Blog | Amodini's Movie Reviews - Part 76Amodini's Movie Reviews | Movie Reviews by Year, Genre and Rating

Review : Sankat City

Posted on July 29, 2009 by amodini

Rating : Excellent (4.5/5)
Genre : Comedy
Year : 2009
Running time : 2 hours 30 minutes
Director : Pankaj Advani
Cast : Anupam Kher, Kaykay Menon, Rimi Sen, Chunky Pandey, Yashpal Sharma, Manoj Pahwa, Dilip Prabhavalkar, Hemant Pandey, Jahangir Khan, Veerendra Saxena, Shri Vallabh Vyas, Rahul Dev
Kid rating : PG-13

SANKAT CITY : A RARE, TRUE COMEDY !

Note : The edited version of this review appears at Planet Bollywood, here.

“Sankat City” reminds me of a Wodehouse-ian novel; a bunch of odd-ball characters cocooned in their own little spheres of influence, setting forth a chain of events that promises much mirth and laughter. The city, of course, is Mumbai, and in it’s criminal citizenry it includes car-thief Guru (Menon) and his associates Ganpat (Prabhavalkar), and Sharafat (Shrivallabh Vyas). Also peopling Sankat City is small-time con-woman Mona (Rimi) , businessman Pachisia (Yashpal Sharma), film producer Gogi Kukreja (Pahwa), and his lead actor Sikandar Khan (Chunky Pandey).

However the person who makes the world go around (at least in Sankat City) is ruthless mob-boss Faujdaar (Kher). And why ? Because everyone borrows money from him. Whether it’s Pachisia who’s in the doghouse because he has only a few days to pay back his loan, or Kukreja who must borrow to buy land for his dream studio, they are all in debt and mortal fear of Faujdaar.

The plot, which I will not describe in detail, revolves around large lost sums of money. The money belongs to Faujdaar, and Guru and Mona who don’t have it, must scheme their way around the mobster and his violence-loving henchman Lovely (Jahangir Khan). Suffice it to say that the journey to get out from under Faujdaar’s thumb is fraught with mishaps (for them) and humor (for us) given that they associate with rather quaint, quirky characters.

This film has a succinct storyline, and by that I mean that Advani, who has also written the film doesn’t waste facts – something very rare in Bollywood. If we as audience are given information on a person or an event, that information is brought into play later. Advani also brings great detail and nuance in the development of each character. Every character has a great quirk – Guru, a sneaky thief loves fishes (as pets), Faujdaar has a thing for South-Indian, voluptuous bombshells, and looks upto only one person, his Guru Swamiji (Saxena). Swamiji also has a fetish – he loves bathing with young men.

It also does not hurt that the film has an excellent cast. In fact it is quite pleasant to see a lot of good television artistes in this film, like the cast of “Office Office” – Manoj Pahwa, Sanjay Mishra and Hemant Pandey. There is ofcourse stalwart Anupam Kher, who brings to screen a delightful rendition of a Himachali mobster, complete with typical accent. Rimi Sen, quite unexpectedly, flexes her acting muscles. Playing a Bengali siren, with a penchant for making off with the loot, she looks and acts the part. The woman has talent and I look forward to seeing her in meatier roles.

Advani directs beautifully, tieing up all the lose ends neatly, and produces a lovely, comedic caper. Highly recommended.

Kidwise : This film is almost clean; it has references to prostitution and a scene of a woman in undress. There are however “adult” nuances which may not be suitable for a younger child – hence the PG-13 rating.

Films like this : If you liked this film, you will probably also like :

– Jaane bhi do yaaron
– Chashm-e-buddoor
– Khosla ka ghosla

Posted in 2009, bollywood, drama, humor, outstanding, rating-PG13, recommended | 5 Comments

Preview : Love Aaj Kal

Posted on July 25, 2009 by amodini

Love Aaj Kal is, you guessed it, love today versus love yesterday. And, of course I don’t exactly mean yesterday, but yesteryear, as in 2 love stories, both starring Saif Ali Khan. Khan who has also turned producer with this film, and launched Illuminati films, expresses love doubly here. Saif is love-struck, once as old-fashioned Sardar Veer, who having once sighted the girl of his dreams Harleen Kaur, waits in silence just to catch another glimpse of her, and the second time as a modern young man of today Jai, who thinks he has it good with Meera (Padukone) but is willing to find out if there are other fish in the sea.

