Dabangg 2 - Movie Review

This Christmas, I watched Dabangg 2 at a PVR cinema in Delhi. I know my film review of the movie is a bit late, but I thought I'll post it anyway, for all those who may still wish to watch the movie. So, here is my film review of Dabangg 2....let me know what you thought of this movie too!

Movie Review of Dabangg 2

'Dabangg 2' is an Action Comedy film, and I'd give it a rating of 6.5/10 or about three stars. Dabangg 2 stars Salman Khan (Chulbul Pandey), Sonakshi Sinha (Rajjo), Arbaaz Khan (Makhi), Prakash Raj (Baccha Bhaiya) and Vinod Khanna. Here goes my film review of it:

Movie Poster of Dabangg 2

The movie is a sequel of Dabanng, which was released in 2010. I'd say the first Dabangg was better than Dabangg 2, mainly because of Sonu Sood's character Cheddi Singh. Prakash Raj is good as a villain, but I thought Sonu Sood was a more unique villain, with better acting and facial expressions.

In Dabanng 2, Salman Khan's character Chulbul Pandey takes a transfer to the larger city of Kanpur, and goes about tackling the goons and trouble-makers in that city. Baccha Bhaiya (Prakash Raj) is a local politician in the city, who with his two brothers (Gainda and Chunni) is involved in dirty deals. The movie is about Chulbul Pandey stopping them, and getting revenge for the hurt they have caused to members of his own family.

Salman Khan and Sonakshi Sinha in a still from Dabangg 2

All in all, Dabang 2 is an action-packed movie, with amazing fight scenes. The story and dialogues have a bit of humour in them, and the movie can be considered a paisa vasool film.

Positives of Dabangg 2:

• Some social messages like getting yourself insured to protect your family. However, Salman should have recommended term insurance, rather than ULIPs, which rarely benefit people. 
• Showing a village lady who is interested in doing courses and taking up a job, for supplementing her family's income (character of Nirmala, Chulbul's bhabhi).
• The south-Indian style action sequences, and stunts. 
• Salman Khan's cute peck-on-the-cheek kisses with Sonakshi Sinha. It was much better than Shahrukh Khan's flat lizard kiss with Katrina Kaif in Jab Tak He Jaan. 
• Sonakshi's acting is better than that of most other new actresses, and Salman seems to have some chemistry with her (at least he seems to like her a bit). Salman usually acts in a very brash, uncaring way with his other female co-stars (and it shows), except for Preity Zinta, of course. 

Negatives of Dabangg 2: 

• Too much violence and revenge. I don't like the idea of revenge, and this movie showed Chulbul Pandey as being far too aggressive than the situation warranted. 
• Too many in-film advertisements. The Fevicol one was of-course very prominent in the song. It was obviously sponsored by Fevicol, unlike the Zandu Balm song of the first Dabang, for which Arbaaz Khan got sued. There were also in-film ads for a money transfer service and a mobile phone. 
• Repeating scenes from Dabanng 1 in Dabangg 2, like the mobile phone scene, and repeated references to the first film (which I couldn't remember). I had to run a Google search, to find out that Tinu Anand's character was Nirmala's father. People who missed the first film would definitely not get any of these jokes. 
• Recycled music. No song stands out, and all are similar to various songs in the first Dabaang movie. 
• Showing Salman Khan visiting a prostitute (Kareena Kapoor) with his brother, when Rajjo is pregnant, and his brother's wife is in the village. 

Did you like this Dabanng film review? Have you watched Dabanng 2? What did you think of it? Does this movie review make you want to see Dabanng 2 or avoid it?

Jab Tak He Jaan - Movie Review

I watched Jab Tak He Jaan (JTHJ) at a multi-plex cinema in Delhi recently, and thought I'd post a film review on my blog, for those of you who may wish to view the movie. So, here is my movie review of Jab Tak He Jaan....hope it helps you make up your mind whether to see the movie or not.

Film Review of Jab Tak He Jaan 

'Jab Tak He Jaan' is an Action Romance, and I'd rate it 7/10 or give it four stars. Jab Tak He Jaan features Shahrukh Khan (Samar/ Major Samar), Katrina Kaif (Meera), Anushka Sharma (Akira), Neetu Singh, Rishi Kapoor and Anupam Kher.

Movie Poster of Jab Tak He Jaan

The movie is based across two periods: early 2000 and the current time. In the early 2000 period, Shahrukh Khan is a young immigrant in the UK, working for groceries and restaurants, while Katrina Kaif is a rich heiress. In the current period, Shahrukh Khan is a major in the bomb disposal squad of the Indian army,  Katrina Kaif is his unmarried lover who waits for him, while Anushka Sharma is a documentary film maker.

The movie is basically about the characters of Shahrukh Khan and Katrina Kaif finally marrying each other, after a long separation (lambi judai). It is loosely based on a book called 'The End of The Affair', where the central character makes a religious vow to stop seeing her boyfriend, if God saves his life.

The movie is a nice romantic movie, with romantic dialogues, and is a paisa vasool film. The funniest and weirdest parts of the movie were Shahrukh Khan's kissing scenes. Shahrukh was not really looking confident and passionate enough, and I'd say his lip kisses flopped majestically!

Positives of Jab Tak He Jaan:

• The moral of eternal love, and the lesson of waiting for your love. This it important in these days of casual relationships, break-ups, live-ins and divorces, which is promoted in most movies released today.
• Nice songs and music.  
• Shahrukh Khan playing the character of an underdog immigrant, and happily working as a snow sweeper, fish seller, waiter and steward. 
• The beautiful dresses worn by Katrina Kaif.
• Anushka Sharma's acting, charm and size-zero figure. 

Negatives of Jab Tak He Jaan

• Shahrukh Khan's cruel expressions, which he seems to think are 'passionate' or 'intense'. Also, his uncaring and non-chivalrous behaviour (kissing a girl and leaving her alone in a metro station, instead of dropping her home). 
• The story of Neetu Singh's character (Meera's mother), who leaves her family and runs off with her boyfriend Irfan (Rishi Kapoor), who seems red-faced and happily drunk. This must have hurt the traditional mindset of most Indians, and the story could have been changed a bit, to make it acceptable for a mother to leave her family, and live-in with her boyfriend.   
• Too many church scenes. The church was very beautiful and the dialogues were nice, but there was too much of an overdose of praying, vows etc.

The movie was altogether good. I can't point out any specific movie scenes that I particularly liked, but it was an overall feel-good romantic movie with a happy ending, for die-hard romantics like me.

Did you watch Jab Tak He Jaan? What is your opinion about this film review? Will you watch Jab Tak He Jaan after reading this movie review?

