Race Movie Review

Rather than ‘who-dun-it’, Abbas-Mustan mysteries are in the genre of ‘why-done-it’. The culprit is open to the audience since the outset, but his intentions aren’t unveiled. Race too trails a mandatory murder case fulfilling the standard Abbas-Mustan thriller template. Alas the director duo tries to be smart but not intelligent.

The needless narration at the very onset talks of the weak and conventional characterizations that don’t talk of themselves but need a speaker for specifications. Post the prologue, the film follows the Abbas-Mustan formula of obligatory introductions, regular romance and transition tracks for the first 20 minutes. Their thrillers don’t come with the ‘Do not miss the beginning’ tags. In fact one wishes to skip the stale start!

The race is between two step-brothers and the plot is still devised on the undying life-insurance money maneuver. One brother’s murder is other brother’s moolah. And each one is set to outdo the other. But in this race, the makers attempt to overtake your sensibilities. Check this out - in knocking off the elder brother (Saif), the younger (Akshaye) goes out of his way to manipulate a marriage with a con-girl (Bipasha), just so that he could use his spouse to push big brother off a high-rise. Seems like Abbas-Mustan haven’t upgraded themselves ever since Baazigar days where SRK indulged in a similar act. And you don’t have to be an Ekta Kapoor soap consumer to estimate that if one of the main leads is eliminated by the interval, he will come back from the dead in the climax.

There’s also a Karamchand kinda investigating officer (Anil Kapoor) who substitutes the detective’s carrot by chomping fruitlessly to glory. This Karamchand also has Kitty (Sameera Reddy) for company who isn’t just silly and naïve but also stupid and irritating. En route their investigation, the officer also flirts with his simpleton secretary on Cape Town beaches as the film takes a preposterous excuse to exhibit bikinis.

Also the makers should understand that while shoving songs in the screenplay to induce some lighter moments, there has to be some tense instances in the thriller at the first place. Alas this one doesn’t take you to the edge-of-the-seat in anticipation but only makes you fall-off-the-chair with easy assumptions. Furthermore the directors take the title of the film a bit too seriously, adding a literal car chase in the climax which suffices for the formulaic action ending.

Technically, the action is outdated and camerawork inconsistent. However, the director-duo is smart enough to commercially camouflage the loopholes in the plot with a racy and rapacious end.

The performances are more cool than competent. Saif exudes a calm composure but this stubbly look is too ‘on-the-face’. Akshaye’s restricted to his traditional tweaking facial expressions. Bipasha Basu and Katrina Kaif are eye-candy. Anil Kapoor is over-the-top. Sameera Reddy is avidly avoidable.

How one wishes director brothers Abbas Mustan had shown more innovation and integrity in their attempts at dividing the step-brothers.

Race is reasonable enough to win a ‘not bad’ stamp. But isn’t imaginative enough to gain a ‘good’ tag.
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Bombay To Bangkok Movie Review

Nagesh Kukunoor’s latest offering, Bombay to Bangkok, is a comic caper which has been very well crafted indeed. The film has a kind of freshness to it which is very refreshing.

Bombay to Bangkok is no great story where stories are concerned but it is Kukunoor’s treatment of his subject which makes it so very watchable. His choice of actors, the quirky characters that they play, and the at-times-obvious and at others tongue-in-cheek humour, is what really makes this film work. And of course, the ridiculous situations that the protagonist finds himself in. He does work with a few clichés here as well, but there is still a twist that he adds which makes the characters memorable. The best of all is that Kukunoor never lets the comic flavour go out of hand and descend into the very slapstick kind, innuendo-laden variety. The mix is just about right. Then there are his actors, all of who do a marvelous job of keeping the spirit going.

The film’s story is about Shankar Singh (Shreyas Talpade), a chef in a modest Mumbai restaurant, who discovers a money bag and decides to pocket it, thinking that it would solve all his problems in life. Unfortunately for him, the bag happens to belong to a don, who is now after his life. The don played by Naseerudin Shah, in a small cameo, sets his son Jamal, who goes by the name of JAMK (Vijay Maurya), on Shankar. Jamk, who is a rap artiste by soul and a hoodlum by profession, now is baying after Shankar’s life. The cook manages to hoodwink the goons and lands up in Bangkok along with a motley gang of doctors, by pretending to be one of them. All the doctors, save the team’s psychiatrist, are taken in by his appearance. He hides the money bag in one of the boxes of medical supplies, planning to retrieve it once he reaches Bangkok.

Kukunoor sets the entire drama in Thailand. Since the destination is Thailand, massage parlours cannot be far behind. On their first day in Bangkok, all the doctors are taken to a typical Thai massage parlour by their affable host. This is where Shankar meets the heroine of his life, Jasmine, and falls in love. The next day at the medical camp, he sees the same girl again, working as a volunteer. Their love story gets off to a start aided by a helpful interpreter. While Shankar, the lover manages to fend for himself, Shankar, the doctor bumbles and fumbles his way and accidently even reaches a correct diagnosis, escaping detection all the way.

