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Zanjeer: A decent attempt

Star cast: Ram Charan Teja, Priyanka Chopra, Sanjay Dutt, Mahie Gill, Prakash Raj,  Atul Kulkarni.

Director: Apoorva Lakhia

Prakash Mehra’s Zanjeer is a film which changed film industry forever. It gave Amitabh Bachchan his title of “Angry Young Man” and ability to rule the film industry for 2 decades. The film is a revenge drama with social connect and emotional content. Come 2013, Mehra’s two sons, Puneet and Summet, try to remake this film by setting it in today’s times. Are they successful at their attempt? The title of this review gives out the suspense at start itself hence let’s now try to look at it in detail.

I must say this film is cleverly made without trying to better the original film or by copying it frame by frame. The makers have set realistic goals and it shows in the production value of the film. The same approach has gone into making of the film and hence it works. They used basic skeleton of original screenplay with few main characters, few original dialogs and then created a new screen play which does not overstretch the idea of “suspension of disbelief” and aids in it. This is why the film become bearable and eventually we start enjoying it.

The credit must be given to the screenplay writer Suresh Nair who kept is head on his shoulder and his feet on ground while writing the film. He did not get burdened by the legacy nor he tried to play over-smart with false belief that he can write better one. This approach worked and screenplay is fairly good. He is ably supported by dialogue writer Chintan Gandhi.

With a good screenplay/dialogues at hand, Director Apoorva Lakhia‘s half job is done. Apoorva does a good job and shows maturity in handling the subject and the remake. He has good at screen improvisations which helped the film at many places. However at few places, things have gone wrong too. Few improvisations like putting “raghupati raghav rajaram” bhajan mukhada in background score or use of Muharram procession in climax does not gel well. These may have been good ideas at decision level but failed in execution level.

Apoorva has kept the things simpler which helps this film. He did not use stylized method of filming and editing (being an action thriller, there is scope for it) and stuck with basics film making which works here. The only part he fails in establishing is the emotional connect regarding the revenge drama. Otherwise, he has done a good enough job.

On the performance side, everyone has done a decent job but no one stands out particularly. Ram Charan had big shoes to fill in and if we compare him to that level, he can not match. It is only because no one can match the phenomenon called Amitabh Bachchan. Amitjee acts through his eyes. When he is angry, one feels the anger by the look from his eyes. On one else has that ability except Ajay Devgan who strangely has not been considered for any remake of Amitjee’s film. Coming back to Ram Charan, his eyes look as if he is stoned. They do not emote differently in different scenes. However barring that and treating his role individually without comparing with original, he does a decent job. He showed the stressed side of the character while in job and stress-free, playful side when he is suspended and is doing his own thing. Priyanka Chopra is apt in her role. Nothing special but she delivers what is asked for.

Sanjay Dutt also had a legacy character of Sher Khan (immortalized by Late Pran) to give justice to. But as the brief was “forget about the original”, he does a good job too. He is not lethargic and does not sleepwalk through the role as he does in many of his movies. He played the character sincerely and it shows. The character is not as superbly written as original was hence does not reach to those levels.

Prakash Raj gets to play the baddie who is shown as a horny man who always plays with his glam doll Mona (played by Mahie Gill). Both of these character has under the belt dialogues and are instructed to overact which sometimes work, sometimes does not work. Single screen audience may whistle and clap on their scenes. Prakash Raj is good as usual and gets to wear flamboyant suits like in 1970s for no reason. Mahie Gill goes a overbid and disappoints a little. Atul Kulkarni who plays a role of journalist does a good job. Daya Shankar Pandey and Apoorva Lakhiya tries to bring in the side kick comic characters as in yesteryears and are good at many places. All others deliver what they are asked for. So casting by Gautam Singh can be said apt.

Editor Chintu Singh keeps the ongoings tight and barring few parts before and after interval, keep the audience interested in the happenings on screen. There are many songs in the film which hinder the flow. Except 1-2 foot tapping item songs which can be hit on dance floors, all other songs are boring and act as a deterrent. 3 music directors Anand Raj Anand, Chirantan Bhatt, Anjjan Meet could not lift up the music side of this film.

Cinematography by R. J. Gururaj is nothing to write about. The films seems to be made at a budget and it shows in the production values. Looks like any other average budget movies. This is evident from the title song itself where they try to mimic James Bond Movies. Even though the song is decent, the budget in making shows and renders it ineffective. Producers Puneet Prakash Mehra and Summet Prakash Mehra must have decided to keep the film cost low to reap good benefits even if the film makes average business.

Overall, if you forget the original movie and go for this one as a new movie, it does not disappoint. If you are lover of bollywood action potboilers and enjoy movies like Garv, Aan Men at Work or for that matter Krantiveer or Yashwant, there are chances that you will actually like this movie. The buzz of the movies seems low and only 2-3 rows where filled in the auditorium for the morning show (whereas “Shudhha Desi Romance” has almost sold out morning show). But with good mouth publicity and support from single screen audience, the movie can recover costs and may earn money due to controlled budget of the movie.

Rating:

Recommendation: If you like revenge movies, if you love average bollywood action potboilers, if you can watch this without comparing with original, I recommend you will enjoy the movie. If you fit the bill, go enjoy it.

Zanjeer : Movie review by Prashen H. Kyawal

Nagpur Today : Nagpur News

Grand Masti: Strictly Adult and Crass comedy

Director: Indra Kumar

Running time: 140 minutes

Music composed by: Anand Raj Anand

Screenplay: Indra Kumar

Cast: Riteish Deshmukh, Aftab Shivdasani, Vivek Oberoi

There was a time in bollywood when “Maruti International” was synonymous to superhit movies. With Indra Kumar and Ashok Thakeria at the helm of the production affairs and under the direction of Indra Kumar, Maruti International ruled a decade from their first movie “Dil” in 1990 to “Mann” in 1999. 5 films in 1 decade with Amir Khan in 3 films as lead hero. I think no other production house has produced so many movies with Amir Khan in it. Madhuri Dixit was also a big name supporting them. Infact, Madhuri has her iconic song “Dhak Dhak Karane Laga” in “Beta” released in 1992. The movies were typical bollywood potboilers with the known formula of masala movies. They were huge success due to their entertainment value, comic quotient, songs and dance.

With the start of the millenium, films by Indrakumar went unnoticed till “Masti” in 2004. Masti was an average hit with super hit song “Dil De Diya Hai Jaan Tumhe Dege” by Kailash Kher. After that with films like Pyare Mohan, Dhamaal, etc. Indrakumar is successful in keeping the production house in business. I infact liked the film “Dhamaal” released in 2007. Though “Masti and “Dhamaal” were moderate hits, Indra Kumar decided to make sequel of them keeping with the current trend of releasing sequel of successful movies in attempt to encash their brand names. Dhamaal had sequel named “Double Dhamaal” and nowthis friday “Grand Masti” released which is sequel of “Masti”

This film is a no holds bar attempt to create an adult comedy. They promised an unadulterated adult comedy but are they successful in delivering the promise?

Most of the Indra Kumar films have thin plot lines without worrying about story and script. They rely mostly on gags and pranks and he is mostly successful in delivering good entertainment while doing so. But this movie has the thinnest or almost none plot or story. It is a story of 3 college playboys who are faced with dull and dreary boring life after marriage. Aftab Shivdasani (Prem) is married to Manjari Fadnis who is always busy in household work, Vivek Oberai (Meet) is married to workaholic Karishma Tanna who never has time for him and Riteish Deshmukh (Amar) is married to Sonalee Kulkarni who is busy taking care of their kid. With such busy life having no time for love (read sex), these 3 frustrated husbands get a respite when they get invitation for college reunion (The acronym of the college name is SLUTS). They decide to attend the college reunion and re-live their life as a playboy in college. They are happy to meet 3 hot girls at the college named Rose, Mary, Marlow played by Maryam Zakaria, Bruna Abdullah, Kainaat Arora respectively. However, things do not go as planned and they are caught in funny (?) and dangerous situations to realize in the end that they should stick with their wife and be a loyal husband.

Story by Tushar Hiranandani and Milap Zaveri does not have much meat in it. However they try to save it by gags and pranks which sometimes work and otherwise do not work. Dialogues by Milap Zaveri redefines what “under the belt” means and are crass at many places. Nevertheless they do get laughter and applause by the full house audience who I am sure amused to find such kind of adult SMS humor onscreen. So the applause may be in the amusement rather than comic quality of the dialogues and scenes. Some scenes are visually under the belt and test the patience of audience who expect at least some level  decency in onscreen happenings (such people must be in minority as the response at box office says otherwise).

Director Indrakumar tries to do what he is best at doing and that is sewing these pranks and gags together to make it look like at story. However, the film does not have much grip and a good movie lover will not be happy with this product by the director. Indrakumar surely needs to rethink his strategy for comedy and shift back to his earlier formula of family entertainers.

On the performance side the film fails flat except the leading trio who tries to lift the film with their energy. All the 6 leading ladies do cringeworthy acting and are just (sexy) props in the (vulgar) pranks. They are mostly clad in skimpy clothes and have to act horny. Suresh Menon has most C grade role in which he has totally wasted his talent. Other supportive cast is equally average and over the top.

Editing Sanjay Sankala is ok but could have been snappier. Production value of the film is good. Cinematography by Rituraj Narain is decent.

The film is getting good response from the public and young crowds (many can be lower in age than 18 even if the film is A rated by censor) are watching it in groups. Couples are also watching it for guilty pleasures. However, it will be unfortunate if this box office success creates a string of such films in bollywood.

The makers of the film had promised to give India its own “American Pie” kind of movie. If they are happy with their product they need to re visit those movies. They surely got wrong ideas and have put a crass, vulgar and totally below the belt comedy on screen. I am all open and welcome adult comedy genre but expect the makers to focus more on stronger script and clever dialogues. This movies lacks all this and makes “Kya Kool hai hum” and “Masti” look like classic comedies.

Recommendation: If one enjoys senseless adult jokes and vulgar pranks or have a gang of friends which can turn worst movies into funny entertainment, do watch it. Movie lovers expecting onscreen decency and cleaner entertainment shall strictly avoid this movie. Movie MUST not be watched with full family though couples can watch it if they are ok with such type of comedy.