Ek Tha Tiger - Film Review

I watched Ek Tha Tiger at PVR Rivoli recently, and thought I'd take the time and post a film review on my blog. I noticed that the last film review I wrote was for Dabangg, which was posted way back in 2012. It's not that I've not seen any movies since then, I've seen almost every movie, but I just had so many things to do at that time, that I ended up postponing the task and finally forgot to write the film reviews, altogether.

So, here is my movie review of Ek Tha Tiger....hope it helps you decide if the movie is worth watching or not.

Film Review of Ek Tha Tiger 

'Ek Tha Tiger' is an Action Romance, and I'd give it a rating of 6/10. Ek Tha Tiger features Salman Khan (Tiger/ Avinash Kumar Rathore), Katrina Kaif (Zoya), Roshan Seth (mad scientist), Ranveer Shorey (Gopi, colleague of Tiger) and Girish Karnad (head of RAW).

Salman Khan plays a fearless RAW agent named Tiger, who travels to exotic countries on secret missions, at the government's expense. Katrina Kaif plays a Pakistani secret agent named Zoya, whom Tiger falls in love with, and elopes. The security agencies of both countries (RAW and ISI) are on the lookout for them, as they fear that they may give up valuable national secrets, to each other.

The movie is a fun action movie, and is a paisa vasool film. Unlike recent Bollywood releases that promote drinking alcohol, rampant sex, and violence; Ek Tha Tiger can be considered a family entertainer and suitable for the whole family to watch.

Positives of Ek Tha Tiger:

• Action sequences, including car chase sequences, jumping from building sequences, tram stopping sequence and helicopter stunts.
• Beautiful new locations, such as Cuba, Ireland, Turkey and some middle eastern country that looks like Morocco (but was actually Bangkok). There were also mentions of Kazakhstan and Afghanistan, but I don't know if Ek Tha Tiger was actually shot in those places, or it was a film set. I've become tired of seeing London Bridge or the New York skyline in almost all Bollywood films. 
• Action sequences of Katrina Kaif. I know a stunt double must have been used, but it was nice to see the heroine doing action sequences, rather than simply screaming 'bachao'. 
• Nice songs and music.  

Negatives of Ek Tha Tiger

• Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif have zero chemistry, and did not look like they loved each other passionately enough, to risk their lives, and run away together. 
• The story was half-baked, with lots of holes in it. I have no idea if Roshan Seth was the bad guy or the good guy. He simply disappeared half way through the story. Also, I don't suppose RAW or ISI agents operate in such an open manner, as shown in the film.
• Salman Khan was looking unwell, and his director shouldn't have forced him to shoot in such a condition, as it shows in the scenes. He doesn't look like his usual 'playful' self, and is unable to make those 'expressions'. Also, the unshaven look and checked scarf/brown shawl around his neck makes him look as if he is suffering from very high fever.

I liked the Ek Tha Tiger scene where Tiger asks Zoya to dance, in front of the other ISI agents at the conference in Istanbul, Turkey.

Did you watch Ek Tha Tiger? What do you think of this film review? Will you watch Ek Tha Tiger after reading this movie review?

Dabangg - Movie Review

I have found time to write a movie review after a long time. Many were asking me if my blog has become a wedding blog, because of the celebrity wedding photos I have posted. Well, it's not. I just posted them coz there is a lot of demand for celebrity wedding photos. There's nothing much happening in my life right now, so I don't know what else to write about.

Well, I watched Dabangg yesterday, at PVR Rivoli in Connaught Place. So here is my movie review:

Dabangg - 7/10 - Action Comedy - starring Salman Khan (Chulbul Pandey), Arbaaz Khan (Makhi Pandey), Sonu Sood (Cheddi Singh), Sonakshi Sinha (Rajo), Vinod Khanna and Dimple Kapadia. A film produced by and credited to the Salman Khan family.

Salman Khan plays a fearless (Dabangg) cop Chulbul Pandey, who steals from criminals and gives to the poor. For this he is also called Robinhood Pandey. Chulbul is jealous of his half brother Makhi and hates his step dad (played by Vinod Khanna). He later takes a fancy to Rajo, a pottery maker in his village, whom he wishes to marry. Rajo is more interested in caring for her habitually drunk father, and does not give in to his idiotic advances.

Meanwhile, half brother Makki steals Chulbul's crime money so he can marry his girlfriend. There is also a mix of local politics and terrorism. Cheddi Singh is a local strongman and youth leader who puts the brothers against each other, to recover his crime money.


Salman Khan is on yet another ego trip in this film. He does not get into character, does a lot of overacting and basically, plays himself - albeit in a police uniform. The movie is very violent, though in a funny way. I liked the scene where Salman Khan's muscles burst from his shirt and his shirt comes off, leaving him shirtless.

Some scenes, like the end tractor smoke choking scene were unwatchable. I actually covered my eyes to avoid watching it - no idea why parents bring their kids along to watch such movies.


Positives of Dabangg:

• New actors, both in main and supporting roles have been given a chance to show their potential. I was getting real tired of watching faces like Amitabh Bachchan, Paresh Rawal and Rajpal Yadav in almost every weekly release.
• Good to see some robust Indian village scenes. The movie was based in Lalganj, Uttar Pradesh and has a true local appeal. We also got to see a bit of Dubai, in one of the songs. I was a bit bored of watching scenes featuring Times Square, London Bridge and Opera House, inserted in almost every Bollywood film. Costumes and sets were quite realistic.
  
• Action sequences and songs were well choreographed.
• Great story and screenplay. Punchlines were delivered with style.
  

Negatives of Dabangg:

• Salman Khan can't act like he loves a girl (except for Preity Zinta, whom he may actually like..wink). He comes across as too egoistic and should stay away from doing such romantic scenes.
• Some jokes were quite crude and vulgar.
  
• Promotes suicide: This was uncalled for. You don't need to wish for a girl's father to die, to marry her.
  
• Promotes crime, stealing, revenge, violence and physical aggression to sort out situations.
  

Did you watch Dabangg? What do you think of this film? Did you like my Dabangg movie review?

Raajneeti - Political Resemblance and Movie Review

Here is my movie review of Raajneeti, the most awaited film of the year, which released this Friday. After all the pre-release hype likening Katrina Kaif's role to the life of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, I was quite relieved to see that her role was more similar to the life of Sonia's sister-in-law Maneka Gandhi. Katrina's look and personality is just not foreign or posh enough to be Sonia Gandhi. Well, here is my complete movie review of Raajneeti.


