Heroine - Wasted Time

      

Considering all the brouhaha  about the role that erupted a few years back, primarily by Kareena over not being considered for the role and then fighting for it , one expected that the movie would be something that would shake us out of our comfort zone.. however, the truth is different. 

The story starts with Kareena , Mahi, being thrown out a car and she walking into a police station, with  a dazed look, cigarette in hand and washed up make up.. this scene definitely did not tug at my heart strings. To be honest, the movie meandered onto such a confused path that writing this review is a real task.. therefore I shall cut to the chase and go to the heart of it...

Kareena as Mahi, an upcoming star, has fallen in love with another star actor - Arjun Rampal  as Angad. Predictably, Angad is married with a child and has started divorce proceedings. Mahi is hooked...line and sinker and for that is willing to go to any lengths. Angad, cant handle this and they finally (how obvious !!!) break up. She is devasted and turns to a PR  Rep(played pretty well by Divya Dutta), who as a spin doctor, gets her endorsements, openings etc.. which give her the visibility to get considered for a movie. In the meanwhile she gets hooked with Randeep Hooda - Vice Captain Indian cricket team, who is  the rakhee brother of an Upcoming Actor Abbas's wife - Abbas.. To cut a long story short, she gets the movie with Abbas, spurns his advances, he takes revenge by cutting her role to a minimun and she is devasted. She turns to a moody art film director (Well played by Ranvir Sheorey) who is going to make a movie on a prostitute to show case her acting skills .. Blah blah ...she has a moment with another actress in the film (Shahana Goswami), the film is shelved and she is again back to her self destructive ways. 

She acts in a small film Annie, which does not have enough money for promotion. She turns to Divya Dutta who tells her, that nothing can be done and only a controversey can make her film a hit. Mahi then shows her a sex clip shot by her with arjun rampal. The clip is uploaded, and the resulting controversey makes her film a big hit and she gets what she wants...

The story is not over and I will not let the viewer off the hook.. Please go and see the movie.. you will know what a bad , confused movie looks like and when a star is getting too big for his/her boots, what can happen - nothing short of a black hole. 

I expected a better movie from Madhur Bhandarkar, but I guess he wanted to sc*** kareena's film career and his own in the bargain. Boring, predictable and utter rot are some of the adjectives that can be used to describe the movie. Watch it if you suffer from Insomnia or are a Masochist.

Rating - */2

Barfi! - Review - Truly Magical !!!

There are movies with a story to tell and stories that cry to be made into movies, but rarely one comes across a movie that effortlessly transcends these boundaries and comes across as the only way to tell a story. Barfi! is all that and a lot more.

Set in the hills of Darjeeling, Barfi! is all about a boy (Ranbir Kapoor), who is born deaf and dumb but is not hampered by it. In fact, he makes it out to be a virtue. There is no sympathy asked and none given. He is one of the boys, in with a chance with the girls and what more can one say.

The story is deceptively simple, but the screenplay, direction and cinematography transport it to another dimension of emotional complexity. The viewer is transported into the simple pleasures that bring happiness to us. The basic emotions of greed, love, lust, envy are all there.

Barfi! is a love triangle wherein, a deaf and dumb Ranbir (Barfi!) manages to win the love of a gorgeous Ileana D'Cruz (Shruti ) with his carefree ways and the undying devotion and love of Priyanka (who plays an autistic/retard) with his selfless devotion and caring nature.

The characters are well defined and crisp. Ileana as the young, impressionable, fashionable about to get engaged girl is heartachingly beautiful. The cinematographer - Ravi Varman has caputured her with such admiration that her every nuance, expression and gesture conveys emotion with such sincerity that one cant help falling in love with her and empathising with her when she is too late to......
.
Priyanka is convincing and absolutely brilliant. This role is such a departure from her usual roles that its is a joy to watch her. Her expressions convey love, lust, longing, envy with such ease that one can be forgiven for believing that she is born that way.. Her look when she sees Illeana's graceful back in Kolkata and her efforts to recreate the same is so subtle but yet so defining a woman that it hits you. Her obvious defensive reaction to Illeana is so natural, the trait of possessiveness comes across loud and clear.. I may be a retard but I am a woman too.....

And what do I say about Ranbir!1 Simply brilliant. He emotes with such ease, that one is left astounded at what this young man can do. He is UP THERE and is well on his way to becoming a legend.

