Some spice of BAAZIGAR, a touch of DARR, some flavor of MURDER, the aroma of DEEWANGEE and the topping of AKSAR - and lo, you have got a rather enjoyable dish of AGGAR ready to be served hot. Film maker Ananth Narayan Mahadevan had all this while promised that this film, second in the trilogy of his dramatic-thrillers, would be yet another entertaining product after AKSAR. He was right.
If there is one person who is going to benefit most from the film, it is going to be Shreyas Talpade. It is just unbelievable to see a teenager IQBAL(2005) graduating to a 30 plus psychiatrist in AGGAR with such remarkable ease. From his mature look to his formal clothing to his walk to his body language to his mannerisms to his facial expressions and especially his dialogue delivery - everything just turns out to be perfect for Shreyas.
It is just a perfect portrayal. Period. He uses his middle class guy next door looks to his advantage and knocks hard and strong at the doors of everyone who wishes to rope in an actor who is a game for a challenging/complex role.
It is with relative ease that Shreyas plays a rather complex role of a man who is considered to be a God when it comes to curing mentally disturbed patients. One such patient whom for whom he takes it upon himself to cure is Tusshar Kapoor who is accused of killing his girl friend [Sophie Chaudhary]. Someone who doesn't talk business at home, Shreyas has a glamorous wife [Udita Goswami], an owner of an event management company.
She plays the part of a woman who is forever tense. Tense because of her high stress work, lack of time from her husband, his unwillingness to discuss his work and a suspected infidelity. A chance encounter brings her closer to Tusshar and between themselves they find true love.
No, before you start thinking this AGGAR is an adulterous extra-marital drama, let me forewarn you that it is not. This angle is just one of the threads in this twisted plot that borrows the complexity of Hitchcockian thrillers. No, the film may not have the finesse of what one saw of Hitchcock but Mahadevan makes up for it with his sound story telling.
The film never looses sight of the plot in it's two hours duration; well almost. As mentioned above, the film starts off on a very positive note and stays on like that for around 30 minutes while establishing character graph. Without getting into unnecessary terrain for all this duration, there is a slight dip for a few minutes before things perk up again with Shreyas' revelation to Udita and her subsequent guilt pangs.
Moments after the interval do tend to get a little predictable (for a while) but dramatic handling of the subject keeps the interest leve on. What is unpardonable though is to see the best song of the film (Ke Bin Tere Jeena Nahi) coming at the most unwanted stage of the film. Just when you thought that the thriller element is at it's peak, the song takes the film's graph down.
There is a further dip when Shreyas and Udita decide (rather tamely) to begin a new life together but the re-introduction of Tusshar's character perks up the situation. Nauheed Cyrusi's entry into the plot only thickens it further from which the film only moves up with secrets coming out and skeletons tumbling out of the closet. Yes, there is a strong deja vu of the some of the films as mentioned at the beginning but Mahadevan's handling of scenes and fast pace of the film gives you a 'masala' entertainer to feast on.
While some films have their finger on the pulse, this one has its pulse on the finger. In one heart-stopping sequence, a ruthless mobster, mysteriously named Captain, chops off the ethereal Shalini's (Priyanka Chopra) finger and sends it in a gift box to her tormented husband John.
Remember Brad Pitt being similarly 'gifted' in Seven? Don't expect the immense intensity of Seven to hit you in Karam. But music-video maverick and cinematographer Sanjay F. Gupta does wallop a punch or two in the solar plexus with his unusually violent, skilfully narrated story of an assassin's brutal efforts to come clean.
It's a neat story, written with panache and passion by the talented Suparn Varma who last week, succeeded in creating a freshness in the romantic comedy genre with Socha Na Tha. 
This week he does a bit of the air spray act with the gangster movie. Karam is at heart a love story detailing internecine intrigue and violence of the underworld. From its delineation of hit man John's initiation into a world of crime (done in cartoon-strip animation a la Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill) debutant director Gupta moves with a skill-will through a series of cohesively choreographed scenes of violence. 
The squeamish are advised to set aside their reservations. For, countermanding the abject savagery of a world governed by greed and ambition is the beauty tenderness and fragility of Shalini.
In many ways, Priyanka's Shalini holds the key to the plot. She's like an orchid blooming in a relentless desert. The love, tenderness and passion that John feels for her irrigates the dry land of bloodied violence.
In many sequences, such as the one where she makes the long run in the rain to escape her kidnappers, we the audience are overwhelmed by Shalini's vulnerability.
Tautly scripted and anointed with a virile candour that slices open the wounded lives of the two protagonists, Karam has great visual strength. Gupta uses images, music and colors from music videos to accentuate the anxious desolation of the couple, struggling to come together in a world ripped apart by violence.
The violence undercutting the main love story is intolerably harsh. Scenes of villains smashing heads and pumping bullets into unsuspecting victims cut across the narrative creating an unsettling pyramid of passion and perversion. The life-changing shoot-out in which John and his accomplices (Murali Sharma and Rajesh Khera) accidentally gun down a little girl shimmers and seethes in the lurking shadows of discontent.
Throughout, the director creates a sense of self-destructive foreboding, punctuated by unexpected passages of tenderness.
By and large the narrative avoids getting unnecessarily cheesy even if the characters are forever mired in murk. The narrative never sprawls and spirals out of control. Except for theatre actor Bharat Dabholkar whose act of villainy is hammy and incongruous (his voice seems specially disembodied), the performances lift the narrative by many notches.
This isn't the first time that John Abraham has played an angst-ridden, socially castigated creature of torment. He gets a grip over the assassin's character and never lets go. Shiney Ajuja seen as the passionate priest in Vinod Pande's Sins dons the cop's clothes. 
But it's Priyanka Chopra who moves mountains with her poised interpretation of high drama. Playing a pigeon among cats, she flies high creating a character whose vulnerability and beauty are endorsed by both the inner and outer worlds created for her character.
Launch of a new star. A mushy love story. A conflict between families. A delightful entertainer.
These were some of the expectations that one had from the movie 'Dil Jo Bhi Kahey' that was released this Friday. Does the movie meet all the expectations? Well, not to an extent as one would have liked!
Written, produced and directed by Romesh Sharma, DJBK is the launch pad of his son Karan Sharma who is paired opposite yet another debutant Annabelle Wallace, a British girl. The movie begins on an interesting [though often seen] note with introduction of Jai [Karan Sharma], who is studying Hotel Management in Stockholm, Sweden. He is a jovial person who loves hanging around with friends and enjoys life to the fullest without trying to be ultra cool or a smashing dude. In one of the chance meetings in a music store, he and his friend Gaurav [Manuj Gulati] come across Sophie [Annabelle Wallace]. A couple of smile-on-your-face sequences later, they both fall in love.
Jai and Sophie start dreaming about living life together when reality. Sophie's father Norman Besson [Malcolm Doddard] still lives in the days of colonial rule and treats Indians as nothing more than slaves. Meanwhile Jai's mother Sandhya [Revathi], a traditional woman originating from Chappra, Bihar too believes that Indian and Western culture won't gel in a long run. In this conflict of cultures, it is Jai's father Shekhar [Amitabh Bachchan] who is his only hope. Inspite of the differences between the two families, he gives them a go-ahead to secretly get married in a church.
Shocked Sandhya gets a heart attack, Jai decides to forego his beloved for his mother, Sophie never comes to know about the reason of Jai's flip while the loop is closed with Sandhya finding a 'susheel-sundar-samajhdaar-paramparaik bahu' Gayatri [Bhoomika Chawla], a doctor for her son.
For a change, a hero is not on crossroads here. Troubled from his mother's condition, he surrenders and promptly gets engaged to Gayatri. This is when Gaurav enters the scene and tried to unite the two love birds together. But is it too late by then........?
There have been hundreds of love stories in the past, especially when a fresh face is being launched. Either it's a rich boy-poor girl story or a 'do khaandanon ki dushmani' saga or 'hero falling in love with villain's daughter' drama. But rarely has any movie being made that had cultural difference between West and the East as a backdrop. On these grounds, DJBK is a novel attempt. Rather than making a Western girl a mere prop, the story has Annabelle as an integral part of the movie. There is no nudity or no titillation that would make her appearance for mere glamour quotient. Karan's character too doesn't aim at being an ultra-modern dude fused with rich-Indian-culture a la Chopra-Johar hero.
These are some of the factors that catch your attention and in fact the first few reels go at a lively pace with an occasional chuckle or two. Though there is a nice built of drama in the reels to follow, surprisingly things do not turn as dramatic as anticipated. Karan returns to Mauritius and things turn a bit stagnant, especially in the father-son number 'Mere Munna' that seems to be forced. Things turn a bit interesting with Amitabh and Malcolm confrontation but a couple of scenes later, the young couple is back at being cozy on a beach.
A Day in the Life of a Soporific Airport is how this unusual, episodic, romantic comedy should have been subtitled.
A couple on the brink of a divorce, a husband whose wife ill-treats him, an Italy-returned pompous dude, a pregnant airhostess who has just rejected a pilot's sympathetic shoulder, an army man who wants to get remarried when his son is just out of his honeymoon...
Two teenagers who meet after discovering love on the Internet, a sloshed airport manager who runs into his ex-flame now married to a sore man... The characters flow fast, though not furiously, from debutant director Samar Khan's handsomely mounted, beautifully visualized airport-lounge drama. 
Mellow in mood and musical in the treatment of its stagy characterizations, Kuchh Meetha Ho Jaye lives up to its title. 
Sweet and tender, Samar Khan's film is definitely not a pretender. It deals with life and relationships and their ensuing vagaries with a gentle smile and an occasional smirk. 
Positivism permeates from the plot unhampered. 
The string of breached man-woman relationships that surface during a flight delay on a surprisingly un-busy airport is dealt with in episodic overtures. 
Not all the sequences hold you. Many in fact, leave you wondering why the lenses froze on characters, who could've solved their problems while we weren't looking. 
Kanwaljeet's bumbling Hail fellow, well met army man's character is excessively pitched into the over-populated plot. And Sandhya Mridul's emotionally overwrought airhostess' act becomes tedious, especially when we want to just see what the other characters are up to. 
But there are so many warm, funny and revealing characters, and situations, that you actually begin look at the airport's multi-storeyed characterizations as an extended joint family.
Throughout the film you feel the presence of a guardian angel - not necessarily Shah Rukh Khan who makes a delayed rabble-rousing somewhat gimmicky appearance. 
And parts of the film capturing the quirky contours of a man-woman relationship are savagely funny.
The young lovers facing the first crisis in their relationship: how to win over her father. Get her pregnant, the boy's best friend advises. 
Elsewhere, Arshad Warsi, delightfully drunken and droll, eyes the burqa-clad Muslim wife Gulab (Mahima Chowdhary) who miraculously changes into the tightest and skimpiest skirt, presumably borrowed from Britney Spears...
There are men, and there are boys. Middle-aged companionship rubs shoulders with pubescent fantasies in this designer-drama - not quite as compelling and funny as its model Hollywood flick Love Actually, but romantic and melodic enough to qualify as a romantic musical.
You wish Samar Khan hadn't got self-indulgent, especially in the second half.
Big mistake. Still, if we cut through the narrative's phoney marital jargon, we get a film that's altogether blithe bubby and charming. 
The characters flash their smiles and hide their tears with aplomb that echoes Shakespeare's all-the-world's-a-stage adage. 
But there are no signs of working class activities on the airport, except for a baggage collector who's lost his rooster. 
Himesh Reshammiya's songs add their bit to the toothpick-slim drama. 
The performances are smooth, even and mildly engaging, with Arshad Warsi, Mahima Choudhary and Sachin Khedeker getting a hang of their roles better than the others.
Yet another Yash Raj film releases this week with Sidhart'Tara Rum Pum ' Anand spearheading the bandwagon.
Ranbir Kapoor returns after the disastrous 'Saawariya'and what more with three beautiful women. Bipasha , Minisha Lamba and Depika Padukone are fused in to draw the masses either with their smile or sex appeal.
Synopsis'.
Why do girls always fall for the wrong guy? Their mothers warn them about him. Their friends shake their heads disapprovingly.
Their minds tell them to escape while the going is good. But no! Oh no! Their hearts are another story altogether. You see, they are always sending all the wrong signals. His name alone is enough to scramble their brains and set their hearts racing. Meet Raj. 
He is the stuff of dreams, with the looks of a 'butter wouldn't melt in my mouth' good boy. Who can blame him for falling in love as many times as love is fortunate enough to find him. It's not his fault that he's a heartbreaker, its in his DNA. Come' discover his three love stories; Raj and Mahi, Raj and Radhika, Raj and Gayatri. Different ladyloves at different times in his life. And each one of them teach him a little bit about love and a little bit about life, in their own sweet, sexy or sassy way. Come fall in love... three times over!
To start off with one wonders whether films such as these ever have a scripting stage . Maybe someone walked up to the director and asked him to explore the Ranbir-Deepkia bonding that has been creating much hype in the media. Oh,well what about the sex appeal quotient? Simple, rope in Bipasha Basu and for those DDLJ lovers there is the cute Minisha Lamba.
No doubt there is the style quotient backed by the pretty locales of Sydney etc that is synonymous with every Yash Raj film but right from the opening 20 mins you are bored. The film is an overload of clich's. Right from the so called 18 year old Raj(Ranbir ) and his adventure joy ride and his pack of silly friends. The film to a certain extent crosses that thin line between humor and vulgarity with all those comments on Indian aunties and that over branding of condoms.
The music of the film is pretty ok and cinematography too is enticing but nothing saves a film that is headed nowhere. The proceedings of the film are quite lame especially when the heroic Raj cries for the very first time and is headed to apologize to his previous flings. And then comes one song after another and how silly things get when Ranbir is made Bips personal assistant.
Ranbir Kapoor hasn't evolved as an actor and isn't convincing at all. There's a lot more to an actor than just being cute. 
Bipasha Basu is wasted and does nothing beyond bringing in the oomph factor.She looks much older than Ranbir.
Minisha Lamba still needs to work on her Hindi. She's Ok.
Deepika Padukone impresses with her simplicity and her body language. She is efficient and should take more characters of substance.
On the whole, this film lacks real substance be it humor or emotions and ends up being a silly fling swing flick.
Rating: *
Aamir Khan who has known to be an ace when it comes to selecting scripts and venturing into production, provides his nephew Imran the much awaited launch. Jaane Tu' also marks the directorial debut of screenplay and dialogue writer Abbas Tyrewala.
So does Aamir strike yet another 'Taare Zameen Par'?
Synopsis'
Jai [Imran Khan] and Aditi [Genelia] are buddies who hang out with their group of friends, but have eyes for each other only. Their friends know that Jai and Aditi are perfect for each other. Their parents know this as well. Everybody knows this. But the couple doesn't. So when do they realize its love?
Jaane Tu ' comes across as a complete college teen flick. Director Abbas Tyrewala does succeed to a certain extent in bringing forth the so called 'college days' back to the viewer. The movie takes off well with the comic characters and events attached with college and every college group etc.
The 1st half is indeed very entertaining right from the opening scene of a funeral to the bonding between Jai( Imraan ) and Athiti( Genelia). Even the songs in the 1st half are so refreshing with 'Athithi' and 'Pappu can't dance'. Do watch out for Sohail Khan and Arbaaz's guest appearance. It's hilarious, especially the scene where Imran rescues Meghna (Manjiri) from them.
Sounds really great! But the big letdown comes with Abbas Tyrewala's writing in the 2nd half. The movie suddenly takes a dip and the plot is loosely held. The intercuts to the narration of the story by a bunch of friends at the airport gets annoying as it slows the pace of the flick. The group goes bla bla bla with their poor jokes and it bores.
The plot lacks conviction eventually and the fact that Atithi(Genelia ) misses Jai(Imran) and vice versa inspite of being in another relationship fails to come across strongly. The movie just becomes a series of parties.
The movie has a terrific music album composed by A.R.Rahman. The saddest bit comes across with the film skipping two terrific numbers 'Jaane tu mera kya tha' male and female version. How could one omit a Rahman composition sung by Sukhwinder Singh? Also the movie fails to capitalize on Rahman's 'Jaane Kahan Who Duniya' which had the potential of being the next 'Pehla Nasha' and ends up being just another party number.
Imran Khan really impresses and no doubt lives up to his Chachajaan Aamir's expectations. We have another Aamir in the making I suppose. Imran's expressions are terrific. Observe the sequence where he goes to meet Genelia's parents and the opening college fight scene. He does a bit of Aamir Khan from Ghulam when he sets off to Ayaz Khan's home for revenge. The scene at the airport brings in Imran at his best.
Genelia comes in with all that masti(fun) and air of freshness. She is cute, delivers well and portrays the character of the wild, crazy , possessive Atithi with ease and is par excellence. She is superb and being already a big sensation down south , she is sure to hit Bollywood by storm.
Naseerudin Shah has a very hilarious role and does really well. Ratna Pathak is just apt as the mother. Paresh Rawal is ok. Arbaaz and Sohail are hilarious. Ayaz Khan fits the bill and so does Manjari. Prateik Babbar the son of Raj Babbar and the late Smita Patil doesn't go unnoticed as Genelia's brother. The other characters within the group such as Jiggy, Rotlu and Boms fit the bill.
Jaane Tu ' definitely comes in with an air of freshness with the likes of Genelia and Imran. The film dips post interal but still has its moments. It's sure to impress at least the youth. As for Genelia and Imran , they have left behind their footprints in Bollywood.
Rating : **1/2
The thing about Kamal Haasan's movies is that they never take the audiences for granted. There is never an attempt at short-changing. The viewers get what they are promised. If it is masala film, it will be a wholesome one. If it is a serious one, it will be handled with sensitivity.
Before Mumbai Xpress we were all promised plenty of guffaws and hardy entertainment, and on that count Kamal does not disappoint. Mumbai Xpress is a roller coaster ride of mirth, fun and typically some Kamal kind of serious sentiments that are fed almost imperceptibly, laced with comedy. 
Protagonist Avinash (Kamal Haasan) is a hard-of-hearing and slightly daft but sensitive soul who halfway through a kidnapping ploy, changes his mind, takes off with the kidnapped boy (Hardik) and gets into a dizzy comedy of errors.
The story is simple and straight: It is a comedy of errors. Avinash (Kamal), a bike stunt specialist in a circus, is incorporated into a gang (Vijay Raaz, Dinesh Lamba, Ramesh Aravind and Avinsah's sister Pratima Kazmi)that wants to kidnap a rich man's son.
But, as it happens, they end up kidnapping another boy who is an illegitimate son, born to an affair between ACP (Om Puri and an ex-bar girl Ahalya (Manisha Koirala).
The entry of this young boy (Hardhik) makes Avinash understand life and its people. Avinash, who is hard of hearing, had also been blind to reality. All is well that ends well. But after all the experience, Avinash emerges wiser.
There is little to complain on the acting front. Kamal is simply superb as only he can be. The nuances he comes up with just surprises you with every film. Ramesh Aravind, with a brilliant make up, is special. As a greedy insurance agent, he is believable and endearing. So are others. The young boy Hardhik is simply too good.
Om Puri is particularly effectual as the harassed father of a bride whose mistress (Manisha Koirala) suddenly demands his attentions when their illegitimate son is kidnapped.
A large part of the narrative is about the growing bonding between the hero Avinash and the boy whom he kidnaps.
The technical aspects in any Kamal film are first rate. It is here too. Ilayaraja's music, the jazz feel staying with you all through, is evocative and so are the sets and the camera work of Siddharth.
Singeertham Srinivasa Rao, the director, has marshaled his resources with aplomb and panache. Frankly, his bunch of talented artistes would not have given him any trouble.
Mumbai Xpress --- a fun train, all through.
A star is born! As the predatory social-climbing seductress who can go to any length to satiate her lust for life, Priyanka Chopra rocks the scene like never before.
Her character, appearance, demeanor and moralities are all inspired by Demi Moore in Barry Levinson's Disclosure. It would be no exaggeration to say that with this one complex characterization Priyanka proves her worth.
After having burnt their hands with a vengeful car in Tarzan: The Wonder Car Bollywood's resident thriller-tycoons Abbas and Mustan go back to what they know best: the evil within. Whether it was Arbaaz Khan in Daraar, Shah Rukh Khan in Baazigar, Akshaye Khanna in Humraaz or Akshay Kumar in Ajnabee, the directorial duo have always delved into the dynamics of human diabolism.
In Aitraaz, Abbas-Mustan rip clever pages out of Disclosure and construct a yarn that raises sexually seething questions which are new to Hindi cinema.
Why must the male always be held responsible for clandestine happenings between men and women? Can't a man be an object of sexual harassment even in a patriarchal society like ours? 
Taking on what is a patently passive part Akshay Kumar upturns all definitions of screen machismo by subjecting himself to all sorts of humiliating examinations in the courtroom where he accuses his lady boss of sexual exploitation.
Akshay takes off his shirt. But in the most embarrassing position possible.... in the courtroom to reveal love marks. 
Courtroom sequences are Abbas-Mustan's forte. Paresh Rawal and Anu Kapoor as the two lawyers are in splendid form. Their gift of the gab is put to great use. 
And though we often find the narrative getting submerged in verbosity - not to mention the over-layered songs shot in chic postures -- the quips and retorts, often of a highly sexual nature, flow out in a caustic cascade.
The comic interludes in the first few reels are purely puerile. You wish Abbas-Mustan would desist from focusing on peripheral sub-plots. If Aitraaz had avoided the digressions, and if the narrative had focussed only on the issue of gender-reversed sexual harassment, this film would've been a cut above what it is.
Kareena Kapoor's part as the wife who stands by her accused husband right into the courtroom, has been substantially fleshed out in comparison with the original where the wife was far more shadowy. 
In a role that requires more conviction than glamour, Kareena appears a trifle miscast and awkward, but comes into her own in the climactic courtroom sequence where she dons the lawyer's coat to bail her husband out. Shades of Bipasha Basu's role from Raaz help give Kareena's part its fleshy underbelly. 
But the film is undoubtedly a triumph for Priyanka Chopra. With half a smile, a twitch of her lip and a movement of her eyebrow she seems to slip into her man-eater's role with captivating ease.
After several reshuffling of dates and over 2 years in the making , UTV and Ashutosh Gowarikar bring to you Jodhaa-Akbar a complete epic in itself. Any comparisons with Mughal-E-Azam or Ashutosh's previous piece of work should be strictly avoided.
Besides a good star cast and soulful music, Jodhaa-Akbar has much more to offer. Set in the sixteenth century, JODHAA AKBAR is a love story about a marriage of alliance that gave birth to true love between a great Mughal emperor, Akbar, and a Rajput princess, Jodhaa. Little did Akbar [Hrithik Roshan] know that when he married Jodhaa [Aishwarya Rai Bachchan], he would be embarking upon a new journey -- the journey of true love. The daughter of King Bharmal of Amer [Kulbhushan Kharbanda], Jodhaa resented being reduced to a mere political pawn in this marriage of alliance, and Akbar's biggest challenge now did not merely lie in winning battles, but in winning the love of this defiant princess. Firstly Jodhaa 'Akbar isn't too complex a film to understand, the script and screenplay is simple and above all the language is simple with a mix of Hindi and Urdu.
The characters in the film are so real and leave a heavy impact on you. Only a visionary such as Ashutosh Gowarikar can dare to do such a film. When Ashutosh kept justifying the shuffling of the release date, one thought it was all humbug. But on viewing the film, you are more than convinced that a film of such magnitude indeed requires a lot of courage and patience to firstly shoot it and then edit and compile the various scenes. 
It is so obvious on screen the amount of effort put in and the care taken to craft a film such as this. Just observe the casting of the film, besides the prime faces we know of, Ashu brings to you such tremendous talent that fits the bill even with their slightest of roles in the film. For example, take a look at the Villain in the film-Niketan Dheer, he is much taller and built than Hrithik which makes it so believable in the fight sequences that Hrithik is bound to fall when he collides against him. Also take a look at the various kings, the common men depicted in the film, the warriors etc. It's just apt.
On the performance graph, no one could have possibly played Akbar with such elegance as Hrithik. Hrithik is simply fabulous. It's not just his body and looks that impress but it is the way Hrithik carries himself throughout the film. He impresses in almost every sequence. Watch out for Hrithik's duel with the elephant, his sword fight with Aishwariya , his dialogue delivery and expressiveness when he is betrayed by his step-brother. Also the climax fight sequence has some great dialogue delivery from Hrithik.
Aishwariya stands perfect as Jodhaa. Many would state that after Hum Dil Chuke Sanam , Ash is simply at her best in Jodhaa-Akbar. The sequence where she sets her demands before Akbar are impressive. She emotes well in sequences where she is humiliated by Akbar's step mother played by Ila Arun. She also does well in bringing out that romance and is smooth with the sword sequences.
Sonu Sood is yet another character to watch out for as he portrays Sujamal, Jodhaa's step-brother with ease. He impresses with both his dialogue delivery and sword handling. Poonam Sinha returns with a terrific guest appearance. Ila Arun freaks you out and watch out for her dialogue delivery with Ash as she expresses how possessive she is of her son Akbar. Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Raza Murad and Rajesh Vivek are all so apt and add to this epic. 
The guilty husband makes breakfast for his wife. Darling, I forgot the ketchup, he proceeds to the kitchen... and guess whom he finds sitting on the window ledge? The Wanton Woman. You're busy serving breakfast to your wife while I'm dying to be served, she purrs urgently.
Welcome to the world of female seduction.
The female predator is no stranger to cinema in the West. Remember Demi Moore in Disclosure, Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction and Jessica Walter stalking deejay Clint Eastwood in Play Misty For Me?
Admittedly the female go-getter is a new phenomenon in our films. She has been played with stunning elan by Urmila Matondkar in Pyar Tune Kya Kiya and Priyanka Chopra in Aitraaz.
The creature of the night who will not take no for an answer has never been more lurid in her intentions than in Chetna... -- not to be confused in any way with the bold and path-breaking 1970s film of the same name by B.R. Ishaara in which Rehana Sultan played a no-holds-barred prostitute.
Is it just coincidental that Payal Rohatgi is more aggressively tart-like in her portrayal of the female tycoon than Rehana Sultan could ever be as the sex worker in Chetna 30 years ago? Or is it just the sign of the times?
The female tycoon is more carnivorous than any of her screen avatars so far. She makes no bones about her intentions regarding her subordinate Samir (Jatin Grewal) a happily married man who suddenly finds himself in the vortex of a sexual assault from his boss.
Sandwiched between two women who want only one thing from him (and it isn't companionship) Grewal looks more confused about his love life than Salman Khan.
Gliding down Dubai in a limousine as elongated as Rohatgi's legs, the hero suddenly finds himself being pawed by his boss (blessedly a lady). Your wife has kept the 'karva chauth vrat (a fast by Hindu married women)' for you. But I will break the fast with you.
Fasting and sex... tradition and titillation? Hmmm. Not bad as a captivating combination, if only director Parto Ghosh knew the 't' of either word.
Rohatgi, no stranger to the bold fold, takes on the aggressive mantle in bed with clenched-teeth inevitability.
But if Chetna is an ode to the voyeuristic instinct, then sorry, this one is a certifiable dud. It fails miserably to evoke even a shred of erotica. If it is meant to be homage to marital fidelity, then the lady playing the aforementioned carnivore's toy-boy should have played her role with a graph.
But graph? That's a laugh in a film that creates wet dreams for an infertile humanity. The wife (Navneet Kaur) first gets into a sari to play the dutiful wife then into a slit skirt to play the avenging angel.
Clothes and profession definitely determine the morals of the female characters in this monstrous marital muddle.
Even the most diehard peeping tom would find it hard to bear the bare facts of this tattered take on infidelity.
It happens to be a welcome First Friday for a couple of debutant filmmakers in Bollywood. Yup! If Zoya Akhtar does it with 'Luck By Chance', Ajithpal Mangal takes on with 'Victory'. Perhaps, film 'n' cricket buffs were elated picking on 'Lagaan' and 'Iqbal'. These flicks had much more about the emotional side touching the poignant theme of unity and integrity. Well, real biggies on cricket field teaming up for 'Victory' got our adrenalines shot up expecting a much greater show. Unfortunately, the film doesn't gratify to audiences' interest in many vistas.
In fact, a film made on 'Cricket' has the clich'd formula of protagonist peaking with triumph as there aren't any other options. 'A Hero Must-Win' factor always persists in any sports-based films and 'Victory' isn't elision. No fault in the script penned; but the lengthy duration of 155 minutes of 'Rise of the Phoenix' story does get everyone annoyed with more fidgetiness.
Ok! In India, cricket is much more than just a game; it is a passion, an obsession, a religion! Millions of youngsters, in all the corners of the country dream of playing for India! A dream which incredibly only one in every 100 million realizes.
'Victory' is the story of a father, Ram Shekhawat (Anupam Kher), who saw such an impossible dream for his son! This is also the heroic story of his son Vijay Shekhawat (Harman Baweja). Hailing from the small town of Jaisalmer, Vijay Shekhawat becomes India's latest world-class batting sensation and is catapulted to superstardom!
But it is the glamour and the glitter of this very demigod status that makes the young, vulnerable small-town boy Vijay stray from his true vocation of cricket. Unfortunately this leads to a loss of focus and to a miserable drop in his performance. But by the time Vijay realizes the error of his ways, it is too late and he finds himself thrown out of the Indian cricket team because of disciplinary reasons. Suddenly the hero of the cricket crazy India becomes a villain in everyone's eyes. His father Ram Shekhawat's dreams are shattered and suffer a paralytic stroke. 
This tragedy awakens Vijay's conscience and sense of honor. He wants to redeem himself in the eyes of his father and every Indian. Against great odds, he once again makes it back to the Indian team and gets to play in the finals of the Champion's trophy against Australia where he plays a stellar role in enabling India to win the Trophy. In the emotionally moving final, in spite of being hospitalized mid-innings because of an injury, Vijay returns to bat, risking permanent injury, when India are nine down, to pull off an impossible victory against the world champion, Ricky Ponting's Australia.
In this match Vijay Shekhawat fulfils his father's dreams and enters the pantheon of Indian cricket. 
Harman Baweja looks amateurish performing as a cricketer on the grounds. It doesn't matter about his batting skills, but on many parts he fails to emote as an aggressive guy or an elated one. Sweating in liters and rolling eyes-all over doesn't offer a tensed look. Perhaps, watching at least couple of real matches could've got him the psychological feel of emotions displayed on the grounds. Of course, even in most of the sequences outside the field, he isn't up with finesse. Amrita Rao has nothing big to spell apart from supporting the hero and appearing in songs. Gulshan Grover does justice to his role, with this one the farthest distance away from his previous one 'Karzzz'. A flawless performance by Anupam Kher.
Getting on with Debutant Ajithpal Mangal; dealing with a complicated theme with real life characters makes his deserve a grand round of applause. But, the director doesn't accomplish his directorial task so effectively. Especially, his sluggish screenplay in the latter half offers nothing more than boredom to the audiences. Sometimes you yawn and are restless and the scenario seems to be quite different during penultimate scenes as he makes a good comeback with the climax. But every best effort gets weakened due to the irksome screenplay. Not alone Ajithpal, Kannan Iyer too needs to be blamed for it.
Anu Malik doesn't come up with an extraordinary musical on both the songs as well as the background score. Apart from a couple of songs, 'Balla Utha' and 'Money Money', nothing is quite worthy heeding. Cinematography and editing, to a certain extent is commendable, but only a few computer generated works are quite laudable.
On the whole, 'Victory' could have made it bigger on the screens if the entire team had worked on an effective preproduction. Apart from this, it's a film worth watching for the different attempt by this debut filmmaker. Though loaded with more favorite cricketers on the screen, the film lacks solidity on many quotients.
Verdict: Merely a mediocre. 
Rating : **
Most of the comic films boast of number of characters in the narrative. There is an exception like BHEJA FRY that worked in spite of just 3-4 main protagonists but majority of films have always borrowed from Priyadarshan school of cinema. Have 3-4 main leads in place, add on a dozen more supporting characters, each of whom are then graced with equal screen presence, have jokes and gags thrown in abundance and make sure that the screenplay remains tight. If all of this works in good measure then voila, you have a masala-mix-bhel-puri ready!
It has worked with Priyadarshan too often; it doesn't quite follow the same path for debutant director Raj Pendurkar.
He tries to follow the same approach [nothing wrong with that, after all he was just playing safe for his first venture] but alas, the results aren't as rib tickling and memorable as one would have expected. Not that one was expecting a classic from BOMBAY TO GOA, one shouldn't be in fact, but then what one misses is the kind of punch that one was hoping from a film that brings together the popular TV show 'Laughter Challenge' finalists.
The film isn't a complete washout though. There are giggles and an occasional laugh that one experiences, but then soon after one scene is over and the other begins, there are moments of predictability that come in. The graph of the film continues to move up and down as the screenplay tends to get a little sluggish at alarming interval.
One looks forward to a laughaton with a dozen odd comic actors trying to get your attention as a viewer but one ends up remembering Jagdeep's SOORMA BHOPALI which tried to follow the same formula by filling the screen with a dozen and a half odd actors. Just like this ambitious version which was made around two decades back, even BOMBAY TO GOA has it's hope in keeping the audience's interest alive by filling the frame with numerous characters.
The result is that after an initial recollection of ever-so-popular antics of comic characters like Sunil Pal, Raju Shrivastava, Ehsaan Qureshi and Rauf Lala, one starts looking forward to a plot. Ok, so even the plot is feeble, what with a treasure hunt turning out to be the focus of everyone's attention, but then there should be some sanity in the proceedings that aid in making you consistently amused.
Sadly that doesn't quite happen as it is only the coming in and going out of characters that registers in your mind. And mind you there are many of them. While Vijay Raaz is one of the leads who is there throughout, others like Sanjay Mishra, Shakti Kapoor, Asrani, Tinnu Anand, Asif Sheikh and Mac Mohan make their presence felt.
As mentioned earlier, the film is coming together of number of jokes and comments [what else was one expecting anyways from a film that had Laughter Challenge finalists play principal characters?] Also it cannot be denied that some of them work too. This is an area where Sunil Pal, as expected, excels. It is good to see him do something worthwhile after being reduced to a lamp post in FOOL N FINAL.
Ditto for Raju Shrivastava who has been around not only since Laughter Challenge made him popular but since many years before that. He couldn't get the recognition he truly deserves for number of years but post BOMBAY TO GOA he is bound to be noticed further. Vijay Raaz may have felt a little out of place amidst all the hardcore comedians around him but he makes a good effort to show yet again that he is a versatile actor who can fit into any role comfortably.
There are some films which come out of nowhere and suddenly manage to find an audience in spite of minimal (though smart) publicity. BHEJA FRY did it earlier this year. And now LOINS OF PUNJAB PRESENTS is all set to do so in the second half of the year.
You can't help feeling so, you know. Especially when there is a characters like Sudarsh Bokade [Jameel Khan] who has settled in USA but hasn't forgotten his uncouth ways rise from being a down-market event organizer. Watch out for him in the opening sequence where a correspondent interviews him first with simple questions and later beats his limited intelligence with her intellectual demeanor.
In spite of the film being centered on a 3 day weekend 'let's hunt for a desi singing idol' contest, never once do you find an unwanted spoof being the center of attraction here. There are number of references being made towards Bollywood but most of that is in true spirit of celebration of Hindi movies rather than being the opposite.
This ranges from dialogues to the movies to the songs. When Shabana Azmi [playing a celebrity social activist], a reasonably talented participant whose Guru wants her to be more sexy in her approach towards singing 'Chura Liya Hai Tumne', makes a wrong observation with the dialogue mouthed in DEEWAR, there is an American [Michael Raimondi] who corrects her.
In fact this American is a character in himself. With a desi girlfriend [Ayesha Dharker] in tow, he is all cool when it comes to tolerance and looks at the world around him in total white. So much so that he displays sportsman spirit at every juncture and wins everyone's heart with his accented yet flawless rendition of 'Jana Gana Mana' in the award winning round.
Film makwer Manish Acharya deserves credit for keeping the narrative simple yet wholly entertaining from the very opening frames. The way he uses the theme music of 'Apni To Jaise Taise' [LAAWARIS] in the opening credit title roll and then brings to screen each of his character one after another brings the house down. There is a byline supporting each of them on frame and the same holds good even when the curtain roll down in the climax.
The guy who evokes maximum laughter, claps and whistles in the film is Ajay Naidu who plays the role of an aspiring 'bhangra' star Turbanotorious B.D.G. Each of the sentence spoken by him has more profanities than the vowels involved and they get you off the chair rather than feel being offended. Especially the scene which involves him arguing with a Lobby Manager or the song crooned by him in the opening round of the talent hun.
Ishitta Sharrma in her debut film remains quite throughout the film with a reason. As a 17 going on 18, Ishitta is all coy and shy, though a brilliant singer. She doesn't talk and let her work (and Guddu family of 8 - or were they 9?) do the talking. But when she talks, she DOES make a statement. A statement of the kind that is bound to bring on the claps in the auditorium.
Seema Rahmani is a rare case of a young woman who looks cute as well as sexy. As someone who doesn't even know how to speak or read Hindi, she is beauty and 'ada' personified as she croons 'Bole Choodiyaan' [K3G].
But the real scene stealer is director Acharya himself who plays a statistician about to loose to his job to his brethren Indians in India. His impersonation as Shehanshah a la Bachchan is funny and when he justifies his continued Bachchan song ranting as a 'medley' with a straight face, you know that the guy understands his business. Reserve the claps when he joins Seema with the male version of 'Bole Choodiyaan'. Filmy...sheer filmy!
As commercial Hindi movie making is poised to move into 2006, everyone's been chasing the 'hatt ke' themes like adult comedies, stylish con capers, violent vendettas, pre-marital relationships and what have you. And now, in a hark back to the days of yore comes Suneel Darshan's latest film about an age-old theme that's about a basic requirement of the human heart friendship. No harm in a theme like that, for we've seen what the Rajshrees and Mister Sippy have achieved with films dedicated to the theme of friendship. And Suneel Darshan's Dosti, with a good star cast of Akshay Kumar, Bobby Deol, Kareena Kapoor, Lara Dutta, Juhi Chawla and others, also boasts of decent production values. But one was also hoping to see where next the treatment of the friendship theme would go where would a respected director like Suneel Darshan take it after the Dil Chahata Hai milestone? Only by virtue of choice of storyline, Dosti turns out to be a very filmy kind of film that goes back in time.
Dosti is about two friends played by Akshay Kumar and Bobby Deol. Karan (Bobby Deol) has always been a loner, neglected and ignored by his rich supersuccessful careerist father (Kiran Kumar) and Socialite mother. Worse, even his kid sister doesn't seem to like or get along with him. So one day, as a kid, ticked off by both mama and papa who are too busy with a party in progress, Karan rushes out of the house, kicking a football furiously, till he loses footing and soon, in fully filmi fashion, is dangling from the edge of a precipice, screaming his lungs out for help. Until, in fully filmy fashion again, a hand enters frame and literally pulls Karan from the jaws of death. Meet Raj, with whom Karan instantly bonds and becomes his best friend. OK, Karan is the rich kid, and hence, in fully filmy fashion, Raj is churchmouse poor, with a tyrannical mama to boot, in FFF again. And one day, when maniacal maama starts thrashing young Raj, Karan, who cannot take it, picks up a rock and hurls it (yes,in fully filmy fashion again) at maama's head. And before long, young Karan, who's found a soul mate in Raj, announces to his parents that henceforth, Raj stays with us! Rich parents make token protest, but Karan is determined, and so young Karan and Raj grow up to become Bobby Deol and Akshay Kumar respectively!
While Bobby is the quintessential extrovert philanderer in whose dictionary a dalliance long enough to last a whole night equals commitment, and who ends up in women's hostel rooms more often than not, Akshay is his buddy who bails him out of tight corners with hostel wardens by turning up in fully filmy fashion as a fake inspector in the nick of time and whisking his buddy away before the real cops can be called. 
Bobby learns Akshay is in love with but cannot express it. So he plays matchmaker, and hey presto, Akshay's lady love, played well by Kareena, slips him the engagement ring. Oh sure, her brother and bhabhi object to Raj's unemployed, homeless and carless status, but in fully filmy fashion dost Bobby quickly fixes that with some emotional blackmail with papa. Kareena and Akshay exchange engagement rings, and friends decide they will marry the women they love on the same day. BTW, Bobby still has to find the woman he loves. And very quickly does in the form of Lara Dutta, who, hold your breath, accepts him as a boy friend on probation, to be confirmed only if she likes him after the trial period. Hmmm 
Some films are designed as light hearted entertainers that cannot be slotted as comedies. That's because the humor is more in situations and personalities rather than any act in particular. Ramji Londonwale is one such movie that doesn't have on-your-face humor belonging to the genre of a 'Hera Pheri' or a 'No Entry', but manages well to keep a smile on your face throughout its duration. End result - a decent fare that can be enjoyed over light snacks on an evening with your family and would soon be caught bombarding the small screen with repeat telecasts.
Ramji [Madhavan] is a simple villager from Bihar who possesses a hereditary talent of cooking ! Though he is a 8th standard pass out and a simpleton with a heart of gold, he is not a buffoon [as some stereotype villagers are shown in Hindi movies]. The movie begins with the marriage of his sister, which is facing rough weather due to the dowry demands of her father-in-law [Akhilendra Mishra]. With danger looming on the future of his sister, he agrees to a guest's [Govind Namdeo] advice and flies to London for a promised job of a cook at a rich Indian's home, and in turn earn some money to pay dowry. 
But on reaching London, to his horror he finds that his prospective employer is dead. Jobless and meandering on the streets, worst case scenario arrives when he looses his bag carrying his passport, visa and work permit. As luck would have had it, he saves a mentally challenged Indian child from an accident and is offered a job as a chef in the parents' Indian restaurant. Ramji's recipe for all dishes is an instant success, especially his sugar less 'gajar-ka-halwa', and London soon becomes his beloved city.
Trouble comes in the form of London police and immigration officials who want to nab him as he doesn't carry any official papers with him. On a run from the officials, he is suggested a solution by his employer's [Harsh Chaya] friend [Raj Zutshi], who is himself a lawyer. The solution sounds pretty simple - he can save himself by marrying lawyer's own fiancee Sameera [Samita Bangragi] so that he could get a British citizenship. And once the storm settles down, they could divorce after 3 months.
Though the idea had its own complications inspite of sounding so simple, Ramji doesn't have any other options and gets ready for the marriage. Meanwhile Sameera, who herself isn't too fond of Ramji due to his village upbringing, also bows down to the wishes of his fiancee and agrees to the arrangement.
But the trouble is not yet over because police and immigration officers [Satish Shah and company] are now suspicious about the authenticity of the marriage!! While Ramji and Sameera are getting ready to face the D day, when they have to present themselves for an interview at the immigration office, a twist in the tale comes with Ramji's chance encounter with Agni, a woman with whom Zutshi was once married but had deserted her after 4 years.
After a few sequences of confusion and complexities that follow, everyone realizes the cunning techniques of the lawyer and prepare themselves for the the D day. Meanwhile Sameera starts loosing her heart for Ramji.......
In a week when Sanjay Leela Bhansali has re-written the course of Indian cinema with Black, suffering a flamboyant foray into fatuousness is doubly difficult.
The show, as they say, must go on. Welcome to the world of international terrorism. In our cinema, it often leads to a saga of enervating espionage. In Bullet... there's an underworld don who must be deported from a foreign country.
Abu Salem, anyone? Just recently Vikram Bhatt framed his espionage thriller Elaan around the same diabolic design. Whereas four very glamorous patriots had set out to bring back the gangster Mithun Chakraborty in Elaan, in Bullet... there's just one rather inadequate secret-service guy Arjun (Iqbal Khan) whose enmity with the international gangster named Don Raja (imagine the guy at the customs trying to keep straight face as he wishes Mr Raja bon voyage) leads him all the way to the cobbled slickness of Bulgaria.
Slickness when not treated properly becomes a sickness. Efforts to bring in a kind of compelling thrill into the plot are perpetually cut down by a monstrous amateurishness that leaves us -- and the characters -- gasping for breath. Ripping off bits of newspaper headlines doesn't help. It only adds to the chaos in the plot. 
Turning terrorism into a pretext for helium-loaded hi-jinks isn't a very positive way to generate interest in the audience. Director Iqbal Khan tries to create an aura akin to the James Bond flicks through the exciting location and some syncopated editing whereby the antagonist is constantly trailed through computer-generated images.
Even an eight-year old Internet student would have come up with better results. 
Then there are the girls... lots of them. Regrettably, the skin thing is largely down market. The don's moll is an ex-filmstar (Saadika) who wants to squeal on her boss. 
Monica Bedi??
Another girl rescues Arjun from Don Raja. While fleeing they stop by at a smoky hideout and make violent love. Accompanied by Anand Raj Anand's convulsive song that sings about love being an important of life.
But lust during times of terrorism? 
This, in case you must know, is a new-age thriller. The 'actors' don't seem to know or care which way the script is heading.
In the absence of any coherence, Bullet... goes from one level of ludicrous bang-bang rubbish to another with scarcely a pause for breath. The patriotic underbelly comprises a lunge at detonating dangerous remote-controlled bombs the villain has planted all over India to explode on India's Republic Day.
Wish our filmmakers would stop waving the flag for all the wrong reasons.
'An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind'- Mahatma Gandhi
It's human to be judgmental. To have opinions. Slam verdicts without blinking an eyelid. And then you have director Anurag Kashyap. A man possessed with the truth serum. For when you come out of 'Black Friday' what hits you the hardest is the naked honesty with which the dark story of Bombay Bomb Blasts of 1993 unfolds. Everyone knows blood on the streets can only be a gory sight. But when the bloody blasts are symbolized by the whistling silence, it unnerves in a strange unmentionable way. 'Black Friday' is not merely a film. It's a film that best of films all over the world would be flattered to be compared with. 
No, it's not a documentary. Yes the format is similar to one. But then considering it's a true incident, it's bound to happen. It's a thoroughly engrossing film (I wouldn't use the word entertaining). Gripping from start to finish. The format isn't linear. For the actual planning of the bomb blasts is showed at the very end. There are several important events that move forth and then go back. At many a time the confessions of the conspirators take the story forward. Then in an expression of excessive research, a lot of actual 'Newstrack' videos detailing the blasts are replayed to chronicle the pulse of those times. 
This film is based on an investigative book 'Black Friday' written by senior journalist S. Hussain Zaidi (Covered crime for Mid Day for a long time and carries an excellent reputation) that looks at the various events involved in the ill fated Bomb Blasts. The story moves forward on the basis of various chapters of the book. 
There are several issues that the director leaves to audience's imaginations to decide. Like, the anger within prime accused Tiger Memon (Pawan Malhotra)'Was it because he really cared for his community or was it an expression of his hatred for people who burnt his office during the communal riots of 1992-93? Maybe a personal loss led to loss of hundreds of lives. Or was he paid handsomely by the intelligence agencies of a neighbouring country? Pawan Malhotra's personification of the hot blooded foul mouthed Tiger is impeccable. The bambaiya lingo, the aggressive body language, the networking expert and a shrewd strategist'.Malhotra details everything clinically. 
Take the case of the prime witness Badshah Khan (Aditya Shrivastava). After being instrumental in carrying out the blasts, he is asked to travel between various cities of the country to avoid police. His passport has been deliberately burnt along with those of all others. He has nowhere to go except for running away from himself. A victim of circumstances who finds a ray of light in investigating officer Rakesh Maria's (Kay Kay Menon) views that all religious leaders (or should we say goons) blatantly use people like Khan to further their own purposes. Here it's important to note that Aditya Shrivastava's acting is exceptional. The restrained anger, vacuous sexual frustration while being on-the-run and a thinking reasoning mind has been detailed by this theatre actor with amazing aplomb.
Years ago, the late O.P. Ralhan made a film called Hulchal, which was about a mistaken murder conspiracy. The pace was maddening.
The new Hulchal certainly doesn't lose the race to pace. Its plot about mistaken perceptions of family pride and ego is narrated with roller coaster celerity. 
In the opening shots, the way Amrish Puri strides in fluid motions with his sons (Jackie Shroff, Paresh Rawal, Arbaaz Khan and Akshaye Khanna) across the crusty brown rural landscape to mete out justice to the villagers immediately reminds us of his dignified feudal demeanor in Priyadarshan's quasi-classic Viraasat.
Lamentably this cauldron-heated comedy is entirely bereft of that one quality that made Viraasat so memorable: dignity.
Every actor's mouth is subjected to scatological humor repeatedly. Jokes about nature's calls, unclean bums and spittle litter the narrative creating cheesy dialogues by Neeraj Vora.
But if you come to terms with the film's base instincts, Hulchal is fun in parts, and not just for the cute chemistry between Akshaye Khanna and Kareena Kapoor but also for the fabulous rapport that Arshad Warsi builds with the plot.
If you enjoyed Warsi's performances in Waisa Bhi Hota Hai Part 2 and Munnabhai M.B.B.S., you'd realise how resourcefully he makes space for himself in the thankless role of the hero's sidekick.
Not that Akshaye is lacking in resourceful comic aptitudes. Though his talent was never in doubt, in Hulchal he comes into his own, far more than his previous parody pilgrimage with Priyadarshan in Hungama.
There's more of everything in Hulchal. The jokes are broader, the humor is cruder, the melodrama is louder, and the feuding and fuming feudal canvas is so stretched out, it makes the Mahabharata look portable in comparison.
Though many portions of the plot in the second half are patently outdated with askew camera angles and thunderous background music to match, the romantic core works, thanks mainly to the Akshay-Kareena-Arshad scenes that are done with the director's trademark penchant for coloring his characters in bright shades without making them gaudy. 
Kareena's comic timing is impeccable. Some of her earlier scenes and dance steps seem to be inspired by sister Karisma's comic compatibility with Govinda in Raja Babu and Hero No.1. The only other important female character is Kareena's authoritarian grandma played by the versatile Laxmi. Too bad her ill-fitting white wig reduces her character to a caricature.
To the plot's undying regret, the bridled flamboyance, the vivid synergy of people and location that bleaches and belches colour and vibrancy (terrifically photographed by Jeeva) makes way for a blatant display of melodrama in the second-half.
Once Farha appears as Paresh Rawal's secret wife to counter his family's misogynist aspirations, Hulchal begins to resemble those old and very outdated Hindi films from the south in the 1960s, 70s and 80s where homilies weren't delivered...they were hammered into the plot and there from transmitted to the audience with not a care about aesthetic correctness.
The story of a feuding family brought together by their offspring is nothing new to Hindi remakes of south Indian films. Satish Kaushik's Badhai Ho Badhai and Ravi Shankar's Kuch Tum Kaho Kuch Hum Kahein are recent examples. Apparently in the south, zamindars with moustaches that twirl like whips are still in.
"I know he is gifted. I know he is brilliant. I know he is better than me. And that's the reason why I cannot forgive him!"
How many times has one seen an honest confession like this being made? Especially when the person saying so is an antagonist! But in SLBB this happens. And that's the beauty of the script which makes it all so believable and true.
Welcome to the kind of cinema that doesn't get into a good v/s bad saga with everything white and black. Here the characters are true to what an average human being could be.
So Upen Patel, a wannabe star with the gift of 'saraswati' with him, isn't all 'seedha-saadha' and oh-so-humble even as he sees the world turn against him in his quest for name and fame. So much so that he even disrespects his very own father and 'guru' [Anupam Kher] in moments of frustration and overconfidence!
On the other hand there is Bobby Deol, who could justify his 'ahankaar' due to 5 superhit albums behind him, but deep inside down he pretty much realizes that he is nothing but mediocre. And this is where the insecurity creeps in and he goes an extra distance to ensure that a new kid on the block is destroyed even before he becomes a competitor.
Third character in the story which is forced to breach the line of gray and turn really nasty is that of Celina Jaitly, a PR person, who cannot bear the sight of her client [Upen]. Pulling down the very ladder that she had set for him, she cannot face rejection after she helped him meet the big daddies of the music industry.
"He used me", she cries and then allows Bobby to use her further in their common quest of bursting Upen's bubble. They go all out in sabotaging his upcoming career. They help him come up with his debut CD and then ensure that the album is 'killed' even before people get a chance to hear it.
Critic reviews are fixed, posters from the music stores disappear, Upen's name vanishes from Page 3 columns, music industry bigwigs are brainwashed and last but not the least an attempt is made to crush Upen's morale - all of this to make sure that a rising star never happened.
They make him so sick with all the drinks and late night parties that he is on the verge of self destruction. Naive, vulnerable and new to the going-ons of the music world, he believes in them as his friends, little knowing that he was being finished minute by minute.
Decisive phase of their lives comes when Bobby decides to use Upen's original tunes and bring them to the market on his own name. Unfamiliar to the tactics of his senior and made to believe that he was composing the album for himself, Upen falls into Bobby's trap. All this and more even when his much mature girlfriend [Kangana Ranaut], a rising stralet herself, warns him that the world isn't what it seemed.
What happens next?
Ignore historic references or inspiration from any Hollywood flick, the fact remains that SLBB does tackle a very fresh subject with extremely complex characterizations, especially that of Bobby Deol. He is gawky when it comes to comedy and light hearted scenes but gets on his own when it comes to displaying his anger, frustration and helplessness.
His monologues with his mentor [Govind Namdeo] have that vulnerability that make him look so real and his situation understandable. No, you may not sympathize with his actions but you certainly follow the way his character behaves. Handling a complex role with easy, he gets out the split personality part so very well that it sounds more humane than psychotic.
Perhaps, DRONA had raised our expectations for its overhaul radical genre of fantasy. Well, not many auteurs in Bollywood did endeavor with such genres of fantasies and Goldie Behl deserves a pat and applause for his bold attempt. Those flicks that had hit the screen during previous months were off great surprises though they didn't carry the presence of A-rated star casts as well big budgets. Well, Drona stapled with heavy price tag made us hankered to catch up with it for its extensive spell of VFX and other computer generated graphics. But, it's completely dashing down our hopes when glimpsing through narrative aspects. Neither story nor the screenplay is really convincing and Goldie Behl seems to be more perplexed on setting his theme between the genres of Superheroes and Fantasies. 
The film right throughout from-alpha-till-omega, you can keep construing the flimsy conceptualization of script, clich'd characterizations, and creepy-chaffing screenplay. In particular, it's the galling screenplay that keeps going on and on, until you would scream out of senses, 'Stop it please'. The film doesn't reach its apex so easily and this is sure to get you aggravated. Better, it would have been, if Goldie had sawed off the lengthy tangling story penned by Jaydeep Sarkar, Rohini Killough and Godlie himself. 
Despites, producers churning out the flick so expensively for a lavish grand fiesta of visual treat, the unappealing tale work no wonder for the audiences. Of course, it's worth saying their wonders of visual effects get diminished with the insubstantial narratives. 
Fine! Glimpse through synopsis of DRONA and take on with positive attributes as well the blatant flaws blended to it. 
Being a fostered child, young charming lad Aditya (Abhishek Bachchan) hasn't experienced true affection and it's just the pain of chagrins rendered by his family. The pathetic scenario prolongs as Aditya grows up. There comes a diabolic necromancer Riz Raizada (Kay Kay Menon) whose predecessors are Asuras. Riz is deep on the pursuit of a valuable secret ' Amrit. But, the mantra of unraveling it is about defeating Drona. Sounds pretty easy to find Drona, isn't? If you're there with those perceptions, it's a wrong guess for Riz doesn't know who Drona is. 
Well, situations accidentally urge Aditya and Riz come face to face. Within fraction of seconds, straight from his shoulders Riz glimpses through the Kada wore by Aditya and recognizes him as Drona. With attempts of killing Aditya, Riz has his men chasing him and here gets in Sonia (Priyanka Chopra) rescuing him. It's not just about saving his life, but Sonia gets Aditya to realize about his true identity and why is being targeted. Situations are clearer for Aditya, once he meets his biological mother, Queen Jayanthi Devi (Jaya Bachchan) at the palace of his birthplace. But, before he could take on stands and realize how harder the situations are, Riz and his men have trapped him. Here begins the roller-coaster thriller ride of DRONA on the venture of defeating the evil entities. 
Looks quite clich'd, when it comes to tale of conflict between good and evil, for we have seen it a zillion times in Hollywood flicks. Merely, again there's lot of ambiguities in fixing DRONA with its genres. If it's a fantasy, the protagonist may not posses any superpowers to fight against baddies. And then, if screenwriters wanted DRONA to be a superhero flick, then characterizations should have been equivalently powerful, especially in physiques. Fine! Abhishek with his hefty physiques convinces to certain extent and it's more ridiculous with the looks of Kay Kay Menon as the antagonist. 
Abhishek Bachchan strides with trenchant piece of performance in all aspects. But, Priyanka doesn't deserve the same credits, for her performance goes insubstantial at certain points. Jaya Bachchan steals the show throughout her scenes and it would have been nice if more importance her characterization was still more significant. But, it's a great disappointment when it comes to Kay Kay Menon and Navneet Nishan. 
Getting on with technical aspects, it's just the cinematography and VFX that works wonders. Chasing and Train sequences have been brilliantly shot. Hats off to cinematographer Samir Arya for his scintillating works, but he could have worked well on certain shots filmed in darkness. Musical score by Dhruv Ghanekar is a great disaster for none of them really sounds good. VFX effects tread marvelously when it comes blended with cinematography in train and chasing sequences. Be it the scenes where Kay Kay Menon transforms Jaya Bachchan into statue or when he pulls in Priyanka Chopra into racing yacht; they are awesome. 
As a whole, Drona dashes down our hopes for it lacks solidity on all aspects. Probably, the pre-release promos would have got the theatres booked houseful for this longer weekend. But, it wouldn't cling into theatres for more days 
Verdict: An unimpressive show 
Rating : *1/2
The film is set between 1953 and 1965. Junior artiste Nikhat (Soha Ali Khan) goes through multiple casting couches from the age of 14 till she catches the attention of top star Prem Kumar (Rajat Kapoor) who gets her a big break. He also patronizes Zafar (Shiney Ahuja), a writer from an aristocrat family that has fallen on bad days thanks to his debauched father, whom Zafar could not forgive even on the latter's deathbed. 
Zafar 'repairs' a script that Prem Kumar is sure will be a disaster and becomes Prem's favourite, and this film (with Nikhat) proves a hit, bringing out the worst in top heroine Ratna (Sonya Jehan) who becomes terribly insecure. But due to constant interaction Nikhat and Zafar come close and get into a relationship. Considering Nikhat like his property, Prem is livid and drops them both from his new film. But the director quits Prem's film, signs Nikhat and Zafar and delivers a hit.
After that comes turbulence. Zafar wants to film his life's traumatic story and turn director. His marriage to Nikhat has been called off due to the latter's commitments and she opts out of his film too. Zafar signs Ratna but the film bombs. Nikhat goes back to Prem and a film is signed. But she starts drinking. A whole lot of confusing reels later, she dies ' of a hole in the heart! But not before Zafar directs his own triangular love saga with (once again) Prem Kumar and Nikhat in their real-life roles, and exorcises the ghost of his father haunting him for not having forgiven him. And the show goes on'
Every story should have a purpose (not necessarily a message) and direction. But Sudhir Mishra's story and script seem directionless and pointless. What is he trying to project in this film? Is this just an indulgent tribute to cinema of the past? If that's so, the detailing is authentic and the caricature characters are well-etched (especially the Punjabi producer stereotype and the Bengali director). The sets, the costumes, make-ups, sets and the sets shown within and of course the songs (great job by Shantanu Moitra but hardly exploited in the film) and background score (Shantanu again) are well-researched and apt. And yes, the lyrics (Swanand Kirkire) are outstanding.
But as a human drama, as a look at the lives of junior artistes, top stars and the workings of the film world, this film works only partly. You can, for example, empathize with Nikhat throwing stones at the cad producer to whom she lost her virginity at 14, but the Zafar-father angle sucks and is overdrawn. The twists and turns in who has broken off and patched up or is sleeping with whom become confusing and frankly, by that time, you do not care. 
The attempt to make Nikhat have shades of Meena Kumari (alcoholism, fragmented multiple relationships), Madhubala (a hole in the heart and a sob story) and a traumatic past fails, partly because Soha Ali Khan lacks the maturity to bring in the nuances but mainly because of the poor script that fails to evoke sympathy for its protagonists. 
If Mishra's script (barring some excellent spoken lines and parts of the first half of the film) is disappointing, his directorial expertise is erratic and there are few punches. The editing (Archit D.Rastogi and Ruchi Narain) vacillates between jerky (suggesting over-shooting) and soporific and the second half is tedious where one keeps expecting the film to end for a full twenty minutes before it does. 
The YRF assembly line of movies is chugging along nice and healthy, much like the trains pneumonic of Bunty Aur Babli, and much like that film too -- which didn't receive much critical acclaim but went on to become a hit -- the Arjun Sablok-written-and-directed Neel N Nikki is definitely success-bound. Commercial success at least, and never mind what some of the other fellow-writers at the special Press Preview of the film in Mumbai mumbled about the film after it was over. Kuchch khaas nahin hai, kuchch naya nahin hai,(it's got nothing special, nothing new), proclaimed one film critic, while another, and editor of a trade magazine here, said bus, do chaar centre mein chalegi (it'll probably work at a few centres). In all fairness, though, one spoke to only three of the forty-odd media persons who watched the film, so that sentiment doesn't represent what everyone thought.
Here, though, is what this reviewer thought of Neel N Nikki: it works. A modern story about a young second generation NRI, Neel young, hot blooded and who, when the film opens, is single-mindedly focused on scoring with the maximum number of girls. Because, it seems, his days are numbered. Mama dearest, when not doting upon her horse-breeding husband, is yearning for a daughter-in-law, and so Neel's days are numbered. For a pretty homely young thing called Sweety from Bhatinda will soon be canayda-bound to tie the knot on the reins to Neel's freedom and future the man's doomed to matrimony and stomach-churning domestication, and his friends are even more worried than him. So director Arjun Sablok's hero Neel does what his producer Aditya Chopra's hero Raj had done years ago in Dilwale he goes to his father and says, Hey dad, before I settle down in life, I wanna go out on my own and see Europe no, this time, it's Vancouver, and what Neel really does is want to have fun meet and score with a new woman on each of the 21 days remaining for his marriage to Bhatinda-babe Sweety. And indulgent daddy-o says a-OK son, you go sow your wild oats! And Neel's off!
Hmmm actually, not quite. You see, as soon as he reaches Vancouver, he does hook up with a sexy model who fixes a 'promising' date with Neel, and even as things do begin to get 'promising', into Neel's life and nearly into his pockets in search of a cork-screw opener walks a sweet, mischievous looking 18-something girl. Meet Nikki, who, right now, is drunk and comes as a speedbreaker to Neel's hormonal plans with miss sexy model. By the time Neel's through with her for the night, he's been arrested and released by cops, and swears to run a mile if he ever sees her shadow again.
So the long and short of it? Even though Neel's off to Vancouver, every time he tries to get er off with any of his hormonal plans with a string of sexy young women, young Nikki lands in the thick of things. And before long, the impulsive, stylish, sexy Nikki -- who also happens to flit from parking lot to bar to departmental store to restaurant in odd jobs because she's also a serial job-quitter becomes a permanent pain in Neel's neck. But you know that before long, that pain will travel southward, to his heart. For you can tell that even though Nikki is aware that Neel's set to get married in a few days, and regardless of his skirt-chasing mission in Vancouver, the two will drift close to each other. You do end up wishing it too, but life's got some complications yet. Nothing as grave as the one's in Raj's life in Dilwale no sir, not by a long shot, but engrossing enough to carry you along, making you will that the seemingly opposite pair does come together. Hmmm but we were reckoning without Sweety ji from Bhatinda!
Mahesh Bhatt need not have resorted to publicity gimmicks of releasing Love Tapes of Parveen Babi in the Media before the release of his latest film. For 'Woh Lamhe' can speak for itself. It is spectacular cinema. Don't go expecting entertainment in the conventional sense of the word and you would say 'WOW'. Director Mohit Suri has shown rare guts of telling a complicated story without bending before the so called 'Market Demands'. It disturbs you. Yet it absorbs you. Completely. 
As is well known, 'Woh Lamhe' is loosely based on the special relationship superstar actress Parveen Babi shared with struggling director of late seventies Mahesh Bhatt. In a way Bhatt has vindicated himself by admitting that he used Babi initially but then he truly fell in love with her as she slipped into the alley of unbelievable. Shagufta Rafique's stark-n-real screenplay and dialogues, Pritam's magical music score ('Chal Chale' is goose-pimple moment), Bobby Singh's lilting camerawork, Akiv Ali's spot on editing and terrific performances by the lead pair Shiney Ahuja and Kangana Ranaut (If Aamir-Kajol, Shahrukh-Rani were the toast of 2006, then add Shiney-Kangana to that list too'.They look made-for-each-other together). 
Sana Azeem (Kangana) is a big star burning in her own captive brightness. Nikhil (Shaad Randhawa) is a superstar who doubles up as her boyfriend-pimp. She is a commodity who is brutally raped if she says no to any of his demands. Struggling (But arrogantly confident) director Aditya Garewal (Shiney) gives provoking sound bytes to the media that Sana can't act for her life and that she is ugly. A quick-to-boil Sana takes off her panty in a party to show that she is bold-and-beautiful and prettier from 'inside' too to prove-a-point to the 'thinking' director. 
She agrees to act in Aditya's film and in a fit of rage leaves Nikhil and all her belongings. The world still doesn't know that she can't cope with her loneliness. Nor does Aditya. He wanted to make-it-big by fair-or-foul methods. While shooting for the film, Aditya notices the real tears in Sana's eyes while acting and he realizes that behind the glamorous diva is an insecure and lonely woman who is being used by everyone. Including him. The film is a big hit. They develop intimacy. Sana for the first time in her life feels that she has found real love. Someone who cares for what she is. After the lusty night, Aditya too like other men tells her to enjoy it all till it lasts and then forget it.
For the first time, Sana breaks down in a big way as her hallucinations about an imaginary friend Rani (Masumi Makhija, competent) stalking her comes to the fore. Nikhil, her gold 'digger Ammi and her sponsors urge the doctors to give electric shock to revive Sana out of her Schizophrenia. The only filmy thing happens when Aditya receives a parcel from Ranchi Mental Hospital with the last belongings of his unstable father who passed away the same month. Now, maybe this could have been avoided but then Aditya had to have a motive for rescuing Sana so that he doesn't lose her the way he lost his father more so because he never bothered about him when he was sent to the mental hospital after his mother's death.
"If you want to be happy, see that you are never unhappy"
This is the message in the climax of LMKK which pretty much summarizes the film's theme. And let us set it clear at the very onset - LMKK is not a campus movie. Campus forms the backdrop only for the first 10 minutes when the 5 fresh-out-of-college protagonists discuss their ideas about complete happiness.
A 5 year journey is taken by four of them [Dino Morea, Sameer Dattani, Nauheed Cyrusi, Anjori Alagh] to find happiness while the fifth [Aftab Shivdasani] takes it up on him to decide the eventual winner.
Director Vikram Bhat has been associated with various genres of film making in the last few years. While his hits RAAZ and AWARA PAAGAL DEEWANA have belonged to horror and action/comedy genre, his best work till date has been in GHULAM that had drama as its foundation.
Easily LMKK is his best work since GHULAM when it comes to drama genre. He made films like FOOTPATH, AITBAAR, ANKAHEE and most recently RED that attempted to explore this genre but it is with LMKK where he gets it perfectly right.
His intention behind making this film is simple....and honest. Hence he doesn't worry much about technique or fall into the trap of Bollywood diktats of an item song, skin show or any unwanted tracks. Instead he focuses completely on the basic subject [original], script [quite strong] and narration [simple, yet making a good impact] that makes viewing LMKK a pleasant surprise.
The movie sticks to its theme and never once does go haywire. It sets the context in the first 20 minutes and lets the characters drive the show from thereon as life takes them all through different twists and turns.
For Dino, happiness lies in being successful. And for that he is willing to have a showdown with his elder brother [Mohnish Behl - quite effective and sincere, as always], a successful entrepreneurs.
For Sameer, happiness lies in getting power. And for that he is willing to join a political party led by Yashpal Sharma [yet another good consistent act], work hard and rise to power.
For Nauheed, happiness lies in being famous. And for that she is willing to join Bollywood as her patient boyfriend supports her throughout rise to fame.
For Anjori, happiness lies in being rich. And for that she is willing to get married to a multi-billionaire even if he happens to be a quintessential playboy.
And for Aftab, happiness lies in just avoiding being unhappy. And for that he is willing to lead a peaceful, fairly uneventful life that leads him to marry a girl of his choice and write a book called LIFE MEIN KABHIE KABHIEE.
LMKK is not about these 5 stories coming one after another or being in parallel. It actually takes a step forward in storytelling and has the 5 of them interacting with each other and crossing paths frequently throughout their 5 years period of exploring happiness.
This journey sees Dino's rise-fall-rise as an entrepreneur, Sameer's rise from being a party worker to the youngest ever MP, Nauheed's rise from being called a sleaze debutant to getting acknowledged as India's No. 1 actress and Anjori's slow and steady walk up the pedestal to get a rich husband only to find herself ignored in a year's time.
But are they all happy? When Aftab tries to find it out, each of them realize that they were not worthy after all to win the bet.
There are different kinds of films made with different kind of sensibilities. On one hand there could be slice-of-life films which do not aim at trying to dramatize or sensationalize a situation and instead narrate the tale of certain characters without adding on anything spicy which is unwanted. On the other hand there could be absolute 'masala' films that tell a story which you have heard often but have been dramatized with enough spice added on to make them taste different.
'Namastey London', of course, belongs to the latter category.
And that is precisely the reason why you sit through it till the very end in spite of very well knowing even before venturing into the theater that hero of the film is Akshay, heroine is Katrina and what good is a feel good romantic family drama if the hero and heroine do not meet in the end.
And that is precisely the reason you look forward to the two meeting each other in spite of the fact that Katrina loves someone else and her marriage with Akshay was nothing but a fluke.
And that is precisely the reason why you end up smiling when Katrina finally comes back to Akshay in spite of us knowing in the first 5 minutes of the film that this would eventually happen.
And that is precisely the reason why such films continue to get made in spite of we cribbing about the fact there are no new stories, because it is us who eventually end up getting entertained to a fair degree even when something like 'Namaste London' arrives.
So let's not crib any further and wonder where Hindi cinema is going. That's because as long as we retain the sense of being Indian at hearts and soul and clap along when our boys out there in 'videsi' land give them 'gyaan' about our Indian heritage, culture, rise to fame, power and education, we would get back what we wish.
And howsoever jingoistic it may sound, if we feel euphoric in a scene like the one where Indians and Pakistanis come together to beat the pulp out of the 'gora' team in their own game of rugby at their own land, it is but obvious that film makers like Vipul Shah and their clan would not apply any brakes on making such films.
Because it is us who are getting into the 'seeti-taali' mode here. Nothing wrong in that, but then as said earlier, let's not complain that we are not making different films.
In just released 'The Namesake', it was shown that the prime protagonist Kal Penn decides to marry his American girlfriend since she is the one who matches his ABCD sensibilities. There was nothing wrong in that his parents [Irrfan Khan/Tabu] do not really get offended by his declaration. In case of 'Namastey London', a similar scenario is repeated though with a different twist in the tale. The girl [Katrina Kaif] wants to marry an English man due to the same reasons but her father [Rishi Kapoor] is not quite kicked with the idea. And off he takes her to India with a plan to hitch her with someone 'hindustani'.
Now this is where this entire talk of two different kinds of films being made comes up again. One is left wondering why commercial Hindi films have to make everything so stereotypical. Just because it was always intended at paper that a NRI girl should eventually get hooked with an Indian boy, the Englishman here is shown to be thrice divorced Mr. Richie Rich who turns into Apoorva Agnihotri of 'Pardes' when he insists on getting a little extra close with Katrina pre-marriage.
Now what if this Englishman was a real gentleman, had a clean record behind him and could have been patient enough for a romp on the bed? Would it still have made it so simple for the father to think of someone Indian as his daughter's groom?
At a time when an out-and-out conventional love triangle Mujhse Shaadi Karoge has the nation giggling in helpless submission, Ken Ghosh dares to innovate with a slick thriller that moves at breakneck speed to end at just under two hours.
Ghosh's film is a triumphant home-coming for Hindi cinema where any film under 180 minutes is automatically taken to be a 'songless' thriller (Ittefaq in 1969 and Bhoot in 2003 are two successful examples). 
Fida is short, crisp and compelling without losing on commercial value. It has loads of Anu Malik's zip-in-zip-out songs, tonnes of glamour (Kareena and Fardeen in a bath-tub as bubbles of all kinds blow across the film's giddy frame), a dash of oomph (Kim Sharma, doing a short-skirt big-pout version of Karisma Kapoor in Dil To Pagal Hai) and slick production replete with eye-catching locales, yatches, sports cars...the works.
But, above all Fida has chutzpah. Ken Ghosh, who made a minor ripple at the box office with his debut Ishq Vishq, is in a mood here to reverse many of the rules of formula filmmaking. There's no conventional lead pair or a 'Good Versus Evil' format to sustain the battle.
Fida is all about contemporary avarice and amorality. The three main characters are all dispossessed creatures driven single-mindedly by worldly passions. They all want to own the best things in life - and what's wrong with that? Except - and this is where Ghosh slips - their means of acquiring their dreams makes them ruthlessly self serving.
Ghosh is a clever raconteur. His storytelling, though sporadically stymied by glaring loopholes, moves sinuously through the lives of his three characters, all playing a sinister and dangerous game that finally destroys their lives - collectively and individually.
The narrative is high-pitched, though blessedly devoid of hysteria. There are no sniveling sisters, no martyred mothers and bravura fathers..... gosh! where do Ghosh's protagonists come from?! The plot doesn't say so either. What the characters do with their lives in this ambition-driven thriller is of far more consequence than their antecedents.
The razor-edged plot cuts like a knife, slicing through restless on-the-edge lives. Interesting...very interesting, says Vikram (Fardeen Khan) playing a computer hacker who's too clever for his good, after the desperate lover-boy Jai (Shahid Kapur) tells his story. Jai is being led on by the bountifully beauteous Neha (Kareena Kapoor). By the time her scheme of things materializes in the rapid fire motions of Ghosh's narration, it's too late for any of the characters-or for that matter the director - to turn back.
Fida is the sort of tumbling, cascading catch-your-breath-if-you-can thriller-on-the-run that could go wrong any second. Ken Ghosh's split-second timing and perfectly cast set of actors, not to mention a soundtrack that's saturated but never cluttered with edge-of-the-seat strategies, ensure an attentive audience.
The term 'edge-of-the-seat' (no matter how frayed) seems to have been invented for this occasion. The compelling narration is propelled forward by the performances. Fardeen is effortlessly suave as the scheming hacker. As for Kareena, after Chameli and Dev earlier this year, she evolves further as an actress. 
Playing a designer version of Shakespeare's Lady Macbeth, Kareena goes from artless seduction to heartless greed, to guilt pangs and finally remorseless surrender to her baser instincts. In the sequences depicting her moral degeneration Kareena, echoing Shabana Azmi in a long-forgotten film Log Kya Kahenge, resembles Meryl Streep.
It is the business between Mars and Venus. All over again. But the verdict is that it's a rather enjoyable one. In debutante director Saket Chaudhry's 'Pyaar Ke Side Effects' you shall come across a tame Mallika Sherawat actually complaining to Rahul Bose about Sophie's Cleavage show, 'I can't pull that off.' Must say that's a good one. Best form of humour is on one's own self. And it seems Mallika has learnt to take herself lightly. Finally. PKSE is a romantic comedy between a commitment phobic man and a career woman who realizes that after courtship of three years she has finally found the right man for herself.
Sid (Rahul Bose) is a DJ who is in a relationship with Trisha (Mallika Sherawat). They've been going around for a long time and are the best of friends. Everything was going hunky dory till Trisha proposes marriage to Sid during a critical moment in a cricket match. Sid had seen his parent's marriage crumble and was uncomfortable with the whole idea. His hyper sister Shalini (Tarana Raja) and hilarious roommate Nanoo (Ranvir Shourie) add to his woes-and-confusions. Sid is ready for the 'M' word but the next big deal is Trisha's Papa (Sharath Saxena), straight out of 'Meet The Parents' with his many concerns for her dear daughter. And then there's item girl Tanya aka Baby Doll Volume 3 (Sophie Chaudhry) who tries clawing her tentacles on Sid, much to the dismay of Trisha.
The search-for-the-engagement ring, the type of furniture for the house, and the eternal nok-jhok between the sensibilities of men and women has been presented in an interestingly funny way. Catering to the Multiplex crowd with its share of tomfoolery in English, 'PKSE' has the best chance amongst all the releases this week of emerging with some semblance of success this week. It may not be great cinema but it is definitely watchable although first half's humorous panache is lacking in the second half.
Rahul Bose plays Sid to perfection. This actor is improving with every outing. He is like old wine that is getting better with time. His comic timing, dialogue delivery and the many dilemmas have been detailed in a competent manner. I must say that his pairing with Mallika is just about perfect. In fact they look excellent together and compliment each other perfectly.
Mallika Sherawat shall be taken seriously as an actress after PKSE. Alright she does have an underwater kissing scene in the film but she has migrated from her dare bare skin show girl image with this one. She shows sparks of a genuinely good actress who can hold her own. She is good both in the comic as well as the emotional scenes.
There is a fabulous ensemble cast in the film that lifts it as well. Ranvir Shourie's Nanoo is a revelation for its sheer humorous repartees. Must say here's an actor, who needs to be given bigger better roles. Tarana as Rahul's sister essays her role well. This Radio Jockey in real life should play more roles on big screen. Suchitra Pillai and Aamir Bashir do justice to their characters as well. 
Music by Pritam is young-n-trendy. Keeping track with the feel of the movie, it caters to the Pub-hopping-crowd. 'Jaane Kya' and 'Pyaar Karke' are the standout numbers. Cinematography by Manoj Soni is lit with colours of exuberance. Finally, it's time for the writer-director Saket Chaudhry who has done well for himself with PKSE. Considering it's his first film, he has done a decent job of telling an unpretentious story. If you won't go in search of great cinema, you shall walk out refreshed and energized. It's a one time watch. A Date Flick that will coax you into having a cozy lunch or dinner with that someone-you-love later. That's quite a feat anyway for any film. What say!
It's been a while now that 'Mukhbiir' has been mired with problems that have given the film a back seat. First with a series of events involving change of producers from Pritish Nandy Communications (PNC) to Color Chips and the legal money transactions to a postponement in the release date, the film has been badly hit.
Mani Shankar who established himself with 'December 16' and then went on to 'Rakht' and 'Tango Charlie' brings forth the story of an informer.
Synopsis''.
In the secret world of shadows where good and evil are deeply enmeshed,the dark world where fear stalks through streets, where the thin veil of sanity can get ripped off in an instant revealing the hidden face of stark terror-on that razors edge live the chosen ones, wearing masks that can never be taken off.This is a film about a young man and the many masks he wears enacting a desperate drama where forgetting the lines means instant death. This is the story of the many lives he has to live the many deaths he has to die.Director Mani Shankar would have wanted his film to take off very much the 'Bourne Identity' way. Though he tried to spin it a little bit here and there by asking the viewers to have pity on the informer or 'Mukhbir', he fails miserably.
The film bores and bores and bores. There is a complete lack of believability and connect with the storytelling. What's with those close-ups of Samir Dattani time and again with those so called 'Shayari's 'or one-liners? It's just lame.
Samir seriously requires much more to look like that informer. His delivery is poor and his expressions are kiddish. From which angle does he act ( forget look ) like an informer?
The majority of characters have been simply scattered around without substance. Suneil Shetty just walks in and out and leaves no scope for understanding. Om puri does his bit well even though he often confuses.
Raima Sen was just a waste. Man, the way she falls in love with Mr.Mukhbir and breaks into the typical 'Naach Gaana' is ridiculous.
Sushant Singh does his bit of massaging the ladies and getting to do some Bhaigiri. Alok Nath too joins him on this bit.
On the whole the movie comes across as a very jaded one. With the delay and competition from former producers PNC'S 'Ugly aur Pagli', the film is bound to face rough waters at the box office.
Rating : *
Alas! Karzzz dashes down your expectations flubbing on every aspect: performance as well narration. Even it happened to be an archetypical piece of work by Director Satish Kaushik, the film has nothing great to be appreciated about. Perhaps, you'll get miffed up equating both the versions and better don't strain yourselves clinging on with it. 
Re-incarnation stories would sound better if filled with either cliff-hanging quotients or a transfixing screenplay. Well, Karzzz doesn't seem to be treading on any of these aspects and of course, it has no solid solution to the riddle of reincarnation other than vengeance. 
The protagonist Monty (Himesh Reshamiya) is an extremely successful Rock Star based in South Africa. Indeed, phenomenally popular across the country, he is worshipped like an idol. In course of one of the many parties he attends, he meets Tina (Swetha), a final year catering student. For Monty, its love at first sight. But, Tina returns home immediately, after leaving Monty fretting. That's when things start to change.During one of his rehearsals, Monty starts playing a tune and suddenly goes into a trance, with intense visual flashes - a mansion, a temple, a beautiful girl... Monty collapses unconscious.On further probe, he finds out; the mansion belonged to a certain Ravi Verma (Dino Morea), who died in a tragic accident. Another flash back reveals that Monty was Ravi Verma in his previous life, married to a beautiful girl called Kamini (Urmila Matondkar). Monty now has the grave realization of having been reborn in his current persona. His beautiful love interest (Tina) is none other than Kamini's foster daughter. From here starts Monty's new journey.A journey of enthralling vengeance, which he unleashes on Kamini. In close connivance with her wicked accomplice Sir Juda (Gulshan Grover), Kamini had murdered Ravi to take over his estate, leaving his family helpless after his death.To repay the debt he owed them for all their suffering, Monty now brings his mother and sister out from the dark recesses of their life; he also reunites with Tina and culminates his incomplete love from a previous life.Nearly, before three decades, the theme of rebirths would have fathomed to be something new. But, Satish Kaushik should have brimmed up with polished work and not just the replica. The entire hours of film right from the beginning till climax, everything seems to be clich'd inclusive of graveling characterizations and passing-scenes techniques of car-driving sequences that were more famous 80s. 
On terms of performance, it's just Urmila Matondkar and Dany Denzongpa who keep churning best out of them. Be it the devilish kind of attitudes or appearing in bewitching looks, Urmila scores the best turning spotlights on her. Dany Denzongpa as a film-maniac adds more to humor part and pretty well on emotional lines too. In fact, Satish can be well-appreciated on depicting Danny's role for its one just convincing factor in the film. Himesh Reshamiya merely disappointson performance with his inability of emoting to humor, action and sentimental situations. Just glimpse through the sequence where he catches hold of his past memories looking at his hillside bungalow, you are sure to break down with laughter. Swetha Kumar with good looks fails to impress with her performance. The most annoying part is Gulshan Grover being portrayed as mute-funny villain with his left arm equipped with instrument. 
Lack of on-screen chemistry between Himesh and Swetha is furthermore scattering away everyone's attention. Lots of songs in the first half completely encumbrances the pace of screenplay and you never feel like getting into halls post-interval. Again, the portrayal of Rohini Hattangadi is nettlesome as she recognizes her re-incarnated son though there are no similarities between Himesh and Dino. The climax sequence is completely cockeyed where Urmila triggers out bullets on Himesh's legs and yet he looks cool. His gestures look like he hasn't been stuck by bullets, but stones. Dino Moreo does justice appearing on cameo role and ditto to Bakthiyaar Irani.
Musical score by Himesh Reshamiya are mesmerizing and Manoj Sani's capturing the best exotic locations of Cape Town and Kenya are spellbinding. 
Nevertheless, moderate performance by entire star-casts, deplorable screenplay and poor direction marks Karzzzz as C-graded film' 
Rating : *
Click to LISTEN songs on Raaga.com
We witnessed the lives of rich and famous in Madhur Bhandarkar's 'Page 3' early this year, and it didn't take time for us to pass a judgment that 'high society stinks'. We scoffed at the characters, hated them and framed opinions.
Circa July 2005 and an even bitter truth stands naked right on your face in the shape of writer-director Manish Jha's 'Matrubhoomi - A Nation Without Women'! If 'Page 3' was a dark reality then 'Matrubhoomi' is so stark that it shakes your soul inside out.
A futuristic tale set in the rural North Indian belt, 'Matrubhoomi' depicts a depressing situation where there are no females left; young or old. Prime reason is female infanticide in today's scenario where girls are either killed after their birth or aborted. Result? Near to negligible female population that leads to immense frustration amongst male gender. Sexually deprived, backward and uneducated, men are shown using all possible forms to realize sexual gratification, be it watching pornographic movies under a hatched roof, homosexuality and worse - even bestiality.
Cards are drawn on the table in the very first scene [from present times] where local 'dai-maas' assist a woman in her delivery in as impassionate and unsympathetic manner as possible. With a razor blade and a rusty scissor in hand, they carry their routine job only to break the bad news to men about a girl being born. Girl child is pronto drowned in a vessel full of milk with no sight of remorse or regret whatsoever.
Cut to the future where a family of 5 unmarried men headed by their father [Sudhir Pandey] is going through frustrating times due to lack of a suitable bride. Local priest [Piyush Mishra], who is busy scheming, drinking 'sharbats' and looking for suitable girls helps them out by coming across a sole girl left in the entire neighborhood. She is Kalki [Tulip Joshi], who has been hidden by her poor father as he is afraid that exposing her to men would prove to be catastrophic for her. Or was he waiting to get the best deal possible? Because as soon as the priest announces her to be '100% ladki in wajib daam' [100% girl on a good price] to Pandey and then strikes a deal Rs. 5 lakh, his eyes light up. He doesn't feel a wee bit sorry for her only girl and marries her off to all the five brothers, hence referring to the mythological tale of Draupadi and Pandavas.
Only in this case, the Pandavas [except for the youngest - Sushant Singh] are least humane and treat her just as an object to be used for satisfying their lust. To make matters worst, father Pandey wants his share of the pie and form hereon one witnesses a stomach crunching series of rape, mental and physical abuse of Kalki. There are no gray, but only black characters in the entire setup as none of the men even speak to their wife for a single moment and just reach her bed at an appointment as fixed on a calendar.
There are films that entertain. And make you happy. Then once-in-a-while you get to watch a film that makes you say ' hey what the heck'Let's give life another shot. In other words, you are injected with an unparalleled energy that bolsters your confidence and belief in the possibilities that one can create for one's own self. In spite of boulders of odds in your way. There's a multitude of emotions that Mani Rathnam's 'Guru' generates as you walk out of the theatre with goose pimples and a stammer in the walk. And yes, the buzz surrounding Bachchan Junior is absolutely true. Abhishek's priceless performance shall be reckoned as one of the all time finest acts in Indian cinema. The rumours surrounding the film being a biopic of Dhirubhai Ambani is true as well. 
It takes courage to agree for such physical transformation as Abhi has undertaken totally in contrast to a conventional Bollywood hero image. He plays Gurukant Desai, the young-n-lean foreign returned villager with a funny moustache who gradually grows in years-n-stature as he treads on the road less traveled. He develops flab all over body unconditionally. Walks-n-talks in an awkwardly funny manner as he successfully climbs the ambitious stairs of his 'bijness'. Just can't take a No for an answer. And if a door doesn't open by greasing then he doesn't mind opening it forcefully. 
After being the badshah of Polyster and being the leader of share market, Guru Bhai asks his loyal share holders, 'Banna chahte ho Hindusthan ki sabse badi company.' An encore follows. Next stop is petro chemicals factory for which once again he uses coercion to make the ministers come on his side. A newspaper publisher Manik Dasgupta (Mithun Chakraborthy) and a firebrand journalist Shyam (Madhavan) expose many irregularities in the functioning style of Guru Bhai. 
Manik Dasgupta (Or Nanaji), a Gandhian, was the man whom Guru earlier considered as his father. Even though they respected each other personally, their ideologies clashed. Guru's wife Sujatha (Aishwarya Rai) is the pillar of support that always stands by him in the biggest of crisis. He also has a few select men who belonged to him for reasons more than mere business interests. 
'Guru' is clearly inspired by life of the founder of Reliance industries Dhirubhai Ambani. For like Dhirubhai, Guru bhai hails from a village in on'>Gujarat who wins over Mumbai with his native intelligence, ambitious zeal, wondrous people skills and even the paralytic attack is exactly a replica of the great industrialist's life. 
Master story teller Mani Rathnam is in supreme command as he tells a gripping story in his trademark unusual style. He has used the Art Direction of Samir Chanda to perfection as he recreates the Mumbai Best trams of 1960s, coal engine powered trains and the old model cars on the marine drive promenade are also parked oh-so-casually. The area where Rathnam triumphs the most is his objective viewpoint while handling the context of Gurukant Desai's success. He doesn't justify or romanticizes the wrong means employed by Guru in moving up. And the final picture that emanates is that of a man who rose to the top to fall and then rise again. But he is not all black. Or all white. He has shades of grey with warts of blemishes. Yet his basic intentions are honest. The loyalty of the ordinary share holders of Gurkant Desai's Shakti Industries germinates from transparency. And that's Guru's biggest victory. 
Three old men, two of whom are uncared for by their sons while the third is deserted by Fate, are an inseparable and cute threesome to start with, but Umar, Karan Razdan's paen to the age-old theme of Age before Duty, has you following the plot interestedly till the interval. But immediately after the interval, the director inexplicably veers off to a casually commercial and extremely over-the-top and illogical treatment which has you cringing with acute discomfort. In places, he seems to believe his audience is devoid of not just taste but even commonsense.
The film actually begins pretty well and its focus on the plight of senior citizens ill treated by their sons and Fate in the autumn of their lives gets your attention. The three are Iqbal (Kader Khan), Chandrakant (Prem Chopra) and Rajpal (Satish Kaushik). While Kader Khan has lost his family, Prem Chopra and Satish Kaushik are living with their sons and daughter in London. The two had not only raised their children by dint of sheer hard work and sacrifice, but also managed to send them to London for higher studies. And now, they are here, together in London, ruing the complete lack of respect and affection from their children, and clinging together for moral and emotional support. As they plod through the vicissitudes of Life and the abuse and ill treatment by their children, the plight of the three old men does evoke sympathy and righteous anger in you, and you're even willing to overlook the fact that all the characters are completely unidimensional ie either black or white -- the story does move you. 
Even as the three men crave a respectful acceptance, they meet a pleasant young man Shashank (Jimmy Shergill) who's the model of respect and concern for elders, and whose mother has instilled every single virtue that the old men have yearned for in their own children. In fact, Shashank and the old men are drawn so close to one another that when Shashank has to meet the rich parents of the pretty young student he loves (Shehnaz Treasurywalla), he asks all three which of them would be willing to go as his father to meet Shehnaz's father (played by Shakti Kapoor). All three happen to be busy, but then, even as Shashank is sitting alone with the girl's family, one by one, all three turn up as his father! The hilarious situation drives home the closeness the three old men feel for Shashank. However, things aren't hunky dory for Shahshank the son of a rich businessman and MP in London (played by Dalip Tahil) is also in love with Shehnaz, and soon after a fight sequence in which he thrashes the goon and his sidekicks, Shashank is framed for the murder of a rich socialite who is actually Dalip Tahil's former keep, and things get murky.
The three old men inadvertently help Shashank escape from the clutches of the London Police, and hide him in Rajpal's house. But the greedy children of the old men inform the cops about Shashank, who leaves. Only, the three old men go with him!
From here, suddenly, the film gets into a completely illogical treatment of a criminal angle, with the old men and Shashank and Shehnaz actually dancing and singing after having given the London cops the slip! Old man Chandrakant discovers he packs a superpowerful punch and goes about flailing baddies and sending them flying over fences. And even though the London cops know what the fugitives look like, they casually walk around London streets and Shashank also ends up searching the house/club where his ex boss was allegedly murdered by him. Are London cops so dumb? The criminal angle could have perhaps been woven in for commercial reasons, but is should have been much shorter and far more logical.
What's wrong with Manisha Koirala! Once considered a classique candidate, she has plummeted to doing seedy sleazy see-me type of voyeuristic projects that do nothing to enhance her reputation.
In Chahat she plays Mallika, a pop star whose career is on the skids. Drowning her sorrow in drinks and raving against her stud-type lover-boy Rahul (Aryan Vaid), Koirala's Mallika is made slightly less unbearable than it would have been otherwise, thanks to the actress' new slim-and-svelte look and her ability to turn into a powerhouse performer under the most arduous circumstances.
There's a rather ugly interlude in this uniformly ungainly film where Vaid calls Koirala a 'whore' in full public view. Her sense of outrage, humiliation and disbelief is deftly projected by the actress.
But why is she wasting her time trying to act when her co-stars sleepwalk through what looks, feels and smells like an exercise in cheap voyeurism?
The film is set in the music world. Incidental characters include a cheesy middleman (Siyaji Shinde) who makes passes at every wannabe singer-actress.
Don't squirm. If you're stupid enough to walk into this crap trap then you deserve a lot worse. You sure get it, as Koirala's Mallika goes through the degradation of losing her career, man and life... in that order. 
For some strange reason Mallika's man Rahul prefers a frisky floozie (Preeti Jhangiani) who first hangs around the music producer trying to catch his attention, then after a hilarious seduction sequence jumps into bed with him and finally after undressing, gives him a dressing down with harsh words. I had read in a book that men are like animals. They can never be satisfied with one woman.
Don't know which school this lady of the lewd mood attended. But director Jai Prakash seems be a backbencher from the school of drool. Half naked cavorting bodies negating all aesthetic considerations, and other twisted definitions of entertainment stare us from every nook and cranny.
By the time the climactic shootout on a boat in Goa (apparently inspired by Yash Chopra's Darr) floats into sight, the narrative has lost sight of its original intent... whatever it might have been. One suspects Jai Prakash needed an excuse to bring the team from his earlier film Market together. And what better excuse than a supposedly sexy project with women being objectified in lurid shades of purple?
Next time, please leave Manisha Koirala out of the lascivious design.
Post-Black, if there was any doubt about Hindi cinema coming of age, here's further proof that our movies aren't going back to the song-and-dance formula in a hurry... at least not in the same way that we once knew. 
Let's get down to brass tacks right away. Naina has no songs, no dances, no kitsch and none of the formulaic flourishes, which make Hindi cinema so darned hard to digest outside home territory.
In fact this is one of the most cosmopolitan films in the Hindi language. The dialectics and dynamics of the supernatural drama are so liberated of idiosyncratic ideology that we often wonder if debutant director Shripal Morakhia has deliberately steered away from convention, just to be one-up on his kitschy colleagues in Mumbai.
It doesn't take Morakhia long to disabuse us of cynicism. His grip over the narrative is as strong as the spooks who haunt our heroine after her cornea transplant.
Suddenly Naina can see a lot more than she had bargained for. Ripping off a page from Manoj Night Shyamalan's theory of supernatural elements co-existing with the human world, Morakhia weaves a yarn that's bloodcurdling in its spooky ramifications.
Scenes showing Naina connecting with supernatural elements send a chill up our spine. There are scenes showing Naina's premonition of mortality that horrify immensely. 
This is a new experience for horror buffs. For once the fear emanates from the heroine's eyes, and not just the camera lens.
Not that C.K. Muraleedharan's cinematography lacks in an inner vision in this film that tells us that seeing is not just about believing. Damn it, seeing isn't about optical vision either! It's about reaching a hand into the other world and touching troubled souls. The writer and director's belief in the idea of spirits is crystallized by the compelling camerawork.
The lenses move through luminous London and crusty Bhuj without making a touristy brouhaha. Stealthily, the drama touches dimensions that move viewers across a terrain of the known and unknown.
The editing by Amitabh Shukla, background music by Salim-Sulaiman and artwork by Muneesh Sappel - who did a great job in the other Urmila starrer Pinjar - are seamless. The film's technique never invites attention to itself. Instead, it wins us over through understatement. 
London is certainly not a character in the film. It's just the venue for a drama that defies rational explanation and yet compels us to look at itself through the sheer velocity of terror and awe generated in the narration. 
The film moves through two dimensions of life and death to create a life of its own. There are no glitches in the plot movement. Morakhia doesn't pause to take a look at his own work. The narrative moves briskly though slowly through complex images of tyrannical terror, creating undulating rhythms of life and after-life, death and restless spooks...
It's hard to imagine this film working without the amazing Urmila. She's the only actress of her generation to be doing such exemplary work. This isn't the first time she has done horror. 
In Naina, Urmila has created a woman who goes from blindness to light and back into darkness, creating dimensions that aren't visible to the naked eye and yet not invisible to those who don't want to look hard.
This is yet another outstanding performance by an actress who is constantly on the prowl for passionate opportunities. Urmila's armoury of expressions, ranging from the terror of the unknown to the fear of the known, gives the film a unique twist.
She's back in all her glory. The magic and the mystique is unfurled in full potency as the last Diva of Hindi cinema ' Madhuri Dixit ' zooms in with a tailor-made role as Dia in this film. In fact, few films in the busiest phase of her career were as perfectly tailored to a mix of the real and reel Madhuri.
It is impossible to separate the film from Dixit in the broader sense of the term. Not only does Madhuri give the role her all (and that's really saying something!) but Jaideep Sahni substitutes as the hero in this film that has no lead actor! For without pandering to the lowest common denominator, Jaideep spins a screenplay and writes lines and lyrics that instantly connect across the complete audience spectrum.
Aaja Nachle is in a way Chak De! India with Indian fine arts replacing hockey. Check the similarities ' the disgrace of the protagonist in her hometown due to no fault of hers, her exit and her determination to remove the stigma attached ' and the final victory. In the last film (also scripted by Jaideep for YRF and another superstar) it was about the nation as well as vindicating the hero's honour. Here it is about waking up the town to its own potential ' Dia could not care less what the people feel about her. 
The refreshing part of Aaja' is the complete lack of melodrama. As in similar films like Lagaan, Iqbal and of course Chak De', the path to victory is beset with not just hurdles but also defeats. But the element of luck is removed almost entirely, though because of this the film seems a shade tame and less dramatic even if in a way even more believable. 
And so the film delivers ' and how! Dia (Madhuri) returns to Shamli, her hometown, from where she had run away with an American boyfriend who turns out to be a cad. It was her dance and music guru (Darshan Jariwala) who had encouraged her to make her own choices, even at the cost of his school going into decay when the disapproving town stops their children from joining it after Dia had eloped. 
Eleven years later, Dia is running her own dance school in New York, divorced and with a daughter. And a call comes ' her guru is dying, and if she does not do something, Ajanta will be razed to make way for a shopping complex.
Dia returns to Shamli to obvious hostility. She meets the MP responsible (Akshaye Khanna in the cameo of an endearing bad boy) and strikes a deal ' in two months, she has to present the mother of all shows with a troupe made up of the town folk, in which case the school can be saved. Obviously, any seasoned film buff knows that she will succeed. But how she does is what the engrossing film is all about.
There are no rules in this feel-good triumph-of-spirit tale. The MP is young, educated, makes pizza and is principled. His political foe is also a man with a soft side, whose chief hoodlum Imran (Kunal Kapoor) becomes Dia's ardent supporter and the hero of her ballet. The heroine is unkempt, immature Anokhi (Konkona Sen Sharma) whose standout characteristic is her running nose! 
The diverse characters are indeed interestingly etched, and if the village characters learning dance and acting in a short span is a shade unrealistic, it is all made to look convincing, and stresses the fact that within all of us, regardless of background and occupation, there lies a hidden artiste who can do so much for preserving our cultural treasure.
'Yahaan' is a love story between an army man and a local girl set in the troubled valley of Kashmir. Directed by adman Shoojit Sircar who debuts as a movie director, 'Yahaan' could have been an engrossing tale but due to intermittent slackening of pace, some loose editing and story not moving forward at a few places, the impact gets diluted in an otherwise well shot film.
Thankfully the movie, inspite of being heavily revolving around an army camp in Kashmir, doesn't indulge in pseudo-patriotism and sticks to its basic subject. How much better the final outcome would have been only if the love story woven around the two principal characters could have been more impacting. Because this is where the movie suffers the most - you just don't feel for the lovers to a degree where you could empathize with their situation!
The movie begins with the situation of Kashmir in late 80s when the trouble started brewing in the valley due to influences by outside forces. This is when a well read journalist Shakeel [Yashpal Sharma] gets carried away and becomes one of the militants who want an 'azad Kashmir'. From here the movie takes a quick jump by a few years when Captain Aman [Jimmy Shergill] gets his first posting in the valley.
On way to an army operation, he comes across Adaa [Minissha Lamba], a local girl (who is thankfully not a stereotype Kashmiri girl but an educated one with a mind of her own). She has an adopted Hindu sister Shree, a loving granny [Dolly Ahluwalia] and a father who is distressed due to changing fortunes in Kashmir. Still, it's a family happy who want to live on in life regardless of the situation out on the streets.
As luck would have it, Aman's post is set outside Adaa's house and as expected, they two fall in love. While their love is brewing, the terror in the valley continues to show its ugly face with bullets flying and bombs exploding every time when peace seems to be just a distance away. Another important factor that threatens the couple to get united is an unwritten rule - Army and locals are not allowed to form any relationship due to mutual distrust!
Things just seem to be getting better for Aman and Adaa when something unthinkable happens. There is a bomb blast in the middle of a crowded market and the bomb is placed by none other than Shakeel, who turns out to be Adaa's real brother. Aman is held captive by Shakeel soon and when Adaa helps him escape, Major [Mukesh Tiwari, in an 'always seen before' role] files a report against him for being a traitor due to his links with Adaa and hence with even Shakeel and the rest of the terrorist group.
Aman is set for a court martial while terrorists set a demand for the Government Of India to release their leader. In all this mayhem, Adaa runs pillar to post from Army to human rights association to print media and the government officials to prove Aman's innocence.
What happens next? Does Aman get released scot-free? Are there any indications of terrorism getting wiped away from the beautiful paradise called Kashmir? Are Aman and Adaa united forever?
An interesting storyline that could have touched the heart strings in a big way, the biggest strength of the movie is the way it has been shot. Excellent camerawork coupled with mind-blowing cinematography by Jakob Ihre could give any international war movie a run for its money. The blue shades accompanying every frame of the movie creates magic on screen while transferring you to an outside world. Most of the action sequences are authentically shot that get enhanced with a brilliant sound design. In fact technically speaking, it is one of the most fulfilling experiences in the recent times.
Good intentions don't always translate into a good film. That's exactly the case in 'With Luv Tumhara' where director Kamal Nathani successfully intends to make a good clean film with decent performances, wedded-to-nature locales and melodious music. But the predictability factor in this love story coupled with snail-slow-pace of the film is its biggest shortcoming. End result, 'With Luv Tumhara' is a tepid fare which you should watch only if you are a die heart romantic with loads of patience and a hell lot of free time. 
The story fails to surprise you. And you don't feel like saluting army man Akshay Kapoor (Nakul Vaid) when he dies on duty for he had been writing love letters to sweetheart Anu (Preeti Jhangiani) while the enemy was firing bullets-with-a-vengeance. Give me a break dude. Well, 'good friend' Rahul (Pravin Dabas) breaks the bad news to Akshay's father Col. Kapoor (Sharath Saxena) but he doesn't have the guts to say the same to his fianc' Anu as she is passionately in love and can never imagine anything bad can happen. 
Rahul stays back. Vampish girl friend Neha (Anupama Verma) gives him 'deadline' calls but he pays no heed. Obviously he falls in love with Anu, discovers true love, she doesn't reciprocate etc etc. Now, where have I seen-n-heard this before? Scratch scratch'.Wow what a novel idea! It's a suffering to sit back in a more-or-less empty hall to let the story go by. 
Now, things are not that bad. For in spite of a wafer thin plot, Nathani weaves his characters in a competent manner. And what works in his favour are decent performances by almost all the actors. Preeti Jhangiani's journey from Punjabi shalwar kameez to chiffon sarees has been well chronicled. She adds depth to the role of a passionate lover who loses out everything in life. This girl can catapult herself to big league if she makes the right moves. 
Pravin Dabas is not a hero in the traditional Bollywood sense of the word. He is not conventionally good looking, doesn't have the body of a Hrithik Roshan but still there's a lot of intensity in his eyes and body language that makes him stand apart. After 'Khosla Ka Ghosla' he once again delivers a creditable performance. He is a bit too laid back at times and maybe needs to work on that front. 
Nakul Vaid as Akshay and Sharath Saxena as Col. Kapoor lend depth to their characters. As for vampish Anupama Verma, well she is better off locked up in the house of 'Bigg Boss'. It's time she kissed her acting ambitions goodbye. One needed lots of gumption to suffer her histrionics. 
Music by Sudeep Banerjee is surprisingly good. 'Dheere Dheere' and 'Zindagi' are gems. I am interested in knowing what Sudeep is doing next. Outdoor location of Manali is one of the biggest plus points of this movie. Even if you are terribly bored by the proceedings, you can always feast on the nascent-magic of effervescent flowers, heavenly mist and shrouded-with-green-top-mountains. 
As for 'With Luv Tumhara' then it's an old wine in a new bottle. I don't think you'd have a good time watching it in a theatre. But yes, maybe it's worth a watch once it premieres on television. 
With Luv Tumahara: Oh Really?
Noble is not a word that's easily applicable to mainstream Hindi cinema - not when so much of it is about having a good, if not a sleazy, time.
But here's a rare, refreshing, path-breaking film that is as noble in intent as it is in treatment. Intensely individualistic and pioneering in its fusion of a social conscience with fiction, Lakshya takes us to Kargil...slowly and deliberately.
The pacing of the narration is so uniquely unhurried, you wonder if Farhan Akhtar is out on a sublime stroll through a picturesque highway where, like his aimless protagonist Karan, he can encounter anything at any point. 
But you soon realize nothing is by chance in this film about finding one's metier in life. Lakshya takes us through one man's journey into finding a purpose in life. The punctuation marks, like Hrithik's subtle, shaded performance, are discernible in the way Farhan Akhtar glides in and out of situations so wonderfully created in Javed Akhtar's screenplay.
For a film about an inner battle and an on-location war, the soundtrack of Lakshya is awfully quiet. The distracting stillness secretes expressions that become apparent to those who care to listen to the sounds of silence, punctuated by bouts of booming guns and the sounds of wounded soldiers as they reclaim land from the enemies.
Lakshya is really about one individual's odyssey in life from embarrassing idleness to redeeming self-motivation. This epic transition is achieved through layers of illuminating leitmotifs -- the wonderful soundtrack by Shankar-Ehsan-Loy for one.
You may not think much of the songs and music on the tape. But on screen they light up the characters' inner motivations as fluently as they create a sense of ongoing poetry in the narration.
Lakshya has the fluent flow of poetry but not the ornate opaqueness. The verse in the visuals is unique to this film. 
Hrithik takes the aimless urban drifter - the kind of south Mumbai brat who wakes up at noon and takes hard decisions on which parties to attend in the evening - far beyond where Aamir Khan took it in Dil Chahta Hai. 
Hrithik creates a gripping graph for his character. The before-and-after effect whereby Karan goes from lay about to soldier could have easily become a caricature. But Hrithik plays it subtle. And shaded. 
And that's what makes it so special. It's time to acknowledge Hrithik as the most devious and engaging actor of contemporary times. Like Lata Mangeshkar's lyrics, Hrithik's dance steps seem to have been invented on the spot. He's effortless and flawless.
As Romila the TV journalist, Preity Zinta does a Barkha Dutt with lip-smacking credibility. Her terse but well-articulated relationship with an ostensibly liberal fiance, who finally gives her a choice between a career and marriage, is one of the many by-lanes that Farhan's film takes before cruising the highway to heroic redemption. She's a perfect foil to Hrithik's intense introspective performance. 
But the film features other extremely talented actors like Om Puri, Lilette Dubey and specially Amitabh Bachchan in glorified cameos. Boman Irani's comparatively more spacious part as Hrithik's father never gets going. The father-son conflict, like the Hrithik-Preity love story, is woven into the battle with free-flowing facility.
If you are a fan of Ekta Kapoor's terrific tidal wave of treacly television soaps, then you are advised to keep away from her effort to win audiences over with a cyclone of smut and sleaze in this ribald and rudely uncouth comedy.
But if you like repeated and rigorous jokes about anal sex - replete with frantic pelvic thrusts, groans and grunts and other noises of simulated sex - and if you think American Pie can be rendered as a desi pao bhaji, then stop right here. 
Kya Kool Hain Hum (KKHH) is probably your last chance to get into the vulgar groove with such velocity. 
It's unlikely that our cinema will ever get as motor-mouthed and cheesy-minded as this ever again. 
You thought Indra Kumar's Masti was vulgar? Wait till you see Riteish and Tusshar's anal adrenal antics in KKHH. Masti looks like a fairy tale in comparison. 
Filled with distasteful jokes about homosexuality and rape, everyone gets to be a brunt of the dizzying over-long and finally fatally prolonged script's butt of ridicule.
Director Sangeeth Sivan wants audiences' laughter at any cost. The scenes seem written predominantly for an audience just discovering the joys of sex and the pleasures of self-gratification. 
Even by those amateurish standards, the clumsy and crude vulgarity quotient takes you by surprise. Tusshar kicks off his sober image to indulge in a binge of sexual situations, which include a sequence where a cop thinks the hero is having sex with a cat. 
In another sequences, Tusshar douses his crotch with a bottle of water after a cigarette butt accidentally gets into his pants. Everyone thinks he has wet himself in excitement after watching a chick flip over. 
Have a hard...I mean heart! 
Soon the script and the characters lose their turgid titters. Knowing that the prolonged three-hour joke is long over, the director resorts to flaccid farce that won't be funny even to those in the audience who enjoy watching Tusshar making out with a cat. 
You gape in disbelief as former censor chief Anupam Kher, playing a whacked-out shrink, does his own share of sex jokes with an overweight Shoma Anand joining him in bed. 
Age and dignity seem to be no bar to the dialogue writers Sachin Yardi and Pankaj Trivedi's stabs at verbal vulgarity. 
Every character speaks in crude double meanings. The ladies go at it with hammered tongues, leaving you wondering what happened to the demure damsels in distress! 
Admittedly Isha Koppiker playing a cop named - hold your breath! - Urmila Matondkar gets into the mood of 'masti' with great gusto. She does the vulgar lines and situations with a relish that makes you grieve for the grace and dignity that leading ladies once brought to the most riotous comedies about male bonding.
Remember Saira Banu in the relentlessly humorous Padosan? 
The watchable actor is Reteish Deshmukh, who gets seriously sleazy without forcing audiences to look away from the screen. Deshmukh seems to be having fun. Poor guy.
All through this homage to an uncontrollably over-sexed generation, the characters indulge in the cheapest double-speak. 
Koppiker trying to anxiously seduce Tusshar to prove he's a serial killer breaks down before her seniors. I've begun to doubt my womanhood. A man known to rape women of every age hasn't even looked my way.
Shhhhh. Don't tell P.J. Hogan and Julia Roberts. But Deepak Ramsay has lifted Hogan's film My Best Friend's Wedding and cast Diya Mirza in Ms Roberts' role of the scheming self-serving girl who realizes on the eve of her best friend's wedding that she loves him.
Director Ramsay is sold on the idea of relocating the original Hollywood film into Karan Johar-Sanjay Leela Bhansali territory.
And if you think that's a bizarre blend then just watch how the director takes the blend into the bland.
Bits and pieces from Johar's Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Aditya Chopra's Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge and Bhansali's Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and even Devdas (look out for the sequence where Rakesh Bapat barges into Neha's wedding chamber) float in and out of this demented drama about two mismatched couples.
By the time the doctored script engineers a disentanglement for the quartet the film has long lost its focus. A wooden Priyanshu Chatterjee and a perky Diya Mirza play Playboy and Playgirl. They even get to sing the same tandem song separately with different partners to prove their promiscuity.
It's not common to come across a Hindi film heroine who actually has a roving eye. Three cheers to Mirza for getting into a raunchy role without resorting to vulgarity. 
That's about all this film has to offer in the way of novelty. Most of what follows the initial rush of musical chairs is tryingly unconvincing.
This film's stab at sham sophistication is off-putting.
The ever-dependable Kader Khan is diverting as the Playboy's dad. But what's with Sadasahiv Amrapurkar's character being constantly heckled for his dark skin-tone? Throughout the film he's called kaaliya, kallu and even given an ironical name: I.M Gore (I am white). 
I remember Amrapurkar's dark complexion was similarly held up for ridicule in Indra Kumar's Dil 10 years ago.
Not much has changed in a particular area of commercial Hindi cinema. It continues to mock certain sections of people, and of course the audiences' intelligence. 
Koi Mere Dil Mein Hai is one of those purportedly cute films that loses its sheen and shine in its journey from Hollywood to Bollywood. The music score by Nikhil-Vinay vandalises bits of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai.
Director Deepak Ramsay has pulled a poor joke on Hogan's My Best Friend's Wedding.
As for us, the much-harassed audience, when have we ever complained?
Aparna Sen's 15 Park Avenue is just the sort of film that will receive much critical acclaim, but will stop short of popular acclaim. Here, for popular acclaim read Box Office Success, for that is the only measure of popular acclaim, and this strictly film-festival oriented film is highly unlikely to strike a chord with the masses. But you can't blame her, because this film is clearly not for the masses.
First, it's an Aparna Sen film, and second, it deals with a difficult subject like Schizophrenia.
The story of Mithi (brilliantly played by Konkona Sen Sharma) a schizophrenic young woman of 27, whose only anchor in life is her elder sister Anjali (Shabana Azmi in an excellent performance) who has put her own life on hold since she's the only support of Mithi and their widowed mother (Waheeda Rehman the third of the three good performances in the film).
In Mithi's schizophrenic mind is a world that is peopled only by her imaginary husband Jojo and five children -- each of whom she has fondly named. They live at an imaginary address: 15 Park Avenue. And her rambling, schizophrenic mind is a sponge that takes every external event and fits it in her own world. The entire film is Mithi's desperate quest for 15 Park Avenue, for the love of the husband and children that could have been hers but for a brutal, traumatic experience that pushed her over the edge into the deep recesses of schizophrenia. While the address and the children are indeed the workings of her schizophrenic mind, the name of her 'imaginary' husband stems from the relationship Mithi had with Joydeep Roy, whom she used to call Jojo, and who was determined to marry her even though he knew she was mentally a bit challenged.
The brutal traumatic experience that pushed Mithi over the edge into the dark recesses of Schizophrenia was a stomach turning gang-rape by goons of a political party in a cow-belt town while she was on a news reporting assignment. Not only did it push Mithi into Schizophrenia, her trauma and her condition also pushed Jojo out of her life he realized he didn't love her any longer, and felt it would be a betrayal of himself and her if he persisted with the relationship. So, while Jojo leaves Mithi's life, he continues to inhabit the recesses of her mind.
And 15 Park Avenue is the story of a loving, stretched family that cares for Mithi, and tries desperately to come to grips with her condition that manifests itself in a never-ending quest for 15 Park Avenue. And till the end, till the climax, the quest never ends; but we'll come to that in a moment.
The first thing that shines forth is the deftness with which Sen handles the delicate and complex task of depicting both: schizophrenia in a young woman who is a sister, daughter and a beloved, and its impact on the lives and relationships of her mother, sister and fiance. Excellent in parts, with an intense and depressing storyline because you can tell Mithi's search will never end, 15 Park Avenue is studded with four very good performances by Konkona Sen Sharma, Shabana Azmi, Shefali Shah and Waheeda Rehman in that order. Hemant Chaturvedi's camera work, and the truly eloquent background music underplayed but extremely complementary round off sensitive and emotionally and technically competent direction by Aparna Sen.
Everything is fair in Love and Corporate Warfare. That's precisely the theme of this week's release, aptly titled 'Corporate'. Director Madhur Bhandarkar is back after the critically acclaimed and commercially successful 'Page 3'. After giving a multi dimensional viewpoint about the lives-n-fetishes of up-market party people, he paints the ruthless-n-sharp 'Deals' of the business world with a penchant for being oblivious to the sensitivities of people involved in it. 
Corporate is made memorable by some brilliant performances by a battery of fine actors, but undoubtedly the surprise packet is Bipasha Basu who as the high flying Vice President of Sehgal Group of Industries, dazzles with a touching-the-heart performance. Her beau Ritesh Sahani (Kay Kay Menon) is the brother in law of hot shot Vinay Sehgal (Rajat Kapoor), the Chairman of Rs 200, 000/ crore SGI. His immediate rival Dharmesh Marwah (Raj Babbar) would stoop to any level to stay a step ahead. Be it the Business awards, lucrative business contracts or pocketing the most influential of politicians, Marwah Group pips its nearest rivals at the post. 
The boardroom battle hots up when Nishi steals a major Marwah project and ensures that Ritesh heads it. The ensuing battle resembles the cola war where pesticides are detected in the Sehgal brand, Just Chill. Ambitious Vinay Sehgal goes ahead with his plans in spite of the negative report of FDA. It goes without saying, Marwah gets back to him and soils his image completely. In all this hullabaloo of opportunism, the love of live-in couple Nishi and Ritesh has to deal with tough times. What they do, whether they manage to ride the tide is the crux of the story. Or, in other words, there is no scope for emotions in the Corporate world. They learn it the hard way. And they thought they knew everything.
Bipasha Basu has given the best performance of her career. Her suave chic look, dapper suits, closely cropped hair and moist eyes convey a hell lot of misery and claustrophobic loneliness. Hope to see her more often in roles of substance for she can carry off serious stuff with elan. And obviously she has had her fill of glamorous bimbette song-n-dance; it's time for the real thing baby. Kay Kay Menon is a smoldering lava of perfection. His restless energy and deep dark eyes can do magic with the vocabulary of silence. Rajat Kapoor as Vinay Sehgal is another bright spark. In fact he is a total surprise. For his calm exterior inhabits an ambitious monster. Raj Babbar as Dharmesh Marwah justifies his reputation of being a fine actor. But the disappointments are the two young guns Minisha Lamba and Sammir Dattani who are completely wasted in spectator parts.
Shocked - that's the word Pakistani import Meera uses whenever she wants to make a point on the screen! But instead poor viewers are shocked!
Shocked - because there is nothing like a story in 'Kasak' Shocked - because one wonders what excited Lucky Aki to be a part of a venture like this Shocked - because till just about a few months back, Meera was the most hyped heroine from outside India Shocked - because one fails to understand why this movie was made at all Shocked - because one wonders why director Rajiv Babbar shifted genres from his factory-line Mithun Chakraborty flicks
Amar, a poor young boy looks after his diabetes struck mom [Anjana Mumtaz] who is in coma for years. A song plays in the background while the titles roll and the boy turns into a man [Lucky Ali]. Straight out of the 70s, the narrative catches pace as Amar's mother leaves for heavenly abode and he joins a hospital as a male nurse who specializes in caring for coma-ridden patients. So far so good as things unfold at good pace with the hospital owner making him richer by one crore rupees since Amar had got even her out of coma.
Meanwhile Anjali [Meera], his fellow nurse soon expresses her love, seduces him and gets a marriage commitment from him - all before you could say 'Kasak'. In the morning after she is shown humming 'Jaadu Hai Nasha Hai' from 'Jism' and it doesn't take a viewer much time to understand that she too is going the Bips way as in 'Jism', which means running after Amar's newly acquired wealth. Thankfully director Babbar too doesn't underestimate the viewer's intelligence [at least in this part of the movie] and reveals Anjali's intentions in first 30 minutes of the movie itself.
As soon as Amar gifts her 1 crore cheque on the wedding day, Anjali makes his wedding night a nightmare. First she prefers to sleep with her cheque [pocketed in you know where] and on the next night wishes to have a 'animals night out' with Amar. Knowing quite well that a simple Amar won't agree to this demand of his, she develops a case of Amar being impotent and pronto gets a divorce from him.
The problem with 'Anwar' is over-ambitiousness on the part of the director Manish Jha who floats in too many directions at the same time. He sets out to tell a story and for some strange reason he introduces a way too many sub plots (was it to make all the friends happy or what). There are too many characters and many of them are doing stupid things. Manisha Koirala should quit films if she has lost out on options and Rajpal Yadav should desist from spoiling his talent to stoop to such performances. The only saving grace happens to be Mithoon's two brilliant compositions (wish he had composed all the songs). But still, nothing can save 'Anwar' from being a disaster. 
Anwar (Siddharth Koirala) is doing his MA in Hindi and he is madly in love with Mehroo (Nauheed Cyrusi), who in turn loves his friend Udit (Hiten Tejwani). As Mehroo and Udita are trying to elope, Anwar informs Mehroo's family. Her brother kills Udit while Mehroo commits suicide. Obviously Anwar considers himself responsible for his lover's death. His confusion finds him going on an unknown journey to nowhere and as he spends a night in a temple, for some strangely weird reason, he is labeled as a terrorist. This is followed by a tug of far between the opportunist politicians and media to cash in on the 'Breaking News'. You shall also have to suffer valentine's day shenanigans, unnecessary extra marital affair sleaze and a grotesquely risqu' item song 'Bangla Khula'. 
Director Manish Jha in his attempt to show religious discord and shoddy tolerance levels goes haywire with his storytelling. What explanation can he possibly give for wasting a talented actor like Vijay Raaz. Even in the acting department, except for Hiten Tejwani none of the lead stars impress. Siddharth Koirala is at best ok, but he needs an image makeover fast. Yashpal Sharma as expected is competent while Nauheed doesn't have much to do anyways. 
Finally it is left to Mithoon's two songs 'Maula Mere' and 'Javeda Zindagi' that are really the saving grace of this film which is not going anywhere. After super showing in 'Bas Ek Pal', Mithoon once again shows that why he is the music composer to look out for. Wish we didn't have to suffer the strange music compositions of Pankaj Awasthi though. 
'Anwar' is a wasted attempt at making an issue based film. But if you succumb to the commercial trappings then you are bound to lose the good points too. 
Anwar: Avoid'
 mso-bidi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: mso-ansi-language: Roman?; New ?Times mso-fareast-font-family: FONT-FAMILY: 12pt;>Star Rating: * 
The man with a heart that booms with the passion of warfare artillery has gone seriously wrong by composing a courtesan's plaintive number on celluloid. Yes J P Dutta should stick to guns of patriotism for the roses of romance die before they blossom in his cosmetic period drama 'Umrao Jaan'. And no, Aishwariya isn't the best thing in this musical tearjerker. 
If anyone really dazzles with the sheer dexterity and range of emotions then it has to be Shabana Azmi. For her hard hitting performance is the most notable thing about this well-over-three-hour-film (The editor must have been sleeping I guess). Shabana is a great actress but what's most praiseworthy in her performance is that she has taken immaculate care of fitting the context of the mid nineteenth century Lucknow culture. How! She is the only one who speaks Urdu with correct pronunciation. And trust me Urdu is such a beautiful language that if it's diction is not proper then the rest of the details like fancy costumes and lavish sets seem out of context and detached. There are several other details which enable Shabana to literally dwarf all other performances, but then I don't think you guys are keen on a thesis on the movie. So, how 'bout moving ahead with this review'
J P Dutta had a tough task on his hand when he set out to make 'Umrao Jaan'. Comparisons are inevitable even though he may shout from the rooftop that his version is not a remake as it based on a work of fiction. So, does he measure any close to Muzaffar Ali. Not at all. I would say 'Don' was a well made remake for at least it had something new to offer and it was entertaining too. Here, J P takes ages in telling the sad story of Amiran (Ash) as to how she is sold at a Kotha in Lucknow to a calculative yet heart-of-gold Khanam Jaan (Shabana). Amiran turns into the bewitchingly beautiful 'Umrao Jaan' the famous courtesan who loses her heart to Sexy Pathan Nawab Sultan (Abhishek Bachchan). 
A few-love-moments in the lover's arms later, 'Umrao' is called an infidel by wine-eyed Nawab. Their love story was genuine but somehow Time had some other plans as a dacoit Faiz Ali (Suneil Shetty) stabs their happiness while losing his own. Umrao never recovers as she encounters one tragedy after another. Although poignancy dots the story but somehow the emphasis is more on the designer jewellery, heavy and grossly embroidered costumes, colossal sets (they look tacky at times), even Aishwariya's make-up is totally out-of-place at times. 
Anu Malik's music is worth a 'Salaam'. Well, 'Salaam' is one of the mujra's in the film and that happens to be the only song that haunts you once the movie is over. I also liked 'Agle Janam Mohe Bitiya Na Kijo'. But when you compare with Khayyam's magical spell of 'In Ankhon Ki Masti Ke', 'Dil Cheez Kya Hai' and 'Justuju Jiski Thi Usko To Na Paaya Humne' then Anu Malik stands no chance at all. Although Alka Yagnik is no Asha Bhosle but I think this is by far her finest performance yet as a singer who has sung semi classical songs with fantastic innovation in rendition as well as expression. Vaibhavi Merchant's dance steps rely more on coquettish facial expressions than any firebrand dance steps. Ayananka Bose's camerawork is gripping. 
Much has been said about Bhoothnath right from the pairing of Amitabh and Shahrukh after a long time and the potential that the debutant director Vivek Sharma carries.
After films such as 'Bhagbhan' , 'Babul' , comes yet another film from the reputed B.R. Films but this time around unlike their previous ventures you neither get to see a typical family drama nor the presence of Ravi Chopra spearheading the direction of the film. This time the offering is absolutely new and fresh with debutant Vivek Sharma exploring the relationship between a young boy and a spirit in a very innovative, humorous manner.
The story revolves around a 7 year old naughty boy 'Banku(Aman Siddiqui) whose family(Shahrukh Khan and Juhi Chawla) comes to live in a mansion in Goa. The mansion-Nath Villa is considered haunted after the demise of Kailash Nath (Amitabh Bachchan) and his wife.
No one dares to stay at Nath Villa and soon the spirit wants to get rid of his new rival-Banku. All attempts to scare Banku fail and the two now develop a new bond. The so called ghost is renamed as Bhootnath and Banku soon becomes Bhootnath's 'Angel'.
Thinks take a turn when Kailash Nath's son (Priyanshu Chatterjee) returns from the U.S. to sell Nath Villa.
Firstly, if there is any misconception that Bhootnath is a horror flick, keep all your perceptions aside and digest the fact that this flick is actually a cute film for the complete family. It's meant for all audiences and just because it explores the relationship between a kid and a ghost ,doesn't mean that it's a 'Kiddie' movie or so.
Director Vivek Sharma excels with his very first film. Unlike most directors, he doesn't get carried away by the star presence of either Amitabh or Shahrukh and does no gigs such as an item number or so to enhance the stars but rather sticks to the very basics of a simple script and its simple storytelling.
Bhootnath isn't the most unique or rarest of scripts but it is the simplicity in story telling that really keeps you entertained and brings out the kid in you. Vivek makes you laugh and even gets the audience moist eyed with couple of sequences.
Be it the sequence where Banku hurts himself by falling off the staircase or be it Banku's rift with Bhootnath, the movie has a certain emotional connect with the audience. 
The characters in the film have been so well sketched out and are indeed relevant to the storytelling process. Be it the peon or the principal(Satish Shah) who eats all the tiffin boxes at school or even Anthony(Rajpal Yadav) the beggar; each of them make you laugh and are unique in some way or the other.
On the technical front, the movie is supreme in terms of its special effects. These effects raise the bar of the film. Watch out for the movement of dry leaves, Banku's hand stretching out to help a friend in a pit, Amitabh's expressions to scare the kid etc. It's simply brilliant for a Hindi film.
The cinematography by Vishnu Rao is simple and sleek which make possible the addition of such brilliant visual effects.
The music by Vishal-Shekar isn't great and the movie pace get hampered by a bunch of tracks forced in. But in any case the visual's of 'Mere Buddy' further enhanced by the bloopers when the credit rolls makes this track grow on you.
On the acting front, the movie truly belongs to Aman Siddiqui and Amitabh Bachchan. Aman impresses tremendously with his naughty expressions, cute laughter and dialogue delivery. You may even have tears trickle towards the climax where you see Aman cry out loud looking at the stars, searching for Bhootnath.
First things first. The biggest trouble with JUST MARRIED isn't about the content itself. It is about the film coming too close to SALAAM E ISHQ and HONEYMOON TRAVELS PVT. LTD., both of which were about married couples and the good and the bad times that they faced. Now JUST MARRIED could have been a completely different movie inspite of it too talking about 5 couples. But then for an audience which has already seen two films belonging to similar genre in last 6-7 weeks, it is hard to expect them to show any interest whatsoever in checking out if JUST MARRIED is anything different.
Let's come to the movie now. The fact is that it is NOT about 5 couples who are on a honeymoon to Goa. It is mainly about a newly wed couple [Fardeen, Esha] who have got into an arranged marriage and are now trying to explore each other. Other than them, the 4 couples are merely peripheral as supporting characters without being one of the leads as in the other two aforementioned films.
So there we have an aged couple out on a rendezvous again after years of togetherness [Satish Shah/Kirron Kher], a very much in love/lust couple [Bikram Saluja/Perizaad Zorabian], in-love-but-unmarried couple [Raj Zutshi/Tarina Patel] and friends-and-now-married couple [Mukul Dev/Sadidya Siddique]. They have their own stories to tell in this film (that promises to be highly entertaining but doesn't quite reach there) but the focus remains on the issue of Fardeen and Esha.
What's this issue? Well, married to each other after an arrangement by their parents, Fardeen is shown to be adjusting to the situation but for Esha it takes time to become a lover so-quick-so-fast. So she wants her own time before she hits the sack with Fardeen and he, being an understanding lot, is willing to give her that time. The only trouble? It seems to be turning out to be too late in a short 5 day honeymoon.
He does all to win her over, not just for the sheer reason of being physically close to her, but also win her heart and be a soul mate for life. He does succeed in the end but by that time as an audience you have become an impatient lot. Thankfully there are other engrossing moments happening in parallel that keep your interest alive to an extent.
To the credit of director Meghna Gulzar, she doesn't make JUST MARRIED as a high-on-histrionics film. She tries to keep it simple without getting into a lot of 'bhaashan-baazi' and aims at subtlety to drive the show. Well, at places it works, at places it doesn't. And that's because there is some kind of movement that you do expect, especially towards the middle of the second half, but you don't quite see events unfolding on screen.
This is the time when you realize that if not for the Kirron Kher-Satish Shah and Bikram-Perizaad tracks, it may have become one downer of an experience to sit through JUST MARRIED. And this is where you feel the need for Meghna interspersing additional tracks apart from Fardeen/Esha.
There are some straight from the life moments in the film that are a hallmark of Gulzar saab's movies. But again when one wishes that there could be more of them, the momentum breaks and you long for something worthwhile to happen on screen.
Towards the end of the film, just when you start feeling that the film is coming to a happy conclusion [Esha realizes Fardeen's love for her and her reciprocation for the same], the climax just kills it off. It is hard to imagine such an ending coming from a person who has been a part a family that has lived and breathed films for decades now. How could this bus-hanging-on-cliff sequence being okayed in the first place, especially by producers PNC who have always believed in making believable cinema?
Brimming with new genre of 'Animation', Bollywood has been striding on with its best efforts in churning out a perfect of its style. Well, note this down. Possibly, even a diehard fan of animation flicks wouldn't appreciate 'Jumbo' for it isn't so appealing. Perhaps, an Akshay Kumar's fan would go through similar-experiences. 
Indeed, it's an animation flick sans 'out-of-box-thinking' and furthermore, the motif of plotline merely clich'd of 'get lost-get found-seek revenge' pattern. Uh-huh, it does carry whole lot of traces from Disney's top-charting 'The Lion King' made more than a decade ago. 
Patently, Animation flicks made in India doesn't hap to be so enchanting in terms of narration as well the well-represented graphical characters. Nevertheless, 'Jumbo' is an elision as the pictorial characters are live-in-action. But regrettably, the sluggish narration fails to make 'Jumbo' as a tantalizing piece. 
As a young elephant, Jumbo is taunted by the other elephants because he is fatherless. Naturally, Jumbo is curious about his father, and he's told that his father is a war elephant for the king.So Jumbo wants to find his father. Still a young elephant, he wanders off in search of his father.He is soon captured by a raiding party. In trying to escape from the camp, the young elephant is befriended by a boy prince, who has been ransomed to his foes. The prince has the ability to calm Jumbo into thinking clearly, and Jumbo makes his escape.
Heading all the way to a village, the grown-up Jumbo (Akshay Kumar) happens to meet her girlfriend (Lara Dutta). And then, the call goes out from the king for elephants for his army. Jumbo is taken to the palace. There, he is seen by his mother (Dimple Kapadia), who calls out to him. Jumbo goes wild in trying to break free from his chains to meet his mother. The King notices this, and remembers Jumbo from his childhood. The king is able to calm Jumbo, and from then on Jumbo serves as the personal war elephant of the king.In battle, Jumbo meets a giant war elephant Bhaktavar (Gulshan Grover) with fiery eyes responsible for the death of Jumbo's father, and Jumbo gets a chance to acquit him in battle for the glory of the kingdom, and take revenge.
With attempt of savoring to the tastes of kids, 'Jumbo' runs short of humor quotients. Except, Rajpal Yadav's voiced character of Zazoo Kinda, there aren't any drollness on rest of the characters. Precisely, 'Jumbo' has mixed plotlines of 'The Lion King' ' central character avenging for its father death and 'Finding Nemo' that's about searching for mother. Lekhin, we don't find such emotions or comedic attributes of both these flicks over here. 
Alas! None of the lip movements by elephants can be viewed as it takes place behind their trunks. You believe or not, their conversations look alike voiceovers. But you can't blame it, they're elephants and makers of this flick could've opted for some other creature. 
Akshay Kumar is just narrator in the first half while takes on the characterization of Jumbo in the latter part. Voices of Dimple Kapadia and Lara Dutta are off mediocre while Gulshan Grover's voice sans intonation doesn't suit for the characterization. Overall, none of the voices are so sharper on modulation and you can call it 'imperfection'' 
As a whole, Jumbo isn't so impressive for any audiences while it has possibilities of occupying theatres for Christmas holidays. Kids looking out animation flick for the first time may enjoy watching it' 
Verdict: Watch it once'. 
Rating:** '
Well, it's changing phase of Bollywood where you've bold themes spelled with an ease on the screens. Perhaps, the sheer motif may not cater to all centres but it's worth deserving good appreciations with trendsetting endeavors. Precisely it's a great show of such films as they make high waves sans superstars or big teams on the crew-lists. If you need an illustration, it goes with this week's releases; Oye Lucky, Lucky Oye, The President is coming. Of course, Sorry Bhai isn't an elision that grabbed our senses right with its stunning promos. Aye! In-laws and bridegroom's brothers falling in love with girl were often spotted in World cinemas. Looks like Onir is vividly influenced by these flicks and of course realisms are blobbed here 'n' there. 
What speaks louder in Sorry Bhai? Not just a storming idea of Onir; it's a laudable performance by entire casts. Ennoble their performance with best words beyond 'Awesome' for they are merely naturalistic. Amongst all of Shabana and Boman, Chitrangada Singh steals the show with an enhanced performance than in her impressive debut 'Hazaron Khwashishen Aisi'. 
Siddharth Mathur (Sharman Joshi), a shy young scientist, travels to Mauritius for his elder brother (Sanjay Suri) Harsh's wedding. Accompanying him is his Ma, a reluctant traveler since she is angry at Harsh for deciding to get married without consulting them. Also travelling is Siddharth's cheery father, whose sole entertainment is pulling Ma's leg.Harsh, pre-occupied with work, can spend little time with his family and it is left to his fianc'e Aaliyah to show them around Mauritius before the wedding. However, Ma's anger at Harsh ensures that she takes an instant dislike for Aaliyah, and it is Aaliyah and Siddharth who end up spending loads of time together. This, added to the fact that Aaliyah feels neglected by the career-obsessed Harsh, leads to them being irresistibly drawn to each other. A horrified Siddharth battles this attraction desperately, but Aaliyah has fallen madly in love and pursues him with single-minded determination. When Siddharth's defenses start crumbling and Ma starts getting suspicious, all hell breaks loose in the Mathur family...The movie is a fun romantic comedy with lots of moments that will make you cry and smile at the same time.
An interesting drama inter-woven with good characterizations let's fall on lines above average. And then what makes its incomplete is the screenplay turning sluggish at certain levels. As mentioned earlier, the bold them may not be a ducky one for all audiences. It's quite hard to be consented, say in towns and villages'. 
Onir spells certain sequences that are undoubtedly top-notched. Perhaps, the gradual attraction blossoming between Sharman and Chitrangada is grabby-to-your-attentions. On the pars, an ingoing tiff over Shabana and Chitrangada leaves an impact of latent hostility established on characterizations. Grand round of applause for Sharman Joshi! It's been a commendable show on his part. Call it as his best performance ever on screen. With her naturalistic approach and alluring looks, Chitrangada steals the show. Fine! The biggies Shabana Hasmi and Boman Hirani swing with perfect chemistry on the screen. It's something more laudable than their previous venture together in 'Honeymoon Travels'. Though posed on a powerful role, Sanjay Suri gets out from the competency with amongst star-casts. 
On technical aspects, Sachin Vijay's enchanting shots of Mauritius are visual treats while musical score by Gaurav Dayal and Vivek Philip are off mediocre. 
On the whole, Sorry Bhai picks good response amongst elite group audiences of multiplexes in cosmopolitan cities. Doubtless, it would be merely contrastive scenarios in other centres for they would feel something 'demoralized values' from their perspective' 
Verdict: Watch it for Onir's bold attempt 
Rating:** ' 

2005 is fast turning out to be one of the best years for box office winners. With practically a success a week, the last week of August doesn't seem too different with No Entry hitting the marquee. And isn't the movie a lip smacking delight? Because just like a big helping of hot chocolate fudge, it continues to taste better and better with every passing bite, and makes you long for more till the very end. Inspite of its long duration, a viewer doesn't loose his/her interest in the movie and keeps nourishing each and every moment of the fun.
Welcome to the world of a hip night club No Entry, where sexy'n'toned Bobby [Bipasha Basu] works as a club dancer cum most desirable call girl. Amongst her many admirers, there is Prem [Salman Khan] who is as flirtatious as he can and globe totters half his life while spending his time with the girls of all breeds, colors and nationality. Inspite of his escapades, his doting 'bhartiya-beewi' Pooja [Esha Deol] never ever suspects him of infidelity.
Unfortunately it's just the opposite with his fast friend Kishan [Anil Kapoor], an editor with fast-loosing-on-popularity newspaper, who is as 'patni-vrata' as he can but still suffers from the constant look of suspicion from his wife Kaajal [Lara Dutta]. Inspite of being loved day in and night out, Kaajal keeps a close eye on each and every activity of his. Then there is Shekhar a.k.a Sunny, a crime reporter with Kishan's newspaper who comes across Sanjana [Celina Jaiteley] and falls in love after some funny situations.
Trouble begins when Prem continues to instigate Kishan on enjoying life beyond wife. His logic? It pays to be unfaithful to your wife because that results in a feeling of guilt and hence makes you love your wife even more ! Though the logic may sound unconvincing to many, since this movie written and directed by Anees Bazmee follows the David Dhawan school of comedy to the T, one needs to leave the thinking caps behind. After some resistance, Kishan surrenders to the temptation and Sunny arranges for his rendezvous with Bobby.
Kishan and Bobby meet and sparks fly. But as luck would have had it, Kaajal arrives on the scene. This is what begins a series of one lie after another. Kishan introduces Bobby as Sunny's wife. Now Sunny is in a fix because he can't lie to Sanjana. Meanwhile in some hilarious situations that follow, Bobby is introduced as Kishan's wife to Sanjana. In a 'bhelpuri' of confusions and some highly hilarious and entertaining situations that follow, 'No Entry' reaches its pre-climax with Sunny proclaiming to be Bobby's husband, in order to save his friends from any more trouble. And this is where Pooja enters the scene......
A movie like this can have only two results. Either the plot completely falls on its face with the confusions amongst the characters resulting in a high degree of confusions for the audience to comprehend. Or the other way around, where the situations are knit together with such a tight grasp and pace kept so fast, that audience do not get a single minute to think about any logic behind the happenings. Fortunately Anees Bazmee is very successful in making the latter result happen and that too in such a great manner that one continues to laugh long after the movie's screening is through.
