Jack Reacher [Views]

Directed by : Christopher  McQuarrie
Imdb link -> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0790724/

Five random people shooted by a person, but was it just a insane act or there was something more to it. That is the main plot of the film.

The genre of the film being suspense mystery never really stands out due to the screenplay that loses track and is a bit slow. Instead what I liked was Tom Cruise one liners, replies, that 'hat' sequence (which most had seen in trailer only) and the final action sequence.

If they kept the pace of the film bit faster, the film would had worked much more. Like the scene where Jack (Tom Cruise) asks Helen (Rosamund) to meet families of those 5 innocent dead people, and feel the kind of pain they would be now in, mainly because Helen plays defense lawyer who has to save James Barr (Joseph) from being termed murderer. Jack digs deep into the case along with the help of Helen, and slowly the real motive behind the murders gets revealed.

Rosamund Pike was pretty average in her performance. Tom Cruise was excellent as always and very stylish. No so the case with the actors playing bad guys, none of them make a mark.

The action scenes were very well performed, specially the final scene in rain. The fingers chopped off kinda of stuff irritates me, probably one of few things that Hollywood films have a plenty every now and then.


In the end, Jack Reacher is a okay film, one time watch at the best.

Movie Analysis : Dabangg2

Directed by : Arbaaz Khan
Imdb link -> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2112131/

Lots of Expectations from the film as I fall into the category who loved Dabangg a lot. But, Arbaaz Khan fails miserably and this sequel dissappoints.

Chulbul Pandey (Salman Khan) gets himself transferred to Kanpur. He stays with his wife, Rajjo (Sonakshi Sinha), father Prajapati Pandey (Vinod Khanna) and brother Makkhi (Arbaaz Khan). And, this time he has to deal with a new villian, Baccha Ji (Prakash Raj) along with his 2 brothers, Genda (Deepak Dobriyal) and Chunni (Nikitin Dheer)...

The opening credits are brilliantly done, the background score fits in with the cuts as the recap of old Dabangg takes place. Just sets the mood right.

But the problem lies in the fact that in this sequel, Chulbul hardly faces any hurdles. He has no personal issues with Makkhi now, and also no differences with his father. His love life is set, so all he has to deal with is just the terror caused by the new villians of a new place. But, Arbaaz wants to be baised with Salman therefore Prakash Raj or his brothers get no meaningful or impactful scenes. Prakash Raj himself has only 1.5 scenes where he outdoes Salman Khan, which tells a lot that the movie was written just to please salman lovers, not caring about rest audience.

Only way this sequel would had worked was, if the rivalry between Chulbul and Baccha was kept in a way that it shifts from one person's tactics to others.. but that aint the case here. As a result, the film is limited to watching Salman Khan's heroics, his naughtyness with Rajjo, his corrupt nature while dealing with gangsters, masti with his dad through mobile or his entertainment at various dance bars or parties. And his one-liners, the style is almost similar with the goggle. Its Salman Khan that holds the film and keeps you interested, otherwise the screenplay is totally non-appealing.

The songs also break in for the sake, specially 'Saanson' track. Kareena was totally dull in her dance moves of 'Fevicol', the song is catchy audio wise though it lacks that madness which Munni had. The choreography also is weak, salman does lift up the song with his mad dance but still nothing worth remembering. Infact, I loved the choreography of Pandeyji Seeti much more, only problem was Sonakshi made to dance with Malaika which looked too odd, and to add to it her costumes were appearing very odd.

I usually don't talk about actor's looks, but have to admit Salman Khan looked very dashing in shirts. Talking of shirts, this movie isn't spared from a shirtless scene. But, with the over-dose of slow motions in that scene.. it only made people like me yawn at the scene.

Even the action is so much outdone, I usuallly accept the unrealistic action but not so for this movie. Such action is accepted only if the actor is labelled as Super Hero. The climax sequence so much reminded of Ghajini climax, though the anger is visibly less on Salman's face than Aamir's.. but the background score and direction made it look very alike, even the camera angles were similar.

Sonakshi Sinha was usual. Arbaaz Khan was decent. Mahie Gill yet again wasted. Prakash Raj, probably 1st hindi movie where he got such bad role, he still got 2 scenes to shine through, one in car, and other in press. Deepak Dobriyal was part of probably the best scene of the movie, the interval one, 'Personality ke hisaab se thora jyada nahi bol raha yeh'... one of best written lines. Pankaj Tripathy is completely wasted in a nothing role, should had got much more with the kind of talent he showcased in Gow series.

In the end I would say that the people who used to shout that without Abhinav also, Dabangg would had been a big hit - Sure it would had been, but then it would had been just like Dabangg2, useless movie with only single actor's performance to praise about.

Dabangg2 would be loved by the hard-core salman lovers, but for neutrals like me.. this movie would be a dissappointment nothing else. Wish the writing and direction went in sync with Salman's performance..


Verdict : AVERAGE

Hotel Transylvania [Views]

Directed by : Genndy Tartakovsky

Imdb link -> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0837562/

Another animation 3d movie in english that I just saw today. It was fun movie, very enjoyable with some very funny moments. And for a change, a movie where monsters are afraid of humans. 

Dracula builds a resort where all the monsters and their families could come for a stay, and at a place where no human can reach. So, on the occasion of 118th birthday of his daughter Mavis, he invites all the monsters to come at his resort and enjoy the weekend. But, to the misery of Dracula, a human Jonathan by mistake lands up at his hotel and his daughter gets a liking for him too. Dracula has his own reasons for hating humans.. 

Adam Sandler gave voiceover to Dracula, and he was easily the scene stealer in the movie. The scream sequences he has with Jonathan, or the worry father sequences with Mavis, the fun sequence on table, or the song he sings, to name few of his best scenes.

Mavis looked cute, while Jonathan was kind of bearable. The scenes on the roof between them were good.

Also, the Dracula being helped to fly in day and the aeroplane scene with a dig made on 'Twilight' was very funny.

Hotel  Transylvania was a fun film, worth watching once atleast.

Movie Analysis : Khiladi 786

Directed by : Ashish R. Mohan
Imdb link -> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2166214/

When I saw its theatrical trailer, and saw 'Story by Himesh Reshammiya', the expression on my face was What the Fuck. And when I saw the movie, the same reaction by the audience (who was watching credits carefully, most don't do that) when the story credit came.

'Khiladi' brand is something Akshay has carried out very well in the past, and he could well be proud of that. But, not so with this film. The story is not new, its almost like a lighter version of Namaste London, difference being the actress takes less time to understand here. The screenplay is weak, depending on the gags that are hardly any, with most of the dialogues trying to force you to laugh (something that has become common in most of Akshay comedy movies).

The entire history of Akshay's family with Chinese,  British, African ladies was so not funny. And, the actor playing boyfriend of Asin getting himself in trouble everytime he is about to get released from jail.. was again over-done. So, was the logic behind Akshay's quick action. Infact, I would say the action by Akshay in Tashan was much more fun to watch than in this one, even Rowdy was great. Also, Akshay should take care that 'I am back' dialogue isnt attached to almost every new film of his. Its twice now that he says this in the movie.

The music is good by Himesh, though nowhere close to those musical albums he used to bring out some years ago. Balma, Lonely and title track being the best songs..  I couldn't understand the point behind playing background 'khiladi bhaiyya, khiladi bhaiyya' again and again. Some directors have no sense of how to use background score.

Akshay Kumar is fine in his performance, but seen too much of him in these roles. After a rocking Rowdy Rathore performance, this kind of film wasn't what I wanted from him.

Asin has yet to do a single great role ever since Ghajini, and this film doesn't help that track record. Another baseless role she accepts. Quality matters, not the big stars with whom you do films. Specially for actresses who get sidelined in films mostly with roles that are male oriented.

Himesh Reshammiya over-acts, but still not as un-bearable as I thought he could be. Possibly, the reason that he is just a supporting actor in movie helped.

Mithun Chakraborty is fine. Johnny Lever doesn't get any scene to make a mark. While Sanjay Mishra here and there gets his comic timing perfect. Raj Babbar and Mukesh Rishi are passable.


