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2008-12-07T12:44:00.001-08:00

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Dasavatharam-review

2008-06-18T02:46:00.000-07:00

Dasavatharam

Language: Tamil
Actors: Kamal Haasan, Mallika Sherawat, Asin, Jayaprada, KR Vijaya, Napolean
Director: KS Ravikumar
Producer: Oscar Ravichandran
Story: Kamal Haasan
Screenplay: Kamal Haasan
Dialogs: Kamal Haasan
Music: Himesh Reshammiya
Lyrics: Vaali, Vairamuthu

Its along awaited come back by the great actor Kamal Haasan, but the movie Dasavatharam is not up to the expectation. Kamal has done a very good job with his 10 different role but the movie as a whole is little bit boring. The movie actually starts from the 12^th century incident, this part of the movie has been taken superbly, but script is not been consistently good as the movie continues.

Technical part of the movie is very good, especially graphics in the last part and the tsunami at the end are all awesome. The actress Asin also did a fair good job in the movie. She also does 2 roles ,one role in the past 12^th century as kamals wife and next role as an innocent village girl. So to conclude about the movie , its good to see kamal’s 10 roles which he has done really well but the movie as a whole is boring.

Sarkar Raj

2008-06-10T01:57:00.000-07:00

Sequel to the 2005 superhit Sarkar, Sarkar Raj features Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai in lead roles. The sequel is directed by Ram Gopal Varma after two debacles in the form of AAG and Darling.

Sarkar Raj is an intense political drama and is essentially a study of power; it explores the politics of development and takes a fresh look at the tradition versus modernity debate.

When Anita Rajan (Aishwarya Rai - Bachchan), CEO of Sheppard power plant, an international Company, brings a power plant proposal to set up in rural Maharashtra before the Nagres, insightful Shankar (Abhishek Bachchan) is quick to realize the benefits the power plant can bring to the people. After convincing Sarkar (Amitabh Bachchan) who is against it for various reasons, Shankar undertakes a journey along with Anita to the villages of Maharashtra to mobilize support from the masses.

However, things are not what they seem to be and Shankar's dream project gradually becomes a political minefield. It is in this backdrop the evil forces mightier than ever, mushroom and gang up to bring down the regime of Sarkar and obliterate Shankar's name from the political horizon.

Ram Gopal Varma is back! After a few disaster the director of movies like Satya, Rangeela, Company, Sarkar, Bhoot is in full form. If Sarkar was inspired by Godfather, Sarkar Raj is a complete original. The script is brilliant and Ram Gopal Varma has executed it to perfected. The plot is more complicated this time around, and it sure needs a master director at the helm to pull it off.

Sarkar Raj is not without its share of flaws. The character of Aishwarya Rai is unconvincing, ditto to the love angle between Abhishek and Aishwarya. Also during the last few reels, the director seems to have hurried into the climax.

RGV has also managed to extract good performances from the lead cast as well as the character actors. Amitabh Bachchan stands out with a powerful performances. His performance, dialogue delivery and they way he expresses through his eyes is superb. Abhishek Bachchan is good, nothing great. Aishwarya Rai manages to emote well and she is good, by her standards, in a few sequences.

Amongst the supporting actors, Govind Namdev is good. Dilip Prabhawalkar is superb. The rest of the actors perform ably.

To sum things up, Sarkar Raj is a good intense thriller with brilliant performance by Amitabh Bachchan.

Woodstock Villa

2008-06-10T01:55:00.000-07:00

Imagine a near-empty movie hall. A few people sat shifting in their seats at the back of the theatre- muttering and sulking, waiting for Woodstock Villa to end. Away in the front rows sat I, howling with laughter.

Movies like Woodstock Villa have the ability to make you go on an emotional and cerebral roller-coaster ride. For the first half of the film I was getting bored to death, wondering if the movie would ever really take off. Then, having lost hope for the film and its possible redemption, I sat feeling depressed and confounded, wondering how such a poor script actually manages to find its way to the multiplex. Do the producers actually expect people to pay to watch this?

But towards the end I was so amused by the sheer inanity and of it all that I couldn't help but crack up. The way the film ends seems to suggest that the makers think they have actually pulled off a stunning twist, a genuine revelation on the audience. If they do, they are sorely mistaken.

Woodstock Villa is quite a terrible film- not really in the most obviously obnoxious or offensive way, but worse- so indifferently made and so uninvolving, that the only parts that might surprise you do so only because they are so amazingly ridiculous.

The story follows a good-for-nothing cad Sameer (Sikandar Kher) who desperately needs money to pay off his debts accumulated with his lavish all-play-no-work lifestyle while Arbaaz Khan and Neha Uberoi play an unhappily married couple. When Zara (Uberoi) asks Sameer to 'kidnap' her and ask her husband for ransom to 'test if he still loves her', he jumps on the offer. What follows is a plodding tale of lies, deceit and murder.

Even at my kind and lenient best, I have failed to find a single redeeming point about the film. Bunty Nagi's editing is plain annoying and tries to treat every scene as a sensation, with incessant dissolves, split frames, flash cuts, jump cuts, slow motion, the works; Vikash Nowlakha's camerawork just passes muster while giving your eyeballs a lot of painful exercise. And the best thing I can say about Anu Malik's music is that maybe it's not as horrendous as it sounds.

The dialogues by Milap Zaveri are an embarrassment, and the screenplay by Sanjay Gupta, Rajiv Gopal and S. Farhan is totally bankrupt of logic. Songs are arbitrarily and unnecessarily placed in the film- after a seriously dull credit sequence, we are subjected to Sikander Kher singing in Mika's lecherous sounding voice, and a crucial point of the story is interrupted by Sanjay Dutt pretending to play the drums and guitar through another nerve-wracking song.