Grand Masti: Movie Review by Prashen H. Kyawal

Nagpur Today : Nagpur News

The Lunchbox: Nuanced romantic tale of simple lives

Cast: Irrfan Khan, Nimrat Kaur, Nawazuddin Siddiqui

Director: Ritesh Batra

There is an encouraging change in the film industry since few years. Successful and reputed media houses and corporate are wholeheartedly supporting and promoting small independent films. They are providing new age film makers a platform which enables their films to reach to the audience on a wider basis. In result, this is aiding in educating audience on film appreciation and exposing them to larger spectrum of films on offbeat subjects. Amir Khan with Kiran Rao, Karan Johar, Anurag Kashyap and UTV must be applauded and thanked for this. It is very encouraging to see all these people join hand together on such projects and make sure they reach the audience.

A very happy change indeed.

There are a dozen or so producers behind this incredible movie “The Lunchbox” along with all the above mentioned big names. I thank everyone behind this movie for giving it the release it deserves. Coming back to reviewing the film, I think it will be a short review because this movie needs to be experienced and enjoyed personally. I will not give anything about the plot or the story because I wish you watch the movie without any idea about it as I did. It’s my guarantee that you will not be disappointed.

It is a story of millions of people in this country with routine and boring life. A simple change in the routine caused by an error or so can make it worth living the rest of the life. The change acts as a catalyst and adds a little chaos to the established order. It soon become disruptive enough to force the protagonists to embrace positivity and optimism. There is no melodrama in the film but it is high of emotional content which connects the audience to the characters. The relationships are real and believable.

The film is written and directed by Ritesh Batra. This film is a shining example of how film writing and film direction should be. A strong screenplay including a character which is invisible throughout the film but is integral part of it lays a great foundation for the director to excel. Ritesh has written the film for screen and his exemplary Direction gels very smoothly with the screenplay to give a wholesome experience to the audience. He shows excellence in screen writing as well as Direction and proves his deep understanding that cinema is a visual medium. His impeccable narration style engrosses the audience as soon as the film starts. The light and happy vibe of the film even while showing boring and torturous routine life of Mumbai brings a smile on your face and keeps it glued to the proceeding. Strong writing and direction makes sure that audience is eager to know what happens next and presents the further proceedings in entertaining fashion. Kudos to Ritesh for his work. He deserves all the accolades which will be coming his way.

Production quality of the film and cinematography by Michael Simmonds is apt for the content and presentation of the story. Cinematographer has captured the essence of Mumbai life in his camera and made it alive on celluloid. Every nuance and attention to detail gives the film the authenticity and texture it has. Editing by John F. Lyons is very good and maintains the needed pace as per requirement of narrative style chosen by the Director.

This film stands tall on the basis of superlative performances by everyone in the cast. Irfan Khan lives the character of Fernandez. From a bitter, rigid person rusted by the monotonous routine to a person discovering the goodness around to a liberated old man, Irfan Khan proves that he is master of his craft.

Matching up to the performance by Irfan, Nawazuddin Khan Siddiqui carves his character of a new recruit with required enthusiasm and naivety. His relationship with Irfan warms up as Irfan opens up slowly to the positivity around. The progression and chemistry portrayed by both of them is a must see.

The Lunchbox is a romantic movie where you won’t ever see the lead pair together on screen. The heroine’s character is of a regular housewife accustomed to Mumbai style of living. Her busy life taking care of her daughter and husband gets refreshing change brought up by the lunchbox she prepares for her husband. This role of Ila is played by Nimrat Kaur. She acted very well and is completely natural. Though she is sans makeup and dressed like any common toiling hard in kitchen, looks sensuous. Two thumbs up for her performance.

A special mention must be given to Bharati Acharekar who has the role of heroine’s neighbour. Her voice is unique and recognisable. She had a challenge to portray the character only through voice and she is fully successful in it. A big applause for her.

Everyone else including the real life “dabbawalas” of Mumbai did their job perfectly.

If all goes well, this can be India’s official entry for Oscar. Laced with light situation spurred with humor having a great screenplay n direction, this movie could be a 4 star movie, but due to some flat scenes, unwanted track of heroine’s mother and somewhat unenthusiastic climax, I am going with 3.5 stars for this lunchbox.

Recommendations: A must watch movie for everyone. Too small kids may not enjoy it due to real life pace of the proceedings. However kids above 6+ years to elderly in the house, everyone will enjoy the movie. Such movies can only get big release only if audience support them. So please support it wholeheartedly and watch with your family and friends. It is a light entertainment with good quality cinema. You will come out with a smile. Go watch it!

The Lunchbox : Movie Review by Prashen H. Kyawal

Nagpur Today : Nagpur News

Warning : Lacks content

Cast : Santosh Barmola, Suzana Rodrigues, Manjari Fadnis, Varun Sharma, Jitin Gulati, Sumit Suri & Madhurima Tuli.

Director: Gurmmeet Singh

There is a popular genre in hollywood where the characters in the movie are stuck in an unfortunate situation and major characters have to face death except the so called lead pair. Many such movies have been successful and this genre has its loyal followers too. Also there are movies like “Samrat” or “Blue” which are about stories happened over immense span of scary ocean. In hollywood, movies like “Jaws” and “Open Water” are still remembered for the nail biting suspense and thrill it brought to the audience.

This friday, Bollywood has to offer us a movie in similar genre. Warning is touted to be the first underwater film the same way Blue did few years earlier. This time, the movie is in 3D and is said to be based on true events.

The story is about 7 people on a yacht to have a fun holiday. Unfortunately, their plans to have a blast on the ocean safari goes berserk when they all are left swim in water around the yacht with no way to go up on it. Now they have to hold their breath till any help comes to rescue them while fighting the demons inside them and sharks out there in water.

Movie starts on promising and happy note with character introduction in its first 10-15 mins which is quick. The pace slows down later immediately and gives a feel of watching a high production home video of friends enjoying on a yacht. We expect the pace to pick up when everyone is out in the water and there is no way to go up on the yacht. We expect a taught edge of the seat thriller which will scare our guts out or at least keep us tensed as to what happens next. However it does not happen because the writing lacks content. Screenplay written by Tejpal Singh Rawat and Rajesh Chawla is in plain words boring and does not pic up at all.

Director Gurmmeet Singh tries hard to breathe life in the movie but he is failed by poor content in the screenplay. He has no option than to use stylish shots of the yacht on the ocean with intriguing background score which can not replace the vacuum in the script writing. He overall does a good job with that he has but could have been able to shine more with a better script at hand. Better luck next time for him.

The audience can not connect with the personal tensions among the characters which are revealed while they are under water. I think it would have been better if some portions where used in first half on the yacht. When in water, it seems they are just written to fill the blanks due to lack of creativity to write thrilling scenes which will keep audience in tensed.

Editing Cheragh Todiwala is average as he had to stick with available material which itself lacks meat. The saving grace of the movie is Cinematography by Franz Pagot which is first class. With breathtaking shots of oceans and oodles of glamour provided by 3 ladies, there is a lot of eye candy in the movie. Background music by John Stewart is very effective and stands out due to its quality. Action by Dave Judge is ineffective in a movie which heavily depends on that department. There are 4 music directors and songs are the biggest troublemakers in the movie. They not only hinder pace but bore the audience to death. Can not understand why the director found the song “bebasi” so good to be repeated so often in the background.

I saw this movie in 3D but it is a waste. It mars the experience than to enhance it. The technology is not at all used effectively. In fact, even after viewed in best 3D infrastructure of PVR, it darkens the film. Better to watch this movie in 2D if at all you are going to watch it.

Performances by an almost new cast is average. Out of all 7, Manjari Phadnis, Jatin Gulati stands out more. Madhurima Tuli does showcase good acting skills with her fabulous body. Along with her Suzana Rodrigues adds oomph to the screen. Fukre fame Varun Sharma is wasted. Santosh Barmola is strictly OK.

To sum it up, this is a movie touted as a thriller which does not thrill at all.

Rating:

Recommendation: Barring few scenes and hot bodies, the movie is tad boring. I wanted to get out of the theater many times but could not as a critic it is my duty to watch it fully till the end. Avoid this one as everyone is already doing. The theater was 80% vacant. I would suggest you watch the last week release “The Lunchbox” if you want to go to movies this week.

Warning : The Movie Review by Prashen H. Kyawal

Nagpur Today : Nagpur News

Besharam : Phootein Karam !

Director: Abhinav Kashyap
Music composed by: Lalit Pandit
Producers: Sanjeev Gupta, Himanshu Mehra
Genres: Romance Film, Comedy
Cast: Ranbir Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor, Neetu Singh, Jaaved Jaffrey, Amitosh Nagpal

I have an observation and a theory about Bollywood that there is lack of life experiences in majority of today’s writers, directors and actors. And I think this is because of urban (and even western) upbringing of the 2nd and 3rd generation of filmy families as well as other new generation of outsiders entering in the industry. Because they haven’t seen the hardships in life in B/C town cities or villages, they haven’t faced the challenges which majority in this country face even today, they are not able to write/direct subjects which connect to the heart of the audience of whole country which used to happen earlier. They have not seen how people hold on to relationships and why. They have not experienced that one can have fun in life without discos, pubs and tequila shots. Such lack of life experiences leads to fast food kind of stale recipes which are assembly line productions. Their products, do not have heart and soul of majority of India.

This is why people from other parts of the country coming from B town cities are able to create major impact recently. They can think of subjects which have mass appeal. They can write screenplays picking best of real life and making it better by adding larger than life antics to it. They can direct in a way that it touches the heart of all every type of audience. In short, they are able to give them typical paisa wasool masala entertainment we all crave for. One such person is Abhinav Singh Kashyap. Even after being sibling of a brother who is almost an iconic personality in independent and non mainstream section of industry, he came out with a fully commercial mega blockbuster in his debut. Dabangg is fifth biggest grosser of the industry. Not only it did business but is appreciated by all for its entertainment value. It had live and unique characters who had real relationships, problems, and believable triumphs over them. It was larger than life angry young man kind of story of yesteryear’s which is liked across all layers of the society.

