8X10 Tasveer | Movie Review

I have always held that Nagesh Kukunoor is an intelligent director and that his best film is Teen Deewarein which very few people have heard of. When I saw the promo of 8X10 Tasveer, I felt that Nagesh was coming up with something as interesting as Teen Deewarein. Unlike Teen Deewarein, this film was backed by big names and that I felt would do wonders. Sadly, with this film, Nagesh who upto now worked on the peripheries of masala cinema to avoid typical Bollywood clichés, makes a full length dive into commercial genre and ends up looking one amongst the many. This film borrows a lot from Abbas Mustan style of film making.

One problem with the film despite being a full blown commercial potboiler is the lack of glamour quotient. If you look in the last decade or so, most of the successful thrillers in Bollywood have had ample dose of glamour. Tasveer has cute looking Ayesha Takia who would fail to draw people to the theater.

The second problem is the losing grip in the second half. The first half of the film builds up the story and the audience is curious to know who the murder culprit is but Nagesh Kukunoor lets it loose in the second half and after a series of clichés, the curtains are drawn. Nagesh Kukunoor tries to give a logical end to these clichés but there are a few loose ends that he is not able to fix. The result is a convoluted second half that drags itself to conclusion.

The third problem is of characterization. Most of the characters are not well etched. All of them keep making appearances throughout the film but due to vaguely written characters, hardly create any impact. Akshay Kumar displays one emotion thoughout but Jaaved Jaaferi does pack a punch with his performance. Jaaved Jaaferi as the Hyderabadi detective is terrific. It was a welcome change to see Akshay Kumar in a non-comic role after a long-long time but it seems that he is cut out mainly for comedy movies. It’s sad that this year has not been particularly kind to this new No 1 aspirant in Bollywood. After Chandni Chowk to China, Tasveer is going to be another failed attempt at sealing his position as the top money raker for Bollywood.

I understand that this film is about a super natural power that the protagonist possesses but it takes a while before you digest the fact. The film begins with AK playing a Samaritan and helping others find their lost ones using the power. That made me blurt the – “There you go!” expression that invited the silent wrath of one of the 10 heads in the theatre (including me and the ticket collector with the torch).

The film has good music and background score. The Nazara Hai and the Haafiz Khuda songs are good. I don’t think that the album has been well promoted though. Salim-Sulaiman are fast coming up as a force to reckon with.

Canada looks scenic as always in the film. Nagesh Kukunoor gives the film a Hollywood type look and feel. Nagesh is an engineer by education. Therefore, you see him trying his best to give logical conclusions even to some of the bizarre scenes like the chained Akshay’s underwater struggle to break himself free. I will not go to the extent of labeling Nagesh as a failure in this attempt of his. He could certainly have done a lot better but with 8X10 Tasveer he has tried pedaling through untested water. I will still like to believe that he is better than what the film’s fate at box office will suggest in the days to come.

8X10 Tasveer is disappointing. On Bollywood success scales, I feel it will fall short of making a mark in terms of revenues. Nagesh maybe you should re-release Teen Deewarein. With small films minting money these days, maybe it will set the cash registers ringing. But for 8x10 Tasveer, it’s between a 2 and 2.5 out of 5 rating.

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Gulal | Movie Review

Anurag Kashyap is an exciting prospect for Indian cinema. In him we have found a film-maker whose regime starts where Bollywood draws its limits. Angst, rebellion and sensationalism symbolize his kind of cinema. After watching both his ventures in the recent past – DevD and Gulal, I felt that through his characters he makes an extra effort to stand out from the crowd. What you get at the end of it all is a set of dysfunctional characters (let me be strong worded as Kashyap himself) who are not exactly real people. But this is what I call cinematic liberty. The same cinematic liberty that sees Yash Chopra create an imaginary Raj or a Rahul. In that sense Anurag is still a part of the same system.

Now coming to the film Gulal. Gulal is an angry film by Anurag’s own admission. He conceived it at a time when his films were facing problems from the censor board and he was listening to songs from Gurudutt’s Pyaasa (he in fact got so inspired from the song Duniya that he decided to use it in one of the songs in Gulal). The anger comes out in the colors chosen for the film. Choosing Rajasthan as the base of the film, Anurag tells the story of a failed Rajputana revival movement in the backdrop of college politics.

As a director Anurag Kashyap delivers. In this attempt he is ably supported by his cast, the music, the songs, the dialogues and the script. He does stay true to the basic premise of the concept – depiction of resentment but it certainly does not depict reality. Most of his characters appear eccentric and look to hog limelight. There is an illegitimate son of the Royalty who doesn’t talk to his father because he did not give him his name and on the other hand does not think twice before using his sister to win over his adversaries. Having said that, I do not hold this against Anurag Kashyap because nowhere does he state that he stands for real cinema. You cannot blame him for exercising his artistic liberty. The best thing about Anurag Kashyap is that through his films he is able to create an ambience that make you become a part of the film itself. So, when you walk out of DevD, you feel drunk and when you walk out after watching Gulal, you carry that anguish he portrays through the characters. The bottomline is that Anurag Kashyap is a thinking director and technically brilliant. His work shows that he is a true blue cinema fanatic. It is only when he tries being too intelligent and experimental with something as abstract as No Smoking that problems surface.

