Blog | Amodini's Movie Reviews - Part 86Amodini's Movie Reviews | Movie Reviews by Year, Genre and Rating

Review : Pyar ke side effects

Posted on October 18, 2006 by amodini

Rating : ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre : Romance
Year : 2006
Running time : 2 hrs and 11 minutes
Director : Saket Chaudhary
Cast : Rahul Bose, Mallika Sherawat, Jas Arora, Suchithra Pillai, Tarana Raja, Ranvir Shourie, Aamir Bashir

PYAR KE SIDE EFFECTS : A funny romantic yarn

A nice, differently told tale. Attempts to be arty-sharty with the asides and the characters speaking to the audience. And does it well too. Really 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. Yes, there are scenes which I would call flights of fancy, but then all is fair in love and war, no?

What it’s about, is avoiding marriage. The topic seems like it’s transposed straight from Hollywood; I know India’s changing and whatnot, but are live-in couples yet the norm ? 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. Realizes he loves Trisha more than he thinks. And he is getting ready to woo her again, but finds that Trisha’s ex-suitor Vivek (Arora) is already ahead in the race.

The characters are interesting and quirky; the hero Sid is a DJ, and has a room-mate Nanoo (the fantastic Ranvir Shourie) who’s averse to bathing. Sid also has a strong-willed sister Shalini (Tarana Raja) who’s pregnant and her husband Kapil (Aamir Baashir) is not yet ready to be a father. The men (Sid, Kapil and Nanoo) bond by whining about life in general and not wanting to marry/ to be parents/ able to get laid respectively.

The heroine Trisha is unconventional – she’s taller than her boyfriend and makes more money than him. Plus she doesn’t adhere to the constraints of being a nice Punjabi “kudi” and has a habit of running away from her marriage ceremonies. Vivek Chaddha (Arora) is the hunk Trisha ran away from at the marriage mandap, but he’s still nuts about her. Very successful, the guy is multi-talented and annoyingly nice (shades of Owen Wilson in “Meet the parents”). Trisha’s Dad is sketched off of Jack Byrnes character in “Meet the Parents”. Not ex-CIA but close.

This is a happy-go-lucky film, you know it’s going to be all right ; the director’s just making us jump through the hoops to stretch the film length a bit. The film, besides having a very urban story, breezes by you. And I mean that nicely. 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 all in the head, the pondering, the musing, the soul-searching.

This movie is truly a multiplex movie. It’s very yuppie and urban – I mean who else actually has the luxury of debating marriage ? Plus it’s newly modern in it’s sensibilities – like say “live-in” and don’t gasp. It’s also a lot of fun, and worth hoots of laughter.

Posted in 2006, bollywood, drama, rating-PG, recommended, romance | 3 Comments

Review : Aap ki khatir

Posted on October 2, 2006 by amodini

[amazon_link id=”B000LC55T8″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ][/amazon_link]Rating : Poor (2.8/5)
Genre : Romantic Comedy
Year : 2006
Running time : 2 hrs and 8 minutes
Director : Dharmesh Darshan
Cast : Priyanka Chopra, Akshaye Khanna, Amisha Patel, Suniel Shetty, Anupam Kher, Lillette Dubey, Dino Morea

AAP KI KHATIR : Unfunny and uninteresting !

This film deserves one classification : junk. I saw this film by fast-forwarding the most uninteresting bits (which were many) but even a fast-forwarded 130 minutes of this film is too long. It’s a rip-off of the Hollywood “Wedding Date” and pretty much copies it without a thought. And it’s directed by Dharmesh Darshan – the one who did the abominable Bewafaa – so, yeah it’s worse than you expect.

First of all, my dears the acting is nothing to write home about. Darshan picks the choicest of non-actors : Chopra, Shetty and Patel. Khanna is OK, but that hairstyle really sinks him; what is with the delicate tendrils of hair framing his face ? Such a pity that neither of Vinod Khanna’s sons have inherited an ounce of his charisma. Then Darshan goes overboard on all his characters, making them caricature-like in their jovialty and accentuated emotions. Add to that Himesh Reshammiya’s songs which pop up every 10 minutes and you have a disastrous banshee of a film.

