Review of Dabangg2

Release date- 21'st Dec 2012

One Word which describes the film -  Déjà vu

Best  Dialogue – “Waqt tumhara kharab aaya hain aur din hum gine! “

Genre -  Action / Comedy

Story - Dilip Shukla

Music -  Sajid-Wajid


Producer –  Arbaaz Khan , Malaika Arora Khan

Direction -  Arbaaz Khan

Cast- Salman Khan , Sonakshi Sinha , Prakash Raj

Budget - 40 crores

Dabangg2 has three features which can make it a hit 

1.Chulbul Pandey

2.Kung- fu Pandey 

3.Robin Hood Pandey 

This should give an idea of what is in store for you .It was totally a one-man show .

The film started with stills from the earlier Dabangg  . Then came our hero in a flying car breaking bones of anyone who dared to do any wrong deed.

When a sequel comes it is natural for the audience to compare it with the original. Dabangg2 fails to create the excitement which was in the first part .The first part had so many parallel stories ,hero's relation with his mother , his step father , his step brother , his attraction to the village belle ,her story with her father and brother ,his step brother's love story with Nirmala and last but not the least a villain who gave competition to a bare chested Salman Khan .

This film was full of references from the first part , random songs which came from nowhere making the film look more like an extended version of Chitrahaar . Vinod Khanna , Arbaaz Khan , Mahi Gill etc had such small and insignificant roles that it was very clear that the producers and director had clearly focused on the most reliable element Salman Khan . Even a powerful actor like Prakash Raj  had no significant role or memorable dialogues.

Sonakshi Sinha as a devoted wife who wore sarees with printed blouses which showed her full back , looked pretty but had none of the 'thappad se dar nahi lagta sahab,pyar se lagta hai ' kind of punch lines.
Even Malaika Arora's one minute item dance had none  of the karizma  of Munni Badnam .

In a  line Dabangg2 was made just to cash on the current popularity of Salman Khan and the makers have completely succeeded in their mission .
It's a Salman film so most of the people will watch it in theater but it is better not to expect much from it. 

Review of Khiladi 786

Release Date - 7'th December 2012

One Word which describes the film - Mock-tail


Most Repeated  Dialogue – Duniya main teen cheezen logon ne suni to bahut hai par kabhi dekhi nahi-

1. Bhooto ka sansar

2. Saccha wala pyar

3. Bahattar singh ki raftaar

Genre - Comedy /Romance / Action /Drama (now you know why the word mocktail describes it best )

Story & Music -  Himesh Reshammiya

Producer –  Twinkle Khanna , Himesh Reshammiya , Sunil Lulla

Direction -  Ashish R Mohan

Cast- Mithun Chakraborty , Akshay Kumar , Asin Thottumkal , Raj Babbar , Himesh Reshammiya


Budget- 40-45 crores(approximately)

We can't expect some great love story or action from director Ashish who has earlier worked as an assistant director for films like Golmaal, Golmaal Returns, Golmaal 3. To add to this the story is written by Himesh who as a music director was famous for getting inspiration from international music numbers.

So the story is a complete copy of several masala films , with some foot tapping song and dances and  jokes you must have already heard a hundred times. 

When the films starts with the narrator telling you that " is sansar main 2 type ke log hote hai kamane wale aur kharch karne wale, inhe pati aur patni ke naam se bhi jana jata hai " you know what is in store for you. 

Akshay Kumar makes his entry in the Khiladi bhaiya song which is  completely inspired from Dabangg's title song. It is followed with inspired scenes from Devdas , Gadar , Welcome ..After interval they even copy a 20 minute scene from Akshay's Namastey London (2007) . There is a song Long drive  where Akshay and Asin are driving around in Dubai in a red Ferrari which reminds you of the Hairat song in Ranbeer Kapoor's Anjaana Anjaani .

Akshay Kumar looked fit and apart from action has  done energetic dance steps . Though instead of repeating the same act again and again he should consider doing some powerful performances which justify the Khiladi tag.

Asin has tried several looks in different songs , a Marathi bride, a dusky beauty , a sultry siren and succeeds but we wonder when will we get an award winning performance from her .

Himesh as the producer, story writer, music director, singer and actor must have hugely cut on costs but guess to make a master piece you have to get a team of experts. 

