Delhi 6 - Movie Review

Being a Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra film is the enough reason for a film to be a master piece. How can we forget the glorious “Rang De Basanti” that not only encouraged the public into organizing candle-light marches and public protests on various issues of public interest but also motivated the youth to participate in politics?

We were full of yearning, dying of anticipation for the next from Mr. Mehra. But this time Mehra’s cinematic vision is diluted in perplexity of various subplots and we are left with a terrible story, wherein a Kaala Bandar is trying to fix communal discord. Still I would not like to believe that “Delhi 6” is really a Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra film. It’s the perfect example of this apparent disaster, which guaranteed to turn off fans with its monotonous and boring story. The preview trailers imply that the film has got real essence of Old Delhi. It’s an interesting concept, but the screenwriters (Rakesh Omprakash Mehra, Prasoon Joshi, Kamlesh Pandey) soon turn the script from a light heartening romantic tale into an often heavy-handed, sentimental drama.

Set in old Delhi, the first half of the movie sets up the drama with an emphasis on the various characters in choked gullies of Old Delhi. The second half puts the “Kaala Bandar” as the central point of the story. And at the end, the wacky climax makes you laugh at the futility of the screenplay.

DELHI 6 unfolds the story of Roshan (Abhishek Bachchan) a young American boy of Indian origin, who brings his ailing grandmother (Waheeda Rehman) back from the US to her home in Chandni Chowk, as she wants to spend the last days of her life in her soil. Roshan and his grandmother are welcomed back home with great warmth. For Roshan, who has led American lifestyle, everything is strange in India. So he is busy exploring India in the obstructed gullies of Old Delhi. And there he meets his neighbor, beautiful Bittu (Sonam Kapoor). Bittu is a vivacious girl with big dream in her eyes and a desire to live life on her own term. Started out as a feeling, Roshan can’t help falling in love with Bittu. But then the story takes a twist and suddenly Kaala Bandar becomes the highlight of the film.

Various characters and subplots in the film make the main plot loosing it sight. There are two warring brothers (Om Puri, Pawan Malhotra) and their families staying in the neighborhood. Bittu is the daughter of the brother played by Om Puri. There is also a garbage collector Jalebi(Divya Dutta), who is untouchable for the society but is everyone’s lust. A friend of the family (Rishi Kapoor), who was once deeply in love with Roshan's mother (Tanvi Aaazmi). A moneylender (Prem Chopra) and her young wife who's having an affair with the neighborhood photographer(Cyrus Sahukar). The worthless policeman Choudhary (Vijay Raaz).

Actually, despite its faults the film has many good moments. Some of the film’s best portions are those with Sonam Kapoor, but Abhishek’s presence doesn’t create magic. One might like to see more of Sonam Kapoor.

The supporting cast is very strong, especially Waheeda Rahman, Divya Dutta and Om Puri.
The directing is so-so and the writing is uneven, both attempting to force a weedy story into a visual delight.

Thanks to A.R. Rahman’s music, this gives much needed pace to the lousy story of the film. Music is already popular and topping the chart everywhere.

Overall, it wasn’t as good as I’d hoped.

Cast:

Abhishek Bachchan...... Roshan Mehra
Sonam Kapoor...... Bittu
Atul Kulkarni...... Gobar
Divya Dutta...... Jalebi
Om Puri...... Madan Gopal
Rishi Kapoor...... Ali
Waheeda Rehman...... Dadi
Pawan Malhotra...... Jai Gopal
Supriya Pathak...... Vimla
Tanvi Azmi...... Fatima
Vijay Raaz...... Inspector Ranvijay
Cyrus Sahukar...... Suresh
Prem Chopra...... Lala Bhairam
Amitabh Bachchan...... Roshan Mehra (Grand Father)

Crew:

Director: Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra
Producer: Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, Ronnie Screwvala 

Cinematography: Binod Pradhan
Editing: P S Bharathi 

Lyrics: Prasoon Joshi, Vivinenne Pocha, Claire
Music Director: A R Rahman, Rajat Dholakia
Screenplay: Rakesh Mehra, Prasoon Joshi, Kamlesh Pandey
Story Writer: Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, Kamlesh Pandey

Billu - Movie Review

Priyadarshan’s new comedy-drama “Billu” is a stirring tale of friendship between a superstar heartthrob actor and an ordinary barber. The latest offering from the Shahrukh Khan’s home production Red Chillies stars Shahrukh Khan himself, Irrfan Khan, and Lara Dutta in wonderful piece of ensemble acting.

