Traffic Signal

Director: Madhur Bhandarkar
Producer: Percept Picture Company
Starring: Neetu Chandra, Kunal Khemu, Konkona Sen Sharma, Ranvir Shorey, Sudhir Mishra, Upyendra Limaye, D Santosh
Music Dir: Shamir Tandon
Singer: Hariharan, Yogita Pathak, Baba Sehgal, Kailash Kher, Jagjit Singh, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
He started as a delivery boy of VHS cassettes in Mumbai. Then, he also worked as an assistant director with Ram Gopal Varma. Soon, he shifted his mind from filmmaking and ran to the Gulf to earn his bread. Then, he returned and made a super flop 'Trishakti'. No one noticed him, until one fine day he banged up on an out of the blue idea and made a film called 'Chandni Bar'. The film was a runaway hit. From then, there was no looking back for him. He has won two National Awards so far, and the energy express has just stopped at 'Traffic Signal'. He is Madhur Bhandarkar, another Mani Rathnam in making? He comes before you as just any other guy from the filmdom, but once behind the camera his films do jolt you to the hilt.
After showing true faces of 'Page 3' personalities and 'Corporate' world in his last two films, Madhur decides to take a break from glitterati and looks deep in the lives of those whose faces we don't remember though we see them, meet them and more often than not talk to them everyday. They are people living their life on traffic Signals. Seems to be a weird idea on face, but just think of hundreds of people who have just one anchor in their life, a Traffic Signal, and think of the time when an over-bridge threatens to make this signal vanish one fine day.
Starting the film I was sure of one thing that 'Traffic Signal' will not be just one more from Hindi film industry. Madhur's films have never been so. He tries to defy the stereotype. And, even he sometimes looks in a Hara-kiri mode when he even wishes to rub off his own identity that he got from his last film. Viewers say that his last two films 'Page 3' and 'Corporate' were for classes and only for multiplex audience. But, this last film of the trilogy takes a complete U-turn and take you to the streets where you will not even wish to stand for a minute and Madhur wishes us to watch a story of two hours and five minutes made on this locale. Will it work, will it not? A film like 'Salam-E- Ishq' with just 12 characters failed miserably and Madhur has 60 characters at his command. The censor certificate says it is just seven-reel film but will Madhur stand during these reels as strongly as he did in his last two films? I am inquisitive, so would have been Madhur.
The film takes us to a traffic signal on some Kelkar Marg in Mumbai. On this signal thrives a full generation of beggars and sellers of petty items. There, this boy who comes neatly dressed in a bus, gets down near the signal. He throws away his clothes, puts some grease on the face and roams around in just one underwear and earns enough money to take his girlfriend to a multiplex (He meets his daily 'customer' here and lands in a funny situation). This small boy Dambar who looks at fairness cream ads and spends his hard earned money to buy them, thinks that the will make him look fair. Small people, small dreams! Then there is Dominique (Ranvir Shorey), who is a drug addict and cheats people for money by saying he is a software engineer and has lost his wallet on the way while going for an interview. He is in love with a roadside prostitute Noorie (Konkana Sen Sharma). And, there is Silsila (Kunal Khemu) who is manager of this signal. His job is to collect commission from all these people and make it reach to the mafia don who runs a multi-million beggar racket in the city.
On the face you smell foul while coming out of the screen as the camera keeps on moving into slums. There is no glamour added to the story, no butter paper cinematography, no dream sequences, . no thumping background music and no great costumes. 'Traffic Signal' lacks all the ingredients of a masala entertainer. But, still it works because of one reason; it has its perception right. Madhur knows what he is going to show. The film that rolls very slowly in the first half picks its momentum just before the interval when we see an NGO worker collecting the entire thrown away plastic tricolor and putting them esthetically in his bag.

The film is more on the lines of 'Salam Bombay' of Meera Nair than Ram Gopal Verma's 'Satya'. The difference that Madhur has made in filmmaking is that it has narrowed the gap between mainstream cinema and commercial cinema. He makes meaningful commercial cinema. And, the greatest achievement for him is that stars are now more than willing to work in films like this. If you are watching 'Traffic Signal' now, it is on the cost of the film not waiting to get premiered in the Cannes film festival. Yes, people from Cannes especially flew down to Mumbai to watch the film and request its producer to hold its release for them. But, makers of 'Traffic Signal' decided to win native hearts first.
Madhur has come a long way in filmmaking. He is still a very down to earth person and it is this quality that got him the idea of make a film on beggars. He found this novel idea while walking from his home to famous Siddhi Vinayak temple on foot. He watched them on the way and was literally moved to feel their sufferings. But, it is not only the sufferings that make 'Traffic Signal' work , it is the sheer amount of life thrown into the celluloid that makes you feel them. When Ranvir Shorey gives you those blank looks, you feel the pain right in your heart. When he dies seeing his girlfriend sleeping with her customer, it pains you, too. It also pains you when little boy Tsunami spends all his money in searching his lost parents. There is more pain sometimes on the face of Silsila who ends up getting used as a tool in a murder and it also gives you pain when you see people from other states coming to beg in Mumbai and even to get their hands and legs amputed so that they can earn their bread.
Among all these pains there are moments of pleasure as well. You feel happy when Dominique succeeds in cheating some good-looking guy. You also become part of Silsila's family when he welcomes the would be in-laws of his dear sister. This sequence shows how beggars fix their marriages and yes, without dowry as it is only for rich people. One can also feel the happiness that comes from the gifts of beloved. Rani (Neetu Chandra) may be just an average Kathiawadi girl but she is the only among the signal crowd who loves Silsila.
'Traffic Signal' makes a good film even though it is not as stylish as were 'Corporate' and 'Page 3'. Madhur intentionally makes the camera work look shaggy. The post-production effects have been left to give the film a raw appeal. The scene where people mourn the downfall of the signal is the best one and the way the traffic cop removes his cap from the head. The film is good for those who want to see good cinema; it is brilliant for those who are fed up of seeing masala films and is the best for those who love cinema of festival circuit kind. But, there is a catch. And the catch is that the teenagers may just not click with the idea of seeing a film on beggars. Once this thought is rubbed off their minds they will definitely watch this latest outing.


There are some good performances from Ranvir, Konkana and Kunal Khemu. Ranvir needs more meaty roles to show his potential and a full-length role too. Konkana is on the verge of filling the gap that has been void since the demise of Smita Patil and Kunal; he is an actor to watch out for. Next, you will see him in Priyadarshan's 'Dhol', and until then, Happy Watching.
PS: There is a very beautiful song sung by Bhupinder Singh in the film.

