Phobia~ It's all in the mind or not!

Release date- 27th May 2016

One Word which describes the film- Enthralling

Best Dialogue- 'Wahan ghar ke bahar jane mai dar lagta tha, Yahan ghar ke andar dar lagta hai.'

Genre- Psychological Thriller

Music-Daniel George, 
Background Score: Karan Gaur

Producer- Sunil Lulla, Viki Rajani

Story- Pavan Kirpalani, Pooja Ladha Surti, Arun Sukumar

Direction-Pawan Kripalani

Cast-Radhika Apte, Satyadeep Mishra, Ankur Vikal, Yashaswani Dayama

Budget- 7-8 Crores approximately including P & A

Mehak, an artist, meets with an unfortunate mishap that traumatizes her and she develops agoraphobia, a phobia where the individual is paranoid about being in public places.
It's a gripping and intriguing thriller that succeeds to captivate the audiences, thanks to a well written screenplay, competent direction and excellent acting by Radhika Apte.
The director has created a good balance between fear, humor and drama. Just when you think the plot is getting eerie, a new character enters the plot and you get time to take a deep breath and relax. There are no loose ends in the story and by the climax the director successfully manages to inter link all the scenes.
This is surely Radhika's best performance till date. Her character has different shades and she manages to transform from one shade to another with great ease.
The best thing about the film is that just when you think you have figured it all, there is a sudden twist, followed by more thrill and drama. It's mostly shot in a flat but by using different camera angles the director has made the most of the limited locations.
The background score helps in  heightening the mystery and fear.

In a line, with an interesting plot, unpredictable twists and turns and a climax that sums up the full story, the film provides enough thrill to keep you rooted to your seats.

Good one time watch for those who love this genre.

Review of Shamitabh- Not everyone's cup of tea.

Release date - 6'th Feb 2015

One Word which describes the film -Thought-provoking

Best Dialogue- Agar paani whiskey ke bina badh sakta hai to socho whiskey bina pani ke kitna chad sakti hai.'

Genre - Drama / Comedy

Music - Ilaiyaraaja

Producer - Sunil Lulla, R. Balki, 
Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, R. K. Damani
Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan
Sunil Manchanda, Shobha Kapoor, Ekta Kapoor, Dhanush

Story & Direction -R. Balki

Cast -Amitabh Bachchan, Dhanush, Akshara Haasan

Budget- 40 crores +P&A

You have to give it to the duo R.Balki and Amitabh Bachchan for being the most experimental pair in Bollywood. After making Bachchan romance a girl half his age in  Cheeni Kum(2007), and then making him play the role of a 12 year old in Paa (2009) the director presents Amitabh as a shabby alcoholic who lives in a graveyard and has a grudge against the society.
Dhanush plays the role of a small town guy who wishes to become a super star.
Akshara who makes his Bollywood debut with this film manages to hold her own in front of the two super stars.
There are catchy one liners like, 'Technology ko Mughle Azam pasand nahi aya kya' and 'Paani Needs Whisky,Whisky Ko Zaroorat Nahi  Kisiki' , but the humor gets lost in the slow and predictable story.
In the film there is a line,'Too classy, masses ko pasand nahi ayegi' holds true for the film too as though the film starts in a good speed after an hour it is reduced to just conversations between the three lead stars.  
In a line if you are a big Bachchan fan you will have to watch the film for his flawless acting and his chemistry with Dhanush.
Time-pass. Can be seen in theaters. 

Review of Dishkiyaoon

Release date –28 'th March  2014

One Word which describes the film – Entertaining 

Best Dialogue - “Dhanda goli se nahin, dimaag se chalta hai aur mera dimaag toh bachpan se hi bahut kharab hai.” 

Genre – Gangster / Action

Music – Palash Muchhal

Producer- Shilpa Shetty
Sunil Lulla

Story & Direction -Sanamjit Singh Talwar

Cast - Sunny Deol , Harman Baweja , Ayesha Khanna , Prashant Narayanan ,  Aditya Pancholi , Anand Tiwari
Sumit Nijhawan

Budget- 20 crores (approximately)

The film shows the story of a young man who is fascinated by the underworld since his childhood and wants to be the next mafia king.  Though the story is old but the way debutante director , Sanamjit has presented it in  the form of flash backs is quite interesting. There are lots of characters in the film and though their roles are small , each one has a crucial part in the story. The film has good dialogues and excellent acting by most of the male stars. 

