SAAWARIYA

Name: Saawariya
Starring: Ranbir Kapoor, Sonam Kapoor, Salman Khan, Rani Mukherjee, and Zohra Sehgal
Rating: *****


A breath of fresh air. A fresh cast. A fresh approach to movie making. And a brilliant product.

Adapted from a play by Fyodor Dostovsky, the movie is a new form of story telling. The sets are larger than life, artistic. Its like a dreamland.

The story, the performances leave the audiences enthralled.

A word of caution though: For those looking for a typical bollywood masala movie, you are going to be disappointed. To enjoy this movie you must go in expecting to watch a play on the big screen.

The movie is in line with the hollywood musicals of yesteryears... and I must say Sanjay Leela Bhansali has excelled himself and shown that the real filmmaker is one who is not scared of trying a new theme.

Sadly, the audience at large hasn't responded well to it, with the trade pundits referring to the movie as a flop. To me the movie represents a benchmark in movie making in India. And mark my words, the movie is going to be remembered as a classic in terms of film making. Kudos to him.

My vote: MUST watch

OM SHANTI OM

Name: Om Shanti Om
Starring: Shahrukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, Arjun Rampal, Shreyas Talpade and Kiron Kher
Rating: **


Once upon a time, there was a movie directed by a brilliant director, with a wonderful cast, a brilliant plot, haunting music and great performance. Some decades later, a director decided to pick up the masterpiece and tear it to shreds.

Sounds familiar? This seems to be the story of our times. Sholay becomes Aag, Umrao Jaan becomes Umrao Jaan and Karz becomes Om Shanti Om.

A typical masala movie, with signature Farah Khan style. Larger than life. Melodramatic performance. In your face humor. All stuff that Farah is brilliant with and does a great job of. The first half of the movie is very interesting ...and makes one think ... WOW.

Then the interval happens. And it seems that Farah left the sets and handed over the reigns to the tea boy to take over. The film moves downhill at a speed that makes blinking of an eye seem like a lifetime.

Maybe Farah needs to go back to the editing board, cut the movie only till the interval and re-release it and let it go on to become a masterpiece in movie satire.

But the success (??) of the movie makes one wonder about the Indian audience. Are we so star struck that we will accept anything with Shahrukh Khan? I know of people who've seen it three, four, even five times !!!

Great score, good acting (especially by Arjun Rampal), but unfortunately, a director who lost it.

My vote: Get a DVD of the movie. Watch the first half. Return it. Do not waste your hard earned money for a Rs.150 ticket at the multiplex and neither your time.

BEING CYRUS

Name : Being Cyrus
Starring : Saif Pataudi, Dimple Kapadia, Naseeruddin Shah, Boman Irani and Simone Singh
Rating: *****

Offbeat, parallel, commercial, art, noveau - what do you call a movie when it seems to transcend the conventional genres ? I really don't know .... and I wouldn't want to confine this to any specific genre anyways.

I'm sure everybody has heard of it.....it was publicised adequately pre- and post-release to make sure that people went for a dekho...... the testimonial from Aamir Khan was the final clincher for most. And I do think, had it not been for such awesome publicity, this movie might have met the fate of other similar non-genre, progressive movies - Oblivion !!

All actors, especially Saif, deserve accolades for perfect acting.

I could now embark on detailing the story and telling you what it's all about....however, if I do that, like most critics have done, I feel I would be doing an injustice not only to all those who were involved in this production but also to prospective audiences.....as this is one movie to be experienced.

The dark backdrop, the pacy yet slow storyline, the reality of the movie, the perfect enactment of various confused, and multiple personalities in each of the character, the unexpectedness of the expected, the phenomenal camera work, the crisp editing, the almost natural dialogues and its delivery......all need to experienced there sitting in an auditorium with a huge screen facing you.

My verdict : Don't miss the movie. Love it. Hate it. But don't miss it.

BEING CYRUS

Name : Being Cyrus
Starring : Saif Pataudi, Dimple Kapadia, Naseeruddin Shah, Boman Irani and Simone Singh
Rating: *****

Offbeat, parallel, commercial, art, noveau - what do you call a movie when it seems to transcend the conventional genres ? I really don't know .... and I wouldn't want to confine this to any specific genre anyways.

I'm sure everybody has heard of it.....it was publicised adequately pre- and post-release to make sure that people went for a dekho...... the testimonial from Aamir Khan was the final clincher for most. And I do think, had it not been for such awesome publicity, this movie might have met the fate of other similar non-genre, progressive movies - Oblivion !!

