Band, Baaja, Baarat - the review

The big, fat Indian wedding is always a fascinating subject for Bollywood. Yashraj makes this their subject this time in 'Band Baaja Baarat' (henceforth BBB for obvious reasons). Despite having lavish North Indian weddings as the backdrop it is a small budget film (no Swiss locales), with a newcomer in the lead (no big names) and a story centred around the middle-class (no swish set). But even so, or maybe because of it, the movie works as a light-hearted weekend watch.

So meet Shruti (Anushka Sharma) a no-nonsense 20 year old girl from a middle class Delhi household. Her goal in life is to setup her own wedding planning "bijness" called "Shaadi Mubarak". She is determined to make a success of it before appeasing her parents and settling down herself.

A chance meeting at a wedding (what else) with Bittoo Sharma (Ranveer Singh) takes her plans forward. He is a the son of a Saharanpur farmer who has no goals in life besides chasing girls, gatecrashing weddings and generally having a good time before he is forced to return to the fields of UP. He is as unmotivated as she is motivated.
He tries to hit on Shruti but when Shruti makes it clear that she is not interested, he decides to do the next best thing and becomes her "binness partner" to avoid going back home.

The rules of the game are clearly specified by Shruti: "Jisse vyapaar karo, usse kabhi na pyaar karo" (Don't mix business with pleasure). But of course the audience knows that rules are meant to be broken. Shruti and Bittoo's business does well and their friendship grows. Bittoo proves to be invaluable to the set-up and shows much dedication to his job. They clearly make a good team and the future looks promising. The move from Janakpuri to Sainik Farms begins to happen.

However their grand plans derail when they end up spending the night together. While Shruti wakes up with the realization that she loves Bitto, he panics at the idea of getting involved emotionally. Before long, the Shruti-Bittoo partnership ends acrimoniously. She throws him out and he starts his own company, "Happy Wedding" to compete. However, soon it is clear that their magic was in their team and they begin to lose money and run from creditors. When a business magnate insists that they join hands if they want to plan his daughter's wedding, Shruti and Bittoo come together for one final gig to solve their financial problems. Needless to say that Bittoo realizes he's being an idiot and wins back Shruti so that their Shaadi Mubarak can take place.

The chemistry between the lead pair keeps the film alive - whether they are mouthing quick repartees or hurling abuses at each other. In terms of characterisation also, the level-headed and responsible Shruti is a perfect foil for the impulsive, street-smart Bittoo. The middle class Delhi setting of the story is realistic and believable and adds to the element of interest. The dialogues are sharp and snappy with no unnecessary drama and keeping the characters in mind. Songs are catchy as well especially "Aenvi, aenvi".

Anushka Sharma impresses in her third celluloid outing much more than she did in the first two. She fits the role to a T and shows off her acting chops as the spirited Shruti. Ranveer Singh makes a very assured debut and is clearly a total package. With his craggy looks, he suits the role of the uncouth, happy-go-lucky hero whose poor mastery over English does not come in the way of his running a successful "binness". One hopes to see more of him.

All in all a surprisingly feel-good, fun movie. 8/10.

Endhiran a.k.a. Robot

Finally experienced the Endhiran (released as The Robot in Hindi) phenomenon. I say 'experienced' because that is what the movie has become of course, thanks to Rajnikanth's overwhelming presence and the crores spent on never-before seen special effects. Amid media reports about fans queuing up for shows at 4 a.m., Rajni cutouts being felicitated with garlands and milk and simply countless Rajni jokes, the movie quickly became one of the biggest grossers in recent times.

I was in Chennai recently and decided to go watch it at a local PVR multiplex. The multiplex was packed despite the movie having released more than a month back. However, the crowds were largely calm other the odd whistle, spontaneous applause or two. Perhaps I should have chosen a standalone theatre to capture exactly how Rajni induces mass hysteria.

The story deals with what happens when man plays god. Rajni plays Dr. Vaseegaran, a scientist who invents a robot named Chitti in his own image (Rajni again). In his efforts to make the robot more perfect and hence secure approval from his peers, he invests it with human emotions thereby paving the road to hell. Chitti falls in love with Vaseegaran's fiance, Sana (Aishwarya Rai). When implanted with a 'destruction program' by Vaseegaran's competitor and one-time mentor Dr. Bohra (Danny Denzongpa), he goes on a bloody rampage to secure Sana and take over the city with an army of lookalike robots.

Endhiran is a movie that works on several levels. While it is easy to see it as a merely a vehicle to showcase and cash in on Rajni's popularity, it also serves as an allegory mirroring the relation between God and Man. How god created man in his own image, how emotions are a necessary evil that perfect and corrupt us at the same time. One can sense both Vaseegaran's pain at the way his prized creation has turned on him and sense Chitti's frustration at being denied love because he is after all a machine.

The special effects are spectacular with Rajnikanth as a robot now being legitimately able to do, in the name of science, all the stunts he did in the name of style in his other movies. And more. Yes, its over the top and yes, its illogical. But watch this with less cynicism and more of an open mind and you might just enjoy it.

Dabangg - naam aisa toh movie kaisa!

A movie that deliberately tries to be a takeoff on Westerns, typical Bollywood masala movies and Rajni style over-the-top potboilers at the same time, should definitely be called Dabangg (Fearless)! This time bomb succeeds to a large extent due to one man – Salman Khan as Inspector Chulbul Pandey who uses his quirks and eccentric acting to great effect. Leave your finer sensibilities at home and you are sure to enjoy this movie.

“Dil se bulbul aur dimag se dabangg” – that’s Inspector Chulbul Pandey for you in this crazy ride through UP heartland. He is the "Robinhood Pandey" of the masses, the apparently corrupt cop with a heart of gold. He beats up goons with flamboyance, in action scenes that look like they are straight out of a video game. But what sets Chulbul apart is how he breaks into a jig in the middle of one such encounter when a cellphone starts playing a song from ‘Wanted’. He is also the loving son to his mother (Dimple Kapadia) and the ignored son of his arrogant stepfather (Vinod Khanna). His relations with “mand-buddhi” step-brother Makkhi (Arbaaz) are not too pleasant either. On his knuckle-cracking way he falls in love with the beautiful village belle, Rajo (Sonakshi Sinha) and almost bullies and hustles her into marrying him. On the other side of the fence we have Chhedi Singh (that’s Sonu Sood and really, who thought up the character’s names in this movie!) – evil doer and aspiring political party leader who’s always practising his smiles before the camera.

