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.