Movie Review : Pyaar Impossible

Film: Pyaar Impossible
Cast: Priyanka Chopra, Uday Chopra, Dino Morea
Genre: Romance
Direction: Jugal Hansraj
Duration: 2 hours 10 minutes

Critic's Rating:

Story: Be-spectacled geek, Abhay falls in love with college hottie, Alisha and silently slinks away into the shadows when he realises she's unattainable. Seven years later, he re-enters her life as the nanny and hopes to woo the single mom, this time at least. Does he succeed?

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Movie Review : Ek: The Power of One

Ek: The Power of One (Drama)
Cast: Bobby Deol, Nana Patekar, Shriya Sharan
Direction: Sangeeth Sivan
Duration: 2 hours 10 minutes Critic's Rating:**

Someone's suddenly woken up, pulled this out of the cans and peddled it as brand new cinema. Sad. The ruse doesn't work. For the viewer immediately sees through the stale plot and narration and wonders why Bobby Deol would do something he's done before: sleepwalk through a role as an assassin who suddenly gives up his trigger-happy ways for a change of heart and role. Actually, he wasn't too bad in films like Baadal and Bichoo, which showcased his bleeding heart once the bullets had all been fired. But here, he simply chooses to do a ramp walk through the rough and tumble of a mercenary's life, complete with designer glares, guns and goth make-up.

Nandu, the man from nowhere, is hired by a CM aspirant to fake-out an assassination and help garner the sympathy votes. But the killing turns out to be real and before you can say whodunit, Nandu is on the run, ending up in distant Hoshiyarpur. He enters a pucca Punjabi household as their long-lost son and begins on his arduous journey of remorse and redemption, with the large extended family gorging him with sarson ka saag and sermons. Of course, he gets enough time to flex his muscles here too, as there are a whole bunch of bad farmers ready to usurp his adopted dadaji's land. But bone-crunching is relatively easy for our crook-turned-saviour compared to the nosey investigations of the CBI officer (Nana Patekar) who is determined to nab the politician's killer.

It's Nana Patekar's tapori act as the hard nosed cop which actually saves the day for this dismal film which keeps drifting into schmaltzy family business, whenever the action revs up. Watch it only if you want to see what old-fashioned Bollywood looked like, before the smart new wave swept away the cobwebs.

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Movie Review : Dev D

Film: Dev D (drama)
Cast: Abhay Deol, Mahi Gill, Kalki Koechlin
Direction: Anurag Kashyap
Duration: 2 hours 52 minutes
Rating: ****

THANK God for the mavericks, the non-conformists, the infidels, the les enfant terribles. They make things happen when kitsch becomes king; when creativity crumbles; when formula pervades, fungus-like. Imagine a world without rule breakers. And then imagine, like Anurag Kashyap: unbridled, unbounded, ungrounded....

Indeed, Dev D is one such flight of fancy from the filmmaker that definitely defies all conventions and demolishes all moulds. Not only does it rewrite the technique of the artistic medium, with its unusual cinematography, dizzy editing, non-linear plot narration, turn-of-the-century dialogues and breathtakingly bizarre audio track (music: Amit Trivedi, lyrics: Amitabh Bhattacharya), it completely revises the ancient text which has already made its mark in its various avtars , the latest being the high-pitched rendition of the self-destructive hero by Shah Rukh Khan in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Devdas.

Kashyap has always been a contrarian filmmaker, consciously steering away from traditional Bollywood with films like Black Friday, Paanch, No Smoking. However, while his earlier films were an innovative search for his groove and rhythm, Dev D is like that heady cocktail which has the vodka pitched perfectly with the tang. (Incidentally, Dev D likes his vodka with thumbs up, washed down in unlimited portions, morning, noon and night!) Set against the rich rural backdrop of Punjab and Paharganj (Delhi), the film traces the self-destructive sojourn of a young, contemporary hero who mirrors the existential angst of the proverbial outsider, made legendary in the writings of Satre, Camus, Kafka, Kerouac and the ballads of Kurt Cobain.

But Dev D (Abhay Deol), unlike Devdas, isn't a blast from the past. In his rootlessness, his lack of purpose and his complete disconnect with the real (read traditional) world, he reflects the mindset of the archetypal new millennium 20-something who doesn't know how to blend tradition with modernity, permissiveness with orthodoxy, Oxford with Bhatinda. And so, he asks his childhood sweetheart, Paro (Mahi Gill) to send him her nude photographs through e-mail, yet can't handle the quandary about her virginity and pronounced sexuality. In a fit of aggrieved machismo, he spurns her wild sexual adventurism which sees her cycling to the neighbouring fields at the break of dawn with a mattress meticulously rolled up on the carrier for a clandestine tryst with him. (Ever seen the bharatiya naari do this in Indian cinema? Bravo, brave new Bollywood!) Little does he realise that Paro isn't mere putty in his hand and is unwilling to subject herself to any kind of ‘emotional atyachar', in the name of love.