Yup, it’s back to the fields of Punjab, folks, to see Saif Ali Khan, atop a bicycle wooing the girl in the cycle rickshaw. The new girl who plays Harleen, looks quite the part, demure as girls were then (?), eyes downcast, and gazes averted. For the trendy, and those who want the “in-thing”, you have another helping of Saif mixed with Deepika’s sparkly good looks.

Romance rocks (in) Bollywood. Has rocked for several decades now, if you look at the amount of romantic films made every year. Recently the trend has been changing, and we have been fortunate enough to see non-romance themed films too, but the masses swoon in the name of romance. Boy meets girl. Girl smitten, boy smitten, throw in a few “villains” – and voila ! You have your average 1980s and 90s romance. Also a super-duper hit formula by the way, so let’s not look down our noses at it.

Imtiaz Ali is a director who has been very successful with romantic films. From his first film, “Socha na tha” which starred then newcomer Ayesha Takia and our silver-screen Devdas Abhay Deol, to his 2006 hit “Jab we met” Ali has delivered each time. In this age of Facebook and Twitter, where you receive hazaaron requestes of “friendship” and people can “poke” you , and scrap on your “wall” , and you are free to IM or chat, his films are always served with a twist, and manage to bridge the age old idea of staid love with the zingy youthfulness of modern and “internet-age” romance.

A promising and enthusiastic starcast, a good director and some very catchy music, this film promises to be the Desi film of the Summer. This will be in a theater near you, the 31st of July ! See you there, first day, first show !

P.S. : I’ve been trying to embed a high quality trailer of the film here, but the good quality ones up at youtube are posted by user “erosentertainment” and embedding is disabled by request. This means that any blogger (like moi) cannot embed the trailer while plugging the film. Are the marketing folks retarded ? It’s like – want free publicity – er . . . No, Thanks !

Posted in bollywood, Previews | Comments Off

Review : New York

Posted on July 22, 2009 by amodini

Rating : Average (3/5)
Genre : Drama
Year : 2009
Running time : 2 hours 10 minutes
Director : Kabir Khan
Cast : Katrina Kaif, John Abraham, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Irfan Khan
Kid rating : PG-13

NEW YORK : GOOD INTENTIONS, BUT DOESN’T STAND IT’S GROUND

After the recent months of the film strike and the sudden paucity of desi films, one would think we would be flooded with Movies of high caliber. Well, it appears that I am dreaming of Utopia, where we would be treated to one smashing, Vishal Bharadwaj-directed film a week. The Real World is not remotely like it; hence films like “New York”. Now don’t get me wrong – it’s not all bad. Actually it’s much better than bad, although reading the Rediff review, I was expecting a Grade A disaster (which it is not).

Samir (John), Omar (Neil) and Maya (Katrina) are college friends in the US. While Samir and Maya are Americans , Omar has come from India to study in the States. The three although different in temperament become “best buddies”. After college, and unrequited love, Omar drifts apart from the duo. Years later when he meets Samir and Maya under false pretenses, Omar must decide whether to betray his friends or save innocent lives . . .

“New York” is peopled with pretty folk. There’s well-muscled John Abraham, beautiful Katrina Kaif and that innocent cherub of a bad actor, Neil Nitin mukesh. And that’s one of my grouses with it – it’s too pretty to be taken seriously. The “theme” so to speak, is “serious” and “weighty” – that of terrorism and the innocent people who were tortured because of it, post-9/11. A good theme and a potentially interesting film. However, if you were really serious about your craft and product would you cast Abraham, Kaif and Mukesh, all non-actors, in the lead roles ?

I must admit here that I don’t particularly dislike seeing Abraham on screen – quite the contrary in fact. And Kaif and Mukesh are easy on the eyes as well. Oh, but to watch them eke out an emotion is sheer torture. Neil Nitin Mukesh who’s first film “Johnny Gaddar” was a tremendous (and very fortunate) debut, is actually forced to emote here, and while he passed muster in his first film, he doesn’t quite cut it here. Probably because some scenes actually require a certain amount of skill; for example the scene where he finds out that the woman of his dreams loves someone else. And John, although he improves from film to film, doesn’t have the acting chops to do this role. Ah, and Kaif – the less said about her acting the better. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; the woman is stunning to look at, but an actress she’s not.

Irrfan Khan, probably the most versatile actor in the film, plays a policeman (yet again!) this time of the FBI, seeking to defend the outrages committed by his adopted country. He is the lynch-pin, the connection between the desi Omar and the American FBI agent, and it his character that must be true to his convictions. Unfortunately, as much as I’d like to believe him, his conviction appears shaky, and he does not stand his ground.

