Film Review : Ra One

It was a ambitious film for Shahrukh Khan. He told in a interview, that he wants Indian people to have that kind of love for G.One character which Spiderman has in Hollywood. Only wish, he had more sittings with the writer and a different director to direct the key scenes of the film. Even the last super-hero film Krrish suffered with a poor 1st half, yet that film had more emotional quotient I felt, than in Ra.One.

The story is about a video game Shekhar(Shahrukh Khan) invents for his son Prateek (Armaan Verma), who wanted a game where Villian is more powerful. Shekhar doesn't know, that the villian in game i.e Ra.One is actually about to come out of the game, proving a lot of trouble for everyone. Only way out, is a super hero, G.One who maybe less powerful but knows the tricks to battle Ra.One.

The concept or the screenplay to be precise, reminded me lot of Robot at first and the climax totally referred to 'Toonpur ka Superhero'. The narration is so inconsitent in terms of pace. The 2nd half especially goes into a total slow motion. And I thought in a super-hero film, the action should fasten in later half.. Wierd!

Even though Shahrukh mentions in a interview, that he has allowed film to be slow at parts where he could had been strict only to let every person enjoy film.. still I feel the editing was bad, take for instance the scene where Shekhar is drunk and comes to know some problem in the video game, how long that whole scene is, which wasnt needed, same is the case with the G.One's train sequence.

You have the film named on a villian, and how much scope do you actually give him in the film. Agreed, if you want to contradict me by saying, it was about the fear of villian in the entire film as to what he can do, and not instead showing more what he can do. But, in that case.. you needed to make the G.One-Sonia(Kareena Kapoor) part emotional and enjoyable. Or further develop Shekher-Sonia relationship, or some extra masala. At places, you wonder if G.One has come from game in real sense or is another human, so inconsistent.

Even in the few of Ra.One vs G.One action sequences, you are left to desire for so much more, because there is that 'Wow' moment missing in all of them. The unwanted humour in the final battle doesn't help either. Why do our films indulge in comedy so much, dont you realize the situation demands seriousness?

Even though the writing of the film isnt good, yet Anubhav Sinha doesn't miss out to show his incapabilities as a director. And such a terrible way to introduce Shahrukh, could he not work on a better dream sequence of Prateek.

The VFX effects are very good, since it was my 1st 3d film. I enjoyed them a lot more, specially the pieces joining to form a person. Also, the sets made for the whole game lab place, was very nice work, all those wires.. must had been tedious work.

Criminal to me was the best picturised song in the film, because there was the parallel threat of Ra.One about to come. Bhare naina probably brought the best out of the emotional content in the entire film. Chammak Challo's situation wasnt impressive, again more to blame on writing. Though, it was fun to watch that song on screen. I liked Shahrukh's steps more in Criminal than Chammak Challo.

Raftaarein would had made more impact only if the train sequence was well edited. While the I am on theme was used a bit too much. Also, what was it with some scenes going into a old hindi track background, really important to extra dramatize a scene ?

The best moments of the film ----
• Ra.One asking 4 kids near a ground on occasion of Dussehra burning the putla. And his dialogue 'Tum har saal ra one ko isliye jalate ho, kyunki tum jaante ho.. woh kabhi nahi marta'
• Shekhar explaining he ain't coward to his son Prateek. Well shot!
• The parallel cutting of the party and the ra.one game during criminal song.
• The train collapsing out of the building. Brilliantly done ..


Performance wise,

Shahrukh Khan is very good in South character, which I felt he won't be. But he excels in it, the comic timing works in this getup. As, G.One he is good in parts.

Kareena Kapoor, looks very good throughout the film especially Criminal and Chamak Challo songs. Acting wise, she was fine.

Arjun Rampal is superb in what can be called a very small cameo. His dialogue deliver, and different look works.

Armaan Verma is good, though his hairstyle irritated me. Good start as a kid in the filmi career.

Sanjay Dutt and Priyanka Chopra are total waste in a silly sequence of the film. While Rajnikanth's much talked about scene too had nothing to do with Ra.One, completely forced and unwanted.

Shahana Goswami dissappears totally from the 2nd half, she was fine though. Tom Wu is okay, good choice though for the character. Satish Shah, Dalip Tahil and Suresh Menon was okay in their supporting cameos.


Overall, Ra.One had a great concept, good actors, good songs but it didn't have good Writing and Direction. Hence, it ends up as a Average product.. Shahrukh lovers can still enjoy the film, as his screen presence makes up for lots of the flaws, but for rest, the film won't be much pleasing at all.


Verdict : AVERAGE

Opening and End Credits

There was a time in Hindi films when opening credits were used as a means to let audience get settled into their seats so that they would not miss the film which actually starts once 'Directed by' came written. It still happens today in some films. And when I say plain written credits, then I mean no background photo or visual happening at same time, even no animation.

But as we have advanced now, lots of creative opening credits have started coming. In 'Jaane tu ya jaane Na', we see various couples in start of the film which has no direct connection with the main characters of the film, just a way to start the film with the feeling the director wants audience to have right from beginning. In' Break ke Baad', Kunal Kohli opts for writing the credits with moving visuals but they come written on various home furniture or non living things. Cool, but it was extended a lot...

Lots of directors choose background themes or instrumentals with visuals, it was the case in JTYJN, My name is Khan, Jhootha Hi Sahi, Ghajini and many many more films. Some directors use songs(it may or may not be item songs) as a means to begin a film, with credits over it. In doing so, some may start the film directly with it, while some may put one sequence and then bring the song to ease the action. Dabangg, Ready, Jism, Rog, DevD are few egs of this format.

And then there are some films, who follow the Hollywood format i.e credits with visual action going on, dialogues happening between characters. I can't actually recall the hindi films who did this, anyone wants to help? Maybe Kurbaan was one of it and yea Dil Se did it too. One may argue if thats the right way, who would notice the credits in all this. But how many do actually notice credits really ?


For End Credits, most of our films follow a common path, they end it with a remix track or promotional track done for the film, numerous egs of it like Yuvvraaj, Kidnap, Love Aaj Kal, Jab we Met, Murder2, Awarapan. There are some films that use background audio themes with either still last shot of film or black screen, like Fanaa, Dev.D, Raavan etc. Some creative instances are like Dev.D having credits coming in a 180 degree revolve that then shifts into normal mode. Then, Rab ne bana di jodi had the honeymoon of the characters happening in the left scaled photo along with credits. While Rohit Shetty has this habit of always showing behind the scenes of shooting in the end credits of his films.

If the audience have liked or loved the film, you would expect them to watch the end-credits before leaving the theatre, and hence the director has to make sure its worth it too. Though, there is section of audience where I belong too.. who aneways wait till the end-credits end.


If you ask my preference, then I feel the perfect Opening Credits are, when the film begins with 1-2 sequence, then goes into a song(which aint a item track) and rolls over the credits along with it. That's the one I love the most!  While in the end-credits, I prefer themes always with some unseen visuals from the film, or behind the scenes etc. I don't really like remixes or promotional tracks fitted at the end, as sometimes it hurts to see them if they were one of your most liked songs of the album.

Also, the font style used by lots of makers is modern and stylish, but some opt for simple look and feel, like Nagesh in Mod.

One thing for sure, we will keep getting lots of variety with each new film in terms of both the aspects of credits. And with time, surely gonna see more innovations done in this regard.. Keep the good work going.


------
Yash.

Don2 : The king is back

The teaser was impressive, getting all my eyes onto the next trailers and the film. Don never appealed to me because of getting to see Shahrukh speak the same dialogues, and in the same sequences once Amitabh had perfectly done in late 70's. The climax was the only good point.

But, Don2 is completely new film, new dialogues, new story, new screenplay, more develish, more style, action, new songs and even 3D. 

