Friday, August 25, 2006

Aap Ki Khatir - Stale, Pale and a bore!

To make people laugh is a serious business. It is not just as easy as it may seem theoritically. Well, when you are watching a movie like "Aap Ki Khatir", which promises to be a thorough entertainer, you are left utterly disappointed.



Infact, the story line of AAK is so very wafer thin, that you are left baffled thinking how a movie was actually made.

Aap Ki Khatir, is about a rich -NRI girl Priyanka Chopra who happens to love Dino Morea. But, Dino leaves her for reasons unknown to the audience. Akshaye Khanna plays the role of an accountant in Lokandhwala,mumbai. He comes to London to attend the marriage of Amisha and Suneel shetty. Amisha happens to be the foster sister of Priyanka.

The rest of the silly-looking plot forms how the relationships are inter-connected, with a typical "Bollywood Wedding" backdrop which reminds of you of many movies in the past.

Departments:

The Director Dharmesh dharshan should seriously re-group himself and start thinking about plots which can work. Dharmesh, get a life!

The comedy aspect of the movie also fails as the characters fail to evoke laughter. Akshaye Khanna and Priyanka do their best, but can't help it as they are let down by the story.

The Screenplay is a big-bore and considering a running time which is a very minimal 2hrs 10mins, one feels that there was a huge-scope for improvement.The Music also is monotonous and fails to leave a mark. Only the title song is worth a second-notice.

Finally, a reviewer would feel that he wasted his time, reviewing a movie like Aap Ki Khatir.

Bottomline: Aap Ki Khatir --Simply Avoidable.

My Rating is a 2/5

Friday, August 11, 2006

Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna -- A Tale of Diverse Divorces!

Today 11th August 2006, the most anticipated movie of the year Karan Johar's Magnum Opus "Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna" finally made to the big screen.

But, hey let me start of with the pre-movie scene first.

DHOOM : 2 's sneak peek brought quite a response from the co-audience.

The Movie!




Les Magnifique! This is the only way to describe Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna
a mammoth attempt by Karan Johar, proves why Bollywood movies' with a MELO-DRAMA still work BIG time! Well, as you wonder whether KANK is similar to Kal Ho Na Ho, you realise that they are World's apart.

Karan Johar surely knows how to tell a story. Knows how to project his characters in the movie. With KANK, Karan Johar arguably becomes the best "MOVIE-MAKER" of contemporary INDIAN CINEMA.

Story::

The story revolves around two families', The Saran's and The Talwar's. Dev Saran (Shahrukh Khan) is a footballer by profession and is married to Rhea (Preity Zinta), a GO-GETTER who works for a Fashion Magazine. Dev and Rhea are happily married and also have a cute looking kid.lol.
But, Fate is unkind to Dev who loses his leg in a car-accident.

Well, meet the Talwars' Rishi Talwar (Abhishek),who is deeply in love with Maya (Rani Mukherjee). Then. Meet the ever-green Samarjeet "SEXY SAM" Talwar(Amitabh Bachchan). Rishi convinces Maya to marriage. But Maya marries only out of Gratitude. Then fate makes Dev meet Maya and what they realise that they are sailing in the same boat.

Maya as well Dev is suffering from a brittle marriage with their respective spouses. Fate makes them friends. Fate makes their friendship into love.

Finally, Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna--A love that Broke all relationships.

Screenplay / Direction :

People may argue that from Kuch Kuch Hota Hain to KANK, the storyline which Karan Johar actually opts for is quite predictable and doesn't have a FRESH-AIR around it. But, Karan Johar's taking makes the movie a brilliantly driven entertainer.

With a sorry running time of 3:06 Hrs, you would actually feel that, Karan Johar struggles to keep his screenplay in order. But, the reality comes out that, KJ improvises and presents a MARVEL.

The Screenplay is quite predictable for an avid cinegoer, but it is way of making a movie that is quite appreciable.



Cinematography:

Anil Mehta has done a Brilliant job in the photography department. The movie is totally "New-york" centric. But, the camera-work actually epitomises Glitz, splendour and panache. A perfect 10/10 for the cinematography.

Music/ Back-ground:

After DCH and KHNK, the "TERRIFIC-TRIO" of Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy is back with KANK. The beats are quite melodious . The song MITWA reminds you of the title track of KHNK. Even the song "Wheres' the Party Tonight", has hints of KHNK's hit song "It's the time to Disco".

But, the timing of the songs is quite brilliant and suits the scenario as well the situation quite well.

Editing:

The movie acutally could have done away with some amount of editing. The movie bores you at certain Instances and you feel that some of the scenes should have been deleted.

