Cameraman Gangatho Rambabu Movie Review

 

Cast : Pawan Kalyan, Tamanna, Prakash Raj,..
Director : Puri Jagannath
Producer : D. V. V. Danayya
Banner : Universal Media
Music : Mani Sharma
Cinematography : Shyam K. Naidu
Editing by : S. R. Shekhar
Rating : 3/5
 





Cameraman Ganga Tho Rambabu is not just a perfect follow up to Gabbar Singh but even surpasses it in many departments.

Puri, who disappointed everybody with Devudu Chesina Manushulu, ensures unadulterated entertainment and thought-provoking moments in his latest offering.
When a righteous journalist is killed by a corrupt politician named Rana Babu, a socially responsible mechanic Ramnabu, played by Pawan Kalyan, turns to journalism, after being persuaded by Ganga, played by Tamannaah, to bring expose crimes of the politician.

However, Rambabu did not anticipate that, as a journalist, he was always expected to play by the books. Irked by the situation, he steps down as a journalist and clashes horns with Rana Babu.

How will Rambabu stop Rana at all costs from becoming the next chief minister forms the rest of the story.

Puri takes a dig at the political state of affairs in Andhra Pradesh. The scenes that unfold are mirror the current condition of people in the state.
Sensitive issues such as Telangana and riots among college students are addressed intelligently.

Of course, the style Puri chooses may appear cliched but on the whole, he does stir the mind.

The audiences will be engaged by Pawan's dynamism and Puri's powerful dialogues and his narration at breakneck speed.
The film keeps you hooked, especially during comical moments involving Brahmanandam and Ali.

Puri brilliantly uses these comedians to emphasise on the flawed, over-hyped and unethical media in this country.

One particular scene between Brahmanandam and Pawan in the newsroom is hilarious and appreciative.

Pawan performs with ease and elan and his timing for comedy is commendable.
Tamannaah is impressive in her role and proves she is one of the best actresses in the industry.

Kota Srinivasa Rao and Prakash Raj, playing father and son and villains, are maniacal and brilliant.

However, the role essayed by Prakash seems similar to the one he played in Businessman.

Puri has once again proved his mettle as a scriptwriter and director. Although the film may partly appear superfluous, he and Pawan do manage to grab your attention.

Verdict : Rambabu scores as political satire

 

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Maattrraan Movie Review

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Cast : Surya, Kajal Aggarwal
Director : K. V. Anand
Producer : Kalpathi S. Aghoram
Banner : AGS Entertainment
Music : Harris Jayaraj
Cinematography : S. Sounder Rajan
Editing : Anthony
Rating : 2.5/5






 Mattrraan only promises the potential of actor Surya, but fails to arouse interest due to its stretched second half and lackluster narration.

When 45 winning Olympians of Ukraine die mysteriously in a plane crash in 1992, several years later, two Indians, the son of a huge milk powder manufacturing company and his girlfriend uncover information with regard to the plane crash. The couple, with the help of a Ukrainian scientist, should bring to light the truth that could possibly save some millions of lives in India.

All films of K.V. Anand to date have addressed some social problem. Likewise, in this film too, he addresses one of the raging problems our country faces today and barely seems to be doing anything about it.

There's absolutely no need to weave a story with conjoined twins, but writer Subha deliberately writes one to make the audience connect emotionally with the film. The relationship between the twins is poignant, funny and most importantly full of energy.

The idea to inspire the audience by including the social responsibility story is worthwhile. However, what doesn't impress is the hackneyed storytelling approach of the film. "Mattrraan" has as an interesting and humorous first half, but unfortunately the second half is a long and boring affair.

Surya is brilliant and carries his two roles that are poles apart with ease and conviction. Sachin Khedekar as a zealous genetic engineer fits the character perfectly and proves he was worth the opportunity offered. Thankfully, there are no comedians or separate comedy track, but that doesn't stop Anand to impress with few laughable moments. The inclusion of comedians would've added few more minutes to the running time and that could've definitely annoyed one and all.

Anand, who is known to make socially responsible films, should realize that the time has come to innovate. Nobody will stop a filmmaker from addressing a social issue, but he or she would be appreciated if it's presented in a story that's engaging.

Technically, the film was way ahead of the league, especially in the visual effects department headed by Srinivas Mohan, who made the conjoined twins look as real as possible. Editing by Anthony is satisfying, while music by Harris with visuals sounds better.

Verdict : One time watch, strictly for Surya

 

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English Vinglish Tamil Movie Review

English Vinglish Tamil Movie Review, English Vinglish Tamil version Movie Review, English Vinglish Tamil Version Review, Sridevi's English Vinglish Tamil Review, Ajith cameo review in English Vinglish, 

Cast : Sridevi, Mehdi Nebbou, Priya Anand, Adil Hussain
Guest Appearance : Ajith Kumar
Director : Gauri Shinde
Producers : Sunil Lulla, R. Balki, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, R. K. Damani
Banner : Hope Productions, IBC Spotlight
Music : Amit Trivedi
Cinematography : Laxman Utekar
Editing : Hemanti Sarkar
Rating : 4/5








Sridevi may have just won the hearts of millions of middle-class Indian housewives with her flawless performance in English Vinglish. Every minute spent watching the film is worth the time we've all been waiting to see the actress back in action.
Sridevi plays Shashi, a middle-class homemaker with exceptionally good parenting and laddoo-making skills. Her only purpose in life has been taking extremely good care of her family despite being ridiculed by her own children and husband at her poor English-speaking ability.

Along the course, Shashi gets to travel to the US for a family wedding, where persuaded by an advertisement, she signs up for 'Learn English in 4 Weeks' crash course and what follows is best watched on screen.

The character Sridevi plays on screen is very close to the character she's been playing off-screen. She's returned after 15 years doing something that she was portrayed doing in the first half of the film. She was taking care of her own daughters all these years to date where she's certain that they don't need her support.

The language-speaking impediment was merely used as a tool to help the audience connect with the character on a more emotional level.
This is not the story of one Shashi, but thousands like her in this country who are subjected to daily embarrassment and looked at as an experienced hand only in the kitchen.

Debutante director Gauri Shinde deserves what many filmmakers don't even deserve in today's significantly changing Hindi cinema - a standing ovation. The biggest difference between Gauri and other filmmakers is the fact the she didn't expect Sridevi to return as a star, but as an actress she's always known and cheered for.
Sridevi trades her glamorous yesteryear look for a mature, homely Indian look covered in chiffon sari that will make every mother-in-law in this country look at her 'bahu' and say, why can't you be like her. You may discard Sri's character as very Indian, but it isn't because she plays someone who is blessed with the ability to enjoy life's smallest triumphs. This is the same quality that makes everyone root for her at every step.

Shinde-Sridevi tag team may very well be the best we've had in years and one can proudly vouch for that after watching the film.

The relationship between Shashi and Satish, her husband, is handled deftly by Gauri, as she succeeds in portraying a typical 'I'm the king of the family' type of role. The way Satish distances from Shashi without making it look obvious is a brilliantly handled role by Adil Husain.

The depth of their relationship is brought forth when Shashi asks him: "If you can casually hug your friend in a mall, then why I don't get to be hugged even when we are close to each other".

Gauri should also be appreciated for roping in two of the biggest superstars of Indian cinema in a pivotal role, Amitabh Bachchan and Ajith Kumar.
 
Ajith's cameo in the Tamil version certainly draws attention and gives his fans every reason to enjoy the film as much as everybody else. Ajith’s dialogue delivery and last punch line are relevant and significant. It's an impressive three minutes cameo indeed.

The film was loved equally by one and all because even after 15 years, Sridevi has command over her language, be it Tamil, Telugu or Hindi, and she speaks with confidence, while her shaky-shrill voice works suitably in favour of her character.

To sum it up, English Vinglish proves that language is only a mode of communication, but not something that can be used to divide people. As brilliantly shown in one scene which has Shashi venting heatedly in Tamil to Laurent, who replies in French, it isn't about language.
 

