Review of Bombay Talkies

Release date – 3'rd May 2013

One Word which describes the film – Average

Best  Dialogue – 'Har baat ko batane ka sahi samay hota hai'

Genre – Anthology of 4 short films  

Music – Amit Trivedi

Producer -  Viacom 18 Motion Pictures , Ashi Dua 

Direction - Anurag Kashyap , Dibakar Banerjee , Zoya Akhtar

Karan Johar

Cast -Amitabh Bachchan , Rani Mukerji , Katrina Kaif ,Randeep Hooda

Nawazuddin Siddiqui , Saqib Saleem ,Ranvir Shorey ,
Vineet Kumar Singh

Budget – 6 Crores

The film started with the melodious song 'Sau sau baras ka hua Yeh khiladi na budha hua.' playing in the background . 

Karan Johar's story was totally different from his usual candy-floss romances and larger than life sets. Here we  had a  freckled face Rani Mukherji dealing with the complexities in her married life. To express the underlying tension between characters, instead of dialogues Karan has used old classics 'Lag ja gale' and 'Ajeeb dastaan hai ye'.

Dibakar Banerjee's story is  about a failed actor who while watching a film shoot gets a chance  to do a small role  in it. There is a  scene where Nawaz  practices Big B’s famous dialogues for the role before he realizes that his character just had to say one word 'A' . After the initial  disappointment he tries saying the one word in different ways and styles . Nawazuddin is a talented actor and he should continue exploring new fields rather than working in dumb films like Aatma .


Zoya Akhtar 's story is about a young boy who wants to be a dancer like 'Sheila'  but plays football because his father wants him to. This story is kind of incomplete as there is confusion on whether Zoya wants to focus on the boy's feminism or his dancing skills .

Anurag Kashyap's story was the best of the lot. Unlike his other complex  films Black Friday (2004), Gulaal (2009), and Gangs of Wasseypur  this story was about a man from Allahabad who comes to Mumbai to fulfill his ailing father’s last wish. The highlight of the film is the hero Vineet who has given a range of expressions in his 20 min role. 

The weakest part of the film was the "Apna Bombay Talkies" song which had a number of film stars but was neither melodious nor a viewing pleasure.

In a line though the film is a tribute to 100 years of cinema, all the four stories  are far off  from epic  films like Mother India (1957)  Guide (1966) , Anand (1971) ,Deewar & Sholay (1975) ,Ek Duuje Ke Liye (1981) ,  Maine Pyar Kiya (1989) ,Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995) etc which were universally loved  and  appreciated .
Time Pass .

Rank - 10 (Out of the 26 films I have seen in 2013)

Review of Mere Dad Ki Maruti

Release date – 15'th March 2013

One Word which describes the film – Humorous

Best  Dialogue – 
Tiger, Bill Clinton sabka 'The End' 
ladkiyon ki wajah se hi hua hai  

Genre – Comedy 
 
Story - Shreyansh Agarwal

Music – Sachin Gupta

Producer -  Ashish Patil , Y Films

Direction - Ashima Chibber

Cast - Ram Kapoor ,  Saqib Saleem , Rhea Chakraborty , Prabal Panjabi , Ravi Kishan

Budget – 7-8  crores 

Mere Dad Ki Maruti is the third film after  Luv Ka The End  and  Mujhse Fraaandship Karoge  by Y -Films .Y films is a subsidiary of Yash Raj Films launched on April 1, 2011 by Aditya Chopra, which concentrates on introducing fresh talent. 

The strong friendship of Saqib Salim and Prabal Panjabi ( who were last seen in Mujhse Fraaandship Karoge ) is the highlight of the film . The full film is like a roller-coaster ride where even during the most testing times the duo stick to each other . In some scenes Prabal Panjabi has even managed to outshine Saqib Salim.

Rhea as Jasleen is the perfect picture of the current generation .She likes to be called Jazz-lin and is the self proclaimed Chandigarh ki Shakira . She uses words like hashtag thanks bye and K which show her addiction to Twitter .Most of the time she is shown in micro shorts and high heels. After Cocktail , Matu Ki Bijli Ka Mandola  and Murder 3 guess micro shorts have become the dress code for all heroines under 30.

Ram Kapoor as the loud Punjabi dad is just perfect . He wears a Louis Vuitton suit and a Rado watch but serves local whiskey to the wedding guests filled in imported bottles . 

Ravi Kishan has a small role but his dressing style and especially his eyes remind you of Mithun Chakravarty .

In a line it's a fully entertaining film with not even a single dull moment .

Must watch .Can be seen with friends or family .

Rank- 6 (Out of the 18 films I have seen in 2013 )