Which is sort of the problem with the film; good intentions, but whither that conviction ?

Direction is intermittently good; there are scenes which are handled oh-so-delicately and then there are times, when the shot is so rough around the edges, it makes you cringe. I am undecided on this director’s skill as of now – is what he got right a fluke, or is he really a “good” director who strayed ? You gather then that directorial skill doesn’t exactly shine through here.

Story-wise, this film does come up as unusual, but it has some very gaping plot-holes. There is Maya, an educated woman who believes that her man will go the straight and narrow path, just because he hasn’t (yet) told her about his (nefarious) activities. Really ? Spin a good yarn someone ! Then there is the abrupt career jump that Omar makes – one day he’s a 9-to-5 office person, the next he’s oh-so-excited to be starting in on Sam’s building cleaning business. Whoa ! It is (scripted ?) stuff like this which makes me regard the film with just that much less credulity.

The film is to quite a degree saved by it’s melodious music. While the “Hai Junoon” song is passable, “Mere saath chal zara” and “Tune jo na kaha” are outstanding.

Kidwise : This film contains violence and scenes depicting torture. Younger children might find it hard to grasp some concepts.

If you liked this film, you might also like :

– Hazaar chaurasi ki ma
– Hazaron khwaishen aisi
– Yun hota to kya hota ?

Posted in 2009, bollywood, drama, rating-PG13, watchable | 2 Comments

Review : 99

Posted on June 30, 2009 by amodini

Note : The edited version of this review appears at Planet Bollywood, here.
Rating : Above average (3.9/5)
Genre : Comedy
Year : 2009
Running time : 2 hours 15 minutes
Director : Krishna D.K., Raj Nidimoru
Cast : Kunal Khemu, Cyrus Broacha, Mahesh Manjrekar, Soha Ali Khan, Simone Singh, Boman Irani, Vinod Khanna, Sudesh Berry
Kid rating : G

Who doesn’t love a movie about bumbling crooks ? Especially if it is well-made, has what seems to be an original story-line and some actual humor, yeah ? I do, for one. And 99 struck me as entertaining and a tad “Pulp Fiction”-ish, because it’s got these bizarre characters with their fetishes and quirks. The more the merrier – that’s the motto and it succeeds pretty well.

Sachin (Kunal Khemu, who’s gotten cleaned up and clean-shaven), and Zaramud (Cyrus Broacha) are small-time conmen who when they damage another crook AGM’s car, must work for him, and end up helping him extract payments from recalcitrant loan-seekers. Thus they meet Rahul (Boman Irani), a salaried professional with the gambling itch. Now Rahul is into betting on cricket matches because he believes them to be fixed, and persuades the duo that he can predict and win. Now the threesome (actually foursome, if you include lady-love Pooja(Soha Ali Khan)) must outwit AGM, and other assorted villains to grab some moolah, bet with it and win. Sound impossible ? Think again !

Khemu who’s always appeared in small-time, if entertaining films, delivers yet again. As Sachin, the almost yuppie, good-looking, well-built con-man with a heart of gold, he is quite likeable, and not hard to root for. Cyrus Broacha, MTV VJ, and the film’s resident fat-man is quite another story. Broacha has trouble emoting, and his punch-lines are off. The only time I found him funny was when he walked straight into a pole and fell unconscious. He was funnier out.

Mahesh Manjrekar as AGM, the technologically challenged crime-boss is spot-on. And funny. There is one scene, where the Mumbaikar AGM comes to Delhi and gets into a taxi. The taxi doesn’t have a meter, and AGM is quite perturbed. “What kind of city is this ! The taxis don’t have meters !”, he remarks quite agitated. And while my recanting this anecdote might seem flat, please watch this in person for maximum effect.

Another actor who’s new and very effective is Amit Mistry, who plays Kuber, a crook (the film’s teeming with them) who’s lent Rahul money and comes knocking to recover it. Now Kuber, who’s well, a little puny, always lugs around his henchman. This hulking giant of a man, could probably eat our hero Sachin for breakfast and not burp. He is innocuously named Dimple – a sly dig at Punjabi Delhites who have a penchant for naming their muscular children Chintu, Bubbly, Sweety and the like.

Pretty Simone Singh plays Jahnavi, Irani’s estranged wife (she’s firmly ensconced at her mother’s flat), and Soha Ali Khan play’s a hotel manager and Sachin’s paramour. While Khan’s role is not as minor as Singh’s they both don’t sway the story either way. What does sway the film, and keep it afloat is it’s subtle humor, much of it derived from the comparison between our two favorite cities – Bombay and Delhi (i.e.; have you heard the gag about Pooja and Neha ?). Nicely done, and with much affection.

