Movie Analysis : Diana

Directed by : Oliver Hirschbiegel
Imdb link -> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1758595/


Dissappointing portrayal of Diana's last two years. 

Read at your own risk, the post is full of spoilers.


I thought I was in for a very good film, despite the terrible rating it had got on Imdb or the reviews it had got. But, those ratings were correct, the film is indeed bad one. The blame goes to both the script and the direction.

The film focusses on the last two years of Princess Diana, when she was involved in a relationship with Pakistani heart surgeon. Just like Lincoln, this film ain't a biography of her entire life. But here the director fails to develop a screenplay that engages you or makes you feel for Diana.

Right from the first flashback sequence, the way camera moves already had me against the film. Then, the continuous urge to show something good about Diana (Naomi Watts) in between the developing romantic plot between her and Dr. Hasnat Khan (Naveen Andrews). All this made me think that maybe director would had been better off showing entire life of Diana, it would had worked for him then.

The Rumi's lines used at the end of film, reminds of hindi movie Rockstar, and how well they were justified there, but in Diana's case, it appears more like trying to give something extra to a person who is no more. Yes, that shot where numerous people gather and put flowers all around was lovely and to certain extent heart-breaking. But, the movie never takes you into the emotional turnmoil Diana was going through.

The entire portion where Diana is willingly trying to get herself into bad news, was most boring part in the film.

The script should had shown some interesting portions about Diana's life in the starting of those 2 years, before she meets Hasnat. Just presenting someone living a lonely life, suddenly gets attracted meeting a doctor who treats his work above any well known person, was not enough to go into the main plot of the movie.

That is one of the reasons, at places it appears like Naomi Watts is acting as Diana, and not living the character.


Overall, Diana turns out to be a forgettable movie for me, very dissappointed to say that. I hope some director will make a better movie that portrays the life of Diana in future.

Movie Analysis : Gravity

Directed by : Alfonso Cuaron
Imdb link -> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1454468/


Very good movie, but I couldn't connect to it. 

Read at your own risk, the post is full of spoilers.


Can it happen that you appreciate almost every aspect of movie, still you don't love the film ? It happens here for me. Probably I know the reason, I just couldn't connect to the movie  I have liked some of the sci-fi movies in past, so it can't be about the genre. But yea, a space based movie is another reason.

Now coming to the great points about the movie. Its about how Ryan (Sandra Bullock) tries to survive after getting invovled in a incident during her first shuttle mission. She along with Matt (George Clooney) are the only people who survive death, but not for long as they will soon be attacked again.

Sandra Bullock gives a splendid performance, to see the way she tries to fight the situation on her own, her own past story of her child keeps haunting her at times, and then those occasions when she thinks of giving up. Though, that Matt sequence shown in latter part of the movie somehow looked wierd to me.. or should I say bit un-realistic. Geroge Clooney more or less provides some humour to the movie.

The visuals without a doubt were the 1st thing to applaud about the movie, right from the 1st frame itself when the camera slowly moves back with no sound before astronaut's voices start coming. I could listen a girl in theatre whispering 'Woww' at that visual.

 Also, how earth looks from space visual.. and the sunrise/sunset ones were something to see in 3d Imax. And special mention to the scenes that have no sound or background score.

The film revolves around Ryan and Matt characters only, rest cast have hardly 1-2 minutes role. Whether they make it in the end or not, is what keeps you glued to the screen. The numerous troubles they face, when satellites keep coming towards them, or the shuttle gets destroyed were great to watch.

The same kind of reaction last time I had was with Avatar which also featured story filmed on a space away from earth.


Overall, Gravity is a very good film, but I just couldn't connect to it like I normally do with such films.  So, I can't use the lines 'Wow what a film I just saw' like many did, and no regrets. Its not compulsory to love every film that is regarded as special.

Movie Analysis : Elysium

Directed by : Neill Blomkamp
Imdb link -> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1535108/

Excellent idea wasted in a poor script. 

Read at your own risk, the post is full of spoilers.


The film is based in year 2154, when wealthy people live on a man-made space called Elysium where there is no health issues, while poor live on a ruined earth. Max (Matt Damon) dreamed of living in Elysium since childhood, by saving enough money through work. He gets involed in a tragic accident, thereby giving him only 5 days left to live. He can survive only if he reaches Elysium, but without money he won't go there. So, he takes help of Spider (Wagner Moura) who is ready to help him in return of some important information he has to extract for him.

I was excited for the film thinking of the main plot of life at earth vs life at elysium. But the main story turns out something else, which dissappointed me. The technology involved, or the action scenes or the scenes preceding Max at Elysium didn't impress me. Also, the reference made to his childhood time and again (restrained version of 'Man of Steel') didnt help.