Raajneeti - 7/10 - Political Drama

The film is about the struggle for political power between the family members of the Pratap political dynasty. This struggle begins after the oldest member of the Pratap family and the President of the Rashtriya Party suffers a paralytic stroke and hands over more power to his younger brother and nephew against his son. The movie continues with its story of political debauchery, assassinations, power, money and revenge.

The script and direction was very good. The film moved at a fast pace and had a strong screenplay. Raajneeti was well cast and performances by the lead actors were decent with even actors in bit parts doing a good job. Manoj Bajpai really shone in the role of Veerendra Pratap, the angry son who was left almost powerless by the decision of his father. Costumes and dialogue were quite realistic. Everyone's going to remember 'Karara Jawab Milega' for a long time now!


Resemblance to Real Life Politicians in Raajneeti

The characters in the Rajneeti movie bore quite a lot of resemblance to contemporary politicians in India. Some were but obvious, can you guess the rest??

• Ranbir Kapoor's young, foreign returned, political novice Samar Pratap - Rajiv Gandhi
• Sarah Thompson's beautiful, innocent, anti-politics, Samar's Irish classmate Sarah Collins - Sonia Gandhi
  
• Arjun Rampal's impulsive, brash, political Prithviraj Pratap - Sanjay Gandhi
• Katrina Kaif's politically ambitious, model looking young widow Indu Pratap - Maneka Gandhi
• Manoj Bajpai's angry, politically wronged Veerendra Pratap - Varun Gandhi
  
• Ajay Devgan's local sports background, ruthless Dalit leader Sooraj Kumar - ?
• Nana Patekar's power-behind-the scenes Brij Gopal -Bal Thackeray
  
• Naseeruddin Shah's firebrand leftist leader 'Bhaskar Sanyal' who became a sanyas - George Fernandes
• The paralysed Party President, Veerendra Pratap's father - Sharad Pawar
  

Did you see Raajneeti? How would you rate the film? Which real life politicians/people do you think the characters resemble the most?

Movie Reviews

Well, here are movie reviews of some 2010 bollywood films that I watched over the last three months-

3 Idiots - 3/10 - Comedy - starring Aamir Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Madhavan, Sharman Joshi and Boman Irani. The story was good but all the cheap humour really spoilt this film. The songs were boring and the nonsense pregnancy scene was way too much to digest. Another 'running away from marriage' movie.

Jail - 5/10 - Drama - Starring Neil Nitin Mukesh and Mugdha Godse - This story about the problems of a young man falsely implicated in a drug case was quite good. Acting by the lead characters was also OK. However, towards the end the movie got quite boring and I lost interest.

Chance Pe Dance - 4/10 - Romance - starring Shahid Kapoor and Genelia D'zouza. A slow romantic comedy about a guy being encouraged in his career by his girlfriend. Recently, we have had too many films about pop singers/ dancers, which is why this film flopped. Songs were not good enough for the choreography.

Veer - 3/10 - Period/Action - starring Salman Khan, Zarine Khan and Sohail Khan. This story was about the 'Pindaris', a group of thuggish plunderers in colonial India being raised to the status of freedom fighters. A confusing mish mash with no character development and a lot of stereotypes. Only costumes and songs were good.

Rann - 1/10 - Drama - starring Amitabh Bachchan, Gul Panag and Ritesh Deshmukh. Anyone who has worked in the media will tell you the story is total crap. I realized that the movie was going to be a lot of drivel, when Amitabh Bachchan's news anchor character, started mouthing some Hindu-Muslim bullshit in the opening scene. The rest of the movie progressed too slowly and I did not have enough patience to continue watching it.

Striker - 2/10 - Drama - starring Siddharth. This is a dark film about a poor kid who is good at playing carrom and his dealings with the dark Mumbai crime nexus. The acting of all the actors was good, but this movie is not something I would recommend, as it was too crude, dark and violent.

My Name Is Khan - 5/10 - Comedy - starring Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol. This Shahrukh attempt at a 'I am Sam/ Forrest Gump' type of film had me in splits from scene one. Like a typical Karan Johar film, this movie had lots of scenes that did not make sense to a normal Indian and a storyline with no purpose. Made exclusively for the NRI market, focusing on issues central over there, this film had few takers in India. The kid who played the young autistic Rizwan was seriously good, Shahrukh was just plain funny.Dialogue was good.

Have you seen any of these movies? What did you think of them?

Cyberkitty Bollywood Movie Awards 2010

The Times Group recently announced the 2010 Filmfare Awards. The best part of the evening was the part where Neil Nitin Mukesh told hosts Shah Rukh Khan and Saif Ali Khan to shut up twice. Well, we all know about the lobbying by public relations agencies and the money that changes hands while deciding who gets what film award. Leaving that aside, here are my choices for the 2010 film industry awards, which I have named - The Cyberkitty Bollywood Movie Awards 2010.

Best Film ........................ Kaminey

Best Director .................... Vishal Bharadwaj for Kaminey

Best Actor ....................... Shahid Kapoor for Kaminey

Best Actress ..................... Kangana Ranaut for Raaz

Best Supporting Actor ............ Chandan Roy Sanyal for Kaminey

Best Supporting Actress .......... Giselle Monteiro for Love Aaj Kal

Best Villain ..................... Mahesh Manjrekar for Wanted

Best Comedian..................... Johnny Lever for Aao Wish Karein

Best Debut Director .............. Glenn Baretto for Aao Wish Karein

Best Music Director............... Pritam

Best Action ...................... Wanted

Best Art Direction................ Aao Wish Karein

Best Background Score............. Kaminey

Best Cinematography............... Blue

Best Editing ..................... Kaminey

Best Choreography................. De Dana Dhan (Paisa)

Best Story ....................... Three Idiots

Best Screenplay .................. Shortcut - The Con is On

Best Dialogue .................... Kaminey

Best Special Effects.............. Avatar (dubbed version)

Best Costumes..................... Chandni Chowk to China

Did you watch the 2010 Filmfare Awards? What did you think of them? Who would you have given the awards to??

Bollywood Movie Reviews of 2009

Well, this year I watched many Bollywood films but did not find time to post detailed reviews of all of them. Here are reviews of the movies I've seen and haven't posted as yet.

• Paa - 0.5/10 - Drama - Amitabh Bachchan, Vidya Balan and Abhishek Bachchan. This movie was real boring from the time the opening credits rolled. I kept fast forwarding to get to the 'good' parts, but there were'nt any. No amount of film promotion could make this dud, promoted by the Bachchan family even a reasonable hit. The story of the film was long drawn and filled with holes. Just how can a 12 year old boy with progeria be more than 6 feet tall??