But things get a little complicated when he finds that he cannot get into the supplies room without the psychiatrist’s permission. Also, when he does go in, he is unable to find the bag. When he realizes that the bag may be in the supplies sent to another medical camp, he sets off for Bangkok, riding pillion on Jasmine’s scooter. (the medical camp is held in a place off Bangkok). Love blossoms on the way. The gangsters manage to make it to Bangkok. They accost Shankar right after he retrieves the precious money bag. Having lived a lie for so long, he is relieved to have been able to get off easy. Reason: Rap artiste has had a session with the psychiatrist at the camp and has managed to resolve his complexes, or at least quite a few of them.
The complications begin here with Jasmine leaving Shankar in Bangkok as she knows that Shankar does not approve of her profession. Love is not enough. Back at the camp, the medical supplies are missing and everyone thinks that Shankar is the culprit. In the end, all falls in place and the true culprit is found. Shankar also finds true love and gets a chance to play a real hero.

Shreyas Talpade carries the film well on his shoulders. He gets an opportunity in this film to play a more filmi character – dance, song, romance, and he carries it off very well. The best thing about him is the ease with which he portrays his character. Not an iota of effort is visible in his performance. Perhaps this is more so because of Kukunoor, with whom he must be sharing a very comfortable working relationship.

In this film, Kukunoor manages to, very subtly, highlight our misconceptions about Thailand and its people. The message of tolerance and acceptance of all people and places is very subtly woven into the relationship between Shankar and Jasmine. Kukunoor’s genius touch is most evident in the character of Shankar’s mother, a retired geography teacher, a very small cameo by Uttara Baokar. The ultimate is probably the character of the gangster who is a rap artiste. The relationship between him and the psychiatrist are to die for. There are quite a few such masterly touches strewn in the film. The Thai actress who plays the role of Jasmine also turns in a very good performance as Shankar’s ladylove with a mind of her own. Vijay Maurya as the gangster is just fantastic. Quite a scene stealer.

The scenic beauty of Thailand is very well captured on camera. The film’s music is decent. The one number, ‘We Are Same-Same’ is quite catchy. The film’s treatment, its dialogues, funny and quirky at places, go a long way in making Bombay To Bangkok an extremely interesting experience. Backed by an intelligent director, and some very commendable performances, Bombay To Bangkok is a delightful comic caper.

Source : Movietalkies.com

Hallo Bol Movie Review

There’s not much to write about Vanraj Bhatia’s “Halla Bol”. The music is average and Bhatia’s compositions may not sell, which may be a disadvantage for the makers of this Pankaj Kapur and Ajay Devgan starrer.

“Shabad Gurbani” is a prayer sung by Sukhwinder Singh. Being a Punjabi, Sukhwinder delivers it well. The music is lot like what one hears at religious places with the harmonium and the tabla playing important roles.

“Barsan lagi” is a classical piece sung by Sneha Pant. Mehboob Kotwal provides lyrics for the song, which doesn’t have the potential to become a commercial hit.

The composer doesn’t strike the right notes with “Is pal ki soch”. Neither Harshdeep’s voice nor the composition impress. The music doesn’t have anything interesting to offer and chances are that it will disappear without a trace.

Next is “Jab tak hai dum”. The song is about perseverance and battling all odds. Sukhwinder’s forceful voice seems appropriate and the music isn’t that bad. But again, commercially, the track wouldn’t find much of an audience.

The qawaali is heard in full blast when Amjad Farid Sabri renders Mehboob Kotwal’s lyrics in “More Haji Piya”.

While Vanraj could be praised for sticking to the social theme of the movie and composing music accordingly, the album definitely has something missing. “Halla Bol” could have been composed better to make it commercially viable.

— IANS

Taare Zameen Par Movie Review

By Martin D'Souza, Bollywood Trade News Network

This is a beautiful movie sensibly made to appeal to all sorts of audience across all strata of society. It touches a chord in your heart and connects with everybody. I dare say, TAARE ZAMEEN PAR is a commercial success as well as it will receive critical acclaim. Aamir Khan scores big time with his debut as a director.

But the star here is not Aamir, its Darsheel Safary, who plays the central character of Ishaan Awasti. Ishaan is a bubbly eight-year-old who sees a different world, always getting into fights and always faring badly in school. While his elder brother is a bright student, Ishaan has spent two years in the third standard.

Exasperated, his father packs him off to a boarding school as a punishment. Already struggling with studies, Ishaan now has to deal with the pangs of separation. If earlier he would paint the canvass bright with colours, now he does nothing of the sort. In school, he has gone from bad to worse, but no one seems to know the reason for his dilemma. The truth is, he is dyslexic. In short, Ishaan has a learning disorder marked by impairment of the ability to recognize and comprehend written words.

My question and the only flaw I think in the movie is this; if the child has fared so badly so as to spend two years in one class, how come the parents have not noticed the troubled spot? That is a bit hard to digest. But you are willing to forgive Aamir this one flaw, because when you look at the canvass as a whole, he tackles the whole issue with Ishaan by befriending him and giving him back his self-confidence, and in the bargain winning himself a friend for life.

Darsheel Safary, for an eight-year-old gives off an excellent performance worthy of a standing ovation. This is one bright lad who has understood the character very well. Everything about Ishaan is perfect, from his body language, to the way he delivers his dialogues to the expression in his eyes which shouts for help. Only Aamir sees his plight, that’s because he too was once dyslexic and now teaches in Tulips, a special school for the differently-abled. The way Aamir brings a turn-a-round in Ishaan giving an example of Albert Einstein, Leonardo da Vinci and Thomas Alva Edision, all great men, who suffered from the same malaise, is heartening. At one moment, Ishaan and you as the viewer think it is Ishaan he is talking about!

Finally, a word to all those parents who are always in competition looking for a winner let us say no. To all teachers, let’s make education a fun process rather than a boring exercise where a student is burdened with the expectations of getting good grades.