Anu (Chopra) is a UK-based Punjabi girl working and living in Bombay because of her unhappy break-up with Danny boy (Morea). Now, 3 years later she must head UK-wards to attend her step-sister Shirani’s (Patel) wedding. But still pining for Danny, she hires an escort Aman (Khanna)to act as her boy-friend to make Danny jealous. Punjabi kudi Shirani is marrying Gujju Kunal (Shetty). Both have very ethnically over-done parents – she has the stereotypical loud and over-bearing Punjabi parents and he’s saddled with the accented Gujju parivar. Of course Danny is at the wedding because he’s Kunal’s best friend. However he is well over Anu and has other fish to fry . . .

If this film had any redeeming qualities, I would tell you, I would. Honest. But it has none. The heroine is pretty but dumb. The hero is cute but has a bad hair-do. The actors who can act (Kher and Dubey) are given ridiculous roles and leave-you-numb lines. The rest of the cast are cringe-worthy. The screeplay and story are poor (even the ripping-off is done pathetically), the film lacks pace and it’s pretty un-funny.

Posted in 2006, bollywood, ecstatically stupid | 2 Comments

Review : Ahista Ahista

Posted on September 11, 2006 by amodini

Rating : Above average (3.5/5)
Genre : Romance
Year : 2006
Director : Shivam Nair
Cast : Abhay Deol, Soha Ali Khan, Shayan Munshi

Ahista Ahista : Slow and steady doesn’t win the race !

Abhay Deol and a cute heroine – I thought we had another “Socha na tha”. Sadly not. Although this is just as cutesy and sweet, the end of this film is so anti-climactic, and basically against everything that I would see a film for, that I really cannot stomach this one. I mean, one sees a film for the larger than life messages they propagate – the ones of hope, happiness and redemption. If a film doesn’t fit that bill, you might as well not see it, no?

OK, that warning notwithstanding this film does have it’s good points. It’s simple, well told and pretty clean. Although it is true to it’s name, i.e.; it progresses pretty “Ahista Ahista”, it’s a well-developed love-story. Abhay Deol turns into a charmer oozing sincerity (even when mouthing choice cuss words), and Soha Ali Khan adds dignity to the role. The film has “Nukkad” like scenes where the hero consorts with a group of friends on a regular basis, giving it a nice, homely feel. The music is pleasant, with one really good song.

Ankush (Deol) is a professional witness at a Delhi marriage court. That’s how he earns his daily bread. There he meets simple, middle class girl Megha (Soha) who’s run away from her Nainital home, in the hopes of marrying boyfriend Dheeraj (Munshi). When Dheeraj doesn’t turn up, she is left stranded in the city without money or friends. Ankush helps her, and she manages to get a job in an old-age home. Ankush now has feelings for her, and Soha might love him too. However all Ankush’s hopes are dashed when 2 months later Dheeraj turns up looking for Megha . . .

Deol, Soha and the supporting cast do well. Munshi looks pretty playboy-ish and I can’t manage much sympathy for his character. Especially after the Jessica Lall thing. And he speaks Hindi pretty well. The direction is decent, and the characters adequately developed. The story does tend to wax unreal in parts, like when the old-age home honcho criticizes Megha for romantic involvement with Ankush. Like really, who has the time these days ? And it’s an old-age home, not a nunnery, right ?

All that said, IT IS a sweet film. I just wish the director had made the wait worthwhile.

Posted in 2006, bollywood | Comments Off

Review : Anthony kaun hai

Posted on September 6, 2006 by amodini

Rating : Above average (3.2/5)
Genre : Thriller
Year : 2006
Director : Raj Kaushal
Cast : Arshad Warsi, Sanjay Dutt, Minissha Lamba, Anusha Dandekar, Gulshan Grover, Ravi Baswani, Chetan Hansraj , Raghubir Yadav

ANTHONY KAUN HAI : A rather slow thriller

I had an inkling that this was one of those different films, but the one review that I read trashed it. However after seeing this film I don’t think it’s all bad. The big flaw is that it’s slow and can’t maintain pace, it being a who-dun-it and all. However the story is diifferent (inspired by Hollywood film “Who is Cletis Tout”) and the narration is unique. The acting is good – Arshad Warsi has a meaty chunk of it. This film is innovative, it strays from that well-trod path of Bollywood masala flicks, so yeah, I hand it an above average rating.