Chulbul Pandey works not despite, but because of Salman’s swagger. His major attitude and his corny one-liners are designed to draw a “seeti” from the audience. Salman looks fresh (and interested) after a long time. He delivers outrageous punchlines, beats up goons and romances his lady love with an equal mixture of in-your-face style and pelvic thrusts. It is hard to imagine anyone else pulling off this “sanki” (eccentric) character so well. Sonakshi Sinha makes an assured debut. She is beautiful and has good screen presence – making her presence felt in what is essentially Salman’s show. She fares better than Arbaaz who bumbles his way through even in his own home production. Sonu Sood is good and perhaps an underrated actor. What people like Vinod Khanna, Dimple Kapadia, Mahesh Manjrekar, Om Puri and Anupam Kher are doing in this movie was a mystery to me since their roles did not warrant the use of their talent. Especially Om Puri and Anupam Kher’s roles were just like bit parts that anyone could have performed.

Director Abhinav Kashyap’s debut venture faces limitations in the form of a weak script and perhaps loses the plot in trying to be too many things at the same time. On one hand it is a no-holds-barred comic spoof type and on the other it still tries to be serious enough for son-avenging-mother’s-death type cinema. This attempt to straddle different spaces makes the narrative somewhat disjointed and one is not quite sure what to focus on – Chulbul’s dysfunctional family, his relationship with his father, his pursuit of Rajo, the political machinations in the state or the conflict with Chhedi Singh. Finally one has to decide to just forget everyone else and go with what Chulbul Pandey says and does – that’s the only way to enjoy the mayhem. Don't question the sudden change of heart of Vinod Khanna's character or the chances of Rajo reciprocating the love of a terror like Chulbul. The movie is also quite crass in several instances so be warned. From toilet humour to sexual innuendo, this has it all. They are gunning for every kind of audience and they go forth with all guns blazing.

The songs are quite good especially ‘Tere mast mast do nain’ if you can get over Salman’s bizarre dance moves which look like something he thought up himself. ‘Munni badnaam hui’ is off course the chartbuster to dance to if you want to let your hair down and go crazy.

Watch it to have a laugh with your friends. And watch it to understand that you may like him, you may hate him, but you can’t ignore Salman Khan.

For providing some good timepass of the kind that we more often look down upon, this one gets a 7/10.

Lafangey Parindey - the review

Lafangey Parindey - such a strange name. Like the director couldn't decide which word he liked better and decided to go with both. The movie is literally about Lafangey (or Rascals) and figuratively about Parindey (or Birds). The Lafangey are One Shot Nandu (Neil Nitin Mukesh) and his sidekicks who spend their time pumping iron in some Wadi in Mumbai. Pinky Palkar (Deepika Padukone) symbolises Parindey with her aspirations of leaving behind the wadi life and moving up in life with her dancing skills.

As Nandu tries to flee after helping out in a goon's murder, he rams his car into Pinky who loses her eyesight as a result. To assuage his guilt, Nandu teaches her to cope with her blindness and she teaches him to skate and dance. Quite naturally, the feisty Pinky and the taciturn Nandu fall in love. They are all set to compete in "India's got Talent" when trouble rears its ugly head in paradise.

The movie is a good watch and the fast pace of the narrative helps. More than anything, the backdrop of the story with its lower class setting, its tomboyish, aggressive heroine and its local tapori boxing hero hold one's interest. It is a visual relief after all the beauty and gloss that mainstream Bollywood throws at you.
The thing is, that this is the kind of movie that can never really aim to be a blockbuster with its limited scope and premise. Its almost as if the creators thought Deepika and Neil would look great dancing together on skates and made up the rest of the story from there. Its lead actors are also not talented enough to elevate the film above the subject.

Deepika though much improved, continues to find it difficult to establish a connect with the audience. Her dialogues often fall flat to the floor and stay there. She does look the part to a T though. Neil Nitin Mukesh looks hot as the local boxer but sadly his contribution stops there. He is unable to bring any kind of nuance to his role and simply goes through the motions. He also seems too refined and soft spoken at times to be really convincing as the tough talking action hero. Many models have started acting. Maybe Neil can now start the opposite trend. He looks so much better than he acts.

The climax of the movie is also very weak. Shiamak Davar, Juhi Chawla and Javed Jaffrey are brought on as judges of "India's got Talent" and don't have a single line of dialogue to mouth after the all-important final performance! They just wipe their tears! I mean come on! The ease with which the cops capitulate is also completely absurd. Director Pradeep Sarkar seems to lose the plot towards the end. In fact he could have had a better plot. To his credit, he never dips into the melodrama so readily available when you have a blind heroine and a hero who gets beaten up for a living. Huge really when you think that this guy made the totally bullshit Laaga Chunri mein Daaga - a regressive melodrama if ever there was one.

So coming back to Lafangey Parindey. I liked the fast pace, I liked the restraint (coming from Yash Raj that too!), I liked the characterisation, I liked the setting and I liked Nandu and Pinky's love story. So a 6.5/10.

Go watch this movie if you have the time. Go with no high expectations and it will entertain you.

Aisha - the review

Lesson No. 1: Do not believe everything you read in the papers. The critics who gave this movie their thumbs up and praised it to the skies are LYING! 'Aisha' is one forgettable movie from start to finish.

Lesson No. 2: Jane Austen would turn in her grave if she could see this blasphemous production. Even ‘Clueless’ starring Alicia Silverstone was a much more entertaining adaptation. It kept the essence while transposing the context to fit an American high school rom-com. Best of all it showed the ability to laugh at itself – the protagonist is ‘clueless’ but well-intentioned and likeable. Something that Aisha definitely isn’t. Aisha is just a spoilt Delhi brat. Sonam’s affectations were not cute.

Lesson No. 3: Clothes may make the man but they do not make a movie. I went to see a fun story about fun characters peppered with fun dialogues. Haute couture would have been a bonus not a necessity. Sonam Kapoor has chosen her home production as a forum to highlight her love for designer labels. Looks like they paid so much attention to the clothes, bags and shoes, they forget about screenplay, dialogues and characterization.

Lesson No. 4: Abhay Deol is possibly the best thing to come from the House of Deol since the founder father, Dharmendra. He is a natural performer and stands out amongst a bunch of wannabes. (Actually I feel bad for Sunny – he wasn’t that bad. Despite trying to fend off the whole of Pakistan with a tubewell. It’s basically Bobby who bombed the House of Deol).

Lesson No. 5: ‘Gal mithi’ is the only song that stays with you. And that plays right at the end. With all the girls in South Indian style dressing. Why? Who knows. Just another loose end like so many others in the movie.

Rate this 4/10. And maybe I’m being generous.