• De Dana Dan - 1/10 - Romantic Comedy - starring Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif and Sunil Shetty. This movie was total crap. From a simple story of dognapping, the script changed to a confusing mishmash of unrelated scenes and songs. Also, those pregnant - arranged marriage - dahej dowry scenes were so low and uncouth...typical Akshay Kumar flick!!


• Aao Wish Karein - 7/10 - Fantasy - starring Aftab Shivdasani and Aamna Sharief. This film had a simple but genuine story and was actually quite funny. The character actors complimented the main actors and the overall performance was quite good. The film moved at a good pace and was well directed. If 'Aao Wish Karein' had been promoted by the producers, it would have actually done well at the box office.


• Tum Mile - 3/10 - Disaster Drama - starring Emraan Hashmi and Soha Ali Khan - This movie is a slow paced movie about the Mumbai floods and how it brings together a couple that had once broken up. The songs were good...the rest was too slow paced and filled with confusing flashbacks.


• Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani - 5/10 - Romantic Comedy - starring Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif. This was an OK film, good timepass, but nothing great about this romantic comedy. Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif really suit each other and make a good pair...sorry Salman!! Songs were good. However, the stereotypical references to the Christian community were in bad taste.
  


• London Dreams - 4/10 - Musical Drama - starring Salman Khan, Ajay Devgan and Asin. This movie is about the competition between two lead singers in a rock band. The story resembled the life of Robbie Williams of Take That fame, a popular music star who got tied down by drugs and almost ruined his career. 'London Dreams' was very badly cast - neither Salman Khan nor Ajay Devgan suited the role of singers. Being a musical, I expected the songs to be much better, but none of the tunes were even remotely hummable. Script was also poor and Salman was doing too much overacting.
  


• Wake Up Sid - 2/10 - Drama Romance - starring Konkona 'Ugly' Sen Sharma and Ranbir Kapoor. The film is about a young handsome guy in love with an older ugly woman. The movie was too boring for me to watch till the end, I just could not get the script. Ranbir's acting was good. Tell me, if a younger guy falls in love with an older woman, why do they always have to show her as being so unattractive??
  


• Wanted - 5/10 - Action - starring Salman Khan and Ayesha Takia. Salman plays an undercover cop, Radhey, masquerading as a hitman. He is attracted to a local call centre executive who is being stalked by a high ranking police officer. The movie is fast paced and the action sequences are unbelievable. The songs are good, but the jokes suck and the script has lots of holes. The most irritating part was Vinod Khanna's outburst in the end that blew his son's cover. Anyway, undercover or not, only dirty cops go around shooting so many people!!
  


• Life Partner - 1/10 - Drama Comedy - starring Govinda, Fardeen Khan and Genelia D'souza. Oh, this movie was so irritating...too much shouting and screaming!! It is all about the drama of love marriage vs arranged marriage vs divorce. Somehow, I can't believe people actually divorce or even think of divorce for such flimsy reasons...but maybe I am too naive!! Genelia is full of helium and the wrong expressions and the 'Kuke Kuke' song is like nails being scratched on a blackboard!
  


• Love Aaj Kal - 3/10- Romance - starring Saif Ali Khan, Deepika Padukone and Giselle Monteiro. This is a fall in love and elope movie. Saif Ali Khan continues showcasing his two expressions in this film - Saif with fake smile and Saif with no smile!! They had to cast a foreigner in the role of the shy Punjabi girl Harleen, because, hey, there are no shy demure Punjabi girls !! This movie is another of those lame movies that show that stalking or following a girl is good and that girls like it...oh so untrue...a real Punjabi girl would have slapped the shit out of Saif Ali Khan's Sardar character for doing something like that!!
  


• Kambakkth Ishq - 0.5/10 - Comedy - starring Akshay Kumar, Kareena Kapoor, Amrita Arora and Aftab Shivdasani. This was a really cheap, raunchy, characterless romantic comedy that showed that neither the hero nor the heroine had any ethics...plus there was too much screaming and shouting...I am giving it a 0.5 out of pure pity!! The moral of the story is - You are cool if you have numerous affairs with girls from other communities, but for marriage, choose someone of your own community, even if she is a raving bitch!! Akshay Kumar is such a sleazeball...mistreating women!! Really, when I watch such films, with Punjabi's/North Indians as lead characters, I begin to feel that they have no morals, manners, character or chivalry... else why do these films become a hit!!
  


• Luck by Chance - 1/10 - Drama - starring Farhan Akhtar and Konkona Sen Sharma. A very boring, slow paced movie about a struggling actor, Luck by Chance was simply not watchable. Farhan 'Acne' Akhtar should just stay away from acting...he just does not have it in him.

This year there were a lot of films, in which a person changes their mind on their wedding day and marries someone else. I, for one, can never think of ever doing such a thing. Do people really consider eloping with someone else on their wedding day romantic?? Also, the theme of divorce was quite common. What is happening to our society? Are the values of Indians really changing?

Did you watch any of these films?? How would you rate them??

Avatar - Movie Review

I heard really great Avatar movie reviews from my friends and decided to watch it in a movie theatre. I had seen movie posters of blue characters from the film and though I really dislike blue characters, especially if they are in a main role, there was nothing better to watch or do. Well, here is my Avatar movie review.

Avatar - 6.5/10 - Science Fiction - starring Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana and other blue people. Other than Sigourney Weaver, the names of the other actors were totally unfamiliar.

Avatar is about the people of earth wanting to exploit the mineral resources of a far away alien moon called Pandora. In the movie, a lame soldier, Jake, is sent to Pandora to help the 'Corporation' tame and relocate the blue indigenous tribe called the Na'vi. Through a new technology, they are able to transfer Jake's soul into the body of a member of the blue indigenous tribe, so that he can make friends with them. The Corporation actually wishes to mine the natural resources of this planet. Unfortunately, the natural resources rest under a 'sacred tree' that the Na'vi worship and will never destroy. This leads to war and strife.

The Avatar animation and special effects were too good. I also liked the locales where the movie was filmed. The script was a bit too common and predictable. Acting was OK.

Avatar was banned in some cities of China as some commentators found a political resonance in the film's story, comparing them to Chinese citizens fighting to protect their property from the government and developers. I also found the Avatar story a bit political, comparing it to the exploitative policies and wars of the East India Company's colonial government in India or the American invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan for oil.

Did you watch the Avatar movie? Did you feel that the movie had political undertones?

Kaminey - Movie Review

Kaminey - 8/10 - Action/Drama - starring Shahid Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra, watched at 3C's Lajpat Nagar.