BILLU is story of an ordinary man, Bilas Rao Pardesi (Irrfan Khan), living in a village with his wife Bindiya (Lara Dutta) and two kids. Irrfan runs a hair cutting saloon at the market place near by his village. Ever since a new stylish saloon is opened in front of his shabby saloon no one comes to him, as he couldn't provide a splendid hair cutting experience in his old broken chair. His children are thrown out of the school as he fails to deposit their tuition fee after several reminders. Life is getting tougher for him as a single earning member of the family. Still he is very much engaged in simplifying the complicated things in his meager life.

Billu’s life takes a shaking turn when superstar Sahir Khan(Shah Rukh Khan) comes to the village for a film shoot. The village metamorphoses into a glittering fair and everyone is irrepressible to get a glimpse of the superstar. The real problem starts when people come to know that superstar Sahir khan is a friend of Billu. After this the reaction of villagers and their unexpected generosity towards Billu form the basis of what follows. The best part of the movie comes in the climax of the movie. The last scene between Shah Rukh and Irrfan is one of the best scenes in recent times. It’s so moving that you cannot resist your tears to fill your eyes. Brilliant performances from both the Khans.

It’s the modern version of the old age saga of friendship between lord Krishna and Sudama, though in this tale Sudama had never cheated with the lord Krishna in their childhood. In contrary, Billu had supported Sahir Khan in achieving his eminence. Yet poor Billu hasn’t got the courage to face his prosperous friend and is shying away from him. There are moments of overly cute comic shtick and the ingenuous personality of Irrfan’s character provides most of the laugh lines. For the most part, however, the characters are allowed to be genuinely human rather than stereotypes.

Shah Rukh has delivered a few good scenes as a rich and happening friend of Irrfan, but Irfan steals the show. It is Irrfan’s character Billu who ultimately is responsible for arranging some moving moments in the film.

Three item numbers with the stunning presence of Karina, Priyanka and Deepika have given the glamorous quotient to the film justifying the superstar status of Shahir Khan.

It is a touching story of friendship and Priyadarshan has filmed it brilliantly. Film’s cinematography is superb. The camera has beautifully captured the landscapes of the village. Rest of the job has been done by sharp editing. Film’s music is already a hit as “Marjani” and “Love Mera Hit Hit” topping the charts.

Billu may live up to its expectation, although its not one of the best works of Priyadarshan.

Cast:

Shahrukh Khan...... Sahir Khan

Irrfan Khan...... Billo Barber (Vilas Pardesi)

Lara Dutta...... Bindiya

Asrani...... Nobat Chacha

Om Puri...... Damchand

Rajpal Yadav...... Jhallan Prasad Budbudia

Manoj Joshi...... Damodar Dubey

Jagdish...... Madan

Rasika Joshi...... Principal Gahalot

Pratik Dalvi...... Duggu

Mitali Mayakar...... Gunja

Atul Parchure...... Charandas Chaubey

Chirag Vohra...... Jerry

Crew:

Director: Priyadarshan

Producer: Gauri Khan

Lyrics: Gulzar, Sayeed Quadri

Music Director: Pritam Chakraborty

Cinematography: M.Manikandan

Editing: Arun Kumar

Screenplay: Mushtaque Shiekh, Priyadarshan

Story Writer: Srinivasan

Action Direction: Thyagarajan

Dev D - Movie Review

It finally arrived in subconscious of a daring filmmaker, when bollywood was craving for a spanking new twist in the tale. Anurag Kashyap has redefined the word experiment with his bold interpretation of modern days "Devdas". It’s a brave new world of Bollywood, where rules are made to be broken. And I have only one word to say, bravo!

