3 Idiots - Review

It's Christmas time again which means only one thing.....an Aamir Khan release. This time he joins hands with Raju Hirani of Munnabhai fame who attempts to showcase the lives of 3 engineering students. Is it Santa or is it the Grinch??
3 Idiots & Aamir Khan = Sheer Brilliance

The movie begins with two friends Farhan Qureshi (Madhavan) & Raju Rastogi (Sharman Joshi) setting out to find their friend Rancho (Aamir Khan). Through this adventure we delve into their past, where these 3 students were roommates at a prestigious engineering college. Rancho was different from the rest; he wanted to learn & didn't fancy the existing education system. The dean (Boman Irani) hated his guts & disliked the 3 idiots. As the story unravels, it deals with the pressure students face as well as parental force on rubbishing their child's dreams.
Post their graduation, Rancho disappears & the movie moves into the future, with his friends looking for him. There is also an alternate love angle between Pia (Kareena Kapoor), the deans daughter & Rancho.

The first half of the film is absolutely marvelous. It has you in splits, especially the scene with Raju's poor parents & Omi's s (classmate) function speech.
The second half has a lot more emotional play as well as a very filmi touch to it.

Although the story of the film is not the best, it is the execution by Hirani that takes the cake. He crafts each scene beautifully & is backed by great performances by all the actors. This is definitely his best work so far, surpassing the Munnabhai series.
The music of the film is strictly ok but the songs are woven seamlessly into the film, making it work.

But when we talk about 3 idiots, one man shines, Aamir Khan. He makes you believe he that he is the 22 year old quirky, yet lovable Rancho. Every frame he is a part of shows the sheer talent & versatility of this actor. He is undoubtedly the best actor of his generation.
He is supported by spirited performances from Sharman Joshi & Madhavan as well as a great job by half-foreign student Omi. Kareena Kapoor plays her part well. Boman Irani too shines in his role as the grumpy dean.

All in all, 3 Idiots is the perfect Christmas release. It is a complete entertainer & definitely one of the best films of the year. With the hype & holiday weekend, this film will surely set the box office blazing.
Aamir Khan, take a bow, for you have done it again. Outstanding.
Do yourself a favour & book your tickets now.

Critical: 4/5
Commercial: 4.5/5

Rocket Singh Salesman of the Year - Review

With hardly any promotion or marketing efforts, what would get people to Pocket this Rocket?
1. Yashraj (almost lost credibility now)
2. Flavour of the season Ranbir Kapoor &
3. Director Shimit Amin (100% track record)
So is this combo deal worth your while?
It is....

From the first frame, RSSOTY has a very simple believable feel; far away from the glossy fields & snowy caps Yashraj is famous for.

It is the story of Harpreet Singh Bedi (Ranbir Kapoor). Just about scraping through his graduation, he decides to take up the job of a salesman at a company selling computers. He finds it hard to get his bearings in the company because he refuses to bend the rules & play the game. Being noble & honest, Harpreet realises that his idealogies are not followed by others hence he decides to start his own company. He tags along with himself other colleagues from the office & embarks on a journey to reach to the top. Along the way, he stumbles, rises & eventually is met with an interesting end.

Rocket Singh does have many script flaws. How does one run a company while working at another? How does one manage to get orders without an office address?
Regardless of all this & more, the beauty of the film lies in it's simplicity & of course, its performances.

Ranbir Kapoor is no more the next big thing....he has arrived. He delivers a stupendous performance, his best to date & can be compared to the big names in the business today. He carries this film single-handedly & deserves the tag superstar.
Along with him his boss Puri pitches in a memorable performance & is supported by porn crazed maintenance guy D.Santosh, sideburned team lead Naveen Kaushik as well as loud & brash receptionist Gauhar Khan. Cute newcomer Shahzahn Padamsee is non-existent.

Director Shimit Amin works & falters both. While the film is well made & has a great feel, it could definitely be trimmed a bit. While the screenplay/dialogues by Jaideep Sahani are well written, the duo don't quite create the magic of Chak De. The humour in the film is dry but it brings a smile to your face. The climax is a tad bit filmy & should have been better written.

At the end of it, Rocket Singh is a film with soul. It does tend to preach a bit but still works for most of it. It makes you like Harpreet Singh & see the life of a salesman.
As the review is a bit late, the box office results are already out....sadly, the rocket didn't launch.
I still recommend you to catch Rocket Singh, a one time watch for sure.

Critical: 3.5/5
Commercial: 2/5

Paa - Review

No, this is not Benjamin Button.
Paa is about Progeria, about relations, about awareness & above all, about Auro. Does it manage to impress?
While the movie might be just above average, its a dazzling performance by Auro that shall be remembered for times to come.

The story involves 12 year old Auro (Amitabh Bachchan) who has progeria, a rare condition that causes accelerated physical growth, hence making a mentally 12 year old child look like he's 70. His life revolves around his doctor mother Vidya (Vidya Balan) & his school friends. Visionary MP Amol Arte (Abhishek Bachchan) is his father, but neither know the relation, as Amol had parted ways with Vidya years ago.
The film delves with Auro's everyday life on one side & Amole's political ideologies & want to make a difference on the other. An incident makes them cross paths & Paa is about how they change each others lives.

First & foremost, the narrative of the film is extremely weak. It is poorly scripted & the political angle is blown out of proportion. The film tends to drag & gets preachy very often.
Secondly, the editing of the film disappoints & the camera work too, leaves a lot to be desired.
Director R.Balki, who impressed with Cheeni Kum falters. The movie impacts not because of him, but because of the actors.
Of the songs, maestro Illayaraja takes 1 song & spins multiple versions of the same.

But Paa is only about one man Amitabh Bachchan. AB delivers a stupendous performance, making him the heart of this film He makes you forget that it is him & creates a different world around Auro. After 40 years, this is a first for him, surely a feather in his cap. Take a bow Big.B.
Of the othersAbhishek Bachchan gives a very good performance. Vidya Balan looks beautiful & this movie can be considered as her best work yet. Paresh Rawal in his short role is fantastic & child actor Pratik is brilliant.

The length of this film is a tad bit long & the film does tend to drift at times, moving into morality & unnecessary sermons. While it is not a tear-jerker, it has its emotional moments.

All in all, Paa is a film that rides on its performances. Take away Amitabh Bachchan & Paa would fall flat, face first. At the box office, the film doesn't look too promising, but the low budget would greatly help its cause.
If you want to watch a never-before-seen AB, do go for Paa.....but if you don't fancy him much, you can give Paa a miss.

Critical: 2.5/5
Commercial: 3/5

De Dana Dan - Review

It's Priyadarshan time once again. A mad caper filled with over-the-top slapstick humour coupled with the successful combo of Akshay Kumar, Paresh Rawal & Sunil Shetty. Does it work?
Not at all. It can be called a mind numbing experience.

De Dana Dan is a twisted story of how Nitin (Akshay Kumar), who is a servant/driver of mean & crude Archana Puran Singh is in love with rich girl Anjali (Katrina Kaif). Frustrated with his life, he attempts committing suicide & ends up meeting Ram (Suniel Shetty) who's life is equally miserable. They plot a plan to make money of Archana & end up getting caught up in a vortex of madness.
On a parallel plot, conman Harbans (Paresh Rawal) is looking to get his son (Chunkey Pandey) married off to whoever has the maximum dowry money & he too gets entangled in a web of lies & misunderstandings.
Ironically all the characters end up at one hotel & that's where the story unfolds, making it a maniacal adventure for all.

The film has a plethora of actors & can hardly be called an Akshay Kumar film. Additional characters include weird accented chinese gangster Asrani & sleazy as always Shakti Kapoor amongst a host of others.

