Phantom ~ The world of Kabir Khan, where fiction merges with reality.

Release date - 28'th August 2015

One Word which describes the film - Optimistic

Best Dialogue - ' Aap pooch rahe the kya chahta hai India, India insaaf chahta hai.'

Genre - Action/ Thriller

Music - Pritam Chakraborty

Producer - Sajid Nadiadwala, Siddharth Roy Kapur

Story- Kabir Khan, Kausar Munir (Based on Mumbai Avengers by Hussain Zaidi)

Direction -Kabir Khan

Cast -Saif Ali Khan, Katrina Kaif, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub

Budget- 50 Crores approximately

Kabir Khan made his directorial debut in 1999 with the documentary 'The Forgotten Army' , based on Subhas Chandra Bose's Indian National Army. Since then he has constantly tried to bring to limelight the strength of character and courage of Indians in front of the whole world by making films which are full of patriotism and the never say die attitude of the central characters.
Whether it was Kabul Express (2006), New York (2009), Ek Tha Tiger (2012) or Bajrangi Bhaijaan (2015) all his films will make you think that sometimes innocent people become mere pawns in the game of few corrupt people who have both power and money.

There is undoubtedly a lot of pressure that comes with recognition, which can be a good thing and bad thing all at the same time.

After Kabir Khan's Bajrangi Bhaijaan became the most successful film of 2015, people were just waiting to find some fault in his next film. I also went with mixed feelings as had read many negative comments from everyone basically saying that the film is overall boring.

Phantom begins with a car chase in Chicago. From there we are taken to the office of the Indian R.A.W. chief, then to the snowy peaks of Kashmir, then to London, then to Beirut, then to a Syrian refugee camp and finally to a small town in Malerkotla, Punjab which was recreated using Urdu hoarding, posters and flags to resemble a Pakistani town. I don't know how people can get bored in such a happening journey.

We all know that the film deals with the master minds behind the 26/11 Mumbai attacks who are still living freely in some part of the world.

Any operation deals with three basic steps, the plan, it's execution and then the return to safety. The film has a very well written script and the first half of the film has a good pace. The second half of the film which takes us to a Pakistani town is a bit slow, has few songs and several scenes which will touch your heart and fill you with pride. The only flaw in the perfect story was that the execution of the plan happened too abruptly and the return to safety took too long.

Saif Ali Khan in the titular role had ample opportunity to show his talents. He has given a good performance considering how difficult it's for him to get rid of his rich guy attitude and accent.  

I don't know whose idea was it to name a beautiful lady like Katrina Kaif, Nawaz. All through the film her attire were simple and very less attention was paid on glamorizing her so that the focus of the film doesn't shift from the graver issues.

After giving a forgetful performance in All is Well, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub is back in form and how. His role is small but he represents all us Indians who are full of anger and frustration and wish there is some way in which a lesson can be taught to the wrong doers.

Music is average. The film has a soulful song "Saware"  sung by Arijit Singh.

The film was released in 2500 screens and due to bad reviews got a poor opening. By the end of the day because of good word of mouth the film managed to collect almost 8

cr on Friday, 13 Crores on Saturday and 12 Crores on Sunday. With Welcome Back releasing this week the film will surely not get a chance to enter the 100 Crore club but it will surely recover it's production costs.

In a line the film is full of hope and optimism and you will surely wish that all of it was true. 

Good one time watch. Can be seen in theaters.

'All is Well that ends well' ~ Pun intended

Release date - 21'st August 2015

One Word which describes the film - Stereotyped

Best Dialogue - ' Bhaag ke jaao, par dabe paanv jana.'

Genre - Family Drama

Music -Himesh Reshammiya, Amaal Mallik
Meet Bros Anjjan, Mithoon

Producer - Bhushan Kumar,Krishan Kumar, Shyam Bajaj, Varun Bajaj

Story- Sumit Arora, Niren Bhatt

Direction -Umesh Shukla

Cast-  Rishi Kapoor, Abhishek Bachchan, Asin, Supriya Pathak, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub

Budget- 40 crores approximately

I went to watch this film only because of Umesh Shukla's last directorial venture Oh My God (2012) which I enjoyed to the hilt.

The film started with the song "Tu Milade" where we are shown that Abhishek Bachchan is a struggling musician in Bangkok. He delivers a very heavy duty dialogue, 'Kuch log apne sapno ko sach karna chahte hai isliye wo unke peeche bhagte hai aur kuch log sapno ke peeche is liye bhagte hai kyonki wo apni jindagi ki haqeekat se bhagna chahte hai' and i thought maybe the critics were too harsh on Junior Bachchan.