Ashish Vidyathi as Jhilmil's dad is competent but doesnt have much to do. Saurabh shukla is effective as the overweight and harrassed cop, Rita Ganguly as Illean's mum is suitably competent and quietly scheming. The rest of the cast ably support the lead characters.

The director, Anurag Basu's recitation of this story is fluid and carefree. His technique of running a paralllel story line (past and present together) keeps you hooked. The cinematography is vivid and the use of lighting is absolutely spot on.Another nice touch are the travelling musicians who maintain a certain soulful atmosphere throughout the movie.

Go and watch the movie for its old world charm , its lack of pretentiousness, fluid storytelling and some brilliant performances by its lead characters. The only flaw is the ending, which could've been handled better as it just dragged on a little bit. However, I can forgive that and so will you...

Rating :- ****1/2

You can read some other reviews here

Times of India Review

Hindustan Times Review

Indian Express Review

KYA SUPER kOOL HAI HUM-THEY WISH!!!

Straight off the bat- I am a big fan of Kya Super Kool hai Hum. I thought it was crazy and fun, and very well made. It gave a different meaning to the phrase "Double Entendre". For someone who loves movies like the "Matrix" and "The Dark Knight".. it was a sea change .. and keeping that in mind I went to see "Kya Super Kool hai hum" ( I also kept all logical reasoning aside - a primary requisite to enjoy the movie) and ...welll.... read on..

First things first - The double entendre is alive and kick with a few takes on various serials ..like when Simran( Neha) is taking about guys she refers to the serial "Bade Achhe Lagte Hain"..go Figure.. However, the movie is a series of double meaning phrases that we have heard over the past few years...yeah..Super Kool Should have cum...oops come a few years back.. :)

The characters -
 Neha Sharma (pretty with big beautiful eyes)  as Simran, a call center employee with rich parents, Sarah Jane Dias as Anu, a model
 Riteish as a wannabe DJ Sid with a stud dog
Tusshar , as Adi, a wannabe actor, stalking Rohit Shetty
Chunky Pandey as Baba 3G
Anupam Kher as Francis Marlo - Anu's crazy and gullible dad
Rohit shetty - Special appearance

The story is a mix  of "Kismat Konnection, Vicky Donor,  and Dostana" all rolled into one. Incidents like Carol Gracias wardrobe malfunction are also featured into the story. Adi and DJ Sid are stugglers trying to make their mark in the world. Adi as an actor.. who is forced to do teleshopping ad s till he gets the big break and Sid, trying to be a DJ but somehow manages to bungle up the party... Adi goes to a Tarot Card reader , Sunita Menon to get an insight into what the future hold for him. Sh  tells him that a girl is about to come into his life, her name beginiing with "S", who shall change his fortunes. Sure enough..after meeting Simran in a bus, he gets a call that he has been shortlisted for a movie called "chinghum"....
DJ Sid survives on his dog's sexploits.... His dog is called Sakru (pug) and is a donor...(yeah..like Vicky), who is in great demand for breeding... and Sid gets paid handsomely... what a life.
Well...to cut a long story short, Sid meets Anu while he is playing as a stand-in DJ at a fashion show and is responsible for her wardrobe malfunction. She gets even with him by sending him up as a stand-in escort to a roomful of bored housewives into S&M.  Adi, in the meantime proposes to Simran, who gets scared and tells him that she is a Lesbian... However, the young lover is not satisfied so he and sid go to Goa. Here, sid meets Anu's dad who has been convinced by Baba 3 G that his mother (Rosemary Marlo... Duh!!!)  has taken rebirth in the form of a pug.. that allows him and his 5 disciples to free load on francis Marlo... what follows is a tiresome comedy comprising of stale gay jokes and cliched Double meaning dialogues.
VERDICT
Well, go and watch it if you are not current with Double Meaning dialogues and havent watched some of the hindi movies mentioned above, other wise you can safely give it a miss....

Rating * 1/2.

Ferrari Ki Sawari- Enjoy the Ride!!!

Ferrari -- throws up images of a Red Prancing horse, the high pitched scream of a 800 Hp formula one car, whizzing through Monza and of course of excellence in engineering and design - A reminder that technologically superior products can also be beautiful while giving ultimate performance (Apple iPad, iPhone..case in point)...lest I digress further, let me get on with the review.

The movie starts up in true Vinod Chopra style.. setting the mood for the character - in this case Sharman Joshi - a Parsi single dad, bringing up his son, riding a scooter alongwith his son, inadvertently breaks a traffic light. Now being an upright RTO clerk and wanting to set the correct example for his son, and finding no traffic havaldar in sight, he looks for one, and ensures that he is challaned and pays a fine. Now, this seems far-fetched and not exactly in the nature of normal humans...but drives the point home.

