SATYAGRAHA     3 stars

Satyagraha is a an altruistic political movie which traces the take on corruption through Amitabh Bachchan (Dwarka Anand, a Gandhian school teacher), Ajay Devgn (Manav Raghvendra, an ambitious, wily, businessman-turned Satyagrahi), Kareena Kappoor (Yasmin Ahmed, a journalist-turned Satyagrahi) and Arjun Rampal (Arjun, a student leader), with Manoj Bajpayi as Balram Singh, who is a growling, scheming and leery politician. Satyagraha rehashes facts & fiction to forge a well-intentioned movie. Dwarka Anand, Daduji to his followers, after the demise of his son in a mishap, slaps the district collector for not performing his job honestly, gets expeditiously thrown behind bars and sparks an aggravation that sends the politicians and policemen of Ambikapur gushing for cover. The ageing teacher’s fast-unto-death, undertaken on a raised platform and under a shamiana in the Ram Leela Maidan, is a laboured plot twist that becomes a verdant pretext for another round to expatiate.

Prakash Jha has executed quiter scenes and the scenes of large groups of people gearing up for the Satyagraha movement, with aplomb. These scenes stand out in the movie but are few and far between. Dialogues are thought-provoking and frenetic all through. Prakash Jha is a master of this genre. Speaking ONLY about his direction. to be honest, is impeccant.

Sustaining a politically virtuous stance, Prakash Jha has done a commendable job but for most part the script is fractured, frustrating and sinuous. Angry slogans rent the air and Facebook updates and tweets flash across the screen as a device meant to point out the disgruntlement of the people. The characters are without any real conviction. The romantic track between Ajay and Kareena is unexpected & unnecessary. The movie ends up with a messy hotch potch of too many issues and the ultimate moments look hurried and abrupt as well, which mar the overall endeavour of the flick, except the message mouthed by Ajay Devgn, which is OF the youth BY the youth and FOR the youth. The message mirrors today's scenario.

The movie's saving soul is Amitabh Bachchan. He is PHENOMENAL, no two doubts in that and the way he switches gears for this simplistic role, is evidently a compliment to his acting. Right from his dialogue delivery to the idealistic character he impersonates, is unmatchable and could well be termed as one of his finest performance in recent times. He voices the movie's philosophy - "Janta sarkaar ki maalik hai. Maalik nirdesh deta hai, Maang nahi karta." Watch out for him while touching the earth where his son died. Ajay Devgn underplays his part with aplomb and compliments Amitabh in each and every scene with great precision. He is fiery and on the same time, he is helpless, which shows he is a complete pro in taking care of the smallest of nuances, with his sincere & honest performance. Kareena Kapoor is effective in a not so challenging role of a journalist. Arjun Rampal & Amrita Rao are competent. They are overshadowed by the screen timing of other characters. Manoj Bajpai has mastered the villainous role after regularly playing under Jha. Indraneil Sengupta leaves a mark in a cameo. Mugdha Godse is wasted. Vipin Sharma is very good. Manoj Kolhatkar, Shireesh Sharma, Ajay Trehan and Girish Sahdev are effectual as well.

On the whole, Satyagraha is a weightless movie. The film lacks the much needed fizz, with an unconvincing climax, wasting the enigma of such talented bunch of actors. I am going with an extra star for the superstar of the Millenium. It is *not* terrible but is bearable for a one time watch only.

ONCE UPON AY TIME IN MUMBAAI DOBAARA!

3 stars

Milan Luthria is back with the second installment of Once Upon A Time In Mumbai. Expectations are riding high as the stakes increase in the sequel. The movie takes off from where the previous film ended with Shoaib Khan [Akshay Kumar] being the reigning don after killing Sultan Mirza.  Shoaib picks up a local Dongri reckless lad Aslam [Imran Khan] to build for himself a loyalist at crime, becoming his Godfather. Shoaib is the biggest gangster of Bombay who handles in all the way from presumably a Gulf country. His only confidantes are his best friend Javed [Sarfaraz Khan] and former lover Mumtaz [Sonali Bendre]. The quest to clench Rawal [Mahesh Manjrekar], a Prem Chopra fanatic, brings Shoaib to Bombay. Here, he impinges on a bold, beautiful & to some extent, rabid girl Jasmine [Sonakshi Sinha] & he throws his heart to her. She aspires to be an actress & Shoaib becomes the benefactor but without her knowledge, despite hanging out with him for days on end. What starts with a misinterpretation between Aslam & Jasmine, climbs up the ladder to love. What follows is the chase for love.

