Blog | Amodini's Movie Reviews - Part 88Amodini's Movie Reviews | Movie Reviews by Year, Genre and Rating

Review : Water

Posted on April 17, 2006 by amodini

[amazon_link id=”B000GIXE86″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ][/amazon_link]Rating : Average (3/5)
Genre : Drama Year : 2004
Running time : 1 hr and 44 minutes
Director : Deepa Mehta
Cast : John Abraham, Lisa Ray, Seema Biswas, Manorama, Waheeda Rehman, Raghuvir Yadav, Sarala, Kulbhushan Kharbanda

WATER : Water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink !

With “Water” Mehta completes her Trilogy, the controversial “Fire” and the fabulous “Earth” being the earlier two movies. And comparitively, this film is a let-down. While “Fire” was about a lesbian relationship, and “Earth” based upon the novel “Cracking India”, “Water” is the story of the Vrindavan widows. While I applaud Mehta for making a film on this very controversial but important topic, after seeing the film, I feel she tilts the movie for the international film festival circuit, sacrificing quality.

9 year old Chuhiya (Sarala) is newly widowed. With her husband, a man she barely knew, now dead she is sent to the widow ashram to live out the rest of her life. There she meets other widows, all with their shaven heads, measly belongings, frugal lifestyles, doomed to exist in misery. All are older than her, but many have been widowed at early ages (as she finds out later), and now live their lives in penury. Among them is Madhumati (Manorama), the tyrannical, older widow who pimps out the younger, beautiful widow Kalyani (Ray) via eunuch Gulabi (Yadav). Shakuntala (Biswas) is a middle-aged widow in the ashram, the only one who has guts enough to defy Madhumati, but is not willing to stir the waters.

Feisty Chuhiya finds a surrogate mother in Shakuntala, and an older sister in Kalyani. When Kalyani falls in love with Narayan (Abraham) and wishes to leave the ashram to marry him, Madhumati objects but backs down when Shakuntala lends her support to Kalyani. Kalyani leaves to be united with Gandhi-vadi idealist Narayan, but is dis-illusioned when she finds out that he is the son of a wealthy businessman to whom she has been pimped out. On returning when she is faced with the prospect of prostituting for Madhumati, she ends her life. Madhumati then decides to trick young Chuhiya into prostitution . . .

This film has a reasonably strong storyline, but fails because of poor acting from it’s lead pair – John Abraham and Lisa Ray. Seema Biswas, Sarala and Raghuveer Yadav do very well, and pretty much carry this film, along with strong support from stalwarts like Waheeda Rehman and Kulbhushan Kharbanda. Yesteryear actress Manorama is all bluster with no great attempts at finesse. Lisa Ray looks like an urban model, and very little like the character she is supposed to portray. A plain sari cannot hide Ms. Ray’s non-Indian looks, or her accented Hindi. John Abraham looks like the well-read (Bengali ?) babu, but can’t inject realism into Narayan’s character. I am convinced that the presence of strong lead actors (like Rani Mukherjee/Nandita Das/Aamir Khan etc.) could have made this a great film.

The locales look fine, although it is a pity that Mehta couldn’t shoot in India, because of political opposition. The music is mild enough to go un-noticed (I can’t recall it). The film is on the whole, slow-moving – not sure what is at failt there – script or screenplay, and could have done with some tightening up to keep interest. As far as the emotional factor goes, the film does move you – the wretched plight of the widows does get to you. What is absolutely saddening about this is the fact that in watching this it is brought home to you how Indian society actually values women.

So, this film is watchable. However, if looking for arresting, path-breaking cinema, look elsewhere.

Posted in 2006, bollywood, drama | 4 Comments

Review : Tera mera saath rahe

Posted on March 15, 2006 by amodini

Rating : Above average (3.5/5)
Genre : Drama
Year : 2001
Director : Mahesh Manjrekar
Cast : Ajay Devgan, Sonali Bendre, Namrata Shirodkar, Shivaji Satam, Dushyant

TERA MERA SAATH RAHE : Edible fare !

There are very few Indian films that deal with disability. TMSR is one the few I’ve seen, which has a modicum of common sense. The storyline wavers a bit, because our hero can’t make up his mind, but otherwise it’s quite OK.

