Movie Review : Rockstar

Director: Imtiaz Ali; 

Cast: Ranbir Kapoor, Nargis Fakhri, Shammi Kapoor, Shikha Jain, Jaideep Ahlawat, Aditi Rao Hydari, Piyush Mishra; 

Running time: 160 mins; 

Certificate: PG

 Borne entirely of the imagination of Imtiaz Ali, Rockstar is the fictional story of Janardhan Jhakar, a small town boy with big dreams of becoming a rock star like his idol Jim Morrison. Lacking any personal tragedy that might infuse his music with passion, Janardhan goes on a quest for love and unwittingly embarks on a journey that culminates in his dramatic descent into oblivion. Using a non linear narrative style, the film depicts his emotional journey, from Janardhan the college geek, to Jordan, the angst ridden rock god who fills out stadiums.

The film opens with a bedraggled Jordan, fighting off police as he makes his way to his own concert. The footage is interspersed with flashbacks to the character in his youth, a gawky guitar wielding rock star wannabe, who sings to queues of people at bus stands.

Rockstar engages you from its very opening sequence through to its emotional denouement. Director Imtiaz Ali adeptly employs a range of elements that, in combination, render the film enthralling. The film is smattered with wry humour and witty dialogue where you least expect it. The non-linear style works brilliantly, maintaining a sense of escalating drama and building to a crescendo, as piece-by-piece we discover the incidents that lead to the genesis of the tormented artist.

Key to the film's authenticity is an outstanding performance by Ranbir Kapoor, who has immersed himself in the role. Kapoor's performance as the wilful Jordan, a loose canon and a free spirit with a sense of entitlement, belies his years, as he undergoes a dramatic transformation. We trace the emotional trajectory of Jordan over a period of seven years, and with subtle nuances Kapoor captures the character's unravelling. Jordan's burgeoning angst is conveyed in his physicality as he transmutes into a Che Guevara styled urban guerilla. Kapoor reportedly learnt to play the guitar for the role and his performance is so realistic that, coupled with the documentary style concert footage, it's easy confuse the film for a real life biopic.

Nargis Fakhri, meanwhile, is well cast as Heer and makes a bold cinematic debut. She brings naturalism, effervescence and incandescent beauty to the role, though her lack of experience is evident in the more intense stand-offs with Kapoor. Both actors have a natural chemistry and convey the unfettered spirit that unites the lovers, and depicting the carefree lunacy of their youth which is displaced by the torment of a forbidden passion and illicit love.

The music is integral to the story and bears all the hallmarks of A.R. Rahman's personal brand of genius. The soundtrack complements the emotional peaks and troughs in the narrative, and set against the backdrop of the stunning planes of Kashmir and Prague, is entirely compelling.

With subtle allusions to classic stories of forbidden love such as Romeo and Juliet and Heer Ranjha, Rockstar is a riveting portrait of the destruction that ensues in the face of passion and desire borne of forbidden love.

A simple story, beautifully enacted, perfectly crafted, there is not much to fault in this film. Exemplary cinema by any standards. 

 By Priya Joshi 

Movie Review : Love Breakups Zindagi

Love and breakups have become a common component of urban zindagi. As much as predictability has become a part of most romantic comedies. This zillionth Bollywood spinoff on the second half of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai is no different! 

Jai (Zayed Khan) and Naina (Dia Mirza) are in their individual mismatched relationships. Until they meet in a common friend's wedding. Amidst song-dance routine, cupid strikes Jai by the interval point. Naina is uncertain until her doting mother advices 'wahi karo jo tumhara dil kehta hai' (how pioneering and profound!) Alas she takes a little too long to decide while the viewer has already reached to the conformist conclusion.

Till date, Bollywood has devised only two alternatives for the climax of a film like this. In the feel good format, the other man willingly decides to let go his ladylove for the main hero (like Salman Khan did in Kuch Kuch Hota Hai). The other option is when this other man acts difficult (Jimmy Sheirgill in Tanu Weds Manu). This film belongs to the former feel-good variety.

While the film could have brought some variety with its other assorted couples, the problem with the writing is that all the supporting tracks are half-baked. Jai's friend (Cryus Sahukar) falls for a 'Sheila' (Tisca Chopra) who isn't exactly 'jawaan'. While this odd-aged couple has its moments of charm and comedy, their bonding could certainly have been explored in a better way. The girl from Dairy Milk ad (Umang Jain) has graduated to having ice-creams here after her multiple break-offs, but her sweet revenge spree was far from funny.

The film does have a lighthearted mood throughout but one does feel that its sense of humour, though not bad, could have been more fine-tuned and sharp. While this brand of comedy is anytime better than a senseless slapstick, there is a feeling that the film could have been funnier. At the same time while the director tries to keep things subtle and avoid melodrama, some situations lack the basic intensity that the drama demands. Like Jai's breakup with his first girlfriend (Pallavi Sharda) comes across so
casually that it seems as if nothing has happened. The pacing is slow and the length is a little too long for a predictable film.

