Film Review : Action Replayy

Kishen(Akshay Kumar) who is married with Mala(Aishwarya Rai) has a not so happy married life. His son Bunty(Aditya Roy Kapur) wants them to be happy but that is possible only if their past life is changed. With the help of technology i.e time machine, he decides to go back to past and make all the changes. But, what hurdles he will have to face while doing this, he isnt aware of.

The starting part of film is quite slow, first 15 minutes you wait for something to happen as the proceedings look dull. The film gets going once Bunty reaches the old era. 1st half is good but its the 2nd half and the makeover of Kishen that takes the film to a high along with the catchline "Awaaz Neeche" that is bound to get your laughs.

What the film suffers from mostly is the fact that the direction has lots of loopholes. Such loopholes can be ignored in slapstick comedies but not here. For instance, no one questions the dress style of Bunty, how are Kishen and Kundan(Rannvijay Singh) singing without a mike or headphone anything and yet easily listenable. Even its hard to accept that Mala cant find that there is a difference of voice when it comes to singing of Kishen, but that still be ignored when we can see Kundan singing in 2 voices. And then the continuity error with the hairstyle of Bunty that keeps changing with every new scene.

Writing was good though with some flaws. Screenplay was very good and interesting. Editing wasnt upto the mark. Costumes were very good, Aishwarya Rai looked so beautiful.

Music is very well used. Zor ka jhatka comes at a surprising time but rightly placed. Out of rest songs, the medley was the best for me. Comprising of 4 songs, it was superbly choreographed. Also, nakhre was a good watch too.

There are some very good scenes like the climax one or the pre-climax awaaz neeche scene, the pre nakhre and post nakhre scenes, the back-story of kishen told to Bunty, and many more.

Performances wise,

Akshay Kumar does really well. Whether its the old age character, the geek character or the stylish retro character. He looks at ease in all the three. My fav though would be stylish one and yeah add the old one's final scene, that was very good.

Aishwarya Rai is excellent. She is one actress who is constantly bashed for the reasons we all are well aware of. She is wonderful in a role that shows her mean side, specially note her expressions when a new Kishen ignores her.

Aditya Roy Kapur was good, there were few scenes where he gives you a uninteresting image but that goes pretty quickly. Though, I dont really like his hairstyle, quite wierd. Better use the short hairstyle he had in some parts.

Rannvijay Singh suited the negative shade role. He was better then in London Dreams I feel.

Kirron Kher and Om Puri were good in small cameos.

Randhir Kapoor, Neha Dhupia and Rajpal Yadav were fine, they all had very short role.


Overall, Action Replayy is worth to see mainly due to the performances and screenplay that keeps you involved. The film has the dose of entertainment if you leave starting 15 mins aside. Its definately Vipul's weakest film in comparison to Namastey London and London Dreams but as a new film, its definately good watch.


Rating : 3.40 Out of 5 

Shahrukh Khan : Special

Happy Birthday to Shahrukh Khan who turned 45 this Nov2nd. He has always been no.2 all time fav actor of mine, ofcourse no.1 is not Aamir Khan but Amitabh Bachchan. So, here I am going to conduct a different kinda of interview where questions will be asked by me and answered by me only, and every question will be related to Shahrukh. Lets start!


How did your love for Shahrukh Khan started ? 
Hmm, it started during the release of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. I remember how I use to madly watch the film daily, infact 3 times in 3 days I saw it on T.V. Another funny incident is that, one of my school friend told that the film is like dil toh pagal hai due to which I didnt have much craze to see the film. But somehow luckily I made mind to see it when it was coming on T.V and rest is history. Since then not only I have loved watching Shahrukh films but also my love for hindi films or madness for hindi films started.

How was his performance in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai ?
Very Good, he has always been excellent when it comes to portraying romantic characters and this one comes in top5.. actually no.1 shahrukh's romantic film for me.

