Film Review : 7 Khoon Maaf

Alert : Read review only if you have seen the film or you have no problems with the revealing of various scenes done in the review.

Vishal Bharadwaj gave me a image of director who makes films that have that amazing madness, which I have seen people say a lot about Hollywood director "Quentin Tarantino". It was Kaminey with which I got that kind of feel and the promos of 7 Khoon Maaf if for a particular reason excited me the most, then it was this madness only that I could sense in various frames shown in the trailer. So, does Vishal lives upto the madness I expected... He does and that too by a big big way!

7 Khoon Maaf is a story of woman named Susanna (Priyanka Chopra) who tries to find happiness in each of her 7 marriages. She gives her 100% into each relationship but in return she never gets what she expected. How one by one the husbands show their bad sides which she wasnt aware of. And what path Susanna then takes, Is she correct in her chosen path, and why she opts for such path ?

Firstly, Kudos to the 1st shot of the film. It was a random shot but so well thought off to begin the film. The blood on wall gives a very good feeling that Yes, We are in for a dark film. The narration is kept non-linear which is expected when Bharadwaj has already kept the proceedings very predictable in a pattern fixed for each story.

Talking of patterns, you will observe easily that a murder is about to happen with a medium close up shot of all three servants, Maggi(Usha Uthup), Ghalib(dont know his name) and Goonga(dont know his name) shown to us. Then, there is a church bell scene kept in most of the husband story, giving reference to "I have to give up, all my efforts are in vain and I have no other option now".

Coming to each story now ..

1st husband, Edwin Rodriques (Neil Nitin Mukesh) was the best performance by any husband in the film. More credits to the writing especially. Its probably the only story where you would love the story as a whole, and also a reason for that is you are not aware of the patterns that comes for 1st time here.

2nd husband, Jimmy Stetson (John Abraham) was a decent performance. O Mama song makes a powerful impact and wondefully choreographed. The gap between O Mama and Dil dil dil certainly was bit too less.

3rd husband, Wasiullah Khan (Irrfan Khan) was probably the least impressive story of all. Though, my reservations against Bekaaran song is certainly one reason for it, along with the fact that a sudden complete change in behavior of Irrfan Khan made the happenings unintentionally funny. Irrfan Khan though shows his acting talent, notice his mannerisms when he reads shayari from diary, or when he laughs being slapped as a surprise. What actually saves this story, is its culmination. Look out for Priyanka's scene sitting in front of a mirror, a complete mad scene.

4th husband, Nicolai Vronsky (Alekxandr Dyachenko) had nice performance, probably Bharadwaj wanted to give extra humour to this story by making a non-Indian willingly speak Hindi dialogues, and having a recap of 1st three murders narrated to him through the servants. Once again, Look out for my personal fav scene of the film, when Priyanka enters with anger and sarcasm in her tone, and a slight humour with Bharadwaj's vision.

5th husband, Keemat Lal (Anu Kapoor) delivers a very good performance. Very good writing once more. In terms of interest, the screenplay has very less in offer though.

6th husband, Modhusudhon Tarafdar (Naseeruddin Shah) was good. But this time its the screenplay that impresses along with writing. The shift in the regular pattern takes you by the edge, a good way to get your attention in case it got lost in 5 stories till now.

7th husband .. find out yourself.

Okay, these above 7 stories of husbands were the 3rd pattern along with the earlier mentioned two patterns. But what actually keeps this 3rd pattern from stopping you getting bored or giving any sense of predictabilty is the screenplay and narrative of the whole film. Bharadwaj makes sure that each story has a different take, except for probably 1st husband, in rest husband's stories it takes time before you find out why a murder is going to happpen.

Then, the culmination of each story is kept very exciting, a dark feel along with it. Another pattern, murders taking place at night.

The songs are used very well in the narration, O Mama, Yeshu, Awaara being the best used songs. Darling was beautifully choreographed, while O Mama acoustic version sets the mood for the original version. Yeshu and Awaara haunts the way they are inserted into the narration.

