Movie Review: Karthik Calling Karthik

The Hindi film world had long been riddled with mediocre films or high budget films but very rarely with thoughtful films. But the multiplex generation has changed the landscape with a new breed of directors, producers and actors. There is a chance of seeing a totally nonsense movie and just as much chance of seeing a 2 hour sensible or sensitive depiction of a storyline by a crew not burdened with expectations or stereotypes.

One such movie is Karthik Calling Karthik. I was expecting to see a romantic story being told with a twist or two. But it turned out to be a thriller which was quite a surprise. Farhan has done nothing more than an OK job. I may be in the minority, but I don't find him a good actor. Deepika is also quite plastic, but at least she can look pleasing. ;-). But kudos to the screenplay and director for keeping their wits about their thin storyline and keeping everything together. The supporting cast is very small and contributions also minimal and hence nothing noteworthy to mention in terms of acting either. Since there is a mystery element to the story, I wont delve on that part, but then, there is nothing else to delve on in this movie either. The ending was a bit abrupt and it was almost like the director had made a deal with someone that he would not want this movie to go too long and get kicked out of multiplexes. :-) The music is surprisingly appealing and a couple of songs are really catchy, though I had not bothered to listen to them on the airwaves earlier, but are part of my playlist now.

A nice movie that is worth a watch. I give it a 7 on 10.

Movie Review: Paleri Manikyam

A mallu movie in a theater after a looong time. We were five of us and we paid a total of Rs.200 for the tickets and no parking hassles. I would have paid the same amount for a single ticket in Bangalore! Anyway, back to the movie.

Paleri Manikyam is a period thriller which goes back to the time of the first communist government being installed in Kerala. Since it is a detective "whodunit" kinda thing, I obviously can't delve too deep into the actual story, but it is to do with the rape and murder of a young lady and then the elaborate cover up. The story is well taken forth in the first half with very limited yet accurate depiction of the 1950s. The second half starts well, but then tapers down a bit and ends as a whimper. Mammotty in his many roles has done a good job, while his supposedly platonic criminal analyst friend is absolutely useless. She neither serves as good eye-candy, nor is she playing any part in the story other than smoking and questioning. The rest of the characters have too small a role to be really impacting, but the convenience with which some of them volunteer information is unexplained. Above all this is the very reason as to why the protagonist starts on this investigative journey some five decades after the incident occurred. A good detective movie must drop enough hints for the viewer to play detective and solve the mystery and not just drop an obvious clue at the end or a totally new character introduced to close the mystery loop.

All in all, Paleri Manikyam is a good attempt at a thriller, but fails in certain areas which tends to slow the movie down and hence can't keep the audience glued down and wits challenged. I give it a 6.5/10.

Movie Review : Delhi 6

I caught this much anticipated second movie of Rakeysh Mehra during its first weekend after release. I was not really keen on this movie till the music released and got more interested after a couple of colleagues gave me a positive review after they watched it on the day the movie released.

The movie describes the "holiday' journey of an American born to Indian parents coming to India to drop off his grandmother who wishes to 'rest in peace' back home. An "All American" Aby baby comes to the chawls of Old Delhi to be greeted by the contrasts that would surprise even folks who have stayed in India all along! Apart from a few "cool" and "nice" remarks he is not too perturbed by what is transpiring in the antiquated streets of Delhi-6. While taking in the smell, sound and taste of Delhi-6 our hero slowly falls in love (desi style incest) with his uncle’s daughter. While poking his American value system onto the almost childishly immature occupants of Delhi 6, he incurs their wrath in the most obvious problem that could crop up, communal tension. All this under the backdrop of the monkey man controversy that hit the Delhi streets in 2001. The movie climax is obvious and expected in more ways than one, and hence I skip it. :-).

There isn't a strong storyline or great performances to note. Throughout the movie there is an innate sense driven into people that "India Works" while making Cliché yet needed comments on politically incited communal tensions. The music is good, the screenplay is excellent and Old Dilli plays a wonderful backdrop to this movie. A see once and forget experience, I give Delhi-6  a 6.5 on 10, docking 0.5 off for not living up to expectations.

BTW, I up the music review rating of Delhi-6 to 7.5. I liked the picturisation of a couple of songs. :-)

Music Review:Dilli 6

On the heels of the much heralded audio track of Slumdog Millionaire (I still wonder why), Rahman gives us Rakeysh Mehras next movie, Dilli 6.