Sometimes I hate Luv Storys too

It's one of those phases again - when most movies bomb and there's nothing good to watch. Most of the biggies of this quarter have bitten the dust, be it the over-hyped "Kites" or over-acted "Raavan". Along the way we have had films that fed upon the famine at the box-office like "Housefull" and the I-wrote-it-in-just-six-days dud, "Badmaash Company". Shahid's report card also received another red mark for "Paathshaala".

Now, I just cannot find enough enthusiasm to blow 300+ on tickets and popcorn to watch "I hate Luv Storys" - a movie which seems to say whatever it has to in the trailor itself. It literally screams 'predictable'. My friends recommended this movie saying that at least it would be a good-looking one but I have no soft corner for either Imran or Sonam. The one is just another chocolate-faced cutie with schoolboy talent and for the other, I think I'll wait for "Aisha". An adaptation of Jane Austen's 'Emma' starring Abhay Deol sounds much more promising.

Raajneeti - the review

"Raajneeti" has a theme that will always resonate with members of the world's largest democracy. It takes us into the corridors of power and looks at the business of politics and the politics of love. As a movie, it also scores because it has what the other big releases in recent times lack - namely, a story. This story is a mish-mash of The Mahabharata and The Godfather with a dash of the Gandhi family thrown in for added flavour. With all these reference points, the final product is bound to be an interesting one, which it is.
The problem perhaps is that the reliance on the reference points is too much. There is too much of a need to align certain aspects and characters with The Mahabharata or with The Godfather. Thus neglecting the chance for a more original or more detailed exposition of characters.

The story deals with the fortunes of a family of politicians. The power struggles for the 'gaddi' and the fight for 'satta' between cousins takes up the major part of the story. Each side keeps pulling out all stops to go one up on the other. While Prithvi (Arjun Rampal) is the heir apparent, Samar (Ranbir Kapoor) is the phoren-educated younger brother who becomes unwillingly embroiled in political intrigue after the assassination of their father. He soon reveals himself to be a natural in the murky ways of Raajneeti even while helping his hot-headed older brother gain the CM's seat.

The role of Duryodhan is essayed by Prithvi and Samar's cousin, Virendra (Manoj Bajpai) who does a good job of smouldering in jealousy, hatred and covetousness. He takes the help of Suraj (Ajay Devgan) who is the illegitimate son of Prithvi and Samar's mother - thus a modern day Karan.

Indu (Katrina) is the rich businessman's daughter who loves Samar but has to marry Prithvi since he is CM-in-waiting. In what is an outright negative streak, Samar pretends to love her because the party needs her father's money and later convinces her to marry his brother. The one Samar loves is American girl, Sara who comes to India to be with him when he takes too long to return. When she and Prithvi get killed in a bomb blast, it is time for Indu to take up the reins and lead the party to victory even as Samar guns down the evil-doers. Here again the director imposes a completely unnecessary shootout at abandoned factory sequence just to have a Mahabharata analogy.

The acting in the movie is almost uniformly good. Ranbir gets maximum scope to perform and he doesn't disappoint with understated emoting. He also conveys the negative overtones in a chilling fashion showing how he can be innocent or ruthless. I only have an issue with the characterisation where his leap from a PhD student to a conniving political kingpin happens almost overnight. There is no good exposition of the inner turmoil between his better self and his diabolical one. Arjun Rampal is a revelation. He is an actor who has taken his time but is going from strength to strength. A very commendable performance as a slightly hysterical, powerful man who wears his heart on his sleeve. Ajay Devgan is reminiscent of Yuva and Omkara and somewhat sidelined. Nana Patekar is in the complex role of Krishna, Sakuni Mama and the consigliere of The Godfather, combined. He is effective but has a limited role.

Katrina failed to impress, having being able to provide no added emotional layers to her character. When she begins to canvass for the CM's seat after her husband's death, she looked for all the world like had strolled out of the sets of Ajab Prem..and draped a sari around herself. Her role in the movie also does not warrant the place of pride she receives in the film's posters. The producers made it seem like this was a movie based on Sonia Gandhi with Katrina playing the pivotal role but this was just a clever marketing ruse. Ranbir has the bigger and more important role as do Ajay Devgan, Arjun Rampal and Manoj Bajpai.

Overall the movie is definitely worth a watch and serves as another milestone in tracking Ranbir Kapoor's career graph.

7.5/10

The truth about "The Ugly Truth"

Romantic comedies are my favourite movie genre. I am one of those people who always crave for a ‘happily ever after’ ending. I enjoy comedies - which are certain to end well and what girl doesn't like a a good romantic story.:)
Hence, the "rom-com" (as it is popularly known) - a movie that is not so sweet that it nauseates you and not so mindless that it doesn’t leave an impression.

These movies make you connect with the characters, their quirks and enjoy their witty banter and the string of incidents they get entwined in which make them fall for each other. This genre has been firmly established by movies like “When Harry met Sally”, “Sleepless in Seattle”, “French Kiss”, “You’ve got mail”…yes, all starring America’s sweetheart, Meg Ryan who, poor thing, painted herself into a corner and was not successful in other types of roles…but that’s another story. Hugh Grant has also been hugely successful at this with hits like my favourite, “Notting Hill” among others (think: “Nine Months”, “Four Weddings and a Funeral”, “Love actually”). In “Notting Hill” he stars with Julia Roberts who is also no stranger to the rom-com having starred in “Pretty Woman”, “My Best Friend’s Wedding” and “Runaway Bride”. Sandra Bullock has taken a shot at it also with “While you were Sleeping” (more romance than comedy) and more recently, “the Proposal” (very Bollywood-ish).

What set me thinking about rom-coms is a movie I saw recently, called “The Ugly Truth” starring Gerard Butler and Katherine Heigl. Hollywood has churned out a steady stream of romantic comedies and Katherine Heigl has been a favoured choice after her hit “27 Dresses”. If “27 Dresses” was unimpressive, “The Ugly Truth” is the ugliest thing to besmirch the name of romantic comedies.
Katherine Heigl again reprises the role of a slightly neurotic, work-obsessed TV producer with no personal life. Gerard Butler fits the role of a boorish, chauvinist who stars on a successful show called ‘The Ugly Truth’ where he attacks every particle of decency that exists in relations between the sexes.

The movie is sleazy and has no development beyond the premise of a Man and Woman who are at loggerheads but who eventually fall in love. The Woman is shown to be desperate – unable to make a success of her show, a failure at relationships with men, a panicky moron who goes for a blind date armed with lists of conversation topics. She is a TV producer but acts like a confused teenager at every given opportunity. Enter: the Man – obnoxiously over-confident, ill-mannered and crude. He makes a living out of being a chauvinist and thrives on shocking people – as such, unable to string together a sentence without a reference to sex. He decides to help poor Woman by giving her advice that will help her snag the cute doctor she’s been eyeing. He tells her to act like the kind of woman he would go after – the kind of woman all men would want – a mindless, beautiful bimbo. By the time things get serious with the doctor, Woman has decided that she actually prefers Man and vice-versa. That’s it.