Raj (Devgan) is a hard-working guy, who works outside the home in the daytime, but comes home at night to care for his disabled brother Rahul (Dushyant). In the day-time a kindly servant looks after Rahul. Raj’s next door neighbor is the obviously-in-love-with-Raj Suman (Shirodkar). But Raj is indifferent to her as a love interest, since he’s devoted to his brother. His priorities waver though when he meets lovely Madhuri (Bendre) who is keen on a committed relationship. Madhuri although kind-hearted cannot envisage a life with Raj AND Rahul; she wants Raj to put Rahul in an assisted living facility.

Raj is miserable and torn between Rahul and Madhuri, both of whom he wants. And when Raj does make the heart-wringing decision will he be able to live in peace ? . . .

The film drags in truck-loads of sentimental drama (this being a desi film), but in all fairness does a decent job of portraying Raj’s love for his brother, and Rahul’s obvious dependence on him. Family comes first, of course, but what then happens to one’s personal life ? Is a care-giver not entitled to a life ? These are difficult questions to find answers to, and the film although depicting Raj’s quandary, does not go into much depth, into what happens after. The films ends at a somewhat un-easy balance, where Raj sticks to his guns (amid copious tears and soul-searching) and apparently Madhuri must “adjust”. I did feel sorrowful at the brothers’ plight, but somewhere along the way we get so pompous at sacrificing oneself for family, that practical matters like love and life get swept under the carpet.

Even so, a worth-your-while film.

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

Review : Iqbal

Posted on March 8, 2006 by amodini

Rating : Good (3.8/5)

Genre : Drama

Year : 2005

Director : Nagesh Kukunoor

Cast : Shreyas Talpade, Naseeruddin Shah, Girish Karnad, Shweta Prasad, Yateen Karyekar, Prateeksha Lonkar

IQBAL : Heart-warming !
With this film, Kukunoor’s direction comes of age. I’ve seen “Hyderabad blues” and “Iqbal” is a vast, vast improvement over it, in terms of screenplay, direction and execution as a whole. This film is not stylish, has no funky camera angles, or item numbers, no -oh-so-cool people sporting hip wear. All it has is a simple story told well and effectively. Save a few simplistic treatments to the story, which had me raising my eyebrows (is life ever that simple ?), everything else was good.

Iqbal is the story of the lead character, a deaf-mute villageboy (Shreyas Talpade), who dreams of playing cricket. Cricket is his passion, and while herding his buffaloes, he secretly watches, and tries to lip-read cricket coach Guruji (Karnad) coaching his students in the Cricket Academy. In this he is helped by his impish sister Khadija (Shweta Prasad). FInally when Khadija persuades Guruji to look at Iqbal’s talent, Guruji decides to coach him too. This coaching is short-lived when Iqbal gets into a skirmish with an arrogant, rich kid at the academy, and Guruji is forced to let him go in favor of the rich kid.

Iqbal is dissapointed, but is renewed with hope when he discovers that the drunkard Mohit (Shah) he brings food to everyday, is actually an ex-cricket player. Can Iqbal force Mohit sufficiently out of his drinken stupors to actually coach him ? And if so, where does this all lead ? Watch Iqbal to find out.

Firstly, applause for the great acting in the film. Besides the pleasure of seeing stalwarts like Shah and Karnad in the film, Shreyas and Shweta are revelations. Shreyas acts like a pro, while Shweta proves her mettle as she did in Makdee. Besides that, the story is strong, the pace just right, and the situations like the locale believable. Finally a film that relies on itself rather than the snazzy art of film-making ! Sans frills and frippery, this good film is in a class by itself. Nice, nice, nice , is all I can say !

A very worth-while watch.

Posted in 2006, bollywood, drama, family-friendly, recommended | 4 Comments

Review : Zinda

Posted on February 28, 2006 by amodini

[amazon_link id=”B0016GOMWO” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ][/amazon_link]Rating : Poor (2.25/5)
Genre : Thriller
Year : 2006
Running time : About 2 hours
Director : Sanjay Gupta
Cast : Sanjay Dutt, John Abraham, Lara Dutta, Celina Jaitley, Mahesh Manjrekar, Raj Zutshi

ZINDA : Blood and gore !