Champ or Champak Chaudhary (Warsi) is a small-time crook, dreaming of hitting the big-time by retrieving hidden diamonds. However, while going by a different name, he is caught by for-hire-killer Master Madan (Dutt). Madan threatens to kill him believing him to be Anthony Gonsalves. Champ has to convince Madan that he is not Gonsalves by relating his very unbelievable story. Does Madan believe him, or is it Adios Champak ?

The film relates Champak’s story in flashback. Anousha Dandekar makes a brief appearance in the film as Champ’s one-time girlfriend Rosa – a role of no consequence if you ask me; it has zero impact on the story. Raghubir Yadav plays a con-man, Champ meets in jail. Minisha Lamba plays Jiya, the girl Champ loves, and the one helping him retrieve those diamonds. Minisha does good, although with each film of hers, I am convinced more and more that she does not have what it takes to make it big-time in Bollywood. Dutt as Master Madan, looks suave in a suit and a Ferrari, is cold-blooded and revels in the part. Gulshan Grover is the detective on the trail of a murder, linking Gonsalves and Lucky Sharma (Hansraj) the actual villain. Warsi as Champ is as always, good. He is in form whether it is comedy, drama or just plain old masala fare; I wish he’d get better roles.

I am surprised to see this film come from Raj Kaushal the maker of such unmentionables as “Pyar mein kabhi kabhi” and “Shaadi ka laddoo”. In this film, he needs to tighten the direction; too much slack in a thriller puts the viewer to sleep. As it did in my case; I had to rewind the film after I woke up. Still, the rewind experience notwihstanding, I’d say give it a dekho – it’s on DVD now.

Posted in 2006, bollywood, drama, thriller | 1 Comment

Review : Lage raho Munnbhai

Posted on September 2, 2006 by amodini

[amazon_link id=”B002PM9VOM” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ][/amazon_link]Review : Lage raho Munnabhai
Rating : Above avergage (3.6/5)
Genre : Comedy
Year : 2006
Director : Rajkumar Hirani
Cast : Sunjay Dutt, Arshad Warsi, Vidya Balan, Boman Irani, Kubhushan Kharbanda, Dilip Prabhavalkar

Lage raho Munnabhai : Good, clean fun !

This one being a sequel to the last Munnabhai film, it begins again with who else – the gangster with a heart of gold – Munnabhai (Dutt). Only Munnabhai is in love this time. And with no less than a beautiful radio jockey, Jhanvi (Balan). Of course the lady in question doesn’t know Munnabhai from Adam, and thus Munnabhai decides to compete in a radio quiz being held by the Radio Station. When he wins, courtesy devoted Circuit (Warsi), he gets a chance to meet the woman of his dreams and be interviewed by her on radio.

Of course when Munnabhai meets her, he attempts to appear educated and suave, naming himself Professor Murli Prasad Sharma. Jhanvi is taken with the Professor and calls him to deliver a lecture on Gandhi (the subject of the earlier Quiz contest) to her Grandad and his old cronies who live in a home the called the “2nd Innings” house. Since Munnabhai is ignorant about Gandhi, he decides read up on him. Bleary eyed from too much reading in 3 days, Munnabhai now appears to actually be able to see Gandhi. This hallucination (Dilip Prabhavalkar) appears to Munnabhai alone, and advises him in Gandhivadi non-violent strategies to life‘s problems.

The lecture goes well, as does the friendship between Jahnavi and Munnabhai. However Jahnavi’s Grandad’s home (2nd Innings House) is wanted by Munnabhai’s friend Lucky Singh (Irani) and he tricks Munnabhai into getting it evacuated. When Munnabhai finds out about the deception he threatens Lucky Singh. However his problems grow manifold, as he must stick to non-violent methods in dealing with Lucky (courtesy his image as the Gandhivadi professor) and must strive to keep from Jahnavi the truth about his real identity . . .

This is a pretty decent comedy although the premise is a bit unbelievable. It works because it’s got some real laugh-out-loud dialogues, keeps away from hammy slap-stick and sticks to a simple (and simplistic) story. The direction is pretty good, the music catchy, and the songs, especially the first two are picturized beautifully. One song “Pal, pal, har pal” is lifted straight from Cliff Richard number “Theme for a dream”.