Masakali - Kinda weird. I don't usually like Rahman when he tries this kinda stuff, but to the contrary to my usual assumption, Its not a bad hear. Surely a one month ear candy and some more.

Dilli-6 - The title track, this has a lot of character... kinda pacey. It has some lady rapping in some foreign language, probably french, and then in Hindi too with a similar accent. But nice mixing of styles...

Hey Kaala Bandar -  Sung really well and a very good english rap merge. The lyrics are actually good(for most part) and a catchy rhythmic tune and beat. This one will rule the radio channels for quite a while.

Bhor Bhaye - I am not classically inclined, but from what I heard, this is very well sung and otherwise out of my league. :-) One for Shreyas resume, if she will ever need one.

Dil Gira Dafatan - What does the title of this song mean ? Nice strumming and later on scottish pipes. Can't think of many music directors who can give us this kinda instrumentation feel. But that being said, the husky male vocals didnt do it for me and I didn't feel anything special in the tune either. I have an inkling that Rahmaniacs will brand this as one of the most brilliant tracks ever and stuff. To escape their wrath, lemme say, I don't have a clue of such high fundoo music, so let me be. :-) Hopefully situational song, otherwise the most pedestrian track of the album (for me).

Arti tumre bhavan mein - Whats with Rahman and devotional sounding songs ? He always seem to get it right, whether its bhajans or sufi songs. No real music to talk about, but a totally riveting tune. For reasons I can't well explain, this is winner of the album for me and would have loved for it to be longer that it actually was.

Arziyan - Again Rahman with his devotional sounding song and this one has got great male vocals. Both Javed Ali and Kailash Kher have exceled in my opinion.I didn't think there was anything out of the way in the tune, but a nice hear none the less. They neednt have had this as a 9 minute song though!

Ghenda Phool - Now this is what Rahman would call fusion, and why not. A rustic voice (Rekha Bharadwaj) mixing with club beats and yet sounding like they belong. This is the second song (first being Kala Bandar) that I would like to see the picturisation off. Though the lyrics give away the generic locale and feel, the music seems too 'out there' for it to be anything usual. Lets wait and watch....

Rehna Tu - Rahman sometimes keep the best track of the album for himself, but he hasnt done that here, since this is not a special song. Its OK sounding and Rahman sounds very Rahman like and there is nothing more to write home about.

So, all in all, we have a mixed bag with Dilli 6, with some songs that are good, some average and none that is bad per say. I would give it a 7 on 10, and the lesser rating coz, for me, there is no real cracker of a track in this album. :-(

Movie Review: Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi

Those who know me well enough would be shocked that I actually saw this movie. If its any consolation, I didn't pay money to watch it. ;-) If you are still shocked, well, my defence is, I don't like SRK, but a Aditya Chopra movie could be interesting.

Anyway, I ended up with a copy of this movie and decided to give it a go. The movie is no where close to the completeness of other Aditya Chopra movies, but is not a bad one either. Its rather too filmy in portions where the age old superman crap works i.e. the guy loses his glasses and moustache and voila, his wife can't recognize him any more! Except for a couple of songs, the rest are forced upon you and kinda kills whatever little narration is working. Music lacks the punch, but is adequate I suppose. There is nothing special to mention about the other facets of the movie making as such, all was pretty straightforward representation of the directors vision. The film lacks any connection with reality and that is its biggest flaw, I suppose. For this movie to be effective, it should not have been a second over 2 hours, hell there is no story depth to even last that long.

SRK has done a decent job, but he always overacts and this movie is no different. Vinay Pathak has been wasted in the movie. He needs to be careful of not losing his "charm" so to speak, with Dasvidaniya, Oh My god and this movie all coming close on each others heels. Anushka Sharma is definitely the find of the movie. She dances superbly, can act decently enough (especially for a debut movie) and except for scenes where Aditya chopra actually tries to create some melodrama, she is quite natural with her expressions. In my opinion, she can take deepika padukone head on and whip her ass!

