The timing of Ashutosh Gowariker’s Magnum Opus could not have been better. A love story set in the 16th century between the Mughal Emperor who ruled Hindustan (now India), Jalaluddin Mohammad Akbar, and a fiery young Rajput princess, Jodhaa. With love as the backdrop, and highlighting the Hindu-Muslim marriage of alliance culminating in love and respect for one another, a day after Valentine’s Day was an apt moment for its release. Moreover, with hate politics being on the agenda, the timing of its release could not have been better. JODHAA AKBAR surely comes as a soothing balm to every Indian. If watched closely, it sends a message loud and clear that country is above everything else, even self! For our warring politicians, for this message alone, this movie is worth many trips to the multiplex.
Viewed as a love story, it portrays beautifully, the defiance of Jodhaa, the Rajput girl who is asked to marry Akbar, a Muslim Emperor. Not one to bow down or suppress her voice, Jodhaa expresses two strong wishes to the Emperor. Only if he agrees will she marry him. The first being he will not force her to change her religion and the second; he will give her a place in his palace to have a temple of her own. Both wishes are granted!
Then comes the tough task of the Emperor trying to get close to Jodhaa. Slowly, she teaches him that winning battles is not everything... he learns to win her heart as well. For lovers, this is a beautiful rendition of a perfect love story.
Ashustosh Gowariker has outdone himself. This movie is a masterpiece, a complete interpretation of what the director has visualized. From costumes, to body language, to background score, to the songs, sets, manpower and lighting... Gowariker has everything spot-on. Cinematographer Kiran Deohans captures through his wide lens the glory of the Moghul Era recreated by Nitin Desai. A R Rahman uses the beat of huge drums to transport you to another era. Pure, acoustic delight. Ravi Dewan recreates the fights that have you on the edge of your seats, while Raju Khan, Rekha Chinni Prakash and Ash Kumar combine to give you some breathtaking dances to do justice to the costumes of Neeta Lulla. The choreography of the tracks Khwaja Mere Khwaja and Azeem-O-Shaan Shahenshah leave you awestruck.
Now, for the performances. The perfectionist that he is, Gowariker has taken pains to pick his entire cast and each one blends with the other to transport you back to an era gone by. Even the extras have been carefully picked.
Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai Bachahan in the lead role, contrary to beliefs, have come out looking super cool. Both actors complement each other, and both have been given the space to build their characters. I would rate this as Aishwarya’s best performance to date. This is credit to a good director who knows how to extract a performance from his actor. As for Hrithik, he soaks in the moment and one can see him completely surrender himself to Gowariker. He has worked hard on his body language and dialogue delivery. He portrays well the qualities of Akbar. He may not be the perfect Akbar, but he does enough to relive the role of the Emperor; that of a gentle and tolerant ruler with a love for his subjects who even put his life on the line to save his country. His dialogue towards the end where he subjects himself to the might of Sharifuddin Hussain for a sword fight, 'Hum Hindustan ko galat haaton mein jaate nahin dekh sakta', draws a huge applause.
Considering the intricacies of the subject, I guess the three-hour plus length of the movie could not have been avoided.
TO GO OR NOT: Oh yes, politicians and lovers and all those interested in good cinema, a must watch. JODHAA AKBAR is sure to bag a host of awards at next year’s ceremonies.
Rating : 4/5
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MITHYA is a very complicated film dealt with in an uncomplicated manner by director Rajat Kapoor. The director handles the complexities of the film and the central character with aplomb to first set your creative juices flowing as a viewer. Then, long after the credits have rolled, you begin to unravel the mystery of the plot. There is finesse in direction and maturity in handling of the story.
When you look at the film from the director’s point of view, you can feel his mind at play juggling with the various characters to paint a gripping drama. Though Ranvir is his trump card, he shuffles the other cast members around him to position them at telling points which lift the film to a different level. And when the final bullet pierces Ranvir at the end, your mind races back to Wolfgang Petersen’s 1991 thriller SHATTERED, that had a super climax. But here, it’s the anti-climax which works as the climax.
All the while you thought Ranvir was faking a memory loss, and were waiting for the director to deliver his final hit. But that does not come. What comes back is the recollection of his memory! For once the director has out-thought the viewer!!
