‘Cocktail’: Movie Review (2012)

Movie Review (2012)
 Film: “Cocktail”
Starring: Saif Ali Khan, Deepika Padukone, Diana Penty
Directed by: Homi Adajania
Rating:  3/5

Out of the three protagonists in this wacky menage a trois, two people are not as beautiful inside as they are from the outside.
Gautam and Veronica are deeply flawed characters. He, a certifiable jerk who thinks of women , good times and partying, in that order, all the time. She, Veronica quite like her namesa e in the Archies comics, is a sexy, naughty, loud siren But then what happens when the party ends? What happens when the constant search for that elusive state of being known as Good Times bores you to death?
Veronica soon finds out. In painful revelations of the darkness under the neon.
It’s a dream role for any actress.And Deepika Padukone, facing the biggest challenge of her career, sinks her beautiful teeth into the role with the hunger of a tamed tigress who has been let loose in a jungle for just one romp. She gets out of her comfort zone and lets the mascara run down her distraught face with a couldn’t-care-less gusto that glamour girls don’t generally adopt. It’s a performance to be admired.
In truth, Deepika would have been far more comfortable playing the butter-won’t-melt-in-the-mouth Meera (a hugely impressive debutante Diane Penty). Deepika has apparently chosen to play the fun-loving bitch who somewhere down the line, realises she wants all the things that he had so far scoffed at.
Not surprisingly, the film is written by Imtiaz Ali in whose “Socha Na Tha” and “Love Aaj Kal” we met the commitment-phobic hero. In fact, there is really no difference between Saif Ali Khan in “Love Aaj Kal” and in “Cocktail”. Except that the womanizer in the new avatar makes a lot more faces. Experience makes for expressiveness. They both shun true love when it stares them in the face. And then of course, the rest that follows is predictable.
“Cocktail” is not high on surprises. The two main characters are prematurely jaded, bored out of their wits by an excess of hedonism. Into their lives arrives the timid golden-hearted jilted bride who needs a home and a place to call her own. The film is really about three unmoored characters finding their bearings. That it has been shot in London is a happy circumstance for the characters. Cinematographer Anil Mehta makes them look ravishing in their rain-washed lives with glimmers of sunshine peeping out in tantalizing scoops.
Unfortunately Saif silhouetted against the London’s quaint bustle is a bit of a cliche. He brings nothing new to his role, and he isn’t entirely to be blamed for it. Saif’s is a thankless part. He moves in with the vixen Veronica where Meera is already ensconced after being deserted by her caddish NRI husband (Randeep Hooda, struggling to impart substance to his wafer-thin role).
By the time the triangle concludes everyone is in love with Meera. Audience included. Diana as the angelic girl from Delhi who is left bereft on foreign shores (many shades from Aishwarya Rai’s Aa Ab Laut Chalen) is the discovery of the year. She stops her Good Girl’s role from becoming sickeningly sugary. And that’s no small achievement for a newcomer.
“Cocktail” is not quite as intoxicating as it sounds. But it’s a heady brew about beautiful people trying to find themselves in places where life is an endless party.The music is effective in conveying the pseudo-euphoria of people who drown their solitude in noise. Saif is likeable when he doesn’t try too hard to be the roving-eyed rogue. His performance in drag to “Sheila ki jawaani” is brave.The performance on the whole is more smug than brave.
Boman Irani and Dimple Kapadia playing siblings are brilliant, specially the former who seems incapable of giving an under-done or over-done performance. Like Deepika, Dimple is remarkable for getting out of her comfort zone and doing a role that would traditionally go to Kirron Kher.
Deepika and Diane are gorgeous in their respective spaces. “Cocktail” is a very good-looking film about people who constantly seek a good time and then realise what they thought to fun was a farce. The emotional transitions are achieved with a fair degree of smoothness. You kind of grow to like all three protagonists, blemishes and all.
Director Homi Adjania who made the eccentric “Being Cyrus” shows a casual familiarity with the realm of the rom-com. He takes the basic ingredients of the genre and plays around with the components, to emerge with a concoction that is quite appealing in its self-deprecating humour and a rather unusual appetite for partying.
ians

‘Bol Bachchan’: Movie Review (2012)

Hindi Movie Review (2012)
Film: “Bol Bachchan”
Starring: Ajay Devgn, Abhishek Bachchan, Asin, Prachi Desai, Krushna Abhishek, Archana Puran Singh
Directed by: Rohit Shetty
Rating:  3/5

Like that cute little boy who holds his father’s face in both his hands to get attention, “Bol Bachchan” just doesn’t let go. Its relentless quest for a rolicking time is infectious. The comic confusions are put forward with a giggly gusto. You can see the team had a great time shooting this subverted version of a 1979 comic classic.
Hrishikesh Mukherjee would be unable to recognize this version of his comedy ‘Golmaal’ on which Bol Bachchan is based. Hell, he might have even sued for subversion of his creative property. But then, he always loved the Bachchan family. And there are the two Bachchans in the film – Abhishek Bachchan and his likeable comic partner Krushna Abhishek. No, make that 3. At the very start the senior-most Bachchan, the Big B himself, makes a gracious song-and-dance appearance where the director Rohit Shetty lets us know he loves the Bachchans.
In one way or another.
The film casts Abhishek Bachchan in a double role of Abbas and his doppelganger double Abhishek Bachchan. Yes, that’s the name given to Abhishek’s character when he comes face-to-face with the village head-honcho Ajay Devgn, a kind of benign mukhia who is goofy and rather dumb, so dumb that he actually believes the on-screen Abhishek Bachchan’s cock-and-bull story about how his parents named him as such because they were big fans of Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan.
Right.
Devgn’s character, a not-so-gentlemix of a pehelwaan and Anil Kapoor in Virasat is as far removed from its origins, namely Utpal Dutt in Golmaal, as Archana Puransingh is from Dina Pathak. The former steps into the latter’s role with the kind of defiant toss of her head and bosom that makes the transition more of a humorous takeoff than a homage.
Indeed, some of the funniest scenes in this fair comic romp into Hrishida’s backyard feature the excellent Ms Puransingh.
The tongue-in-cheek tribute to the original film is quite often so cocky it makes you wince. Rohit Shetty has stripped away the gentle amiable wit of Hrishikesh Mukherjee and replaced it with a raw and ripe humour that takes swipes at anything that comes in the way of the satire.
Yes, the original featuring Amol Palekar and Utpal Dutt plays on television in a sequence. And there’s a play being staged in Rohit Shetty’s imaginary village where two actors impersonating Dutt and Palekar enact the original film.
That is as close as we get to Hrishikesh Mukherjee in this punk-parody of the original comedy.
Valiantly, the dramatic tension in the comedy is based on a communal divide. The hero Abbas has to invent a Hindu phantom-double to avoid a religious backlash. Unusually for a comedy, the filmkeeps making sharp stinging remarks on the communal issue without causing offence. In one specially audacious sequence, the film’s writer targets two minority communities, the Muslims and gays, in the same range of vision without tripping over.
Now, that’s no mean achievement.
The cute Prachi Desai playing Devgn’s kid-sister remarks that some of our biggest names like Abdul Kalaam and Shah Rukh khan are “like that”. Devgn has the other minority community in mind.
Bol Bachchan dares to carry its sense of fun to an extreme of playfulness without toppling over into crassness. It takes on the scared cows without putting its feet in the cow poo. The elderly are often a brunt of ridicule in the plot. But again, no offence meant. Asrani’s rapport with his screen-son is truly funny.
However what doesn’t work is the enforced action sequences where just to simulate a climax in the trademark Rohit Shetty style, cars leap into the air, buses crash into windows – Shetty’s stunts are becoming predictable in their execution. A change is needed there.
What works are the performances. Ajay Devgn as the endearing bully is in top form. His mongrelized use of the English language is the cheekiest subversion of the original film’s content. In Hrishida’s Golmaal Utpal Dutt spoke only the purest form of Hindi.
Abhishek Bachchan pulls off the double role with the right blend of the subtle and the saucy. This is his second film after Dostana where he has to impersonate homosexuality.
Abhishek is dead-on.
A special word for Abhishek Krushna and Archana Puransingh who provide plenty of chuckles with their comic timing.
Hrishida may not approve. But this is Golmaal without the innocence of those times. And that’s the way we like it.