The Woman remains uni-dimensional and pathetic, the Man remains a swaggering adolescent. There is no sense that both reach a middle ground from the opposite fields that they once occupied. It’s just the story of two really stupid people. If the romance is that bad, their idea of humour is worse. The high point of comedy in the movie involves a pair of vibrating underwear. I rest my case.

Frankly, I was appalled. How can Hollywood make such stupid movies? How do these movies do well at the box-office? If I don’t see a good movie soon I am really going to believe that the death knell has been sounded for rom-coms. Last heard, Gerard Butler (who, by the way, I once thought was cute) was starring in “The Bounty Hunter” with Jennifer Aniston. She’s his ex-wife who is on the run and he plays a bounty-hunter given the task of tracking her down… which he does with glee. Aargh! The caveman cometh.

Bad Company

Everything works out so well in the movies. It’s like an alternate universe where custom, convention and even common sense can be flouted with impunity because one knows that there will always be a happy ending (else ‘picture abhi baki mere dost’). Such is also the case with ‘Badmaash Company’ which I saw yesterday. Movies like this make one wish that the IPL-induced Bollywood drought at the plexes had not ended.

‘Badmaash Company’ is in the same vein as other recent Yashraj releases – pretty faces and half baked plots. Its like the Chopras now believe they have too much moolah to worry about script or detailing. And so, they hand over the baton to first time writer-director, Parmeet Sethi - better known to loyal DDLJ fans as Kuljeet and to all others as Archana Puran Singh’s partner. He has said in interviews that he wrote the script for the movie in six days. I really don’t know why he would want to expose before the audience just how little thought has gone into this film. Either he thought the movie was so good that he should be lauded for coming up with it in such a short time or he knows how flawed it is and seeks mercy. Either ways, foolhardy.

The movie which begins in 1994, is about Karan (Shahid) who along with friends Chandu (standup comedian Vir Das) and Zing (Indian Idol contestant Meiyang Chang), indulges in small time smuggling, serving as a ‘carrier’ to Bangkok for some extra dough. On the way they team up with Bulbul (Anushka) and Karan’s con schemes get more ambitious and more WTF inducing. These include importing shoes from Bangkok with the right shoe sent to one city in India and the left to another therein rendering the value zero. The shoes are not claimed for this supposed reason by Karan & co but purchased discreetly later at a Customs auction for throwaway prices. The gang reassemble the shoes at their end and voila! Full value Reeboks plus evasion of 120% customs duty (hence the need to set it in an earlier time frame where import duty was high). The gang now moves to try their luck in the US pulling similar stunts with surprising ease. With more money comes more pride, which as we all know, goes before a fall. Karan’s arrogance becomes his hubris and the team falls apart. Karan finally sees the light of day and decides to live by honest means.

The first half of the movie is much more watchable than the second. The first half sketches in Karan's frustration with his middle class life and his determination to get rich quick. The second half carries on with the boring variations of the con game with loopholes so big as to suggest the Americans and the audience are complete idiots. The movie drags on moving from one ludicrous scheme to another till one loses any interest to know what’s coming next. Characterisations are also flawed leaving the viewer wondering why Karan, a good student helped along by a rich uncle, at all needs to walk on the wrong side. An exploration of the characters rather than of their repetitive fraudulent activities might have been more interesting.

Shahid is competent but still unable to carry a movie on his own steam. There is only so far he’ll be able to go on the basis of just chocolatey looks especially if he always looks likes he’s trying too hard. Anushka sheds as much clothing as she can but still looks like she would be better off doing ads for fairness creams. Vir Das and Chang are both good considering its their first big movie.
The songs are catchy esp. “Chaska”, “Jingle Jingle” and the title track but too similar in mood and picturisation to really stand out.

For promising a fun-filled adventure and giving us a damp squib instead, ‘Badmaash Company’ gets a 5/10.

21

Saw "21" yesterday. Had heard about it before as the basis of the recent Bollywood release "Teen Patti". Don't know how far that was true but "21" was a decent watch.

It is a based-on-real-life story about a group of MIT students who under the tutelage of their professor become experts in card counting and subsequently whip Vegas casinos for millions in winnings at blackjack. The movie is based on a book about the episode and released in the US in 2008.

It stars Kevin Spacey as the wily professor who uses his students to milk the system. Jim Sturgess stars in the lead role as Ben Campbell, the brilliant new inductee into the club who needs money to go to Harvard Medical School. Laurence Fishburne has a small role as the security-in-charge at the casinos who is being made obsolete by the new face recognition software that casinos are using. Kate Bosworth forms Jim's love interest and is a member of the MIT Blackjack team.
Kevin Spacey is, as always, interesting to watch while Jim Sturgess puts in a slightly uneven performance.

The movie though interesting, is not as gripping as it could have been. There are no major shocks or edge-of-the-seat moments. The dialogues are banal. Also many characters are under-utilised or not fully developed. For instance, there is a lot of focus on Jim Sturgess but his evolution from shy student to arrogant gamester is not brought out very well. Kevin Spacey's motives are also not very well developed and his chracter is uni-dimensional. The other members are also all conveniently sidelined. Laurence Fishburne is wasted in his bit role.
Basically threre is very little layering to the movie, very little subtext. Also not much style or snappy dialogues. Despite being a subject which could have been handled on so many levels it almost gets reduced to another typical teenager movie. It is the basic premise which is interesting and curiosity about the end keeps you going.

Give it a 6.5/10.

Fracture

...is the name of the movie I saw today. It released in 2007 and starred Ryan Gosling and Anthony Hopkins. It was a crime thriller about a crafty businessman Crawford (Hopkins) who murders his wife because she is having an affair. He then tries to get away scot free since the public prosecutor Beachum (Gosling) is intent on climbing up the corporate ladder and unable to put up a convincing case. The movie's title derives from Crawford's pet theory that everyone has a weakness, a fracture that needs to be found. In case of Beachum, it is his drive to always win.
Beachum takes the case thinking that it will be another win as public prosector before he moves into his new career as corporate lawyer. However very soon things begin to go wrong for Beachum and he realises that the deceptive Hopkins is not a bumbling old man but a worthy adversary.

