Review : Salaam-e-ishq

Posted on January 28, 2007 by amodini

Rating: Above Average (3.5/5)

Genre : Romance
Year : 2007
Running time : 3 hrs and 45 minutes
Director : Nikhil Advani
Cast : Salman Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Ayesha Takia, Akshay Khanna, Tinnu Anand, Vidya Balan, John Abraham, Anil Kapoor, Juhi Chawla, Isha Koppikar, Sohail Khan, Govinda, Shannon Esra, Anjana Sukhani

SALAAM-E-ISHQ ( SEI ) : NO WARM, FUZZY FEELING !

After watching this almost 4 hour extravaganza, I feel like I feel after a large and heavy meal ; I liked eating it, but it was way too oily for consumption and I don’t feel particularly enthused afterwards. Rumored to be based on the romantic flick “Love actually”, which I loved actually, I can’t help but compare. Yes, they both feature romantic stories, of couples who are inter-connected with each other through friendship, relationships or just off-chance meetings, and one of the romantic situations in SEI is a take-off on the one from “Love Actually”, but that’s where the similarity ends.

I went in to see “Love Actually” for Hugh Grant, and came away a bleeding-heart romantic, on a cotton-candy- the-world-is-beautiful-and-the-sun-is-shining high. It left me with this warm, fuzzy feeling which SEI failed to deliver. And that really is the crux of the problem, after all that hype and hoopla – it fails to deliver.

SEI features 6 stories of 6 young couples in different situations, and different quandaries. All their problems are apparently caused by love, too much, too little, love for the wrong people, love for people who don’t want it, unrequited love, amnesia-afflicted love and what have you. Out of the 6 stories, 5 stay with you, while the 6th drops off the radar after a while, resurfacing only at the end for a little comedic relief.

Each of the 5 stories is moderately developed, the most believable being the Hindu-Muslim couple – the Ashutosh-Tehzeeb story, simply because of Vidya Balan’s strong performance, and John’s lazy charm . The starlet hungry to make it big, hatching up a publicity stunt which backfires – the Kkamini-Rahul (Priyanka-Salman) deal I had a little trouble believing, since it was a little too stretched – lot’s off treacly love, tears and under-developed characters. And really who was Rahul anyway, and why in the first place was he involved – the director never cleared that up and it didn’t help the believability any. The Stephanie-Raju (Shannon and Govinda) pair, she searching for her faithless Indian boyfriend and he the desi taxi-driver who ferries her around the country was sweet and reminded me of Marisa Tomei’s “Only You”. And the Shiven-Gia (Akshaye-Ayesha) yuppie marriage fiasco, with the groom with the cold-feet had me enthused because of Takia’s innocent naivete and Akshay’s zesty performance. The 5th story was of the stable married couple – Vinay-Seema (Anil and Juhi), whose 15 year marriage is threatened when the husband wants more than just boring, suburban life. This one closely resembled the Emma Thompson-Alan Rickman storyline in “Love Actually”, but was not portrayed with as much feeling (I remember weeping buckets for Emma’s character). The 6th couple’s story was Isha-Sohail as a rural couple unable to give vent to their passion, and I fear suffered the most on the editor’s table. It wasn’t even a love quandary really – just well-done attempts at humor.

The stories almost run in parallel, they develop initially, get to critical mass simultaneously, everything emphasized and every emotion underlined with music and dancing, implode and then resolve towards the end. The actors do fairly well, special mentions to Govinda who plays a Bollywoodised cabbie to the hilt, and the vibrant Akshaye Khanna. Salman has slimmed down, while Ayesha has gotten chubby, although she still looks gorgeous.The director transitions from story to story with relative panache, picturesque shots, and stylish edits. The songs are plentiful, well-picturised and pleasant. And some of the dialogues are so charmingly pretty and so romantically sugar-sweet that I, sucker that I am, longed to write them down.

Still, the movie was too long; “Love actually” did the job and did it better in half the time. Of course it didn’t have the songs and dances, and the Bollywood baggage which SEI has. Where this film suffers is in it’s pace, especially in the first half, where the film moves forward languidly. Also the director tries to tell us a lot, and shows too little (lots of captioning telling us the dates and locations of situations). The treatment could have also been subtler for love stories; at times it’s a bit in your face. All the glitz and glamour notwithstanding, I wasn’t too keen on any pair, although they all seemed OK. None of the many characters in SEI get time or space to develop their own, quirky personalities, into real people I’d care about or root for. And that I think stops this mediocre film from being spectacular.

This is fairly decent fare for a weekend watch, but don’t expect to come away awed with the magnificence of love. And this from someone who’s seen “Love actually” 5 times.

Posted in 2007, bollywood, watchable | 3 Comments

Review : Vivah

Posted on January 22, 2007 by amodini

Rating : Poor (2.2/5)
Genre : Drama
Year : 2007
Running time : 2 hrs and 41 minutes
Director : Sooraj Barjataya
Cast : Shahid Kapoor, Alok Nath, Amrita Rao, Seema Biswas, Anupam Kher, Sameer Soni, Lata Sabharwal, Anjali Prakash

VIVAAH : REGRESSIVE !

