MOHENJO DARO~ There's nothing new under the sun.

Release date- 12th August 2016

One Word which describes the film- Uneventful

Best Dialogue- 'Antar hai, tujhe Mohenjo Daro pe raaj karna hai aur mujhe sevaa"

Genre- Period Drama/ Romance

Music- A. R. Rahman

Producer- Siddharth Roy Kapur, Sunita Gowariker

Story & Direction- Ashutosh Gowariker

Cast- Hrithik Roshan, Pooja Hegde, Kabir Bedi, Arunoday Singh 

Budget- 100 Crores approximately


Ashutosh Gowariker was first inspired to make a film set in the ancient Indus Valley civilization way back when he was in Bhuj, Gujarat, scouting locations for his then-upcoming Lagaan (2001), and stumbled across the massive excavations in progress at the ruins of Dholavira.
Over the years he must have thought a lot about his dream project, the ancient city, its inhabitants and their life styles, as a lot of hard work and planning is visible in the larger than life sets, the different seals, the statues, the depiction of the 2016 BC era.

The film starts with the famous crocodile fight and the people talking in some different language. Slowly the language starts resembling hindi with just few new words here and there like sapina (dream), janawar(animal), son(gold), turinto(immediately) and hamalkhor.
As the film progresses, the story starts resembling any other typical Bollywood film,where boy sees girl and tries to woo her.
There is a grand set made of a market place where the director has tried to show people from different countries coming for trade, but the characters are so stereotyped that it looks more like a fancy dress show.
Hrithik Roshan plays the role of an indigo farmer who sees unicorns in his dreams. He believes in honesty and justice. He is a born leader who unites the poor farmers and motivates them to fight for what is right.
"Jo muthhi ab tak khuli hui thi..usse band karne ka samay aa gya hai."
Pooja Hegde doesn't get much opportunity to show her acting skills. She is quite thin and wearing those elaborate headgears for hours must have been a task in itself.

The main problem of the film is that instead of focusing on the city as a whole the director has focused just on one individual. There is no team-representation, no grand sequences. If the director had to show a love story then why did he spent crores on making a big set even differentiating it into the upper city and lower city. The pace of the film from the starting itself is so slow that by the time it catches some speed most of the audience has already lost interest.  
A.R.Rehman's music is set according to the era but except 'Tu Hai', all other songs fail to leave any impact on the mind of the viewers.
The film has collected 18 Crores in two days and as it's getting fierce competition from Rustom, it will be a task for the film to even recover it's production cost.

In a line, with such a grand set and a talented actor like Hrithik Roshan the film could have been a magnum opus, it's sad that the director wasted this golden opportunity and chose to focus just on the central character's love story.

Time pass. Can be seen for Hrithik Roshan.

Fitoor ~ Red Alert

Release date- 12'th February 2016

One Word which describes the film- Gloomy

Best Dialogue- 'Khud se azadi to sirf maut hi de sakti hai, ya fir ishq.' 

Genre - Romance/ Drama

Music- Amit Trivedi

Producer - Abhishek Kapoor, Siddharth Roy Kapur

Story -Abhishek Kapoor , Supratik Sen
(Based on Great Expectations by Charles Dickens)

Direction -Abhishek Kapoor

Cast -Aditya Roy Kapur, Katrina Kaif, Tabu

Budget- 50-55 Crores approximately

The film is about a poor boy Noor who falls in love at first sight with the rich Firdaus. Years pass and the boy travels from Srinagar to Delhi, becomes a famous painter then travels to London and still remains obsessed with her.

The film revolves around Noor well portrayed by Aditya Roy Kapoor. He lost weight to look younger. His body language and expressions are perfect in most of the scenes.

Katrina Kaif had to play the 'femme fatale' in the film but in most of the scenes she looks confused and tensed. The child artist who plays the character of young Firdaus looked more confident and arrogant and when she tells young Noor, 'Neeche dekho' there was an authority in her voice. When Katrina tells Aditya, 'Ghoorna band karo, ab tum bacche nahi rahe' it sounded more like a request than an order. The posters show intense chemistry between the lead pair but in the film there are no such vibes which may set the screen on fire.

Tabu looks old and over dressed in most of the scenes and doesn't do justice to the character. She was supposed to be the master planner but in the film she comes out as a sulking middle aged lady who has a constant grudge with everyone around her.