Editing is very good, some shots are so beautifully combined creating a magic effect, for instance the one where priyanka fills vivaan's hair with vodka, and next shot is the background music of darling. Bekaaran song could had been shortened though. Cinematography is good, specially the Kashmir scenes or the rain sequence in pre-climax. Screenplay impressive except for 1-2 stories, as a whole its very good..

Background Score is very good, I specially love the theme that plays for Vivaan, that was always my personal fav before the film and still it is. Also, the one during culmination point of Irrfan story was way too good.

Climax is debatable, very differently shown... the idea of keeping dialogue at end credits may not have been entirely right if Bharadwaj considered normal audience in mind, for filmi buffs, it was never a problem. Its not a tough climax to understand, but people may have different takes on it, very much like Kaminey.

Coming to rest performances ..

Usha Utthup, Goonga and Ghalib were superb in their supporting roles. Especially Ghalib who impresses with his acting. The 1st interaction scene between Goonga and Ghalib, the interval sequence and the scene with 4th husband including all 3 servants were among the best ones of the film too.

Ruskin Bond is also visible in a special appearance...

Now, some words on what could possibly be the forthcoming new sensational actor, son of Naseeruddin Shah, Vivaan Shah makes his debut. He is the narrator of the entire film, and hence his role is written in a way that he gets included in each husband's story. He is given the name of  'Sugar' by Priyanka, one can easily say that the name very well suited him. Notice his expressions, his growth in appearance and maturing as a person. He also has a transition from childhoold to around 45 yrs. He has got some excellent dialogue lines to deliver too. But its the way he enacts his role, that I just feel like praising him a lot.

Finally, the lady herself, Priyanka Chopra .. she delivers her 2nd best performance after Fashion. I am being a bit hard, else this is easily her best performance. Thing to note is how well she transforms into a complete new role, because the husbands are just portraying their one side, but Priyanka has to get into that different world of her husband every time, and how well she does it. Ofcourse make up person gets a due too here, though I must admit her make up during 5th husband was not upto the mark, the skin wasnt looking good or real if I can say. If I have to pick her best get ups in the film, then it would be 1st one,4th one,6th one and ofcourse 7th one.


Overall, 7 Khoon Maaf represents the dark side of Susanna, her world where she wanted happiness out of her husbands which she never got. How fate had its laugh on her every time, how she was deprived of that one right person in her life. If you can notice these aspects in the film, then you have very well understood what Bharadwaj wanted to show through the film. Its not any message oriented film, but its not a merely entertaining film either. Its a dark take on a person's misery with blend of humour and thrill.  Apart from few shortcomings the film has, it would stand among the best films of 2011 easily.


Rating : 4.25 Out of 5 

Film Review : Yeh Saali Zindagi

The title makes you wonder if it is another dark feel kind of film like Dev D etc. But instead of calling it dark, it can be related as a realistic film that is very fast paced with a narration that keeps you glued to the screen.

The story of the film is nothing new. There are various sub-plots, Arun(Irfan Khan) is in love with Priti(Chitrangda Singh) but only comes to know later that she never loved him but was after Shyam(Vipul Gupta). It doesnt effect Arun as he loves her unconditionally. Kuldeep(Arunoday Singh) is about to come out of jail and has decided to end his crime life, but he has a tough task ahead to convince his wife Shanti(Aditi Rao Hydari) whose nature is very unlike her name. How the lives of these people get affected by one incident, and what role rest supporting cast play in helping or making it tough for these guys is what yeh saali zindagi is all about.

Now, the thing is that the sub-plots has been made as a complete movie so many times. So, what Sudhir Mishra does is, presents the film in form of a fast paced thriller. He starts the film with flashback that contains scenes from present too. So, a confusion is very well set up in the narration making you totally alert right through. Sudhir doesnt stop here, he puts forward fast montages of past stories of all the main protaganist without wasting too much time on them, also he makes sure that the past stories comes at various intervals and not in a single tone. Also, there are voice over done by Arun throughout the film and then there are few dreamy sequences that Arun goes into at some places.

Well that sums up, how much thought Sudhir had put into the story and screenplay. At intermission, he has kept a dialogue of Irfan saying "Kahaani yahan se shuru hoti hai .. ". Screenplay is very tight, narration style is appealing and impactful. Editing is very good. Good Cinematography. Excellent Background score. And very real dialogues, though lots of cussing done which is expected in a A rated film.