I would have liked the film if they had sent Max to Elysium to save life of someone close to him or maybe much more. Here, all he wants is to find a way for his life to not end.

Matt Damon gives decent performance, but not one I would like to remember. Among rest cast, Wagner Moura is good while Jodie Foster who plays the leader at Elysium not allowing any poor people reach her place was very good. Also, Alice Braga who plays friend come love interest of Max was nice.


Overall, Elysium doesn't work for me, they just couldn't develop the main idea into a exciting script. At the most, a one time-watch.

Movie Analysis : Besharam

Directed by : Abhinav Kashyap
Imdb link -> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2576450/

After Anjaana Anjaani, 2nd Ranbir movie that enters 'never see again' list. 

Read at your own risk, the post is full of spoilers. 


Mere seene mein dil nahi, jigar hai.. aur woh kabhi toot-ta nahi hai. 


When I saw Dabangg2, I had said that the film missed Abhinav as Arbaaz was terrible as director. With Besharam, I don't know what I should say. Maybe I should give Abhinav another chance, or maybe it was Salman-Abhinav duo that worked as team, independently both gave very average (or bad) films.

The story is of a orphan guy Babli (Ranbir Kapoor) who is a car thief, he is told to get a good car for Chandel (Javed Jaaferi). He happens to meet Tara (Pallavi Sharda), before he met Chandel. So as expected, Tara has just bought a new mercedes, and thats the car Babli unknowingly steals. Then, starts the journey of getting the car back, with a few realisations occuring in lives of Babli and Tara taking them closer to each other.

The main plotline of the movie is 'There is no right way of doing the wrong thing'. To be frank, that's a good one to write a entire movie on. But that is what doesn't happen in case of Besharam.

There are moments when the jokes clicks, Ranbir being a great actor does provide some lovable scenes. But the screenplay is too predictable, cliched (that monologue scene of Ranbir when he tells  Tara why he steals)  and full of songs. In the narration,  there is a song, followed by 1-2 minutes dialogue scene, followed by another song. This happens twice in the film, if you carefully notice.

Also, Ranbir-Pallavi as a pair didn't work. I won't blame Pallavi for it, it was the character sketch written for her, she got a role that was never going to work.

The story reminds of 80's era, a spoilt girl (to certain extent here) makes fun of guy in front of all officemates, and later falls in love with the guy. It may have worked if there were some super punchlines like Dabangg, but they are very far and few. One that I may recollect right now is 'Mere seene mein dil nahi, jigar hai.. aur woh kabhi toot-ta nahi hai'. Also, what was the need to make Pallavi say 'besharam' time and again.

There are 2 kind of films, one where comedy drama are inserted into a story, and other is where story is inserted into comedy drama situations. Besharam was the 2nd kind.

The kapoor's real life relation is forcefully put into the story, when Ranbir says 'aapka aashirwad hai na mere saath', or when they adopt Ranbir at the end.

Though the songs weren't the kind that I may remember after years, but they weren't plain bad either. I specially love the background music in 'Ban jaa besharam' song, also the floor moves of Ranbir. To watch all Kapoors dance in 'Hand utha ke nacche' was wonderful, even if Rishi Kapoor looks odd while dancing now. My favs ofcourse were 'Love ki Ghanti' and 'Dil ka jo haal hai', the former reminds me of Kishore kumar songs, while the latter the sweet 90's romantic songs. Rest two songs were pretty okay.

Ranbir Kapoor tries hard to make a bad film work with his performance, but that doesn't happen. He is let down by the script. Wonder how he didn't see while signing the movie, that it wont work, or did the script change a lot when the shooting began ?  He came across as a sensible actor who choses right scripts until now. Though it was a lovely change to see him in a larger than life character, unless he makes a habit of doing such films which I hope he wont.

Pallavi Sharda for first time in a lead role, acts well, but she gets the worst role to make any kind of mark. She looked beautiful in those indian dresses, and loved her dance moves.

Javed Jaaferi is very good in a villaineous role, which is sadly restrained.

Rishi Kapoor is made fun of both by Ranbir and Neetu through their dialogues, he is decent... same for Neetu. They both couldn't save the film either. It was good to see all 3 kapoors together in same frame, but would had prefferred a better film for that, not this one.

Amitosh Nagpal in supporting role is pretty good.


Overall, Besharam is a badly directed movie with poor script leaving nothing for the actors to do. Its some good moments, and songs that take you till the end. I thought this maybe finally a masala movie this year that I would love completely, but that wasn't the case. A masala movie needn't have logic or story, but atleast give good entertainment with lovable dialogues and actors with scope to perform.

