Film Reviews

Don(t)ism: Don ke fans, Don 2 se don't expect much

It is very rare that a sequel and a movie brand is created around a bad guy, specially in Indian Cinema where good over evil is basic theme of ninety percent of the movies. So Farhan gets brownie points for attempting it, he may get his investment (and then some more) back but as cinema audience it does not live up to the expectation.

Don 2 picks up where Don 1 ('1' because 'Don' for me is the original Big B one) left, Don (SRK) is alive and well, flourishing in Asia with his drug trade, now like any other businessman, he wants to expand. Next target Europe, where he wants to enter with a bang. To accomplish that he concocts a team with trusted and "non-trusted" members, Vardhan (Boman Irani), is one such member that he lures in. As expected of Don is being pursued by cops Roma (Priyanka) and Malik (Om Puri) and feared by his enemies. This time his plan plays out in Berlin involving German federal bank and in the end Don gets what he wants and gets rid of what he doesn't want.

The film rides on SRK, the constant smirk upon his face, knowing he can do anything he wants, is very well done to justify Don's character. He looks menacing at times and carries of action scenes with great ease. Priyanka is under utilized, I think the romantic under tone between Roma and Don could have been exploited more with her acting skills. Although Boman plays his role perfectly, he did not have standout moments as he did in the previous version. Actions scenes are very well shot and executed. Songs are no-existent but the background scores, based on the original Don's signature tune, are good.

We can trust Farhan with stylish story telling and great dialogs and so he does, however in my opinion the script and direction are below the mark. Whenever the director relies on a sequence of flashbacks at the end of the movie to explain the plot line, it tells me either the story was not well written or director could not express the plot in the normal flow of the movie. Perfect crime thrillers, as Don 2 is, should not have to explain themselves otherwise what is the point. During the movie you realize there is nothing special about this until the end when it is "explained". Scenes and actions has this uncanny resemblance to hollywood movies like MI, Matrix and there are lot of holes in the plot line. There are no characters that you can care about, making it a bit dry.

Fast paced thrillers are far and few in the Indian cinema (I have to mention "Johnny Gaddar" here, best thriller to ever come out of Mumbai) and I was expecting Farhan to deliver the next big thing but unfortunately it did not happen. Being Farhan and SRK film, it is definitely a one time watch but you don't feel satisfied.

Posted December 26, 2011

It is entertaining to get stuck at this 99

Despite being good some movies just slip out of the publics eye as they do not have bankable stars or not marketed aptly, 99 is one of those gems that need as much adulation as any other hyped or successful movie. 99 is marvelous piece of film making both artistically as well as the entertainment content, it is a shame that films likes these are not even nominated for any awards.

This has a very "hollywood Indie" feel to it, bunch of new guys behind the camera (first film for NRI directors Krishna DK and Raj Nidimoru), no big name stars and a brilliant piece of script writing (Krishna DK, Raj Nidimoru and Sita Menon). What is praise worthy is that writers took the things that are important to all Indians, a real life incident and concocted it into a comedy which is not over the top, loud or slapstick (unlike the run of the mill bollywood comedies) but very situational with rib tickling dialogs. Every Indian loves cricket and bollywood, apart from weaving the story around these two, the movie brings in the third thing that is now penetrated the Indian society ..... The mobile phone! The mobile phone nuggets interjected in the story are hilarious and intelligent.

Two smart crooks, Sachin (Kunal Khemu) and Zaramud (Cyrus Broacha), are stuck at 99 and want to make a "century", until their plans pan out, they are in the business of making money by illegally hacking SIM cards for mobile phone. Everything is fine until one day their paths crosses small time Mumbai underworld bookie, AGM (Mahesh Manjrekar). AGM is a facilitator of gambling on cricket matches, Sachin and Zaramud bang up his car and cannot pay him back so he decides to make them work for him until his debt are paid. The story takes off when compulsive gambler Rahul (Boman Irani), who is from Delhi looses money on a cricket match and he owes AGM lots of money. AGM decides to send Sachin and Zaramud to Delhi to collect the money from him, what ensues after that, makes for very entertaining and funny movie. The description of Delhi culture and environment by one of the character is very funny and right on. Don't ignore small moments and dialogs in the beginning as all that comes together in the end.