All actors, especially Saif, deserve accolades for perfect acting.

I could now embark on detailing the story and telling you what it's all about....however, if I do that, like most critics have done, I feel I would be doing an injustice not only to all those who were involved in this production but also to prospective audiences.....as this is one movie to be experienced.

The dark backdrop, the pacy yet slow storyline, the reality of the movie, the perfect enactment of various confused, and multiple personalities in each of the character, the unexpectedness of the expected, the phenomenal camera work, the crisp editing, the almost natural dialogues and its delivery......all need to experienced there sitting in an auditorium with a huge screen facing you.

My verdict : Don't miss the movie. Love it. Hate it. But don't miss it.

MAALAMAL WEEKLY

Name: Maalamal Weekly
Starring: Paresh Rawal, Om Puri, Ritesh Deshmukh, Rajpal Yadav, Reema Sen.
Rating: ***

If you have come to the multiplex imagining another laughter-coaster from Priyadarshan on the lines of Hera Pheri and Hulchul............well, you might be tad disappointed. Though from the same stable and ably cast with stalwarts like Paresh Rawal, Om Puri and Shakti Kapoor (Yes, they managed to rope him in too !!)...this lacks the energy, the humor and the slickness of Hera Pheri and Hulchul.

The story of a smalltime village, which was struck for years in a drought leading to the entire village land and the villagers coming under the control of the village Thakurayin...another first, as a woman is shown to be the cruel moneylender here.

Paresh Rawal plays a lottery ticket seller, who sells tickets in the hope of the 10% commission he would take from the winner, should someone win.

And one day someone does...and not a small amount, but Rs.1 crore. This might not seem much to us given that news channels are belting out crores as prizes for various competitions...but for a village where a rupee goes a mile and you have to buy your drinking water ... 1 crore is a reversal of fortunes.

Unfortunately, the prize winner..the village drunkard dies of shock at winning this huge amount...and Paresh Rawal decided to recieve the prize on his behalf....and thereon commences the laugh ride as he tries to keep the money to himself and one by one the villagers find out about the lottery and want a share of the king's ransom.

The moral of the story remains that greed does not get you anywhere...though in their case it ultimately did !!

The highlight of Priyadarshan's movies - Hera Pheri and now Maalamal Weekly - is that his scripts and movies make the conventional formula of a hero-heroine passe...he manages to entrall his audience with a story woven around characters and not actors..and not conventions.

However, the movie did drag on endlessly in the middle..and could've done with some trimming - half and hour shorter and the movie would have been a great experience.

All in all..a movie worth watching...but then not an exceptional movie.

MIXED DOUBLES

Name: Mixed Doubles
Starring: Ranvir, Konkona Sen, Rajat Kapoor and Saurabh Shukla
Rating: ****


A short movie - an hour and a half long - that is a delight to see.

It explores marital relationships in a purely urban environment...

Ranvir, a marketing professional is married to Konkona, another marketing professional. They have been happily married for 10 years with a 7yr old son. A typical working couple living in a typical mumbai flat...having a very usual, working-couple lifestyle.

As the years go by, the sexual needs of partners seem to be varying with Konkona demanding more than Ranvir can give...leading to doubts in her mind about his love and his mind about his own capability. It is interesting to note that while Ranvir questions his own capability...Konkona is only worried that he now loves her less...

In the midst of this conflict walks in an ostensibly happy couple - Ranvir's US-return friend and his wife - who tells Ranvir he is happy because they swing. This starts Ranvir on a frantic hunt for like-minded "swinging" couples.

This hunt takes this happy couple through an entire gamut of emotions - all of which an urban couple can totally relate to.

While watching the movie, it seems that Rajat has taken a page out of the diary of any working, urban couple and shot it as a movie...there's so much to relate to in this movie for everyone...

A must watch..and worth the money and the time spend on it.

Rang De Basanti....

Name : Rang De Basanti
Starring: Aamir Khan, Soha Khan, Madhavan, Shraman Joshi...
Rating : ****

Now in its 3rd week....a lot has been written about this movie..and more spoken about.

Being one of the most talked about movies in recent times..it certainly is worth a watch. Still smarting from the debacle of the much awaited and much talked about "The Rising"... the film industry was not very hopeful of the next Aamir Khan starrer.

Barring die hard fans (even though they had to concede that "The Rising" was not Aamir stuff...) most people were not expecting RDB to be much of a movie....