Overall, Khiladi 786 is below average movie, with few laughs at the most.


Verdict : BELOW AVERAGE

Movie Analysis : Talaash

Directed by : Reema Kagti
Imdb link -> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1787988/

Note : This post is full of spoilers. Read at your own risk. 

In suspense films, what matters the most is 'at what stage you can guess the climax right', and then 'the climax was worth the distance screenplay travels?' In Talaash, the problem lies with the climax.. upto that its a greatly written, very well enacted movie but once the suspense is out.. the immediate reaction is 'How the hell is this the main plot, and how can we be watching movie about this'.

The subject is on a revenge from a ghost, and if you promote it as a ghost film you are already giving away the suspense part. So, have to say if they were going to keep the main part based on a ghost, they hardly could had formed screenplay in any other way. What could had been done, was re-write the part and make it more of case solving rather than ghost revenge..

Now, try the other way which I used while watching movie 2nd time around. I know the suspense, so the anxiety level isn't there, now its about how well director covered up the scenes that hinted towards the climax. And she did very well there, apart from 2 scenes that offer the hint but then they had to be there. Talaash if seen from the point of view of Rosy (Kareena Kapoor character) would make a very good watch, the drama created between the various characters, be it Surjan (Aamir Khan) and Roshni (Rani Mukherjee) relationship that has suffered since their child's death, or Surjan and his haunting memories of child's death, or  Surjan-Rosy meetings that always lead to a new clue to the accidents, or Temur (Nawazuddin Siddique) trying to get rich through the opportunity in front of him.

The more I see the film, the more I get involved into the drama narrated by Reema with excellent background score/music by Ram Sampath. The mystery part actually becomes a sub-plot (when watching 2nd time around).

Just as one reviewer wrote 'Psychological drama', I would say the same.. thats what this film is. There are few flaws if you think about logic like why did Rosy wait for 3 years to take revenge.

I loved the background theme that runs when Surjan is playing with the torch thing recalling his child's death incident. Also, the one where flashback of full incident is shown, and very well merged with present. Infact Editing is top class, specially the idea of using fadein and fadeout for characters.

The accident scenes somehow created double impact to me, either it was just for me or the sound mixing was done in a way to create that effect, specially the climax one.

The songs are perfectly used, 'Muskaanein' my personal fav sets up the mood with creative visuals highlighting the red light areas and prostitutes at late nights in Mumbai. Also, the lyrics of the song tells the theme of the film, plus Suman Sridhar's voice gives it that special feel. 'Hona Hai Kya' was also perfectly filmed with the run away of Temur. 'Jee Le Zara' special part remains the one where Surjan and Roshni dream of hugging each other as they would be when Karan was alive.

Aamir Khan excels as a cop once again, though this performance aint as effective as Sarfarosh mainly for the different characters, and the fact that Surjan is most of the time fighting with the guilt he has built inside him for the death of his child. The scene where he recalls the entire incident and tries to change it differently was very emotional, my favourite from the film.

Rani Mukherjee is very good, though she is more of playing a supporting role in the movie. Loved the scene where she tells psychiatrist about Surjan or her fight with Surjan.

Kareena Kapoor gives a fantastic performance, an outside helper to Surjan in the movie, offering links to the case and later revealing why she kept doing all that. The place which she calls 'yeh meri jagah hai, yahan koi nahi aata'.. loved both the scenes that happen there, specially the 1st one which is the longest dialogue sequence in the movie. Its one of those roles where Kareena doesn't overact which I find her doing in numerous films. For me, she outshines both Aamir and Rani in the movie.

Nawaazuddin Siddiqui continues the great successful year he has had. I thought in a big starcast movie, he may not be able to have his own scenes to impress.. but that't not the case. Note his expressions during 'Hona hai kya' song or when he tries to tell Urmila his plan.

Raj Kumar Yadav was saddened with a unintentional comical role unfortunately. Shernaz Patel's get up was kind of wierd, but she does well as always. Among rest supporting actors, Aditi Vasudev gave very good performance.


In the end, Talaash works for me as a drama, for the emotions it carries through the characters of the film. As a suspense film which it actually is labelled as.. its pretty average. Also, the 'Aamir Khan' tag would make many people not love (even if they like) the film purely for the ghost angle thrown into the story.


Verdict : VERY GOOD

Life of a Pi [Views]

Directed by : Ang Lee
Imdb link -> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0454876/

A writer comes to meet Pi Patel (Irrfan Khan) to get some story from his life that is adventurous and would make him believe in God. And so Pi Patel begins narrating his story from childhood when he lived with his family in Pondicherry.

The first sequence is well done montage of zoo, comprising of almost every animal. The first of many visual delights in the movie.

Earlier part of screenplay deals with how Pi Patel got his nickname Pi, the fun fellow classmates would make at his full name 'Piscine' and how he would try to get through them. The urge to follow every religion, which compels Pi's father telling him that 'If you believe in everything, you will end up not believing in anything at all'.

Adil Hussain as Pi's father and Tabu as his mother are excellent in their performances though Tabu gets very less dialogue scenes, Adil has some of best lines in the movie specially the one where he tells Pi that Richard Parker (the tiger) doesn't care for anything, except his food.

The most engaging part of the film begins when we move to the ship scene, the thunderstorm leading to Pi left alone on a lifeboat which has 'Richard Parker' in it too. Henceforth starts the journey of survival for Pi, not just to find food or escape any further storms but also to make sure Richard Parker gets enough food and doesn't end up eating Pi.

The struggle Pi goes through, firstly to find food, then to manage distance from Richard parker initially until they become friendly to each other, is presented with some great sea visuals. Add to it the scene where both reach a green island full of small gooses (i hope thats what they are called). For me, that whole scene was brilliant, and perhaps best of the movie. Also, the scene where Pi has to eat the food Richard Parker would eat because of no other choice, one wonderful dialogue he speaks there. And that scene where Pi takes Richard Parker on his laps, like a son in mother's laps.

All this should had made me love the film, but that doesn't happen because I felt the main character Pi (Suraj Sharma) was too loud. I was not able to like his performance at all despite having loved all the scenes that involved him. Some other actor would had done better justice to the character.

The Screenplay was pretty good, the climax does get little lengthy specially when Irrfan narrates those 2 stories but that scene had to be longer. Some of the dialogues had great humour in them, specially the Pondicherry part, or the names of both Pi and Parker. And, how real the tiger looks.. some great work by the effects team.

Another great scene in the movie was, when Richard Parker reaches near Jungle, stops and then goes through leaving Pi heartbroken. Also, the one where Irrfan (Elder Pi) tells the writer about the 2 different stories he told the cops, one was point of view of Pi and other was point of view of Richard Parker.

Irrfan Khan was much better than 'The Amazing Spiderman' in terms of accent, still wonder what the need is for him to have such accent.


In the end, Life of a Pi turned to be a Decent movie for me at the most mainly for the Pi-Parker boat sequences, direction and writing (though its adapted from a book). Visually there are many scenes to admire. Wish the leading actor for younger Pi was impressive too.

Drive [Views]

Directed by : Nicolas Winding Refn
Imdb link -> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0780504/

A guy who is brilliant at his driving skills, that he uses it in different ways to get a earning. Be it helping robbers to run away, or a movie stunt, or a race.

The screenplay is kept very slow, and it works. Ryan Gosling's long 'no blink' scenes, and the kind of low life he lives, not interested in anyone else except his driving. And when he meets Irene (Carey Mulligan), a married girl.. he instantly gets a liking for her. Also, few of the scenes where he shows more emotions, his anger against the girl who was involved in a plan against him, or when his own friend makes a big blunder.

There is a unique similarity between 'Taxi Driver' and this film. Probably, the lovers of Taxi Driver won't like this comment made by me. But, I feel the character of Ryan Gosling, also was shown in a very similar fashion.. only  and big difference was that Ryan wasn't too insane and involved in everyone's life in his area.

That scene where he puts a mask, knowing he has got only one option left to survive alive. I would say the pre-climax scene slightly dissappointed me, maybe because I excepted a thrilling sequence instead of a simple one.