Finally saw the film, and the one erudite observation I must make at the end of it is that, Amrita Rao must have a massive crick in the neck from keeping her head lowered all throughout the film. But I’m being too harsh, there is more to her role than just lowering the head; she had had ample opportunity to smile coyly, laugh girlishly, nod her head in agreement, and generally be such a good, quiet and demure girl, that it makes me want to puke. But it’s not her fault really, it’s the director’s – being caught in an inescapable time warp and all that.

It’s often said about great movies that they leave a mark on you. I don’t know about greatness, but Vivah has certainly left it’s mark on me; it’s scarred me for life. I will wake up in terror at night, roused to sleepless-ness, from nightmares which feature Amrita Rao, resplendent in her good-girl attitude, eyes lowered respectfully, proffering with a faint, demure smile, a glass of water, and whispering softly (as nice girls do) “Jal ?”

Barjatya shows all symptoms of being chronologically challenged. He’s in the 2000s but he thinks he’s in the 1980’s. The characters is his film are too good to be true – they virtually drip selflessness, while the lead pair acts like they’re direct descendants of Ram and Sita. Technically this is a fairly decent film, but content wise I must say it rightfully deserves it’s place on the “Worst of 2006” list.

The film starts off with an intro to Pooja (Rao). Her story is told by Krishna Kant, her Chacha (uncle) played by Alok Nath. Pooja is an orphan, having come into her uncle’s household ater her parent’s death. Nath speaks of her as a “gift”, speaking of his aim in life being to nurture this daughter and to marry her off. Then in the same breath he scorns those who would treat their daughters as burdens. The whole dialogue left me a little dumb-founded – apparently Chachaji (and the scriptwriter) do not realise that this is cause and effect – daughters are considered burdens because their apparent aim in life is marriage, not education, not careers, not independence.

Pooja lives with her Chacha and Chachi (Seema Biswas) and their daughter Choti (Anjali Prakash). Of course the Chachi doesn’t love Pooja much, because she’s prettier than Choti, Choti being dusky of complexion. However the loving Chacha arranges a match for Pooja with the son of a wealthy, industrialist family from Delhi. Much time in the film is spent in celebrating the engagement and the getting-to-know-each-other process. Where Prem (Shahid Kapoor) is the magnanimous bride-groom, who decides that he will spend a month of each year at his wife’s parents’ home (let’s all stand up and clap please), well-brought up Pooja is the perfect shudh Hindi speaking addition to the clan.

The marriage day draws closer, but a fire in Krishna Kant’s house will put Pooja and Prem’s well-behaved love to the test . . .

OK folks this is a cheesy film, complete with corny dialogues. Still, the able cast handles all the corn and the cheese and cooks with it. And then ladles this out in small, edible portions. I think. It didn’t stop me from barfing it up throughout the film. And then the plot – there is no plot. It’s girl and guy, and then girl and guy gone wrong. This makes the film terribly hard to bear, especially during the middle. The beginning and the end are tolerable, since in the beginning you’re trying to get used to the whole time-travel (to the 80’s) deal, and in the end you are all agog with happiness since it’s finally ending. And the songs are unmelodious.

Still, why this leaves me with a feeling of distaste, and why I’m not recommending it, is that the film resoundingly gives the wrong, regressive message. It panders to a reality which has women only as backdrops in a male-dominated play. It treats women as glorified cheer-leaders egging on their men to do the important work, while they are content to serve the household, suppress their wants, speak in hushed whispers, with drawn ghunghats and lowered eye-lashes. It sets a (false) standard for “good” women, in that an ideal woman must be docile, biddable, unsusceptible to normal desires and wants, and must do as she is told. And with a smile.

Men, on the other hand, are tolerable as they are – no set strictures on being a “good” man. Plus, they must be applauded for every inch they give. Whether it’s the father-in-law who wants his daughter-in-law to continue her studies, or the fiance who decides to stick by his fiancee in her time of need, the male characters are glorified a whole lot too much. And really I’m not against glorification. What sets my teeth on edge, is that the very same behavior (for which we applaud the men) is behavior we take for granted when it comes to women.

So, unless you’re into time-travel or like being taken for a ride, this one’s not for you.

Posted in 2007, bollywood, drama, family-friendly, rating-PG, romance | Tagged | 11 Comments

Review : Guru

Posted on January 14, 2007 by amodini

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

Rating : Above average (3.8/5)
Genre : Drama
Year : 2007
Running time : 2 hours 45 minutes
Director : Mani Ratnam
Cast : Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Mithun Chakraborty, Madhavan, Vidya Balan



GURU is the story of a man who wants to make money. He has the gumption and the smarts to do it too; what I would call a jugaadu person. How he does what he does, and how he progresses from a village lad to a rich mill-owning tycoon, is the movie. The film is fairly biographical, bears a striking resemblance to Dhirubhai Ambani’s life, and appears almost documentar-ish, except for the fact that the director actually takes sides, and chooses to paint the protagonist in heroic and altruistic colors.