I would rate this movie at 6/10 and have a special mention for Anushka's dance, she sure can move! :-)

Music Review: Yuvvraaj & Ghajini

I had been thinking of writing a review for Yuvvraaj for more than a week now, but just haven't gotten around to it. So, here it is, along with a bonus Ghajini music review. ;-)

Yuvvraaj:
Subhash Ghai wielding the directors mic after a long time (I think). Honestly, I don't think much of the guy as a director, but hey, what do I know! :-) So, as a movie, I was not looking forward to Yuvvraaj, and if I go by the reviews, I was right. But w.r.t music, "anything" from A R Rahman has gotta be more interesting than the rest of the fare. And this time, Rahman does not disappoint. The album is one of the best from Rahman off late and considering Jodhaa Akbar earlier in the year, bettering that, in my opinion was a tough ask. Rahman did just that with this album. Typical Kay-Kay range melody in Tu Meri Dost Hain and well rendered by Shreya and a good start in Bollywood by Benny Dayal. I feel he has goofed up around the end of a stanza at about a minute and 20 sec into the song, but I don't seem to find support from the most musically literate person I personally know (my wife :-)). Tell me if anyone else feels that Benny lost it. Next is Shano Shano which is a typical peppy number but a little slow for being a party song though. The next one, Tu Muskura, is my favourite in this album. How Rahman got Alka Yagnik to croon like her good ol' days will remain a mystery, but hell she has delivered! And Javed Ali, what can I say, I just like his raw, rustic and fresh voice. I need to hear this guy sing more! The album probably didn't need another light song, but it has Mastam Mastam. In my opinion, this is the weakest song in the album. Zindagi has the smooth-as-silk Srinivas delivering the song beautifully. This is more a Srinivas song than a Rahman one. Dil Ka Rishta is where Rahman displays his growing prowess in western style orchestration and does a really good job. Manmohini is an ok song I suppose, probably too classical for me to appreciate it. :-) . All in all, I loved 3 songs, and find the rest of the songs also to be good. I give it a 7.5 on 10. Have I ever rated albums before ?

Ghajini:
Getting two super albums in one year from Rahman that I love is rare and getting a third was almost too good to be true. But after hearing the promos of Guzarish, I knew I could well be surprised. Its Javed Ali again and another great song! As if his souding like Sonu Nigam was not confusing enough, the humming in the middle of the song is actually by Sonu Nigam! A very nice song and sung very well. Aye Bachoo is a fast number and ever so stylishly rendered by Suzanne. I liked it more for the attitude in Suzannes voice. Kaise Mujhe has Karthik at vocals doing a decent job and the song starts off with promise, but the song kinda moves into this lazy note and kinda lacks the initial emotions till Shreya does the rescue act. This is quite rare for a rahman song, and the album has been going only downhill from Guzarish. Behka by Rahman flavour of the season, Benny and the constant of the season, Shreya. The song didn't do anything for me. The promos of the songs seem interesting, but the song by itself was not. Latoo is a true run-of-the-mill song and somehow Shreya, though does a decent job, should leave this genre of songs to Sunidhi. A rather disappointing end to a promising start. I give it a 5.5 on 10, and I guess even this rating is being helped by the latent leftover effect of Yuvvraaj.

Rahman has been very busy this year, and I am yet to hear the soundtrack of Slumdog Millionaire. Maybe we have more to come from the Maestro before the year ends...

Movie Review: Quantum of Solace

Its been a while since I have written a review and what better to get back to the groove than Bonds latest movie Quantum of Solace. I really loved Daniel Craigs first bond starrer and truly had high hopes for this one and hence got the release weekend tickets.

As it turns out, the movie was not all that special. Daniel continues to be the Bond who prefers to punch his way out of trouble rather than take help from gadgets. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but a very thin and unclear plot didn't help the movie. Other than Bond, there is no character that stays back in your mind, not even the villain. The movie camera work is too fast and hence seems patchy at times. There are no ladies in the movie to note, with Olga Kurylenko merely a presence for the sake of it. During the movie I did wish for Q to come back from the dead and give Bond a gadget or two, just to spice things up. But alas, the only accomplice Bond needed were his fists. Some action scenes were good, but again, not enough action around the
action scenes, if you get my drift. The forced references to the
sequences and characters in Casino Royale was irritating, and to think that the movies climax is also driven by it was a let down.

As usual, the plot or the lack thereof is for you folks to see and savor, but my take on it is a 6/10 and I am being very lenient.

Movie Review : A Wednesday

I was not in town last weekend and missed the movie reviews of the newly released movies. But my sis-in-laws SMS'ed me the ratings and was not surprised to see A Wednesday got 4 stars. The movie stills were impressive coz it came through as a no-bullshit movie and catering to the multiplex audience (which is so me!).

