Happy Bhag Jayegi~ An opportunity missed is an opportunity lost

Release date- 19th Aug
2016

One Word which describes the film- Perplexing

Best Dialogue- ‘Kaisa desh hai, yahan bandook ke bina baat karo to koi sunta hi nahi hai.'

Genre- Romantic Comedy

Music- Sohail Sen

Producer- Anand L. Rai, Krishika Lulla

Story & Direction- Mudassar Aziz

Cast- Diana Penty, Abhay Deol, Jimmy Shergill, Ali Fazal, Momal Sheikh, Piyush Mishra

Budget- 15-20 Crores approximately

In 2010 Mudassar Aziz made his directorial debut through Dulha Mil Gaya. This is his second film as a director. He is also the story writer and the lyricist of the film.

The film has an interesting list of characters. There is a reluctant bride, a corporator, a struggling musician, a reluctant politician, a dominating fiancee, an angry father and some other characters playing the role of friends and family members.

The story starts when Happy escapes from her wedding and jumps into a wrong truck which is going to Pakistan along with a minister's convoy.

Jimmy Shergill makes a grand entry when he copies Sunny Deol's dance moves in "Yaara o  yaara" song. He tells the bride's father,'Ek corporator hokar ministero wale kharche kiye hai aur hua kya?' His character has dark shades and he has done full justice to the role.

Abhay Deol plays the role of a politician's son. His father expects him to be a game changer and change the history of Pakistan. His feelings keep changing and he keeps us confused too. When he says, 'Madhubala ke to hazaro chahne wale the, fark isse padta hai ki Madhubala kise chahti thi', we expect some sparks to follow but nothing happens. 

Diana Penty makes her comeback through this film. Initially her scenes made us laugh but afterwards the humor becomes repetitive. She has no on- screen chemistry with any of the three male leads and so the audience get no chance to fall in love with her character.   

Ali Fazal's character is the weakest link of the film. He's so in awe of Happy that for him the sun rises and sets with her. In one scene when he is telling another character, 'Happy karodo mein ek hai aur jo use jaan leta hai wo use pyar kiye bina nahi reh pata', we wonder if he's actually in love with her or just an ardent fan.

Piyush Mishra as ACP Afridi is the most hilarious character of the film. His comic timing is perfect. Whether it's his expressions or his explanation on the usage of urdu words, whenever he comes on the screen he makes us laugh.

Pakistani actress Momal Sheikh makes her Bollywood debut with this film. She's average and fails to leave any impression.

Music by Sohail Sen (son of Samir Sen) is good. Zara si Dosti and Tera Aashiq songs are quite melodious but they don't fit in the story.

The promos suggested the film to be inspired from the 1999 hit American Rom Com, Runaway Bride and it would have been better if the makers had just copied that story instead of presenting us with a story which goes nowhere.

The film has collected approximately 6 Crores in 2 days which is too less considering the production houses involved. It will be a difficult task for the film to even collect 20 Crores in the coming days.

In a line, because of the confusing story line and too many subplots, the talented actors fail to leave any impact and the film lost its entertainment value.
Time pass. Can be seen when is aired on TV. 

MOHENJO DARO~ There's nothing new under the sun.

Release date- 12th August 2016

One Word which describes the film- Uneventful

Best Dialogue- 'Antar hai, tujhe Mohenjo Daro pe raaj karna hai aur mujhe sevaa"

Genre- Period Drama/ Romance

Music- A. R. Rahman

Producer- Siddharth Roy Kapur, Sunita Gowariker

Story & Direction- Ashutosh Gowariker

Cast- Hrithik Roshan, Pooja Hegde, Kabir Bedi, Arunoday Singh 

Budget- 100 Crores approximately


Ashutosh Gowariker was first inspired to make a film set in the ancient Indus Valley civilization way back when he was in Bhuj, Gujarat, scouting locations for his then-upcoming Lagaan (2001), and stumbled across the massive excavations in progress at the ruins of Dholavira.
Over the years he must have thought a lot about his dream project, the ancient city, its inhabitants and their life styles, as a lot of hard work and planning is visible in the larger than life sets, the different seals, the statues, the depiction of the 2016 BC era.

The film starts with the famous crocodile fight and the people talking in some different language. Slowly the language starts resembling hindi with just few new words here and there like sapina (dream), janawar(animal), son(gold), turinto(immediately) and hamalkhor.
As the film progresses, the story starts resembling any other typical Bollywood film,where boy sees girl and tries to woo her.
There is a grand set made of a market place where the director has tried to show people from different countries coming for trade, but the characters are so stereotyped that it looks more like a fancy dress show.
Hrithik Roshan plays the role of an indigo farmer who sees unicorns in his dreams. He believes in honesty and justice. He is a born leader who unites the poor farmers and motivates them to fight for what is right.
"Jo muthhi ab tak khuli hui thi..usse band karne ka samay aa gya hai."
Pooja Hegde doesn't get much opportunity to show her acting skills. She is quite thin and wearing those elaborate headgears for hours must have been a task in itself.

The main problem of the film is that instead of focusing on the city as a whole the director has focused just on one individual. There is no team-representation, no grand sequences. If the director had to show a love story then why did he spent crores on making a big set even differentiating it into the upper city and lower city. The pace of the film from the starting itself is so slow that by the time it catches some speed most of the audience has already lost interest.  
A.R.Rehman's music is set according to the era but except 'Tu Hai', all other songs fail to leave any impact on the mind of the viewers.
The film has collected 18 Crores in two days and as it's getting fierce competition from Rustom, it will be a task for the film to even recover it's production cost.