What do you like the most about Shahrukh ? 
His dedication towards his acting. He is a very hard-working actor as read in many interviews of various directors. He himself said it too that he loves everything about acting. Most important, he enjoys it as a profession. Also, I love his sense of humour seen at many award functions or talk shows like koffee with karan. I love the fact that he is daring, if anyone says anything wrong about him, he wont keep away from giving a hard reply. In all, he is a perfect person... though smoking is one aspect he could have a control on.

Do you consider yourself a Shahrukh Fan ? Have you made any collections regarding him ? 
I would say that I am a fan of his work. I aint like the normal Shahrukh fans who will start abusing you if you say anything against Srk. I do believe Shahrukh has his shortcomings like he aint good at action roles. I like many other actors too, so its hard to say which actor I am fan of. But still after Amitabh, the name I take is of Shahrukh only. Regarding collections, I havent done anything of that sort. Though, I would love to have a poster of Shahrukh probably a romantic one with Kajol.

People say that Shahrukh is a over-rated actor, he is not versatile.. What you say ?
Its their opinion. Though I cant really respect it because the truth is, he is a versatile actor. You can say that he does romantic roles a lot but then those romantic roles have many different shades. Except for 2-3 times, he has mostly done different roles. Ya, I agree films like Swades, Chak de India etc fall completely in different zone but then that is the case with other actors too. So, people have just made it a excuse to show their hatred towards Shahrukh, nothing else.

You didnt like Don.. If original Don was done by someone else than Amitabh would you still have not liked Shahrukh's Don ?
Yea, I still wont have liked it. Though, I dont think anyone else would had done full justice to old don other than Amitabh. But even if someone did, the point is making a new film with same old story and add to it same songs and dialogues. How can then you expect to like the new film when the same stuff you had really loved with other actor-director combo. Its hard not to make comparisons in such cases. Shahrukh surely made the Don look stylish but new dialogues/situations would had been better. Leaving asides the climax and aaj ki raat song, there was just nothing new and exciting about the film.

Which are the over-rated and under-rated films of Shahrukh ? 
I wont say over-rated. Over rated is a touch rude word but there are films which I feel didnt deserve to be Blockbusters or Super-Hits like Om Shanti Om.. I never liked its 2nd half so it was a good watch and deserved Hit tag at maximum. Then, Dil toh Pagal Hain, it was a good film but the melodrama was bit on the higher side.
Among under-rated films, its Dil Se .. I think its flop film, one of best films I have seen ever, among my personal top10. Then, Kabhi alvida na Kehna is under-rated too, people couldnt understand Dev and Maya characters unfortunately and hence film didnt work. And lastly My name is Khan, this time people had funny excuses to dislike film, some said such message films have come before while some were busy finding comparisons to terrorism films.

Which are your Top5 Shahrukh Films ? 
In order it would be, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, Chak de India, Dil Se and Veer Zaara. Rest films are close too.

And your fav Top5 songs filmed on Shahrukh ? 
This one is tough but I will answer it. In order it will be : Tu mere Saamne (Darr), Zara tasveer se tu (Pardes), Chaiyya Chaiyya (Dil Se), Humko humhi se chura lo (Mohabbatein) and Tere liye (Veer Zaara). Also, Special Mention to - Abhi ishq ke imtihaan aur bhi the Background Theme from Dil Se, one of my all time favourite and amazingly used in film at various places.

Which actress looked best with Shahrukh apart from Kajol ? 
Rani probably, films like Kuch Kuch Hota Hai,Chalte Chalte (me yet to see it,opinion based on photos), Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna. Preity probably comes next with films like Kal ho na Ho and Veer Zaara. Even Aishwarya was wonderful in Mohabbatein. Also, many debutant actresses have got great start to their career like Mahima,Deepika etc.

How did you find Shahrukh as a host in Kaun Banega Crorepati ?
I hardly saw the shows then, but I did see 1-2 episodes to know how he was. I will say that he was very good but the format dissappointed me like gale milna and all stuff. Also, Shahrukh was too friendly in the sense using "Tu" or "Tum" with elders too which didnt look good on screen.