Undoubtedly the most violent Hindi film I’ve seen, Zinda is a direct lift of the award-winning Korean film “Old Boy”. I haven’t seen “Old Boy” but am told that “Zinda” is almost a frame-by-frame copy, except at the end, where the original motive (incest) is replaced by one (apparently) palatable to Indian audiences. I, for one don’t get that. Oh, we can’t see incest, but any other form of female degradation is quite acceptable !

Balajit Roy (Dutt) a software engineer has come to Bangkok , with wife (Jaitley) in tow. One day he mysteriously dissappears. He’s held in solitary confinement in a one-room jail, for 14 years, with only a TV for company, by an unknown adversary for some unknown reason. His wife is killed, and he is setup for the murder. After 14 years, he’s released into the outside world, and his one mission then is to find his enemy and the reason for the imprisonment. This he does with (little) help from cab-driver Jenny Singh (Dutta), and comes face-to-face with his nemesis, rich tycoon Rohit Chopra (Abraham). What follows is pure cinematic drivel.

The story of the film is interesting and keeps you hooked. What doesn’t is Mr. Flab himself, Sunjay Dutt. As if it wasn’t bad enough that the guy couldn’t act !The non-actor has company though, there is John who in this film comes across as the stony faced sophisticate (here lack of acting skills actually help him remain expressionless !), and there is Lara who’s acting as a Punjabi kudi. Never mind that she can’t carry off a Punjabi accent, and speaks Hindi like she’s spouting French ! If Her Hipness can be an earthy “Jenny Singh”, then the day of dumb directors has come. Jaitley flits through the 2 miniscule scenes she has in low-waisted hipsters. Mahesh Manjrekar appears as Roy’s friend. And Raj Zutshi appears convincing as the local mafioso handling the details of the imprisonment (the one actor in the entire film who can actually act, but alas, he hardly has a role).

The film is sickeningly violent, the weapons of choice being an automatic drill and a hammer. Along with visions of the drill tearing into human flesh, and dental extraction (sans anaesthesia) with the help of the hammer, we also get ringside seats to watch Roy getting stitched up after attempting suicide. Definitely not a film for the faint-hearted.

Apart from the stomach-turning visuals, Gupta has nothing to offer. The film is insipid with the watered down motive, and the characters appear unbelievable. Dutt’s character shows less signs of being a (relatively educated) software engineer, and more signs of being a depraved whacko. Manjrekar, as his odious friend doesn’t add to the upliftment much.

The film’s music is the only good thing coming out of here. And for that you need the Cd, not the DVD. A firm Do-NOt-WATCH for this film.

Posted in 2006, bollywood, drama, rating-PG13, thriller | 2 Comments

Review : Bluffmaster

Posted on February 21, 2006 by amodini

[amazon_link id=”B004UQLVXU” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ][/amazon_link]Rating : Above average (3.65/5)
Genre : Drama
Year : 2005
Running time : 2 hrs and 17 minutes
Director : Rohan Sippy
Cast : Abhishek Bachchan, Priyanka Chopra, Riteish Deshmukh, Nana Patekar, Boman Irani

BLUFFASTER : Fast-paced and entertaining !

Directors today are trying on the con-man tack : make the hero a criminal, a good-hearted con-man, indulging in heists which involve sometimes simple, sometime complicated charades. There is ofcourse no murder, etc.; considering the guy has a heart of gold. Take Bunty aur Babli, as an example. And then take “Bluffmaster”. The common factor : Abhishek Bachhan. As a casual criminal with a saucy manner.

OK, so now we have con-man Roy (Bachhan), pretending to be legit. in front of his paramour Simmi (Priyanka Chopra). But, as it happens Simmi finds out the nasty truth, and that’s the end of that. Roy in another twist of fate is diagnosed with a fatal sickness, which promises to sink him in 3 months. Roy bereft of lady-love resolves to do one good thing before leaving this world, and that good thing is helping his apprentice Dittu (Ritesh) hoodwink the mobster (Patekar) who hurt his family.

Who gets conned and who doesn’t is the rest of the story . . .

Rohan Sippy has directed this film with panache – his education shows. “Kuch na kaho”, Sippy’s earlier presentation was nice, but not this nice. The scenes are snappy, with narrative cuts not commonly seen in our Hindi films. Another remarkable thing about this film is the gorgeous back-ground music, which makes every scene come alive. I mean in most average desi films, you have the standard background tune, repeated in each and every film. Not here though. The screen-play is fine, but the dialogues are a bit too filmi. The only problem I had with the story was with the believability – how plausible is it really ? If you leave that part out, the film is good fun.

