Ae Dil Hai Mushkil- An ode to Love

Release date- 28th Oct 2016

One Word which describes the film- Intense

Best Dialogues-
Ayan- "Aasan Hai Kya? Aisi Mahobbat Karna Jiske Badle Mohabbat Na Mile."

Alizeh- "Pyaar Mein Junoon Hai, Par Dosti Mein Sukun Hai."

Saba- "Main kisi ki jaroorat nahi khwaish banna chahti hoon."

Tahir- "Agar baazi ishq ki baazi hai toh jo chahe laga lo, dar kaisa. Agar jeet gaye to kya kehna, agar haare bhi toh baazi maat nahi."

DJ Ali- "Tumhari mohabbat ke samne meri mohabbat kam pad gayi." 


Genre- Romance/ Drama

Budget- 80 Crores approximately

“Jab pyar mai pyar na ho,

 Jab dard mein yaar na ho
Jab aasoun mein muskaan na ho,
Jab lafzon mein zubaan na ho
Jab saasein bas yunhi chale,
Jab har din mein raat dhale
Jab intezaar sirf waqt ka ho,
Jab yaad uss kambat ki ho
Kyun hun mein rahi
Jab wo hai kisi aur ki manzil,
Dhadkano ne saath chhod diya
Ae Dil Hai Mushkil,
Ae Dil Hai Mushkil”
~ Karan Johar

It has been two weeks since the film released and despite the mixed reviews it has managed to do well both in Indian and international markets.
I have always appreciated Karan Johar's larger than life films where everything is grand, there are perfect people with perfect relationships and by the end everything ends in a happy note.
But this film is unlike any of his film. This film is a dramatized version of his own life story. The characters of the film experience the unreciprocated love and heartbreaks he has gone through in his life. The characters are so real that in everyone you will find some traces of yourself.

Ayan- In a scene Ayan tells Alizeh that he was sure that one day he would meet someone who will understand his craziness and accept him like he was. He's the 'private jet' rich kind of guy who has everything and still is not happy because he doesn't understand why a girl who calls him his bestest friend can't be in love with him too. He aims to please everybody. Ranbeer as Ayan is the guy anyone can fall in love with. We found him cute, understood his confusion, shared his excitement and at times sympathized with him too.

Alizeh- The girl who knows she has been a fool in love and so values the comfort of friendship more than the excitement of an obsessive love. She is mature when explaining about love to others but when it's about her, she commits the same mistake again, even telling her friend, "Mohabbat karne walo ka vishwas nahi karna chahiye". Anushka Sharma is perfect in the role. At some places her friendship with Ranbeer looks very real and we could feel her enjoyment in bullying him.

Ali- Fawad Khan has a small role in the film. In his unkempt unruly hair he looks messy. His character was important to the story but he has just 3-4 dialogues and hardly leaves any impact.

Saba- Aishwarya did two woman oriented film after her comeback , Jazbaa and Sarabjeet, but both didn't do well at the box office or got her any critical acclamation. As Saba Taliyar Khan she looked so hot and beautiful that even those who hated the film couldn't ignore her presence. The video of "Bulleya" has got 71 million hits in a month and must be the most viewed Bollywood song. Her chemistry with Ranbir is so real that it set the screen on fire. Karan Johar very wisely showed most of the passionate scenes between them in the trailer and created so much curiosity among the audience that the film got a very good opening.

Music is the life and soul of the film. Whether it's the title song which explains the pain of one sided love or "Channa Mereya"  the heartbreak song, they are bound to stay in your mind long after you have seen the film.
Karan Johar has given so much of himself in this film that I doubt that he'll direct another film soon. Karan Johar said that he learned a lot from Aditya Chopra while assisting him in Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jaynge. Without even watching Aditya Chopra's upcoming film "Befikre", I can say that with this film Karan has shown that he has gone way ahead than his mentor.

In a line, Ae Dil Hai Mushkil is that kaleidoscope which will bring to your mind all the meaningful & loving relationships you have ever experienced in your life.