This film is well-directed and spry-spirited. From an enthusiastic and often athletic cast (watch Khemu and Broacha run circles around their enemies) to glib, humorous dialogues, and meaty, well-defined characters, this one is an all-around winner.

Kidwise : This is a relatively clean film, and one which your kids (and you) might enjoy. Hard to believe, I know, but an actual family entertainer!

Posted in 2009, bollywood, drama, family-friendly, humor, rating-G, recommended | 2 Comments

Review : The other end of the line

Posted on May 7, 2009 by amodini

Rating : Below average (2.8/5)
Genre : Romance
Year : 2009
Running time : 1 hour 45 minutes
Director : James Dodson
Cast : Anupam Kher, Shriya Saran, Jesse Metcalfe Kid rating : PG-13

THE OTHER END OF THE LINE : Worth hanging up on !

Jessica David talks to Granger Woodruff, over the phone. She is almost in love with his voice, and he wants to meet her for drinks. The catch – Jessica is not really American Jessica but Indian call-center employee, Priya Sethi, complete with Amrikan accent and knowledge of Amrikan culture, etiquette and movie stars. And she’s helping Granger sort out his credit card theft issue, while surreptitiously checking him out on the web.

Bangalore based Priya, being pushed into an arranged marriage with a tied-to-Mama’s-pallu suitor, decides to throw caution and parental disapproval out the window and head out to the US to meet Granger. However since he isn’t expecting an “Indian” Jessica, complications arise. The two do get to meet in total Bollywood fall-over-each-other style (and under false pretenses), but love is quite another matter . . .

Now, romantic comedies abound. So why should you see this one? No reason at all. The chemistry is non-existent, the storyline involves flights of fancy and logical lapses, and the acting is mediocre. Besides watching perpetually pleasant Priya turn into a coy, simpering desi girl in the presence of gorgeous Granger got tiring after a while.

Ashok Amritraj produces this jaded bit of filmdom. The story is pretty cliché-ridden from the over-strung Dad to the patriarchal future in-laws. And the quality, the overall feel of the film is very average. While most parts of the movie are passable – yeah, they won’t have you swooning in delight – some are so ineptly done, that they are almost gauche. James Dodson decides to lay on the whole Indian bit a little thick.

Shriya Saran playing Priya is nothing out of the ordinary; she’s the pretty girl next door, but without that quality which would separate her from the pack. And Jesse Metcalfe (from Desperate Housewives) playing Granger is OK. Anupam Kher is great always, but he’s been given this eccentric, overwrought Dad’s role, so you can imagine how it goes.

All that said, my biggest issue with this film is it’s predicatability. Another love story with the honor-ridden, what-will-people-say, izzat-minded desi parents and a girl wanting the unsuitable? Ouch. I would tolerate inept acting and direction if only to watch something new, with decent emotional grounding. If I could feel a glimmer of what Priya-Granger were feeling, or even get a whiff of their blooming (and you can take that any way you will !) romance I’d be a happy couch potato. But no, nada, nyet – all that they feel is expressed very amateurishly, and in a very limited fashion. Where is that rumbling passion that would make you toss aside parents/girlfriend ? Not in this film.

And it’s not like I expected Dodson to deliver it served warm and fuzzy, but one can hope, can’t one ?

A very been-there done-that film; an Indian “Pretty Woman” if you will – only there ain’t no oomph; Shriya isn’t a Roberts and there isn’t a Gere to dream of post-movie.

If you liked this film, you might also like (hint-hint – a well-made romance !) :

– Pyar ke side effects
– Rules
– Socha na tha

Posted in 2009, bollywood, hollywood, rating-PG13, watchable | 1 Comment

Review : Aa dekhen zaraa

Posted on April 30, 2009 by amodini

Rating : Below average (2.8/5)
Genre : Drama
Year : 2009
Running time : 2 hours
Director : Jehagir Surti
Cast : Neil Nitin Mukesh, Bipasha Basu, Rahul Dev, Sophie Chaudhary
Kid rating : PG

AA DEKHEN ZARAA : Predictable pot-boiler !

One is often wary of watching films with bad actors in them. And so it was with “Aa dekhen zaraa”. The fact that Neil Nitin Mukesh also starred in it somewhat mitigated that fear, because after the wonderful “Johnny Gaddar”, his next appearance was highly anticipated. Now, he’s not a master actor, but compared to Lady Bips, he is the King.