Quite unlike its predecessor, this movie came in very slowly...not much hype..more popular for its Daler Mehndi track than anything else...

Not much was known about what the movie was about...and that is the clincher.

I have for long believed that the best publicity for a product is word-of-mouth....you can keep shouting praises for your product through billboards, radio, print media..etc etc..but ultimately what works is the consumer - in case of movies, the audience. This is the best publicity a movie can get.

The first day, first show crowd..as it comes out of the theater makes or breaks the movie..in this case, it made it.

Slowly but surely, RDB has become the mantra for the new generation...

The storyline is about an American docu-filmmaker, Sue, who, to rest her grandfather's soul in peace, is in India to make a documentary on the legendary Bhagat Singh and the other young revolutionaries of his time. Soha Ali, is her Indian counterpart, who willingly supports her crusade despite the fact that Sue's employers have thrown her out. The movie is about Soha and her friends, who through Sue's docu-film find their own patriotism. The death of their pilot friend in a MIG-21 mishap pushes them to extreme action..(cant tell you everything can i?)

This is film for the Indian youth....steeped in the materialism that the economic liberalism has brought...and who is constantly looking for a panacea for their problems and looking to someone else to come and solve the country's and their issues.

A slap in the face of all those who think that cleaning the Indian polity is the work of politicians, media and 'other people'.... its a wake up call to the youth.

Great acting by all - including Aamir, who just goes on to prove that as far as acting goes he's the real King of Bollywood. This movie shows that the director and the scriptwriter have all extensively researched on the topic...woven a tight script...and then made the movie.

My advise to the public - very good movie...Behen di Taki acchi lagi ...lol lol lol

WATCH IT

FAMILY - Ties of Blood

Name: Family
Starring: Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar, Bhumika Chawla and introducing Akilman
Rating: ***

The basic storyline is of revenge...taken in the name of family.

Amitabh, is an underworld GOD, working from outside the country yet controlling everything from the streets to the government...he can come and go as he pleases - despite all the warrants/rewards for his arrest - and do as he pleases. And he does not tolerate anyone who speaks or raises an eye against any member of the family. The family which is typically represented by a son-who basks in the glory of the father, a wife-who has severed relations with him, a daughter-in-law, a grandson and a daughter.

Akshay Kumar, the quintissential good son, is all good and kind-hearted and nice, until its the question of his family members -their honor, their dignity, their safety. His family consists of Akilman - the family black sheep, Bhumika - his wife, and his harried parents.

Amitabh's acting was stuck somewhere between the Amitabh of Agneepath and that of Sarkar with shades of Ek Ajnabee thrown in...the casual smirk and the rolling of the cigar..just somehow took away from the persona that Amitabh is.

Akshay Kumar, was stuck between his action man image and his David Dhawan loyalties.....expressiveness never having been his forte, and a dead-pan voice to boot.

Akilman - no one could've asked for a better movie for debut..but he fails to sizzle the screen.

The first half of the movie is more like a chitrahaar of yesteryears .... interspersed with dialogues ... or so it seems. There was a song virtually every 15 minutes.

This is a good story spoiled by bad direction and not quite upto the mark acting.

Verdict: Good movie, could've been better.

ZINDA

Name: Zinda
Starring : Sanjay Dutt, John Abraham & Lara Dutta
Rating: ****

A slickly edited thriller, with a unique story line that keep you guessing till the very end. Powerful acting by Sanjay Dutt..very ably supported by John Abraham and surprisingly, Lara Dutta.

Thankfully, the movie has a minimal musical score which is nicely interwoven in the movie. The love making scene between Sanjay Dutt and Lara Dutta, which was expected, has been treated well, and for the first time I think the Director can stand proud and say "The script demanded it"...unlike the proliferating movies..where sex is used to sell the movie.

When the intermission happens..you get a feeling of incompleteness and are not really able to comprehend the story..which seems to be moving...but not fast enough...every time you expect something to happen, nothing does..

The intermission seemed more like a requirement of the cinema hall (so that they could sell their refreshments!!) rather than an actual turning point in the story.

This is a story which all comes together in the end...till then the viewer is kept guessing.

The verdict : Must watch.

Wah life ho to aisi

My review of this movie ?? - Dont watch it !!!

This is perhaps the first movie in my entire life which I had to walk out of....after 20 minutes of its starting...the 20 minutes because of my being an incorrigible optimist and refusing to accept that someone could actually make a movie like this !!