Bajirao Mastani ~ A cinematic treat for the Romantics

Release date- 18th December 2015

One Word which describes the film -
Passionate

Best Dialogue - 
'Tujhe yaad kar liya aayat ki tarah, ab tera zikra hoga ibaadat ki tarah.'

Genre - Period Romance/ Drama

Music - Sanchit Balhara, Sanjay Leela Bhansali

Producer -Sanjay Leela Bhansali

Story - Based on Marathi novel Rau by N.S. Inamdar

Direction -Sanjay Leela Bhansali

Cast - Raveer Singh, Deepika Padukone, Priyanka Chopra, Tanvi Azmi, Milind Soman, Mahesh Manjrekar

Budget- 100 Crores plus

We all know that in 2003 Sanjay Leela Bhansali  wanted to cast Salman Khan and Aishwarya Rai for the eponymous roles, but could not cast them together after their highly publicised break-up. After 12 years we are presented with his dream project and the film is surely worth the long wait.

As soon as the film starts we are struck by the grand and magnificent sets which take us to an era about which we have read in history books.

The film tells about the life of a commander who is loved and trusted by his army. He is brave and doesn't accept the norms of the society.

Ranveer Singh is the perfect choice for the role of Bajirao. Whether he is telling his army men ,'Cheeteh Ki Chaal, Baaz Ki Nazar Aur Baaji Rao Ki Talvar Par Sandeh Nahi Karte, Kabhi Bhi Maat De Sakti Hai' or saying romantic dialogues like Humare dil ek saath dhadakte hai Mastani', he says them with equal ease. We are so engrossed with his charm, exuberance and energy that we can feel his confusion, his love, his pain and his heart break.

Deepika Padukone has excelled as Mastani and looks like a real princess who believes in following her heart. All her costumes are so beautiful that we can't take our eyes off her. The moment she  makes her entry we can feel the chemistry between her and her real life boyfriend Ranveer Singh. If Katrina Kaif felt insecure after watching Deepika's chemistry with Ranbeer Kapoor in Tamasha, she should now watch Bajirao Mastani to see the real thing. She gets to say powerful dialogues in the film which will make you whistle and clap

Ishq, Jo Tufani Duniya Se Bagawat Karjaye Woh Ishq,
Bhare Darbar Mein Jo Duniya Se Lad Jaae Woh Ishq,
Jo Mehboob Ko Dekhe Toh Khuda Ko Bhul Jaae Woh Ishq.

Priyanka Chopra is touching new heights in her career these days so the only reason she must have accepted to do a supporting role can be that she was too much touched by Bhansali's dream project and wanted to be part of this epic saga. Her role is powerful but such is the aura of Mastani that it shadows all other female characters of the film.

In a line Sanjay Leela Bhansali's love sagas may bring a tear to your eye from time to time, but without tears every so often even smiles lose their meaning. 

Must be seen in theaters to experience the grandiose and magnificence of the film.

Gabbar is Back- The Dream of creating a corruption free India

Release date - 1'st May 2015

One Word which describes the film - Over-the-top

Best Dialogue - 'Sabke Karam Saamne Aayenge, Woh Kya Hai Na Karma Rishwat Nahi Leta.'

Genre - Action/Drama

Music -Chirantan Bhatt, Yo Yo Honey Singh, Manj Musik

Producer - Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Viacom 18 Motion Pictures

Story- Remake of Tamil film Ramana written and directed by A. R. Murugadoss

Writer- Rajat Arora

Direction -Krish

Cast -Akshay Kumar, Shruti Hassan, Jaideep Ahlawat, Suman Talwar, 

• Sunil Grover
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Budget- 80 crores  approximately.

Gabbar is back is a scene by scene remake of the hit Tamil film  Ramanaa (2002), directed by A. R. Murugadoss. It's remade in Telugu as Tagore, in Kannada as Vishnu Sena and in Bengali as Tiger. All the remakes have earned money at the box office. So it was expected that Gabbar will also open to full houses. It has collected almost 46 crores in 4 days. 