Like Aamir says, “Ishaan just has to score passing marks, his destiny is elsewhere.”

Full Review

Welcome Movie Review

Introducing Welcome
Anees Bazmee’s last release No Entry, a hilarious comic flick, was the biggest blockbuster of the year 2005. Now as the Christmas - New Year celebrations begin; Anees is back with yet another comedy titled Welcome produced by Firoz Nadiadwala. The Welcome cast is interesting; we have Feroz Khan and Anil Kapoor together on the silver screen after 20 long years. The extremely talented Paresh Rawal and Nana Patekar are there too. And how can we forget the King of Comedies, Akshay Kumar. With 3 hits in a row already this year, Akshay is all set to end the year on a high. Katrina Kaif is the leading lady and Mallika Sherawat has a special appearance.

The promotion has been low-key although the trailers have managed to create quite a buzz around the movie. The expectations for a highly entertaining comedy are high, does it live up to the immense expectations?

Welcome Story
Dr Ghungroo (Paresh Rawal), a respected man in the society is on the look out for a bride from a civilized and revered family for his nephew Rajiv (Akshay Kumar). On the other hand serio-comic gangsters Majnoobhai (Anil Kapoor) and Uday Shetty (Nana Patekar) are hunting for a polite, well educated and non-criminal husband for their sister Sanjana.
Uday Shetty accidentally bumps into Rajiv and gets convinced that he would be the perfect match for his sister. Majnoobhai and Uday are on the peak of happiness having found the perfect match for their dearest sister. Only till uncle Ghungroo finds out about their background and refuses to agree.

Meanwhile, unaware of all that is happening back home Rajiv and Sanjana meet on a cruise and fall head over heals in love with each other. Dr Ghungroo accepts Sanjana into the family unaware of the fact that she is the sister of the mobsters. But he soon realizes his blunder and refuses to agree for the wedding. In an attempt not to miss the perfect match for their sister, the brother’s get busy with their smart and comic stunts to get Dr Ghungroo agree for the alliance.

Enter Ishika (Mallika Sherawat), a bombshell. She claims to be Rajiv’s childhood bride, yet another puzzle in the already muddled wedlock. Will the love birds ever unite? Will the mob settle once for all at the wedding?

Welcome - witness the year’s most funniest and deadly wedding… A wedding that you have never seen nor will you see in future.

Welcome Review
Welcome Detailed Review will be up as soon as the movie releases in Multiplexes all over India. The preview show was canceled due to a dispute between the Producers and the multiplexes.

Source : Indicine.com

Strangers Movie Review

Writers usually initiate a script with a two-line idea which is then developed into a plot summary and subsequently into a screenplay. Strangers is a film which might appear ‘brilliant’ in the two line idea, ‘bearable’ in the plot summary and ‘boring’ in the screenplay. The buildup for the suspense is so long-drawn-out that by the time the film reaches its unexpected climax you might have already lost hopes or gained slumber.

The story is about two strangers Mr. Rai (Kay Kay Menon) and Rahul (Jimmy Sheirgill) who meet on a train and begin talking. After exchanging their life stories, both of them come to know of each other’s problems. While Rai is fed up of his wife who is suffering from mental trauma after their son’s death, Rahul cannot bear to see his wife (Nandana Sen) cheating on him openly. They decide to kill each other’s wives. Sounds interesting, but is the execution equally appealing?

The first half seeks faint inspiration from Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘ Strangers on a Train ’ (which was already remade in Bollywood as ‘ Soch ’) but the scene varies post interval with the movie gaining a new identity. But with the new identity we stop relating to the suspense drama because a love story takes over. An uninspiring romance track with no palpable chemistry between the couple makes one wonder where is the film leading or has the director forgotten his original intention.

The film does lead to an interesting climax but after an hour full of yawn. The unraveling of the suspense is too subtle and if you miss the understated nuances you might well miss out the mystery. A lot is left for the intelligent mind to decipher.

The film also adopts a rather disturbing editing pattern with the screenplay often fluctuating between the present and the flashback with a very faint line distinguishing the two. Moreover the sequencing is in non-chronological order which adds to your confusion.

While the suspense element has the potential to be a decent entertainer, the director perhaps intentionally opts to go offbeat and in attempting so gives the film a very art(y)ficial look. The first half primarily set in a train compartment gets verbose while the lovelorn second half gets wearisome.

The screenplay is replete with redundant scenes. For instance the much spoken about bathroom scene with Sonali Kulkarni in a nude backless pose has no significance to the screenplay whatsoever. And when you expect the least a Lata Mangeshkar limerick pops up from nowhere.

In one of the scenes, the film gives tribute to its original inspiration when Jimmy Sheirgill says “Alfred Hitchcock was a great storyteller”. Alas one cannot say the same for the director of Strangers .

Strangers could have been shorter, crisper, more clear and less strange.

Source : Indiatimes.com

Dus Kahaniyaan Movie Review

Apun Ka Choice : Sanjay Gupta's Dus Kahaniyaan is an interesting, engrossing and entertaining watch.

CNN-IBN: Dus Kahaniyaan, too dull and boring!

DNA India: Without getting into individual merits or the lack thereof of each story, suffice it to say that the acting is ordinary, the direction amateur and the choice of subject banal. Only the technical execution is classy, an expected feature of a Sanjay Gupta film.

Glamsham: Sanjay Gupta has once again taken a path less trodden. That's what creativity is all about.

Hindustan Times: Overall, not happening!