Verdict: Must Watch Film, Grand comeback by Sridevi

 

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English Vinglish Movie Review

English Vinglish Hindi Movie Review, English Vinglish Movie Review, English Vinglish Review, Sridevi's English Vinglish Movie Review, English Vinglish Movie rating, English Vinglish Movie verdict, English Vinglish Movie story, English Vinglish Movie climax, 

Cast : Sridevi, Mehdi Nebbou, Priya Anand, Adil Hussain
Director : Gauri Shinde
Producers : Sunil Lulla, R. Balki, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, R. K. Damani
Banner : Hope Productions, IBC Spotlight
Music : Amit Trivedi
Cinematography : Laxman Utekar
Editing : Hemanti Sarkar
Rating : 4.5/5










There are no villains in "English Vinglish". Only imperfect human beings like you and I, who make that common error of taking loved ones for granted.

Admit it. At some point in our lives we have all felt that if we don't speak good English, we are not destined to be successful human beings. Imagine a housewife - beautiful, efficient, charming, supportive - and imagine if she looks like, well, Sridevi and still feels she is being taken for granted just because she can't speak fluent Angrezi.

Shashi's children find her embarrassing at times. Her husband openly cracks jokes about her accent. Shashi's husband thinks he's just being urbane and witty. But it hurts. We see that hurt in Sridevi's eyes each time she is slighted and snubbed by those whom she loves the most.

We know this world. We know this woman too. Director Gauri Shinde brings to the comfort of the familiar a feeling and flavour of wonderment, discovery and beauty.

"English Vinglish" is a fabulous fable of a woman's self-actualization. Shabana Azmi used to do such films in the 1970s. The issues in those films about unfulfilled wives were largely socially-defined - infidelity, adultery and betrayal. The betrayal of the unforgettable woman in "English Vinglish" is far less dramatic and therefore much more profoundly deep-rooted.

Shashi breaks up a little every time the three most important people in her life - her husband, daughter and son - crack up at her vernacular accent.
Then comes the chance for redemption. A five-week vacation in the US, a clandestine crash course in English and best of all, a chance to feel wanted and special when a fellow-classmate, a quietly striking French chef, gives Shashi the attention she doesn't get from her husband.

This is the complete middle-class woman's fantasy. Go out on your own and find happiness. Shinde wins over the audience at the story level itself. And then as a bonus, she proves herself a master storyteller.

Sure, Shinde gets a tremendous boost from cinematographer Laxman Utekar who captures New York in its quiet mellow state of bustling grace; composer Amit Trivedi's music simply and fluently melts into the theme and storytelling; and editor Hemanti Sarkar cuts the footage the way Shashi would cut her vegetables, precisely, lovingly and without anxiety.


Finally it's really the director's call.
In what I rank as the best debut by a female director since Aparna Sen's "36 Chowringee Lane", Shinde imbues a majestic mellowness and an unostentatious glow to the story of Shashi's coming-of-age saga. Shashi's ennui is not the in-your-face tragic pathos of Madhabi Mukherjee in Satyajit Ray's "Charulata" or Shabana in "Ek Pal". No case-history of domestic torture is built for our heroine. And no, the husband, played by Adil Hussain, brilliant in a thankless role, is not a cad sneaking into another woman's bed.


The narration doesn't try to pin its resplendent protagonist's life down to boomarked vignettes suggesting a violent need to be liberated from her domestic life. It's all very routine, recognisable and familiar.

The miracle of watching "English Vinglish" confer such a supple and contoured shape to Shashi's life is attributable to the director's high-concept theme and treatment. Shinde abhors overstatement. You hardly ever see Shashi break down. And so when the awards fall into Sridevi's lap at the yearend the nomination clip won't be the woman who suffers wracking trauma stereotype.
Nope. This woman is far more special than the bored housewives who look for an alibi to burst into their own version of 'Kaaton se kheench key yeh aanchal' to justify their succulent bites into the forbidden fruit. Sridevi simply sinks into the Big Apple, biting off juicy mouthfuls of New York's sobering cultural grace absorbing the cultural shock with a dignity that films about journeys tend to undervalue. Not this one.


"English Vinglish" a delectable geographical and emotional journey undertaken with a refreshing absence of bravura and selfcongratulation.
Much of Shashi's inner power comes from Sridevi owning the role. This actress simply vanishes into her character living every breath of Shashi's voyage from laddoo-making to self-actualisation. The journey is so excitng for us the audience because we feel a new world of experiences unravel for Shashi even as she savours the newness of it all.

Sridevi is the film's backbone. To her good fortune, and ours, the film is supported by a uniformly impeccable cast. Hardly ever in recent times have I seen so many wonderful performers in one film who don't seem to 'perform' at all. Whether it's Shashi's immediate family, or her sister's family in the US, and her classmates at the coaching institute - every character stays with us. Every person populating the plot is vididly sketched.
Finally, of course, this is Sridevi's film. In the past she has given outstanding performances in awful films like "Nagina" and "Judaai". Here her inviolable virtuosity and exceptional grace get brilliant support from every department of the film.

Specially memorable are her scenes with her French co-star Mehdi Nebbou who is so splendidly supportive, we forget what a major star he is in France.
Each time the two get passionate and emotional about one another, they speak in their native tongues, certain that their words would not impede the meaning of their thought expression.

Words, this beautiful work of unassuming art tells us, are redundant. More so, when the embodiment of silent eloquence Sridevi needs to express her inner thoughts. She never allows her character to look like a victim. That is the real triumph of "English Vinglish".

Sublime, subtle, seductive and thoroughly engaging "English Vinglish" is in some ways, a life-changing experience. It turns around the male gaze, making patriarchal tyranny seem like an acceptable tradition that we never thought we needed to break. With oodles of persuasive charm, the director breaks down the bastion of male pride with a film that generations will look back on with affection. As for the incandescent Sridevi, was she really away for 16 years? She makes the contemporary actresses, even the coolest ones, look like jokes with her flawless interpretation of a woman who seeks only respect because love, she already has.

Flaws? Yes one. Amitabh Bachchan's cameo, interesting as it is, overstays its welcome. Actually Shinde plays the Big B the best possible compliment in the opening credits: "100 Years Of Indian cinema 70 Years Of Amitabh Bachchan."

Verdict : If you watch only two films every year make sure you see English Vinglish twice! 

- IANS

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Thaandavam Movie Review

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Cast : Vikram, Anushka Shetty, Amy Jackson, Lakshmi Rai, Santhanam and Nasser
Director : A.L. Vijay
Producer : Ronnie Screwvala, Siddharth Roy Kapur
Banner : UTV Motion Pictures
Music : G. V. Prakash Kumar
Cinematography : Nirav Shah
Editing : Anthony
Rating : 3 Star for 5


Vikram plays Shivakumar, one of the best RAW agents in India. He is happily married to Meenakshi (Anushka), an ophthalmologist with a mission to enlighten the dark lives of hundreds of blind people through her foundation.

Sarath (Jagapati Babu) is Shiva's best friend and the next best officer in rank who's been working on a case of national security. He gets shot while interrogating a suspect and gets admitted to the hospital.

Shiva takes over the investigation from Sarath and travels to London to dig up valuable information vital to the case. Unfortunately, things don't pan out the way they were supposed to. Shiva is double-crossed and is left with no option but to save himself by staying low.

Meanwhile, Meenakshi comes to London to surprise Shiva on his birthday, but she gets killed in a bomb blast, which also leaves Shiva blind.

As a blind man, Shiva should avenge the death of his wife.

The plot is simple and easy to predict, however Vijay gives it the touch of brilliance and makes it interestingly engrossing. The first 15-20 minutes of the film portray events that are confusing but later what unfolds is exciting to watch on screen. The tension in the film is not spine-chilling, but of a kind never seen before.

In short, "Thaandavam" as a film presents itself as an unusual revenge saga with all elements one would want in a film.

