Chak De India starring Mary Kom!

From the first look of the film itself, there was an inkling that this one would resemble Chak De India!

True to the suspicion, this film is a mash-up of several movies of the sports genre.
With nothing new to offer from the plot point-of-view, this is strictly a one-time watch.

An arrogant coach (read: failed star athlete of his time), plight of women athletes in India, a mean "head" of sports department, a natural sports star from a poor background, sibling rivalry are some of the "highlights" of the movie which failed to impress. All these "plots" are just gheese peete and seen "n" number of times before.

However, must appreciate the casting. R.Madhavan holds on to the character to the T although his flab quotient overrides his fab value to some extent. Ritika Singh is aptly cast, and so is Mumtaz Sorcar. Nasser and Zakir Husain are supportive in holding things together. Small punches from the other supporting actors provide the comedy quotient. Nothing special about the music either.

Overall, unless you are specifically interested in watching khadoosgiri and arrogance, you can wait till they screen this on TV.

Lift your spirits!

Airlift - Sheer Brilliance!

Whatta way to tug the heartstrings of patriotism when Republic Day is just around the corner!

A commendable effort by director Raja Menon. The execution of the story line is crisp, without much dragging and delay. The characters are clearly etched out. Special mention for the cinematographer, Priya Seth, for brilliantly capturing the essence of the ordeal. Depiction of the war zone is extremely detailed.

The background score and couple of songs are pretty good. Especially loved the "Tu Bhoola Jise" number; although did not much appreciate the rip off of "Didi didi".

And of course, Akshay Kumar steals the show with his effortless performance. He is ably supported by the rest of the cast. Was great to see Nimrat Kaur in a more glamorous role as compared to her earlier one in Lunchbox. Purab Kohli also made a mark with his passable part. Inaamulhaq, who played the Iraqi major, is also worth a special mention.

Overall, this is a must watch movie for all. Catch it as soon as you manage to get tickets!!

Pain Ratan Dhan Payo!

Prem Ratan Dhan Payo - Extremely disappointing for a Rajshri loyalist like me. It lacks the usual goody goody stuff & sanskaars and most importantly a story line!

In the first 10 minutes, the entire "plot", including the "twists", becomes so obvious that the 3 hour "musical" seems to last forever. And by the way, music seems "inspired" from total disasters like "Haan Maine Bhi Pyar Kiya". 

Some good talent like Anupam Kher and Swara Bhaskar is totally wasted in the supporting cast. Also, Neil Nitin Mukesh can do better than such bad/minuscule/passable roles.  

Go and watch it only if you are a die-hard Salman fan and have "loved" even the likes of Yuvraaj, Tere Naam and Yeh Hai Jalwa!

Looks like good old Babuji (Alok Nath) was smart enough not to get involved in this disastrous fairy tale!

Crappy New Year!!

I am not at all Happy this New Year! I mean, what on earth was Farah Khan thinking??

She had set a "worst possible movie" benchmark with Tees Maar Khan  a couple of years ago and has maintained the same (sub)standard style of film making in this one!

She and her brother Sajid are taking Bollywood to a whole different (lower) level! Their sibling rivalry (or collaboration?) is resulting in cheap, cheaper and cheapest "comedies" (if you must call them that) being churned out year after year!

Happy New Year is a sheer waste of good talent. With an ensemble like Shahrukh Khan, Abhishek Bachchan, Boman Irani, Sonu Sood and Deepika Padukone, one should be able to simply rock it! Instead, the outcome is more of the "put a sock in it" kind!

The film looks like a bad rip off of Ocean's Eleven, mixed with Shalimar.

The jokes are either non-existent or disgusting and crude. For example, it is not even remotely funny to see a guy vomiting on demand or a fat guy (Kiku) dressed up as a lady and trying to emulate Saroj Khan or a play on words like "Madar...........chod na yaar"! And what's with lines like "Nandu Bhide..dokyat kidey" and a sick gay-ish scene between Vishal Dadlani and Anurag Kashyap....puh'lease!!

As far as the cast goes, Abhishek's comic timing is under-utilized, Sonu seems to be there only for the muscle quotient, Jackie Shroff is passable, Anupam Kher's role is so short that you may miss him if you blink an eye, and Vivaan Shah needs to wipe that constant smirk off his face!

The saving grace is SRK's abs and aura (although they don't match with his aging face), Boman Irani (I just love the guy in whatever he does), Deepika Padukone, and the title track at the end (Farah style).

I strongly feel that Farah needs to rewatch Main Hoon Naa and Om Shanti Om and at least try to get the next one right!

All in all...SRK...you broke my heart!!

Dil Chahta Hai Jo Jeeta Wohi Harry Potter...Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Naa??

Just when you start feeling that I have completely lost it, let me justify the title of this post!

I went to watch "Student Of The Year" expecting a typical KJo flick and the film completely lived up to my expectations. It was an extremely over-the-top candyfloss story. However, it was definitely worth that one-time-watch.

