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Reviews
Tees Maar Khan (2010)
What the FK is going on?
Farah Khan (FK) seems to have lost her bearings with this one. Being fun loving and irreverent is one thing, but making a movie full of PJs is really pushing it! Akshay Kumar's brand of comedy seems completely out of sync with Farah's brand of humor and the result is a disaster only made tolerable if you are salivating over Katrina Kaif grooving to 'Sheila Ki Jawani' or seeing Akshay and Salman dance together. The script is pretty nonsensical and a stretch even by outrageous plot standards (a conman making a fake movie and convincing a big Bollywood star that it will win an Oscar? Seriously, give me a break!!) and the jokes are pretty weak all through. Tees Maar Khan, for lack of a worser word, is utter trash!
Delhi-6 (2009)
No Dil in Dilli 6
What would you call a movie that has no storyline, has pieces of jigsaw puzzles for you to solve, and sequences which are prolonged and don't really help the story move forward? A burdensome watch! Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra who has "Rang De Basanti", one of India's finest movies to his credit, comes up with what ideally should have been a documentary. Where he is just describing Delhi, its people and its culture that looks like a travelogue to Delhi. To top it all, there is an excruciatingly intolerable sequence of the infamous Monkey Man Menace that had happened in Delhi. Something that should have been in the background but Mr. Mehra brought forth the whole sequence again and again making the audience cringe for it to stop.
The story is of an American born, half Hindu half Muslim, Roshan (Abhishek Bachchan) who brings his grandmother to her family home in Chandni Chowk, which for him was another holiday, but no sooner does he get involved with the lives of his neighbors who are blinded with the social stigmas and superstitions. The movie shows his tryst with a Delhi clad with superstitions, religious differences and lacks unity but as the dialogue in the movie goes "Dilliwaale jaise bhi ho, dil ke bade ache hain." But are we doing enough is the question the movie tries to seek the answer to, but fails.
The problem with the movie is that it tries too hard to become "something". Mehra has put too many issues and has tried to bind them with a not so impactful sequence of Monkey Man. The dialogues are good only at some points but don't leave a mark. Abhishek's accent sounds fake and how love blossoms between him and Sonam is not put across well. "Swades" was another film on the same lines but the love story though at the backdrop was shown beautifully and logically. The cinematographer moves the camera too fast, the climax is categorically melodramatic and stretched, and the use of metaphors and parallel stories, unlike RDB, doesn't impress this time and is there for the sake of it.
The good thing is that the culture and lifestyle of Delhi has been shown beautifully, but a movie is not just about that! Mehra is a good storyteller, probably it's just the Bachchan connection (read Aks and now Delhi 6)!
Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (2008)
A cheap trick bereft of the Adi Chopra magic
There are numerous times in 'Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi' when Surinder Sahni (Shah Rukh Khan) keeps saying that it's God who is scripting this love story. Well, if that's the case then the almighty happens to be a rather lousy scriptwriter. Aditya Chopra's anticipated directorial return is lukewarm; there may be an extraordinary love story behind every ordinary jodi according to the tag-line but the film is firmly ordinary. Chopra, unlike his other films doesn't cast the canvas wide this time, delving only into a marriage arranged by fate between Surinder and Taani (debutante Anushka Sharma somehow never rises above your average soap performance). But he keeps the length of the film the same, which stretches the story far too thin for it to be even remotely plausible.
SRK fits decently well into 'ordinary-man-trying-to-be-awkwardly romantic' garb as Surinder hitting the ji-spot with his humble Punjabi demeanor but his alter ego, Raj (the guise he assumes to attend dance classes with his wife!) is old SRK in a new bottle and not one bit refreshing. As if to emphasize the lunacy going on in the name of a story, Taani falls for Raj never realizing for one instant that it has been her husband all the time! Raj's over the top performance looks so cooked up that sometimes even you, let alone Taani, will wonder if it's two different people.
The film takes too long to build up, and about as pacy as a turtle on a morning walk. The repetitive moments (the whole dance gig outlasts its welcome), self referential gags (once again YRF's Dhoom gets a mention) and ungainly plot twists pretty much kill off any salvage value left in the film. This one won't warm the cockles of your heart, unless you are an SRK worshiper or Anuskha's college mate, a bunch of whom were right behind me screaming up a racket right all through.