Harman Baweja , last seen  in What's Your Raashee? (2009) has made a comeback through this film. Apart from his changed look, he has also worked hard on his body and acting skills.Though this is his first action film, he looks comfortable in most of the scenes.

Sunny Deol plays a Haryanwi named Lakwa whose right hand is crippled except its trigger-pulling finger. Though he has a small role in the film but his character plays an important role in shaping up the story. He gets some really good dialogues like  , 'Dost se bada dushman koyi na hove hai .' 
At a time when actors spend months in getting a new look , Sunny Deol's joint eyebrows and floppy hair looked quite kiddish.

Ayesha has nothing much to do in her debut film and the songs in which she appears slow down the otherwise fast paced film.  

Music composed by 18 year old  debutante , Palash Muchchal , is average.

'Tu hi hai aashiqui ' , sung by Arijit Singh is the only song which stands out in the full film. 

Shilpa Shetty's item dance at the end of the film ,'Tu mere type ka nahi hai' ,  is totally wasted . According to rumors, the cost of making the song alone is quoted to be almost at par with the budget of the film. The entire set was lit up with one lakh bulbs and it was designed to look like  Brooklyn, New York and London Broadway.

In a line , if you love gangster flicks then watch it and you will not get bored.

Paisa Vasool. Can be seen in theaters.  

Rank - 3 (Out of the 9 films I have seen in 2014)

Review of Go Goa Gone

Release date –  10'th May  2013

One Line which describes the film – 
The Comedy of Errors

Best  Dialogue – 
'Ye India main bhoot - pret hote hai , Zombies kaha se aa gaye?'
'Globalisation , Ye phirangio ne waat laga di '

Genre – Zombie/Comedy
   

Music – Sachin-Jigar

Producer -  Saif Ali Khan ,Dinesh Vijan ,Sunil Lulla

Story & Direction - Raj Nidimoru , Krishna D.K.

Cast – Saif Ali Khan , Kunal Khemu , Anand Tiwari , Puja Gupta

Budget – 20 crores (approximately)

Raj and D.K. are engineers turned film-makers whose last film Shor in the City was one of the most acclaimed films of 2011 that earned terrific reviews from almost every critic in the country.

This time they have come up with a zom-com film which even when it makes you laugh ,gives a strong message that smoking ,drugs and alcohol kill.
The story revolves around three friends Kunal Khemu, the guy who flirts with any woman /zombie,  Vir Das  who updates every detail of his life on Facebook and wants to fall in love and the hard working, simple Anand Tewari who is constantly financially exploited by his friends. The trio go to a rave party organised by the Russian mafia in an island off the shore of Goa and their dark adventure begins. 

Most of the first half of the film is hilarious and even though the second half is predictable the film doesn't bore. 

Kunal Khemu, (who has even written  the dialogues along with Raja Sen  ) has given a wonderful performance and easily outshines Veer Das and Anand Tewari . 

Pooja Gupta adds to the glamour quotient in the film. She represents the female generation who party hard but are responsible and can take care of themselves too.

Saif Ali's accented, blonde haired, heavily-tattooed look may not appeal to the audience in the promos but with his perfect comic timing he manages to leave an impact.

The songs of the film ‘Slowly slowly’ , ‘Khoon choos le’ and   ‘Babaji ki booty’ have already become chart busters and will be played in discs for months.

In the film the characters use this line several times 'What do you know,What have you learnt?' and what I learnt after 2 hours is that 'Drugs turn you into Zombies.'

In a line even if the zombie element is not as good as shown in Hollywood films  Zombieland  or Shaun of the Dead the chemistry between the three friends is what makes this film entertaining and paisa wasool.'
Must watch for the younger generation addicted to Facebook ,Twitter or Whatsapp .
Good one time theater watch.

Rank - 5 (Out of the 26 films I have seen in 2013)