Eklavya

Director: Vidhu Vinod Chopra
Producer: Vidhu Vinod Chopra
Starring: Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt, Jackie Shroff, Saif Ali Khan, Vidya Balan, Sharmila Tagore, Boman Irani, Jimmy Shergill, Raima Sen
Music Dir: Shantanu Moitra

Vidhu Vinod Chopra always longed to make a film with Amitabh Bachchan and Eklavya was the outcome.
But so smitten was Chopra with extracting the best from Bachchan that he quite overlooked other talents in the cast who gave their career best performances in his films? Sanjay Dutt (Munnabhai), Jackie Shroff (Parinda), Saif Ali Khan (Parineeta) and Vidya Balan (Parineeta). No, none of them are anything below good in the film but you had expected the best with all of them coming together.
Eklavya is designed as a thriller but comes out more as a drama. Chopra derives the age-old 'property inheritor' formula (the jaydaad ki ladaai) and smoothly camouflages it with a royal backdrop and dharma (duty) driven principles from Mahabharat.
Eklavya is symbolic to a character of the same name from Mahabharat who cut off his thumb just to repay his teacher. With his interpretation of Eklavya, Chopra raises the question that like Eklavya should one follow dead traditions with changing times in the modern world.
Jaywardhan (Boman Irani) is the king of a royal dynasty. His brother Jyotiwardhan (Jackie Shroff) and nephew Udaywardhan (Jimmy Shergill) want to inherit the property that the king possesses.
The king's son Harshwardhan (Saif Ali Khan) who has stayed all this while in London is the next heir and so the target. So basically all the wardhans are involved in a 'war' for 'dhan'. Eklavya (Amitabh Bachchan) who happens to be the royal guard of the dynasty comes to Harshwardhan's rescue. But Eklavya has more reasons to support Harshwardhan...
The problem with Eklavya is that the royal secret that the guard wants to safely protect from the world is unveiled to the audiences in the opening reels itself.
So there is not much of suspense left in the thriller. The thrill resurfaces only in the climax with a twist in the tale. The film offers what you expect but doesn't exceed your expectation or imagination.

Technically the film is brilliant with splendid camerawork by Binod Pradhan, fabulous art design by Nitin Desai and authentic costume designs by Raghvendra Rathore that recreates the royal Rajasthan aura.
The pace is slow. Thankfully there is only one romantic track (between Saif-Vidya) and one song in the film. The film is crisply edited to a runtime of just around 100 minutes. The background score comprising of gayatri mantra is effective but tends to get repetitive after a point of time.
The conventional ends in the story are concealed with some impressively written and elegantly executed sequences in the screenplay. Especially three scenes in the film are its highlights. First is when Amitabh displays his traditional sword artistry in the water tank.
Second is Jimmy Shergill's assassination where the screen completely black outs for literally two minutes but stills holds your attention for every single second. And the third one is the train sequence in the climax involving Jackie Shroff. The culmination of the plot where Eklavya bends the bygone laws is also smartly executed.
Eklavya essentially was designed for Amitabh Bachchan and he undoubtedly will walk away with all the accolades. In the first half of the film he just stands behind every character in the frame saying nothing.
But your eyes are still focused on him ? that's his screen presence. And his eyes with all the wrinkles beneath speak volumes. Check him out in that one scene where he cries when he fails in his duty and you know what acting is all about.

Unfortunately while everyone else in the cast is good enough, none of them rise above the script. Saif comes closest to Bachchan with his chiseled act. The supremely talented Boman Irani comes next who is just perfect with the mannerisms for his character.
Jackie, Jimmy, Vidya and Raima are fairly good in their extended special appearances (well, one can't complain on the screen footage either with the crisp-n-crunch film runtime). Sadly Sanjay Dutt is wasted. Eklavya is a good film. But we were expecting it to be a great film.

Mere Baap Pehle App

Mere Baap Pehle App
Director: Priyadarshan
Producer: Ketan Maroo, Mansi Maroo
Starring: Akshaye Khanna, Naseruddin Shah, Shobhana, Paresh Rawal, Om Puri, Rajpal Yadav, Genelia Dsouza, Archana Puran Singh

Priyadarshan is rightly called as one of the busiest Bollywood directors inasmuch as he has always got multiple assignments in his kitty. We haven't heard the director going out on vacation; he is occupied in another venture even before the earlier one is released.
He relaxes but while working though he plays lax during its making. However, this time Priyan seems to have failed in getting the humor come from the story rather than through not very decent dialogues, if not absurd.
The critics agree that the getting Om Puri in an item number mode and making him dance around dusky damsels on dirty beaches might not be the best opening idea for a film.
What predictably starts as the actor's dream sequence ends up being the audience's nightmare for almost the entire course of the film. Further, having the senior actor topless or making him strip to his striped underwear is neither amusing nor funny. That precisely gives the hint of the humour to follow.
When both have grown up; Gaurav treats his father just like his son. Both , the father and the younger son manage the household plus their business. Why does Gaurav treat his father like a son? There is a just reason behind it.

He does it to save his father from the latter's prankster best friend Madhav Mathur (Om Puri). Though Puri is a divorcee, but he is desperate to get married. Both the friends - one widower and the other a divorcee - always look for a bride for Madhav. So, they land up in police custody and Gaurav bails them out.
At this point of time, Gaurav gets prank calls from a girl who turns out to be his old college friend Sheekha Kapoor (Genelia D'souza). Sheekha stays with her guardian Anuradha (Shobana) who is also Paresh's first love.
Gaurav and Sheekha notice changes in behavior of Janaradhan and Anuradha and come to know about their past relationship. Now Akshay wants his father to get married to his lost love.
Gaurav and Sheekha start a journey to arrange his father's love marriage and in the process fall for each other. Interestingly, ACP Bhawani (Archana Puran Singh) always comes across Rane and Mathur around girls in a college and arrests them for indecent behavior.
It is felt that Priyadarshan has borrowed the film idea from his Malayalam script of Ishtam. One pities him for doing this. In other departments too, the movie fails as the Manisha Korde overdoes the punches and many of her dialogues don't come close to decency.
Then, Vidyasagar's music is boring and Ranjit Barot's background score contradicts the mood of the scenes. The performances range from average to ordinary.
While Paresh Rawal invokes humour , Akshaye Khanna is intermittently loud and Genelia carries a constant grin with an apparent accent. Om Puri is reduced to a caricature while Shobna is criminally wasted. And what was Rajpal Yadav doing in this film? Do you know? We don't, though.
A movie has been wasted because of Priyadaeshan's habit of making one even though he needs a vacation for some good time.

Summer 2007

Director: Suhail Tatari

Producer: Atul Pandey Starring: Sikander Kher, Gul Panag, Ashutosh Rana, Sachin Khedekar, Divya Dutta

Screenplay: Ritesh Shah, Bijesh J

Though the movie titled as 'Summer 2007' doesn't directly connect with the plot of the story, but we presume that the director has in view the summer vacation of students during this period. So, he tries to utilize the student vacation period for a social cause. It's usual that the student community moves out of its campus/ hostel during the vacation and their principals directors assign them internship pertaining to their subject of study.
Yes, the summer of 2008 has already commenced but the director may have begun making this film last year, so he has titled it as 'Summer of 2007'. Besides, Mumbai rains are harsh and long enough and prompt everyone to move out of the town during this season. Hence, the director has chosen this season for weaving his story around this time of the year. Anyway, the debut director along with his producer deserves our thanks for choosing a noble story for filming!

The film moves around a group of five medical college students comprising Rahul aka Butter (Sikandar Kher), the group-leader, Qateel aka Kats (Arjan Bajwa) as the Casanova and Bagani aka Bugs (Alekh Sangal) in the form of a despot dude and the munificent Mother T aka Vishaka played by Gul Panag. Incidentally, Sikander had a failed relationship with Priyanka aka Pepsi played by Uvika Chowdhary.
As usual, the college youths plan a vacation to Goa though officially they are assigned to work as interns in a village hospital in Maharashtra. The village is notorious for farmer suicides. The students aren't aware of it until the village doctor Mukya played by Ashutosh Rana brings the piteous plight of the poverty-struck people to them.
Thus, Suhail Tatari has proved his directorial credentials in his first movie itself. First, he chooses a nice plot and then an equally competent cast. Undoubtedly, Ashutosh Rana has performed excellently well, and Sikander Kher has shown his maturity in the craft even during his short filmi span.

