"Don't take me for Granted" (Movie Review:Wanted

Yes!!! He is back!!! Salman Khan is back and back with a bang!!!! Although I am not a huge fan of his but he does some amazing work in his new movie "Wanted". He is once again looking fit and fine with those eight pack abs. He creates a punch by delivering great punchlines, bashing all the goons, dances graciously matching the steps with Prabhudeva and makes a product which is perfectly entertaining for the masses. Above all, he does look like a action star. Now many would have a different opinions about Salman Khan and his movies but I would recommend them to watch this movie. The only thing I would suggest you is to keep your thinking cap at home. Secondly, for those who have seen the Tamil and/or Telugu versions, have nothing new in the Hindi version except you are a Salman Khan fan. I have seen the Telugu version starring Mahesh Babu and it was excellent and I have heard that the Tamil version was even better because of Superstar Vijay. Despite of this, I have liked this version only because of Salman Khan.

The story is pretty much the same old Bollywood pattern story where a fearless local goonda Radheya (Salman Khan) takes revenge by fighting with two villians Gani Bhai (Prakash Raj) and Inspector Talpade (Mahesh Manjrekar). Jhanvi (Ayesha Takia) is his love interest.

Now the story is not new and different but the treatment is certainly fresh and that makes the movie click. Prabhudeva has done an amazing job by sticking to South Indian style of film making which makes the movie interesting. Kudos to some of the South Indian movie makers in recent times like AR Murugadoss and Prabhudeva. Above all the songs are very much popular in the masses. My favourite number is "Love Me Love Me". The action sequences are excellent - very rough and tough (violent!!!).

Performances - Its Salman's film all the way. Prabhudeva did a good job of casting him. This role did not require histrionics from the actor but requires the macho look and fantastic dialogue delivery and in such cases Salman is apt. Ayesh Takia is there for typical song and dance routine. Mahesh Manjrekar is perfectly suited for the role. Only other actor who can suit in his role is Shakti Kapoor. So I won't say anything more. Vinod Khanna is okay. Manoj Pahwa hams in comic scenes. The only other actor who keeps on surprising me with every role of his is Prakashraj and this film is no exception. He is truly an exceptional actor. (Kanchivaram is on my "yet to be watched" list).

All the three versions of the movie are no different from each other and yet they are very entertaining. This version is a must watch for Salman fans. After a spate of flops, Salman Khan is back with a bang and definitely saying "Don't take me for Granted".....

Rating - 3.5/5 (Watch it for pure entertainment!!!)

Lifp and Ftammer tale!!!! (Movie Review: Kaminey)

Movies like "Love Aaj Kal", "Kambakkqth Ishq" or any Shahrukh or Salman movie are much awaited because of the star cast. The star power in these films have tremendous capability to pull the audiences to the theatres then let the story and screenplay go for a toss. But that is not the case with the movie "Kaminey". It also has a good star cast (good enough to pull the audiences in theatres for all at least a week). But I guess this movie was much awaited because of its director Vishal Bharadwaj. Look at "Makdee", "Maqbool", "Omkara", "Blue Umbrella" - fabulous movies. Undoubtedly, he is one of the fnest film makers in our country.

But I guess "Kaminey" will be an exception to his fantastic career.

Firstly, the story. Here it goes -

Charlie (Shahid Kapoor), who lisps and dreams of becoming a bookie, wants to earn money fast. In a chaotic situation, he finds a guitar which has illegal goods worth crores, which he plans to keep it for himself to sell it off further and earn money without realizing the fact that he may have to face fatal consequences.

Guddu (Shahid Kapoor) who stammers and dreams of leading a straight and simple life by forcibly (forced by situation) marrying his pregnant girlfriend (Priyanka Chopra) and doing social work, but falls in the trap of Sweety's brother Bhope Bhau (Amole Gupte) who is a goon as well as an aspiring politician.

Life turns around for them when Charlie's enemies take hold of Guddu and Guddu's enemies trap Charlie. You can watch the rest of the movie in the theatres.

Technically, Vishal's movies are brilliant and so is this film except the climax which could have been changed. The climax is quite unrealistic as compared to the realistic portions of the movie. The climax fumbled and that too badly. It was like watching a Priyadarshan directed darker climax which makes the film look stupid. Music is brilliant. All the numbers are fantastic. Apart from the good and the most popular tracks "Dhan Te Nan" and "Pehli Baar Mohabbat", my favourite number is the title track "Kaminey". Even the cinematograher has a done a good job.

Peformances - Shahid Kapoor has definitely given an award winning performance. He has performed both the roles perfectly especially, the role of Charlie, which is the character haveing a darker side. Above all lisping and stammering is difficult to enact. Priyanka is first rate. She has a very small role, but whenever she is on screen, she is fantastic. Amole Gupte, Chandan Roy Sehgal, Tenzing Nima, Shiv Subrahmanyam have given fantastic performances.

For me, the movie may not be equivalent to the director's earlier films but still a one time watch.!!!! Njoy!!!

Rating - 3/5

Jab we love and hate two Love stories!!! (Movie Review: Love Aaj Kal)

Movie: Love Aaj Kal

Director: Imtiaz Ali

Cast: Saif Ali Khan, Deepika Padukone, Rishi Kapoor, Rahul Khanna

Preview: A lot is riding on this movie as the expectations are high. The star cast is attractive. Saif Ali Khan (looking an inch closer to a fully wrinkled face) with a big female fan following (this time he is the producer too) and Deepika Padukone as usual looking gorgeous. Huge expectations riding on the shoulders of the director too after he was applauded for his last super hit "Jab We Met" (His first film "Socha Na tha" was also decent). So, "Jab We Met" had one love story to tell, "Love Aaj Kal" has two love stories in the foreground. So the million dollar question is "Is the movie good or is it plain hype?"

About the movie:

1st Love story - Jai (Saif Ali Khan) and Meera (Deepika Padukone) are modern day London resident couple who date each other, hang on for two years and decide to break up happily by throwing a break up party for pursuing their own careers. But they realize that they are in love once they break up until its a little late since Meera gets married to her boss and Jai gets his dream US job.

2nd Love story - Veer (Saif Ali Khan), a Sardar, falls in love with Harleen Kaur at the very first sight and keeps following her everyday. After the initial resistance, Harleen also falls in love with him. But they face resistance from her family until one day. But Veer and Harleen decide to marry each other against her parents wishes.

Strengths -

• Music is the biggest strength of this movie. I simply loved the numbers. My favourite of the lot is "Chor Bazaari" and "Yeh Dooriyan".
• The movie is definitely shot well at different locales. Excellent camera work.
• There are some brilliantly executed realistic scenes like the one where Jai gets his dream job. Initially, he looks very excited about the opportunity but later on loneliness creeps reminding him of the good times he had spent with Meera turning him into almost a psychic patient. Loneliness is one thing which has entered a lot many lives today and this was one well shot close to reality scene. The other good scene is Veer's clash with Harleen's family.

Weaknesses -

• Performances are weak. Especially, the one from Deepika. She looks gorgeous undoubtedly but acting is poor. Saif Ali Khan and Rishi Kapoor deliver decent performances but nothing remarkable. The new lady in the film looks beautiful but again far away from acting.
• Screenplay is weak certainly. The two stories don't run parellel. They are on two different tracks and keep crossing each other when not required. The modern day love story symbolises stupidity whereas the period love story potrays innocence. So not good enough to compare.
• Climax - The funny part is the modern day love story ends dramatically and the period love story ends abruptly leaving the audience clueless.

