Blog | Amodini's Movie Reviews - Part 53Amodini's Movie Reviews | Movie Reviews by Year, Genre and Rating

Movie Review : Nautanki Saala (2013)

Posted on June 20, 2013 by amodini

[amazon_link id=”B00BPB8CU8″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ][/amazon_link]
Rating : 3.2/5
Genre : Romance
Year : 2013
Running time : 2 hours 10 minutes
Director : Rohan Sippy
Cast : Ayushmann Khurana, Pooja Salvi, Evelyn Sharma, Gaelyn Mendonca, Kunaal Roy Kapoor
Kid rating : PG-13

“Nautanki Saala” is based on a French film, so I’m expecting quirky characters and some zaniness. I get both. Ram Parmar or RP (Ayushman Khurana) is a play director, and an actor. His play is based on the Ramayana, and he plays the lead role of Raavan in it. The play is a success, he’s found love with his pretty girlfriend Chitra (sprightly MTV VJ Gaelyn Mendonca) and life is generally good until one day Ram comes across a man attempting suicide. Kind-hearted Ram prevents the suicide and brings the broken-spirited Mandar LeLe (Kunaal Roy Kapur) home with him.

Long story short Mandar is at the end of his tether because the woman of his dreams Nandini (Pooja Salvi) has spurned him. Altruistic do-gooder Ram decides to patch things up – that is, until he sees lovely Nandini and begins to fall for her himself . . .

Ayushman Khurana is in Vicky Donor mode in this film, or looks like it. Can’t they change his appearance even a little bit, to suit the role? Here, he looks young and scruffy and un-dependable – I’m not sure I’d trust him to cross the street, much less direct a whole play. And then he portrays a guy who sweeps women off their feet. Really?

Gaelyn and Evelyn Sharma (you might have also seen her in “Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani”) have small roles and they do OK. I found the leading lady Pooja Salvi unimpressive; she seemed a dramatically disinclined wilting rose with a whiny voice to match. Kapur’s character Mandar was annoying – so I don’t think it was his (Kapur’s) fault that I wanted to shake some sense into Mandar. The film’s characters as portrayed, seem goofy, which would be OK if they were French 🙂 (French goofiness works) but desi goofballs had better have some back-story, or we wonder why they didn’t turn out to become good little engineers/doctors like the rest of us.

The crux of the film centers around two men fixating on one woman, and Ram’s pricking conscience – lusting for Mandar’s ex-girlfriend – hello betrayal! Ayushman does nicely with the comic timing and the emoting; me thinks this guy might actually break out those acting chops someday, given the chance. However Ayushman is not Hrithik Roshan, as far as looks go. So here’s my mini-rant : with three lovely-looking women in the film, all the female viewers get to look at is (unshaven) Ayushman and Kunaal? Is there no God/Goddess? End rant.

The 2003 French film “Apres Vous”, on which Nautanki Saala is based wasn’t a big hit either, so I’m wondering why this was chosen as inspiration. Nautanki Saala isn’t bad, it’s just “meh”. But this very average film has some outstanding music, some of the best I’ve heard this year. There is the very nicely done “Dhak-Dhak” remix, “Saddi Gali” sung by Ayushman, the lovely ballad “Mera Man Kehna Laga”, the peppy “Dramebaaz” and my favorite “Dil Ki To Lag Gayi” by Saba Azad:

As my mom would say, it is just about theek-thaak – passable for a one-time watch.

Kidwise : Some lip-locks, but nothing, in general, to scar the young ones. PG-13 safe.

Posted in 2013, bollywood, comedy, french, goofy, rating-PG13, romance | Comments Off

Movie Preview : Lootera (2013 – Ranveer Singh, Sonakshi Sinha)

Posted on June 16, 2013 by amodini

Finally a film where Sonakshi Sinha breaks out of the dumb belle mould! Lootera releases July 5th and also stars Ranvir Singh. This is a romance of the 1950s, so everything seems sepia and lace. Lootera is directed by Udaan director Vikramaditya Motwane, so I’m hoping for great things for this film:

Posted in 2013, bollywood, Previews, romance | Comments Off

Movie Preview : Ghanchakkar (2013)

Posted on June 13, 2013 by amodini

A robbery takes place. The thieves decide to split up the money later. The guy who has the money loses his memory. Yes, this movie looks fun and quirky.