Abhishek is very good in another “Bunty” like role, this time hogging the lime-light (no Rani to contend with). Priyanka looks good, but doen’t improve on her acting. And Riteish is pretty hammy. Patekar is his usual psycho self – which is great for the role. Irani as Roy’s doctor is dissapointing, or maybe it was his role. The film has good songs, with foot-tapping numbers like “say-na, say-na”, and remixes like “Sabse bada rupaiyya”. The British group Trickbaby has a couple of songs, and although I don’t like Trickbaby too much, their songs seemed to fit right in.

Posted in bollywood, drama, recommended | 2 Comments

Review : Maine Gandhi ko nahin maara

Posted on February 14, 2006 by amodini

[amazon_link id=”B000MDH5VM” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ][/amazon_link]Rating : Above average (3.55/5)
Genre : Drama
Year : 2005
Running time : 1 hr and 25 minutes
Director : Jahnu Barua
Cast : Anupam Kher, Urmila Matondkar, Rajat Kapoor, Addy, Divya Jagdale, Boman Irani, Parvin Dabbas, Waheeda Rehman, Vishwaas Pandya

MAINE GANDHI KO NAHIN MAARA : Poignant and moving, but loses impact

This film turned out to be quite different from what I’d expected, at least as far as storyline goes. From the title I’d gauged it to be about Gandhi’s assasination. However it turns out to be set in modern-day Mumbai, about a father and daughter’s relationship, and the relevance of Gandhism in modern times. Produced by Anupam Kher, the script and direction are both by Jahnu Barua.

Prof. Uttam Chaudhary (Kher) is a retured Hindi professor, living with his daughter Trisha (Urmila), and son Addy (Addy). Ronu (Kapoor) his other son, lives in America, but helps support the family financially. The professor, a man of great integrity and honesty, considered a genius in his time is slowly losing his mind, to what appears to be a curious mixture of Alzheimer’s and schizophrenia. And even more strangely, he appears beset by the thought, that he has assasinated Gandhi. His home appears now to him as a jail, and he sees his children as jailors. His paranoia grows, much to the distress of his daughter, who is his one steadfast supporter, and is not willing to give up on him.

For this she switches doctors, meeting a new doctor (Dabbas) and his senior Dr. Verma (Prem Chopra). The good doctor, having tried all tacks, now resolves to try a rather radical experiment to rid the professor of his paranoia. Does he succeed ?

As I’m seeing this film, I’m wondering where it’s going, really. Because the story is different and wavers, you have no idea what to expect, or what the possible ending could be. And the ending (all that courtroom drama) stretches your imagination a bit too much, first of all as to the plausibility of the entire setup , since otherwise this film is so “real”. In hind-sight I see where all this was going and the point the director was trying to make, but me thinks that such a storyline and the required impact is more suited to the theatre than the silver screen, because a stage-play can make use of the fantastic/meta-physical, and twist reality to make a point. In a film, such flights of fancy have to have very strong sceenplays, and be mired in great direction, or else they don’t take flight. Precisely what’s happened here.

This is the big flaw in this film – it mixes the real and the fantastic to it’s own detriment. I mean, it’s all very noble to have a vision (I have tons of them, really), but if you can’t potray that vision believably, then it’s not doing much good. Thus, in this case, when it comes, the thrust is half-baked and sluggish. This film has under-currents of idealism and patriotism, although they come to the fore-front rather late. Direction could have been crisper, although acting by Kher and Urmila is very good. Rajat Kapoor and Addy also do a good job. Dabbas as the doctor has way too puffy hair, to appear a good doctor, me snidely thinks. And Prem chopra is a disaster as Dr. Verma – look pretty villainish, instead of looking saintly. I felt he was going to whip out a knife any minute, instead of spouting that doctorly dialogue.

Still, way better than the average Bollywood film, this deserves a viewing.