After proving ones mettle in first film itself, it was easier for him to get any star for his next film. And he got heartthrob of the new generation, “Ranbir Kapoor” on board for his second movie “Besharam“. With such combination, expectations are bound to be there when the movie releases. It created good buzz after even on its poster release. Look of Ranbir in the poster was talk of the town. We expected original story-line, unique characters with quirky habits, strong emotional connect, high drama and of course full on masala entertainment. However, the end product is altogether a different outcome.

The story is of a petty and shameless car thief who is an orphan. He justifies his method of making a living by donating all his money to the orphanage he grew up. He deals with deadly hawala racketeer from Chandigarh and delivers him a stolen car only to find out later that it is owned by his lady love. What happens next is the story which we can easily give a miss.

Abhinav Singh Kashyap has written this movie with Rajeev Barnwal and they really had some good ideas at hand. However, they failed in correctly judging their plot and characters, improvising scenes and perfectly setting all the pieces of the puzzle. In short, finally they created a tacky, half baked and disgustingly vulgar screenplay. The ideas in their mind are not coming well on screen and keeps us wondering “what the hell am I watching?”. To justify the idea of “Besharam”, they use tacky and substandard humor which even C grade films would think before using. As they say “Jisne Ki Sharam, uske phootein karam”, however, here they will have to face “phootein karam” as they have got too besharam.

Abhinav not only failed as a writer, he could not bring life to an already dead script with his creativity as Director. Again the flaw is not realizing the exact storyline of the movie and under utilizing the strengths. Rishi Kapoor and Nitu Singh’s characters start as 2nd fiddle roles which take driver’s seat in the end. If that track was more strongly written and the love story and songs were cut out to half, things would have been improved. However, it is a lost opportunity now. The director has not only broken trust of his audience but also of these 3 Kapoors who must have believed in his vision.

All 3 Kapoor’s sincerely try to breathe life into an uninspiring plot however they are let down by loopholes in the script and direction. Ranbir Kapoor still shines like a single star in the darkest sky. His sincerity as an actor is admirable. However, he also could not judge exactly how he has to poetry the lead character. Many times, we get feeling of Deja Vu of watching his characters he has done earlier. Even though it alone can not save the movie, still we must give him credit for his honest work.

The biggest let down in this movie is the heroine. It is heard that Ranbir is a very gentleman and immensely obedient actor, however he needs to use his star power and insist on better choices as his heroine. The unknown face which will remain unknown after this movie too is not a heroine material at all. She has average looks and her actings skills are average too. Having so big and important part in the script, a better choice for the role was very much needed. Rishi and Neetu Singh are wasted and have some scenes which must be the lowest points in their career. Blind faith in writer/director by such naturally talented actors is sometimes harmful to their own reputation. They need to be careful next time. Javed Jaffrey too is wasted. Others are ok in their part.

Film has uninspiring music which is too much and is all over the place. Almost all songs are unnecessary and bad. This can be the worst work done by Music Director Lalit Pandit (again a bad choice for movie of this level). It is interesting to know that this film has 2 editors i.e. Pranav Dhiwar and Pankaj Sharma, but it seems were sleeping through their jobs. The film is lethargic and has a lot of scope to cut scenes and songs. Cinematography by Madhu Vannier has nothing to take home and production quality of the movie is average. I wonder can their be anyone who can guess how the project is going kaput and do something to get it on track? I mean even if it is needed to chuck all the songs, get new ones and reshoot 40% of the movie, it shall be financially ok for a film which has Ranbir Kapoor. I am sure that the film’s production cost is recovered in first day’s business itself. If the film has bigger budget than that, it is not visible anywhere in the film.

Overall, it can be said that this is a film where the creators could not find its true genre and method of treatment. The writing and direction is visibly confused due to this basic problem. Even the actors could not get grip on characters for this same reason. I was planning to give 1.5 stars to the movie but the funny climax which is entertaining even after being over the top is forcing me to give additional 0.5 stars to the movie. If we break it up further, 1 start for movie, half for 3 Kapoors and another half for the climax. If they had written the movie in reverse by starting with climax first, there was a bright chance or them to find true genre and story line of the movie.

Rating:

Recommendation: If you are too forgiving or in love with anything Ranbir does, you can give it a try. Strictly avoid if you like at least above average quality entertainment.

Again, I would say, watch “The Lunchbox” as it is still in theaters.

Besharam : Movie Review by Prashen H. Kyawal

Nagpur Today : Nagpur News

BOSS: coarse and superficial masala fun

Disclaimer: I am a sucker for Bollywood masala entertainers. I love formula movies which are wholesome fun experience for everyone. In fact, along with all other audience, I wait for such movies from Bollywood.

Conditions apply: The only condition or expectation is, such masala potboilers must be engrossing and paisa wasool. Throughout its length, the movie shall keep me glued to the seat and swing me high and low through humor, emotion, action, etc all its masala.

The Premise: Boss promises to be such paisa wasool masala entertainer.

Boss starts on a very positive note. If the first scene of the movie starts with veteran like Danny Denzongpa with impressive role, and if the first 20 mins of the movie has specially designed entry for almost all supporting cast including second lead, comic role, etc., then we are bound to believe that this is going to be awesome fun. And in most parts, IT IS!

I would like to get back to what I said in my “Besharam” review where discussed how due to urban upbringing and lack of life experiences, most current writer/directors fail to create something which touches everyone’s heart. In the mean while, south indian industry had kept alive the formula and masala genre. They have a lot of such blockbusters. So Bollywood (which was looking for such screenplays) started remaking them since Ghajni. Directors like Prabhudeva, Anurag Kashyap proved that masala films still work in Wanted, Dabangg, etc. Boss is another movie in this series. It is a remake of Malayalam movie “Pokkiri Raja“.

This is a story of a son who loves his father Satyakant Shastri (Mithoon Chakraborty) immensely but can never tell him. Due to his hot temper, he gets into fights easily for dignity of his father but in effect brings shame to him. His father disowns him but he gets an angle guardian in the form of transport king and contract killer Big Boss (Danny Denzongpa) who names him as BOSS (Akshay Kumar). His brother Shiv (Shiv Pandit) falls in love with Ankita (Aditi Rao Hydari) who is sister of evil policeman Ayushman Thakur (Ronit Roy). Boss gets involved in this tangle and have to solve it. So this time Bollywood plays the father card instead of regular mother card it used to play.

The original story is credited to the writers of  “Pokkiri Raja” which is adapted in hindi by Farhad-Sajid. I loved the screenplay where it follows 80s formula kind of story. I loved the first 20 mins and parts where past story of Boss is shown. I felt after Akshay Kumar joins the screenplay, it gets dicey and looses the force in his antiques. The emotional track feels superficial and comic parts get cheesy and crude at places. However, masses lap it all with applause. Overall, a more linear and tighter screenplay could have improved the movie a lot.

Director Anthony D’Souza has a left his bad form in “Blue” and is successful in giving a masala entertainer for the masses. He is brilliant in the childhood part of the story. However, if he had sat with his editor Rameshwar S. Bhagat and made the movie tad shorter than its current length of 2hrs 25 mins, it could have been a crispier. He retains the over the top treatment of south Indian films (watch for the “power plant” scene). It’s ok for such films where the disclaimer itself request you to turn of your brain before you turn of your mobile.

Akshay Kumar is in full form and does his part with his trademark energy. However, it is high time he brings something different in his every character. He looks the same tapori and rowdy as in his past movies. He needs to re-invent himself before it is too late. This film will definitely give a big boost to his career. So must take care he delivers value to his fans in his future projects. I think this is one of the rare movie where the hero of the film does not have a love interest. I think rather than stretching the current content over such big length, they could’ve had fun filled romantic track of the hero (like Dabangg had).

The shining star of the movie is Ronit Roy as a badass villain. He excels in his role and has some author backed scenes. I say scenes because his role is scattered across the screen play and does not get required justice. However, even in such scenario, Ronit Roy does his best and gives a new option to the industry for negative role. His eyes, his dialogue delivery, everything is remarkable. After Mahesh Manjarekar’s Policeman in Wanted, this character by Ronit I really hate and want him to die badly.

Shiv Pandit and Aditi Rao Hydari are ok. Aditi gets the required reaction from audience in her bikini clad entry scene and provides needed eye candy. Aakash Dabhade in the role of Home Minister’s son is good and leaves impact.

Film has all good actors even character roles and even in small roles and that really increases the gravity of every frame. Most of the characters get special entry in the screenplay and these actors prove they are worth their screen time. Mithoonda looks unconvinced about his role and audience laugh at some serious scenes of him. That is a sadly a failure of an actor. Johny Lever, Parikshit Sahani and even Shakti Kapoor (in a cameo) do justice to their roles.

This movie is made with an approach to play safe so every successful formula or cliche is used. To give a visual treat to audience, Akki seems to have invited Prabhu Deva, Sonakshi Sinha and even Yo Yo Honey Singh for small cameos. Same happens with the songs in the movie. They play safe by using remix of the classic song “Har Kisi Ko Nahi Milta Yaha Pyar Zindagi Main”, foot tapping party song by Honey Singh. It’s better than having bad music so it works. Title Track and “Pitah Se Hai Naam Tera” are ok too. Background score by Sandeep Shirodkar is apt.

Cinematography by Laxman Utekar is top notch. He and the director are good at their craft and technic. Together they give a movie with high production quality.

Overall, it is a fun film to watch with friends and family (barring some dialogs and crude comic scenes). Only problem with the movie is that we forget it immediately after it is finished (thankfully). There is nothing good to remember over long time.

Rating :

Recommendation : If you have less tolerance levels and are strictly looking for quality cinema, you can surely skip this one. If you love masala Bollywood potboilers, book your tickets ASAP, grab your popcorn and enjoy the movie. I enjoyed mine.

BOSS : Movie Review by Prashen H. Kyawal

Nagpur Today : Nagpur News

Shahid – A Story that must be told

Shahid, this week’s movie release, is a story which must be told. It is a film which must be made. It is an act which must be done. It is a lesson which must be learnt.