Ghanchakkar releases 28th June. It comes to you via director Raj Kumar Gupta; he directed “No One Killed Jessica” and the superb “Aamir”. It stars Vidya Balan, Emran Hashmi and Rajesh Sharma.

Posted in 2013, bollywood, goofy, humor, Previews, suspense | 1 Comment

Movie Review : Jolly LLB (2013)

Posted on June 7, 2013 by amodini

Rating : 4/5
Genre : Drama
Year : 2013
Running time : 2 hours 10 minutes
Director : Subhash Kapoor
Cast : Arshad Warsi, Amrita Rao, Boman Irani, Harsh Chaya, Mohan Agashe, Saurabh Shukla, Sanjay Mishra
Kid rating : PG

A long while after “Sehar” comes another movie with a major role for Arshad Warsi. He is a dependable actor, a fact obscured by his “Munnabhai” genre roles. In Jolly LLB , Warsi is small time Meerut-base lawyer Jagdish Tyagi or Jolly. Dreaming of making it big, Warsi moves to Delhi and sets up shop at Tees Hazari. His practice isn’t quite chugging along, so when he sees a colleague file a PIL and gain publicity because of it, he decides to file a PIL too. The PIL he files is about a hit-and-run case, where a rich kid driving his LandCruiser has driven onto the pavement, killing several folk sleeping there.

As is normal for the Indian Justice system, the rich kid’s dad and his expensive, smarmy lawyer Advocate Rajpal (Boman Irani) have greased palms everywhere. They haven’t accounted for Jolly’s PIL though. Neither has Jolly.

This is, some might say, a formula film about the under-dog taking on the system. We have seen this ad nauseam in Hindi cinema – very been there done that. Still Warsi and Rao bring a freshness to it. Of course, the honest path is hard to tread and the deck is stacked against our hero. Jolly gets a little help from Judge Tripathi (Saurabh Shukla). Rotund, bespectacled Tripathi is a veteran of the Indian Courts. He defers to Advocate Rajpal, and seems to be good friends with everybody else. You wonder which side he is on.

This film has its heart in the right place. Its hero is a common man, caught up in the rush to become someone, someone with enough money to afford a good life. And that seems struggle enough. There are shortcuts; one only must bend. But vulnerable as Jolly is , he wins you over with his earnestness and his good heart, and his ability to take beating after beating (some physical and some not) and still not lose his die-hard spirit. His character keeps you in the film, for there are few films and few heroes which portray a vulnerable protagonist so well. This one does. And Warsi makes it possible.

Warsi is ably aided by the director and the fairly strong script and screenplay. The rest of the actors – even ones in small roles – are impeccable. This is a good film – one of the best this year. Highly recommended.

Kidwise : The film is pretty clean and free of vulgarity. The subject matter (violence/court-proceedings/corruption) may not appeal to very young children, but the film itself is PG.

Posted in 2013, bollywood, drama, humor, rating-PG, recommended, social issues | 1 Comment

Movie Review : Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani (2013)

Posted on June 2, 2013 by amodini

Rating : 4/5
Genre : Romance
Year : 2013
Running time : 2 hours 40 minutes
Director : Ayan Mukherji
Cast : Ranbir Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, Kalki Koechlin, Aditya Roy Kapur, Tanvi Azmi, Farooq Sheikh, Dolly Ahluwalia, Kunaal Roy Kapur, Evelyn Sharma, Poorna Jagannathan
Kid rating : PG-13

I’d read of some disparaging reviews for this movie, but fikar not, fellow movie lovers, Ayan Mukherji hasn’t lost his touch. I quite liked “Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani (YJHD)” – it’s an engaging mix of Karan Johar style masala and the finer sensibilities of Ayan Mukherji’s thoughtful genre.