Having given vent to her anger and pain, she simply moves on while the already disconnected Dev becomes even more dysfunctional with his alcohol and drug addiction. He moves to a seedy hotel in Paharganj and ends up after a drunken stupour in young Chanda's (Kalki Koechlin) pink and purple boudoir. Once again, Kashyap reinterprets the self-sacrificing courtesan, Chandramukhi in completely post-modern terms. Here, she is Lenny, the schoolgirl who ends up as the sex worker, Chanda, after being disowned by family and friends because she featured in a lewd MMS, that sent the whole nation in a lustful tizzy. `And they call me a slut!' exclaims the feisty escort who attends college by day and plays Florence Nightingale in shorts by night.

The relationship between Dev and Chanda begins with hate, scorn and derision with the decadent Dev unleashing his chauvinism and me-centrism on the hooker. But when the haze of cocaine lifts, the heartburn begins, once again. After having stooped to unimaginable lows, our hero dreams of a second chance. Will he get it or is Devdas destined to waste away forever? The last we saw him was at a non-descript momo joint in the seedy by-lanes of Paharganj, waiting for nirvana. Of course, he's all by himself, since proud little Paro's moved on and survivor Chanda's too strong to play doormat, willing to give up her slutty ways, for love alone.

Dev D is indeed a coming-of-age film, not merely for the protagonist, Devender Singh Dhillon, but it is a brilliant breakthrough for Bollywood too. It really doesn't matter whether the film ends up as a box office scorcher. What matters is the fact that for the discerning viewer, Dev D is a tryst with milestone cinema, reminiscent of Baz Luhrmann's Shakespeare-shaken-and-stirred in Romeo and Juliet. Kashyap, however, gets even more adventurous and adds a progressive flourish to both the plot and the characters which are played to perfection by the three lead players. If Mahi and Kalki are riveting new finds, assured of a long innings in cinema, then Abhay Deol adds a whole new meaning to the term `Unconventional Hero'. Manorama Six Feet Under, Oye Lucky, Lucky Oye were just teasers. Dev D is the class act from the Deol who cleverly flew over the cuckoo's nest. Don't miss this film which completely reinvents the musical love story, with zany numbers like ‘emosanal atyachar', ‘saali khushi', ‘nayan tarse' and the rest. More importantly, it might just go down in history as one of the most radical Indian films, at least in its delineation of male and female sexuality.

Old Movie Reviews : Click Here To Read

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Movie Review : Luck By Chance

Cast: Farhan Akhtar, Konkona Sen Sharma, Dimple Kapadia, Isha Sharwani, Rishi Kapoor, Juhi Chawla, Hrithik Roshan
Writer-Director: Zoya Akhtar
Rating: ****

It is easy to fall in love with every performance in this intimate yet generic insider's look at the workings of the entertainment industry.

But the one that I carried home with me was Sheeba Chadha. A marvel of subtle writing, Sheeba plays a podgy, cunning but simple-hearted producer's sister-in-law whose husband (Aly Khan) is carrying on with a struggling starlet right under her naïve eyes.

One not-so-pleasant afternoon, Sheeba barges into her husband's van and sees a red-nosed bleary-eyed Konkona Sen Sharma (who has just been told she doesn't get a role she has been waiting all her career for). Sheeba senses what's going on. But she quickly digresses her mind from her husband's extra-marital affair.

The industry is filled with such deliberately desensitised people who function within the fickle and frighteningly flamboyant film industry with gut-wrenching self-delusion.

"Luck By Chance" -- a truly out-of-the-box outstanding work of subtle, sly, satirical and whispering art -- is filled with people whom you're bound to have met in the fetid corridors of Bollywood or the Hindi film industry, as the star-mother Dimple Kapadia insists on calling it.

Never before has the film industry been perceived with such intuitively internalised abundance. A subtle splendour galvanised by performances that range from the credible to the incredible takes the narrative to pinnacles of expressiveness.

The performances help to ignite the characters into states of subtle yet vivid shades. The ambitious mother-daughter (Dimple-Isha Sharwani) pair, the strugglers, wannabes and losers...oh yes, every character in "Luck By Chance" possesses a luminously lived-in quality, bringing to the surface feelings, thoughts and images that are normally not brought out on screen.

Every player -- parodic, poignant and pitched perfectly -- makes savage fun of the very foibles that they probably practice with masterful manipulative hands in real life.

Zoya Akhtar gets into the star space without a moment's aggression in her storytelling. The moments that define the relationships are built stealthily. This is a world that every person in the Mumbai film industry (for Dimple's sake, let's not call it Bollywood!) knows first-hand.

The debutante director occupies that space with unostentatious spirit, nurturing interludes between characters (the two strugglers Farhan Akhtar-Konkona, producer-wife Rishi Kapoor-Juhi Chawla, ideologically separated co-actors Farhan-Arjun Mathur) with the cautious care of a mother who wants to bring up her child with the right values without drawing attention to her nurturing acumen.

This is a work of tender, subtle care with moments whose immense value strikes you after the wonderfully conversational dialogues (Javed Akhtar at his expressive best) have had their say.

At heart, "Luck By Chance" is a story of one man's plunge into the morass of compromise as he heads towards his dreams. Farhan gets what can only called another chance to do the histrionic dance. As he goes from wide-eyed wannabe to a morally devalued creature, the narrative charts his course with savage humour.