Overall Verdict: I would give a sort of mixed opinion because the movie is good in parts but fails in others. Its a kind of film which has two love stories which we will love at times as well as hate it simultaneously.

Rating - 2/5

Waste-your-waqt watching this Ishq (Movie Review: Kambakkht Ishq)

With a media reported budget of Rs. 90 Crores and a stellar cast of "Hit" Akshay Kumar and "Hardly had any hit" Kareena Kapoor, any idiot would have made a gem of the movie. But this idiot director makes a big mess of the movie. Allegedly, its inspired from Kamal Hassan's Tamil flick "Pammal K. Sambandam", although I have not seen the movie (so cannot comment on the same). Producer Sajid Nadiadwala's previous flick "Heyy Baby" was at least fun to watch once but this movie irritates you to the core. I came out of the auditorium only banging my head.

Instead of writing a regular review, I will give you six reasons for not watching this movie. Here you go....

1. Akshay Kumar's repetitive performance. Although, he is the only one who makes you laugh (occasionally) and is the only saving grace of the film (Hey Readers, please forgive me if this motivates you to watch the movie!!!). But at the end of the movie you feel that you have seen and heard it earlier.
2. Kareena Kapoor has 1000 expressions on her face at one time. Do you call it acting? At least, I don't. Although she looks good in the designer dresses.
3. Storyline - OMG!!! Simrita (Kareena), a model (Sorry!!! Supermodel) plus a surgeon and a female chauvinist , accidentally drops her alarm watch (which alarm? "Om Mangalam Bhagwaan"!!!) in Viraj's (Akshay Kumar) body (Viraj is a Hollywood Stuntman) while operating on him (Both the characters hate each other for almost 90% of the movie). The only repercussion is the alarm rings after every hour and even in an Oscar like event. Fearing her career would go for a toss, Simrita woos Viraj and in the end both of them fall in love with each other (I don't even feel like hiding the storyline).
4. The side characters - Javed Jaffery- was he funny or was he even related to the film's story? Aftaab Shivdasani - As usual looks helpless, Amrita Arora - gets farted on her face (in the movie, kiddos)!!!! Deserves a similar treatment for her acting, Kehkashan Patel - should never act, Kirron Kher - what a fantastic actor but what rubbish acting, Boman Irani - Cameos bring a refreshing change in a movie's storyline. But this man's cameo irritates you. Vindu Dara Singh - Papa Dara Singh, use your power, throw your son in a closet and never let him act.
5. Music - It has got two-three numbers which makes you dance but onscreen, they are wasted with 'apparently looks like already seen' locales and unattractive sets.
6. Last but not the least, the much hyped Hollywood starcast 1. Sylvester Stallone - He appears twice in the second half of the movie. Once in the Oscar like event, where our hero touches his feet for being the guru of action to seek his blessings (The scene was created only to impress Stallone; had no relation to the movie's story). Secondly, he appears in the climax scene where he walks alone on the streets of LA, fights with the goons saving our heroine and finally gets a kiss on the cheek by her, all this without a glimpse of Papparazzi. Come on media guys, where are you? The only good part was his punches remindedme of his "Rocky" days 2. Denise Richards - Surprisingly, she is the second leading lady of the film. She was never an actor in Hollywood and the same goes with Bollywood. 3. Brandon Routh - Just a 30 secs scene!!! That's it.

The only thing that has worked for the movie is its grand opening it has got worldwide. I will not be surprised if its a superhit. But please don't waste your waqt watching this Ishq!!!!!

Rating - 0.5/5 (Only for a few one liners from Akshay Kumar)

An Attempted Yorker!!!! (Movie Review: New York)

Movie - New York

Dir: Kabir Khan

Cast: John Abraham, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Katrina Kaif, Irrfan Khan

Preview:

After two months of strike, ban and eventual losses for the Multiplexes and the producers/distributors, Yashraj's latest film " New York" was stated to bring audiences back to the theatres and myself back to movie review writing. "New York" is Kabir Khan's second film after the critically acclaimed "Kabul Express". Like the first film, this film is also based on friendship with the backdrop of terrorism. It also assembles an unique cast (never tried before) in form of John Abraham, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Katrina Kaif and Irrfan Khan.

About the movie -

The movie starts with Omar (Neil Nitin Mukesh) who is picked on purpose for interrogation by FBI cop Roshan (Irrfan Khan) for carrying dangerous weapons. Disclosing his real intenetions, Roshan blackmails Omar to help the FBI in finding a concrete evidence against his old fast friend and now a suspected terrorist Samir Sheikh (John Abraham) or else he will be sent to prison. After the intial resistence and confident about his friend's innocence, Omar turns into an under cover agent and gets in touch with Samir and his wife and Omar's then love interest Maya (Katrina Kaif) to prove that Samir is innocent. Please watch the rest of the movie in the auditorium.

Applause-

- Very good performances from the lead cast. John and Neil do a good job, Katrina as usual looks gorgeous and Irrfan Khan is first rate (he gets the best of the dialogues)

- The music score is good especially the chartbuster "Hain Junoon"

- The first half is very fast and keeps the audience interested.

Disappontments -

- The biggest flaw of the movie is that it apparently looked very realistic but turned out to be very dramatic. Especially, the climax which is very unreal and unbelieveable.

- Although some scenes in the movie are realistically shot like the scene where the protagonist is detained and tortured for no reason and eveidence, they hit you hard on the face in an otherwise a fairly family viewable movie. Not at all for the weak hearted.

- The second half drags and makes it a boring affair.

Overall Verdict -

This movie had a lot of potential to knock you out for its storyline but in the end it turns out to be just "an attempted yorker". Nonetheless, it has a good box office opening and hopefully, it should bring loads of people to the theatres.

Rating - 2/5

Colourful Politics!!!! (Movie Review: Gulaal)

Movie: Gulaal

Dir: Anurag Kashyap

Cast: Kay Kay Menon, Aditya Srivastava, Abhimanyu Singh, Deepak Dobriyal, Mahie Gill and Ayesha Mohan

Preview - Anurag Kashyap's previous movies have been different till now. With a wide range of movies like 'DevD', 'Black Friday', 'No Smoking' and even the animated film 'Return of Hanumaan', he has given the viewers a chance to think and enjoy. 'No Smoking' was the only exception to this. But the other movies are fantastic. Reputation always carry the baggage of expectations and the expectations are huge from his latest political movie "Gulaal". With a talented star cast (especially Kay Kay Menon), the expectations were doubled.

About the movie - The story of the movie revolves around Dukey Bana (Kay Kay Menon) who is revolutionizing the Rajputana movement with an intention of having a seperate Rajputana state. One of the ways of doing it is to have the youth supporting him outrightly. Dileep (Raj Singh Choudhary), to pursue his Law Studies comes to Jaipur. On the very first day of his college, he gets ragged by Jadwal (Pankaj Jha), college student's head. He finds a friend in Rananjay Singh Ransa (Abhimanyu Singh) and the other ragging victim Anuja (Jesse Randhwa). Due to Ransa's aggressive and fearless behaviour, Dukey Bana influences Ransa to contest the college elections on the behalf of 'Rajputana' community against Kiran (Ayesha Mohan). Karan (Aditya Srivastava), Kiran's brother kills Ransa. Dukey Bana immediately picks Dileep, who is a subdued character, as the election candidate. Dileep wins the elections and befriends Kiran. Dileep eventually falls in love with Kiran but is unaware of the consequences. Please watch the rest of the movie on the screen.