Now, having called the film an unusual revenge saga let me also tell you why it failed to be the best thriller of our time.

To begin with, the film could've been easily cut by at least 10-15 minutes by keeping Amy's role minimal. The story could've been humorously continued with Santhanam, as it was originally portrayed in the film.

Secondly, if one can't understand echolocation then definitely the probability of enjoying the film is bleak. Vijay only spends close to five minutes to explain the concept to the audience verbally, whereas ideally it should've been demonstrated. The lack of understanding of the concept by majority of the audience leads to mockery of the same, which is quite disheartening.

The best moments of the film neither happen in London nor Delhi, but in Shiva's village. The marriage scene is one of the best scenes liked by everyone.

Vikram packs a powerful performance in a role never seen before. His chiselled six packs definitely drew some attention. Amy, Santhanam, Lakshmi and Nasser deliver satisfying performances, while Anushka and Jagapati Babu live up to expectations.


Music by G.V. Prakash, needless to say, was uplifting and energetic. Shot in the picturesque backdrop of London, Nirav Shah's cinematography is classy and welcoming. Vijay's direction has definitely improved since his last film, but one can still feel some vacuum in his overall presentation.

In short, "Thaandavam" is a perfect long revenge saga.

Verdict : An unusual, entertaining revenge story.

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Sattai Movie Review

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Cast : Ajmal Khan, Swasika, P. Samuthirakani, Thambi Ramaiah

Director : Anbazhagan

Music : D. Imman

Rating : 2.5/5



Sattai is loosely based on Sidney Poitier's 1967 classic "To Sir with Love", where a black teacher embarks on a journey to inspire and reform the lives of white students from the slums. Though not a frame-to-frame copy of To Sir with Love, Sattai deals with a similar subject, very close to the original.
 
In the Tamil version, Samuthirakani reprises Poitier's role with precision and elan. He plays a teacher of a government school and tries to bring about a change in the education system, consisting of students as well as fellow teachers.

Teaching comes with a heavy price and responsibility of not just ensuring cent percent results from students, but inspiring and imbuing reputable values in them such that they transform into responsible citizens of this country.
Samuthirakani plays Dayalan in the film with the shades of Gandhian principles. As a teacher, he's keen on adding difference to the lives of the students, while also successfully educating in a way they don't succumb to boredom.
The problems brought forth by the director are quite similar to what we see in most of the schools in the country. Big or small, size of the school doesn't matter because the problems that they face are common at some level.
                    
However, schools in the slums or villages, in particular, with meager resources have something bigger to worry about than their counterparts in the cities that are fortunately funded by corporate giants or privately-operated entities.
                    
Every aspiring teacher with the goal to see change administered is some way or the other challenged or opposed by a force. This force comes in many forms such as students, parents, principal and school management, and in some worst case scenarios, working colleagues as well.
                    
It reminds one of the role played by Aamir Khan in Taare Zameen Par, who is never encouraged by the management or parents, initially. Likewise, Dayalan is faced with the challenge of getting past a non-cooperative vice principal played by Thambi Ramaiah, to evolve as a winner with his path-breaking teaching methodologies.
                   
M. Anbazhgan as the man wielding the megaphone handles the subject bravely and he deserves to be appreciated for the same. Thankfully, the film doesn't stretch too long and comes to an end at the right juncture.
Samuthirakani, as the director-turned-hero, delivers an awe-inspiring performance. He carries his role with lot of sincerity and the same reflects on screen through his role. Kani's transformation into Dayalan is commendable and reminds one of the true ulterior motives of a teacher, which the actor portrays brilliantly.
Sattai deserves a standing ovation for handling a sensitive subject.

Verdict : A sensitive subject handled well 

 

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Barfi! Movie Review

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Cast : Ranbir Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, Ileana D’Cruz
Director : Anurag Basu
Producers : Ronnie Screwvala, Siddharth Roy Kapoor
Music : Pritam
Rating : 4 Stars for 5


 

Silences seldom spoke so eloquently. It’s been a while since we saw a film that set style at a subsidiary state to substance, put the characters’ inner life ahead of the flamboyant manifestations of self-identity in a world governed by benevolence and charm.

“Barfi!” is a very charming film. It’s remarkably devoid of vanity. The story of a deaf-and-mute man who could have grown up watching Chaplin and Raj Kapoor’s cinema, and an autistic girl who has definitely not seen Shah Rukh Khan in “My Name Is Khan”, is told without the props of a loud background music and other prompters to get audiences’ involved in the proceedings.

This is a picaresque world of artless charm which invites you in without band baaja or baaraati. Fanfare is for the circus. “Barfi!” is pure cinema.

Goodness! I am already gushing. It’s the narcotic effect that Barfi has on you. Within no time at all you are swept into the protagonist’s world, the two lovely women who breeze in and out of his existence and various other characters, all etched with a compassion and vividness that one associates with the cinema of Frank Capra and Ritwik Ghatak.

“Barfi!” exudes the warm glow of a life well lived. This dazzling glow originates from the protagonist Barfi who lives his life king-size with many Chapliesque comic antics creating a chain of comicbook adventures for our happy-go-looking hero, even though he can’t speak or hear. But then speech was always supposed to be the least essential component of cinema. Ask Ingmar Bergman or Satyajit Ray. Their character spoke through lingering silences.

It’s been a while since any protagonist on screen said so much to us without speaking. Rani Mukerji in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s “Black” said it all through her muted mode of communication. But she had the formal sign language plus a voiceover for articulate support.

Significantly Anurag Basu, a master storyteller (and never mind the tormenting tepidity of his last film “Kites”) does away with the crutches of a sign language and a voiceover.

Ranbir Kapoor as Barfi or Murphy whatever!…is left to his own devices. An incredibly enterprising actor, he brings a Chaplinesque aura to Barfi’s character. Blending a very physical pie-in-the-face style of comic acting with an intangible poignancy, Ranbir turns his character and the film into a muted celebration of life. The tears are hidden from view. But they are there.

His grandfather, Raj Kapoor, has never been very far from Ranbir’s acting skills. Raj Kapoor was highly influenced by Chaplin. Ranbir brings both the legends into the same line of vision, and yet creates a character which is unique in its buoyancy and optimism, never mind the sleeping dogs. Just let them bark in their sleep.

Priyanka Chopra as the autistic Jhilmil steals the show from Ranbir, if that’s possible. Lately, she has been found to be guilty of overacting in “Agneepath” and “Anjaana Anjaani” (with Ranbir again). In “Barfi!”, all her recent sins of excess are washed away.

Priyanka’s inherent glamorous personality simply disappears into her character. We don’t see the actress on screen at all! We see only Jhilmil who reminds us in a very pleasant way of Sridevi in “Sadma”. This is one of the most flawless interpretations of a physical-psychological disability seen on celluloid.

While Ranbir and Priyanka effortlessly prove themselves the best actors of their generation, Ileana D’Cruz makes a confident engaging debut into Hindi cinema. Is she here to stay? Time will tell.

As for Basu, in his earlier films “Gangster - A Love Story” and “Life… In A Metro”, he proved himself a maestro of the inner life. “Barfi!” too is shot on location within the hearts of the characters. Not just the memorable protagonists, even the smaller players specially Roopa Ganguly and Akaash Khuruna and Haradhan Bandhopadhyay, leave a lingering impact.

“Barfi!” celebrates life without dismissing the dark passages and roadblocks that we often encounter as we travel through that craggy road to death.

To be able to celebrate life so warmly and sensitively the filmmaker has to know death closely. Basu, a concer survivor, has been there.

“Barfi!” comes as close to being a modern masterpiece as cinematically possible. To miss it would be a crime. To embrace it is to serenade the sublime.

Verdict - A modern masterpiece

 

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Shirin Farhad Ki Toh Nikal Padi Movie Review

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Cast : Boman Irani, Farah Khan
Director : Bela Bhansali Sehgal
Producer : Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Sunil A Lulla
Music : Jeet Ganguly
Rating : 3/5





When two Parsis fall in love, there’s bound to be friction. They are such a talkative community. At least that’s what we get to know from the eccentric bustle that our movies tend to create when dealing with the community.