Zayed Khan and Dia Mirza share good chemistry and are decent in their acts. Dia has a natural charm. Cyrus Sahukar underplays his character and is the butt of most jokes. Tisca Chopra looks delightful despite playing a (slightly) elderly female. Umang Jain is cute but has a short-lived character. Vaibhav Talwar plays in a limited range but pulls off his part. Satyadeep Mishra is good. Pallavi Sharda and Auritra Ghosh get no scope. From all the special appearances, Boman Irani is hilarious and leaves more impact that Shah Rukh Khan who doesn't do much beyond playing himself and endorsing furniture brand.

Director Sahil Singha doesn't show any innovation in the storytelling of his debut venture but he still has the command to bring a smile on your face, thanks to the breezy romance and the film's optimistic outlook. While being conventional cinema, it isn't essentially exasperatingly cliched.

Neither utterly lovely nor breakthrough! Love Breakups Zindagi is that variety of predictable cinema that is passable.

Telugu Movie Review: 'Dookudu' an out and out Mahesh Babu film

Film: 'Dookudu'; 

Cast: Cast: Mahesh Babu, Samantha Prabhu, Parvathy Melton, Sonu Sood, Sonia, Brahmanandam, Vennela Kishore, M.S. Narayana, Kota Sreenivasa Rao, Dharmaavarapu Subramanyam, Shaaji Shinde and Nazar; 

Director: Sreenu Vaitlaa; 

Writer: Gop Mohan;

Producer: G. Ramesh Babu; 

Camera: K.V. Guhan;

Music: S.S. Thaman; 

Rating: *** 1/2

'Dookudu' was much awaited because of the two big names of the Telugu film industry associated with it - Mahesh Babu and director Sreenu Vaitla. 

Vaitla has been known for making successful comedy-action films, while Mahesh's movies stood out for his trademark stylish acting, glamour and breathtaking action sequences. 

Since his biggest blockbuster 'Okkudu', Mahesh's performance has always been of higher level. 

Vaitla uses Mahesh's style and presence well in 'Dookudu', which boasts of his signature style of narration and this film too he focuses on punchy dialogues, which will satisfy moviegoers. The touch of comedy is felt in most of the sequences in the second half where focus is on reality show and two eminent comedians -- Brahmanandam and M.S. Narayana -- have been liberally used to entertain the audience. 

There is also Parvathi Melton's well-shot item number. 

Within a few minutes of the film, you will realise that it is an out and out Mahesh Babu's film. His versatility, his dances and body language -- all add up to highlight his characterisation. In many scenes, the actor has allowed two veterans, Brahmanandam and Narayana, to take centrestage. 

Mahesh's character has all the elements that his fans expect from him and there is a good dose of emotion, which may go well with family audience. His love for his father and the emotional sequences that happen in his large family will tug at the audiences heartstrings. 

The film is replete with visual treat and style as each sequence is shot with the backdrop of a rich canvas. 

The story may be formulaic, but there is enough space for entertaining elements. Though the writers have failed to give a credible story and script, artists and technicians make up for it and take the film to a greater height. 

However, music could have been a little better. 

The story starts with the assassination attempt made on an honest politician Shankar Narayan by some anti social elements. Though it is believed that Shankar Narayan is dead, he survives but goes into a coma and his trusted aides keep him in a hospital for 14 years. 

Shankar Narayan wants his son Ajay to be a politician, but he becomes a super cop instead and is on a mafia wipeout spree. He is sent to Istanbul to track down a don called Nayak and there he bumps into a girl who is a stylist and is there to participate in a fashion show. 

Ajay kills many notorious gangsters and finally Nayak, who is also his father's tormentor, is eliminated with others. 

As earlier said, Mahesh Babu's performance and style quotient is the main attraction. Samantha Prabhu has little to offer in terms of performance, but looks good in song sequences. Sonu Sood is becoming quite repetitive in villain's roles. 

The veterans comedy is top class. Parvathy Melton excels in the item song. Vennela Kishor Mahesh Babu's side kick is impressive. 

K.V. Guhan's top class cinematography captures the scenic richness of Turkey as well as Mumbai and many other outdoor spots. The title song and "Guruvaram" are well shot and composed. 

Dookudu is a treat for Mahesh's fans. But others can also enjoy this film for its comedy elements and Mahesh's powerful presence. 

Source: IBNLive.com

Telugu Movie Review: 'Madatha Kaja' has nothing new

Film: 'Madatha Kaja';

Cast: Allari Naresh, Sneha Ullal, Jayaprakash Reddy, Ali, Dharmavarapu Subramanya and Vennela Kishore; Director: Sitarama Raju; 

Producer: K.K. Radha Mohan; 

Music: Vasanth;

Rating: ** 

Telugu film makers are weaving the same type of stories and remixing the content of films already released. They end up making silly movies, but yet complain that well made films do not run. 

'Madatha Kaja' featuring Allari Naresh in the lead role may well remind you of films like Ravi Teja's 'Mirpakaay' and 'Don Seenu' released just a few months ago.

But one thing that is distinctly clear in 'Madatha Kaja' is that the film is made with very poor production values and the hero Naresh just looks like a poor man's Ravi Teja. 

That is the real tragedy of 'Madatha Kaja' as Naresh is really talented and can be a great entertainer if he is properly supported with a good script and if the film is handled by a competent director. 

