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.

Mukkabaaz~ 'Ye pyaar nahi hai khel priye!'

Cast: Vineet Singh, Jimmy Shergill, Zoya Hussain, Ravi Kishan

Co-Writer and Director: Anurag Kashyap

Budget- 10 Crores approximately

Best Dialogue- "Jab boxer ko chot lagti hai to khoon coach ka hi behta hai."

If like me you also wondered that why is the film called Mukkabaaz, the director has kept an explanatory scene.

Ravi Kishan, the coach tells his student that he always wanted to be a boxer but he never got a chance to play professionally because he belonged to the lower caste..On streets people used to say.. "Wo dekho sala mukkabaaz ja raha hai".

So now he doesn't want his students to let go of the chance to be a professional boxer and tells them, “Ab ye tumhe tay karna hai ki tumhe mukkabaaz banna hai ya mukkebaaz”.

The film focuses on the caste system and the dirty politics in sports which is very prevalent in small-towns of U.P.

Shravan Singh, an aspiring boxer sees a girl at his coach Bhagwan Das’s house and falls in love. To impress her, he refuses to do the household chores which Bhagwan Das expects all his players to do. By mistake Shravan punches Bhagwan Das and he threatens Shravan that he will end his boxing career.

The film’s name suggests a film on boxing but most of the fighting in the film takes place outside the ring.

There’s a son fighting with his father who keeps taunting him for not landing a regular job like others. He tells him that he failed in studies because he wasn't a bright student. He doesn't mind telling his parents, “Jab aap dono shoonya hai to hum kaha se Aryabhatt ho jaye!

There’s a girl who is fighting with her mother that just because she can't speak she doesn’t want anyone to take pity on her or consider her a handicap. She wants to marry for love and do higher studies.

Then there is a honest coach who is fighting for his students.. He shaves off his moustache and when one of his students asks the reason he says, "jab tum mai se koi state jeetega tab rakhenge”.

There’s a Brahmin coach who for his greed for money and power destroys careers of aspiring boxers and crushes those who dare to raise a voice against him.

The characters are powerful and keep us entertained for the first half. The second half is darker and we cheer for the protagonist who despite the hurdles he faces, refuses to give up his dream.

The songs, Mushkil hai apna mail priye, Bahut hua samman, Bahut dukha man, Fir to ho gayi haathapai, Paintra are a part of the story and keep us involved in it.

Though I wonder what was Nawazuddin Siddiqui doing in a song which looked like a remake of the hit song, ‘emotional atyachar’ from DevD.

The climax of the film was beyond my understanding and  can be the reason for the mixed word of mouth.

The film had low buzz because of which it has earned less than 5 Crores in 4 days.

In a line, Vineet Singh is no hero material but the way he has transformed himself into Shravan Singh is commendable.

Can be seen in theaters.

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. 

Shorgul~ Too much chaos, not enough anarchy!

Release date- 1st July 2016

One Word which describes the film- Chaotic

Best Dialogue- 'Hamara beta mara hai, vivek nahi. Hum apn bete ki laash par rajneeti nahi hone denge.'

Genre-Political Drama

Music- Lalit Pandit

Producer- Swatantra Vijay Singh, Vyas Verma

Story- Jitendra Tiwari, Khalid Azmi, Raj Verma, Shashie Vermaa

Direction-Pranav Kumar Singh, Jitendra Tiwari

Cast- Ashutosh Rana, Jimmy Shergill, Suha Gezen, Sanjay Suri, Narendra Jha, Eijaz Khan, Sanjay Suri, Hiten Tejwani

