Gully Boy~ For the youth and the young at heart



Director- Zoya Akhtar
Writer - Zoya Akhtar, Reema Kagti
Cast- Ranveer Singh, Alia Bhatt, Kalki Koechlin, Siddhant Chaturvedi, Vijay Raaz

Gully Boy trailer started with an underground rap battle where a rapper says, ‘Ye gali ki barat nahi, teri koyi aukaat nahi is jung main’ followed by another rapper telling a nervous Ranveer Singh to go back to his gully.

Gully Boy is the story of the rise of a shy and underprivileged student, Murad Sheikh into a confident hip hop performer, Gully Boy.
The film is based on the lives of rappers Naezy and Divine, who have also given music in the film.

Murad wants an established rapper, MC Sher played by Siddhant Chaturvedi to sing his songs as he was not comfortable in front of an audience. MC Sher tells him that “Agar duniya mein sab comfortable hote toh rap kaun karta?” which inspires Murad to break the belief that ‘Naukar ka beta naukar banega, ye fitrat hai’

In a scene Murad’s father played by Vijay Raaz tells him that sapne apni sacchai ke hisab se dekhne chahiye and Murad tells him that instead of changing his dreams he will change his social status.

Director, Zoya Akhtar in her most realistic film till now takes us to the slums of Dharavi where people live in small houses. The contrast between the poor and rich is shown when Ranveer realises that the bathroom of a rich girl ‘s apartment was bigger than his full home.

Gully Boy is as hard as it gets.
The struggle, the pain is shown in a subtle way but Ranveer Singh with his hard hitting performance makes it sure that you will keep thinking about the lives of these people long after the film has ended.
As per  the film's lingo, Ranveer Singh as Murad is 'Ek Number', Bahut Hard. Within 5 minutes he has totally transformed himself into Murad who obediently follows his parents wishes. Music gives him the fire to follow his dreams.



Siddhant Chaturvedi as MC Sher has given an equally mind blowing performance. This is his debut film but he wasn't overshadowed by Ranveer Singh in any scene.

Alia Bhatt as Murad’s possessive girlfriend, Safina is the force behind him. She is his support system. She wants Murad to follow his heart. This film was totally a Ranveer Singh film, still Alia Bhatt has managed to leave her impact.

The film is not a mass entertainer and family audiences may get bored with the hip hop parts but it should be seen for the hardships & struggles faced by the less privileged.

Apna Time Ayega is already a chart buster but when I saw it in the film, it was filled with so much energy that it gave me goosebumps.
The film was released in 3300 screens and has got an opening of 18 Crores which is good considering it targeted a niche audience.
Gully Boy will not make as much as Ranveer Singh’s last masala film, Simmba (240 Crores) but it will definitely be remembered for his effortless performance both as an actor and a rapper.

In a line, Gully Boy is Zoya Akhtar's most honest and hard hitting film and is a must watch for Ranveer Singh’s fans and music lovers.

Good one time watch in theatres.

Badrinath ki Dulhaniya~ The formula of a hit film, one dose of Feminism mixed with one dose of women empowerment and a pinch of random fun and humour

Release date - 10th March 2017

One Word which describes the film- 

Over-the- top

Best Dialogue - 'Are ye tedha munh karke kyo smile kar rahe ho, Shahrukh Khan ho kya?'

Genre - Romance / Comedy

Music- Amaal Malik, Tanishk Bagchi

Producer - Karan Johar

Story & Direction -Shashank Khaitan

Cast- Varun Dhawan, Alia Bhatt

Budget- 50 crores (approximately)

Gone are the times when you needed a very innovative or unique story to make a hit film. In 2016, most of the films which performed well at the box office had simple plots, had a female protagonist or dealt with women empowerment.

Badrinath ki Dulhania is a sequel to Humpty Sharma ki Dulhaniya(2014), which was a moderate hit.

Badrinath looks at Vaidehi and falls in love with her. His only target in life is to marry her.

Vaidehi is a career oriented woman who wants to be the son her parents never had. 

The story is a typical masala film which you must have seen 100 times and seasoned viewers will easily predict what is going to happen next.

Like Humpty Sharma there are more moments of friendship and comfort between the lead pair than any sizzling chemistry.

Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt have given excellent performances and have some how tried to make the slow film interesting with their comic timing and intense expressions.