The first half of this film is extremely boring & the narrative extremely weak, while the second half is haphazard & makes for the odd laugh here & there. The fault is in the screenplay itself which stretches & pulls beyond requirement. The film is painstakingly long & needs to be trimmed by atleast 30 min. The climax is absurd & pointless.

Priyadarshan's direction is nothing to write home about as he attempts this ominous task of weaving 15-20 characters into a single plot. Also, the movie has his typical style of filmmaking with the climax having each & every character in the film running behind each other.
The music is strictly OK & the good melodies are not included in the film.

Of the actors, Paresh Rawal has the meatiest role but doesn't impress. This can be considered as one of his weak performances. Akshay Kumar delivers his 5th turkey this year & has bid adieu to good cinema. Sunil Shetty just about manages. The female actors are hardly present. Shakti Kapoor is apt. Johnny Lever, Rajpal Yadav falter.

From the comedy house of Priyadarshan, this one's a rotten egg. Having done great work before, he doesn't manage to hold the audience & at best delivers a few laughs. At the box office, one doesn't see it going too far & I strongly recommend everyone NOT to watch this film.
Save time, Save money, Save sanity.

Critical: 1.5/5
Commercial: 2.5/5

Kurbaan - Review

From the house of Karan Johar, the much awaited & anticipated Kurbaan hits the screens today.....is it worth your money??
I think it makes the cut.

Kurbaan takes on topic of Islamic terrorism tackled by numerous Bollywood films (read: New York, Aamir, etc). It is the story of two professor's Avantika (Kareena Kapoor) & Ehsaan (Saif Ali Khan) who teach in New Delhi. They fall in love & owing to certain opportunities which come Avantika's way, they get married & shift base to New York.
Here they come across very orthodox Islamic neighbours & Avantika is spellbound when one of her neighbor's asks for help, telling her that her life is in peril. What follows next is a whirlwind of events that leave her aghast & turn her life completely around.

The film begins on a slow, romantic note but 20 minutes in, things start picking up. For most of it, the movie does grip you & provide for some edge-of-the-seat entertainment. Though the second half does falter at many points, the end impresses.
The screenplay is well written but the movie is a tad long. The camera work & action sequence are nothing out of the ordinary. The music of the film is great & the director maintains a perfect balance by not overloading the viewer with dance numbers.

The highlight of the film has to be it's performances. Kareena Kapoor looks great & delivers a stellar performance with a meaty role. Definitely one of the best female performances this year. Saif Ali Khan too puts up a brilliant display. Funny, Intense or Poignant, he emotes with ease. Vivek Oberoi is good & plays his part well. Om Puri & Kirron Kher support perfectly. Dia Mirza is a hit-n-miss.
First time Director Rensil D'silva does a good job at taking a done-to-death topic & adding some life to it. Only if the length was trimmed, the film would be much better.

All in all, the film has it highs n lows but finishes off with a great climax. It definitely has it's moments & is a good looking product. At the box office, one sees it doing decent business, though the A certificate wouldn't help its cause.
So go for Kurbaan without expecting much & let this decent entertainer play its part.

Critical: 3/5
Commercial: 3/5

Ajab Prem ki Ghazab Kahani - Review

After a gap of 15 years, Raj Kumar Santoshi returns to comedy with APKGK...does it create magic similar to the cult-classic Andaaz apna apna??
Not even in Mr.Santoshi's wildest dreams.

APKGK is the story of a small town boy Prem Chopra (Ranbir Kapoor) who runs a Happy Club (a place to make people happy) with his friends. Prem is besotted by Jenny (Katrina Kaif) who moves into this small colourful set of a town & his only aim is to win her heart. They don't get off on the right foot but eventually they develop a great friendship which Prem believes is love. Jenny on the other hand has planned her marriage to London boy Upen Patel & the story then unfolds as to whether Jenny realizes Prem's love.

The movie does have it's moments. It starts off very well & the first 30 min keep a smile on your face...but it is the length of this film that can kill you. Post the interval the movie refuses to even crawl & the story goes nowhere. The jokes start diminishing (leave alone the odd funny one) & the audience is tortured by the painful music, mind-numbing jokes & Upen Patel.
The humour of this film is slapstick in it's crudest form & the action scenes towards the end are best suited for kids aged 4-10.

One highlight of this film is Ranbir Kapoor. He delivers a fabulous performance & takes all honours. Alas, the content is so weak that even good acting cant salvage any respect to the film. Katrina looks pretty & fits the role. Upen Patel gives a crash course on how a performance can end ones film career. Darshan Jariwala is good.

If one has to look at the directors past work, it leaves you in shock to see this futile effort in the name of comedy come out of the same stable. Even with two current favourites Ranbir Kapoor & Katrina Kaif, Santoshi delivers a turkey.
At the box office, Ranbir.K would definitely draw audiences but word of mouth will do the film no good. One sees a decent performance on that front.

I strongly suggest people to skip this film. The promos didn't look good & the film itself is similar. The only people who should enter the cinema are those who like Ranbir Kapoor, want to show their kids a movie or want to watch Salman Khan's 117 second cameo.
Better yet, donate the ticket money to the "I died watching Upen Patel act - Fund"

Critical: 2/5
Commercial: 3/5

London Dreams - Review

After Aankhen, Waqt & Namaste London, entertainer Vipul Shah's new project London Dreams looked very promising. With Salman Khan & Ajay Devgan donning the Rockstar hats, does the movie deliver......well, half way there.

London Dreams is the story of Arjun (Ajay Devgan) & his lifelong dream to perform at the Wembley Stadium. Coming from a small town, Arjun works hard along with his bandmates Zoheb (Ranvijay) & Wasim (Aditya Roy) to achieve his goal. In this journey, he gets his childhood friend Manjit a.k.a. Mannu (Salman Khan) to join the band. Mannu is extremely talented & affable but doesn't have the same desire & passion as Arjun.
London Dreams (the band) becomes an overnight success & people love Mannu thereby causing a jealous Arjun to plot Mannu's exit from the band. There is also a love angle here with Priya (Asin) who is also a part of the band.

The first half of the film is great & entertains but the narrative falls extremely weak in the second half. The story moves from being a perfect mix of fun & emotions to an emotional overload. The melodrama reaches it's peak in the last 30 min & the story goes through the regular predictable Filmi routines.
Being a Rock-based musical film, the songs fail to impress. After Rock On, Shankar-Ehsan-Loy falter, leave alone a couple of tracks, with Barso Yaron being the highlight of the film.


The movie truly & only belongs to Salman Khan. He delivers a knockout performance & makes you fall in love with the happy-go-lucky Mannu. Either as a Rockstar or a brash villager, Salman's own personality fits with the character Mannu thereby making it one of his best roles to date.
Ajay Devgan is completely overshadowed & even with his intense performance, he doesn't suit the Rockstar image at all, a complete misfit. One sees Saif or Sanjay Dutt as better option's for Devgan's role. Asin is pleasing & has good chemistry with Salman. Ranvijay & Aditya Roy ham through their short roles.

Director Vipul Shah gets it right in the first half, but slips in the second. With a little less glycerine & drama the film would have done wonders.

All in all, London Dreams is a one time watch. At the box office, one sees it doing fair business, nothing to extravagant.
For those of you going for Ajay Devgan-DONT.
For all you Salman fans-Go watch it, it's his movie.

Critical: 2.5/5
Commercial: 3/5

All the Best - Review

One look at the promos & All the Best didn't look like the most promising film this Diwali....but Rohit Shetty & Ajay Devgn have sprung a surprise & ATB has emerged the clear winner, trouncing Blue & Main Aur Mrs Khanna.