The press gets information that 10 tehsildars across Maharashtra have been mysteriously kidnapped. But they are as mysteriously returned, except the most corrupt one. Other corrupt officers of various departments also become the target of Gabbar's fury who wants a corruption free India.
The film is very fast and has spicy one liners by the king of dialogues 'Rajat Arora',.
Digvijay Patil- Rishwat li to Gabbar maar dega, nahi li to main maar dunga.
Sadhuram Yadav- 'Jab mujhe expert advice chahiye hoti hai to mai khud se baat kar leta hoon.'
At times the film becomes too unreasonable and overblown which I think is a regular feature of any South Indian film.
Akshay Kumar who is known as the fitness icon looks bulky and has a very funny hairstyle. The moustache and grey beard do nothing for his look. In scenes with Shruti Hassan the age difference is very much visible.
Shruti Hassan who is a lawyer but also helps in successfully delivering a baby in the backseat of a car just based on google research is loud and most of the time looks like a fashion model.
Sunil Grover who plays the role of an intelligent hawaldar has given a good performance.
Suman Talwar comes across as a powerful antagonist.
Kareena Kapoor appears in the Teri Meri Kahani song and adds to the glamour quotient of the film. 
Chintragada Singh who was declared as the next Smita Patel when she made her debut in Hazaaron Khwaishen Aisi(2003) is now reduced to doing steamy item numbers. Aao Raja recreated by Honey Singh is his worst creation till date.
So the question is whether you should listen to all the critics and just avoid the film as it's nowhere near the magnum- opus 'Sholay' or you should leave your brains at home and just enjoy this masala entertainer.
In India the audience is already divided into classes and masses. The teenagers totally avoid Hindi films and stick to films like Fast and Furious and an equally mindless Avengers as they think it's cool to watch them.
Any film which has some patriotic message should be seen by all countrymen. So I would say go and watch it and if even one scene touches your heart and brings a minor change, the purpose is solved.  

In a line the message conveyed to the audience  is very good, I just wish the way in which it was presented was a little better. 

One time watch. Timepass

Review of Ramleela

Release date –15'th November 2013

One Word which describes the film – Colourful 

Best Dialogues  –
Ram -'Guroor mei doob ke samundar ko kya pata tha rann ban jayega.'
Leela -'Jigar pe mat jaa, trigger dabaa doongi.'
Dhankor Baa - 'Goli aur gussa sahi waqt par kharch karna chahiye.' 
Rasila - 'Bada badtameez, besharam, khudgarz hota hai par pyaar toh aisa hi hota hai.'  

Genre – Romance / Drama

Screenplay -Sanjay Leela Bhansali , Siddharth-Garima
Rutvik Oza
Music – Monty Sharma , Sanjay Leela Bhansali

Producer- Sanjay Leela Bhansali , Chetan Deolekar , Kishore Lulla , 
Sandeep Singh

Direction - Sanjay Leela Bhansali

Cast - Ranveer Singh , Deepika Padukone , Richa Chadda ,
Supriya Pathak , Gulshan Devaiah

Budget- 55 crores + P&A


Sanjay Leela Bhansali is known to create larger than life sets which give you the feeling of entering into a fairy land . As the characters are introduced which are very jolly , are singing and dancing at every given opportunity you start enjoying the ride. The story catches speed and when you are expecting it to gain more momentum it fizzles out and climaxes in a very disappointing way.

After directing films like Sawariya and Guzarish which failed miserably at the box office this time Bhansali decided to play safe . He took a simple story, added some double meaning dialogues , a sizzling heroine who kisses strangers and an item number for which reportedly Priyanka Chopra was paid 6 crores.

The film has great performances by  Ranbeer Singh , Deepika , Supriya Pathak and Richa Chaddha and it could have made history if instead of just focusing on how to make a hit , Bhansali had focused on the story and script. There were so many loopholes in the story that we kept wondering what was happening or kept matching the film with already seen films like ' Issaq ' and 'Ishaqjaade '. 
   
Bhansali's films are known for their melodious songs but except ' lahu munh lag gaya ' none of the songs fail to make any impact.

Priyanka Chopra's sizzling item song 'Ram chahe Leela may have got 5 million hits on  You tube  but in the film it looked  out of place and an unnecessary addition to an already stretched story.

In a line apart from the grand colorful sets and mesmerizing castle this adaptation of Romeo and Juliet offers nothing which you haven't seen before.

Can be seen in theaters. Time -pass.

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