While watching Bela Sehgal’s sweet tender story of Shrin and Farhad - past the age of marriage, determined to find love and companionship in each other’s unexciting company, one immediately thought of Basu Chatterjee’s “Khatta Meetha” and Vijaya Mehta’s “Pestonjee”. The first, because it was a film about a widow and a widower from the Parsi community overcoming their children’s opposition for an autumnal marriage.

Mehta’s “Pestonjee” was remarkably accurate in portraying the benign quirks of the Parsi community. So is Sehgal. Though not a Parsi herself, she plunges into the centre of the dwindling community’s eccentricities without trying to give the characters any kind of a novel existence beyond what they are stereotypically known for.

The love story of Shirin (Farah Khan in a remarkably poised debut) and Farhad (Boman Irani, as natural as ever) holds no surprises. They meet, they smirk, they walk hand-in-hand, he mistakes her invitation for coffee in her home for suggestion for sex. While she makes him coffee, he waits for her undressed. And you know the rest.

The portrayal of Farhad’s mother (Daisy Irani) and grandmother (Shammi) reveals the film’s writer Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s penchant for loud extroverted singing, dancing, chortling ageing woman characters, e.g Helen in Bhansali’s “Khamoshi: The Musical” and Kirron Kher in “Devdas”.

Beneath all the feminine giggles (bras and panties, hee hee) and male guffaws (”tera rocket kab phutega”?) that surround the theme of courtship between a middle-aged couple for whom life is neither a picnic nor a funeral, Sehgal seeks out silent passages of undulating sensitivity.

Listen carefully. The film makes terrific use of silent moments that are becoming progressively rare in our cinema. Farah Khan is specially reticent, a mysterious smile hovering in her eyes constantly as though she knows that life, and life in the movies, is a secret joke. In her scenes with her comatose screen-dad, Farah’s eyes melt with affection.

Yup, she handles the emotional moments better than the comic.

Boman seems to be reined-in. It’s like a new singer, say Shailendra Singh when he had to sing duets with Lata Mangeshkar in Raj Kapoor’s “Bobby”. She had to hold back. Boman does that quite well to let his debutante co-star get comfortable with the camera.

Sehgal has cast true-blue Parsi actors in all the roles, big and small. In fact, I could hardly spot any non-Parsi in the cast!

The comic vein tends to get unwieldy at times, as if the attempt to be funny has taken a toll on the characters’ sense of self-identity. We get a Parsi wacko (Kurush Deboo) who runs amok with an antique gun threatening to kill anyone who comes in his way. He doesn’t make much sense in the scheme of the plot. But then, what makes sense in life other than the senselessness that we see see all around us?

Sehgal doesn’t try to make sense of the chaos. She flows with the chaos seeking laughter in the eccentricity. Hence when an old Parsi gentleman constantly writes love notes to Indira Gandhi, you know he has lost it. And you smile, because eccentricity is a pre-condition in a rom-com about two over-the-hill Parsis, one of whom sells lingerie and meets the woman of his dreams when she comes to buy a brassiere.

Laughter designed on innerwear can never fail.

Luckily, the film goes beyond innerwear and seeks a place in one’s heart. The director emerges with some truly heartwarming moments between Boman and Farah. Unki love story to nikal padi.

The debutante director has carved an endearing relationship between the unlikely couple. The romance is embellished with charming little incidents that add beautifully to the pacy perky pastiche of Parsi proceedings. And if Boman is confidently in character as a 45-year old who surprises himself by finding love, Farah is no less confident. Is this really her first film?

Verdict : Farah shines in pastiche Parsi romance 

 

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Devudu Chesina Manushulu Movie Review

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Cast :  Ravi Teja, Ileana D’Cruz, Prakash Raj, Brahmanandam, Kovai Sarala and Ali
Director : Puri Jagannadh
Producer : B.S.V.N. Prasad
Music : Raghu Kunche
Rating : 1.5/5




When a director like Puri Jagannadh is associated with a film, one expects full-on entertainer. But his “Devudu Chesina Manushulu”, starring Ravi Teja, turns out to be a disappointment.

Jagannadh, known for making commercial entertainers like “Badri”, “Idiot”, “Itlu Shravani Subramanyam”, “Pokiri” and “Deshamuduru”, has never failed as a dialogue writer, even though his scripts are flawed. But in “Devudu Chesina Manushulu”, he has failed both as writer and director.

The film starts off in Vaikunta Loka where Goddess Lakshmi asks Lord Vishnu to tell her a story. He begins to narrate the tale of two orphans - Ravi Teja and Ileana, who are born in different countries, but are destined to fall in love.

Not only the script is weak, the whole narration is dull and boring. It looks like the director was in a hurry to complete the film, which also disappoints in the technical department.

Ravi Teja tries to add some energy to his badly written role and succeeds to some extent. His dance movements, dialogues and action are funny and comical. Ileana has shed a lot of weight, but looks odd in her new hairstyle.

Prakash Raj plays a different character, while Brahmanandam, Ali and Kovai Sarala have managed to tickle the audience’s funny bone with their comic timing.

Shyam K. Naidu is a good cinematographer, but somehow he has failed to meet the expectations.

Raghu Kunche has composed some fine tunes.

Verdict - Watch it if you do not have any alternative

 

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Ek Tha Tiger Movie Review

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Cast : Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif, Ranvir Shorey
Director : Kabir Khan
Producer : Aditya Chopra
Banner : Yash Raj Films
Music : Sohail Sen, Sajid-Wajid, Julius Packiam
Rating : 4/5




There is something about the Salman-Katrina pairing. Something that goes deeper than a real-life affection. Even deeper than that crackling pitch-perfect chemistry that we see among endearing star-pairs, like Raj-Nargis, Rajesh -Mumtaz, Shah Rukh-Kajol…you name it!

Here in “Ek Tha Tiger”, we see a look of genuine protectiveness in Salman’s eyes every time he looks at Katrina Kaif. That look suits the film’s purposes fine. “Ek Tha Tiger” is the love story of two spies from different sides of the border who during the course of their volatile sinister cloak-and-dagger work, fall head over heels in love.

As the lovers flee their enemies, they are pursued by do mulk ke dushman. Which is nine mulk less than where Shah Rukh’s Don was wanted.

Salman’s spy-hero code-named Tiger cuts through the chase, brings the secret agent’s role down to an amiably human level, drawing secret alcoves of childlike vulnerability and, yes, humour from his character’s secret life, making the spy’s double life look doubly redeemable.

Every time Salman looks at Katrina his eyes melt. Kabir Khan taps the actor’s potential to fill up the screen to great advantage. Even while flexing his biceps through four continents in some of the best staged action sequences in some never-seen rugged exotic spots of the earth (full marks to action director Conrad Palamisano) Salman gets lots of very quiet contemplative moments with his beautiful co-star. For once the superstar looks neither bored nor distracted. And he isn’t impatient to move on.

Ruminative reflective rich in self-mocking resonances, Salman’s spy in “Ek Tha Tiger” is a remarkably restrained and expressive character. He handles both the action and the romantic sequences with seamless empathy.

Katrina gets better with every film. As a woman who had a genuinely happy childhood that has been snatched away by the nature of her profession, her eyes convey infinite pain. She conveys pain and love with as much elan as she kicks ass when the need arises. Yup, this lady rocks.

Kabir Khan whose earlier Katrina starrer “New York” defined Islamic isolation during times of terrorism with gripping gusto, this time, decides to have fun with the espionage genre without trivialising it. The blend of action and romance is achieved with a fluency that we’ve seldom seen in the action-romance genre.

The storytelling is laced with a loads of humour. Aseem Mishra’s camera-work punctuates the pungent drama of lovers on the run, capturing the bustle and the festivity of Ireland, Cuba and Istanbul with much warmth and affection and a detached fascination that is the opposite of touristic curiosity.