Karan Thapar or Bunny (Ranbir Kapoor) is a rakish brat. Lazy, irreverent, adventure-seeking Bunny wants to live life to the full, experiencing different things, travelling to different places. He wants the keema-pao, the hakka noodle; he doesn’t want to be stuck eating dal-chawal for the rest of his life. His two best friends Avinash (Aditya Roy Kapoor) and Aditi (Kalki Koechlin) are with him for now, as is “scholar” Naina (Deepika Padukone), the academically inclined shrinking violet who has a thing for Bunny. But things get distant when Bunny leaves India to study abroad. Eight years later when they meet at Aditi’s wedding, they all have moved on, and it seems like the ties of friendship have thinned with time . . .

Like “Dil Chahta Hai” or “Zindagi na milegi dobara” YJHD also spins us a tale of friendship among the affluent classes; fast friends go their separate ways, will their friendship ever be the same? This not a desperate struggle for roti, kapda aur makaan (e.g.; Kai Po Che), but one of changing relationships among the jet-set. The first half of the film is pure fun and laughter, the hijinks of the youthful set against the backdrop of slow-clad Manali. The second half is located in Jaipur, courtesy Aditi’s big fat Indian destination wedding. There is thus great scope for musical numbers, and there are many – energy-filled rambunctious songs (“Balam Pichkari”) in the first half and catchy wedding-inspired ones (“Badtameez Dil”, “Dilliwali Girlfriend”) in the second.

This film wins big because of its excellent cast. Ranbir can play a cad-ish rake effortlessly, and does. Bunny is a charming rogue, leaving goody-two-shoes Naina totally besotted. Ranbir acts marvelously, and dances just as well. Deepika delivers an outstanding understated performance; just a hint of nervousness as young Naina, and a mature confidence as a grown-up doctor. Kalki is gorgeous as fearless, brash Aditi, and Aditya Roy Chaudhary is impressive as Avi – I predict impending success for this fine actor.

The younger crowd is aided by the veterans. Tanve Azmi shines in her small role and Dolly Ahluwalia (of Vicky Donor fame) plays Naina’s pushy Punjabi mom. (Squint-eyed?) Farooque Sheikh is a pleasure to watch as Bunny’s dad. He is the epitome of the loving parent, sad to see his child leave, but happy for him to follow his dreams. The emotional father-son sequence, as Bunny gets ready to leave India, is one of the most finely crafted scenes I’ve seen in recent times; I can still feel the lump in my throat.

As expected from a Karan Johar production, this is a glitzy, colorful film. Director Ayan Mukerji proves he can mix masala with substance. He brings heft to the emotional underpinnings of the story, etching out his characters carefully. The four friends are very different, but likeable. Badtameez Bunny charms us, and we can’t help but feel for mousy, hesitant Naina. Aditi is a steadfast friend while Avi is loyal and faithful. The emotions in the film are fed with an attention to detail, be it Bunny’s loving relationship with his father, Aditi’s surprising feelings for her goofy fiancé, or the playful banter between friends. We root for them, because they might appear to be shiny, happy people, but in the end, they are people like us.

“Yeh Jawani Hai Diwani” is almost 3 hours long. Towards the end, this feels stretched and could have been made shorter by at least 30-45 minutes. Regardless, this is a wonderful, feel-good film, and one to be watched in the theatres. Soon!

Kidwise : This film contains some suggestive dialog, some kissing, ladies in skimpy (but not vulgar) clothing, and fleeting scenes shot featuring red-light areas. The tone of the film is flirty but harmless, although better suited to the PG-13 crowd.

Posted in 2013, bollywood, drama, feel-good, rating-PG13, romance | 12 Comments

Movie Review : Kumare

Posted on May 29, 2013 by amodini

[amazon_link id=”B00AOCDEF2″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ][/amazon_link]Rating : 4/5
Genre : Documentary
Year : 2011
Running time : 1 hour 24 minutes
Director : Vikram Gandhi
Cast : Vikram Gandhi, Purva Bedi
Kid rating : PG-13

What is faith? Is it a tangible belief in a God or is it a delusion of the self, helping one go on when all is seemingly lost? Director Vikram Gandhi tackles this thorny subject by conducting an experiment. He “becomes” a Godman, “Kumare”, a holy man from India – long hair, loincloth, thick accent – and sets up base in Phoenix, Arizona. He conducts yoga classes with his made up chants, professes to impart wisdom by sharing his experiences and points of view. Does he gain a following? Do people believe him to be the real thing?

