Judgementall Hai Kya

Cast: Kangana Ranaut, Rajkummar Rao, Amyra Dastur, Jimmy Sheirgill, Satish Kaushik, Brijendra Kala

Director: Prakash Kovelamudi

Story, Screenplay & Dialogues- Kanika Dhillon

Mental Hai Kya was renamed as Judgementall Hai Kya, after the Indian Psychiatric Society wrote a letter to the censor board to object against the film's posters and title.

The trailer of the film was quite intriguing and created enough curiosity in the mind of the viewers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BywLe4m2j2I

The story revolves around Bobby, played by Kangana Ranaut, who is diagnosed with acute psychosis. She suffers from mood swings and has trust issues. As the story progresses we come to know that she is delusional, has hallucinations and her condition gets worse if she forgets to take her medicines.

She works as a dubbing artist for South Indian films but thinks that she is good enough to be the heroine. Her manager is also her boyfriend but she uses him to get all household chores done. 

Rajkumar Rao plays the role of Kangana's neighbor. There is a twist in the story and both Kangana and Rajkumar Rao become murder suspects.

First half gives us a detailed insight into Kangana's character and few glimpses of Rajkumar Rao. After interval the story becomes inconsistent, new characters are added which don't make much sense. To add to the confusion, Bobby is asked to be a part of futuristic Ramayan, told from Sita's point of view. Bobby starts thinking that she is Sita and the voices in her head start telling her to punish the wrong doers.

The film starts as a comedy but soon turns into a murder mystery with the lead actors trying to frame the other for the murder.

Near the climax everything starts falling into place to give the viewers a happy ending.

Rajkumar Rao's character is poorly written and he never gets much opportunity to show his talent. Kangana Ranaut has given a decent performance but ends up looking melodramatic in few scenes.

The film was released in 2000 screens and despite good reviews from critics collected just 4.5 Crore on Friday. The film has a budget of 35 Crore and may end up as a loss making proposition for its makers.

In a line, Judgementall Hai Kya looks like a result of reading too many Sidney Sheldon novels and because of an inconsistent story line fails to entertain or thrill the audiences.

Avoidable. Can be seen if you are a die-hard Kangana Ranaut fan.

De De Pyaar De~ Lust, love and second chances

Director- Akiv Ali
Written and Produced by- Luv Ranjan
Cast-  Ajay Devgn, Tabu, Rakulpreet Singh, Jimmy Shergill, Javed Jaffrey

De De Pyaar De is an urban romantic comedy, written by Luv Ranjan and directed by Akiv Ali in his directorial debut.
The story is about a 50 year old London based financer, Ashish Mehra who abandoned his family 18 years ago. His peaceful middle-age life is threatened when he falls in love with a 26 year old Ayesha. 

Ajay Devgn tries to play his character with sincerity but because of his well toned body and packs he doesn't look like a "Buddha" or an "uncle". The first half shot in London deals with his falling in love and wooing Ayesha. There is no chemistry between Ajay and Rakulpreet because of which their love story looks shallow and overdramatic. All the scenes featuring Javed Jaffrey and Sunny Singh are hilarious and the first half could have been more entertaining if both these characters had full fledged roles instead of cameos.

Tabu makes her entry in the second half and instantly lights up the screen with her energy and flawless acting. She is the estranged wife who has singlehandedly raised her children for the last 18 years and also looked after her in-laws. She's the backbone of the family. 
The second half has a lot of plot twists and is entertaining.
Jimmy Shergill plays the role of Tabu's neighbour and admirer. His character is made to look like a caricature of himself as if women in their late 40s could not have admirers who are actually good looking and smart.

Songs are average and don't have any repeat value.

The trailer of the film was super entertaining and I was hoping for a better comedy but superficial emotions and melodrama slowed the pace of the film and it ends up as an average entertainer. 
http://bit.ly/DeDePyaarDe_Trailer 

The film was released in 3100 screens and despite no competition earned less than 10 Crore on Friday. The reviews are mixed so the film may find it difficult to reach the 100 Crore mark. In a line, the film is entertaining in parts and can be seen for Tabu.
Good one time watch. Time-pass.

