Moh Maya Money~ In greed we trust

Release date- 25th Nov 2016

One Word which describes the film- Intriguing 

Best Dialogue-"Risk Hai To Profit Hai Na Yaar. Maroge Nahin To Swarg Kaise Jaoge?"

Genre- Crime/ Thriller

Music- Tuomas Kantelinen

Producer- Sandeep Narula

Story- Munish Bhardwaj, Mansi Nirmal Jain

Direction- Munish Bhardwaj

Cast- Ranvir Shorey, Neha Dhupia, Vidushi Mehra, 

Budget- 5 Crores approximately

Moh Maya Money is the story of a real-estate broker Aman Mehra who is fed up of his middle class existence and aspires to become rich by hook or crook. He is overambitious and believes in doing all kind of deals whether in cash or cheque, black or white just to fulfill his greed. His motto in life is, "Ek Baar Bank Mein Paise Aa Gaye To Wapis Nahin Jaate, Adjust Ho Jaate Hain". Ranvir Shorey portrays the role of a Delhite effortlessly.
Neha Dhupia plays the role of Aman's wife. Her character looks simple and satisfied but afterwards we get to see shades of grey.  

The story is shown first from  Aman's perspective and then from his wife's perspective. There are too many twists which keep the viewers engrossed in the story. The climax will surprise you.

Munish Bharadwaj makes his directorial debut with the film. In this current scenario of demonetisation this white collar crime story is not only relevant but also fills us with nostalgia when we see Ranvir Shorey lying down on a bed with bundles of 500 and 1000 spread all around him.

The film was supposed to release on 11 th Nov along with Rock On 2 but because of the demonetization news it was postponed. As it was released along with the much publicized Dear Zindagi, it got very less screens. Many people are not even aware of it because of the less advertising budget.
In a line the film is about the desperate measures you take when your greed lands you knee deep in trouble.

Time pass.

Dear Zindagi ~ "Sleepless in Goa"

Release date- 25th November 2016

One Word which describes the film- Exaggerated

Best Dialogue- "Life mai jab koyi pattern ya adat bante hue dikhayi de to uske baare mai acche se sochna chahiye. Genius is about knowing when to stop."

Genre- Drama

Music- Amit Trivedi

Producer- Gauri Khan, Gauri Shinde, Karan Johar

Story & Direction- Gauri Shinde

Cast- Alia Bhatt, Shahrukh Khan, Kunal Kapoor, Ali Zafar, Angad Bedi

Budget- 45 Crores including P&A

After watching Dear Zindagi, I read some reviews of famous critics which made me wonder that did they see the same film as us. Whereas most of the people with us were getting restless about how the film went on and on and how some even walked out after interval, the critics couldn't stop talking about how handsome and down to earth SRK looked as Jahangir Khan, or how the film has easily recovered it's production cost cause of it's low budget and selling of distribution rights to a single company.

An average movie goer has no interest in knowing about the economics of a film. He/she is only interested in the entertainment, informational or motivational value of the film.

Gauri Shinde made her directional debut with the highly acclaimed English Vinglish(2012). In her next film Dear Zindagi she tells about Kiara who is having problems in her life and so she decides to visit a 'dimaag ka doctor'.
If this visit to a shrink was just an episode in the film as was in '2 States' where Arjun Kapoor because of the complexities of his relationships couldn't sleep, the film could have been interesting. Sadly Dear Zindagi is 75% about the long conversations between Shahrukh Khan and Alia Bhatt and how he makes her come to terms with her life, which almost everyone in the audience found too monotonous and boring.

There are three heroes in the films but instead of playing any significant roles they just come in 2-3 scenes and then disappear.

Then we have SRK playing the role of a psychiatrist who tells his patient that boyfriends are like chairs which is such a silly thought but is absolutely loved by the patient. Anyone who watches Koffee with Karan will agree that SRK is a smooth talker and he says everything with such sincerity that not only we believe it, we love listening to him too. But that's in a talk show. In a film we expect him to play a larger than life character, a lover, a father, a hockey coach or even his own fan.

Alia Bhatt is an excellent actress and she has perfectly portrayed the role of a confused girl. She is a natural performer but if she wants to be a part of the big league she has to do more main stream roles like Anushka Sharma or Deepika Padukone.