Gurukant Desai (Abhishek) is the ambitious son of a small-time school teacher (Rajendra Gupta). After failing at school and earning his pessimistic father’s displeasure he travels to Turkey for work. There he does well, but opts to return home to work for himself. Home, and lacking enough capital to start his own business, he marries his best friend Jignesh’s (Arya Babbar) elder sister for her dowry money. The lady in question, Sujata (Aishwarya) has a tainted reputation, since she has attempted previously to run-away with a lover. Now, “saved” by Guru, she becomes his loving and devoted wife. Guru embarks in his new business venture in the city with his wife and her brother (who is his partner), and thus starts his journey . . .

The movie faithfully follows Guru’s trials, tribulations and successes, portraying Guru has a hard-working, industrious and extremely enterprising man. He succeeds by, as he puts it himself, the bribe and the kick philosophy. Where he can get work done through a “kick”, he lets loose, and where people want salaams, he salutes. He gets work done anyway he can, caring not about his many detractors but concentrating instead on forging ahead. Guru truly embodies the visionary, taking risks, and reading needs and markets correctly when other go astray. Abhishek does a sterling job as Guru, ebullient as the young Guru, and growing convincingly into the middle-aged, sport-a-paunch industrialist.

I’m not Aishwarya’s biggest fan, considering the fact that the lady has minimal acting skills. However, those that she does possess, Mani Ratnam has managed to put to good use, since she gives, what is possibly, the best performance of her career. Abhishek/impending nuptials doing her good, what ? Playing the devoted (and I mean DEVOTED) wife to the hilt, Aishwarya displays a subtlety which left me dumb-founded. Well, wonders never cease ! And since this one actually works to the benefit of the viewer, I hope these acting lessons stick !

Then there’s Mithunda, making a comeback to the acting skills (Mrigaya, Sitara) I was sure he’d forgotten after he donned those Disco dancing shoes. As newspaperman Manik Dasgupta, he looks old and quite the Bengali babu (which is what he’s playing) who, with his journalistic second-in-command Shyam Saxena (a thinned-down Madhavan) is for doing things by the book and thus against Guru’s devious ways. Quite the communist foil to Guru’s capitalist dreams. The duo, through their newspaper “The Independent” expose and malign Guru’s methods. Vidya Balan plays Meenu, Manik’s ailing grand-daughter, who marries Shyam.

The film isn’t boring, and I’m not too keen on bio-pics, but it does lack the oomph, because one can’t really get behind Guru’s cause. I mean I’m all for making money. Money is a good thing. But let’s call a spade a spade, and not hide all our lets-get-rich schemes under the guise of doing “world-good”. I would be happy championing Guru’s cause if he declared that he did it because that was the way to make money, money he wanted for his family and for himself. That’s not a bad thing to want. However, when Guru runs into trouble with the government for resorting to unethical practices, he justifies it as doing it for the people – “My company benefited but so did my shareholders”. Oh please ! No one does it for the share-holders; that is but a side-effect. We know why Guru resorts to bribes. It’s because you cannot be an honest cog in the wheel of a corrupt system. So I would forgive Guru all his misdemeanors , and nod my head in empathy, if he told it like it is. Does Guru really believe he’s altruistic ? If yes, that’s a bit pompous and hard to believe. If not, then Guru is presenting the “altruism” theory as a part of his conniving persona, which doesn’t jell well when you’re trying to believe that he’s a do-gooder with a heart of gold.

I do see director Ratnam addressing societal changes; Yuva dealt with youth action, and “Dil se” dealt with terrorists. So when he develops Guru’s story into a case against the government for throttling enterprising entrepreneurs, you can sort of see where he’s going, and sympathise. When Guru berates the government bureaucracy as working only when oiled with money, you nod your head in agreement. Yes, government rules may be archaic and stupid, but they must be amended and made to work not only for people like the devious Guru, but for the common man on the street.

The direction is good, the screen shots are composed beautifully and Ratnam handles the emotional aspects of the film with an ease only a master possesses. The music provided by Rehman, is OK, although Rehman displays a flair for butchering Urdu words when he sings. The one number which was sheer torture though was “Ek lo, ek muft”.

So, overall this film was good, definitely watchable. Without the pomposity and the self-righteousness, I’d have enjoyed it a whole lot more.

Posted in 2007, bollywood, drama, recommended | 5 Comments

Worst Films of 2006

Posted on January 4, 2007 by amodini

It gives me great pleasure to put together this list. So much to choose from, so little time. So here goes, in descending order (#1 is worst) the 10 Worst Films of 2006 are :

10. Phir hera pheri
9. 36 China Town
8. Chup chup ke
7. Vivah
6. Banaras
5. Zinda
4. Bhagam Bhag
3. Golmaal
2. Apna sapna money money
1. Dhoom 2

Now the films listed here earn a place because of various reasons :

1. Firstly, the very obvious reason – they are bad ; the worst of the worst e.g. Apna sapna money money
2. They purport to be comedies but descend into mindless and very dumb slapstick e.g. Phir Hera pheri
3. The film is touted as a dream, but really, it’s a nightmare e.g. Dhoom 2

Now, a disclaimer here – I haven’t watched Vivah (yet), but I have it on good authority and from extremely reliable sources that it deserves a spot on this list. And I did watch “36 China Town” but was too lazy (I can’t believe that – me – too lazy ?) to write a review.