Prosshant Narayanan has done well, too, in his role. Gul Panag, Arjan and Uvika have also fared well. Alekh's quest to lose his virginity has been annoying the audience.
Other strengths of the movie are a score by AR Rahman. Though the movie isn't a high profile one, but it has succeeded in its task of infotainment.

Director: Kunnal kohil
Producer: Aditya Chopra , Kunal Kohli
Starring: Saif Ali Khan, Razzak Khan, Mahesh Thakur, Ayushi Burman, Rachit Sidana, Akshat Chopra, Taranna Raja Kapoor, Rani Mukherjee, Rishi Kapoor, Sharat Saxena, Baby Shriya Sharma
Lyrics: Prasoon Joshi

'Laga Chunri Mein Daag', 'Aaja Nachle' and to an extent 'Tashan' too failing to hit the box office like its other movies the Yash Raj Films is back this time with 'Thoda Pyar Thoda Magic', a children centric subject. Maybe the banner thought of attracting the special audience and not let the school summer vacation go waste this year.
Besides, Yash Raj has repeated the lead pair of its earlier movie 'Ta Ra Rum Pum' - Saif Ali Khan and Rani Mukherjee. Not only that Yash Raj Films has even used the same name of Saif Ali's character - Ranbeer - in this movie as in 'Ta Ra Rum Pum'.
The movie's story is somewhat strange inasmuch it revolves around a businessman who accidentally kills a man leaving four kids to survive. The judge punishes Ranbeer (Saif Ali Khan), to look after the deceased's kids or face the prison term.
The children in turn harass the culprit's several relatives who are asked to look after them. They come to Ranbeer's home and meet his striking girlfriend Malaika (Amisha Patel). The latter tries to be friend them, but the kids take an instant dislike to her, who is a kind of vamp; fashionable to the extent of wearing revealing clothes and talking non-stop on the phone!
The children want to revenge their parents' death and aren't happy with Amisha though Ranbeer gels well with bubble-headed Amisha . Then, enters Rishi Kapoor in the sky, painting clouds and holding a meeting with his lady angels.

He entrusts his favorite and most "badtameez pari" Geeta (Rani Mukherji). She arrives on earth to help the kids out, and wins over their hearts. She wins Ranbeer's heart , too. But, being a pari ( fairy) she has to choose either her magical powers or love.
The four children named Akshat Chopra, Shriya Sharma, Rachit Sidana and Ayushi Berman render their roles excellently well ; they act as little adults with problems, confusion and feelings of their own, usually lacking in other movies.
Saif plays impressively, Rani excels all and leads the cast . In fact, she carries the movie on her shoulders. But alas, the actress is made to wear the heaviest clothes, presumably to look like a pari. Her cycling down a rainbow and floating on water are sure feats to elicit shrieks from kids. Amisha is lucky that way and plays a supremely funny character deserving kudos .
Thus, the movie bears the title of 'Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic'. Songs like Bulbula where Geeta transforms the moon into a boat and Beete Kal Se that has the fairy and the kids in the museum with a dancing, toothy dinosaur are superbly picturised. However, her asking the kids to imagine participating in a game show where points are awarded for every good deed like a sort of law of karma remains a mystery.

Sandeep Chowta has provided peppy background music. Shankar Ehsaan Loy's music based on Prasoon Joshi's lyrics is excellent. So is Dileep Subramanium's sound designing. Kunal Kohli and Rohena Gera's dialogues are nice too though with few exceptions.
Overall, the movie is worth watching, especially because of Rani Mukherjee's natural performance. Kunal Kohli's direction to a Yash Raj banner movie has indeed succeeded in getting the best performances out of its talented cast though their characters fall much short of freshness in their roles.

Love Story 2050

Director: Harry Baweja

Producer: Pammi Baweja

Starring: Harman Baweja, Priyanka Chopra, Boman Irani, Archana Puran Singh

Lyrics: Javed Akhtar

Love Story 2050' is the debut movie of Harman Baweja, son of well-known director Harry Baweja. This Bollywood kid is starring opposite none other than his real life love Priyanka Chopra. Significantly, its director Harry has taken all pains to launch his dear son's movie with the best music by veteran Anu Malik and the lyrics penned by witty Javed Akhtar.
Consequently, Anu's music to Javed's lyrics is no less than a big extravaganza for the Bollywood audience, as the latter would find it easier, peppier and funkier.
In spite of all this, the director has miserably failed in peeping into the future, the USP of 'Love Story 2050'. The museum scene depicting a dinosaur in the background falls short of the director's imagination in 2050. Well, do you share the director's belief that in 2050, names and dresses of the people will completely change as shown in the movie like Harman then dancing with a hundred chains hanging from his clothes.
According to the movie's story, Karan played by Harman Baweja, a rich man in Sydney, talks to the sky regretting about his dad's lack of affection for his demised mother. So, he takes his dad's favorite car out for a fast spin and destroys it.
Karan then spots a girl named Sanaa (Priyanka Chopra) playing bonding with a butterfly. He follows her around, even pops up on a roller coaster until she agrees to go out with him. Next day, Karan follows her home. Thus, they fall in love!

The lovebirds separate and then reunite with the help of the butterfly. The girl is boring type-mostly busy in writing diary. Incidentally, Dr Yatinder Khanna (Boman Irani) Karan's scientist uncle is found working on a time machine. This very machine transports them into 2050 where Priyanka turns Zayesha, a pop singer who's an antithesis of Sanaa.
Once in love, Saana stops writing songs, turns her bedroom pink and talks non-stop to her robot bear Boo. At the same time, Karan and Dr Khanna come across a lady robot Cutie, who keeps feeding them "chow chow" and insists on calling him `sexy'! Another flow in the movie is that the director Harry Baweja lengthens the film reel and adds an evil Dr Hoshi played by Bollywood's baddie Gulshan Grover called devil's mind (shaitani dimaag). Gulshan follows Dr Khanna for the latter's time machine.
One wonders if it would be just to call it a love story. Yes, Priyanka's beauty, dress, make-up and excellent performance do lend support to the title. 'Love Story 2050' isn't an original story inasmuch as it reminds one of too many films made in the near past. Now, let's analyze the movie's technical aspects. Though the director succeeds in providing a sort of fun through its visual effects, he miserably fails in impressing the audience.
For example, he takes us to Mumbai of 2050 when the town would turn very tall because of its high rise buildings built with a lot of steel coupled with unimaginative and rather dreamy things like offering a trip to the moon, a life-like video game, cars floating in the sky and robot assistants besides providing a life full of super luxuries.

The audience wonders if the city's roads would be smooth enough to travel and free from the floodwater caused by usual torrential rains. Harman's dialogue delivery isn't good either. The cinematography by Kiran Deohans and Vijay Arora and also art direction by Vanita Kumar are superb, though.
On the whole, 'Love Story 2050' fails to compete with 'Jaane Tu Jaane Naa' despite the former's visual effects. We wonder if Priyanka Chopra would be able to shoulder the movie on her own weighty performance.