 After Anjaana Anjaani, 2nd Ranbir movie that enters 'never see again' list.


Verdict : BELOW AVERAGE

Movie Analysis : The Lunchbox

Directed by : Ritesh Batra
Imdb link -> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2350496/

Among best movies to have come this year... 

Read at your own risk, the post is full of spoilers. 


Kabhi kabhi galat train bhi sahi jagah pahuncha deti hai ... 

Some films are so good, that you keep thinking about them days after you see them. 'The Lunchbox' falls in that category.

Its a story driven movie, where the three main characters Irrfan Khan (Saajan), Nimrat Kaur (Ila) and Nawazuddin Siddiqui (Shaikh) have given excellent performances. The story is set in Mumbai, where Saajan is about to retire from his work, and Shaikh who is going to take his place in office is asked to work under Saajan until he retires. One day at lunch, Saajan is surprised to see changes in the lunchbox including the taste and variety of food. Dabbawalla's mistakenly replaced his lunchbox address with Ila's husband. And then starts a series of letters exchanged inside the lunchbox.

The theme to me is very similar to internet or phone based love story, here also two people have conversations without seeing or meeting each other. Ritesh starts the film by establishing the complete journey a Dabbawala in Mumbai go through, from the house to road to train to the delivering place. He uses initial scenes well to establish Saajan and Ila characters before they both start exchanging letters. Saajan's habit of standing outside his house at night, smoking ciggerette and looking at a girl's family, same girl among those kids who daily ask him to give their ball back. On the other hand, Ila lives a life of similar loneliness as her husband shows no love whatsoever towards her. Her time goes by, either doing the household activities, looking after her girl, or the talks with her 'aunty' who stays one floor above her house. The aunty herself has her own small story that is told as the narrative goes further.

There's a pleasant humour initially when Saajan and Ila start talking through letters, then the talks go personal as both share things about their life. How quickly, from complete strangers, they form a close friend bond before actually feeling its much more than that, as Saajan thinks of a life with her in Bhutan, a place Ila finds peaceful. That dialogue 'We forget things, if we have no one to tell them to', was one of my favourite one.

I love how the scene where Saajan goes to meet Ila first time is tackled, specially the coincidences that happen that day with him, the old feeling while going to bathroom, or a young boy calling him 'uncle'. But, he had fallen for her, and he won't resist going to have a look at her from far away without letting Ila know.

Then that scene in train, when he looks at a very old man who is going to same place where Saajan is going too. Cut to next scene where Saajan is shown returning back to his home, in a mode describing he has decided he would not go away from Ila despite the age difference.

Also, the woman and girl sequence shown in earlier part of movie, gives a feeling of maybe this is another Ila who died, when the same scene repeats in latter part of movie. For a second, I thought she is about to commit suicide too.

The two weaknesses in the movie were editing and Ila's mother played by Lilette Dubey. In a film that was going very real, we finally had a character who was taking the narrative into melodrama mode. But, the good thing here was, that she had only 2 scenes. While at many points I liked the way scenes are extended, like when Saajan while working knowing Dabbawala has come, stops and anxiously waits for his Dabba being put on his table.. I like how the time frame is used in that scene making us wait too. But there were places where editing could had been tighter.

There are few loopholes in the writing, how would Ila's husband not know that the dabba has got changed if he has been daily eating it before. The other one I felt was, Ila began telling about her problems with husband to Saajan bit too early. Maybe few more conversations would had given that space for her to share such private matters.

Love the open ending of the movie, though I would had preferred one additional scene which may not have given away whether Ila and Saajan would had met, but just given a % chance what would happen. As of now, it was equally possible that it may or may not happen. But, I very much like the given end to film too.

There's no song in the movie, except for the one that plays when Dabbawallas journey is shown. Even the background score is used to a minimum. The famous old song 'Mera dil bhi itna pagal hai' is wonderfully used into the narrative. Also, the parrallel songs cut from radio at Ila's house to small kids singing in trains as Saajan returns back to his home.

Irrfan Khan is an outstanding actor, and he shows it once again with his performance as Saajan. The way he looks at the Dabba everytime it comes, the awkward moments he has when his colleague looks at him checking dabba while at work, or when Shaikh keeps disturbing him when he is reading letters. When he tells the reference to 'Yeh jo hai zindagi' serial, the emotional connect in his voice. Or when he tries to avoid Shaikh initially, 'go to my table, and no don't come back'. He is one hell of a great actor, and this film does justice to his talent.

Nimrat Kaur surprises with the kind of great performance she gives in. To be able to match actors like Irfan and Nawazzuddin, speaks of how well she acted. And I always love to see actresses do non-glamarous roles.