Basically, Kaminey is a movie about gangsters, drugs, local politics and forbidden love. Shahid Kapoor plays a double role as twin brothers Guddu, a stutterer who works in an NGO and Charlie, a lisper who is a small time crook. Charlie finds a stash of cocaine and is on the run from the police, drug lords and mafia while Guddu marries Sweety, the sister of a local politician and is on the run from his party workers.

Kaminey is a very well written and perfectly cast movie. The screenplay is realistic and every scene, onscreen action, dialogue and background music has a deep meaning, which adds to the story. A good job by movie director Vishal Bharadwaj. The actors, right from Shahid Kapoor to the character actors in bit roles, fit the part perfectly and did justice to the roles given to them.

There were some inconsistencies in the film, like Shahid sometimes forgetting to say 'f' for 's' while lisping as part of the character of Charlie. For example, when he threatens to shoot the cop in the head and starts counting to 10, he says 'dus' instead of 'duf'. The dialogue in Kaminey was very realistic. Only a person who has loved a person of another community could understand the fear brought on by a simple line like 'Tyacha nao kaay' (what is his name), spoken by Sweety's brother's goons when they barge into her secret wedding venue.

I liked the songs especially 'Dhan Ta Nan' and 'Pehli Baar Mohabbat'. Though a bit violent, the movie manages to capture the city of Mumbai in its full essence. After a long time, Bollywood has come up with something both sensible and entertaining. Plus, Kaminey has a happy ending. I certainly recommend this movie for a watch.

Have you watched Kaminey? What did you think of it?

Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince - Movie Review

Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince - 8/10 - Fantasy - starring Daniel Radcliff, Emma Thompson and Rupert Grint.

The movie was much better than the book, which I had found to be quite long and boring. It was good to see the repetitive bits cut off, like Albus Dumbledore's long speeeches, repeated pensieve sessions, long fights and funeral. Well, Daniel Radcliff hasn't grown as tall as the fictional Harry Potter - it takes some of the realism away but he still looks quite adorable.


The movie direction and screenplay were great. They should get rid of that blue filter - it is used a bit too much in a bit too many movies. The acting was awesome, especially of the two kids who played the young Tom Riddle and Professor Slughorn. Good character development of the main protagonists as they mature from teenagers to young adults.

Interesting question - During the movie, Harry never tells anyone other than Hermione, Ron and Ginny that he has the Potions textbook belonging to the Half Blood Prince. In the end, Severus Snape tells Harry that he is the 'Half Blood Prince'. How did Severus Snape know that Harry had his old textbook or that Harry was interested in knowing his identity?

Have you watched Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince? What did you think of it?

X-Men Origins Wolverine - Movie Review

X-Men Origins - Wolverine - 6/10 - Sci Fi Thriller - starring Hugh Jackman and Liev Schreiber.

Since Hugh Jackman happens to be my favourite Hollywood actor, I simply had to watch X Men Origins - Wolverine. I have seen all 3 previous X-men movies and they were really awesome. I wasn't expecting this to be better than them, since most sequels are never as good as the original movie, but I had to have a look anyway.

The movie theatre was only less than 1/3rd full. This, I suppose was majorly due to the fact that the X-Men Origins - Wolverine torrent was available for download weeks before the film was even released in the United States. It was also available on youtube and through streaming on several video websites. Well anyway, here is my movie review of the film.

The movie 'X Men Origins - Wolverine' begins with the young Logan, then called James, unwell at home in bed during the winter. His friend Victor and father are by his side. Suddenly there is a commotion caused by an intruder, who turns out to be his friend's father Logan. When his Dad goes to deal with the situation, he is killed by the intruder. The death of his father angers the young James, who extends his animal claws and kills his friend's father, only to discover later that the intruder was actually his real father and his friend is actually his brother. Both brothers run away from home and using their regenerative capabilities, make a living from fighting in various wars over hundreds of years.

Later on in X-Men Origins - Wolverine, both brothers join a special mutant team formed by William Stryker. James Logan's brother Victor (Liev Schreiber), also known as Sabretooth turns bad and Logan leaves the team. He becomes a lumberjack and begins living in the woods with his teacher girlfriend Silverfox. One day, his brother traces him down and kills his girlfriend. Now begins the saga of fury, as Logan looks for vengeance. He goes back to Striker and gets his entire bone structure bonded with admantium, the strongest metal on the planet. The rest of the movie is filled with Wolverine's fury and destruction.

X Men Origins - Wolverine was quite good. It answered most questions, except the fact about how both brothers had the same Wolverine mutant abilities and from whom or how they got it. Special effects were good, but I'm tired of watching special effects movies, even though they look quite spectacular. I'd rather watch some real fighting, like Jackie Chan movies. Acting was good and Hugh Jackman had done some serious bodybuilding to play the Wolverine character. He was looking amazing. Costumes were also realistic, especially the bikers jacket and the retro Yamaha motorbike.

Funniest part of X Men Origins - Wolverine - It actually wasn't supposed to be humourous, but well....This happened after the scene in which the naked Wolverine runs away from the adamantium laboratory and hides in the barn. Shocked at seeing a nude person, a small kid in the audience kept questioning his parents about the 'nanga banda' (naked guy) in a very loud innocent voice. As his parents tried to shush him, most people in the cinema had a hard time controlling their laughter, including me...

Did you see X Men Origins - Wolverine? What did you think of it?

Movie Reviews - March and April

It has been an unbelievably long time since I have posted a movie review of a Bollywood film, even though I have seen quite a few of them. Today, I sneaked out some quality keyboard time in office while my colleagues were attending a training programme and wrote out movie reviews of some films that I have watched over the past two months.

Movie Reviews of Films

Raaz - The Mystery Continues - Horror - 6/10 - Starring Emraan Hashmi, Kangana Ranaut and Jackie Shroff. Emraan Hashmi plays Prithvi, an artist with a gift for making paintings about the future of Nandini, a model played by Kangana Ranaut. He attempts to warn her about some 'horror' paintings that he has made about her.....and from here on starts the saga of dark lobbies, hidden lighting, gothic decor, sharp instruments, blood and screaming.

The songs of 'Raaz - The Mystery Continues' were good. Acting was better than most acting shown in Bollywood movies nowadays. Storyline was action packed and interesting while direction was not bad. The line, 'Tum Ashudh Ho, Sadh Chuke Ho', from the movie, which was written on the walls by possessed characters before they kill themselves, is something that will stick in the minds of viewers for some time to come.