Sikandar makes a debut that is just about okay, while Arbaaz Khan and Neha Uberoi desperately seem to be vying for the title of the most wooden actor in this enterprise. Meanwhile we have Gulshan Grover doing his typical cartoony bad-man act, while Shakti Kapoor does a bit role, playing an over-the-top (what else?) Sardar.

The makers have obviously wasted a decent lot of time and money on this sheer farce. My solemn and obvious advice to you is to avoid committing the same mistake.

Jannat

2008-06-10T01:53:00.000-07:00

Jannat presented by Vishesh Films (Mukesh and Mahesh Bhatt) and directed by Kunal Deshmukh has Emraan Hashmi and Sonal Chauhan in lead roles. Emraan delivered a great performance in Mohit Suri's Awarapan. Jannat revolves around cricket, match-fixing and even Bob Woolmer's case. But the core of Jannat is the love story between Emraan and Sonal.

Jannat is the story of a man caught in a quagmire of crime and consumerism as he struggles to find heaven on earth.

Arjun is a reckless young man with an obsession for making money at card games. A chance meeting with a girl in a mall, Zoya gives him the reasons he was looking for to move out of his ordinary life. He steps up from playing small-time card games to becoming a bookie. Stuck in a triangle of sorts between the woman he loves and his addiction to make a quick buck, Arjun moves on from being a bookie to a runner for the mafia. He steps into the world of match fixing. Arjun switches on the limelight to bigger, better, faster, more, until his dizzying rise attracts the attention of the police. Arjun has to now choose between the love of his life, Zoya, and this new found success and power. As Arjun struggles to choose between the two, the Don offers the forbidden apple of limitless wealth in exchange of his soul and draws him into his core entourage of money spinners.

How far will the horizon of reality stretch as Arjun and Zoya tread a fine, fast-blurring line between right and wrong to find the heaven they have been looking for?
Cricket is a religion in India and that's one of the biggest advantages of Jannat. Cricket will help pull the crowds in. The story is different, interesting which makes it an engrossing watch. The match-fixing and betting world has been scripted and executed quite well too. But unfortunately after a great first half, the movie starts to fall apart in the second. The pace is slow and a few songs just worsen things, they need to be edited off. Music of Jannat rocks!

But it's in the performance department that Jannat scores. Emraan Hashmi delivers a brilliant performance yet again; it's really high time the bigger banners start considering him. He is the soul of Jannat and carries the movie on his shoulders. It's actually Emraan who makes Jannat work to a certain extent. Sonal Chauhan is good for a newcomer, looks gorgeous. Vishal Malhotra is just ok. Javed Sheikh is good. Samir Kochar is excellent.

To sum things up, Jannat is an above average movie. Is it worth a watch in theatre? Not quite. Wait for the DVD.

Rating 2.5 / 5

Aamir

2008-06-10T01:48:00.000-07:00

If you are one of those super-selective moviegoers who watches only three films a year then make sure "Aamir" figures on your list.

This is by far one of the finest attempts in recent times to explore the psyche of a modern 'foreign-returned' Indian as he's plunged headlong into the Kafkaesque nightmare of crime, grime, extremism and fanaticism in the underbelly of the big, bright and bewildering city of Mumbai. It is a "Swades" on skids, hurtling down into an abyss of unpatriotic instigations.

From the moment Aamir (Rajeev Khandelwal) touches down on Mumbai's international airport, what assails you is that overpowering sense of an individual's struggle to survive in a pitiless and often unforgiving city.

That debutant director Rajkumar Gupta is able to muster a fair amount of smiles and chuckles in this tale of one day in the life of a man caught in a nightmare that even Franz Kafka would have fond hard to create, let alone condone, is entirely providential.

"Aamir" could've easily slipped into being a heavy-handed polemical study of the isolation and persecution of the Indian muslim and his constant battle to remain part of the mainstream even as he's provoked and instigated from both ends to keel over and surrender to the forces of chaos, anarchy and annihilation.

Ironically, a work of art like "Aamir" embraces the chaos to create a universe that is in a strange way the opposite of destruction.

Persistently, "Aamir" repeatedly invokes images of ominous doom as we see the protagonist wind his way through a dreadful day that would end in abject tragedy.

The taut and tense narration finds supreme sustenance from its outdoors. Indeed, apart from Rajeev and his portrayal of the reluctant hero, the real protagonist of "Aamir" is Mumbai.

The crowded, congested 'chawls' and 'gullies', the reek of deprivation, and the stench and sweat of anxiety assail your senses in a way that we last saw in Anurag Kashyap's "Black Friday".

Squalor seldom seemed so splendidly evocative. As the protagonist winds his way through a day in the city that would lead to his inevitable doom, the camera captures crowds of bored bystanders and curious passersby looking at our man on the run with a tell-tale red briefcase in his sweaty hands.

First-time cinematographer Alphons Roy has done to Mumbai what most movies set in the city have not. He has made Mumbai at once the perpetrator and victim of a socio-political perversity that goes beyond crime and punishment.

Editor Aarti Bajaj cuts the film with a ruthlessness that echoes the film's subliminal mood. There's no room in the narration for question marks. Every shot is punctuated by an exclamation mark, every moment means a move forward to an unknown destination. Every glance on the road seems to suggest danger. Every peep is a peril. It's an amazingly constructed labyrinth of crime and commitment.

The narrative harnesses faces on the streets with the expertise of an unrehearsed trapeze artiste's walk across a ragged rope. There's very little to keep the plot from going over the precipice. And yet director Raj Kumar Gupta pulls it off with a full-throttle drama that leaves us gasping for breath.