Nawazuddin Siddiqui is spot on, though initially his character is irritating, as audience you feel the same way Saajan feels for him. Nawazuddin actually gets a scene to overshadow Irfan, when he tells him  'main khud seekh lunga, thank you'. From there on, the kind of bond they both share, was similar to the bond audience shares with him. He still does funnier things, cutting vegetables on office files in train, or not feeling too guilty after getting scolding from boss. But he's now become a likeable character. The wedding scene was super funny when cameraperson asks for 'ladki ki taraf wale ek side, ladki wale dusri side'. Also, that scene where Irrfan scares him about a guy he had pushed onto the bus.


Overall, The Lunchbox is one of best films to come this year, its full of emotions, at times humourous and the three main characters make this less than 2 hour movie very enjoyable. There are close up scenes of food shown at many instances, so the movie might make you feel hungry.

 If you are looking for entertainment, then I am not sure if the movie will satisfy you but if you are looking for a good movie, you won't be dissappointed.


Verdict : EXCELLENT

Movie Analysis : Horror Story

Directed by : Ayush Raina
Imdb link -> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3177332


Another Horror movie that makes you laugh more than scare.

Read at your own risk, the post is full of spoilers.

With 'Ek Thi Daayan' we tried to do slightly better in horror genre, even though the 2nd half of that movie was a let down. But Vikram Bhatt camp (not as a director this time) is back with the usual cliched story, characters and horror elements, that induce comedy most of the time.

Seven friends meet at a pub at night, they watch a news played on T.V about a haunted hotel whose owner just died. Some of them believe in ghosts, some don't. They decide to go for adventure, by going at the hotel and finding the truth behind the murders happening there since quite a time.

The moment they decided on that, I felt like how idiotic some people could be. Or better way to put it would be, how much eager some people are to die, otherwise why would you risk your life at a place where many have died even if you believe there is no ghost. And still if I agree they had a point to prove, then was it necessary to go at night ? Some story writers don't think about basic things at all.

Most of the actors are new, and almost everyone's voice is dubbed which was another irritating thing to manage. There are few chiling moments, specially the one when the 1st one out of them dies making them realise in what hell they have come. Also, the one where they are holding each other hands. Or when they get a car to move out, only to find that its a trap set for them. And the shot where they are standing at the closed door of hotel looking outside, and cursing themselves for entering inside.

The pre-climax scene where the owner ghost suddenly comes to help a character was super funny, that person didn't care to help anyone else until then, but had a soft corner for the last person left.

One good thing about the movie was, it had no songs.. else the film would had been a torture to go through.


The girl that stays alive, and the two guys that die at last.. these 3 characters gave fair performance, while the 1st guy that died overacted.


Overall, Horror Story has few scary moments, rest of the film only makes you laugh. Even if you have a weak heart, the film won't enter into your favourite horror movie club.


Verdict : POOR

Movie Analysis : John Day

Directed by : Ahishor Solomon
Imdb link -> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2699840/


Slow boring thriller, even Naseeruddin Shah couldn't save it.

Read at your own risk, the post is full of spoilers. 

A thriller that took me for surprise with numerous gore sequences. I for one completely hate to see such films, so wasn't a good experience while watching this movie.

The plot is about John (Naseeruddin Shah) who loses his daughter in an accident when she goes away with her boyfriend. Few years later, he is made to help some robberers at his office where he works, that has something to do with Casablanca Estate related files. His wife as a result is attacked and she goes into coma. John is left to find out what is the mystery behind Casablanca Estate, its the place where his daughter died too. So, are the both events linked and what role police officer Gautam (Randeep Hooda) plays in it.

The movie is narrated at a snail's place. There's a love story of Gautam where his girlfriend remains drunk all the time, and ends up getting some of the worst dialogues of the movie.

The pace is so slow that when the suspense is revealed, it doesn't excite or make any mark on me.

Performances wise, Naseeruddin Shah is okay (which sums up the how the film was). Randeep Hooda hams a lot, its become hard to like his performances ever since Jannat2. Though, his entry sequence where he makes a guy eat excess of Chicken Biryani was perhaps the best scene of the movie. Also, the dialogue 'Tu dal khichdi kha, chicken biryani tere bas ki nahi'. 

Shernaz Patel gets only one scene before going into coma. While Vipin Sharma shines in a corrupt police officer role, providing entertaining dialogues time and again in a otherwise dull movie.

Makarand Deshpande does well in a special apperance.


Overall, John Day is a film I wish I had skipped, dull narration and no performance worth spending time on either.


Verdict : POOR