Mehbooba

Director: Afzal Khan

Producer: Afzal Khan

Starring: Sanjay Dutt, Ajay Devgan, Manisha Koirala

Lyrics: Anand Bakshi

'Mehbooba' is an old wine in a new bottle in more than one way. The title isn't new for the Bollywood audience. Not in the distant past, there was a popular song under this name and was found on he lips of most of the people in the Hindi belt.
Though the filmmaker has invested a good sum of money in shooting various picturesque locations in four different countries and also on hiring big stars and famous technicians, it hasn't succeeded in reaching the multiplex audience.
Neither the theme of the plot or nor the characterization has come up to the today's standard. The movie might have clicked fairly well some two decades ago, but not today. In fact, 'Mehbooba' is a mixture of several Hindi movies released in the past.
Yes, we can cite a few movies like 'Saajan', 'Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam' and 'Hum Aapke Hain Kaun'. But, it has miserably failed in hitting today's audience that is well versed with lot of new subjects concerning the people and their struggle in the today's context.
If the movie stays at theaters it would be due to the creditable music by none less than Ismail Darbar though he hasn't charmed the listeners as in the past. Still, his music would certainly prove a hit and be on the audience's lips.
Some of us will watch it because of the comeback of once queen Bee of Bollywood Manisha Koirala. Good that she has returned but alas, she is far from her glorious past in look and performance. She needs a lot of hard work to compete with today's young girls in the fiercely competitive market.

As said earlier, the story is far from modern inasmuch as it's old wine in new bottle. Shravan played by Sanjay Dutt is too fond of everything beautiful, including women, and desires to obtain it at whatever cost.
He desires to possess Varsha played by Manisha Koirala in spite of the latter's contrary wish but succeeds finally in marrying with her by misleading his innocent father. Soon, Varsha gets a shock of her life when Shravan tells her that he wedded her only to bed with her.
Watch the twist in the movie's story. She leaves New York for Budapest where she is known as Payal and meets Karan played by Ajay Devgan . Though the latter loves Payal and dreams of her only is none else than the younger brother of Shravan who has ditched her.
Isn't it an old Bollywood stuff? What will follow is no more a suspense and can be guessed by any movie watcher without scratching his or her head. However, our director Afzal Khan goes forward for no rhyme or reason but to augment the movies close to three hours.
Today's audience wants continuity in the story with suspense left for it to keenly watch in the next reels. Like the old stuff, both the brothers fall in love with the same girl and bet with each other that "meri wali mehbooba will be more beautiful than "teri wali mehbooba"! This is not acceptable in today's context. After all, women aren't decorative pieces to be compared. To say that the two brothers liked the same toy during their childhood doesn't justify the link .

Again, everyone knows that one of the boys will; sacrifice for the other and turn Devdas in his life by indulging in melancholic drinking, and attacking of piano. This is no way to prolong a movie and thus boring the audience.
One shouldn't take them for granted. Anyone leaving a movie half way will give a wrong message to those waiting for the next show.The movie may attract some audience towards its item number on the lines of a mujra. Ismail Darbar's music coupled with Ashok Mehta's cinematography and Javed Siddiqui's dialogues have been excellent, indeed.

Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na

Director: Abbas Tyrewala

Producer: Aamir Khan,Mansoor Khan

Starring: Imraan Khan, Ganelia, Abbas Tyrewala, Naseruddin Shah, Sohail Khan, Arshad Warsi, Paresh Rawal

Lyrics: Abbas Tyrewala

Story Writer: Abbas Tyrewala

A nephew wins over a son. This is the crux of the two movies released this Friday. The nephew of star Aamir Khan, Imraan Khan, mesmerizes his audience with his debut 'Jaane Tu Jaane Naa' with his sexy looks and histrionic skills and thus wins over Harman son of famous director Harry Baweja in the latter's debut 'Love Story 2050'. However, the female stars -- Genelia D'Souza and Priyanka Chopra - opposite the two new heroes in their two movies haven't been new faces and perform excellently well.
In fact, Priyanka Chopra in the Herman's movie carries the movie on her shoulders alone. Both the stories happen to be love stories though quite different from each other. It appears that Imraan Khan has followed in the footsteps of his father Mansoor Khan who launched Aamir Khan in his 'Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak' (QSQT) though Imraan's movie falls far short in respect of script, music and the treatment.
Still, Genelia D'Souza looks good as long as she doesn't speak a dialogue. No sooner she delivers a dialogue than she is exposed. Though it has some comic sequences, but suffers from inconsistency. This flaw in the movie's story is somewhat taken care of by the deftness of debutante director Abbas Tyrewala.

Let's analyze the story that revolves around the central character of Jai Singh Rathod played by Imraan Khan. While Jai aka 'Rats' is by far the most non-violent Rajput (unusual though) hates to pick up fights, bubbly Aditi Mahan aka 'Meow' is quite a violent person. She screams, shouts and brings the whole house down. However, Jai is capable of calming her. Though belonging to two opposite directions, they attract each other.
In spite of their chemistry being the same, they are too good friends to think on such lines. But, soon they realize that this chemistry is nothing but love. In the story, Jai (Karan known as Rotlu) is accompanied by a bunch of three friends -- Alishka (as Bombs), Nirav (as Jiggy) and Sughanda (as Shaleen). All of them play their roles well but disappear later leaving no trace.
While Ratna Pathak Shah and her husband (in real life) Naseerudin Shah are at their best, Jayant Kripalani and Anuradha Patel (as Genelia's parents) are sweet and Ayaz Khan (as Genelia's fiance) leaves an impression.
Paresh Rawal is fantastic (his usual) in a comic role. Alas, Arbaaz Khan and Sohail Khan hardly have a role to play and therefore disappoint the audience. Hence, everyone in the cast has justified his or her role. The director though a newcomer has fared very well.

The film is good for the young ones who would like to relive their past breezy college times. Besides, its two songs - "Kabhi Kabhi" and "Pappu Can't Dance" are worth remembering. We wish the director had made the second part of the movie as interesting as the first one.
Thus, the movie would have ended with a proper climax unlike the one we find here. Anyway, the movie will not be a loser as it is likely to meet its low cost as compared to that of Herman costing a fortune.

Kismat Konnection

Kismat Konnection

Director: Aziz Mirza Producer: Kumar S Taurani

Starring: Shahid Kapoor,Vidya Balan, Juhi Chawla Lyrics: Shabbir Ahmed

Cinematography: Binod Pradhan

Quentin Tarantino, while explaining why he deleted one of the scenes from his 1994 masterpiece Pulp Fiction said, "It sounds like someone trying to write like me, (rather) than me."
No line could better describe Aziz Mirza's new film Kismat Konnection, which marks his return to direction after a span of nearly five years. It feels like Aziz Mirza trying to make an Aziz Mirza film, which is a pity- for despite their apparent ordinariness, it was the effortless charm and generosity of heart that characterized his previous films that made them so very endearing.
On the face of it, Kismat Konnection has all the trademark themes of an Aziz Mirza film- the struggle of the everyman to survive and succeed, the conflict between morals and ambition, and of course love and romance- why, even the main leads are called Raj and Priya. But while even the rather unsatisfying Chalte Chalte was irresistibly romantic before it became unbearably screechy, that Mirza magic that never failed to connect with us feels strangely amiss here.

The attempt to make everything oh-so-familiar clearly shows from the beginning, and in an emotional scene Shahid almost seems to be unconsciously channeling Shah Rukh Khan, which also makes you yearn for the original Raj- perhaps the only actor who can make doing mush, look like mush.
Shahid Kapur does a decent job but never really manages to come totally into his own, alternating between earnest and trying-too-hard. To be fair, he is an actor who is always easy on the senses- and that sure does help- but the angst of his character never really comes through effectively. Then again, maybe that's also because despite the number of times it is mentioned in the film, Raj never really seems to be 'struggling'. Frankly, if you ask me, he seems having quite a gala time in picturesque Toronto, attractively lensed by the ever-dependable Binod Pradhan.
Vidya Balan, who quite literally plays 'lady-luck' here, could do with some luck herself, or perhaps some better choice of roles and hairdresser/stylist. Her woefully vapid character is a sorry rehash of her roles in Lage Raho Munnabhai and the disastrous Heyy Babyy. The film does absolutely nothing to justify her presence, and it is sad to see the immensely talented actress do little more than well, just look immense

A great supporting cast can often raise a film by many notches (like we saw two weeks back in another rom-com that has since become the flavor of the season), but that doesn't happen here either, as all we see are loud stereotypes playing themselves out here.
Having said all this, it's not as if the film's all that bad- it's never exactly unwatchable, and after seeing most other films this year, trust me when I say I've seen much worse. But a feel-good film should make you feel good, and that's not exactly the emotion I'm feeling right now. Well, well- what can I say, Mr. Mirza, except- better luck next time?