The starting of the movie is spectacular, the car chase in a different way. Also, the scene where the plans go wrong for Ryan.

Cinematography was brilliant. Also, the film is rich in emotional content. Note the scene where Ryan keeps looking into the eyes of Irene, asks her if she wanna come with him on weekend, she doesn't reply and he keeps looking, passes a small smile, again keeps looking and the scene ends. Less dialogues, and long scenes added a lot to the characters and the narration.

The songs are perfectly used in the movie, specially the opening credits one, and the one where Ryan starts getting more involved with Irene and her kid.

Albert Brooks and Bryan Cranston were efficient in their supporting roles too.

Overall, Drive is a must-watch film for its narration, and quite a good Ryan Gosling performance. Maybe you won't love it, but you certainly not gonna dislike it. And yea, this film isn't for the popcorn or entertainment seeking audience, please stay away from the film.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo [Views]

Directed by : Niels Arden Oplev (Sweden version)

Imdb link -> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1132620/

Directed by : David Fincher (American version)

Imdb link -> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1568346/

The film is based on some famous novel, thriller based. Its of three parts, and all of them have been made into swedish movies. While American one has only first one done till now, and rest two are expected by 2014. 

I liked both the versions, both have positives and own flaws. But, if I have to choose one, then I would prefer Sweden one, mainly because the girl playing main lead made more impact in the sweden version, and also the writing was more in favour of her in the sweden version, while the american foccussed more on her trauma, and very less on the relation she shares with the journalist. 

Journalist Mikael Blomkvist gets a investigating case from powerful Wanger Family of a girl Harriet who is missing since 40 years, but whose killer is still alive. Mikael who is already seen himself in wrong light by the media for his reporting against one of famous personalities who actually sets Mikael up. To get a good change, Mikael accepts the case and slowly gets totally intrigued into the case but he requires help of Lisabeth, a brilliant computer hacker to solve the case. Both get together, and start solving the case that lays doubts on each and every member of the Wanger Family. 

Sweden Version : Though Michael Nyqvist acted the part of Mikael very well, he looked old to play the character, specially the scenes between him and Lisabeth looked less appealing. I like the way Lisabeth character is written, the personal problems she face and the way she looks at guys not having any trust in them. The whole guardian-Lisabeth sequences were very captivating. And the way Lisabeth comes into the investigation of Harriet, and her help, and the question she asks herself if Michael is a guy she can trust or not. 

Another highlight of this version, is the back-story of Lisabeth done in a min or two scene telling why she has become like this now. What incident made her like this. 

I think in a way the writing made Mikael less effective in the investigation case, though he started it very well, but its Lisabeth who took him to the conclusion. Also, I liked the ending very much, specially the final shot. 

Noomi Rapace was brilliant in her portrayal of Lisabeth character. Though, it took a while to accept her looks, being treated not well mentally that kinda look given to her. She easily brought the vulnerability and uneasyness while talking to guys, plus the way she would help Mikael. 

The Bible numbers and names mystery was very well put, and the way it gets solved. I like the detailing done to this part. 

Also, the conversation the killer has in the final portions of the movie, the dialogues of that part made the killer look more deadly. 

American Version : Lisabeth-guardian sequences are almost similar, with extra footage of expired guardian to give a feel what Lisabeth is about to face. In this version, Mikael is much stronger in his abilities to solve case, though Lisabeth does come into his investigation to help him out but Mikael himself succeeds much more in this version. The Mikael-Lisabeth sex scenes though aren't directed well, as they are (though very few) in the sweden version. 

While the climax is changed here, be it Harriet mystery or the Mikael earlier case which Lisabeth tries to help him out of. The change in Harriet is useless, could had gone with same one. But, Lisabeth is good because it kinda of establishes how she gonna on her own manage out in next parts. 

Daniel Craig, was very good in his performance, while Rooney Mara was let down by the writing, except for few scenes, she couldn't make me love her. The lesbian scene which is edited in sweden version, was very nicely done by director in this version. 

Overall, the reason the film works in both versions is the screenplay, the mystery keeps getting revealed slowly and the Lisabeth character makes is exciting. Which version you would like would most probably depend on which Lisabeth and Mikael you liked. 

Movie Analysis : Rush

Directed  by : Shamin Desai
Imdb link -> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2256514/

A struggling guy Sam (Emraan Hashmi) who has a girlfriend Ahana (Sagarika Ghatge) he wants to marry, but needs to get a high salary job. He gets a offer from Lisa (Neha Dhupia) to work for Crime 24 channel as main Editor. Sam takes Ahana with her to foreign place for this new job. He gets a big flat and car, just the kind of lifestyle he would had wanted to have. But, little does he know.. that he has been set up in a trap that he will not find easy to escape.

The story sounds so similar to Blood Money, just replace the job from 'Diamond company' to 'News reporting'. Only difference is, Blood Money didn't waste any time and started right away from the main plot.. while in Rush, the narration goes slowly towards the main aspect of the film, almost takes up full first half.

Dialogues are average.The songs are completely forced into the narrative, especially 'Mumkin nahin'. Whosoever idea it was, seriously has no music sense. Fukra is the only song to some extent that goes in flow with the narrative.

Emraan Hashmi is very good in the scenes where he is shown anchoring his own show for news channel, apart from that there's nothing new or appealing to talk about his performance.

Sagarika Ghatge was impressive in 'Chak De India', but in this film her acting fails terribly. Most of the part it she appeared having no interest in the scenes of the movie.

Aditya Pancholi, who plays the main villian i.e Boss of Crime 24.. couldn't bring that extra to the movie mainly due to the screenplay that never allows him enough screen space to make any impact.

Rahul Singh hams like hell 'You are dead, you are dead'.

Neha Dhupia was the best among all the actors, looked confident, and completely fitted into the character. Plus, she looked so glamarous too.


Overall, Rush had a good concept but extremly poor execution..


Verdict : BELOW AVERAGE

Movie Analysis : Ajab Ghazab Love

Directed by : Sanjay Gadhvi
Imdb link -> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2356959/

Rajveer (Jackky Bhagnani), a rich guy,  falls in love at first sight with a rich girl Madhuri (Nidhi Subbaiah) who hates rich people. Rajveer introduces himself as a poor guy, with background of poor family making his whole family to enact all the lies he builds. How long Rajveer would succeed, especially with Madhuri's twin Brothers Karan and Arjun (Arjun Rampal), who hates people lying and cheating...

The film suffers heavily for trying to bring comedy leaving some scenes make no sense. Take for eg, Rajveer telling Arjun, the lie of his father's rich friend, Subbo (Arshad Warsi) having a accident and his father donating kidney khade khade.. how fake that lie looks. Then, the dose of over-dramatic scenes, one where Madhuri feels apologetic to the family of Rajveer, or one where Rajveer realises how good his father has been, or the one where Rajveer's father feels for the poor people. These scenes change the tone of the film, plus average background score doesn't help either.

Dialogue writing is very poor, save for few of the good comedy punches. The dream song looks very odd in terms of picturisation.

'Tu' was my favourite song in the movie, very romantic and well filmed too. Also, 'Sun Soniye' was quite good too.

The 'banana' sequence, first meeting of Madhuri with Rajveer's parents, and Madhuri's brother Arjun going to live at place of Subbo acting as the head of the house were some of the best moments in the film. Also, Arjun Rampal's 'samajh gaye ? Toh phir sar hilaayo'.

Jackky Bhagnani is very good in his performance yet again. Nidhi Subbaiah is average, over-acts at many places. Arjun Rampal entertains in supporting role of twin brothers. Kirron Kher is funny as always, though she went over-the top in the first blind scene she does. Darshan Jariwala is impressive. Amarjeet Singh is decent.


Overall, Ajab Ghazab Love gives you some good laughs, but like many movies in past.. drama and comedy don't gel together properly.


Verdict  : AVERAGE

Taken 2 [Views]

Directed by : Olivier Megaton
Imdb link -> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1397280/

If I kill you, your other sons will  come and seek revenge ? 'They will'. And I will kill them too.

There are films that are so much performance oriented, that even if its weak in rest departments, it matters very less as the movie has made a impact on you. Taken2 falls in that category for me, for the performance of Liam Neeson. I loved his performance, mind you that doesn't mean I am saying its a oscar worthy.