‘Maximum’: Movie Review (2012)

Movie Review (2012)
 Film: “Maximum”
Cast: Naseeruddin Shah, Sonu Sood, Neha Dhupia, Amit Sadh, and Vinay Pathak
Writer-Director: Kabeer Kaushik
Rating:  3/5

With a kind of brisk business-like immediacy and the least amount of fuss, “Maximum” takes us into the world of shoot-out killings and the internecine war in Mumbai’s police department which threatens to destroy the very institution built to mend the wounds and fissures in the social fabric.
Writer-director Kabeer Kaushik seems to be a born minimalist. His earlier film “Saher” was also steeped in the khaki colour.In “Maximum”, the world of legally-enforced corruption is created with such a lack of back-projection, history and vocalized subtexts that you often feel the director takes his audience for granted.
This is not the case. Kaushik presumes that we are intelligent enough to enter the murky morally ambivalent world of his characters without being led by the hand.
Naseeruddin Shah, who plays a ruthless encounter cop Arun Inamdar, is introduced to us when a victim lies bleeding in front of the cop. Characteristically the director plunges into the scene of crime when the dark deed is done. We see Inamdar watching the victim bleed to death and then pumping two bullets into the chap to ensure there’s no unfinished business here.
This is a world of unmitigated immorality. Bullets are fired not to stop but to merchanidise crime. And the lawmakers are shown to be as corrupt as the ones they set out to nab and mend.
Pratap Pandit, as played by Sonu Sood, is a man of a few words, much action. We are not given a chance to know him closely. He shifts gears so often we’re often left looking briefly at gaping wounds that can never heal in our socio-political system.
The narration assumes a peculiar pace. As guns roar and Daniel George plays out an elegiac evocative background score to underline the senselessness of the violence, we can see the characters’ self imposed emptiness in the face of the volatile noise that they’ve created around their lives. The hollowness hits you in the head more than the heart. And when the emotions seize the plot in a vice-like grip we feel terribly sorry for the characters for the death trap that they’ve built for one another and finally themselves.
The film opens in 2003 at the height of the encounter killings in Mumbai. Two encounter specialists played by Sonu and Naseer are at loggerheads.
Admirably the director doesn’t use the two principal characters to form a central conflict. Kaushik’s narration is as ruthless and stripped of humour and other sources of cinematic solace as the world his characters inhabit. A certain amount of familiarity with the world of encounter killings is assumed on the audiences’ part. We are expected to understand the subverted value-system of the encounter cops who do their social cleansing and in the process get so embroiled in blood, their hands are soaked in the very blood that they are meant to wash away.
Hence our ‘hero’ Pratap (based on a real-life encounter specialist) is shown to kill criminals, extort money from builders and businessman and hobnob with the powerful and profance. And yet he returns home to a loving wife (Neha Dhupia) and a daughter. The father-daughter scenes are done with a tremulous tenderness.
Sonu invests immense emotion in these scenes. His performance takes him through several moral dilemmas. Years pass. Sonu’s body language expresses the deplorable shift in power equations. Here’s a performance that again proves this underrated actor’s unimpeachable versatility.
“When you are slipping you either fight back or you keep quiet,” he tells his journalist-friend, played by Amit Sadh. They share keema-paoat an Irani restaurant. As the years pass, earlier the cop paid, later the scribe does. A subtle illustration of a power-shift that says so much about the socio-economic equations of Mumbai.
The journalist’s character remains a kind of sutradhar. By the end of the film we really don’t know who is in the crime folds for the money and who’s there for the power.
“Maximum” is a film that’s far more in-charge of its out-of-control sharp-shooting cops than it seems. Yes, there have been any number of films about encounter cops. But this one gets at the underbelly of desolation and isolation of such cops as effectively as Shimit Amin’s “Ab Tak Chappan”.
There are some brilliantly executed shootouts.
A layered sharp and sagacious look at the internecine world of encounter cops, “Maximum” is a minimum-fuss crime drama where the characters are so austere in their emotions they somehow seem to be constantly shadow-dancing with their conscience.
The performances by Sonu and Naseer Shah propel the plot to a gripping summit. But there isn’t enough of Naseer. Vinay Pathak as a Uttar Pradesh politician and Amit as a journalist, both trying to make sense of Mumbai’s confounding cosmopolitanism, add considerably to the film’s powerful personality.
For Sonu “Maximum” is a new beginning.

‘Supermen of Malegaon’: Movie Review (2012)

Movie Review (2012)
Film: “Supermen of Malegaon”
Cast: Sheikh Nasir, Akram Khan, Shafique and Farogh Jafri
Director: Faiza Ahmad Khan
Rating:  4.5/5