Another problem with his films is the length. A dark film taxes your mind and if it is over 2 and half hours long, you can imagine what you will be subjecting yourself to when you go inside the theater. I refrained from watching DevD and Gulal earlier precisely due to this reason. I finally watched them both over this weekend. That brings me to a pertinent point that I would like to make. You can watch Anurag’s movies only if you are really in the ‘mood’ to. I recently read Anurag Kashyap saying that his films had a lot of unconnected dots and he left it to the viewers to join them. His movies are not the usual run of the mill stuff that you can casually walk through. The result is that despite getting good reviews Gulal might not succeed at the box office.

Veering away from Anurag Kashyap, we come to another strong point of the film and that is the music and the songs. Piyush Mishra (the guy who played Prithvi Bana in Gulal) is the music director, lyricist and singer of a few songs of the film. He is equally important in the context of Gulal. He lends a strong pillar of support to the film through his music that breathes life into the film. Each of the songs is a gem.

The actors cast in the film are also a formidable lot. Kay Kay Menon, Deepak Dobriyal (Omkara fame), Piyush Mishra (Maqbool, Dil Se fame), Aditya Srivastava (Black Friday) and Raj Singh Chaudhary (Sarkar Raj) set the tone for the film and live through their characters. Ayesha Mohan, Mahie Gill and Jesse Randhawa form the female lead of the film and they show that there is space for actresses to perform as well. A welcome change from seeing most of the ‘actresses’ nowadays happy playing decked up dolls and doing item numbers. Another surprise package is the actor playing Rananajay Singh. He reminded me of Irfan Khan in Haasil. This guy exhibits the same level of arrogance and intensity as Ranvijay Singh of Haasil, though the character is far less cunning.

All in all, Gulal is a film that caters to the multiplex audience. Too many profanities would prevent families from watching it and the number of unconnected dots will keep a lot of others away too. The dark canvas would keep off people accustomed to the bright and snowy Swiss Alps as well :)

Watch Gulal if you:

- are an Anurag Kashyap fan

- liked DevD

- like to experiment

- want to spend some time away from the madding world.

- like solving ‘Expert’ level Sudokus

- want to write a review!

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Gulal | The Music Review | Anurag Kashyap’s next Movie

Dev D.’s soundtrack gave me sleepless nights; not that it scored a new high in the purity of music but for the fact that it broke the genre barrier. It got onto me and a lot of other people – its mediocrity were its biggest virtue and it won hearts as well as heads. The movie may have had extreme reactions and opinions – the music surely stood out for reasons that are not very common. There was something about it – which is hard to explain and appreciate but you could for sure sense it if you poured yourself into it.

I wasn’t aware the next from the maverick maniac would come up so soon. So I was pleasantly surprised to know that OST for Gulal was out. Interestingly, Gulal is as original as it gets!

Again the music is not mainstream – which probably is the highpoint. Gulal is an experiment which unfortunately does not happen very often. It is Anurag Kashyap’s attempt to bring Poetry to Cinema. Before we go further, let’s get it right – it’s not your everyday dose of contemporary music. It is honest to what it is supposed to be.

Some research reveals – Gulal is a tribute to the song Yeh duniya agar mil bhi jaaye to kya hai in the movie Pyasa by the poet and lyricist Sahir Ludhyanwi. Campus Politics is used as the vehicle to drive the story. It has been under production for many years now and the director has had a tough time struggling with the Censor Board.

Talking of the music, Lyrics take the centre stage. The movie has heavy influence of the Chaayawaad era of Hindi Poetry. Apparently the works of Suryakant Tripathi “Nirala”, Sumitranandan Pant, Mahadevi Verma and Jaishankar Prasad seems to the motivation behind. The mood is “Veer Ras” or the poetry meant for the battlefield.

I know you are surprised to read all of this in a music review. But I warned you – this is not your everyday dose of music. The music director Piyush Mishra simply weaves magic around his own words and uses the lesser heard voices in Bollywood that score very high in terms of their singing talent. For some reason I think it’s as much his movie as it is Anurag’s. He has acted, given music and written the lyrics for the same.