The dialogues are not what you will remember after the film, it's the silent exchanges between the lead pair who have become the most bankable stars of current times.

The film has many supporting characters who have done justice to their small roles.

The film was released in 2700 screens and has managed to earn around 12 Crores on Friday. This figure is greater than the 2016 Varun Dhawan & John Abraham starrer, Dishoom which was a much bigger film with a higher budget and marketing expenses.

In a line, though the film is not about some epic romance or great love, the good performances manage to keep the viewers entertained.

Good one time watch. 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.

Udta Punjab

Release date- 17th June 2016

One Word which describes the film- Distressing

Best Dialogue- "System main rehke kuch karna aur bahar se baithke halla karne main jo fark hai wo ab pata chalega aap ko."  

Genre- Crime/ Drama

Music-Amit Trivedi

Producers- Balaji Motion Pictures, Phantom Films

Story-Sudip Sharma

Direction-Abhishek Chaubey

Cast-Shahid Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Diljit Dosanjh, Satish Kaushik

Budget- 40 Crores approximately

I went to see this film with little expectations, thanks to all the biased reviews of the critics and mixed word of mouth. The starting was quite unimpressive with Tony 'Gabru' Singh, shaking his pelvis on the title song. My eyes kept shifting from his tattooed chest to the song subtitles which were equally shocking.
In next scene Shahid is seen mouthing all kind of abuses while composing a song which went like Cock-Coke-Cock-Coke. The song was actually so bad that his producers cancelled his contract.
That's the point from where the film starts becoming interesting.
When Tony is sent to Jail and the police inspector puts him in a cell with other criminals telling him, 'Pehle banda ban ja phir banna VIP', he feels his castle of stardom falling like a pack of cards. Later we see him telling an equally distraught Alia, 'Agar tujhse koi bole, 'jo nikal gaya na vo teri life ka sabse achcha time tha, wapas nahi aana. Maal khatam. Party over. Go Home', we could feel how hard it was for him to accept that his life as a pop star could just be a thing of the past. I feel Shahid has given a very good performance.

Alia Bhatt has proved that while bubbly and energetic may be her niche, she can also be gritty and subtle to great effect. In most of her films Alia has to look pretty and show lots of leg and cleavage but here in shabby clothes, dirty hair and no makeup she gives the best performance of her life. I just wonder with Shandaar being Shahid's and Alia's last film how could the director imagine both of them for this film.

Diljit Dosanjh as Assistant Inspector is at par with Shahid and Alia in the acting department. He looks innocent and naive when he's trying to impress his lady love. He has a ruthless side too which we get to see when he is talking to his corrupt cousin,'Baat Aapki Aur Meri Nahi Hai, Yeh Baat Hai Punjab Ki'

Kareena Kapoor as Dr Preet was never the focus of the film so she just manages to give a decent performance.

The film does not glamorize or show any highs which a person can achieve because of drugs. Instead it shows how drugs destroy all the beautiful things in not only your life but also in the lives of the people associated with you.

So why would anyone want to see a movie about drugs, despair and death, regardless of how well crafted it is? Because Udta Punjab is an interesting, sometimes funny, and involving tale with empathetic, down to earth characters. To be fair to the film, it doesn't tie up all the loose ends into a nice pretty package. We are given cause for hope, but the open-ended nature of the final scenes suggest that the struggle will go on.

In a line, this movie through its characters teaches us important lessons like too much indulgence, greed or expectations can be injurious to health and the lessons are well taught.

Must watch for 18+ audience. 

Shaandaar ~ Vikas Bahl redefines the Heights of 'Chutzpah'

Release date -22'nd October 2015

One Word which describes the film - Absurd/ Senseless/ Weird/ Stupid/ Silly (One word is not enough to describe this film)

Worst Dialogue - 

Pankaj Kapoor- ' Tu samajhta kya hai apne aap ko?'

Shahid Kapoor - 'Kuch nahi Sir, tucch praani. Aam admi. Raju Hirani.'