Meerabai Not Out (2008)
All Out!!
There is one, and only one cardinal mistake that Meerabai Not Out commits - it trivializes the national passion. Someone had a smart sounding idea of exploiting cricket as a plot device for a love story with the depth of half a soap episode. Mandira Bedi, after her sacrilegious cricket exploits on the small screen now does it on the silver screen as Meera Achrekar, the cricket fanatic who has a huge crush on Anil Kumble and is about to marry a doctor. But will cricket be the 'significant other'? That question almost wrecks a relationship, that going by the flow of the script, looked flimsy to begin with. And for those eagerly waiting to see Kumble's cameo don't even bother (Jumbo says to Meera at one point 'You look like Mandira Bedi!' - Did the writer lose his sense of humor there or his mind? Hard to tell!). Mercifully, unlike one of those drab days of test cricket on a dead subcontinent pitch, Meerabai Not Out is a short um
comedy, love story, sports movie, drama
whatever! And there are about 180 seconds worth watching. Pity, like stray deliveries from Anil Kumble, they are few and very far between.
Sorry Bhai! (2008)
A no fuss and sensible comedy
For a limited cast of only five characters, Sorry Bhai is a markedly refreshing departure from standard Bollywood rom com fare. The movie plays around with a simple theme of sibling equations as influenced by the catalyst called the elder siblings fiancée. The script is a typical take on the 'dysfunctional-family-comes-together-for-a-cause' mold. Harsh (Sanjay Suri) has been away from his family for a while his younger brother Sid (Sharman Joshi) tries for a research grant for his latest hypothesis. When Harsh decides to get married to Aaliyah (Chitrangada Singh), he pleads his younger brother to get his parents, especially his mom for the wedding. The fun in dysfunctional is put in by the antics of the parents, played with superb chemistry by Boman Irani and Shabana Azmi. They take this one further than their first stint as a couple in Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd.
Sharman Joshi as the genius younger brother does a pretty good job keeping up his boyish yet mature image while Chitrangada Singh essays a role that perhaps doesn't present her as much of a challenge as the one in her debut did. For an actress of her potential, this is just about par for the course and she is underutilized. On the brighter side, the scenes shared by her and Shabana Azmi deserve special mention. Sanjay Suri exudes quiet confidence as usual and it fits his big brother persona perfectly. The slow narrative (you sort of expect that with a limited cast of characters) is a bit of a dampener though the locales of Mauritius provide a picturesque background for the well shot scenes.
Sorry Bhai deserves a watch, at least for being far better off than the apology of a movie that other comedies have become.
Fashion (2008)
Classic Bhandarkar Fare
Ramp walks, arrogant supermodels, conniving modeling agency heads, wardrobe malfunctions, and delusional ex models on the street - expectedly it's all there in Madhur Bhandarkar's take on the fashion industry, 'Fashion'. It is a hard hitting look alright, but being a first of its kind perspective as far as Bollywood is concerned, it does get away with a few inconsistencies. In trying to bridge the chasm between perception and reality about the glam world of modeling through the story of the rise and fall of aspiring model Meghna Mathur (Priyanka Chopra) the film does stand out thanks to its well crafted fashion show sequences, intense performances and a nice dose of self deprecating gags (Bhandarkar even plays himself in a cameo!). But where it lacks is that after not taking itself too seriously early on, the second half is a little too intense a tad too long. Priyanka Chopra deserves special mention for easing into the metamorphic role from aspirant to the supermodel who then goes on to lose her modeling mojo. The other two models, Shonali (Kangana Ranaut is pretty tolerable in a slightly uni-dimensional role) and Janet (Mugdha Godse seems comfortable) hold their own as well. Even the support roles (Ashwin Mushran as the very gay Rohit Khanna looks suspiciously familiar to Stanley Tucci's character from 'The Devil Wears Prada' while Kitu Gidwani puts in a quietly confident role as Anisha Roy) are well executed though they are a bit on the caricaturish side. Bhandarkar packs every news-bite possible about the fashion industry into the script which tends to lose focus in the latter half. But as is his wont he does manage to touch a few chords and at least agitate the viewer's mind. In short, as far as the invite to this 'Fashion' show goes, come for Madhur Bhandarkar and stay for Priyanka Chopra!