Indeed, we've never seen a screen hero run so fast and so relentlessly. Rajeev chases fugitive taxis and petty criminals through highways and which stretch into acres of aching squalor. Physically and emotional taxing, the role gives Rajeev a chance to make the kind of debut actors dream about in their worst nightmare.

The debutant doesn't let go of his character for even a split second. From those skilful long-shots of him running on the highways to those tight close-ups expressing hurt, anger, anguish, desperation and occasional gratitude (watch him when the prostitute helps him out or towards the finale on the bus when looking out of the window he thinks his ordeal has ended) Rajeev knows his job thoroughly.

There are hoards of smaller actors, like Gajraj Rao barking orders into poor Aamir's burning ears through a cellphone that has no outgoing calls. Only incoming fanaticism.

"Aamir" is a rare film, which provides us food for thought without burdening us with sermons on the quality of existence. The thrill element presides over the message. The disturbing undercurrents just flow out of the story with a virile fluency.

At the end you aren't watching a film about extremism but a rare take on life at the edge that doesn't topple over into the abyss.

Iron Man

2008-05-10T12:08:00.001-07:00

The success of everything from Spiderman to Hanuman, has made it clear that superhero flicks are a sure-fire way to make big bucks. Paramount Pictures have tried to continue the same trend with their special effects- extravaganza, Iron Man.

Though it may have not matched Spiderman and Batman in pre-release hype, it certainly is at par with them in all other departments, if not better. Like most ‘part ones’ the story line educates the audiences about the superhero’s origins, his subsequent evolution and ends with his first major face-off with a villain.

However, Robert Downey Jr.’s performance as the playboyish super-rich, super-genius Tony Stark definitely sets this movie apart from the others. His rendering of the role can be best described as a blend of Jack Sparrow’s eccentricity with Bruce Wayne’s slick persona.

What works for this movie (apart from the grand special effects, which in all probability will leave you open-mouthed) is the fact that Tony Stark does not lose his sense of humor after becoming Iron Man, unlike Spiderman and Batman.

Gwyneth Paltrow, playing Tony Stark’s assistant and love-interest, Pepper Potts is thoroughly wasted, yet manages to do a better job than most other leading ladies in Superhero movies. Though it must be said that Jeff Bridges as the villainous Obadiah Stane delivers a fine performance even within the limitations of his role. Ramin Djawadi’s heavy-guitars soundtrack goes nicely with the movie as well.

However, the fact that the movie has a token black character and that the Afghani terrorists for some reason converse in Hindi may offend a discerning viewer’s sensibilities.

All in all, Iron Man is slick, futuristic, action-packed and thoroughly entertaining. There’s no reason why this one shouldn’t be a box-office success

Bhoothnath

2008-05-10T12:02:00.000-07:00

Banner: B R Films
Producer: Ravi Chopra
Director: Vivek Sharma
Star Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Juhi Chawla, Shahrukh Khan, Aman Siddiqui, Priyanshu Chatterjee, Rajpal Yadav, Satish Shah
Music Director: Vishal Dadlani, Shekhar Ravjiani, Salim Merchant, Sulaiman Merchant

The movie “Boothnath” is aimed at children audience on vacation. The movie is about a friendly spirit, family generations, school pranks and relationships. The script of the movie is clear and performance of Amitabh Bachchan is extremely perfect. Though the film shows Ghosts, it is not a horror movie and it just tries to get spirituality in theme.

The film is directorial debut of Vivek Sharma and the initial part of the movie depicts the little kid Aman Siddiqui playing pranks on people around him and the last hour has a few emotional moments. The kid actor Aman Siddiqui never at a point in the film gets weak in performance and matches his co-stars well.

The story of the film is about Banku, who has a ghost friend, Kailash Nath that is Bhoothnath .Banku comes to a house in Goa to live with his mummy and the house is considered to be a place full of ghosts who drives away people from the place.

The ghost uses all tricks to scare Banku but Banku remains unaffected and with Banku the ghost starts developing a bond .Both Banku and Boothnath play pranks on Banku’s friends and school mates. One day the owner of the house Priyanshu, who is Banku’s father and son of Kailash Nath, plans to sell the house.
The cinematography and script are almost predictable; there is nothing new in the two section of the movie. The music is a drawback for the otherwise well made movie .The performance of Aman Siddiqui, Amitabh Bachchan, Juhi Chawla and Priyanshu are impressive .Rajpal Yadav has less scope in the movie.

The movie will get kids audience coming with their families to the theaters in the summer vacations. The movie doesn’t suit the tastes of youngsters or college goers and will perform average on box-office.

Rating: 7/10

Jimmy

2008-05-10T12:01:00.001-07:00

Banner: High-Definition Motion Pictures
Producer: Nawman Malik, Salman Malik
Director: Raj N Sippy
Star Cast :Mimoh Chakraborty, Zulfi Syed, Aashish Vidyarthi, Ehsaan Khan, Rati Agnihotri, Vikas Kalantri, Rahul Dev, Shakti Kapoor, Nilofer, Gargi Patel, Pooja Singh,
Vallabh Vyas
Music Director: Anand Raj Anand, Bappa Lahri, Vijay Verma
Cinematography: S Pappu

Choreography: Chinni Prakash
Action: Mehmood Akbar Bakshi
Art: Amit Mishra
Editor: Prashant Khedekar, Vinod Nayak
Screenplay: Ranbir Pushp
Sound: Naeem Sheikh, Alok De
Dialogue: Ranbir Pushp
Costume: Khatri Irfan, Puneet Singh
Story Writer: Ranbir Pushp

Jimmy is a wrong movie for a debutant like Mimoh Chakraborty. The drawback of the movie is not only the basic script but also the music. The star kid gets an opportunity to show that he has got talent to stay in the glamour world but the movie couldn’t catch the audience.