Vidya Balan dresses in flowing skirts and long kurtis, acts well, and looks charming. Sanjay Dutt’s meager talents carry him through yet another film. The real star here is Arshad Warsi, who as Circuit exudes goodness, bonhomie and “taporiness”, all in perfect proportions. It’s a pity than an actor this fine (see Sehar) must play second fiddle to the likes of Dutt. Irani as Sardar Lucky Singh looks the part but falters in rendering a true Punjabi accent. The actor playing the Gandhi apparition (TV artist Prabhavalkar) does a fine job. Jimmy Shergill, Diya Mirza and Parikshit Sahni appear in small roles.

To find flaws in this film, I must put my thinking cap back on, which is a strict no-no when reviewing desi comedy films. This film could have been better if it had been a little less preachy, hadn’t overdone the emotional scenes, the heroine had better logical and analytical skills, or Gandhism really worked, but considering that we made dormant the logical half of our brains at the door of the packed theatre, one doesn’t mind the unrealistic story too much.

This is a clean, fun film and better than the prequel “Munnabhai MBBS”. Definitely watchable.

Posted in 2006, bollywood, comedy, family-friendly, watchable | 2 Comments

Review : Yun hota to kya hota ?

Posted on August 30, 2006 by amodini

[amazon_link id=”B002YK49V0″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ][/amazon_link]Rating : Above avergage (3.3/5)
Genre : Drama
Year : 2006
Running time : 2 hrs
Director : Naseeruddin Shah
Cast : Konkona Sen Sharma, Paresh Rawal, Ayesha Takia, Jimmy Shergill, Irfan Khan, Ratna Pathak-Shah, Saroj Khan, Ravi Baswani, Boman Irani, Suhasini Mulay, Ankur Khanna, Shahana Goswami

YUN HOTA TO KYA HOTA : Na hota to achha hota !

First of let me say that I didn’t get the title. If it had been “Yun na hota to kya hota” it would have made more sense. Secondly, having watched Shah as an actor wade through innumerous cinematic parts effortlessly, I had this vision of the movie he would direct. Like when Amol Palekar directed, I KNEW that “Paheli” would be a superb film before I’d seen it or read a review. I had similar expectations with Shah. I’m a little dissapointed because I had expected so much more.

The film seems to have been trashed in all the reviews I’ve read. It’s not that bad, really. The story canvas is large, and there are lots of characters, each apparently unconnected. On top of that, each character has a story which is delved into. Quite a task it is to keep track of which character did what, etc. The story finally converges when all these characters we’ve been introduced to are affected by 9/11 .

There are 4 story tracks running in parallel ; there seemed to be a lot more when I was watching the film. The first is of a newly married woman (Konkona) trying to reach the States to be with her husband (Shergill), inspite of her mean mother-in-law (Carla Singh). The second is of a Gujrati play/entertainment producer (Rawal) who smuggles in young folk via tourist visas, and is now looking to do the same for his ex-girlfriend’s (Ratna Pathak) daughter (Shahana Goswami). Another is of a stock-broker (Irfan Khan) in trouble with the law, who although he runs away from India to the US, leaves his heart behind with two-timing, and older (in age) girlfriend Namrata (Mulay). The 4th story is about brilliant but penurious student Rahul (Ankur) going to the States for further studies with monetary help from his rich friend (Takia).

All the actors are good, but among the new ones, Ankur Khanna showed promise. Ayesha Takia has fattened up, to what I would call a “plump” stage. And Suhasini Mulay pops on screen in tights (she’s a dancer in the film), a very far cry from her sari-clad mother roles in “Sehar”, or “Dil Chahta hai”. Konkona is superb as is Rawal. Rajat Kapoor has a 2 second role as an American (??) at the US Embassy. And if you listen closely all the American accented male voices have been done by Naseeruddin Shah. Saroj Khan, best know as a choreographer, has a small role as Godmother to the stockbroker (Irfan), and does adequately.

I must applaud Shah for realistically fleshing out each of the characters. However in doing this, and going through each characters life one by one, the viewer loses the attachment to “a” protagonist, because there is not one protagonist – there are many and each seems to have equal weightage. Once you stop feeling for a protagnist, all is lost – you don’t care. Not about a character, not about the film, not about Shah, not about the fact that this is his first film and the guy deserves some slack. And that’s the flaw.