It is a story of a man who faced worst adversities in life, was offered bad and good choices and he chosen the good one, positive one. It is a story of a man who fought his circumstances for himself. Got himself out of it and then fought for others who were unfortunate to get pulled in similar misfortune. It is a ode to the courage of a man to choose the right path, travel along with it relentlessly and keep fighting for the right till last breath of life.

I am thankful to everyone who stood behind this film and made sure it sees a wide release.

Shahid is a biographical film based on the life of Late Shahid Azmi who was a lawyer with mission to fight for wrongly arrested innocent citizens under the various acts of terrorism. More information on him can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shahid_Azmi

I am copy pasting a para from the above link which is summary of the story of the film:
“Shahid Azmi (1977 – February 11, 2010) was a noted Indian lawyer and human rights activist, most known for defending those wrongly accused in cases of terrorism, including some of accused in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, such as Faheem Ansari, who was later acquitted for lack of evidence. At age 14, he was arrested during the 1992 Mumbai Riots. He went to Pakistani Occupied Kashmir into a militant training camp, but returned disillusioned. He was arrested again under TADA, serving seven years in Delhi’s Tihar Jail, on charges of plotting against the state, though he was acquitted later. He started studies while in jail, and went on to become criminal defense lawyer in Mumbai in 2003, defending cases for those accused for terrorism. Prevention of Terrorism Act, 2002 (POTA) was later repealed. He was shot dead by three assailants in his office in Kurla, Mumbai on Feb 11, 2010 at the age of 32.”

Shahid’s real life story is adapted for screen by writers Sameer Gautam Singh with co-writer Apurva Asarani who must be applauded for an outstanding job in moulding a story from real life for reel life. Screenplay is an honest attempt to portray the story with full transparency, honesty and passion.

This movie is a triumph for Director Hansal Mehta who has made this movie even after life threatening calls by people who wanted to bury the truth. A thunderous applause for the director who does not use any melodrama and avoids taking unnecessary cinematic liberties. His approach is to tell the story as it is and not add any ingredients to it which may force the audience in one direction to feel one particular emotion. He does not put any colored glasses over the eyes of his audience and let’s them decide what to feel about the happenings on screen.

He has taken every efforts to make sure that the film has a very realistic texture. He achieves this with the help of his Cinematographer Anuj Dhawan by choosing generally rejected shots (called as NOT GOOD ie NG shots) which deliberately has little incorrect framing, etc. He does not make his protagonist stand out from the crowd. He makes sure his hero looks part of normal people. This helps him in his need to project his idea that every normal human being can do incredible act if he is sincere, honest, passionate and positive about his intentions or actions.

He tells the story as it happens and gives emphasis on events and relations which had affected the person whose story it is. However, in doing so, the first half feels little stretched. It may distract us towards our mobiles or surroundings, still the intrigue in the story keeps us hooked to it. The film picks up pace post interval and gets the audience totally immersed in it. Remarkable part is he does it while keeping everything exactly realistic as in real life. Do notice Shahid’s torture scenes, the court room sessions, courtship of Shahid with his client girlfriend, love of his brother towards him, is wife’s totally justified stand in making a choice. All the awards and accolades this film garnered till now and will garner in coming award functions are well deserved. Hats off to Hansal Mehta.

This film is solely based on the performances of the actors. Every actor in this film performs in a brilliantly realistic way. Be it Yusuf Husain (as Professor Saxena), Kay Kay Menon (as War Saab), Tigmanshu Dhulia (as Maqbool Menon), Vipin Sharma (as Prosecutor More), Baljinder Kaur (as Ammi), Prabhleen Sandhu (as Mariam) everyone shine in even their smallest of roles. Mohd Zeeshan Ayyub who recently mesmerized us in the role of Dhanush’s friend the movie “Ranjhana” again does a marvelous job here too even though he has few scenes only. I loved the actor who was witness from Nepal who sees the map. He was fully natural. However the movie solely rests on the solid performance given by Raj Kumar Yadav (as Shahid) who has lived the character on the screen. I loved his role in “Kai Po Che” as Govind. I think he excels in doing breakdown scenes and can unarguably declared as best onscreen crying male. He pulls all the strings of our hearts and plays with it as he pleases to convey the feelings of the character to us. He touches our soul. He surely is and will be one of the best performer in Indian Film Industry. The film belongs to him in totality.

Film Editing by Apurva Asrani (who is also the co-writer and can be reason to keep the stretched out scenes in the edit) is good but could have been best if he had controlled the first half pace of the movie. Music by Karan Kulkarni is apt. Casting by Mukesh Chhbra is outstanding and hits the bull’s eye.

Overall, Shahid is one of the important films in Bollywood and one of the finest films this year. Most importantly it gives a very positive message to choose what is right and fight for the right. It builds back hope in the judiciary and overall in goodness in human beings. It shows that a good deed goes a long way.

I will use following quote to explain the message I take home from the film:

“I cannot do all the good that the world needs. But the world needs all the good that I can do.”
― Jana Stanfield

Rating :

Recommendation : A must watch film for lovers of realistic cinema, significant stories and independent films. For others, I think it won’t harm to watch a quality film even if it does not have the regular masala fanfare. Such films needs support of the audience because at the end of the day business matters. Right films must get right support. If you can, you must definitely watch this movie before it gets out of the theater.

Shahid: Movie Review by Prashen H. Kyawal

Nagpur Today : Nagpur News

Mickey Virus : not so deadly virus

Director: Saurabh Varma

Genres: Comedy, Thriller

Sometimes, promotional projection of a film creates some different expectations in viewers mind. So we go with a certain mindset and the film turns out to be different than our perception. If the surprise turns out to be pleasant, we don’t mind.

Mickey Virus promotions has given a perception that the movie is a light rom com of a hacker. However, the movie turns out to be a suspense thriller with a roc com side track. It is the story of an unreliable, moody but extremely talented hacker Mickey Arora (Manish Paul) popularly knows as Mickey Virus. He is required for cracking a cyber crime by Sidhdhanth Chauhan (Manish Choudhary). However, he is busy in his vellagiri and tries to run away from him.

Mickey and his friends Chutney (Puja Gupta), Floppy (Raghav Kakkar), Pancho (Vikesh Kumar) along with their guide and guru Nitish Pandey (Professor) do their hacking sessions at a den in Nehru Place Market Computer Market. They do all their magic, tricks and pranks there.

Mickey does many small thefts and trades on internet. He also has a online avatar named Kung Fu Chameli. One day, he finds a girl Kamayani (Elli Avram) and he falls in love with her. Since then, his life changes drastically and he gets caught in a web of conspiracies woven around him.

Can Mikey get out of this web using his sharp techie mind? That’s the story of the film.

Bollywood’s Grand Search for different stories and characters is leading them to characters who are in non mainstream business. From a barber to a marriage videographer to a dhabawala to a sperm donor and now to a hacker, they’re finding their hero in many such offbeat professions. It’s a good trend that such professions also get highlighted in mainstream cinema.

Mickey Virus screen play is written by Saurabh Varma with help on script work by Elvin Raja and Kuldeep Ruhil. Snappy Dialogues by Saurabh Varma get good laugh at many places. Though the placement of the script and characters is in unique locations and profession, film is basically a comic thriller. It is good at some places and dull at many. So overall an average work by the trio on the script.

Director Saurabh Varma keeps the things snappy and zippy. The restlessness of his young techie characters with carefree attitude is well portrayed. He has handled the love angle properly. However, some parts are unnecessarily stretched and they just to mislead audience from the suspense. The suspense part is done amateurishly. Rather than unravelling it layer by layer, all is revealed at the climax. Movie is unnecessarily twisted and made longer. A shorter and snappier version would have worked better. Still it is a good fair for a first time director.

On the performance side, Manish Paul is impressive in his debut film. He does a decent job. His camaraderie with his friend Chutney, played by Puja Gupta is funny and natural. She does a good job. Another noteworthy performance is from Varun Badola who plays role of Inspector Bhalla. He gets some funny dialogues and does justice with it. Elli Avaram as a lead heroine is does good job. She provides proper eye candy and glamour to the film.

All other actors along give average performance.

Editing by Archit D. Rastogi flounders and could have been better. Casting by Abhishek Banerjee is also not spot on. Cinematography by Anshuman Mahaley is apt.

Overall, Mickey Virus is just an OK film.

Recommendation : It is a fun thriller for young techie, geeky crowd which prefers morning shows in multiplexes for cheaper ticket price. They would also appreciate the funny T-shirts worn by the actors. Others can enjoy the movie when it comes on television.

Mickey Virus : Movie Review by Prashen H. Kyawal

Nagpur Today : Nagpur News

A Long Way to Go before it celebrates Grand Diwali 

A loving husband who does odd jobs for livelihood also has the big task underneath – to protect the world, his people from the untoward calamities with his blessed supernatural powers. His father with his experimental skills is out to crack the mystery of jadoo’s (the magical alien shown in first of the series Koi Mil Gaya) source of absorbing sun’s energy for better. In a distant land lies an evil which is all set to harm the world with his deadly creatures that he has created himself. Destiny turns around and links the evil and good with the same blood and same father (surprising!). All these tracks are weaved together into a sci-fi VFX based action thriller to serve Diwali platter on audience’s table.  The wait is finally over and Filmkrafts Production’s latest outing Krrish3 is here on screens, with Rakesh Roshan donning the director’s hat.

The undertone…

With a will and desire to save the people from evil and help those in need, we all can have Krrish in us. The gentle touch of humanity – universally accepted by viewers across boundaries – has what played an undertone in the action packed Krrish 3, the year’s one of the most awaited movies that hit screens this Diwali. Though early trade makes it the fortune winner, it will be too early to state how far the latest Krrish venture has fetched in winning up the hearts.

The plot…

Krrish – the first Indian superhero created by ace filmmaker Rakesh Roshan, some years back has now moved on, living a happily married life and follows the normal course while helping out the people, of course, in the dazzling display of superpowers. All appeared sunny and cool till a deadly virus comes from distant land to disturb the world. The first frame opens with the voice of Amitabh Bachchan narrating the previous tales with titles on. The film picks up from the point where it ended in its last part. Krishna Mehra (Hrithik Roshan) and his wife Priya (Priyanka Chopra) lives with his father Rohit (elder Hrithik). Rohit works in laboratory. Krishna is often thrown out of his jobs many times because he could not do his duty properly for the sake of his hidden duty – to help people in Krrish avatar. Kaal – the owner of Kaal Pharmaceuticals makes strange virus through his men and spreads it out to the world. Then they make the antidotes for the same virus and make millions. Behind the scene is Kaal’s own world of laboratory-made deadly creatures whom he calls ‘maanvars’ , combination of maanav(humans) and jaanwars (animals). Kangana Ranaut is one such maanvar made out of blood of human and chameleon.