The movie was interesting enough though I felt it could have delivered much more. So many movies are often built just on a good premise. Almost the entire suspense centred around the discovery of the murder weapon which was just too unidimensional for a good thriller. I felt the plot could have been more gripping. The construct is weak and leaves room for many questions like why doesn't Crawford kill his wife in a way that would attach no suspicion to himself rather than turning the whole episode into a media circus, choosing to fight against a lawyer he knows is sharp and loves winning. Really the movie had the flavour of other similar thrillers one has seen. The interactions between Hopkins and Gosling could have been sharper and the key hooks of the story. But they lack the intended bite.

What keeps one's attention are the two key performers. Hopkins was of course very convincing as the chillingly evil murderer, the blue of his eyes only recalling his days as Hannibal Lecter. It is something that he has become too used to doing I think, the polished, cold blooded manipulator whose very suavity inspires dread. I had not watched much of Gosling before and was impressed with his screen presence. He played the role of a cocky young lawyer almost too well. Too over-confident as though he could get by on the strength of his attitude alone.
That was pretty much what the movie was about - Gosling's almost annoying self assurance with a dash of Hopkins' typical style of chills.

In any case, it was a good way to spend an evening at home and its been a long time since I saw a thriller so I won't complain too much. Besides, Ryan Gosling made me feel like I wanted to see some of his other performances. And yes, he's kinda cute in formal wear. :)

6.5/10.

The Aal is Well phenomenon

I had not been able to write a review for '3 Idiots' one of the biggest movies to release in recent times. It's just that so much has been written, tweeted, blogged, discussed about it already, that I had kind of lost the enthusiasm. Ah well, just call it an "idiosyncrasy" of mine. ;)
But I figure, if I have to do justice to this blog, I should talk about it. So rather than a review at this late stage, let me just write down my thoughts about '3 Idiots':

1. Aamir is a super actor who has the uncanny ability to put on a character as if it were a coat. Yes, he often looks too old to play an engg. student but he pulls it off.

2. Madhavan cannot pull it off. He sticks out like a sore thumb and looks too old and overweight to be doing this.

3. Sharman Joshi is a natural. Somebody give this guy more roles. And good roles. Because he can strike a chord and he can act.

4. I did not like the glorification of Aamir's character, Rancho/Phunsuk. He could do no wrong, he had the best lines, everybody loved him. It's time Bollywood grew out of crap characterizations like this. Especially with a talented ensemble cast. Look at Dil Chahta Hai, learn from it.

5. I did not agree with the total vilification and rejection of the education system. The mantra for success is not to bypass hard work. Do what you want to do, but work hard at it also. Passing the buck for failures on the system is taking the easy way out. Root out the inefficiencies in the system but recognize its merits also. Everyone cannot be a maverick.

6. I liked the funny scenes in the movie - from the Chatur speech to Aamir's smartass dialogues. The taut screenplay kept the pace going.

7. The songs though not great by themselves, work when seen in the context of the movie. "Zoobi doobi" has been conceptualised really well.

8. The climax with Aamir assists Mona Singh's delivery was unnecessary and over-the-top. Ya, we get it - the guy's a genius and a hero.

9. Some scenes were refreshing in their irreverence. Like the one where Raju's plight at home with his suffering mother, his paralysed father and his unwed sister is shown in black and white with sitar strains, to underscore the melodrama that was earlier attached to such scenes.

10. I liked 3 Idiots for its performances, its message of following your heart and not giving up, for its humour. I agree that its a feel-good movie though some messages did cause me some alarm. Overall an 8.5/10.

P.S. I also think the movie is quite different from the book. Be true to yourself Chetan.

Uff, IPL aya!

The IPL is a behemoth that even Bollywood doesn't dare to challenge!

And so, the paucity of any good movies at the theatres. Yes, Vivek Oberoi has tried again to be a 'Prince' of the masses but I'll be damned if I go to the theatre to watch a flop actor in a wannabe high-octane Jason Bourne-sque caper. Not unless I want some laughs from unintentionally funny scenes that is. I think its time Vivek gave up on mainstream cinema and looked towards the burgeoning world of parallel cinema. He might just strike gold there.

The other release is 'Jaane kaha se aayi hai'. I have to confess I was a bit intrigued by the prospect of a girl from Venus falling in love with a loser earthling. But treatment is everything and the initial buzz was not promising. I didn't have the heart to drag family/ friends to a Riteish/Jacqueline movie either. I'd rather see it on DVD or when its aired on TV (which going by the look of things, won't be very long).


A movie which I finally managed to catch, albeit on DVD, was 'Kartik calling Kartik'. Gave me the chills I tell you, which I was not expecting. Interesting, different, Farhan-ish (he's an adjective unto himself, this man). Everyone's favourite fable of the loser morphing into a stud is turned on its head in a sinister way. Farhan is believable as Kartik, the repressed soul who bears the taunts of his boss and nurses a secret love for Shonali (Deepika).
Things change for him almost overnight when he begins getting early morning calls from...himself. Talk about self-help!

Soon the overbearing landlord is subdued, the brash boss is tamed and the gorgeous girl is successfully wooed. But things start to unravel fast when Kartik spills the secret of his success to Shonali who poor thing naturally forces him to seek help, of the psychiatric kind. The movie ends on a rather tame and predictable note but possibly it had nowhere else left to go. The title itself is enough to make any person with some grey cells to understand what lies at its core. But still like I said, treatment matters. The movie does rustle up a creepout if not a knockout punch. Farhan's one-liners are cute and Deepika looks good. The music is quite rocking with "Uff, teri ada" and "Hey ya" being the kind of numbers that stick in your head.

Hmm, overall a 7/10 I think.

Jaane bhi do Yaaro - a tribute

Caught up with an old favourite recently - Kundan Shah's "Jaane bhi do Yaaron" (1983). The film is regarded as a cult classic for its dark comedy and the social satire.
Slapstick humour disguises what is essentially a critique of corrupt society of the 80's. The movie underlines the theme of the common man's struggle against the rampant corruption in the Indian bureaucracy, business and media which oppresses him. It's ensemble cast includes several established performers of the Hindi film industry like Naseeruddin Shah, Ravi Baswani, Pankaj Kapoor, Satish Kaushik and Om Puri.



The plot which has many twists to it, is basically about Sudhir (Ravi Baswani) and Vinod (Naseeruddin Shah) - two honest chaps who want to earn a decent living by opening a photo studio. The studio doesn't quite flourish but they eventually get some work from "Khabardar", a publication that specializes in sting operations. Along with its editor, Shobha (Bhakti Barve), they work on a story exposing the nexus of corruption between an unscrupulous builder, Tarneja (Pankaj Kapoor), and corrupt Municipal Commissioner D'Mello (Satish Shah). Another builder Ahuja (Om Puri) too is involved in the business of grabbing building contracts by hook or by crook.