There is global cinema and national cinema. In a country like India, there’s also regional cinema. What many don’t know is that India is also home to what can be called – ‘local cinema’ where films are produced and consumed locally.
“Supermen of Malegaon” is a hilarious, poignant and well-researched take on one of the dozens of local film industries existing in the country.
It is a love poem to cinema, an ode to the spirit of human ingenuity, a passionate tale about making films and it’s hilarious to boot. For most of the audience, this might be the funniest documentary ever made.
A film crew follows Sheikh Nasir, a resident of Malegaon, as he tries to make a parody of Superman called “Malegaon Ka Superman” with actors, cast, technicians and props sourced from his town. We get a glimpse of the joys, the agony, the achievement and the epiphany of creating cinema.
That he is making a low budget, made for a local audience film without the aspiration of making money, lends it the poignancy and innocence missing from the biggest filmmaking centres of the world.
If Marin Scorsese’s “Hugo” was the feature film version of the depiction of one man’s passion for making special effects laden cinema, “Supermen of Malegaon” is the documentary version of the same passion.
Like Georges Melies, who desired to make a rocket fly and men disappear at a time when it was considered impossible, Sheikh Nasir tries to find cheap alternative to making superman fly, to find local solutions to complex cinematic problems at a budget where such special effects seem impossible.
“Supermen of Malegaon” is thus a study in ingenuity, of a die-hard but untrained film crew’s intense desire and ability to conjure up tricks to create magic on screen. Thus we see Sheikh locally making the green chrome background used for special effects.
We see our crew tear up our Superman’s external undergarment and another mans jeans to hoist them through an iron bar before the green chrome screen to show them flying. We see Sheikh using a cycle as a trolley and an empty bullock cart as a jimmy jib.
While it is a serious film about someone making a parody, it also becomes a metaphoric parody of commercial cinema, and all the cliches they belt out in a spirit of self-righteous megalomania.
For this is how filmmaking can and should be – a work of passion first and commercial considerations second, just like Georges Melies and Sheikh Nasir saw and like thousands of aspiring filmmakers globally dream of but are not allowed to make.
Ironically, this tale of Malegaon’s filmmaking ‘Supermen’ has been made by a motley group of talented super women. Director Faiza Ahmad Khan’s keen sense of satire and irony are amply visible.
Sneha Khanwalkar (“Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!” and “Gangs Of Wasseypur”) gives a rustic feel to the film with her earthen music while editor Shweta Venkat Matthew lends the film its poignancy with her observant edits.
Two superhero films release this week in India – “Supermen of Malegaon” and “The Amazing Spiderman – The Untold Story”. Ironically, it is “Supermen of Malegaon” that has an amazing story that has not yet been told. While the world has watched Spiderman on three previous occasions but this is perhaps the first time anyone is telling the funny, hugely inspiring and globally awarded story of a local film industry.
The choice of what to watch, dear viewer, is entirely yours.

Teri Meri Kahaani Movie Review

Promising Film Meanders In The 2nd Half 
rating   2/5

Teri Meri Kahaani Review - In Brief
 Three love stories across 3 eras – 1910, 1960 and 2012 in Lahore, Bombay and London respectively.

Teri Meri Kahaani Review - Verdict
 Interesting premise/plot, fine performances by the protagonists (Shahid Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra), however lacklustre writing lets the film down!

Teri Meri Kahaani Review - Short Plot
 The film has been divided into three love stories between Govind- Ruksar in Bombay circa 1960, Krish-Radha in London of 2012 and Javed-Aradhana in 1910 at Lahore. The basic plot for all the stories is the same. Boy-meets-girl, the initial hesitancy, sparks fly, love happens, reality takes over and hearts break. Obviously, the reasons for the heart break are quite different for all the 3 eras. Although, there is nothing new about the way the love stories go about, the concept of imbibing all the three together in the same film was quite interesting. However, the implementation of the concept is very ordinary.

Teri Meri Kahaani Review - Performances
 Shahid Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra deliver fine performances in the film. Shahid is first-rate as the aspiring musician of the 60s and the hip collegian of today, though his shayar act of the 1910s was quite abysmal. Priyanka too, is convincing as the big superstar heroine of the 60s, another uber-cool youngster living in London as well as the reticent village girl at Lahore. There are a few chinks in their armour at a few places, but the dialogue writers should take the blame for this. Prachi Desai is wonderful in her special appearance. Vrajesh Hirjee, who plays a scribe in the film (although, he has no dialogues) is brilliant in in his minuscule role! The rest of the supporting cast is quite miserable. They don't look the part, nor do they act it.

Teri Meri Kahaani Review - Technical
 The first half holds a lot of promise. The 1960s era is written very well. There is a semblance of Chaplinesque comedy, which does manage to overshadow the awful sets (Bombay of 1960 was recreated poorly!) Even the performances put in by the protagonists along with Prachi Desai, were brilliant, which along with the foot-tapping Uff gave the film a rollicking start! London 2012 was a minor blip on the radar, which turns into a blot by the interval! Some of the scenes are charming; a few are cringe-inducing and a couple of them, laughable. The writing (Kunal Kohli and Robin Bhatt) was good in the first half, but abysmal in the latter part. The chemistry between Shahid and Priyanka is sparkling. You do see glimpses of Kohli's brilliance in Hum Tum in some parts; however the steam runs out by the time the film reaches the half-way mark. The film keeps meandering between being too cheesy and too serious, and hence, loses the plot.

 Teri Meri Kahaani Review - Music
 The music composed by Sajid-Wajid is at best, passable. None of the songs in the film are extraordinary. Uff and Mukhtasar were shot wonderfully (Cinematography by Sunil Patel), and that's that!

 Teri Meri Kahaani Review - Final Word
 Watchable for die-hard Shahid-Priyanka fans! Even love story aficionados won't be too impressed with this film. Tried really hard to like the film in the 2nd half, but couldn't!

Gangs Of Wasseypur Movie Review

Anurag Kashyap's Gangland Epic 
Rating  3.5/5


Gangs Of Wasseypur Review - In Brief:
 Clans formed in pre-Independence era battle it out for supremacy over decades in the dusty coal town of Dhanbad.
 
Gangs Of Wasseypur Review - Verdict:
 Definitely worth a watch for sheer cinematic pleasure!

 Gangs Of Wasseypur Review - Story Plot:
 When the father of Sardar Khan (Manoj Bajpayee), who works as an enforcer for a coal mining big-wig Ramadhir Singh (Tigmanshu Dhulia), is killed by his employer for being too ambitious, the young Sardar vows to avenge his father's death and grows up with a single minded vendetta- to destroy Singh slowly but surely. Meanwhile, there is another feud between Khan's clan and that of Sultan (Pankaj Tripathi), whose families have been clashing since the pre-Independence era. If that is not all, Sardar, who just can't seem to get enough of women, is caught between his two wives Nagma (Richa Chadda) and Durga (Reema Sen). How the two gangs battle it out for supremacy, while Sardar deals with his own issues at home, forms the rest of the plot.

