Buddha In a Traffic Jam ~ Don't just love India, Be in love with India!

Release date- 13th May 2016

One Word which describes the film- Eye-opener

Best Dialogue- 'Guns have to be our minds and the ammunition are our thoughts.'

Genre- Political Drama

Music- Rohit Sharma

Producer-Suresh Chukapalli, Vivek Agnihotri, Sharad Patel

Story & Direction- Vivek Agnihotri

Cast- Anupam Kher, Arunoday Singh, Pallavi Joshi, Mahie Gill,
Anchal Dwivedi

Budget- 5 Crores approximately

Richard Buckminster Fuller, known for his comprehensive perspective on the problems of the world, said that, 'You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete'.

Buddha in a Traffic Jam is an autobiographical film based on it's writer & director Vivek Agnihotri's life. Based on true life incidents, the film delves into corruption, crony capitalism, socialism, campus politics, moral policing and explores the NGO-naxals-academia nexus. 
When asked about the relevance of the film's title, the director said,“When we did our research, we realised that the biggest problem in India is that we’re suffering from so many diversions from the main narrative and that’s when I realised that when the society was suffering, Buddha showed us the path. So if we need to become a strong country, if we wish to shine, we need thousands and millions of Buddhas who can fight the traffic jam.”

“It is a disturbing film, one that is political without a politician being shown. Be it at JNU or any institute, students want India to shine. They want the country to get rid of mediocrity and hypocrisy. The story shows how naxals take advantage of rebellious students, show them utopian dream and make them intellectual terrorists,” says Vivek.

Vikram Pandit is a management student who when told that, 'Corruption is like tonic' questions his professor  that, 'Don't you think it's time to change this tonic?'
He thinks that an army of incorruptible youth can fight the imperialists and bring them down. How his thoughts change and how he finds his way out of the traffic jam he gets stuck into, is what the film is about.

Though the film deals with serious issues, the story is told in a very interesting and entertaining way. There are episodes which will make you feel wistful and take you back to your college days. The film is pacy with each episode being inter-linked with the other. The two Indias, which the director has shown through the film are so much in contrast with each other that it will definitely make you think that can this gap between the rich and the poor pose a threat to our democracy?

When Pallavi Joshi says,'I'll trust you, because I don't have a choice in the matter', it shows how our society still tends to be a male-dominated one.

There are 4 songs which form a part of the narrative. 'Sarkar ki Duniya' is a folk song with rock undertones. 'Chand Roz', sung by Pallavi Joshi is a tribute to the legendary poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz.

Despite being controversial, the film was cleared by the censor board without any cuts. It has been a part of many film festivals and won awards in many categories.

In a line, if the film is successful in motivating the youth to find their own ways in which they can bring about change, the very purpose of making the film will thus be fulfilled.

Must-watch. It's for 18+, so if you are over and above that age you must book your tickets now.   

Review of Baby

Release date - 23'rd January 2015

One Word which describes the film -Thrilling

Best Dialogue - 'Mil jaate hai thode officers hamen. Thode pagal, thode adiyal, jinke dimag mein sirf desh aur deshbhakti ghoomti rehti hai. Yeh desh ke liye marna nahi chahte, balki jeena chahte hai. Taki akhri saans tak desh ki raksha kar sake.'

Genre - Action/Thriller

Music -M. M. Kreem, Meet Bros Anjjan

Producer - Bhushan Kumar, Krishan Kumar, Shital Bhatia
Cape of Good Films, Crouching Tiger

Story & Direction -Neeraj Pandey

Cast -Danny Denzongpa, Akshay Kumar, Rana Daggubati,Anupam Kher, Taapsee Pannu, Madhurima Tuli, 

• Kay Kay Menon, Sushant Singh

Budget- 60 crores(approximately)

Post the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai a team of special officers is formed whose job is to find and eliminate terrorists who are planning attacks in various cities in India.
With his third film,Neeraj Pandey is on his way to become the most wanted director of Bollywood.
The film has a bunch of talented actors who weave an environment of patriotism, thrill, terror and suspense which makes you forget that you are watching a film.
You feel panic when our heroes are in danger, feel sympathy for the wife who always gets the same answer from her husband that he's in conference so can't talk, feel the helplessness felt by the team leader when he can't save his team members and feel anger when the leader of the jehadis says, 'Hum India ko jante hai. Woh kuch bhi nahi kar sakenge. Wo sirf baatein karte rehte hai.' 
Danny and Akshay Kumar are the lifeline of this film. Both are tailor made for the role. There are scenes where it's shown in a subtle way that under their thick exterior these heroes are also normal humans. They also feel tension, fear and pain but let it all stay under their feeling of patriotism.
Neeraj Pandey has always believed that the content of the film should be paid more importance than it's marketing and promotions. Because of this though his films never manage to break any opening day records they set a new standard in film making and make a permanent place in the minds of the viewers. Baby has managed to earn just 20 crores in 2 days but hopefully with positive word of mouth and good reviews the film will surely cover it's budget and make decent profits for the producers.

In a line as an Indian it's your duty to watch this patriotic film and applaud the film's director Neeraj Pandey's guts and vision.
Mindblowing .Must Watch.

Review of Dawat-e-Ishq

Release date - 19'th September 2014

One Word which describes the film - Uncomplicated

Best Dialogue - Humari country main jabh tak black nahi diya tabh tak ghar nahi kahrid sakte, Dahej nahi diya toh shaadi nahi hoti.

Genre - Comedy/ Drama

Music -Sajid-Wajid

Producer - Aditya Chopra

Story & Direction -Habib Faisal

Cast -Aditya Roy Kapur ,Parineeti Chopra, Anupam Kher, Karan Wahi

Budget- 35 crores

Habib Faisal made his directorial debut with Do Dooni Chaar in 2010  followed by Ishaqzaade (2012).