Budget- 5 Crores approximately

The film is loosely based on the Muzaffarnagar communal riots of 2013. It is set against the backdrop of Uttar Pradesh showing religious clashes, political rivalry and how innocent people become pawns under the influence of corrupt political/religious leaders. Many characters are inspired from real life leaders to give authenticity to the story like CM Mithilesh (Akhilesh Yadav), MLA Ranjeet Om (Sangeet Som) and Home Minister Alam Khan(Azam Khan).
The film started with an item song followed by some powerful exchange of dialogues between Jimmy Shergill and Asutosh Rana. 
Asutosh Rana is the honest and idealistic Chaudhry who is respected by all and thinks of the welfare of everyone irrespective of their caste or community. He keeps guiding his people, 'Zameen ho ya Zameer, ye mazhabi nahi hote aur Om jaise log dono ko hi mazhab ke rang mai rang dete hai'. Even when tragedy strikes his family he doesn't lose his cool and tries to calm the restless mob. He tells the police inspector handling the case,'Hamne hamesha nyay ka saath diya hai, aj bhi denge.Lekin aapse bhi yahi ummeed hai'.
Jimmy Shergil is the power hungry corrupt politician who wants to win the upcoming election by hook or crook. He has no morals and has a complete team of 'yes men' who blindly follow his commands. Even when he is flying a kite he relates the activity with politics , 'Aasmaan par patang uski raaj karti hai jise waqt par dheel dena aur kheenchna ata hai'. When his worker tells him that as many of their party workers have been arrested they will have a problem in creating unrest he says,"Shanti ko ashanti mein badlne ke liye bheed ki nahi....sirf ek pathar ki jarurat hai".
To counter a corrupt Hindu poiltician there is a Muslim leader who brainwashes the crowd by giving provocative speeches like,'Hum to marte hai to bhi do gaz zameen lekar marte hai aur ye to jal ke hawa mai fana ho jate hai'.
In between this fight for chair and power there is a small love story which becomes a spark for starting a fire which is fueled by the selfish interests of some leaders and spreads like a jungle fire. 
The film was earlier called 'Zainab' but it was changed to 'Shorgul' which also can not be called an apt title for the film. The film is just a sequence of events which lead to a riot and how when a riot spreads everyone loses in some way or the other. The film was entertaining when it started but soon all the characters started dying and the film became more of a documentary.
The release of the film was postponed twice because of the outrage it created. It's released in around 700 screens but because of low buzz and odd show timings the audience stayed away. Sultan is releasing on 6th July, so the film will just have a 5 days week.
In a line, the film has tried to present how riots start along with superficially touching controversial issues like land acquisition in the name of making temples, beef ban and Gowdhara riots, because of which the film has very less entertainment value.
Can be seen if you like this genre. Time-pass  

Tanu Weds Manu Returns - Reality Check !

Release date - 22'nd May 

2015

One Word which describes the film -Laugh riot

Best Dialogue -
Tanu-' Haalat dekhi hai apni? Adrak ho gaya hai ye aadmi. Kahin se bhi badh raha hai!' 
Manu- "Haan toh shaadi se pehle Hrithik Roshan tha kya?

Genre -Comedy/ Drama 

Music - Ramesh Vinayagam

Producer - Kishore Lulla
Anand L. Rai

Story- Himanshu Sharma

Direction -Anand L. Rai

Cast -Kangana Ranaut, R. Madhavan, Jimmy Shergill, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, Deepak Dobriyal

Budget- 35 Crores 

After giving  two hits Tanu Weds Manu (2011) and Raanjhanaa (2013), the director-writer duo  Anand L. Rai and  Himanshu Sharma have hit the jackpot with their third tongue in cheek comedy Tanu Weds Manu Returns which has become the first film of 2015 to enter the 100 Crore Club. 

With big budget films like Baby and Bombay Velvet failing to touch the 100 Crore mark it's no mean feat.

Kangana Ranaut is slowly and steadily becoming the poor producers' Amir Khan (pun intended).

When Tanu tells a small kid to write a letter which says , 'Laal kalam se likh do unko bahut hua sammaan..' we know that the rebellious Tanuja Trivedi is back and we can expect some fireworks . She has no second thoughts about hugging a rickshaw wala who once used to study in the same college with her and telling him ,'Bahut acche din the yaar wo, waqt aur umar ne sab barbaad kar diya yaar.' 

Kangana as Datto is the real surprise package of the film. Tanu and Datto are like chalk and cheese. It's hard to believe that both the characters are played by the same woman. Where as one is a drop dead beauty who attracts men like moths to a flame the other one is a dedicated athlete who has no time for love or to enjoy the finer things in life. When a befuddled Manu collides with her she shouts at him in Haryanvi , 'Ke kar raha tha bahen faela ke, yo jagah se Shah Rukh Khan bannan ki?'

Madhavan is an excellent actor who always manages to express his feelings through his eyes. Every married man in the audience must have identified and sympathized with him. His silent nature and simple looks act as the perfect foil for Kangana's beauty and exuberance.
His recent weight gain may have acted as an advantage in portraying the role of a 40 year old married man but if he has any intention of playing other mainstream roles he should seriously start working on loosing the extra kilos.

