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