I know I am expected to talk about the eight tracks (not 18 this time!). But I want you to go out and explore. I am sure I have made it clear beyond doubt that if you enjoy variety in your music – if you like chewing the lyrics of the music that you hear – and if you understand Hindi (read “Bhavaarth”) this is the soundtrack you should not miss. I am sure by now people who want to hear this would have been excited. For the rest, there would always be a lot of pop music- that too just around the corner. Would be happy to see your comments on the Soundtrack! :)

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Flashback - RDB Review

With Delhi 6 releasing this week, I couldn't help but remember Rakyesh Mehra's Rang De Basanti - a film that took me comepletely by surprise and a pleasant one at that. I am getting mixed reviews about Delhi 6 and I hope to catch it sometime over the weekend or early next week. Until then, freshen up the memories of Mehra's last outing. I wrote this around three years back and feel a bit differently about the film and my review now. But that's a different story. Here's what one amongst the charged up audience of RDB felt as on Feb 09, 2006.

There are two kinds of movies, some make you feel good, some don't register anything once you get out of the theatre. And then you come across the third kind, the ones which leave you numb. RDB is a movie that will make you think and the thought would linger long after you have come out of the theatres. A highly experimental film which despite its shortcomings succeeds in conveying a message is how I would describe it. Is it all about Patriotism? - Not really. Its more of an interpretation of freedom by the youth of today and as the title suggests - the awakening.

The hero in the film is not only Aamir Khan, its the vision of Rakyesh Mehra - the director who has finally arrived. Its an original work. Though many believe that even Aks was unusual and ahead of its times, I still feel otherwise. For all the Aamir Khan fans, if you feel that it is an out and out Aamir Khan flick, you are in for big surprises. Siddhartha(the new face) has a role of equal standing.

The director weaves two plots into one and what you get is an experimental but seamlessly joined story that sees the present day situation in the context of the Indian struggle for freedom. So you have these bunch of college pass-outs leading a somewhat confused, carefree and flippant lives suddenly discovering Chandrashekhar Azads, Bhagat Singhs and Ashfaqs within them.

The basic difference between RDB and other films of this genre is that unlike other movies, in RDB, the protagonists do not plead with the people to stand up against corruption, nor do they rant about patriotism and preach. This is where Swades, another brilliant film failed. This works for the film as it does not end up being another film with an overdose of nationalism/patriotism. The director seems to have picked up the cue from Ashutosh Gowariker's Swades where SRK says - "Hamara desh sirf hamare kehne se mahaan nahi hoga." The protagonists are unapologetic of what they do and they stand up for it.

The story is for you all to go and see but let me give you 5 reasons for watching this film:

The screenplay and the crisp editing - Rakyesh Mehra has brought out his imagination brilliantly on celluloid. Tout screenplay by him and Renzil D'Silva. The script did have loopholes( you can’t just go and shoot a Home Minister at his home and get away without harm, comparing the lathicharge incident with Jallianwala Bagh tragedy and finally handling the climax) but then lets give him the allowance of cinematic liberty to give an entertaining/inspiring climax to his film within the 2.5 hours that he had. If he had gone all by logic then the message that the film conveys couldn't have come across. Though there are actually two plots running together, the transtition from colourful palletes to sepia tone does not look disjointed.

Peformances - First rate! So you have Aamir Khan in yet another stellar act enthralling you with his antiques. He is hysterical, sensitive, headstrong, insecure and even breaks down after gulping down a few bottles of beer. A welcome respite after Mangal Pandey - the dud. Soha Ali Khan is a revelation. She surprises you with her acting for sure. The rest of the cast is equally good and you also have veterans like Anupam and Kirron Kher, Om Puri and Waheeda Rehman besides the head-line makers of the movie.

Music - Its like a comeback for Rehman as well after Mangal Pandey. The way these songs are interwoven into the narrative adds to their quality. While the title track gives you that earthy feeling, the song Ru-ba-roo takes you into a trans. The background score is also great. To get the best music for his film, the director and his music director have to know exactly what they expect of each other and hats off to Mehra and Rehman for getting their efforts bang on target.
Dialogues and cinematography - Prasoon Joshi's dialogues exude a youthful exuberence and Binod Pradhan's camerawork is top class.

The Moments:
- The scenes where these guys whizz past Kiron Kher taking her dupatta away in boyish naughtiness and where Aamir speaks his heart out to Sue.
- The improvisation on 'Choo kar mere mann ko' when the band of boys gets to meet Sue for the first time.
- Aamir Khan mugging up his dialogue lines - "Bismil ka sandesh hai.." and the one where he gets embarassed when he comes to know that Sue understood Hindi.
- The camaraderie that all of them share in general. The 'Pathshala' song needs a special mention here.

Rang De Basanti paints you in its colors. It surely does..

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Luck By Chance - Review

There is a lot of curiosity for a film that comes from the stable of accomplished film luminaries like the Akhtars. So what if the director at the helm is a debutant. Zoya Akhtar is Javed Akhtar’s daughter and that raises the hope. Does she live up to the expectations is what prompted me to go ahead and watch Luck By Chance primarily. I can’t answer that question in a simple ‘Yes’ or a ‘No’.