IndiaFM: On the whole, the number of interesting kahaniyaan in Dus Kahaniyaan outnumber the not-too-interesting ones and that's what goes in its favor.

Movie Talkies: Even though all ten stories are not outstanding, all of them are absorbing, what with their taut narrative, brilliant acting and the mandatory twist in the tale.

Now Running: Dus Kahaniyaan is a unique movie.

Rediff: Some decent kahaaniyan.

Times Of India: Almost all the stories are deftly told, with the mandatory twist in the climax which keeps you riveted.

Overall Source

Aaja Nachle Movie Review

Director: Anil Mehta
Music: Salim Merchant, Sulaiman Merchant
Presented by: Yashraj Films
Starring: Madhuri Dixit, Konkona Sen Sharma, Kunal Kapoor, Akshaye Khanna, Ranvir Shorey, Irfan Khan, Divya Dutta

Aaja Nachle Story

Dia (Madhuri Dixit) returns to her hometown Shamli to meet her ailing guru. There she came to know that the local politicians are planning to pull down Ajanta Theatre, the institution which her Guru taught her to dance. With the help of Doctor (Raghubir Yadav), the caretaker of Ajanta, Dia sets on a mission to prevent the demolition and restore to life the spirit of Ajanta. She also takes the help of her few friends in this mission. She has only two months to prove her point and to save Ajanta theatre. So the movie is all about saving her theatre from the politicians.

Aaja Nachle Movie Review

Madhuri has performed well as earlier. Others are just in supporting role but have done good work. The movie Aaja Nachle overall revolves around Madhuri.

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Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal Movie Review

Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal showcases a sport loved by millions around the world, Football.

Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal Story

The Southall United Football team led by captain Shaan Ali Khan (Arshad Warsi) is in a deep crisis. The team has no quality players, lacks sponsors and has very few supporters. The football stadium is under lease with substancial amount of dues, the Southall United team is in a do-or-die situation. They must win the Combined Counties Football League to save the ground and the club. Shaan with the help of Coach Tony Singh (Boman Irani) takes up the challenge and leads the bunch of players who lack focus and determination.

Sunny Bhasin (John Abraham) has big football dreams, but his dreams crash when he is not selected by the club inspite of being the best player. Reason… The color of his skin! Tony Singh convinces Sunny into joining the Southall United team. Unfortunately, Sunny and Shaan cannot stand each other. On the other hand, Shaan’s sister and Southall United physio Rumana (Bipasha Basu) is in love with Sunny. Inspite of the mess that they are in, the team grows under the able guidance of the coach. Sunny is now a huge star. Enter the villian, Johny Bakshi (Dalip Tahil) who lures Sunny out of the team just before the 2 most crucial matches.

Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal Review

The movie in a way is quite similar to Chak De India. The coach of the team is hiding, as he was reponsible for the team’s loss in the 1985 finals. The team also consists of talented but players who lack focus and determination. Goal is about achieving the impossible, from absolute no-hope to glory.

The movie is a simple human drama, it celebrates human spirit and director Vivek Agnihotri has handled it exceedingly well although the script lets him down to a certain extent. Talking of the script, it has quite a few flaws, some actions defy logic and a few characters could have been better written. The execution is good and the dialogues (Anurag Kashyap, Rohit Malhotra) make an impact.

The movie falters slightly mid way past the interval. There is something missing, that doesnt make you cheer the Southall United team to victory, this could go against the movie. Also the editing could have been sharper. The runtime of the movie is almost 2 hours and 45 mins. Whats that weird item number doing in the movie? It should be chopped off. The music is above average. The title track and the background score are superb. If the movie succeeds, this could well be the next Sports anthem after the Chak De India title song. The football choreography (Andy Ansah) needs a mention here, its brilliant.

Verdict

Overall, Goal is a average movie with good performances. The second half could have been much better, unfortunately it isn’t upto the mark. No, don’t expect a Chak De India, it’s in a different league altogether! At the all important Box-office, like I said earlier success of Chak De India will help Goal. Should end up as an average grosser.

Full Review at Indicine.com

Om Shanti Om Movie Review

The highly promoted movie of the year Om Shanti Om that was being eagerly waited by the audience not only due to the presence of superstar Shahrukh Khan who is credited for the only blockbuster of the year 2007 Chak De India but also because it was being compared to the other big movie by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Saawariya.

The movie released on Diwali Om Shanti Om has got a great reviews from the viewers who find it to be a completely entertaining movie having all the needed masala to make it a blockbuster and many critics are also finding faults in the movie making after the first half of the movie gets completed. Many say that the movie gets too serious to digest after interval.

The story of the movie is about reincarnation of the boy Om Prakash (Shahrukh Khan), who is a struggling actor of Bollywood in 1970‘s in his previous birth and in love with a top actress of 1970 played by Deepika Padukone. Both of them get killed in an incident and in their next birth they come together to revenge their fatality in previous birth.

The story has lots of scope but the second half is not directed properly. Many technical mistakes are prevalent in the second part of the movie. The best parts of the movie are the songs that bring life to the slow pace of story many a time. The song having all the 31 stars is very obsessive and entertaining and Kajol gets most attention in the song.

The actor Shahrukh Khan and the new face Deepika Padukone are brilliant in their roles. The 70’s cinema of India shown in the movie is very entertaining. Roles by Shreyas Talpade and Kirron Kher are played well and the guest appearance by Akshay Kumar is noticeable. Arjun Rampal needs to perform few more negative roles before getting expertise on it. Good comedy scenes and comments on Bollywood are plus points of the movie.

