Recap - Films (2009)

2009 certainly wasnt best of years, though it still gave films like DevD, Kaminey etc etc. But in comparison to 2008 it fell short for me. Also, I couldnt get a single film that I could give a full 5 on 5(may be I didnt get a high emotional film in 2009).

My Top 10 Films of 2009 :

1. Kaminey

Excellent performances, Shahid in a never seen before role and clear example of how well a excellent director can utilise the acting capabilities of a actor which Vishal does here. Wish kaminey title track was used in some better way along with the lines "kabhi hum kaminey nikle, kabhi tum kaminey". Also, special mention to Bhope bhau and Tope bhau.

2. Dev D

Very Bold film, so much that it took some months for me to accept it fully. Various parts of the film simply hits at you, atleast it did with me. When I read the interview of Anurag Kashyap that the film shows how misunderstandings and ego problem can destroy relationships, I was certain that I will like the film. Eventually, I loved it so what if it took time. Anurag Kashyap's best work after Black Friday, and probably one of best musicals ever. Amazing screenplay,editing and theuse of songs in parts works very well. The re entry part of Dev D before Interval is my favourite sequence from the film.

3. 3Idiots

2009 had lots of overhyped films and 3idiots was also one of them, but unlike rest films, 3idiots lived upto the expectations. It was highly entertaining, infact the entertainment value is to such extent that director takes cinematic liberties and you say -its okk,chalta hai. More of that has to go for the screenplay that keeps the viewer enjoy the film and think less. The film wasnt preachy and still the message came along regarding the education system very well. Along with Aamir Khan, it was Omi Vaidya who impressed a lot with his comic timing. Who will forget his dialogue delivery or the 5th sept speech scene.

4. Luck by Chance

It was my top film of year until Kaminey came in August. Farhan Akhtar as a actor impressed once again after Rock on. Zoya Akhtar as a director did a great job, the subject of the film that laid emphasis on the dreams, the ways we try to get our dreams, the hurdles we face and the most important factor we require in achieving dreams is luck. Best part of the film was that at the end, we get to see 2 perspective - one of farhan(that is wrong but many follow it), second of konkana(that is right but not many follow it). Sapno se bhare naina picturisation is simply awesome.

5. Paa

Amitabh Bachchan does something different at this age again and ofcourse he doesnt fail at all. Main credit goes to make up man only but had it been some other actor, Auro wouldnt have the same charm. Also, it was nice to see Vidya Balan being loved by lot, she was really good in the film.

6. London Dreams

A rare film which wont be in the top10 of many film lovers. I loved it for the feel that I get, thats what I am always looking for in films and this film has that in excess. Also the fact that Barso Yaaron and Jashn hai jeet ka are so wonderfully used. Salman Khan gives a great performance(leave aside his climax dialogue delivery).

7. Delhi6

There are so many metaphors used in this film. It took 2 viewings, infact three to fully understand all. Not a film for aam janta, probably the reason why film flopped and was termed as 'boring'. Though Abhishek was good as a Nri with a different accent, it was Rakesh Mehra's direction and narration style that made me like the film lot. Rehna tu song use came completely as a surprise, took time to accept it but eventually did, a song representing city.

8. Wake Up Sid

Quite a unusual pair but still Ranbir-Konkana works a lot. Ranbir as a careless boy who doesnt think about future until circumstances turn him a responsible guy. Konkana on the contrary knows what she wants to achieve and she does that quite well. Leaving asides weak romantic angle of ranbir-konkana, there wasnt any flaw in this film.Loved the climax sequence connection with rain and tochi's vocals of iktara in it.

9. Love Aaj Kal

Had I not bunked college that day and seen Love Aaj Kal 3rd time, it wouldnt have been in my top10 and termed as 'Average' by me. But that wasnt the case, it deserved to be liked a lot. Imtiaz succeeds in establishing some key sequences so well, the old n new generation comparisons or the break up celebration. Saif and Deepika both give a very good performance, still bit more effort in some shots would had made it a even better product. Saif should better stop dancing or do something about his stiffness. And ofcourse Imtiaz spoiled my fav song Aahun aahun by not utilising it to its best.

10. 13B

One of rare thrillers, where until the end you are not sure what next will happen. The film though had its share of dull moments but those were far and few. Madhavan and Neetu's chemistry was awesome.

Films that just missed the top10 were :

All the Best -> It was a very good comedy film(probably among top3 comedy films of 2009 if not no1).

Rocket Singh -> Loved the salesman concept and shimit amin's direction.

Main Aur Mrs Khanna -> Liked the subject, kareena and sohails performance.

Wanted -> Salman in a complete action role after long time. Wish the songs were also that good.