So, not surprisingly, I saw the movie this weekend. Its a short movie by Bollywood standards and has no song-dance sequences, no mushy-mellow stuff and definitely no hamming! The actors at the helm of the movie, Naseeruddin Shah and Anumpam Kher have got a chance to work in a movie befitting their talent. The story is crisp and to the point with next to no surprises, gearing the viewers for the suspenseful few minutes at the end. Since its a short movie with a tight storyline and no frills, one doesn't get bored and this pacy point of the movie is good. The role of the journalist has been shaped out badly and doesn't have enough meaning to it. Using the media to see the happenings "live" has been seen many times in movies in the past and the same is used here too.

People who plan to watch the movie, please stop reading now, as spoilers follow. I will try my best to retain the interesting parts of the plot. :-)

The story is very straightforward. Its a "I have planted bombs, free the terrorists" plot. Though I liked the movie because of its intent, the possibility of something like this happening seems way too remote. No one has the time, money, will, guts or one may say, even need, to do something as what the protagonist has done. And there were some very amateurish mistakes too.

For e.g:
1. How did Naseer get access to all the money needed for something like this ? He seems like a 'common' middle class man.
2. For someone this techie about everything else in the movie, his lack of attention to detail, like getting a simple disguise while getting into the police station is stupid
3. Use gloves! Doesn't anybody watch CSI ?? :-)
4. Its fine for Naseer to be getting cooked in the mumbai heat, but couldn't he have spared his gear ?
5. If Anupam Kher had not intention of catching/Killing Naseer, why even go to the supposed site of operations that Naseer used ?
6. If Naseer was using "some" software to do number hopping, why care for changing the SIM each time ? Why even come to mumbai to do stuff ? Sit at home and have fun!

Anywayz, all in all, a decent fair, paisal vasool, worth watching once! I give it a 7 on 10.

Movie Review : The Dark Knight

A master director comes with a sequel to an already very very successful prequel. Christopher Nolan brought the comic hero out of his comic book persona created the earlier batman series, and got us the very dark, more real (well, as real as can be) batman with Batman Begins. With The Dark Knight, he has taken the franchise to the next level.

The movie is again very dark, in true Nolan signature style. A warning to folks interested in watching the movie, you are hopefully a fan and hence know the characters, else do some reading. Nolan has not spent much time in delving into the past or significance of characters, so, come prepared. Though Christian Bale has done a great job along with the rest of the regular cast, the show was owned by the refreshingly cool and eerie screen presence of Heath Ledger as Joker. A once in a lifetime performance, and sadly his last, as was later pointed out by my cousin, that Heath Ledger died earlier in the year. With all respect to Jack Nicholson (ex Joker), Ledger made me sit up and watch the Joker and not find him funny. Since the plot and suspense is truly what made this a great film, I will refrain from even coming close to it. But the ending description of Batman and Gothams need for him... well, truly great writing(again Nolan and his brother!).

IMDB has given it 9.7 on 10 making it the #1 film of all time, Rotten Tomatoes has given it a 94% fresh.Needless to say junta and critics find this a great movie... and why not, It is! I give it a 9 and take away a point coz... well, I think Nolan could have been a little less caring for the bad guys in the movie, but then, DC Comics couldn't let him have his every which way, could they. :-)

Movie Review: Tashan

Its been a while since I have blogged on a movie review. Its not that I have not been watching movies but no movie evoked a strong enough response in me to blog about it.

Then came Tashan... wow, what a movie! As soon as the movie ended, the first I wanted to do was blog about it! The movie was horrendously disappointing!! Yashraj films never had it off late (IMO) and they have proved it with Tashan. The films has pathetic performances from everyone. The most irritating was Anil Kapoor with the screwed up Hinglish or whatever you call what he was talking. Saif Ali Khan does nothing, and Kareena's performance was a huge let down after Jab We Met. She has got a great bod, but there is only so much crap that can cover up for. Akshay Kumar was ok, let me reemphasize on the OK.

The music is decent, at least 3 songs which you can hum to. But what really lets the movie down is its lack of a concrete script. Too filmy a story for this day and age. Imagine 100 people firing machine guns at a target which is some 30 feet away and not a single bullet hitting the target! There are some gross oversights too.. for e.g. in one scene Akshay does get shot by a bullet, but the very next scene there is no sign of the bullet wound.