The second reason for me going to watch the film was obviously Farhan Akhtar. I wanted to see if Luck By Chance was going to be second time lucky for Farhan as an actor-producer. Is it lucky? The answer is again a confusing ‘yes and no’. Yes – as an actor and probably No – as a producer. But I must stop predicting box office success with Ghajini’s mind boggling business worldwide. When I see a Ghajini poster roaring an unprecedented ‘235 Crores Worldwide’ collection, I pretend to be blind. Hindi film audience is fickle-minded and any prediction on the fate of a film is nothing more than a guessing game founded on individual biases.

Coming back to Luck By Chance, Zoya Akhtar debuts in the movie as a story/screenplay writer and a director. She did not write the dialogues as Farhan did for his first film. That doesn’t mean that she won’t be compared with her accomplished brother. She is indeed quite good in the screenplay department. The story too is very commercial in its form. She did spend the seven years working on this story for some good reason afterall. I can’t say the same about her direction. I found it meandering and confusing at places. What started as a film centered around Farhan Akhtar and kept the focus on him suddenly shifted focus on Konkana in the climax scene. I couldn’t get the sudden shift in focus after relegation of Konkana’s character to the background for most parts of the second half. Maybe being a woman played a part. The film ends on a note where you see Konkana’s character refusing Farhan to enter back into her life and then carving a small place for herself in the tinsel world on her own esteem. I couldn’t understand how that could be the culmination of the film. That was like a dash of Madhur Bhandarkar to me!

Having said that, there are some high points in her effort as well. The way she portrays the Hindi film industry is filled with a dose of intelligent sense of humor. I must say that this is the one of the better films on Bollywood that gives us an inside view of the glamour world. She has deftly handled a few scenes in the film. Notable among those are the two break down scenes. One, when Rishi Kapoor breaks down saying that he commands no respect and two, when Farhan breaks down on the stairs after his fall out with his childhood friend. Another notable scene worth a mention is the one between SRK and Farhan. It could have looked like a discourse on remaining level headed but the director does control it quite well.

In the acting department, Farhan shows us that he is an able actor. He underplays his character and is believable. He doesn’t look out of place except in some dance sequences. Especially the Pyaar Ki Daastan song where he repeats his steps and imitates the oft repeated ‘SRK stretching his hands’ dance move. He can dance but something just doesn’t seem right. Maybe I have a preconceived notion of thinking of him as a director and not an actor. That’s my view, see for yourself.

Konkana’s acting prowess has never been in question. She is top rate as she always is. Rishi Kapoor is unmatchable. Juhi Chawla looks as pretty as she did 20 years ago. Sanjay Kapoor is a revelation. Dimple Kapadia plays the character of a star mom and a yesteryear superstar with perfection. Watch out for her outburst against the Magazine editor in the film. Isha Sharvani is a dancer and not an actress. The rest of the cast is competent. Hrithik is superb in the character of the insecure superstar.

Music is not the high point of the film. It has a couple of very good songs but not a pillar on which the film stands. It’s not a dud but Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy trio is not in full form here.

Overall Luck By Chance is a good movie that will be liked by the multiplex audience only. No one can deny that the film is well made but that would probably not translate into monetary gains as the pace of the film is lethargic and has no smash hit songs to aid its publicity. Given a choice I will prefer to watch it on DVD rather than in theatre. With Victory and Raaz as its competitors, Luck By Chance can hope to stay afloat for sometime to come. Watch it if you like sensible cinema and want a break from over publicized trash that is served day-in and day-out as BLOCKBUSTER material. The first watchable film of 2009 is how I would describe Luck By Chance. 3 (left hand limit :-P) out of 5 is my rating.

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Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi - The Review

Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi is no DDLJ. It’s not even an Om Shanti Om. But does content make any difference in a film that features SRK? Aditya Chopra is back at the helm as a director (if you don't believe in the rumors of him having ghost directed Dhoom and some other films coming from the Yashraj stable). A lot was expected out of him as this was a long hiatus after which he was returning as a director. He disappoints and not because he is bad as a director in Rab Ne. Screenplay was considered a strongpoint of Adi’s films and this is where Rab Ne flounders big time.

Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi’s story idea does have a soul. It is about the extraordinary achieved by the ordinary for love but the way it is portrayed is too amateurish. By the end of it, you tend to feel that some of these Bollywood directors have started taking the audience for granted. If OSO was stupidity at its peak, Rab Ne dethrones it and sits atop that chart. Having said that I will not say that all is bad with the film. The flashes of Aditya Chopra-SRK combination’s brilliance does show up intermittently. But it is too less to satiate the hunger of a cinemagoer who waited for 8 years to see the pair recreate magic. They might say that Rab Ne has an entertainment value to look forward to. Of course Mr. Chopra, we sure like to be entertained but not get fooled!