ATB is the story of how Veer (Fardeen Khan) lies to his brother Dharam (Sanjay Dutt) about his marriage to Vidya (Mugda Godse) in order to get some additional pocket money for himself. The idea is suggested by Veer's buddy Prem Chopra (Ajay Devgn) who is married to Jhanvi (Bipasha Basu).
Dharam has never met Vidya & the story begins when he comes to Goa & mistakes Jhanvi to be Vidya. Then begins a maniacal journey of lies, humour & madness. Throw in a mute money-lender goon (Johnny Lever), a crazy lessee (Sanjay Mishra) & Vidya's hyperactive father (Asrani) & you have all the ingredients for a fun ride.

The first half of this film breezes past & is absolutely hilarious. It has the typical leave-your-brain-behind kind of comedy that has you in splits. The second half of the film slows down a bit & had it been trimmed by 15 minutes, ATB would be a terrific outing. Nevertheless, the film does entertain.

Of the performances, Sajay Dutt delivers a stellar performance. He has great comic timing & does full justice to his role. Ajay Devgn too, is top notch & has great scenes with Dutt. Fardeen matures as an actor & this movie can be considered one of his better performances. Bipasha is apt & Mugda non-existent. A special mention for Sanjay Mishra & Asrani, both of whom are fantastic. Johnny Lever is patchy.
Rohit Shetty shows again that comedy is his forte. The Ajay Devgn-Rohit Shetty combo delivers a hat-trick. The movie is vibrant, colourful & fun & for the most part, hilarious. The music is mediocre & action scenes interesting.

To conclude, All the Best is a thoroughly entertaining fare & while it may not be your best comedy film, it does not disappoint. At the box office, one sees it slowly picking up with word of mouth but still loosing ground to the much hyped Blue.
I would strongly recommend everyone to catch this fun film, a paisa-vasool one at that. ATB- the dark horse this Diwali.

Critical: 3.5/5
Commercial: 3.5/5

Main aur Mrs Khanna - Review

If you are entering the cinema halls with the hope of catching a romantic comedy, you are WRONG.
If you are entering the cinema halls to watch Salman Khan for 2 hours, you are WRONG.
The posters plastered of MAMK all over the city with Salman & Kareena are quite misleading; as this movie is as much of a Sohail Khan movie (if not more), as it is a Salman; which is utterly disappointing.

Set in Melbourne, MAMK is the tale of Raina (Kareena Kapoor), who is married to Samir Khanna (Salman Khan). Their marriage develops cracks due to Samir being unsuccessful in his career & for their future, he decides to move to Singapore and make his life.
Raina on the other hand chooses to remain in Melbourne & take a job rather than going back to India & here she meets Akash (Sohail Khan). Akash loves her & she takes him as a great friend. He helps her in all her needs & things take a sudden twist when Samir returns (albeit successful in no time) to take back Raina.

Writer/Director Prem Soni has attempted to write a nice simple romantic movie but to no avail. He fails miserably. The story & screenplay has no highs & lows, except for the last 15 minutes, which are actually the most entertaining.
There are times in the fast half when one wonders if they would be able to endure the full length of this film. The songs are hit-n-miss with a couple of nice tunes & one decent item number.

Of the performances, this is a Kareena Kapoor film. She looks great for most of it & does her role full justice.
Post Wanted, one expected Salman to tower over the film, rather than share space with Sohail Khan. He plays the intense husband well, but his role is not worth his star power.
Sohail Khan, the Main in MAMK is patchy. He gets a plum role & does his bit but still fails to impress. One doesn't see him playing the leading man with Salman in the film.
Preity Zinta looks fabulous in her cameo & so does Deepika. Yash Tonk is a little over-the-top & Dino Morea non-existent.

At the box office, the marketing muscle of Blue & All the Best will hurt MAMK & with a bad product, one doesn't see this movie going far.
All in all, MAMK is a utterly disappointing fare, especially post Wanted. Misleading viewers to believe it's an out and out Salman film, doesn't help the cause. I would strongly suggest everyone to avoid this.

Critical: 1.5/5
Commercial: 2.5/5

Blue - Review

The most expensive Bollywood film ever made,
Two bankable stars Akshay Kumar & Sanjay Dutt,
Foreign locales & slick promos,
Eagerly awaited & extremely hyped,
One Word - Marketing


When one walks in to watch Blue, they carry a certain amount of expectations considering the starcast, A.R Rehman music & footage from the promos promising them never-before-seen action......alas, they might get some of these wishes fulfilled, without a real story.

Blue takes you on a journey into the deep waters of the Bahamas, wherein lies a treasure, waiting to be found. Sagar (Sanjay Dutt) is the only one who knows the way & his friend Aarav (Akshay Kumar) wants him to take him there but due to a haunting incident in the past, Sagar never wants to go near the "Lady in Blue" again.
Throw in a situation where Sagar's brother Sameer (Zayed Khan) is in dire need of the money & with no way out, the 3 set out to recover the lost treasure. While this is the core plot of the film, there is also the angle of the bad man Rahul Dev.

There is no denying the scale at which the movie is made. The production values are superb & the movie looks simply fabulous. What it has going for it are some brilliant action sequences, great songs & the fact that its a visual treat.
But on the flipside, the movie struggles to hold the viewer & the screenplay crawls at a snails pace. It starts of very well, but fails to hold its bearings & careens off to a disappointing climax.

Of the performances, Akshay Kumar is brilliant & definitely the pick of the lot. Sanjay Dutt fits the role but his age shows. Zayed Khan struggles yet again in a role that even stone-faced John Abraham could have played to perfection.
Lara Dutt looks stunningly hot & has never looked better before. She oozes oomph & plays her small bit well. Katrina Kaif has a blink-n-miss role.

A special mention has to be made for the cinematographers Pete Zuccarini & Laxman Utekar. They are the true stars of the film & definitely deserve an applause.
The music by A.R Rehman is also fantastic, but his background score doesn't quite fit into the feel of the film.
First time director Anthony D'Souza disappoints with such a huge wallet & stars.

All in all, if you want to know what the hype is about, see it, but you won't come out smiling. Another marketing genius, this movie is all body no soul in the true sense. At the box office, the Diwali weekend will ensure great returns, but one fails to see the recovery of the mammoth budget of this film. So eat some mithai & celebrate Diwali at home, as this is not the best way to start the new year.

Critical: 2.5/5
Commercial: 4/5

Acid Factory - Review

Sanjay Gupta's stable always churns out fast-paced, Hollywood inspired, slick action thrillers; which is exactly what Acid Factory promises.......sadly, this attempt falls just short, despite a great feel to the film.

6 individuals locked in an Acid Factory with no memory whatsoever of who they are & why they are here. A gas leak renders them with temporary amnesia. That is the basic premise of this film. A sudden call puts them in a jeopardy as the 6 comprise of kidnappers & the kidnapped. The story then unfolds as one by one they regain memory of what has transpired. The story is indeed a cat & mouse game between the cops & the kidnappers with Irrfan Khan donning the role of the kingpin baddie & Gulshan Grover the cop. Eventually, all the questions are answered & the twists & turns in the plot unravel, most quite predictable.

Acid Factory has Sanjay Gupta written all over it. Even though he hasn't directed it, the slick feel of the film, the stylized action sequences & the treatment of the story takes you back to Kaante.
The two main strengths of this film are the great action scenes & the crisp length of the film. Just over 90 minutes, this film doesn't drag at any point, but alas, it doesn't quite deliver the punch due to the actors.

This film falls flat due its performances. Dino Morea delivers his wost performance yet, reinstating the fact that acting might not be his game. Irrfan Khan plays his role with his usual nonchalance, which somehow doesn't work for this role. The pick of the actors is Manoj Bajpai with a brilliant portrayal of his character. Gulshan Grover in his small role is good & Aftab Shivdasani hams through half his role. Dia Mirza & Fardeen Khan spring surprises with some decent performances while Danny Denzongpa is a misfit.