Strength -

• Mindblowing performances from the entire cast. Kay Kay Menon is super fabulous and gives an award wining performance.
• The entire movie is fast paced and there is no single moment of boredom.
• The best part of the movie is the gripping climax.

Weaknesses -

• The language used in the film is abusive but that's expected out of realistic film.
• The folk music is good but may not appeal the masses.

Overall verdict -

General Elections are scheduled in the month of Apr-May and this movie is a must watch for all the potential voters since they will definitely learn one one thing in this movie i.e. colourful politics!!!

Rating - 4/5

13 See!!! (Movie Review:13B)

Movie: 13B

Director: Vikram K Kumar

Cast: R. Madhavan, Neetu Chandra, Poonam Dhillon and Sachin Khedekar

Preview: Yet another spooky affair in Indian Cinema from debutante director Vikram K Kumar starring R. Madhavan (last seen in 'Mumbai Meri Jaan') and Neetu Chandra. All about number 13 and the discussion and debate associated with it, 13B got famous because of its thrilling promos and of course the controversial number "Crazy Mama". 13B is expected to follow the footsteps of horror movies like "Bhoot" and "Raaz".

About the movie: Manohar (R.Madhavan) and his brother buys a big house numbered 13B in a big apartment which has a structure in the shape of alphabet "B" in the in-built playground, a cranky lift (only for Manohar), walls not ready to take the weight of a hook for placing God's photos and a blind neighbour with a blackdog. Manohar stays with his family that consists his wife, mother, elder brother, sister, sister in law, one nephew and one niece. All is fine, till things start getting awry for Manohar. The lift starts behaving abnormally and does not move when Manohar is in. His photos clicked on his new cell phone look wierd when he is at home, his "Bhagwaan ghar" is still under construction and most importantly characters in a soap opera on Channel 13 exactly replicate the characters in his family. Manohar feels the unusual and unseen force and attempts to unlock the code.

Strengths -

• The story and screenplay spooks you more than the background scores
• R.Madhavan's performance is amazing.
• The mystery is kept till the climax and unfolded perfectly.

Weaknesses -

• Songs were absolutely unnecessary.
• There were some scenes in the movie which required logic.
• The pre-interval portions are a bit slow.

Overall verdict - I won't say that this movie will not scare or spook you completely like the Hollywood greats "The Exorcist"or "The Grudge series" but at the end of the day, its good entertaining thriller. In my opinion, 13B is 13 must see!!!!

Rating - 3/5

Jai Shri Krishna and Sudama!!! (Movie Review: Billu Barber)

Movie: Billu Barber

Director: Priyadarshan

Cast: Shahrukh Khan, Irfann Khan and Lara Dutta

Preview: SRK teams up for the first time with director Priyadarshan. Loads of hype and marketing gimmicks had created the required curiousity in a viewers mind. Inspired by Malayalam movie "Kadha Parayumbol" starring Mammootty, Tamil version "Kuselan" & Telugu version "Katha Nayakudu" starring Rajnikant, the movie is based on the age old story of Bhagwan Krishna and Sudama. The film promises lots of entertainment with three trendy numbers starring Kareena Kapoor, Deepika Padukone and Priyanka Chopra.

About the movie - As mentioned earlier, the movie is inspired by the tale of Bhagwan Krishna and Sudama where Sudama's role is played by Irfann Khan and Bhagwan Krishna's role is played by SRK. Billu Billas Pardesi (Irfann Khan) stays in village named "Budbuda" along with wife Bindiya (Lara Dutta) and two kids. He is barber by profession who has a small shop in the village which is on the verge of bankruptcy forced end. One day, Sahir Khan (SRK), the badshah of Bollywood requests his producer and director to shoot his movie in the very same village. People standing in line to meet Sahir Khan, start licking Billu's feet when they came to know that Sahir and Billu were childhood friends. The fact brings relief to Bindiya and kids but creates big problems in Billu's life.

Strengths -

• Irfann Khan and Lara Dutta give an honest performance.
• Last 15-20 minutes are the best portions of the movie. SRK performs well.
• Music is really peppy. Both the versions of "Khudaya Khair" are my favourite numbers.

Weaknesses -

• Although, the end is interesting, the post interval portions are bit slow.
• The character roles are irritating especially Rajpal Yadav.
• Although, the three songs are shot well except "Marjaani" but they are big hindrance to the plot.
• Audiences who have seen the original and remade versions may find the movie extremely boring.

Overall verdict -

The tale of Bhagwan Krishna and Sudama works well and director Priyadarshan does a great job in handling one talented actor and the other superstar by telling a simple tale. The movie will definitely work for SRK fans which is huge and for all those who believe in friendship. Jai Shri Krishna and Sudama!!!!.

Rating - 2.5/5

Luckily good enough!!! (Movie Review: Luck by Chance)

Movie - Luck By Chance

Director - Zoya Akhtar (Debut)

Cast - Farhan Akhtar, Konkona Sen Sharma, Rishi Kapoor, Dimple Kapadia, Juhi Chawla, Sanjay Kapoor, Isha Sharvani and Hrithik Roshan.

Preview - Javed Akhtar's daughter and Farhan Akhtar's sister Zoya Akhtar makes her directorial debut "Luck By Chance" which was one of the most awaited films for last 5 years or otherwise. The movie also stars Farhan Akhtar who achieved great heights with his debut movie "Rock On". It boasts of a huge starcast something which only the other women director in the film industry Farah Khan does quite proficiently. And above all , it has Hrithik Roshan. Too many expectations!!!!

About the movie - The movie takes on the dark and real side of Hindi Film Industry. Behind the world of glamour and money, there is another world which is fiercely competitive and dark that somebody's aspirations are fulfilled and others meet the dust. Its a story of two struggling actors Vikram (Farhan Akhtar) and Sona (Konkona Sen Sharma) , one of whom luckily and instantly becomes a movie star and the other one unluckily, struggles in the film industry despite spending considerable time. Its a story of veteran director and producer Rommy Rolly (Rishi Kapoor), who casts the best actor in the industry Zafar Khan (Hrithik Roshan) and verteran actress Neena's (Dimple Kapadia) daughter Nikki (Isha Sharvani) to make a blockbuster. But Zafar backs out and Vikram gets a chance (again thanks to his luck).

Strengths -

• Performances by the lead actors and Rishi Kapoor is amazing.
• Zoya Akhtar is one promising talent. I am looking forward to her future movies.
• Star cameos are really special. You spend 100-300 bucks and you get to see all the movie stars (paisa vasool!). SRK gets the best and the most realistic dialogue in the film.

Weaknesses -

• Complex and half baked character of Hrithik Roshan. You expect a lot from Hrithik Roshan.
• The ending of the movie is something which I guess will confuse even the multiplex audience. Poor Masses!!!
• Music score by Shankar Ehsaan Loy.

Overall Verdict - For the people who are in awe of the film industry will find this movie very good and for those who are not, the movie is luckily good enough.

Rating - 3.5/5

Na Raaz!!!! (Movie Review - Raaz - The Mystery contnues!!)

Movie - Raaz - The Mystery Continues!! (RTMC)

Dir - Mohit Suri

Cast - Emraan Hashmi, Kangana Ranaut, Adhyanan Suman, Jackie Shroff

Preview - Yet another movie from Mukesh Bhatt production in the horror genre, RTMC is the second part of the series 'Raaz' which had Dino Morea and Bipasha Basu in the first part. The movie was already hyped because of the melodious songs and scary promos. Kangana's performance was considered to be the highlight of the film.