Is it possible that you shave off your moustache and your family stops to recognize you?

Is it possible that the reticent YOU suddenly gel your hair, wear snazzy clothes and put on an overtly extrovert exterior overnight to appease your lady love?

Show us how it is possible. Come on, you didn’t even give an interview for your film and the character that draws from you on the shyness quotient and moustache, if not on anything else! At least that would have sent a signal that a transformation is indeed possible. It is unfathomable to imagine how you could even think of such a silly portrayal. Did you have a dearth of actors? Couldn’t someone else have played the role of Raj and so that we enjoyed the refreshing change of watching SRK as the commoner Surinder Sahni in your epic saga that stretched endlessly? Why the SRK fixation? The day is not far when you guys would have SRK clones doing every trivial role in the film.

Does that mean that Aditya Chopra, the man who gave us DDLJ has failed completely? The answer is NO! The film’s first and the last 25 minutes are the saving grace. And that is solely because he created the character called Surinder Sahni and got SRK to play it. Aditya Chopra is not a funny man and Rab Ne is how funny he could get is what SRK told in an interview. There are indeed some moments that will bring a smile on your face. That gives a little hope that Aditya Chopra magic is not over yet!

The music is strictly okay. No experimentation by the music director duo of Salim-Sulaiman. They seem to be the next Vishal-Shekhar in the making and I say this because their Fashion scored on the music front. The whole dance item in the climax which forms the background for the entire 3 hour affair is a dud. It looks totally off color and repetitive. But yes, the way the story unfolds before the eyes of the heroine during the climax dance sequence is good. It reminds you of the Adi Chopra magic that I talked of earlier.

SRK is top class as Surinder Sahni, the average middle class man who doesn’t wear designer clothes or mouth filmy dialogues to win the love of his life. But enter Raj - naam to suna hoga, the “seen that 100 times” over-the-top character from so many of Yash Raj Films and boredom sets in. You yawn and wonder when the 20 year old boy Raj would transform into a 43 year old man on celluloid. You really can’t stop time by replacing 30 year old heroines by a fresh crop of 20 year olds. Can you? And by the way, the new girl Anoushka is pretty good. She looks cute and sweet and acts fine too for her first film. I hope she doesn’t end up the way some other fresh faces from YRF banner did (read Tulip Joshi, Preity Jhangiani, Shamita Shetty and Kim Sharma). Vinay Pathak is top rate. There is no one else in the movie that I can remember of.

One of the most enjoyable moments of the whole movie is the end credit. Please do not leave the theatre when THE END sign flashes. It is at this time that Suri ji shares some picture postcards of his honeymoon in Japan. It is indeed these five minutes that save the day for Rab Ne team in some ways besides Surinder Sahni's character because you exit the theatre with a smile rather than tearing the hair on your head.

When the film ended the audience started to move out of the theatre not knowing what was in store in the end credits. Then all of a sudden SRK’s voice over started describing Suri Ji's honeymoon photographs. The whole theatre stood still. Such is the magic of the man. He can hold your attention even after the film has ended. He is called a Badshah for some good reason after all. Sadly, even though SRK does liven up proceedings in parts, his film does not.

My rating is 2 out of 5 for Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi.

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Deshdrohi - The Preview

"Jitni nafrat tumhare dil mein hamare liye hai..utna hi pyaar hamare seeney mein tumhare liye hai" - Ladies and Gentlemen, join me in applauding the rise of another cult movie that will join Mithun starrer Gunda in Bollywood's top list of Avant Garde films. The fact that I too belong to the land of Bhaiyyas creates a greater sense of attachment to this film that I wish to spread amongst you all.

Deshdrohi is not just a film. It is a smart business venture to cash in on the topicality of the Maanus-Bhaiya controversy. KRK, as the oppressed protagonist packs a punch and leaves everyone stunned with his confidence. He is an inspiration to all sons of the soil who are now afraid to land in Mumbai fearing attacks against them. Their mental agony is very well depicted by KRK when he vents his ire in front of the goons before unleashing some fiery flying kicks and some more verbal jabs - "Aaj tumhare dar se Mumbai choroon. Kal kisi aur ke dar se Dilli chorun. Phir ek din kahoge Hindustan chor do"

The film projects KRK as the modern age Gandhi with a violent touch. Mahatma Gandhi was pushed out of a train in South Africa. That incident saw him transform from a regular guy to a man who changed a nation’s destiny. KRK in turn is thrown out of a BEST bus. He then metamorphoses into a Haan Main Bhaiyya Hoon avatar to give everyone a good understanding of UP-Bihar culture – “Kabhi UP Bihar aake dekhna, mehmaan ko bhagwan samajhte hain hum”. When they don’t seem to understand, he doesn’t shy away from punishing the errant through violent means single handedly. This is where his character departs from the Mahatma’s line of thinking. His is ably supported by 4 of his heroines and 22 actors (as he proclaimed in an interview) in this epic saga that has shaken the throne on which Kundan Shah’s Gunda sits unchallenged for all these years.

