Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Guzaarish Movie Review

Hrithik and Aishwarya are seen in a lackluster facade and that’s what makes the characters so plausible. While Hrithik is seen sporting a beard and has even put on weight, Aishwarya is seen in sober outfits. In fact, the two actors have gone through a drastic appearance change and both pressurize you to believe that they are indeed Ethan and Sofia. It must be said that Hrithik and Aishwarya exude a certain dignity and elegance, much needed for a sensitive film of this magnitude and caliber.It must have been an arduous task for Hrithik to carry off the Paraplegic character of Ethan Mascarenhas, but he depicts the part with flourish. It’s a great risk in filmy norms to have the hero of the film almost entirely on a wheel chair, but Hrithik has never hesitated or been irresolute in putting himself to adverse conditions, in order to achieve excellence, in whatever character he chooses to depict. Kudos to Hrithik for accepting a role that’s truly opposite to his larger-than-life image and portraying it with elan.

Guzaarish Movie Review

Continue Reading Guzaarish review…

On the whole, GUZAARISH is an invigorating tale. Bhansali, as a film-maker, has scaled several notches above his past accomplishments to create a near-perfect cinematic experience. The highpoint of the motion picture is the magnificently penned story of an incapacitated and debilitated man who desires to end his being with dignity. The film seduces the viewer with a strong emotional quotient, soulful music and of course, the crackling and wonderful onscreen chemistry between Hrithik and Aishwarya. Without doubt, GUZAARISH is one of the most profound, insightful and enriching dramas of the year.

Read the entire review of Guzaarish at indiafm.com

Here is a review of the film, by Bollywood’s top critic Rajeev Masand ….

Sometimes just talking about a film spoils the fun of watching it. It’s true what they say about some films — the less you know about it before you go watch it, the better. Rajat Kapoor’s Mithya is exactly that kind of film, so you can understand my dilemma even as I attempt to review the film here.

Much like Superstar, the other film at the cinemas this week, Mithya too revolves around the life of a struggling Bollywood actor.

Ranvir Shorey plays VK, the struggler in question, whose life turns upside down when he gets inadvertently involved with the underworld owing to the striking resemblance he bears to a person they have not-so-noble interests in.

Alas, that’s as little as one can reveal about the film’s plot without giving out spoilers galore. Mithya is one of those rare films that constantly surprises you, it’s one of those films that never stops unravelling, a film that never reveals all its cards at once.

If that’s what you’re looking for on an evening out at the movies — unpredictability, surprise, the unfamiliar — then Mithya is your best bet. In fact, it’s got more surprises than both Johnny Gaddar and Manorama Six Feet Under.

Starting off as a comedy, Mithya straddles several genres as it makes it way from start to finish — thriller, romance, suspense — but eventually it settles comfortably into its identity as a black comedy.

Pic : Mithya Movie Review  

Working off an ingenious screenplay, director Rajat Kapoor delivers a deliciously complex offering — a film about an ordinary man in a bizarre situation, but all the while it remains a story that’s entirely believable because the characters are so real and the situations so cleverly constructed.

Sure you lament the absence of humour in the film’s second half, and it’s true the film seems much longer than its 100-minutes running time, but those are just small hitches in an otherwise immensely engaging film. Much of the credit for realising the director’s vision must go to the ensemble cast, possibly the best assembled for a Hindi film in recent months.

Ranvir Shorey, in a performance that merits an impromptu ovation, goes from funny to heart-breaking, to confused, to adorable in a matter of minutes. Never once going over-the-top, in fact staying firmly in character even as the film takes many twists and turns, Ranvir makes your heart go out to VK.

The year has only just begun, but I’m willing to bet, this is easily one of 2008′s finest performances by a leading actor. What’s more seldom has a supporting cast delivered such consistent performances that it’s difficult to pick one over the other in the order of merit — a loud round of applause hence, for Vinay Pathak, Brijendra Kala, Harsh Chhaya, Neha Dhupia, Iravati Harshe, Saurabh Shukla and Naseeruddin Shah who shine in their roles.