Overall the movie has many entertaining aspects and the audiences are going to the theatre to view the movie but the loopholes in the movie can not be ignored and audience is not completely satisfied by the final delivered movie that was hugely promoted before its release.

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Mumbai Salsa Movie Review

Nikhat Kazmi,TNN

EASY to label this one as Metro, part two. But Mumbai Salsa has a freshness and an innovative feel that makes it watchable despite the fact that it follows Metro's tale of sizing up the cosmosexual lifestyle in New Age yuppie India. Here again you have the cosmopolitan highs (Mahaburger size money, masti and maza ) balanced against the urban lows (achy infidelity, heartbreak and akelapan ). And the narrative style follows a similar pattern too, as it plays peeping Tom into the lives of four different couples. But the similarities end there. For Mumbai Salsa's moral dilemmas and gender benders unfold in a deliciously irreverent manner, a fine blend of the serious and the comic.

The film tries to hold a mirror on almost everything modern: mutating moral values, one night stands, a bit on the side, lesbianism, teen abortions, male chauvinism versus newage feminism...Yet, it never gets into sloganeering.

Eight successful young Mumbaikars, living in the fast lane, meet up in a Mumbai bar called Mumbai Salsa and end up trying to make a life with each other. Of course, almost all the relations begin on a flippant note, mostly as 'one night sits', as protagonist Vir Das insists. Sometimes, they even begin with derision, as in the case of Subbu who carries his tradition Tamilian mindset to the Mumbai corporate world and looks at the girl from the West as suspect, bad wife material. But stereotypes are gently broken and love blossoms through hiccups and hindrances, never losing humour as the sub- text.

Scriptwriter Manoj Tyagi ( Page 3, Corporate, Apharan ) picks up vignettes from real life and makes an impressive debut as a director too. And helping him in creating this eclectic mix are his band of fresh new performers (watch out for Vir Das trying a Woody Allen) who live their roles on screen. Get your fill on the Bar, Barista, Boardroom, Bedroom brigade.

Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com

No Smoking Movie Review

After having watched NO SMOKING, the first thing you want to do is ask Anurag Kashyap, the director of this misadventure: Now what was that? Cinema is all about three Es - enlighten, educate and entertain. But NO SMOKING neither educates, nor enlightens. As for entertainment, forget it!

You try so hard to understand what NO SMOKING tries to say, but the film is like one big puzzle that refuses to get solved.

What ails NO SMOKING, did you ask. Simple, it's the most complicated cinematic experience of 2007. Agreed, the director's intentions are noble. Cigarette smoking is injurious to health and Kashyap wants to highlight this message loud and clear via his new movie. But what has Kashyap come up with?

NO SMOKING leaves you exasperated and disgusted. Exasperated, because till the end credits roll, you just don't know what happened in those 2 hours. Disgusted, because Kashyap had solid backers [Eros, Kumar Mangat, Vishal Bhardwaj] and a competent cast [John, Ayesha, Paresh Rawal] at his disposal. Yet, he couldn't pull it off.

In short, NO SMOKING is a terrible waste of a terrific opportunity!

K [John Abraham] is a stubborn and obnoxious guy, who does exactly what he wants. A chain smoker, he feels nothing can come between him and his cigarette - not his wife [Ayesha Takia], his friend [Ranvir Shorey] or his life. Till he encounters Baba Bengali [Paresh Rawal].

Baba Bengali has his own set of draconian laws to stop people from smoking. He guarantees results, provided his clients obey his orders to the T. But K revolts and pays a heavy price for it.

The only aspect that stands out in NO SMOKING is its cinematography [Rajeev Ravi]. It's a good-looking film with some stylishly executed scenes. But Kashyap, who is an accomplished writer himself, ought to know by now that moviegoers want to watch a good story at the end of the day. The lighting, the sepia effect, the visual effects, the production design- everything is secondary. Honestly, it's difficult to believe that the director of BLACK FRIDAY could conceive NO SMOKING.

There're hardly any songs in the narrative, but the one filmed on Jesse Randhawa ['Jab Bhi Cigarette Peeta Hoon'] is imaginatively filmed. Surprisingly, the popular Bipasha Basu track, which has also been publicized extensively, is placed after the end titles.

John makes a sincere attempt to leave a mark and succeeds to an extent. Really, one wonders, what prompted John to instantly approve this bizarre story! Ayesha runs through her role mechanically. The supremely talented Ranvir Shorey is a big bore this time. Paresh Rawal is okay.

On the whole, NO SMOKING fails miserably. Very disappointing!

Source & Courtesy : IndiaFM

Jab We Met Movie Review

By Taran Adarsh,

Frankly, the story of Jab We Met isn't new. It has traces of the Abhishek - Ash starrer DHAAI AKSHAR PREM KE [2000; which, in turn, was inspired by A WALK IN THE CLOUDS] and Govinda - Urmila starrer KUNWARA [2000; which, in turn, was a remake of a Telugu film BHAVANAGARU BHAGUNNARA], but director Imtiaz Ali's execution of the subject takes it to another level altogether.

Also, for any love story to work wonders, it ought to have the germs to make the viewer jump with joy and participate in the goings-on. And the principal characters here -- Shahid and Kareena -- are so real, so natural, so believable and so winsome that the viewer gets absorbed into their world as minutes pass by.

To sum up, JAB WE MET is as refreshing as an ice-cold watermelon juice in scorching heat. Imtiaz Ali's expert storytelling coupled with Shahid and Kareena's sparkling performances make this film a must-watch!

