CHAL BHAAG

0.5 stars



It seems Bollywood is hell bent on churning out nonsensical movies every alternate Friday, which might have seemed good on paper but they don't even deserve to get a proper release for themselves. Chal Bhaag -- directed by Prakash Saini, who has some movies of the lowest standard to his credit -- is one such ludicrous crime comedy which relies too heavily on unabashed conventionalism, brandishing the same stuff in the name of entertainment.


Without beating around the bush, let me first rationalize the plot! Three absurdly-named Delhi black hats Munna Supari (Deepak Dobriyal), Bunty Chor (Tarun Bajaj) and Daler Singh (Varun Mehra) find themselves falsely framed in ex-MLA Solanki's murder case amidst corrupt cops, straggly bullets, obsolescent dons and a pimp (Sanjay Mishra). How they prove themselves innocent, forms the crux of the story!


There isn’t enough novelty as lot of sequences and scenes look like they were either inspired or written after watching other films. The jokes and one liners fall flat early on in the film. The only ones laughing are the on screen characters. Though the story/screenplay (Tarun Bajaj) sheds light on serious issues like the police's fake encounters and flesh trade, the makers get all the basics and technicalities wrong. The unforgivably cringeworthy dialogues (Tarun Bajaj and Niket Pandey) along with the introduction of multiple characters make the proceedings so routine and monotonous that the viewers fervently hope for some novelty. Adding to the woes, there are obscene item numbers popping out of nowhere every now and again, which again make the ongoings unbearable. The music (Sadhu Sushil Tiwari, Sanjay Pathak and Satish Kashyap) pays homage to the films of yore. Ditto for the background score (Amit Rathod). The lyrics (Niket Pandey, Dr. Devendra Kafir and Prita S. Pathak) too, are filthy. One can clearly point out from the stale production design (Abdul Salim) that this is vintage 80s masala. Once the stage is set, the narrative, although amusing at times, meanders into been-there-seen-that kind of situations, more so towards the penultimate moments. Sure, Prakash Saini tries to integrate a twist or two in the tale, but, again, you know where the film is heading a few sequences later. Sameer Bhaskar's cinematography offers no novelty and is amateurishly done with hawkers, rickshaw pullers and eager tourists staring into the camera in crowded market places, will leave the viewers reeling with an amateur student-film syndrome. The chase sequences (Shakil Shaikh) and the climax, shot clumsily, are hurried. There's no real meat - not even to last the modest runtime of 111 minutes (editing: Hardik Singh Reen) - to make CHAL BHAAG memorable in any way. Everything happens at its own sweet pace and somewhere in the middle you start losing interest. With some more enthusiasm and zest the film would have had a better impact.


Deepak Dobriyal, Yashpal Sharma, Mukesh Tiwari and Atul Srivastava stand out with earnest performances. Sanjay Mishra's character is most ambiguous. Debutant Varun Mehra tries too hard to be a no-nonsense guy but falls flat owing to his over the top acting. Debutante Keeya Khanna is natural. Tarun Bajaj should quit acting. Manish Khanna and Kunwar Aziz are wasted.


On the whole, CHAL BHAAG fails as a film with lack of solid plotline, narrative, screenplay, good acting, good direction, good music et al. If, in case, I have missed out any department, just consider it was bad as well with the worst part being the dialogues. The film squanders the idea by stretching it around and turning several of its characters into overblown stereotypes with outlandish accents and exaggerated gestures -- even as its hero plays it mostly cool and realistic. The result is a film that never connects, a film that is frustratingly hard to like. Dobriyal fans will be pleased, but its annoying need to act like a farce with a laugh-track is what ironically dashes its chances. CHAL BHAAG is a grand tapestry of trash! Disaster!





first appeared on: http://www.desimartini.com/movies/chal-bhaag/md3483.htm

HAWAA HAWAAI

3.5 stars



Right from getting into their little world to portraying their joys, sorrows, concerns and dreams, filmmaker Amole Gupte is impassioned about films with kids as the main characters. HAWAA HAWAAI is a slice of life film about street urchins that makes you appreciate friendship, besides exploring the real world of deprivation and misery along with an underlying message -- Live your dream!

Hawaa Hawaai goes into a territory that no Hindi film has ever explored earlier -- Roller Skating. Told through the eyes of a 12-year-old kid and filmed extensively from rural Maharashtra to the heart of Mumbai city, it's sure to move you with its sheer unfussiness, sentiments and a jubilant finale. It's a *small* film with a *big* heart. It's a ubiquitous misconception that children's films are not meant for adults. But films exhibiting a child as a protagonist appeals as much to the universal spectators. Hawaa Hawaai works big time with grownups as much as with kids. This inspiring drama brings to life an underprivileged boy's daring dream to become a champion in-line skater, and the faith placed in him by an unlikely teacher and a motley group of friends.

After the tragic demise of his father, played by the formidable Makarand Deshpande, Arjun Harishchandra Waghmare (Partho Gupte) is forced to move from the impoverished Yavatmal district in Maharashtra to Mumbai only to log his way to work at a run-down tea stall in the searing heat of the sun to feed his family of six with his eyes droopy as the night sets in. One night, he discovers a hidden world of in-line skating through coach Aniket 'Lucky' Bhargava (Saqib Saleem), who mentors kids who're aspirant skaters. While Arjun starts nursing the dream to learn skating under Lucky, his four friends, all working kids –- a ragpicker, a gajra seller, a factory worker and a mechanic -- get together to make his dream come true by putting together a working skate out of scrap & christen it as 'Hawaa Hawaai'. How Arjun's dreams transform into reality under the deft guidance of Lucky, form the apogee of this endearing story that's full of hope and aspiration!

Amole Gupte's story is a tribute to people who dare to dream alongside asking worrying questions about how society flatly and methodically separates rich kids from the poor ones. Gupte peeps into the psyche of a street urchin by creating a poignant and piercing portrait of childhood. His ability to draw natural performances from the kids warrants ovation! His Arjun tugs at your heartstrings while trying to live his dream. The real achievement of Gupte as a director lies in showing Arjun's attainable dreams without being preachy or over-sentimental with soul-lifting background score (Hitesh Sonik) aggrandizing the effect consummately. Hitesh Sonik is another hero of the film with his songs staying true to the film's spirit. The story is never meant to gain sympathy and so, the screenplay takes time to build the momentum by allowing Arjun's dream to grow on its own volition until his yearnings procure wings to achieve his dreams. In a scene, when the ragpicker rolls down a heap of garbage and helps his friends look for scrap to build make-do skates for Arjun, Amole Gupte's suggestive visual poetry through the actions of the kids is weaved with mastery. While the first half primarily focuses on friendship and makes us extremely sentient of our passiveness to kids’ issues, the second half delves into the relationship between Arjun with his coach and Arjun with his dreams. The stupendous culmination where the director intercuts scenes from the boy’s past with the present race on roller skates, makes your heart go all out for Arjun. In a heart-warming scene of sorts when Arjun goes home after getting scolded by Lucky, he sobs silently stuffing cloth pieces in his mouth so that his mother, sleeping right beside him, does not know that her responsible son is filling himself with pressure and self-disappointment. When Lucky realises that even if Arjun wins the competition, he will still have to work at the tea stall, his helplessness creates a lump in your throat.

Let me warn you that clocking on the dot at 120 minutes, Hawaa Hawaai is slow. In places, the story seems stretched and also in some parts the plot jumps suddenly (editor: Deepa Bhatia). The entire episode of Arjun-admitted-in-hospital just add length to the film and the scenes of Lucky with his NRI brother (Anuj Sachdeva) are not gripping at all. Some of the cinematic liberties have also been taken, yet there’s so much goodness, warmth and honesty in Gupte's intentions that it’s impossible to not have the viewers heart melt!

Uninhibited, spontaneous and lovable, Partho Gupte rises above the script, makes you believe in your dreams and you're voluntarily drawn to his side. He has the sort of screen-presence our A-listers would be jealous of! Saqib Saleem's versatility is explicit. His perseverance in portraying Lucky proves he's one of the brightest talents around. Long way to go man! The kids are revelation indeed! Salman Chhote Khan (Bhura), Ashfaque Bismillah Khan (Gochi), Maaman Memon (Abdul) and Thirupathi Kushnapelli (Bindaas Murugan) are winsome and pitch in amazing performances. Bravo! The supporting cast delivers remarkable performances as well. Makrand Deshpande, Bugs Bhargava, Soumita Hattangadi, Pragya Yadav, Anuj Sachdeva, and Divya Jagdale are commendable in brief appearances. Sanjay Dadich, Neha Joshi, Razzak Khan and Suman Arjun Mahaskar are exceptional exhibiting the right emotion at every cue.

Hawaa Hawaai is a heart-warmer, has a touch of innocence that wraps itself securely around you, stays with you long after the film is over and leaves you feeling very rewarded. Don't miss this rich and nuanced soul curry for both, the young and adult heart. Go, live your dream!


first appeared on http://www.desimartini.com/movies/hawaa-hawaai/md3136.htm

KYA DILLI KYA LAHORE

3 stars



Bollywood is brimful of jingoistic dramas. But never does in the history of Hindi cinema has released a movie against the backdrop of war that is resolutely 'anti-war' with partition as its crux. Donning the director's hat for the very first time, Vijay Raaz -- a name synonymous with side-splitting roles -- has come up with a simple human drama that is relevant, makes no political statement, talks about peace yet is not preachy and fuses sensitivity with angst and melodrama skillfully.

Kya Dilli Kya Lahore is a satire on Indo-Pak relationship that kicks off with Jawaharlal Nehru's famous Tryst with Destiny speech. Set at a time (1948) when the partition massacre happened and lines were drawn between India and Pakistan that reeked of fresh blood, a cross-fire erupts at an isolated stretch of Indo-Pak border, leaving only two soldiers alive. One is an Indian soldier of Pakistani origin, Samarth Pratap Shastri (Manu Rishi) -- a cook attached to an Indian army unit posted at the border -- while the other is a Pakistani soldier of Indian origin, Rehmat Ali (Vijay Raaz). A Pakistani Captain (Vishwajeet Pradhan) sends Rehmat to find the map showing details of the tunnel being built from Red Fort (Delhi) to Lahore, fearing that the Indians might attack Lahore. In an attempt to evade danger, they bump into each other and amidst continuous exchange of bullets, altercations and murkier situations, an ironic story of fake pride and survival begins which evolves into a journey of human connection with an unforeseeable end where Rehmat and Samarth are subjected to humiliation as they become 'refugees' in their new homelands.

Aseem Arora's story/screenplay delves into several sensitive subjects regarding one of India's most traumatic and conflict-filled periods, but at the same time, highlights the unlikely friendships that performed amidst all the hatred and violence. A film with just four faces packs a solid punch with the message that humanity is bigger than any religion or any country. Maestro writer/lyricist Gulzar's poetic prologue not only enthrals the viewers but is also soul-stirring. The highpoint of the enterprise is Raaz & Rishi's satirical bickering over which side ditched whom and who is responsible for the massacre -- with Vijay & Manu recollecting their childhood in Delhi & Lahore respectively and getting emotional -- binds the two deracinated souls and warms up into a heart-rending tale. The poignant dialogues (Manu Rishi Chadha) peppered with Urdu-Punjabi-Hindi poetry suggestive of partition agony, carry the heart-rending weight of the film consummately. The letter-reading scene during the penultimate moments is tear-jerking. The physical pain and emotional trauma of the soldiers inflicted by partition are competently depicted. Debutant director Vijay Raaz deserves a pat on his back for staying firmly focused on his post-partition story and executing it sensitively, though in the same location throughout with a dilapidating log cabin in the middle (production designer: Aman Vidhate) giving the desired feel of the aftermath of war. Raaj Chakravarti cinematographs the gist of post-partition human drama with flair. The background score and music (Sandesh Shandilya) equally compliment the ongoings & uplift the mood at every single juncture. Nandita Sahu's costumes are in sync and aptly exhibit a dark humour-in-uniform, teetotally. The climax too, is moving to the core.