Good one time watch.

Tamasha ~ Why always the same review !

Release date- 27th Nov 2015

One Word which describes the film - Intense

Best Dialogue - 

Deepika- Main Mona, Mona Darling.
Ranbir-  Toh main aap ko Mona kahun ya darling?

Genre - Romance/ Drama

Music -A. R. Rahman

Producer - Sajid Nadiadwala

Story & Direction -Imtiaz Ali

Cast - Ranbir Kapoor, Deepika Padukone

Budget- 50-60 Crores

First of all Tamasha is not a romantic film, at best it can be described as a series of events,  some happy, some sad, some painful and some which will touch your soul.

It's about a guy who thinks that as a child he was special and as he grew up he became a mediocre common man who just does things to please his family and society. Who is running a race without ever hoping to be in the top bracket as the race is not of his choice.

It's about a girl who falls in love with a guy and keeps that image of him for years only to find that with time the guy has completely changed into someone else. She has no ego in confessing her love and her heart refuses to believe what her mind tells her.  

The characters are very real. You can identify with these young people who are carefree and want to live life to the hilt. They influence each other sometimes motivating them and other times hurting them unknowingly.

Imtiaz Ali may have been a little confused about how to present his 'different' story to the viewers but his decision of casting Ranbeer to play the role of ' Ved' was perfect.

Ranbeer Kapoor proves that he is a dynamic actor. How he transforms from a cool notorious guy to a well mannered guy to an angry young man to a hurt lover and finally to a confused guy who wants to know the end of his love story from someone else is truly amazing. 

Deepika plays the role of a catalyst in helping the guy discover his story. She looks beautiful and shares a very believable on screen chemistry with Ranbeer. Guess Ranvir Singh and Katrina Kaif must have felt quite uneasy while seeing how comfortable the two look with each other.

The music of the film is good but because of the low buzz of the film the music also suffered.

The basic reason behind the masses rejecting the film can be that the director takes too long to come to the main idea. The starting is so slow that till 15 minutes you will wonder what's happening. Once he establishes a theme he again takes the viewers to a different journey again taking too many side paths. It's not that people are not ready to accept a different story, it's just that the first and foremost requirement of the viewers is to feel entertained. When the hero is on one of his soul-searching trips I saw many people letting out deep sighs or playing with their mobiles and some impatient ones even leaving the theatres. 

The film has managed to recover it's production cost, against all odds.

In a line you may love the film or hate it but you will surely be impressed by the protagonist's changing body language in different scenes.

If you are a Ranbeer Kapoor fan you can see the film in theaters. Others can wait for it to be aired on TV.

Bombay Velvet - Big shots, Guns and all that Jazz !

Release date -15'th May 2015

One Word which describes the film - Kashyap's Waterloo

Best Dialogue - Abhi to apun small se large hua hai, abhi patiala hona baki hai.'

Genre - Crime/ Drama

Music - Amit Trivedi

Producer - Vikramaditya Motwane, Vikas Bahl, Fox Star Studios

Story - Based on Mumbai Fables by Gyan Prakash

Direction -Anurag Kashyap

Cast -Ranbir Kapoor, Anushka Sharma, Karan Johar, Kay Kay Menon, Satyadeep Misra,  Vivaan Shah

Budget- 90 crores approximately (Including P & A)

‘Bombay Velvet’ is a period drama set at a time when Bombay became a metropolis.
The film starts with Raveena Tandon crooning a Jazz number which has lines like 

'Roothi hai mehbooba

Roothi roothi sharaab hai
Hey aam hindustani teri kismat kharaab hai.' 

We are mesmerized by the elaborate costume of the singer and the grandiose of Bombay Velvet's sets. As the story is set in the sixties, elaborate sets of Bombay's landmarks were specially mounted across various locations in Sri Lanka to recreate the ambiance of a bygone decade. Every minute detail is taken care of. When we see a bus it has the advertisement of products of those times. Every character has the perfect get up and hairstyle. So the question is why Kashyap's magnum opus became the brunt of the audiences jokes ?

