have fun ? or Do they get stuck in the web by Principal Robert ? Thats what Grand Masti is all about.

Aftab, Ritesh & Vivek remind of Masti and their chemistry as the close buddies, its is a treat to watch all three of them together on the screen. though in this review i wouldn’t like to divulge into individual performances, i would like to make a point that its rather a team game in this movie than individual talent. All three actors have given a hilarious performance and have gelled into the character completely, if we had to rate the performance it would be Ritesh, Aftab & Vivek in that order.

In the female leads Karishma Tanna is a well known face with the TV industry, Manjari Fadnis has done a couple of small roles in a few movies & Bruna Abdullah was seen in a few item songs and blink and miss roles. Besides these three we don’t know any of the remaining 3 actresses and there is nothing extraordinary to speak about them.

The songs of the movie are pathetic, we don’t even feel like sitting in the cinema hall and listen to it leave aside listneing to them anywhere else. Story is a dud and could have been much better, the jokes are all repetitive and most of us must have read it or heard it through some or the other social network platform.

On the whole Grand Masti is a disappointment in all fronts, no where close to its predecessor MASTI its a let down for the fans of the previous film. Although there a few jokes here and there which are capable of you to crack up and laugh out loud but thats about it. The humour is pushy and sometimes goes overboard and tries to make it hilarious but fails. If you have nothing else to do this weekend and don’t mind seeing a senseless comedy at the risk of getting into and embarrassing situation with your wife/husband or your girlfriend/boyfriend then go and see Grand Masti, if you don’t want to spend your time and money you can always wait for its satellite premiere on a movie channel in a few months to come.

My Rating : 2/5 (1 For  Good Performances by Aftab, Ritesh & Vivek and 1 for few jokes that are hilarious and keeps you in splits)

 

 

 

Shudh Videshi Romance !

Beautiful Jaipur Locations, cool delhi accent, typical indian wedding setups… Does it sound like a Desi film to you ? if your answer is yes, you are in a big surprise !! Shudh Desi Romance is nowhere close to being “DESI”, a mashup of Hollywood movies like Love Actually, Friends With Benefits & No Strings Attached, Shudh Desi Romance is an out and out rom-com with a generous dose of lip locking and quite bold dialogues.

Lets get on to the movie Shudh Desi Romance tells the story of Raghuram Sitaram (Sushant Singh Rajput) who is a tourist guide in Jaipur who is very charming and witty, in all real sense his job is not to guide but misguide people so that he can earn some extra bucks from the foreigners who come to visit India, his part time job is to work for Mr. Goyal (Rishi Kapoor) who is a typical caterer, decorator cum wedding planner, the portfolio Raghu handles is of a Bhaade Ka Barati, who dances at wedding of unknown people to full up crowd and earn a quick extra buck. Life takes a sudden turn when he is about to get married to Tara (Vaani Kapoor) and is accompanied by his bhade ke baraatis for his own wedding and hen meets Gayatri (Parineeti Chopra), Bang ! he’s swept of his feet and immediately falls in love with her. What happens to Wedding of Raghu & Tara ? What Happens to Raghu & Gayatri’s Love Story ? Finally does he  get married to Tara or Gayatri ?

Sushant Singh Rajput has indeed come a long way, right from Backup Dancer, to most favourite TV actor for continuously 3 years, to Kai Po Che one of the most talked about film of 2013 and now Shudh Desi Romance ! What more can one ask for ? But Sushant is here to stay and he’ll stay for a long time ! His versatility as an actor is par excellence though he looks like a boy next door he doesn’t fail to surprise you with his consistent charm and amazing talent. Shudh Desi Romance is completely on Sushant’s shoulder and he has done complete justice to his character.

If Sushant is the MAN to look out for Parineeti is definitely the LADY of tomorrow ! you can’t just stop falling in love with the simplicity of cute, bubbly & very fun loving girl. Although shes started off as a small role in Ladies Vs Ricky Bahl she had the audience captivated in Ishaqzaade which should have actually been the launch film for her ! She’s no where close to Priyanka Chopra’s shadow what most of people were expecting, in fact she i am sure Shudh Desi Romance will do better business than Zanjeer which release the same week. Parineeti is simple lovable !