Kurbaan -> Had rensil cut the love story into 10 minutes and trimmed the songs, brought the terrorism angle more properly and used the title track in the narration, kurbaan not only would had been in my top10 but also people would had liked it if not loved it, as of now they completely rejected it.

Films that Dissappointed me :

Ajab Prem Ki Gajab Kahani -> Though I liked it, it wasnt a great film. The Upen angle in the story simply re-created Singh is King and affected the remaining part a lot.

Tum Mile -> Poor execution of the 26th july sequences by kunal, though the past story had lot of maturity in it

Raaz the Mystery Continues -> The original idea was good, but the final execution wasnt upto the mark.

Blue -> Promote the film with hype of the sea sequences and when the film comes, exactly the scenes that were in promos come again that too at the end of film. What else to say!

Whats your rashee -> This film shows how stubborn a person can be. Ashutosh wanted to make a long 3 hour film, so no cutting of songs, full versions in each rashee, making the screenplay not bearable at all.

Hoping, 2010 is a good year in terms of quality and also I get lots of films that I can rate 5 out of 5 :d

Recap - Count of Films

Unlike others, I end up watching many films atleast 2 times in theatre, some go beyond that. So, a check on my journey to theatre this year on the films that I saw atleast 2 times. ;)

Films Seen no of times

Delhi6 2

New York 2

Jashnn 2

Luck 2

Love Aaj Kal 3

Kaminey 6

Wake up Sid 2

London Dreams 3

Tum Mile 2

Kurbaan 2

3 Idiots 2

So, these were the films that I saw more than once .. Except for Luck and Tum Mile, my love for every film increased with each view. Love Aaj Kal I simply fell in love 3rd time which I found just a nice film at 1st turn. While most of the films that I saw 2 times were because 1st time I went with high expectations and wanted to see it 2nd time to see if without expectations the film works more for me or not.

Kaminey however was a exception, it made me mad and the end result 6 views. ;)

London Dreams I went 3rd time because the effect Barso yaaron song has in theatre cant be felt while watching the film at home.

I hope next year too, I watch films endlessly and I do get another Kaminey film to get mad at. :p

Hasta la Vista!

I dont like Films - Your Reaction ?

Some people dont like romantic films, some dont like emotional films, some dont like action films while some dont like comedy films etc etc. But then there are people who dont like any films at all except for 1-2 rare films.

What do you do when you meet such people ? Do you say that fine, they have their own likings, they may be liking things which I dont like in my life .. Or Do you say that how on earth can someone not like watching films ?

Are Indian films standards still so low that some people exists who feel to dislike watching any genre of films or its just that these people aren't keen to watch films even if good quality products are kept in front of them.

I dont know but I somehow feel strange to even imagine that people actually say no to quality films that are indeed quality products, leave aside blockbuster n etc type films.

Have you been through any such people ? Have your say ..

P.S - I am blogging after long time here, so have no idea if I had written on this before, If I have then do remind :d .

Film Review : Main Aurr Mrs Khanna

The film is about a couple Sameer(Salman) and Raina(Kareena) who love each other, but still they have got complications in their married life which is the financial problems due to Sameer's struggle to get work. And then enter's Akash(Sohail), in whom Raina finds a very good friend without knowing that he has fallen in love with her. How will the life of all the 3 characters unfold is what the film is all about.

The screenplay is slow, infact the starting 10 mins of film before alvida song doesnt really make impact. Salman looks irritating to me in those scenes, wish they were filmed in proper way. But once they come to Melbourne story, things start to fall in shape and leaving asides few scenes here n there, the film impresses me a lot.

Lots or infact almost everyone havent even liked this film, I guess the main reason is they couldnt just relate to the characters, but I easily ended up identifying and relating to the situations of the film very well.

Some dialogues are really good, I would love to save them forever with me somewhere for sure.

Direction was good, could had been better though. Choreography was just about fine. Happening was not really happening, except the part when Kareena enters that song. Mrs Khanna song was a surprise for me, loved it in the film(disliked in the album initially). Dont say alvida ofcourse was beautifully used in the film. Tumne socha could had been avoided(ofcourse I dont like the song). Rabba, being such a good emotional song required better situation then the one they use in this film to use this song. The impact wasnt that strong in this song.

Climax was good, only things that didnt work in the film were, the initial relationship that got both of them together looked unreal to some extent. And then the angle of rabba song wasnt required, I feel they could had kept it simple and taken it to climax some other way instead. Thats the only part which I didnt really like. Though, there was nothing wrong, but would had preferred different approach to the film from that point instead.

Performance wise,

Salman Khan didnt impress in first 10-15 minutes, but then he was very good in rest part of the film.