Farhan's scenes with the nakedly adulatory star daughter(Isha playing dumb dead-on) are designed as a blend of satirical erotica and ideological annihilation. Farhan gets it right.

This is a work that oozes outstanding acting talent from every nook and corner. Whether it's Aly as a on-the-move producer or Arjun as a struggling actor who would rather struggle in theatre than compromise, every character plays a person you've met if you've ever been a part of the Mumbai film industry.

Super stand-out performances by Rishi, Dimple, Sheeba, Hrithik Roshan(as a superstar on the skids) and of course, Konkona, whose best performance this is.

On the deficit side, (yes even a film of such high order must face the music) the narrative with its inbuilt jokes and references is too much a Bollywood insider's job, largely inaccessible to the common man who wouldn't know the name of Ranbir Kapoor's secretary and couldn't care less.

On most levels, "Luck By Chance" stands tall and luminous, portraying the world of arclights with a synthesis of style, sympathy and substance that is the opposite of the synthetic way the world of showbiz is generally portrayed in cinema.

What stays with you are moments like the one where the struggling hero approaches the once glamorous star mother at a party and wins her over... a moment that builds up into a muffled explosion of ambitious scheming achieved at a place where the sound of broken hearts is inaudible.

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Movie Review : C Kkompany

C Kkompany (comedy)
Cast: Tusshar Kapoor, Anupam Kher, Raima Sen
Direction: Sachin Yardi

THREE losers -- Tusshar Kapoor, Anupam Kher, Rajpal Yadav -- form a fictitious underworld gang to solve their personal problems. But soon, the gang ends up as the popular trouble-shooter for the aam aadmi who tries to solve his paani, bijli , pension problems by appealing to the Counterfeit Kkompany.

Munnabhai, anyone? Only, this one is such a pale-pale attempt to create a desi Robin Hood, it almost makes you cry. Actually, this one's hardly a film. Instead, it's more like a promo for Balaji Inc, where all the big and small stars from Ekta Kapoor's factory keep parading up and down, for no reason at all. And if that's not enough, there's the czarina herself trying her hand at emoting. Bad job.

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Movie Review : Mukhbir

Mukhbir (drama)
Cast: Sameer Dattani, Raima Sen, Om Puri
Direction: Mani Shankar

SHADES of The Departed , did we say? Well, Sameer Dattani does a Leonardo Di Caprio here as he infiltrates a terrorist gang to help the assiduous cop (Om Puri) nab them before their bombs go boom.

The film does have its moments, specially when the hapless young infiltrator is forced to prove his loyalty in some nerve-wracking sequences. Rahul Dev essays the role of the terrorist with credible menace, but it is Om Puri who walks away with the applause as the cop who tries to clean up the system, even though he knows it's a deadly game.

Eventually however, it is the multiplicity of plots and subplots that act as a dampener and transform the film into a somewhat rambling investigation into the state's counter-terrorism programmes.

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Movie Review : Rock On

Rock On (drama)
Cast: Farhan Akhtar, Prachi Desai, Arjun Rampal, Purab Kohli, Luke Kenny
Direction: Abhishek Kapoor

IF you really want to see how Bollywood has matured and come of age, then here's the perfect litmus test. For Rock On is a film that not only breaks new ground in terms of its subject matter -- now when has desi movielore ever tackled something akin to Hollywood's That Thing You Do -- it creates a whole new EQ (emotional quotient) for mainstream cinema. Of course, there is the great passion reminiscent of Dil Chahta Hai , but here, there is a poise and a restraint that portrays the friendship between four rock musicians, with all its ups and downs. The bonds are strong, but there are the dark sides too, like rivalry, physical violence, the fear of failure....Yet, no one hollers, no one screams and ever so often, you feel a tug at your heart.

The film traces the relationship between the four buddies from college days until their stagnant thirties, when the band has been disbanded due to interpersonal rivalries and the foursome has drifted apart. The lead crooner, Farhan Akhtar is an investment banker who has stuffed away the memorabilia of the past in the attic of his well-ordered house. The lead guitarist, Arjun Rampal, is a miserable man, echoing the anguish of an artiste who cannot go commercial, even if his family struggles with bread and butter concerns. Purab Kohli, the kick-ass drummer, is now selling jewellery in his father's store, while Luke Kenny is literally dying of frustration, strumming tunes for Anu Malik. It's left to Prachi Desai, Akhtar's lonely young wife, to forge a reunion and bring the band together for a final concert that almost takes your breath away and has you cheering, as you did in Chak De and Lagaan .

Surprisingly, everything falls in place in this refreshing, new film. Farhan Akhtar's vocals are absolutely fundoo, even as the foursome pitch in perfectly orchestrated performances. If you actually had to choose, then the vote would go for Arjun Rampal who displays a newfound maturity and looks absolutely groovy with his windblown hair and his guitar-strumming stance. Farhan Akhtar too is a surprise package, delivering a well nuanced portrayal of a rock star-turned-boring-yuppie. The girls, Prachi, Koel and Shahana, are riveting too.

But finally, it's the message of the film that makes it a winner. Follow your dreams and life will literally be on song!