Vaani Kapoor, i don’t know, i am a little confused, and not totally convinced about the idea whether i liked her or not ? Technically speaking shes highly ok or may be you can say not upto the mark but somehow the character she played of Tara, has an instant connect with you, she’s beautiful, has a great body, couldn’t see her dance in the movie and does mediocre dialogue delivery, summing up all we cannot expect her to woo the audience.
And last but not the least Mr. Goyal our very own Rishi Kapoor, before i say anything else about him the new generation of actors should really be afraid of the stars of 70s & 80s namely Amitabh Bachchan, Rishi Kapoor & Anil Kapoor these guys must be 55+ or may be 70+ but they can pull away a complete movie even today, Rishi Kapoor plays a beautiful role of a fatherly figure to both Raghu and Gayatri and makes no mistake, just a pleasant surprise since he was not visible anywhere in promotion or trailers.

Maneesh Sharma has done it before and he does it again, after Band Baaja Baraat it was a heavy responsibility for Maneesh to prove himself as a talented director that Ladies Vs Ricky Bahl and he should not carry a tag of a fluke hit, LVRB did not do extremely well but it definitely did decent business. This is his third venture and as far as I am concerned, he’s cleared the test, although not with “A+” but definitely an “A“, I personally like the chemistry he creates between the protagonists is just awesome, every person can see himself or herself in that character in some way or the other.

Like there are goods of the  film there are bads to, one of them is Music, the music of Shudh Desi Romance is not really catchy and does not even stay in our head. there are only 2 songs which i can remember Gulabi Aankhen & Tere Mere Beech Mein and thats all the lyrics i remember of the song.  The story of the movie is good but sounds very repetitive some time of course there are many moments which delight you. Locations and Photography is superb !

On the whole Shudh Desi Romance is a very bold movie in a very desi look, sometimes during the movie you have to think whether or not is India so advanced already or is it just too much to digest for a hypocrite Indian Society. Performances by the lead actors are very good apart of Vaani Kapoor who could have been easily replaced by anyone else. Music is bad but the love, chemistry and humour covers up for it. So if you are or have ever been in love or should i say confused in love and have an open heart and mind about what goes on in society, go and see Shudh Desi Romance, i enjoyed it, hope you do it as well !

My Rating 3.5 / 5 (-1 for bad music and a little dragging story line, -.5 for Vaani Kapoor disappointment) 

Satya Agraha

Satyagraha is yet another attempt by Prakash Jha to unmask the monster behind the politicians face, like his previous movies Satyagraha too takes on the system against the common man and shows how a single common man cannot make a difference even with a huge support and backing.

Satyagraha is a story of Dwarkanath (Amitabh Bachchan) who decides to take a stand against the system of a small constituency namely Ambikapur with the help of Manav (Ajay Devgan) a successful businessman who gets his things done by hook or by crook, Yasmin (Kareena Kapoor) a TV journalist who wants to fight for truth and does not believe in sensational news sections, Arjun (Arjun Rampal) is a local social worker who has been born and bought up in Ambikapur and shares the grief and pain of its residents. The fight is between The Jan Satyagraha Samiti including the former members vs the giant crocodile of the  corrupt river Balram Singh (Manoj Bajpai) who has things his way or no way ! Drawn from the inspiration of Anna Hazare (read Amitabh Bachchan) demand for “Jan Lokpal Bill” Satyagraha loosely depicts what went wrong with the movement and how anything like this cannot work in the future.

Amitabh Bachchan can now be called the Father of Nation ooops Father of the Bollywood  with an amazing performance and a  very meaningful role Amitabh strikes gold. There was never a doubt that Amitabh cannot play such a role, with his command over the language and beautiful timing no other actor could have done this part better. His mass popularity on Social Networking Sites like Twitter and Facebook has helped him become more popular amongst the youth generation, this helps us relate to the character of a person who believes in truth and true sense of freedom.

