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actionman81
Reviews
Koi Aap Sa: But Lovers Have to Be Friends (2005)
Good copy of two K movies; not surprising
While watching Koi App Se, I could've sworn I could have easily been watching Kuch Kuch Hota Hai or Kya Kehena, or a good mix of both. Koi App Sa has the boy/girl/girl mix of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, as well as the climactic plot sequence of Kya Kehena, with Aftab pulling off Chandrachur Singh's role to a T. I wish Ekta had made a better movie; though I'll at least say that the songs were good, even if they're much too often used in her soaps. The tearful hero Aftab works well, copying Shah Rukh Khan's tearful hero in most of his movies, right down to Kuch Kuch Hota Hai's Rahul. Now I must say everyone did a great job; Anita, Aftab, everyone was superb, even the cameos from "Sasha" and other K serial regulars (well even Anita is a K serial regular); but where the plot lacked was its sequence, direction and editing.
My Wife's Murder (2005)
Fabulous Thriller
My Wife's Murder is a fantastic thriller film. All the actors do a great job. My hat goes off to everyone, even the child actors.
Anil Kapoor is just amazing as Ravi. He wears his role like a glove. He's very versatile as an actor and it shows. From his glasses to his clothes to his smoking, and especially his mannerisms; everything he does simply breathes more life into Ravi. he breathes life in to Ravi as a moment of anger turns to accidental murder. The look of horror on his face as he sees her lying there. Oh that was fantastic. Everything he does, from cleaning the mess, to hiding the body, it was just like any of us would have done or thought to do. He made the common man come to life on screen.
Suchitra Krishnamoorthi is great. She's a damn good dead body, but she really makes the nagging wife stand up properly, rather than be a cardboard two dimensional character.
Boman Irani is great. His mannerisms make Tejpal live on screen.
The kids were great. Really great. They're not whiny or cutesy or over-smart like a lot of kid stars are. The only annoying thing was when the little girl was crying/wheezing at the end of the film. The boy who plays Karan (also in Parineeta as a young Saifu) was fantastic. Just when his constant questions (why are we running? where are you going? etc) got monotonous, he changes to "No I won't go. You're a liar" It was SO GOOD. :D Ram Gopal Verma makes this a great film. While I would have liked the sound effects (Ka Thump) to be a bit softer, it was great. The suspense was incredible, especially when Karan looks for his cricket bat, and when Ravi has a bad dream (that scared the heck out of me when she pops up out of the water like that).
Main Aisa Hi Hoon (2005)
Indianized version of I am Sam, but also pretty good
Yes OK so it's a take off (rip off?) of I am Sam). Big deal. On the whole it's a good film, but yes I couldn't empathize with the ending as it was seemingly rushed and forced.
I really loved the songs, especially "Walk into my life" and "Mere Papa" (ok, so I love the songs in our Hindi movies!).
Anyway all the actors were really good. Ajay Devgan is superb as Neel. Sush and Esha are great too. The kid is sweet but a bit too precocious at times. Blame it on Harry I guess.
The supporting cast did a great job too.
Yes it's almost scene for scene a remake of I am Sam. That aside, I have to say I'm more partial to Ajay Devgan than Sean Penn, but that's just me.
Personally this would have been better done as a sequel to Koi Mil Gaya rather than just a copy of an American film.
The Indian in the Cupboard (1995)
Good movie, but not true to book
I loved the film, really I did, but its just not true to the book. People who want to see a movie based more on the book, will be somewhat disappointed.
Not true to the book are both setting and character appearance- England (London I believe) has been transformed to NYC. What's wrong with London? The English environment worked for Harry Potter, why couln't it have worked for this film. Omri and Patrick, both Caucasian in the book, have been also transformed so Patrick is now Indian (from India) a nice kind of play on words (he's Indian and Little Bear is an 'Indian') ... But taking the story out of its context of early 1990's England, changes things. Plot changes- as the entire confrontation with the store owner who believes that Omri is stealing figures has been changed into Patrick and Omri fighting in school. While things like this might make the story more 'Americanized' in hopes to make the movie more appreciable to American viewers, I missed the accents, sights and sounds of what I hoped would be England. I longed for the scene in the toy shop, and the one where the teacher sees Little Bear move. Changing the toy shop scenes for Omri stealing the figures from school also ruined what could be a good scene- of Little Bear standing on the toy shop shelf, looking at the figures. Also, the end of the movie was IMVHO not good. Killing off any change for sequels. Perhaps the author wanted it this way. In any case, killing off any hope for sequels pushed this down a few notches for me.
Its a good movie, but its just not like the book, other than the skeleton of the plot.
Hum Tum (2004)
Great film, but not original plot
Hum Tum, is a wonderful movie, with a lot of modern and up to date topics, such as premarital sex and divorce. But the main plot, between Saif and Rani's characters, is totally copied from When Harry Met Sally. The three meetings, in their early 20s, then mid 20s and then in their early 30s is taken straight from When Harry Met Sally. Even Saif's line that 'boys and girls can't just be friends' is almost word for word as the line Billy Crystal used with Meg Ryan.
Honestly, its a great film, and I won't give any spoilers. But if you've seen When Harry Met Sally, you'll definitely see the similarity, which IMVHO isn't just coincidental.