There are still some weak points in the film, the opening credit song sung by Prashant probably was very irritating since he repeats same lines around 4-5 times in a row. The final bullet scene gets too filmy though the scene with the film is very good to watch. While the sub-plot of Bade and Chote i.e Yashpal Sharma and Prashant Narayanan doesnt create that much effect as compared to rest stories, though good thing being that this story is given least importance in the screenplay and kept at supporting role only.

The songs are repeatedly used though no song is used completely. At times, the repeativity doesnt look good. The placement of songs is very good, cant single out any one song in that regards. Audio wise, the songs are awesome. Dil dar ba dar the best of all along with title track. Also, kaise kahein, sa ra ra and ishq tere jalwe have very good moments in their duration too.

Performances wise,

Irffan Khan as always is natural and at his supreme best in his serious look breaking into a humourous dialogue.Chitrangda Singh's acting is visible by the fact that its hard to tell what she wants until the end. Normally, a actress eyes would reveal it, not so in case of her. Looks wise, she looks hot and beautiful as always.

Arunoday Singh has improved since Aisha, though it appeared that his voice was dubbed in the film.Aditi Rao Hydari, the sweet innocent bua of Delhi6, looks extremely hot in this role, and very good performance too.

Saurabh Shukla and Sushant Singh are as usual effective. Yashpal Sharma and Prashant Narayanan are okay. Vipin Sharma shines in a gangster role after getting typecasted in role of father since long.

The sequence where Arun watches Priti romancing Shyam, all the montages, Arun deciding to go back to Priti while driving, Tony telling Priti what she will say to him on phone, Kuldeep taking test of Priti are some of the best directed scenes of the film.

Also, the film keeps the surprises coming, making it hard to predict until the final scene as to what would happen to some of the characters.

Overall, Yeh Saali Zindagi works due to the vision of Sudhir Mishra, the performances from the entire cast and a good music to support it. In short, a complete package film(doesnt refer to action + drama + comedy but performances + direction + screenplay + editing + dialogue + music).

Rating : 4 Out of 5

Masz na imie Justine [Views]

I have seen very few world movies. Dont remember, this could be the 1st one for me. I saw this one around a month ago, but still its there in my thoughts. Re-watched it some days back again.. The story is about a girl who wants to be happy, and feels the guy she loves will always keep her happy. But she is in for a surprise, a surprise that would to a extent end her desire to be happy ever again in life.

Its a story of Mariola who faces some hard circumstances, how the situation gets hold of her and she gives in. The pain, and the willingness to get away always in her eyes. She wants to live as Mariola, but she is forced to live the life of Justine.

The performance by Anna Cieslak who plays Mariola/Justine is outstanding. The sets and cinematography is very good too. The atmosphere or sourroundings set up perfectly brings up that mood where you feel for the character going through so much. There are some very tough scenes that are hard to see, the ones where Mariola for the 1st time goes through the painful life that has been gifted to her.

There are some very good dialogues too, especially the ones where Justine talks with her Grandma in her thoughts telling what she has gone through and what more is yet to come.

My fav one comes right at end of film "How much strength one needs to have? What for? Where is love? Where are dreams ? Where is this bloody justice" . In one single dialogue, the entire suffering of Justine is showcased.

Also, the sequence where Mariola in red dress stands outside a window only to realize that she doesnt have courage to commit suicide either, that entire scene is brilliantly shooted. Its also the poster of the film actually.

Mariola just wanted to be happy, and that's the only thing she was left desiring ever after.

A very good film!

Film Review : Dil Toh Bachcha Hai Jee

Madhur Bhandarkar's attempt at comedy genre, taking a break from serious cinema. Though he admits here too, the comedy would be in a realistic manner. After watching the film only thing I can say is that he was way better at his serious cinema, he has a long way to go in comedy genre.