Aditya [Shahid Kapur], an industrialist, is heartbroken as the girl he loves is getting married to someone else. Unable to muster up the courage to return home, he drifts out of the gathering and aimlessly boards a train, bounding away into the night.

As destiny would have it, he meets Geet [Kareena Kapoor] -- a beautiful but annoyingly talkative girl who is leaving Mumbai to go her hometown -- Bhatinda. Later, she has plans of eloping with her boyfriend [Tarun Arora].

Geet irritates Aditya to the point of getting him to leave the train. As she tries to get him back on the train, she ends up missing it and the two find themselves stranded on a desolate station with no luggage or money.

Begins the idyllic journey through the exuberant North Indian heartland in which this odd couple make their way through buses and taxis and camel-carts to reach her house in Punjab.

On arrival, Geet's family mistakes the two for lovers. Before this misconception can be cleared, Geet escapes to her boyfriend in Manali. Aditya leaves with her, confirming the suspicion that they are lovers. In Manali, Aditya feels empowered to return to Mumbai and resurrect his ailing business.

Life takes a positive turn and Aditya begins to do well. One day, Geet's family, who think that she is with him, confronts Aditya. He is shocked to learn that Geet has not returned home. He takes it upon himself to find her.

He finally tracks her down in a Himalayan town and begins another journey to reach Bhatinda and flow into the colors and conceptions of a loud and happy North Indian family. How their separate journeys become one, forms the remainder of the story.

Opposites attract -- that's the essence of this love story. The journey of two individuals who cross each other's path one night and develop a deep bond is skilfully and convincingly depicted at the very outset.

The highpoint of JAB WE MET is its story. Although the story bears an uncanny resemblance to some films, it never gives you the feeling of déjà vu. The sequence of events in the first hour is akin to a roller coaster ride. The journey that the couple undertake to reach Bhatinda first and Manali later is mesmerizing.

But the pace slackens in the second hour. Partly because the goings-on get dramatic and serious. Also, things seem to be stretched in this hour. The love story takes its own sweet time to reach its destination, when the fact remains that it could've [and should've] reached the finale earlier. Thankfully, the end is expertly executed and takes the graph of the film higher.

On the whole, JAB WE MET is one of the finest [romantic] films to come out of Bollywood in 2007. At the box-office, it has the merits to work big time. Strongly recommended… Go with your family!

Full Review

Speed Movie Review

Vikram Bhatt's Speed is a thriller with Sanjay Suri playing an under cover MI-5 agent. His wife (Urmila Matondkar) is kidnapped by Aftab Shivdasani and Sanjay is told to follow certain instructions if he wants to see his wife alive. The kidnapped Urmila manages to get in telephonic contact with Zayed Khan. Now Zayed is the only one who can help her out.

If you thought Vikram Bhatt couldn't make a movie worse than Red. Then yes, probably you are right. But Speed comes very close to beating Red, to Vikram's worst film ever. Now if there is one thing lacking in Speed, then it is its speed itself. The movie moves at a sluggish pace with a story so predictable that you may actually have fun guessing what the next scene would be. And mostly your guess would be right.

The movie seemed to have shot in London, could have easily been shot in Jhumri Talai without making any difference. The cinematography is that bad. Apart from a few Angrez people, no part of London has been captured on camera. The action director seems to have got a Krrish hangover. Actors do not fight; they fly and perform gravity defying stunts, which seem so very fake. The makeup artiste seriously needs to consider a shift of career. Consider, Sophie Choudhary a supposed terrorist who has loads of makeup enough to make a super model, jealous. Gosh!

The editor though deserves a pat to have reduced this movie to 2 hours and saved the audience. There are two boring songs too but if you could last 120 minutes of this boring film then two songs should be a cakewalk.

Tanushree Dutta and Sophie Choudhary show more of cleavage than acting skills. Zayed Khan is monotonous. Sanjay Suri is a case of talent wasted. Urmila Matondkar is ok. Aftab Shivdasani makes an impact.

So if you are devoted critic or a love birds in search of a place to coochie ?cooo or a person needing two hours of peaceful sleep. Then Speed is for you. And for the rest, Beware Speed is Out There at a Theatre near You.

Source : Nowrunning.com

Laga Chunari Mein Daag Movie Review

First, the obvious faults. The first half is clearly 30 minutes too long and the second half takes a Karan Johar like route. Obliterate these and you have a winner on your hands even though the story is nothing new. It has been told before and you have heard it umpteen times. Remember PREETY WOMAN? The script is loosely on those lines. So even as the film labours to its climax you know what the end will be. This is Indian cinema of the mid-eighties and early nineties; a tad melodramatic!

But what beats me is this; Rani Mukherji’s cousin brother who lives in Benares (with his father, and who is fighting for the bungalow where Rani, her sister Konkona Sen Sharma and parents Anupam Kher and Jaya Bachchan live), is confused as to how his uncle is now living a lavish life when earlier he struggled to make ends meet. His quest for the truth brings him to Bombay, where Rani is working as a call girl, to help support her family. This guy has even figured out her ‘per night rate’!

Director Pradeep Sarkar begins with a bang, introducing every character with a touch of flourish, and then throws away the advantage to hop on to mediocrity. Like Vibha, Rani Mukherjee’s character, who comes to Bombay in search of a job and loses track, Sarkar does the same.

The moving moments are between Jaya, who alone knows her daughter’s dark secret and Rani; and when Konkona is faced with the truth. These scenes, apart from the first half, are excellent.

