Reviews

Hostel is the story of Karan who starts his 4 year engineering degree moving into a hostel. Within hours of arriving at the hostel he finds out that life at college is not going to be what he imagined as there are a group of guys who extort money from younger students, bully and harass them at all opportunities, even to the extent of stripping them naked, parading them in front of other students (male and female) on college grounds and even worse, in some cases molesting and raping them. Karan tries to stand up for himself but this makes things worse and eventually he realises he has no choice but to keep quiet. When his best friends from the first year start getting involved in the bullying of younger students in the seconds year, does Karan get involved or just concentrate on his studies? Can anyone get through college without some form of abuse? This is a real eye-opener of a film if you've never lived on college accommodation. It's shocking and distasteful but sadly based on reality which is the saddest thing. This is not your typical feel good Bollywood film and many will find it very disturbing.

Vatsal Sheth as Karan is superb in the role, he looks the part, innocent and "pretty" - the perfect target for disgusting bullies. Tulip Joshi as Payal, Karan's love interest, doesn't have a lot of screen time but she performs well and this is not a love story - although their scenes provide some life relief from all the violence and humiliation endured by young students.

Mukesh Tiwari is suitably sinister as Feroz bhai, the main gang leader, who it seems will stop at nothing to show he's top man.

The side actors were nothing of note but the story overall was shocking and this viewer feels the film should be compulsory viewing to all deans and principals of further education institutions in India to make sure they are aware of what's going on under their noses! Watch this if you have the stomach for it. I didn't enjoy it but I'm glad I watched it.

As far as story goes, there was absolutely nothing original about this film. It just seemed to be a tired old typical Bollywood plot - honourable guy gets killed in the line of duty leaving a widow and child, child grows up to take revenge on those responsible, falling in love with the wrong girl in the process! What happens in between, in this film anyway, is all rather tiresome and gave me a real sense of déjà vu and not in a nice way!

Surprisingly (or maybe not - this is Bollywood after all) the plot leaves you totally confused in some places as to who is who and who is not who they're supposed to be and who is really whose son! There I've confused myself again - just be glad it's me trying to work it out and not you - you'd get a headache!

Bobby Deol might be cute to look at but I've always found him rather hammy as an actor. He's tall and muscular and suited to this type of role but his acting skills in 1998 (even though one of his earlier films) and acting skills in more recent movies don't seem to have changed. I guess it's always difficult living up to a famous actor of a dad, Dharmendra, who I found somewhat "hammy" even in his best of films (1000s of Bollywood fans would totally disagree with me, mind you)!

This was one of Preity Zinta's first films and thank God she picked better roles after this as her character didn't have much to do in this film except look pretty and she was worth so much more than that even back in 1998! Zinta won the Filmfare and Screen Weekly Awards in 1999 for her role in the film as Best Newcomer and Most Promising Newcomer respectively. Although Zinta gives it her all to convince us that her character is in love with her leading man, his almost buffoon like acting prevented me from taking them seriously and it therefore made them on screen romance look rather forced. On the one hand, he's supposed to be a soldier out for vengeance and on the other hand, he's dancing around trees romancing his target's daughter? Are we really supposed to stomach that?!

I was rather disappointed with Raakhee in Soldier. She has become rather typecast in recent years, since she became too old to play the leading lady herself as the weeping, grieving, whining mother or mother-figure of the hero or heroine of films. I was rather bored every time she appeared on screen in this film to be quite honest and to add insult to injury I never found her to be appealing even back when she played the heroine in films. She just has a miserable sounding voice and mostly did roles where she had to deal with some sort of tragedy in her life…

Dalip Tahil (he of short lived UK soap Eastenders fame as Dan Ferreira) and Sharat Saxena were painful to watch as the bad guys. Like in other films Tahil has appeared in and to a lesser extent Saxena they both came across as pantomime baddies! I wanted to shout BOOOO when the appeared on the screen. Suresh Oberoi can pull off a decent enough bad guy (if that's a contradiction in terms, I do apologise) but I'm more used to seeing him as a good guy so I didn't quite buy him as a villain.

I did feel (as with many other Bollywood films I've seen and relentlessly reviewed) that there were too many songs in the film which dragged it out even more than was already acceptable and they were mostly placed at totally inopportune moments! I can't say that I would recognise a single song from the film should I hear one again.