From this new trailer -> Don2 Theatrical Trailer

It is clear that the story starts with Don surrendering himself to police, only to fool them and take Vardhaan's trust and help to his own profit. His tactics and mind, what he is leading upto only he can tell. I have a guess, he would be fooling everyone including Vardhaan and the new ally he forms in Berlin. Don feels pride in his work, as Malik feels police of every country is after him, how will he save him and Don replies 'Aaj, yeh sunke meri maa kitni khush hoti .. Mr Malik aap meri maa ko nahi jaante'. 

We already have one dialogue to drool over in the trailer 'Sir? Sir bahut shareef sa lagta hai .. call me Don'. Surely, we can easily expect many more of such one liners in the film.

The music should be fresh too this time, and the background theme always was lovable in both old Don films, this one would continue that trend too, or maybe go one step higher in quality.

Kunal Kapoor appears to be a spy working for Roma and Malik, how loyal he turns out is to be seen in the film. Also, what role Alyy Khan has in the film, in terms of his negative role as he gets quite much of importance in the trailer. Vardhaan i.e Boman Irani character would also be a interesting one to watch out for, as afterall he was quite clever one in 1st part in terms of fooling around, and almost winning it. There would be a 3 way battle, Don against Roma/Malik/Kunal, Don against Vardhaan and Don against the new formed enemies in Berlin. Whether its a equal emphasis on each of these, or not is gonna be the question.

Also, what the climax is gonna be. Totally unpredictable.. Ofcourse if Don3 is in mind, then you wont see Don die in the end. I certainly want him to get free again ... 

'Don ko pakarna mushkil hi nahi, namumkin hai' ... 

Fans

You know you are a fan of a celeb, if you day/night think about his/her films/music. You wait for his films/music/song the most every year. You don't feel like appreciating other celebs much, especially the ones that are the major competitors with your fav celeb. You are a die-hard fan!

How many times, have you seen a Shahrukh Khan fan not make fun of Aamir/Salman ? Be it any debate on online forum, be it twitter, be it interview or any of their film. The same applies to Aamir and Salman fans too. One has to accept it that if you are a fan of a particular star celeb who are among the top10, then you are bound to have certain dislike for the rest 9.. the dislike could be small or big, depends on the kind of person you are. Thats a price you pay, for being a fan of a particular celeb, a die-hard fan to be precise.

There are 2 kinds of fans, one who matures with time, one who never matures. I have met both types. There was a incident on twitter, I wrote something good about Mausam music. As a result, 2 sonam kapoor fans followed me. Now, after few days, I wrote a tweet  'Mausam music is very good, among best of 2011, but still it doesn't enter my top5 of this year.' The sonam kapoor fans wanted it to be in top5, maybe even no.1. So, they unfollowed me. Ofcourse, it didn't matter much to me as I never followed them.. and I knew they are gonna unfollow me one day! The point is, that a fan adores his/her favourite celeb to such a extent that even a small comment which holds true, would mean anti-comment made towards the celeb for that fan.

You should not argue too much with the immature fans, they won't agree with you ever. They will remain stuck to their thoughts, and only waste your time. There was a time when I use to argue with them, not anymore. The ignore button gets pressed, the moment I see such thing coming from any immature fan. You can go anywhere else and do your yack yack, I ain't interested.

Some of the immature fans, are very violent too. Seen many cases of abuse on twitter, and surely the count of such people would be very high. I don't like to confront them, always prefer to stay away. Infact, due to these kinda of fans, I feel bad for every celeb who uses Twitter. These celebs try to communicate with their fans., I know most celebs use the medium mainly to promote films, but say 10 yrs back, did anyone thought they could actually be communicating with their celebs so often. But, the violent fans start sending abusive tweets, thinking they are succeeding in making that celeb feel bad. A childish act, but very common in today's times. They don't even spare journalists, then how would they leave celebs.

Personally, I have no feeling for every person who is a fan of a celeb. Because thats not the kind of company I want to be around me. If my friends happen to be like that, then I make it a point, not to talk anything or talk to a minimum about their fav celebs with them. Because I know if I talk more on them, they will show me their love towards that celeb in abundance, which will irritate me. So, if you ever thought why I talk less on your fav celeb with you, then the answer you got just now.

I agree that in your top5 fav list, some actors wont be there, like Kareena Kapoor, Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar won't come in my top5 list, because they time and again dissappoint me with their choice of films. But, the key is.. they wont either come in my list of worst 5 actors list, or the list of actors whom I can't stand. No, nothing like that. If you have the stardom, then you certainly have got some talent to get it. How much different people like you, depends on how your talent is nurtured by the directors, and ofcourse whether the reason the people don't like you is personal or related to your work.


In all, to lead a life of being a fan of a celeb is very tedious, and not worth fun at all. Atleast that's how I always feel. Enjoy every actor's good work, have constructive criticism about the bad work.. the filmi world would become so nice.


------
Yash.

Film Review : Mod

Nagesh Kukunoor never has tried a romantic film, with Rannvijay Singh as male lead for 1st time in his career.. he had the stakes against him. To quite a extent, he achieves to hit a note with his storytelling.

The story is of a girl Aranya (Ayesha Takia) living alone at a hill station, Ganga.. who never allows her father to enter her home until he quits drinking. Her father is a huge fan of Kishore and also works as a singer at a restaurant place. Aranya meets Andy (Rannvijay Singh), over a course of few meetings, she starts to have a special liking and place for him. But the problem is, she doesn't know who he actually is, what he is upto. What Aranya would do, when she will know the truth, continue her relationship or leave him...

The storytelling of Nagesh is slow, he very much believes in building the sub-plots fully, before bringing the main plot i.e Aranya-Andy relationship into the core of the story. The drama is very well incorporated by Nagesh into the story. He brings some good twists, the interval sequence being one of them.

Screenplay is effective. The songs are used perfectly, even though most of them lack the appealing power, tu hi tu is quite romantic. Cinematography is good. Editing is fine.

The reaction's of Andy's mental health at a point looks over-done, during the hospital scene with Aranya. Also, how normal he behaves in the climax is a question to be asked too.


Performances wise,

Ayesha Takia is as always lovely and sweet. I have always liked her acting though seen very less of her films. She has that simplicity in her looks yet very beautiful.

Rannvijay Singh, does very well in his attempt at solo lead for first time. I can't predict his future in hindi films as main lead yet, but he surely can act.

Raghuveer Yadav is good. Tanvi Azmi is excellent in her supporting role. (A confession to make, I came to know only now that she has a connection with Shabana Azmi). Anant Mahadevan is just about okay.


Overall, Mod is a sweet romantic film dealing with a relationship that faces problems and overcomes it very well. The film lacks entertainment value to a certain extent, so not for that section of audience.


Verdict : Nice 

Film Review : My Friend Pinto

Sanjay Leela Bhansali co-produces this film with UTV , a comedy genre which he hadn't gone into before in his career. Much like Madhur Bhandarkar, only difference the director is newbie 'Raghav Dar' in this case.

The story is about Michael Pinto (Pratiek Babbar) who has come to Mumbai to live with his childhood friend Sameer (Arjun Mathur) after the sad demise of his mother. He is a very honest and simple living guy, who often lands himself and sometimes the people around him in trouble. He is a good musician and wants to become a priest one day. How Pinto's arrival brings a change into the lives of Sameer, and many more, in just one whole new year eve night.. is the story all about.

It takes time in the start as all the characters get introduced. After that, what you enjoy the most is, how well the writer connects all the stories, and the screenplay that makes it interesting. What you miss the most is the good punches to make it that much comical. There are many moments that are good, but you wanted them to be very good.

Except 'Do Kabootar' which also in a way narrates story, the songs are well placed.

The good moments ----
• Pinto giving new mantra to a drunkard gambler about winning by going with heart.
• Pinto with Don helping him play instruments.
• The drunk scene of Don's girlfriend with Pinto on the road, and later in her house.
• The whole dhinchak zindagi track, full of energy and very well edited.

Performances wise,

Pratiek Babbar is back on track, in comparison to his last two performances, this one is much better. He just needs to keep choosing the right films.

Kalk Koechin fails to impress, plus her romantic part with pratiek is given very less screen space.

Arjun Mathur and Shruti Seth are good in supporting roles.