Ajay Devgan was a little disappointing for a couple of reasons: A.) Ajay looks completely out of shape and looks like he has been not hitting the gym off late, B.) He does not have any meaty dialogues, punchlines or memorable one liners just like “Ata Maazi Satakli” of Singham & C.) Ajay Devgan has done this kind of a character N number of times and we have seen him perform better. For an actor like Ajay Devgan the performance bar has to go up with every new movie, any mistakes or under performance will definitely accepted by his fans specially after the Himmatwala fiasco.

 

Kareena Kapoor has a very subtle but very strong character, for a change we don’t see a glamour doll to fill the screen with her oomph and karizma, this time Kareena has a power packed role with a very clean and clear reflection of the character. A sensible journalist could have been played by many actress, but taking a risk of playing a leading lady in a movie amongst gigantic names and path breaking performers like Amitabh Bachchan, Ajay Devgan & Manoj Bajpai  is worth an applaud.

 
Arjun Rampal is getting better day by day or should we say the selection of his movies is getting wise, Heroine, Chakravyuh, Inkaar, D-Day and now Satyagraha what more can any actor ask for ! Once known as a rock faced actor and go ahead and win a National award is not a simple thing to do. With Satyagraha Arjun Rampal once again proves that no role is small or big its only good or bad, and if you can do justice to your role you will definitely not be ignored.

 

Manoj Bajpai has a special bond or rather a better understanding with the Prakash Jha or Ram Gopal Varma style of filmmaking, and he cannot go wrong in any ways. You can love him and you can hate him but you cannot ignore him, while watching the movie you cannot decide whether to love his acting or to hate the character, the class and the fineness shown by Manoj Bajpai as the cold blooded killer and full of corruption is played amazingly by him.

Amrita Rao plays a damsel in distress who loses her husband (Indraneel Sengupta) who is the son of Dwarkanath (Amitabh Bachchan) the character has a very fine outline in the beginning but the sheen and sharpness of the character gets lost in the crowd of seasoned characters and moreover does not have any purpose besides being the supplementary reason of begin of the revolution.

Prakash Jha as a director has done nothing wrong but hasn’t done anything new, what looks so easy and achievable looks just good on screen, we have seen this in all Prakash Jha movies right from Gangajal to Apaharan to Rajneeti to Chakravyuh and now Satyagraha. The most common thing in a Prakash Jha movie is Reformation of Society but the path is the same one small flame converting to a huge wildfire.

Overall Satyagraha is old wine in new bottle, the major let down of the movie is that it cannot decide whether doing a Satyagraha proved good for Amitabh & Co. or did it give a lesson that no one should mess up with the Politicos. When we go to see a Society Reforming movie we are expected to come out with a new thought process and inspiring new thoughts even though its for a few hours after the movie but it needs to be there, well in that case Satyagraha is more like an eye opener teaching you not to mess with the politicians or they will make your life miserable. To cut the long story short if you expect the movie to be a path breaking revolution or a Society Reforming Movie you will be disappointed, otherwise the movie a one time watch.

My Rating 2.5/5 (-1 for underrated performance and dialogues by Ajay Devgan, -1 for uncooked or may be weak story telling & -1/2 for boring and useless songs in the movie  apart of the title song… Watch At Your Own Risk)

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Backstage Politics !

When i saw the trailer of Madras Cafe for the first time, I knew this will be a good movie and gladly i am not disappointed. Madras Cafe from the name might sound like a comedy at the first but once you see the poster or the trailer you are in for a surprise, its nothing remotely close to comedy unlike the director’s previous attempt of Vicky Donor.