Kabir Khan has an eye for everyday details. Though his frames are arranged to convey aesthetics, the beauty of the moments shared by lovers is never defined by their surroundings.

It’s a very commonplace attraction seen in umpteenth Hindi films of every hue and variety. What makes director Kabir Khan’s telling of this routine love story come alive, is the presentation and packaging, both unique but never over-punctuated.

Epic in design the film has a surprisingly low number of main characters.

Kabir works on building the love story through the intelligently-written interaction between the two protagonists rather than their exotic environment or the incidental characters. Still, Girish Karnad as Tiger’s boss and Ranvir Shorey as Salman’s buddy-in-arms are first-rate. Never letting the script down.

It’s not easy to make an intelligent film on intelligence without tripping over the barbed wires of politics and espionage jargon. Kabir Khan strips the love stories to its bare necessities without diminishing the density of the drama.

“Ek Tha Tiger” is more a passionate love story than an actioner. Brilliantly scripted and deftly directed it’s Salman Khan’s best film in ages. As for his chemistry with Katrina Kaif, it is the stuff legendary love stories are made of.

Very few films make you sit at the edge of your seat when the hero fights and then makes you recline in sighing submission when he romances his sweetheart, in equal measures.

Verdict - Ek Tha Tiger gets it right

 

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The Dark Knight Rises Movie Review

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Cast : Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Tom Hardy
Director : Christopher Nolan
Producer : Christopher Nolan, Charles Roven, Emma Thomas
Studio : Warner Bros. Pictures
Rating : 4/5




Once in every few years, a film’s expectation reaches fever pitch. Yet, only a handful ever have lived up to it. The last of the “Batman Trilogy”, to the delight of fans, does. That it does so, while continuing on the same themes it addressed before, is a feather hardly any film franchisee has claimed.

Seven years since Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) retired as Batman, a new villain Bane (Tom Hardy) threatens not only Gotham’s peace, but its very existence. When the entire city is taken hostage by Bane’s men and the police are locked up, Batman must return, and fight an impossible resistance with a handful others.

The least one expects from a very popular, self-professed end of a series film is a grand scale. Most commercial cinema merely increases the effects and physical action. While Nolan indeed delivers on these, he goes beyond.

A bank or even a building being held hostage is well-known in cinema. Did you ever imagine an entire city held hostage for months? Like in the second part of the series, Nolan then asks the question: Would normal citizens rise up to become heroes?

Yet, morally and metaphorically, ‘The Dark Knight’ was stronger. There he asked the same question, but to individual citizens and in the climax on the two boats, to an opposite group of people. There, Batman wins because people in the two boats beat their instinct for self survival by refusing to kill the others for their own sake. In that scene, everyone becomes a superhero. Everyone becomes Batman.

That edginess of script, that triumph of true courage, is missing in this part. It compensates by rising on other counts.

The Nolan brothers (Christopher and Jonathan) know how to intermix a grim story of power, corruption, control and heroism with a spectacular razzle-dazzle. In a very powerful screenplay, the brothers bring attention to the corruption, the power structures and the chaos of the affluent class.

And the brothers, in creating villains that are alter-egos of Batman, and in often giving them ideals as high as him but in the end showing these anarchist villains failing, perhaps makes the greatest joke, the greatest metaphor on the state of the world today.

Perhaps the hidden, dark message is that no matter how much one resists - be it Batman or his villains - a corrupt power structure and affluence will survive. The brothers perhaps want to say that resistance, eventually, proves futile. Perhaps they want to say the opposite, that good and bad, light and darkness and falling and rising take turns and that no matter what, one has to resist.

Nolan is a man in absolute control of his craft. You’ll be hard pressed to find a man with such ability to interplay sound and visuals to create a three-dimensional vision in your head.

Hans Zimmer assists him with superlative yet gentle and sombre background score, while as expected, the special effects division delivers the wares without going overboard.

Nolan carries forward the themes from the previous two films - fear, death, anger, corruption, heroism and chaos, and rounds them up into a perfect whole.

In the end though, the true hero that rises from this series is Christopher Nolan. In the wasteland of commercial Hollywood cinema, he is the best thing that has happened in a long time. May his clan increase everywhere.

Verdict - Dark, knightly and rises to expectations

 

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Cocktail Movie Review

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Cast : Saif Ali Khan, Deepika Padukone, Diane Penty
Director : Homi Adajania
Producer : Saif Ali Khan, Dinesh Vijan
Music : Pritam
Rating : 3/5





Out of the three protagonists in this wacky menage a trois, two people are not as beautiful inside as they are from the outside.

Gautam and Veronica are deeply flawed characters. He, a certifiable jerk who thinks of women , good times and partying, in that order, all the time. She, Veronica quite like her namesa e in the Archies comics, is a sexy, naughty, loud siren But then what happens when the party ends? What happens when the constant search for that elusive state of being known as Good Times bores you to death?

Veronica soon finds out. In painful revelations of the darkness under the neon.

It’s a dream role for any actress.And Deepika Padukone, facing the biggest challenge of her career, sinks her beautiful teeth into the role with the hunger of a tamed tigress who has been let loose in a jungle for just one romp. She gets out of her comfort zone and lets the mascara run down her distraught face with a couldn’t-care-less gusto that glamour girls don’t generally adopt. It’s a performance to be admired.

In truth, Deepika would have been far more comfortable playing the butter-won’t-melt-in-the-mouth Meera (a hugely impressive debutante Diane Penty). Deepika has apparently chosen to play the fun-loving bitch who somewhere down the line, realises she wants all the things that he had so far scoffed at.

Not surprisingly, the film is written by Imtiaz Ali in whose “Socha Na Tha” and “Love Aaj Kal” we met the commitment-phobic hero. In fact, there is really no difference between Saif Ali Khan in “Love Aaj Kal” and in “Cocktail”. Except that the womanizer in the new avatar makes a lot more faces. Experience makes for expressiveness. They both shun true love when it stares them in the face. And then of course, the rest that follows is predictable.

“Cocktail” is not high on surprises. The two main characters are prematurely jaded, bored out of their wits by an excess of hedonism. Into their lives arrives the timid golden-hearted jilted bride who needs a home and a place to call her own. The film is really about three unmoored characters finding their bearings. That it has been shot in London is a happy circumstance for the characters. Cinematographer Anil Mehta makes them look ravishing in their rain-washed lives with glimmers of sunshine peeping out in tantalizing scoops.

Unfortunately Saif silhouetted against the London’s quaint bustle is a bit of a cliche. He brings nothing new to his role, and he isn’t entirely to be blamed for it. Saif’s is a thankless part. He moves in with the vixen Veronica where Meera is already ensconced after being deserted by her caddish NRI husband (Randeep Hooda, struggling to impart substance to his wafer-thin role).

By the time the triangle concludes everyone is in love with Meera. Audience included. Diana as the angelic girl from Delhi who is left bereft on foreign shores (many shades from Aishwarya Rai’s Aa Ab Laut Chalen) is the discovery of the year. She stops her Good Girl’s role from becoming sickeningly sugary. And that’s no small achievement for a newcomer.

“Cocktail” is not quite as intoxicating as it sounds. But it’s a heady brew about beautiful people trying to find themselves in places where life is an endless party.The music is effective in conveying the pseudo-euphoria of people who drown their solitude in noise. Saif is likeable when he doesn’t try too hard to be the roving-eyed rogue. His performance in drag to “Sheila ki jawaani” is brave.The performance on the whole is more smug than brave.

Boman Irani and Dimple Kapadia playing siblings are brilliant, specially the former who seems incapable of giving an under-done or over-done performance. Like Deepika, Dimple is remarkable for getting out of her comfort zone and doing a role that would traditionally go to Kirron Kher.

Deepika and Diane are gorgeous in their respective spaces. “Cocktail” is a very good-looking film about people who constantly seek a good time and then realise what they thought to fun was a farce. The emotional transitions are achieved with a fair degree of smoothness. You kind of grow to like all three protagonists, blemishes and all.