Divya Dutta is awesome in her drunk scene, apart from that she has very less part in the film.

Makrand Deshpande impresses with his dialect. Shakeel Khan is good in few scenes he gets in the film. Raj Zutshi irritates, thanks to the bad look given to him.


Overall, My Friend Pinto despite being able to connect many events together so well, is good in parts only as you end up wanting for much more than you get.


Verdict : Average

Film Review : Jo Dooba So Paar

There were 3 reasons that I went to see this film. One was Rajat Kapoor, 2nd was Vinay Pathak and 3rd was the tagline 'Its love in Bihar'. None of these 3 factors helped me to like this film.

Kishu (Anand Tiwari) gets thrown out of school for being involved too many times in wrong means. He now joins his father in their village in Bihar who runs a truck there. With time Kishu gets to see lots of kidnapping, and bomb supply activities happening around him. One day Kishu watches a beautiful american girl at police station, and falls in love at first sight. Only to know later, that the girl has a american boyfriend. The story revolves around Kishu's love, the kidnapping issues and the police which is corrupt to large extent.

The main problem with the film is, it just keeps dragging on. The screenplay is poor. There are 2-3 good moments in the film, for instance the starting school scene or Kishu meeting Sapna (Sita Ragione Spada), or the climax.

There is very less action in the film, and the pace is too slow, with a story that's not new too. The writing is very weak, there was a chance to make it very comcial but it didnt happen. Plus, its not a performance oriented film either. Even the songs don't give any respite.

Performances wise,

Vinay Pathak is okay. I don't think he had any scope to perform in this film. Same holds true for Rajat Kapoor, though he still gets 2-3 scenes to make little impact.

Anand Tiwari, remember the friend of Hrithik in Kites. He has a good screen presence, and acts well too. A better written film would test him more though.

Rest of the supporting cast is just about fine.

Overall, Jo Dooba So Paar has very few good moments.


Verdict : Poor

Film Review : Azaan

The promos were terrible, and you know how bad his direction was in his debut film 'Aap ka Suroor - the movie'. Yet, just that stubborness to watch new releases, made me see this one hell of a boring, and just boring film, that had only one background piece to attract me in whole film.. which also wasn't original, heard before in films.

The story is of a Doctor (Sajid Hassan) who wants to destruct India, first by planting bomb in peace conference at Germany, then the Ebola virus which if spread could completely destroy India. One man stands in his way, Azaan Khan (Sachin Joshi), a army officer now secretly working for Sam (Alyy Khan) and Pandey (Ravi Kissen). But how he deals with the job, when he is told about his brother whom he has been searching since long, is a terrorist.

There is nothing new in the story, the virus part isn't tried before in our films in major way, like Contagion. But, Azaan mostly keeps Ebola virus as a backdrop only. Prashant Chaddha shows no improvement in his direction skills, possibly gets worser than his debut. The screenplay is nice, but when your lead actor has got single expression in entire film, it's hard to like such a film.

Doctor's 1st appearance in the film, Azaan going to check what his friend is going to get n then coming back into the car, and the sand painting 1st scene of Afreen were among the few good moments of this dull film.

The songs are forced into the narration, though Salim-Suleiman have given nice music in the film. Editing is okay. Cinematography is nice. Some of the action sequences are well done, though one scene is straightaway lifted from Bourne Series.

The love angle of Candice was completely off track, in a already non-appealing film.

Performances wise,

Sachin Joshi will need to improve a hell lot, else his career wont last too long.

Candice Boucher reminds of Celina Jaitley when she was new in acting. No expressions, just beauty.

Ravi Kissen is totally over the top. Alyy Khan is his usual. Sajid Hassan impresses in 1-2 scenes. Sarita Chowdhary is fine. Sachin Khedekar, Dalip Tahil and Aarya Babbar get no scope in small appearances.



Overall, Azaan has nothing to make you like this film.


Verdict : Avoidable

Film Review : Mujhse Fraandship Karoge

First of all, its not a hindi version of the famous hollywood film 'The Social Network', if at all there were any people with such misconception.

Vishal (Saqib Saleem) goes to his college friend Rahul's (Nishant Dahiya) concert, and happens to fall in love at first sight with a girl Malvika (Tara D'Souza). Malvika is room-partner of Priety (Saba Azad), who dislikes boys a lot, and is working on a project with Vishal together for their college. Now, Priety has a liking for Rahul, while Vishal has a liking for Malvika. They can't express it in real face to face, so what they do is.. log in from their room-partner's account, and Priety becomes Malvika, Vishal becomes Rahul. They start communicating with each other. But how long would it last, what would Rahul and Malvika do when they know, and what will happen when Priety and Vishal would know, they were talking to each other through means of Facebook.

Some director's use the 1st scene of the film to explain, what kind of film is in store for them instead of starting directly with opening credits. Same is the case here, as we see 2 guys having fun with one of their college mate online on facebook. You are hereby told, the film would be funny and very youthful. And thats how it is for the entire time span.

Usually in films where you are cheating over a person, you expect a kind of slowness to come into the film before it ends happily, that doesn't really happen here. There is no emotional drama, people are shown as understandable and smart to understand what is right and wrong. This as a result takes the climax to an extra high for me. Notice the reaction of Vishal when Priety speaks to her on stage in climax.

Nupur Ashtana is very good as debut director. Editing is superb, the way they have put up the facebook profile shots was really good, also the camera angles used in them. Screenplay is impressive, hard to find any dull moment. Also, how well the cut away shots are kept, about college mates speaking on Priety at various stages of film with every person remaining in one tone, the last one always makes you laugh 'I think she wanna get laid.. slaaaaaap'. This is what I disliked in Soundtrack, and here it's so effectively used into the screenplay.. clear eg of how a particular idea can be executed into ur screenplay properly.

All the songs were well used, one may argue about har saans song to some extent but I feel it was a good way to conclude the just ended scene. Also, every song is very good audio wise, good work from Raghu Dixit, the composer.

The best moments of the film ----
• The opening facebook share sequence by Vishal and his friend.
• All the fight sequences between Vishal and Priety.
• The scene between Vishal and Malvika at the disco place.
• Rahul and Malvika meeting for 1st time.
• When Vishal and Priety for 1st time check each other's facebook accounts(they must have earlier too, but in the film you see it only once, that is in this scene)
• The finale sequence.

Performances wise,

Saqib Saleem is excellent as a debut. At times he did reminded me of 'Rajjo' of pyar ka punchnaama to be precise. But, he was too good, confident, has got a good screen presence and as mentioned earlier amazing in that stage sequence.

Saba Azad, had done Dil Kabaddi before this, I can't recall her role in that film.. must be small one. In this film, she is very cute, beautiful as well as sexy. I just fell in love with her, every time she came in a scene. And along with her looks, she acts very well too. Would love to see her do well in her future career.

Nishant Dahiya doesn't really get much scope in his role in the film. The only 2 scenes that he has hiw own were the first meeting with Malvika and the scolding scene with Vishal. His future films would give a better picture of his acting skills.

Tara D'Souza was nice, after Mere Brother ki Dulhan, I would say she does much better in this film..

Meeta Vasisht was good in small cameo. Though, she made me wonder how can a teacher look so hot. Maybe, I was unlucky not to have such teachers in my college life.

Prabal Punjabi reminds of Vir Das so much. He was nice though.


Overall, Mujhse Fraandship Karoge would appeal specially to the youth audience, it has that connectivity, with lots of fun and entertainment, and a good love story.


Verdict : Very Good

Film Review : Pyaar Ke Side Effects

Another of those long pending films. Thanks to youtube, some of its clips were so good.. that the film eventually became a must watch for me. And it was totally worth it.

Sid (Rahul Bose) who is a DJ, is asked to work at a marriage, which is of Trisha (Mallika Sherawat) who is about to run away from her marriage. Sid and Trisha meet again later, date each other and fall in love. But the problem comes when Trisha wants to get married with Sid, who is reluctant going into the married life, with his own reasons and doubts. The opposition of Trisha's father addds to his and Trisha's problems.