On the flip side, the story feels a tad long (editing: Archit Rastogi) as some scenes are stretched unnecessarily in parts. The pacing is slow... very slow, in fact! Some situations and arguments are nonsensical to the hilt.

Kudos to Vijay Raaz's versatility for making his acting credible and direction incredible! Phenomenal!

Manu Rishi is a scene-stealer unquestionably! The way he utters his dialogues deserves tremendous commendation. Long way to go man!

Rajendranath Zutshi is naturally perfect in a short cameo appearing as Barfi Singh, a postman working for the Indian army. Watch out for him in the scene when Vijay Raaz is captive in his hands and he tells him, "Abe, Hindustani auzaar se ijjat se baat kar. Bol penchkasji maaf kar dein!"

Vishwajeet Pradhan lends able support.

To sum up, KYA DILLI KYA LAHORE has its heart & mind at the right place with terrific performances and a truly disturbing climax leaving a long lasting impact. Give this one a shot for the honest attempt if you are a connoisseur of meaningful cinema!



first appeared on http://www.desimartini.com/movies/kya-dilli-kya-lahore/md3383.htm

REVOLVER RANI

3 stars


Dark comedy is not for everybody but black humor is gradually beginning to make inroads into Bollywood as the sensibilities are changing and the ghetto has been broken. Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro (1983), Sankat City (2009), Ishqiya (2010), 7 Khoon Maaf (2011) and Dedh Ishqiya (2014) experimented with dark humor that took on the establishment. While some attained the cult status and the rest failed to strike a chord with the audience because it is difficult to experience laughter and discomfort simultaneously. Debutant director Sai Kabir's Revolver Rani is one such dark B-grade concoction of politics, comedy and a bloodletting love story.

Set against the backdrop of Chambal, Kangana Ranaut is playing the titular role of Revolver Rani alias Alka Singh, whose father -- who died early when she was just seven -- never accepted her for being a girl child. She craved his love but was fascinated with his revolvers. She picked up the revolver because she saw her mother being raped in front of her. She grew to womanhood in the company of her sly & manipulative mama, Balram Singh (Piyush Mishra), just to be a terror in the area but now, he uses Alka for power. She shot her husband dead because he had an affair and supposedly thought of Alka as sterile. Alka belongs to a lower caste but she dreams of escaping to 'Benice', orders clothes from Italy and primps like a diva in metallic conical bras. She is a dacoit-turned-politician and has just been ousted from her political position of power by the Rural Development Minister, Thakur Udaybhaan Singh (Zakir Hussain). With the help of her mama, she starts fighting for tribesmen/adivasis whom Udaybhaan, in the company of two half-witted brothers, has cheated out of their land. She falls head over heels for struggling Bollywood actor Rohan Kapoor (Vir Das) in the meanwhile but he starts using Alka as a ladder to climb up in Bollywood. Ultimately, he becomes her toy boy and when Alka decides to shut all her guns down because she's pregnant with Rohan's child, the opposition leader traps Rohan in order to destroy Alka completely. What follows is Alka's journey of deceit, betrayal & survival...

The story (Sai Kabir) is offbeat and a great satire of political love. This issue has never been raised before in Bollywood. Even though the premise of the flick is unbelievable and too wacky to be true, the plot redefines pulp fiction by fusing notoriety and crass in right dosage ala Quentin Tarantino's style of movies. Right from the avant-garde production design (Mayur Sharma) to accomplished cinematography (Suhas Gujarathi) capturing the hinterland with rigour to assorted background score uplifting the mood (Surender Sodhi), the detailing is precise and real attitude of goons and politicians are shown with utmost precision. Military insignia laden jackets paired with salwars, metallic bra and eyecatching sunglasses suit Kangana's demeanour outright. Kudos to costume designers (Ridhima Pandey & Gavin Miguel) for the quirky/unusual wardrobe! The dialogues (Sai Kabir) are rib-tickling with usage of broken English dialects only enhances the pleasure of watching a true-blue desi politics. The TV anchor in the film managed to evoke the maximum amount of mirth. The director nails in characterisation of the characters, which is sheer humourous. Sai Kabir has done a fantabulous job in his directorial debut by mixing love and violence in an unusual way and sticking to the reality of the land of rebels, politicians, bullets and blood where the people either live by the gun or die by the gun. The twists in the tale, the superlative acting & the hard-hitting climax pack a solid punch and are the highlights of the enterprise. Though aimed at the hoi polloi, the movie is *not* easy to digest because it needs the viewers' attention right from the very onset as the content is raw, real and riotous.

On the grey side, the film has no logic whatsoever. The slow & laborious runtime of 132 minutes with those thirteen outlandish songs (music: Sanjeev Srivastava) popping out of nowhere, make the viewers dog-tired. A dark comedy should be neatly peppered with pacy situations to keep the watchers hooked but the movie has got scenes so long drawn-out (editing: Aarti Bajaj) that the whole impact fizzles out by the end of it.

Kangana Ranaut is evidently the best thing in the film. She is on a nailing spree. One cannot imagine this role without Kangana. Portraying a crazy, vulnerable, aggressive, abusive and nymphomaniac dacoit with tanned tone and kohl eyes is no cakewalk but she slips into the skin of Alka with elan. A virtuoso act, indeed! Vir Das is confused throughout. He is wasted. Piyush Mishra is fantastic, as always. He is phenomenal especially in the second half. Zakir Hussain and Pankaj Saraswat are pitch-perfect as shrewd politicians cum goons. Deana Uppal is a femme fatale. Kumud Mishra, Nikunj Malik, Jami Jafry, Preeti Sood, Rahul Gandhi, Zeishan Quadri, Zafar Khan, Sanjay Singh and Abhijeet Shetty are consummately terrific in their respective roles.

On the whole, to endure Revolver Rani the viewers need to have a *strong appetite* as it is the *most brazen* dark humor to have churned out of Bollywood in recent times. The superlative performances -- particularly Kangana Ranaut -- along with plenty of good laughs and stirring effort of debutant director Sai Kabir make for a wild watch. Give this one a shot! And yes, it has a hint for the sequel as well!


first appeared on http://www.desimartini.com/movies/revolver-rani/md3336.htm

2 STATES

3.5 stars


K. Balachander's Ek Duuje Ke Liye (1981) kicked off the trend of *inter-caste relationships/marriages* in Bollywood. Though it has a tragic denouement but the movie was huge success back then and accordingly, the template became all-important for a Hindi movie to set the box-office ringing. Latterly, Shoojit Sircar's immensely acclaimed Vicky Donor (2012) redefined the idea where Ayushmann Khurrana's Punjabi mother detest Yami Gautam's Bengali parents. But Abhishek Varman (director/screenwriter), for his debut outing, has adapted Chetan Bhagat's -- the biggest-selling English-language novelist in India’s history -- biographical book by the same title '2 States: The Story of My Marriage', which is simplistically palpable & deals with the psyche of young adults in a country like India where a love affair resulted into marriage is no less than a battle won. Here, instead of becoming a rebel by going against their parents' wishes, together they make sure that the girl's family has to love the boy, boy's family has to love the girl, the girl's family has to love the boy's family and the boy's family has to love the girl's family. The message is simple and clear -- True love knows no boundaries, states, communities and cultures even though it crosses many and it has a sole intention of bringing people together to a time called forever.

The story is told from the point of view of the male protagonist. Punjabi boy Krish Malhotra (Arjun Kapoor) is tall, handsome, chiseled, knowledgeable, has great smile/dimples and awares of his reality, duty and ambition. He hopes to be a writer someday. He's raised by an overbearing Punjabi mother, Kavita Malhotra (Amrita Singh) and an alcoholic father, Vikram Malhotra (Ronit Roy). Krish meets Ananya Swaminathan (Alia Bhatt) at an elite MBA college and quite predictably, both of them fall in love. Ananya is intelligent, confident, pretty, the eldest child of a middle class Tamil-Brahmin family from Chennai and full of ambition & youthful energy. She holds great value in the consent and happiness of her more traditional mother, Radha Swaminathan (Revathy) and father, Shiv Swaminathan (Shiv Subrahmanyam). They take a compos mentis decision that they won't get married till the time their parents don't give their consent and to convert their love story into a love marriage, the couple faces a tough battle in front of them all. Eventually, how Krish succeeds in walking down the aisle with Ananya and becoming a writer, forms the apogee.

The story is simple, *not* excessively melodramatic/emotional, has its heart & mind in the right place and a humorous take on inter community marriages in India. The proceedings are even more enjoyable than the book, which, in fact, is the real attainment. Kudos to debutant director Abhishek Varman for the detailing, the susceptibility with which he handles relationships *without* taking sides & employing any contrivances to catch the fancy of audience and bringing out the best & the worst in both the communities. He uses all the elements in a right measure, which proves to be the silent intrinsic force that makes the flick interestingly entertaining. The story has many things at the same time. The circumstances are relevantly destined than designed. Right from the couple's mission to make a truce between their families to Krrish juggling between his job and different cities in his attempt to marry the love of his life Ananya, are picture perfect and relatable. The backstory of Krish and his father packs a solid punch. The scene in which a solemn Krish proposes marriage to Ananya and her family with four golden rings in his hand saying, "Mai Aap Sab Se Shaadi Krna Chahta Hu", is one of the many highlights of the enterprise. The climax too, is worth rounds of applause. Hussain Dalal's funny one-liners & self-denouncing remarks about one's family and community are sure to bring the house down with Parik-Tubby's background score uplifting the mood at every single juncture. The story moves between four cities – Ahmedabad, Delhi, Chennai and Mumbai. While the viewers are shown just a glimpse of the first city, the other three are described in full radiance with DoP Binod Pradhan ingeniously capturing the cultures & panoramic locales of north and south India. Amrita Mahal Nakai's production design takes the impact of the movie notches ahead. She's avowedly the real winner of the enterprise. Resplendent! Manish Malhotra, Shiraz Siddiqui, Natascha Charak and Nikita Mohanty's costumes are both modish and conventional at the same time. The mellifluous soundtrack (Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy) in context with newfangled lyrics (Amitabh Bhattacharya) go down well with the mood of the film. Winsome!

On the flip side, the pace is dull to some extent especially because the film borders at a runtime of 149 minutes. The editing (Namrata Rao) could've been more taut for an overwhelming after-effect.

Arjun Kapoor's composure while effortlessly slipping in the role of Krish is laudable. He's evidently a scene-stealer! One cannot take his/her eyes off from him. Alia Bhatt is on a nailing spree. She's the next big thing in Bollywood in days to come. Her eyes & body language emote incomparably. Alia's Ananya is a virtuoso act. Ovation! Ronit Roy -- who quietly observes the tumultuous events unfold in his son's life -- is exemplary, precisely after Udaan (2010). Watch out for him during the closing moments. Amrita Singh's banters are the highpoint. She's impeccable throughout. Wow! Revathy, Achint Kaur and Shiv Subrahmanyam are tactile pillars of the enterprise.