Technically the film is good (which is why it gets the above average rating). The story is interesting and well-nuanced, the actors do their job well, and the direction is decent. There is one song, I think which appears as a refrain from time to time. But the movie doesn’t come together overall – as a package. Besides that, the film moves slowly, the director moving with almost loving care to each and every character. And the climax lacks a punch to it. We know that the characters are heading for 9/11, we just don’t how the’ll be affected. This film is neither hot nor cold, it’s just tepid, tepid, tepid.

Posted in 2006, bollywood, drama | 3 Comments

Review : Kabhi Alvida na Kehna

Posted on August 12, 2006 by amodini

Rating : Above average (3.9/5)
Genre : All-in-one
Year : 2006
Running time : 3 hrs and 38 minutes
Director : Karan Johar
Cast : Amitabh Bachhan, Shahrukh Khan, Preity Zinta, Abhishek Bachhan, Rani Mukherjee, Arjun Rampal, Kiron Kher

KABHI ALVIDA NA KEHNA : Welcome to “grown-up” cinema!

I have never been a fan of Karan Johar. I consider him a maker of Stylized Toothpaste Commercials. Yes, of course you see his films, but you see them for the film stars, the fashion, the gloss, the well-choreographed dance numbers, the sheen of expensive film-making. It’s fun and interesting to see Amitabh do an arresting Shava-Shava at 62. Or even once in a remote while, see Shahrukh land in a chopper in the grounds of the Raichand palace, and assume it’s a normal day in the life of one very rich man. You don’t expect to see life’s truth’s reflected in the dialogues of these out-of-the-world (in more than one way) people. They exist but only in a fictional sort of way, and their life and worries are a world apart from the universe we common denizens inhabit.

So, a popcorn flick in what I’d expected in KANK. A few foot-tapping numbers, a few cliches, many sob-stories and lots of heavy emotional drama, none of which would make me shed a tear. Ofcourse I see it, first day, first show, in a packed theatre (what an opening !). One does what one must do. However, much to my surprise, Karan Johar actually steps into the “grown-up” zone this time, by tackling the substance under the candy-floss. KANK deals with infidelity after marriage, and takes the story (which is admittedly shaky) to a mature conclusion. A very bold step, considering that the Indian public prefers films to remain in the safe, predictable all-will-be domain.

Dev Saran (Khan) is a rising soccer star in the US, married to fashion magazine executive Rhea (Preity) and they have a son. Rhea works hard at her career, and hence spends less time applauding sour-puss hubby for every goal he makes, than he would like. Bollywood directors (even educated ones like Johar) must stop portraying career-oriented women as vixens – hey, what’s wrong if a woman loves her career ? Anyway that portrayal done with, we shift to Dev’s mom Kamaljit (Kher) a caterer of sorts, who’s most recent project is catering Rishi and Maya’s wedding. Rishi (Abhishek) runs an ad company, loves partying, adores his widowed Dad Samarjit (Amitabh), and is nuts about Maya. Maya (Rani) is a school-teacher who’s having second thoughts about the marriage, and these she talks about with Dev, then an absolute stranger who happens to wander into the vicinity only because of his mom’s occupation. In one of those quirky, surreal encounters (which happen only in Johar movies) Maya and Dev talk, and he encourages her to make up her dithering mind and marry Rishi – which she does. He leaves, and is caught in an accident, which damages his leg effectively ending his soccer-playing career.

Several years later they meet again, and again, realize that they are kindred souls and become good friends. As their respective married lives deteriorate, this friendship escalates to an affair. When later they are found out by Samarjit and Kamaljit, they decide to end the relationship and tell their respective spouses. And when they do, all hell breaks loose . . .

Let me tell you, from all the sobbing going on around me that there was not one single dry, female eye in the theatre. Johar has created a sob-story like no other. You weep (literally) for poor Rishi, and then you weep for …, well just for Rishi then. Out of the foursome, Rishi’s character is the most believably sketched, and Abhishek does a tremendous job, radiating love and sincerity, and managing to convey simmering rage and hurt. I never could quite figure out why Maya didn’t dote on her husband, he seemed adorable. Still Rani being the great actress she is, manages to make even a “fako” character seem believable.