Oh and did I forget to mention Johnny Lever as the token comedian? Well I should have forgotten to mention him for all the additional entertainment he tried but failed to bring to the film! As I've gone to the effort of mentioning the annoying comedian I might as well mention that the music included playback singers such as: Sonu Nigan, Kumar Sanu & Alka Yagnik.

If I have to say something positive about the film apart from that fact that the beautiful and talented Preity Zinta was in it; I would have to say that there was some nice scenery in the film which didn't go all the way to redeeming the film but definitely didn't hurt the film.

One thing which was unclear to me by the end of the film (which made more sense nearer the start) was why the film was called Soldier. The thriller aspect of the film was supposed to be suspenseful but personally I didn't find it at all suspenseful and pretty much guessed the ending at the halfway point and was really hoping that the storyline called for some sort of surprise ending, which disappointingly it didn't!

Daniel D'Souza (Rahul Roy) is widower as well as a famous singer. On his wife's deathbed 18 years ago; he promised to dedicate his whole life to bringing up their daughter Jenny (Mriga Saklani) by spending quality time with her which he was unable to do with his wife because of work. Jenny is a doting and doted upon daughter who has a very close relationship with her dad and refers to him as her best friend. She is in love with Romi (Manish Mathur) and hopes to marry him. Jenny's best friend Mehak (Janki Shah) comes to know about her relationship with Romi and is upset that Jenny hadn't told her about it. Jenny takes Mehak around to meet her dad and Mehak falls for her dad. Daniel (along with Jenny and Romi) invites Mehak and her parents to Goa for a short holiday to celebrate Mehak's birthday. Daniel has a one night stand with Mehak (seemingly whilst dreaming about his late wife, Maria) and regrets it instantly. When they get back home Daniel tells Mehak it was a mistake and basically tries to shake her off, not wanting Jenny to find out as she means the world to him, although Mehak won't take no for an answer and pursues him relentlessly.

Where can I start with my analysis of this film? It has to be about the most poorly acted/produced/directed/scripted film I can remember ever seeing. None of the actors in the main roles seem to have any idea about acting. Rahul Roy in the lead role has been around for years apparently and he is just one big joke. Not once during the film did I see any different facial expressions on the leads, whether they were laughing, flirting, crying or even angry. It was so bad that I actually wondered if they had been told to keep the same boring deadpan expression on their faces throughout the film. It really was shocking to see the lack of chemistry between any of the characters.

Are you getting the impression that I did not enjoy this film? Well, you'd be right. The dialogue tried to be clever and sensitive in parts but as a whole it was really quite appalling. The characters' physical behaviour and subsequent attitudes to each other made no sense whatsoever. Mehak starts as an innocent young woman dressed rather conservatively - she has a one night stand with Daniel and turns into a man-eating vamp chasing a man who keeps telling her he is still in love with his late wife. Jenny's boyfriend Romi is quite happy to jump into bed with Jenny at every given opportunity and seems quite modern and forward thinking and then gets upset when he finds out about Daniel and Mehak and cares more about what society will think. If he was so concerned with what society thinks, what was he doing having a romp with his girlfriend in bed in Goa with the door wide open so anyone walking past could get an eyeful? Overall I'd give this film a poor 1 out of 10. If I could get away with giving a lower rating I would! Don't waste your time watching this; the film is so poor that no one seems to have written a review about it ANYWHERE on the net. There, I've saved you over 2 hours of your life!

Some amazing acting portrayed by all of the leads, especially from the older and younger wives. An intricate story set within the confines of one residence but you do not feel claustrophobic at all due to the clever cinematography and engaging storyline.

A rich landowner in 19th century Bengal has married for the 2nd time after his 1st wife hasn't been able to give him a child (more specifically a son) after 12 years of marriage. His 2nd wife is unable to produce a child either. Not even thinking that he might be the one lacking in fertility he tries taking advice from priests on how to get an heir. Also, he's trying to get a title from the viceroy so his plan is to replace the goddess Durga's face with Queen Victoria so he's bought in a young virile sculptor to do this task.

I found a lot of black humour in this film, I'm not sure, though, that it was intentional. I wasn't sure what to expect at the start of the film as I haven't watched a Bengali film for maybe 20 years. This pretty much changed my views of Bengali film-making but the ending of the film left me feeling angry and depressed and also somewhat happy if that's possible!