Anyway, a real crap movie, 4 on 10.

Music Review: M.I.A-Kala

To start off... Wish you and your family a very happy and healthy 2008!

A friend of mine pointed me to this youtube video. The music was extremely catchy and infectious! My friend and myself discussed this and felt it sounded a lot like dapang-koothu and very gaana sounding lyrics. To add, it seemed to have some sorta desi influences in the basic tune too. Now that it had got my attention, I had to dig around a little more...

The name of the artist is M.I.A and the name of the album is Kala. I remember seeing this as one of the best selling albums of 2007 on some music trivia page. At first sight, this reminded me of some hip hop artist from US and disregarded it. But after hearing it, was totally impressed with the peppiness. And once I got to the wiki page, I was convinced with whatever my friend and myself had discussed.

The artist M.I.A's real name is Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam, a UK based artist originally from Sri Lanka. Her dad is a LTTE member and she has been shuttling between Sri Lanka, India and UK during her early years. Her first album is named Arular, named after her father and her second one is named Kala, which is named after her mother.

All in all, a very new and interesting sound. A definite must-hear.

Movie Review: I Am Legend

Long time since I saw a new release, and was hoping for a winner with I Am Legend. You mix Will Smith with weird beings or aliens and you have a recipe for a blockbuster or so I hoped.

The movie is all about a virus which infects all of mankind and other living creatures, killing 90% of humans and making most of the remaining into very physically powerful zombies. The only thing that they fear is light. Will Smith for some unknown reason is immune to the virus and lives his life with his dog. His daily routine is pumping iron, conducting experiments on rats with different variants of his blood in an effort to find a cure and then wandering abandoned streets in search of DVDs to watch. All goes terribly wrong one day, when he is trapped by the zombies using one of the contraceptions that he uses to catch them! In the fight that ensues, his dog gets infected with the virus and he has to kill it. He loses his cool and tries to kill how many ever of the zombies as he can. He kills quite a few and is about to become zombie food, when miraculously, a girl and her brother come from nowhere and save him. This is the most unconvincing part of the story.

The surprise inclusion to the list of human survivors sets up for a finale, wherein Will Smiths house is raided by the zombies and he manages to save the girl and her brother but not before he magically finds a cure and not without having to blow himself up. The girl and her brother escape to meet up with more survivors (wonder where they were all along) and who are expected to help use the cure on the zombies.

All in all a disappointing fair. There were moments of tension and newness, followed by absolute ridiculous turns to the story and in the end there are just too many questions left unanswered or answered unconvincingly. Will Smith is ok in the movie and can't say much for the acting of the zombies. :-). I would give it a 6 on 10.

Movie Review: Jab We Met

When was the last time I saw a movie during the weekend that it released? I think it was Matrix Revolutions. Sheer chance saw us getting tickets for Jab We Met in its opening weekend. I wasn't too anxious to see this movie, but then, 4 stars from TOI holds some promise. And there I was, at the multiplex I hate, Innovative, at 9:30PM, to watch probably the last movie starring Kareena and Shahid (they have apparently split in real life).

The movie starts off with Shahid being dumped by his girl and really despondent in life. He attends her marriage, drops everything on him and sits in some train (AC coach, no less :-)) and is off to wherever the train is off to. Enter Kareena, on her way to her hometown Bhatinda, for the last time, after which she plans to elope with her boyfriend, Anshuman. The ever talkative Kareena befriends Shahid and start their funnily adventurous journey to her hometown. Once they reach Kareena house, everybody loves Shahid and we have a couple of songs to keep us entertained. This is followed by Kareena seeking Shahids help to elope. He does manage this successfully and sees her walk off to her boyfriend. Unfortunately her family thinks she has eloped with Shahid and are mighty pissed off.

Shahid goes back to reclaim his life and does a great job at it. He sees Kareenas exuberance as his guiding force and sees things change for the better. Meanwhile, Kareena has not called her family in 9 months and when her family sees Shahid on TV, they track him down to get some answers. What ensues forms the climax and since its a hit, in typical filmy style, all ends well. :-)

But all said and done, this is a superbly directed movie, low budget, good screenplay and studded with a superb performance by Kareena and a decent one by Shahid. Its definitely value of money and more than worth a watch. I give it a 7.8 on 10. :-)

Movie Review: Johnny Gaddar

There have been very few good movies hitting the theaters off late and a good review from a couple of friends and TOI got me off my butt to watch new comer Neil Mukesh (Grandson of singer Mukesh) get his career started.