Which are your Fav alltime three scenes of Shahrukh ? 
Firstly, Dil se Climax scene where Shahrukh asks Manisha to take him with her, brilliantly executed and performed. Second, Pardes climax as here Shahrukh's shows his anger to Amrish Puri who he respects and is like his Dad but is unaware of truth regarding his own son which he shows there. Third, Kuch Kuch hota hai dance scene between Shahrukh and Kajol, it was very romantic and lovely use of title tune in it.

Which was the last Shahrukh film that you loved ? 
My name is Khan. It was very well directed film by Karan, excepted for the final 20 mins that were hurried and not properly told. I specially loved the message of film - There are only 2 kinds of people, good and bad, nothing else, no other division.

Do you think Shahrukh has aged up now to do certain roles ? 
Not really, though his smoking surely is having some effect to his face. Salman and Aamir do look younger then him. But, these artists can use make-up and live a character with ease. Only thing I am waiting to see is, will Shahrukh follow the steps of Amitabh after 15 years and succeed or not in the roles he gets at that age.

What would you like to see in Future from Shahrukh ? 
Probably, few more films like Dil Se, Chak de India to keep the haters impressed! .. And possibly one film atleast on the lines of Darr, its been a while since he did a negative role (Don was remake, so doesnt qualify). Also, I hope his relations gets back to normal with Salman otherwise a film with Salman wont happen in future too.


With that, the interview comes to a end. In the language of Rab ne bana di jodi, "Self Interview" comes to a end.

Happy Birthday to Shahrukh once again! ;)

Film Review : Rakht Charitra - I

Pratap Ravi(Vivek Oberoi) comes to know about his Dad's death. Soon his brother dies in quest for revenge. Now, the honours get on Pratap to revenge against the wrong. How he plans the murders, what reactions he gets as a result. And how he enters politics, all this is what Rakta Charitra - I covers. 

The film boasts of everything that one can expect from a Ram Gopal Verma Film - Loud Music, Wierd camera angles,  Lots of Extreme Close Up Shots etc. Though, have to admit Ramu does limit himself from all this in the film as there are very few scenes where we see the suspense kinda of camera angles. 

There is way too much of violence, blood, killings, but then we were warned in advance not to enter the hall if we are Kabhi khushi kabhi gham lovers. Since I loved that Karan film, I am expected to dislike Rakta Charitra going by Ramu's theory. Unfortunately, not so the case. I quite liked the film. But the major credit would go to the trio of Vivek Oberoi, Abhimanyu Singh and Shatrughan Sinha. 

These 3 actors keep you hooked towards the next scene as the next proceeding in the film would have a effect on one or the other. And all the three are powerful in terms of their expressions, and some dialogues too like "Topic over" trademark Shatrughan Sinha's dialogue in the film. When a director loves taking extreme close up shots, what becomes most important is the expressions and mannerisms of the actors, and here that works quite a lot. 

Having said all this, there is Ramu's usual stuff seen in scenes like camera movement towards Jayalakshmi Reddy in two scenes, one when Gomti comes to her for help and other one when she is cooking in kitchen and Pratap Ravi enters the home. Also, there's a scene where the camera is given a complete 360 degree revolution. Ramu wont stop experimenting with camera. 

Direction wise, it was a good attempt by Ram Gopal Verma. Though, its not his perfection yet. Screenplay was impressive. Dialogues were good, editing was fine. Climax was good, though the person narrating the story was a turn off, someone with better voice should had been used. 

Performances wise, 

Vivek Oberoi was superb, confident and totally into his character. Though his opening scene when he tries to style a bit and then with the actress date made me feel that he might not be that good. But, after that scene, I couldnt notice any problem with his acting. I specially loved his look in the latter half of the film. 