The story is pretty much old, but the way its presented and the screenplay written.. you never complain. There are numerous places where Sid talks to himself, but the director shows it as a talk to us the audience, which appears funny always, and all of those times.. its his thoughts on the other person, disagreements whether its with Trisha or her friend who he calls Dracula.

Editing is good. There is a very good romantic feel in the film, thanks to the chemistry of Rahul Bose and Mallika Sherawat. Quite a unsual pair, but it worked.

The songs are well placed, feeling blue being the best of all with Sid adding the laughing dose in a emotional song through those breakups ke side effects.

The best moments of the film ----
• The opening sequence, Sid watching Ind-Pak match, and Trisha proposing.
• The scene in office, Sid and Trisha, war time.
• The conversation between Sid and Trisha on their unofficial 1st date.
• Nanoo, Kapil and Sid together in a pub.
• Sid tackling Trisha's dad, in car or home or golf.
• The coffee sequence.


Performances wise,

Rahul Bose has a superb comic timing. He is almost flawless. Specially, his eye expressions during all of his fights with Trisha.

Mallika Sherawat, is actually good in her comedy. In emotional scenes, she does look a bit awkward.. otherwise she was pretty much perfectly matching Rahul Bose.

Ranvir Shorey and Aamir Bashir give in a very good supporting performance. Suchitra Pillai is fine, though one wonders at her sudden change in heart during the climax. Sharat Saxena is good as always.


Overall, Pyaar Ke Side Effects is a very humurous film, and romantic at same time. Rahul Bose and Mallika Sherawat are the main show stealers of the film.


Verdict : Very Good 

Film Review : Love Breakups Zindagi

There was a sense of freshness in its promos, though when one of the three male leads is Zayed Khan.. you have to lower your expectations. The film turned out to be pretty good and fun, infact it was personally much more than that to me.

Jai (Zayed Khan) and Naina (Dia Mirza) have a partner which is pretty much incompatible with them. They both happen to meet at a common friend's wedding place. During the journey, Govind (Cyrus Sahukar) who has had 2 marriages before, happens to meet Sheela (Tisca Chopra) and fall in love. What happens thereafter, isn't tough to predict ...

Despite the predictability factor, what keeps you happy is the regular humourous scenes kept in the screenplay, even in the 2nd half when the story goes on a emotional side.. you keep getting those laughable moments.

The first time director Sahil Sangha handled some scenes beautifully, for instance the start of film though it reminded me of a south film but it was good. Specially the complete marriage place part, was very well directed. He does falter though in 2nd half including climax, but more blame should go towards the editing as well as the screenplay.

Unless you are able to connect to the characters, which I did... the movie would start looking boring from interval onwards which gives a deja vu of I hate luv Storys. Some scenes also appear stupid, especially the 'Jab we Met' theory revisit that takes place, when Naina's friend talks to 3(or four) of her bfs.

Every song is well used, though the much talked about Rab Rakha wasn't quite my fav in the film. I preferred the other 3 songs much more, special reference to love love love.. which I feel was romantic, and ofcourse Benny Dayal sang it very well.

The best moments of the film ----
• The conversations between Jai and Govind.
• The conversation on the 'Hot' topic between the three friends.
• Govind and Sheela's meetings.
• Govind meeting Sheela's dad.


Performances wise,

Zayed Khan is good. At places, he goes over the top.. but much above that what one expects from him these days.

Dia Mirza was looking so gorgeous. Plus, she always looks innocent, and acts well too.

Cyrus Sahukar was really good. I haven't liked him much in his previous films, but in this film his humour works a lot.

Tisca Chopra, impresses. She has probably only 2 long scenes in the film, and she comes across as a very good actress in them.

Satyadeep Mishra and Auritra Ghosh are nice in their supportive roles.

Umang Jain is good, leaving apart that over the top jab we met scene.

Pallavi Sharda is fine.Vaibhav Talwar looked completely suited to his role.

Good to see Farida Jalal back in a film, should do more films.. she was lovely as always.

Among the cameos, Boman Irani and Shabana Azmi were the best.. awesome actors they are, one scene they get each, and yet they shine in them like how. Shahrukh Khan looks very old in his sequence, as he plays himself.


Overall, Love Breakups Zindagi is a nice film, with some humour, emotions, and little talk on relationship handling.. nothing preachy.


Verdict : Nice

Film Review : Soundtrack

Rajeev Khandelwal, two films, Aamir and Shaitan, which may not have set boxoffice on fire, but both films were very much appreciated.. and most importantly, his performances were loved a lot in both the films, especially by me. Hence, the expectation level increases, and the fact that the story is kind of motivating about a deaf person getting glory. But for a change, the film dissappointed, his performance was still quite good, though some problems were visible in the character sketch and portrayal of DJ Raunak.

DJ Raunak(Rajeev Khandelwal) comes to Mumbai, with a dream like any other guy comes here. His dream is to make it big in the music industry, he has the talent and knowledge of the music. His father was also involved in it. But Raunak, gets too much involved in the bad side of the city.. and before he could notice it, he loses his hearing ability. How he struggles, and fights back to glory is the film all about.

The first problem the film has, is the documentary feel given to the film with those numerous artists talking about Ranuak, what he was, what he became, where he is now etc etc. It certainly was over-done and at a point became irritating too, some shots specially were bad enough to be left out.

The other problem is the slow pace. Too many silent scenes, and also the alter ego of Raunak in form of Joker, those scenes were not helping the screenplay in any way. One conversation was enough between them, after that just his presence would have said a lot what role he plays.

All this resulted in.. not having the feeling of sympathy for Raunak, its just there and about, but never really comes well as it should had. Also, a part of it is to do with character sketch of Raunak, one wonders if it was really required to show him drinking again after knowing his one ear is gone, when the reason for his 2nd ear to go too was gonna be something else other than the alcohol.

Editing wasn't good. Camera-work was good, some nice stylish shots taken especially the one with Raunak smoking a cigg and having beer at same time. Direction by first timer Neerav Ghosh was inconsistent, good in patches, he didn't tackle the journey till the hearing problem occurs efficiently.

The best moments of the film ---
• The opening sequence of the film, the way Raunak watches and listens to various sounds all around starting from the crossing of two trains over the bridge.
• The bonding between Charlie and Raunak, was very good.
• The Gauri-Raunak chemistry, she lended a life into the movie.
• The firecracker scene involving Raunak.
• Fakira and Manzil song picturisation.
• Raunak in a song performance place, for first time learns how to feel the music through touch of hands.

The songs were well used in the film, especially Fakira and Manzil my most favs. Also, what the f! was stylish, while Ruk jaana nahi served its right purpose.

Performances wise,

Rajeev Khandelwal is quite good yet again, specially in the post interval part, in the 1st part at places he did appear a bit awkward.

Soha Ali Khan delivers a very good performance, though her dialogue delivery which is kept specially for this character was a not that pleasing to listen in the beginning. But she does lift the film up with her performance in the 2nd half.

Mrinalini Sharma hardly has much to do in the film. She was pretty much average.

Manu Rishi was good in a small cameo of doctor's role. Mohan Kapoor impresses a lot as a friend who cares for Raunak, and at same time doesn't like his bad activities.


Overall, Soundtrack has a weak 1st half, but the 2nd half gives some kind of relief. But not the kind of film you expected from a Rajeev Khandelwal starrer...


Verdict : Average

Film Review : Rascals

I kind of liked David Dhawan's last two films Do Knot Disturb(which wasn't really liked by majority of audience) and Partner(which was a hit). With Rascals, he has again taken a step completely backwards.

Its hard to think, that you should criticise the film for its cheapness or not. Because when the title itself is 'Rascals' and going by the promos, they always promoted the film or made the film on that lines.But, I still couldn't accept all the cheap acts that happens in the film, especially involving Kangana Ranaut.

Surely, Ajay  Devgan and Sanjay Dutt give in very good performances together. At places, which its bound to happen in such a film, they go over the top and loud. Kangana Ranaut, I doubt anyone would like in this role, playing a role of dumb girl, who is willingly doing anything the two rascals would ask her to. I won't even describe that in detail here.