I haven't seen the 1st part yet, so I assume the starting 5-10 mins where Murad (Rade Serbedzija) pledges to take revenge of his son, must had been killed in last part. Retired CIA, Bryan (Liam Neeson) asks his ex-wife Lenore (Famke Janssen) and daughter, Kim (Maggie Grace) to come to Istanbul and spend some time with him, which would be a pleasant change for them too. But, he isn't aware that Murad is planning revenge not only against him but his wife and daughter too. Bryan and Lenore gets taken by Murad, but Kim escapes. Bryan insists her to go to embassy and be safe, but she has other plans as she wants to help her father and mom.

The love track between Bryan and Lenore doesn't work to me, again I am taking a guess that in part1 there would be scenes that describe how their relation failed. Maggie Grace over-acts a lot. While Rade Serbedzija never interests me, as normally the villian should be much more powerful but he never appeared to be so. The ending very much justifies that statement.

Liam Neeson is beyond brilliant, the way he uses memory when his eyes are closed to remember places on basis of voices he hears and the time it takes to reach a particular place (Reminded me of a hindi film qatl). And then later, he uses that same memory to relocate to the place where Murad is hiding. He's always one step ahead of his enemies, and the only time he misses is when his wife makes a mistake.

The action sequences are very good, they had the 'bourne series' feel, not just for the action but also the background score. Dialogues are good, especially Liam one's.


Taken2 is likeable only due to Liam Neeson, single handedly he carries the film from the start till the end.

Argo [Views]

Directed by : Ben Affleck
Imdb link -> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1024648/

The whole country is watching you ... they just don't know it. 

The movie begins with a small history about U.S, and Iran.. and the developments taking place in those countries. Its a quick 5 minute voiceover (pretty much like Piyush Mishra opening credits description in GOW1). And the 1st shot that comes after that, is a very large amount of people gathered outside the U.S Embassy in the Iran, to protest against a leader named 'Shah' being taken in the embassy, and not killed yet. There was hatred among the people for Shah, and they broke into the embassy leaving the people present inside the embassy in total panic. Just 6 americans inside the embassy managed to escape, rest all were taken hostage. The 6 americans were kept hidden by a canadian ambassador, which was known only by a US CIA spy agency.

CIA's exfil, Tony (Ben Affleck) expert puts forward a plan of acting like a film production person, he would make a fake canadian movie that requires a certain location in Iran to be visited, and the 6 americans would be the crew of the movie, who would flew back with Tony. The problem for Tony is, not only he has less time to promote a fake movie that looks real, his own CIA people aren't pleased with the movie idea, and may anytime change the plan.

The film is based on a true story, its a history based film.. yet its full of humurous moments thanks to the part where Tony goes to meet the Hollywood people, Lester (Alan Arkin) and John (John Goodman) to help him in the fake movie idea. Both Lester and John were amazing to the extent that in what was a very serious movie, their scenes would almost always bring a laugh or two. Lester's 'Argo fuck yourself' was hillarious. And the dialogues written were funny too, 'This is the best bad idea we have Sir, by far'.

All the 6 actors playing the american characters, portrayed the dread and scared look pretty well. Kathy (Kerry Bishe), acts like a professional movie crew member, by taking the photos of the Iran market location where Tony takes all of them, only to get into unexpected kind of trouble. Cora (Clea Duvall) polite query to Tony 'Can we rehearse once again' when Tony is feeling 'all lost', and Tony telling her 'You did quite well, Cora.. have some rest now'.

Joe (Scoot Mcnairy) has two scenes of his own, one where he expresses how he has made Kathy suffer in all this revolution, but the main one where he surprises not just Tony but the audience is at the airport.

Ben Affleck brings a calmness to the character of Tony, even when there appears to be some problems in his married life which ain't given any importance understandably as per demand of the subject. The dejection on the face of Ben when he feels all preparations went waste, the surprised look when he sees the confidence in Joe to help everyone, the happy look to see Cora trying and practising so hard, and the slightest of smile he gives during one of the key scene in the movie. The reason why its easy to connect to his character is, that he keeps it simple.. never tries to be over-smart, always shows the fear that is always there in him at every checkpoints of airport, or while he is in Iran.

The airport climax sequence is without a doubt nerve wrecking, you won't be able to move out of your seat, and you wont either be able to make a guess as to whether Tony would succeed or fail, as both have equal probabilities. Special mention to the fast editing done in that sequence, that builds the tension much more.

Also, I liked the fact that the rehearsals sequence are shown very less, as the fear of the 6 americans and how much vulnerable they would be, was required to be exploited.

Excellent direction, writing and screenplay (though its very much linear), there are some cliches done in the narrative but all that just adds to the drama of the movie. Special mention to the light background score at the final shot of the movie, love when films end that way.. it increases the liking.


Argo is among the best Hollywood movies that have come out this year, probably I loved it as much as I loved The Dark Knight Rises. I have a feeling, Argo is gonna get nominations in Oscar awards. Yup.

Movie Analysis : Student of the Year

Directed by : Karan Johar
Imdb link -> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2172071/

It takes courage to make a film with 3 newcomers as leads. Varun Dhawan (David Dhawan's son), Siddharth Malhotra (a model) and Alia Bhatt (Mahesh Bhatt's daughter). Its not these three who lets the film down, but its the script and the narration thats full of faults.

The narration style follows Barfi way, a person in hospital and the people present there narrating the story to us, with the exception that it doesn't go into flashback within flashback mode. The story then begins about Rohan (Varun Dhawan) and Shanaya (Alia Bhatt), who study at St.Teresa High School in Dehradun. Then, enters, Abhimanyu (Siddharth Malhotra) which instantly brings a fight between him and Rohan. Over the time they become good friends, while Abhimanyu starts to fall in love with Shanaya. The dean of the school, Yogendra (Rishi Kapoor) starts the routine annual competition of the school 'Student of the Year', and everyone including the 3 main leads would go to any extent to win the trophy.

To introduce the lead characters with a highly extended and total glam way was something that didn't please me. In K3G, Kareena Kapoor had such entry too but it worked because it was short and sexy. But, in this case.. it looks over-done.

Having a gay character, that is played by Rishi Kapoor.. and a dialogue between Rohan and Abhimanyu 'kiss toh nahi karega?', 'Nahi, gale bhi nahi lagunga'.. was kinda of un-necessary especially when you have got a certain kind of image as a person in the eyes of lots of people.

The treasure hunt was completely not required among the chosen categories for the competition, while Cycling was poorly directed. Or maybe Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander magic came into my eyes. The pre-climax as well as the climax scenes are so poorly handled by Karan, least expected from him. Also, what was it to show off the leads coming out of water, and posing around.. be it Varun or Siddharth or Alia... almost made me think if I have come to watch a photoshoot. While, the football match had so much similarity with 'Chak de India', remember two strong players not passing the ball.

The wedding sequence where no dialogue is kept and a plain background runs for around 2-3 mins was the one where Karan Johar touch was visible in full flow.

'Velle' was the best song in the album, and it was well picturised too. Good to see 'Kajol' in a 5-10 second cameo during 'Disco Deewane' song. How she lights up the screen even in those few seconds is unbelievable. 'Ishq wala Love' was romantically filmed, even though I don't like the lyrics but the romantic feel in the song is very much there. While 'Ratta Maar' 1st part was aptly used, what was the connection while using it 2nd time around ? 'Radha' was nice, but the mixing of 'Dafli wale' brought more life into the song visually, specially Rishi Kapoor's harkats throughout.

I liked Siddharth Malhotra the most among the 3 newcomers. He looked confident. While Varun at places reminded me of Sohail Khan, but his character certainly was more stronger therefore he did have lots of good moments to shine through, specially when he fights with his father or when he shows his will to win the competition.

Alia Bhatt was kinda of doing a extended cameo, she had less screen time. Though she looked way too cute, her acting looks shaky to say for now.

Rishi Kapoor was superb in a character that I already mentioned I would had liked not to be there in movie. Ronit Roy was good. Sana Saeed (small anjali of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai), didn't have the kind of debut she would have wanted I believe, more of a small supporting role. She was fine in her part.