Such has been the growth in stature and popularity of KRK post Deshdrohi that even SRK has started to feel insecure. It is rumored that for this very reason, he decided to copy KRK's look in his forthcoming movie Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi. Is it purely coincidental that SRK too sports a similar hair style and moustache as KRK does in Deshdrohi? What a film like Asoka couldn't do to Shahrukh (Didn't Asoka look like SRK rather than the other way around in the movie), KRK's reputation has done. Way to go Khan. I mean Kamaal Rashid Khan. This film has also resulted in a shift in style statement. The pan-chewing, flashy jeans and sunglasses sporting, manly-mustachioed look that was once looked down upon is in. It also propagates that it is the strength of will rather than those muscular abs that can help you beat the hell out of a whole gang of anti-national elements. The fight sequences have been well thought out and are brilliantly executed on screen. Just look at the sliding punch that our hero delivers in the most sensitive part of a male anatomy. You don’t need a six-pack abs to do that, do you?

Besides KRK and the nature of the subject chosen, it is the dialogue delivery that creates an impact. When an inspector asks the hero why he turned a beggar from a king, KRK displays loads of attitude in his reply -

“Aye Inspector..Mera naam Raj Kumar Singh Yadav hai..aur Yadav sirf raja hota hai, bhikhari nahi”

Perhaps he is referring to the likes of Mulayam and Laloo Yadav in making a generic statement about the community. But his arrogance sets adrenalin rushing and people watch with utter disbelief as this man of unimaginable courage sings in the deserts with his sweetheart and then returns back to clean the society of all traitor elements.

The film was made for a modest 5 crore INR but KRK decided to invest further 7 crores in its promotion. He released it alongside KJo’s gayish Dostana. You have to give credit to this guy for daring. This film has done what none could ever do. In an age where Hrithiks and the Rampals sway the entire nation with their orthodox Greek good looks and urban touch, KRK has given respectability and confidence to people from the Hindi heartland to go ahead and dream big despite coming from unconventional backgrounds. Don’t believe it? Watch this mesmerizing performance where a KRK wannabe tries some awesome dance moves.

And..before I sign off, here’s another strong statement..Kaa Bujhla Tu

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Singh is Kinng - The Review

The King is here! Akshay Kumar and SRK have been involved in a rat race to become Bollywood's King. Though they both have been running neck to neck for sometime now, there was always this difference in the way they fared. While SRK churned single big hits, Akshay churned a number of smaller hits. With Singh is King’s collections touching 28 crores in the first weekend, Akshay has gained a slight upper edge for the moment. SRK’s OSO had grossed 26 crores in its opening week. So much so for the stats. Now coming to the film, Singh is King, like OSO, is a glossy affair with little substance. Just like OSO, the credit for the success of the film should go to the producers of the film who have left no stone unturned to ensure that it runs on the steam generated out of its super publicity. Getting down to the dissection part now, let me talk about the film and the people behind it.

Producer (Vipul Shah): A smart Gujju bhai. Vipul Shah is man with the Midas' touch. Each of his films has been a bigger grosser than his previous one. He has an astute mind of a business man no doubt. Since he was not at the helm behind the camera this time around, he spent his energy on giving the film a very good production value. A lot was spent on publicizing the film. Tremendous hype generated now has Mr. Shah laughing his way to the bank. He wanted to make money with the investment and he has succeeded. Part played with aplomb. Kudos to him!

Director (Anees Bazmee): You don’t associate Anees Bazmee with Stanley Kubrick style of film making. He makes no brainers and that’s just about it. He completes a hatrick of sorts with his third straight film being declared a super hit (if you discount his Govinda starrer Sandwich that sprang out of nowhere a couple of years back). Anees Bazmee would give more hits in the times to come but he will never go into the annals of film history as a great director. There was a time when David Dhawan too gave back to back hits. They made money but never got the respect. Making money is one thing and getting acclaimed for them is another. This film is more about Vipul Shah and Akshay rather than Anees Bazmee. Having said that, you have to admit that he is an intelligent film-maker who understands the sensibilities of the Indian audience very well.

Actors (Akshay and Team): Akshay Kumar has slogged hard to be at the place that he is in now. Nothing seems boring when he is onscreen. His rise in comedy almost coincided with Govinda’s decline as the comedy king. He has given the art a new perspective and despite looking repetitive at times, gives you enough to smile about. As the goofy Sardar from sadde Dharmendar da pind, he excels and carries the whole film on his capable shoulders.