Rhea and Dev’s characters seemed rather flaky too, the bone of contention between them being Dev’s slighted ego (wife more successful) and his gone-down-the-tubes career. To me, Dev seemed rude, irritable and just plain obnoxious. As far as acting goes, Shahrukh did what he does best. He wiggled his eyebrows. SRK is first and foremost SRK, and then any character he might be playing. He is too weak an actor too play a poorly-sketched character. Rhea is not the pativrata nari either, but her character has not been given much thought and it shows. Preity looks older, abd is heavily made-up throughout the movie. The part is small (she probably has the least to do) and even though she does OK, it somehow doesn’t jell.

Besides these 4 , there is Rishi’s flamboyant Dad, Samarjit. Or as he calls himself, Sam. Sam wears the brightest reds, beds the youngest women, and parties like there’s no tomorrow. He also, in his heart of hearts still loves his dead wife and remembers the day he first met her by gallivanting around on that anniversary, with nubile, semi-clad nymphets and rocking to hip-shaking numbers. Also in the grand old Indian tradition of the “elder’s wisdom” , he is not above giving sane and fatherly advice to his son and daughter-in-law. Amitabh accomplishes all this and more, because underneath that larger-than-life persona, he is a superb actor (and you always knew it). That leaves us with Kamaljit, Dev’s Mom. Kher has a small role, but plays a Sardarni from Chandigarh with aplomb.

The story, as I’ve implied before, is shaky. One disbelieves the motivation for disagreement between the couples and it tempted to pooh-pooh at the trivial issues the director brings up as reasons for dis-enchantment. Still one hangs in there, because some moments are magically shot, some dialogues are blissfully meaningful (although it does seem a bit awkward to have these beautiful, stylish people spout reams of philosophy embedded with all this “serious stuff“), and much of the emotion permeates through.

The music is very good ; I especially like “Mitwa” and “Tumhi Dekho Na”. As with all Johar movies, the background score is also effective. Despite all the pros, and the perceived cons, I really liked this movie – the first Johar movie that I have more than tolerated. So, I’d say yeah, see it for sure.

Update : This review was judged one of the 10 best reviews submitted to Rediff for “KANK” and is now also featured on Rediff.

Posted in 2006, bollywood, drama, romance, watchable | Tagged karan johar | 3 Comments

Review : Chup Chup ke

Posted on August 9, 2006 by amodini

Rating : Below average(2.9/5)
Genre : Drama
Year : 2006
Running time : 2 hrs and 41 minutes
Director : Priyadarshan
Cast : Kareena Kapoor, Neha Dhupia, Anupam Kher, Shahid Kapoor

CHUP CHUP KE : Medieval cinema makes a comeback !

Watching CCK makes me remember the old Southie-based films starring white-shoed Jeetendra and the very young and plump Sridevi. In most of these films Sridevi would be the hot-pant-donning, much-coddled daughter/sister/niece of a feudal landlord, and Jeetendra would be the modern upstart come to whisk the princess away from her medieval and cosy jail. CCK is very similar. There is no Kader Khan ofcourse, so we have Paresh Rawal, Om Puri and Rajpal Yadav doing the needful. It is indeed a pity that a fine actor like Yadav is forced to do these 2-bit, excrutiatingly stupid roles. Set in what can only be described as feudal times, where cocooned-in-the-family’s-bosom women are protected so much so that wars rage at the drop of a tear, CCK gives you a dose of uncalled for bad-film nostalgia.

Ok, so a we have a good-for-nothing, spineless young man Jeetu (Shahid Kapoor) deep in debt, after attempting to setup one unsuccesful business after another. Don’t blame my prejudices for the harsh description, the guy really is depicted as a big-time wastrel. His old father (Kher) is harassed and humiliated by the daily calls of various money-lenders but that does not stop our young man from trying to get his father to take the onus of repaying the loans. His mother is however still full of “motherly love” and waits on him to serve him hot food. And that’s not all, the SW (spineless wastrel) has a beautiful young fiancee Pooja () in love with him (what does she see in him ? Your guess is as good as mine). So what does SW do ? He committs suicide ofcourse – to let the money-lenders collect from the insurance money. However his attempt at suicide is also unsuccesful, and he ends up in a fisherman’s net.