When you watch Ranbeer Kapoor playing the role of Jhonny Balraj you are instantly reminded of Tony Montana (Scarface,1983). Balraj is shown watching Hollywood films and he dreams of becoming a big shot. He is temperamental and has no qualms about killing people who come in his way. He is a violent and possessive lover. To give vent to his anger he participates in street fights because of which in most parts of the film he has a scarred face. 

Karan Johar makes his acting debut as Kaizad Khambata. He is the ruthless business man whose ultimate objective is to earn money. His ideology is, 'Main jo bhi karta hoon khud ke liye karta hoon.' Small time crooks like Balraj and his friend Chimman are just pawns in his game. He wears tailored suits and walks around with such elegance that it will remind you of the undulating movements of a snake. He looks down on people.In a particular scene he tells the lead actors that they look like the hired help and a zebra crossing respectively. He maintains a cool composure and in a really hilarious situation he comes outside the room and laughs his heart out and goes inside with a straight face.

Anushka Sharma plays the role of Jazz singer, Rosie  who is the object of desire of almost half of the male cast. She is the star of the Bombay Velvet club and her elaborate costumes and hairstyles reflect it.

Earlier when there was a sudden speculation about her lips Anushka tweeted that she was using a temporary lip enhancing tool and make-up techniques for the sake of her look in her upcoming film.

Satyadeep Mishra as Balraj's friend has the most well defined role. His loyalty is towards his friend. He has expressive eyes and his body language is perfect.

Veteran actors like Kay Kay Menon, Siddhart Basu are totally wasted. Even Vivan Shah plays a totally insignificant role.

The main problem in the film is it's weak screenplay and lack of dialogues. In Indian films special emphasis is paid on the entry of the hero or heroine. Here they randomly appear in a scene. We are shown a man bent on a bank counter and it turns out he is Karan Johar. Shouldn't the man who makes larger than life candyfloss romances get a better introduction than this ?

There is no continuity in the scenes. There are so many songs that in many situations instead of dialogues background music and songs are used. In the full movie there was hardly any scene where the audience can whistle or clap in appreciation.

Bombay Velvet is the perfect example of  'Too many cooks spoil the broth.' A team of writers including Vasan Bala, Gyan Prakash, Anurag Kashyap and S.Thanikachalam wrote the screenplay. When the producers were not satisfied with the results, Prerna Saigal (The Lunchbox) and Academy Award winning editor Thelma Schoonmaker were called to do the editing. 
Till interval the film is fast and manages to hold interest. Afterwards it's just unnecessary blood shed and violence. The much hyped song' Mohabbat Buri Bimari' shown in promos was not in the film. Instead we get to see a different version starring Raveena Tandon which was a big disappointment.      

In a line, Anurag Kashyap despite his passion for gangster films and detailing could not give proper shape to his dream project and so it has turned into a nightmare for the producers and the audiences.

Only for die-hard fans of Kashyap's  kind of Noir films. Time pass.

Besharam - How the Mighty have Fallen.

Release date – 2nd October 2013

One Word which describes the film – Disappointing

Best Dialogue  – ' Ye khoon kharaba apna style nahi ,ye to sirf apna talent batana tha.'

Genre – Comedy /Romance

  

Writer- Abhinav Kashyap, Rajeev Barnwal

Music –Lalit Pandit

Producer- Himanshu Mehra , Sanjeev Gupta

Direction -Abhinav Kashyap

Cast- Rishi Kapoor , Neetu Singh ,  Ranbir Kapoor , Pallavi Sharda ,
 Javed Jaffrey 

  

Budget - 80 crores (including print and publicity)

When a film has a startcast of Ranbir Kapoor ( whose last films were  Rockstar , Barfi!  &  Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani ) and Rishi Kapoor who gave powerful performances in  D-Day , Aurangzeb and  Shuddh Desi Romance  you start expecting a lot from it. 
What the film actually delivers, is a story taken straight away from old films, poorly written screenplay and dialogues, too many songs and dances, weak characters and a lead pair who share zero chemistry.