The film's basic problem is the lack of a proper story. It's more of a set of incidents where we sometimes see Kiara partying with her friends in a disco, or shouting at her parents, or flirting with any guy who hits on her. These scenes make her character look like a shallow girl than depressed.

There are some moments like when a talk between the protagonist and her doctor inspire us on how we must leave some memories for our kids or how we shouldn't let our past effect out future but they are so few that after an hour we couldn't wait for the film to finish.

The film is shot mostly in Goa and though there is lot of scenic beauty we wish that the director has worked a little more on the story too.
The film was released in 1200 screens and because of Shahrukh Khan managed to earn 8.75 Crores on it first day which is quite good. 

In a line, with talented actors like Shahrukh Khan and Alia Bhatt and no budget restraints, the director could have made a much better film which was high on entertainment quotient too.
Time-pass.

Tum Bin 2- Good Music, Bad film

Release date- 18th Nov 2016

One Word which describes the film- Monotonous

Best Dialogue- "Life mein joh hum chahte hai aur joh hum chunte hai, uske beech mein hamari kamzori chupi hoti hai, aur kabhi kabhi taqat."

Genre- Romance/ Drama

Music- Ankit Tiwary, Nikhil-Vinay

Producer- Bhushan Kumar, Anubhav Sinha

Story & Direction- Anubhav Sinha

Cast- Neha Sharma, Aashim Gulati, Aditya Seal

Budget- 20 Crores approximately including P & A

In 2001, Anubhav Sinha made his directorial debut with Tum Bin which was a surprise hit at the box office, even beating director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's debut film Aks in terms of collection. That a film starring newcomers did better than a film starring Amitabh Bachchan, Manoj Bajpai and Raveena Tandon was a big surprise for Anubhav Sinha and the film industry.
Guess even after 15 years Anubhav Sinha is still suffering from the hangover of Tum Bin's success.
Tum Bin 2 is definitely the most disappointing sequel which could have been made in the history of Indian cinema.
A sequel is used for a cinematic work which is complete in itself but continues the narrative of a preceding work. Tum Bin 2 looked like an attempt to relive the same story rather than telling us a new story.
The film started with the hit song 'Dekh Lena' sung by Arijit Singh where Neha Sharma and Aditya Seal are shown romancing in the beautiful snow covered Scotland. The film progresses and we get to see more scenic beauty, beautiful houses and streets.
The other hero Aashim Gulati appears and slowly the story starts following the footsteps of Tum Bin. Till interval the story barely manages to hold our interest but afterwards it becomes totally senseless and directionless.
In the start there was a certain chemistry in between the boy and girl but once the third boy enters the story, the film totally loses its plot and we wonder what the director is trying to show. 
We went with the expectation of a fresh love story but what we get to see is the same set of events, where even the main characters were named Shekhar and Amar. 
The item song featuring Mouni Roy and Neha Kakkar was a big disappointment too where Neha Kakkar looked like a fat overweight girl and Mouni Roy hardly got any screen space.
The director even tried to throw a random kiss here and there but by then the audience was so bored that it couldn't save the film.
Neha Sharma and Aashim Gulati are average. Aditya Seal looked good in pictures but the moment he opened his mouth he totally alienated the audience.
The first promo of the film had the hit song "Teri Fariyad" sung by Rekha Bhardwaj with portions from the original song sung by Jagjit Singh. It did create some buzz but music was unable to save a bad story which was made worse by the lecture kind of dialogues like "Life is a summer vacation, it's going to end".
The makers have to realise that in this digital age when there is so much free content in the form of web series, what worked earlier is not going to work now.
The film was released in 1200 screens and has collected less than 2 Crores in 2 days.
In a line, the film is a totally wasted attempt to cash on the success of Tum Bin and has been rejected by the audience.
Avoidable.

It’s Not That Simple. "Marriages are made in Heaven, or hell!"