About the movie - A painter named Prithvi (Emraan Hashmi) has gory visions of Nandita (Kangana Ranaut) lying in the pool of blood which he ultimately converts it into painting. Prithvi has not even met her once. But once he comes to know about her existence, he tries to caution her by showing the painting. Nandita doesn't believe him first. but once she starts feeling the spirit, she along with Prithvi embark on the journey to unlock the mystery.

Strengths -

• Thrilling first half.
• Music is smooth on ears. My favourite track is "Soniyo"
• Special effects in the film are at par with Hollywood except for the pre-climax scene (the bull fight scene).
• Performances are excellent especially by Kangana and Emraan.

Weaknesses -

• First and foremost, one fails to understand why is the spirit behind Nandita and the mystery continues even after you leave the cinema hall.
• The climax is very ordinary and filmy.
• Last but not the least - the movie does not scare you at all. Apart from then normal background sound effects, there is nothing much that elevates your heart beat. After watching Hollywood Horror flicks like the 'Grudge' series and the 'Exorcist' series, the movie does not have much impact.

Overall verdict - I went in the auditorium with loads of expectations and with an approach to disclose all the raaz's but I am came out disappointed and NaRaaz!!!!

Rating - 2/5

Lock kiya Jaaye!!!! (Movie Review: Slumdog Millionaire

Movie - Slumdog Millionaire
Director - Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, Beach, 28 Days Later)
Cast - Dev Patel, Freida Pinto, Irfan Khan, Saurabh Shukla and Anil Kapoor










Preview - Based on Vikas Swarup's novel "Q & A", the movie has already created the required hype in the market by bagging four golden globe awards and ten Oscar nominations. For the first time, musical genius A.R.Rahman has bagged a few nominations which has doubled the excitement. Mera Bharat Mahaan for having a genius like A.R.Rahman!!!

About the movie - Its the story of a slum boy who wins Q & A competition ("Who wants to be a millionaire?" or the Hindi Version "Kaun Banega Crorepati") and becomes a millionaire overnight. How? As said in the begining of the movie - He knows all the answers and has adequate luck. Based on Vikaas Swarup's novel "Q & A", its about the life of two brothers living in slums of Mumbai and the path they choose in life where one of them ends as a gangster and the other to find the love of his life ends up being a millionaire.

Strenghts -

• Technically, the film is brilliant. Out of the lot, camera work is breathtaking.
• A.R. Rehman's music is good but not exceptional (certainly not worth of Oscar nomination. his other compositions in other movies are far better).
• Overall great performances. Especially the kids from the slums. They are outstanding. Anil Kapoor and Irfan Khan do well in their parts. Dev Patel has an interesting character to play and he excels to the core. Freida Pinto is good but she is hardly there.

Weaknesses - People who don't believe in faith and destiny will have difficult time digesting this movie.

Overall Verdict - This movie has a perfect blend of all masala and spices which are required to make a movie hit. All the answers are perfect and correct. Lock kiya jaaye!!!!

Rating - 4/5

Boneless (Chandni Cowk to) China!!!!! (Movie Review: Chandni Chowk to China)

Akshay Kumar's movies fall into the bracket of mindless and illogical yet entertaining movies. His latest flick "Chandni Chowk to China" is no exception. Same old hype was created to steal the thunder from the latest Khan flicks. A 'rap number from Akshay Kumar', 'Akshay Kumar first Kung Fu movie' and 'Deepika Padukone's first movie with AK' were the special ingredients for the promotion of this movie. AK's movies are always special because it churns out tremendous amount of money from the audiences. Come what may, he rules the box office. Akshay Kumar is certainly new king of Bollywood. All these thoughts were imprinted in my mind when I entered the auditorium.

When I came out of the auditorium, I was the happiest man in the world. The only thing in my mind was 'Finally, I am out of the theatre!!!!'. It is one of the most pathetic movies I have ever seen after "Tashan" (which co-incidentally starred Akshay Kumar as well). It was like - I can't bear this kind of torture any more. I usually carry some kind of message after watching every movie. This movie also gave me a good message - "Don't watch pathetic movies". The only saviour of the movie - Akshay Kumar also must have got a good message - Don't act in pathetic movies.

The movie starts with the rise and end of Chinese warrior Liu Sheng who fights bad men. (Venue - Great Wall of China). So obviously, the nearby villagers worship him a lot. With his end, there is one man named Hojo (Gordon Liu) who is basically a smuggler and tortures the village. His tyrant approach is leading to slavery and poverty. Out of frustration and fear, two villagers manage to escape to find the reincarnation of Liu Sheng. They somehow identify the reincarnation in the form of Delhi Dhabewala Sidhu (Akshay Kumar) who is looking out for luck to achieve success. The chinese villagers with the help of cunning Chopstick (Ranvir Shoerey), who is roadside Indo-Chinese Astrologer, convinces Sidhu that he is a reincarnation of Liu Sheng and take him to China. He goes there thinking that he will get everything he wishes for since he is the king. When Hojo comes to know about this, he kills Sidhu's Dada (Mithun Chakraborty). Thus the revenge forms the rest of the story.

Weak Direction, Weak Screenplay and weak picturization. The director ends up making fun of China and chinese people. Above all, the China over here is restricted to Great Wall of China. Comedy gets a bit vulgar too especially the "iron man" jokes. (Strictly not recommended for a child's ear). The background score is too loud. The climax sequence which should have been the high point of the movie turns out to be the weakest link. You expect Jackie Chan type Martial Arts Action and you end up getting Veeru Devgan/ Ram Shetty kind of action. The only action sequence where Deepika fights pre-interval is something to watch out for. She fights better than Akshay Kumar which is somewhat hard to believe. Overall, music is fine. 2-3 songs are good, like the title track and the Chinese umbrella somg "Ter Naina" (good on ears but hurts your eyes). My favourite pick is the rap number by Akshay Kumar which ends the movie (not worth waiting for).

Deepika is strictly okay. Second time in a double role. A bit too much!!! Above all, her story track is entirely different which unnecessary elongates the movie. Most importantly, she can't act though she looks gorgeous. Ranvir Shoerey is purely wasted. Gordon Liu is one of the worst villians I have seen till now. Mithun was good in a short role for a change.

The movie was made keeping Akshay in mind. The comic sense, the action and the romance was tailor made for him. Its only because of Akshay Kumar, this movie is bearable. Otherwise, I will repeat, the movie is pathetic.

The director should take good care while making movies in future because a lot of money is riding on the back of Producers, Financiers and Distributors especially if its a Akshay Kumar movie. What a waste of all facilities he got? I had heard of Bone China products which are very brittle. This movie is even a worse case - Boneless China!!!!

Rating - 1/5

A perfect less Ghajini (Movie Review: Ghajini)

Aamir Khan went through extensive and rigorous physical training to build up six/eight pack abs. Once the job was done, it was time to emote in front of camera. The emotions were shown in front of camera and then the pre-production work. The only thing left was promoting the product. Aamir Khan left no stone unturned. Here comes the biggest film of the year - "Ghajini".

'Aamir Khan is back with a bang!' At least, this is what everyone is saying till now. Will it leave to the hype and expectations? Well. no point answering the question. 'Ghajini' has already been declared as an outstanding success by the trade pundits after referring to first week's collections.

But the big question is - how is the movie? Till now, I have heard a mixed feedback. I saw the film with two things constantly nagging my mind. Number one, I had already seen the Tamil version with subtitles and had liked it - so the expectation matching factor continuously making me compare both the versions and secondly, will Aamir Khan be a suitable replacement for the lead Surya in the original version.