The film had so many character artists that very few actually got to play a significant part in the film. Johnny Lever and Bharti were totally wasted in their small roles.

In a line if you are a fan of Akshay Kumar films then on a scale of 10 to 0 where Rowdy Rathore is a 10 and Tees Maar Khan is a 0 the film is a 6 . 

Time pass .One time watch .

Review of Life of Pi

Release Date - 21'st November 2012

One Word which describes the film - 

Captivating

Best  Dialogue –

"See, it's all about believing in God!"

Genre - Fantasy / Adventure

Story- Yann Martel

Direction - Ang Lee

Producer –  Ang Lee , Gil Netter , David Womark
 Cast-  Suraj Sharma ,Irrfan Khan ,  Tabu , Adil Hussain , Gerard Depardieu , Rafe Spall

Budget - $ 120 million

Life of Pi is a  fantasy adventure drama based on Yann Martel's novel of the same name Life of Pi  (2001) 

The protagonist, Piscine Molitor "Pi" Patel, an Indian boy from Pondicherry, explores issues of spirituality and practicality from an early age. He survives 227 days after a shipwreck while stranded on a boat in the Pacific Ocean with a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker.

The story reminds us how little we need in life to be happy. Pi, when stuck in the middle of pacific ocean is delighted to have a knife, some bottles of water and a few tools, which can help him stay alive. Stranded in the middle of the ocean, he finds a new reason to live everyday, one day escaping death from the jaws of the tiger , another day finding food for the tiger in the ocean to keep his appetite satisfied, then trying to come even with the tiger by sharing space with him on the same boat, later protecting this tiger from dying of hunger. 

The movie starts with a funny note telling how the name of the young boy got transformed from PC to " pissing " and then his struggle to get himself called Pi. Pi, an Indian living in Canada, narrates his story to an author who has come to him in quest of an interesting story. The movie touches intense human emotions such as losing dear ones, human tendency to develop fondness for the ones we live with etc. It also has a touch of interesting science fiction when Pi is shown to have reached a strange island with strange flora and fauna. Pi's narration takes his guest through a journey that makes him believe that God exists and is always with us showing us the path ahead.

In a line though the film takes a while to get going, the special effects are really effective and most of the parts of the film are entertaining  . 
Must watch for children. .

Review of Talaash

Release Date - 30'th November 2012

One Line which describes the film - Too many cooks spoil the broth

Best  Dialogue – "Koyi kab tak  dooba rahega, kabhi to bahar ana padega " 

Genre - Suspense 

Story- Reema Kagti , Zoya Akhtar

Direction - Reema Kagti

Producer –  Ritesh Sidhwani , Aamir Khan , Farhan Akhtar

Cast-  Aamir Khan , Rani Mukerji , Kareena Kapoor

Budget - 40 crores

When the credits were rolling and I read that Farhan Akhtar has written the dialogues and Anurag Kashyap has written the additional dialogues ,considering their past works I was very excited  . The story and screenplay was written jointly by  Reema Kagti and  Zoya Akhtar  who in the past have given us entertaining films like Honeymoon Travels Pvt. Ltd  and Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara.

The film started at a good pace but after 30 min I started wondering all these great writers together have given such an average film. I kept waiting for some thrills or dramatic turn of events which didn't come even by the end. Though the events of the first half were entirely connected with the second half but in all it was not a very entertaining experience. They show better stories in Dastak or  X-Files these days on TV .

Reema and Zoya started the work on this film in early 2010 and the film was supposed to release on oct 2011 but the film got delayed . 

   

I was wondering that how could  Nawazuddin Siddiqui do such an insignificant role  after playing the main lead in Gangs of Wasseypur - Part 2  but maybe he had signed this film much before GOW . 

Amir , Rani and Kareena are seasoned actors and good acting from them is expected.

It's when Rani gives us a film like  Aiyyaa we start questioning her judgement. 
Kareena plays the role of a prostitute .Whereas in Chameli (2003) her dressing style and loud make up suited the character ,this time she looked too glamorous to belong to the red light area . Most of the time she was dressed in designer gowns with salon styled hair , expert make up and glossed lips. 