Director Homi Adjania who made the eccentric “Being Cyrus” shows a casual familiarity with the realm of the rom-com. He takes the basic ingredients of the genre and plays around with the components, to emerge with a concoction that is quite appealing in its self-deprecating humour and a rather unusual appetite for partying.

Verdict : Tale of ennui told well, sparkling performances by cast

 

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Bol Bachchan Movie Review

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Cast : Ajay Devgn, Abhishek Bachchan, Asin, Prachi Desai, Krushna Abhishek, Archana Puransingh
Director : Rohit Shetty
Producer : Dhillin Mehta, Ajay Devgn
Banner : Fox Star Studios
Music : Himesh Reshammiya, Ajay-Atul
Rating : 3/5

Like that cute little boy who holds his father’s face in both his hands to get attention, “Bol Bachchan” just doesn’t let go. Its relentless quest for a rolicking time is infectious. The comic confusions are put forward with a giggly gusto. You can see the team had a great time shooting this subverted version of a 1979 comic classic.

Hrishikesh Mukherjee would be unable to recognize this version of his comedy ‘Golmaal’ on which Bol Bachchan is based. Hell, he might have even sued for subversion of his creative property. But then, he always loved the Bachchan family. And there are the two Bachchans in the film - Abhishek Bachchan and his likeable comic partner Krushna Abhishek. No, make that 3. At the very start the senior-most Bachchan, the Big B himself, makes a gracious song-and-dance appearance where the director Rohit Shetty lets us know he loves the Bachchans.

In one way or another.

The film casts Abhishek Bachchan in a double role of Abbas and his doppelganger double Abhishek Bachchan. Yes, that’s the name given to Abhishek’s character when he comes face-to-face with the village head-honcho Ajay Devgn, a kind of benign mukhia who is goofy and rather dumb, so dumb that he actually believes the on-screen Abhishek Bachchan’s cock-and-bull story about how his parents named him as such because they were big fans of Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan.

Right.

Devgn’s character, a not-so-gentlemix of a pehelwaan and Anil Kapoor in Virasat is as far removed from its origins, namely Utpal Dutt in Golmaal, as Archana Puransingh is from Dina Pathak. The former steps into the latter’s role with the kind of defiant toss of her head and bosom that makes the transition more of a humorous takeoff than a homage.

Indeed, some of the funniest scenes in this fair comic romp into Hrishida’s backyard feature the excellent Ms Puransingh.

The tongue-in-cheek tribute to the original film is quite often so cocky it makes you wince. Rohit Shetty has stripped away the gentle amiable wit of Hrishikesh Mukherjee and replaced it with a raw and ripe humour that takes swipes at anything that comes in the way of the satire.

Yes, the original featuring Amol Palekar and Utpal Dutt plays on television in a sequence. And there’s a play being staged in Rohit Shetty’s imaginary village where two actors impersonating Dutt and Palekar enact the original film.

That is as close as we get to Hrishikesh Mukherjee in this punk-parody of the original comedy.

Valiantly, the dramatic tension in the comedy is based on a communal divide. The hero Abbas has to invent a Hindu phantom-double to avoid a religious backlash. Unusually for a comedy, the filmkeeps making sharp stinging remarks on the communal issue without causing offence. In one specially audacious sequence, the film’s writer targets two minority communities, the Muslims and gays, in the same range of vision without tripping over.

Now, that’s no mean achievement.

The cute Prachi Desai playing Devgn’s kid-sister remarks that some of our biggest names like Abdul Kalaam and Shah Rukh khan are “like that”. Devgn has the other minority community in mind.

Bol Bachchan dares to carry its sense of fun to an extreme of playfulness without toppling over into crassness. It takes on the scared cows without putting its feet in the cow poo. The elderly are often a brunt of ridicule in the plot. But again, no offence meant. Asrani’s rapport with his screen-son is truly funny.

However what doesn’t work is the enforced action sequences where just to simulate a climax in the trademark Rohit Shetty style, cars leap into the air, buses crash into windows - Shetty’s stunts are becoming predictable in their execution. A change is needed there.

What works are the performances. Ajay Devgn as the endearing bully is in top form. His mongrelized use of the English language is the cheekiest subversion of the original film’s content. In Hrishida’s Golmaal Utpal Dutt spoke only the purest form of Hindi.

Abhishek Bachchan pulls off the double role with the right blend of the subtle and the saucy. This is his second film after Dostana where he has to impersonate homosexuality.

Abhishek is dead-on.

A special word for Abhishek Krushna and Archana Puransingh who provide plenty of chuckles with their comic timing.

Hrishida may not approve. But this is Golmaal without the innocence of those times.And that’s the way we like it.

Verdict : A modern day ‘Golmaal’

 

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Maximum Movie Review

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Cast : Naseeruddin Shah, Sonu Sood, Neha Dhupia, Amit Sadh, and Vinay Pathak
Director : Kabeer Kaushik
Music : Amjad Nadeem, Devi Sri Prasad
Rating : 3/5

With a kind of brisk business-like immediacy and the least amount of fuss, “Maximum” takes us into the world of shoot-out killings and the internecine war in Mumbai’s police department which threatens to destroy the very institution built to mend the wounds and fissures in the social fabric.

Writer-director Kabeer Kaushik seems to be a born minimalist. His earlier film “Saher” was also steeped in the khaki colour.In “Maximum”, the world of legally-enforced corruption is created with such a lack of back-projection, history and vocalized subtexts that you often feel the director takes his audience for granted.

This is not the case. Kaushik presumes that we are intelligent enough to enter the murky morally ambivalent world of his characters without being led by the hand.

Naseeruddin Shah, who plays a ruthless encounter cop Arun Inamdar, is introduced to us when a victim lies bleeding in front of the cop. Characteristically the director plunges into the scene of crime when the dark deed is done. We see Inamdar watching the victim bleed to death and then pumping two bullets into the chap to ensure there’s no unfinished business here.

This is a world of unmitigated immorality. Bullets are fired not to stop but to merchanidise crime. And the lawmakers are shown to be as corrupt as the ones they set out to nab and mend.

Pratap Pandit, as played by Sonu Sood, is a man of a few words, much action. We are not given a chance to know him closely. He shifts gears so often we’re often left looking briefly at gaping wounds that can never heal in our socio-political system.

The narration assumes a peculiar pace. As guns roar and Daniel George plays out an elegiac evocative background score to underline the senselessness of the violence, we can see the characters’ self imposed emptiness in the face of the volatile noise that they’ve created around their lives. The hollowness hits you in the head more than the heart. And when the emotions seize the plot in a vice-like grip we feel terribly sorry for the characters for the death trap that they’ve built for one another and finally themselves.

The film opens in 2003 at the height of the encounter killings in Mumbai. Two encounter specialists played by Sonu and Naseer are at loggerheads.

Admirably the director doesn’t use the two principal characters to form a central conflict. Kaushik’s narration is as ruthless and stripped of humour and other sources of cinematic solace as the world his characters inhabit. A certain amount of familiarity with the world of encounter killings is assumed on the audiences’ part. We are expected to understand the subverted value-system of the encounter cops who do their social cleansing and in the process get so embroiled in blood, their hands are soaked in the very blood that they are meant to wash away.

Hence our ‘hero’ Pratap (based on a real-life encounter specialist) is shown to kill criminals, extort money from builders and businessman and hobnob with the powerful and profance. And yet he returns home to a loving wife (Neha Dhupia) and a daughter. The father-daughter scenes are done with a tremulous tenderness.

Sonu invests immense emotion in these scenes. His performance takes him through several moral dilemmas. Years pass. Sonu’s body language expresses the deplorable shift in power equations. Here’s a performance that again proves this underrated actor’s unimpeachable versatility.

“When you are slipping you either fight back or you keep quiet,” he tells his journalist-friend, played by Amit Sadh. They share keema-paoat an Irani restaurant. As the years pass, earlier the cop paid, later the scribe does. A subtle illustration of a power-shift that says so much about the socio-economic equations of Mumbai.