In a line, with such a grand set and a talented actor like Hrithik Roshan the film could have been a magnum opus, it's sad that the director wasted this golden opportunity and chose to focus just on the central character's love story.

Time pass. Can be seen for Hrithik Roshan.

Rustom~ The man every woman wants.

Release date- 12th Aug 2016

One Word which describes the film- Charismatic 

Best Dialogue- 'Matlab baazi jeetne se hai ... phir chahe pyada qurbaan ho ya phir rani.'

Genre- Crime/Mystery

Music- Ankit Tiwari, Jeet Ganguly, Raghav Sachar, Arko Pravo Mukherjee

Producer- Neeraj Pandey, Aruna Bhatia,Nittin Keni

Based on- K. M. Nanavati v. State of Maharashtra

Direction- Tinu Suresh Desai

Cast- Akshay Kumar, Ileana D'Cruz, Arjan Bajwa
Esha Gupta, Pawan Malhotra, Sachin Khedekar

Budget- 50 Crores

Rustom is based on the famous Commander K. M. Nanavati vs. State of Maharashtra (1959) court case which received unprecedented media coverage and inspired several books and movies. The case was the last to be heard as a jury trial in India, as the government abolished jury trials.
The film is set in the 60s and despite the disclaimer that it's a work of fiction most of the story line and the characters are taken from the Nanavati case.
In the first half of the film we are introduced to the central characters who belong to the upper-class of Bombay. They drive the swankiest cars, drink the finest wine, are members of elite clubs and throw the most happening parties.
The second half is a court room drama between the judge, the public prosecutor, the defense attorney and the witnesses.
The full story revolves around Rustom and Akshay Kumar has given his best performance till date to bring life to the otherwise dull and predictable story.
Akshay Kumar is known either for his action or comedy roles. In this film he does neither. There is not a single scene where he gives the audiences' an adrenaline rush by doing some daring action stunt or makes us laugh till our stomachs ache, still by the time the film ends we are so enamored by Rustom that it seems that we can't get enough of him. As a decorated naval officer his look is just perfect. He delivers every single dialogue with such sincerity and confidence that we believe in him. We feel his frustration, his pain, his helplessness and anger. He's the perfect man, who even for his wife's mistakes, blames himself.

Pawan Malhotra as the investigating officer has done complete justice to his short but significant role. He's also in awe of Rustom and time and again tries to create a balance between what his mind tells and what his heart feels.
Ileana's character mainly had to look pretty and she has done a good job in getting the 60's look right. Her on- screen chemistry with both men is quite weak and no sparks fly when they are together.

Esha Gupta adds to the glamour quotient. In her sleazy dresses, perfectly coiffured hair and brightly painted bee-stung lips, she looks like the Indian version of Marilyn Monroe. She has very few dialogues and in most of the scenes she's either looking smoking-hot or smoking a cigarette.

Most of the songs of the film are melodious though they are not part of the film. 'Karam khudaya hai' and 'Tay Hai' can be heard on loop.

The film has collected almost 30 Crores in two days. Once the film crosses 100 Crores, Akshay Kumar will be the only actor to have given three 100 Crores plus films in a year.

In a line, though the film is a court room drama, the events unfold in a very interesting way and keep the viewers engrossed in the story till the end.

Must watch for Akshay Kumar fans. Good one time watch for others. 

Dishoom- Just another Bollywood Masala flick

Release date- 29th July 2016

One Word which describes the film- Masala entertainer

Best Dialogue- "Jab jab hamne aapse pyar karne ki kosish ki aapne apne daam badha liye."

Genre- Action

Music- Pritam

Producer-Sajid Nadiadwala
Sunil A Lulla

Story & Direction- Rohit Dhawan

Cast- John Abraham, Varun Dhawan, Akshaye Khanna, Jacqueline Fernandez, Saqib Saleem

Budget- 45-50 Crores approximately

Rohit Dhawan made his directorial debut through Desi Boyz in 2011. After 5 years we get another film from him which is just like his earlier film having all the elements supposed to be there in a Bollywood blockbuster like top stars, foreign locations, scantily dressed heroines, peppy dance numbers and big sets. But all these factors can not mask the fact that the film lacks an engaging screenplay which totally loses appeal in the second half. Like in the first film there is bromance between John and Varun. We have Pariniti in place of Bruna Abdullah doing a really bad item number 'Jaaneman Aah'. Like Sanjay Dutt did a really insignificant role of the owner of a Gigolo firm in Desi Boyz, here we have Akshay Kumar playing the role of a gay guy who is more interested in noticing Varun Dhawan's assets, even using the corny pickup line, 'Your father must have been a baker, cause you've got a nice set of buns'. 
Varun Dhawan and Akshay Khanna have managed to give some decent performances but John and Jacqueline as usual just manage to get whistles from the front benchers.
There is an item number Sau Tarah Ke, picturised on Jacquelin Fernandez, John Abraham and Varun Dhawan shot in Morocco with 200 junior dancers.  There is also a helicopter action sequence which is said to be shot in real time without any body doubles. If this much attention was given to the story we could have got a good film which had repeat value.
Desi Boyz got an opening of 9 Crores in 2011. Now when the ticket prices have almost doubled and the screens have also increased Dishoom getting an opening of 11 Crores can not be called as an achievement.
In a line, Dishoom is just another attempt of making money by just bringing all the elements together in a weak story and offers nothing new to the audiences.
Time-pass.