Amir Khan gave us Satyamev Jayate and  as truth prevails the truth of Talaash is that Amir's role could have done by any actor . The story was far from perfect and even if it  manages to cross 100 crores the truth is that  8 out of 10 people didn't like the film.

( Amir said in Anupama Chopra's show The Front Row  " if 8/10 people don't like the film then I don't think the film is a success even if manages to cross 100 crores " )

In a line 2012 has been an year of  disappointing films and Talaash is the biggest disappointment  of all.

Watch it at your own risk . 

Review of Son of Sardar

Release Date - 13'th November 2012

One Word which describes the film - Disappointing

Most Used  Dialogue – Kabhi has bhi diya karo 

Genre - Comedy 

Direction -  Ashwni Dhir

Producer –  Ajay Devgn , N.R.Pachisia , Pravin Talreja


Cast- Ajay Devgn , Sanjay Dutt ,  Sonakshi Sinha , Juhi Chawla

Budget - 30 crores 

In his debut film Phool Aur Kaante (1991) Ajay Devgn impressed everyone with his stunt of standing on two moving bikes. After 11 years he tries to do the same on two running horses. But this time the stunt looks more of a computerized effect . 
The film is a remake of South Indian film  Maryada Ramanna directed by  S S Rajamouli . After watching Makkhi  ( Eega ) I had high hopes from  Son of Sardar but it ended up like another Rohit Shetty film and if it's possible even worse than that . At least Rohit Shetty's film fall in the senseless comedy genre and appeal to the masses . Son of Sardar  tried to mix comedy with romance with lots of songs added with lame two liners which according to Devgn himself are the kinds written on the back of trucks. 

There were the usual South Indian film elements  , flying cars , flying people , flying bike .The difference was that every one was talking in Punjabi and after every 10 min there was talk of whiskey . When the film released  I read on the film's wikipedia page that the budget was 80 crores .While watching the film I was wondering where did they spend that much money as there were no foreign shoots , no designer dresses or lavish  Karan Johar  kind of larger than life sets . It's good that they changed the budget to 30 crores or people would have thought that they were actually serving Blue Label scotch (approx 12 K per bottle) to all the cast and crew 24-7 !

Sanjay Dutt was not as irritating as he was in Rascals but such kind of films do nothing to reestablish his  image as a good actor . After all he has given us films like Naam (1986) , Sadak, Saajan , Khal Nayak ,Vaastav: The Reality,  Munna Bhai M.B.B.S., Lage Raho Munna Bhai etc.

Sonakshi as the loud Punjabi girl looked pretty . She had no great scenes to show her talent. 

Senior actor like Tanuja were totally wasted .She was shown suffering from a kind of Retrograde amnesia  ( trying to use the term I learned in Jab tak hai jaan ! )

In a line, If  instead of saying after every 5 minutes 'Kabhi has bhi liya karo' the makers had really tried to make a comedy which genuinely made people laugh, we would have not been so disappointed.
AVOIDABLE .   

Review of Jab Tak Hai Jaan

Release Date - 13'th November 2012

One Word which describes the film - Fairy tale

Best  Dialogue –
" Pyar ke samne to rab bhi jhuk jata hai ,
ye to waqt tha ,use to badalna hi tha "

Genre - Romance

Story -  Aditya Chopra


Direction -  Yash Chopra

Producer –  Aditya Chopra


Cast- Shahrukh Khan , Katrina Kaif , Anushka Sharma

Budget - 50 crores 


It was love at first sight for Shahrukh when he saw Katrina running towards the church  . Such is the beauty of Yash Chopra's heroines  that once the fairy tale romance starts it lasts for a life time. 
Even in the starting of the film Anushka's entry in a bikini got more whistles than Shahrukh defusing a bomb.

The best part about the film is that the story is written in such a way that every scene which is shown in the first part is linked with the second part . There is no scene which is  not related to the story which I think is an example of a good screenplay. 
Though people think that the film is a bit long and the story was illogical but Yash Chopra is known for creating a world of fantasy , ultra rich people who believe in love. The film has some beautiful shots of Ladakh and London . 

Shahrukh as fearless Major Samar ,confidently defusing bombs was good. Near climax when he  gives his identification to a British police officer as " Major Samar Anand, Indian Army " he looked perfect for the role. 