The movie has number of strengths to boast of - witty dialogues, rich locations [South Africa, Thailand], excellent cinematography [Ashok Mehta], pulsating choreography [practically all the songs including Just Love Me, Dil To Dil Hai, Title song, Kahan Ho Tum], good editing by Sanjay Sankla [though the role of politican played by Boman Irani could have been conveniently chopped off] and music by Anu Malik that fit in the situations well. Background score by Salim Suleman is zippy and continues to make 'No Entry' a high spirited affair.
Anthony Kaun Hai? Oops...Manorama Kaun Hai? Last year, a tale of mistaken identity, crime and redemption was told in a light hearted manner in Sanjay Dutt - Arshad Warsi starrer ANTHONY KAUN HAI. This year, things turn a little serious, in fact quite serious, in MANORAMA SIX FEET UNDER. The question looming large? Manorama Kaun Hai? And is it a human being we are talking about? Or is it an object? Or worse, is it something non existant? And by the way, what is this entire theory of 'Six Feet Under'?
Number of questions. And all being quite intelligently handled by writer-director Navdeep Singh who certainly has taken his first step in the right direction. Of course there are some rough edges but that can be pardoned for the sheer will power and committment on Navdeep's part to say "Let me tell a different story in a different way". 
And different MANORAMA SIX FEET UNDER indeed is! Otherwise in how many movies do you see a mainstream hero [Abhay Deol] getting into the kind of mould (from characterisation perspective) which actors of the likes of Om Puri, Naseeruddin Shah and Pankaj Kapoor used to in late 80s when New Wave/New Age cinema showed it's unfamiliar face for the first time.
There has been homage to Shakespearean and other great writers in some of the films released this decade. Now get set to witness a tale that picks up it's thread from railway station book stalls where cheesy novels by writers such as Surendra Mohan Pathak, Kumar, Vikrant etc. have been selling for decades. So much so that the character played by Abhay Deol even has his pet name as Surendar Mohan. Some homage here!
As a suspended 'I am open to bribes' Government Engineer, Abhay Deol's aspirations to rise above the 'Manohar Kahaniyaan' bracket writer are fulfilled for a mere Rs. 20000 when he gets an offer of his boring lifetime to spy on Mr. MLA [Kulbhushan Kharbanda] by his wife [Sarika]. His job? Get an account of his escapades.
His wife [Gul Panag], who still holds grudges of 'you should have used a condom on the first night', does have her doubts about his detective skills but stands by him like any subsimissive woman. It isn't going to be any task though for Abhay who goes about clicking low resolution, ordinary quality pictures with his Rs. 900 Kodak camera. It turns out though that the bigger picture was much more than a dozen odd pictures in his camera.
Bodies start falling down and skeletons come tumbling out of closets. A couple of local goons, a mysterious woman [Raima Sen], an Inspector brother in law [Vinay Pathak], a local woman, a doctor, an orphanage runner, a nagging neighbor and a wheel bound old lady - all of them come together to turn around Abhay's life even as he struggles to find out the mystery behind Manorama and the connection which the name had with all the mayhem surrounding him.
Like any other good thriller, the beauty of MANORAMA also lies in the fact that the solution/evidence is right in front of you from the very beginning of the film with enough hints being dropped which are hardly caught by an audience. And when the secret unfolds, one tends to get into a collective gasp - 'Ok, so this was it'! Here too, Abhay explores the 'hows', 'whens' and the 'whys' at the risk of his life and the ugly truth does leave a bad taste in his month - literally!
Anything that doesn't quite work for the film? The pace of the film becomes slow at a couple of instances in the first half with the beginning of second half being a complete letdown. Agree that the small town laziness and built up of characters (mainly Raima) had to be brought to fore but from an audience point of view, it is expected that they would want the drama to unfold quicker.
It's okay to be purposelessly chic at times. 
Popcorn Khao...Mast Ho Jao belongs unapologetically to the cool school. It borrows heavily from the Archies comic strip. Newcomer Abhishek Kapoor makes a pleasantly scrambled Archie while Yash Tonk - full of cheesy chutzpah and gulping gusto-is Jughead. 
Tanisha and debutante Rashmi Nigam play demure Betty and Veronica.
Last year, the same campus formula was used in Ken Ghosh's Ishq Vishq. The dialogues in Popcorn Khao... and the performances are far more elevating and intelligent.
Debutant director Kabir Sadanand makes no bones about making a film that doesn't try to say anything beyond its romantic surface. Still, he surprises us in the second-half with some very tender interludes between the self-motivated Rahul (Kapoor) and the all-giving small-town girl with rock-steady values Tanya (Tanisha) who's so devoted, she cries when Rahul is mistreated by the neighbourhood femme fatale.
To our relief, there are no vamps and villains in Sadanand's scheme of things, no heaving highs (not counting the bosoms and thighs that surface in sloping splendour for the two utterly uncalled-for item songs) and no whimpering lows. 
The narrative moves at a tranquil pace, neither creating overt drama nor making a song and dance over playing it cool.
Having adopted the Archies formula, Sadanand goes back to many other more native sources to tell his story. 
The theme of the innocent musician's compromise and corruption in big bad Mumbai has its echoes in Raj Kapoor's Shri 420. You can, in fact go back to Aziz Mirza's Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman, where Sah Rukh Khan had to choose between 'love' Juhi Chawla and 'amibition' Amrita Singh.
The choice, as they say, is clear. Without raising a hue and cry over its moral preoccupations, Popcorn Khao... gives us a portrait of the Innocent Abroad as he wades through the concrete jungle trying to find a place for his restless spirit.
These deep ideas are not quite what this film aims at. While having a good time, Popcorn... does aim to provide an underbelly of simmering thoughts which are kept out of visual range but nonetheless mingle with the cosmetic emotions of characters who live on the edge of shallow waters.
Most of all, perhaps subconsciously, this is Kabir Sadanand's homage to Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Karan Johar's historic take on the Archies formula.
Tanisha and Rashmi Nigam are clearly modelled on Kajol and Rani Mukherjee in Johar's film. Many scenes featuring them with the hero also echo Kuch Kuch Hota Hai without blinding aping the source material.
Kajol's sister Tanisha, who made a disastrous debut last year, is vaguely engaging. Like her sister in Karan Johar's film, Tanisha is made to go from tomboy to sari-clad woman of the world who says: I've begun to say important things because I now understand the value of little gestures in life.
Rashmi Nigam wears the I-Am-Cool expression throughout the film. Maybe she's saving up the other expressions for later.
Akshay Kapoor in the author-backed role gives a surprisingly confident account of his character's confusions and ambitions. After Sammir Dattani, who made a spectacular impact in Uff Kya Jadoo Mohabbat Hai, Kapoor's is the only notable debut this year. 
Director Sadanand puts in an interesting cameo as a Hollywood-fixated star in Bollywood. He brings out the vanity of the average Hindi star with cocky conviction.
This is an out and out Anurag Basu film. Period. No if, no but!
For someone who got his first big success with MURDER and followed it up with a much better product GANGSTER, he takes you to a completely different journey called METRO.
And no, let's not even start placing the film into the bracket of episodic films. It would be criminal to do so. Actually it won't be wrong to say that it has become almost fashionable for media to paint a film as episodic since that appears to be the easiest thing to do. 
METRO is far more mature and delves into the lives of multiple individuals who are all connected to each other. So the movement here is from one scene to another rather than from story to another. This is where the strength of METRO lies. It's scenes. And it's dialogues.
One has to struggle to remember hard that when was the last time one came across such an utmost original script with excellent never-heard-before dialogues to boost the screenplay further.
Picture this. When 38 year old Irrfan Khan [who likes to be called 35] takes a little younger Konkana Sen to the top of the terrace and vent with a scream, he pats her on the back and says, "Good job, your servicing is done. Now live on with life." Or later in the film, when Konkana finally realizes her love for him, a flabbergasted Irrfan asks with a quizzical expression, "But all the dresses have been made to fit the girl I am about to get married".
Now that's what makes METRO entertaining even though the constant spats of Shilpa-Kay Kay Menon or the serious immersed-in-lust relation of Kay Kay and Kangana make you look forward to what 'worse' could happen next. And in the meanwhile, you know that somewhere round the corner there would be Irrfan and Sharman Joshi who would lighten up the screen every time they appear.
Sharman has always been adorable. Here he actually makes you weep a tear too as he plays a role which Shahrukh Khan describes as his saddest ever in YES BOSS. He is a man who just knows two words - YES BOSS, especially when someone wants the keys to his apartment where he could have a lusty rendezvous. 
He has his reasons though. He wants to grow fast and reach the top, though one fine day he keeps his foot down (and takes his key back) when he realizes that his boss (Kay Kay) is using his own bed to sleep with the girl he has always loved - Kangana.
On the other hand, a not-so-silent love blooms between Shilpa and Shiney, all in a matter of 4-5 weeks. He is vocal and persuasive, almost like a child, when all he wants is the company of the woman whom he started meeting on the streets of metro. He wants her to be with him with all her responsibilities and just wants to live on without any strings attached.
The setting, though complex on paper, becomes quite simple on screen, thanks to Anurag Basu who tightens the screws to make METRO a crisp 2 hours affair that makes you enjoy every moment you encounter....well almost! 
Moments between Dharmendra and Nafisa are feel-good to begin with. Scenes like Dharmendra jumping the railway tracks to meet the woman whom he had left 40 years back or eating 'kheer' directly from a 'kadai' do not fail to make you adore the man all over again. Surprisingly, in the second half, it turns out that the only reason for Dharmendra's presence was to have him mouth a few dialogues about life, its beauty and the regrets that one may have if life is not lived as told by the heart. Fair point, but one of those rare instances in the film that are clich'd. Also cliched is the way Shilpa reaches her eventual destination. Why go safe Anurag when you could have gone a full hog?
The Great Indian Wedding is back. And it's packaged in wholesome courses. Lots of good people, lots of traditional bonding, elaborate ceremonies, feel-good romance, scenic Indian interiors and how can a wedding be complete without a fair amount of teary eyes. Sooraj Barjatya's 'Vivah' is an ideal recipe for diabetes with a sweet-tooth script and handle-with-soft-gloves treatment meted out to this journey from engagement to marriage. But the belief, sincerity and conviction that he displays in Indian traditions, and the nascent charm of lead-pair of Shahid Kapoor-Amrita Rao melts your heart and you end up humming Ravindra Jain's melody'.Mujhe Haq Hai'With a smile. 
The maker of super hit family entertainers makes amends for the outlandish boldness of his last outing 'Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon'. For 'Vivah' transports you back to the jubilee days of 'Hum Aapke Hain Kaun'. Or, in other words, Sooraj is back to his roots. And he is in control. Whether it will attain the same kind of success remains to be seen but this much is for sure that with the marriage season about to begin coupled with a touching storyline, there's every possibility of 'Vivah' hitting the bull's eye at the Box Office. 
Lemme begin with a few vignettes from the film. Firstly, there's no point in searching for realism out here. You have to look at it from the context that the film is set in (You don't have an option anyways dude) where Ram Rajya prevails. Prem (Shahid Kapoor) respects his father, rich businessman Harishchandra (Anupam Kher) while Poonam (Amrita Rao) is the prized possession of her chachaji Krishnakanth (Alok Nath) coming from an humble background. He is a city bred boy from Delhi while she is a homely girl from Madhupur near Mathura. Their love germinates after their engagement at her simple North Indian house. Poonam cares for him becoming his inspiration to become someone on his own. Prem reciprocates her love in a touching moment in the later part of the film and it's worth a gulp in your throat and handkerchief-friendly-moist-eyes. 
If you are tired of superficiality of Ekta Kapoor's festival dance dramas on idiot box then the elaborate ornamentations, lavish preparation for wedding, the jalebis of North India, spicy eatables and designer costumes of 'Vivah' will be a welcome change. But there's something more in this family drama that will be difficult for Balaji brand to emulate. There's a lot of purity and compassion in the relationship shared by Prem and Poonam. It's not a put-on. The comfort level shared by the two actors is fantastic and it reflects in their tantalizing chemistry on screen.
Shahid Kapoor as new age Prem is a welcome departure from Salman Khan, Hrithik Roshan and Abhishek Bachchan's brand of Prem. He is subtle, simple, willing-to-learn and deft in handling emotional situations with a competent ease. The maturity displayed by him in the climax scene reflects the kind of person he is. It can very well be a turning point in his career. But the one who is going to benefit the most from 'Vivah' is the girl-next-door Amrita Rao who seems perfect to play Poonam. She looks gorgeously simple, pious, humble, dedicated and down to earth. She too handles the emotional content of her character with well-manicured-dexterity. Sooraj Barjatya brings out the best from Alok Nath for he performs brilliantly in all his films. Anupam Kher doesn't have any extraordinary scenes to portray while Seema Biswas as the jealous, smirking chaachi ji internalizes her complexes well. 
The problem with even a somewhat attractive film is that when it is in news for too long and doesn't get released long after its publicity has staled, the desperate measures to ignite curiosity at a late hour don't really work. That's exactly what happens with Abhishek Kapoor's 'Aryan' where Sohail 'Rocky' Khan liberally takes tips from the Sylvester Stallone boxing flicks and with a little help from Anand Raj Anand's foot-tapping numbers aims for a knock out punch. But alas'Seen-it-before-dude feeling doesn't salvage much good news for this tepid masala film. 
Aryan (Sohail Khan) is the best boxer in Coach Ranveer (Puneet Issar's) big plans. But wife Neha (Sneha Ullal) doesn't approve of Aryan's deadly sport. He gives it all up for wife and son but takes up the mantle of excellence once again. Neha has left him and he has no one to fall back upon. The entire premise is very similar to a plethora of escapades of Rocky Balboa as to how he gives it all up for family just to get back in the ring one more time for the sake of pride and dignity. 
First things first, how can you cast Sneha Ullal in the role of a mother. She is just way too young (and looks even younger than what she actually is) to portray the motherly figure. Inder Kumar as the baddie boxer is a way too over the top making it unbearable to sit through this film. Sohail Khan looks earnest. Alright he looks like a boxer but with that factory of teakwood on his face he just can't act to save his life. Sneha is a pretty face. But that's about it. Puneet Issar is the best thing about the film. For he looks like a coach and his motivation techniques are really inspiring. 
Anand Raj's music is consistently likable. Neelabh Kaul's cinematography is impressive and catches the various nuances of fights and emotional situations well. Finally director Abhishek Kapoor should come up with a really innovative idea if he wants to direct another movie. For this one hardly registers or stays in mind once it is finished. One thinks Sohail Khan has made the right decision of turning a director once again. For, at least he has some success to show there. As an actor he is not happening at all. 
FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA>Star Rating: * 
Flicks based on tinsel town aren't new to the world of cinema. Be it Krzysztof Kieslowski's 'Camera Buff' or Federico Fellini's '8 ''; these avant-garde films dealt with intrinsic something more than filmmaking. Precisely, it was far away from shooting spots of clapboards and 'Camera Rolling 'Action-Cut'. To start off with, 'Luck By Chance' is worthy to be called as the best of its kind. Earlier, the same producers brimmed with an extraordinary flick 'Rock On' and again, here's one more tremendous piece of work accommodating itself across the 'Changing phase of Bollywood'.
Hats off to Zoya Akhtar for a splendid debut! Unlike debutants, there is nothing to be called as 'amateurish' about her work on any quotient.
Ye Kaise Ho Saktha Hai?
When you've a legend Javed and a fantastic filmmaker accompanying her on the button, with a gripping storyline and perfect casting (including guest appearances of superstars) is what makes 'Luck By Chance' fantastic. The fantasy sellers and the devoted audience, the insane love for Cinema mixed with the eccentric notion of divinity and archaic beliefs; these are the contradictions that keep this world spinning.
The stark reality of living in India juxtaposed with the fantastical world depicted on screen suddenly begins to make sense'
Sona (Konkona Sen Sharma) arrives in Bombay with her dreams of becoming a film star. Wide eyed but ambitious, she does whatever it takes, to make it. She lives on her own in a rented apartment - a luxury for most in this bustling city, and spends her time with a motley crew of loyal friends whose lives are also entwined with Bollywood, each one in search of a bigger dream. 
Vikram (Farhan Akhtar) has just moved to the city leaving the comforts of his parents' Delhi home. He is a mover, he is used to getting what he wants and is smart enough to know when to demand it and when to manipulate it. He is young and handsome, and full of promise. Sona begins to enjoy Vikram's attention and affections; they develop a romantic relationship.
Rolly (Rishi Kapoor) is a successful but superstitious producer who only works with the biggest stars. He is making a potential blockbuster launching the nubile Nikki Khurana (Isha Sharwani), the 18-year-old daughter of 70's superstar, Neena (Dimple Kapadia). The hero of the film, Zaffar Khan (Hrithik Roshan), is Rolly's favorite superstar. He was launched by Rolly and went on to become a huge draw at the box office. 
The wheels of fate indeed continue to spin favorably for Vikram, as elsewhere in the industry, havoc spreads on the sets of producer Rommy Rolly's new film. Vikram is called in for an audition and uses this opportunity to the fullest. 
The film is about a slice of Bollywood life, in which "Kismet" plays a huge role. Here, notions of superstition, fate and destiny underline every life, as grand desires and opportunity converge to form strange patterns. 
In such an unpredictable climate is success and failure that others define for you' or is it something you decide for yourself?
As mentioned earlier, casting happens to be the most promising attribute for the film. Farhan Akhtar is marvelous with his casual air. The actor never seems to have exposed his strained take of performance in any scene. He's cool carrying off everything with his penchant for perfection. Not far away is Konkona Sen Sharma. The actress with her top-notching show emotes stupendously well in various situations.
She doesn't complicate herself while getting emotional outbursts. It's merely with her facial expressions and simple gestures that she emotes so well. Precisely, watch out for her final conversation with Farhan Akhtar on shooting spot, it is too good. A 5-star credit to Rishi Kapoor for an excellent performance throughout the show. Watch out for the reflections of disappointment on his face with a lowered voice, when Hrithik Roshan walks out of his project. And again, a glimpse on his actions while Hrithik congratulates him over the phone; he eclipses everything in the frame. His intonations of appraisals for Farhan like 'Volcanoes of Talents' doubtlessly gets us to laugh.
Dimple Kampadia's flare-up lines with her daughter are worthy of applause. Juhi Chawla in her minimal role is brilliant.
Getting on with superstars making their cameo, this isn't something of a lavish show. Apart from very few, everyone has a vital role to perform. Need an illustration? It goes off with Karan Johar's talk with Hrithik Roshan at Kareena's party. Above all, Shah Rukh's portion in the penultimate sequence is worth a mention with a strong substance.
Musical score by Shankar-Ehasan-Loy is of mediocre quality as only a couple of songs 'Bhaaware' and 'Sapno Se' do well on the screen. The same scenario persists with the background score as well but it is well established on few parts. Cinematography by Carlos Catalan offers an enriched visual quality with distorted tones. He has well-designed cuts with his innovative angles adhering to emotional touch.
This is more evident during Konkona's talk with her agent (First, both the characters focused clearly, towards the end, the camera pans depicting them in silhouette). Javed Akhtar's dialogues are gripping, especially with Konkona portion during climax.
Zoya Akhtar comes up with a good screenplay that's quite lively in the first half. But it turns to be slightly flimsy in latter part till the last few minutes. Nevertheless, an appealing climax diminishes those flaws.
On the whole, 'Luck By Chance' is sure to be loved by film buffs, multiplex audiences or those related with tinsel town. With no biggies slated to release for next couple of weeks, the producers can 'Rock On' filling their sacs with profits.
Verdict: It's worth a watch!
Rating : ***
Vijayta Films Pvt Ltd celebrates its 25 years in the Indian Film Industry a Silver Jubilee by presenting 'CHAMKU' which is scheduled for release on August 29, 2008. The banner proudly owned by the Deol family brings forth director Kabeer Kaushik of the 'Sehar' fame.
The film Stars Bobby Deol, Priyanka Chopra, Danny Denzongpa, Irrfan Khan, Ritesh Deshmukh, Rajpal Yadav, Arya Babbar and has apparently been inspired by a true story. The film depicts the journey of a male Naxalite from the southern interiors of Bihar, tutored under a covert governmental program 
For starters, the film takes off real well with a great amount of intensity. Director Kabeer Kaushik does well in capturing the interiors of U.P. and other naxal bound places. The intense action sequences , the gun shots , the bloodshed etc keep you really hooked on to the proceedings. 
As we move on and the character of Chamku starts revealing more of himself and things get a little weary. The usual love angle accompanied with hindi cinema creeps in and undue importance is given to developing the Priyanka Chopra-Bobby love angle.
Director Kabeer Kaushik who has been so tight with the screenplay of 'Sehar' suddenly makes you wonder whether it's the same Kabeer behind this flick. Chamku might know where he is headed but the poor audience is absolutely lost trying to figure out what the likes of Reiteish Deshmuk , Rajpal Yadav, Irrfan Khan are doing The journey moves from a childhood revenge to the naxal backdrop to the underworld and the world of bookies etc. To top it all there's Priyanka who drops in with the most predictable line-'Main Teri Bachey Ki Maa Bane Wali Hoon'.
As for the positives, it's the cinematography by Gopal and Bobby's performance that keeps you hooked on. Keeping aside the number of 'Fade Outs', the camera draws you in.
Bobby Deol excels like never before. You might have seen traits of his 'Chamku' performance in 'Badal'. The film truly belongs to Bobby who with his straight face says quite a bit. If elder brother Sunny was the synonym for' anger' watch out for Bobby. He excels real well with his bit and his look is just so apt. He'll surprise even more if you watched his lame act in 'Jhoom Barabar..'
Piggy Chops/ Priyanka Chopra is just wasted. Her bit in the film comes more as a hindrance to the flow. Her part brings in some lame songs and she just moves around flaunting colours of her 'sari'.
Irrfan Khan has a more confused bit in the film nevertheless does pretty ok. Ritesh is wasted and so is Rajpal. Deepal Shaw does a tiny bit. Danny Denzongpa is there for a glance. Arya Babbar gets his two minutes of action and his character is killed.
The music by Monty Sharma has nothing to offer. Not a single track to take back.
On the whole, Kabeer Kaushik who was so tight with 'Sehar', disappoints and gives way to the clich's of Hindi cinema to seep in. A let down from Kabeer 'Sehar' Kaushik.
Rating : **
Once upon a time he was the sleek specialist. But now, Punkaj Parasher's take on Paul Verhoeven's box-office hit Basic Instinct is so deplorably dull, you wonder why he ever bothered to get into it.
This is basically an extinct version of Basic Instinct. Or, we could say, this is Basic Instinct without Michael Douglas or Sharon Stone. 
Yes, we do get Manoj Bajpai and Isha Koppiker. Isha even does Stone's infamous interrogation by the cops sequence. But Isha does not cross the line.
We get scene after scene in the first-half vandalised straight from the original, including that famous shot of Stone's eyes peeping from behind Douglas' bare back, done on Isha, Manoj and the bare back.
Alas it isn't only the back that's bare in this unbearable adaptation. Though Parasher tries hard to instil a sense of suave empathy into his adaptation, the difference is palpable...and glaring. This is a thriller where everything hangs out. Every component appears to have been devised for effect. But the constricted budget with a vision to match show up with infuriating frequency.
In a sequence set in a bookstore, we see hardly any books on the shelves. The bankruptcy of vision is in character with the mood of the film. Nothing seems real, least of all the director's slapped-on sophistication energized by a train of wet-and-wild bodies. 
The hero is a cop who's also an encounter specialist. Kissa khatam paisa hajam, is his rationale for his trigger-happy conduct. 
Manoj goes from Clint Eastwood's Dirty Harry act to Nana Patekar's Ab Tak Chappan...then to Michael Douglas's Basic Instinct. Why, there's even a bit of Will Smith from Men In Black thrown in when Bajpai and his comic partner Sharat Saxena flip on their dark glasses with dazzling 'lan.
The derivative spirit gives the thriller a queasy spin. Characters such as the female shrink (Nethra Raghuraman) or heiress Isha Koppiker's housemaid (Sushmita Mukherjee) are so preposterously portrayed, you wonder what director Parasher was thinking. 
He makes cop Manoj and shrink Nethra do a mating dance all around an iron-poster bed pretending to be hot and sexy.
To make up for the utterly derivative first-half, the second-half gets wildly original. Basic Instinct is sacrificed for more scratch-level thrills...and I do mean scratch since the climax has the two leading ladies locked in a fist-to-fist while Manoj lies down on the floor and pretends to be dead.
He might as well pretend he never did this film. 
The heroine is a best-selling author whose words prove ominously prophetic. Characters begin to get bumped off exactly the way they're described in her novel. 
By the time we arrive at the contrived denouement we know one thing for sure. Paul Verhoeven won't be able to recognize this film as Basic Instinct.
When solutions aren't made in reality, cinematic approach gratifies it. Well, it's more patent with Manish Gupta's 'The Stoneman Murders'. With the most expected biggie 'Billu' hitting screens this weekend, this film excels on all vistas beating it. When realities are made fictitious in celluloid, it strikes our senses grabbing our attention, especially for the ones film buffs and wanna-be filmmakers. Yup! 'The Stoneman Murders' is much closer to this genre. It's based on the series of real life footpath stoning incident that gripped the entire city of Mumbai in terror during early 80s. When the case still remains unresolved in the records of Police diaries, Manish Gupta strides offering'Omega' in reels that's more shocking blended with surprises.
When sub-inspector Sanjay Shelar (Kay Kay Menon) is temporarily debarred for his violent nature, it's his senior officer Satam (Vikram Gokhale) assigning him to investigate an unresolved case personally. Sanjay has to carry on the riskiest task of pinning down the culprit brutally slaughtering innocent people across the platforms of Mumbai. Everyone's face is found to be mercilessly smashed with stone. To win back his lost credits, Sanjay has to break through various hurdles hassling his investigation and of course he has his rival officer Kedar Phadke (Arbaaz Khan) obstructing his each move
Manish Gupta deserves special applause for penning a stupendous script, but what makes his stop from striking gold is a screenplay bounded with clich'd elements. Perhaps, getting inspired from the 80s incident would have made him work on the traits of those auteurs during that period. Need an illustration? The protagonist, mistaken to be a culprit as he holds the stabbed dagger, the heroine removing bullets from the hero is more ready-made. Moreover, there are certain psychoneurotic aspects grabbed from yesteryear horror-thriller flicks. Again, getting on with negative attributes, the film has lots and lots of loopholes that can be spotted by a kid' Indeed, everything gets diminished with a stunning climax, at the point of the culprit getting revealed.
Kay Kay Menon with his puzzling-n-aggressive nature resembles more from his characterization of 'Mumbai Meri Jaan'. But similarities end as he treads on with uniqueness. Vikram Gokhale as senior officer does justice to his role while Arbaaz is middling throughout the show. Rushkar brims with hunky-dory spell and she could've pitched something more commendable.
On technical aspects, background scoring offers you chills-n-thrills at many points. Art director Satish does a brilliant job by getting us to the scenario of Mumbai in early 80s' Editing, though amateurish to certain levels goes well during the gripping narration at latter part.
On the whole, 'The Stoneman Murders' has lots of convincing factors for the audiences, particularly for those diehard buffs of suspense-thriller. But don't expect a much like the Alfred Hitchcock style.
Verdict: Worth Watching for the decent efforts.
The first question that comes to mind on way to watching 'Dansh' is - Will the movie turn out to be a dark dramatic psychological tale of three individuals, as the promos suggest? Or would it be a mere damp squib with debutant director Kanika Verma trying to walk into a territory not explored by many?
The answer to the first part of the question is in affirmative. Yes, the movie does engage you with its unconventional plot and though it may not be someone's idea of an ideal Saturday evening date, it would appeal to those craving for different subjects to come out of Bollywood. After Leena Yadav's 'Shabd' and Sudhir Mishra's 'Hazaaron Khwahishen Aisi', 'Dansh' is third such movie that follows an altogether different dimension when it comes to narration, and this is where its strength lies. 
Based on director Roman Polanski's Death and the Maiden [1994] that starred Sigourney Weaver, Ben Kingsley and Stuart Wilson, Dansh too revolves around three characters - a man, his wife and her suspected tormentor. In case of Dansh, the man is Kay Kay [Bhopal Express, Chhal, Hazaaron Khwahishen Aisi, Deewar, Sarkar], his wife Sonali Kulkarni [Mission Kashmir, Dil Chahta Hai] and the suspect Aditya Srivastava [Satya, Ek Hasina Thi, Matrubhoomi].
The movie is set in Mizoram and tells an untold story about the conflict between MNF [Mizo National Front] and Indian armed forces that began due to a natural disaster [famine], which resulted in the people of Mizoram turning against the Indian government. There is wide spread resentment that resulted in an ugly situation across everywhere. Peace appears to be round the corner with an agreement signed between MNF and the government in the year 1986. Though the locals still carried the feeling of hatred rooted in their hearts, the sane voice of their leader Mathew [Kay Kay] wanted to let bygones be bygones and urged everyone to start life afresh. This in spite of the fact this wife Maria [Sonali Kulkarni] too had fallen prey to the atrocities of the army!
Things seem to be settling down when a chance encounter with a Mizo doctor John [Aditya Srivastava] changes the lives of each of the three again. John too is a victim since his father was killed by MNF. Moving on in life, he was now settled in Mumbai. With a tragic past behind them and a shining future ahead, both Mathew and John meet at the house of the former for a round of drinks.
Twist in the tale comes with Maria's strong suspicion of John being her tormentor at an army camp where she was raped by him while she was blindfolded. Though she hadn't seen her rapist's face, her sixth sense was confident about John being a culprit. Its her turn now to torment the very same person and goes all out to make him confess to the crime, while he is tied on a chair. In this act of hers, she also pleads for support from her husband to kill him. 
While Mathew is stuck between caring for his wife and whether to trust her instincts or not, there are another events from the past that unfold. Meanwhile the one room setting with the three characters lead to a conclusion on 'did he' or 'didn't he'........
Movies like Dansh fall like a pack of cards if there are two factors going against it - a convincing screenplay and strong performances. Thankfully that doesn't happen in Dansh with both the screenplay and performances deserving full marks for sheer conviction. Each of the three principal actors have gone all out in coming up with realistic performances with Kay Kay [as always] being a scene stealer. 
A story that deserved to be told, it has a dark setting that is given a perfect mood due to Chirantan Das' cinematography. Dialogues are of the kind that one needs to listen carefully throughout without a break. 
In the last few weeks I have suffered some long-n-surreptiously-boring films. Hence I walked in with a fair amount of trepidation in a cloistered preview theatre to watch an east-meets-west titled film 'Deadline-Sirf 24 Ghante'. And two hour and a few minutes later, I had a big smile on my face as I emerged out having watched a well made film that keeps you engrossed from first frame to the last one. 
Who is director Tanveer Khan, I asked a friend during the interval? 'He has written all the films for Indra Kumar including 'Ishq', 'Raja' etc and also directed an eminently forgettable film 'Madhoshi' starring Bipasha Basu that sank without a trace,' he replied. Do you think 'Deadline' is a rip off of a good Hollywood DVD? 'Don't think so'Apparently it's based on a real life story of a well known doctor.' Hmmmm'..The respect grew further for the director and his craft. 
In an industry where the thriller genre is limited to Abbas-Mastan brand of tepid potboilers or Ram Gopal Verma's occasional hint of a genius, it is heartening to come across a thriller that doesn't kneel hard on shocking editing chops and blood-pressure-boiling background score. Instead, the sensitivity by which the story has been handled, no frills-attached song-n-dance and a surprisingly convincing climax keeps you riveted till the end. Alright, a few things have been taken for granted. Like'
The simplistic manner in which a big time heart surgeon Dr Viren Goenka's (Rajit Kapur) daughter Anishka (Jhanak Shukla) is kidnapped is a bit too bizarre. No security guards protecting a big bungalow'.Seems unthinkable in today's time and age. Even Roohi's (Sandhya Mridul) character need not have resorted to coquettish mini-skirted ways to seduce Dr Viren when she had to make him a hostage on a gun point anyways. Considering her true identity, the bare leggy part seems more for titillation than any other reason. Even the capsule that Anishka' mom Sanjana (Konkona Sensharma) mixes in kidnapper Krrish Vaidya's (Irrfan Khan) drink to raise his BP beyond permissible limits is a bit too filmy. Moreover, how can Dr Viren manage to assemble a huge sum of money overnight collected from various sources and delivered in a Delhi hotel (He lives in Mumbai) without arousing suspicion of his lenders? 
Apart from a few glitches, 'Deadline-Sirf 24 Ghante' is an absorbing film that keeps you interested throughout. What makes it even more watchable is its starcast. Irrfan's bordering-on-psychotic kidnapper is immensely focused and ruthless to the core. His motive justifies his actions too. The deadpan expressions and dripping-with-cynicism humour evokes admiration-n-applause. 
Zakir Hussein's Kabir is a bumbling-gold-at-heart kidnapper who strikes you for his grip over flowing nervous energy. Even his silent vacuous expressions say a lot. Konkona Sensharma looks a bit too young for being passed off as a mother to a six or seven year old kid. But if you leave that aside, as expected she is a treat to watch especially in the high decibel histrionics she displays while fighting hard with Irrfan or showing the mirror of reality to her husband. Her bonding and concern for Anishka is very real and contextual. 
Sandhya Mridul as a heartless-n-hard kidnapper never winces from doing what she is supposed to. Princey Jhanak Shukla as baby Anishka is a delightful kid who impresses with her performance (Especially when she has an Asthma attack). Finally Rajit Kapur as Dr Viren Goenka displays two sides to his personality and convincingly portrays both parts. The plight of a father superseding an ambitious doctor-entrepreneur comes across very naturally. Wish one could see him on big screen more often. 
It's a perfect example of the final product failing to match the enormous hype. For the convoluted plot, a stream of uninspired star cast, ear-splitting-music and a torturous almost-three-hour length makes 'Bhagam Bhag' a heap of suffering. And if you want the dope on the much-looked-forward-to 'comeback' of comedy king Govinda, then the news is overweight by at least twenty kgs. Need I say more! If you want to be taken seriously as a leading man and you can't control your weight and care to look good (that flab on the face is a good advertisement for a mutton shop), then you don't have any business of being in the showbiz. Except for a few stray comic situations in a typical Priyadarshan fashion, 'Bhagam Bhag' disappoints. It will be difficult for even Akshay Kumar to salvage this crazy-race-to-nowhere. 
Bunty (Akshay Kumar) and Babla (Govinda) work as actors in Sethji's (Paresh Rawal) theatre company. Their 'innocent' flirtations with the lead (Tanushree Dutta) results in a precarious situation as the upset heroine leaves them in a lurch (literally) while they were ready to fly to London for a performance of their lifetime. The race begins in gusto to get a new heroine in on>on>London. Nisha (Lara Dutta), the damsel-in-distress is the answer. But she suffers from suicidal tendencies. Or does she! She almost comes under guide Gullu's (Rajpal Yadav) English Taxi. 
Bunty, the B.A in English lukha dude romances the sensuous Nisha only to realize that she is married to Vikram (Arbaz Khan). Bouts of madness later she sets herself on fire'Allegations are thrown around'.Race begins again'.All this while there are volley of characters in search of pudiya (drugs) adding to the comedy-of-chaos. And then there's Shakti Kapoor-Razzaq Khan combo. Each more stupefying than the other. After a point of time, the gags stop making you laugh. Not even smile. As for Govinda'.It seemed as if he is acting out of his memory of the golden days when he ruled the roost. His role is nothing but an extended side-kick who pouts and preens, looks terribly haggard and out of sorts. 
The moments when Akshay Kumar and Paresh Rawal share screen space, it seems as if it is 'Hera Pheri Part III' (without the wonderful humour though). Govinda is not the only casualty in this film. Paresh Rawal in an ill defined role looks totally out of place. For people who were regaled by this genius of an actor in films like 'Hera Pheri', 'Hulchul', 'Hungama', Malamaal Weekly' etc. will be sorely disappointed. You can say Akshay Kumar is the best thing about this film but even he is far from his own standards that he set in films like 'Garam Masala', 'Deewane Hue Paagal' and 'Hera Pheri III'. His escapades with Shakti Kapoor, Rajpal Yadav and Razzaq Khan bring out some wonderfully funny moments. And you don't mind that they don't have anything to do with the flow of the film. 
Lara Dutta is passable while Tanushree Dutta is hardly there. She sizzles in the track 'Pyaar Ka Signal' at the beginning of the credit line and before you've settled in your seat she goes missing. For good.
Pritam's music is loud and bordering on crass at times. Except for Kunal Ganjawala powered 'Tere Bin', none of the numbers are high on Appeal Quotient. 'Afreen' is choregraphed beautifully but the Broadway Musical feel is way over the top as a music composition. Jeeva's camera work is fine. The real culprit is the dialogue-peddler Neeraj Vohra who has got it all mixed up. His lines evoke half a laugh but not more. No, he is not in the same form as 'Phir Hera Pheri' or 'Golmaal'. 
Before we get into the review of this caper, let me go off at a tangent. When I read the cast, I ruminated on the following points:
Feroz and Anil last came together in the dark Feroz production Janbaaz, Anil and Nana were at loggerheads in the deadly Parinda, Anil, Akshay and Katrina featured in the dull love triangle Humko Deewana Kar Gaye and Anil and Akshay in another melodramatic exercise in drudgery Bewafaa.
So how will these teams break the mould with Welcome? Could they go to the other extreme and make us genuinely laugh and have a blast?
Then I thought of Firoz Nadiadwala, who since 2000 has only been making crime comedies (except for the gritty but unsuccessful Aan ' Men At Work), never mind if they include terrible aberrations like Deewane Huye Paagal and Fool'N'Final. And director Anees Bazmee, who's delivered a copy-that-was-better-than-the'original in both Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha and the hilarious No Entry. Will he be able to deliver in his zany style, that too with a Firoz signature too?
Even the three music director entities have collaborated in all permutations in the past, with mixed results. And while Akshay and Suniel were a part of four Base Industries' films in a row and were missing from F'N'F, why is only one of them around this time?
And so I proceeded to watch Welcome, the latest in a long line of madcap movies (Partner, Dhamaal, Heyy Babyy, Om Shanti Om) that show that today's audience want star-studded laugh riots unlike in the past when comedies were poor small-budget cousins with about five exceptions in 25 years!
And do you know what? Anees Bazmee, who unlike David Dhawan and Priyadarshan takes comedy seriously (as he has said often) delivers. Critically, you can sit in an ivory tower, laugh as much as the frontbenchers and the kids of all ages, and maintain your hard-boiled, easy-earned intellectual image by writing a condescending review. But the film, in totality, works ' and works good.
And isn't it ironic that I have troubled my brain so much thinking about a film that sets a trend of being advertised as a 'leave-your-brains-behind comedy'? Why are they degrading their own films ' and above all the audience? Why not face the truth and accept the axiom that Subhash Ghai believes in ' that only intelligent men can make unintelligent films?
Yes, Bazmee keeps the characters and proceedings on a more or less even key, and Akshay and Katrina make for an eye-candy pair as they go through their turbulent love. Akshay is Rajiv, nephew of the immaculate Dr Ghungroo (Paresh Rawal) and Katrina is Sanjana, sister of mobsters Uday Shetty (Nana Patekar) and Majnu (Anil Kapoor).
There is no conflict of interests: both Dr Ghungroo and Uday and Majnu want law-abiding, nice spouses for their kids (so to speak). So - where's the catch? Well, the respectable doctor is aghast when he comes to know that his bahu-to-be hails from a parivar of pistol-purveyors!
And so begins the mayhem as Rajiv and Sanjana realize that they must bring the criminals to the straight-n-narrow path before their love can lead to the saat pheras. Dr Ghungroo, completely indifferent to the mafia samdhi's threats, isn't exactly the mob's terrified victim. And in any case, everyone's reckoned without RDX (Feroz Khan) and Ishika (Mallika Sherawat) who sashays in saying that she's Rajiv's childhood sweetheart and yet dangles a love carrot to the two gangsters!
India ' A land of enormous lingos, customs and religions fall invariably become united for 'Cricket'. Perhaps, some could wonder why cricket isn't picked as National Game since passion for this sport goes insatiable amongst millions here. Be a top-charting tycoon or a hapless chap, there are on with more enthuses when there's India in stadium. 
Of course, here our Meera of that same sort for who cricket is larger than her life itself. She is so adhered with the sport that she cannot afford to miss the game on her day of engagement. Don't mistake by these vistas, it's a film dedicated to bats 'n' balls. It's a genre of romance all throughout and lacks solidity from-alpha-till-omega. 
Well, these days we happen to spot filmmakers brimmed on with new innovative motifs. But appearing on the screen, they're disappointing with ill-timed narration. Naturally, Meera Bhai Not Out is off that sort where a novelty of filmmaker Chandrakanth Kulkarni gets spoilt by Soumik Sen's screenplay. 
Meera Achrekar (Meera Bhai), a mathematics teacher at Vishwaprem Vidyalaya, has been a happy single for quite a while now. The great love of her life has been, and will always remain, cricket and Anil Kumble. The meticulous number cruncher is, despite not being the classic eye-candy-teenage-fantasy-fodder, a huge hit in class. And that's because Meera, unlike most teachers of her school, is more fanatical about her religion, cricket than even the school cricket captain!Living with her family in their small home in a Mumbai chawl, Meera was initiated into her temple of Wankhede Stadium by her brother, Manoj (Mahesh Manjrekar). Manoj Anant Achrekar played cricket at the Ranji Trophy level. Sadly, middle class making-ends-meet economics got the better of the impressive Maharastrian leggie, and passion had to make way for responsibility. Mahesh is today a cricket cynic. While Meera bunks classes and fights for season tickets to every cricket match that is played at Wankhede Stadium, Mahesh even steers clear off cricket scores!While the folk at Bhaktiyog Society have cast aspersions on her craze towards the game, the bigger problem that worries the Achrekar family is Meera's still-single status. Love suddenly blossoms with heart-specialist, Dr Arjun Sachdeva (Eijaz Khan) and Meera realizes that perhaps there is more to life than praying for Team India and Anil Kumble! However, in between this fabulous exchange of text messages, Valentine's Day outings and walks along Chowpatty, she confesses to Arjun that she is already married to cricket!So, while the maiden's heart beats for Anil Kumble and India's fortunes, the more important question is: will Meera be able to commit to her non-striker beau and keep her prospective father-in-law at bay?
Meera Bhai is enjoyable in certain parts, but at many intervals there's flimsiness in narration showing up. As mentioned earlier, it's not a flick dedicated to game of cricket but a romance film. Be it the factor of 'Cricket' or 'Romance', everything is unappealing. 
What saves Meera Bhai from not getting out duck are the last few minutes of show. Imagine if one can spend couple of hours for experiencing the penultimate sequences. Yup! it's so ridiculous to see that Mandira Bedi on her day of engagement fleets to stadium for cricket match. Even if she's so passionate about it, the better option could've been glimpsing it on TV Box. It's out of the question in reality for a woman would urge herself to watch a match for Indian team, especially Anil Kumble sacrificing her most important occasions. 
Don't miss the cricket match between in-laws (Mahesh and Eijaz). It's the only area where auteur is worth winning grand round of applause. Perhaps, it would have been nice if they were spelled still more entertaining. 
Mandira does justice to her role and maybe director has tried presenting her with kind of image that many of our Indian women are so. Possibly, not adhered to cricket matches but Saas-Bahu manias. There is nothing such flaw painted on Mandira's character. Mahesh Manjrekar fails to make it big while Eijaz Khan deserves best credits. Anupam Kher with clich'd performance steals the show and it's merely disappointment from Pratiksha Lonkar. Anil Kumble is fair to middling with his minimal part. 
It's dashing down with our hopes with technical aspects. Neither music nor cinematography is so striking. Music Director Sandesh Sandilya seems to have put forth his best efforts on just one number for promos. 
On the whole, Meera Bhai Not Out isn't a delightful watch and 'Not Out' on the title maybe a faulty conclusion. Watching this film is alike Sunil Gavaskar scoring 50runs in 50 overs...
Verdict: Not an entertaining flick 
Rating : *1/2 
Audience has been thirsting for new subjects with every passing month and there is no room for complacency, especially for the fist time directors. With backup of producers like Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar, there is not much error margin available for debutant director Reema Kagti, especially with tremendous promotion helping the awareness about the film. This is the reason why you expect narrative to kick start on fast-paced note, especially considering the fact that the film is just two hours long.
Director Kagti doesn't disappoint in that aspect at all as along with the opening credits comes the introductions of each of the 6 newly married honeymooning couples on their journey from Mumbai to Goa. You can't help laughing along in the very first 10 minutes of the film itself due to the quirky manner in which the guide demonstrates his English abilities (or the lack of it).
You know where the film is headed (well....almost) as soon as the introductions begin!
Sitting with hands firmly clasped, Aspi [Abhay Deol, natural, yet again] and Zaara [Minisha Lamba, decent] look like one cute couple who may still be trying to figure out about bees and birds. Well, they turn into a dog and a cat as soon as the doors of their honeymoon cottage close! They walk the same, swim the same, think the same, dance the same steps, and well...even demand the same Fresh Lime Soda; all in same breath. You don't really expect 'humans' to be in so compatible. Will you?
Partho [Kay Kay Menon, flawless as a Bengali] and Milly [Raima Sen, very good] had loved each other from college times. Still being a lady who stands for being the 'woman-on-top', she loves to dance, go paragliding in a saree, shoo off petty 'goondas' with her karate chops and be on the top when it comes to bed games! And to think of it, Partho always thought that he had found a woman who would turn out to be what he wanted! And then he changes....for her, and himself!
Oscar [Boman Irani in yet another superb act and reminding of great Sanjeev Kumar] and Nahid [Shabana Azmi, where have you been ma'm?] are the most level headed and mature of all. As 'Mr. 
Bunty [Vikram Chatwal, likeable] and Madhu [Sandhya Mridul, please keep making more appearances] are the coolest of the lot. Hanging around with friends, dancing around with folks, drinking and making merry, they were the ones who were having the best times amongst all on this trip....well, almost! Because when the nights switched off, the story was completely different. What was it that made Bunty being averse to any physical proximity with Madhu? Was it she? Or was it him?
Vicki [Karan Khanna, good in initial reels] and Pinky [Ameesha Patel, understanding the nuances of her cute-n-loud character well] are one of those good looking newly wed urban youngsters. Opposites attract, but in this case the saying wasn't exactly turning out to be true. Pinky was influenced by Yash Chopra school of romance while Bunty had suddenly started getting aloof. And no, Pinky's talkative nature, her ever ready mood for romance and her love for anything that was 'pink' were not the reasons for that!
The two things that emerge from this haze of vapid and vaporous humor is the camera's commitment to the leading lady's figure and the director's obsession with food.
If the camera isn't focusing on Ms Sherawat, the director is busy creeping up on his characters biting, crunching, snacking and salivating as they gorge on edibles. 
Kis Kis Ki Kismat is the most aberrant comedy that man has ever committed to celluloid. All the dialogue, scenes and situations seem to have been rendered in a mood of reckless abandon. 
Director Govind Menon had earlier done two straight-off Hollywood rip-offs (Danger and Khwahish). In Kis Kis Ki Kismat, he goes original. Going by the results, you wish Menon hadn't.
The supposed satire is triggered off by the bullish hi-jinks of a stockbroker, inventively named Hasmukh Mehta. All resemblance to Harshad Mehta is purely intentional. And so is the fatuous characterization. 
A bit of the problem originates from Dharmendra's poor parody of a man whose riches are being squandered by his spendthrift wife (Rati Agnihotri) and a nerdish numbskull son (Siddharth Makkar).
From Hrishikesh Mukhejee's Chupke Chupke to Raj Kumar Kohli's Naukar Biwi Ka, Dharmendra is done with his quota of fun. In this film, he's a tragic shadow of the frolicsome comic virtuoso he once used to be, reduced in Sherawat's shallow company to mouthing lines like, It's gone up. 
Whether it's the sex or the sensex, director Menon is equally out of his depths. He seems to have conceived the entire project to spotlight Sherawat as an indigenous Marilyn Monroe. 
But sorry, that's a no show. Sherawat sings and dances in Broadway-styled musical numbers (set to the most atonal compositions ever created for Hindi cinema). She even lets her skirt fly up in the air, a la Monroe in The Seven Year Itch.
But Mallika's Monroe act is as exciting as watching an air hostess brief passengers on how to put on their life jackets. Her comic timing is downright pathetic. Batting her eyelids at poor Dharmendra or kissing his screen son (played by a newcomer), the actress goes from Murder to hara-kiri in this comedy of gross errors and mirthful misdemeanors.
Except for scant exchanges between Dharmendra and Agnihotri on the virtues of economic frugality (Paresh Rawal and Shoma Anand were far funnier in Priyadarshan's Hungama), there isn't a single funny line in this exasperatingly out-of-step comic travesty.
Menon cannibalizes from real-life characters. There's a journalist named Khalid (played by Kurush Deboo, the medico who sits in at the exams for Munnabhai), who's supposed to be sniffing around for a scoop on the stockbroker and his supposed girlfriend who happen to be in the same hotel at the same time.
All you can sniff out of this snuffed-out satire on the wages of affluence is the complete lack of grace in the pace. The humour is all in-your-face, and shockingly inept. 
Are we expected to laugh at a hotelier Sheikh (Satish Shah, struggling to stay afloat in a leaky buxom boat) who speaks wrong Hindi and Urdu? Or at a cake-throwing binge at a Macdonald's (who pays for the mess?) 
Or at a necklace that flies across the air and trips our Monroe? 
Less easy to comprehend is the reason for making this film. Forget about Sherawat's kismet...she has fans in China now. I am sure they'll enjoy the comedy. But why subject Dharmendra to such stuff? What have we done to deserve this marathon of misguided mirth? 
To think about it, the plot of DHAMAAL is as straight forward as this. There is ten crore worth of booty hidden at a park in Goa and there are five men after it. Four of them are good for nothing youngsters [Riteish Deshmukh, Arshad Warsi, Javed Jaffrey, Ashish Chaudhary] while the fifth is a cop [Sanjay Dutt]. Later they are joined by a wannabe-dacoit [Sanjay Mishra] and Ashish's father [Asrani]. Finding the booty isn't a rocket science in itself. It is the journey from Bombay to Goa which turns out to be one, courtesy the stupidity that comes so intrinsically to each of them.
With a plot like this, it is obvious that director Indra Kumar and his team of writers had to come up with a gag a minute to keep the momentum going for this two and a half hour film. They succeed to a very large extent as the first half is an absolute breezy. The response from audience is simply ballistic as one scene after another brings on rip roaring laughter and absolute entertainment.
From introduction of each of the characters to the obituary visits which follow to the interaction with an encounter cop [Murali Sharma] to the four being arrested by Sanjay Dutt to the vintage-car-running-through-the-forest to an eventual escape from Dutt's clutches - each of the scenes have been so well written and crisply edited there is literally not a single moment to catch your breath.
Over confidence of characters played by Riteish and Arshad coupled with Javed's hero-worship for anyone who is intelligent around him to a constantly whining Ashish is delightful to watch as there is not a minute that goes by when one is not rolling with laughter. In fact throughout the first half, the film moves in a manner as if it has already attained it's climax and could culminate any moment. That's primarily due to film's plot which allows the narrative to go on and on as long as writers plug it with witty one liners and interesting situations.
The second half begins on a promising note as well as the first 30 minutes continue to take you through a journey of an extended climax. The problems arise in the last 30 minutes of the film. Some of the scenes get on a never ending mission which threatens to dilute the terrific impact created in the first half. No, they don't bore you, but they make you strongly feel that they could have been much better by either being better written or not being there at all. Sanju's cliff hanging sequence, Riteish's constant escape from the dacoits, Ashish's problems with flying a private plane - they all bring on laughs that fade into smiles after a while.
What is unpardonable is the film's eventual climax that doesn't seem to end. The spat in the garden followed by hot air balloon chase and ultimate performance at a charity function are not just long drawn; they also do not go with the hilarious mood of the film that was so very well created till just about 20-30 minutes.
Still, all this doesn't take away from the fact that DHAMAAL is a complete 'paisa-vasool' entertainer as long as one is willing to ignore the dying moments of the film. Also, if at least 15-20 minutes could be edited in the second half, the film would turn out to be completely true to it's title.
That's because even as the show culminates, there are number of moments that you carry home with some of the one liners, slapstick and gags being truly amusing. Watch out for the scenes where Arshad and Javed take car lift first with a Bengali followed by a Tamilian. Riteish's imitation of Late Sanjiv Kumar is amazing while Arshad's calculation of a car's speed required to jump over a bridge gets on quite a few chuckles.
There was an 80s time period when Ramsays used to come up with numerous sex and horror products. In the 21st century, the house of Bhatts have played the sex'n'drama card pretty well to churn out numerous flicks belonging to that genre. 'Kalyug' takes the tradition forward and this time raises the issue of pornography emerging from the bedrooms of a common man. Director Mohit Suri, who made his debut earlier this year with 'Zeher' may have just created a record for debutants by coming up with another flick for the same producers before the close of year.
Porn industry is a 56 billion dollar industry worldwide - the opening slide conveying this information is good enough to set context for the theme of the movie. Beginning of the movie belongs to the Bhatts school of the movie making. The lead man Kunal [Kunal Khemu] is brought in a police van to the court and is surrounded by media people as soon as he steps. He is introduced to his lawyer who where he narrates his tale.
A Kashmiri migrant, he was working as a gym instructor in Mumbai. Soon he meets Renuka [Smilie Suri], an orphan, who had been sponsored by his father so far. They fall in love, get married and in order to get away from crowded Mumbai, spend a night in a hotel. To their horror, they are arrested on the charge of creating their own blue film and then selling the video off to porn websites. Distraught, Renuka commits suicide. The lawyer gets Kunal out on bail who has only mission left in life - to get back to the porn mafia that got his life to a standstill. 
He comes across varied characters like a hotel manager [Ashutosh Rana] in India while in Zurich he meets a porn queen [Deepal Shaw], a sex shop owner Ali [Emraan Hashmi] and above all the person who runs the entire show [Amrita Singh] who runs a telecommunication company but dreams of leading the porn world one day. 
How Kunal picks up one clue after another and reaches to the central protagonist of this racket while trapping her in her own game forms the major part of the story.
It definitely needs courage to even conceptualize a subject like this. And from the execution point of view it is even tougher as it needs to be molded as per the sense and sensibilities of the audience. In this regard, credit should go writer Mahesh Bhatt and the director Mohit Suri for keeping the subject in tight leash without falling for the temptation of showing something out rightly sleazy or provocative. 
One thing that seems to be missing in the movie's script is the entire nexus theory of the porn racket. Everything appears so simple and straightforward that one feels establishing an empire like this could be anyone's play. There are just 2-3 major players in the entire chain that hardly seems to justify the 'nexus'! 
This way Kalyug should be treated as a regular masala revenge potboiler [rather than an 'exposure' movie that many may have thought it to be] and in that way it works quite well. Though the flashback moments in the beginning are tender, one wants to get into a fast forward mode to get to the point. As expected the real drama begins as soon as the lead pair are arrested. 
But the real action begins as soon as Kunal is relieved on bail with the song 'Aadat' playing in the background. The chase that follows between Kunal and Ashutosh changes the track of the movie and Kunal's subsequent landing in Zurich makes viewers completely hooked on. Things turn quite dramatic in the second half, though the romantic build up between Kunal and Deepal could have been easily done away with. Song 'Thi Meri Dastaan' towards the pre-climax should be immediately chopped to let the drama dominate.
As a director when you have a story that brings together a real life family and a background set in Punjab, it is easy to fall into the trap of making endless trips to 'sarson ke khet', get into the 'mummyji papaji' mode, indulge into some 'desi ghee ke paranthe' and sing along 'hum saath saath hain'!
Anil Sharma doesn't do any of these and this is where the beauty of APNE lies!
He plays his game as real as possible and this is the reason why APNE turns out to be one of those rare flicks that doesn't look gimmicky at all in spite of an entire Deol family coming together on screen for the first time ever. Not just that, Sharma makes his characters real and believable on screen that makes his battle half won.
To set things straight, APNE is clearly a Dharmendra movie. Period. 5 minutes into the film and the picture is clear that this is going to be Dharmendra's show all the way. He is present in entire flick, give or take a couple of scenes, but don't expect him to get into a 'dharam-dharam' mode.
Since the film follows a believable route, Dharmendra plays a man his age who has seen life and has some regrets from it due to the false accusations that were laid on him when he was a heavyweight boxing champion decades back. An emotional man who doesn't shy away from dropping more than just a tear or two, he follows his heart more than anything else while looking for just a right heir whom he could train and feel the pride yet again.
The family's condition makes his elder son [Sunny] believe that boxing couldn't really provide means to earn a living while his younger son [Bobby] was helpless due to a partially maimed arm as a result of an accident in his childhood. This made him turn over to an eager-to-learn young man [Aryan Vaid] who aspired the same dreams of being a World Champion.
Even as the young man moves on to seek greener pastures, Bobby turns savior as his arm miraculously gets back into shape, in a few months time he becomes a globally renowned face and now he has one final hurdle to cross before he gets his father's pride back - World Champion Luka!
But that wasn't the case to be as he finds himself injured after a fierce battle in the ring. The man who now becomes the challenger? Yes, you guessed it right - Sunny!
Highlight of the film is the spark that is visible whenever Dharamendra and Sunny share the same frame. While Sunny makes an utmost attempt to appease his father who hasn't forgiven him since the day he decided to goodbye boxing, Dharmendra gets the emotions right when it comes to projecting the love-hate feelings for his son.
In fact it is a soothing feeling to see Sunny not clench his fists except for the last reels in the film and instead play a man who is seeking love from his father. Watch him get all moist eyed after most of his interactions with his father and you would know why. Meanwhile Bobby underplays his part quite well and gives a good realistic performance.
As emotional moments dominate the first half of the film, second half is full on adrenalin as majority of the 1.5 hours that follow are embellished with fights in the ring. While the first major fight between Aryan and Bobby is well shot, narrative reach an all time high with the introduction of Luka. The man has a very good screen presence while his dialogue delivery deserves a special mention too. Though 99% of Hindi movies have projected a foreign import villain as a parody of sorts, it is not the case with the actor as he has some notable scenes out of the ring as well and justifies his presence completely.
Do experiments always succeed? Not really. But should one stop experimenting? These are some of the questions that come in mind after one has finished watching Sujoy Ghosh's 'Home Delivery' who had come up with a delightful 'Jhankaar Beats' a few years back. While 'Jhankaar Beats' was one of the first commercial 'multiplex' movies to succeed, same cannot be predicted for 'Home Delivery' that neither takes off nor lands on a euphoric note. Yes, one can see that pains would have gone into making this experimental idea come alive on screen but sadly the final outcome is soggy and never-ending. One feels bad for the director as there was much more expected from him after a path breaking 'Jhankaar Beats'. Even if you leave Jhankaar Beats aside and treat Home Delivery as a separate entity altogether, its a movie that is difficult to digest.
The movie traces 2 days in the life of Sunny Chopra [Viveik Anand Oberoi], a columnist with the newspaper 'Times Of Hindustan' who thinks of himself as a 'know all' and has little regard for the customs and behavior of society. Jenny [Ayesha Takia] lives-in with him and is a sweet and innocent girl who is madly in love with him. In short, she is his complete opposite. Diwali is round the corner and Sunny has numerous things to handle. He has to bunk his office and mislead his boss Parvati [Juhi Chawla] since he needs to come up with a script for Karan Johar. Meanwhile he also needs to tackle his neighbors Pandey [Saurabh Shukla] and Gungunani [Tiku Talsania] who keep knocking his doors at inopportune moments.
To make things further complicated, he comes across his childhood fantasy Maya [Mahima Chaudhary], an actress beyond her prime, who was once a South Indian star and since then has dabbled in numerous regional projects. She dreams of working in a big Hindi movie and sees Sunny as a person who could help her realize that dream. She plans to visit his house and for this he needs to keep Jenny out. Meanwhile there is a serial killer P3P (Page 3 Psychopath) [Arif Zakaria] on the prowl and his next target is Maya. Deadlines, neighbors, love, lust and to further make Sunny's life exciting enters Michael [Boman Irani], a 50 plus Pizza delivery boy!
How all these factors combined together change the prospective of Sunny's life forms the crux of the story!
A plot like this can be told in either a conventional manner or presented entirely differently in a way that matches the vision of a new age director. Sujoy Ghosh obviously chooses the latter [nothing harmful in that] but an idea that would have looked wonderful on paper doesn't really come across as conventional on screen. Things tend to turn tiresome after some point of time and though there are occasional giggles and laughs at places, the final outcome leaves one a bit cold.
The first half is still reasonable with a viewer coming up with mixed reactions. One either loves it or hates it because one watches it with a different telescopic view altogether. One knows that the movie has been shot and presented differently and hence keeping that into consideration one expects the movie to take a turn for the better with the entry of Michael's character in Sunny's life. But sadly there is not much happening in the second half with things dragging on for the rest of the part. Though much had been said about Michael's innocence rubbing off on Sunny to make him a much improved person, that doesn't really cut across with the viewer in a convincing manner.
Patently, Cheenti Cheenti can be praised for being 2nd Indian non-mythological flick churned out and first animation film in India made in cell-animation (manual) using hand drawn pictures thereby ensuring international quality standards. There are more than 9, 60,000 drawings used in the film. Alas! Despites possessing such uniqueness, the film falls out of expectations, for loose-ends on every aspects and nothing seems to off top-notched quality. Of course, amidst of advanced animation flicks hitting across far-flung corners of the globe, the film doesn't prove of its worthy vying with it. R.D. Malik should've better made this flick, if he had something unique to deliver or else shouldn't have envisaged about it. Indeed, it cannot be watched just for the sake of tag 'Made in India'.
The story revolves around two kingdoms of Ants -redandblack: Near the pond, on the west side of a dilapidated bungalow, lie two kingdoms of the red and the black ants constantly at loggerheads. It erupts into a major showdown whenLaal Budda(old ant) is accused of harassing Kalibou, a hand maiden ofKaali Rani. She complains toKaali Rani, who insists thatKaala RajabeheadLaal Budda! Angered by the audacity of theKaala Raja,Laal Rajawages an attack on his kingdom. To make things worse,Lohitthe Laal Prince falls in love withKrishnathe Kaala Princess and elopes with her.
The supporters of theKaala Rajaare MightyGirgit...and the Frog...But some have vested interests. The Laal Raja also has his supporters, including the magicalBeyallis Karma. 
The film seems to have been produced just eyeing on kids, but then it's so precise even they wouldn't be entertained with this fallible piece of work. It's been a clich'd theory that most of animation flicks doesn't brim up with perfect screenplay. Merely, because the characterizations keep dominating and you wouldn't notice even the blatant flaws over there. Cheenti Cheenti' has caricatured characters that don't exert a pull on audiences. The most exemplifying factor would be so-called chameleon that never changes its colors and a frog that never stops croaking. More specifically, a mongoose that looks like a mouse is really ridiculous and this isn't the end, for you would point out a long-listed absurdities. 
Getting on with voices rendered, it's just Arsani who steals the show. But again, improper lip-syncs diminish the good credits. Well, looks like rest of dubbing artists haven't strained themselves for best efforts. 
Nothing great to speak about technical aspects; neither animation nor the musical scores goes convincing. Perhaps, the biggest spoil-factor of film is that it's 2-dimensional all throughout. 
On the whole, Cheenti Cheenti Bang Bang fails to get added with Antz or A Bug's life' 
Verdict: Better avoid it 
Rating : *
How do you spin a comic yarn about a rural, rustic-as-go bar village in a way that has city slickers convulsed with laughter? Ask comedy king Priyadarshan, or go catch Malamaal Weekly.
The first half, especially, of this funny tale set in the back-of-beyond Lahauli village is indeed a laugh riot, and even though it starts off innocuously enough, setting the premise about a village that's inhabited by poor-as-church-mice villagers, the story has you engrossed before long. 
The premise, first. Lahauli is a village that, like any other Indian village, is at the mercy of the weather gods. Small communities of farmers are fighting to survive against poverty, bad weather, and a bad harvest. And when there's drought, the villagers can only take recourse to pawning off their possessions, and even as the queues of poor rustics waiting to pawn off their possessions gets longer at her door, the villainous land lady Karamkali (Sudha Chandran in a caricaturish role) gets richer. 
One of the villagers is a lottery vendor Lilaram (Paresh Rawal, brilliant as ever). Forget about where more than a 100 villagers get the money to buy a lottery ticket each, but the fact remains that Lilaram does sell them, and now that he's lost all his land and cattle to Karamkali, he can dream only about the 10 percent commission he stands to make should one of the lottery tickets he's sold emerge a winner. And so, one day, he is shocked to learn that one of his tickets has come up trumps and bagged the first prize of one crore!
But to bag his commission, he first needs to find out which villager has the winning ticket, and so begins a desperate and funny quest for the winning lottery ticket. Lilaram pawns his 'son' (actually a goat kid his poor wife's devoted to) to Karamkali, and invites the village to a feast. The only string attached to the invitation? Only those who've bought a lottery ticket from him can attend, and they must bring the ticket along.
And guess what? Everyone turns up, except one man. The old drunkard Joseph Anthony. And when the penny drops, Lilaram packs some kheer and slips away towards Anthony's house to tell him the good news that he's won the first prize, and to claim his commission.
But Anthony is dead on arrival! On Lilaram's arrival into his house, that is. With the winning lottery ticket clutched in his hand. Once Lilaram realizes Anthony is dead, he decides to keep the ticket and claim the prize. And even as Lilaram is trying to pry it loose from the dead Anthony's grip, the village milkman Ballu (Om Puri again, brilliant as ever) turns up, and thinks Lilaram has killed Anthony. So now, Lilaram, dreaming of a crore, has a partner, Ballu, and both decide to do away with Anthony's body before anyone catches them. Which does happen. Kanhaiya (Riteish Deshmukh), who works as a cowherd for Ballu and is in love with his daughter Sukhmani (Reemma Sen) stumbles upon the middle-aged duo, and before long, the number of partners increases to three.
From here on, the list of wannabe lakhpatis grows by the minute, till half the village is in the know, and all led by the bumbling yet smart Lilaram, followed by the simpleton Ballu.
Meanwhile, we're treated to the antics of the wastrel Raj Bahadur (Rajpal Yadav), younger brother of Karamkali, whose favorite pastime is to do get a crony to splash muddy water on women and then do the Peeping Tom when they change in a public 'bathroom'! One day he watches Sukhmani and there and then decides he wants to marry her at any cost. 
So, to half the village's mad quest for the lottery ticket and its winnings, we now add the tussle between Raj and Kanhaiya for Sukhmani's hand in marriage. 
Here comes the release of a film that has been in the festival circuit for a while. Rajat Kapoor takes up the directorial reigns after films such as Raghu Romeo and Mixed Doubles. So, what's in store for us from a filmmaker who loves exploring the 'niche' with 'niche' subjects?
The film takes off with VK ( Ranvir Shorey ), an aspiring actor who has come to Mumbai, like thousands of others'hoping to make it big. He dreams Shakespeare but his reality is more of cartoon fare. The world deems him to be a 'loser', 'unlucky' is more his take on the situation. And then, one day, fate smiles on him'well, almost.
He gets a break, it's the role of a lifetime and it's packed with action and drama! VK finds himself unknowingly drawn into a whirlpool of events and ends up as a pawn in an underworld plot. VK's face resembles that of Don Raje. The rival gang headed by Shetty (Saurabh Shukla ) and Gawde (Naseeruddin Shah) now exploit the situation by kidnapping VK. It's now time to groom Vk-which is done with the help of the Don's chic-Sonam (Neha Dhupia) who is a wannabe actress. Vk now replaces the Don.
Money, conspiracy, deceit, betrayal, lies...it's the stuff the Mumbai underworld is made of. And VK is about to reluctantly taste all of it'and perhaps a little more. Mithya is a story about destiny and its uniquely ironical ways'humour, drama, romance, suspense and much more. 
Mithya indeed takes off as one the finest films that one would have seen this year but eventually post interval the film dips tremendously. The dip is an outcome of the complete change in genre attempted by Rajat Kapoor and his team which primarily involves Saurabh Shukla as co-writer. The film takes off smoothly as a film with great humour and great performances, it then slides into a much 'Bhai-Bhai, Bhaigiri ' film. Director Rajat Kapoor in an attempt to try and be 'niche' has indeed succeeded at being 'niche' but maybe his flow of events in the film might just loose grip from the audiences. 
No doubt the film is high on performances. Ranvir Shorey is just so natural both as Vk and the Bhai. He rips you apart with laughter in sequences where he cribs over his lunch menu offered by the goons. Another sequence to watch out for is the Tinu Anand 'Ranvir interaction in the don's office. When you see all this you really wish that Rajat would have just left it as a comic film. 
Naseerudin Shah is impressive as the rival Don. He expresses well with his frustration sequences and depicts anger with ease via his tone of voice. Saurabh Shukla makes you giggle even when he tries to be serious. Vinay Pathak is a little underused in the film but is really funny as the nutty goon. Neha Dhupia doesn't have much to do in the film but brings in that glamour element. She does much better than most of her other films. Harsh Chaya does well.
Well all in all the film would have been much better provided the writers (Rajat Kapoor and Saurabh Shukla ) didn't mix things up a bit too much. The complexities in the film don't entertain. The 'Amnesia' element introduced in the film just confuses the plot even more, in fact the 'Amnesia' factor isn't convincing at all. The ending too is a little bit silly. 
Considering the fact that the film was made way back and has been a film festival material , do go ahead and watch it for such performances are rare. Do note that Sagar Bellary ( director of Bheja Fry) was an associate director on this project.
With already a film such as 'superstar' carrying the double-role element with a mix of action, drama and songs releasing simultaneously; Rajat Kapoor's Mithya is definitely for the multiplex audience.
Rating : **
They take their marriage vows in front of the Taj Mahal, promising to see each other through life and death... And then they go right back to doing what they like best: conning the junta of its easily gotten money.
Meet Bunty and Babli. They aren't your average running-around-trees-shooting-the-breeze kind of lovebirds. Bunty and Babli are special, and not just because they are played by the very special Abhishek Bachchan and Rani Mukherjee.
Shaad Ali, whose debut film Saathiya was about a working class marriage gone unpleasantly awry, here sinks his teeth into a finely written caper that moves our endearing couple with devilish dexterity through a series of corny-and-funny encounters with petty crime.
Some of these caper situations are decidedly unique to Hindi cinema. Come to think of it, Shaad Ali's narration sets out to achieve an impossible dream: it makes the dreams of two small-towners the fulcrum of narration, and makes these dreams both funny and sad, sometimes both at once.
The way Rakesh and Vimmi meet on a desultory railway station in a dusty town of Uttar Pradesh seems almost like a parody of Mani Ratnam's Dil Se where Shah Rukh Khan spotted the forlorn figure of Manisha Koirala in a remote corner.
Shaad Ali loves trains and other modes of communication for the working class. Dammit, he loves the working class! Not too many filmmakers today dare to follow small town dreams. Like Saathiya his romance is rooted to a real milieu. But there's a difference in Bunty Aur Babli. Here the couple's escapades border on the bizarre.
The way Rakesh invents doubles for the two-some is a tongue-in-cheek swipe at armchair psychology. All the criminal activities that the pair indulges in is the handiwork of the couple's doppelgangers, alias Bunty Aur Babli.
The comfort zone that Abhishek and Rani create for their characters' comic romp is mystical and yet earthy. 
What was the need to suddenly brake on the burlesque mood, and put the pair in a lengthy erotic song?
At such times, Shaad Ali's considerable pluck plummets. You wait for him and the film to survive the compromises that creep into the second-half. But the joie de vivre and kinetic energy of the pre-intermission phase never quite returns. 
Oh well, enjoy the blizzard and the blast of ruggedly visualized episodes while they last, as the two dreams steamroller their way through a stupendous rush of celluloid adrenaline.
It's regrettable that the film's deeper darker beyond-caper thrusts get drowned in the din of dusty retribution in the second half. As their blast from the past catches up with Bunty Aur Babli in the form of a scowling sneering cynical cop (Amitabh Bachchan) the caper kingdom of the innocuously anti-social protagonists falls apart.
It's the fun fiesta of petty crime that irrigates the strange and satirical world of Rakesh and Vimmy, also known as Bunty and Babli. Abhik Mukhopadhyay's camera captures the dusty crusty rusty and thirsty milieu of north India in shrieking silhouettes. 
In the opening song Dhadak dhadak, we are introduced to the dreams and yearnings of the twosome with an infectious gusto. Indeed Rani Mukherjee and Abhishek Bachchan transform into the deviously self-gratifying heist-makers with a feisty passion. Their faces and body languages convey the eagerness of eagles waiting to take wing.
When the promos of RED started being aired on television, it didn't take much time to be hooked on to them. There was enough intrigue being built over the weeks and smart mixing of songs, talkie portions, teasers and promotional videos ensured that as a viewer you were left guessing about what the film was all about - in a positive way! Something which truly works for a film of this genre since for any thriller-suspense drama to work, especially shot in a noir format, it is imperative that there is not much revealed about the basic plot of the film.
As the film came closer to release, one thing was for sure. Either the film would be quite good and turn out to be one shocker in itself, or it would be one of those run-of-the-mill cinema that has been packed in a different way and sold in a glitzy manner. There was no middle road expected out of RED.
Sadly, what one gets to see is the film that belongs to the latter variety i.e. utterly lukewarm and hardly exciting. No Vikram Bhatt, expectations are much higher from you, one of the rare film makers who has worked on variety of genres over the years, and RED is certainly not your calling card after a series of box office failures.
A thriller in the offering, RED is about Neel Oberoi [Aftab Shivdasani], a billionaire and Anahita [Celina Jaitley]. But no, it is not about their meeting together and love blossoming. They meet in rare circumstances. It so happens that Neel meets with a massive accident and now requires a 'dil' for himself. As luck (or the lack of it) would have been, Anahita's husband dies and his heart comes to Neel's rescue.
With Anahita's hubby's heart in him, it was quite obvious for Neel to search for her and soon fall in lust (let's call it love) with her. A powerful mix of lust and some Himesh Reshammiya tunes later, Neel realizes that world is not as black 
Dark secrets start tumbling out of the closet and Neel is informed by Anahita [and that's the key word - informed!] that her best friend Ria [Amrita Arora] was responsible for the death of her husband. Mad in lust and engrossed in love, Neel is now ready to take to crime himself. Anything for a romp on the bed and wipe away the tears of his lady-love, you know!
But is the truth really about what he knows? Or is there a bigger game out there? Is Anahita as innocent as she sounds while Ria as evil as she is made out to be?
Even reading through a basic storyline like this makes you guess right away where the film is heading. And why not? After all such scripts have been beaten to death in not just dozens of films but even Doordarshan detective serials that used to be aired more than a decade back. So how could a subject like RED would have been made an interesting cinematic experience? By giving it a different narrative!
This is what Vikram Bhatt do and succeeds to an extent as well. Telling a story in a noir format, he brings the audience at the edge of the seat in the very first few minutes of the film. A dark drama follows and you look forward to the turn of the events on the screen. Excellent cinematography and the color shades used for filming RED only makes you curious about the proceedings as it just about seems that Bhatt is back to his vintage touch - something that was prevalent in films like RAAZ, KASOOR and GHULAM where he didn't take much time in coming to the point.
Never-seen-before indeed! 'Shoot at Sight' strides with an enamoring motif with rigid characterizations. Obviously, it's about bomb blasts, violent attacks, racialism, Islamic individuals wedged in troublesome moments and clear-cut terrorism. Probably, you should have watched out these ready-made affairs a million times in Indian films. But the niftiest backdrops where these matters get blended surmounts to our surprisals. Yup! traumatizing incident of July 7 London bombings happened to be a global issue and Jag Mundhra strikes with this trenchant piece of work on celluloid. 
Reality really bites, isn't? It's more illustrious with the success of recent flicks based on similar issues topping the chart at box office: 'Mumbai Meri Jaan' and 'A Wednesday'' The very motifs in these films centered about the shocking impacts of bomb blasts in individuals' lives. Of course, 'Shoot at Sight' falls under the same genre and it is sure to touch your feelings. 
UK Government doesn't tolerate the serial bomb blasts in London. Straightaway it orders Scotland Yard Department to bump off anybody, if they are suspected to be terrorists. Regrettably, An English Cop (Ralph Marber) triggers out bullets on an innocent Muslim bystander. A Pakistani by origin, senior officer Tariq Ali (Naseeruddin Shah) born and brought in England, married to a British woman (Greta Scacchi) is assigned to investigate this case on Marber. Investigating this case doesn't seem to be a big deal, but as Ali sees Marber as racist, he is victimized by media channels and his senior officers for being a Muslim.
Drenched in such a problematic situation Tariq is unaware that his close friend Junaid (Om Puri), an overzealous Islamic Priest is involved in persuading young souls of his community and one among them is Ali's nephew Zaheer (Mikaal Zulfikar). 
Distrusted by both his superiors and his fellow Muslims, Tariq finds his inquiry hampered from all sides. Eventually, evidence surfaces pointing to the slain man's innocence, as well as the existence of a terrorist cell operating in his own backyard is spotted' Now, it's time for Tariq to face the realization that sometimes, the right decision is the hardest one to make.
Something that strikes your mind is the hard-hitting lines uttered by English Cop during the interrogation, "All Muslims are not terrorists, but all terrorists are Muslims". It leaves a great impact from characterization's perspective. On the pars, there goes one more line from Islamic Priest, "Whether he is a Muslim first who happens to be a police officer or a police officer first who happens to be Muslim". Nevertheless, you have got nothing to nail down on justification of both the sides. Moreover, it's just about revealing the blatant flaws and argumentations on both positions. Director Janmohan Mundhra leaps with laurels by just revolving about minority communities venturing through problems. Hats off to him for not blending this fiction with clich'd lines of patriotism: where protagonist has to give tongue for long speeches and transforming the masses. 
Well, there are more rigid reasons that keep you singing appraisals for auteur. For many filmmakers, exotic locations of London have been dreamlands for canning entertainment flicks or at the least a song of dream sequence. But getting to spot the same place with different dimension is something fresh in flavor. You never notice, establishing shots of beautiful locations at any extents and it's a practical London here. 
'Marvelous', 'Wordless' and what else? Put the best words of appreciation for Naseeruddin Shah. So naturalistic in his performance, he looks apt with his gestures, enunciating dialogues with perfect accent, Naseeruddin excels with finesse. Not too far behind is Om Puri. Watch out for his mannerisms and again unique style of articulations, he simply scintillates. Gulshan Grover has been established with well-brought-up character, but gets lost somewhere in the mid and auteur should have bit worked on this. Ralph Ineson's knavish kind of character has been precisely depicted. Greta Scacchi, Laila Rouass and Mikaal Zulfikar deserve good credits for their decent performance. 
What makes the film so unique in its narration is that it just focuses straight into the issue. Director Mundra doesn't seem to have strained himself on unwanted surprises and it's really good to see a film under genre of Drama-Thriller (not many filmmakers of Bollywood opt for it). Indeed, certain aspects in the screenplay, especially the climax sequence are easily predictable. 
But the astounding performance by entire star-casts and perfect direction keeps you adhered to screens, arresting your senses. 
On the whole, 'Shoot at Sight' is a flick that shouldn't missed. A grand round of applause for entire team' 
Verdict: Spellbinding film to watch
Rating: ****
Flamboyantly influenced by best Hollywood flicks Rob Reiner's The Bucket's List and Wayne Wang's The Last Holiday, Shashanth Shah pitches a spellbinding deliverance with 'Dasvidaniya'. Splendiferous jaunting of an individual of rediscovering himself on the course of accomplishing his list of 'To do 10 things before I die'' Dasvidaniya merely dribbles with traces of these Hollywood flicks and auteur has lassoed something innovative in terms of narration. Yeah, Shashanth glues us together with the protagonist excogitating ourselves with his characterization. Of course, this USP draws not just multiplex audiences, but 'B' Centres and front-benchers.
Well, for film buffs and critics, Dasvidaniya must be congealing everyone high-spirited, since it's illustrious of Bollywood's changing phase. Gone are those days, where actors with their 'hero worships' savored to the tastes of audiences. Now, it's the other way around as audiences precisely distinguish an Actor and performer. On the buttons, Vinay Pathak is just over-the-top as a performer and Shashanth Shah, a cr'me de la cr'me filmmaker.
Dasvidaniyais bittersweet situational comedy about a man Amar Kaul (Vinay Pathak), whose existence is easily forgotten among the millions of people in the pool of Mumbai's ever-increasing population. Shy and quiet Amar lived a mundane run of the mill life. His existence was non-existent to people around him. His innocence and his obsession for making his daily TO-DO LIST every morning is what motivates him to look forward to the next day.Then one day a doctor told him that, he will die within 3 months. And then begins a journey of a lifetime for Amar, where he sets out to write his FINAL LIST. The List of 10 things to do before he dies, the List that would make his life worthy, before it actually ends. As the countdown begins, does Amar Kaul succeed in fulfilling the final tasks to do on his wish list ... and in the course of doing them, realized than he has been dead all along until now.Amar is symbolic of all those people who have always wanted to do things but kept them on hold.
To get on with plotline, it's merely wonderful that turns the entire spotlights and it's a fantastic-directorial by Shashanth Shah. Of course, he has imbibed few sequences from The Last Holiday; protagonist's encounters with boss, proposing to his ladylove at critical minutes, they're similar. Fine! It's as elating as these episodes makes your lips sparkle with smiles. 
Getting on with performance; Vinay Pathak steals the show with top-notching nonpareil performance. As mentioned above, he's an exemplification of extraordinary performer breathing life on his persona as in his previous flick as protagonist in 'Bheja Fry'. How about rest of the star-casts? 'Wordless', each one comes up with magnificent performance. Saurabh Shukla spells first-class action and Neha Dupia lives under the skin of her characterization. Rajat Kapoor, Sarita Joshi and Gaurav Gera do justice to their roles while it's just a middling act from Ranvir Shorey.
Shashanth works his magic making you smile at times, soaking your eyes with tears and moreover making everyone reflect with characters. Nevertheless, fine-cherishing moments slightly seem to be diminishing in latter half and you call it a sluggish screenplay. Well, Shashanth steps out from box-of-blame and it's Arshad Syed who should've headed off with flimsy parts. 
Musical score by Kailash Kher is pretty well on 'Alvida' and 'Mumma' swaying with different paradigms. Well, cinematography by Arun Varma and Aseem's editing leaps with ne plus ultra on all moments. 
As a whole, Dasvidaniya rivets for its simple tale and heart-binding emotions. Perhaps, if scriptwriter had avoided sulky parts, the film would have basked to all centers.
Verdict: Shashanth Shah ' The Olympian in Bollywood 
Rating: ****
"Tum Itna Bolke Thak Nahi Jaate" - this concluding statement by Neha Dhupia when Jimmy comes to ask forgiveness from her pretty much sums up what DELHII HEIGHTS is all about. There is so much of talk with less of drama and some meaningful action happening throughout the course of the film that it is but obvious for an audience to get restless.
To top it up, there are some real strange things happening as a part of the film's screenplay. Some scenes go on and on and on [like the climax or the one where a confused Simone Singh tries to make audience even further confused in her 'I will live with you/I will not live with you' conversation with her flirting husband Rohit Roy].
On the other hand some of them just get over when one thought that there is some conversation about to build up. Yet again Simone's scenes take the cake as she tends to make abrupt exits, especially in the eateries. First she catches the 'living in forever and just married' couple Jimmy and Neha in a 'Yo China' kinda joint and excuses herself suddenly before one could say 'momo'. Later when she sees Neha browsing idly in an outdoor coffee joint, she comes, delivers a 'thank-you' note for Neha's 'ideal marital' life being her inspiration and then says tata!
Ok, so thankfully it is not too much about the 'times and tribulations of three couples' kinda drama. Frankly we had enough of it. But even as Jimmy/Neha have been thrust upon the responsibility of anchoring a film with Simone/Rohit and Om Puri/Kamini being at the peripherals, there is hardly any interesting sequences that stay with you.
The beginning is extremely lukewarm even as a bored narrator tries to get the film started with a clich'd saga of 'saddi dilli' and stuff alike. You expect the film to take off but the direction seems to be so loose with disjointed sequences and extra long pauses between one scene and another that one wonders if you are watching a television soap instead.
It could have been an absolute mayhem if the performances by Jimmy Sheirgill, Neha Dhupia and Om Puri wouldn't have been competent enough. While it is now as expected to see Jimmy perform even the most half baked roles [as the one here] with fill conviction, what really comes as a delight is Neha's comfort in front of the camera. To her credit, she is least conscious of the camera as she performs her most natural performance ever.
If in JULIE she was required to be all fiery, here she is subtle and convincing as a Delhi woman who is trying her best to balance between her demanding corporate circles and a husband who for some strange reasons isn't even willing to talk in order to solve the misunderstandings that have crept in. And to think of it, they are shown to be knowing each other for 5 years!
There are just no ups and downs in the film. Just when you thought that there would be some interesting moments after the interval where Jimmy starts suspecting Neha of having passed on some critical contract details to her own company, he just stops talking to her. Worse, she goes to her parents place and that only brings something to cheer about [how selfish of us!] as the best 5 minutes of the film come in the form of the delightful song 'Tere Bin' by Rabbi.
Kya Main Aapse Aapki Maa Ka Haath Maang Sakta Hoon [Son, can I ask you for your mother's hand] ?
In any other movie, a statement like this would have met with a hilarious yet mocking response. But not in case of 'Pyaar Mein Twist', where this dialogue is welcomed with utmost grace with a nod of approval from everyone in the theatre. That's exactly where the beauty of Hriday Shetty directed 'Pyaar Mein Twist' lies! A movie that could have become a laughing stock if handled by someone less competent, thanks to Shetty's sincere and sensitive direction, it maintains its grace and charm throughout the 2 hour duration.
The movie is also special for one more reason - the lead couple. After all, how many times more would you see Rishi Kapoor and Dimple Kapadia walking on a beach while experiencing the pros and cons of having beachside 'golgappas' [water balls]? A feel good movie that has a heartwarming impact, PMT is a mature love story told in a simplistic fashion that should appeal to all age groups.
Business tycoon Yash Khurana [Rishi Kapoor], a widower, has just retired after giving the ropes of the business to his son [Vikas Bhalla]. At some other place in Mumbai, Sheetal Arya [Dimple Kapadia] is running a shipping agency and is content with the marriage of her daughter Ria [Soha Ali Khan] just a few days away with a young man [Sameer Dattani]. A widow, her best friend is her sister-in-law Toshi [Farida Jalal] who is unmarried and stays with them.
As all love stories happen, Yash and Sheetal meet, start spending their spare time with each other and become good friends. But everyone starts suspecting an affair blossoming between the two. Sameer's mother wants to break off the marriage while Vikas Bhalla confronts his father on his old age escapades. Tired of the accusations, 'good friends' Yash and Sheetal (on advise of Sameer, Toshi and Yash's best friend Satish Shah, a business tycoon himself) decide to spend some more time with each other away from their children and discover the depth of their relationship.
Cupid strikes and now the two are in love with each other. The movie comes to a fairy tale end with the children giving their whole hearted approval to their parents' relationship. 
A movie like 'Pyaar Mein Twist' could have become a boring social if given a different treatment, or as mentioned in the beginning, a mockery of relationship between elders. But with due credit to director Hriday Shetty, who never lets his lead protagonists be projected as helpless senior citizens who shed tears when opposed by their children. Instead everything is narrated in as light hearted manner as possible with good dose of wit and humor thrown in. Both Rishi and Dimple are shown as independent who love their children but know how to enjoy their lives too. They visit up market eating joints, stay in estates, live life king (and queen) size and make merry to the fullest. All this while, they keep getting news about the going ons in their children's lives through their trusted ones at home.
'Pyaar Mein Twist' is a Rishi Kapoor movie all the way. Though Dimple Kapadia is there to match him at every step, its his [still in form] boyish charm that works wonders for the cinegoers. He looks and act every bit a retired business tycoon who drives Mercedes, plays golf, smokes cigar, never forgets his morning jogging and drinking in the night, meets old friends, visits pubs, plays piano, dances with his daughter in law [Deepshikha], takes his dogs for a daily walk, shops in malls and the best of all, still knows how to match steps for the evergreen song 'Khullam Khulla Pyaar Karenge Hum Dono'.
Ganesh Acharya is no doubt a man with immense talent. For people who have heard of his growth in the business of entertainment over the years know very much that Mr.Acharya has come up against all odds. With his very first film 'Swami' as a director, you were eagerly awaiting his next.
Well, it has arrived in the form of 'Money Hai Toh Hai'.
Synopsis..
The film has six characters: Bobby [Govinda] is a happy go lucky guy, who wants to prove himself. Lalabhai [Manoj Bajpayee] is back on the road as his business fails and he loses all his money. Gaurav [Aftab Shivdasani], a copywriter, is fired from his job. Manik [Upen Patel] is a struggling model who sleeps with a middle-aged fashion designer [Archana Puransingh], hoping to make it big. Ashima [Hansika] is a successful TV star, but she's not happy with her career and is desperate to do films as the lead heroine. Shruti [Celina Jaitley] is a struggling dress designer who wants to design for the common man.
One fine day, they all get an SMS informing them that they are the owners of a 1,000 crore company. However, their happiness does not last long for the lawyer reveals that there's a loan of 1,200 crore on the company and they must repay it and until the loan is repaid, they would be kept under house arrest.
From 'Swami' to 'Money Hai Toh Honey Hai', what's with Ganesh Acharya? His previous flick had stuck to its roots that's the storytelling. But here, where's the storytelling? It is crass.
Looks like Ganesh just picked up a few friends from the business and did them a favour by claiming to cast them in a big multi-starrer. The plot has nothing much and the execution is such a bore. The movie seems like a culmination of concepts of brand names be it the 'Idea Cellular' or reference to lame jokes with names such as 'Tata Sky'.
The movie just keeps dragging from one character to another in an attempt to sound funny. Finally, post interval the characters get together and if you are hoping things get better, you've got it wrong.
There is an overload of irrelevant songs with some good choreography. Looks like Ganesh promised every actor his share of 'naach-gaana' be it Upen Patel or Hansikka.
Govinda loves eating all the lime light. No problem. Just that it would be better provided he sticks to his age . Govinda seems to have learnt a lot from good friend Salman Khan so much so that he apes him completely with this flick. What's with Govinda's styling? The actor just goes bla bla , boring you.
Upen Patel is just annoying and does nothing beyond flexing his muscles. Aftab is just a cut paste from his recent flicks. Celina Jaitley tries her hand at being serious with her vision in her character but fails. Manoj Bajpayee does some lame stuff and is totally underused. Kim Sharma , RaviKissan- not required.
Prem Chopra bores. Archana Puram Singh is sleazy. Hansikka does a fare job and comes across as a chirpy bubbly character. She does her bit well.
Forget all those dance moves and forget this flick. It's a big disappointment. Wonder how producers like Kumar Mangat sanction such flicks?
Rating : *
For past couple of months Bollywood saw a bleak scenario. Neither did any off beat release nor did any flick make it big on terms of entertainment. The previous week's release '13B' did a up good show across the multiplex audiences while here's 'Jai Veeru' ' An entertainer that falls between the lines of finesse and mediocre. Much distinctly to one's perceptions, Puneeth Sira strikes with a most unassailable bet of penning a commercial entertainer. Certainly, it's nice watching the same director who delivered a terrible directorial previously with 'I ' Proud to be an Indian'. Nevertheless, this transcendence doesn't drop any conclusions about terming 'Jai Veeru' ' as a top-notching entertainer. Bounded with bits and pieces of absurdities, it could be called a commendable flick if one drops out cognizance and enjoys watching it upon buckets of ducky bites and sips.
Two of Bollywood's hottest actors have just become the wildest partners ' in ' crime to ever hit the streets of Bombay! 
Fardeen Khan and Kunal Khemu star in the hilarious saga of a cop, a crook and a beautiful friendship gone sour. 
Once inseparable pals, Jai (Fardeen Khan) and Veeru (Kunal Khemu) find themselves on opposite sides of the law, each feeling betrayed by the other. In fact, the only person who hates them more then they hate each other is a ruthless gangster Tejpal (Arbaaz Khan), who want s to kill both of them and put them six feet under! Now, through a strange twist of fate, Jai and Veeru are to run ' together. With a little luck, the boys might just get out of this one alive ' if they don't kill each other first! 
Will they survive? Will their Friendship survive? 
Well, the film looks like a mixture of many previously released Hollywood and Bollywood flicks. A hot-footed cop and thief on the tracks of pulling down the mafia lord isn't something new to the audience. But commercial masalas are always cooking up. On the narration, the pace drops down and is extremely filled with weirdness that's more illustrious during the initial 30 mins. On the pars, the film gears up prior to intermission and is brimmed with an unexpected twist.
Getting on with performance, it's Kunal Khemu eclipsing everyone on the screens. He's so smart and overwhelms with his acting skills in all panoramas. Be it the sequences where he's frizzled with flummoxed ambience of striking bullet straight on Fardeen's forehead or the fun and frolic he gets along with, he's quite impressive. 
Fardeen's show is hunky-dory of its kind and he could've tried something better. Arbaaz Khan as an antagonist hasn't got to do anything much with the breathtaking stunts except the clich'd motor-boat ride during final chase. Dia Mizra and Anjana seems to have been included in the film just for their glamour quotient. Dia's characterization with an unbelievable twist in the penultimate sequence is something that's easily predictable (similar to Aishwarya's role in 'Khakee'). Rajesh Khattar does his best but doesn't win appreciations. Puneeth can be blamed for a middling characterization.
Bappa Lahri's musical score has a decent appeal, but choreographies could've much been much better. They don't exceed our expectations and ditto to cinematography. With the second half of the film with action-filled adventures, the man behind the lens could've tried on better locales. 
But the film has some spell-binding charged-up stunts to like the aero-stunts part in the last few moments of the film.
On the whole, elite groups may find it tougher to perceive 'Jai Veeru' as a fantabulous entertainer. For sure, the film would make good appeal across the B and C centres.
Verdict: Watch to kill your time'
Rating :***
There has been a lot riding on this flick and why not when you have one of the hottest pairs Akshay and Katrina who return yet again after 'Namastey London'. All the more hype when you have Anees Bazmee heading the ship. Bazmee's track record at the box office says it all- Tremendous success with his previous 'Welcome' creating a box office record.
Now here we are with 'Singh is Kinng', with Vipul Amrutlal Shah who enjoyed much success with Akshay's 'Waqt' taking his place as producer.
So does Akshay Kumar's box office record especially overseas prove that he is the new King of Bollywood?
Synopsis'
Lakhan Singh aka Lucky [Sonu Sood] is the King of the Australian underworld, accompanied by his associates [played by Javed Jaffrey, Neha Dhupia, Manoj Pahwa, Yashpal Sharma, Kamal Chopra and Sudhanshu Pande]. Far away, in a small village in Punjab, where Lucky was born, there exists someone more notorious than him - Happy Singh [Akshay Kumar]. The village is fed up of Happy. Out of desperation, they decide to send him on a long trip to bring Lucky back to Punjab, as his despicable deeds were maligning their image in Australia. The happy-go-lucky bumpkin, taking his mission a bit too seriously, embarks on his journey, accompanied by his friend, Rangeela [Om Puri], who hates Happy for dragging him into it. The high point of his journey is his chance meeting with Sonia [Katrina Kaif], with whom he falls in love, but upon reaching his destination, things take a precarious turn as he runs into a series of comic misadventures, leaving him penniless. He is fortunate to find warmth and affection in an elderly lady [Kirron Kher]. In a strange turn of events, an attempt on Lucky's life is foiled by a well-intentioned Happy, who fights off the attackers by risking his own life. Following the altercation, Lucky lands up in hospital paralyzed and Happy, unexpectedly, finds the tables turned on him when he is expected to assume the role of the new King.
To begin with 'Singh Is Kinng' relies heavily on the star value of Akshay Kumar-Katrina Kaif and not much has gone into the plot. No doubt that an Anees Bazmee flick has nothing much for the intellectuals and is usually loaded with some whacky lines and interactions between characters. But this time out, Anees fails at something he is an ace-Comedy. There seriously aren't many funny lines or scenes and the movie gets lost in the glamworld scenario of splendid locales etc.
There seems to be a lack of focus in the film which takes off well as an idea of a Punjabi lad 'Happy' going out to get King but things get haywire with the action followed by the stretched out love triangle between Akshay-Katrina-Ranveer. To make things worse Javed Jaffrey who starts out well irritates with his act and what was the double role for?
At some point one would wonder whether the film was really made with a solid script or just with an initial thought further enhanced by the so called star power at the box office that Akshay has been enjoying .
Maybe the flick was a shot at Shahrukh who has rightfully been called the King of Bollywood for ages. And with much being said about the rift between Akki and Srk , a lot can be observed with certain sequences in the film drawing references to King Khan.
The cinematography is splendid and a little editing of the tracks would help. The music is entertaining no doubt enhanced by loads of colour but it just pops in and out anywhere. The Snoop Dogg version appears at the end while the credits roll.
Akshay Kumar no doubt excels with his performance but since there isn't much sensibility in the emotional sequences in the film you don't connect with him much the way you would in a 'Humko Deewana Kargaye' or 'Namastey London'. Katrina is cute and fits the bill. She is sure to draw in the masses. 
Neha Dhupia does real well and impresses. Sonu Sood emerges with a brilliant performance and gets his share of bollywood finally. Manoj Pahwa , Yashpal Sharma and Sudhanshu Pandey are ok. Om Puri does well. Kirron Kher is ok but the logic behind her shedding tears etc is so lame. Ranvir Shorey is ok. Jaaved Jaffrey annoys.
To sum it up , Akshay does well but the film is much below expectations and why not when the title's got the word 'King' attached to it. Akshay is no doubt a great performer but with this film lacks the true persona of the 'King' and there's still a lot more to get to that 'King' status. So for now , Khan is still King.
Rating : **1/2
With Black Hindi cinema has turned a corner. And it will never be the same again. 
Veering passionately away from the norm - creating an entirely new definition of entertainment and giving us a work of art that transcends every given qualification of the motion-picture experience - Sanjay Leela Bhansali has created a work that freezes all superlatives.
From the opening when the blind-and-deaf Michelle (Rani Mukherjee) runs into her old blind and dying teacher Debraj (Amitabh Bachchan), Black clamps its emotional tentacles around our heart and refuses to release us until its last dying breath exhales on screen, permeating the film's fragrant and irradiant aura with fumes that we have never smelt before.
Black unleashes a fury of never-felt emotions. Master-creator that he is, Bhansali peels away layers and layers of passionate pain. The characters stand stark naked on camera, their souls exposed for us to see. We can't turn away. Bhansali doesn't give us that choice.
It takes a while to come to terms with the awesome and overpowering emotions of Bhansali's world. Getting a fix on Michelle's world isn't easy.
What is this twilight zone of resplendent suffering where every hurt is felt like a whiplash? Indeed the quality of cinematography by Ravi Chandran and the background music by Monty is so steeped in the ethos of anxious yearnings, we feel the characters' hearts are forever on the verge of bursting open.
We first enter little Michelle's pitch-black world with Debraj. The relationship that grows between the impossibly difficult little girl (debutante Ayesha Kapoor, playing Rani as a child) and the equally difficult teacher is underscored by an immense and acute irony.
As Debraj makes Michelle 'see' into the light through her blindness, he goes blind and finally loses his mind. In the best most heart-wrenching moments of the film, Michelle rattles the chains that are put on her guru to prevent him from causing himself bodily harm.
That frenzied chain rattling becomes symbolic of everything that Bhansali's incredibly grand cinema attempts to do. The darkest most inexpressible thoughts acquire shape in Bhansali's tortured and yet incredibly beautiful realm of self-expression. 
Credit for giving shape to his vision goes in no small measure to Bhansali's technicians who miraculously find just the right voice for the director's anguished feelings.
A special word for Bela Sehgal's editing. Incredible as it may sound, she gives to this tale of dark visions and deafening silences the same tempo of time-on-the-run as Bhansali's Devdas. As the narrative follows Michelle's progression from darkness to light, we move along in a choked and suffocated numbness, as though life in all its darkest shades had suddenly opened up in front of our eyes.
The film actually belongs to Amitabh Bachchan. It's impossible to imagine any actor playing Debraj, the tutor of manic proportions raging into the darkness like a Shakespearean tragic-hero. 
To say this is Bachchan's finest ever isn't enough. For, what he has done with his character in Black is to endow Indian cinema with a flavour of flamboyant excellence, unparalleled by anything we've seen any actor from any part of the world do or say...I say 'say' because the way Bachchan has used that well-known baritone has to be heard to be believed. Dropping his voice to a whisper he raises it again to challenge destiny, and toast immortality.
You don't expect anything at all while venturing in to watch 1971. And how could you? After all LOC - KARGIL wasn't quite impressive while another film about POWs - DEEWAR - LET'S BRING OUR HEROES home just turned out to be overtly heroic. If the poor fate of these two films wasn't enough, AB TUMHAARE HAWAALE WATAN SAATHIYO didn't even get an opening inspite of the presence of Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar and Bobby Deol.
This is what makes you wonder what would 1971 have to offer with lesser stars like Manoj Bajpai and Ravi Kishan along with a bunch of newcomers and a first time director at the helm. With near to negligible promotion and absolutely zilch hype, 1971 was always meant to be a non-starter.
Well, it is a non-starter, but strictly on box office terms, because as a film it surprises you and more than that takes you on 2 hour adventurous ride that has enough thrills, action and drama with an undercurrent of emotions throughout the proceedings to keep you entertained. Yes, it does enlighten you by telling a tale that could be truth but all this is done in a dramatic manner without getting into a preachy, jingoistic or pseudo-patriotic mode.
1971 is about 6 POWs Manoj Bajpai (Major Suraj Singh), Ravi Kishan (Captain Jacob), Deepak Dobriyal (Flight Lt. Gurtu), Kumud Mishra (Captain Kabir), Chitaranjan Giri (Subedar Ahmed) and Manav Kaul (Flight Lt Ram). Together they are lodged in Pakistani camp and after years of living in frustration with a hope of returning back to their homes, they decide to make an escape.
The odds were certainly against them but each of them had a mission, purpose and an aim to achieve the impossible. And what followed from here on was a saga of bravery, courage, patriotism and sacrifice that is dramatic, thrilling, emotional and yet quite entertaining. You feel for the ongoing proceedings on the screen but do get a lump in your throat too!
On paper, 1971 has a basic plot, something on the lines of Hollywood classic THE GREAT ESCAPE. It is the execution that makes the film an enjoyable experience since each of the major factors that make a film - script, dialogues, background music, cinematography, narrative and last but not the least, convincing acts - are top notch here.
Even though the film is not mounted extravagantly, it is to the credit to director Amrit Sagar that he makes best use of the available resources and doesn't cut corners when it comes to telling a scene efficiently and effectively.
Good part of 1971 is that it doesn't spend much time in getting into an extensive background details of the 6 lead protagonists. He keeps it to the point, as much as is required for the film and the audience, and gets to the point right away. There is just the right build up to the tale and where Amrit Sagar succeeds well is making the second half of 1971 a really gripping fare.
So many times have we seen that a film starts off well and remains good till the interval before the effect fizzles out towards the latter reels. It is just the opposite in case of 1971 as after a decent beginning, the drama builds up well to make you look forward to what would happen next on screen.
You know that there would be a chase, the Pakistanis would follow, the terrain would be rough and it would be near to impossible for the Indians to reach home safely. And still, you want the impossible to happen. Now this is where the script and screenplay excels since you keep yourself engrossed with the proceedings while hoping that something miraculous would save the protagonists.
'Tashan' , a movie kept totally under wraps without any media interactions or gigs of that sort by the team at Yash Raj Films; releases this week amidst a dry spell in bollywood. With the cricket IPl mania freaking the producers out, not many biggies dare to release their films unless you are from the Yash Raj camp.
Tashan marks the debut of Vijay Krishna Acharya , the man behind the scripts of Dhoom and Dhoom2. Vijay Krishna Acharya aka Victor, who has been associated with the smash hit status of both Dhoom's, tries his bit at direction. So, is it as enthralling as Dhoom?
What happens when you throw two guys who hate each other together... 
A cool call center executive Jimmy Cliff (Saif Ali Khan), a desi wannabe gangster Bachchan Pande (Akshay Kumar) add for good measure a beautiful girl Pooja (Kareena Kapoor) who can't be trusted... on a journey across spectacular India... a journey which will alter the course of their lives in more ways than one... a journey where even enemies need to trust each other if they want to be alive... 
Trouble is, in this world no one can be trusted ever! 
And to top it all there is the evil eye of Bhaiyyaji (Anil Kapoor)... a maverick gangster who enjoys killing people as much as he enjoys speaking English... 
What you get is... TASHAN
Firstly, Victor truly does a fine job at making Tashan live up to its title. The movie is sleek and high on style. Right from the colours , costumes , hair styling , cars , dances , guns etc everything has got its style quotient. Don't look for similarities between Dhoom and Tashan cause the only similarity lies in the syling which in turn vary in terms of an urban look in Dhoom to a rural,semi-urban,urban look in Tashan.
Victor does well at imbibing humour in a script that involves high action and rivalry amongst various characters in the film. The lacuna comes in the form of the storytelling and screenplay done by Victor himself. The brain behind Dhoom fails to tell a story that grips the audience. The storytelling particularly in the 1st half seems dragging and gets a lift only on the introduction of Bachan Pande (Akshay Kumar) . 
The proceedings in the movie tend to get vague as the movie moves ahead right from the hollywood style road chase for treasure to a typical Hindi formula film of revenge and lost love etc. Nevertheless, the action and comic sequences keep you entertained.
The cinematography by Ayananka Bose is splendid capturing the locales of Greece, Rajasthan , Kerala etc in its true essence. Editing by Rameshwar S. Bhagat and art direction by Sukant Panigrahy is what further enhances the Tashan(style) of the film.
Music by Vishal Shekar and Choreography by Vaibhavi Maerchant are definitely entertaining and foot tapping enough but tend to barge into any portion of the film making the film's Tashan take a dip.
On the technical front, the action by Peter Hein is supreme. Peter does a splendid job at making the action look no less than any Hollywood flick (atleast close to some of the finest action flicks). For those who love playing the' Counter Strike' game on their PC or Playstation will surely see the resemblance in the sequence where the prime characters in the film take on the team of cops.
On the acting front, Anil Kapoor as Bhaiyya Ji , The bad guy trying to learn English is funny but only at the initial stages of the film and eventually gets monotonous and boring. But, Anil does a good job as the villain from Kanpur.
With a lot of films being made these days that are based on the film industry, here comes yet another venture that revolves around the same. Superstar marks the return of Rohit Jugraj whose previous film 'James' was such a wash out.
Superstar takes off with Kunal (Kunal Khemu), a young lad who over the years has nurtured the dream of making it big in bollywood. Kunal seems a right fit for stardom and has grown up watching films of Amitabh , Salman ,Shahrukh and other fine actors. Though he is great at dancing, acting and dares to make it big; he is unable to grow beyond that of an extra being seen in various crowd scenes. But Kunal is always motivated by his friends and specially childhood friend Mausam (Tulip Joshi ) who has been silently harbouring a crush on Kunal for years.
Life decides to play a prank on Kunal as his dreams are shattered with the entry of the rich, debonair Karan (Kunal Khemu). Karan's photos are all over the papers and the media are hounding Mr.Saxena (Darshan Jariwala) , Karan's dad cum producer of the film who is set to launch India's next Superstar.
But Karan is a spendthrift and is least bothered about acting. Rather he spends time partying and his interest lies in his co-star Barkha (Aushima Sawhney). Karan is a complete no-gooder on the sets and Kunal gets a call to be his body double and stand in. 
Fate has something instored for Kunal as he transforms from a struggler to a superstar but at the cost of his loved ones and his very own self. 
So, does Superstar really carry all those starry moments worth spending a few bucks at the cinema? Without a doubt the answer is a 'Yes'. Rohit Jugraj is easily able to keep you hooked on. In fact this film expresses Rohit Jugraj's directorial skills to the finest. For a director who was once accused by his mentor Ram Gopal Varma of being a poor director and blamed for the disastrous 'James' , Rohit emerges as a superstar director himself. 
The film is not out of the world or such but it doesn't bore you at all. The move keeps you tapping with the right mix of action, drama and music that blend in so well to provide pure entertainment. Technically too the film is great to watch with a lot of action sequences, well erected sets and much more being picturised with great style.
On the whole the film truly belongs to Kunal Khemu who has been blessed to star as the solo lead in a film that gives him a lot of scope to express his talent. Kunal is absolutely fabulous in a double role enacting both the characters with ease. Kunal grooves with panache, fights with elegance and delivers even the most complex of dialogues with a lot of emotion.
The Premiere sequence in the film is a pure showcase of excellent dialogue delivery from Kunal. He further impresses with his expressions right from the songs to his imitation of Amitabh Bachchan.
Tulip Joshi is quite impressive as the timid, shy girl who has had a crush on Kunal for years. Tulip brings in that cute yet romantic element with ease. Aushima Sawhney is good and does her part with ease , she is sure to bag a lot of movies after this one.
Darshan Jariwala is smooth , Reema Lagoo is just the perfect mom , Sharat Saxena is just apt for the film and his outburst scene in the film as a father is sure to move the audiences. Vrijesh Hirjee is funny at times and does well. Aman Verma is ok.
Jurm is a cadaverous thriller that turns more corny with every scene. It tries to subvert and overturn the faithful wife tradition of a Hindu marriage by making the wife, Sanjana (Lara Dutta), more of a libertine than Shabana Azmi in Log Kya Kahenge and Aishwarya Rai in Khakee.
Three years ago, director Vikram Bhatt had cast Bipasha Basu as yet another wife named Sanjana in the successful Raaz. She went all out to protect her husband from evil forces. But how can anyone protect the people in this doomed project? 
Sanjana in Jurm goes the other way. She gangs up with her husband Avinash's best friend Rohit, disinherits him and leaves him for dead. Double Jeopardy anyone? That was the story of a wronged wife, framed and put in jail by an avaricious spouse whom she seeks out and punishes.
Bhatt gives his protagonist a sex change and then leaves the plot instead of the protagonist for dead. 
Deol, trying hard to look wronged and tragic, tells the sympathetic shoulder (Gul Panag): The law punishes the wrongdoer, but doesn't enjoy giving punishment. I want to punish my tormentors and enjoy myself. Wish we could share the emotion. 
For the audience, Jurm is one lengthy and painful excursion into crime time. Dead at the centre, pale at the edges, the narration is replete with gaping holes and absurdities that director Bhatt tries to fill up with a certain surface sleekness.
The hot chase between the wronged husband and the wanton wife moves to Malaysia in the second half. This gives cinematographer Pravin Bhatt a chance to cruise through the foyers of plush hotels. Alas, the camera does little justice to the actors who seem to project a dejected depletion in their demeanour.
While Bobby is sincere, Lara is once again misused. Her inconsistent looks and excessive makeup takes away from her innate loveliness. Lara deserves a lot better than what Bhatt gives or going by his recent track record, should I say, is capable of giving.
Her act as the unfaithful wife is grotesquely unworthy of her. Kareena Kapoor did a similar role in Ken Ghosh's Fida with a lot more support from the director and cast. The other female actor, Gul Panag, is made to get into a hideous wig and crimson lipstick and seduce Shakti Kapoor. 
Milind Soman who plays the villainous lawyer doesn't even get to speak in his own voice. Vikram Bhatt jumps into the soundtrack to do the needful.
The cast and production values are way below par. Jurm is one more instance of wasted opportunity that mainstream Hindi cinema specialises in. Its inert and underdeveloped characters scream a story of sad, sobbing impotency, as the plot takes off on a cruise through the pulpiest fiction obtainable to our cinema. Jurm is too brain-dead to qualify as a potboiler.
Nothing about this film about young love is young. Jaded and utterly out of step with definitions and dimensions of courtship and romance in the new millennium, Chand Sa Roshan Chehra represents the most archaic and frozen face of Indian cinema.
What can you say about a film that begins with the juvenile little hero putting a 'mangalsutra' (symbolic wedding necklace) and some 'sindoor' (vermilion) on a girl old enough to be in the cradle?
Child marriage in a juvenile film on young love is the last thing we need. Like it or not, that is what we get here. 
The young hero in Chand Sa.. woos and wins the girl from her headstrong father with the vocal support of his own dad, played by ghazal singer Talat Aziz.
Prominent reference points from Mansoor Khan's Qayamat Se Qayat Tak and Aditya Chopra's Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge crowd the film.
And just when you begin to wonder how the baggage of romantic history can be lugged to the end of this of brain-dead balderdash, director Shahab Shamsi gets seriously ambitious: he introduces a whole track on India-Pakistan friendship when a young Pakistani girl, Firdaus, and her snarling brother come to the love-birds' rescue in the eleventh hour. 
Many sections of this half-shaped ode to teenybopper romance are mawkish and ineffectual. 
The Swiss backdrop only accentuates the utter vapidity of the cast composed of veterans. Himani Shivpuri plays a blonde music teacher of indeterminate origins named Miss Smith.
Rishi Kapoor's nanny Durga Khote in Bobby would find it hard to suppress her giggles at her character's new avatar. In the climax of Chand Sa..., while the young lovers sing a defiant song to the girl's dad Kiran Kumar, Himani Shivpuri stands at the door making peace gestures to an audience that's long exited from this trivial teen-centric torture.
There's a whole bunch of youngsters trying to ride the waves of glorified glitches that masquerade as cinema in this faded and jaded homage to young love.
The debutant hero Samir Aftab is clearly in the wrong business. Though he's obviously trained to perform, he fails to convey the charm and screen presence of all the guitar-strumming debutantes from Rishi Kapoor in Bobby and Hrithik Roshan in Kaho Na...Pyar Hai, to Sammir Dattani in Uff...Kya Jadoo Mohabbat Hai.
Wonder why so much of the film industry's precious resources are being wasted to project and promote people who have no business dragging mainstream Hindi cinema down to the floor.
From Rishi Kapoor and Dimple Kapadia in Bobby to the callow young pair of this film, teenage romances sure have come to a sorry state. 
With much confusion this week come films with magic in their titles so please note: THIS IS NOT A YASHRAJ FILM. This film produced by Sahil Chaddha stars Jackie Shroff, Meera Vasudevan , Arbaaz Khan , Parmeet Sethi and Sahil Chadha himself.
The film revolves around the world of television programming. The head honcho of ITV 'Arbaaz Khan is in search of a new programme that unveils the true city of Mumbai. The writer (Meera Vasudevan) and director of the show (Sahil Chadha) are now on the lookout for the face of the show. After numerous trials, they come across M.K.(Jackie Shroff) a roadside dweller who seems to have a heart for people and the world around him. There seems to be some magic element about him.
Soon he becomes the face of a so called reality talk show where he sorts out people's problems. The twist in the tale comes when everything on the show is written beforehand and the show comes across more as a scam exploiting people's emotions. M.K.no longer wants to be part of it and wants to escape. But can he?
The film starts off pretty well showcasing life at a TV station and the numerous issues that surround them. Director Anand Rai wanted to focus on a lay man-Jackie who eventually becomes the face of the nation. To a certain extent he succeeds but falls flat in aping the famous Jim Carrey's 'Truman Show'.
From a good 1st half, the movie takes a dip with the excessive close ups of Jackie prolonged by the immense repetition of the title track. The 2nd just drags and fails to create any impact. The frustration in the characters could have been better put more concisely.
Jackie Shroff no doubt is splendid. He plays his character with ease and his expressions are tremendous. Meera Vasudevan emerges as the surprise package of this film. The talented actress of 'Rules-Pyaar ka super hit formula' is just apt for the role. She emotes, delivers well and truly deserves many more films. We got a talented actress here!
Sahil Chadha, the producer of the film does a little of his hero bit and is convincing. Parmeet Sethi is ok. Harsha Bhogle comes in for a scene. Arbaaz does well.
The film requires serious editing towards the 2nd half and could have been much better. The ending of the film is ridiculous and though the core of the film lies in Jim Carrey's 'Truman Show', director Anand Rai fails at execution.
Rating : **
Latterly, debutant filmmakers are spelling their flicks completely breaking the clich's. Kunal Shivdasani, an ad filmmaker hops down into filmmaking, not with a peculiar story. Hijack is something an already seen panoramas and to be particular with terrorists, there more and more. What does Kunal Shivadsani spell unique in this flick? Perhaps, your expectations prior to release would have been the same of gonna watch a flick on terrorists hijacking flight and a hero polishing them down, as it is more pertinent withYeh Dil Aashiqana [Kuku Kohli] and Zameen [Rohit Shetty]. But, there is something glossier here about an emotional bonding between a father and his daughter.
The film looks sleek and stylish in terms of execution; merely you have to bear the annoyance in the first 30mins. Well, pace picks up to the higher tone, but absurdities right there in get us spirits down. Nothing is realistic, especially the caricatured delineation of Shiney of possessing super-hero attributes. Hopping into the running flight, swaggering down the strong gun-holding terrorists is ridiculous. Shiney doesn't carry a bedazing physique and doesn't go apt with certain stunts sequences. On the traits of father-daughter emotional adherences, Kunal Shivadsani surpasses our expectations.
The tale of Hijack, a partial mix of reel and real life incidents goes this way'
Vikram (Shiney Ahuja) is a ground maintenance officer at Chandigarh Airport. A lonely person by nature, he has no concerned friendship other than his one friend, Rajeev, the security chief of same airport. It's a life threatening situation for Vikram when the Delhi-Amritsar flight in which his daughter travelling is hijacked. Terrorists who have hijacked the airplane demand for the release of their leader Maqsood [K.K.Raina]. The flight is urged to land on Chandigarh Airport for refueling and it's turn of Vikram to prove his heroism.
Vikram creeps into the airplane with tactics of thwarting down the plans of terrorists and bringing situation under control. Here, you have Saira (Esha Deol) availing him out to bump off hijackers one by one. It's more deplorable for some of the innocents who become victims to gunshots in the process. Last and final, Vikram triumphs for the day, saving the lives innocent passengers and his lovable daughter. Well, getting on with Shivadsani's narration, he could have better avoided pulling in songs. They are simply inapt for the film. But the latter part, especially the last 25mins, you are there on the edge of seats. Shiney Ahuja emotes well to the situations while Esha Deol has nothing to do more. Fine! A moderate performance from her looks good. K.K.Raina and Mushtaq Kak on their roles have done justice.
Getting on with technical aspects, Justin-Udhay's background score top-notches with a great impact while Jehangir Chowdary's cinematography draws us in. His splendorous style of canning certain shots is commendable. What makes this flick perfect as an action-thriller are the stunts choreographed by Allan Amin. Often you find the screens filled with blood-sheds, but isn't done butcherly.Set decorator Bijon Dasgupta does a splendid presentation of interiors of the aircraft.
Valuating Hijack on the whole, it's a moderate start by Kunal Shivadsani and if he had fended off with certain absurdities, the film would have been far convincing.
Verdict:Watch it to just kill your time'
Rating : **1/2
The saga of revenge explodes when the world of a notorious, powerful don, and that of a young chef's family suddenly collide, and what began purely circumstantially becomes the sole business of the two families and, of course, the film.
Family #1 is that of a young chef, Shekhar Bhatia (Akshay Kumar in an excellent portrayal) who believes a Family should live together and stand up for and support one another. A son who loves his parents, and indulges his irresponsible but good-hearted younger brother Aryan (an OK debut by Aryeman, but marred by a slight lisp) to the extent of lying to cover up for his misadventures. Shekhar's biggest agenda in life? To stall his parents' desperate attempts to get him hitched. And soon enough, to win the heart of the only girl he's ever liked but she's a doctor, Dr Kavita (Bhoomika Chawla, likeable and believable), and he is sure she won't settle for the 'cook' that he is! Well, a song and dance later, Shekhar and Dr Kavita are married, and life settles down in real earnest. The irresponsible Aryan continues with his errant ways, and one day, he storms out of the house, never to return! Of course, big brother Shekhar sets out to find him, and then, Fate steps in.
Family #2 is that of the powerful crime lord, Viren Sahai (Amitabh Bachchan), a top international don based in Bangkok, whose hood of a wayward son Abir (Sushant Singh) is on the run after a violent and bloody fracas at a pub. Abir's life is swagger of confidence that emanates from the fact that his powerful father Viren, who dotes on him, will move heaven and earth and mow down scores of hoods who may stand in the way -- to protect his son, his Family. You see, Don Viren believes in the sanctity of family ties as firmly as he chews upon his cigar. Well, the son lands up in Bangkok, with a contract on his head thanks to another vindictive father in the picture, the same gent whose son he had beaten up before fleeing India. The killers sent by the don in Mumbai (Kader Khan's wasted effort) try to kill Don Viren and succeed in putting a bullet into Abir, but the don explodes into action and mows down all of the attackers but one, who reveals the identity of the contract killer. And what does the don, who could have easily orchestrated a revenge shootout from Bangkok, do? He actually decides to land up in Mumbai, guns in hand, and walks right into a movie hall and fires upon Kader Khan and his nephew, chases them through the crowded cinema and ends up shooting the nephew.
And here, the two families that wouldn't even have breathed the same air, are thrown together. As Fate would have it, a bullet from Don Sahai's gun finds Akshay Kumar, who has turned up at the very spot, looking for his brother Aryan! Shekar dies, and ignites a bomb of searing hatred in Aryan, who blames himself for his brother's death, and is now consumed with the desire for revenge.
In the story that unfolds hereafter, we see two layers as each Family's story unfolds. Shekhar's family is consumed by grief, while Aryan is driven by revenge, and the Don's past keeps coming back to haunt him as he thinks about each member of his family that's been kidnapped by Aryan and his gang. The intense personal undercurrents of his life with his estranged wife Sharda (Shernaz Patel in a refined, restrained performance) and the other members of his family, with the shocking twist in the end that shakes him to the core, shattering everything he ever believed in, give the story a personal drama hook that is as strong as the thriller element which has the audience willing the young Aryan to win the tense stalk and chase that's bringing the Don's hoods closer to him and his gang.
Now this one is the surprise release of the week. With JAB WE MET hogging all the limelight and NO SMOKING being in news as well, MUMBAI SALSA may have just been lost in the crowd if not for an endearing narrative which makes one stand up and say - "Ok, so this was something new."
Yup, sex finds quite some prominence in MUMBAI SALSA which takes you through the lives of eight protagonists - Four men, Four women, all young. Manjari Phadnis (last seen as a school girl in ROK SAKO TO ROK LO) starts off her relationship with Vir Das with a one night stand (or was it one night sit, as commented by Vir, since he was drunk enough not to realize if anything had happened at all?). 
Amruta Khanvilkar, as a tattoo specialist romps with everything and everyone on bed, repeats the act with Raymond Irani before it is time to settle down. Neelam Chauhan, a Salsa dance instructor, does see hopes of true love from Indraneil Sen Gupta, an already married man, before she realizes that her 'tanhai' and 'dance' were perhaps her best friends. 
On the other hand Linda Arsenio (remember the pretty girl from KABUL EXPRESS?) has an undercurrent of emotions playing with Dilip Thadeshwar, a man who detests anything which is American before changing his views eventually.
It is not difficult to have a fun film like this turn into a sleazy affair. Danger of falling in the puddle of the likes of FUN - CAN BE DANGEROUS SOMETIMES is always there but to the credit of Manoj Tyagi, he balances the film with urban humor, lifestyle, desires and aspirations. He drops hints about racism for Western people in India, sexual preferences, career decisions hampering personal life (a dialogue in the film goes - 'Jab Life Ki Aisi-Taisi Ho Rahi Ho To Samjho Career Tarakki Par Hai') and sex being considered as a cure for loneliness.
Still, none of the proceedings in the film turn preachy or come across as lectures. Humor retains itself throughout the narrative hence making the on goings easy. You don't laugh out loud with the scenes that unfold on screen but you do smile while being in complete understanding with what goes on in the mind of the protagonists.
The film has it's style of narration inspired from the likes of JHANKAAR BEATS, LIFE IN A...METRO, DIL CHAHTA HAI and TV Series FRIENDS. The urban setting is very IN and whether it is the night club MUMBAI SALSA, apartments or beauty parlors, they all are real and look good on screen. 
The main area where the film suffers though is a good portion in the second half which just refuses to entertain in the same way as the breezy first half. All this while the film was embellished with funny one liners, naughty moments, real life scenarios, the works. But the film threatens to get into a serious mode after the Vir-Manjari break-up while the nervous breakdown of Neelam and the subsequent sequences at the hospital makes one long for humor to make a comeback.
Thankfully the film gets back on track and the last portions of the film make the film enjoyable. Watch out for the scene when Vir's friends break him the news about Manjari's whereabouts. Hilarious.
It's a wonder this film ever got made. It's an even bigger wonder how it made it into theatres.
Not often do we get to see a film that purports to blow the lid on the sham and hypocrisy of the film world, and that too one which starts with a proclamation that it is based on the true story of an actress from Bollywood.
If so, we feel sorry for the actress - for more reasons than one. Dreams does no justice to anyone's life, least of all the lives it tries to recreate through fiction.
Unlike great films about the disillusionments of the film industry - like Guru Dutt's Kaagaz Ke Phool and Ram Gopal Varma's Rangeela - Dreams has neither the vision nor the resources to create a virtual world of pain and longing within the given parameters of cinematic expression.
Ashish Chanana falls way short as both a director and leading man. The actor-writer uses precious space to create images that belong to an afternoon soap rather than a true depiction of the dualities that qualify the film industry.
Like Guru Dutt in Kaagaz Ke Phool, the filmmaker in Dreams discovers his muse in a working-class surrounding.
Recall Waheeda Rehman shivering under the tree in the rain when Guru Dutt spots her...Cut to newcomer, Neha Pendse, who, to be polite, is no Waheeda Rehman.
As callow as the script, the debutante heroine breaks your heart for all the wrong reasons.
From the early beginnings of his relationship with his discovery, the director-hero is shown to be consumed by the idea of making a 'different' film with his discovery in the lead.
As he puts together his dream, the film falls apart under the pressure of utterly ludicrous characters - like the cheesy financier who on spotting the director's muse on video monitor desires to 'have her', or the effeminate studio hand who makes a pass at an alarmed Bengali lyricist.
The plot is scattered with prototypes derived from the film industry. In the absence of a proper treatment, the characters appear jaded and cartoonish as characters.
Films about the heartbreaks of showbiz are always welcome. But not when they break your heart with a complete lack of vision and basic sensibleness in treatment.
Here is a film straight from the heart.
Vipul Shah's emotional arrow shoots directly into the family audiences' hearts and lodges itself comfortably, if now entirely compulsively. 
Sure, Waqt isn't an example of great cinema. But its inherent transparency of purpose and sincerity of expression guide the lengthy family saga through a series of carefully nurtured slopes and dips that culminate in a rabble-rousing emotionally cataclysmic climax. 
The film's familial circle draws you into itself gently. The persuasions come, not from outside, but from within the intrinsic drama of the plot. The domestic milieu spreads itself out in a pastiche of heart-warming episodes between a rich father Ishwar (Amitabh Bachchan) and his spoilt heir-apparent Aditya (Akshay Kumar), who learns to be a responsible man the hard way.
Though the plot is inherently melodramatic and message-oriented, director Vipul Shah has adapted a stage play for the screen without allowing the narrative to be a slave to theatrical conventions. This work looks far less theatrical than Shah's robbery caper Aankhen. 
A large part of the credit for the drama-driven plot's efficacy must go to writer Aatish Kapadia, whose one-liners and quips flow out with constant and instant comic consequences. The bantering between Bachchan and Boman Irani is vaudeville at its best. 
Seen first as warring family friends who keep running into each other at social gatherings and then as reluctant in-laws, the two actors bring a fabulous flamboyance and finesse to their farcical war of words. 
Another outstandingly characterization is Rajpal Yadav's deadpan depiction of the exasperatingly daft domestic servant. His literal interpretation of Bachchan's and Irani's sarcasm brings miles of smiles and acres of chuckles to this sunshine-and-clouds family drama. 
It's been a while since a mainstream family film yoked comic elements with the basic tragedy of a family scion's compulsory coming-of-age with such skill and understanding.
The director brings vivid elements from the original Gujarati play into a cinema that screams hard but never in deafening monotones. No matter how cliched the episodes, Shah manages to make almost every sequence engaging and absorbing. For this, the credit must go to the two principal players.
Bachchan moves effortlessly from the sorcerer's wizardry of his performance in Black to the state-of-the-art melodramatic 'kabhi-khushi-kabhi-gham' mode required to enact his spirited tycoon's role.
Akshay Kumar's scion's part is done with a great deal of believable emotions. The scenes where he has to outwardly express hatred for a father he loves to death are heartbreaking in their intensity. It's hard to imagine these potentially trite scenes of father-son rave-union being performed with such restrain and pride by any other two actors.
Throughout, director Shah walks the tightrope between melodrama and comedy without toppling over into the realm of farce. Many of the crucial episodes are written in the robust language of Gujarati stage plays, and they yet convey a muted regard for subdued tastes. 
This is not the first film about a father-son conflict. What sets it apart is its discernible reverence for traditional values vis-a-vis the Indian joint family system as well as cinematic conventions. Shah is respectful to both without buckling under the pressure of delivering walloping punches in every sequence. The punch lines are insinuated and not punched into the plot.
After 'Sarkar Raj' , Ramgopal Varma teams up with Praveen Nicshol for yet another film on the underworld. This time out it goes as follows:
1998: Satya
An inside view of the underworld
2002: Company
An Overview of the underworld
2008: Underworld meets terrorism
Well Ramu has always played it well with topics concerning the underworld; well now let's see how he fuses in the terrorism angle.
Primarily the film is such a drab leaving you nowhere. Majority of the sequences and occurrences in the film make you wonder whether it has really been done by Ramgopal Varma or one of his so called 'chelas'. 
The narration, treatment, screenplay is almost void in the film. Prashant Pandey's writing is extremely miserable and you are totally lost. One wonders why Ramu or the producers would engage in blasphemy by calling this film the completion of a trilogy after 'Satya' and 'Company'.
The editing of the film by Amit Parmar and Nipun Gupta is vague. For a Ramgopal Varma film claiming to be the completion of a trilogy , it's a big letdown. Take a look at films such as 'Company' and 'Satya', at no point where you bored or stranded in the middle of nowhere. This film 'Contract' has no relevancy whatsoever and requires serious trimming.
What was Shama Sikander doing with that so called item number or rave party sequence?
There are so many things that just annoy you and lack substance like the character Goonga's(Upendra Limaye) wife, the silly dialogues of foolishness rather patriotism and the excessive use of the word 'Secret'. Why did Ramu make such a film? 'Secret'.
On the acting front Adhvik Mahajan is ok but nowhere close to characters that have remained with us since 'Satya' or 'Company'. Sakshi Gulati too is just fine. Zakir Hussain and Upendra Limaye are not at their best. Sumeet Nijahawan fits the bill as RD.
For a great filmmaker like Ramgopal Varma , 'Contract' comes as a shock to all Ramu fans and aspiring directors who have always looked upto him. But, Ramgopal Varma ought to rise up and maybe take a break from films on the underworld or the occult and rather return to his 'Rangeela 'days.
Rating : *
Rating: ***1/2
Cinematographers-turned-directors always have a special delicate, indrawn way of looking at life - and this isn't the first time Santosh Sivan looks at a fringe community. 
His lyrical, enchanting excursion into the heart and mind of a female terrorist in The Terrorist yielded many questions and some answers about the equations that distinguish and govern the darker recesses of the human mind, heart and soul. 
Like The Terrorist, Sivan's Navarasa is also about a journey undertaken by a dark dusky inquisitive and bright-eyed young woman trying to probe her way out of an existential crisis. 
One of the many pleasures of watching Navarasa is to see the way Sivan uses his actors. Most of the peripheral players are so authentic you forget you're watching them in the sublime subterfuge of cinema.
As for the protagonist Swetha, she's a prized child discovery. So natural in her inbuilt impishness and instinctive wisdom, she seems to forget the presence of the camera.
Little Swetha's journey of terror and discovery isn't quite the one that Ayesha Dharker undertook in The Terrorist. More instrinsic than political, Navarasa records with timorous sensitivity the little girl's responses to the process of sexual awakening.
It's no coincidence that Swetha attains puberty just when she discovers that her timid, effeminate uncle in the shadows loves to wear the family jewels. 
Sivan plays with the concepts of light and dark, shadow and sunlight to depict the ambiguities that underline human sexuality. Swetha's shock and incredulity at the idea of her beloved uncle being a woman in a man's body is a clever device to distance and familiarize the audience with the third sex. 
In Swetha's journey from revulsion to acceptance of her uncle's sexual ambivalence lies the film's integrity and sensitivity.
Sivan leads us gently into the world of eunuchs as they gather at the annual festival in Koovagam in Tamil Nadu. By the time the crowd colour and quirkiness of the mela hit our senses, we're well prepared for the culture shock.
Often, the director's camera tends to flirt with exotica, but not at the cost of the plot. There are long passages of soulful visuals, for example the eunuchs huddled in a dreamy blur at the fair dressed in widows' whites after marrying the deity Aravan...here the cinematographer in Sivan coalesces with a gentle jolt in the director.
The narrative fuses art and documentary in a partnership that's passionate and articulate. True, some passages ring disturbingly false. The way the narrative stands still while the eunuchs at the mela come on-camera to speak about their plight, isn't quite cinematic in the true sense. 
And yet, the truth about docu-portions in the narrative cannot sweep away the incisive look at a community that mourns to be embraced by the mainstream of society (a rather quaint metaphor for a film like Navarasa begging acceptance from mainstream cinema).
As Swetha travels to find and retrieve her gender-confused uncle, the narrative takes us into untouched garish-green landscapes in Tamil Nadu where the nature-tampered creatures of the third sex appear tragic grotesque and yet real in their vain efforts to appear feminine.
When the gust of snow caresses the dormant volcano of emotions, the aspirations of a dead stone melts slowly but surely. Rehan meets Zooni after a span of seven years in unceremonious circumstances. He is on the run and badly injured. The mother of his son, Zooni doesn't recognize him as she was blind when he had last seen her. Rehan wants to escape once again from the strong streak of affection that was throbbing within his heart after seeing the incorrigible similarities his son shared with him. But the storm of Chance prevents him from doing that. Like the unpredictability of relationships, Kunal Kohli's Fanaa surprises with its sheer intensity, as it etches its place as one of the most complex-n-mature love stories of recent times. 
The germination of this love affair flares up in the by-lanes of Delhi when Rehan Khan, a charming flirtatious tourist guide gets up-close-n-personal with Zooni Ali Beg, a beautiful blind girl who is in Delhi as part of a contingent of girls who are supposed to be performing on the occasion of 26th January. Daughter of a well-to-do Kashmiri doctor, Zooni, like other girls, is on the lookout for her Shehzada and in Rehan, she finds a friend whom she can depend upon. It was because of his efforts that she regained her eyesight but she was unaware that the man she loved dearly was a dreaded terrorist.
Fanaa is an unusual film. It's a love story; yet the subtext of the film raises bold questions about the Kashmir issue. No, it's not abut Pakistan bashing, rather the issue of Kashmiris as an independent identity has been raised by someone in the Hindi Film Industry for the first time. Rehan personifies the misguided Kashmiri youth who is under the impression that elections will be held in Kashmir once it gains independence from India and Pakistan. Zooni, on the other hand is the face of Kashmiri youth that favours the voice of reason. Thankfully, the digressions in the storyline are minimal and maximum time is devoted to the radiant chemistry between Aamir Khan and Kajol (Together on screen for the first time). The lighthearted breezy first half is followed by a slow but packed-with-sentiments second half. And when the movie ends on a somber note, a tear trickles out unabashedly from the corner of one's eyes. 
While many people in the audience stayed glued to their seats even as the credits rolled out and their faces screamed the fact that Fanaa has left them speechless and totally dazzled, there was still another section that walked out a bit bored due to the slow pace and uncharacteristic ending. In other words, it's not a movie for everyone. Even Rang De Basanti had a contrasting opinion and Fanaa will add to that list. 
Aamir Khan's Rehan is easily his best performance till date. The transformation from a coy tourist guide ready with an Urdu Couplet at the drop-of-his-designer-stole to a scheming-single-minded militant is marvelous. It's as if they are two different people both in terms of their looks as well as body language. The perfect channelisation (Or the lack of it) of restless energy during several scenes gnaws at your heart effortlessly. The scenes where he interacts with his son are extremely special. Kajol as the blind girl is remarkably different from the awkwardness exemplified by Rani Mukherjee in Black. She looks a million dollars especially in the second half. With age she is getting better-n-super at both her craft as well as her appearance. Aamir and Kajol as a couple look like a cherished-dream that actually comes true. Rishi Kapoor as Kajol's father impresses with his restrained performance while Tabu as the smart-n-hip Chief of Anti Terror Cell is a bit of a disappointment. 
Line for the main page: One expected a tout murder mystery/racy thriller to be served by debutant director Ruchi Narain but the overall result is not as per the expectations.
There are certain movies that manage to excite a particular section of audience into venturing a theatre. Though it is quite known that the movie has been made for a niche audience, a few people do expect a fruitful outcome. Kal - Yesterday And Tomorrow is one such movie that could have got its target audience [inspite of limited publicity], but alas doesn't manage to do so. One expected a tout murder mystery/racy thriller to be served by debutant director Ruchi Narain but the overall result is not as per the expectations. Though it needs to be mentioned that the movie is not a complete failure, but then it is not as exciting either to entice one to spend time in theatre as well.
When the opening credits roll, you expect 'Kal' to be a notch above ordinary. The movie begins in a good fashion as well since within no time there is news about an alleged murder. Three players who are an intrinsic part of the proceedings? Maya [Smriti Mishra], the one who has been murdered and who was a super rich daughter of an industrialist. Tarun Haksar [Shiney Ahuja], Maya's husband, who is the prime suspect in the murder because he is notoriously famous for his hunger of wealth, power and fame! Bhavna [Chitrangada], a sorrowful lady who has not been able to come out the happenings in her life even after an year since her lover Tarun left her to instead marry Maya.
Now the trouble is that Tarun was with Bhavna when Maya died. So who is the actual killer?
A pretext like this would make anyone jump with joy to have a look at the movie. After all whodunits are always welcome and they work tremendously if presented in an edge of a set fashion. This does happen in Kal, but only intermittently. Because so much time is spent in establishing the characters and the situations that the fun associated with watching a tout thriller doesn't remain with you throughout. Thankfully the ending of the film is still reasonably fine that helps the cause of 'Kal' in not turning out to be an utter disappointment. But as said earlier, only if the proceedings would have been crisper and articulate for an average audience, the final prospects of the movie would have been higher.
There are number of other characters in the movie that add on to the narration at multiple levels. The most interesting of them is Sarika, who plays the socialite sister of Tarun and basks in the glory of her brother. Her dreams and ambitions too are lived through the success of her brother. She looks glamorous and makes a good comeback. Boman Irani as Yashwant Dayal is always efficient and has grace all around his character. Just like Shiney Ahuja was a surprise package in Hazaaron Khwahishen Aisi, Ram Kapoor, playing the role of Rohan Sehgal, a TV news reporter shines in 'Kal'. He would definitely be noticed in this film. Saurabh Shukla comes up with a good performance yet again. Murad Ali and Malaika Shenoy as two other friends in the group are adequate.
In the lead starcast, Shiney and Chitrangada go neck to neck in the acting department. Both of them come up with convincing portrayals of their characters that go through various emotions in the situations they have been put in - togetherness, enjoyment, love, separation, cornered - they do it all with near perfection. Smriti Mishra is fine too.
Within weeks of his first release, Sikandar's next releases without much hype. This time around there isn't the Sanjay Gupta back up, but under the Atul productions banner directed by Suhail Tatari. The film also includes Gul Panag, Arjan Bajwa, Uvika, Alekh Sangal, Ashutosh Rana and Sachin Khedekar.
Synopsis'.
The story begins with a group of students from a medical college. These brats from rich backgrounds establish a group called Studds headed by Rahul(Sikandar) and enter the world of college politics.