The journalist’s character remains a kind of sutradhar. By the end of the film we really don’t know who is in the crime folds for the money and who’s there for the power.

“Maximum” is a film that’s far more in-charge of its out-of-control sharp-shooting cops than it seems. Yes, there have been any number of films about encounter cops. But this one gets at the underbelly of desolation and isolation of such cops as effectively as Shimit Amin’s “Ab Tak Chappan”.

There are some brilliantly executed shootouts.

A layered sharp and sagacious look at the internecine world of encounter cops, “Maximum” is a minimum-fuss crime drama where the characters are so austere in their emotions they somehow seem to be constantly shadow-dancing with their conscience.

The performances by Sonu and Naseer Shah propel the plot to a gripping summit. But there isn’t enough of Naseer. Vinay Pathak as a Uttar Pradesh politician and Amit as a journalist, both trying to make sense of Mumbai’s confounding cosmopolitanism, add considerably to the film’s powerful personality.

For Sonu “Maximum” is a new beginning.

Verdict : A minimum-fuss crime drama

 

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Brave Movie Review

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Director : Mark Andrews
Producer : Katherine Sarafian
Banner : Walt Disney Pictures
Rating : 4/5







Wisdom is a funny thing. When you could really make good use of it, especially during the strength of your youth, you have very little. Youth too is funny, because when you have the strength to change the world, you lack the wisdom.

Between the strength of youth and wisdom of age, lies a no-man’s land called generation gap, where people have fought since the beginning of human civilization.

“Brave” is a film situated in that place, trying to decimate fences on both sides of the warring parties in a fun, light-hearted and poignant way.

Merida (Kelly Macdonald), a young princess in a kingdom ruled by tradition, dislikes her mother who’s perennially trying to wean her away from her archery and horse riding into more ladylike pursuits. She evokes a spell to change her mother not realising that it will literally change her physical appearance.

Mother-daughter must come to resolve their differences if the queen has to convert back. Turns out that understanding the other’s perspective wasn’t so hard after all.

“Brave” is a very unselfconscious, fun, well-written and well-executed film that blends history, myth, humour and fantasy with an impeccable animation that delivers an entertaining punch.

It is a film for the whole family as you’ll find kids and adults on the two sides of the generation gap relating to it.

The heady detailing of animation makes you realise why Pixar is called the mother and father of modern animation.

A scene of Merida shooting an arrow is shot in slow motion: as the bowstring is released, the arrow bends with the intensity of the force pushing it forward, before it straightens mid-air and hits bull’s eye.

The meticulous working in this scene becomes an analogy for the detailing in the entire film as well as in most Pixar fare.

Yet, at the core of it, Pixar understands that what humans relate to are emotional stories. The brilliant animation work works only to complement a well thought out and written screenplay, which in the tradition of children’s art entertains kids as much as it enlightens them. And at the end, there’s a lesson for everyone to take home and ponder - young and old alike.

The lesson is simple. It is not that parents are always right and kids always wrong. There’s a middle ground where both generations can coexist and thrive.

“Brave” delivers a moral without letting the moral out. It teaches not just kids to listen to parents, but parents to be wise enough to listen to their kids and accommodate their strengths and enthusiasm into their wisdom. And it delivers this message with an emotional and humorous punch.

It talks of tradition and that it need not be followed without thought. It weaves magic without making the magic, the film or you feel out of place. And that is magical indeed.

You come out with the feeling that no war, be it literal, attitudinal or generational is inevitable but wisdom, understanding and peace can always be. Only a film brave enough to attempt so much, can do so.

Verdict : Fun, emotional adventure ride

 

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Gangs Of Wasseypur Movie Review

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Cast : Manoj Bajpayee, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Richa Chadha, Huma Quershi, Reema Sen, Piyush Mishra and others
Director : Anurag Kashyap
Producer : Anurag Kashyap, Sunil Bohra
Banner : Viacom 18 Motion Pictures
Music : Sneha Khanwalkar, G. V. Prakash Kumar
Rating : 4/5




Bleeding brilliance in almost every frame, breathing fire through every available orifice that the characters possess, and whipping up a kind of frenzied, flamboyant bloodshed that was once associated with the Spaghetti Westerns of Sergio Leone and Sam Peckinpah, “Gangs Of Wasseypur” is, briefly, one huge gang-bang. No protection provided.

From its bludgeoning opening when merciless marauders ambush a powerful enemy’s fortress-like home with army-like meticulousness, “Gangs Of Wasseypur” takes us into a world where compassion is a dinosaur, forgiveness a faux pas, and kindness an unforgivable sin.

Welcome to Kashyap’s Wasseypur. This is no country for the weak-hearted. Country-made guns go off without warning, bombs are hurled from two-wheelers and abuses fly out even faster than the bullets. If you are the kind of moviegoer who doesn’t enjoying hearing and seeing the unimaginable things that can’t be done to various parts of the human anatomy, then I suggest you try something more sugary and safe.

The world of Wasseypur is soaked in blood and revenge. The mafia in one form or another rules the little town. To mainstream Hindi moviegoers, this is not an unknown territory. At least four other recent films - “Paan Singh Tomar”, “Ishaqzaade”, “Rowdy Rathore” and “Shanghai” - have hurled audiences right into the notorious anarchy of the North Indian small-town where the barrel of the gun speaks an irresistible language of mayhem.

It’s a strangely dichotomous world where music and songs (Sneha Khan walk) mock the characters’ subverted ‘herogiri’. While the characters indulge in their unmanned violence, audience become numbed participants in the rites of the wrong-doing.

The almost-ritualistic slaughter of all rules of civil conduct in “Gangs Of Wasseypur” is not redeemed by the presence of any hero.

Even the main protagonist in the blood thirsty saga is a certifiable rogue named, Sardar Khan. As played by Manoj Bajpayee in what is arguably his most feisty and filled-out performance to date, Sardar Khan is a second-generation criminal and social outcast.

In the film’s unforgettable prologue, Sardar’s father (Jaideep Ahlawat) serves as a henchman to the powerful local politician (Tigmanshu Dhulia). Politician has daddy killed by a hired assassin and Sonny-boy grows up swearing revenge.

This in a nutshell, could be the plot for a cheesy 1980s’ potboiler. In taking the grammar and language of the formulistic vendetta drama from the 1970s and 1980s and converting it into a crackling saga of compelling contemporary currency, Kashyap turns all the rules of mainstream Hindi cinema on its head. He uses the language of Manmohan Desai and Narinder Bedi’s cinema. But he applies these to characters who are as far removed from the world of escapism is Sicilyis from Wasseypur.

Oh, did we really say “Gangs Of Wasseypur” was derived from “The Godfather”? Nah. The two worlds are inter-connected only by their legacy of lineage and violence. Beyond that Kashyap’s mode of storytelling, and the way his characters loo mover the proceedings without become caricatural, are frighteningly original and as liberated of reference-points as any of the path-breaking films on gangwars that have emerged out of Hollywood in the last 25 years.

Kashyap celebrates the drama of the grotesque with the relish of a seven-’coarse’ meal. We can count the number of thuds and stabbing sounds every time a victim is cornered and done to death. Violence on this level has never really been a part of mainstream Hindi cinema before. The end of cinematic niceties is here. Take it or leave it.

Kashyap, in Wasseypur, legitimizes gore with glorious gusto. In the gang war that he portrays with such feral immediacy, victims are chopped up piece by piece, their body parts sent to the butcher’s to eliminate legal evidence. A finger floating in a cesspool of stale blood is a commonplace sight in the world of unchecked mayhem that Kashyap has constructed with such casual resplendence.

His team of technicians are unconditionally mired in the mood of violence. Rajeev Ravi’s camera mows through the imaginary world of Wasseypur with a devilish dispassion.