Katrina is one lucky girl. How many new faces get to become the arm candy of a superstar like Salman Khan and then get to work opposite another in films after films? Her plus – she looks beautiful. Her minus – she can’t do what she is intended to – act! But in hindi films, the heroines don’t need to act. Can’t help sounding like a male chauvinist here but sorry folks, that’s the status quo in the film industry today. Anyways, she might learn in the long run. More importantly, we all love Katrina, don’t we ;)

Support Cast: Able. Sonu Sood makes a dashing entry and is then relegated to playing the silent ‘ungli wale’ baba. Kirron Kher is just about okay. Javed Jaffery is likeable as the partially deaf and blind gangster. Ranvir Shorey is wasted in a part that even a TV actor could have played (Gosh! Am I sounding like a pig now? First the females and then the TV actors). Neha Dhupia plays the ‘Mona Darling’ part. She did it in Mithya recently and this one’s just an extension with a dash of nonsense.

Music (Pritam): Pritam the copy cat comes up with another hit album. Songs are good. I just hope that this album does not have at least one ‘inspired’ song for the sake of originality. Teri Ore is a romantic number and is picturised in Egypt. Picturization is similar to the Suraj Hua Maddham song from K Jo’s KKKG. The title song is a Sardar anthem. Bhootni Ke is an offbeat marriage song that you would love to mischievously play at a foe’s wedding. Jee Karda is a dance number. The other song(s) are passable.

Product (Singh is Kinng): Singh is Kinng is at best Welcome Part II. Overall just about a tolerable affair as it gets over in little over two hours. Songs are forced into the film at times. The climax is shoddy like it was in Welcome. The dialogues are funny. The Sardar touch is very much there. A film that you would best love to go with your buddies. Go watch it if you were able to handle mindless affairs like OSO and Welcome.

2 points for the gloss and 0.5 for what’s inside. That makes it a 2.5 out of 5 rating from my side!

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Jaane Tu..Ya Jaane Na

Jaane Tu.. is not a college romance despite taking off with a scene from the last day at college. Aamir Khan’s first film as a lead, if you remember, also took off with the song Papa Kehte Hain at the college farewell party. Similarities end there as the story then veers in a different direction than Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (QSQT), maintaining the refreshing touch that QSQT had. Jaane Tu, unlike QSQT, is a non-violent love story with happy characters. The ‘Cuteness’ quotient is too high and that is majorly because of the act put up by the lead pair.

Jaane Tu is indeed a well made film that would do Aamir Khan proud but there is a warning for all you guys going to watch it (if you haven’t!) – The film is best appreciated by people in the age group 16-23. Why? I will give you the reasons:

1.) Being in love with your best friend and not realizing it is something that you can at best associate with the teens.

2.) People start to work by the time they are 23 in India. The gang in Jaane Tu.. doesn’t really seem to go to work and enjoys partying and singing songs together. Something that people can’t spare the time for once out of college.

3.) It was all a happy setting saved from the debaucheries of the wicked world. You need to be in that age group to really relate to it directly. For the others it will remain a fantasy film with good things in abundance.

There is a particular reason why I decided to categorize the target audience. When I came out of the theatre, I had liked the film but still felt that the premise of the film was based on college students. I didn’t feel the same when I watched QSQT a few days ago. This is where I feel that Jaane Tu.. loses against QSQT. It will go down as a good film but will fail to become as successful as QSQT due to its partially limited reach.

Now, coming to the usual business of strengths and weaknesses.

Direction: Abbas Tyrewala brings that refreshing touch to the film that I was talking about earlier. He is in control as a director and manages to get the best out of a totally new star cast. The only point where he falters a bit is in the climax. Until the climax scene at the airport where Jai barges into the airport the film looks very intelligently made. But watching 20 gun toting commandoes at the airport making a mockery of themselves while chasing Jai makes it look typical Bollywoodish stuff that you might have seen in umpteen number of films. But I think all that was done to give the climax a ‘mad’ ending and not for want of a better idea from the director.

Story/Script: Nothing unique. Abbas Tyrewala’s approach to story telling in the opening scenes is similar to Chetan Bhagat’s style. There is a group of friends telling the story of two of their best friends on an airport while waiting for a flight to land. It is the usual love story where two best friends can’t live without each other but fail to realize that it is love. A boy friend and a girl friend later, they understand the love that they have for each other and then it all ends in a happily ever after fashion. The good thing is the way the story is told. You know what would happen but you still enjoy it.

Acting: Imran Khan is a notch above what Aamir was when he did QSQT. That doesn’t mean that Imran will certainly better his uncle in times to come. He is good and he is in good hands – that makes him better than what he actually is. Good to see a non-muscular hero after a long time. Six-pack has become so common that you almost get irritated by the numerous bicep flaunting plastic faces that come and go off the screen in no time every other Friday.

Genelia is cute but she doesn’t really know how to act. She struggles speaking in Hindi it seems.