The plot thickens when the photographers find that D'Mello has been murdered by Tarneja and Shobha is not as virtuos as she seems. Next up is a madcap race to get his corpse to the authorities and expose the corruption rampant in the govenment, business and media circles with the assortment of bad guys hot on their trail.

The climax is a high point of this movie for its sheer madness and hilarity. The photographers with dead body and their pursuers barge into a stage performance of the Mahabharata. D'Mello's corpse is dressed up as Draupadi while all the other characters take up random parts, from Duryodhan to Salim, in an attempt to make off with the body!

The movie does not culminate in the victory of good over evil or the vindication of the common man. Instead its theme song "Hum Honge Kamyaab" echoes on as a cruel joke as the last scene unfolds and the protagonists stare defeat in the face.

This movie ushered in social satire in cinema - quite unimaginably ahead of its time. Even while the mature viewer appreaciates the symbolism and dark undertones, the film manages to make one laugh out loud because of its slapstick content.
Some of the immortal lines of this movie include
- "Thoda khao, thoda pheko" (Naseeruddin teaching Satish Shah that this is the way foreigners eat cake)
- "Good morning sir. Good morning Ashok" (Satish Kaushik and Pankaj Kapoor to each other as they enter the play dressed in Mahabharata garb)
- "Shant gadhadhari Bheem, shant!" (The guy who plays Yudhishthir in the play trying to pacify the agitated Bheem who has a heavy UP/Punju accent and is ready to jump at anybdoy's throat given a chance)
- "Ye kya ho raha hai!" (The blind Dhritrashtra keeps saying this through the comedy carnival that progresses on stage; also possibly a reflection of the blind, powerless nature of Justice)

JBDY gets a big thumbs up from me and a 9/10 for being so many movies rolled in one - a comedy, a satire, a human drama - and being first rate at all of them.

What's in a name?

After watching KJo’s latest offering, I kept wondering why Rizwan Khan (SRK) had to be autistic. Finally I concluded that this was the only way in which Khan’s “difference” could be highlighted. And it is this difference enables, or rather, disables him in such a way that he can categorize people only as “good” or “bad”, like his Ammi taught him. His thinking does not encompass distinctions based on religion or race – a stereotyping which has become second nature to most people.

Rizwan suffers from Asperger’s Syndrome which is a form of autism. Though he is very intelligent and can ‘repair almost anything’, he is unable to gauge the emotions of others nor express his own. When he falls in love with single mom and hairstylist, Mandira (Kajol), he is only aware that he cannot bear to lose her. Hence he befriends her and keeps proposing to her, till she finally agrees to marry him. Even as they play happy families, 9/11 happens and changes the socio-cultural landscape in the US. Suddenly, being Khan is not such a good idea. Mandira’s business suffers and people shun the family even as Rizwan remains insulated by his inability to connect. Things take a turn for the worse when Mandira’s son is fatally injured in an act of racial hatred. Mandira, seared by the heat of communalism, seeks distance from the man or rather the name that she feels has brought it upon her – Khan.
From here begins Rizwan’s quest to meet the President of the USA to tell him what he wants the world to know – “My name is Khan and I am not a terrorist”.
Along the way Rizwan suffers from racial profiling at the airport, is locked up on a misapprehension that he might be a terrorist and eventually becomes a hero by restoring the dignity of Muslims in the US. In between he also rescues people trapped in a flood-hit small town in Georgia. Khan’s journey culminates in a meeting with Obama who is again representative of the winds of change blowing across America.

Karan Johar is to be lauded simply for staying away from his default option of making movies – the super-rich playing out an emotional drama in their chiffons and pearls. Yes, the foreign locales are still there but this time the story actually demands it. The emotional overdose though hovering at the edges is also carefully kept in check. Perhaps the only real problem of the movie is that Karan is still unoriginal. His movie is teeming with so many issues, borrowed from so many different places, that it loses the plot a bit. Hindi cinema now adds autism to its list of special conditions that have had movies made on them in the recent past, the others being dyslexia (Taare Zameen Par) and progeria (Paa). While the theme of an autistic man facing the challenges of life and finding happiness would have been substantial, that is not enough for Johar. Autism becomes relegated to the sidelines as he takes up his next issue, US post 9/11. Again a subject that has had multiple movies made on it (think Kurbaan, New York). His Rizwan Khan also reminds one of Forrest Gump as he trudges relentlessly on becoming a part of history without being quite aware of what he is doing. So one is left wondering whether the movie is about autism, about post 9/11 America or whether it’s just a love story. I’m not saying it doesn’t work. I just feel that both autism and terrorism are big enough issues to be given their own space and not be forcibly clubbed.

While I’m at it, let me also add that mainstream Bollywood try as it might, is still tied down to some of its older roots. Such is the need to have SRK romance Kajol, that we have a love story thrown in between the spunky hairstylist and the autistic salesman. The way it is portrayed in the movie, it seemed unrealistic in the extreme. A more extended and sensitive treatment of their deepening attachment might have made sense. Instead we have a chocolates and balloons romance where Mandira treats Rizwan as some sort of a goofy kid and then suddenly agrees to marry him after seeing a beautiful view of San Francisco. Where is the attraction? When did it suddenly happen? As a single mother and as a woman dumped by her first husband, what does she find in Rizwan?
Another such disbelief-inducing caper is the Rizwan’s rescuer act in the hurricane hit town of Wilhemina, Georgia. A completely unnecessary and unrealistic digression that adds to the film’s running time (which is already substantial). There are no governmental or non-governmental agencies to help out the people till Khan shows up. Then there is a stream of well-wishers who pitch in by just wading into the place. If it is all that simple, why didn’t the trapped residents just walk out? Are we expected to believe that in the world’s most developed country, absolutely no rescue efforts are being directed to a town in trouble?

Anyhow, what one cannot fault in MNIK is SRK’s performance. After a long time, we see him in a role where he is not playing the archetypal lover boy with the dimpled smile and the arms spread wide. Shah Rukh gives Rizwan his own unique identity – unfocussed eyes, expressionless face and gawky body language. A true challenge for an actor whose eyes can usually convey so much, whose expressions we are so familiar with and whose body language has always been very dynamic. He is convincing in his single-minded pursuits, whether it is marriage with Mandira or meeting the President. A wooden-faced abnormal hero is never an easy thing to be.
Kajol is refreshing to look at and as spontaneous as ever. Leaving aside a tendency to screech, she performs her part ably. The DDLJ pairing of SRK and Kajol look so good together that sometimes I felt myself wishing that I was watching another one of their rom-coms - that SRK would dimple charmingly with a twinkle in his eye as he softly whispered sweet nothings in Kajol’s ear and she would smile and exchange a secret with those tawny eyes. Somebody write a nice middle-aged romance for these two!
The music in the movie is catchy and mainly Sufiana with “Tere Naina” and “Sajda” standing out.