Boman Irani as usual gets in the skin of a compulsive gamble character. Kunal Khemu is the surprise, just few films old he give a good performance, Cyrus Broacha is Ok as he is a natural comedian. Soha Ali and Vinod Khanna are there for a small part but are convincing. Photography by Rajeev Rai is very natural looking, dialogs are really done well and are the main lifeline of the story. Finally the direction is commendable and could become a standard for comedy movies coming out of Mumbai. As I a said before, this movie has a very natural flow not too over the top or too subtle but still manages to make you laugh.

With the infusion of new talent and cooperate money, it is refreshing to see other styles of film making creeping into the Indian film industry, we at the receiving end can be assured of getting entertained if this keeps up. In the end myself and most of you will be more than happy (actually laugh out loud) being stuck with this 99, centuries can wait!

Posted March 9, 2010

3 Idiots .... Aren’t we all?

I think I have deciphered the formula of success, especially for India commercial cinema. It should entertainment, make you connect with the characters and finally it should have a message. Raju Hirwani has imbibed this formula and has his third super hit in a row with 3 Idiots. When you talk of entertainment, 3I has tons of them, the best being the teacher’s day speech by Chatur. There are really hilarious scenes that can literally make you fall from your chair. Connection with characters is obvious, as all of us has been to colleges where characters like Rancho (Amir), Farhan (Madhavan), Raju (Sharman) and Chatur (Omi) are there in form or the other. The pressures and joys of college and hostel life make you relate to the story instantly. First it was Jaadu ki Jhappi then Gandhigiri and now Raju Hirwani has message on the Indian education system. The potent combination of these things make this movie a sheer joy to watch and can easily be watched multiple times.

The movie revolves around the Amir's character (Rancho) who believes education is about gaining knowledge rather than getting grades. He put his "knowledge" to work by helping out people and friends around him and in doing so proving his theory. His teacher Viru Sahastrabudhhe (Boman Irani), also called ViruS, is on the opposite side of the spectrum who believes grades are the most important for getting ahead in life. All the other characters in the film are in the middle of the tussle between Rancho and ViruS. Few years after passing out from Engineering College, Farhan, Raju and Chatur are finding Rancho who had changed their lives, but had mysteriously disappeared after college. The movie goes in a flashback until they find Rancho in the end. Apart from exploring the education system the story touches on the pressures of colleges and relationships that are created during that time.

Amir is the heart and soul of this movie, sometimes he does look a bit older but on the whole he has given another terrific performance. Sharnam Joshi, looks like he was made for this role, perfect fit while Madhavan is Ok. Boman is the artist that loves challenging roles but I think this one was a bit over the top. Kareena has not much to do as she plays the love interest of Amir and daughter of Boman. The most memorable is Omi Vaidya in Chatur's character; he has done a wonderful job. The music is good but not great, I think the song "Behti Hawa sa Tha Woh" is the best. Finally it is Raju Hirwani's direction that brings life to this movie. His ability to take a story through the entire spectrum of emotions while putting out a relevant message, in a subtle way, is really uncanny. However comparisons to his previous MunnaBhai movies are bound to happen ... MunnaBhai movies were focused on their messages while 3 Idiots wavers a bit. I thought this movie hopped around 2 messages ... the education system and the "All izz Well" philosophy (things will eventually take care of itself). The movie seemed a bit long… because we witness two climaxes, one in flashback and one current.

I think I can speak for many of us when I say that the college life and the friends we make during that time are the most memorable part of our lives. We cherish it because right after that real "life" begins and the fun ends ..... 3 Idiots brings back those wonderful memories and make us realize aren't we similar kind of idiots too!

Posted January 28, 2010

Kurbaan is worth a Sacrifice

I wonder why Karan Johar stuck with his favorite letter "K" in Kurbaan while abandoning it for his last 2 produced (not directed) movies, it would have still worked with the name Qurbaan. Is he still not sure if he can make other styles of movies .... snap out of it Mr. Karan, you took a huge stride with Kurbaan. This movie has no resemblance of the classic "a Karan Johar movie" that everyone is so use to, it seems to be made just for the love of cinema, everything else takes a backseat.