There is one surprise package in Prateek Babbar. He is Smita Patil and Raj Babbar’s son. Prateek makes an interesting debut as Genelia’s brother in the movie. A pretty interesting character. The chemistry that the onscreen brother-sister duo shares on screen is again ‘very cute’. I especially liked the scene where Prateek talks about Genelia’s friends to tell her how she and not he had created the void in their relationship. Another good scene is when he takes her to his room for the first time and talks about her decision to marry her supposed boy friend.

Naseeruddin Shah play a hilarious part as the dead sword wielding Rathore from Ranjhor. He speaks to his wife from a life size portrait and keeps manipulating his son’s dreams to turn him into a true blue Rathore Rajput. A really funny character indeed!

The other characters are also interesting. Ratna Pathak Shah as Imran’s Mom, Paresh Rawal as the ‘villainous’ police inspector, the friend circle of Imran and Genelia, Jayant Kriplani and Anuradha Patel, Rajat Kapoor and Kittu Gidwani in that one off scene and guest performers Arbaz and Sohail Khan. All in all efficient casting.

Music: A. R. Rehman is not at his best but there is something about maestros that makes them a cut above the rest even if they don’t perform at their optimum levels. The music score is youthful. Easy songs to go with it. Pappu Can’t Dance is already hugely popular. The other songs are soothing and pleasant to hear. Not a bad album to buy from the music store if you haven’t yet (I don’t know why I think that others are as lazy as me!)

All in all an entertainer that will find its niche in the multiplex and college masses. Jaane Tu.. will prove to be a good launch pad for a few careers in the industry. I rate it with a 3.5 out of 5. Watchable, Enjoyable!

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Sarkar Raj - Review

Sarkar Raj was an eagerly awaited film. It was deemed to be Ramu’s comeback, rather fightback, film. There were rumors abound about the film being a platform for the Bachchans to show their Maharashtra love. The film scores on both these counts. Ramu is in form or should I say in his comfort zone in the film and he delivers. The Bachchans use the 70MM canvas to seek a place in the hearts of the Marathis who are supposed to hate them following the political outbursts against the first family of Indian Filmdom.

Story:

Sarkar Raj takes off from where Sarkar had left. The slickness is maintained and the pace at which the story moves grips you from the very outset. A foreign power company headed by Anita (Aishwarya) wants to set up a power plant in Maharashtra and for that it seeks Sarkar’s help. Shankar (Abhishek) believes in the project and despite the initial hiccups is able to convince people to welcome the power plant project. In the process he makes a few enemies as well who decide to play games with him.

The build up to the intermission is quite good and the interval point reminds you again of Godfather. Just as Michael Corleone’s wife was blown up in Godfather, here, Tanisha is blown up. Post interval it’s revenge time for the Nagres as Shankar goes for the kill to avenge his wife’s death. Tensions build up and a contract killer is hired to eliminate Shankar. Shankar meanwhile is oblivious to the lurking danger as he is not able to gauge the larger conspiracy at hand. The result – he is shot dead!

The semi-retired Sarkar comes back to the helm to find the people behind the killing and has them killed. He figures out that a political game was being played by his own mentor to get the reins of power back in his hands. Sarkar foils his bid and shows who the real boss is.

The climax is open ended to allow Ramu enough room to cook up another story to complete the Sarkar trilogy in future.

Now coming to the details or as I say, the dissection:

Acting: Amitabh Bachchan is awesome! Only he could have been Sarkar and he plays the character with supreme finesse. Junior B too got into the skin of the character just as well as he did the last time around. His death scene immortalizes his character. Thankfully there is not much drama and that makes it look more real. Aishwarya Rai gets to play a strong girl but not that strong a character. Yes, the climax does augur well for her character in the third part, if it is made. Rest of the cast is ok. The touch that the actor playing an industrialist, Kantilal Vora, brings to his character looks obsolete and very filmy.

Direction: Ramu is a master of underworld films. He delivers this time and that must have been a relief for him. He has his own trademark way of introducing characters and showing a vulture flying over the sky to denote the ‘lull before the storm’. The good thing about Ramu is his technical deftness, the bad thing – his repetitiveness!

Music: Amar Mohile is a veteran and has done a good work with the background score. The haunting tunes come back to you and the chants of ‘Govinda, Govinda!’ bring back the same aura that Sarkar-I had brought. Thumbs up for the score. The other songs are not good. They didn’t have to be, this film did not need any song. Ramu has intelligently played them in the background to break the monotony at times.

Dialogues: Intelligent but a bit too taxing at times. There were a few really good scenes with quality dialogues but at times they went overboard and gave the impression of being forced to give an overdose of intellect in the film.

As for the packaging, publicity and box office fate, they seem have been taken care of quite well. The film will be profitable and will go some way in resurrecting the declining power that Ramu once wielded through his ‘Factory’ that I have heard has shut down now. I hope better sense prevails on Ramu and he gives up his dream to rehash Sholay a second time.

Sarkar Raj is not an entertainer. You would appreciate it but not love it.

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