Lisa Haydon is also limited to skin show in the small part she has in this film. Hiten Paintal gets no scope even in a supporting character. Arjun Rampal fails mainly because he is given some of the worst possible witty lines to enact in the film. While Satish Kaushik, the reliable man most often in comedy films, also dissappoints in a scene that is completely over the top.

The title track and shake it saiiyyan are the only tracks worth liking in the film, which comes at right places. Rest songs are more or less forced.


Overall, Rascals is a good watch for you, if you like the 'cheap oriented films'. Else, most likely you are gonna get irritated with the comedy, the gags that work very less. Only thing you would say is, can comedy be created only by keeping a dumb character ?

Verdict : Poor 

Har ek 'Film Viewer' zaroori hota hai ...

If I go about classfying the film viewers we have, especially in India. Then it would most probably be

• Intellectual
These viewers, watch films intensely and passionately. They like to note every point in a movie and then discuss with fellow friends. For them it doesn't matter whether its a serious film like Black Friday, or a dark humour like Yeh Saali Zindagi, or a slapstick like Hey Baby. Every film holds its own importance, is the mantra.

• Critical
These viewers, are more of inclined to see what they didn't like in the film, and more often they would compare the hindi films with hollywood, how much copied it is etc. Actually, in a way they too form the 'intellectual' viewers group, but with a wee bit of difference that they focus more on a certain aspect during a film, while watching it or while analysing it later. A large section of this group belongs to 'reviewers or critics' who write for various sites, or newspapers or work as film journalist on tv channels.

• Time-pass
They just want entertainment. It doesn't matter if the comedy is slapstick, if the drama is going over the top, or if there is a item song coming at anywhere in the film. Just entertain them, no social messages and no preaching/lecturing. These are more or less, the aam janta, the family audiences who watch films every sunday or most often labelled as 'popcorn' audience.

• Genre Basis
If you classify time-pass viewers further, then you would get these viewers who watch films based on genres i.e Romantic/Thriller/Action/Drama/Family/Emotional/Art/Path-Breaking/Animation etc etc. They incline themselves to either one particular genre or maybe two/three, and would not watch rest genre films, especially in theatre. You would often see a clash between a romantic viewer opinion with a thriller viewer opinion.

• Fans/Haters
These viewers watch the film based on their liking/disliking towards a celebrity. The former is very clear, a fan is bound to go and see their favourite celeb films. While the latter is surprising but it does happen, the haters go to see the movie so that they can come and then rip apart the film on online forums, social sites or their friends, and if nothing then blog it.


The clashes does make it ugly often, whether its between intellectual and critical or critical with fans/haters, or any other. But, all these viewers together institute the collections of a film boxofficewise, and also in terms of cinema watchers these all provide varied opinions on almost every film. Just think of it, can you even name a single film that was loved by 100% audience, even Sholay/DDLJ are disliked by a section of people.

Every person will have a particular take on a film, it may be baised, it may be personal, it may be critical, or it maybe thoughtful but at the end of the day .. they all are just presenting and sharing their views. Just imagine, if you remove 'Critical' section.. wont the fans/haters or intellectual or other section miss them. Because they are very much used to their views. Like or dislike, they will always read/listen the views.. so what if they disagree or abuse them in the end.

If you ask me, I kind of dislike every viewer that doesn't see film properly, or analyse atleast 75% of it, if not fully. The time-pass and fans/haters section irritate me the most. While if you know me, then you would know my opinion about critics, but at the end of the day.. they are bound by their duties, their life, their earning.. though I sometimes do believe that Film Reviewing should be limited to sharing views at best, and not a job based, where audience decide to watch a film or not by your views. Yes, good writing skills does make you applicable for Review Writing jobs, but you can even use those skills for debating on endless topics about films or celebs, rather than writing how a newly released film is. Aneways, this is a never ending topic.

Even there are many cases, when two intellectuals or two critics would differ with each other. So, clashes dont just happen among different section of viewers, but also with the same section of viewers too.

In the end point is that the film viewing has been and will always be divided among these groups, and hence we are always going to see opinion on a film divided, only difference would be, the magntitude!

----
Yash.

Music Review : Rockstar

His last three albums were 'Blue', 'Jhootha Hi Sahi' and 'Raavan'. While, he was good in all, specially the latter two. He was yet below the kind of work he did in Delhi6 or pre Delhi6. Plus, these three albums didn't appeal to the masses, which his previous albums were doing. Rahman's working way is simple, as I just read in a interview recently - 'I make music, you like it, you take it, you don't like it, don't take it. I keep making music and I like doing it.'

The album has 11 tracks and with 3 background themes. Also, read in one interview, there will be 6-7 extra music pieces to hear in the film too. By now, you can easily guess, this is a completely musical film, and in safe hands of Imtiaz Ali.

You always have a long list of singers to sing in a album, ofcourse deep inside a voice says, come on give my fav singer more songs in this album. But you crave for variety always. In that case, you will be dissappointed. Mohit Chauhan has been kept as the voice of Jordan(Ranbir Kapoor) in the film. Hence, whenever Jordan will sing in the film, the voice behind it will always be of Mohit. Out of 11 tracks, 9 are from Mohit himself. While 2 are entirely female tracks. Karthik, Javed Ali and AR Rahman give company to Mohit in some tracks.

Saadda Haq 
'I have the right to be myself and I will claim my right.'

The song has a angst feeling right from the moment the song begins, from the use of guitar, to the words, to the composition and to the way its sung. Jordan here questions the world, he must have been dissappointed by the society, by the people a lot. His only fault was, he tried to be himself. He wants to live the way he wants, and no one has the right to tell him how he has to live.

High guitar to begin the song, then a complete change in variation of guitar, and drums start as Mohit Chauhan begins 'tum logo ki iss duniya mein' ...  In lines 'Mann bole, mann bole.. mann se jeena ya mar jaana', Jordan conveys, how he wants to live. There are 2 versions in the song, in first half, he just questions everyone, as his anger is slowly coming out. Then, there is a 'no singing' 43 second piece, which then leads to a new tempo. And now we have Jordan, who has conveyed enough with a anger that was visible but restricted, He is about to unleash much more now to the people who questioned him or his deeds, and look how he does it, 'O ecofriendly nature ke rakshak, main bhi hoon nature.. Tera DARR, Tera PYAAR, Teri WAAH tu hi RAKH, RAKH SAALA'. He has told them now, that I dont need ur hatred, ur love, ur appreciation, I am free from you all now. Mohit Chauhan's singing,  guitar work by Orianthi, use of drums,  lyrics by Irshad..  everything contributes to a great composition by Rahman. Epic Song!

Jo Bhi Main 
'I wanna say so much to you, but I am not able to tell them properly through my words'.

Here, Jordan is travelling(as seen in promo and read in a article), he is trying to communicate with new and different people. The song goes deeper into the thoughts of Jordan about this world with 'kabhi mujhe lage ke jaise, saara hi yeh jahan hai jaadu, jo hai bhi aur nahi bhi hai yeh'. Continuing further, he says 'maine yeh bhi socha hai aksar, tu bhi main bhi, sab hi hai sheeshe.. khud hi ko hum sabhi mein dekhe'... as he believes we should try to see our image in other people, to make this a beautiful world. And finally ends with 'mujhe paana, paana hai khud ko'.. as his entire journey is more of to discover himself in this world, and not the world.

The song begins with a guitar, and alaap of 'ya ya ya .. o ho ho o o', and Mohit takes over with 'Jo bhi main kehna chahun, barbaad kare alfaaz mere'. Also, 'cha na na cha na na ' alaap used very well after end of 1st part of song. And then a work with guitar in final secs of song, along with crowd chorus. Yet again, Wonderful Composition by Rahman.

Tum Ho 
'You are here with me, You will always stay with me. You are mine.'