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Movie Review : Chamku

Chamku (action)
Cast: Bobby Deol, Priyanka Chopra
Direction: Kabir Kaushik Chamku (action)

OKAY, so Hindi films find a new hero this time. He's the naxalite who first kills the corrupt state agents and then ends up killing for the state. Now that's quite a bold step for Bobby Deol who decides to don a different role as Chamku, the favourite lieutenant of a Pushkin-reading Danny Denzongpa who talks of class conflict and revolution from his secret adda in the dense jungles.

The film begins on a promising note with some imaginative frames capturing the action as Bobby goes about his business with deadpan glee. But midway, you realise the Naxalbari was just a convenient ploy to package the same old formula of an action hero who is out to avenge the death of his father. Chamku was actually a happy village boy who saw his father being shot by the local thakur and could never rest happy ever after. Not even when he finds the chiffon-clad school madam (Priyanka Chopra) who sings Yippie-Yippie, whenever she sees him. Strangely, she never knows what her brooding beau actually does, even though he keeps disappearing for covert missions for his new boss (Irrfan Khan).

The problem with Chamku is its disjointed script and its relentless flashbacks which mar a film that could have tread new ground. Although, we do laud the attempts of the Deol Inc to turn to serious cinema.

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Movie Review : Phoonk

                                          




Phoonk (horror)
Cast: Sudeep, Amruta Khanvikar, Ahsaas Channa
Direction: Ram Gopal Varma 
 



FIRST of all, it's hard to believe a post modern filmmaker like Ram Gopal Varma could actually make a film that ends up upholding mumbo-jumbo. The rationalist engineer (Sudeep) ends up chasing shamans and witch doctors to save his possessed daughter (Ahsaas Channa), even as the doctors fail to cure her of her demons with their psychological fundas.

The film ends up as a warning to all you scientific non-believers out there who scoff at black magic, voodoo and the mysterious lemoo (lemon). The next time you see bones in your backyard or a crow staring down at you from the overhead tree, don't take it lightly....Oh, really!

But he doesn't only get the premise wrong. The film fails to create a single scare, even though the camera does slide into strange places, focusing on all the stuffed toys and the ugly artefacts in the house and the soundtrack gets dizzy with ominous sounds.

Technically speaking, there's only one `jump' moment, when Sudeep moves but his mirror image doesn't move. The rest of the chills are ekdum thanda , as the story traces the attempts of a young couple to cure their daughter of the mysterious ailment that seems to have stricken her. From a happy-go-lucky kid, she's now a girl who grunts in a man's voice and flies up to the ceiling, a la Exorcist .

All said and done, Bhoot was the bigger scare than Phoonk.  

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Movie Preview : Maan Gaye Mughall-E-Azam

MAAN GAYE MUGHALL-E-AZAM gives the impression of an out and out zany comedy feast, which is set to hit the screens on August 22nd 2008. The film marks the return of the unique and lovable pair of Rahul Bose and Mallika Sherawat (after the hit PYAAR KE SIDE EFFECTS) and they have the support of two of the industry's best actors, Paresh Rawal and Kay Kay Menon. A VENUS production, MAAN GAYE MUGHALL-E-AZAM is directed by Sanjay Chhel who has earlier made KHOOBSURAT and KYA DIL NE KAHAA. With music by Anu Malik , the lyrics are penned by writer/director sanjay Chhel. Synopsis: It's Mission...Mohabbat...Madness... MAAN GAYE MUGHALL-E-AZAM is a Mad Contemporary Comedy about how a small town Drama Company gets involved in a deadly mission to save the country Circa 1993 - The country was burning due to the Babri structure demolition and communal riots. A small town like St. Louis near Goa, where police, CBI and RAW officers were put on high alert due to illegal activities like Rdx and Arms landing at the coastal area !! Set up in the same town is Kalakar Theatre Company, a Theatre group of self indulged dreamy actors who are always left with no choice but to perform the same age old period play 'Mughall-E-Azam' every time. One fine day, they come to know that, an underworld don is planning a severe bomb blast in the country. A funny and thrilling roller-coaster ride begins when the entire Drama Company designs 'A deadly game plan' and gets into the act to save the entire city from these blasts. Performing multiple roles in disguise, the characters make you go crazy and eventually, save the entire nation from the big bomb blast in a hilarious slapstick climax. It's a story of losers becoming winners...'Actors' becoming 'Heroes'... A comedy which thinks and winks!! Character Sketch: 1) Mallika Sherawat - Queen of glamour Shabnam A sexy, smart, naughty actress who has big dreams. She feels that the Bollywood is awaiting her and on the other hand, she is waiting for a 'young lover' in her boring married life. A fuuny 'Anarkali' of 'Mission Mughall-E-Azam', she can seduce the entire country. And this quality of hers in the end helps save the country as well. She is the heart of this film. 2) Rahul Bose - Prince of romance Arjun A dashing secret agent who is secretly in love with Shabnam. He has a serious agenda in his mind and sweet love plan in his heart. He is the one who motivates the theatre group for something bigger than just a few claps and eventually traps them in a deadly game. He is a mind of this film. 3) Paresh Rawal - Shahenshah of comedy Uday Shankar Mazumdar Uday Shankar is a possessive husband who is excessively obsessed about his acting. He doesn't act, but overacts. He plays Akbar like Othello, and Othello like Hanuman! He thinks that he is a living legend even though the audience almost goes dead due to his overacting. An innocently committed actor and a born loser, in the end, he risks his life to perform a challenging role! He is the soul of this film. 4) Kay Kay Menon - Ace of andaaz Haldi Hassan Stylish, romantic, Urdu gazal singer always ready to fall in love with each of his female fans. He speaks romance, sings romance, he lives romance. But no one understands his classic urdu lingo and also his mysterious mind.