Review of Sonchiriya

Director: Abhishek Chaubey

Cast: Sushant Singh Rajput, Bhumi Pednekar, Ranvir Shorey, Ashutosh Rana, Manoj Bajpai, Jatin Sarna

“Apni apni Sonchiriya, apni apni mukti.”

Sonchiriya, set in the Chambal of the seventies is a tale of rebellion, justice and salvation. There are several gangs of dacoits (called baaghi in the film) who live in Chambal and have their own set of principles. They question each other about the “dharma of the baaghi” but fail to give satisfactory answers.

There are fights between police and baaghis, within family members, between Gujjars and Thakurs and also between villagers and baaghis.

We are shown that the baaghis live a difficult life where there is no surety of life, they don't know when they will get food or where they will take shelter.  They know that surrender is not an option as mostly the police is going to shoot them at sight.
Sushant Singh Rajput, Bhumi Pednekar and Ranveer Shourie are the soul of the film. They are so good in their respective roles that you actually sympathise with them even when you know the crimes they have committed and their dark secrets.

Manoj Bajpai and Ashutosh Rana outshine in their short roles.

In his earlier films like Ishqiya, Dedh ishqiya and Udta Punjab, Abhishek Chaubey has always shown strong female characters. Here though the females are shown as victims they do have that internal strength which makes them survivors.

There are only 3 female characters Indumati Tomar, Phulwa and the youngest of them named Sonchiriya but how these characters change the life of the others is what the film is about.

According to a female character, Phulwa, “Division according to caste is only for men and the women have a different caste which comes lowest in this social system.”

If you saw the film's trailer, you know that the film is not everyone's cup of tea.
Sonchiriya’s Trailer link-
https://youtu.be/aejAkKGiimk

The film starts with a shootout where many baaghis are encountered and throughout the film there is violence, bloodshed and elaborate fight sequences. There is hardly any entertainment for the family audience because of which despite good reviews the film couldn't do much business over the weekend.
It was released in 720 screens and collected just 4.5 Crores over the weekend which is nothing as compared to 32 Crores income of Luka Chuppi.

It’s a minor setback for the producers, RSVP films as they are still reaping money from their last release, URI, The Surgical Strike.

In a line, despite good performances by the lead actors, Sonchiriya couldn't attract much audience but may become a cult film with passage of time.

Can be seen in theatres if you like this genre.

Review of Luka Chuppi

Director: Laxman Utekar

Cast: Kartik Aaryan, Kriti Sanon, Pankaj Tripathi, Vinay Pathak, Aparshakti Khurrana

Luka Chuppi, set in Mathura, is a situational comedy about a local news channel reporter, Guddu Shukla who falls in love with a politician's daughter, Rashmi and wants to marry her. Rashmi likes Guddu but wants to be sure about him before taking the final plunge.

The first half is slow with introduction of characters, occasional songs and few comic scenes.
In the second half there are few plot twists which make the story slightly better but in the absence of strong emotions the viewers don't feel connected to the characters.

Laxman Utekar, who has been the cinematographer for films like Dear Zindagi, 102 Not Out, English Vinglish and Hindi Medium, makes his directorial debut with Luka Chuppi.
The film is shot in Mathura and Gwalior and gives a good tour of both the cities.

Kartik Aryan and Kriti Sanon use the local lingo but they look too urbane in some scenes. They share a good chemistry but there isn't even one scene where we could see the love and understanding between them.
Aparshakti Khurrana has a small role but manages to leave an impact.
Talented actors like Pankaj Tripathi and Vinay Pathak are totally wasted in their poorly written  roles.

The film will manage to collect around 50 Crores in its first week because of Kartik Aryan’s popularity and no competition from Sonchiriya.

In a line, despite good performances by Kartik Aryan and Kriti Sanon, an average story and lack of emotional quotient will effect the financial prospects of the film.

Timepass. One time watch.

Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi

Directors: Kangana Ranaut and Radha Krishna Jagarlamudi (Krish)

Cast: Kangana Ranaut, Ankita Lokhande, Atul Kulkarni, Danny Denzonpa, Suresh Oberoi, Jishu Sengupta, Vikram Kochhar, Prajakta Mali, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayub, Kulbushan Kharbanda

Manikarnika, The Queen of Jhansi was touted as Kangana Ranaut’s most ambitious project. The shooting of the film started in October, 2017 under the directorial skills of Krish. After 8 months of shooting, Krish walked out of the film citing prior commitment to other projects (NTR Biopic) .