Ranvir Shorey (VK) is a small town actor struggling to make it big. Unknowingly, he lands himself into the very vortex of underworld crime. His only fault - his face resembles that of the reigning Don (a double role played by Ranvir). Wanting to have the best of both worlds, the rival gang headed by Naseeruddin Shah (Gawade) abducts VK and puts him through physical torture before he agrees to impersonate the Don. Neha Dhupia (Sonam), who is Gawade’s mistress, has a big hand in helping him (VK) make up his mind. She tells him that her brother has been abducted by Gawde; hence she is in the plot. By now the two are in love and VK agrees to impersonate. From then on the movie moves on at a brisk pace keeping you on the edge of your seat.
After Rajat, credit goes to Ranvir for his complex act enacted with puzzling precision! As the struggling actor, he handles the lighter moments with super timing; when abducted, he displays the confusion with clarity and when on his mission to impersonate, he projects the ‘Chor gus gaya ghar mein role’ with precision. But it is his ‘memory loss’ phase that has everyone around him and in the audience scratching their head in disbelief. A brilliant performance.
To borrow a line from the film, “Producer log star ke peeche bhagte hain, to hum actor ka kya hoga?” asks Ranvir in one scene. Well, all I can say is that the actor is on his way to stardom.
Neha Dhupia as the one in love with Ranvir plays her supporting role with ease. She slips into her character and stays there. After EK CHAALIS KI LAST LOCAL and this film, I’m convinced she has the talent. Vinay Pathak and Naseeruddin Shah along with Harsh Chhaya lend credible support.
TO GO OR NOT: Like BHEJA FRY which surprised everyone, I won’t be surprised if MITHYA jingles at the box-office. Yes, the cities will have a huge audience! Don’t miss this movie. It’s a movie you won’t forget.
Rating : 4 / 5
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Picture this: There is a cold blooded murder. Murli Sharma suspiciously hovers in the background near the place where the body is found. Great beginning. Director Rohit Shetty deserves a clap, just for the beginning.
For the next half hour the movie meanders along. You see goons who can easily pass off as buffoons trying to kill Ayesha Takia. She has no clue why, nor do we. During this time Rohit Shetty gets busy sketching the character played by Ajay Devgan. I guess, even he has no clue as to what to do. The end is something you would want someone to sit near you and explain! And yes, Murli Sharma is the one who had tucked Takia into her bedroom after finding her wandering on the streets of Delhi. What he was doing at the crime scene in the first place no one knows!!!
The story is about a day which goes missing in Ayesha’s life which connects what is happening to her now. It appears that Takia had gone to a night club with her friend on Saturday night and her drink was ‘spiked’ by two guys. From then on she spirals out of control on the streets of Delhi meeting five people along the way. The Sixth one tucks her in bed. She sleeps the entire Sunday. That explains the two milk packets kept outside her door on Monday morning. Makes sense? Not yet, right?. Forget it.
Let’s get to the performances. Ajay Devgan is trapped in a role which he should have left behind ages ago. Ayesha Takia does what is asked of her. But it is Arshad Warsi who puts life into his role, closely followed by Irfan Khan. After his act as Circuit in Munnabhai, I guess, this one is very endearing. Perfect comic timing and ‘on the cue’ dialogue delivery, Arshad is a treat. Irfan as the ‘wanting to be a movie star’ is another act that is worth mentioning.
Yes, Esha Deol does sizzle in her item song. The girl is all attitude. Sorry, can’t add anything more, am at a loss for words!
TO GO OR NOT: There is this one dialogue which Ajay Devgan keeps repeating: “Mujhe choo, choo pasand nahi.” If you like “Choo choo” Teri marzi!
Ratings : 1 / 5
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SUPER STAR is your average Bollywood movie; a moderate dose of action, plenty of emotion and dollops of drama. Nothing new in the storyline, too. And yes, it’s also almost three hours long!! At a time where every producer and director is wrapping things up within two hours, this certainly won’t work.
So you have a struggling actor played by Kunal Khemu (Kunal Mehra), who makes the rounds of production houses and studios in the hope of getting a big role. All he gets is the role of a dancer, in the fourth row and plenty of rebuke from his father at home. One day he wakes up to see his photograph in every paper with an announcement that he has signed a project worth Rs 50 crore.
While his entire neighbourhood is excited along with his parents, Kunal is not. He rushes to the producer’s office, where the staff greets him with a big smile. But when he tells them his name, they realize his face matches that of Karan Saxena (Kunal Khemu, a double role) who has been signed on by his father. To cut the long story short, Karan cannot act to save his life, so in comes Kunal as a duplicate. The unit moves to Hong Kong. After pack up one day, both, Karan and Kunal go for a drive and meet with an accident. Karan dies while Kunal lives. Then the drama unfolds.