And then, of course, you have the , er . . , scientific angle. Because this film involves concepts of time travel – yeah, not so much that you’d have to stress that precious noggin, but just palatable enough for a casually entertaining desi flick. Me, being this huge time-travel fan, you’d think I’d go see this film the first chance I got, no ? But no, getting these many bad reviews of a film does put you off. So I waited. And finally did see the film. Here’s the plot :

Lady B plays Simi, a singer/DJ – nice, swanky looking club, and she looking marvelously hip and all. In a flat close by her’s, resides our photographer hero Ray (Neil). Now Ray has been left a camera by his grand-father, and it’s not an ordinary one. It can foretell the future – you click the snap and turn a handy dial, develop said photo, and voila ! the developed photo will be of the subject in the future. Awesome, you think ! Well, guess who else thinks this is awesome ? The villains of course. And there are many.

Anyway, with our boy Ray merrily clicking away, he has one photo taken of himself, and discovers that there’s something quite unwelcome looming in his future. Simi, who by this time has become serious girl-friend steps in, talks some sense, and together they try to beat this thing. The evil villains, predictably are hot on their trail . . .

Well, that’s as far as I can take you. And if you haven’t yet guessed the ending, please go see the film. It isn’t as bad as anticipated – for a masala movie. For one thing, the songs are pretty good – especially the title track, and that slow romantic number “Mohabbat aap se”. However the lead pair don’t have much chemistry; she looks quite a bit older and way more worldly-wise than dewy-eyed Mukesh. The direction is a bit slapdash, the film’s coherence hangs by a thread, and events and characters pop out of nowhere. Aah, and the logic – let’s just say that there isn’t much of that.

Rahul Dev as villanous “Captain” essays his role with some panache, while Sophie in yet another baby-doll-with-anglicized-Hindi is her usual self – bad. Bipasha can’t act but has personality, and Neil can’t act either but has this very earnest appeal thing about him. Makes you wish they got better scripts, and directors who knew what they were doing.

It is believed that we are attracted to the shiny and the colorful, as compared to the reliably hued. So it is with this movie – it’s thoroughly pulpy, cool angles, cool clothes, and quite a bit of bling. But for about 2 hours of mindless entertainment, I’d choose this over, say, a “Race”.

Posted in 2009, bollywood, drama, rating-PG, sci-fi, thriller | Comments Off

Review : Gulaal

Posted on March 18, 2009 by amodini

Rating : Above average (3.7/5)
Genre : Drama
Year : 2009
Running time : 2 hours 50 minutes
Director : Anurag Kashyap
Cast : Kaykay Menon, Abhimanyu Singh, Aditya Shrivastava, Deepak Dobriyal, Jesse Randhawa, Piyush Mishra, Mahi Gill, Ayesha Mohan, Raj Singh Chaudhary
Kid rating : PG-13

GULAAL : WEAK ENDING RUINS STRONG BUILD-UP !

Technorati tag : Review Gulaal

Kashyap’s latest is a dark film, not just in it’s content, but also visually. Dark or poorly-lit rooms, house dark, vengeful characters. The main story focuses on student politics in Rajasthan, where law student Dilip Kumar Singh (Chaudhary) has newly arrived. Naïve Dilip finds rooms let by Rananjay Singh, known as Ransa (Abhimanyu Singh), the son of the erstwhile Raja. Dilip, cowardly and weak, is soon embroiled in student politics, courtesy Ransa and other rival gangs.

Gulaal introduces us to politics via Dilip, but this is really the story of people hungry for power and the affluence that it brings. Duki Bana (Menon), a zamindar, who finds himself bereft of any real power in the face of Governmental rulers, wants money to build the state of Rajputana. Kiran (Mohan) and her brother (Aditya Srivastav), as children of a kept mistress, want their father’s name. There is a third faction of louts also contesting the student General Secretary post, however they do not become prominent to the story. Other characters, all interesting, are those who sway one way or another.

The first half of the film is strong and well-controlled, and Kashyap uses the time to give us a tight, political drama. You have a weak common-man, Dilip, friends with Ransa, who’s kind of wild and reckless. Dukki Bana, who’s married, has a mistress on the side, and is open to other amorous advances, is using Ransa to win over student politics in Rajpur, and thus supporting him over rival factions. Deepak Dobriyal stunningly plays Dukki’s right-hand man. Then there is Kiran, who will go to any lengths to win the elections and become the student General Secretary. And there is her brother, cold, calculating, trigger-happy Karan who master-minds Kiran’s every political move.

