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‘Love, Lies And Seeta’: Movie Review (2012)

Movie Review (2012)
 Film: “Love, Lies And Seeta’
Cast: Melanie Kannokada, Arjun Gupta, Lavrenti Lopes and Michael Derek
Director: Chandra Pemmaraju
Rating:  2/5

For a moment, imagine yourself as a filmmaker who has been given this scenario to make a film – three flatmates who fall for the same hot, young woman but she is no damsel in distress but a strong woman with a mind of her own. If you were told to make a romantic comedy out of this basic plot line, what would you have done?
Wouldn’t some hilarious guffaws and scenes creep up in your mind for such an interesting scenario? Sadly, the NRI writer and director of “Love, Lies And Seeta” couldn’t come up with these. The result – you have a film that isn’t even five percent of what it could have been.
Three flatmates Rahul (Arjun Gupta), Tom (Michael Derek) and Bhavuk (Lavrenti Lopes) living in New York, fall for Seeta (Melanie Kannokada). But Seeta does not believe in love. To make the three of them realise their mistakes, she agrees to date… all three of them. Eventually though, Seeta indeed falls in love. But with whom?
The most fundamental problem with the film is its lack of energy. In the beginning of the film, the actors are so seemingly uncomfortable and are so much ‘acting’, that it is jarring. The dialogue delivery of every single actor lacks energy as if it’s a great effort to cough up those lines. A small acting workshop prior to shooting would have helped matters.
To compound this problem is the soundtrack. The director obviously does not know that often the most important dialogue in a film is its silence.
Almost every second of the film is filled up with a loud background score that seems jarring to the ear. The team obviously have musical ambition, but to shove it into every second of the film is a little uncalled for.
Then there are too many narrators. First, it is Seeta’s father who becomes the narrator and then, suddenly out of nowhere, it is her friend and then it is again the father.
There’s no hint or intimation as to why this happens. It doesn’t really end up serving anything more than showing the laziness of the writer and his inability to imagine a little more sophistication.
Then there are too many flash backs, which like the change of narrators, keeps popping up for no rhyme or reason.
Though there are a handful of funny moments in the film, bad execution ensures that they too die in a whimper. Yet, the funniest thing is in the end, where a sequel is extremely loudly hinted at.
Ambition is one thing, but ambition has to be a bit realistic. To believe that such a bad script could have a sequel, ends up being the funniest gag in the film.

‘Department’: Movie Review (2012)

Movie Review (2012)
 Film: “Department”
Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt, Rana Daggubati, Abhimanyu Singh and Madhu Shalini
Director: Ram Gopal Varma

Rating:   3/5

Shoot at sight. Point blank. In different ways that’s exactly what Ram Gopal Varma (RGV) and his characters do in “Department”.

While his cop heroes Sanjay Dutt, Rana Daggubati and their hazily sketched compatriots (one of whom looks like Deepak Tijori) go on a cleansing rampage against socio-paths, RGV goes on his own trip, shooting characters at angles you’ve never seen them being shot. They don’t always look fetching with their stained teeth and dirty nails showing up in embarrassing close-ups. So, who said life in cinema is about postcard pictures?

Welcome to RGV’s world of muck and mayhem.
The one definite thing that must be said about RGV is that his exploration of the nexus between the law and the underworld is ceaselessly seeking new modes of storytelling.
“Department” is one breathless surge of aggression and violence. Shot with cameras that capture the actors at their quirkiest and most candid, the film is not for those who think cinema is all about style. RGV left his stylish days behind in “Rangeela” and “Company”.
Repeatedly and mercilessly RGV dismantles all conventions of pretty storytelling and aims for the jugular. The camera angles are often much too casual to be considered ‘cinematic’. But breaking rules is a given in RGV’s cinema. He breaks them in “Department” in a noisy rush of agitated images that go well with the edgy fidgety characters.
Not all the characters work. Vijay Raaz as a whiny dhoti-clad gangster and debutant Madhu Malini as a tartish sharp-shooter are a scream. The talented Abhimanyu Singh has a tough time trying to maintain an equilibrium between the two unintentionally comical evil doers. The dialogues these gangsters exchange try so hard to be real they end up being howlers. It’s like eavesdropping on a conversation between two pathologists.
The camera, manned by no official Director Of Photography (and it shows), goes through the character’s legs, into their nostrils, over their armpits…in this film about cops who do their own thing.
“Department” is a brutal film. There’s no room here for emotions. Even when Sanjay Dutt playing a senior cop goes home his wife, played by Laxmi Manchu, speaking in a strangely loud tone, he talks to her in unsentimental tones. There’s more feeling in the two cops, Sanjay and Rana’s buddy-buddy talk, in the line of duty.
There’s a long history in cinema of cops striking a rapport on the beat. Sanjay and Rana are no Danny Glover and Mel Gibson. But then this is no “Lethal Weapon”.
The action here is a strange mix of street aggression and stylized stunts. While scenes of Rana chasing goons through claustrophobic crowded areas of Mumbai are vintage Varma, the climactic fist-to-fist between Rana and Sanjay proves a battle of unequal titans. One of the two actors being just too agile for the other.
What grabs your attention in this oft-told tale of the cops resorting to extra-constitutional means to ‘cleanse’ the city is the frenetic pacing. The characters are constantly on the move.
Even Amitabh Bachchan, while taking sardonic jibes at a ‘system’ that is corroded, is seen restlessly circling Sanjay or Rana, depending on which of the two the wily wizened politicians is provoked into action.
Not surprisingly Amitabh’s netagiri provides the liveliest interludes in the proceedings. He seems to behaving the most fun even when saddled with dialogues that must have sounded far funnier on paper than they do in their delivery. Among the rest of the cast, Rana with his restrained ruggedness stands tall.
What “Department” delivers is yet another RGV product that takes Hindi cinema’s crime genre away from conventional storytelling. There are no punctuations except exclamation marks, no speed-breakers except songs, which are terribly screechy and grating with Nathalia Kaur’s item number hitting rock-bottom, and no way out for these restless law-enforcers than to take the law in their own hands.
The world of “Department” is anarchic, destructive and apocalyptic. The narrative format imposed on the world of gangsterism is freewheeling almost chaotic. Violence and death are written into the DNA of the characters.
“Department” tells a virile story with no patience for sappy humbug. It’s not meant for those who think lovers laughing their way into death, as they did in “Ishaqzaade”, are the last words in ruinous relationships. In “Department”, the characters share a far more intimate bonding with their guns than with their friends