Money Hai Toh Honey Hai

Director: Ganesh Acharya
Producer: Kumar Mangat
Starring: Govinda, Aftab Shivdasani, Esha Deol, Celina Jaitely, Kim Sharma, Ravi Kissen, Upen Patel, Hansika Motwani

Two Hindi movies released this Friday are 'Mission Istaanbul' and 'Money Hai to Honey Hai'. Both of them seem to be failing in entertaining their eagerly awaiting audiences. While 'Money Hai.' has a top heavy cast inasmuch as its six senior actors have been wasted.
While Manoj Bajpai ends up in buffoonery; Prem Chopra's role is insane; Govinda must be repenting as to why he accepted the movie offer. After all, he is seen walking around with a laptop. Upen Patel is busy in chasing girls, and Aftab Shivdasani sneezing.
One wonders if the director has provided any story to connect with the six characters that are shown playing a variety of roles in the movie. While there is somewhat link between these main characters cast by director Ganesh Acharya during the first half, this is completely absent in the second half of the movie where these guys are willed a Rs 1000-crore company by some random maniac.
And, they are also told that there is a bank loan of Rs 1200 crore outstanding against the company. This makes no sense. Thus, the lack of a good script is a vital flaw in the movie. It's another matter that director Ganesh Acharya appears in a song and so also Subhash Ghai in a fraction of a scene.
According to the story, Bobby (Govinda) runs away from home to prove himself. Lalabhai (Manoj Bajpai) though wealthy turns a pauper. Gaurav (Aftab Shivdasani), a copywriter, is sacked. Manik (Upen Patel) is a model who sleeps with a middle-aged fashion designer (Archana Puransingh). Ashima (Hansika) is a successful TV star, but desperate to be lead heroine.

Shruti (Celina Jaitley) is a struggling dress designer. According to the story, Bobby (Govinda) runs away from home to prove himself. Lalabhai (Manoj Bajpai) though wealthy turns a pauper. Gaurav (Aftab Shivdasani), a copywriter, is dismissed. Manik (Upen Patel) is a model who sleeps with a middle-aged fashion designer (Archana Puransingh). Ashima (Hansika) is a successful TV star, but desperate to do films as the lead heroine. Shruti (Celina Jaitley) is a struggling dress designer.
Suddenly, they are surprised to know that they are the owners of a Rs 1,000 crore company , but feel sad that there's a loan of Rs 1,200 crore on the company . So, they are placed under house arrest until they clear the debt.
Among females, there is a sharp contrast; while Celina Jaitley is always seen with a frown on her face, Hansika Motwani is usually found smiling. Why has director Ganesh Acharya made an on screen pair of a fifty-year-old Govinda opposite a 20-year-old Hansika Motwani? How an experienced producer like Kumar Mangat picked up this venture is a mystery?
You may recall that initially Ganesh had signed four male characters led by Manoj Bajpai and Govinda but later added Aftaab Shivdasani and Upen Patel. The movie has cost a huge budget of Rs 170 million to the producer. It seems that the producer's big money has been spent on a picnic for his movie's cast and crew and that too in a beautiful country like Mauritius. Besides , the movie is also shot in Mumbai, Pune and Goa.

During its shooting, Govinda had slapped a boy who had allegedly targeted his finger at the dancers, in the presence of Hansika Motwani and 30 artists. This had a bad publicity for the movie.
Ganesh Acharya who has been a choreographer in the past has miserably failed the producer and the cast by not providing them with adequate content.The songs by Nitin Arora and Soni Chandi don't gel well with the situation. However, some songs are well choreographed. Overall, the movie is a sheer waste of money.

Mission Istaanbul

Mission Istaanbul

Director: Apoorva Lakhia Producer: Sunil Shetty , Ekta Kapoor

Starring: Zayed Khan, Vivek Oberoi, Shabbir Ahluwalia, Shreya Saran, Sunil Shetty , Nikitin Dheer, Abhishek Bachchan

To fully enjoy the pleasures that Apoorva Lakhia's latest, one either needs to have a fondness for self-flagellation or a really vicarious sense of humour. I thus, hereby confess that the latter is a quality I possess in ample qualities, and henceforth I have to say that I had a huge blast watching Mission Istanbul, which itself had plenty of them.
Mission Istanbul belongs to the esteemed genre of deliciously bad films such as Jaani Dushman, Shakalaka Boom Boom, Aitraaz; or what I prefer to call the 'So bad, it's brilliant' genre. Have a wicked sense of humour and a taste for cheese (no, not the eating kind) and I doubt that you'd be bored for a minute.
Apoorva Lakhia belongs to that breed of filmmakers who think that making their lead characters walk in slow motion towards the camera is like, the coolest thing ever. It's only natural that one looks forward to a lot of corny 'entertainment' and unintentional laughs in this film- and with a name like that, what else can one expect? This one's a Turkey if there ever was one, and to relish it, you've got to be in the mood for Christmas.
In that respect, Mission Istanbul is far from disappointing. If watching Zayed Khan play a news reporter itself isn't enough to crack you up (he looked rather strained trying to pull a straight face reading news), trust me- there's much, much more.

Vivek Oberoi plays a Turkish Commando called Rizwan Khan with a bad hairdo and smirk permanently pasted on his noggin, while Nikitin Dheer plays Ghazni, the head of the 'controversial' news channel Al Johara (Er, did that ring a bell?) whose idea of office-wear includes bowties and multicolored plastic flowers stuck onto coat lapels.
Featured also are look-alikes of Osama Bin Laden, George Bush and a wannabe Lara Croft with too much red lipstick and too little expression (played by Shweta Bhardwaj).
There are unexpected revelations- (Spoilers, if you please) Al Johara is a terrorist organization, Osama is actually dead- and unexpected homoeroticism- Ghazni as a liking discussing work with journalists and terrorists with all of them clad in towels.
Vivek Oberoi and Zayed Khan try very hard to look cool blowing up buildings, bashing up guys and mouthing priceless lines that even includes a tagline for a soft-drink (this is by far the worst attempt at product placement to ever be seen in the history of cinema) but can only manage to make clowns of themselves. Shabbir Ahluwalia and Nikitin Dheer shout and break things and Shriya Saran keeps emitting loud sobs and sighs.

This movie doesn't deserve a review, folks- and before this piece becomes even more incoherent than it already is, I must sign off and attempt to undo the brain damage.
Let's just hope Lakhia doesn't decide to make a sequel and call it (gulp) MI:2. Now, that would definitely become- well- far too much of a good thing.