Set in the backdrop of terrorism, it explores human relations. It is a intriguing and serious movie that keeps you glued to the screen with it's intensity. Avantika (Kareena) is a professor in Delhi where she meets Eshaan (Saif) who is also a professor, they marry and move to New York. Soon Avantika and Eshaan find themselves neck deep in a terrorism plot. Riyaaz (Vivek) is a investigative journalist who trips over the terrorist plot and tries to investigate this by trying to get into the terror network. The characters in the movie come from two sides of the terrorism coin. One side is hell bent in blasting to world (in this case US) because their family was killed by bombs dropped in Afghanistan, on the other side the focus is to bring an end to terrorism because their family were innocent victims of terrorism. Eshaan and Riyaaz are the two sides of the coin while Avantika is the innocent victim in the middle. Using these three primary characters, the movie builds enough intensity to make you sit up and pay attention even though the movie is more than two and a half hours long. The climax of the movie is very well done, it will linger in mind for quite some time. The drawbacks .... some of the sequences in the movie seem to be illogical and at times you can feel the slow pace.

Saif has the best performance in the movie, he gets into the skin of the character effortlessly. Kareena is also excellent but I think she handles non-serious roles better, Vivek needs these kind of performance to bring him back to relevancy. From the supporting cast Om Puri and Kirron Kher are at their usual best, Om Puri's intense face is perfect for the role. The background score done by Salim Suleiman is a major factor in building up the intensity, the songs are good although all the songs are in the background. The whole movie is very polished and professional looking, it will remind you of Hollywood thrillers (although personally I am not too thrilled about that, I like to see Bollywood movies maintain it's identity). The first time director Rensil D'Silva has done a great job, he has managed to focus on the plot/storyline without digressing into the usual cliches of terrorism. In the end kudos to Karan Johar for coming out of his comfort zone and making different movie.

Overall this movie is worth a sacrifice of your time and money and for Karan, it is time to sacrifice the "K".

Posted November 23, 2009

Sankat City will amuse you but ....

The main reason I watched this movie was because of Pankaj Advani, the director of the movie, assisted the great Kundan Shah of Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron fame. The movie has some influences of Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron, but somehow it falls short and you feel something was missing. On paper you can get a promising dark comedy when car thieves get mixed up with loan sharks, movie makers, godmen and a con artist; however the overall impact is average. The story itself is pretty good but in some streches it loses it's way.

The comedy revolves around ten crore rupees that car thief, Guru (Kay Kay Menon) who is fond of fishes (don't know why), finds in a trunk of a stolen car. This money was a loan from a gangster/loan shark Faujdaar (Anupam Kher), to a film maker Gogi (Manoj Pahwa), who is making a movie with fading star Sikandar Khan (Chunkey Pandey). The film maker wants to buy land using this money from a builder, Pachisia (Yashpal Sharma), and to make the circle complete, Pachisia owes the same amount of money to Faujdaar. To make things more interesting the con artist Mona (Rimi Sen) wants to steal the money from Pachisia. If this amalgamation of situations and characters makes you dizzy, you are not alone … however this intertwined plot makes the movie interesting and produces tons of comical situations. The bomb disposal squad sequence is one of those out of the world situations that will remind you of Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron style of comedy and then there are many situational comedy sequences, with rib tickling dialogs that will remind you of Hera Pheri. The climax, I thought was not appropriate; the bad guy getting killed in the end does not seem to gel with the mood of the movie.

Kay Kay Menon comes out of his usual intense and serious characters and plays a comic role very well. Anupam Kher and other supporting cast have done a good job except Chunkey Pandey, who overacts. The surprise package is Rimi Sen, she has transformed herself in a witty con artist that makes you forget all her earlier roles.

Overall the movie will amuse you in many parts but as a whole will not fill your appetite for comedy. I think it loses its way in trying to follow different styles of comedy, however if you are bored over the weekend this can be nice rental.