Also see Best Films of 2006.

Posted in bollywood, Top 10 | 4 Comments

Review : Bhagam bhag

Posted on December 28, 2006 by amodini

Rating : Below average (2.6/5)
Genre : Comedy
Year : 2006
Running time : 3 hours
Director : Priyadarshan
Cast : Akshay Kumar, Paresh Rawal, Govinda, Lara Dutta, Rajpal Yadav, Shakti Kapoor , Tanushree Dutta

BHAGAM BHAG : COMEDY’s NADIR

I’ve always liked Priyadarshan’s films – they’re sort of like the last bastion of decent comedy. With “Maalamal Weekly I had hope. With this and previous films like “Phir Hera Pheri” however, he seems to be losing his golden touch. Is this the same man who made the fabulous Virasat ? Seems hard to believe. It’s like the fall of Mahesh Bhatt – from the classy “Saaransh” to the rotten residue spilling over from the Bhatt camp currently. Hai ! That downfall; it’s painful to watch.

So what’s it about ? OK, there’s this drama troupe, comprising of the director Champak Seth (Rawal), main leads Babla (Govinda) and Bunty (Akshay) and Anjali (Tanushree), on their way to London to do shows. Problems arise when the heroine quits because of Babla and Bunty’s crude behaviour, and the troupe must fly sans heroine. Once in London, Babla and Bunty search for a heroine, and find one in suicidal Munni (Lara). But big-time trouble follows because Munni is not who she seems . . .

It’s not like I didn’t know what to expect. I had seen the trailer. And I still went to see it. So, who’s fault was it ? The dumbo director’s for dishing out this kind of trash, or mine for seeing it? Bhagam bhag is chockfull of the comedy one would call time-pass; time-passed badly that is. The comedy that is so eagerly lapped up by the movie-goer – no wonder we seem to be getting more of it.

The story, and I hate to call it that (gives it credibility), is nothing but a product of someone’s bad, impromptu imagination. I can just imagine THAT writer’s block. Ooh, I’m all out of ideas ! Oh my, oh my, what shall we do next ? Let’s let loose a hive of bees into their midst ! Already flaky characters pursued by bees ! Oh, yeah ! That should be money’s worth ! That’ll make the film a hit. And the pity is, is that it will. If not a hit, I’m sure BB will at the very least do pretty good business.

However, at this time of the year, I’m thankful for small mercies. And while this is a poor film, it did have fewer of those sick, vulgar innuendoes which other comedies thrive on. The rest – you know it all – the cardboard-ish characters, the apparent lack of brain-power, the inanity, the stupidity, blah, blah, blah – I could go on forever.

Still, because I’m an ultra-nice person, and it’s the holiday season and I’m feeling not quite my bitchy self (although a couple of more such “comedies” will get me there) I’ll say that the film does have some good points. They are in descending order :

1. The songs : Most of the songs are catchy melodies – especially the “Pyar ka signal” number.

2. Akshay Kumar : The actor looks good (although must get rid of the extra ab fat) even when dressed in dungeon-grunge as he is here, acts well, and displays a flair for comedy.

3. Paresh Rawal : You could dunk this guy in the worst film possible and he’d still come out smelling of roses.

4. Some genuinely funny lines – these are few and far between, but are present.

As in all of Priyadarshan’s movies, this film retains a semblance of order because of the decent direction. The acting, such as is required, is OK. Govinda has aged; he now sports a paunch and a couple of chins, but still retains his ad-libbing glib tongue, thanks to all that valuable experience in David Dhawan-esque films. Rajpal Yadav is reduced to a caricature as the taxi-driver Gullu.

So, unless you are getting free tickets, and have 3 hours to kill, you could do better with your time.

Posted in 2006, bollywood, comedy | 2 Comments

Review : Kabul Express

Posted on December 27, 2006 by amodini

[amazon_link id=”B000KX0GW4″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]Soundtrack[/amazon_link]
Rating : Above Average (3.4/5)
Genre : Drama
Year : 2006
Running time : 2 hours
Director : Kabir Khan
Cast : John Abraham, Arshad Warsi, Hanif Hum Ghum, Salman Shahid, Linda Arsenio

 

KABUL EXPRESS : A BOLLYWOOD-ISED DOCUMENTARY

This is directed by documentary film maker Kabir Khan, so it is expected that it has a documentar-ish flavor to it. Still Khan manages to squeeze in a few light moments in this story of a desolate Afghanistan.

Suhel Khan (Abraham), a journalist and Jai Kapoor (Warsi) his cameramen, journey into Kaabul with the main idea being to get an interview with members of the Taliban. This turns out to be an inordinately difficult task, since firstly the Taliban are in hiding, and secondly the intrepid journalist duo haven’t done their homework – they haven’t a map, research, or any information. Similarly clueless is American journalist Jessica (Arsenio), whom they meet up with. She decides to travel with them, and the trio meander through the ruins of Kaabul with their driver Khyber (Ghum) and his trusty Toyota – Kabul Express.