He as a 20's something waiter romancing the beautiful ,ultra rich and college topper Katrina was a bit hard to digest. There is a dance sequence with underground dancers - Ishq Shava
 ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-T-SRndOz3U  ) 
where we wished it was Hrithik matching steps with the graceful , carefree and energetic Katrina . 
Shahrukh has always  been known as the king of the romance but in this film the passion he expresses with his eyes was missing. 

Katrina as the girl who firmly believes in Jesus Christ has given an outstanding performance . In some romantic scenes she was even better than Shahrukh . When she says that "roz uski lambi umar ke  liye pray karti and roz  thoda thoda marti " we get a feel of the never ending love which is mostly found in films and novels these days.

Anushka is getting lots of praises for her role of a vibrant and bubbely girl who represent the new generation where makeups and breakups follow each other . She says to SRK "tumhare jaisa lover meri generation main to milega nahi "  unconsciously highlighting the difference in their ages.  
  
Rishi Kapoor has just one scene in the film but he proves why he was famous as the romantic hero of the 80's . When he says  "wo hamara waqt nahi tha par iska matlab ye nahi ki hamara ishq galat tha "  we can feel his love .  

The AR Rahman-Gulzar combination fail to impress. The love songs  sound melodious while they play on the screen, but they do not stay with us after the film ends.



Those who have seen the film can check this hilarious link - http://ibnlive.in.com/news/jab-tak-hai-jaan-10-important-life-lessons-from-the-film/305521-8-66.html

In a line  if you believe in love  you have to see this Yash Chopra film in theater . After all we owe this to the man who made us believe that Love is larger than life  .One time must watch. 

Review of Skyfall

Release Date - 2'nd November 2012

One Word which describes the film - Human Bond

Best  Dialogue –  
 “What did you expect, an exploding pen?
We don’t go in for that anymore.”  

Genre - Action 

Story -  Neal Purvis , Robert Wade , John Logan 

Direction -  Sam Mendes 

Producer –  Michael G. Wilson  , Barbara Broccoli 

Cast- Daniel Craig , Javier Bardem , Judi Dench

Budget - $150 Million (approx 800 crores)

James Bond is the longest-running film franchise in history. It’s been 50 years since Sean Connery first took up the mantle as MI6 secret agent, James Bond, in Dr. No (1962) . 

Skyfall  is  the first Bond film not to have an Ian Fleming title but it is every bit as 007 as ‘Dr. No’ or ‘The Man with the Golden Gun’. The film is not the formulaic, superficial action spy fantasy loaded with Bond girls, expensive cars and gadgets  but a slice of  reality , a Bond film that is haunted by the past and deals with that in,  explosive ways. What we witness here is the destruction of the old Bond mystique, and the creation of a new one. 
There's a shade of bitterness and a doom-laden undercurrent in the plot, which was to be expected perhaps from director Sam Mendes, who won an Oscar for American Beauty  .

In an interview Sam Mendes tells the BBC , "I've always thought that Bond, at his best, regenerates. For me, the challenge was to bring him and all the characters around him back in a totally different form. I love the way he has to re-emerge in a new world and justify his existence. That's really what the story's about."

In Skyfall, Bond's loyalty to M is tested as her past comes back to haunt her. As MI6 comes under attack, 007 must track down and destroy the threat, no matter how personal the cost. The plot revolves around the hunt for a stolen hard drive containing some very sensitive information    

The film includes many things which remind you of earlier Bond films-

An opening ballad, performed by Adele .
The return of gadget provider Q
The return of Miss Moneypenny ,secretary to M .
Judi Dench plays the role of M,head of MI6 for the seventh time .
An Aston Martin DB5, first seen in Goldfinger (1964) .

Other traditional elements include explosive mayhem and  exotic locations . From Istanbul to snazzy Shanghai, to a lighted Macau ,  to a busy subway in London ,to a morbid cold Scotland countryside - all are captured brilliantly by cinematographer Roger Deakins . ( The film was shot in London, Scotland , Surrey , Berkshire , China , Turkey & Japan. Check http://www.movie- locations.com/movies/s/Skyfall.html )

Craig’s portrayal of an ageing, disillusioned Bond is first-rate. He looks human as a man struggling with an ageing body .