This is an unusual film. It is made by the actor starring in the film, and he is an American of Indian heritage, so he has his “traditional” ideas of belief and the American notion of Godliness. In the film, he attempts to test both. Gandhi “transforms” into the Indian guru full-time, i.e.; he actually grows his hair and beard, learns yoga before attempting to teach it. Essentially physically he appears to be an Indian god-man; the spirituality is made up though. His “followers” of course have no idea.

In his teaching as Kumare, Gandhi appears to be a humble, good man and tells his followers that they actually do not need a godman or a teacher – that their faith in themselves, their goodness is enough. The film follows Gandhi and his helpers – two girls, one Caucasian, and the other Indian American Purva Bedi (of “American Desi” fame) as they conduct classes in the ashram. As Kumare, Gandhi also tries to understand other spiritual healing methods.

Are we actually looking to follow a leader, a “holy” man/woman who appears to be in direct contact with God ? Do certain cultures, with “proven” spirituality have greater influence? This film plays out in the American context, where Gandhi as “Kumare” has an “exotic” quality about him; I wonder how this would play out in an Indian context where long-haired, Indian accented babas are a-dime-a-dozen. The film raises many questions, and answers some towards the end, as the experiment also ends. An interesting, though-provoking watch – highly recommended.

Posted in 2011, All Netflix, documentary, recommended | 1 Comment

What to Watch on Netflix : Edition #10

Posted on May 24, 2013 by amodini

– [amazon_link id=”B008DHG9R0″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ][/amazon_link]Sleepless Night (“Nuit blanche”, French, subtitled, 2011) : Crooked cop Vincent has a drug heist gone wrong. Amid suspicion in the police department, Vincent must strive to get back his kidnapped son from trigger-happy drug mafia, and avoid being killed in the crossfire. All in the space of one chaotic, sleepless night.

– Strictly Ballroom (Australian, 1992) : This Baz Luhrmann directed film is about the fine art of dancing. Scott, a champion dancer displeases the dancing community with the desire to step out of the bounds of “traditional” ballroom dance. When his current dance partner doesn’t appreciate his sentiments, he must chance it all with Fran, a new, inexpert dancer.

– Howard’s End : A classic, this film is based on the book of the same name and stars Anthony Hopkins, Emma Thompson, Vanessa Redgrave and Helena Bonham Carter.

[amazon_link id=”B003D63G6S” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ] Everlasting Moments (The Criterion Collection) [/amazon_link]- Barfi (Hindi, 2011) : A lovely, arty Hindi film with life, humor and joie-di-vivre, Barfi is a great family-friendly watch. This stars Bollywood’s current heartthrob Ranbir Kapoor, diva Priyanka Chopra and new-to-Hindi-films Ileana D’Cruz. Here’s the full review.

– Everlasting Moments (“Maria Larssons eviga ögonblick”, Swedish, subtitled, 2008) : It is the 1900s and Maria is married to Sigfrid Larsson, a brutish, womanizing, violent man. Maria is attached to her camera, and it allows her, a poor working-class woman with 6 children and chores to fill up the day, some moments of pleasure as she composes frames, develops her photos and has some moments to treasure fleeting beauty. A wonderful film, indeed!

Posted in 2013, All Netflix, bollywood, book to film, crime, dance, foreign, french, lists, mini-reviews, movies online, Netflix Recommendations, recommended, WhaTWON | 1 Comment

Movie Review : Aurangzeb (2013)

Posted on May 21, 2013 by amodini

Rating : 3.5/5
Genre : Drama
Year : 2013
Running time : 2 hours 20 minutes
Director : Atul Sabharwal
Cast : Rishi Kapoor, Arjun Kapoor, Prithviraj Sukumaran, Amrita Singh, Tanvi Azmi, Deepti Naval, Swara Bhaskara, Sasha Agha
Kid rating : PG-15

Aurangzeb’s story is of epic proportions and the star cast is large. There are the good guys and the bad guys, and there’s the hero in a double role. As expected, one of the heroes is on the good side and other on the bad. When the shit hits the fan, blood will tell, and all will end as per Bollywoodian demands. So yeah, this film reminds me of the 80s angry-young-man overwrought potboilers, except that this is a modern, not unpleasant interpretation of that dated genre.