There are also minor characters like Dukki’s wife (Jyoti dogra), a dutiful woman, who gets a little feisty when she hears of Madhuri (Mahie Gill) Duki’s mujra-performing mistress. Model Jesse Randhawa plays Anuja, a teacher who is stripped of her clothes and her dignity, but must continue to puff-up impotent clouds of cigarette smoke, in the absence of any hope of action against the perpetrators. I found her role inconsequential to the story – it didn’t do anything and didn’t exert any influence on any character. The female characters in the film are all of them powerless, and truly depicted given the context. Even Kiran’s character, while conniving and determined, is only so at another’s bidding.

Then there is also Dukey Bana’s mentally retarded brother Prithvi Bana (Piyush Mishra), who is given to singing and composing couplets. Kashyap uses him to narrate the story in balladic form, and reflect on the corruption of it all.

This film doesn’t have any one protagonist. The main characters are all negative, except maybe Dilip, who’s weak, and doesn’t have the strength to overcome the odds. So it’s kind of hard to actually root for any one. Still, the film with it’s interesting characters, and brilliant acting, is trundling along nicely, until it hits intermission. Then, it’s downhill, because Kashyap fails to keep up his promise. The story flags and I found the end really disappointing. Where he should have upped the ante, and provided a sizeable twist to the story, he goes along with a jaded, and un-interesting premise.

Kashyap tries hard to give us a gritty, ethnically-flavored drama, and comes close to carrying it off, but ouch! – that ending. I cannot see this film succeeding commercially at all, for who really has the time to read between the lines, these days ? Still, this film is highly recommended; just don’t go in there expecting too much.

If you liked this film, you might also like :

– Haasil
– Hazaron khwaishen aisi
– Omkara

Posted in 2009, bollywood, drama, rating-PG13, recommended | 5 Comments

Review : Dil Kabaddi

Posted on February 27, 2009 by amodini

Rating : Poor (2.2/5)
Genre : Drama
Year : 2008
Running time : 2 hours 10 minutes
Director : Anil Senior
Cast : Irrfan Khan, Soha Ali Khan, Rahul Bose, Konkona Sen Sharma, Payal Rohtagi, Rahul Khanna
Kid rating : A

DIL KABADDI : TORTUROUS !

“Dil kabaddi” is apparently an Indianised version of Woody Allen’s “Husband’s and wives” – a desi take on infedility in a marriage. We have two couples, one Samit (Irfan) and Mita (Soha), and the other Rishi (Bose) and Simi (Konkona). Samit and Mita decide to split up, much to Rishi and Simi’s consternation. Samit hitches up with kooky Yoga instructor Kaya (Paya Rohtagi), and Mita, after much weeping and hand-wringing decides to get dating again.

Rishi and Simi meanwhile rethink their partner-ship, he, a professor, on more-than-friendly terms with a student, and she a journalist, almost in love with another man. It’s a tangled web, with lots of sex talk and sexual references thrown in. And if it was reaching for a deeper meaning, it gets lost in the messy thingamajig that is the screenplay.

“Dil kabaddi” is a warbled, garbled film. The characters are interesting, better handled it might have made a better film, but as is, they come in slip-shod and eccentric. The actors playing these ill-defined characters give it their best shot, but that isn’t enough to keep this film from sinking. The direction is amateurish, and the product comes across as incoherent and disjointed.

This film tries to get into the nitty-gritty of relationships, and tries to be quick and clever about it. The couples are, at least on the outside, smart, savvy and snappy. On the inside they are emotional wrecks like the rest of us. As such you’d think that it would be easy to sympathize with their predicament and root for them, in their search for “The One”. Unfortunately not. Inept handling makes this a difficult job – the one character for whom I felt (remote) sympathy was Mita.

This is an awful film, and not even strong acting performances could redeem it.

Kidwise : Contains sexual references, and gets an A rating.

