Can Dangal get India the much-desired Oscar award?

Release date- 23rd December 2016

One Word which describes the film- Motivational

Best Dialogue- "Agar silver jeeti toh aaj nahi toh kal log tanne bhool javenge. Gold jeeti to misaal ban javegi , aur misaalein di jaati hai beta, bhooli nahi jaati."

Genre- Biographical Sports Drama

Music- Pritam

Producer- Aamir Khan, Kiran Rao, Siddhart Roy Kapoor

Story & Direction- Nitesh Tiwari

Cast- Aamir Khan, Sakshi Tanwar, Fatima Sana Shaikh, Sanya Malhotra, Aparshakti Khurrana, Zaira Wasim, Vivan Bhatena

Budget- 80 Crores approximately (excluding Aamir Khan's remuneration)


India has submitted films for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film since 1957. Out of the 49 films submitted over the years only 3 have been able to make it to the nominated list. Mother India(1957) directed by Mehboob Khan, Salaam Bombay(1988), directed by Mira Nair and Lagaan(2001), directed by Ashutosh Gowariker. Neither of the three managed to win the Oscar.

Dangal is a true story based on the life of Mahavir Singh and his two daughters, Geeta and Babita Phogat. The film traces the inspirational journey of a father who trains his daughters to become world class wrestlers.

Ever since Amir Khan was seen in his 98 kg avtar of an old man with greying hair there has been too much buzz for the film. In today's time when a film is completed in a period of 6-7 months, Amir Khan took 6 months just to gain 25 kgs.
During the time he was gaining weight he was also undergoing training from Kripa Shankar Patel, who is one of India's national coaches for wrestling.

In a You Tube Video Amir Khan said,"Putting on the weight was fun as I could eat and drink whatever I wanted. I had a ball, I have to say but it was uncomfortable. My wrestling training was affected because I was carrying so much weight and I couldn't move fast. You know, your breathing changes when you put on weight. Your whole body language changes, the way you walk, the way you sit, the way you try to stand up".

In October, the film's first trailer was released. In the 3 minutes trailer we got to see so many emotions, like a father's wish to have a son who could fulfill his dream of winning gold for India and how after an incident he realizes that a gold medal can be won even by a girl.
"Mai hamesha yo soch ke rota raya ki chhora hota to desh ke liye kushti mai gold lata, yo baat meri samajh mai nahi ayi ki gold to gold hota hai, chhora lave ya chhori."
After a month, Aamir Khan released a "fat to fit" video where it was shown how he lost weight to shoot the part of a younger Mahavir, who was a national wrestling champion and dreams of winning a gold medal for India at the Olympics.
From the starting, Amir Khan marketed Dangal as a film focusing on Women Empowerment. The first poster of the film had him surrounded by his daughters with the tag line, "mahri chhoriya chhoro se kam hai ke".
All the supporting characters of Dangal were selected after a round of auditions. 
Amir's mother who had seen various TV serials of Sakshi Tanvar suggested her name for the role of Mahavir's wife.
Dangal's music is in keeping with the film's theme. The title song sung by Daler Mehendi is very energetic and inspirational. Recently we also saw Amir Khan's version of 'Dhaakad' where he was dancing to the hit number.
Amir Khan has been creating new records since he acted in 3 Idiots in 2009. His last film PK, is the highest grosser of Bollywood, earning more than 700 Crores worldwide.
Dangal is being released in around 4300 screens in India and 1000 screens abroad.
Amir's films never need any reviews because of his image of a perfectionist. Every one who has seen the film has loved it, so the only questions which are left unanswered are
1. Will Dangal break PK's earning record?
2. Will it manage to get India the much-desired Oscar?

Wajah Tum Ho~ 50 Shades of Boredom

Release date- 16th December 2016

One Word which describes the film- Boring

Lamest Dialogue- "Qatil koi aur hi hai. Yeh pata lagane mein hi toh is vardi ki shaan hai, varna vardiyan toh kiraye pe bhi milti hai."