Genre - Comedy/ Drama

Music - Amit Trivedi

Producer - Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane, Karan Johar, Madhu Mantena

Story- Vikas Bahl, Chaitally Parmar

Direction -Vikas Bahl

Cast -Pankaj Kapur, Shahid Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Sanah Kapoor, Sanjay Kapoor

Budget- 50 Crores

How times change in a year. If last year Vikas Bahl was the most popular Bollywood director, winning almost all awards for Queen, this year he will be the most criticized person for making a really weird and senseless film and then calling it Shaandaar!
After SRK's over the top promotions for RaOne, Shaandar must be the next film to promote itself on every reality show. In fact the chemistry between Shahid and Alia Bhatt during promotions was 100 times better than their chemistry in the film.

In an interview Alia said that, "What I really liked about the concept is that Vikas came to me with only five lines. He said that it's a love story of two insomniacs, there is a destination wedding, there are some four characters that seem completely crazy to me." 

Guess Vikas himself too didn't work anymore on the concept as the final story can also be narrated in 5 lines with lots of stupidity and sleep inducing moments. If only the characters had seen Shaandar themselves their insomnia could have been cured and the audience could have been saved from the torture.

Apart from a bad story line the film is full of stupid dialogues like

Alia - I can't believe...kabhi tumne kiyaa nahi hai....Hath mein kabhi fevicool nahi lagayaa hai..Aise..! 

I would really want to ask the makers of the film that who was the target audience for this film ?

It's a well known fact that when Karan Johar saw the film he was not very happy with the end results and wanted the director to edit it and also  re shoot some parts. The film has Karan's touch as there were castles, girls whose only aim in life was to dress up in shortest of dresses, pout and click selfies and last but not the least a 'Mehendi with Karan' sequence.

To create sensation among the audience a totally irrelevant to the story, Alia Bhatt in a bikini scene was added in the film which was the most discussed topic on social networks few weeks back.

Shahid Kapoor and Alia Bhatt have blindly followed the director and have mouthed the really weird lines with supreme confidence. 

Pankaj Kapoor is a great actor but he has no scope to show his acting talents.

Sanjay Kapoor has tried to copy big brother Anil Kapoor both in terms of dressing style and dialogue delivery but guess it's his bad luck that success continues to elude him.

The two dance numbers Shaam shaandaar and Gulabo are good but we have seen them so many times in promos that even they failed to bring any life in the already lifeless story.

Because of the promotions too much hype was created and the film got an opening day collection of 13 Crores. But now with bad reviews and  negative word of mouth it will be a difficult task for the film to earn decent numbers over the weekend. 

In a line there is not much to enjoy in the film except Alia Bhatt's pretty face but after some time the weird story starts getting on your nerves.
Avoidable. If you are a big Alia Bhatt fan or under 10 then you can watch. 

Review of Humpty Sharma ki Dulhaniya

Release date - 11'th July 2014

One Word which describes the film - Entertainer

Best Dialogue - 'Main marriage wali parties par line nahi marta.'

Genre - Romance / Comedy

Music -Sachin - Jigar
Toshi Sabri

Producer - Karan Johar

Story & Direction -Shashank Khaitan

Cast -Varun Dhawan ,Alia Bhatt , Ashutosh Rana
Siddharth Shukla

Budget- 40 crores (approximately)

We all know Karan Johar's love for Aditya Chopra's Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995). Not only he was an assistant director on the film he also played a small role and helped director Aditya Chopra in writing the screenplay. In addition, he selected Shahrukh Khan's costumes too.
Humpty Sharma ki Dulhaniya is a rightful tribute by him to the epic romance.
In 19 years, as there has been a revolutionary change in the younger generation same change can be seen in the way of thinking and actions of the lead characters.
We have a hero who has no interest in studies and want to have fun in life.
We have a heroine who is about to get married and wants to buy a designer lehenga.
The hero and heroine meet and become friends.
Though the basic story follows the DDLJ pattern yet it is different. The heroine is smart and confident. She is not afraid of her father and wants to take her own decisions in life. 
Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt are both Karan Johar's find and they are doing exceptionally well in the film industry. Both have given a wonderful performance and share a great on screen chemistry. 
Siddhart Shukla makes his bollywood debut. His role in small and he just has to look good. He has very few scenes and so getS no chance to show his acting skills.
Ashutosh Rana as the sometimes doting sometimes strict father looks quite good and realistic. 

Lavish sets and exorbitant budgets have always been Karan Johar’s style.
As the film shot in Delhi and Ambala had no scope for big sets, he has fulfilled his passion by creating a massive set in film city resembling the Colloseum in Rome.
The song 'Saturday Saturday' choreographed by Ahmed Khan has a whooping 3 crores budget and stars the lead actors along with 200 junior artists.