Ugly aur Pagli

Ugly aur Pagli
Director: Sachin Khot
Producer: Pritish Nandy Communications Ltd
Starring: Mallika Sherawat, Ranvir Shorey

The month of August begins with only one movie releasing this Friday and that too not very entertaining for its viewers. Though another movie titled 'Mukhbiir' was also scheduled to hit theaters, but it couldn't see the light of the day because of the indifference of the cinema hall owners.
Hence, this is the only movie released this week. Firstly, the title of the movie is completely unconventional inasmuch as it is called 'Ugly Aur Pagli'. Second, its tagline is equally amazing - 99 slaps one Kiss'.
Doesn't the movie indicate that the Hindi movie industry is just starved of good stories even though its actors are not only talented but also of world standard? The movie's lead cast of bombshell Mallika Shehrawat and handsome Ranvir Shorey has proved this beyond any doubt.
Well, Mallika is back after two years when she had acted in her first movie 'Pyaar Ke Side Effects' with Pritish Nandy. The sizzling beauty had decided to confine herself to select movies. In fact, Rangeeta Nandy wanted to repeat her along with Rahul Bose in her sequel of 'Pyaar Ke Side Effects' but both the actors declined it and Rangeeta dropped the project.
However, Mallika accepted Rangeeta's offer of 'Ugly Aur Pagli' just after going through the script though Rahul Bose couldn't make it due to his date problems. So, Ranvir Shorey was signed opposite Mallika. Rangeeta Nandy must be happy that the Mallika -Ranvir pair has proved its chemistry in their first attempt.
Thus, the movie's shooting in Mumbai, Pune and Goa was completed within 55 days. Interestingly, the movie is immortalized as Ranvir Shorey had to get 99 slaps for one kiss! Again, this shows the perseverance of both the actors. This is another matter that Mallika has charged the producer four times of her earlier fee. Isn't it great? click for larger view
The month of August begins with only one movie releasing this Friday and that too not very entertaining for its viewers. Though another movie titled 'Mukhbiir' was also scheduled to hit theaters, but it couldn't see the light of the day because of the indifference of the cinema hall owners.
Hence, this is the only movie released this week. Firstly, the title of the movie is completely unconventional inasmuch as it is called 'Ugly Aur Pagli'. Second, its tagline is equally amazing - 99 slaps one Kiss'.
Doesn't the movie indicate that the Hindi movie industry is just starved of good stories even though its actors are not only talented but also of world standard? The movie's lead cast of bombshell Mallika Shehrawat and handsome Ranvir Shorey has proved this beyond any doubt.
Well, Mallika is back after two years when she had acted in her first movie 'Pyaar Ke Side Effects' with Pritish Nandy. The sizzling beauty had decided to confine herself to select movies. In fact, Rangeeta Nandy wanted to repeat her along with Rahul Bose in her sequel of 'Pyaar Ke Side Effects' but both the actors declined it and Rangeeta dropped the project.
However, Mallika accepted Rangeeta's offer of 'Ugly Aur Pagli' just after going through the script though Rahul Bose couldn't make it due to his date problems. So, Ranvir Shorey was signed opposite Mallika. Rangeeta Nandy must be happy that the Mallika -Ranvir pair has proved its chemistry in their first attempt.
Thus, the movie's shooting in Mumbai, Pune and Goa was completed within 55 days. Interestingly, the movie is immortalized as Ranvir Shorey had to get 99 slaps for one kiss! Again, this shows the perseverance of both the actors. This is another matter that Mallika has charged the producer four times of her earlier fee. Isn't it great? click for larger view
According to the movie's story, Ranvir Shorey and Mallika Sherawat come together for the first time as 'Ugly the loser' and 'Pagli the madcap' to entertain the audience through a battle of love between the completely opposite two individuals.
Although they don't complement each other yet fall in love. Achrekar played by Ranvir Shorey (Kabir Achrekar) is a loser type - an introvert, bookish and laid-back but his life takes an about turn when he meets the chirpy, sexy and unconventional Mallika (Kuhu).
Since Ranvir saves Mallika from falling in front of a Mumbai train the former calls for troubles. Kabir has no ambition and when fails in engineering exam he looks towards the examiner for help. So, he tries to run away from Mallika, but the latter holds him tight and slaps him until he kisses her? This turns him into a lover and her true disciple.
Similarly, Mallika is found head over heels in love with Ranvir Shorey so much so that she has already shown the movie to her family. This is not for nothing that Mallika says, "I just loved the way Kabir is in 'Ugly Aur Pagli' and I found Ranvir to be very attractive in the role. I enjoyed working with him. I wish I could find someone like Kabir in real life too!"
However, in a critic's eyes the movie fails to entertain the audience as there are very many flaws in its story though the same is borrowed from a Koean film 'My Sassy Girl ?'. It's impossible for a viewer to fix his or her eyes on the movie except for a few funny and bizarre scenes like Mallika wearing undergarments above her clothes in college.
But there're times when the humor falls flat. After all, the two hour long film needs a lot to keep the audience watching it. We wish debutant director Sachin Khot had a strong story supported with strong emotions , especially in the second part that looks repetitive. Sorry to say that Anu Malik's music is no good though Talli rendered by Mika, Anmol Malik and Hard Kaur is soothing.

As mentioned earlier, acting-wise, 'Ugly Aur Pagli' has come out very well. While Mallika is just natural, Ranvir Shorey plays his submissive role very convincingly. Tinnu Anand and Sushmita Mukherjee do look hilarious in their first scene. Zeenat Aman is there for one scene only. To sum up, we may say that it's superb in acting, good in direction but an untidy story.

Singh Is Kinng

Director: Anees Bazmee

Producer: Vipul Shah

Starring: Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif, Neha Dhupia

Cinematography: Ben Nott Story

Writer: Anees Bazmee

Once famous as khiladi, Akshay Kumar has now reached a position in Bollywood that his movies are a sure hit. In fact, his presence turns even a non-hit into a hit one. Though his 'Tashan' flopped, the rustic desi boy hit the box office with 'Namastey London' and 'Welcome'. Now, Akki returns as Happy Singh, a gullible, foolhardy and accident-prone guy in romantic comedy 'Singh Is Kinng' that was released on Friday.
This 'Punjabi Munda' looks all set to turn the real king of box office with his much hyped movie directed by Anees Bazmee. This is his one more Katrina Kaif starrer that is definitely going to be blockbuster hit. It couldn't be otherwise as the hit pair of Akshay and Katrina has already built huge expectation from it.
Incidentally, the first show of 'Singh is Kinng' was disrupted Friday at a cinema hall in Amritsar following protests by Sikh activists. The activists vandalized the NM cinema hall and damaged property, protesting against the Sikh community being projected "in a negative way" in the film starring Akshay Kumar, who is portraying a turbaned Sikh youth, and Katrina Kaif.
The call for the protest against the movie was given on Thursday by radical Sikh organization Damdami Taksal though the Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee (DSGMC) had given its go ahead to the film after it was reviewed by a committee.
The movie's story is that Lakhan Singh aka Lucky played by Sonu Sood is the 'king' of the Australian underworld. He functions with the help of his associates - Javed Jaffrey, Neha Dhupia, Manoj Pahwa, Yashpal Sharma, Kamal Chopra and Sudhanshu Pande. Far away, in Lucky's village in Punjab lives someone more notorious than him - Happy Singh played by Akshay Kumar, whose life changes when he leaves his village in Punjab and arrives in Australia.