Shatrughan Sinha, though had a small role in this part, probably will have more in next one. Still, he makes his part get noticed, firstly due to his look which even after knowing beforehand that its him I had to see few more scenes to confirm its Shatrughan only. And then, his powerful acting.. he should do more films or roles like this, Amitabh could get a competition then. 

Abhimanyu Singh for sometime in film reminded me of Gulaal, probably because his 1st dialogues comes after quite a delay and the mannerisms, costumes were similar to Gulaal. He portrayed the evil role very well, special reference to scenes between him and Ashwani kalsekar. Only thing I wish though that there was one scene between him and Vivek in the film but script didnt demand that I guess. 

Sushant Singh, Aashish Vidyarthi, Ashwani Kalsekar and Rajendra Gupta were good. Darshan Jariwala was slightly over the top in the only scene he has in film. Srinivas Rao Kota was a bit irritating, he had a funny pose, always tilting towards right while standing. 

Music was below average, except for the title song which also was too loud, the other song used was unbearable. Background Music was good though. 

Overall, when you come out of the theatre, you are bound to think about the film a lot which in a way confirms that the film does succeed, specially the performances of main leads. Though, it wont be liked by those who dont like too much of violence, blood etc. For rest, the film would be a good watch. 

Rating : 3.45 Out of 5 

Oyy [Views]

My 2nd regional film. Took 2 years, to see 2nd one .. Again on a occasion, this time its KarvaChauth. ..

I wont say that I loved it as much as bommarillu. But I enjoyed it a lot, and it was very emotional too.

The story inspired by A walk to Remember. Its about how two people, Siddharth and Sharmili collide having different ways of living, different ways of seeing life. Its about love at first sight for Siddharth and then how he tries to succeed in it.

I only wish the female lead was someone else, she was a let down even though at many places she looked so cute with her spects but the places where she had to look beautiful or something, she lacked it. In a way, I felt she doesnt have the screen presence.

Aneways, Siddharth is the magic man in the film. Great performance, specially the one where he gets very emotional in hospital or the one in the climax.

I didnt like the side angles at all, its required in every film. But here, it was not gelling well with main plot. Abhishek angle was good, but it was stretched specially the scenes at ship were somewhat boring.

The screenplay was good, narration and all was impressive, with good quotient of humour that involves the lead pair. Songs are very well used, and I liked the music a lot too. Songs sung by karthik, kay kay, shreya, sunidhi. Yuvan as music composer is quite good, he composed few songs in Striker too.

The climax is very touchy, also love the 1st song where they establish two different thinking characters. Some great moments, like the 1st meeting of siddharth with sharmili or the plant scene or the night scene .. Or the two places at same time one. And few more ;) ..

Overall, Oyy is worth a watch for Siddharth mainly and the story which is somewhat emotional though not new.

Film Review : Jhootha Hi Sahi

Abbas Tyrewala gave a movie that had everything in it to fall in love last time i.e Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na. So, expectations are high, not just for me but for every person who went on that tag to see the film. And surely, most of them would had been dissappointed. For me, yea he didnt live upto the mark set, but still the film has some very good moments despite of the fact that its a very weakly handled film.

The story is of Sid(John Abraham) who lives with his friends and runs a book store. One random day, his number gets mixed with a suicide helpline resulting in no. of calls at night. And he happens to talk with Mishka(Pakhi Tyrewala), turning to save her life. How he starts getting attached to her, coincidently meeting her with some other name and then how he handles his lies to manipulate her, and fall in love. But what will happen when she will come to know that the person she meets and the person she talks on phone are same.

The concept of the film is really good, that always had me wanting to see the film. But the treatment is very poor. You would like a screenplay that holds you for 2 hrs 30 mins, but here thats not the case, and add to it Abbas tries so hard to bring humour at places that appears forced. Jaane Tu worked because it was natural, it had humour where humour could be placed and then there were serious scenes with no jokes around. Here, its hard to find any serious scenes, and if you do find them you dont connect to them easily.