They finally get their moment when Talib soldier Imran (Shahid) takes them hostage and forces them to turn the jeep towards the Pakistani border. Actually of the Pakistani army, Imran is working for the Taliban under orders from the Pakistani bosses, and now wishes to return to his country. Through the journey the group runs into lots of trouble, but this cements a bond between them, one human to another and exposes the real culprits – countries fighting wars for booty at the cost of their countrymen.

Kabir Khan takes potshots at everyone but India – Pakistan is a heartless nation sacrificing it’s soldiers under American pressure, and the US is corrupted by greed. The locales are shot realistically but the characters don’t stick that well and appear flat. The 2 Indian journalists appear to be greenhorns at war-reporting – which was probably intended. However they also appear dumb, which I’m not sure was intentional. The film as a whole appears to be a very on-the-surface treatment, and doesn’t get down and dirty. I mean, where’s the angst, the emotion , the baggage which comes with a war-torn country ? Where’s the stuff that could have transformed this film into a fantastic movie ? Because it did have potential.

The pace of the film drags in the first half, and the film could have been much tighter. Acting wise Warsi comes out the winner, but then he is an excellent actor. Salman Shahid is also very convincing as a Pakistani soldier in the employ of the Taliban. Hum Ghum is OK. John and Linda can be qualified as dramatically challenged.

The film while different (no songs) and an honest attempt to depict Afghanistan’s plight doesn’t have what it takes to go commercial. There is a difference between documentary and Bollywood and Kabir apparently can’t make up his mind on what genre to play up.

Still, worth a watch.

Posted in 2006, bollywood, drama, thriller | 2 Comments

Best films of 2006

Posted on December 22, 2006 by amodini
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Here are my Top 5 films of 2006. Also, checkout the Top 10 films of the year !

1. Omkara :

Starring Ajay Devgan, Saif Ali Khan, Vivek Oberoi and Konkona SenSharma among others, this is a very engrossing adaptation of The Bard’s Othello. Vishal Bhardwaj provides the music, co-writes the dialogues and screenplay and directs, and does each task beautifully.

Set in rustic Uttar Pradesh, this is a tale of local gangleader Omi Shukla, and his two right hand men Keshu Firangi and Langda Tyagi, and how their lives are changed by love and jealousy. The characters are etched beautifully, the screenplay is taut and the direction superb. The entire cast (Kareena plays Omi’s love interest Dolly, and Bipasha adds pizazz as nautanki wali Billo Chamanbahar) gives a superlative performance, but Saif shines the brightest as jealousy-ridden Tyagi. The find of the film is actor Deepak Dobriyal who plays the part of Rajju, Dolly’s fiance.

The film has good songs and background music, and Bharadwaj squeezes in 2 catchy item numbers filmed on Bipasha. Pretty fast-paced in the first half Omkara slows down post-intermission, with less of the action and more of the subtle mind machinations. The film has humor and poignant moments interlaced with the action, and had me mesmerized from beginning to end.

2. Rang de basanti :

RDB is best described as a modern day patriotic parable. This film takes a hard look at patriotism, what it means to us and whether it exists at all. What little there is, is ignited in the heart’s of our protagonists and Rakeysh Mehra’s second directorial venture takes us through this awakening. How it happens is pretty radical, but it makes for interesting cinema, and a lot of thought afterwards.

DJ (Aamir Khan), Sukhi (Joshi), Karan (Siddharth) , Aslam (Kapoor) and Sonia (Soha Ali Khan) are 5 Delhi University graduates, hesitating to get out into the real world. Their directionless lives gravitate towards a common goal when a British film-maker comes into their midst. Then they must do what is good and right, and this war like all others, is not pretty.

This film is happy-go-lucky yet earnest. The director portrays well the helplessness of India’s youth in the face of blatant corruption, and lawlessness. Not only do we hear sleeping patriotism rumbling, we also get to hear it and see it; it gets thrown in our faces. In DJ’s sobs “A hundred like me could die, and it would make no difference . . .”, we weep.

Great acting, and excellent direction help this film garner that 5 star rating.

3. Khosla ka ghosla :

Dibakar Banerjee directs his first film like a pro. Although this film is more of a drama than a comedy (which is what I was expecting), it does lace a serious subject with humor.

Kamal Kishore Khosla (Kher) is the typical mild-mannered, service-class patriarch, with 2 sons and a daughter. Problems beset him when he buys a plot of land and it is usurped by notorious land-grabber Khurana (Boman Irani). Unable to get the land back though legal help (police, NGOs etc.), Khosla’s sons decide to take an alternative approach . . .

Kher as Khosla is superb as always but the real scene stealer is Boman Irani who delivers a great performance playing a nouveau-rich, corrupt, land-shark. Wearing typical, “shiny” clothing, a thick gold chain, and slicked-back hair, Irani exudes kamina-pan. Also of mention are Ranvir Shourie (Bunty), who is the quintessential Delhi boy, and Parvin Dabbas, who underplays his character wonder-fully. Raspy-voiced Tara Sharma does good, as does Vinay Pathak.