 By then we have been introduced to Rustom - Sharman Joshi, Ritwik Sahore and Kayo, Boman Irani as Deboo- Sharman's father and a disgruntled old man, The Honest Police inspector - who does not shy away from impounding wrongly parked foreign cars, the traffic constable - a big fan of Sachin Tendulkar and who wants to avoid controversy by NOT picking up foreign cars as they may belong to politicians or industrialist and he may be pulled up for the actually doing his job, Kayo's  cricket coach and of course the Over the Top, Punjabi Wedding Planner -

The story is based around Kayo- a talented budding cricketer, who belongs to a middle class family.  Rustom finds it difficult to provide for Kayo's cricketing gear but somehow manages. However, one day an oppotunity comes knocking at their door - A coaching camp to Lords, London, for which Kayo will definitely be selected, however, the cost is Rs One and Half Lac, which is the deal breaker for the financially strapped Rustom. A Lac and Half, a disgruntled Grandad (Bade papa), an unscrupulous friend of grand papa- Dharmadhikari-played by Paresh Rawal , all threaten to destroy this boys dream.

Opportunity knocks and how. There is money to be made but there is a rider, A Ferrari is needed for a Corporator's sons wedding and the wedding planners best bet is Rustom. How everything falls in place is something that you must watch for yourself but there are some key takeaways from this movie:-
(a) Under the right conditions, if given a chance, Everyone is capable of crime - even the most             honest  among us.
(b) However, when the honest commit a crime, the element of guilt is too much and they cant live with it.. so they definitely try to make it up...

Overall, the movie scores for its simplicity and some genuine acting skills. Characterisation is good, however some of them like the coach suffer, as there isnt enough time or emphasis given to them in the script. Sharman as Rustom is very Likeable and does an excellent job.. Ritwik, the mac Donalds find, is good, however, the honours once again go to Boman irani, as the irascible old Parsi Gentleman, he is in his element.  Rest all have done a competent job... The movie lacks  energy and Vidya Balan's item number could'nt do much to increase it.. However, the pace is brisk and the kids will definitely love it...

A must watch with children and a May watch if you are on your own...

Rating - *** 1/2

Shanghai - You have been Shanghaied !!!!!

Shanghai

Evolution is a fact of life....and Shanghai is an evolution in darwanian terms..Would love to watch some more movies like these... No patronising, no moral lectures...says it just the way it is.... A brilliant strategic Chess game , where the moves have already been decided before the game has started..!!!

The movie is set in Bharatpur or some mofussil town, where the ruling party wants to set up an IBP- India Business Park. Now, as with all development, some one has to pay the price, and obviously, It has to be the poor tribals who have to be displaced from their land (how obvious).

The characters are well etched.. Abhay Deol as the Collector - A tamilian..reserved, quiet and crafty, Kalki as the idealistic crusader, whose dad is an army general accused in a land scam, Emraan- as Jogi,  the sleazy photographer's assistant, always on the look out for new business,  

Farookh sheikh as the flexible and compliant Principal Secretary, Supriya Pathak as the Cold Blooded CM and a host of characters to complete the plot...

Enter the dragon...Dr Ahemadi (Prasenjit Banerjee) ..in a la Medha Patkar mode.. kurta and all, who comes to tell the poor tribals to fight for their right. He is Kalki's teacher and more. Kalki is forewarned to tell Ahemadi not to come as his life is under threat, but that is brished off by ahemadi. However, the threat was real and Ahemadi is mowed down by a truck in front of all his supporters and detractors.

The spider's web starts to un ravel with the CM ordering an enquiry and makes Abhay Deol the headmaster. The cover up game starts with the police and the deeper our collector goes, the dirtier it gets. The criminals display no fear of the law , which is frightening as it holds out no hope for the common man, Emraan is uncharateristically cast, with a past and a debatable future. Kalki is the only weak link. The ending is ironic and cynical... no answers..just reality and thats the way it is...

Summing up, a smart political thriller vishwanthan anand would be proud of the moves played by all the characters. To be savoured and enjoyed. 

Extremely well directed, written, acted ...... Shanghai is a masterful  dark tale narrated by a Masterful story teller, Dibakar (maybe he shall not be called "Debacle" Banerjee any more..:)

Rating  -  ****1/2