Web series- It’s Not That Simple
Release Date- 6th October 2016
Genre- Drama
Produced by- Voot, Viacom 18’s streaming service
Director- Danish Aslam
Writer- Charudatt Acharya
Cast- Swara Bhaskar, Vivan Bhatena, Akshay Oberoi, Karanveer Mehra

It’s Not That Simple is a relationship drama that explores the complexities of urban marriages. The web-series is in the form of 6 episodes
Ep 1- Committed to Complicated 
Ep 2- Crossing the Line?
Ep 3- Meera learns to say NO!
Ep 4- Flirting with Fire
Ep 5- I know that you know
Ep 6- It's never that simple, nor will it ever be

Swara Bhaskar, who was last seen in Ashwini Iyer Tiwari’s directorial venture Nil Battey Sannata, makes her web debut through this bold series which deals with marriages, extramarital affairs, lust and relationships. The story is about a school reunion. When Meera meets her school friends, she realizes that life is more than just being a wife and a mother. You should do what makes you happy rather than trying to conform with the norms of the society.
The series starts with Meera going into a parlor and asking the girl for a bikini wax, to which the girl's response is, "Tum affair karne wali types to nahi lagti!" After this we are taken into flashback on how Meera's mundane life becomes happening and she becomes the center of attention of two guys along with her husband.

Swara Bhaskar is perfect for Meera's role. Her transformation from a frumpy housewife to a "femme fatale" looks effortless and realistic. Her character is unsure in the start but by the end she regains not only her lost confidence but also her self respect.

Karanveer Mehra suits the role of the self-centered husband. His dialogue delivery and comic timing is perfect. Despite being the series shown from a woman's point of view there are many scenes where you will feel sympathy for the husband too.

Akshay Oberoi plays the role of every woman's dream husband, a U.S. return gynecologist who doesn't mind staying at home to look after his kids. He's an honest and cool guy who believes in speaking the truth and facing the consequences. He has 'the guy next door' kind of charm and expresses with his eyes. After leaving impact in the film 'Laal Rang' and the short film "The Virgins", slowly and steadily he's making his presence felt in the film industry.

Vivan Bhatena plays the role of Meera's school crush. He knows women find him wild and in a dialogue even tells Meera that he finds being objectified hot. His character even says some inspiring lines about how every woman in her lifetime should once ride a 'Harley' and how overthinking is a woman's biggest enemy.

Danish Aslam has been an assistant director in many big films and has also directed Break ke baad(2010), so this series also has a film kind of feel. As the events unfold one after the other you will come to like some character or hate some. Every episode deals with a topic and then ends with the viewer craving to know what happened next. I saw all the episodes one after another and there was hardly any dull moment there. 

Most of the filmmakers run into trouble with the Censor Board if their film has excessive sexual content, nudity, abusive content or even violence. Digital content does not have to face the strict censorship guidelines that filmmakers are forced to follow. The story is meant for the adult audience still there are no scenes or dialogues which could be termed as cheap or vulgar.
In a line, if you can watch the series without judging the characters then you are in for some fun and entertainment. 

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.

Mirzya~ Much ado about folk tale, rajput kings and Shakespeare.

 

Best Dialogue-

"होता है अक्सर होता है
इश्क़ में अक्सर होता है

चोट कहीं लगती है जा कर
ज़ख्म कहीं पर होता है"

Budget- 50 Crores approximately

After watching the promos, I never had any great expectations from Mirzya but I hoped for a decent story as the director has given us epic films like Rang De Basanti and Bhaag Milkha Bhaag in the past.

Like Rang De Basanti the story is shown in two timeframes.

The film starts with Om Puri heating an iron rod on a furnace and saying, "Ye loharon ki basti hai, ye basti hai loharon ki." The film then moves to an ethereal and timeless world of blue skies, snow covered mountains and beautiful landscape. The scene is so grand that when Saiyami Kher makes her entry in some ancient dress and winged eyeliner her beauty fades in front of the nature. Harshvardhan Kapoor makes his entry with his face half covered in a facial armour and right from the first scene he has no star charisma or on-screen presence.

The film then moves to the present time, which according to me was quite a surreal world as the characters have no reason behind their actions. They have no depth and unintentionally come out as selfish creatures.

The director keeps taking us back and forth between these ethereal and surreal worlds, which instead of simplifying the story, just adds to the confusion galore.

