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

HEARTLESS

1.5 stars

Hollywood is teemed with medical thrillers. Corresponding example is Awake, a 2007 American film written and directed by Joby Harold, showcasing the story of a patient who is in a state known as 'anaesthesia awareness'. The multi-talented, multi-tasking wonder, Shekar Suman, is donning the director/producer's hat for the very first time with HEARTLESS (an official remake of the aforementioned movie), presented under his banner Windmill Entertainment, to rejuvenate his son Adhyayan Suman's [the man who made his big screen debut with Haal-e-Dil (2008), sang Soniyo & Aaya re in Raaz – The Mystery Continues (2009) and Jashnn: The Music Within (2009) respectively and dated Kangana Ranaut once] career. The movie too, is Shekhar Suman's tribute to his elder son Aayush who passed away due to an irremediable heart disease. Making her foray into Hindi films is former Graphic Designer in New York, Ariana Ayam. A small role she had done in New York for a friend in Adhyayan Suman's short film there, landed her the lead actress role in HEARTLESS, that too, even without any audition.

For the uninitiated, Anaesthesia Awareness is a frightening medical phenomenon when a patient under general anesthesia is unconscious from outside but remains conscious from within, hearing sounds, understanding all that happens around him/her and experiencing pain, but the patient is often unable to communicate & cannot move his/her body, due to paralytic agent.

Addy alias Aditya Singh (Adhyayan Suman), 24, is the only son of a single parent Gayatri Singh (Deepti Naval), a business tycoon. Sadly, he is terminally ill with an incurable heart disease that has no cure and only a heart transplant can save him. But Aditya is opposed to the idea till he falls in love with Ria (Ariana Ayam) and agrees to get himself operated by his friend and mentor Dr. Sameer Saxena, a heart surgeon (Shekhar Suman) against his mother's advice to get it done by her friend Dr Sanjeev Trehan (Om Puri). The story takes an unusual and unexpected turn in the operation theatre where during the heart transplant surgery he experiences Anaesthesia Awareness. Aditya overhears certain horrifying and disturbing truths that will now change his life.

The prototype American film was bit of a botch script in itself. And Shekhar Suman's story, as per Indian sentiments & values, is no exception. One must agree that Nina Arora's mushy screenplay turns out to be a true-blue heart-wrenching drama, *only* towards the penultimate & ultimate moments. Dialogues (Niranjan Iyengar), entwined with meaningful poetries, are sure to leave the viewers moist-eyed. Derrick Fong's cinematography nimbly captures the picturesque locales of Dubai & Mumbai. Rakesh Yadav's art, along with Nahush Pise's prostheses and Vfx (AFTER) are noteworthy. Disha Pahadi & Alka Suman's costumes are modish, keeping in mind the mood & settings of the narration, consummately. The background score by Santosh Mulekar uplifts the mood of the film. In terms of scale and mounting, Shekhar Suman's direction is slick. He has handled several sequences of the movie adroitly. The heart surgery in the second half which gives the game away, Adhyayan dresses up Ariana and takes her to the party against his mother's wish and the emotional outbursts of Adhyayan & Deepti Naval in the penultimate moments are highlights of the enterprise.

On the grey side, too many songs in quick succession makes for a been-there-seen-that kind of a love story. The viewers may also feel a sense of deja vu, at the same time. Clocking in at precisely 131 minutes, the pace is excessively slow. Akshara Prabhakar's editing is absurdly prolonged. I have some reservations on the placement of the song "Heartless" in the penult moments, which was completely inexpedient. Aadil Shaikh's choreography too, is discursive. Adhyayan coming back to life, Om Puri suddenly carrying out the operation and the explanatory scenes of Adhyayan's father's death are roundly formulaic.