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movie review : God Tussi Great Ho

God Tussi Great Ho (comedy)
Cast: Salman Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Sohel Khan
Direction: Rumi Jaffery
Critics rating:  


IT takes the charisma of Salman Khan to make this film work, but only in places. The actor's comic timing and his spontaneity does create some magic intermittently, but, by and large, it's the loose script and the hurried directorial approach that lets him down.

A desi version of Bruce Almighty , the film does borrow heavily from the Jim Carrey venture as it traces the desperate attempts of harried TV anchor, Salman Khan to shed his 'loser' tag and counter the ill-luck that seems to follow him everywhere. Despite being talented, he loses his job, he fails to cement his relationship with his girlfriend (Priyanka Chopra), has an angry father (Anupam Kher) raving at his failures permanently and a plain Jane sister who desperately needs to get married. In such a dismal scenario, he has just one favourite punching bag: God, whom he blames for all his ills. Naturally, God (Amitabh Bachchan) strikes back and hauls him up to the moon where he abdicates his responsibility and asks the eternal whiner to run the show for ten days. Only so he may stop whining.

Okay, so the job's back, the rival's (Sohel Khan) demolished, the girlfriend's swinging in his arms again, the father's speechless, the sister's got a make-over and life's a ball. Until the chaos begins....The film has a tedious second half; the music is lacklustre; Priyanka Chopra is a mere prop; Sohel Khan's funny. Meant mostly for Salman buffs.

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movie review Bachna Ae Haseeno

Sorry to disappoint all the young girls, but unfortunately Ranbir doesn't drop the towel in this one but to make it up to you, he looks super hot throughout the film, appearing shirtless in a few scenes. Bachna Ae Haseeno may have flaws as a film, yet it succeeds in entertaining and does so many things right, that you are willing to overlook the mistakes. The best part about the film is that in spite of being slightly over two hours twenty minutes, the film's pace is very crisp and you in fact may walk out of the theatre planning to see the film again. As a director, Siddharth Anand has got this one right because his intention was clearly to entertain and he does that extremely well (without a single double meaning joke, vulgarity or over the top melodrama) while extracting great performances from each of the key four characters.

The fact that the film races ahead is a plus and a minus; a plus because from the time the opening credits roll in the title track music video to the end credits there is constantly something happening and the proceedings are quick, but a minus because things do get left a bit unexplained and at times resolutions and reactions happen because they are supposed to happen and not at a point where they are completely convincing. But yet, somewhere this doesn't bother you once you realize that Bachna Ae Haseeno is just a fun romantic comedy and is not meant to be path breaking cinema and hence you realize that these flaws do not hinder your viewing of the film because they never make the film less enjoyable.

In a nutshell, there are three women who Raj interacts with at various stages in his life; Mahi when he is eighteen, Radhika when he is in his mid 20's and finally Gayatri when he hits his early thirties. He initially breaks Mahi and Radika's hearts and it is only when he finally wants to commit to a woman, that he himself experiences his first heartbreak. It is then that he realizes that even if he never gets the love of his life back, he wants to go back and find the women he has hurt apologize to them and convince them that he was the one at fault and not them.

The film begins with Raj's short but cute love story with Mahi (Minissha Lamba). We are taken back to Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge with the very optimistic Mahi who believes luck follows her wherever she goes. This is the one story where things seem to happen very quickly, as she falls in love with Raj and endures heartbreak at his hands in the course of only one day. But then again, at that age, where a girl like Mahi is searching for her DDLJ Raj, Siddharth succeeds in not making you doubt her love too much. Minissha Lamba literally glows on screen as the young, cute, bubbly Mahi and she is completely believable as an eighteen year old. Ranbir and Minissha look so cute together as teenagers that they easily make this track work. What's even more surprising is that when we see Minissha again in the second half of the film, she is just as believable as a married woman with two kids. There is a huge difference between the young Mahi who falls in love with Raj and the Mahi we meet later who seems to have shut the doors of her heart post her experience with Raj and has somewhere become cold and hard. Minissha handles this with utmost maturity ensuring that while making the character cold, she retains the fact that Mahi has become this way only because of her hurt and that hurt is always there in her eyes. When you watch her on screen you find yourself amazed at how much she has matured as an actor and along with strong screen presence, she shares great chemistry with Ranbir Kapoor. Along with Deepika and Sonam, Minissha Lamba is the one actress from the young brigade who is definitely headed for superstardom.