Ram Kapoor was his usual, I guess Udaan was his last best role. Gautami Kapoor never gets a dialogue, probably editor went harsh over her scenes.

Kayoze Irani was decent, he highly over-acted in the scene against the dean.. though the director's at fault here. Manasi Racch was among best in the supporting characters, specially when the urge to win competition enters into her mind.

Manjot Singh was good. Farida Jalal was lovely as always. Boman Irani in a special apperance was funny.


Overall, Student of the Year ends up being too much glam and unrealistic to connect with. It entertains in parts, but the film ends up among the least enjoyed Karan Johar films for me.


Verdict : AVERAGE 

Movie Analysis : Delhi Safari

Directed by : Nikhil Advani
Imdb link -> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1172587/

A male leopard 'Sultan' (Sunil Shetty, voiceover) dies at a jungle because the humans are cutting the trees with bulldozer and removing any animals residing there so as to use the area for construction purpose. His son, small cub 'Yuvi' (Swini Khara, voiceover) doesn't want to leave the place as her mom 'Begum' (Urmila Matondkar, voiceover) wants her to, so as to save her from being killed by humans. The monkey, Bajrangi (Govinda, voiceover) wants to go on full war with his small sena over the humans, but Bagga, bear (Boman Irani, voiceover) stops him, and says the matter should be handled peacefully by talking to the humans. Therefore, they kidnap Alex, parrot (Akshay Khanna, voiceover) as he only could speak the human language. The journey from Mumbai to Delhi begins, to reach the parliament and put forward the problems of animals. But, on the course of the journey.. a lot of further events happens, mainly due to the rivalry Bajrangi and Alex share with each other.

The animation work looks good, still not upto the level of Hollywood but improvement is visible. Plus, the story was much more interesting, only if the Dialogues were better. The screenplay is kept simple, with the length of the movie being just 90 mins.

Bajrangi and Alex characters work the most for me, both are given very nice looks.. and the tom-jerry kind of treatment they both share for major part of the movie brings in some good sequences. Govinda and Akshay Khanna have done very good job on the voiceover. Also, liked Yuvi, the cub which looks so cute, and perfectly voice-overed by small Swini Khara (sexy of cheeni kam fame). Boman Irani did nice work on Bagga too.

The songs were big road-blocks in the narration. Unless and ofcourse it was meant to be a musical animation film, I would had accepted it, but here the songs are way too many. The song which Sultan sings to manaofy Begum and the one when they meet Gujarati couple on the way to Delhi were the rightly used songs.

The bees sequence was one of the best in the movie.The intro sequence of Alex was funny, for the way it dances on the song playing on tv. And the way leopards hug each other, was nice.

The climax was good, could had got preachy but avoids it.


Overall, Delhi Safari is a decent animation movie. Has its flaws, still it provides good entertainment for most part of the movie.


Verdict : NICE 

Movie Analysis : Cocktail

Directed by : Homi Adajania
Imdb link -> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2168910/

This is Homi Adajania's second film after 'Being Cyrus'. I haven't seen that one yet, but heard lots of applause for it which in turn meant rise of expectations from Cocktail specially with a good trailer and some very nice music. But, Cocktail doesn't live upto to it.

Veronica (Deepika Padukone) lives a carefree life in London and is a party girl. Meera (Diana Penty) has been betrayed by her husband Kunal (Randeep Hooda), and has no where to go when Veronica meets her and they eventually become roomies come friends. Gautam (Saif Ali Khan), a flirt after almost every girl becomes a guy Veronica falls for initially as a timepass but she later realizes she loves him. But, Gautam falls in love with Meera when they are on a picnic with Veronica and Gautam's mother. Meera is a simple girl who won't like betraying her best friend. It gets complicated for all the three..

The 1st half was very entertaining full of funny moments, but the 2nd half gets very melo-dramatic. Infact the final 20-30 mins were more of a torture to watch with a climax that didn't make any impact on me because I had already lost the connect with the story. The writing by Imtiaz Ali tries to avoid the cliches we see in love-triangle, as there's a scene where Gautam tells Veronica and Meera that we won't play hide and seek, and tells the truth. Still, post that scene the film falls down terribly, blame it Imtiaz who could had given something more into that part, or Saif who never looked in control playing the character, or Diana who's character tries to be too much of 'balidaan' and all.

Veronica's heartbroken sequence in the pub was one of the best scene in the movie. Also humour wise the film had lots of good scenes, like the one where Gautam dances on Sheila n other item songs with the lingerie on and her mother makes a entry. The dialogues were refreshing.

Pritam's music was very good. 'Daaru Desi' showing the love between the three friends, very well picturised. 'Tumhi Ho Bandhu' bringing the happy Meera out. And, 'main sharabi' showing the decline of Veronica. Also, 'Luttna' and 'Jugni' showing the bad phase of all the three friends.

Saif Ali Khan has done this kinda of roles in plenty, still here he looked out of touch. Maybe, the fact that Saif-Deepika did a similar based movie 'Love Aaj Kal' gave the feel of 'not fresh' to me. Some other actor could had brought more life into the Gautam character, especially the one that's split between Veronica and Meera.

Diana Penty gave a very good debut. Though, her character Meera is one that I won't like to see in real.. totally hate such girls who have a habit of crying all the time, total turn-off they are. Thats the reason, 'Tumhi ho bandhu' song clicked a lot to me, as Meera finally had some good happy faces to show. Her dubbing was well done too.

Deepika Padukone easily was the best among all in her performance. She makes Veronica look totally carefree, and a total party freak. How she slowly falls over Gautam, her hatred emerges for Meera, and then the drunk sequence along with the pub one. Or the pre-climax where she notices Gautam closely. Deepika would had got even more applause by everyone if the 2nd Half was much much better than it was in the end.

Randeep Hooda was more of a waste, in a nothing role.

Dimple Kapadia's short cameo was very entertaining, she's always a delight to watch, lovely screen presence as always. Boman Irani was decent in a supporting role.


Overall, Cocktail turns out to be a average film, despite a very good 1st half, Deepika's performance, good music, and some great moments at various places of the film. The second half just couldn't make me like the movie as a whole.


Verdict : AVERAGE

Premium Rush [Views]

Directed by : David Koepp
Imdb link -> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1547234/

I like to ride. Fixed gear. No brakes. Can't stop. Don't want to, either.

Wilee (Joseph Gordon Levitt) has a job of delivering envelopes given to him by his boss to particular people in the city by riding fast bicycles with fixed gear and no brakes. But, one envelope causes him lot of trouble, as a cop gets after him to get it from him. The envelops contains something thats important for the cop to earn money as he has been losing a lot at gambling, while its also important for a girl Nima (Jamie Chung) who has to set her kid free by letting the envelope reach the person its meant to go to.

The film's narration is based on bicyle for major part of the movie, and yet there is lack of intense and exciting moments that one would expect in such a film. The screenplay was pretty good, the way the time is used to move back and after to tell the events of every character involved towards the envelope. That is the only reason, the film does entertain to a certain way.

Wilee vision of which path to follow when he is near to having a collision while riding bicycle, the escape from the garage and the flashmob were some great scenes in the movie.

Joseph Gordon Levitt was not impressive for me, though I doubt any other actor would had made much more out of this role either.

Micheal Shannon as the cop was very good, be it his own story of making himself lose so much money or the chase he has after Wilee.

Wole Parks irritated me a lot.


Overall, Premium Rush can be called a nice light hearted entertainer. Nothing special though.

The Bourne Legacy [Views]

Directed by : Tony Gilroy
Imdb link -> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1194173/

It was always gonna be tough for Tony-Jeremy to match the great work Greengrass-Damon had done in the previous 2 parts of the Bourne series (I quite liked 1st part also, directed  by Doug Liman).  And it proved to be that way only after I ended watching this final part of Bourne Series, unless they plan to extend it further.

One good thing they did is they invented new character for Jeremy (Aaron), instead of giving him the Bourne character. That therefore meant some new information that is linked to the Blackbriar and Treadstone, and so 'Outcome' is the program they establish.