The prequel was a loud, thoroughly entertaining homage to the scripts of the ‘70s: high on drama, breezy with one-liners & packed with masala. The prequel worked because of the tight script which was crisply edited combined with powerhouse performances by Emraan Hashmi and Ajay Devgn. But here in the sequel, besides focusing on the game of one-upmanship between gangsters, the story  indeed results in the strife that initiates between Shoaib & Aslam – a war as to who will win the girl & the gangster moments take a backseat. If you are showing a past era, you need campy dialogues but that doesn't mean they have to be high-decibled delivery which makes it seem more theatrical than filmy. The dialogues [Rajat Aroraa] were the highpoints of the prequel but in the sequel, they seem to have aimed only to the single screen spectators, where every line is a punch line, sometimes flat though but towards the penultimate & ultimate moments, some of the most fiercing dialogues are being delivered by Akshay to match up his persona. Once again, director Milan Luthria impresses us with the set-up of the movie. Everything is so filmy just like how it used to be back then. The first half, which has plain dramatic moments with bit of everything, right from songs, humor & sleazy lines to some sensuous scenes as well. The grip is missing right from the outset. Only the conversation between Akshay & Imran, following the interval, is something to look forward to in a Once Upon...series. Brilliant lines. It is only the second half which packs a solid punch & which has the real drama which includes less songs & some virtually menacing scenes & dialogues, especially the confrontation involving Akshay & Sonakshi and the powerful sequence between Akshay & Sonali Bendre, towards the closing stage. MAI TO PYAR BHI PYAR SE NAHI KARTA HU. The styling is unflawed here. Terrific second half. Pritam’s music ain’t extraordinary and the editing could have been better. But it is the script, the direction and the acting that dooms it all for them!


Akshay's slick look as a dreaded gangster definitely gets points. He is vindictive in the climax. He is the one, who's vivacious charisma as the dreaded gangster gets the film brownie points. Imran Khan's chocolate boy good looks is difficult to be hidden behind a moustache, making him look like one of those kids from the Filpkart commercial and he is plain flat throughout. However, the chemistry between him and Sonakshi is better than Akshay's. Watch out for him in the penultimate & ultimate scenes only. He's excellent there. Sonakshi plays the gangster's moll in the film and looks almost similar to all her past films. She's loud also. There is only one solid scene that the director has given to actress Sonali Bendre and she's brilliant in it. The supporting cast is almost wasted, only Mahesh Manjrekar is competent though.

On the whole, this one's a damp squib that is the last thing expected from Luthria and Balaji because they have set the temperature soaring earlier in the prequel & The Dirty Picture. The only lifeline here is the powerful second half. It has some really awestruck gangster moments. It stands nowhere in comparison, which is inevitable, to the prequel. Watch it for Akshay only or better skip it & wait till it gets premiered on television.

CHENNAI EXPRESS

Rohit Shetty, Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone, the troika, has been seen promoting the movie on such a grandiose phase. The comedy along with the action is rarely served with equal entertainment in today’s cinema and Rohit Shetty is one director who is supremely prudent in the art. This movie is the trademark of his 'ishtyle', with blowing up cars, mass appealing humor and clap-trap. The movie is all about serving the spectators with entertainment, entertainment and entertainment. The movie is about a man's journey from Mumbai to Komban village & then to Rameshwaram and what happens during the journey. A 40 year old bachelor Rahul, who lands up in a totally unexpected journey that makes him realize the importance of love, life relationships and sacrifice. Rahul realizes the power of true love during his journey.