Happy Singh has gone to Australia to bring back a fellow villager Lucky Singh, an underworld don. During an accident Lucky is paralysed and then Happy becomes the new King of the Australian Underworld. We may add that the villagers were fed up of good Samaritan Happy Singh because most of his good deeds turned into hilarious, and often disastrous situations. So, they decide to send him to Australia to bring Lucky back to Punjab.
Then, Happy is accompanied by Tony Singh played by Om Puri. Incidentally, Akshay meets with Sonia played by Katrina Kaif with whom he falls in love. But when he reaches his destination, things take a turn and Happy lands up in a series of comic misadventures, leaving him penniless. Luckily, Kirron Kher rescues him and also helps him meet Lucky. Happy saves Lucky's life by risking his own. Following the hilarious altercation, Lucky lands up in hospital paralysed, and Happy finds the tables turned on him when he is expected to assume the role of the new leader of the gang. Even in the wake of all this, it results in a wedding!
Though the movie hangs on a thin plotline and suffers from some flaws, the movie has succeeded because of its fast speed, good songs and superb shooting locations of India and abroad. Since this is a combination of comedy, romance, action and drama, well synchronised in the duration of 2.10 hours, it has come out as very entertaining movie. Yes, one needs to watch it for fun and enjoyment as the common audience wants and not for any meaningful art as required by the highly intellectual class.
Watching critically, we may conclude that the movie is good as a whole though not without flaws. While it succeeds in its funny scenes, it fails in catching the emotions. With a bit more tight editing, the movie would have turned much better.
The efforts of director Anees Bazmi and those of the lead pair of Akki and Katrina have produced superb results. Akki's funny scenes and Katrina's charming look in a black saree have indeed stolen the limelight. Similarly, Om Puri performs very well and Sonu Sood doesn't remain far behind.

Though Javed Jafri is a good dancer, he should have concentrated on his acting as well. Ranvir Shorey is first-rate. Neha Dhupia is engaging. The funny exchanges between Sudhanshu Pandey and Yashpal Sharma are worthwhile.
Manoj Pahwa is good. Pritam's music is already popular and it compliments the other songs. 'Bhootni Ke', 'Jee Karda' and the title track stand out, while 'Teri Ore' is easy on the nerves.
Ben Nott and Sanjay Gupta's cinematography is top notch. As said earlier, the editor should have removed those songs that don't gel well with the scenes.

God Tussi Great Ho

God Tussi Great Ho
Director: Rumi Jaffery
Producer: Afzal Khan
Starring: Salman Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Amitabh Bachchan, Manisha Koirala, Anupam Kher Story Writer: Rumi Jaffery

'God Tussi Great Ho' is a romantic comedy, a remake or rather a straight lift from Jim Carrey's hit 'Bruce Almighty'. This is produced by Afzal Khan, who also made Ajay Devgan and Sanjay Dutt starrer 'Mehbboba'.
In fact, this movie was conceived as a mega venture some two years ago, when its scriptwriter Rumi Zaffrey narrated it to Afzal during the shooting of 'Mehbooba'. Afzal promised to make it but with Amitabh Bachchan and Salman Khan. Jaffrey was very much influenced by a strange chemistry between Salman Khan and Priyanka Chopra in their 'Mujhse Shaadi Karogi'.
The producer's choice of Amitabh and Salman created a problem of getting their simultaneous dates. So, its shooting was delayed beyond at least by a month. In the meanwhile, he signed Manisha Koirala for a vital role.
Then Suhel Khan, Anupam Kher and a former woman minister of the state of Rajasthan named Veena Kak were signed and soon the outdoor shooting in Pune and Goa was completed in a 20-day schedule. Rumi had waited so long as he had got a chance to turn a director in Jaffrey's production.
The movie's story in case you haven't watched the original ' Bruce Almighty' runs like this : Success eludes TV anchor Arun Prajapati played by Salman Khan. And, he blames God for this. Arun is in love with Alia (Priyanka Chopra), also an anchor and a well-known star in the same TV channel. Of course, Arun hasn't been able to confess his love to Alia, but secretly holds a candle for Alia.
Alas, the destiny plays a cruel game with Arun when Rocky played by Sohail Khan is appointed a co-anchor for their channel. Arun is of course scared of Rocky as the latter might steal his love Alia. He feels miffed and blames God for his ill luck.

As the luck would have it, Rocky gets kicked out of his job. Arun is upset as he has no one to blame now. So, now he blames God. He somehow manages to get an encounter with the Almighty. An argument ensues. What a surprise, the God played by Amitabh Bachchan comes down to the rescue of Arun.
God (Big B) gives to Arun the power to run the Earth but for seven days only! Arun wonders if he can act as God. Later, Arun claims he can do it. Of course, the first thing Arun does taking over as God is to make himself successful.
Rocky is placed into an uneasy spot and Arun wins Alia's heart. It doesn't stop here. Arun grants everybody's wish. But, to his utter dismay, this turns into mayhem, his biggest problem in life. Thus, he realizes that it's difficult for a human being to act God.
During the first part of the movie, one gets a feel of the story but the second and concluding part is too lengthy to interest the audience. As a whole, the movie moves very slowly. The songs are completely unnecessary. It's indeed a matter of great sorrow that neither the pre-climax nor the climax sweeps one off one's feet.
Since the other movie released this Friday is Yash Raj's mega movie 'Bachna Ae Haseeno' starring the youngest of the Kapoor clan Ranbir mingling with three bewitching beauties of Bollywood, the competition is too tough.
In any case, both the movies released this Friday have to face a tough time as the Akshay Kumar- Katrina Kaif starrer 'Singh Is Kinng' is still ruling the cine audience being exhibited in 140 theaters even in the second week.

However, this being a big holiday weekend coinciding with India's 62nd Independence Day followed by Rakshabandhan festival, 'God Tussi Great Ho' may fare well at single theaters, at least. The movie is released with 90 prints in the Uttar Pradesh and Delhi territory, it is learnt.
So, the producer may not be a big loser. After all, the big cast comprising Amitabh, Salman and Priyanka besides others will not go without attracting large crowds. Besides, the movie is strong in providing some really funny moments and those too without puns and sexual innuendoes. Hence it's worth watching

Bachna Ae Haseeno

Bachna Ae Haseeno

Director: Siddharth Anand
Producer: Aditya Chopra
Starring: Ranbir Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, Bipasha Basu, Minissha Lamba
Lyrics: Anvita Dutt Guptan


'Bachna Ae Haseeno' is Yash Raj Films' first ever movie that has failed to secure a good number of multiplexes and got only few single theaters. The reason is obvious Akshay Kumar -Katrina Kaif starrer is still dominating in 140 theaters even in its second week.
Yash Raj Films has perhaps erred in releasing their mega movie costing a huge sum of Rs 350 million, at this juncture. Maybe Aditya Chopra of Yash Raj Films decided to run it in the hope that his four-year old friendship with Siddarth Anand who scripted their 'Salaam Namaste' will fare well this time too as in the past. Siddarth's script of 'Taa Ra Rum Pum' had also proved a hit.
Aditya forgot that the success of this movie was mostly due to the cast comprising Saif Ali Khan and Rani Mukherjee. Meanwhile, Siddarth wrote the script of 'Bachna Ae Haseeno'.
Since Adiya wanted to make a movie that focuses on the next generation and moves around youngsters, he picked up Siddarth's script and entrusted it to his writers to complete it. At the same time, Aditya entrusted the cast selection to Siddarth, who signed Ranbir Kapoor for the hero's role in view of the latter's excellent performance in 'Saawariya'.
This surprised everyone, though. Siddarth also chose three heroines - Bipasha Basu, Deepika Pandukone and Minissha Lamba, but in consultation with Aditya. Though the movie is said to have a solo hero in Ranbir Kapoor opposite three beauties, but Kunal Kapoor also has a vital role to play opposite Minissha Lamba.
We may also reveal to our readers that the credit for the movie's title goes to Ranbir's dad Rishi Kapoor. 'Bachna Ae Haseeno' means 'beware beauties'!