The director must have envisioned a fiery, passionate love story and so there is a huge castle with hues of red, a red Mercedes and even a heroine who has red hair. The paintings made by the hero have bright red maple leaves and red backgrounds. Sadly his vision couldn't transform into reality and instead of seeing any passion we just have to do with heavy duty dialogues narrated by the hero now and then.

'Agar meri kismat mein sirf khaak likha hai, mujhe qubool hai. Agar yeh hi meri aakhri aah hai,  mujhe qubool hai. Qubool hai, qubool hai, qubool hai.'

Ajay Devgan has a 5 min role in the film and I think all his fans would like to know whether he owed something to Abhishek Kapoor that he agreed to do this insignificant role where he looked old and ugly.

The film has successfully captured the beauty of Kashmir but most of the scenes are shot in such dim light that in half of the film we keep waiting for it to come from darkness to light. 

The film got a poor opening of just 3.6 Crores and with bad reviews and word of mouth the film has turned into a losing proposition both for the producers and actors.

In a line despite creating a beautiful backdrop, the director has miserably failed in his attempt to tell a passionate love story.

Time-pass. Can be seen for the beautiful cinematography and melodious songs.

Phantom ~ The world of Kabir Khan, where fiction merges with reality.

Release date - 28'th August 2015

One Word which describes the film - Optimistic

Best Dialogue - ' Aap pooch rahe the kya chahta hai India, India insaaf chahta hai.'

Genre - Action/ Thriller

Music - Pritam Chakraborty

Producer - Sajid Nadiadwala, Siddharth Roy Kapur

Story- Kabir Khan, Kausar Munir (Based on Mumbai Avengers by Hussain Zaidi)

Direction -Kabir Khan

Cast -Saif Ali Khan, Katrina Kaif, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub

Budget- 50 Crores approximately

Kabir Khan made his directorial debut in 1999 with the documentary 'The Forgotten Army' , based on Subhas Chandra Bose's Indian National Army. Since then he has constantly tried to bring to limelight the strength of character and courage of Indians in front of the whole world by making films which are full of patriotism and the never say die attitude of the central characters.
Whether it was Kabul Express (2006), New York (2009), Ek Tha Tiger (2012) or Bajrangi Bhaijaan (2015) all his films will make you think that sometimes innocent people become mere pawns in the game of few corrupt people who have both power and money.

There is undoubtedly a lot of pressure that comes with recognition, which can be a good thing and bad thing all at the same time.

After Kabir Khan's Bajrangi Bhaijaan became the most successful film of 2015, people were just waiting to find some fault in his next film. I also went with mixed feelings as had read many negative comments from everyone basically saying that the film is overall boring.

Phantom begins with a car chase in Chicago. From there we are taken to the office of the Indian R.A.W. chief, then to the snowy peaks of Kashmir, then to London, then to Beirut, then to a Syrian refugee camp and finally to a small town in Malerkotla, Punjab which was recreated using Urdu hoarding, posters and flags to resemble a Pakistani town. I don't know how people can get bored in such a happening journey.

We all know that the film deals with the master minds behind the 26/11 Mumbai attacks who are still living freely in some part of the world.

Any operation deals with three basic steps, the plan, it's execution and then the return to safety. The film has a very well written script and the first half of the film has a good pace. The second half of the film which takes us to a Pakistani town is a bit slow, has few songs and several scenes which will touch your heart and fill you with pride. The only flaw in the perfect story was that the execution of the plan happened too abruptly and the return to safety took too long.

Saif Ali Khan in the titular role had ample opportunity to show his talents. He has given a good performance considering how difficult it's for him to get rid of his rich guy attitude and accent.  

I don't know whose idea was it to name a beautiful lady like Katrina Kaif, Nawaz. All through the film her attire were simple and very less attention was paid on glamorizing her so that the focus of the film doesn't shift from the graver issues.

After giving a forgetful performance in All is Well, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub is back in form and how. His role is small but he represents all us Indians who are full of anger and frustration and wish there is some way in which a lesson can be taught to the wrong doers.

Music is average. The film has a soulful song "Saware"  sung by Arijit Singh.

The film was released in 2500 screens and due to bad reviews got a poor opening. By the end of the day because of good word of mouth the film managed to collect almost 8

cr on Friday, 13 Crores on Saturday and 12 Crores on Sunday. With Welcome Back releasing this week the film will surely not get a chance to enter the 100 Crore club but it will surely recover it's production costs.

In a line the film is full of hope and optimism and you will surely wish that all of it was true. 