Jordan dedicates this song to Heer, the love of his life. He tells his feelings, the kind of deep love he is in with her through 'tumko jitna mehsoos karu, utna hi paa bhi lun'. The level of romance increases in 2nd part as Jordan says 'kahin se kahin ko bhi aao bewajah chale, pooche bina kisi se, hum mile'. And in final part, he tells that the world can't snatch her away from him, as she is very much a part of his soul now... 'Tum.. bhi ho main'.

Mohit Chauhan revisits you to 'Tumse hi' days, with this track. His voice makes 'Tum ho' very romantic. Special mention to the alaap 'ho ho ho ... tum hoo o  o o  o' , the song begins with it, and it comes two times more in the song. Also, the female chorals used in the song gives it a added romantic touch. The song would be loved a lot by romantic music lovers, as it has every ingedrient from romantic lyrics to the soulful feel to the composition that keeps the mood throughout the track.

Nadaan Parindey 
'Come back to your home, how much will you run away..'

AR Rahman sings major portion of the track, so Jordan wont be seen singing it. It would be a song based on Jordan, pretty much as a background, with few lines(significant) sung by Jordan too in the end. There is a certain appeal made to Jordan in this song, to come back to his home, to stop all the travelling. 'Sau dard badan pe pheley hai, har karm ke kapde mailey hai' .. you have suffered a lot, and hence need to move away..  'koi bhi le rasta, tu hai tu main basta, apne hi ghar ayega tu'.. whatever path you follow, your identity is always going to be 'you'. And then the lines Jordan sings 'kaga re kaga mori itni araj tose, chun chun khaiyo maas, arajiya re, khayion na tu naina more, piya ke milan ki aas' , Requesting to the bird, to eat his body's flesh but not his eyes, as he wishes to see Heer through them.

The song begins with guitar, and the drum beats takes it to a feel of request as the whole song is based on. 'ghar aaja,ghar aaja,ghar aaja,ghar aaja', repitition of these 2 words by rahman gives more impact to the request. The final lines by Mohit, one may argue shifts the composition a bit, but the context if referred to would give it a deeper meaning and very romantic too. Superb work by Rahman once again!

Kun Faaya Kun
'Be it is.. you accepted me, when no one liked me.' 

Whenever its a religious or divine kind of song.. I get very conscious because I dont easily connect to them being a non-religious person. I didnt have any great liking for the song Rahman did in Delhi6 either. But here, he completely gives me goosebumps with this song.  Rahman and Javed begin this qawalli, where Jordan has come to seek blessing or to stay as he is homeless(as seen in promos). 'jab kahin pe kuch nahi bhi nahi tha, wahin tha, wahin tha, wahin tha'..

Just like the last song, Rahman changes gears in this composition, taking the song to a new level. Here, it happens twice. Once when Mohit i.e Jordan enters the song, and 2nd, when Javed Ali builds a high tempo portraying what Jordan now feels about the dargah where he has been now living since some time and become a part of it. 'kar de mujhe mujhse hi rihaa.. mujhse hi rihaa', Jordan wants to meet with himself, by being himself. And 'tu ne mujhe banaya, main toh jag ko na bhaaya, tu ne gale se lagaya, haq tu hi hai khudaya'.. you accepted me, you have every right on me. Also, special mention to tablaJaved Ali, Mohit Chauhan and Rahman together bring that divine feeling in this fantastic composition.

Sheher Mein
'I am in your city, come and meet me atleast.' 

Now, an album without a track that has Rahman written all over it, in terms of complete experimentation would be incomplete. So, this track fills that void. When was the last time, you heard a song composed about 3 people, one composer, 1 singer and 1 lyricist(I am assuming else another singer it would be) discussing how the song should be sung, with their comments along side.. all this made into one composition. That is 'Sheher mein'.

Karthik begins the song, a comment comes from the composer about how well he sang. Mohit i.e Jordan's turn to sing.. but the composer feels sur missing. Composer praises the lyricist, whenever he sings the song i.e Karthik. When Jordan sings again, composer again dislikes with 'Tum sun nahi rahe ho yaar..'.  Now, composer asks Mohit to increase the last word alaap. That's another of my fav part from the song. Then, comes the re-tone part. In terms of lyrics, the song is limited.. its pretty much a situational song, which would be a practice song for Jordan at a particular phase of his musical life. This track is bound to be loved by the people who are aware of  experiments Rahman does in a particular song deliberately.

Tum Ko
'No need to find me as now you will find me everywhere.. I am there with you'. 

This is female version of 'Tum Ho'. Infact, it can be slighly referred as girl's answer to the boy's feelings in the other song.. but not completely, as lyrics differ at places. One familiar thing in this song is the same alaap 'ho o o o oo o .. tum ho o  oo o'. The song presents Heer's feelings for Jordan. It may come in film when they are together, or it may come when Jordan has gone far away(which is most likely in my view). 'Tum ho, tabhi toh .. kahin bhi ab na dhoondhna mujhe, main har jagah milungi tujhe'  and 'Tum ko, paa hi liya, maine yoon, jaise main hoon ehsaas tera'.. both lines presents how much the love is from girl's side too after we heard Jordan before.

The song begins more on a light note, with just background, no use of instruments.. and once Kavita completes 1st few lines, sarangi and tabla combo make a terrific feel, I would go on to say a bit of classical touch comes through it. Also, this is one of the few female songs in the album, and Kavita Subramanium does full justice to the track.

Aur Ho
'I feel uncomfortable, I am not able to think what I should do, I feel helpless'. 

The song reflects the feelings of Jordan, who wants to get lost into Heer completely. He doesn't want to control his feelings, but he isn't sure what he should do in this moment... 'tujhe pehli baar main milta hoon har dafa, meri bebasi ka bayaan hai' .. his helplessness only increases. Infact the song can work in two ways, either it can be a romantic track between Jordan and Heer, getting close to each other or it can be a romantic-emotional track with Jordan and Heer away from each other.

'Rokey se na ruke na thake, aandhi si jo chale inn saanson ki, pata bhi na chale, kahan pe kya jale' .. the pain keeps increasing, Jordan doesn't know how to rest his feelings. Very Good composition again, Mohit sings it well with Alma giving female chorals at places. I feel the lyrics here overpowers the composition.

Kateya Karoon
'We are gonna have fultoo fun, non-stop masti. I love spending time with you'. 

This is 2nd song of the album, where Jordan has no contribution in singing. Its Heer's fun song with Jordan, where she witnesses some 'masti' moments including some naughty ones with Jordan. She won't control herself, and do various activities that she may not have done before in her life. 'Hadh karun, hadh karun, mainu darr nahi hun jag da, tere layi hun jiyun te marun'.. Heer isn't afraid of anyone, she probably feels the love for Jordan for 1st time here.

Harshdeep Kaur has done good work with her singing. You would once again notice the Rahman's change of tempo in a song again here. As in the final minute, there is a complete change in background arrangements and the vocals too. This song would more or less be better with visuals than as a audio, mainly because the lyrics are bit repetitive, and a fun song always look good with visuals. (Its video is a proof as the song made more impact to me there than as audio it did)

Phir se Udh Chala 
'I have given up on so many of my dreams, but they still fly along with me.. my journey has begun.'

Jordan has set himself on a journey, as he sings 'phir se udh chala udh ke chora hai jahan neeche'. He isnt going to stop anywhere.  'banu raavan, jiyu marr marr ke.. kabhi din hai raat, kabhi din din hai.' wonders Jordan as the memories of Heer try to change his way.

This could be the only song where the composition didn't impress me fully, the lyrics are super once more, and so is the way Mohit handles the vocals. The start and ending of the song is very good, its the arrangements done in the middle that leave lot more to desire for. But, I have a feeling this could be that one song like 'Main kya hoon of Love aaj Kal' with which you connect after watching the film much more.

Haawa Haawa
'Folk song on a story based on King and Queen'

Jordan attends a folk based culture place, and participates in this song that reflects Queen's state who likes to be free and not limited to King's place. Another song that I would like to see with visuals, there have been many songs before based on portraying a small story within a song. Composition is pretty good, like the way Rahman uses female chorals alongside Jordan, to present queen like the anger part.