Maya is a servant to Princess Tara in 16th century India. They've known each other since childhood and have grown up as friends (or so we're led to believe). As a young woman Tara watches enviously as Maya is given lessons in Kama Sutra (an ancient 4th century guide on how to make love) by a famed courtesan Rasa Devi. Tara is allowed to observe during these classes. Maya secretly envies the life of Tara, she hates being given Tara's hand me down clothes and constantly complains to her aunt about her life as a servant. The girls grown up and Tara is to be married to Raj Singh, a neighbouring king. Unfortunately for Tara, Maya learnt a bit too much during her Kama Sutra lessons and ends up deliberately seducing Tara's opium addicted husband on the eve of her wedding! This is brought about because Raj Singh looks at Maya with lust at his first meeting with his wife to be and she is so jealous she spits at Tara and tells her to leave the pre-wedding ceremony. Tara has a brother, Prince Vicky, a hunchback who is openly ridiculed by many, who has been in love with Maya since childhood. Vicky sees Maya seducing and bedding the king and is distressed and furious! On the wedding day as Tara is leaving the palace to go to her new palace Maya whispers to her "All my life I have lived with your used things but now something I have used is yours forever." Tara doesn't quite understand this and at the same time Vicky tells his mother that he wants to marry Maya and she must arrange it for him. Maya is approached with this proposal and refuses, and an enraged Vicky tells his mother of Maya's betrayal with his sister's husband on the eve of the wedding. The queen throws Maya out of the palace banishing her from the kingdom. Maya roams the land alone and lost. Tara rejects her husband's sexual advances as she has heard how painful sex is supposed to be the first time and he calls her "Maya". So the king leaves her bed and takes more and more opium and more and more mistresses and no one is happy. On her travels Maya meets Jai Kumar, the king's sculptor, who falls for her seductive charms and she becomes his most favoured model and lover. Maya falls in love with Jai and for the first time in her life she feels out of control. In the meantime the king is still obsessed with Maya, pretty much ignores his wife and continues to bed other women when he's not searching high and low around the kingdom for Maya.

What happens when the king catches up with Maya? What is the king's relationship with Jai Kumar? Do Tara or Maya ever achieve happiness in their lives? Just how vindictive can people be in the name of love and lust and revenge? I would rate this 7 out of 10. It's a very sensuous and beautifully filmed piece of work with excellent acting (whether or not you like the characters). For those who like romance, with historical drama and jealousy and spite all rolled into one, this is worth watching. Also if you like soft-core sex you might want to check it out too! To summarise the story I'd say it was predominantly about a poor girl trying to get revenge over a rich girl after years of being made to feel inferior even though they are brought up as best friends and by seducing the latter's husband on her wedding night she extracts the best revenge she possibly can, although ultimately this leads to tragedy.

Roy Kapoor (Bachchan) is a career conman who excels in running the "perfect scam". He's in love with Simmi (Chopra) who he's been dating for 6 months and they're getting engaged. Unfortunately at their lavish engagement party, one of his most recent cons comes back to bite him on the proverbial when the victim turns out to be Simmi's uncle! Simmi had no idea her fiancé was a conman (she thought he was a stockbroker) and BOOM! The engagement is broken off and Simmi tells Roy that she wants nothing more to do with him.

Six months later, a forlorn Roy still wanders around like a lovesick puppy and comes across Dittu (Deshmukh) another conman but rather new to the game who's pulling off a con with a doctor (Irani). Dittu and colleague drop a banger and Dittu grabs the doctor and he falls to the floor thinking he's been shot, Dittu calls an "ambulance" but in reality they're out to steal whatever they can from the doctor. Roy "rescues" the doctor and in return the doctor gives him some well meaning advice, and in the process they discover that Roy has a brain tumour and only has 3 months to live. Simmi gets engaged to another man, Dittu keeps hounding Roy to mentor him as he wants to be as good at conning people as Roy for been for so many years and he wants to avenge his father's downfall at the hands of another conman Chandru (Patekar), who is somewhat of a gangster too.

The cons at the start and climax of the film were pretty brilliant and you really don't see the end one coming, so it is quite a surprise. I think it was very cleverly done but I'm guessing there's a Hollywood film out there with a similar storyline which has been copied because I'm pretty sure Bollywood didn't come up with this idea! If I'm doing Bollywood an injustice in that comment then I'd be the first to hold up my hand and admit I made a mistake.