The songs *were* never the highpoint of the movie, as the talented duo Vishal-Shekhar have more muscles but after watching the movie, you *will* definitely get back to the tracks on youtube. The dialogues [Sajid-Farhad] are hilarious. The best parts of the film are when Meena and Rahul communicate through Hindi songs; these are the only places where the screenplay sets forth imaginative virtue and how! Dudley's cinematography captures the mood of the film as well as the spectacular locales of South India with flourish. The editing [Steven Bernard] is crisp in the first half but alike typical Bollywood movies, this one too dips in the post interval portion but towards the penultimate moments, the movie regains momentum & the concluding reels are the highpoint of the enterprise where SRK confronts Deepika's father (read verbally) and Tangaballi, played by Nikitin Dheer (read fight).

Being a masala movie, music doesn't have much scope, surprisingly! It is only in the second half where a song comes every 5-10 minutes of the running. The sketchy editing in the second half wears you out as thoroughout this period, the movie doesn't show much happenings.

SRK, as Rahul, is befitting. His energy, dialogue delivery and the persona, he possesses, are the three pillars in making him the soul of the movie. He's the King Khan & no two doubts in that. The magnitude of SRK's fan-following is unfathomable and this movie would be the highest grossing movie for him. The immensely talented Deepika’s diction and lingo are consistently right. She's proved her mettle time and again & this time, she is no different. Nikitin Dheer is robust. Sathyaraj is competent as Deepika's father. He conveys through his eyes, which would earn him more glory. Mukesh Tiwari does evoke mirth partially.

On the whole, Chennai Express will leave you whistling, laughing and applauding in the theatres, as designed to woo the masses. In Rohit Shetty 'ishtyle', Chennai Express is a super masala entertainment and promises a great deal of laughter as expected from the typical Rohit Shetty style flicks, as long as you don't search for logic in it. After a long time you could go and watch a movie with complete FAMILY, which is sparse & matters a lot now-a-days. Board this Express. Get on the train baby.

3.5 stars

B.A. PASS

B.A. PASS is based on the short story 'The Railway Aunty' by Mohan Sikka from the book 'Delhi Noir'. The film is the story of small North Indian town lad Mukesh ( Shadab Kamal ), who relocates to Paharganj area in Delhi to stay with his aunt after the death of his parents,leaving behind his two younger sisters, to complete his graduation. He opts for the course B.A. (Pass) and hence forming the title of the movie. Her aunt is such a grouchy lady that he spends most of his time in a cemetery, reading a book on the moves of Chess and playing the game simultaneously. His aunt accepts him to reside with her family on the provision that his studies and other expenses would be supported by his grandfather only. It is then, he gets to meet one of his aunt's married friends Sarika ( Shilpa Shukla ), who occurs to be a seductress and her husband happens to be the senior officer of Mukesh' aunty's husband. Thereupon starts an erotic drama between the two on the basis of lust, betrayal & lies. Mukesh undertakes enjoying the eroticism, not only with Sarika but also with other ladies, as this lands him in earning robust amount of money. He loses the morale of differentiating between what's right and what's not. Mukesh, at last, falls in the web of sex, prostituition (read gay) and deceit and how he overcomes the harsh horrid reality, forms the culmination of the movie.

Director Ajay Bahl has done an anormal job in depicting a gripping story and it must have been a daunting task of adapting the short story on celluloid, but he excels in all the aspects. His direction is top-notch. The aesthetically shot love-making scenes, which are almost there in every alternate scenes in the first half, are virtually titillating. The locales of Paharganj elongates the effect of this gripping story ( tight screenplay by Ritesh Shah ). Shadab Kamal is amateurishly deft in holding the movie on his shoulder. Shilpa Shukla, the fornicating woman, without whom the movie couldn't have reached such heights, is simply brilliant. It indeed needs courage for an actress to portray such steamy scenes with gusto and she leaves no stone unturned in making her acting believable. Bravura performance. The chess-playing grave-keeper, Dibyendu Bhattacharya, is competent.

On the flip side, there has been nothing at all for the masses, the commoners. The movie has been made for critical acclamation and it has got what it deserves beforehand.

To sum up, B.A. PASS is dark, noir and brutal narration of true human emotions in raw form. If you have an appetite of absorbing a differently realistic & unpleasant saga, then go for it.

3 stars.