Posted September 25, 2009

Kaminey redefines "masala" movie

Fasten your seat belts and get ready for thrill ride, one of the best caper movies made in Mumbai. Kaminey breaks the classic "Bollywood masala" stereo type and creates it's own definition of "masala". In this masala the basic ingredients (romance, action, comedy, emotions and songs) are still there but the way they are mixed and presented makes your taste buds wanting for more. Thanks mainly to Vishal Bhardwaj, the multi talented director, who before Kaminey had made children films, films on Shakespearean and Ruskin Bond literature, but with this film he proves his metal in the "commercial" cinema format (Second biggest hit this year).

This movie has multiple plots running in parallel, all of them converge on twin brothers Charlie, who has a lisp and Guddu, who stammers (Shahid Kapoor). Charlie works with the bad guys and dreams of making quick money while Guddu, the only nice guys in the film, has planned his life in advance and is happy. The trouble starts, or you could say the thrill starts when Charlie bumps into corrupt cops and Sweety (Priyanka Chopra) disrupts Guddu's planning, all this take you on a roller coaster ride ands ends in an apocalyptic ending. The speech defects of the brothers and some of the wackiness of the crazy supporting cast gives the comic relief from the fast pace of the movie.

Shahid Kapoor is the star of the movie, he has stepped out of his lover boy image and given a great performance, Priyanka Chopra in a de-glamorized Marathi girl is great. The entire supporting cast is one of the highlights of the movie. Considering that almost the entire support cast is made up no name actors, it is great feat by the Vishal Bhardwaj. Watch out for Bhope (Amol Gupte, writer of Taare Zameen Pe) and Mikhail (Chandan Roy Sanyal), Charlie's partner in crime.

Dhan-Te-Nan, the song, is another star of the movie whenever it comes up in the movie it gives you an adrenaline rush. Gulzar's lyrics as usual are very poetic and thought provoking. All the songs are mainly in the background and do not hinder the flow of the movie. On the whole this movie belongs to Vishal Bhardwaj, he is the director, producer, co-writer and the music director. Cinematography by Tassaduq Hussain is very raw and keeps the pace of the movie alive.

In future if my masala movies are going like this I am ready to lap it up. In the movie there is dialog "Life gets screwed up not by the path you take but by the path you did not take", so folks take the right path and watch the movie :-).

Posted August 23, 2009

Watch Love Aaj not Kal

When it comes to romantic movies, all of them have more or less the same story, the difference is how the story is told. Love Aaj Kal is wonderfully told romantic story, for which Imtiaz Ali (director) should be given a lot of credit. This movie follows two romances separated by a generation (one is current the other in 60s), both these romances are very different (sometimes in funny ways) and very similar at the same time. Raj (Saif) and Veer (Rishi Kapoor) are of different generations, they both go through a journey to get their life partners. Their journeys and social environments are very different but ultimately their experiences and feelings along the way is exactly the same.

The movie has a good cast, direction and cinematography. Saif (Raj) has done a wonderful job, specially in scenes where he is in a dilema whether to express his emotions or not. This is by far the best performance by Deepika (Meera), and looks gorgeous in the movie. Rishi Kapoor (Veer) plays his role perfectly, however his sikh make-up was not well done in some scenes. Finally the "secret" actress that plays Veer's love interest, Harleen, is a Brazilian girl by the name of Giselle Monteiro, she fits well in a the role of a sikh kudee.

The movie is shot beautifully, it makes Delhi and Kolkata look colorful and refreshing. In the direction department, as I mentioned above hats off to Imtiaz Ali, he is also the story and dialog writer. In my opinion he has outdone himself when compared to his last movie Jab We Met (except for the Kareena Kapoor character, that was a classic). The story is very concise (2 hours only), actually too concise in few places specially in the start it seems to be going too fast. Dialogs are very urban/metro and at times very funny, actually there are quite a few funny scenes in the movie that are based on dialogs, not situations.

Music by Pritam is good, for me it sounds better after I watched the movie. The "Twist" number is really foot tapping and the "Dooriyaan" number is heart warming. In the movie all the songs just blend in the story and "Chor bazaari" number is the best shot song.

Over all Love Aaj Kal is a refreshing and colorful movie the will appeal to all generations, in my opinion it is worth watching. So watch Love Aaj not Kal you Mango People :-).

Posted August 7, 2009