In true Dharma Productions style, MNIK too is of grand proportions but Karan Johar has come a long way since his Kuch Kuch Hota hai days. With his attempts at making different types of cinema and a hopefully restrained sensibility, his style is a work in progress. One movie at a time.

MNIK gets a 7/10 from me.

Rocket not quite a cracker

Had gone to see "Rocket Singh" some time back. Despite the relatively low-key promotions, had some solid expectations from this movie since it was directed by Shimit Amin of "Chak de India" fame. I already knew that this was not going to be some typical Bollywood (chiffon sarees, running around trees, loud histrionics) type of movie. In fact it was one of those slice of ife types that have increasingly found afvour with the multiplex audience.

"Rocket Singh" is the story of Harpreet Singh Bedi (Ranbir), who has just completed his graduation and dreams of being in the field of 'S-A-L-E-S'. His very practical realisation of his shortcomings, both academic and financial, make him view Sales as the apt profession for him. Here, he reckons, he can get big by relying only on his "akal". To this end, he joins a computer sales firm (AYS) as an intern and begins to slowly assimilate the tricks of the trade. Tragedy strikes when he complains about bribery in the system and finds his new career summarily at an end. He is just allowed to serve his notice period before being kicked out. During this time, he faces the wrath and ridcule of his colleagues, their jibes often taking the form of paper rockets that are flown at him.

While he attempts to come to terms with the rude blow that his honesty has rewarded him with, he finds that assembling computers and selling them is something that he can do without the help of his company. So he begins parallel business by recruiting dissatisfied employees of AYS and launches 'Rocket Sales Corporation' by making them not employees but "partners". His aim is to ostensibly gain happy customers by charging them a bare minimum margin and providing irrestible service guarantees. He thus uses the resources of his employers to further his own profits. He does have pangs of guilt but these he resolves by deciding to eventually pay back AYS for the resources he has used.

And here lies my basic problem with the movie. Clearly, the audience is supposed to sympathise with the hero. Feel sorry for his banishment from Sales heaven, rejoice in his new found success and turn a blind eye to the fact that he is not honest enough to use illegal means for his venture. It seemed confused to me. When Harpreet does his business almost exploiting the company he works for and making a sizeable dent in their bottomline, is it okay? Because his employer Puri (played with much drama by Manish Chaudhury) is such an archetypal 'bad guy'? Do the ends justify the means? I would have been happier had he actually set up his business and succeeded without resorting to underhanded methods, no matter how good his intentions.

The climax is of course when they are caught out and lose the Rcoket Sales to AYS in an out of court settlement. However at the end, we are made to understand it is the people who run the business that matter which is why Puri has a change of heart and returns Rocket Sales to Harpreet, being unable to live up to the high standards he has set. This is a false, filmy note in an otherwise reality based movie. Showing Harpreet building another successful business with his sales skills after the disbandment would have been better than getting his business back on a silver platter to him and with an insufferable lecture from Puri.

The most commendable part of the movie was the talent of its character actors. Gauhar Khan as Koena the tough talking, trashily dressed recptionist with a heart of gold was a revelation. Naveen Kaushik as Nitin Rathore, Harpreet's manager does a good job too but seems too 'inspired' by Raghu of MTV Roadies fame. D Santosh as Reddy clicks with audience and is entertaining as the porn loving IT guy. Manish Chaudhury I thought was someone who needed more restraint. Ranbir's love interest is Shazahn Padamsee, who sadly lacks screen presence and is reduced to just a PYT.
Ranbir is very good as Harpreet - he delivers just as he is expected to and more. Watch out for the scene where he s being insulted bu Puri and fighting to keep his temper in check. The smouldering expression in his eyes does all the talking. He is also one of the few star actors who doen't let his presence dominate the story. The story takes its own course with Ranbir most believable as the earnest, simpleton Sardar.

The music of the movie is mainly restricted to background scores and whetever there is of it is effective.

Overall however, "Rocket Singh" left me with a mild dissatifaction - a feeling of how much better it could have been. The movie feels like a bit of an anti-climax and as such would rate it only a 6/10. Watchable but not exceptional.

Truly an "Ajab" kahani!

I was raring to break my box-office dry spell and had really hoped that 'Ajab Prem ki Ghazab Kahani" would do the trick. So I went for the evening show of the flick today.

Well, I soon realised that the movie is a slightly updated but much less funny version of Andaz Apna Apna. Not exactly in terms of storyline but in terms of style. There is much slapstick humour, comic book sequences and colourful settings.

The story, whatever little there is of it, deals with the escapades of do-gooder Prem (Ranbir), President of the Happy Club, in an unnamed idyllic hill station. While Prem rapidly falls in love with and proceeds to woo pretty-as-a-picture, Jenny (Katrina), she is in love with Rahul (Upen Patel looking completely repulsive). Even when faced with this heartbreak, Prem agrees to help Jenny marry Rahul. Needless to add, by the end of all the craziness that occurs, Jenny realises that it is Prem who is her true love.

My misgivings about the movie began almost as soon as it started since there was some weak and totally unfunny slapstick happening. Later as one adjusted to the weird world of Prem, there were some genuine laugh-out-loud moments. Prem's desperate attempts to impress Jenny, the reliable comic timing of his parents (Darshan Jariwala & Smita Jayakar) and the fast paced action helped. But the second half brought the tenuous humour setup crashing down. Unnecessarily encumbered with some sentimental scenes alternately with slapstick ones, it soon got to a point where one was almost waiting for the movie to reach its predictable conclusion.

APKGK used a lot of Andaz Apna Apna's comic devices like the father-son squabbling, the hopelessly inefficient suited goons and the 'we all fall down' kind of humour. It also has a hotchpotch of scenes which leave you reminiscent about other movies - some of which were possibly intentional. You have Ranbir in a towel - an image strongly linked to "Saawariyaa", the Sufi singers of "Jodha Akbar" appear in a song in this one too, both the lead actors suffer from a stammer when they get emotional a la "Kaminey", Prem dissuades Rahul from marrying Jenny much like SRK had in "Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa"...

In other words, there's very little that you've not seen before in this movie except maybe the jodi of Ranbir and Katrina. While the two have good onscreen chemistry, Ranbir clearly steals the show with his earnest performance. He is fast approaching the stage where he will have enough screen presence to match the big stars. He has pretty good comic timing as well and his sheer goofiness adds more value than the situations or dialogues. He is the only good reason to watch this movie methinks.