In an attempt to escape from the election campaign the Studds take off on their village posting for a month assuming it to be yet another picnic. Soon they are encountered by the bitter realities of India as they are caught within the whirlpool of extreme poverty and farmer suicides. The village is in pits and the hospital where the group has to work is in ruins.
A series of events follow..a change of heart..trial by fire' so on.
Suhail Tatari definitely has a message to put across and a noble one. But somewhere down the line things start to loosen up terribly. The story and screenplay by Bijesh Jayarajan is extremely weak and lacks focus. One wonders what the movie really is about. The entire first half is covered by crass jokes and the college brat lifestyle with a lot revolving around college politics. 
Suhail's treatment also isn't fine with the idea of creating yet another sort of youth revolution alike 'Rang De Basanti' but falls flat. The prime reason is the dragging series of events towards the last 20 mins with the entrance of cops , firing , Sikandar's surrender etc and so on. 
The cinematography isn't great, the film requires much editing.
Music by Gourav Dasgupta isn't great. The tracks are just an attempt of trying to sound cool. The 'I just wanna fly 'track has some really sleazy objectionable lines. The songs are just too many and hamper the flow of events.
The so called item number by Neetu Chandra was totally uncalled for.
Sikandar fails to impress and doesn't really act but simply carries the attitude and style. The film totally revolves around Sikandar and he needs more flicks to prove himself. 
Gul Panag excels with her bit .She plays her character with ease. Arjan Bajwa , Alekh Sangal and Uvika have been offered meaty roles but none make a mark.
Ashutosh Rana , Vikram Gokhale and Prosshant Narayan (wonder what's with his name change) emerge as the finest performers.
Summer 2007, comes across with not much to offer with a plot that leads nowhere. Looks like Summer will also face a tough time with the monsoons that breaks through the summer heat with its outpour.
Rating : *1/2
After the huge success of films like Dor and Iqbal, a Nagesh Kukunoor film starring Nagesh's chela -Shreyas Tadpade comes your way. Expectations for this flick too are running high. So here's how the plot goes.
Shankar (Shreyas Tadpade), a Mumbai cook, in desperate need of money steals from the local Don (Naseerudin Shah). Giving the Don's cronies the slip he escapes impersonating a doctor with a team heading for relief work in Thailand. His plan though goes awry as he losesall theimportant money bag in the ensuing chaos.
In Bangkok his search for the missing loot is derailed when he bumps into a lovely massage girl Jasmine (Lena Christensen) and is instantly smitten! The hitch is she speaks only Thai and he can't converse with her at all. A ray of hope comes his way the next day when Jasmine turns up desperately in need of a doctor! Shankar along with his Thai-Sardar buddy Rachwinder (Manmeet Singh), jump to the rescue and unwittingly pull Jasmine into his road-trip searching for the money bag. Hot on their trail are the vengeful don's rapper son Jam K (Vijay Maurya) and his henchmen who have landed in Bangkok to retrieve their money. 
To begin with looks like Nagesh Kukunoor has got it completely wrong this time. His so called comedy of errors looks more like a script full of errors. Kukunoor experiments with a road trip that takes you from the streets of Bombay to Bangkok and in the process leaves the viewers no where. It's the weak story telling that kills the film. The plot is obvious, all the gags and comedy situations have been seen before (more than once) and it drags on too long. The film definitely needs some trimming as it just prolongs to be called a 2 hour flick. 
Some scenes in the film work (especially the ones where Vijay Maurya tries hard to rap), many don't. The film is full of clich's of all kinds. Right from the cook leaving stealing some bucks and running off to Bangkok, meeting a massage girl, falling in love and so on. The screenplay manages to dance around this bizarre story for the better part of the film's runtime without reaching any conclusion whatsoever.
Several portions of the film are just purely annoying like whenever Nagesh shows a scene and cuts across to reveal that it was just a dream sequence. It annoys plainly because at the cost of trying to be funny, repetition kills. . Kukunoor tries real hard by inserting a lot of dumb humor into the gloomy premise to try to liven things up when nothing else is working.
Shreyas Tadpade is indeed one of the finest actors Bollywood has ever seen. Without a doubt Shreyas proved that he is a warehouse of talent with his magnificent performances in Iqbal and Om Shanti Om. But this time around the poor chap's performance suffers plainly due to a tiresome script.
Shreyas does impress with his voice over for the film and his diverse expressions. He does well to don on the romantic guy image. Scenes where he tries hard to communicate with Lena Christensen are impressive. The scene where he goes for a massage for the very first time is humorous. Besides the poor script, even the overdose of lip-lock moments are pointless and dull. Wonder what Kukunoor was thinking when he wrote these scenes? Even including the lip-lock sequences when the credit rolls at the end wasn't funny at all. Sometimes, being faced with a bad script can even make a good actor bad. That's the case here.
Lena Christensen suits the character. She does carry off pretty well. Jeneva Talwar as the Physiatrist is pretty good. Yateen Karyekar is wasted. Manmeet Singh is just ok. One of the finest actors in the film who really brings in that laughter is Vijay Maurya as JK/Jamal Khan. Vijay's rap sequences are really witty. Naseerudin Shah 'was he even there?
A film called My Sassy Girl released in Korea way back in 2001. It's about a loser who meets a drunken girl one evening on his way back home. He takes the girl, who falls unconscious, to a hotel for the night as he does not know where her house is. The story takes off from here as he gets a call from the girl the next day to know what happened the last night. They meet again and again and become good friends. But the relationship is strange as the girl is completely whacked out. And the guy keeps pleasing her anyway she wants him to as he sees some internal grief in her.
Cut to 2008 and we have Ugly aur Pagli being made by a new director Sachin Khot. And this film precisely has the same story. Kabeer (Ranvir Shorey) is an engineering student who has been failing for four years. And one night on way back to home he meets a drunk Kuhu (Mallika Sherawat). And the rest of the story follows as the Korean movie. 
So obviously this one is what they called 'inspired'. Which in straight sentences mean 'Not an original story'. So much for all creativity! 
That apart for people who has not seen the Korean film and people who do not mind copied stuff, Ugly aur Pagli is an interesting film. It's a love story and yet stands far apart from the regular love stories. To add to it is the interesting narration and screenplay. And the jokes involved are simple and straight. There is no attempt to be double meaning. The dialogues are youthful and fun. 
Ugly aur Pagli however falls in the characterization. While Kabeer's character is pretty rounded, Kuhu's character fails to impress. The character builds up too late and there are no reasons provided to why she behaves the way she does. The second half gets better but by then it has lost on attention. Clearly a problem with the script!
The movie looks bright and nice due to the camerawork and colours used. And the movie could have been made crisper by editing out some scene here and there. The music is no great kicks either. It works for the film but nothing you take with you outside the theatre. 
On the acting front Mallika shows that she can't do emotional scenes although she may slap and kiss well. There are a couple of scenes when she sheds tears and they almost make you laugh. Ranvir Shorey however continues with his terrific form. He is definitely one actor to look out for. But he should not be made to dance. His face gives away that he is uncomfortable doing that. Dances classes for suggested!
Ugly Aur Pagli may have drawn better marks if it was original. The youth will may like this movie for the 'hatke' storyline. But at the end of the day it really fails to entertain you the way it's supposed to. You won't regret giving this one a pass.
Rating : **
After heading 'Jimmy' as producer a few weeks ago, Mithun Chakraborthy returns as actor with 'Don Muthuswami'. The film spearheaded by Ashim Samanta , son of the late Shakti Samanta marks his debut as director. The film marks Ashim's attempt to revive the legendary Shakti Samanta Films banner.
Synopsis''
DON MUTHUSWAMI (Mithun Chakraborty) is in a dilemma. His father, before dying, extracts a promise from him that he would mend his ways and become a good man. Muthuswami is in a fix, so are his henchmen who watch in disbelief as his father passes away after the Don has given his promise. There is no going back on his word now. From Don, he wants to transform into Sir Muthuswamy and his henchmen are still with him but they now double up as domestic help. 
But Don being Don wants to marry off his daughter to the son of another Don. Sanjana (Hrishitaa Bhatt) refuses to be transferred from her prison like home to another Don's home. So she resorts to lying that she is pregnant to call off the marriage. Add to it Don's manager Pritam (Rohit Roy) who wants to marry his daughter and the confusion is complete. The Urdu teacher, Jaikishan (Mohit Raina), hired to polish Don's language skills also falls in love with Sanjana. And there are the cops who are on the Don's trail to see whether he has really turned a new leaf. Everything takes place in a matter of one day in the Don's house.
To begin with, 'Don Muthuswami' offers nothing really concrete. The movie seems to be totally inspired by Mithun Chakraborthy's amazing performance as 'Krishan Iyer Nariyalpani Wala' from 'Agneepath'. The idea is good to portray a south-Indian Don with a talented Mithunda supporting you all the way but director Ashim fails to understand that it requires more than just developing a character to make a good film.
Also, things get worse right from the start with the overdose of unwanted silly sound effects that really annoys. The dialogues of the film are faintly heard thanks to the never ending sound effects that accompany almost every line in the film. 
On the acting front, Mithun Charaborthy is fantastic and delivers with ease. He is convincing and funny but there isn't much he can do when the entire setting and feel of the film fails to grab one's attention. Mithun makes you laugh with his constant 'Aiyoo Murga' and other remarks.
Rohit Roy does well. Shakti Kapoor , Hrishita Bhatt and Mohit Raina fail to impress. Vishal Kotian , one of Mithun's henchmen impresses with his comic timing.
The music by Anu malik is terrible and two tracks have been totally forced into the film .The film could have been done without the insertion of such boring songs.
Looks like director Ashim Samantha has a long way to go before the Samantha Films banner can shine bright once again like it used to in the good old days. As for the film, it may find a decent pull in the southern regions and Kolkatta where Mithunda has a huge fan following.
Rating : *
Mahesh Bhatt's penchant for taking contemporary issues works for the second time in a row, and much better than it did the last time round with Kalyug, for which he developed the notorious hotel Internet porn racket. For Gangster, the Bhatts and Anurag Basu have borrowed the germ of the film's premise from Abu Salem and Monica Bedi's life, and it works in a big way. Romance, Drama and a wicked twist in an engrossing tale are the key parts of a hugely satisfying whole that is Gangster.
The film, well shot and edited, and directed with panache by Anurag Basu, also showcases a precociously confident new talent, Kangana, in the lead. In fact, while in the film she plays the nervous consort of deadly gangster Shiny Ahuja, in performance, she towers over both, the average Emran Hashmi, and the powerful Shiny Ahuja.
But first things first.
The film opens to a literal hammershot with a startling and dramatically filmed shootout in a high rise building. Simran (Kangana) is shot at by a man shot at thrice, and before long, two stretchers are wheeled into an operation theatre. One bears Simran, and the other, the man who was shot.
The opening sequence is an intriguing peg, and from there, with its smooth and intriguing narrative technique of flashbacks intercut with the present, the story of Gangster unfolds in flashback.
Gangster, the first Indian feature film shot in beautiful autumnal Seoul, is about Simran, a young bar dancer whose life is changed when a dangerous criminal Daya (Shiny Ahuja in a powerful performance) on the run from pursuing cops, barges into her home. Simran protects him from the pursuing cops, and even tells him he can stay there for a day till the cops leave the area. Daya, a man of few words, is intrigued by her simplicity and lack of fear, and is clearly drawn to her in a primeval way. He leaves without a word, but returns a week later to ask for her. And follows her to her place of work ' a 'ladies'bar, which he starts frequenting every day, just sitting there, gazing upon her, without speaking a word. One night, as drunken customers try to grab Simran, Daya explodes, beats them senseless, then grabs her hand and pulls her out of the bar and into his life. And Simran, who, like most other young women, had always been dreaming of a family and a home of her own, believes that finally, through Daya, her dreams are coming true.
But that is not to be. Life with Daya, the gangster, has been a never ending lurching, hurtling escape dash from cops '
Simran is living in a Seoul suburb, while Daya is in Mauritius. She's living on the edge emotionally, and finds refuge either in alcohol, or in the songs and tender affection of Akash, a singer at an Indian restaurant in Seoul. As they are drawn closer, one night, Simran, now in love with Akash, blurts out her entire story of life with Daya. And of the adopted child they lost to the cops who came shooting for them one day. She also tells him of the way Daya pulled a gun on his mentor and father figure ( Gulshan Grover in small but brilliant performance) for her sake. Akash ' and the audience ' learn that nothing can come between Simran and Daya's love for her. And soon, Akash nearly loses his life when in a startling scene, Daya finds out about Simran's affair with him, nearly killing Akash in a fit of uncontrollable rage.
Unluckily, Srinivasan and Director Mohanan ' makers of the poignant tale of 'Katha Parayumpol' should be topsy-turvily entangled in their sense about selling remake rights. Yeah! Absurd remakes in two different versions as 'Kuselan' and 'Kathanayakudu' had really balled up the duo's best efforts and now Priyadarshan in no way is different from them. Of course, a film director criticizing the best film 'Slumdog Millionaire' made us perceive him as the one of the best filmmaker who would churn a film thousand times better. 
We still can't zero down on the exact reason as to why certain film makers, cannot remake a film perfectly? We aren't expecting a Satyajit Ray but when a film is remade why mess up with beautiful motifs rendered with a master touch.
Priyadarshan may have boasted that he hasn't copycatted from the Tamil remake on any aspect, but not even the location has been changed' Even the blunder committed by P. Vasu has been replicated by Priyadarshan. In Malayalam version, Meena was portrayed perfectly for the role of a lower class family which was completely different in the Tamil as well as Telugu version. Of course, watching Lara Dutta as a housewife from a hapless family background is somewhat absurd. She's embellished with best facial make-overs and that doesn't fit her with finesse.
Bilas Rao Pardesi (Irrfan Khan) is a poor barber in town leading a wretched life with his wife Bindiya (Lara Dutta) and a couple of kids. Their life is studded with bittersweet experiences and they are much stricken by poverty. Bilas isn't able to meet his daily demands, not even making up for his children's school fee. But things aren't the same once a film unit reaches the town and actor is none other than Superstar Sahir Khan (Shah Rukh Khan).
Bilas Rao Pardesi's acquaintance during his childhood days with Sahir Khan is known to the entire village' Now things are completely different as the villagers treat him graciously. Be it the school's head or the ones who lend loans, everyone is ready to favor him. But all that they expect from Bilas is an introduction to the superstar Sahir Khan.
The crucial moment for Bilas comes when he wonders with conflicting emotions doubting whether Sahir would remember him, since Sahir is a top-charting superstar now.
Well, as you all know' The climax is just the same as in the original.
Kudos to Irrfan Khan for a splendid spell from this star' of course, he has been doing it in all his previous films. Looks like Priyadarshan hasn't laid his hands on any of the star-casts as everyone seems to have watched the DVDs of all three versions and finally presented it with their own innovative touch. However, as mentioned earlier Lara Dutta's looks could've been much well carried though. She's so rich in her appearance and doesn't look like one stricken by poverty.
Shah Rukh Khan is up with his own style and as usual his charisma grabs your attention. He scores the best during the climax part with an unforeseen show. But why does this film carry so much of commercial factors, say 3 item numbers? That remains a question in your mind when you walk out after watching the film. It spoils the emotional panorama that was more instant in the original version. Rajpal Yadav does a laudable task on his comedy tracks, especially in the penultimate sequences.
Accidentally, the spellbinding climax penned by Srinivasan (Writer of original version) holds you tight, soaking your eyes' So now you must know who the man to be honored is. 
Pritam's musical score is mediocre while a couple of tunes 'Kudhaya Kair' and 'Love Mera Hit' goes for a big round of applause. The background musical score does not deserve a special mention. Manikandan's cinematography is top-notching and precisely, the man has canned the best shots of Pollachi.
At no point, Priyadarshan favors us uniquely stepping out from already existing factors crafted. Manish Korde's dialogues are spellbinding and dwells in your heart even-after the show is over. Arun Kumar's editing is a bit amateurish with lots of unwanted cuts especially in the song 'Marjaani'...
On the whole, 'Billu' is a film that could be enjoyed by those if they hadn't watched the original version. Though filled with bits and pieces of absurdities, the final 20 minutes of the film deserves appreciation getting you to applaud for Shah Rukh's performance.
Verdict: Watch it once!
Rating : **
You gawk and gasp at the sheer temerity of this so called comedy about an aunt-niece pair conning gullible bachelors of every shape and size out of their millions.
Whatever happened to good old comedies like Padosan, Golmaal and even Hera Pheri where the actors pitched their parody just right to create belly-laughs that didn't make you squirm in discomfort? 
Everything and everyone in Bachke Rehna Re Baba is so baggy and over-the-top, you wonder what the director was thinking while shuttling from one queerly conceived shot to another in search of a laughter that's lewd rather than luscious. 
And to reduce the once luscious Rekha to this fatuous farcical state... Allah! it's worse than watching Joan Of Arc burn on the cross.
But let's not bring Joan into this. This isn't a film about witches but bitches... And I use that word without inhibitions. 
Welcome to the amoral world of wanna-get-rich-at-any-cost bitches. Like Govind Menon's previous Sherawat-helmed outing Kiss Kiss Ki Kismat, the stakes here are higher than the writer and director's imagination so we often end up looking at a product that's too ambitious for its good.
More crude than comic and more farcical than funny, BRRB leaves you speechless with its limp and lurid mediocrity. What's worse is its unbearable tedium. Stretching to nearly three hours of unalloyed bilge, the crap trap goes from caper to caper like a paper tiger trying to snarl through the plastic bars of a sham zoo. 
One can understand the film's younger sassier female lead mouthing embarrassing innuendos, doing her slurpy kisses with the callow new co-star and all the other things that Sherawat has patented. But what was Rekha thinking when she agreed to all the un-smart, shoddy double-entendres and the obnoxious nudge-nudge-wink-wink stuff more suitable to Kader Khan and Shakti Kapoor?
In one longish inter-lewd, Rekha posing as a French aristocrat bids for a statue of a male nude. While the statue is being carted out, the penis hits the doorframe and falls to the ground. Later, we see Sherawat running around with the clay-penis. Phallic farce is a new one for Hindi cinema. Wish it was even half as funny as it would sound on paper.
The collective comic aptitudes of the two leading ladies amount to nothing more than a series of facial contortions in what are nothing but shallow hammy performances.
And hello hello? Is this the same Rekha who once gave rousing comic performances in Khubsoorat and Biwi Ho To Aisi? Rekha makes a mockery of her mythic stature as a diva. The director of this film should be legally punished for what he has done to one of Bollywood's most abiding star-actresses.
Paresh Rawal too is uncharacteristically out of sorts. As Rekha's love-smitten Punjabi husband, chasing her all the way to Mauritius (where much of the pathetic parody plays itself out) Rawal shines in spurts.
But clearly the guy having all the fun is Satish Shah. As a gutka-addicted Sindhi businessman being ensnared by the gold-digging Rekha, Shah gets all the expressions of celebrating mediocrity right, specially when he has to play dead.
Satish Shah had earlier played a corpse in Kundan Shah's Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron. This time his cadaverous act is a signal for the plot to lie down and breathe its last. 
Newcomer Karan Khanna gets a chance to show his competence as a kisser. Acting? Who's doing much of that anyway?
Many portions of this film are so clumsily shot and edited you wonder what the director was thinking while concocting the cornucopia of witless corniness. 
Gurinder Chadha and her co-writer and now director of their first joint venture, Paul Mayeda Berges, have made memorable films that have been based on the conflicts and drama in the lives of Asian subcontinent people living in foreign countries, trying to come to terms with the conflict that arises when their new found aspirations and desires clash with the pressures of tradition that follows their lives in the form of values and beliefs of the elders. And The Mistress of Spices is yet another sensitive walk on basically the same path.
Tilo (Aishwarya Rai) is an ethereally beautiful spice bazaar keeper ostensibly an owner of a Spice Shop in San Francisco, but actually a Mistress of Spices. You've got to accept this premise before you sink your teeth into this story. You see, Tilo isn't just any ordinary shopkeeper, she's got a mission in life. To help people out with the help of spices, which represent the oldest Asian tradition and therefore values. Tilo is supposed to help them as they try without realizing it, to keep their values alive.
OK, coming back to Tilo, she belongs to a group of handpicked and apparently destitute but gifted and sensitive girls whom an old and wizened First Mother (Zohra Sehgal) had taken under her care. Ever since she was born to poor parents in a remote village, Tilo was blessed with clairvoyance and the ability to see and sense things others couldn't. Her fame spread to bandits, who killed her parents to abduct her for their own benefit, but Tilo escaped and was literally thrown by the sea at the feet of the First Mother, who included her among her wards to be trained as a mistress of spices, blessed with special powers to sense what ails people with a unique ability to peep into their past and their future. But for these startling powers to work, each Mistress of Spices must obey three rules: use the spices only for others, never touch another human's skin, and never leave her store. 
And there's Tilo, helping people. All of whom happen to be immigrants in an alien land. A colored boxer who wants a spice that will help him find true love; a young Sikh immigrant Jagjit, who's been bullied by the white students in his school; a Kashmiri illegal alien Haroun who moved to America chasing the American Dream but is working for an Indian nightmare as a chauffer for a boss who treats him like dirt, and dadaji (Anupam Kher) who's hassled by his grand daughter's ways and ultimately faces the biggest crisis of his life when she announces she's marrying a Chicano! 
Their dilemmas unfold even as Tilo's own dilemma does, for, in spite of being warned against it, the attractive Tilo is herself drawn to a handsome young American, Doug (Dylan McDermott) who too is attracted to her from the first glance. A bike skid outside the spice bazaar has Tilo calling him inside to help him with a poultice of spices, and before long, the two are drawn close to each other. The graph of the attraction is palpable and sensitively handled, and before long, Tilo breaks the first rule when, despite the red chillies warning her to avoid Doug, and in spite of knowing that Doug's spice is asafetida (hing), the antidote for love, she starts using the spices for her own benefit, just to ensure he returns to her. She can sense he is involved with someone else, who too, incidentally comes to her shop for help with spices that will rekindle Doug's waning interest in her. But in everything Tilo does that's related to Doug, she listens to her heart that now beats for Doug, and not her mind and the spices that keep warning her to refrain. Before long, they touch hands, and the second cardinal rule too is broken! And then swept away by her heart, she pleads with the spices to let her break the rules for just one night with Doug. 
This is a kind of movie that leaves you dumbfounded. And also shaken...and stirred (a certain 007 would be happy)! But all of this is certainly not in a very positive sense.
The problem is that you end up wondering whether even professional compulsion of reviewing a flick should have made you watch this one. Ok, so it is an agreed fact that YATRA was never supposed to be one of those entertainers that would make you plan your evening around it. Certainly not! But even in a so-called meaningful film, the least you expect is a comprehensive storyline and some narration that makes you appreciate it while keeping the thoughts clear in your mind that what what you are watching is an 'art film'.
Sadly, even those who appreciate art films would be left disappointed after watching a mish-mash of affairs that happen in Gautam Ghose's YATRA. One distinctly remembers Pankaj Parashar's BANARAS [Urmila, Ashmit, Nasseer] that was called as bizarre and mumbo-jumbo when released some time back. Well, YATRA can comfortably occupy that spot now!
Even reviewing a film like this is a horrendous task. One doesn't quite know where to begin, what to tell and how to conclude. Probably from that aspect, director Gautam Ghose [who holds countless other profiles for the film] may have been smiling from ear to ear since he would have had the thought clear in his mind that all he wanted was to tell a tale that was never meant to be linear.
But hey, how about poor souls who actually go ahead and buy a ticket to watch the proceedings unfold on screen. If the thought was to merely go ahead and tell a tale that was suited to a film maker's own personal 'vision and taste' then why to bring it to mainstream film release across multiplexes? Why not go ahead and have it run mainly at film festivals and get it ready for home entertainment audience?
One may find the outburst here to be too emotional but well, that can't really be helped. Picture this - The story is about an award winning author [Nana Patekar] who has written about a nautch girl [Rekha]. This story is a mix of fact and fiction where Nana goes down the memory lane to remember that incidents that made him get a germ for his story and write a novel.
So far so ok, but then strange things start happening on screen. Nana meets Rekha again as the film continues its verbose 'yatra'. Meanwhile in an attempt to be true to current times and 'attempt' at saying that 'hey, the film is still about 21st century and is not a period drama', references to call centers, shopping malls, politicians, rock culture etc. are thrown in for not really a good measure.
In the end, you just don't understand the intent behind the tale. Yes, the pseudo intellectuals can bring out their scissors and try to shred the movie layer by layer to explore the real essence of the film but all of that seems too self-indulgent, purposeful and forced.
This leads one to a question that what's the use if a story can't tell itself in those designated hours? Why does a viewer have to back home and spent almost a week to understand why, what and how about a film? Are we really patient to be doing so? Were we ever so patient to be doing so?
Probably after a week I too would have something to talk about this film. Maybe I would have managed to explore the germ behind this tale? But then would you be patient (and willing) to listen?
Rating: *

He is the rockstar who could never become a superstar. She is the pretty-young-chick with a wild side to her. And no, she can't stand Champu-the-geek even though he can solve mathematical complications with a matter-of-fact-ease. Seven years later rockstar in a last-ditch-effort to save himself from the alimony bouncer thrown by her PYC-Wifey-Dear, decides to help out NASA Astronaut (and still-desperately-seeking the illusive-chick) Champu win his love-battle. With a tag line'.Let's Fall In Love'Again'You don't have to be an Einstein to predict the ending. That's the thin-sliced storyline of writer, editor, screenplay writer, dialogue writer, background music composer and director Shirish Kunder's debut Broadway-Meets-Bollywood-Bonanza 'Jaanemann'. 
'Jaanemann' is riding high on the Chetak-Horse of hype-n-publicity. There's a palpable eagerness before the film begins. It starts off on an interesting note. But even before it ends (God, it's well over three hours) one feels like hungry for fresh air outside the theatre. It seems director Shirish Kunder is quite clear that he is telling no new story. He wants to dazzle the audience with his technical panache and fantasy-prone-editing-chops. The Filmfare Awards from the sixties when Salman Khan gets a trophy from Meena Kumari and he ends up thanking Dilip Kumar, Rajesh Khanna, Amitabh Bachchan etc. was definitely a good beginning. 
Storytelling via song-n-dance-jugglery with the seasoning of good humor made for enjoyable fare. A good one hour later, the film meanders into a hackneyed storyline with Rockstar Suhan (Salman Khan) and Champu Agastya Rao planting themselves in a shady apartment bang opposite the love-interest PYC Pia (Preity Zinta). Thereafter begins a Badi-Si-Love-Story as they ogle at Pia from their telescope and watch her cry watching weepie movies on their big screen 'astronomical' theatre. Suhan makes a cool dude out of Agastya. And as Champu gets close to his destination, Suhan gets to know about the little angel daughter he has from Pia. One is also made to suffer the most stupefying family-dance-show in Pia's family home in US where everyone dances in a grotesque Yash-Karan mellow-drama with loud costumes, silly jokes and 'Kabool Hai' numbers. Uff'Hand over a glass of water please. 
The end result of this hugely mounted film is the case of beautiful packaging and little-or-no-content. Director Shirish Kunder shows a lot of promise when it comes to giving a world class technical sheen to his film. He also shows a sense of humour at his own expense when he shows Suhaan's debut film 'Jaanemann' being trashed by the audience. But maybe dude, you should have been tough and let someone do the editing of the final copy. The film could have been more effective if it could be curtailed by at least half an hour to forty five minutes. Taking cinematic liberties is fine but you just can't take audience sensibilities for granted. Even if you wanted to throw dust-of-magnificence in the eyes of audience, at least there could have been some semblance of plausible storyline. Style is wasted if the content is missing. And that's exactly the flaw with 'Jaaneman'. 
In the acting department, you shall find Salman Khan as his best. He looks cool-as-ice-tea and hotter-than-piping-sizzlers. Even as an actor he gravitates between the superbly humorous to tugging-at-the-heart-strings-emotional during his brief interactions with his beautiful daughter. I would rate this as Salman's most flawless performance ever. 
Director Sanjay Gadhvi should have displayed disclaimer much before title credits, "Don't watch this flick carrying same expectations of Dhoom and Dhoom 2". Well, the film deserves it, for you are sure to get down with your hopes after watching it. Both the previous biggies Dhoom and Dhoom 2 were grandiloquently spelled with big star-casts and racy executions. Well, Kidnap is nowhere near these two directorial ventures of Gadhvi. Alas! Never expected such a ridiculous piece of work from the same director and of course, Imran Khan is the one guy in the entire star-casts who deserves pat for his solacing performance' 
Well, hide and seek games are quite clich'd when it comes to Hollywood films like Cellular, Phone Booth and more. Bollywood directors endeavored remaking these films titled 'Speed' and 'Aamir'. Though not a remake, Kidnap falls on the same lines of tete-a-tete conflict where revenge has its special attention. In simple, the film is about a boy versus man and this theme sounds quite interesting. But where does this drama get you disappointed? Flimsy screenplay blended with lots of absurdities and we are sure you don't need any rigid reasons than this. 
The very title 'Kidnap' and its prognosticating prologue keep your guessing quotients locked. Fine! The motive of Imran Khan abducting the victim is merely not for money. But when the suspense gets unraveled in its decisive moment, you would regret for ludicrous intentions of the young lad. 
Flaws are so blatant on almost the entire crew. Much before getting done with the analysis, let's take a quick run through about Kidnap is all about' 
When Dr. Mallika (Vidhya Malvade) asks her daughter Sonia (Minisha Lamba), what she would like to be gifted for her 18th birthday, Sonia wants to meet her Dad. On the get-gos, it is revealed Mallika divorced Vikrant Raina (Sanjay Dutt) when Sonia was just 10. The bitter judicial proceeding was settled in Mallika's favor and Sonia has not met her father for eight long years.Rebellious Sonia is hell-bent on meeting her dad, but Mallika does not want her to have anything to do with him. After a spat between mother and daughter, Sonia walks off in a huff and doesn't return.Mallika gets panicked when a stranger (Imran Khan) rings her up and conveys his message that he has abducted Sonia. The kidnapper, Kabir, has only one demand ' for which he will negotiate with nobody but Sonia's father - Vikrant Raina.Reluctantly Mallika brings Vikrant back into their lives to save Sonia. But Vikrant Raina, one of the richest Indians in the world, with a net worth of 51.7 billion dollars, chokes at the thought of taking orders from a criminal.But Kabir holds the trump card - he holds Sonia and Vikrant knows that he has no option but to toe the line.It's very simple, Kabir tells him. They are going to play a game - just the two of them. Vikrant has to play by the rules set by Kabir and he has to play alone. He has to play to save his daughter. If he even utters the words 'Hello Police', it will be Bye Bye for Sonia!With his daughter's life is at stake, a reluctant Vikrant agrees to obey Kabir's orders. Kabir sets him a series of intimidating, time bound tasks. As Vikrant completes each task, he receives a clue that will bring him a step closer to finding Sonia.And here starts not-so thrilling, cat and mouse game where Vikrant Raina chases baffling clues through impossible terrain, even as a hawk eyed Kabir keeps a watch on every step he takes. The slightest error or delay on his part and Vikrant will never see his daughter again. But why do all the tasks involve Vikrant having to commit crimes in rising intensity?Although circumstances have forced Vikrant to take orders from this hateful stranger, he's also a master strategist of many board room battles and a man to be pushed around. Thus he succeeds in outwitting Kabir on more than one occasion.But then a counter-offensive Kabir puts Sonia's life in jeopardy and Vikrant vows that he will stop at nothing to save his daughter... his only child.
Fine! The film filled with lots of clue-games is quite convincing, but not all: be it earlier segments of train sequences and few more sounds absurd. Totting up to one more quotient of annoyance, Imran Khan shoring into Sanjay Dutt's house will surely get you more vexed. As mentioned earlier, the biggest blemish that gets you move out of nerves is when the silly intentions behind kidnapping is revealed. 
Nothing to blame on the part of Imran Khan and he is worth getting grand round of applause. But not do all the other star-casts deserve the same credits, even the biggie Sanjay Dutt. He lacks solidity and to perform such a challenging character, Sanjay Dutt is supposed to be electrified right on his heels. Well, he hasn't stressed himself to give tensed gestures that would have added up more on emotional bonding between a father and daughter relation. Following him is Minissha Lamba who doesn't suit for the role of 17-yr old girl and the person to be blamed again is Sanjay Gadhvi for roping her in for an incongruous characterization. The most outlandish flaw is posing Vidhya Malvade and Minissha Lamba as mother-daughter. Nevertheless, Vidhya lives up to the expectations while Reema Logoo does justice to her role. 
Getting on with technical aspects, Pritam's musical score works no wonder. Except 'Mit Jaaye', none of them sound pleasing for your ears. Bobby Singh's Cinematography blended with Raju Singh's background score adds on more to the tension-filled sequences. 
Valuating the film on whole, Kidnap has nothing to offer more than disappointments and it's a great disaster in the directorial career of Sanjay Gadhvi. Perhaps, the film may witness grand opening just for Imran Khan with his recent sensational debut Jaane Ya Tu'Naa making high waves across the box-office. But the scenario may change sooner dropping down in its response
Verdict: Watch it if you can' 
Rating : **
When an actor of the caliber of Amitabh Bachchan appears in a lead role for a movie revolving completely around him, a film lover is never more happier. Especially so, when at least 3 movies with him as the lead protagonist [Black, Waqt, Sarkar] have struck gold at the box office in quick succession. Audience, that has been fed on Big B movies for around 3 decades now, certainly do not mind seeing him week after week now. And when a movie like 'Viruddh' arrives that gives him ample scope to be seen in each and every frame of the movie, the expectations are anyways sky high.
Are these gargantuan expectations met? Does the movie turn out to be as good as everyone believed it would? And the most important question - does Amitabh Bachchan himself get a chance to do something different from what he has done over the decades?
Answer to all these questions is Yes to a good extent. No doubt 'Viruddh' could easily have been a classic [which it is not], but inspite of the blemishes [mainly in the pre-climax and climax], the movie never fails to grab your attention. If only writing during some of the post-interval portions could have been power-packed, 'Viruddh' may have been a landmark film for everyone involved.
Mahesh Manjrekar has always delivered whenever it comes to directing a movie depicting reality. 'Vaastav' and 'Astitva' are great examples of such attempts. With 'Viruddh', he is back in form once again after delivering so called commercial duds like 'Rakth' and 'Padmashree Laloo Prasad Yadav'.
Vidhyadhar Patwardhan [Amitabh Bahchan] and Sumi Patwardhan [Sharmila Tagore] are a happy and content retired couple who live in their 60s-constructed bungalow. While Vidhyadhar spent his life as an airport staffer, Sumi brings home the traits of a school principal, the position she held for 15 years.
They love and care for each other and their simple day to day antics are straight out of everyday. Number of such sequences are very well embedded in the script that you never once realize watching a movie that was earlier thought to be a heavy-on-heart flick.
First one hour is breezy enough that makes 'Viruddh' a light hearted entertainer journey. Ace in hand during the screenplay is narration by the couple's only Amar [John Abraham], who keeps appearing in fleeting shots till he is finally introduced as a London graduated son. And along comes his British girlfriend Jenny [Anusha].
Life couldn't have been better but little did one know that this would be only short-lived. On the eve of his birthday, Amar is accidentally killed in a scuffle with the Home Minister's wayward son Harshwardhan [Amitabh Dayal, last seen in 'Kagaar' in a lead role] outside a night club.
Their world is shattered and the only redemption now is to see Harsh behind the bars. But the corrupt 'system' fails to hear their voice and instead label Amar and Jenny as drug peddlers. Jenny is put behind bars and now it is upto Vidhyadhar to secure her release and prove his son and daughter-in-law's innocence.
How does Vidhyadhar manage to accomplish task? Does he continue to show faith in the law and wait for justice? Does his old age allow him to battle it out under such adverse circumstances? Does his friendly neighborhood garage owner Ali [Sanjay Dutt] help him accomplish his mission? Or is he forced to take law in his own hands?
Is Amar finally proved innocent?
With the number of so called comedy flicks being made at a random pace , here comes yet another one starring Tusshar Kapoor after 'One Two Three'. This time around debutant Sachin Yadri fuses in the entire bandwagon of Ekta Kapoor's 'Balaji Telefilms' and why not when the soap queen is the producer of this film.
Synopsis'.
C KKOMPANY is about three individuals, all living in the 'C' Wing of a middle class housing society: Akshay [Tusshar] is a crime reporter, Mr. Joshi [Anupam Kher] is a retired accountant trying to deal with his ungrateful son and Lambodar [Rajpal Yadav] is at loggerheads with his wife over his job. These three friends share their respective plight with one another and find solace in each other's company. On one occasion, they play a harmless prank to tackle their problems. One thing leads to another and before they realize, the incident becomes big news. But things don't stop there. They put their new founded fame to good use and this in turn triggers off a series of incidents, which propel them to such heights that the three become the talk of the nation.
To begin with the film in an absolute zero on substance and originality. Neither is the humour in good taste nor are the flow of events logical enough. Imagine a bunch of geeks threatening the entire city over the phone. Also there is a huge resemblance to the Munnabhai series and this goody goody element doesn't work anymore. 
The screenplay of the film is such a bore. Looks like Hindi cinema just loves making a mockery of the comedy genre.
The music of the film too offers nothing with Sanjay Dutt and Celina Jiatley trying their best at the 'item numbers'.
On the acting scenario, Tusshar Kapoor has a long way to go. His comic timing is poor and those sleazy dialogues of the film are plain annoying.
Anupam Kher too is just overdone. His lines just bore.
Rajapl Yadav seriously needs to look for better substance oriented characters. Encashing on his height factor isn't funny any longer.
Mithun Chakraborthy isn't convincing at all and is bad at comedy.
All the cameos of Balaji serial actors is just a drab.
An out and out insult to the comedy genre.
Rating : *
It's a moment that defines the plot. Industrialist Karan Shah's (Rahul Khanna) father has been gunned down. A snoopy over made-up journalist from a real-life news channel sneaks into the tycoon's cordoned office building for some sumptuous sound bites.
But then Priya sees the grieving son sitting in shattered, bloodied bereavement in his office. She mumbles an apology and withdraws.
The moment reminded one of those two other ambitious newshounds, Shabana Azmi in Main Azaad Hoon and Juhi Chawla in Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani, confronted by their conscience during a time of crisis.
The crisis in Elaan is multiple. On the most visible level it involves Karan Shah's battle against extortion and murder by a don named Baba (Mithun Chakraborty). The whole effort to extradite Baba from his Alpine hideout through Karan's five-man army - comprising Rahul, Arjun Rampal, John Abraham, Amisha Patel and Lara Dutta - draws pointed attention to the film's hybridised antecedents and also to the headline-hitting Abu Salem extradition story.
The theme of a group of self-appointed angels of justice bringing a barbaric bandit to book isn't new to cinema. Ramesh Sippy did it with extraordinary 'lan in Sholay. Before him it was Akira Kurosawa in The Seven Samurai and John Sturges in The Magnificent Seven. After Sippy everyone from Raj Santoshi (China Gate) to Ram Shetty (Army) has attempted a Sholay.
Vikram Bhatt's take on the all-time classic is a rigorous re-invention of Sholay. That bandit Gabbar Singh in Sholay transforms in the suave and sartorially chic Baba in Elaan is a sign of the times.
Bhatt clutches at those signs and converts them into neon signposts of action cinema in the post-Sholay generation. The initial sequences showing Rahul's family's trauma and his father's determination not to succumb to extortion threats are sensitively handled. 
The mercenary milieu is also mapped out with a diligence and deftness defying the haphazardness of the action genre. Each character that joins hands with the slain tycoon's son is etched with some care. And the cast is constantly easy on the eyes though they lack the laconic sexiness of the outlaws' ensemble in Sanjay Gupta's Musafir.
Cinematographer Pravin Bhatt shoots the characters in Venice with a vigour that conveys both a face value and a bit of life under the surface. 
The build-up towards the second-half is achieved with care. However, it's downhill all the way in the second-half with the climax signalling an abysmal dip in the narrative graph. The shoot-out is staged in a blotchy blurred blizzard of rain and gunshots where visibility seems to have deliberately been obfuscated. 
The arresting 'lan of the first-half is effectively lost in the second, thereby exemplifying a problem that plagues mainstream cinema. 
Elaan simply runs out of steam. The three songs in the narrative are three too many. They go from vapid to trite to corny. Shouldn't mainstream cinema, especially those made by directors who know their job, stop mixing genres? 
Among the cast, Arjun and John are well contrasted as the strong dependable family man and the jaunty boorish beefcake, a sort of new-age Amitabh Bachchan and Dharmendra from Sholay. 
While John's laboured performance is supported by crowd-pleasing lines and a swagger, Arjun is pretty much on his own. Once again playing a man with responsibilities he brings a controlled conviction to both his scenes with his screen daughter and his engrossing death scene.
Sanjay Dutt loves Arshad Warsi. No two ways about that. After watching 'Anthony Kaun Hai' you'd agree with me 100% on that Bond. The good news is that you wouldn't mind Warsi's heroics as he never makes exaggerated attempts at 'Hey-I-am-the-Hero-Look-at-Me-Dude'. He just chills and Sanju as an elder brother lets him tell the story and take the audience for a ride. A pleasant ride I must add, lest you take it other ways. Also a special word of acknowledgment for director Raj Kaushal (Who till now was known as sports anchor noodle strap Mandira Bedi's husband). Well, dude you've managed to make something 'Different-Different'. 'Anthony Kaun hai' is a decent film that has a pretty good chance of making a killing at the Box Office.
Champak Chaudhry (Arshad Warsi) lands up in a soup when Master Madan (Sanjay-The Rocktar-Dutt) corners him in a plush hotel room in Bangkok, Thailand. Champ (As Champak is known as) tries convincing him that it's a case of mistaken identity as he is not Anthony Gonzalves, the man he had come to bump off. The trigger happy Hit Man having a fetish for Yash Chopra brand of sob-stories, agrees to listen to Champ's story. And the fairy tale henceforth is indeed told in an interesting manner. 
Raghu (Raghuvir Yadav) is a thief with a heart of gold. He loves his little daughter Jiya so much so that he decides to steal the full-n-final time and go back to India and hopefully live happily ever after. Although he succeeds in stealing priceless diamonds, he is unable to hide himself from the hawk eyes of the police. For fifteen years he stays in the jail as a mute-mad man. It's there that he comes across Champ, a small time thief with a mastery over forging documents. Champ on his part was heartbroken as his hot girlfriend Rosa (Anusha Dandekar) marries his best friend leaving him in the lurch. Together they become partner-in-crime and escape the jail through dubious means. Raghu's daughter Jiya (Minisha Lamba) grows up into a ravishing beauty. She is unable to spend much time with her father due to the new identity of Champ. There are gunmen thronging their life thereafter. 
I wouldn't want to steal the suspense by telling anything further. The best part about 'Anthony Kaun Hai' is the narrative style as it covers several dimensions and breaks the monotony repeatedly. Although Himesh Reshamiya's music is rocking most of the time, a few of the songs stretch this two hour movie needlessly. Apart from that I would want to advice Arshad that he is definitely good as the main lead. But if he'd like to do it more often then he must hit the Gym with a vengeance. The ample flab doesn't look good, especially when you are romancing a Hot Body like that of Anusha Dandekar (By the way she sizzles in her brief role as a tempest that jumps into the middle of a sea just-like-that, but yeah, do pardon her accented Hindi). 
Continuing on Arshad, I must say, this guy is having a fabulous 2006. 'Golmaal' hit the bull's eye and his comic timing is one of the main reasons in the film's success. 'Anthony Kaun Hai' may not go on to be a huge hit, but it stands a good chance both with the ticket paying public as well as the critics. And then he has big films like 'Lage Raho Munnabhai' and 'Kabul Express' coming later this year. If he continues with the form that he has displayed in 'Anthony Kanu Hai' then the day is not far when he shall emerge as a Brand in his own right. 
Do good ideas always result into great outcome? Sometimes yes, sometimes no! 'The Film' is one such flick that falls in between the two extremes. It's not great cinema but it is no pushover either. It entertains, is thought provoking, surprises you at times but then is not as tout throughout its duration as one had initially expected. Writer-director Junaid Memon does well for a debut film and sends the message across that 'shortcuts' and 'crime never pays' but somehow the final outcome makes you wonder if the script tried to be a bit too smart!
'The Film' begins on a fine note with the introduction of seven prime protagonists. Each of them is a struggler living as paying guests with Aunt Braganza [Sulbha Deshpande] - writer Sushmita [Mahima Chaudhary], assistant director Vijay [Khaled Siddiqui], musician Raman [Ravi Gosai], lyricist Irfan [Vivek Madan], singer Nandini [Ananya Khare] and actors Ankita [Chahat Khanna] 
The movie takes a turn for better as soon as director K. K. Dutta, the director with whom Vijay is an assistant director, gets an extortion call from Shamim bhai. Movie picks up from here with exposure of big film makers, financer, underworld connections and the subsequent association of fear. There is no looking back from here on as frustrated from lack of any good break, the seven hatch a plan! Spearheaded by Sushmita, they plan to use Shamim's name to extort money from diamond merchant Sharat Shah so that they could make a film of their own!
As amateurs, they somehow manage to extort money but in the bargain loose sleep. While the cops are after them, men from Shamim and the rival gang are after them. Bodies start tumbling one after another until a secret is revealed......
'The Film' fluctuates between various genres. From the 'bonding' between seven friends to Bollywood in general to casting couch to underworld-filmmakers-financers nexus to drama and to an extent even slasher thriller! While Memon as a writer-director has done justice to most of the film, it is the portions soon after the interval and the climax that are far from convincing. Picture this - soon after committing an extortion and in the process knocking off a cop, all seven of them are shown tense and in absolute disarray. But within minutes they all break into a song'n'dance. Agreed that they are requested by their landlady to do so but still it doesn't register. 
Mahima's character is such that from her first couple of scenes itself, one can sense the way she is heading, hence the climax comes as no surprise. The worst part is that the way the 'motive' and the 'execution plan' has been detailed, it seems that committing such a well laid out plan is a child's play. All the episodes in the story have been shown to be tied so well with each other that it is too good to be true. And this is where the script tending to be too smart for itself comes into picture. Things become so predictable at one point of time that you know who is going to die next!
Still, for most of the part, the movie goes on a path where it is headed for. One can see a strong Ram Gopal Verma effect, especially in the sequences where underworld makes an appearance. Focus towards telling a story without adding any unnecessary commercial ingredients is quite visible that works quite well for a movie of this genre.
The very first time one heard of this film the excitement levels rose. After the success of 'Mushje Shaadi, Rumi Jaffrey , the writer of the film was now turning director. What more when you have the likes of Salman , Mr.Bachchan and Priyanka Chopra?
But over a span of 2 years (which can be observed in the film), the equation between the actors changed drastically. Be it the Salman-Priyanka or the Amitabh-Salman scenario. This surely has impacted the promotion of a 'mighty' film and until last week Salman didn't come out to give interviews.
So, here it finally is' 'God Tussi Great Ho', an adaptation of 'Bruce Almighty'.
Synopsis..
At the end of the worst day in his life, Arun Prajapati (Salman Khan) angrily rages against God for making his life miserable. To his astonishment, God (Amitabh Bachchan) appears before him in human form and endowing Arun with all of his divine powers, challenges Arun to take on the big job and see if he can do it any better.
Arun responds to his newfound powers with childlike zeal and sets off making one hysterical yet disastrous decision one after another. The love of his life Alia (Priyanka Chopra) is astonished at the 'new' decisive and confident Arun. He thinks he can make the world a happy place by granting everybody their wishes. But to his horror, this results in unprecedented mayhem. Ultimately, Arun realises that he is only human, and being God is tougher than he thought!
Well if you are wondering whether it is a complete rip off you've got it wrong. Writer and debutant director Rumi indeed does quite a bit to change the proceedings of the film to fit the Indian constraints. He fuses in the family angle, the drama, marriage scene, fight sequences etc to entertain.
Then what's wrong with this flick?
The major drawback lies in the writing of the film an area which is Rumi's forte.
The film lacks a certain vision and objective and goes zip-zap leading to no real resolution. The fusion of numerous tracks , the Salman-Sohail repetition of gimmicks (which have become exhaustive since their last flick), the so called lie detector etc.. 
There seems to be a lack of believability with the setting of characters in a competitive Tv channel etc. Take a look at the office environment and the attires used. It's weird!
Nevertheless, the film truly belongs to Salman Khan who is sure to make you laugh in the midst of all this confusion, barring his Vikram Phadnis designed outfits, he does extremely well. Salman's presence and characterization lifts the film. Salman steals the show right through without saying much and with just a bit of body language.
Priyanka Chopra falls flat with her performance and if you are expecting a repeat of her 'Mujshe Shaadi Karoge'magic with Salman , you''ll be disappointed.
Amitabh Bachchan does pretty well as the character of 'God'. Though he has very few scenes with Salman , he expresses plainly with his tone.
Sohail Khan isn't at his best but compliments Salman with every prank of his. Just that his act with Salman has started to get repetitive.
Anupam Kher and Rajpal Yadav are hilarious. Rukshar is wasted.
Music of the film by Sajid 'Wajid is ok and the best track of the film 'Aqsa Beach' fades out within minutes of the film's opening and at the end of the film you aren't left back humming any track. A track of high recall value has not captured its potential.
Cinematography by Ashok Mehta is good .
On the whole, the film would have surely been a hit three years back but that doesn't deny the possibility of another success story here. With Salman's huge fan following and a little help from 'God' this one may just prove right at the box office. This film offers nothing really unique but at some point or the others does a good job at either connecting people or connecting them to their creator. A little bit promotion would have done wonders for this one.
Here's a special wish from the team at IndiaGlitz: Happy Independence Day! Keep the faith running , God Bless and keep reading.
Rating : **
To begin with, the film revolves around Anthony Gonsalves (Nikhil Dwivedi)- a struggling actor who is picked up from the streets and handed over to Father Braganza( Mithun Chakraborthy) by the local gangster Sikander Bhai (Pawan Malhotra). 
Anthony finds himself a job at the local pub run by Murtuza Seth (Anupam Kher), Sikander Bhai (Pawan Malhotra), Maqsood (Mukesh Tiwari) and Riyaaz (Daya Shankar Pandey) who are involved in illegal activities. Anthony soon falls in love with Riya (Amrita Rao) an assistant director on Ms.Bharucha's (Lillette Dubey) film.
Fate has other plans for Anthony as he witnesses a dead body being buried by the trio of Sikander,Maqsood and Riyaz. Soon Anthony is hounded by Inspector Khan (Jaaved Sheikh) for leads. Anthony is faced with the dilemma of choosing between his very own Sikander Bhai and the truth.
My Name is Anthony Gonsalves has definitely been doing the rounds for various reasons right from Shahrukh's Red Chillies association with the film to the comparisons drawn between Nikhil Dwivedi and Shahrukh of the Deewana days. 
The film takes off with the journey of Bandra boy Anthony and cuts through various clich' characters right from Father Braganza to Bandra ka Michael to complete the ride, leaving you perplexed of where the film is headed. Director E Niwas definitely had a clear vision of bringing out the story of a local Bandra Boy who dreams of becoming a superstar. But somewhere through the film the screenplay starts loosening up, thus leaving the viewers bored at several instances.
The film keeps swinging from high energy pumping moments to real dull sequences. E Niwas tries real hard to keep the audience glued to their seats but it's the vague introduction of characters and cuts in sequences that keeps you wondering where the film is headed.
As far as the acting quotient of the film is concerned debutant Nikhil Dwivedi does a pretty decent job. It's not like bollywood has found its new Shahrukh in Nikhil, but the lad does make his presence felt. Some sequences in the film such as Nikhil mimicking Amitabh Bachchan and the interaction between him and Saurabh Shukla at the pub bring out the potential the lad has. Nikhil in no way resembles Shahrukh Khan, rather he resembles Shahid Kapur with his trying hard to be cute expressions. Atleast Nikhi leaves you with a clear understanding that a hero need not be extremely good looking or so, but at the end of the day has to perform. 
Amrita Rao is not overshadowed by Nikhil, infact in a male oriented film she does have a meaty role. She does perform well and one gets to explore the hotter side of Amrita in the film. Mithun Chakraborthy does well in a clich' role. Mithun's fight sequence at the end is definitely entertaining. Wonder whether the catholic community will raise objections to a scene where the Holy Bible is shown being tossed in the air and Mithun is shown diving and catching it before it hits the ground. 
Anupam Kher looks like a complete cut paste from Kahon Na Pyaar Hai. The negative characters-Pawan Malhotra, Daya Shankar and Mukesh Tiwari are really good. In fact actor Pawan Malhotra is faboulous in the film. The actor surely deserves quality work after this film. Jaaved Sheikh does a good job as Inspector Khan. Saurabh Shukla,Lillete Dubey and Manoj Pahwa are barely there.
The film also has cameos from Priyanka Chopra and Anil Kapoor ; an item number by Hritisha Bhatt.
Boy sees girl. Girl sees boy. Boy falls in love and flirts. Girl enjoys but acts to ignore. Eventually boy wins girls heart. They decide to marry. Parents oppose. Boy and girl convince their parents about their love. What happens finally? A happy ending! And guess what? Inspite of this story being seen at least 2000 times before, it still works! And that's because director Manmohan Singh handles the narration of this Punjabi movie so well that never once does the boredom set in the proceedings. There re light moments aplenty, some sensitive moments, a little bit of drama, emotions and in the end a message that goes back to K3G's tagline - It's all about loving your parents. If you give your parents as much love as they have given you, be rest assured that they would agree to your desires, albeit it may take some time!
Navdeep [Jimmy Shergill] and his group of friends - a handsome Bhatinda dude, a body building 'hanuman-bhakt jat' and a studious 'sardar' boy - study in Punjab University - Chandigarh and roam around the city on their 'ek laakh ki bike'! Jimmy's only regret - he has a costly bike but no girl to sit behind him. Enters Harman [Juhee Babbar] along with her group of friends [that includes an Amisha Patel look-alike and a 'soni punjabi kudi'] who takes his breath away every time she passes his way.
Navdeep falls for Harman and on being coaxed by his friends starts wooing her. She too enjoys all the attention and after a college trip to Kullu [reminding very much of Europe tour in DDLJ] and a cute gift of a stuffed toy later, reciprocates his feelings. Jimmy trying to woo Juhee in classroom, canteen, CD showroom, Kullu, parking stand - just everything seems to be going so naturally that the moments just fly. Add to that some comic relief by college senior Rangeela [Gurpreet Ghughee], and smiles keep coming on, though he does tend to go overboard at number of sequences.
Next logical step for the lovebirds is to get married and both Navdeep and Harman approach their parents. Harman does it through her mom [Ketki Dave] who drops a word to her husband [Anupam Kher], a retired Colonel now living in a palatial bungalow in Chandigarh. Jimmy does it through his chirpy sister and doting mom, who try to break the news to his 'pind' settled father [Raj Babbar], a retired Major. As expected, both the men object to the relationship in the beginning as they always wanted to find a spouse for their children themselves. On some persuasion, their hearts melt and they agree to meet, but the meeting brings along with it the some unanticipated fireworks.
Colonel and Major had some old scores to settle since the time they worked together in the Army, so it was unacceptable for them to allow their children to marry. From here on, the movie takes another twist, something very similar to DDLJ. Instead of eloping, the two youngsters decide to win the hearts of their parents. But unlike DDLJ, Navdeep doesn't enter into Harman's house to do so. Instead the two stay at their own houses and by their good conduct and love attempt at making their parents understand their true love. What happens next is anyone's guess!!
As mentioned earlier, the takeaway from the movie is the message for the current generation to understand their parents' feelings better. Agreed that the world has moved on and every youngster has full rights to marry the person he/she loves most. But doing it by running away or getting married in court is not the only solution because that results in nothing but heartbreak for parents!
Big B is definitely angry, and this time he doesn't mouth any dialogues or throws an open challenge to the villains to come and confront him. He just goes and shoots. Bang! Game, set, match! And wow, don't you just like seeing that? Welcome to the 21st century interpretation of the angry old man Amitabh Bachchan who is a man on fire. The man who can gives back to the audience what they had been waiting for him to deliver for quite some time now - an action hero! While Big B shone in central roles for Black, Sarkar and Viruddh, they were still of the kinds that required a certain method of acting where a fine balance was required between catering to class and mass. But not with 'Ek Ajnabee' where he reaches out to masses in a big way! Result is a knockout performance where he looms large in every single frame of the movie from start to finish for this hardcore smasher commercial product by director Apoorva Lakhia.
Storyline is quite simple, nothing path breaking but just enough to make for a technically stylish action-drama. Bangkok is a city that is witnessing kidnapping incidents at rapid pace with rich people in constant fear and trauma. Ravi [Vikram Chatwal] and Nikasha [Perizaad Zorabian] are one such wealthy Indian couple living in Bangkok who want to protect their only daughter Anamika [Baby Rucha Vaidya]. Through Shekhar [Arjun Rampal], an ex-army man, they get in touch with Suryaveer Singh [Amitabh Bachchan], who was once Shekhar's superior in Indian army. 
He reluctantly agrees to be Anamika's bodyguard but sticks to a professional relationship sans any emotional strings attached. Slowly, the girl's innocent yet straightforward and open attitude creates a special bond between her and her bodyguard that is impossible to break.
But the gang of kidnappers already has their eyes set on their next 'target' and despite all attempts of Suryaveer, Anamika gets kidnapped. In the process, Suryaveer is hit and while he is recuperating in hospital, Anamika is killed by her kidnappers. Stunned by the flow of incidents and distraught condition of Nikasha, Suryaveer vows to go to the root of the entire episode and kill each and ever player.
In this mission of his, he is supported by local police [Kelly Dorji] and an Indian settled in Bangkok - Kripa Shankar [Dayashanker Pandey]. On his journey he comes across various people who were involved at different stages; a local goon Lee Kap [Denzil Smith], a discotheque owner [Aditya Lakhia], tha man who staged the entire kidnapping drama [Raj Zutshi] and a couple of other faces that baffle his sensibilities!
It is commendable for director Apoorva Lakhia to present such a regular 'man takes revenge' story in such a captivating manner that you are hooked to the proceedings from Frame One. Opening shots of the regular life of Bangkok to the crime scenes to high rises to heavy moving traffic to monks - everything gets you the IN feeling for the movie that is absolutely required for a movie of such genre. Generally an action movie with a good plot gets distorted due to unnecessary distraction with either a hero-heroine plot or some other unwanted props or sub-plots. But not so for Ek Ajnabee where the cards are laid down at the very onset.
If the beginning portions are devoted to establishing the characters and creating the much-essential-to-the-narrative bond between Amitabh Bachchan and Rucha, the subsequent portions when the kidnapping drama happens are simply rocking. First few sequences do bring in smiles when the two interact but as soon as the action begins, there is no looking back! 
Perhaps, Chandni Chowk to China has nothing phenomenal, but a timeworn script of a coward transcending into a hero, and an estranged family getting unified. Producers promoted CC2C as 'First Ever Bollywood Kung Fu comedy' and for your kind information, the flick doesn't possess top-notching humorous elements or the splendid Kung-Fu you would expect. Well, you've them in bits 'n' pieces amidst of a very long show, running for 160 minutes. Sluggish screenplay blended with lots of ridiculous factors does get you annoyed and Nikil could have cut the duration short thereby favoring him.
Despite Akki, Ramesh Sippy, Warner Bros and biggies together on the lead, the flick doesn't surmount your expectations. Above all, the most disappointing attribute is that we don't get to see spell-binding stunts choreographed by Huen Chiu-Ku. Naturally, everyone expected there to be ones like "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", "Kill Bill' Volmes. 1 and 2 and "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor". Again, it's all about dashing down our hopes.
Our protagonist Sidhu (Akshay Kumar) is the lowest on the totem pole, cutting vegetables at a roadside food stall in Chandni Chowk in Delhi. He longs to escape his dreary existence and looks for shortcuts- with astrologers, tarot readers and fake fakirs - believing anything except himself, despite his father figure Dada's (Mithun Chakraborty) best efforts. His redeeming moment arrives when two strangers from China claim him as a reincarnation of a war hero in the past and take him to China. Sidhu now dreams of wine, women, and a princely existence in foreign lands. Thanks to the devious translator, a conman by the name Chopstick (Ranvir Shorey), little does he know that he is being taken to the Promised Land to rid the Chinese village of the vicious smuggler Hojo (Gordon Liu)! Therefore, Sidhu blissfully sets forth to China with Chopstick who instigates dreams of a delicious future and forgets to reveal the perils, which await him. Along the way, he meets Sakhi (Deepika Padukone), Ms. Tele Shoppers Media (Ms. TSM) who has embarked on a journey to pay homage to the land of her birth and her dead father and twin. Initially, Sidhu through a series of lucky coincidences manages to sidestep being beaten by Hojo's men but finally Hojo catches up with him and exposes him as the country buffoon that he really is. Sidhu has the fire of revenge in his belly and finds the one man who will make him a Kung Fu expert and set the village free. Armed with his Sifu (master), faith in himself and the love of the fair Sakhi, Sidhu sets forth to conquer all!
Nothing to blame on star-casts for they stride with their best spells. Akshay Kumar getting back to pavilion with action-hero is over the top and comedy sense is a splendid show. But, he gets stripped out with an inadequate script. A newfangled Deepika Padukone on dual role steals the show, especially on the characterization of 'Meow-Meow'. Alas! There's nothing such as romance so-touching between Akki and Deepika, blame Nikil Advani for that.
Gordon Liu strikes with a mind-boggling performance. Be it his gestures or his scaring stare, they're awesome. Mithun Chakraborthy with his minimal role makes a good impression (As in his previous flick 'Yuvvraaj'.) Ranvir Shorey with his clich'd acting wins appreciations emoting stupendously on all situations).
The narration is really perplexing. Wonder how Warner Bros picked up a flimsy script with absurdities. It is ok to miss out fine logics when you're penning a script on fantasy-action, but Nikil Advani comes up with quite galling attributes. How come strangers from China assume Akshay as their reincarnated war-lord? Even a dim-witted or 5-sense individual wouldn't fleet to a strange land ignoring his relations with a blind plan. In fact, how does Mithun permit Akki for this meaningless venture? All these are questions to which we can't find answers. And Deepika's trip to China is well expected and a formula already tried and exhausted in many films.
Perhaps, this is the first ever film to be extensively shot at the Great Wall of China, but again cinematography isn't worth mentioning. Songs are catchy on the screen especially 'Sidhu' is fantastic with hilarious elements blended. The whistling of 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star' as signature tune is a good pick. Thanks to Mozart for an enchanting tune. 'Chak Le' is where you to get to watch Akki preparing for retaliation. Rather than depicting him seriously frustrated, it's weird to watch the protagonist with goofy gestures. These sequences fail to make an impact on the audiences. The latter half of the film lacks solidity with a dragging screenplay that offers 'boredom' till the penultimate sequences. Signature style of voice uttering 'From Chandni Chowk to Africa' during the climax is sure to delight Akki fans because we can expect a sequel.
On the whole, Chandni Chowk to China would have been better if Nikil had penned a substantial screenplay that could've got our attentions from getting scattered. Apart from a few hilarious scenes and Kung Fu (Especially Roti-rolling style), the flick lacks finesse.
Verdict: Middling on all quotients.
Rating: **' 
Priyadarshan and Salman Khan are the two people in the film industry who have been quite successful during last few years. Salman Khan, especially, has been having a rwocking time at BO this year with continued hits, mostly belonging to the comedy genre. Also Priyadarshan too has delivered back to back comic hits. So when two of them come together for an emotional drama called 'Kyon Ki', you eagerly want to see the final result. 
Though you know pretty well that the subject is not exactly of a kind that you may want to celebrate with in this festive season, it is sheer art and performances that make you look forward to the movie. Yes, the movie has its share of dull moments with things not ready to move at a number of points, the performances [especially Salman Khan and Jackie Shroff] and a 'lump-in-the-throat' ending is what stays with you long after the movie is over!
A perfectly normal looking/behaving Anand [Salman Khan] is admitted to a mental hospital by his elder brother. He has been declared mad after being accused of murdering his lady love Maya [Rimii Sen]. Till about 15-20 minutes into the movie, you keep wondering if Anand is indeed mad or just acting up. Meanwhile characters like Dr. Khurana [Om Puri], who heads the hospital, his daughter Dr. Tanvi [Kareena Kapoor] and Dr. Sunil [Jackie Shroff] who knows Anand since childhood, are introduced. Meanwhile Anand befriends other patients in the hospital and becomes the cynosure of Dr. Khurana's eyes due to his pranks.
Dr. Khurana is autocratic in his approach to treat the patients while Dr. Sunil is his complete opposite. Dr. Tanvi is indifferent towards Anand during his initial stay at the hospital before she picks up the baton to bring him back to his normal self after reading his diary that tells about the tender moments shared between him and Maya. 
She gets to know the entire story of how Anand wooed Maya and eventually got her. She also gets to know that Maya was a prankster and it was these pranks that were actually responsible for her accidental death in the hands of Anand. He couldn't take this shock due to which he lost his mental balance. In her attempt to cure Anand, Tanvi ends up falling in love with him.
Anand gets well too and now both want to get married. But this is not agreeable to Dr. Khurana who instead wants her to marry Karan [Suneil Shetty, in a 3 scene appearance]. Dr. Sunil makes a plan to get Anand run away from the hospital. But is it too late by then.......?
While the first half of the movie focuses on Anand's life in the hospital and his past, the second half concentrates on Tanvi trying to help Anand regain his normal self. There are some occasional laughs in the first half but things continue to painfully drag till the interval point. Sequences in the first half remind of Munnabhai MBBS at a number of places. A patient in coma, Anand challenging the rules of the hospital, a cruel hospital head, a song'n'dance sequence in the hospital - everything gives you a feeling of deja vu. 
Even Salman-Rimmi romance is hardly exciting and the steps that he takes to woo her are also plain stupid [first he fakes an immolation, then paints the roads with his claims of his love, then puts up larger than life hoardings on the crossings proclaiming his love- everything looks so immature]. Sequences trying to prove Rimmi's prankish nature are also more self-destructive rather than exciting!
Abhi and Rewa, the two protagonists of Ram Gopal Varma's fascinating study of the dynamics of the man-woman relationship within a metropolitan setting, are on their way back after watching an average kitschy movie.
The same routine stuff, the same things being said over and over again, Rewa the idealist shakes her head in rejection. Abhi is more tolerant. He wants to be part of that same old stuff where success apparently is obtained.
Naach escapes the blind alleys that Hindi cinema chooses to wander in.
Naach is Varma's most personalized and sensitive film ever. In it he creates an untried synthesis of realism within the morally suffocating world of showbiz and a freewheeling fantasy where both the struggling protagonists find success on their own terms.
This isn't the first film where the sham and shallow ambitions of showbiz drives the protagonists apart. Earlier we had Guru Dutt's Kaagaz Ke Phool, Meraj's Sitara and Hrishikesh Mukherjee's Abhimaan on the same theme.
Naach in fact carries the Abhimaan theme forward. On a simplistic level we can take heart in Abhishek doing an overdriven version of his dad's compromised and jealous musician's part in Abhimaan.
But the dynamics are far more intricate in Naach. The protagonists are no longer driven apart by their ego. They are victims of a well-oiled machine of power and passion that inflicts a certain self-annihilating rejection of a standard code of morality on their lives.
When we first see Rewa she's sitting at the roadside impervious of passing traffic. As the music in her head plays a pounding invitation (remember Urmila Matondkar's opening song in Rangeela?) she jumps to her feet and performs an enigmatic seductive and yet personal dance that has no definition.
Antara Mali's Rewa dances to an indeterminate rhythm that goes well with the film's restless unanchored hitherto-unexplored man-woman axis. The camerawork by newcomer Kiran Reddy is so anguished and passionate you begin to see the characters as dancers caught in a dance of self-destruction. 
Varma catches them to stop them from falling to the ground. Abhi's love for Rewa is redeemed, though personally I'm not convinced by the happy ending to their turbulent and short-fused relationship. 
If she refuses to be compromised by the murkiness of showbiz, he sees assimilation and surrender as the means to further his career as an actor. If initially she's a choreographer who has never choreographed a dance, he grins and says, I'm an actor who hasn't acted.
As you share their mutual sneers, you get ensnared into their world of heavy-traffic ambitions. The sounds and fumes of Mumbai's roads qualify the Rewa-Abhi relationship as much as Reddy's poetic cinematography which captures Abhishek and Antara in the most aesthetic kiss I've ever seen on an Indian film.
The relationship grows with an animal passion and then gets stymied as Abhi's ambitions carry him away from Rewa.
It's the first half where their relationship grows that holds you. Small details from the couple's lives and their intense focus on dance crowd the canvas without toppling over the narrative. 
The second half about the couple's 'groaning' disenchantment is laden with angry dance numbers where Abhishek's grimace and growl are offset by Riteish Deshmukh's gentle attentions towards Antara. In the film's less weighty moments there's a touch of Varma's Rangeela.
There are three heroes in Subhash Ghai's latest opus - Ashok Mehta's cinematography, Ghai's exquisite shot compositions and Vivek Oberoi's understated rugged and implosive performance. All three empower the film, which is an engrossing look at the British Raj with tenderness instead of rage.
Let's turn page, says the sage within Subhash Ghai. Let's not look at our colonisers as vicious villains. 
Smoothly substituting vitriolic with vermilion Ghai paints a landscape of valour, idealism and melodiousness that transport you into a realm of undulating and comforting rhythms that nature invented for man to savour as delicacies to nibble.
Nibble on, then, as Ghai transports us to the idyllic idealism of an era that's gone with the wind. Sweeping with panoramic passion through a Himalayan landscape, he makes the narrative breathe the air of untouched unspoilt characters surrendering themselves into the bosom of nature.
Kisna is a film of sweet surrender. It details the milieu of a time when the Britishers ruled our country without turning the ambience into a fashion statement. The narrative is suffused in a pungent yet easygoing periodicity that appeals to the heart and stirs the senses.
Forget the plot. Just swim in the tides of the Indian classical notes-based music, the repeated invocation of 'shlokas' and 'mantras' (Sanskrit hymns), the scriptural references especially to the Mahabharata (Hindu epic).... all packaged in an exquisitely irresistible ethnicity. 
And then there is Isha Sharvani.... Grace-personified as she twirls and pirouettes in yogic classical postures on mud-caked floors and from atop trees. Though this newcomer doesn't have much scope to act, Ghai makes superb use of Sharvani's extraordinary dancing abilities.
Make no mistake, this is the story of 'forbidden' love between an Indian villager Kisna (Oberoi) and the British daughter Catherine (Antonia Bernarth) of a tyrannical British ruler. Their escape from the fires of the partition in 1947, their journey through strife-torn hinterland, their grand passion (symbolised rather broadly by the trot of two horses one black the other white) and their determination to overcome the brutal prejudices that divide the two sides, form an arresting collage of meditative melody-driven episodes, all shot with a grace that's epitomized by Sharvani's tempestuously twirling toes.
You really can't take your eyes off Ghai's lyrical frames. The way he shoots his characters against fast-flowing rivers and imposing yet misty and mellow mountains, creates a synthesis between nature and its most misguided creation, man.
The director has a canny sense of proportion vis a vis character and location. He allows his lovers to grow in a glow of gloriously conceived sequences. 
It's only when the dreaded formulistic designs take over that the film's sheen wears off. Superfluous grotesque characters such as the one played by Amrish Puri and a whole inane and wimpish chunk featuring Om Puri and Sushmita Sen as a Hyderabadi middleman and a pseudo-philosophical 'tawaif' (nautch girl) diminish the narrative's rugged and smooth flow.
The first-half where we see the protagonist as a poet is shot in dusky orange shades. In the second-half when Kisna turns aggressive and war-like to protect his British beloved from the blizzard of butchery, the narrative complexion turns shades less romantic.
Flamboyant or rusty, Ghai knows how to tell an engaging story. The music of ambrosial sensuality (composed by A. R Rahman and Ismail Durbar) and the performances add deep compelling shades to an otherwise-routine romantic triangle featuring the villager, the 'gori mem saab' and the jealous village girl.
Bollywood's once-heralded auteur jolted with his previous flops 'Yaadein', 'Kisna' and 'Black 
On the grounds of reality, Yuvvraaj isn't the best as his classics Karz, Vidhaata and more. But, one fine rigid reason that lets everyone sing appraisals is the fact that your eyes doesn't take off from the screens for complete 180mins. As Subash himself utters, the film merely carries off with traces on his yesteryear classic 'Ram Lakhan' (theme of brotherly love). Not alone on emotions, the flick has moral on greed leads to wreck and precisely, something we got to learn at our Kinder Garden levels. On this screen, greediness eclipses all over and latter half it's all about reveling emotional relationships that diminishes the vicious elements. 
Placed at the exotic backdrops of Austria, Deven Yuvvraaj (Salman Khan) and Anushka (Katrina Kaif) are in love and as clich'd; her father Dr. Banton (Boman Irani) obstructs their relationship. On the initial stages, it's between Deven-Banton and scenario shifts onto different vistas as Deven's father lasts his breath in London. Not for affection and paying homage, Deven gets back to his hometown seeking for shares in father's wealth. Over there, he encounters his unloved brothers Gyanesh Yuvvraaj (Anil Kapoor) and Danny Yuvvraaj (Zayed Khan). 
Gyanesh Yuvvraaj possessing autism from his childhood goes the apple-of-eye for everyone in the family, once attorney-close friend of his father (Mithun Chakraborthy) reveals that entire property is favored on him. Not alone Deven and Danny, but other relatives sham themselves to be good with their opprobrious inner evil intentions. 
What makes the film so colossally spectacular? Undoubtedly, it's melodious tunes of Rahman and Kabir Lal's visualizing of emblazoned locations. Moreover, on-screen actors performing a different show with their distinct roles surmount your prospects. It's a complete show by Anil Kapoor and this man transfixes your with his simpatico-kind-of-role. Be it his mirthful encounters with Salman or the emotional outbreak in the penultimate, he overshadows everyone and each prop in the frame. Don't miss his fabulous gestures after watching handycam in the climax. Hats off to Subash Ghai! His genuineness of inserting symbolic representation where Anil Kapoor breaks the masks on table after viewing handycam is superb. Of course, the song 'Dil Ka Rishta' following this sequence as broken mask at backdrops of stage. It's something you call 'Director's cut'. A new dawn and a great break for Zayed Khan and let him thank Subash for it. Hope, directors watch out for his performance offering him best roles in future. With her cherubic looks and decent performance, Katrina Kaif steals the show and watching her play cello, it looks realistic. No wonder in appreciating her looks alike of Princess Diana at certain parts. Boman Irani pulls your attention with his laudable performance in all contexts, especially in the climax. Aushima Sawhney sways with finesse and ditto to Anjan Srivastava as antagonist. Salman Khan establishes a perfect room with his pleasing act on all scenarios till the final credits (similar to Om Shanthi Om).
On narration, Yuvvraaj doesn't start off with a gripping screenplay and perhaps, it's merely bits-n-pieces of lad and missy in love and father opposing their relations. Well, things shift on paradigms once Mithun Chakraborthy appears on the screen and unravels a great surprise amongst other characters. Few flaws of uninteresting parts may be spotted in the first half and everything goes diminished in the penultimate of 20-25mins binding your hearts, soaking eyes with tears and sparkling your lips with smiles. It's very rare amongst auteurs blending different emotions within short durations and Subash Ghai deserves grand appreciations for it. 
Rahman's musical score is refreshing with 'Tu Hi Meri Dost' and 'Dil Ka Rishta'. Merely, visualizations could have been better for 'Tu Hi Meri Dost' as he could've avoided Computer Generated works. Background score works well, especially where Salman reveals his inner intentions to Anil Kapoor after sipping drinks and penultimate sequences are top-notching. Kabir Lal's cinematography mesmerizes everyone and his enchanting shots of European locales goes in-hand with Rahman's musical. It's a billion dollar question why Subash Ghai had to pass-scenes while characters drive car on such beautiful locales. As a whole, Yuvvraaj is splendiferous in all parts with exceptional performance by all and it's a perfect family entertainer. With previous week's releases gradually getting down on charts and no big releases awaited couple of weeks ahead, Subash Ghai can host a lavish party for the entire team as collections are sure to brim over producers' sacs. Of course, A.R. Rahman should be ready tuning rock-blast party songs for his successful venture with Subash Ghai and so would be performers. 
Verdict: Relishing best emotions on screen 
Rating:*** ' 
It's a strange and stirring phenomenon. Even as Indian cinema moves away from traditional formulas and styles of storytelling to embrace a more global format of presentation, filmmakers seem to seek creative solace and sustenance in its most cherished values and visions.
In one of the critical moments of Revathy's very fine, very moving and finally deeply satisfying film I caught a glimpse of Bimal Roy's Bandini - a classic that came at a time when AIDS was something that super-powers gave to third-world countries. 
It's the moment when the protagonist Tamanna (Shilpa Shetty) infected by the HIV virus finally comes face to face with the broken and crippled man Rohit (Salman Khan) who gifted her with the disease. 
As Tamanna approaches the inert wheel-chaired figure, her bitterness and pent-up rage dissolves into a blinding compassion for the man who has snatched away her life....The sequence effortlessly echoes Nutan's legendary run towards her dying lover Ashok Kumar in Bandini.
It is both an acceptance and rejection of life.... a giving and a taking that constitute the two sides of the human condition. And if it's bold and brave of Shilpa Shetty to walk that thin line between action and abyss, life and death, then it's even braver of the director to have gone into a subject as prickly as AIDS without getting preachy, screechy, judgmental or even unduly sentimental.
In the rather over-sentimentally titled Phir Milenge, a fiercely contemporary issue like AIDS fights for space with diseases that go deep into the soul. 
Revathy takes the germ of her idea from Jonathan Demme's Philadelphia - where a cynical lawyer fights against an AIDS victim's professional persecution and learns a few things about a life on the brink of a blink - and opens it up to include issues that go way beyond physical disorders.
By changing the gender of the protagonist in Philadelphia Revathy gets to address issues such as gender discrimination. As Tamanna battles to get back her job with the help of her lawyer Tarun (Abhishek Bachchan) her war against AIDS becomes almost complementary to other diseases eating away at the heart of society.
Woman's empowerment - a theme so dear to female directors - is used here to light up those dark enclaves in the theme of gender equation that cannot hold a candle to disease and death. And yet, there's a magical spiral of moral priorities at work in this film through which we look at Tamanna both as an isolated victim and a universal figure of persecution and victimization without feeling sorry for her.
This simultaneous macro and microcosmic view - or a long shot and a close-up view - is further supported by the great dignity that Shilpa Shetty invests in her role. As Tamanna whose corporate ambitions come crashing down in the face of an adversary too huge to tackle, Shilpa surprises you by doing a 180-degree gyration away from her oomphy image. She brings an immense sensitivity and dignity to the emotional core of her character.
Moments such as the one where she finds out about her disease (from a doctor played director Revathy) or the one where she breaks down in front of her lawyer after their defeat at the hands of a one-armed wily lawyer (who is ironically a woman, played with steely will by Mita Vashisht) or those tender moments with her kid-sister (who says, Learn to stop persecuting yourself before you expect the same from others) -- could have easily lapsed into sobs.
With considerable support from her director, Shilpa comes up with a performance that's clearly to her what Bandini was to Nutan. 
One of the many debuts this year is of Mithun Chakraborthy's son Mimoh who was apparently supposed to make his debut with another film 'HE'. Though we haven't heard of that film which was also to be the launch for Hansika Mowani , Jimmy now comes as Mimoh's official launch pad.
Director Raj N Sippy , the man behind movies such as 'Kudrat' , 'Satte Pe Satta' and 'Inkaar' returns to direction after a hiatus . Mithun Chakraborthy makes his presence felt as one of the producers of the film.
Synopsis'.
A young woman's body is recovered by the police. All leads to Jimmy (Mimoh ).A mechanical engineer by day and a dancing sensation by night , Jimmy works as a DJ in the local discotheque to pay off the debts left behind by his late father. While everybody is shocked, Jimmy owns up to the murder and is sentenced to death.
In a twist of fate, Jimmy realizes in jail that he has been drawn into a vicious conspiracy. Is it too late to unveil the truth?
The only reason why one would go to watch this movie is the hype surrounding Mimoh. Neither the songs nor the promos of the film have made any contribution towards enticing the audiences.
The only thing that came out from the promos was the fact that indeed Mimoh is a good dancer. 
On the directional front, Raj N Sippy has made a complete mess. He seems to forget that the year is 2008 and Indian audiences are much mature and thus expect some quality content when they go ahead and watch a film.
The writer of the script- Ranbir Pushp the man behind Shahrukh's debut 'Deewana' fails to understand what he really wants to put across to the audience. There is nothing gripping about the script and instead of being a movie that gives you a chill that you expect from a thriller , you are bound to laugh at the flow of events be it Mimoh's brain tumor or the suspense behind the film.
The movie is filled with clich's and the dialogues are simply humorous especially the 'you are a rejected person!' bit.
On the acting front Vivana who has been seen in the thumbs up ad with Akshay Kumar has no scope,Rahul Dev and Sayed Zulfi are wasted.
As for Mimoh though many have commented about his voice, well that's not a problem at all as you can't expect every hero to sound like Amitabh Bachchan. Mimoh does prove he has great dancing skills but as an actor has a long way to go.
On the whole Jimmy doesn't favour Mimoh Chakraborthy and won't find favour at the box office too.
Rating : 1/2 
Tanuja Chandra returns this weekend with Hope and a little sugar after a hiatus since her last flick- Zindagi Rocks! Unlike her previous venture, 'Hope' marks her first English language film.
Set in New York in the weeks before and after 9/11, Hope and a little sugar is a poignant tale of love set against the forces of hate and intolerance centers on the romance between an aspiring Muslim photographer and a young Sikh woman.
Bike messenger, Ali Siddiqui (AMIT SIAL, debutant) meets the beautiful but married Saloni (MAHIMA CHAUDHRY,) a charismatic mithaai shop owner who encourages Ali's photography and becomes his muse. Despite Ali's secret and largely unrequited crush on Saloni, he develops a close friendship with her and her husband Harry (VIKRAM CHATWAL). But when tragedy strikes with the terrorist attacks on Sept 11, 2001, her father-in-law, a retired army Colonel (ANUPAM KHER), devastated by grief and anger, directs his longstanding animosity towards Muslims at Ali, as the young man's affection for Saloni grows increasingly evident. Although the Colonel's wife (SUHASINI MULAY) bravely tries to pacify her husband, the Colonel, unable to accept life's pain, threatens to bring everything to a violent end.
To start off with, 'Hope and a little sugar' isn't your usual 9/11 film with terrorist bashing or so. 'Hope' is more of an emotional drama that really gets you involved into the lives of the family members undergoing the trauma of losing a loved one.
Tanuja Chandra has executed really well as both the writer as well as director of the film. The story and screenplay may seem a little slow paced but the drama and intensity of events keeps you glued. If one expects the typical bollywood meets Hollywood crossover Hinglish flick, 'Hope' isn't meant for them. No harm in calling 'Hope' a crossover film but don't expected those clich' 'naach-gaana' and that entire goody goody boy meets girl stuff.
'Hope' also comes with its share of drawbacks especially in terms of the justification of events. The romance between Mahima and Amit Sial germinates just too quickly after the death of her husband, without any apt justification. There lacks a certain sense of believability in the manner in which Mahima is totally mesmerized by seeing her photos on Amit's apartment wall and the events that follow in the midst of an angry father-in-law Kher.
Nevertheless, the performances of the film draw you away from such minor glitches. Mahima Chaudhry does extremely well and gives the true so called international look to the film. She emotes well and in fact, since Pardes maybe the audiences have never seen Mahima enact so well.Amit Sial does really well for a debutant expressing the trauma of a broken past with excellence. 
Suhasini Mulay is just so apt. There couldn't have been a better mom expressing herself in the midst of a crisis between convincing her husband of their son's death and on the other hand leaving the rest to the almighty.
The finest performance comes from Anupam Kher as the Sikh dad. The possessiveness, the love and care expressed for his son is just fabulous. Kher explodes in various scenes expressing his anger and helplessness at the same time. Don't mind the F's and B's , but the sequence in the bar where he blames the Muslims and another sequence where he explodes at Amit Sial are simply terrific. If you thought that was all from the angry father, just watch him burst to tears and cry out in pain of losing his beloved. The film truly belongs to him.
No scope for Vikram Chatwal and the music of the film is minimal and acts as a background theme. Cinematography and editing are ok.
Love is not merely a four letter word. Lust. Jealousy. Needs. And then that strange undefined feeling, that makes you cling to even the last vestiges of hopes. Onir's 'Bas Ek Pal' attempts to unlock the multi layered dimensions of human relationships in an urban setting based on what is perceived as 'love'. Whereas he succeeds in presenting a drastically different story in an interesting manner (The tirelessly slow pace is a deterrent), somehow one doesn't agree with the statement repeated twice in the film, 'Our lives are pretty complicated.' Agreed lives are complicated, but most certainly not as complicated as 'Bas Ek Pal' suggests.
Nikhil (Sanjay Suri) is an MBA just-back from US of A. He lands up in a Mumbai pub (Anti Clock...Now, that's some name) with no partner. Anamika (Urmila Matondkar), a Civil Engineer, bails him out by coyly proclaiming that they are together. Song and dance later, Nikhil is head-over-kneels in love with the pretty babe. She doesn't tell him her name but he promises that they would meet again. He professes to his chaddi-pal Rahul (Jimmy Sheirgill) on a BBC (Basket Ball Court) that he has finally found 'true love'. 
Rahul introduces Nikhil to his 'good friend' Steve (Rehaan Engineer). Now, this son of a big shot builder with a former Miss India wife Ira (Juhi Chawla) is of the opinion that 'Love is a delusion'. Steve thinks his wife is having an affair and that's making him go crazy (He is unstable anyways). The three buddies decide to go to Anti-Clock (Nikhil goes there everyday anyway just hoping his luck smiles on him). It was Valentine's Day and Anamika was there with Farhad (A friend who wooed her non-stop). She had knowingly taken along Farhad hoping that if Nikhil is there, he'd get jealous and that would be fun. She was proved right. But she had never imagined in the wildest of thoughts that possessive Farhad will pull out a gun. A shot is fired. Someone is hit. Nikhil is jailed. One moment changed the entire course of the story. And Turbulence strikes the lives of the main players. 
Nikhil goes through hell in jail. And when he is out, everything has changed. For worse. I wouldn't go into details as it would be giving-the-story-away. There are intense surprises (Though that veering off into the thriller mode was needless) and where 'Bas Ek Pal' succeeds is by stating that human beings are not all black or all white. Everyone has shades of grey. But to say that in an urban setting, everyone is having an affair with everyone's wife or girlfriend is definitely going-over-the-top. 
Director Onir (This is his second film after the critically acclaimed 'My Brother Nikhil') unfolds the drama in a cohesive manner and there are enough surprises till the end. The jail sequences have been shot brilliantly in a very realistic manner. Sexuality between any of the protagonists hasn't been used to titillate. It's more of a refuge from loneliness. There's a growth in all the characters. You are made to detest them, sympathise with them, love them, admire them and then do-away with them.
What happens when control freak Khosla is confronted with land shark Khurana? Rude reality check, a bit of major 'hera pheri', 'judicious' utilization of muscle-n-word power and lots of family bonding. Dibakar Banerjee's 'Khosla Ka Ghosla' is a middle-of-the-road cinema that successfully tackles the clash of values with the ruthless system. And rather than looking at the murky wheeling-dealing in a serious 'Saraansh' manner, the director uses humour and irony as a weapon to unfold his story in the heart of Saaddi Dilli'
The character of Kamal Khosla (Anupam Kher) is a direct (And intelligent) lift from R K Laxman's famous 'Common Man' cartoon caricature that believes in honesty and gets flustered with the day-to-day trials-n-tribulations of life (Even his hair standing from the two sides above his hair resemble the Common Man). He invests all his earnings in buying a plot of land for building his family's dream home. After all that's what every middle class lives for'.A house'A home they can call their own. But Khosla ji is besotted with life-little-problems now-n-then. Like'
Computer Engineer son Cherry (Parvin Dabas) wants to escape to America to make something of his life. Elder son Bunty (Ranvir Shoorey) doesn't earn anything but loves his family tremendously. Mom (Kiran Joneja) is the peacemaker as Cherry expresses his displeasure with his name (His name believe-it-or-not is Chironji Lal Khosla) and also shows no interest in the plot of land. And then hell breaks lose as the Khosla's come to know that builder Kishan Khurana (Boman Irani) has overtaken their plot and also held the legal papers for the same. The broker asks the rightful owners to furnish 50% of what they've already paid for buying-the-land to get their plot back.
When all the methods fail (Including the politicians, police and a bunch of pehelvaans), Cherry (The haughty son reforms after seeing his father's plight) decides to take the help of a good natured US Visa tout Asif Iqbal (Vinay Pathak) in giving Khurana a taste of his own medicine. Cherry's girlfriend Meghna (Tara Sharma) ropes in her Drama-Mandli of Bapu (Navin Nischol) to ensnare Khurana in buying a plot of land that belonged to someone else. 
'Khosla Ka Ghosla' is notable for telling a story with no frills attached. The Khosla household looks very real. Their problems are real too. And how they solve their problems has been tackled realistically as well. Director Dibakar Banerjee knows the craft of storytelling and one can find traces of their own family situations in the simple interiors of the Khosla abode. And if one can relate to a story, the possibility of its success is that much more. Though, my grouse with him is the slow pace of the film. There are moments in the film when nothing seems to be happening. Moreover, there are a few continuity problems too, for e.g. Anupam Kher's hair look different in a scene immediately after he is back from the police lock up. And, the film is being sold with large cutouts of Boman Irani, but his presence in the film is limited. It would have been great to have more scenes between Anupam Kher and Boman Irani. 
In the acting department, Anupam Kher as Khosla splendidly plays a role up-his-alley. His moody, whimsical old man act once again makes you sit up and take notice of an actor who is a volcano of boundless talent. It's good to notice that hunger for recognition is very much there. He makes you feel concerned when he shows his frail emotions and you can't help but crackle as he makes those comic facial expressions. Boman Irani as builder Kishan Khurana is spectacular (Though I feel cheated as I wanted to see more of him). His body language, impatience with impertinent people and keen knack for a sick joke here and there makes him a treat to watch. 
Khuda Ke Liye better known as ' In the name of God 'internationally has been highly acclaimed at several film festivals and has bagged several prestigious awards. The film has been directed by Pakistan's most renowned TV producer Shoaib Mansoor who has been the mastermind behind the success of the comedy play 'Fifty Fifty'. 
This time around Shoaib gets into a more serious note exploring certain fundamentalists false beliefs circling Islam and the state of Muslims in today's contemporary modern society. The film also dwells into the state of Muslims living abroad post the 9/11 attacks.
The film that had a fatwa issued against it by some radical maulvi's and had the director of the movie fleeing Pakistan as soon as the movie was released fearing his life finally releases in India courtesy Percept Picture Company.
The movie revolves around two musician brothers ' Mansoor(Shaan) and Sarmad (Fahwad Khan) who have their own popular music group in Pakistan. Music is considered 'Haram' by certain fundamentalist groups and thus one day Sarmad is lured by fanatical Maulvi Tahiri (Rasheed Naz) into joining his ranks as a fundamentalist and giving up music and all other things perceived as haram. 
Meanwhile UK-based uncle of the boys, worried by the prospect of his daughter Mary(Iman Ali) having an affair with a white British, traps her into a visit to Pakistan and sends her into a FATA(Federally Administered Tribal Areas )village where she is forcefully married off to Sarmad under the influence of Maulvi Tahiri.
Then the disastrous 9/11 occurs and Mansoor is detained on the grounds of being Muslim by U.S. authorities who beat and torture him to elicit a confession of his role in terrorism. While Mansoor is held captive by U.S. authorities his younger brother Samrad gets involved in the battle between Taliban, US forces and Northern Alliance. Now Mary too is held captive in the frontier village and can't break free from the chains of a forced marriage.
'Khuda Ke Liye 'is truly a splendid offering to the world of cinema. People may call it a Pakistani film but the film is truly international carrying a star cast which is a mix of Pakistanis, Indians and Americans. The film also addresses an international subject; the state of Muslims all over the globe. The plot surely stems from within the dynamics of Pakistan and its rigid functional laws and ethos but the film truly makes a global mark.
The director Shoaib Mansoor deserves a standing ovation to firstly dare to make such a film being a resident of Pakistan and secondly for changing our perception about Pakistani cinema being low budget, mediocre quality flicks. 'Khuda Ke Liye' has been very well conceived and executed by Mansoor and his team. The film brings about the resurgence of cinema in Pakistan.
Creaky doors are out. Rustles in the jungle are in. Like all capable spook sojourns, Kaal takes a bit of time to grow on you. But once you fall into the fearful rhythm, you are in for a rollicking scare. 
One thing is for sure - there has never been a horror film quite like this one. In case you thought shiver givers in Bollywood were passe, here's a wake-up call.
Kaal shows us how it is to be done, without degrading the genre or stepping too hard and fast on those peripheral scares. The best thing debutant director Soham Shah has done is to take his ingenious plot into the great wild outdoors. 
Unlike Ram Gopal Varma's Jungle, which used bizarre camera movements to stress the predatory mood in the wilderness, Kaal lets you into the secrets of the jungle without getting technically complicated.
There's a directness to the deft and dark terror treatise as Vivek Oberoi, Lara Dutta, John Abraham and Esha Deol, plus a couple of other wacky friends (Kushal Punjabi and Vishal Singh) and two scowling chauffeurs manoeuvre their cars into the quaky kingdom - shot in a wildlife sanctuary. 
The film starts with an ecologist (John Abraham) expressing concern over the growing extinction of tigers. 
The ambience is electric - thanks in no small measure to the incredibly accomplished sound design (Dwarak Warrier). And the terror stems from within the plot. The film has the bare minimum of window dressing and the adrenaline is kept going from within. 
Shah never falls into the trap of creating superfluous scares. The entry of Ajay's character mid-way signals a unique journey into the supernatural, not just for the characters but also for the audience. 
Performances, though not outstanding, fall into place in the larger scream of things. The girls, Lara and Esha, are suitably skimpy in their attire and the men get the story pace just right. 
Ajay Devgan heads the list of acting honours - partly because of the nature of his role and partly because he acts with such appealing languor.
Vivek plays his volatile character with a flair for bridled fear. John definitely makes his presence felt - the hair falling on his face denoting a quaint state of grace in the environment of dizzying fear. 
The rest of the cast gets to do little, except grow increasingly wary of the invisible forces that seem to stalk the ominous jungle. 
Vishal Singh's death on the wobbling wooden bridge is filmed with gory grace, proving the director's strong hold over the complicated issue of suspenseful storytelling.
There're no superfluous moments, no song breaks and no diversions in this full-on-horror film, and wild animals lend a powerful backdrop to the bristling plot. 
You may not be a horror buff. But you can't deny that Kaal believes in what it's telling us. It is truly a film that provokes one to look over the shoulder for evils lurking in dark shadows. 
U Me Aur Hum marks the directorial debut of Ajay Devgan who comes in this year with a bad start at the box office with movies such as 'Halla Bol' and 'Sunday 'not faring too well. Much seems to be riding on this film too as one sees the Kajol-Ajay, husband-wife pair after a very long time. Ajay Devgan who is more known for his action packed films be it a 'Gangajal 'or 'Apharan' explores the romance genre with his debut film. So what's in store with U Me Aur Hum? Does the film truly live up to being a truly romantic film on soul mates?
The film takes off with Ajay (Ajay Devgan )a renowned psychiatrist on a cruise with a bunch of friends on a cruise with his friends -- Nikhil [Sumeet Raghavan] and Reena [Divya Dutta], who are unhappily married and are looking forward to a divorce, Vicky [Karan Khanna] and Natasha [Isha Sharwani], who are seeing each other and plan to get married once they can dance the salsa together. Ajay comes across Pia( Kajol) a bartender and takes a couple of drinks to admit his feelings.
Ajay works day and night to win over Pia by understanding her likes, learning Salsa etc. The two eventually get married and with every marriage, its share of problems too creep in the form of Alzheimer's.
To start off with, U Me Aur Hum has its moment s of brilliance mostly in terms of cinematography and performances. U Me Aur Hum lacks majorly in its storytelling, though the basic concept of the film is a very good one, the loose screenplay and the slow build up of events really affects the film. The first half of the film fails to create that much hyped romantic impact and is all the more dragging with the silly jokes mostly from Karan Khanna and major portions of the film are wasted in clich' thoughts of impressing a girl by learning salsa etc.
Though a lot has been said about U, Me Aur Hum being inspired from Hollywood films such as 'Notebook' and 'Iris' , Ajay Devgan has done a great job of adapting it to Indian standards. But there is a little glitch here, Ajay fails to make the romance germinate within you.
The film indeed picks up during the 2nd half and is much better and relevant in comparison to the earlier portions. The screenplay team of Robin Bhatt, Sutanu Gupta and Akarsh Khurana fail to keep the viewer glued. The time duration of the film also hampers it quite a bit.
The true winner of the film is Aseem Bajaj's cinematography. He excels in almost every scene and credit only goes to Ajay for his visual sense. The silhouettes, the close ups, the 2 shot compositions are just brilliant. Aseem Bajaj just tends to draw so much attention for his work and takes you on a complete scenic ride.
On the performance front without any doubt the film truly belongs to Kajol who proves it once again that she is one of India's finest talents. More than the usual chirpy smile sequences and Naach-Gaana she expresses well in states of complete stillness and perplexities such as the observation of the lizard on the wall. Even the pregnant Kajol skipping to lose weight in a state of Alzeheimer's really hits you. Ajay Devgan too does well but it's very obvious that Ajay excels more in direction. The best from Ajay comes towards the climax of the film where he explodes in an attempt to remind an Alzheimer struck Kajol about his identity.
Divya Dutta and Sumeet Raghavan are impressive. Karan Khanna and Isha Sharwani are totally wasted. Karan Khanna annoys with his constant PJ's. Sachin Khedekar is ok. Aditya Rajput and Hazel are hardly there.
Bhram the so called illusion has been in talks right from its shooting schedule as constant arguments between Dino Morea and Milind Soman were pushed across the media. Considering the fact that both the handsome hunks were dating Bipasha Basu a long time back; can this be one of the many reasons for a rift?
Nari Hira the media baron behind magazines such as Stardust, Society, Savvy and Showtime steps in as producer for this illusion 'Bhram. Pavan Kaul, the son of Surendra Kaul (noted writer of Namak Halal) is the captain of the ship.
Bhram-An illusion is the story of Antara Tyagi (Sheetal Menon) and Shantanu Rawal (Dino Morea) and their love marred by the reality of life. Antra [Sheetal Menon] is a successful model, but is hiding behind the veil of a traumatic past. Shantanu [Dino Morea] is the most eligible bachelor around who is attracted to Antra.
The two develop a strong bond eventually and Antra is introduced to the family and Devendra [Milind Soman], Shantanu's elder brother. Trauma strikes as Antara connects Dev to her unfortunate past. Is Dev really behind all of it or is it just Antara's illusion?
To start off with director Pavan Kaul's so called thriller has no such element at all. The conceiving of the film has been terribly poor. The film just keeps confusing you over and over again and when it's all done you have a hundred reasons to point out to the writers of the film.
The writng by Bhavani Iyer and screenplay by Radhika Anand has been miserably faulty. The film at times takes a narrative form by Dino Morea and the past and present fuse in to just confuse further. Even the movie starts off like a 'Woh Lamhe' with Sheetal Menon in the hospital and just traverses into a road trip of sorts. The interaction of Dino Morea and Chetan Hansraj with various characters they come across lacks believability.
The suspense intensifies and as the events are revealed at the climax its just not effective enough to reason out the prior events. The dialogues of the film courtesy Radhika Anand are crass. Maybe one of the first film's where the dialogues are just an overdose of the F'S and B's. Several dialogues involving Sheetal Menon make the viewer just hate her rather than feel sorry for the traumatic child. 
Many scenes in the film are purely unwanted. Take for example Dino Morea's interaction with his Bhabhi-Simone Singh where he actually gives her suggestions of having an affair with him so that her husband gives her due attention. Wonder which brother-in-law would do that? 
On the acting front the poor script and crass dialogues leave Sheetal Menon no scope in actually proving her acting credentials. Dino Morea and Chetan Hansraj are wasted. Simone Singh is definitely a talented actress but hardly has anything much to do in the film. Deepshika too is ok.
If there is one person who stands apart from the rest, it's none other than Milind Soman. Milind passes off well as the business tycoon. He walks elegantly in those well fitting suits and bearded look. No doubt that the weak script hits back at Milind too. But the actor delivers extremely well at the climax. Milind walks in very much like Antonio Banderas from 'Deparado' and impresses with his delivery too. He transforms from love towards his brother to shades of anger with ease and elements of believability.
Milind surely deserves better roles and needs to take his acting career more seriously. With the right choice of films, he sure can emerge as on the finest actors around.
It's precisely a willy-nilly scenario for UTV Productions has it persistently churning out flicks with good motifs. Well, that's a good spell but one finical doubt does keep ringing in our minds. Do the producers heed to full-fledged script and screenplay or else sign-up for directors merely with one-liners. Previous year has been the most fantastic era for UTV as they had best scripts on the screens. But gradually, the dioramas are shifting now and it goes illustrious with this week's release 'Dhoondte Reh Jaoge'. Fine! Couple of years back we had a super-comedy Hollywood flick ' 'Mr. Beans Holiday' where protagonist's candid-amateurish sequences of his own journey to Cannes Film Festival bags the best laurels. Likewise, much closer to this motif, here's Umesh Shukla with his 'Dhoondte Reh Jaoge' a film about couple of individuals planning to make a worst film in the history. But things aren't as expected.
Anand Pawar (Kunal Khemu) and Raj Chopra (Paresh Rawal) are perhaps the two most extreme individuals that have walked the city of Mumbai. While Anand is an idealist chartered accountant, Raj is an idle film producer.
They hatch a plan to raise a lot of money to produce a feature film and then actually make it at a pittance amount. In fact they decide to make it so badly that audiences would reject it on the first day of its release. Anand and Raj believe this would give them a foolproof chance to decamp with the remaining huge amount they raise to invest in the making of this venture. But oblivious to this common plan, Raj has a hidden one. Things go haywire, so Raj makes Anand the fall guy and the latter ends up in jail. 
As tables turn against Anand, he suddenly loses his job and his girlfriend Neha, who refuses to marry a loser. Anand's squeaky clean image goes for a toss and he decides to take revenge on Raj. Anand goes back to Raj, and asks him to join forces again. He insists that their master plan could still work out, only if they think much bigger. Anand explains to Raj how they can generate a whopping 110 crores from the stock market and then make their film only in 10 crores. 
They begin working on their plan, and sign up Bollywood superstar Aryan Kapoor (Sonu Sood) at a token payment of 3 crores. Aryan is offered to act opposite his girlfriend Riya, but surprisingly, the actor refuses. 
That's when Raj suggests Anand to cast his girlfriend Neha, who also has acting ambitions. Since they plan to make a flop film, Raj tells Anand that Neha will not only come back in his life, but also become dependent on him since her acting career will end after their film's disastrous fate. Anand agrees. Neha (Soha Ali Khan) is thrilled to know that Anand is producing a film and that she is being cast opposite a big star like Aryan Kapoor. 
After some hiccups, Anand and Raj manage to make the film and release it deliberately alongside other big films that could overshadow their film. Their devious plan seems to be right in track. But as the adage goes... 'Man proposes; God disposes', the film turns out to be a huge hit. Now the financers and distributors are after Anand and Raj for their chunk of shares from the huge profit. Anand and Raj's problems multiply by the second. 
Maybe, the outline plot sounds quite commendable, but it's exposed to an awful screenplay with boredoms. It really keeps us wondering how come the best actors who had made decent performances in their previous films accepted this offer.
Getting on with the director, the spoofs he has tried dallying on Bollywood's various flicks reminds us off Hollywood's Scary Movie (2000) that made straight-out fun on best films like I Know What did you last summer, The Sixth Sense, The Usual Suspects, The Matrix and more.
But the similarities end here and the results are completely dissimilar. Yeah! Not all the spoofs are really entertaining for that case.
Delivering tremendous performances with 'Jodha Akbar', 'Singh is King' and 'Ek Vivah Aisi Bhi', it's really puzzling watching him over here. Was it an experimental venture? We've got to ask Sonu about this. Well, ditto to Soha Ali Khan, who won the best critical acclaims for her top-notching show in 'Rang De Basanthi' and 'Mumbai Meri Jaan'? Alas! Her previous film 'Dil Kabaddi' and this one really disgusts and diminishes her best performances in the previous ones.
Every actor deserves the same questions and both Versatile Actor Paresh Rawal and Kunal Khemu aren't elision? In all his films, especially Zakhm and Dhol, the lad had his decorous acting. 
There isn't much commendable about the technical aspects. Director Umesh Shukla could've fine-tuned the screenplay blending them with interesting parts.
Finally, 'Dhoondte Reh Jaoge' is a film that can be watched, if you drop your cognizance outside theatres. Even then, you've to remain stubborn for certain flimsy substances prevailing almost throughout the show.
Verdict: Watch it if you can'
Rating : ** ' 
An engrossing rollercoaster ride. That's what Taxi No 9211 promises to be when its acerbic, witty and very unhappy with the world driver shifts into first gear, even as a well written and delivered commentary by Sanjay Dutt begins the storyline and with deft economy of words defines the characters and puts them in perspective.
Raghav Shastri (Nana Patekar) is on the run. From financial problems, from the fact that his sweet, simple wife still believes that her husband is actually an insurance salesman, whereas he has been forced to drive a taxi for three turbulent months now, during which time he's defaulted on the taxi owner's rent and now faces the threat of exposure by the taxi owner, who's given him just one more day. Cough up 30000 bucks, or I'll land up at your home and tell your wife that you're actually a bloody taxi driver! That prospect chills Raghav's spine, setting the poor hyperanxious fella even more on the edge!
He has just one day to find 30000 bucks. And on the most important day of his life, he bumps into another man, Jai Mittal (John Abraham) who has to rush to a court hearing to contest his late millionaire father's will, or else he stands to lose everything to a certain Arjun ___. 
So here are two guys both in a tearing hurry to save their all. One has millions to lose; the other would lose his self esteem if his wife discovers his lie, and would also lose his taxi if he doesn't manage to rustle up 30000 bucks by the end of the day. It's equally desperate for Jai, who hasn't lifted a finger in his life to work, and is now in a wild-eyed frenzy to save his millions. 
And today, time is of the essence! You brace yourself for the ride of your life! After all, there's Nana, there's handsome hunk John Abraham, plus there's the perfect launch pad for a great story to unfold. 
But just a few dry, witty, acerbic exchanges later, Raghav, egged on by a desperate Jai who's raining fistfuls of currency on him to drive faster, rams his old taxi into a car. Jai, desperate to reach a locker vault to retrieve a file quickly, slips away, leaving Raghav to face the music and a crooked cop who has him jailed. But Raghav has actually found Jai's crucial locker key and pocketed it. So guess what happens? Jai comes back, looking for Raghav, and from there on, the screenplay of Taxi No 9211 goes off the rails, getting a convenient mind of its own.
The cabbie and the passenger begin acting out of character, flying into exaggerated fits of rage just to propel the story forward. Why would Jai hurl abuse at the driver who literally holds the locker key to his future?? So that Raghav can eyeball him back and swear revenge! And what extremes of vengeance! Raghav remove the bolts off Jai's front wheel, and it takes a good three minutes of fast driving for the wheel to come off! Raghav, in a fit of maniacal rage, start banging into Jai's girlfriend Rupali's car? And how come a crowd of onlookers allows Jai to get away after he's got Raghav stuck in his taxi on a railway track and a local train smashes it? And hey, what happened to the cops? Once Raghav escapes from custody, they do nothing to trace him, even though they have his address which Jai uses to reach his wife! Even more strange: a tired Raghav, exhausted after his escape, returns home, to the same address obviously hoping to rest, and that too in his taxi driver outfit. Did the writer tell him the cops wouldn't come looking after him? And what about his wife who still didn't know he was actually driving a cab? 
A thought-provoking, soul-stirring wake up call to the youth of India. An engrossing entertainer from a genre that's still young in Indian cinema. A film that fiercely eyeballs you, grabs you by the solar and rattles the nonchalance out of you. A glorious tapestry with layers upon layers of the moments and decisions that make the lives of beautifully defined characters. Engrossing entertainment meets taut social comment with perfect timing in Rang De Basanti. Wake up India, Rang De Basanti is here!
The film revolves around a group of five friends played by Aamir Khan, Soha Ali, Kunal Kapoor, Siddharth and Sharman Joshi, who go through an entire roller coaster ride of changes. The changes aren't the ones youngsters usually encounter - these are changes that are very concrete and change their lives completely. The central character or sutradhar of the film is Sue McKinley (English actor Alice in a wonderful portrayal) who is a young documentary filmmaker who comes to India armed with her grandfather's diary and a mission to make a documentary film based on the freedom fighters of India. This diary has the personal experiences her grandfather encountered while dealing with Indian revolutionaries like Bhagat Singh. It also tells her about the lessons he learnt about life and living.
Sue comes to India after quitting her job in London. Her friend Sonia (Soha Ali Khan) welcomes her and makes all the arrangements for her to shoot the documentary. After scores of fruitless auditions, she is desperate to find the actors for her documentary on the freedom fighters. And suddenly, she realizes that she need never have looked any father than her friend Sonia's gang of Aslam (Kunal Kapoor), Karan (Telugu movies' superstar Siddharth), Diljeet or DJ (Aamir Khan) and Sukhi (Sharman Joshi). Aslam is a mast maula poet and is very secular in his outlook, and hence very different from his parents and family. Karan is the not-so-spoilt son of a rich businessman (Anupam Kher) who deals in MIG aircraft parts.
DJ is an amazingly lively character full of energy and enthusiasm. He is the only son of dhaba owner Mitro (Kirron Kher). Beneath his enthusiasm lies a fear of not making it big in the world outside his college campus. Sukhi is another heart-on-sleeves character. He is also DJ's soul mate. Laxman Pandey (brilliantly played by Atul Kulkarni) is a political party worker who is a firm believer of his party's principles which, however, he later realizes are all fake. He is the kind who considers all Muslims as traitors and Pakistanis as people who have only hatred for India.
In the first half, the film develops these characters and precisely tells the audience how close they unconsciously are to their characters in the documentary. The first half is rocking and bombards the audience with comedy, a pinch of romance and good foot tapping numbers (AR Rahman) with lyrics (Prasoon Joshi) that acquire even more beauty when seen in the film.
In the second half, suddenly, the carefree lives and attitudes of DJ's gang changes due to a huge twist. Ajay (Madhavan) who is an Air force pilot, a good son, a patriotic Indian and Sonia's fiancee, and also the ideal of DJ and his gang, is killed in a plane crash. This incident rattles the happy-go-lucky friends who so far had been resigned to Fate and the fact that corruption is far too deep-rooted in India to be eradicated. But the loss of Ajay jolts them and they decide to take things in hand, realizing that if they are to make a difference and make the youth of India wake up to reality, they will have to take up the challenge.
Director Rohit Shetty became one of Bollywood's most sought after names after the tremendous success of the rib-tickling Golmaal. This time around Rohit tries a repeat formula to make one giggle and laugh out loud. But does it work?
The movie takes you to the world of Sehar(Ayesha Takia) a dubbing artist who suffers from short term memory loss and thus can't remember minute things such as the road to her office etc. Sehar goes clubbing one Saturday night with close friend Ritu( Anjana Sukhani) and her life somehow intersects with various characters which ultimately connect to a murder.
In comes Inspector Rajveer(Ajay Devgan)- a corrupt cop who heads the investigation for obvious reasons that he has been sent by his mother to meet Sehar and eventually get married to her. But, the problem is that Sehar can't remember things and all the help she can get is from her tape recorder that carries voices of Balu (Arshad Warsi)-a street smart cabbie and Kumar (Irrfan Khan) 'a wannabe actor. Thus the journey begins to find the missing 'Sunday' from Sehar's life.
To begin with Rohit Shetty gets it all wrong this time. In an attempt to explore a comic-thriller, things look haphazard. Various scenes in the film look patchy. The film loses its thriller essence as it jumps from a comic to thriller genre. In fact the suspense elements in the film are so weak that one forgets that there even is some suspense in store. Rather the audiences are carried away with the witty one liners and comic interactions namely between Arshad Warsi and Irrfan Khan.
The screenplay of the film is so weak that it bores you at various instances and even until the end several elements don't fall in place such as the presence of Murli Sharma at the murder scene and the two packets of milk at the doorstep etc. 
Cinematography by Aseem Bajaj is ok. But above all if there is one thing that gets the movie going, is the witty dialogues by Sajid-Farhad. The dialogues dominate throughout whether it be for a small character such as Vrajesh Hirjee or a prime artist like Arshad Warsi.
The songs in the film are forced in which all the more gets the story nowhere. 'Kashmakash' by Shibani Kashyap has Esha Deol grooving to the number. But the track fails to impress as it seems heavily forced in. 'Manzar' by Raghav impresses with Tushar Kapoor shaking a leg or two. 'Loot Liya' and 'Pyaar Toh Hona Hi Tha' are good numbers but somehow the voices don't suit the likes of Irrfan Khan and Ajay Devgan.
On the performance levels, the film truly belongs to Arshad Warsi who cuts through so smoothly as the typical Delhi cabbie. Right from his introduction till the very end he keeps you glued. In fact, every time the movie drags on its Arshad who comes in to save the show. His interaction with the Delhi cop, Hospital Sequence and argument with Vrajesh over cinema tickets are very impressive.
Irrfan Khan is also impressive in a role that doesn't offer much scope. He is so simple and naturally witty. He doesn't try hard to make you laugh but it's his tone of voice that brings in the humour. As a struggling actor, his Don 3 and Himesh act are really funny. His get ups in the film as Raavan and Dracula make you giggle.
Most hunky-dory of his kind, Dibakar Banerjee shored up on grounds of Bollywood with enticing debut 'Khosla Ka Ghosla'. And now, we've the winner back with a flick with ostentatious theme partially inspired by real life incidents. Blending a rigid tale with exquisite quotients of entertainment turns entire spotlights on it course of show. Well, Khosla Ka Ghosla blatantly revolved around on the motif; sometimes the only way to stop a criminal is to become one. And over here, Oye Lucky, Lucky Oye is a scrumptious tale of a top-charting thief who is ill-famed yet a ducky lad for cops in town. Fine! It's gonna be sang-froid entertainer on the buttons while film buffs would be brimmed with pinch of annoyance for clich'd plotlines of a normal innocent lad transubstantiating into a Chor. 
It's acceptable since we have blobbed many of leading Bachchans, Khans and Kumars on similar roles and Deol needn't be an elision. What to say about Abhay Deol? On the hooks of a nerveless thief, he strides spelling a matured performance with ne plus ultra. Despites Paresh Rawal getting on with plushy performance on triple roles, Abhay exserts with his fantabulous show with an ease not letting Paresh to eclipse him. 
Well, Dibakar has been keen on naming his flicks with unique titles that pulls everyone's interest. 'Oye Lucky, Lucky Oye', not exactly a nickname but everyone in Delhi calls someone whose name is Lucky so. And again director had jocularly uttered his words, 'It's a film that'll be loved by thieves and wanna be thieves'. Precisely as mentioned earlier, the film is a cool drive of 130mins slackening your tensed moods. 
Oye Lucky, Lucky Oyeis a story of Lucky Singh (Abhay Deol) who plays a loveable thief, someone who even the Delhi police are extremely fond of. His modus operandi is to outsmart the people, chowkidars and policemen with his sharp mind and wit. He is an aspiring individual who loves the good things in life and is generally enamored by the lifestyles of the rich and affluent Delhi families.Lucky's journey from a middle class boy to a popular thief turns him into a flamboyant playboy who now wants more than just the riches. Amidst of his jocund ambience, the story gets back to distressed Childhood days of Lucky Singh where he was constantly bruised by his dad (Paresh Rawal). Of course, what urged Lucky an innocent chap turning into a smart thief is unveiled. Later, a grown-up Lucky with luxurious props has a monger Gogi Bhai (Paresh Rawal again) who keeps buying them. With times advancing, now he needs the respect, the social standing of a city gentleman without sacrificing that reckless freedom he cherishes (the duality of having the freedom to steal). 
On narration, Dibakar Banerjee propels with good screenplay coalesced with lots of drolleries in the first hour while it's about experiencing a sluggish show in latter part. The auteur could've impinged with initial scenarios in the following hours too that wouldn't have scattered everyone's attention.
From his debut flick to Oye Lucky, Abhay has lots of convincing factors in his performance. Paresh Rawal sways splendidly on his characterizations and you'll love him on all 3 Avatars. It's a complete show by Abhay and Paresh while rest of the star-casts fails to make it big. Especially, Neetu Chandra appears with her good efforts but doesn't have enough scope. A commendable performance by Archana Puransingh while others don't hit spotlights as there is no importance drawn on them. Manjot Singh as young Lucky deserves good appreciations for his decent efforts. 
Getting with technical aspects, Music Director Sneha Khanwalkar doesn't deliver a laudable score and Dibakar should've focused on these vistas of music as well background scores. Karthik Vijay's cinematography is over the top; be it pragmatic Delhi or cool-exotic locales of Manali canned, they're praiseworthy. 
On the whole, Oye Lucky, Lucky Oye is a cute flick offered by Dibakar Banerjee. With Abhay Deol and Paresh Rawal dangling with trenchant performances and an interesting theme should pull in more audiences in coming weeks. Perhaps, Dibakar can earnestly thank the real life Cool-Chor of Delhi who inspired him penning this script. With previous week releases getting down from charts and no biggies in forthcoming weeks, producers can chill-out singing 'Lucky, Lucky -We're Lucky'. Hope, Sneha would score better tunes for it. 
Verdict: Be a part in getting robbed 
Rating :*** ' 
How can a Neuro surgeon double up as a gynecologist? Beats me'And you too shall feel like beating a hasty retreat out of the stuffy cinema hall showing 'Janani', a weird family drama gravitating between being an incest-fest to making a joke out of artificial insemination and brain tumours. Director Chandar Bahl must take a long holiday and pledge that he would never make a film again. 
This supposed-to-be-a-family-film starts off with a rain-soaking-figure-hugging song-n-dance number between Neha (Sonica) and Rahul (Vineet) followed by an explicit love making scene in Neha's hostel which has a bathroom fit for a king. And no she is no princess. Instead her mom Akanksha (Bhagyashree) is a nurse in a nursing home where Rahul was born. This world is a small place'Isn't it! If that's not enough then eat this'. Neha is Rahul's sister. At least that's what Rahul's parents Urmila (Ayesha Jhulka) and Raj (Mohnish Behl) tell them when they meet them for their marriage. The poor boy Rahul curses himself for doing all those sinful activities'.Phew! 
After umpteen flashbacks the story becomes even more murky and confusing. Akanksha worked in Urmila and Raj's factory. They helped when her son Rahul was diagnosed with Brain Tumor. She tried giving back in kind by conceiving Raj's kid (That's where artificial insemination comes into picture). Rahul dies and Akanksha can't handle that. Her husband Tarun (Aman Verma) can't accept the kid dwelling in her body as his own. Feel like taking a breath of fresh air. So will you as you watch this seamless crass movie having no direction whatsoever. 
The only reason why it is made bearable is because of a superb effort by Bhagyashree (Remember she didn't do any movie after making a great start with 'Maine Pyaar Kiya' opposite Salman Khan). Her emotional content, vulnerability and strength emerging out of that vulnerability gives a respite to this regressive fare. Even Ayesha Jhulka impresses and so do Mohnish Behl and Anjana Mumtaz. As for Aman Verma, he expectedly overacts. 
Music by Nirmal Pawar doesn't have anything to offer except for a Vinod Rathod number that grips emotionally. Direction by Chander Behl is listless and jaded. It's ironical that on one end family entertainer has made a comeback with Sooraj Barjatya's 'Vivah' while on the other hand, people are mutilating the genre by adding spice to no effect. At the Box Office, it stands no chance. The multiplex where I watched the film had a special offer for this film'Get one ticket free with every ticket. Well'I would say, don't watch it even if it's for free. 
Janani: Regressive-Fare
Time and again a question keeps popping up - Is Indian audience interested in watching a historical? While the record in the recent past hasn't been anything great, one still ventures into 'Taj Mahal' solely for watching a costume drama unfold on screen. Producer-director Akbar Khan has carried this dream for years and one felt that the movie may not really be an outright reject. Sadly, after watching the movie, the only things that remains with you are the gloss'n'look and a couple of well crafted action sequences.
The movie begins on an excellent note with battle lines being drawn between Shahjahan's [Kabir Bedi] sons Aurangzeb [Arbaaz Khan], who wants to capture the throne and Dara Shikoh [Vaquar Sheikh], who wants to retain it for his father. A well crafted action sequence follows that is brilliantly executed on a VAST canvas. The proceedings simply amaze you with the drama that follows and the first 20 minutes make you wonder if Taj Mahal is more than just a costume drama.
While Dara is captured, Shahjahan along with his daughter Jehan Ara [Manisha Koirala] are put on a house arrest. In his moments with his daughter, Shahjahan tells her the stories from his past beginning with his first meeting with his lady love Arjumand [Sonya Jehan]. A romance follows soon that is unacceptable to Empress Noor Jehan [Pooja Batra] who wants Shajahan [Zulfi Syed in earlier years] to get married to her daughter Ladli Begum [Kim Sharma] from her first husband. She tries to create a rift between Shahjahan and her father Emperor Jehanagir [Arbaaz Ali]. How true love conquers all obstacles and what prompts Shahjahan to build Taj Mahal to its eventual creation takes the movie to its conclusion!
Story wise, it is perfectly fine to see something unfold on screen about which you have heard before. In fact as long as there are drama moments galore, things continue to keep you excited. First Arbaaz Khan and then later Pooja Batra keep you glued to your seats. But the moments when these two are missing from the scene, things fail to move forward. Zulfi acts with sincerity and comes across as a confident personality, but Sonya Jehan is inconsistent in her performance. 
Length of the movie is one major factor that doesn't allow a viewer to have an attention span. While the first half is average [after a brilliant beginning], the second half just doesn't move at certain junctures. Scenes are stretched endlessly while towards the climax the movie just doesn't end. In fact when Kabir Bedi finishes narrating his story towards the pre-climax, one expects that 'The End' title soon but the movie keeps going on for a good 12-13 minutes with the final nail in the coffin being a song taking you back in the flashback mode again! This is the reason why editing leaves a lot to be desired. Special effects are mostly ineffective and one can almost always make out their presence!
Background music is fine but the songs by Naushad saab test the patience of today's generation. Whenever a song comes, it simply dilutes the built up done by the script. Except for the 'qawalli' track 'Ishq Ehsaas Hai' that features the tussle between Sonya and Kim, none of the other tracks keep you glued. 
Some of the factors that still make you see some positives in the movie are the battle sequences [Sham Kaushal], costumes [Anna Singh] and sets [Ratnakar Y. Phadke]. Dialogues [Mohafiz Hyder 
Aah..how could Ram Gopal Varma bring something like this out in open? How could Amitabh Bachchan consent to play such a role? And after all would there ever be a 60 year old man who would take such a step of 'falling in love' with a girl who would be fit to be his grand daughter?
All those who are making such statements may go take a hike. Because one thing is for sure that more than 90% of those who are saying so are still not 60 years of age. And hence they have no right or reason to comment on how a man could fall in love again at this age.
So could possibly answer this query? Probably our own parents who may have be 60 years or above! But can we expect them to give us an honest answer?
And this is where Ram Gopal Varma's interpretation of the situation comes handy as he tries to tell a tale and reason on the side of the lead protagonist who has seemingly seen it and done all but somewhere down there the passion in him is still left ignited that just needed a spark more to come out full throttle!
By now, everyone is aware about the basic plot of the film. A 60 year old man Vijay [Amitabh Bachchan] meeting his daughter's [Shraddha Arya] best friend Jiah [Jiah Khan] as she comes home for holidays. Vijay has a wife [Revathi] of many years and they are now living a retired life in the picturesque town of Munnar.
What seems to be a casual acquaintance to begin with turns into an unprecedented tale of blossoming love that was unexplainable and unprecedented. Of course for Jiah, spirited as she loves to be, it was a feeling that none could explain but eventually she was the first to take a move forward.
She teases Vijay, invites him and demonstrates her feelings for him. And eventually when Vijay finds himself attracted to him [let's not get into a debate if it was sexual, spiritual, casual, platonic or whatsoever, the fact was that he found himself to be attracted to her in a manner that was unusual, is good enough], trouble arises.
Of course his wife and daughter are none too pleased about the situation and Vijay too realizes the fact [all this while] that it was nothing more than being self-destructive to be falling for something that was never his, could never be his and was futile to say the least. But would Jiah's exuberance allow him to take a strong stance?
So does the film provide entertainment? Most probably not for all. European in theme and treatment, its narrative may be alien to majority of cinegoers, especially those outside the metros and other cosmopolitan cities, and hence it may be pardoned for those in the smaller centers and towns if they go home wondering what RGV had to offer to them. But for those who like to watch an unconventional tale with some superb technical aspects working in the film's favor, 'Nishabd' is certainly a different experience of it's kind.
The film moves at a very slow pace and it is to the credit of the lead pair of Amitabh Bachchan and Jiah Khan who keep the audience engrossed as the relationship between them starts taking different shades. With focus more on the facial expressions, body language and subtle mannerisms, dialogues take a back seat and for a movie like this, it is only imperative that its visuals are stronger than the words.
Emraan Hashmi returns with none other than the Bhatt camp accompanied by some good music by Pritam. But this time the Bhatt camp brings to you debutant Kunal Deshmukh spearheading the direction and partnering Vishesh Bhatt on the screenplay. Vishesh also makes his debut as story writer.
'Jannat' is the story of a man caught in a quagmire of crime and consumerism as he struggles to find heaven on earth.Arjun (Emraan Hashmi) is a reckless young man with an obsession for making money at card games. A chance meeting with a girl named Zoya (Sonal Chauhan) in a mall gives him the reasons he was looking for to move out of his ordinary life. He steps up from playing small-time card games to becoming a bookie. Stuck in a triangle of sorts between the woman he loves and his addiction to make a quick buck, Arjun moves on from being a bookie to a runner for the mafia. He steps into the world of match fixing. Arjun switches on the limelight to something bigger, better, and faster, until his dizzying rise attracts the attention of the police. Arjun has to now choose between the love of his life, Zoya, and this newfound success and power.As Arjun struggles to choose between the two, the Don offers the forbidden fruit of limitless wealth in exchange of his soul and draws him into his core entourage of money spinners. How far will the horizon of reality stretch as Arjun and Zoya tread a fine, fast-blurring line between right and wrong to find the heaven they have been looking for?
Kunal Deshmukh gets a great chance to prove quite a bit with his very first film but gets it extremely wrong. Firstly the story by Vishesh Bhatt isn't well defined; Jannat is neither a movie on cricketers nor is it a love story. It's just such a mix of undefined confusing events that take you nowhere.
The first half just tries to build up the events by portraying an obsessed Emraan and how unconvincingly debutant Sonal falls for our bollywood's serial kisser. The dialogues of the film by Sanjay Masoom are so dull. Certain remarks made at cricketers and scenes involving Pakistani cricket players won't certainly find favour with a large section of the audiences especially from Pakistan.
The second half too has nothing much to offer with the cops and bad guys enveloping poor Emraan and his love story.
The cinematography of the film by Manoj Soni has nothing in store in spite of locations such as Cape Town.
The music is the primary reason that keeps the audiences engrossed the music by Pritam and Kamran Ahmad's 'Judaai' are already hit numbers. But many would be disappointed not to find Kamran's male version of 'Judaai'.
On the acting front Emraan does carry the style and attitude. He is indeed convincing as the bookie but the weak script makes the love story fall flat.
Sonal Chauhan struggles with her character. She isn't convincing enough and fails majorly in a film where the writers wanted to express a tragic love story engulfed by obsession.
The supporting actors Jawed Sheikh , Samir Kocchar and Vishal Malhotra are terrific as per the demands of the script.
On the whole , Jannat is a poor tale from the Bhatt camp and it's quite surprising that the camp that explores varying love stories such as 'Who Lamhe' and 'Gangster' and eventually convert them into massive hits ; fall flat in the process of gambling with a love story and encashing on the current cricket madness of the IPL.
First things first. DHOL has in fact nothing to do with a 'dhol'. Well, except for the fact that there is a 'dhol' included in the last stages of the film to justify the film's title! Did the film's title come first or the script? A classic 'whether chicken came first or the egg' story!
DHOL is an addition to all boys entertainers that came in vogue after DIL CHAHTA HAI and have gathered momentum to reach a peak today with films like GOLMAAL, APNA SAPNA MONEY MONEY, HEYY BABYY and recently released DHAMAAL. The film doesn't promise to make you fall off the chair or clap hard all the time. It also doesn't have any major peaks that it achieves.
What it does well though is maintain steady laughs and smiles as you watch the escapades of Tusshar Kapoor, Sharman Joshi, Kunal Khemu and Rajpal Yadav trying to win attention of their neighbor [Tanushree Dutta] and her 'dadaji' [Om Puri] and 'dadiji [Farida Dadi]. When more than three-fourth of the film's 2 hr 45 mins are spent on a plot like this, except Priyadarshan to take full banana peel humor to a different level altogether.
So while Kunal ends up getting red chilly powder in his eyes by 'dadiji' who suspects him to be a thief/murderer, Tusshar is caught 'wet-handed' as he douses flames of a 'havan' believing them to be fire in a house. On the other hand Rajpal's condition is no better as he finds himself on the wrong side of 'dadaji' while trying to gain his attention on a road whereas Sharman is hated most by Tanushree for breaking her trust.
All of this and more comes together in one of the longest comedies seen in recent times where each of the characters is always on a run with out of ordinary situations leading to unbelievable happenings. There are number of scenes though which are simply riotous:
a) All four youngsters pushing Om Puri's car down the hill b) Each of them trying to sing a song to gain Tanushree's attention c) Rajpal's positioning as top brass Manager in Om Puri's office d) Boxing ring sequence e) Gang fight instigated by the quartet
It is to the credit of scenes like these which to a very good extent negate some lows in the film. Entire Arbaaz Khan and Tanushree's brother factor seems forced into the film and though on paper it appears to be integral to the plot, one wonders whether Priyadarshan could have opted for an out and out comedy outing. Elements of a thriller just do not intersperse well into the situations here and though they are minimal (thankfully), DHOL could have been better off without it.
Opening title song sequence, though stylishly shot, doesn't add to the plot and is conveniently forgotten the moment film's quartet is introduced. Payal Rohatgi's flashback sequence makes one wonder if the long drawn sequences were actually that important to the plot that they mandated such importance.
But what is simply unpardonable is yawny-yawny-and some more yawny Murali Sharma-searching-for-Payal-and-Tanushree inside the house sequence which just refuses to end. Shot in an utmost clich'd manner, it would go down as one of the most boring supposed-to-be-thrilling sequence.
Still, as mentioned earlier, there are number of hilarious sequences that keep the momentum going. Soon after the dragging pre-climax, the going gets back to entertaining, though the HUNGAMA deja vu is very much in place with all the characters from the film coming together on one single platform.
After a huge gap and with several other directors making films under the prestigious Mukta Arts banner, Subash Ghai returns to direction with Black and White. Subash Ghai, popularly called 'Showman' of bollywood for his larger than life images and films of immense magnitude be it a Taal , Kisna or Yaadein; returns this time around with a much smaller film. Smaller in terms of its magnitude, budget and primarily because the film marks the debut of Anurag Sinha who plays the protagonist.
Subash Ghai goes ahead by exploring something new under his belt and steps into the world of terrorism and its harmful effects. Ghai releases this film under the Mukta Searchlight Films.
The film revolves around Numair Qazi [Anurag Sinha], who introduces himself as a victim of communal riots in Gujarat to the people around him. But the truth is that he is a suicide bomber commissioned by a Muslim fundamentalist group to detonate a bomb near Red Fort on 15th August. 
In comes Rajan Mathur [Anil Kapoor] a Professor in Urdu literature. He resides in Chandni Chowk with his activist wife Roma [Shifaali Shah]. 
Numair somehow manages to take shelter in the Professor's house and wins the trust and fondness of the couple. While helping Numair to get an entry pass for 15th August celebrations at Red Fort, Professor Mathur introduces him to the warm and loving people of Chandni Chowk. Amidst all the tension, he is caught in an emotional dilemma whether to go ahead with his mission. Despite his deep-rooted fundamentalist beliefs, he sees this as one of the most colorful and loving areas. So what happens next? Will he go ahead with his mission or has there been a change in Numair's views?
Black and White makes an attempt to look into the psyche of a Muslim fanatic and tries to justify why the so called terrorists think the way they do. But at some point or the other the film fails to leave that impact.
Subash Ghai attempts a genre or theme that has never before been explored by him and thus the film tends to loosen up and give way. Ghai's direction is not top notch unlike several other flicks that have made Ghai the 'Showman' he is. The screenplay of the film is loose and so are the characterizations.
Certain characters in the film seem so wasted, for example the girl falling in love with Numair very much the love at first sight style that too across the terrace of two buildings. In fact the love angle shown is just a waste adding to the film's length. These characters could have definitely been avoided considering the fact that these characters including the bunch of Sahelis( girl friends) lack the believability factor.
Even the characterization of Numair sometimes seems so dry. We do understand that Mr.Ghai wanted to give him a cold blooded , stoned hearted look but throughout the film , he carries the same expressions with the same tone of voice. Even in scenes where we expect the emotions to outpour, Numair stands firm and robust. The scene where Roma is shot dead by Numair's collegues , here too Numair just stands there looking at the dead body from the door side and doesn't emote a bit or even take few steps towards the body lying in the center of the room. Considering the fact that Roma calls Numair her brother and was very dear to him; his emotionless depiction is not justified. We can argue that towards the end Numair shoots the culprits behind the murder but even at that point the cold bloodedness look doesn't explain whether it was revenge for his Hindu sister or the laws of Islam that forbids the murder of the innocent that provoked him to do so.
It's arguably the most terrifying Bollywood horror film ever conceived and brought to the screen with an ingrained integrity that diminishes both rational explanations and irrational fear to a mound of indistinguishable afterthoughts, applicable only if you overcome your nerve wracking perceptions of the sheer visual terror the film creates.
Compared with Vaastu Shatra, Ram Gopal Varma's Bhoot was child's play. Also, Bhoot was more leisurely and casual in its spine chilling aspirations, while Vaastu Shastra is relentlessly horrific in its implications of what demoniacal discoveries lie beneath the tranquil surface of a seemingly normal household.
While in most horror films, including Hollywood's most celebrated ones like The Exorcist and Omen, or the Friday The 13th series, the terror is imposed from the outside and allowed to seep into the characters and plot. Vaastu Shastra moves in the opposite direction.
The appalling terror originates from within the given milieu and the rounded believable characters who occupy the stunningly ominous spaces - and makes its way outwards to the frames.
Before we move further with the frights, let's straightway congratulate the debutant director for assembling a crew that allows his flights of foreboding to take wings. 
Apart from a terribly overdone soundtrack in the first half (why must the sound effects be used so arbitrarily to scare viewers when there's so much of the genuine stuff, and so well thought out, later in the plot?), there isn't a single aspect in the narration that doesn't grab us.
Sachin K. Krishn's camerawork is eye-catching without being glamorous. The frames create a feverish flush of fear without overdoing the sleek exteriors of the bungalow where the horror unsheathes in glowing purple shades.
While the first half gives us, and the characters, a chance to catch our breath, the second half pulls out all stops to unleash a furious terror across the plot's sweltering scenario.
The ghosts, so far seen in fleeting silhouettes, come out of the closet en masse. They crowd the narrative with their muffled but brash demands, make what was so far only a whispered glance in horror films, and on occasion afford us a full-frontal view of the other world in all its ghoulish glory.
There are no benign supernatural elements. The mean spirits infest Vaastu Shastra and finally overpower the narration to the point where director Narang seems to take the horror genre way beyond the prescribed borders of thrills and entertainment.
Ironically the film's most outstanding aspect - its willingness and ability to take the horror genre beyond the permissible limits - is also its gravest shortcoming. 
To aficionados of filmic terror, the excesses of Vaastu Shastra may appear overdone and unbearable.
That's precisely the reason why the film makes a deep and indelible impression. Unlike other tales of the other world this one, doesn't leave us with the comfort of the evil forces being vanquished.
Narang portrays the dark unknown world as dangerously self-renewable. 
The ghouls crackle with hostility. The writer, editor and the cameraman conspire to create a climate of ceaseless stress. The fear never leaves the frames. The terror is never vanquished. What we are finally looking at is a bleak irredeemable evil, aggrandized by a negative energy that flows speedily through the veins of this agile spook story.
'Dhan Dhana Dhan Karenge Goal' - The tune is everywhere. Be it the opening moments of the film when it plays on subtly in the background as the flop-brigade of Southall football club comprising of men from Indian, Pakistani and Bangaldeshi origin try to find their bearings. Be it the moments when their slightly pot bellied coach - Boman Irani - with an agile mind, precise reasoning and love for the game tries to infuse some self respect into them more than skills. 
Be it the time when the team comes together to create this anthem and fine tune the rough edges while traveling in a privately owned bus that that may have been rampaged in World War II. Be it the time when the team members come together, and come together in the true sense, for the first time in a league match and sing the anthem with their eyes closed and fists locked. And be it the time when they start tasting success for the first time, only to take it forward till the grand finale.
The theme is special because the team led by Arshad Warsi has never felt how a win looks like. This is the reason why they concentrate more on defense rather than attack. Because their eyes are always set on saving that goal rather than scoring one. And the only man who could reverse the fortune is John Abraham, a BBFCD i.e. British Born and Forced to be Confused Desi, whose heart pines for playing with the 'gora' team.
This is where the racism angle is brought in which is not so subtle but also not so on-the-face that it diverts a viewer's attention from the theme of sports, self-respect and international integration. In fact this is one area where director Vivek Agnihotri needs a pat on his back as he brings forth the issue of racism when it comes to brown skin but keeps it well integrated as a part of the script rather than making it look artificial and gimmicky. 
Coming back to 'Goal', it is it's setting which succeeds in giving a different color to the film. As the film is entirely set in UK, there is a certain international look and feel to the proceedings even when it comes to locations, costumes and accent. Most of the film is shot in real locations due to which football grounds, clubs, apartments, bars and other shops lend an authentic touch to the narrative.
To think of it, 'Goal' primarily works as an entertainer even with ingredients like sports, international integration, racism etc. involved. The film maintains it's consistent graph and there isn't any demarcation of first half v/s second half. The film moves on at the same rate for close to 2 hours with last 15-20 minutes showing a peak (expectedly). 
The film requires a build up to the proceedings and all of this happens at a decent pace while interlaced with some light humor. There are jokes being shared between team members of different origins but none being below the belt. Subtle moments of naughty romance between John and Bipasha is held well too which works due to it's simplicity. Watch out for that locker room conversation between the duo! In fact Arshad's possessiveness for his sister Bipasha, his insecurity about her falling for John, his own bedroom conversation with John in a drunken state - all of this leads to some sugar-sweet chuckles which the audience doesn't mind in between all the league matches being played.
All this while, the film doesn't loose focus to the core issue of a flop team turning into a super-force. There are no lectures on motivation or leadership or 'desh-bhakti' which bring a turnaround. It is instead a round to Manchester United and a brief reference to their glorious past coupled with Boman's 'look-at-the-mirror' conversation which does the trick. In fact this scene at the interval is one of the major highlights.
Comedy is not everyone's cup-of-tea. They who think it is easy to make people laugh are living in a fool's paradise. Shatrughan Sinha lost esteem by producing a non-starter (non-starrer as well) Mera Dil Leke Dekho. Directed by debutant Rohit Kaushik, this one lacks the very sense that makes humour appealing. 