Ghajini (Hindi) has almost all the characters of the original version except Aamir Khan and Jiah Khan. Even the director A.R.Murugadoss remians the same. The story involves around Sanjay Singhania (Aamir Khan), then a business tycoon now a short term memory loss patient who forgets everything after 15 minutes. Only thing he remembers is someone hitting him with an iron rod and his dying girlfriend Kalpana (Asin) whispering in his ear 'Ghajini'. With this defect, he starts his mission of finding Ghajini and killing him. Plot is certainly interesting!!!

Technically, the movie is awesome. The 3+ hours are definitely engaging for a new viewer as well as for the ones who have seen the original version, the last 1/2 hour has been changed. So ediitng is perfect. Action sequences are typical southern movies style. Twisting of heads by a normal or an abnormal human being is a bit too much. But in the end, they are entertaining. Some may complain for the amount of voilence but lets forgive them for being weak hearted. Music by AR Rahman is good. "Guzarish" and "Behka" are the popular tracks but my favourite track is "Kaise Mujhe". Choreography by Ahmed Khan is good in the song "Behka". Dialogues lack intensity which could have made the movie much much better.

Performances - Asin makes a perfect debut. She is the only relief in otherwise intense and dramatic thriller. Her comic timing is very good. The only disappointing part is she had to perform the same role that she performed in the original version. Jiah Khan performs her part which doesn't require her much to do. The villian 'Ghajini' is performed by Pradeep Rawat who does a good job and actually looks like a villian of a typical mainstream cinema.

Now, Aamir Khan. No doubt, he is an excellent actor and I am one of his biggest fans. He does a decent job. But I felt, he went a bit over the top which was actually not required. Surya (Tamil version) did a better job than Aamir. Aamir Khan screams and grunts to scare the villian which looks too much. He performs the action sequences perfectly. I guess I expect so much from Aamir Khan that I can't see an average performance from him.

Above all, a thing to admire is his six/eight pack abs. It is one thing which is a positive trend for all the fan following and will beat all the Khans of Bollywood.

Mr. Perfectionist - celebrate the success of Ghajini. But next time please make a perfect movie like you did in the past with "Lagaan" and "Taare Zameen Par" and unlike a perfect less yet successful 'Ghajini'.

Rating 2.5/5

A Common man's fairy tale (Movie Review: Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi)

Every SRK Film comes with a huge hype. Whether that's 'Om Shanti Om' or 'Chak De' or any of his other films. But that film preview becomes extra special when it is a Yashraj Film. Expectations are huge. They may not essentially be good movies but definitely top-grossers at the box-office. Yashraj's latest venture "Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi" is one such movie which has created waves prior to its opening. The movie is extra extra special because its directed by Aditya Chopra whose first venture DDLJ is acclaimed as the biggest box office hit. So again - the expectations are huge. Therefore the billion dollar question (literally for the financiers and distributors of the movie) is - Does this movie live up to the expectations and hype?

To put it in the simplest way, the movie has all the ingredients to make a super hit. It has SRK, then newbie Anushka, decent music including a tribute to Raj Kapoor, Dev Anand, Shammi Kapoor, Rajesh Khanna and Rishi Kapoor (Mr. Bachchan missing!!!! ;)) with arguably top 5 Bollywood heroines, typical Yashraj romantic vibes, typical Yashraj climax and most importantly SRK's antics in the Ending credits.

Surinder Sahni (SRK), a common man working in a company named 'Punjab Power', who always wears a plain bland shirts and trousers and permanently fixated Reebok Shoes, who is extremely shy to talk to girls and essentially an introvert (no family seen surprisingly in a Yashraj Film), falls in love with his Guruji's daughter Taani (Anushka Sharma) on her wedding day. But her bride and baraat dies in an accident and her father suffers a heart attack. Before dying and with no option left, he asks both of them to marry each other. Thus they start on a rough note. But the bride promises the bridegroom to perform all the duties of a wife (sorry 'achchi biwi') but it will be devoid of love. So SRK along with his best friend and hair stylist Bobby(Vinay Pathak), rejuvenates himself into hip and happening and of course cheap, yet the trademark Raj (SRK). Raj joins Taani in a dance competition (with Taani not recognising him - unbelievable) and tries to win her heart and make her happy. But after that there are lot many confusions which makes the movie interesting for some people and boring for the others. So watch the rest of the movie in theaters.

Technically the movie is good. The music is decent enough to make it bearable. My favourite track is 'Haule Haule' which keeps buzzing in your ears every now and then. Its far far better than the other track 'Tujhme rab dikhta hein' which runs throughout the pre-climax and climax and gets a little bit annoying. Dialogues suit the movies plot. Screenplay is perfect. Editing could have been tighter. The wrestling scene in the second half is too much for the audiences logic to handle in nearly 3 hours.

Performances - It is SRK's film undoubtedly. SRK as Surinder Sahni is excellent. It is one of the best performances of SRK till now. The ending credits are the best. SRK is real fun to watch. But the other part of SRK i.e. Raj goes over the top and hams in typical SRK style. Debutante Anushka Sharma is confident and her screen presence is wonderful. She dances well too. Vinay Pathak is strictly okay.

For SRK fans, this movie is a must. For the rest, the movie is good enough to watch. Take your family and friends, have a bucket of popcorn and enjoy the common man's fairy tale!!!

Rating - 3/5

Positively Fashionable (Movie Review: Fashion)

After a very good and successful movie like "Page 3" and after a depressing and unsuccessful movie like "Corporate", National Award wining director Madhur Bhandarkar has completed the triology with his latest venture "Fashion" starring Priyanka Chopra, Kangana Ranaut and debutante Mughda Godse. Priyanka Chopra has lot to prove this year since all her releases this year have bombed at the box offices. Above all, a lot of hype has been created about this movie by the media. But will it live up to the expectations of the people and the hype created by media?

With no surprises, the movie is indeed very good. The movie has a different plot and is typically presented in Madhur Bhandarkar style. As soon as you start watching the movie, you will feel some kind resemblance to his earlier movies in the trilogy. The best part is, unlike "Corporate", he has understood the Fashion world this time and that's the reason, the presentation is far more better than "Corporate".

Fashion is the story of a small town girl's journey in the Fashion World. After winning a local beauty contest, Meghana Mathur (Priyanka Chopra) aspires to become a model (Sorry! Supermodel). So she comes to Mumbai which is "the" place for aspiring Fashion models. With loads of positive attitude and with the help of a few quickly connected friends - to mention one Janet (Mugdha Godse) and others - she enters the world of fashion. Her aim is to be a big supermodel and replace the "Showstopper" model Shonali Gujral (Kangana Ranaut). She meets the big daddy of Fashion world Abhijit Sarin (Arbaaz Khan) and very soon she succeeds to replace Shonali. She becomes the next showstopper and achieves success in quick time. But every 'up' is followed by a big 'down'. Watch the rest of the movie in the theatres.

Technically, an excellent movie. The movie doesn't drag anywhere but still is so long that you yawn at least once. So editing could have been better. But the rest of crew is perfect. The dialogues play a measure role and they fit every character properly. Music is brilliant. Apart from the popular tracks, the other tracks are also good on ears. The director in this movie needs to be give a huge round of applause. He has handled the famous wardrobe malfunctioning incident, fashion world's exposure to illegal activities and evergoing "Made in Malaysia" tag label controversy very well.