Madras cafe is a story narrated by Vikram Singh (John Abraham) the protagonist of the film who believes that he and his team could have averted the assassination of our Ex-PM (read Rajiv Gandhi). The movie starts from mid 80’sin a quick recap of the civil war in Sri Lanka and how will it take the toll on our country in the future. Step by step we get to see the moves made in the cabinet in Delhi to avert the Tamilian crisis at the cost of lives of thousands of civilians & soldiers.  A story about , a team of RAW agents who work their blood and sweat everyday to keep our country safe, but fail due to the leak within their team. Madras Cafe is all about What Happens, What Should Have Happened & And What Could Not Happen !

Off late we get a feeling that John Abraham has started taking his career more seriously, with roles like Manya Surve (An Infamous  Local Gangster) & Vikram Singh (A Military RAW Agent) has a good performance, unlike over the board RAW agents like Ek Tha Tiger, or Agent Vinod, this is a more subtle and a much believable character, i wont call it an amazing performance but its definitely worth a praise. The body language and physicality of John are apt for a RAW agent, dialogue delivery is mediocre and his expressions are nothing great. In a nutshell John Abraham has give a good performance, but it is better than all his previous endeavours.

Nargis Fakhri plays Jaya (a British war correspondent in Sri Lanka)  As for Nargis, her voice hasn’t been dubbed like they did in Rockstar since Nargis Fakhri is playing foreign war correspondent it looks much better as a girl who looks Indian journalist but has an accent. She gets a rather small role but is an important character which gives the movie required turns. Nargis gets whatever she could from the role.

Rashi Khanna is a new face and is extremely fresh and likeable, we haven’t seen here before or even if we have we have a feeling that we haven’t, she looks simple and beautiful. But with this movie she is at a wrong place at a right time. The audience today does not need a lead actress with a meaty role, even a small but potentially important role could do the trick for a great future in the industry, just like it did for Preity Zinta in Dil Se. Ruby (Rashi Khanna) is a very lovable and soulful character.

Siddarth Basu, the Quiz Master successfully pulls off a RAW Director (Robin Dutt aka R.D), although he lacks a little more aggression and wit that a RAW director should have, he still manages to play a good character. who would have ever imagined for a person who made us wear our thinking cap with shows like Kaun Banega Crorepati & Dus Ka Dum could play a RAW Director.

Prakash Belawadi as Bala is the most amazing character of the movie. without doing anything  and looking just like a normal person you just tend to know that there is something wrong with this person, and of course the accent, physicality and the personality of a salable RAW agent has been just blended in perfectly.

The cinematography and the picturisation is very good, it gives us a feel as if we are watching some Hollywood movie. the fight scenes are very nicely handled and so are the scenes of the past Sri Lanka. The team must have a done a lot of research before making the movie but they fail to answer few simple question which i will not disclose or they will be “SPOILERS”.  Than GOD there are no songs and i give full marks to the sensibility for not pushing in songs to the Producer & Director.

 

On the whole Madras Cafe is a movie for the multiplex audience and for people who like to see Hollywood movies on war and conspiracy. John Abraham neither removes his shirt not flexes is muscles and does not even engage in hand to hand fight so that rules out the possibility of the whistles and front row movie lovers to storm to the  cinema. The movie has a good story and a good screenplay, the characters are good but has a very slow pace. The dialogues sometimes in Hindi, Tamil and English could confuse the audience. So if you consider yourself as an intelligent movie watcher and want to see a movie with much sensibilities then go and see Madras Cafe.

My Rating 3.5 / 5 (-1 for too much of a beginning and too less of climax, -1/2 for not upto the mark performances)

 

 

 

 

Get On This Train BABBBBYYY !!

“Hi I Am Rahul, aur mein 40 saal ka hun” the first line and you know that Shahrukh is not gonna play a college boy falling in love … Thanks Rohit for making this clear in the very first shot.

I hadn’t seen any hindi movie in last 2 weeks, the last Hindi movie i saw was D-Day, and as a SRK & Rohit Shetty fan there was no escape from CHENNAI EXPRESS had to see it and had to see it before everyone else, and thanks to UTV for keeping paid previews because of which i got the chance to see it.