The problem with this movie is, its just too slow to kick off. The action sequences aren't that special or exciting as Bourne series always had, though the climax bike sequence was certainly the best in the entire film. Also, the romantic plot between Aaron and Dr. Marta (Rachel Weisz) wasn't written well. And all the scenes where Aaron is on the look out about the unknown events, or the things he ain't aware of .. just doesn't thrill you like it did with Matt Damon who was constantly fighting with his search of own identity.

I felt Jeremy Renner would be total mismatch in this role, but to his credit he did a wonderful job only if he had a good script to support his performance. Special reference to sudden humour he brings in conversations especially with Dr. Marta.

Rachel Weisz leaving asides her over the top scene before Jeremy comes to her rescue, she did pretty well.

Another big disappointment in the movie was the supporting cast. With David Strathairn and Joan Allen used only as special apperances, it was important for the chosen set of actors to make a mark, but their part in the movie is so dull that I kept waiting for Jeremy sequences to enter.


Overall, The Bourne Legacy is better to be not counted in the Bourne series. Jeremy Renner gives some respite with his performance, but a dull script and not so spectacular action like one expected lets the film completely down.

Eega [Views]

Directed by : S.S Rajamouli
Imdb link -> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2258337/

Nani (Nani) loves Bindhu (Samantha Ruth Prabhu), and just when Bindhu accepts his love after keeping him at a distance for 2 years, Sudeep (Sudeep) kills Nani as he cannot see himself lose. But the horror of Sudeep begins when Nani takes a re-birth in form of a fly 'eega'.

Its very unusual concept that instantly took my attention when I first saw it. And Rajamouli has directed as well as constructed amazing screenplay. He gets done with the love part (which are filmed in a fun and romantic way) very quickly, and leads to the difficulties Nani faces from being a human to a very small fly. How he slowly understands the ways he can use to get the revenge. Also special mention to the memory loss, which lasts for hardly 5 mins.

The reason this movie works a lot, is the fact that it gives large screen time to the 'Eega'(Makkhi) character. When you go to watch the film, it is the character you wanna see the most, and that's what has been done.

The VFX and graphic effects are excellent, special reference to the sequence where Eega make a entry, trying to fly through. Also, those tiny micro artist effects done on the eega like glasses, and foot equipments.

The Sudeep part before Nani dies, and the Nani-Bindhu love sequences hold high importance because if you don't connect to these two parts, then the revenge of Eega doesn't make any difference to you.

Sudeep's tone from the first scene is kept as a guy who knows how to get any girl he likes, with a eye on Bindhu.. his wife is the only exception whom he gives a terrible death. The frustration on his face when he comes to know Bindhu likes someone else. Then later, the way Sudeep enacts the part where he is again and again attacked by Eega. It mustn't had been easy as when the shooting would had happened, there would had been nothing in front of him, he just had to imagine and act it out. So, that makes it even more applaudable performance. The helmet presentation sequence, spa one, and car crash scene were among some of the best ones.

Also, the idea of writing 'I will kill you', 'I am back' and 'Re-birth' in different ways that a Eega would be able to write is commendable.

Bindhu likes doing micro artist activities, and that is later very well used to help Eega. Love the scene where a small house is built for Eega having all basic facilities. And the scene where she takes Eega to cafe coffee day is very funny.

The conversations between Nani and his friend during first 20 mins, or the way Sudeep hides how Eega is making his life hell in front of Bindhu, and the drunk thief sequence provide very good humour quotient to the movie. Also, the reactions of Eega when he wins a battle against Sudeep like the hit spray.

The songs are very well used, both the romantic ones, one is used mainly as background. Though, my fav is the title one, where Eega develops his powers with the help of Bindhu.


Overall, Eega works for me big time. We have seen enough films where re-birth of a person happens, but a re-birth of person into a fly is something new and unique. As long as you dont feel its a nonsense concept, this film is bound to make you laugh and enjoy every moment specially once Eega's entry comes. (for me the film works right from the first scene.. )

Movie Analysis : Chittagong

Directed by : Bedabrata Pain
Imdb link -> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1785333/

Another of those history based movies that I enjoyed watching. Though, this movie reminded me of 'Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey' specially the portion where they attack the British places.

The movie is narrated through the point of view of 'Jhunku', one of the leaders in the movement against the Britishers. How he in his early childhood felt the ways to fight against Britishers weren't right, plus he acted as a traitor helping Britishers as he was learning English from the family of one of the British officers.Its matter of time when he realizes Britishers have to be fought against, and he joins army of Masterda played by Manoj Bajpai.

The screenplay is tight, and also good editing. Cinematography is excellent.

How good Manoj Bajpai's performance is, can easily be stated by the fact that in a starcast of many actors that impresses, he still manages to leave a big mark. Soft-spoken, polite and always ready to give advices like a teacher would.. Manoj appears deeply into his character making Masterda very appealing.

Also, Delzad Hiwale who plays younger Jhunku delivers a superb performance. I somehow didn't like the older Jhanku, probably one of the reason why I didn't like the climax that much. Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Raj Kumar Yadav, Dibyendu Bhattacharya and Jaideep Ahlawat were efficient in their supporting roles. The conversation of Nirmal Sen (Nawazuddin) with Pritilata (Vega Tamotia) where he conveys his love for her in a hesistant way.. pretty much reminds of the famous scene in GOW, though the execution here is much different. Also, Vega Tamotia looks very cute in her just 2nd film. She does very well in that police sequence she has in the 2nd half.

I have always slept during History lectures in school, so any film that's well made on a history topic appeals to me very much.


Overall, Chittagong is a very good history based film backed with great performances.


Verdict : VERY GOOD

Movie Analysis : Aiyyaa

Directed by Sachin Kundalkar
Imdb link -> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2255934/

A marathi girl Meenakshi (Rani Mukherji) falls in love with a Tamil guy Surya (Prithivraj) who is a painter by profession. Meenakshi's engagement is fixed to another guy Madhav (Subhodh Bhave) by her family which in itself has all the qualities of madness. But Meenakshi doesn't know how to convey her feelings to Surya, but she can't resist him as he smells just too good.

There's a character Maina (Anita Date) who speaks in a total childish way with wierd fashionable dresses and dance moves. At start I liked her, but as more of her scenes started to come.. the uneasy feeling crept in. Plus, 'What to Do' song filmed on her dissappointed me, as that was the song I loved the most in the album. Couldn't they find a way to picturise it on Rani..

Meenakshi following Surya everytime, through the smell also is over-done big time. Same applies to the family, who keeps doing things that appear too mad. Only the dream sequences was something that I didn't mind being consistently done throughout movie. Maybe, the director wanted to tell the story about characters that are mad in their own ways, but as a viewer it just doesn't help me in clicking. Even the ending looks ordinary.

For sure, the comedy is present in most of the sequences.. but in totality, the film fails to make a mark. Meenakshi buying drugs, meeting the crazy Maina for 1st time, meeting Surya's mother, and conversation with Madhav during 1st meeting were some of the best scenes in the movie.

Background score is good. Editing is poor, too many long sequences and many un-wanted scenes.

Rani Mukherjee looks so confident, those dance moves she has done in numerous item songs in this film, plus the way she imitates 'Madhuri' in opening credits or 'Rekha' in sava dollar song. Its only her performance that kept me interested in a total dull 2nd half.

Prithviraj has minimal dialogues, but he looks quite effective. Not sure yet though, if he could be successful in Hindi films.

Nirmiti Sawant, mother of Meenakshi was excellent among the rest supporting cast. Also, Ameya Wagh was quite good.


Overall, Aiyyaa has some very good moments and Rani's great performance but the film ends up as a big dissappointment.


Verdict : AVERAGE

Movie Analysis : Bhoot Returns

Directed by : Ram Gopal Verma
Imdb link -> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2406636/

Tarun (J.D. Chakravarthy) and Namrata (Manisha Koirala) shift to a new house along with their children. Namrata's sister, Pooja (Madhu Shalini) pays a surprise visit to stay with them for few days. But, they aren't aware about the spirit that exists in the house which would haunt and cause lots of problems to them.