The Dichotomy of Fame,Tango for Taj and The Meeting Place

You can only guess in what context Jordan says the dialogue 'pata hai yahan se bahut door, galat aur sahi ke paar, ek maidaan hai.. main wahan milunga tujhe'. It could be a real conversation with Heer or it could be a dreamy conversation too. Good background theme, focus kept mainly on dialogue, so less arrangements done in music, keeping it simple and soft romantic.

Tango for Taj is a good theme, though the middle portion is much better than the start or end.

The Dichotomy of Fame is the best out of all these 3 themes. It so easily signifies the rise of a person, i.e Jordan here. And I like that they used it entirely on basis of Shehnai, quite a experiment that.



One man I would like to give most credit which I gave less in all songs, would be 'Irshad Kamil'. He has written some wonderful lyrics for all songs, infact the latter songs in my review, its his lyrics that made me like those songs more than the compositions. While in 'Sadda Haq', 'Jo bhi main', 'Kun faaya kun' and 'Nadaan Parindey', he is simply fantaastic.

Overall, Rockstar album lives upto the expectations any Rahman music lover would have. There is not a single song that I didn't like at all in the whole album. As long as you can adjust with the voice behind Jordan, you are bound to accept Jordan and love his voice!


Verdict : Memorable 


P.S - From this review onwards, I have started a new way of expressing my fav songs. I will always write about songs I love the most first, and slowly move to the ones I liked least.





This was my 100th blogpost, started since July, 2008 and still going. What I still desire for is 'Consistency'. The journey has just begun ... 

Film Review : Maqbool

A much pending film. Heard a lot of praise for it, and to be frank.. its only the afterthought I had about the film that made me like the film much more, than I actually did while watching it. Sometimes you take time to appreciate what you just saw.

I have no idea about Macbeth. So, it was a total new story for me. One famous gangster of Mumbai i.e Abbaji(Pankaj Kapur) who has lot of name in his area. While Maqbool(Irffan Khan) is one of his loyals. The mistress of Abbaji, Nimi(Tabu) is in awe of Maqbool. Only way Maqbool can get her, is by killing Abbaji. He has to choose either Nimi or loyalty towards Abbaji. He chooses Nimi, but little does he know.. how much badly it will affect him later. 

There are three things that I have noticed a lot in Vishal Bharadwaj films. One is the opening sequence is so artistic always, how we see a mirror on which someone is making some design, which later is found to be 'Pandit' doing all the time in the film. 2ndly, the dark theme he brings out of scenes, sometimes he even goes into using very dark setting, very less visibility. Both the starting sequence and the Abbaji killing sequence are a proof of it. And Lastly, the way he uses Sound in his films. No doubt, the main theme is so great, and wonderfully used at various places. The final sequence to me was spectacular both in terms of visuals and sound. 

I like almost every song in the film. Ru ba ru is my fav both audio and the way its filmed. The song that has Nimi crying, was a bit over-dramatic for me. Liked the way they mix mujra and the engagement dances going on at same time. 

Also, special mention to the cinematography, some shots are very beautifully shot. 

The best moments of the film --- 

• Abbaji with Devasare in police station. Pankaj Kapur is amazing here! 

• The entire Ru-ba-ru song.

• Abbaji dealing with a person who went against him. 

• Almost each scene of the Corrupt cops, Purohit and Pandit.

• Nimmi askin Maqbool to kill Abbaji. 

• Maqbool and Kaka sequence after death of Abbaji

• The feeling of guilt on face of Maqbool, as well as Nimmi for the sin they committed. Infact its so brilliantly showed, Maqbool's 'khoon' scene or the Nimi's washing blood from wall or the bestest scene of film where Maqbool hears some music playing with Abbaji there. 

• The entire climax sequence starting from Maqbool bringing Nimi home and the final gun shot. 

Infact, Saheb Biwi aur Gangster which I saw recently was so much similar to this film. Ofcourse Maqbool is much better than it. 

Performances wise, 

Pankaj Kapur delivers fantastic performance. I was in complete awe watching him in each and every frame. Specially the character traits and mannerisms, so much real. Of all the films I have seen of him, this performance stands out.

Irrfan Khan is a amazing actor, So brilliantly he showcases the fear feeling in starting part of film, to a person who has risen up, and has got power in hands, to a person full of guilt. Specially love the scene, where he is surprised by what Nimi is doing in the final sequence.

Tabu was very good. Though, her character being the central one, was of least interest to me. But without her Maqbool wont stand either. 

Om Puri and Naseeruddin Shah, when these two powerful actors come together, its bound to be special. Both play corrupt cops so efficiently. My fav scene, where Om Puri is explaining what Shani does, and how Naseeruddin Shah queries about it. 

Ajay Gehi and Piyush Mishra stand out in rest of the supporting cast. I wonder why Ajay Gehi hasn't been regular in films. I quite much liked his performance. 

I read one Imdb comment stating that Pankaj Kapur is very under-rated actor, not to get the popularity which Om Puri or Naseerudin Shah have got. I pretty much agree to it, also I feel he is so under-used actor.

Overall, Maqbool has wonderful direction with good screenplay, and powerful performances. It may not be my favourite Vishal Bharadwaj film, which Kaminey and 7 Khoon Maaf are. But it definately goes into the list of good movies done by Vishal. 

'shakti ka santulan bahut zaroori hai sansaar mein, aag ke liye paani ka darr bane rehna chahiye '

Verdict : Very Good 

Battle of the Top5 - Bring it on!

The top5 male actors in Hindi Film Industry are - Aamir, Shahrukh, Salman, Hrithik and Akshay. I know everyone have their favs, and also different orders. But these are the main big stars, with a massive fan following. All of them are coming next year with films that everyone are looking forward to.

Has it happened before ever, when each of them had 1 film in a year at same time ? Also, if at all it happened(I cant recall though), then were those films as big as this time they are. Let me write down the list first.

Aamir Khan 
• 'Untitled film', directed by Reema Kagti, starring Rani Mukherjee and Kareena Kapoor. Music by Ram Sampath(Delhi Belly fame)
• 'Dhoom3', directed by Vishal Krishna Acharya, starring Katrina Kaif, Abhishek Bachchan, Uday Chopra. Music by Pritam

Shahrukh Khan
• 'Untitled film', directed by Yash Chopra, starring Anushka Sharma and Katrina Kaif. Music by AR Rahman

Salman Khan
• 'Ek tha Tiger', directed by Kabir Khan, starring Katrina Kaif, Ranvir Shorey. Music by Sohail Sen

Hrithik Roshan
• 'Agneepath', directed by Karan Malhotra, starring Sanjay Dutt, Priyanka Chopra, Rishi Kapoor. Music by Ajay-Atul.

Akshay Kumar 
• 'Once upon a time in Mumbaai2', directed by Milan Luthria, starring Kareena Kapoor and Shahid/Imran(no one finalled yet).
• 'Rowdy Rathore', directed by Prabhu Deva, starring Sonakshi Sinha.


You expect a thriller with Aamir back in cop uniform in reema's film with two big actresses alongside. And then the much talked about dhoom3, how would a actor like aamir portray the famous run-chase series.

Yash Chopra returns to direction with Shahrukh as lead, Rahman's music, Gulzar's lyrics.. Did you wanted anything else? Dont be greedy!

Salman in a yashraj film, back with Katrina Kaif. A pair that is yet to set the stage on fire. Kabir Khan has impressed in the past with his work. And then, talks are that film is inspired from Bourne Series, means some new action, fast action to be precise. Dont we love Salman doing action roles! And mind you, with Kabir Khan as director, one can assume it wont be another bodyguard tragic.  Music by Sohail Sen(pritam gave up because of too much work load), will also be much to look forward to with Whats ur rashee and Mere Brother ki Dulhan, two great soundtracks in a row.