Johnny Gaddar is directed by Sriram Raghavan, whose first movie Ek Haseena Thi was a decent start. The story of Johnny Gaddar is based on a gang of crooks trying to pull off a drug heist and of course the protagonist is part of this gang. All the money, all the lure and a bombshell as inspiration has our hero becoming the gaddar. Since the advancement of the plot is the only thing that is really interesting in the film, I will leave that to the interested to go watch at the theaters.

Neil has done a decent job with his acting, but nothing great. He does look quite handsome and this combination should keep him around for a while. Rimi Sen is the bombshell, and that is all she is. Thank god there is no expectation of acting from her in the script! Dharmendra is the leader of this gang of crooks and has actually killed a lot of his hamming and done an unexpectedly good job. Vinay Pathak is good as expected and provides the much needed comic relief. Zakir Hussain, who plays the role of Shardul bhai has gotten over the Ram Gopal Verma brand of acting, where he was expected to only look serious as hell, speak nothing and not movie a single muscle on his face. Here he has some good exchanges with Vinay Pathak and overall does a great job. The brief role to Govind Namdeo who is the corrupt cop selling the merchandise is also well scripted and well enacted. As can be figured out by now, all the main actors in this movie have given good performances and this is one of the reasons why the movie seems to somehow get out of rut that the screenplay seems to force it into and get back on tracks.

There was nothing much I could see as special in the music or background score. It is decent, but nothing really great. There is this one score featuring UK desi babe, Hard Kaur (Glassy fame), which is peppy and probably the best song of the movie.

Overall, a watchable movie and worth the 500 rupees you need to pay to get a pair of tickets during a weekend in Bangalore! I would give it a 6.8 on 10.

Movie Review: Life In A Metro

Another multiplex movie and another hit. I have heard only good reviews of Life In .... and I had to check it out to find out if it was worth all the noise. I wasn't disappointed, but no too impressed either, as many things in the movie were plain obvious.

The film is a dig at the fast paced life in any busy city and how desperate people are to find the very essence for ones existence. The whole story revolves around a series of extra marital affairs, some seem to make sense and some are just nonsense. I honestly didn't see anything else in this film, but still it was worth a view and ended before one got bored. Performances were overall ok. I felt Irfan Khan was under utilized and Konkana Sen was just superb! The end scenes were extra filmy, but then, you couldn't have any other end to make it a hit.

I remember the movie Hyderabad Blues which was among the first multiplex movies to become a big hit. The reason I liked the movie was, I could relate to many things shown in the movie. I just hope, Life In a Metro being a hit has very little to do with people relating to it....

Movie Review: Mungaru Male

Mungaru Male is considered by many as a landmark film in Kannada film history. I haven't watched a full length Kannada film in a long time, but couldn't resist the temptation to watch this one. I just had to know what was so good about this film starring newcomers Ganesh and Pooja. The film has a very small caste other than them. Ganesh's mother, Pooja parents, notably the father being played by Anant Nag and a necessary bad guy. The star of the movie of course was its music. I suggest folks who listen to a lot of Hindi music to give this one a shot. It will beat most if not all of the regular fair on offer these days in Bollywood.

One thing I was certain about was the ending of the movie. Most hit films in India, irrespective of the language its shot in, will have a happy ending. So, since this was such a big hit, it had to of course have a happy ending! The story was very simple. Ganesh and mom get to Coorg to attend the wedding of Pooja, Ganeshs moms friends daughter. Ganesh though is oblivious of this and is coming along just to enjoy the monsoon. He inadvertently falls in love with Pooja, not knowing that she is getting married. In the one week that is left before the marriage, he becomes an integral part of the family and he slowly but surely makes his way into Pooja heart. Pooja finally agrees to Ganeshs relentless pursuit and all looks well at this point. Now, I get thinking. If it ends this way, then it just cannot be a hit! There has got to be a twist here. And surely, the story doesn't disappoint. All the parents in the movie tell Ganesh how they want the marriage to go on well and how they expect him to ensure it happens so. Now, with all the expectations laden on him, he has to give up his girl. In typical movie fashion, he says harsh words and obviously becomes the bad guy. The heroine starts thinking, maybe it was all an infatuation and gets set for her impending marriage. Our hero on the other hand is devastated. To make us really feel for the guy, he is seen saving the bridge groom from the bad guy and in fact has a heart to heart with bad guy, who is also in love with the heroine but just can't get her. Again, I get thinking. Now, that the twist has happened, lets now wait for the obvious happy ending. And this is exactly where the director took it away. Quiet uncharacteristically, the hero loses out and the marriage goes on as planned.