Kaal chooses the next destination for his virus attack as India and lobs the people with virus. But Rohit succeeds in making its antidote through Krishna’s blood. This rages Kaal and he sends his mutant Kangana after the Mehra family in the guise of his wife who is kidnapped and kept at Kaal’s laboratory. While Kangana tries to unfold the secret behind Rohit’s antidote, she develops a change in her heart with the caressing feel of Hrithik. But the truth gets exposed and then both head towards Kaal’s place where Rohit and pregnant Priya is held hostage. Finally after some twists and turns the good wins over the evil.

Filmy twists…

The mutant enacted by Kangana starts feeling love. Then dream sequences and love songs happens, adding filmy Bollywood touch to the track. Meanwhile, Kaal gets his bone marrow from his genetical father who is none other than Rohit himself…!!! Kahaani mein another twist…!!! Then Kaal becomes able to stand on his feet and that adds to his power making him more deadly and dangerous. He kills Krrish but his father brings him back to life after transmitting the controlled the sun’s energy into his body and losing his own life in the course…yeh thoda zyaada ho gaya…

The Super Hero

Hrithik performs superbly and excelled in his down to earth human gesture. In a scene Krrish ala Krishna is seen with a boy who gets into danger in his endeavor to save a pigeon. Krrish says to him that he too is a Krrish as he saved the life of pigeon. He has certainly charms with his histrionics. Another scene in which he saves an infant in a kid’s trolley at the climax is quite touching. The human touch has certainly made some watchable contents in the movie, excelled by Hrithik’s performance. Though the viewers could not see much of his dance as expected, given his terrific dance moves in earlier movies by his father. He pulled off quite well in the role of Krrish, Krishna and Rohit.

The Villain

Iconic villain makes a perfect superhero with a lasting effect on viewers’ mind. Though the makers have tried too hard to present Suresh Oberoi (Kaal) as the memorable villain, he fails to make the audience believe his might. He creates mutants by combining the blood of humans and animals in a hope that someday he would find bone marrow that could match his and take him out of the handicapped life. The wheel chair bound Kaal’s entire body is non-functional and the extra ordinary powers lies in his two fingers only. In his aggression to stand on his feet, he makes many mutants that demonstrate antics like frog, chameleon (Kangana) and usurping the ice-cream at the blink of an eye. It does add to the few engaging moments but could not bring out its impact.

Kaal himself was the human made out of Rohit Mehra’s (Older Hrithik Roshan) DNA by professor Dr. Sidhhant Arya, played by Naseeruddin Shah in its prequel. Dr. Arya wanted to create a mind like Rohit to meet his evil designs. But it failed and the child born out of this experiment was deserted outside an orphanage. He was adopted by another gentleman who was killed by Kaal… Why? Because he could not answer where Kaal got his extraordinary powers from? Well for a movie like this, you certainly expect the thunder strong villain not by design but by default. Vivek Oberoi tried hard but could not pull much.

The Leading Ladies

Priyanka Chopra did not have much to deliver though he fits well into the bill. As far Kangana is concerned, she shows her ability to go beyond her so called tragic roles. Her expression justifies her change of heart that saves the moment of a mutant distracting from his actual task into becoming too filmy.

The Director

Weaving some family moments and adding mysterious finish to the the storyline has always been the director Rakesh Roshan’s forte and he did justice to it. This may not be his best creation as it involved too much of special effects. His latest venture lifts some Hollywood action with the help of action directors Siu-Tung Ching and the home grown Sham Kaushal.  Editing is good but at times breaks down and kills the pace.

The Music

This one is certainly lacklustre and given Rajesh Roshan’s earlier deliveries for his brother Rakesh Roshan’s movies, this one clearly disappoints. Raghupati Raghav… and Dil tu hi pata… is listenable though.  On the contrary, the background sound is appealing and sets the mood for nature of scene. For example, when Kaal is shown, the sound support makes its distinct mark and clearly audible to justify support.

Special Effects

Done by Red Chillies VFX, Shahrukh Khan’s company, it reminds of the graphical effects shown in Ra-One. It gets heavy at times but the film gains in this segment.

So Is there something different about this movie? Does it really deserve to be the trendsetter in Bollywood’s action genre?  Or for that matter, does it manage to take the Bollywood cinema viewing to another level? The expectations are as high as the movie’s budget. But the million dollar question is, will Krrish 3 which is made for Rs 150 crores give its viewers the value added vacation ahead. Well the questions do exist but audiences are certainly looking forward to add this latest flick into their must watch list, atleast for the sake of children.

PS : Don’t expect much difference to avoid disappointment. Enjoy the moments within Krrish.

…Rahul

Krrish 3 : High expectation, low delivery

Nagpur Today : Nagpur News

Ram-Leela : Fearless Bhansali’s riot of colours

Cast: Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone, Supriya Pathak Kapoor

Direction: Sanjay Leela Bhansali

Every era has artists which are out the the boundaries by social norms or structures. People love them because they can think beyond imagination. Because they create something which transports you to a different world altogether and keep you wondering about the creative prowess such artists have. We wait for films by such artist for years and we wish they do not fail us. We want them to succeed because we do no want to get disappointed by them. We do not like if their creations are ineffective.

Sanjay Leela Bhansali is one such artist. His skills transcend through every media, medium and department of art. He controls every aspect of his creation and extracts the best from everyone in his team to create the world of his imagination. Sometimes we liked it, sometimes we did not. However, it was always unique and beyond imagination.

I am glad to say that even though everyone will have mixed reactions about Ram-Leela, no one will say that it is a bad film.

Produced by Sanjay Leela Bhansali with Kishore Lulla, Written by Sanjay Leela Bhansali with Garima and Siddharth, Edited by Sanjay Leela Bhansali with Rajesh Pandey having Music by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, “Goliyon Ki Raasleela : Ram-Leela” is a film directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali.

The above line itself proves the impression and impact by SLB on every department of the film. He is just not the captain of the sheep but heads in every department as well. Having said that, all these names must be given due mention and credit because each of them has done outstanding jobs in the above mentioned departments of the film. The dialogs are intense, passionate, poetic, witty and effective. Editing is swift and sharp. Music is already making waves in chartbusters still I think it is not as long lasting as music in earlier films by SLB. I think he shall use other music directors for his films which can result is much better output.

The film starts with a sentence that it based on Romeo-Juliet by William Shakespeare. So that makes it easier for a reviewer as the story is well known. Though it is a internationally known story adapted thousands of times across the world in every language and format, I will use a one line summary I found on internet to describe it to others who do not know it. “Romeo Juliet (and hence Ram-Leela) is about two star-crossed lovers in the depths of forbidden love despite an ancient family feud.”

Arguably, this can be said as best adaptation of Romeo-Juliet in Indian Context. He does it with a backdrop of Gujrat. He creates an imaginary town suffering from family feuds between Rajadi and Sanera clan whose favourite son and daughter fall in love with each other. He uses a period from holi till Dashera to set his store time frame and beautifully weaves festivals, rituals and cultural symbols in the story and visuals. Though such use has hurt feelings of few over sensitive people, we should ignore them and let artists have liberty to create art without fear.

We have seen many films earlier with such story lines where boy and girl with history of animosity between their families, fall in love. In many cases, there is a happy ending, while in many others, there isn’t. What makes Ram-Leela different is one name and i.e. Sanjay Leela Bhansali.

I always yearn for movies with love stories having pain underlying them. SLB’s “Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam” is a benchmark for movies which torn our heart and connects us with the pain of protagonists. I wish he recreates it in his every movie. However, artists have their own agendas and ideas to portray. Ram-Leela doesn’t just dwell only on the part of passion and pain but creates an overwhelming experience for all our senses (except touch and smell) and keeps them alert and tight throughout the movie. His movies can not only be reviewed as cinema but must be looked as a piece of art. Each scene in Ram-Leela is poetry in motion. Each frame is perfectly crafted art piece. He fills our eyes with riots of colours, festival of music, hurricane of emotions and sheer force of his SLB sweeps us off our feet and mesmerises us with his story telling.

In SLB’s movie the lead actors (even if they are big stars) are not important as they are just tools in his hands. Not only stars, actors but all other technicians are mere tools in his hands. SLB uses all these tools to paint a picture of his vivid imagination on the canvas of cinema. So all other names just do not matter. Because SLB chooses his tools meticulously and uses them wisely extracting the best out of each of them. Still few name deserve special mention. Ranveer Singh is first name that comes to my mind. He is incredibly good as a passionate lover and handled the post interval dramatic scenes with amazing maturity at this early stage of his career. He has done outstandingly well and surely started walking his way to superstardom if all goes well for him in future. Deepika Padukone gets another complex role to portray and she does justice to it. Both of them have steaming hot on screen chemistry and create the passion and pain in the romance perfectly. Deepika looks stunning and sensuous. Notice her in the scene where she tries to woe Ranveer Singh in the lodge after they elope. Still I missed divine beauty of Aishwarya Rai. Otherwise, a new face with unbelievable beauty and talent could’ve also been more effective because the young, energetic and bubbly character has such demand.

There are numerous other characters and each artist does their job perfectly. Supriya Pathak needs special mention for her portrayal of Dhankor Baa, the lady don of Sunera clan. Richa Chaddha looks beautiful and totally different than her role in Wasseypur. She does super justice to his role as Rasila Bhabhi. Gulshan Devaiah as Bhavani, Abhimanyu Singh as Meghjibhai, Utkarsh Naithani, as Karsan, Sharad Kelkar as Kanjibhai does leave an impact. Barkha Bisht Sengupta could’ve done better. Last but not the least Priyanka Chopra has the highlight music number with incredibly hot moves to match it.