Aa Dekhen Zara - Action/ Paranormal - 2/10 - Starring Neil Nitish Mukesh and Bipasha Basu. The movie is about a photographer who inherits a camera that takes futuristic photographs of the subject or person photographed. The movie was quite slow paced and the director was unable to capitalize on making moments of suspense and action look exciting. Neil Nitin Mukesh has a cunningly sharp look and was badly cast as the innocent photographer. I watched it up to the scene where the magic camera starts taking black photos of the subject. Later, the movie was unable to hold my attention.

Golmaal Returns - Comedy - 4/10 - Starring Ajay Devgan, Kareena Kapoor, Shreyas Talpade, Celina Jaitley, Tusshar Kapoor and Amrita Arora. I don't remember just how bad 'Golmaal 1' sucked, but this installment seemed to be a wee bit better, basically because of Shreyas Talpade's expressions. The movie is a slapstick sort of cheap comedy with lots of gay jokes about the life of four guys. The story revolves around Kareena Kapoor's character of a soap watching wife who suspects her husband (Ajay Devgan) of infidelity. He in turn attempts to prove her wrong, with the help of his friends. Golmaal Returns was mostly irritating, but won some laughs in certain parts - like the Anthony Gonsalves Scene. It is an ok timepass sort of film to watch on a hot, boring, lonely Sunday afternoon...if you have absolutely nothing to do.

Delhi 6 - Drama - 1/10 - Starring Abhishek Bachchan and Sonam Kapoor. Just like all Abhishek Bachchan films minus John Abraham, this too was a damp squib. The story is about the visit of an NRI to his ancestral home in India.The narrative was snail paced, unrealistic and boring. Abhishek Bachchan's fake foreign accent and 'strolling on sets' acting sucked big time. The music, sets and look of the film were very old fashioned. Costumes especially, were totally wrong - eg. Delhi women usually wear salwar kameez and not saris, Abhishek Bachan's clothes didn't look 'Made in USA' whereas Sonam Kapoor's hippie look was just so not Delhi-ish. Those scenes about the cow giving birth, monkey man and ramlila were so lame.... it's a shame they were included in the film. Gosh, what was the director smoking???

Billu Barber - Drama - 2/10 - Starring Irfan Khan, Lara Dutta and Shahrukh Khan. The story is about a village barber's attempts to attract the attention of a filmstar - who was once his childhood friend, when the movie star visits his village for the shooting of a film. The village part of the movie and Irfan Khan's acting was realistic. However, the movie soon moved into avoidable melodrama, and reached it's peak when Shah Rukh Khan gave a tearful boring speech about his friend 'Billu' at the end. Songs were hummable. King Khan should have stayed out of this bit part role of a movie.

DevD - Drama - 2/10 - Starring Abhay Deol and Kalki Koechlin. This remake of the Bengali classic Devdas was really vulgar and crass. True, it may reflect a certain type of reality which, to my good fortune I have never experienced. However, I was so embarrassed watching the scenes and abusive dialogue in the first 10 minutes, that I just gave up watching this film. Songs, however, were refreshingly different. I forwarded the movie to the end, and saw that 'Dev' does not die, but rides merrily into the sunset on his bike with Chanda, his Chandramukhi. I was really disappointed coz I really wanted to see a loser guy like Devdas suffer and tragically meet his end...

Have you watched any of these movies? What did you think of them??

The Fast And The Furious Part 4 - Movie Review

The Fast And The Furious Part 4 

Action - 6/10  Starring Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez and Paul Walker. 

I saw this movie at Plaza Cinema, Connaught Place. I had last been here sometime in the 90's with my mom and siblings to see 'Chamatkar', the SRK starrer. The cinema looks quite posh after it's revamp, with deep red carpets and a medium sized stage for movie premieres to be held. The only negative was the number of stairs that had to be climbed to reach the Plaza Cinema lounge on the second floor. The cinema was houseful.

The Fast And The Furious Part4 begins slickly, with Vin Diesel's character Dominic Toretto, his girlfriend Letty (Michelle Rodrigues) and some pals, now international criminals, stealing oil tankers on the highways of the Dominican Republic. Later in the movie, Dominic's sister informs him that his girlfriend Letty has been killed in Los Angeles, California. Basically, the movie is all about Vin Diesel's character finding her killer and seeking revenge.

I thought the action scenes in the movie were too cool, especially the car chases, coz I'm a big fan of car racing games such as 'Need For Speed'. I couldn't understand the Spanish bits in The Fast And The Furious - Part 4, and without subtitles it was a bit irritating. Also, the pub scenes in which they show girls kissing each other - was risque. It totally put me off. I had to work hard to erase the disgusting images from my mind so that I could continue to enjoy the remaining car chase scenes in the movie. 

Compared to the previous films, The Fast And The Furious - Part 4 was much better, especially over Part 2 and 3. However, Vin Diesel seems to have lost some of his cool...and is looking quite bulky, sort of like Dr.Evil from the Austin Powers movies.

Slumdog Millionaire - Movie Review

Slumdog Millionaire - 9/10 - Romance - starring Dev Patel, Frieda Pinto, Anil Kapoor, Irffan Khan and Madhur Mittal.

With a scheduled release of 23rd January, this movie was taking way too long to play at the movie theaters in India. After Slumdog Millionaire won four Golden Globes, I just couldn't wait any longer. This weekend I watched the downloaded version of Slumdog Millionaire on my laptop. Here is the movie review.

Story of Slumdog Millionaire

Though serious in some parts, Slumdog Millionaire is a refreshing tale of hope amidst the poverty and despair seen by outside folk in the slums of Mumbai. Jamal Malik (Dev Patel) is a young peon who serves tea in a modern call centre in Mumbai. He gets selected to take part in 'Kaun Banega Crorepati', the Indian Version of 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire', hosted by Anil Kapoor. Surprisingly, he knows the answers to all the questions. How? Did he cheat? is he a genius ?, is he plain lucky? or is it just written in his destiny??

The host of the Millionaire Show suspects that Jamal cheated and has him arrested. While in jail he is being tortured by an Inspector (Irfan Khan) to confess to his crime. As the interrogation proceeds, Jamal tells the Inspector how he knew the answers to various questions asked in the show, through flashbacks of various incidents that happened in his life.

Here, Slumdog Millionaire the movie explores life in the slums of Mumbai, communal violence, street children, child trafficking, mafia and police excesses. Jamal Malik tells about life with his renegade brother Salim (Madhur Mittal) and his search for his childhood love Latika (Frieda Pinto).


Amitabh Bachchan on Slumdog Millionaire

Amitabh Bachchan talks about Slumdog Millionaire showing the 'murky under belly' of India on his blog. Yes, the film shows the slums, corruption and sleaze of Mumbai as it is. It is the truth which millions of Mumbaikars live daily and is something which citizens should work to change. Amitabh Bachchan says that 'this thrives in Western nations too' - this is bullshit. Even small villages in India or even unsafe Delhi are not as bad as Mumbai when it comes to poverty, slums and crime swept under the carpet.

