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