Genre- Crime Thriller 

Music- Mithoon, Meet Bros

Producer- Bhushan Kumar, Krishan Kumar

Story- Sameer Arora

Direction- Vishal Pandya

Cast- Sharman Joshi, Sana Khan,Gurmeet Chaudhary, Rajneesh Duggal, Prarthana Behere, Himanshoo Malhotra

Budget- 15-20 Crores approximately

Wajah Tum Ho was advertised as a thriller from the makers of Hate Story 2 & 3. However, the film failed to generate the same kind of excitement as the director's earlier two films.

The film is about a person who hacks a TV channel and streams a murder on it. The idea was quite new but the way it was executed clearly told us that the director was as clueless about hacking as any of us.

The erotic thriller genre was reinvented in 2004 when Anurag Basu gave us Murder which also popularized Emran Hashmi as the serial kisser of Bollywood. Since then the idea has been exploited a lot by film makers but very few have been able to hit the bull's eye.

The film starts with a murder followed by an  investigation scene between a cop and the TV channel owner. Before we can blink our eyes, we are taken to some exotic location where Sana Khan is being romanced (rather smooched)  by one hero, on the recreated version of Pal Pal Dil Ke Paas, sung by Arijit Singh.

Some scenes later we get to see Zarine Khan doing a pole dance/ slithering on the recreated version of  'Maahi Ve', looking extremely fat, making us think of the gorgeous Malaika Arora in the original song from Kaante.

As if this much torture was not enough next we see Sherlyn Chopra too, who is trying to make her presence felt in Bollywood since the last 11 years. She tries to seduce one of the heroes in the swimming pool with Armaan Malik singing the recreated version of 'Aise na mujhe tum dekho' from Darling Darling(1977).

Sana Khan who has been doing small roles since 2005, gets her first protagonist role and she has totally sabotaged any chance of getting another film again. In most of the scenes she kept shouting in loud voice as if she was still in the Big Boss's house. There was no chemistry in the kissing scenes which she must have readily agreed to do because of the script's demand. Her dialogue delivery was bad and in one scene she also says, "I likes" which sounded unintentionally funny.

Rajneesh Duggal had a promising debut in 2008 with Vikram Bhatt's, 1920, but since then he has given only flops. In this film also his character does nothing except saying some lame dialogues and hitting on girls. He stays expressionless throughout the film.   

Gurmeet Chaudhary was added to encash on his TV popularity. He gets to romance Sana Khan on various occasions but the two have no chemistry and so they fail to generate any interest.

Sharman Joshi as ACP Kabir is the only saving grace of the film. He tries to put some sense in the film with his acting but his character is made to say lame lines like 
"Himmat tab mat dikhao jab aasaan ho" or "Revenge, you have many faces". Most of the time he's either talking to himself or just happens to solve the crime by chance. His subordinate, Asst Inspector Gaitonde is always smiling as if he gets some secret pleasure in beating criminals.

While watching the film one feels as if the director made it in utter laziness. There are 5-6 characters and by the end each of them is somehow linked to the murders. The film keeps oscillating between the murders and the erotic songs  which makes us wonder why the film was made in the first place.

In a scene Sana Khan asks a lady, "Are you really going to sleep with this rapist?" to which she answers ,"Will you pay my bills?".
Guess the director too thought that making this film was an easy way to mint money but sometimes even the best laid plans go askew.

The film was released in 2000 screens and because of bad reviews and poor word of mouth it collected around 8 Crores which was even lesser than the first day collection of Hate Story 3.

In a line, the only purpose of making this was to encash on the success of last year's mega hit Hate Story 3, but the audience was wise enough to ignore this booty trap.

Highly Avoidable.

Befikre- Emotion in motion

Release date- 9th December 2016

One Word which describes the film- Raunchy

Best Dialogue-
Dharam-"Palatne nahi wala hai."
Shyra- "Palatne ka wait to 90's mein karte the log. I was just checking out his ass."