Kareena Kapoor was impressive for a change, she looked very good, the drunkard scene and Sameer's departure n Arrival scenes were the best of all.

Sohail Khan leaving asides 2-3 scenes, didnt really irritate which he mostly does. He was quite good.

Dino Morea was fine in a special apperance.

Deepika Padukone was nice in the special role she had.

Preity Zinta didnt look the real her in whatever part of film she was present.

Yash Tonk was nice.

Bappi Lehri was fine in small cameo.

Overall, Main aurr Mrs Khanna is a very sweet film with some good dialogues and performances, but you need to relate or connect to the characters else you may end up disliking this film.

Direction : 3.25 Out of 5

Screenplay : 3 Out of 5

Satisfaction of Genre : 4 Out of 5

Dialogues : 4 Out of 5

Cinematography : 3.5 Out of 5

Choreography : 3.25 Out of 5

Entertainment Value : 3.5 Out of 5

Performances : 3.75 Out of 5

Story : 4 Out of 5

Background Music : 3 Out of 5

Music : 3.65 Out of 5

Film Rating : 3.70 Out of 5 (Very Good)

Recommendation : Dont go to watch the film only for Salman, if you like the subject of the film, only then watch it as its not just a salman film at all.

Film Review : Blue

Few minutes into the film, after very good credits where they show the aquatic life, the desperation starts that when will the sea shots come, as the main focus is on them, thats what has been as real promotion so far. But they just dont come, and when they come, you know more or less that there is nothing new. Surely, they would have gone through immense work to do that much only but why promote it then as a film on hidden treasure in sea that much as they did.

Story is about 3 ppl, Aarav(Akshay), Sagar(Sanjay) and Sam(Zayed). Aarav is always keen to go deep inside the sea to get the treasure but only Sagar can help him who knows a lot about the treasure but something is stopping him to help Aarav. Sam, brother of Sagar is a overconfident chap who ends up in a mess with Rahul Dev. Circumstances make all 3 go for the treasure hunt. What happens after that .. well watch that urself ..

Performance wise Akshay was superb in almost every frame, but again in vain.

Sanjay Dutt was simply misfit in this role, he never looked impressive in any scene what so ever.

Zayed Khan was okish, his bike chase sequences were the good ones and to some extent his conversations with katrina.

Katrina, what to say of her dialogue delivery, same crap but good thing was, she looked so gorgeous. Her looks are to die for in the film.

Lara Dutta, she never looked so good to me than this film, probably actresses were used as glamour quotient in this film. She hardly has dialogues in film.

Kylie was fine in 1-2 dialouges she has.

Rahul Dev was nice.

Direction was just about fine. Cinematography without a doubt was the best part of the film. Dialogues also were quite good at places. Camera work was interesting, specially the chase sequences and the train sequence.

Also, the sound used during the sea shots were impressive, and specially the background used during the introductory scene of Zayed, that was very good.

What was the main and biggest flaw of the film, its Screenplay. You have got such a brilliant starcast, a idea of subject that's not been made yet in bollywood and still you end up making such a big mess of it, its just ridiculous. What do you say when a film of 2 hours at various points makes you feel bored or uncomfortable. Screenplay was simply terrible.

Climax was not appealing either and ofcourse, the sea shots except for the visual treat had no other impact at all.

Songs were just used for the sake of like chalo we will put song here as we need to use this song chahe kuch bhi ho . Blue theme song is damn badly used. Aaj dil gustaakh is just about tolerable in terms of picturisation. Chiggy wiggy is the perfect one in that terms. Bhula tujhe was probably the best song of the film(not audio wise). Wonder how they would had used udit song if it had been there.

Overall, Blue falls way short of expectations. Another Akshay film that promises a lot but delivers nothing at all.

Direction : 3 Out of 5

Screenplay : 0 Out of 5

Satisfaction of Genre : 1 Out of 5

Dialogues : 3.25 Out of 5

Cinematography : 4 Out of 5

Choreography : 3.5 Out of 5

Entertainment Value : 3.5 Out of 5

Performances : 3.5 Out of 5

Story : 3.5 Out of 5

Background Music : 3.5 Out of 5

Music : 4 Out of 5

Film Rating : 2 Out of 5 (Slightly Tolerable)

Recommendation : If you are akshay fan, then go and watch it, else skip this film.

Film Review : All The Best

Had no expectations at all, thought that will have few laughs at most, nothing else. But it ended to be such a good film.

Almost every character has got their good scenes in the film, though its Sanjay Dutt all throughout and ofcourse the execution of the story by Rohit.

Climax though could had been little better but still much better than the madness stretched routine in recent comedies.

