Nil Battey Sannata~ 0/0 is undefined and so is a Mother's Love💝

Release date- 22nd April 2016

One Word which describes the film- Heart-warming

Best Dialogue-.'Wo apne sapne tumpar nahi thop rahi, uska to sapna hi tum ho.'

Genre- Comedy/ Drama

Music- Benedict Taylor and Naren Chandravarkar

Producer- Anand L. Rai, Ajay Rai and Alan McAlex. 

Story & Screenplay- Pranjal Choudhary, Neeraj Singh, Ashwini Iyer Tiwari 

Direction-Ashwini Iyer Tiwari

Cast- Swara Bhaskar, Ria Shukla, Ratna Pathak, Pankaj Tripathi, Sanjay Suri

Budget- 7-8 Crores approximately

The film is about a matric-fail Chanda who wants her daughter to study and make a career for herself. 

Her daughter is fun loving and manages to get just enough marks to get promoted to the next class. She has no goals and thinks that poor people have no right to dream. She argues and fights with her mother, even calling her a loser.

How with the help of her loved ones Chanda manages to change her daughter's outlook towards life, is not only inspirational, it will also bring tears to your eyes. 

Swara Bhaskar as the desperate mother who has run out of all options will make you sympathise with her. Her maternal love is such that she is ready to go to any extent to make her daughter's future.

Ratna Pathak Shah plays the role of an employer, adviser and guide very efficiently. She's confident and in simple lines she makes the other person believe that everything is possible through hard work .

Ratna~ Insaan do cheezo se banta hai ya to kismat ya mehnat.
Swara~ Gareeb ke paas kismat hoti to wo gareeb thode hi hota.
Ratna~ To bachi mehnat, wohi karni padegi.
We remember Pankaj Tripathi as the ruthless Sultan Qureshi in Gangs of Wasseypur. Here, he is the discipline loving principle who also teaches Maths to students. He jokes with students and appreciates them when they perform well. His dialogue, "Bachhho duswi ke parinaam ye bata dete hain ki kaun lambi race ka ghoda hai aur kaun khacchar", will surely bring a smile on your face. 

The film is tax-free in U.P. and Delhi and has received positive word of mouth both by the audiences and critics. 
In a line, there are inspirational films with strong messages and then there are films which are sweet and without even trying to teach you, they touch your heart and leave their mark.
Good one time watch. Parents must take their kids along with them.

Laal Rang~ 'The colour of Blood'

Release date- 22nd  April 2016

One Word which describes the film- Eye-opening

Best Dialogue- 'Saare kaam achhe ya bure imandari se karne chahiye.'

Genre- Thriller/ Drama

Music- Vipin Patwa

Producer-Nitika Thakur

Story-Syed Ahmad Afzal, Pankaj Matta

Direction- Syed Ahmad Afzal

Cast- Randeep Hooda, Akshay Oberoi, Piaa Bajpai, Rajniesh Duggall, Meenakshi Dixit

Budget- 10 Crore approximately 

So many small budget films are being made these days that more than half of the people haven't even heard their names, let alone watch them. Even I had no idea what this film was about until I started watching it. 
The film started with this narrative, 'Mujhe Shankar ne ek bar kaha tha ke hum insan sadhe panch litre khoon se bhare putle hain jinhe ek 250 gram ka dil fresh rakhta hai ! Ye kahani usi khuni dil ki hai.'
The story is set in Karnal and deals with the illegal trade of blood. 
We are told by a blood bank employee, 'जो ब्लड लेन आवे वो रिप्लेसमेंट भी लावे'.The total illegal trade starts when the patient's family or relatives are not willing to donate blood but are ready to pay a price for it.
The film is about a time and place where  Yamaha RX100 is considered to be ' The Bike', even saying to the extent, 'chori ko pata lag jaye ki RX100 hai, to phir chori chori na rahe.' Don't know how the current BMW and Hayabusa generation will relate to it.
In 2005, Randeep Hooda came into limelight with Ram Gopal Varma's gritty gangster film D. Since then he has impressed both the critics and audiences with his acting in Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai(2010), Saheb, Biwi Aur Gangster (2011), Jannat 2(2012), Jism 2(2012), Highway(2014) and Kick (2014). He is the most under-rated actor of current times. As Shankar, he's the life and soul of the film and from the first shot till the end he keeps the viewer's engrossed in his character. He looks young and carefree in his sleeveless ganjis and shaded aviators and flirts like a pro. Later he turns into a heartless guy who beats his competitors black and blue and tells them, 'Jiska khoon, uska area.'
Akshay Oberoi, who is known more for being Vivek Oberoi's cousin than his films, plays the role of a young boy who doesn't want to follow the footsteps of his father who is a clerk. He is besotted by Shankar's charm, popularity and magnetism to the extent that he doesn't mind telling him, 'Bhai tum mujhe pehle kyon nahi mile.' His innocence is quite refreshing.
Piaa Bajpai as the small town girl who uses Rapidex English is cute. She has a small role but manages to leave an impression.
Rajneesh Duggal who made his debut in horror film 1920(2008), is seen as a ruthless Haryanvi police man who wants to clean the city of the illegal trade. His body language and accent is perfect and he creates fear when he threatens people by saying,"Yadi koi pakda gaya to Bhartiya samvidhan ki kasam uska to main Chamgadad sa bana dunga "

Director, Syed Ahmad Afzal made his debut through  Youngistaan (2014).This film deals with a more sensitive issue. Though he has-co written the story and screenplay, the film keeps on straying from one topic to another. In one scene the character is shown as a careless Romeo and in the next a heart-broken guy. After interval the story just goes on without any real thrill and the climax is rushed.