‘I Am 24′: First Look & Poster (2012)

First Look & Poster (2012)
 Movie: “I Am 24″
Star Cast: Rajat Kapoor, Ranvir Shorey, Neha Dhupia, Vijay Raaz, Delnaz Paul, Lilette Dubey, Manjari Fadnis
Genre: Comedy
Banner: Planman Motion Pictures
Director: Saurabh Shukla
Release Date: July 20, 2012

‘Mayanagri’ movie about gigolo & gangster: Satish Kaushik

Filmmaker Satish Kaushik’s “Mayanagri”, which deals with male prostitution, is finally ready to go on floors. The director says he will start shooting the film starting September.
“Writing ‘Mayanagri’ was not an easy task. It’s a very dramatic story of the 1980s and 1990s,” Kaushik told IANS.
“Mayanagri” is a film adaptation of a book titled “Do Murdo Ke Liye Guldasta”, written by Surendra Varma. Kaushik had taken its film rights way back in the 1990s.
“We will shoot few portions from September or October as there are (requirements of) some real sequences of Ganpati visarjan and rains in Mumbai,” he added.
Kaushik says the movie deals with gigolos and gangsters.
“It’s a very interesting story of two boys — one from Delhi and the other from Mathura. The story is about gigolos and gangsters. It is a story of a dreamer from Delhi who comes to the city of Mumbai.
“The film deals with a subject of male prostitution. The place Mumbai also plays a prominent character in the film. I will make this film in a big way,” he said.
The filmmaker says he has locked Randeep Hooda, Mahie Gill and Prashant Narayanan to essay key roles in the movie.
“Randeep Hooda is a fantastic actor. His presence on screen is mind blowing. I am sure he will justify the role,” said Kaushik.

Sachin Tendulkar featured in Time Magazine

Chutki Bajaa Ke (2012) First Look

Kangna Ranaut bled after an intimate scene with John Abraham

Kangna Ranaut is a brilliant actor, we already know. According to industry insiders, she is a complete professional too at her art. Even if something goes wrong during a scene, she does not believe in halting the shooting, she just goes on to give in a perfect shot. And the same happened recently during the shooting of an intimate sequence for Sanjay Gupta’s ‘Shootout at Wadala’. According to eye-witnesses, the passionate scene with John Abraham went so over the board that Kangana reportedly broke the bangle she had in her hand and started bleeding as a result. Though the shooting had to be stopped for a while to give the routine first-aid to Kangana, but the actress insisted on shooting the scene immediately afterwards even after knowing that the cuts in her hand were actually painful, and could do her further harm.
 But to prevent a repeat, the director made the actress wear gold bangles when the scene was resumed. Eye-witnesses tell us that Kangana did hurt her hand badly, and just could not function without an immediate first-aid. But a professional as she is, she was adamant on shooting the same scene again. Well, we do appreciate your love for work, Kangana, but as they say, it’s better to prevent and prepare than repent and repair.

Abhishek slept away from Aishwarya after Aaradhya's birth

It’s been six months already that the Bachchan household welcomed the newest, and the cutest, addition to their family. Abhishek and Aishwarya were gifted with a baby girl Aaradhya last year, and the world has never been the same since for the father. Abhishek has candidly admitted that he has to work hard to get Aishwarya’s attention now because she is always busy with Aaradhya now. In fact, the actor further claimed that Aishwarya has been such a hands-on mother all this while that he slept in another room after the birth of the baby.
 It’s funny when one of the most powerful actors of our country makes such claims, but they are believable. Abhishek reportedly sounded very excited while disclosing all this to a leading daily. He said that his personal routine had gone haywire since the baby got added to the family. Though he seemed to be happy with it, further saying that he can play with her all the time now, and even attempt to change her diapers. Earlier he did face some problems when the baby cried in the middle of the night, Aishwarya even made her sleep in another room due to it. But now, he has gotten used to all this.