We can not finish this review without mentioning the name of the cinematographer who has the toughest job of realising SLB’s vision on celluloid. Cinematographer Ravi Varman accomplishes this mission impossible with aplomb. Another man with such difficult task in a SLB film is production design. Wasiq Khan passes in this department with flying colours. Choreography by Ganesh Acharya, Samir & Arsh Tanna, Terence Lewis & Bertwin and Vishnu Deva keeps our eye glued to the screen. Background music by Monty Sharma is apt. Sham Kaushal also shines in action department. Costume design by Anju Modi and Maxima Basu needs special mention too.

Before summing it up, we can easily say the film could’ve been shorter, songs better and sans the repetition and minus the Déjà vu from movies like Gangs of Wasseypure, Ishaqzade and SLB’s own Devdas. Still the importance and value of this film can not be diminished. This is a new SLB who balances needs of classes and masses in a superbly crafted package. Some may not like it but most will love it. And no one can ignore it.

Rating :

Recommendation : I write this movie from AbuDhabi, UAE where it is rated as 18+. In India, to is certified U/A by censor board. However, if you are going to watch it with kids, I may warn you about intense love scenes, heart wrenching violence, shirking dialogues are at some places. However, ours Indian kids have seen worse in crap potboilers, so it’s fine. If you are religiously too sensitive, do not watch and protest about the movie. Everyone else, do not leave this chance to watch this movie on big screen in the very best cinema experience you can buy. I guarantee you that it is worth all the money you will spend on it. A must watch.

Ram-Leela : Movie review by Prashen H. Kyawal

Nagpur Today : Nagpur News

Gori Tere Pyar Mein : pastic portrayals

Cast: Kareena Kapoor, Imran Khan, Shraddha Kapoor, Anupam Kher, Isha Gupta (special appearance)

Director: Punit Malhotra

I would refer back to my earlier observation that the urban boys with lack life experiences and intensity of true emotions struggle to create good cinema.  Punit Malhotra is a special case in study here. He deconstructs and decodes the Bollywood rom com formats and formulae, laughs at them through the dialogs and scenes in his films but actually falls pray to same cliches churning out the same run of the mill potboilers.

GTPM is a film about Sriram, Venkat (Imram Khan), a spoiled, rick and careless boy (this time) from a south indian family (mall builders), is often criticised by his father as “Kala Dhabba” of the family. He studied abroad and has no respect for any Indian values, rituals and does not value his families Gandhiyan Heritage (who apparently seems ok to sell an ashram land wanted for an orphanage but otherwise preach about being a hero).

Sriram falls in love with a social activist Dia Sharma (Kareena Kapoor) who believes in fighting for system change and progress. This character proves that the new generation of socially active youngsters has made it to the literature and films now. We even get a reference to Anna Hajare in the dialog. Sriram as usual is not serious about anything and after courtship of a year or so, they breakup.

Sriram then tries to impress his family and be worthy of them by accepting to marry a girl from same cast and respected family aka a “prize catch”. So what happens after that is a the story of the film.

Writers team of Punit Malhotra and Arshad Sayed tries to write a rom com with numerous references to earlier love stories by his mentor Karan Johar and other many Bollywood hits. He tries to ridicule them but uses the same old tricks to create the same old drab story. Film fails flat from writing stage itself.

Punit Malhotra as the Director could not bring any magic in execution of the already insipid screenplay. Editor Akiv Ali did not help either. Lethargic editing makes it drab n tad boring.

Punit’s earlier film “I hate love stories” was on same premise of spoofing love stories while repeating same cliches. But it was at least somewhat bearable due to its setting in film industry, side characters, one great and few good songs. GTPM lacks in that also. Music directors Vishal-Shekhar could not deliver up to the expectations.

Good part about the movie is cinematography by Mahesh Limaye. The south indian family settings and later the Gujrati village brings in a different visual flavour on the screen. Production design by Shashank Tere is good.

Performance wise Imran Khan and Kareen Kapoor do their parts as usual. I am not sure why it was necessary to mention Kareena being elder than Imran. She still looks as young as she can. Most remarkable impression on me is by Shraddha Kapoor who emotes with her eyes. With her gorgeous Indian beauty, she is a delight to watch. I am sure she has a long and impressive career ahead in the industry if things fall in place correctly. Another good performance by Nizhalgal Ravi who plays Imran’s father. Anupam Kher is repeats himself as Lateshbhai. I wonder who Punit has avoided to urge the “Thappad Ki Goonj” dialog when there was ample chance to use it. Vineet Kumar Singh is good too.

Overall, GTPM is old wine in new bottle. Has pasticky portrayals off everything. Even though preaches about taking things seriously, quiet does not get the point itself.

Recommendation : If you are diehard rom com lover and can deal with occasional boredom through the movie, this is a popcorn entertainer to watch. Otherwise just skip it. But yes, otherwise this is clean family film, if you want to know that.

Gori Tere Pyar Mein : Movie Review by Prashen H. Kyawal

Nagpur Today : Nagpur News

Tigmanshu Dhulia is known for his near to real life story, characters and picturization. The Award winning director of his debut film “Haasil” got the popular Filmfare and the coveted national award for the film “Paan Singh Tomar”. With the success of formula which surfaced in the industry from the films like “Dabangg”, everyone tries to make a similar one for a quick 100 cr. Rowdy Rathore, Boss, Bullet Raja and upcoming R…. Rajkumar, all are based on similar plot of kind hearted hero from the UP/Bihar belt in a unruly town with quirky characterisation and a common thread….. Sonakshi Sinha. Tigmanshu Dhulia couldn’t also resist playing with this formula and came out with with “Bullet Raja”.

Bullet Raja : Movie Review by Prashen H. Kyawal

Nagpur Today : Nagpur News

R… Rajkumar : Masala Curry with Broiler Chicken

Cast: Shahid Kapoor, Sonakshi Sinha, Sonu Sood, Ashish Vidyarthi, Mukul Dev, Asrani

Director: Prabhu Dheva

Cinema is a business apart from being a medium for creation of art. Film Industry down south has understood this aspect of it much better than their other counterparts in the country. They create products with a template for each genre of cinema and use it repeatedly till it runs out of its business use. Director Priyadarshan has repeatedly used this method and churned out his share of comedies and masala films based on his formula till it got exhausted and people started rejecting. Prabhudeva came up with similar formula since his directorial debut in Hindi “Wanted” and repeated it with Rowdy Rathore, Ramaiya Vastavaiya and now again with R…. Rajkumar.

General story line of this formula is set in an imaginary village ruled by unruly mafias. The hero is generally a street smart person with golden heart. Hero has a love interest which on one hand symbolises shy Indian girl while on other had teases the hero and audience with bold dialogs and actions. Trough the twists in the tale the hero has to confront with the villain and while doing so he does it with lots of pranks and hilarity with occasional doses of action. While playing to the demands of lowest common denominators in the audience, the film is filled with crass humour, raunchy item songs, etc. At the end, hero wins and the couple lives happily ever after.

R… Rajkumar also revolves in similar template with little differences. Story is credited to Prabhudeva with screenplay credits shared between Prabhudeva, Sunil Kumar Agrawal and Ravi S. Sundaram. As they say too many cooks, spoil the broth. However, the formal is based always on flimsy premise hence can’t expect much from the story. Screenplay works in some places but fails in most. Overall an average work at the writing level. Pranks and comedy scenes in first half are enjoyed by public. Dialogs by Shiraz Ahmed are in line with the style of the film.

Prabhudeva has mastered this formula and is again good at what he does. Together with his editor Ballu Saluja, he keeps the pace good which lags in second half. He must be credited to his incredible sense of scene improvisation and he plays with that strength. Do notice the fire in the house scene where hero rescues an old man.

On the performance side, Shahid Kapoor as Rajkumar does his best to fit in the role. There is nothing to blame him as ineffectiveness of the movie lies in other departments. However, his look could have been better. Also his dancing skills could’ve been used to create a memorable long lasting dance performance or any of the songs. Sonakshi Sinha as Chanda is playing again on her home ground (from where she never really moved away). Sonu Sood as Shivraj is good in his Dabangg type role again. Ashish Vidyarthi as Manik Parmar is ok. Asrani is a pleasant surprise. He still has great energy and comic timing. Shahid is supported ably by Mukul Dev as his friend. His character need little more depth in writing. Everyone else is as their usual self.

Production Design by Nitin Chandrakant Desai is good with excellent cinematography by Mohana Krishna. Stunts and fights by Action Director Ravi Varma is average.

Music by Pritam is foot tapping and several songs are already ruling the charts. Even in song picturisation, Prabhudeva is repeating his formula (i.e. items songs shot with 100s of dancers and multiple item girls and romantic duet songs with unique use of background dancers as props in visual design for the song)

Overall, it is a copy paste film by Prabhudeva which fails because there is no meat in the story. This dish tastes like full masala curry but with broiler chicken. I think unless there is good strength in the drama and emotions, he shall not repeat this formula again anytime soon. It is past its expiry date (because others are also using it and coming out with same look and fill… example “Bullet Raja”).

Rating:

Recommendation: Same as last week’s movie “Bullet Raja” i.e. if you must watch a movie and love such masala entertainment then you can watch it. People having more expectations can just skip it or watch when it comes on TV.

R… Rajkumar : Movie Review By Prashen H. Kyawal

Nagpur Today : Nagpur News

Jackpot : Movie Review by Prashen H. Kyawal

Nagpur Today : Nagpur News

Dhoom 3 : Prestigious Dhoom

Cast :Aamir Khan (Sahir), Katrina Kaif (Aaliya), Abhishek Bachchan (ACP Jai Dixit) ,Uday Chopra (Ali Akbar Fateh Khan), Tabrett Bethell

Director: Vijay Krishna Acharya

Music composed by: Pritam Chakraborty

Producer: Aditya Chopra

Cinematography: Sudeep Chatterjee

Dhoom is most successful movie series in India and Dhoom 3 is most awaited film of 2013. Dhoom series has a great unique format where the villain is bigger than heroes. Where the villain is the main attraction of the movie. I am not sure if there is any other such mainstream commercial movie series with such format. Even if Abhishek Bachchan can claim any number of times that Dhoom series is chronicles of Jai and Ali and they are the heroes of the movie, people throng the theatres to watch the villain.

