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Bang Bang : Movie Review by Prashen H. Kyawal

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First of all I must declare that I love Farah Khan Brand of Cinema which was established and very evident in “Om Shanti Om” and “Mai Hun Na”. It is unapologetically masala and formulaic and feels proud in being so. In fact, she and her gang including Shahrukh Khan do not leave any chance to re-live the memories of the Bollywood’s glorious past. I love all the idiosyncrasies they bring together on the celluloid. The same team brings together another promise… a promise to entertain…. through their newest offering “Happy New Year”. Is Farah Khan able to fulfil the promise?

The story of “Happy New Year” is a heist story (Seems Farah was not satisfied with her earlier debacle “Tees Maar Khan” and won’t stop still she gives a blockbuster hit heist movie) which is about stealing diamonds worth 300 crores but also have a revenge angle to it. To top it all, the robbers need a room in Hotel Atlantis (where the diamonds are to be kept in World’s Safest Safe) for the heist but is booked in advance for World Dance Championship (WDC) competition and will be allotted to one of its participant only. So in order to steal the diamonds, they need the room for which they have to participate in the WDC competition. For that they need to win the WDC India round.

And the team which is going to do all this is a group of quirky characters who are called “losers” in their life. They are experts in their field but are totally zero at soft skills. But Charlie (Shahrukh Khan) has full faith in them and brings Jackie (Sonu Sood), Tammy (Boman Irani), Vivaan Shah (Rohan), Nandu (Abhishek Bachchan) together to steal the diamonds and take his revenge. But for the dancing competition part they need a dance teacher and choreographer (after trying many dance gurus including “Choriyographer” Faroz Khan AKA Palak from Comedy Nights with Kapil) and there comes Mohini (Deepika Padukone) in the group. Thus a “Team Diamond” takes birth to execute the heist and take revenge on Charan Grover (Jackie Shroff).

Does this team succeed in achieving they set to achieve? Did their plan workout exactly as they set out to do it? What happened to the World Dance Competition? All this and more can be found in the movie.

The writers tried hard to bring join together a musical, a revenge story and a heist story together with loads of comedy and drama. Writers Farah Khan along with Althea Kaushal, Mayur Puri are able to give somewhat valid reasons for the heist and WDC to combine together however there is a lack of content in the screenplay. Hence they give detailed introduction to each character, then the flashback to reason the revenge story, then getting on with WDC India and all. In second half they feel lack of content and repeat most of the part already known in first half. It is complete 3 hour movie and hence the lack of content is even more prominent. The connectivity with the narration drops many times and but then we are again made alive through some gags or another for a while.

Weak work in the writing department can not be overcome by over the top humour and (un)funny scenes which the director Farah Khan puts a lot throughout the movie. I am not sure how spitting (in Om Shanti Om) and omitting (in this movie) can be part of good humour. I am not sure how same gay jokes and some swearing can pass as comedy. I am a big fan of Farah’s comic sense but I wonder if she has lost her mojo and is desperately trying to bring it back. One can bring any big number of big actors and known characters for cameos but unless their is meat in the writing the final dish never turns out tasty. Same is happening with Farah and she needs to go back to the drawing board and start afresh (and for God sake, think something different than heist movies).

Farah can get any cast she wants and she chooses all big stars for even small roles (Dino Moreo for announcer of WDC? Sarah Jane-Dias as Team India attendant at WDC?) but what she gets out of them matters and here mostly everyone is dictated to OVERACT! Shahrukh Khan himself is clueless and though he is everywhere all the time, mouths dialogs spurred with his own movie names or his own old dialogs (from tribute to the legends to tribute to self ?), nothing memorable is created through this movie (Not even the “Chhammak Chhallo” move as from Ra.One). Every other actor goes overboard and is wasted. Boman, Abhishek, Sonu all are given different quirks and that’s it, they do not move above that. They are not given anything which can help them do it and hence looking nothing bigger than comic sidekicks. Deepika sincerely plays her dance bar girl character but it also does not have any growth graph. Vivan Shah may get big visibility but gets nothing through which he can impress as an actor. Jackie Shroff is effective but again his character too did not got elevated to a level where we can really hate him from the core of our heart.

On the technical side, every frame is or looks like a million dollar frame so a big credit goes to Cinematographer Manush Nandan, Production Designer Shashank Tere and Art Director Chandrashekhar More. The introduction fight of SRK looks amazing on the big screen. Coming from his own production house, everything is grand and larger than life. Even the dance bar (Chhamiya Bar) looks like a grand opera theatre. Also VFX from his own firm Red Chillies VFX are very top notch. Editing by Amitabh Shukla and Sanjay Sharma could have been sharper in the dull and drab portions of the movie. Action Directors Sunil Rodrigues and Dave Judge did a good job.

The movie is feature length promotion of Hotel Atlantis and Dubai shows beauty of both in full grandeur and verve. The opening shot of Palm Jumeirah itself is breathtaking.

Music by Vishal-Shekhar is disappointing. Barring “Manwa Lage”, no song is long lasting and not even rule much on music charts. Vishal-Shekhar also needs to get their magic back. Choreography (by Farah Khan and Geeta Kapoor) is also not very impressive as most of the time they needed to dance BAD. The attempt to pay tribute to “Mohini” of “Tezab” fails totally flat. Neither the song nor the choreography is even closer to be called impressive.

