Reviews

Director Abhinav Kashyap puts Salman Khan in Rajnikant's shoes in action sequences while the film's setting in U.P gives it a grand scope to explore the bhojpuri realm and take advantage of it for entertainment through dialogs and characters. Although the plot is dead simple, it still has enough juice in it to keep its momentum going with action, romance, comedy and Salman's screen presence. There is something about Salman's performance here that may not necessarily be charismatic but it engages you enough to make you whistle even in a multiplex (although this is totally a G7 or Chandan movie). This is Sunny Deol on drugs and Rajnikant revamped for Bollywood. Dabangg is different from 'Wanted' yet similar in Salman's prowess against adversaries.

The music by Sajid-Wajid-Lalit is hummable with Tere Mast Mast and full of masti with Munni Badnaam and Humka Peeni hai. Reminiscent of 'Omkara's title song is Hud Hud Dabangg with excellent cinematography. Salman in all these songs is a charmer and looks to be enjoying the filming completely. There is no choreography. Just some drinks on- the- house.

As the unstoppable Macho-man, Salman Khan excels in action sequences. He is, of course known to be stiff and it becomes very apparent while he is dancing but it is fun to watch no doubt, when he lets loose in most songs and just goes wild. Delivering bhojpuri dialogs, threats and romanticism, Salman Khan earns your whistling and hooting. Wanted and Dabangg both would've been catastrophic flops if it weren't for Salman re-inventing himself. Here, he doesn't look like he is out to prove that point. Most of the time, you can see him simply enjoying himself. Arbaaz Khan is passable but could've been sillier to add to the fun as Makhi. Om Puri, Vinod Khanna and Anupam Kher in cameos were superlative while Mahesh Manjrekar delivered a shockingly good performance as a drunkard father. Sonu Sood has been better in 'Jodha Akbar' but he is quite adequate as Chulbul Pandey's adversary. Newcomer Sonakshi Sinha looks beautiful, can put up a straight face pretty well and can compete well against her contemporaries.

It goes without saying that Dabangg was never going to be an intellectual enricher. This is pure, flawed entertainment and that is how it needs to be enjoyed. The action seems like a spoof of our southern counterparts and therefore, is fun to watch. Dialogues, however rude at times: 'haraamzade se yaad aaya, aapke sasur kaise hai?' are thoroughly laugh worthy and the sensational cinematography around Salman's entry at various points in the film augments his heroism. Considering these factors, Dabangg offers tremendous value for money and is no surprise that it opened to such an overwhelming response. Nevertheless, this is not going to be a revolution in Bollywood but just a passing tide and it better remain that way.

Too many movies have been shown where the old ones in US adhere to Indian traditions more ritualistically than those in India and the young ones conveniently go between being the ultra modern (whatever that means!) and ultra traditional as the script demands. They also have the poor girl married off and going to India (Some traditional family from India will ask for her hand) which doesn't make much sense because it seems to defeat the very purpose of uprooting the entire family from India. Kal Ho Naa Ho takes every one of these supposedly serious stuff (including Karan Johar's own DDLJ) and pokes fun at them. The uppity Naina (Priety), the confused Rohit (Saif), the serious grandmother and I must make bold to say, the ultimate do-gooder Aman (none other than Shah Rukh) - everyone of them is a caricature. And they have done these roles before. It is hard to take them very seriously because you get the feeling that the director and the writer are chuckling behind the cameras even as they are filming these scenes.

And then there is the pretty funny, long comedy track of a mistaken homosexual relationship between Saif and Shah Rukh. That "O ... Kantabhen" just puts it way over the top. I laughed like crazy. Is there an inside joke there Karan and Nikhil?

I don't know if I should say the casting is perfect or the performance is perfect for the parody. Every time I think nobody can ever act more theatrical than Shah Rukh, he out does himself. His performances are so unnatural and stilted that they are actually funny. With all the parodying going on, I am wondering if Karan and Nikhil decided to milk Shah Rukh for all he is worth and make him ham it up even more! Saif Ali Khan acts brilliantly in his repeat performance of Dil Chahta Hai and so does Priety Zinta of a number of her own roles.

Then, the writer-director duo decide to take things seriously and the problem is I still can't stop laughing. That makes it uneasy. They take every dramatic scene, blow it out of proportion - as is the convention of Bollywood standards - and keep showing it long after it has exhausted all its dramatic potential. This makes the second half of the movie a bit uneasy to watch. Particularly when Shah Rukh leaves the hospital to go convince Saif and Priety, I was very uneasy. Then they show Saif Ali Khan in that I'm-20-years-older-so-I-need-gray-hairs wig that is just too much!

Overall, it was an interesting movie. Somehow I feel that the filmmakers had more fun making it than we have watching it. Makes me wish I was involved in the process! 7 out of 10.