Source n Courtesy : glamsham.com

Bhool Bhulaiyaa Movie Review

Priyadarshan in Bhool Bhulaiyaaha tries to come up with something different.

Siddharth Chaturvedi (Shiney Ahuja) who stays in America comes back to his village with his newly-wed wife Avni (Vidya Balan). Being a guy with modern outlook he would not believe in ghosts and decides to stay in the palace. Things take a turn when Avni unlocks the door to a forbidden room. Suddenly people hear and see things. Inside the room, they believe are two spirits. One was a court-dancer and the other her lover. The king had killed the lover and locked the dancer in the room where she committed suicide. Nice setting for a traditional ghost movie.

Siddharth's friend Aditya (Akshay Kumar) is a world renowned psychiatrist who also has vast knowledge in paranormal science. He lands up at the palace from America to solve the puzzle. And he goes on to reveal who is the ghost and how things are happening.

The film goes on to show that it's Avni who has been creating the problem. And Aditya pulls in all his scientific gyaan on this case to prove things. Avni apparently feels so much of the old dancer that she starts imagining that she is the dancer herself. She shows a case of multiple persona and tries killing Siddharth, who she perceives as the king. Aditya does cure her after creating an elaborate set up – which is very much against scientific practices. And as soon as this drama is over, the other girl, who has never uttered a word ever since she had supposedly seen the ghost as a child, is fine too.

With the film's explanation of being possessed being answered scientifically, there are very subtle and almost invisible, if at all, reference to how this girl took possessed and later cured. There certainly was no Avni around when she had seen the ghost. Also one thing that beats the audience is Avni speaking in Bengali as she had never been to Bengal. And Priyadarshan choses to keep this unanswered.

The film is a mixture of the regular Priyadarshan brand comedy and thrill. And both the thrill and comedy is derived from the same aspect – the fear for ghosts. However the humour at times goes overboard.

Especially during the first fifteen minutes where we see Asrani and Paresh Rawal trying too hard to make us laugh. There are also too many characters in the film, of which the last couple introduced just don't add anything to the movie. The arrival of the married couple makes things better as the story unfolds at the faster rate. Yet, we still have outlandish comedy here and there.

Full Review

Go Movie Review

Off late RGV has made those not-so good films, and the terribly bad ones too, but with Go, he seems to be getting into the act of making unnecessary films! And this truly is unforgivable. There is just no reason why you would ‘GO’ for a film like this.

Abhay and Vasundhra, lovers of course, have eloped and run into loads of unwanted situations and people. Now a chief minister kills his deputy chief minister and the evidence tumbles onto the path of the lovers.

And then enters the mischievous cop, doing something to add to the story. And yes, the colourful characters like the killer and the conman add further spice. Supposedly. And this claptrap caper continues for two full hours. Phew!!

No element of the film has the strength to add even an inch of vigour on the big screen. The music is stale and the songs have no beat or tune to keep you GOing.

There is nothing called cinematography. Perhaps the camera is on and kept so for quite sometime, grabbing whatever they could.

Editing is poor and if the scissors were used aptly, perhaps the film would have never seen the light of day.

And now, Nisha Kothari! Just like she had ‘tried’ to portray the bubbly Basanti of Sholay in Aag, here too she ‘tried’ to look like a sexy, steamy sizzler.

And the new discovery Gautam Gupta… perhaps it was the right break for him. For there was no scope for the muscleman to be compared to good acting skills. Nothing of the sort ever existed in the Factory product. Actors like Kay Kay Menon and Rajpal Yadav have been completely wasted.

What RGV saw in the script and how Manish Srivastava manoeuvred his way into the director’s chair is perhaps a mystery that would make for a more interesting storyline than Go.

It’s not worth it. DON’T GO!

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Dil Dosti Etc Movie Review

Last week, after Manish Acharya with Loins of Punjab Presents and Navdeep Singh with Manorama – Six Feet Under another debutant director enters tinsel town and comes up with a unique story. Director Manish Tiwary decides to tread on a path which few have tried before. But can a first timer pull it off?

Coming from Prakash Jha’s production house and judging by the promos one would think that this film would have his stamp on it. But unlike his earlier films like Gangaajal or Apaharan , this one is not as hard-hitting though some section of the crowd might be in for some shock value. Clearly the director has put in his own vision but not without traces of the producer’s inputs.

Sanjay Mishra (Shreyas Talpade) and Apurv (Imaad Shah) are college students who also happen to reside in the same hostel. Sanjay hails from a middle class background and campaigns for the student elections. He comes across another collegian Prerna (Nikita Anand) who aspires to be a model. Apurv comes from an affluent family but somewhere he finds excitement in discovering things which cannot be seen in everyday life. He visits a prostitute Vaishali (Smriti Mishra) and at the same time tries to woo a school-girl Kintu (Ishita Sharma). Sanjay cannot understand how Apurv can lend his heart to two women at the same time and the latter reacts by saying that ‘love’ is only a four letter word. So Sanjay challenges Apurv to make three women fall in love with him before his election results are declared. Sounds stupid? You decide...

The director should have paid more attention to the script. The core theme of the bet between Sanjay and Apurv is not put in the forefront (and neither is it reinforced) and you begin wondering why Apurv behaves the way he does. Another sore point is Shreyas Talpade’s character. At one point he seems to be the morally correct student who stands up for what he believes in and at another he contradicts his own beliefs which he enforced on others.