KKG stands tall on it’s 3 legs, a strong script, great screenplay, and an out-standing cast. Based on true-life situations (land-grabbing) this film tugs at the heart, because Khosla so eloquently represents the common, middle-class man, helpless in the face of a corrupt system.

4. Kabhi alvida na kehna :

I have never been a fan of Karan Johar, because his films seem unreal and his ultra-chic characters seem to inhabit a world other than my own. KANK is the exception though, and actually gets to the meat of the matter. It deals with marital infidelity and tackles the difficult question : does “happily ever after” actually exist ?
Dev Saran (Khan) is a US soccer star, married to fashion executive Rhea (Zinta). Dev’s mom Kamaljit (Kirron Kher) is a caterer of sorts, who’s catering Rishi and Maya’s wedding. Rishi (Abhishek Bachchan) loves Maya. Maya (Rani Mukerji) isn’t so sure, and post-marriage when she meets Dev, she finds a kindred soul. As their respective married lives deteriorate, Dev and Maya have an affair . . .

This film is a bonafide weepie. While some characters are sketched well (Rishi), it takes imagination to believe the others (Maya, Dev).The actors do fairly well, and Amitabh and Kiron Kher, provide able support.

The story is a bit shaky. One disbelieves the motivation for estrangement but hangs in there, because some moments are magically shot, some dialogues blissfully meaningful and much of the emotion permeates through.

5. Pyar ke side-effects :

A nice, differently told tale. Not what you would not expect of a Mallika Sherawat film – it’s not brash, loud-mouthy or showing excessive cleavage. It’s soft, sweet, with an under-lying love theme.

What it’s about, is avoiding marriage. The topic seems like it’s transposed straight from Hollywood; live-in couples who shake in their boots thinking of impending marriage. For Sid Bose (Rahul Bose) atleast, that’s true. For his girl-friend Trisha (Mallika), who’s proposed to him, it’s either the marriage mandap, or the highway. Sid takes the highway. And regrets it . . .

The characters are interesting and quirky; the hero Sid is a DJ, and has a room-mate Nanoo (Ranvir Shourie) who’s averse to bathing. The heroine Trisha is unconventional – she’s taller than her boyfriend and makes more money than him. Vivek Chaddha (Arora) Trisha’s ex-fiance is very successful, multi-talented and annoyingly nice.

This is a happy-go-lucky film, and breezes by you. It’s funny without being slap-sticky or trying too hard. You don’t have to have a high IQ to understand it. And it’s pleasant – no icky villains, or bloody gore or unnecessary violence. It’s also a lot of fun, and worth hoots of laughter.

Other watchable films of 2006 in no particular order, are :

– Jaan-e-man
– Bas ek pal
– Woh Lamhe
– Don
– Ahista Ahista
– Anthony kaun hai ?
– Yun hota to kya hota ?
– Krrish
– Corporate
– Fanaa
– Being Cyrus

Also see Worst Films of 2006. See what happened in 2007 – The Top 10 films of 2007 !

Tags : Best films of 2006, Best hindi movies, Good hindi movies, Top 10 movies

Posted in 2006, Best hindi movies, bollywood, recommended, Top 10 | 14 Comments

Review : Baabul

Posted on December 11, 2006 by amodini
  • Rating : Above average (3.9/5)
    Genre : Drama
    Year : 2006
    Running time : 3 hours
    Director : Ravi Chopra
    Cast : Amitabh Bachchan, Hema Malini, Om Puri, Rani Mukherjee, Salman Khan, John Abraham, Sharat Saxena, Rajpal Yadav, Parmeet Sethi, Aman Verma

BAABUL : AN EMOTIONAL FATHER-DAUGHTER WEEPIE

To be fair, let me state that I did not like “Baghbaan” – I found it so insufferable that I left it mid-way. This one, although by the same director, I was rather keen to see, because the topic seemed interesting. And then there’s Rani Mukherjee and Bachhan to consider – an awesome acting pair they make.

So, see I did. And liked it. It is in parts, clichéd and trite, and with some dialogues I really wondered whether the director was regressing to his “Baghbaan-ish” self. Thankfully he only regressed in parts, so the movie as a whole came together without too much surplus emotion lapping at the edges.

The kahani which is “Prem Rog” –ish in 2006, is of urban city girl Malvika (Rani), who’s living life painting and selling those paintings (i.e.; successful painter). She meets richie-rich Avinash Kapoor (Salman) on a golf course (yeah she’s painting there – imaginative scripting this), and of course they fall in love, marry, have a kid – the works. Avinash’s dad Balraaj (Amitabh) is the Punjabi patriarch who loves his son greatly and is stricken when that son dies. Of course Malavika is in worse shape, and when Balraaj sees her condition, he resolves to help her overcome it by bringing into her life old friend Rajat (John) . . .