When awakened from his near drowning, Jeetu finds himself in Kolkata, in the august presence of boat owner Gundya (Rawal) and fisherman and sidekick Bandya (Yadav). Jeetu being the limpet that he is pretends to be deaf and dumb, so that he can sponge off them. However he finds himself “mortgaged” to Prabahat Singh (Puri) in return for Gundya’s boats, and thus ends up as a servant in a palatial haveli in Kolkata. Here he meets Prabhat Singh’s beautiful daughter Meenakshi (Dhupia) and dumb (not deaf) niece Shruti (Kareena Kapoor). Shruti is having a hard time getting married because of her disability. Although she is the apple of her brother’s eye, Mangal Singh (Shetty) the brother who cannot stand to see his princess in tears, is ready to marry her off by promising enormous amounts of dowry.

When, many convolutions later, Jeetu and Shruti fall in love, Mangal is ready to get them married. However, in the Bollywood tradition of timeliness, Jeetu’s father, mother and fiancee (the fiancee’s been living as a widow since Jeetu’s death !) appear at the marriage mandap. Will spineless Jeetu be forced to choose between Shruti and Pooja ? . . . Hmm, what a quandary ! Do consider the elements that make up this mess – a weak-kneed caricature of a man, and 2 women with very, very low self-esteem who want nothing more than to become the property of a certified good-for-nothing free-loader. Ah, the opportunities life presents !

This film, in it’s story, demeanour, and dialogue might have fitted it’s locale, had the locale been a rural village in the 1800s, instead of bustling modern-day Kolkata. It transported me to a time (was there ever such a time ?) when a city/town bred, educated young woman decides to wear whites, discard all pleasures of life, in honor of a missing fiance. And the man in question is not much bothered by the fact that he has a fiancee somewhere and is content to gambol wwith other women. Still ofcourse the “good boy” image persists, and we keep the tradition of the “pativrata” nari alive in Bollywood. I am left fuming that the film carries a flag for the righteousness of living like a widow – atrocious in this day and age. Do the censors not feel the need to edit out such regressive messages ?

The direction and acting is average. The songs are not hummable. The characters are annoying and the really big flaw in this film is it’s stupidity. Priyadarshan’s losing his touch.

Posted in 2006, bollywood | Comments Off

Review : Omkara

Posted on July 31, 2006 by amodini

Rating : Excellent (4.35/5)
Genre : Drama
Year : 2006
Running time : 3 hrs
Director : Vishal Bhardwaj
Cast : Ajay Devgan, Saif Ali Khan, Naseeruddin Shah, Konkona Sen Sharma, Kareena Kapoor, Deepak Dobriyal, Bipasha Basu, Vivek Oberoi

Omkara : An engrossing Othello !

The film show which I attended was sparsely sprinkled with desis, and everybody favored the seats at the rear of course. So here I am and there’s this gaggle of girls sitting in the row behind me, which is all fine and good, except that they talk loudly. Which is also fine (they didn’t talk during the movie), except that during their talk in the interval, they loudly reveal the ending !! And I’m well within earshot. God, dumb people ! I mean if you know what’s going to happencan you not tell the whole world ? Aaghh !

Knowing the end lessened the impact but I still enjoyed the movie – so you can imagine how good it is. Like “Maqbool” which was based on “Macbeth”, “Omkara” is based on another Shakespearan tragedy “Othello”. Vishal Bhardwaj provides the music, co-writes the dialogues and screenplay and directs, which leads me to believe that the man must be a genius, because he does each task beautifully. The story is well adapted to rustic Uttar Pradesh, the dialogues, the dialect and the accents sound authentic, as does the acting. Omkara is quality cinema.

Omkara or Omi Shukla (Devgan) leads a gang with his two right hand men Langda Tyagi (Saif) and Kesu Firangi (Vivek) , and aids and abets the local canny politician (known only as Bhaisaheb (Naseeruddin Shah)) in the criminal neccesities of his political career. Omkara falls in love with Bhaisaheb’s lawyer’s daughter Dolly (Kareena) and she with him, and abducts her from her marriage mandap. After much bad blood between the lawyer and Omkara, matters are resolved when Dolly admits to loving Omkara in front of her father, and he in humiliation and anger issues a warning on woman’s fickleness to Omkara. Nevertheless Omkara and Dolly plan to marry and Dolly is firmly ensconsed in his home. Meanwhile Bhaisaheb wins the elections and his parlimentary seat and elevates Omkara to a party post. So Omkara promotes Kesu as “Bahubali” to head the gang, which makes Langda jealous. Thus Langda, in cahoots with Dolly’s spurned to-be husband Rajju (Dobriyal), hatches a plot to gain his revenge . . .