Dhoom 1 was sort of kinder to Abhishek Bachchan and Uday Chopra as they got equal footage too John Abraham’s character which was more popular because it was author backed. With Dhoom 2 having Hrithik Roshan and Aishwarya Rai as thieves the game became tougher. Hrithik took the movie to an unprecedented level which seem hard to be break into. He completely shadowed Jai and Ali whose roles got smaller. AB Junior intact got a lot of flak at that time for looking lethargic and somewhat fat in front of Hrithik.

This time, with Amir Khan playing the thief, the film gets as bigger as it can get. Amir Khan, knowns as the perfectionist of Hindi Film Industry, is known for his sense of script. This time, though heavily “inspired” from hollywood flick “The Prestige”, the screenplay by Vijay Krishna Acharya is good and hence Amir must have accepted the film. He is credited as Victor Acharya for this movie (is victor the alter ego of Vijay?).

Vijay is associated with Dhoom series from start. He is the writer behind all Dhoom movies. Dhoom 3 is a totally focused screenplay which is centred around the story of the thief. Hence, Jai and Ali gets much lesser roles. In fact, it also chucks away typical romantic track even after having lead actress like Katrina Kaif. Though it does make the movie taught, it also makes it dry as it lacks in comic and romantic entertainment. The script has good twists and turns. Vijay is also credited for dialogues which are apt.

Vijay Krishna Acharya gets credited with same name as Director. His much hyped Tashan fall flat at the box office but he did show some spark for style and action. With Dhoom 3, he gets already successful formula which has lot of scope for both. Being on home ground and supported with best technicians and star cast, he does his job remarkably. With the help of his editor Ritesh Soni, he keeps the pace of the movie fast and keeps audience hooked to the story. The way he delivers the twists in the movie is remarkable. He is extremely successful in presenting the story of the thief but fails in making Jai and Ali track work for it. In fact, he keeps very less chance for romance too (as it is the demand of the script too). If he could have some how managed to boast those areas too, it would have been a complete entertainer. Still a big round of applause to live unto the stupendous expectations from the movie.

Dhoom 3 is blessed with A list start cast and supporting actors. Most screen time is dedicated to Amir Khan (as Sahir) and he proves that he is the BEST. Though he lacks in physical presentation of the character (as compared to Hrithik or even John), he makes for it by his incredible acting talent. He is successful in impressing the audience again. Abhishek Bachchan (as Jai) is as his usual self. Uday Chopra (as Ali) does not have much scope due to very less screen time and no support from writer this time. We do not even remember him after the movie. Katrina Kaif is at her best form but is wasted again due to very less screen time. But she is best in whatever screen time she gets. I wish she had more meaty role. Jackie Shroff impresses in his small role. Tabrett Bethell who is Chicago police woman is a mis cast. She has ample screen time which is wasted.

Special mention for the child artist Siddharth Nigam who comes second or as close to Amir Khan. He must get all the awards for child actor for this year. What a heart warming performance by him. He is a kid to watch for.

Production by Aditya Chopra is of international standard and Cinematographer Sudeep Chatterjee takes full advantage of it and delivers stunning visuals. Action by Conrad Palmisano and Sham Kaushal is top notch. Music by Pritam Chakraborty and Julius Packiam lacks good songs which can last. Aditya Chopra lacks the ear for music which his father Yashiji had. He needs to hire Mahesh Bhat for this department. Choreography by Vaibhavi Merchant and Dien Perry is good. Katrina sizzles in her dances like liquid electricity (as described in the movie itself).

How can one talk about Dhoom without talking about bikes? I saved this best bit for last. Amir Khan gets a better bike than bat pod which is a convertible to many useful functions other than just being a bike. Do lookout for it. I would have loved Jai and Ali playing more with their bikes too however they just get to ride them (Don’t know why Jai gets an entry with Auto)

In summary, Dhoom 3 delivers the promise and is a good family entertainment for this weekend. There can not be a better film to end the year. Go end it with DHOOM.

Recommendation : Watch it for Amir, his bike and for everything Dhoom stands for. Do not forget to suspend your belief before entering the cinema hall. And yes, this movie can be watched with whole family (which is hard to say about most movies coming now a days)

Also, do watch hollywood movie “The Prestige” on DVD after you watch this movie any time you can. It is a movie which must not be missed.

Dhoom 3 : Movie Review by Prashen H. Kyawal

Nagpur Today : Nagpur News

Calling Mr. Joe B Carvalho : Movie Review by Prashen H. Kyawal

Nagpur Today : Nagpur News

Yaariyan : The Kiss Quest

Youth is biggest consumer in India. Age of this nation is reducing day by day. A large number of youngsters are below 20. Also many in their teenage are forming major chunk of population. It is evident from the teenage crowd flocking to the theatres that there’s a good market for teenage flicks if released professionally. With the muscle of T-series behind it, Yaariyan did succeed in creation of pre-release buzz for the movie. With the help of chart buster music, it is successful in getting its audience to the theatre.

A good movie needs great marketing to get the theatre seats filled initially but it is the content of the movie which keeps it filled for 1-2 weeks which actually helps in doing good business. It will be interesting to see if Yaariyan is able to achieve it over coming days because it has very less to offer and that to for a niche section i.e. teenagers. If this movie still does great business, then we can conclude that the teenage market is worth targeting (perhaps with better content) in future.

Yaariyan focuses on teenage “hormonal locha” which the makers think keeps them on the hunt for physical pleasures from the opposite sex. As the lead male character Lakshya (Himansh Kohli) is in quest for kissing his current girlfriend Jenny (Serah Singh), he and his group gets punished (?) to protect the college from being take over by the australians. Is it sounding as weird while reading as it is to me while writing? The principal of the collage, Jimmy sir (Gulshan Grover) gives even more absurd justification for his choice. So this group of good for nothings fight for the cause with multiple sources of motivation by mother (Smita Jaykar), Mausi (Deepti Naval), Friend Debu and girlfriend Saloni (Rakul Preet Singh) given time to time.

Credit for Story, Screenplay and Direction is given to Divya Khosla Kumar who is family member of the producers. It is her debut film. She seems inspired by multiple teenage flicks and tried to pull best out of them and put in this movie to create a cocktail which unfortunately fails in taste. She brings in instances from real life like australians beating Indian student and also tries to flavour the recipe with patriotism. While doing all this, it is also a coming of age story where the reluctant protagonist realises the importance of being man of substance. However, the movie fails to be so.

It is said that there are very less female directors in film industry. When a female director wields megaphone, we expect female characters treated with more dignity than their male counterparts. However, from the first scene to the last, Divya never misses a chance to show cleavages from top angle and bikini clad legs from low angle. Apart from 3 glamour girls, Jenny (Serah Singh), Jannet (Evelyn Sharma) and Jiya (Necole Faria) as students who do not leave a chance to shed cloths, there are 2 female teachers. They are shown as flirty in a cheap way, dropping their saree pallu in every frame. If that’s supposed to be funny, I do not subscribe to that kind of humour. Sorry.

To give credit to Divya, the screenplay has few engaging moments, even if cliched or formulaic, at times it works. Also the film has difficult scenes like mounting biking, mountain climbing, etc which takes hard work in execution. So we can say it is a good debut by her as director. I doubt if we can expect any better from her in future.

Film is technically strong. It has a great cinematography by Sameer Arya. He shows Sikkim and Australia in its all natural beauty. Production value of the film is top notch. Editing by Parameswaran and Aarif Sheikh could have been better if they had made it more tighter and fluid. The biggest strong point on which this film relies is Music. Songs by Pritam, Mithoon, Yo Yo Honey Singh, Arko Pravo Mukherjee, are already busting the charts. With T-Series at the helm of the affairs, music has to be the best. And it is.

The film is a candy floss, coming of age, romantic musical in an imaginary college (in reality, it can’t exist) which works with teenage audience.

Recommendation : Skip it unless you are a teenager with “hormonal loch”

Yaariyan : Movie Review by Prashen H. Kyawal

Nagpur Today : Nagpur News

 

Dedh Ishqiya : Movie Review by Prashen H. Kyawal

Nagpur Today : Nagpur News

Miss Lovely: Retrospective on C grade movie industry
Director: Ashim Ahluwalia
Story by: Ashim Ahluwalia
Cast: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Niharika Singh, Anil George
Screenplay: Ashim Ahluwalia, Uttam Sirur

There is mainstream commercial cinema which seldom is good on all aspects. There is quality cinema which entertains or engages too. Then there’s a cinema reflects real life as is sans any dramatisation or spicing up. Such cinema is generally popular in art film lovers, film scholars and festival circuit regulars. Miss Lovely comes from that orbit. Generally such movies do not reach from their orbit to earth of mass release. But times have changed and all types of cinema is getting wider release. Though with a delay, this film got a release. It is a good sign but I am not sure if such movies can ever enjoy patronage like other types of cinema enjoy. That eventually makes it harder to get released.

Miss Lovely is a story which brings to us the dark by-lanes of this shiny glamours film industry. It is about the C grade film industry of 80s. The audience of such films expected much more than titillation when they paid for their tickets based on their view developed from the posters and text lines on them in local ads by exhibitors. To keep them satisfied and hooked, such notorious exhibitors used to add after market reels of porn scenes into the movie. This way they guaranteed repeated and devoted audience and everyone in the supply chain is happy (the way, a character in this movie says “Maine kaha tha na, sabko khush kar dunga”). While theatre owners opted for such dubious ways to ensure business, investors were interested in easy access to sex it offered.

Story of this film by Ashim Ahluwalia, is rumoured to be based on Ramsey Brothers. Though the film scene shown do resemble the films by Ramsey’s in that era, I do not think it is about their life experiences. Story is definitely has a different background and subject does offer novelty.

The story is about 2 brothers with elder one, Vicky (Anil George) being the alpha male going for hunt and having big ambitions. But for achieving those, he has not calms use any wrong methods. While enjoying the benefits of casting couch himself, he rubs shoulders with horny investors who are more interested in skin taste than screen test. Younger brother Sonu (Nawazuddin Siddiqui), who is reluctantly following orders by his brother with frequent protests which are ignored and crushed ferociously. Sonu is wants a cleaner life and dreams about directing a mainstream romantic film “Miss Lovely”. He falls in love with pinky (Niharika Singh) while dreaming to cast her as his heroine. To achieve this he follows some unscrupulous ways which lands not only him but the entire gang in trouble.