Also, what works against the film is the fact that the story is kept real, whatever happens in the film does happen in real i.e girl loves her bf, parts away as he ditched, then falls in love with new guy, old bf comes back, she goes back forgetting new love and then again back to new love. All this does happen in real but no one will like to see this on screen, a better screenplay may have helped but more than that writing could had been changed removing the angle of Madhavan from the story.

And the faults dont end there, character sketch of Mishka and Aliya(plays sister of Raghu) are extremely poor. You tend to laugh at the reason Aliya gives for her non-marriage, though I feel her reason would have looked pretty fine if she wasnt shown pregnant. While Mishka as I said, her character is hard to show sympathy with due to the fact its way too real. Even the Climax is much overdone, one can say Jaane Tu was filmy too but still you could accept it the way it was filmed, here it went a touch above it with that stupid thing.

The feel of the film and dialogues is very youth eccentric. Editing could had been better to avoid some dull moments that comes in the screenplay.

Still, among all this, there are lots of things that are worth to be liked, Sid's reply to 3rd caller(the writing again was terrible here, why were the callers especially 1st two made to sound like idiots), Sid's meeting with Mishka at book store, constant use of  'Ajeebs' and 'Tauba' by Aliya, 3 rules of dosti, Ankur-Sid scene, and specially the conversation between Sid-Mishka in restaurant.

Songs are pretty well used, I am waiting sounds so pleasant and lovely with such good background kept, very well thought of. Hello Hello is used more in the narration of story, one of my favs. Cry Cry, the conversation song between both is superb. Pam pa ra looks better with film then as audio. Do Nishaaniyaan again narrates a part of story, romantic and little funny too. Call me dil could had been used, but then its already a long film. Maiyya Yashoda was fine, nothing impressive.

Performances wise,

John Abrahim was superb, I would rate this among his top5 performances, pity that despite such good performance the film ended on wrong note. He looked awesome, acted awesome, there were few places where he did go wrong, but itna chalta hai. I specially love when he says "Thora" to Mishka outside dvd store or when he replies to Mishka about his stammer at restaurant.

Pakhi Tyrewala had a average debut. She was way too inconsistent, sometimes in looks she looked or appeared very old, whether its make up person fault or thats how it is. Even in acting, she was overdoing some expressions. Also, there was a lack of chemistry between her and John. She needs to work a lot on herself as a whole for future. She was one of the main weak link of the film.

Raghu Ram was pretty good, except for his Musharraf scene that was overdone, his character was very well written and enacted.

Manasi Scott was nice, Anaitha Nair was wasted, hardly got 2 scenes. Alishka Varde despite poorly written role impresses with her acting and mannerisms.

Prashant Chawla, Omar Khan and Geroge Young were decent.

R.Madhavan was irritating mainly due to worst written character of the film. Except for just one tiny dialogue in climax, there is nothing to like in his role.


Its important that you tend to feel for a character when he/she isnt happy, is going through some rough phase etc but that happens very less in this film. Except for one scene i.e Sid-Ankur one, there is simply nothing, all thanks to the treatment of subject.

Overall, Jhootha hi Sahi fails due to poor writing and screenplay that makes things look silly then real. Abbas joins the list of directors who made a awesome debut film and a average 2nd film. Watch Jhootha hi Sahi only for John's performance and few good scenes here and there.


Rating : 2.55 Out of 5 

Film Review : Knock Out

I havent seen Phone-Booth, so whether the film really copies scenes or dialogues I aint sure at all. Now coming to the film, the story of Knock-out deals with a person(Sanjay Dutt) whose identity is unknown and on one particular day, he decides to make a random call at a phonebooth when Bacchu(Irfan Khan) is there. And then starts a series of orders which if not followed could lead to death of Bacchu. Why, all such acts are done, and where does it eventually lead to, is what the story is about.

The best thing about the film is that its short and the songs are kept away thankfully from the narration. Actually, if one notices, the film's narration very much follows the path of A Wednesday, the only difference being that Knock out is much more a entertainer then a thriller.