The story is set in a out-of-this-world fancy school named St.Teresa's, which is kind of a blend between Gurukul (Mohobbatein) and Hogwarts in terms of sheer size and magnitude. The three leads, Rohan Nanda, Shanayah Singhania and Abhimanyu Singh are among the most popular kids (sounds like Ron, Hermione and Harry??). No points for guessing who is a rich brat and who is poor. Thanks to our endless number of movies, names like Nanda and Singhania are synonymous with wealth and abundance!

So, the story mainly revolves around this group of 7 kids, their effeminate principal and the sports coach (and the principal's dream-boy :-D). The two dudes are great at sports, academics and whatever else they do. The babe is good at being sexy. Then there's this fat, studious guy and a sardar to attempt comedy. There's also a chamcha of the rich dude, a "best friend" of the babe and another wannabe babe. The entire film focuses on school life, romance, friendship, competition, betrayal, revenge and reconciliation. The story is simplistic. The first half opens with a Dil Chahta Hai-esque hospital sequence with a story telling similar to Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Naa. The second half focuses on how they try to win the prestigious "Student of the Year" trophy. This part is a mixture of Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar  and Harry Potter. Overall not a bad one though...

Out of all the new comers, I personally liked Varun Dhawan the best. However Siddharth Malhotra and Alia Bhatt are a close second. Kayoze Irani also stands out. I was kinda surprised to see Sanaa Saeed after so many years since Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. Rishi Kapoor is damn cute in the gay-ish principal's character! The rest of the supporting cast is alright although I feel Ram and Gautami Kapoor are an incorrect choice as parents of a 20 year old!!

Overall, these students have made their mark and am sure will go a long way! Kudos to KJo for maintaining the candyfloss quotient with this goody goody movie! Whatever everyone else says I thoroughly enjoyed it!

God-Damn-Awesome Movie!

I decided that I wanted to watch "OMG" the moment I saw the first promo. It definitely seemed like a light-hearted take on God and religion. Not being a very God-loving/God-fearing person myself, I wanted to see how the man vs God concept panned out.

The film turned out to be very smooth-flowing and simple from the beginning to the end. There is not a single dull moment.

The central character, Kanjibhai, is a total atheist and a very practical person. When an act of God(earthquake) destroys his sole source of livelihood, his antique shop, and when the insurance company refuses to pay, he decides that the one who has destroyed must pay up. That's when his courtroom battle with God begins.

The story then progresses to explore the various facets of religious leaders and god-men and how religion has become a mere business in today's day and age. It exposes the mockery made out of god-fearing/god-loving people by the so-called sadhus/babas/gurus. Worth mentioning are the performances by Govind Namdeo and Mithun Chakraborty as religious leaders, though I still fail to understand why Mithun's mannerisms are so gay!!

Comedy is a major ingredient in this film and definitely proves to be the highlight. All the jokes are witty and light-hearted and most of them do make sense! To cite an example, when the defendant lawyer asks why Kanjibhai is suing the religious places like temples and ashrams when his fight is with God, Kanjibhai simply responds that when we have an electricity problem with Reliance, we go to a Reliance office and not to Anil Ambani directly!!

Paresh Rawal is simply superb as Kanjibhai... no one could have played the role better! Akshay Kumar as the modern day "Krishna Vasudev Yadav from Gokul" gives an effortless performance. All the supporting actors are apt.

Overall, a very interesting storyline and a full-fledged family entertainer. Although some people may feel that it is an insult of religion, it should be taken with a pinch of salt. The film-makers have made a good effort to expose the business that takes place in the name of religion. Definitely a must-watch film in my opinion!

2012 ki cheer faad!!

Just felt like making a list of movies that I liked this year. Thought it will take some effort and the list will be pretty long. Excited, I went on the Wikipedia page for 2012 and was disappointed to see that very few movies really made a mark. The rest of them were either mediocre or just pathetic! Well, still 3 months to go in this year, and one movie each of all 3 khans is expected...so lets keep this list incremental hoping to add some more names by the end of the year.

So, here goes...

What I Loved

1. Kahaani
2. Barfi!
3. Vicky Donor
4. Ferrari Ki Sawaari
5. Paan Singh Tomar
6. OMG (Oh My God)

Watchable

1. Housefull 2
2. Ek Tha Tiger
3. Bol Bachchan
4. Tezz
5. Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu
6. Ishaqzaade
7. Shirin Farhad Ki Toh Nikal Padi
8. Dabangg 2
9. Student of the Year
10. Jab Tak Hai Jaan

Could have been better
Jodi Breakers
Student of the Year
Talaash

Absolutely Pathetic

1. Agneepath
2. Players

Some that I missed and do wanna watch

1. Ishaqzaade
2. Shirin Farhad Ki Toh Nikal Padi
3. Shanghai
4. Gangs of Wasseypur (1&2)
5. Maximum
6. Yeh Khula Aasmaan
7. Heroine