Genre- Rom-com

Music- Vishal- Shekhar

Producer- Aditya Chopra

Story/ Screenplay/ Direction- Aditya Chopra

Cast- Ranveer Singh, Vaani Kapoor 

Budget- 70 Crores ( Including P & A) 

Aditya Chopra made his directorial debut in 1995 with Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, which till now continues to run in Maratha Mandir, Mumbai. He followed with Mohabbatein (2008) and Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (2008).

Befikre is his most daring and will surely turn out to be the least profitable venture.
Since the first poster of Befikre came out on 9th April, we were in no doubt on what the film was about. Aditya Chopra continued to tantalize us every month with similar posters and thus creating a good buzz among the youth for the film. The trailer was equally 'youth-friendly' with both the stars smooching at every opportunity and roaming around in bare minimums.

The film started with the song 'Labon ka Karobaar' where everyone is daring enough to kiss their loved ones. The story is about Dharam, who comes to Paris to work as a stand-up comedian in his friend's restaurant. Shyra is a carefree girl who works as a tour guide and on weekends helps her parents run their restaurant. They meet at a party and sparks fly.
The whole film is shot in Paris and beautifully captures the charm of the city.

Ranveer Singh is known for his energy and Aditya Chopra said in an interview that he wrote the character with Ranveer in mind. He's funny, he's naughty and throughout the film manages to entertain us.

Vaani Kapoor made her debut through YRF's Shuddh Desi Romance in 2013. She was in a total 'desi' look in the film. How, Aditya Chopra envisioned her as the hot and bold 'Shyra' is beyond imagination. In her washboard abs and firangi accent she looks like a mixture of Katrina Kaif and Nargis Fakhri. Her unconventional looks and brazen character is a little shocking in the start but by the end of the film we get used to her, even loving her chemistry with Dharam as they indulge in a sensuous dance.

Aditya Chopra has made a film, keeping a certain age group in mind, youngsters who are not ready to commit or are afraid of being in a relationship, and they are loving the film. There are several references to DDLJ in the film, showing Aditya's love for his first project. Dharam's character is a lot like "Bittoo" of Band Baja Baraat.
The film has earned almost 50 Crores in a week which is a good figure but considering the names and marketing involved, not very impressive. Dangal is going to release next week and so the film may end around 80-85 Crores.

Music is average and none of the song is melodious enough to be heard on loop.

In a line, there are love stories and then there are stories with lots of love making scenes and Befikre surely falls in the second category.
Time-pass. Can be seen in theaters for Ranveer Singh's energy.

Kahaani2- Durga Raani Singh

Release date- 2nd December 2016

One Word which describes the film- Dramatic

Best Dialogue- "Jo raaz raaz rehne the, wo aaj mujhe phir kholne honge." 

Genre- Thriller

Music- Clinton Cerejo

Producer- Sujoy Ghosh, Jayantilal Gada

Story & Direction- Sujoy Ghosh

Cast- Vidya Balan, Arjun Rampal, Jugal Hansraj

Budget- 30-35 Crore approximately


Kahaani was made on a budget of 8 Crores and it earned almost 70 Crores at the box office, making it one of the super-hit films of 2012.
After 4 years we get another film of the same franchisee but this time the director has failed to recreate the same success story.

Initially, Durga Rani Singh was intended to be a standalone film starring Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, but later the makers made it as a sequel to Kahaani, starring Vidya Balan.
I think this was the biggest mistake as Kahaani is known for its suspense which kept the audience rooted to their seats till the end. This film was made in an entirely different way with events happening one after another and till interval any person of average IQ could have guessed what was going to happen next. The predictability factor disappointed the audience and most of them came out of the theater saying that though the film is good it's no match to the original "Kahaani".

Vidya Balan is perfect for the role of Durga. Her acting is flawless. The way she expresses the anguish, disappointment, pain and anxiety is so real that she manages to keep us involved in the story till the end.