Good one time watch. Can be seen in theaters.

Review of PK

Release date - 19'th December 2014

One Word which describes the film -Heart-warming

Best Dialogue - 'Jo dar gaya wo mandir gaya.'

Genre -Comedy/Drama 

Music -Ajay Atul,Shantanu Moitra ,
Ankit Tiwari

Producer - Rajkumar Hirani, Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Siddharth Roy Kapur

Story, Direction & Editing -Rajkumar Hirani

Cast -Aamir Khan, Anushka Sharma, Boman Irani, Saurabh Shukla, Sanjay Dutt ,Sushant Singh Rajput

Budget- 50 crores +P&A 

PK was the most awaited film of 2014. Rajkumar Hirani uses his time tested formula of questioning the current system and providing an alternate solution.

The plot is simple, the characters are down to earth,there is no item song or exotic locations still the director manages to evoke emotions with the tale of a person who is not used to the corrupt ways of our world.

Amir Khan is the soul of PK. He is the wide eyed, big eared alien who manages to steal all attention with his weird dresses and innocent questions. The shooting of PK started in 2012 when a similar film OMG – Oh My God!  was released. Any other actor would not have dared working in a film with an almost similar story. It's Amir's belief in the director and his own acting capabilities that made him do this film.
Anushka Sharma as the young and enthusiastic journalist gives stiff competition to Amir and manages to leave an impact in the mind of the audiences.
Other characters have small roles which provide ample drama and keep us fully entertained.
As expected the film got a good opening day collection of 26 crores. With no competition and good word of mouth the film has the capability of earning 200 crores plus at the box office. 
Other superstars who are busy in just making money and working in forgettable films like Happy New Year, Kick, Happy Ending, Kill Dil, Bang Bang, Action Jackson should learn from Amir the art of choosing films which touch hearts and make a special place there forever. 

 In a line, though the story is simple but it's presentation is such that you will get attached to the characters and wish to have people like that in your life.

Must watch for Amir Khan fans. Paisa vasool. 

Coming soon - Review of Raja Natwarlal

Release date -29'th August 2014

One Word which describes the film -

Best Dialogue - 'Risk aur oopportunity ke beech main hi to chance milta hai aur jo us chance ke sath romance karta hai wohi asli raja kehlata hai.'

Genre - Crime / Comedy

Music -Yuvan Shankar Raja

Producer - Siddharth Roy Kapur

Story-Parveez Shaikh

Direction -Kunal Deshmukh

Cast -Emraan Hashmi ,Humaima Malick ,Paresh Rawal ,Kay Kay Menon

Budget- 30-35 crores

Raja Natwarlal was originally called Shaatir. Pakistani actress and model Humaima Malick makes her debut in Bollywood with this film.

Director ,Kunal Deshmukh started his career as an assistant director in Zeher (2005), Kalyug and Woh Lamhe (2006), under director Mohit Suri and Vishesh Films.He made his directional debut Jannat in 2008 followed by Tum Mile (2009) and Jannat 2 (2012).

Review of Filmistaan

Release date – 6'th June 2014

One Word which describes the film – Optimistic

Best Dialogue - ' Budget kitna bhi chhota ho , film ka dil bada hona chahiye.'

Genre – Drama

Music - Arijit Datta

Producer - Shyam Shroff ,Balkrishna Shroff , Subhash Chaudary,Shaila Tanna , Siddharth Roy Kapur

Story & Direction - Nitin Kakkar

Cast - Sharib Hashmi , Inaamulhaq , Kumud Mishra ,Gopal Dutt

Budget- 5 crores (approximately)

If you are  truely filmy, you use Bollywood dialogues in your everyday life . We don't even think twice before using these lines,'Mere paas maa hai' , 'Dhai kilo ka haath' , 'dosti ki hai nibhani to padegi' , 'bade bade desho main aisi chhoti chhoti baaten hoti rehti hai or ' Rahul , naam to suna hoga.'

Filmistaan takes this love of Hindi films across the border.

Sunny wants to be an actor but when he fails to get any role he takes the job of an assistant director. He is kidnapped by terrorists who keep him hostage in a village in Pakistan , where he meets his soul mate, another film buff who makes his living , selling pirated CDs.

The film shows the life style of very poor people with just enough to survive, for whom watching Maine Pyar Kiya on a 21 inch TV is pure joy. 