The film, like last week's release 'Fan' received immense competition from 'The Jungle Book' and collected just 2-3 crores in 3 days which indicates a lifetime collection of 6- 7 crores.

In a line though the film covers a very hard hitting topic, the rural backdrop and simple characters may not appeal to the multiplex audience.

If you are a fan of Randeep Hooda you must watch it. Time-pass.

'To be or not to be, a Fan'

Release date- 15th April 2016

One Word which describes the film- Overblown

Best Dialogue-“Rehn de. Tu nahin samjhega." 

Genre- Drama/ Thriller

Music-Vishal–Shekhar

Producer-Aditya Chopra

Story & Direction-Maneesh Sharma

Screenplay & Dialogue-Habib Faisal

Cast- Shah Rukh Khan, Shriya Pilgaonkar, Waluscha de Sousa, Sayani Gupta,

Budget- 85 Crores approximately

Over the years I have seen all Shahrukh Khan films within a day or two of their release mostly in fully packed theaters. So the almost empty theater with just 7-8 people in the audience took me by surprise. Where were SRK's die-hard fans when their star had given them a film where he was not only the sun but also the planet which revolves around it.
I was really very impressed by the first half. We have a 25 year old Delhi boy who is a die hard fan of superstar Aryan Khanna. The boy is  energetic, simple hearted, full of enthusiasm and his only aim in life is to meet his idol.

Onscreen it's a miracle to see the shy boy turn into a confident man when he tries to copy the famous scenes of the star. But in reality how Shahrukh transforms himself into a young boy who even claps and jumps up and down in joy when he is excited is commendable. There is no trace of the star though you may be reminded of the young SRK from Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman(1992) or Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa(1994).   
In an interview director Manish Sharma said that converting a 50 year old man to a 25 year old boy was physically draining task. 'After three-and-a-half hours of make-up I had to shoot with an actor with 32 VFX markers on his face required for the post-production work. What we were seeing on the monitor during the shoot was not going to be there eventually. I had to say okay to a take imagining how it would look like after four months of post-production.'

The character of Aryan Khanna fails to measure up to the character of the Fan. Till the time the film focuses on the fan,it's a delight to watch but as the lives of the fan and the star starts entwining with each other it starts becoming too melodramatic, over the top and unrealistic.
Like we wonder why when the star should have met the fan alone he sends a team for him and later when he should have tackled him with a team he decides to meet him alone even saying,'Ab mai use apna asli chehra dikhaunga, Dilli wala'.
When the star's PA tells him, 'Sanki hai wo' his answer is , 'Accha, to mai kya hoon?' So when in the second half both the star and fan are out to prove who is more 'sanki', we wonder when will this mad chase end and what are we going to gain by watching them run after each other first in London, then in Dubrovnik, then in Mumbai and finally in Delhi.

The writer and director spend years on thinking about a subject and then converting that thought into a film but the audience gets just 2 hours to decide whether they like the film or not. So when director Manish Sharma says that the only film he ever wanted to make was 'Fan' we trust him but we as audience still feel that it's surely not that one SRK film which anyone would love to watch anytime.
The film was released in 3500 screens and despite positive reviews the film managed to collect just 53 crores over the weekend which is quite less considering it's big budget.
The film has just one song which was only made for promotional purposes and is not part of the film.
In a line, when the film has just two characters and in more than half of the film both are unhappy how can the audience feel happy after watching them?

Time-pass. Can be seen for the entertaining first half.

The Jungle Book ~ Welcome to the Jungle!

Release date(UK/ U.S.A./ Canada) - 15th April 2016

One Word which describes the film- Enchanting

Best Dialogue- 'If you can't learn to run with the pack, one of these days you'll be someone's dinner.' 

Genre- Fantasy/Adventure

Music- John Debney, Vishal Bhardwaj (composed the song jungle jungle baat chali hai especially for release in India )

Producer- Jon Favreau, Brigham Taylor

Story-The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling

Direction-Jon Favreau

Cast- Neel Sethi as Mowgli, Nana Patekar (Sher Khan), Om Puri (Bagheera), Irrfan Khan (Baloo), Shefhali Shah (Raksha), Priyanka Chopra (Kaa),

Budget- 175 million $ ( 1165 Crores approx)

The Jungle Book is an action adventure tale of Mowgli, a man-cub who's been raised by a family of wolves. Mowgli's peaceful life is threatened when Sher Khan promises to kill him. Mowgli embarks on a captivating journey with Bagheera and meets the fun loving bear Baloo. He also meets a python whose seductive voice and gaze can hypnotize anyone and the gigantic King Louie.