Arjun Rampal looks fit and smart. As his character supports the main character, his acting is subtle and he has managed to give a decent performance.

Jugal Hansraj makes his comeback as an actor but his acting is average and he doesn't looks very convincing in his role.  

Lighting is one of the most critical aspects of a film. In most of the scenes the lighting is so less that we couldn't appreciate the beauty of the surroundings.

The film was released in 1250 screens and it managed to get an opening of just 4.5 Crores. With YRF'S Befikre occupying almost 60% screens next week, it'll be a task for the film to even make a lifetime collection of 30 Crores.

In a line, though the story is quite predictable, it can be seen for Vidya Balan's excellent acting.
Time-pass

Moh Maya Money~ In greed we trust

Release date- 25th Nov 2016

One Word which describes the film- Intriguing 

Best Dialogue-"Risk Hai To Profit Hai Na Yaar. Maroge Nahin To Swarg Kaise Jaoge?"

Genre- Crime/ Thriller

Music- Tuomas Kantelinen

Producer- Sandeep Narula

Story- Munish Bhardwaj, Mansi Nirmal Jain

Direction- Munish Bhardwaj

Cast- Ranvir Shorey, Neha Dhupia, Vidushi Mehra, 

Budget- 5 Crores approximately

Moh Maya Money is the story of a real-estate broker Aman Mehra who is fed up of his middle class existence and aspires to become rich by hook or crook. He is overambitious and believes in doing all kind of deals whether in cash or cheque, black or white just to fulfill his greed. His motto in life is, "Ek Baar Bank Mein Paise Aa Gaye To Wapis Nahin Jaate, Adjust Ho Jaate Hain". Ranvir Shorey portrays the role of a Delhite effortlessly.
Neha Dhupia plays the role of Aman's wife. Her character looks simple and satisfied but afterwards we get to see shades of grey.  

The story is shown first from  Aman's perspective and then from his wife's perspective. There are too many twists which keep the viewers engrossed in the story. The climax will surprise you.

Munish Bharadwaj makes his directorial debut with the film. In this current scenario of demonetisation this white collar crime story is not only relevant but also fills us with nostalgia when we see Ranvir Shorey lying down on a bed with bundles of 500 and 1000 spread all around him.

The film was supposed to release on 11 th Nov along with Rock On 2 but because of the demonetization news it was postponed. As it was released along with the much publicized Dear Zindagi, it got very less screens. Many people are not even aware of it because of the less advertising budget.
In a line the film is about the desperate measures you take when your greed lands you knee deep in trouble.

Time pass.

Dear Zindagi ~ "Sleepless in Goa"

Release date- 25th November 2016

One Word which describes the film- Exaggerated

Best Dialogue- "Life mai jab koyi pattern ya adat bante hue dikhayi de to uske baare mai acche se sochna chahiye. Genius is about knowing when to stop."

Genre- Drama

Music- Amit Trivedi

Producer- Gauri Khan, Gauri Shinde, Karan Johar

Story & Direction- Gauri Shinde

Cast- Alia Bhatt, Shahrukh Khan, Kunal Kapoor, Ali Zafar, Angad Bedi

Budget- 45 Crores including P&A

After watching Dear Zindagi, I read some reviews of famous critics which made me wonder that did they see the same film as us. Whereas most of the people with us were getting restless about how the film went on and on and how some even walked out after interval, the critics couldn't stop talking about how handsome and down to earth SRK looked as Jahangir Khan, or how the film has easily recovered it's production cost cause of it's low budget and selling of distribution rights to a single company.

An average movie goer has no interest in knowing about the economics of a film. He/she is only interested in the entertainment, informational or motivational value of the film.

Gauri Shinde made her directional debut with the highly acclaimed English Vinglish(2012). In her next film Dear Zindagi she tells about Kiara who is having problems in her life and so she decides to visit a 'dimaag ka doctor'.
If this visit to a shrink was just an episode in the film as was in '2 States' where Arjun Kapoor because of the complexities of his relationships couldn't sleep, the film could have been interesting. Sadly Dear Zindagi is 75% about the long conversations between Shahrukh Khan and Alia Bhatt and how he makes her come to terms with her life, which almost everyone in the audience found too monotonous and boring.