Radhika is Raj's live in girlfriend and he is thrilled at this arrangement, that is until his transfer to Australia is announced and Radhika proposes they get married and go to Australia together. This track has a several funny moments making you wish Bipasha Basu would try her hand at comedy more often as she is so good at it. Her track is quite fun to watch and at no point in time do you feel she looks older than Ranbir. Her switch to the cold hearted super star Shreya in the second half is just as convincing and fun to watch, especially when she makes Raj truly earn her forgiveness. Here Siddharth has subtly shown that because Raj and Mahi's story was a bit more innocent and whatever Raj did was a more innocent mistake, Mahi is able to forgive him more easily. But leaving Radhika at the altar after a one and a half year live in relationship has scorned her deep and hence her forgiveness does not come easy. Bipasha is extremely likable and of course looks stunning but it's the way she has performed with such ease that truly deserves credit.

Raj meets Gayatri (Deepika Padukone) in Australia and he can't get over the fact that there are female taxi drivers there. She is someone who lives life on her own terms, drives a taxi and works as a cashier at a grocery store to fund her MBA education. This track too, is filled with several funny moments and Deepika has improved tremendously from her debut in Om Shanti Om and of course, this time her voice not being dubbed, adds to her performance. As usual she looks stunning on screen and her chemistry with Ranbir is undoubtedly superb but that chemistry is strong in the comic and fun scenes as well, and not just the romantic ones. She is quite likeable as the carefree Gayatri and when she smiles or laughs on screen, you instinctively find yourself smiling too; such is the power of her dimpled smiled.

It would be wrong to call Ranbir Kapoor's Raj a Casanova in the true sense as right from his "first love" Mahi, you get the feeling that his intention is never to hurt any woman, and yet without realizing it, his actions scar them for life, or at least until he reappears in their life to apologize. Ranbir Kapoor is the perfect choice for the character because even while breaking hearts, he exudes a certain innocent vulnerability making this character all the more loveable. He lights up the screen like magic, his comic timing is great and he is just a pleasure to watch on screen. In fact the film is out and out a Ranbir Kapoor film and he laps up the opportunity, not letting the audience down in a single scene. Also, he is as believable as an eighteen year old as he is as a thirty year old which is also noteworthy for an actor in only his second film. Heroes beware, Ranbir truly is set to take on the industry and this young lad is set to rule hearts and the box office for years to come.

The film is not saddled with too many supporting characters but Hiten Paintlal is great fun to watch as Raj's friend and Kunal Kapoor in a special appearance as Mahi's husband also does a fine job.

The cinematography (Sunil Patel) is breathtaking as you are exposed to various locales of Switzerland, Italy and Australia. The music has been steadily climbing the charts and the songs are smartly placed in the film so that even when two songs do happen almost within five minutes of each other, it is justified and doesn't bore the audience. The editing is crisp, the dialogues fresh and overall Bachna Ae Haseeno is like a breath of fresh air which the audiences will thoroughly enjoy.

Watch Bachna Ae Haseeno because it is what entertaining cinema should be; watch it for great performances from the young brigade and watch it knowing you will want to come back to the theatre to watch it again.

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Movie Review : Ugly aur Pagli

 Ugly aur Pagli (comedy)

Cast: Ranvir Shorey, Mallika Sherawat

Direction: Sachin Khot

Critics rating:





Ah! All those missed opportunities. This one could have been a laugh riot, but for a script that suddenly loses its nuts and bolts and winds up into irrational territory. The Sassy Girlfriend (Mallika Sherawat) suddenly grows senty, dives into the Mandovi river and leaves her petticoat boyfriend (Ranvir Shorey) hanging love-lorn notes on a tree. And when she re-emerges, she's ready to marry someone else who suddenly reminds her of her old flame and sends her scurrying back to him. Of course, she doesn't find him at the old address, but hey, what happened to the breezy first half and the outrageous bakwas between the odd couple: the he-girl and the she-boy?



The film begins on a promising note, despite being a re-take of a Korean film. Loser Ranvir meets a slobbered Mallika Sherawat trying to jump before a local train and ends up carrying her to a hotel and spending the night with her, until she sobers up. Of course, the loser ends up sleeping on the floor and falling deeply in love with a girl who slaps him hard and proper whenever she's not sloshed or demanding something bizarre. Like, walking in high-heels, riding a seat-less bike in a red petticoat, stealing red roses from a park or dancing with her while she's ekdum talli . Sometimes, he does get his moments too and dares her to play the superwoman she poses to be. But our Ms Sprightly is ready for any and every challenge, even if it means strutting in college (yes, Mallika is a college kid!) with her chhaddis over her jeans.



So these are the fun parts, where Ranvir actually wonders why he loves this girl who is an alcoholic, a snorer and a goondi . And Mallika maintains the mystery of why she hangs out with this guy who has failed four times in college and has neither looks nor spirit. But when the mystery is unspoiled, the magic wanes and the laughs dry down. Then, it's the performances that keep the film afloat, specially Ranvir Shorey who excels in portraying the perfect underdog. Mallika too displays a newfound restraint and creates a lively new image for the archetypal heroine. Wish the laughs hadn't petered away....Wish that Zeenat Aman hadn't been wasted in a fleeting cameo!