Harold and Kumar are trying to find an all-night White Castle after experiencing the sudden yearning that afflicts almost anyone who has had a 'slider' burger. Like that little square of fat and calories, the pot and girls are just too good not to indulge now and then. The two early twenties students, one a serious stock analyst and the other a lazy pre- med genius, are like Hope and Crosby in their witty repartee and canny ability to escape harm. Being delivered from the wrath of seriously deformed 'Freak Show' and his siren wife doesn't deter them from considering the affections of the battling babes or idolizing Neil Patrick Harris in a cameo playing himself as a lethal womanizer.

More serious is the multicultural subtext about stereotyping (Asians are nerdy number crunchers and Indians are overachieving medical doctors, for instance) overturned by, for instance, morphing a seemingly 'Joy Luck' club gathering into a raunchy party or exposing a gang of mouthy skinheads as 'girliemen.' It's all pop-cult fun at our own expense, something akin to actually enjoying the articles in 'Playboy' even if they weren't our reason for buying the mags.

My grandson Cody and I bonded once again, this time just laughing at the silliness, enjoying the satire, and figuring how we could get his dad to allow his young brother to see it, despite the lurid spots that give spice and lend naughtiness to our increasingly dangerous lives.

I heard lots of buzz about zombie beach screening at JIFF-2011 and I was there for the film festival.I planned to watch the full film and it was great to see a film completely different.This was the 1st zombie film i had ever seen and was happy after watching quality on big screen packed full of people.

The film was screened in the biggest theatre with capacity of around 300 people and it was house full.All youth and film makers were there.The director Mukesh Asopa was there and he answered the questions very well just after the screening of the film.This young director was very confident about the theme of the film.

Now lets discuss what i liked about the film.Perfect cast,good locations,Camera work,Editing and Sound work.The music video was one of the best part of the film i enjoyed.Mukesh as Roshan did very well. The end credits were too long to sit and watch,but with the pictures of zombies it still hold interest to be seated.

Actress were really hot with few lovely scenes which was very well accepted by the audience in housefull theatre.Lots of clapping and whistles were heard and it shows how well the film was accepted.

I will rate this film nothing less than 9.

Not being a huge fan of horror films, and still smarting from my 'Jungle' experience, I began watching 'Bhoot' with some trepidation. 'Bhoot' translates to either 'ghost' or 'spirit', so right away, one knows the subject matter of the film. The title and its succinctness act as a caveat to the faint of heart.

The opening scene has an irritable young man, Vishal, searching, rather unsuccessfully, for rental accommodations in the company of an agent. The broker has shown him several less than satisfactory apartments, and the young man's patience is wearing thin. He points to a towering high- rise building nearby and says, 'That looks like a fine building! Do you have an apartment available there?' We pick up on the broker's nervousness as he responds, 'Actually, yes. But you wouldn't want it.' Vishal insists on seeing the twelfth-floor apartment, which turns out to be huge, even palatial by Mumbai (Bombay) standards, and he cannot understand why the place is still unoccupied. Such an apartment would be snapped up in moments. The broker hesitantly tells him that the previous occupant of the apartment had fallen-or jumped-to her death from the balcony. The pragmatic Vishal retorts that practically all dwellings must have had someone die in them at one time or another, and proceeds to finalize the rental deal. He then moves in with his perky young wife, Swati. With their furniture and belongings, the empty, echoing apartment gets transformed into a comfortable home.

Vishal is a stockbroker, and Swati, a stay-at-home housewife. We gather that they have not been married long; they are playful and romantic, still in the honeymoon phase of marriage. They inherit the previous occupant's maid, so apart from some grocery shopping, there isn't much for Swati to do while she waits for Vishal to return home from work. She sits in front of the TV and channel-surfs distractedly to pass the time.

One such day, the belligerent watchman of the building sneaks into the apartment without knocking and startles her. Swati and Vishal complain to the chairman of the building council, who also happens to be their next-door neighbor. Decrying the lack of good help, the neighbor says there's nothing he can do. As the watchman is a witness in the police investigation of the previous occupant's death, they cannot very well get rid of him. This disclosure comes as a complete surprise to Swati, as Vishal has withheld from her the details of the circumstances in which he came by their new apartment.

It is obvious that this is not one of those entertaining movies. Actually, sometimes it was hard to stay concentrated on it, but it's because this movie really made me think. Not because the plot was complicated, it made me think about those people who suffer, sacrificing their lives, From the beautiful scenery, to the lavish costumes, and awe inspiring soundtrack, on a scale of the senses, it delivers. But a movie is more than just imagery, and the actors and characters do not disappoint.I loved this movie! It was so sad and moving I don't think there was a dry eye in the house. The story was unbelievable besides being unique.I watched this film with many non-Indian classmates and foreign exchange students from France...all of whom were moved as well. In spite of lacking knowledge about the culture and religion that was portrayed, these students still received the message loud and clear.We watch the characters contend with their feelings and bear the shackles of their ancestor's scribes, and it can get fairly depressing. In the end though, this movie made me laugh, made me think, and yes made me cry. A triumph.