Former IT Engineer & an IIM Ahmedabad graduate, Gaurav Dagaonkar's last *major* music release Joker (2012) was a dud. But the music of HEARTLESS has already caught the fancy of the listeners. "Mashooqana" (singers: Ash King & Arunima Bhattacharya; lyricist: Arafat Mehmood) has a catchy middle-eastern touch, the spirit of the movie is encapsulated in "Main Dhoondhne Ko Zamane Mein" (singer: Arijit Singh; lyricist: Arafat Mehmood), ballad "Soniye" (singer: K.K.; lyricist: Seema Saini) has a warm melody, "Heartless" (singers: Mohit Chauhan, Aniruddh Bhola & Suzanne D'Mello; lyricist: Seema Saini) is in the John Mayer space, "What a feeling" (singers: Mohit Chauhan & Sukanya Ghosh; lyricist: Shekhar Suman) reminds of '70s-'80s in its orchestral feel, a guitar-based melody "Thanks Brother" (singers: Shekhar Suman & Adhyayan Suman; lyricist: Seema Saini) is alright and the raag-permeated ''Ishq Khuda'' (singer: Khurram Iqbal; lyricist: S.K. Khalish) has been composed by Fuzon, the Pak pop group, is a demulcent rendition.

Casting by Shekhar Suman deserves brownie points. Adhyayan Suman excels in his role, thoroughly. He slips into the role of an imbecile lover cum friend with utmost ease. His portrayal of helplessness, haplessness and compunction need to be lauded. He masterly handles the dramatic moments as well. The debutante Ariana Ayam is photogenic & supremely confident. On the conclusion of the movie, she takes the cake away, indeed. Deepti Naval delivers a peerless performance. Om Puri and Madan Jain don't get much scope to exhibit their talents. Shekhar Suman has always been a delight to watch, but he's restrained himself to an adequate degree, which in turn, gives his son the required edge.

On the whole, HEARTLESS is the story of a rebel heart - Its desire, its dilemma, its magnificent resurrection. A competently acted drama about the wages of medical skulduggery. But the formulaic writing is complete let-down. The pace too acts as killjoy. The father-son duo deserves praise and commendation. In spite of that, it's a snoozefest!



first appeared on http://www.desimartini.com/movies/heartless/md3231.htm

HASEE TOH PHASEE

3 stars

The ingress of love and romance in February can be upheld as irrefragable & sacrosanct. The mind is occupied by tendency to romanticize relationships. Ergo, filmmakers too vie for the attention of movie buffs to make it big. Cashing in on the eventuality is Dharma Productions & Phantom Films' HASEE TOH PHASEE, directed by first-time director Vinil Mathew, who has earlier directed several noted ads and best known for his commercials for Nescafe and Vodafone. Parineeti Chopra takes a leap ahead by stepping outside Yash Raj Films banner. Sidharth Malhotra, who shot to instant stardom with Karan Johar's commercially successful dramedy Student of the Year (2012), is often hailed as one of Bollywood's most eligible bachelor. The fervid chemistry of the leads along with Mathew and writer Harshvardhan Kulkarni's perky take on love, promises a quirky ride so that the viewers would smile gleefully, which in turn proves the gnome hasee toh phasee (sic).

Spread across Mumbai over a decade, the film is about the relationship between the quirky, rebellious & eccentric Meeta (Parineeti Chopra) and much sentimental Nikhil Bhardwaj (Sidharth Malhotra) struggling with their respective families to fit in. They bump into each other for the very first time at Nikhil's sister Diksha's wedding, while Meeta is on the run. Nikhil falls in love with Meeta's sister Karishma (Adah Sharma) in the meanwhile. Meeta is a science freak and a chemical engineer by profession who doesn't fit into her rich Gujarati family and so is on a run. Both Meeta & Nikhil don't get to meet each other for a prolonged time. Meeta returns to Mumbai and only Karishma is aware about this. Karishma asks Nikhil to find Meeta an accommodation, away from her family. But Nikhil, not happy with the arrangements that a contact has made for Meeta, puts her up in his own flat. During the course of Meeta’s stay at Nikhil’s house, they come close and open up to each other. In the midst of a twisted confusion, the truth of relationships is unfolded; the strength of unions is tested and love triumphs.