After suffering Whacko Jackie in the inspid 'Bhoot Unkle', one is treated to creeps as he tries to tickle the funny bone with Big Ethel Archana Puran Singh. To add to the woes, Jatin'Lalit's swan song music score is not even an iota of their last release 'Fanaa'. It's been a hectic week with a surfeit of smallies releasing simultaneously and I have to catch another one soon. So, allow me to give you a doze of this tear-jerker-comedy that never makes you laugh. 
'MDLD' revolves aroundLondon-bred Punjabi Koel Purie, who dreams of marrying anyone-able-n-eligible. When Puneet Tejwani tries to woo her, she immediately starts dreaming him as her husbandwith wedding garb and the other paraphernalia. Now, it's straight so far, but then it starts taking dig at gays, bi-sexuals and in fact anything to do with sex. 
Jackie Shroff is shown to be a skirt-chaser. And whoever thought that making a comedy spiced up by sex-n-sin shall go down well with people must be a moron. All the supposedly cool jokes are not happening at all. Everybody thinks the one-next-door is having an affair with someone. There's too much of confusion and it seems the director and the writer must have had trouble fitting in way too many 'inspirations' from Hollywood C-graders. 
Koel Purie wastes herself. She was no great talent to start with. Archana Puran Singh hams-n-haws while Jackie Shroff is too-much-in-debt for how else can he explain acting in such a movie as this. I Can't give any more credibility to such a senseless experience as this. I guess it's time for me to suffer another non-starrer. And I though watching movies was fun. Never mind'.
Mera Dil Leke Dekho: Isko Mat Dekho
Either you should never have been a superstar. Or you should quit acting for good. That's exactly what I wish to tell Rajesh Khanna. It's an insult to see you making a fool out of yourself in inane love stories doing nothing but playing fourth or fifth fiddle in a story that is implausible and totally detached from sense-n-sensibility. Shahrukh Mirza's 'Jaana-Let's Fall In Love' is a wasted attempt at launching his son Rehan Khan. Though this New-Khan-On-The-Block impresses for stray moments, it'll take him ages before he can make any dent in the progressive changes happening in the movie world.
Now, gear up for a mushy story in the scenic Nainital with its dirty lake and salubrious hills. You must have seen all the trick-in-the-trade for pataoing a girl. But you can do it all over again. Raju (Rehan) is the local stud while Madhu (Anjana Sukhani) is the proverbial rich lass preferring one-day-boyfriends for company. Twist in the tale'.Madhu has cancer and Raju makes her fall for his non-existent charms so that he could savour her dollars once she is gone. Some QSQT rain dance numbers later, he realizes he is actually falling for her. Amit ji style soliloquy-confession later, Madhu's Dad (Rajeev Verma) finds out that his daughter can be cured. 
Pronto, Madhu is back on her heels'.No, she doesn't need no chemotherapy for her cancer'.No'.She doesn't have to shed those lovely auburn hair either that a cancer patient has to let go. It's a romantic movie of course'.How can you show the heroine's true state'.There's another twist in the tale that made me feel like tearing off whatever little hair I have been left with'Well'Can't tell you that twist for it will spoil the fun'Oops'There's no fun in this one'But anyways'there's something called as professional ethics. Can't tell you the climax guys'Anyway you aren't missing out anything outstanding. 
Rehan Khan is a confident actor who should try his hands with a few multi starrers before he can even remotely thinking of creating an identity as a solo hero. I liked Anjana Sukhani. Not merely because she is a pretty girl. But I am sure, if she plays her cards well, she has a future in Bollywood for she is much better than the dime-a-dozen aspiring starlets. Rajesh Khanna looks demented and the only good thing he does is sing his own timeless classic numbers. Zeenat Aman as Rehan's screen mother looks lost. 
'Jaana-Let's Fall In Love' is a waste of a movie that is made slightly better by the decent chemistry between the lead pair and some hummable numbers by a plethora of music composers. You can safely give this one a miss. 
Jaana-Let's-Not-Waste-Time-In-Falling-For-This-one
With almost every second day Harman , Priyanka and Harry making their presence felt in the media via various product launches , game launch etc ; Lovestory releases with a bang.
With tall claims by director Harry Baweja that Lovestory is India's first ever futuristic film , does the film match up to all the hype and audience expectations?
Synopsis'
Karan [Harman Baweja], a young, spirited, sporty boy lives life off the rules, while Sana [Priyanka Chopra], a petite, shy girl lives life by the rules. Opposites attract' and love blossoms. Karan's uncle, Dr. Yatinder Khanna's [Boman Irani] much developed time machine finally works. Sana expresses her wish to travel ahead in time to Mumbai. But there's an accident'Mumbai 2050. Flying cars, 200 storey buildings, robots and sky rails have changed the face of Mumbai. Through a series of twists and turns, Karan finds himself separating from his love. Meanwhile, Dr. Yatinder and Karan are under threat from Dr. Hoshi.
No doubt director Harry Baweja succeeds at drawing the masses to the setting of the future but the biggest flaw of lovestory comes with the lack of really any love quotient. Somehow, you are not able to feel for the protagonist's love for Sana(Priyanka Chopra).The movie starts off well with Harman's introduction and then begins to drag into a series of clich's. 
The 1st Half goes on and on as the usual boy meets girl , tries to impress her , sings a couple of songs etc. Without a matter of doubt the 1st half ends with a twist similar to Hrithik's 'Kaho Na Pyaar Hai' but without even half the impact left behind by Hrithik and the gang.
Then comes the 2nd half, the hunt for love, the journey into the future. No doubt the special effects really draw you into the future but here too the movie drags on and on with a bunch of silly songs 'Loverboy will u be my toy' etc. The 2nd half seriously requires trimming.
Don't blame Harman for anything as the flaw lies in the screenplay of the film courtesy daddy Harry and sister Rowena Baweja. What was all that bad guy stuff (the bald guy with the mask ) etc , were they attempting a lovestory or got lost in writing Star Wars?
Music by Anu Malik is just ok. Actually in an attempt to follow the 'Kaho Na Pyaar Hai' musical success , here songs come in and out, which really annoys. No doubt songs like 'Milo Na Milo' , 'Meelon Ka', 'Sach Kehna' impress. Javed Akhtar has come a long way from 1942 Lovestory to 2050.
On the acting front, the film proves decent for Harman's much awaited launch. Harman surely impresses with his dance moves and style. Comparisons with Hrithik will continue for a while but the actor will soon carve his own league . Besides all the western dance moves , one bit that really impressed me was Harman's classical dance abilities. He showcases a bit of it in 'Milo Na Milo'. Harman needs to improve a lot more on his dialogue delivery and needs to go a bit slower. With better scripts and the talent that lies within , Harman is sure set to go places.
Priyanka Chopra does a lot in supporting Harman throughout this flick but even her bit falls flat without a clear cut definition of her character who falls in love too easily. She isn't close to her best performances and often comes across as a dumb and silly character especially with that Zeisha bit.
Boman Irani is good and so is Archana Puram Singh but they have very little to do in the film.
On the whole, Harry Baweja no doubt takes you into the future and places brands like 'Lux' and 'Tata Indicom' right in your face. But somehow Harry fails at the romance bit. As for the rest, its ok to watch superstar (yes, he sure is headed for that title) Harman groove.
Rating : *1/2
Ok, so what was this really about?
If you are looking for an entertaining 120 minutes while watching THE NAMESAKE then let's make it clear at the very onset - the film is hardly entertaining. At maximum, it is akin to reading a novel where one gets to know about each of the characters and then heads on to some intellectual/intelligent/introspective conversation. And by the way, that too would find a limited segment since both the subject and treatment as seen in THE NAMESAKE is not everyone's cup of tea.
Before we delve further into what the film is all about, let's highlight what's the biggest issue with the film (if one thinks about an average viewer visiting the film) - It's snail pace. The story takes minutes and minutes to move on to the next stage and at number of place one gets extremely restless. Especially in the second half, at least at 3-4 places one feels that the story has come to an end but that just doesn't happen.
The film moves on and on and then ends on a note that only adds on to the frustration since one starts wondering about the intent behind the entire drama and it's subsequent conclusion. Sure the award winning credentials of both the film and the book (by Jhumpa Lahiri) on which it is based are reasons enough to consider some meat behind all the happenings but then we are talking from the point of view of an average cinegoer here.
Coming to the film, it won't be wrong to say that it's all about a name! Gogol [Kal Penn], is the name around which the entire story of the film revolves. Born to Ashok Ganguly [Irrfan Khan] and Ashima [Tabu], natives of Kolkata who have lived their entire life after being married in New York, he is named after a famous Russian author who has been a huge influence in Gangulis lives.
Reason? Before marriage Ashok was traveling in a train that had met with an accident with him being the only survivor. Since he was reading his grandfather gifted book written by Gogol on his journey, he decided to name his son as Gogol so that it would remind him of his survival and life after that.
Well, that's about it and this is what forms the crux of the entire film. Gogol wants to change his name since in USA it wasn't quite jelling well and Gangulis seeing him getting immersed into the Western mould get a little sentimental about the entire affair. Thankfully director Mira Nair avoids any stereotypical/clich'd dramatic scenes here and allows everyone to have their point of views sans any histrionics.
Gogol falls in love with his American colleague [Jacinda Barrett] and Gangulis accept her too. Meanwhile his sister too falls in love with an American boy and eventually gets married to her. In turn of events, Ashok passes away due to a sudden illness that leads Gogol to introspect and realize the value of the name his father had given him.
In a rather childish altercation with his girlfriend and a breakup later, he falls in 'lust' with a Bengali woman who had turned from an ugly duckling to a overtly sexy female in a matter of years and gets into a hasty marriage with her. Their relationship too is short-lived as the wife later confesses that both of them got a Bengali spouse for each other but not the kind of person they would have wanted. And for some unexplained reason, Gogol finally feels liberated as he gets to know about her affair with a French guy.
They split. End of story. End of film!
Dharmesh Darshan repeatedly said that 'Aap Ki Khatir' is a popcorn-cola film. I entered the theatre with a cola hoping that the film will live up to the intriguing hoardings and Darshan's one liner. Well, during the interval I bought a coffee and a packet of samosas (Popcorn is only when I am with my wife). As I dug my teeth in the samosa, it turned out to be soggy. So, after a listless first half, the sorry tale of love, betrayal and ring tones continued in the second half too. I just put aside the other samosa and geared myself to bear the movie. Aap Ki Khatir. Only For You'.
A rip off of 'The Wedding Date', 'Aap Ki Khatir' is a film that promises nothing and goes nowhere. It just meanders around. Telling nothing. Conveying nothing. Why does an intelligent sales-n-marketing rich London bred girl be so dumb so as to hire an escort in Mumbai to take along with herself to UK so that she can make her ex hunky boyfriend jealous! That's Anu (Priyanka Chopra) for you. Aman Mehra, the dilwala from Lokhandwala (Akshay Khanna), the happy-punctuality-freak escort is prompt with his one-liners. Try this one: 'I hate to wait, so please don't be late'. 
Danny boy (Dino Morea), the dashing debonair playboy had left Anu in the lurch three years ago. Now, she is back to attend the marriage of her step sister Shirani (Amisha Patel) with gujju boy-man Kunal (Suneil Shetty, considering he is much over 40, I guess manly man will be more appropriate). Oops'.I forgot to tell you about Anu's family. It's a bit complicated, but nevertheless I will try. Anu's emotionally intelligent, yet sexy Mom Betty Khanna (Lilette Dubey) married jovial, ring tone friendly Arjun Khanna (Anupam Kher) after the death of Anu's father. Arjun Khanna had a daughter of his own from his earlier marriage (Of course his first wife had also passed out'sorry passed away). There's Nikky (Bhumicka Singh), but it's never really established if she is the sister of Anu and Shirani. 
The happy Sooraj Barjatya joint family plays cricket in the chilly picturesque countryside of London, caricaturish spinster Pushy and Cushy aunties indulge in some baseless repartee, the fire crackles out of the logs of love and instead of doing the job that Mr Lokhandwala Aman (Poor guy is addressed by this name repeatedly as if Lokhandwala is some remote village where stupid morons live) was supposed to do, he falls in love with the bumbling-stumbling Anu. If this was not enough, dirty secrets start plunging out of the closet as Aman catches Danny urging Shirani to come back to her. The two had a brief relationship after Anu-Danny broke up and now Danny is back in thick of things as he is the best man of Kunal. Phew! Getting confusing'. I would leave it at that. You guys check it out at your own peril. Ahm'Headache rather'
Director Dharmesh Darshan lost the plot from the word go. Alright, I'll give it to him that the length of the film (2 hrs something) is a relief considering it's very slow paced anyway. I think he should stick to doing what he does best'Emotional potboilers like 'Raja Hindusthani' and 'Dhadkan' rather than rehashing an also-ran Hollywood film. His attempted Yash Chopra-Karan Johar mode of filmmaking doesn't work. One should stick to one's own strengths than trying-to-emulate the Box Office formula of others. He should thank Sunil Munshi's intelligently written dialogues (At Times) that make you nod at the novelty value. 
He is a rebel who has a penchant for colour-me-blood-red zeal. With his Rambo-like physique he has unceremoniously taken up the mantle of the do-gooder citizen. Now, where did I see something stale-n-similar? Well, the answer is in dozens and hundreds. Suresh Krissna's 'Rocky' is a rehashed version of 'Arjun', 'Gardish', 'Shiva' and many more. And except for the strong screen presence of Zayed Khan, it has absolutely nothing new to offer. 
Rocky (Zayed Khan) has a chemical locha (At least it seems so) each time he witnesses any injustice being meted out to anybody. If a police hawaldaar molests a girl, Rocky bashes him like a man possessed. And when his dad gets him out of police lock-up, instead of being apologetic, Rocky gives his parents a whirlwind lecture on what 'Responsible citizens' ought to do. Having started his cyber caf' and with a bit of self dependence later, love was bound to happen. Neha (Isha Sharwani) is the girl who slaps him thrice before falling in love with him. And together they sing 'My Love For You Is Not a One Night Stand' in the European gardens. 
Everything was going picturesque-perfect. That's when villain Anthony (Rajat Bedi) spoils Rocky's party. Neha gets killed as she had to pay the price for Rocky's animosity with Anthony's brothers. A distraught Rocky moves to London on his parent's insistence. But he is not the same person any more. Chirpy Tour Guide Priya (Minisha Lamba) falls for him. And then a few thugs do something with Priya that re-ignites the rebel in Rocky once again. 
Now, what exactly is Suresh Krissna trying to say'remains unclear. Why is Rocky so rebellious by nature? And for God's sake, the audience is not so na've to accept one man breaking bones of all-n-sundry. Agreed, apna Rocky bhai has a lot of jigra, but then yaar, how can you band bajaofy of common sense like this. Moreover, why will a girl fall in love with a goon who bashes up her own brother without much reason! The support cast (Especially the man playing Zayed's father and his friends) consists of non-actors, teakwood furniture that make the whole show rather pedestrian as well. Himesh Reshamiya's music isn't anything outstanding to really hum about. Except for a melody based 'My Love For You'' and up tempo 'Junoon' rest of the songs are average fare. 
In the acting department, Zayed Khan establishes himself as an actor of immense potential. He looks handsome, is convincing in the action sequences, has a knack for comedy, is perfect in the song-n-dance routine and can pull off the emotional scenes too. Here I must add that his energy levels at time borders on over acting, but then he is still young and with time will surely mature and mellow down. Isha Sharwani looks gorgeous, dances well but in the acting department she doesn't have much to write home about. Minisha Lamba has a ridiculously small role in which she manages to look pretty, shakes a leg or two in a song and impresses with stray histrionics. She is a talented actress who should be careful about selecting her roles. 'Corporate' and 'Rocky' won't do much good for her innings in Bollywood. 
Don't waste your money-n-time on watching a predictable and macabre film like 'Rocky' that neither entertains nor gets across any message. It's a film that would do nothing to bolster Zayed Khan's standing as a solo hero. I guess he will have to go back to the multi-starrers to stay in the hunt. 
Rocky: Watch the Sylvester Stallone version on a DVD instead 
FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA>Star Rating: *
The importance of the three pillar of cinema ' script, direction and editing ' is not confined to live features but also extends to animation, documentaries and anything on movie camera. Nothing highlights this more than The Return Of Hanuman, a complete anticlimax after the pioneering and enlightening Hanuman in 2005.
Maybe, too late in the day, the producers realized this somewhere, so right in the beginning of the credit titles they clarify that this is not a sequel. After all, every sequel since 2006 has bettered the predecessor!
The importance of a director who knows clearly what he is doing is again spotlighted graphically. Director (?) and co-writer (??) Anurag Kashyap is least equipped to deal with the rather fanciful subject of Lord Hanuman wanting to be an earthly kid and being born in a humble family. With the right creative team at the helm, this could have been a wonderful exercise with high fun and novelty quotients! But he lets things go completely haywire, neither satiating animation feature buffs, nor devotees of the lord, nor fans of the first film and certainly not the international audience the film wants to target. In simple words, he makes a global laughing stock of Hindu mythology and the superhero genre!
For one, he brings in a convoluted semi-mythological angle where Shukracharya, the guru of demons, takes on the shape of the planet Shukra (Venus). Shukracharya curses mankind that it would be destroyed by a creature created by his own sins.
A very much adult Hanuman is envious of the fun some school-kids are having and after sight-seeing around the world to a very modern background track ' the liberties taken here including the Statue of Liberty dancing away world and Hanuman bendings the Twin Towers so that the 9/11 attacking planes pass through!! ' wants to visit Earth. Brahma lays down certain conditions, and his account-keeper Chitragupta draws out the printout of a contract from his computer!
Hanuman is born to a village pandit and his wife as a cute kid with a tail, a monkey-like countenance and an insatiable appetite that soon finishes every grain of food in the village. The funny angle here is not exploited well. Meanwhile a whole lot of dark things happen. There is a mysterious wall as high as a mountain behind which demons reside in the village. The pandit joins the many missing people (all shown with 'Missing' placards on the mountain wall!) and everyone's cool about it including Hanuman and the priest's wife! Finally Maruti has to save the world from parlay unleashed by the demons, apart from the kid solving the problems of his schoolmates, including a kid who is an underdog.
The absurdities and irreverent things shown in the film are plain mind-boggling apart from being sometimes offensive in the desperate effort to be 'with-it' and appeal to a generation that should be educated instead. The script is painful ' we do not mind Hanuman as well as his kid avatar Maruti using English words, but we must draw a line at cameras focussing on the behinds of mini-skirt wearing females cavorting to music, or Hanuman threatening to expose Narad's eavesdropping on Lord Brahma's romantic rendezvous! Then we have a chap speaking like Shah Rukh Khan and a reprise complete with dialogues of Gabbar Singh in Sholay. 
'Jai Santoshi Maa' had created hysteria when it had released first in the seventies. It went on to become one of the all time blockbusters of Hindi Cinema. So, when you are trying to make another film with the same title, obviously the responsibility is immense. But with the festive season on in full swing, I think it is the perfect time for director Ahmed Siddiqui's version to have hit the screens. If you were a prompt watcher of tele serials like Mahabharata and Ramayana, then you'd want to feast on this special effects saga told in a simple manner. 
Mahima (Nusrat Bharucha) has a great belief in the esteem of Santoshi Maa while her husband Anurag (Rakesh Bapat) is a charmer with music as his passion. Now, it so happens that Mahima's dad is a musician himself but their marriage is against the wishes of Anurag's parents. It goes without saying that they have to go through a lot of strife-torn-times. Things come to a standstill when Anurag decides to leave his parents to try his luck elsewhere. But in a typical Hindustani-Naari-manner she stays back to assist her in-laws. Now, the regular K-Serials drama unfolds as Mahima is ridiculed and berated by every member of the family. 
Mahima turns to Santoshi Maa for mercy and starts worshipping her with a renewed zeal. The rest is predictable. But the manner in which divinity comes into play will endear to the Believers. When the earlier 'Jai Santoshi Maa' had released there was no TV while today in an era of two hundred television channels, every other channel is beaming out the Saas-Bahu tiffs-n-make-up. So, in such a time and age the novelty value of such mythological fare is limited. Nevertheless, the Indian public still loves its mythological fare and loads of emotional melodrama. And a big screen always offers a better option.
The music of the film has been done by Anu Malik while there are two numbers from the original. 'Main To Aarti Utaron Re Jai Santoshi Maata Ki' is a goose pimple evoking bhajan while 'Yahan Wahan' is likable too. In the latest version, my personal favourite is 'Maa Santoshi'Jai Jai Maa' sung beautifully by Alka Yagnik. Here I must add that music plays a very important role in a mythological and in this case it does full justice to the tone and tenor of the movie. 
Rakesh Bapat is a decent actor who has acted in a string of flops. This is his chance where he can get noticed because of the theme of the film. Although he is subdued but still the chances are that his charming nature will be liked. Nusrat Bharucha has a future. For she has not only acted well, she has also shown a lot of conviction while expressing her belief in the Goddess. 
Director Ahmed Siddiqui has made an honest attempt to match the earlier version. And the results are a mixed bag. The Power one associates with such themes fluctuates. There are moments in the film where he has handled the Dramatic Shenanigans convincingly while there are still other sections where the efforts fall flat. It would be interesting to see what he can do with a regular theme. Or has he decided to make a mark for himself only as a Mythological director?
'Jai Santoshi Maa' is an easy-on-your-nerves film made with honesty. The timing of its release is perfect as people are in a devotional mood. But besides that it will have difficulty at the ticket window. Watch it for its devotional quotient.
Jai Santoshi Maa: For-the-Believers
This could well be a week of remakes and inspirations. While Lucky Ali starrer 'Kasak' had its source in a Polish film White [directed by Krzysztof Kieslowsky], 'Siskiyaan' was an adaptation of 'Death and the Maiden'. And now comes 'Sauda - The Deal', which has the basic storyline similar to 'Indecent Proposal'. Incidentally this indecent proposal had also been made by Sanjay Kapoor's elder brother Anil Kapoor in Rakesh Roshan's forgettable 'Karobar'. This time around it is the turn of Sanjay Kapoor to pop up 'million dollar' question to petite but no more 'chui-mui' Preeti Jhangiani!
Deja vu? Very much! And this is what takes a lot away from the movie because despite director Jai Prakash [Market, Chahat-Ek Nasha] coming up with his trademark loud-cinema, the movie doesn't hold much of the viewers's interest till it reaches the finishing line.
If you have seen Indecent Proposal or even the promos of Sauda-The Deal, you already know the basic storyline of the movie. Sameer [Aryan Vaid] and Devika [Preeti Jhangiani] are married to each other. Inspite of their middle class setting, they are happy in their lives with immense love for each other. Both Sameer and Devika are professionals and while Sameer (inspite of being well educated) feels he is not getting what he richly deserves, Devika is an upcoming painter.
In one of the painting exhibitions, she comes across Vijay Oberoi [Sanjay Kapoor], a flamboyant business tycoon. He falls for her but backs off as he gets to know about Devika's marital status. Meanwhile Sameer, in his quest to reach the top gets into a messy situation as he is unable to return the loan that he had taken from a gangster Dayabhai [Makrand Deshpande] in order to start a new business. Even his bungalow is at stake as he had mortgaged it for the loan. 
Help comes in the form of Monica [Suman Rangnathan] who belongs to the Page 3 variety and has the right contacts at the right places that help her make in-roads into the lives of the high profile. She loved Sameer from the college days and has not been able to come out of the fact that Devika got married to him instead. Getting to know about Vijay's problem, she approaches Vijay to bail him out. This is where Vijay comes up with a proposal! No prizes for guessing what's the proposal. He offers the money in lieu of Devika spending a night with her!!!
Devika is obviously shocked at the proposal while Sameer is adamant that she accepts the 'Deal'. Will Devika agree to the offer and get her husband's dreams fulfilled and in return sell her body and soul? Will Sameer tolerate this deal to fulfill his ambitions by selling his love? Will all of Vijay Oberoi's wealth help him satisfy his obsession?
One can't blame the choice of a subject for the makers of the film. After all Indian audience have become tolerant to bold subjects over the years, 'Aitraaz' being one of the recent examples. In this context even 'Sauda' could have been an exciting fare. But then for a complex subject like this, it is required to have competent performances coupled with water-tight treatment. Also the movie is required to be presented aesthetically sans any titillation/item tracks. But such has been the image of director Jai Prakash and his starcast from his previous flicks that family audiences may just shy away from the movie. Also the publicity of the movie too has catered to the B and C center segment of audiences that takes a big chunk of the moolah away, that could have otherwise come from A grade centers.
One's worst fears come true 20 minutes into the screening of Bhaggmati - The Queen Of Fortunes. After all animation movies from Bollywood are hardly a craze in India and when you venture into a theatre without knowing whether the movie is targeted towards children or adults, you obviously aren't in an elated mood. Still, you muster courage to watch this animation cum live movie about the legendary love story of Mohammed Quli Qutab Shah and Bhagmati, which is directed by Ashok Kaul.
As soon as the movie begins, you realize that it is a dated product with the very first frame bearing poor picture quality. Dull colors, average look and feel, routine sets - there is nothing at all that helps in making 'Bhaggmati' a celluloid dream that the makers would have been hoping for. The story begins with a university topper Shivranjini who, for some reasons, wants to do a research on Mohammed Quli Qutab Shah. She seeks permission for this from a University professor [Ashok Kaul enacting this role himself] who for some strange reasons first discourages her from walking on this path and suddenly does a turn around by agreeing to her wishes.
The man is [unintentionally] strange and weird himself throughout the duration of the movie. His dialogue delivery is akin to the kinds you would have heard in 'Ramayana' and 'Mahabharata' on the small screen while his entire body language is generally stiff. He tries to bring some untold mystery to his character [but to no avail] and makes one loose interest in the movie there and then. Another strange factor about this professor character is that he is a historian, archaeologist, astronomer, painter, priest - all rolled into one. Even striking is his standard dress throughout that boasts of a jacket with three protruding sockets acting as pen/brush stands !!
Well, Milind Soman is introduced soon as Asim, who is himself the descendant of Mohammed Quli Qutab Shah. After a series of poorly narrated sequences that follow, Shivranjini enters the fort for her research and realizes that she was Bhagmati herself four centuries back. Confusions [for the filmmaker and audience] are aplenty from hereon with an attempt at fusing past [love story of Mohammed Quli Qutab Shah and Bhagmati] and present [a highly unconvincing blooming love between Aseem and Shivranjini]. It is told that in the past Mohammed Quli Qutab Shah was a brave prince who came across a beautiful village girl Bhagmati during one of his hunting expeditions. Its love at first sight which is approved by the king after some persuasions but doesn't go down well with an advisor, who dreams of ruling the kingdom one day through proxy by getting his daughter married to the prince.
Eventually love wins and the prince and Bhagmati get married. The advisor is also jailed soon but not before some [yet another weird] 'tantrik' angle is thrown in. There is a deadly disease that spreads across the kingdom and Bhagmati, in an attempt to save the lives of the 'junta' succumbs to the disease, but not before inspiring Mohammed Quli Qutab Shah to build a new city Bhagyanagar and Charminar.....
It's supposed to be the completion of a trilogy. It also happens to be the weakest link in the cog of wheels comprising realistic cinema (Page 3, Corporate) that dares to entertain by letting you delve into the harsh stream of ever moving consciousness. Madhur Bhandarkar's 'Traffic Signal' stands out for some fine slices-of-life-performances. But as a film it fails to leave lasting imprints. And that's a disappointment for both 'Page 3' and 'Corporate' were far better films in its entirety as they never took a simplistic turnaround. Especially the ending!
Begging is big business. There's a well oiled network that works in tandem at traffic signals. Unkempt thin toddlers are in demand. For they fetch pity-n-mercy. Little kids sell newspapers and flowers, eunuchs get the due in their own style, young Rani (Neetu Chandra) sells clothes to the in demand fashion designers on their way to the ramp show and an educated man sheds his clothes to look suitably mad to earn his bearings. All they have to do is shell out modest hafta to the good natured Vasooli in charge Silsila (Kunal Khemu) to safeguard from the police and municipal onslaught. 
on'>on'>A street further, perky sex worker Noorie (Konkona Sen Sharma) is facing competition from gigolos who are eating into her business. She can't stand anyone showing sympathy. Not even friendly drug addict Dominic (Ranveer Sheorey) who is a beggar of a different class. For, he is an English speaking 'Software Engineer' who has lost his wallet. And his felicity with the language usually makes him pocket a neat Rs 100. Noorie has to give hafta of a different nature. For the area inspector gets to 'spend' time with her at his convenience. Free of charge. 
Sunsilk shiny haired Shaikh Baba (Sudhir Mishra) runs the begging nexus and also deals with the locals MLA who wants more Bangladeshis in the trade as it ensures more voters during crunch elections. He also gives an insight into what can possibly be done with the frequent callers from banks and loan agencies pestering you beyond patience. Now, that's a point well taken. Hah! 
'Traffic Signal' moves forward on the steam of the 'Nukkad' like episodes of these nondescript characters. How the builder lobby affects the plight of these dwellers forms the rest of the film. At the end of it all, you are left with little rag picker Chinnaswami who keeps calling the Tsunami relief camp in Chennai hoping to get some news about his family swept away in the disastrous calamity. He spends everything he earns on such phone calls, determined to hear a 'good news'. Maybe some day. Another kid spends a fortune of his earnings on buying creams that promise to make you fair and lovely. Alas he ends up throwing mud at the false promises of the cream manufactures. 
The gravity to which Ranveer Sheorey gets sucked into his drug addiction character is scary. He dangerously looks the part. He is the one who stands tallest amongst all the actors. Kunal Khemu has worked very hard on getting that dark tanned look. His body language, the beedi spewing carelessness, amchi Mumbai lingo, the local brown in the hair and a steely look in the eyes ensures that he is rightly being adjudged as a star actor to watch out for. But his character has been treated shoddily at the end. His heroism is childish and too simplistic. Unlike 'Page 3' and 'Corporate' that were very objective and 'detached' in the assessment. 
It's a story that you've seen several times before. A man is desperate to save his son from the clutches of the devils of destiny. A man who can go to any distance to safeguard the interests of his family. Director Anubhav Sinha's Tathastu is the story of one such man Ravi (Sanjay Dutt) who has to fight the odds of the system to try-n-save something very dear to his heart.
Ravi's eight year old son Gaurav (Yash Pathak) has a hole in his heart and he has to undergo a heart transplant surgery which will cost a whopping Rs 15 lakhs. Sarita (Amisha Patel), Gaurav's mother is crestfallen and Ravi is clueless as to how he can possibly raise up such a huge sum of money. After making failed attempts at getting help from his office, loan giving agencies, insurance companies etc. the desperate father takes the unusual route of holding several people hostage within the hospital premises. 
The police try to show him the door of reason but they fail in all their attempts. A doctor (Jaya Prada), her inspector husband (Anup Soni) and many other people join him in his protest. The hackneyed storyline also moves forward on the clutches of a politician also in need of a heart transplant. And the despicable politico issues a threat-statement that if a donor is not found then the government will fall. As Tathastu heads towards its ending, one can clearly notice that the makers had lost interest in the plot. What is left behind is a bhelpuri of emotions and little else.
Sanjay Dutt as the father-on-the-edge has done a fine job. Although there are moments when he seems disinterested, Dutt delivers a controlled performance. Amisha Patel once again does the weepy part in a total contrast. Firstly she doesn't look like the mother of an eight year old and moreover she should have taken a leaf out of her Mangal Pandey getup where the no-make up look worked well for her. In a serious situation one expects a more somber picture than a painted-nails one. Jaya Prada gives life to her brief role and it is heartening to note that she still looks a million dollars in spite of years catching up with her. Yash Pathak as the young kid is likable and instills the requisite amount of pathos from the audience. 
Anubhav Sinha is a talented director who did a stylish job in Dus and an emotionally satisfying one in Tum Bin. He shows signs of brilliance in portions of Tathastu but somehow he has been let down by slipshod screenplay by Yash-Vinay. If only the screenplay would have been devoid of excesses, Tathastu would have been a better film. Vishal-Shekhar's music is average and cinematography by Ravi Walia is honest when it comes to detailing the circumstances.  Tathastu: A requiem to a father
This one's a different kinda ghost. For her body is still alive-n-breathing. The playful spirit has the 'network' to 'roam' around, sermonize, sing songs and also co-ordinate medical operations. And lots more'Arjun Rampal's debut production 'I See You' is an indulgent exercise in cinematic liberties. One is ready for suspension-of-disbelief as long as the ride is worth it. But the problem in this tepid romance is that it's a way too-half-baked and childish. A talented actor like Arjun Rampal deserved better in an exercise that was supposedly meant to be a 'comeback vehicle' for him. 
First fifteen minutes are the best thing about this film. For, you get to see Raj Jaiswal (Arjun), a television anchor heading a show aptly titled 'British Raj' incorrigibly flirting around with anyone-n-everyone belonging to the female species and singing the best song of the film 'Subah Subah' (SRK and Hrithik blink-n-dream parts surely whet your appetite for more). Well, as he was getting ready for his date with pout-a-licious co-host Dilnaz (Sophie Chaudhry), he sees something on his terrace. 
Obviously, his life changes'.For he is the only one who can see the ghost of dusky beauty Shivani (Vipasha), a doctor who had been in coma since the last six months after an attempt-to-murder car accident. Raj desperately tries to get rid of the ghost but she is going no where, perching herself firmly even on his car top. Predictably, Raj falls for her innocent charm, melting eyes and the silver smile. They sing a couple of soft numbers and gyrate to a boogie-woogie number before Hindi-Film-Aficionado inspector John Smith (Michael Maloney) catches up with their reality. Raj's loutish friend Akshay (Chunkey Pandey) had to pay a ghostly price for his friendship too.
The story moves slowly to nowhere. And you are left with the suave moods of on>on>London city at its best to contend with. Cinematographer Ashok Mehta's camera captures the lovely hues-n-shades beautifully. Vishal-Shekhar's music score sounds better with visuals. 'Subah Subah' and 'Sach Hai' are delightful. Arjun Rampal, as expected looks a million dollars and his acting skills are impressive too. Debutante Vipasha is good news for the film industry to end the year with. She has the poise-n-charm and an enigmatic appeal to do better things in the future. 
Now, after the good news comes the bad one. A good looking couple, breathtaking visuals, superstar cameos and catchy music is not everything that counts in making a movie watchable. There has to be a gripping story idea, a tight script and en engrossing screenplay. And the problem with 'I See You' is that you don't find any of these attributes out here. Direction by Vivek Agarwal is patchy and clueless as to what exactly he is trying to do. Or say. And why the hell, the ghost can't have the liberty to wear anything else except that white number (she wears it throughout)?
Michael Maloney's Inspector John Smith is amusing at times but his Sherlock Holmes mannerisms and over emphasis on Hindi films were irritating. 'Kanoon ke hath bahut lambe hote hain'.' Rather corny'.Isn't it? Are the Brits so keen on Hindi films? I don't think so'Moreover, the rampant organ trafficking shown in the film is a joke considering the very strict medical ethics in on>on>UK. And what is Boman Irani, the psychiatrist doing in this invisible love story? Let it go man'Chunkey Pandey is unbearable for most parts and Sophie Chaudhry justifies her bimbo status once again. As for Kirron Kher'.Maa'm why do you have to such wasteful roles when you can do so much more with your talent?
Mira Nair's adaptation of William Thackeray's Vanity Fair proves to be a fairly disappointing experience. 
It isn't really the poor director's fault. She has done some amazing opening up of the original plot, including a chunk of the narration in India where the wretchedly lovelorn William Dobbin (Rhys Irfan) suffers ostentatiously from unrequited love. 
But we suffer Nair's mix of exotica and elephants in Rajasthan. Oh yes, we suffer. If as William Thackeray had declared, there are no heroes in Vanity Fair, I'm afraid there are no heroes in Mira Nair's adaptation either, not even screen writer Julian Fellowes who tries to give a contemporary twist to protagonist Becky Sharp's sharp-witted attempts to go beyond her socio-economic karma.
As played by Reese Witherspoon, Becky comes across as distinctly unpleasant, surly and churlish. Not a good daughter, governess, beloved, wife or dancer - in that order. 
Hey, is that Becky's fault or is it Witherspoon's? 
Not for a second do we feel any sense of empathy towards this self-serving woman whom her best friend Amelia's mother shrewdly describes as a mountaineer among social climbers.
In a very cross-cultured, cosmopolitan way, Becky reminds us of Rabindranath Tagore's Binodini, so luminously portrayed by Aishwarya Rai recently in Rituparno Ghosh's Chokher Bali.
Both the 19th century heroines are cunning survivors who use their minds and bodies to get influential men.
Mira Nair, who was wonderfully unfettered and at-home doing street children, Punjabi weddings and Nairobian immigrants in Salaam Bombay, Monsoon Wedding and Mississippi Masala, is way out of her depth doing the hypocrisies of the British upper class.
The characters, including our heroine Becky Sharp, are uniformly caricature-like in their acquisitive impulses. Veteran actors like Bob Hoskins and Jim Broadbent as pitiably cash-strapped aristocrats give violently broad performances.
Layer upon layer of ruse and rouge is applied to bring alive Thackeray's England to flickering life. Even though the ambience is seductively recreated, the storytelling falls apart in the condensation and the frequent alterations in the original text. 
Why are the characters so authentic in dress, manner and speech and so empty at heart? 
Sure, we enjoy the acerbic pot-shots at British aristocracy. When the caddish soldier George Osborne (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers) says no to marriage with a nouveau-riche girl of dubious breeding, his father (the marvellous Jim Broadbent) sneers, Hoity-toity, are we? What's a bit of mixed breeding when there's so much money to go with it?
Reese Witherspoon's bed-hopping social climbing rings hollow. Though she functions within a milieu that's 19th century English, her ambitions seem justifiable by her desire to avoid the low life.
In Chokher Bali, the heroine has an affair with her best friend and benefactor's husband to preserve her self-regard. Fortunately, Becky Sharp doesn't jump into bed with her best friend Amelia's vain husband Osborne. But the bond that the two women forge repeatedly reminded me of Aishwarya Rai and Raima Sen in Chokher Bali - the same contrast between savvy and naivet'.
Even though their lives run together, Amelia's story is told almost parallel to Becky's. 
I think the feeling of deep disappointment after watching Vanity Fair comes from the director's familiarity with the original text which make her move ahead of both the characters and the audience. 
Its a Jungle out there. And no one other than Prakash Jha knows how to present the Jungle, its inhabitants and the events better on screen. After 'Gangajal', Prakash Jha comes up with yet another gripping tale of an organized crime in the cow belt, this time picking up the issue of 'Apaharan' i.e. kidnapping. No, he doesn't try to solve the issue but presents to audience the tale of what happens behind the scene of this organized crime. While both the print and satellite media merely flashes the headlines, the director has gone a few steps ahead to show the 'why' and the 'how' of it!
The film begins with the newspaper clippings and satellite channels breaking news about kidnapping in the state of Bihar that is happening on an almost daily basis. Amongst all this, there is Ajay Shastri [Ajay Devgan], a medical representative, who aspires to get into police department. In spite of two failed attempts, he hasn't lost hope and gets ample support from his love Megha [Bipasha Basu]. His father Professor Raghuvansh Shastri [Mohan Aghashe] is a Gandhian, a man of principles and aims at exposing the lawbreakers.
Meanwhile the government is being run through the nexus of Home Minister [Chetan Pandit] and Tabrez Alam [Nana Patekar], and in their scheme of things the people involved are politicians, police, criminals and bureaucrats. A political leader of the minority, Tabrez is ruthless and uses the name of religion to keep his flag high. Gaya Singh [Yashpal Sharma] is the prime member of his gang and operates from jail while Murali [Murali Sharma] is the middleman who 'arranges' for the kidnapping. There are a few honest folks like Anwar Khan [Mukesh Tiwari], a cop and Akash Ranjan [Anoop Soni], a journalist who represent that facet of society that still has some conscience left.
Ajay's dream of getting into police is just round the corner when a scandal breaks that results in him loosing the job. Meanwhile his father's life is in danger and he is left with no option than to join the world of crime. He gets his first kidnapping assignment that turns out to be a failed attempt and leads him to jail. He soon gets himself out and after killing Gaya Singh joins the gang of Tabrez Alam. From this point on the story takes a political turn as Ajay becomes more and more powerful and starts ruling the world of crime. But does crime always pay?
There have been number of movies made in the past that have told the story of mislead youth but what makes 'Apaharan' different is that rather than getting into sermonizing, it just fleshes out all the details on screen through a powerful script that doesn't try to dwell into black and white. While the first half of the movie goes into the minutest details of the kidnapping industry and how it functions, the second half becomes a political drama where nothing is predictable.
First one and a half hour of the movie is extremely powerful with things moving at rapid face and events unfolding at a pace that stun you and sometimes even bring a chuckle along. Even in the second half emergence of Ajay from a meek and frightened man to someone gradually rising to power has been well handled. There are number of memorable sequences in the film; especially the one where Gaya Singh is shown to be operating from jail with all the facilities and later Ajay entering the same jail that has been decorated to suit his taste. His entire body language takes the film to a different level altogether. As always, he comes up with yet another superlative performance.
Despite Kunal Kohli's attempts to push the release of the other film ahead or request producer Sahil Chadha to change his film's title, Kunal faces the confusion battle of titles.
With the sinking of Tashan and Yash Chopra himself taking over the reins of the Yash Raj Films banner, immense pressure rides on Kunal and the entire force at YRF.
While glancing through the promos, you would expect this film to be a kiddie film or just yet another glamour speckled film with Rani, Saif and Rishi Kapoor 'all from 'Hum Tum'. But Kunal who is also the co-producer of the film surprises you out and out.
The film revolves around Ranbir Talwar (Saif Ali Khan ) a rich businessman who in an accident is responsible for the death of a husband and wife. The judge orders Ranbir to officially be the guardian of these kids else he would have to spend 20 years in jail. The bunch of 4 kids soon move to Ranbir's house with a prime motive of revenge.
As the kids are unhappy and cry out to God(Rishi Kapoor), he answers their prayer and sends them Geeta (Rani Mukherji) , his favourite angel. As Geeta enters the family as the nanny with her super powers she is soon able to win over the kids and her next mission is do away with the hatred the kids have for Ranbir.
Let me clarify that this is by no means is just a kiddie films. Kunal does really well in striking a balance for all audiences. The film emerges as a complete family entertainer. It has its moments of fun , laughter and tears.
Kunal Kohli handles the subject with care and never let's any character in the film especially with their 'star' presence to overshadow the script. The film never has a dull moment and keeps you engaged and for most of the period in splits.
The special effects are such a treat. It just lifts the film. The kids are surely gonna go crazy over this film.
The casting of the film is just apt. The kids are a treat specially the Sardar who is the true hero of the film. He is so cute and delivers with excellence. Notice even the youngest girl in the film she too is cute and delivers with complete innocence. Watch out for the scene where Saif and the Sardar become friends and also when Saif tells Avantika that he wants to dump Ameesha. It's hilarious!
Saif Ali Khan shows great maturity as an actor and carries off really well. It's a treat to see a simple Saif unlike the usual cool funky Saif.
Rani Mukherji delivers well after a very long time. It's amazing to see Rani do away with her sexy image and come with a more substantial role.
Rishi Kapoor does well as GOD. He enacts very much like Morgan Freeman of 'Bruce Almighty'.
Ameesha Patel comes in a guest appearance for all those people looking for the sexy element in this film. She enacts the character of a complete bimbo in those micro-minis and Bikini.
The cinematography of the film is splendid with effects adding to it all.
The music by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy comes in as a treat with tracks such as 'Kabhi Socha Na Tha' and 'Nihaal Ho Gayi' growing on you. The lyrics by Prasoon Joshi are meaningful and deep.
On the whole, Kunal Kohli excels with ease and brings forth a movie that is the winner of the week. Thank God Yashraj Films still have directors like Kunal Kohli around to save them from disgrace.
Rating : ***1/2
Somehow one could see this coming. 
After all there aren't too many Salman Khan films that come to theaters without making any noise. Also, there are some movies which come with a positive air around them. Then there are some movies that come with all around negativity being in the air around the film's release. Thirdly there are some which are not talked about it all. In nutshell, no one just seems to be interested in such a film.
Sadly, strictly for an audience though, MARIGOLD belongs to the third kind!
First of all one wishes to ask Salman that what was so exciting about the film which saw him signing on the dotted line? Was he lured by the Hollywood tag? Cannot be the case since he has never been known as an actor who has run after the banner. Also the production houses have hardly made a difference to his good professional career of close to couple of decades.
It cannot be the choice of leading lady too because though Ali Larter is good looking for sure, she is not a Jennifer Lopez or a Jennifer Aniston who are known all over India. Was it director Willard Carroll? Negative again.
So what was it? By any remote chance, was it the script? Well, for that one wishes to find out if there was any? That's because first and foremost one fails to understand the blooming romance (if there was any) between Ali and Salman. Now it cannot be as simple as Ali meeting Salman in a pub, sharing a few sweet nothings, getting drunk on a beach and waking up in the morning to see a tent over her head. If Salman's setting up a tent to save her from heat and rain was the reason for Ali falling in love then, well, even traditional Bollywood films have much better clich's in their backlog to be used!
Ditto for Salman Khan who, after meeting Ali just twice, confesses to his friend [Suchitra Pillai] that he has fallen for her and is turning serious. In fact just a couple of scenes later, he also goes ahead and offers Ali the gift that his grand mother [Helen] had asked to pass it on to her 'hone-waali-bahu'! And guess what, 'I Love You' is exchanged pronto and the two singles are ready to mingle.
But then where could be a love story without a 'pyaar-mein-daraar'? Someone mean out there must have convinced Willard Carroll that even today audience accept Bollywood films where children bow down to the wishes of their family's 'sanskaar', 'sabhyata' and 'parampara' when it comes to marriage!
Salman's parents [Vijayendra Ghatage, Kiran Juneja Sippy] resist, misunderstandings follow, some 'rona dhona' coupled with a full-on 'dard-e-judaai' song picturised on Ali follows, all with an auto rickshaw driving away 'kahin door' over a road decorated with, what else, but 'marigold' flowers. Ooops!
The film is stuffed with some other priceless gems that director Carroll could have, in all his intelligence, deemed to be clich'd enough to make you smile along as he gets his understanding of Bollywood cinema on camera. Sadly, the film turns out to be neither emotional nor spoofy. It in fact doesn't even hang somewhere in between. It simply goes off on a different tangent with no signs of coming back to normalcy at any moment.
Any redeeming factors in the film? A few, though they again do not compensate for the crime that has been committed in the form of making 'Marigold'. Ali Larter does quite well throughout the film and it is funny to see her at her cocky best in the first half. There are some genuinely funny scenes featuring her as someone who is trying to get adjusted to the ways of Bollywood.
Strange are the ways of Bollywood; and especially us media people. 
When a entertainer like CASH arrives at theaters, we exclaim - "Yaar, par woh story, woh soul kahan hai?" And then, when a story like GANDHI MY FATHER comes, we exclaim - "Yaar, par woh entertainment kahan hai?"
What's happening? I seriously don't know! Is it the herd effect? Or have we stopped believing in listening to stories and appreciating visuals? Worse, have we media people started taking ourselves too seriously? Ok, so there is a job to do, but then for a change can we sit as an audience and look at a movie rather than trying to be a pseudo-critic who is paid to do a job which involves fancy paraphrasing skills and making readers laugh by 'oh-so-hilarious' reviews!
Agreed that the film is about a man and his son, but how can one ignore references to the work that the man was involved in. Especially so when throughout the man's life, his son's contribution to the freedom struggle was apparent too, either in a constructive or destructive manner?
GANDHI MY FATHER takes a viewer through an episodic journey of a man and his son with their relationship being told from both sides. Yes, it is not a linear narrative as you may have expected. Also, there may not be much continuity between scenes. But all this is expected when a story spans almost 50 years. The transition has to be shown in as logical manner as possible yet making sure that all important events in the time span are covered. Now this may mean jumping 5-10 years in a sudden move but that should hardly be considered as a hindrance.
What works tremendously in favor of GANDHI MY FATHER is its simplicity. The scenes are written in the most simplest and comprehensive manner as possible without passing a judgment. Don't expect a full stop after a scene, as in case of other commercial films, when a story writer and director bring a scene to a conclusion before moving on.
In GANDHI MY FATHER it is the other way round as a scene ends with a comma, exclamation and mostly a pause while letting a viewer empathize with a situation rather than take sides and feel justified. In a journey of life and relationships Darshan Zariwala [Gandhi] and Akshaye Khanna [Harilal] share some powerful moments together in spite of any explicit confrontation raising the scene over and above it's real worth. 
As stated earlier, GANDHI MY FATHER is a kind of film which you venture into a theater with a different kind of mindset altogether. You go in there because you want to know about a story which has never been told, see the other side of Gandhi which has never been revealed and witness the 'behind the scenes' struggles of a family during India's journey towards independence.
Otherwise how would we have known that Gandhi, especially in his young and middle age, had an amazing sense of humor which was mainly centered on satire? Did you know that once he exclaimed that his wife was nothing but his mistress (watch the movie for knowing more about this)? Or he didn't disown his son but gave him not less than a dozen opportunities to reform?
The person to whom your heart goes out is Akshaye Khanna. As clich'd as it may sound but from frame one, what you see is Harilal and not the Akshaye Khanna you know. Those who claim Akshaye to have stuck with his HUMRAAZ, 36 CHINA TOWN and NAQAAB kind of roles need to have a dekko at his impeccable act here. His entire body language and mannerisms deserve biggest applause. Watch him being in awe of his father in the initial scenes or his drifting apart inch-by-inch with every interaction of theirs. 
The story of Shikhar unfolds promisingly enough in a sound 3-Act structure.
Act I establishes the premise of two different worlds -- the first of ambitious greedy builder GG (Ajay Devgan), whose every move is that of a gambler who plays blind to win at any cost and who is determined to grab a pristine oasis of green land and hills three hours from Mumbai, on which to build and rule over a mega city at any cost. To further his aim, GG exploits the demands of political agendas, and enlists the support of a crooked politician.
The second world we're taken into is that of Guruji / Shridhan Vardhan (Pakistani star Jawed Shaikh), a wealthy industrialist who found life's true calling after a terrible mishap and has been using his wealth for the general good through his charitable ashram Rishivan, which protects the environment and nurtures orphan children and the advises for a better life. (Sounds a bit far fetched, to think that a millionaire industrialist would forsake worldy wealth and go singlemindedly after the cause of general good, but there is a plausible explanation to it .)
The two worlds are set to collide over the land that houses the Ashram. Power, money and greed versus Values, uprightness and concern. The age-old battle of good against evil. So far, not bad at all.
GG is in a desperate hurry to scale the peaks of mega success the ends justify whatever means that can be used. And Guruji like the still waters of the huge lake his environmentally conscious efforts have created runs silent, strong and deep. His only shield against GG's greed? The values that have created his Ashram and which he has instilled into each inmate. And into his young son, Jai (Shahid Kapoor). The sincere, simple minded and trusting Jaidev Vardhan, whom GG will soon zero in upon, first trying to suck him into his own way of smoking-drinking-gambling way of life, and then to use him as a pawn in his greater scheme to build his mega city. Act II.
Which Shikhar does Jai ultimately choose to scale? That of GG's unethical greed or the other made by the Values of his father? Jai's final decision, how he makes the choice, and what follows, is Act III for you.
Together, Acts I, II and III make for a strong story outline. And it moves ahead at two levels dealing with the personal ambitions and struggles of each main character and also providing telling social comment not by editorializing, but by showing bits of life as it really unfolds around us. Scenes like a young wife forced into prostitution a young lad thrashed by a cop who drags him away even as his destitute mother pleads a drunk thrashing his wife are slices of the villagers life in the city slums. The film also touches upon a key cause of most hardships faced by common people, when GG says Politicians don't cheat they just take decisions, or when crooked politician Amrit Patel says to an aide about the poor hapless 'janta' : Just keep showing them the carrot of (false) hope, and you will have no problem.
Hmm, ok, so what was this all about?
Was it about Sunny Deol for whom one feels pity that he has to resort to repeating his DAMINI dialogue - "Ye dhai kilo ka haath jab kisi pe padta hai......"?
Was it about Shahid Kapoor who has reportedly slid his cycle down 10 (or is it 13 stories?) building over a cloth when one can clearly see Digi effects at work?
Was it about Viveik Oberoi who does rather well but is reduced to a third lead as he tries to catch a chicken on Sunny (and his group of buffoons) behest?
Was it about Ayesha Takia who was part YE DIL MAANGE MORE, part HOME DELIVERY and part SALAAM E ISHQ even though she is required to just stand there and let others do the talking?
Was it about Paresh Rawal who is surprisingly patchy though it's his natural talent that saves him from not being a complete letdown?
Was it about Johney Lever who is the only flicker of hope in this 'what was that' film as he promises some chuckles every time he appears in a frame?
Was it about Sameera Reddy who supposedly did a favor to director Ahmed Khan to act in the movie though her presence (or the lack of it) hardly made any difference to the film's plot?
Was it about Arbaaz Khan who wears his brother Salman's MUJHSE SHAADI KAROGI hairstyle while threatening to kill people around him with an arrow gun that takes it's inspiration from Big B's much-forgotten TOOFAN?
Was it about Jackie Shroff who is reduced to playing a fourth (or is it fifth?) villain in the film as he decides the fate of his victim through Tarot cards?
Was it about 'on-comeback-trail' Chunkey Pandey who deserves a far better deal even as he wears a rather horrifying (though funny) expression with gold teeth intact?
Was it about Om Puri and Sharmila Tagore who must be embarrassed to even count this film in their decades long repertoire?
Was it about Gulshan Grover and Asrani who are linked together with some incomprehensive brotherly bond and look hardly the bad men they are required to be?
Was it about Zakir Hussain who walks straight out of SARKAR with getup and mannerisms intact and is horribly miscast as a Dubai based superdon?
Was it about Suresh Menon who plays a Preity Zinta fan and is a 'baal-ki-dukaan' while rubbing his finger nails to add on to his fortune?
Was it about Vijay Raaz who only makes fun of himself rather than acting funny?
Was it about Sunil Pal who walks out of 'Laughter Challenge' into a situation where he is reduced to a background extra?
Was it about the dog who loves eating anything that is not food and is required to act funny with Reshammiya's 'Ae Meri Zohrajabeen' ring tone playing on through the just-swallowed-cell phone?
Was it about the diamond which is supposed to be the central cause for all the mayhem that happens around all the characters as mentioned above?
Was it about director Ahmed Khan who thought of turning a slick thriller cum black comedy SNATCH into an out and out masala film but only managed to invoke laughter at places?
And last but not the least, was it about producer Firoz Nadiadwala who thought that spending lavishly on songs, action and accessories (sets, cars, trucks etc.) could fool audience into watching FOOL N FINAL?
Yes, I was fooled! And I hang my head in shame!
Rating: **
Director Shashi Ranjan returns to direction after a hiatus since the Raveena Tandon , Jackie Shroff starrer 'Doobara'. Though Sashi has been doing the rounds in the media for various social causes such as 'Laadli' and his involvement with the Tv industry through the 'GR8!' magazine, pressure seems to be riding on him with 'Dhoom Dhadaka'.
The story begins with the 'All Asian Bhai Meet' being held in Bangkok where the falling sensex of 'Bhaigiri' in Asia is being discussed. In the discussion, a rival Don of Mungi's [Anupam Kher], Fursat Lala [Gulshan Grover], proposes an ambitious plan for a piece of land in Alibagh and puts across a valid argument that it is important to have a waaris(hier), the new generation, to improve matters. Since Mungi has no waaris, it is only logical that the next man, i.e. Fursat Lala should be made the new Don. 
Mungi assures the syndicate that he has a waaris, who he will present before the syndicate and asks for a month's time to do the same. Now Mungi and his friend Jignesh [Satish Shah] set out to trace Mungi's estranged sister Angoori [Bhavana Balsawar], whom Mungi had thrown out years back . One of the letters reveals that Angoori did give birth to Kamal. Mungi is thrilled and resolves to hunt his waaris in Mumbai, where he comes across a detective, Johnny English [Satish Kaushik], who promises to find Kamal.
Through his weird ways, Johnny English gets hold of an NRI [Sammir Dattani], who claims to be Kamal. Johnny takes him to Bangkok but, to his shock, finds another guy [Shaad Randhawa] there, who also claims to be Kamal. While this confusion is on, Shivani [Aarti Chhabria] arrives on the scene claiming to be the real Kamal. 
A confused Mungi asks all of them to stay in the house till he arrives at a decision as to who the real Kamal is. In the ensuing drama enters the second girl Jiya [Shama Sikander], who claims to be a girlfriend of the NRI Kamal. Is one of them the real waaris? 
Sashi Ranjan does attempt at creating one of those twisted comedies but lacks somewhere mainly as he fails to connect the flow of events at the cost of being simply funny. The screenplay of the film is totally hap hazard. Most portions of the film are questionable, particularly towards the opening where Anupam Kher junior is shown at a regular 'mela' and his father is shown as a victim of some bomb blast. Anupam Junior is shown running towards his father with a plastic looking arm in hand while his father lies apparently bleeding due to the loss of an arm and the arm actually visible through the clothes. 
The dialogues have been penned by Ashwini Dhir who has already found his name on several big movies this year be it the dialogues of 'One Two Three' , 'Krazzy 4' , 'U Me Aur Hum' or direction of 'One Two Three'. The drawback lies in his approach towards the dialogues. They may be indeed humorous but are too centered towards carrying a sleazy double meaning. 'Dhoom Dhadaka' too falls apart with such lines, especially with sequences involving Deepshikha .
The movie has been done on a grandeur level as far as the locales of Bangkok etc have been concerned but falls apart majorly towards the 2nd half. The confusion and jokes are alright till a period of time but later on carries a stale feeling.
Anupam Kher does a good job but such roles have been done to death. Satish Shah upsets you after his 'Bhootnath' performance. Shaad Randhawa and Sammir Datani have a long way to go. 
Which era do these people belong to! Rani Mukherjee exclaims about the Pakistani girl and the Indian man who live with the idea of love for 22 years. 
Old yet passionate, frail yet sublime, the estranged lovers in Yash Chopra's eagerly awaited film are no ordinary love birds. Their body language, demeanor, speech and attitude hark back to an era when emotions were hallmarks of human nature, not designer things to be used as and when required in bubblegum concoctions that masquerade as romantic musicals in our wretched times.
By the time the utterly evocative theme song about two inseparable souls torn apart by fate comes on, we're so enamored of Yash Chopra's film that we surrender entirely and unquestioningly to his prescription of romantic passion.
Just when we thought heart-warming tales of undying love were a dying art form, Veer-Zaara comes along. It is the sort of sublimely designed, delicately threaded romantic fable that comes once in a while to win hearts and influence people. 
After all, a film directed by Yash Chopra is no ordinary event. Veer-Zaara is a little more extraordinary than we expect it to be. 
While telling a fluent story about a love that cuts captivatingly across the India-Pakistan border, Chopra, for the first time in his romantic oeuvre, introduces ideas that transcend romance. 
Through the strong and very memorable character of the rookie lawyer Samiya (Rani Mukherjee), ideas on female literacy and women's empowerment seep into the narrative.
Nothing about the romance between the Indian Air Force pilot and the aristocratic Pakistani girl is overstated. There are no raised voices (even when the heroine's father scolds her he does it sotto voce). 
There's no screaming, no attention-getting tactics...And yet the films gets it...All of our attention, though it takes a bit of time to get over the longish bits of Punjabi dialogues among Amitabh Bachchan (playing Shah Rukh's prankish old-man), Hema Malini (hopelessly out of her depth in the robust Punjabi milieu), Shah Rukh and Preity.
Once the slight hiccups are done, it's as simple as falling in love.
Veer-Zaara builds its case for the protagonists' unbreakable bonding through a neo-classical blend of song and emotion. Chopra unleashes a temperate tidal wave of feelings that swim teasingly just beneath the surface. 
The surge of love between two people belonging to entirely different cultures and lands is collected into a quaint and quivering collage of memory and melody.
The narration moves of its own melodious volition. The music and songs by the late Madan Mohan and the profound yet simple poetry of Javed Akhtar supplement the melody of romance with enchanting articulations of heart that know not why they love and sing. They just do.
Chopra has terrific help from cameraman Anil Mehta who beautifies the rugged rural landscape without making it appear fairytale-like in proportion. Shah Rukh and Preity fill the splendid rustic spaces with sounds of love.
But the protagonists' geopolitical credentials never appear forced or labored. Veer and Zaara are who they are. In sequences such as the one where Veer meets Zaara's fiance (Manoj Bajpai) on the railway station, or when Zaara's mother (the brilliantly passionate Kirron Kher) implores Veer to give back her daughter for the sake of family honor, are potentially cliched situations converted into a celebration of life through the writer's imagination.
Yeh Sab Kya Hai? Patha Nahi'. Govinda, once a stupendous actor who carried off his audiences with colossal performances has jumped on ill-sorted grounds. Alas! What makes him do that? Lack of offers and you've got to shoot this out on Govinda. Often, we boast with prideful spirits 'Yeah! It's changing phase of Bollywood' and at many times our elatedness are shattered watching such pieces of works.
To start off with Chal Chala Chal, you would get perplexed about an auteur can coming up with such brainless script. Well; it's been so illustrious in the past where films with no such thing called 'A perfect script' have topped-the-charts. Reason - a stupefying screenplay when blended with commercial attributes makes it appealing. It's all about 'Garnishing', 'embellishing' or whatever you say? 
Chal Chala Chal ' At the maximal point is a film better to avoid' 
Deepak (Govinda) is a simpleton. He has been switching jobs as he does not want to succumb to the corrupt system. Since years, with unwavering efforts, financial hardships and an unshaken faith in the judicial systems, he has bee helping his father, Omkarnathji, in a legal matter.Omkarnathji, the ex-principal of a private school, is fighting a court case against the school to get his due provident fund and pension. He later wins the case and the school is ordered to give a part of its property as compensation, if there is no money in its funds.And thus Deepak's life gets an addition: a bus.Instead of selling it off, acting on his father's advice, he decides to run the bus. While the rest of the family members - two sisters: Chhaya and Aprana (Upasana Singh and Amita Nangia) and their Ghar-Jamaaee husbands Vinayak Agrawal, a Lawyer (Mr. Asrani) and U.U. Upadhyay (Manoj Joshi) are against it. They feel it's a low profile job. Their primary interest is in selling off the huge bus and devouring their share of property.But Deepak has immense trust in his father's judgment. Sundar (Rajpal Yadav) a jolly good sweetheart, who is desperately trying for an American Visa, is also an age old friend. He comes in handy with initial investments and they establish a company, Chal Chala Chal transport.And so begins the ride of their lives.The bus is in a dilapidated condition and much of money is gone for the repairs.It's a roller-coaster ride where mishaps are more than the commuters. The bus driver, Basantilal (Razak Khan) wears thick glasses and the conductor Harilal (Asif Basra) has a sugar factory in his mouth and an eye for cash... adding to it like a cherry on the triple-decker pastry- Sunder's enmity with a rat which has eaten his passport.Corruption chases Deepak in transport business as well U.U. Upadhyay is a chief vehicle inspector. He tried his level best to harass Deepak and extort money, raising troubles.These workers are messing up Deepak's life and business, but he can't raise a finger against them, for they are under the cushioned wings of the Union Leader Mr. Singh (Murali Sharma).They only relief should have been the lovely lady on the bus Payal (Reema Sen), but the bus hits her fracturing her leg. Now she is also in the vengeance mode, extorting money from Deepak.What saves Deepak from these mad house characters, is his faith in his principals and his father's love-acting as the strong backbone in bitter sweet times.
Spotting Govinda in such a bungling role is merely dashing down your hopes. And again, there rises whole lot of questions, is he the same Govinda who just entertained brimming with over-the-top attributes? His aged looks and a performance below the line of mediocre is nettlesome. How come Rajpal Yadav accepted such role? Was he scatter-brained while heeding to TK Rajeev Kumar narrating script. Ditto to Om Puri. Such a legend has been wasted with a middling character. How about the other actors? Well, when you've the best ones themselves stumbling, it's up to your imagination. Asrani, Manoj Joshi, Razzak Khan, Asif Basra, Murli Sharma, Upasana Singh, Amita Nangia and Reema Sen have just appeared in front of lens and nothing else special about them. 
Don't ever ask us about technicians. Were the cinematographer and editor gone butterfingered? An unforeseen worst show of their hand works. Rajeev Kumar lacks the skill of an outstanding filmmaker. Better, he can opt for a break, join the best institutions of Film Making and then try his best' 
On the whole, the film maybe titled as 'Chal Chala Chal', but those who expect for a fun-filled ride would face a terrible accident. 
Verdict: Go' Go'Run Away'
Rating : *
This is going to be one light hearted entertainer that would keep a smile on your face for its entire duration - that's the thought one has after watching the promos of 'Main Meri Patni Aur Woh', second directorial venture of Chandan Arora, who earlier came up with 'Main Madhuri Dixit Banana Chahti Hoon'. The thought comes true for the first half of the movie but evaporates during the second half as soon as the movie takes a serious turn. Nothing wrong about that as MMPAW was never touted to be a rib tickling comedy a la a 'No Entry' that would have kept you in splits throughout. But then the story that could have been an ideal fare for 100 minutes has been packaged in 140 minutes that makes the movie loose its impact. Nevertheless, a story told in a sweet and simple fashion, it is enhanced due to great performances and an honest attempt by the second time director.
The storyline is very simple and identifiable. Mithilesh Shukla [Rajpal Yadav] is a 34 years old bachelor working as a librarian in the Lucknow University. An introvert by nature, his short height doesn't do anything great for his self-esteem and hence he never thinks of marriage due to the fear of rejection. Popularly called 'chote-babu', his life changes for better when after much coaxing by his uncle [Vinod Nagpal] and ever-ready-to-weep mom [whether it is 'khushi' aur 'gham'], he is made to meet 30 years old Veena [Rituparna Sengupta], a mature and beautiful woman. After two back to back rounds of 100 course breakfast and lunch, sparks fly between the two over a coffee and on a rainy night, Veena 'proposes' marriage. Pretty sure that he would be rejected by Veena, Mithilesh's happiness is no bounds and pronto the two of them take 7 'pheras'.
A perfect homemaker, Veena makes Mithilesh's life a living heaven, but Mithilesh's insecurities appended by his complex do not allow this happiness to be sustained. His best friend Saleem [Varun Badola], milkman, vegetable vendors, auto rickshaw driver, youngsters in his neighborhood - he starts speculating that everyone around him is trying to come extra close to his wife. Being an ardent Shiv-bhakt, he gets some ideas and ousts each of them by his 'paintra' [tactics]. He makes Saleem get a 'rakhi' tied by Veena, fires the milkman and opts for 'Amul full toned milk' [a subtle yet well placed in-film commercial], starts buying vegetables from super-marts and drives Veena on a scooter rather than an auto. In short, gets his life back to normalcy.
At this point enters 'woh' in the life of 'pati aur patni'. Woh - a tall dark dark handsome Aakash [Kay Kay Menon]. An epitome of a perfect guy which Mithilesh is not! Aakash arrives from Delhi to Lucknow to automate his library and as luck would have it, he gets his guest room right opposite their apartment and to add insult to the injury turns out to be Veena's one time buddy! Veena and Aaksh continue to share a great camaraderie even after a gap of a few years and Mithilesh's complexes start becoming deeper rooted from hereon! He tries to distance the two by some means or other but the unsuspecting duo never realize his concerns. 
At the back of his mind, he realizes that Aakash is a much better personality than him and tries to ape his mannerisms. He starts drinking and smoking just like him, gets facials done in the saloons, tries to be more polished. And this is when something unthinkable happens.......
For the most part of this eerie diorama, what else would've got our audiences hackneyed? Aye! A disembodied arm chocking one's neck, ghosts fast-flying across the ceilings and nooks of the screen space, victim shuddering over worrying vexations and lastly, everything disappearing due to spiritual powers. Merely, these were so clich'd that they fail to scare even children these days. They would term it 'silly'.
But precipitously, '13B' is rigorously horrendous sans these elements. 'Man Vs Gadgets' ' Preferably, man is so obsessed with his electronic mediums, say mobile phone or television and there are no questions denying this truth. A couple of famed quotes though not straightway to the motif has more relevance with this film. 'When Television is Good, Nothing is better; When TV is Bad, Nothing is worse'. If Newton N Minow quotes this way, there's something quite daintier too ' 'Art imitates Life while Life imitates Television'. 
Trust us! '13B' is all about a television set and nothing else that throws the most skittish things around. It can be compared to 'One Missed Call'and 'Remote Control'but the connection ends right there.
The film opens with Manohar's (Madhavan) felicitous family moving into a new apartment on 13th Floor. A lovable family indeed, for we happen to witness their elated life of brothers occupied in corporate companies gagging-around in, their wives (Maddy's wife ' Neetu Chandra) preparing delicious dishes and their mom (Poonam Dhillon) an ardent buff of Saas-Bahu serials not ready to miss even a minute of the episode.
If you ever thought it to be a sang-froid entertainer, you're terribly faulty. Why milk clabbers right from the first day in the new house? Why do the walls go impenetrable where Gods' statues are to be hung? Why does Manohar's neighbor's dog refrain from entering this house? Moreover, what is the reason behind Manohar's snapshot alone going miserably ill-shaped on his mobile? Why doesn't the lift work for him? And much before he could even get over these strange mishaps he's exposed to the most grueling arena where a TV serial is forecasting what is about to happen in Manohar's life.
Furthermore, Manohar is dump stuck when he discovers that the TV Serial is telecasted only in his house.
Vikram has played his cards right in bring out the best of thrills with unexpected twists and turns. Yeah! If you think you're smart enough to predict what's gonna happen next, you would fail miserably. The story keeps shifting at the right momentum that keeps everyone edge-seated. The filmmaker blends the spine-tingling horror with equal proportions of romance, family and what not? You've got a bit of humorous things too' At no point, the screenplay goes dropping back. Characterizations have been brilliantly depicted right from the protagonist till the smart black dog that serves its best.
Impertinently, Madhavan is excellent in picking the right scripts and he's sure to make it big if he continues striding on the same path. Be it his romantic appeal or in the most of mixed-up situations, he's top-notching. Although, we don't see other characterizations limned so perfectly, they are up with their best efforts.
In exact terms, technical aspects eclipse the characters' show. P.C. Sriram's mind-boggling cinematography with unique sepia-bounded tones provides the film a different shade. Though songs aren't more appealing, the background score is awesome. If the song 'Sab Khariyat Hai' has a pleasant touch, there's something different you experience every time this song comes along the show. Editing by Sreekar Prasad is so elegant that it adds up building tension in every passing moment.
On the whole, '13B' is one such unforeseen flick of horrendous genre that remains in your minds post-the show. It's the best made horror film of the decade. Along the lists of top-charting directors Ram Gopal Varma and Vikram Bhatt, who made the best horror films, here's Vikram Kumar striking jackpot with 13B.
Verdict: Unlimited Chills 'n' Thrills.
Rating : ***1/2 
First things first. BHOOL BHULAIYAA could have been a very good movie instead of being just good which it turns out to be eventually if not for a lukewarm pre-climax and climax!
The film has everything going in it's favor till the last 20 minutes of the film. BHOOL BHULAIYAA opens well with spooky elements mixed well with the comic undertones as the audience is given a hint that there is something wrong about a 'barson puraana mahal'. 
Dozens of characters in a joint family are introduced and Priyadarshan almost threatens to be a Barjatya in a place which looks like Banaras, people dress up like Rajasthanis on festive occasions, speak in 'shuddh Hindi' which is clearly the handiwork of a Tamil-to-Hindi dialogue translator, and dance to 'bhangra' numbers as well.
Well, no real complains here as this is a Priyadarshan film and hence 'sab maaf hai'! Even as Paresh Rawal, Rajpal Yadav, Asrani and Rasika Joshi (all regulars in Priyan films) get chuckles and laughter alternatively, one gets an eerie feeling all the time that 'kuch to hai'!
The film's first 'bhool' though is Shiney Ahuja who strangely hams from start till the end of the film. An actor who has been terrific form in each of his films HAZARON KHWAHISHEN AISI, GANGSTER and WOH LAMHE seems to be on a sticky ground when it came to being a part of over-the-top cinema of Priyan. His body language, mannerisms, facial expressions - combination of just about everything makes one look at his act wide mouthed!
Nevertheless, the suspense element continues to build even as secrets start tumbling about 'bhoot-pret', mysterious sounds in the 'mahal', creepy happenings impacting each of the family members, 'dardnaak awaazein' (reminding one of Ramsay films) - in nutshell, all of this does work!
And no, there aren't many complains though around Akshay Kumar's late entry into the scene. As an audience you know that something is going to happen once he is in and till then the built of suspense is good enough to keep you involved.
Well, once he enters the frame as a shrink, it is a complete 'paisa vasool' moment. He gets the house on fire, even as his own suitcase gets on fire by Miss Bhoot. His interaction with number of members from the family is quite hilarious as his initial body language does remind of Jack 'Pirates of the Caribbean' Sparrow. He makes fun, gets scared, suspects people, tries to solve mystery and all this while fooling around. Simply entertaining.
Meanwhile the suspense reaches it's peak as he interacts with the 'spirit' for the first time. 'Now we are talking' - you may end up saying to yourself as you look forward in anticipation to a terrific climax. Unfortunately this is where when the film doesn't create a kind of hammer strong impact as one would have expected.
The actual reason behind the 'bhoot' to behave the way she is doing is fine but it all becomes so talk-heavy that one wishes if it was simpler. Though the film does become interesting again as the 'bhoot' comes out in open but the way things resume to normal seems a little rushed. 
Hypnotism chapter which comes later only drags the story further while a forced Akshay-Amisha love angle in the end is just plain unconvincing. Arrey bhai, inme pyaar hua kab? Now that's one real 'bhool bhulaiyaa' actually!
Ranjit Barot's background score is a major contributor to the film's narrative while Pritam's chartbuster 'Hare Krishna Hare Raam' makes one glued to the seats even as the end credits roll. Film's sound design, as is the case in all Priyan films, is top class. Editing is good while cinematography rich and consistent.
Finally the big day has arrived. With four Hindi films at the box office this week , all eyes are on 'Rock-On' for the obvious buzz it has created. The surprising fact is that the most awaited film of the year doesn't feature a 'Khan','Kapoor'or 'Kumar' . All that hype with relatively new actors and a director whose previous film 'Aryan' was a wash out.
The synopsis can well defined as the journey of Aditya(Farhan),Joe Mascarenhas (Arjun Rampal) , Rob(Luke Kenny) and K.D.(Purab Kohli) who want to see their band 'MAGIK' and it's music at the peak. The passionate bunch travel through various stages of life to keep their 'MAGIK' alive and trust me , what a journey it is!
Director Abhishek Kapoor firstly brings in a story that really hooks you in especially when it's the journey of the underdogs and when it's got a lot to do with music. Abhishek 'Gattu' Kapoor fuses in the right blend of actors to carry each role with a certain amount of conviction. The narrative transitions, the friendship, the emotions, the alleys, the instruments'. You are jut drawn into all of it.
The narrative takes off very much like Farhan's directorial debut 'Dil Chahta Hai' and when you would like to believe it's a repeat of it all, you are taken aback. You are left with the same feeling you had years back when 'Dil Chahta Hai' was around. What surprises you here is that there is no Aamir , Saif or Akshaye.
If 'DCH' was remembered for Farhan's directorial skills, this one too is headed a long way for his acting credentials. And of course not to mention, for his share behind the music of the film. Farhan excels right through the film. To say that he was better than the rest will be absolutely unfair in a film that highlights teamwork. 
Farhan delivers with ease and with a great amount of conviction. The transition in character from one phase of life to another is not just brought about in his attire but very well with his body language. Farhan's unconventional voice works in his favour and the myth that a hero should have a heavy baritone is done away with. The sequence where Farhan breaks out into an argument with his wife (Prachi Desai) and talks about the compromises of life brings forth brilliant dialogue delivery. Farhan often reminds you of Aamir Khan from 'DCH' and is in no respect less competitive.
The next highlight of the film is Joe Mascarenhas/Arjun Rampal. This is no doubt Arjun's best film till date and wonder whether you'll ever see Arjun in such a splendid role. Arjun carries the lead guitarist, rockstar look with ease. The complexity, the inner turmoil, the passion for music is brought out so well with the moustache embedded Arjun moving around from place to place with the guitar. Arjun delivers his lines really well especially in arguments with his wife(Shahana Goswami) and the scene where he reminds the band of its rules and gets into a spat. 
Luke Kenny as Rob is another revelation. Many often wondered whether Luke ever spoke Hindi and here he comes out with a fine convincing performance. Luke often acts as the backbone of the band and binds the characters well enough. His scenes with 'Anu Malik' are funny but realistic enough. 
Purab Kohli as the 'Killer Drummer' brings in all that humour and all that true 'masti' associated with any band. He is so full of expressions and entertains you right through. He brings in those smiles even through the emotional sequences.
Shahana Goswami comes in as a revelation of talent. For her debut she does extremely well. The shades in her character from the Joe's girlfriend to his wife plagued by problems of running a household are carried out real well. 
Prachi Desai does a very decent job as the soft spoken wife of Farhan. She speaks a lot through her smile.
Koel Purie is just apt.
One person who deserves much credit is cinematographer Jason West. His job has been splendid right through. The handheld camera movements make you feel as if you were present right through the performance. The lighting is just another treat. The practice sessions, the well light cobweb filled alleys, the emphasis on the instruments-simply brilliant.
The music by Shankar Ehsaan Loy was a rage much prior to the realease. The film just enhances it even more and don't be surprised if you are keep humming tracks like 'Tum Ho Toh'( which hasn't featured in the promotion of the film ) once you are done with this flick. Great Job by Shankar Ehsaan and Loy! Kudos Javed Saab!
To sum it up Abhishek Kapoor strikes the right cord with the audiences and the character are so well defined and crafted. No character overshadows the other and the 'Magik' is brought alive. Many believe this flick is just for the metros; well it's for anyone who has experienced the warmth of friendship, love and got a passion for music.
Rating : ****
The National Film Development Corporation of India co-produces 'Via Darjeeling' and since it's an overload of talented actors and a cinema valuing body such as the above, one would expect some quality cinema. So what if there haven't been any promotions for such a film. Is it necessary for the so called cinema of the intellectuals?
The film is set in modern day Calcutta and Darjeeling and is based on an age old Bengali tradition called 'adda' where friends get together in the rains and exchange stories over drinks and dinner.
The story revolves around Ankur (K K Menon) and Rimli (Sonali Kulkarni) a couple on their honeymoon to Darjeeling. On the eve of their return to Calcutta , Ankur disappears. Inspector Robin Bose (Vinay Pathak) searches but Ankur is nowhere to be found. When he questions Rimli , the only clues she is able to give him, are of a taxi driver and a mysterious man who has been following her during their trip.
Two years later, Inspector relates this story to a few friends who try and figure out the missing link.
With the cream of actors such as Rajat Kapoor ,K K ,Vinay Pathak , Simone Singh, Sandhya Mridul etc , director Arindam Nandy should have stolen the show . But , it's sad that the actors no doubt perform but are hit by the poor screenplay. In an attempt to create a multiple narrative story, the so called suspense to be expected comes as complete boredom.
The film just drags on and on as the story of Ankur and Rimli is carried forward by the group. The most disappointing part comes with the ending. Wonder what the director was thinking while showing the close up of the cell phone ringing as the curtain draws. 
On the acting quotient no doubt all of them are good but don't have much scope. The cinematography of the film too fails in providing us some piece of a place such as Darjeeling.
On the whole, the film is a complete letdown and without much promotion, the film will face a tough time at the box office.
Rating : *1/2
First things first. SHOOT OUT AT LOKHANDWALA is not just a film revolving around the infamous shootout that happened in a residential locality in Mumbai. It is much more than that. While the shootout sequences forms a major part of the film [last 30-40 minutes], it is to the credit of the initial reels that create a base for it to make a hammer strong impact.
In the end what you get is a gritty drama that bridges the distance between realism and the commercial aspect of film making and this is where director Apoorva Lakhia deserves more than just a pat on his back. He walks the thin rope quite well and comes out with flying colors. Yes, the film has it's cops v/s gangster action and drama and credit it to Lakhia that he blends both the commercial and real factors into SOAL.
The film belongs to Sanjay Dutt and the man who challenges him hard for the coveted throne is none other than Vivek Oberoi. The two come face to face only twice in the film and when that happens, it is fireworks all around. The two truly make you forget everything that would have happened before or after their meet and are heads above everything and everyone else happening in the background.
As the numero uno cop and gangster respectively, both have a common agenda - shoot to kill. Unlike a 'chor-police' story that could have taken place on a street, the two balance it out well. The first time they confront at the interval point, there is not a moment when one can look away from the screen. A brilliantly executed sequence, it leaves the two being equally placed as one waits to see who makes the first move. The second time they get into a 1-0-1 battle in the film's climax and its execution is sure to send shivers down the spine.
From the plot point of view, the film is very simple. In fact Amitabh Bachchan, who plays an advocate in the film, summarizes it all by asking a question - "If you see a man with a gun near your house, whom would you prefer - a cop or a gangster?" 
This pretty much justifies the horror acts that you see in the penultimate 30 minutes of the film when each of the gangsters [played by Vivek Oberoi, Tusshar Kapoor, Rohit Roy, Aditya Lakhia, Shabbir Ahluwalia] meets with a brutal end, either as a result of cross fire or a clear cut encounter. The men responsible for that? ATC team of Sanjay Dutt, Suneil Shetty, Arbaaz Khan and many more.
The film deserves a special mention for it's narration as it the three cops narrate the incidents that lead to the shootout, starting from the introduction of Abhishek Bachchan, who plays a cop. As someone who was an officer with Sanjay Dutt, he is lovable in his 15 minutes part as he takes on migrant terrorists from Punjab. 
Later the film gets into the personal and professional lives of the group of gangsters and their rise and fall. The D-company angle is handled deftly as well without going overboard even as the sound of bullets resonate throughout the two hour duration of the film.
Any lighter moments in the film? Watch out for the three sequences where Suneil Shetty and Arbaaz Khan get into a conversation with heavy duty English, Urdu and Hindi respectively. Restrained, yet utterly hilarious! Rakhi Sawant has a sole scene in the end where she blends her on-screen and off-screen image perfectly.
What doesn't work in the movie at all are it's songs. The fact is that a film belonging to this genre just didn't warrant any songs. Period. It is not the tune, picturisation or actors that could make or break the song's placement, it is the very concept of keeping songs that go wrong. Belonging to fast forward variety, they are best to be skipped.
Can I catch hold of the first person who said that CHAK DE INDIA is an experimental film? Or it is not the kind that entertains? Or worse, it is 'just' a sports/issue based film laced with patriotism? And by the way, 'just' is the key word here! Because the fact is that it is much bigger and much better than all that is being said about the film, more within the industry than outside. 
CHAK DE INDIA has a fairly simple plot about a beleaguered hockey captain trying to redeem himself and regain his pride by ensuring that as a coach he gets the World Cup for the women's hockey team. So far so good and fine intentions. But how will he make this possible? This is what takes a viewer through a journey which is thrilling, thought provoking and above all entertaining.
Shimit and writer Jaideep Sahni doesn't beat around the topic of patriotism much. Neither do they get into 'bharat-mata-ki jai' mode every now and then. Heck, they don't even harp on the 'united-we-stand' theory much. What they do is to get the two facts very right - 'Being adaptive to change' and 'Playing one's best game'. This is what they consider as the two pillars for success which would take this highly demoralized, un-sponsored, de-motivated, ill-focused and divided team through the Finals!
And don't they do an amazing job in doing so?
When I attribute this win as that of Shimit and Jaideep, it doesn't mean any discredit to Shahrukh Khan. It's in fact a big one for him because after SWADES, it could just be the second instance in his ultra-successful career that audience would go back talking about Kabir more than the King himself. Now that's what you call a win!
There has been much talk about Shahrukh Khan shedding his Rahul/Raj image for CHAK DE. Yes, he does that. And does that right. Still that doesn't take away from the fact that Khan is at his characteristic best. He gets the right expressions for a guy who is playing a man with his bunch of 16 girls around. He loves them, ridicules them, threatens them, hurts them, motivates them, inspires them and plays with their psychology. And when the woman amongst the girls makes an advance towards him, he knows how to keep temptation at bay!
Each of the girls in the crowd have their own background. No, they don't eat away screen space by being episodic in nature and it is to the credit of Jaideep and Shimit that all of it sounds justified and well concluded. The girl who towers above everyone else is the petite Haryana player whose lingo, dialogue delivery and body language gets the theater into ruptures every time she appears on screen. Closely follows the jumbo from Punjab who eventually learns that keeping a cool head wins games. 
The Chandigarh girl brings on the X factor while the North East duo look cute and confident. Vidya Malvade as the captain of the team is fair. One would have expected a captain to be more in synch with the decision making while deciding upon game plan and strategy but that doesn't quite come across at all.
As a narrator, Shimit Amin strikes an excellent balance while interspersing his AB TAK CHAPPAN shot-taking in a Yash Raj Films setup. What could well have been a humongous task comes across quite convincingly as the coming together of entertainment with a good dose of real emotions strikes a goal. No pun intended. 
Full marks to the Shetty sisters for playing rivals in love with the same man in Deepak Tijori's mildly engaging 'lust' triangle.
Take away Shilpa and Shamita and you are left looking at a film that borrows chunky bits and pieces from Disclosure (lady boss wants married employee to surrender sexually), Basic Instinct (the seductress is a cold blooded killer) and Fatal Attraction (the go-getting glam-god won't take no for an answer).
Tijori sews up his source material in a not-unpleasant pastiche of erotica, adultery and murder, served up at fume temperature. 
You mightn't be enchanted by the story of the man, woman and the wild. But what the heck! Even if necklines plunge downwards, aesthetics never touch rock bottom.
Though the goings-on don't exactly have you riveted, you can't but get mildly intrigued by which way the 'scream' play intends to head beyond the bed. 
Characteristically, this urban thriller pulls out all the stops to portray the urban predatory woman-of-the-world who won't stop at anything to satiate her lust for life. 
Like Priyanka Chopra in Aitraaz and Mallika Sherawat in Murder, Shamita Shetty plays a married woman who starts licking her painted lips the minute her roving eyes fall on ad-man Manoj Bajpai (trying hard to look like a cool dude and failing miserably on all counts).
Shamita Shetty's seduction song in and around the swimming pool of what's supposed to be her home is almost a perverse pantomime of those 'haunted' songs with which Madhubala in Mahal and Sadhana in Woh Kaun Thi lured the mesmerised hero into their lair.
The lair is an elaborate boudoir in Fareb where after some heavy-duty breathing, panting and what-have-you Manoj decides he can't be unfaithful to his dumbly devoted wife (Shilpa Shetty). 
Spurned seductress throws a fit, decides to do a Demi Moore in Disclosure on Manoj by making his life miserable at her workplace. By the time the junior Shetty is bumped off, the narrative too kicks the bucket.
The whodunit hoopla in the narration is, at best, a tag -- on best watched with minimal expectation.
Yes, the denouement does take you by surprise. But it isn't quite the shocker that you carry home for future reverence.
In all fairness, Fareb isn't the horror that you prepare yourself to expect. Unlike Tijori's previous Khamosh, where the question wasn't whodunit but whydunit, the urban characters in Fareb are obtainable and sometimes even believable. 
The love scenes strive to be steamy. But Manoj's lack of expertise marginalizes their impact. His outbursts border on the hammy, making you wonder if he has forgotten how to act.
Watch the film for Shilpa's controlled and occasionally surprising turn as the devoted wife and Shamita's wildly wanton act. This is a film and plot where the ladies simply take over. And nobody minds. 
2005 seems to end well with an unconventional yet terrific thriller 'Ek Khiladi Ek Haseena' that engulfs you throughout the proceedings. While one looks forward to yet another popcorn 'masala' entertainer, what one gets in the bargain is a superb plot that deceives you throughout its 18 reel length only to make you THINK about t. A movie that plays mind games with you, it ensures that you are attentive throughout without missing a single shot!
The movie belongs to the 'noir' genre where the protagonist Arjun [Fardeen Khan] narrates his own story to an audience. The movie goes into the past where conmen Arjun and his friend Rohit [Rohit Roy] are discussing about their next move. In one such instance, they end up conning a man who turns out to be an employee of Sikander [Gulshan Grover]. 
A sober yet shrewd businessman, he demands his money back after bumping off Rohit. For this he gives Arjun 10 days and his subordinate Kaif [Kay Kay], who is supposed to accompany him and his friends [Mukul Dev, Amin Hajee]. Kaif is a man who doesn't think twice before shooting a person at his boss' behest but also carries an Economic Times all the time!
Enters Natasha [Koena Mitra] in Arjun's life who is a psychiatrist and soon gets involved with his con jobs. Finally Arjun manages to pay off Sikander's debt. But now he has a bigger task in hand as he needs to offload 25 crores from the coffers of one of the biggest white collar criminals of the world - Jehangir Khan [Feroze Khan]
To make matters worse comes CBI cop Sardesai [Sharad Kapoor] who has been on Arjun's trail for quite some time now!
An intense game follows with everyone in the scene out there to outwit the other. But does the winner really 'won' it all? Or is there is something more than what meets the eyes?
The movie revolving around such a plot needs to have a water tight script to engage an audience. This is where EKEH succeeds in a BIG way. To be honest the initial few moments in the film are hardly anything that make you jump with joy. It is the introduction of Gulshan Grover followed by his first interaction with Arjun [good dialogues here] that sets the tone for the film.
EKEH continues to grow from here and though the proceedings aren't out of the world, they keep the viewer involved. Kay Kay's dead-pan humor brings along a smile and Firoz Khan's introduction at the interval point makes you look forward to the remainder of the movie. While expectations are to witness some cat and mouse game between the father-son duo, nothing like that happens as the focus still remains on the con job. So should Khan fans be disheartened with this aspect? 
Not at all, as events continue to scale further. Kay Kay promising a painless death to Fardeen, everyone's meeting with the bank Vice President, Fardeen - Kay Kay interaction around sharing of all the booty, Sharad Kapoor's introduction , preclimax when 25 crores are brought by Mukul Dev from Bangkok till the final moment when Fardeen is shot - everything is well penned and well planned. And just when everyone feels that it is end of the story, there is a major twist that shocks you, surprises and make you look at the entire movie in awe!
Suparn Verma comes up with a good storyline and executes it well inspite of EKEH being his debut venture. He deserves to get accolades for his intelligent handling of the subject. He knows clearly in his mind what he has set out for and never ones tries to be extra smart in his approach. He takes the viewer along with him and while you realize that you are being taken for a (joyous) ride, you still are happy to leave yourself completely in his hands to manipulate you the way he wishes. He makes one of the best debuts of the year 2005.
Whenever a Priyadarshan film comes around there's always some good amount of laughter that's guaranteed with the likes of Paresh Rawal , Rajpal Yadav and much more. When it comes to Priyan it doesn't really matter whether it's a 'Kumar' or 'Khanna' rather it's the name 'Akshay(e)' that matters.
Synopsis'..
Janaradhan [Paresh Rawal] has spent his life bringing up his two kids, Chirag [Manoj Joshi] and Gaurav [Akshaye Khanna]. Now when the duo has grown up, Gaurav takes up the responsibility of his father. They both manage the household chores and their business to the best of their abilities. Though he is the younger son, he treats his father like his son. Gaurav shouts, threatens, fights, even locks up his father occasionally so that his prankster-friend Madhav [Om Puri], who is desperate to get married, does not spoil him. 
Madhav and Janaradhan, who are always in search of a bride for Madhav, forever land up in trouble and every time Gaurav has to bail them out and face the embarrassment.Gaurav starts getting prank calls from a girl who turns out to be his old college friend Shikha [Genelia D'Souza]. Shikha is staying with her guardian Anuradha [Shobhana], who happens to be Janardhan's first love.
Gaurav and Shikha notice changes in Janaradhan and Anuradha's behaviors when they come face to face after many years. They come to know about their past. Now Gaurav wants his father to get married to his lost love. Of course, the path is not so smooth, there are obstacles. 
Mere Baap Pehle Aap is a complete time pass venture. Priyadarshan is very clear that he isn't out to become a Madhur Bhandarkar or Amole Gupte and take away accolades. Priyan establishes his connect with the masses and is no doubt the good luck charm for all his producers. 
Mere Baap Pehle Aap takes off as a complete laugh riot. The sequences and flow of events are so well executed. No one does such sequences better than Priyan. His characterization is simply splendid. For those who have had a sensation that Paresh Rawal is overdoing his comedy bit, watch this flick. 
Priyan just didn't want to rely on comedy to run this flick but ropes in drama too. The drawback comes in here as he fails to sustain the length of the film which goes over 2hrs 30 mins. Except for the last 20 mins or so, the movie is tightly held and bound by Priyan's style and brilliance.
Cinematography by Piyush Shah is a delight with the splendid locales of Goa, Kerala etc. The movie requires a little trimming.
Music by Vidyasagar blends well with the film. The 'Ishq Subhanallah' and 'Maine Hawa' are tracks out to become hits provided they are promoted well.
On the acting front, Akshaye Khanna fits the bill and excels with his expressions, dialogues and body language.
Genelia does well primarily with her expressions. She's one heroine who is set to go places. No one besides Priyan could have given her such a meaty role.
Om Puri comes in as a revelation with comedy. The actor makes you giggle nonstop. Watch the interaction between him and Genelia at a mall. It's hilarious. He is no doubt the best in this flick.
Paresh Rawal too excels with comedy and this time doesn't look or sound repetitive. The sequences involving him and Archana Puran Singh are splendid. Do watch out for the combination of Om Puri and Paresh Rawal.
Rajapal Yadav surprisingly is barely there. Manoj Joshi is ok. Shobana impresses. Archana Puran Singh does well with her bit as the cop.
Love is a grave matter in Lucky - No Time For Love. A lot of the romance between 40-year-old Salman Khan and 19-year-old Sneha Ullal takes place in a Russian graveyard as riots break out all over a city.
Riot on! Gabriel Gracia Marquez got there first in Love During The Time Of Cholera. Radhika Rao and Vinay Sapru's sweet but finally unproductive concoction is a let down.
Sure, the film looks good with Sudeep Chatterjee's cinematography capturing a sweeping arch of violence over the snow-capped landscape. 
It even sounds good. But it has no heart. It pretends hard, but finally ends up being as inspiring as a Valentine's Day card bought from a posh departmental store.
There's a skin-deep aesthetic appeal to the presentation, contoured and accentuated by Adnan Sami's dreamy songs and Monty's background music. But the film is finally felled by its own wispiness. 
Efforts to imbue an epic grandeur to the romance - especially towards the end with sequences of a snow-stormed train taking away truckloads of migrants that almost mimics Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List - fail for the lack of a grounded premise. 
The plot should have been about a schoolgirl's crush on an older man. It should have been akin to Hrishikesh Mukherjee's Guddi. Instead, it goes into the echoes of Yash Chopra's Lamhe where a girl old enough to be a daughter woos and finally wins the middle-aged hero.
With Salman Khan looking 35-plus and the girl heart breakingly vulnerable and callow, the film chooses to turn the initial crush into a passionate man-woman affair. 
The premise of a schoolgirl falling in love with an old man escorting her through a troubled hinterland is exciting. But that the man should reciprocate her feelings is a bit hard to digest.
Beautifully mounted, but vacuous at heart, Lucky... is one of those could-have-been films that stops short before the journey gathers momentum. 
Milap Jhaveri's dialogues depend more on Salman Khan's cocky image than the inherent romantic overtures of the theme. 
If I eat any more I'd end up like Adnan Sami, quips Khan. And when in the graveyard the schoolgirl lisps, I'm not that type of a girl, Khan guffaws, I've heard that line before.
Trouble is, all the lines and emotions associated with Salman Khan's romantic image here are transposed into a gawky alliance with a girl who doesn't know any better, and a man who should.
Lucky... simply lets the man and the woman trudge though snow and fluff until we feel enough is enough. 
Mithun Chakravarty's prolonged efforts to play a cop and charlatan with a penchant for mouthing cinematic cliches falls short of expectations. The rest of the cast is marginalized by ill-written roles.
Lucky... isn't without assets. 
It wears a polished look and exudes a glittering grandiosity. The song Shayad Yehi To Pyar Hai lends music to the film's soul. But it comes too late.
For those who expect a whole lot of oomph to be crammed into this thriller, there's bad news. Pakistani import Meera's Bollywood debut proves her to be a competent actress. But she doesn't have the quality that could have elevated the film's mass acceptance level. 
Nazar is a poor man's - or woman's - version of this week's other film Naina. The director's loose grip over her plot is matched by an absence of technical wherewithal in the story.
All through the longish drama we are treated to the protagonist's purportedly eerie hallucinations. Yup. Like Urmila Matondkar in Naina, Meera can 'see' the dead before they die. Too bad she doesn't get us involved in the way the other film does. The fault lies not so much with the central performance as the failure of the director to create an ambience conducive to constant fear and foreboding. 
There are too many destructive distractions. At one point in the second-half she runs out of plot and takes the lead couple for a song under the waterfall. 
The plot never re-surfaces from the watery diversion. Though debutant director Soni Razdan doesn't apply brakes in the narrative for a song or a comic romp, she constantly keeps putting the characters into crises that seem complex from above but are pretty absurd in close-up.
The four main characters, an actress (Meera), a cop (Ashmit Patel with hair almost as lengthy as the narrative, the cop's colleague (Koel Puri, squinting her eyes into a Chinese grimace) and a doctor (Aly Khan). 
The storytelling is pale and uninviting. The zero chemistry between the lead pair makes matters worse. While Meera looks a lot larger than Ashmit Patel, he walks around looking more like a drum player in a garage rock band than a cop. Given a crisis, she'd probably protect him instead of vice versa.
The tentative scene-stealer is the talented Koel Puri who struggles to invest a semblance of intelligence into a film that's structured like a de-escalating whodunit. Throughout we sense a catastrophe far beyond the immediate crisis, namely the serial killing of beer-bar dancers. 
Ha, serial killings happen only in Hollywood films, scoffs senior cop Avtar Gill.
They sure do, and far more professionally. The build-up and the denouement in Nazar are amateurish enough to make the next episode of the long-running TV series CID look like Hitchcock's Psycho.
A serious psychological subtext is lacking in Nazar. There is an attempt to introduce 'issues' such as the plight of beer-bar dancers and the HIV virus into the plot. But the narrative just doesn't seem to support ideas that go beyond the shallow slasher aspirations of the product.
Watch out for Gujarati stage actress Sarita Joshi in one sequence and Neena Gupta's sufiyana qawwali. They both go over-the-top. But no sweat. Self-control isn't one of this film's primary virtues.
Won't the Bhatts ever give up? After plagiarizing every conceivable Hollywood film, producer Mahesh Bhatt has now turned his sights on Carl Franklin's B-grade thriller Out Of Time.
The Denzel Washington-starrer has now been converted into the labored and lumbering no-show in Zeher - where Siddharth (Hashmi), a perpetually drunk and raging inspector, more than meets his match in the sultry Anna (Udita Goswami), a wanton material girl. 
Debutant director Mohit Suri appropriates the original Out Of Time, scene by scene, almost word for word. 
The first half shows Siddharth groping with his conscience in his alliance with Anna.
The second half finds him making a desperate lunge to get back money - eased out of him by Anna - and wife Sonia (Shamita Shetty) who had left him in a huff in the first half.
Emran Hashmi, though wooden, takes the role of agitated and stressed cop by the horns. But the best part of the film is Ninad Kamath, who literally steals every scene with his role as James.
Unlike the Bhatt-produced Murder last year, which aped Adrian Lyne's Unfaithful without falling on its face, Zeher is an out-of-step Out Of Time. 
It's amusing to see how Suri tries to 'Indianize' what's essentially a Hollywood-centric idea. 
But the early scenes between the warring husband and wife fail to take away the stench of a borrowed tale.
No amount of evocative songs and smoldering cinematography can cover the result of the film that borrows its format, mood language and theme from another source without a hint of acknowledgement.
Brazenly, debutant director Mohit Suri claims credit for screenplay. He might as well claim he created Denzel Washington's stardom. 
Animation films from Hollywood are no longer child's play. They mean business. Big dreams. Big bucks. Voices to match. 
While the English-language original features Craig T. Nelson and Holly Hunter as the super-hero Mr Incredible and his wife Elastica, Shah Rukh Khan and Rakshanda Khan take on the vocal mantle in the dubbed Indian version... with immensely funny and sometimes moving results.
The animation-centric family in Hum Hain Laajawab looks so real because the feelings that they convey in action and words (more the former for sure) are plucked from the tree of life.
The importance of family values above all else, the triumph of good over evil and the importance of being honest to one's conscience are the main themes of Hum Hain Laajawab. Added to these is the easily identifiable, warm and inviting voice of Shah Rukh Khan. And we have a film that takes us on fantasy frolic through some of the plushest special effects created out of wispy threads of make-believe.
Unlike Finding Nemo and Sharks Tale which were set underwater and therefore craftily distanced from reality on virtually every level, The Incredibles pitches itself in the thick of the metropolis. Revving cars, roaring guns and pitched battles fought in high-rise buildings are counterpoised by quaint scenes of domesticity.
Indeed the film's strongest element is its vision of a life lived on the fringe of normality after going beyond the brink of daredevilry.
What makes this variation on the Superman/Spiderman theme really rock is the protagonist's dual life as extended into a concoction of fantasy and escapism. The best moments in the film are those where Mr Laajawab tries to be a-not-so-incredible insurance executive.
His expressions of ennui with a 'normal' life are compounded by his wife Elastica's firm denial of her adventurous past to lead an average suburban housewife's life, totally distanced from the high-sky adventures. 
The 'Incredible' family is brilliantly devised. Their two children, too, try desperately to fit into definition of normality... until the final outburst when the entire family dons super suits that vanquish evil.
The end game is much too commodiously conceived. The pyrotechnics go on and on until you become bone-weary watching the non-stop action. Perhaps Hum Hain Laajawab suffers from the too-much-too-'swoon' malady. The quicksilver editing creates an impression of a grand babble of bubbling action.
At the centre of the smart and slick action is the protagonist. A decent, conscientious family man who thinks fighting the wrong is what makes a man strong. Mr Incredible/Laajawab's battle with the baddies is rendered riveting by the roomy applause-fetching hi-jinks, shot with high-speed cameras that move faster than the speed of Shah Rukh's voice.
The film is fun and funny. But it lacks the innate warmth of Shrek or The Lion King. You wish there were more domestic scenes like the one where the son and daughter hide behind the sofa to listen to their parents argue. 
Director Brad Bird wants to keep the narrative constantly careening on the edge of a corny though canny catastrophe. Partly a takeoff on the James Bond films and partly spoofing the caped capers of Superman and Spider, Hum Hain Laajawab creates a simplistic yet holistic world of engaging optical illusions.
From the debutant Director Neeraj Pandey: Two men more challenging: an unrecorded event, spine-chilling thriller ride for 100 minutes with unexpected twists and turns. Cinematic purgatory, right?
Yippee! This is something unexpected, indeed a great surprise and a resurgence of pure cinema in the pages of Bollywood. It's off been awestricken gesture of tasting something unique amidst of feculent flicks that should have really annoyed us. Perhaps, A Wednesday entitles Neeraj Pandey as the finest gifted auteur of Indian Cinema. Truculent characterizations designed on stupendous actors and a rattling screenplay opening with a silent ambience and then an edge-seated thriller with nail-biting sequences: These ascribe the film to be the most estimable start by Neeraj.
Fine! What's so appealing about the story of 'A Wednesday'? Come on take a glimpse'
As the title goes, 'A Wednesday,' centers on certain events blossom forth between 2 and 6 P.M. on one fine Wednesday. These events are something that doesn't go noticed in the records of history, yet remains the most horrific ensuant for those involved in it.
It all starts when Prakash Rathod (Anupam Kher), City Commission of Police, Mumbai is buzzed by an anonymous entity demanding him to release four militants or else the bombs planted by him at various parts of the city would jeopardize lives of innocents. Prakash doesn't take it serious; assuming it is a crank call until he is blew out of the water once a bomb planted in the police station right opposite his police headquarters is spotted.
Situation is no easier for Prakash and now ropes in the squad of top-notch men for trapping the anonymous caller, queering down his plans. Even a young hacker is hired to assist the team in deciphering the stranger's location. But nothing really helps them out' With no options left, Prakash Rathod takes in the aid of two young cops (Jimmy Sheirgil and Aamir Bashir) in handing over militants to the anonymous caller'. 'But, this is something clich'd kind of story': if you ever thought so, you're erred. Well, then starts the gripping chain of events that leading to a freakish turn'
It's completely out from platitudes when it comes to script and screenplay where we are lucky to see a flick sans songs, and irrelevant commercial elements. Hats off to Neeraj Pandey! His brilliancy in penning an exceptional script and brimming up star-casts on new dimensions is a penchant piece of work'.Well, the initial scenes centering on parallel stories may be quite irksome, but once the thriller ride begins, you would throw yourselves into the screen.
The most honky-dory personalities Anupam Kher and Naseeruddin Shah on the screen together and their breathtaking performance are really laudable. In precise, Naseeruddin Shah hits the bull's eyes with his over the top gestures and uttering of dialogues. His mind blowing performance in the climax sequences doesn't go alone: but with a rigid applause. Peering across the same wavelength is Anupam Kher spotted more energetically perfect. If you are looking out for his extraordinary performance, again it's the same climax that is about taking face to face with Naseeruddin Shah'
Jimmy Sheirgil with a never seen before performance steals the show as a fickle cop. One fine reason of singing appraisals for Neeraj is of utilizing Jimmy's potentials on superior quality. On the pars, Aamir Bashir, yet another talented actor is revealed. Chetan Pandit as the Chief Minister and Kali Prasad Mukherji as terrorist take on with perfection.
Getting on with technical aspects, one single word would be efficacious to describe them, 'Awesome'. Be it the chasing sequences canned by Fuwad Khan or Shree Narayan Singh's editing, everything is compact in spelling the flavor of a perfect thriller. Don't miss out the background score by Sanjay Chowdary: they are simply enchanting.
As a whole, A Wednesday is a flick that is sure to win the laurels across the far-flung corners. A bold and innovative attempt by Neeraj is worth it'
Are you one of those people out there who have traditionally loved Sunny Deol since his action hero days of the 90s? Have you been enjoying his roars and hand to hand fights that bear a trademark Deol stamp? Last but not the least, have you enjoyed that high voltage drama that has been synonymous of Guddu Dhanoa-Sunny Deol combo deals like 'Ziddi' and 'Salakhen'?
If so, then chances are that you may just about ending up enjoying 'Big Brother', though strictly from nostalgia point of view. As long as you are willing to ignore that you are living in an age where cinema means a 'Guru' or a 'Rang De Basanti' or a 'Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd' or you have set your mind that you are going to watch BIG BROTHER purely from love of anything that is vintage, you won't be left with much grudge. But the moment you start feeling bad about nothing much new in the offering, you may just end up loosing interest in the film.
In the nutshell, BIG BROTHER is strictly for those who love Sunny's fist work and love for being a 'messiah' of the downtrodden.
Leading a family of four, Sunny Deol has a younger brother [Imran Khan], sister [Prachi] and a mother [Farida Jalal]. With a series of unfortunate incidents that mar their peaceful life, the family moves to Mumbai from Delhi as they take on a different identity. For them, Mumbai could be the city that would give them happy times ahead as they hope for a new lease of life devoid of any troubles.
Nevertheless, the situation in the new city is also not too different as Sunny finds evil all around him in the form of rapists, molesters, goondas, corrupt cops etc. With no choice left but to revolt, Sunny takes on the extreme step of fighting back with due blessings from his mother.
A messiah is born who fights not just for his own family or people around him but for an entire country. A movement begins where he gets an all around support from the females who join hands together to raise him on a pedestal and rechristen him as their BIG BROTHER!
Sunny has always been convincing in enacting a role like this and BIG BROTHER is no exception. The only trouble in the current times is that there is an alarming reduction in the number of hardcore Sunny fans too ever since his last hit INDIAN due to which he is in definite need of a change in the roles that he is playing. Priyanka Chopra's role proves that it was good for her to have made her debut with ANDAAZ which had a relatively stronger role for her. Background music belongs to the style of the 90s.
Danny plays his part well though one wonders why the veteran actor has been missing from the film's promotion. Farida Jalal has been a regular actor in Guddu Dhanoa's films and she plays a role similar to the kind she has been doing in his films over the years. Imran Khan and Prachi are fair though Shahbaz Khan leaves a mark. Yet another regular in Guddu Dhanoa films, it is surprising not to see him making more appearances. Ditto for Sayaji Shinde. Govind Namedo, who played a silent type in last week's release SHAKALAKA BOOM BOOM, is much louder though reasonably effective in the film.
A story like this has been heard a zillion times before and the makers behind the film haven't tried to hide that fact by creating a rosy picture of any kind. Unabashedly honest about the film being an out and out Sunny flick, Guddu Dhanoa uses his image to his benefit and plays to the gallery. Nevertheless, this has a flip side too since while multiplex audience are a strict no-no for a subject and a treatment like this, as seen in the last couple of years at least, even the single screen audience has started showing an inclination towards different kind of cinema.
Rating: **
You can watch this one entirely for the growth in Emran Hashmi as an actor. And all you hotties, sorry, but the coveted kiss is missing once again. Aaditya Dutt's second coming 'Dil Diya Hai' may not be in competition in the best film of the year award, but giving due credit to this young dude, I think one notices impressive layered dimensions in his characters in spite of a hackneyed (And at times bizarre) script. 
The first half moves on a swift 'Dilwale Dulhania Le Jaynge' mould in a scenic locale (Including missing-the-train syndrome and the bumpy ride through smooth European roads). Bipasha Basu look alike debutante Geeta Basra sheds plenty of inhibitions in the second half much to the glee of Penny Crowd while bad boy Ashmit Patel hisses-n-snorts his way around. As for its Box Office verdict, then with a trendy (Though repetitive) Himesh Reshamiya music and some decent performances, it may manage to break evens stevens. 
Saahil Khanna (Emran) is a small time travel agent in London with an ailing mother in tow. Neha (Geeta Basra) lands up in UK with her family to enjoy a vacation 'organized' by Saahil. After a brief misunderstanding, Neha falls for debonair Khanna's aloof nature while apna Emran bhai is not interested in love or any possessive relationships as it becomes difficult to live up to the expectations of one's loved ones. Although a stranger in Ronny (Mithun Chakravorthy) and his wife Michelle (Kitu Gidwani) tries to show him reason, but Saahil has other things on his mind. 
He sells Neha for a fat sum of money to a big pimp Kunal (Ashmit Patel). The motive is rather stale, but then what can one do: His mother was fighting for his life and the money was critical. Coke snorting Kunal talks in a painstakingly husky voice, trying to sound sinister-n-less-chikna with a scared-for-life Neha. After clicking her nude and imagining getting into a love-filled orgy with a backless Basera'.sorry Basra'It's time for the monster to turn an angel. So, now there's a love triangle and the poor girl is caught up in a messy situation. But hang on, there's bad-man-turn-good-samaratin Ronny to show his fighting skills. Reformed Saahil throws in a few mean punches of his own too. 
One shouldn't look for too much of reason in this jazzily put together commercial flick. It's definitely more tightly woven than his insipid debut called 'Aashiq Banaya Aapne'. The unspoken love is conveyed poignantly at times. Even the verbal-volleyball between Saahil and Neha is catchy at times. The lecture on 'Mohabbat' by self-appointed Love Guru Ronny is a pain at times and endearing at a few occasions (Especially when he picks up that guitar and strums along in style). The film falters badly in the whole prostitution business. It is ill-conceived and a few of the dialogues are corny to say the least. And for God's sake, how lawless can London be'It's as if it's some deserted state where anarchy rules and anybody can get anyone picked up with no law to take action. Even the built-up of romance between Saahil and Neha could have been more pertinent. 
After a disastrous 'Ramgopal Varma Ki Aag', many producers, directors and movie buffs have actually ruled out RamgopaL Varma; the man behind hits like 'Shiva', 'Company', 'Bhoot' and much more. 'Sarkar' being one of his finest piece comes across with its sequel this weekend-'Sarkar Raj'.
Lots of pressure seems to be riding on Ramu this week as a lot lies with the success of this film.
Synopsis'.
When Anita [Aishwarya Rai Bachchan], CEO of Sheppard Power Plant, an international company, brings a power plant proposal to set up in rural Maharashtra before the Nagres, insightful Shankar [Abhishek Bachchan] is quick to realize the benefits the power plant can bring to the people. 
After convincing Sarkar [Amitabh Bachchan], who is against it for various reasons, Shankar undertakes a journey along with Anita to the villages of Maharashtra to mobilize support from the masses.
However, things are not what they seem to be and Shankar's dream project gradually becomes a political minefield. The evil forces, mightier than ever, mushroom and gang up to bring down the regime of Sarkar and obliterate Shankar's name from the political horizon. 
To begin, Ramgopal Varma makes it very clear with the sequel that film making runs right through his veins and a series of flops can't stop his creative fluids. The style Ramu maintains is topnotch and you are drawn are into the film with the camera movements and gripping background score.
The drawback in the film comes across post interval as the writing by Prashant Pandey falls short. Post interval the movie becomes more of a series of dialogues with not much movement in the flow of events. No doubt Prashant Pandey excels at writing a plot that indeed has a very much localized maharashtrian feel covering the political scenario but somewhere falls short.
On the acting front, Amitabh Bachchan is no doubt the finest amongst all characters in the film. Amitabh carries the charisma and he personifies the word 'power'. 
Abhishek Bachchan too excels with his character and seems to be highly inspired by Al Pacino's character of Michael Corleone from 'The Godfather'.
Aishwariya Rai Bachchan has been offered a very meaty and chunky role and is often seen with Abhishek in this sequel unlike Katrina in 'Sarkar'. She does impress with her dialogues and body language.
What impresses even more is the set of character artists who are terrific and just apt be it- Ravi Kale, Dilip Prabhawalkar, Sayaji Shinde and Supriya Pathak. Tanisha is ok.
The cinematography by Amit Roy is splendid. The film relies heavily on one point lighting and it's the cinematography that makes the characters look larger than life and gives them their desired power. 
The music by Bappi-Tutul is worthy of mention. The brothers have worked really hard in creating the 'Govinda Govinda' chant which has become synonymous with the 'Sarkar' series. This time around, the chant comes across with a difference but retains its authenticity.
Background score by Amar Mohile is very good and acts as a key in enhancing the dark feel of the film.
On the whole, 'Sarkar Raj 'may not be as impressive as 'Sarkar' primary due to a dip post interval ,but it is sure set to get Ramgopal Varma a lot of accolades from the very people who ruled him out. At the box- office, success awaits the producers.
Rating : ***
There are some movies that make you exclaim - "Now what was that!?" in a not-so-positive sense. 'Eklavya -The Royal Guard' is one such movie.
There are expectations galore when one ventures into theatres to watch 'Eklavya'. And why not? The film has a superb cast in place, the theme looks novel, Vidhu Vinod Chopra returns to direction after 7 years and last but not the least, it looked like a film that carried International appeal.
Alas, what you get in the end is a talk-heavy film that converges into a battle of 'dharma' and love. Nothing wrong with that but the ease with which film culminates leaves the viewer dissatisfied.
The film starts off well. Amitabh Bachchan's narration of 'The Legend of Eklavya' is well worded and kept short and simple as the titles role. Expectations of watching a polished product are raised in the very first few minutes when Rana Jaywardhan [Boman Irani], a psuedo King at Devigarh, is reading a sonnet from Shakespeare to his dying wife Rani [Sharmila Tagore].
Intrigue builds up as Rani's last wishes of seeing Eklavya [Amitabh Bachchan], the Royal Guard of Devigarh, are left unfulfilled by Rana. Each of the members of the family, Jyotiwardhan [Jackie Shroff] (Rana's younger brother), Harshwardhan [Saif Ali Khan] (Rana's son), Nandini [Raima Sen] (Rana's daughter), Udaywardhan [Jimmy Shergill] (Jyoti's son) and Rajjo [Vidya Balan] (Daughter of Rana's chauffer (Parikshit Sahni) and Harsh's childhood sweetheart) are introduced in a jiffy. Just when you start considering yourself sharp enough to start solving the mystery, Vidhu Vinod Chopra throws in a surprise by opening the cards and revealing the suspense.
The movie so far - just around 20 minutes!
One can't help but applaud VVC by this time since any other film maker may have dragged this to the limit but the director here brings on a crisp narrative.
Totally mesmerized by the experience, you surrender to VVC's vision and start looking forward to the scenes that unfold. The film continues to move on well as the jealousy angle is revealed at the end of Jyoti and Uday. Highlight of the proceedings is the outburst scene featuring the two with young Jimmy holding up brilliantly against veteran Jackie.
The film reaches the intermission point with a twist in the tale and a murder happens which no one could actually see coming. Special marks here for the action choreography by Tinu Verma since he excels in combining the fire of bullets with the running of camels in a desert with topping on the cake being a passing train.
One looks forward to an interesting second half of this short movie, especially with anticipation of fireworks from low cast DSP Pannalal Chohar [Sanjay Dutt] who makes a brief appearance in the first half. Roped in for conducting an investigation, he walks away with all the crowd pleasing lines but the length of his role in the film would make his act in 'Anthony Kaun Hai' a full length feature. But more about later!
Nevertheless, this is the phase of the film when things start becoming a little stagnant. Also the hammer strong impact that one would have expected in a 100 minutes odd film is missing. Narrative starts getting talk heavy and even though Eklavya starts 'punishing' the sinners, it becomes predictable after a point.
Former journalist turned director Samar Khan returns to direction after the collapse of Kuch Meetha Ho Jaye. This time Samar explores the very essence of bravery in a film that deals primarily with the army and its court martial procedure.
The film talks about Captain Javed Khan (Deepak Dobriyal) who is charged with killing his superior. He is also charged with mutiny and treason. And even though the case appears to be an 'open and shut' one with the army just following proceedings of the Court Martial with a Defense and a Prosecution lawyer appointed, Javed refuses to speak. Siddhanth Chaudhary (Rahul Bose) and Major Aakash Kapoor (Jaaved Jaffery) are best friends with conflicting views on the case. 
Things start getting a little sour between the friends when Major Siddhanth Chaudhary who is appointed to defend Javed, stuns his friend Major Aakash Kapoor who is the prosecuting lawyer by drawing Brigadier Pratap [Kay Kay Menon] to court. The Brigadier is questioned about his operations and techniques of functioning. Why is the Brigadier against Javed? Will Javed's silence speak up? Meanwhile, journalist Kaavya Shastri (Minisha Lamba) is out there to unveil the truth.
To start off with, Shaurya isn't a jingoistic film. It isn't an LOC or Border kind of film with bloodshed and all the works. The film is centered upon a court martial and the silence of the accused. A lot of comparisons have been drawn to Rob Reiner's 'A few good men' starring Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson with Rahul Bose essaying Tom Cruise and Kay Kay, Jack Nicholson's character.
Director Samar Khan no doubt outsmarts his previous piece of work. Shaurya has its moments but the buildup of the plot tends to get a little dragging. The first half of the film really doesn't have much to offer and the script tends to get loose. 
No doubt Samar has carefully crafted the characters and most of all, their setting. The look of the film is sleek with the militia essence being expressed in every aspect of the film be it the tidy uniforms, the court room , the body language of each and every character etc. 
The film really catches on towards the last 15mins or so. The court room sequence which has Rahul Bose questioning Kay Kay is just splendid. The dialogues are intense and just observe the way Kay Kay explodes in that scene. Kay Kay does well as Hitler's younger brother. Though he is hardly there in the film, he simply steals the show. Kay Kay is surely headed for greater roles post Shaurya.
Rahul Bose does well but certainly this isn't his finest piece of work. He walks and talks in style but certain scenes in the film could have been avoided to make the character crisp. The Rahul 'Minisha Lamba tea encounter was a waste.
Minisha Lamba on the other hand lacks believability as the journalist yet she does ok. There isn't much scope for her in the film and it's so hard to see Minisha in a role that transforms our cute Yahaan girl into a street smart journalist.
Javeed Jafary surprises you with his performance. After all those Salam Namaste and Dhamaal comic roles the actor proves that he too has genes to get serious according to the script. He too impresses in the court room sequence and elegantly carries himself.
Deepak Dobriyal is one actor who truly impresses with his silence. He carries himself with utmost poise and excels. Seema Biswas as his mother is ok. Amrita Rao is effective in a tiny role as the widow of the officer who has been shot.
Kuch chor they, ek tha sipahiSipahi ne choron ko pakda, khatam kahani!
Right? Wrong!
Because not always does law win over the lawbreakers. And sometimes it indeed turns to be fun, if breaking of law is done in as cool a manner as CASH!
Welcome to the genre of films where crime like a heist, robbery or a con act is projected in an utter harmless and ultra cool eye candy manner. CHOCOLATE, BUNTY AUR BABLI, DHOOM 2, DON, APNA SAPNA MONEY MONEY have been some of the recent films that have belonged to this genre. Now add CASH to the list!
What does one expect from a film that doesn't fake to be a SHOLAY in the making? Never once was there an indication that CASH would be embedded with heavy duty drama, emotions or 'hey, let me challenge you with my intelligence' kind of a screenplay.
The characters out here are not less than being a part of a corporate setup. They have boat -top meetings, travel business class, wear Armanis and Guccis, drive Mercs and even discuss business deals over a sip of champagne in up-market lounges. 
One has heard of business outsourcing in the corporate world. The same happens in the world of CASH too which is about stealing of a 200 carat diamond.
Outsource #1: A shady South African 50 something Uncle wants his best man (no pun intended) Suneil Shetty to steal that diamond which is valued billions in international mafia.
Outsource #2: Suneil Shetty, with his loyal partner and love Dia Mirza, plans to hand over the job to Ajay Devgan, who is coolest in this business, and doubles up as a writer for his steady girlfriend Shamita Shetty, herself a Chief of Security for the diamond.
Outsource #3: Ajay Devgan, a veteran in this crime, knows that this is not a one man job. He works with friend Esha Deol to further outsource the job to cool-n-young chaps Riteish Deshmukh and Zayed Khan.
With a series of outsource jobs happening here, Ajay, Ritiesh and Zayed take places in air, ground and water respectively. With this they cover all possible geographical hindrances to set base for crime event of the year to happen. Do they succeed? Of course, yes!
The plot is kept simple and execution steady. From the tremendous opening credit rolls as the lead actors get together to dance to the music video of the title roll to the end, when they all come together again to have some 'naughty naughty' fun, the pace never slacks. Of course the noir angle to the story telling does take a European touch at places with pauses lasting for an extra second and background music vanishing from the premise. Now that's something which is relatively new for the Indian audience but should be absorbed by them sooner or later.
While action and music are the highlight of the film, as expected, what stands out as the most entertaining part of the film is Ajay Devgan. He makes sure that he keeps his HUM DIL DE CHUKE SANAM, THE LEGEND OF BHAGAT SINGH and OMKARA act aside (a difficult task to do if you have been acknowledged big time for that) and instead focuses on coming up with a performance that is truly massy. 
He adds a bit of fun and satire to his personality that more often than not makes you giggle along. Watch him talk about his plan with Zayed/Ritiesh or his interaction with Shamita, first on phone and later in the house or his table booking for his sweetheart and you would know why!
The cultural dilemma and conflicts faced by exponents of a fading art form seem to fascinate playwright Mahesh Dattani. In Morning Raga, a Carnatic singer comes to terms with past tragedy and present exigencies through her association with the young.
And in Dance Like A Man, which Pamela Rooks directs from Dattani's layered and luminous play, we meet two bharatanatyam dancers Ratna and Jairaj in the declining years of their professional lives.
Initially, we see the couple completely from the outside, first from the viewpoint of their purported son-in-law Vishal (Sameer Soni) and then their daughter Lata (Anoushka Shankar). This deliberate exteriorization of the narrative makes us stand outside the protagonists' lives and yet be part of them.
Pamela Rooks, whose adaptation of Khushwant Singh's The Train To Pakistan captured much of the exacerbated ethos of those troubled times in 1947, here goes for a more intimate portrait of fissures. We see two fairly anachronistic characters Ratna (Sobhana) and Jairaj (Arif Zakaria) as two individuals trapped in a cultural chasm.
At times the politics of aesthetics are shown to seep into their lives with unsettling brutality, rendering their mutual and uncommon love for a common art into a fight for self-assertion rather than reason for collaborative creativity.
At first when we see the dancing couple from Vishal's viewpoint, Jairaj and Ratna with their dance-is-life theory of existence appear ridiculously self-absorbed. The conversation among the trio is so tangential as to appear ridiculous. While Vishal wants to broach the subject of their daughter's marriage, the couple is only concerned about their daughter's endangered 'arangetram' (dance initiation) as the mridangam player has broken his hand.
The sequence is constructed as a typical chamber piece with minimal camera movement and optimum communication of complex emotions through the expressions of the actors as they plunge into their characters with a relish afforded only in a cinema that allows its emotions to emerge through the characters, and not vice versa.
In what can be termed an opera-in-reverse, Rooks records the bitterness, and undercurrent of rivalry between the couple in a spiral of tones that goes from their future son-in-law's mild amusement to a grim and greatly disconcerting debate on high art and its exploitation, even by those who practise it with seeming single-mindedness.
As the slim but profound story unfolds we see Ratna to be a woman of many devices. Partly a devoted wife and defiant daughter-in-law (watch Sobhana carefully in the sequence with pa-in-law Mohan Agashe where she bursts into a totally improper giggle when reminded of the effeminate nature of male dancing), Ratna also unravels before us as a woman who has perhaps used her husband to further her own vastly superior dancing talents.
In his expressions of bitter anguish and yet smothered rage, Arif Zakaria reminds us of Amitabh Bachchan in Hrishikesh Mukherjee's Abhimaan. The male ego cannot comprehend the phenomenon of the spouse overtaking his talent. Though this is a far more complex film than Abhimaan, Dance Like A Man finally seems more stagy than other films about two professionals married to one another who fall apart in the race to the top.
Unlike Mahesh Dattani, who has deliberately denuded his film Morning Raga of the theatrical element, Pamela Rooks seems to revel in the staginess of the original material. 
Producer Subi Samuel should re-think about his plans of making a sequel to 'Alag'. For the basic concept of this superhuman tryst-with-destiny is not going to have a smooth ride at the Box Office. In spite of genuinely honest intentions, this tale of a 'gifted' young man isolated from the rest of the world for eighteen years and his craving for acceptance failed to grip me as an audience. I did shed a tear or two at the pathos ignited by the protagonist's dilemma but I guess it was more because of fantastic acting by newcomer Akshay Kapoor than the implausible storyline.
I've never heard so many people die of lightening in Mahabaleshwar, but then 'Alag' is different. Hemant Rastogi (Yateen Karmakar) dies of heart attack as he is hurriedly taking off clothes before the nature's fury strikes with full force. Inspector Uncle (Sharath Saxena) discovers a bald young man Tejas Rastogi (Akshay Kapoor) in the basement of the house who has not seen the sunlight of the world for the last eighteen years. Inspector ji deputes psychologist Poorva Raana (Dia Mirza) for 'taking care of him' as he hasn't interacted with anyone other than his father and the million books that he had read. 
Tejas was born special. His mother died due to lightening but he survived in spite of being with her. Hemant Rastogi gradually finds out that his son's eyes can't stand the blistering sunlight. Moreover, due to some strange reason (Medically improbable) he has this 'unique' gift of being electrically charged. When he is angry, current flows from his body that can kill a person. It was because of this reason that the father shielded his son from the rest of the world for his own and other's safety. 
Poorva, for some weird reason takes Tejas to an institution meant for delinquent students. The goggle on his eyes is followed by lenses, but still his quest for acceptance goes awry as the 'tapori' mates never lose an opportunity to make fun of him. They are awestruck by his spoon-magnet tricks while he imagines himself in song-n-dance situations with Poorva, the woman whom he had come to love silently. The story moves forward by trial and tribulation, electrocution, culmination of infatuation in mutual love and admiration. Since there had to be suspense then there's a Dr Richard Dyer (Tom Alter), a California-born-scientist-settled-in-Virar who wants to unmask the capacity of human mind. Tejas is the right man for he can cure people by just putting his hand on their head. 
I desperately searched for some logical reasoning in the situations afflicting Tejas, but director Ashu Trikha was too obsessed with concentrating on superlative special effects rather than working on a believable storyline. I agree the special effects team at Visual EFX have done a terrific job. But writer Tagore Almeida shouldn't have taken the term 'cinematic-license' for granted. The climax is amateurishly put together and one never feels a sense of satiation. 
The best part about 'Alag' is Akshay Kapoor. This dude is Hot Money. His controlled body language, charismatic dance steps, deft handling of the emotional scenes and well executed action sequences makes him a complete package. It is his internalized honesty and dedication that makes you Move with a sigh. Once he gets better roles in the commercial bracket, he is surely gonna go places. Dia Mirza returns in the 'main lead' segment after doing bit roles in 'Parineeta', 'Dus' and even gyrating to an item song in 'Phir Hera Pheri'. To be fair to her she has looked good and has done a decent job, though she doesn't have much to do anyway. 
Akshay Kumar is one actor who is creating a big market for himself by playing diverse roles over the last 3-4 years. If he was marvelous in comic flicks like 'Mujhse Shaadi Karogi' and 'Garam Masala', then watch out for 'Deewane Huye Paagal' where he simply rocks. Needless to say, DHP is one movie that not even a single Akshay Kumar fan would want to miss as it is he who carries the movie on his shoulders from beginning till the end - LITERALLY. And this is what that makes DHP a highly enjoyable fare!
Director Vikram Bhatt had his last hit 3 years back when he came up with 'Awara Paagal Deewana'. After five flops [Footpath, Inteha, Aetbaar, Elaan, Jurm], he is on his way for his long awaited hit with the APD team of Akshay Kumar, Suneil Shetty, Paresh Rawal, Johney Lever and Om Puri. 
Story line of the movie is very simple. In fact simple to an extent that you don't really realize any story throughout the proceedings that are primarily made of some out rightly hilarious and witty moments. It won't be an understatement to say that it is the gags that come one after another that make DHP a highly enjoyable fare. 
Karan [Shahid Kapoor] is a young college boy with braces who is silently in love with his college mate Tanya [Rimmi Sen], an upcoming singer and dancer. There is no time wasted in showing any unwanted college moments or romance as Tanya witnesses the murder of a scientist [Om Puri] and flees to Dubai to save her life. Things unfold pretty quickly as three years pass by with Karan turning into a handsome man from being a gawky teenager.
He still hasn't forgotten Tanya and with help of his friend and mentor [Johney Lever] arranges for a street-smart guy Rocky [Akshay Kumar] to search for Tanya. Once in Dubai, Rocky and his 'assistant' [Vijay Raaz] take no time in getting to know the whereabouts of Tanya who now lives as Natasha with her aunt and a mentally imbalanced man Tommy [Paresh Rawal] whom she had accidentally hit with her car. While Tommy is in love with her, she has a protective friend in the form of Sanju [Suneil Shetty], a handicapped man who walks with the help of crutches. Sanju too loves Tanya and if this wasn't enough, there is a blind man [Asrani] on the street opposite her house who keeps hitting her every now and then. In all this mayhem, even Rocky can't help himself falling for her. Meanwhile Karan reaches Dubai and finds Tanya in love with Rocky!
While everyone tries to outdo the other, there is more fun in the store as the scientist's brother [Om Puri, in a double role] reaches Dubai with his son [Suresh Menon] and his goons to get the secret code of a secret formula that was left by his brother with Tanya. And guess what; even Suresh Menon is in love with her from the college days.
Karan, Rocky, Tommy, Sanju along with Asrani and Suresh Menon. Six men after one woman. And if this is not all, there is an ex-lover of Tanya too! What follows next is anyone's guess! A hilarious outing that keeps you in splits from end to end.
Vikram Bhatt excels yet again in presenting a comic caper that doesn't allow you to take a break for a single moment. Yes, most of the scenes are loud [they are meant to be in a movie belonging to this genre]. But the good part is that none of them are repetitive with audience looking forward to the next sequence to follow. There is not a single comic scene that one can point out as the mainstay of the enterprise as each of them have been equally treated with a consistent flow throughout. The common factor in each of the scenes is Akshay Kumar who simply eats up anyone on the frame. He is loud, he is unmannered and yet he is immensely likeable. A role that is bound to get him a nomination for all the popular awards.
Yeah! When you've a British Filmmaker and Indian Artists are on the show, 'a mind-boggling' magic goes on. For sure, you wouldn't need an illustration for this. Richard Attenborough's 'The Gandhi' touched the feat of honor. Now, after 27 years, here the Indian dreams getting accomplished yet again. Thanks to Danny Boyle who has made us wonder how versatile filmmakers of our Country weren't able to present such a mirror-image of Mumbai, its beauty and the other side. Precisely, it's worthy calling the film as the 'Good-Bad-and-The Ugly' of Mumbai. Indeed, the British Filmmaker endows us with a tremendous piece of work. Well, this flick isn't merely about 'A Slumdog turning millionaire overnight', but the heart-and-soul encounters faced by a lad on his way from 'Rags to Riches'.
Ever heard about the line 'Reality Bites', you should have. A staggering film that offers you surprises and irresistible shocks that even Mumbaikers wouldn't have noticed. If you're looking out for any messages to be perceived - yeah, you've one. 'Bitter experiences making you stumble down are the stimulants to successes'. Don't assume this to be Danny's statements; but it is for those audiences who expect a solid substance from it.
Accused of cheating and desperate to prove his innocence, an eighteen-year-old orphan from the slums of Mumbai reflects back on his tumultuous life while competing to win 20 million rupees on India's 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire' in Danny Boyle's inspirational drama. Jamal Malik (Dev Patel) may not have a penny to his name, but that could all change in a matter of hours. He's one question away from taking the top prize on India's most popular television game show, but as with everything else in Jamal's life, it isn't going to be easy.
Arrested by police under suspicion of cheating, Jamal is interrogated by the authorities. The police simply can't believe that a common (Slumdog) could possibly possess the knowledge to get this far into a brain game game, and in order to convince them of how he gained such knowledge, Jamal begins reflecting back on his childhood. As young boys, Jamal and his older brother, Salim, lived in squalor, and lost their mother in a mob attack on Muslims. Subsequently forced to rely on their own wits to survive, the desperate siblings fell back on petty crime, eventually befriending adorable yet feisty young Latika as they sought out food and shelter on the unforgiving streets of Mumbai.
Though life on the streets was never easy, Jamal's experiences ultimately instilled in him the knowledge he needed to answer the tough questions posed to him on 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire'. Though Jamal makes a convincing case for himself, one question still remains: why would a young man with no apparent desire for wealth or fame be so determined to win big on a national game show? Of course, it won't be long until everyone finds out the answer to this burning question, because as Jamal sits down to find out whether he will be rich beyond his wildest dreams, 60 million viewers remain transfixed to their televisions eager to see if he'll correctly answer the final question. 
It's merely not the expositions of Mumbai and Vikas Swaroop's 'Q
Check out the list of star-casts, everybody on the title cards steals the show with their exceptional performance sans flawlessness. Dev Patel has an inborn talent that's so evident on his gestures and actions on every frame. The glimpse on his reactions as Irrfan questions 'Who's there on 100 rupee Indian Note?' his fantastic spell of reaction would never stop anyone from applauding. Watching this guy glimpsing on his past for the last question of 'Three Musketeers' and smiling cheerfully, would again make you hail him with praises. 'An outstanding actor' and that's it.
Well, you don't have Frieda Pinto appearing for more than 30mins (3 different girls on different ages of Latika's characterization). But, gets her depicted attractive sans a lavish makeover' Madhur Mittal as Older Salim overwhelms with sparkling acting especially in the penultimate sequences. Wanna hear his Punch dialogues? 'Eeee'easy', 'Aaraamse'.', 'I'm at the centre of centre'.
Anil Kapoor deserves great appraisals for the bold attempt of picking a characterization of negative shades. Irrfan Khan with his casual efforts picks your attention. Saurabh Shukla does his characterization which is presented with finesse.
The technical aspects are enthralling. We have never seen Mumbai's slums so deeply. The cinematographer doesn't fail to capture even the minutest props with the best-innovative placements of camera angles. Bird's eye view of Mumbai's slums is over-the-top..
As icing on the cake, the Musical score by Rahman makes it big with the visual perception. To a certain extent, title song 'O Saayo' seems to be carrying the traces of opening scene in Fernando Meirelles' 'City of God'. Rahman's earnest involvement in getting along with creative thoughts of the cinematographer and Danny Boyle has yielded the best results. Doubtlessly, 'Jai Ho' and 'O...Saayo' are electrifying making you feel to watch it over again for many times. Nithin Desai's set decoration of 'Kaun Banega Crorepathi' and the marvelous Taj Mahal are a masterpiece. 
On the whole, 'Slumdog Millionaire' has various reasons to capture everyone's attention. Probably, the most top-charting show of 'Who wants to be a Millionaire', 'Kaun Banega Crorepathi' should have earlier pulled everyone. Nevertheless, there's something more close to your hearts than these factors of emotional vistas. A beautifully portrayed romance bounded with lots of hurdles in the union till last moment is sure to melt down your hearts.
Verdict: Watch it any cost'. Even, if a ticket costs a million dollars!!! 
Rating : ****1/2
There are some films for which curiosity level is near to zilch even till the day of their release. Number of factors contribute to such utter lack of interest in a project. A drab synopsis, below average songs, uninspiring promos, limited publicity and hardly striking visuals. A few looks at the promos and you kind of decide there and then that this is not the kind of movie you want to spend your money on.
KAISEY KAHEIN is one such film. As unfair as it may sound, the fact is that this is certainly not the film which is expected to bring in a horde of viewers on the first show. Neither is it a hardcore romantic entertainer (which most newcomers debut in) nor is it a comedy which is the flavor of the season. And sadly the element of drama which is projected in the promos just doesn't make you open your mouth wide and wait for the film to arrive.
Now all of this is before the release of the film. So what happens next? One watches the film and concludes if this is a film which could now work on word of mouth? Again, as unfortunate as it may sound, but KAISE KAHEN is not really the film that you would end up recommending one and all to watch at theaters. Is it a bad film? Not really, but then people may rather watch it in the comfort of their homes rather than walking all the way to a multiplex.
Two ambitious youngsters [Rajveer and Neha] are like hundreds of others who we see around in big cities. Looking at making it big in their respective fields [banking and journalism] they try to manage their personal and professional lives. Spending time with each other, they are practical enough to realize that life is not just a bed of roses and along with that comes sacrifice, loss and pain.
To his credit, director Mohit Hussein has chosen a different subject but the matter of the fact is that this is not the kind of subject which could make for a compulsive cinematic viewing. Probably on TV, one could make a soap opera out of it as with 1000 episodes but for a film, it just doesn't fit in well. Also, though the film has a different storyline and treatment, it does remind one of couple of other films based on being practical in love like MUJHE KUCH KEHNA HAI and KYA LOVE STORY HAI.
The film's pacing is right as suited for a genre like this but blame it on the screenplay which comes in the way of an interesting storytelling. At times, it becomes all too practical whereas at moments, the twist in the tale is hardly funny. In totality, the single most factor - your heart going out to the protagonists - doesn't work in the film's favor as you remain thoroughly passive to the situations as depicted on the screen.
Both Rajveer and Neha make a decent debut though not the kind which would make them as the next BIG thing on the horizon. Still, both have a decent enough screen presence to help them get further opportunities.
KAISE KAHEN is one of the many dozen films which release at the theaters every year but fade away without leaving much of a mark. Yes, it's an honest attempt but not good enough to make you go gaga over it. Catch it on the telly!
Rating: **
I managed to grab a front row seat (Minutes before the house full board was flashed by a proud usher at the ticket window) an hour prior to the second show of 'Phir Hera Pheri' in a premium multiplex in Mumbai. And going by the rocking public response to this laugh riot, I am quite sure the house full board will be a permanent fixture in the days ahead. It is good news for 'Krrish' producer-director Rakesh Roshan. For, 'Phir Hera Pheri' breaks the jinx that sequels never work in India. It's a 'paisa vasool' film that will give you far too many gags to cherish-n-enjoy. 