The script of the movie seems to be taken from one of the movies released in the 80’s decade. The story starts as a dead body is recovered by a police and Jimmy is held responsible for the killing. Jimmy accepts that he killed the dead and goes behind the bar.

Jimmy is basically a mechanical engineer and works in a pub as DJ in night. He works hard to pay back the loans taken by his late father and when Jimmy gets arrested for the murder crime everybody is shocked but Jimmy accepts the death sentence given to him as he is convicted in the case without revolting for it.

But as Jimmy is taken to the prison, he realizes that he has been drawn into a trap by his enemies and now he wish to run away from the place. How will Jimmy get out of the trap is the basic story of the movie.

The movie has Disco theme in the music similar to the movies of Mithun Chakraborty but the dance performances and choreography of the dances performed by Mimoh are really impressive. The overall effect lacks a powerful script and support of music.

The song Marhaba is impressive. The performance of Mimoh needs further brushing up and he has talent. The debuting actress Vivana is good looking and other artists in the movie have less scope to prove anything.

The movie will be watched by fans of Mithun Chakraborty and by those who are impressed by the dances of Mimoh Chakraborty though Mimoh needs a better role and movie to prove himself.

Rating: 3/10

Mr. White Mr. Black

2008-05-10T11:59:00.001-07:00

Banner: White House Productions Limited, Eros Entertainment
Producer: Bipin Shah
Director: Deepak Shivdasani
Star Cast: Sunil Shetty, Arshad Warsi, Sandhya Mridul, Upasna Singh, Vrajesh Hirjee,
Tania Zaetta, Sharat Saxena, Mahima Mehta, Shravan, Ning ,Anishka Khosla, Bobby Darling, Rashmi Nigam., Sadashiv Amrapurkar, Aashish Vidyarthi, Atul Kale
Music Director: Shamir Tandon, Tauseef Akhtar, Jatin Pandit, Lalit Pandit
Background Music: Sunil Singh

Cinematography: Thomas Xavier
Choreography: Chinni Prakash, Rekha Chinni Prakash
Action: Abbas Ali Moghul
Art: Aashish Ranade
Editor: Steven Bernard
Screenplay: Sanjay Pawar, Nishikant Kamat
Sound: Venu Gopal
Dialogue: Sanjay Pawar, Nishikant Kamat
Story Writer: Deepak Shivdasani

The movie Mr. White Mr. Black makes you laugh in a few scenes but not after the first hour. The movie doesn’t get helped from any section of movie making like music (except the song ‘Samundar’), screenplay and choreography. The movie is inspired from the hit movie of Sunil Shetty “Gopi Kishen” and the director Deepak Shivdasani is unsuccessful in delivering a full fledged comedy movie.

The story of the movie is about Gopi who comes from Hoshiarpur to Goa with the aim to handle over a piece of land to his friend Kishen. Kishen cheats people to makes money to help his co-sibling Divya study in London and he hides his profession from Anuradha by telling her that he is in double role, one bad and other good.

Kishen on meeting Gopi tries to avoid confrontation and Kishen is also not interested in leaving his work in Goa to reach Hoshiarpur to get the small piece of land. Then an incident happens and three girls steal diamonds that belongs to Laadla and the girls reach Goa. The story is how the land at Hoshiarpur becomes all of a sudden important for all the people in the story.

The movie start is intelligent and but many sequence are unexplained. The script has many plots that have no reason and conclusions. The stories of marriage, love and suspense gets fused up.

The performance of Sunil Shetty is same as ever and Arshad is impressive. The actresses Sandhya Mridul, Anishka Khosla, Rashmi Nigam are impressive. Ashish Vidhyarti deserve a better role. Sharat Saxena is good.

The movie has been released at the time when audience(families ) are free and enjoying the summer vacations so a light comedy is the choice of families but the movie is not that attractive and will per form below average on box-office.

Rating: 3/10

Pranali

2008-05-10T11:57:00.001-07:00

Banner: Harward Entertainment
Producer: Nikhil Mathur
Director: Hirdesh Kamble
Star Cast :Nargis, Upyendra Limaye, Raman Trikha, Sudha Chandran, Vinay Apte, Hemant Pandey, Sujata Sehgal, Suzanne Bernert, Rohini Kapoor, Vinod Khemani, Kalpana Sathe
Music Director: Kailash Kher, Paresh, Naresh
Cinematography: Najeeb Khan
Choreography: Saroj Khan, Pandit Birju Maharaj
Action: Abbas Ali Moghul
Art: Jasmita Pathare
Editor: Chaitanya Bose
Screenplay: Hirdesh Kamble, Manoj Pandey
Sound: Santosh Kumar
Dialogue: Manoj Pandey
Costume: Nikunj Vyas
Story Writer: Hirdesh Kamble, Manoj Pandey

The movie Pranali has a socially awaking script that gets irreverent, becasue of the way it has been made. The movie has the biggest disadvantage that audience cannot identify with whatever is shown onscreen. The movie tries to talk about legalizing the profession of prostitution in a very unconvincing way. The debuting director Hirdesh Kamble lacks precision in implanting script onscreen and the performance of the actors (except Nargis) is unsatisfactory. Screenplay and music are equally ineffective in bringing out anything from the movie.

