Race 2 - Slow Racy Thriller!

The reason James Bond movies are so popular among men and women is that men want to possess his panache and scant regard for death, while women swoon over his devil may care attitude, lack of attachment and the element of danger he seems to possess. We also love the tech wizardry, the relentless action and exotic locales.   But what has this got to this movie? Well, Abbas Mastan wanted this movie to look like a James Bond thriller and to some extent they seem to have succeeded.

Now, Abbas Mastan are known for their thrillers, their last one being the dud, Players. This time they offer a sequel to the highly successful Race 1,which actually was a genuine thriller with a great storyline, screenplay, songs, and and acting.  I expected Race 2 to be similar but If all expectations came true, then I would be a billionaire :). However, all is not lost.

Here's the gist. The movie starts off with a narrative about how John Abraham (Armaan Malik) has made it big in the world of crime in Istanbul(yeah,  the entire movie is set in exotic Istanbul). Deepika is also introduced as his able,  his step sister.  A hit man is shown blowing off a Lamborghini,  the significance of which we realise only later. Thereafter, a train robbery is shown, wherein thieves steal a complete train bogie full of currency paper users to make Euros. Thereafter Saif meets a casino owner, thakkar,  who owns five casino's in Istanbul, with a proposition that he executes in style.  He places a bet of five million dollars on the roulette table and loses. On being asked why he seemed so cool losing 5 million,  he says they were made from the stolen paper. So after gaining Thakkar's  trust,  Saif makes a proposition to him, that he would give him 1500 million of that currency for 500 million cash.  Thakkar agrees but he has to borrow 500 million from John to make good the deal.  John asks him for his 5 casino's as collateral. You can guess the rest. This scam was such a juvenile one that it set the tone for the movie. I mean how gullible do u think a casino owner is...!!

Anyway, the short of the long is that Saif tries to gain John's trust but as the short flashbacks in the movie show,  deception is the name of the game,  with nothing being what it seems.  Jacqueline as Omisha plays John's love interest.  Deepika  is suitably sexy and icy and plays the role of the bad girl quite comfortably and is believable.  However,  I must admit the plot had its twist and turns,  but frequent explanations spoil the surprise.  John is quite good as the gangsta who loves money and Omisha.  Anil kapoor is wasted as the fruit eating detective. Amisha Patel as Anil's sidekick is quite useless and is given pretty inane jokes to make, but is bearable. It's sad to see her in roles like these.

Saif, does a competent job and looks suitably suave but fails to connect with the audience. I think if the songs in the movie had been given a miss,  the director would have had enough time to pay attention to the characters. 

The music isn't too bad, but isn't too good either. Lat Lag gaye, Allah Duhai Hai, Party on my Mind 

and Be Intehaan are so-so. (Atif Aslams voice on Saif sounds like Saif has Pneumonia !!)

Overall,  the movie is a decent entertainer, with plenty of action and better than many B grade Hollywood movies.  Good production values are a plus. Overall I'd say timepass

Rating **

MOD - A Twist in the Tale

 MOD by Nagesh kukunoor is a slow paced story about a girl Anya (Ayesha Takia) staying on a hill station "Ganga" (whereever that is !!). She repairs watches and waits tables at a restaurant to make ends meet. Her father (Raghuveer Yadav) a singer, smitten by Kishore Kumar, has taken to drink and is under debt. The various characters - the businessman GangaRam smitten by Anya, the restaurant owner (Tanvi Azmi), the Doc - Anant Mahadevan, her classmates ...all are beautifully defined and fit it very well with the overall story line.
Anya has thrown her dad out of her house (her mom has left the house to her) because of his drinking. One day Andy (Ranvijay) comes to her door step to repair his watch. She makes him stand out side her shop for over an hour before she takes up the job. He pays her with a Rs 100 note shaped like a swan. This becomes a regular affair and she starts having feelings for him. One day at the market place, she sees him and he does not acknowledge her greeting. She starts following him and tries to unravel the mystery behind this "Sanki " Lover.  If this is not enough, a builder is after her to sell her plot to make a resort.