The film is full of same old cliches related to horror genre as well as Rgv cinema. The noise created by the opening of door, dream horror sequence, loud background score, the irritating voice of spirit 'bhooooooo' and ofcourse the wierd camera angles of Rgv. The sound mixing was bad too, making every noise loud isn't the way to bring horror, it just turns you off and irritates you, for eg the telephone ring noise is intentionally kept so loud. Clearly, the idea of Rgv was to keep the action of spirit for the final 20 minutes, but holding together for rest 70 mins was the key part. You just can't show one day dialogue scene followed by 1 night invisible spirit scene, and then continue this loop for 3-4 times in a row. It got too monotonous for my liking, plus very predictable.

And, when that time comes where all three Tarun, Namrata and Pooja are scared at night, why does Pooja even sleep in a seperate room. As is the case, the unintentional comedy happens at many places, like when they all are searching for spirit in different directions of house, and when they see each other its followed by a loud laugh, which then gets shortened by the 'bhooooo' noise.

Why Manisha Koirala kept shouting so much, specially at such a little daughter of hers ? Too loud acting, a performance I didn't expect from her. J.D Chakravarthy makes a comeback of sorts, and is pretty good.

Madhu Shalini is decent. Alayana Sharma who plays the daughter Nimmi of Namrata, was very effective.

Some of the best scenes were, Nimmi telling everyone about the imaginary friend (ghost), Shabbo with whom she could interact, and the first major attack by Shabbo along with the pre-climax scene.


Overall, Bhoot Returns is a very loud, non-scary and typical rgv film. Even though its 90 mins in length, the film appears to be too long. And after watching this film, one may just wonder why Bhoot3 is gonna be made.


Verdict : INTOLERABLE

Movie Analysis : Jism2

Directed by : Pooja Bhatt
Imdb link -> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2226666/

Duniya pyar ki sirf baatein karti hai .. chalti jung pe hai.

The first thing I did after watching the movie was, unfollow Pooja Bhatt from Twitter, though somehow I stopped myself from doing the same to Mahesh Bhatt.

To start off, the plot is ridiculous. I agree Jism was completely inspired (or copy as people like to say) from a Hollywood film, but its plot and the feel was very good. But, in Jism2 the main plot is silly, asking a porn star Izna (Sunny Leone) to help the Intelligence Bureau in catching a criminal, Kabir (Randeep Hooda) who was once a police officer and lover of Izna.

Inspite of such plot, had they written interesting dialogues and choosen right female lead.. maybe film would had been atleast 25% watchable if not more. There is too much of unintentional comedy throughout the movie. The screenplay is also too simple, with a predictable end if you ignore the silliest twist done for the sake of it.

Editing is very average, fast cuts would had made the film little bit bearable as the narration gets slow at many places. The cinematography is excellent, love the way they have captured Sri Lanka, specially that location where Izna asks Kabir to come. Even, the camera-work was good and different at various shots.

Though, I loved most of the songs.. the kinda of feel Jism songs had never comes in this film, also the background score was a total let down. Only, 'yeh jism hai toh kya' was a song that I could totally connect to, and it was among the worst picturised song in the movie.

Sunny Leone just couldn't act, though she appeared to have worked very well on her hindi diction. It was completely visible how much effort she was trying to put in most of her scenes, which shouldn't be the case for a actor. Also, what was the case with her breathing so fast in almost every scene.. was it the nervous Izna or nervous Sunny ?

Randeep Hooda in the role of police officer was good, but as a assassin he went very much over the top. Felt dissappointed after having loved his last performance in 'Jannat2' to such a great extent. Arunoday Singh was decent in the start, but once he starts to fall in love with Izna, his hamming started big time too.

That final confrontation scene between Izna and Kabir is so poorly directed and written (the only thing consistent throughout the film), I still remember and adore the final scene of John and Bipasha in Jism.. but here I kept looking for something good in the scene, and it never comes.

This is the second film I have seen of Pooja Bhatt, the other being 'Dhokha' which I liked quite a lot. She would need to be really good in her next outing to remove my anger now.


Overall, Jism2 is a complete nonsense movie, with no good acting, story, screenplay or direction. You need a proper story otherwise exotic scenes (though they are very few too) won't have any impact. Its only the beautiful locales and nice music that you take away after watching the movie. The director of Jism though would be happy, pooja bhatt has made his film looked hundred times better.


Verdict : INTOLERABLE

Killing Them Softly [Views]

Directed by : Andrew Dominik
Imdb link -> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1764234/

Another gangster based movie, but this time it fails to make a mark on me. I felt the director tried to experiment a bit too much, for instance the scene where Russell (Ben Mendelsohn) has taken drugs and his point of view shots are shown where the frame blurs, goes black, and takes time for him to realize his friend Frankie (Scoot McNairy) said something to him. Even the conversation between Mickey (James Gandolfini) and Jackie (Brad Pitt) appeared very dull.

The robbery sequence executed by Russell and Frankie, was one of well directed scene in the movie. Also, the one where Jackie kills 2 people, from a distance as he likes to call it. The final dialogue scene of Jackie against Obama was good too. Though the ending was very abrupt, as if the director was forced to edit out proper ending.

Also, the title never goes with the movie.. there's hardly a killing that could be termed 'soft'. Brad Pitt gives a good performance, but not as impressive as he was in 'Moneyball', though less screen time is also a factor in that.

Ray Liotta, looked totally out of touch, maybe to give him a weak looking character was the idea of director, as I remember him for his great performance in 'the goodfellas'.

Even the conversations between Frankie and Russell were kept quite comical, maybe pulp fiction influence if it can be said.


Overall, 'Killing them softly' was a touch boring for me. Except for some good scenes, I just couldn't feel connected to the characters or the story.

Movie Analysis : Kismet Love Paisa Dilli

Directed by : Sanjay M. Khanduri
Imdb link -> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2402131/

When you are in a theatre with only 4 people, it leads to only two conclusions.. the film hasn't got the right promotion or the film is too bad. Unfortunately, it was the latter case for me.

I have heard lots of good things about the director's last (or his first) film 'Ek chalis ki last local'. Hence, the expectations were definately there. But a poor script, cheap scenes and bad dialogues meant all hopes were gone in the first 20 minutes of the movie only.

Even the suspense they built with Neha Dhupia's character didn't bring any joy because till then I had already started to feel exhausted. Even the thought of leaving film in interval came, and this happens very less for me.. Nevertheless, watched the entire film.

To name a few positives in the film, it would be Ashutosh Rana's 1st dialogue.. he is so effective yet directors don't give him right roles. The 'Appy Budday' song was very fun and nicely choreographed, only song that I liked in the torturous album from a tortuous film.

'Dhiskiyaaun' song comes from no-where into the narration, maybe director thought we are in 80's-90's era. The over-dose of pee sequence, the double meaning references with Vivek Oberoi's friend too often, the extended Ashutosh Rana-Punjabi's fight (if you can call it that) scene. The humour can easily be described as utterly disgusting in this movie. While, the romantic angle between Vivek and Mallika hardly works.

I felt bad for 'Anshuman Jha', to have his character named 'Nunna' and then the sick background run with his each scene. And not to forget, the sudden powers he gets as he starts flying, so when people lose their mind and get mental, they start flying like this ? Anshuman was very good in 'Love Sex aur Dhokha', so bit dissappointed to see him in this nonsense role.

Vivek Oberoi and Mallika Sherawat are okay, they couldn't lift this film with their performances, no scope at all.


Overall, Kismet Love Paisa Dilli is one of the films that you don't want to remember that you saw it.


Verdict : INTOLERABLE

Movie Analysis : English Vinglish

Directed by : Gauri Shinde
Imdb link -> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2181931/

Jab apne aap ko pasand nahi karte hai na, 
toh apne se judi huyi har cheez acchi nahi lagti,
nayi cheezein aakarshik karti hai ... 
jab apne aap ko pyar karne lagte hai, 
toh wahi purani zindagi nayi lagne lagti hai, 
achi lagne lagti hai.

Sridevi's comeback movie, and for actors of her talent you never feel that this actor wasn't into films in past few years.

