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.

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.

Katti Batti ~ Old wine in a new bottle

Release date - 18'th September 2015

One Word which describes the film - Nostalgic

Best Dialogue - 'Ek average insan ka dil 4 bar tootta hai. Pyar se jyada Pyar ka dard bikta hai.'

Genre - Romance/ Comedy

Music -Shankar Ehsaan Loy

Producer - Siddharth Roy Kapur
Nikhil Advani

Story - Anshul Singhal

Direction - Nikhil Advani

Cast -Imran Khan , Kangana Ranaut , Vivan Bhatena, Suhaas Ahuja

Budget - 30 Crore approximately

Katti Batti is an Indian romantic comedy film directed by Nikhil Advani. 

Imran Khan was always Nikhil's  first choice for the hero's role in Katti Batti but many heroines said no to working opposite him. As Nikhil was also directing Salman Khan's home production Hero, finally Salman Khan convinced Kangana to do Payal's role. 

Kangana is currently the reigning queen of Bollywood and she has herself claimed in many interviews that she is the highest paid actress. Her presence in the film was supposed to give the film a very good opening but guess Imran Khan's bad luck is much stronger than Kangana's charm.

Katti Batti is a hero-centric film where we have a guy who is truly madly and deeply in love with a girl. After few days of meeting her he tells her that 'Tumhe mujhse jyada pyar koyi nahi karega, kar hi nahi sakta.' 
When he proposes to her the heroine casually tells him, 'Abhi to maine college ke sare ladke dekhe bhi nahi hai sacche pyar ka mood nahi hai, time pass chalega?'
It's a sweet love story with lots of funny, emotional and intense moments. The only problem is most of the scenes of the film seem inspired from other films. As soon as you know that the hero is called Madhav 'Maddy' you are instantly reminded of the other Maddy from Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein(2001). As the film progresses you are reminded of other hit films like  Sweet November (2001), Break Ke Baad (2010),  Pyaar Ke Side Effects,  (500) Days of Summer(2009) , Salaam Namaste(2005) ,  Love Aaj Kal (2009) etc.
After interval we are introduced to a character Roger who has a band called ' FOSLA' the concept of which was introduced in the 'Dum laga ' song from the film 'Dil Dosti Etc' which goes like..
'Baar Baar Hum Pyaar Pyaar Me Maar Maar Kyun Khaate Hain?

Frustrate Hokar Nile Filme Dekhane Kyun Jaate Hain?

Pyar Nahi Hain Tuzko Pandit, Kuch Toh Hain Bimari,
Abe Professor Ke Saali Ko Aankh Kisane Maari?

Chaska Par Taala Lagta…
Chup Be Fosle, Frustrated One Sided Lover’s Association!'

Music is average. There are two love songs which have good lyrics but because of poor advertising and bad reviews they have less scope of staying in the mind of the viewers.

Reallly loved the lyrics of 'Ove Janiya' and 'Sau Aasoon'

'Sau aansoo roye do akhiyan

Maara hai jinhe neendon ne

Kabhi na soye wo akhiyan.'

Imran Khan has given a wonderful performance and you will really sympathize with him. There are scenes where his pain feels too real and you will feel tears in your eyes. Other times his love will pass on to you and you can't stop smiling.

Kangana had less scope of showing her acting talents in this film as the film basically revolves around Imran's life, his office, his friends, his love story where she is just the girlfriend. She gets to experiment with various hairstyles and looks pretty.

Thefilm collected approximately 5.5 crores on the first day which is good considering it's low budget.

In a line the film is a mocktail of various love stories which may appeal to die hard romantics but is surely not for the cynics.

Time-pass. Can be seen in theaters if you can get over your aversion of Imran Khan.

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 Queen

Release date – 7'th March  2014

One Word which describes the film – Liberating

Best Dialogue - ' Kissing mein bhi Indians hi best hai '

Genre – Comedy/ Drama

Music – Amit Trivedi

Producer- Anurag Kashyap , Vikramaditya Motwane

Story & Direction -Vikas Bahl

Cast -Kangana Ranaut , Rajkummar Rao , Lisa Haydon

Budget- 12-15 crores approximately

Queen is about a girl from Delhi , whose lover turned fiancé breaks with her a day before their wedding , telling her that he thinks that she would not be able to match his lifestyle in London .
What follows is a slow story with some flash backs , crying over the past and then a random decision by the girl to go on her pre planned honey moon alone .
Once the other female actress Lisa Haydon enters the scene the film turns into a glamorous , fun filled affair with the two females who are poles apart in their way of living , discovering a strong bond of friendship .
The film has powerful female characters like a single mother who works hard and parties harder , a lap dancer who is practical about how the profession earns her good money  and  a grand mother who makes her grand daughter realise that if she wanted to watch TV she could have better stayed at home .
The film shows Kangana's journey from a time where she is drunk and crying   "Mera toh itna life kharab ho gaya, itna life kharab ho gaya mera.." to a time where she happily says 'Thank You'.

Apart from Kangana's acting the other thing which stands out is the way the director has shown Paris and Amsterdam. The cities are not shown like some 'heaven on earth' as is done in Yash Chopra's films. There are small hotel rooms,shady roads and crowded night clubs.

Director Vikas Bahl said in an interview that they didn’t have the budget to shoot elaborate sequences or stay put at one location for long. “We were just 25 people from India for the shoot. We would book a place for a couple of hours, then rush to another location. We would eat at the nearest hotel where we were shooting, and at times Kangana would change her clothes in public toilets! We shot in about 145 locations in 40 days,” .

 The budget constraints gave the film the much needed realism . 

Rajkumar Rao has the weakest role in the film and keeps irritating the audience with his repeated i love you yaar and other cheesy dialogues.

The master stroke of the film is the climax where the girl uploads her memorable pictures on Facebook and her new friends comment on them.

In a line after watching Shaadi Ke Side Effects people will really enjoy how a woman luckily escapes getting married to a stereotypical Indian male and instead gets to live her dream and see the other side of the world.

Entertaining . Can be seen in theaters.

Rank - 1 (Out of the 6 films I have seen in 2014)