Story is about Prem(Ajay) who keeps giving ideas after ideas of lies to Veer(Fardeen) who has been lieing to his brother Dharam(Sanjay) about his marriage with Vidya(Mughda) and to manage one lie, how he constructs a chain of lies which results in many mad comedy scenes.

Performance wise,

Sanjay Dutt looked in awesome form, some of his punchlines specially the one "comedy toh maine abhi se shuru kiya hai, lekin action toh main 30 saal se karta aa raha hoon" ..

Ajay Devgan was good, though at times he was loud but those were few scenes in number.

Fardeen Khan does the usual stuff, neck rotate and karo comedy. Overall, he was nice at best.

Mugdha Godse was impressive in her first try at comedy, though she has small role.

Bipasha Basu in start looked odd doing comedy but as the film went on, she came into her own and did quite well.

Ashwani Kalsekar, whole time i was thinking where have i seen her, now i remember it she was superb in that dialect.

Asrani and Mukesh Tiwari were fine.

Johnny Lever and Sanjay Mishra were very impressive. Dhondu just chill

Atul Parchure also had his share of moments in a small role.

Direction was very good by Rohit Shetty, some cinematic liberties are used to show various styles like the car rotate during red rose or the engine thing or the action scenes.

Screenplay was very good, they created so many comedy situations which doesnt make you just laugh but laugh madly. Thats the biggest positive sign for a comedy film.

Songs are good, specially martaba and one sad number that comes later in the film. All the best title is fine while the band performance goes well with the film. Overall, music doesnt bore during the film, though nothing special in it either.

The main usp of the film has to be ajay-sanjay scenes(specially that door one, that was too hillarious), the just chill act and the maid role. Also, the chura liya hai part with johny.

Overall, All the best surprises you and makes you like it a lot when you leave the theatres.

Direction : 3.5 Out of 5

Screenplay : 3.75 Out of 5

Satisfaction of Genre : 4.5 Out of 5

Dialogues : 3.25 Out of 5

Cinematography : 3 Out of 5

Choreography : 2.75 Out of 5

Entertainment Value : 4.5 Out of 5

Performances : 4 Out of 5

Story : 3.25 Out of 5

Background Music : 3 Out of 5

Music : 2.75 Out of 5

Film Rating : 3.75 Out of 5 (Very Good)

Recommendation : Dont miss it, dont go by the trailers, watch it, you wont regret it if you like comedy films.

Film Review : Acid Factory

Acid Factory worked a lot for me mainly for the story and the narration style.

Its about 6 people who are trapped in a acid factory who have temporary memory loss due to pentane acid cylinder leakage and have forgotten their identities. Two of them are kidnappers and two were supposed to die. But no one knows who were the kidnappers and who were the people who kidnapped and who were the rest two people. The mastermind behind all this is by keizer (irfan khan).

1st half deals mainly with how they try to use permutations n combinations to get their real names, keeping a check on each other if they are lying or not at same time.

2nd half becomes more interesting though the climax doesnt fully impress, mainly for the way they show keizer in the entire film, the end seemed bit stranger for him.

Another thing is that they never show when Romeo(fardeen) gets his memory back, though thats not required either.

The narration style was excellent, with the 5 weeks earlier shift upto 1 week earlier. But the story in those flashback wasnt as interesting as the current ongoing plot which weakened the film a bit, add to it bad music and songs put in that weren't required at all. Leaving aside yeh jism jo, there was no requirement of songs.

Dialogues were good and bad at same time. Cinematography was good. Screenplay could had been better. Editing was nice, nothing noteworthy. Camera work was very good.

Performance wise,

Irfan impressed the most. Fardeen was fine,such roles suit him more than comic ones. Manoj Bajpayee looked in form. Aftab shivdasani was just about fine. Dino Morea was ok, bit irritating at times.Danny Denzangpa was good, he is getting good roles it seems now. Dia Mirza hardly has any role.

Gulshan Grover was flawless like always.

Overall, Acid Factory does excite you at lots of places, due to some good way of story telling, though it could had been more thrilling.

Direction : 3.65 Out of 5

Screenplay : 4 Out of 5

Satisfaction of Genre : 3.5 Out of 5

Dialogues : 3 Out of 5

Cinematography : 3 Out of 5

Choreography : 2.5 Out of 5

Entertainment Value : 2.5 Out of 5

Performances : 2.75 Out of 5

Story : 3.25 Out of 5

Background Music : 3.25 Out of 5

Music : 2.25 Out of 5

Film Rating : 3.25 Out of 5 (Good)

Recommendation : Watch it if you are fond of sanjay gupta's filmmaking, you would like it.