There were rumours that Kangana Ranaut was interfering with the writing and direction and Krish did not take this well and allegedly walked out of the project.
Sonu Sood also left the film saying that he can not work under two directors on a set and his portions in the film were reshot with Mohammed Zeeshan Ayub.
This caused delay in the shoot and increased the production cost of the film.

In the first half we are introduced to a young Manikarnika who is brave, confident and loves reading books. She is married off to Gangadhar Rao and later becomes the Queen of Jhansi.
In the first half we see Kangana Ranaut in heavy sarees and jewellery sporting different hairstyles, looking like a dream. With her actions she keeps reminding the audience that she is a born rebel.
There is a scene where the Queen tells the Firangis, “Of course I know English. It’s a mere language. Language, without culture, is empty.”

The Queen is then seen dancing with the tribals which according to the writer of the film forms the basis of her bonding with Jhalkari Bai.

Kangana Ranaut was so much involved in this project that there isn't a scene where she is not there. With her taking most of the screen space there wasn't much scope for other actors.

TV actress, Ankita Lokhande, makes her Bollywood debut as Jhalkari Bai and even though she had few scenes, she manages to leave an impact.

Danny Denzongpa as Ghulam Ghaus Khan is perfectly casted but like other actors he has nothing much to do.

In the second half there are few war scenes which are shot on a grand scale but overall the film lacks the passion & energy associated with such mega-budget period films.

The song, “Main rahoon ya naa rahoon, Bharat yeh rehna chahiye” plays throughout the film to evoke the feeling of love and sacrifice for the motherland.

The film has started off on a low note (may collect around 8-9 Crores) and may collect around 35 Crores over the weekend which is less considering its production costs (around 120 Crores).

In a line, Manikarnika is totally a one woman show and even though Kangana Ranaut has given her best, a slow first half and less focus on supporting characters will make it a loss making proposition.

Can be seen in theaters for the second half and war scenes.

Sui Dhaaga - . "सब बढ़िया है "

Writer & Director- Sharat Kataria

Cast- Varun Dhawan, Anushka Sharma, Raghubir Yadav, Yamini Das, Namit Das

Music- Anu Malik

Lyrics- Varun Grover

Best Dialogue- "Ab Zindagi Ki Cycle Pe To Maarna Padega Pedal… Chahe Mile Ya Na Mile Medal."

Sui Dhaaga is the story of a lower middle class couple who decide to take the first step on the journey of improving their living standards. They face several roadblocks but instead of getting disheartened they treat them as life experiences and continue with their hard work and struggle. 

Mauji played by Varun Dhawan is the heart and soul of the story. He lives by the simple rule "Sab Badhiya Hai" even when everything is going wrong in his life. He is an optimist with a never say die attitude who can't see any of his family member unhappy. He has a low paying job where his employers constantly humiliate him, his father thinks he is good for nothing, he has no connection with his wife, he has to cycle for miles in the scorching sun to save few rupees, still, sab badhiya hai.

Anushka Sharma plays the role of Mauji's wife, Mamta. Though she talks less, she is not scared of expressing her opinions. She is a caring wife and the perfect daughter in law. There is only one scene when we see her in her original glory, otherwise through out the film she is shown in printed sarees with the pallu of her saree neatly covering her head. 

Raghubir Yadav as Mauji's father, shines in every scene. In the climax when Mauji wins his father's respect, we cheer for both the father and the son.

Yamini Das as Mauji's mother is a treat to watch. She's so sincere about filling the buckets from the municipality tap that even when she is in the hospital she keeps reminding Mamta about it. She is unlike any other mother- in- law shown in Hindi films and will surely win your heart with her performance.
  
After National Award Winning film, Dum laga ke Haisha (2015), Sharat Kataria is back with another heart warming tale about the underprivileged. The characters are so well written that when Mauji starts working on the sewing machine it looks like he was born to do this. The hospital scenes, the struggle to get a sewing machine, the first time the husband and wife hold hands despite staying in the same home are so real that you will fall in love with them.