Highlights:

KANK is quite fresh like a bunch of RED-ROSES bought from a Florist. The movie actually throws light on the importance of relationships, which is quite remarkable. The presentation of the scenes in certain set-pieces is quite supreme and the socio-drama is sure to bring changes in the lifes of couples who suffer the same above mentioned syndrome.

Lowlights:

As an average cinegoer, it is quite easy to pin-point the mistakes of the movie-maker. But, Karan Johar actually weaves a story which is quite flawless. As I mentioned earlier, the movie is bit too predictable and some sequences shown are quite ridiculous.

Perfomances:



Shahrukh Khan:

Well, he is getting better day-by-day like old wine. He looks quite young with a bit long grown mane. His perfomance as a physically-challenged person, shows why he is called the undisputed "BADHSHAH" of bollywood. He performs his role with quite an unmatchable ease and infact, dominates all the other performers.

Amitabh Bachchan:

He is the super-cool, "SEXY-SAM" who flirts around with girls even at his age. He looks quite handsome with his tweed suits and his remarkable dressing sense. His role is quite apt.

Abhishek Bachchan:

He too performs the role of an obessed lover quite remarkbly well and shows the reason for his existence in the TOP-LEAGUE of heroes.

Preity Zinta:

She looks more like a Barbie Doll, but suits the role quite well. Nothing special on her performance.

Rani Mukherjee:

She hogs the limelight and her character reminds you of Scarlett Johansson's character in "LOST IN TRANSLATION". Her expressions are worth a mention and adds to glamour of the movie.

Others:

Kiron Kher does her part as SRK's mother quite well and rest is quite good.

Costumes:

A special mention about the costumes for which Manish Malhotra deserves a huge round of applause.

Analysis:

The movie is technically quite a Marvel on the INDIAN screen. No fights, no silly looking stunts, no super-heroes. A movie based on relationships, love and above all the importance of PEOPLE.

The movie should do quite well because of its mammoth Star-cast and remarkable individual perfomances. Some portions may not go well with the audience.

But, on the whole a FOURTH CONSEQUTIVE BLOCK-BUSTER from karan Johar.

BottomLine:

Go , get yourself a TICKET!

My Rating : 4/5



Thursday, August 10, 2006

Omkara---Gore, Jealousy & More

First things First.

When a supertalented director like Vishal Bharadwaj directs a movie, you expect it to be a quite enchanting and a flesh-thick affair.

MAQBOOL was made on the lines of MacBeth and this time around Vishal Chooses Shakespeare's "HARD-FIND" play "The Othello".Amazing as it may seem, Vishal very successfully INDIANISES the story rather than basing it on the original story entirely.

The movie is quite non-conventional and you get more than you expect.



Story:

The Story revolves around the main protogonist Omkara a.k.a Omi (Ajay)
who leads a gang of well trained and ruthless henchmen. A faction drop in the HELM of Uttar Pradesh has Langda Tyagi (Saif) and Kesu Firangi
(Vivek Oberoi) the patriots of Omi.

Omi is married off to Dolly Singh(Kareena Kapoor) and they lead a simple "HASSLE-Free" life. But trouble creeps up big time when Omi decides to choose Kesu as the Chief Lieutanant, instead of Tyagi. A red-sense of Jealousy creeps through Tyagi's mind and he decides to take revenge. He uses the relationship between Dolly and Kesu to distort the brain of Omi.

The rest of the plot forms how Omi reacts and who finally ends up being "IN".

Screenplay:

When an ace-maker has the screenplay's credits, you would expect a "NO-Nonsense" affair and it exactly gives that.There are few portions where you feel quite GORY because of the brutality involved in the scenes.

Highlights:

There are some scenes which stand apart in the entire movie like the introduction scene where Kareena's Father is speaking to Ajay Devgan.

The scene at the Climax is also worth mentioning(Although i am not going to spoil your fun).

LOW-Lights::

The explicit language mouthed by the characters is quite "Honderrous" which actually may not go well with the Multiplex-Cadre of Movie-goers.

The UP-Centric movie has a rural feel and some times you feel that you are watching a JODHPURI movie(Though it suits the feel).

Cinematography:

The camera-work is slick and sexy as i call it, with quite alot of importance given to the angles and the presentation of the plot.
It would have been better if some scenes were bit brightly lit.

Perfomances:



Ajay Devgan:

If there is one man who can instill life into characters,that has to be Ajay devgan. He potrays the character of Omi so very well, that you feel the pain of betrayal. He really deserves a standing-ovation for this perfomance.