The story is about 3 guys, Naren(Ajay Devgan), Milind(Omi Vaidya) and Abhay(Emraan Hashmi) who have a common interest i.e finding a loving partner. Naren falls in love with a girl June(Shazahn Padamsee) in his office who is 15 yrs less in age than him. Milind starts liking a radio rj , Gungun(Shraddha Das), madly whom he meets at a party occasion. While Abhay is after money initially flirting with Anushka(Tisca Chopra), later falling in love with Nikki(Shruti Hassan). How all 3 of them try to win their love, and do the girls also actually love them or not, or are we in for another one sided love affair for all 3 lead actors.

The film starts with a voiceover of Paresh Rawal describing the qualities of all the 3 lead actors. It takes 15-20 mins for the story to get settled. Then starts the search of comical scenes that would make you laugh out completely, there comes 1-2 scenes in 1st half. You wonder, 2nd half must give more, but again you get 1-2 scenes at best. And in the end, in a comic film, you are hardly given scenes that could tickle your bone.

Screenplay of the film especially is terrible and just doesnt really interest you. The plot of 3 guys trying to win over their love, having different backgrounds could had formed a good enough screenplay but not the case here. Some dialogues are good, rest are okish. Editing was fine.Background score was good, specially the use of old songs i.e Koi apna hota or the title song theme.

Songs though not appealing enough audio wise, looked better with film. Maybe that defines how much average the film was. I specially loved Jaadugiri and Yeh dil hai nakhrewala with the film.

Climax was completely predictable, but have to say it was very well directed by Madhur. As a debut in comic genre, Madhur has done a decent enough start, should learn with future films.


There were few noteworthy sequences in the film, Mukesh Tiwari-Omi Vaidya talk on 15 yr old 2 girls, Ajay using friend's name to get advice on love from Emraan, Ajay's singing at June friends party, Shruti-Emraan restaurant scene and the heartbreak scenes.

Performances wise,

Ajay Devgan delivers the only excellent performance from the film among the lead actors. He was completely in form yet again continuing his 2010 form. The expressions, the heartbreak, and the repeat of Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam in that singing song scene(probably Madhur did it intentionally).

Omi Vaidya was irritating and not upto the mark at all. Infact everytime it appeared like I was watching Chatur again and not Milind. Not a good sign for a actor.

Emraan Hashmi was cool, comic timing was visible especially the home scenes with Ajay and Omi, and the restaurant scene with Shruti. But, the writing in regards to his role definately was a let down, a lot more could had been taken out from his performance but the scope wasnt there.

Shazahn Padamsee was cute looking and beatuiful too but acting wise she was just about okay. Infact, her "Please sir, please, please" kinda of gets irritating after a point.

Shraddha Das was decent, she always appeared to have a slight greyish character. Only her voice I found not impressive.

Shrutti Hassan was below average, I wonder if it was even her  voice in the film or not. She really requires to work on her acting a lot. The expressions either arent there or are overdone while the voice too is so shaky. But she is very appealing when it comes to her looks.

Tisca Chopra was very good in her portrayal of a sexy mom if I could say it. Quite unusual role but she did it very well, not completely convincing though but still much better than any of the female actors in the film.

Rituparna Sengupta and Mukesh Tiwari were good in their small cameos.


Overall, Dil Toh Bachcha Hai Jee is the weakest film of Madhur Bhandarkar(I have seen only Fashion and Jail till now). Still, one should watch it for his try at comedy genre, even though he doesnt succeed at it.


Rating : 2.60 Out of 5

Film Review : Dhobi Ghat

Aamir Production's film always comes up with a view that this film must be really good. So, expectations are always high and this time around Aamir already told in a interview that this film would appeal to only intellectuals or small section of audience. Well, the film does appeal but there are certain problems in the film which usually a Aamir film doesnt have.

The story is about 4 people, Shai(Monica Dogra), Munna(Pratiek Babbar), Arun(Aamir Khan) and Yasmin(Kriti Malhotra), how their lives get inter-connected when they get to know each other and what outcomes it leaves to their lives.

The main problem masses would have connecting to the film is the pace of the film which is very slow, almost reminds of Manorama 6 feet under. Good thing is that the film is just 90 mins long without a interval(which was first of a kind for me).