Mithya is a brave, mature effort by a discerning director, it’s a film with so many layers, you’re unlikely to be bored. I’m going with four out of five and a recommendation not to miss this film. For every single one of us who complains that Hindi films are mindless and predictable, here comes a film to shut us up. Rajat Kapoor, take a bow!

Source : ibnlive.com 

Main Chala is the latest track from the movie which has hit the various TV channels and here is an exclusive glimpse of it. The music of the film is given by Sukhwinder Singh.

Pic : Subash Ghai’s Black And White

Video : Main Chala Song Trailer From Black And White

Jab We Met Story

The story of Jab We Met is an assorted mix of all that we have seen in those typical mushy romantic Bollywood films. Aditya ( Shahid Kapur ) a very serious depressed business man whose girl friend has just left him meets Geet ( Kareena Kapoor) on a train journey. Geet is just the opposite of Aditya, bubbly and full of life. Accidentally both Geet and Aditya miss their train and now Aditya has to reach Geet safely to her parents place in Bhatinda. Geet’s fun and frolic attitude soon brushes up on Aditya and he starts developing feelings for her. But Geet is already in love with someone else. The rest of the plot could be predicted by my five year old nephew.

Jab We Met Review

Jab We Met is your typical Bollywood romantic film : 5-6 songs poured in , designer clothes, one big Punjabi family, boy – girl have fights then live happily ever after. On the story front, Jab We Met is as predictable as it gets. Now it’s up to the actors to lift this film up. Shahid Kapur gets into the skin of his character perfectly and does a commendable job. But it’s Kareena Kapoor who steals the show with her non stop jabbering vivacious performance . The fact that Kareena looks simply fabulous in the film, is simply icing on the cake. Though both Kareena and Shahid give good individualistic performances, the chemistry is seriously missing. There is no romance in the air and that’s a big minus point for Jab We Met.

Now the actor to watch out for is Tarun Arora, who gives the hammiest performance ever by any actor on the big screen. His acting is so awkward that you feel embarrassed watching him on screen. But the irony is that his hamming is what will have you in splits. Doubt if the hamming was intentional.

Pic : Shahid and Kareena In Jab We Met Movie

Imtiaz Ali impresses as a director and handles his main cast well. The screenplay though is clearly disappointing. Editing could have been tighter. The script too is filled with major loopholes. Which girl who has decided to elope from her house will return to her packed to the brim Punjabi house-hold and then abscond away ? Really ridiculous. That’s Bollywood for you.

The cinematography is awesome and so are Pritam’s songs which totally gel in with the movie. Especially, Tum Se Hi and Mauja Mauja are sure shot chartbusters. So overall, like most films Jab We Met has nothing new to offer, but it could well be a time pass movie if you are those romantic types.

Jab We Met Box Office Prediction :  Jab We Met will get a decent opening. With no releases in till November 9th. The movie should fare well. But no blockbuster material.

Jab We Met Movie Rating : 4/10

No Smoking Movie Story

No Smoking is the story of John Abraham whose parents weirdly have named him as K and he has an asthmatic brother named J. Weird is it? No this alphabetical naming of children seems normal when compared to the story. John is a chain smoker and this creates problems between him and his wife, Ayesha Takia. Determined to save his marriage John, on the persistence of his friend (Ranvir Shourie) decides to go to a rehabilitation center, Prayog Shala that is run by Paresh Rawal (who used to be Hitler’s friend, no pun here). Now this is no normal rehabilitation center. They do not give you medicines or any form of treatment to help you quit the stub. They simply tell you that if you do not quit smoking, they will chop your fingers, kill your family and destroy your life. And they charge a Rs. 21,11,111 fee for their services. Now that’s clearly a one of its kind rehabilitation center. How John Abraham tries his best to save himself from the people running Prayog Shala makes for the rest of the film.