Saif Ali Khan:


This Man!!! He is a MIRACLE. From few years (pre-DCH), Saif has taken a huge-stride in the acting front.His potrayal of Langda Tyagi is quite AMAZING and I was watching his role, with my mouth AGAPE.

His body language and his expressions are priceless..He is sure to get this years' best critic award.

One word for his perfomance---"PERFECT"

VIVEIK OBEROI:

Viveik has nothing much to do as the limelight is hogged by Omi and Langda. But he did his job quite well and some of his scenes are worth mentioning.

Kareena Kapoor:

After being criticised for a string of successive failures, kareena rises to the occassion and shows why she is still the favourite among the audience. Even she portrays an "AWARD-Winning" perfomance.

Others:

Konkana Sen does a neat job,others have done their lists quite well.


Music:

Music is just for the situation and you feel that they are completely like fish out of water.

Dialouges:

The Rough and highly-explicit language is sure not to go well with the audience..There are quite a few not-so-good words on M and S.
It is amazing how the dialouges were passed by the Censor board without being Cut.


ANALYSIS:

The movie is a complete Dark movie and mainly revolves around the HUMAN EMOTIONS of Jealousy,Suspiscion and Hatred.

Dont Attempt the movie if you are weak-hearted.

My Rating is a sweet 3/5.

If you enjoy watching Lengthy "Human-emotion" based movies..then this is quite cut for you





Wednesday, August 09, 2006

Bommarillu---Love, Love & Love!!

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Love! What a word and What a World. As the caption goes, Bommarillu--Love makes life beautiful! This time around i guess, Love makes this movie beautiful. Well, jokes apart.

After the tremendous success of "Dil","Arya" and "Bhadra", Producer Raju comes up with yet another sweet candy entertainer which is sure to go well with the audience.

The movie tells us about LOVE..but hey! mind you..it is not a normal A.B.C.D love story which is totally weird. Bommarillu is more than just a love story. It throws light on other relations, other emotions and bang! comes out with yet another entertainer.

Story :

The Story revolves around Siddhu (Siddhartha), a guy who has always been in the shadows and the able guidance of his father (Prakash Raj)..a guidance which actually sickens the Guy and he decides that, whatever maybe it, he will not compromise on TWO things.One is his career and the other is in choosing his life partner. But, there is a CATCH. Siddhu never dares to go against his father's will.

He wants a girl who is similar to him. In the meantime, Siddhu is forcibly engaged off to Subbalakshmi(Neha from "DIL"). Siddhu never dares to speak against this.But then, he meets HASINI(Genelia) and life changes forever.

Hasini is the girl Siddhu always dreamed of. The first half is as said "CANDY-SWEET" with a typical love story. The second half is about whether Siddhu suceeds in convincing his family abt his love and blah..blah.

Screenplay/Direction:

Debutant Bhaskar makes a great debut through this movie and just shows how to SIMPLIFY a story. The directorial points are quite neat and the existence of Cheap Jokes and Vulagarity is NIL. But, screenplay wise, you would feel that Bhaskar should have Paced it a bit.

Cinematography:

One place where BOMMARILLU is above DIL and Arya is in its CINEMATOGRAPHY. It reminds of many Bollywood movies and also some times of Nagarjuna's "Ninne Pelladutha", the locales are quite vibrant and should satisfy the apetite of a regular CINEGOER.

Music:

Raju said that after providing mediocore music for BHADRA, Devi Shri this time came up with some good scores. The songs are quite melodious and the song sung by Siddharth is quite appreciable. The picturisation adds to the beauty of the song.

Perfomances:

Siddharth:

After Rang-De-Basanthi, Sid seems to have developed very well as an actor. He performs very well the role of a CONFUSED guy. His dialouge delivery has improved quite a bit and the way he emotes is sure to go well with the fairer sex.

Genelia:

She is one girl, who is quite unpredictable. But this time around, she essays the role of Hasini remarkably well. Her expressions are quite good. Her dressing and make-up reminds of you of Preity Zinta from "LAKSHYA". To say it in short.."she instills life into Hasini's character".

Prakash Raj:

Prakash Raj portrays the role of a caring father quite brilliantly and he just shows why he is in the TOP-LEAUGE of Character Artists even today.

Others:

Jayasudha's role as Siddhu's mother was wasted. The others' performed their respective parts quite well and were completely character oriented.

Highlights:

Scenes are sure to strike a chord with the audience and the mentionable scenes are:

1.Siddharth telling his friends about the type of girl he wants.