The film hints at the corruption in hospitals, over-billing the patients, low wages for workers but mainly is about Mauji's family. How the neighbours unite in times of need is another strong point of the story. Though the director has taken several cinematic liberties, he successfully conveys the message that:"For those who dare to dream big, there is a whole world to win".

Chaav laga is a melodious song which stays in our mind for long.

The film has earned 36 Crores in 3 days and with rave reviews and positive word of mouth it's on it's way to become a box-office success.

In a line, Sui Dhaaga is a total roller coaster of emotions with Varun Dhawan giving his career's best performance. 
Must watch. 

Pataakha, not a cracker but a Box-office Bomb!

Director- Vishal Bhardwaj
Writer- Vishal Bhardwaj (Based on Charan Singh Pathik's short story, Do Behnein)
Cast- Radhika Madan, Sanya Malhotra, Vijay Raaz, Sunil Grover 
Music & Background Music- Vishal Bhardwaj
Lyrics- Gulzar
Best Dialogue- “Hum Apne Dushman To Chun Sakte hai Par Padosi Nahe, Rishtey To Chun Sakte Hai Par Rishtedaar Nahi”

Pataakha is based on Charan Singh Pathik's short story, Do Behnein, which revolves around two sisters, Badki and Chhutki who grow up in a small village in Rajasthan. 

Radhika Madan plays the role of Badki (Champa) whose dream is to have her own dairy. She hates going to school and has no interest in studying.
Sanya Malhotra plays the role of Chutki who wants to become a teacher.

Radhika Madan started her career by playing the role of Ishani in the TV serial, Meri Aashiqui Tum Se Hi. In her debut film, she's perfect as Badki. Her body language when she is smoking the beedis or shouting abuses is too good. In every scene we see different shades of her character.

Sanya Malhotra has also done a good job as Chutki. She keeps wondering throughout the film if her father loved Badki more as she was the first born. 

Sunil Grover, called Dipper in the film, lives in the same village. He finds ways of starting war between the sisters so that he and the neighbors can have fun at their expense. He is not bad at heart as whenever the sisters are in some problem he comes as their savior.
Vijay Raaz who is addressed as 'Bapu' by everyone is a widower and finds it difficult to manage his wild daughters. 
The film starts with the sisters calling each other names which is followed by a 'yudh' between them over a stolen bidi. Till interval the story follows the same trend where the sisters keep fighting with each other over some issue. They are always finding ways to show that they are better than the other. 
In a scene their father thinks aloud that why do they keep fighting all the time. This thought comes in our minds too as after some time their dusty faces, untidy clothes and unwashed hair start looking repulsive. We have seen many films set in rural backdrop which were aesthetic and cinematic masterpieces. A film can be made on villagers without making them look like homeless people.
There were several humorous scenes in the film and an emotional climax but they were lost in the long story.

The film earned just 90 lakhs on Friday and with mixed word of mouth it won't be able to cross the 6-7 Crore mark.
In a line, a short 6 page story about 2 sisters fighting would have been good as a short film but as a film with a running time of 2 hr 15 min it became repetitive and boring.
Avoidable.

Manmarziyaan~ Somewhere between lust and love, the story is lost.

Director- Anurag Kashyap

Story, screenplay and dialogues- Kanika Dhillon

Cast- Abhishek Bachchan, Taapsee Pannu, Vicky Kaushal.

The trailer of Manmarziyaan had a tagline- Love isn’t complicated, people are!

The film is not about complicated people but poorly written characters who keep changing their nature according to the whims of the storyteller.

The film is released internationally as “Husband Material”

Abhishek Bachchan plays the author backed role of Robbie, the perfect husband material. He is a London based banker who falls in love with Rumi, at the sight of her photograph. Even after seeing Vicky’s pictures on Rumi’s Facebook he decides to meet her. He’s so sweet and understanding that he looks too good to be true. There is only one scene in which he gives way to his anger but the next morning he asks for forgiveness saying he was too drunk. Still in comparison to the other two characters, Robbie seems to be the most sensible.