Gangs Of Wasseypur Review - Performances:
 Manoj Bajpai as Sardar Khan is simply a pleasure to watch. A cold-blooded gangster, who kills a man with an ice pick in broad daylight and yet scurries away like a scalded cat when his angry wife starts throwing pots and pans at him, Bajpai's Sardar makes you cringe and guffaw in equal measure. Richa Chadda as the feisty Nagma, who doesn't think twice before hurling invectives at her husband and threatening a bunch of policemen with a sickle, does her job well too. A newbie actress, who had a short role in Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!, Chadda manages to exonerate herself quite well in this gangland flick. Moreover, special mention also goes to Nawazuddin Siddiqui, who plays Sardar's son Faisal Khan. Just like his father, Faisal is a complicated character-one who can be ruthless when he wants to be and yet get teary-eyed after being scolded by a girl for acting fresh. Siddiqui's Faisal has that 'poor little boy' quality that makes him so endearing, despite him being a pot-head and an heir to a mafia empire. Director Tigmanshu Dhulia, who makes his acting debut, performs his part with the élan of a veteran. Other actors like Pankaj Tripathi, Piyush Mishra and Jaideep Ahlawat too are impressive with their work. Special credit goes to the casting director for hand-picking the perfect actors for the characters. ..for example, the actor who plays the younger Ramadhir Singh (a role played by Tigmanshu) closely resembles Tigmanshu Dhulia, which lends the whole process a sense of authenticity…

Gangs Of Wasseypur Review - Direction:
 Kashyap, who has given us mind-blowing products like Black Friday, Dev D, Gulaal and Paanch, delivers an epic crime saga with this latest film. Though the first half seems to go on and on without stopping, the movie is simply a pleasure to watch-be it for the variety of characters or performances or the dialogues or the comical situations, even in the middle of hard-core action sequences (like the scene where Bajpai's country-made revolver ends up scorching his own hand, leaving him hopping around and cursing with much feeling even as his intended victim makes a dash for life). The violence is gritty and without mercy so if you are too squeamish to watch bodies being butchered or heads bludgeoned with stones, better give this one a miss. However, one does end up feeling that Kashyap could have kept the movie a tad concise.

Gangs Of Wasseypur Review - Music:
 With songs like Womaniya, I am a hunter and keh ke lunga, the music of Gangs Of Wasseypur has already been a hit with the masses even before the release and the music is sure to keep one entertained as much as the plot.

Gangs Of Wasseypur Review - Final Word:
 For fans of Manoj Bajpai and the Kashyap school of gritty filmmaking, Gangs Of Wasseypur is a treat for sure.

Ferrari Ki Sawaari Movie Review 3.5/5

Ferrari Ki Sawaari Review - In Brief:
 A father's struggle to fulfill his son's dreams sends him on a wild ride…

Ferrari Ki Sawaari Review - Story Plot:
 Rustom (Sharman Joshi), a widower Parsi stays with his father Deboo (Boman Irani) and son Kayo (Ritvik Sahore) in an old world Parsi house. The son is a budding cricketer and when the son gets an opportunity to go to Lords for a cricket camp, Rustom starts struggling to come up with the fee amount of Rs. 1.5 lakhs. When all his efforts to come up with the amount fail, the 'honest to a fault' RTO clerk decides to 'borrow' cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar's swanky Ferrari for renting it out to a wedding planner for a corporator's son's wedding. How this one act to raise a fee amount manages to turn Rustom's world upside down forms the rest of the plot. In the middle of this crazy ride, Rustom also manages to melt his crusty father's heart and help him conquer his bitterness towards life at large.

 Ferrari Ki Sawaari Review - Performances:
 After playing second lead in most of his movies, Sharman Joshi as the good hearted and honest Rustom manages to put up a commendable performance and prove without a doubt that he is capable of carrying off a film on his shoulders. There is something very endearing about his character, who reluctantly commits a 'wrong deed' just to ensure that his son's dreams are fulfilled. In today's scenario of gray protagonists who might break the law without blinking an eyelid to get what they want or to avenge a wrongdoing, Rustom's goodness is like a breath of fresh air and one can't help but cheer at the smallest of his victories. Needless to say, Boman Irani is one of the finest actors we have today and as the crusty patriarch, who finally stands up to set things right for everyone, Irani deserves a round of applause too. What's interesting about this character is that despite his bitterness and irascible attitude, Irani's Deboo is still endearing, like a grumpy Santa Claus, perhaps. On his part, Sahore as the cricket crazy Kayo performs wonderfully. Sahore does look like a young Sachin Tendulkar (except for the lack of a curly mop) and is quite believable as the young aspiring cricketer, for whom Sachin Tendulkar is no less than any God. Paresh Rawal's cameo as the antagonist Dharmadhikari is also good enough. Moreover, like in any Vidhu Vinod Chopra flick, the supporting cast is as good as the lead characters and everyone from Seema Bhargava as the loud Punjabi wedding planner to Deepak Shirke as the bumbling security guard to the two actors who play the corporator and his son manages to impress you with their performances.

Ferrari Ki Sawaari Review - Direction:
 When it comes to 'feel good' movies, the Vidhu Vinod Chopra camp has no equal and debut director Rajesh Mapuskar, who has worked as an assistant in films like Lage Raho Munnabhai and 3 Idiots, takes the legacy forward. The film has a very cheery feel to it and Mapuskar manages to make every character shine during his or her scenes. Special mention must be made of the flashback scene where Boman's past is explored. It has been captured quite beautifully and in a unique way. However, the last half hour of the movie seems a bit stretched and one feels that Mapuskar should have gracefully finished the film a bit earlier instead of dragging the plot for a few more minutes by adding unnecessary situations.

 Ferrari Ki Sawaari Review - Music:
 The music of the film is quite peppy and Vidya Balan's much talked about lavani number mala jau de is quite a foot-tapper though the same cannot be said for the title track, which is quite juvenile.

 Ferrari Ki Sawaari Review - Final Word:
Ferrari Ki Sawaari is most definitely a great way to spend a weekend and indulge in some amused chuckles and fond smiles…

Qasam Se Qasam Se Movie Review 2/5

Qasam Se Qasam Se Review - In Brief
 A love story set in a college. Boy faces all kind of odds to get his ladylove but destiny had other plans.

Qasam Se Qasam Se Review - Verdict
 You could give it a miss!

Qasam Se Qasam Se Review - Short Plot
 The film is about Rohan (Azim) and Faith's (Faith Mehra) love story set in a college. There is Rohan's friend Vijay (played by Faraaz) who ends up falling in love with the same girl and hell breaks loose. Rohan fights all odds possible to win his ladylove. He gets jailed, beaten up, humiliated, even labelled a terrorist but nothing comes in between the hero and the heroine.
 Vijay's father DCP Mahadik (Ashwini Kaushal) pulls all strings to nab Rohan. The crux of the film is about how the lovers will come together despite all odds.

Qasam Se Qasam Se Review - Performances
 Azim, who makes his silver screen debut in this film, did show sparks of brilliance in a few scenes. He has been given ample opportunities, be it romance, action or drama, but unfortunately, he does not make the most of them. Let's hope he can get his act together in his next film.
 The leading pair Rohan (played by newcomer Azim) and Faith (played by Faith Mehra) break into a song at some or the other picturesque location after every 'hard-hitting' (Yes, it hits you hard!) scene. Such inept acting has seldom been seen on the big screen and the stars of the film scale newer depths.
 Actors of calibre such as Satish Kaushik (who plays Mamu) and Omkar Das Manikpuri (who looks 'dapper' in sloganeering T-shirts, Hip Hop caps and baggy trousers throughout the film) are wasted in this apology of a film. Kaushik who has a longish role in the film reprises his hilarious 'Pappu Pager' act from Deewana Mastana, once again but fails to impress.
 The supporting cast too boasted of Mukesh Tiwari, Rakhi Sawant, Satish Kaushik, Omkar Das Manikpuri and a few faces from television, but none of them lived up to their billing.

