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Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha (2024)
Chop a few scenes and this could become a masterpiece
The movie is a very sincere attempt to make an intense mature love story. Full marks to Neeraj Pandey for trying. But there are too many unnecessary scenes, particularly in jail, that distract from the core story. Also the non-linear story telling reduces the intensity. If the story could have focused on Vasu meeting Krishna after coming out of jail, with a few flashbacks of their younger selves, this could have been a much focused love story. Could have been easily compressed to 2 hours.
But you can't take away the spark between Ajay and Tabu. You feel their connection even ehen they meet after 22 years.
And yeah, music is the soul of this film. Kudos to MM Kreem.
7 Khoon Maaf (2011)
Experimental... but not that great
Vishal Bhardwaj is brave, and lucky too. Brave - because he always takes the road less traveled. He never makes run-of-a-mill Bollywood stuff. Lucky - because most of his recent movies have done well at the box office too, thus raising expectation from him by the classes and the masses alike.
But bravado doesn't make you impeccable. Similar thing happened with Sanjay L. Bhansali with Saawariya. With 7KM Vishal flounders, though not as bad as SLB. 7KM has an interesting beginning with nice build up through the first couple of murders. But then, the plot looses its sheen. The characters and the murders go unexplained leaving the story limping with not much excitement to look forward too. The pace is too slow to keep you gripped.
Positives - the performances (in that order) by PC, Annu Kapoor, Neil Nitin, Irrfan, John. Naseer goes underutilized. Special praise for Vivaan on his nice debut. Dialogs, music, and art direction are some more positives of 7KM.
Negatives - lots of them. Pace, screenplay, unexplained entry and exit of characters in the plot, and most of all, the disastrous lack-lusture climax. A Good ending could have otherwise saved the movie.
Watch it if you are a fan of 'different genre' in Bollywood or PC. Avoid if you are looking for wholesome entertainment.
Raat Gayi, Baat Gayi? (2009)
Nice watch
Rajat Kapoor camp has given us some memorable offbeat flicks in the past (remember mithya and mixed double!!). So I had pretty high expectations from RGBG which I feel sorry to say did not meet them fully. The movie is not too disappointing, it has its funny moments and a good ending; but it seriously lacks in the script and screenplay. Though the end is surprising, the first half does not generate much curiosity about "What the hell really happened last night between Rahul and Sophiya?". A few more twists in the tail and a tighter screenplay could have done the job.
The movie scores well in most of the other aspects. The actors are at their best, especially Vinay Pathak, Navneet Nishan and Ranvir Shourey (he creates magic even with such few scenes). Neha was amazing as a 'totta' and I am glad she is emerging as a fine actor with movies like Dasvidaniya, Ek Chaalis, Maharathi and RGBG. Iravati is a refreshing entry in Rajat's camp and I hope she stays. The background music is good, could have been better.
Overall, it is a nice watch for multiplex crowd, but not the kind of stuff you expect form the ensemble.
Chintu Ji (2009)
"Hum Hadbahedi wale dil ki hi sunte hain"
First thing first, Chintuji is not another run-of-the-mill entertainer nor is it a great artistic exuberance. Most of the things would just look average to a casual cine goer. But if you understand cinema a bit closely, the film makers vision truly comes alive. Though the social satire in Chintuji is not easily palpable, but given the long association of Ranjit as a dialogue writer of films on social and political milieu (Jaane bhi.., Lajja, Bandit queen, Halla bol etc.) his vision to bring some of those issues in such simplistic manner is appreciable.
Chintuji has an excellent script, and had it been by a directed better versed with such movies it could have been a masterpiece. But Ranjit failed on this front. The movie seems more like a theatre drama, and the unbelievable honesty of 'Hadbahedi wale' making it all the more cheezy. Probably to make it a commercially viable movie, Ranjit has put some undesirable stuffs including a couple of songs which in fact did not go down well with the viewers. (Though I personally liked the Akira Kurosawa song which named a lot of big directors from all over the globe. Whosoever wrote that lyrics, did a good job.) Also, some of the scenes should really have been done in a much better way (like the one where Kulraj chases away the inspector).