Mani Shankar does well as far as direction goes, he is let down by average writing and poor dialogues. Editing is proper. Screenplay is good, there is just one way story and no additional hiccups to lessen the impact.

There are some over the top scenes, like the audience keenly appreciating the tv coverage or clapping. One may argue it as cinematic liberty but it looked kinda of funny to see.

Performances wise,

Sanjay Dutt is good, not at his best though.

Irfan Khan is amazing, even though the hairstyle looks a bit wierd but his acting is bang on. Love the sequence where he dances on the ringtune.

Kangana Ranaut's dialogue delivery is bad in the film, cant understand what went wrong specially when she is having a very good run of form. Leaving that apart, she was fine as she portrayed the role of a journalist desperate for a breaking news.

Sushant Singh was good to start with but his later part was full of overacting. He needs to restrain himself, he has been very good as a actor in past.

Gulshan Grover is fine in small cameo. Apoorva Lakhia is stylish in his debut special apperance.


Overall, Knock Out works only in terms of entertainment that it keeps providing despite some poor writing and funny dialogues, For instance "Not accepted" made to "Note Accepted".  Aneways, its not that bad a movie as it has been made out by everyone, if not in theatre watch it once on T.V.


Rating : 2.75 Out of 5 

Film Review : Aakrosh

Two CBI Officers, Siddhant(Akshay Khanna) and Pratap(Ajay Devgan) are given the case of 3 medical college students who have gone missing. They start their investigation, but the village where those 3 boys were seen last doesnt co-operate with them. The people have a fear that stops them in helping or giving any clue to the officers. To make the matters worse, the police they deal with is highly corrupt, with the charge inspector being Ajatshatru(Paresh Rawal). How, these cbi officers gather proofs and solve this case is what this drama thriller deals with.

The film starts on a serious note, with the credits shown along with the real incidents in form of newspaper news. The story takes its time to get to the culmination, though a drawback here is that we as a audience are certain where it will go except for some twists here and there. But, what we are trying to see is how it reaches there.

Even though the film was told to be a entertainer, one feels that the subject of Honour Killings could had been used more as a message striving film then a thriller, as in the end the film doesnt quite thrills you even though it has quite much entertainment value throughout.

Still, the film works mainly due to the performances of the leads, great action sequences and screenplay that keeps you involved though it does test you at places, because the editing is improper. The entire car chase sequence including the train stunt was excellent, while the Roof chase so much reminded of the "Black Friday" Cop Chase.

Some Dialogues are powerful and worth to be remembered, specially Ajay's take on Confidence and the main one on Diwali.

The pre-climax looked pretty stupid to me, but thankfully the scene it was leading to made the proceedings look good.

Among Performances,

Ajay Devgan, excels in a role that's pretty much tailormade for him. Another film added to the list of very good performances by him.I specially loved the scenes where he shows his anger, or the light sequence where he questions a co officer if Siddhant would had really shooted.

Akshay Khanna, is a touch loud. Also, the camera zooms too much on him which doesnt look good. A decent performance in the end I would say.

Paresh Rawal is excellent as a corrupt policeman. Though, we have seen him do such roles with ease in past, but we would anyday prefer to see him in these roles rather then the comedy ones.

Bipasha Basu is hardly there for few scenes, and she looks out of touch in those scenes too, leaving asides Saude Baazi song where she is excellent.

The rest cast is the typical Priyadarshan regulars, who didnt do anything worth a note.


Saude Baazi is used very badly in the narrative, although one would love to see it purely due to the romantic clips and the melodious music that runs through the song. Isak se meetha is used very well, Sameera Reddy doesnt come close to match Beedi Jalaaliye.


Overall, Aakrosh is good enough one time watch in theatre. Priyadarshan does try to get into a serious cinema  but not able to give full justice to it. Nevertheless, worth a try then those silly comedy films.


Rating : 2.95 Out of 5