The story of the movie starts as a foreigner Judy is searching for a prostitute Pranali and the husband of Pranali is writing a book on her life. Then the movie goes into flashback -In a famine hit poor village, the parents of a little girl, Pranali get convinced by a priest to allow their daughter into the system of Devdasi where in the name of god little girls are forced to carry out prostitution. Many rich class people and famed men are afflicted to the Devdasi system. Pranali is handed over to the priest to carry out the system of Devdasi.

After a sequence of incidents, Pranali reaches the Mumbai red light area decides to give birth to a baby and she wants education for her child but her kid is prohibited from getting education from the place where all the socially sanctioned people are teaching their kids.

Then a NRI enters the scene and he helps Pranali to get her kid educated and he writes a book on Pranali. The NRI even helps co-sex workers of Pranali to get out of the mess and tries to get a legal sanction for the so called profession of sex-workers.

The music of the movie has been done by Pt. Birju Maharaj and the movie doesn’t deserve high class classical music. Performances of almost all the stars are below average except Nargis. Upendra Limaye, Sudha, Deepshika, Vinay Apte had low scope roles.

The movie is based on a theme that is anti social in current scenario and the movie even doesn’t match the taste of family audience. The movie will get below average collections.

Rating: 3/10

Anamika

2008-05-10T11:55:00.001-07:00

Banner: Bhanwar Lal Sharma Production
Producer: Bhanwar Lal Sharma
Director: Anant Mahadevan
Star Cast :Dino Morea , Minissha Lamba, Koena Mitra, Aarti Chhabria, Achint Kaur, Gulshan Grover, Prithvi Zutshi, Vishwajeet Pradhan
Music Director: Anu Malik
Cinematography: Pushan Kriplani
Choreography: Piyush Panchal
Action: Jai Singh
Art: Gayatri Marwah
Editor: Sanjib Datta
Screenplay: Anand Vardhan
Sound: Navin Shah
Story Writer: Anant Mahadevan, Anand Vardhan

The movie “Anamika” is a suspense thriller that has unwanted ingredients of horror. The script of the movie has been taken from story book Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier and has been made into Indian scenario. Being the movie based on a long script (a book ) it gets tiring in the second half and it can clearly made out that the director Anant Mahadevan, himself found it complex to depict the story with a decent conclusion. The movie catches attention but suspense gets identified in second hour and movie couldn’t engage audience further to the screens.

The story of the movie is about the rich businessman Vikram Aditya Sisodia who goes to Mumbai and meets the escort Jia Rao while trying to make a proposal of converting his palace into a resort. He gets attracted to Jia and marries her but before the marriage he reveals the truth about his initial marriage and informs Jia that his first wife died under unfortunate conditions. Jia reaches the palace owned by Vikram Aditya Sisodia that is the Lake Palace of Gajner. He is surprised to see the huge palace and also to see the beautiful socialite dead wife’s photographs of Vikram.

At the palace Malini, the governess of Gajner has been helping Vikram to convert the palace into a resort. Malini talks to Jia and tells about how beautiful Anamika was and Jia finds too many places in palace that have the imprints of Alphabet A .Jia starts sensing Anamika’s spirit and she gets so impressed by Anamika that she tries to transform herself into Anamika though Vikram does not like her to look like Anamika.

One day the brother-in-law of Vikram who is also a state cop accuses Vikram of having a hand in killing Anamika. Jia gets confused over the incidents and further revelation makes her feel more puzzled. Jia’s only friend in the palace is Malini with whom she shares her dilemma.

Then one day appears the boy friend of Anamika Sanjay and a sandstorm opens up the hidden secret of the palace. The dead body of Anamika comes out from the sand. The police re - opens the case and Vikram is believed to be the killer. The story after that is about how Anamika gets killed is revealed and about who is the person behind the plots against the Sisodia family?

The Anu Malik songs and Aadesh Srivastava’s background make initial hour horror effective whereas the story of the movie can be predicted after the first half itself. The revealing of the secrets have been done too fast.

The performance of Dino Moreo has improved from his last movies, though his standstill expressions make him look confused. Minissha Lamba and Koena Mitra are good in performance.

Though a popular star cast is not present in the movie, the movie will attract audience for its suspense, horror and script and it will turn out to be average in collections .Currently no blockbuster is dominating the theatres and the vacation season is on, so the movie will be benefited.

Rating: 6/10

Sirf - Life Looks Greener on the Other Side

2008-05-10T11:51:00.000-07:00

Banner: Seven Eagle Productions
Producer: Sanjay Kotadia, Ghanshyam Patel, Kanu Patel
Director: Rajaatsh Nayar
Star Cast :Kay Kay Menon, Manisha Koirala, Ranvir Shorey, Sonali Kulkarni, Parvin Dabbas, Rituparna Sengupta, Ankur Khanna, Nauheed Cyrusi
Music Director: Sohail Sen, Shibani Kashyap
Cinematography: Baba Azmi
Choreography: Baba Yadav
Art: Shree Kumar Nayar
Editor: Rajendra Surve
Screenplay: Rajaatsh Nayar, Shashikant Verma
Dialogue: Santosh Saroj
Story writer: Rajaatsh Nayar, Shashikant Verma

The movie “Sirf - Life Looks Greener on the Other Side “ tries to explore the relationship problems of couples who think that the other person whom they are meeting are more happy then their own but the movie doesn’t have any impact on the audience because the script seems to lack a powerful end to all the three hour long story.

The story of the movie is about four couples, first is financial well off but not strong in relationship, second couple is in need of finances but they have only love and have no money. The third couple is in search of security with their partners and fourth don’t have time for other.