Acting is a major saving grace of Chintuji. Rishi Kapor, Priyanshu, Kulraj... all are in top form. I wonder when will some one re-exploit Priyanshu's full potential like Anubhav did in Tum Bin. Kseniya's special appearance after 40 long years is a big surprise.
Over all, a good movie to watch for its honest storytelling.
Wanted (2009)
Great action.... ridiculous story
First thing first... Wanted is strictly for 2 king of audience: Hardcore action lovers and Hardcore Salman fan. If you are none of these, there is nothing else for you in this flick. No great acting, no good songs, no emotions, no romance. The movie relies heavily on Salman's star power and Vijayan's mindless action sequences.
I have read most of the earlier reviews on IMDb, and most of them seem to be biased just because they are Salman fans. I agree that Salman is one of the greatest action heroes of Bollywood and Prabhu has exploited his muscle power to full extent. But thats it; the movie has nothing else to offer. Had the writers put a little more efforts on the story and screenplay, Wanted could have been the Ghajini of 2009. But alas, Wanted is just 50% as good as Ghajini.
None of the other actors seem commendable. Mahesh Majarekar's character of a crooked cop seems more like a comedian while the Prakash Raj, in spite of his good acting, doesn't look like a furious don. Ayesha Takia's lover girl role too is unconvincing and plastic. Vinod Khanna is wasted as an actor. Everybody has left the job of pulling the movie on Salman. Even the few good dialogs belong to him.
I watched the movie on pirated DVD, taking three breaks in between. Just got bored after every 45 mins. Watch it at you own risk, preferably on DVD only. No need to spend to watch it in theater.
Once again, Wanted is only wanted for action and Salman lovers.
Y.M.I. Yeh Mera India (2008)
A story about Dharm, Farz and above all... Insaniyat
Yeh Mera India is Indian 'Crash' (the Oscar winning Hollywood flick). It tackles many major issue of our society- terrorism, Hindu-Muslim hatred, Mumbai's regionalism against Bihari, rich-poor divide, corruption... even traffic jams. But kudos to N.Chandra for impeccable screenplay and direction that the movie stands out as a path-breaking reflection of 'Why India is India?'. The answer of course lies in one word 'Insaniyat' which is not used in even one dialog but is visible in abundance.
The first 15 minutes of the film were a serious turn off for me. It shows so much hatred among people that you it gives an impression of yet another movie exploiting these issues. But as the story builds on, you realize how passionately the narrator deals with each character while conveying the message "Bura mazhab nahi, insaan hota hai'. There are umpteen moments in the film where you just can't help the tears floating in your eyes.
Casting is another good thing about YMI. There are so many good actors, yet nobody is heavier than the other. Rajat Kapoor, Atul Kulkarni, Anupam Kher, Vijay Raaz, Sarika, Dabaas, Perizaad, Seema Biswas, Purab Kohli, Rajpal Yadav... all have delivered up to the expectation of the story.
Though the movie has a few technical glitches and exaggerated sequences, you won't mind them given the journey YMI takes you through. This is a must watch for every Indian. Don't miss it.
Kambakkht Ishq (2009)
Dumb... dumber.... dumbest
This movie is a strong no-no for any movie lover, even for die hard fans of Akshay or Kareena. Reasons... read below.
Story: This movie is about a dog and a bitch, who cannot say filthy words on-screen because of censorship. So they go out hurling abuse on the opposite sex without any justification. The audience is dumbstruck on their own foolishness to spend 150 bucks and more so 140 minutes on the 'datum of the datums' movie.
Direction: Now they know, every asst director cannot and should not become a director. Even a stunt man could have done a better job on KI.
Guest Appearances: Neither Nadiadwala nor Sabbir has a degree in management. Else they would know that you cannot offer a product whose functionality is unknown to the customer. Stallone is OK, but how many Indians know Routh or Dennise Richards, probably less than 0.5%. Why waste so much money on big Hollywood starts who cannot translate it into revenues??