CHENNAI EXPRESS is a story of Rahul (Shahrukh Khan) a 40 year unhitched & unmarried Halwai from Mumbai and Meenamma  an extrovert, smart and simple South Indian daughter of a South Indian don. The story begins when Rahul’s grandfather dies and his last wish is that his ashes to be divided in two parts and to be poured half into Ganga & half in Rameshwaram. Rahul has different plans, he wants to go to Goa to get himself hitched but to assure his grandmother he is going to Rameshwaram he boards on Chennai Express, A train in which Meenamma is being escorted by his fathers goons to their village against her will. How Rahul tries to play the good guy and falls into trouble and keeps on getting himself in more trouble from time to time is CHENNAI EXPRESS.

 Shahrukh plays Rahul a 40 years old unmarried man from Mumbai who is tired of living life on others term and wants to start living  his life on his own. Shahrukh plays a very acceptable character with all the conviction and positive outlook, off late Shahrukh has been experimenting a lot with his roles and characters and we must accept the fact that he has been quite successful at what he has tried. An autistic in My Name is Khan, A South Indian Scientist & Robot in Ra-One & now a COMMON MAN in Chennai Express, you cannot stop loving this character. He’s just like an ordinary man, like you, like me like anyone walking on the street, and thats what makes his character so real. Full marks to Rohit Shetty for portraying Shahrukh as an underdog and a common man despite of the larger than life  persona and grand screen presence.

If there is Shahrukh Khan on one hand, we have Deepika on another, is there any role this girl cannot do ?? I doubt. She’s so versatile that you can imagine her as a love of young heartthrob Ranbir Kapoor or the Suave and sober Saif Ali Khan or the legendary Shahrukh Khan shes an all rounder. Deepika plays a superb character of Meenamma, who, i am confused is Tamil or Malayalam as her accent is Malayali cum Tamil, anyways thats not the point, Deepika carries herself so well that anyone who does not see Hindi movies will believe that Deepika is some South Indian actress working in Hindi Movie.  Her pair with Shahrukh in Om Shanti Om was a shocker which collected praises from the audience, then this is not exception.

The remaining characters are almost like fillers and don’t have any exceptional job to do Sathyaraj as Deepika’s father is far from a fearsome Don but Nikitan Dheer as Thangabali is the right choice for a South Indian villain with his get up and his physical presence he really looks scary and could easily beat up the hero. No other characters are of any prime importance in the movie besides these 4.

Rohit Shetty is the real hero of this film. With complete flavour of south Rohit has pulled off yet another masala entertainer for the Single Screen as well as the Multiplex audience. He has started a new genre in Indian Film Industry “Rohit Shetty Type of Film”, they have everything in proper dose and keeps the audience entertained from start to end.

Few scenes in the movie are really noteworthy, The DDLJ train entry scene, the Antakshari Conversation between Shahrukh & Deepika, the Nokia Phone Ad and scene post 1234 song are all very funny . The only disappointments are 1.) slow 2nd half 2.) too many songs pushed in it 3.) Movie rests on SRK & Deepika’s shoulder only and 4.) No known faces except Priyamani(item Song) from South Indian film industry despite of being South based film. Music by Vishal Shekhar is very good especially 1,2,3,4 Get On The Dance Floor, Lungi Dance, Titli & Kashmir Main Tu Kanyakumari  are hummable and remain with you and grow on you.

On the whole CHENNAI EXPRESS is a good movie to watch with your family this long weekend and enjoy yourself, don’t ask why and how just feel entertained and enjoy yourself, Shahrukh & Deepika are not only the backbone but the whole body of the movie. Its funny has good action, simple and believable story, good but unnecessary songs and a lot of  Rohit Shettyism. So if you are not going to any hill station to get drenched in the rain then enjoy the ride of CHENNAI EXPRESS.