Abhinav Kashyap, who made his directorial debut in 2010 through Dabangg has totally antagonized the audience with his second film. The full blame for this nonsense in the name of action/romance /comedy lies on his shoulder as not only he wrote the story he also wasted talented actors like Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Singh in roles where they had nothing to do.
Ranbeer Kapoor, who is the current heart throb is made to wear cheap clothes, use lame lines and act like a buffoon in most of the film. Even Kashyap's girlfriend and leading lady of the film, Pallavi got no preferential treatment. Though she is a manager who drives a Mercedes she wears Globus kind of clothes( bought during sale period) and has no dialogues or chance to show her acting skills.

The tag line of the film is 'Na samman ka moh , na apman ka bhay'. Sorry Mr Kashyap but this film has nothing for which you will receive a single word of praise or appreciation. 

The film was released in 3600 screens and because of Ranbeer Kapoor's popularity it made an opening day collection of 20 crores. Ranbir Kapoor must have realised  that he made a blunder in choosing to act in this film as he took no interest in promoting the film in Mumbai or any other cities.

In a line, the 3 Kapoors together have given such a 3'rd class film that in future I would rather watch a movie starring the 3 Bachchans (Sarkar Raj) or 3 Deols (Apne) .

Highly Avoidable.

Review of Ye Jawani Hai Diwani

Release date – 31'st May 2013

One Word which describes the film – Joy-Ride

Best  Dialogue – ‘Waqt kisi ke liye nahi rukta , beetta waqt hai , par kharch hum hote hai’

Genre – Romance

Story - Mohsin Khan

Music – Pritam

Producer - Karan Johar

Direction - Ayan Mukerji

Cast – Ranbir Kapoor , Deepika padukone , Adtya roy kapoor , Kalki koechlin

Budget - 50 crores

The film is about some fun filled moments in the life of four friends who share a bonding with each other but are also practical and live life according to their own terms.

Ranbeer Kapoor has given so many award winning performances in the last years that this role was like a cake walk for him . His acting is so natural that whatever character he plays he totally erases the memory of his past roles. He can be the young and carefree Sid  and then he surprises you as the intense Jordan . You are still in awe of the Rockstar when he stuns you by playing the simple and golden hearted Barfi .

Last year , Deepika Padukone as the sizzling Veronica totally stole the limelight from Saif Ali in Cocktail . In this film , her character has the maximum scope of expressing different emotions and she successfully outshine others . Her dialogue, 'Jitna bhi chaho ,kuch na kuch to chootega ,jahan ho usko enjoy karo'  must be followed by everyone who in the hope of having a better future are running after unattainable dreams and ruining their present.

Aditya Roy Kapoor’s character seemed to be an extension of his role from Aashiqui 2 as most of the time he was seen with a beer bottle or a glass of scotch . He is a good actor , but this film was not about him so his character's story was not properly explored .

Kalki was shown as the confident and practical girl who knows what to choose between romantic dreams and  happiness . She adds to the glamour quotient of the film.

It’s the current trend to take stars for cameo roles but I wonder if Rana Daggubati really had to do that 30 seconds role. It was even worse than Abhishek Bachchan’s cameo in Nautanki Sala.

Though the  film is directed by Ayan Mukerji , it totally had the Karan Johar feel . It was full of glamour , grandeur , lavish sets , good music and foot tapping dance numbers  .

Madhuri Dixit fans totally loved her in  the item dance ‘Ghagra’  

Faarooq Sheikh as the loving and caring father who wants his son to follow his dreams leaves impact in his small role.

 In a line, don’t expect some epic romance like Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge  or a saga  of great friendship like Dil Chahta Hai or Zindagi Na milegi dobara and  you will not be disappointed.

One time theater watch . Time Pass.

Rank- 6 (Out of the 29 films I have seen in 2013 )