Welcome once again to the mercurial world of the awesome-tri-some Baburao Ganpat Rao Apte (Paresh Rawal), Raju (Akshay Kumar) and Shyam (Suniel Shetty). The three incorrigible partners, who just can't live-or-live-without-each-other. Taking a cue from Priyadarshan's original version, the story moves forward on the bumpy terrain. The riches that the trio had acquired, courtesy the benevolence of Devi Prasad (Whose granddaughter they had rescued from the dreaded Kabira) is 'invested' in a chit fund scheme on the insistence of idea-man Raju who also cons a local thug Pappu (Rajpal Yadav) to pump in some of his own money so that it could get doubled in twenty five days. The simple looking Anuradha (Bipasha Basu), the manager of the chit fund scheme dupes them of their money and they are left with no option other than selling their bungalow to get back to the stinking Mumbai 'chawl'. 
Thereafter, their life is a roller coaster ride from one mishap to another. Pappu gets after Raju while Raju finds out that Anuradha is a bar dancer. He also develops affection for his new landlord's daughter Anjali (Rimi Sen) who turns out to be Pappu's sister. Pappu on his part is being harassed by his boss (Sharath Saxena) and his brother (Ravi Kisan) both of whom have an incredulous lisping disorder. For repaying their debt, the three musketeers rob their neighbour Munna (Johny Lever), a local thug with a big haul of expensive drugs. What follows is one dog catching hold of another one's tail. And the tale-of-laughter marches forward. Non-stop!
'Phir Hera Pheri' is a winner all the way. But it's not without its bloopers. In Mumbai city even a 1BHK at Carter Road, Bandra costs more than Rs 70 lakhs, then how can a plush swanky bungalow with a huge swimming pool can be sold at merely Rs 50 lakh while three antique guns are showed to be worth more than Rs 5 crores. Bipasha Basu's dubbed voice defies reason as to why should her deep bassy voice be replaced by a squeaky one. The screen time given to both her and Rimi is pathetically small while Suniel Shetty's jaded performance screams the fact that, Anna must concentrate only on character or supporting roles from here on as his time as a lead hero is up. A couple of songs are unnecessarily added to accommodate foreign locations. And producer Feroze Nadiadwala's fixation for bikini clad bimbettes shaking their bum or two defiantly continues. 
After the bad news comes the good one. Except for a few blemishes, 'Phir Hera Pheri' relaxes you completely. In fact, it showers more laughter than what you may have asked for. The circus climax reminds you of the Ramlila episode in Kundan Shah's 'Jaane Bhi Do Yaron' for its sheer farcical comic element. In spite of a huge star cast, one man who emerges like a breath of fresh air is Akshay Kumar. He does the incredible by outsmarting even the irrepressible Paresh Rawal. His Rs 1000 rupee note antics bring the house down with guffaws-galore. It's a delight seeing him honing his craft and at the same it's very clear that he is having a great time doing what he is doing. 
"He is one Di#$head...""Fu#$ you...""Wo Uski Nahi Teri Le Raha Tha...""I will take care of you on bed and make you a whore..."
When you hear dialogues like these, you know for sure two things.
a) That you have entered into the youth zone. A zone where statements like these are common and mouthed not just by guys but also hip-n-happening urban girls.b) That the Censors have become much liberal. No more annoying beeps here since profanities are let go as long as they are in the realms of a film and are justified.
Well, this indeed is justified as DIL DOSTI ETC. could well be the middle-class Delhi setting for an up market DIL CHAHTA HAI setting in Mumbai/Sydney. Here too the film is about contrasting characters who bring with them different perspectives and thoughts.
So what does film maker Manish Tiwary do different here? Rather than showing them as predictable cardboard characters because of their background, he projects them as more humane and the kind who could take a different direction depending more on the circumstances rather than the way they have been brought into their youth.
This is why the character of Imaad Shah, inspite of a richie-rich background, chooses to stay in a run down Delhi University hostel room. And no, it is (thankfully) not because of he didn't get 'baap ka pyaar aur maa ka dulaar'. It's just because of a choice he wishes to make.
On the other hand Shreyas Talpade, a guy from Bihar who wants to make a difference in the world of politics, learns a technique very early in his young career - hit strong and hit first to be a winner. One would expect the roughness in his acts to touch upon his personality too but that's not the case as he believes that love is for the keeps and not a stray one night stand or the kind which allows his woman to walk a ramp in a two piece bikini.
Each of the three women has a lot to contribute to the lives of Imaad and Shreyas. Nikita Anand, who gets a good role to sink her teeth in, is confidence personified and is a contradiction when one looks at stereotype up market characterization of most Bollywood heroines. Even with the support of a wealthy father who motivates her to deliver best by being in shape and exude confidence for walking a ramp, she makes the first move towards a rough Shreyas.
Young Isshita Sharrma looks every bit a school girl who certainly puts a price over her virginity, knows well about the birds and bees, lets herself go off only for the guy whom she feels is right (though only for the moment) and doesn't regret a bit when things don't really work out in entirety.
And no, she is not a hottie waiting to be taken. She is just one of those coy, little girls you come across in your vicinity, pass them off as being too difficult to be pleased, only to be surprised to find them different from how they look and act. Hence a dialogue in the narrative of the film too - 'Never judge a book by it's cover'!
The third key female protagonist is a down-market prostitute [Smrita Mishra] who certainly understands that a relationship with a 'cusshtomer' (as she says) doesn't stay beyond a bed. She does have her weak moments though as she goes on a stroll with her regular [Imaad] in Connaught Place and later longs for him when he takes out his mo-bike through narrow lanes of GB Road, never to come back again.
The man who can't be missed out in this two hour leisurely tale of love, sex and the choices one makes in life is that of Dinesh Kumar. An average looker who could be lost in the crowd of hundreds in a campus, Dinesh shoscases the kind of talent that made Deepak Dobriyal a known face in OMKARA.
This one was supposed to be one of the most awaited movies of the year for various reasons. Firstly, it brings back the 'selective role choosing' Mallika Sherawat alongside Rahul Bose. The two had a huge success story last year with 'Pyaar Ke Side Effects' and thus a repeat is expected here.
Also there is lots more value in terms of the talented Paresh Rawal , Kay Kay Menon and Zakir Hussain. Things get even better when the title revolves around one of hindi cinema's most successful venture till date.
Maybe the title may be good enough to provide a hampering rebound effect.
Synopsis..
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. Louise near Goa, where Police, CBI and RAW officers were out 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 indulgent dreamy actors who are always left with no choice but to perform the same age old period play 'Maan Gaye 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 this 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!!!
'Maan Gaye'..' is well set within the parameters of the local theatre company and the noise produced by various characters involved with this theatre company. The movie takes off well with some really hilarious dialogues one after the other.
And then What?
There are a lot more of these dialogues with the film really not taking a step ahead. Sanjay Chel has no doubt been one of bollywood's most successful dialogue writers with film's such as 'Rangeela' , 'Yes Boss' etc to mention a few. Even as a director, he did well with his debut 'Khoobsurat' starring Sanjay Dutt and Urmila. 
But, this one is seriously lame with all the focus being laid on the dialogues and the so called comedy flick getting its patriotic angle etc which is plain silly.
The film has definitely been inspired from the Hollywood flick 'To Be or Not to Be' starring Mel Brooks . The change here comes in the form of the shift from a Nazi environment to a riot prone Mumbai of the 90's. 
There are has been immense emphasis of Mallika Sherawat and her assets that the likes of Kay Kay , Rahul Bose and Paresh Rawal become insignificant.
What was all that undercover agent stuff and the words 'Mulk','Quam' etc doing in this comedy flick. It just made people look like clowns.
Mallika Sherawat does have some comic scenes with Kay Kay and her interaction sequences with Rahul too are funny. Mallika uses her oomph factor and brings in comedy specially cause of the support she receives from an actor like Paresh Rawal. 
Paresh Rawal no doubt does well but leaves you with nothing much as the jokes and dialogues get repetitive. Kay Kay menon, What was he doing in this flick? He was so insignificant and was a cut paste of Naseeruddin Shah from 'Sarfarosh'. It's quite amazing that the very same Paresh and Kay Kay who were absolutely underused have brilliant roles to play in the competitor film of the week-'Mumbai Meri Jaan'.
Rahul Bose who started his career real well on a more serious role , has now started getting commercialized. The masses did love his bit in 'Pyaar Ke side Effects' , but he needs to take scripts with some substance. He was fantastic with comedy in 'Jhankaar Beats' but in this one he falls flat and his hindi needs major improvement.
Pawan Malhotra does well and Zakir Hussain is ok.
All the naach-Gaana courtesy Anu Malik is not good enough to hold the masses except for 'Marmari Baatein'. The music of the film too isn't great and visuals of the songs aren't appealing enough.
The movie requires some serious trimming and the cinematography is ok.
Chel has indeed excelled with his dialogues but not much emphasis has been laid on the script. Thus, this flick just ends up being nothing much but an overdose of one liners and witty remarks.
Rating : *1/2
He runs faster than a race horse. Glides and slides from skyscrapers with ease. Climbs on trees-n-mountains with the electrifying zeal of a monkey after a truckload-of-bananas. When he beats a horde of bad men you are convinced that he wouldn't get hurt. Like a true hero he saves little children from a fire-in-the-circus. And when he zips past a school bus on the way to demolish the evil, the magic faces of small girls and boys scream in unison'.It's KRRISH!!!! Director Rakesh Roshan has capitalized upon the colossal popularity of his son Hrithik amongst the kids. For 'Krrish' is made for them. And the only man who could have done justice to the genre of superhero in terms of style-n-substance is none other than the green eyed Hrithik Roshan. 
'Krrish' is a sequel to 'Koi Mil Gaya'. The sweet-n-amiable-alien Jadoo is not coming back any more. The power bestowed by him on pal Rohit Mehra (Hrithik Roshan Senior) made him a genius. Dr Siddhanth Arya (Naseeruddin Shah), a 'great' scientist and the owner of the biggest Information Technology Company of the world Technotronics, employs him to make a computer by which the humanity can see the future. Rohit dies under mysterious circumstances after achieving the impossible. Nisha (Preity Zinta) gives birth to their son Krishna (Hrithik Roshan Junior) who is blessed with Rohit's special powers. Sonia Mehra (Rekha) shields Krishna from the world after Nisha's death as she realizes that her grandson is extraordinarily intelligent with an amazing capacity for doing physically challenging things.
The protective grandmom is unable to scaffold Krishna with emotions once he grows up into a handsome young dude with long hair and a whacko dressing sense (A village bumpkin need not look like a local-from-the-ancient-era). Priya (Priyanka Chopra) from Singapore lands on the runway of his heart with a thud of a parachute. After playing ghostly tales with her band of picnic-cum-adventure-sports-aficionado friends, Krishna loses his heart to pretty Priya. She is mesmerized by his special talents like catching a fish with his hands, breaking a rock with the power of his volleyball and beating hefty men in a tug of war all alone. Krishna lands up in Singapore to proposition Priya who has her own little reason for getting him there. The story fast forwards and under exciting circumstances, Krishna has to turn into Krrish to do the job of the savior.
EFX, responsible for spellbinding special effects have done a marvelous job. Action by Shyam Kaushal and Tony Ching Siu Tung is the best you've seen in Indian cinema so far. And the man who made it all possible Hrithik Roshan deserves a standing ovation. Be it the action, the emotional scenes, the sensitivity-n-romance, the comic scenes, the consistent look throughout the film and the fact that he has done most of the miss-a-heartbeat stunts himself makes you applaud for the sheer conviction and belief that he has had in 'Krrish'. He has small portions where he plays the weak and numb Rohit Mehra (Hrithik Roshan Senior). But I must say, he makes even those small portions gut wrenchingly brilliant. Here I must add that if it were not for the magnetism of Hrithik, 'Krrish' as a story wouldn't have worked for me. Why'Read on'.
Take an intriguing suspense story the sort of story you'd see on a one-hour tv series like Star Bestsellers or Saturday Suspense -- cast it with low to middling star value actors of the acting caliber you see on Television every second day, throw in some random songs that wouldn't have been missed had they not been there in the first place, and what do you get? A very well shot and edited suspense drama that holey cow! has got a convenient screenplay plagued by one huge hole that you cannot ignore, and which therefore, renders half the film as implausible. But if you can be so kind as to overlook the convenience of the screenplay, Aksar does hold your attention in places.
Risen-from-Television director Anant Mahadevan's Aksar is about a womanizing fashion photographer Rikki, who generally wakes up each morning with a different woman in his bed whose name too he can't remember. A man doesn't spend a night with a woman to find out her name is the stylized line this most unlikely looking Casanova uses to make his dry point! But the long and short of it is that Rikki is a lady killer who has models in fact womankind eating out of his hand, and who, before long, is hired by a millionaire young NRI, I'm-not-a-killer Rajveer (Dino Morea) for a strange assignment. Turns out the NRI is saddled with a wife Sheena (Udita Goswami) for three years now, and they don't get along. Rajveer wants out, Sheena wants to continue with the good life her pre-nuptial agreement with Raj has assured her for this lifetime (she owns half of his millions now), and guess what Raj does?
He approaches Ricky to seduce Sheena, so Raj can catch them in the act and throw Sheena out of his life on charges of adultery.
That happens soon enough. Raj walks in on the philandering twosome after a steamy session, but there's a shock waiting for him. Instead of being scared due to guilt, Sheena is brazen and defiant! Cool as a cucumber, and tells Raj to shove off she has no regrets I'm just fulfilling the the vow I took during our wedding to emulate you in all that you do! You womanize too, and I'm only emulating you! Now get out I'm tired (sik!) and I need my sleep!
The door slams on Raj's face in the story, and in the screenplay, it slams on logic. If Raj wanted to throw Sheena out of his life, all he had to do was get proof of the adultery she's now openly committing with an equally brazen Ricky -- who's now refusing to go back -- and he could have got his divorce, end of story! But wait! The film's reached only 60% of its running time yet, so what does Mahadevan do? He makes Raj the regretful and slightly jealous husband who wants her back! Who pleads with Sheena to return to him, coz he's seen the folly of having neglected her. But Ricky and Sheena carry on, singing and smooching away to gay abandon, and the helpless I'k-not-a-killer Raj just mopes, waiting in vain! Till suddenly, Ricky is murdered!
So the slightly intriguing adult marital drama now changes tracks to suspense, and before long, someone gets their comeuppance, and we have a twist in the tale ending that's rather well stylized with dialogue and action.
On the thematic level, Jo Bole So Nihaal shows a rustic boorish Jat chasing his chief adversary all the way from his village in Punjab to New York. What follows should have been a non-stop laugh riot. 
Unfortunately, director Rahul Rawail seems to think a great idea is all that he needed to make his leading man rise and shine in a droll design.
Undoubtedly Sunny Deol is in his element playing the dim-witted but street-wise Jat cop in New York, using his native cunning and his mother (Surekha Sikri's) blessings to get the better of a cluster of New Yorkers, including a bunch of inept FBI guys who behave more like junior artistes in a skit on post-colonial vendetta than a satire on the Indian in blunderland.
And you really can't blame Sunny for doing his act with less gusto than expected. The script and dialogues let him down most of the time. 
Sanjay Chhel's dialogues are surprisingly tepid. Newcomer Shilpi (playing an under-dressed FBI agent who keeps pulling the gun on Sunny with phallic aggression) growls menacingly when the jumping Jat calls her a 'whore'.
But not to worry. Nihal Singh just wants to use the word Punjabi word 'aur' to rhyme with the word for a woman of easy virtue.
This is as funny as the dialogues get. Then when you add the substantial fall in the humour level in the second half (with the exchange between a clownish Punjabi couple who lisp obscenities to each other, taking the amusement to rock-bottom status) you have one of the most unrealized and unfulfilled comedies in recent times.
Sure, Sunny makes you smile. His inherently artless technique of taking on crises in the solar plexus comes in handy in dealing with a situation that seems to be inspired the Australian comedy Crocodile Dundee, at least in the way the rustic hero takes on the sophisticated metro.
Sunny is there in almost every frame. He keeps giving the gora-log a mouthful. In a sense his role as the turbaned terror-buster is an extension of what Sunny did in Gadar. Take the enemies on in their own domain and come home triumphant.
The formula is just not used to optimum advantage. Maybe the director needed to polish up his act better. Parts of the film are clumsily scripted and shot. Check out the sequences on the cruiser where Sunny pretends to be his own double to get the better of his adversary, who incidentally adds to the confusion by being dressed as a Sardarji. 
The problem is, the comedy can't make up its mind whether it wants to be a satire or slapstick. The narrative is finally much of neither. It all adds up to a whole lot of chaotic mayhem about gangsters and terrorists.
The simulated explosions in New York are laughably puny. And the songs are more catastrophic than 9/11.
For a Sunny Deol vehicle, the film seems to resort to too many cut corners which give the end-product a skittish and sloppy look. A pity, since you expected a Sunny Deol comedy to have more to offer than just a scattered smattering of laughter.
Sunny gets little support from script or director. The latter, incidentally, is busy playing actor. Rahul Rawail as a grotesque gangster in sinister glasses makes you wince. The rest of the actors, including the brilliant Surekha Sikri who hams to the hilt, follow suit.
Sunny stands tall. But he is surrounded by creative midgets hiding behind watery mirth which finally drowns the lead actor's towering presence.
It's so execrable to see one of the best producers in town churning a flick sans strong substance. On other terms, John Abraham and Abhishek Bachchan turn to be the hapless guys picking a flimsy script in hand. Uh-huh! We aren't pertained about the roles they perform, but Director Tarun Manshukhani conks out in spelling perfect personations. Merely, Karan Johar gears up as the lollapaloozas of big producer, who just merely pick out the scripts that have funny characters and nothing else. Was Karan scatterbrained while heeding to Tarun's script? Alas! Maybe for a young lad or missy of 16-25yrs, Dostana savors as grand fiestas of fun and frolic. While for others, it's a ridiculous flick to kill your time.
Wow! The promos just could have shot-your-adrenalines with sizzling missies Shilpa and Priyanka in bikinis and swimsuits. On the pars, John with his machismos walking on sun-kissing beaches of Miami and smart Abhishek should have enthralled filles and buckos. Patently, these tactics could've been the best mantras of filling producers' sacs for first weekend. 
It's all happening in the Beach Party Capitol of the world...Miami is the setting for Dharma Productions latest offeringDostana- serving a cocktail of all ingredient to do with Friendship, Fun, Frolic and that thing called Love... but with a slight twist - there is a small case of pretending to be Gays!!
When Sameer (Abhishek Bachchan) and Kunal (John Abraham) are turned down for an apartment because the landlady doesn't want two strapping young men to corrupt her young sexy niece Neha (Priyanka Chopra) they go to plan 'G' - they pretend to be 'Gay' to secure the apartment.All is well till they meet the sexy siren Neha and thus begins a journey of fun frolic and a test of friendship like never before. When Neha's boss Abhimanyu (Bobby Deol) enters the fray as the third contender for her affections, it gets even hotter under everyone's vests and bikinis and the boys get down and dirty in sunny Miami.
Perhaps, for a fine-rigid-reason, many audiences may not have likeliness for this kind of flick. Of course, it hasn't got a fogeyish theme, but something running above-their-heads. We're sure cloggy concepts of homo-sexuality may cling to the top-of-charts in Hollywood or foreign films. Nay ' it would take few years for these sensitive themes to be in simplistic perception. For everyone's attentions, this isn't a piece stockpiling from Hollywood's Brokeback Mountain. Yeah! The synopsis should've precisely got it clear-cut for you'.
Narration goes crisp with fun-filled moments of alpha-till-omega, except few penultimate minutes. Watch out for performance of Abhishek's narration of 'Pyaar Ka Kahani with John Abraham' in Venice; just call it 'awesome'. Patently, scenarios are similar with encounters of John and Abhishek with Boman Irani and a guy getting in for inspection. Merriments spelled by these buddies, especially by John for 'Beedi' song of Omkara are just rib-trickling. Furthermore, laughter breaks out with our nerves loosened with Kirron Kher's juncture.
On the first half, things are just riveting on John Abraham, Abhishek Bachchan and their gimmicks of stealing shows. Yeah, alluring missy Priyanka Chopra with her gorgeous looks doesn't brim up top-notched performance. Somehow, as the story shifts to her on the latter half, she is pushed into limelight with Bobby Deol on her side.
Bobby with lippy clean-handed looks picks your attention with his minimal sequences. A small kid donning his son's role is there marking smiles on your lips. And again, best laughter kicks-up with John and Abhi screening the kid with 'Maa' song from Taare Zameen Par, imbuing him to separate his papa and Priyanka. Of course, kid turns to be main content of emotions for Bobby getting away from his ladylove. Hats off to Boman Hirani; his performance on cameo role is just great. Nevertheless, it would have been prissy if he hadn't nabbed this role.
Director Tarun Manshukhani coalesces jejunely- crafted script with far-fetched winning over vistas. Possibly, a perfect conceptualization of the existing tale and narrative would have made it appealing for overall audiences.
Spare Vishal-Shekar for their feet-tapping numbers 'Desi Girl' and 'Maa Da Laadla Bigad Gaya'. Rest of the songs isn't so beguiling, but Ayananka Bose rescues them with his enchanting cinematography. Exotic locations of Miami have been well-captured and extend your best merits for him. Salim-Sulaiman's background score is over-the-top, especially in humorous episodes. Costumes designed by Aki Narula and Manish Malhotra are staggeringly beauteous. Abhishek's shirt-with-collars-pinned-veils and Priyanka's apparels are mind blowing.
On the whole, Dostana hits bull's eyes with fun and frolic moments that are quite unsuitable for certain audience. Tenuous script and irksome narration stops your tongue in singing appraisals for Tarun Manshukhani and Karan Johar. On the button, John Abraham and Abhishek Bachchan as captains fail to rescue the ship from sinking'. Yeah! It's pretty similar to clich'd headlines on sports pages ' COLOR: black">Sachin's century in vain''.
 COLOR: black">Verdict: Not worth-watching 
Rating: *1/2
Director Anant Mahadevan returns this weekend with Anamika to complete the 'A' series trilogy after movies such as 'Aksar' and 'Agar'. This time around not much has been said about the music of the film done by Anu Malik. Unlike Anant's previous ventures the music played a key role in drawing the audiences to the cinema halls; but in this case does the movie survive without such mesmerizing music? 
Here goes the synopsis'
When Jia Rao(Minisha Lamba), received a call for being an escort to Vikram Singh Sisodiya(Dino Morea) from the palatial Gajner of Bikaner, she hadn't imagined that life would take a total turnabout. Her rendezevous with Vikram who had come to the city of Mumbai for a convention to turn his home into an international resort actually ended with Vikram proposing to her .She found herself hopelessly in love with him, despite the fact that Vikram was married and his first wife Anamika had died under mysterious circumstances.
Her arrival in Gajner wasn't uneventful either. Mahajan the manager who seemed to know more than he should, Shekhar Rajput(Gulshan Grover) , Vikram's brother in law a cop with an acidic tongue, Vikram's doting sister, and Malini(Koena Mitra) the ever efficient governess were some of the characters who strangely influenced her stay in a place that hit her with its expanse, beauty and mystery.
And the biggest enigma was Anamika. Everyone seemed to be talking about her and how Jia could never step into the shoes of the charismatic socialite that Anamika was. Her efforts to live up to the foreboding image of Anamika ended up in creating a rift between Vikram and Jia .And the crunch comes when Jia is faced with the prospect of unraveling the secret of Anamika's death'accident..suicide or murder?
Anant Mahadevan gets it entirely wrong this time. Firstly, 'Anamika' isn't an untold story and is very much predictable. To add to all of that, there seems to be huge similarities between ' Anamika' and Alfred Hitchcock's 'Rebecca'.
The flow of events in the movie are so dull and the pace just gets you annoyed. At the cost of being a so called suspense film, the events of the film are simply dragged on and on.
No doubt the film has been shot at splendid locales of Bikaner, Bangkok etc but all of it falls flat as these beautiful locales don't come in as a saving grace for your storytelling.
On the acting front, Dino Morea isn't at his best and delivers a weak performance. Minisha Lamba seems to be struggling with her Hindi and is a complete let down from her performance in 'Shaurya'. Koena Mitra is a complete waste in the film. Her role offers no substance and she just hops in and out at any point in the film. Bunty Grewal is irrelevant. The only person who does his bit with ease and conviction is Gulshan Grover. He delivers the punch as the cop and carries the desired aura.
The music of the film by Anu Malik is such a let down. The only track worth listening to is 'Shagufta Dil'. The tracks though shot in Bangkok etc are very poorly placed and composed which is the biggest drawback for an Anant Mahadevan film whose 'Aksar' and 'Agar' are still remembered for their music.
On the whole ,'Anamika' is a poor one from director Anant Mahadevan and the movie is further going to be affected by the ongoing IPL cricket. Looks like the bollywood draught won't end anytime soon.
Rating: '
Well, 'Rang De Basanthi' was about embellishing the young rebels with spirit-of-patriotism that had a very colorful appeal. Yippee!! Rakeysh Mehra is back with a bang emblazoning Delhi fantastically. Trust us; it's an unforeseen 'Wall of Old Dilli' where nothing rules, but everyone is surmounted with humanity. Of course, the auteur unravels the beauty of not just the street corners, jelabi shops, but heart-binding relationships' An appealing relationship between various communities has been decorously depicted that draws us straight into streets of Chandni Chowk. Perhaps, it's not 'too-sweet-for-the-heart' moments as there are peculiarities of caste-communalism differences that get us through a chain of unexpected sequences.
Precisely, the film possesses the best attributes of getting ennobled as 'World Cinema'. Maybe, the plot is a bit clich'd to 'Swadesh' where an NRI makes his way to India getting adhered to scenario bounded with happiness and tribulations.
So if you are guessing what could be the common traits between 'Rang De Basanthi' and 'Delhi-6' here we have it for you in a platter. An enriching characterization with the finest narration is what you will witness. Rakeysh brings in a couple of metaphors that goes more relevant across the characters; 'Kaala Bandhar' and Stage Play of 'Ramayana'. Indeed, Rakeysh deserves special applause for these exceptional motifs'
When his Naani (Waheeda Rehman) loves to breathe her last not in New York, but in her hometown Chandni Chowk of Delhi, her grandson Roshan (Abhishek Bachchan) fulfills the wish. But sooner, he gets more glued to the new land of fun, frolic and happiness where everyone is blessed with a good heart and his friend. He finds elated amidst the kites, pigeons, sporting snookers with Uncle Ali (Rishi Kapoor) and tasting jelabis. On the pars, he is stuck with puzzling thoughts about witnessing untouchables, an arrogant police officer (Vijay Raaz), and his uncles (Om Puri, Pawan Malhotra) who've risen within their house. And finally, the sweet Bittu (Sonam Kapoor) caged in a circle of ancient-culture.
If you're a good analyst of films, there's something uniquely trenchant with Rakeysh. Unlike other flicks that have carried on with the First-Second half, the director has inherited the narration with 3-Act formulas. Something that isn't common, right? Yeah, 'Delhi-6' is yet another example to suggest the changing face of Bollywood. Getting on with the metaphors of 'Kaala Bandhar' and 'Ramayana' stage plays, he tries pulling the realistic pictorials. When the throngs are bounded devotionally watching the mythological drama, politicians interrupt it. And again, watch the special performance of Lord Shiva's 'Rudra Thandava' for the politician.
It's all about ' Even Gods get down for the sake of politicians in the present world. Years back, one incident had really shaken not just the Dilliwalas, but the entire Nation and it was the 'Monkey Man' terrorizing the streets. Blending it to the script, the idea has worked out well. The director's portrayal of the Hindu-Muslim communal conflict and the solution drawn out it is quite appealing.
The characterizations have been brilliantly designed. Rightly as Sonam suggested 'it is Delhi who's the protagonist', it's true and we feel it too. There aren't too many locations, but patently the streets of Chandni Chowk have been decorously portrayed. Hats off to cinematographer Binod Pradhan for a spellbinding piece of work. You don't see Abhishek and Sonam alone presented with prominence, but everyone seems to have had a vital role to play. Be it Rishi Kapoor with his hidden love or the so-called untouchable Divya Dutta; they're top-notching with their performance. Abhishek Bachchan is up with his usual resplendence while Sonam seems to have matured up from her 'Saawariya' days.
The musical score by A.R. Rahman is 'wordlessly colossal', especially the number 'Masakali' is a rich fiesta offered to the audience. Don't miss his background score in the penultimate sequence where there's hunt for the 'Kaala Bandhar'.
Precisely, the screenplay is intricately beautiful that you don't feel like watching the film but taking a walk down 'Delhi-6'.
On the whole, 'Delhi-6' is an incredible flick in terms of all panoramas. The film is simply prodigious with flawlessness and a piece of work that takes Indian Cinema to the next level.
Verdict: The real taste of Delhi.
Rating : ***1/2
In a year loaded with debutants, Mashhoor Amrohi , grandson of the legendary Kamal Amrohi and son of lyricist Tajdar Amrohi comes across with 'Hum Sey Hai Jahaan'. The film earlier titled 'Hum Laakh Chupyaaein Pyaar' comes almost devoid of promotions which may prove really costly for the awareness level and in turn the run at the box office.
Synopsis'
Chancing upon life as a drifter and a con man, Sameer Khanna (Mashhoor Amrohi) makes his way to Singapore and finds a job with Gary Rosario (Jackie Shroff), an underground racketeer of night clubs. In need of money and with Gary refusing to help him out, Sameer comes up with a vicious plan to kidnap Esha (Vishaka Singh) , the beautiful daughter of a multimillionaire actor, Gyaneshwar Singh (Shehzad Khan).
Destiny has different plans for Sameer as he starts falling for Esha. He takes off to Sentosa Island, with the dual motive of spending some quality time with his new found love and getting her away from her dad and asking him for a ransom. 
Complications arise as Gyaneshwar Singh rings up Esha's godfather-Gary Rosario who puts his best man Sameer ( the kidnapper himself) on the mission. Further complications arise as Sameer and Esha cross paths with drug lords Dabar(Mukesh Rishi) and Pran Panwara(Kiran Kumar) .
Relax! The film isn't as serious as it sounds. One might wonder that with the good old villains like Mukesh Rishi , Kiran Kumar and Prem Chopra , we are headed for a typical hero beats villains of the 80's style. But Mashhoor Amrohi maintains a very much modern outlook towards his approach and does well majorly with the first half. Mashhoor's script isn't something unique or so but it is his storytelling that makes you sit right through.
Let's be honest. With the movie being devoid of promotions, one would expect yet another disastrous comedy flick or so, but Mashhoor is quite successful in holding you through. One of the key elements being his acting skills which are tremendously impressive for a man directing as well as acting in a flick. Mashhoor is splendid with his lines and his comic timing is quite a watch . 
The biggest hassle that comes across is that the film somehow looses out majorly in the 2nd half and tends to drag. The film starts of really well right from the proclamation of all characters being fictitious at the start of the film, this time in French carrying a line 'Just in case the film goes to Cannes'. Quite a witty and unique approach. The film also has several clean and witty lines but an overload of references drawn to actors from bollywood makes it eventually die out.
Also it's great to see the likes of Kiran Kumar , Prem Chopra and specifically McMohan back with pivotal roles after a long gap. But the constant addition of characters to the film isn't a good technique in carrying the screenplay forward.
Debutant Vishaka Singh is pretty decent. She is simple and isn't bad with her Hindi unlike several other debutants. 
Jackie Shroff is ok. Shehzad Khan overdoes it. Kiran Kumar , Mukesh Rishi , Prem Chopra get a little monotonous after a while. Mac Mohan is tremendous and he's still got a lot of zest. Suved Lohia is another revelation with comedy.
Cinematography by Amirr Sayed is ok. Editing by Shakthi Hasija isn't great.
Bewafaa; Starring Anil Kapoor, Akshay Kumar, Kareena Kapoor, Sushmita Sen, Shamita Shetty, Manoj Bajpai, Kabir Bedi and Nafisa Ali; Directed by Dharmesh Darshan.
Bewafaa had it all. A great looking star cast, a huge budget and an interesting, traditionally bound plot inspired by B.R. Chopra's bold and progressive 1960s drama Gumrah. But director Dharmesh Darshan throws it all away. 
At first you are saddened by the sterile drama that he has created out of a potentially dramatic scenario. Then you're filled with rage at the extravagant and sad waste of precious resources.
At a time when films like Page 3, Black and even a much-vilified film like Sins tries to take our cinema beyond the mundane, Bewafaa tries to pull it back into the stone age.
Bewafaa leaves you with the dread of the dead. The characters aren't only dwarfed and diminished but finally defeated and destroyed by the director's dysfunctional equations between time and space.
Darshan's directorial vision is purely from a decadent decade, possibly the l960s, when actors were made to stand against imposing backdrops to look glamorous. 
The plot, for those unfamiliar with Chopra's Gumrah is about the dilemma of a woman who must marry her widowed brother-in-law for the children's sake. Mala Sinha heaved a hefty melodramatic life into her role. Kareena Kapoor in the same role is crippled by a script that wants her character to cheat on her husband and still come out smelling like plastic roses. 
Where she needed to breathe fire she simply stands in trendily designed saris trying to fit into a wifely role that the plot conceived for her.
It's a losing battle. The director's obsession with eye-catching surfaces gets in the way of the cast's most honest wishes - whatever they might be. While Anil Kapoor, Kareena and Akshay Kumar under play at crucial points, Manoj Bajpai and Shamita Shetty - playing an over-sexed, under-brained couple go so over-the-top, they topple into the pretty abyss that Darshan creates out of his glossy imagination.
There is also a group of socialites (a favorite satirical target in Dharmesh Darshan's cinema) played by the director's favorite Navneet Nishan among others who walk the raunchy path to invoke more revulsion than wrath.
Sapped of all passion Bewafaa is a film about marriage and adultery without any sex. If Anurag Basu's similarly plotted Murder made the adulteress strip on camera, Bewafaa goes the shudder way. All the characters stand stiffly in designer clothes that they don't know how to get out of.
Scene after scene of potential warmth is frittered away in frozen languor. For a film about family ties and human relationships, no two people (except Sushmita and Kareena in an early scene of sisterly bonding) seem to connect. 
Scenes of purported familial warmth such as the one where Kabir Bedi and his family dance in the drawing room are so phoney, they are funny. At the end when Anjali (Kareena) lectures her lover Raja (Akshay) about how impossible it is for a mother to betray her children, you gawk at her rhetorical posturing.
Nowhere do we see her mothering and nurturing her dead sister's twin girls - the reason why she marries her tight-lipped brother-in-law in the first place. 
It is ironical that the director who's given us several strong films based on high drama like Souten and Saajan Bin Suhagan has come up with his weakest film to date, and that too when it contains a part of his own name in the title.
Saawan Kumar's Saawan - The Love Season won't last till the onsent of saawan, the monsoons in India, even though it stars superstar Salman Khan, because it's a good concept gone sour. 
For one, its screenplay has no sense of balance, it doesn't even make an apology of an attempt to follow three balanced Acts of screenplay writing, and comes up with a lopsided story that has you wondering what's the point of the film all the way till slightly before the interval.
But first things first. Saawan tells the story of a man who can see tomorrow, who can foretell the future, especially unpleasant events that will occur in the future, with day, date and time to boot, much like tune-in promo on television.
There's this highly platonic young couple Raj [Kapil Jhaveri] and Kajal [Saloni Aswani], who bump into each other in Cape Town, and Raj falls head over heels in love with Kajal, and they ultimately get engaged after their fathers intervene and in celebration of the realization that they were childhood friends themselves, the two fathers (Ranjeet and Prem Chopra respectively) decide to get their children engaged. 
But on the happy day of her engagement, Kajal learns from a soothsaying stranger (Salman Khan) that her father will die that night. He even tells her when: 9 pm. And when the deadly prediction does come true, Kajal is on the edge. The unfortunate incident is a trigger for Kajal, who has every reason to believe that the soothsayer can indeed predict death and doom. 
And when, soon after, the soothsayer predicts that Kajal herself is going to die two days later, on the coming Friday, she is aghast. But alas, the plot, already extremely late in taking off, takes yet another detour from logic, and Kajal decides that now that she has only two days, why not sing a couple of songs and generally live it up? Finally, ultimately, when there isn't much more footage left for the screenplay to keep meandering on and off the rather thin track, our soothsaying hero (Salman) gives up his own life so that death is warded off the stricken heroine, and so that the platonic love birds can live to sing many more songs! Ho hum!
So, even Salman's presence in a not too hot performance anyways plus Rajendra Rao's good cinematography cannot rescue the wafer-thin semblance of an excuse for a plot that actually stars to get focused only around the interval, the unfunny comic sequences from Johnny Lever and Bobby Darling, and the unmemorable performances by Saloni and Kapil. 
Saawan - The Love Season is poor stuff indeed from Saawan Kumar. One wonders why Salman did the film in the first place. Not an extraordinary appearance at all, as the credits say, but an extraordinarily brave choice of role. 
Rating: *
Randeep Hooda may not be having a superstar father to shower 'excessive' praise on his performance. But if his deliriously heartwarming portrayal of an encounter specialist in Vishram Sawant's 'Risk' is anything to go by, then this hunky dude is the most hard-hitting news of year 2007. So far. In an author backed role, he impresses not only with his stone faced determination, grip on Marathi lingo and sedate body language but also with a vulnerable humane side (especially when the news of his mother's heart attack filters to him before an encounter). At many an occasion, the resemblance (both physical as well as contextual) with sullied encounter specialist Daya Nayak is hard to be missed as well. Same can be said about 'Risk'. Shouldn't be missed!
Suryakant Satam (Randeep) is a don't-mess-with-me kinda cop who is well known for his trigger-happy-ways. on'>on'>Bangkok based underworld don Khalid (Vinod Khanna) isn't happy with his 'daring'. For, inadvertently by killing his shooters, Satam is helping politician Sarang (Anant Jog) and his prime adversary (and once-upon-a-time ally) Naidu (Zakir Hussain). But when Suryakant stretches his tentacles till Devki Vardhan (Seema Biswas), Khalid's prime conduit in Mumbai, all hell breaks lose. Finding himself behind bars, the hard cop doesn't have any option other than smearing his hands with the same dirt that he always sniggered at arrogantly. How he takes the 'risks' in salvaging his lost pride is what the story is all about.
There are several junctures when the similarities with 'Ab Tak Chappan' and even 'Shiva' (the latest version) are hard to be ignored. But the near flawless treatment meted out by Vishram Sawant makes it different from any of the other encounter cop stories one has seen. The film remains glued to the context of an encounter specialist's ordeals, trials and tribulations. Scintillating camera work of Mahesh Muthuswamy and strict editing of Vivek Shah prove to be big assets for Sawant's vision of creating a murky ruthless world that is always scheming. And falling apart. The only aberration is Tanushree Datta's 'Hitchki' which is the only occasion when the director seems to have compromised on his vision. In fact Datta doesn't have anything to do in the film except pouting and preening. 
Vishram Sawant is definitely hot on the heels of Ram Gopal Verma brand of film making (especially films like 'Satya' and 'Company') as far as narrating a story in almost a journalistic story fashion. All the players are clearly defined and they have a specific role to play. Even the proverbial villain is shown to be humane and giving. Khalid cares for his mentally unstable son like a mother would (he even applies oil in his hair). Tears trickling out while offering Namaz on hearing his brother's death'.Khanna moves with his terrific performance. In fact it is a worthy comeback role for a star of his stature. The scenes where he psyches Hooda with mind games are especially intriguing.
In the support cast Zakir Hussain as Naidu is first rate while Anant Jog as the dirty politician is impressive too. Seema Biswas doesn't have much to do. And that's a pity considering her immense potential. Background score by Sandesh Shandilya successfully creates the dark edges in its cymbals and keyboards. 
'Risk' is a commendable film. For it dares to call the spade a spade. Why and how the system is corrupted? Why little is done to change the functioning of the police force? Why honesty is getting confusingly redundant? 
Flawless, seamless, timeless...What do we say about a film that immortalised each one of its cast members and technicians?
Mughal-e-Azam is to the pseudo-historical what the Taj Mahal is to Agra. Its imposing grandeur, breathtaking beauty and, most important of all, its emotional energy remain undimmed by the tides of time.
Forty-four years after it was first released, Mughal-e-Azam comes to us in a colour version. To some diehard purists, the tampered aesthetics of Asif's original - and undoubtedly unmatchable vision - and the conversion of the texture would appear as perfidy.
But, please, let's look at the larger picture. We only have to see the young members of the audience who were born 20-25 years after the film was released, respond to the sheer scope and spectrum of the epic, to Madhubala's screen presence and Lata Mangeshkar's voice to know how essential it is to allow ensuing generations immediate access into our all-time classics.
The colour-revised version of Mughal-e-Azam is a path-breaking and far-reaching experiment with creative continuation. To transform the skin tones and ambience in the fabulous original and indelible black-and-white into glimmering colour is a task that boggles the mind.
The technicians seem to be equal to the task. The garish portions in the colour version, including a purple chandelier in Pyar kiya to darna kya, are what Asif shot in his exuberant epic vision. 
Most of what has been colour-revised is done with extreme aesthetic care. And apart from golden jewellery that glitters a trifle too much, or a bandi (jacket), which seems like a sartorial travesty, the colour version of Mughal-e-Azam is a triumph of the spirit.
Every frame exudes the aroma of priceless nostalgia, every drop that flows into the narrative ocean secretes a rejuvenating life-force.
My slight problem as a cineaste is with the editing. To cut the film down to the market-friendly three-hour size, some of Lata's most invaluable jewels like Mohabbat ki jhoothi kahani pe roye, Beqas be karam kijiye, Ae ishq yeh sab duniyawale and Humein kash tumse mohabbat na hoti have been chopped off.
How can we have Mughal-e-Azam without Madhubala tormented, enchained and singing Beqas pe karam kijiye?
To colour a creator's vision is one thing. To amputate it is quite another. Having said that, let's raise our hands to toast one of the most enduring landmarks of Hindi cinema whose appeal and impact remain unabated. 
Rather, with every generation, the verbal sparring between Emperor Akbar (Prithviraj Kapoor) and his adamant son Salim (Dilip Kumar) acquires renewed poetic intensity, thanks in no small measure to the dialogues which fall in a tumult of pride, honour and self-identity into Asif's epic design.
What hits us once again in this re-reviewing of an imperishable classic is the contemporary quality of the narrative. The opulence of the sets, the regal bearing of the characters, their splendid yet subdued expressions and articulations refuse to become a slave to passing fads fancies and trends. 
From the first frame to last, the intensity of the lovers' passion infects the audience.
The indomitable qualities in the storytelling are too many and too intense to be discussed at length. What hits us is the magical chemistry between Madhubala and Dilip Kumar in the celebrated love sequences. 
She's constantly and quietly coy, coquettish, frail and hypnotic.
Yun Hota Toh Kya Hota....Nahin Hota Toh Kya Hota? Indian Cinema would have lost its brilliant masterpiece. 
Four stories run parallel to each other. Like rivers that never meet, they merely glance at each other's existence, spare a smile. And move on. The end binds them together. In a unique manner. No, it's not your regular Hindi film where everyone comes to know each other to live happily ever after. The genius of Naseeruddin Shah makes a powerful and gut wrenching directorial debut with 'Yun Hota Toh Kya Hota'.
It signifies the question'What if things would have happened differently as compared with the way they actually happen. I am sure a few prudes will say that it's a movie for the intellectual class and lacks the Box Office seduction. The answer to that would be if the same film would have been made by a Hollywood filmmaker, the same wannabe critics would be saying 'What a classic'Saying so much without saying much''
Naseer begins the show with a voiceover introducing the four disparate stories. Hemant (Jimmy Shergil) and newly wed wife Tillottama (Konkana Sen Sharma) are moved apart as Hemant returns to USA while Tillottama has to wait for an year before she can get the visa. Rahul Bhide (Ankur) is a bright graduate who is persuaded by his NRI friend Vineet to appear for his visa application form so that he can travel to America (The Land of Emigrants) to pursue higher education. 
Saleem Rajabali (Irfan Khan) is a reluctant stock broker along with his younger brother Javed. The sudden murder of one of their clients DCP Paul (Boman Irani) forces their Amma (Saroj Khan) to make arrangements for them to flee to US overnight. Saleem is continually hurting because his love Namrata (Suhasini Mulay), an ageing-but-attractive dance researcher cheats on him. Even in US he continues to lust for her, miss her and get perplexed as to why a woman like her mattered so much to him. The street smart Raju Bhai (Paresh Rawal) organizes Gujarathi events and shows in US of A. He seemingly also indulges in illegal migration racket as well. Old flame Tara (Ratna Pathak Shah) re-enters his life with a daughter whom she wants to be sent to America so that she could stay away from her drunkard father. 
The four stories have a common goal: America. They think (Or are convinced into thinking) that US, is where they can truly find happiness. With a little help from friends and a bit of fooling around with the US embassy guys in Mumbai, they are all set to follow their dreams. But they don't know what is in store for them. I wouldn't divulge the ending as it is a shocker. It's least expected and leaves you stunned with its force. All I would say is that Naseer has made a film that comes once in a life time. As a director, he is first rate. The theatre experience clearly comes in handy. To his credit he has handled the large cast expertly. They play their parts without attempting at being heroic. River of life flows unabated. Unaffected. 
Hrishikesh Mukherjee may be breathing his last. But his brand of simple-n-effective story telling will continue to live with the likes of Shivam Nair. For Nair takes you completely by surprise in his masterly crafted love story 'Ahista Ahista' that tickles your funny bone with cleverly written lines by writer Imtiaz Ali and a sedate story line that seldom compromises on the objective. The whiff-of-fresh-breeze stars like Abhay Deol and Soha Ali Khan add their Glorious Charm in a film that's a complete revelation with its nascent effervescence. 
'Ahista Ahista' is a notable cinematic experience because of the conviction in telling a story within a certain paradigm and sticking to one's beliefs. It's a film where the hero from a lower middle class background wears the believable-and-likable check shirts and half sweaters that are worn during winters in the heart of North India. The heroine sticks to her salwaar kameez and doesn't find an excuse of an exotic song to get into that shimmering mini skirt. A few in the crowd were a bit saddened by the ending, but even there, the protagonist doesn't do anything conventional. The sacrificial goat accepts the decisiveness of the situation, not with a smile, but with a shrug of accepting fate. In other words, you can feast on vintage Romance of the sixties where Loving was more about caring-n-being-together. 
Ankush (Abhay Deol) is a self-appointed Professional Witness to prolific marriages conducted at the Marriage Registration Centre in Old Delhi. He charges a mere Rs 200/ for 'setting' the life of blissful couples. One fine morning he meets Megha (Soha Ali Khan). She was waiting for Dheeraj (Shayan Munshi), the man for whom she had run away from her home in Nainital. But this was one marriage for which Ankush couldn't offer his services as Dheeraj never turned up. Looking at the pretty innocent face of Megha, he decided to help her out of this distressing situation. Good friend Zulfu's (Shakeel Khan) Ammi (Daisy Irani) rebuked Megha in front of the entire Gulley (Lane). 
A few failed attempts later Ankush helps Megha find a place in a girl's hostel in an Old Age Home. Zulfu helps out Ankush as he needed a fat sum of Deposit Money that the Father at the old age home asked for. The concern for the girl-in-need-of-help 'Ahista Ahista' graduates into affection. Ammi wanted her money back and it forces Ankush to take up job as an agent in a Bank. Megha guides her saviour as to how he could get new bank accounts opened by people whose marriages he had been a 'witness' to. A few melodious songs and Dilli-Darshan later, Ankush is a changed person who dresses like an executive. The expression of love after a 'Perfect Evening' was beautiful and very-small-city-like. They even agree to get married. There was a new job up for grabs as well. And then things turn around like a clock that stops ticking. Suddenly. 
Abhay Deol's Ankush is a nimble charmer that enters your heart without making too much of an effort. He is extremely funny when he teases Zulfu's Ammi. Their nok-jhok is exceptional. And that in itself gives you a reason to look forward to watching it the second time around. His chemistry with Soha is exceptional. The rumour of the two being an item definitely helps. The nervous kiss that he plants on her lips speaks volumes about his possible appeal amongst multitudinous female fans. Even the negative shade his character carries has been executed exceptionally well. The scene where he presents the forged death certificate of Megha to Dheeraj and the subsequent guilt has fine undertones of subtlety. I can go on and on about this Deol, but I'd rather sum it up by stating that Abhay is the star to watch out for. His next film will be eagerly anticipated.
EMI is a raucous, digressive comedy, offering some laughs and for real life loan defaulters, it mocks and celebrates. On its course, there are some bittersweet experiences of personal lives on individuals caricatured. 
EMI (Easy Monthly Installments), the innovative title, perhaps you would've foreboded quite a little of substance. Well, it's a flick that doesn't stride much on its theme of bank, loans and defaulters. But has lots of resemblance on panoramas of Munnabhai ' a good-hearted gawk; performed by Sanjay Dutt. 
Express your appraisals for a great show of concept; but it's just a flattery ennobling same credits for story and screenplay. It's just hop-skipping from realistic theme to clich'd ho-hum masala where a 'Bhai' not just recovers pending loans from deadbeats, but transforming their personal lives too. 
Precisely, if you're there dropping cognizance outside theatres, there are possibilities of enjoying kill-time experience. 
Sattar (Sanjay Dutt) owner of Good Luck Recovery Agency is the savior and the solution for all those ever caught in the debt trap. From bhaigiri to business to politics to social work - that's how Sattar wants to progress in life. He has already graduated from bhaigiri to business and is now eager to hump into politics. Most sought after by banks, telecom companies and various multinationals, today his Good Luck Recovery Agency is Number 1 in India. Sattar follows a simple rule when it comes to his business - Loan liya hai to chukao, shaadi kiya hai to nibhao.Along his way of great principles, he counters some less interesting, equally stock characters of defaulters; young married couple Anil-Shilpa [Aashish Chowdhary-Neha Uberoi], Father-Son Chandrakant-Arjun [Kulbhushan, Kharbanda], Dj Ryan and his ladylove Prerna [Arjun Rampal-Malaika Arora Khan] and widowed Prerna [Urmila Matondkar]'
Will Sattar succeed in using this simple principle when dealing with these disparate characters and cases forms crux of the story?
EMI - A film that'll have ' of audiences reflecting themselves on those individualistic characters in frame. Brimming up with an extraordinary theme of 'loan mania' haunting down cosmopolitan cities-to-remote villages, Saurabh Kadra draws special attention. Nevertheless, it's a terrific letdown as he doesn't tread with same efforts on scripting. 
Fine! The first hour goes on establishing characters and their individualistic cases of loans, bank representatives with their tactics magnetizing clients, recovery agents knocking defaulters' doors. But unexpected twist in latter half where auteur departs from the central theme is a mere disappointment. Perhaps, Sanjay Dutt remains as solacing factor turning spotlights on him and it's a great comeback after wretched results of KIDNAP. Arjun Rampal deserves a pat for his brilliant performance; especially his encounters with Sanjay Dutt are fiestas of laughter. Malaika Arora appears just for glamour quotients and she is gorgeous. In the early minutes, while establishing characters, Urmila's tale pulls your attention. But again, mishandled script doesn't let more scopes on Urmila to perform. Her emotional vistas are completely diminished in the following sequences. Ditto to Kulbhushan Kharbanda; father-son bonding goes unimpressive, but his performance deserves appreciations. Aashish Chowdary and Neha Uberoi; they're ridiculous. Manoj Joshi, Snehal Dabhi and Dayashankar Pandey as Bhai's henchmen add more colors to humor ratios. 
Getting on with technical aspects, musical scores by Chirantan Bhatt are plainly mediocre. 'Chori Chori' tuned on Arabic style haps to be complete show of alluring Malaika and macho Arjun. Style of filming is quite commendable. 'Roshan Har Dil' offers chest-filled delightedness as everyone's lives transcending while 'Aankhon Hi Ankhon Mein' tops-the-chart. 
Valuating EMI on whole; the film carries good values on terms of theme, but lacks solidity in many portions. Perhaps, Sanjay Dutt is the real savior just not on the screens, but for the producers too.
Verdict: Middling piece of work 
Rating:**' 
Every time Tanushree Dutta gets a bout of hiccups in the movie, one senses some mystery behind that. Is it an illness? Is it some kind of a psychological problem? Or is there some mystery brewing behind each and every hiccup? 
That's exactly the way how one may want to sum up a movie full of illogical events and proceedings that goes by the name of Aashiq Banaya Aapne - a ride full of hiccups. Just when one thinks that debutant director Aaditya Dutt may come up with some 'kahani mein twist' after an interesting sequence, there comes a jerk in the narration. While the first half still keeps you a little engaged, that too primarily in anticipation of a better second half, the remaining part of the movie fails to excite the viewer due to its predictability. Frankly, the little twist in the story would have been a USP for its makers, but audience could see it coming right through the middle of the movie.
The movie begins as any other teenage college flick. Karan [Sonu Sood] and Sneha [Tanushree Dutta] are studying in the college and are good friends. The only pillar of support for Sneha is Karan as her father [a bored looking Navin Nishchol] is busy minting. Well guys being guys, though Sneha maintains a platonic relationship with Karan, he is silently in love with her. Since he is an introvert, he develops cold feet when it comes to expressing his love for her. 
Soon Karan's family friend Vicki [Emraan Hashmi] joins the same college where Karan and Sneha are studying. As was inevitable, sparks fly between Vicki and Sneha with Vicki sweeping her off the feat. Meanwhile Sneha's hiccups continue! Now that's trouble for Karan [not hiccups but Vicki's entry in Sneha's life!] as he is on his way to loose the very girl he had been trying to come close to for all these years!!
Knowing Vicki's reputation of coming dangerously close to feminine gender, Karan tries to distance him from Sneha but on constant persuasion by him, gives up. A couple of well choreographed songs and a little bout of hiccups later, it is well established that the romance between Vicky and Sneha is on solid ground. And yes, meanwhile Vicki bashes up a few goons who try to act smart with her at a traffic signal [yawn!], so Sneha is obviously flattered. Though she tends to forget that without Karan's intervention, Vicki would have been reduced to pulp in 30 seconds flat! 
Well, Karan can't do nothing else but smile and wish them luck. It seems all well till a night changes lives of each of them as Vicky is caught with a woman on top. Vicky and Sneha separate, he gets arrested for some random drug trafficking that he has been involved in and deary papa [Navin Nishcol] makes a grand entry. After confessing that he couldn't give time to his daughter as he was engaged in his business [another yawn !], he advises her to get married and presto, the groom is right in front of her - Karan. Not lying low this time around, he proposes, she accepts and the two youngsters get engaged.
As happens with all predictable films, Vicki is released on bail and there he is - right in front of Karan and Sneha, just at the time when they are debating about 'sapna' turning into 'sach' [dream coming true]. Turns out that.......well you would have already guessed by now!
OM SHANTI OM is truly a near 3 hour circus show in the offering. You get to see dozen odd item sequences one after another that tie the script together for a circus and turn out to be amusing and entertaining by themselves.
So here we go with the dozen odd item sequences/concepts and gimmicks which make OM SHANTI OM an entertainer that makes you visit a circus, be entertained for those three hours and come back home satisfied!
1) The 70s spoof concept - Over the top and on your face, OM SHANTI OM of the 70s is what you call as the light hearted take on the cinema made in the era gone by. Whether it is Shahrukh's filmy maa (Kirron Kher) who has prepared 'kheer' for her 'laal', the retro background score, those reds, yellows and greens color pallets on every frame, shooting of 'dakoo' films - they all come together to create an enjoyable spoof, though at places it does become a little repetitive.
2) Original 'Om Shanti Om' song and dance sequence from KARZ is a riot to see as the film's opening credits roll. For those who were not born in early 80s, it is fun to see the song on big screen with first Rishi Kapoor followed by Shahrukh himself.
3) Shahrukh Khan's South film star sequence brings the house down as it gives a very good idea about the kind of over the top films made in Tamil and Telugu during the 70s
4) References to Manoj Kumar's palm-on-the-face fixation and Govinda struggling to find work due to his surname being Ahuja are done in the right spirit and invokes laughter. Ditto for young Sooraj Barjatya who is shown to get references for MAINE PYAAR KIYA from the real SRK-Deepika love story.
5) Deepika's item song 'Dhoom Tana' with Sunil Dutt, Jeetendra and Rajesh Khanna. Though the concept is good and enjoyable as well, how one wishes the special effects here were truly flawless. The grainy look as well as limited appearance of the three superstars belies the hype.
6) Entire star son tantrums and demonstration of star power by Shahrukh Khan reborn is done with tongue in cheek humor. It takes courage for a superstar to have an entire second half dedicated as a spoof on himself but SRK does it in the right spirit. Watch out for those coming late on sets sequence, changing the script based on personal whims and incorporation of item songs to enhance film's commercial appeal!
7) Spoof on BLACK is oh-so-wicked and oh-so-timely. A film is being made which requires Shahrukh enact the role of not just a blind, mute and a dumb guy but also someone sans arms and legs. No wonder, he rightly mentions - "Is film se sirf award hi milenge"!
8) Filmfare awards sequence is the triple ace for OM SHANTI OM. This is one sequence which would get the repeat audience with quotes of stars during awards nite entrance as well as entire nomination sequence deserving a 20 out of 10. Watch out for every heroine's reaction of 'we are just good friends' for SRK, Big B's denial around the presence of SRK, Chunkey Pandey's 'I am the best' take, Sanjay Kapoor's witty hints, Bappi da's ever-ready-to-sing syndrome, Sanju baba's large heart and Rakesh Roshan's love for Hrithik act. Priceless! Also notable is Abhishek taking a dig on himself about his presence in DHOOM 5, Akshay's RETURN OF KHILADI sequence and SRK's winning performance atop the Swiss Alps. Truly rocking and worth the ticket's price.
9) Vishal-Shekhar composed 'Deewangee' is a riot and garners immense repeat value. Call it a publicity stunt, desperate measure, cheap trick or whatever, the fact is that 31 stars coming together adds so much 'masala' to the entire sequence that one wonders how would Farah Khan get something better in her next project?
Will this turn out to be the DDLJ for Shahid-Kareena? I am certain it would have pucca become one if not for the danger awaiting just a fortnight away in the form of OM SHANTI OM and SAAWARIYA. JAB WE MET is a film which has all the ingredients of turning out to be THE family film which guarantees a repeat audience. But with the two biggies already struggling to find ample space for themselves in the multiplexes, one pains to feel that JAB WE MET may have to make way for the two films.
So what do you want to do in the meanwhile? If you still haven't got the message, then go, run, get into some 'bhagam bhag' and get your ticket in the two week window that the film is going to enjoy at majority of screens across the country. The film is a sheer delight and one that qualifies into 'don't miss this one' category.
As a writer-director Imtiaz Ali was always special. His SOCHA NA THA made one feel so. Ditto for the expectations from JAB WE MET too. But what one gets to see is a complete feel-good riot that makes you feel glad that you made it for this movie. The film is an amalgamation of dozens of short but effective scenes that have been spiced up with imaginative dialogues that are so out of life but still so new on screen.
So who is the chosen one here? Is it Kareena who is hardly the Kareena we all know in the film? Or is it Shahid who after VIVAH demonstrates once again that he has an art of getting subtlety in his scenes. Each and every scene of the film that has the duo together is worth preserving in a locker and getting insured. If Kareena's non-stop rattle make you just go and hug her for her innocence, Shahid's broken-heart act wants you to give him a shoulder to cry upon.
This is what Kareena does as she meets him on a train. She acts as her agony aunty, (unknowingly) saves him from committing suicide after he is unable to forget his first love, makes him forget her eventually by having his girlfriend's photograph flushed down the drain (literally), forgets her own boyfriend by screaming at him with the choicest of expletives and last, but not the least, even talks to herself in sleep. Well, without any feeling of guilt whatsoever. 
While doing all of this, you forget that she is the same girl who was once seen in a KABHI KHUSHI KABHI GHAM or a MUJHE KUCH KEHNA HAI or an OMKARA. She is what Imtiaz Ali wanted her to be and two thumbs up for the young film maker who gets everything that he wanted from Kareena which translates into her being un-Kareena!
Shahid is tremendous as well. It takes him a few hours to warm up to the real self of Kareena and when he does, life starts looking up for him. The transition that his character gets into with every passing hour is brought to screen quite well by the young actor. He gets the emotions of being lost, irritated, tense, amused, a little kicked, happy, in love, content, caring, a little selfish and a lot considerate with a good regularity hence bringing to screen the powerhouse of talent that he possesses.
So can one can make a statement that this is the best ever act of Shahid and Kareena. Yes, it is. And it would be a pain if any of the two actors do not get awarded and rewarded for their performances in JAB WE MET.
It's the initial portions in the second half though which slacken the pace of the film. A couple of songs come one after another and the film seems to be taking a serious route with the disappearing of Kareena. Introduction of Tarun Arora's character looks stereotype while the scenes that follow are clich'd as well. But the fun returns the moment Shahid-Kareena meet once again and Kareena starts getting into her usual self. 
So whodunit? Not me! Not the other members of the audience who seemed to have gone dead in their seats.
Producer Pooja Bhatt seems addicted to the psychology of erotica. Her last two films, the hazy Jism in 2003 and the elegiac Paap in 2004, propagated a woman's right to flaunt her sexuality.
But Rog plummets to an all-new low in the pseudo-psycho-erotica genre of cinema. For sure, it's bound to create a new virus in the theatres, provided it lasts long enough to trigger off a chain reaction.
Chances of the film going anywhere beyond anonymity seem unlikely. 
Rog begins with the death of a super model, who looks anything but super on celluloid. 
If we must have white-skinned flesh-trade in our cinema, then please let's at least ensure the imported flesh can flash more than mere skin onscreen, a little expression maybe,
Like Bipasha Basu in Jism, Ilene too has a strange impact on the men around her. 
While one of them, a veteran journalist (Suhel Seth) goes into convulsions of passion, another man, a playboy (Himanshu Malik) looks as distracted as someone who has seen a ghost.
Can't blame him because the super model, Maya, is supposedly dead.
The third man, who is the hero, is a burnt-out cop who has been advised to take pills and electric shocks. Some jolts would do nicely for this frigid-going-on-turgid drama. 
And the shock comes in waves of boredom, when halfway through the blessedly brief two-hour narration, Maya returns from the dead to give corny come-hither looks to our cop-hero, who stops listening to dreamy reflective M.M. Kreem melodies (the saving grace in this graceless production), and starts looking intently at Maya.
The lyrics and the music go a long way in creating an aura of desolation around the protagonist though the character is no more than an extension of what John Abraham played in Jism (why are Pooja Bhatt's men always self-destructive maniacs?). 
Irrfan Khan gives a wry raw edge to the cop's role. This would have made the character appealing if Irrfan hadn't been doing the same act in all his recent films. 
Also, the character comes with too much excess baggage -- like a wise cracking subordinate (Munish Makhija) who keeps referring to his deceased grandfather all the time.
The cop-hero must constantly grapple with the demons within him, and those around him to make the whodunit look deep enough.
Specially ludicrous is Shyamoli Varma, as an over-the-hill decadent socialite with way-out expressions.
So garbled is the film's erotic thesis that you repeatedly wonder whom Rog is targeted at. It's a film that doesn't know its mind and therefore cannot capture the audiences' hearts. 
A pity, since Pooja Bhatt's last film Paap was perky, inviting and set in a liberating vista. 
All in all, Rog is confined to half-lit interiors filled with furniture, which are more expressive than most of the actors.
After Madhur Bhandarkar's Page 3 and Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Black, there's something strange, stirring, exciting and path-breaking in Hindi cinema this year. 
My Brother...Nikhil is an intimate, and yet, far-reaching study of family ties, social castigation and resilience in the face of AIDS.
Like many of the new avant-garde directors, Onirban uses the Brechtian distancing device - whereby the characters speak directly into the camera about the protagonist. 
We get to 'know' Nikhil (Sanjay Suri) - the bright promising sportsperson whose career life and self-regard are shattered by AIDS - through the voices of his father Navin Kapoor (Victor Bannerjee), mother Anita (Lillete Dubey), friend Nigel (Purab Kohli) and sister Anu (Juhi Chawla).
The multiplicity of voices never crowd the narrative. In fact, the narration has great moments of drama especially towards the end, when the dying hero has to come to terms with his impending destiny. 
Scenes between Nikhil and his loved ones will rip your heart open with their translucent candour. As in the masterful Black, the emphasis in My Brother...Nikhil too, is on light rather than dark. 
The absence of mawkishness in the drama is a constant reminder of the new levels of maturity being attained by our cinema. 
Less always seems more in My Brother...Nikhil, and as we peer into Nikhil's cosy world, we, the spectators, are never made to feel like intruders but rather, like welcome guests. 
There are no sharp edges in the narrative, no labored attempts to get our attention, even in moments of heart-rending tragedy - for example, the pre-climactic sequence where Nikhil's dying father meets him after two years of ostracising him. 
Overwhelmed with emotion, Nikhil reminds his father how he used to promise him before sleeping at nights about chasing away all his nightmares. Papa, make this nightmare go away, he begs.
It's a moment every sensitive viewer would carry in his heart forever.
My Brother...Nikhil is suffused with enchanting moments done-up in bright, yet, subtle tones that hold your attention without screaming for it. 
Besides that, the film's greatest triumph is the completely in-sync cast. 
Victor Bannerjee and Lillete Dubey, both very fine actors, enact the anguish of parents who face the ignominy of snubs in a close-knit conservative community. 
Juhi Chawla, the eternal sunshine girl, is perfectly cast as Nikhil's endearing supportive and defiant sister. 
But the surprise package is Purab Kohli. As Nikhil's soul-mate Nigel, he brings tremendous tenderness into his difficult character. The sequence, where he quietly clutches his dying friend's legs after a bitter quarrel, is clear testimony to his spontaneity as an actor.
Finally, the film is a triumph for producer Sanjay Suri, who gets the chance to play a role no other Indian actor has ever done. 
A hurrah for Vivek Philip's music. The theme song (stunningly well-sung by Shaan, Sunidhi Chauhan and KK) reverberates across the moon-drenched mood of this mellow-drama, sweeping in a galaxy of heartbreaking feelings.
Neither inspired by a Hollywood source, nor didactic and sermonic My Brother...Nikhil manages to convey its social message on the stigma of an AIDS victim in firm but soft tones. 
The music of life stops playing a pleasant tune when stagnancy enters a relationship. A relationship you can't do without. For you are not supposed to. In fact the institution of marriage is so sacred that it deserves to be given loads of time-n-importance. As the tepid waters of time pass by, it is natural to be taken-for-granted. Intentionally. Or unintentionally. Maybe, it is also natural to find happiness in someone else's Solitude. At times. And it need not be merely sexual gratification. Companionship is far more important in a world that is breaking apart. That's precisely the subtext of Karan Johar's best work till date'Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna. A film that earns him immense respect for the sheer belief in experimenting with a bold subject with enormous amounts of dignity!
Filmmakers have experimented with extra marital affairs before this and they shall continue doing after this too. Yet, the sexual consummation between they-who-commit-the-sin in KANK is more out of a need to establish their Bond rather than a rush-of-teenage-blood. KJ makes it clear in sequencing the entire plot that he believed in his story (Co'written with Shibani Bathija) and is not going to compromise on executing exactly the way he wants to. There are moments when you feel the story is going to take the predictable way out. Yet, it ends on a most unpredictable note. So, you are already too curious! Let me give you a sneak peak into what the story is all about. 
Dev Saran (Shahrukh Khan) is an ace club footballer in New York with a sarcastic sense of humour. His ambitious wife Riya (Preity Zinta) is a high profile fashion journalist with 'Diva' magazine. Both are unable to find time to spend with each other. Or rather Riya doesn't have much time for her husband and son Arjun (Ahsaas Channa). Dev meets with a car accident as he is coming out of Maya's (Rani Mukherjee) marriage ceremony with Rishi Talwar (Abhishek Bachchan). 
With a limp in his leg and an extra baggage of lost hopes, Dev has a chance meeting with Maya after a gap of four years. Somehow both are unhappy in their respective marriages. They befriend to help each other get closer to their respective spouses. After a few funny-n-failed attempts later, they drift closer. Instead. A bit too close for the comfort of others. Rishi's flambouyant father Samarjit Singh Talwar (Amitabh Bachchan) gets to know about the rift in his son's marriage. He tries his level best by collaborating with Dev's mother (Kirron Kher) so that the two marriages could be saved. But maybe there are a few problems which take their own course in solving themselves.
I think Karan Johar is in the best phase of his career as a master story teller where he has kept the conventional modes of entertainment value in mind (Song-n-dance, lavish costumes and A-list of actors) but at the same time he has daringly broken the conventions as well. Maybe the initial public reaction may be a bit confusing and a little less encouraging, yet Johar should not lose heart. For, with KANK, he shuts the mouth of all those who call his brand of filmmaking as bubblegum-n-candy-floss. Karan Johar is brilliant, and the intensity of KANK sweeps you off to the magical world of yet unexplored emotions. A must watch for all who understand the foreplay of emotions. He has taken a step forward in redefining the paradigm of Relationships. And also about the way we look at relationships. But maybe Karan should have curtailed the length of the film as it tends to get too slow at times. 
'Mehbooba' comes across with the likes of Sanjay Dutt, Ajay Devgan and Manisha Koirala. You might be wondering how come Manisha plays the heroine in 2008 when she has almost vanished from the film circuit. Well, take a closer look at a much slimmer Manisha and the drastically younger looking Sanju Baba and you will definitely figure out that the movie is maybe over 6-8years old. 
The film fuses is various elements of bollywood like numerous dance sequences with enormous sets, Manisha Koirala in the midst of two men , elements of 'Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam' and a battle for love between two brothers that would have worked years ago.
Synopsis'
Shravan (Sanjay Dutt), a casanova, loves being in the company of beautiful and desirable women. His charm and money gets him any beauty he desires till he meets Varsha (Manisha Koirala).
Varsha is the first girl in Shravan's life who says 'no' to his advances. Shravan is not the type who would take no for an answer. Yet, he realizes his mistake and apologizes to Varsha. To make amends, he asks for Varsha's hand in marriage. Varsha's father convinces her that he is a changed man now and genuinely loves her. After much deliberation, Varsha agrees and they get engaged. Soon, their romantic sojourn ends in lovemaking.
Varsha's dream comes to a shocking end when Shravan tells her that his love for her was just a drama so he could sleep with her. Heartbroken and shattered, Varsha feels shattered, her father dies of heart failure. She leaves New York and starts life afresh in Budapest. 
Much later, Shravan's younger brother Karan (Ajay Devgan) decides to get married. The girl is Payal, who, in actuality, is Varsha. Is this a plan by Varsha to teach Shravan a lesson? What happens when Karan gets to know what transpired between Varsha and Shravan?
Director Afzal Khan handles the proceedings well but the story by Rumi Jaffrey is outdated. Also the film drawing tremendous resemblance to 'Hum Dil Chuke Sanam' offers nothing new from Ajay Devgan. The similar drunk sequences, the same lines of returning the heroine back to her first love etc.
Manisha Koirala who was at the peak of her career when the film was shot does well. She emotes and expresses but wonder whether today's audiences would accept her in a wet red sari dancing across the screen.
Sanjay Dutt or our very own Munnabhai who is the ultimate good guy for all Indians after the Munnabhai series has been portrayed as a Casanova who rapes his wife and then dumps her. Well though the latter half of the film portrays a change of heart, audiences may not approve Sanjay as the Casanova. Also take a look at the lack of continuity is the film as Sanjay goes from long hair, younger looks to the present looking Sanjay Dutt. Afzal Khan can't be blamed for that as this film was being shot in the midst of all court hassles surrounding Sanjay.
The music by Ismail Darbar is not bad with couple of tracks actually seeping into you. The album would have been a sure hit years ago.
One element that comes across as a treat in the film is Ashok Mehta's cinematography. It's brilliant capturing the various locales of Budapest and Rajasthan.
On the whole, the film is definitely not headed for success at the multiplex's but caters more to the single screen audiences who still enjoy watching films with over 6 tracks and all that family drama . The film is definitely good for it's time but falls flat in the present.
Rating : *1/2
A lovely story premise borrowed, per Raj Kanwar, from real life, with a good star cast and mounted and produced on a lavish spit and polish scale, Humko Deewana Kar Gaye is yet another film that proves that content is king, that content comes first, and everything else is subservient to it.
Inspired from the lives of director Raj Kanwar's real-life friend and his wife who met and fell in love inspite of having been engaged to marry someone else and didn't know each other before they met, but ultimately decided to follow their hearts, Humko Deewana Kar Gaye moves briskly in the first half, setting up the premise deftly and with speed. That it is also resembles the Ben Afflech starrer Forces of Nature is perhaps a coincidence, right? However.
HDKG stars Akshay Kumar as Aditya, an automobile engineer who is a romantic at heart and to whom relationships and being expressive in them is extremely important. However, Aditya is engaged to career-minded Sonia (Bipasha Basu), who is determined to become the hottest name in high fashion in India and all over the world, and who, emotionally, is on a different wavelength. While Aditya likes Sonia and is expresses his emotions, she somehow doesn't bother too much about the little niceties of being expressive. Aditya has to leave for Canada to test out some new car model, and Sonia has to leave for Paris for a mega international assignment.
Aditya lands up in lovely Canada, and his company puts him up with a colleague from Pakistan, Nawab Sharif (played by Vivek Shauq). Aditya's sister too is in Canada (Bhagyashree, Mahesh Thakur and Raj Kanwar junior making up the family).
In Canada, Aditya literally bumps into the lovely Jia (Katarina Kaif in a brilliant performance), and is somehow drawn to her. Over several such literally accidental meetings, Aditya tells Jia that these meetings are ordained by destiny, while Jia is not so sure. Even though Jia and Aditya are aware that each is engaged to someone else, they become friendly and the screenplay draws the graph of their coming together and becoming comfortable in each other's company in a subtle and charming way, replete with moments and songs (overall, the songs are one too many, though), and here we see Raj Kanwar's ability to grasp and develop relationships in a very believable and endearing manner. Right up till the interval, through a credible emotional graph and moments, the script brings Aditya and Jia together, and it doesn't drag. When you add the beautiful cinematography and the captivating locales of Canada, along with songs like Fanaa and the title song, it makes for great viewing.
However, while the emotional graph is credible, some of the incidents that bring the two together are straight out of the out and out Filmy manual. Aditya has to take part in the Rocky Mountain Rally, and his navigator is down with the loosies, so what does Jia do? She volunteers, and in a moment is an expert at reading maps, and even though Aditya has his teeth clenched as their car hurtles forward through dust, slush and mud, Jia only has a beatific smile. A bit far fetched. Another instance: both are returning to Jia's hotel and Jia is at the wheel. She nods off to sleep for a moment, and the car goes out of control and ploughs into the thick snow, and they are trapped for the night. Next morning, Aditya gets out of the car easily, and we cut to the same car, gleaming and unscratched, as it pulls up at Jia's hotel.
So the engrossing stage the story has reached so far is: we know Jia and Aditya 'especially Aditya' care for each other. But then, we're introduced to Jia's dangerous looking takeover king of a fiance, Karan Oberoi (Anil Kapoor).
What's with these south Indian remakes? After Tujhe Meri Kasam and Khushi, this is the third remake where boy and girl seem to hate each other till the eleventh hour.
Till then we suffer their puerile, juvenile bitching and bickering played out at an ear-shattering octave.
Like all remakes this one too suffers from a congenital cultural disorder. 
The outwardly hip MTV-inspired youngsters on the college campus seem to think in Telugu and speak in a Hindi that looks so outdated as sambar-vada at McDonalds. 
The words like 'ulanghan' and 'aakarshan' are so Sanskritised you wonder if the film is trying some inverse snobbery.
But no such luck. The makers of this curious 'idli-chola' lack the basic street wisdom to do anything that goes beyond the requirements of the Tom-Jerry love story. 
Raju (Arya Babbar) and Rani (newcomer Shriya Saran) sneer at each other, show a metaphorical finger at one another and throw insults like I hope you acquire a terminal illness that would make you incapacitated for life.
Nicely brought up kids, no? This is the death wish that Raja begs of god during a visit to the temple. 
Much later, he runs back to ask a saffron-clad man. Can I reverse my death wish?
But who's listening to these juvenile pleas in this godforsaken land of puerile prayers rendered by infantile players?
The piercingly staccato dialogues convey the corny cockiness of youngsters reared in the backrooms of a bordello. 
Though the film largely steers away from verbal vulgarity it does unleash a sterile kind of vulgar fun-fest where everyone either whoops or wails without rhyme or reason.
The item song by Shweta Menon is so ill-placed you wonder if the editor was on an extended leave. At the end of it Menon is taken away to a mental asylum. 
In the second-half, the Tom and Jerry love affair moves to scenic Kodaikanal where we witness a tragic subplot about a star-crossed couple Diana and Robert/Roberts - opinion on the guy's name is divided since he's addressed both ways. The subplot is so sterile and played out so indifferently that it makes us think kindly about the lovebirds at the helm.
At least they look alive. 
Arya Babbar brings a bumbling uncertainty to his reckless character. From the dusty campus goon in Mudda to the well-dressed dude parading around in suspiciously neat (studio-compound) streets of this film is a long journey to make. 
Newcomer Shriya Saran reminds us of Genelia d'Souza in Tujhe Meri Kasam. But that could be because the ambience and the lovers' squabbles are near- identical.
Director Ishmayeel Shroff's sensitive hands from his early films Thodisi Bewafaai and Ahista Ahista are nowhere evident in this stiff mechanical and over-blown remake. 
Though parts of the music score (Amar Mohile) are interesting, the sounds are too adaptive to register. The same goes for the 'humorous' subplot about a bunch of collegians and their bizarre pranks on their various landlords.
These 'jokes' occupy about 30 percent of the playing time. The rest of the film is an unintended joke that makes you splutter and choke. 
Strangely the director displays a penchant for spreading smoke gas in the tranquil mountains of Kodaikanal.
Speak 'Satya'. Be honest. Do we really need yet another gangster flick to come and swamp our lives with a dark brooding blend of blood and sweat, and a little bit of tears thrown in for extra measure.
Gore has become a bloody bore... D proves it. If this ode to streetwise violence in Mumbai from the teacher to the 'taut' had come five years ago, we'd have probably revelled in the thrills, as scruffy jobless wanderers ran through narrow gullies shooting guns like pellets at a children's birthday party.
But now, after Ram Gopal Varma's Satya and Company, after Mahesh Manjrekar's Vaastav and Hansal Mehta's Chhal? Nah, gives us this day our daily break... 
Enough about unwashed men washing their conscience in the blood of the slain. Enough of this swivel-and-snarl routine with blood-red eyes, slurring speech and smoking guns.
In places D glamorizes violence with disdainful words and crackerjack visuals to a point where you wonder whom the script supports.
Why do people look at us as freaks? We're just doing our jobs like doctors and engineers, Deshu tells his 'gori chamri' girlfriend. That's how Deshu's arch enemy describes Deshu's star-girlfriend Bhakti Bhatnagar.
Skin colour does seem to be an issue in the movie. Apart from the exceptionally bleached and bronzed leading lady, the entire cast comprises dark ebony skin tones... the more immoral, the darker they look.
The gangster nexus with politicians and film folks is given a very filmy and hammy twist. Maybe the debutant director wanted to make the gangster world entertaining. He even gets Deshu to bully a beefy film hero who has been constantly harassing the heroine.
Deshu's relationship with the smoldering siren, played by Rukhsar, harks back to Amitabh Bachchan and Parveen Babi in Deewaar. That's really way back for a flick that thinks Satya is a classic worthy of homage.
If D equates darker skin tones with shades of evil, then you wonder how much cinema has actually progressed! Manish Gupta's screenplay tries hard to create a grey zone in the gangster's world. 
Initially when our sullen protagonist Deshu is getting into crime he meets two ganglords, one a benevolent benefactor (Goga Kapoor), the other a foul-mouthed, menacing morally reprehensible man, who, according to the film, deserves to die.
Deshu obliges.
But the question that the point-blank slaying raises is, who draws these distinctions between 'good' criminals and 'bad' criminals and between 'wanted' killings and 'unwanted' killings? Isn't cinema supposed to get more responsible and democratic about the way anti-social behavior is projected?
It's shocking to admit this. But the most gripping sequence in D is an extraordinarily violent sequence where Sushant Singh shoots Raghav (Chunky Pandey) and watches him bleed to death in painful deliberation.
Before Raghav mercifully dies, his beloved wife is shot before his eyes. Chunky Pandey's eyes dim in a haze of tears...Blood and tears...hmmmm, interesting blend. 
Applause, but at what cost? It's no coincidence that Pandey and Isha Koppiker remind you of Manoj Bajpai and Shefali Chhaya in Ram Gopal Varma's trend-setting gangster epic Satya. 
All through this bang-bang jamboree, debutant director Vishram Sawant seems to pay homage to his mentor's tormenting view of gang violence in Mumbai.
Mumbai never appears as a real throbbing character in D as it did in Varma's Satya or even Bhoot. 
Now this is what you call as BIG....and definitely better!
Leave aside the talks of Spiderman fighting his inner demons, battle between right and wrong, misunderstandings between lovers etc. etc. The fact remains that the latest version of Spiderman franchise entertains, enthralls, sets the adrenalin running and makes you gasp for breath in almost each of its nail biting 'Spidey' moments!
Call it a dig on the media and paparazzi but Spiderman is shown to be fully enjoying the proceedings around him. So much so that he is willing to put up a stunt to keep his fans, media and the freelancers who want their bit of an exclusive from the 'Star'! He jumps around, kisses a girl who could be his secret fantasy in the college, gives exclusive poses (with a smile underneath his mask)....all in full public view.
Now that's not something which is taken too lightly by his steady girlfriend MJ [Kirsten Dunst]. And what you see is a 'pyaar-mein-takraara', complete Bollywood ishtyle, as MJ finds herself on the crossroads where she is seeing a steady success of her guy and her own failure to be a Broadway star. 'Abhimaan' anyone?
But hey, this is not all as there is a little bit of 'Sangam' here as well? Spiderman has all the right reasons to croon 'dost dost naa raha' as his best friend Harry [James Franco], looking to avenge his dad's killing, has MJ coming straight to his arms. Well, at least he his man enough to call Peter Parker [Tobey Maguire] to a coffee shop, inform him that he is 'the other man' and then wink to put a final nail in the coffin!
This is the moment that was required to make Spiderman go wayward! He lets the creepy-black-unexplained-mercury-like-solution dominate his body, soul and heart, don a black suit instead of traditional red, have anger in his mind all the time, and roam around the town. No, he still doesn't do harm to anyone good, but for personal vendetta lets himself loose....and even become overtly careless and carefree!
Did someone say the film became dark at this point of time? Naah! Because the word fun takes a different route now! Peter walks like a dancer on the streets, flirts with everything in the skirt that comes his way and impresses his new found crush-turned-girlfriend with a nice little jig in a restaurant [poor MJ, she is working in the same place as a waitress/singer].
Still, there is some goodness still left in him. His conscious tells him that was doing wrong, his grandma reminds him that he was a good boy and heck, looking at his strange behavior, even his Russian landlord also exclaims in disbelief - "But he is a good boy!"
Peter fights it out to win against his evil side. But there are too many external evil forces around to create additional problems for him. There is this 'Pran' like character Sandman [Thomas Haden Church] who had allegedly killed Peter's grandfather since he was desperate for some cash for the treatment of his ill daughter [Doesn't it remind of last week's release TRRP?] .
He says, 'Main Majboor Tha', but then on the run he finds himself in the middle of a molecular activity that makes his body turn into sand. He cannot be killed or caught, and he can take any shape provided there is ton load of sand around. He finds some in the film's climax and pronto, he gives King Kong some challenge right away.
Meanwhile Spiderman gets rid of the creepy-black-unexplained-mercury-like-solution only to find it transferring into a freelancer reporter who had his own professional score to settle with him. He turns into a monster and paints the town 'black' with his deeds!
OK, so by now we all know that Vikram Bhatt's 'Ankahee' has shades of Mahesh Bhatt's 'Arth'. Point noted and well taken! Now let's move on to see what does the film has to say on its own merits. Does it make the audience feel for the characters, the situations, the story or does it come across as yet another drama of obsession/infidelity?
Thankfully it does manage to come closest to the former and it does reasonably well in touching your heart! As expected, Vikram Bhatt-Aftab Shivdasani combo hit it well yet again after 'Kasoor' that again had intense emotional appeal. And this time again the director has extracted a knockout performance from Aftab Shivdasani who plays his real self rather well in the film. Vulnerable, gullible, susceptible to wrong decision making - overall the character of a human being who somewhere inside him knows that what he is doing is wrong but still attempts to (unsuccessfully) justify his acts.
That's Shekhar [Aftab] for you - a man with a beautiful wife Nandita [Amisha Patel] and a young daughter named Sheena. A doctor by profession, he could be any other 30 something handsome man living in the house/apartment next door. But situations weren't really the same for him as any other average man!
He comes across a celebrity Kavya [Esha Deol], who is a Miss world and a successful Bollywood star with suicidal tendencies. As a result of one of such suicide attempts, she finds herself with Shekhar in his hospital and the world is not the same for them again. Sparks fly and Shekhar finds himself getting attracted to Kavya. For Kavya, Shekhar becomes THE only man she could trust, rely upon and love. Overtly dependant and possessive about him, she now starts demanding her place in Shekhars's life as a permanent means that brings him to a win-loose situation. Choose one of the ladies and loose another!
Little did he know that he was on a loose-loose situation! 
While Nandita does everything that she can to get her husband back, everything goes in vain. And then she makes a decision.
There have been countless movies about infidelity and obsession in the past, so what is it that still makes 'Ankahee' and interesting tale? It's subtle moments sans any unwanted 'shor sharaaba'. With a subject like this, the film could have easily become a high voltage dramatic affair but director Bhatt clearly steers away from any of such clich'd means of depicting emotions. Instead he plays it subtle and lets the body language, dialogue delivery, camerawork, look of the frames, background music and songs help him narrate a story. In fact at places, the way camera moves at an extra slow pace gives an impression of influences from European cinema!
Each of the three lead actors has a part to play in the film's narrative and none of them disappoint at all. Aftab proves yet again that he is one under rated actor who just needs the right director to extract a good performance out of him. Also, despite his age, he has somehow performed best when he has played a man elder than his real age [Kasoor and now Ankahee]. Esha Deol may not really term 'Ankahee' as the role of her life as a psycho/obsessive/possessive character has been beaten to death since the time Shah Rukh Khan started it all in 'Darr'. But it is to her credit that she never once let the grip of the narrative get loose due to any blemish on her part. She may not look the most glamorous to suit the role of a Miss World but still does reasonably well to not come as a caricature. Amisha Patel sinks her teeth into a powerful character after a long time. While it looked that she would again end up in a wailing avtar (just as in most of her recent films), the shades that her character takes in the latter stages of the film manage some brownie points for her.
A good story set up that loses itself in the maze of gore and convenience. But memorable for two very strong performances from John Abraham and Sanjay Dutt in pivotal roles, and an extremely stylish treatment from Director Sanjay Gupta.
Vengeance is mine! And Sanjay Gupta sinks his teeth into the brutal side of gore with a vengeance! Zinda, in content and storyline, is like a pulp fiction novel in celluloid, but in finishing and technical quality of product has had the budget and finesse of a superdeluxe hardbound. From its absolutely fabulous sound design to the excellent cinematography with that breathtaking chase sequence in which Sanjay Dutt dashes after his fleeing quarry through Chinatown, you cannot fault Zinda technically. It is definitely going to be one of the most stylish films of the year, and we've only just begun. A good performance from John Abraham was long overdue after Jism, and in Zinda he comes to the fore with a strong, riveting performance as the psychotic, revenge-crazed killer with a suave exterior, more than holding his own against the screenplay-assisted Sanjay Dutt who, without doubt, is the not just the film's but Sanjay Gupta's hero too.
But let's get back to the place where pulp fiction meets Zinda right at the beginning, where Sanjay Dutt (Bala, short for Balajit), a software expert who is celebrating his first wedding anniversary with lovely wife Nisha (Celina Jaitley in a tiny role but this is about vengeance, remember?). Strangely, he's in the company of his friend Joy (Mahesh Manjrekar in yet another forgettable role after Jawani Diwani). Even more strangely, his good friend has the hots for Bala's lovely wife, and makes no bones about it! Hmmm but that entire sequence is to establish that Bala and his wife have just moved to Bangkok and are in the process of setting up house and settling in.
And at that point, Bala's world turns upside down. We suddenly find him caged in a small cell, pleading with his unknown captors to tell him why he is being held, and who is holding him, but to no avail. Every day , twice a day, a tray of food only fried wonton, by the way is shoved into his cell. Every day he resolves to toughen himself, to prepare himself for the day he believes he will inevitably win his freedom. The months become years and Bala resolves that he will neither break nor bend; instead, he is determined that he will find the identity of his captor, who, by the way, has got his wife killed and implicated Bala for the murder. So Bala resolves to some day exact a terrible revenge for the years of confinement. Actually, not just two or three years, but 14 -- for each of which Bala has carved out a line on the back of his hand, and during each of those years, has also taught himself the martial arts. By copying the b-grade martial arts movies, how else?
And suddenly, 14 years after he was first thrown into the cell, suddenly, one day, Bala is released. He has no idea who his captor was, or why he his freedom had been snatched away for 14 years. Now, consumed by the desire for vengeance, he sets out without a single clue about the identity of his captor.
And Zinda is set to take off. So far, pretty gripping stuff, well shot, stylishly narrated, and powerfully performed by Sanjay Dutt as the smoldering Bala.
After the court verdict on the settlement of the hassles regarding the music of the film, Krazzy 4 releases peacefully this week. The film under Rakesh Roshan's Filmkraft India banner marks the debut of director Jaideep Sen . As the film relases across Ajay Devgan's U Me Aur Hum, not many know that Jaideep has been an assistant director on two movies starring Ajay-'Jaan' and 'Itihaas'.
So does the controversy on the music and the competition from Devgan's film tamper the openings of the film? Does Jaideep live up to people's expectations?
The movies talks about 4 so called crazy men at a rehab center.
Raja(Arshad Warsi)- Suffers from intermittent explosive disorder , hits out at the slightest provocation or even without.
Dr.Mukherjee (Irrfan Khan)-Suffers from obsessive compulsive personality disorder, a perfect doc, clean and orderly, loves to be the captain of the team. Gangadhar (Rajpal Yadav)- Suffers from Schizophrenia, lives in the past with his mates Ghandhiji , Nehru , Tilak and Patel. He is so busy fighting for swaraj that he's lost his sanity.
Dabboo (Suresh Menon) ' Refuses to speak and nobody knows why! Cute and adorable and is everyone's pet. Their lives revolve around Dr.Sonali (Juhi Chawla) who loves the 'mad' bunch .She firmly believes that the only way to treat her patients is to treat them with your heart and not just your mind.
One fine morning, Dr.Sonali decides to take the boys out of the rehab centre to watch a cricket match and eventually she is kidnapped by some men. The series of events that follow reveal how this so called Krazzy bunch unveils the identity of the criminals and rescue their doctor.
Firstly, one should understand that Krazzy4 is a typical masala film and isn't meant for the so called intellectuals. The film doesn't offer something unique in its storytelling or so but the execution and series of events keep you glued. Jaideep Sen does well as a first time director. He may not be an ace at comedy but besides comedy he captures some very good moments that evoke patriotism like the Indian flag being pinned upside down in a building notice board being placed right by Rajpal etc.
The drawback exists in terms of Rakesh Roshan's story and Ashwini Dhir's screenplay. It gets bumpy through the journey. The film tracks off from the comic elements to the typical clich' terrorist angle with the cops being involved etc. Even the Dia Mirza sequences as the reporter was a bit overdone.
The dip in the screenplay is saved with the presence of SRK's dance number. The song comes in as a face lift for the film and the audiences are set to go gaga.
The music of the film by Rakesh Roshan is impressive and visually appealing too. When you just think everything is over when the film ends in a 'to be continued' fashion , Hrithik's version of the title track comes in a splendid manner. Cinematography and editing are ok.
On the performance graph, the 4 are equally impressive. Arshad explodes well in his hot tempered character. Watch out for the sequence where he goes to meet Dia Mirza's dad. Irrfan makes you giggle with his constant 'I'm the captain' and other lines on cleanliness. Rajpal Yadav makes you burst out with constant references to Ghandhji and the freedom movement. In fact he moves you in a sequence where a child at a mall is singing the national anthem and he pauses in attention and reverence; observing him various people from the mall too stand in attention and honour the national anthem. The lines to follow are simply brilliant.
Suresh Menon the prankster and the so called jabber mouth of Indian television this time does well in complete muteness. It's his body language and cuteness as the foodie that impresses.
Homi Adajania surprises you. First, by choosing an intricate psychological drama for a storysetting for his first film. And then, by choosing a very Parsi setting for his film, with Parsi characters with Parsi names that surprisingly don't end up branding his film as an in-your-face Parsi drama. But what's most surprising is the felicity with which this debutante director tackles the complex scenario of an extremely well written psychological drama and lets it develop as each really well defined and differently motivated character goes through the storyline, carrying his own baggage and motives through two distinctly different-toned halves that go on complete a complex picture and make Being Cyrus a memorable entertainer.
First the setup. The story revolves around the families of two brothers and and their old father. Two families, one living in Panchgani, and the other in Mumbai. The dope smoking Dinshaw (Naseeruddin Shah) is a talented sculptor who lives with his wife Cathy (Dimple Kapadia). Cathy is bored with life and obviously susceptible to amorous attention.
Dinshaw's younger brother Farokh (Boman Irani) is a high-handed and mean-minded man who lives with and dominates his wife Tina (Simone Singh) and his father Fardoonjee (Honey Chhaya), a pitiable old man who evokes much sympathy for being the father ignored and not cared for by his sons, especially Farokh, who limits Fardonjee's movements to the backroom of his own flat. And, as Fardonjee believes, keeps him starved.
The film obviously starts as a psychological story, and before long settles into an easy unfolding of the plot, with each character moving along with his own baggage and motives, interacting with the rest in a well woven tapestry of sequences that are edited in an easyflowing style that switches from the linear to the non-linear. We go through the quaint and not so quaint quirks of the Sethnas' lives, along with some sidesplitting sequences replete with funny lines that have you in splits due to the way they are placed and spoken. And we also get a whiff of the skeletons buried in the Sethna closet.
Something is waiting to happen.
Into the lives of this complex set of characters enters a young man, Cyrus (Saif Ali Khan), who shows up at Dinshaw's doorstep to learn sculpture as his assistant. And we can see that Dinshaw's vivacious, vulnerable wife, bored with the drudgery of her placid life in remote Panchgani, is sure to fall for his charm, and she does. She clearly likes him....
When Cyrus visits the other brother Farokh and his father Fardonjee, he sees how the old man is treated and how disillusioned he feels with life, and Cyrus reaches out to Fardonjee.
Through Cyrus and his interactions with the Sethna family, its dichotomies and dysfunctional nature is clearly visible, and you are gripped by the goings on. The complex screenplay demands complete attention, and as it unfolds, the story changes in tone from a lighter unfolding of slices of life feel to a thriller.
Turning words into pictures is fairly clich'd when it comes to Hollywood: Be it Francis De Coppola's The God Father or Stephen King's scintillating piece 'Different Seasons' adapted as The Shawshank Redemption. These are happening adaptations that have taken the position of 1 Hollywood's ever best films. Divulging to be so, the readers well-accepted these versions on the screen, merely because of good execution. Nevertheless, 'Hello' adapted from one of the finest hot-selling novels 'One Night @ the Call Centre' penned by Chetan Bhagat hits screens today. Indeed, Call centres happen to be the hot themes for novels and films' 
Well, would the readers of this novel get gratified with its adapted handiwork? Not so sure, the film works out well on certain aspects. But again, long-drawn-out screenplay grinding to a halt gets the viewers bit annoyed. Chetan Bhagat fetches the good credits of penning an innovative novel, but things aren't the same with 'Hello' as screenplay crafted by Chetan and Atul Agnihotri is merely a mediocre. 
Fine! Let's a glimpse through the synopsis of 'Hello'' 
Hello... is a tale about the events that happen one night at a call center. Told through the views of the protagonist, Shyam (Sharman Joshi), it is a story of almost lost love, thwarted ambitions, absence of family affection, pressures of a patriarchal set up, and the work environment of a globalized office.Shyam is losing his girl friend because his career is going nowhere as he trudges his way around in a call center. His girl friend, Priyanka (Gul Panag), is also an agent like him at the call canter who is about to be snatched by an NRI techno geek.There is also the aspiring model, Esha (Isha Gopikaar), who is hopping for the break that seems to be always already eluding her and the man about town, Varun (Sohail Khan), who is into well, things. The housewife, Radhika (Amirta Arora), who is constantly at the receiving end of her mother-in-law and a beleaguered grandfather, Military Uncle Vijay Pratap Chauhan (Sharath Saxena), who has been barred from interacting with his grandchild make up the rest of the call agents who see their worlds crumbling around them as the decisions of right sizing are conveyed by Bakshi (Dilip Tahil), the boss.It is a night when dreams will finally crumble. Or will it? For there is that call from God. Narrated as a tale within a tale as a beautiful woman (Katrina Kaif) meets the auteur/ narrator (Salman Khan) and promises him a story on the condition that he has to narrate it further'.
Everyone loves 'Peeping tom' when it comes into the lives of call centre employees. This should have really evoked the interest of audiences to go for it. The characterizations have been precisely sketched, but the problem lies in establishing them' Yup! Establishing characterization vividly varies from novels-to-films and for sure film buffs would understand it. Atul Agnihotri should have better finished introducing the characters within first few minutes. But the entire first half is carried on demonstrating characters and their problems. Of course, the scenario prolongs to the earlier minutes of latter part too and it gives a wretched look. 
Nothing to blame on the star-casts: everyone does a neat job with Sharman and Sohail Khan turning entire spotlights on them. They are enthusiastic right throughout emoting to fun, frolic and emotional quotients. Gul Panag doesn't deliver the best performance other than sharing romantic sequences with Sharman. Amirta Arora's performance is quite good, but it would have been better if the auteur had penetrated more on to her characterization. Ditto to Sharath Saxena and he should have been well-utilized'. 
Salman Khan appearing in cameo role doesn't mean that director should have let him at ease to perform on his own interest. Katrina Kaif with her cherubic looks captivates us though she appears for duration of not more than 10mins. 
Exposing the customers buzzing up to the call centre executives has been very-well executed. It's so real of how some callers are so foolish and their queries too' 
Musical score by Sajid-Wajid is commendable, but background scores are not solacing. The title song 'Bang Bang Bang' is sizzling and indeed a grand fiesta for fans of Sallu Bhai. Sanjay Gupta's cinematography is as enchanting as things have been well-worked out in interiors of call centre. Thanks to art director for decent works. 
On the whole, 'Hello' showcases the moderate effort of entire team and would sustain in box-office for the interesting story'. 
Verdict: Watch it once.
Rating : **1/2
There are some movies that manage to excite you on the power of their title itself. 'Maine Gandhi Ko Nahi Maara' is one of them. A movie that got into limelight just about 4 weeks back did well in arousing your curiosity around itself. But does it manage to meet the expectations? 
Sadly no! 
It attempts at coming near to it but looses its direction midway. Prime reason being that the movie tries touching upon too many issues - protagonist's guilt of having killed Gandhiji, an old man's position within his own family, fast fading Gandhi ideologies and the Alzheimer disease.
If the makers believed that this would manage to shake audience's soul and force them to think hard about today's times, then that doesn't really happen. Hence the film doesn't come up trumps from both the messaging perspective and the entertainment quotient! Thankfully the film doesn't loose out completely due to good performances but more about that later.
Film is set in a Mumbai middle class family headed by Professor Uttam Chaudhary [Anupam Kher] who has a working daughter Trisha [Urmila Matondkar] and a college going son [Addy] living with him while his eldest son [Rajit Kapur] is in Merchant Navy. A retied man, he is fast turning forgetful to such an extent that the instances from the present vanish away in moments while the memories of his past strike back with strengthened venom on a continuous basis. 
His worsening condition results in Trisha's boyfriend [Vishwaas Paandya] of 4 years calling off the relation. But Trisha still believes that her father would get well one day soon and seeks the help of the best of the psychiatrists in the town. All this while Professor continues to sink further and his issue aggravates to such an extent that he starts having problems because of a memory from his childhood. 
Now he starts believing that he accidentally killed Gandhiji.
As a result of this, Professor doesn't find peace anywhere. Such is the extent of his trauma that even his house starts seeming to him as a jail while his family appears to him as his captors. Trisha goes all out to get her father out of this whirlpool of thoughts, memories and mental imbalance. She approaches famous psychiatrist Sidharth Kothari [Praveen Dabas] and his senior [Prem Chopra] who try to go deep into this extraordinary case, find a real problem of this guilt and come up with a solution that may just about manage to cure her father.
They arrange for a fake courtroom drama where Professor is made to stand as an accused. How this manages to bring the guilt out from the Professor forms the rest of the story.
The movie goes along fine as far as setting of the basic plot is concerned. In the initial reels the father-daughter relationship and the failing condition of the Professor is established. Towards the interval point when Professor reveals his guilt about Gandhiji's assassination, it sounds a bit absurd but you still try absorbing it as you are curious to know about the reason behind this guilt. But from thereon it goes all downhill with the proceedings becoming exceedingly grim. Even the disclosure of the guilt from his childhood doesn't make much of an impact while the very idea of a fake courtroom setting is childish to say the least.
Kiddie films can be a treat. But, if they test your patience with substandard production values and silly jokes it can be an arduous experience withstanding the two hour something journey. 'Bhoot Unkle' is one such film that neither entertains nor conveys a message. Instead, it's a testimony to the demise of a fine actor in Jackie Shroff, who has been relegated to playing slipshod characters that push him further in the abyss of nothingness. 
So, what's it about? Do I really have to suffer this'.Never mind! To cut a sorry story short'.Cut 2 Hari Nagar. A small hamlet with all the amenities of the world. Shyam (Dev Kantawala) is the good boy with a good natured dwarf friend Tingu (KK) and Balle Balle Sardar boy Shunti (Mandaar). Akela, the thakela MLA (Akhilendra Mishra) gets after his life as Shyam has a constant tussle with bad son SK (Jay Kanani). Geeta (Sheena Bajaj), the nice daughter of the idealistic school principal supports Shyam when she finds out the injustices meted out to him. 
MLA's muscle men shoot with twelve bore rifles at Shyam as he seeks refuge in the haunted Light House. A holy statue emits light as a thankful Bhoot Unkle (Jackie Shroff) emerges gleefully. Poor soul of a bad pirate had been captured in the light house hundred years ago. And he can attain 'mukti' only if the holy statue that he had tried to steal is put back at its rightful place in the temple. A bit of give-n-take happens as Bhoot Unkle does some magic-antics to help Shyam while the little hero aids him in his own special way. 
It's a film that doesn't have anything to talk about. The special effects are okey dokey but when you compare it with films like 'Hanuman' and 'Krishna' it stands no chance. Music by Baba Sehgal is bad therapy for ears and what's this'.no credits for amateurish direction. Story by Anish Dey is childish-n-unconvincing. As for acting, then Jackie Shroff looks haggard and unkempt. For someone playing the title role, one didn't expect him to make an appearance in the second half. Akhilendra Mishra as MLA plays his part well. 
As for the kiddoes, then Dev Kantawala is able. He has a nice screen presence and is likable. KK, the self effacing Tingu is charming, Mandaar as Shunti and Sheena Bajaj as Geeta are cute.
'Bhoot Unkle' is aimed for children. But in this day-n-age when kids have umpteen options in the form of cartoon channels and internet, this Unkle is gonna vanish like a ghost from the cinema halls very soon. 
Bhoot Unkle: Not-Worth-A-Smile 
FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA>Star Rating: *
Taarzan The Wonder Car offers a unique opportunity on the plot level. A supernatural killer - a car so sleek in design and so flush with powers to seduce audiences that you wonder why it is introduced so late in the narrative! 
And when the supernatural automobile - a quaint mix of the benign Volkswagen Herbie in Walt Disney's The Love Bug and the killer convertible in John Carpenter's Christine - finally shows up, all sleek and span, glistening in the sun like a blue-hued gem in a jewellery store, you wonder what's so wondrous about it, beyond its obvious physical resplendence! 
Ironically, the appearance of the car proves to be the beginning of the film's downslide. Once the automobile revs up the narrative, directors Abbas and Mustan set their minds and hearts on telling a ramrod-straight vendetta story. 
One by one, in excruciatingly elaborate sequences, the killer goes on the rampage against the villains, finishing them off with ritualistic glee.
The saga of the murderous motorcar becomes progressively dampened until we arrive at the soggy climax where the car walks on water while Ajay Devgan, playing a ghost in a machine-on-wheels, walks into the sunset, leaving us with a flick that means well but fails to translate good intentions into a viable and cohesive entertainer.
Ironically, it is the portions before the magical car arrives that find the co-directors in their element. Thanks to the pincer-sharp editing, the early sequences, showing the little protagonist with his mechanical-engineer dad (Ajay Devgan) growing up to be a bespectacled nerd, convey energy. 
But let's be honest... all the sequences featuring the nerdish hero (debutante Vatsal Sheth) and the campus bullies are inspired by Hrithik Roshan in Koi...Mil Gaya.
The transformation, when it comes, stymies the narrative. The more the magical car races, the more the storytelling stops, creating a strange conflict between speed and substance in the plot.
What makes matters worse is the absence of a substantial story line. Besides the revenge, there's no other dimension to the plot. 
The romance between Raj and the campus bombshell (Ayesha Takiya) is so misguided, you feel the directors are more embarrassed about it than the poor red-faced hero who looks like an acne-stricken school kid rather than a cool dude with the classiest car ever seen in a Hindi film. When he suddenly smooches her, we are more surprised than anything that he or his wonder car does.
Newcomer Vatsal dances very well, specially in the Ooh la la re number where he lets himself go as though he suspects there would be no tomorrow for this poorly conceived film. But he shares zero chemistry with his leading lady. Ayesha, for some strange reason, favors stringy outfits even when her lover boy is busy building a car in a greasy garage.
Maybe the girl feels the heat more than others in the film. In what turns out to be the most hilarious product-plug ever inserted into a romance, Ayesha tells Seth to scratch her back for her.
Ooh, you do it like Itch-guard, she says! 
No wonder the romance remains at the scratch level while the revenge, never an integral part of the plot, runs all over the place, in complete opposition to the sleek, controlled movements of the film's hero - the car, not Vatsal.
The car, we might add, is the picture of discretion. Its master and the car maneuver through the traffic without the driver's prompting. It kills only the wicked and when a villain uses a child as a shield, the car stops short in its revved-up tracks.
An Ajay Devgan-Rajkumar Santoshi combo film always creates those vibes irrespective of the box office success. Take for example The Legend Of Bhagat Singh which didn't do too well at the box office but went on to receive the national award. With Halla Bol too, Santoshi has a lot to say through the film.
The film brings about the journey of a small town street theatre artist Ashfaque(Ajay Devgan) who under the discipleship of Sidhu(Pankaj Kapur) a reformed dacoit tackle societal issues with their street plays. Stardom beckons and soon Ashfaque makes his way through bollywood as superstar-Samir Khan. With the change in name, soon there is a change in Samir's character too with a laid back attitude towards work, extra-marital affair. Soon Samir looses hold of his roots and loved ones-wife Sneha(Vidya Balan) and mentor Sidhu.
A shocking incident at a party changes everything as Samir is a witness to a murder of a girl. The girl is gunned down by two boys of great political influence, thus leaving all the who's who of tinsel town absolutely mum. When interrogated by the media and the police, everyone including Samir refuses to have witnessed the murder. Samir's conscience takes him for a toss and eventually Samir leaving behind his filmy image takes on the system in an attempt to find justice for the girl's family.
Rajkumar Santoshi is back with a bang. The ace proves it again why a Santoshi film is worth all that Halla. The direction of the film is splendid and the flow of events within the film is so smooth that one is hooked on to the big screen right from the start. The film opens with Santoshi's insights into the Indian film industry with how actors within the industry bitch about each other behind their backs while on the other hand act like brothers when they meet face to face. The very introduction of Devgan's character at the autobiography launch where he reveals that his book is full of lies is such an opener. Various scenes within the industry like Artists promising of dates, relationships with women on the sets and endorsements of brands have been portrayed in a witty manner but with the right amount of reality.
The storytelling by Santoshi is absolutely gripping as the movie shifts from a film about the Indian film industry to a film that carries a relevant message. Santoshi seems to be inspired by the Jessica Lal case and its proceedings thus bringing about this real incident to reel format. The film also carries inspiration from the life of 'nukkad natak' pioneer and social activist, the late Safdar Hashmi. Thus, the protagonists bring about the power of streets play to address any issue, no matter how big it maybe. Santoshi also strikes at the media through the film where he expresses that their responsibility lies beyond filming and clicking pictures of a particular crime or form of injustice. 
Santoshi's film is high on content as it shows us what happens when an actor takes on politicians 'right from the burning of his posters to the no-show at theatres. The characters in the film are so well sketched out that even the frustration in Devgan's character is brought out in the form of his scuffle with the journalists and photographers. The finale of the Natak shot amidst a huge crowd brings out Santoshi's technical brilliance which is similar to Bachchan's chase sequence in Khakee.
Thirty-six years ago when Manoj Kumar made one of India's best-known patriotic potboilers Upkar, he described it as a 16,000-feet long flag of India.
How do we describe Anil Sharma's 18,000-feet long film? Manoj Kumar would be nonplussed by its variously frantic and fitful thrusts and grunts of across-the-border games that constitute a sprawling marathon in the troubled ties between India and Pakistan.
To telescope war-ridden, politically stressed and historically turbulent history into three hours and more of rabblerousing rhetoric, voluminous songs and high-octane emotions isn't an easy task. 
Director Anil Sharma isn't really up to it. At the end of the exhausting film, his political ideology isn't quite intelligible to the audience.
Sharma appears to be an awfully confused fence sitter. While a large chunk of the footage is devoted to showing our neighbours as bushy eye-browed sneaky schemers and manipulators, suddenly the unwieldy script undergoes a dramatic change of heart. At the end we see the flags from the two countries undulating together in a symbolic solidarity.
So which one does Ab Tumhare... want to be? Gadar or Veer-Zara? Confounding, to say the least!
But, sorry, we're jumping the gun. There's plenty of noisy ammunition and riotous rhetoric to be gone through before we reach the flag-friendly finale. 
While the guns roar and the soldiers roar even harder, a love triangle unfolds as two soldiers, Kunal (Bobby Deol) and Rajiv (Akshay Kumar), court and win over the demure Shweta (newcomer Divya Khosla).
The re-entry of Rajiv signals the exit of Kunal, making one wonder if director Sharma is impressed by the Ben Affleck-Kate Beckinsale-Josh Hartnett triangle in Pearl Harbour or its proud predecessor Sangam where soldier Raj Kapoor fought for Vyjayanthimala's hand along with Rajendra Kumar.
Sangam or Pearl Harbour... Ab Tumhare Hawale... seems to believe that matters of the heart are more critical than matters of the state. 
On the night before soldier Kunal is summoned to the war front he rushes through a sandstorm to tell Shweta about his love. She has her own story - she tells him about her marriage to Rajiv who has gone missing in action.
Apart from the sheer staleness of the product, the film also suffers from inept editing by Ballu Saluja whereby unnecessary suspense is created over the love triangle. It's actually a love quadrangle since there's Sandali Sinha waiting in the wings for Deol to look her way.
The songs choreographed by Ganesh Acharya portray ethnic chic and trendy patriotism. Unfortunately the music and the heroine's dancing abilities leave much to be desired.
The plot crams in a lot, and yet leaves us with a feeling of being short-changed. The dramatic conflict that holds you marginally has nothing to do with the romantic love or war. 
Amitabh Bachchan's personal war with grandson Bobby Deol has a dramatic impact lacking in the film's other areas of activity.
The senior soldier's dismay at the youngster's flippant attitude towards nationalism and patriotism keeps us riveted, thanks to Bachchan's restrained and clenched performance. He has far more to do here than in the year's other soldier tale Lakshya, and he does it with implosive expertise.
Kalpana Lajmi has always been a thought-provoking director, but with her latest, Chingaari, she has only provoked complete and utter puzzlement. What on earth was she thinking of, with Chingaari? This is unarguably her worst effort at filmmaking, and such a film, coming for a respected and reputed director like Lajmi has still left one dazed and disoriented!
Chingaari, another woman-centric film from Lajmi, comes with a large dash of religion too, but the film does not even flicker. It is based on the story of a beautiful young woman who's in the oldest profession known to mankind ' prostitution and is set in a tiny north Indian village. It isn't very clear whether the village is primitive or simply that people are just trying to be as primitive as possible looking very forced indeed.
The plot has three central characters and a bunch of supporting actors and actresses. The story is set in this village called Rangpur where the dialect is Awadhi. The hamlet shown in the film has this area chalked out for prostitutes called Lal Batti. Basanti (Sushmita Sen) is the most wanted prostitute of the lot. She is the object of the bristling lust of the head priest of the village, Bhuvan Panda (Mithun da).
The lustful Bhuvan Panda is evil personified, and spares nobody not even the prostitutes. At most other times, he indulges in emotional exploitation of the hapless, illiterate and simple village folk, haunting it like a nemesis. Mithun excels in the role.
Before long, there comes a new postman to the village a young man called Chandan Mishra (Anuj Sawhney). He's a man with more than a satchel of mail he's got a mission too. That of bettering the lives of the miserable prostitutes and the villagers, but most of all, that of Basanti, whom he falls in love with. He pens letters as an anonymous lover and shows respect for Basanti. He even expresses his desire to marry her an give her daughter the name of a father. Basanti, never the recipient of such clean affection, falls for him, and before long, that becomes a slap on the ego of Bhuvan Panda! Chandan loses his life in the process. Then comes the 'revolutionary' part of the film. The climax is the one among the many miserable sequences in the film.
Basanti compared to devi Kali is portrayed in rather cliched way. She even gets her tongue out and screams like her! There is an' intense' dance that Basanti does which is unfortunately evokes laughter rather than be taken seriously. The film ends with a message that such things have no end. As I said, one's still disoriented! This isn't like a Kalpana Lajmi film at all, and sadly, it goes on interminably for three hours, trying your patience no end. Lajmi has gone overboard to show poverty, the desires of men, Vaasna and more. There are several scenes in the film that are steamy to the extent that one wishes they would stop! Sushmita Sen over acts, and her dialogue delivery is too accented for an Awadhi speaking prostitute in a remote primitive north Indian village. The scenes where Basanti is making Bhuvan face the music, and the one in which she is mourning the death of Chandan are simply overdone.
The film was intended to be a matter of substance film but it falls short. It has a poor script and a screenplay that leaves you confused. And the audiography is deafening! The background score, the adaptation of Bhupen Hazarika's book 'Postman and the Prostitute' through additional dialogues that are poorly delivered add to the film's woes.
This film is a must-see. 2005 seems to be a decisive year for Hindi cinema. Frontiers are being opened up constantly, almost by the week.
A new dimension to the war epic emerges from Tango Charlie - Mani Shankar's fascinating study of terrorism, violence and valour that is incredible in scope.
In the film, Mani Shankar holds on to key pockets of terrorist activities in the country and creates a fascinating collage of geo-political aggression whereby characters are thrown from one level of separatist violence to another until the audience is virtually shell-shocked.
Tango Charlie looks at 'war' as a state of the mind as seen through the mind of the state. There are no politicians in the film. But politics populates the plot abundantly. 
It's indeed remarkable how the director fuses the main characters from the Border Security Force (BSF) into a spiralling demonstration of battle lines drawn between war and terrorism.
Caught between protecting the country and making spot-decisions distinguishing crime and nationalism, the two protagonists spin dizzyingly from one episodic depiction to another - Bodo insurgency in Assam, Maoists in West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat riots, and finally the India-Pakistan conflict at Kargil in Jammu and Kashmir. 
That is where, in a tribute to David Lean's A Bridge Too Far, Mani Shankar ekes out a stunning climactic scene for his two protagonists Mohammad Ali (Devgan) and Tarun Chauhan (Deol).
We journey across a frenzied hinterland of strife and bloodshed with the two heroes -- one a seasoned cynic, the other a reluctant rookie -- but both joined by a narrative that moves sure footedly through a harsh and rugged territory.
For a film that's predominantly macho (like Mani Shankar's earlier film, the interestingly paced 16 December and the failed Rudraksh, Tango Charlie too precludes woman audiences) the two female leads are memorably etched, though not played with the charm and gusto that the roles deserved.
The light romantic portions with Tanisha cast as a village-based livewire, who asks the na've Tarun if he has brushed his teeth before kissing her Hollywood style, are illustrations of brilliant screenwriting. 
Nandana Sen's extended cameo as a zamindar's daughter in a Maoist-infested area in West Bengal, who turns from bride to widow to fugitive, is again proof of how expertly women can be fitted into a predominantly male domain. 
For sure, Mani Shankar is better at writing his energetic high-octane adventure than in putting it on screen. 
Like Mani Rathnam's Yuva, the execution of the episodic incidents is a definite departure from the orthodox format of storytelling in Hindi films. But audiences are bound to wonder why there're so many plots-within-plots.
The director constantly courts the unconventional. Tango Charlie never gets dull and the protagonists seem to exude an authoritative and credible energy.
Wisely the film unfolds in a diary format with two air force pilots (Sanjay Dutt and Suniel Shetty in endearing cameos) reading through the unconscious BSF personnel Bobby Deol's jottings. 
Using the diary device Mani Shankar provokes us to look at the socio-political forces in different parts of the Indian map.
The Devgan-Deol relationship reminds us of Devgan and Abhishek Bachchan in that other counter-terrorism adventure story Zameen. Both the actors are far more agile spirited and in-character here than they have been in their other recent films. 
Finally comes the release of a film that has been pushed ahead week after week to avoid clashes with other films. The film finally comes out this weekend as a solo release , but maybe the audiences have even forgotten about the existence of such a film. With the delay in release and a dip in the promotional activities of the film, the film releases without much buzz of any sorts.
The film talks about married couples -- Prem [Aashish Chowdhary] and Khushi [Amrita Arora], Santosh [Rajpal Yadav] and Shanti [Neha Dhupia] and Mr. and Mrs. Khurana [Anupam Kher and Rati Agnihotri].Santosh, a bank manager is married to Shanti a small time village girl. Somehow Santosh and Shanti share a troubled marriage life for reasons best known to them. Santosh's gestures and interactions are often misinterpreted by Shanti which further steepens the tension.
On the other hand Santosh's boss too is faced with a similar problem as his marriage with the rich and pampered Khushi is on the rocks. Khushi lives in a world of her own and is highly dramatic and finds it hard to face the realities of life. The Khuranas come in and out to console Shanti and Santosh.
The film revolves around the complexities of marriage and the interaction of various couples and how they come to a consensus at the end.
The film marks the debut of director S.Chandrakant who tries to make his mark with a comedy exploring the diversity in ones married life. The sad part is that he fails in making the audiences laugh.
The film drags at various instances wondering where the film is headed. The film does have moments of good comedy but a very poor script kills it all. The screenplay too is weak with various sequences such as Rajpal Yadav imagining other women to be his wife is just a pure waste of time. Even the patch up scenes are so unrealistic and not at all funny. Specially the Ashish Chowdhary 'Amrita Arora patch up is so fake and boring.
On the acting meter it's purely Rajpal Yadav who gets the movie going with his comic timing and expressions. But looks like the producers were expecting a repeat hit performance of 'Main Meri Patni Aur Woh 'from Rajpal. Various instances with Neha Dhupia look like a repeat of the earlier hit venture. 
Neha Dhupia amazes as Shanti , playing the role of a villager with ease . Her frustration as the wife caught up in a troubled marriage is worth watching. But a poor screenplay kills it. Amrita Arora is highly over dramatic. Ashish Chowdhary is purely wasted and is pretty poor at comedy. Even the emotional sequences are poorly handled by him. Anupam Kher and Rati Agnihotri are also wasted.
Dialogues are at times witty, cinematography ok. Music of the film isn't impressive at all except for the title track that might catch on for its witty lines.
At the end of it, the film is worth watching for Rajpal's performance but with the poor script might just disappoint even the Rajpal fans. To add to it, the poor promotion and delay in release might just prove costly.
Rating : *1/2
It would be no exaggeration to call Sandeep Sawant's Marathi masterpiece Shwaas a breath of fresh air. 
And yet clever words can only conceal the film's merits while revealing the movie-watcher's helplessness and inadequacy in articulating his true feelings. Like the rural patriarch Vichare (Arun Nalavade) who stands at Dr. Sane's chamber-door -- anxiety, tension, worry and panic written all over his tired eyes.
It's one of the clinching moments in the narrative. Prior to it, director Sawant hadn't shown us the old man's face. We only heard him pleading with the harried receptionist at the doctor's office for an out-of-turn appointment.
Now here he is, Vichare and his little grandson Parashuram (Ashwin Chitale) sitting anxiously in a strange room with strange scary smells in a strange city with an over-worked cancer specialist who's trying hard not to lose his patience.
Just think. A well-meaning workaholic doctor confronted by an old man with a little boy who suffers from a rare cancer that can be cured only if the boy's eyes are surgically removed.
What bigger drama and tragedy could descend on the screen?
Admittedly the director has hit on a fool proof plot to squeeze every ounce of sympathy out of the audience. 
But that isn't what Shwaas is about. The director's vision transcends the immediate sentimentality of the situation and the inherent melodrama of the plot to undertake a debate on the quality of life.
What makes every breath that we take worth the while? Is it how much time we spend doing the things we want? Or is it what we do with the time that's allotted to us? And on a more immediate level, how do we prepare a seven-year old boy for impending blindness?
The film's characters, big or small, all seem to exist on screen from long before the camera caught them grieving over a matter that tears cannot rationalize. Full marks to the director for keeping the film completely out of studio floors. By taking the characters into a real hospital and other authentic locations Sandeep Sawant right away resolves an age-old dilemma in cinema.
Can studio sets take away from the authenticity level of a story? Shwaas positively and irrevocably champions the cause of authentic locations. Once in place, the characters automatically appear to be an integral part of the heart breaking narrative.
The actors do the rest. Whether it's the earnest medical volunteer Aiswaraya grappling endlessly with the situation of co-ordinating the grandfather's grief with the doctor's choc-a-block schedules, or the little boy's mother in the village anxiously asking on phone if surgery is necessary... The people in this intimate epic remind us of how real reality-dramas could be, provided they set their hearts to it.
Not that Shwaas lacks a mind. A great deal of thought has gone into making Sandeep Sawant's film what the moving experience that it is. The manner in which he inter cuts idyllic scenes from the grandfather and the boy's village life with the grim claustrophobic reality of the city hospital, echoes the enchanting lyricism of Satyajit Ray's Bengali Pather Panchali and Shaji Karun's Malayalam Piravi.
The narrative, straight simple and sincere, is spiced with dollops of symbolism (for example, the sparks of fire falling to the ground as the ill boy, his grandfather and the poor kindly relative who accompanies them stride fearfully through the city) ignite what could have been a dry and dreadfully defeatist drama of death-like dimensions. 
'Marvelous', 'fantabulous' and what else, put your best words of appraisals for Director Kaushik Ghata. Amidst, corporate companies and Hollywood's top-charting production houses churning out their extravaganzas in Bollywood, Rajshri Productions enriches with simplistic beauteous themes straight from its shoulders. 'An oasis amidst of large deserts' ' Of course, Ek Vivaah Aisa Bhi deserves it for a poignantly crafted tale by Suraj Bharjatiya and Kaushik Ghatak's perfect direction. 
Possibly, with changing phase of genres in Bollywood, one may not opt for PURE DRAMRA. Uh-huh! Multiplex audiences may not choose this flick, as they have plenty of good releases hitting screens recently. Obviously, it's hard to choose the best out of bests as Tom Hanks says it in Forrest Gump ' My Mamma used to say 'Life is a box of chocolates, you don't know what you're gonna pick'. Fine, it could be a difficult task in opting one best out of all recent releases. 
Producers brimmed up with perfect knacks have hit bull's eyes. Everyone could've have felt it odd with makers releasing this flick with just 80prints and in single screens. Undoubtedly, audiences zeroing down on single-screens will love watching this film. For sure, producers should've opted for 'Slow 
Best in its theme, Rajshri haven't failed in bringing to us, best wedlocks on screen in their previous films and Ek Vivaah Aisa Bhi is not an elision. Hymeneals, gala celebrations of marriage ceremonies have been spelled' Don't miss the concentric aspects of heart-binding emotions and splendid plotline.
Sacrifices for love portrayed would melt everyone's senses and overall it's a decent family entertainer. 
Chandni (Eesha Koppikar) belongs to a middle class family; living in one of the tiny by lanes of old Bhopal. She lives with her father and younger siblings- Anuj and Sandhya. Chandni, who is deeply attached to her school going brother and sister, is trained in classical and folk music. During a stage performance she falls in love with Prem (Sonu Sood)..
Prem hails from a rich family. He is an un conventional Ghazal singer full of mischief and pranks..
Life is picture perfect ...until on the day of engagement Chandni's father passes away...suddenly she becomes the eldest in her family. On one hand her 'Mehendi' adorned hands are beckoning her to the dream home of her fianc' and on the other hand are her younger siblings, whom she cannot take along with her. Chandni decides not to marry so that she can bring up her little brother and sister with respect.
Prem understands her and stands by her through thick and thin as she goes through her struggle. He unconditionally waits for Chandni for 12 long years until she fulfill all her responsibilities as an elder sister.
'Truly...sometimes the greatest love stories are .... the ones that stand the test of time.'
Doubtless, taglines picked for promos don't dash down your hopes and debutant Kaushik Ghatak strides winning accolades. Lots of his elbow greases get revealed with the exquisite filming of best moments through the entire show. Perhaps, lack of pace in first few minutes may put down your interests' Nevertheless, the scenario transcends with solidity in screenplay and actors breathing lives on characters. Better don't forget your hankies; certain scenes would soak your eyes with tears rolling down on cheeks. 
Nothing to blame on star-casts; their flawless top-notched performance strikes straight into your hearts. They are sure to remain undiminished post-the-show. Sonu Sood brims up with an over-the-top act. Be it his gestures or facial expression, he looks full-blown from his previous hits Jodha Akbar, Singh is King. Ditto to Eesha Koppikar; she steals the show with her chasteness adding strength to emotional ratios. Alok Nath, Vallabh Vyas and Smitha come up with laudable performance while Vishal Malhotra exceeds your expectations. 
Better it would've been, if Kaushik and Sooraj had their focus on technical panoramas. Except couple of songs inclusive of 'Mujhme Zinda Hai Woh', nothing works out magic especially in first half. Sashi and Sumit make the film more resplendent penning dialogues and they deserve special mention. 
Ek Vivvah' Aisa Bhi is perfect in all vistas savoring to the tastes of audiences. Indeed, it's worthy carrying credits of 'One of the year's best family entertainer'. There aren't any letdowns from Rajshri Productions and hats off to entire team' 
Verdict: Worth watching' Don't miss it. 
Rating: ****
How many full fledged animation movies can one remember that have been completely created out of India? Worse, how many of them have actually got a country-wide release? Practically NIL. Except for children's movies like 'Chota Chetan', 'Chota Jaadugar', 'Makdee' amongst a few others, Indian audience has seldom witnessed an animation or a children's movie reaching the theatres and that too in a big way. On these grounds, Percept Pictures Company, Silvertoons, Sahara One Motion Pictures and director V.G.Samant deserve an applause for coming up with a movie belonging to a kind that breaks away from the conventional way of movie making! With Hanuman, one expects many more production houses to wake up to the fact that such movies are now a reality in India too and worth pumping their money in.
So does Hanuman indeed turn out to be India's best ever animation movie? YES. Does it meet the expectations that one had set after watching the promos? Is it as entertaining as one would have expected from this mythological tale? Well the answer to both these questions is - Yes, but partly. That's because so much has been stuffed in those 100 minutes that at places it appears that instances from the life of Hanuman are just joined together with not much continuity between them. Agreed that it is almost impossible to accommodate everything in a movie but still a little more linear narrative for this story [which is already known to millions] would have only helped the caused. Still, it has to be agreed that the effort is praiseworthy and the movie never fails to engross you throughout its duration [credit this to some good visuals and background score but more about this later].
As said earlier, the story of Ramayana [and hence Hanuman] is known to most of the folks visiting the theatres. Movie begins with the 'rakshasas' creating havoc with their misdeeds. To suppress this act, GODs came up with a strategy to send the 'avtars' of Vishnu and Shiva in the form of Ram and Hanuman respectively on earth. Their mission was to destroy the evil and pave way for a better place for the mankind to live. So while Ram is born to Dahsrath and Kaushalya, Hanuman is born to Anjani, a female Apsara and the Moneky King Kesari. 
Blessed with supreme intelligence, strength and divine powers, he turned out to be a friendly [yet naughty] kid who made friends with everyone from birds to animals. As he was growing up, one of his pranks resulted in a 'shrap' from a 'sadhu' that made him loose all his divine powers. But that was not too much of a cause of worry as GODs knew that he would get back his powers when he needed them most. One of the not-too-known chapters in the life of Hanuman is shown as his meeting with Ram in his childhood days when he disguised himself as a 'madari-ka-bandar' and became Ram's friend only to be later recognized by him and sent back to return at most opportune moment.
Years passed and Hanuman became a complete 'ram-bhakt' with chants of 'Sri Ram' day in and night out. Meanwhile enmity between Sugriv and Bali brings the former close to Hanuman. During one of those days, Hanuman again came in contact with Ram who was now in exile. How he helps Ram in finding Sita, destroy Lanka, save Laxman and gets a boon from Ram to be immortal forms the rest of the tale!
For past couple of months Bollywood saw a bleak scenario. Neither did any off beat release nor did any flick make it big on terms of entertainment. The previous week's release '13B' did a up good show across the multiplex audiences while here's 'Jai Veeru' ' An entertainer that falls between the lines of finesse and mediocre. Much distinctly to one's perceptions, Puneeth Sira strikes with a most unassailable bet of penning a commercial entertainer. Certainly, it's nice watching the same director who delivered a terrible directorial previously with 'I ' Proud to be an Indian'. Nevertheless, this transcendence doesn't drop any conclusions about terming 'Jai Veeru' ' as a top-notching entertainer. Bounded with bits and pieces of absurdities, it could be called a commendable flick if one drops out cognizance and enjoys watching it upon buckets of ducky bites and sips.
Two of Bollywood's hottest actors have just become the wildest partners ' in ' crime to ever hit the streets of Bombay! 
Fardeen Khan and Kunal Khemu star in the hilarious saga of a cop, a crook and a beautiful friendship gone sour. 
Once inseparable pals, Jai (Fardeen Khan) and Veeru (Kunal Khemu) find themselves on opposite sides of the law, each feeling betrayed by the other. In fact, the only person who hates them more then they hate each other is a ruthless gangster Tejpal (Arbaaz Khan), who want s to kill both of them and put them six feet under! Now, through a strange twist of fate, Jai and Veeru are to run ' together. With a little luck, the boys might just get out of this one alive ' if they don't kill each other first! 
Will they survive? Will their Friendship survive? 
Well, the film looks like a mixture of many previously released Hollywood and Bollywood flicks. A hot-footed cop and thief on the tracks of pulling down the mafia lord isn't something new to the audience. But commercial masalas are always cooking up. On the narration, the pace drops down and is extremely filled with weirdness that's more illustrious during the initial 30 mins. On the pars, the film gears up prior to intermission and is brimmed with an unexpected twist.
Getting on with performance, it's Kunal Khemu eclipsing everyone on the screens. He's so smart and overwhelms with his acting skills in all panoramas. Be it the sequences where he's frizzled with flummoxed ambience of striking bullet straight on Fardeen's forehead or the fun and frolic he gets along with, he's quite impressive. 
Fardeen's show is hunky-dory of its kind and he could've tried something better. Arbaaz Khan as an antagonist hasn't got to do anything much with the breathtaking stunts except the clich'd motor-boat ride during final chase. Dia Mizra and Anjana seems to have been included in the film just for their glamour quotient. Dia's characterization with an unbelievable twist in the penultimate sequence is something that's easily predictable (similar to Aishwarya's role in 'Khakee'). Rajesh Khattar does his best but doesn't win appreciations. Puneeth can be blamed for a middling characterization.
Bappa Lahri's musical score has a decent appeal, but choreographies could've much been much better. They don't exceed our expectations and ditto to cinematography. With the second half of the film with action-filled adventures, the man behind the lens could've tried on better locales. 
But the film has some spell-binding charged-up stunts to like the aero-stunts part in the last few moments of the film.
On the whole, elite groups may find it tougher to perceive 'Jai Veeru' as a fantabulous entertainer. For sure, the film would make good appeal across the B and C centres.
Verdict: Watch to kill your time'
Rating :***
Extremely poor production values don't entirely take away from the essential theme of a eunuch's fight for dignity in a social order that constantly shuns fringe people.
Ashutosh Rana is outstanding in the title role.
Based on a real-life character, his portrayal of the eunuch is unique in every sense of the word. Bringing us straight into the twilight zone of the nowhere-people Rana creates spaces in the otherwise-stifling narrative where we see the main character with all her defences down, pouring out her anguish at being forever sidelined, into sequence after sequence showcasing the actor's amazing power to project his character's turmoil and coming-to-terms with her space in life. 
The film's narrative format is tragically devoid of aesthetic values. The cinematography, set design and editing are all done in the style of the 1960s. These setbacks in the narrative take away from the central character's powerful motivations.
Unlike Kalpana Lajmi's Darmiyaan or Mahesh Bhatt's Tamanna, there are no lyrical passages accentuating the eunuch's unique attempts to take on a bigoted society.
Though the film is based on a real-life character's struggle to enter politics, the wheeling-dealings of politics are exaggerated and crudely portrayed. 
The politicians helmed by the hammy Govind Namdeo wear evil sniggers to symbolize the collapse of the social system. In getting too involved with the collapse of the system the narrative caves in and all but finishes off the film's better intentions.
Ashutosh Rana holds up the plot's lingering loopholes. But finally even he cannot stem the tide of abject mediocrity that floods the narrative. In the last half-hour the protagonist's lack of essential heroism is compensated by the introduction of a hired killer (Mukesh Tiwari) who reforms and helps Shabnam win the elections against the evil politicians.
The sensitive issue is mired in filmy compromises, leaving the work looking half-baked and finally negated. 
The film's blind spots are made bearable by the central performance and the cameos of eunuchs specially Vijay Raaz as Shabnam's surrogate-mother. But the film needn't have focused so singlemindedly on being so crass. It just puts all the other considerations into shade.
Nagesh Kukunoor should be a happy man now as 'Iqbal' bridges a gap between so called offbeat films and commercial cinema. The man associated with niche movies like Hyderabad Blues, Rockford, Bollywood Calling and 3 Deewarein gets the biggest release of his career, courtesy some strong backing by Subhash Ghai, the producer, who has left no stone unturned to make the movie reach out to its target audience. And it has to be admitted that it has everything for those who want to watch a different story told in a simple yet highly entertaining manner. This is where Iqbal scores and becomes highly commercial viable cinema too!
Iqbal is a simple story about a deaf and mute 18 year old boy-turning-into-man Iqbal [Shreyas Talpade], who has just one dream since his childhood - to wear a national cap as an Indian cricketer one day. But there are number of hurdles in this dream to be fulfilled. His humble background [a small village called Kolipad], an average household [his father (Yateen Karyekar) is a simple man who is happy with his farming and wants him to follow his footsteps], his physical handicap and the biggest of all, lack of any formal coaching.
In this dream of his, he is supported by his doting sister Khatija [Shweta Prasad] and mother [Pratiksha Lonkar] who leave no stone unturned to help him realize his dream. While Shweta is her brother's communication channel with the rest of the world, his mother protects him every time his father senses of anything related to cricket. 
After some random practice on his own, he is finally given a chance to join the nearby cricket academy run by a veteran coach [pirish Karnad]. This is where he learns some finer points of cricket only to be asked to leave due to a mishap with the blue eyed batsman who is academy's favorite. Iqbal begs, pleads and tries to convince the coach but to no avail. 
Just when he feels distraught and starts loosing all hopes, he realizes that a village drunkard Mohit [Naseeruddin Shah] could help him with bowling coaching as he was an ex-cricketer himself. After some persuasion, Mohit agrees to coach Iqbal and this is where the drama in the story begins. Its no easy going for Iqbal as he has to battle a number of factors - first and foremost making Mohit leave his drinking habits, then going away from his father's wishes, then joining the Ranji team [even without playing for a district or a club level match] to fighting dirty politics revolving around selection for the Indian cricket team.
How Iqbal faces all the challenges with the support of Mohit, Khatija and his mother forms the crux of the movie. But an underlining message of the movie is clear - it's not about a budding cricketer who rises to be a superstar! It's more about a man on street who wins on sheer will power with the support of his near and dear ones, regardless of any field or profession. An ultimate triumph of human sprit!
Another good factor about the movie is that never once is the character of Iqbal shown to be helpless and dependant on others for his well being. You never feel sorry for the character inspite of his physical handicap and take him as just another normal human being. Writer-director Kukunoor has taken special care to have audience sympathize with the situation the character is in, rather than the character himself, hence making it different from the likes of 'Black' and 'Main Aisa Hi Hoon'.
Now this one throws an absolute surprise! When it became clear that RAM GOPAL VARMA KI AAG, VICTORIA NO. 203 and DHOKHA would be releasing on the same day, I had DHOKHA at the bottom of my list. Ramu's AAG clearly had the hype factor working in it's favor, VICTORIA NO, 203 seemed like a decent entertainer while DHOKHA had negativity and only negativity written around it ever since the film's promotion began.
Firstly the film's soundtrack was bad, secondly there seemed to be no visible effort from Vishesh Films to create a positive buzz around the film (shocking, since they are the masters when it comes to film's promotion) and thirdly there was no excitement built up even as Pooja Bhatt-Muzzammil war started making news three weeks before the film's release. 
Add to it the entire 'Muslim' angle being used for building numerous stories and one couldn't help but be turned off entirely from the product. It all seemed to be an overdrive of the PR machinery but sadly nothing motivated you enough to watch this film with interest.
How much of a 'dhokha' it turned out to be eventually once the two hour film unfolded in front of my eyes?
The film turned out to be one gripping dramatic outing which made a hammer strong impact reel after reel. In fact ten minutes into the narrative and one is forced to leave all pessimism about the film aside and watch the drama unfold with keen interest. There are number of observations you start making right away. 
First and foremost it becomes clear that Muzammil is indeed the discovery of the year so far. There may have been talks about Ranbir Kapoor and Harman Baweja making their debut in the coming months but when the nominations are made for the most promising debutant of the year, Muzammil would certainly be the front runner.
He is indeed a talent waiting to be explored even further and if the flashes of brilliance that he shows in this two hour film are good enough, he certainly has a long way to go. He not just carries a good physique and looks good with an intense screen presence, he also acts remarkably well which works so well for an industry which is waiting for fresh talent to knock the doors.
Seemingly a natural in front of the camera, he does a lot with his eyes and facial expressions. Even at such a young age, his body language too doesn't deceive him at all in spite of being required to play the mature role of an ACP. He has right expressions for each of the scenes and this is something that he demonstrates at regular intervals. Watch out for him in the scenes where:
- He encounters the father of an injured girl at the hospital- He learns about his wife's [Tulip Joshi] death- He reasons during interrogation sequence with Gulshan Grover- He meets his friends once through with his interrogation- He learns about his wife's background- He comes face to face with extremists- He tries to save his brother-in-law
Still, the cake is taken by the entire sequence when he touches alcohol for the first time and then comes face to face with his once-friend-turned-foe cop in the pub. A scene where he displays his pathos amazingly well.
If each of these scenes work for the film, the person who has to be credited is Pooja Bhatt. After an average PAAP and an absolutely disappointing HOLIDAY, she takes giant leaps as a storyteller and a director who can make her actors enact their parts with such perfection. She gives Bhatt films a film which would go down as one of their most prestigious and respected projects.