Rumi, played by Taapsee, is an ex hockey player who in the first 30 min says that she never goes back on her words and in the next 2 hours finds ample opportunities to do exactly that. She accuses her boyfriend of being commitment-phobic but herself fails to understand the sanctity of a relationship. Before interval, Rumi’s sister says,‘mujhe nahi samajh mai ata ye kaisa pyar hai apka’, to which Rumi replies, ‘wo wala hai jismai jitna karo kam padta hai’ . Then when her grandfather asks her about her well-being she says, ‘Pyaar khatam nahi hua, shaadi shuru nahi hui’
So we as an audience fail to understand why her further actions are not in sync with her grand dialogues.

Vicky’s character is the most inconsistent out of all three. We don't know till the end if he actually loved Rumi or was just having a good time. There are scenes when he’s shown angry and teary eyed but all his emotions tend to be momentary. The audience gets emotionally invested in a character and the sudden changes in their behavior confuses them and they feel cheated. So when a guy who was madly in love with a girl just exits the story without any explanation the audience doesn’t like it.
The first half of the film had some light comic moments but after interval the story kept dragging and becomes slow and predictable.

There are more than 10 songs but only ‘Sara jag chad ke’ stays in our mind for a long time.

Anurag Kashyap is known for his experimental films but this new age love story is nowhere near the classy DevD or the action- packed Mukkabbaz.

Avoidable.

Saheb Biwi aur Gangster 3~ Royalty versus Baba!

Director/ Writer- Tigmanshu Dhulia

Cast- Sanjay Dutt, Jimmy Shergill, Mahi Gill, Chitrangada Singh

Best  Dialogues –

Saheb-  "I believe only three things can change our lives, dreams, suffering and love. Pareshaniyon se main nikalke aaya hoon, sapna main dekh raha hoon, aur pyar mujhe aksar ho jaata hai."

Biwi- "Sari galat adaten to apne lagayi, baki tabah hone mai is haveli ne sath diya. Yaha bure kaam karne ki lat lag jati hai."


Gangster- "Mere baare mein joh bhi suna hoga bura hi suna hoga, lekin main itna bura nahi hoon ki mere bagal mein khade hone se koi badnaam ho jaaye."

Gangster's Mistress- "Jab naam ke alawa kuch bacha na ho to naam ko bacha bacha ke chalna chahiye." 

Saheb Biwi aur Gangster franchise is a  story about a royal family of U.P. where Jimmy Sheirgill is Raja Aditya Pratap Singh and Mahi Gill is his wife, Rani Madhavi Devi. 

The first two parts were high-octane drama full of plot twists, volatile characters, good dialogues and sizzling chemistry between the lead pairs. Actors Randeep Hooda and Irrfan Khan had played gangsters in the previous films.

Tigmanshu Dhulia decided to add a star like Sanjay Dutt to add glamour to the film but guess his plan backfired. 

The story is supposed to be a saga of deceit, lust, ambition and revenge where the Biwi uses the Gangster to defeat the Saheb but ends up as a life saga of the gangster.  

The film starts with Sanjay Dutt as Uday Pratap Singh, a banished prince, who has made a fortune in London by playing Russian Roulette. A lot of time is wasted in establishing Sanjay Dutt's character, telling about his anger, his girlfriend, his family members which has no relevance to the story. The Baba theme track that accompanies Sanjay Dutt every time he says a winning dialogue, “He’s the baba.. dekho dekho dekho aya tera baap”, is the only memorable thing about the gangster's character.

Chitrangada Singh plays the role of a dancer and Uday Pratap's mistress. Neither she looks like a villager nor her accent helps her in fitting in the character. Her love scenes with Uday are boring as the character of the Gangster was supposed to be a raunchy man who loses his heart at every pretty face. To see the gangster settle into an easy romantic relation was a big turnoff. When the evil Biwi tries to flirt with him, an uncomfortable gangster tells her that there was no need of doing all this. It was like we went to watch "Jism" and ended up watching "Hum saath saath hai"!

  

Jimmy Sheirgill and Mahi Gill, who were instrumental in bringing success to the previous films get less chance to show their talent. Their scenes are poorly written and they end up looking like side character's in the gangster's story.

The film is full of character artists like Kabir Bedi, Nafisa Ali, Zakir Hussain, Deepak Tijori, Soha Ali Khan, Deepraj Rana who have nothing to do. Except few dialogues here and there and some fiery exchanges between Saheb and Biwi there is nothing entertaining in the film.