This is amply clear from the number of hits Naresh and his famous father E.V.V. Sathyanarayana have delivered and you will understand the potential of the former in author-backed roles. 

Besides the hollowness of the script, 'Madatha Kaja' suffers from other aspects as well. 

The dialogues lack the punch and many sequences in the film fail to make any impact. Comedy films need to have good, quality dialogues of great entertainment value. With passive dialogues, the predictable comedy sequences are not hilarious enough to make the audience laugh. 

The film's heroine Sneha Ullal, a look alike of Aishwarya Rai, struggles with acting. 

Kalyan from Visakhapatnam is a police informer who is in love with Sneha. As his mission in catching criminals by tipping off police is hugely successful, the police chief wants him to go to Hyderabad to give information about a notorious don Nanda who is controlling illegal activities in Hyderabad by remote control from Bangkok.

His trusted lieutenants J.P. and K.P. running separate gangs are always fighting which results in bad execution of activities and losses to Nanda. 

Nanda wants to bring in some unity between JP and KP. He decides that KP's daughter Sneha should marry J.P.'s son. 

Then Kalyan decides to bring Nanda from Bangkok and uses his intelligence and guile to eliminate the don's gang. He also gets his lady love Sneha. 

Allari Naresh tries to deliver justice to his routine role and he evokes laughter through some of his funny mannerisms and dialogues. Sneha Ullal is ordinary, but looks good in song sequences. The veterans have put in a good show. 

'Madatha Kaja' is certainly not in the same league as Allari Naresh's earlier films like 'Kitha Kithalu' and 'Seema Thupaki'. 

If you have no other better alternative, you can watch 'Madatha Kaja' once.

Movie Review: Hum Tum Shabana

Movie : Hum Tum Shabana

Cast: Tusshar Kapoor, Shreyas Talpade, Minissha Lamba, Satish Kaushik

Direction:Sagar Ballary

Production:Sunil Chainani, Sameer Chand, Srivastava, Subhash Dawar

Story /Screenplay: Farhajaan Sheikh

Music:  Sachin-Jigar

Rating:           **

Hum Tum Shabana is intended to be a comedy movie revolving around two boys – Rishi (Tusshar Kapoor) and Kartik (Shreyas Talpade,) competing against each other in the office at work; as well as outside the office, to woo a beauty pageant contestant – Shabana (Minissha Lamba). Shabana’s uncle (Satish Kaushik), an underworld don, is adamant to find the right groom for his niece. Now, race between the boys, instead of winning the lady, takes turn to get out of the clutches of this gangster.

Sagar Ballary seems to be losing his proven expertise at simple mindless comedy of Bheja Frying, and has to hide behind silly slapstick in Hum Tum Shabana.  The first half fails to tickle; while the second half makes you to join the race of fleeing the flick.

Outdated story with patchy writing and countless ramp walk rounds substantiates the writer’s obsession of Madhur Bhandarkar’s ‘Fashion’ sans its glamour and charisma; and screenplay, with dreary jokes, fails to entertain the viewers.

Tusshar Kapoor and Shreyas Talpade can’t add any spark, neither can Minissha. Veteran comedians Satish Kaushik and Sanjay Mishra hold the burden of providing some hilarious moments in the second-half with their witty gags; however, poor script does not provide much scope to them either.

Overall, if you are looking for some light comedy, Hum Tum Shabana is not it, for sure!

Movie Review: Force

Film: "Force"
Cast: John Abraham, Genelia D'Souza and Vidyut Jamwal;
Director: Nishikant Kamat;
Rating: ***

A raw rugged cop's tale of vicious vendetta fused into a tender romance seems like a hard act to live up to. But Nishikant Kamat, seeking inspiration from a hit Tamil film "Kaakha Kaakha" manages just fine.

He gets incredible support from dialogue writer Ritesh Shah, who infuses every exchange on love (with the girl who won't take no for an answer) and war (against drug peddlers) with a kind of lived-in warmth and familiarity.

Kamat, who earlier made "Mumbai Meri Jaan​" on terrorism and the city of Mumbai, here has a blast bringing back the old-fashioned action hero. John Abraham has worked hard on his physique and his expressions too look like a cop who thinks falling in love would take him away from his line of duty.

Enter the vivacious effervescent girl nextdoor. Genelia with her multiplicity of expressions aptly plays "Bubbly" to this duty-bound "Bunty" who would rather not get entangled in human foibles like love and family. But the inevitable happens.

Kamat lovingly weaves the love story between the impish girl nextdoor and the gentle giant into the persistent call of duty, making sure the film's claims to be an action film doesn't get drowned in mush.

While the first hour is a loose bag of striking shootouts staged in crowded localities of Mumbai and some highly dispensable romantic songs, it is the second-hour where the narration really gathers momentum pitching the relentless cop against his chief adversary a drug dealer named Vishnu, played with arresting elan by debutant Vidyut Jamwal.

The man-to-man confrontations between Abraham and Jamwal have a rousing rugged resonance to them. They may make you squirm with their brutality. But the two look like well-matched opponents. Action director Allan Amin devises combats that convey a bone-crunching realism.

The two adversaries take care of the rest. John gives a finely pitched performance looking every inch like the action hero who can deliver that punch. He handles both the brutal and tender moments in the violence and romance, with ease.