The film looks layered and even luminous in texture. But the tone of narration is detached. The dereliction of the damned and doomed characters is neither romanticized nor demonized.

Indeed “Gangs Of Wasseypur” invents a new language of cinematic expression. It creates a world where the characters inhabit a universe of vapid stagnant violence. And yet the narration, never short of breath even in the most breathless state of violence, exudes a kind of vibrancy that comes from neither rejection not acceptable of an undesirable situation. It comes from within the characters. As they battle each other in bitter futile feuds, they also seem to be battling the demons within themselves. The synthesis of what lies within and without is devastating.

And yet for all its outward show of ruthless machismo “Gangs Of Wasseypur” is a film with a heart. There is a rather enticing love story featuring Manoj, his screen wife(debutante Richa Chadha) and the other woman (Reema Sen) tucked away in the folds of the ferocious tale.

Manoj’s wife is a very happy happening in this sad but savagely funny tale. She is quite the discovery of the year, and that too in a film mottled with exceptional performances by Manoj, Nawazuddin as his son (more of him in “Wasseypur 2″), Tigmanshu Dhulia who is clenched, controlled and combative as the villain in chief, Pankaj Tripathi riveting as Manoj’s belligerent enemy, Piyush Mishra remarkably restrained and wise as Manoj’s mentor and guide and Huma Qureshi, another whammy performer whom we will see more of in the sequel.

In fact, every character, big or small, is cast with what looks like first-and-last options. You can’t imagine any other actor playing any of the myriad parts.

Brutal, brilliant, dark, sinister, terrifying in its violence and yet savagely funny in the way human life is disregarded “Gangs Of Wasseypur” is one helluva romp into the raw and rugged heartland. Not to be missed. I can’t wait to see the sequel. But be warned. Avoid meals half an hour before and after viewing.

Verdict : A romp into raw, rugged heartland

 

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Rock of Ages Movie Review

Rock of Ages Hollywood Movie Review, Rock of Ages Movie Review, Rock of Ages Review, Rock of Ages Movie Rating, Rock of Ages Movie verdict, Rock of Ages Movie story, Rock of Ages Movie climax, 

 

 Cast : Catherine Zeta-Jones, Julianne Hough, Diego Boneta, and Tom Cruise
Director : Adam Shankman
Producer : Carl Levin, Matt Weaver, Scott Prisand, Tobey Maguire, Jennifer Gibgot
Banner : Warner Bros. Pictures
Rating : 4/5





If you have been following the news lately, you’d have heard of Assistant Commissioner of Police Vasant Dhoble. The ‘dabangg’ cop is wreaking havoc on Mumbai’s already depleting night life by landing unannounced at parties armed with hockey stick, camera or an entire police force.

Dhoble has an enemy now - “Rock of Ages” - that takes off from where his vigilantism begins to deliver the funniest rock film since “This Is Spinal Tap”.

After his live music joint is threatened by moral police led by Patricia (Catherine Zeta-Jones), Dennis (Alec Baldwin) must find ways to save it.

Hope comes in the form of Stacee Jaxx (Tom Cruise), the popular rocker going solo, and his own waiter Drew (Diego Boneta) who is inspired by his singer girlfriend Sherrie (Julianne Hough) to have rock dreams of his own.

Things, however, will take a turn for the worse.

If one were to look at this as a simply Rock and Roll movie, one is bound to be disappointed. For one, the songs in the film are not at all rock and roll with generous dosage of pop, love ballads and a slight sprinkling of the blues.

However, look at the film as a farce, a satire on everything including rock and roll, and you’re on a hilarious ground hardly ever traversed so well after.

“This Is Spinal Tap” captured the imagination of the masses. In the true essence of a farcical comedy, this musical, based on a Broadway musical directed by Kristin Hanggi with a book by Chris D’Arienzo, mocks rock and roll and its icons and their self indulgence.

Thus Tom Cruise’s serious rocker act becomes a spoof on all rockers and their overindulgence in sex and alcohol and their hilarious sense of persecution when they were all along enjoying life.

The serious journalist from Rolling Stones magazine, who almost ends up having sex with an ageing rocker she seems to hate, is a spoof on all ’serious’ rock and roll journalists.

Its tacit message: Don’t burden music like rock and roll with too much of meaning. Enjoy it and forget it.

The film’s irreverence to the same things it seems to be valorising is its funniest gig.

Tom Cruise is a sheer delight. His slow, meanderingly paced act as the indulgent rocker, who cannot seem to stay in his senses, is simply stunning and different from anything he has done. Despite some good competition from others around, especially the perennially delightful Paul Giamatti, and the lovely Zeta Jones, Cruise cruises along brilliantly.

The film will be of particular interest to the generation that grew up listening to song of bands like Guns N’ Roses, Def Leppard, Foreigner, Journey, Poison and Europe. The way some of their popular songs are used, misused and often mutilated, is simply delightful.

It is a film that ACP Vasant Dhoble must watch for it just might be the pill that will ease him up a bit.

Verdict : Funniest rock comedy since ‘Spinal Tap’

 

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Prometheus Movie Review

Prometheus Hollywood Movie Review, Prometheus Movie Review, Prometheus Review, Prometheus Movie Rating, Prometheus Movie verdict, Prometheus Movie story, Prometheus Movie climax, 

Cast : Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Guy Pearce, Charlize Theron
Director : Ridley Scott
Producer : Ridley Scott, Tony Scott, David Giler, Walter Hill
Banner : 20th Century Fox
Rating : 3.5/5





Few of us get an opportunity to better something we may have done before. Fewer have the guts to take that opportunity. And rarer still are those who create that opportunity for themselves. With “Prometheus”, director Ridley Scott gives himself that opportunity, returning to familiar territory.

In the end of the 21st century, after discovering signs that lead to the origin of man in another planet, a private corporation sends the ship Prometheus to investigate. In an alien, hostile planet, they discover a place that is almost like a sanctuary with its own atmosphere.

However, in that place loom both the secrets to the origin of man and a horror that could lead to our end.

As you watch the film unfold, you get the creepy feeling that you have seen it before; the plot, the story, the space ship, the creatures. As the story progresses, so does the sense of deja vu. Till the very last scene, screams out the word that was looming in your head - ‘Alien’.

The reference to the alien universe is so endless, that it will take someone completely unfamiliar with it to not notice.

The script, despite being smart, is loose in certain ways. For example, when humans first encounter the new planet and discover tell-tale signs of intelligent life, there’s no real surprise on their countenance. It is as if like Scott, the audience have been here before too.

Or perhaps Scott was too busy diverting audience attention from the ‘Alien’ similarities of the film to pay attention to these small details in the script that would have made the film much more enjoyable.

Even for those unfamiliar to ‘Alien’, it is a predictable film. It plays with the known cliches of the genre, while trying to go beyond in its visual spectacle. The little philosophical tirade about the origins of humanity, is also a little uncalled for.

What redeems the film are its brilliant effects and the cast. Filmmaking technology has advanced so much in the last three decades since Scott made the first film, that it gives him a rare chance to better visual spectacle by a great margin.

Secondly, the cast is impeccable. Michael Fassbender as the cyborg does a perfect job. Though you miss Sigourney Weaver, in Noomi Rapace you have a perfect, fiery candidate.

Scott makes her survive more treacherous ordeals than he made Weaver go through. The attempt, even here, is to outdo the original.

Thus, “Prometheus” does not disappoint you. But it does not satisfy your attention completely either.

In trying to find the origin of man, Scott smartly finds the origin of aliens. Humans in the franchise have always been greedy to harness the alien as a weapon. Turns out someone already outdid us.

In that sense, the alien is like a metaphor for everything that is bad and greedy in us and our insane desire to play with fire to destroy those like us.

“Prometheus” is one of the smartest ways to reboot an old franchise. Not only do you keep the elements that made the first such a success, but you introduce new ones while keeping the audience in the dark about its connection to the old.

In that respect, this is a masterstroke by Ridley Scott.

Verdict : Smart reboot of a franchise 

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