2.Scenes in the climax where Siddharth tells to Prakash Raj that

"Oka Naana laa meeru gelichaaru..kaani 24 savastralu gaa nenu mee kosam odipothu vasthunnanu".

Lowlights:

The movie could have done with some more editing and more strong screenplay. The rest all is quite flawless.

Analysis:

The movie is sure to add to Raju's credits and is going to be yet another hit in Siddharth's career after Boys,NVNV and RDB.

Go watch it if you are in love..you will LOVE it!!

Waiting for MUNNA!

Bottomline:

Dil Raju's second Hatrick begins with BOMMARILLU.

My Rating 3.5/5

P.S: Dont blame me if you didn't like the movie or if it is a flop. It is a total unbiased review and i have expressed my views.

Gaayam--Brutal Brutality!!












"One who lives by the sword, dies by it"-The Bible


The saying in the Bible is true when it is real life or reel life.Each person who lives killing others, finally ends up being "KILLED".

Enter Gayam, a saga of Fiasco,friendship and above all Fate.A story which deals with the ugly face of Underworld which has taken quite its toll in Tamil Nadu.

Story:

Gayam is about two friends Siva(Bharath) who is deaf & mute by birth and Koti(Aarya),both of them orphans..but as usual having the dream to make it BIG.In the process of doing big, they end up being Hired Killers to one particular person called Swami who assumes the role of being a "BROKER" between the big shots and the Gun shots!

Then, you have a girl running behind Koti, but he doesn't believe in love. Fate finds a girl for Shiva, but doesn't realise the path of shiva. From swords to Guns..the two Assasins are given a BIG-Deal job of finishing a top gun in Coimbatore.

Questions arise : Can they do the Job? What holds them back?

Direction:

Vishnu Vardhan actually rectifies the mistakes made by Selva raghava in Dhoolpet.The raw environment shown actually adds to the effect.But you feel that Vishnu could have done alot better than that.Anyways a neat effort from him.

Cinematography/Camera Work:

Nirav Sharma's camera work is of First rate and he shows the "Quentin Tarantino" camera angles.Few fights are mentionable and the camera-work really deserves a pat on the back.

Music/Background Score:

Huh! Time that yuvan starts to rethink about the music that he scores, it has become quite repetative and the background score reminds you of "Manmadha".

Perfomances:

Bharath:

From Boys to Gayam, bharath has surely matured a long way as an effective perfomer.He is already being hailed the "NEXT big thing" in kollywood.His body language as a mute and deaf guy shows his calibre as an actor.

Aarya:

He did he part quite well as the friend of Bharath and the effective gangster when killing his "Prey".

Heroines:

Both the debutants didn't have much scope, but did their part quite well.

Others:

None of the other perfomances are worth a mention.


Highlights:

The camera work and the individual perfomances are worth a round of appalause. The story has nothing new in it but definitely has a fresh air about it.

Low-Lights:

The story is too chennai-centric for a regular telugu cinegoer.Too much of brutal violence also spoils the show..The rawness may also not go quite well the Tollywood audience.

Analysis:

On the whole, gayam is just a typical tamil dubbed flick which has no patricular ability to survive in the mainstream tollywood films.

Typical movie for "Sunday First Show" and gayam is a review-writer's haven!

My Rating : 2.5/5

Bottom-Line: Expect offbeat trash, you will get something good.

Corporate---Cola wars All the Way!!



Madhur Bhandarkar surely knows how to potray the characters of his movies..This time around...With CORPORATE..He springs a Surprise!!

Like his Earlier movies..who have Women doing the Leading honors..
(Tabu in Chandini Bar, Konkana Sen in PAGE 3) This time around it is the dusky BIPASHA!!

The movie begins with a voice over from the extremely talented Atul Kulkarni..Who describes the Scenario of the City of MUMBAI. "CORPORATE" he says is a way of running things around with their Bottom Line "PROFIT". As you would expect with the title the director doesnt care what is happening in the outside world..

The Story revolves around TWO BIG wigs--One Mr.Seghal and the other Mr.Malwah who are the CZARs of Food Industry in Mumbai..The usual,boring work place is shown with the Cubicles and some silly comedy from the PEONS in the office who have no other work but GOSSIP.

Then, Enter Nishi(Bipasha) she is the so called "GO-Getter" in the office of Mr.Seghal who established herself as an able Employee. She is a divorcee and is shown MAKING love and running behind KAY KAY MENON.

Then there are the usual Workaholics and Aspirants who dream to make it big like their Employers.