Roadside Romeo (2008)
The Bark was better than the bite, the movie worser than the hype!
In a world where Pixar sets the gold standard in animated films, Yash Raj Film's Roadside Romeo (incidentally Dinsey's foray into Bollywood as well) will find it hard to even pass the QC test. Both the animation and the story leave a lot to be desired and the only positive outlook for the movie is that being the only major release this Diwali and potentially a hit with the kids, it should barely manage to trudge along. The story of a dog, Romeo (voiced by Saif Ali Khan) who was living the lavish life and suddenly finds himself on the mean streets of the city is clichéd to a fault. Romeo falls for Laila (Kareena Kapoor) who also happens to be the crush of bad dog Charlie Anna (Javed Jaffrey) and predictable mayhem follows. Jugal Hansraj's direction relies too much on borrowing from Bollywood lore (Yash Raj film scenes and dialogs are copied galore) and too little on character study. It is an earnest effort perhaps but if anyone thought animation didn't need a story, they should ask the studio that made the animation movie event of the year, WallE. The film hardly has any genuinely funny moments, and the background sets, though well detailed, lack punch. The redeemer is eventually Javed Jaffrey, who is the only one who seems to know how to voice an animation character. He brings out the quirks of Charlie Anna superbly to life and provides the few laughs there are in the film. The tepid songs and a basic background score do nothing to add to the appeal. Ultimately, the gag reel during the end credits turns out to be funnier than the movie itself. And that's saying a lot.
A Wednesday (2008)
Thrills raised to the power of Performance
When you have Naseeruddin Shah on one side and Anupam Kher on the other, two of Indian cinema's ace veterans, the power of performance just oozes out of the screen energizing you. Throw into the mix well essayed roles by an ensemble cast picked judiciously, sharp and crisp editing and a neatly and tightly plotted script rooted in contemporary issues that thrills at every curve and you've got 'A Wednesday'. Naseeruddin Shah calls up the commissioner of Police, Prakash Rathod (Anupam Kher) warning him of bombs planted by him at four places in the city that he will detonate them if four 'most wanted' militants are not released. The usual cat and mouse game follows, with the 'terrorist' staying ahead of the curve as the police tries to crack down on him. But the things that make the film stand apart are threeits relentless pace, some deliciously biting dialog and nicely balanced performances (even by the fringe performers like Deepal Shaw who plays a TV reporter). And of course, you cannot afford to miss Naseer's monologue at the end which drew numerous rounds of applause from the audience. It is vintage Naseer who keeps you captivated and brings out the soul of the script in a heart wrenching five minutes. Neeraj Pandey's (the director and scriptwriter) effort by way of bringing out the best in its actors is a hugely enjoyable piece of movie making and another sensible depiction of the terrorism menace and its consequences after 'Aamir' and 'Mumbai Meri Jaan'.
Disturbia (2007)
Some spills, empty chills and no thrill
"A Scorching Nail-Biter," read the poster with Shia LaBeouf holding a set of binoculars partially masking his face that reminded you of James Stewart with his camera on the posters of the Alfred Hitchcock 1954 classic 'Rear Window'a movie to which this bears 'disturbi(a)'ing similarities.
But Disturbia fails at delivering an updated 'modern day teen version' of the Hitchcock masterpiece. It tracks the life of a troubled teen, Kale (LeBeouf), under house arrest after losing the handle on his emotions following losing his father in a road accident.
Having gorged on enough peanut butter while confined within four walls, Kale begins a voyeuristic pursuit at his neighbours who include the quiet and sinister Mr. Turner (David Morse) and the bikini clad, sun bathing new neighbour Ashley (Sarah Roemer) who spends more time reading Nabokov's 'Lolita' on the roof of her house than inside it. The evil Mr. Turner who catches Kale's fantasy as he begins drawing parallels between Mr. Turner and the man reported to have butchered 6 girls across the 'suburbia'.
Regrettably for a thriller one gets a whiff of the ending before the movie ends and only Morse's presence and D. J. Caruso's direction save it from being a collection of average thrill sequences. The movie looks like a lot of YouTube stuff was thrown in at a classic Hitchcock thriller. Unfortunately, they do not mix well.