Spanish actor Javier Bardem plays MI6 super agent gone unimaginably bad. Bardem announces his arrival as Silva when he walks from the back of a large room towards the camera reciting a parable about two rats; it’s grippingly awesome.

Judi Dench returns as head of MI6, M, and despite starring youthfully beautiful Naomie Harris and Bérénice Marlohe she takes the mantle as the movie’s ultimate Bond girl. Dench’s M is central to the film’s plot and she plays the part of the vulnerable yet ballsy spy master with impeccable delicacy and vigorous energy.

Sam Mendes stamps his authority all over ‘Skyfall’. It’s without doubt one of his greatest cinematic achievements and the way in which he chose to shoot the film’s grand finale is nothing short of breathtakingly brilliant. 

Though ‘Skyfall’ is Christopher Nolanesque in its retrospective examination of the man behind 007 , it adds a human side to James Bond . When in the end Bond looks at the city  we are so much reminded of Batman when he looks at his Gotham city . Bond even says, “A storm is coming,” while revisiting his past . 

Real Bond lovers must read this article - James Bond: Cars, catchphrases and kisses 
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-20026367

In a line, though the film doesn't takes us to a fantasy world , it gives us the basic James Bond who is determined to get back to the top of his game .

Don't compare the film with earlier Bond films and it comes out as a winner . Can be watched in theaters.

Chakravyuh - The web of corruption and dirty politics.

Release Date - 24'th October 2012

One Word which describes the film - 
Eye-opener 

Best  Dialogue –  'Hamare desh ki sabse badi samasya yahi hai ki gareebo ki kisi ko parvaah nahi hai '


Genre - Political Thriller 

Story -  Anjum Rajabali , Sagar Pandya 

Direction -    Prakash Jha

Producer –   Prakash Jha , Sunil Lulla 

Cast - Arjun Rampal , Abhay Deol , Manoj Bajpayee , Anjali Patil , Esha Gupta 

The film is woven around two friends with a backdrop of Naxalism  , one of the most dreaded problems in front of the Indian government.

Arjun Rampal is an honest cop who is posted in the Naxalite belt of Nandighat after a team of police men is killed in an  attack by rebels led by Manoj Bajpayee . This must be Arjun's best  performance .He looked  fit and smart and  has done justice to his role.

Abhay Deol is Arjun’s college friend who decides to help his friend by going under cover and helping his friend to destroy the Naxalite group . But, once into the camp, he faces the hard, ground reality. His character finds himself in the greatest dilemma of betraying his friend on the one hand and the Marxist ideology that he has developed in the course of his training at the camp on the other. 
There is a dialogue which describes the turning point in the relation ship of the friends 

'Agli baar jab ham milenge ,to hum dono main se ek hi ghar wapas jayega '  

After his epic character of Sardar Khan in Gangs of Wasseypur  ,Manoj Bajpayee has a very small role  in this film . Both his and  Om Puri's character though are significant  ,are not given much attention in the film's script .

Esha Gupta had just 2-3 scenes in the films .Guess she was taken in the film to add some glamour, thanks to her uncanny resemblance to Angelina Jolie. 

Anjali as a Naxalite has given a very powerful performance . We can feel the anger for the rich industrialists and government in her eyes . She believes that only the  Naxalites can help the poor tribal people and get them their rights . 

The item song by Sameera Reddy was the most unwanted part in the film. 

The film started in a neutral way but after interval it started justifying the actions of the Naxalites by showing the bond between the corrupt politicians , greedy industrialists and  immoral police men . I agree that whatever was shown in the film is very close to the reality but if everyone starts picking a gun there will be no law and order left in the society . 

The film ends with this eye opening line that 
' Chamakte Bharat ki yahi sacchai hai ki desh ki 25 % income  , 100 parivaron ke paas hai aur adhe se jyada logon ko 70 rs main guzara karna padta hai.'

In a line Chakravyuh gives you an exact picture of the severe problem of Naxalism India faces and though it doesn't claim to provide  any solution , creating awareness is the main concern of the Director. 
It's surely not for kids and provides very less entertainment . Watch in theater only if you have a taste for hard hitting realistic films.