And at the end of this year, there's a bedazing blockbuster in Indian Box office. Here comes our maestro of perfection swaying on with a different genre from his previous ventures. Merely, producers wouldn't have considered Ghajini as an 'Empaling Speculation' for enormous reasons. Well, when you've South India's top-charting Director, Bollywood's superstar, Musical Maestro and versatile technicians teaming up, undoubtedly results are off grandeur. On the buttons, 'Ghajini' is so tremendous on all panoramas of narration and technical aspects. The film had raised everyone's expectations across far-flung corners as Tamil and its Telugu dubbed version had walloping critical acclaims.
So, what's special about Aamir's Ghajini? Thank God! It isn't a copycat of Christopher Nolan's 'Memento' and carries more divergence from Tamil version in latter half. Well, even for those who had soundly watched Tamil version, they're gonna experience an enhanced spirit on emotions. Of course, tho' it's an action-packed thriller, emotions are boundless'. 
Perhaps, Murugadoss's gripping motif, script and polished screenplay shores on corking grounds with Aamir's more have-to doe with on all vistas. Fine! Let's pretermit Direction and Music, just pick out editing' Mr. Perfectionist's touch is more revealing on Antony's editing. It's more illustrious with each and every cut in 'Bekha'. 
Tales centering on amnesias aren't something new in Bollywood, but a unique of its type 'Short Term Memory Loss ' An individual losing out his memory for every 15mins' surmounted everyone's expectations. And what else? Aamir's eight-packs had its turn of grabbing everyone's outlooks prior to film's release. 
The film isn't as complicated as Memento. Ghajini is a head-spinning venture of Sanjay Sanghania (Aamir Khan) who has determined to avenge for his girlfriend Kalpana's (Asin) death. Protagonist seeking revenge for his ladylove's death; its so clich'd, isn't? Nevertheless, his greatest stumbling block is that his memory loses every bit of details for every 15mins. And what doesn't get bleached from his deep memory is death of Kalpana and the name 'Ghajini' (Pradeep Rawat) who murdered her. Again, the biggest obstruction is that Sanjay doesn't remember antagonist's identity. 
With a Polaroid camera, a cell phone in his hands and alarms beeping on every 15th minute, Sanjay has to tread settling his scores. 
Screenplay is narrated on two separate chronicles; present life and flashback sequences of Sanjay. It's so gripping that you would ne'er feel restless or look at your watches throughout the complete show of 180mins. Except, 45mins of next-to-last sequences, there isn't any slight changes from original version and characterizations have been marvelously depicted. 
'Wordlessly stupendous' ' Aamir Khan or Mr. Perfectionist, whatever you like to call him, he is simply brilliant. Just note this down, unlike his previous flicks 'Rang De Basanthi', 'Fanaa' and 'Taare Zameen Par'; he has nothing do with dialogues. Perhaps, it's Asin, Jiah Khan and Pradeep Rawat who jump on uttering more words. For everyone, who were fond of this line 'Actions Speaks More than Words', you'll witness it with Aamir Khan. He emotes spectacularly with his facial expressions and gestures. For instances, watch him out in 'Bekha' where he spells the most minute expressions with brightness. While taking revenge, it's not the furiousness that's disclosed on his face, but the outburst of emotions for his lost love. 
Of course, Asin deliver an over-the-top performance on every scene. She doesn't strain a lot but creates a deep impact on everyone with her role. She's got a great time here in Bollywood and she will rock with her well-brought-up show. 
Don't expect a lot from Jiah Khan, if you were spellbound with her performance in 'Nishabd'. It's about doing justice to her role and her well-enhanced show is evident in penultimate scenes. She has to thank Murugadoss for depicting her so exquisitely. 
Pradeep Rawat takes on with a decent role and his portrayal is as powerful as his characterization is so powerful than Aamir. 
A.R. Murugadoss ' He crowns each of his films with 'Success' and his debut directorial in Bollywood isn't an elision. With a trenchant script and screenplay, he reveals of a detailed work on every frame and shot. Working with Aamir Khan, should've made him fine-tuning his before-now version that yields his laurels from universal audiences. A hunky-dory of its kind, you'll witness a vivid groundwork put forth by the auteur, especially a fine-ending unlike Tamil version. As you step out of theatres, it's all about good shades of protagonist arresting your senses and not about hero's act of vengeance filled with bloodsheds. 
A.R. Rahman with his tranfixing tunes steals the show. In particular, as everyone starts heeding to Mandolin's interlude on 'Guzarish', its claps, hails and whistles. Scenarios persist with 'Bekha' and getting to watch Aamir's acts and 6 get-ups, it's an appreciably innovative. 'Kaisa Mujhe' is sure to remain along with these two numbers on the charts of evergreen tunes. 
Ravi K Chandran's cinematography requires special mention. Don't miss his stylish shots on exotic locations of 'Guzarish'. A grand round of applause for Location Manager for zeroing down an unforeseen never-never land. Costumes are so convincing and it's so nice to see Asin on finest looks in 'Aye Bachu'. 
A matured touch of 'cuts' by Antony brightens up visual quality. Be it exposing Aamir's physiques or catching up for the mood of 'fast running notes in Bekha', he deserves best credits. 
The film has whole lot 'A-FACTORS' of Aamir, A.R. Murugadoss, A.R. Rahman and Allu Aravind. Naturally, it's A-ONE quality rendered on their roles. 
On the whole, Ghajini ends this year with a great Dhamaka for all universal audiences. For those who watched this year's releases with tentative thoughts, can head for Ghajini to witness 'The best film of this year'. For sure, all Khans, Chopras and Kumars should be eyeing on Murugadoss now while rest of the cast-crew would witness a great new dawn in Bollywood for this New Year. 
Verdict: Remember this ' It's a blockbuster 
Rating : ****
From Doghi to Vaastupurush, filmmakers Sumitra Bhave and Sunil Sukhtankar have consistently given Marathi audience movies that are socially relevant and heart-warming. Their latest offering Devrai, meaning sacred grove, is undoubtedly amongst their best work, and surely, the most impressive film made in Marathi in the last two years.Like National Award winner Shwaas, Devrai too is based on a medical theme. But its story, sans high-pitched drama, is about a schizophrenic struggling to come to terms with his illness and the frustration of his helpless sister, narrated with such immense sensitivity that it has far greater depth than the much-celebrated Shwaas.Through a series of wonderfully laid-out flashbacks, we meet Shesh (Atul Kulkarni) - a mentally-disturbed individual who has been admitted in a hospital after an emotional outburst at his sister Seena's (Sonali Kulkarni) house during a party.Through insightful treatment, intelligent dialogues and perfect casting, the directors have once again succeeded in putting their film way ahead of the rest in the industry.As the battery of doctors try to unravel the mysteries of Shesh's mind - with Seena's help - we learn more about the man, first as a short-tempered, reserved boy with an inability to deal with people and his love for nature. Then as Shesh grows older, his frustration piles higher. His failure to pursue research on a so-called sacred grove, his inability to come to terms with his attraction for his widowed cousin Kalyani, and finally, games his own mind starts playing with increasing frequency - all contribute to his inexplicable bouts of violence and incoherent blabbering, a condition doctors describe as schizophrenia. The rest of the story is about how Seena, with help from the kind-hearted, senior doctor and a lady who runs a day-care centre for mentally ill people, manages to overlook the constant bickering of her insensitive scientist husband Sudesh (Tushar Dalvi), to help her brother overcome his disorder.The end, however, of this beautifully developed screenplay is slightly jarring, and particularly unpalatable from a feminist filmmaker like Bhave. After Shesh's recovery, he expresses his desire to go back to the village.Then, Seena approaches Kalyani - the cousin who was barred from meeting Shesh in the hospital and driven out of the village because of his attraction towards her - to accompany him because he needs her!Barring this inconsistency, Devrai is almost flawless. Debu Deodhar's masterful camerawork gives visual glimpses of Shesh's surreal world and Atul Kulkarni's brilliant poetry expresses the emotional discord.The absolutely true-to-life characters bring immense credibility to the story. Above all, it is stunning performances from Sonali Kulkarni and more importantly, Atul Kulkarni that make this film special. Seena's breakdown when Shesh's imaginary world starts creating doubts in her mind too and Atul's consistent portrayal of Shesh's complex character, his body language, his mannerisms, his voice modulation, his personality, are outstanding.Most films that deal with specific issues tend to get too preachy and therefore uninteresting. But Devrai is an exception, because it gets the message across, yet touches a chord deep inside.
Those blue-diamond-eyes make the king of thieves go 'Krazy Kiya' on her 'Dhoom Again' beats. And that's not all guys. If you wish to saunter your way into the magnificent world of fantastic babes, brilliant-stunts-n-special-effects and whistle-evoking locations then Sanjay Gadhavi's ode to Fantasy 'Dhoom 2' is meant for you. It would be unfair to compare the sequel to Bombay-to-Goa chor police excitement of 'Dhoom'. For both are different in many ways. But in spite of everything going right for it, there's something missing in 'Dhoom 2'. I am sure you'll notice that when you watch it (oh yeah it's surely worth watching).
Alright'When I entered the theatre I didn't have any notions of watching something outstanding in terms of a revolutionary story idea that can affect the mindset of the country like a RDB or Munnabhai's Gandhigiri. It's all about entertainment'That's the punch line of a film like 'Dhoom 2'. I'm all for it dude. But when you promise something out-of-this-world, and compromise with your own risk-taking-ability one feels let down. For Aryan (Hrithik) is the perfect thief who can pull off unbelievable heists on a moving-train-top in Namibia or through the skating zone of Mumbai Museum with superlative efficacy. He is the master of disguises and honestly Hrithik looks like a pinch-me-can-it-be-true Dream.
The problem arises when such a dare devil stuntman loses his focus and falls head-over-elbows in love with another thief (also a police mole) Sunehri (Aishwariya). They play basket ball and try their hands with various cuisines while you are left wondering'.Hey'how about getting down to some work guys. Jai Dixit (Abhishek Bachchan) on the other hand has good old Ali (Uday Chopra) who has now turned a cop and a pregnant wife Sweety (Rimi Sen in a special appearance) to contend with. He gets down to some 'Touch Me Touch Me' groovy dancing with fellow cop Shonali Bose (Bipasha Basu) and Ali oogles himself to death at her sister Monali (Yes guys Bipasha in a double role'.One good reason to chase this Dhoom) as she sets Rio's beach sand on fire with her dare-bare-bikini-peep-show. 
Hrithik and Ash make for a smoking hot pair. It's great to feast your eyes on the christmas-turkey-crispness of Ash in those hot pants and in-shape-bare-belly. She looks cool being on the coy-negative-side. Hrithik carries off the Krrish flavour. This man is a God. Six-pack abs, talking-with-the-wind-locks, stylized body language, fantastic dressing sense and snazzy dance steps are the biggest plus points of 'Dhoom 2'.
It's a worth watching movie just because of Roshan alone. This man's ambitions are unmatched as compared with anyone else around. And he'll do anything to make them come true. The visual effects by Tata Elxi and action by Allan Amin is first rate. Cinematography by Nirav Shah and Vikas Shivraman is one of the best you've ever seen in Hindi cinema. Salim-Suleiman's background music rocks (Check out the rock guitaring in the train sequence). 
'7 1/2 Phere' by Nimit Modawal, Harshvardhan and Sonal Modawalis is one such 'experimental' film that brings to light [in a light-hearted manner] the role television media plays in our day to day lives. Though it seems quite apparent that it's a first time effort by director Ishaan Trivedi, inspite of minor hiccups at places, the proceedings do manage to keep you engaged for the major part of the movie and bring in an occasional chuckle or two.
The movie begins with the narration by first time TV serial director Asmi Ganatra [Juhi Chawla]. She is looking for a challenging script for her channel '786 Plus' owned by an enterprising female [Manini De playing a glamorous version of Ekta Kapoor] after observing that all the formulaic ideas have been exhausted and beaten to death.
So what 'new' is the question? 'New' is a 'reality show', an unexplored territory in Indian media that should get what the channel wants most - TRPs. And what better way to stretch a reality show to a 13 episode serial than to shoot a BIG joint family that is which to have a marriage at home?
Since it is not a season of marriages in the city, she (along with her media partners) zeroes down on a North Indian family which is living in what appears to be one of the Delhi farmhouses. The family has all what the camera would want to capture - bade papa, chote tauji, chachajis, bhaiyyajis and a horde of females from 7 to 70 who love their late evening soaps [an obvious dig on the genre to which 'Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki' and 'Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi' belong] and meanwhile cut vegetables and serve dinner to the elders! And if this wasn't enough, even their mannerisms and costumes are (intentionally) straight out of any other Balaji soap.
A 'picture perfect' family for Asmi, she proposes to cover the marriage event and promises to make the family members celebrities overnight. In the meanwhile she also crosses path with the youngest man in the family, Manoj [Irrfan Khan], who is constantly ridiculed and ignored by everyone because he was an unwanted child! Thankfully this angle has been kept light hearted as well rather than making it sound too melodramatic. 
But there is a hitch! The family head played by [Vallabh Vyas] puts his foot down and rejects the proposal as he doesn't want any media folks to invade the marriage in his private world. No benefits or perks by the TV channel make him change his stand that threatens Asmi's dream of a reality TV show. This is where Manoj [who has fallen heads over heel in love with Asmi] comes into picture to bail her out.
How? By helping the channel do a sting operation of a 'different' kind. Cameras are installed candidly at all the strategic points in the house but Manoj has one condition - he wants to watch all the videos being shot live in the house to act as censor! He does sit in the trailer van from where the cameras are controlled. And what is revealed on screen brings around some truths that sometimes bring in a smile, sometimes shock, sometimes disgust and at places striking revelations that could impact the marriage itself!
The girl who is about to get married wants to run away with the person she loves. Manoj supports her in this but the channel doesn't. Why? Because her running away is bad for her show as it is meant for a family audience who want to see a perfect family on screen. Manoj and Asmi are at loggerheads now. Asmi wants the marriage to happen with the choice of the elders while Manoj wants her niece to marry the guy of her choice. And this is where the media angle comes into picture as it tries to manipulate the lives for its own selfish reasons!
There is an open battle between Asmi and Manoj. Who wins in the end? The answer to this comes towards the culmination of the movie.
A promising film kept under wraps for a wee bit longer can spoil the curiosity surrounding it. That's exactly the problem with Bhupendra Gupta's 'Unns' that boasts of some sincere performances but with such ridiculously low publicity and a release in merely two theatres in Mumbai tells the story about this film which boasts of a story at least (an aberration in most films these days). 
Ria (Rituparna Sengupta) is married to Rahul (Sanjay Kapoor) whom she respects but doesn't love while richie rich Rishi (Sudhanshu) in spite of being her first choice couldn't marry her. Temperamental Ria decides to part ways with an emotionally vulnerable Rahul to pursue her first love. She invents a weird way of getting separated by getting on his nerves. Once she decides to part ways with Rahul, a courtroom battle ensues where she is helped by her friend Namrata's (Juhi Babbar) boyfriend Sameer (Aman Verma, a lawyer). Well, one can do strange things when in love, so there's no point in finding reasons and justifications whether the characters of the film are correct in their approach or not. 
It's clear that a film that started off enthusiastically lost steam midway while shooting due to budgetary constraints or whatever. There are continuity problems and Sudhanshu Pande looks as if he has landed from some other planet for his zapped expressions didn't do justice to a role that was central to the film. Maybe producer director Bhupendra Gupta should refrain from producing his own films. For he seems to have a good creative command over the cinematic idiom but seems to have been bogged down by the stress that comes along with the logistics involved in filmmaking. A prime example being choice of music director Sujeet Shetty who couldn't do anything in a film that is billed as a musical. 
'Unns' boasts of some decent performances. Best amongst them all being that by Bengali actress Rituparno Sengupta who surprises with her dominant intensity and a grip over the emotional content that her character involves. She made a good beginning with 'Main Meri Patni Aur Woh'(At least it had a much bigger release) but with 'Unns' she needs to set her priorities right if she wants a bigger role playing in Bollywood. Raj Babbar and Nadira Babbar'd daughter Juhi Babbar seems to have had a good training ground in mother's 'Ekjute' Theatre Company for she handles her part with a deft ease and maturity. Sanjay Kapoor should concentrate on turning a producer or accept his fate as a character artiste as he is past his prime. 
Finally, even if I tell you that you can check out 'Unns' for it is the best out of the three films that have released this week, there's a remote chance of you finding a theatre playing it. The better thing to do would be hang on for a week to witness some 'Dhoom Again' rather than sweating it to watch an average film that is raised to a certain level only due to a few good performances.
Unns: An unseen love story (True for there's hardly any theatre where it is showing)
 mso-bidi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: mso-ansi-language: Roman?; New ?Times mso-fareast-font-family: FONT-FAMILY: 12pt;>Star Rating: **
Time and again there have been movies that have dealt with the social issues. Sometimes the politicians to be blamed, sometimes it is the police, sometimes it is medical services and sometimes it is a single point of blame - SYSTEM! But who makes the system? Is it a name as above or is it every individual who consciously or unconsciously becomes a part of the system? This is a question that director Shankar aims to answer in his magnum opus 'Aparichit - The Stranger' that is a dubbed version of Tamil blockbuster 'Anniyan' that released down South last year! The man has already attempted to tackle the subject in at least three of his films in the past - 'Gentleman', 'Hindustani' and 'Nayak'. Now he takes the subject further and targets the man on the road with 'Aparichit - The Stranger'.
Ramanuj aka Ambi [Vikram] is a young lawyer who is fondly/sarcastically called as Rules Ramanuj due to him being particular about anything that goes against the law. So much so that one fine day when he attempts a suicide, he leaves the process mid-way because that is against the law. But more about that later!
A simpleton, he is frustrated by anything and everything that goes wrong on the streets. A man trying to break the traffic rules, a faulty break wire being openly sold, eve teasing in the buses, a cyclist spitting all over on the roads, contractor selling rotten food in the trains, bad condition of a bogie - there are innumerous such instances that dishearten him and make him wonder that why are people not particular about a fellow human being, just like himself! His desperation about the state around him reaches an all time high when an old man dies in front of him on a road due to lack of medical attention. Frustrated, he hits upon a website called 'Aparichit' that aims to punish everyone who commits a wrong - whether small or big!
Overnight Ambi's life changes! 'Aparichit' enters the scene and the city begins to shudder. A man who can hardly be recognized due to his face always hidden with long hair, he arrives at any time of the day and punishes the one who commits a wrong. Victim gets the ghastliest death possible, whether by getting stomped over by hundreds of buffaloes or burnt live in a cauldron or eaten away by leeches! News spreads about the incidents and a cop [Prakash Raj] gets on his trail. One cue leads to another and it is revealed that each of the deaths is as per 'hindu puranas' where there is a form of punishment defined for every crime.
Meanwhile Ambi continues to be in his ideal world and proposes his childhood love Nandini [Sada]. His simple approach and following of rules even for proposing his love [he hands over the proposal letter to her parents] ticks off Nandini for whom it doesn't take much time to fall in love with much more dashing, debonair and stylish model Remo. Heartbroken, Ambi attempts suicide but miraculously escapes death. In the meanwhile Aparichit continues to erase the dirt from the society while Remo keeps himself busy in wooing Nandini with flowers, mid-night entry to her house and sharing some lovely sweet-nothing moments.
Events take a sudden turn when it is revealed that Ambi, Aparichit and Remo are not three different individuals but three personalities trapped in one. An investigation by a doctor [Nasser] proves that Ambi suffers from Multiple Personality Disorder [MPD] that is due to his childhood trauma of losing his sister because of sheer corruption and carelessness of people in the society. Now Ambi in him makes him hate everything going wrong in the society, the Aparichit in him makes him punish the wrong doers while the Remo in him helps him get out his inferiority complex and woo the love of his life.
One moment the three friends [Jimmy Sheirgill, Kabir Sadanand, Farid Amri] are hugging each other and paying homage to Amitabh Bachchan with references to DEEWAR, DOSTANA and TRISHUL (now that's a third time this is done in two weeks flat, first with PARWANA in JOHNNY GADDAAR and then with AGNEEPATH in GO) and a moment later tragedy strikes which brings an abrupt twist to the tale.
Let me give some more context about what exactly was happening. These three Mass Communications students who are aspiring directors head into a lost village up North to explore the mystery behind disappearing people. So far so good as one gets to understand that these are three young men on a business cum adventure trip.
Ok, so the adventure begins, they come across frightened villagers who are unwilling to open their mouths (the documentary style narration is well shot here), they hear tales about a girl who was murdered in the forest due to which her spirit continued to haunt the surroundings, they come across a mysterious 'pujari' and his 'sevak' who keep giving strange-n-icy stares and eventually also come face to face with the spirit.
Hmm, interesting and in fact even scary. So what now? Do these three youngsters want to finish their adventure here and head back home (any sane person would do so considering the fact that they have already been warned that 'yahan se aaj tak koyi bachke wapas nahi gaya') or try to solve the mystery of this spirit?
But then where is the mystery? It is clear that 4-6 men were responsible for her death, she is completely unhappy about what happened to her and in general she is hardly disturbing the trio. So why not head for home? But no! These three decide to capture it all on camera. Chalo, yahan tak bhi theek hai! But then why run behind her? What would you gain out of that? Do you have spiritual powers to negate her issues? 
And it's also not that they are not convinced about her being a spirit. After all they have seen her coming and disappearing right in front of them, whether it is 'nadi kinaare', 'khidki ke saamne' or 'jungle mein bhaagte'! To add to it, they have also realized that a big mess up has happened with the spirit making a topsy-turvy of the signs they had put on the trees. Run buddy run! That's a simple message. But that doesn't happen.
To add to the vows, last five minutes of the film are unpardonable as the documentary video is played for the friends and families of the deceased in a plush screening hall. If the intent was to get audience all moist eyed, then sorry it was wrongly executed.
So what are the positives that one brings out from the film? It's first half which reasonably sets the base for better things to happen in the narrative. The opening college sequence, the road trip to the jungle, shooting of documentary, lighter moments shared between the three friends, dialogues mouthed by Kabir Sadanand who plays a 'jat', build up to the suspense and the terrific interval point (it does give a jolt) - all of this makes a viewer anticipate a good second half.
But post interval the film continues to slide down alarmingly with every passing reel. In fact there is a suicide note written all over it when an ill placed flashback song sequence 'Kasak' arrives. Soon after the emotional melodrama between the three friends looks so forced and the film ending soon after just doesn't help it's cause.
Jimmy Sheirgill is earnest as always and is turning out to be extremely natural in front of the camera with every passing film. In fact he doesn't seem to be acting at all if one looks at his recent crop of films [EKLAVYA, DELHII HEIGHTS, RAQEEB, VICTORIA NO. 203] and deserves to be re-launched in a big way by a reputed banner and a film maker. Anyone listening?
There was a phase in the 90s when movies from the TIME production house used to be followed with great interest amongst the lovers of 'masala' movies. Most of their movies used to be actioners and raked in 'moolah' at the box office. After a longish lull, TIME presents 'Mashooka' that is produced and directed by Afzal Ahmed. Aditya Bal makes his debut as a hero and looks each bit a 'desi' hunk while Meghna Naidu and popular model Vidya Malavade (Inteha) are the sirens opposite him. Sajid Wajid and Jalees Sherwani handle the music department.
In the recent times, love triangles have always been a easy pick for the movie makers in Bollywood, especially so when obsessive love forms one of the angles. Post 'Darr' and 'Anjaam', there have been dozens of movie made around the theme of an antagonist getting obsessed with a person, knowing very well that he/she is out of bounds. Most recent examples of such movies have been 'Pyaar Tune Kya Kiya', 'Aitraaz' and 'Fareb', both of which have a lady getting obsessive for a much married man. 'Mashooka' too follows the same route, albeit as a thriller, where the lady in question is Sanjana [Meghna Naidu] who sees herself getting obsessed with Vicki [debutant Aditya Bal].
Vicki and Monika [Vidya Malavade] were in love with each other before drifting apart. Vicki is single and alone and this is where Sanjana enters his life. She is a sweet bubbly girl who genuinely falls in love with him. One thing lead to another and they get involved in a steamy one night stand.
While Vicki realizes soon that this wasn't fair, Sanjana sees this as a first step towards their living together happily ever after. The situation could have been controlled but that doesn't happen as Monika returns back to Vicki's life. Vicki has a path to choose and he chooses the one that leads one towards Monica.
This is where the drama in the movie kick starts. On one side Vicki and Monica are content with each other while on the other Sanjana gets a feeling of being spurned. neglected and ignored. The only purpose of her life now is to create havoc in the couple's life and gain her love back. Even if this means turning towards crime!
What happens next? Does Vicki go back to Sanjana to avoid any harm to him and Monica? Does Sanjana realize that she has more to do in life then chasing a dream? Does Monica survive the assault on her love life?
In an attempt at narrating an intense story of love, passion and obsession, director Afzal Khan does well at places but can't help the script and execution falling into cliches at number of places. Still, there are a few moments in the script that are spine chilling and manage to keep the interest alive to an extent.
Meghna's portrayal of a psychologically disturbed woman appears deja vu at number of places. Also, the movie relies mainly on sex'n'violence. The execution too is of the manner that would relegate mainly to the target audiences of front benchers, what with number of scenes and songs laced with sex.
Meghna Naidu shows improvement over her 'Hawas' act and takes a step forward. She is required to display various shades in this heroine centric role and does reasoanbly well. Vidya Malavade is convincing but she would need a much better project with good packaging to make her presence felt. Aditya Bal is okay for a starter and a little more polishing should set him up for better roles. His looks and physique are of a kind that would make him fit for action roles.
You wonder what Hindi cinema has come to. After the poetic, languorous and tender Dilip Kumar-Madhubala alliance in Mughal-e-Azam comes the leery, sordid and sadistic Mahesh Manjrekar-Sameera Reddy liaison in Musafir.
Musafir is certainly a grey and grim departure from conventional cinema. It gives us a gritty and violent world of deception and debauchery where none can be trusted, certainly not the creative visionary who stands at the helm of his murky universe of mean men and women.
Sanjay Gupta's vision is as whacked out as the vision of a drugged trapeze dancer teetering at the brink of his disintegrating world.
Having gone to Hollywood to source and sustain all his films, from Aatish to Kaante, Gupta now takes a U-Turn, literally. He's electrifyingly inspired by Oliver Stone's film by that name. 
In the central role of a battered but not beaten wife, Sameera fits into Jennifer Lopez's role, creating a uniquely sensuous space for her character.
The wife, Sam, in Musafir is unlike any victimised heroine we've seen before. She takes her husband's tormenting brutality without a flinch, and yet goes out into the Goan sandscape to slither and slide to Vishal-Shekhar's raunchy tunes, returns home in time for another bout of self-deprecating roughing-up from her husband.
Enter Anil Kapoor...in more ways than one. As the stranger riding into the dusty town, Anil fills up the battered wife's life with his exuberant anxieties. This role is quite a departure for the ever-careening actor. He's neither good nor virtuous. He's an actor fobbing off a mid-life career crisis by whooping it up on screen.
Gupta's film breaks all the rules. It does so with an urgent insouciance that needn't render itself to any worthy definitions of aesthetics.
It's all about the money, honey...and sex. In the second and by far the more riveting half, the director hatches a devious plot whereby we see the husband Luka (Mahesh) and his wife both trying to convince the stranger in town Lucky (Anil) to kill the spouse. 
The narrative here becomes double-edged. By imposing both the husband's and the wife's perspectives on the hellish marriage, Gupta confers an unsettling ambiguity on his plot. The scorching aura of the goings-on and the feeling of a heated heist degenerating into a wacky waste never leave the narration.
The trigger-happy storytelling indicates a distending, disembodied orgy of sexual and emotional brutality. The first half is replete with images from Quentin Tarantino's cinema. These mean men with guns in their hands and cigarette butts dangling stylishly from their parched lips could be part of Sergio Leone's spaghetti westerns, if only their swagger had more substance.
Gupta's mean men are the quintessential nowhere people. They float in and out of the realm of nightmare and fantasy like a patient on the operation table swimming in and out of consciousness. 
Musafir isn't a pleasant film to watch. It represents the other, dark face of mainstream Hindi cinema that moves in a direction opposite to the cinema of Aditya Chopra and Karan Johar. To that extent Gupta deserves to be credited for his adventurous spirit.
But the mood of rebellious creation never quite attains the nubile nirvana of a work of pop art. The cinematography by P.S. Vinod captures the night and early morning shades as well as the evening time languor of hedonistic Goa. 
Tears for fears. Anyone' I am a sucker for sob stories and love to let the stream of emotions glide through the eyes. But while watching 'Babul' each time that urge welled up, the effect was diluted by the simplistic superficiality of the treatment meted out to a noble subject. The end result of Ravi Chopra's efforts to highlight widow remarriage is an exercise in blatant surrogate advertising (Audi, Taj Mahal tea, Nerolac Paints, Kotak Insurance etc etc) and tons of sermonizing. If it wouldn't have been for the caramel-popcorn-romance generated by Salman Khan, 'Babul' may well have been a disaster. A few goose-pimple-evoking songs are charming reasons to stay back too. 
Avi (Salman Khan), the US returned dude shares a 'buddy' relationship with rich dad Balraj Kapoor (Amitabh Bachchan). Mum (Hema Malini) shakes a leg or two in a resplendent red sari while the father-son duo, go 'Come on Come on' to some hip-shaking bhangra beats. Enter kadwa karela Mili (Rani Mukherjee), Miss-Rightious-middle-class-girl who falls for Avi's golf-tomfoolery as they pledge 'Vaada Raha' in a scenic-slow-motion-reverie. A quick silver marriage and a chashmish four year old Ansh later Avi meets up with his untimely fate. Time for the haggard and woe begotten Rajath (John Abraham) to soothe 'good' friend' Mili's troubled life. 
The story doesn't surprise you at any point of time. Endless procrastination to let the star value of Salman get maximum mileage results in a delayed start of the actual story in the beginning of the second half. Cinematic liberty is fine. But blatant compromises make it a shaky ride (Too much and too many advertising products sharing space with the flow of the film). The confessions of love and forgiveness happen in Harry Potter mansions with eerie candles burning freezingly. If Dad Kapoor had to think up a match for widowed Mili, why only the rockstar Rajath who seemed to be having a good time anyway with a bevy of scantily clad starlets belting out songs of passion. 
The reason why Sooraj Barjatya's 'Vivah' strikes a chord is due to innate conviction of the director in the aesthetics of simplicity, piousness and family values. But in 'Babul' in spite of the family theme, the director clearly wants to woo the younger audience by displaying ample skin show by showcasing shimmering blonde babes at several occasions. To his credit, I would also like to state that the physical intimacy between Salman and Rani in the delightfully earthy song 'Bawri Piya' has been presented exceptionally well. The couple seems to be made for each other and their union is a forgone conclusion.
Music by Aadesh Shrivastava is one of the highlights of 'Babul'. Semi classical ode to romance 'Bawri Piya', 'Har Manzar' and 'Bebasi Dard Ka Alam' (Breathtakingly choreographed and John looking divine) are wonderful numbers. 'Kehta Hai Babul' (sung and composed by Amitabh Bachchan) is a fantastic song too. But at the same time, average songs like 'Vaada Raha' and 'Gaa Re Mann' slow down the proceedings. 
Amongst the actors, it is Salman Khan who deserves all the accolades. This superstar- actor is aging beautifully. He has worn the best clothes, humour is seldom over the top, looks relaxed and the loving manner in which he romances Rani makes young girls go weak in their knees. Effortlessly. The cosy interactions with his four year old son are really cute. No complaints about his acting either. 
It is so easy and slot-friendly to mistake a celebration of Bollywood's kitsch to be actual kitsch. But to confuse Gurinder Chadha's delicious, walloping and wacky adaptation of Jane Austen as a take on the Bollywood formula is to, quite simply, confuse the wood for the trees.
Jane Austen meets Manoj Kumar in Bride . And they are finally molded into a vision that's entirely and incontrovertibly Chadha's. In her projection of the classic and the kitsch in the same range of vision, Beckham begum has achieved what no other filmmaker from any part of the world would dare, let alone achieve.
The radiant, roomy, billowy frames bulge and dilate with a wickedly spaced-out festivity as the Bakshi daughters get themselves suitable boys... Or rather, their mother, played with a devious combination of maudlin theatricality and graceful subtlety by the wonderful Nadira Babbar, goes at every potential match for her marriageable kittens with hammers and tongs.
The comic element in her tragic matchmaking is one of the elements in Chadha's rollicking range of interwoven interests, which turns the Bollywood formula on its head. In how many ways is Nadira Babbar different from the stereotypical Mama's act like, say, Himani Shivpuri in Sooraj Barjatya's Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon?
The swift and cunning transitions in Mrs Bakshi's character from tragic concern for her daughters to vulgar self interest (watch out for the sequence on the flight when Mrs Bakshi quickly changes her economy-class seat with Darcy's executive luxury) is extended in the film to a remarkably understated comment on cross-cultural differences that define the geopolitical diaspora of a globally-driven ambitious and anxious civilisation.
By relocating Jane Austen's trans-Atlantic romance to an Indo-British context, Chadha brings in the whole post-colonial modern Indian dilemma of globalization and cultural homogenization. 
There are some acutely penetrating comments on the colonial hangover in independent India and the consumerist vulgarization of the non-resident Indian represented with relish by the character played by Nitin Ganatra. He's your archetypal bride-hunting Indian from abroad who talks incessantly about his material possessions back home in the US. 
In her ability to mould the literary material into a shape that shimmers with Bollywood flamboyance and simmers with ideas on cultural divisions, Gurinder Chadha is uniquely positioned. 
There's a song-and-dance for every occasion -- an engagement bhangra, a night-time pyjama-party among the four sisters (this one is superbly choreographed by Saroj Khan) and the belching flamboyance of Amritsar's robust earthiness as all of the Golden City comes out on the streets to salute the four marriageable Bakshi sisters in a musical item that's more Broadway than Bollywood.
The central romance between the reticent and mysterious Darcy (Martin Henderson) and Lalita (Aishwarya Rai) is structured as a kind of familial pyramid where truckloads of supporting characters enter and exeunt with a celebratory celerity that would stun the family home video maker Sooraj Barjatya.
Chadha's Bollywood influences run deep in the narrative without cutting into the blithe mood. She begins with a homage to Manoj Kumar's Meri desh ki dharti song from the film Upkar as Santosh Sivan's non-judgemental camera pans the lush fields of Amritsar. 
Priyadarshan has become a brand name when it comes to delivering rustic comedies with a dash of romance thrown in sumptuously. His latest venture 'Chup Chup Ke' shall add to his Hit List as this three hour long humor-caper gives ample scope for fun-n-frolics. In other words, it's a clean lighthearted film that has a decent chance of scoring at the Box Office.
Jeetu (Shahid Kapoor) is neck deep in debt in a small hamlet close to the sea. Everyone is after him and his family. Out of comical desperation he decides to end his life by jumping in the sea of troubles. The life insurance left by him would have been sufficient for his father, a school teacher (Anupam Kher) to repay all the moneylenders. But somehow fate had fishy plans for him. He is netted by a loser fisherman's servant Bandya (Rajpal Yadav). Gundya (Paresh Rawal) himself owes money to a rich Gujarati moneylender Chavan (Om Puri) and he was hardly pleased with the prospect of another burden (Read Shahid Kapoor). 
The trail of confusion leads to Jeetu and Bandya being kept as hostages by Chavan till the time Gundya returned the money he owed. While Bandya gets into hilarious butter-finger-situations as he goes about doing the daily household chores prescribed by the nutty manager (Shakti Kapoor), Jeetu (who had been circumstantially forced to pretend as deaf-n-dumb) catches the fancy of Chavan's angelic niece Shruti (Kareena Kapoor) who can't speak in real. Enter Mangal (Suniel Shetty), Shruti's brother whose only goal in life is to find a suitable match for his sister. On the other hand, Jeetu's fiance Pooja (Sushma Reddy) had started living with his parents as his widow. In other words, the punch line for 'Chup Chup Ke''.Love meets confusion meets love'.Is truly apt as it's a whirlwind of a story that keeps you in a spin. But the best part is that all the versions are cinematically plausible and dealt with reasonable efficiency.
Shahid Kapoor as Jeetu shines. This is by far his best performance till date. He had ample scope for several shades like comedy, romance and emotional touches. And the good news for Shahid kapoor fans is that he sparkles in all of them. Kareena Kapoor as Shruti had little to do in the film as she is not meant to speak and her screen space is minimal as well. Yet, it must be said that her pairing with Shahid looks cute and somehow, both of them bring out the best in each other. The real hero for me was Rajpal Yadav as Bandya. This diminutive actor is a powerhouse of talent. His comic timing is exceptional. In fact, he outsmarted both Shahid and Paresh Rawal in several scenes. 
Paresh Rawal is in his comic element once again with a different kind a get up as compared with his 'Malamaal Weekly' act. Rawal and Rajpal combination is deadly and the screen time shared by the two leaves the audience into splits. Suniel Shetty plays the elder brother to the hilt and also shakes a leg or two in a couple of numbers. Neha Dhupiya as Kareena's supportive cousin does her part efficiently while Sushma Reddy in the desolate widow act looks a sorry figure and it is difficult to distinguish the glam-doll-turned-behenji. As for Anupam Kher, he does his 'Saraansh' act of the poor helpless father with a lot of conviction and honesty. 
Venturing into a multiplex to catch 'Salaam Namaste', one looks forward to watching a frothy love story that is youthful, energetic, peppy, fun and a feel good entertainer. For the first one hour of the movie, the story moves exactly as per the expectations. The remainder of the movie too doesn't disappoint but for a glaring observation:
It turns out to be a scene by scene, frame by frame, dialogue by dialogue, _expression by _expression copy [COPY, and not INSPIRATION] of Hugh Grant - Julianne Moore starrer Nine Months [1995]!
And this is where a little bit of disappointment sets in for those who have already watched the Hollywood comedy. But for others who haven't, it's a wholesome entertainer nevertheless!
The BOY is Nick, Nikhil Arora [Saif Ali Khan], an architect who migrates to Melbourne from Ludhiana and chooses to be the head chef of an Indian restaurant 'Nick Of Time'. He is witty, he is wicked, he is fun to work with and wants to live life on his own terms [for example, reading newspaper and [hold-your-breath] drink milk while in the restroom]. Above all, he likes sleeping for long hours. Quite possible for him as he stays all alone with no responsibilities to worry about.
The GIRL is Ambar, Ambar Malhotra [Prety Zinta], who too has left her native place [Bangalore] behind! Why? Because she is young, she is pretty, she wants to have fun and her parents have exactly the opposite in their mind - they want her to get married! She chooses otherwise and is en route for a career for herself in medicine while earning some quick money as a radio jockey [RJ] for the radio station - SALAAM NAMASTE.
A no-show at her scheduled show of the interview of Nick - the celebrity chef - is what brings daggers out for Ambar. The daggers soon turn into roses and after a few cool sequences, dance on the beach and the beginning of affection happens the inevitable - they fall in love!!
This is where the novelty factor comes in as the couple doesn't decide to marry and instead decide to live in together to understand each other more. They are friends who are into a relationship. But marriage? Naah !! Because they are ultra cool, they wanna have some fun and above all they want to give it a try before they eventually take 'saat pheras'.
Both also have their own set of friends. While Ambar is friendly with ultra rich Gujju classmate Jignesh [Jugal Hansraj], Nick shares great vibes with Ranjan Mathur a.k.a. Ron [Arshad Warsi], who gets married to Tania Zaetta after 'one dance stand'!
Life moves on quite smooth as they have a rollicking time with each other. They adjust living in with each other, change their eating habits, their living ways, share some passionate moments together [yes, Preity and Saif lip lock twice on screen] and above all tolerate their whacky 'Crocodile Dundee' inspired landlord Javed Jaffrey [a Bihar migrant turned rich Australian cum Indians hater!]
But things change when Ambar accidentally gets pregnant. Nick wants the child to be aborted and is afraid of commitment while Ambar wants to keep the child and get married.
This is where 'Nine Months' begins with little similarity to 'Kya Kehna' as well. While in Nine Months, the couple is already married with the only issue being male protagonist's phobia of kids, Salaam Namaste is further progressive with Saif being phobic even to marriage, let aside taking care of the kid.
Even though Deepa Mehta's WATER has been in news for over an year and has even made it to the Top-5 of the OSCARS shortlist for the best foreign film, one is a trifle hesitant about what to expect from the film. After all, the film doesn't stand out like one of your commercial films that would make audience create a beeline in front of the theaters. Moreover a subject that may have caught on the in the West could mainly have been due to the fact it explores the dark side of India, a country that is still about snake charmers and elephants for many out there.
Hence you are ready to take the film with a pinch of salt while venturing into a theater. And that is because as a viewer since you have been exposed to the likes of RANG DE BASANTI and GURU that give a picture of modern day India, you don't really look forward to hearing the kind of country India was around 100 years back. WATER is about an era that has gone by and except for feeling pity about your past, you don't really feel like coming out of the multiplex, throw away your warm new-flavor-popcorn and plan to bring around any reforms.
Circa 1938, Pre-independence India, which was under the colonial rule of British. Reforms were being introduced by Mahatma Gandhi and other social activists but that still had to catch on momentum. And while the heat was still building, somewhere up there in North, young widows were still living a tormented life. One such girl was Chuiya, all of 8 years of age, whose husband had died and the only way out for her was to be sent to a widow-ashram managed by 80 year old Madhumati [Manorama].
Innocent and still waiting for her mother to come and pick her back from the place, the good thing about Chuiya was that she wasn't projected as someone who cried in isolation and whined in public. Instead for her even the ashram was nothing short of a play school. Oblivious to the reality around her, she had fun while sharing a love-hate relationship with Manorama, finding a friend in Kalyani [Lisa Ray] and getting a sympathiser in Shakuntala [Seema Biswas].
What she was unaware about was the fact that the ashram also doubled up as a supplier of widowed women to the influential men in the city. In this profession, Kalyani was one of the favorites with Manorama who was hands-on with Gulabi [Raguvir Yadav], a eunuch who acted as a pimp.
As someone who was confidant of Kalyani, Chuiya sees a subtle romance building between Kalyani and Narayan [John Abraham], a richie rich young man who was heavily influenced by Gandhi and was trying to bring about reforms as possible in his capacity. The first step towards doing something substantial? Marry Kalyani.
Thankfully there isn't much dramebaazi in this entire episode as after a initial war of words, Kalyani fights the battle and leaves the ashram in search of a better life ahead with Narayan. Little did she know that he would turn out to be the son of the very man who had bedded her in one of her nights of her forced profession.
Deepa Mehta does tell a tale about the era gone by in an utmost convincing manner but one wonders how much would an average Indian viewer be interested in seeing a tale that does nothing more but force you to feel disgusted. Inmates of ashram not allowed to have fried food or sweets, young girls not even into their teens forced into prostitution, widows required to keep a bald plate, pundits narrating the way of life for the widows, a tragic ending....there is just no entertainment value in the film that would make you wish to spend your weekend in the plush seats of your neighboring multiplex.
Teesri Aankh begins with a disadvantage, even though its star cast is much bigger than that of its predecessor Kalyug, this film too builds upon the same story idea that Kalyug brought from real-life to reel-life and was declared a sleeping hit. Teesri Aankh, alas, is just half that: Sleeping. And not a hit.
This is yet another film about the pornographic films racket, with the Teesri aankh, of course, being the camera that's the villain in the lives of the women of today.
An out and out exploitation and revenge drama, Teesri Aankh stars the musclebound bone-crunching supercop Sunny Deol as ACP Arjun Singh, who is actually investigating the same racket. 
Arjun Singh's fianc'e sapna (Neha Dhupia) leaves for London to take part in a beauty contest, but there, she falls prey to Sudama (Mukesh Rishi), the London-based kingpin of the racket of making pornographic films of women. Sudama's henchmen Dinesh and Dines (Mukesh Tiwari and Murli Sharma respectively) trap Sapna. 
And as Sapna, desperate to escape, struggles, her efforts draw the attention of another young woman, Ammu (Amisha Patel), who is speech-impaired. Even as Ammu watches, shocked, Sapna is murdered. The goons chase Ammu, who is saved by the appearance of Ashish (Ashish Chaudhary) and Ammu's sister Aarti (Aarti Chhabria). 
And before long, desi Rambo ACP Arjun Singh lands up in London, and gets wind of Ammu. And after songs most illogically and unnecessarily placed, and after uneblieveably mindlessly choreographed action stunts in which ACP Arjun grabs speeding bikes with his bare hands and wards off cars with lethal kicks and kayos a gangful of goons singlehandedly, the duo have busted the porn racket!
While Sunny Deol looks like he could walk through a wall and actually kayo a gangful of fighters and is perfectly cast for the action role, everything he does is unrealistic. 
Amisha Patel continues with her usual expression of contrite agony from her recent films and is still in need of coaching on unaccented dialogue delivery, but Neha Dhupia does well in her brief role. 
Dinesh and Dinesh, the goons are irritating, and Mukesh Rishi looks evil alright, but the songs are a huge speedbreaker in this gripless story, and seem to come on at the oddest places, adding to the irritation in no small manner.
This absolutely cliched masala story would give the hottest Hyderabadi achaar a complex, and its cliched situations, action sequences, and storyline without any grip whatsoever except for the first fifteen-odd minutes, is incredibly crass commercial stuff. Avoid this mindless mishmash that's masquerading as movie manoranjan. Never did one expect such stuff from Harry Baweja!
The only way to see Teesri Aankh is with both your eyes shut. Avoid this one! 
Rating: *
Obviously, lots of multiplexes launched should have urged Yash Raj Films to stride successfully on new genre of Animation. Indeed, the biggest production house in India joining hands with the ever best studios of Hollywood Walt Disney Pictures is a cock-a-hoop for all. With animation flicks of several foreign countries bringing home the bacon across the World, India lags far behind. Many of our Indian professionals have presented their top-notched outputs in Hollywood animation films. When it comes to Indian Animation film, none of them shored with grandeur. If you had ever thought, budget was our only constraint? Might be, but not for a greater extent. Despites, the same talented animators and greatest producers involved, many of the films are just mediocre. 
Of course, 'Roadside Romeo' falls on the same lines of being an average based film. Unlike previous week's release 'Cheenti Cheenti Bang Bang', this one offers a fabulous piece of work in technical terms. Nevertheless, the film lets our hopes with middling screenplay. 
Precisely, a perfect difference between animation flicks of India and Hollywood lies on this aspect. Leave out the top-charting films Lion King, Shrek, Ice Age; even the average ones like 'Meet the Robinsons' were extraordinary. You know why? A powerful narrative structure, skillfully drawn characterizations and emotional aspects got us adhered to the film. 
Does 'Roadside Romeo' tread following the same formulas? Does it capture everyone's interests' or just kids? Why ask so many questions, just drive yourselves for this film and you'll merely utter 'the fantastical deliverance of animation is sure to attract kids, but nothing well to appreciate on narrative aspects'. 
Glimpse through the storyline and get on with more analysis' 
Romeo, a rich dog leads a life of complete style. He was a complete dude. He had the works - a mansion to live in, chicks to party with and the cars to be driven around in, until one day, the family he was the favourite pet of, decided to move and left him back, abandoned on the mean streets of Mumbai.Romeo is now faced with situations he has never been in before. He encounters four stray dogs, which scare the living daylights out of him. Soon, he smooth talks his way into their hearts and becomes friends with them.Then, Romeo finds love! He encounters the beautiful, ravishing Laila, the most beautiful female dog he has ever seen... and he loses his heart to her at first sight!And finally, he encounters a villain! The dreaded Don of the area - Charlie Anna! The Don who everyone is scared of.So hop on to this adventure as Romeo wins friendship, love and a new life - in spite of Charlie Anna and his gang!
Cute and beauteous story, isn't? Yup! But looks like it has been vividly inspired from yesteryear commercial films of hero falling in love, fighting with baddies and exposing his heroisms' Screenplay drops down the pace right from beginning, but greatness of Director Jugal Hansraj is revealed in latter part as it has some entertaining elements. 
Don't miss the Pakka- DDLJ ending sequence of train; you'll be elated to extremity' Innovativeness of great direction has been showcased and it would have been nice if he had carried on rest of the film with same wavelength. 
In-depth, voices rendered are absolutely top-notched. Be it Saif (Romeo), Kareena (Laila) or any other characters' voice, everyone have excelled remarkably. 
On the technical areas, a perfect animation as mentioned earlier intensifies the film. But musical score by Salim-Sulaiman doesn't stand out for good credits. Perhaps, the musicians could have just worked for ne plus ultra and it's a mere disappointment from this duo. 
Roadside Romeo is enjoyable at certain part for Kids, but they wouldn't be relishing all throughout with it. Flaws are blatant on screenplay and dialogues uttered by characterizations (Charlie Anna speaking in South Indian language slang) and not many vistas do really attract adults. 
On the whole, 'Roadside Romeo' can be watched for exquisite animation presentations, celebrated voices and nothing else. The screenplay doesn't tread on same tempo and that stops our Romeo hitting bull's eyes. 
Verdict: Can watch it once 
Rating :**' 
In the last 2-3 years, Bollywood has seen numerous first time directors coming up with their products. Emergence of multiplexes has only helped the cause as more and more youngsters are getting a chance to showcase their talent. Some utilize this chance well, some blow it away. Antara Mali and Satchit Puranik, co-directors of the movie fall somewhere in between because though they have handles a few sequences in well, a sense of being amateurish does show at places. Result is that you neither love the movie, nor hate it, you just feel indifferent after the show is over.
Storyline of the movie is quite simple. Sanjay is a corporate guy who is a Casanova by nature and promises moon to multiple girls at a time. He is warned by his childhood buddy Shekhar [Riteish Deshmukh] to mend his ways but the confidence in him never pays heed to his advice, until one day his main girlfriend [Divya Dutta] and rest of the girls find his folly. They confront him and in a fury murder him. Soon he lands up in front of Gods Shiva and Parvati. To make him repent for his misbehavior with women, he is sent back to earth and he finds himself converted into a female.
Completely shattered by the new body provided to him, Sanjay turns into Sanjana [Antara Mali] and is forced to start living life afresh. Gods have taken a promise from him that he would treat women with respect on earth but now tables turn on him [i.e. her] as (s)he becomes the center of attraction for the client Malhotra [Bharat Dhabolkar], roadside Romeos and office colleagues. Worse, his best friend Shekhar falls in love with him. If this wasn't enough, he becomes pregnant with Shekhar's child and also finds himself behind bars after being accused of his own murder......
If one just reads the script on paper, it sounds quite interesting and funny. 'Mr Ya Miss' is funny too but not to an extent that one would keep laughing all the way till the end. Graph of the movie keeps swinging up and down but towards the pre-climax and climax things start dragging. Though the movie has been made as a feel good, one fails to understand why there is excessive melodrama about Antara's stay in jail. The song 'Kanha' in the background only spoils the flow further and things become much too confusing to digest when Antara suddenly develops the feeling of motherhood when actually all this while she had been thinking and acting as a male.
Still, there are a few sequences that one can take home after the show is through. Antara's interaction with Bharat Dhabolkar, her meet with Riteish in the bars, the sequence in the morgue where she is forced by Riteish to cry over the death of Sanjay are just some of them. But on the flip side there are things that take away the sheen too, with foremost being Antara's own acting. Though she is good in some of the sequences as mentioned above, her earlier scenes in the movie irritate to a large extent. 
Her entire attempt at trying to project a man trapped in a woman's body is overdone while her slippery walk and awkward body language just do not fly. Also, if she was so worried about men looking at her with preying eyes then why wear skimpy clothes? One tends to believe that if only Antara - the director had chosen some other competent actor to play her role, the movie may have turned out to be much better.
Aftab is likeable once again though his dialogue delivery and act continues to remind of Aamir Khan. Riteish Deshmukh, as always, plays his character well in a subdued manner and never fails to bring on a smile. Bharat Dhabolkar and Ishrat Ali are OK while Ajinkya Dev and Varsha Usgaonkar as Shiv and Parvati are fine. Divya Dutta plays her part well though at places some skimpy clothes just do not go with her body.
When a film is as pointlessly puerile and archaic as Zameer you have to look desperately for silver linings. After sitting through three hours of a love triangle as outdated as Nimmi's pout and Sadhana's fringe, I came to one moral conclusion about the film -- a crush can crush the crushed and all those around her.
Meet Pooja (Amisha Patel), headstrong, rude, spoilt and bratty. In pigtails and giggles, Amisha Patel does an encore of Karisma Kapoor's student's infatuation act in David Dhawan's Andaz. 
Ajay Devgan is the only male teacher in an all-girls' college. In fact, he's the only teacher we ever get to see in the entire film about fatuous infatuations and crushing obsessions. When a giggly girl asks what he's doing in an all-girls' school, Devgan grins, Because I like girls.
Two women are ready to die and kill for him!
Devgan plays Sooraj, an upright and conscientious hero-material, who's committed to marrying the crippled, terminally ill, bed-ridden Suparna (Mahima Chowdhary). Alternating between her snivelling devotion and Amisha's insufferable bullying, Devgan looks as lost as a baba in the woods. 
Can't blame him. This is a totally out-of-step plot. The sort of triangle that belongs in the medieval times. Since most of the plot is about matters of the heart, the film opens with a stunt sequence, almost like an item number. Most of the film revolves around Amisha's embarrassing efforts to get her teacher's attention. She contorts her faces in the most unimaginable shapes. 
I think Ms Patel was trying to be funny. Can't blame her. Ms Chowdhary, and the director, had ganged up trying to be dead serious. By the time the film is over, Ms Patel is dead. Ms Chowdhary is still serious.
It's like that old triangular hit Dil Ek Mandir where Raj Kumar was critically ill. But it was Meena Kumari's other hero Rajendra Kumar who dropped dead at the end.
That's known as taking the audience by surprise. In Zameer, Amisha Patel's death is just an excuse to squeeze emotions out of a pale and completely out-of-sorts tale that would've barely worked 30 years ago. Today, it appears to be a monstrous travesty bound to bring down the stocks of poor Devgan who isn't really having a good time at the box office in recent times.
Maybe he should just stay away from love triangles. They just don't suit him. Remember Yeh Raaste Hain Pyar Ke where he had Madhuri Dixit and Preity Zinta clamouring for his attentions? Amisha and Mahima are even less prone to excite a triangular combustion.
This seems to be the week of Hollywood adaptations. While Tumsa Nahi Dekha goes straight for Arthur, in Madhoshi, debutant director Tanveer Khan borrows the core of his idea from Ron Howard's multiple-Oscar winning A Beautiful Mind, where Russel Crowe was beyond brilliant as a mathematician who sees persons who don't exist.
Doing a sassy about-turn, Tanveer Khan turns A Beautiful Mind into an intense love story peppered with a passionate zeal to give the protagonist a 'fear' deal.
As Anu the seemingly well-placed girl on the verge of marriage to Mr Perfect Priyanshu Chatterjee, Bipasha brings a rhythm of rationale to her irrational character.
The same cannot be said about other aspects of the film, which tend to bend towards the illogical. 
To prove how eligible the hotshot admaker Arpit is, we get a poolside sequence. Oooh you're so handsome! a model in a micro-bikini smooches Mr Perfect in full public view. Don't ever do that again, he reprimands the excited lady, as though she had just stolen his favorite GI Joe.
Marriage to Mr Placid Perfect is squandered away for an insane liaison with Aman (John Abraham), who claims to head an anti-terrorism squad.
Anu's sudden surge of passion for the stranger is well executed (far more so than the similar sequences between Basu and Abraham in Vikram Bhatt's Aetbaar). 
Anu and Aman's scenes together build up to a heart-thudding crescendo that leaves us guessing where we're heading to with the plot.
Turns out, Aman is a figment of Anu's imagination triggered off by the trauma of losing her sister in the 9/11 tragedy.
Apart from the listlessly formalistic love songs (composed by singer Roop Kumar Rathod) director Tanveer Khan seems to be in control of his narrative most of the way.... until a demoniacally botched-up finale where the plot falls apart like a house of cards, evoking laughter instead of chilling thrills.
What prompted the director to go so self-destructively from jitters to titters? 
It's hard to imagine what could have possibly brought on a climax so clumsy that it negates the film's otherwise brave and rather inventive take on the illusory pitfalls of passionate love.
It's hard to look beyond the messed-up climax to what could have been a gripping and disturbing thriller. Still, praise for Bipasha Basu's performance in this chaotic depiction of a cosmic disorder is certainly in order. 
Her sequences in the psychiatric ward of a hospital where she continues her illusory dialogues with Aman are shocking in more ways than one.
Stripped of all vanity, Bipasha bludgeons a hair-raising performance in a film that ultimately lets her and itself down.
Priyanshu Chatterjee as her incredibly supportive fiance has become typecast as the happy-go-lucky noble soul. 
Is there anything else on offer? His dancing in the love duet with Bipasha gives an all-new interpretation to the cult of clumsiness.
The film is filled with TV stars who squeal hard and bustle around trying to look busy and useful at the fringes. 
John Abraham plays what is arguably the only non-existent love-interest in a Hindi film. Hard reality or illusion, his range of expressions remain limited to a devious grimace and a lop-sided grin.
As usual, the plot devises to make him take off his shirt for a sweaty seduction scene that is wrong to the coherence of the plot as a bhajan during times of disco. 
'Saif has eaten the whole film,' gushed a fellow viewer as the credits list rolled down. It was a poignant site to see the standing audience to stay where they were and register who did what. For a first day first show in a premier multiplex in Mumbai (In spite of the rains) the numbers were surprisingly overwhelming. Vishal Bharadwaj's 'Omkara' certainly lived up to the audience expectations as well leaving them with the expression: Wow-what-was-that! For, the narrative of this adaptation of Shakespeare's Othello is a unique interspersing of Hollywood Western with a flavour of Shekhar Kapoor's 'Bandit Queen'. I completely agree with the viewer who seemed heartily impressed with Saif Ali Khan. His nasty act is as memorable as Gabbar Singh. If he wins a National Award for this one, I would say he deserves it ('Hum Tum' was more of a mother's gift Saifu, wouldn't you agree!).
Omkara Shukla (Othello, Ajay Devgan) is a dreaded gangster-cum-henchman of a notorious politician Bhaisahab (Duke, Naseeruddin Shah). His two most trusted sleuths Langda Tyagi (Iago, Saif Ali Khan) and Kesu Firangi (Cassio, Viveik Oberoi) are willing to do anything for him. They spoil the marriage party of Rajju (Roderigo, Deepak Dobriyal) with Dolly (Desdemona, Kareena Kapoor) as she has confessed her love for Omi. Bhaisahab forces Dolly's father to bless the two lovers. Omi is a terribly focused individual who climbs the stairs of success. The conflict starts when Omi selects Keshu as his successor (Bahubali), leaving long time lieutenant Langda outraged. His wounds are pricked by Rajju challenging him to do something about his sorry plight in spite of years of loyalty. 
Langda starts plotting Kesu's downfall by planting seeds of doubt in Omkara's mind about Dolly's alleged love affair with Kesu. In a masterstroke he uses the village heartthrob Billo Chaman Bahar (Bianca, Bipasha Basu) by scripting situations that enrages her lover Kesu. Bahubali Kesu, a teetotaler gets drunk on repeated provocation and the ruckus caused by him results in differences between the master and the pupil. The hanky of Othello is replaced by a traditional 'Kamarband' that Omi gifts Dolly. Langda's wife Indu (Emelia, Konkana Sen Sharma) steals the gift of love as her husband had always urged her to do the same. How Tyagi uses this article of faith in hitting the nail in the Coffin of Trust forms the crux of the story. 
Vishal Bharadwaj, the captain of the ship knows precisely what he is doing. The poetic visuals, the dangerous power of jealousy, conviction in the actions of every character and to have the capability to understand the darker side of love makes him seem like a seasoned campaigner in his merely fourth outing as a director (The Blue Umbrella is yet to be released). The master stroke was reserved for the last where he conveys an entire situation through gestures and a matrix of simple dissolves. His choice of cinematographer in Tasadduq Hussain (Debuting with this film) shows his visionary bent of mind. For, the earthen, desert-sand-looking-colour of the entire film makes it an absolute visual treat. The camera at many an occasion doesn't aim for a perfect shot. It just veers around from nowhere and shocks with the possibilities. Even the love making scene between Kareena and Ajay is smeared with a lot of dignity.
Sometimes an interesting premise fails to carry a film to a luminous conclusion. Shabd has it all - a truly striking plot, great looking cast, terrific locations and mesmerising cinematography. Yet it misses the bus, stops short of delivering a genre-defying wallop in the jaded face of the box-office.
Shabd proves one thing for all times. Merely packaging a different plot in gloss cannot compensate for the absence of intrinsic credibility in the proceedings. Debutante Leena Yadav displays a flair for framing her shots in whispering silhouettes and hushed contours. Just what these hushed whispers are trying to say is not fully or even partially comprehensible.
The plot has just three characters. Unlike Aishwarya's previous art house product Raincoat (also an intimate character study) here the incidental characters don't fit into the narrative. 
Caught between a critical snarl for his last book and a writer's block, Shauqat (Sanjay Dutt) encourages his stunningly poised wife Antara (Aishwarya Rai) to get close to a colleague on the campus, so he'd have something to write about.
Far-fetched? Yes, for sure! The debutante director could nonetheless have infused enigmatic electricity into the unorthodox triangle, if only she had not made the film so heavy-handed and wordy. Every pause in the plot is filled with words of sighing ambiguity and every episode comes with italicised footnotes. Though relevant and insightful, the dialogues (by Sutapa Sarkar) simply flow in a suffocating spill over, so that you are never close to the three characters.
The words simply - or not so simply - come in the way. Sanjay and Aishwarya try to cross the bridge of verbosity and succeed to a point. Sanjay's lined face and anguished demeanour lend a queasy grace to the self-absorbed and delusory world of the writer.
But it's Aishwarya who surprises you. Never outside Sanjay Leela Bhansali's cinema has she looked so ethereal, fragile and confident. To her role of a wife who becomes a casualty of a strange spousal mind-game, she brings a tight emotional craving to lunge towards a reality check. She's all there...and yet lost!
There is a problem with Zayed Khan's character and performance. Considering Yash is meant to be a lecturer in the same college as the writer's wife and considering his presence is supposedly empowered by the writer's imagination (or, at least so we believe since Shauqat keeps pounding on his typewriter to announce the Other Man's manoeuvre), why does Zayed have to dress talk and behave like a camp carryover of his character in Main Hoon Na?
As a performer he's fine as long as he's funny. When he tries to be serious, he ends up being doubly funny.
Sanjay and Aishwarya carry the film towards a mellow and mature destination. Sanjay has a specially difficult role as a writer rapidly losing touch with reality. He lets his character's pain show on screen without guilt or apology.
Beyond a point, the two principal actors fail to do anything with Leena Yadav's tangled triangle. 
Shabd is like an intricate jigsaw puzzle where the final picture doesn't come together because there are vital pieces missing in the design.
Is Yash, for example, just a figment of Shauqat's imagination? Why does Antara go along with her husband's bizarre plans of thrusting her on to the young man? He suffers from a mental block. But what does she suffer from? A spouse scare?
Good performances. Sensitive portrayal of situations. Light hearted moments. Sheer fun. This is how one would describe HAT TRICK which is simply as original as it gets. And yes, we mean it.
Otherwise have you ever seen before a fantasy for a cricketer going so wild that it may make a newly-wed-very-much-in-love couple head towards splits Ville? Or a doctor arranging for a staged World Cup final match (on DVD of course) so that he could save the life of his patient? Or the dilemma of a middle aged man who, in a foreign land, thinks of the nationals out there as racists, when he actually is the biggest of hem all?
Each of the three stories are quite simple. There is a young Punjabi couple [Kunal Kapoor and Rimmi Sen] who get married after being in love. The only trouble in their what-could-have-been-a-blissful-life? The World Cup is on and the guy wants to cheer for the Indian cricket team on TV even on his 'suhaagraat'.
So on a friend's advice, Rimmi does what anyone who is loosing may do. Join them if you can't beat them. And there she is, wearing Indian team blue T-shirt and munching popcorn with her nice-n-cute 'sardar' while enjoying 4s and 6s.
Sab khush? Nahi! Because now the post match winning celebration romp in the bed sounds of moans and groans of Dhoni for Rimmi! And that's because she has fallen in love with the super sportsman!
From marital discord, there is a different kind of chord building up somewhere else. The one between a patient with kidney problems [Danny Denzongpa] and a doctor [Nana Patekar] who is worried more about the lack of beds in his hospital than spending moments at the dinner table with his wife and son.
The most delightful story of all, it is the kind of Tom  someone who hasn't lost his passion and wants to watch World Cup. And the challenge he puts before Tom, who happens to be his doc-in-charge is that it would be cricket that would heal him rather than medicines.
Another challenge is to bring a smile on the face of doc. Does he succeed? Very much, because gradually the light hearted full-of-life nature of this very-much-dying patient rubs upon everyone in the hospital [something on the lines of MUNNABHAI MBBS situation] and the doc was no exception.
In the same time period in London, a lower middle class Indian [Paresh Rawal] lives with his wife and a teenage daughter while working as a janitor on an airport. Ashamed about his social status and constantly trying to get a British citizenship, he is the most humane of all.
Not a perfect person by any means, he lives a double standard life by hating the Brits but also trying to appease them to be accepted. So while he accuses the white skin folks of discriminating him, he too gets into the same mould when he encounters his daughter of having an affair with a Black boy!
A follower of cricket, he loves to cheer for the Indian cricket team even if he is surrounded by Brits all around. But when it comes to a surprise check, he replaces the posters of Sachin with Queen Elizabeth! His dreams are shattered when his citizenship is rejected by the British government. And that leads him to something - Introspection.
A short-n-sweet 2 hour film, it doesn't even have a 2 minutes at a stretch when you feel that there is something unwanted happening on screen. Everything is pretty much justified, convincing and required to tell the three tales and keep them moving along seamlessly.
If only life were a book, I could turn back the pages, says protagonist Megha's voice-over after she crashes to her death.
Alas, by then the plot too has gone her way - shattered into smithereens under the weight of its own improbabilities.
Chehra is an extremely ambitious film. Too ambitious for its own good. The gifted writer Saurav Shukla wants to make a film that thumbs its nose at box office conventions. His heroine is a pretty wacky (more pretty than wacky, one would think) student of psychiatry who smashes a taxi when its driver is rude to her.
Quite a smashing beginning. But if you expect a thriller like Collateral where the cabbie's tale begins with a similar attack on his vehicle, you are in for a shock. Chehra attacks us in ways that are not quite the creative wake up call that one would expect. 
The twists and turns in Shukla's tormented tale of psychological warfare should've kept you glued to your seat. They do just the opposite. So action-laden and character-challenged is the narrative that you plead silently for some sign of quiet normality.
But no such luck. Chehra moves through a tangle of dark events that don't necessarily add up to a cohesive plot.
The film is strewn with abused and perverted characters. The sequences showing Megha's mother (Navnee Parihar) being thrashed by her husband are especially ugly. Much later we get a rather jolting action-replay of the same situation in Megha's marriage when her husband (Irrfan) abuses her, taunting her all the time about her mother's terrible destiny.
Just when you begin to wonder if Shukla is suggesting a karmic cycle and a genealogical link behind wife battering, Bipasha suddenly changes from a grimace to a grin. 
Ha, fooled ya! I was only acting. Very good acting, no? she interjects as Dino, playing the shrink with a shrunken self-worth, tries to look shocked and disillusioned.
More laudable for what it strives to achieve than what finally comes across, Chehra is one of those designer film-noire plots with aberrant characterisations cluttering the canvas without creating a believable or even engaging world. 
This is perhaps the only thriller in recent times that doesn't seek inspiration from Hollywood. Originality unaccompanied by virtuosity is virtually futile.
This isn't the first time that Bipasha has played a psychologically traumatised character. She was pretty spooked out in Vikram Bhatt's Raaz. More recently in new-director Tanvir Ahmed's Madhoshi, she played a schizophrenic who 'sees' an imaginary lover.
Blessedly, there's nothing imaginary about Dino Morea. Playing her patient doctor, he hovers around anxiously trying to draw a coherent circle around the central love story. His efforts are largely deflected by the plot's unreasonable anxieties.
In trying to remain several steps ahead of viewers, Chehra falls flat on its face. There's too much action, not enough breathing space for reaction. In the absence of porous interludes, the narrative exudes a stifling and crowded aura, not conducive to involving the audience's attention the way a psychological thriller is meant to.
The song-breaks are the ultimate Waterloo. In one song Bipasha does a Barbie-doll-in-Britneyland act about how she wants to just chill.
Forgets the chills and thrills, Chehra isn't in the mood to provide any of those. What we get is a narrative that is self-consciously different. Saurav Shukla isn't afraid of going into dark areas. If only he could let us see some light at the end of the tunnel. 
Welcome To Uttar Pradesh!
This is what exactly debutant director Kabeer Kaushik does when he begins narrating 'Sehar'. He takes you about a decade back in time when the state of UP was beginning to get engulfed in the ugly world of organized crime. A kind of crime when power was not meant to be distributed. Instead it was meant to be 'varjasv' which means total power. The power that cannot be taken or given. It can only be 'earned'.
Kaushik opens the cards in the very first sequence when the reigning mafia don [who is also a doting family man] is killed in broad daylight by upcoming don Gajraaj [Sushant Singh], who is in lookout for 'absolute power'. The first step for this is gaining railway tenders running in millions for which a number of parties are in fray.
This is where SSP Ajay Kumar comes into picture who has already been transferred 14 times in his 6 years of duty. Along with him comes his mother [Suhasini Mulay], who is disappointed at the changing face of her city U.P. 
An upright officer with high morals and self esteem, he understands the functioning of mafia quite well and doesn't even entertain rivals of Gajraaj who approach him with the complaints. Why? Because he doesn't respect them either and wants his department to solve the crime by itself.
In his mission of eliminating the organized crime from the land of UP, he is supported by the IDG inspite of his earlier apprehensions regarding the 'system'. He proposes an idea of forming a Special Task Force [STF] that would comprise of committed officers who do not require any permission before they shoot. 
Though the idea is earlier shot down by the people in power [read bureaucrats], once the idealistic Chief Minister's NRI friend is killed and his grandson kidnapped, there is a go-ahead given for the formation of the STF. All hell breaks loose from hereon as the world of crime is brought to a limping state by this efficient team of 8-10 police officers.
But this is not enough as there is something more that threatens to nullify their attempt at finishing off the crime and criminals - introduction of cellular services that had just begun in 1997. Since there was no way of tapping the calls happening on cell phones, the services of an electronics professor [Pankaj Kapur in yet another great role after 'Dus'] are used who helps them beat the mafia with their own technology.
How the STF goes about eliminating the world of organized crime from hereon takes the story to a new 'sehar'!
One of the most positive movies ever made on the functioning of police force, 'Sehar' is strikingly different from the movies of similar genre like 'Ardh Satya', 'Shool', 'Khakee' or 'Dev'. While most of these mentioned movies were good in their own way, they relied a lot on sermonizing too. But not with 'Sehar', which is more of execution rather than any speeches or confrontations with the seniors or politicians. And this is exactly what Ajay Kumar says while trying to prove a point - The idea is to finish the job. Phir Tareeka Chaahe Jaisa Bhi Ho (in whatever way it is possible).
There are no stereotype inclusions in the movie like a mafia don trying to buy the SSP into confidence or any unnecessary attacks on him on the streets. The entire script has been kept extremely near to reality hence bringing the city of Lucknow live on the screens. In fact the outdoor shoots of Lucknow have been wonderfully shot with an earthy feel throughout. Even a few aerial shots of the city give an altogether different feel to the narrative.
Rating: ****
In the bowels of feudalism there cries a female heart... The deep anguish of desolation has never created a more piercing and indelible dent in our soul. The refined, evenly defined resonance of Ghosh's new Bengali work of art leaves behind the awkward rhythms of his last film (in Hindi) Raincoat.
In Antar Mahal, he gets it right. The astonishing grace with which the director steals Tarashankar Bandhopadhyay's skimpy short-story and turns it into a scintillating study of feudal and patriarchal oppression immediately links this work to some of the greatest literary adaptations from Bengal. 
Ghosh's exposition on the innards of female desolation go much further than Satyajit Ray's rightly celebrated Charulata.
The lonely wife Madhabi Mukherjee in Ray's five-decade old film was more flirty. Soha Ali Khan as the child-bride, who is smothered in ritualistic subjugation in the inner chambers of a feudal household, is far more tender, fragile, vulnerable and heartbreaking. Images of her peeping anxiously and forlornly from behind filigreed curtains just sweep your heart away.
Soha resembles the child-bride in Ray's Devi -- with a difference. Ray could've never imagined going into the graphic scenes of sexual subjugation. He was too much of a puritan to project sex in anything but silhouette.
Ghosh brings feminine oppression out of the closet. In resplendently lit scenes of poetic languor (cinematographer Abhik Sen creates a lilting and magical play of light and shade), director Ghosh conjures images of unbearable pain and torture, as the heir-hungry decadent zamindar (Jackie Shroff, aptly cast) heaves and thrusts into his child-wife while the lascivious priest chants ritualistically to plead to the gods of procreation. 
The contrast between love and sex, male oppression and tender ministration is brought into the frames with teasing sensitivity when the Bihari sculptor Brij (Abhishek Bachchan) arrives in the sepulchral mansion to create a ripple effect in the lives of the brutish zamindar's two wives, the doddering and crumbling elder bahu (Roopa Ganguly) and the sweet and heartbreaking younger wife (Soha).
You can't forget Roopa's look of erotic longing as the Bihari sculptor shivers in his sleep in the outer courtyard. You cannot forget the bonding between the two wives, deeply but diametrically reminiscent of Shabana Azmi and Nandita Das's camaraderie of desolation in Deepa Mehta's Fire.
But Ghosh doesn't dwell on the bonding. He sweeps across the burning ghats of emotional desecration, entering the enchanting embers of simmering discontent only long enough to sweep us into the vortex of these demoniacal emotions. We are then pushed out of the inner chambers like unwanted guests. 
But the hospitality while it lasts, is overpowering. This is a film that invites you into fascinating folds of emotions, creating pockets of intangible feelings for us to savour... and live with forever. 
The doomed characters wrench us out of our habitual repose to evaluate the space and sound of cinema in a novel light.
Though Ghosh's film is exceptionally literate and articulate, it doesn't do away with that cinematic quality of emotions which make the characters seem to be simultaneously sublime and obtainable. The anguish of the women is handled with a graceful delicacy unequalled in the work of any other Indian director. You cannot forget Roopa Ganguly and Soha Ali Khan's collective desolation, or their shared unexpressed passion for the soft and kind sculptor, or the way they handle the suffocating brutality of their household.
Deepak Shivdasani, the director of the film , may have also forgotten about Mr.Black Mr. White but graciously the movie finds its way to the theatres . For a film that stars Suniel Shetty and Arshad Warsi , you would expect it to be a crowd puller. But what if the product which has been in the making for over 3 years sounds and tastes stale?
Synposis'..
Gopi [Suniel Shetty], a simpleton, arrives in Goa from Hoshiarpur. His mission - to hand over a piece of land to his childhood friend Kishen [Arshad Warsi]. Kishen swindles people with a little help from his accomplice [Atul Kale], to earn enough money to educate his sibling Divya [Mahima Mehta], who's studying in London. Kishen, however, has managed to hide his profession from Anuradha [Rashmi Nigam] by cooking up an alibi of a twin brother, Hari, who's the bad guy.
Kishen avoids Gopi like he's bad news. He's not going to give up his flourishing business and travel to Hoshiarpur just to take possession of a measly piece of land. Meanwhile, diamonds worth Rs. 25 crores have been stolen by three girls, who are now holed up in Goa. Kishen traces the three girls and succeeds in robbing the diamonds. But the diamonds actually belong to a don, Laadla [Ashish Vidyarti], who has also reached Goa.
Who gets the diamonds?.....
Well, honestly who cares? Deepak Shivdasani who has been the anchor behind films such as 'Gopi Kishen' , 'Bhai' , 'Krishna'etc fails miserably with his 11th or 13th film. What he fails to realize is films with poor comedy and so called item numbers and skin show with foreign models such as Tania Zaetta don't appeal to the Indian audiences anymore. In fact, wonder whether this formula would even work in villages as the songs of the film too are very poor.
Screenplay by Sanjeev Duggal and Nishikant Kamat give you a head ache. Dialogues by Sanjay Pawar work out only for Ashish Vidyarthi. 
Music composers of the film 'Jatin Lalit , Tuaseef Akhtar , Shamir Tandon fail to create anything impressive.
On the acting graph , Arshad Warsi and Suniel Shetty are equally boring . Tania Zaetta, Kamala Ning , Sandhya Mridul are there to add the 'chic' material to the film. They hardly act and just sing around in their bikini.
Anishka Khosla is poor. Rashmi Nigam barely ok. Shehzad Khan is so fake and if there is one person who entertains you momentarily it's none other than Ashish Vidyarthi. Ashish returns to comedy after a very long time. His sequences involving the 'Maa' element are hilarious.
The film seems to be tormented by difficulties right from the initial stages which can also be observed in the lack of continuity in Arshad Warsi's looks in the film.
On the whole, the delay in the film further enhanced by lack of promotions and a very dull script is sure to make this film a complete washout. We wish Deepak and the producers all the best for their next venture and we are sure that this failure will act as a stepping stone to their next success.
Rating : 1/2
123 comes your way as one of the so called multi-starrers of this year (at least that's how it was promoted). The film attempts to bring in immense comedy on the basis of mistaken identities. 
The film brings in the ace at television comedy 'Ashwin Dhir who has been the maverick behind the success of the tele-serial 'Office Office'. But we wonder whether television and cinema have the same pattern when it comes to humour?
To begin with, the diamonds belonging to a Don [Manoj Pahwa] accidentally fall in the hands of Chandu [Upen Patel] and Chandni [Tanishaa], who hide them in a car. Papa [Mukesh Tiwari] and his henchmen [Vrajesh Hirjee and Sanjay Mishra] are desperately hunting for the diamonds, while police officer Mayavati Chautala [Neetu Chandra] is on the lookout for any offenders. Enter the first Laxmi Narayan [Tusshar Kapoor] who is from a mafia family and his mother prays and awaits his first successful murder. He comes to Hotel Blue Diamond to knock off Papa which is his last chance to prove himself as Bhai. Enter the second Laxmi Narayan [Suniel Shetty] who is also sent to Hotel Blue Diamond to collect a new car for his boss from Laila [Sameera Reddy]. The third Laxmi Narayan [Paresh Rawal] is a hawker who has made so much money selling under-garments on the footpath that he has set up a lingerie factory now. His son sends him to Hotel Blue Diamond to collect lingerie samples from upcoming designer Jiya [Esha Deol]. The three Laxmi Narayans are at the same place, at the same time. They get letters and photographs meant for the other. The first Laxmi Narayan gets lingerie designer Jiya's photo,the second Laxmi Narayan gets Papa's photo and the third Laxmi Narayan gets Laila's photo . A series of events follow which get different personalities intertwined as mistaken identities take over.
Director Ashwani Dhir fails miserably at holding the viewers attention and making one laugh. Some jokes are good but majority of it is just plain boring and more annoying. The script is loose and some characters are just so irrelevant to the script. Take for example Tanishaa and Upen Patel.
Also the manner in which Esha falls in love with Tusshar on realizing that he is a don is just so stupid. Just observe the expressions on Esha's face when she explains her concept of an exciting love story with a bhai.
Most dialogues in the film are plain one liners, most of them not worth remembering. Some scenes evoke a gross feeling rather than being funny. The scene where Paresh Rawal argues with two women over their bra size and the remark that her husband always asks him her size before buying one is gross.
On the acting front, Suniel shetty initially impresses but eventually annoys with the 'aapka left ya mera left sir?' dialogue. He tries his Bhola act once again and this time it fails majorly because of a weak script.
Paresh Rawal offers nothing new; he just seems to be repeating his character over and over again. He barely makes you laugh and the so called funny erotic number between Paresh and Sameera could have been avoided.
Tusshar Kapoor fails to impress either with his jokes or few elements of bhaigiri . Upen Patel is absolutely wasted. Manoj Pahwa and Mukesh Tiwari followed by Sanjay Mishra are the best lot in the film. They bring life to their character and also in case of Mukesh , he comes as a revelation in comedy.
The ladies in the film are purely added for the glamour quotient. None of them impress with their acting except for Neetu Chandra who comes in as a surprise package as a cop with not much scope in the film.
36 China Town is nothing but a medley of sound-n-buffoonery, signifying nothing. Yet, it has its 'moments' and as you get out of the movie theatre you wouldn't feel cheated. Abbas-Mastan deliver another hit for if the audience reaction is to go by, then the public isn't much bothered about the lack of mystery in Casino Queen Sonia Chang's murder. The nach baliye pair of Shahid-Kareena, stylish cop Akshaey Khanna and super oomph Upen Patel keep things rolling for good. 
The screenplay is seriously shoddy as there's no pattern in the story graph and the torrid wastage of a brilliant comic actor like Paresh Rawal is sacrilege. So, if you are wandering as to what the story is all about, then lemme replay a few stray tid bits. Shahid is a wannabe actor who wants big money to pay to a producer so that he doesn't sign any actor other than him. Kareena wants money as well for no rhyme or reason. They decide to earn a lottery of twenty five lakh rupees by returning a two year old kid (Lost in Goa, found in Mumbai) of a rich loner Isha Koppikar. This wealthy loser owns the world of sin, Chinatown where people came as kings and were thrown out as paupers. 
Paresh Rawal, a former gambling addict with his hottie wife Payal Rohatgi bumps into in an incorrigible gambler Johny Lever at Chinatown. Together they lose everything. In the meanwhile, the chemistry-less love story of the Mumbai-to-Goa couple intersperses through some foot tapping Himesh Reshamiya chartbusters and the Chinatown ladies drool over Playboy Patel. All of them get trapped in Isha's murder and it's left to suave-cop Khanna to 'solve' the tepid puzzle. But not before, the audience is treated to ample Rohatgi cleavage and sorry jokes from Rawal. 
Apart from Paresh Rawal, everyone has done a decent job in the acting department. Johny Lever sparkles after a long time. Just when the world thought that Rajpal Yadav and Boman Irani had written Lever's obituary, he makes a strong comeback. Shahid has never looked so good. Everyone says that he must stop imitating Shahrukh Khan. I think, it's being unfair on him. Amitabh Bachchan imitates Dilip Kumar and Shahrukh apes the thespian too. The good news for Shahid fans is that he is a tempestuous dancer and has a natural flair for controlled acting. He is not a super star in making. He already is one. Kareena looks like a coveted dream. She is svelte, sensitive and spot on. As for Akshaey, then he is one of the most underrated actors in Bollywood and is also emerging as a consistently dependable star at the box office. Debutante Upen Patel shines in a small role. He must thank his stars that his voice was dubbed by a fab substitute. For his stellar body language would surely have been spoilt rotten by his squeamish real-life voice. He must desist from lending his own voice in future too if he wishes to reap the benefits of a good beginning. 
The camera work is a treat although editing could have been have done with more detached hands for 36 China Town can be cut by at least ten minutes as it drags at places. Reshamiya's music is a big plus for this flick, especially the remix of Meri Aashiqui and 24/7 I think of you. As for directors Abbas Mastan, well, guys, you've got it in you to give a much better thriller than this. You must be grateful to your luck that 36 China Town will work as it's a neat packaged product as a whole. But, the audience surely deserves something extra-thrilling from the makers of Baazigar and Humraaz.
36 China Town: A tepid thriller that works 
With 'Mazaa Mazaa' hitting the marquee, one strongly feels that this should bring an end to any more launches of films that revolve mainly around titillating audiences with sex based themes. One can't say much about the movies for which filming is already in progress, but any more of such films from such genre is a definite no-no!
'Mazaa Mazaa' is a glaring example of how fast an idea travels. Within a year of Hollywood flick '13 Going on 30' being released, producer Ramesh K Doshi and director T.L.V. Prasad come up with a 'desi' version of the same movie as ' Mazaa Mazaa '. T.L.V. Prasad, who worked with Mithun Chakravorty in quite a number of movies during his 'Ooty-wood' phase struck gold with skin flick 'Tauba Tauba' last year. Teaming up with the same lead heroine Payal Rohatgi, he also introduces Shivani in 'Mazaa Mazaa' that has music by Arun Daga, Satish-Ajay and John Hunt. Farid Amiri is in a lead role while Vishwajeet Pradhan, Pankaj Beri and Tej Sapru play supporting parts.
A story that could been beautifully told, just like comic book 'Cinderella' with target audience as children, is instead given a sleaze angle by the makers of the movie that focuses more on Payal and Shivan's anatomy than anything else. The script is straight out of '13 Going On 30' where the lead protagonist is a young girl Jassi [Payal Rohatgi] who has an inferiority complex about her looks and sexuality. She feels bored confined in her private world as she wants to be just like her older friends who are having all the fun in the world. Their dresses are jazzy, they go out and have fun and they do all the things that are prohibited for a girl of their age!
To add misery to her already dull life is a smart and manipulative girl Monica [Shivani], who enjoys a great time even at this age, hence making her feel even more insecure.
But not anymore. As in a matter of a few moments, she gets what she longed for all these years! A miracle happens and time moves on by 10 years. Now she, her rival Shivani and her only friend Rocky become older by 10 years overnight, hence giving Jassi ample opportunity to hit back. How? Because now she has a figure to die for while her age permits her to do all that she dreamt for. She goes to discotheques and clubs, hangs around with friends and wears everything that she could only imagine earlier.
And from hereon start a series of events, primarily related to her rivalry with Monica, which brings along a few interesting moments in the story. And while all this is happening, the narrative keeps throwing up number of sex laced instances, hence keeping its target audience [that has become minimal for last few months] interested.
If only the movie would have been released an year back, when the market for such movies was hot, 'Mazaa Mazaa' could have proved to be a money spinner to some degree. But in today's scenario, when everything apart from sex is having a great run at the box office, chances of 'Mazaa Mazaa' creating any impact seem bleak. Poor publicity, weak songs, functional cinematography and average performances further make 'Mazaa Mazaa' a weak affair. Slated to release last month before it suddenly disappeared after a nominal publicity, 'Mazaa Mazaa' has suddenly arrived at limited prints in the midst of biggies like 'Dus', 'Sarkar' and 'Maine Pyaar Kyun Kiya' running to packed houses.
Alas! Her directorial debut 'Chupke Se' was a slipshod piece of work. Well, Sona Urvashi demarcates with Saas Bahu Aur Sensex that perfectly lets her stride, winning laurels for a unique theme. In reality, what's so topping the chart in television channels of India? Saas-bahu show with its high TRPs and marking everyday's sensex graphs. One's passions for either of these two are insatiable.
Fine, it's time for grand fiestas in Bollywood. New themes, bold attempts and great surprises: flicks sans A-rated star-casts and big budgets spelled with top-notched quality have been engrossing us. Rock On, Wednesday and here comes one more colligating along this queue. Not as appealing as the previous releases, But Saas Bahu Aur Sensex has something prodigious for the audiences.
Don't let yourselves with disheveled imaginations that flick centers on just two panoramas: Saas-Bahu shows and Sensex manias. Shona Urvashi has something more indeed of fun, frolic, emotions and congruous characters.
So, everything is fine with Saas Bahu Aur Sensex and where does it get a bit decelerated. A lengthy screenplay taking a very long time to reach its idyllic climax gets you bit dragged. Shona Urvashi moves us along with cool ambience and you are sure to relish it.
With her mother Binita (Kirron Kher) divorcing her husband in Kolkata and heading to Navi Mumbai, Nitya (Tanushree Dutta) seems to be more alienated in the new ambience. Tangled with knots and snarls, the cherubic missy finds relief in one of her neighbors, Ritesh [Ankur Khanna). It's resurgence of new life for her mother Binita too as she is befriended by women in the colony and enjoys her time in kitty parties. Her elatedness continues once she meets Firoz (Farouque Shaikh), a flakey stock broker, who assists her in investing shares left by her husband' Meanwhile, colony ladies envisage about Binita and Firoz. Merely, they realize as she acquaints them all to Firoz and mania of sensex haunts them now.
Here begins the cool-icy ride of rise-fall in sensex, triangular love stories, lives of different families in the colony, one sided love of stock broker and much more.
Phenomenal flick in terms of theme, but certain ascribes lets us feel it's clich'd. The best illustrations would be with the characters of Nitya and Masumeh; stereotypical missies, one with true love and other on the pursuit of wealth. Eloping from the marriage hall, Nitya's love at hidden sight makes your guess right.
Housewives budging from Saas-Bahu shows to sensex are refreshing, but it's so ridiculous to see sensex with 30,000 points in the climax and Shona should have precisely avoided this.
Kirron Kher steals the show with her enchanting performance. Be it her motherly affection or her reactions to various situations; she top-notches with it. Hats off to Farouqe Shaikh for his decent performance and he adds more to the humor part. Tanushree Dutta on her deglamorised role grabs your attentions and so is her naturalistic performance. On the pars, Ankur Khanna does justice to his role.
Getting on with technical aspects, it's the best work from entire team. Be it Rodriguez's cinematography or musical score by Blaaze, Bipin and Randolph, they are most adept. For a great convincing part, you don't have dream sequences or duets and none of the songs last for longer minutes. Rodriguez with his scintillating cinematography delivers the apartment Colony in Mumbai with its best scenic. 
On the whole, Saas Bahu Aur Sensex is a great delight with its new genre. Well, it's a exulting fete for miniscule audiences.
Verdict: Bold and the beautiful 
Rating : ***1/2
*Jaya Bachchan sewing clothes a la Nirupa Roy in the dead of night to keep 'ghar-ka-chulha' running for her family of four.
* Anupam Kher regretting not having a son when he himself hardly acts as a man of the house
* Rani leaving her studies and well, doing noting actually, to make sure that her sister Konkana ends up studying (something on Income Tax Act followed by an MBA which leads her to being an advertisement company executive and overnight turning out to be the face of a 'quintessential woman)
* A lecherous Call Center CEO types promising a job to Rani in exchange of sexual favors
* Abhishek and Rani getting nostalgic about 'samosas' and 'kachoris' and 'mitti-ki-khushboo' and 'ganga-ki-lehren' etc. etc. in Switzerland
* Kunal Kapoor being a compulsive ill mannered eater with zero table manners who lets the mayonnaise put all the 'daag' on his 'chunari', oops, his T-Shirt
* Rani saying no to Abhishek when he proposes marriage because she believes that her 'chunari' has a 'daag'
* Abhishek turning around and says he had already figured out the 'stain' long time back
*And finally Abhishek says that he earlier 'loved' her and now 'respected her for what she was. Gaawwd!
If such highly interesting and terribly exciting facts like this from 'Laaga Chunari Mein Daag' make you go all out to buy a ticket for the next possible show in your neighborhood multiplex, then this Pradeep Sarkar's magnum opus is right there waiting for you.
Outdated, clich'd, contrived - one is short of words to describe this two and a half hour film which makes one look forward to the watch every 30 minutes in the hope that LCMD would come to an end soon. 
First five minutes are perky enough as the two sisters Rani and Konjana takes the viewer through 'banaras ghat's and sing praises about the happy land they stay in. But soon after begins sob stories about 'ghar-ki-mazboori', wicked 'chacha', wickeder 'chachera bhaiyya', lack of funds, incomplete studies, unpaid loans etc. etc. etc. 
Yawn, yawn and more yawn!
One looks forward every 10 minutes to see something good happening but nothing really happens. Scenes like pink lingerie popping out of a production assistant (Tarina) from Mumbai, a vintage 'kothewaali' [Hema Malini] still surviving a living by performing 'mujras', a tiff at the Electricity Board office - scenes like these keep popping on the frames for no rhyme or reason.
Ok, so finally Rani packs bags and steps into Mumbai. Thankfully there is no molestation happening on the street (one half expected it but then Rani chose to live with an irritating Tarina who overacts to the hilt and makes one hate her more than the Call Center CEO) guy.
Finally the twist comes and well, this is the BIGGEST ever twist that one may have seen in a Bollywood flick for a long long time. It so happens that a model type female [Suchitra Pillai] plans out a career route for Rani. Now hold your breath as no placement agency would have put so much detailing for building a career for any of their clients, the way Suchitra does! 
Throw in some catchy item numbers, a sizzling chemistry between Sunny Deol, Vivek Oberoi, fabulous locations, great camerawork, brilliant special effects woven together in an age-old Bollywood formula script. And the end result is all sound and fury signifying nothing. That's exactly what Sachin Bajaj's debut venture 'Naksha' symbolises. An excellent packaging with little content makes less sense. Maybe the director should have given a re-look to his script in the beginning before splurging on those dare devil river rafting stunts, dilapidation of the expensive sets etc. 
In an era of progressive films like 'Rang De Basanti', 'Lage Raho Munnabhai' and even 'Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna', 'Naksha' takes the viewer back in the zone of disbelief. Professor Kapil, a prominent astrologer dies safeguarding the secret of a 'Map' from the evil hands of another astrologer Bali (Jackie Shroff). Now, in a true 'Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki' soapy mould, Mr Professor leaves behind a couple of wives with a son each. Fast Forward twenty years, younger kid Vicky (Vivek Oberoi) is a US returned dude who likes to have a little-bit-of-fun in his friend's bachelor parties with a bunch of strip dancers. 
His life takes a serious turn when he discovers a copy of the same 'Naksha' in their old bungalow. He realizes that this piece of paper had some link with his father's unfulfilled dream. A letter-of-departure on his mother's feet and off he goes in search of his 'destination'. Elder bro Veer (Sunny Deol), a Forest Officer makes a sky-piercing entry (literally) to save his steadfast step brother as Bali's goons are out to get him. Some lighthearted brotherly tomfoolery in the jungle follows (The bantering between the two is the best part about the film). They are joined by a TV Reporter in a mini skirt deserted on a raft in the middle of a jungle. A hamlet of dwarfs is the next stop where they sing 'Jat Yamla' and feast on some local liquor before Bali traces their whereabouts.
The hunt for the coveted Shield follows with a vengeance. Good versus evil. An age-old phenomenon in a fresh light'Director Sachin Bajaj deserves appreciation for working hard on making a slick product, but alas his 'Indiana Jones' meets 'Mahabharata' subject fails to ignite much interest. Of the cast and crew, Vivek Oberoi sparkles like never before. He is mint fresh. His comic timing with Sunny Deol has to be seen to be believed. Be it the daring stunts or the cool dance sequences, Oberoi shines in them all. Sunny Deol's pleasing demeanour is welcome anyday. But alas, his flab-n-wrinkles don't help his cause much. He looks the best in the 'Jat Yamla' number where he dances-like-a-man'Read his father. Sameera Reddy's glam doll TV reporter doesn't have much to do except dance to the groovy music displaying her booty in. I must say, that her snoring part is well executed. 
Preetam's bhanra-pop music is one of the highlights of the film. 'U N I', 'Shake It' and 'Jat Yamla' are chartbusters. Vijay Arora's cinematography is simply brilliant. He has captured the nuances of the forests, the hills and the entire landscape beautifully. Allan Amin's Action is first rate. As for its Box Office fate, then with 'Lage Raho Munnabhai' on a rampage, 'Naksha' will have to really struggle to find a foothold. If only there was some novelty value in the film, it would have made more sense. But you never know, it may do well in the North (Especially Punjab), which is considered to be the stronghold of Sunny Paaji. And whether you should go to the nearest multiplex to check out 'Naksha', I would say watch an Indiana Jones on your DVD Player instead. 
It's Double Trouble time. Once again. Super actor Govinda with a unique flair for brilliant comic timing is back in a tasteless family drama 'Sandwich' (Earlier named 'Hum Do Hamara Ek') that has been in the making for the last seven years. Directed by Anees 'No Entry' Bazmee, it's a rehash of Govinda, Tabu and Karishma Kapoor hit film of late nineties 'Saajan Chale Sasural' where the hero has two wives. How he shuffles between the two is what the (regressive) story is all about. 
The producers of 'Sandwich' should have taken a hint from the makers of another long-in-the-making dud 'Shaadi Kar Ke Phas Gaya Yaar' starring Salman Khan and Shilpa Shetty that had been in the making for some time. And when it finally released, it sank without a trace of hope. In an era of slick products with progressive storylines, there's no space for a film with massive continuity problems (Govinda's hairline, hemline, waistline and puffy-and-not-so-puffy-face continues to fluctuate throughout the film). The worst part is that Govinda's voice has been dubbed by more than two different people and is a big ear sore. Moreover, the listless bhojpuri type of music (Credited to surprise surprise Sandeep Chowta and others) is another big let down, considering Govinda films always carried a catchy music score (Especially when he was doing well as an actor).
Sher Singh, Shekhar, all in one. Well, that's what Govinda's character (Or the lack of it) is all about. He is a scriptwriter-cum-car-salesman. Destiny has two wives in store for him. One Sweety (Mahima Chaudhry) stays in his Punjabi village while Nisha (Raveena Tandon), the filthy rich city slicker makes sure that she gets her husband all for herself. Marriage to Sweety is a compromise-turned-love-affair as she happens to be the sister of a man who agrees to marry Sher Singh's handicapped sister. While saat-phere with Nisha happen due to an incorrigible situation where she refused to marry Vicky (Raj Zutshi) in the vivaah-mandap as she is made-only-for Shekhar. 
Not often do we get a mainstream Hindi film that allows some of our biggest stars to defiantly depart from their images. Rakht gives macho actors like Sanjay Dutt, Suniel Shetty and Dino Morea a chance to broaden their histrionic horizons in unexpected and startling ways.
Most of all, the plot is handed over to the leading lady. Playing a widowed clairvoyant with a growing son, Bipasha Basu gets into character like never before.
From the time he made Nidaan, Bollywood's first film on AIDS, Mahesh Manjrekar has always been an envelope-pusher. Even an awful film like Pitah went into the unexpectedly shocking territory of juvenile rape.
Rakht again takes us into unexpected territory, including child abuse, which is peripherally brought in through Suniel Shetty's traumatised character. Journeying into the dark and unknown sphere of occultism through the eyes of the aptly named Drishti (Bipasha), Rakht springs up some stock shocks and unorthodox surprises, specially in the way mainstream stars have been projected. 
Alas, the innovations in the plot and characterizations, though commendable, do not take the film far enough for us to rejoice in the aura of newness.
The core element in the plot is borrowed from an appalling Hollywood supernatural thriller Sam Rami's The Gift. Though unpalatable, the original had its share of sturdy performances. Like Shekhar Kapur's adaptation of Man Woman and Child (Masoom), Manjrekar goes beyond the original. His innovations in the original plot are quite clever, if not entirely impressive.
Though the jolting soundtrack and scenic soothing green setting are typical of all suspense thrillers, from the riveting Kudrat in the 1970s to the appalling Shikari earlier this year, Rakht looks more aesthetic than your average shiver giver. Manjrekar's steady cinematographer Vijay Arora applies luminous lenses to the leaping suspense. 
In no recent thriller has the cast looked so fetching. Not just Bipasha, who's beautifully packaged to look deep, dark and mysterious, but also Neha Dhupia who looks frail and vulnerable as the battered wife. And Amrita Arora as the nymphomaniac murder victim gives her role an adrenaline-charged no-holds-barred vibrancy.
Yup, this is a woman's film, though the feminine brigade tends to get unwieldy when item songs are thrown in for no reason except to lighten the suspenseful load. What, for instance, is Yana Gupta doing shaking her booty in that Babe song? Or Amrita Arora breaking into gelatinous gyrations at the drop of a hat?
Curiously, the leading lady gets no songs to sing! Bipasha, busy with her visions and cards, just doesn't get the time for trivial pursuits. 
Even in her 'item song' with Abhishek Bachchan, Bipasha simply swings to the beat, thereby completing the picture of role reversal, whereby the heroine becomes the film's hero.
If the ladies are interestingly varied in their projection, there's a gallery of watchable male stars, from Dutt (bespectacled and shy) and Shetty (stuttering and repressed) to Sachin Khedekar (maniacally cynical as a lawyer) and Manjrekar's lucky mascot Shivaji Satam (who appears for a fleeting part). 
Each man knows his place in the plot and makes the best use of it. Among the men, Dino Morea as the wife-beater is specially interesting. His performance draws a very fine line between violence and evil.
AGNISAKSHI - That's the movie one remembers when the gory saga of Naveen Andrews beating, harassing and abusing his all-silence-and-hardly-revolting wife Aishwarya Rai is on the screen. While in AGNISAKSHI, Manisha Koirala escapes from the clutches of Nana Patekar only to make a filmy encounter with him again, this time with angel Jackie Shroff in tow, none of this happens in PROVOKED.
Well, the character of Ash doesn't give rise to an opportunity like this. She sets her husband on fire only to find herself behind the bar and later being released with help of her sympathetic jail inmate [Miranda Richardson] and a social activist organization represented by Nandita Das.
Let's not talk too much about the storyline and the basic plot as film maker Jag Mundhra and his team of PR and media planners have made the world enough aware about what is in store in PROVOKED. Such an act works both in advantage and disadvantage of a film. Advantage, since the viewer is very much aware about the expectations from the film. Disadvantage, since due to a theme like this, not many are expected to be making a beeline in front of theaters.
After all more often than not, one looks for entertainment while watching a film. PROVOKED with its theme and especially the title doesn't quite promise that, with or without Aishwarya Rai looming large on the billboards. And this is where an entire promotional strategy makes such a difference to place the film in front of audience.
Though the film's subject is dark, it still has some gripping enough moments to keep you engrossed in the affair; especially the way numerous flashbacks are woven into the screenplay to create the much desired effect. In fact it is nothing short of being eerie whenever Ash takes you back in time while remembering/narrating her tale since every time Naveen Andrews appears on screen; you know that there would be torture galore on screen. You do cringe on your seat but thankfully the events are not prolonged hence saving you from much mental agony but nevertheless leaving behind a scar.
In a film that boasts of being a true story, there aren't any cinematic liberties that a film maker can take and this is why it is a welcome relief to see a film sans any unnecessary 'draamebaazi'. Be it her home or jail, the story sticks to the basics without going overboard. This is the reason why one doesn't quite see Ash turning a la Urmila Matondkar as in EK HASEENA THI. What she does do though is learn English, change her wardrobe and increasingly become confident about her self and about her rights.
Yes, Naveen is all black and he would be so whereas Ash is all white and even that would be so. You do suspect if there were some other shades to the characters too but then you do take it all on a face value. On the other hand supporting characters like the ones played by Miranda Richardson [very good] and Nandita Das [decent] are believable too.
For a film like this, it is of utmost importance for the background music and cinematography to be quite up to standards to create the desired impact. In that sense both A.R.Rahman and Madhu Ambat respectively deliver as per the requirement. Editing is one fine area for the film too since the story is narrated under 2 hours hence keeping the film in international format.
Aishwarya Rai gets to play a central character in a film after number of years and she doesn't disappoint at all. She shows that given an opportunity, she can shed her glam doll image and do something worthwhile in front of camera, something that she demonstrated in GURU early this year. Naveen Andrews has been consistently seen in Brit-India collaboration cinema and this is yet another instance of a good act on screen.
Perhaps, 'Golmaal Returns' is worthy to be ennobled ' 'impaling speculation' for producers of the film. 'Golmaal' made headway with critical 'clat for its top-notched drolleries; Rohit Shetty brimmed up with an ebullient show for the family audiences. The prequel had the best show-ups of perfect comedy timings, reasonably good jokes and moreover, the emotional quotients picked everyone's interest. Merely, 'GR' a falderal show with good star-casts and clich'd plotline and what else? Rohit Shetty doesn't touch on any lines of its prequel. 
What should have really instigated Rohit and producers to churn out this flick? You wouldn't be able to zero down the precise reasons even after the show is over. To a greater extent, the film is so cranky and again what could be the traits making it look so? Clumsy jokes unapt for universal audiences. Totting up to the annoyance is nit-witted screenplay penned by Yunus Sajawal. It's a billion-dollar question how Rohit Shetty could elatedly turn the superfluous pages of Yunus into pictures. 
And if you're there guessing could there be any solacements for audiences. Yup! Mind blowing performance by Tushaar Kapoor and Shreyas Talpade offers best fiestas of humor. Doubtlessly, you are sure to break down with laughter as these character jape simultaneously on each other. 
Gopal (Ajay Devgan), who lives with his wife Ekta (Kareena Kapoor), sister Esha (Amrita Arora) and a dumb brother-in-law Lucky (Tusshar Kapoor), grinds to a halt in a yacht after saving an attractive woman Meera (Celina Jaitley) from some goons.Both end up spending the nighttime on the yacht and when he comes home the next day, his distressing leery wife who is also a hardcore fan of thesaas-bahuserials, smell fish.Gopal knows it's going to be hard to quell her suspiciousness, so he concocts a cock-and-bull story about having stayed the night with a fabricated friend called Anthony Gonsalves. Ekta refuses to buy his yarn and writes to Anthony (on a fictitious address given to her by Gopal) asking him to visit her.Gopal convinces his junior at work, Laxman (Shreyas Talpade) to pretend to be Anthony. Everything goes according to plan till the address to which Ekta had written to Anthony turns out to be real!If that isn't complication enough for Gopal, a dead body is discovered at the location where he had saved Meera. The Investigating Officer, Madhav (Arshad Warsi), who is Esha's boyfriend and also who cannot stand the sight of Gopal, learns that the latter had been missing from home that eventful night and begins checking on him.
Promotions prior to release often sounded 'Biggest Comedy Title of 2008' and it's about dashing down your hopes after watching the show. It's a mediocre in terms of presentation. Bits and pieces of surprisals move you along with it, but not to a greater extent. Blemished screenplay lacking substance diminishes the cr'me de la cr'me efforts rendered by few best ones.
Rohit Shetty with his 'Sunday' won the credits as the best lollapaloozas, of blending murder-mystery with comedy (Call it 'Black Comedy'). The flick savored to everyone's tastes offering best entertainment. The scenario is quite bleak and contrastive here; nothing impressive that pulls you in.
Lots of actors and does everyone best deserve best credits? Must be quite straining for you all, going through so many questions. Comparatively, you would shoot out many more after the show. Ajay Devagan kindles ' his 'Simpatico' catching breath of a struggling husband.Arshad Warsi lags behind with his goofy role. Kareena Kapoor deserves pat of appreciations as a leery wife. Despites, appearing on with a short role, Celina scores best. Amrita Arora and Anjana Sukhani, merely keep middling' 
You'll have entire spotlights turning on Tushaar Kapoor as he eclipses everyone. Ditto to Shreyas Talpade; he treads highly-electrified rendering his laudable performance. Don't miss the rib-tricking takes between these lads; they're over-the-top. Ashwini Kalsekar, replica of Saawariya's Rani Mukherji and Arshad Warsi imitating Big B of Black hastens best of all laughter. Kya Hai Rohit Aur Sanjay Leela Bansali Ke Beech? (Ashwini Kalsekar planning to design her interiors with blue color is again a big gag).
Again, fallible technical aspects are a big letdown; neither music nor cinematography is up to the mark. Except, Neeraj Sridhar's 'Tha Karke' and 'Meow' by Suzy Q, nothing offers best scores.
As a whole, 'Golmaal Returns' is a light-headed entertainer, on the buttons plainly for pie-eyed individuals, while for others, enjoy if you want to'
Verdict: Watch it' Kill your time 
Rating :**' 
There was a time throughout the 80s when films starring Kader Khan and Shakti Kapoor in comic roles were big hits. While most of them had Jeetendra (and later Govinda or Jackie Shroff as the heroes), the right spice in the form of comic duo only added on to the flavor.
Most of the jokes used to be below the belt with a holds-no-bar approach. Later, emergence of films like 'Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak' and 'Maine Pyaar Kiya' proved to be a spanner in making of such films though David Dhawan had his occasional stint with such cinema with films like 'Raja Babu' and 'Andaaz'.
Multiplex boom more or less killed this kind of cinema which was more prevalent in small cities and towns with some audience in single screen cinemas of big cities still showing their loyalty. Yes, there have been an occasional all over hits like 'Masti', 'Kya Kool Hai Hum' and 'Tom, Dick and Harry' as well but they have found their own share of detractors.
Rahul Rawail can expect the same with his 'Buddha Mar Gaya' as well which just doesn't total up the risqu' humor of the three films; it in fact multiples them and raises it by the power of 2!
Picture this. A young 'main-bhi-banoongi-starlet' Rakhi Sawant comes with a unique trait of killing people on bed, although unintentionally, as they try to struggle with her. In the end, she does adopt 'sanyaas', though not before being responsible for a dozen off corpses on the stairs up to the temple.
On the other hand an old business tycoon (played by Anupam Kher) has enjoyed life to the fullest. He has not just amassed immense wealth and given birth to two good for nothing sons, he has also been 'responsible' for the birth of his grandson! 
Not just that, he has slept with the movers-and-shakers of the city who have been responsible for the law and order of the city. Watch the film to know how one of them finally reveals his identity!
But the cake is taken by the character played by Om Puri. Probably the most original character ever written for a mainstream Bollywood film, his 'baba' act is to be seen to be believed. No, he doesn't go 'Hari Om' for religious reasons. It is his contribution to all the 'tension' in the house which makes him utter these words, so much so that one fine evening he even bows down before God to 'relieve' him of all the 'tension'. Yet again, check out the film to know more about his own problems!
Dying of 'buddha' results in trouble for all who were closely and not so associated with him. His sons, sister, daughter-in-laws, grandchildren, loyal servant, political contacts, business partners, investors ' everyone seems to be worried more about their own share of pie than him going away to heavenly abode. The mayhem which follows is entertaining enough to keep the audience laughing along for next 100 minutes that follow.
Rahul Rawail adopts the approach of filming BUDDHA MAR GAYA as if the scenes were unfolding as a theater play. This is the reason why most of the scenes appear as an act with dozen odd actors sharing screen space and getting a chance to mouth a dialogue or two without scenes being jumping too frequently. 
Does the experiment work? Yes, it does as such cinema is hardly being made currently. Also, to add authenticity to the film making style, majority of it is shot in synch sound which gives an impression of a scene being enacted live in front of you.
With all these characters on the frame, none would feel let down since Rawail does well to give each of them good platform to act well. In fact none of them disappoint as they all act loud, but are competent as required by the genre of the film.
Teri kurti sexy lagti hai, sings Arjun Rampal to his screen-wife Amisha Patel before he goes blind...and the film goes bust.
Wish we could see anything remotely sexy in this sterile thriller about a blind man, his beautiful wife and his closet-psychotic friend, played by Arjun, Amisha and Zayed Khan with all the correct pauses in-between fits of passion.
But alas, nothing finally fits in Vaada. It's like an over-elaborate jigsaw puzzle. Someone evidently read the instruction booklet on whodunits too carefully. So much attention is given to the fine print that the overall framework appears to miss the bus...and the buzz.
Dead at the centre, cruelly unproductive at heart, Vaada is one of those could've-beens that don't take long to become has-beens. The cruellest blow to the audiences' expectations (no matter how low) is that the thriller, as written by Rumi Jaffrey, has the potential to grip.
The narrative just lets it droop...and drip until the basic story tapers into a blow-dried dead-end. Very often in the course of this stiff-and-over-conditioned film you ask yourself if director Satish Kaushik was briefed to make a play on film. 
If so, the narrative ought to have been free of those frisky flights of fancy into foreign shores for Himesh Reshammiya's can't-get-over-you song sequences.
Styled like the Michael Caine-Dyan Canon-Christopher Reeve thriller Deathtrap, Vaada tries to create an aura of upper class languor. 
The characters, dressed in killing chic, pose with champagne glasses in sleek interiors and often play the piano...a practice that ceased in Hindi films since the days of Rajendra Kumar in the 1960s.
Like Raj Kapoor in Sangam, Arjun Rampal sings a song about betrayal and heartbreak to his best friend and business partner Zayed Khan.
It's sad to see the cinematic references submerged in a volley of quick fix cleverness. The dialogues and the bonding between the two heroes are designed as a game of one-upmanship where you no longer know who's the cat and who's the mouse...and you don't really care.
Normally a film that begins with one hero barging into another's home, only to see the heroine hanging by the ceiling should have you hanging on to every frame. Vaada just doesn't get you interested enough. 
The sleek packaging and glistening surface create a forbidding distance between the events on screen and the audience.
Johny Lal's cinematography bathes the frames in tender exuberance. Watch out for the sequence where Amisha creeps up on Arjun on the piano after he finds out about her relationship with Zayed. The editing patterns suggest a constant craving to be steps ahead of the audience. Beyond a point the narration gets breathless and wheezy.
For much of the time the two leading men are required to occupy screen space and play against each other. The Arjun-Zayed sequences, specially the deftly cut sequence on the railway tracks, are intelligently written. But the two actors' limitations can be concealed only to a point by the sleek aura that surrounds their characters.
Arjun as the blind husband is controlled in his movements. His breakdown after his wife's suicide with her voice playing on the tape-recorder gets you watching.
Zayed's obsessive lover's act comes with inbuilt limitations. His own shortcomings as an actor and the whiny dubbing don't help either. 
Everyone from Dilip Kumar in Andaz to Amitabh Bachchan in Parwana to Shah Rukh Khan in Anjaam to Salman Khan in Tere Naam has done it. 
Pranali-a never ending journey of a devdasi releases this week. The movie releases without much promotion or hype under Nikhil Mathur's Harward Entertainments banner. The movie marks the solo debut of Nargis who was last seen in Garam Masala. 
The story revolves around Pranali(Nargis) , a girl born in a small village and soon falls prey to the downtrodden systems of society. On the account of serving God, the child is offered as a Devdasi to the high priest in the village and soon becomes an object of lust.
Life becomes much tougher when Pranali gives birth to a girl and soon struggles to educate her daughter seeking a normal life for her. On grounds of being a sex workers daughter, the girl is refused admission in school.
Soon comes in an NRI (Raman Trikha) to do a research on Sex workers in India and soon engages Pranali and the gang of sex workers including Kanchi (Rohini Kapoor) , Salma (Vaidehi Singh) ,Chanda (Dipsshikha) and Akka (Sudha Chandran) into the battle for legalization of prostitution by the government.
Sounds interesting huh? Hmm'. Well , that's what many believe and expect it to be one of those hard-hitting films. Though the movie tackled relevant issues, the execution and direction by Hirdesh Kamble is pretty poor. The story, screenplay and dialogues by Hirdesh Kamble and Manoj Pandey literally kill the entire film. 
The movie is tremendously vague and the so called journey of the devdasi leads you nowhere. The movie starts off with the little Pranali and her encounter with the high priest , minister and from there to being a sex worker and from there moves to being a mother and then fighting as a social worker etc and finally the book release makes it a complete boring and vague mix of events.
To add to it all is the boring and dull Bhaigiri sequences including Upendra Limaye as the taxi driver which makes it completely pathetic. Upendra tries to carry the film off as the solo made lead in a film overloaded with women. Upendra even gets to swing to a song sung by Kailash Kher being a complete out sync track.
The movie keeps on dragging and truly becomes a never ending journey for the audiences. On the performance scale Nargis does show us that she has immense potential but the script in this case makes us overlook all performances even that of Sudha Chandran and Dipsshika.
Music of the film by Kailash Kher and his Kailasha band members Naresh and Paresh is such a letdown and the addition of songs in the film make you yawn. No comments on the other aspects of the film.
To conclude, Pranali comes across as a very poor launchpad for Harward Entertainments. With a movie being tremendously a never ending dull, boring journey; let's hope that their next few ventures are worth a watch. Nargis no doubt is talented but needs to select her flicks carefully.
Rating : 1/2
Not many had heard of director Nishikant Kamat until the accolades he received for his first Marathi flick 'Dombivili Fast'. Later R.Madhavan and Nishikant teamed up for the tamil version 'Evano Oruvan'. Now, comes a dream project for the director with his first commercial hindi flick 'Mumbai Meri Jaan' ; a film celebrating the undying spirit of Mumbai backed by the likes of UTV.
'Mumbai Meri Jaan' talks about the July 11,2006 Mumbai train blasts. The film explores the impact of this devastating incident on the lives of the people of Mumbai. From a brilliant broadcast journalist(Soha Ali Khan) to a patriotic corporate man(R.Madhavan); from a retiring policeman(Paresh Rawal) at the twilight of his life to a rookie cop(Vijay Maurya) at the dawn of his career; from an angry and xenophobic unemployed young man(Kay Kay Menon) to a coffee-vendor(Irrfan) struggling to survive and belong: 'Mumbai Meri Jaan' follows the lives of people from all strata of Mumbai's bustling society as they tackle the aftermath of a fatal incident that brings out the best and sometimes the worst in them.
To begin with the film just transcends into another world and you are dawn right into it from the very beginning. Though the narrative moves back and forth from one character to another, it's the well laid out shots that really draw your attention.The cinematography by Sanjay Jadhav is splendid and the camera brings you up close and personal with the happening of events.
Nishikant Kamat does a great job with this flick and fuses in the right bunch of actors with a very good technical team to bring out something as special as 'Mumbai Meri Jaan'. Nishikant brings out the best from each actor and no actor overrides the other. And at no point does the focus shift from the script to the actors.
The characters of the film have been so well defined and sketched out. Take a look at the subtle reactions and body language that speaks a lot. For e.g. the indifference between Kay Kay Menon and the guys at the restaurant, Vijay Maurya's expressions (which is usually just a straight face)etc.
The story, screenplay and dialogues by Yogesh Vinayak Joshi are terrific. Though the film may seem a little slow paced with the rapid edit switches between narratives nevertheless it's impressive. The dialogues are really hard hitting especially the sequences exploring the lives of the news reporters and the policemen.
Every actor carries his part real well . Kay Kay , Soha , Madhavan , Paresh Rawal , Irrfan are absolutely brilliant. Each actors leaves behind something at the end of the film. Kay Kay's transformation from anti-Muslim to harmony seeking individual is impressive. Soha emotes real well as the woman caught between her journalism and personal space. 
The echo of the blast that resonates in Madhavan is transferred right into the viewers mind. Irrfan shocks you as the 'Madrasi' Coffee Wala. The transformation in his character too is splendid. Paresh Rawal leaves behind a lot of valuable lines and above all its actor Vijay Maurya who proves his bit here. Vijay seen earlier in 'Bombay to Goa' doing his bit of comedy , this time get you deep into reality. What a performance!
Out and out, this movie is a real hard hitting well made film. Nishikant Kamat excels with this one and is out to become one of the most sought after directors. Kudos to UTV for backing such a film! Great Job!
Rating : ****
When it comes to Animation Movies, we are still no match for the western fare. Both, in terms of idea as well as execution. Animation Industry is an expensive one. And when you take the easier way out, results are bound to be average. I am not saying Krishna doesn't have its moments. There are endearing moments especially the Makhan chor ones etc as one can relate to it. We have seen-and-heard the story of Krishna so many times before in various Television serials and yes the animation does hold a novelty value in its own cute way. 
After 'Hanuman's success, it was natural to think of something else. 'Hanuman' did well at the Box Office and there's every possibility of 'Krishna' going down well with the gentry as well. Who wouldn't want to see Krishna's childhood antics, the tempestuous flute playing to lure the gopis, breaking matkis, lying to his mom, sucking the life out of the witches and the growth of Krishna in his childhood itself. In a way, it is a fine way of teaching your children about the glory that is associated with Krishna rather than making them see pictures in story books. 
So, if you believe in the catchline 'Naughty Is Cool' then take your children to a cinema near you. Don't expect too much and you'd come out pleasantly surprised. 
Krishna: Worth-a-Kiddie-Sunday
For all who ever intended 'World of Fashion' is something about fun, glamour and ramp shows, Madhur Bhandarkar enlightens them. Rendering the best realistic themes in each of flicks, Madhur Bhandarkar had conquered the hearts of world-wide audiences. Of course, his top-notching directorial 'Fashion' surmounts our expectations and to define the film, it's 'Wordless'. Lots and lots of ramp walks, backstage happenings, photo shoots of alluring missies, kingpins of Fashion World and more than all, you have drearier slope of it unveiled. Uh-Huh! Blended with these aspects, Bhandarkar crafts a melodrama of three supermodels and their transcending lives. Indeed, the very tagline 'In the World of Fashion, You will have to give more than your morals' wins the applause. Famous philosopher Stella Blum quoted "Fashion is so close in revealing a person's inner feelings. It's really too close to the quick of the soul." These phrasings have a deep relevance with this film and obviously it is so close to everyone's heart. 
In this trenchantly spelled piece of work, Bhandarkar has his galaxy inclusive of best star-casts who are so realistic in their performance. Despites filled with 'Glitz' n 'Glam', the film offers more on other quotients' Where does the film lag behind? Not at many points, but Bhandarkar could have penned his screenplay bit precisely in the latter half. 
The journey of the rise and fall and phoenix like re-birth of India's number one Supermodel. Set against the glittering backdrop of the glamorous but ruthless world of haute couture.Fashion, this tells the story of one small town girl with a dream and the determination to make it a reality. Meghna Mathur (Priyanka Chopra) knew that she was meant to be famous. Ever ambitious and bright with stars in her eyes, even as a girl with a conservative background, she dared to dream of bright lights and the big city. The world of fashion - the clothes, the colors, the make-up, all of these form a part of the fascinating world that Meghna has longed to be a part of. She reaches the peak of her success and rises to walk the ramps for leading designers across India. The fashion world lies at her feet - the parties, the brand endorsements, the photographers, the models, the romance and of course - the shows, the shows, the shows!However, karma catches up with Meghna as she slowly starts to pay the price for her fame and her journey to the top. Her attempt at a comeback was going to be a near impossibility but she was never a woman to turn away from a challenge. On the pars, the film focuses on other two models: A top-charting model Shonali (Kangana Ranaut), so hard-pressed in her life. Jannet (Mugdha Godse), an aspirational model who has to compromise certain things in her life and settling down with her marriage. 
"Fashion" explores the world of style through the emotional personal journey of the key people that make the industry, the dream-weavers of that elaborate world of glamour: the models, designers, photographers, businessmen, agencies etc.
'Smart as a whip' - A perfect metaphor to fix the earnest work of Madhur Bhandarkar and grand round applause for hitting bull's eyes with a reality theme. It's so realistic and to make it so precise, watch out the sequence where Madhur himself appears on the screen where models says, "He's gonna make a film on Fashion". (Aae Logh Fashion World Ko Bhi Nahi Chod Sakthe). 
Even the most minute factual has been picturized with crystal-clear modality. The egoistic nature of models, their frustrated attitudes (Kangana Ranaut), fashion choreographers as gays are so shocking for Indian audiences to accept. Reality really bites, isn't? 
Priyanka Chopra spellbinds on her part without any flaws. A girl from small town and her varying colors of life: success and failures, innocence and arrogance; she strides rendering over-the-top performance on her characterization. It's not a long-drawn-out role that Kangana Ranaut dons, but her actions are mindblowing, especially in the latter part. Ditto to Mugha Godse; she does a decent job throughout the show. 
Arbaaz Khan excels on the overall show while Arjan Bajwa does justice to his role. No words to describe the tremendous performance of Harsh Chhaya as gay designer. He carries off the show so perfectly on his part. Ashwin Mushran, Samir Soni and Kittu Gidwani tread with naturalistic approach breathing lives on their characterizations. 
The auteur has picked in some of the most shocking facts; pathetic scenario of Kangna Ranaut and her wardrobe on the ramp. Was it a replica of what happened to Vikram Rathore's show before 3 months? You've got to ask Madhur about this. 
The last few minutes of the flick may get you ungratified for the dragging screenplay, but everything is diminished in climax. Despites, prone to shocking news, the way how Priyanka acts to the situation once the lights are on are so prodigious. 
Maybe, Madhur Bhandarkar hadn't focused so precisely on emotional quotients in his previous flicks of Page 3, Corporates and Traffic Signal. Over here, there are lots of those heart-melting sequences that'll let your eyes soaked with tears. Priyanka Chopra's care and affection for despaired Kangana Ranaut, parents' encouragement for forlorn Priyanka and friends extending their support; they are amazing. 
Musical score by Salim-Sulaiman are magnificent and two numbers 'Jalwa' and 'Mar Jaava' grabs your attention. Signature theme of Fashion is played throughout the show in varying tempos and tones, but still they are electrifying your senses. Mahesh Limaye's cinematography is so detailed in each shot and if you are a great analyst of camera works, it's gonna be interesting for you. Niranjan Iyengar throws more life on each character with his dialogues. Of course, costumes and styling are grand fiestas for all' 
Valuating 'Fashion' on the whole, it's strongly recommended for all the audiences. Madhur Bhandarkar has limned the real life drama of Fashion World that offer more surprises as well shocks. Not just in multiplexes, the film is sure to make high waves across other centres too. Hats off to entire team for a flawless and brainy show catering to all audiences' Bhandarkar not just presents the drama, but there is something more educative over here. 
Verdict: Madhur Bhandarkar ' The Real Fashion Maker of Bollywood 
Rating : ****
The Factory is losing Steam. If they continue making duds like 'Darwaza Bandh Rakho' then they've got a bleak future glaring them deep in the eye. Alright, the premise of kidnapping a whole bunch of diverse band of people is interesting. As the movie proceeds, a few chuckles crackle you in bits. The brief length also goes in its favour. But, what was director Chakravorthy thinking when he gave that hideous look to a non-happening actor like Aftab Shivdasani who is going from bad to worse. And it's difficult to come to terms with the romantic angle between a jaded Chunky Pandey and once-upon-a-time 'Ek Ladki Ko Dekha' girl Manisha Koirala. 'Kisna' village belle Isha Sharvani seems to have lost the plot. Or else why would she indulge in this hackneyed bhel puri roaming around in a skimpy skirt (It is as if it would slip down any time). And she doesn't do what she is best at: Dancing. If Chakri aimed at making yet another RGV style song-less 'wonder' then he sorely missed the point. 
So, what's the plot all about? Well, four wastrels Ajay (Aftab), Raghu (Chaunkey), Goga (Snehal Dhabi) and Abbas (Zakir Hussain) kidnap builder Tarneja's (Gulshan Grover) mischievous daughter Isha (Isha Sharvani) and keep her in the fledgling bungalow of a rich-businessman-gone-bust Kantilal Shah (Ishrat Ali). Shah's family including his wife, mother, daughter, son and maid Chameli (Divya Dutta) are also kept as hostages till the time Isha's father arranges for the Rs 1 crore booty. The plot loses its thickness as more and more people start falling into the marshy gallows of the kidnappers as if it's a game of nine pins.
The good hearted Ajay loses his heart to Isha while the second-in-command Raghu takes a liking for sales girl Julie (Manisha Koirala). Goga is the butt of jokes while Abbas takes up the mantle of full-fledged-villain as he plans to dupe his accomplices once Tarneja complies with their wishes. By this time, a pizza delivery boy Mughal-e-Azam (Nitin Raikwar), Shetty (Jeeva), a veterinary doctor Kota Shrinivasan Rao, Chameli's Constable-husband amongst others join the 'party'. Chakri in his attempt to give a madcap-finale-feel ends up conjuring cacophony-n-buffoonery as the ensemble gentry living under the same roof start dreaming of getting their share of the booty. 
Chakri manages to evoke a few laughs here-n-there. But where he goes wrong is his casting. The bankable stars like Aftab Shivdasani fall flat while the unexpected ones like Ishrat Ali's Kanti Bhai Shah is hilarious. Even the animal doctor evokes full throttle laughter in a brief part. Snehal Dhabi (Goga) is generally bankable in movies like 'Love Ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karenga', 'Satya' and 'Hera Pheri', but given a main role, he fails to elicit the same kind of chuckles. As for Zakir Hussain, then he is cast well in the brooding complexes prone ruffian that can't be relied upon. 
The problem with Aftab in this film is his weird get up and uncool-long-hair. It's important for filmmakers to understand that whenever Aftab is expected to make a film work on his own shoulders he tends to buckle down under pressure. And whenever he has stars like Akshay Khanna (Hangama) and Masti (Viveik Oberoi), he seems more relaxed. Isha Sharvani is wasted in an inconsequential role. Manisha on her part is better than expected. Although she is not doing anything about her growing weight, Koirala still has enough capability left in her as an actress of consequence. 
Are such films being made even today? That was my first reaction when someone narrated to me the plot of KHANNA 
And this is where the doubts started setting in about this debut venture by Hemant Hegde. Reason? In spite of such production houses backing the film and possibility of some hype to be created due to the lead pair [Sarvar, Aditi] being a talent show product, KHANNA 
Well, this is all which has gone right with the film, i.e. the confidence factor (or the lack of it). Otherwise how much of an excitement does a film like this create if the plot goes like a Punjabi boy falls in love with a Madrasi girl, parents oppose, the youngsters run away, are chased by goons, face the music due to some information related to a politician in a CD, tribals ....ok, I am sure that should be all that you must be willing to take!
So here we have the kids in a Punjabi and Madrasi family respectively who think that running away would be a good idea to make a better life for themselves. Of course their respective fathers [Manoj Pahwa and Mushtaq Khan] do not find it too obvious and lodge a complaint against each other. Hey, there was another angle that was forgotten to be mentioned in an anyways complicated plot - that of 24X7 media looking for their one 'breaking news'! So they get one for them in this high profile battle between the two big-wigs!
What follows from hereon is hardly amusing or scintillating as there is just no 'dum' in the proceedings to keep you engaged. There are chases and some more chases, Khanna senior and Iyer senior keep fighting/quarrelling/debating, a comically deadly looking dacoit [Yashpal Sharma] keeps mouthing lines that are meant to be scary - but except for the Pahwa/Khan arguments, there is nothing much that keeps you engrossed in the film.
Yes, there are a few smiles that the lead pair does manage to get for you. Sarvar and Aditi were meant to have a good screen presence; after all they were a product of talent show. In that respect, they do not disappoint as they come up with a confident act. Having said that, there isn't enough meat in the script and dialogues that would create just an ideal setting for them to be the love birds that audience would love to watch on screen and get sentimental.
This is where one can't help but make comparisons with cult classic QAYAMAT SE QAYAMAT TAK. It worked because it had numerous sequences between Aamir and Juhi that made them look oh-so-much-in-love. Here both Sarvar and Aditi do try to infuse some romance, but it is the lukewarm setting and a haywire narrative that lets them down.
Music of the film is a big time downer too as Tabun Sutradhar hardly creates anything that could have become a chartbuster. Amongst the repertoire of Subhash Ghai films, KHANNA 
Prateeksha Lonkar as Mrs. Iyer is good once again after diverse roles she has played in films like IQBAL, DOR and HAT TRICK. Neelu Kohli as Mr. Khanna is a delight and one can comfortably say that it is the part featuring veterans in the film that is most watchable. Aroon Bakshi has traditionally been an average actor and he maintains that standard.
Amitabh Bachchan is one of the busiest brand ambassadors in the country on the small screen. He promotes anything from detergent powders to batteries to chocolates. Now he must add in-film promotion of Brand Big B as well. Especially after a B-grade in-the-can-for-a-long-time film 'Rehguzar' tries to milk his stature to sorry effect. In this worth-forgotten love story a restaurant owner in Dubai is a Bachchan fan. He dishes out Big B menu named after all his films while he himself enters into one of many characters portrayed by the big man on a daily basis. Rehne do yaar'.
Bachchan chapter over'Let's introspect why an actor like Jimmy Sheirgil has to do such listless and jaded films. In his last outing 'Bas Ek Pal' he had outshone the more seasoned compatriots like Urmila, Juhi and Sanjay Suri and then one is made to suffer 'Rehguzar' where his work is passable but why on earth he has to sign such films when he can do better quality work. 
What kind of novelty value can one find in Rahul's (Jimmy) love story with Neha (Saloni)'Alright he has landed in Dubai to make it big while she is a rich man's girl who gets into a relationship with the charming dude. Rahul's walk towards his dreams is a camel ride (Literally), bumpy and uneasy.
The director conveniently believes that linking a story is of no consequence. So, expect a jilted storyline that has been put together in a hackneyed manner. And with little or no publicity, its box office fate is as good as non-existent. Moral of the story is, you can check out the latest Bond flick if you want some excitement in life. 
One walks into a multiplex expecting 'Dus' to be an ideal popcorn entertainer with an ample share of thrills, action, excellent music and tons loads of attitude that would make for an ideal weekend watch. Presence of Sanjay Dutt and Sunil Shetty with current favorite Abhishek Bachchan teaming up with hyperactive Zayed Khan are only some of the factors that make you settle down. The lights go off, the camera is on, and title song 'Dus Bahane' begins! A perfect start, one wouldn't have imagined a better kickoff to one of the most awaited movies of the year.
But does the momentum continue the entire duration? Do the thrills stay on till the very end? Does 'Dus' sound convincing as an overall product? Is it going to be an addition to movies belonging to a similar genre of execution [Kaante, Qayamat, Musafir]. Answer to all these questions is Yes - but only partly! The movie that could have been a smash hit of the year begins extraordinarily well but tables turn completely towards the last two reels [20 mins] when the movie ends on an unconvincing note. Also those who have seen Hollywood's 'The Usual Suspects' would easily catch the prime twist in the tale in first 30 mins. itself, well in advance by an hour.
To be fair to the makers, the plot is the USP of the movie. Intrigue, international terrorists group, 'hawala' rackets, and an Anti Terrorist Cell [ATC] whose mission is to thwart an international conspiracy that threatens to put the 25000 lives on stake. There have been a few movies like this before but none at such a grand scale as 'Dus'. Opening of the movie very well establishes the nexus of various groups involved in the conspiracy with countries like Algeria, Canada and India being the key contributors. Special attention is given to introducing each and every character at the very beginning, especially the ATC members Sanjay Dutt, Abhishek Bachchan, Zayed Khan and Shilpa Shetty.
Director Anubhav Sinha [Tum Bin, Aapko Pehle Bhi Kahi Dekha Hai] makes the best use of the high-end technology and comes with extraordinary camerawork and shot execution. There are number of sequences that never fail to amaze with the narrative getting thicker with every passing moment. Another noticeable factor is that scenes do not always appear in a linear, straightforward, ready to comprehend manner, hence keeping the surprise/shock element in place.
The movie dips a bit in the first half at places, especially when it deviates from the plot and starts touching upon Zayed-Dia, Sunil-Raima Sen, Abhishek-Esha relationship. While one is content with the with flying cars, high speed chases, best ever aerial shots and brisk pace, such emotional angles come as a major distraction. But to the credit of Anubhav Sinha, he brings the story back on track in quick time.
Second half begins well too with Pankaj Kapur's character as a 'hawala kingpin' for international terrorist Jaamwal [Gulshan Grover - designed on Osama Bin Laden] starts showing various shades. Twists and turns do come around aplenty, inspite of the fact that you can see them coming while just a distance away. The mystery gets cleared in a flash as well but for an average moviegoer it happens at such fast pace that it may become difficult to grasp the proceedings. There are loopholes galore as well in the script but you still do not worry much because Sinha continues with a thrill a minute approach.
There are two reasons why one can sit through this loud homage to loutishness: Akshay Kumar and Akshay Kumar. 
No, he doesn't have a double role. But the impact of his performance as the city-smart Muslim dude is so sharp and right on that he virtually holds together both ends of this doddering, stumbling and finally, crumbling drama.
Terrorism as a film formula is a dangerous trend, more so in these days when the filmmaker never knows who's watching. Some years ago when Mani Rathnam made the richly expressive Roja, some critics accused him of hard-selling Kashmiri terrorism. 
Since then there have been a large number of films on the theme of militancy, from Khalid Mohamed's Fiza and Vidhu Vinod Chopra's Mission Kashmir to Gulzar's Maachis and Hu-tu-tu. All these were serious explorations of the issue and occupied a critical space in our cinema.
A film like Insan turns terrorism a full-blown formula. The Hindu-Mulsim divide which occupies a delicate position in our society is treated with a full-blast aggression of the RDX variety, turning characters from both communities into puppets in the hands of the over-zealous scriptwriter.
In one way or another the film crudely cannibalises the Godhra catastrophe and subsequent events in Gujarat with scant regard for historical accuracy. 
The sprawling narrative opens with a Muslim mob attacking a bus carrying Hindu passengers. Before carnage can ensue, Akshay Kumar, playing the liberal neighbourhood dude, intervenes with a swaggering speech about inflammatory impulses. 
In a later and even more volatile sequence, he bodily prevents angry cop Ajay Devgan from running with a gun into a praying congregation at a mosque. 
When a cop calls him a gaddaar and asks him to go live in the other country, Akshay hits back: This IS my country! Why should we leave? We belong here as much anyone else.
To Akshay Kumar's credit, he carries off the flamboyant fits of rabble-rousing rhetoric with as much casual conviction as the comic compartments in the commodious plot, where he tries to woo the loud Henna (Esha Deol) under her brassy mother, Archana Puran Singh's nose. 
Fans of 1960s potboilers would recall the comic subplots where Mehmood wooed Aruna Irani right under her vigilant father (Dhoomal/Sunder/Agha)'s nose.
Akshay occupies a sporting ego-free space in the film. In one hilarious interlude he even allows Ajay Devgan to beat him up in front of scores of bystanders. 
Having done the comic thing, he turns into Brother India at the end and guns down his terrorist sibling - Rahul Dev. Nice cry.
Oops, we're jumping the gun! Loads happen before the Godhra-inspired train-on-fire climax (shot clumsily at the railway set in Kamalistan studios).
While Akshay and Ajay do the grin and the scowl in separate stories, Tusshar Kapoor and his love interest (newcomer Laila) do the Exploited Strugglers In Bollywood bit. The girl even gets into a producer's bedroom before she's rescued.
Ironically star-son Tusshar makes a passionate speech deriding inept star children who win golden opportunities at the cost of the deserving outsiders.
The real-life deserving outsider Akshay Kumar is in his element. Wish the same could be said about Devgan who tries to make a macho statement through the frown. In all honesty, it is a dishonest and lazy performance. 
They have pulled it off. Ten stories, each self-sufficient and completely diverse, yet almost always with a twist in the tale, are woven into one 100-minute film. Obviously in such a case, all stories cannot be bad, and all cannot be great either. But Gupta scores high in almost all of them, and in any case every one of them has at least one or two aspects to recommend.
Ram Gopal Varma tried something like this in Darna Mana Hai in 2003 and Darna Zaroori Hai in 2006, but all the stories there were about either crime or the supernatural. Here the sequence does not matter for the subjects range from intrigue, horror, the supernatural in another sense, crime and even social and rural sagas. There are messages in some sagas, pure entertainment in others and one episode is also a shade melodramatic. 
Gupta dresses up every film with state-of-the-art camerawork, simple and lucid storytelling and exotic production values. Each of the ten films have separate but sometimes overlapping teams in writing, cinematography, production design and background music, but Bunty Nagi's sharp scissors keep things uniformly crisp. 
Since the stories and plots are best left undisclosed to maintain the audience's curiosity quotient, this review will just spotlight the key points of each saga. The 10-film movie begins with Matrimony, a subtle satire on today's high-society marriages of convenience. A terrific beginning to the series, it boasts of a fabulous script and a fine performance from Mandira Bedi.
The next is the darkest of the lot, and is about the ironies of life. High On The Highway aptly casts Jimmy Sheirgill and Masumeh, whose forte has always been esoteric cinema. Hansal Mehta's almost noir narration also underscores the insecurity and bohemian lifestyles of today's urban aspirants.
Pooranmashi, a truly literary work from Punjab, has a humdinger of a climax, and Amrita Singh outdoes herself as the star-crossed woman who has tried being an ideal wife and mother to a daughter who loves her ' as it turns out ' too much. Director Meghna Gulzar gets into the Punjabi ethos perfectly.
Sanjay Gupta's Strangers In The Night and Zahir are undeniably the finest in this pack and prove the 'dark' director's sheer versatility. While the former comes across as dark but proves the most heart-tugging in the list, the latter affects you deep somewhere due to the second of its two twists in the last few minutes. Brilliantly written, they both also boast of sterling performances from Mahesh Manjrekar and Neha Dhupia and Dia Mirza and Manoj Bajpai respectively. e two beauty queens especially are really evolving as actors.