Newcomer Vidyut Jamwal makes a formidable adversary. The menace is not only in the physique but the tone. This man means business. Some of the supporting cast is interesting too.

"Force" is a full-on action film with balls, brawn and brains. It's the kind of virile cinema where action speaks louder than words. Blessedly the narrative secretes some fine dialogues and tender love story that goes with the turbulent territory. Nishikant Kamat balances out the colour khaki with sharp colours of humour and romance.
(IANS)

Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster review: Heady mix of passion, power and politics

A wonderfully gripping trip into the hinterland where life is cheap, death is free and sex comes at a premium. Be ready to cheer and whistle as this one comes with punchlines galore

The best thing about director Tigmanshu Dhulia’s Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster (SBG) is the fact that it is placed in a milieu that he is well-versed with; the language, the look and the characters, all rarely seen on the big screen, make this film a treat to watch. Shot aesthetically, the content is aimed at a fairly mature audience. SBG is one of the few Hindi films that has done justice to the acting prowess of Jimmy Shergill, who does look like a king; a lot has been spent on his styling in the movie and it certainly is worth it.

The telling of the story is as simple as the title of the film – it is about a king (Jimmy Shergill) whose coffers are empty, his wife (Mahie Gill) whom he doesn’t love and a rookie gangster (Randeep Hooda) who lands up in the madhouse that was once a sprawling palace. The king is going through an all-time low and has to somehow manage to live up to his royal stature, for which he uses his power and doubles up as a gangster.

Like all self-respecting kings, he also has a courtesan who knows exactly which buttons to push to ensure that he eats out of her hands.

The king is left with very few loyal subjects and has to compete with a local gangster Genda Singh (Vipin Sharma) to reclaim respect and power. The world created by the director is dark and almost everyone in it seems to be comfortable with a twisted way of life. The only character with a spine is the king’s driver, who ends up becoming a helpless witness to an ending that is a rare spectacle in Bollywood.

SBG is in the zone of filmmaker E Nivas’ Shool or Anurag Basu’s Murder and the twain meet in such a poetic way that it makes for a great watch. Stunning visuals, bravura performances, shock value, skin show and the mandatory item number – this movie is a glowing tribute to the warring-Rajput-clan genre. Though the director has only shot at about three locations, the way the film has been edited avoids any hint of repetitiveness.

The refined camerawork and catchy music add to the darkly pulpy concoction and it was a surprise to see actor Deepal Shaw almost pull off a Basanti a la Hema Malini. As the tagline of the film goes, “this weekend do spare time for this royal threesome”.

Movie Review : Tere Mere Phere

Movie: Tere Mere Phere

Director: Deepa Sahi

Cast: Jagrat Desai, Sasha Goradia, Vinay Pathak, Riya Sen

Rating: *1/2

 In the very beginning of this film ”a debut venture by actress-turned-director Deepa Sahi ”a young boy of about 14 spouts a worldly-wise dialogue, something to the effect of how making love is a rubbish term and what a couple actually wants is sex. I just wish we were more sensitive about not only the kind of messages we send out to our young kids via films, but also about what we make them speak on screen.

To its credit, the film has a novel story of a couple who have all the right romantic notions before marriage, but start fighting soon after they discover each other's shortcomings. So without wasting more reel time, they decide to divorce each other while on their honeymoon. Besides this storyline, however, everything else falls flat. The first culprits are the lead actors, Jagrat Desai and Sasha Goradia. While Jagrat is plain wooden, Sasha is irritating as well.

Even as the couple fights with each other, the plane in which they are travelling is taken back to its original destination because the sole airhostess on the plane and the two captains freak out! This can only happen in a bad Hindi film.

Vinay Pathak as the love-struck, happy-go-lucky person could have been the saving grace, but too much is dependent on him. Riya Sen plays a Himalayan rustic beauty, but acts like she has just landed from some foreign shore with an accent that is incomprehensible.

There are certain scenes (very few, I must add) that get you interested in the couple's lives, but after a point you wouldn't care less. Better actors and perhaps a little more experienced director may have worked for this script. Hopefully, next time Sahi takes a few tips from her husband Ketan Mehta, one of the finest directors in our midst.

A predictable ending and an unwittingly hilarious climax do the rest of the damage.

Movie Review : Speedy Singhs is a Bend it like Beckham on the ice rink!

Film: Speedy SinghsDirector: Robert Lieberman
Cast: Vinay Virmani, Anupam Kher, Camilla Belle, Russell Peters and Rob Lowe
Rating: ***

The film evokes a strong sense of déjà vu right from the word go. It’s Bend it Like Beckham meets Patiala House. So you have a typical Punjabi family settled in an Indian community abroad, a dictator-like-dad maha-unhappy with their daughter/son’s choice to pursue their passion for sports, a wedding in the family and a predictable climax in the stadium. But once you overlook all this, Speedy Singhs takes you on an entertaining ride.

So there’s Rajveer Singh (Vinay) whose heart beats for ice-hockey, while dad Darvesh Singh (Anupam) wants him to join his brother’s transport business. 