The climax was highly disappointing and though it hinted at a sequel I hope there is no 4th part.

The film was made at a budget of 20 Crore and has managed to earn just 3.8 Crore in 2 days which is less than what the first part made in 2011. The film is a disaster and will end up earning less than 10 Crore at the Box-Office.

In a line, the series was supposed to be a tale of power games, lust and deceit but the director's obsession with the gangster has lead to the death of this franchise.

Avoidable.

Parmanu~ Killing me softly..

Cast: John Abraham, Diana Penty, Boman Irani

Director: Abhishek Sharma

On 11 May 1998, Operation Shakti was initiated with the detonation of one fusion and two fission bombs. Later in a press conference Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee declared India a full-fledged nuclear state.

An event of such high magnitude and significance which made India a powerful force to reckon with required a much better portrayal on screen. The film could have created history if more importance was given to the story and screenplay than on John Abraham's lopsided smile.

First half is slow where the viewers are introduced to John Abraham's personal life and professional struggles which have no connection to the mission. A good writer could have outlined it in short and focused on the actual story. Boman Irani's entry adds some energy into a dull and lifeless film.

Diana Penty has few scenes and gets no scope to show her acting skills.

The story moves from Delhi to Mussoorie to Pokhran along with real TV footage of former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee, US President Bill Clinton and ex Pakistani PM Benazir Bhutto to add facts to a fictitious story.

The successful mission was a result of the hard work of numerous agencies, scientists and engineers, who worked in absolute secrecy for decades but in the film the success is owed to a team of 5 people, occasional patriotic dialogues and lucky coincidences.

The last 20 minutes of the film managed to create a sense of urgency and the climax itself made the film worth a one time watch. Audiences would have totally ignored John's lethargic acting if the full film was as pacy and action packed as the climax.

In a line, Parmanu is not a film for fans of John Abraham but for those who have no idea of what happened in 1998.

Can be seen in theaters.

Baadshaho~ Masala entertainment with solid dialoguebaazi

Cast: Ajay Devgan, Emraan Hashmi, Vidyut Jamwal, Ileana D'Cruz, Esha Gupta, Sanjay Mishra

Story & Screenplay- Rajat Aroraa

Director: Milan Luthria

Budget:  60 Crores

Best Dialogue: “Wo ishq hi kya jo salaamat chhod de”

In June, the first teaser of Baadshaho was released which said that 2017 was going to be the year of the 'Bad’. The teaser was full of stunning visuals, drama and punchlines like “Chaar din ki zindagi hai aur aaj chautha din hai ye soch ke itne saal nikal diye” and "Sharam aur Mai to ek sentence Mai nahi ate hai Madam".

The songs, “Mere Rashke Qamar” and “Piya More” became instant hits on their release.

Baadshaho is completely shot in Rajasthan and is a fast paced, action packed entertainer.

Ileana D'Cruz plays the role of Rani Gitanjali and the full story revolves around her. During emergency the gold hidden by her in her palace is confiscated and is being transported to Delhi by road. How she stops the gold from falling into wrong hands makes the plot of the film.

Ajay Devgan as Bhawani brings back the charm of the larger than life hero. He entertains the audiences with his soulful eyes and powerful dialogues.

Emraan Hashmi makes his entry as a 'rangeen’ character with the famous 'Piya More’ song featuring Sunny Leone. His scenes with Esha Gupta and Sanjay Mishra keep the audience entertained throughout the film.

Sanjay Mishra as Guruji is the big surprise package of the film. Everytime he says a line the audience whistles and claps.

Vidyut Jamwal as Officer Samar Singh is shrewd and dangerous. He’s a man on a mission and his sincerity woos the audience.

Esha Gupta aptly dressed in clothes which were in fashion in the 70s adds to the glamour quotient.

There is more to these characters then what meets the eyes and they have their own hidden agendas.

In a turn of events Emraan Hashmi tells a puzzled Esha, “Dosti pakki hai, Khatra apna apna”.

With interesting episodes unfolding one after another, the film keeps us glued to our seats till the end.

The film was released in 2800 screens and has earned almost 28 Crores in 2 days. It's a single screen entertainer and is getting appreciated by the masses.