A special mention for the cinematography & the action sequences, both of which are brilliant.
Director Suparn Verma's storytelling is influenced by Gupta. The film has a lot of back & forth sequences and makes for some interesting viewing. His first outing Ek Khiladi Ek Haseena was mildly entertaining & this one is the same.

All in all, a commercial Hindi film with a runtime of 90+ minutes, this movie is worth a cable TV watch. It passes of as a time-pass film which one watches for its style & action.
At the box office, I doubt it can even last beyond week 1 & with a bumper Diwali weekend (3 big releases) ahead, this movie is doomed.

Critical: 2.5/5
Commercial: 1/5

Do Knot Disturb - Review

When you have the lethal combination of Govinda - David Dhawan its difficult not to expect a laugh riot. After a series of hits in the past, their new outing deals with the issue of extra-marital affairs, akin to Biwi No; but does it deliver.......not by a long shot.

Do Knot Distrub is the story of Govinda, who is cheating on his millionaire wife Sushmita Sen. His affair with Lara Dutta comes under the scanner when Sushmita receives a picture of his with Lara & she hires detective Ranvir Shorey, to go undercover & unearth the truth.
Govinda then pays waiter Ritesh Deshmukh to act as Lara's boyfriend so as to keep him in the clear. Then begins a twisted tale involving all these characters & how they play the game of cat & mouse. Throw in a psycho ex-lover Sohail Khan, a nosy employee Rajpal Yadav & a nagging manager in Manoj Pahwa & you have absolute mayhem for the offing.

The story of the film is a standard affair with nothing out of the ordinary. The biggest problem of the film is that the humour is very patchy & laughs are hard to come by. The screenplay is weak & the narrative does not seem to be going anywhere. Mind you, one does not expect logic from a David Dhawan film but the sheer lack of entertainment value does the movie in.

Of the performances, even though Govinda still has an excellent comic timing, there are no dialogues to back him up. The punchlines fall flat & barely draw a smile to your face leave alone a few stray moments. Rajpal Yadav is the surprise package of the film & draws the only laughs that there are for offer. Ritesh Deshmukh too is really good, but alas, the lack of content does not help him much. Ranvir Shorey delivers yet again & is great in his small role.
Lara Dutta oozes sex appeal & does justice to the role. Sushmita Sen looks like a bloated balloon
& falls pale in comparison with the other actors (including the extras).

The music of the film too does not strike a chord & random song sequences don't help. Many times during the film you wonder why you are enduring the nonsensical affair.

When one has seen masterpieces like Raja Babu, Hero/Coolie No.1, Deewana Mastana, Partner, etc (the list is endless) from the master of comedy David Dhawan, this outing fails to impress. Even his magical partnership with Govinda does conjure anything special this time. One can definitely call this his weakest work in recent times.

At the box office, the long weekend & the name David Dhawan itself will draw the audiences. But unfortunately, by the time the film is over, 3 hours of your weekend are gone & you end up needing a massage for your headache. The film does exactly the opposite of what the title says.

So do yourselves a favour & watch the other movies on offer (read: Wake up Sid, Inglorious Basterds), as this is a futile effort in the name of mindless comedy. Waste of time, waste of money.

Critical: 1.5/5
Commercial: 3.5/5

Wake up Sid - Review

Aimless, jobless & without any ambition, Wake up Sid is the story of one guys tryst with reality & his eventual realization of his responsibilities.

Let me start of by saying that there is nothing new in the story of this film. Its simple, straight & everyone can relate to it.
Siddharth (Ranbir Kapoor) is a rich spoilt brat, who doesn't care about where life takes him. Parties, cars, video games & fun is all that matters to him. He runs from studies & work and has no value of his father's (Anupam Kher) money. The initial feel of the film has a stark resemblance with Hritihik Roshan's character in Lakshya. By chance, Sid meets Aisha (Konkana Sen Sharma), a career oriented girl who has come to Mumbai to earn a living.
He befriends her & helps her settle in the city & on encountering a difficult phase at home, moves in with her. Wake up Sid is about how his life changes after this.
Leaving home & understanding the value of his luxuries, Sid learns to be on his on feet.His realization of his passion drives him to achieve something in life.

Wake up Sid is a movie that will definitely take everyone back to their college days & reminisce about how their life is/was the same.
The movie has its shares of positives & negatives. It is straight from the heart & strikes a chord. It is a simple story told in a very realistic & believable fashion. The first goes past in a breeze, with one really delving into Sid's life, but the second half tends to drag a bit. One feels that towards the end atleast 15 minutes could be trimmed to make it a crisp narrative.

From the performances, Ranbir Kapoor delivers a knockout. He suits the role perfectly & brings truth to his performance. His initial scenes with his friends are fantastic. This one is surely a feather in his cap.
Konkana Sen Sharma too is very good & makes her character believable. While individually, both Ranbir & Konkana shine in their performances, one fails to see chemistry between the two.
Of the supporting cast, Anupam Kher & Supriya Pathak as the parents are top notch. Rahul Khanna is fine.

Debutant director Ayan Mukerji has a good first outing. He tells a simple story in a sweet manner. While the movie has a feel-good factor to it one sees sparks of inspiration from the Farhan Akhtar style of storytelling. I shall definitely wait to his future work.

All in all, the film is a good watch. While it does not blow your mind, it does not disappoint either. Just a tad bit long, this film shall be worth your while.
At the box office, another long weekend ensures good business for this film; especially at the multiplexes.

Critical: 3/5
Commercial: 3.5/5

Wanted - Review

Warning: Please watch this movie only if you are a fan of Bollywood style masala cinema & want to revisit the world of Paisa vasool films; where the hero reigned supreme, good triumphed over evil & one man could beat up 50. Vintage Salman is back !


Welcome to the world of Wanted. The movie deals with the life of a bhai, Radhe (Salman Khan) & his buddies. He works for money & kills like a well oiled machine. He works for Gani Bhai
(Prakash Raj) & disposes off the enemies without breaking a sweat.

Along the way he encounters various characters, such as the corrupt Inspector Talpade (Mahesh Manjrekar) who is always looking at women lustfully, or his love interest Jahnvi (Ayesha Takia
), who works at a call center.
The main backdrop of the film is the gang war between the Golden Gang & Datta Pawle Gang; & how eventually they both get destroyed. When you decide to watch this film, be rest assured that the story is not the best, but you still get entertained in every frame.

The film is filled with some cheesy whistle worthy one-liners (Radhe's classic line "Ek baar maine commitment kar di, phir mein apne aap ki bhi nahin sunta), some over-the-top action sequences that take you back to the 70's style escapist cinema, some last minute twists in the plot & some random song sequences out of nowhere.

The heart, soul & backbone of this film is Salman Khan. He is truly back with a bang. He scorches the silver screen in every frame & has a towering presence in a role tailor made for him. He acts (yes for a change), dances & plays the role effortlessly. The one-liners & action sequences send the audiences in raptures.
Mahesh Manjerkar is also brilliant in his portrayal of the corrupt cop, while Vinod Khanna is almost wasted in his small role. Ayesha Takia struggles to act & appears to be a misfit in this role. Manoj Pahwa as the fat neighbour is top notch.

The music of the film is catchy & one can say that Prabhudeva has truly made Salman dance. A special mention must be made for the action director Vijayan . The only place where this film looses out is the length. If the film can be trimmed by 15-20 minutes, it would do wonders.

All in all, Wanted is one for the masses. If you are one of the multiplex audience-types, skip this fare. At the box office, one sees this laughing all the way to the bank, owing to the Eid weekend & Salman power.
So damn the intellectuals & the cynics, walk in, whistle, vasool your ticket + popcorn money & come out completely entertained, go for it.

Critical: 4/5
Commercial: 4/5

Quick Gun Murugun - Review

One tumbler whiskey, One plate masala dosa !!!!
Colourful clothes, tacky sets, Rajni style fights & a cowboy to put Clint Eastwood to shame.....is Quick Gun Murugun worth the effort ???