Acting: Akshay is the least exploited actor in last few years. He has such great acting potential last seen in Hera Pheri and Namaste London. But since then, he has done some of the worst movies of his career. KI is just an addition to the list. Kareena is the biggest letdown of the decade. No point hailing her as a superstar, we all know how her acting has deteriorated over the years. Her acting in Refugee, Asoka and Chameli showed such great promise. But its all gone now. In KI, she not only acts poorly but also looks ugly. Sorry to say, she looks like a transsexual in her zero figure. Instead of Kareena, they should have gone for any voluptuous babe with sexy figure like Bipasha, Shilpa or even Deepika. Aaftab and Amrita has gone down from supporting actors to side kicks to now kicked in the corner. And what the hell are Boman Irani and Javed Jaffery doing in here?? This movie is not meant for them.
Music: This could have been the saving grace for this dumb movie, just like Singh is king. But alas, music is more pathetic than the movie itself. I don't remember even one nice song to hum.
Once again, a complete disaster.
Bacheha-ye aseman (1997)
Such movie comes once in a lifetime
Already 91 reviews for this movie, so why am I writing one. You'll know the answer if you have watched it. Children of haven is the pinnacle of story telling. When we are bombarded with star-studded high budget sagas, there are very few movies which leave an impact like this one. And Hollywood, beware, because Asians can tell stories like no one else in the world. The movie is gripping throughout, especially the last 15 minutes. When Ali tells Zahra that he'll come third in the race to get her those sneakers, I literally had tears in my eyes. And there was no stopping them once the race began. No background music, no special effects, but you could still feel the excitement and anxiety of Ali running for the cause. At that moment I realized, they truly are the Children of Haven. Its amazing how two of the most beautiful foreign films of all times got nominated for Academy in the same year (and eventually Life is Beautiful got the reward). But I can say Children of Haven must have given it a close fight. In all, it was a complete pleasure to watch Children of Haven. Don't miss it for anything.
Billu (2009)
Irrfan the actor. SRK the superstar.
It rarely gets this close to making a perfect movie which has all the ingredients: great story, star presence (SRK and the item girls) and a fine actor (Irrfan). Everything fits perfectly into the story which looked more like an SRK movie from the teasers but turned out to be a story of an simple Billu barber (Irrfan).
There are a few ingrained flaws in the screenplay, like the item songs and some non-essential comedy scenes among villagers, which I felt, if had been avoided could have made Billu a classic. Somehow, Priyadarshan is not able to let go his favorite routine actors who seem to be annoying many a times in the movie (the school board drama was not necessary). But still, the movie scores on the merits of a great story and excellent lead performances.
I felt a bit disappointed with the ending too, but I guess Sahir- meeting-Billu was necessary for the commercial success of the movie. It will probably take some time for Indian audience to accept a sad ending after such fanfare.
All said, I still liked the movie for its novelty and a curiosity of what-happens-next throughout the movie.
Great work Irrfan. Keep it up.
Dev.D (2009)
Intoxicating
Caution: If you are looking for a time pass entertainer, Dev.D is not for you.
I have always admired Anurag for the kind of cinema he believes in and the vision he has for Indian cinema. Though No Smoking did not do well at box office, I still consider it to be one of the most underrated bollywood movie.
But Dev.D is a step ahead of No Smoking. Its the age old Devdas meets No Smoking meets Trainspotting. Dev, played by Abhay, is a spoiled brat without a motive in life. And our Paro is not helpless this time around; she is headstrong and ready to kick asses. Even Chanda is not as cheeky as she was. She is slutty and confident. The trio makes up for contemporary youngsters of Indian metros, who have little emotions and no values. And there is so much intoxication that it reminds you of 'trainspotting' and 'fear and loathing in Vegas'.
But the greatness of movie is not in the story. In fact, after sometime, you don't even care about the story. This movie is about great direction and amazing music (Amit Trivedi). After watching the movie, it is impossible to imagine it without the music. It so much a part of the movie that probably Dev.D has more background songs than dialogs. Dev.D is highly unconventional, radical and futuristic (the dialogs, camera work and editing) from Indian standards.
A very brave movie indeed.