Jimmy Shergil has few scenes in the films but he manages to leave an impact. His character has matured over the years and now instead of raw anger his character depicts maturity. He gets irritated now and then like when he tells Tanu, 'Hum kahe tum nahi tumhare jaise hi sahi, lekin tumhare pati se wo bhi dekha nahi ja raha! Saley ko original bhi yahi rakhenge, duplicate bhi yahi rakhenge.'

Deepak Dobriyal first came to limelight for his award winning performance in Omkara (2006) .  He is totally loyal to Madhavan and plays the role of his inner conscience. You can't stop laughing when he tells Manu ,' Tum kya Salman Khan ho jo tumhe commitment issues hai.' With him around, there's never a dull moment.

Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub as Chintu is a new addition in this sequel. He is in awe of Tanu and wants to win her by hook or crook. He tells Raja ,'Bhaiya, hum kandha. Bhaiya Kandha ek biradari hoti hai na ladko ki, hum tab ate hai jab kanya bahut udas hoti hai, sare rishto se pareshan hoti hai.'
All these characters along with a well scripted story and screenplay keep you entertained and teach you some basic facts about life.
1. In life there is no happy ending. Till you are alive there will be ups and downs.
2. Never say things which you don't mean.
3. Just because you're mad at someone doesn't mean you stop loving them.

In a line, over the years you must have heard the quote 'Love is blind, marriage is an eye opener' a 100 times, this film just explains it to you  in a very detailed and funny manner.'
Must watch. Paisa vasool. 

Review of Sahib Biwi Gangster Returns

Release date – 8'th March 2013

One Line which describes the film – Anything is fair in love and war . 


Best  Dialogues –

Saheb-  “ Wo hamari sarkari biwi hai, sarkar to hai , par kisi kaam ki nahi ”

Biwi- “ Hume mard hi kyun milte hai... Shayar kyun nahi milte ! ” 

Gangster-  “ Hamari gali pe bhi taali padti hai ” 

Genre –  Drama / Thriller
 
Story - Tigmanshu Dhulia , Sanjay Chauhan

Music – Sandeep Chowta

Producer -  Tigmanshu Dhulia , Rahul Mittra , Nitin Tej Ahuja

Direction - Tigmanshu Dhulia

Cast - Jimmy Shergill , Mahie Gill , Irrfan Khan , Soha Ali Khan 

Budget – 7 crores 

The sequel is shot in the same haveli  in Deogarh which witnessed the  love, lust ,bloodshed and betrayal in the first part . Saheb  is in a wheel-chair and still making money by settling other people’s scores .He has started believing that the haveli  controls the lives and minds of its inhabitants . The paths of the Gangster,  Saheb and   Biwi cross when Saheb’s step-mother, plants the idea of an heir and a second wife in Saheb's mind.

The lead characters are introduced in the same fashion as in the first part .If the earlier one was a  fast and raunchy bedroom drama with sharp minded scheming characters who weave a web of relationships,  this one moves out of  the bedroom and focuses on  the political issue of division of the state .
Though the film is an extravagant and grander version of the one we watched two years ago, it is slow with  confused characters who keep falling in and out of love without any strong reasons or motives .  Every character is grey, they have their own selfish motives, their own insecurities and their own internal conflicts to resolve.The saving grace of the film lies in it's powerful dialogues and great acting .

Irrfan Khan 's character starts off nice. There's a scene where he interviews a politician who is busy watching porn on his laptop .But as the film progresses he is shown to be losing his focus . The climax makes you ponder on  what Irrfan was set to accomplish and what he achieves finally.

Jimmy Shergill as Saheb is flawless and spellbinding . His character has the maximum no. of shades . From the man who hates his wife , to a man who can go to any lengths to get the woman he wants  ,to settling scores with those who crossed his way, he is just perfect . His dialogue  “jante ho mard itni galiyan kyun dete hain…kyunki woh rote kum hain”  is followed by claps and whistles from the audience.

Mahie Gill is perfect as the seductive and lusty Biwi .  Her drunken enactments and dialogue delivery is flawless . Despite the history she shares with Saheb she still has feelings for him which may be shown in Part3.

Soha Ali has given a good performance ,though her character lacks the spice to stay in the third and maybe the finale of this saga.
  

The song ' Bas chhal, kapat, prapanchh hai , Har swaarth ka yeh munch hai'   reminds us of the song 'Arambh hai prachand ' from  Gulaal (2009) 

In a line though the story doesn't end here , it's excellent dialogues manage to create enough curiosity for Part 3.

Must watch for Jimmy Shergill 's fans and people who liked the first part .    

Rank - 5 (Out of the 18 films I have seen in 2013)

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 )