Though settled in Canada, the family is seeped in Indian culture and that includes considering every sport other than cricket a waste of time. To add to this woes, there’s Sam (Peters) his cousin sister’s fiancé, who considers Rajveer competition in their family business.

When the chances of Rajveer making it to the top team, Hammerheads, seems impossible thanks to his Indian roots, Harry forms his own team Speedy Singhs with fellow Sikhs under coach Dan Winters (Lowe). Dan’s sister (Camilla) is Rajveer’s love interest. How the Singhs take on the Hammerheads forms the rest of the story. 

The highlights of the film are definitely the super-crisp dialogues topped with an impeccable comic timing, that’s maintained consistently on a high tempo all through and the film’s fast pace. 

The audience is spared of the technicalities of the sport, but is kept aware of what’s going on in the game. The music is tappy enough to enjoy and the beats stay in tandem with the highs and lows of the film. 

The only chink in the armour is the story that could’ve been worked on, but on the upside the film is minus the melodrama that happens in the wake of the protagonist ditching his father’s dreams to fulfill his own. 

Also refreshingly, Harry is unapologetic about his passion and takes on all obstacles with his smarty-pants attitude, so you don’t feel sorry for him, but are with him all through hoping that he succeeds.

The director handles all the relationship angles between the hero and his father, mother, brother, cousin, her fiancé, the opponent, uncle, girlfriend, coach, his team rather well and there’s no beating about the bush as far as emotions are concerned. 

All actors give convincing performances and a thumbs up to the high-on-energy-new-kid-on-the-block Vinay, who looks promising. Camilla and Lowe do good jobs too.

Overall, it’s a fun two-hour watch with friends or family over a bucket of popcorn.

Movie Review : Mausam (2011)

Movie: Mausam

Cast: Shahid Kapoor, Sonam Kapoor, Supriya Pathak, Anupam Kher and Aditi Sharma; 

Writer-Director: Pankaj Kapoor;

Rating: **** 

 

There is an absolutely devastating moment of pure drama in this eagerly-awaited far-from-disappointing romance where Shahid Kapoor, playing one of the most deliciously challenging roles of his career, espies from a train the lost love of his life, Sonam Kapoor, standing forlorn in the snow with luggage, like Meryl Streep in 'The French Lieutenant's Woman' or Manisha Koirala in 'Dil Se', waiting for god knows what! The next train? Love? Death? Or the next life?

It's a moment that defines 'Mausam', a film that has some serious flaws, but finally holds together as a work of renaissance art, more remarkable, in parts outstanding, for what it attempts rather than what it finally achieves.

Pankaj Kapoor takes the Muslim-Hindu love story between a Kashmiri refugee girl and a Punjabi boy through an arching sweep of history. Every historical trauma that has defined and defiled India and Indians in the last 30 years props up as a vital image to underline the love story.

And what 'Mausam' finally says is, love becomes impossible in a civilization that chooses to define itself by violence rather than peace. Gandhi? He could be just a spectre that never existed in a world where two young people cannot come together in a clasp of love for the fear of falling into a terror trap.

We have award-worthy performances in 'Mausam' by the hero who happens to be the director's son. But that is just a karmic coincidence, like much of what transpires between the lovers in 'Mausam'.

The film goes from one phase in the couple's life to another, not quite smoothly but not strenuously either. The transitions in their estrangement are mapped out in some finely-written scenes where the couple's smothered affections for one another are manifested in moments of sublime beauty.

The ever-brilliant cinematographer Binod Pradhan captures the couple against breathtaking backdrops in rural Punjab and Scotland.

'Mausam' is one of the best-looking films in recent times. The transitions in time and topography are brought about with a fair degree of inner conviction and outer resplendence.

The synthesis of the lovers' inner and outer world is not always stress-free. The couple's inability to come together through various tragic and traumatic historical conflicts is depicted in scenes that range from the rivetting to the mundane.

Visually the film is a feast.

The film's strong sense of purpose and its love-defining affiliation to socio-cultural incidents leave little space for the incidental characters (of whom there are many) to grow in the plot. That, in a way, is the need of the plot. But you do crave to see more of the lives around the couple and how these lives and the relationships qualify the love story at the film's centre. You want to see the long-lasting friendship between Aayaat's Muslim father (Kamalnain Chopra) and the Kashmir Pundit (Anupam Kher).

And there is a plenty of quality of that sublime stillness in the storytelling - the film's extraneous correctness hides much of the film's intrinsic inconsistencies. Then there is Shahid, standing tall with a performance that puts him right up there among the finest contemporary actors.

Shahid takes us through the film's and his character's romantic odyssey, inconsistencies and all. Forget Tom Cruise. In the Airforce uniform he reminds us of Rajesh Khanna in 'Aradhana'. And that's the highest compliment any contemporary star can be paid.

The director tries hard to merge Sonam in the resplendent ambience. Her performance has enchanting echoes of Kareena Kapoor in 'Refugee'. The camera gives her no room to complain. But in the intensely romantic moments, she looks lost rather than lovelorn.

It's the other girl, the spirited Punjabi kudi Rajjo, in Shahid's life played by Aditi Sharma, who fills up the small space provided to her character.

'Mausam' is about the thwarted love between Harry and Aayaat. When they finally meet during the Gujarat riots, they seem to discover not love but its aftermath, which is a far greater thing than love.