The story revolving about a housewife/mother Shashi (Sridevi) who initially ignores her inability to speak proper english, only to realize that she needs to learn english by joining a coaching class so that she may not be insulted time and again from her own family members.

The ploy of director to delay showing face of Sridevi when opening credits begin was good one. This kinda of film can easily become either preachy or very dramatic. But, thankfully Gauri Shinde opts for a simple storytelling. She never tries to over-build the romantic track between Shashi and one of her class-mate in class, also the climax where Shashi's husband Satish (Adil Hussain) is not shown apologizing to her for making fun of her.. instead there's a plane scene where he feels happy to see the confidence in her.

Satish over-emphasising that her wife was born only to make ladoos and, Shashi's daughter Sapna (Navika Kotia) talking in a rude manner to her mother who's always so kind and sweet with her. These were sequences that didn't please me. But, I guess such families would exist in real.. so to treat it as just 'fiction' may  be wrong.

Shashi speaking to the french guy in hindi, and the guy in french with her.. was another very good thought. As shashi describes why its used in the film 'acha hai na, kuch samajh na sako aur sab bol do jo dil mein hain'.

Its never a movie about transformation from hindi to english speaking, its just a way of telling how one can regain self-respect on their own will power and the confidence in themselves comes right with it. English learning is used just as a metaphor.

Amit Trivedi's music is very good to ears, 'Manhattan' song in the context of the film appeals a lot, and so does 'Gustaakh dil'.

Sridevi so easily displays the uneasiness to speak english, the feeling of dissappointment when she speaks 'Jazz' in wrong way at dining table with her family, how she corrects the servant's english word 'gift' or her son's hindi, making the english professor speak in hindi showing how he also struggles in communicating in a language he ain't good at, the cafe scene where she finds herself in total uncomfortable situation and she quickly runs away from the place bursting into tears,  the 'eagerness in her eyes to learn' when she watches english dvds or weather forecasts on tv. Even in the climax, kudos to director.. she learns only to speak english, not proper english. And yea, her micheal jackson dance move too. Plus, how gorgeous Sridevi looked in those variety of sarees throughout the film.

Adil Hussain gives another effective performance in a supporting role. Shivansh Kotia, who plays Sagar, young son of Sridevi brings some of the lovely cute moments in the film.. special reference to the scene where he tries to tell Shashi about her sister Sapna 'aapko gussa nahi aa rahi' ?

Also, the small cameo from Amitabh Bachchan was very nice.. to see both Sridevi and Amitabh in same frame, and the fun moments they share.

Priya Anand looked very beautiful, and played a nice supporting role who helps Shashi a lot when she reaches New York.


Overall, English Vinglish works for me big time, mainly because of Sridevi and the way Gauri directs the film.


Verdict : VERY GOOD

Movie Review : Bol Bachchan

Directed by Rohit Shetty

Imdb link -> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1728986/

He is one director, whose films dont appear appealing to me from trailers, but more often I end up liking them (Golmaal3 was an exception). Bol Bachchan also gets added with that exception now. 

I liked the way Rohit Shetty uses, old Golmaal (Amol Palekar one) in narrative. That was good thought. But, the reason this film fails for me, is the humour isn't good. The jokes fall flat, and most of the times its a forced comedy. 

For instance, the loud character of Ravi (Krishna Abhishek) is highly irritating. Since there is nothing new in the story, it was important to have a screenplay that keeps you entertained with good humurous dialogues. But such scenes are very less in the film. The climax is completely over the top, and so is the role of Archana Puran Singh that is completely made to look like Comedy Circus.

Songs are more or less irritating, except for one song, where the non-moustache character of Abhishek goes to Ajay's house to teach his sister dance. That song which ends with Ajay dancing too along with Prachi, was good one.

Abhishek Bachchan was decent, he does hams a bit in the 'without moustache' character. Though, his dance test scene was very good. Ajay Devgan's comic timing is once again too good, infact he's the reason you get some laughs out of the film. The way he says the hindi lines in english, or the scene where he says 'Sunooooo..' were hillarious.

Asin looks completely out of the character to me, for me the part where she plays the lover of Ajay in past i.e that irritating Himesh song.. thats where she looks best. Prachi Desai looks cute, but hardly has got much to do in her role. Archana Puran Singh and Krishna Ahishek just hams.

Neeraj Vora and Asrani in supporting roles do good work. While Amitabh Bachchan shouldn't had done the item number, poor choreography as well as the song.


Overall, Bol Bacchan doesn't work for me at all. Ajay Devgan provides some entertainment, but the script and dialogues are a total let down.


Verdict : BELOW AVERAGE

Movie Analysis : Heroine

Directed by Madhur Bhandarkar
Imdb link -> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1949548/

Tum star ho, tumhe actress banne ki koi zaroorat nahi... 

Its trailer was very average, the songs didn't live upto the hype some of the friends of Salim-Suleiman built on twitter. Yet, the name 'Madhur Bhandarkar' kept the hopes alive for me who aint fond of Kareena for some obvious reasons. And Heroine fails like how...

Last venture of Madhur was 'Dil Toh Baccha Hai jee', a light comedy.. but with Heroine, he was to get back to his known cinema i.e Fashion, Page 3 , Corporate etc. The problem here is, that he doesn't show anything new to you. Its like I was re-watching Fashion, the story, scenes, actors maybe different, but the main theme and feel of the film never appeals. Once again, there is a girl who is at the top and then due to her own mistakes falls badly, and thereafter its her struggle to regain the top place. The difference in screenplay this time for Madhur is, that the rise to fame aint shown unlike Fashion, here we are taken directly to the point where Mahi Arora (Kareena Kapoor) is at the topmost position in the hindi films industry. To add drama and suspense (if you may say so), he begins the narration in non-linear way.. to be frank, that was not required at all.

There is the predictability factor with the screenplay, the over-use of typical characters we are now accustomed to in Madhur films, the gays, lesbians (yea thats also there this time). Even, Madhur's direction is so weak that I couldn't feel bad for Mahi Arora after the film ends, could just not connect with the ending.

Also, the story is narrated through a journalist, which also in my view was a wrong move. Madhur should had kept Kareena herself narrating it.

Music is pretty ordinary, with only 'Halkat Jawani' sounding good thanx to mainly the beats this song has, plus the choreography was good too. 'Saiyyan' is decent. The less I talk about the title song, the better. While, the background score is another weak point of this film.

Special Mention to 'Manish Malhotra', his costumes for Kareena especially were completely in synch with the film.

Only Kareena Kapoor's performance keeps you going till the end in this long tiring movie. I wonder if she has seen any of previous Madhur films, if yes.. then its quite silly from her side to do a movie that has nothing new to offer. For me, the scene where she creates a controversy to make her film get success at Boxoffice, was the best sequence in the movie. Mahie's character goes through variety of emotions in there, which Kareena captured brilliantly. Also, liked the scenes where she questions herself, whether she is a good actor even or not ? And, her scenes with the director who makes realistic films.. the struggle she faces to adapt to a altogether new kind of cinema was well portrayed by her. Also, special mention to the confidence and attitude she brings in her walk during the interval scene.

Arjun Rampal was decent, in a role that's not properly etched out. He has one key moment still, when he tries to help Mahie, but feels terribly dissappointed by the lack of trust of Mahie and the move she makes on him.

Randeep Hooda is getting one dimensional for my liking, the chewing gum and the casual approach.

Ranvir Shorey was superb in the small cameo, infact that part of the movie involving him was Madhur's best direction in this movie.

Shahana Goswami was fine. Mugdha Godse is totally wasted.

Among the supporting cast, Govind Namdev as the secretary and caretaker of Mahie Arora was very good, also Divya Dutta in a slighltly glam role as she helps Mahie get back to the top. I liked the style in her acting.. And Helen in a special apperance, had some of best dialogues in the movie.


Overall, Heroine is a very mediocre film, it may appeal to you if you are watching this as your 1st madhur bhandarkar movie, otherwise you are bound to get dissappointed only. Being a lover of Aishwarya Rai's acting, I am happy she didn't do this movie.


Verdict : BELOW AVERAGE