Ajay Devgun has another “Company” like role, only this time it’s not a don in Dubai, but a small-time goonda in the rural towns of Uttar Pradesh. And he does just as well, giving an arrestiing performance. Saif crowns his acting career with a jewel of a role and shines as Langda Tyagi, which is quite a departure from his usual suave, urban-boy roles (Dil Chahta Hai, Hum Tum etc. ). Vivek has a comparitively small role as Kesu but is competent. And Kareena, who’m I considered an average actress, is superb as Dolly, essaying innocence and naivete perfectly. Konkona Sen Sharma plays the role of Indu, Langda’s wife, and is her usual competent self, doing a convincing job as a rural woman with cynical tendencies. Bipasha Basu has a pretty small role (billed as a guest appearance in the credits) as the local nautanki wali Billo Chamanbahar, and Kesu’s love interest, but manages to make it work (yeah, wonders never cease), although the first time she opens her mouth to speak Hindi in the rural drawl, it sounded like she was speaking some exotic foreign language ! The find of the film is Dobriyal, who plays Rajju, Dolly’s spurned would-be groom with panache. And ofcourse nothing need be said about Shah’s depiction of the politician; he is as good as ever.

The film has good songs and background music, and Bharadwaj squeezes in 2 catchy item numbers (something we didn’t see in Maqbool) 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 the director takes pains with details and in building up the characters (little touches like showing Langda painting his finger nail). The story is believable and well adapted but there are some logical gaps (unlike Maqbool) – stuff like Omi not recognising Langda’s overt mind poisoning, or Dolly not recognising the importance of a family heirloom and treating it with the carelessness of an inexpensive toy (how naive can you get ?).

So although it’s not as fantastic as Maqbool, Omkara is a close second. A must watch.

Posted in 2006, bollywood, drama, outstanding, recommended, thriller | Tagged outstanding | 9 Comments

Review : Golmaal

Posted on July 17, 2006 by amodini

Rating : Worse than I imagined (-10/5)
Genre : Comedy
Year : 2006
Running time : 2 hrs and 30 minutes
Director : Rohit Shetty
Cast : Ajay Devgun, Paresh Rawal, Arshad Warsi, Sharman Joshi, Tushar Kapoor, Sushmita Mukherjee, Rimi Sen, Mukesh Tiwari

GOLMAAL : How brain-dead can you get ?

OK, here it comes ** drumroll ** the first negative rating of the year ! This film is INSUFFERABLE. Although it’s been a few days since I saw it, the trauma is still fresh. And to be fair, I’ll have to tell you that sometime after the interval I had to leave the theatre because the film went from really, really bad, to really, really terrible, and I could take it no more. The story is feeble, true. However I expected no better. What it also is, is vulgar, and insulting to women – like yeah ! let’s have a gag about women being raped.

OK, so we have 4 absolute-good-for-nothing con-men (Devgan, Kapoor, Joshi, Warsi) forcing themselves into a blind couple’s home, pretending that one of them is the couple’s America returned grandson. There of course they meet the beautiful, dumb neighbor Rimi Sen, and promptly fall in love. More foolishness ensues as the foursome evade their debtor Vasool bhai (Tiwari) and foil a gangster’s plan to retrieve stolen diamonds. And that’s the story.

The first half of the film has some truly funny lines, besides the usual, vulgar one-liners. In the second half the film degrades big-time to become an absolutely meaningless, piece of crap. Devgun has no sense of comic timing. Warsi and Kapoor however are good, Tusshar being the mute guy. Sharman Joshi is OK too. Rawal as usual is very good, but I found Mukherjee terribly annoying as the old blind woman. And Rimi Sen, she’s slowly perfecting the art of looking scornful and pleased at the same moment.

This is the kind of film I’d ideally like to rip to shreds, but then I think, why waste more time on garbage ?

Posted in 2006, bollywood, comedy, watchable | 2 Comments