Quick Gun Murugun (Dr. Rajendra Prasad) is the story of a cowboy, who believes in protecting cows. He encounters a local goon Gun Powder (Shanmughja Rajan), who works for non-vegetarian don Rice Plate Reddy (Naseer). In a brief encounter, Rice plate sends QGM packing, but understanding his needs Mr. C. Gupta (Vinay Pathak) allows QGM to come back to earth to complete his unfinished deeds.
Cut to Mumbai-2007, QGM finds himself confused with the surroundings & with one aim, to find Rice Plate Reddy & destroy the McDosa business enterprise.
The story then unfolds as he finds his nemesis & encounters along the way, some interesting characters such as a cigarette smoking, Rowdy MBA (with the background music MBA MBA),
a sultry club dancer Mango Dolly (Return of Rambha) & a firangi chef Dr Django (Ashwin Mushran.

The film plays on the cliches of south Indian cinema, making for many hilarious scenes. The spoofs scenes from The Matrix, Crouching tiger hidden dragon as wells as numerous Rajni action sequences. The characters are outlandish & remain etched in your mind way after the film is over. Most of the films dialogues are either English or in Tamil, hence not much for the hindi speaking audience.
The problem with the film is the length, which if shortened by 30 min, would do wonders for the film. The story itself is funny in parts & redundant in others. The dialogues are great and the look & feel of the film is brilliant & brings out all that the director has aimed at.

This is a movie of individual performances. Of the actors, Raju Sundaram as Rowdy MBA, Shanmughja Rajan as Gun Powder & Rambha as the cleavage showing Mango Dolly deliver hilarious performances. Their characters are definitely well written & have scope for future endeavours as well. Even main man Rajendra Prasad as QGM is top notch.

The director Shashanka Ghosh has made a good attempt at taking this popular character & weaving a story around him, but alas, the script doesn't hold strong. It runs out of steam a little after the interval. A little more English & a little less Tamil would have strongly helped the film.

All in all, Quick Gun Murugan is an entertaining fair, which makes a good Sunday evening watch. If you are one who likes melodrama, filmi cliches & some over the top performances, go spend some time with Quick Gun Murugan........Agar tu lightening hai, to mai 250 volt current I say.......so MIND IT.

Critical: 3/5
Commercial: 2/5

Kaminey - Review

The most awaited movie of recent times finally hits the screens today, but does it live up to the hype; well almost....

Kaminey is the story of twin brothers Charlie & Guddu (Shahid Kapoor), who are absolutely different from each other. One stammers, the other lisps, one is a crook, the other a simpleton.
Charlie wants to become a successful bookie, fixing horse races & needs money to do so;
Guddu is in love with Sweety (Priyanka Chopra) & they plan to tie the knot, when one rainy day, their lives change.

Their lives get entangled with that off drug smuggling gangsters, corrupt policemen & a local political aspirant Bhope Bhau (Amole Gupte).
The backdrop of this film is greed & how it drives everyone to forget old relationships and forge new ones.
All the characters are after a "guitar", one which contains something of great value to all. I would not give away much of the story, but add that the film takes some twists & the web becomes more complex.

The film is dark, gritty & something unlike most Bollywood films. The filmmaker definitely wants the viewer to think & concentrate.
The first half of the film moves past swiftly & leaves the viewers wanting to see what happens next. The second half is a bit laborious & makes the narrative a little complex. Towards the end of the film, the average viewer might find the number of characters in play a bit too much to handle.

Of the actors, three need a mention, Shahid Kapoor, Priyanka Chpora & Amole Gupte.
Shahid Kapoor does a great job in both the roles. He makes the characters very believable & fun to watch. Priyanka Chopra does a fabulous job as the Maharashtrian mulgi Sweety. She adds in a different flavour to the character & does full justice to it.
But the true find here is Amole Gupte. He delivers a knockout performance as the politico-in-waiting Bhope Bhau. He plays the role effortlessly & delivers dialogues with panache. He is definitely one to watch out for & one can see another director-actor in the making.

The camera work in the film is very different from what one might have ever seen, with a lot of handheld shots, quick jerks & movements & innovative lighting. While it makes for a fresh look to a film, it can also get a bit irritating at times.

Director/Music Director/Dialogue writer Vishal Bhardwaj definitely deserves an applaud for trying a different style of filmmaking. Dark & Gritty, this film is unlike the Hindi cinema one is used to, though on some level, it attempts to do too much.
A special mention be made for the action sequence in the finale, not for the action, but for the execution. With a song playing in the background, it makes for some very unique viewing.
Dhan Te Na is truly the highlight song of the film & is the soul of Kaminey.
Even though the film has so much going for it, the story pulls it down a notch, not making it Vishal Bhardwaj's best outing to date.

All in all, this film has some great performances & a unique style, but not the best storyline. It's dark, complex & definitely worth a watch. At the box office the film will do great, owing to the hype the promos have genereated.
So forget the flu & hit the theatres....for this one might just work for those with a taste for something different.

Critical: 3/5
Commercial: 4/5

Kambakkht Ishq - Review

A mega-budget film, some popular Hollywood names & two of the biggest Bollywood stars....is it enough?
Well, not really.
Kambakkht Ishq give a new definition to funny. One that does not tickle any bones.

The film revolves around Hollywood stuntman Viraj Shergill (Akshay Kumar), who doesn't think too highly of women & doesn't believe in the word marriage. He happens to meet Simrita Rai (Kareena Kapoor) at his brother Lucky Shergill's (Aftab Shivdasani) wedding. Simrita hates men & believes that they want only one thing. This starts of a war between the two, to prove to each other that they are right.
The first half goes past without much of the narrative actually moving forward. The jokes are average and hard to come by.
The second half of the movie is when it actually plummets. The story (already non-existent) spirals out of control, leaving the viewer completely baffled . Viraj hears a hindu chant (Om Mangalam) wherever he goes & Simrita is the only one who can solve his problem. On that premise, the film stumbles towards it's agonizing climax, which towards the end of it, is stretched and frustrating.
The film also has its fair share of stereotypes; a goofy sidekick (Vindu Singh), a pestering aunt (Kirron Kher) or an over-the-top Sindhi (Javed Jaffery) wanting to make a quick buck.

Where the film falls flat is the script itself. The narrative is extremely weak & one does not find the story moving anywhere. Random sequences & songs appear and the jokes are far from funny.
Akshay Kumar falters yet again after Tasveer & CC2C. His performance is good in parts, but even he cannot salvage the brutality of the script. His wardrobe leaves one wondering why his designer would do that to him.
Kareena Kapoor looks fabulous & her role has glam written all over it. Her performance is ordinary and nothing to write home about. Sylvester Stallone & Denise Richards have blink and miss roles. Aftab Shivdasani & Amrita Arora are decent. Javed Jaffery overacts.
If there are two things that can be considered as positives for the movie, they are the beautiful locations & the high production values. The music from Anu Malik is decent & the title track from RDB works.
First time director Sabir Khan fails miserably. He provides no entertainment & creates a film that lacks soul. One wonders why Sajid Nadiadwala would put the onus of such a high budget film on such shoulders.

At the box office, one can see this movie laughing all the way to the bank. A houseful opening weekend, this movie will send the cash registers ringing. A marketing strategy that works again, Kambakkht Ishq is an ominous sign for Indian cinema, one that shows that even without any story whatsoever, a HIT Bollywood movie can be made. It tests the audiences intelligence & takes them for granted. I would strongly recommend Sabir Khan to let the art of making mindless comedies rest with David Dhawan.

Unless you are dared, have free tickets or just want to see a mockery of cinema, I would suggest you not to tread this path.

Critical: 1.5/5
Commercial: 4/5

New York - Review

A Yashraj release after long, a fresh starcast & an interesting subject, does it deliver?
Lets find out..