When she comes to know the truth, she (like all women) wants to help Ranvijay recover. But the parents are against it. The story has shades of Kartik Calling Kartik with a slightly different twist.

The movie has a nice feel to it. The storytelling is taut and does not loose grip. Ayesha Takia's and Ranvijay's performance, individually are good but they lack the chemistry together. A trademark Nagesh kukunoor film worth a watch for a sentimental evening.. :)

Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola - As Confusing as the title

Vishal Bhardwaj has built up an enormous reputation as a director with movies like Omkara and Kaminey. His treatment of the complex story lines and well defined characters have left  their mark on his audiences. Therefore, there is tremendous excitement whenever he starts another movie and especially if the movie has a quirky name like "Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola".

In fact,when I told one of my friends, (He is not into Hindi Movies!!..the poor sod), about my desire to see this movie, our conversation ran like this:-

Me: Hey, I am going to watch this movie - "Matru Ki Bijlee Ka Mandola".

He: Whats that? Is it a dialogue from the movie?

Me : No boss, its the name.

He: Was this guy drunk or does he want people to get curious about the movie?

Me: Obviously.. duh!!!!

He: I think this movie is going to be terrible. With a title like that, I am sure, he didn't know whether the audience would come- What better than a weird title which would pique audiences curiosity and help to make some money during the weekend!! Isn't it?

Me: Arre baba, the director is the same one who made "Kaminey", Remember? The movie you couldn't stop raving about - Especially Shahid's Torso :):) !!!

He: That fellow - Vishal Bhardwaj! (or is it Wee Shall= (he  smirked!).  I guess, it may be good, but , I still have a bad feeling about this.  I mean, what does the title mean anyway? and what is Matru? Is Bijlee a girls name? and Mandola? Is it "Man" and "Dola" as in the hindi word or it means something else. Maybe Mandela?

Me: Boss, Let me see the movie and get back to you.. I too am confused and only watching the movie shall clear all doubts.

**************** xxxxxxxxxxx********************

After the movie----

He: Hey , How was it? Do I need to get that "I told you so" look!

Me : (Valiantly trying to keep a straight face),  not exactly.

He: So what was the movie about? You know, Matru, Bijlee, Mandola ?

Me:  Matru is Imran Khans name and he is the personal valet/driver of Harphool Singh Mandola (Pankaj Kapoor) and Bijlee is Mandola's daughter. They all live in a village called Mandola.

He:  Thanks... but so what? Still don't make sense.

Me: Well, Matru has returned back to Mandola after studying in Delhi and is half a communist. Mandola is the rich landlord who wants to buy up all the farmland to

setup a SEZ. Shabana Azmi is the MLA. She with her son want to buy up all the land, take over Mandola's assets by marrying Bijlee. Bottom line, Shabana is the scheming B**** (its good she is taking  up different roles in the twilight of her career). She is helping Mandola to declare all the land in Mandola as useless and then buy it from the farmers for a price. So in order to do that, water and electrical supply to irrigate the fields have been curtailed so that the farmers can't grow anything. The farmers are resisting it, god favours them by giving them good rainfall after three years. Therefore, supported by a good crop, the farmers resist this high handed take over. The biggies are in no mood to relent and continue their offensive on the farmers by refusing to buy their produce and foreclosing their loans etc. To add to the Melee, there is a faceless benefactor, MAO (how original !) who is guiding the farmers in their fight against the Biggies.  You get the picture.

He: Yeah, some what. but I also heard some pink Buffalo was there in the movie. Where does that fit in?

Me: Mandola is a drunkard. He can do anything to get a drink and is always promising to leave drinking in the morning to start drinking again in  the evening. Whenever he starts drinking, he starts slurring and makes decisions based on his conscience. When he stops, he starts seeing a Pink Buffalo, which drives him mad. (BTW, Gulabo Bhains is also the liquor brand that he drinks!). When he is sober, he is cold blooded and calculating.