After 3 Idiots (2009), 2 STATES is the next ultimate tribute to Chetan Bhagat's literary piece of work, which merits repeated viewing owing to its chartbuster music, relatable storyline, fantastic performances and mainly, the jaw-dropping technicalities. Right on!

first appeared on: http://www.desimartini.com/movies/2-states/md1131.htm

BHOOTHNATH RETURNS

3 stars


In this day and age, when remaking a South masala movie has almost become a norm, content-driven flicks are seen once in a blue moon that could even bring the house down. Bollywood has almost lost its lustre by tilting towards mindless entertainers in order to make hefty bucks in no time. Even follow-ups are effectuated in order to just make the most of prequels. But very few filmmakers know how to cash in on the current prevailing scenario and that too with a movie so meaningful and thought-provoking that it redefines the meaning of issue-based cinema interspersed with stirring messages punctiliously.

First, the premise! Bhoothnath Returns commences precisely from where Bhoothnath (2008) culminated, with Amitabh Bachchan's voiceover. As the 60-year old ghost returns to the 'Bhoot World' -- an exotic locale where male ghosts chill out, female ghosts bitch about others and all the ghosts wait for reincarnation -- Kailash Nath aka Bhoothnath (Amitabh Bachchan) is welcomed with taunts and denunciation from other ghosts for bringing disgrace to the ghost-community after getting intimidated by a kid on Earth six years back. Post the mortification, Bhoothnath decides to redeem himself and comes back to Dharavi in Mumbai to scare a bunch of kids but in turn he turns into a comic character. The task brings him to Akhrot (Parth Bhalerao), a slum urchin who is also the only person who can see him and fears none. He doesn’t attend school and earns his living from tourists by taking them on a tour of Dharavi. Together they agree to help each other and they become business partner in the task of removing spirits from haunted buildings in return of good money from property developers but their friendship gets them involved in a cause that is Brobdingnagian while trying to bring a haunted property worth 300 crores in the same position as it was earlier as per the order of conniving politico Bhau (Boman Irani). To save Dharavi constituency from such unscrupulous goon-turned-politician, Bhoothnath takes on Bhau by contesting against him. The Lok Sabha elections are nearing and Bhau's victory is just formality. In a world, where a common man is afraid of politics, will a common man's ghost overcome his fear to stand up for what's right and fight against injustice? How ultimately Bhoothnath beats Bhau over, forms the apogee.

Piyush Gupta and Nitesh Tiwari have come up with a satirical story of friendly ghost, taking a political route this time around, which though is unreal but shows a mirror to the society plagued with corruption, poverty, scams, kickbacks and frauds committed by certain politicians. The story is much more appreciable and far more entertaining than the prequel. Director Nitesh Tiwari opts for an issue-based flick and packages it with commercial ingredients to connect with the aam aadmi with sarcastically hard-hitting dialogues and inducing scenes galore which packs a solid punch outright. The first half exclusively focuses on the growing bond and camaraderie between I-look-cuter-with-my-broken-tooth-Akhrot and Bhoothnath, well stocked with subtle message of ‘fear of good’ or the satire of uneducated people running the nation, it makes the viewers smile continuously at the rather piteous situation of our country. The flick shrewdly avoids clichés and even exhibits some real footage in order to showcase the prevailing state of India pathetically in "Nazar Rakhna" song. In a scene, an old lady (Usha Nadkarni) is asked by Akhrot if she would vote for a ghost if she gets the basic amenities like water and cleanliness in place. She eventually says in an anguishing tone – “I will even vote for a dog if promised water at least once in a day.” Almost every single scene is sprinkled with rousing message with compelling background score (Hitesh Sonik). The background music enlivens the mood at every single juncture. Well Done! Bhoothnath encapsulating the situation of aam junta in police station scene is amusingly hard-hitting. With a bloated runtime of 155 minutes acting as snag but the nimble pace and tout editing (Chandrashekhar Prajapati) helps from turning the flick soul-destroying. The movie has its heart and mind in the right place with habile direction totes that deserves a pat on the back of Nitesh Tiwari. Going by the director's mastery over the medium, the viewers would find it very tough to believe this is his second film only. The story has many things at the same time. The narrative moves through circumstances that appear more destined than designed. Nitesh Tiwari exercises an enormously flexible yet firm grip over his optimistic plot. Bravo! Though the makers have taken some cinematic liberty, yet there are no loopholes in the proceedings. The ongoings are settled and the DoP (Kamaljeet Negi) captures the real slums of Mumbai, the railway tracks, the garages, the back alleys and an abandoned ship with adroitness. What heightens the impact is the camera angles. Splendid! Right from Bhau's residence to Bhoot world (which is very much alike any other Government office in India) to Sanjay Mishra's factory to song sequences, the state-of-the-art production design (Wasiq Khan) including an old torn couch and a few brown barrels where Bhoothnath and Akhrot have their heart-to-hearts are appealing to the core. At par with Hollywood standards Vfx complement the theme of the movie outstandingly.

Fortunately, the movie doesn't succumb to the curse of second half. The face-offs between Boman & senior Bachchan are the highlights of the enterprise. Boman provoking Mr. Bachchan to surrender his supernatural powers while going live on tv and the scene with Chief Electoral Officer when Mr. Bachchan falsify the allegations of not having the right to vote are spellbinding of sorts. In the penult moments, when Bhoothnath urges the hoi polloi to cast vote should be used as the election anthem/speech of India in days to come to promote the importance of voting. Kudos to the Shreyas Jain and Nikhil Mehrotra (additional screenplay) for coming up with such flag-waving emotional scenes! Right from filing nominations, campaigning to exercising the right to vote, the message is well-etched. The climax too, is *not* preachy. It will leave the viewers moist-eyed, followed by applause and whistles. The music by Meet Bros Anjjan & Palash Muchhal ("Party Toh Banti Hai"), Yo Yo Honey Singh ("Party With the Bhoothnath") and Ram Sampath ("Har Har Gange", "Dharavi Rap" & Nazar Rakhna) is top-notch with sarky lyrics (Kunwar Juneja, Munna Dhiman, Nitesh Tiwari & Rakesh Kumaar) taking the essence of the flick to the highest standards.

On the grey side, the flick is strictly *not* for those who play it by the book. The plot is inconsistent at times and even the monologues might appear bit lengthy. People holding perfect eye-contact, who are (technically) unable to see Bhoothnath, is also a matter of sluggishness.

The actors in their slum clothes and demeanour are splendidly in-sync with their characters. Mukesh Chhabra is a go-to man when it comes to casting. The little kid Parth Bhalerao is a revelation indeed. Right from his mastery over the local accent to body language and impeccable comic timing, he lends charm and maturity to little campaigner Akhrot. Attaboy! He really takes the cake in the presence of stalwarts like Amitabh Bachchan and Boman Irani. He exhibits confidence and talent that's as scarce as hen's teeth. He needs to be applauded to the echo.

Amitabh Bachchan's energy evidently describes why he's been called as the 'Superstar of the Millennium'. One cannot think of anybody else to enact the part of Bhoothnath with verve. Watch out for him in the climax with Sanjay Mishra and Parth Bhalerao. He's superhuman avowedly. He truly deserves a standing ovation. Hats off Sir! No two words could precisely describe his energy and appetite to act.

An actor of calibre Boman Irani is nothing less than crème de la crème. He's a venerable performer. Even his poster in the flick emits villainy. He gives comedy an august standing. Watch out for him in the scene following the interval and the scene when he challenges Bhoothnath's powers in the studio.

Sanjay Mishra as Bhoothnath’s self-appointed lawyer is the consummately brilliant entertainer who loves entertaining. He leaves the audience in splits. Watch out for his outburst in the climax. Encore!

Usha Jadhav is naturally perfect. Brijendra Kala is exemplary. D. Santosh, Mukesh Bhatt, Kurush Deboo, Anurag Kashyap, Shah Rukh Khan, Ranbir Kapoor and Usha Nadkarni appear in enlightening cameos.

On the whole, BHOOTHNATH RETURNS beautifully portrays the right blend of humour, fantasy, thrill and drops a wonderful message alongwith entertaining the audience in abundance. The timing of this political sitcom just before the Lok Sabha elections in India is indefectible as well. For missing out on this satire will be considered as an act of sheer folly, if you are an Indian citizen with/without voter ID card. First, cast your vote. Second, book the ticket pronto and then Party Toh Banti Hai.


first appeared on http://www.desimartini.com/movies/bhoothnath-returns/md2716.htm

MAIN TERA HERO

2.5 stars

Well, without mincing my words, I must avow that critiquing a David Dhawan comic caper is fallacious because each and every masalathon of the consummate master of entertainers is set in his own ostentatious world, aimed exclusively at the hoi polloi. Being a remake of the mightily successful Telugu romantic comedy Kandireega (2011) -- MAIN TERA HERO brings together the father-son duo for the very first time -- the basic premise has been altered a la David Dhawan's own modus operandi of laughathons.

Let me rationalize the plot first! Srinath Prasad fondly called as Seenu (Varun Dhawan) is dikhne me cute, innocent aur swami type ka but at core, he is haraami type ka. He is a high school drop out in Coonoor. Mr. Prasad (Manoj Pahwa) provokes Seenu to get a degree from a reputed university, citing exemplar of Seenu's friends making it big in their lives. Seenu promptly decides to leave for Bengaluru for his higher education. On the first day at college, Seenu falls head over heels in love with Sunaina (Ileana D’Cruz). But the one-sided affair goes contrariwise when he realizes that the love of his life is betrothed to Angad Negi (Arunoday Singh), a bruiser policewala goonda, much against Sunaina's wishes. As luck would have it, Seenu finally wins Sunaina's heart, leaving Angad baffled. But Sunaina gets kidnapped by a don based in Bangkok, Vikrant Singhal (Anupam Kher), whose daughter Ayesha Singhal (Nargis Fakhri) -- whom Seenu had saved from local goons in the train en route to Bengaluru -- is in love with Seenu and wants to marry him and her Dadzu (read Dad) is left with no choice but to forcibly coerce Seenu. The comedy of error ensues and how Seenu becomes the Hero eventually, forms the apogee.

As mentioned at the outset, writer Tushar Hiranandani transforms Kandireega for the Hindi movie audience, which is frankly a been there, done that, got the T-shirt experience. The sequences are so designed in order to redefine the words 'screen presence' by bel esprit Varun Dhawan, who integrates father Dhawan's peers' cool (Salman Khan) and energy cum dance moves (Govinda), mouthing quick-witted dialogues (Milap Zaveri) -- which are though off-colour at some points but howbeit ne plus ultra of the enterprise aimed at the masses. Take these for instances: Varun talking to Ganpati idol, "Main sirf teen logo ka fan hu, TV me Amitabh Bachchan ka crorepati, Tennis me Bhupati aur Bhagwan me Ganpati."
In another similar scene where Varun does the talking to Lord Krishna's idol, "Rajkapoor jii ka ramaiya vastavaiya, jeetu jii ka taathaiya taathaiya aur bada natkhat hai re krishan kanhaiya."
Varun shouting at girls in the train scene, "Main tumhare phone ka touchscreen hu kya jo baar baar touch kiye jaa rhi ho." And in the same scene, he tells a goon, "Tere babu ko itna maaruga naa ki aaj ke baad naa baba paida kar payega naa baby."
Without expecting much intelligence from the audiences, the humor in the first half works due to the vitality of junior Dhawan. Stamps of David Dhawan's trademark style are palpable to the core with lavish production design (Sukant Panigrahy) -- breathtaking, modish costumes (Kunal Rawal, a consummate master of outfits) -- eye-catching, made to order cinematography (Sanjay F. Gupta) capturing the scenic locales of India & Bangkok with zest and already-a-rage music (Sajid-Wajid). The direction is simply phenomenal/justifiable for executing a mindless entertainer like this with a paper thin plotline.