The film itself is reminiscent of the Michael Douglas starrer The Game but don't be fooled into thinking it's a direct copy... It isn't!

All in all Bluffmaster gets a high 9 out of 10 from me. I'd recommend fans of comedy and/or con capers give this a watch. It's a slick fast-paced film with lots of eye candy for both the male and female audience with some good laughs thrown in along the way.

Raj (Deol) and Priya (Kapoor) meet, fall in love and get married in India. Shortly after their marriage, they move to Switzerland due to Raj's job as a polo player/teacher. Once settled into their new home they meet their glamorous neighbours Vicky (Kumar) and Sonia (Basu), also a married couple and the two couples become close friends very quickly. Whilst Priya is not very good at cooking India food and is quite a party animal, Raj craves home cooked Indian food and a peaceful home life. Vicky seems to be a party animal whilst his wife is very homely and loves to cook Indian food.

It soon becomes apparent that both men are more than a little attracted to each others' wives (mainly due to their similar tastes) but when both couples are on holiday in Mauritius Vicky suggests a wife-swap to Raj, Raj loses his temper, fights Vicky and breaks off their friendship. They return home to Switzerland. Do you see where the plot is going? Not yet? OK read on… By chance, Raj ends up saving Vicky's life and they become pals again and after an evening out celebrating a birthday and their renewed friendship, a drunken Raj ends up going towards his neighbours' house whilst Vicky heads off towards Raj's home. Waking up in the morning, Raj leaves the house in shock, only to find out later than Sonia has been murdered and he is the prime suspect.

This plot was lifted straight out of "Consenting Adults" which was released in 1992 and starred Kevin Kline, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Kevin Spacey and Rebecca Miller. Being a film aimed at the Indian market, the storyline was toned down somewhat.

Not an original story, so you can guess the ending if you've seen the Hollywood version, nice scenery, pretty good acting, good-looking Bollywood star cast - all round I'd give Ajnabee a generous 7 out of 10.

Balajit Roy (Dutt) is a software engineer who lives and works in Bangkok with his wife Nisha (Jaitley). His best friend is Joy Fernandez (Manjrekar) and they share a friendship going back to schooldays. All is well and one day Nisha is about to tell her husband that she's pregnant and finds that he has disappeared from their home without a trace. We then find Balakit (or Bala as he's called throughout the rest of the film) locked in a cell with no windows with no explanation as to why he's been incarcerated. He's given food on a daily basis through a hatch in the floor and all he sees are the white cowboy boots of the person kicking his plate of fried wantons (fried dumplings) through the hatch. He screams and shouts and begs to know why he's been kept imprisoned. No one speaks to him or gives him any clue as to why.

We see that he has a TV for company and as the days become months and the months become years we see him go through a range of emotions such as: anger, depression, frustration, confusion, misery and finally, determination. After he's been locked up for about a year he sees on the TV that his wife has been murdered and he's the chief murder suspect. He tries to commit suicide by slitting his wrists, people are brought in to stitch up his wounds and get him back to good health. His captor wants him alive and well. Bala sees news items such as Princess Diana's funeral, the 9/11 tragedy, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, Saddam Hussein's arrest, etc, which depicts the passing of years. He practises martial arts by watching shows on his TV. About twice a week, Valium gas is released into his cell and gas masked people come in to his cell to shave and wash him. Until the last couple of years where we see him with long hair and a dishevelled beard. Then suddenly after 14 years have passed he gets a final haircut and is dressed in a suit and dumped on top of a building in a trunk with a pocketful of money and a mobile phone.

This has all happened in the first 20 minutes of the film before you think I've given away the entire plot. Bala, by chance, meets up with an Indian cab driver Jenny (Dutta) and the rest of the film is about how he goes about finding out who his captor was, why and how his captivity took place.

If you have seen Oldboy and think this is an exact copy, think again. Some of the scenes of violence are pretty much duplicated from the original (from what I've heard), but the climax of the film is quite different, so I'll leave it to you to decide if it's worth watching. It's very violent, if you don't like blood and gore, don't watch it, the scenes of human flesh being drilled through and teeth being yanked out with a hammer… I'll leave the rest to your imagination