No Smoking Movie Review

Now the funda is simple, to enjoy a movie you need to first understand it. But the problem with No Smoking, is that however much you try to extend your creative and imaginative boundaries, No Smoking leaves you confused. Getting into Harvard could be easier than understanding the plot of No Smoking.

Pic : John Abraham In No Smoking

No Smoking does start of impressively, and manages to create an eerie atmosphere. Many questions pop up in your mind regarding the strange things happening in the film. But you give your self consolation that all the questions would get answered post interval. But forget answering those questions, the movie keeps posing more questions as the film proceeds and you begin to understand that the film maker has no intention of answering any of your questions. And frankly after a while you do not even care about getting those answers. You just wish for the movie to finally end and get relieved from this mess of a film.

John Abraham makes you jealous by flaunting his six pack every now and then . Acting wise though John is just about ok, with his limited set of expressions. Ayesha Takia has no scope . Ranvir Shourie gives a good performance. But Paresh Rawal is a huge disappointment and constantly hams.

Though technically the film is strong. And some scenes in the film are beautifully shot, like the one in Siberia and the flashback portions. But the screenplay is too complicated. Anurag Kashyap has created a rather convoluted, byzantine plot and failed to make the viewer understand it. Overall a huge disappointment. Smoking kills. And so does No Smoking. Atleast it killed my admiration for Anurag Kashyap.

No Smoking Verdict : The movie will smoke out of the box office soon. This one’s a killer for distributors.

Movie Rating : 2/10

If you thought Vikram Bhatt couldn’t make a movie worse than Red. Then yes, probably you are right. But Speed comes very close to beating Red, to Vikram’s worst film ever. Now if there is one thing lacking in Speed, then it’s speed itself. The movie moves at a sluggish pace with a story so predictable that you may actually have fun guessing what the next scene would be. And mostly your guess would be right.

The movie seemed to have shot in London, could have easily been shot in Jhumri Talai without making any difference. The cinematography is that bad. Apart from a few Angrez people, no part of London has been captured on camera. The action director seems to have got a Krrish hangover. Actors do not fight, they fly and perform gravity defying stunts, which seem so very fake. The makeup artiste seriously needs to consider a shift of career. Consider, Sophie Choudhary a supposed terrorist who has loads of makeup enough to make a super model, jealous. Gosh!

Pic : Speed Movie

The editor though deserves a pat to have reduced this movie to 2 hours and saved the audience. There are two boring songs too but if you could last 120 minutes of this boring film then two songs should be a cakewalk .

Tanushree Dutta and Sophie Choudhary  show more of cleavage than acting skills. Zayed Khan is monotonous. Sanjay Suri is a case of talent wasted. Urmila Matondkar is ok. Aftab Shivdasani makes an impact.

So if you are devoted critic or a love birds in search of a place to coochie –cooo or a person needing two hours of peaceful sleep. Then Speed is for you. And for the  rest, Beware Speed is Out There At A Theatre Near You.

Movie Rating : 2/10

Johnny Gaddaar Movie Story

The story revolves around a gang of five men – Vinay Pathak, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Dharmendra, Zakir Hussain and Daya, who gather Rs. 2.5 crore to give to a corrupt inspector in return of some valuables worth a fortune. Seeing the huge sum of money, one member of the gang decides to betray his Gang and decides to keep the entire sum of money for himself. Then begins a game of deceit, murder and revenge.

Johnny Gaddaar Movie Review

Johnny Gaddaar boasts of an impeccable script ( that is half the battle won) , paramount amount of twists and turns, and most importantly it does what an ideal thriller should do: It involves the audience in the film. The movie tells you the Gaddaar at the very outset and it is up to you to see the clues given and stress upon your grey cells and enjoy this taut thriller. Just when you realize, ok this is the path the movie is going to take, you are exposed to a new lane. A lane more racier than the one you were treading before. The remarkable twists and turns of Johnny Gaddaar and particularly the ending of the film will have you smile on the cruel works of destiny.

