Kaalakaandi~ LSD (It's not about love, sex or dhoka)

Cast- Saif Ali Khan, Akshay Oberoi, Kunaal Roy Kapur, Deepak Dobriyal,
Vijay Raaz, Sobhita Dhulipala,Amyra Dastur and Shehnaaz Treasury

Writer/ Director- Akshat Verma

Budget- 20 Crores approximately

Most informative Dialogue- You don't take LSD. You drop acid!

Kaalakaandi is a Marathi slang for when things go disastrously wrong.
The film is a dark comedy written and directed by Delhi Belly(2011) fame, Akshat Verma.

Life changes overnight for Saif Ali Khan (as we don't get to know his name till the end of the film) when he comes to know that depsite leading a healthy lifestyle he has stomach cancer and has just 3 months to live. To makeup for the lost time he decides to check off things to do from his bucket list. Though he only manages to get high on LSD and tell a transgender, "humko bahut curiosity hai aapke saman ke baare mai".

Along with Saif's story there are other stories of his brother getting married, two mafia henchmen planning to double cross their boss, a girl who has to catch a flight to the US to pursue her PhD, leaving her boyfriend behind because she thinks that they don't have the time, energy or money to get married.

Like Delhi Belly, the characters of Kaalakaandi are colourful and don't mind using provocative or abusive words as and when the script demands. So we have a drunk Shehnaz telling her BFF that she likes young boys because they follow you around and are always horny. A hot girl tells her timid boyfriend that she will teach Kamasutra to the whole country.

First half of the film is fast and keeps us rooted to our seats. The scenes where Saif is hallucinating from the effects of the acid are beautifully shot. We get to see dolphins on the streets, helicopter infront of the car and Saif holding a dropping comet on his hand.

After interval there is no surprise element and it looks like the director was in a hurry to link all the three stories.

The film was completed almost a year back but it's release kept getting postponed. Because of poor advertising and competition from Mukkabaaz, 1921 and Tiger Zinda Hai, the film managed to earn around 2 Crores in 2 days which is dismal considering the star cast.

In a line, despite having its moments, the film just starts and ends like an episode of a Hollywood series and has not a single memorable dialogue or well acted scene.

Avoidable.

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.

Review of Go Goa Gone

Release date –  10'th May  2013

One Line which describes the film – 
The Comedy of Errors

Best  Dialogue – 
'Ye India main bhoot - pret hote hai , Zombies kaha se aa gaye?'
'Globalisation , Ye phirangio ne waat laga di '

Genre – Zombie/Comedy
   

Music – Sachin-Jigar

Producer -  Saif Ali Khan ,Dinesh Vijan ,Sunil Lulla

Story & Direction - Raj Nidimoru , Krishna D.K.

Cast – Saif Ali Khan , Kunal Khemu , Anand Tiwari , Puja Gupta

Budget – 20 crores (approximately)

Raj and D.K. are engineers turned film-makers whose last film Shor in the City was one of the most acclaimed films of 2011 that earned terrific reviews from almost every critic in the country.

This time they have come up with a zom-com film which even when it makes you laugh ,gives a strong message that smoking ,drugs and alcohol kill.
The story revolves around three friends Kunal Khemu, the guy who flirts with any woman /zombie,  Vir Das  who updates every detail of his life on Facebook and wants to fall in love and the hard working, simple Anand Tewari who is constantly financially exploited by his friends. The trio go to a rave party organised by the Russian mafia in an island off the shore of Goa and their dark adventure begins. 

Most of the first half of the film is hilarious and even though the second half is predictable the film doesn't bore. 

Kunal Khemu, (who has even written  the dialogues along with Raja Sen  ) has given a wonderful performance and easily outshines Veer Das and Anand Tewari . 

Pooja Gupta adds to the glamour quotient in the film. She represents the female generation who party hard but are responsible and can take care of themselves too.

Saif Ali's accented, blonde haired, heavily-tattooed look may not appeal to the audience in the promos but with his perfect comic timing he manages to leave an impact.

The songs of the film ‘Slowly slowly’ , ‘Khoon choos le’ and   ‘Babaji ki booty’ have already become chart busters and will be played in discs for months.

In the film the characters use this line several times 'What do you know,What have you learnt?' and what I learnt after 2 hours is that 'Drugs turn you into Zombies.'

In a line even if the zombie element is not as good as shown in Hollywood films  Zombieland  or Shaun of the Dead the chemistry between the three friends is what makes this film entertaining and paisa wasool.'
Must watch for the younger generation addicted to Facebook ,Twitter or Whatsapp .
Good one time theater watch.

Rank - 5 (Out of the 26 films I have seen in 2013)