In a line, the film is fast paced, high octane action film with powerful/comic dialogues which make you smile even during tense episodes.

Paisa-wasool. Good one time watch.

A Gentleman, Sundar ✔️ Susheel ✔️ Risky ❌

Directors: Raj and DK

Cast: Sidharth Malhotra, Jacqueline Fernandez, Darshan Kumar, Suniel Shetty

Budget- 50 Crores

Raj & DK are an Indian/ American film director duo known for their unique sense of style and humor. In 2013 they made India's first zombie film, Go Goa Gone which earned almost 25 Crores. Happy Ending (2014) wasn't a box office success but it's still remembered for the comedy scenes between Govinda and Saif Ali Khan.

Sadly their latest film, A Gentleman is neither unique nor very entertaining.

The film has not 1 or 2 but 4 party songs Chandralekha, Baat ban jaye, Dil Disco Disco and Bandook Meri Laila and the music album would have surely found a place in parties and discos.

The first half goes in telling about the lives of the two characters, Rishi and Gaurav, played by Siddharth Malhotra. 

Sidharth looks good and performs his roles with sincerity but the story and characters are so average that they hardly manage to hold our interest for long.

Jacqueline Fernandez is the new Katrina Kaif. Her only role in a film is to add glamour in the scenes, say some dialogues and do some difficult dance steps. Infact she is her best when she is dancing. (You must remember her dance moves in Sau tarah ke Rog from Dishoom). 

The film starts with this dialogue

“Jab jab jiske lagne hai ... tab tab uske lagte hai ... ab use ittefaq kaho ya phir what the f* ck!!”

From here the quality of the dialogues worsened and we have Gaurav's best friend Dixit who is pronounced by all Americans as ‘Dik-Shit’(how original!) telling him , 'I like thug-life’.

Then there is a scene where the hero asks the heroine,’ Tumne gaadi chalana kaha se seekha?’ and she answers, 'X- Box se’.

As if the directors were also under the influence of X-Box, there were long chase scenes full of gun shots and racing cars or bikes.

During the action scenes I really felt that playing “Call of Duty” would have been more entertaining.

Expert actors like Supriya Pilgaonkar and Rajit Kapoor have just 2 scenes in the film.

Sunil Shetty makes a  very disappointing comeback. The star known for his superb action skills has not a single action scene and is reduced to giving instructions to his protegees.

Darshan Kumar, who made an impressive debut through Mary Kom (2014) has a very forgettable role.

The film is mostly shot in Miami and Mumbai. There are few scenes in Goa and Bangkok too. When Dostana came in 2008, people used to lust at the blue beaches and bikini babes and think,”Wow, I’ve to go to this place.” But now most of us watch so many Hollywood series and films that we expect more than exotic locations.

Despite good promotions and publicity the film earned less than 16 Crores in 5 days. The film wouldn't cross the 20 Crores mark thus making it Siddharth Malhotra's lowest earner till now.

In a line, if you are a Sidharth Malhotra fan then for Sundar, watch Student of the Year, for Susheel, watch Kapoor and Sons and for Risky, watch Ek Villain.

Timepass. Avoidable.

Babumoshai Bandookbaaz~ About small towns, sharpshooters, scandals, sex and sleaze.

Cast: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Bidita Bag, Divya Dutta, Jatin Goswami, Anil George, Murli Sharma, Shraddha Das

Director: Kushan Nandy

Best Dialogue: "Insaan to karke bhool jata hai, par uska Kiya hua ek din ghoom ke uske samne jaroor ata hai"

The film is an action drama which focuses on the life of  Babu Bihari, a small town sharpshooter. He’s a colourful character with a sense of humour.

When asked about his profession he says, “Hum to outsourcing karte hai...yamraj ke liye”

No-one could have played the character of Babu better than Nawazuddin. He’s ruthless, cold blooded and can kill anyone who dares to cross his path. But he can be tender too when he’s with his friends or when he's with the love of his life 'Phulwa’.

Bidita Bag is good as Phulwa. She's a tough girl who has seen too much in her life and is not scared of anything. Her character portrays a raw sexuality which draws Babu towards her.

Jatin Goswami plays the role of Baanke who considers Babu as his idol. The 'chela’ has so much admiration for the Guru that not only he has renamed himself Banke Bihari, he also copies his style of killing.