The story is similar to the lives of people living in metro cities who are too busy with their money making prospect that they stake their relations and other personal needs and then the metro city lives of couples turns into messes of relationship. This looks similar to the movie “Life…in a Metro” but the clarity in the story of the movie “Metro” lacks in this movie. The script of movie Sirf is weak and it creates unexplained sequences to make the audience keep guessing about what’s happening. Many portions in the movie make the audience feel that the story is not moving forward.

The direction of the movie has been done by debutant Rajaatesh Nayar but script makes things go hay way. Music is not catchy but the cinematography by Baba Azmi is attractive.The performance of Sonali Kulkarni, Rituparna Sengupta, Ankur Khanna and Ranvir is as per the needs of the role. No errors can be found in the performance of these actors. Manisha, Parvin Dabas and Kay Kay are average in performance.

The movie has not been promoted well and the actors are not the dominating glamorous stars of bollywood who can bring audience to theatres. The script is weak and music is not a chartbuster. The movie will perform below average on the box-office.

Rating: 3/10

Tashan

2008-05-10T11:46:00.000-07:00

Banner: Yash Raj Films
Producer: Aditya Chopra
Director: Vijay Krishna Acharya
Star Cast :Anil Kapoor, Akshay Kumar, Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Sanjay Mishra, Manoj Pahwa,Yashpal Sharma
Music Director: Vishal Dadlani, Shekhar Ravjiani
Background Music: Ranjit Barot
Cinematography: Ayananka Bose
Choreography: Vaibhavi Merchant
Action: Peter Hain
Art: Sukant Panigrahy
Editor: Rameshwar S Bhagat
Sound: Rishi Oberoi, Ali Merchant
Costume: Aki Narula
Story Writer: Vijay Krishna Acharya

Spontaneous dialogues and performance of Anil Kapoor and Akshay Kumar are the only attractions of the movie Tashan, that lacks proper finishing in all sections or it can be said that there is no Tashan in the movie. The movie looks raw and the script of the movie is full of flaws though it later tries to amend into a meaningful cinema but overall the outcome is unimpressive. Tashan may be entertaining for the youngsters who are die -hard fans of Yash Raj banner movies but the movie really needs brushing up and improving in script, editing, direction, cinematography and choreography.

The story of the movie is about Bhaiyyaji who has the so called Tashan to learn English like the American President and he is expert in killing people. Bhaiyyaji gets coached by the call centre executive Jimmy who has the Tashan of making friends with girls. Jimmy was convinced by Pooja, to teach Bhaiyyaji English. Pooja has the Tashan to make fool of people around her and last is Bachchan Pandey who is another criminal who speak in a so called northern criminals kind of language.The movie is about how the four people who hate each other have to come together and be friends in the process to achieve their aims.

The looks of the actors in the movie are very different from the general trend and the looks of Anil Kapoor and Akshay Kumar match the role whereas the other character look uselessly made into something. The shooting locations and hairdo looks to be made to make the Hindi movie look like a Hollywood or a French movie. The choreography of songs is worst and the actors look as if ,finding it difficult to move their legs while dancing. Even the songs are not all entertaining. The director needs to learn a bit more of direction and the cinematography of the movie has no promises.

Except the performance of two actors Akshay Kumar, Anil Kapoor nothing is catchy in the Yash Raj Banner movie. Saif Ali Khan got least opportunity in the movie to prove his talent and Kareena is looking unfit for the role. The film has been made for a famous banner that attracts audience but this one delivers a poor cinema. Audience may go to theatres to watch the movie to get some entertainment but the movie is not delivering what it promises.The movie has not even been screened many in major multiplexes in the metro cities.

Rating: 5/10

Race

2008-03-27T10:08:00.000-07:00

Banner:	Tips Films Limited
Cast:	Saif Ali Khan, Anil Kapoor, Akshaye Khanna, Bipasha Basu, Katrina Kaif ,Sameera Reddy.
Direction:	Abbas Mustan
Production:	Kumar S. Taurani & Ramesh S. Taurani
Music:	Pritam

After a dry spell at the box office primarily due to school and college exams, comes the release of one of the most awaited films of the year. Tips Industries, the producers of the film have put in so much dedication and moolah to assure the masses that they see a flick that looks international.

The director duo, Abbas-Mastan returns with yet another thriller, but this time around a flick that is sleek and high on style. After over 6 years of waiting, the duo finally does a film with Saif and is it worth all that much?

Well to take off, the film revolves around two brothers; Ranvir [Saif Ali Khan] and Rajeev [Akshaye Khanna] who own a huge stud farm in Durban, South Africa. They breed horses on their huge ranch house and are also the biggest bookies in the horse racing circuit. Ranvir, the elder of the two, is known to be a very shrewd man. He is very aggressive and is always on the move. Rajiv, on the other hand, is very laidback and is also a chronic alcoholic.

Sophia [Katrina Kaif] is Ranvir’s personal secretary. She adores her boss and loves him. Ranvir is totally unaware of her feeling and regards her adoration as her efficiency. Sonia [Bipasha Basu] is an upcoming Indian ramp model in Durban.

Sonia loves Ranvir, but through a twist of fate gets married to Rajiv. When she discovers that Rajiv is a chronic alcoholic, things begin to get worse.

Eventually, Ranvir and Sonia come very close to each other and an affair starts between the younger brother’s wife and the elder brother. When the younger brother starts suspecting his wife, all hell breaks loose.

A murder is committed, a contract killing is issued, double crossings become the order of the day… A sharp-tongued investigative officer R.D. [Anil Kapoor] starts an investigation with his brainless assistant Mini [Sameera Reddy].