Corrupt cop Ravikant Phogat (a portly Rishi Kapoor) has perfected the art of the bribe. With his conniving ways he’s worked up to the top becoming DCP of the police force , and has placed his family of similarly corrupt policemen in powerful positions. His honest policeman brother (Anupam Kher), embroiled in a scandal, has died of hopelessness, but his son Arya (Prithviraj Sukumaran) follows his corrupt uncle.

When per chance Arya Phogat comes across evidence that might clear his (now dead) father’s good name, Ravikant agrees to help Arya in further investigations; they can not only clear Arya’s father’s name but bring down corrupt tycoon Yashwardhan (Jackie Shroff), all in one go. Of course good intentions are not always what they seem. And when the betrayals come, they come thick and fast.

This film has a pretty strong storyline, apparently based on wily Mughal emperor Aurangzeb’s penchant for killing off the competition. It is also ambitious because it takes an intricate story with many characters (each with their own backstory) and attempts to fit it into a 2 hour film. That’s a tall order – there is limited screen time, and you must decide what to show and what to leave for interpretation – and directorial judgment and experience is called for here. With a better director, say Ram Gopal Verma who’s directed fabulous films like “Company” in his heyday or Vishal Bharadwaj with movies like “Kaminey”, Aurangzeb might have been spectacular. With Atul Sabharawal, this film turns out a little shaky and amateur, and rough around the edges. Sabharwal shows promise – I’d look forward to more of his work – but he seems overwhelmed when it comes to such a large project of a film.

We are thrown into the action right from the beginning. There’s a flurry of characters being introduced and it takes some time to make sense of it all. The film tromps along at a pretty good pace, but the depiction lacks finesse. The characters are a little card-boardish – we are told of their circumstances but we don’t feel them, and as such it is a little hard rooting for them.

Arjun Kapoor has a double role – he plays clean-shaven goody-two-shoes Vishal, and arrogant spoilt brat Ajay. He does all right in his swagger-filled scenes, but comes across kinda weak when real emoting is called for. In this he reminds me of Abhishek Bachchan – good as long as he is glowering, wishy-washy otherwise. The female lead is disappointing. Skimpily clad Sasheh Agha (daughter of nasal-voiced Salma Agha of “Nikaah” fame) plays Ajay’s girl-friend Ritu, and displays neither talent nor beauty. The veterans – Rishi Kapoor, Deepti Naval and Amrita Singh do well. Tanvi Azmi, playing the hero’s mom, is adequate, and with all her motherly weeping and moaning can be officially crowned the modern-day Nirupa Roy.

And here, a paragraph about Prithviraj. We saw him in Aiyyaa; that film didn’t quite appeal to everyone. In Aurangzeb, he makes his presence felt. His Hindi needs some work, although it is much improved since Aiyya. Other than that, Prithviraj does very well; he is understated, yet strong in in his portrayal of conflicted Arya Phogat.

Aurangzeb is a pretty decent watch, for all you lovers of well-paced action/crime dramas. Do not go expecting finesse and you will not be disappointed.

Kidwise : Plenty of violence, and a few love-making scenes make this a PG-15 watch.

Posted in 2013, action, bollywood, crime, drama, rating-PG15, thriller | 3 Comments

Movie Preview : Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani (2013)

Posted on May 17, 2013 by amodini

Deepika must have gotten over her broken heart, now that she’s doing another very close-to-real-life romance film with the cad 🙂 . Ranbir is in Ranbir mode, playing the badtameez brat Bunny. Ms. Padukone is straight-laced “scholar” Naina, and she must go it alone, while Bunny hops it with 2 close friends, Kalki Koechlin and Aditya Roy Kapoor (he’s the brother of Kunaal Roy Kapoor of “Delhi Belly” fame), in tow.