Kiran Rao as a director in her debut film does a commendable job. The way she has developed the narration, and ofcourse special mention to the editing which was top notch, amazing to see the way the 4 characters are interlinked through tiniest of possible ways. And not to forget, the 5th character Mumbai that is added into each character's story.

Cinematography is good. Dialogues are nice but since I saw hindi version so Dubbing made me not like some of the dialogues. Writing is very good, there is hardly any plot as such in the film.. yet to make the screenplay work means the job of writers was most important.

Only flaws in the film were the character sketches of Aamir Khan and Monica Dogra, especially Aamir Khan whose reactions in scenes with Monica Dogra are bit overplayed. Yet, the way he reacts while watching Yasmin cassettes is too good. While Monica Dogra's intentions as to why she is so curiously following Arun knowing he isnt interested in her, is something to be questioned. Also, the Mumbai character doesnt really get established well enough, it only plays a side role or a communicator to tell that all proceedings are happening at this place, quite tough to connect it with the 4 characters the way Kiran wanted it to.

The background theme used in the film is very good, it mainly comes during the final parts of the film.

Performances wise,

Pratiek Babbar shines in a very well written role. He was so natural and great to watch on screen.

Monica Dogra was good in expressions, hard to comment on her dialogues since it was total dubbing.

Aamir Khan was good in few scenes while okay in rest, not really convincing performance by him for a change.

Kriti Malhotra was the surprise package of the film, never expected her to make such a impact. She was so much like a normal person in real life. Her happiness, trying to be happy, feeling pain and the shocking thing was really well done by her.


Overall, Dhobi Ghat is a well made film. It is definately slow in pace, and also with few flaws but Pratiek and Kriti's performances and very good editing makes it a pretty good watch.


Rating : 3.30 Out of 5 

Film Review : Yamla Pagla Deewana

Three Deols came together again after 'Apne'. I had liked Apne to some extent, and the promos of YPD appeared to be good. But the final film didnt quite live upto the expectations.

The story is about 2 conmens, Dharam(Dharmendra) and Gajodhar(Bobby Deol ) who earn money by frauds and cheats. One day, Dharam's son Paramveer(Sunny Deol) comes back in search of his father and brother. He wants to take them back, meanwhile Gajodhar falls in love with Saheba(Kulraj Randhawa). Gajodhar isnt aware about the background of Saheba, as the brothers of Saheba take her away to get married with a NRI. The rest story deals with how Dharam,Gajodhar and Paramveer gets Saheba back, that involves some funny situations. 

The good thing about the film is that there are quite many comic sequences in both halves, but the drawback of the film is the screenplay in 1st half is not interesting enough. Too much time taken to set the proceedings. Some dialogues falling flat. Certain lack of punchlines in the narration.

Direction wise, this is Samir Karnik's weak film. He did excellent work in Hereos, but here he somehow fails to impress. Editing is okay, 1st half could had been shortened. Dialogues are average.

Also, there are some overdose of melodrama at places in the film that restricts the main appeal of the genre of the film. 

Performances wise,

Sunny Deol surprisingly was the best of all, his comic timing was completely spot on. Had he got good dialogues to deliver too, then his performance would had looked even better.

Dharmendra was slightly laid-back, otherwise it was a nice performance.

Bobby Deol's performance if compared to his last few films has to considered quite good, otherwise not at his best yet.

Kulraj Randhawa somehow lacked that screen presence I was expecting she would have. Her performance was pretty average.

Anupam Kher was very good in his small cameo. Rest supporting cast were decent. 

The english translation scene by Sunny Deol during meeting with Anupam Kher or the one at election speech, the scenes where Bobby-Kulraj try to run away twice and Bobby's attempt to woo Kulraj in 1st half were some of the good scenes in the film.

Songs were over-used, its important when you havent got outstanding tracks to go with, then a certain initative to be taken not to use all stanzas of a song. But not the case here, as a result songs only slows down the screenplay instead of taking it forward. The romantic song Sau baar was the only one that appeared to be used perfectly, while the title track was good to ears.

Overall, Yamla Pagla Deewana is a above average film with some good moments in a not so convincing screenplay or writing.

Rating : 2.75 Out of 5