In the next one hour I was made to regret this thought and how.

We are introduced to a couple who is always fighting with each other, a cynical singer, a romantic girl who believes in destiny and signs and the crooked money lender. 
The characters were well thought of but the screenplay and dialogues are so poor that we wonder why veterans actors like Rishi Kapoor and Supriya Pathak agreed to do this film. The only good thing about the film is it's songs which are so well shot that it appears as if half of the budget of the film was spent on just the songs and then some story and random dialogues were written around those songs.
Some dialogues are so pathetic that we are forced to laugh at the sheer stupidity of the writer and director for even thinking that they can make this idea work. There is an item dance by Sonakshi Sinha where she looks like a fair sumo wrestler. Then comes the mindless running which is a very bad imitation of Rohit Shetty style of films. Interval comes with the line ' All is not well' and we wonder what torture will be inflicted on us in the next half.
In the second half we are showered with a dose of equally bad dialogues along with some emotional drama. The director has now started following Farha Khan style of Om Shanti Om and tries to make everything right so we can have a happy ending.
Abhishek Bachchan has tried to act and manages to give expressions in some scenes. Though when he tells his father, 'Man, get a life' we wonder how a person who has come from Bangkok manages to talk in an American accent.
Asin as the girl next door looks sweet but in some scenes her dresses are so common and dull that we wonder if she actually got them from Pantaloons or Globus.
Rishi Kapoor is a good actor and we expect nothing but a great performance from him but when he was made to say those silly dialogues like ,' Kinare karo, mujhe make water karna hai', we wonder why can't he simply say NO to such films.
Mohammaed Zeeshan after leaving his mark in Tanu weds Manu Returns totally disappoints in this film. 
There are few scenes which make us laugh but they are lost in the overall slow pace of the film. The overall film looks so low budget that it gives the feeling of a stage drama rather than a full fledged film. There was a picture of a young Abhishek Bachchan which was sometimes hanging in the bedroom and sometimes in the hall. People like me who pay attention to such minute details must have laughed at the director's folly.

The film got an opening of just 10-15% and has collected approximately 5 crores in 2 days which is too less for a Rishi Kapoor, Abhishek Bachchan starrer. The reviews and word of mouth are so bad that it will be a big task for the film to even collect 20 crores.

2015 has been a really bad year for T-Series as apart from Baby none of their films such as Roy, Ek Paheli Leela and I Love New Year have managed to make money at the box office.

In a line the proverb  'All is well that ends well'  holds true for this film as we were back to our all is well status and took a sigh of relief when the film finally ended.

Highly Avoidable. Junior Bachchan fans can watch this film at their own risk.

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 Raanjhana

Release date –21'st June 2013

One Word which describes the film – Intriguing

Best  Dialogue – 
"Mere piche scooter mai baithna padega. Main break maarunga toh mujhpe girna padega. Mere saath naachna-gaana padega. Girlfriend na sahi..feel hi dede"

Genre – Romance /Drama

Story - Himanshu Sharma

Music – A. R. Rahman

Producer - Krishika Lulla

Direction - Anand L. Rai

Cast – Dhanush , Sonam Kapoor , Abhay Deol , Swara Bhaskar , Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub

Budget - 35 crores

The promos of the film showed a love story in a rustic background and melodious music by A.R.Rehman . The film starts with the dialogue ,"Ek baat main samajh gaya hoon. Ladki aur rocket aapko kahin bhi le jaa sakte hain"  
We are presented with a hero who knows he is dark and not very good looking and still is madly in love with a pretty girl and wants to get her by hook or crook . Till interval the film has lots of comic moments.


Dhanush has done full justice to his role. It's hard to imagine any other 30 year actor play the role of a 17 year old. In his school dress and clean shaven look he looks like a teenager who is desperate to express his feelings to his crush.   
Dhanush and Zeeshan as childhood friends  share an amazing chemistry . The dialogues  they share like ,  "Tumhara pyaar na ho gaya..UPSC ka exam ho gaya. 10 saal se paas hi nai ho raha" is an important factor in the film's success .

Sonam Kapoor as the manipulative Zoya has given a good performance though in the second half most of the time she has the same expressions on her face .

Abhay Deol has a short role and totally fades in front of Dhanush.

In a line though the love story may not be perfect with everyone using everyone else for their benefit but the characters of the film are so real and down to earth that you can relate with them .

Must watch for a totally paisa-vasool first half . 

Rank - 15  ( out of the 54 films  I have seen in 2013 )