Posted in 2009, bollywood, drama, rating-A | 3 Comments

Review : Luck by chance

Posted on February 22, 2009 by amodini

Rating : Above average (3.8/5)
Genre : Drama
Year : 2009
Running time : 2 hours 40 minutes
Director : Zoya Akhtar
Cast : Farhan Akhtar, Konkona Sensharma, Dimple Kapadia, Isha Sharvani, Hrithik Roshan, Rishi Kapoor, Juhi Chawla
Kid rating : PG – 13

LUCK BY CHANCE : WELL-TOLD FILMI DRAMA

Technorati tag : Review Luck by chance

I was really looking forward to this film, even though it lacked in the oomph department; Farhan as talented as he is (and he’s really working on those biceps) isn’t quite the man to make one’s heart go pitter-patter. And the Akhtars didn’t dissapoint. Zoya Akhtar’s debut directorial venture is an entertaining, interesting first film.

Luck by Chance is a story of two wannabe-movie-stars. One is a woman, hard-working but awaiting her chance. And the other is a man, her lover, a go-getter, an opportunist. He makes it, she doesn’t, and their relationship is the casualty.

The film is a hard look at Bollywood – how it works and who can work it. From the big-time producer Romy Rolly, and his hat-wearing director, to the Adonis-like superstar Zafar Khan – they’re all there and they’re all parodied just right. The hero Vikram’s character is fleshed out as a sly, manipulative go-getter, and Farhan does it justice. Each person’s role, however small is detailed rather well – they all appear to ring true.Zoya has an eye for detail, even the smallest part is handled with care.

There is much leg-pulling going on here – whether it’s the scene where the Nikki in a super-short dress attempts to touch Romy Rolly’s feet at the behest of her mother, or in the scene where Nikki, a spoiled star brat can’t quite pronounce the dialogue minus the Anglicized lilt that her priviliged upbringing has brought her. There are also well-done moments of truth as in the scene where Sona tells Vikram how selfish he’s being, and then forgives him saying he can’t help it – that is just who he is.

The two protagnists Vikram Jaisingh (Farhan Akhtar) and Sona Mishra (Konkona Sen Sharma) share almost equal screen time and importance, and the film is peopled with an excellent cast. Farhan Akhtar is quite the actor, and Konkona is marvellous. Dimple Kapadia is beautiful and fiery and tempestous and really quite effortless as Nina – the star mother. Isha Sharvani plays Nikki Valia, Nina’s daughter, and the heroine opposite whom Vikram gets his big break. But the pairing which I loved the most was that of producer Romy Rolly, played by fat and jovial looking Rishi Kapoor (with a wig of curly hair – how apt) and his ex-heroine, high-heel-shod, perpetually cheery wife Minty (Juhi Chawla).

The screen-play unfolds marvellously, it’s all in place, and the story flows. There was not a jarring moment, each persona had it’s moment. We got to know all the characters well, even though we didn’t sympathize with them – and in this the director succeeds very well ; in fact this is what makes this film so engrossing. LBC is an urban, modern look at life in the big city, succeeding in the cut-throat, incestuous world of Hindi films. On a deeper level, it’s about defining your own success and achieving it. It’s not poetic, it’s pragmatic. And done well.

The film also has a very good music by Shankar-Ehsan and Loy – a slow and haunting musical score to accompany a strong, and to-the-point film. Nice – recommended.

Kid-wise : This film has adult situations/talk and hints at sexual situations.

If you liked this film, you might also enjoy :

– Page 3
– Dor
– Mithya

Posted in 2009, bollywood, drama, rating-PG13, recommended | 3 Comments

Review : Delhi 6

Posted on February 21, 2009 by amodini

Rating : Very good (4.2/5)
Genre : Drama / All-in-one
Year : 2009
Running time : 2 hours 18 minutes
Director : Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra
Cast : Abhishek Bachhan, Waheeda Rehman, Sonam Kapoor, Om Puri, Deepak Dobriyal, Pawan Malhotra, Atul Kulkarni, Supriya Pathak, Tanvi Azmi, Rishi Kapoor, Prem Chopra, Cyrus Sahukar, K.K. Raina, Divya Dutta, Vijay Raaz, Aditi Rao
Kid rating : PG

DELHI 6 : DREAMY, DELICIOUS, DELIGHTFUL !

Technorati tag : Review Delhi 6

Heightened anticipation. Yup, that about describes it. Waiting for Rakesh Om Prakash Mehra’s upcoming film with heightened anticipation and wondering “Will he do a Rang de basanti once again ?”

The answer to that is – Yes, he does. And how !

The two films are sort of in the same genre, in that they both deal with angst and anger at the state of the country, and a sort of self-awakening. In RDB the characters were home-wrought, in D6 it’s an import (an American born hero). While RDB was more “motivational” so to speak, D6 is introspective and a tad preachy.