Where the film seems to lag behind is in creating emotional pockets for the couple's mutual feelings to develop. Shahid playing Harry the Punjabi wastrel turned air-force officer and Sonam playing Aayaat the refugee from Kashmir, have several shared tender moments . The stand-out ones all come towards the second-half when loves grows impossible between the couple.

The climactic reconciliation during the Gujarat riots, enacted with supreme passion by Shahid, stands out for its stark dialogues that intercut between the couple's long pent-up feeling of separation and the socio-political forces that have kept them from each other.

The climax on a ferri's wheel appears a trifle manufactured.

Editor Sreekar Prasad's smooth flow in the narration is suddenly stymied in the search for a jolting finale.

But you have to hand it to Pankaj Kapoor. In his directorial debut, he tells an old-fashioned story of love, separation and reunion with flourishes and flashes of great cinema igniting what would in lesser hands, appear to be a trite tale of love gone frightfully cliched.

And yes, Pritam's music is apt. But the best tunes 'Abhi na jao chod kar' and 'Ajeeb dastaan hain yeh', are not his.

IANS

Movie Review : Crazy Stupid Love

Film: 'Crazy Stupid Love';
Directors: Glenn Ficarra, John Requa; 
Cast: Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling and Julianne Moore; 
Rating: **** - poignant and hilarious

There's good news in the air for cinema fans. The rom-com genre, a strong forte of Hollywood that was sadly dwindling thanks to some totally lacklustre films in the past few years, is back with a bang. The proof is 'Crazy, Stupid Love', one of the best romantic comedies of our new millennium, and a laugh riot to boot.

Cal's (Steve Carell) world turns upside when his wife for over 25 years Emily (Julianne Moore) reveals that she has slept with a co-worker and wants a divorce. He moves out of his house and frequents a bar where a casanova Jacob (Ryan Gosling), taking pity on his self-pity, teaches him the moves to make women fall for him. To complicate matters are Cal's children, their baby sitter's crush on him and a mad English teacher.

It's been some time that a romantic comedy has either been romantic or comic. Many of them are witty or have slap-stick humour. But genuine, situational humour, funny observations about life and relationship and a true squeezing of a story's potential to make you laugh your guts out have been rare. That is the reason that this film shines amidst dull contemporaries.

In terms of poignancy, you can call it the 'American Beauty' of rom-coms. While 'American Beauty' manages to get the satire out of marriage and its fall out, this one gets the humour out of it.

And what's more, it's got a totally unexpected twist in the end like a thriller and a scene after that which will totally sweep you off your feet with its humour.

The shots are conceptualized beautifully and best of all the directors - Glenn Ficarra and John Requa - know the importance of silences and pauses even in a comedy that usually rely on a lot of dialogues. It ends up being as poignant as it is hilarious and totally natural in its execution.

Yet, at the core of it, this one is a film for the family. What it is to fall in love, to stay in it, to fall out of it and to fall back in again. It analyses the concept of love from various viewpoints, that of a young boy in love with a much older girl, a young girl lusting for a man more than double her age, of a long married husband and wife now bored with each other and a lustful smooth-talking man who always has his way with women.

It shows how our viewpoint of love is influenced by the loves of those around us.

And it is to the credit of a stellar cast that brings the eccentricities and love in their character out front. Steve Carrell and Juliana Moore are at their usual best, while Ryan Rosling will steal many pretty young things' hearts with his antics.

Yet, beyond it all, it is the smart screenplay of Dan Fogelman that, despite its flaws, manages to keep you focused on its strengths.

This one's bound to go down in history as one of the most original rom-coms of all time. And that is no small achievement.

IANS

Movie Review: New York Times reviews Salman's Bodyguard

Cast: Salman Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Raj Babbar, Hazel Keech, Aditya Pancholi and Mahesh Manjrekar Music: Sandeep Shirodkar, Himesh Reshammiya, Pritam Chakraborty Director: Siddique Producer: Atul Agnihotri and Alvira Agnihotri Writer: Siddique Lyricist: Shabbir Ahmed, Neelesh Misra

The Hindi-language film Bodyguard has nothing to do with the Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner love story from 1992, though it does concern an attractive woman and a man hired to protect her, and is a towering geyser of sentiment. But it’s a bit closer to Jason Statham’s Transporter movies, with plenty of over-the-top fight choreography. Except that the male lead isn’t tearing across the countryside in a black Audi. And there’s frustrated ardor. And music-video-style production numbers.

The barrel-chested Lovely Singh (Salman Khan) is a ramrod-straight protector hired by a tycoon (Raj Babbar) to attend to his precocious daughter, Divya (a one-dimensional Kareena Kapoor), at college. Annoyed by his humorless, unflagging devotion to duty, she resolves, with her best friend, Maya (the beguiling Hazel Keech), to distract him by posing as a secret admirer (with an untraceable number) on his cellphone.

But soon her deception lands Lovely and Divya in hot water with her father’s underworld enemies, for reasons not elucidated, and imperils their inevitable romance. This grants Lovely the chance to pummel a horde of scowling grunts in a frenzy of whiplash editing and over-amped sound effects before returning to the fraught courtship.