On the flip side, clocking on the dot at 128 minutes, the editing (Nitin Madhukar Rokade) is exhausting as the movie shifts its base to Bangkok in the second half. The scenes & humor start getting flat and repetitive. Right from jokes on Katrina Kaif's hindi to Emraan Hashmi kissing know-how, the targeted-at-masses humor is nonsense. The scenes start off and end abruptly without any purpose whatsoever. Songs, though highlighting the mood, pop out of nowhere. Ditto for the stunts (Mahendra Verma), targeted only at the front benchers. Ideally, the film should have ended at the intermission point, but the over-stretched low on IQ scenes act as killjoy, with no relevance to the proceedings. I do agree that a David Dhawan masala outing remains same but haven't Mr. Dhawan himself milked this genre dry? The characters are introduced and forgotten immediately. Right from Ileana getting kidnapped to her marriage in the climax, the audience gets the glimpse of her parents only in Angad's backstory in the first half. The take-off of Badtameez dil song, Shakti Kapoor scenes and the whole of Anupam Kher's scenes just add length to the film. Above all, there's sequel to kissing scenes as well. Glaikit! The climax too, is hurried. In short, David Dhawan has used all the ineluctable requirements to make this a wholesome entertainer but the result is nothing sort of run-of-the-mill cliched.

Varun Dhawan is supremely talented upto the hilt but goes over-the-top this time as per the demand of the script. One cannot take eyes off from his torso and flexing muscles. He is the next big thing in days to come, beyond the shadow of a doubt. His act is sure to bring the house down with au fait comic timing and impeccable dancing skills. Wow! Evelyn Sharma, Raju Kher, Shakti Kapoor, Saurabh Shukla and Shireesh Sharma are wasted downright. Ileana and Nargis Fakhri are competent, in plain words, with nothing much to exhibit. The men take the lead here. Arunoday Singh's body language emits villainy. Fantastic! Rajpal Yadav provides genuine laughs. Anupam Kher is naturally funny. Manoj Pahwa and Supriya Shukla are all right.

On the whole, Main Tera Hero is a must for David Dhawan's loyalists. His direction stands tall while over-the-top plot and forced scenes badly fall. Dedicated cinephiles just wait for the DVD release.

first appeared on http://www.desimartini.com/movies/main-tera-hero/md2985.htm

DISHKIYAOON

1 star

Be forewarned: Dishkiyaoon is a tried-and-tested stuff of an over-exploited dark genre on the heinous world of weapons, gangstas and feuding between gangs and is ostentatious on celluloid.

Let's make the readers aware of the premise. Motherless, timid, avoided and bullied at school, Viki Kartoos (Harman Baweja) walks out on his father, owing to a rough childhood. When he comes into contact with Mota Tony (Prashant Narayanan), he desires to join the dark world and becomes a trivial Gangster eventually. Coming under the influence of Lakwa (Sunny Deol), how he manages to take on underworld biggies like Gujjar (Rajesh Vivek) and Iqbal Khaleefa (Sumeet Nijhawan), revenge on the death of Mota Tony and becomes the sole master of the crime world, forms the crux of the story with twists and turns galore.

Sanamjit Singh Talwar's dog-tired story has zilch novelty factor. The screenplay too, lacks meat to keep the viewers hooked and is egregious. The execution/direction (Sanamjit Singh Talwar) is top-notch incontrovertibly, but the overall impact is vitiated with poor detailing and the haziness of the story, the viewers have no idea where the story is heading toward. Songs (music: Sneha Khanwalkar & Palash Muchhal), popping out of nowhere, just add to the agony with crap lyrics (Sanamjit Singh Talwar). Dishkiyaoon was initially delineated to be a short film, though inspired from some of the best gangster films, but the 119 minutes result (editor: Rameshwar S Bhagat) is exhausting. Going by the guts of investing in such a poxy story (producers: Sunil A Lulla & Shilpa Shetty), I must admit that the idea might have appeared worthy on the paper. It won't be erroneous to mention that state-of-the-art cinematography (Axel Fischer) is the *sole* highlight of the enterprise. Bravo! The romantic angle of the film is predictable and gimcrack. There is neither any weight in the script, nor any vehemence whatsoever in its drama. There is a twist towards the final moments of the film, which leaves the audience gobsmacked. What's left in the end isn't a gangster tale but a routine revenge drama. There's an overdose of violence too, with background score (Amar Mohile), designed to highlight the impact, ultimately results in annoyance. The well-choreographed stunts (PK) are stylish indeed. Rocky S & Ayesha Khanna's costumes are ultra-modern, particularly Harman's character has gone through special treatment. Ranju Verghese & Kadambari Shetty choreography is ham-fisted. Overall, what has been treated as a comeback affair for oofy Harman, has no substance with cliched/flawed script.

Anupam Maanav has competently pulled off the casting. Harman Baweja still doesn't know how to emote in a right tone. Rest he's brilliant. Ayesha Khanna, Sunny Deol (getting the haryanvi nuances right), Aditya Pancholi, Rajesh Vivek, Harsh Chhaya and Rajit Kapoor (Harman's father in the movie) are wasted completely. Prashant Narayanan is fantastic. He's the sole respite when it comes to acting. Attaboy! Anand Tiwari, Sumit Nijhawan and Hasan Zaidi get their characters spot-on. Shilpa Shetty Kundra sizzles in the promotional track towards the end-credits.

On the whole, as mentioned at the outset, Dishkiyaoon is a ham-fisted hazed attempt. Wham!

first appeared on http://www.desimartini.com/movies/dishkiyaoon/md3184.htm

O TERI

0.5 stars

A filmmaker knows how to cash in on the favourable/unfavourable prevailing conditions of a country spot on, especially when it comes to bribery, charges of corruption, scams, kickbacks and frauds committed by certain politicians and bureaucrats. O TERI is a prepense attempt to invoke/stir up the aam junta about their rights, duties and above all, probity. At the same time, the flick also serves as a paradigm for an issue-based idea going awry in an attempt to commercialise it.

Now, first things first, the premise. Two ne'er-do-well intern journalists cum roommates in Delhi, Prantabh Pratab aka P.P. (Pulkit Samrat) and Anand Ishwaram Devdutt Subramanium aka AIDS (Bilal Amrohi), want to make it big in the field of journalism as they believe that they are very smart but the reality is utterly different because everytime they come up with an absurd sort of scoops, which, in turn, is driving their senior Monsoon Krishnacharya (Sarah Jane Dias) to nuts. They are in search of a big scam to prove a point when all of a sudden, the dead body of ACP Avinash Tripathy lands up in their car one day and they stumble upon a CD that will expose the fraudulent aspects of Bilal Khwaja (Anupam Kher) -- Politician/Chairman of the sports committee that is planning upcoming Asian Games, Sherry (Mandira Bedi) -- Bilal's partner in crime, Nahata (Murli Sharma) -- MD of Nahata Constructions and Bhanwar Singh Kilol (Vijay Raaz) -- Leader of the Opposition. How do they manage to expose the hollow-hearted and become the nation's heroes, forms the denouement.

The story (Umesh Bist & Neeti Palta) is heavily inspired from real-life episodes with emphasis on hard-hitting/thought-provoking dialogues (Umesh Bist & Neeti Palta) to agitate the hoi polloi, taking a dig on the media, government and political leaders. Take these, for instances: "Logo ko scandal chahiye, scam chahiye...rape, dakaiti. Ye sab kuch ho to lao warna shaqal mat dikhana."
P.P. recounting a scam to AIDS, "Jab chhote log chori karte hain to wo chori hoti hai. Magar jab bade log chori karte hain to wo scam kehlata hai."
Sarah Jane reacts to admiration on how well she 'managed' a murder, "Hamare desh me free media hai. Hume pata hai kya chupana hai aur kya dikhana."
Anupam Kher says, "Ye aaj ki yuvapeedhi hai. Jab inki batti lagti hai to ye sirf mombatti jala sakte hain, India Gate pe."
Though high on the satirical note, the execution/direction (Umesh Bist) is a complete let-down as the situational gags try too hard to tickle the funny bones of the viewers consummately and the essence of the story gets dissipated because of unwanted scenes galore with no tie-in to the ongoing (editing: Devendra Murdeshwar). Every single scene does kick off on a promising note but ends abruptly, leaving the audience gasping. The direction is middle-of-the-road, precisely as the writing lacks the meat and the sequence of events just don't work. Ganesh Rajavelu's cinematography alongwith Sailesh Mahadik's art are plain ordinary. Clocking on the dot at 107 minutes, the pace and additional screenplay (Atul Agnihotri) just mar the overall impact with songs (music: Gj Singh), shot at exotic locales & nightclubs and based on their own world, popping out of nowhere, act as killjoy. Ditto for the background score (Gj Singh), which is an earsore throughout. The lyrics (Abhinav Chaturvedi, Akshay K Saxena, Manish J Tipu & Rakesh Kumaar) are satirical up to the hilt, but capitulate eventually due to shoddy screenplay. Glaikit! Maa Poli (Dog) scene, Vijay Raaz's gay scene, Manoj Pawah's dhaba scenes and Pandit scene in the penultimate moments just add length to the proceedings. The costumes (Alvira Agnihotri & Ashley Rebello), though trendy, are designed to show the voluptuousness of the girls and the chiseled bodies of the male leads. There's an overdose of Salman Khan in the movie with dhaba's menu that the leads frequent has Wanted Parantha, Bodyguard special chai and Dabangg dal tadka namely. Both Salman Khan and his rumoured girlfriend Lulia Vantur feature in respective item numbers called 'oh teri' and 'umbakum' but the flick is unbearable to sit right till the end to watch the Bhai of the masses gyrating in the end-credits. Mudassar Khan and Remo D'Souza's choreography is exercise in futility. Overall, there's no scam whatsoever in the flick. Rather, there's merely a over-the-top murder sequence leading to rushed culmination.

The sole respite in the flick is Vijay Raaz's (a misprized actor) haryanvi antics, mouthing expletives now and then. Kudos! It's a delight watching him everytime he appears in the frame. The rest of the casting (Jogi) has nothing histrionic to portray. Right from his his comic timing, dialogue delivery to expressions, Pulkit Samrat is a revelation, beyond the shadow of a doubt. He's a talent to watch out for in days to come. He's phenomenal particularly in the climax. Bilal Amrohi, going loud in some scenes though, makes a confident debut. His chiseled body is worth drooling over. He's rustic and needs to overcome his amateurishness. Sarah Jane Dias, Mandira Bedi and Razzak Khan are wasted. Anupam Kher (seasoned actor) emits villainy. Murli Sharma is naturally vile. Himani Shivpuri (as Pulkit's mother) is natural. Supriya Shukla appears in a cameo and gives the viewers some chuckles. Manoj Pawah is an add-on throughout and his re-emergence in the climax is formulaic.