Seems to me that he is just bugged that a lookalike plays him in a scene from the movie. Big B seems to have very low self esteem when it comes to Hollywood movies - he should cheer up, he was shown as a caring star who visits the slums and is not afraid to sign an autograph for a very very dirty little child.

I mean, look at Shah Rukh Khan who also hosted like Kaun Banega Crorepati like Amitabh Bachchan - he looked so smart when he went on stage to introduce 'Slumdog Millionaire' as a nomination for Best Picture at the Golden Globes.


Slumdog Millionaire - Analysis

The movie was excellently cast. Actors did a good job, especially the six child stars playing Jamal, Salim and Latika when they were young. The direction by Danny Boyle and photography were very good. I also liked the 'Ringa Ringa' song and the background music composed by AR Rehman for Slumdog Millionaire and the choreography for the dance sequence at the end. The story, screenplay and dialogues were superb.

Of courses, there were a few inconsistencies in Slumdog Millionaire, like the blue Lord Rama in the communal riot scene and the cash levels in the Millionaire Show. Of course, it may be taken as cinematic extravagances for a foreign audience, but somehow seem like glaring mistakes to an Indian.

The best thing about this movie is that it has a happy ending...which I really loved. I have a feeling that it is going to turn out to be a big hit in India, especially if it is dubbed in local languages.

Have you watched Slumdog Millionaire? What did you think of it?

Ghajini Movie Review - Hindi Version

Ghajini Movie - Hindi Version - Drama - 4/10

This weekend, I saw Ghajini - the movie starring Aamir Khan, southie newcomer Asin and Jiah Khan.The meaning of Ghajini is actually 'female elephant' in Hindi/Sanskrit but in the movie, Ghajini is the name of the main villain played by Pradeep Rawat. Well, here is the synopsis of Ghajini - the Hindi language film.

Ghajini Story

The story of the Ghajini movie is a copy of the English language Hollywood film, Memento. It was first made in Telugu and Tamil starring Surya in the lead role with the same heroine and villain. In the Ghajini Hindi movie remake, Aamir Khan plays Sanjay Singhania, the rich owner of a fictional telecom company called Air Voice. Asin is Kalpana, a small time model who acts in low grade commercials, while Jiah Khan is a dumb medical student. Ghajini - the movie begins with Aamir Khan's character Sanjay, killing and photographing a man. Sanjay suffers from short term memory loss and cannot remember names, people or places after 15 minutes, so he keeps a record of his life by writing notes, making tatoos on his body and taking photos with a polaroid camera at regular intervals.

Soon, a cop investigating the death of the murdered man, lands up at Sanjay's apartment. As he opens a diary dated in 2006, the film moves into flashback mode, where the love story between Sanjay and Kalpana is narrated. Here the Ghajini story becomes quite lame. Kalpana pretends to be having an affair with a rich industrialist - Sanjay Singhania to further her career. When Sanjay hears of it, he decides to meet her and is charmed by her beauty, charitable nature and bindaas attitude. He does not reveal his identity and chooses instead to become her friend, the struggling male model, Sachin. They fall in love.

One day, Sanjay goes on a business trip to London. Kalpana is supposed to go to Goa for a photo shoot. While in the general compartment of the train to Goa, she rescues some girls who are victims of a kidney racket and female trafficking. Soon, the bad guys, lead by the villain Ghajini come after her. She is murdered in front of her boyfriend Sanjay Singhania, who is hit on the head with a crowbar and loses his memory. She was still not aware of Aamir's real identity. The movie Ghajini then continues with Sanjay Singhania's struggle to avenge his love Kalpana's death.

Movie Review of Ghajini

Ghajini was an average sort of movie. There were many holes in the script and implausible scenes with no logic. The violence in the Ghajini film was way too much and Aamir Khan's look just did not suit the character. It is hard to believe that a mentally ill former industrialist visits a gym regularly enough to build a body like that.

However, the Ghajini Songs were good. The music was hummable and many of my friends have downloaded Ghajini ringtones and Ghajini wallpapers. Direction was commendable and the acting of newbie Kerala girl Asin was refreshing. Aamir's acting was as good as usual, but he looks more creepy than cute, nowadays !! Direction and photography was the best, with a posh look and feel being given to the movie.

Haven't seen the Telugu version of Ghajini but the English original film, Memento was definitely better scripted than this loser remake.

Watching Ghajini in Other Countries

Ghajini is also available dubbed in English or with English subtitles. Last I saw, Ghajini video was also available online on youtube, other videosharing websites as well as on blogs. I'd recommend the movie Ghajini as a one time watch....but remember to cover your eyes during those gory violent killing scenes.

Have you seen the Ghajini movie? What did you think of it?

Movie Reviews For December

Here are reviews of the movies which I watched over the last two months -

Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi - 6/10 - Romantic Comedy - I liked the dialogues and Shah Rukh Khan's comic acting as Surinder Sahni. I found the character of Surinder's alter ego - Raj quite irritating. He seemed like a jerk whom very few girls would fall for. The arranged marriage part was a bit boring. I just can't understand this funda of parents forcing their kids to marry weirdos just because they fear their own death. Songs were good.

Transporter 3 - 7/10 - Action - Jason Statham is back as Frank Martin, the Transporter in the third installment of the series.This time he is forced to transport the kidnapped daughter of a Russian politician to Odessa. His Audi is refitted by the bad guys and he is forced to wear a bracelet bomb that will explode if he moves beyond 75 feet of his car. The action sequences and car chase scenes were amazing. The direction, photography and locales are also very good. Refreshing
film.

Quantum of Solace - 1/10 - Action - Oh, this movie was so boring, I can't even remember the story. James Bond movies are supposed to have a posh, slick look where 007 is the smart dashing hero. However, in this 007 movie, James Bond is a loser who drives uncool mini cars, broken down boats and 'khatara' planes. I am still trying to erase the image out of my mind.

Dostana - 6/10 - Comedy - A relatively good Hindi movie after a long time. The movie is about two guys living in the USA, who pretend to be gay just to get a rented apartment. Inspired by the Hollywood film, 'I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry', this desi movie with it's local flavour was quite funny. I liked all the songs, especially 'Munda Bigad Gaya' and John Abraham.

Yuvvraaj - 4/10 - Romance Drama - Salman Khan does not suit the role of a western classical singer nor does he look like the heir of some millionaire. I also did not like the part of the story where the cruel father who mistreats and throws his middle son out of his house is glorified in the end as a person who always made the right decision. The music was simply amazing. Locales of Austria were beautiful.