Director Sriram Raghavan is a remarkable story-teller. He pays homage to his idols, James Hadley Chase, Vijay Anand and Amitabh Bachchan and weaves them very innovatively into the plot of the film. Infact the Gaddaar of the gang borrows his plan from Amitabh Bachchan’s film, Parwana. Infact, Johnny Gaddaar should serve as a textbook on how Bollywood thrillers should be made.

Pic : Johnny Gadaar Movie Review 

The casting director of Johnny Gaddaar needs a standing ovation. All actors slip in like a glove into their characters. On the acting front, Dharmendra affirms his statement. “It’s not the age but the mileage”, Vinay Pathak as the compulsive gambler, excels yet again. Zakir Hussain has proved that he is the best when it comes to such character roles. Govind Namdeo and Ashwini Kalsekar show that you do not need to eat up reels to show your acting prowess. What fine actors!!! The only weakling in the film is Neil Nitin Mukesh. Don’t be misguided, Neil Mukesh does a great job as a debutante but he looks pale compared to the talented actors he is pitted up against. But Neil seems to be a future star, just a bit of polishing and he would be right up there. Rimi Sen is just about ok.

The editing is slick, and the screenplay is capturing. The songs too do not protrude out redundantly but serve as racy background music.

Final Verdict : Abbas Mustaan if you are listening, this is how thrillers are to be made. Johnny Gaddaar is worth a watch (more than once preferably)

Movie Rating: 8/10

The movie deals with a singing competition held in America to search for a Desi Idol. The price is a huge $25,000 and it attracts Indian’s from allover America. The movie revolves around the different contestants who participate in the competition, which takes place for 2 days.

Loins Of Punjab Movie Review

The movie may not have been publicized heavily. The promos may look tacky. The color may look dull. But take my word, once in the theatre you shall forget all that and have a great time. Director Manish Acharya weaves his characters wonderfully and presents them in a so real to life way that you can not help but relate to them. Take the typical khakra munching Gujju family, “The Patels”, who accompany their daughter, Preeti, to the competition. Or the wannabe Bollywood “don’t know Hindi” starlet. Then you have the statistical genius Amitabh Bachchan fan. The scheming socialite played wonderfully by Shabana Azmi. You also have the angry Bhangra singer who uses expletives in place of punctuation marks. There is the English man who wants to win the competition, although he knows only two songs. And there is my personal favorite, the slimy lecherous event organizer, Mr. Bokade.

Expect Shabana Azmi, the movie does not have any stars but yet they all shine. Manish Acharya extracts wonderful performances from all his actors. The movie may have hordes of supporting actors, who just chip in with a line or two. But each one of them does a great job and remains with you long after the movie has ended. The movie also has a wonderful ending that touches you and leaves a subtle message.

Pic : Loins Of Punjab

Loins Of Punjab is not your typical comedy, with the double meaning or the tom and jerry jokes. It is the idiosyncrasies of the different characters that make you laugh and smile throughout. Loins Of Punjab goes on to prove that you do not need a lavish production to be entertained. What you need is a good script and great characters.

My only complaint was that the movie was poor on the technical front with shoddy editing. And yes, why was it just 110 minutes. I would have so well loved to see this for much longer.

Final verdict : A must watch. You may not be jumping with laughter but you shall definitely smile, long after the movie has ended. A great weekend watch.

Box Office Prediction : The movie will not work with the masses but will do good business in multiplexes

Movie Rating : 6/10

Four good for nothing men (Sharman Joshi , Rajpal Yadav, Kunal Khemu and Tusshar Kapoor)  realize that the only way to get rich is to marry an “Amir Ghar Ki Ladki”. When the rich Om Puri along with his grand-daughter ( Tanushree Dutta) land at a neighbouring bungalow, the four men try their best to make Tanushree fall in love with them.  And also try to make the audience laugh.

Dhol Review

 Armed with a script that is as old as the Harappan Civilization and with actors who are competing for the Worst Actor Award, director Priya Darshan sets off to make the audience laugh. And as expected he fails miserably. Clichéd scenes, garish cinematography, tiring songs and perhaps the most banal screenplay are what you take back after watching Dhol.