Abbas- Mastan have proved it over the years that no one can beat them when it comes to the thriller genre. With films like Khiladi , Baazigar , Humraaz ; Race might just add to their list of hits. The film has several twists and turns that keep you saying ‘oh’ and reanalyzing everything so that bits and pieces of the story fill in to form the collage called Race.

But one little factor that has to be noted is that as the duo directors attempt to make things complicated and shock the audience , they just kind of lose out on the whole plot and this con man film at the end makes the viewer wonder when did certain characters team up to plot against the others.

The screenplay of the film by Shiraz Ahmed is good but at times is loose. The 1^st half of the film is quite a drag and the songs look really forced upon. Next time around, Abbas-Mastan should consider chopping some tracks. Maybe this time they couldn’t do so considering their producers are Music giants.

On the acting front, the film truly belongs to Saif. Saif looks stylish, smart and carries the adrenaline in the character perfectly. His dialogue delivery is just amazing and the action sequences considering he did them all by himself is just commendable. Watch out for Saif’s jump from a great height. It’s terrifically done courtesy Allan Amin.

With due credit to all the actors in the film, Race wouldn’t be all that racy if it wasn’t for Saif. Watch out the dialogue where he addresses his younger brother on the funda of winning-losing and on the outcome of betrayal where he blows up his jockey’s car.

Akshaye Khanna does really well too. Abbas –Mastan always emerge in bringing out the negative traits in Akshaye with ease. The wickedness in Akshaye is expressed well with his smile. But the only problem here is that Akshaye has done such roles before for Abbas-Mastan thus there lacks a certain amount of shock value.

Bipasha Basu isn’t all that great. Her acting skills haven’t really been explored. It’s more of her sex appeal that has been tapped in film. Bipasha’s styling somehow fails to leave an impact; her outfits do nothing more than provide the viewer some eye candy. But credit goes to Bipasha for doing some great action sequences in the film.

On the other hand, Katrina Kaif emerges victorious. Her acting isn’t the finest around but much better than her previous flicks. She carries the secretarial role with complete elegance and ease. In fact, her styling has been sleek and apt. She carries that executive look as well as the sexy attire with ease.

Anil Kapoor and Sameera Reddy make an entry at the interval stage. Anil is ok as the cop, but trust me his jokes are really poor. Even the characterization with different fruits at various points in the film fails to create any impact. Sameera Reddy has nothing much to do in the film besides try and ask some stupid questions. Sameera too has just been used to create the so called ‘Sexy Look’ of the film.

Johny Lever comes in for one scene and really impresses and is spontaneous with his jokes. He surely deserves more comic roles.

The true winner of the film is none other than action director-Allan Amin. He is just terrific and it’s his action and stunts that really justify the title of the film. Amin impresses with the well choreographed explosions, Saif’s fall, edgy car stunts etc. Amin is the true star of race.

Cinematography by Ravi Yadav is top class as the film captures well the horse races, car stunts, beautiful locales of Durban and Dubai etc. Editing by Hussain Burmawala’s is ok. Maybe a few songs could have been chopped.

Dialogues [Anuraag Prapanna, Jitendra Parmar] are good. Styling [Anaita Shroff Adajania] works for Saif, Katirina , Anil and Akshaye.

Music by Pritam is Ok, but often comes in as a hindrance to the plot. Most of the numbers fail to leave that impact on screen especially Kim Hyung Sup’s-Sarang Haeyo track rendered in Hindi by Atif Aslam. The picturisation is so kiddish ; with just a single interaction you see Akshaye Khanna whose voice firstly doesn’t suit Atif already kind of romancing Bips. ‘Zara Zara touch me’ and the title track impress. Background score [Salim-Sulaiman] is really intense and adds to the action. Choreography [Bosco-Caesar and Ganesh Acharya] is good.

On the whole, Race isn’t the best thriller around but the action is sure to keep you hooked on. Saif fan’s will surely not miss this one. The chances of race not faring well at the box office is unlikely as it’s been a while since the cinegoers had any releases and this flick is sure to appeal to the masses. If not for the action and music, the pretty ladies in the film will assure a hit.

26th July at Barista

2008-03-21T00:02:00.000-07:00

Cast & Crew:

Banner: Radha Pushpa Entertainments
Cast: Simran Vaid,Rohini Hattangadi,Paramveer,Ashish Duggal,Rita Joshi,Kabier Sawhney
Direction: Mohan Sharma
Production: Sumeet Chawla

26th July is one date Mumbai people will never forget. The city came to a grinding halt as unprecedented rains stopped rail and bus traffic, silenced mobiles and tripped power lines. Life in Mumbai came to a standstill as torrential rains killed people and caused heavy financial losses. Everyone you met had a story to tell of horror, of humanity, of determination, of despair.

26th July At Barista is about an assorted mix of individuals who get stranded in a coffee shop on the fateful night. Unfortunately, the cinematic experience is an amateurish effort. It evokes no sorrow or compassion because the trauma and turmoil that lacs of people underwent on the fateful day is depicted least convincingly on celluloid. It’s a haphazardly put together story that devotes a major chunk of the footage on a robbery and a cop questioning everyone in the premises.

Frankly, nothing works!

A number of people get stranded in a coffee outlet on 26th July. These include a script writer, an aspiring actress, a bunch of youngsters, a couple whose kids have gone visiting Esselworld and two office-goers, who eventually get attracted to each other. As hours pass by, a cop drops in, also a woman who has been gang-raped, a kid in search of her father and a troubled woman searching for a kid.

A tacky product, the interiors are shot in the dark [since the lights went off] and a few shots of the exteriors hardly recreate the horrors of the fateful day. The screenplay is lifeless and the direction, listless. The cast mostly comprises of new faces. Kabir Sawhney is okay, while Simran Vaid is passable. Rohini Hattangadi is there for a scene. Raju Kher hams, while Amita Nangia is alright.