This time he gives us another comedy drama which revolves around two simple hearted people who love good food and have their individual dreams in life.

The first half of the film is shot in Hyderabad and has Hyderabadi dialect. The second part shot in Lucknow has Hindi mixed with Urdu.

Anupam Kher and Parineeti Chopra share a good father daughter chemistry. The hero makes his entry quite late and afterwards too has nothing much to do except chop vegetables, serve food ,sing songs and dance.

The songs are quite like those of the 90's and hardly manage to leave any impact.

The basic problem in the film is that the story just keeps on going on and on without any twists and turns. There is no element of surprise and while you are watching one scene you can easily predict what will happen in the next scene.

If the hero was Salman Khan then even this film could have been a blockbuster but as Aditya Roy Kapoor hardly has any fan following it would be quite a task for the film to even recover its production and marketing budget.

In a line though this daawat doesn't promise any gourmet cuisine , the simple flavored love story may make you smile at places.

Time pass. Can be seen in theaters at your own risk. 

Review of Singham Returns

Release date - 15'th August 2014

One Word which describes the film -
Mass entertainer

Best Dialogue - 

' Aaj raajneeti mei sabko insecurity hai is liye sabke paas security hai . Mujhe kaun marega?

Genre - Action

Music -Jeet Gannguli ,Ankit Tiwari,Meet Bros Anjjan, Yo Yo Honey Singh

Producer - Reliance Entertainment ,Ajay Devgan,Rohit Shetty

Story- Sajid-Farhad

Direction - Rohit Shetty

Cast - Ajay Devgan ,Kareena Kapoor Khan, Amole Gupte , Anupam Kher, Dayanand Shetty

Budget- 70 Crores

In 2011 Rohit Shetty created a character Bajirao Singham which became an instant hit with the audience. His dialogues 'Aata majhi satakli' and 'Jismain hai dum,toh fakht Bajirao Singham' were used in day to day conversations. The film was a big hit.

Singham Returns has Bajirao Singham in the role of DSP of Mumbai. The film like its prequel has lots of action, powerful dialogues and strong on screen hatred between the protagonist and the villain.

Ajay Devgan is the life and soul of the film. His body language and expressions are so perfect that we forget the hero Ajay and just think of the honest policeman who leads a tough life. His eyes express his anguish when his subordinates become victims of the corrupt system.

Amol Gupte as the fraud and corrupt Baba gives tough competition to our Hero. He is merciless but his body language is funny .His dialogues like 'Tu do baar BA kar lega na to bhi BABA nahi ban payega' are hilarious and make us laugh. Despite this, Prakash Raj's character as a villain in Singham was better written and had more scope of creating fear in the minds of the viewers.

Kareena Kapoor Khan provides fun and glamour in the film. Her role has no significance in the basic story and could have been done by any other heroine. At this stage in her career when Kareena can choose any kind of roles she should stay away from such films.

Anupam Kher and Mahesh Majrekar have small roles but they manage to leave an impact on the minds of the viewers.

Rohit Shetty surely has a funny bone as even in the most tensed situations he manages to make the audiences laugh when Ajay tells his junior Daya( who also plays the same role in CID) ' Daya, darwaza tod do.'

The audience was totally engrossed throughout the film and whenever the hero succeeded in a task it was greeted by lots of clappings and whistles. 

Due to Independence Day release the film had a huge opening of 32.09 crore , beating Kick's opening of 26 crore and has become the biggest opener of 2014. The film has collected 80 crores in three days and is going to become Ajay Devgan's biggest hit till date.

In a line though the film has the usual good conquers evil theme but the story is fast and will surely entertain you.
Must watch. Can be seen with family and kids. 

Review of Special 26

Release date - 8'th February 2013

One Word which describes the film – Enthralling

Best  Dialogue – 

"Asli power dil main hoti hai "

Genre - Heist drama 
 
Story - Neeraj Pandey

Music – M. M. Keeravani, Himesh Reshammiya

Producer -  Viacom 18 Motion Pictures , Friday Filmworks , Kumar Mangat

Direction - Neeraj Pandey

Cast -  Anupam Kher , Akshay Kumar , Kajal Aggarwal , Jimmy Shergill , Manoj Bajpai , 

Budget – 35 crores(approximately)

Special 26 was indeed special as after many years I saw a completely packed theater and the audience clapping and whistling for a film which didn't star Salman Khan . 
In Anupam Kher words " asli power film ki story main hoti hai " . The story and screenplay were perfect and had no loose ends . To create a 80's kind of setup the director showed us a clipping featuring Rajeev Gandhi , a cricket match where Sunil Gavaskar was playing and Manoj Bajpayee driving a 'lambretta' . Even the background music reminded us of the 80's films .

Neeraj Pandey has not wasted a single minute in the story . Akshay's love story was explained to us through a 5 min song . With this film he has proved that his expertise in  A Wednesday was not a flash in the pan and he is here to stay .
It is good that the director didn't try to give an Indian touch to the film by showing that that they used the loot money for social causes or charity .

Akshay Kumar was perfect in the role of an over confident master mind . His acting was at par with Anupam Kher and Manoj Bajpayee. In some scenes he even excelled them . Every character was significant to the film however  big and small their role was .  Divya Dutta has just one dialogue which she says three time but every time she uses it a 'twist in the tale ' follows .

In a line the film unfolds like a magic show and keeps the viewers enthralled till the end . Must watch . See it before someone tells you the story and breaks the magic.

Rank- 1  (Out of the 13 films I have seen in 2013 )