My rating 3.5 / 5 (-1/2 for slow second half , -1/2 for too many songs in second half, -1/2 for putting the whole movie on Shahrukh & deepika and not having any good characters)

 

D Company Ka D-End

Just came back from D-Day and could not resist myself from writing a review at this hour. 2 things to make note of 1.) Indian Film Industry is something what every movie lover has ever waited for, its changed and changed for Good ! The tide has turned since 2012 and we have witnessed dozens of movies which are path breaking and have defied all the norms, rules and regulations of Indian Film Commerce. D-Day is the underdog which has not been properly promoted, if proper justice would have been done with its marketing this movie could have had a super duper start.

D-Day tells the the story of brave R-A-W officers, Rudra (Arjun Rampal), Zoya (Huma Qureshi), Wali (Irrfan Khan) & Aslam (Akash Dahiya) who are under cover RAW agents in Karachi and are assigned to nab Iqbal Seth a.k.a Goldman (read “D”) who is scheduled to attend the marriage of his son in Karachi. The officers almost have his hand on him but due to some mishap loose him. Now the entire I.S.I is behind these 4 people who tried to abduct Goldman. What Happens next ? do they get their hands on Goldman again ? Do they fail again or are they double crossed ? if you think this plot is really interesting and intriguing then you need to see the movie to get all your answers.

Arjun Rampal as Major Rudra Pratap Singh is a psyched suspended army man who has his own way of dealing with crime, he is arrogant and lives life and takes decision on his own terms. Arjun Rampal give you a very good reason this time to believe that he can act, I had said the same thing when i had reviewed Inkaar, and here i am saying it again. I don’t feel people still want to call him poker face or rock expression face, cause hes improved himself and has not left any stones unturned in proving himself worthy of the National Award he had got for Rock On. His body language his expressions and his dialogue delivery is extremely rehearsed and very nicely handled.

Irrfan Khan is one actor you should never underestimate how much ever role he gets, not that he does not have a good role in this movie but without him the movie is not going anywhere. He has wowed us before and he never fails to wow us with his sheer talent and amazing screen presence, its people like him, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Pankaj Kapur etc who have time and again proved thats looking good and acting good is two different things, and if you can act well, its enough to pull out a good movie. Irrfan Khan does a wonder job with D-Day playing Wali who is not measurable or predictable. He plays a very confused character who is always on a crossroad and has always to make a difficult choice, but he always gives his duty first importance even if that means sacrificing his life.

Huma Qureshi plays Zoya who is the binding agent of the entire operation she use her charm to get things done by hook or by crook, though she does not physically fit to play a RAW agent and looks really fat and a typical woman she some how manages to get away with her job. I would have prefered some other actor to play the role who could be more diplomatic, more suave and more physically fit and appealing as an agent. Shruti Hassan who plays  a prostitute turned love interest of Rudra has hardly any role but whatever shes got is well managed by her.

 

Rishi Kapoor, once again in a negative role after Agneepath & Aurangzeb, that too donning the character of World 2nd  & India’s Most wanted man is actually a let down. Here the character looks like a owner of a small time Halwai of delhi wearing red goggles and printed shirts with a funny looking wig, leave aside fear, most of the time you pity the guy and feel sad for him. He’s a dreaded criminal and The Most Wanted Man, he has to be someone who should scare the shit out of you with his mere screen presence. Somehow I don’t blame Rishi Kapoor for this, the responsibility should be of Nikhil Advani (Director) who has not done justification to the character.

The supporting caste of the movie is very good, Nassar as Chief of R&AW Ashwini Rao, Sandeep Kulkarni as Atul Mishra, KK Raina as Gen. Raza, Chandan Roy Sanyal as Bhanja, Shriswara as Wali Khan’s wife , Dwij as Wali Khan’s son keep the story moving and have done their parts very well.

A big disappointment comes in the form of Songs in the movie, why do we need songs there is no audience in the theatre who wants to listen to a good or may be bad or even a pathetic song in between a very interesting plot. When will the directors kill their urge to put a song in middle of a good progressing story and murdering the movie. Please directors take this as a humble request.