As far as performaces are concerned, from start to end it is Priyanka's movie. She has well fitted into the role and this time the expressions are dead right. Watch her in the breakdown scene in the second half. She is fabulous. I guess her modelling experience could have made her perform well in this movie. Kangana Ranaut does what she is best at. I guess she has mastered the art of acting and looking like a psycho. But she performs nicely. Mugdha Godse makes a confident debut. Samir Soni does a good job. Arbaaz Khan is perfect. Kittu Gidwani also does a decent job. Harsh Chhaya acts well.

What I don't like about Madhur Bhandarkar movies is the ending which is usually very depressing. In this case, he doesn't disappoint totally. But the movie remarkably well-made! Go watch it!

Rating - 3.5/5

Fun Returns!!! (Movie Review: Golmaal Returns!!!)

Everybody had well accepted the fact the film "Golmaal : Fun Unlimited" was a good comedy movie. Keep your brains aside, have a bucket of popcorn to munch and laugh till your stomach pains. This was the recipe of the original version. The starcast of the original film was even more interesting. It had Ajay Devgan, Arshad Warsi, Sharman Joshi, Tushar Kapoor and Paresh Rawal. All of them tickled the audience's funny bone especially Tushar Kapoor and Sharman Joshi. The movie hardly had any story to describe. Despite of this, it went on to become a huge hit and the trademark title song is still played as a good and peppy dance number. So was there any need for a sequel?

Who wants to answer that? This Golmaal version "Golmaal Returns" follows the same recipe although it may not be as good as the original one. It also has a few more characters which one may feel it as unnecessary. So this time we see exit of Sharman Joshi and entry of Shreyas Talpade. the other characters are Kareena Kapoor, Celina Jaitley, Amrita Arora and Anjana Sukhani. But its defnitely not less on the laughter content. Despite of the flaw in earlier version, it has got some story going over here till you realise, the story is just a backdrop. Mainly it is all about comedy of errors.

Golmaal Returns is about a married couple - Gopaal (Ajay Devgan) and Ekta (Kareena Kapoor), the former one working in fishery company, has continuous fights with one of his colleague Subodh Mehra (Sanjay Mishra) and the later being a suspicious wife and a die-hard fan of Ekta Kapoor Balaji Telefilms Serials. One evening, Gopaal returning home meets Meera (Celina Jaitley) and spends an entire night with her in a yacht due to unavoidable circumstances. On the very same night, Subodh Mehra's dead body is found on the city streets. Next day he lies to Ekta saying he spent the entire night with one of old friend Anthony Gonsalves and gives her a fake address of his friend. To confirm the statement, Ekta writes a letter to Anthony Gonsalves and posts it on the fake address. Once Gopaal coems to know about the letter, he hires a person named Laxman Prasad Apte (Shreyas Talpade) and presents him as Anthony Gonsalves in front of Ekta. Ekta gets convinced but the real problem starts when the real Anthony Gonsalves comes in the frame and Gopaal is declared as a suspect for Subodh Mehra's murder. Find out the rest of the story in the auditorium.

The movie is well directed and does not drag anywhere except for a few sequences in the second half. Director Rohit Shetty does a good job. Music by Pritam is foot tapping but don't know from where he has copied the tunes this time. But the songs in the original version were much better. Dialogues have played an important role in the film especially the dialogues said by Tushar Kapoor (Just kidding!). Overall, technically a good job!

Perfromances - Ajay Devgan is indeed likeable. He cracks a few good jokes in between. Kareena Kapoor is strictly okay. Celina Jaitley is also good but tries hard to get a South Indian accent. The other two girls have nothing special to do. Arshad Warsi hardly gets anything to do this time. Talent like him is wasted in this movie. Shreyas Talpade has done a really good job. He has a good comic sense and it reflects on screen. But the best of the lot is yet again Tushar Kapoor. If in first part, he was better than in this part he is the best. The movie becomes highly entertaining because of him. So please Tushar - don't open your mouth!!!

Golmaal Returns is a good entertaining movie and I am sure its gonna ring the box office counters like the old one. Only caution is "Watch it without brains"!!!

Rating - 3/5

Top 5 over-hyped duds in Indian Cinema!!!!

Indian Cinema has evolved tremendously over the years! Gone are the years where a director use to create a movie, do a little bit of promotion here and there and leave it for the audience to judge whether its good or bad. Nowadays, Marketing and promotion are on such a high that movies can be super-duper hits just on the basis of promotion. So they will introduce hot and raunchy item numbers to pull crowds (courtesy Rakhi Sawant and gang), create merchandise saleable items which are extremely popular among children (Krissh) and the ever favourites Audio CD's, Video CD with full songs, Video CD with the entire movie and finally the DVD's with uncut and uncensored scenes, alternate endings blah-blah-blah. Above all there are rigged controversies and the promotion done by the super duper stars. All this creates a big hype around the movie which attracts the audience to hit the theatres and watch the film at least once. Paisa Vasool (for the makers of the movie)!!!! But all these movie may not necessarily be good movies. So this week I plan to rank 5 of those hindi movies which were over hyped but went on to become super duds. Starting with -


No.5 - Jhoom Barabar Jhoom
I got free tickets for this movie and the movie wasn't even worth watching for free. With super duper starcast comprising Amitabh Bachchan (cameo), Abhishek Bachchan, Bobby Deol, Preity Zinta and Lara Dutta, this movie at the very first place lacked a very important aspect of movie-making i.e. good story. Above all the screenplay was bad too. And the performances were worst. Director Shaad Ali third creation after "Saathiya" and "Bunty and Babli" went on to be an absolute borer. Yashraj's one of the worst movie till date.


No.4 - Tashan
If Yashraj is known for making awesome entertainers, then this movie will negate the fact. Again a multi-starrer movie starring Akshay Kumar, Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor and Anil Kapoor. I yawned throughout the movie although I liked Akshay Kumar for his brilliant comic timing. The rest of the cast hammed perfectly. Debutante Director Vijay Acharya should have chosen some other plot as his launch vehicle. Crores spent on costumes, sets and most importantly the actors, all went on to be a big pile of waste and the movie was declared as an all time dud.


No.3 - Cash
Multi starrer movies are I guess the most hyped ones. Cash is no exception. Lots of money spent on special effects, animation, broadly on action sequences, this movie had a good starcast. To name a few, it included Ajay Devgan, Zayed Khan, Riteish Deshmukh, Sunil Shetty, Esha Deol, Shamita Shetty, Ayesh Takia. It had one of tackiest dialogues I have ever heard in my life. It lacked everything. Even the money spent on Action sequences turned to be futile. Director Anubhav Sinha known for another multi starrer "Dus" prior to this film, must be banging his head now. He shouldn't have released it at all.

No.2 - Drona
Starcast comprising Abhishek Bachchan, Priyanka Chopra, Jaya Bachchan and Kay Kay Menon, this movie was slated to be this years biggest Hindi movies for the following reasons -
1. A super hero movie - No! No! Mr. Junior Bachchan, you don't look like a superhero!!!
2. Special Effects - which were good but not as good as Hollywood.
3. Performances - Crap!!!
The only saving grace was Priyanka Chopra not because of her acting skills but because of her action skills. Many trade pundits claim her to be Lara Croft of Indian Cinema. The movie lacked a good screen play. Director Goldie Behl should put on his thinking cap and think of a good movie to save his sluggish career. Another movie where I practised my yawning skills to the core.