New York is the story of an Indian student Omar (Neil Nitin Mukesh), who goes to America for his further education. New to the country, he finds a friend in Maya (Katrina Kaif) & also gets to know the college favourite Sam (John Abraham). All goes along well, until one day an incident occurs that changes their lives forever.
In comes FBI agent Roshan (Irrfan Khan) who puts Omar in a situation he never expected & then sets off a series of events that lead to some shocking revelations.
The story takes the 9/11 WTC attacks as its base theme & deals with incidents that take place in the lives of these three friends. It also plays on the religious chord & brings to light the reasons why people are pushed to taking certain extreme decisions.

The first half of the film moves swiftly and keeps you fairly engrossed, but it is the second half which disappoints. The story seems flawed and the climax, which is built up very well, just falls flat.
The film has a very international feel to it & right from the opening credits, one can see the lustre of a Yashraj product, but unfortunately, it is not supported by the content.
Of the performances, Irrfan Khan takes the cake, playing the role of the FBI cop effortlessly.
Katrina Kaif looks great and fits the role. John Abraham delivers one of his better performances & shows that he can emote. Neil Nitin Mukesh disappoints, even after having the meatiest role. He struggles in many of the emotional scenes.
The music of the film is strictly ok. Director Kabir Khan's attempt to make a slick movie falls short as his story does not support him. The movie is very lengthy and the second half is unnecessarily dragged.
All in all, New York is a movie that could have been great, starting off on the right foot, but ending up in the dumps. Yashraj faulters yet again, in a movie that can definitely be relegated to a cable TV watch. For this week, do yourself a favour, give it a miss and watch The Hangover instead.

Critical - 2/5
Commercial - 2.5/5

99 - Review

After a long wait, a Hindi movie finally hit the multiplexes. Was it worth the wait ??
Lets find out.....

99 deals with the story of two small time crooks Sachin (Kunal Khemu) & Zaramud (Cyrus Broacha), who want to make it big in life. An unlucky tryst with a lunatic bookie AGM (Mahesh Manjrekar) causes them to change their career path & turn to a mad world of bookies, gamblers & cops.
In search of money collection for AGM, the story then takes them to Delhi where they encounter various characters such as a debt burdened gambler Rahul (Boman Irani), a local bookie Kuber (Amit Mistry), a high-roller businessman JC (Vinod Khanna), an over the top Bhojpuri actor & a hotel manager Pooja (Soha Ali Khan).
Before they know it, they get embroiled in a mess & hence hatch a genius plan to get out of it, which of course, doesn't go as planned. Then follows a mad ride which involves action, thrills, stupidity & a whole lot of humour.

While the movie starts off with a bang, the narrative falls a little weak in the first half. After the first 20 minutes, the movie slows down drastically, taking away from the first half experience. But the second half is where the movie really picks up. While the story might be very predictable, there is still a great amount of fun watching it unfold.

The characters are very well drawn out & some of them remain etched in your mind well after the movie.
While the cinematography is good, the dialogues are excellent, actually making for a good laugh almost through the whole film.

But the true soul of the film is clearly its performances;
While Kunal Khemu does a good job in the anchor role & goofy Cryus Broacha is definitely funny in his less-dialogues more expressions kind of a role, it is the knock-out performances by Mahesh Manjrekar & Amit Mistry that take the cake. Manjrekar plays his role with ease while Amit Mistry delivers a stellar & memorable performance for a new-comer.
Boman Irani is excellent as well, but gets over-shadowed as his charecter is quite subtle. Vinod Khanna fits the bill perfectly. He looks the part & plays his small role with style.

Director duo Krishna D.K & Raj Nidimoru make a great effort & almost deliver a complete experience.
The only issue with the film, being its timing. If the first half would be trimmed a bit & the film kept to 2 hours, you would have had a crisp story & a fine product. That being, the film still makes you laugh & love its comical characters.

So if you're in the mood to watch something fun, with an interesting story, hilarious dialogues & some knockout performances, 99 is the film for you. Don't go in with expectations & it will leave you entertained.
Definitely worth your buck.

Critical: 3,5/5
Commercial: 2.5/5

Aa Dekhen Zara - Review

Ever wondered why they don't make films like the 70's anymore. Where they had filmi storylines, illogical scenarios & abrupt dance sequences. Well, in comes ADZ, well, atleast they attempt to do so.

Ray Acharya (Neil Nitin Mukesh) is a budding photographer who gets a camera from his late great inventor Dadu. This camera does one unique, thing, it tells you the future. Whatever you click, gets developed for a future date.
So off goes Ray, changing his life & dreams. Gets a girlfriend, his neighbour Simi Chatterjee (Bipasha) & goes on a betting spree. He bets on lottery tickets, horse races, cricket matches and makes a ton of money.
So now, you begin to wonder, where is the twist in the plot. Well, seeing his wealth accumulate, a rich man creep Captain (Rahul Dev) sets his eyes on Ray's camera.
Then starts a journey, a chase, from Mumbai to Bangkok, along which Ray & Simi encounter weird Indian taxi drivers who help them for no reason, a sleazy undercover cop & some over the top sequences which really make you wonder how this movie has been scripted.

My favourite was one where Ray & Simi, running from the cops, jump off a bridge onto a boat, which unluckily has thugs taking a casual ride in the afternoon. They take them to a hideout, see them on the news & realise they are villains too & hence they all break into a dance sequence.

The movies first half picks up pace & by the interval, it does make an interesting watch. Where the movie falters is the second half. The movie, even though only 2 hours long, appears stretched & dragged.
The basic premise on which the story is built is very interesting & the concept had great potential to be a very intriguing plot, but alas, the story is very predictable & one would expect a little more effort when it comes the storyline.
The cinematography is ok, while the editing is very slick & crisp.

Of the actors, Neil Nitin Mukesh attempts to carry the movie on his shoulders but fails to impress. Cracks in his acting skills get exposed, though one can expect better work from him in the future. Bipasha is good in her supporting role, Sophie Chaudry, vulgar. Rahul Dev is decent parts, while hamming & overacting in the others.

All in all, this is a Masala movie, which fails to entertain & is definitely fine to be relegated to a cable TV watch.

Critical - 2/5
Commercial - 2/5

Gulaal - Review

A Rajputana uprising, a movement in the making, a revolution waiting to happen.....

Gulaal is a story of a young man Dileep (Raj Singh Chaudhary), who comes to Jaipur to study law. A very simple person by nature, Dileep soon gets caught up in a whirlwind of college politics, love & a fight within himself to figure out who is true & which battle should he wage.

Here he stays with one Rananjay Singh Ransa [Abhimanyu Singh], who, even with his blue-blooded lineage, is a ruffian of sorts & takes great pride in being a Rajput.
He also comes in contact with Dukey Bana (Kay Kay Menon), the main man in town, who runs the whole show. Dukey Bana's main aim, is to have a separate state of the Rajputs and restore the legacy of the kings & their families.

On entering Jaipur, Dileep encounters incidents where he gets ragged by Jadwal (Pankaj Jha) and in the ensuing rivalry, Dukey Bana makes Rananjay stand for the College elections. With Rananjays untimely death by the hands of a rival Karan (Aditya Srivastav), Dileep is promoted to the fore & eventually wins the election for the post of General Secretary.
Although one might think that petty college politics doesnt really translate into the big picture, there is a great story woven into this political saga, where money to run the Rajputana movement makes Dukey a man on a mission, eliminating whatever & whoever comes his way.
In this journey, the simple Dileep, falls in love with Karans sister Kiran (Ayesha Mohan), who eventually betrays him to take the post which he won.
Driven by rage, the final lap deals with how Dileep vents his anger on all he meets & eventually puts an end to it all.