"Dev D" is not really a tragedy, however, nor is it basically a heavy drama about a dysfunctional man and his muses. It is foremost a musical love story—a very black love story, yet one whose casual bitterness is balanced and finally surpassed by a deep inner optimism.

"Dev D" is a young, rich, Punjabi lad who has moved to Oxford from Bhatinda for higher studies, as per his parents wish. His lack of direction and sexual fantasies of his childhood sweetheart brings him back to Bhatinda. The cocktail of open-mindedness and orthodoxy makes him question the virginity of his girlfriend, Paro( Mahi Gill). As the result of this heartbreak, Paro ends up marrying a chap from Delhi, leaving her egoist, disconnected, self destructive boyfriend in the darkness of alcohol and drug addiction.

Disgruntled, Dev moves to Delhi, trying to bury the heartburn in the miasma of cocaine and alcohol. His frustrations lead him to deal with his life crisis. After finding him in over drunken condition, the post modern Chunni babu brings him to Chanda (Kalki Koechlin). Chanda had her own tragedy of a school girl transforming into a call girl. After featuring in a lewd MMS scandal, she was abandoned by her parents. So now she attends college by day and acts sex worker by night. Will the poignancy of the self sacrificing Chanda save Dev from his self destructive obsession?

Abhay Deol is superb as the protagonist Dev D (Devender Singh Dhillon),a 20-something, egoist man struggling to get over the heart pain after breakup from his childhood sweetheart. Mahi Gill, likewise, is excellent as the domineering yet insecure Paro, and Kalki Koechlin is perfect in the role of the post modern version of Chandramukhi, Chanda. She shows amazing control as Chanda, the MMS scandal teenage girl who ends up becoming a call girl.

Director Anurag Kashyap turns what could easily be a story reliant upon its dialogue into a visual feast, with the help of class cinematography. He uses the wide screen beautifully to emphasize the character relationships, their distance from one another, as well as Dev’s distance from the rest of the world, which he prefers to see through the drugs and alcohol. Dev D also uses music & sound in some interesting ways, something other films do not always take the time to do. The soundtrack of the film is already a big hit. As the Emosanal atyachar has become the new youth anthem the other soundtracks of the movie too are riveting.

In short, "Dev D" is a timely slice of post modern mindset, a knowing, maddening, and dark love story that is a sure bet to be remembered for long time. It is a completely different picture from such other strong portrayals of Devdas. Don’t miss Dev D on the big screen.

Cast:
Abhay Deol...... Dev
Kalki Koechlin...... Chanda
Mahi Gill...... Paro
Parakh Madan
Dibyendu Bhattacharya

Crew:
Producer: Ronnie Screwvala
Director: Anurag Kashyap
Music Director: Amit Trivedi
Cinematography: Rajeev Ravi
Choreography: Mansi Agarwal
Editor: Aarti Bajaj (Aarti Kashyap)
Story / Writer: Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane

Luck By Chance - Movie Review

It’s a fresh new start for bollywood in 2009 with a refreshingly good cinema “Luck By Chance”. “Luck By Chance” is a classy film with well developed plot and beautifully crafted screenplay. It's an astonishing tale of the dreamy Bollywood inside out. A sensible effort from Zoya Akhtar keeping the lineage of her father Javed Akhtar and brother Farhan Akhtar.

Sona Mishra (Konkona Sen Sharma), a girl with big dream in her eyes comes to Mumbai from Kanpur to conquer her dream. Vikram Jaisingh (Farhan Akhtar), a suave guy from Delhi leaves his father’s business and comes to Mumbai to make it big in bollywood. One day, Vikram happens to visit his friend Abhi, a theatre actor and by chance he bumps into Abhi’s neighbor Sona. Their shared dream brings them closer to each other. Sona starts doing small roles trusting her producer that someday she would get the lead role. Vikram’s friend Abhi is doing theatre to keep the actor in him alive. The Assistants are tired of assisting and looking for the elevation in their filmi career. Director is trying hard to convince producer. Producer is busy ensuring the film financer. Most of them are commendable but is everyone lucky? No! But for Vikram luck is just an excuse and he believes in taking chances. His funda, if you want more luck, take more chances.