The ending was most unexpected and done quite nicely. The performances especially from Ganesh was really very good. I must say, I just loved the movie and now vouch with the rest of the folks who watched the movie. This really is a damn good movie! I give it a 7.5 on 10, some points taken away for the rabbit scenes. ;-)

Movie Review: Oceans 13

Finally, Oceans 13 happened!. All the traffic at Silk Board ensured that we reached some 10 minutes late. Anyway, don't think we missed much and caught the story strain (to my surprise).

Oceans 11 was a really superb script interspersed with some wonderful acting and drop dead superb screenplay. Oceans 12 was another decent attempt, the plot was too convoluted for me to be part of it. It was more of a mystery of "how they did it" and that is fun only when you have been given chances to figure it out during the course of the movie, which was not the case. I didn't like it as much, but the franchise still had enough in it to bring out a third and maintain interest.

Oceans 13, though seems like the name for the logical next part, doesn't actually have 13 people doing the job, they added Terry Benedict played by Andy Garcia to the crew, but there was no sign of No:12 of the previous part, Julia Roberts. Maybe the role played by Matt Damons dad is the No:13. The plot revolves around the new casino tycoon, Willy Bank played by Al Pacino throwing out Rueben (the casino owner part of Oceans team) from having anything to do with a new casino to which he apparently had a stake (This is the part I missed). Ocean gives Bank a chance to redeem himself which is curtly turned down. Bank then on gets busy setting his new Casinos opening day in place and Ocean sets his sight on destroying this special day for Bank and also denting him financially in the process. Toulour (Oceans adversary in Oceans 12) has a highly insignificant role to play and would have been better off not diluting the presence he had created in Oceans 12. Like any Oceans movie, the complete plot is next to impossible to pen in a review and also would kill the fun for those intending to watch the movie. What I can say though is that the plot is pretty straightforward and is executed in typical Oceans style with some unbelievable pieces (from acquiring a massive driller to being able to tweak with the dice used in the casino).

Of the many things that I didn't fancy in the movie, one definitely was the apparent disregard for millions of dollars by Oceans team. They haven't made that much money from the plots in the previous Oceans movies :-). Another thing which doesn't gel well is how Ocean pisses off somebody of Bank's stature and still is confident of getting away with it.

None the less, the movie was a decent watch for Oceans series fans and would be a definite recommend over Oceans 12 and not quite as riveting as Oceans 11. I give it a 7 on 10.

Movie Review: Cheeni Kum

Another multiplex film, Cheeni Kum hit screens a couple of weeks back. It has Amitabh and Tabu in lead with smallish roles for Paresh Rawal and Zohra Sehgal. The story is exactly what the promos show, of a 64 year old man swooning a 34 year old woman. To Amitabhs credit, he carries off the typical boyfriend role to the 'T'. The chemistry that the lead pair shares is amazing, and that is total credit to the two actors who have understood their characters so well, that they were able to pull off the chemistry that the writer/director may have wished for. Zohra Sehgal is ok in her role while there is this child actress who  has also done a nice job. She is supposed to be suffering from Blood Cancer and hence is given the leeway of expressing on  issues more mature than what is appropriate for her age. Can't give her too much credit though as she is expected to only have one expression, that of being stoic, and she does that well. Wonder if she has got more than that one expression though. Paresh enters in the movie quite late and does an ok job too. The one-twos that he and Amitabh share are quite funny and gives the idea of a typical "retired man". Of course, it is important that Paresh is typical, else the atypicalness of Amitabh wouldn't have been as contrasting. All in all, a decent fair.



One thing that did irk me was Amitabhs character's 30 year old guy kinda portrayal. I am not referring to him trying to woo Tabu. This is the crux of the movie and and hence is expected. But his apparent immature response to the sickness and eventual death of "Sexy", the little girl was overdone. The role of "Sexy" was just to give some respite from the otherwise monotonous storyline. But in a couple of instances, he overreacts and overacts. But again, this is more than something that is obvious, and most cinegoers could care less. For keeping things fun, to the point and in fact quite simple, I rate it at 6.5 on 10.