The post-intermission stories have bigger stars but on the whole lesser substance. Jasmeet Dhodi makes a good directorial debut in Lovedale and joins her background music composer, cameraman and art director in creating a super atmosphere. Despite the average performances, it is the sweetest story among the lot ' correction, it is the only sweet saga here.
The weakest saga is Sex On The Beach (directed by Apoorva Lakhia) which not only has a RGV hangover but is completely predictable: another story should have come in instead. Rice Plate (director: Rohit Roy) has the seasoned Shabana Azmi and Naseeruddin Shah in amazing performances but comes across as preachy and didactic. 
Indeed, if you know filmmaker Samir Karnik's work ' early and later titles like 'Kyon Ho Gaya Na' and 'Nanhe Jaisalmer', you may find yourself watching his recent movie, 'HEROES' surmounting your expectations. Obviously, his earlier directorial were merely dashing down everyone's hopes and how about this one? It's a fantabulous piece of work churned by Samir Karnik and it's worthy to be ennobled as one of the year's best film. Well, for those who ever thought that 'Heroes' is a flick centering on Jawans of Country's borders breathing their last for saving Nation from clutches of rivalries, there's a surprise element awaited.
Naturally, possibilities are sure to have evoked your quotients of assumptions after watching the promos that it's a film of war genre. Hats off to the auteur for he doesn't beat the same bush as 'Border' or 'LoC Kargil' and you don't even see a sequence moving across these panoramas. Merely, it has the gripping substance, 'You needn't be a soldier to love your Country'. Indubitably, your chests are certainly to be filled with emotions and patriotisms even after the show is over.
The film seems to be carrying partial traces of Walter Salles's 'Motorcycle Diaries' (a film based on life of Argentina's Ernesto Che Guevara). Sometimes it takes only a moment to bring about a big change. One experience can transform you forever. One journey can set you on a path that you will follow all your life.Heroesis the story of one such journey.
Sammy (Sohail Khan) and Ali (Vatsal Seth) are childhood friends. They have taken joint decisions in life, right from choosing a school to taking up a career. Even though they are not like-minded, they are together because they rely heavily on each other - two bodies, one soul. Sammy is an eccentric boy, high-spirited and has an uncanny knack of finding humor in the weirdest of situations. He's generous, compassionate yet impulsive. He is like a kid who needs to fall to learn how to walk. Ali on the other hand is quieter and more mature.'Heroes'is the story of these two boys who travel a thousand miles to deliver three letters as a part of their film school assignment. But little do they know that the journey they have embarked upon will give a new meaning to their life. They discover the power within themselves to change lives and events that are of importance.Heroesemphasizes on the simple experiences that can awaken feelings of patriotism. A fun road trip for two boys and a series of experiences that finite emotions that have never been experienced before, this is the underlying crux of the film. 
The film goes inclusive of three different chapters as young lads meet three families pitiably bounced with demise of their beloved ones in war. First, they meet a widow (Preity Zinta) in deep village of Punjab, who lost her husband Balkar Singh (Salman Khan) during war. The flashback reveals a beautiful love story between both of them and the pain possessed by her.
Next person they meet is a disenabled ex-air force officer Vikram Shergill (Sunny Deol) in Himachal who is boozed up all the time. He narrates the life of his brother Dhananjay (Bobby Deol) and his death in war. An attribute that gets you more adhered is about brotherly bonding between them. Well, that's not an end; you have lots and lots that'll get you enthralled with this chapter. 
Finally, the letter is delivered to a despaired father (Mithun Chakraborty) who has lost his son Sahil Nagvi (Dino Morea) in the war. Over here, there's something a bit missing that lets us down. Nevertheless, the emotional quotients diminish those factors keeping the pace moderately gripped up.
Hats off to Director Samir Karnik! An awesome flick' It enhances the emotional and patriotic feel amongst all the audiences. A smart way of storytelling precisely presents the film fantastically. How about negative traits? Fine! It doesn't carry much apart from lengthy flashbacks with bits 'n' pieces of flaws in third chapter (Mithun, Dino).
The actors meet the film's challenges every step of the way. Sohail Khan brims up with over-the-top performance on humor as well emotionally in the latter parts. Preity Zinta steals the show with her mind blowing gestures and trenchant style of uttering Punjabi' Salman strides outstandingly and his looks of Singh is cool. Sunny Deol grabs your attentions with his profound on performance. Well Bobby carries off the same credits and it would have been nice if his portion was elongated. Dino Morea and Vatsal Seth don't exceed your expectations and their performance is simply mediocre. Amrita Arora and Ria Sen have nothing more to perform before the lens.
Nothing to blame on technical aspects: Different backdrops of exotic locations have been fabulously canned by Binod Pradhan and Gopal Shah. Be it songs (especially 'Mannata' and 'Makhana') and background score, Sajid-Wajid sway enhancing the top-notched quality of film.
'Heroes' ' A film that'll get your senses brimmed up emotionally and sure to be liked by all' Of course, the film reaches the tops the chart prior to other releases hitting screens for Diwali' 
Verdict: Don't miss it' Strongly Recommended 
Rating: **** 
Darna Zaroori Hai takes off with the Sajid Khan directed story about a crass and fat guy who cocks a snook at his dear mother's warning to avoid watching the scary film Darna Mana Hai coz today's Friday the 13 th and actually takes a short cut for the latenight show. The shortcut goes through a cemetery, and our young bozo is disdainful and disrespectful of the departed souls resting there. But he finds the film boring, and through an irritating pattern of jump cuts, keeps returning to the snacks counter to stuff more and more popcorn into his vile mouth. As this mercifully short story lurches to its end, our bozo finds himself at the cemetery once gain, taking the shortcut home, and now, strange things happen to him. There are a couple of startling and scary moments here, but they come not from an underlying and continuous state of fear in the mind of the viewer due to the storyline, but from the sudden and nerve jangling appearance of scary apparitions with startlingly loud sound effects. What ultimately happens to our fat bozo is a result of his terrified mind' and the end actually evokes an ironic chuckle from the audience when we see a cutout that says: Darna Zaroori Hai' Coming Soon! And speaking of irony, Manoj Pahwa as our fat slob of a bozo is completely over the top in a caricaturish and completely overacted performance ' much like the director of his story Sajid Khan is in all his TV shows! The story doesn't really chill you, not at all. Two, three moments at the most, and the casual intrigue of what's gonna happen next. That's about it for this one.
As the film unfolds, we see a group of adventurous school kids in the thick of a jungle. The rest of their classmates are at a resort, while this brave doesn't want to waste a school picnic in a hotel ' so there they are, in a dense jungle, walking along, taking in the sights, and never mind that before long it's night, and the kids are still walking on. Finally, they stop when they see a lonely, deserted house in the thick of the woods. It looms large over them in the distance. Suddenly, the skies open up in thunderous rain, and the kids rush to the porch of the deserted house, and before long, are in. Where they meet an old, scary looking grandmotherly lady. Aren't you afraid of living alone here, a brave kid asks her, and she nods, wide eyed. But our brave fella scoffs at her fear and says nothing can scare him. The old lady throws him a challenge ' I can scare you, she says, with my stories. I'll tell you six stories. If by the sixth you aren't scared, I lose. The kid agrees, and the stories take off, one after another, as narrated by the old woman.
The second story, in terms of setting up a scary premise, and the way it is handled, is the best of the lot. Directed by Ram Gopal Verma himself and featuring Amitabh Bachchan as a professor who keeps seeing a man moving furtively about his house, even as his perplexed student (Riteish Deshmukh) gets more and more rattled, is a treat to watch during its buildup phase. Bachchan scares you with his completely convincing and sudden reactions of nervous excitement to the apparition he's seeing, and this short story is well edited and builds up to chilling effect, but the end is a bit of a let down and a whimper. While Riteish Deshmukh looks and acts the part of a clean cut student rattled by his obviously eccentric professor, Amitabh Bachchan puts in a brilliant performance.
Parenthood couldn't have been more fun than this. Ask the trio of Akshay Kumar, Fardeen Khan and Riteish Deshmukh and they would be able to tell. From the comfort of their job as a night club manager, betting player and children's party entertainer along with their random rendezvous at bed, they soon find themselves on an eight hours shift apiece with an unsuspected guest whom they love to call 'Angel'. 
Required to feed her every two hours, change her diapers every hour, act as clowns to keep her smiling, take her for evening outings and buy clothes in dozens for her could have been horrifying for them. But one incident in their life changes it all and it's time for them to sing along 'Meri Duniya' with the toddler for the rest of their lives. So much so that they completely go out of practice of 'how to woo a woman' and choose to sing lullabies and nursery rhymes in spite of being on the verge of a romp with some of the hottest stunners from the Oz!
There are number of factors that contribute towards enhancing the strength of HEYY BABYY. First and foremost, the film doesn't revolve around Akshay and only Akshay in the film. Fardeen and Riteish raise from being mere sidekicks to Akshay and instead provide an integral support to the plot. The three share almost equal screen time and it is good to see each of them getting one liners that suit their personality and image. 
While Akshay continues his 'main-hoon-sabse-smart' act that he has perfected since the days of HERA PHERI, Fardeen Khan has his Western sensibilities embedded all the way in his body language, mannerisms and accent. Though it's a different matter that he is forced to do just the opposite in the second half as he does a take off on Parimal Tripathy, the botany teacher played by Amitabh Bachchan in CHUPKE CHUPKE. He is phenomenal there as he mixes his 'shudd hindi vartalaap' with accented English and gets the house on fire. After NO ENTRY, he demonstrates once again that he has his own flair of doing comedy.
On the other hand Ritiesh Deshmukh threatens to steal the show (something which has now become a routine) whenever he appears on a frame. His dead pan humor is prevalent once again as director Sajid Khan incorporates a humorous 'gay' angle to his character at not less than 4-5 instances. And doesn't he just do it just so perfectly? Watch him come across a man as he meets all the people with whom he had once slept with or his Arabic act as he teases Fardeen Khan or a shower where he enjoys two men around him!
Nevertheless, all this is about the comic parts of the film which were anyways expected to be rip roaring due to Sajid Khan at the helm of affairs. It was but obvious that the man with a funny bone wouldn't let the script, his actors and the audience down when it comes to bringing smiles and laughter along.
The real surprise that Sajid throws is his strong control over getting just the perfect emotional moments in place. Keep your tissues ready when the trio realizes it's love for the kid. Whether it is the hospital sequence when they feel guilty about their folly or the entire 10 minutes duration when the song 'Meri Duniya' plays or the situation where the baby is took away from them or the scene where the baby calls out her 'daddy' for the first time - it is impossible not to have a moist eye and a heavy heart! Writer in Sajid Khan mixes original scenes with some of the clich's [Fardeen reading a 'namaaz'] excellently to create scenes which do not fail to touch your heart.
There was a time till around 3-4 years back when cross border tension was the hottest topic amongst many film makers. This was the time period when SARHAD PAAR, a movie starring Sanjay Dutt, Tabu and Mahima Chaudhary was conceptualized.
Times changed with the relations improving with the neighboring country while overdose of such movies also nullified the demand for this genre. In the meanwhile number of movies like Sarhad Paar were either halted, scrapped or delayed. SARHAD PAAR too suffered from the same fate and has now released without any fanfare. The director at the helm is Raman Kumar who has two duds of varied genres, 'Wah Wah Ramji' and 'Raja Bhaiya', behind them.
The film is about Ranjit Singh [Sanjay Dutt], a brave Sikh soldier from the state of Punjab who is happy with his loving wife Pammi [Tabu] and a doting sister Simran [Mahima Chaudhary]. Life was never meant for him to be same again as he crosses border to reach Pakistan. He goes through physical and mental trauma in the hands of terrorists that were lead by a mercenary called Bhaktavar [Rahul Dev].
On returning home, Ranjit's state is no better as he looses his memory. He receives ongoing treatment in the army hospital but his condition doesn't improve inspite of all the love and affection from Pammi and Simran. Both the women in his life want him to get back to normalcy but his recovery is painfully slow. Shattered, Pammi starts loosing hope but not so for Simran who has known her brother since her childhood. She knows her brother would be back at his feet with a mind that would start functioning yet again with great speed.
It would have been tough for anyone to be in such a condition without a mental support and same held good even for Simran. This is why she was lucky to have Ravi [Chandrachur Singh] in her life. A folk singer by profession, Ravi was her Simran's fianc'e and her pillar of support.
Finally Ranjit Singh managed to start solving the jigsaw puzzle of his tormented life and the revenge drama begins.
There is just no excitement when you decide to walk in for SARHAD PAAR. Even though the film has Sanjay Dutt in the lead, you can very well make out even from the dated promos that the lead man just doesn't seem interested in any of the scenes. The damage is done here itself because you are set thinking that if a hero is not at his best in just a few seconds promo then how could one expect anything better in a full length feature.
This is exactly the case as coupled with a dated look of the film; even the actors seem to be playing their part mechanically. The narrative hardly bounds you on while the turn of events too don't really get you feel surprised or elated at any place. In short, the film just doesn't involve you as a viewer at all with a strong sense of deja vu killing whatever little prospects the film had.
While Sanjay Dutt plays his role fine [well, it is hard to imagine him acting badly ever!], Tabu and Mahima Chaudhary play their parts well too. Rahul Dev is nothing better than a typical villain while Chandrachur Singh continues to be lost, both in reel and real life.
Even the production values of the film don't really have much to talk home about with the frames clearly indicating a dated look of the film. The music [Anand Raaj Anand] is fine though a few years back at least a song or two could have caught on well with the audience. Action is decent but only at places.
Straight away, let's give debutant director Anupam Sinha his due. He has tried to dodge the formula in some areas of his film, never mind the artistic liberties whereby some European resort is passed off as London. 
Never mind the wholesale relocation of the Hollywood film Meet Joe Black, with Anupam Kher and Aftab Shivdasani slipping into the roles originally played by Anthony Hopkins and Brad Pitt.
From Pitt to the pits? Not quite! 
Shivdasani plays the role of the angel of death who descends to carry back well-settled business magnate Anupam Kher with a casual grace.
In the Indian context, Shivdasani plays Lord Yama, the god of death. The heavenly connection isn't new to Indian cinema. Many years ago there was a spoof on heavenly links called Swarg Narak. In Chamatkar, Naseeruddin Shah was Shah Rukh Khan's guardian angel.
What complicates the other-worldly resonance in Shukriya is the plot's Hollywood antecedents. Spirituality and existential debates are an essential part of our culture. They're relatively new to the West. 
When Meet Joe Black cast Brad Pitt as a yankee Yama, he seemed to be a seductive alien.
Shivdasani's interaction with Kher seems to be a mockery of the Hindu philosophy of karma. The designer existentialism appears as phoney as khadi spun in Luxembourg, or ghagras spinning on the banks of the Thames. 
It just doesn't add up.
Nonetheless this film means well. The director has a developed aesthetic sense. The sets are tastefully done to indicate a posh though discreet household. The picture-postcard locales (shot with timorous affection by Rajiv Shrivastava) seem to sing out the songs of life much better than the feeble music by a plethora of uninspired composers. 
So meet Joe Shivdasani, the angel who assumes human form and infiltrates Anupam Kher's life and home. Some of Shivdasani's scenes with Kher's wife Rati Agnihotri are affectionately conceived and executed.
The trouble is, Sinha's vision bends backward to pay homage to Yash Chopra's school of romanticism. 
What gets your attention is the quietness of mood that Sinha instils in his plot. He isn't in a hurry to tell his story. 
The pace is deliberately leisurely. The mellow movement gives the characters a chance to grow out of the plot instead of being thrust on the audience.
Casting Anupam Kher in the central role is a boon for the film. In his other film this week (Bride and Prejudice) Kher is just a shadowy figure in the riotous ladies' picture. 
Shukriya gives him a lot more meat that he bites into with a force that reminds us of the actor's beginnings in Mahesh Bhatt's Saraansh. One particular monologue on stage has Kher pulling out all stops to deliver a rousing statement on the transience of life and the permanence of death.
Alas, the weightiness of the plot's underbelly never rendered itself lucidly in Meet Joe Black. It fails to register with any semblance of sharpness in Shukriya. 
Apart from Kher and Shivdasani (who's admirably restrained whenever he isn't busy flashing his unnaturally white teeth), the rest of the cast is pretty low on credibility. 
A yum-yum take on Lord Yama? Not quite. This is Meet Joe Black without much meat.
'De Taali' which sounds all fun and youthful with its title and look of the film brings E Niwas after 'My name is Anthony'. With the likes of Riteish , Ayesha , Aftab and Rimi Sen ; one would expect a laugh riot but the outcome nowhere calls for a single clap.
Synopsis'
Paglu (Riteish), Amu (Ayesha) and Abhi (Aftab) are buddies, an integral part of each other's lives. Amu is a girl amongst the two guys, though Paglu and Abhi don't treat her like one. Paglu is the one who makes her realize about her feelings for Abhi. Life, however, takes a serious turn when Abhi falls in love with Kartika aka Anjali (Rimi Sen).
E Niwas in an attempt to outdo his own 'Love ke liye kuch bhi karega' misfires big time. The plot is headed nowhere with just a bunch of songs shot at various eye catchy locations. From starting off as a lovey dovey tale of 3 friends to a kidnapping affair with the entrance of a foxy Rimi Sen , 'De Taali' is nowhere close to a fun film.
In fact the 1st half of the movie wasn't as bad as the 2nd which is totally lame and stupid with the entrance of characters such as Pawan Malhotra , Rimi's family angle etc and off course Mukul Dev's hunt for his 'Anjali'.
E Niwas makes an attempt to package his film with some eye candy by squeezing in cameos from Neha Dhupia, Anjana Sukhani ,Hrisitha Bhatt but they all fall flat. Maybe Neha's cameo is a little funny with the 'Chitrakoot' element.
On the music front, the best song of the pack by Raja Hassan 'Maari Teetri' is missing from the film and instead all other tracks by Vishal Shekar seem a little too irrelevantly placed or comes as an overdose.
The best performer of the film is no doubt Riteish Deshmukh who indeed has some comic sense and his timing is apt. Ayesha Takia too does well with this flick and is much better than her 'Sunday' performance. Aftab is just ok. Rimi Sen is so pale as the vamp in the film. She somehow seems to have lost her charm attempting to be the so called 'sexy' kind.
At the box office , 'De Taali' won't find much takers with an overload of films this week. The plot being a big letdown doesn't leave much for the film.
Rating : *1/2
Zindagi Badi Honi Chahiye'Lambi Nahin'This is to you Hrishida'.
The quality of life lived is far more important than the number of years one lives. This simple one line (First thing that catches attention as the credits start rolling) captures the whole essence of Nagesh Kukunoor's latest offering 'Dor'. And it can be said that, it's a fitting tribute to slice-of-life storyteller Hrishikesh Mukherjee who passed away recently. The manner in which this story of love, redemption and freedom from fear unfolds, it leaves you pleasantly surprised. And then there's Shreyas Talpade, (The 'Iqbal' of Nagesh's earlier superbly made film) who gives ample entertaining moments that keeps you in splits.
'Dor' is a fantastic film that floors you with its unique storytelling methodology, fabulous performances (Commendable since the lead actors are very young), fine music, great camerawork and gripping direction. There are moments in the later half of the film which tends to be a bit preachy and the cinematic liberty is stretched beyond common sense at times too. Yet, 'Dor' is a landmark cinema that shall surely find acceptance amongst a certain section of the audience. The Box Office fate of this low budget film will be encouraging for the producers as well as the director to continue making cinema that entertains as well as have the courage to tell a different story'.Differently. 
Zeenat (Gul Panag) is a strong willed independent girl living by herself in a scenic village in Himachal Pradesh. She marries her lover Amir (Rushad Rana) who leaves for Saudia Arabia the very next day of their marriage. Meera (Ayesha Takia) is a simple, docile, Rajasthani girl who abides by the laws set by her in-laws. Her extremely loving husband Shankar (Anirudh Jatkar) too has to go abroad to earn money so that his father (Girish Karnad) could repay the debt of their 'Pushton ki Haveli'. Both Zeenat and Meera are bonded together by a thread of fate and their lives run parallel to each other. 
In an unfortunate accident Shankar is killed and his roommate Amir is implicated. The only way his death sentence can be waived is through a signature by the widow of Shankar on the 'Forgiveness Letter'. Zeenat travels to Rajasthan on her own with nothing but a photograph of Amir and Shankar in search of Meera. She finds help from unexpected quarters as a lovable-rogue Imposter (Shrayas Talpade) guides him to Meera's village. After being turned away by Shankar's family, Zeenat's options were fast running out. What happens next is best left unsaid. It's best if you check it out for yourself. 
Gul Panag as Zeenat bowls you over with her innate simplicity, conviction in handling the role of a woman who has a tough exterior but is terribly vulnerable from inside. The scenes where she is shown to be exasperated by Shreyas' antics and the section when she is interacting with a distraught Meera tell volumes about an actress waiting to be Discovered. Her communication through the eyes in the climax of the film is a lump-in-the-throat moment that clings to you once the movie is over. 
Ayesha Takia's Meera is the coming-into-her-own of an actress who showed potential with her first film 'Socha Na Tha' but could never really find good roles thereafter. Here, in a deglamorised performance she successfully deviates from a simple, homely, subjugated girl-woman to an individual who learns to make her own decisions. The scene where she defies her father-in-law (He actually sells her to get his Haveli back) and her bonding with Zeenat (From whom she finds the fuel to rejuvenate herself again) brings out a superlative performance. Watch out for her heightened joy when she breaks into a jig on 'Kajra Re' in the middle of the desert or the rendition of all the dialogues while watching 'Hero' in a small town movie theatre. 
Bande Mein Tha Dum'Vande Matram. It is that time of the year when students are killing their teachers (in Ujjain), political parties are fighting over the singing of 'Vande Matram', floods have trampled the length and breadth of this country and no one is bothered about the relief work. And Members of Parliament are hurling fist cuffs at each other in the Parliament (Considered to be the Temple of Democracy). That's when we need the messages of Gandhiji the most. And Bapu has found an unusual messenger'Apna Munnabhai, with Circuit in tow. Together they are making an effort to do the most difficult thing'Speak the Truth and admit their sins without bothering about the consequences. And the whole world is echoing in unison: 'Lage Raho Munnabhai'. 
Raj Kumar Hirani, the director of trendsetting 'Munnabhai MBBS' is back with a remarkable new film, supported-to-the-hilt by a courageous producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra with their latest offering 'Lage Raho Munnabhai' where the immaculately chiseled chemistry of Murli Prasad Sharma aka Munnabhai (Sanjay Dutt) and Circuit (Arshad Warsi) Sizzles the screen. Like 'Phir Hera Pheri' and 'Krrish', 'LRMB' isn't a sequel that starts off from where 'Munnabhai MBBS' had ended. Instead, the legend of Munnabhai continues to indulge in toporigiri with his trusted aide Circuit. Rest of the setting is jhakaas-n-new. Builder Sardar Lucky Singh (Boman Irani) wants to get possession of a sea view bungalow for his daughter Simran's (Dia Mirza) wedding gift. The bungalow is leased to Jahnvi's grandfather who calls it 'Second Innings House' for that's where all his senior citizen friends (Who've been thrown out by their children) stay enjoying the second innings of their life.
But who's this Jahnvi? Well'.Munnabhai had to fall in love with her voice for when she said Goodmorning Mumbai! on Worldspace Radio (Surrogate advertising at its best)'.Then like an uninhibited wave, lovely emotions completely shored Munnabhai. Each morning. Jahnvi (Vidya Balan) is a full-of-life Radio Jockey something on the lines of Preity Zinta in 'Salaam Namaste' (I would say she makes a much better RJ than Preity). She asks ten questions on Mahatma Gandhi that Professor Murli Prasad Sharma manages to blurt out correctly (With the aid of genuine professors'If you remember Dr Rustam'Then you'd know what I'm talkin about). Love prospers on first sight. And Jahnvi invites Munna to her Second Innings Home to give a lecture to the Senior Citizens on the morals of Gandhi Ji. A love struck Munnabhai parks himself in a library on Bapu (Deserted'No one comes there'.As no one considers Gandhi relevant in a cut-throat world). 
Munnabhai Meets Mahatma (Dilip Prabhawalkar) in the library. The world calls him a lunatic, but Munna is awestruck by the magical appeal of The Father Of The Nation. No one sees Gandhi except him (Not even Circuit). There's a gradual change in the total outlook of a duffer tapori. He organizes a peaceful satyagrah to protest against Lucky Singh after the Second Innings Home is forcibly taken over. Instead of breaking bones, he mobilizes support from the ordinary citizens through his programme on Radio where he listens to plight of common folk who till then wasted no opportunity to resort to violence in day to day life. 
I don't think Remaking an iconic film is a good idea. For when the earlier film is so clearly etched in your mind, it gets difficult for the uber-cool-style-flick new version o erase the nostalgic quotient of the original. 
That's exactly what happens with Farhan Akhtar's tribute to the original 'Don' co-written by his dad Javed Akhtar along with Salim Khan a good silver jubilee years ago. Comparisons are inevitable. No, Shahrukh Khan doesn't match up to Amitabch Bachchan's versatile performance. But yes, it's great to see SRK enacting a negative character after a long time. 
And trust me'He makes Bad look Cool'As for 'Don' then it's most certainly not the best film made this year and yes it does have its high points, especially the climax. No baby, I can't reveal that! Also'get ready for the announcement of the sequel'Soon'.
Mr Malik was the surprise packet in Chandra Barot's original while there's some other 'insider' who completely zaps you this time around. I won't reveal it for it will spoil the fun. Jasjit's character had been immortalized by an old-n-haggard Pran sahib whereas here you have a younger Arjun Rampal doing the honors in a dignified manner. 
Kareena Kapoor sizzles in the 'Yeh Mera Dil' number in Helen's place. She looks gorgeous alright. Priyanka Chopra's Roma is a tough chick who would do anything to avenge her brother Ramesh's death from the evil Don. Chopra girl seems to have worked hard on learning the Charlie's Angels martial-arts-chops and the effect shows. When she is not hunting with the men, she takes time out to scorch the dance floors with her 'Aaj Ki Raat' shake-a-leg number. 
Boman Irani competently enters Iftiqar sahab's DCP Desilva shoes. In fact his role has more to it than you've geared up for. So, stay put for a surprise. Isha Koppikar as Anita is wasted.
It's left to Shahrukh Khan to drive the beauty cars, flirt with the damsels, kill as if he is poison, tinker with his designer watch to trigger a bomb somewhere and sound sinister when he is getting over confident. In the Vijay mould, he is good with his one-liners and then 'Khaike Paan Banaraswala' in Malaysia is like ice-in-the-bhang. Of course he can never speak Avadhi like Big B. But then SRK has his own style that he puts in with 100% energy in everything that he does with a hell lot of conviction. 
A lean-mean-and-gym-toned physique makes him look a hunky dude that you'd love to watch. In fact, I would love to watch him in this baddie avatar as compared with all the sugary-romances that he has been doing oh-so-repetitively. 
Farhan Akhtar's direction carries a lot of polish. He is definitely one of the finest directors that we have today. His command over technique as well as storytelling is extremely-compelling. But where he flounders in 'Don' is the pace of the film. A pacy thriller is something one was looking forward to. Instead, the three hour plus length of the film is a let down. It can be trimmed by at least half an hour. A few of the dialogues carry a lot of punch while there are still others that sound archaic. At several junctures the technical tomfoolery extinguishes plausibility. I for one fail to understand even in the original Don' as to why the boss has to personally go for a meager job as exchange of bags. Beats me! 
It's interesting to see women directors in India pushing the envelope to explore themes. Last year, we had Farah Khan doing a 'boys' film (Main Hoon Na). Now Vinta Nanda, a pastmaster at TV soaps, turns the tables on the macho brigade in Bollywood by doing the kind of angst-laden film on suburban paranoia that would normally go to a male director like Mahesh Bhatt.
White Noise is Bhatt's Arth without the comfort of distance. Nanda plunges right into the centre of her protagonist's anguished universe. Her first-hand experiences in the TV industry, her despair at getting caught up in the mediocrity and morass of the Great Indian Soap Trick, and most importantly, her acerbic study of promiscuous easy-flowing relationships in showbiz, are given a peculiarly pungent treatment in her debut spin.
By a stroke of luck, Nanda has got a relatively untried but potentially explosive actress to play the protagonist. As the TV writer Gauri Khanna, Koel Puri burns up the screen with her raw, yet restrained energy. Her post-debut performance (she was earlier seen in a quietly compelling performance in Rahul Bose's Everybody Says I'm Fine) is no less than a spiked requiem to psychological complexity.
And let's face it. Nanda's protagonist is a tough nut to crack. Gauri is as fragile from the inside as she seems tough from the outside. The blend of the brittle and the unbreakable is reflected in scene after scene of scathing satire where we see Gauri at her workplace.
The constant bitching, the efforts to give a semblance of decency and coherency to the Saas-Bahu serial on air for donkey's ears, and Gauri's brave efforts to ride the wave of gender-based mediocrity are thematic strands that tie themselves up in a bewildering knot about the nullity of life's spiralling ambitions.
Moving in and out of Gauri's work and personal relationships, Nanda constructs a stirring drama of self-destruction... with a last-minute redemption that seems to be brought on more by the screenwriter than the character's destiny.
We've watched female protagonists topple over the brink before. But never quite like this one. 
When we first see Gauri she's lost to the everyday world. In a series of jump-cuts we're told she has been given the heave-ho by her married lover Pavan (Aryan Vaid). The severance has shattered her.
Enter the gentle and sensitive Karan Deol. It takes an actor of Rahul Bose's devices to make Karan more than a stereotype. Bose has played the role of the supportive companion in Mr  and Chameli. In White Noise, the character is played at a different pitch -- with more casual cynicism and yet a firm comprehension of the contradictions that make metro-centric life such a m'lange of the bitter and the sweet.
Without sweating over the details, Bose's character insinuates itself into Gauri Khanna's life, makes spaces where there's heaving hole of screaming anxieties.
Some fringe characters are a little lost in the plot. Ashiesh Roy as a TV director, who keeps referring to Satyajit Ray and Mrinal Sen, is too shallow to be a parody of profundity. And the satire on soap culture (two actresses from Nanda's path breaking soap Tara -- Navneet Nishan and Amita Nangia --make funny in-your-farce guest appearances to drive the point about the all-pervasive impact of the soaps) makes you wonder if Nanda fears the audience would rather stay home to watch soaps than come to the theatres to watch her debut film.
I truly remember my last conversation with Sanjay Suri where we were discussing about the merits and promotion of SAY SALAAM INDIA amongst other things related to the film. My constant query had always been - "Why the film is not being promoted at all?" Agreed that the film just had Sanjay Suri and Milind Soman as the known faces [heck the later was missing from the film's promos completely], the production house was new and the director was wielding the megaphone for the first time ever when it came to Bollywood.
Still there needs to be some kind of momentum built up before releasing a film. Why not better planning and a right release strategy? Moreover was it really required to release the film right now when cricket is a strict no-no? Couldn't it have been a better idea to hold it on for a couple of months or so before our paper tigers redeem themselves by playing a few matches, win them and make us, the true Indian cricket fans, forget that World Cup 2007 ever happened?
And pray, couldn't it have been edited in a hush-hush manner with the references to Sehwag, Dhoni etc. being replaced with anything, just about anything else! It's criminal to call them out so loudly with appreciation today, you know!
But guess what, those who are not aware about the film or may not be watching it today due to all the reasons as stated above are missing out on something. And that's because all said and done, SAY SALAAM INDIA is a reasonably entertaining film that could just have pushed the adrenalin level to a good high if only India was winning in the World Cup. [Ok, so I promise that this is the last reference I am making to cricket here. Enough of heartbreak for everyone!]
So why not start looking at the film as a call of the underdog. Because that's what it is all about - an underdog winning! Let's call the small town Tejpur cricket team as the one we have seen coming from Bangladesh [oops, here I break my promise again!]. And let's call the Royal Heritage School team as that of India.
Now what we see is an all-star India cricket team that has been on a winning course but is breaching the line of over confidence. On the other hand there is this upcoming Bangladeshi team that is weak on resources but is trying to make it happen for them in the big arena. They don't have exposure, contacts and the right direction but each and every boy out there can say one thing proudly - "Mere paas coach hai!" So what if his name is straight out of a popular job portal villain - HARI SADU [Sanjay Suri]. Here is a cool man who just has one passion - cricket. The voice he loves most? The sound of 'tak' that comes when a ball hits the bat.
Well, the Indian team has a coach too. He is Harry [Milind Soman], really-really-really synonymous of Greg Chappel since he believes in applying technique [through laptops et al] to have a cricket team functioning. So here we see an overconfident bunch taking up a team of small town boys who come with just the right determination, confidence, attitude etc. etc. etc.
What happens in the grand finale? Well, we all know that. Who doesn't want an underdog to make an impression? Here too one sees the film taking a similar graph, though the good part is that in spite of a predictable turn of events, you are not disappointed with the final outcome. And why should one be? While watching a love story one wants the hero and a heroine to meet. While watching a revenge drama, one but obviously expects a hero to beat the pulp out of a villain? So what's wrong with expecting an underdog to perform well even in the face of adversities!
In recent past it has become fashionable for film makers to adjudge a non-living object as one of the film's main characters. It could be a location or a train or a mobile - just about everything.
Well, Abbas Mustan have more than justified the existence of film's central protagonist - a handycam - which is more than just a character!
This handycam not just captures the moments of other three protagonists of the film - Bobby Deol, Akshaye Khanna and newbie Urvashi Sharma - it also redefines these moments. Each of the three turn out to be beneficiary of technology; each of the three also suffer from the same. Filmy as it may sound, but then it is real as it gets. Well, to get into the what, when and how affair of things, one needs a definite dekko at NAQAAB, which is easily one of the best films to have come from Bollywood this year.
This is one of those rare suspense flicks when just as a revelation seems round the corner, as an audience you just want it to go on for some more time. First 10 minutes of the movie itself gives a good enough indication of something intriguing happening round the corner. One can sense something overtly suspicious coming over but then you love the feeling of being teased around by director duo Abbas Mustan.
This is the reason why you get a plateful of climax when there is not one, not two but as many as 5-6 twists in the tale. Just when you consider yourself to be smart enough for having grasped the climax, Abbas-Mustan deceive you by making you stare on to the bigger picture. While you are digesting this twist, the fast pace ensures that there is yet another angle introduced which makes you look at the screen open mouthed in amazement. 
The trend continues till the fascinating turn of sequences leave you absolutely stunned and makes you truly appreciate the beauty of a tale which is an absolute original as far as screens in Indian cinema are concerned. Well, if there is a film this year that could qualify as one helluva roller coaster, then NAQAAB is the one.
Reasons are aplenty for this. There are two things that remain consistent during each and every frame of NAQAAB - Urvashi Sharma and the handycam. While Urvashi Sharma dominates the proceedings, especially the first half, with more than 90% of the scenes showcasing her talent and assets, the handycam is a constant companion. In fact except for probably a stray extra in the background, entire Dubai seems to be carrying a handycam in tow. Well, there are reasons for that, you know!
It is this very handycam that make sure that you differentiate between what is public and what is private. There are two of these which delve into the finer details of multi-millionaire Bobby's and poor soul Akshaye Khanna's lives, another one that doesn't leave Burger-selling-Urvashi-who-would-soon-be-Mrs. Bobby alone and then there are more which are fitted in almost all of Dubai. 
No, this is not some suspense that is being revealed here! In fact Abbas Mustan roll out the cards very early in the day and make you apply your brains to check out the reason behind such extensive coverage. Is it clear case of spying? Is it some revenge drama? Is it the case of everyone being gray out here? Or are they all black and evil? Is the one who is a hunter actually the one who has been hunted? Or is it the other way round?
If it's a Mukesh Bhatt production, it's got to be Hollywood. Having reworked two trivial Hollywood films -- Dragonfly (as Saaya) and Unfaithful (as Murder) for director Anurag Bose, Bhatt now pens what is presumably the third and by far the most blithe-spirited film of Bose's Hollywood trio.
Tumsa Nahin Dekha is a faithful and shrewd adaptation of Steve Gordon's 1981 smash hit Arthur, where Dudley Moore rose to dizzying, doddering fame as a drunken millionaire.
Will this remake of the romantic comedy about the pickled prince and the spunky showgirl do a Moore for Emran Hashmi?
Not quite. Hashmi has great all-round support for his Arthur-backed part. But he looks wrong for it. The earthy bratty personality that rendered itself well in the role of the manic lover in Murder makes the young millionaire in Tumsa Nahin Dekha more a gipsy than a tipsy.
Hashmi throws in a lot of cuteness in his little-boy-lost, richie-rich, especially in his scenes with his butler-foster father Anupam Kher. And at the end, when all's well in the lovebirds' paradise, Hashmi is very amusing as he tells Dia Mirza how he'd love to be a poor desk-job worker.
But at the end of the take, Hashmi renders a role that can't go any further than Dudley Moore. Meant to look blissfully sozzled, Hashmi quite often looks like the brat next door caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
Kher does a fine job of recreating Sir John Gielgud's role of the butler-cum-mentor (done brilliantly earlier by the late Om Prakash in Sharaabi). 
The pathos of the desolate tycoon Daksh, watching his butler, friend, philosopher and accompanist die of cancer (a bit of savage realism here, since director Anurag Bose too suffers from the same disease) is rendered at a scale that provides muted and mellow drama to material that makes no bones about its antecedents and yet dares to venture beyond what was done in the original.
The romantic sequences have a certain reverberating ring to them. And Mirza, so far relegated to utterly inconspicuous parts, is a revelation. 
As the bar dancer who looks after her mentally challenged brother (some self-consciously sensitive scenes between the siblings) and safeguards her dignity (I'm a dancer, not a prostitute, she screams at the tipsy tycoon), Mirza not only looks lovely but brings a certain sensitivity to her part. 
At times, for instance at Daksh's engagement party, she looks as fragile and yet as strong as Audrey Hepburn.
In the role of an independent-minded, spirited and dignified working woman (still quite a rarity in mainstream Hindi cinema!) Mirza certainly makes a distinctive impact, quite different from how Liza Minelli interpreted the working-class girl's role in the original film. 
The rest of the cast and crew just follow Arthur's lead.
What shines through this endearing adaptation is the director's romanticism. Bose fills the film with long passages of courtship. 
The sequence where Daksh carries Mirza across a wooden bridge and catches a firefly for her seems like a homage to the romanticism of the golden era of Hindi cinema represented by Raj Kapoor and Sanjay Leela Bhansali.
Sure, the whole affair that begins and ends with a stunning smooch (the millionaire plants a wet smack right on the show-girl's lips at a bus stand and she pays back the compliment at the end) ends up looking rather unproductive in the final reckoning. 
Whoever said that GOOD BOY BAD BOY was a classic in the making? It was never meant to be. All the film aspired for was to bring on some humor in those two hours that a viewer spends in an auditorium.
Well, it almost succeeds, though how one wished that the penultimate 20 minutes were gripping enough and the production values were better.
Simply said, the film just doesn't seem to be coming from the house of Subhash Ghai's MUKTA ARTS. Whether it is costumes, sets, cinematography or an overall canvas, it is not even up to the standards of medium budget films made in 3-5 crores. Appearing to be a project that was conceptualized, brought to floors but later wrapped up just because it had once started, there is just no 'visual apeal' which could brought higher standards to the film.
Now after the bad news, let's bring on some good news. The fact is that director Ashwini Chaudhary almost manages to pull it off with all the limitations and the shoe-string budget he had in hands. Zero expectations factor also helps since what you get to see, especially in the first half of the film, is a bonus.
Right from the introduction of the 'good' and the 'bad' boys [and girls] in the college, the film maintains a decent pace as it kick starts. The setting is simple, in fact straight out of the early 90s, when films set in campus were in abundance. Emraan Hashmi is bad because he doesn't study and gets into frequent brawls. Tusshar Kapoor is good because all he does he studies.
Still, Emraan is not out and out bad because he doesn't tease or flirt anything and everything wearing a skirt. His eyes are set for only one girl in college [Isha Sharvani] who happens to be a good girl. On the other hand there is a 'bad girl' who has her hots for the good boy Tusshar.
And then the college principal [Paresh Rawal] decides to bring in some discipline and make sections for good, average and bad students. The only hitch here being, Emraan finds himself in good section while Tusshar steps into the ones for bad...all by accident.
If one looks at the basic plot of the film, there isn't much to be told actually. Also, as an audience you do not look much towards twists and turns. What is expected though are some laughs and there are aplenty, especially in the first half. If one doesn't quite get into pseudo-analysis mood and doesn't take shame in laughing along at the juvenile proceedings on screen then GOOD BAD BOY BAD is not a bad offering at all.
Along with the laughs, somewhere in the background Ashwini also tries to make a statement about the educational system though he keeps the tone light lest it adds on as a heavy brick to the film's relatively simpler narrative.
Humor in the film remains consistent though towards in the end it all becomes quite clich'd and predictable. The fight sequence between Tusshar and a group of college baddies is amateurish, badly choreographed and completely unwarranted while Emraan winning the quiz in spite of toppers all around him, is hard to digest. It may well have been, if only it would have been written well.
What goes completely against the film is the way film carries a certain look throughout. With dull frames and no color correction done to enhance the appeal, it just doesn't appear like a multiplex product. Sets, both indoors and outdoors, are tacky while the worst is left for the end where the stage for the quiz is not even up to the standards that some quiz shows on Doordarshan may boast of.
When a riotous situation in the film has a mention of Sharat Saxena being a far more popular actor than Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan and Rani Mukherjee combined together, you know that you have entered Ram Gopal Varma territory. The man certainly knows how to get some over the top humor, courtesy films like RANGEELA, DAUD and MAST, and GO too has shades of such humor.
To think of it, GO is a simple chase film where mood alternates between romance, action, conspiracy and comedy. Two teenage lovers [Gautam and Nisha Kothari] decide to run away from home due to parental situation. There is a KHANNA 
As they make a rainy journey from Bombay to Goa, they come across a Chief Minister's PA who would soon breath his last, an amusing cop (did someone just say Amjad Khan from LOVE STORY?) played with gusto by Kay Kay Menon, a frustrated and confused henchman (Shereveer Vakil), a Michael Jackson wannabe petty criminal who has his connections all the way with Thakur saab (is there actually anyone like him?) from Bihar and a group of truck drivers from Punjab who tell stupid jokes that Gutam has heard in Class 5th and would be responsible for an accident that would take the story to it's interval point!
As all this 'bhagam bhag' happens, the Chief Minister (Ravi Kale) of the State has his own problems to solve since his PA has captured his 'raaz ki baat' in a cassette which travels all over from Bombay to Goa and then back to Bombay.
CM's henchmen out to capture the cassette, Kay Kay being highly amused at the turn of events where he is trying to balance the gray side of his character by alternating between good and bad, sequence near the accident site where Rajpal Yadav impersonating as a 'hawaldar' helps the love birds fly, situation in Goa when Gautam gets out of a tricky situation by celebrating birthday of Shereveer Vakil, Kay Kay finding the truth inside the cassette and Gautam realizing what he is up to and an entire climax where every character in the film has a gun put on each other's head - all of such scenes coming one after another at a good pace doesn't give audience much time to even think in the direction of 'ok, so is that possible?' and instead just continue to be entertained.
In fact it won't be wrong to say that it is the introduction of Rajpal Yadav's character that adds on spice to the proceedings. Even though his 'hey, I have got a gun behind you' act repeats itself half a dozen times in the pre-climax and the climax, it is still fun to have him on the frames. Especially riotus is his impersonation of Amitabh Bachchan as Vijay Deenanath Chauhan from AGNEEPATH. Some homage here!
Kay Kay is quite efficient here and has some of the best funny one liners to his credit here. As a cop who is laidback and is merely conducting his duty while being hardly bothered by the right and the wrong of things, he is quite likeable. He has his own way of delivering comic lines with a deadpan approach and makes it all seem like a cakewalk.
Nisha Kothari is required to play a 16 year old girl who is bit stupid, a little lost in love, a lot sexy, somewhat bullied around by her boyfriend but still loves to hang around with him. She looks and plays the teenage girl part decently though with some inconsistency. In emotional scenes, she looses the plot while her expressions go completely haywire when she is required to act scared. On the positive side, her dialogue delivery and facial expressions are as per the part she is required to play as that of a kid.
Thank god for the animated aspirations of young, urbane, hip cinema. At least it moves. 
After the stagnant status-quo-centric Bewafaa last week, Socha Na Tha offers the comfort of muted mobility. Much of the movement afforded to this slight concoction of urban chic is self-serving and finally futile. But it's fun while it lasts.
Except for the occasional vulgarity, the dialogues by Ishan Trivedi are supple and tongue-in-cheek. But like much of what goes into the plot, the words are finally more emblems of contemporary connectivity than real people caught in situations of real interaction. Whether it's the hero breaking into a jig at a traffic jam or the heroine making a face in the mirror, you know these youngsters are getting cute for the camera.
The whole ambience exudes a kind of enthusiastic youthful energy that Farhan Akhtar conceptualized for his trend-setting urban fable Dil Chahta Hai. In fact the film's theme of a don't-care-a-damn dude's falling in love with the match that his parents arrange for him is cart-lifted from Farhan's film where Saif Ali Khan fell in love with Sonali Kulkarni whom he had agreed to 'view' on his parents' insistence.
There's a zing-sting to Ayesha Takia's eyeball-rolling enactment of the humiliating way she has been paraded in the past for potential grooms. It's one of the film's more endearing moments of soul-tickling interaction. 
Not all of the episodes translate as effectively on screen as they would on paper. The urbane wit extended to a befuddled, largely aimless 20-something guy's search for true love has its bright moments. 
But these are frittered away in pursuit of a larger plot. The peppering and the window-dressing are delectable. But the real meal lacks the palatable design that we're led to expect.
Part of the blame goes to debutant Abhay Deol for whom this 'unusual' debut vehicle (boy-meets-wrong-girl) has been designed. 
No, don't get me wrong. This new Deol isn't a bad actor. But Abhay lacks the urbane wit of a Saif Ali Khan. His character is a sly amalgamation of Saif and Aamir Khan in Dil Chahta Hai. Amused, cocky, over-confident and work-shy, Abhay Deol tries hard to project all of this. If we discount his awkward body language and the tendency to appear more like a dud than a dude, he gets more than pass marks, especially since he's given sequence after sequence to prove himself.
Among them I'd single out the one where he barges into his future in-laws' place to convince them that their Catholic daughter Karen (Apoorva Jha) wouldn't be safe in a Hindu family such as his.
It's a cleverly written sequence audaciously inverting the whole communal issue into a comic interlude. But the cleverness shows. This tendency to let the writer's skills show up in the narrative defeats much of the film's primary purpose. By the time, Viren (Abhay) and Aditi (Ayesha) are seen sharing a hug by her furious brother, we know the film is being too clever for its own good.
Straining to be savvy and zestful, Socha Na Tha does have its redeeming moments. The finale when the goody-goody Aditi gathers the courage to run away from her engagement to join Viren is again a well-written piece executed with a look-ma-no-hands 'lan.
If only the film had avoided being so self-congratulatory. Like Ken Ghosh's Ishq Vishq, Socha Na Tha goes into campus confusions with cocky amusement. 
Unlike Anant Mahadevan's recent Dil Mange More, Socha Na Tha is shot like a string of 'scenes' rather than an over-view of a young man's journey from careless courtships to responsible romanticism.
If you are searching for a perfect anti-dote to the enormous mental stress caused by the monstrous bomb blasts, then go check out 'Golmaal ' Fun Unlimited'. This Rohit Shetty directed Laughathon shall keep you in splits with some innovative comic lines written by the flavor-of-the-season Neeraj Vohra. Ajay Devgan, Arshad Warsi, Sharman Joshi and Tushshar Kapoor have a great time while Rimi Sen does little, except looking pretty. As far as is its fate at the Box Office is concerned, then the producers are surely going to laugh all the way to the bank. It's a Hit. Undoubtedly!
Director Rohit Shetty doesn't pretend that he is making some great cinema. He wants his audience to have as much fun as his team has had while filming. And it sparklingly shows. The camaraderie between the boys-to-men is a quadrupling delight. Laxman (Sharman Joshi) is an 'intelligent' student who is not-allowed-to-pass by his mischievous band of friends Gopal (Ajay), Madhav (Arshad) and mute Lucky (Tushshar). Reason! If Laxman passes out of the college, their sin-nest (His hostel room) also goes out of their hands. Once thrown out of college bag-n-baggage, the naughty foursome finds refuge in the bungalow of a blind couple (Paresh Rawal and Sushmita Mukherjee) as their grandson. 
A cat mouse game unfolds as Laxman's body and Gopal's voice makes for Sameer (The grandson from US). Each time the blinded Dadaji comes amidst them, hilarious situations arise. Like when Dadaji hits Lucky with his stick, Gopal passes it off as a mattress. Enter Nirali (Rimi Sen) with a bath towel and the oogling desperados now have time, place and 'resources' to fall in love. Their individual efforts at winning the lady's heart, fail, resulting in rib tickling comic scenes. Apart from their amorous interests, there is a quest for hidden treasure in the old couple's house. For, there is also a gangster in this story by the name of Babli who has his own story to tell. 
'Golmaal-Fun Unlimited' is a 'paisa vasool' film that is worth the ticket money and you don't mind splurging on Rs 35 Chilled Iced Tea either to add to the fun quotient. Ajay Devgan gets into an unfamiliar territory after 'Ishq' where Aamir Khan walked away with all the funny lines. Here he is in top form. The scenes where he apes the blind Dadaji is first rate and the people love it. His daring 'Phool Aur Kaante' stunt of riding two bikes at the same time deserves a salute of forty whistles. Wish he puts on some weight as he looks anorexic at times. That's the only problem one can find with him. 
I would rate Arshad Warsi's Madhav as second only to Munnabhai's 'Circuit'. He seemed to have had a blast while re-playing the old Dadi ji. Even his attempts at ensnaring Nirali's attention are handsomely cute. Sharman Joshi is a stunning actor and his comic timing is spot on. As the sexy girl Dicky he plays his part with aplomb and his reactions to Gopal's one liners are fantastic. It was a bit of a setback to see Tushshar playing the mute character. But I must say he has his moments, especially when he is spouting a few local expletives and no one can clearly point out as to what exactly he said. As I had said in the beginning, Rimi has nothing much to do. It is the same old story as 'Deewane Hue Paagal' where the men were after her. She was the mainstay there but here she is more of a decorative piece that shakes a leg to some uninspired songs and simpers coquettishly. A fine actor like Paresh Rawal is another drawback as he doesn't have too much to do in 'Golmaal'. He comes into his own only in the black and white flashback number 'Aage Peeche' where he flays the tree branch like the Dilip Kumar of 1940s. 
No, filmmakers don't have any rights to subject this to Bollywood fans time and again! That's the feeling you get half through the screening of a 'cliched love story' called 'Barsaat' that was tagged as a 'sublime story story'. 
Much was expected from this Bobby Deol, Bipasha Basu, Priyanka Chopra starrer. Why not? After all producer-director Suneel Darshan is the man behind one of the most successful film of recent times - Andaaz - and carries a strong reputation of coming up with family dramas that have touched Indian hearts. But alas, that's not the case with 'Barsaat' as the story of the film is so predictable and the execution such ultra-dramatic that you want to tear your hair in frustration, especially in the second half.
The movie begins with a young boy and a girl cycling in the rain and enjoying their moments together. Scene 2 and you have Bobby Deol as Arav Kappor on the frame who is fast minting money in the USA. You know at this very moment that the man is none other than the young boy shown in the first frame. Soon enters sweet'n'sexy Anna [Bipasha Basu] who falls in love with him at their very first encounter. But this doesn't necessarily result in reciprocation by Arav as he is a car designer and is busy working on his dream to get his BIG break. 
Some cliched moments later, he gets a job at nothing less than BMW chaired by Shakti Kapoor, who also happens to be Anna's grandfather. All this while Arav is unaware about Anna's true identity and soon sees himself falling in love with her. No issue as a couple of scenes later, her identity is disclosed by the grandfather who proposes to get them both engaged. 
Game, set, match for Arav who conveniently forgets that he has a past. Ironically though everyone in the auditorium remembered that the girl in the first frame would have turned into Priyanka Chopra by now and waiting for him in a Himachal Pradesh small town.
The fact is bigger than that as this girl [Kajal] was also married to Arav just 3 years back. Oh, now how are we expected to digest Arav ignoring this fact? Accepted that he fis orced to marry by his 'zabaan ke pakke' parents [Gajendra Chauhan and Beena] who had given a 'vachan' to Kajal's granny [Farida Jalal]. Though the glitz of making money in his country of dreams made Arav averse to an idea of marriage, since granny doesn't know how many more years she would survive, he relents only to leave back for USA on the very first night!
Well, now Arva has conveniently forgotten about the 'vachan' to 'desi' grandma and has said yes to 'videshi' grandpa. But then for remarriage, he also needs to first break his first marriage and hence flies back to India. And yes, this is where Priyanka Chopra as a grown up Kajal is also introduced with 'Aaja Aaja Piya', a rather lovely song. But little did she know that Arav is not here for taking her away. In fact he has come to break away from her completely by asking her to sign divorce papers.
Not to relent so easily, she tries to woo him to the fullest. But does she succeed? Meanwhile Anna and her grandpa fly India for a traditional marriage ceremony. What happens in the end? Well if you have seen 5 Bollywood love triangles in your lifetime and have sat through the first 5 minutes of the movie when the 2 kids are drenching themselves in rain, you absolutely know the answer !!
Predictable to the core, Barsaat offers nothing, apart from some real melodious music by Nadeem Shravan, that allows viewers to appreciate their outing to some extent. Being stuck to a formula is fine as more often than not it works, but if you do not disguise the formula with deft execution, chances are high that the movie may turn out to be utter run of the mill. This is what happens in the case of 'Barsaat'. 
Apoorva Lakhia better known for his sleek action packed flicks with an overload of so called 'stars' brings forth his mission with overtones of international terrorism. Vivek Oberoi walked away with rave reviews for his role as 'Maya Bhai' in 'Shootout', now let's see what mission offers him?
Synopsis'
Vikas [Zayed Khan] is one of the most promising journalists in the country. Owais [Suniel Shetty], who heads a controversial Istanbul-based news channel Al Johara, makes him an offer to head the channel. This offer comes at a time when Vikas is undergoing a divorce with his wife Anjali [Shriya Saran].
But little does Vikas know that the decision will change his life forever. Owais is killed and Turkish commando Rizwan [Vivek Oberoi] tells Vikas that if he decides to quit as well, he would be bumped off as well. In a place where the gun has the last laugh, will a journalist survive or will he fall prey like many others?
This time around you are really perplexed with what's going on screen. With all those Osama Bin Laden look alike and news channels and reporters splashed over, the film is headed nowhere to tackle terrorism. The protagonist being an army trained journo with the divorce crisis and bla bla.. it doesn't get anywhere.
Apoorva Lakhia has lost it out big time. With his focus on enhancing certain favourites such as Vivek Oberoi , Shabir Ahluwalia and Zayed Khan embedded with all those violent or so called action sequences, the plot lies in the bin.
The movie starts off too with those clich' Shriya Saran 'Zayed Relationship crisis and songs etc further carried on by even more songs and still a lot more songs being so irrelevant.
The songs too are such a drab except for the opening track. It's a blessing that they skipped the title track. That's some real good decision making!
What about the dialogues of the film? The serious ones made me laugh out loud. The George Bush replica is such a dud. The so called 13th floor of the 'Alzohra' news channel concept is so silly.
On the acting front, Zayed Khan is such a waste. He is so not convincing as the journo and neither can he deliver his lines well. The sequences that require him to get emotional sees him getting into the Shahrukh Khan mould. 
Vivek Oberoi is good but gets repetitive. He carries those elements of Bhaigiri throughout and eventually the lacuna in the script makes him sound boring. Shweta Bharadwaj does nothing more than run around trying to be Lara Croft. Shriya Saran has no scope at all and from no angle gets close to being a journo.
Nikhetan Dheer is nothing more than a lump of muscles. The actor who was extremely promising with 'JodhaAkbar' is so underused. Shabir Ahluwalia is the finest lot of them all. He carries off well with his body language and fits the bill. Sunil Shetty is hardly there.
Wonder why the Abhishek Bachchan track was even there?
On the whole, 'Mission Istanbul' sums up to being a dull fare and much below Lakhia's standards.
Rating : *
An unusual title always makes one curious about what a film has to offer but then there are also apprehensions galore. What is the film turns out to be a damp squib? What if debutant Sanjay Khanduri turns out to be yet another wannabe director who fakes an attempt to make something different? What if the film turns out to be just a parody of sorts with no depth or intelligence? What if the film is yet another 'aamchi Mumbai' affair with bhaigiri, underworld and stuff alike?
Thankfully EK CHALIS KI LAST LOCAL turns out to be a film that breaks the stereotypes, mainly from the narration perspective, in a big way and hence deserves to be appreciated for its uniqueness. Keeping the clich's aside, writer-director Khanduri tells a tale that is dark yet fun, crude but not rude, hilarious but not comic and moreover thrilling and yet so believable. In nutshell, a film that goes all out with holds-no-bar approach and doesn't get impacted by a so-called defined way of film making.
When you laugh along with a killing taking place and a murder being committed every 15 minutes of the movie, you know that things are not meant to be taken seriously, even with all the scary faces around. Call it a spoof of sorts but there are a dozen odd scary looking bhais (and even a behen, watch out of her, she is deadly) who instead seem to be laughing at their clan. A clan; which is ever-so-famous since the time of Ram Gopal Verma's SATYA.
There is Ponappa bhai, who looks like a 'bhai', though a feet shorter, there is a parallel 'bhai' Mangesh Chilke, who likes to pop in Smiley faced rubber ball into the mouth of young boys after a warm up exercise, there are some junior bhais who deal in extortions and ransoms, there are some sidekick bhais who want to pump in bullets into anything walking with a 'khakhi' on, there are some 'charsi bhais' who frequent nigh bars for their night rendezvous, there is a 'bhai-behen jodi' which is insane to say the least and most importantly there is a bunch of 'vardi-wale-bhais' who settle deals in 'petis and khokhas' while interacting with the underworld and commoners alike.
And guess what, even with such 'bhaigiri' around, never once does one cringe in the seat or feel uncomfortable. To add to tune fun, for a change there comes a film with an underworld setting which even women-folk would enjoy from beginning till the end. This is because the film isn't disturbing, violent or dark. It is instead a comedy which picks up reference threads from each of these characters and comes across as a well knit tale that makes you pat on the back of director Khanduri who excels in his very first venture.
Amidst all the 'bhais', uncertain rains and the mid-night hour are Nilesh [Abhay Deol] and Madhu [Neha Dhupia] who are trying to reach their homes after missing their last local at 1:40 AM. Next train arrives at 4:10 AM and at least one of the two gets richer by 2.5 crores. And in these 2 hours 30 minutes, they meet these 'bhais' who changes their lives forever.
In parallel, there are some ransom calls happening, a junior 'bhai' loosing his ear in a freaky accident, a business tycoon getting his Merc damaged, a game of cards going awry, a 'charsi' trying to snatch Madhu from Nilesh, the weirdo 'bhai-behan' couple stopping over to buy a bottle of red paint, a eunuch aunty trying to arrange for Rs. 8 lakhs even though her 'galla' has only Rs 56,000, a Rajnikanth wannabe cop finally getting his cigarette act right, and last but not the least Nilesh finally staring at his virginity being lost....well, not the way he would have loved to!
Pankuj Parashar takes a truly mystic, sensitive and deeply inward-looking subject and treads the fine line between feeling and reason, and tug-of-war between internal and external entities on relationships. Banaras - A Mystic Love Story is just that: a multiple-layered look at the way love can at the same time be all-possessing and liberating.
In subject and treatment poles apart from say a Jalwa or a Chaalbaaz, Pankaj Parashur underliens his versatility as a sensitive director with Banaras, for which he takes a difficult story of relationships, and with the help of exquisite camera work and top-notch performances in well-etched roles, ends up telling a story that is as memorable and thought provoking as it is commercially unviable.
Urmila Matondkar plays one of her best roles to date in Banaras, as Shweta, the gifted and only child of cultured and class-conscious Brahmins (played superbly by Raj Babbar and Dimple Kapadia) in beautiful Banaras. On the other hand, or rather, at the other end of the social spectrum is the young lad Sohan, who, as a newborn infant, was abandoned at the steps of the Ganga in Banaras. Since he was rescued and brought up by a sweeper woman, Sohan also inherits the lower caste tag of kamjaat in the class conscious Banaras. The young Sohan has only one guiding light in his life, and that is the saffron-robed babaji, who is shown as keeping a benign eye on the youngster ever since he was abandoned at the ghat steps.
Caste and social position don't come in the way of young Sohan's heart which is always drawn by Shweta's mellifluous voice as a ten-year-old. He keeps listening to her songs, rapt, from a distance, as she practices. Himself a keen and devoted student of music, Sohan one day draws Shweta to him by his voice, unaware of her attention as he sings in an interview of sorts for the position of professor of music at Shweta's college. Drawn to him by his beautiful voice and his utter simplicity and openness, Shweta soon falls in love with Sohan, who too reciprocates.
Of course, there is pandemonium. And although initially opposed to their marriage, Shweta's parents relent to the marriage when they learn that Sohan is actually a Hindu by birth, and not a lowcaste. There is much celebration and rejoicing, Shweta is on top of the world, flitting about happily, but her happiness is shortlived. On the day of the marriage, Sohan is found murdered! Shweta, distraught, shattered, recoils and leaves the city to become a renowned teacher of spiritualism. It is only when her father is on his death bed that she decides to go back to Banaras, to her parents. And to trace her way back to the city where she first experienced the beautiful feeling of love for Sohan.
Shweta returns to Banaras, and with her return, a lot of the layers in the film's first half unfold to reveal the immense depth and patience of her own personality, and the real meaning of life, of longings, and of the truth behind pre-conceived notions.
Banaras is a treat for movie lovers. Pankaj Parashar displays a profound panache for sensitive handling of relationships. To work on such a difficult, multi-layered story of relationships, and to give it such creative and technical beauty is a rare achievement indeed. Content is king, and leaving debates about the mass appeal of the story of this film, Parashar tells the story with great control. The script has the characters beautifully etched, and every character is defined well, cast better, and played superbly. Raj Babbar as Shweta's doting father and Dimple Kapadia as her mother perform extremely well, especially in the last scene, where she learns what a big heart her daughter Shweta (Urmila) possesses, and literally crumbles before her.
Pahlaj Nihlani the bigwig producer of films such as 'Ankheein','Andaz','Talaash','Mumbai se aaya mera dost'brings this week some 'Khushboo' that lacks fragrance.
Ambitious Raghu (Rishi Rehan) needs to go to Chandigarh before his posting to New York. For Raghu, career takes top priority in his life. In Chandigarh, he seems to be destined to cross path with a girl, to whom he is inadvertently drawn. But each time Pinky (Avantikka) flits away, even before he can approach her. When they do meet and get to know each other, they realize that they share a very strong bonding. And as usual Pinky once again vanishes from Raghu's life.
When they accidentally bump into each other, Pinky has one request... that he meet her family just once. For Pinky, family takes top priority in her life. Raghu meets the big, boisterous Punjabi family, only to be drawn into the warmth of the large family. Will Raghu be able to turn his back on a loving family? Is career more important than a loving family? Raghu is in a dilemma, but not Pinky.
Here is yet another film which draws resemblance to 'Jab We Met' and tries to draw in the emotions with Avantikaa trying to be Preity Zinta from 'Kya Kehna'.
The Director Rajesh Ram Singh whose name has been very much overshadowed for unknown reasons fails to impress. The story by Pathik Vats is completely aimless. 
With just an overload of Punjabi's with the likes of Prem Chopra and the bunch, the film heads nowhere.
Music by Adnan Sami is ok, with 'Hum Jo Mile' being a melodious tune. But with not much in the plot the complete bunch of 6 tracks just make you pray for a quick end to the film.
The film is an overload of lame dialogues and events. Such as the scene where the Heroine's uncle orders a Tiramisu from New York to Chandigarh just for the hero's birthday.
On the acting front, Avaantika is extremely noisy. As some may consider her voice to resemble Kajol's , the fact is that she goes overboard and irritates. As for Rishi Rehan , the producers maybe wanted him to ape Salman Khan from 'Pyaar Kiya Toh Darna Kya' .Rishi Rehan overdoes it with his body language and weird expressions specially the movement of his eyes. He requires a lot more improvement.
Major Bikramjeet who has a very minute role in the film is quite a talented actor and needs to tapped properly. It's nice to see Shammi perform the granny role after long gap. Prem Chopra is ok.
'Kushboo' lacks firstly any names that would draw the masses and the topping comes with a terrible screenplay and plot that has been done to death.
Rating : *
Remember the theme music of 70s flicks like AMIR GARIB, FAKIRA and TRAIN amongst the more popular YAADON KI BARAAT, KAALICHARAN and of course JOHNNY MERA NAAM, which is considered no less than a cult classic today? When you hear similar music in the opening credit title rolls of JOHNNY GADDAAR, you know that director's Sriram has his mind (and most importantly his heart) in the right place.
He does pay homage to the 'masala' flicks from the 70s but in the style of 21st century. Ab yeh hua naa ek unique combination!
So while Raghavan openly flouts his love for Amitabh Bachchan-Navin Nischol starrer PARWANA, he also makes a subtle reference to Al Pacino's SCARFACE. On the other hand what takes the cake is his keen study of films made by Guy Ritchie, Quentin Tarantino and Alfred Hitchcock amongst other greats.
Picture this. Debutant Neil Nitin Mukesh's journey across the cities during the first one hour of the film is inspired from PARWANA but shot in the style of Ritchie's work in SNATCH. Tarantino's love for a quirky background score and an edgy narrative a la PULP FICTION or KILL BILL series is more prominent in the second half (watch out for the scene where the South Indian nurse hits the cop played by Govind Namdeo - sheer Tarantino!).
Last but not the least, Hitchcock's school of 'suspense-management' finds a student in Raghavan as he shoots an elaborate train sequence sans any dialogues and at most times with no background score. What you hear though is the sound of train's wheels meeting the tracks under and your beating heart.
It is no ordinary sound of a train though! The hammer strong sound continues changing pitch and brings in variation as it passes next to a platform, in the open fields, under a bridge, over a bridge, next to another running train, coming to a halt, starting all over again etc. etc. etc. With such an extensive effort spent in just the sound department for a 15-20 minutes scene, one can expect so much more to be happening in this caper thriller which definitely requires you to carry your brains to the auditorium.
A man is shot in the first five minutes of the film and the noir journey begins. An illegal consignment has to be disposed off at a princely sum of 2.5 crores and the five wise men [Dharmendra, Neil, Vinay Pathak, Zakir Hussein, Daya Shetty] contribute 50 lakhs each to get the deal going. Except one of them who wants to have not just his pie but eat an entire cake].
Background score plays a vital role in making JOHNNY GADDAAR the kind of spice that makes you salivate but also ask for more. Alternatively, one gets to hear score from the 70s as well as the kind which is composed today. In fact not many are aware that songs like 'Ghadi Ki Suiyan Tik Tik Chalti Jaaye Re', 'Na Jaane Maine Kya Kiya' and 'Ye Zindagi Ke Raaste Hain Haseen' which play in the background are actually not the forgotten songs from the past but are pure original compositions created for JOHNNY GADDAAR!
Let's talk about performances now. No, the film doesn't belong to any one person! It in fact belongs to each and every one of the characters. And no, I am not talking about just the five gang members but also Rimi Sen and supporting characters played by Govind Namdeo and Ashwini Kalsekar. There are phases in the film where everyone gets an opportunity to hog the limelight and shine.
Known for percolating exceptional themes and winning laurelses, Rituparno Ghosh pitches 'The Last Lear', based on the classic play 'Aajker Shahensha' by Utpal Dutt. Alas! It's a paradise for minuscule audiences while for the rest its 120mins, world of hellhole. Unlike his previous flick, 'Rain Coat', this trenchant piece of work goes dashing down the hopes of many. Reason is so simple: Lots of Shakespearean poesies and you know who loves it the most? Nevertheless, 'Last Lear' would be an epithet of how an enchanting play would be metamorphosed into a blemishing wretched film because of it screenplay.
Siddharth (Arjun Rampal), a struggling auteur with dreams of making films on realisms is on search of some actor who would be a worthy actor to play lead role in his film. He finally settles down onan aged play actor Harry (Amitabh Bacchan), who has no likeliness towards cinema.
But the actor still looks cherished on uttering libretto with a bold tone of voice. Residing in house of closed windows and dim-lit rooms, Harry finds Siddarth going much similar with his ideologies. Well, it all starts with cup of vodkas, cheerful interaction and then what? The curtains rise up in the frame, where Harry plays the role of an ageing clown namedMaqbool.Over these hours of shooting for the film, Harry gets into a new friendship with actress Shabnam (Preity Zinta). While, the film is winning grand round of applause at premiere show, but Harry tightly holds him back into his dim-lit dark room with the doors tightly shut. No one cares and the premiere still goes on and here reveals the selfish motives of entities'
On the traits of screenplay, Rituparno Ghosh fails at certain points and more specifically at the flimsy climax. Despites possessing fantabulous theme and strong characterizations, nothing works out the magic. It's not just about these two characters of Harry and Siddarth, but Rituparno depicts a strong color of feminism. Fine! Preity Zinta, Shefali Shah and Divya Dutta dominate the screen during most of the times. But they are worthless, when it comes to narration and Ghosh should have spelt out purely for commercial panoramas. This happens to be the queasiest spoiler of this flick.
But don't miss out the comedic encounters between Arjun Rampal and Amitabh Bachchan. Pointing the individuals moving through their home by roadside and guessing about their profession are a great relief to the anxious audiences. Indeed, their tiff over adding 'Soliloquy' in the film reveals of a realistic encounter between an ambitious filmmaker and stubborn actor.
Nothing to blame on the performance of star-casts: especially the breathtaking performance of Amitabh Bachchan' His stunning action of pleading Arjun Rampal about performing the climax sequence without any dupes is a chef-d'oeuvre.
The exotic locations captured by Abhik Mukhopadyay'scinematography isa grand fiesta of visual treat. While nothing more to do with background score or editing.
If you are planning to get relinquished of watching an exceptional film and if you are ardent fan of Shakespeare and Fedrico Fellini's style of films, The Last Lear would be best one. While for others, it's about dashing their hopes.
Verdict : Fiesta for miniscule audiences
Rating : **1/2
The autistic hero of this unusual mainstream film has a brain of a seven-year-old. But, by god, Hindi cinema sure has come of age! 
To imagine a superhero like Ajay Devgan who has played the most valorous heroes, including Bhagat Singh, to be transformed to a wimpy, whining flustered and childlike man fighting a messy custody case for his precious daughter is a sure sign of Hindi cinema's maturity. 
Writer Bhavani Iyer who earlier this year scripted the historical Black borrows several elements from Bhansali's classic. These are welded into Jessie Nelson's I Am Sam where Sean Penn played the same role. 
The result is often gratifying, heart-warming and positively rewarding, if only director Harry Baweja hadn't exposed his mainstream motivations so nakedly at critical junctures of the film.
The commercial considerations notwithstanding, Main Aisa Hi Hoon has many remarkable features. Ajay of course does the most heroic thing in his career by playing a child-man. The shuffle, giggle and joyous clap deserve applause. But it's the women who thunder sure-footedly across the deftly thought, often tediously written screenplay.
From the little girl Rucha who plays the autistic man's sensitive child pretending to be under-literate only so that her special father doesn't feel inadequate to Lilette Dubey as the father-child's landlady and guardian angel...they're all beautifully written and portrayed. 
The two female protagonists who walk into Neel's life also provide enormously interesting insights into the working methods of the contemporary Indian woman's character in Hindi films. 
Esha Deol as the fey, unstable, nomadic and maladjusted Maya is a mix of Zeenat Aman in Hare Rama Hare Krishna and Anooradha Patel in Ijaazat.
Playing this zonked-out character, Esha Deol comes into her own as an actress. Her faraway looks of pain, anger neglect and insecurity remain with you long after the film. Yup, she too has matured along with Hindi cinema. 
But it's Sushmita Sen who holds the plot's often-doddering head up high. As the single mother and lawyer always on the edge, she imparts an amazing grace to her part and to the film. The nuances she brings to her predominantly stereotypical character of a uni-focussed working woman are liable to be missed in a cursory viewing. 
This is a truly great actress at work. In a five-minute single-shot when Sushmita expresses her character's pain and loneliness to Ajay, she blows the screen apart with a majestic catharsis.
Regrettably, director Baweja ruins the brilliant sequence by compounding it with a typical pamper-the-sulking-heroine song on the guitar that belongs to the early 1970s and Yaadon Ki Baraat rather than a film about autism, single parenting and paternity rights.
The crucial custody conflict in the courtroom is reduced to a head-splitting exercise in camera conceit, with the frames moving in dizzying motions, apparently to convey the hero's mental state. 
What was cinematographer Ayananka Bose thinking while using camera work like a heaving lurching crane? And what was dialogue writer Anurag Kashyap (known for his hard-hitting diatribes) doing penning schmaltzy lines that seem to be picked up from greeting cards? 
And what were the writer and director thinking when, in a last-minute bid for a 'neat' ending, they manipulated a marriage for the mentally challenged father? Isn't this going a little too far? 
Sinc Sound, smart editing chops, an ensemble of top stars, a semblance of artistic aspirations reveling in one big wedding party doesn't necessarily make a good film. The mammoth hype (unceremoniously bordering on gorgeous arrogance) that preceded 'Salaam-e-ishq' is up against a big boulder of discontent once this three and a half hour ( suspect it was even longer than that) ends on a tortuous note. In fact, Nikhil Advani's debut 'Kal Ho Na Ho' seems like a classic in front of this never ending valentine's day opera. 
I really wonder what hit the director (or the producers to invest big bucks in such a spoiler) when he went ahead with making this film about the disparate love stories of six couples living in precarious situations and locations. It starts off with Tehzeeb Hussain (Vidya Balan), a television reporter and doting video editor hubby Ashutosh's (John Abraham) wedding anniversary. Their true love is tested when Tehzeeb meets with an untimely accident and loses her memory. Raju Taxiwala (Govinda) is over-the-hill but he is sure that a gori mem is meant for him. Enter Stephenie (Shanon Esra), a pretty blonde in search of her Indian boyfriend Rohit (Kushal Punjabi). Of course, Raju subdues his love to ensure that 'Madam' finds her 'true' love even if involves going on a Bharat Darshan. 
Haryanvi Ramdayal (Sohail Khan) is unable to control his lascivious intents. For the moment he comes in the vicinity of wife Phoolwati (Isha Koppikar) he gets too-hot-to-handle resulting in forced calamities of uncouth nature. Middle aged Vinay Malhotra (Anil Kapoor) runs an event management company in UK leading a perfect (Bored) life with wife Seema (Juhi Chawla) and two kids. He crushes into a young Indian dancer Anjali (Anjana Sukhani) on the on>on>London local train. And their crush germinates in revived ebullience and dollar smiles. It's for them that Sir Shakespeare wrote four hundred years ago'.So true a fool is love'Never mind'.Are you panting already'.Just two more to go'
Well, there's commitment-phobia-prone Shiven (Akshay Khanna) who is having a ball in a bachelor's party a few days before his marriage with sensible Gia (Ayesha Takia). He lives in a chandelier house with weird paintings on palace-like-walls. And the item girl performing on the later-Page-3 famous night happens to be super-ambitious Kamini (Priyanka Chopra) who goes 'Saiyaan Re' in an unhesitating manner. She is a superstar item number specialist but she aims to becoming a superstar tragedy queen like Meena Kumari and Madhubala. In a la Rakhi Sawant style she calls for a press conference. Out pops lover boy Rahul in whose search she is off to on>on>London. Blissfully unawares, she is joined by Raul (Salman Khan, yes he pronounces Rahul like that only'.Maybe on a famous footballer), her long lost lover (one sided) from home town Dehradun. His master plan is to create more publicity for Kamini babe in lieu of some money.
Throw in hits-n-misses soundtrack by Shankar-Ehsan-Loy and 'Salaam-e-ishq' is a tasteless bhelpuri that makes you feel like tearing off your hair (I don't have many anyways'.Just imagine my plight). Alright, lemme start with a few good points. I just mentioned the music. At least three songs are absolute gems: 'Dil Kya Kare' (deliriously sung by Adnan Sami), 'Ya Rabba' (exceptionally sung by Kailash Kher) and the remix of 'Babuji Dheere Chalna' (sensuously sung by newcomer Nihira). In fact the delectable moves of Anjana Sukhani in the Babuji number are sensational to say the least. In fact Anil Kapoor track is the best amongst all. 
First things first. Those who are saying that SPEED is a frame by frame copy of Hollywood flick CELLULAR have not seen at least one of the two films. That's because the fact remains that SPEED does find it's roots in CELLULAR but then grows further to get some more interesting twists in the tale with an additional screenplay that would surprise even those who have seen CELLULAR. 
In fact there are not just CELLULAR elements in SPEED. There is quite a lot of BAADSHAH (especially the second half) with a hint of ONE TWO KA FOUR (cop angle). Heck, even the Indian Prime Minister's first name is same here. In BAADSHAH it was Gayatri Bachchan (Rakhee Gulzar, who plays a Minister), here it is Gayatri Devi (Suhasini Mulay)! But more about that later.
SPEED gets to the point from the very first frame. A conspiracy tale travels all the way from Kuala Lumpur to London with a plan to assassinate Indian Prime Minister. Number of people find themselves party to this crime. A cool, suave, intelligent and a well read criminal with a trouble past (Aftabh Shivdasani), his vampish cat-doll (Sophie Chaudhary), an undercover agent who cooks omelets for his family while carrying an identity of a chef (Sanjay Suri), his Science teacher wife who wears a shiney brown leather jacket (Urmila Matondkar), a charming-n-childish young man (Zayed Khan) who steps into London to woo his girlfriend (Tanushree Dutta) and an 'imaandaar' London based cop with an Indian origin (Ashish Chaudhary).
With number of such characters in frame, it is a difficult task to accommodate them all with good screen presence in a 100 minutes film. But credit it to a tout screenplay and some good direction that Vikram Bhatt manages to keep most of his actors happy with well etched characters. 
This is where one can't help bring in the CELLULAR reference. While CELLULAR had it's story mainly centered on the woman who is kidnapped (in this case Urmila), the man who kidnaps her (Aftab here) and the young man (Zayed) with whom the kidnapped woman establishes contact through a phone, SPEED has the cop angle being further fleshed out.
Ashish Chaudhary makes a belated entry into the film as a cop but in the process manages to bring around some unexpected twists in the tale. Just when you believe that you have cracked it all, the story takes a turn, hence keeping the edge on for this racy thriller. Unlike most of the roles in the past (most recently DHAMAAL) where he was required to play a funny man, Ashish handles a different kind of character that he is required to play naturedly and gives an impressive performance.
The best part about SPEED is that the story keeps moving with every reel. The two 'naach-gaanas' take place at the very beginning of the film and from there on the movie gets into a thrilling mode. Urmila's kidnapping, subsequent conversations of Sanjay with Aftab and Sophie, entire part of the film where Sanjay is required to watch a CD, go to a bank, head towards the school, go back to the bank and land himself at the place of all the action is well done.
Zayed's journey on the road in his attempt to save the life of Urmila and her kidnapped son is interestingly cut out. Especially exciting are the scenes when he lands up in the school to search for Urmila's son, his desperation for a car charger and stealing of a car! It is after a long time that Zayed is tolerable and in fact quite likeable (the last film where he made an impact was VAADA) and keeps the film rolling along with him. Tanushree doesn't get much scope to perform and surprisingly doesn't get a single scene where her character could be seen smiling. Amrita Arora is hardly there.
Yeah! Years back we had censor boards so hard-and-fast on cuts for root word of 'profanity' and 'adult contents'. And now, the scenario hop-skips on different grounds where Indian audiences have to resist the shock with such bold themes hitting screens. Dil Kabaddi is off that sort where you'll have characterizations speaking about their on-bed issues so openly. It's not about theme, but the film in no way ingrains with flimsy 'n' sluggish screenplay that pushes us into pits of disappointments for complete 120mins. 
What could have been the intentions of filmmaker Anil Senior in making this film? Maybe, he should've overwhelmed with an idea of getting his name listed amongst filmmakers in era of Bollywood's changing phase. Of course, he deserves special mention but his best credits get diminished as his narration lacks finesse letting us yawn oftentimes.
Dil Kabbadiis a marital comedy and to quote Irrfan Khan "It is Kabbadi that one's heart plays". The film delves into the lives of two couples who are caught in the web of post marital boredom. How the couples deal with an irresistible temptation of lurking out of the relationship for some fun is what the film explores. All in allDil Kabaddiis a humorous take on a cosmopolitan Mumbai Jaisa Shahar where it's realms of west-toxication laying its impact on married couples. 
Samit (Irrfan Khan) and Mita (Soha Ali Khan) after couple of years of marriage, decide to split-up. Unable to withhold his sexual desires, Samit has no options other than getting into relationship with his yoga instructor Kaya (Payal Rohatgi). Well, it's his time for simmering down with his chintziest desires apart from sexual satisfactions.
On the pars, Rishi (Rahul Bose) and Simi (Konkona Sen Sharma) happen to be happily married couples. But again, its fantasies that urges them out to look for other affairs. Rishi, an instructor at film academy falls for his 21yrs Raga (Saba Azad) while Simi introduces Mita to her friend Veer (Rahul Khanna), but she gets attracted to him. 
Rest of the story is about their hearts playing Kabaddi resulting in more break-ups and patch-ups' 
Fine! As mentioned earlier, it's not a question of audiences grasping bold 'n' surprisal theme for they're ready to welcome new themes. From alpha-till-omega, its complete formula of 'nothing is impressive and everything is ridiculous' prevailing throughout the show. Each characters looking at lens and narrating their tales is something innovative, but again they're inherited from some of yesteryear's Bollywood and Hollywood flicks. 
As usual, Irrfan Khan comes up with decent performance throughout all sequences. His characterization is so funny all throughout. It's more illustrious with opening shot where he encounters rib-tickling dialogues with Soha Ali Khan about wearing black goggles at night and driving car. Again, where he calls-up Soha with Payal on his side takes us for a ride-of-laughter. Soha Ali Khan is decent on her show and her part is more on emotions eclipsing comedies. Konkona Sen is cool and performs with an ease. Anil Senior has designed her characterization so precisely where she starts comparing about her marital relationship with Rahul Bose once their friends split-up. 
Ditto to Rahul Bose as he does justice to his role emoting to certain sequences is merely ne plus ultra. Be it his encounters with Konkona on discussing intimate issues or his 21yrs student obliging for a lip lock; they're amazing. 
Don't miss the show of Rahul Khanna while he is nonplussed in the climax sequence as he meets Irrfan and Payal with Soha Ali Khan is fantastic. Sabha Azad comes up with a moderate show while Payal is unbearable. 
If witticisms carry off the show delighting audiences, the torpid aspects especially with enormous flashbacks may get them perplexed. Anil Senior should've maintained the tempo in the latter half as in initial hours.
Musical score by Sachin Gupta isn't lavish except 'Uthale Ya Phenk De' on final rolling credits. It would have been nice if there were visuals screened as it had made high waves with promos. 
Cinematography is excellent especially on vistas of 'Fourth Wall' and 'Soliloquies' rendered by characters looking at lens. 
On the whole, Dil Kabbadi as bold theme-yet-lightly delivered stops it from striking gold. Anil Senior should've have preferably worked more to give a prolific show.
Verdict: Strictly for Adults 
Rating: *1/2 
Sardarji (Rakesh Bedi) and his middle-aged-yet-in-shape wife Jassi (Kunika) indulge in over-the-hill revelry while their maid asks coy questions. Their three tenants are deaf (Tom, Dino Morea), blind (Dick, Anuj Sawhney) and dumb (Harry, Jimmy Shergil). Obviously they don't pay their rent on time. To add to it, one is subjected to gross Condom jokes which at times also involve children. Then there's a Pomphlet Machchiwali (Kim Sharma) who has hots for Tom. Her plunging neckline and bosom-adjusting-tantrums are a too-direct attempt to ensnare the front benchers ready with a squeal. 
Tom, Dick and Harry are after an inspector hunterwali (Celina Jaitley) who is out on a 'secret mission' to uncover the gang of item-girls-kidnappers-gang. The head of this gang is 'melodiously' called Soprano (Gulshan Grover) who aims to be the biggest villain in the world and worships the likes of Hitler and Mussolini. He also has Gabbar Singh, Mogambo and Shakaal for company. To them he constantly reminds that 'Soprano is not going to make the same mistakes as made by them.' Sounds weird. It is weirder when you actually suffer this two hour something movie. Adding to the woes is baddie Shakti Kapoor who while playing a 'good cop' tells his superior officer that he is going to do such a 'Sting Operation' on the gang of kidnappers that they will never do anything hanky panky with any girl thereafter. 
Himesh Reshamiya's hit music score is the only saving grace of this film other than Kim Sharma's zestful spunk. Dino Morea and Anuj Sawhney are average while Jimmy Shergil spoils his good reputation by doing a useless comedy. Rakesh Bedi as the horny sardarji has some good news as he shines in his small role. After Sai Paranjpe's Chashme Baddoor, this is his best performance. But, maybe the quality of both the movies is poles apart. Celina Jaitley looks Hot Money although she doesn't do anything notable. Gulshan Grover's Soprano is endearing and his body language elicits amusing chuckles amongst the audience, if not full-throttled-laughter. 
As for Deepak Tijori's direction, well, he seems to be going nowhere. After the debacle of C-grade flicks like Oops, Fareb and Khamosh, Tom, Dick and Harry fails to enhance his reputation as a director. In fact, he should get back to acting for at least he can exhibit something plausible and more meaningful rather than blindly hunting for success at the Box Office. 
Tom, Dick and Harry: Blindly Deaf and Dumb.
Over last few years, if one God has gained 'popularity' amongst children, it is LORD GANESHA. You have Ganesha key rings, Ganesha pencil boxes, Ganesha T-Shirts, Ganesha school bags, Ganesha posters and numerous other accessories that have made children fond of the God.
No wonder, it was not a bad idea for the makers to come up with a children's film that is based on Lord Ganesha. To make things further interesting, unlike other such films in the past like HANUMAN or KRISHNA, the title is prefixed with MY FRIEND which makes it further more identifiable for kids.
You know what you are getting into while venturing into MY FRIEND GANESHA. Expectations are mainly centered on watching a cute flick that has a child [Ehsaas] befriending Lord Ganesha in current times. A good idea, since it is the first of its kinds to be coming out of the Hindi film industry.
Ok, so one doesn't even think that there would be anything remotely comparable to the kind of effort and results that come from our Hollywood counterparts. But the least one expects though is some decent animation, consistent coming together of some light hearted scenes and some heartwarming moments due to the new age relationship shared between a child and a God.
Surprisingly this very requirement is not met as the story is utter predictable, proceedings lukewarm and acting substandard. Heck, even the animation isn't up to the mark as one continues to wait for the day when something much more up market and high standard would make it's way into children's films.
As mentioned, the plot is quite simple. A child feeling neglected by his parents finds a friend in Ganesha who miraculously enters his life and changes it forever by befriending him and walking him out of all the trouble. A plot like this is expected to pep up once the animation takes over.
It does to some extent but still doesn't make such an impact that would make you look at the proceedings in amazement. It keeps you involved, yes, but that's about it. Even then, there are some plain ordinary sequences around the family problems that go on and on without making you sympathize with the situation.
Overall once the curtains go down, you are left with an utter sense of emptiness. What was exactly the point of creation of such a half-cooked product which could have made a much better impact if more effort had gone into it's making after the noble idea of it being conceptualized? Couldn't it have been a better idea to have more funds going into MY FRIEND GANESHA that would have made it a much polished product? And last but not the least, why not some better promotion to at least create some awareness around the film?
Result is that the film hardly turns out to be the kind that would make you make beelines in front of the theaters or even anticipate it's DVD release.
Rating: *1/2
Why on earth was this film about a father-son bonding promoted as an action film? Sure, Blackmail has got its share of action. But above the elaborately staged stunts by Allan Amin, this is a film about an anti-social who discovers the paternal side to his personality when thrown into close contact with a precocious kid.
Not the least undesirable. The last really creditable father-son film was Shekhar Kapoor's Masoom where Naseeruddin Shah and Jugal Hansraj played an estranged father and son discovering each.
But Ajay Devgan and little Parth Dave aren't in the same league. There does seem to be a certain comfort level between the man and the child. They're more watchable together than Anil Kapoor and his juvenile co-star in Indra Kumar's Rishta. But Parth goofs up by being more filmy than natural. Ajay as a man fighting destiny's cruel blows comes up with a better performance than expected in a film of this nature.
Blackmail has some virtues that take it beyond the vices that vitiate the formula film. Despite some obnoxious dance and song breaks, it moves at a brisk pace, breathing fire and ice in scenes tautly written by Robin Batt and Javed Siddiqui.
The irony of a criminal inadvertently kidnapping his own son from a cop (Suniel Shetty) is well tapped, though the script's full potential stops short of being realised.
But the scenes between the father and his son are well executed. One sequence in the forest where Ajay (with that look of anxiety and pain in his eyes) tries to buy some more time with his newly discovered son is surprisingly sensitive in its filial suggestions. 
The plot's build-up, with Suniel trying hard to fit into Nick Nolte's mould of the wronged establishment-man in Martin Scorcese's Cape Fear, is however ineffectual.
Blackmail makes the same mistake as earlier films spotlighting the antagonist. It glamorises the sociopath to the point of glorifying him. Unlike other films about the stalker like Yash Chopra's Darr, Blackmail swings the pendulum completely away from the hero to the anti-hero. 
Ajay is effective. In comparison Suniel is pretty much left to his own devices, much like Sunny Deol in Darr vis-'-vis the antagonist Shah Rukh Khan.
Priyanka Chopra simply hovers around Suniel trying to look like a concerned wife and mother...a losing battle. Her seduction song (borrowed from the evergreen Bahon mein chale aao in the 1970s' film Anamika) is like a coffee break in the middle of a cricket match. 
The other lady in this drama about boys' bonding is Diya Mirza. She makes effective use of her cramped space in the few scenes that she has. 
The film has very few peripheral characters. That could have been a blessing if the film had walked the straight and narrow path of the thriller from start to finish. Unfortunately, it tries to please too many people at the same time. 
The technical polish and Ajay's restrained performance salvage the film's imminent journey into disaster, though not enough to make this a film worth your while.
One point needs to be made strongly. The kidnapper anti-hero is a supremely sympathetic character. He's turned into a celebration of the Stockholm Syndrome. Is it right to glorify child kidnapping at a time when so many real-life incidents of abductions have hit the headlines?
There are films where ghosts scare people with ugly faces, scary mannerisms and eerie surroundings. There are films where ghosts scare people with sheer dialogue delivery that continues to haunt you way after the film's screening is over. And then there are films like DARLING where ghosts stay on to be 'perfectly normal' with standard dialogue delivery, normal facial expressions that never once go over the top and no 'sudden-behind-the-curtains-experience'! Actually so 'normal' does an entire situation seems that as an audience you tend to laugh at the situation (and at the protagonist) rather than being scared at all.
Picture this. A pair of investigating cops (enacted delightfully by Upendra Limaye and his scarier-than-a-ghost junior with a screen name Malti) ask Fardeen some not-so-comfortable questions about his missing secretary [Esha Deol]. As he tries to save his skin by coming up with a nervous bundle of lies, Esha's ghost mocks him at every answer of his and threatens to spill the beans if he says a word more.
Or the scene where Fardeen is making love to his wife [Isha Kopikar, controlled and natural] and the ghost mocks him for the sweet nothings that the couple once shared. Or those terrific interactions in a coffee joint, psychiatrist's visit to Fardeen's home or the emotional outburst after Esha's father pays a visit to Fardeen.
In each of the scenes, the entertainment comes from the film's USP which is Esha interacting with Fardeen even as he tries to answer a volley of questions around him. Kya karen, kya naa karen is what goes in Fardeen's mind which leads to laughter in Bollywood's first ever comedy film with a horror undercurrent to it. In DARNA ZAROORI HAI, Ram Gopal Varma had promised that 'you would giggle with laughter'. Well, it may not have turned out to be true in his episodic horror series but with DARLING he achieves that.
There are more than just a couple of scenes where you may not really jump off your chair but at least experience a small jolt. But a microsecond later, you get into a nervous giggle followed by full throated laughter as the entire auditorium joins the fun at the expense of the poor protagonist who is alarmed, scared, tense, horrified, perplexed, annoyed and finally simply irritated (in that order).
To the film's credit, it maintains a constant graph throughout it's two hour narrative. A couple of sequences are long drawn but they are with a purpose. The first one when Fardeen Khan decides to bury dead Esha's body is a lengthy scene but serves it's purpose as it captures the multiple emotions in the protagonist's mind. Jump cuts are used effectively to project the change in thoughts as he tries to find a solution.
But maximum fun is reserved for the last 7-8 minutes of the film. You rightly feel that the scene is going on and on and Ram Gopal Varma has trapped himself into creating an emotional melodrama where Isha is dying, Fardeen is helpless and Esha is still longing for that true love from Fardeen. Tears flow and you start wondering if this was a 'soap opera' kinda culmination you were looking for in a movie which was so tout till a few minutes back.
One starts wondering why is Fardeen professing his love for Esha and she is willing to forgive him for his wrong-doings. And this is when RGV comes up with a masterstroke and takes the story to a completely unexpected and justified end. Last 30 seconds of the film not just change the graph of the scene but also the characters' lives (literally) from thereon and completely justify the reason behind a lengthy scene.
A thought so simple it sweeps you into a sublime world, images so deft, dark and bewitching they transport you into a world of yearnings, and performances so skilful they make you wonder why our stars don't jump the fence dividing mainstream and 'other' cinema more often...
Paheli leaves you with all these thoughts. Plus a smile. 
Welcome to the world of Amol Palekar's slight and tender triangle about a man, his neglected wife and a thoughtful ghost.
The flick's frisky and risky folk-flips are so endearingly na've it could have fallen into a hilarious heap on the floor. To the director's credit, the sharp contours of the folk tale and the wispy and profound inner world of people who live lives of pain come across in wave after wave of charming montages that sweep you along a windswept landscape.
Paheli is luscious and lyrical. Its pronounced use of light, colour and sound lend an exquisite texture of ripened tenderness to the goings-on.
The simple tale is told with a long-forgotten flourish of folksy frothiness. Muneesh Sappal's supple artwork and specially Ravi Chandran's camerawork furnish the film's framework with a unique blend of nostalgia and modernity.
Here's the story of a lonely and neglected wife in an avaricious business family that is located in a time long gone-by. She could be Meena Kumari in Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam or she could be Shabana Azmi in Deepa Mehta's Fire.
Rani Mukherjee's Lachchi is timeless in her desolate resonance. Wisely, Sandhya Gokhale's screenplay is constructed through Lachchi's perspective. When the ghost gently confesses to Lachchi that she can choose between asking him to stay or leave, Lachchi breaks down.
No one has ever asked me what I want. It's a heart-stopping moment, embracing the tormented neglect and solitude of women-folk in patriarchal set-ups.
Seen in that light Paheli is a story of feminine solitude and redemption told with that twinkle-eyed quirkiness which comes naturally to a filmmaker from the other side of the filmmaking fence. 
Palekar isn't fearful of falling. In doing the folk tale with a compendium of songs and dances, he doesn't resort to the 'formula' film. He goes beyond and deeper into our folk traditions. 
When the characters break into those beautifully tuned and choreographed songs, time doesn't stop still. It moves forward in a glow of fluent flow, denoting the primeval passions and emotions of mankind in colours that are subtle and sensuous.
There are arresting moments of lucid drama, such as the early sequence where the travelling bride gorges blissfully on ber, only to have her dull, workaholic husband remind her of decorum.
As the dull husband and the playful passionate ghost, Shah Rukh Khan is a revelation. Though at times 'Shah Rukh Khan' peeps out tantalisingly, he remains steadfastly in character, playing the two roles of flesh and spirit with an irony that scoffs at convention. 
The archetypal Rahul that Shah Rukh played all along has been relocated. The spirit is willing and the flesh is definitely able.
Rani's Lachchi is matched by Juhi Chawla as her sister-in-law who brings out the abandoned wife's tragic dignity so well that you wonder why we don't get to see more of her in the film.
But the absolute scene-stealer is Amitabh Bachchan who as the eccentric shepherd who solves the riddle of the double husband comes on screen in the last reel, bringing with his persona the velocity and humour of an actor who has seen it all, and can yet surprise you.
An audacious auteur indeed! Director Vikram Bhatt who won rave reviews across the far-flung corners of globe for his debut directorial Raaz, is back again with a scintillating spine-chilling horror flick. Perhaps, looks like Vikram Bhatt is vividly influenced by the World's ever best flicks The Exorcist and The Others. Precisely, 1920 doesn't carry anything unique in terms of its storyline, but the exotic attributes of Horror-genre are top-notched' 
1920 has spooky atmosphere, a wicked twist and turns and an ice-cold grabber of a performance by Adah Sharma. 
Set at the backdrops of 1920, a young couple recently entered into nuptials despites life-threatening opposition from the boy's father. Arjun Singh Rathod (Rajneesh Duggal), a religious entity turns into an atheist when his family is urged to kill his wife Lisa (Adah Sharma). Arjun, an architect wizard and Lisa have to now move to exotic location of Palanpur where he is assigned to shatter down an old palace for constructing a new hotel. An excellent picturesque of new place that makes the couple feel like paradise, but there is something abnormal sensed by Lisa in this Old Haveli. These mysterious signs start haunting Lisa and much before Arjun could believe her, Lisa is already obsessed by a spirit. Here starts, the rolling waves of horrific scenario where Arjun starts assaying of settling-scores with evil spirit that his wife possesses. Indeed, Arjun has to bear the jeopardizing stunts of his possessed wife performing gymnastics. Remember, it's not just about casting away an evil spell, but there is whole lot of mysteries to be unraveled between past life of Lisa and her colligation with Old Haveli. 
Don't miss out the horrific thrills; you are sure to frozen with bewitching elements that is sure to get your spines frozen. Peculiarly, the first of transfiguration of Lisa not just takes Arjun into topsy-turvy, but scares us a lot. Merely, the best part is where Lisa is pulled into a Dark black hole of a room just before interval. But makes the film so clich'd, is the bright white-bluish eyes of ghost-haunted entity. These aspects crawls down pace of screenplay and indeed getting us loose our interest. On the pars, 1920 holds several clich'd aspects of horror flicks. It's always a woman who is possessed and of course, the ghost too is a female. Thanks to Vikram Bhatt, he has a male spirit haunting the missy and perhaps, it doesn't show any mercy to the victim as in other flicks (Bhooth). Again, Arjun spots himself under the category of husbands who devotedly work on rescuing their wives. Finally, the big conversation that goes on between a religious person and a Doctor on Science Vs Supernatural issues. But, these features are locked up within short time and you have something more to watch. 
Dialogues are so penchant: be it Arjun's rigid conversation with his father in the opening sequence or the conversation held between priests, but again, it would be great if the term 'Multiple Personality Disorder' is fended off. 
On the technical traits, Cinematography and background score are merely enthralling. Cinematographer Pravin Bhatt spells his enchanting piece of work right throughout the film. The painted backdrops of beautiful locations of Allerton Castle in London are chilling for eyes while on the other end; he brings you the horrifying feel with unique lighting and camera angles. Adnan Sami isn't so impressive with the songs, but his background score enhances the visual quality' 
Getting on with performance, Adah Sharma playing the victimized role steals the show with her over-the-top performance. If one does get resisted with the horrific thrills, obviously it's Adah Sharma who maintains the racy tempo all throughout the film. Anjori Alagh on her role of holding the mysterious secret exceeds our expectations. Rajneesh Duggal performs his best in the first half, but his characterization goes diminished in the latter part with Adhah Sharma and Anjori Alagh who overshadowing him. 
Well, if you are on the urge of deciding the best between this film and Ram Gopal Varma's Phoonk, we are sure 1920 is over-the-top. Hats off to Vikram Bhatt, for he hasn't just penned a horror story, but has delivered the smartest work on designing powerful characterizations and best technical quality. 
Verdict: Gets your adrenaline shot 
Rating : ***
'My Wife's Murder' could have well been titled 'Ek Hi Bhool'. Because this is what the lead protagonist Ravi Patwardhan now would be regretting for his entire lifetime after 'accidentally' murdering his wife. The way you start feeling for the character long after the movie's show is over confirms the stranglehold the writer and the director have over the movie. That's because you don't remember names like Ram Gopal Verma and Anil Kapoor after the movie is through. You remember just one name - Ravi Patwardhan.
Welcome Jijy Philip [director] and Atul Sabharwal [writer] to the BIG world of Bollywood. These whiz kids prove that a song less drama'cum'thriller can be told quite effectively even in less than 100 minutes duration. Though towards the end, viewer feels that there could have been more of chills and thrills, what needs to be remembered is that MWM is more of a dramatic portrayal of the mind of a man who has lost his wife in a freak incident and is now on a run, rather than a 'whodunit'!!
Ravi Patwardhan [Anil Kapoor] is a sad man. His life revolves around his recording studio, partly due to his being a work alcoholic and partly due to his reluctance to be at home with his wife. Reason? His wife Sheila [Suchitra Krishnamurthy] always a ready excuse for a fight with anyone and everyone. If one thought that it's only to do with her husband whom she suspects of going around with his pretty London returned assistant Reena [Nandana Sen], then that's not so. Because she nags her children [for reading comic books over school books] and maid [for coming late for work] as much as Ravi [for leaving his soap in the bucket after bath]!
This is the reason why Ravi chooses to ignore and carries on with life until things turn really ugly one day. They exchange slaps with each other [obviously after Sheila's provocation], only to end with Ravi returning a heavy blow that results in Sheila hitting the ground and dying instantaneously due to head injuries. 
Ravi is shocked and as an average middle class man on the street thinks of calling the police. But due to the fear of police not believing his version of the accident and accusing him as the murderer instead, he plans to break a law! He chooses to dispose of the body and from here on starts his tryst with the law on the wrong side.
He manages to get rid of the body but soon the needle of suspicion is firmly on his direction with the entry of inspector Tejpal Randhawa [Boman Irani]. Time and again, Ravi is on the verge of breaking down and telling the cops the truth. But his pillar of support is Reena who conitues to support him, much to the displeasure of her live-in partner Raj [Rajesh Tandon].
Not a history-sheeter to begin with, Ravi is clueless about what to do next. To add to that, he has nightmares and gets shocked by any slight noise. In the meanwhile he also has to take care of his kids while trying his best to cope up with his high pressure job. A man caught truly in an immense psychological trauma, he goes through the worst days of his life....!
In terms of the basic storyline, MWM doesn't go the typical way with the man feeling guilty about his act and getting nostalgic for his wife. Instead it delves into the tensions that he goes through for the sheer reason that it was a mere accident rather than a murder! While the first half is breezy due to drama unfolding at a rapid pace, what with the characters being set in first 10 minutes, murder committed in the 15th minute and cops suspecting him in 40 minutes time. But in second half, the focus moves towards Ravi and Reena trying to cover up the crime by eliminating proofs and telling lies. While these sequences too keep you glued to the screen, one wishes if the narration could have been a little more exciting.
Is VICTORIA NO. 203 a comedy? Or is it a thriller? Or is it a 'masala' entertainer which tries to club in all genres and present a dish for anyone and everyone?
The answer to these questions is in negative as the dish that is finally served on the table doesn't quite make you go and congratulate the chef, in this case being director Ananth Mahadevan. At maximum, one ends up finishing the meal which doesn't have the kind of flavor which would make it you recommend it to others.
The film's basic premise is promising since at the very beginning the cards are laid wide open on the table. 20 minutes into the film and you know who are the bad boys [Jaaved Jaffri, Kamal Sadanah] and the bad girls [Tora, Preeti Jhangiani]. Each of them want their share of 100 crore worth diamonds that travel all the way from an exhibition to a Victoria. 
After a Mission Impossible inspired theft sequence that does bring the film to a high, one would have expected to momentum to carry on but there are dramatic ups and downs in the plot which makes VICTORIA NO. 203 a bumpy ride. 
While the introduction of Raja [Anupam Kher] and Rana [Om Puri] are done decently [a true homage to the cinema of 70s when the two crooks are trying to make their way out of a jail a la THE GREAT ESCAPE], one is shocked to see the way Sonia Vinod Mehra is introduced to celluloid. Agreed that the situation in the film requires her to in distress but something better could have been thought of. Jimmy Sheirgill makes a belated entry and though his character sounds interesting to begin with, the twist in his track doesn't quite shock.
What is absolutely shocking though is the flip-flop that happens in the film's production values from the very beginning till the end. At places, you feel like you are watching a polished product while at others the sets are tacky with heavy compromises being quite visible. That's surprising though because each of the films directed by Ananth Mahadevan in the past [DIL VIL PYAAR VYAAR, DIL MAANGE MORE, AKSAR] had something in common - they looked rich, boasted of good locations and were visually glossy. 
But in case of VICTORIA NO. 203, the director seems to have been handicapped with the budget handed over to him. Otherwise how else could one explain Sonia's backyard which clearly looks like a studio set, the dream sequence which is so on-your-face sponsored by a popular cloth company and the film's climax which goes on and on and on in a small set erected for a South Indian film?
The film is salvaged only at a few instances and these are the ones where Anupam Kher and Om Puri try to rise over the script and mouth some funny dialogues in their own characteristic manner. Still, they don't quite comes across as a duo which could be hailed for it's camaraderie which would be remembered for years to come.
The film's narrative doesn't have any ups and downs as it remains pretty much stagnant on the lower side throughout. There is an occasional chuckle or two here and there but that too is pretty much diluted by an attempted love track between Jimmy and Sonia which doesn't work at all. Songs in the film are a further put-off as none of them are placed well at all and just come out of nowhere. Another one of those surprises since it comes in a film directed by Ananth Mahadevan who has a very good track record when it comes to music placement in each of his three aforementioned films.
When Dhokha followed Awarapan which followed Woh Lamhe' that came after Holiday, we knew that it was high and more time that Vishesh Films and the three Bhatts changed their formula. But they do not seem to have learnt their lessons at all!
Time was when their films were either straight thrillers or made some subtle point (Murder, Zeher, Kalyug, Gangster and even flops like Paap). But somewhere that too got subverted. There is a message in Showbiz, but it is overdone and so the effect is underdone!
Time was when they gave breaks or breakthroughs to music makers, directors, stars and character artistes with good scripts that made for anything from average runners to 50-weekers, with a stray flop in between. Today they have had five flops in a row.
Let us not forget that the Bhatts were mentors and their films launching- (or even re-launching-) pads for names like Anu Malik, Nadeem-Shravan, M.M.Kreem, Kumar Sanu, KK, Shreya Ghoshal, lyricists Sayeed Quadri and Neelesh Mishra, Vikram Bhatt, Anurag Basu, Mohit Suri, Emraan Hashmi, Mallika Sherawat, Shamita Shetty, Amrita Singh, Dino Morea, Shiney Ahuja and Bipasha Basu. 
Sadly, in their over-confidence as mentors they began thinking that a Vishesh prot'g' had to become big, and thus they started endorsing mediocre talents, now too numerous to mention, in every field including off-key music makers from across the border, charisma- and talent-less new heroes and heroines, and filmmakers who were not up to the mark!
Showbiz is the latest and hopefully last of such films. Not that it is as abysmal as some of the other recent blunders. To straightaway move to its assets, Lalit Pandit's score yields two good numbers, 'Kaash ek din' and 'Duniya ne dil toda', Tushar Jalota is a decent performer who needs better scripts, Mrinalini isn't as bad as she was in Awarapan and we have seasoned performers competently enacting the kind of roles they have long mastered, like Gulshan Grover as the sleazy media-baron, Sushant Singh as the grassroots goonda, Ehsaan Khan as the ruthless cop, apart from some good dialogues at long intervals (Mahesh Bhatt). 
The trouble is that the fairly promising first half crashes with a car-crash sequence, and the script never recovers either calibre or freshness.
But let's go in order. Showbiz is about rising pop icon Rohan (Tushar Jalota) who is supposed to be such a TRP-driver (that's like believing that top singers can zoom TRPs sky-high, and we thought that only Salman Khan's presence causes music reality shows to break TRP records!) that some media-persons decide to target him.
Rohan loves his agent (Mrinalini) who gladly loses her virginity to him. But woe befalls her when thanks to the machinations of the sleaze-ball channel-wallahs, he is spotlighted in the media almost dead, but with a prostitute he is looking for, in a car crash unwittingly caused by the same people! The connection between Rohan and the prostitute of course remains a mystery.
The machinations of the media are based a lot on reality but presented in a grossly exaggerated way. The second half wherein Rohan decides to settle scores personally even if it means driving a persistent cop up the wall is completely illogical and senseless. In the end, we have the same old law-in-my-own-hands drama, where we have a strong feeling that the wrong kind of pressures were exerted on an (unimaginative) writer-director team to fabricate a climax that is the weakest part of a poorly-cooked recipe!
If being a law enforcer in the land of gun-toting mafiosos and other powerful sharks of the concrete jungle is a thankless job, then making another cop film in the 'Land of the Bland' (read Bollywood) is even more thankless.
That a debutant director chooses to go into this weatherworn territory without the fear of audiences simply yawning into the face of his sanguinary tale is indeed a matter of great pride for Sanjay Upadhyay.
He has chosen a subject - lone cop fights the mysterious and murky 'system' - that has been done to bludgeoning death by filmmakers as disparate in time and space as Prakash Mehra in Zanjeer and E. Niwas in Shool. Still Upadhyay has put together a narrative so rigorously researched and so feelingly fictionalised that it manages to remain a step ahead of the audience.
The chaotic cornucopia of cops films follow a uniform code in more ways than one. From Kagaar and Khakee to Dev and Ab Tak Chappan... all the films about tough guys in khaki which have emerged from Bollywood in the last year have followed a similar bloodied and bristling path.
But television director Sanjay Upadhyay's first feature film still has the power to take you by surprise. Though it comes in the wake up of innumerable other wak1e-up calls on the law and order situation, it is nonetheless gritty and gripping enough to shock you with its heady mix of polemics and street-wise encounters. The cops pant after sleazy criminals while bystanders just stop and stare in stunned surprise.
By shooting on locations and taking the drama out of stuffy studios, Upadhyay wins half the battle. The other half is won by a directorial conviction that is determined to avoid the pitfalls and clich's inherent in the cops genre.
This inside-story of Maharashtra's law enforcement agencies working against all odds to eliminate the underworld's domination, is a first-rate thriller as well as a disturbing human story about how a callow new recruit to the police force Jayant Barve (debutant Manish Singh) gets swallowed up by the morass of corruption all around him.
Upadhyay has the courage to slacken his breakneck narrative for longish debates on the politics of corruption in our society. 
The dialogues, written by the director, make their hard-hitting point without getting fashionably abusive. In fact the overall avoidance of overt crudity even while portraying the crudest creases in the collage of social corruption takes you by surprise. Just as the film's polished look and mood -- unabashedly inspired by the Ram Gopal Varma school of expression -- but still distinctive and effective in its own right.
Dhananjay Kulkarni's photography is gritty and nourishing. And the editing (Omkar Bhakri) eaves no elbow space for humbug, except the songs which come on at strategic intervals. Surprisingly Aadesh Shrivastava's tunes don't really annoy us as much they should have. Shrivastava's background score is stunning, though a wee overstressed at times. 
At the end of the day, it's the way that Upadhyay throws forward ideas on corruption in a compromised bureaucracy that keeps us riveted. Especially remarkable is the rooftop dialogue between Jayant and his trade-unionist friend Alex (who's eventually killed). 
Here, as well as in other passionately worded pockets of discourse (If you're running away from corruption then you can't because it's a way of life, his senior warns the protagonist), the narrative throws thought-provoking ideas on the quality of life that we accept as 'normal', without turning sermonistic or - God forbid! - hysterical.
When was the last time you saw a really good sweet 'n' syrupy romance? This year, the love stories have been notably dead meat material. Kaun Hai Jo Sapnon Mein Aaya is no different.
At least Uuf Kya Jadoo Mohabbat Hai was rescued from drudgery by debutant Sammir Dattani and some soul stirring music.
But don't look for silver linings in Kaun Hai... It makes you pine for a reprieve from the alpine amour that's become boringly characteristic of all silk-and-honey romantic potions that Bollywood doles out for those unidentifiable lovesick generations not yet cynical about love at first sight and all that jazz.
Apparently such people still exist in some remote corners of the globe. Rakesh Bapat and Richa Pallod convey the externalities of the lovelorn generation without internalizing any of the emotions. Their performances are as shallow as the rest of this NRI-oriented romance where words like 'sabhyata' and 'parampara' are used as spiritual aphrodisiacs.
But the frigid direction and turgid characters trying hard to look camera-oblivious negate all efforts to give the presentation a spick and span look. The romance looks sanitized to the point of seeming senseless.
Pallod is the lime-fresh all-purpose wannabe bahu from India who gatecrashes with her joie de vivre in the stoic Indian family in London, like Rameshwari and Rekha did in Dulhan Wohi Jo Piya Man Bhaye and Khubsoorat.
Director Rajesh Bhatt's NRI residence teems with stereotypes. The shloka-reciting grandma (Vineeta Malik) who complains about pizza for dinner. It's not pit-za it's peeza, hero Sunny (Bapat) corrects her.
Actually grandma got it right. Her recipe has worked in Hindi cinema for too long to be tampered with. This film doesn't rock the boat. In fact it doesn't rock, period.
The affable patriarch played so enjoyably by Madan Puri and Ashok Kumar in the two aforementioned films is reinvented as a sham ayurvedic doctor in London played by Kader Khan.
He'd have been funny, if only he had better lines and co-stars. The rest of Mr. Khan's household comprises starched and shell-shocked faces that look like they've watched Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge any number of times to evaluate how Hindustanis in London behave.
Since the film is shot in London, the narrative takes the wide-eyed Mehak (Pallod) sightseeing. We tag along. It isn't only London Bridge that's falling. The plot, skimpy and slight from the start, crumbles irretrievably with every passing reel.
To the director's credit, he never indulges in vulgarity of any sort, unless we look at the trio of comedians played by TV-star Sooraj Thapar, Sheila Sharma and Rana Jung Bahadur who are brought in periodically to lighten the load -- what load? Don't ask!
From the start, this film is so flimsy it redefines the law of gravity. What never goes up cannot come down. But Kaun Hai... manages that impossible feat. It starts at the lowest octave and discovers new notes at the bottom of the storytelling scale to simulate a sickeningly sweet soprano of romance.
The 'twist' in the second-half emerges after Kader Khan's sullen household has had its fill of Mehak's homilies and parathas. Apparently, that pain she felt in the heart wasn't just love for the frustrated playwright Sunny but a far more immediate and urgent disorder requiring immediate medical attention.
Conscience is a precious commodity, especially in today's day and age when human aspirations have smothered finer values and reduced morality to a mockery. Debutant director Bappaditya Roy's morality tale is an arresting ensemble piece. 
Set in an unscrupulous and amoral business tycoon's living room, it aims for the onion effect. As layer after layer of guilt is peeled off we come face to face with the mirror image of a society that respects only money and success.
Adapting the stagy, dark and forbidding mood of Govind Nihalani's Party and Roman Polanski's Death and The Maiden, Roy gets considerable help from his ultra-competent cast in creating an ambience of retrospective stock-taking, as police inspector Vivek (Mammooty) cross-examines one member of the tycoon's family after another regarding the suicide of a hapless girl in a tenement.
Capitalist arrogance meets bourgeois angst in this little film about big complexes, all strung together in sequences that don't always cohere smoothly. The jerky, jolting quality of the narrative gives the plot a quality of unpredictable investigation so that we aren't just watching a family's life come apart at the seams. We are also looking at a well-crafted tale of crime and retribution.
There's a bit of Kafka and a bit of Govind Nihalani in Roy's simmering yet calm vision. To his credit, he doesn't let the anger of indignation overpower the narration. Controlled and calm, the film moves forward with minimum fuss, as character after character is devastated in the course of one night's soul-searching.
The flashbacks about the dead girl's past cut into the placid drawing room setting like welters of lightning on a cloud-laden night. By the end of it all, we are compelled to look inwards for answers on the social inequalities that have plagued our system of governance for years.
Not that Sau Jhooth Ek Sach really aims or succeeds in being anything more than an interesting exploration of a guilty, festering value system. The editing is intermittently choppy and the dialogues tend to get shrill in their self-righteousness.
But there are interesting performances, particularly by Neha Dhupia as the body-phobic daughter of the business family who finds her bearings before the night is through. Joy Sengupta, always a joy to behold (remember him as Jaya Bachchan's son in Govind Nihalani's 'Hazaar Chaurasi Ki Maa'?), epitomises the theme of guilt and redemption more aptly than any other member of the cast.
Vikram Gokhale looks fine as the arrogant tycoon. But his performance loses its edge the minute he opens his mouth to let loose a volley of vernacular English dialogues. 
Mammootty's comeback is disappointingly low-key. As the plot's conscience-keeper, he seems to be standing above the troubled subject looking into a crisis that's not really his.
Roy says introspection is a theme close to his heart. 
I am consumed by the theme of introspection. 'Sau Jhooth Ek Sach' is inspired by a 1946 play 'An Inspector Calls' by Jimmy Presley, set during the great depression. I've contemporised the theme, brought in episodes from recent headlines concerning the rich and the famous, including Rahul Nanda's hit-and-run case involving a BMW. The film is getting a Mumbai-only release this Friday. It opens elsewhere Sep 23.
I'm happy with what I've to say in 'Sau Jhooth...' Matters of the conscience fascinate and trouble me. I firmly believe, the harder you try to run away from your conscience the more it will chase you. 
A rainy night. One room setting. A husband-wife couple. Arrival of a stranger. And the drama begins.
No doubt that the basic pretext of the movie 'Siskiyaan' is same as recently 'Dansh' [both were in turn inspired by 'Death and The Maiden], but it is Ashwini Chudhary's direction that still manages to make for a gripping 100 minutes. Yes, the subject is of a kind that may appear too grim for many to digest [especially the family audiences], but those who watch the movie would be thoroughly engaged for most part of the movie.
Not many movies in the past have been shot on a single set. Last memorable film on these lines was Ram Gopal Verma's 'Kaun' that again revolved around three characters [Urmila Matondkar, Manoj Bajpai, Sushant Singh]. On these grounds, 'Siskiyaan' is a brave attempt by producer Guddu Dhanoa who has directed safe action movies in the past like Elaan, Ziddi, Salakhen, Bichoo, Jaal amongst others.
Movie begins on an interesting note with a haunting track 'Kya Hua' [Bhupinder Singh] accompanying the camera that follows the central character of the movie Ayesha Sheikh [Neha Dhupia] everywhere in her outhouse on a dark rainy night. Viewer is hooked to the proceedings on the very onset with news channels declaring her husband Javed [Sachin Khedekar], a newspaper editor, as the Chairman of a committee set to investigate Gujrat riots. Her angst at this news followed by her mysterious conduct throughout build on a good base before Javed arrives back home after being dropped by a stranger Dr. Vishwas [Sonu Sood]. 
Doctor soon returns back to handover some Government papers that Javed had accidentally forgotten in his car. While Ayesha stays in her room, both men relax in the living room over an extended round of drinks. Soon Ayesha suspects of something and after keeping a close watch on the Doctor from a distance realizes that he is the same person who raped her repeatedly over 3 days in a camp when she was hurt by the mob when riots broke down an year back.
She attacks the Doctor, ties him down, tortures him and demands a confession. Javed is not in agreement with these due to one basic fact - admittedly Ayesha's eyes were bandaged when she was raped so she obviously hadn't seen her tormentor. All this while even the doctor tries to prove his innocence and denies the accusation out rightly. But Ayesha is quite sure about him being the culprit due to his oft-repeated phrases, his laughs and above all his body odour that she hadn't been able to forget for all these months.
The torture continues. On the tip of the gun, Ayesha wants to have an honest [and not a forced] confession to be recorded on a video camera while Javed continues to wonder whom to believe. The confession comes but is it the real confession? Or is it a confessing from someone who wants to save his life? Is Ayesha's judgment going to cost a man his life? And how about Javed, a man responsible for heading a committee that is out to provide justice to thousands of riot victims? Will he first be able to get his wife some justice at least?
A subject like Siskiyaan is undoubtedly an extremely difficult subject to be executed. One minor hiccup and there is every chance of a viewer loosing an interest in the movie. Also a movie revolving around three characters in single night requires a lot of detailing around minor aspects. To top it all, a sensitive issue like rape needs to be handled with utmost care without turning it into mockery or a subject for titillation. With respect to all this, director Ashwini Chaudhary [who had earlier come up with a sensitive 'Dhoop'] deserves full credit. 
There's been a lot of hype surrounding 'Zindaggi Rocks'. Sushmita Sen has been shouting loudly in the bizarre media circus as to how great a movie it is and that everyone should be watching it. Sorry to say babe, although you're rocking but the film is no Big Picture. Watching this film is a weird experience as it oscillates between tacky production values and Genuine Emotional Appeal. You cry at a few gulp-in-the-throat moments while you also laugh at the stretching-of-cinematic-liberties at several junctures. Tanuja Chandra's 'Zinadggi Rocks' turns out to be a half baked effort that could have been better cinema. 
Lemme start with a few squealing-bloopers that should have been avoided. Dr Suraj Rihan (Shiney Ahuja) is an able doctor working in a 'five star hospital'. Now, the best of hospitals in India don't look so chic. It looks more like a hotel than a hospital. To add to it, the sugar coated nurses are keen on matchmaking for the lonesome Doc rather than tending their patients. They finally succeed when Rock Star Kria (Sushmita Sen) gets a bruise stitched by Dr Rihan. And even though the good looking Doc tries to shove away the love, he falls for the winsome charm of the pretty singer.
Wounds heal. It's a date. And what a date! Kria comes along with her loud-mouthed-burp-hungry Maus (Maushmi Chatterjee), manager-friend Joy (Kim Sharma), secretary-friend Sam (Ravi Gosain) and son Dhruv (Julian Burkhardt). An open mouthed Dr Rihan is told that Dhruv is an adopted son but the bigger surprise comes along when Kria's mother turns out to be Maushmi Chatterjee's double who speaks English with a Bengali accent (Not deliberately and you just can't help at this naivet'Why ask her to speak the language if she can't work on it?). So, half an hour in the film and you are treated to four songs already. Twist in the tail'Doc is married'He can't love for his wife has been in coma for five years. Good natured Mum-in-law urges the duty-bound son-in-law ji to go-groovy-again. Cho Chweet!
Another song, some lovey-dovey-making'.And then, another twist in the tale. Dhruv has a hole heart in his heart. He is critical and the only way he can be saved is through a heart transplant. So, Doc Rihan packs the mother-son duo on a Franfinn flight to Delhi to get some tests done. This was the height of tackiness as it was very clear that the aircraft that they were sitting in was not a plane by any imagination. Surrogate advertising is fine but you can't expect people to settle for collective-disbelief of this magnitude. The end is interesting but here once again the cinematic liberties are taken for granted. 
The love affair between Dr Rihan and Kria seems to be more of a convenient tool on Kria's part to use for safeguarding the life of her adopted son. But her bonding with Dhruv is truly special. The breakdown sequence in the hospital when Dhruv tells Kria that Dr Rihan is 'husband material' makes you cry effortlessly. 
In the acting department, well, this is by far Sushmita Sen at her best. She looks and behaves like a rock star. The intensity while performing on stage or in crooning on the microphone in the recording room is palpable. She is comfortable while lip-locking with Shiney and the warmth she has for her son is unmistakably genuine. Glamour Quotient is high, though she could have done with losing some weight.
Nine guys, three gals and a zillion punches, flying kicks and fisticuffs in night clubs and a a fight club ring rattle and beat the screenplay senseless and shove it into the background like an afterthought.
This for-guys-only action fiesta from debutante director Vikram Chopra is about four college guys Karan (Dino Morea) Vicky (Zayed Khan) Dikku (Ashish Chaudhary) and Soumil (Riteish Deshmukh) who are thick buddies, and three of them have a job on the side. When the film starts, all lose their jobs, and they meet up to mourn the loss and drink up to the future. And suddenly, Vicky comes up with a bright idea to make money why not start a fight club where you can register on fight night with the one you hate most, whom you can fight one on one with other similarly obsessed people watching? Heck, they pay around a grand to two per fight! So, people will pay us up to beat each other senseless, is what Vicky reckons, and a brief dipstick survey proves all four right! Lo and behold, Fight Club's premise is ripped off conveniently from that Brad Pitt starrer of the same name.
But there's one bad egg who comes in, dreaming of not just beating but killing his opponent Mohit (Yash Tonk in an over-acted role), the brother of a dreaded former don Anna (Sunil Shetty) who's mended his ways just so he can be a role model to deter his kid brother from taking to crime. Little does Anna know that Mohit is well and truly on his way in the company of dangerous, drug-imbibing psychopath Dinesh (Ashmit Patel) who is the younger brother of another don, Sandy (Rahul Dev), who encourages the pot-smoking Dinesh.
One fight club night in Mumbai, on a gleaming, heavy bike, a guy called Sameer (Sohail Khan) makes a filmy entry. He's here because he's mad and he wants to get even with Vicky, who used to tease him in school as Samsonite's fat suitcase just coz he was a tubby boy! Ever since I left school, I've been working out, and here I am today, to may you pay! I'm gonna beat you senseless! is his macho menacing promise to Vickey! That schoolboy aim of Sameer actually puts into perspective the importance that director Vikram Chopra gives to the fight sequences over and above everything else!
Before long, our four friends are forced to rush to Delhi where Soumil's uncle has been killed mysteriously in a land-grabbing murder that targets his club Crossroads. And they've soon coopered Sameer's help, coz the goons of Sandy and Dinesh are muscling in, and they need to tip the scales in their favor.
In the process, Vickey and Dino and Sameer find their true loves, and the three leading ladies Dia Mirza, Amrita Arora and Neha Dhupia respectively find their true meaning in the film.
While the fights are choreographed well, and have a lot of style and panache, are shot well and edited slickly, there's nothing even remotely realistic about the fights. Even at the end of a vicious fight after countless roundhouse blows have landed fully, the worst you see is a small cut and a bit of band-aid! Come on get real, even though anybody knows that the gravity-defying Matrix-like aerial launches and flying kicks are Prime Focus special effects fare!
An utterly romantic title like Rain does scant justice to a film that flickers luridly across the screen, creating images vandalised from a thousand Hollywood thrillers.
Amol Shetge had earlier directed a film called Gunah, which is what he should have called this film, too. Rain generates as many thrills as two cats making out in the back alley of a decidedly seedy locality.
If you are a fan of the film's female lewd, er, lead, then you'd expect Meghna Naidu to thrust her bosom into the camera at any given pretext. Inexcusably, director Shetge has pretensions to deeper narrative thrusts.
The sex in Rain is mostly simulated through screams and grunts, suggesting a deep though distant relation between physical handicap and psychological insurgency.
In what looks like an unpardonable travesty of Rani Mukherjee's character in Black, Naidu invites a stranger posing as a journalist into the close vicinity of her heaving bosom.
Remember that gloriously heart-stopping moment in Black when Rani pleads with her mentor for a kiss?
You can kiss all aesthetics goodbye when Himanshu Malik - as wooden as the teak interiors in Black that this film can never hope to replicate - responds to his blind screen-mate's moaning overtures with surreptitious looks at her bosom like a naughty child who's about to put his hands in the cookie jar.
Jarring background effects underline this film's terrible efforts to create sensuality and suspense. Alas, the film is as denuded of those qualities as the principal lead actors are of acting talent.
Meghna does the blind girl act with a mock-tremulousness that seems to ridicule every physically impaired soul on this earth. She also mocks our intelligence by repeatedly shunting from shallow to voluptuous. Her bosom is more expressive than any other part of her.
Himanshu can't even make that claim to frame. He stands there, more chilled than chilling, waiting for his hyper-strung co-star to make her next hysterical move.
By the time he gets hysterical in the shower with his doubly hysterical co-star, it's time to write an epitaph for all the architects of this sloping, spiralling, grotesque mimicry of Alfred Hitchcock, Brian da Palma and Ram Gopal Varma.
The two Hindi efforts Rain most closely replicates are Varma's Kaun and Yash Chopra's Ittefaq. Without the finely tuned central performances of the two earlier works, Rain has no history, mystery or chemistry.
Just one question: what's cinematographer Ishwar Bidri who shot many of J.P. Dutta's best works doing here?
Rain just makes you long for a season of drought.
Rating: *
It is a sin to expect
The voiceless screams'
A kid can't play like others. He doesn't have a leg. But that smile on the face clearly enunciates that he doesn't expect anything from life except some normalcy. Maybe a Hindi film song is his definition of normalcy. Kabir Khan's 'Kabul Express' is a film that extracts such vignettes of implausible possibilities in the war torn Afghanistan where voice-of-reason is riddled with a stream of bullets. And yes it also tell you that if you are the driver of a truck loaded with Pepsi cans (a symbol of American liberalism) then be ready for a bullet in the head. The lighthearted bantering throughout the course of the film, exceptional camerawork by Anshuman Mahaley and a tight two hour length makes this a gripping fare all the way. 
Alright Kabir Khan is a documentary filmmaker. And the narrative flows in a somewhat similar manner. But the manner in which the humour element has been incorporated in the lives of five disparate individuals Suhel Khan (John Abraham), Jai Kapoor (Arshad Warsi), Jessica Beckham (Linda Arsenio), Khyber (Hanif Hungam) and Imran Khan Afridi (Salman Shahid) makes this a fun ride for almost the entire duration of the film. The demand for Jai's cigarettes, amusing donkeys, the irrepressible liking of local Afghanis for the Bollywood stars, cricket debates and tanks being referred to as taxis makes for funny situations. And there's one man who causes most of those chuckles'Arshad Warsi'His comic timing is fabulous. And yes, he overshadows John Abraham. 
'Kabul Express' deals with a complex subject and for the uninitiated who don't follow world news that often, the story will be difficult to follow. It starts post 9/11 in November 2001, a time when the Americans had got rid of the basic fabric of Taliban in Afghanistan. Suhel, a television reporter and Jai, a cameraman from India land up in Kabul in hot pursuit of a scoop on Taliban. Instead they are captured by Imran, a Pakistani soldier who had been serving under the Taliban as a mercenary. Khyber, the Afghani guide and American photo journalist Linda complete the fugitive picture. The clash of civilization debate rages amidst guns-n-cigarettes. And then one realizes Imran is not really a bad person after all. The moment when he leaves a few hundred dollars for his daughter (she is wedded to an Afghani) without saying anything carries reams of poignance.
It's also not a film showcasing anyone's heroic skills in the traditional Bollywood sense of the word. If you ask me, then the real hero has to be cameraman Anshuman Mahaley whose camera captures the after effects of a country wrecked by a war stretching over two decades. The disheveled tanks, buildings in shambles, endless muddy roads peppered with unhospitable rocks, Buzkushi bonhomie and majestic caves, Anshuman's camera ensnares Kabir Khan's vision. In totality. The whole country seems to be the finding of an ancient excavation site. 
Banks and credit card companies may not be too happy with writer-director Siddharth Anand, Saif Ali Khan and Rani Mukherjee. Together they propagate the trend of 'buy-not-pay-later' as bad. Installments are bad, going down heavy on credit cards is bad, saving is cool, spending lavishly is not so cool!
So much is Rani Mukherjee a.k.a. Shona conscious about money in spite of being daughter of owner of 'Fourth largest Database whatever' [or is it third largest?] that she buys the cheapest possible wine and cheapest possible iPod but finds an 'asli heera' in the form of low-intellect-high-values pit worker turned country's numero uno car racer RV [Saif Ali Khan].
He is the kind who loves to spend his first ever big time earning of $ 5000 by throwing a party to 200-250 odd friends and is constantly broke. But then as all goody-goody heroes are, he loves to keep smiling....and spending. Everything for making a wonderful today.
"But the man never thinks about his future", says Shona's dad, Victor Bannerjee, who doesn't let the stereotypical dad from the era of 60s die. Probably the writer himself felt guilty of bringing on such a character on screen and this is why he gives him some flexibility by making him utter some unbelievable lines - "Go, have an affair, have a fling (sunne mein to cheap lagta hai!), and then forget all about him!"
The girl forgets her dad instead and walks down the altar, oops no, drives down the car, and marries RV on a fast track. Pronto they have two designer kids and it's time to sing along 'Ta Ra Rum Pum'. So far, so good...actually feel-good!
Interspersed amongst all this fun is some real engaging action on the fast tracks. Details about how changing a tire after a few laps is important, filling in a particular brand of lubricant is a real necessity and placement of the sponsors' hoardings at all the strategic spots where Siddharth Anand places his camera is of vital importance, are explained to the audience in some subtle and not-so-subtle manner.
No one seems to mind all this, you know, because the action is pulsating, crashes make you gasp and editing is slick. In short, the kind that would make you hold on to your popcorn for some more seconds before you can heave a sigh of relief.
Well, that's not to be the case for long as after some romance, action and comedy [yes, Jaaved Jaafri is superb here as a migrant Gujjubhai who launches Saif on the racing circuit], there is some drama and tear-drop emotion required too. RV is injured on tracks, he recuperates, tries his luck again, is constantly reminded of his crashes, looses 10 races in a row and is soon thrown out (logical, very logical) by the Team Lead Billy [Bharat Dhabolkar] who loves to be called Mr. Bhatia with respect.
RV fails to find a new team, his credit cards and loan companies take away all his assets [this is why buying things on credit is bad, you know!] and he finds himself from Manhattan to a kind of 'machchi-bazaar' found on the backyards of New York. Placed in a one room downtrodden apartment, he, his Shona and his children try everything to call it loud - Life Is Beautiful!
And guess what, in case you wouldn't have done it so far, RV is back o his winning ways. But not before he has been through some annoying neighbors, petty jobs like being a pit worker again, taking care of trolleys in super-stores, failed attempts at being a car salesman and finally being a cabbie on the road. "Wo aisa hai naa, US mein jab kisi ka sapna toot-ta hai, to woh cabbie banta hai" - as said by Gujjubhai at the very beginning of the film!
You wanna 'Partner'? Of course I wanna do that! And why not? After all the fun, masti and mazaa that David Dhawan, Govinda and Salman Khan bring on screen for those rocking 150 minutes is something that I won't trade for anything else on the screen!
Let's not even get into the debate of who is better out here? Is it Govinda who shows that some-men-never-change as he gets into an impromptu 'Sarkaile Lo Khatia' act? Or is Salman who gets topless at least 3 times in the film and even takes a dig on himself saying that 'he is always ready for such a thing'?
As a cupid, Salman's job is to get two hearts meet. But doing so for Govinda, whose heart roots for his boss Katrina, is one humongous task. Reasons are aplenty. In spite of being an IIM Ahmedabad graduate, he doesn't know how to attract the attention of someone towards him. What knows is to blow a whistle, dance in as 'desi' style as possible, shed uncontrollable 'khushi-ke-aansoon' while blowing his nose the hardest way possible, walk into his MNC office while forgetting to put his pants on, worry about kissing in v/s kissing out and above all require coaching classes even for 'how-to-have-a-honeymoon'!
So is the 'idiot' from BHEJA FRY? Is he the nerd from JAAN-E-MANN? Is he the Mr. How-do-I-propose from KYA LOVE STORY HAI? No, none of them. He is plain and simple Govinda. And when it is Govinda, he is simply unique!
The uniqueness is demonstrated in the way he carries some of his DEEWANA MASTANA antics to PARTNER. Remember the jumping-while-walking act? Or the childish way of speaking some dialogues? All of that makes one relive the nostalgia that one has from Dhawan and Govinda combo that had given 10 odd hits and superhits.
Salman has his own style quotient that only enhances further in the presence of Govinda due to sheer contrasting factor. His now-famous westernized accent works in a big way for PARTNER while his comic timing, especially in the scenes with Govinda, brings the house down. As someone who shares a love-hate relation with his disciple, he creates a cracker of an atmosphere that doesn't have a single dull moment.
Sanjay Chhel's dialogues work wonders for the movie as more often than not, they are laced with wit and humor. Salim-Sulaiman's background music is of the kind that you are used to hearing in Karan Johar and Aditya Chopra films. Funky and exciting. Cinematography gives the film a young and vibrant look throughout.
Any roadblocks? Well, a couple of them. Beyond a point, the Salman-Lara track just doesn't lift the proceedings. Ok, so finally he manages to woo his 'Mumbai Massala' tabloid gossip journalist but the single mother angle followed by all the misunderstandings towards the end is just so irrelevant to the plot. Moreover the 'chota don' act by Rajpal Yadav falls flat. Surprising, because one would have expected nothing but the best with Rajpal doing a spoof on DON. Except for a stray laugh or two, there isn't much that the 'don' angle works for the film and in the end disappears completely.
Even Rajat Bedi-Aarti Chhabaria episode in the latter reels of the films threatens to take the sheen away from the rollicking outing one had been having with Govinda and Salman. Pray why include extras when audience can't have enough from the leads alone? Agreed that the story's culmination may have required some dramatic angle to be pushed in, but why at the cost of comedy? To cut the long story short, save for the climax, the penultimate 20 minutes are plain disappointing and should have come to the notice of a merciless editor.
OK, so Shaadi No. 1 could put a full stop to all the infidelity/extra marital threesomes that we have been witnessing since 'Masti' followed by 'No Entry'. Agreed that its just the germ of 'grass-greener-on-the-other-side' syndrome that is prevalent in 'Shaadi No. 1' with the screenplay being different but still this time around the funny bone isn't really tickled great deal. There are occasional laughs and chuckles but at number of places they just fall flat. And sad, but the truth is that Sanjay Dutt's act just doesn't lift the movie. In fact at places it makes you wonder why didn't the makers of 'Shaadi No. 1' try attempting something different than this. Net result - 'Shaadi No. 1' turns out to be the case of too much too soon for the viewers. 
When the opening credits roll, the story is clear that 'Shaadi No. 1' is set to be another no-brainer flick. And you in fact love the feeling as you have come prepared for exactly the same from this Vashu Bhagnani-David Dhawan comic flick. The movie begins with an attempted suicide by Raj [Fardeen Khan], Veer [Zayed Khan] and Aryan [Sharman Joshi] who are frustrated since neither do they have a great job in the day nor do they have a great night lives with their respective wives Bhavna [Ayesha Takia], Diya [Esha Deol] and Sonia [Soha Ali Khan]. Reason being that while Bhavna believes in 'pooja-paath-mannat' 30 days a month, Diya is an upcoming actor who hardly has any time for home. Meanwhile Sonia is a lawyer who spends much of her time preparing for her case. To top it all, there are also an admiring Pandit [Menon], director [Rajpal Yadav] and lawyer [Ali Asgar] in the lives of three of them.
While our three men are unable to commit suicide, they end up saving the life of businessman Kothari [Satish Shah] who is facing heavy losses due to strings of unsuccessful business ventures. They offer Kothari some advise to save his business who offers them a job in his company in return. They continue to be depressed and frustrated until Kothari gives them another offer that they cannot refuse. He wants his 'phoren-returned' daughters Dimple [Sophie Chowdhary], Madhuri [Riya Sen] and Rekha [Aarti Chabbaria] to be brought on a right path so that they choose the men he selects for them. Plan is for Raj, Veer and Aryan to 'patao' them and later ditch them so that the gals realize the value of arranged marriage! Though the men are initially reluctant to grab the offer as they wanna be loyal to their wives, the greed of better pay package force them to take the plunge.
Kothari arranges for the six of them to meet on a foreign location and soon the girls fall for the charms of the three boys. Even Raj, Veer and Aryan are happy now as they get a chance to bit the forbidden fruit. Not able to believe their luck, now they want the best of everything. Solution? They decide to convince their wives to allow them to marry twice!!!!!!!!!