One thing is for certian. Anurag Kashyap has delivered yet another sublime performance, with a gripping narrative in the first half, absorbing you into the story, which meanders slowly to a finish in the second. The dialogues are absolutely brilliant and this is a movie where the individual performances are backed by a strong story. Only a little tightening of the second half would have pushed this movie's experience many notches higher.
The music is not bad and lyrics are very witty & thought provoking.

Of the performances, Kay Kay Menon is fabulous. He delivers performance after performance, and this one is right up there, deserving an applaud.
Abhimanyu Singh, has a short but very impactful role & can be called the pick of the cast. The ease with which he plays the role, makes you feel its tailor made for him.
Mahie Gill, in her extended cameo is entertaining & delivers a few laughs. Raj Singh Chaudhary looks apt, Jesse Randhawa, non-existent & Piyush Mishra-brilliant.

Do yourselves a favour, go watch this film. It is 2.5 hrs well spent.

Critical - 4/5
Commercial - 2.5/5

Little Zizou - Review

Interesting promos, curiosity value, a seemingly fun movie one might think.
Well, not quite.
No Storyline, no direction, boredom.
Well, that's more like it.

When ones goes into this film , they would generally expect a mad tale woven around a fun Parsi community, some light-hearted humour & two hours well spent, but alas, that is not the case.

This is the movie narrated by a young boy Xerxes (Jahan Bativala), about his family & neighbors. His family comprises of his crazy father Cyrus II (Sohrab Ardeshir) & his reticent brother Artaxerxes (Imad Shah). Cyrus II is a self-proclaimed healer running a Parsi movement & doesn't care much for his kids or anyone else.
Artaxerxes is an artist in himself & has the dream of creating a simulator out of a junk cockpit along with two of his friends.

The other family in play is Boman Presswala (Boman Irani) who runs a newspaper serving the Parsi community, his wife Roxanne (Zenobia Shroff) & two daughters. They are a happy fun family & dont get along with Cyrus II & his ideologies.

The story in this movie, if any, is about how few people turn intolerant towards others, as they don't want the Zoroastrian community mixing with any other & how they slowly realise their mistake & a turnaround of sorts takes place.

The narrative is extremely sluggish, at times making you wonder what is happening on screen. The track moves back & forth from Cyrus II and his assistant Miss Patel (Shernaz Patel) who is in awe of him, to Xerxes not having a mother to care for him, spending time with Roxanne in whom he sees a mother figure.
One thing which is loud & clear here is that this movie is NOT a comedy. Unlike all the misleading promos, this movie has only a handful of laughs, courtesy some of the typical Parsi Gujarati language & one begins to wonder if this is yet another case like the movie Mithya, which was projected to be something it wasn't.

Another mystery one fails to understand is the title Little Zizou. Though they show that Xerxes is a big fan of Zinedine Zidane, hence calling himself Little Zizou, it in no way has any implication in the films context, thus the name failing to register a logical meaning.

Of all the performances, only a few are worth a notable mention. Boman Irani as the fun, family man Presswala is brilliant. He is funny in the light-hearted moments & does great even in the emotional ones. He plays the role straight from the heart.
Imad Shah as the wandering dreamer is also good. He underplays the character but does justice to it.
Finally Jahan Bativala as Xerxes does a good job as well, but unfortunately the script does not support these actors.
A string of cameos from various actors like John Abraham (wasted cameo), Cyrus Broacha (tries to hard), Kunal Vijaykar or Kamal Siddhu doesn't salvage any hope for this film.

The direction of veteran writer Sooni Taraporevala deserves hardly any mention. She fails to hold the audiences attention.

All in all, this movie looks interesting in the promos, but is unfortunately limited to that. Give it a skip, save some time, save some money.

Critical - 1.5/5
Commercial - 1/5

Dhoondte Reh Jaaoge - Review

Caution: Watch this movie only if you are really bored or just want to leave your brains somewhere and go de-stress with some stupid cinema.

This movie deals with the capers of Anand Powar (Kunal Khemu), a struggling chartered accountant & Raj Chopra (Paresh Rawal) a flop movie director.
They both have only one aim, to make some money & make it fast.
That's when they hatch the most ingenious plan of them all. To collect money (100 cr) from 20 financiers & make the worst film of all time. Make it for 5 cr and once the movie flops, go away with the rest of the money to enjoy the rest of their lives.
For this movie they take Aryan (Sonu Sood) an actor who wants to work with only the bigwigs, but agrees to the movie, opposite him they cast Anands girlfriend Neha (Soha) & take on Pervez Asharaff (Jhonny Lever) as the writer.
The story is a hybrid version of DDLJ, Gadar, Lagaan & ofcourse Sholay.

The first half of the movie is quite funny and some of the scenes are trully hilarious. Many moments have you in splits & actually build up some hope for the second half.
But the second half strongly disappoints for most of it, leave the pre-climax sequences which again, are absolutely hilarious. What this movie lacks is consistency.
When you look at the story at hand, they could have definitely gone all out and made it a laugh riot but they strongly falter at many points. A slow second half, bad jokes & utterly sad music.

From the actors, it is Paresh Rawal all the way. A special applause for him, as this genius shows yet again why his comic timing is absolutely flawless. He carries the movie on his shoulders, and whatever pride this movie salvages is credited to him.
Sonu Sood, Soha Ali & Kunal Khemu are strictly ok. Jhonny Lever too appears rusty.

All in all, this movie would make a good cable tv watch, you can definitely skip the cinema halls & wait next week for Gulaal.

Critical - 2/5
Commercial - 1/5

Delhi 6 - Review

Well the much awaited Delhi 6 is finally out. With Masakalli making waves all over the place, the hype was enough to ensure a great opening weekend. But the question is, does the movie stand forth to the expectations.

Set in Delhi, the movie deals with the tale of an American Indian Roshan (Abhishek B) who has come to Delhi to leave his grandmother (Waheeda Rahman) so that she can spend her final days in her "Watan"
From the start, the movie keeps talking about a "Kaala Bandar" a.k.a Black Monkey who is terrorising the streets of Delhi, killing a few as well. Although the audience is expected to look at this seriously, it has been shown with some poor humour. (One sees a lift of the joke from Oye Lucky Lucky Oye, wonder if is the UTV connection.)
Roshan comes to Delhi and instantly falls in love with India, its people, its ways (read a Cow giving birth in the middle of the road) & its madness.
Along the way he meets a lot of family members and neighbours and takes particular fancy to one Bittu (Sonam Kapoor). Bittu has only one aim, to become the next Indian Idol. She does not want to get married & does not get along too well with her always angry father Madangopal (Om Puri). Madangopal also has a brother Jaigpopal (Pavan Malhotra), whom he doesn't meet eye to eye with. They share one roof divided by a wall.

The first half of the movie has a weak narrative where not much happens & you begin to wonder where this is going. There are a lot of scenes involving the Ram Leela play, which definitely could be cut down on. They come abruptly and leave you a bit irritated.
Here again, there are a lot of references to cast-ism, where an untouchable woman Jalebi (Divya Dutta) is not allowed for a puja, or the Babri Masjid issue (a Mosque built over a temple). There is room for a lot of cliches here, be it a politicians typical speech or the local policeman Ranvijay (Vijay Raaz) accepting a bribe.

The second half sees a new story unfolding. The Kaala Bandar tale spirals into a Hindu-Musilm question (Why again?). The story drifts far away from the original plot and you begin to wonder what is the motive of the storyteller.
As the movie progresses the target drifts way off track & reaches a different issue all together, something that is more social than entertaining.

The absolutely brilliant music by A.R Rahman has been reduced to mere filler items. The timing of the songs are poor . They could have been the soul of the film, yet they end up being the frills, leaving Masakalli as the only saving grace.