Posted in bollywood, drama, watchable | Comments Off

Review : Shikhar

Posted on February 6, 2006 by amodini

Rating : Average (3/5)
Genre : Drama
Year : 2005
Running time : 2 hrs and 43 minutes
Director : John Mathew Mathan
Cast : Ajay Devgan, Shahid Kapoor, Amrita Rao, Bipasha Basu, Javed Sheikh, Sushant Singh, Farah

SHIKHAR : Holier than thou !

Although not bad by general Bollywood standards, this film is a dissapointment coming from Mathan, who directed the excellent Sarfarosh. This film is not only excessively preachy, it suffers from shallow characterization; everyone in the film is either bad/black or extremely pure/white. There are no grey shades to give depth.OK, so we have ex-businessman Vardhan (Sheikh) giving up his tycoon-dom to build an ashram near tribal-lands and turn all pious and holy. Then we have builder GG (Devagn) trying to get at the fertile lands of the ashram and surrounding areas, to build a modern township for the NRIs. But Vardhan Guruji amid mutterances of “Shubham” stands unmoved refusing to sell land, and even stopping GG by means of a court order. Having failed all methods of persuading Guruji, GG then tries influencing Guruji’s young son Jaidev (Kapoor). Jaidev is young, lacks common sense and easily falls prey to GG. So does he go against darling Dad or “friend” GG ?

Guessing the ending is left as an exercise to the reader. If you’re using more than one grey cell to think about this, you’re working too hard.

OK, for starters, let’s use our heads and not call the villain “GG”, it sounds like you’re addressing your sister ! Next let’s not pepper the film with articulations of “Shubham” or “Voila” – not only is this nauseating, it has left me supremely traumatised to the sound of either. Thirdly, let’s not do the “holier than thou” thing; besides being extremely annoying to watch, it also alienates viewers. Therefore, from the above statements we can infer that the film while having potential failed to execute on aforesaid potential, and left me snorting in disbelief and writhing in paroxysms of annoyance.

The story of the film, is well, not unbelievable but very predicatable, which kind of takes the fun out of things, me thinks. And the music is terrible. However, in it’s defense the film is qualitatively shot, and is bolstered by Devgan’s performance. Bipasha Basu and Amrita Rao remain inconsequential as the women in GG and Jaidev’s lives. Shahid is the usual : bad. Sushant Singh who was so admirably used in Sehar is truly wasted in a semi-comic (??) role. Javed Sheikh, while spouting “shudh” Hindi remains stony.

And Mathan has either lost his head or his touch.

Still, relatively better than regular Bollywood fare, this is watchable. If you have one of those anti-“Shubham” shields, keep it handy.

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Review : Rang de basanti

Posted on January 27, 2006 by amodini

Rating : Very Good (4.25/5)
Genre : All-in-one
Year : 2006
Director : Rakeysh Ompraskash Mehra
Cast : Amir Khan, Soha Ali Khan, Atul Kulkarni, Kunal Kapoor, Sharman Joshi, Siddharth, Alice Patten, Anupam Kher, Kiron Kher, Waheeda Rehman, Mohan Agashe, Madhavan

RANG DE BASANTI : Cry, my beloved country !

Clearly this film is about patriotism. But what of it ? Does it exist in modern day India? Hardly ! But what little there is, is ignited in the heart’s of our protagonists, at the instigation of a foreigner, no less. Rakeysh Mehra’s second directorial venture (after the very different Aks), takes us through this awakening – when DJ, Sukhi, Karan, Aslam, Laksmi Pandey, and Sonia realise that they must change the world they live in. How they do it is pretty radical, but it makes for interesting cinema, and a lot of thought afterwards.

DJ or Daljeet (Aamir Khan), Sukhi (Joshi), Karan (Siddharth) , Aslam (Kapoor) and Sonia (Soha Ali Khan) are 5 friends who having graduated from Delhi University, hesitate to get out into the real world, and still roam the campus. Each of them is feisty and loyal. Into this group comes Sue (Alice Patten) straight from the UK, all determined to make her film on Indian freedom fighters, despite the shortage of funds. Introduced to the others by Sonia, she develops a strong bond with the rest, and especially with DJ. She persuades them to act in the film, and even woos Hindutva-vadi student party-worker Pandey to take the role of Ramprakash Bismil.