Qasam Se Qasam Se Review - Direction
 The director (Ashfaque Makrani) and the writers (Nazim, Moazzam Azm & Ravi Rawat) would have been better off sticking to a conventional storyline rather than convoluting it with nonsensical twists.
 The climax is noteworthy, for setting newer standards in storytelling. An interesting revelation towards the end turns the entire film on its head. The problem with the film is that it muddles up too many issues – college rivalry, romance, action, comedy, terrorism, law and order and lastly AIDS awareness. Even the best filmmaker in the country Rajkumar Hirani wouldn't dare to pull that off!

Qasam Se Qasam Se Review - Music
 The music of the film is disappointing. Considering that stalwarts like Neha Bhasin, Kunal Ganjawala, Farhan (from the Pakistani band Jal), Mika Singh, Shaan, Neeraj Shridhar, Mohit Chauhan, KK and Monali Thakur sung for this film, the composer (Shailendra-Sayanti) too, needed to get his act together. The cinematography (Johny Lal) for the songs was good; the locations played a big part.

Qasam Se Qasam Se Review - Final Word
 To amalgamate mediocre acting, lifeless music, meandering story line, inexplicable twists and turns, appalling dialogues and incessant hamming in the same film requires some effort. The plot could have lifted in the second half, but unfortunately the writing team let the film down. Not recommended.

Kshay Movie Review Rating 2/5

Written and directed by Karan Gour, Kshay, which means corrosion, can be best described as an experimental film. Shot entirely in black and white, the film might need a patient viewer to appreciate it. The story basically deals with what can happen when a person's desire turns to obsession and the resulting consequences…
 Chaya (Rasika Duggal), the wife of a construction foreman Arvind (Alekh Sangal) comes across an unfinished sculpture of the Goddess Lakshmi at a small workshop near her husband's workplace and impressed with the art, decides to acquire it despite the fact that her husband cannot afford it. Chaya, who had suffered a miscarriage earlier, starts believing that getting the sculpture home would solve all her problems and as days go by, her loneliness (caused by Arvind going out of town for some work) transforms her desire into obsession to a point when all Chaya can think about is possessing the piece of art by any and all means possible. How this obsession starts affecting her psyche and her relations with her husband and others around her forms the rest of the plot.
 Rasika Duggal as Chaya does a commendable job, emoting through her eyes and at times, even managing to send a chill up your spine in scenes where her obsession threatens to completely take control to the point that she seems possessed by a supernatural spirit. Arvind as the loving husband, who is initially clueless about how this obsession for the sculpture is affecting her, is passable too as are the rest of the cast. Gour's talent lies in showing how Chaya's mental state slowly but steadily deteriorates as she keeps obsessing about the sculpture and the character's gradual transformation is interesting to watch.
 The drawback of this film is that it might appeal to only a specific class of viewers. Though the storyline is interesting and there is potential for making the movie a first class psychological thriller, the director seems to fumble trying to be too experimental at times. Though making the film in black and white is a good idea, some of the scenes, where the director steps in the head of the character, might seem a bit too complicated for the average viewer.
 Moreover, the film does not move at a fast pace, which always puts at risk the thrill inducing capacity of any film. All in all, this film might find favour with fans of experimental cinema…others may proceed at the risk of being disappointed or worse, confused…

‘Shanghai’: Movie Review (2012)

Movie Review (2012)
 Film: “Shanghai”
Cast: Prosenjeet Chatterjee, Abhay Deol, Emraan Hashmi, Kalki Koechlin, Supriya Pathak and Farooque Shaikh
Director: Dibakar Banerjee
Rating:  3.5/5

Watching “Shanghai” is revisiting your daily local newspaper, full of scams, conspiracies and crime stories. In short, the film is a slice of today’s India.
Adapted from “Z”, a 1966 novel by Vassilis Vassilikos, Dibakar Banerjeer brilliantly exposes the reality behind the irony of India Shining.
The scenes are verbatim daily newspaper briefs.
Set in present day nondescript shanty called Bharatnagar, it sees Dr. Ahmedi (Prosenjeet Chatterjee), a US-based professor and activist, visiting Bharatnagar to enlighten its inhabitants about ‘pragati’ (progress).
He opposes the transformation of the shanty town into a zany township, a la Shanghai. But he is murdered by the opposition who try to pass off his death as an accident.
After that the story moves ahead with Shalini Sahay (Kalki Koechlin), Ahmedi’s besotted student and daughter of an ex-army general who is involved in a scam, IAS Officer T.A. Krishnan (Abhay Deol), videographer Joginder Parmar (Emraan Hashmi), Ahmedia’s wife Aruna (Tillotama Shome), chief minister (Supriya Patak) and her PA (Farooque Sheikh).
While the film grips you, it’s the system that gets to you.
“Why did you do commit the murder, when you knew it is wrong,” Shalini asks the murderer.
Another dialogue – “Jeene se haraam lagta hai. Par marne se darr bhi lagta hai…” clearly shows the hunger for survival. It’s a sorry state of affairs, where the common denominator is the victim.
There is a simplistic nature to the narrative and archetype.
The performance of every character is realistic and matter-of-fact. Emraan impresses with his rustic portrayal, quite different from his usual flamboyant characters. Abhay Deol, as the IAS Officer, bowls over the audience with his grit and, of course, unmistakable Tamil accent. Kalki slips effortlessly into the character, yet again, revealing her versatility.
However, what you take home is not the memories of a character well-performed, but the story.
The film is frighteningly true.
The strength of “Shanghai” is its tight screenplay by Urmi Juvekar and Dibakar Banerjee and the meticulous details leave no scope for arguments.
What adds to the flavour is excellent cinematography by Nikos Andritsakis and the marvellous use of sound, both ambient and otherwise, to build up the tension in the political drama.
The controversial song “Bharat Mata Ki Jai” and the item number “Imported Kamariyaa” are well-picturised and the latter is on the way to become the next favourite numbers at all ‘basti’ celebrations.
Despite its simplistic and down-to-earth locations, “Shanghai” has a nice hard-boiled vibe and a sense of semi-exotic danger. Definitely gives you a lot to ponder about.
Don’t miss this one.