To sum up, O TERI is more of a chaos than a film with not a single one-liner to evoke mirth. The makers are so darn frustrated with the system that they thought of making a nickel-and-dime stuff and put the viewers in the turmoil in the name of Salman Khan. Stay miles away from it! Bummer!


first appeared on http://www.desimartini.com/movies/o-teri/md3295.htm

RAGINI MMS 2

2.5 stars


RAGINI MMS 2, the follow-up of 2011's sleeper hit RAGINI MMS, kicks off precisely from where the prequel culminated. After the uncanny death of Uday (Rajkummar Rao), Ragini (Kainaz Motivala) is admitted to Rane mental asylum. She's still in possession of the witch. The incident catches the fancy of Rocks (Parvin Dabas), a film director by profession and he decides to make a movie on the MMS, casting Sunny Leone, playing herself in the movie, to portray the part of Ragini. The entire cast and crew shift their base to the same sequestered villa where the MMS scandal materialized, to shoot for the movie. What follows is an overabundant dose of skin show entangled with cliched scares and an unsparing backstory of the witch........

Though the imagination of the writers are not roundly original but the story (Suhani Kanwar & Tanveer Bookwala) is way more perspicuous than the first chapter. The elements of horror & sex -- horrex, are tightly interwoven to keep the viewers hooked. What compliments the story is the eerily state-of-the-art production design (Sunil Nigvekar), murky lighting in the night sequences, brill vfx (Futureworks Media Pvt. Ltd.) and atrocious make-up. Spine-tingling! There is zilch predictability factor going on in its favor as well. The DoP (Naren Gedia), without using tilted camera angles or compact close-ups, captures the freakish mood of the narration with dexterity. Bravo! Bhushan Patel (director) seems to have mastered the art of flaunting the conventional horror tropes after 1920: Evil Returns (2012). He's in supreme command consummately. The abiding fear elements from the last edition -- secluded stately home, creaking doors/windows and sinister environ -- are enough to get the tempo going for this film, sprinkled with foot-tapping songs (music: Yo Yo Honey Singh, Meet Bros Anjjan, Pranay Rijia and Chirantan Bhatt) and yowling voiceovers. The heavy petting shower scene and much-talked-about smooch between Sunny & Sandhya Mridul are bound to titillate the hoi polloi. The costumes (Ami Patel) are trendy and aptly exalt the 'Adults Only' mood of the narrative. In a scene where Sunny Leone parodies herself and fakes an orgasm, is spellbinding. The first half is a skit, taken in good humor, where the muddled incident starts getting clarified which in turn, acts as catalyst for the relentless second half. The intricate climax, though being blatantly ripped off of The Conjuring (2013), is honest-to-goodness according to the Indian sensibilities and is not cliche-ridden. Clocking on the dot at 119 minutes, the editing (Tushar Shivan) never falters, which is rare in Bollywood movies. The movie doesn't succumb to the curse of second half, which itself is coup de maître.

Besides a riveting storyline, the film merely seems to be cashing in on the context of its prequel but falls flat in frightening the pants off the viewers with background score (Amar Mohile) acting as an earsore, throughout. Parikshit Lalwani and Kunal Mehta's sound design is a bummer. There isn't anything virgin to compliment the scare quotient. Being a horror affair, the flick is a *complete let-down* in terms of providing scares, which the trailer promised a gogo. The dialogues (Ishita Moitra) too, are showy but cheap and of poor quality. Take this for instance: Porno Se Rituporno Kaise Ban Gayi. The witch, after possessing Sunny in the climax, is talking dirty. Glaikit!

Aadore Mukherjee Mehra (casting director) has achieved a casting coup of sorts. Playing oneself in a movie doesn't seem to be much of a problematic task for Sunny Leone and after having watched her brilliance onscreen, I must admit the fact that she's quite a revelation, especially the way she's mastered Hindi and going by her assignments in Bollywood. One cannot take her eyes off from the Junoesque woman. She carries off the flick on her petite shoulders all by herself -- right from flaunting her curves uninhibitedly to exhibiting a stellar act in the climax. Attagirl! Her act is at par with her contemporaries in Bollywood. Well Done! Parvin Dabas (impeccable), Saahil Prem (brilliant), Sandhya Mridul (sultry to the core), Karan Mehra (A1) Anita Hasanandani (wasted...almost) and Divya Dutta (predictable).

On the whole, RAGINI MMS 2 is way more explicit than its antecedent but lacks the thrill, the scare quotient to raise the bar of horror genre. Sunny's to a T act and the generous dose of skin show are the saving grace of the flick but that's not worth the full measure. It's the viewers carte blanche to watch the movie or not. Que sera sera, if watching this movie is a must for you.

first appeared on http://www.desimartini.com/movies/ragini-mms-2/md2017.htm

BEWAKOOFIYAAN

2 stars


In the cyber city of Gurgaon, an MBA topper-cum-airline marketing executive Mohit Chadda (Ayushmann Khurrana), who recently rose from the ranks at work, is ousted due to the economic downturn all at once. The prospect of making an impression on his high-maintenance banker girlfriend Myrah Sehgal's (Sonam Kapoor) ex bureaucrat father, Vinod Kumar Sehgal (Rishi Kapoor), who believes that only a rich man can bring happiness to her daughter and a mid-level executive like Mohit simply isn't worthy, goes nonsensical with a depleting bank balance and no likelihood of finding employment. Comedy of errors befall the private sector's credit card junkies, Mohit-Myrah........

The story (Habib Faisal) seems like a slothful rip-off of 2000's American comedy film Meet the Parents and it's 2004's sequel Meet the Fockers - first things first. The knock backs of a confirmed lover by his ladylove's tyrannizing, old-school in thoughts father are portrayed in a desi avatar, to suit the Indian sensibilities. The plot raises a deeply rooted question apropos to taking the mickey out of young lovers -- Money or Love? Though the quirky one-liners fall flat after a given point of time, but right from the fights between the couple to the synchronous dialogues (Leepakshi Ellawadi) are almost palpable. Nupur Asthana (director) focusses mainly on the linchpins -- the two leads, instead of giving the plot some heft. Mukund Gupta's production design is exquisite, teetotally. The DoP (Neha Parti Matiyani) cinematographs the picturesque locales of Delhi and Dubai with majestic grandeur but a dearth of an overall peppy soundtrack (music: Raghu Dixit), to compliment the opulence of the proceedings, acts as killjoy. The background score (Hitesh Sonik) is ordinary. There is not an iota of doubt that the leads are styled fashionably (costumes: Leepakshi Ellawadi) and look marvellous in every frame they appear but they regrettably lack that vibe/experience to entwine this slice of life story into something emotionally rewarding or uplifting genuinely. The domineering father's scolding and pooh-poohing his future son-in-law and to put him on probation, packs a solid punch. The first half is fast paced and promptly moves from one situation to another. The penultimate & the ultimate moments are the highlight of the enterprise, just because of Rishi Kapoor's acting prowess. The continuous bantering in the climax over a scooty ride is a delight scene to watch.

The movie succumbs to the curse of second half. Clocking on the dot at 119 minutes 40 seconds, the editing (Antara Lahiri) is lazy, with unwanted scenes galore. For instance, Mayera’s decision to take up a job in Dubai scene and VK Sehgal digging into Mohit’s traffic fines, income-tax returns and all sorts of document verification, add to losing momentum. The flick gets underway with Ayushmann's character trying his hands on driving and in the following scene, he buys a car and drops Sonam home as if he's an accomplished driver. In a scene, Ayushmann, Sonam and their bunch of friends are shown enjoying a holiday trip, that too after Ayushamann lost his job to recession. C'mon, where is the logic? The wooden expression of the leads too, lack any real endearment. The hurried turnaround in the character of browbeating dad lacks meat. Director Nupur Asthana, who had given us Hip Hip Hurray and Mahi Ve on the small screen, fails to rise above the normal in her breezy outing.

Both Ayushmann Khurrana and Sonam Kapoor have got thier mirror images' characters. Ayushmann has nothing histrionic to portray as an urban cool guy. Sonam gives a plain ordinary performance of a rather dreary character of a demanding girlfriend while Ayushmann needs to work on his dialogue delivery. He tends to sotto voce in some scenes. Rishi Kapoor suffuses life into a muddled character, exhibiting once again his acting prowess. He's the saving grace of the film along with Gurpal Singh (fantastic), in my humble opinion, (as Gursharan). Take Rishi & Gurpal out of the flick and the result will be unbearable. Pratap Hada (as Ayushmann's office friend) is supremely talented.

To sum it up, BEWAKOOFIYAAN is cheerful; optimistic but lacks the heart. Rishi Kapoor's virtuoso act is not enough to buy into this love story. The story on paper is great but the execution keeps on meandering right from the onset, with no clear aim to make the viewers 'bewakoof'. Skip it! Wait for the DVD release.



first appeared on http://www.desimartini.com/movies/bewakoofiyaan/md3177.htm

QUEEN

4 stars

Rani Mehra (Kangana Ranaut) -- a 20-something virgin, shy, naive and conservative Punjabi girl from Rajouri Garden in New Delhi -- is cocooned around by her over-protective parents, adoring grandma and younger brother Chintu and is thus, leading a sheltered life. Vijay Dhingra (Rajkummar Rao), the son of their family friend, starts courting Rani incessantly after being introduced to her. By and by, she too falls for Vijay's enchantment and gets engaged. But after years of courtship, Vijay annuls the wedding just in the nick of time as he's a changed man now and states that they are different. Rani gets the biggest shock of her life and is utterly heartbroken. After her unsuccessful endeavour to plead with Vijay to revert his decision, she decides to go on her pre-booked honeymoon to Europe alone. In the first instance, she's perplexed but after hitting it off with half-French half-Indian Vijayalakshmi (Lisa Haydon), a free-spirited girl staying in the same hotel where Rani is staying, she fights off her blues and her wild escapade en route to self-discovery and self confidence leads her to finding unbridled happiness, which had eaten away at her after being bottled-up for years.

First things first! Vikas Bahl (director) deserves nothing less than a standing ovation for delineating the standard middle class sensibilities deep-rooted in a girl and her gradual transformation, with remarkably plenteous precision. Though improbable but his idea is pleasingly ingenious and Vikas seems to be au fait with the mindset of Indian movie buffs, who tend to fall in the idea of love more than the term of endearment. Vikas has mastery over physical and emotional details & his direction has that fine balances everywhere. Without veering into the superfluous melodrama of a woman wallowing in self-pity, Vikas passes on the message of optimism that women are second to none and have the capability to outmanoeuvre the impossible. The simple bag snatching scene and daadi's paragons, corroborate the statement. Vikas' narrative wisdom is palpable as every nuance has been mastered beforehand and the shots too, are of exemplary nature. The story/screenplay (Vikas Bahl, Chaitally Parmar & Parveez Shaikh) is replete with sanguine episodes and buoyant dialogues (Anvita Dutt & Kangana Ranaut). As Bahl depicts his story, the viewers become one with Rani's emotional rollercoaster journey. A couple of the inadvertent funny scenes are howlarious. For instance, Rani gets drunk for the first time in Paris and Rani's facetious remarks with foreigners, to name a few. The beholders' hearts will be connected to the core of Rani's discovery of inner strength and will-power through her journey, that she didn’t know existed. Capturing, dissolving and merging life-defining surroundings from Delhi to Paris to Amsterdam, late Bobby Singh was evidently a doyen in the field of cinematography. Additional cinematography: Siddharth Diwan, is A1 as well. Amit Trivedi's music highlights the mood of Kangana at every juncture, making her expressions and feelings relatable and utterly believable. Ditto for Allwin Rego and Sanjay Maurya's sound design. The lyrics (Anvita Dutt Guptan & Raghu Nath) too are intelligible, as per the theme of the movie. QUEEN kick-starts proceedings with a Delhi-wala wedding sequence, with the adrenaline pumping track "London thumakda" playing in the background that sets the mood right away. The scene, in particular, is well stocked with clinging of bangles, flickering of lights and Vintee Bansal along with Namra Parikh, production designers for Mumbai/Delhi and Europe respectively, crafted the sets which show the nuances in sheer perfection, what happens in an Indian wedding roundly. Manoshi Nath and Rushi Sharma's costumes are a concoction of both middle-class sensibilities and à la mode. Kangana gyrating (Choreographers: Bosco Martis & Caesar Gonsalves) to the beats of "Hungama Ho Gaya" under the influence of alcohol shows her heightened state of exhilaration. Casting (Parita Mandalia & Atul Mongia), filtering, blending of characters together and depicting them in a complex film like this, without outlasting any one character's limit and to give off a cosmopolitan effect, is a lesson indeed and how! Doing away with the mawkishly over-sentimental & predictable love angle upraises the effect. The denouement is brilliantly executed as well, which will sate the viewers' appetite. In the end credits too, there are Facebook updates of Rani's 'honeymoon', which is innovative.