'Naam vijay dinnanath chauhan', the first trailer created immense buzz. And we are craving for so much more.. The battle between Vijay Dinnanath Chauhan and Kaancha Cheena resumes after nearly 20 years  gap. Will the makers live upto their promises that this film has just the same soul with different treatment and dialogues. If yes, then we are in for a very good film, who doesn't like to see REVENGE films, I specially do. With Madhvi's role stretched in this version of agneepath, Priyanka Chopra gets a lot to offer too. And Rishi Kapoor's negative track. The aarti used in the trailer was impressive, so Ajay-Atul may have a winner in music too(Singham their last film).

Akshay Kumar, we are tired of all silly comedies, and he isnt getting success either in them. So, he returns in two action films, sequel to Once upon a time in Mumbaai2 by Milan Luthria, the role is tailor made for him and hence the expectations rises. Then, Rowdy Rathore has Prabhu Deva with his 2nd film after Wanted, we may finally see the return of Khiladi with this film(Tashan had few glimpses).

Phew, that is so much to look forward to. And if all this isnt enough.. Then, there is Shanghai, Barfee, Jannat2, Bol Bacchan, Raaz3 also lined up in 2012, where Actors like Ranbir Kapoor, Emraan Hashmi, Abhay Deol, Abhishek Bachchan are gonna give fight to these top5.

Also, its a big year for Katrina Kaif, who is paired against Shahrukh, Salman and Aamir, each of them in yashraj starrers.

One thing is for sure, the eyes are on how well these 5 actors compete in 2012. Whoever wins the battle at Box Office, here's wishing that the quality of these films lives upto the hype and expectations that will build as the release comes near of each of the mentioned films....

Yash~ 

Rockstar Album - Preview

I want to write a music review, but I wont hurry up.. Music always requires time to impress. Though most of the songs in this case have got my thumbs up already. Still, how strong is the repeat power usually describes a quality album.

To have Mohit Chauhan sing as Ranbir's voice in the film already was a great step, initially surprising but later I found it a awesome news. Come on see it from the point of film, in a musical film like this.. you couldn't have taken any better step than this. 

Out of 14 songs, 9 are sung by Mohit Chauhan, 2 are female songs and 3 background themes. 'Tum Ho' and 'Tum Ko' blend so beautifully with each other, former is boy's feelings for the girl, while the latter is girl's feeling for the boy. Infact girl track appears like a answer to the boy's love track. 'Nadaan Parindey' more like plead to the person to return back. 'Hawa Hawa' is a narration of some book story, could be a performance with kids, but I aint really sure about it yet. 'Sheher mein' is Rahman trademark, no doubts on it.. completely different and experimental.  'Aur Ho', is a sad rock song.. person going through too many things. 

'Kun Faaya Kun' is possibly the defining moment of the film, when rockstar is born at the steps of religious place, seeking blessings and finding himself. 'Jo bhi main' and 'Sadda Haq' are the outstanding tracks for me, didnt took time to love them. The former is on knowing the people around, and how he is not able to present his views properly through his words while the latter song is the angst against people. 'Phir se udh chala' and 'Kateya Karoon' are yet to catch up on me, though they are good tracks too, but not addicted yet to them.  And then the 3 themes.. all are good but my fav is 'Dichotomy of fame', too good! 

Also on twitter I read some people saying, quality of Rahman's songs decreasing. I mean if you said this for Blue I could understand it, even Jhootha hi Sahi was to slight extent agreeable. But how can you say this for 'Rockstar'.. some criticism is so unacceptable. Khair, I guess ignore is the only way out.. 

I think the music is in hands of good director 'Imtiaz ali', who should not fail to use it in the film properly. My expectations from the film are sky high, and if everything goes the right way, with no stupid melodrama or over the top stuff.. then it should be my best film of 2011. Btw Rockstar album already is the best one of this year now, since Jan it was 7 Khoon Maaf for me, Ra One came very close to beat it, but Rockstar managed to do it so easily. within 2 days. 

Bring on Rockstar this 11.11.11  .. 

Sadda Haq 

Aithe Rakh

Film Review : Tere Mere Phere

You do come across films that tortures you completely. It happens, you cant do anything about it. Just forget it like a bad dream applies to them.

Its a story of a young couple who fights a lot, who had a love marriage, who have forgotten that they thought they were made for each other, even had a compatability test done. How due to their fight, another person, Jai(Vinay Pathak) suffers, who travels along with the couple Rahul(Jagrat Desai) and Pooja(Sasha Goradia), a journey he would never like to again have in his life.

The opening credits are nice, little funny. But when the 1st scene starts, aeroplane fight sequence, and the more it builds.. the more you get the idea, what is in store for next 2 hrs. A silly, stupid and a very loud comedy, with lots of high octance shouts and fights. You just sit on your seat, to wait for that one nicest moment that would come somewhere in the film. It does actually come, like the scene where Rahul's father tells his mom about a old girl. Or the marriage scene, where the parents behave in a mad way. And the younger brother of rahul, who gives some respite with his funny dialogues.

Poor direction, at places you feel you would had directed the scene much better than he did. If all the stupid things were not enough, then we see a twist in final 30 mins, which further increases the headache. A sigh of relief comes when the film finally ends.

Performance wise,

Jagrat Desai is quite impressive. Sasha Goradia is nice, looks good.  Vinay Pathak is fine, though I wonder why he did this film. He must have this film in his list of  'Why I did this film'. Riya Sen was over the top in village girl character. Sushmita Mukherjee was very good as mother of Rahul. Darshan Jariwala was good in a very small role.


Overall, Tere Mere Phere has nothing that you would remember, except for one thing.. Why I decided to watch this film.


Verdict : Avoidable

Film Review : Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster

There have been many films made on betrayal, and the thing about these films is how you build the story. Either you directly show who is what, and then let audience think how everything will unfold or you keep suspense as to what characters actually desire. It was the latter in case of this film. And hence it meant, great performances along with a good screenplay. The film does succeed in the end, to quite a extent.

The story is of Babloo(Randeep Hooda) who has come to Saheb's(Jimmy Shergill) place to spy for Gainda Singh(Vipin Sharma). But when he meets Begum(Mahie Gill), his intentions start to change. Saheb is very strict against those who aren't loyal to him. While Begum has a mental problem, so what would Babloo choose to go for, the choice remains in his hands.

The 1st half snails on at a very slow pace. The powerful performances and the fact that you still dont exactly know where the film is leading to, keeps you interested. The 2nd half pretty much lifts up the pace of the film, with lots more action.

There is a sequence where you can actually predict the film, but the further twists changes your mind. Editing could had been better. Also, songs pretty much ruin the narrative. Specially the Shreya and Jimmy song. Chu chu and I love to love you were the best used songs in the film. The beats of 'I love to love you' are excellent, could had been made more dramatic, feel tigmanshu missed out on it.

Dialogues also are the plus point of the film. My fav ' Jo bhi karna tameez se karna, yahan batmeezi bhi tameez se ki jaati hai'. The writing of the film was pretty good.

The best moments of the film ---
• Babloo meeting Begum for first time in her room
• Saheb in Minister's office where Gainda Singh is already present.
• Chu Chu song, the way they capture  shots of Begum in it.
• I love to love you sequence.
• The climax scene


Performances wise,

Jimmy Shergill is excellent as Saheb. He rarely dissappoints you, perfectly moulds into the character.

Mahie Gill is back to her best, after a not so convincing performance in her last film 'Not a love story'. Here, she has a tough role to play too, but she does it so brilliantly. And also looking so hot.

Randeep Hooda is very good. He is slowly moving in right direction, good films and good performances.

Vipin Sharma, remember the father of Ishaan in Taare Zameen Par. Amazing talent this guy is, he repeates his act of yeh saali zindagi of a gangster, though this time a major one. And he does exceptionally well in the role. Though, he should make sure not to get typecast in gangster roles repeatedly.

Deepraj Rana and Deepal Shaw were good in their supporting roles.


Overall, Saheb Biwi aur Gangster despite a slow 1st half, is a good watch for the performances of all the 3 main characters, and the certain twists in 2nd half.


Verdict : Nice