In the movie, Prem, on spotting Jenny talks about her "silky-silky hair and her milky-milky skin...just like vanilla ice cream." And just like vanilla ice-cream Katrina is plain throughout - no added flavours, no zing, nothing except that thrill one gets on seeing a walking-talking Barbie doll. Truth be told, she has suggested in other movies that she might have unexplored depths in histrionic ability and this movie was probably too mindless for her to try anything.

Though the songs appeared to jump up at odd times, the soundtrack of this movie is decent. The one I liked best was 'Tera Hone laga hoon' by Atif. 'Main tera dhadkan' and 'Prem ki naiyya' were also catchy.

Overall, the movie did draw out some genuine laughs but these were too erratic and sometimes too forced, to make a successful rom-com.

Would give this one a 5.5/10.

Final words of advice: Watch it for Ranbir. He's the real paisa-vasool. :)

Barren Box-Office

There has been such a dearth of good Hindi movies to watch in theatres for the past few weeks. After 'Wake up Sid', not one movie has managed to evoke a modicum of interest in me.

First there were those three duds - 'Blue', 'All the Best' and 'Main aur Mrs. Khanna'.
'Blue' sounded promising till I heard Chiggy Wiggy - a contender for the Stupidest Song Ever. Then I saw a haggard and bloated Sanjay Dutt in the promos trying to look like a cool surfer dude next to fit-as-a-fiddle Lara. Have you seen the poster where the guys are in wet suits and trying to throw some serious attitude? It was hilarious to see Sanju Baba with his back to the camera, glancing over his shoulder, since he couldn't afford to show his bulging belly in the wetsuit (thank heavens!) Akshay was the only thing close to cool and even he has been high on hype and dismal on delivery, so I didn't take any chances. I did hear though that the movie made huge gains on Day One itself thanks to a great opening. That's how most of the big budget movies recover costs these days methinks. Also, as a friend put it, "movie tickets - Rs. 400, popcorn and Coke - Rs. 300, Lara in a bikini - priceless!"

'All the Best' was a comedy so I had some hope. But it takes some serious 'willing suspension of disbelief' to watch Mr. Intense, Ajay Devgn and Mr. Clueless, Fardeen Khan deliver the goods. I gave this one a miss too though I did hear some reports that it was passable. That's the thing with comedy - someone or the other is sure to find it funny.

'Main aur Mrs. Khanna' looked like one more of those Salman-Sohail lets-keep-it-in-the-family type of wannabe movies. Kareena was there too with her 'I'm so perfect' expression, so I skipped this one too. Just as well because the movie didn't last a week at the theatres. I believe Salman actually had just a cameo in the movie though it was a being promoted as a two hero film. In one interview, Salman said he realised they had goofed up when his nephews walked out in the middle of the movie saying it was too boring. And this they unleash upon the unsuspecting audience!

Last week's releases have also received poor word of mouth but that's no surprise. 'Aladin' had little to tickle one's interest what with Riteish Deshmukh essaying the title role. During the pre-launch publicity drive, the director blatantly touted it as an Amitabh Bachchan movie. Arrey dada, why didn't you name it 'Genius' then (that's what Amitabh is called in the movie)? Poor guy probably realised he'd made a hash of it and was falling back on the tried and tested Mr. B.

My interest in 'London Dreams' faded when I found out that Ajay Devgn and Salman Khan were playing rock stars in it. I mean, puhleeze, gimme a break! Agreed Sallu Mian belongs to the rock star personality type but surely its 15 years too late for him to be doing this kind of a role. And Ajay Devgn? I just feel sorry for the guy. Also, for a movie about music, there was precious little of the good stuff in this soundtrack.

What I'm looking forward to now is 'Ajab Prem ki Gajab Kahani'. Why? Well firstly, its a comedy and I liked Raj Kumar Santoshi's last attempt at the genre (Andaz Apna Apna), second, Ranbir and Katrina together are a refreshing watch and third, the promos look good.
So its wait-to-watch time now folks!

And Sid woke up!

As the coming-of-age story it is supposed to be, "Wake up Sid" (WUS) works.
The story, like so much of real life, is not particularly original but is still refreshing in its individual approach. Spoilt rich kid, Siddharth Mehra (Ranbir) is living the good life with his dad's credit card. There is really very little of the 'hero' about Sid in the first half - he is rude & thoughtless with his mother, happy to spend his father's money, a sore loser and ingrate of the highest order. he flunks out of college and gets thrown out of home without a penny. What follows is Sid's slow awakening to a realisation of what he wants out of life. His journey to the surface is tempered and helped along by Aisha Banerjee (Konkona), the 'New girl in the city'.

For Ranbir the role of Sid fits like a glove - he is very believable as the thoughtless, impulsive, dreamy youngster. I did however feel that there were moments when his expressions were unfathomable. Whether he is still inexperienced to be able to convey the right emotion accurately or whether it was just a shortcoming of the screenplay was hard to say. There were instances when I thought the dialogues and expression on Ranbir's face were a prelude to something..but that next course never quite got served. All said and done, he is still one of the better performers among the new crop of actors and can only get better with time.
Konkona plays her part with consummate ease. Her character is a mish-mash of roles she has essayed in earlier movies. Her Aisha is soothing with calm self-possession and confidence that holds a clear attraction for Sid.
I was really amazed to read somewhere that Ayan Mukherji the director of WUS is only 24! Consider this and the movie seems even more credible. The very real "young" feel of this movie, one feels, is no doubt because the director himself is so young. The son who is churlish with his mother, the relationship where age is not a barrier, the alternative career choice - these are all relatively fresh themes to be tackled barring a few movies like "Dil Chahta Hai".

The movie is overall well put-together. One area where it could have really scored more would be the dialogues. While definitely not run-of-the-mill Bollywood, they lack the bite that helped films like "Dil Chahta Hai".
The music of the movie is catchy enough, esp. the title track and "Iktara" also strikes the right chord. One does feel however that the tracks are somewhat forgettable.

Overall a good watch that leaves you with a smile on your face. I would give it a 7.5/10

New beginnings

I have been writing so many posts related to the movies on my other blog, that I decided to start a blog dedicated solely to what is a passion for most Indians - the motion pictures!

I'll also add on the other movie-based posts I had written earlier to this blog. And continue practising my reviewing skills on (almost) every movie that I watch.

Movie reviewing has always been one of my dream jobs - getting paid to do something I really enjoy. Well I'm not getting paid yet, but hey, like a wise man once said, "kabhi kabhi kuch paaney ke liye, kuch khona bhi padta hai"!

Statutory warning: I am not one of those privileged souls who are only into foreign cinema and Hollywood. I plunge headfirst into every potboiler Bollywood can churn up for me and most times I love it too. So cheers!