Why are SRK-Gauri not spotted together anymore?

While Shah Rukh Khan can't get over his set of controversies (rather controversies can't get over him), his dearest wife Gauri is nowhere to be seen.
 Yeah, wonder why Gauri Khan is missing from the stands this IPL season! Even if we forget cricket for a while, when was the last time we saw them together? Well, not recently. Lately, the actor is being spotted alone at social dos or has his children accompanying him at IPL matches. As far as Gauri is concerned, most of her recent public appearances have been alone or with friends.
 Interestingly, Gauri was always seen cheering for her home team 'Kolkata Knight Riders,' even when they were performing badly and ironically, now that the team is performing well, Gauri is conspicuous by her absence.
 Accoring to reports, Gauri went alone to Hrithik Roshan's birthday party earlier this year and Shah Rukh was recently spotted at a Bandra hot-spot along with his sister and children Aryan, sans Gauri. So, this surely seems like a deliberate attempt from the duo's part.
 While some say that Gauri's sudden 'keeping away' policy is nothing but the fact that the star-wife is extremely tied up, as she's busy designing homes in Pune (in alliance with a real estate firm), but rumour mills are rife with the buzz that apparently, SRK's alleged link up with Priyanka Chopra has not gone down too well with Gauri and she's avoiding public appearances since then.
 Guess it's high time Gauri should come out in support of her husband and shut the blabbering mouths for good.

Bol Bachchan First look Poster

Madhuri to romance Naseeruddin

Madhuri Dixit is back with a bang.  She has bagged Vishal Bharadwaj’s ‘Dekh Ishqiya’ and according to the latest report, Madhuri will be paired opposite Naseeruddin Shah. Madhuri will play the strong character of Nawabi – begum. The film also stars Arshad Warsi, Kangana Ranaut in a central role.

 First time Kangana will share screen space with the dhak dhak lady. It is believed that Kangana and Madhuri will share an amazing on-screen chemistry. Anubhav Sinha of ‘ Tum Bin’ and ‘Ra. one’ fame will direct ‘Dekh Ishqiya’. The film is a sequel to blockbuster ‘Ishqiya’ that starred Vidya Balan, Arshad Warsi and Naseeruddin Shah in the lead.

 Madhuri has also signed ‘Gulab Gang’. After staying a decade in Denver, Madhuri has shifted her base to India. She has decided to concentrate in films. Her second innings in Bollywood with ‘Aaja Nachle’ in 2007 did not spell magic but Madhuri is geared up to make her third innings in Bollywood memorable and widely viewed.

 Well, Madhuri is keeping her fingers crossed!

After boy, it's a baby girl for Mandira Bedi

Last year on July 17th, TV host and actress Mandira Bedi was blessed with a baby boy long years after her marriage. As their son Vir turns one this July, Mandira and her husband Raj Kaushal has taken a very noble decision. They are going to gift their son with a little sister on his birthday. Mandira and Raj has decided to adopt a girl child.

 "We're going to adopt a baby girl," she gushes, excitedly. "We want Vir to have a little sister. We will be applying to an adoption agency when he turns one. It's a decision Raj and I made even before we got married - we were very clear that we wanted to adopt a girl. It takes a month to a year for paperwork and other things to come through. As we wanted a small age difference between both the kids, this is the perfect time. Guess I'm all set for the second one now," she says.
 Vir came to their life almost 12 years after their marriage and it was Mandira who was delaying, "It's 'been twelve-and-a half years of marriage and the baby came into our lives after so long as I was delaying it," she informs, adding, "Now when I keep telling Raj that I just can't imagine how it would be without Vir, he wants to just beat me," she laughs. For now, she says her hands are full with her tot. "I have to be around him all the time and if I have to leave home for a few hours it becomes unbearable. Vir has given us a new reason for living," she says.
 Mandira said that his son is going to teach her to have patience, "After a long day of being away from him I come back and realise how there's something new about him - a new face, pout or cry. And just yesterday Raj said the baby was going to teach me one thing I lacked - patience! I was so fiery around the house and Vir has made me calmer and mellower," she admits.

Unlike Tusshar, John won't repeat DOSTANA for RACE 2

Tusshar Kapoor may be doing a John Abraham for KYAA SUPER KOOL HAIN HUM by coming out of the waters, a la DOSTANA. However the hunky actor has moved on for sure. For his RACE 2, he would be seeing an altogether different introduction that is expected to be a trend setter all over again. RACE 2 is a hardcore action thriller and hence doesn't really have space for any DOSTANA moment. However to justify the film's theme as well his characterisation, John has recently shot for an unbelievable action sequence that belongs to never seen before variety. The sequence also marks John's introduction in the film and is a true 'paisa vasool' moment," informs a unit member.
There is a notable entry sequence planned for John whose hot-bod is considered as an object that would be worthy enough of swooning.

Nana Patekar’s Still from ‘Ab Tak Chhappan 2′