He: This seems to be making some sense. So how do you explain the Matru ki Bijlee.

Me: Bijlee is Mandola's daughter, who is a wild chick. She loves Shabana's son and wants to marry him. Shabana's son is foolish but petty and dangerous. Shabana couldn't care less about these two, but wants the wedding only for the land. Mandola thinks by his daughter marrying Shabana's son, political clearance for converting agri land to Non Agri shall be given. Matru secretly loves Bijlee but tries to show his indifference so much so that, he does not even try to stop their engagement or wedding. So the story is about Matru and Bijlee's love in Mandola (their village), with the land grab as a backround (or vice versa). Understood?

He: Man, this seems like a convoluted way of making a movie. And you were missing most of last evening- was the movie that long.

Me: Yeah, too long for comfort. It really dragged at some places. It is however a satire based on the mindset of Land grabbing and how rich literally bamboozle the poor into submission. However, he could've made it far more taut, which would have really made it a brilliant movie.

He: So what do you suggest? Should I watch it? How was the music?

Me: Well, you could , if you have the patience. But I thought Imran's character was not clearly defined. Anoushka's too was wishy-washy. Pankaj kapur and Shabana were pretty good but they way he told the story, he ran out of time to make it better and any longer than the present would've made it un watchable - Catch 22. Music was so-so. So you can safely miss it if you are not into political activism else watch it to understand the problem.

He: Food for thought and how much would you rate it?

Me: ** for the movie and ***  for his intentions.

Table 21 - The Ugly Truth

After a spate of wham-bam movies like Dabang 2, Son Of Sardar, Khiladi 786 etc, here comes a movie with no big names save one - Paresh Rawal, with a twisted story that seemed interesting but had a  Been There Done That Look, transforming towards the end into a.. what can I say ... a sort of a Thriller!

Vivaan and Ria, a married couple (have to mention married as there are various types of couples nowadays), have won an all expenses paid trip to Fiji. They have a ball there  in spite of Vivaan losing his job prior to the trip. Things begin to get interesting towards the end of their trip, then they are invited to celebrate their marriage anniversary in style in one of the many islands of Fiji.

At the Island they are introduced to Mr Khan (Paresh Rawal- looking menacing), who has sponsored their trip and the anniversary celebrations. During casual conversation, he brings up a game show that he runs called "Table 21". The rules of the game are simple - 9 questions, Do not lie (or  if you do, you Die), you cannot quit, each question has a task which has to be completed  or someone dies. Simple.... yet deadly. The prize money - Rs 21 Crores ($10 million Fiji, didnt know our currency is that weak !!!!).  For an "Back to the wall" Vivaan, this seems like a godsent opportunity to make some money and setup something of their own. They agree to play, sign the disclaimers and then the fun begins.

The movie narration is based on a mix of present events  being explained by Flashbacks. The story brings out what devastating effect money can have on us and our relationships. As the story unravels, Vivaan and Sia are forced to confront their fears and deceptions which have the potential to wreck their relationship.  The director, Aditya Datt,  does a pretty decent job and the screen play/Story by Sheershak Anand and Shatanu ray Chibber is quite taut. Though the movie seems like a rehash of "An Indecent Proposal"  "Death Race" and "Sach Ka Samna", it ends quite differently. The suspense is kept up right till the end and generally the audience does not get any cues as to where the entire saga is leading to.
However, the level of suspense is muted and does not grip you... the sore point in the movie as the story had the potential to keep you on tenterhooks!!

Paresh Rawal as Mr Khan is suitably competent, Rajiv Khandelwal as the out of work cad, Vivaan, is above average. Tine Desae looks like another pretty face but her acting skills are nothing much to write about (I've written too much in this one line!!). The rest of the case serves a purpose and the surprise package is Ashraf - Dhruv Ganesh, who plays his role very competently.

The movie is watchable and though there are certain discontinuities and inconsistencies, I would high recommend that you watch this movie. It is  bereft of big names but I think the movie's underlying message needs to be seen by all.

Rating:- ***1/2

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