On the whole, D-Day is a good movie with a very good story, great climax & some notable performances on the other hand the movie fails in terms of proper characterization of  its antagonist and useless songs in the movie. if you like movies which are sensible action movies but not out an out dhishum dhishum movie with flying cars and 1 hero fighting 50 odd henchmen, then this is the movie to watch, having said that its nothing awesome that you want to remember for a long time. So incase all the guys who want to spend some quality time minus your wife/girlfriend with your boys gang go watch it.

My Rating 3/5 (-1 For not required songs & Romantic track between Arjun And Shruti & -1 for unappealing and understandard character of Rishi Kapoor)

 

 

 

 

Bhaago Milkha Ko Dekhne Bhaago !!!

There are movies which entertain you, there are movies which educate you, there are movies which intrigue you and then there are movies which Inspire you ! Bhaag Milkha Bhaag is exactly what I am talking about.

First of all apologies for my absence and no reviews for Lootera or Policegiri was stuck up with some other commitments and did not get chance to watch both the movies.

Coming back to Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, BMB is a movie which gives you that much required goosebumps and the exhilaration required to be created by a biopic of a National Hero. BHAAG MILKHA BHAAG chronicles the life of Indian sprinter Milkha Singh from his childhood to achieving the iconic standing. The film takes you back in time when Milkha lost his family members during the partition and his rise to the celebrated status without any prescribed guidance or monetary backing. The film also encapsulates his attachment to his sister [Divya Dutta] and the woman he gave his heart to [Sonam Kapoor]. Also depicted in this 3-hour+ film are the conquests, the lows, the rise to splendor and distinction, the skilful attainment.

Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra has always been a very crafty director, right from AKS, Rang De Basanti & Dilli 6 have a mark of his own and this time with BMB he continues his legacy. Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra does a brilliant job in handling the movie and keeping it interesting till the end. The Balance of the stories may it be between Milkha & his first love Nirmal, Milkha & Stella (Australian Girl) Milkha & his Coach & Seniors & most importantly Milkha & his Sister Isri. Good Job !

Now, What do I say about Farhan Akhtar ! I don’t know what is it that he cannot do ?? Just like Milkha Singh was named “The Flying Sikh” Farhan Akhtar should be named SuperAkhtar. First he proved he can direct (Dil Chahta Hai) then he proved he can produce without doing anything else (Talaash), He can sing (Rock On), he can dance & write lyrics (Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara) and then went ahead and crossed all the limits by doing Milkha Singh in Bhaag Milkha Bhaag ! What a transition, amazing ! Even if you think about the hard work and training he might have gone through to portray the tough & physically demanding role of Milkha Singh its par excellence and at least a National Award contender. Anything said for Farhan Akhtar will be like showing a lamp to the Sun ! HATS OFF !

Sonam Kapoor unfortunately does not have much to do except a brief role of maximum 5 minutes screen presence and two songs. Especially seeing her a few weeks back in Raanjhnaa and now seeing her doing almost like a cameo is a little disappointing. But one thing is for sure slowly but steadily shes getting a foot firm in  the industry.

Divya Dutta has done such kind of roles before and has always been appreciated, this time too she does no mistake in playing a doting sister of Milkha Singh who is ready to sacrifice anything for him. The chemistry of a loving younger brother  and motherly elder sister is  a very special part in the movie.

Pawan Malhotra as Gurudev Singh his Junior coach, Yograj Singh as Indian Coach Ranveer Singh, Prakash Raj as Major are all instrumental characters in building the story and have all played their parts brilliantly.

The cinematography (Binod Pradhan) and the picturisation is excellent and gives you a feel of a very technically sound film, the dialogues(Prasoon Joshi) are good but could have been better, in a movie like this it is expected to hear some really motivating dialogues that live with you for a long time and may be some live for a lifetime, but somehow they fall short of expectation. The Music by Shankar Ehsaan Loy is good and builds up the story of the movie Mera Yaar, Hawan Karenge, Zinda Hai To, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag are all good songs and can be pleasurably heard.