‘Love Wrinkle-free’: Movie Review (2012)

Movie Review (2012)
 Film: “Love, Wrinkle Free”
Cast: Ash Chandler, Shernaz Patel, Seema Rahmani, Ashwin Mushran
Director: Sandeep Mohan
Rating:  3/5

Every year only a handful of English films are made in India, fewer still finding a release. The marriage of English and cinema is one that has sadly not happened in the country.
Hence, to see a film made in English that retains local Indian flavours despite a few flaws, is a sheer delight. “Love, Wrinkle-free” is that tangy little Indian English comedy which has few parallels in the country.
Middle-aged Savio (Ash Chandler) with an adopted teenage daughter and a seven-year-older henpecking wife Annie (Shernaz Patel), is going through troubles in his job. The couple discover that despite her age, and inspite of many failed attempts, Annie is pregnant.
Savio, meanwhile, falls for a suave businessman Rajiv (Theron D’souza), who raises money to invest in his business.
As things start falling apart, Savio finds himself falling for Rajiv’s girlfriend Natalie (Seema Rahmani) even as Rajiv goes absconding with his money. Things, it seems, can’t go worse. But they do.
There are many things that work for this little indie Indian-English comedy. Most of all are the actors.
Ash Chandler is likeable as the perennially confused, hassled and typical Goan man Savio. However, it is Shernaz Patel as his wife who excels in the film and holds it together.
As director Sandeep Mohan digs deep into Goan culture, he finds many of their idiosyncrasies that make for funny screen time. The writing is also funny with some really witty lines.
A film set in Goa cannot be devoid of music. And this one has its decent share with some foot-tapping numbers and some hilarious songs like the one called “Kha Momo (eat momos)”. Its silly, irreverent lyrics go on and on in all seriousness.
Despite many elements that come together, especially the wit and humour that sparkle in bits, the main flaw of the film lies in the end that seems rushed up as many things are left unexplained. Many opportunities to play up the humour at the climax are missed.
The stereotype of low-budget indie film is that they are supposed to be serious. It is hence refreshing to see one that isn’t.
Of course, you can’t expect a masterpiece with this one, but why should you? Just because it is an indie film does not mean it has to be boring, oblong and serious to boot.
Go expecting a film that is fun, has a few laughs and a lot of giggles. Expect a spicy Goan fish curry and you won’t be disappointed. If you ever had the inclination to support a small but well made indie film, this one you must not miss.

Rowdy Rathore Movie Review

'Rowdy Rathore'; Akshay Returns With Another 'Khiladi' Kaper! 
Rating   3/5

After Salman Khan, Aamir Khan and Ajay Devgn, it's the Khiladi Kumar's turn to go the Southern way, starring in another action-packed remake. Akshay Kumar stars in Prabhudeva's second wind in Bollywood, Rowdy Rathore, and he does so with élan; is that enough, though?

 The big news is that with Rowdy Rathore, Akki returns to his trademarked action avatar seven years after he was last seen in one, in 2004's Aan – Men At Work. The film is also Prabhudeva's second coming, three years after the Southie dancer-turned-director set the Bollywood box-office afire, helming the Salman Khan-starrer 'Wanted. This one's a remake too, that of S. S. Rajamouli's original Ravi Teja, Anushka Shetty-starrer Vikramarkudu, which has already seen success in Tamil as Siruthai, in Kannada as Veera Madakari and in Bengali as Bikram Singha.

 In Rowdy Rathore, what truly works in the film's favour is a combination of the two stars, Akshay's perfect timing, and Prabhudeva's fine-tuned southern sensibilities, which come together to make Rowdy Rathore an out-and-out entertainer.
 But then, the duo is treading on a double-edged sword, because what works for it, is also liable to alienate the more upwardly-mobile segment in Bollywood's cinegoing crowds. Of all the Hindi remakes of southern films, like Wanted, Singham and Ghajini, Rowdy Rathore is, perhaps, the one most sincere to its Telugu, Tamil roots, bringing along that trademark southern grammar in the over-the-top story, the extended flashbacks, the touches of sentimental melodrama and the hard-punching action, all tailored to fit Akshay perfectly.
 The story, though, might strike some as being quite illogical. When a roadside rowdy and thief, Shiva, Akshay Kumar, finds a little girl claiming to be his daughter, he finds that there might be more to the claim than meets his eye. He finds that he has a look-alike in the heroic ASP Vikram Singh Rathore, the saviour of a village near Patna that is under the thumb of a tyrant, Baapji, played by Southern actor Nassar. When Shiva suddenly finds things go awry, he has to abandon a budding romance with his love, Priya, played by Sonakshi Sinha, to go save Rathore's village.
 Though the film fits the Southern potboiler mould perfectly, some of the humour, like the banter between Shiva, and his accomplice 2G, played by Paresh Ganatra, might seem crass and flat to Hindi audiences. The same goes for the quickstep romance between Akshay and Sonakshi, that Prabhudeva seems to be in a hurry to get through. The over-the-top tyranny that the film's antagonist, Baapji, exhibits in his dealings with the village, instead, is comically anachronistic by Hindi standards, Bollywood having done away with these caricaturish Gabbar-type characters quite a while ago.
 However, where the film truly lights up is in the flashbacks featuring Akshay as Vikram Rathore, and in the climactic action sequences of the film. It's clear that fire is still burning within the erstwhile Khiladi, and in the film's super slickly-executed action sequences, Akshay is in his element.
 While Akshay is clearly the star of the film, playing the funny Shiva and the serious Vikram with equal ease and aplomb, Sonakshi Sinha as his romantic half manages to leave a fair mark as well, though this one is a much flimsier role that her debut hit, Dabangg. But the talented actress needs to pick up films that give her a better deal than this, if she is to rise to the industry's top tiers. The same goes for the other players here, with the likes of Yashpal Sharma and Paresh Ganatra wasted in tiresome roles. Nassar is unconvincing as Bihari don, Baapji, especially with a thick southern accent clouding his Hindi, while the other antagonist, Baapji's brother Tilla, played by another southie, Supreeth, has been dubbed for.
 Santosh Thundiyil brings some interesting touches to the visuals of the film with his cinematography, taking the camera right into the thick of things, especially during the fast-paced action sequences of the film.
 Though Sajid-Wajid do well on the music with some tracks, like Chinta-Ta-Ta Chita, on the others, especially with the likes of Dhadang Dhang and Chamak Challo Chel Chabeli, the sound seems quite outdated.
 Ultimately, Rowdy Rathore is a two-man show that is riding only on the backs of Akshay Kumar and Prabhudeva. While it has its faults, it's quite impressive that between the two of them Akshay and Prabhu do manage to make this film quite an enjoyable, paisa-vasool affair, and if nothing else, make it a must-watch, simply for the return of Kumar's Khiladi avatar...