Couldn't see Oceans 13 this week either, hopefully next week...

Movie Review: Shootout At Lokhandwala

Had been a while since I watched a Bollywood movie in a theater. This weekend I decided to break the spell with Shootout At Lokhandwala. There were other options like Oceans 13 or Cheeni Kum, but decided to see this as I wanted to know how the director managed to handle the casting coup of sorts with so many big names in a single movie.

The movie on the whole was a disappointment! There are very few things that one can appreciate in the movie and I will make an honest effort to remember as many of them. Sanjay and Vivek looked good doing macho roles. Sanjay has matured so much as an actor, that I would now not mind going to see a movie just based on him being in it. Ok.. I went a bit far there. He was good in the movie, and that is enough. :-) Vivek doing a Company like role and giving a Company like performance, he has been applauded so much for his performance that he has lost all the extra '"i's" and "e's" in his name is back to Vivek Oberoi. Good for him. There were a few scenes that were intense and well shot. Thats it, I am done with the good stuff, now to the bad. Abhishek bachchan is totally wasted in the movie, in fact he has absolutely nothing to do with the plot or the storyline and is done with role in a 5 minute burst. The director/producer just doing an item number equivalent with respect to a role. Amitabh's is another totally wasted character. He is seen ridiculing the police force all along but when it matters, like any other slimy lawyer, lets his own views take a backseat. Quite irritatingly and pompously portrayed. The songs are absolute damp squibs! No relation to the story and always in the same dance bar. Diya mirza has a role which didn't need a star, she just hangs around for no reason. Aarti Chaabria is just for bosom show and since no one expects her to act, she doesn't disappoint anyone. Neha Dhupia.... ok, she got a mention in this review, more than good enough for her. Last but not the least, Tushar Kapoor! His was the worst performance in the movie. Since Balaji Telefims (owned by father/sister) is producing the movie, Tushar seems to have got into the cast. He has absolutely no dialogue delivery power. In the middle of gangsters and encounter cops, he seems like this "I want milk" character. Unfortunately there are far too many scenes of his peppered throughout the movie to kill any excitement or continuity that did conjour. I think I can go on and on...

All in all, a very big disappointment, since I did go in with a lot of hopes. But for people who like to see the usual gangster-encounter kinda movies, there is enough in the movie to keep you from yawning. I give it a merciful 5.5 on 10!

Movie Review: Bheja Fry

My first hindi movie in a looong time, and boy was it worth it! Multiplex cinema is here to stay and this movie is the best proof of this. Bheja Fry, a 55-60 Lakhs budget movie, a 1.5 hrs movie, a non bollywood-like star cast movie and yet more fun to watch that the most Yashraj films!

Bheja Fry is the story of a rich, pompous, selfish and arrogant music industry businessman Ranjit Thadani(Rajat Kapoor), who at the end of the movie learns a thing or two about how to be a nice guy. Rajat Kapoor unwinds every Friday night with a bunch of friends. Their activity being, getting some person who believes he has talent to their dinner/get-together and make fun of them, of course without the person knowing that he is being made fun off. Sounds rude ? it of course is, and that is exactly what his wife (Sarika) feels. The "idiot" called in for one such fun Friday night is Bharat Bhushan(Vinay Pathak), a wannabe singer working in the tax department.

The story gets interesting when Ranjit sprains his back on this particular friday and to boot loses his mobile. The significance of losing the mobile is absolutely essential for the movie's intense storyline. :-). Adamant to continue with his weekend party, he calls Bharat Bhushan to come and disregards his wife's suggestions to cancel the friday get-together and care for his back. Miffed by this his wife leaves the house in anger. The rest of the movie is to do with Ranjits efforts to trace his wife and in the process the very unique antics of Bharat Bhushan. All in all a real fun movie and will definitely be worth your time.

Was the movie technically brilliant? Of course not, it is riddled with minor mistakes that are needed to keep the story going. This being said, no one can complain about the performances, most notably that of Vinay Pathak. Absolutely brilliant comic timing and dialogue delivery. Ranvir Shourie could have been used better and Milind Soman was possibly the worst performer in the movie.

On a purely entertainment scale, I would give this movie a 8.0 on 10. :-)