There are many scenes between Babu and Banke where we get to see the bond they share. At times their chemistry is more entertaining than the chemistry between Babu and Phulwa.

Divya Dutta plays the role of a corrupt politician with a high sex drive who doesn't mind having affairs with her Bahubalis. She’s cold and calculating and abuses non-stop. Her equation with Babu forms an important part of the story.

Ghalib Asid Bhopali, the writer of the film has told us a bold tale about characters who get involved in crime because of circumstances. The film is a reflection of our society where good coexists with evil. The dialogues are witty or hard hitting depending on the mood of the story.

The film was made on a moderate budget of 5 Crores. It was released in 1000 screen and has  managed to earn 4 Crores in two days.

The film has an A certificate and there  are certain scenes which may be considered too inappropriate by some people. To get an idea you can check the film's trailer

https://youtu.be/8Bakp3UKa3c

In a line, if you are over 18 and like desi action mixed with some powerful performances, you must not miss it.

Good one time watch.

Bareilly Ki Barfi..Not sweet enough

Cast: Ayushmann Khurrana, Kriti Sanon, Rajkummar Rao, Pankaj Tripathi, Seema Pahwa, Rohit Choudhury, Swati Semwal

Director: Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari

A house where nothing is normal

A free spirited girl

A broken-hearted boy

A little secret

Bareilly and all its small town charm

Bareilly ki Barfi had all the ingredients for a hit film.

The film starts with a voiceover of Javed Akhtar telling us about “Mishra Sadan” where nothing is normal. We are introduced to Bitti Mishra and her parents. Bitti shares amazing chemistry with her parents and we laugh at the events happening in their lives.

After 20 minutes, Ayushman Khurana makes his

entry and the story starts taking a predictable turn.

Like a typical small-town story the hero has a best friend who is his partner in every crime but doesn't hesitate in telling him that,“Bhaiya, aap bahute neech ho”.

After some time the story takes us to the third character, Rajkumar Rao and his opening scene is so hilarious that our hopes are raised.

There are many small incidents which make us laugh and with Javed Akhtar telling us

“Ek chalbaaz nahi, doosra Rangbaaz nahi par ek chaal Bana Raha hai, doosra jama Raha hai”, the first half comes to an end.

After interval the story manages to keep us entertained for another 15 minutes and then as if the writer/director has lost all interest in the plot, the story goes in all directions and ends in a very predictable manner.

Initially, Kriti Sanon gets good screen space and her body language and dialogue delivery is good too. She ends most of her lines with “Hai ki Nahi” or “laga lo 100-100 ki”, which is both cute and funny. But once the heroes make their entry she is reduced to being a showpiece, dancing to the occasional songs.

When Ayushman Khurana is being bad he is really good but as the love bug bites him he loses his charm. By the time he says with a long face, “Aakhir pyar ne hame doosre ki khushi mai bhi khush hona sikha hi diya”, everyone in the audience yawned in boredom.

Rajkumar Rao has got the best scenes and lines and he has played them to perfection.

Pankaj Tripathi, who plays Bitti's father is too good. In the scenes where he speaks with guthka in his mouth, he does it with so ease we forget that he's acting.

Seema Pahwa as the typical “log kya kahenge” Mummy gives equal competition to Pankaj Tripathi. In every guy who comes to her home, she sees a prospective groom for her daughter. When she asks them, 'Shadi ho gayi hai kya tumhari’ and the boy says “No” you can feel her happiness and the interest with which she serves them tea and snacks.

When the director, Ashwini Iyer Tewari has debuted with a socially relevant yet entertaining film like Nil Battey Sannata and the writer has given us the film of the decade, Dangal, we expect nothing less than a masterpiece.

In the film Javed Akhtar says in the end

“Agli baar jab aap Bareilly aye to jhumka dhoodne ki jagah Bareilly ki Barfi khana mat bhooliyega.”

Sadly the film hardly leaves any long lasting impression on the minds of the viewers and Bareli will still be remembered for the, “Jhumka gira re, Bareli ke bazaar mein” song from Mera Saaya (1966).

In a line, Bareilly Ki Barfi is just a light hearted film which one can watch for few funny scenes and hilarious dialogues.

Timepass