From the performances, Deepak Dobriyal as Mamdu the jalebiwalla is top notch. The scene where his shop is burnt and he is in tears truly moves one. Rishi Kapoor too, as Roshan's uncle is great.
A special mention for two stellar performances, Atul Kulkarni as the dumb Gobar & Divya Dutta as Jalebi. They both stand out and do more than justice to their small albeit impactful roles.
Sonam Kapoor looks beautiful, displaying an old world charm, she is perfectly cast for the role and acts well, but unfortunately, she is wasted. You don't get to see enough of her, and one looks forward to seeing her future work.
Abhishek Bachchan is good in parts, with not too many lines, he has a hybrid accent & his typical expressions irritate at times. He does not impress.

Rakesh Omprakash Mehra fails after delivering a knockout performance in RDB. The story itself is weak, and even though he has assembled a perfect cast, most of whom do great justice to their roles, the narrative itself doesn't impress. He drifts from where he starts and tries too hard to deliver a social message.

To sum it up, No, it does not meet expectations & even an absurd cameo by Amitabh Bachchan doesn't do much for the film. It has definitely got its moments & some soul, but unfortunately the body doesn't support it. It is strictly a one time watch & go for it with no expectations.

Critical: 2.5/5
Commercial: 3/5

The Stoneman Murders - Review

A string of murders, a shunned cop and a cat & mouse game is what this movie is all about.

The Stoneman Murders takes you back to the 1983, when a manic killer was on the loose in Mumbai's Matunga-Dadar area, with no clues on who he was, each murder being a cold-blooded stone attack, spreading fear amongst all.

This is the story of Sanjay Shelaar (KK), a cop taken off the "Pathharmaar" case, doing his parallel research & attempting to solve the case by himself. It is a wild goose chase between him & the unknown caped killer.
Along the way, he encounters multiple murders, dark alleyways, eerie highways and a thrilling ride to the finish.
This movie had all the makings to be an absolutely intense, edge-of-the-seat Thriller and it somewhat makes it there, missing by just a little.

The first half moves pretty quickly, taking you through the investigations and Sanjays obsession with the case, while the second half is more of the chase between the killer and him.
The film definitely has its moments, especially the shots with the murders and the railway station chase sequences, leaving you thrilled and wanting more.

Where the movie falters is the slow narrative towards the end. Even though the twists and suspense do make a good end, it could have been showed in a much better way. Also, an item number in the first half, which could definitely be avoided or atleast cut down on.

Of the performances, KK as the obsessive cop delivers an absolute knockout performance, reaffirming once again, that he can carry a movie on his shoulders. He fits the bill perfectly and one can say that he is the heart of the movie, raising the overall standard of the film.
Vikram Gokhale as the AIG is good, while Rukhsar as KK's wife is wasted. She looks great in the movie but struggles to act. The scene with her changing being absolutely unnecessary. Veerendra Saxena as the constable is also one of the highlight performances, while Arbaaz Khan shows yet again that acting is not his forte, truly a misfit for the role.

The background score is abrupt sometimes, apt sometimes but the one special mention here is for director Manish Gupta. This product is definitely a fine piece of work & just some adjustments here and there would have made this a brilliant thriller. With a promising start, one waits to see his future work.

So for those who want to go get themselves a conspiracy theory, some amazing performances & a suspenseful thriller, do go watch The Stoneman Murders.
At the box office, the movie would struggle, and I doubt it would last more than a week with Delhi 6 next Friday. So please do watch it before the 20th.

Critical : 3.5/5
Commercial : 2/5

Dev D - Review

From the start, let me mention something, this movie might come as a culture shock to many, and it is not really advisable to see it with your parents/elders.

Now, when we talk of Devdas, we have always thought of epic stories, big actors, glamour & the old age story of Devdas, Paro & Chandramukhi. Dev D has borrowed the basic outline of Devdas, but is in itself, a very different, fresh and interesting view on how it would be in today's scenario.

Dev.D is all about Joints, Vodka, Cocaine, Sex, Dingy brothels & a man confused with himself & his love.

The movie is set in rustic north Indian settings and truly has the punjabi flavour to it, in the language and the locales. It starts of with a young Dev and his childhood love Paro sitting at the riverside eating some parathas. Known for his brash language, this son of a rich industrialist is sent packing to London to study. The scene where his father is slapping him and he is cross questioning him is excellently written & hilarious.

Cut-to 2009. Dev(Abhay Deol) is still in love with his childhood Paro and wants nude pics of hers to be sent to him on the net. Looking at them, Dev makes a return journey to India, in the hope to make love to her and be with her.
Enter Paro (Mahie Gill), daugher of the manager, who gets reunited with Dev & they keep looking for chances to have sex. But a sudden turn of events takes places, which makes Dev despise her & scorn her.

She then decides to get married to someone else and here starts the real journey of Dev.D.
Without her Devs life spirals out of control and he is sucked into a life of drugs, alcohol and randomness.

The other track is that of Lenny (Kalki), who is a 17 year old school girl and gets caught up in an infamous MMS scandal. Her parents start hating her and her life becomes a mess. She is sent packing to her grandparents place & slowly runs away, only to find Chunni (Dibyendu), who runs a brothel and takes her in. He pays for her education by day and she returns the favours at night, under her new found identity Chanda.

Going back, Dev roams around aimlessly drinking all day and night, not bathing, smoking drugs, and thinking about Paro. There are a lot of songs woven into the screenplay which keep coming at regular intervals. Sometimes abrupt, sometimes in the flow, these songs greatly back the films visuals, which by themselves are stunning.

In search of alcohol, Dev stumbles upon Chunni, who brings Chanda into his life and slowly he starts falling in love with her.
Paro returns briefly to meet Dev, clean his clothes & almost have sex with him, but decides against it, making Dev even more miserable, calling for another round of Cocaine lines, Vodka shots & joints.

A sudden turn of events akin to the Salman car case, leave Dev in a bad state, only to be let out on bail to go to his dead fathers funeral. Somewhere here, when you feel that the movie should be reaching a logical end, it does not and is pulled even furthur, where again Dev goes on his random drinking sprees, hitchhiking across the north doing some more drugs and alcohol.
With a sudden revelation, he realises he loves Chanda & goes back to Delhi, and so life moves on.

The cinematography is great, with some amazing trippy visuals, cut-scenes, tight shots and some innovative camera work.
The music is absolutely marvellous, all credit going to Amit Trivedi, who has created some great tracks. Emotional Attyachaar being the highlight in the cinema halls, where people are actually singing in the stalls. One thing is certain, if you don't like the music of this film ,there are chances you might get irritated as the music is part of the narrative.

From the actors, Kalki is apt and fits the role, Mahi impresses with great potential as an actor.
But the true performance of this movie is Abhay Deol. Every frame speaks volumes of his potential as an actor, Dev.D being his best performance yet. It looks like a role crafted for him and gets into the character, a Top Notch performance.

Somewhere in the movie, the narrative gets very slow and this movie would be amazing if 15-20 minutes of trimming was done.

Anurag Kashyap, known for his crazy stories, has truly tried something very new here and he has impressed yet again. His cinema is meant for the thinkers. the wanderers, those who want to go a little over the top. Call it weird, call it arty, he truly knows how to tell a story. Kudos to Anurag.

Although No Smoking did not have many takers, he has taken the risk to venture into the unknown again, this time too though, I doubt this film would have many takers. He has done a great job here, bringing in some serious alternative cinema, but alas, this cinema is not for the masses . They might go to the cinema halls for the sex content, but that is only a few. At the multiplexes (yes, issues solved), this film should have a good opening, especially with the youth, and I would really hope that it gets its due.

I would strongly suggest you catch this one, for Abhay Deol, drugs, a modern day look at Devdas and some weird but interesting storytelling from Anurag Kashyap.

Critical: 3.5/5
Commercial: 2.5/5