On the flip side, clocking on the dot at 2 hours  minutes, the movie unfolds at a leisurely pace and the bloated editing (Anurag Kashyap & Abhijit Kokate) should have been sharpened up, particularly towards the second half where the flick stagnates somehow. Too many songs in the first half act as party pooper.

Kangana Ranaut's sheds all her inhibitions in portrayal of crestfallen or euphoric Rani is a virtuoso act. Through her untamed body language, she takes life by the scruff of its neck and emotes through her eyes in an efficacious manner. She's a revelation, explicitly. It seems that she were born to exhibit the deglam look of Rani without even missing a beat. Watch out for her in the scene of burping in the car and the scene of her innocently buying adult toys, which is sure to bring the house down. Bravura! Rajkummar Rao fantastically raises abomination. Lisa Haydon is naturally/confidently first-class, neck and neck with Kangana. Yogendra Tiku (as Kangana's father), Alka Badola (as Kangana's mother), Mish Boyko (as Olik), Jeffrey Ho (as Taka), Guitobh Joseph (as Tim) and Marco Canadea (as Marcello) are amazing. Daadi is phenomenal, consummately.

QUEEN is a bold/daring step forward in exploration of the self, that too from the perspective of a female and thus, a nonpareil ode to Women's Day. For Kangana's superlative performance till date and transcendent story-teller Vikas Bahl, this slice of life affair is a crackerjack, which should not be missed for the world.


first appeared on http://www.desimartini.com/movies/queen/md2553.htm

TOTAL SIYAPAA

1.5 stars

Set against the backdrop of London, Asha Singh (Yaami Gautam) -- a punjabi girl cum tv reporter -- introduces her Pakistani boyfriend Aman Ali (Ali Zafar) to her cuckoo family for seeking permission to take the plunge. Asha's not big on head-to-head and so she handily hides information about Aman from her domineering mom (Kirron Kher) that he is a Pakistani. There’s Asha’s sexually liberated elder sister who's near-divorced single mother, Jia Singh (Saraa Afreen ) with a restless foot under the dining table, a blind septuagenarian grandfather (an ex-army guy walking with a loaded rifle) (Vishwa Mohan Badola), her naughty five-year-old niece who plays games that are unfitting for her age and a brother Maanav (Anuj Pandit Sharma), who’s intentionally racist towards his Pakistani neighbours. But soon there starts a lot of screaming, panic and pandemonium as they find out that Aman is a Pakistani. The series of unfortunate events ensue.....

TOTAL SIYAPAA is inspired from a Spanish film Seres Queridos (2004), in which the conflict between the Palestinian boy and his girlfriend's Jewish family was served through absurd episodes, in order to draw humour from the dysfunctional family's idiocies. But Neeraj Pandey (Story/Screenplay/Dialogues) adapts into the Bollywood way formulating on Indo-Pak strains. Borderline tension is a quick-witted idea to build a plot around. The first half is chock-a-block with astute dialogues and genuine funny moments. The movie boasts of clean comedy with no double meaning innuendos and refrains from social or political remarks about the two countries in a traditional animosity. Since the movie is a one evening affair, David Meadows' cinematography, capturing London's nightscape, is made to order. Simon Godfrey's Production Design is competent enough for a low budget movie like this. Lorna Gillieron and Falguni Thakore's costumes are modish. The versatile Ali Zafar's music, Sanjoy Chowdhury's background score and quirky lyrics (Ali Zafar, Aqeel Rubi & Rakesh Kumaar) gel well with the mood of the film. Aman with Daadu in the bathroom scene is a laugh-riot. There is a story of Jia's pinchpenny hubby Sanjay (Sagar Arya) running parallely too, which keeps the viewers smiling. He leaves Jia because he though that Jia has 'abused' his credit card. Yaami and Ali's face-to-face on India-Pakistan issue in the second half is the highlight of the enterprise. Each of the sequences involving Ali & Kirron are side-splitting. Had the casting by Naila Mughal & Vicky Sadana not eminent, the movie would've been exhausting.

Clocking on the dot at 108 minutes, the editing (Shree Narayan Singh) is substandard. The whole of Anupam Kher's track including his tryst with a British hooker is poorly executed and just adds to the length of the film. The film should have preferably ended in the first hour itself because the second half goes on an altogether different path. The story starts meandering and eventually fizzles out. The humor simply subsides in sloppy lumps. The scenes are just put together which checks the patience of the audience. The idea might seem novel/epigrammatic on paper but the execution is flat and what starts on a promising note, turns into a mess. The climax too, is hurried and abrupt. Eshwar Nivas' direction doesn't have much scope and is plain ordinary, teetotally.

Ali Zafar is supremely versatile and carries the part with credence. Yaami Gautam is photogenic and utterly natural, throughout. She's a talent to watch out for. Saara Afreen is the ultimate seductress. Anupam Kher is wasted. Vishwa Mohan Badola, Sagar Arya, Anuj Pandit Sharma, Alyan Abbas (as the scrawny Pakistani), Adnan Kapadia (flower vendor), Jasbir Rishi (as Bunty) and Kamal Singh (as Babloo) are competent. But it's Kirron Kher who takes the cake. Though she is loud but impeccable with her over the top act.

On the whole, TOTAL SIYAPAA stands true to its name. It has an utterly shaky and over-stretched plot which is 'siyapaa' for the audience. Notwithstanding its moments which appeal in bits and parts, it's a damp squib which will bore the viewers to death.


first appeared on http://www.desimartini.com/movies/total-siyaapaa/md3218.htm

IT'S FOR YOU......MIHI

PLOT: 3/5

CHARACTERS: 3.5/5

WRITING STYLE: 4/5

CLIMAX: 4.5/5

ENTERTAINMENT QUOTIENT: 4/5


Writing your very first book can always be a dismaying task. Not having conversant with the way of delineating a story can be a lot more labyrinthine than one might reckon. Taking into consideration the way of excogitating the story that will cast a spell on the readers' mind is momentous. Writing is verily an arduous work and whichever person who puts an exertion into inditing a nailing book he/she can and seeing it through the stiff editing and publishing process should be celebrated. But not every single tale resonates with me, not every author has an incantation that pulls me into a story. I am well-equipped with the fact that opinions are subjective and my evaluation may not be yours. However, every once in a while I take a novel up, crack the cover and read the first paragraph, then deucedly read the following, and I find myself falling into a story that twitches my soul. Whenever something like this befalls, I tend to slow myself down and wallow in the journey I was blest to peregrinate between the title page and the end. A feeling of deep contentment comes as I shut the cover for the final time.

IT'S FOR YOU....MIHI is full of pep and since the debutant writer Md. Asif evidently knows his lector, he knows how to go about it up to the hilt. For the readers who would be more than interested to see what the book is all about, the cover image of the book is neck and crop efficacious, with an apt font and design for the name. Though he has tried the time-tested college student who became successful in his love life formula, without going for more exploratory topics, I must admit that he becomes lucky to captivate the heed of the readers not only with his knacky way of particularization that jumps back and forth between the lives of the characters but also with the taut editing. The readers would throw their hearts to the narration consummately. The exquisite love-making moments, the tongue-in-cheek humor, the direful twists, the vibrant characters and the synchronous confabulation are abound to keep the readers on their toes and keep them wondering what will going to happen next. The novel will have girls/women as the lucky barge, who are sure to fall for the protagonist's charm. A commendable aspect is that the debutant writer has meticulously expounded even the minutest of details in the plot. The readers will gravitate to the author, who possesses the magical aptitude to state the story with poetic prose in-betweens. Yes, it's tons of fun, but real-life issues are proponed and resolved realistically with great satisfaction and such finesse. Some of the readers might even go out praying for the antagonist's love because in course of reading, the characters tend to become real to them. They would even cheer for the denouement. The penultimate and the ultimate moments are high points of the story. The author is sure to be lauded after such a thoughtful, romantic and poignantly melancholic ending.

On the flip side, some of the chapters may give a sense of deja vu because the scenes are really visual, almost movie-like, due to which the author seems to have lost his sight of giving the direction to the tale, to some extent. This novel might move a little slow for the avid readers, but I love a lingering read and this style fits perfectly with this novel too.

Literally, the author is talented and he is precisely looking for kudos rather than profit. IT'S FOR YOU...MIHI is a genuinely earnest and indelibly heartwarming story that stays in your heart. An absolute must for those who are romantic at heart. I, in person, give it my highest recommendation, one of the best I've read in quite a while.


One can book a copy on    http://www.snapdeal.com/product/its-for-youmihi/92511762?pos=14%3B15#prdsc

SHAADI KE SIDE/EFFECTS

3 stars

Siddharth Roy (Farhan Akhtar) is an urban renaissance man and wannabe music composer desperate to cut his own album. He falls head over heels for Trisha Mallik (Vidya Balan), an adventurous modern day woman but traditional at heart, and walks down the aisle heedless of the unwanted situations-to-be. Trisha is Sid's snuggle bunny. Their nuptial life seems to be blissful, until an 'unprotected' jiffy of enjoyment after 'dedh bottle scotch' turns their life upside down and a baby girl arrives. Sid is not ready to bear the responsibility of fatherhood as his career as a musician has still not taken off. But in order to avoid the conflict, he hides his disinclination. He starts trying hard to balance his professional and personal life. The love starts petering out because of the end of their adorable 'husband and wife' life. Trisha, on the other hand, turns into an idiosyncratic, compassionate, impulsive and irritable wife cum full-time mama. When Sid, utterly harried, realizes that he couldn't outstay potty talk and spousal spasms, he starts seeking advice from Trisha's brother-in-law (Ram Kapoor). How he manages his life afterwards and how their derailed chemistry ameliorates, forms the denouement.