As usual, the movie's story is the legend of a Casanova character who ditches two girls though the third one dumps him. As told earlier, Aditya Chopra was looking for a film focusing on the next generation for whom flirting with girls isn't considered bad. Isn't this movie a combination of the themes of three films 'Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge', 'Salaam Namaste' and 'Victoria 203'? Let's see how it relates to them.
First, Raj (Ranbir Kapoor) encounters Mahi (Minissha) in Switzerland; they miss their train to Zurich and ride on a two-wheeler across the Swiss Alps. Isn't similar to 'Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge'. Two, Raj during his stay in Mumbai is in a live-in relationship with a raunchy Ranchi girl Radhika (Bipasha Basu), but without any commitment.
Despite all his efforts, when their relationship doesn't break out, Raj escapes to Australia. This seems like the one witnessed in 'Salaam Namaste' Third, Raj falls for an Aussie cabbie Gayatri (Deepika Padukone).
Here, Gayatri's rejection makes Raj ruminate on his callous romantic involvements of the past. So, he feels guilty and sets on a mission to trace his ex-flames and seek forgiveness from them. But, Mahi is now married to Joginder (Kunal Kapoor) though not inclined towards her husband despite a decade-old marriage.
The director revives 'DDLJ' again when Raj barges into their family wedding, dances on a bhangra number and reunites the couple. The second girl Radhika is now starlet Shriya who makes Raj slog as a slave!
Screenplay-wise, 'Bachna Ae Haseeno's is a simple episodic pattern. Love doesn't come the classic way. It's either induced through dialogues like the anecdotes of astronomer Rakesh Sharma in the Minissha episode or through a song number as in the case of Deepika.
The movie has its strength in Vishal-Shekhar's music that supports the story. The cinematography is cool though there are those mandatory smooch scenes in each episode as per the pre-defined Yash Raj style.

The cast does full justice to its characters. Ranbir scores over all. Bipasha comes a close second. Both of them shoulder the movie. Bips scores over the other two beauties in spite of her being older than the hero. Minissha proves a bubbly girl.
Deepika is good but not as in her other film. Another novelty of the movie is that its entire cast is given in the beginning in a music video. This is perhaps to play safe as most audiences make an exit much before the movie ends. Not a bad idea!

Chamku

Chamku
Director: Kabeer Kaushik
Starring: Bobby Deol, Priyanka Chopra, Irfan Khan, Ritesh Deshmukh, Rajpal Yadav Cinematography: Gopal Shah
Story Writer: Kabeer Kaushik

Four Hindi movies got released today though some of them without haven't got good theaters fortheir exhibition. Besides, the earlier releases like Akshay Kumar starrer 'Singh Is Kinng', 'Mumbai Meri Jaan' and 'Bachnaa Ae Hasseno' haven't yet faded out and are still occupying main cinema halls and multiplexes.
Good that all the four movies fall in different categories. We are here reviewing 'Chamku', a Deol family movie. The success of 'Apne' encouraged Dharmendra to make another. Incidentally, in his very first meeting with Kabeer Kaushik of the 'Saher' fame, Dharmendra not only liked Kabeer's script but also gave him green signal to go ahead.
Kabeer found Bobby Deol as the fittest hero for it. Kabeer was very excited, as he has already got a producer and also a hero. Kabeer and Bobby finalized the other cast comprising Ritesh Deshmukh, Irrfan Khan, Danny and Rajpal Yadav and fixed their shooting dates.
Priyanka Chopra took no time to accept the offer because of her proximity with the Deol family. Since the script relates to Naxalites, Kabeer met with the members of an active group operating in Andhra. Meanwhile he also got a set made in Mumbai's film city to shoot the movie there.
The entire indoor and outdoor shoot was completed within 98 days and thus the movie costing Rs 200 million was ready for release. Since there were some violence scenes the censor board sought their deletion.

However, Kabeer refused to do so as it would have diluted the main theme. Hence, it was granted only category A certificate. Mukta Movies has distributed the film with its 75 prints in the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh territory.
Though Kabeer made the movie in time but alas, the movie hasn't come out very well. After all, even Bobby Deol's old movies don't gel well with the audience today. We wonder if 'Chamku' would meet the same fate at the box office.
According to the movie's story, Chamku played by Bobby Deol loses his father to a tyrannizing Thakur. So, he is brought up by naxalites and trained by Indian intelligence for whom he engages in undercover operations.
Soon, Chamku encounters his father's killer the Thakur played by Akhilendra Mishra. He traces the Thakur in a pub and opens fire. Under instructions of the intelligence head Irrfan Khan, Chamku is on a relentless killing spree of anonymous individuals.
He has an accomplice in Riteish Deshmukh, who is assassinated before making any mark. As usual, the director introduces a female character of Priyanka Chopra, a Montessori teacher, presumably to add entertainment angle to the movie. But, she doesn't have a big role. Her role is confined between 'I love you' note and 'I am pregnant' phrases.

We regret that the story suffers from lack of cohesion among subplots and original characterizations. The characters are introduced to play not a big deal and therefore end up just like that. The entire cast comprising Irrfan Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Ritesh Deshmukh and Rajpal Yadav is wasted.
Arya Babbar is relegated to the rank of a junior artist. Danny dies before you notice him. The characters come and go; maybe they mark their presence without much to do. It is wondered if these players were obliged even though they do nothing in the movie.

C Kkompany

Director: Sachin Yardi

Producer: Ekta Kapoor, Shobha Kapoor

Starring: Tusshar Kapoor, Anupam Kher, Rajpal Yadav, Raima Sen, Mithun Chakraborty

Balaji Motion Pictures the producers of C Kkompany promise to entertain with the comedy featuring Tusshar Kapoor, Raima Sen, Anupam Kher, Rajpal Yadav and Mithun Chakraborty. Sanjay Dutt has a small role; Celina Jaitley has an item number. There are also a host of television actors in special appearances.
Akshay Kumar (Tusshar Kapoor) is a crime reporter, Ramakanth Joshi (Anupam Kher) is a retired accountant trying to deal with his ungrateful son and Lambodar (Rajpal Yadav) are friends. These three share their respective plight with one another and find solace in each other's company. On one occasion, they play a harmless prank to tackle their problems. One thing leads to another, and before they realize, the incident becomes news.
But things don't stop there. They put their new founded fame to good use, and this in turn triggers off a series of incidents, which propel them to such heights that the three become the talk of the nation. Things get beyond their control, and the three are left with no choice but to be mute spectators to their newly acquired fame, especially since no one knows their identity.

Was Ekta Kapoor trying to promote her television soaps through C Kkompany? Quite a few renowned television actors from her serials make an appearance. The movie takes several digs at her K serials and what's more Ekta Kapoor herself makes an appearance. We have an underworld don (Mithunda) who gets all emotional and sheds a bucket of tears while watching Ekta's tele-soaps.
There are spoofs on almost everything. Amitabh Bachchan and his Kaun Banega Crorepati, under world, Karan Johar, Talk shows... the list is endless. Unfortunately though, nothing is funny or entertaining. The dialogues are some of the worst I have heard in recent times. The lesser said about the music, the better.

The only positive about C Kkompany is the performances by a few actors and no prizes for guessing who. Anupam Kher, Rajpal Yadav and Mithuna stand out but you can't expect them to rise above the below average script. Tusshar Kapoor is poor, as expected. His mannerisms just don't work anymore. It's really high time he quits acting and gets into production.

Raima Sen is wasted. Although she looks beautiful and those super expressive eyes are enough to make you fall in love with her.
To sum up, C Kkompany is poor in every department; except for decent performances by the veterans, NOTHING is worth a mention.