The movie actually revolves around the TWO Biggies fighting for a COLA PRODUCT "JUST CHILL" which instead of looking serious..ends up being childish..

There's a PSU to be settled with a Fictious "MNC" and then there are dreadlful politics..

Rest of the plot i wouldn't prefer to reveal because you rather enjoy on the big screen itself.

KUDOS to Madhur for attempting such a movie which actually makes you believe that there is no WORLD outside the CORPORATE world...

P.S: I know this review ****ed...But who cares!!!Enjoy and PEACE!!

THanks alot for going thru my Weird review!


My Rating would be
/

***Ashok---Suri All The Way!!!--My first review!





So here we go!!

When a Mass Star like Jr.NTR teams up with a techinically superb director Surender Reddy( I am going to refer him as "suri"), you expect an out and out entertainer with no inhibitions on anything.And boy! with ASHOK "Suri" has proved once again why he is such a wanted director in the industry circles.

Intro:

The movie starts of with the names of the techinicians rolled in a very silent way which actually would amuse an average cinegoer.Then!
It is a fight where the goons are seen falling all over the place..And Boy there comes ASHOK (Jr.NTR) for some time the fans go frenzy over his introduction and nothing is visible on the screen expect the shadows of the buntings and papers.

The Story:

There is nothing new in the story. Ashok(Jr.NTR) is a mechanic by profession who is actually hustled out of his house by his father(Prakash Raj) because of his Unruly and Hot temper which gets the entire family in trouble.

He falls in love with Anjali (God Knows how in the first scene itself he expresses his love!!!!),he helps his sister get enaged with a man of his choice. But then...Trouble arises! K.K(Sonu Sood) is a ruthless goon who believes in eliminating all the obstacles that arrive on his path.While on a "Killing MISSION" he sees Sameera Reddy and falls
Heads over heels and decides to marry her.

The rest of the movie actually forms how Ashok actually takes care of all the troubles and we have "Happy ending"

ScreenPlay--Direction:::

First of all Hatsoff to Surrender Reddy!He is one genius who has been actually never been the correct treatment that he deserves.He is one director who can movies which are as simple as "A.B.C's" but makes you feel like a Joy-ride.Again with ASHOK, Suri shows the way to direct the movie.The fight-sequences remind you of Quentin Tarantino's "RollBack" kind of choreography.

His taking and his Slick Directorial efforts are shown in a big way.Suri, surely has a long way to go and deserves a huge round of appalause for the movie.

Cinematography::

It was reported that movie was extensively shot using the SUPER-Edgy S-35 camera which is used for Professional Photography while shooting for Animals in Jungles.The Camera-man made quite a good usage of the Camera and used it to good effects.

Mixing::

The EFX and FX of the movie were done in MUMBAI's ADLABS, so one would expect them to be quite edgy and YES! they are edgy.

Editing::

One place were ASHOK fails miserably is in its editing! A long movie could have cut short by removing some were silly unnecesary scenes.

For Example:

1)Heroine telling abt her woes to her friend jahanavi who in turn takes her to Jr.NTR.

2)After a certain encounter that Sameera Reddy has witnessed,she runs all the way to find Jr.NTR lip-locking her.

3)KK unnecessarily killing the small girl while he is talking to Prakash Raj.

The Movie needs to be edited atleast by a minimum of 10 mins.

SONGS/BG Score::

The songs were quite awful and the only hummable song is "Oka Chinni".
The Mass Number "Nachaley" comes at a time were the audience least welcome it.Manisharma shld seriously take some break and then return later....His tunes are becoming repetative.

The background score was quite ok.In some scenes you would feel that it could have been better.

Dialouges::

There are quie few typical Jr.NTR dialouges like "Amma Todu..Adanga Narikesta" and few others.

PERFOMANCES:::

Jr.NTR ::

Nothing NEW to report on his acting skills..but he shld seriously start thinking abt his excess-weight which can become quite a Minus point for him

Sameera Reddy::

She's Got nuthing much to do, just romance the hero and run around the trees.

Sonu Sood::

He is one actor who has quite a Huge potential and he has done his job quite well.

Others::

Prakash Raj was good.And others gave a neat perfomance too.

On the Whole::

The Movie's fate depends on how well the audience embrace it.The movie has already started with a mixed talk in most of the reqions, with the so called "CORE" fans backing out.

Some serious editing and a Good mouth word will do the trick.Not a Record Breaker,but surely an Entertainer with some neat production values.

So hoping that my review really bored you...

Thanks once again for going thru the review..Leave a comment if you want any change in the way i wrote.