Film Review : Ra One

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


Performance wise,

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

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

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

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

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

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


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


Verdict : AVERAGE

Opening and End Credits

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

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

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

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


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

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


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

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

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


------
Yash.

Don2 : The king is back

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

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

From this new trailer -> Don2 Theatrical Trailer

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

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

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

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

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

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

Fans

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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


------
Yash.

Film Review : Mod

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

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

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

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

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


Performances wise,

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

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

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


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


Verdict : Nice 

Film Review : My Friend Pinto

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

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

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

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

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

Performances wise,

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

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

Arjun Mathur and Shruti Seth are good in supporting roles.

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

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


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


Verdict : Average

Film Review : Jo Dooba So Paar

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

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

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

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

Performances wise,

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

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

Rest of the supporting cast is just about fine.

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


Verdict : Poor