Now, Rani is one of the main reasons I went to see the film, and I must say she comes through on this one. She looks beautiful, acts superbly – she might be the rare breed of Bollywood heroine with beauty and acting skills in equal proportions. Amitabh is the other star, who delivers his (sometimes corny) lines with such aplomb, that I want to get up and applaud, especially towards the end when he so forcefully advocates for the rights of fellow-man/woman over some cold, phony rituals. And Hema Malini (as Balraj’s wife Shobhna), although I like the way she looks even at this age, can’t act. She never could, could she ? “Seeta aur Geeta” didn’t require it that much. A little whip-flicking and you were done. And now a little hand-wringing and those helpless flutters, and she thinks she’s done.

Salman brings to this film good-humor, bonhomie and some comedic moments. Rajpal Yadav is totally wasted – he’s the driver and general help of the Balraj household. Such a fantastic actor and he is forced to demean himself in these 2 bit roles. And Abraham, although he isn’t the best actor in the world, seems so likeable, that he fits his part anyway. I must mention here, that it’s hard to make John look bad – visually that is. But the Chopra camp sure has tried. They put him in a loud yellow (no it’s not off-white) sherwani, at the shaadi and he looks like an absolute bhangi. They also put Amitabh in a pinkish sherwani (designer color blind ?) which doesn’t suit him at all. Rani look gorgeous in her full-sleeved blouse-georgette sari ensemble in one of the dance sequences and Hema dances as gracefully as ever.

The songs were OK, I thought. The one catchy number appears right at the beginning, with repartees between the father Balraj and son Avi. Also of mention is the title number “Kehta hai Baabul” which is heard in refrains in the movie. The almost classical “Bawri piya ki” is also very nice and filmed pretty artistically. Most of the song sequences, which were generally family affairs are filmed slickly, lots of color, glitz and glamour, gorgeous sets, beautifully choreographed moves, and those now ubiquitous long-legged, mini-skirted, foreign dancers. Johar sure made a trend with “Shava Shava”.

Now, the story is about the value of our daughters – be they widows or not. The underlying theme is the perennial struggle of societal customs versus humanity, and how we ought to discard old traditions when they no longer make sense. And although I agree with the general theme here, and pretty much why I also liked the film, I was snorting a little at some of the chauvinistic thinking that accompanied it. Like how Balraj would think that his DIL’s happiness would only be another marriage, or the assumption that the bahu would take kindly to the FIL forcing her into a marriage, ready or not. Or the notion that a woman is “adhuri” (incomplete) without her sindoor (check out John mumbling that mouthful).

The direction is OK. The film tends to flag a little towards the interval, and post-interval the melancholic music tends to get you down. Although this is an entertainer, and a weepie, it tends to get “stretchy” as emotional films are wont to do. I am thankfull that although Chopra milks the father-daugther love for all it’s worth, he’s still not overdone it, Baghbaan style. This time he gets the balance almost right.

I was told that the director initially shot a movie 5.5. hours long and then edited it to it’s present length. This made me deathly afraid that I’d have to endure a film of nightmarish proportions (4 hours ??), because desi directors find their footage so hard to cast-off. However this film ends at a seemly 3 hours – just enough to polish off those pakoras after the interval.

I’m not promising that I’d see this film again, but for one watch, this was worth the money.

Posted in 2006, bollywood, watchable | 2 Comments

Review : Apna Sapna money money

Posted on December 6, 2006 by amodini

Rating : Worse than I imagined (0/5)
Genre : Comedy
Year : 2006
Running time : 2 hours 30 minutes
Director : Sangeeth Sivan
Cast : Reitesh Deshmukh, Celina Jaitley, Shreyas Talpade, Ria Sen, Anupam Kher, Suniel Shetty, Koena Mitra

APNA SAPNA MONEY MONEY : Descent into stupidity

This is a hare-brained adventure. Torturous to the extreme, that it makes you wonder what (sins) you’ve done to deserve it.

The story is a cop and robber chase, the robber here transporting diamonds (worth 50 crores). Bamboozling their way into the already rickety story-line are a bunch of buffoons – one small-time conman Kishan (Rietesh), one honest mechanic Arjun (Talpade) and his true love Shivani (Riya Sen) and her dad (Kher), one wannabe singer Julie (Koena Mitra), and an assorted cast of village folk, all with hearts of shining gold. There is also, in case you are losing hope, a dog, with admirable “fetching” capabilities.

So, there’s Jackie Shroff as Carlos, a bankrupt and extremely inept mafia don. His associate Sania (Jaitley) is transporting smuggled diamonds via train, but pursued by Inspector Namane (Shetty) and in a crunch, places them in an old man’s bag. The old man is actually trickster Kishan in disguise, and carries the diamonds away unwittingly. Later when a couple of gangs get a whiff of the wealth, there ensues a grand mela of sorts with everyone vying for the loot.

There is promise in the story, and with such a large cast of characters, the possibilities endless. And in the early post-intermission phase it looks like things might come together into a coherent plot. It doesn’t happen though, and the film sags into inanity. The movie also attempts to be “spoofy” – with the digs at “Sarkar”, and all the refrains from Subhash Ghai’s earlier films. However it’s badly done, and the terrible humor (it’s not slapstick, it’s not comedy, it’s insufferable) doesn’t help either.