In a line, Humpty's romance may not be some epic love story but he is cute and lovable and his dulhaniya is bold and beautiful.
Good one time watch. Can be seen in theaters.

Review of 2 States

Release date –18'th April  2014

One Word which describes the film – Melodrama

Best Dialogue - ' Baat communities  ki nahi hai..baat ye hai ki kis tarah ke insaan ke sath hum apni jindagi bitana chahte hain'

Genre – Romance / Comedy

Music – Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy 

Producer- Karan Johar , Sajid Nadiadwala

Story - Chetan Bhagat

Direction Abhishek Varman

Cast - Arjun Kapoor , Alia Bhatt , Ronit Roy , Amrita Singh , Revathy , Shiv Kumar Subramaniam

Budget- 35 Crores

2 States is the love story of Punjabi guy Krish and Tamil Brahmin girl Ananya .

Abhishek Varman who has been an assistant director in films like  'Jodha Akbar' , 'My Name Is Khan' and 'Student of the Year ' has made his directorial debut with this film .
The first half where the two meet and gradually fall in love is interesting and colorful but after interval the film becomes repetitive ,  slow and dull. 

In the first half , the boy tells the girl that he wants to be a writer because he believes that 'Story mein hero na ho, story hero honi chahiye .'
Contrary to this line , there is a hero in this film who manages to save it and it is Alia Bhatt . She manages to outshine not only the other supporting actors but also the main protagonist . She looks beautiful , confident , and radiates the tension she is going through in trying to create a balance between her lover and her parents . 

Arjun Kapoor , on the other  hand manages to portray the same expressions through out the film. He tells his girlfriend that his mother has always been there for him but still when the scene demands he is neither able to express his love for her or his anger for not understanding what he wants. 

Amrita Singh , Revathy, Ronit Roy and Shiv Kumar have given decent performances but not much importance is given in building their characters so we are kept wondering why the boy's father sulks all the time or why his mother couldn't decide whether she wants to please her son or her husband or the society.

Whereas Alia Bhatt's last critically acclaimed film , 'Highway'  struggled to cover it's production cost , 2 States has managed to earn a cool 40 Crores plus at the Box Office in just 4 days which shows that audience prefer popcorn entertainment over serious soul searching films.  

In a line, the film is a scene by scene representation of the novel so if you have read the book there is nothing new there , except the pretty Alia Bhatt.
Timepass . Can be seen in theaters . 

Review Of Highway

Release date – 21'st February 2014

One Word which describes the film –Scenic

Genre –Drama

Music – A. R. Rahman

Producer- Sajid Nadiadwala

Imtiaz Ali

Story & Direction - Imtiaz Ali

Cast - Randeep Hooda , Alia Bhatt

Budget- 40 crores

Imtiaz Ali made his directorial debut with the rom com Socha Na Tha and followed with romantic films like Jab We Met (2007) , Love Aaj Kal (2009)  and Rockstar (2011) . The director has always been fascinated with nature which is evident in all his films .

Imtiaz's latest venture Highway seems to be a work of passion. If we remove the scenes featuring highways of Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Kashmir, sand dunes of  Kuchaman valley , Aru valley and Chandanwari near Pahalgam there is nothing left in the film. The movie felt like Imtiaz Ali's answer to all the Yash Chopra films where he glorified Switzerland . 

Apart from promoting Indian tourism the film tries to focus on the lives of two individuals with a difficult past.
Alia Bhatt gets ample opportunities to show her acting skills and even manages to outshine Hudda in some scenes. 
A.R.Rehman's music is soulful but because the film is not for the masses it has a small shelf life.

The main problem with the film is it's target audience. People who loved the director's earlier films will surely not like this high tension road trip and Alia Bhatt's fans will not like their sweet bubbly heroine wearing drags and moving around without makeup. Just near the climax my 6 year old daughter asked me " hero ki entry ho gayi kya ? '. Her innocent question made me laugh in the otherwise dull film. 

In a line the film can be a big disappointment for Imtiaz Ali and Alia Bhatt's fans .

Watch it at your own risk. Avoidable.

Rank - 5 (Out of the 6 films I have seen in 2014)