No.1 - RGV Ki Aag
Complete Torture!!!! If Sholay is my all time favourite, its remake is the worst movie I have ever seen and I am sure many would agree with me. Again a good starcast of Amitabh Bachchan as Babban Singh, Mohanlal as Inspector Narsimha, Ajay Devgan as Heero, Prashanth Raj as Raj, Nisha Kothari as Ghungroo and Sushmita Sen as Durga Devi, this movie could have been a good movie, if not as good as the original. But this was an absolute disaster. What were stalwarts like Amitabh Bachchan, Mohanlal, Ajay Devgan and Ram Gopal Varma thinking when they made this movie? I felt like I am insulting the original by watching this crap remake. Mr. Bachchan was the worst actor in the movie. He hammed to the core. He definitely insulted the original. A srong recommendation - keep your headache pills aside because thsi movie is undoubtedly a head ache.

So this is the list! If you have any other Hindi movie to add, please mention it in the comments box. I will be glad to read it. NJOY!!!!!

Top 5 Favourite Hindi Movies!!!

The 5 movies I am mentioning are my Top 5 favourite Hindi movies. These movies are real stress busters for me. I can pick the DVD's anytime and watch them. These movies may not necessarily be liked by the others but I have my own reasons to like them. These movies have made a long lasting impression on my mind.

Countdown

5th - Golmaal (Old) (1979) - starring Amol Palekar, Bindya Goswami and Utpal Dutt

If there is one phrase which will describe this movie then that is "Simplistic comedy". The movie was directed by the genius "Hrishikesh Mukherjee". The year saw many hits in the form of "The Great Gambler", "Sargam", "Mr.Natwarlal" etc. But somehow, this was the movie of the year. Amol Palekar bagged the Filmfare Award for Best Actor for this movie. Indeed, he acted brilliantly. Bindiya Goswami played her part well too. But the outstanding act was by Utpal Dutt. I remember the characters name as well - Ram Prasad Sharma, Dashrath Prasad Sharma and Bhawani Shanker. A complete laugh riot!!!!

4th - Andaaz Apna Apna starring Aamir Khan, Salman Khan, Ravina Tandon, Karisma Kapur, Shakti Kapoor and Paresh Rawal

You can't stop laughing watching this movie and many would agree with me. If there was a complete comedy movie right from start to end then it is this movie. The chemistry between both the leads is amazing and I wonder why they are not casted again. This movie was released in the year 1994. The movie was not a box office hit but I am sure the producers would have mint the money by selling the DVD's and Television rights. This is indeed the best comedy movie I have ever seen and I can still watch it umpteen times. Go and grab the DVD if you haven't watched it yet. Two of the most interesting characters in the movie were 'Crime Master Gogo' played by Shakti Kapoor and 'Robert' played by Viju Khote. The movi was directed by Rajkumar Santoshi.

3rd - Lagaan (2001) starring Aamir Khan, Gracy Singh

This is the first movie Aamir Khan had produced and it is the second movie that made it to Oscar nominations. The movie was an outstanding success only because of one surprise factor i.e. Cricket. Nobody thought or even dared to show Cricket Match on screen and in a country like India where Cricket is everyone's second religion, this movie was sure shot hit. The director of this movie Ashutosh Gowariker had made this movie with a particular vision and it clicked with the audiences. Great performances by everyone including the actor who performed the character of Captain Russell. Breathtaking movie!!!!

2nd - Taare Zameen Par (2007) starring Darsheel Safary and Aamir Khan

This is one movie which brought to tears to my eyes. Not only me but everyone sitting around me wear into tears watching this movie. The movie is about a dyslexic child and the challenges he faces when exposed to the outer world. The movie was directed by debutante director and successful actor Aamir Khan. The performances are amazing especially by Darsheel Safary. This movie has been selected as an Indian entry to Oscars and hopefully this time it should win it. In short, its the best movie in recent times.

1st - Sholay (1975) starring Sanjeev Kumar, Amitabh Bachchan, Dharmendra, Hema Malini, Jaya Bhaduri and Amjad Khan

There will be so many movies which will be released till I die, but one movie which I would die to watch again and again is Sholay. Its a true multi-starrer movie. Directed by Ramesh Sippy, its one of the biggest box office hits. Many didn't knew that Sholay opened to a lukewarm response and it picked up after the first week. You will remember the characters forever. Right from Jailer, Surma Bhopali, Ahmed, Imaam Sahab, Kalia, Sambha to Jai-Veeru, Thakur, Basanti, Radha and most importantly Gabbar Singh. Unfortunately, this movie earned only won one award for Best Editing. The other contenders were "Aandhi" and "Deewar" which sweeped away all the awards that year.

Now that I have mentioned my Top 5 Favourite Movies, I would like to know yours. Please post in your 5 Favourite Movies in the comments. Looking forward to reading them. NJOY!!!!

More Fun!!!!

Long time, No posts!!! Actually, the plan was to take a break and start writing movie reviews again. But I have a different plan now. I am not going to write Movie Reviews till the time I feel like writing. Reason - Movie Review process was getting a little mundane, mechanical, routine and most importantly expensive.

But writing is a bit of compulsion for me and that too about movies is a must. So I thought why not make Movie or Movie-related events Reviews a bit interesting? So from this week every Friday, I am going to take a view on my personal liked or disliked movies or stars or events or happenings etc. This way I will go back and refresh my cinema experience and above all, will be to share my thoughts about my hobby and passion.

This does not mean I will stop writing Movie Reviews. It has given me huge confidence as to my writing skills. So expect a lot more Movie Reviews and fun!!!!!! Last and but not the least, the write ups are for your entertainment. So I would say only one thing - NJOY!!!!!

Welcome Sajjanpur only once (Movie Review: Welcome to Sajjanpur)

Over the years, I have seen, understood, interpreted, communicated and the various things which keeps my mind busy (not necessarily in the same order) about social, political, psychological, emotional, religious etc. topics. I have found myself and the others debating finding no solution or a defnite end for the same.

Especially when the topics revolve around the state like India, the discussion goes on and on and on. But at the end of all these discussions, I have realised that these discussions never end. There are no solutions. There is no end. For example, political topics like elections, bad leader and good leader, an enuch leader, a lady leader, corruption OR a social topics like life of a widower, superstitions OR psychological topics like psyche of a struggling author or an Eunuch or, a wife whose husband is away from her for four years OR emotional topics like a love story between two childhood friends or between a widower and a compounder OR regional topics like the Hindu-Muslim fight. These topics have no permanent solutions or a definite end.

All these topics, when they come under one roof (i.e. village called Sajjanpur - I guess it must be in Madhya Pradesh due to its dialect), the house is named "Welcome to Sajjanpur". The movie displays a perspective on all the topics already mentioned but does not commit the mistake of getting preachy.Director Shyam Benegal (people call him the mastermind of parellel cinema or legend of Art movies) known for his movies like "Mandi", "Zubeida", "Sardari Begum" and the previous one "Bose: The forgotten hero" comes with yet again a very different kind of movie. "Welcome to Sajjanpur" is a take on all the topics mentioned earlier. In a village of illiterates, Mahadev (Shreyas Talpade), a qualified literate and a wannabe author, finds a profession in letter writing. He writes letters for Kamala (Amrita Rao), his childhood love, who is married to Bansi (Kunaal Kapur), but not happy since Bansi has left the village and fled to Mumbai for earning. He also writes letter for others like a local goon and an aspiring MLA Ramsingh (Yashpal Sharma) which are directed to the Collector's office. He also writes letter for Munnibai (Ravi Jhankal) , a eunuch and also an aspiring leader. One more in the list is compounder Ramkumar (Ravi Kisen) who is deeply in love with a widow Shobharani (Rajeshwari Sachdev) and wants to send a love letter to her. And last but not the least, Mausi (Ila Arun), a superstitious woman, wants her daughter Vindhya (Divya Dutta) to get desperately married to a dog as a good omen. But Mahadev writes letters in his own way. This cunning activity creates the gist of the story.