First things first! The film starts off with a sequence where the leads are shown playing an enkindling game in a pub crammed with people. *Only this particular scene* seems ripped off from Hollywood film Four Christmases (2008). However, as luck would have it, the movie vindicates itself as the reels unfold. The story (Saket Chaudhary & Zeenat Lakhani) is delineated in an assuaging misogynous way, with Farhan’s voiceover to substantiate the *male side* of the script. But the peppy, tongue-in-cheek and realistic dialogues (Arshad Sayed) make this sitcom consummately palpable, without skewing towards the serious zone of female hatred. The relatable screenplay (Saket Chaudhary, Zeenat Lakhani & Arshad Sayed) is heavily inspired from real life instances and it won't be erroneous to state that the film is so rich in mirthful dialogues/situations that watching Sid and Trisha fight over issues of no/little importance or having their share of problems will connect the spectators to the extent that the viewers will bear comparison with their own lives. In the first half, the lead pair's vicissitude from a loved-up duo to sleep-deprived parents along with their epigrammatic conversations, is gratifying to a tee. The director (Saket Chaudhary), only with his second outing, deserves a pat on his back for striking a uniform balance between emotion (leaving aside sea of schmaltz) and hilarity, without making this slice-of-marriage story ho-hum or repetitious. Being a married man himself, Saket raises some apposite questions that drive a wedge between married couples which could bring the marriage to a premature end but at the same time, he puts forward tricks galore to keep the relationship going without having to grin and bear it. His direction is especial. Saket's real achievement lies in the fact that the protagonists look so married onscreen and exhibit delectably subtle performances without looking holier-than-thou or over-rehearsed. Manoj Lobo is apt in cinematographing Australia’s Gold Coast and India's locales. Jayati Bose (costume designer) is a consummate master of outfits, avowedly. Sukant Panigrahy's production design is exquisite/befitting, throughout. The concoction of art, costumes, make-up and cinematography provide a vivid splash of different hues. The situational satire in the first half is sure to bring the house down. The content lives up to the hype and hoopla out-and-out, only in the *first half* itself.

Mikey McCleary's background score and Ayush Ahuja's sound design enliven the mood at every single juncture. Pritam Chakraborty's foot-tapping music coupled with comme il faut lyrics by Amitabh Bhattacharya, Swanand Kirkire, Mayur Puri and Ankur Tiwari gel well with the subject matter, especially "Atyachari" and "Vyah Kar k" songs. Remo D'Souza and Rajeev Surti's choreography blends dance into an idiom that's both witty and sheer romantic.

On the grey side, clocking on the dot at 145 minutes, the movie unfolds at a leisurely pace that acts as killjoy. To give the narration some heft on man-woman equation, some of the scenes of marital woes are deliberately overstretched towards the second half. For instance, Vir Das' sequences. Predictability in the plot is a damper too. The peripheral characters seem to be written on the spur of the moment. The song in Australia is unwanted.

Farhan Akhtar is on a reinventing spree. Post the virtuoso performance in Bhaag Milkha Bhaag (2013), he upped his ante to enact a confused husband/new dad with impeccable comic timing and slips into the role with elan. One can't imagine the movie without him, especially his straight-faced pun. One can't take his/her eyes off from him, as well. Vidya Balan evidently picks up roles that compliment her acting abilities and add to her versatile repertoire of work. Though her dominant housewife role is repetitive [remember Ghanchakkar (2013)], her over-protective mom act is of the highest standard. At the same time, she handles the dramatic sequences with dexterity. Ram Kapoor, who keeps on teaching his son new languages, is a stunner and delivers it bang on, particularly towards the closing stages. Purab Kohli's role is an elaborated version of his tv nescafe commercial, that's it. Vir Das provides ample guffaws. Ila Arun as the educated, matriarchal nanny is first-rate. Gautami Kapoor, Rati Agnihotri, Nitesh Pandey as Mr. Madhok and Farhan's buddies -- all 3 of them -- are competent.

Single or married, do yourself a favor: Watch Shaadi Ke Side/Effects. It's amusingly enlightening, nothing like you have seen in a long...very long time. The film has tremendous appeal to take lessons on marriage. Just buy into Sid & Trisha's marriage frenzy. Right on!



first appeared on  http://www.desimartini.com/movies/shaadi-ke-side-effects/md2443.htm

HIGHWAY

3.5 stars

Veera Tripathy (Alia Bhatt), the babied lass of a fat-cat Delhi family, is scheduled to take the plunge. Before the wedding ceremony, she forces her betrothed to take her on a secret drive but is taken hostage at a gas station, which was being burgled. Veera's links in the corridors of power make ransom out of the question. But their adamant leader Mahabir Bhati (Randeep Hooda), who also has a dark secret from his childhood, is rigid to do whatever it takes to stay one step ahead of the law. He takes her on a cross-country trek down India’s variegated highways, past breathtaking panorama of Delhi, Haryana, the deserts of Rajasthan, Punjab, Kashmir, and finally the snow-clad mountains of Himachal Pradesh. Veera, bound and gagged in the back of a colorful truck, soon leaves the gang nonplussed with her unpredictable/self-centered behavior, especially when she starts hugging trees, playing malicious pranks and chatting out loud to herself in bad impro. Mahabir secretly falls for her. Veera wishes her kidnapping would never end as she feels free for the very first time.

Imtiaz Ali, the romantic czar's idea of a romantic road movie is a rehash of one episode in his own tele series 'Rishtey' aired long back on Zee TV. HIGHWAY is unusual and daringly different. A rich concoction of authenticity (production designer: Acropolis; art direction: Manini Mishra), -- right from Veera's home, truck out on the highways to roadside dhabas and shops -- casting (Mukesh Chhabra) and the enthralling cinematography (Anil Mehta) with unique camera angles. In a long......very long time has came a Bollywood movie that is consummately rich in the scenic beauty and how! Soul-lifting visuals entwined with intoxicating score by the Indian Beethoven A. R. Rahman and such meaningful lyrics by poet par excellence Irshad Kamil add life & make HIGHWAY a *beautifully looking/feeling film*. In fact, Anil Mehta & A. R. Rahman are the bona fide winners of the enterprise. Aki Narula's costumes have the indispensable contrast as per the mood/settings of the film. Since HIGHWAY is Imtiaz Ali's first foray into digital filmmaking, his directorial insight/trademark ingenuity/subtle touches, with which he handles the subtlety and serenity of the film, are impeccable. A character-driven film, Ali's handling of the dramatic scenes, placing reliance solely on the characters against pin drop silence, is emotive and thankfully there are no such tacky sea of schmaltz alike Rockstar (2011). His spontaneity in some scenes is likely to be figured out only by dedicated cinephiles. Drifting away from his high-payback true-blue romcom genre, Ali avowedly is adroit at the creation of his own fantasy world and giving the characters free rein to project themselves with dexterity. Scrutinizing merely on Imtiaz Ali's direction, the flick is an achievement indeed in commercial Bollywood cinema and worth waxing lyrical about him. The first half is quite propitious.

Clocking in at precisely 133 minutes, the latter half's pace and editing (Aarti Bajaj) are sluggish. The story starts meandering somehow but gathers momentum in the last 25 minutes or so. Revealed much later in the story, the elements of Stockholm Syndrome, to rationalize the connection between the leads, does *not* gel well as the angle is effete. To give the film some ponderosity, the screenplay (Imtiaz Ali) has some forced moments especially an out of the blue narration of Veera's secret about her childhood and an utterly arbitrary shootout scene towards the closing moments. Given the terrain of Imtiaz Ali’s repertory of relatively meaningful work, the flick has some unexplained moments as well. Traversing the landscapes of North India, the truck is stopped only *once* by cops and throughout the aimless journey, nobody recognises Veera -- the kidnapped daughter of a dominant Delhi tycoon. Laudable though Imtiaz Ali's aim might be, but feeling liberated, frenetic and on the loose with a ruthless captor is not discernible with the masses.

The unconventional pairing of very diametrically opposite actors like Randeep Hooda who adheres to playing the grey hued characters and Alia Bhatt who is predominantly vibrant and fashionably candyfloss in her ways, fetched attention since the release of film's trailer. Wearing rough hair, rugged clothes, a pink sleeveless sweater and a plaid blanket over his shoulders, Randeep is menacing in the first half, growling at Veera and his own colleagues. He's also pure enough not to be a prototypical villain and from his mastery of the local language to his irreconcilable feelings for Veera, he carries off the responsibility with aplomb. But his acting prowess has been overdone in the second half where his introverted character softens in Veera's company eventually and breaks down towards the end. Alia Bhatt, without breaking sweat, pulls off the deglamourized role like a pro. Stupefying, heartbreaking and side-splitting, she evokes veritable emotions. She is truly endearing, as she enjoys her new-found life outside the gilded confinement. She takes the cake right from the penult to the ultimate moments with the scenes of making maggi and her outburst in front of her family members, respectively.

The relatively unknown supporting actors like Hemant, Saharsh Kumar Shukla, Durgesh Kumar and Pradeep Nagar are peerless.

Film connoisseurs are likely to be moved by fantastic performances, breathtaking vistas and a riveting score. Not a dose of tossed out regular Hindi movies, this one's for the Intelligentsia rather! For taking Indian cinema to the next level, I doff my hat to the maverick, Imtiaz Ali. Take this highway and feel the journey, pronto!


first appeared on http://www.desimartini.com/movies/highway/md2909.htm

DARR @ THE MALL

1 star

Director Pawan Kirpalani shot to instant fame with 2011's horror date movie Ragini MMS. DARR @ THE MALL is his second horrific outing and presented & produced by Multi Screen Media Motion Pictures and Contiloe Entertainment. Hi-concept films made in modest budgets is the new mantra in Bollywood. Producers take an interesting concept, execute it within a stipulated budget, spend a frivolous amount on its marketing, create adequate awareness and chances are ripe that the movie might find the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. There are one or two people only in the film industry who do justice to horror genre, otherwise, this genre has not quite caught up to the fullest in India. Most horror films made in Bollywood are just not petrifying enough to make the viewers horror-struck, leaving aside some exceptions. There is evidently a lot of scope for this genre as Hollywood horror films that release in India do huge business. The fact that this film is based on a mall which is haunted by evil spirits is state-of-the-art. This is Jimmy Sheirgill's first horror movie, A Flat (2010) being a suspense-thriller.

After the mysterious death of security chief Rajendra Solanki, Vishnu (Jimmy Sheirgill), who has a past that haunts him, walks into the haunted Amity Mall, whom the deceased had recommend as per the wish of the ghost on a phone call, following which he was burnt to death in his car. The owner Alok Manchanda (Arif Zakaria) along with his friend Khan (Asif Basra), ask Vishnu to become the security in-charge. In order to rubbish the ghostly rumours and to get a free publicity for the mall, Mr. Manchanda announces a party with his marketing chief cum girlfriend Tisha (Nivedita Bhattacharya) and the board of directors. They, together with Manchanda’s daughter Ahana (Nushrat Bharucha) and her junky friends got trapped inside the mall as the spirit makes them undergo a horrifying experience that ends in death, ultimately leading to Vishnu's past. The owners were refused by a nun (Shraddha Kaul) to demolish her home and build the mall in question. She was leading a calm life with her 22 children. As a result, they all were burnt alive. But one child, Arjun, escaped somehow. Arjun becomes Vishnu, with the passage of time. But Vishnu remembers nothing. One of the spirits of the burnt children made Vishnu remember his past, by narrating the complete story. When the spirits of the nun & the children took their revenge by killing everyone associated, they leave the mall.