The most peculiar thing about the film is that while showing the love story of Mirzya and Sahiba, set in ancient times, not a single dialogue was used. We had to guess the story from the newcomers' expressionless faces while Daler Mehendi wailed in the background.

Instead of a timeless romance which was the director's dream it looked more like a Broadway musical sans glamour.

Talking of debuts this is the worst debut for both Harshvardhan Kapoor and Saiyami Kher.

Harshvardhan Kapoor looked shabby and untidy throughout the film. In few scenes he was made to take off his shirt which did nothing for him as he had neither packs or biceps to show off. His dialogue delivery was bad and there was hardly any chemistry between him and the leading lady.
It's good that he has signed another film before Mirzya's release. Maybe director Vikramaditya Motwane manages to tap Harsh's true potential in his dream project, "Bhavesh Joshi" which is about a Gujarati boy blessed with superpowers.

Saiyami Kher looked like a dusky beauty modelling for saris and jewellery in most of the scenes. Her dialogue delivery was bad and when she had to express through her eyes she failed miserably.

There was a group of dancers who came every now and then to dance to the songs being played to add a dash of  colour to the otherwise dark film. To be honest the male and female dancers had more chemistry in between them than the lead love birds.

The director has paid so much attention to the landscape, the dresses of the dancers, the grand palace and horses that he forgot to add any intensity to the love story. The result is that we just keep hoping for the wow moments the promos tantalize us with, but they never come and the film ends on a mundane note.

The film was released in 1700 screens but because of negative reviews the film got a poor opening of  1.75 Crores.

In a line, in his mind the director must have envisioned an epic romance but he failed to turn that dream into reality.

Highly Avoidable.

Pink~ A tale about women of questionable character.

Release date- 16th September 2016

One Word which describes the film- Gritty 

Best Dialogue- 'Nahi apne aap mai ek sentence hai. Ise kisi explaination ki jarurat nahi hai. When a woman says No, you stop.'

Genre- Thriller/ Courtroom Drama

Music- Shantanu Moitra

Producer- Rashmi Sharma, Shoojit Sircar

• 
  

Story- Ritesh Shah

Direction- Annirudha Roy Chaudhary 

Cast- Amitabh Bachchan, Taapsee Pannu, Kirti Kulhari, Andrea Tariang, Angad Bedi, Piyush Mishra

Budget- 25 Crores approximately

PINK is a social thriller that reflects on the dubious morals of today's times.

Based on their preconceptions of women, people often exhibit subtle forms of subconscious bias that cause them to treat women differently from men. Men and women are often held to different standards and the same behavior is viewed differently in women than in men. So if a man is assertive, the woman behaving in the same manner is aggressive. Men lose their cool whereas women get emotional because they are suffering from PMS.

If a woman drinks she is a woman of questionable character, but for a man it's just a 'health hazard'.

The film starts on a slow note as we are introduced to the main characters of the story. We get to see how an incident changes the lifestyle of people associated with it. 

When an older man tells a young woman, "I can either be truthful or liberal" the film starts taking shape. 

Amitabh Bachchan is the life and soul of the film. As an old retired lawyer he silently observes people but as soon as he dons his lawyer's robe there is a distinctive change in his demeanour which makes the whole film engrossing.

When Mr Bachchan says, "Hamare yahan ghadi ki sui ladki ka character decide karti hai", all the ladies in the theater couldn't agree more with him.

There are so many things in the film which everyone knows about but we never talk about them because of the social taboos associated with such discussions. There is a scene where the girl's father walks out of the court to save her from embarrassment.

Tapsi Pannu has given stiff competition to Mr Bachchan in the acting department. How the society and the system breaks a strong willed girl can be easily seen in the film. From a girl who isn't afraid of shouting on the phone, "I'm bored you coward, so stop talking and come and show what you can do" we see her transforming into a girl who's asking for mercy.

Other actors of the film have also done a good job but they don't deserve a special mention.

I was in a state of constant fear and tension as to what is going to happen next so despite the UA certificate, I wouldn't recommend to watch it with kids. Teenagers can watch it with their friends. 

In a line, Pink tries to explain in 2 hours how a NO means no and should be respected as a choice, not as a rejection or challenge to your ego.

Good one time watch.