Dasvidaniya - 1/10 - Drama - A very very boring film with uninspiring acting by Vinay Pathak. The story is about a boring man who learns he has very little time left to live and makes a list of boring tasks he must do before he dies. I watched only the first 15 minutes before switching to something else.

Oye Lucky Lucky Oye - 3/10 - Comedy - The movie is a half baked plot about a charming conman based on the character of real life jailbird Charles Sobhraj. Initially, the movie was quite slow paced, while towards the end, much to my dismay, it glorified conmen and crime. Abhay Deol acts well as Bunty, the conman. Paresh Rawal, as usual managed to snag a role..he is in almost every film these days. Anyway, I've just about had enough of Paresh Rawal- and having to see him eating up so much screen space in a double role was way too much to bear...

Hello - 1/ 10 - Drama - I haven't read the book it is based on, so I did not know what to expect from the movie. All I knew was that Salman Khan was in it. However, he only had a bit part and I lost interest soon after his scene was over. 'Hello' started off at a slow boring pace and I just did'nt have the energy to sit through it to the end.

Fashion - 2/10 - Drama - This movie was more like a documentary about the life of Priyanka Chopra's character Meghna Mathur - a small town girl aspiring to be a model. There was almost no scene without Priyanka Chopra in it. Songs were good..and that was about all there was to it. The movie displayed many harsh truths about the fashion and glamour industry...but it was not something that I was unaware about.

Have you seen any of these movies? What did you think of them?

You Don't Mess With The Zohan, Kidnap and Drona - Movie Review

You Don't Mess With The Zohan, Kidnap and Drona - Movie Review

I am finding it more and more difficult to post to my blog...life is so busy nowadays... which is a good thing. I watched three new movies over the last month. Here are my movie reviews.

You Don't Mess With The Zohan - 6/10 - Raunchy Comedy - starring Adam Sandler. The movie is about Zohan, an Israeli counter terrorist who is sick of the violence in his life. He fakes his own death and moves to the USA to work as a hairdresser. Unsuccessful at finding a job, he ends up as a sweeper in the beauty parlour of a Palestinian lady Dalia.

Watched it with one of my best friends....the movie was quite funny for girls...but quite embarrassing if you were a guy.


Kidnap - 5/10 - Action Drama - starring Imraan Khan, Minissha Lamba and Sanjay Dutt. Imran Khan kidnaps Sanjay Dutt's daughter in revenge as Sanjay Dutt threw him in jail when he was a kid for stealing his car. He bullies Sanjay Dutt into committing various types of crimes to save his daughter...Other than Sanjay Dutt and Rahul Dev, the performances of the others were below par....Imraan Khan's character kept harping about how he was not forgiven, but nowhere is he shown saying sorry.


Drona - 2/10 - Fantasy Drama - starring Priyanka Chopra and Abhishek Bachchan. Priyanka Chopra is the only positive aspect of this movie. She does well as the female action hero who is the bodyguard of Drona (played by Abhishek Bachchan). Her costumes and martial arts are great. Baby B is boring as usual and keeps needing protection from girls and mummy (Jaya Bachchan). Lots of melodrama and boring dialogue which I had to fast forward through.

What do you think of this film review? Did you see any of these three movies??

Rock On, A Wednesday and Phoonk - Movie Reviews

With loads of work keeping me busy at the office, I find very little time these days to blog or post comments....but, anyway, here are the movie reviews of some films that I recently watched - Rock On, A Wednesday and Phoonk.

Rock On - 7/10 - starring Arjun Rampal (Joe), Farhan Akhtar(Aditya), Purab Kohli (KD) and Luke Kenny (Rob). The film is basically about the members of a rock band called Magik, who win a music competition and get a recording deal. Unfortunately, various differences and jealousies crop up that force the band to split and go thier separate ways without completing the album. 10 years later, they rejoin and decide to give rock music one last try by participating in the music competition again.

Being one of the few Indian movies about rock music, I initially thought 'Rock On' would flop because of its basic concept and niche market. However, the excellent screenplay, music and direction saw the movie becoming a smash hit. Acting was passable. Script and storyline was quite realistic and the characters had depth. Basically, I did'nt find any holes or annoying bits in the movie.


A Wednesday - 3/10 - starring Naseeruddin Shah, Anupam Kher, Deepal Shaw and Jimmy Shergill. Police Commissioner of Mumbai, Prakash Rathod (Anupam Kher), gets a call that nine bombs are planted over the city, and will be detonated if four terrorists are not released. He initially thinks it is a hoax call, but shifts into action mode when a bomb is found in the police headquarters. In the end, the so called 'terrorist' turns out to be an angry citizen - 'common man', who succeeds in his mission of killing four terrorists lodged in jail, just coz he believes they need to die.

I did'nt like 'A Wednesday' for two reasons - unrealistic interpretation of the media and the theory of revenge that the film propounds. With the amount of news channels today, no reporter can get an 'exclusive' on a terrorism story without loads of reporters from other channels showing up, plus, there were various technical aspects about reporting that needed looking into. About the revenge angle, if everyone decides they want to kill undertrials just because the media or the government says they are guilty, then lots of innocents will die. I just don't subscribe to the film's view about using 'staged encounters' to kill terror suspects believing them to be definitely guilty people who will kill again if freed.


Phoonk - 1/10 - starring some unknown new faces, the less said about Phoonk, the better. Based on black magic, the story of the film was really predictable and awful. The lady who plays the witch, with her overdone makeup and raucous laughter, reminded me of a teacher at school. I was wondering why Ram Gopal Varma was offering Rs. 5 lakhs to watch this film, now I know - If I knew about the contents of this film beforehand, I would'nt have sat through it if I was paid a crore.....


Did you see Rock On, A Wednesday and Phoonk? What do you think of them?

Singh is Kinng - Movie Review

Singh is Kinng - 1/10 - Comedy - starring Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif. The main reason this movie is getting such a low rating and bad review is because a majority of dialogues were in Punjabi. Living in Delhi, I have picked up a bit of Punjabi over the years, but not enough to sit through this movie. I got bored after around half an hour and switched off the television.

My mom was very eager to see Singh is Kinng because of the publicity surrounding it, film reviews and the fact that the movie was a hit in Delhi, but even she gave up watching after the language barrier proved too strong. A word of advice to the producers of this movie - add subtitles. From what little I could understand, the script was not realistic, filled with stereotypes and made no sense.

Did you see Singh is Kinng? What did you think of it?