The title tells you where it’s at – Delhi, Chandni Chowk to be precise. So you thought the streets of old Delhi were crowded and grimy ? Not really, not in this film. Yes, the gallis are narrow and you can’t bring a car in, and have to walk or resort to cycle-rickshaws. And yes, mithai shops jostle along-side old homes for space, but this is home to the film’s heroine, feisty Bittu (a stunning Sonam Kapoor), and her neighbor Roshan Mehra (Bachhan) who’s come to drop off his grand-mother (a stately looking Waheeda Rehman) in India, because she wants to spend her last days “at home”.

OmPrakash Mehra portrays a languorous Delhi. It’s a Delhi of close-knit friends and neighbors, of warm, sunny terraces, of afternoons spent kite-flying. And because it’s delicious Delhi, Roshan who’s come for a few days decides to spend a little more time, getting sucked in , firstly as a wary spectator, and then as an energized participant, in the humdrum life of Delhi-6.

And it’s not like everything is hunky-dory. Mehra spends his time and his script detailing little atrocities – the untouchable Jalebi (a magnificent Divya Dutta) who’s looked down upon publicly but considered fit enough to use sexually, the town dullard Gobar derided, the unmarried bua (aunt) caught in the crossfire between two brothers. Even the heroine Bittu is caught in a quandary because she does not wish to marry but is forced to put on a show in the marriage market, to, as she says “walk a little, sing a little, and then pass off Bua’s samosas as my own”, because willy-nilly, she is the bearer of her father’s honor (or izzat).

The beginning of the film is light and breezy, finding humor in everyday situations. We see Roshan and his grand-mother welcomed by their neighbors and settling into their central courtyard-ed home, getting accustomed to the dry water-taps and the 8 o’clock power cut. Mehra pays Delhi his respects; it appears vibrant and luscious and colorful, veritably glistening as it is shot artistically. The visual appeal is heightened by Rehman’s melodious numbers – Genda phool is superb, as is the catchy Masakali. It might be that I have a prejudiced eye, but to me every frame in the first half of the film had that . . . that visual oomph; that classy quality feel – the kind that made me at once nostalgic and appreciative of the director’s deft handling of his subject.

The film’s story is peppered with instances of things gone wrong – of little slights, and large social problems, so you sort of gather where this film is going, even though it does not have a very active plot. It is towards the later half of the film that the director actually gets down to business, with the theme of distrust and hate. Mehra centers the film’s around 2 main ideas – the first is the Ramayana, and the second is the “black monkey” which is supposedly harassing the citizens of Delhi. Both of these ideas help the film move towards it’s more prosaic and preachy message.

While the film has a larger social message, Mehra manages to flesh in little details and believable characters. His Bittu and Roshan, while from different worlds manage to connect against all odds. The screenplay is astounding – in a film which was more of a touristy snapshot of Delhi (at least in the beginning), I did not discern a lag in pace, or a need for editing (or maybe I was so busy being grateful that this piece of art had come my way that I didn’t notice !)

As lovely as the film itself is, it couldn’t have been what it was had it not been for the excellent cast. Sonam Kapoor is young and fresh and a very good actress. Waheeda Rehman and Om Puri are immaculate – they aren’t veterans for nothing. Tanvi Azmi (as Roshan’s mother), Supriya Pathak , Deepak Dobriyal (as Mamdu the halwai), Atul Kulkarni (as Gobar), Divya Dutta (as Jalebi), Rishi Kapoor (as the charming Ali Baig), Pawan Malhotra, K.K.Raina, Vijay Raaz (as the corrupt inspector) – I could go on and on – are exquisitely cast and excel in their performances. Even Raghuvir Yadav comes in in a tiny role, and Prem Chopra portrays the greedy money-lender. MTV VJ Cyrus Sahukar shows up as the seedy small-town-ish photographer and does fairly well.

And now for the hero Abhishek Bachchan. He does OK, he isn’t superlative. I would have wished for a protagonist with a little more fire in him, a hero who could show that he felt what he was saying. Bachchan, mouthed the preachy dialogues all right, but I didn’t get that he felt them, with any intensity. The film thus is effective, although not as passionate as it could have been. The other flaw in the film was the lack of subtlety. Mehra is pushing a message in the film – we get it – no need to spell it out. But he does, and loses some of the impact.

All said and done, I must say that I loved the film. It is not as good as “Rang de basanti” but a pretty close second. I highly recommend it.

Kidwise : The film is pretty clean, with one hint of a love-making scene.

If you liked this film, you might also enjoy :
– Swades
– Rang de basanti
– Shool