Both the protagonists share great on screen chemistry and brotherhood . There is a dialogue where one guy tells another,' aam aadmi ke bas ki kaha hai siyasat ',which shows that poor people living near borders have always been pawns in the bigger game played by politicians and terrorists.

In a line , overall the film is entertaining and has some touching moments.

One time watch . Can be seen in theaters.

Review of The Lunchbox

Release date – 20'th September 2013

One Word which describes the film – Wistful

Best Dialogue  – 'Kabhi kabhi galat train bhi sahi jagah pahuncha deti hai '

Genre – Romance 

Writer- Ritesh Batra

Music – Max Richter

Producer - Anurag Kashyap , Guneet Monga , Karan Johar , Siddharth Roy Kapur

Direction - Ritesh Batra

Cast - Irrfan Khan , Nimrat Kaur , Nawazuddin Siddiqui

  

Budget - 10 crores

The film is an Indian version of the 1998 hit Hollywood film ' You've Got Mail '. 
In the film the heroine says a line , 'People are always telling you that change is a good thing .But all they're really saying is that something you didn't want to happen at all ,has happened.' 
This film is also about changes . A man who is about to retire and a lonely housewife exchange small notes through a lunchbox and develop a strong bond . The woman is young and is ready to take steps which can totally change her life but the man who is old enough to be her father has his doubts.

The direction of the film is it's finest point. It's really commendable that how with just 3 characters and a voice the director manages to present a story which makes the audience identify with the characters. We feel the fear of an about to retire man who was so engrossed in his work and daily life that he never realised that he has grown old. We feel sad for the housewife whose husband has lost interest in her and pays more attention to his cell phone . 

Irrfan Khan has played the role of a much older man with such ease that you forget the actor , you only see him as Mr. Fernandez .
Nimrat Kaur gives strong competition to Irrfan and it's difficult to decide who has given a better performance.
Nawazuddin is an amazing actor and though he has a vital role in the film ,this story isn't about him.

After a totally detailed sketch of Mumbai dabba system and local trains the abrupt climax was a bit disappointing . 

In a line the film is about how sometimes the small things can bring a big change in your life and it's better to take risks at time than to lead a mundane life .
Good one time watch.
Rank - 16  (Out of the 54 films I have seen in 2013)

Chennai Express - Rohit Shetty's tribute to Tamil films .

Release date – 9'th August 2013

One Word which describes the film –  Melodrama 

Frequently used Dialogue  –
'Don't underestimate the power of a common man '

Genre – Action /Comedy

  

Screenplay - Yunus Sajawal

Music – Vishal–Shekhar 

Producer - Gauri Khan , Ronnie Screwvala , Siddharth Roy Kapur

Direction - Rohit Shetty 

Cast – Deepika Padukone , Shahrukh Khan

  

Budget - 70-80 crores

Chennai Express started in a narrative style with SRK saying that 'Myself Rahul, 40 saal ka ho gaya hoon aur normally is age tak har kisi ki life main ek aadha twist to aa hi jata hai .' We prepared ourselves for a happening journey with lots of twists and entertainment. As soon as Deepika made her entry in the film a big twist came and suddenly everyone started talking in Tamil. There were no subtitles. In a Rohit Shetty's film we are used to flying cars but when 30% of the dialogues are being said in Tamil we wonder for which audience the film is being made. 


Deepika Padukone , after exposing to the limits in Coctail and Ye jawani hai diwani appears as a well dressed South Indian girl. She looked beautiful when she is quiet and expressing with her eyes but the moment she starts talking in the weird accent she has adopted for the film she starts getting on our nerves. She herself must be fed up of the simple look as in the item number 'lungi dance' at the end she is back  in her glamorous look in  see through sarees and low cut blouses.

Shahrukh Khan was the king of romance once. When he said to Kajol 'Kuch kuch hota hai anjali ,tum nahi samjhogi' we all felt his love for the girl who once was his friend . 
In Chennai Express , he himself was using all his famous lines in a comic way which was not at all humorous. Though we did laugh in some scenes but then we expect much more from Shahrukh Khan. 

The film shows some really beautiful and scenic locations  of the South which are at par with the Switzerland we see in Yash Chopra films.

Music of the film is very ordinary . Just one song 'Meherbaani nahi tumhara pyar maanga hai' is melodious .

In a line the film would have been more entertaining ,if Rohit Shetty had made it for the common man who doesn't understand Tamil .

Shahrukh Khan fans will watch it. Time pass .

Rank - 19 out of the 40 films I have seen in 2013