The director wields his baton loosely. The story-line is sparse and embellished with various un-related happenings, so it’s easy to lose track of the diamond chase. The conversation in the film comprises of lots of crude dialogue and double entendres. The characters are un-believable and inconsistent. The screenplay – non-existent. The situations are out-of-the-world and I mean that unkindly. Take for example the encounter between Kishan and Sania in a second-class compartment on the train. Sania, is sprawled on, of all things a second-class berth, wearing a low necked, slit-up-the-thigh ball-gown in broad daylight. And she sprawls in a fashion which allows even the most casual passer-by an eyeful of leg and cleavage. The script-writer definitely has rocks in his head.

The kind of acting this film requires anyone could do, even Koina Mitra – she’s the worst. And there seems something really odd about her face, because she seems pretty android-ish. She’d do well as the next “Jadoo” (Rakesh Roshan, please take note). As far as “acting” goes, they all mumble the odd dialogue as well as the next person. Jackie Shroff has trouble with the mumbling though – why doesn’t he retire ? Chunky Pande’s career sinks beyond redemption – he acts as a Nepali gangster. Talpade (ooh – bad, bad hair day) and Kher could do better than act in such films. Jaitley and Mitra attribute to the “oomph” factor, while Ms.Sen remains subdued in churidaars. It suits her – she must remain subdued and out of films.

This is, by popular opinion, a movie devoid of common-sense. However, even if you were to banish all logical thought processes from your mind, stop thinking for a while, and lose all sense of reason, this would still be an atrocious, absurd, absolutely non-sensical film – which is why it gets the super-negative rating.

Posted in 2006, bollywood, comedy | 2 Comments

Review : Jaan-e-man

Posted on November 29, 2006 by amodini

Rating : Above average (3.3/5)
Genre : Romance / Comedy
Year : 2006
Running time : 2 hours 47 minutes
Director : Shirish Kunder
Cast : Anupam Kher, Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar, Preity Zinta

Jaan-e-man : New approach to old romance !

Don and Jaan-e-man released around the same time. And with all the hoopla going around, comparing Don vs. Jaan-e-man, I was expecting well, a fairly decent film. Not that it is not – it’s just that this doesn’t even come close to Don. Don, with all it’s flaws is definitely the better film. On the other hand it’s probably not fair to compare apples to oranges – so will desist on commenting on this any further.

The story is old, and often told and tried in various formulaic Bollywood films. So what makes Kunder’s debut film any different ? The treatment. Kunder takes this ordinary love story, locates it halfway across the world, and gives to it a stage-like musical feel. With all the attention to detail, lighting (watch out for the changing lights to accentuate atmosphere) and effects (shattering glass in the background during high-pitched emotional scenes), Jaan-e-man separates itself from the usual, weepy, dramatic love stories.

Suhaan Kapoor is a down-and-out actor, divorced from wife Piya (Preity). He also has huge alimony problems, and is sorting these out with his uncle Boney (Kher as a dwarf), when the solution to his problems presents itself. The solution is Agastya Rao, an ex-collegemate who still pines for Pia inspite of the fact that he knows she loves someone else. Suhaan and Boney think that if they can get Piya hitched to financially successful Agastya, Suhaan’s alimony woes will be over. Thus Suhaan plays Cupid (albeit hidden) and gives Agastya an education on winning Piya’s love. However there’s another contender for Piya’s affections . .

Now with the story going the way it was, it struck me that (call it weird) that this could be a “Sixth Sense” spin-off, with Salman being the ghost – dead husband looking after living ex-wife etc. However, it didn’t work out that way, but it could have added an interesting surprise to the whole love tale.

While I could call the film mediocre, there were some scenes that were really touching and well-done, like the one where Salman in New York phones up his uncle to tell him that the mission is accomplished, and weeps. Preity has not much to do save look pretty and emote an occasional scene. Akshay Kumar, playing the part of nerdy intellectual Agastya, goes to town with his geeky laugh. He looks good, but then he always looks good. This is Salman’s film, where he gets to do it all, sing, dance, romance, weep – the whole works. He does it well too. However I must say that with increasing age and girth, the same old, cutesy sighs and gestures don’t sit as well on him as they used to. Kher has an annoying role – that of the dwarf Boney. Boney’s super-sensitive about being a “bauna”, and the film has several un-PC jokes about this, which I found un-funny and off-color. What is it with desi directors – you’ve only got to be fat, short or gay and it’s open season on you ?

The songs are OK, two being outstanding. The script and screenplay are average, and the story as I said was old and worn. Inspite of Kunder’s innovative approach, I’d still rate this film average. I mean, everything’s good and all, but the movie doesn’t give me the warm, fuzzy feeling that romantic flicks should. It could be the actors (Salman’s running over people on the road doesn’t much endear himself) or the general inspid been-there-done-that feel the film has.

An OK watch , but wait for the DVD.

Posted in 2006, bollywood | Comments Off on Review : Jaan-e-man