How bollywood reacts to a new comer and has soft corner for star sons and daughters. Luck by chance plays a pivotal role for a new comer in getting a big break. Super models, miss world, miss universe are getting the big breaks and the talented girls like Sona ends up being a side heroin or a small time tv actress. On the other hand the self esteemed and ambitious, Vikram’s adulation for the yesteryears diva wins him a lead role in a big film. And he sets to become a star overnight. We all dream a lot - some are lucky, some are not.

The yesteryear diva, her daughter, the superstar, the star son, you will get to see every eye candy and there tantrum in zoom. Zoya has captured every frame of the real bollywood superbly. Those who are part of the film industry or close to the film industry can identify with some of the films character in real life too.

The tight script and carefully controlled story construction are perfect. Film’s cinematography is wonderful. Konkona Sen is outstanding as Sona Mishra. Farhan Akhatar has again proved his acting caliber with a brilliant performance. Rishi Kapoor and Dimple Kapadia are the surprise package to watch for. A well depicted performance by the yesteryear hot jodi. Isha Sarvani is unmatched. Some best performances come from the special appearances. Stupendous cameos by Hrithik, Shahrukh, Juhi and Karan Johar. Zoya manages absolutely well with the long list of special appearances. All the appearances are appropriate and according to the demand of the film. FIm’s music has some good melodies. “Sapno se bhare naina” is a marvelous song.

“Luck By Chance” is a story about the pursuit of happiness. Whether we are successful, unsuccessful or partially successful what matters is we are doing what we enjoy doing. So if you have a dream, give it a chance to happen. “Don't kill the dream - execute it”. Go for it.

Cast:
Farhan Akthar, Konkona Sen Sharma, Dimple Kapadia, Rishi Kapoor,Cheetah Yagnesh Shetty, Saif Ali Khan, Hrithik Roshan

Crew:
Director: Zoya Akhtar
Producer: Farhan Akhtar, Ritesh Sidhwani, Zoya Akhtar
Lyrics: Javed Akhtar
Cinematography: Carlos Catalan
Editing: Anand Subaya
Art Direction: Anuradha Parikh, T P Abid
Screenplay: Javed Akhtar
Story Writer: Zoya Akhtar

Best of 2008 - A Wednesday - Movie Review

"A Wednesday" could very well be the best movie of the year 2008. It's a fresh air and it gives a new dimension to the film making in India. An original concept, unpredictable tale and brilliant performances, this film has got all the elements to be a numero uno. The narration of this high pace thriller makes what first appear to be stereotypes ring with an unexpected depth.

"A Wednesday" is a story about an event that took place on a Wednesday in Mumbai. This was the most unusual case in the entire career of Prakash Rathod (Anupam Kher), Commissioner of Police, Mumbai. The case is nowhere in record. But it still lives in the memory of Prakash Rathod.

Flashback starts. In afternoon Prakash Rathod (Anupam Kher), Commissioner of Police, Mumbai gets a call from an anonymous caller who claims that he has planted bombs in various parts of Mumbai. The man calls again and this time demands the release of four militants if millions of lives have to be saved. Is it a real threat or merely a crank call to panic the police department? The suspicion dismissed when some explosions are actually found in the police station just opposite the Police Headquarters. So who is this caller? What is his identity? From where does he operate?

For Prakash Rathod the biggest challenge is to crack the case in time without spreading the panic in public. He calls his best men and puts them in action to get all the information about the anonymous caller. The whole unit is doing there best to grab the man behind the plot. But no results so far. The deadline gets nearer and finally Prakash Rathod gives it up and decides to hand over the four militants to the anonymous caller. Then comes a sharp turn in the tale and whatever happens after that surprises us completely.