There are three heroes in the films but instead of playing any significant roles they just come in 2-3 scenes and then disappear.

Then we have SRK playing the role of a psychiatrist who tells his patient that boyfriends are like chairs which is such a silly thought but is absolutely loved by the patient. Anyone who watches Koffee with Karan will agree that SRK is a smooth talker and he says everything with such sincerity that not only we believe it, we love listening to him too. But that's in a talk show. In a film we expect him to play a larger than life character, a lover, a father, a hockey coach or even his own fan.

Alia Bhatt is an excellent actress and she has perfectly portrayed the role of a confused girl. She is a natural performer but if she wants to be a part of the big league she has to do more main stream roles like Anushka Sharma or Deepika Padukone.

The film's basic problem is the lack of a proper story. It's more of a set of incidents where we sometimes see Kiara partying with her friends in a disco, or shouting at her parents, or flirting with any guy who hits on her. These scenes make her character look like a shallow girl than depressed.

There are some moments like when a talk between the protagonist and her doctor inspire us on how we must leave some memories for our kids or how we shouldn't let our past effect out future but they are so few that after an hour we couldn't wait for the film to finish.

The film is shot mostly in Goa and though there is lot of scenic beauty we wish that the director has worked a little more on the story too.
The film was released in 1200 screens and because of Shahrukh Khan managed to earn 8.75 Crores on it first day which is quite good. 

In a line, with talented actors like Shahrukh Khan and Alia Bhatt and no budget restraints, the director could have made a much better film which was high on entertainment quotient too.
Time-pass.

Tum Bin 2- Good Music, Bad film

Release date- 18th Nov 2016

One Word which describes the film- Monotonous

Best Dialogue- "Life mein joh hum chahte hai aur joh hum chunte hai, uske beech mein hamari kamzori chupi hoti hai, aur kabhi kabhi taqat."

Genre- Romance/ Drama

Music- Ankit Tiwary, Nikhil-Vinay

Producer- Bhushan Kumar, Anubhav Sinha

Story & Direction- Anubhav Sinha

Cast- Neha Sharma, Aashim Gulati, Aditya Seal

Budget- 20 Crores approximately including P & A

In 2001, Anubhav Sinha made his directorial debut with Tum Bin which was a surprise hit at the box office, even beating director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's debut film Aks in terms of collection. That a film starring newcomers did better than a film starring Amitabh Bachchan, Manoj Bajpai and Raveena Tandon was a big surprise for Anubhav Sinha and the film industry.
Guess even after 15 years Anubhav Sinha is still suffering from the hangover of Tum Bin's success.
Tum Bin 2 is definitely the most disappointing sequel which could have been made in the history of Indian cinema.
A sequel is used for a cinematic work which is complete in itself but continues the narrative of a preceding work. Tum Bin 2 looked like an attempt to relive the same story rather than telling us a new story.
The film started with the hit song 'Dekh Lena' sung by Arijit Singh where Neha Sharma and Aditya Seal are shown romancing in the beautiful snow covered Scotland. The film progresses and we get to see more scenic beauty, beautiful houses and streets.
The other hero Aashim Gulati appears and slowly the story starts following the footsteps of Tum Bin. Till interval the story barely manages to hold our interest but afterwards it becomes totally senseless and directionless.
In the start there was a certain chemistry in between the boy and girl but once the third boy enters the story, the film totally loses its plot and we wonder what the director is trying to show. 
We went with the expectation of a fresh love story but what we get to see is the same set of events, where even the main characters were named Shekhar and Amar. 
The item song featuring Mouni Roy and Neha Kakkar was a big disappointment too where Neha Kakkar looked like a fat overweight girl and Mouni Roy hardly got any screen space.
The director even tried to throw a random kiss here and there but by then the audience was so bored that it couldn't save the film.
Neha Sharma and Aashim Gulati are average. Aditya Seal looked good in pictures but the moment he opened his mouth he totally alienated the audience.
The first promo of the film had the hit song "Teri Fariyad" sung by Rekha Bhardwaj with portions from the original song sung by Jagjit Singh. It did create some buzz but music was unable to save a bad story which was made worse by the lecture kind of dialogues like "Life is a summer vacation, it's going to end".
The makers have to realise that in this digital age when there is so much free content in the form of web series, what worked earlier is not going to work now.
The film was released in 1200 screens and has collected less than 2 Crores in 2 days.
In a line, the film is a totally wasted attempt to cash on the success of Tum Bin and has been rejected by the audience.
Avoidable.