‘Yeh Khula Aasmaan’: Movie Review (2012)

Movie Review (2012)
 Film: “Yeh Khula Aasmaan”
Cast: Raghuvir Yadav, Raj Tandon, Anya Anand, Yashpal Sharma and Manjusha Godse
Director: Gitanjali Sinha
Rating:  3/5

It was that great poet-thinker Harindranath Chattopadhyay who said: “It’s very simple to be difficult, but very difficult to be simple.” By that logic, debutant director Gitanjali Sinha has pulled off a reasonably admirable feat in this simple staright-from-the-heart film about the relationship between a neglected boy Avinash (Raj Tandon) and his lonely grandfather.
The film vaguely echoes L.V. Prasad’s 1974 tearjerker “Bidaai”, though not in any overt way.
That the grandfather who embraces the boy’s loneliness and insecurities is played by Raghuvir Yadav is a happy coincidence, and one that fills up the rather austere spaces in the film’s narrative.
The small-town ambience in Bihar, the old sprawling houses with acres of greenery stretching out from here to eternity, furnish the film with a burnished exterior.
As for the interiors, don’t look too deep. Sinha seems content skimming the surface of the emotions gliding along gently as the boy finds a new beginning in his grandfather’s company.
Dramatic conflicts are created through some villainous elements creeping in with embarrassing inopportunity into the placid ambience. The build-up towards a kite-flying contest is negotiated with disarming naivette.
“Yeh Khula Aasmaan” is an old-fashioned simple and transparent tale told with a straightforwardness that challenges current filmmaking trends of irrelevant complexities.
The narration is kept simple and largely formulistic. A romance between the gawky hero and the-girl-next-door (Anya Anand) is teased into the tale. The real hero of the film, besides the small-town ambience, is Raghuvir. He is in his elements, even pitching in with a folk song somewhere down the line while the youngsters at the helm serve their purpose.
Yashpal Sharma as Avinash’s sophisticated tycoon-father is completely miscast.
“Yeh Khula Aasmaan” is a well-intended heartwarming film. More mellow than melodrama, it revels in postures of pristine idyllism associated with non-metropolitan life.
There are no heart-stopping moments of high and low. The drama, when it ensues, is brought on with disarming simplicity. That the heart is in the right place is undeniable.

Love, Wrinkle-free Movie Review

Rating 2.5/5

The last Hindi film set in Goa was probably the Abhishek Bachchan starrer Dum Maaro Dum, which showed the picturesque state as a den of vice, rife with drug dealers and unscrupulous killers. However, with Love, Wrinkle-free, a light-hearted English romantic comedy, one gets to see the old world charm of Goa, which had been missing from the silver screen since a long time.
 Revolving around the Montero family, the film has Savio Montero (Ash Chandler), a sales rep and a dreamer who wants to make it big by dealing in 'edible underwear', an idea that he thinks will take the state of Goa by storm, while his wife Annie (Shernaz Patel), a sweet Goan wife has problems of her own dealing with age and the possibility of being ousted from the church choir. Moreover, their adopted daughter Ruth (Arika Silaichia) wants to get rid of her chinki eyes with a surgery. If that was not all, Annie is pregnant, much to her joy and Savio's anxiety. To further complicate matters, Savio meets up Natalie (Seema Rahmani), a bohemian photographer who the hapless Savio feels drawn to, with comical consequences.
 The movie, without a doubt is guaranteed to bring a smile to your face as you follow the adventures of the members of the Montero family while they deal with their respective problems ranging from pregnancy to a shady business deal to wrinkles to an expensive surgery to a Goan gangster Bruno Corrieo (Sohrab Ardeshir) and his son Jacob (Ashwin Mushran), who has his heart set on the clueless Annie.
The humour is light and fresh and Chandler's Savio is as endearing as he is comical (watch out for the scenes when Savio mimics Marlon Brando from The Godfather as and when the fancy hits him, much to his daughter Ruth's exasperation and Natalie's amusement). Shernaz Patel also puts an honest performance as the supportive wife, who wants to set things right for everyone, including herself and the interactions between Savio and Annie are amusing because they are so very natural. The rest of the cast too does not disappoint and Ardeshir and Mushran as the Goan father-son gangster duo are a treat in themselves too.
 Apart from the acting and humour, special mention must also be made of the cinematography, which shows Goa in a mellow and loving light, reminding one of lazy siestas and provoking a strong desire to take the next flight to the land of beer, beaches and old world bungalows.
 However, one does end up feeling that the film could have been a bit crisper as there are times, especially in the second half, when the viewer might end up feeling that the story is losing its pace. But nevertheless, Love, Wrinkle-free is a safe bet if one is looking for ways to spend a lazy weekend afternoon and come out smiling

Arjun:The Warrior Prince Movie Review

Rating 2.5/5

As far as Indian mythology goes, Arjun from Mahabharata is one of the most well-known characters apart from Karna, and the former has inspired many fables, comic books and film adaptations (Ranbir Kapoor's character in Raajneeti was said to be based on Arjun). Directed by Arnab Chaudhuri, the latest flick on the ace archer titled Arjun: The Warrior Prince proves without a doubt that the epic hero is still very much in demand and that Indian animation has arrived and reached that level where adults will be as engrossed as children in the adventures of a boy, who grew up to be one of the greatest heroes of Indian mythology.
 The story begins with a young prince asking his female caretaker to narrate him a story and the latter obliges him, starting to recite the tale of the mighty empire of Hastinapur and the Kuru family that ruled it. The story moves on to show how the Kauravas and the Pandavas locked horns even as teenagers and how a young boy was forged into becoming a fearsome warrior by his guru, Dronacharya. The film also touches upon epic incidents like Draupadi's swayamwar, the exile to which the Pandavas are banished and the rigged dice game, in which the wily Shakuni manages to manipulate the noble Yudishthira into losing everything…
 At the very outset, what works for the movie is the amazing animation and graphics, which takes your breath away; the attention to detail when it comes to action scenes is admirable. Furthermore, the makers have kept it in mind to keep the dialogues of the epic as audience friendly as possible, so the lines are bereft of archaic words and are easy to understand for the most part. The sound effects technicians and the voice artistes also seem to have done justice to their parts and the humour, as and when it appears (like in the scenes showing Bheema's gluttony and the confusion created while identifying the twins Nakul and Sahadev) does elicit chuckles.
 However, on the flip side, the director seems to focus so much on Arjun that he seems to ignore other pivotal characters like Karna- Arjun's arch nemesis and the ultimate anti-hero. Indeed, the Karna in the flick seems more like a baddie henchman than the real threat to Arjun, which the warrior was as per mythology. The director also skips the incident of the disrobing of Draupadi and her subsequent rescue by Krishna, which was one of the main reasons which sparked off the blood-bath at Kurukshetra. Moreover, the use of songs in the background during action scenes or emotional scenes comes across as a dampener and one wishes that the makers could have used some appropriate mantras in the background to pack a punch (like in Vaastav, where director Mahesh Manjrekar has used shlokas and mantras in the background during intense scenes).
 Nevertheless, compared to other Indian animation flicks like Roadside Romeo and Bal Ganesh that have come up in the past, Arjun: The Warrior Prince is without doubt a cut above the rest for the sheer animation brilliance and special effects.
 

‘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

Mr. Bhatti on Chutti Movie Review

Rating 0.5/5

To fans of veteran actor Anupam Kher, who have enjoyed and appreciated his masterful performance in movies like Saaransh, Daddy, Karma and even Khosla Ka Ghosla and A Wednesday in recent times, this reviewer sincerely appeals to not opt for Kher's latest flick Mr. Bhatti On Chutti. To see such a talented actor delve in the abyss of buffoonery would certainly make one wail in anguish…

Karan Razdan, who had come up with the horrible horror flick Warning some months back, now comes up with another worse (if possible) product in Mr. Bhatti On Chutti, film that can be called a 'retarded remake' of the Amitabh Bachchan thriller Don.