On the whole if India has to send an Oscar nomination this year it has to be Bhaag Milkha Bhaag. BMB is a complete film, you cannot call it a masala entertainer but it still has all the ingredients required for you to leave the theatre satisfied. The only drawback of the movie is the length of the movie and secondly the multiple romantic tracks of Milkha Singh. If you havent watched it, do it and I am sure you will be glad you saw some quality cinemas

My Rating 4/5 (-1/2 for length (3hrs 8 mins) & -1/2 for love stories accompanied with useless songs)

 

 

 

GHANNNNNNNNCHAKAR !!!

What do you call a movie that should not be longer than 1 hour 30 minutes but is stretched to 2 hours 15 minutes ? the answer is simple its called GHANNNNNNNNNCHAKAR !

Ghanchakkar is a story of Sanjay (Emraan Hashmi) who along with his accomplices Pandit(Rajesh Sharma)& Idris(namit Das) steal a bank for Rs. 35 crore very easily and without any difficulties. They decide to share their profit 3 months later since they do not want to give any clues to Police about the money so they decide that Sanjay should keep the cas as he is the only one who owns a house and has a wife(Vidya Balan). 3 months later when Pandit calls Sanjay to share the money, Sanjay informs that he has lost his memory and does not remember anything about it. What follows is a long dragging story about Is Sanjay lying or he really lost his memory ? do they find the money or not ? who has the money ? And what happened to Sanjay ?

Ghanchakkar is a story where plot sounds like a international level content but miserably fails to deliver, a very different story but seems like the director just Raj Kumar Gupta wanted to show a lot but could not live upto it.

Emraan Hashmi plays Sanju a semi-Ghajini, if I may call him so, does a decent part in the second part with his frustration showing about the loss of his memory. In the first half he’s simple as a frustrated Marathi husband of a over the top Punjabi wife. On and all, though Emraan Hashmi has not done a superb job but he’s not bad either.

 

Vidya Balan plays an over the top Punjabi wife who is a total drama queen and lives the life according to Femina, Vogue & Elle Magazine. Vidya is too loud and after seeing her in roles like Kahani, Paa & No One Killed Jessica  the expectations are too high. But this time she fails to deliver, maybe the character she plays does not have much scope in the movie. Caution Vidya ! select your roles wisely like you always did, don’t over gamble.

Rajesh Sharma is a very seasoned actor and has wowed us by his various performances in Khosla Ka Ghosla, Love Shuv Te Chicken Khurana, Dirty Picture & Special 26 are the quite memorables one. As Panditji, Rajesh Sharma plays a pivotal character which is quite believable and par excellence. Panditji is a crook  but he is not those typical type of a crook he is something different. Full marks to Rajesh Sharma for playing Panditji.

Namit Das is too cute, although he’s playing  a grey shade but you can’t stop loving his cuteness and his comic shades. he needed this role badly after a great performance in Wake Up Sid and a passable performance in Lafangey Parindey. A few scenes are hilarious , like the whole bank loot is super funny especially with the funny masks of Amitabh Bachchan, Dharmendra & Utpal Dutt,one more  when they are on the dining table and Idris asks “yeh fried rice hai ?” another one when Idris is talking to Chanda on the phone and they play Doctor Doctor is a laugh riot.

On the whole with a story that could have been an engaging and twisty suspense thriller with a touch of humour, GHANCHAKKAR gets repetitive and boring after the four characters are introduced. Everything’s fine till Emraan, Rajesh and Namit pull off the heist, but soon after that Fizzzz the story goes for a toss and revolves around the same thing again and again. Ideally, the film should’ve become an edge of the seat thriller soon after the duo Pandit & Idris come back to take their share, but what follows is plain tedious repetitiveness. To make matters worse, the episodes are unexciting, forcefully funny and monotonous. Avoid or wait for it to come on some TV channel and watch it for Free … Don’t Spend !

My Rating 2/5 (1 for A good plot, which was eventually killed and 1 for a few funny moments here and there)