Mr. Khan, seasoned Bollywood beefcake, is a well-muscled hunk who doesn’t take himself too seriously in fight scenes. (Like Mr. Statham in Transporter mode he manages to doff his shirt in mid-brawl, which prompted howls of delight at the screening I attended.) If only the film’s archly slick director, Siddique, had adopted the same winking attitude toward the romantic arc. A twist near the end sends this contrived movie into a maudlin stratosphere from which it doesn’t recover. But at least, in Ms. Keech’s supporting presence, understated yet palpable, we sense a performer of emerging, and remarkable, star power.

Movie Review: The Man in the Maze

Cast: Andrew Roth, Liana Werner-Gray, Erik A. Williams, Stephanie Long Lomenick Director: Mitesh Kumar Patel

There are some films which are so inconsistent in every department that it becomes a masterpiece of an example to show aspiring filmmakers exactly what not to do. The Man in the Maze is a film which reaches excellence in that department.

Three friends camping in the woods are assaulted by a stranger wearing bandages on his face. The fourth friend escapes and manages to sneak up on the masked man and save his friends. They beat up and tie the man and try to find their way out of the woods but it seems someone is trailing them.

There are so many things wrong with the film that it will perhaps take a book to recount them all. But let's state a few.

The major problem is the story. It is inspired by the French time-travel film Timecrimes with elements of mysticism added to it.

However, while Timecrimes was a perfectly logical film that ties all loose ends and explains all doubts, this one does such a shoddy job, relying on disgracefully shot scenes of Red Indians (played by its Indian director Mitesh Kumar Patel) that you squirm in your seat with disgust.

Secondly, the writers have a misconception about them being good dialogue writers. The four characters thus go on and on for a majority of the film without either the horror or the suspense ever unfolding.

Finally when it does, the treatment is so bad, that it seems to have been not only done by someone who has never wielded a camera but someone who has the brains of a junior school kid.

The camera work is inconsistent, acting is nowhere to be seen, music is all over the place, the conceptualisation of scenes and flow is so bad that you have to literally tear your head.

For example, after almost being killed by a masked man, and in a jungle that is far from civilization, the four friends go through the jungle as if they are taking a walk in the park. No one seems scared or in any hurry.

Movie Review: That Girl In Yellow Boots

Cast: Kalki Koechlin, Naseeruddin Shah and Shiv Subramaniyam Director: Anurag Kashyap Producer: Anurag Kashyap

The only hint of colour that there is in the life of the female protagonist is confined to her boots. It is significant that we do not see that piece of fancy leather footwear ever again after the introductory scene, which provides a worm’s eye-view of British citizen Ruth (co-screenwriter Kalki Koechlin) patiently waiting for her turn at the foreigners’ registration office in Mumbai.

The girl is here to seek an extension of her tourist visa. But she doesn’t palpably have a chance in hell in this beehive of slothful, corrupt and predatory government functionaries out to extract their pound of flesh.

Director Anurag Kashyap projects this den of exploitative red-tape as a microcosm of sorts of a pitiless city that breeds social and moral deviants who think nothing of riding roughshod over the destinies of the defenseless.

The superbly crafted, wonderfully acted and consistently evocative That Girl in Yellow Boots paints a dark, dismal and desperate portrait of life inside Mumbai’s daunting entrails where Ruth hopes to find salvation and a father who went missing from her life when she was only five.

In order to merely stay afloat in this putrid urban cesspool, the girl works in a massage parlour where she services wrinkled, lustful old men, going beyond the call of duty to make some money on the side.

Just as gloomy and grim is the dank ambience of Ruth’s little home, which seems to be under constant siege. It is invaded frequently by a coke-snorting boyfriend Prashant (Prashant Prakash), a Kannada-speaking gangster Chitiappa (Gulshan Devaiah) and sundry other strangers out to exploit her vulnerability.

That is the price that she must pay for being an illegal migrant: the search for her father brings her face to face with the dregs of society as she is dragged head first through the moral muck of a massive metropolis where Ruth is reduced to a hapless prey.

Kashyap’s film is structured like an urban thriller sans the fisticuffs and gunfights. But the sights and sounds of the city remain on the fringes of Ruth’s ill-fated quest for happiness. The focus of the drama is squarely on the protagonist’s inner traumas as she negotiates dangers and bitter truths at every step.

That Girl in Yellow Boots does not traverse familiar thriller terrain. We see stray bits of the city entirely from the perspective of Ruth’s alien eyes. She isn’t familiar with the dynamics of Mumbai; so the view is tempered with a degree of bewilderment.

We see Mumbai from a half-open window of the massage parlour or from the entrance to her home or in the form of what Ruth catches from a moving auto-rickshaw or taxi. She does not have the wherewithal to come to grips with Mumbai. It is too overpowering for her.

The Mumbai that we usually see on the big screen has as much music and magic as mayhem and madness. But in the city that this film depicts, there can be no room for a fairy tale. It gnaws into the vitals of individuals in insidious ways and leaves them gasping for a gust of the fresh air of innocence and honesty.