“A Wednesday” is not only a well-made film, but is itself a revelation of common man’s guts. For a long time life has become mourning hush for a common man who is not sure if he will reach his home safely. Though, the incompetent system has failed to protect him from the inhuman act of some cold-blooded fanatics, he will no longer be the victim. He will fight back.

Director Neeraj Pandey, in his first film, has turned his own written words into a melancholic tale of images. The wonderfully crafted script keeps the audience guessing until the very end. The film’s cinematographer has given him full support with the sharp movements of camera. The rest is done through effective editing and fine performances, especially by Naseeruddin Shah with strong support from Anupam Kher. There is no doubt that they are the most versatile actors currently we have in the Indian Film industry. Another best performance comes from Jimmy Sheirgil. His acting throughout the film is first-rate. Aamir Bashir has done a brilliant job as the fellow police officer. All the other actors are perfectly suited to their roles.

In one word I would say bravo! Don’t miss it

Cast:
Naseruddin Shah, Anupam Kher, Jimmy Shergill, Aamir Bashir, Deepal Shaw, Gaurav Kapoor

Crew:
Director: Neeraj Pandey
Producer: Anjum Rizvi, Shital Bhatia
Editing: Shree Narayan Singh
Cinematography: Fuwad Khan
Screenplay: Neeraj Pandey
Background Music: Sanjoy Chowdhary

Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi - Movie Review

“Dikhane mai simple hain….rahan sahan mai… kaam karne mai…. sab me bas ek mamuli aadmi…par mujhe unme rab dikhta hai…” and aam aadmi charms with his simplicity.

Here comes an extraordinary love story of an ordinary man Surinder sahani (Shah Rukh Khan) and a vivacious girl Mani (Anushka Sharma). It’s a different take from Aditya chopra comparing to his earlier blockbuster "Dilwale dulhaniya le jayenge". The streets of Amritsar have replaced the landscapes of Switzerland. The simple, sober shirt-pant and salwar-kurta have replaced the designer outfits and accessories.

Surinder Sahani, a simple man working for Punjab Power meets the fun-loving and bubbly Mani. Mani's full of life persona fascinates him so much that he is ready to fall in love with her. In an unexpected situation, Surinder has to marry Mani. But this marriage is more of a compromise for Mani, who always had dream of a prince charming. On the other hand Surinder is very happy with her sudden presence in his life and feels "Mani ko bhi haule haule ho jayega pyar". To win her heart Surinder transforms into Raj and meets her in a dance competition. They both hit it off and become dance partners. The story takes a twist before the finale of the dance competition and the climax of the film is full of emotions.

The initial scenes between Surinder and Mani are really interesting. Whenever Surinder Sahani appears on the screen he brings a sweet innocence to the film. The film could have been a remarkable love story of the year. But it fails miserably as the narration goes further. A definite flaw in the film is that a wife cannot recognize her husband if he shaves his mustache. After a makeover a wife is not able to distinguish between her husband and someone else. Isn’t it silly? It makes fun of our intelligence. But as long as we are getting some cute emotional moments for our heart we don’t care.

Shah Rukh is outstanding in both of his avtars of the simple Surinder Sahani and the funny, outgoing Raj. Newcomer Anushka surprises with her acting and screen presence in her very first film. Vinay Pathak is unmatched in the role of Surender sahani’s friend Bobby. Obviously, we expect much more from the veteran director Aditya Chopra. The story could have been more engaging if it would have got more of Surinder sahani. Some sharp editing could have made the film crispier. Film’s cinematography is superior.

Salim-Sulaiman’s music has some good melodies. ‘Haule Haule’ and “Tujhme rab dikhta hai” are nice compositions and ‘Dance Pe Chance’ is a good foot-tapping number. Overall music is good and suits the mood of the film.

In a nutshell Rab ne bana di jodi is a heart touching emotional love story and it brings back the cute innocence of aam aadmi to the Silver screen. It’s not a “Dilwale dulhaniya le jayenge” or a “Mohabatay”, the earlier blockbusters from the director but it’s really worth a dekko.