However, at certain points college students will be able to relate to Imaad’s character. It is chalked out really well.

Dil Dosti Etc . fails in the script department and treatment. The idea was good but somewhere the emphasis could not be brought out in the screenplay. The dialogues are weak. The film and especially Imaad’s character should have had stronger lines but he is relegated to finding out the atomic number of sodium.


After Anant Mahadevan’s Aggar , Shreyas Talpade takes a complete about turn as the middle-class student with political interests. His mannerisms do full justice of a Bihari youth but somewhere his character is not properly sketched out. Imaad Shah was last seen in a minor role in his father’s Yun Hota To Kya Hota but this time it’s a much more meatier role. The guy gets to smooth four women in the film and that might have been motivation enough to come up with a fine performance. However, his dialogue delivery needs some work. Smriti Mishra does a neat job and Ishita Sharma follows up her fine performance in Loins of Punjab Presents once again in this one. Nikita Anand looks the part completely and does well for herself even though she doesn’t have much of a role. Sanjay’s limp friend is terrific as well.

There is sex and violence but not in ample doses. The emotional segment balances it out. The film could have faltered completely but fortunately it doesn’t. Dil Dosti Etc. is a decent watch but just like Prakash Jha’s earlier films, it has its own audience.

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Manorama Movie Review

Dereliction isn’t just a state of mind. It’s also a condition of being and feeling that determines the quality of human existence beyond the transient needs and urges of the individual trapped in the monstrous mundaneness of the moment.

The best thing about debutant director Navdeep Singh’s oddly entitled “Manorama Six Feet Under” is the sand-swept Rajasthani ambience. Once, there was the grandiloquent Rajasthan of J.P. Dutta’s cinema and now there’s the telltale, accusing, culpable and guilt-laden Rajasthan of Singh’s cinema where crime coalesces into grime to create a kind of brackish brittle but sturdy concoction that Quentin Tarantino would approve of and Alfred Hitchcock would find hard to recognise.

Moving away from the stylised cinematic symposium of the noire-thriller genre, “Manorama” plays it by the ear. The heat of the desert is coolly questioning. The narrative is propelled forward, if propelled is the right word for what the director does with his outwardly-disembodied material with the brutal inevitability of those small-town machinations generated by an evil or just a plainly-bored design.

The characters are familiar small town people, not as continually menacing as they were in Vishal Bharadwaj’s brutal and merciless “Omkara”, but funnier and more lethargic, more prone to be insensitive and outright silly than they were in the hands of the other noire-makers in the past.

The brutality, when it comes, is swift, sudden and violent. The goons quickly bring the protagonist down to his knees and break his fingers. It reminded me of Jack Nicholson’s broken nose in Roman Polanski’s “Chinatown”.

Abhay Deol plays the splintered protagonist, failed writer, semi-successful spouse, indifferent father and an aspiring sleuth - with a mixture of sloth and spirit.

He looks bulkier, less lean but as mean as he did in his earlier films. His portrait of dereliction is purposely unfinished.

A very fine performance comes from Gul Panag as Abhay’s wife. She fills up the screen with her casual elegance bringing to the land of the awry a sense of calm charm and obfuscated order.

Another winner is Vinay Pathak. Portraying the mindless and honest corruptibility of a small-town cop, Pathak furnishes the dusty environment with a wry almost invisible humour.

The comic element is generated from that sly synthesis of awkwardness and brutality that governs life in the backwaters of north India where existence is more of a matter for the accounts-book than philosophy.

The technicians behind the film work in an unselfconscious spirit, as though they were part of a reality that goes beyond cinema. Arvind Kannabiran shoots Rajasthan as a mute but never dumb witness to the protagonist’s ironic persecution.

Editor Jabeen Merchant jumps ahead of the narration to formulate visual evidence of thoughts before the characters express them. And the director knows he is looking for a strain of cinematic experience that has no specific target or relevance.

“Manorama Six Feet Under” is a brave, if somewhat dry, representation of avant-garde cinema where the characters look more into themselves than into each other’s eyes for answers to questions that leave a lot to the imagination.

IANS
Source : Realbollywood.com

Bollywood Movie Dhol Review

THE losers hit the limelight once again. After the recent hits like Heyy Babyy and Dhamaal , you have the all boys' band of drifters calling the shots yet another time. Only this time, they do it with a pizzazz that brings back memories of Priyadarshan's earlier roller-coaster ride, Hera Pheri .

Ek baar phir, the vela boys dream of becoming winners. And what better way than to hitch their fortunes to a rich miss. But confusion begins when there's only one hot babe (Tanushree) in the neighbourhood and all four of them want to be her Prince Charming. Also, the babe's on a mystery quest, looking for her big brother’s killers, with dadaji (Om Puri) and dadiji (a kushti expert) in tow.

The story’s irrelevant. The screenplay’s iridescent. The gags are absolutely hilarious and the performances are crackling.

Of course, Rajpal Yadav steals the show with his mindblowing buffoonery (surely, his best act) and like an opera master, has the other three following in perfect place in this bindaas quartet circus. In their bid to woo the glam girl-next-door, the foursome always end up fleeing for their lives, sometimes from angry biker gangs, horrified family-wallahs, a querulous landlady and even a mean Mumbai thug who goes by a name that echoes the all-time baddie Mogambo.

Surely, it's time to crown Priyadarshan as the King of Comedy, if he can give us such a rib-tickler with a bunch of chhota actors. Miss this laugh riot at your own risk.

Review Source : timesofindia.indiatimes.com