On the whole, 26th July At Barista is a poor show all the way.

10,000 B.C

2008-03-08T12:04:00.000-08:00

Plot: When his tribe is attacked, teenage caveman D'Leh (Steven Strait) must venture into the unknown to rescue his true love, Evolet (Camilla Belle), and his fellow tribesmen, who've been enslaved by a clan of mysterious marauders on horseback. Along the way he'll have to face saber toothed tigers, wholly mammoths, and giant mutant ostriches (seriously).

Review: Boy- did this suck! I guess Roland Emmerich must have really liked APOCALYPTO- because he's just remade it! Seriously- if you take APOCALYPTO, replace the Myans with cavemen, take out all the violence and make the characters speak English- you've got 10,000 B.C.

Ok- maybe I'm not being fair here. 10,000 B.C. was probably already in production by the time APOCALYPTO came out. The film was originally slated for a Summer 07 release, but the date was shuffled after 300 opened to boffo box office at this time last year, and the crafty execs probably thought they had another 300 in their hands with this film. Sadly- this film is no 300. Which brings me to the biggest difference between APOCALYPTO & 10,000 B.C. APOCALYPTO was good, 10,000 B.C. is not.

There are so many problems with this film that I hardly know where to begin. There haven't been a lot of good films made about cavemen over the years (with the exception of Jean-Jacques Annaud's QUEST FOR FIRE), and this is probably the goofiest caveman film to come along since the Ringo Starr vehicle CAVEMAN, from 1981.

One of the biggest problems with the film is the casting. Steven Strait and Camilla Belle are way too attractive to be playing credible cave people. Belle in particular, with her smooth skin and delicate features seems out of place. Twenty year old Strait does not fare much better- as he doesn't seem anywhere near weathered enough to be playing a caveman warrior. He also sports a dreadlock haircut that looks way too fashionable for the era, and at one point he even shows up with the hair pulled back into a ponytail! That's right folks- we get a prehistoric pony tail! I also didn't care for his artfully designed facial hair- which looked more first year college student than ancient warrior.

Another big problem is the script, which Emmerich co wrote with Harald Kloser- who also wrote the musical score. Kloser's bombabstic score is actually not bad at all, but the script is absolutely atrocious. Omar Sharif is on hand to provide some incredibly clunky narration- which serves no purpose whatsoever, but might be good for a few unintentional laughs. The anachronistic dialogue doesn't fare much better. These cavemen have a pretty vast vocabulary, and at times they even manage to toss off a couple of one liners (when a tribesman says D'Leh looks a little young to be leading a battle, he responds with a smirk "I'm older than I look" ) Seriously- at times it was like watching a feature length Geico commercial- although the Geico cavemen look more realistic.

Now I know some will think I'm being way too hard on 10,000 B.C. After all- it is a Roland Emmerich movie. Isn't it supposed to be cheesy? I have nothing against Emmerich- I've enjoyed most of his films, but when he's bad- he's BAAAAAAAAD. Take GODZILLA- which I think is the worst film of the 1990's. Is there anyone out there that actually enjoyed that film? Thankfully, 10,000 B.C. is not quite as bad as GODZILLA, but it's not as stupidly entertaining as INDEPENDENCE DAY, STARGATE, or even THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW. Even when Emmerich films are bad, you can usually at least sit back and enjoy the eye candy, but even the special FX come up short in this film. The CGI saber tooth tigers, and wholly mammoths look extremely fake and cartoonish, and the killer mutant ostriches- well, the less said about them, the better.

Grade: 4/10

BAYSTAL

2008-02-16T09:15:00.000-08:00

Movie Review : Jodhaa Akbar


Director : Music : Lyrics : Starring :	Ashutosh Gowarikar A R Rahman Javed Akhtar Hrithik Roshan, Aishwarya Rai, Sonu Sood, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Suhasini Mulay, Raza Murad & Punam Sinha.

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

Movie Review : Mithya


Director : Music : Starring :	Rajat Kapoor Sagar Desai Naseruddin Shah, Neha Dhupia, Ranvir Shorey, Vinay Pathak.

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

Movie Review : Sunday


Director : Music : Lyrics : Starring :	Rohit Shetty Sandeep Chowta, Suroor (Pakistani Band), Daler Mehndi, Shibani Kashyap, Raghav Sachar, Amar Mohile Farhad, Sajid, Kamran Bari, Daler Mehndi, Virag Mishra, Aditya Dhar Ajay Devgan, Arshad Warsi, Ayesha Takia, Irrfan Khan, Anjana Sukhani.

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

Movie Review : Superstar


Director : Music : Lyrics : Starring :	Rohit Jugraj Shamir Tandon Sabeer Ahmad Kunal Khemu, Tulip Joshi, Aushima Sawhney, Reema Lagoo, Sharat Saxena, Darshan Jariwala.

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.

Ratings: 1.5/5

Movie Review :


Director : Music : Lyrics : Starring :	Chandrakant Singh Siddarth-Suhaas Kumaar Neha Dhupia, Rati Agnihotri, Anupam Kher, Rajpal Yadav, Amrita Arora

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

Movie Review : Bombay To Bangkok


Director : Music : Lyrics : Starring :	Nagesh Kukunoor Salim Merchant, Sulaiman Merchant, Ronnie Shirish, Ronnie Shirish, Sukhwinder Singh, Pritam Chakraborty Mir Ali Husain, Ibrahim Ashq, Shabbir Ahmed. Shreyas Talpade, Lina Christianson, Vikram Inamdar, Yatin Karyekar.

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