The plot seems a wee bit like Vikram Bhatt's Horror Story (2013) and Shawn Arranha's Hide & Seek (2010), that featured a batch of young people stuck in a haunted hotel and mall, respectively. The story/screenplay (Agrim Joshi & Pawan Kirpalani) keeps the viewers on edge of their seats, forging the tension and mystery with competence. But for a horror movie to work, the ongoings must be eerie enough to scare the pants off the viewers. The movie falls flat in providing ample fear. The dialogues (Vinod Rawat & Agrim Joshi) are plain ordinary in respect of a horror flick. Badly painted child ghosts mar the fear quotient, in totality. The Production design (Dhananjay Kumar Yadav) is a bad concoction of telly series Aahat, CID and Bhoot Aaya with olde worlde outfits (Malavika Kashikar). Some of the scenes are heavily inspired from Insidious (2010), The Conjuring (2013), Horror Story, Hide & Seek and The Shinning (1980). Scenes remain silent and still; not for long though, but long enough to make the viewers impatient, leave aside scaring the living daylights out. Horror movies shouldn't be more than 90 minutes of their runtime. But clocking in at 124 minutes precisely, the pace and editing (Pooja Ladha Surti) leave the viewers dog-tired. Shankar Mahadevan, Ehsaan Noorani, and Loy Mendonsa's music along with Amitabh Bhattacharya's lyrics are plain ordinary. Ganesh Hegde's choreography of "Pinacolada" song is lazy. The cinematography (Gargey Trivedi) too, is quite clumsy. The film has all the mandatory checklists of a horror movie in place. Eerie childhood tunes playing (background score: Ranjit Barot), sudden opening-closing of doors, handprints of the ghost, scatterd stains of blood, lights flickering, ghost calling names from inside the human & in a jiffy the human is completely blanked out and a brief love making scene as well. But all these contribute to *nil* in terms of *visual fright*. Imagine the ghost whistling and using a blindfold to catch her prey. Scary mannequins, spooky looking air-conditioning ducts and even an ice skating rink are shown to capitalize on the horror quotient. The spirit of the nun is something like the Black Bride from Insidious. Some of the scenes are left unexplained. Why did the miscreant owners burn the children with the nun? They should have burnt the nun only. How come Vishnu didn't remember anything clearly from his childhood? To forget such a drastic situation is dealt in a casual manner. What a goofy direction after the much frightening Ragini MMS! One wonders about the basis of Censor Board certification, after watching this film. This flick should have done with a U/A certificate, instead of an Adults Only certificate. Even the glimpses of the ghost are limited.

Thankfully the plot doesn't turn the flick into a laughathon, alike every single bland horror movies incessantly churning out of Bollywood.  Although the movie is a revenge drama, in true sense, and manages to tug a few heartstrings ultimately, it's so damn nasty, provided the horror genre. The penult and the ultimate 20 minutes of the movie are innovative and the only abiding scenes.

Casting By Prashant Singh is apt. Jimmy Sheirgill is a delight to watch, everytime he appears in the frame. He stands out, teetotally. He plays his part with gusto. Nushrat Bharucha, Arif Zakaria, Asif Basra, Nivedita Bhattacharya, Geet Sharma, Vikram Raj Bhardwaj, Shradha Kaul lend able support. They are supremely confident, avowedly. Neeraj Sood make the viewers grin.

On the whole, the movie gets underway with promises galore but falls flat due to its execution and *nil* fear factor. The viewers won't feel any "darr @ the HALL." Bummer!

first appeared on http://www.desimartini.com/movies/darr-mall/md3282.htm

GUNDAY

3 stars


Narrated by Irrfan Khan, the tale has its genesis during 1971 against the backdrop of Bangladesh Liberation War which established the sovereign republic of Bangladesh. It also gave birth to two young orphans – Bikram (Darshan Gurjar) and Bala (Jayesh V. Kardak). They were refugees then and witnessed the war and its aftermath, where the world tried to trample over them. To make a living, they became gun couriers. They clung to each other and escaped to Calcutta (known as Kolkata, latterly), stealing & trading coal and erasing their refugee status. Before they knew the world, they knew each other. Such was their bond, such was their friendship. Each time they sought new beginnings, each time they would rise, the world would crush them down. So, they fought again and again. Together they were unbeatable. They were unstoppable. They were inseparable. In the years that passed, Bikram and Bala's unanimity/comradeship spread all over Calcutta and they became Bikram Bose (Ranveer Singh) & Bala Bhattacharya (Arjun Kapoor) legally and simultaneously Calcutta’s most loved, most celebrated, most reckless, most fearless and most powerful GUNDAY, a rare combination of vigour and wit. Calcuttians start taking vows of their infrangible friendship. They have everything then. But one fine day, bells clang and Nandita (Priyanka Chopra), the most bodacious cabaret dancer, walks into their lives and they lose everything to her. Their murky world turns magical and colourful. They fall head over heels for her and fear none but Nandita. She is not merely an apple of their eyes but brings layers to their bonding. But that was only a blissful lull before an imminent storm. Amid all the romance, ACP Satyajeet Sarkar (Irrfan Khan), the right for every wrong, a law for every outlaw and a counter force for Bikram and Bala, is plotting his net to end their world of black market by haltering them. How their friendship survives through all these hurdles, forms the denouement. Bikram, the elder of the inseparable duo, is the driving force of their illegal business. Ruggedly handsome, charming with a deep inner strength, Bikram will go to any extent for those he loves. His maturity belies his age and experience. He trusts his guts and sticks to his guns. Younger of the two, Arjun Kapoor is impulsive like a child and possesses a tendency to boil over at odd confrontations. Strongly built, he is passionate and fiercely loyal to the one close to his heart. He is expressive and honest and doesn't know when to hold back his emotions. An artist at heart, he is gracious and generous with the needy. He lets his actions speak more than his words, especially at the heat of the moment.

Once an Assistant Director to have worked under directors like Sanjay Gadhvi and Vijay Krishna Acharya, Ali Abbas Zafar (story/screenplay/direction/dialogues) has taken a quantum leap forward after debuting as a director with the YRF's romcom Mere Brother Ki Dulhan (2011). Ali, having inspired by Kaala Patthar (1979), has come up with the *most* brazen, belligerent & yet stellar male bonding story to have churned out of India's premier production house, Yash Raj Films. Ali adapts and pay his homage to Salim-Javed’s style of cinema with brooding angry young men and outrageous or egregious one liners. The soot-laden hullabaloo from auld lang syne of Kaala Patthar  --  quite a forgotten look and feel -- entwined with the mystic charm of Kolkata, entice the viewers. The characters, having a sense of youthful exuberance, are etched worthily and on the same time, the story is high on emotions, romance, humor and action. Kudos to Ali Abbas Zafar for envisioning and executing GUNDAY on such Brobdingnagian scale. Though the bromance of Ranveer & Arjun is halted by the entrance of Priyanka, it tickles the audience's funny bones at the same time. Additional dialogues by Sanjay Masoom are spirited too. The cinematographer Aseem Mishra along with production designer Rajat Poddar and art directors Kailash Sahu & Parijat Poddar have prowess and deserve special mentions for capturing and delineating, respectively, the old world ambiance of Calcutta & the coal mines with such virtuosity. They are the real winners of the enterprise, avowedly. Subarna Ray Chaudhuri's costumes are out and out in sync with the setting/mood of the film. She is a consummate master of outfits. Clocking in at precisely 2 hours 34 minutes and going by repertoire of the editor Rameshwar S. Bhagat, the editing is taut and fast-paced, which is an achievement indeed. Going by the bold & brazen feel of the film, Ranveer & Arjun's bare chested hand to hand combat and the savagely violent stunts (Sham Kaushal) are treat to watch. The shootout scene following the interval, Priyanka's outburst following Saaiyaan song in the second half, Irrfan Khan's scene with Priyanka in the graveyard, Ranveer's face-off with Priyanka where she discloses her identity and the penult 20 minutes leading to the climax, which accentuates their friendship, are highlights of the enterprise. The scene of child sexual abuse in the backstory is a daring attempt.

Veteran music director cum singer, Bappi Lahiri (famously known as Bappi Da) is working with Yash Raj Films for the very first time. The highly versatile music composer Sohail Sen is teaming up again with Ali Abbas Zafar after Mere Brother Ki Dulhan, along with the ever-reliable lyricist par excellence Irshad Kamil. The songs, reminiscent of a glorious past, are absolutely in sync with the '80s style composition. "Jashn-e-Ishqa" (singers: Javed Ali & Shadab Faridi) is the perfect introduction for the two male leads with peppy music and a rock vibe. The catchy music and quirky lyrics of "Tune Maari Entriyaan" (singers: Bappi Lahiri, KK, Neeti Mohan & Vishal Dadlani) are simply wow. The romantic ballad "Jiya" has some superb background arrangements, Arijit Singh’s melodious voice backing it and Ranveer Singh serenading Priyanka Chopra in some exotic locales. "Asslam-e-Ishqum" (singer: Bappi Lahiri & Neha Bhasin), a cabaret number fused with Western arrangements, has the required sexy oomph in the vocals itself. "Saaiyaan" (singer: Shahid Mallya) is a serene separation track with lovely fusion of Hindustani raga, soft rock and Bhakti elements along with simple Punjabi, Urdu and Hindi lyrics in its core. Title track "Gunday" defines the two leads and the movie as well with Ali Abbas Zafar turning lyricist and Sohail Sen rendering his voice with rapper Kinga Rhymes. Hazrat Amir Khusro's legendery "Mann Kunto Maula" is a semi-philosophical sufi based theme song with guitar in the mainstay, adapted lyrics by Irshad Kamil and Altamash Faridi & Shadab Faridi doing complete justice to the track. Julius Packiam's background score is smashing and uplifts the mood at every single juncture. Caesar Gonsalves & Bosco Martis exhibit euphoric direction of choreography, that adds immense value to the songs.

On the flip side, the movie takes an investigative shape in the latter half which is repetitious. The romantic frills, since inception, are unconvincing. There is sheer lack of conviction in portraying the conflict between Bikram & Bala, that has been infused in the plot. Unfortunately, the screenplay traps the flick in the distorted ways of predictability and cliches (read the twists are thoroughly foreseeable).

Casting director Shanoo Sharma has done a laudable job yet again. Priyanka Chopra is visually attractive. She sings, dances and brings down men to their knees quite literally like a dream but fails to rise up beyond being the bone of contention between the two male leads. As always, the veteran Saurabh Shukla excels as the lawyer. But the three male leads take the cake. Their characters are more powerful than the flick itself. The protean and superlatively talented Irrfan Khan as cool-headed, calculative and rogue cop portrays a razor sharp wit and no-nonsense delivery, playing with the minds & emotions of the leads. When in frame as the parallel lead in the film, his mien commands poise to iron out the wrongs. He is the most beguiling thing in the movie. The USP, Ranveer Singh & Arjun Kapoor, infuse undying energy into every frame they appear in. They're amusingly chucklesome rather than hilarious and display a violent or ferocious aggressiveness with equal finesse. They are bound to be regarded as the epitome of bromance, indeed, in days to come. They are nip and tuck until Ranveer took the lead. The way he emotes, his silent aggression, humor, dialogue delivery and chiselled physique, make him shine like a diamond in this soot-laden film. He is phenomenally terrific with elan. One cannot take his/her eyes off from him. The enthusiastic, flamboyant and boisterous Arjun Kapoor, when pitted against Ranveer Singh, can be clearly seen as relatively inexperienced. But the two films old lad had done exceedingly well overall. I must admit that his dialogues are notch ahead of Ranveer, for instance, 'Hum Gunday Hain Madam, Ek Baar Jiske Saath Jee Liye, Marte Bhi Ussi Ke Saath Hain. Long way to go man! Abhay Bhargava, Manu Rishi and Deepraj Rana appear in competent cameos. Jameel Khan and debutant Anant Sharma are accomplished.

Before bringing this review to an end, I would say that some movies are meant to be felt and *not* judged. Friendship has a new meaning and GUNDAY, is one such movie. Ranveer and Arjun's bromance is one of the best ever seen on celluloid. Falak Ke Bande Hain Hum, Gunday The, Gunday Hain aur Gunday Rahege Hum. Cheers for the fabulous film. Woot!


first appeared on http://www.desimartini.com/movies/gunday/md2629.htm