It’s Not That Simple. "Marriages are made in Heaven, or hell!"

Web series- It’s Not That Simple
Release Date- 6th October 2016
Genre- Drama
Produced by- Voot, Viacom 18’s streaming service
Director- Danish Aslam
Writer- Charudatt Acharya
Cast- Swara Bhaskar, Vivan Bhatena, Akshay Oberoi, Karanveer Mehra

It’s Not That Simple is a relationship drama that explores the complexities of urban marriages. The web-series is in the form of 6 episodes
Ep 1- Committed to Complicated 
Ep 2- Crossing the Line?
Ep 3- Meera learns to say NO!
Ep 4- Flirting with Fire
Ep 5- I know that you know
Ep 6- It's never that simple, nor will it ever be

Swara Bhaskar, who was last seen in Ashwini Iyer Tiwari’s directorial venture Nil Battey Sannata, makes her web debut through this bold series which deals with marriages, extramarital affairs, lust and relationships. The story is about a school reunion. When Meera meets her school friends, she realizes that life is more than just being a wife and a mother. You should do what makes you happy rather than trying to conform with the norms of the society.
The series starts with Meera going into a parlor and asking the girl for a bikini wax, to which the girl's response is, "Tum affair karne wali types to nahi lagti!" After this we are taken into flashback on how Meera's mundane life becomes happening and she becomes the center of attention of two guys along with her husband.

Swara Bhaskar is perfect for Meera's role. Her transformation from a frumpy housewife to a "femme fatale" looks effortless and realistic. Her character is unsure in the start but by the end she regains not only her lost confidence but also her self respect.

Karanveer Mehra suits the role of the self-centered husband. His dialogue delivery and comic timing is perfect. Despite being the series shown from a woman's point of view there are many scenes where you will feel sympathy for the husband too.

Akshay Oberoi plays the role of every woman's dream husband, a U.S. return gynecologist who doesn't mind staying at home to look after his kids. He's an honest and cool guy who believes in speaking the truth and facing the consequences. He has 'the guy next door' kind of charm and expresses with his eyes. After leaving impact in the film 'Laal Rang' and the short film "The Virgins", slowly and steadily he's making his presence felt in the film industry.

Vivan Bhatena plays the role of Meera's school crush. He knows women find him wild and in a dialogue even tells Meera that he finds being objectified hot. His character even says some inspiring lines about how every woman in her lifetime should once ride a 'Harley' and how overthinking is a woman's biggest enemy.

Danish Aslam has been an assistant director in many big films and has also directed Break ke baad(2010), so this series also has a film kind of feel. As the events unfold one after the other you will come to like some character or hate some. Every episode deals with a topic and then ends with the viewer craving to know what happened next. I saw all the episodes one after another and there was hardly any dull moment there. 

Most of the filmmakers run into trouble with the Censor Board if their film has excessive sexual content, nudity, abusive content or even violence. Digital content does not have to face the strict censorship guidelines that filmmakers are forced to follow. The story is meant for the adult audience still there are no scenes or dialogues which could be termed as cheap or vulgar.
In a line, if you can watch the series without judging the characters then you are in for some fun and entertainment.