Cast:
Shahrukh Khan, Anushka Sharma, Vinay Pathak

Crew:
Still Photographer: Abhay Singh
Cinematographer: Ravi K. Chandran
PublicityDesigner: Fayyaz Badruddin, Yash Raj Films - Design Cell
Music Director: Salim Merchant, Sulaiman Merchant
Lyricist: Jaideep Sahni
Story Writer: Aditya Chopra
Costume Designer: Aki Narula
Director: Aditya Chopra
Producer: Yash Chopra, Aditya Chopra
Production Designer: Muneesh Sappel
Banner: Yash Raj Films

Dostana - Movie Review

The new age romantic comedy Dostana is a delightful film, which fascinates you from beginning to the end. Funny, beautifully acted, and attractively filmed, it has already earned all the appreciations from the audiences.

The story is set in Miami, and brings together three characters of very different personalities, all beginning as casual acquaintances with their own personal problems. Sameer (Abhishek Bachchan) who is professionally a nurse and Kunal (John Abraham), a fashion photographer are struggling to get a house to settle in. The search of a house brings them together to Neha’s (Priyanka Chopra) house. Neha works for a fashion magazine and is looking for tenant to rent two rooms of her huge house.

After the very first glimpse of the house, Sam and Kunal don’t want to miss it. But, it’s not so easy for Neha who is looking for babes and not the babas(guys) to rent her house. So what’s the way in, anything for the house? Sameer and Kunal decide to enter the house pretending a gay couple. They successfully convince Neha and her aunt that they are a gay couple. The relationships that form among the three gradually grow into a deeper bond of appreciation and friendship. The story gets more interesting when both Sameer and Kunal realize that they are in love with the sexy and gorgeous Neha. And then Abhimanyu (Bobby Deol) comes into the picture.

There are moments of overly cute comic and the laugh lines. Being a comedy, it naturally has a happy ending, yet at more than one point there are serious doubts about how exactly the various conflicts will be able to resolve.

Dostana is a new offering form the Karan Johar’s production, Dharma Films. This time one of his assistant directors, Tarun Mansukhani is in charge of Direction. A well written script and an equally good screenplay by Mr. Mansukhani. It’s a brave step to make a commercial film where the film’s central characters are a gay couple. It’s really a worth attempt and kudos for the director.
All the actors are perfectly suited to their roles, bringing out best of the characters. Abhishek and John have delivered a few good scenes as a pretending gay couple. Priyanka looks fresh and stunning in her ultra modern look. A well depicted performances by all three of them. It’s nice to have really good actors in the smaller roles as well as the bigger ones. Boman Irani and Kirron Kher have done fair job in their small appearances. The film has also a very good cameo by Bobby Deol. And last but not the list, we cannot forget the special appearance of Shilpa Shetty in the film's opening dance number. She looks sexier than ever.

Beautiful cinematography and tight editing give an extra edge to the film. The background music by Salim - Sulaiman tunes well with the mood of the film. Vishal and Shekhar’s music is good and songs are well choreographed by Vaibhavi Merchant and Farah Khan. “Maa ka ladla” and “Desi girl” are the hit numbers. Other songs are average.

It is a must-see for its freshness and wittiness.

Cast:

Abhishek Bachchan as Sameer
John Abraham as Kunal
Priyanka Chopra as Neha
Bobby Deol as Abhimanyu
Shilpa Shetty
Kirron Kher

Crew:

Cinematographer: Ayananka Bose
Costume: Aki Narula, Manish Malhotra
Music Director: Vishal Dadlani, Shekhar Ravjiani
Lyricist: Anvita Dutt Guptan, Kumaar, Vishal Dadlani
Editor: Manan Sagar
Story Writer & Screenplay: Tarun Mansukhani
Director: Tarun Mansukhani
Producer: Karan Johar, Hiroo Johar
Banner: Dharma Productions