Technically, the movie is a slow paced. Even the dialogues are in a rural MP dialect which may become a problem for multiplex audience. But one thing that works for the movie is its simplistic nature. Sometime some parts of the movie resemble Hrishikesh Mukherjee's type of direction. Mr. Benegal proves that he has full potential to handle satire and cannot be restricted to serious art movies. Music by Shantanu Moitra is not mind blasting but defnitely suits the film's nature. The sets and the backdrop of the film is perfect.

Performances - The film belongs to Shreyas Talpade. He can be the next Amol Palekar since at times, I noticed an uncanny resemblance. He is a complete natural. No wonder SRK once said that after a long time he acted with a good actor. Amrita Rao looks beautiful but repeats her 'Vivaah' act. Yashpal Sharma gives nothing new. Ravi Kissen, acts to his potential. Rajeshwari Sachdev, hardly has anything to perform. Divya Dutta is excellent in one or two odd scenes. Kunal Kapoor, does well in a cameo. But two outstanding acts are from Ravi Jhankal and Ila Arun. Both of them steal the show.

This movie is definitely one time watchable. Watch it more for the performances and Shyam Benegal's efficient directorial skills. Njoy!!!

Rating - 3/5

Brilliant!!! (Movie Review: A Wednesday)

Terrorism has different perspectives. Recently, we saw two of them on the big screen - First, "Aamir" where a NRI Muslim Doctor, on his visit to India, is asked to explode a bomb in a bus because his family is on a gun point and secondly "Mumbai Meri Jaan" where impact of bomb blast on six different lives were showcased. Every perspective has its own meaning. Some agree and some of the disagree. The rest of them choose to stay away from the topic. Last week, another perspective was released in the form of a movie named "A Wednesday".

The movie has an unique story which has never been attempted ever in Indian Cinema. On a given Wednesday, an anonymous person (Naseeruddin Shah) calls the Mumbai Police Commissioner Pranav Rathod (Anupam Kher) and threatens him to blow the city by planting 5 bombs at different places. In return, he wants four jailed terrorists. At the first instance, Mr. Rathod thinks about it as a crank call but the caller assures him it as a threat once he informs about one of the planted bombs in a nearby police station. So all the action takes place to get hold of him but everything goes waste and ultimately, the police and the other concerned authorities decide to succumb to the caller's demand. The rest of the exciting story is meant to be watched on the big screen.

I have seen a lot of good movies but this movie is really special. I have hardly seen a fast paced film in Indian Cinemas as this one. No required or unrequired songs, no silly jokes but yet entertaining and hard hitting (rare combination!!!). I am not sure whether this movie will be trendsetter or not (in terms of pace), but I wish it should be one. Not only the debutante director Neeraj Pandey excels in the Directing but also has an upper hand in story and screenplay. Some of the dialogues in the climax give you goose bumps and at times you feel like clapping and blowing whistles. Cinematography is restricted to the static nature of the film. Most of the movie is shot either on the terrace or in the investigation room. But still it works in the climax. Background score tightens the grip of the film. Action is not breath taking but is very realistic.

Performances - Lets start with the other actors. Jimmy Shergil does a good job of short tempered cop. Amir Bashir cracks a few jokes in between but is adorable on screen. Deepal Shaw hardly acts but I guess the role suits her voice more than her face. The characters in the terrorist role had to look and act bad and they do it nicely. The rest of the cast is apt and suitable.

Coming to performances of the 2 stalwarts. An advice for all upcoming actors - please go and watch this movie. One does not require six pack abs to showcase his talent of acting. Om Puri once rightly said that Naseeruddin Shah is the best actor in the country and I seriously feel he is correct. He is outstanding.

If one side of the coin is so shiny, then how can the other side be rough. Anupam Kher has put up a great performance in what you can term it as a subdued character. A character who always have to give up to the demands of the caller yet be strong and confident. Sometimes, I wonder why does a superb actor like him have to work in a third grade movie like "C Kompany". What to watch out for - the scenes where they confront each other either on cellphone or face to face.

I could have talked about the movie more in detail but I am afraid I will disclose the suspense and the hard hitting message involved in the movie. I highly recommend all of you to watch this movie. Brilliant!!!!

Rating -4.5/5

Rock karne ko DIL CHAHTA HEIN!!!! (Movie Review: Rock On)

College days were real fun. I remember, I putting on "Metallica", "Bryan Adams", Dire Straits", "Pink Floyd", "Bon Jovi", "Aerosmith" etc. on full volume and listen to them for umpteen times. My parents kept on screaming "switch off that music" and I use to equally scream 'karoke'ing the numbers. I still go in my own world when I listen to guitar and drums (I wish I could play one of them!!!). In India, the only problem is there is not much rock music in Hindi movies or even in Indipop albums. There is some of guitar here and there but nothing that we can classify as rock. Even rock bands like Indian Ocean does not have enormous impact as foreign bands have it all over the world.

But this is all in the past. The present says "Rock On". The latest movie from Farhan Akhtar and team. "Rock On" is one of those movie that can be a trendsetter with rock music flowing in the blood of four characters - Aditya(Farhan Akhtar), Joe(Arjun Rampal), Rob(Luke Kenny) and KD(Purab Kohli). All of them gather together with the sole intention of creating mind blowing rock music. Their band name is "Magic". Something goes wrong with the band and all of them diperse and head towards their respective lives. So Aditya is now a successful and rich investment banker with a beautiful and elegant wife Sakshi(Prachi Desai), Joe still struggling to be a rockstar but living a life with his then girlfriend and now wife Debbie (Shahana Goswami), Rob still in touch with music by composing tunes for Anu Malik and KD carrying on with the legacy of his father, jewellery business. All of them show that they are happy and enjoying their lives but deep inside their heart they are disappointed about the dream that they had seen got crushed in million pieces. What will happen to the band is something all of you have to discover in the theatres?

Farhan Akhtar and company makes us nostalgic and takes us back to where he started. His directorial debut "Dil Chahta Hein" was on similar lines. Here the magic works double with rock music working big time in the movie. Music by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy is so brilliant. It is very difficult to create rock songs with hindi lyrics and they have does an outstanding job. Abhishek Kapoor, the director has done a great job after the debacle movie "Aryan". He has captured every emotion beautifully. The lyrics are also important part of the movie although the lyrics in some songs are like dubbed lyrics of south indian songs. The rest of the technicalities are also good. The only thing which can go against the movie is its slow pacing. But that's fine.

Performances - Farhan Akhtar has been successful movie-maker till now and I am sure he will follow this pattern with his acting skills. I have heard he is a very good dancer and would like to see him dancing on screen. Prachi Desai too has a confident debut and is looking very beautiful in the movie. Her styling deserves special mention. Purab Kohli is as funny as he is in all his movies and the other acts. I thought Luke Kenny doesn't act but he is magnificient. Koel Puri has little to do but does well. Two acts which made a huge impact are that of Arjun Rampal and Shahana Goswami. Arjun has least of dialogues yet he emotes everything through his eyes. A very difficult and complex character but he does it effortlessly. Shahana is new in the business (last seen in 'Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd. and Yun Hota toh Kya Hota) but looks like she has spent a lot of time in the field of acting. She has acted superbly.

Rock On is a very good movie to watch and is a must for all Rock Music Lovers. The others will also enjoy the movie provided they protect their ears.

Rock On Baby!!!!

Rating - 4/5