You have Rajpal’s overacting ( some may find it funny) and  Tushaar’s no acting. Kunal Khemu along with a wardrobe and look malfunction also suffers from an acting malfunction. Tanushree Dutta  and Payal Rohatgi are busy trying to out do one another  for the “ Worst Actress Award” . Sharman Joshi is the only one who manages to rise slightly from the sinking ship.

If you get an impulse to leave the theatre after the first half, then don’t even bother to think twice before doing so. Because if the first half can give you a minor headache, then the second half has material good enough for a migraine. You have a boring flashback,  a rather extended typical Priya Darshan climax, a silly ending and a severe headache as the film terminates.

Priya Darshan’s Dhol disappoints on all fronts. With Hera Pheri Priyan set an example on how comedy films should be made and now he completes a full circle with Dhol, which shows how comedy films shouldn’t be made.

Final Verdict :  Dhol is nothing but a waste of time and money. Recommend this one to your enemies. This is the best chance you have at taking revenge.

Box Office Prediction: Dhol will have a bad start due to 20-20 World Cup. The bad word of mouth will only further dampen the box office results of Dhol.

Dhol Movie Rating : 2/10

Aggar Star Cast

Tusshar Kapoor, Shreyas Talpade, Sophie Choudhary and Udita Goswami.
Aggar Movie Story 

Becoming attracted to the wrong man can have deadly consequences. Janvi’s [Udita Goswami] life seems ideal on the surface: she runs a thriving business and is married to Dr. Aditya Merchant [Shreyas Talpade], a psychiatrist. But a faint air of discontent begins to creep into her relationship when she begins suspecting her husband of having an extra-marital affair with Radha [Saadhika], an interior designer.

Janvi impulsively gets drawn into a steamy affair with Aryan [Tusshar Kapoor], who works in her company. But in a strange twist of events, she realizes that she has stumbled badly and tries to break off her affair. Aryan, however, is not willing to give her up so easily and his attraction to her soon becomes a dangerous obsession.

Aggar Movie Review 

AGGAR has three interesting words below its logo — Passion, Betrayal and Terror — and AGGAR does justice to it in those 2 hours. There’s never a moment that gives you the feeling of déjà vu. Not once do you feel that it’s one of those been-there-seen-that kind of movie-going experiences.

But, as mentioned earlier, the culmination to the tale should’ve been equally unpredictable, not abstract mind you. A badly bruised Tusshar emerging from the pool and beating Shreyas black and blue is a complete cinematic liberty. Ditto for the end.

The other area where the film dips is Mithoon’s music. The young musician showed promise in his earlier works, but the tunes in AGGAR sound similar to his recent work THE TRAIN [the songs of this film are still fresh]. Hello, why this need to repeat yourself? Have you exhausted your stock of tunes already? K. Rajkumar’s cinematography is topnotch. AGGAR rests on three characters mainly and each of them packs in a solid punch. Tusshar is a revelation. The actor has always come up with honest performances in the past, but he pitches his best work to date in AGGAR. We’re used to watching actors hamming away to glory in roles of obsessed lovers, but Tusshar doesn’t go over the top at all. Tremendous work!

Udita Goswami is fantastic. She sinks her teeth in this challenging role and enacts it with gusto. AGGAR is one film that showcases her talent to the optimum. Excellent work indeed! Nauheed Cyrusi is adequate. Sophie Chaudhary makes her presence felt in a brief role. Saadhika is okay.

Aggar Box Office Verdict

On the whole, AGGAR is a well-made thriller that should appeal to the multiplex junta primarily. But its business will get affected due to several vital reasons: The 20/20 cricket matches [the India-Pakistan match specifically], the commencement of the holy month of Ramzan and Ganeshotsav. Obviously, a large section of moviegoers will stay away from cineplexes in days to come. The poor opening will also tell on its business.

 Aggar Movie Rating : 1.5/5

Review Courtesy : Taran Adarsh | indiafm.com