The story is fresh, synchronous, wacky and heartwarming, which provides the much-needed break from the uninspiring films churned out lately in the romcom genre. The situational humor is a droll & doesn't boast of boisterous form of comedy. The dialogues (Harshavardhan Kulkarni, Anurag Kashyap, Purva Naresh and Vinil Mathew) are contemporaneously jocular or amusing, especially at inappropriate times and uplift the mood of the film at every single juncture. Parineeti gets to mouth most of the chemical dialogues. The film exhibits a detailed conversations, which reflect the mindset of the young couple. From the very inception, it is evident that Meeta & Nikhil are made for each other. But the director Mathew deserves a pat on his back for the real accomplishment that he manages to keep the viewers hooked right from the beginning to the culmination until the leads come together, predictably. Vinil dosn't hastily put forward unwanted scenes to make Sid & Pari fall for each other. Mathew brings out errorless chemistry that Siddharth and Parineeti share. He effectively narrates how to live life for oneself & not for the others and how to express the hidden emotions, through two different individuals in Pari & Sid. The direction is unassailable, consummately. Sidharth performing a computer heist, Sid's confessions following the interval, Nikhil getting Meeta a vada pao and she in turn fixing his car, Nikhil waking up his future father-in-law late at night so that Meeta in turn can have a look at her father, the emotional moments between Parineeti and her screen dad, Manoj Joshi and the sequence in the penultimate moments between Sidharth and Parineeti are highlights of the enterprise. Sanu John Varughese' top-notch cinematography captures Karan Johar's trademark lavish sets (art director: Aditya Kanwar; set dresser: Tiya Tejpal) & trendy outfits [Divya Gambhir & Nidhi Gambhir and Niharika Jolly (costume supervisor for songs)] in an impressively beautiful manner. The music by Vishal Dadlani-Shekhar Ravjiani, already a rage, is befitting & peppy. The lyrics (Amitabh Bhattacharya & Kumaar) too, are enthralling. The soothing-and-heartfelt ["Zehnaseeb" (singers: Chinmayi Sripada & Shekhar Ravjiani), "Manchala" (singer: Shafqat Amanat Ali) and "Ishq Bulava" (singers: Sanam Puri & Shipra Goyal)] and foot-tapping ["Punjabi Wedding Song" (singers: Sunidhi Chauhan & Benny Dayal), "Shake It Like Shammi" (singer: Benny Dayal) and "Drama Queen" (singers: Shreya Ghoshal & Vishal Dadlani)] uplift the mood of the enterprise. The background score (Amar Mangrulkar) is competent. The choreography (Remo DSouza, Bosco Martis, Caesar Gonsalves and Ahmed Khan) is spanking and full of energy, excitement & cheerfulness.

On the flip side, the screenplay (Harshavardhan Kulkarni) seems far-fetched and not so convincing, specifically in back story of Meeta's addiction and mental state. The movie goes on the typical path of melodrama and hence, just doesn't give a fitting impression (editor: Shweta Venkat Mathew). The lingering pacing & excessive length (clocking in at precisely 141 minutes) are another deterrants.

The true winner of HASEE TOH PHASEE is its casting (Mukesh Chhabra) and for a romantic comedy to work, the chemistry between the lead pair has to be perfect. The two leads shoulder the weight of the love story adroitly. Sidharth Malhotra does excel in portraying the reserved-confused Nikhil. He aptly carries the naivety, earnestness and is a scene-stealer. He handles the delicate moments with utmost susceptibility/subtlety. At the same time, he is utterly charismatic, especially in the dance numbers. Long way to go man! But it's the livewire/firecracker Parineeti Chopra who brings out the most suited expressions in a given scene and bewitches the viewers with her act. The role is tailor-made for her. Kudos to her for pulling off the ticklish role of an addict and socially-awkward scientist and making outrageous faces with elan. One cannot imagine HTP without Parineeti Chopra. She proves yet again why she is often indicated clearly as the most promising actress of her generation. Parineeti herself is more than enough to set the movie apart from any other romcoms. Bravo!

Adah Sharma is naturally splendid. Sharat Saxena, Manoj Joshi, Sameer Khakhar, Neena Kulkarni and Anil Mange exhibit virtuoso performances.

On the whole, the zany, new-age date movie HASEE TOH PHASEE is the best bet at cinemas this valentine's week. Go for it, chop-chop!


first appeared on http://www.desimartini.com/movies/hasee-toh-phasee/md2798.htm