The film is directed by Ayaan Mukherjee, the director of the lovely “Wake Up, Sid!”, so I have great hopes for this film. Looks like a colorful entertainer with the usual trimmings of soulful romance thrown in – pure Karan Johar isshtyle! Look out for it May 31st.

Posted in 2013, bollywood, Previews, romance | Comments Off

Movie Review : Go Goa Gone

Posted on May 13, 2013 by amodini

Rating : 2.5/5
Genre : Drama
Year : 2013
Running time : 1 hour 51 minutes
Director : Krishna D.K., Raj Nidimoru
Cast : Saif Ali Khan, Kunal Khemu, Vir Das, Anand Tiwari, Pooja Gupta
Kid rating : A

I read the reviews for this film, and everyone’s like yeah – go see it. I did, and am wondering – did we see the same film? Granted that this is Bollywood’s first zombie film ever – which is a big deal – it’s still an average-bordering-on-poor film. It’s as if the producers were conducting an experiment – how low can you go and still turn a profit?

Two young men Hardik (Kunal Khemu) and Luv (Vir Das) are stuck in jobs they are not interested in, love lives that aren’t going anywhere and presumably nothing interesting happening. So when roomie and straight-arrow friend Bunny (Anand Tiwari) has to go to Goa for a work-related presentation, they tag along. Once there, pretty girl Luna (Puja Gupta) tells them of this rave party on a semi-deserted island. The trio land up there, party away and wake up in the morning to discover that everyone else has turned into blood-thirsty zombies.

They find Luna, who’s luckily also still human. They also come across blonde, Russian party-organizer Boris (Saif Ali Khan) and his sidekick who are looking for a way out of the island. Boris has an accent, a gun and a one-liner “ I kill dead people”. And he does. However he disappears after a while on some mysterious mission and the foursome are left to fend for themselves . . .

I watched the trailer of this film and it had looked good. I mean the things you could do with the situation! Zombies in desiland – quite a novelty? Yes, for those of you who haven’t seen a C-grade American zombie film before. Raj N. and Krishna DK who’ve to date done fairly well in their productions (Shor in the City, 99 etc) run out of ideas here. In the first half of the film there are zombies on the island. In the second half of the film, there are still zombies on the island. Rinse and repeat ain’t quite working so well here.

The film is almost saved by its humor – I add a 1 star just for that. Kunal Khemu is a natural as a perpetually zoned out lad in the throes of laddish humor – i.e.; women as objects. Vir Das (of Delhi Belly fame) is kind of wasted as a somewhat senti, somewhat annoying Luv – a weak and dribbly character. I quite liked Tiwari as the by-the-book seedha-saadha Bunny who follows along with his more adventurous friends. Puja Gupta, who plays Luna, has as much acting talent as the zombies, and I’m being nice. Saif Ali Khan breathes life into the film as blonde Boris, muscular tattooed arms and all, so good job there.

The laugh out loud moments are many. Some of them are plain stupid and juvenile/distasteful but in the heat of the moment they come off OK. Other than that the film got boring after a while. How much can you do with a bunch of zombies on an island? Not much as it turns out because there is no sub-story, no sub-plot here. All we have are zombies, and they, like our heroes, have no redeeming qualities.

The other annoying thing about this movie – it can’t quite make up its mind about what it wants to be. Is it a full-on zombie flick? Is it a tale of three friends on a gone-horribly-wrong adventure? Is it a public service announcement against drugs and drink? A little of each. Maybe. Plus the zoned out threesome suddenly develop feelings – there’s some forced emotion here – repentance, guilt, sadness and even an attempt at being good. Gave me this icky feeling, because as everyone and his uncle knows (and the scriptwriters don’t) – there is no place for desi emotion in a zombie film.

So then, there are exactly 2 reasons to watch this film :

– You haven’t seen a zombie film before.
– You have seen a C-grade poorly produced American zombie film before and liked it.

You decide.

Kidwise : Not suitable for kids although this isn’t a scary film for adults. There’s blood and gore, and lots of slurping sounds as zombies feed on the dead. Humor is inappropriate for kids – so the A rating is apt.