Movie Review: Bodyguard

Movie: BodyguardDirector: Siddique
Starring: Salman Khan, Kareena Kapoor
Rating: * * *

There are three movies struggling to emerge from Salman Khan's Popeye-like biceps. A cheeky, live-my-life movie where a bodyguard who travels by local train gets to share space with a princess who lives in a palace in the fictional Jaisinghpur. A sexy, physical romance where Khan's pectorals are in conversation with Kareena Kapoor's aesthetically curved belly, bared in a sari that stays up through sheer will power. And a social drama which pits a feudal sarkar-raj mindset with a modern urge to choose love. 

Unfortunately all three sub plots are crushed under the mighty weight of the Khan star machine. It is relentless. Khan invents dance steps which will no doubt be immediately cloned in wedding parties across India, flexing his biceps and twisting his calves. He finds everyday elements to beat his opponents, from tree trunks to shovels, and doesn't think twice about using the latter as a back-scratching device. He also makes jokes in rhyme (I'm not a fool/You think I'm in nursery school?). When a local train is going in the wrong direction, he simply flies through the air using cables to get to his destination. 

Anyone who has watched Khan's recent movies will recognise the signs -- a killer dialogue which will be remembered till the next blockbuster is manufactured, a signature ring tone, and a pre-fight ritual-in this case, it is taking off his watch. The familiarity is somewhat comforting. The fort where the climactic action scene is staged, with Aditya Pancholi as a worthy opponent, has appeared in Wanted. The shirt flying off and revealing Khan's taut torso is achieved with a jet of water and not wind as in Dabbangg, though the effect is the same. And Khan, as bodyguard Lovely Singh, is as enterprising with his fights as Ready's Prem. 

The viewer is not enthralled but bhaijaan has done the best that his comic strip straitjacket could allow him. It helps that Kareena Kapoor doesn't break into giggles when he plays the tentative lover.

Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/bodyguard-movie-review-salman-khan-kareena-kapoor/1/149622.html?cp

Movie review: 'Don't Be Afraid of the Dark'

Katie Holmes and Bailee Madison

"Don't Be Afraid of the Dark," which puts Guy Pearce, Katie Holmes and young Bailee Madison in some serious stomach-churning, can't-bear-to-watch-it jeopardy, is really, truly, very scary …

At least until about 30 minutes in, when you start to be distracted by the lack of logic in the storytelling and the fact that the nasty little gremlins responsible for all the bumps in the night can be offed pretty easily. Possibly a good sturdy broom would have been enough to clean them out along with the cobwebs in the corners of the Gothic manse where the film is set.

The director is Troy Nixey, making his feature film debut, though you could be forgiven for thinking it is Guillermo del Toro of "Pan's Labyrinth" acclaim who is completely in charge, since his name is splashed all over the ads and the opening credits. He's the, ahem, cowriter here (with Matthew Robbins), adapting the script from Nigel McKeand's frighteningly original teleplay.

The start is properly terrifying due to Nixey's excellent sense of pacing. The story begins about a century or so ago, a time of gas lamps and horse-drawn carriages. The place is Blackwood Manor, lovely, in a foreboding, you-will-probably-die-here kind of way. Its owner is a naturalist whose research hints at unnatural forces lurking about. Children tend not to thrive under the estate's lofty gables.

Flash-forward to present day. Pearce plays Alex, a high-end architect desperate to reverse a career slide with a renovation of Blackwood. Holmes is Kim, an interior designer and his live-in girlfriend. Madison is Sally, Alex's perpetually mournful daughter. Mom's shipped her off to stay with her distracted dad, basically telling her to buck up any time the kid phones home.

It's a tense time, and not just because of the strained family relations or the disturbing talking teddy bear Kim gives to Sally. The house is still a major mess. There's a make-or-break dinner with Architectural Digest looming. What's more, they've just discovered a door to the creepy basement behind a fake wall, and someone keeps whispering through the heating vents: "Salll-yyyyy, Salll-yyyy." (Why a noted architect would not be interested in the very architecturally interesting basement is just one of many lingering questions here.)

Soon enough, things get worse, and not just for Alex, Kim and Sally but also for Pearce, Holmes and Madison. This is where the creaky narrative with all its missing pieces really gums things up. It's too bad, since Nixey rides some moments to electrifying extremes. Director of photography Oliver Stapleton ("The Cider House Rules") captures all the haunting beauty of Blackwood Manor, which production designer Roger Ford (Oscar nominated for his work on "Babe") has made so eerie.

If only the characters were as well drawn. Pearce, the man in the maze of " Memento," knows how to work a mind game when he's given one, but there's just not enough here for Alex to get lost in. Likewise, Madison ("Bridge to Terabithia") is graced with soulful eyes, but her Sally lacks the kind of real heart that might have helped us truly fear for her safety as she gets sucked into all the places where the wild things are.

Holmes is there for a little eye candy and a little stepmothering (the good, not the evil, kind), but frankly, she's usually more arresting in celebrity magazines than she is on-screen. And the critters — they are much better before we see them. Once you know what Alex, Sally and Kim are up against, the fear gives way to boredom, then frustration when they don't get the job done.

I do hope that "Don't" doesn't do Nixey in, as he has a real knack for staging high anxiety. For Del Toro, the question is, what happened? And I don't mean to Sally.