Excited about their plan they return back to India only to find the thorn in their flesh - 'Lukhwinder Singh Lukha' a.k.a 'Lucky bhaiiya' [Sanjay Dutt], who turns out to be a distant brother of their wives. From here begins a hide and seek game between the Lucky and the trio of Raj, Veer and Aryan. While Lucky is all out to expose the deeds of his 'jijus' to his sisters, Raj, Veer and Aryan need to keep the wives and girlfriends away from each other. This cat and mouse game continues for another hour or so before it reaches its conclusion that is highly reminiscent of 'No Entry'!
Well, to start off with, Aditya Chopra spells yet another poignant dimension of pure love as in his previous ventures with SRK; DDLJ and Mohabattein. Yeah! These tales were retentive impressing everyone from 8-80yrs old men and women. Of course, we fell in love getting imbibed with those spellbinding personations in these flicks. So, guess what about Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi ' a film that brings back sensational pair SRK-Aditya together after 8yrs? Does the film exceed everyone's expectations on 'Love' n 'Entertainment' factors? Or merely conks out dashing down our hopes? 
Hats off to Aditya Chopra! An awesome motif of delineating a touching story of romance...
Have you ever stopped to think if the most ordinary, uninteresting, unobtrusive man you might see on the road or around you might have a love story to tell?
Maybe not! How can an ordinary man have a breathtaking, goose flesh igniting, awe inspiring love story of all things to tell?
But guess what - love does not differentiate between the ordinary and exceptional, the uninteresting and interesting, the unattractive and attractive. Because love knows no distinction. It can happen to anyone and once it does it engulfs us into it completely and gives us those heaven-sent experiences that only love can yield.
Perhaps, everything in fine and good with the one-liner'. But Aditya Chopra fails in crafting a gripping narration all throughout the show. A flimsy screenplay lacking finesse with bits and pieces of discontinuities and these attributes easily scatters audiences' attention. The best illustration goes with SRK's ducky actresses shaking legs with him for 'Phir Milenge Chalte Chalte' on theatre screen. It's completely odd for that situation and possibly, the sequences could've been switched over to latter half as a 'special round in Dance show'. Was it an attempt to deliver a replica of 'Om Shanthi Om' song of film stars dancing together? 
The film is about Surinder Sahni (Shahrukh Khan)- a simple, clean hearted, honest man working for Punjab Power, leading a humdrum life, when he meets his total opposite and finds love in the flamboyant, fun-loving, vivacious -Taani (Anushka Sharma)for whom the whole world is her canvas and she paints her own life with the colours of rainbow all until unforeseen circumstances changes it all and brings them together. Sooner, its biggest dance show in Amritsar and Surinder coiffes himself as Raj what he calls 'Macho Chap'' He does it all to impress his girl Taani and what's next? 
It's a journey filled with laughter, tears, joy, pain, music, dance and a lot of love.A journey that makes us believe that there is an extraordinary love story in every ordinaryjodi.
The first half dawdles with sluggish narration until earlier minutes to pre-interval where SRK's soliloquy with statue takes on emotional quotients. Well, the latter half comprises of few enjoyable moments like Anushka racing on her bike with 'Dhoom Machale' on BCM and next ultimate shot of Vinay Pathak-SRK at garage.
It's a cr'me de la cr'me performance by Shah Rukh Khan as he emotes resplendently on all situations. Be it his make-over sequences adjusting his tight jeans in dance class or the performance in penultimate minutes, King Khan is awe-inspiring. A flawless performance by debutant Anushka Sharma and of course she eclipses Shah Rukh on many parts. What to say about Vinay Pathak? He's over-the-top and more emblazons to the screen. He strides sparkling smiles on our lips with his wiggeries and soaks our eyes as he gets emotional. Don't miss the great dance of SRK-Vinay for the original tune of 'Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi'. Its emotional outbursts from every characterization that turns entire spotlights on RNBDJ'
Aditya's innovative thought is laudable on certain parts like Shah Rukh laying rose next to food and again placing it vase, pictorial of Anushka's face for the song 'Tuj Mei Rab Diktha Hai' and entire Amritsar being lit up, 'I Love You' deserves grand round of applause. Fine! Young lads and missies would hail with praise worthy comments for Adhi's ideation. Both SRK and Anushka swallowing Pani Purees followed by abrupt sequence where he has to finish of delicious Biriyani are evokes laughter. 
Nevertheless, the biggest flaw is that how come a woman fails to recognize her husband with a slight-make over'. The characters of Surindar and Raj differ merely with thin moustache, hair style and costumes. Both the characters have same voice sans any modulations'. 
What barricaded Aditya's cognizance while dropping these lines on his paper? Indeed, it's a billion dollar question. 
Ravi K Chandran's cinematography enhances visual quality and his placement of creative angles deserves special attention. The duo Salim-Sulaiman seems to have not percolated a lot for background scoring. It's again the pieces of existing numbers in album tuned and they sway on all songs. 
Possibly, 'Haule Haule' and 'Dance Pe' peaked with high-promos prior to release. For sure, both the versions of 'Tuj Mei Rab Dikta Hai' capture your senses with beauteous visualizing. 'Phir Milenge Chalte Chalte' fails to make it big despites grand set decorations, costumes and top-charting actresses with SRK. Ritesh Soni's editing especially on 'Dancing Jodi' at the climax is mind blowing... Choreography by Vaibhavi and Shiamak are sumptuously ne plus ultra' 
On the whole, Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi is enjoyable on many parts with fun, frolic, lots of music and dance, pains and emotions. Well, Aditya Chopra gets stuck failing to pen an engrossing screenplay. It's too long, irksome and more predictability when it comes to narration and the auteur could've better avoided these vistas. 
Verdict: A Fair to middling Show 
Rating : ***
Sanjay Gupta has often been associated with the so called 'Hollywood' style of film making. Sanjay has a fascination for technique and style not many in India believe in. Now, with 'Woodstock Villa' Hansal Mehta directs debutants Sikandar and Neha Uberoi very much the Sanjay Gupta way.
The film takes off with the kidnapping of a successful businessman's wife (Neha Uberoi). The businessman (Arbaaz Khan) is soon threatened by the captor (Sikandar) for a heavy ransom. Things go wrong as the lady is murdered by someone and the captor in a fix buries the body. Soon things start to reveal itself with the re-appearance of the damsel.
Director Hansal Mehta goes very much the Hollywood style by trying to make his film look sleek be it the grainy look , the cinematography , the intensifying moments etc, but looses hold on the basics-the plot. Hansal definitely has got all the style elements in places be it the looks, bikes , cars , eye candy etc but the plot just intensifies and boils down to being pretty lame. Many will argue that the film boils down to a done to death concept.
But one must say that at no point of time is the film boring; Hansal ensures that either with the drama/action on scene or else there are some tracks to keep you glued. There is either Neha Uberoi impressing you with her beauty and dance moves and at a point when you have forgotten that this movie carries a Sanjay Gupta link, just for the record Sanjay Dutt does his bit in a rock number.
On the acting front, Sikandar needs time and more films to make an impact. He definitely stands nowhere close to Anupam Kher or Kiran Kher. Sikandar struggles with his dialogue delivery and as far as your dance numbers are concerned, keep Sikandar aside. To a large extent he reflects Abhishek Bachchan with his body language and will surely do well as your unconventional hero.
Neha Uberoi is pretty and impressive. She carries her character with elegance and ease. She is sure to give the so called 'sexy' ladies of bollywood a though time. 
Arbaaz Khan too shows great maturity. He fits the bill and delivers well. Sachin Khedekar , Shakti Kapoor and Dayashankar Pandey are wasted.
Cinematography by Vikas Nowlakha is good carrying the thriller theme through the lens. Dailogues by Milap Zaveri are ok. Screenplay by Sanjay Gupta ,Farhan and Rajiv isn't great.
The music of the film hinders the flow of events but the background score by Amar Mohile is good.
On the whole, 'Woodstock Villa' may find it hard to be accepted by the viewers who may consider this venture to be an episode from a serial or so. The film is sure to provide a decent platform for both Sikandar and Neha who are bound to feature in more Sanjay Gupta films. Business at the box office will be hampered by the IPL semi-finals and finals.
Rating : **
KYA LOVE STORY HAI easily qualifies as the shortest ever Bollywood flicks. After all it lasts just 6 minutes - a minute spent into the title roll immediately followed by Kareena's five minute appearance in 'It's Rocking'. Once the song gazes through and the opening shot of the actual film begins with two sex starved sidekicks romping on a bed and bath tub respectively with stuffed plastic dolls, you know that it is only going to be downhill from hereon.
So bad is debutant director Lovely Singh's effort that calling KLSH a clich' would be a clich' in itself! Even though the film is just 120 minutes with 30 minutes consumed by 6 songs and further 30 minutes dedicated to the sidekicks trying to make love to anyone and everyone who comes in their way, there is nothing at all to tell in remaining 60 minutes. Even a tele-serial may have fared better!
To add to the woes, Ayesha Takia has all the reasons to be sidelined! And no, it is not due to Kareena Kapoor being more prominent on billboards, posters and other publicity material but a certain South African blonde called Martha! Reason? As Ayesha's snooty to-be-husband's [Karan Hukku] secretary, she makes it into the record books to be spending more time with her boss discussing business deals and contract sign-offs. Considering the man is touted to be one of the most successful entrepreneurs around, whatever happened to good old 'art of delegation'!
Well, talking of art, even our very own lead actor [Tusshar] boasts of prowess in one form of art - that of architecture. He can make out the wrong symmetry of a building in one look and even declare that what looks good from distance may not quite be the same when close. Alas, the entire audience (or whatever little number present in the auditorium) understood the reference but poor Ayesha doesn't quite till the film's end!
Ayesha's characterization itself is a paradox of sorts, as is the entire film in fact. On one hand she proclaims at the film's start itself that she is career oriented, wants to start early, grow early and be big, while on the other hand at an age of 20 she is willing to marry a 'perfectly-wrong-stranger'! In the times when even small town girls are willing to give themselves some time before taking a plunge into marital hood, it is comical to see her falling pray to her 'sapnon-ka-rajkumar' fantasies on the first given opportunity.
Now let's talk about 'sapnon-ka-rajkumar' who is perhaps modeled straight on the ever-so-snobbish-and-high-headed Prince of SHREK series. He is rude, he is angry, he has a constant frown on his face, he fires people because they spell him as whatever-Uberoi instead of whatever-Oberoi, he calls a girl who shows him a mirror as 'over smart' and he kicks and hurts Ayesha's good-friend Tusshar in a beach rugby match! But guess what? The girl forgives and forgets (well almost)!
She says, "I am confused"! Girlie, what's there to be confused about? Just kick him aside and move on! What is anyways there at all in this model-trying-to-look-like-an-entrepreneur who doesn't come personally to pick his girl for his first date, asks his secretary to choose flowers for her and heck, even asks one of them to write a so-called personal note! And by the way, when he takes her out eventually, he is supposed to make an audience believe that he is having fun while dancing amidst tanks, soldiers, choppers and bikes, all in the middle of a city!
There is a lot riding on this flick for several reasons 
' Aziz Mirza returns after a hiatus since his last 'Chalte Chalte'
' Shahid Kapur is back with the his loverboy looks
' Pritam has fused in some amazing tracks for this one 
Synopsis..
Raj [Shahid Kapur] was numero uno. In academics, sports, dramatics. But four years after winning the best-student-of-the-year trophy from his architectural college, he's wondering why a brilliant architect like him, with designs to set the Canadian landscape on fire, is still struggling to find that one big chance to showcase his mettle. It's almost as though some negative kismat is following him around because whenever something good is about to happen, it seems doomed to fail. 
Desperate to get rid of the bad phase in his life, Raj meets a quirky oracle, Hasina Bano Jaan [Juhi Chawla]. She tells him that soon his stars will change and make everything work in his favour; but for all this to happen, Raj has first to find his lucky charm and never let go of it. But she tells him no more, leaving Raj mystified, trying to figure out what this charm could be. Suddenly, his life seems to be on the right track. He's managed to impress top builder Sanjeev Gill [Om Puri] into giving him a prestigious project. Priya [Vidya Balan] is a tough-talking, tough-decision taking girl with a heart of gold. She is an idealist who is intent on making the world a better, more humane place and is quite willing to fight a lone battle for it. Raj succeeds in persuading Priya that he's the Messiah who can save her beloved Community Centre from destruction. And also opens her eyes to her philandering fianc' [Amit Verma]. Raj even manages to thwart the evil designs of old-college-foe-turned-deadly-professional-enemy Dave [Manoj Bohra]. Does this mean that Raj has unwittingly discovered his lucky charm?
'Kismat Konnection' does well in establishing the connect because of its simplicity. The film is outright plain and simple. A film truly for the masses! Aziz Mirza succeeds in his storytelling of romance and the reality of life that dawns upon this romance. 
Aziz Mirza along with his son and co-director Haroon succeed with the romance which has always been Azizji's forte. All Aziz Mirza's film have always brought about ambitious men stuck in the midst of their career and love . Take a look at 'Chalte Chalte' and 'Yes Boss' and nothing much has changed with Azizji's approach. It's simplicity that has ruled and what works with 'Kismat Konnection'too.
The biggest drawback that comes with this flick is its length. The film starts dragging primarily during the second half and the culmination of events takes too long. Couple of scenes and characters such as Habiba (Juhi Chawla) could have been done away with.
If you are wondering whether the film may be lacking the Shahrukh angle that has been associated with all Azizji's film; Shahid Kapur lives up to all expectations. He delivers well, expresses well and entertains. He carries the film so well on his shoulder and shows immense maturity as an actor. Watch out for the comic sequences and his body language.
Vidya Balan too does well and is just apt for the film. She brings about that chemistry with Shahid and things look real. On the costume front too, Vidya is much better than her previous 'Hey Baby'.
Juhi Chawla does well but her character could have been done away with. Om Puri impresses. Boman makes a blink appearance. Himani Shivpuri is hilarious. Vishal Malhotra too does well as Shahid's friend and is hilarious.
The cinematography by Bino Pradhan is interesting and music by Pritam entirely lifts the film. The choreography with 'Ai Papi' and simplicity with 'Is this love' is terrific. 
On the writing front Rahila does well with the initial ideation. Vibha Singh and Kabir Sai fall a little short with the flow of events . Sanjay Chel is good with the dialogues.
The film isn't highly intellectual or so and isn't in any manner preachy or unique. It's been done but it's the treatment and simplicity that works here. Aziz Mirza even at 66 has a lot to offer and from no angle does the film look devoid of any youthful element.
Rating : ***
It's so easy to jump the gun and label this film as sexy and sacrilegious. But to dump Sins among the cheesy stuff is to miss the whoop for the spree.
Sins is certainly not a sinful pretext for gratuitous sex and nudity. 
Ripping a cruel page out of the newspapers, writer-director Vinod Pande has reconstructed a dramatic and often shocking tale of forbidden love between a Catholic priest and a junior disciple.
Pande (Ek Baar Phir, Yeh Nazdeekiyan, Ek Naya Rishta and Sach) is never a stranger to the dark side of love and relationships. 
In Sins too, he doesn't stop at the bedroom door, but manages to build an intimidating pyramid of desperate passion between Father Williams (Shiny Ahuja) and Rosemary (Seema Rahmani). 
One recalls the old 1960's film The Priest's Wife in which Italian director Carlo Ponti cast Sophia Loren as the seductress humorously hankering the priest Marcello Mastroianni. 
In Sins, Vinod Pande denudes the theme of all its inherent humour - what we see is a luminously lit, starkly shot film, suffused with the sounds of hearts and souls cracking and falling apart.
The Jesuit theme isn't up for exploitation here. 
Pande's protagonist is undoubtedly a priest, and Williams' conduct certainly unorthodox. 
But the theme of sexual exploitation is not done in a squeamish or apologetic way. 
The lovemaking sequences between Williams and Rosemary get progressively wild and desperate until the narrative reaches a point of irredeemable tragedy with the priest's love turning into perverse possessiveness.
Pande is best at depicting the beast in the priest. The later portions, where Rosemary makes determined efforts to escape Williams' obsessive attentions to be with her kind husband Graham (Nitesh Pande), are done with severe intensity and desperate anxiety.
Sins isn't an easily digestible love story. The volatile central relationship and the priest's rapid moral degeneration are cannily codified by good performances. 
For virtual newcomers, Shiny Ahuja and Seema Rahmani are surprisingly fluent in exploring the dark side of lust and love.
Though a trifle awkward in his demeanour Ahuja's expressions change from anxiety to brutality with remarkable fluency. 
Rahmani is restrained and effective in conveying both her character's vulnerability and cunning. 
What comes in the way of their performances are the speech patterns - the thickly laden Keralite accents often go awry and end up coming in the way of emotions.
What saves the day is the relatively quiet soundtrack punctuated by fits of Williams' flinch-inducing fury. 
The sequence at the girls' hostel from where William calls Rosemary away on the pretext that her mother is ill is remarkable.
I'm ill I'm suffering! bellows William before tearing Rosemary's clothes off. 
The explicit depiction of anxieties that underline the clandestine liaison is keenly contoured in the two protagonists' body language, and the way the director silhouettes them in mid close-ups.
Sins is by no means an outstanding piece of work. 
But its essentially scandalous theme is underscored by moments of structural serenity and a quiet subtlety that avert the imminent danger of surfacing salaciousness.
We should seriously question why comedy has come to such a sorry state in our cinema. 
To Kundan Shah goes the credit for directing Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron, one of the brightest situational comedies in Indian cinema. In it the humour hinged with heaving hilarity on a corpse, played by Satish Shah, being shuttled from one place to another.
There's a lot of physical activity in Ek Se Badkhar Ek, much more than in Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron. The characters are either running helter-skelter, probably in search of the scriptwriter, or they're busy rolling their eyes and smacking their lips in a broad display of rollicking fun and pleasure.
But are we, the stupefied spectators, able to partake of Kundan Shah's film? No! The film generates loads of sweat but no heat, and certainly no warmth. It's all about let's-give-them-a-wacky-comedy-at-any-cost. And never mind the mind.
The secret of creating a successful situational comedy lies in its spontaneity. Though the improvisational spirit among Shetty, Shekhar Suman and Raveena Tandon is alive and kicking, the material they're given to chew on is more perspiration than inspiration.
The satire on the uneasy nexus between the police force and the underworld hinges on a single line - the intellectually challenged Rahul (Shetty) wants to be a don, cop Kanchan (Raveena) wants to catch one. Their initial sequences together simulate a squabbling synergy that quickly becomes a casualty of comic overkill.
The sequence in the claustrophobic wrestling bar where Kanchan downs a few strong pegs and then has a wild and violent time had the potential to be as free-spirited as Sridevi's titter-turn in the gambling den in Mr India. Kundan Shah fritters away the titters in extravagant welters of guffaws that drown every aesthetic element that could possibly have been inherent in the comedy.
The best sequence is the one where the kidnapped gangster Gulshan Grover is hauled by two senior cops to prove his credentials as the most powerful don in Mumbai. If only the director, known for his penchant for muted statement, had kept the noise decibel down! 
Every character screams the dialogues as though he or she were rehearsing for the latest parliamentary session. 
Alas, noise cannot compensate for the absence of genuine comic aptitude. This is a really screwed-up screwball comedy. Raveena has a ball doing a Lucille Ball. Sadly for her, and for us, the premise for an 80-minute satire is stretched to 180 minutes of excruciating nonsense about mistaken identity and long-lost winks.
By the time Makarand Deshpande, with his fine sense of the comic, makes an appearance to play as many as three roles, we're as lost to the plot as the plot is to the characters. 
Go for this one only if you can laugh at the tragic fall of a director who could once make a corpse in a coffin appear acutely funny. To laugh at this cadaverous comedy would be to insult our own and Kundan Shah's intelligence.
'Khamosh...' is a gruesome, jumbled crime thriller that provides nothing but a new definition to mental harassment in movie theatres.The biggest suspense about the film - what's the serene and lovely Juhi Chawla doing, sporting reading glasses and trying earnestly to look like a criminal psychologist? No, not that they're a rare breed in Hindi films. But she brings a kind of mellowness the shrieking proceedings simply don't deserve.Then there is Shilpa Shetty, last seen giving a rousing and sensitive performance in Phir Milenge. 
Here, she's back to doing what she's best known for - wriggling her posterior and making a 101 faces into the camera.In Khamosh..., Shilpa plays a prostitute who hitches a ride with Rajeev Singh, who plays the secretary to a music-video floozy (Rakhi Sawant) who gets bumped off midway. Director Deepak Tijori keeps going into whackily distanced time zones unannounced making the viewer lose track of time. One minute, we're watching Shetty drive down a barren highway, the next, she's writhing and groaning on the dance floor. Two minutes later, she's back on the highway pouting and peering anxiously into her car's engine space.Space is a commodity that's again in short premium. The characters crammed into the frames - all murderous and murder-able - and are seen running in and out of a marooned motel.All the characters are in fits of anger, anguish and a general fear of the unknown - the 'unknown', frankly, is quite a commodious term because there is one psychotic convict (Kelly Dorjy) on a rampage and another loony (Makrand Deshpande) in prison. In one of the scenes, a husband tends to his wife who's rapidly bleeding to death until Rajiv Singh sews her wound with an ordinary needle-and-thread.Good job, Shawar Ali observes appreciatively.Wish we could say the same about Deepak Tijori's cut-and-waste thriller. Khamosh... has no coherent psychological basis, no clear-headed narrative pattern. And the performances are all uniformly hammy. For the record, there are no conventional romantic pairs, no weepy mothers and long-suffering sisters. But yes, there are plenty of dead bodies...and two item songs by the sexy Shilpa.Newcomer Rajiv Singh, however, stands out with his split-personality debut. One of the characters in the film compares the murders happening around him, to ones in the old whodunit Gumnam.But the makers of Gumnam would be hard pressed to recognize Khamosh... as an offshoot of their product. Times have changed. Shilpa Shetty has the guts to play a smoking, swearing tart. But when it comes to the dance floor she's back to her regular act.
If you've been wondering when we would get another all-in-one human entertainer in the mould of Amitabh Bachchan, Sridevi and Hrithik Roshan, there's heartening news. Shahid Kapur has it in him to be a complete actor.
He makes us giggle and frown, gambol and lounge, laugh and even cry if the need arises. Happily, in Ananth Mahadevan's full-fledged romantic comedy there isn't much room for tears. Moving many steps ahead of his directorial debut in Dil Vil Pyar Pyar, Mahadevan at the year-end gives us the first and only real romantic comedy of 2004.
Dil Maange More isn't great cinema. But it's funny, sassy, sweet, tender and intelligent. That's a lot more than what we get in most cheesy love stories.
Playing the most likable small-town guy since Aamir Khan in Raja Hindustani, Shahid Kapoor gives the film an endearing spin as Nikhil Mathur from an imaginary hill resort named Samarpur who follows his dreamer-girlfriend Neha (Soha Ali Khan) to Mumbai and gets into a bizarre but never corny or sleazy quadrangle.
Faintly reminiscent of the 1960s Dev Anand starrer Teen Deviyaan, Dil Maange More is a lot more clever and articulate than the genre would suggest. Mahadevan constructs a wispy pyramid of postcard-pretty pictures where the people actually appear real. The Indian hill station is an idyllic haven shot at an alpine location. 
Thanks to Amit Roy's smoothly scenic cinematography and Mansi Mehta's tasteful artwork, the characters are never reduced to people posing in paradise.
There's a constant flow of delectable dialogues, filled with puns, which make the characters appear more filled-out and complete than they generally do in blithe romantic musicals in our country. 
Besides the utterly winsome protagonist, the music-shop owner A.R. Rahman (Gulshan Grover) is also a likeable creation. 
The small-town boy's bonding with his boss and with his bellicose neighbour Shagun's (Ayesha Takia) Gujarati mother (Zarina Wahab) implants a certain moistness to the cut-and-dried theme of one guy sandwiched among three demanding and exasperatingly unpredictable women.
Thanks to the cool and crisp narration and Shahid's author-backed performance, we never tire of the film. Mahadevan's above-average aesthetic sense surfaces in improbable ways. Nostalgic music and songs played a big part in his first film. So it is here as well. The songs and voice of Mohammad Rafi are a recurrent and eminently engaging motif. Shahid's character encompasses a genre-defining zest for the past and present. 
A lot of the best scenes are played out at a music store bustling with song talk. And when Mahadevan takes the narrative to the dance floor or the scenic location for lovers to emote and dance to Himesh Reshammiya's tunes, we aren't distracted at all.
There's music in the soul of this film. It may not be discernible right away, as the film's theme and characters swim in shallow waters. But to mistake the characters' trivial pursuits as signs of superficial filmmaking is to confuse the lyrics with the quality of singing.
Mahadevan takes these flighty fidgety young characters beyond their positions in the plot. In this endeavour, he is constantly aided by his leading man. Shahid's grasp over the grammar of romantic comedy is astounding. His spot-on timing and extraordinarily fluent dance movements make him a very engaging entertainer. Watch Shahid in the sequence where the 'khichdi' he cooks blows up in his face. Here's one new actor who can cook up a khichdi without the calamitous consequences that have become part of films about the activities of the young.
Karan Razdan is at it again, going full-steam ahead with steamy stuff. This one's only unique aspect in terms of storyline is that it's based on a mother-step-daughter triangle with the same guy. The mother's relationship is the lust-driven while the daugther's is based on love. But unfortunately, there's nothing offbeat in the treatment, even though the theme is rather bold to start off, particularly in the Indian context. However, the first half is quite gripping, and keeps you engrossed. But as in Umar, this one too loses its steam in the second half. What's up Karan?
OK, first things first. Souten is the story of a woman who's fast approaching middle age and seems desperate live life to the fullest for perhaps one last time. The woman is Mitali (Mahima Choudhary). Mitali is married to Ranbir (Gulshan Grover), a millionaire from a royal family, who, when he isn't preoccupied with amassing wealth, is hunting. Read: neglecting his wife Mitali's needs and desires.
Into their lives enters a handsome young man, Raj (Debutante Vikram Singh). Raj is the younger brother of Ranbir's partner Sumer (Shakti Kapoor). And to Mitali, Raj is everything her husband isn't - young, handsome, charming and above all, attentive to her. Before long, Mitali and Raj get involved in a relationship that's fuelled primarily by lust on her part. But Mitali's bhabhi Smita (Padmini Kolhapure) learns of the affair and tries to dissuade Mitali from the relationship with Raj. But Mitali is hellbent on Raj and will have none of Smita's interference. But Smita is made of sterner stuff, and she makes Raj see the folly of a relationship with Mitali. Raj sees reason and breaks off the fling.
Exit mother, enter daughter. Now, Ranbir's daughter Sapna (Kiran Rathod) comes into Raj's life, and before long falls in love with Raj in Goa, which incidentally happens to be convenient to shoot a song too. When Mitali learns of their affair, she is shocked. At both, being rejected for Sapna, and at the fact that the man who had been involved with her is now seeing her daughter. She is determined to rock their boat. She creates a huge misunderstanding between Raj and Sapna, and even rustles up a groom for Sapna, whom her parents emotionally badger to acquiesce to the wedding. Sapna agrees. Of course, Smita is there to accost Mitali, and before long, Ranbir too learns of the affair between Mitali and Raj, and gnashing his teeth, he reaches for his gun.
And so goes this potboiler of a masala film peppered with steamy scenes shot between the magnificent deserts of Rajasthan and the deep blue seas off Goa. Karan Razdan had picked up a sensitive story to tackle, but instead of exploiting the inner potential of the story by looking at the characters inward, he treats the story with the usual filmy formulaic style. Razdan lingers lovingly on the steaming sequences that range from Mahima slithering on and off Vikram on the literally hot sands of Rajasthan to the wet n wild intricacies between Kiran and Vikram in Goa. Beautifully shot, edited and set to good music by Anand Milind.
But sequences do not a film make, even though there are some strong peformances in a couple of excellent scenes between Padmini and Mahima, and especially Mahima and Kiran. Gulshan Grover is his usual competent self, while Shakti Kapoor doesn't have too much to do. Padmini does well in her sensitive moral policing role, but overall, the film, though it starts promisingly enough, is doomed to an utterly predictable end in an utterly formulaic fashion, when the third line of the triangle is wiped off due to Mahima's sacrifice of her life.
Though often in this outdated comedy Govinda is genuinely funny, you feel extremely sad on his account. Here was an actor who genuinely believed in the antics he was made to indulge in day in and day out, and he did the drollery with a devilish relish.
That sense of joie de vivre bubbles over in this long-delayed and often tiresome comedy. 
Whether it's the tackily written scenes with other actors (Kader Khan playing Govinda's father) or the gawkily composed songs by Anand-Milind, Govinda manages to make every scene look more exciting, adventurous and funny than it actually is.
Alas, the plot is so tediously redundant, you want to send director Harmesh Malhotra a fax as a wake-up call. That seems to be the favourite mode of communication in this comedy pitched between the 1970s and 80s, with the new millennium nowhere in sight.
In all fairness, there are some moments in the proceedings that make you smile despite yourself. Those who remember the buffoonish comedy of Malhotra's earlier films with Govinda like Dulhe Raja would certainly spare a smile or two at the actor's efforts to instil a crackling immediacy to the absurd situations in the plot.
Playing a Bihari simpleton with the morals of an alley cat (he gladly pretends to be an underworld don's son to win a pretty girl and the millions that come with the territory), Govinda as usual pulls out all stops. 
I'm afraid Preity Zinta just can't keep pace with him. Her efforts to fill the place vacated by Karisma Kapoor and Raveena Tandon seem completely out of sync with Preity's image and acting style.
The rest of the cast, from Kader Khan and Johnny Lever to Himani Shivpuri and Razaq Khan, appear to be perfectly attuned to the unstoppable asininity of a script that doesn't know where to stop.
The silliness of the proceedings never flags. Veteran director Harmesh Malhotra targets the film at the gut-level. If you discount any aesthetic considerations there's nothing here that's deeply offensive. And for those who've enjoyed Govinda's brand of raw but never ribald humour, there's something here that makes you appreciate the brainlessness of an endeavour that makes a fashion statement of boorishness.
Some things never change. Govinda remains stubbornly funny even though everything else around him has transformed completely.
Double entendre is supposed to be funny. Well, it was, to an extent, in Masti and a lesser extent in Kya Kool Hain Hum, but it hits rockbottom in Jawani Diwani. Full of bikini-clad women swarming the setup and top Bollywood smoocher Emran Hashmi pegged as a self-proclaimed Serial Kisser (kudos to the producer for trying to sell Emran's best quality as an actor) Jawani Diwani is a supposedly comic yarn with an apology for a screenplay, and lowers the bar for the genre to ground-level-juvenile. 
A childish and cliched storyline takes off (that's only an expression) with a young singer Mann (Emran Hashmi) wanting to make it big. He isn't averse to using or manipulating anybody to achieve his objective, and yes, he has a weakness for pretty women and his T-shirt announces he's a serial kisser. And by the way, if he has to emotionally exploit any woman to reach the top, well, he's OK with that too. Poor chap having been rejected by music labels, he's got to be ready to do whatever it takes, really! And before long, Mann sees an opportunity in the form of Radha (Hrishita Bhatt), whose father Umesh Jumani (Tiku Talsania) is a music moghul who owns a top music label.
So Mann starts singing for his supper, and ensnares young Radha with naach-gaana, and guess where they head for friends in tow? To Goa, because it's time for a twist in the tale, where a sizzling, scantily-clad Miss named Roma (a bikini called Celina Jaitley) enters his life like a beacon of lust, and Mann falls for, sings to and with, and woos and beds her. And in the process, gets caught by a local don (whatever is Mahesh Manjrekar doing?) who makes sure Mann marries Roma. End of Mann's career coz Radha's out of his life? Will he walk into the sunset with Roma, and only half the movie over? You've gotta be kidding! We have another mega twist!
OK, it's time now to wake up and smell the coffee for Mann, and he knows he's queered his plan how on earth will he now make it big? If he were to dump Radha now, her Daddy-O would get rid of him with a swift kick in the pants, so Mann does the right thing by him and Roma does the martyr act go chase your dreams, it seems. He's free, and goes scurrying to Bombay and to the innocent and in-love Radha. OK, Fame and Fortune, Mann's the man, and here he comes!
Only, the writers have another twist planned! Roma enters Mann's life again, and at the eleventh hour, just before their marriage, Radha get to know about Roma. Then, Don Chappu does his thing, planting Roma in a video, and Radha plays the cliched martyr and 
Forget it. This series of cliches masquerading as a screenplay spiked with vapid situations and crass double entendre lines that are desperate attempts at humor falls flat. 
Forget the juvenile 'screenplay'. Forget the bad dialogue. Forget the wooden and flat performances, and the truly arbitrary scattering of songs in the film. 
The one big takeaway from Jawani Diwani for prospective producers is: Emran Hashmi may have a talent for smooching, but has no flair for comedy. The only high points in this film if you pardon the terrible effect of the double meaning dialogue on this reviewer were Celina's assets, in stark contrast to which Emran Hashmi's comic timing and performance was truly flat. Guess Hashmi will now have to find a USP other than his osculatory talents because, in spite of an assortment of bikini-clad women and a setup that should have been grist to his osculatory mill, our serial kisser gets it in the kisser with this lemon of a movie. Avoid this one.
Rating : * 
It's that moment in the plot when the narrative is just warming up. Vivek Oberoi plays a happy-go-lucky roving eyed cynic who has lost his money and tickets and must sell tea on the train to make his way back from Coorg in Karnataka to Mumbai.
Oberoi sparkles as the dude masquerading as a tea vendor who spins a boy-meets-girl yarn replete with sound effects to the desperate director on the train (Samir Karnik himself doing a Hitchcock and a Ghai so prematurely in the narrative, and his career!) and the lovely lady who has her head buried in a romantic novel.
Just think of the irony of the situation. A director stuck on a scene takes the help of a tea seller on a train to bail him out! 
Arjun (the tea vendor) later befriends and banters with his repressed house guest Diya (Aishwarya Rai).
Ah, they don't make love stories like they used to. They try, though. Debutante Samir Karnik gets the bubble, banter and other courtship rituals in place. 
Kyun....Ho Gaya Na! is certainly posh in presentation. The sets (done in polished teak colors) and the outdoors (verdant greens barely hiding the blush on Rai's romantic cheeks) are tonic to the eyes. And the choreography, especially in the Broadway-styled, Pyar mein sau uljhane number, is captivating. 
If you stop and look at the gonna-be lovers as Arjun and Diya and not as Oberoi and Rai, you are likely to view things without pain and with mild pleasure.
This isn't the first film to dwell on the gender war as seen through the eyes of two totally antithetical human beings. In Yash Chopra's Dil To Pagal Hai Madhuri Dixit looked lovelorn and luminous as she waited for ideal love to strike her staid life.
Aishwarya Rai in Kyun...Ho Gaya Na! is a product of the Chopra-Dixit school of romantics. She gazes into a space that's far beyond camera range. Dreamy and a bit spaced out, her character is a perfect foil to the unstoppable Arjun who treats life as an ongoing prank.
Not just Oberoi and Rai but also Oberoi and his screen-dad Om Puri share quite a few crisply written dialogues and moments. Check out the sequence where papa and son must wash dishes because it's the domestic help's evening out. ...It's a giggle and a scream!
Or the sequence where the giddy-headed Diya imagines Arjun draping her swan-like neck with jewellery. The silken and silently rapturous progression of that sequence from high romance to a glorious guffaw (when Arjun finally breaks the spell with, Don't you ever bathe, or else why do you use so much perfume?) is airy and effortless.
It's the second-half that lets the actors and the audience down. Everything falls apart once Bachchan appears on the scene. Playing a wickedly benign busybody all-purpose uncle to a brood of kids (including our resident Orphan Annie - Aishwarya), the mega-actor's role in the plot is merely peripheral and redundant. Where you'd want the two lovers to sort out their differences on their own (like Saif and Rani did in Hum Tum) Uncle steps in with his boisterous bravado. Cupid never seemed more stupid.
The scenes with the kids meant to be cute, are acutely annoying. As Arjun struggles to overcome his reservations about romantic love you wish the narrative would give them space to obtain a romantic pace.
The rhythm of narration in the second-half is uneven and often pointless. Sequences such as Bachchan and Oberoi sharing drunken love-confidences or dance steps are a trifle irritating. 
"Hai Aag Yeh, Ek Aag Yeh, Aag Hai, Aag Hai"
It's this theme track which runs throughout the film's narrative which possibly is the best part of this offering from Ram Gopal Varma. The reason is simple. When it comes to paying homage to the films from the 70s, it is this sound which comes closest. Remember the coming together of dozen odd trumpets that used to create a euphoric feel whenever there was a decision making by a hero/villain or those chase sequences on the roads?
To begin with positives, Ramu does make an honest attempt to make a film which belongs to the era of 70s. As mentioned earlier, not just the background soundtrack is reminiscent of the kind that was heard decades back, even the sound design with all the guns and bombs are similar. Remember the 'rat-a-tat-a-tat' of all the machine guns which became popular in the 70s?
What doesn't quite work are the numerous pauses that come in the film's narrative even as there are a few ecstatic moments indeed. But after every such sequence, most of them featuring Babban [Amitabh Bachchan], the treatment becomes loose for a while. The first half of the film still sails through, though not quite smoothly but still just about, due to a built up in conflict. The main culprit is the second half where things tend to go haywire.
There are absolutely no twists and turns in the film in the second half of the film as predictability takes over the proceedings. One would have expected some novelty out here (no, not in comparison to 'Sholay' but yet again, in general). A story building like this with a standard graph taking one through pre-climax followed by a climax has been witnessed in at least 100 odd movies, if not less. But nothing actually takes place which turns out to be unexpected that takes the sheen away from the film.
Absolutely unpardonable is Heero's [Ajay Devgan] suicide scene with 'Gangu Mummy' [played by Rasika Joshi - absolutely irritating] which takes the movie to an all time low. In fact also add the scene where Raj [Prashant Raj] and Devi [Sushmita Sen] go to Gangu Mummy with a marriage proposal for Heero and Ghunghroo [Nisha Kothari]. 
These two sequences are completely ill placed in the film, badly enacted and poorly edited which makes them good candidates for being completely chopped off pronto. In fact it is a pity to see Sushmita Sen feeling completely out of place when the scene is on. And no, let's not say that Ramu may not have been able to handle comedy just because he is a pro in making dark films because he is the same man who gave us RANGEELA and DAUD!
So what salvages the film? Presence of Amitabh Bachchan who gets a mix of mannerisms from AGNEEPATH and BOOM i.e. intensity and aggression coupled with eccentricity and insanity. Each of his scenes with Inspector Narsimha [Mohan Lal] have been treated quite dramatically which yet again proves the point that Ramu had reserved his best shots for the veterans. Bachchan's husky sound coupled with a limp in his walk creates an eerie feel to the situation as one comes across a ruthless character.
The only scene where one observes the emotional side of his character is when he looses his close confidante Tambhe [enacted well by Sushant Singh]. A man who doesn't weep on the killing of his own brother [Sachin] does a dance of death (which could well be a 'taandav' set in underworld) on seeing Tambhe dying in front of his own eyes. He does well to camouflage his hurt only to find himself shedding a tear when he realizes in the climax that Tambhe is finally gone forever. Some good writing and execution here!
Aamir produced by the experimental wing of UTV ' UTV Spotboys by debutant Rajkumar Gupta comes across very much unlike any UTV film lacking promotion and publicity. The film starring Rajeev Khandelwal , the face of Indian television comes across as the so called smaller film of the week. 
Synopsis'.
Aamir, the name, means leader, but the protagonist [Rajeev Khandelwal] becomes a follower out of fear. The moment Aamir lands in Mumbai, he's transported to a world he never knew: The dingy areas of Mumbai. In its lanes and bylanes, cheap restaurants and lodges, amongst nameless pimps and whores, run-down buildings and over-crowded markets, filth and squalor, Aamir sees a different world in those few hours.
Aamir may not have been promoted well but the film from no angle is a small film. The script is splendid with a theme so universal such as terrorism. Raj Kumar Gupta excels with his storytelling and draws the viewer within the first 15-20 mins. 
One element that works with the film is its length which is barely 2 hrs and the absence of unwanted monotonous songs. The hero does not break into any dance number or flashback sequences filled with the accommodation of some tracks but instead the music only acts at the background.
Another element that keeps the film going is the locations used which are the realistic bylanes within the city and the splendid cinematography. This is one film that comes as a complete exception of all bollywood rules with a film with no heroine, no supporting cast , no item numbers etc.
It's purely the director's vision carried forward by Rajeev Khandelwal's splendid acting and the excellent cinematography. The movie is a must watch. Take a look at every character used in the film be it the whore at the lodge, the men at the restaurant etc. Simply terrific.
As far as the locations are concerned it is splendid . Take a look at the lodge , the restaurant , the bylanes , the toilet sequence ; its remarkable and gripping.
Rajeev Khandelwal does a terrific job . The actors delivers well and carries the trauma and frustration the character Aamir undergoes with ease. Khandelwal comes as a revelation to Bollywood. He surely deserves much more from bollywood. Looks like lots of talent lies within the Indian television industry.
On the whole, Aamir comes as a complete surprise and emerges as the true winner of the week. Aamir is definitely a must watch and proves that a good film in bollywood can indeed be made without songs and without any big names. Ultimately, it's the script that is king. Don't miss the climax of the film; it's very much unlike most bollywood films.
Rating : ***1/2
Comedy is the flavor of the season, and Satish Kaushik and Sanjay Chhel keep the Comic flag flying high with the fast paced Shaadi Se Pehle.
Forget logic, suspend disbelief, and you'll be rewarded with a laugh riot. Excellent writing and competent performances plus slick direction convert a far-fetched plot into quite a rib-tickler.
The story first. Ashish (Akshaye Khanna), a young man, down and out, has been wooing the girl of his dreams, Rani (Ayesha Takia) for five years. Five years? Coz that's how much time a down and out man, who's even cleaned high-rise windows from a sling and worked as manager at a mahila papad udyog, takes to be able to become creative director at an ad agency, buy a plush house and car, and save some 20-30 lakhs. Coz those are Rani's father's terms. So, young man first convinces future pa-in-law, who's always tried to separate Rani from Ashish. Worse, there's also Ashish's friend Rohit, played by Aftab Shivdasani, who's been trying to win Rani's affections, but thankfully, she only loves Ashish. Who, somehow, manages to get her family's nod and gets engaged to her, and even gets transported from Mumbai to somewhere in Europe for songs, and is all set to live happily ever after.
But Ashish is a hypochondriac who'll imagine he's got every ailment including housemaid's knee, and goes to a doctor (Boman Irani as a brilliant Parsi doctor) for a blood report. Circumstances and a misunderstood overheard conversation the doctor's having, connive to give him the wrong impression that he's suffering from terminal, stage-2 cancer, and has only a year at most to live.
So what does Ashish do? Instead of trying to get himself checked by another doctor or getting a second opinion, he acts on the opinion of his friend and colleague Shaayar Kanpuri (Rajpal Yadav at his brilliant best) and sets about wrecking his own reputation with Rani and her family so she can hate and reject him and doesn't have to be left moping when he dies. But of course, if he'd got a second medical opinion, we wouldn't have had the film.
And while at work, he gets propositioned by a sexy, sultry model, Sania (Mallika Sherawat doing what only she can do best), who tells him, When I'm good I'm good, when I'm bad I'm better!, and even tells him something like If you want a long memorable night, give me a call! So Ashish gets attached to the strings she wears for clothes, and manages to hurt Rani, who dumps him publicly at a night club.
And before long, Ashish gets funnily caught up in the dangerous, bloody, messy world of underworld crime headquartered in Malaysia, thanks to a manic underworld don Anna, who is Sania's overprotective elder brother, and who hilariously pulls a gun and asks Ashish if he will marry his dear sister Sania!
Of course, we know Ashish isn't dying, and the rest of the film is about what he will do next. And never mind that the film races to a completely predictable end - the journey is interesting.
The real hero of the film, apart from Akshaye Khanna as Ashish, is the writing and the direction. But after the writing, if there's one really funny character, someone who has you rolling in the aisles, it's got to be the little master of comedy, Rajpal Yadav. The man's a laugh riot, delivering his funny lines with deadpan naturalness. Of course, the situations he finds himself are very funny, just as the lines he's received from Sanjay Chhel, but Yadav literally seizes the day.
Whether it's Abhimaan, Sur or Saaz, Hindi movies about music and musicians have employed ego as the primary focus of interest.
In Mahesh Dattani's second feature film after Mango Souffle, every character moves with a baggage of guilt but never projects it into the music that finally emerges from his or her soul.
Morning Raga is as fresh in subject and enticing in treatment as the title suggests. 
Sure, at first the English language with generous smatterings of Telugu tends to be at loggerheads with the music that runs, no, waltzes through this moving tale of the power of music to heal and unify splintered souls. 
But then as we get into the dreamy swing of things, the Andhra Pradesh countryside, so caressingly captured by Rajiv Menon's camera, we realize that the clash of languages represents the bigger clash of cultures, which in turn magically telescopes into a debate between destiny and ambition, holding on and letting go.
Morning Raga tells the very dramatic story of a Carnatic singer, Swarnalata (Shabana Azmi), who loses her little son and her close friend, who's also her violinist-accompanist, in a bus accident. 
Twenty years after the calamity, the dead woman's son Abhinay (Prakash Rao) returns to the village to open up hardly healed wounds.
The light touch that Dattani lends to the inherently dramatic plot is a marvel of creative restraint. The narrative is carpeted with pastel shades of emotions and a surprisingly large amount of humor ladled out gently, like the subtle strains of the tanpura wafting softly into a room quivering with hushed voices.
Morning Raga is a raga recital played out at a tenor that's as gentle as the breeze blowing through the Andhra Pradesh village where Swarnalata, stoic in her grief-stricken remembrance of the past, comes face to face with her dead friend's adamant son.
My mother did a lot for you. She's gone. But I'm here...or maybe that doesn't mean anything to you, Abhinay mocks the proudly grieving singer, prodding awake her most precious and indelible memories, provoking her into jazz-raga sessions with her friend's adamant son. 
In this way she finds a son she lost, while the young man rediscovers a mother whose memory he embraced all his life.
The passing on of a legacy is a critical leitmotif in this luminous tale of loss and redemption. In one way or another, every character finds his or her lost self in ways that are forever unpredictable and surprising.
Yes, some of the metaphorical strokes in the plot are almost gimmicky. 
The fact that the boutique owner's (Lilette Dubey) daughter Pinky (Perizaad Zorabian) is stricken with guilt because the fateful bus accident 20 years ago had been caused by her drunken father is a thematic device that tries a trifle too hard to dilate the circle of destiny into a neat cyclic package. But then not everything in art need be perfect to be authentic. 
Miraculously, the fragile plot holds together in a tender but firm clasp of traditional values and their uprooting in modern times.
Dattani pokes good-natured fun at the dudes and dolls in the metro, so distanced from their roots they wouldn't recognize them with binoculars. If Abhinay, Pinky and their rock 'n' roll band cross that symbolical bridge dividing the city from the village then the stoic Swarnalata too needs to get out of the past, shrug the baggage of guilt and cultural confinement and sing at a concert in the city.
A new farcical formula of filmmaking has erupted after Ram Gopal Varma's Love Ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karega and N. Chandra's Style -- three boys obsessed with girls and money out to have a whale of a time in the concrete jungle.
The trio's tittering tale reached a lewd climax in Indra Kumar's Masti earlier this year. Dil Bechara Pyar Ka Maara falls in the same league.
Like Tharun Kumar's Nayee Padosan last year, the three heroes of the new film about a bustling threesome are pretty much dimwits with only one agenda in life: how to catch the girl they love without using their brains. The plot aids them all the way in remaining blissfully brainless.
Aslam Khan, a businessman, must pretend to be a cricketer when he hates the game. Vikaas Kalantri must pretend to be a tycoon when he'd rather be a singer. And Aman Sondhi who loves cricket must pretend to be a singer to woo the girl next door. 
Bits of old classic comedies are used to liven up what's essentially a dead and disembodied dedication to drollery.
Debutant director Onkar Nath Mishra seems to believe in the cut-and-paste technique of filmmaking. The farce blast is undertaken in fits and starts whereby the three protagonists are either running from one pasty set to another or down the Mumbai road with a couple of goons in hot pursuit.
Oh...here I must interrupt to comment on the way pot shots are taken at our neighbour. A Pakistani intelligence agent, forever a scowling menace in Hindi films, is reduced to a puny figure played by old-time villain Ajit's son Shehzad Khan. He plants bombs that don't go off, hatches plots that don't take off.
Dil Bechara Pyar Ka Mara is a diffused bomb, an intended laugh riot that peters into a pathetic dead-end where the characters don't know whether they're coming or going. 
Khan and Kalantri were earlier seen together in Nayi Padosan. While the former is mildly mirthful for his syncopated comic timing, Kalantri's lisping interjections are purely annoying. As for Sondhi, his character can't sing in the film. But can he act? 
The three heroes, shall we say romantic interests, scream, squeal and squirm in unison. If only there were quality-control measures for the glamour queens. Rajpal Yadav is enamoured of all three ladies. Will someone impose a restraint order on him...and such films that try to pass off a few sick jokes as a full-fledged comedy?
Railway minister Lalu Prasad who makes an appearance at the beginning and the end of the film should sue the makers of the film for defamation.
To have your name associated with such bilgy burlesque is to bring your stock down irreversibly. 
In fact, Cape Town, where the film is shot, too should collectively sue, for being used as a prop in this perverse parody!
In Padmashri Laloo Prasad Yadav, the characters run around in vacant circles hunting for a handful of diamonds, causing one to wonder if the filmmakers too were running around looking for a script. 
To say Padmashri... is insufferable, is to state the obvious. 
The film is in fact exasperating in all its vulgar overtures and Manjrekar is especially offensive with his flatulent jokes and repeated scatological humour. 
Manjrekar who plays a shrieking, stripping, farting lawyer is also seen dubbing for numerous incidental characters, including a chauffeur to a man who dies later. Lucky man!
It's sad to see even the otherwise-dignified Suniel Shetty making homosexual passes at Johnny Lever and making funny faces into the camera in the vain hope of raising a few laughs.
In fact, the entire cast can be seen indulging in what can at best be only described as roadside banter. The dialogues try hard to be funny, but end up sounding like jokes invented by a bored Class V student. 
What could have possibly prompted Manjrekar who once made two meaningful films Vaastav and Astitva and also directed the very watchable and very funny Govinda-flick Jis Desh Mein Ganga Rahta Hai, to emerge with a comedy as funny as molar surgery?
Guess, it's high time for him to take a long leave from the film business. 
There's no getting away from Devdas in this new fascinating, absorbing and largely sensitive rendering of Bengali litterateur Saratchandra Chattopadhyay's study of the male ego and its tragic repercussion on matters of the heart, set within a feudal backdrop.
Debutant Pradeep Sarkar's adaptation of the complex original material is as far removed from Bimal Roy's Parineeta as Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Devdas was from Bimal Roy's earlier classic.
Literary classics are open to interpretation. Sarkar's take on Saratchandra proves it with bridled 'lan. While Saratchandra according to Bhansali was far more emotionally and optically extravagant, Sarkar's Parineeta is more reined-in, at times almost inhibited...And then like a flower opening its petals, it is also prone to sudden fits of extroverted aesthetics. 
The Lolita-Shekhar lovemaking sequence (an add-on that may leave the purists gasping indignantly) is done as a smoothly transitional process from banter to bed between the childhood pair.
The contradictory moods are well balanced and preserved. It's unclear why the original novel has been shifted from the early 20th century to the 1960s, unless this dizzying translocation was done so that the hero can play jazz on the piano and savour the songs of Elvis Presley, or Rekha (in a thoroughly redundant appearance) breaks into a smouldering jig a la Moulin Rouge and even plonks herself into a visibly embarrassed Sanjay Dutt's lap.
Oooh...Hot, baby, hot. Pradeep Sarkar instils a smouldering intensity into the story of a hero who's too arrogant and self-absorbed to say yes to love. Unlike Saratchandra's Devdas, Shekhar finally stands up to his conscience, heart and tyrannical father in the nick of time.
This Saratchandra hero is no walkover. And neither is the film.
The sequences between father Sabyasachi Chakraborty (as nasty and self-serving as entrepreneurs can get in our movies) and son Saif Ali Khan would immediately remind audiences of the father-son whiplash war of words in Bhansali's Devdas...Both dads refer to their rather spoilt and decadent sunny-boy's childhood sweethearts as whores. 
In fact Shekhar's autocratic father calls his son 'napunsak'. The provocative expletive triggers off a masculine reaction in Shekhar, leading to a rather strange and strident climax where we encounter Saif literally breaking down the wall between him and his beloved!
The Shekhar-Lolita sequences possess a quality of understated naturalism. Childhood love is omnipresent in both of Saratchandra's classics. To the director's credit, Parineeta succeeds in giving a twist to the tale...a tormented but ecstatic romantic twist. 
Saif and newcomer Vidya Balan look perfectly compatible. And Sanjay Dutt who plays Lolita's older benefactor looks mature and self-deprecating enough to play the rakish, slightly over-the-hill other man.
Cast in place, Sarkar gives the backdrop a body and a face. With exceptional help from editor Hemanti Sarkar, art director Keshto Mandal/Tanushree Sarkar/Pradeep Sarkar and most of all cinematographer N. Nataraja Subramaniam, the director reconstructs the bustle and social life of the idle rich in Kolkata in the 1960s...the clubs and cards sessions, the flirting and innuendos...The film takes us back to a lifestyle when an existential crisis meant you had to choose between two beautiful women, one for wealth and the other for romance.
The world of Parineeta is cloistered and yet liberating. The characters are dressed for the occasion but not bound to the period that they represent in a suffocating way. 
A sweet, simple story about a plain Jane, Muskan (debutante Onjolie Nair) who follows her heart, and helped by the combined talents of Pooja Bhatt, Ranjit Barot, Dino Morea along with some excellent camerawork and editing, succeeds in trapizing her way to a place in her father's and the audience's hearts.
This feelgood heartwarmer by Pooja Bhatt is a competently directed film. It holds because of the empathy factor one instantly warms up to Muskan, and wills her to succeed. You see, Muskan is definitely only an average looker at best, and is always only second best to her prettier and more 'with it' sister. Worse, she's just failed an exam, and is moping all the way while driving to Goa for a five-star holiday with her supersuccessful doctor father, Dr Daksh Suri (Gulshan Grover in an endearing role of a sweet, protective and trusting father), mother Nandini (Anahita Uberoi) and sister Samara (Nauhid Cyrusi). Dr Suri urges Muskan to follow her heart. Which she does, befriending a handsome and graceful salsa dancer who's as good hearted as he is lithely musclebound and, well, down and out on luck. All the ingredients are in place for Muskan to take papa's advice and follow her heart, and you know she's destined to fall in love with the dancing dervish.
How she gets to know him is a bit far-fetched, and why she ends up learning to dance is, well, equally far-fetched. Muskan has to stand in for Dino's best friend Alisa (Kashmira Shah) who has to go for an abortion, and if she goes, Dino can't dance at the hotel that's contracted them, and if Dino can't dance, they will be fired, and if they are fired, they are finished, coz they have had to take a loan of 15000 bucks for the abortion from Muskan in the first place. So what do we have here? Muskan's character defined in a few deft scenes as a real and likeable, good, well brought up daughter with her heart in the right place, who only takes up for what is right, and never mind if even her best friends are in the wrong. So the not so pretty but immensely likeable Muskan opts to step into Alisa's shoes, and Dino takes it upon himself to teach her the moves and grooves of Salsa. Tall order, but the down and out Muskan is determined to succeed, coz this is probably her first and only chance to prove to her father she isn't a failure! And we will her to succeed, and never mind the far-fetched premise that got her into dancing with Dino and both in love with each other.
So the stage is set, and it falls upon Muskan to not only get rid of the doubts her trusting father has begun to have about her of late, but also to remove the actual culprit behind Alisa's pregnancy, the rascally Harsh, from her sister Samara life.
In a deviation from the norm, Gulshan Grover is cast as a good soul a loving, caring, trusting and protective father, and his relationship with Muskan is sensitively portrayed. Especially in the scene in which a repentant Muskan breaks down, sobbing, I was just following my heart!, erforms with beautiful sensitivity. A memorable performance overall from him.
Dino Morea is a revelation looking and playing the part of a handsome, goodhearted but down on his luck salsa dancer, looking both, tough and vulnerable, with sensitivity to boot. He dances well, and his Goa setting helps him with the slightly awkward Hindi which sounds completely in place with his character. A much better performance than in Aksar, even though the roles cannot be compared. Immense verve, style and confidence here.
Jigyaasa is a wannabe mirror to the goings on in the Hindi film industry, and if one is to believe it really mirrors what happens in Bollywood, then the message this crude films gives is that nothing but a sleep-your-way-to-the-top approach would work in the Hindi films industry.
Through the story of an aspiring actress called Jigyaasa (Hrishita Bhatt) who want to be a mega star, and who's been brought up amid the ethics, principles and values of her school teacher mother (Varsha Usgaonkar), director Faisal Saif sets out on what seems like a promising premise. 
But instead of an eyeopener that should have set one thinking, Jigyaasa makes you cringe with acute discomfort at its crudeness, and the way in which it generalizes that only sexual favours and moral compromises abound. Treated with crude dialogue and interspersed with hardly-veiled references to well known incidents from Bollywood, Jigyaasa succumbs to the temptation of adding sleaze and cheap thrills of titillation to try and score at the box office. It comes up with a dud. 
Instead of exciting possibility of depicting the internal clash of values that making it big in Bollywood actually could have demanded of the well raised aspiring actress, Jigyaasa actually ends up chronicling her compromises in a lasvicious manner. 
When Jigyaasa the actress learns that the only way to the top is the sleeping rather than the walking route, she takes the plunge, and director Saif depicts it with great gusto, dwelling on each compromise. She sleeps with a producer to bag a role, then hits the sack with a female producer, gets into a slanging match with a director whom she accuses of having sexually molested her, supplies a homosexual partner to a promoter of a top awards show. Net net what could have been a Page 3 about Bollywood ends up as a sleazy ride that paints all of Bollywood black, universally damning it as sleazepot where the surefire route to success and stardom is sex.
Eminently forgettable music by Ram Shankar and crude dialogues, plus a complete rejection of any sensitivity in handling the subject by director Saif mars what was an interesting premise. Jigyaasa will definitely get Hrishitaa Bhatt noticed again as an actress with promise, albeit not right through the film. It was good to see Varsha Usgaonker again and she performs her simple and straightforward her role competently, as do the character actors, Rakesh Bedi, Milind Gunaji, Mukesh Tiwari and Jaya Bhattacharya and Kader Khan. However, Vikas Kalantri is a disappointment, still appearing self conscious and not too fluid in his expressions. Some more experience would help him. And, perhaps, a much better director too. That, actually, was something Jigyaasa needed, but alas, here's a good premise completely rubbished by bad direction and worse taste.
Don't waste your time with Jigyaasa.
Rating: *
Ram Gopal Varma can heave a sigh of relief. For a change, the focus would shift from him to Anurag Kashyap when it comes to bashing a director for a film made by him/her. At the end of the year, when the award for the most horrendous film of 2007 would be given out, NO SMOKING would certainly win with the biggest of competitors being far-far away. Though RAM GOPAL VARMA KI AAG was leading from the front for many ever since it's release, NO SMOKING seems unbeatable until and unless a bigger turkey is served before 2007 ends.
Arrey ye tha kya yaar? I mean some talks about 'aatma', 'parmaatma', 'nashvar shareer' etc. etc. etc. "Mind and body, heart and soul" - goes a popular jingle by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy for a plastic card company. Seems NO SMOKING takes a cue about mind, body, soul and something more and creates a mish-mash of affairs which only he would have perhaps understood.
Anurag's intentions were right to begin with. He wanted to make cinema which breaks all norms. Perfectly fine. He wanted to present visuals as never seen before. Again correct. And he very much succeeds too in most part of the film. He wanted to tell a tale which doesn't quite belong to this world. No problems; it's good for an attempt. But then why not have your narrative walk along with the audience? Why to be 5 steps ahead at every point in the narrative?
The journey begins on an excellent note. Audience is completely hooked the moment John's sojourn in far off Siberia comes alive on screen. His nightmares coupled with his health and family problems hardly make a difference to his attitude even as cloud bubbles on screen showcase his hatred for his pretty wife Ayesha Takia. So far, so very nice.
John doesn't want to quit smoking but everyone around him wants. One of them is his squint eyed friend Ranveer Shorey who has lost his ears and fingers because he didn't follow Guruji's [Paresh Rawal] instructions for leaving smoking. John is the next in line for seeking Rawal's advise and his journey to his cell (a metaphor for hell) is done imaginatively too.
The trouble begins from this moment on. It's time to end the real world and get embroiled into some mumbo-jumbo which becomes completely indecipherable after a point of time. Guess what? Paresh has the video cassettes of all living beings (BRUCE ALMIGHTY anyone?), keeps track of all their movements, causes window panes to shatter by themselves if one of his patients is caught smoking, harms their friends and relatives (via satellite kya?) if the offense is repeated etc. etc.
Chalo ye bhi maan liya! As such even this is hard to digest but phir bhi maan liya. But aaila ye kya? Suddenly narrative becomes deeper and dense as some Cuba returned old friend of John (is he a smuggler, gangster, businessman - we don't know) starts talking about his name being spelt wrong and what brought him to India. He forces John to smoke. John resists. Paresh's assistants think otherwise. They punish John. It's a different matter though that 'action replays' project John as innocent. Pronto Paresh's assistant is thrown in hell. So much for 'insaaf'!
Achcha ab ye waala suno! Apparently there was no double role-shouble role business of Ayesha Takia in the film. She first appears as sweet-si wife in the beginning and then remerges as a triple-the-bust line secretary later, while confusing the hell out of the audience. Is she a different person? Or the same? Or probably some subconscious mind of John playing games. 'Arrey nahi, this time I will play simple', Anurag must have thought. It is so explained that the secretary is the same person as a wife and was some staged drama for keeping the office people guessing....and gossiping. Par kyon? Ye main nahi bataoonga. (Pssst, mujhe khud nahi pata!)
Here comes a dissimilar version to yesteryear classics of 'Devdas' that were so solemnly delivered the words of Sarath Chandra into picture. Well, in an era of cyber mania and lots of changes happening over, one cannot assure about the same classic hitting on top-of-charts. Yeah! Anurag Kashyap brimmed with such a motif strike a different note based on same lines. Of course, when you've Devdas turning into stylish DEV D, there's whole lot of innovative factors blended with some of real life incidents. Moreover, he has spelled a fantabulous piece by limning the characterizations more potently. Dev, Paro and Chanda; they've uniqueness of their own rigidity and that scores good points for Anurag. Alas! Like in much of the recent films, where a perfect script is fumbled with flimsy screenplay DEV D doesn't happen to be an elision. In fact, its stops the film half way from striking Gold and auteur could've perhaps worked the better way (Is it an impact of Anurag's adamant statement in recent interview 'I Do What I want to do'?). 
The film has been crafted with lots and lots of stylish factors and MMS has a great role over here. Perhaps, you can ennoble DEV D as 'Urbanized Version of Classical Devdas). Dev Dis a modern-day interpretation of the classic novel "Devdas" by Sarat Chandra. Dev, Paro and Chanda ofDev Dreflect the sensibilities, conflicts, aggression, and independence. Free thought, exuberance and recklessness of the youth of today. A generation that is jammed between eastern roots and western sensibilities.Dev Dis set in the rustic and colorful Punjab and also explores the dingy, morbid, dark underbelly of Delhi. From sprawling mustard fields to a riot of neon'. 
Fine! Getting on with storyline, there's nothing much dissimilar from previous versions. Dev (Abhay Deol) and Paro are devilishly in love with each other. Don't expect to the same classical poignant touch of divine love. Here's something more loaded with more lecherousness. Eventually, things are topsy-turvy when Paro is urged to marry another person. Now Dev has all his trust on 'Alcohol' (Aye! You'll find lots of promo for Vodka of particular brand) and drugs. When these have nothing to do with him, Dev happens to meet Chanda (Kalki Koechlin), a student who was affected by MMS issue turning into sex-worker. 
When you've three characterizations of complicated natures, it's gonna be a much more interesting show when they're interwoven. Finally, the show is all about the pursuit of real love getting accomplished. 
Anurag Kashyap seems to have made this version for international audiences. It's more illustrious on every vista of narration, adult contents and sleek technical factors. Maybe, DEV sitting at London and glimpsing on pics mailed by Paro in Punjab may go gaga with western audiences as well cosmopolitan cities of India. But a billion dollar question is that would a young lad or missy feel comfortable watching it along with their parents (again Anurag's statement 'I Do want I want to do' is prevalent seems to be prevalent here). Chanda's characterization of real life incident is a bold attempt. Here and there, we've lots of traces inherited from flicks made by avant-garde auteurs. 
With things completely gratifying the audiences' interest over there in first half, the latter part is a bit annoying. Sluggish screenplay with more predictable quotients lets you yawn frequently. On the pars, there are bits and pieces of absurd factors that naturally get diminished if audiences' aren't so keen on picking them. 
On the performance, Abhay Deol steals the show with a colossal piece of work. His smart looks and matured performances has it all peaking him to score great. Well, couple of actresses has delivered their best doing justice to their role. Anurag could've focused a bit more on Koechlin as she has got a solid characterization, but goes middling with her performance. 
A prodigious work trenchantly showcased by entire technical crew. Looks like Anurag is vividly influenced by Greg Harrison's 'November' and Pedro Almodover, the world's best filmmakers using stylish colors on the screen. Doubtlessly, they have been few amongst small group of avant-garde filmmakers who have narration and technical aspects scoring best equally. Kashyap tries making different attempts on technical panoramas of musical score and editing. Possibly, he could've made it stunning in screenplay too' 
On the whole, DEV D is a good film made with best experimentations by Anurag Kashyap. And even you can watch the film for a try out and come up with commendable applause for entire team though latter half is loaded with tenuous attributes. 
Verdict: An unusual one from clich'd versions' 
Rating : **1/2
Trust the Bhatts for spinning infidelity drama year after year, month after month. Couple of decades back, Mahesh Bhatt stuck to his instincts in the intense three dimensional drama about 'pati', 'patni' aur 'woh' in 'Arth'. 
His successors continue to churn movies based around similar lines, albeit giving it a different shade every time. The result is movies like 'Raaz' (supernatural angle), 'Jism' (lust), 'Murder' (passion), 'Zeher' (greed) and now 'Yakeen'. 
The basic crux still remains the same, a spouse crossing the 'lakshmanrekha' of fidelity to look outside for greener pastures, but the treatment changes. 
This time though the producer is not Mukesh Bhatt, but the fact cannot be denied that Vikram Bhatt as a story writer and Girish Dhamija (who has written many a dialogues for the Bhatts earlier) as the debutant director follow the footsteps of their mentor and walk into a similar terrain.
Lives of the two prime characters (around whom the entire story revolves) is going through a turbulent period. Not just Nikhil Oberoi [Arjun Rampal], a wealthy businessman and his glamorous wife Simar Oberoi [Priyanka Chopra] have met with a road accident in the hills of Manali, Nikhil's face too has been disfigured as a result of this. 
If this was not enough, he has lost his memory entirely and doesn't even recognize his wife. To make matters worse, he is informed by his business partner Siddharth [Ankur Nayyar] and his sister Tanya [Kim Sharma] that he was looking for a divorce from Simar before he met with this accident. 
The reason? On the day of the accident, he had accumulated proof from detective Chamanlal [Saurabh Shukla] about Simar's relationship with another man. Nikhil is confused! Why? Because he is being showered by all the love in the world by Simar post accident. Whom should he trust? His friends, his wife, his mind or his heart?
The truth discloses soon that Simar indeed was in love with a guy called Kabeer [Sudhanshu Pandey] but now her feelings had reignited for Nikhil. Even more so because Nikhil had already killed Kabeer before meeting with an accident. 
But is this the complete truth? Does Simar really love Nikhil? Does Nikhil fall in love all over again with Simar? Is this a happy ending of their love story? Do they live happily ever after?
Bhatts are back in business with Hollywood DVD rip-offs, this time with Wolfgang Peterson's flick SHATTERED [1991; starring Tom Berenger, Greta Scacchi, Bob Hoskins]. But they are not the first ones to have done this. 
All avid TV thriller watchers may remember that the same story was shown as a two part suspense thriller around a decade back on good old 'DD Metro' channel, the difference though being that 'Yakeen' has a much wider canvas than television. 
The movie may not be as tout a thriller as 'Agnisakshi', 'Gupt', 'Humraaz' or'Ajnabee' (all of which were centered around man-woman relationship), but dismissing 'Yakeen' without giving it one look would be a wrong option.
Prime factors that work in favor of 'Yakeen' are consistent pace, a twist every 15 minutes, novel script for (most of ) the Indian viewers and above all the performances. It won't be wrong to say that Arjun Rampal walks his complex role maturely once again after 'Moksha', 'Vaada' and now 'Yakeen'. 
His performance here would be watched closely by Bollywood filmmakers. He looks handsome too and in certain shots reminds every bit of the hunk that Sylvester Stallone was in his prime. Priyanka Chopra's good form in front of the camera continues with 'Yakeen' and does extremely well for a role that required her to change her chameleon like personality. 
SAAWARIYA is a film which didn't have a story to begin with, ends abruptly in such a way as if the last few pages of the script went missing and Bhansali was threatened by the Sony guys to wrap up the film. Pronto start flashing the end credit rolls and as a viewer you are left glued to the seats, not due to film's gripping power but sheer shock value, as the usher forces you to leave the auditorium before letting in unfortunate patrons queuing up for the next show.
If one looks closely, somehow one of the threads of JAB WE MET forms the entire plot of SAAWARIYA. The only difference here being that SAAWARIYA ends where JAB WE MET met it's interval point. Guy hands over the girl to the man she loves and the film ends. Period. Arrey, ye tha kya? Aur ye dikhaya kyon? Was it something to do with 'I-didn't-get-her-but-would-still-always-love-her' or plain 'bewakoofi'?
Sanjay Leela Bhansali has been announcing to the world that his SAAWARIYA is a simple story told in a simple and slow manner. Yes, the story is quite simple. And that's because actually there is no story at all. Is it told simply? Well, there are doubts to that! After all when even potholes are so carefully constructed as a result of multimedia programming and then architecturally designed on concrete, one would hardly term it as simple cinema. 
The film has been told slowly? Oh yes, and sir you deserve 20 out of 10 here. The film is so slow that one starts longing for an interval point 30 minutes into the film. Extra long pauses are the call of the day for this artistic piece of cinema that between two dialogues, one can pass on the popcorn and borrow some nachos without missing anything! And by the way that whistle which seems to be the theme love tune in the film and is blown by Ranbir, Rani, Sonam and all the prostitutes in the imaginary city of Bhansali is more eerie than lovable! In fact in the song 'Pari' when a group of prostitutes start walking in a ghostly manner towards Ranbir while bringing out this painful sound, it seems more Shyamalan cinema than Bhansali's!
The sore most point of SAAWARIYA is that there is no reason why people keep falling in love in 'pehli nazar'. It happens to Ranbir as he sees Sonam standing on a bridge. A year back it has also happened to Sonam who has seen Salman getting wet in rain (with his kurta on) as he reads his 'namaaz'. Their love is nothing but crazy as Ranbir is unable to forget Sonam while Sonam is unable to forget Salman. And in between there are also some misleading references to Salman being there/not there.
One hopes for these answers in the end but I guess this is where someone stole the script. The movie ends. Ranbir starts fighting off his sadness with a friendly self boxing match (watch out for this innovative reference which appears at least thrice) and Rani goes to the production office to collect her last installment of remuneration after through with her 'sutradhar' act.
One actually feels sad for the cast and crew of the film. Ranbir is a very good actor and one can see that he has given his all to come up with a fine act. Confident in front of camera and very likeable, Ranbir is an actor who can fit into different genres as he progresses further in his career. Still, apart from dropping his sensibilities to be convinced about the part he plays, he is also forced to drop his towel. Sonam on the other hand is a mixed bag. Mostly average, at places she does demonstrate good control over her emotions and body language. However, whenever she does her child-woman act, she becomes theatrical.
Eminently distasteful and not the least erotic or even titillating, Tauba Tauba makes a mockery of the audience. 
Presumably inspired by the freak success of Ek Chotisi Love Story, T.L.V. Prasad (who misdirected a series of no-brainers with Mithun Chakbraborty in the 1990s) casts Amin Gazi, that wonderfully expressive boy from Lagaan, as Sunny, a 15-year-old dimwit with loads of his debauched father's (Ayub Khan) money.
All the teachers of the country who were outraged at the prospect of a shallow pupil hobnobbing with his gorgeous guru have nothing to fear except sleaze. Sunny first ogles at a teacher in school (Supriya Karnik) as though he had just watched Rishi Kapoor in Mera Naam Joker gawking at Simi Garewal.
Then he, and the utterly confused director, quickly move on to other perverse prospects. Sunny goes for a hedonistic holiday in his father's mansion. In a few sequences, father is in an undetermined foreign country getting massaged while Sunny-boy back home is having a good time with his neighbour.
After the teenage boy and the woman next door have... er, sex, the narrative changes gears. The woman next door is found murdered. A few clumsy shots and then the 'director' decides he wants to make a comedy of errors about a fraudulent moviemaker and his aborted plans to hoodwink our 15-year old hero.
By the time Tauba Tauba creaks to a halt you no longer know what it's meant to be: a sex comedy or an emasculated tragedy. The performances are all about making faces at the camera. Those contorted faces seem to be teasing us for braving this bizarre burlesque about cheesy desires.
Even the dubbing is dreadfully uneven. The young 'hero' calls his depraved father a 'tie-con'. Is that what tycoons become when they are part of a film that should be rated 'PG' for Perverse Guidance?
Poor Amin Gazi. What's the boy from Lagaan doing in a film like this? 
Give the sex-starved multitudes straight porn flicks. They are less pretentious. And the performers are more accomplished.
Finally one gets a chance to watch the most awaited Diwali release - GARAM MASALA. After hundreds of webpage and newsprint being dedicated for this Venus production, there has been extraordinary hype around the movie. Would it be Priyadarshan's hat trick after 'Hungama' and 'Hulchul'? How does Akshay-John chemistry look on screen? Will Paresh Rawal do it again? Would it take the best initial amongst the two other releases? Will it break the 'No Entry' record? 
Speculations and even more speculations have been the order of the day and one eagerly enters the theatre to watch the flick. And is the end result worth it? Answer is - 'Yes, it is', but it is not the BEST comedy/entertainer to have come out this year, or for this matter from Priyadarshan. The movie is indeed funny and manages to make you laugh out loud at majority of instances but then call it 'over expectation' factor as one still feels that something somewhere could still have been more exciting!
The storyline of Garam Masala is quite simple. In fact to put it straight, it is more or less non-existent. Mac [Akshay Kumar] and Sam [John Abraham] work as photographers for a publication called 'Garam Masala' in Mauritius. Both of them share a love hate relationship while sharing a company apartment and bike. Both the hunks, especially Mac has an eye for the feminine beauty, inspite of being already engaged to Anjali [Rimmi Sen]. Both men also try their luck on their colleague Maggi [Neha Dhupia].
Things take a turn when Sam's photographs help 'Garam Masala' win a contest and in return he gets a promotion and a trip to America. Lady luck starts smiling on Sam and when Maggi too starts ignoring Mac then he vows to have better girls in his life. While Sam is in USA, Mac with the help of a mechanic [Rajpal Yadav], becomes the caretaker of a neglected designer flat. Now he is all set in his hunt for girls and soon enter Priti [Daisy], Sweety [Neetu] and Puja [Nargis] in his life, who work as air hostesses in different flying companies. 
To manage his girls, Mac maintains religiously up-to-date plain timings that help him bring the girls in and out of the flat with ease. In this task he is supported by a high-headed help at home, Mambo [Paresh Rawal], who loves doing every household chore except working! After his holiday even Sam returns back to India and starts staying with Mac. Meanwhile Sam too falls in love with one of the girls while Anjali continues to trust Mac that he would marry her one fine day. From here begin a series of incidents that bring to light the confusions and mayhem that happen with all the three girls coming in and out of the flat at different and sometimes even same timings.......
As stated earlier, if one tries to analyze the basic pretext of the movie, there is nothing much to ponder about. Garam Masala is primarily a movie with multiple gags thrown between scenes that come out of situation than being designed. After all how else could one explain scenes [like Paresh Rawal getting all flustered with cooking different variety of food for the three ladies] coming multiple times in the narrative and you still not being tired about it. Or the girls staying in two different rooms of the same flat and entering the main hall in almost a synchronized manner and still not come face to face?
If treatment by the director is the King here then a patchy screenplay at places is the villain here. The first half of the movie isn't great shakes with things settling down to be average after a good beginning. Just when Sam is promoted, one thought the battle of one upmanship would intensify but nothing of that sort happens with him being packed off to USA. One waits for some justification to all the hype that was created around the movie and that comes from the very beginning of the second half.
Futile as it is to compare two films on the same theme, you cannot but liken the lingering mood of nostalgia, regret, anger and incredulity in Kaya Taran with the recent Amu on the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
This rude awakening, if one may call it that, by reclaiming a vicious chapter in India's recent history is a sign of cinema's growing maturity and a healthy move away from the morass of enervating escapism into which visual entertainment seems to have irredeemably fallen.
At a time when Sanjay Leela Bhansali has taken Indian cinema leaps and bounds ahead of its prescribed territory in Black, here's a small, modest slice-of-life cinema which tries to blend a newspaper immediacy with a cinematic delicacy. And it succeeds to an extent that at least makes us thankful for the survival of outr' cinema.
Sure journalist-turned-filmmaker Sashi Kumar tends to overdo the didacticism and other dialects of his vocation that he carries over to the visual art. The early sequence where a journalist looks into the camera to recapitulate the savage carnage in the Trilokpuri area of Delhi during the riots is purely gauche. Such headline bashing is a little too self-righteous in tone to communicate itself to audiences in a cinematic context.
Also the effort to connect the 1984 anti-Sikh riots with the post-Godhra Hindu-Muslim riots in Gujarat and hence move on to discuss the Christian conversion controversy is to unnecessarily telescope the history of minorityism into one range of vision.
Religious persecution and cultural predominance in any context is equally savage. They cannot and must not be lumped together for the sake of convenient creativity. Genocide isn't a jingle. Fortunately, Kaya Taran forsakes hysteria and runs in a direction where the characters are people rather than socio-political prototypes.
Once Kumar's narrative moves into a quiet nunnery in Meerut, the plot moves into a more fluent and less self-indulgent gear. The cloistered cleaned-out world of the nuns is feelingly carved into the body of the plot, creating a sense of divine empowerment within a world that has suddenly decided to go morally berserk.
Limited budgets don't allow Kumar to convey the cruelty of the mobs in any detail. What he does is to focus on those pure helpless faces in the convent communicating a quiet moral authority that you know will somehow triumph over those trying times.
The most effective moments in the brief and heartfelt narrative begins once the nuns provide asylum to a traumatised Sikh woman and her little son who soon becomes the little darling in the convent.
There's a bit of cinematic suspense teased into the plot when the little boy from 1984 and the journalist-hero, who visits to convent in 2002, turn out to be the same. Rather than harp on the coincidence, Sashi Kumar uses the theme of continuity and renewal to give his narrative a gripping thrust into history's ironical twists and turns, so that we aren't looking at the plot's precocious invention but at the forces that motivate the characters to become puppets of history.
Some passages in the narration, especially a self-consciously choreographed dance after the little Sikh boy's enforced head-shaving and his escape from rioters in a coffin, tilt towards an imbalanced and indelicate juxtaposition of history and cinematic licence.
Still, you cannot question the filmmaker's integral regard for the persecution of the weaker sections. The cynical prattle in the publishing-house canteen and the journo-hero Preet's coming to terms with the savagery of his past are themes that empower Sashi Kumar's transition from journalism to movie making.
Attitude, intensity and raw action. These are the three factors that make 'James' a good masala time pass entertainer to watch out for. 
With Ram Gopal Verma's James, FACTORY goes one notch ahead with presenting a so-called-commercial fare that should shut the mouth of RGV's detractors who have been calling his movies as assembly line products. That's because James is the RGV's most formulaic movie ever. Hero, heroine, villain, goondas, politicians, corrupt cops, chase, 'dhishum dhishum', sword fights, comedy - it has everything that a hardcore potboiler always wants. And it comes at a time when such movies had stopped coming in altogether. So what makes this debutant venture by Rohit Jugraj so interesting?
It's EXECUTION and the hold over the proceedings that make James a highly entertaining stuff. Though towards the middle of the second half things tend to go stagnant and a bit repetitive, its a great first half and good climax that make James a good 'paisa vasool'!
Storyline of James is as simple as a love story cum actioner can have. Hero is James [Mohit Ahlawat making his debut] who comes from Goa to Mumbai in search of a job and gets one at a nightclub with the help of his friend Babloo [Snehal Dabhi]. He works as a bouncer there and comes across an under-18 model Nisha [Nisha Kothari] who is incidentally daughter of a meek DCP [Mohan Agashe] who can't even muster enough courage to confront politician cum goon Shanti Narayan [Zakir Hussain] and his troublesome brother Radhe Narayan [Shereveer Vakil].
Radhe lusts for Nisha who instead starts loving James after meeting him in a gym and then the nightclub where he works. James saves her from Radhe when he tries to molest her in the club and all hell breaks loose from here. Radhe, Shanti, cop Ravi Kale [earlier seen as Big B's right hand man in Sarkar], their team of goons, everyone is after the life of James. But it's his sheer willpower, muscle power and fearless attitude that still makes him stand tall against the opposition....
And this is what indicates the Rising Of A New Hero!!
At the very outset, it is very easy to dismiss this action movie as yet another mindless hardcore masala potboilers that just come and go. But not in the case of James, where it is the execution [as stated earlier] that makes James a notch above the ordinary. In fact it would require guts to try making something in the 21st century that has been seen in at dozens of movies earlier. Its probably easy to fool an audience when it is a new subject due to an element of expected unpredictability attached to it. But it is quite difficult to present to audience something that has been seen a zillion times earlier but still manages to keep the viewer's attention alive. And this is where James succeeds to a great extent.
One is sure all the while about what would follow next. But it is the how element that invokes a great response from a viewer. The proceedings are so intense and action so raw that it results in 'seetis' and 'taalis' from everyone alike. In fact it is one of those rare movies where even the multiplex crowd was heard whistling and clapping while the action sequences were on. From the slickly shot introduction scene of Mohit when he bashes goons in a train to the scene in the gym where he encounters Radhe and his gang to the jail break to chase sequence on the Mumbai roads [the best sequence in the movie] to the escape on a bus to the dog chase sequence to the final sword fight - it is the action that makes the movie an entertaining affair. All this is elevated further due to effective background music by Amar Mohile who elevates the tension to a high degree. Cinematography is sharp and usage of some black and white frames intermittently give an edge to the proceedings.
Not many auteurs in Bollywood adapt spellbinding stage plays for it happens to be an empaling speculation. Perhaps, there were few amongst many who spelled adaptations on screens getting ennobled as 'no-hopers'. Well, if you're seeking for an illustration, Rituparno Ghosh's 'The Last Lear' adapted from Utpal Dutt's 'Aajker Shehanshah' would be the best one to glimpse upon. And not too longer, you've Maharathi ' an adaptation of Uttam Gada's Gujarati play with same title. Aren't there are any filmmakers who can metamorphose best plays into best ones, not as blemishing piece of work? 
Alas! You'll call Shivam Nair into question about this and Maharathi disappoints to uttermost. Precisely, there's lot of perplexed approach among filmmakers in distinguishing between play and film. 
Not just about discerning film 'n' play, watch 'Maharathi' without comparisons and even then there's no room for singing praises for this flick. If Maharathi is so-called suspense-thriller, there's nothing off that substance we retrieve to our senses. Couple of reasons do make us feel so; lots of loopholes and absurdity in plotlines. 
Subhash (Paresh Rawal)has spent the last 10 years unsuccessfully trying to get acting parts in films. He makes ends meet by his uncanny ability to think on his feet committing small time cons on unsuspecting victims.
One night he saves a man's life, to do so he puts his own at risk. He accompanies the injured man back home. Subhash is awe struck at the grandeur and affluence of Mr. Adenwalla. (Nasserudin Shah) Subhash realizes this may lead to a generous tip.
Soon enough Subhash is hired by the grateful Adenwalla as his driver. The wife Mallika Adenwalla (Neha Dhupia) resents Subhash for his proximity to her husband and senses this man taking advantage of her husband.
Subhash now firmly ensconced in Adenwallas house and heart discovers his wife's evil designs. On the other hand, Adenwalla, driven to the point of insanity by his money hungry wife decides to take the ultimate revenge. He puts his wife in a catch 22 situation by throwing down a challenge.
Subhash recognizes this as an opportunity to rid him-self of a life time of middle class mediocrity and poverty. He collaborates with Mallika to acquire all the money and property.
Working hand in glove, they get a caretaker (Tara Sharma) with the help of their family lawyer (Boman Irani) to be a witness to an ailing Mr. Adenwallas presence in the house which they concoct their plans.
Several thrilling situations arise in their plan, ranging from false alibis, double-crossing, phony kidnappings to hidden agendas which wreck havoc all around.
But even the best laid plans can go awry and this brings ACP Gokhale (Om Puri)and Inspector Borkar (Vivek Shaw) into the picture.
How the scheming Subhash gets trapped in his own lies and how he finally manages to save his skin, forms the crux of the story.
Flimsy in substance, Maharathi is in-circled with nettlesome attributes of ambiguities on every plot. Naseeruddin Shah leaving his will for Paresh Rawal could've been justified if both of them were so close. Well, Director Shivam Nair fails to establish proximity between these characterizations and suddenly exposing a surprise is something we call 'inconceivable'. By and large, we have our auteur conking out with whacky factors like unconvincing death of Neha. Boman Hirani's character carries off with grandeur but it's diminished during next-to-last minutes of flick. Of course, there's whole lot of commendable vistas in Maharathi but these discrepant elements eclipse over them. 
Nothing to blame on star-casts for everyone on cards are brimmed with stunning performance. What else can you say when we have biggies Naseeruddin, Paresh and Om Puri are there on show. 'Awesome', 'Marvelous' and put forth your best appraisals for them and Boman Hirani is no exception. Neha Dupia spells a matured performance and it's an unforeseen piece of work on her part. Nevertheless, Tara Sharma and Vivek Shaug don't exceed our expectations. 
Venu's cinematography is laudable while background score enhances the visual quality of thriller genre. 
As a whole, Maharathi turns entire spotlights on its side with colossal performance of star-casts. Nevertheless, a perfect script is overshadowed by an insubstantial screenplay turning down the show. 
Verdict: Watch it for biggies' performance 
Rating : ** ' 
There was a coffee advertisement where tennis star Sania Mirza is overwhelmed by the weight of expectations to know that parents had been naming their daughters Sania after her name. I hope she doesn't watch Sangeeth Sivan's mad-cap-sleaze-flick 'Apna Sapna Money Money' for it seems that the director is more obsessed with her 'assets' than her fantastic game. The manner in which Sania'Has been badnam(ed) in this Mukta Arts film is enough for her to file a PIL in the court. As for this B-grade film'.It's sure to go down well with the front-bencher-penny-throwing-crowd. And why on earth Riteish Deshmukh and Anupam Kher have to resort to such banal humour'Beats me!
Sangeeth Sivan must have been encouraged by his Ekta Kapoor Sick-Flick (Oops'.make that sex film) 'Kya Kool Hain Hum' to have attempted an ode to money (make that ode to cleavage) with double entendre jokes and a wafer thin plot (make that virtual wafer thin). I was hopeful of watching something different from Shreyas Talpade especially after 'Dor' but I was sorely disappointed with his majnu Arjun act who'd do anything to attract attention of simple belle Shivani (Riya Sen). Living in his gali mohalla, Shivani is the daughter of an educated Shastri ji (Anupam Kher) who turns horny when he heads into Sania (Riteish Deshmukh in one of his many disguises) and would do anything to lay his hands on oranges. Oranges!....Forget it!
Kishan (Riteish) is an imposter friend of Arjun. Now, this friend himself needs some help as a Kanchacheena Rana (Chunky Pandey) is after his life for he has cheated him in a chit fund scam in the bikini-friendly Goa. On the run Kishan changes faces with a reckless felicity. While doing so, he bumps into Sania, the big thief (Celina Jaitley) with nothing but a skimpy blue dress to wear throughout the film that reveals more than what it hides.
Sania is being hauntingly hunted by Inspector Na-Maane (Suneil Shetty) and his deputy Borkar (How apt). The Rs 50 crore worth diamonds lands up in Kishan's custody. And Carlos (Jackie Shroff), the post-dated-check-Don doesn't like it. This madness is catapulted to another level by Chote Sarkar (Rajpal Yadav) with his penchant for emulating the stark silence of Amitabh Bachchan in Ramu's 'Sarkar' while making a name for himself in the underworld. It's another story that he is operating from a seedy 'Tabela' with hundreds of cows for company. 
Sangeeth Sivan is aiming to make a brand for himself like Priyadarshan, especially the climax-confusion where everybody is after everybody else. While Priyan's humour is mostly in good taste (excuse 'Garam Masala') Sivan's choice of comedy ranges from fantastic comical lines to banal-below-the-belt howlers. The nok-jhok between Rajpal Yadav and his crony Sunil Pal is hilarious. It's good to see The Laughter Challenge Champion Pal getting a role that makes him get noticed ('Phir Hera Pheri' was a joke on his talent). Riteish too is fast emerging as an actor of immense potential (Though he should resist from being typecast as the sex-flick-expert type). I also wish I could have seen him more in his jeans and Ts than the Salwar Kameez of his drag queen get-up. Koena Mitra didn't have to try too hard to be the original drag-queen as she looks a weirdo with those kohl eyes and a strangely structured face that makes her more manly than anything else. She sizzles on the saucy numbers alright. But it's a long time before she could think of being taken seriously as an actress.
In one word-Crass! Here's one film that evokes the worst kind of expletives from an exasperated viewer gawking at the terribly crass and trashy attempt at taking or rather raking up the age-old story of the casting couch. 
First, who's interested in casting couch stories any more? And unlike a Mahesh Bhatt (sorry Mister Bhatt, to bring you into the review of Madhubaala, of all films!) who is known for extremely timely adaptations of current news as films to make them contemporary and interesting, with Kalyug being a good example, director Yadav of Madhubaala seems to have woken up far too long after the event. The event being the controversy that aspiring starlet Preeti dragged top and National Award winning director Madhur Bhandarkar into, so long back.
There's no denying the parallels - they stare you in the face. A National Award winning director, who's risen to fame and won the award because of a film based on women's issues, actually misleads and emotionally entraps a generally reluctant young aspiring actress, successfully coercing her to yield to his physical advances, and then keeps using her by leading her on with promises of casting her in his next film, and then the next. That line ring any bells? At least from unproven accusations of a real life actress?
However, to return to the story at the beginning: The movie starts with a Mahila Mukti Sanghatan activist getting a call from Madhubaala (Kanishka). She plans to commit suicide but is stopped from doing so. Like it's obvious because if heroine dies right at the start how would the story move on? And now the story goes forward in flashback. 
Madhubaala reveals her reason for attempting suicide. Madhubaala had come to Mumbai to fulfill her dreams of becoming an actress. She has a convenient innocent lover boy Malhar (Gurpreet Singh) who always stands by her in her quest to become a successful actress. And one day, Malhar learns that the National Award winning director Raj Malhotra (Sameer Dharmadhikari) will be shooting at the club Malhar works in, and he takes Madhubaala to meet Malhotra. 
The ace National Award director is shooting what must definitely be one of the ten worst scenes of Hindi cinema, and actually applauds the awful performance of the extras masquerading as important characters in the scene. Malhotra tells Madhubaala to call him later, and that's that. Meanwhile, Madhubaala's been going from door to door to producers, soliciting a role. And lands up at a very evil looking, leering agent, whose lines and looks are full of double entendre, and who makes her sign a bond that ensures she will do whatever he suggests.
Kumar Mangat always dreamt of being an actor and sees his dream come true as he passes on the baton to his daughter-Amita Pathak. Amita makes her much awaited debut with 'Haal-E-Dil' with Shekar Suman's son Adhyayan and Nakuul Mehta.
But does Anil Devgan the man behind the disastrous 'Raju Chacha' do justice to Mangat's dream?
Synopsis'
HAAL-E-DIL tells the story of Sanjana (Amita Pathk), for whom love is chaste and sacred. It's the story of Shekhar (Nakuul Mehta) who keeps tripping for every second girl and loves to be in the perennial state of love, not realizing that he is going to meet a girl who'll change his existence. It's the story of Rohit (Adhyayan Suman), who would fall so deep in love that resurfacing would be impossible. Sanjana is at the crossroads of life where she has to choose between her perfect love and a perfect stranger. Who does she finally choose?
Who she finally chooses doesn't really matter as the movie is dull, boring and lacks conviction. Wonder how producers sanction such scripts and risk 3 talented debutants career. 
Anil Devgan doesn't really know where he is headed in an attempt to recreate a 'Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge' meets 'Jab We Met' with a tint of 'Darr'( that's related to Adhyayan's death).
The writer Dhiraj Ratan seriously needs to take a break from films. The screenplay is nothing but dragging just enough to kill one's time. You are bound to get irritated and confused with the flow of events and with no movement in the plot just for the actors dancing around from one location to another.
The cinematography is interesting but does no good when the film is miserable. 
Wonder what Ajay Devgan and Kajol are doing in that track. They are hardly there. As for Kajol's mom Tanuja , her constant close ups in the film trying to create a certain suspense element with her identity which just annoys.
Amita Pathak fails to impress with this flick but that doesn't mean her bit in bollywood is over. With a little more improvisation she is sure to get better flicks.
Nakuul emerges as the finest. Being vibrant and carrying a wonderful body language, producers are to line up for him.
Ahdyayan has not much to do in this flick but no doubt more films await him.
On the whole, 'Haal-E-Dil' is totally miserable and gets really annoying. But the poor script doesn't outdo the three debutants who are bound to get better films.
Rating : *
Appositely mirthful, surprisingly sweet, Welcome to Sajjanpur is one more trenchant piece of work from ace auteur Shyam Benegal. This flick isn't as appealing as worthy to be entitled 'The most dramatic comedy milieu'. It's not just about penning script inclusive of drollery aspects, but has something to a greater extent. Shyam Benegal depicts the present scenario of certain places of coetaneous rural Indian. Stiffly, Shyam spells out the satirical scenario of rural areas like Sajjanpur, where light of resurgence has been thrown people dwelling there. Still the same old superstitious beliefs, class ideologies, pathetic situations of widows, power blackouts and more havoc are prevalent. 
Candidly, this film instigates us of far-famed television series Malgudi Days that doesn't fade away from our memories. Much likewise in its motif, Welcome to Sajjanpur has congruous characters of its own sort: a young lad dreaming to be a novelist but posing as letter writer, an intriguing eunuch, a despaired housewife missing her husband, a frustrated army man, a stupid entity seeking for power and that isn't the end. The long queue of unique characters is more and most makes you reflect them with real life hoi pollois. 
Not so complicated in its theme, the film is so dewy-eyed with more enjoyable parts narrated with a blend of drama and humor. Shyam Benegal churning out the best exceptional flicks with substantial themes proves of his ability on commercial aspects on the pars. The film has nothing indeed to do with unique ideas, but what makes the film so especial are the personations contrived by auteur. With Bollywood films drenched with bloodbath and profane storylines, Sajjanpur welcomes you for a different tour of a great alleviation as it doesn't carry any of these attributes. 
Mahadev (Shreyas Talpade) happens to be the lonesome educated person in the village of Sajjanpur. Dreams about turning into a novelist, but fate let him to pose as letter-writer for all the villagers. Well, you have his perfect ethics of professionalism revealed where he doesn't use ball pens, but only ink pens. But Mahadev doesn't get himself ceased with it, for he pens the most commendable street plays. But, he doesn't want to get stuck up with unwanted hurdles and so remains assertive to a local political ruffian Ram Singh (Yaspal Sharma). Indeed, Ram Singh keeps seeking his help in penning letters of sulfurous words. Sooner, Mahadev realizes of his scrupulous potential of villagers dependent on him. It's now, he starts making use of his talent for something big that leads to bits of unexpected twists in the latter part.
Rigid characters and perfect casting of actors makes the film so energetic. Shreyas Talpade steals the show with his scintillating performance while Amrita Rao doesn't strain herself a lot. Yashpal Sharma, Ravi Kissen, Divya Dutta and others add more colors to the humor part. But, not at all time you feel trickling your ribs with comedy tracks. 
Musical score by Shantanu Moitra blended with lyrical lines of Ashok Mishra and Swanand Kirkire is felicitous for your ears. But, are the songs really necessary for this film is a million dollar question and without them, the duration would have been bit reduced. Cinematography grips up your attention, particularly with the colossal shots of scenic ambiance. Nevertheless, Aseem's editing work look fallible at certain points, but it doesn't go so blatant. Dialogues penned by Ashok Mishra is sure to win accolades, but he could sparkled with screenplay, for its drops off with the pace here and there. 
On the whole, Welcome to Sajjanpur entertains you with fun and frolic, but not so groovier. It's a chill-pill piece of work that makes you feel, the film is worth watching. 
Verdict: A Village-Journey worth it'
Rating : ***
Some of the films are made with a social message and stay on to be like that while turning out to be documentaries. There are some other films, like CHAK DE INDIA, which again convey a message but stay on to be out and out commercial flicks. And then there are some films which take the middle route. NANHE JAISALMER is one of them.
It is an excellent act by Dwij Yadav (who plays Nanhe) and a natural performance by Bobby Deol that make you sit through those 1 hour 45 minutes. There are speed breakers though (read: all the songs, except for the title song 'Nanhe Yaar') which makes one go for that popcorn break with the biggest culprit being 'Ranjhana', the poorest of all. In fact the choreography and picturisation of the song is so weak that it makes one of those television talent hunt performances appear far more polished!
Coming back to the film, Nanhe is a lovable character from the word Go. As a camel boy who takes tourists for a 'safari' in Jaisalmer, his character is far mature for his age (without resorting to being annoying, thankfully), knows his weaknesses (he wishes to grow old soon to take on the baddies), doesn't want to study because he is earning money anyways, eats 'gutkha', shares a lovely relationship with his elder sister and last but not the least simply loves his 'dost' - Bobby Deol, the actor, whom he has loved ever since he had paid a visit to the town when Nanhe was just four years of age.
Bobby Deol does pay a visit again and Nanhe's life is never the same again. He starts realizing the value of education, knocks off his 'guthkha' eating ways, takes on the baddy safari rival with his mind rather than fist and learns the ways of living a life with single minded determination. But was Bobby really the Bobby that he had always imagined over the years?
Some of the scenes in the film which are truly heartwarming are the ones when Nanhe realizes that his 'dost' is visiting Jaisalmer. Running around the streets with a newspaper in his hand is a scene which would be remembered for some time. The background score only helps the scene elevate not just in this instance but throughout the film.
Also, the scene when he makes his sister read out the newspaper throughout the evening has been shot beautifully whereas the camaraderie that he shares with the elder gentry in the town (Sharat Saxena, Vivek Shauq, Rajesh Vivek) is handled with sensitivity. Note the sequences when he first reprimands them all to change their ways when they come face to face with Bobby, only to repent it later. Well shot.
However, it is his scenes with Bobby which stand out most. Whether they are his meetings next to the lake or his home, they are done beautifully. The best is reserved for the climax though when the truth is revealed. The dramatic build up to the situation is well handled with just the right justification of sequences from start to the finish.
Note the way in which Nanhe realizes how the situations in his real life had converged with his imagination to show him the way of living life differently. Just the right and a practical finale for a subject like this though one tends to wonder if a small kid like him could have deciphered the entire sequence of events and subsequently adjusted to it so easily?
Though the film revolves around Dwij and Bobby, others like the girl who plays Dwij's sister, Prateeksha Lonkar (Dwij's mother), Sharat Saxena (in very good form), Vivek Shauq (thankfully controlled), Beena Kak (town MLA) and Vatsal Seth (in a small role as a grown up Nanhe) do well too. Film's cinematography is quite good with a consistently natural desert texture to the film. Background music is strength while Himesh Reshammiya's soundtrack is a weakness.
The film lives up to its title. 'Cheeni' is indeed 'kum' in this movie because just when you thought that the sugar coated proceedings would actually make you turn diabetic, director Balki suddenly decides to eliminate the dish with all the sugar and makes it taste so 'feeka' that you tend to relish only the first few helpings (read first half) than the dessert (the last 30 minutes).
In nutshell, this dish is to enjoyed more for it's main course than the dessert.
Now let's come to the bright side of the film. First half of the film rocks in a major way as there is not a moment when the smile goes away from your face. Whether it is Amitabh Bachchan's conversations with his team of cooks or the sweet moments with his regular visitor [Tabu], everything moves on like a cool breeze.
Each and ever sequence that has the two actors in a single frame creates fireworks as Tabu confidently takes on Big B in his own game. It is great to see Tabu showing her lighter side after being used to watching her in heavy-duty emotional roles. The two keep coming closer to each other with every passing meeting and never once does it seem that the writer had thrust romance on the two. 
The realization of love between the two is also handled with utmost maturity making it clear that the romance here is between a man and a woman, not a boy and a girl. By the time the marriage question is popped, you are almost eager to enter the frame and make them say yes!
So far so good. This is the moment where one would have expected even further fireworks with the introduction of Tabu's dad [Paresh Rawal] who is expectedly not kicked about the entire idea. The initial sequences between Amitabh and Paresh bring on the chuckles but later repetitiveness sets in and the movie gets into a different track altogether i.e. drama. The 'satyagraha' angle further makes you go 'yawn' as one starts missing those sweet-n-sour moments which were the hallmark of the first half.
Thankfully two delightful supporting actors ensure that there are some redeeming moments. They are Bachchan's mother [Zohra Sehgal] and his best friend named Sexy [Swini Khara], a 6 year old girl, who are the two people closest to his heart and life. While Zohra Sehgal is simply irresistible every time she appears on a frame (watch out for her as she reprimands Bachchan for not visiting gym regularly), Swini redefines the meaning of best friends. It is unlike the so-sweet-so-cute kind of potrayel that Bollywood has traditionally been known for when it comes to kids. Extremely lovable and intelligent, Swini's character is a case of apt writing.
Both Bachchan and Tabu are superb throughout the film and demonstrate varying range of emotions as required. In one of the romantic sequences between the two, one can actually sense the Bachchan of SILSILA as his eyes do all the talking with his beloved. Not to be missed! Tabu plays an urban woman to perfection as she challenges her to-be-husband for her 'stamina' when it comes to doing better things in life at this age!
From both music and editing perspective, there is a clear distinction between the first and the second half. While music is extremely likeable as the songs play in the background throughout the first half of the narrative, in the second half it is hardly effective. Ditto for editing since the scenes continue to drag on and on in the second half. Ideally the film could have been cut short by at least 30 minutes.
Perhaps, the title 'Raaz' should've got everyone's adrenalines shot-up, anticipating it to be a stupefying ride of roller-coaster. Well, the 'Bhatt' factor seems to spell tremendous magic when it comes to 'Horror'. Of course, who can refuse it or forget the most scintillating horror flicks released by the 'Bhatts'. Years back it was 'Raaz' and then '1920' had us tied to our seats and now 'Raaz ' The Mystery continues' isn't an elision.
Mohit Suri brims with a commendable directorial and precisely, he strikes with a decent effort on all quotients. Not only does this flick include a gripping screenplay; his top-notch designing of the technical aspects of cinematography and background score too has us raising our hands for a grand applause.
Does 'Raaz ' The Mystery Continues' offer a never-seen-before show of an exceptional storyline? Nah! You've the clich'd plotline of a ghost's unaccomplished desire for seeking revenge. But, the difference comes in the form of the unique intentions of a thirsty soul. Don't get surprised to experience certain replicas of 'The Exorcist', or the Recent Hollywood releases 'Mirrors' or 'Stigmata'. With all these properties Mohit Suri doesn't get you disappointed at any moment of the show.
Precisely, at particular points we've him getting through the lines of the 'classic-horror touch' that'll let your nerves frizzled and move you to the edge of your seats. Looking for an illustration; Uh-huh! Kangana's bathtub sequences, Adhyayan Suman dropping cash from an ATM Machine, they are sure to horripilate your senses.
A successful model Nandita (played by Kangana Ranaut) is in love with a creative director of a television program, Yash (played by Adhyayan Suman). Everything is fine and cool until Nandita's life takes a dramatic turn when she meets an artist, Prithvi (played by Emraan Hashmi). He tells Nandita that all the paintings he has made on her are getting disfigured which spells impending danger for her. Initially, she does not believe him but then she starts facing horrifying situations herself. After this, hell breaks loose and an unstoppable storm begins. Thus unfolds some of the most thrilling horror sequences of Bollywood with 'Raaz ' The Mystery Continues''
Kudos to Kangana, Emraan and Adhyayan; they are 'wordlessly stupendous,' showcasing their brilliant performances. Kangana engrosses with her fantabulous actions as a scary girl on the pursuit of detangling the dark-hidden mysteries. Watch her scream while on her anesthesia, they're tremendous getting you awestruck. Obviously, it's a million-dollar expression. On the pars, we have a flabbergasting performance by Emraan Hasmi in a silent-stubborn guy bounded with inscrutable looks. Possibly, Mohit Suri seems to have been vividly influenced by Ed Norton's looks in 'The Illusionist'. Thus getting similar makeovers for Emraan... Doesn't look like a debut show, but a decorous act by Adhyayan. Emoting to different situations of joy, horror and pain, he's patently colossal. Jackie Shroff does justice in his minimal role.
When it's a horror flick, everyone's gotta follow Hitchcock's traits of coalescing the factors of 'foreshadowing', 'pre-planting' and what else? Shuddery twists and turns with shocks 'n' surprisals. Mohit Suri doesn't tread away from the master's theory. If he had penned an impaling screenplay sans unwanted songs and presenting a fine-ending, things would've been far better than the present scenarios.
In fact, a 'horror' doesn't strike richer without perfect musical scores and a spellbinding cinematography. Of course, it's the most innovative angle-moves that fling such a feel' Ravi Waliah's cinematography is top-notch, particularly in the exotic locales.
A short-break from horror is offered through the songs 'Soniyo' [Raju Singh] and 'Maahi' [Sharib-Toshi]. The background scoring is stunningly prodigious enhancing the visuals, especially on scary sequences.
On the whole, 'Raaz ' The Mystery Continues' is a superb horror flick with few middling attributes. Although it doesn't happen to be as powerful as '1920', it's worth watching for the enchanting directorial of Mohit Suri.
Verdict: Scary on many parts
Rating : ***
When Mouli Ganguly, playing the Bihari hero's hostess in Kolkata, overhears her houseguest sobbing in the bathroom, she smilingly rebukes him. 
Next time you cry in the bathroom don't forget to turn on the shower...There are some things that you can learn from women.
The dialogues, so sensitive and supportive of the director's dramatic yet naturalistic narration, say more than what words generally convey in our films.
Catching the rhythms and patterns of everyday life, taking the male protagonist Manoj (Ajay Devgan) from the dusty little town of Bhagalpur in Bihar to the doorstep of his long-estranged beloved in Kolkata, Rituparno Ghosh's first film in Hindi journeys from the coasts of the present into the deep bowels of nostalgia to ferret out moments of great expectancy and articulate narrative patterns.
It's a character study of two derelict lives playacting for one another's benefit. The plot and its unfolding are extremely Chekovian.
So who's fooling whom? Is it Niroo (Aishwarya Rai) with her tales of an affluent marriage while legacies of her life's wreckage stare into Manoj's face?
Or is it Manoj with his wildly made-up yarn about life as a serial maker - a bit of constant playacting that gives Ghosh a chance to take naughty pot-shots at our primetime serials and soaps.
Ironically, average audiences today would much rather stay at home to watch those very soaps that Manoj pretends to make for a living.
Raincoat is a film that must find an audience. It harks back to the golden era of art house cinema during 1975-1985. If Ghosh had made the film then, he would've quite obviously cast Shabana Azmi and Naseeruddin Shah who would've slipped into character without a whimper of protest. 
In fact the theme of desolation and dereliction that ran across Mrinal Sen's Khandhar resurfaces in Raincoat as Aishwarya Rai in her most accomplished performance after Devdas and Chokher Bali. Her clothes, girth, body language, all suggest a keen desire to perform more than a commensurate performing ability.
Normally an actor shouldn't be caught by the camera or the audience giving a performance. Ajay Devgan doesn't get caught acting. Aishwarya does. That's partly because her character needs to act on two levels -for her surprise afternoon visitor and for the audience. 
She achieves a remarkable level of one-ness with her character. After a point we begin to see Niroo's verbose delusions of marital grandeur as both tragic and funny.
She is especially effective in the last quarter of this chatty chamber-piece when she serves her guest a meal. Her entire demeanour in this stage of the storytelling suggests a dignity in desperation. 
It's hard to say what another actress would've done with Niroo. Aishwarya gives her a certain postural poignancy bordering on hysteria. Her character holds the film in place, just as Abhik Mukherjee's camera tries to seek out sources of tentative light in the bleakly lit, nearly extinguished world that's Niroo's home.
But the one truly outstanding performance comes from Annu Kapoor who drops into the film's cloistered setting after the interval and seems to understand the protagonists' drab lives far better than they do themselves.
The verbal sparring between Niroo and Manoj is not too expertly inter-cut with flashbacks from the past when we see the couple's small-town affair fizzling out in the face of Manoj's lack of assertion and motivation.
Well , there is actually nothing much to mention about this film which has been swinging around with its release dates . The producers even went out to have the hoardings placed upside down hoping that luck would just shine upon their flick.
Well the film promises interesting names such as the likes of Aryamaan (whose launchpad 'Family' misfired due to Amitabh Bachchan's ailment), Sayalee Bhagat, Ranvir Shorey, Archana Puram Singh and Aditya Datt the man behind 'Aashiq Banaya Apne' spearheading the flick.
Synopsis'.
Vicky[Areyamaan] wants to make it big as a singer but is cursed by bad luck and on the other hand, Saba[Sayalee Bhagat] is enjoying her good luck spree. But with a series of events Saba kisses Vicky and the good luck too gets transferred around thanks to a tarot card reader [Archana Puran Singh].
Things get miserable for Saba and now she has to get her shot at that kiss to get her luck back once again. In between come characters such as Lucky Ali (who plays a music Baron) and Ranvir Shorey( who plays a gigolo ) drop in.
For a filmmaker like Aditya Datt who was quite a name with his first 'Aashiq Banaya Apne', he seems to be taking the graph downwards. What a disaster of a film! 
Where's the plot? A straight lift from 'Just My Luck' which was a dud itself. Lindsay Lohan was nominated for the worst actress award at the Razzies, wonder whether our guys in this flick would procure a few Razzies.
The movie just goes on and on with its share of poor jokes and people trying real hard to be funny. Sayalee Bhagat seriously should have chosen a better film, throughout she just annoys.
Areyamaan too fails immensely with his delivery and lacks conviction. Lucky Ali, what was he doing there? Ranvir was pushing his luck too far.
Music by Anu Malik was rather hilarious than soul stirring or romantic. The choreography by Shabina Khan especially in the last track is weird.
An Out and out waste of time and a real disappointment from Aditya Datt.
Rating : *
Desi Sharon Stone, anyone? In Sheesha Neha Dhupia plays the modern-day version of the good twin-bad twin saga that Rakhee had pulled off in Subodh Mukherjee's Sharmilee more than three decades ago.
Siya is love, Riya is lust, and the rest is one huge libidinous cat-and-mouse game with the mute Riya posing as Siya to get her sister's man into bed.
Be it a case of sinister-in-law or routine raunchiness at sleek Bangkok locations, every component in Sheesha screams with an energetic eroticism.
If Dhupia displayed a certain aesthetic provocativeness in Julie, she has pulled out all the stops in her role in Sheesha.
The new fast-paced narrative and the over-saturated soundtrack create an unambiguous, orgiastic quality as leading actor Sonu Sood (akin to Shashi Kapoor in Sharmilee) struggles manfully in an ill-written role.
It's rather absurd to suppose that a man would sleep with his horny sister-in-law in the mistaken belief that she's his wife.
To Sood, however, goes the credit for playing the first full-blown male sex object in Hindi cinema. The last time a screen vamp made her libidinous intent so clear was Helen to Rajesh Khanna in Mere Jeevan Saathi 30 years ago.
For some strange reason, Bangkok is shot to like Mumbai, complete with vast stretches of automobile-dotted highways and sleepy skyscrapers shrouded in neon brightness.
The tussle between good and evil has some unintended moments of hilarity, though. 
An Anglo-Saxon actress gets bludgeoned by Riya - a heavy price for swimming in an alarmingly brief bikini.
Some stunts in crowded places in Bangkok are staged with a confident perkiness and the climactic showdown on a helipad does make you sit up in your seat.
In all fairness, Sheesha is packaged with more care than other recent sleaze fests recently. 
But ultimately, what does it say about the quality of screen life in India, especially after Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Black?
Somewhere in a village in northern India, a train brings the troubled protagonist Mohan Bhargava chugging to a halt at a godforsaken station. A little boy runs along screaming, Water for 25 paise. 
Mohan, who has never touched anything but mineral water in India, buys the water...probably contaminated but still water that belongs to his soil, his country....
The life-defining moment in Ashutosh Gowariker's eagerly awaited follow-up to Lagaan is so sincerely sublime and so intricately poignant that it brings to mind some of the most tragic interludes on the vicissitudes of Indian poverty, as seen in Satyajit Ray's Pather Panchali and Bimal Roy's Do Bigha Zameen.
Swades is a unique experiment with grassroots realism. It is so politically correct in its propagandist message that initially you wonder if the government of India funded the director's dream.
But, no, this neo-classic, conceived and designed as the great Indian journey into the heart and soul of poverty, is funded entirely by Gowariker's idealism.
It's a work that's as simple, lucid and lyrical as a tune sung in repose by that minstrel who sings not because he must but because he knows no other thing.
There's an enchanting intimacy to Swades that invites you in without trying. The plot is so obvious that you wonder why an ambitious, commercial behemoth like Gowariker would want to make a film about a young, highly successful Indian expatriate's rediscovery of his roots! 
Once the director sets off on this journey of self-discovery with his protagonist, he doesn't flinch from the sheer transparency of his familiar yet fascinating tale. Often in this long and finally deeply fulfilling voyage you wonder what could possibly have prompted the director to make a film that doesn't pull any punches, resorts to no gimmicks and chooses to stay supine at a time when cinema has become hysterically over the top.
As Mohan takes a homesick journey from his cushy job in NASA in the US to a village near Delhi to meet up with his foster-mother (Kishori Ballal), we often finds him in situations that could eminently qualify as clich's on patriotism.
But Swades avoids being a 3-hour-15-minute long flag of nationalism. 
There're hardly any hysterical highs (not counting the grand moment when Mohan unleashes water-generated electricity) or looming lows in the storytelling.
The format adopted by Gowariker is akin to a TV soap. Life flows effortlessly and fluently along with the multitude of characters creating an elaborate drama conveying the opposite of the two other notable NRI-returned-home films Pardes and Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge with Shah Rukh Khan in the lead. 
If the other two films were giddy, glamorous celebrations of patriotism, Swades is far more austere and comprehensive in its view of India's acute need to recognise its weaknesses and strengths and act accordingly...and urgently.
Parts of the film are patently polemical. Gowariker stops the narration to let Mohan lecture the characters on why we as a country haven't been able to provide food and education at the grassroots level. The passionate dialogues by K.P. Saxena ring true even when their righteousness threatens to pitch the words from the pulpit.
Gowariker isn't scared of his idealism getting the better of his cinematic impulses. It doesn't adopt any of the technical methodologies that a multimillion epic must necessarily adopt in order to spin a marketable web of eyeball-arresting images.
Expressions and screenplay create maximum impact in the intense drama called 'Sarkar'. It won't be wrong to say that 'Sarkar' stands firm on these two pillars. From the very first shot of Amitabh Bachchan's 'qila' (fort) being projected in a innovative fusion of convex and concave lenses to the last shot where Abhishek Bachchan enters his father's (big) boots to become 'Sarkar', Ram Gopal Verma's genius of creating a spell binding impact is clearly visible. And no! The director didn't go away anywhere to come back in form! He was just waiting for a good enough product to hit back. And he does that in a tremendous fashion !
Welcome to the world of 'Sarkar'. 'Sarkar', who lives in a fort that has its own army. 'Sarkar', who does what HE feels is right. 'Sarkar', who doesn't need a business management course to learn that 'Power' comes by uniting people, not by creating a rift between them ! 'Sarkar', who runs a parallel government. While Subhash Nagare [Amitabh Bachchan] popularly called 'Sarkar' by his followers, does his bit for the needy after hearing their grievances, or offers drug peddlers a cup of tea while refusing to either work with them or letting them work, the camera never fails to capture subtleties like a maid in the background cleaning up floors or his grandson cycling in the lobby! And this is where the beauty in the screenplay lies!
'Sarkar' begins with a one line statement on the screen - When A System Fails, A Power Will Rise - hence paving way for Nagre to make a kick start with his ready judgment. Good 30 minutes are spent to introduce every character in the movie. Dark look accompanies every frame, be it 'Sarkar's elder son Vishnu [Kay Kay], his 'secretary' Ishrat Ali, his consiglieri Chandar [Ravi Kale], his South India counterpart Selvan Mani, his CM friend Deepak Shirke, politician Raju Mavani, drug peddlar Rashid [Zakir] and Chandraswami 'character-alike' Virendraswami [Jeeva]. Abhishek Bachchan, as a mature son returning from US doesn't get a grand entry but the scene showing him arrive at airport with 15 odd gun wielding guards in tow do create an aura. There is (rather unwanted) love triangle too with Katrina Kaif and Tanissha, but thankfully it is relegated to the background.
Story wise 'Sarkar' is quite simple as it is about a man who does his best for the 'junta'. How everyone from politicians, underworld, religious 'gurus' and his own son Kay Kay conspire against him and attempt to eliminate him and his 'Sarkar' forms the crux of the movie. How Abhishek Bachchan thwarts their plans and becomes 'Sarkar' himself is the biggest highlight. If one thought that coming together of both the Bachchans on a single frame would be the single most USP then that would be unfair to other actors. Some of the best scenes in the movie are not with the two of them but some others like:
1) Drug peddler Rashid approaching Sarkar with a profit sharing proposal. The way Sarkar rebukes him and then warns him in quick succession is a brilliantly executed sequence. Background music elevates the scene to a high from where the movie never looks back again.
2) Kay Kay's confrontation with Big B after killing the hero of his film. His outburst, abusive language and sheer displeasure for his father make him the most hated man on the scene. One of the best dramatic scene, Bachchan's eyes and his subsequent wave of hands asking him to go away say it all.
3) Interval point, which is candidly shot with Big B getting ready for jail while Abhishek stands near the door say it all....that the younger son wants to own the responsibilities from this moment on.
'Hastey Hastey' comes in this week with debutant Nisha Rawal accompanied by Jimmy Shergill and a triple role by Rajpal Yadav.
Synopsis'
Neel [Jimmy Sheirgill], a student at Columbia University, is in love with Maya [Nisha Rawal]. Sunny [Rajpal Yadav] is Neel's room-mate and also his buddy. Neel accepts a career opportunity that requires him to go to India to set up a call centre business. Much against Maya's wishes, Neel travels to India with Sunny.
Tanvi [Monishka Gupta] is a young executive who goes out of her way to help Neel and his team in India. She is instantly attracted to Neel and tries her best to win his heart. But Neel rejects Tanvi. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned and Tanvi succeeds in making life miserable for Neel. How Neel comes out of it is the remainder of this misadventure. 
'Hastey Hastey' is no doubt a very dull and weak plot. The story just puts you to sleep. The movie lacks miserably in terms of content. The movie offers zero laughter and would better be known as 'Rothey Rothey'.
Right from the writing by some US based writer to the direction by Tony the film is an overdose of flaws which makes you get really irritated. The songs are an overdose and are just there for heck sake. Not a single track is registered and makes the film a never ending saga.
Nisha Rawal is just like a plastic Barbie doll, she struggles with the acting and her delivery is terrible. Monishkha too is dull and does nothing more than shedding her clothes.
Jimmy Shergill seems to have signed this movie while he was asleep. 
Rajpal Yadav in a triple role! What were the writers and director thinking? Maybe they thought that one could escape with some ridiculous jokes by Rajpal Yadav. Rajpal too seems on a money making rollercoaster and needs to be very careful with the kind of movies he does. Rajpal too is terrible and what's with the ridiculous clothes he's wearing?
On the whole, 'Hastey Hastey' is a complete waste of time. It's a test of one's patience and is sure to be a washout with zilch comedy. The IPL matches are set to kill this venture.
Rating: 0/5
There's so much to see and ponder over in Shyam Benegal's epic Bose - The Forgotten Hero. One cannot really take it all in during one viewing. To do full justice to Benegal's achievement one needs to go back to the work's nuances in leisure.
I've done that. I've waited a week before writing my review.
Bio-pics are tricky things. They work only when the central character holds up the drama.
To play Subhas Chandra Bose, one of the most turbulent and adventurous national leaders India has ever produced, couldn't have been easy. Sachin Khedeker simply slips into Bose's personality. The actor doesn't assume the legendary nationalist's personality by trying to look like Bose (though admittedly there's more than a passing resemblance).
Khedeker instead tries to get into the mind and heart of this freedom fighter who wandered from country to country to glean support for India's freedom from British rule.
If there was no self-congratulation in Bose's indomitable fight for self-governance, there's no hamming in Khedeker's portrayal of the enigmatic hero.
We can stretch the analogy further to include director Benegal in the web of understatement that characterizes this true-life drama on the dynamics of political freedom.
The prolific director has lost none of his penchant for creating the drama of humanism through images that seem at first, ordinary, but are actually emblems of an existential dilemma.
Wisely, Benegal's astute writers Shama Zaidi and Atul Tiwari focus on the dialectics of the human drama rather than getting submerged in the politics of the turbulent period when India sought to find its liberty from foreign rule.
One of the myths regarding Bose, which the film effectually squashes, is that Bose was at loggerheads with Mahatma Gandhi.
During one of his many heartwarming conversations with his lieutenants, Bose, getting sentimental, says no one will ever know his true regard for Gandhi.
Ideological conflicts spring out of this socio-political epic to qualify and define the man and the politician. There's no confusion or overlapping between the two roles in Benegal's vast range of vision.
Thanks to his extraordinary team of actors and technicians, the filmmaker ably re-constructs Bose's life and ideology as being two halves of one remarkable personality.
The battle sequences shot on location are gratifyingly authentic. But it's the humane moments which motivate Benegal's script to humanise Bose and make him appear more of a wandering ideologue than as the fiery rebellious misfit that Indian history has chosen to judge him.
The controversial portions where Benegal's Bose is shown to marry a German woman and produce a baby girl are done with the soft but firm hands of a visionary who won't let history obstruct his vision of the protagonist's personality.
All through Bose's struggle for India's freedom from foreign shores we see him as a pragmatic yet sensitive patriot.
A great deal of the film's compelling conviction comes from the actors.
The film springs a number of marvelous performances. While Khedeker runs across the narrative in a zigzag of inter-personal politics, the other members of the cast come and go creating a compendium of ambrosial cameos.
Divya Dutta (watch her where she pretends to feed kheer - rice pudding - to the missing Bose in their Kolkata home), Ila Arun (watch her in the farewell sequence in Kabul where she gifts Bose with three gold coins to free her country) and Rajit Kapur (constantly shadowing Bose) are outstanding in their own space.
'Shiva' is back after sixteen years. The intensity of Nagarjuna and emotional appeal of Amla is replaced by the Woodstock Villa of one and a half expressions Mohit Ahlawat and Pout-Queen Nisha Kothari, the dare bare miss with ample cleavage-n-shapely-legs to display. Alas, this old wine in a new bottle is a rehash of hundreds of films of a one-man-army against the rotten System. Now, in an era when the Home Minister's fixation with closure of Dance Bars is more important than action against terrorist activities, potholed roads, lack of disaster management and flash floods, you don't have to be an Einstein to understand that the public has turned too cynical to really bother about lets-change-the-system syndrome unabashedly perpetrated by Ramu's Last Action Hero (It's another debate about the acting disability of Mohit Ahlawat). 
In his angry young man ishtyle Shiva (Mohit Alawat) bashes up any and everyone that crosses the line-of-law. He has his share of domestic problems with brother Daksh (Ranvir Shourie) and Bhabhi Manasi (Suchitra Pillai) having issues with his police-ki-naukri. Distressed by the lackluster attitude of his seniors, Shiva gets embroiled in a major showdown with John (Shereveer Vakil), a prominent henchman of Bappu (Upyendre Limaye) as he misbehaves with Sandhya (Nisha Kothari). Well, Sandhya is a crime reporter and obviously she finds the macho Shiva irresistible. 
Before moving further, I would like to point out that the most novel part about 'Shiva' is the character of Bappu which is based on underworld Don turned MLA Arun Gawli. Gawli is called the Daddy of Dagdi Chawl and Bappu is an absolute copy with similar face, moustache, language and even his love-hate relationship with media (Remember what happened with The Asian Age Reporter who had gone to interview Arun Gawli and the consequent harassment he received at the hands of Gawli's henchmen). Now, coming back to the film, Bappu first tries to buy Shiva and then flies down special killer Kutney (Most bizarre comical killer I've ever seen) to finish him off . Everything fails and Bappu is behind bars. Home Minister Shirke (Dilip Prabhawalkar, yes the same guy who played the lovable Bapu to apna Munnabhai) summons Shiva and teaches him a lessons on how system can mutilate him if he doesn't stop doing what he is doing. 
The rest of the story is easy to imagine on its own. What is incredulous is that Shiva is such a super hero that he never gets hurt and one feels like pitying the good sense (If at all they have any) of the goonda element as to why they can't use their revolvers when they have it. Instead they prefer doing some kushti with the beefy hero. There's nothing new in the story and if this is how Ramu is going to remake 'Sholay' then all I'd say is please dude, take a break. Go for a long holiday with any of your arm candies (Jiah, Nisha or anyone else if you've found by now) to a foreign land and let your mind unwind. In terms of direction, if you've seen RGV's Gangsta flicks, then everything is predictable. The maniacal, unkempt henchmen with a silly sense of humour, skin show of skimpy babes to satiate the carnal desires, a love story that never really develops and an ending that's not really definite but just another vacuous pause. 
After a dry spell at the box office primarily due to school and college exams, comes the release of one of the most awaited films of the year. Tips Industries, the producers of the film have put in so much dedication and moolah to assure the masses that they see a flick that looks international.
The director duo, Abbas-Mastan returns with yet another thriller, but this time around a flick that is sleek and high on style. After over 6 years of waiting, the duo finally does a film with Saif and is it worth all that much?
Well to take off, the film revolves around two brothers; Ranvir [Saif Ali Khan] and Rajeev [Akshaye Khanna] who own a huge stud farm in Durban, South Africa. They breed horses on their huge ranch house and are also the biggest bookies in the horse racing circuit. Ranvir, the elder of the two, is known to be a very shrewd man. He is very aggressive and is always on the move. Rajiv, on the other hand, is very laidback and is also a chronic alcoholic. Sophia [Katrina Kaif] is Ranvir's personal secretary. She adores her boss and loves him. Ranvir is totally unaware of her feeling and regards her adoration as her efficiency. Sonia [Bipasha Basu] is an upcoming Indian ramp model in Durban. Sonia loves Ranvir, but through a twist of fate gets married to Rajiv. When she discovers that Rajiv is a chronic alcoholic, things begin to get worse. Eventually, Ranvir and Sonia come very close to each other and an affair starts between the younger brother's wife and the elder brother. When the younger brother starts suspecting his wife, all hell breaks loose.
A murder is committed, a contract killing is issued, double crossings become the order of the day' A sharp-tongued investigative officer R.D. [Anil Kapoor] starts an investigation with his brainless assistant Mini [Sameera Reddy].
Abbas- Mastan have proved it over the years that no one can beat them when it comes to the thriller genre. With films like Khiladi , Baazigar , Humraaz ; Race might just add to their list of hits. The film has several twists and turns that keep you saying 'oh' and reanalyzing everything so that bits and pieces of the story fill in to form the collage called Race. 
But one little factor that has to be noted is that as the duo directors attempt to make things complicated and shock the audience , they just kind of lose out on the whole plot and this con man film at the end makes the viewer wonder when did certain characters team up to plot against the others.
The screenplay of the film by Shiraz Ahmed is good but at times is loose. The 1st half of the film is quite a drag and the songs look really forced upon. Next time around, Abbas-Mastan should consider chopping some tracks. Maybe this time they couldn't do so considering their producers are Music giants.
On the acting front, the film truly belongs to Saif. Saif looks stylish, smart and carries the adrenaline in the character perfectly. His dialogue delivery is just amazing and the action sequences considering he did them all by himself is just commendable. Watch out for Saif's jump from a great height. It's terrifically done courtesy Allan Amin. 
With due credit to all the actors in the film, Race wouldn't be all that racy if it wasn't for Saif. Watch out the dialogue where he addresses his younger brother on the funda of winning-losing and on the outcome of betrayal where he blows up his jockey's car.
It is silly. It is inane. It is unbelievable.
It is so easy to lash a movie when the chips are down. Years in the making and struggling to hit the marquee, NEHLLE PE DEHLLA, was never meant to be a classic. Heck, it never even intended to take itself seriously
This is why there is a surprise in store if one watches the film with no apprehensions or expectations. Because those 2 hours do come packed with enough fun moments to make you come out of the auditorium smiling and some of the sequences linger in your mind even hours after the film is over.
Meet Johny [Sanjay Dutt] and Jimmy [Saif Ali Khan], two small time crooks. Often meeting each other in jail, they love to hate each other.
Once out of jail, they hit upon a dying accountant [Avtar Gill at his down-market best, something that he does quite well] who has been knocked out by the partners of Balram [Shakti Kapoor], a scheming Manager who has done a 30 crore worth 'ghotala' off her niece Pooja's [Bipasha Basu] Hotel business. Since the accountant is in the know-how of this scam, it was imperative that Balram along with his 'tikdi' of Punjabi brothers, Mukesh Rishi, Asif Sheikh and Shiva, get him out of their way.
So far, so 90s and so nostalgic!
All this and more continues in a comic mode without giving the situations any overtly dramatic or thriller mood and credit goes to script writer Yunus Sejawal, dialogue writer Rumi Jaffrey and director Ajay Chandok who have just one plan in mind ' to keep the situations light hearted and let the audience enjoy the proceedings with a smile on their face.
Coming back to the plot, once the dying accountant gives Jimmy and Johny the hint about 30 crore scam, they get themselves employed as waiter in the same hotel to get to the root of the problem and unearth the mystery. There they meet Pooja and her best friend Kim [Kim Sharma], and in true 90s style, they all become soul mates.
While non-stop fun continues as Jimmy and Johny try to search for the money in the hotel, there is a twist in the plot as they realize that it is Balram who is the mastermind behind all the scam. Meanwhile Balram too wants his 'tikdi' to knock off the two and calls them all for a visit to Mauritius. But the trio has a plan of their own as they now intend to be the boss and instead kill Balram himself.
Once Jimmy and Johny arrive to meet Balram, they realize that he is dead and along with him goes their dream of getting 30 crores. But the fun is not over as the dead man is their key to survival. And now they need him to be with them more than anyone else who was alive.
Many more funny situations follow as the trio is given an impression that Balram is alive. And now they want to kill him at all costs. What happens next is a 'bhel-puri' of funny situations that involves the nostalgia of David Dhawan films and makes you laugh along at the absurdity and inanity of situations.
It is easy to write off a film like this but at the end of the day one needs to realize the fact that penning a script like this is also not a joke. With a paper-thin plot, what is of utmost importance is to plug the narrative with so many fun moments and gags that the audience doesn't get time to think.
This is the reason why some of the scenes make the audience gets into collective laughs:
Director Indra Kumar's caper about a deaf-blind duo is further affirmation of the fact that this summer vacation is comedy time in Bollywood.
Pyare (Fardeen) is blind, while Mohan (Vivek Oberoi) cannot hear, and these pleasant, likeable young men, well settled as partners in a gift shop they own, have only one mission in life. It's also their sole prayer to God and the raison d etre of the film: to find the women of their dreams, the women who will love them with all their hearts. But of course, there's a thrills angle too, and the two lines eventually, predictably, meet before long.
First, you've got to stomach the premise, which shouldn't be very difficult to do, considering we've all been weaned on masala commercial movies! Consider: Both, Pyare and Mohan, are excellent dancers, singers and fighters, even though Mohan, as we know, is deaf, and Pyare is blind. Pyare keeps in sync with the dance steps of a group with out being able to see them, and Mohan keeps faultlessly in step with the beat without being able to hear it. They were film stuntsmen who had a terrible accident and ended up losing sight and hearing respectively, and are today comfortably ensconced in a completely customer-less Archies Gallery of their own, set up with their own savings and bank loans. Must have set them back by a cool 50-60 lakhs at least, going by today's rates. How they managed that, without friends and family anywhere in sight, is a mystery. They also have a house, bought, again, by way of loans. By the way, Pyare packs a mean punch, but needs Mohan's verbal directions to land them squarely. And this comic masala film doesn't even pretend to depict the deaf and blind realistically.
In fact, this comic caper begins with a chilling sequence in a church confession box, where an obviously off-centre don Tony Fernandes (Boman Irani) has come to confess that he plans to kill someone the same day. And then we cut to a bodily lifted sequence from The Untouchables, in which the Tony, baseball bat in hand, maniacally bludgeons one of his partners in crime to a bloody death. Tony is pure, mad evil, and even in the brief opening sequence, Boman gives him the dangerous edge of a psychopath. But alas, as Tony bids the rest goodbye and enters his car, it explodes in a ball of fire, and Tony is killed.
And then the fun begins as the film shifts tracks to the comic. It begins crisply, introducing the duo with deft and hilarious strokes, defining Pyare as a visually impaired young man with a large heart and who can tell between a good and a bad-intentioned person. He buys a newspaper he obviously cannot see, and in a hilarious sequence even helps a poor blind man calling out in distress for help to cross the road.
In another hilarious sequence, Mohan is introduced dancing like a dervish at a wedding procession. His eyes are shut and he's enjoying himself. But before he can tell, he's veered from the wedding procession to the wake of a funeral, still dancing away. It happens to be the late don Tony's funeral, and Mohan bumps into Tiny, who is Tony's empty-headed younger brother, and who actually ends up getting arrested due to Mohan.
There have been number of films in the recent past that have boasted of being set in noir genre. Sadly, none of them have actually turned out to be truly noir and sunk in a big way.
'Raqeeb' doesn't!
Truly noir in its narration, it takes audience through an exciting ride from the very first frame of the film and leaves you at a point towards the second half of the film when you feel that the story has culminated. But no, that's not the case as the noir narrative gets over after being 30 minutes into the second half and the thriller/horror genre takes over.
This is where one feels like giving director Anurag Singh a pat on the back for trying out different genres in his very first film. While the noir genre remains intact throughout as Sharman Joshi narrates the tale of a poisonous temptress [Tanushree Dutta], there are some comic and romantic moments through that only help the film not become too heavy.
In addition, there are those 'Raj Kanwar inspired' dramatic moments which turn out to be the high points of the film. Watch out for the interval point that brings the three key protagonists Rahul Khanna, Tanushree Dutta and Jimmy Sheirgill face to face, well almost, and you would know why!
The film only takes a turn for the better from this moment on as the pace catches up in the narrative. You have been introduced in the very beginning that Tanushree's character is not the one to be believed and hence there is absolutely no surprise (as intended by the director) when she plots the killing of her billionaire husband Rahul along with the help of her lover, played by Jimmy Sheirgill.
The murder does happen, she plays her move yet again to have Jimmy behind the bars (no one is surprised even at this moment) but there is one link, as agreed by even the character that Sharman plays, which is missing. As an audience you start wondering that how come the narrative is moving way too fast, what was so special about the entire setting if everything was required to be so much visible and on-your-face and what is it that is not meeting the eye!
This is where the narrative takes a different (and an unexpected) twist as you start getting a hint about the game of deceit that was being played in front of your eye all this while. What appeared like Tanushree's world all the time seemed to be inhabited with more than a decade old skeletons tumbling out of the closets at an alarming pace.
The suspense surprises and one starts relating to the little moments that Anurag Singh had embedded in the screenplay from the very beginning of the film. Hence while he fooled audience into considering themselves as too smart to be picking up the bigger hints, he kept the smaller ones close to his chest, hence adding on the shock value. To support this, you are treated to nuances like Rahul Khanna remembering about his past, his wonder-computer that converts a voice into an alphabet, his hacking capabilities, the car accident, Jimmy's eavesdropping on Tanushree's making out with her beau and last but not the least the an entire murder plan and the players involved.
What doesn't work though is the hurried climax that could have been churned out in a better way. Agreed that the fast moving second half is the plus point of the film but why the need to have blow-one-blow-two in the mandatory 'maar-dhaad' sequence in the climax and suddenly the rolling of end titles along with a mandatory promotional number start rolling.
HOME DELIVERY - that's the film one remembers mid-way through BHEJA FRY. The concept is basic - an idiot comes to the house of an overconfident/arrogant man whose idea is to demean the lesser mortals and think of your own as a cut above ordinary.
In HOME DELIVERY it was Viveik Oberoi as the overconfident dude, in BHEJA FRY it is Rajat Kapoor as a suave high-flying executive. In HOME DELIVERY it was Boman Irani who was an idiot messing up things every time he thought they were all right, in BHEJA FRY it is Vinay Pathak's character that follows the same route.
The difference then comes in the fact that while HOME DELIVERY tended to get emotional and sentimental with humor going kaput at regular intervals, in case of BHEJA FRY humor is the lifeline of the film and lives up to its whacky title. Result? A wholehearted entertaining fare.
Rajat Kapoor and his other richie-rich friends have a strange passion - to bring along an idiot on a Friday night and make them do things unintentionally that would enliven the party and relieve them from the stress of their hectic weekly schedules. One such night, it is Bharat Bhushan's [Vinay Pathak] misfortune to be a 'bakra' as Rajat decides to rope him in as his idiot partner.
Series of events make it imperative for Vinay to stay on at Rajat's house and what follows from thereon are activities happening over the course of a single night. After seeing his wife's [Sarika] walk-out, Rajat has more misfortune knocking his doors as his back gets hurt, his mistress [Bhairavi Goswami] turns up, Sarika's ex-boyfriend [Milind Soman] walks-in unexpectedly and last but not the least, Vinay's colleague [Ranvir Shorey] too joins the fun.
And all this while there is one man who stays on to be the center of attraction - Vinay Pathak.
A man who thinks highly of him as a singer, he is also passionate about wearing the 'babudom' all around him, whether it is his walk, mannerisms, body language, facial expressions, costume or his accessories. Especially funny is his possessiveness around his scrapbook that he loves to retain with him all the time.
The underlining theme of BHEJA FRY is to live up to its title and try to make the moments irritating but still funny. Such moments are ample in the film as Vinay Pathak plays his irritant character to perfection and never fails to bring a smile on in each of the frames that he appears. He is the pillar of the film and along with Rajat Kapoor; he builds an amazing camaraderie that was required for their love-hate on-screen relationship.
Since his DIL CHAHTA HAI and MONSOON WEDDING days till CORPORATE, Rajat Kapoor has built an image of a rich suave personality. He takes this forward in BHEJA FRY too while adding on his own sense of creating a comic atmosphere. On the other hand Ranvir Shorey, with whom Vinay has been a hit-jodi from the days of television, takes a relative backseat as he shows his quirky side in the select few scenes he appears.
Milind Soman has a likeable screen presence and he maintains that in BHEJA FRY too. The ladies are fine too, though not exceptional. It is a delight to see Sarika making regular appearances now while Bhairavi is decent. Tom Alter is as usual.
It is not an easy task for a subject like this to hold on viewer's attention throughout the narrative. To his credit, debutant director Sagar Bellary does well to infuse the film with such humor [some obvious, rest subtle] and makes sure that the film's comic graph doesn't dip down at all.