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Movie Review : Contract

Contract (crime)

Cast: Adhvik Mahajan, Sakshi Gulati, Prasad Purandare

Direction: Ram Gopal Varma

Critics rating: 

DEJA vu! Ram Gopal Varma may insist that he's trying to take the underworld drama of Satya and Company forward by focusing on its link with terrorism, but the truth is that Contract breaks no new ground. There is the same inter gang rivalry between gangsters who are clones of Dawood Ibrahim and Chotta Rajan, with one gang reporting to the government and the other to a terrorist who plans mayhem in Mumbai. Sadly, the film lacks the chutzpah of Satya and Company and ends up as a pale shadow of Ramu's finest works.



The film lives only through the performances of some of its character actors: honest cop, Prasad Purandare, menacing terrorist, Zakir Husain and gangster, Upendra Limaye. Debutant Adhvik Mahajan who plays the army man who infiltrates the gang to nab the terrorist is himself a pale shadow of Abhishek Bachchan. He does try hard to portray the anguish of a man who loses his family in a bomb attack and undertakes a diehard mission to rid the world of all the bombers and terrorists. And there are a few gripping encounters to shake you out of your stupor. But by and large, there is a been-here-done-that feel throughout with the camera, the soundtrack and the narrative following Ramu's usual bidding. Also, most of the action seems to happen off screen: the assassination of the corrupt home minister and the gang overlord.



Final verdict? RGV desperately needs to chase some new Satyas and break free from the company of the underworld. Most of it's been said and done. And seen.

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Movie Review : Kismat Konnection

Kismat Konnection (romance)

Cast: Shahid Kapoor, Vidya Balan, Om Puri

Direction: Aziz Mirza

Critics rating:  

FIRST things first. It's actually quite hard to believe that this is Aziz Mirza's film. Aziz Mirza? Remember, the man who gave us great TV soaps like Nukkad and sensitive films like Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman , Yes Boss . The qualifying characteristic of all his work was the celebration of the underdog as hero and the undercurrent of pop socialism in the drama. Kismet Connection has neither. On the contrary, it ends up promoting all kinds of mumbo jumbo - lucky charms, lucky stones, crystal ball gazers, kismet ka khel - in this lack lustre love story which takes a bit from Yes Boss and a whole lot from Lage Raho Munnabhai . And if that's not enough heartbreak, the filmmaker suddenly remembers his commitment to causes. Bingo! Out of the blue, the hero starts rambling about global warming, imperialism, exploitation and the rest. No connection at all!



Shahid Kapoor plays Raj Malhotra (the SRK hangover, it seems), an architect in Toronto who is jobless not because he isn't skilled; only because he is luckless. Desperate for a breakthrough, he visits Haseena Bano (Juhi Chawla), an irritating soothsayer who tells him to find his lucky charm if he wants to get rid of the negative vibes in his life. He accidentally bumps into Vidya Balan, reprising her Munnabhai role as an activist, and life's suddenly on song. The only jarring note? Sweet and ill-dressed (again!) Vidya already has a boyfriend.



No prizes for guessing who gets the girl. But what's even more depressing is the complete paucity of a sensible plot, the plodding narration and the thanda connection between Shahid and Vidya. Also, there isn't much these two proficient actors can do to save the script, although Shahid does try to liven up the drama. Doesn't work. Specially not after Jab We Met .

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Review : Mehbooba

Mehbooba (romance)

Cast: Sanjay Dutt, Ajay Devgan, Manisha Koirala

Direction: Afzal Khan 



SANJAY Dutt looks young and natty. Manisha Koirala is slim and trim. Kader Khan is still around. And Ajay Devgan is callow and boyish. Well, it doesn't take long for you to guess the time period of this of the film. Neither through the characters nor through the plot which is older than the formula itself.



Sanjay Dutt is the immoral playboy who wants a one-night stand with the virtuous Manisha Koirala who teaches him a lesson. She slaps him, not once but twice, in full public view, and ends up being slapped, duped and dumped by the raging tycoon who's still lusting. This time, for revenge. Enter brother, Ajay Devgan, who rescues the damsel and offers her marriage, only to find out that his brother is still longing for the crying girl. Only this time, it's love not lust.



So who gets the girl? Game to find out? Guess the time's over for these treacly tales by now. Specially when all the actors have aged and progressed to more meatier roles.  

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Movie Review : Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na

Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na (romance)

Cast: Imran Khan, Genelia D'Souza, Paresh Rawal

Direction: Abbas Tyrewala 



IT'S the frivolity of the tale that does it in. Yes, Jaane Tu...could actually have been paisa vasool fare with it's coming-of-age tale of two college friends who discover they can be lovers too. In fact, the film has its moments: great restraint, some funny sit-com, a pleasant and youthful lead pair (Imran-Genelia), peppy music (AR Rahman) and riveting cameos by the character actors. But the kahani mein twist is so silly, it makes you want to cry over all the spilt milk.



Jai Rathore (Imran) is a polite, peace-loving, almost cowardly Rajput who doesn't take offence even when he is humiliated by best friend Genelia's brother (an interesting debut by Prateik Babbar). His mom (Ratna Pathak Shah) loves him this way and has specially brought him up to be placid and pliant, to protect him from his violent family history. But deceased dad Naseeruddin Shah, who talks from a photo frame, knows his son will reclaim family legacy and become a true Rajput someday. He does, and manages to win his girl friend too who dreams of a beau who will beat up all the guys who trouble her.



