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