This is surely a larger than life film. The ruined temple where we see an obese orang-utan, the terrifying landslides, or the buffalo stampedes take us into a mesmerizing tour of the jungle which leave us enchanted and thrilled.  

Principal photography took place entirely in sound stages at Los Angeles Center Studio. The animal characters were created entirely in key frame computer animation with the assistance of footage of real animal movement, the actors recording their lines, and performance capture for reference. Neel Sethi, the film's only real character has given a remarkable performance. In Hindi version for the way Mowgli uses his brain to tackle problems, the word 'jugaad' is used which got many claps from the audiences. Nana Patekar did the voice over in deep menacing tones where as Irfan Khan was bright and jovial making us laugh in every scene. Priyanka Chopra's voice was the most unrecognizable. 

Around 1,000 remote jungle locations in India were photographed and used as reference in post-production.

The film collected 74 Crores in a week in India which is huge considering Kapoor and sons collected similar amount in 3 weeks and Ki and Ka has collected just 50 crores in 2 weeks.

It will open in key markets like China, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, UK, Brazil, Mexico, Canada, and the United States today and predictions are that it will get a 400 crores plus opening.

In a line, while growing up all of you must have seen 'The Jungle Book' serial on Doordarshan , so this time take your kids along with you and relive those memories.

Good one time watch.

Love Games~ Bad Boys need love too!

Release date- 8th April 2016

One Word which describes the film- Raunchy

Best Dialogue- “Karte raho pyar use, I don’t care, par jab bhi main tumhe mere pas bulau to aate rehna”

Genre- Erotic Thriller

Music- Sangeet-Siddharth

Producer- Mukesh Bhatt, Bhushan Kumar

Story & Direction-Vikram Bhatt

Cast- Patralekha, Tara Alisha Berry, Gaurav Arora,
Hiten Tejwani

Budget- 10-15 Crores

The inherent appeal of an erotic thriller is in the fact that it's bold and sensational and is designed with the intention of titillating the audience and taking them to a dangerous world of fantasy and desires. Since years Hollywood is making big money through erotic thrillers, Fatal Attraction (1987) Basic Instinct (1992), Cruel  Intentions (1999),  Unfaithful (2002) etc. 
So basically this genre is not about script or screenplay. It's about the scenes which come to your mind when you recall the film. Basic Instinct is synonymous with the famous interrogation scene where Sharon Stone uncrosses and crosses her legs.

This urban erotica starts and ends with this line~
'Roses are red, violets are blue..sex can be dangerous, but love can be too.'
Patralekha plays the role of a scheming nymphomaniac who is addicted to winning, cocaine and love games. She plays the femme fatale who is out to seduce all and sundry, provided they are rich enough to attend Page 3 parties. She seems comfortable in all the scenes and snorts cocaine like a pro. What she lacks in the dialogue delivery department she makes up with her glamour and body language.
Gaurav Arora is a ramp model who is making his debut with this film. He is the rich guy who is Patralekha's partner in crime in every way. He has a great body and manages to give a decent performance. 
Tara Alisha Berry looks cute and pretty but has few scenes to show her acting capabilities.

A month back before the you tube trailer release, Mahesh Bhatt  tweeted, 'Catch your breath for a second and look what is about to hit you!' The film has certain scenes which have shock value but they end before the audience can get any real voyeuristic pleasure.

Following the current trend, Vikram Bhatt promoted the film a lot on Twitter even saying that it's inspired from his life story. He created a hashtag for it #LoveGamesGyaan. In fact some of the gyaan given by him on Twitter is wittier than some scenes in the film. 

1. Roses are red, violets are blue, you might think it's love, but it's lust using you.

2. Roses are red, violets are blue, if she says sex was 'different', dude you have a lot of work to do!

3. Roses are red, violets are blue, behind every gorgeous woman, there is a bored man too!

4. Roses are red, violets are blue, if you screw trouble, trouble will screw you.

5. Roses are red, violets are blue, there is always a kinky fantasy, she is hiding from you.

6. Roses are red, violets are blue, when you find the angel, the bitch will follow too.

7. Roses are red, violets are blue, doing her and thinking of him, you've some coming out to do!

8. Roses are red, violets are blue, if she says she's 'tied up', it could mean literally too.

9. Roses are red, violets are blue, you'll rarely have the hots, on who has the hots for you!

10. Roses are red, violets are blue, if she's cheating on him, she'll cheat on you!

Reportedly, the Censor Board had a problem with the many cuss words, long kissing scenes and a few drug-addiction scenes and therefore had asked for 18 cuts but finally approved the film with an Adults only certificate.

Music by the duo Sangeet- Siddhart is melodious and almost all the songs have repeat value. There are seven English songs used as background tracks, the lyrics of which are penned by none other than Vikram Bhatt. 
The film earned just 1 crore on Friday which is dismal considering the publicity on social networking sites and TV promos. The film may barely manage to recover it's budget.

In a line it's surely not one of the best erotic thrillers one may come across but if you like this genre you will not be bored.

Time-pass.