Gradually the friends ponder over their roles and the lives of the selfless freedon-fighters, and in the face of a tragedy, realise that they too, like Bhagat Singh and Azad, must take action, to ensure that their now corrupt and poverty-laden country, awakens and the guilty do not go unpunished. How they do it, makes for an engrossing second-half.

This is a “fundu” film as one of my friends said; it takes thought to make. A sensitive topic is handled wth great care. Although in places this resembles scenes from “Dil chahta hai” (the college friend camraderie), this also has the silent earnestness of “Swades”. 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.

The fact that this film is about awakening and finding the patriot within, does not prevent the director from handling other scenes well. The viewer shares in Sonia’s happiness at being engaged to Ajay, in the friends’ light-hearted banter, and the quirks of campus life. Attention is paid to detail, the characters seem believable and have believable families and friends. They think normal and they talk normal. Music is good, with energetic numbers (Pathshala, and the title track) and slow ones which lend themselves to crafting some poetic scenes. Apt dialogues, some very polished acting, and a strong screenplay add muscle to this endearing film.

The director, through some stylish cinematography, some very funky camera angles, and great dialogues and acting succeeds in making our protagonists at once hip and sincere, thick-skinned yet sensitive, and hesitant yet courageous. He bridges the gap between the thinkers and the doers, mish-mashing together different cultures, religions, beliefs and thought processes. The binding factor in this story, is of course Sue, a determined and fair-thinking young woman played flawlessly by Alice Patten (daughter of Chris Patten, Hong Kong’s ex-governor). Where in Mangal Pandey, Amir didn’t shine too brightly, here he regains his fire and charisma to play the group’s tacit leader, punjabi-accented DJ. Atul Kulkarni ia a consummate actor, and brings to life the role of Lakshmi Pandey, the Hindu fundamentalist on campus. Soha as Sonia, acts well and fits the role of a fresh-faced youngster in love with Flt.Lieutenant. Ajay (Madhavan) of the Indian Air Force. Another very good actor – Kunal Kapoor who plays Aslam is beautifully expressive. Sharmaan Joshi as Sukhi and Sidharth as Karan also do very well. And then you have the stalwarts, the very worthy veterans, Anupam Kher, Kiron, and Mohan Agashe who even in miniscule roles, manage to leave their mark.

The film does drag a teeny-weeny bit in the middle, right before the action starts, but it more than makes up for it later. Like Swades, RDB too is a modern-day-patriotism story. If you have felt helpless anger at seeing the state of your nation, this film will make you empathise, weep, and maybe feel hope.

Cry, O beloved country!

And how I did.

Posted in bollywood, drama, recommended | Tagged outstanding | 20 Comments

Review : Ek Ajnabee

Posted on January 3, 2006 by amodini

Rating : Above average (3.5/5)
Genre : Thriller
Year : 2005
Running time : 2 hrs and 22 minutes
Director : Apurva Lakhia
Cast : Amitabh Bachchan, Arjun Rampal, Rucha Vaidya, Perizaad Zorabian, Raj Zutshi, Kelly Dorji, Vikram Chatwal

EK AJNABEE : Slick but slow !

The sugar-coated desi version of Denzel Washington starrer “Man on Fire”, Ek Ajnabee is an above average thriller. Direction is slick and snappy except for a few awkward scenes, and the film is presented with style and panache. Glaring problems occur because of some weak scenes, and the trite re-shaping of the story to fit the “happy ending” mould.Bachhan here is Suryaveer Singh, the angry, old man, an ex-Army commando, with a drinking problem, who’s called to Bangkok by old friend Shekhar (Rampal). Shekhar gets Singh to take up a bodyguard’s job, guarding 10 year old precocious Anamika (Rucha) daughter of wealthy couple Ravi and Nikasha (Chatwal and Zorabiyan). Singh is a crusty old fighter, who’s seen and done it all, but stil has a heart of gold. His gruff demeanor dissolves in the face of his young charge’s sweetness and innocence and the two form an affectionate bond.

Things go awry however as Anamika is kidnapped and killed and Singh takes 3 bullets. A hard-nosed fighter however, Singh resolves to take revenge, and sets out to annihilate the kidnappers with Shekhar’s help. Unravelling the crime however is like opening a Pandora’s box . . .