All that can be spoken of about this movie is Kunal Khemu’s abiity as an actor. The boy has tremendous potential and is growing in stature with every outing. He gives a solid performance in both the roles. The rest have hardly any scope. Darshan Jariwala is your average Bollywood baddie while Kunal’s buddies again are those you have seen in various movies. Only Sharat Saxena and Reema Lagoo as Kunal’s parents add some spark to the proceedings.
TO GO OR NOT:
If you don’t mind the extra length and are game for some melodrama drop in. If not, stay at home. You won’t miss much.
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You don’t go with much expectation to watch this film, but you leave the multiplex a bit surprised that the movie did manage to raise a few laughs. And credit for this turn around should go to Rajpal Yadav who single-handedly steers the film from stagnating to a mundane comedy. With his experience and expertise he lifts the film a few notches higher. However, with not much support coming from the other cast, it gets lost somewhere.
But this is not to say that the entire support cast was mediocre. Frankly speaking, the writer left no scope for the others with Rajpal hogging the limelight and Sanjay Mishra coming a close second. If things were put in proper perspective, Chandrakant Singh would have had a surprise hit on his hand. Had a little more pain been taken to develop the relationship between the two couples (The other couple being Ashish Chowdhary (Prem) and Amrita Arora (Khushi), the story would have been quite different. All said and done, you can safely say that this has been the most entertaining film of the year, so far.
The film is about marriage and the problems that come along due to misunderstandings. Fed up of his marriage with Neha Dhupia (Shanti), and envious of the lifestyle of his bachelor colleague and his live-in relationships, Rajpal Yadav (Santosh), starts imagining romances which gets him into a lot of trouble and finally into a police station.
he comedy at most times is never over-the-top and credit to this, once again goes to Rajpal, who I guess, does not know how to overact - his act is clean and flawless.
Anupam Kher and Rati Agnihotri have nothing of note. Amrita Arora does not have much to do and one expected much more from Aashish, especially after he put up a good performance in DHAMAAL and a negative role in Vikram Bhatt’s SPEED. As for Neha Dhupia, her husband leaves her no room to perform, as automatically, whenever he walks into a frame all eyes are focused on him.
To go or not: This movie will do well in the interiors of the country, where the front benchers will have a fairly good time with Rajpal’s comedy. In the cities, I’m afraid; it will not get much of an audience.
Ratings : 2 / 5
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BOMBAY TO BANGKOK is a cute romantic story with its heart in the right place. It also has a subplot within the plot, which comes as a surprise towards the end. What Nagesh Kukunoor tries to portray is that love has no boundaries and can surpass even language barriers. It also overlooks obvious flaws. No matter where you find it, when you do, it’s the most delirious feeling. Here, Nagesh hits the nail on the head.
The narration is simple; there’s nothing over the top and the moments between Shreyas Talpade (Shankar) and Lina Christianson (Jasmine) are handled very romantically.
Nagesh gets straight to the point with his central character, Shankar, and follows his path to Bangkok where cupid strikes and love blossoms. Shankar is a bawarchi working in a local restaurant and one night chances upon a pouch full of money left behind by the local don’s hoodlums. Unable to contain himself, he takes the bag with him, in the hope of getting a better treatment for his ailing mother and a better life for himself. But the goons soon catch up with him and instead of his original destination to Dubai, he masquerades as a doctor and hops on to a chartered flight to Bangkok. In a massage parlour, he chances upon Jasmine and the seeds of love are sown.
Shreyas Talpade is soon turning to be the common man’s hero. He gets into character playing the caring son, confused in love idiot, and the fake doctor with aplomb. Watch out for the scene when the two lovers are running around in circles to get into each others rooms in the middle of the night. Also, the scene at the parlour, where Shankar tries to convince Jasmine of his love, and his ‘first time’ at the parlour.
Lina, the Thai actress oozes of charm and confidence. She is cute, sexy and someone you would want to take home. No wonder Shankar falls for her. Nagesh has chosen his characters well, even the doctors, especially Dr. Rati, who falls in love with the gangster turned rapper. Those scenes too have its moments. You could call it “moments of madness”. The scene where language is the monster is very cute. Especially when both are trying to tell the other their feelings or even when they are making fun of the names originating from their respective countries!
The title track “We are same, same but different,” rocks and you want to shake a leg with Shreyas and Lina as they scorch the scene in this dance number.
TO GO OR NOT: For those in love, this is a must-see; for those yet to fall in love, do watch it. And for those who look down on romance, you might just change your stance.
Ratings : 3 / 5
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