Screen play credits are shared by Ashim Ahluwalia and Uttam Sirur. The screen play is on the line of the treatment planned for this movie. Even though it uniqueness does keep audience interested in what next, it does not keep them glued to the screen. It does not sweep us emotionally nor delivers the story with dash of entertainment. It it successful in affecting us but the emotion it generates is disgust. It does make you unstable but does not give the fulfilment of watching a good film. It also does not give reasons or proper flow so sometimes makes it harder to understand the ongoings. It does have few highs but lows are more and persistent. So a mixed job done on screenplay here.

Ashim Ahluwalia again in Directors chair, is clear about how he wants to treat the film. He goes about it without compromise and is able to recreate reality as is on screen. He uses lifelike pace and holds camera in many shots for a lot longer than normal. He is able to create the atmosphere with all its dinginess and cringeworthy reality. He is unabashed and fearless in his vision and execution. From the first frame in projector room to the tiny box in the climax where a blue film is being shot on video, every detailing is taken care to recreate the world of C grade film industry and its even lower grade fraternity. However, the world is unwelcoming, disgusting and disturbing. Though the director is successful in generating these emotions in you as audience, I do not think if it is good cinema or not. Though credit must be given where due. A big applause for the Director to stick to his vision and make the film, the way he wanted to make. However, the editing again by him only could have been better. There are few places where we do not get link of why and what is happening. Though we are amused, we are not connected or involved in the movie. That’s what makes it unrecommendable.

While we talk about atmosphere and feel of the movie, let’s mention that production design by Tabasheer Zutshi is spot on. Be it the jungle set or horror movie scene or the cabaret dance set, it is as realistic as possible. Art Director Dhanya Pilo shall be given credit for it. Casting by Sharad Kalawar is perfect.

Most cast of the film is unknown except Nawazuddin but everyone has given good realistic performance. It is a tailor made role for Nawazuddin who does it with full sincerity and honesty. He plays the unhappy, good hearted Sonu convincingly. Anil George as his elder brother is excellent too. Niharika Singh as pinky/saloni/pooja is ok. Every other actor has done justice to their roles.

So “Miss Lovely” is an art house film which disturbs and unsettles you but does not give a feeling of watching a good film.

Ratings:

Recommendation : I will not recommend this movie to anyone except art house and festival cinema lovers. It may be different and realistic, but I will not spend my money on its tickets.

Showtimes for Nagpur, Maharashtra

Pvr Empress City Mall – empress city mall, opposite raman science centre gandhi sagar lake, Nagpur, India
‎8:10pm‎
Cinemax Eternity Mall – eternity mall, variety square, sitabudi, Nagpur, India
‎5:45pm‎
Inox Tuli Mall – kamptee road, nagpur, Nagpur, India
‎10:50am‎ – ‎5:05pm‎
Inox Poonam Mall – poonam mall, Nagpur, India
‎11:05am‎ – ‎7:50pm‎

Miss Lovely: Movie Review by Prashen H. Kyawal

Nagpur Today : Nagpur News

Jai Ho: Violent Aam Aadmi

Director: Sohail Khan
Language: Hindi
Production company: Sohail Khan Productions
Cast: Salman Khan
Music composed by: Devi Sri Prasad, Sajid-Wajid

Salman Khan films are critic proof. Whatever critic says, still his movies will by default do 100cr+ business. He is a star who can do anything on screen and his fans will still cheer for him. I think he specially chooses such films which do not require to stress brain even a bit. However, this time, Salman has came out a film with a message. A message which can make the society better if followed with sincerity, honesty and compassion.

Jai Ho is a remake of Chiranjeevi starer South Indian Film Stalin written hence the story credit is given to A. R. Murugadoss. Story is is good at the idea level but it seems that no one bothered to develop it to its full potential. Dilip Shukla has written the screenplay and dialogues. He has done whatever he could with the undeveloped story. The film gradually grows on you till interval and raises expectation. Later, it goes down without lack of content. A beautiful idea is wasted because it is half baked and not fully exploited. Another problem I have is with comic scenes which mostly revolves around the child actor in the film. He has some cringeworthy dialogs (which his well educated father-mother ignores under the pretence of he being naughty). It seems that now a days comedy can not be written without going below the belt and special without mentioning undergarments.

The Story is about Jai Agnihotri (Salman Khan), who lives with his mom (Nadira Babbar) happily. Though his mother is angry with his sister Riya Agnihotri (Tabu) for marring against her will, Jai enjoys good relations with his Sister and Brother-in-law, Rehan (Mahesh Thakur). He’s specially fond of their son Kabir (Master Naman Jain). He generally spends time with them like aam urban aadmi by going to amusement parks, multiplexes, etc. With so much time together, he also falls in love with a girl, Rinky (Daisy Shah) who is his sister’s neighbour. While doing all this, Jai who is good soul, keeps trying to help people in distress all the time. Once he helps a girl (who saves a girl from some roughs in a club) caught by goons. When her family wants to thank him, he gets an idea and requests them to help 3 other people instead of saying thanks. This idea pics up and spreads. Jai keeps on doing good things where he confronts with many baddies in town. One such incidence involves him in fight with the son (Mukul Dev) of home minister (Vikas Bhalla) who then kidnaps Jai’s nephew, Rehan. While Jai saves Rehan, he kills home minister’s son. In all this confrontation, how Jai gets out of danger due to his own chain of good deeds is the story of this film.

Director Sohail Khan has done better job than his earlier films. He is able to keep good pace of the narrative. Even though the songs appear at wrong times and film gets slow and diverted at many places, overall he keeps audience interest alive till interval. Post interval he is paralysed due to lack of content and film gets dull. Swift Film Editing by Ashish Amrute is also not able to save the movie post interval.

Production value of the film is top notch. With most portions being shot at Ramoji Film City, Production Design by Sabu Cyril is ok. Cinematography by Santosh Thundhiiayil is pleasing. Casting by Mukesh Chhabra is epic due to access to all and any star actors in the industry. Action sequences (Anl Arasukumar, K. Ravi Varma and Dave Judge) are very well done. They can be gory for the week hearted and small kids (film has U/A certificate).

Music by Sajid-Wajid, Devi Sri Prasad and Amal Malik could not give any block buster song which is generally a main crowd puller in a Salman film. Still, ‘Photocopy’, ‘Baaki sab first class hai’ are foot tapping and ‘Tere naina’ may be on radio for a lot longer time period. Choreography by Remo D’Souza, Radhika Rao and Vinay Sapru, Shaikh Jani Basha, Mudassar Khan and Shabina Khan is excellent and Salman has danced his heart out in those songs.

Jai Ho is a star studded film with Salman Khan in almost each frame. But there are many small roles for which well known actors/stars are used. Being a Salman Khan film, no one must have dared to say no to the role offered to them. Everyone has done good job in their roles. Only complain I have is with Genelia D’Souza who plays helpless handicapped girl without both four arms. Why on earth she accepted this role?

The new lead actress, Daisy Shah, making debut through this big film who is apparently a Salman Khan find is good at dancing but totally zero at acting. Thankfully he does not have much role in the movie.

Salman Khan is in full form in this movie and sizzles on screen every time he is there. He is able to get a lot of applause from his fans in the cinema hall. The “being animal” part in his character came out properly but isn’t utilised fully. He did to go over the top (may be because the role is already over the top) nor he sleep walked through the role (as he does many times). Salman is backbone of this movie and this movie is much better treat for his fan following than many other recent one like Ready and Ek tha tiger. I would not hesitate to say it has more repeat value than those.

The film has many loopholes and cinematic liberty is used till it is abused (For example, Sunil Shetty who is Jai’s friend since army days, bangs a car in middle of city road with an army TANK). Being a remake of South Indian film, it has the typical south masala which can kill anyone who expects some substance from cinema. Overall, it is an out an out action packed entertainer which you must not watch if you take cinema too seriously.

Recommendation : Sallu Bhai ki film hai… Mai kuchh bhi bologna, aap dekhoge hi. Masala film lovers will watch the film because they love it. The ones who do not like such potboilers, but love movies, will still watch it to make fun of it. For others who really want to see ONLY good quality cinema, I have one word… skip!

Everyone else will watch it anyways.

Jai Ho showtimes for Nagpur

Cinemax Eternity Mall – eternity mall, variety square, sitabudi, Nagpur, India
‎9:00‎ – ‎9:45‎ – ‎10:15am‎ – ‎12:45‎ – ‎1:15‎ – ‎2:45‎ – ‎3:45‎ – ‎4:15‎ …
Raj Talkies – Nagpur, India
‎12:00‎ – ‎3:00‎ – ‎6:00‎ – ‎9:00pm‎
Pvr Empress City Mall – empress city mall, opposite raman science centre gandhi sagar lake, Nagpur, India
‎9:00‎ – ‎9:30‎ – ‎10:00‎ – ‎11:00am‎ – ‎12:00‎ – ‎12:30‎ – ‎1:00‎ – ‎2:10‎ …
Janki Theatre – near bank of maharashtra, sitabuldi, Nagpur, India
‎12:30‎ – ‎3:30‎ – ‎6:30‎ – ‎9:30pm‎
Rajvilas Cinema – nagpur mahal, Nagpur, India
‎12:30‎ – ‎3:30‎ – ‎6:30‎ – ‎9:30pm‎
Liberty – residency rd nr bishop ground, sadar, Nagpur, India
‎12:30‎ – ‎3:30‎ – ‎6:30‎ – ‎9:30pm‎
Alankar – north ambazari road, dharampeth, Nagpur, India
‎12:30‎ – ‎3:30‎ – ‎6:30‎ – ‎9:30pm‎
Panch Sheel – wardha road, Nagpur, India
‎12:30‎ – ‎3:30‎ – ‎6:30‎ – ‎9:30pm‎

Jai Ho : Movie Review by Prashen H. Kyawal