Amiitabh dons flashy glasses and some really smart suits to play Suryaveer Singh with aplomb. Although he doesn’t appear fighting fit (as Washington did) he does a pretty good job here. Rampal, Chatwal and Zorabiyan have smaller roles but do well too. Rucha as Anamika steals the show, with her natural performance. Model Kelly Dorji appears in a tiny (miss it if you blink) role. And Zutshi as the kidnapper has good inflexion of voice and looks passably menacing.

Although the film is good enough, it’s length and pace is tiresome; could have been shorter and tighter – especially if you’ve seen “Man on fire” as I had. Lakhia goes in for a frame-by-frame copy of “MOF” in some parts of the movie, although he does tweak it to suit desi let-the-hero-never-die tastes. Songs are good, and add to the emotional impact of the film.

Definitely worth a watch.

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Review : Home Delivery

Posted on December 28, 2005 by amodini

Rating : Poor (2/5)
Genre : Comedy
Year : 2005
Running time : 2 hrs and 31 minutes
Director : Sujoy Ghosh
Cast : Vivek Oberoi, Mahima Choudhary, Ayesha Takia, Boman Irani, Saurabh Shukla, Tiku Talsania, Juhi Chawla, Arif Zakaria

HOME DELIVERY : We’d rather eat out !

And here it comes, let’s ready the crown – Home Delivery – the most boring film of 2005 ! Sujoy Ghosh’s second film after “Jhankaar Beats” – which wasn’t bad at all, this film is very dissapointing. This is a caricature of a comedy filled with two-dimensional characters, a floundering script and a sinking screenplay. And before I forget – the dialogues drove me up the wall. Here are the goods (or should I say the garbage ?) :

Sunny Chopra (Oberoi) is a writer – he is the agony uncle for a newspaper, and also writes film scripts. He lives in with his girl-friend and fiancee Jenny (Takia). Trying to meet a deadline while working from home and avoiding his editor (Juhi), Sunny sits in front of his laptop and does little work. He and Jenny make small-talk though – and what insipid small-talk it is – I went off to sleep and had to be prodded awake ! People doing nothing in a film but making some of the most inane conversations I’ve ever heard is super-boring (hint, hint dialogue writers). And Sunny and Jenny and Naani (Jenny’s nickname) ; Ughh! could the names be any more annoying ? The first rule of story-writing – make the characters names dissimilar (rhyme is not a good idea here) – avoids burn-out and trauma for the viewers.

Anyway, like most of our male desi filmi characters, Sunny baba has a little problem – he’s engaged to sweet Jenny but has the hots for Southie film bombshell Maya (Mahima). Therefore Sunny schemes to get Jenny away, for his rendezvous with Maya – she’s coming home for a date. Since Sunny doesn’t have any food at home for the date, he ends up ordering a pizza to be home-delivered. The pizza is delivered by 51 year old Michael (Irani) (here’s another annoying character) but Michael delivers more than pizza, he also provides home-spun lessons in morality for free. Sunny ofcourse is the recipient – but can Michael’s philosophy help steer him away from buxom constantly-dropping-her-pallu-Maya ?

Although the director tries to infuse comedy with Jeetendra-like dream songs, and vignettes of Sunny as a pimply teenager spouting views on girls and what-not, it doesn’t pick up the film from the abyss of flop-dom. The script and screenplay are dead as door-knobs, and as dull as dish-water, and I could go on, however in the interest of time will desist. Direction is average and the songs forgettable. The actors : Oberoi is a director’s actor, here he is unfunny and lacks comic timing. Takia comes across as a sweet babe-in-the woods, with few acting skills. Mahima is pretty snappy as the voluptous Maya. Irani is just plain boring and (makes me) nauseous, but that’s not his fault, it’s the director’s. Shukla and Talsania as Sunny’s obnoxious neighbors are loud and irritating.

There are a number of cameos by “famous” people like Abhishek Bachhan, Sunil Shetty, Karan Johar etc. But “famous” cameos here are like having having caviar when you need basic dal-roti first.

This film is an absolute DO NOT SEE. It’s a nightmare in a nutshell. I mean there is no dearth of terrible movies in Bollywood – take “Maine pyar kyun kiya”, “Kya kool hai hum”, but to make a bad AND boring film – now that takes real (lack of) talent! Ghosh should stick to making “Jhankaar Beat”-ish films. After all when you have not a funny-bone, why attempt a comedy ?

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