The film works well in the first half, where the archetypal college group prepares itself for life after college. Everyone thinks Jai and Aditi (Genelia) will end up happily-ever-after, except Jai and Aditi. They spend half of the film proving everybody wrong by finding a suitable match for each other. That's the fun part. And then, spend the other half, trying to come to terms with their more-than-friends feelings for each other. That's the unfunny part, especially since it is too prolonged.



Although it has a similar story-line, this one isn't in league with the Shahid Kapoor-Amrita Rao film, Ishq Vishq or Karan Johar's iconic Kuch Kuch Hota Hai . A word about Imran Khan: he begins on unsure footing and gradually slips into the role of Mr Nice Guy with consummate ease. Watch out for a great act by Ratna Pathak Shah as the new age mom and Naseeruddin Shah, as the dancing dead thakur who's left waiting for a certain Mr Godot, in the end!  

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Movie Review : Love Story 2050

Love Story 2050 (romance)

Cast: Harman Baweja, Priyanka Chopra

Direction: Harry Baweja 



PRIYANKA Chopra makes a promise to boyfriend Harman Baweja in India's first full blown sci-fi film. She promises to give him a thandi-thandi kiss after feasting on some strawberry ice cream. Well, the kiss never happens -- the ice cream's bumped out of her hands -- and all that we are left with is a thandi-thandi film.



There is no passion, no action, no jaadu in this mega-budgeted futuristic love story. Even the special effects are more of the picture postcard variety -- vignettes from the future, where the Mumbai skyline is dotted with pink and purple highrises, flying cars, sky buses, shell houses and the sci-fi menagerie comprises a pink teddy bear, a female robot, a Harman-look alike evil android and a poor cousin of Darth Vader (was that Gulshan Grover behind the iron mask?). Of course, there's the old-fashioned oval time machine, chauffeured by a buffoonish Boman Irani with a bad hair day, as he push-buttons our hero to Mumbai 2050.



And thank God for that! For the only thing that works in favour of the film is the gawk factor. Curiosity about the futuristic vision does make for a few compelling moments, post-interval. Specially since the first half is a soppy tale of two lovers who swear eternal love that is abruptly cut short by a banal accident. Desperate lover boy follows his dear departed into the next janam where she's a red-haired diva, with a terrible dress sense, entertaining the world from the Mumbai skies. Of course she's forgotten him, but he's brought her old janam's diary along. So that, all it takes is a few flips of the dog-eared pages to rekindle the thanda-thanda flame.



Harman may have hogged the headlines for his Hrithik-like dance moves and resemblance. Ironically, he doesn't seem to have a Hrithik-like dream debut ( Kaho Naa Pyar Hai ). The actor actually struggles in the small emotional bits, while Priyanka Chopra displays nothing of her characteristic on-screen verve. Finally, it's the zero storyline that works against this sigh-fi film. 

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Movie Review : De Taali

De Taali (comedy)
Cast: Aftab Shivdasani, Riteish Deshmukh, Ayesha Takia, Rimii Sen
Direction: E. Niwas

THE funniest line of the film comes as a graffiti scrawled on the friendship wall. 'Amu is a Boy,' is boldly scrawled on the walls of the tree house by the trio of friends which includes Abhi (Aftab Shivdasani), Paglu (Riteish Deshmukh) and Amu (Ayesha Takia). Obviously Amu is the archetypal one-of-the-boys girls in this backslappers club, despite her two plaits and her red nails. Ironically, the film is unable to cash in on this cute camaraderie between three best friends and gets into schmaltzy terrain that threatens to smother the laughs, time and again. Purely a case of comedy gone sour.

Now that's sad, specially since the film throws up some interesting characters and some goofy acting that could have augured well for a breezy comic act. Trouble begins in this light-hearted drama when ebullient Amu loses her heart to her best friend Abhi, just when he seems to have finally found true love after 31 aborted tries. Trouble turns somewhat zany when the friends (Amu and Paglu) discover the newfound love interest (Rimii Sen) in their friend's life is a cunning gold digger who has run away from home and sent innumerable men to support groups for the alcoholic. The friendly duo kidnaps the bride-to-be and hopes to cure their friend of his obsession. But love, ah! And bad girls, ah!

The film gets too long and repetitive, even though it has its funny moments. Rimii Sen joins the galaxy of glam-crooks that have been parading the hall of fame this year.

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Movie Review : Haal-e-Dil

Haal-e-Dil (romance)
Cast: Amita Pathak, Nakul Mehta, Adhyan Suman
Direction: Anil Devgan

ANYONE for Jab We Met minus its zing? Anyone for a long train journey from Mumbai to Kalka, which is supposed to be romantic but ends up as tedious and almost derailed?

There's a serious-looking girl in specs who's on a train to Simla. She meets a funny looking boy who is determined to make a pest of himself with his magic shows that include stealing some radish and carrots from the fields en-route. Soon, her haal-e-dil grows quite serious, as she keeps dreaming of her boyfriend in Simla and flirting with the boy on her berth.

Unlike Jab We Met , you can't wait for this journey to end.

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