 Brij Bhushan Bhatti (Kher) is a nerdy assistant bank manager and a wannabe private detective who keeps calling up the White House because he wants to talk to the US President George Bush and share his 'peace plan' with him. When the intolerable Bhatti gets a mysterious package containing details of a free vacation to Liverpool, he jumps at the chance…and straight into a murky plot involving a lookalike terrorist named Abu Siddique (Anupam kher again) with a diabolical plan to blow up various parts of the United Kingdom, a moll Katie (Bhairavi Goswami), who talks in an irritating baby voice, a cop Javed Khan (Abid Ali), who wants Bhatti to infiltrate Siddique's gang to ferret out information, a Pakistani staying in London (Shakti Kapoor) and a motley crew of other equally asinine characters, who seem hell-bent on ruining the viewer's day. Needless to say, the clumsy bumpkin Bhatti manages to save the day and becomes a hero for one and all (yawns galore)….

 It is indeed disappointing to see Kher as he merrily stumbles his way through the story with his irritating traits (he starts dancing whenever any cell phone within hearing range belts out a ringtone). The rest of the cast seems to compete with each other to see who can ham the best. Moreover, the look and print of the film reminds one of 'C' grade movies that used to be made in the 80s and the less said about the script, screenplay, dialogues and cinematography, the better.
 The only one scene when the viewer might wipe his eyes and wake up is when Amitabh Bachchan appears in a cameo, but then, the Big B's persona and baritone could make a log sit up and take notice…
 In conclusion, don't waste your chutti to go and watch Mr. Bhatti On Chutti…

Ishaqzaade Movie Review

Director :   Habib Faisal
Music :   Amit Trivedi
Lyrics :   Kausar Munir and Habib Faisal
Starring :   Arjun Kapoor and Parineeti Chopra
Rating 3/5
This is dangerous Ishq! A violent love story set is a small town named Almore, somewhere in Uttarakhand, between the kids of two warring politicians belonging to different communities. While one is brash and in your face with his arrogance, the other, the only female in a joint family, is the feisty one with ambition to one day win the elections. He is a Hindu, and she a Muslim. He is a ruffian to the core; she has a tough exterior, is intelligent and is not afraid to bite the bullet.
Parma (Arjun Kapoor) will do anything to make his grandfather happy. He loves to flex his muscles and flaunt his family name. Zoya (Parineeti Chopra) comes from a political family. All out to campaign for her father, she runs into an arrogant Parma who she takes head-on. Not having seen someone flinch at the sight of a gun, Parma is impressed with Zoya. He begins to chase her; she in turn falls for his rustic charm and persistence. Before the break, Parma plays a deadly card that helps his grandfather win the elections -- by a whooping margin. A super hook that director Habib Faisal uses to keep you glued.
Given the age of the protagonists (twenty-something), the testosterone levels are understandably high and Faisal exploits the immaturity of the characters to good effect. He draws them out of their comfort zone to challenge their respective families who are now hell-bent on finishing them off. They both belong to different communities, to top it, there's political rivalry. But what turns the tale on its head is when caste and creed is forgotten and the families unite with one goal -- to wipe out the 'shame'!
Arjun Kapoor making his debut is stupendous. Playing a negative role in his first film, he takes the unconventional route to stardom. His body language for the character he essays is perfect. He can only get better from here. Parineeti Chopra is in a 'zone of her own'. A complete actor who slips into the character with the ease of a pro. After LADIES VS RICKY BAHL, she dishes out another fantastic performance. Don't be surprised if you soon see her occupying the top slot in Bollywood. She is a complete package. Dynamite. Arjun has the screen presence to carry off a film on his shoulders. With Parineeti for company, he rocks the house.When watching a youngster from the film fraternity make his debut, you cannot but draw comparisons with LOVE STORY and QAYAMAT SE QAYAMAT TAK. While both had a similar story line with family as the opposition, the storyline of ISHAQZAADE pushes the envelope further with a cunning twist in the lover's tale.
The title track with its laid-back beats is used with finesse to envelope the beginning and end. Pareshaan is another track that impresses. Mention must be made about the styling of clothes as well... spot on.
A surprise though has been the 'no mention' of any Yash Raj films within the dialogues, which is the norm with any YRF Production. A good move because it allows ISHAQZAADE the exclusivity it deserves.
Rating - 3/5

Dangerous Ishhq Movie Review

Dangerous Doldrums! 
Rating 1.5/5
By MovieTalkies.com, 11 May 2012

Fans of Karisma Kapoor, who were eager to watch the comeback film of their favourite blue-eyed actress, are sure to be disappointed at her recently released Dangerous Ishhq. Vikram Bhatt, who had tasted success with the 3D supernatural thriller Haunted, fails to make a mark with his latest offering.

 Sanjana Saxena (Karisma Kapoor), a supermodel gives up the chance to accept a lucrative assignment in Paris and chooses to stay back with her super-rich beau Rohan (Rajneesh Duggal) because she has this unexplainable gut feeling that she might not meet him again if she goes away. The love birds decide to get married but the very next morning, Rohan is abducted from his beach house by a bunch of masked intruders. Sanjana faints after a head injury and on waking up, starts having visions of another life, which initially scares her but after her friend Dr. Neetu (Divya Dutta) tells us that it might be visions of her past life, they decide to visit a past life regression therapist. Meanwhile, a no-nonsense cop ACP Singh (Jimmy Shergill) starts investigating the kidnapping and helps out Sanjana despite being skeptical about her claims about past life foes and conspiracies.

 What follows is an epic journey that spans centuries throughout history where the unfortunate lovers seem to unite only to be torn apart by some or the other reasons. Moreover, a mysterious foe seems to follow them in every life, trying his best to ruin things for the couple. How Sanjana manages to rescue Rohan from the clutches of the kidnapper and also discover the identity of the mysterious foe, forms the rest of the movie.
 The only redeeming quality of the movie seems to be Karisma, who looks as fresh as ever in her comeback film. However, apart from that one element, the movie is a disappointment on all levels. The Karisma-Rajneesh pairing has zero chemistry and the latter is as expressive as a log. The rest of the cast, with the possible exception of Jimmy Shergill, seem to sleep-walk through their roles. Moreover, the screenplay and dialogues are so absurd that it seems funny at times (In a scene, Sanjana starts telling Neetu that she has run out of coffee and starts breaking down while counting the household items that she needs to take care of! In another scene, a seemingly workaholic doctor Neetu claims she is too busy with work to change footwear for special occasions but is seen strutting in snazzy heels all throughout the movie but at a high profile fashion show, the same person turns up in chappals and gets teased about it by Rohan for being so absent-minded doctor…)
 And to top it all, the film seems like a never-ending roller coaster ride through so many past lives that we don't blame you if you feel your head spinning while trying to keep track. The 3D effects too are not effective enough and one wonders why Bhatt went through the trouble of converting the film in 3D format.
 All in all, Dangerous Ishhq is in great danger of not being accepted with open arms by the audience…