Having said all this mostly negative points, I would like to state that the movie does have many entertaining moments and that makes up most of the returns we get for our ticket money. But considering their own past work like “Om Shanti Om” and “Mai Hun Na”, Farah Khan fell short in creating something which is an out an out entertainer. And hence, being a fan of her cinema, I am disappointed. Not as much as I was in “Tees Maar Khan” but still… disappointed.

Overall, barring few swear words, some tacky comic scenes and overall low level humour, this can be a good watch with family and friends. I saw that SRK fans and audience that came with determination of having a good time were enjoying a lot.

Rating : 
Recommendation : If you are fan of grand, larger than life movie productions with big canvas and huge star cast , go for this one.

Happy New Year : Movie Review by Prashen H. Kyawal Happy New Year : TACKY!

Nagpur Today : Nagpur News

The Shaukeens : Failed Remake held by Akshay Kumar

“Shaukeen” is a famous movie made memorable by the performances of Ashok Kumar, Utpal Dutt and A. K. Hangal and inimitable style of Basu Chatterjee. They were ably supported by Mithun Chakravorty and Rati Agnihotri. It was a hit movie etched in the mind of viewers of those days. In fact my father-in-law and his 2 friends are big fan of the movie. In their heydays used to plan their own old age as per that movie. When I heard of the remake of that movie, the first thought that cross my mind was of him. But is the remake equally good as the original movie?

The Shaukeens, though similar in the core, has a different story than “Shaukeen”. It lacks the comedy of error track which was part of the original where Mithun Chakravorty plays a Drivers Role and convinces the 3 oldies to go to Goa so that he can be with his girlfriend. In this new movie, the 3 lusty old men looking for some fun in life are the same but they on their own decide to explore foreign countries as they feel “India is no longer safe for them” and “It is all legal abroad”.

So these 3 friends who can not grow up with their age i.e. Laali (Anupam Kher), Pinky (Piyush Mishra), Annu Kapoor (KD) plan to go to Mauritius. There they have booked a villa owned by Ahana (Lisa Haydon) who is a young, spunky fashion designer who makes outfits made by weird material sourced from animals. She was going away on a road trip with her boyfriend which gets cancelled as she breaks up with him. So she comes back to her villa adding to the hopes of these lecherous oldies.

Though each of these oldies do not miss any chance to touch Ahana, they come to know that the only way to “get her do anything” is to help her meet with The Superstar Akshay Kumar. Ahana is big fan of him and dreams of working with him. So do these oldies succeed in making that happen? Do they get what they want from Ahana? All those answers can be found in the film.

Story, Screenplay and Dialogue is credited to Tigmanhsu Dhulia with co-writer credits given to Sai Kabir. The screenplay is flat and the gags do not work. Though the pace is fast, there is lack of interesting content. What the writers feel will make the audience “ROFL” does not work in theatres. So overall, bad work at writing stage. In dialogs department too, there is nothing memorable.

Director Abhishek Sharma who did great job in “Tere Bin Laden”, could not salvage the film because of the nothingness in the screenplay. But he did kept the pace zippy with his editor Rameshwar S. Bhagat and credit must be given for that. So it is again proven that unless there is meat in the screenplay, a good Director too can not cook a good dish.

Performances by veterans like Anupam Kher, Piyush Mishra and Annu Kapoor are good but not the best. Annu Kapoor do look good. It is sad to waste Rati Agnihotri who was the heroine of the original film. She should have not accepted this film. Cyrus Broacha is good in his small role.

Lisa Haydon is ok but she does look miscast as she is required to behave younger than she looks. Also her character does not differentiate at all in a bad touch and a good touch… We can not belief that a full grown woman like her will be so Naïve. A younger girl would have been better for this role.

Last but not the least is Akshay Kumar. He proves that no one can compete with him when it comes to comic timing. Whenever he is on screen, those are the best moments of the film. In fact, he is better in this small role than the full length roles in his other films. It is a waste that his good work will not reach many people as the film is bad and will perform bad at box office.

On the production side, the film is top notch. Production Designer Madhu Sarkar Kuriakose did a fabulous job and Cinematographer Chaudhary Amalendu did outstanding work in capturing that and the beauty of Mauritius. Costume Design by Jennifer Gardiner and Falguni Thakore is noticeable. Music by Hard Kaur, Arko Mukhrjee, Vikram Negi, Yo Yo Honey Singh is good and even the background score by Sandeep Chowta is lively.

Overall, it is a bad remake of a good film. But Akshay Kumar does give some value for money.

Rating : 
(Half star specially for Akshay Kumar)

Recommendation : Can be skipped. Do catch it up on satellite or DVD

The Shaukeens : Movie Review by Prashen H. Kyawal

Nagpur Today : Nagpur News

Kill Dil : Failed Pulp Fiction style presentation

Dear Mr. Aditya Chopra,

I understand you are a businessman and treat cinema as a business. I am aware that you have been very successful in establishing YRF studio as a big studio handling all sectors of film business. I know you have set processes and assembly line kind of film making factory.

I do not think treating cinema as a business is a bad but then at least you shall be loyal to your customers and make sure your products give them value for money. I watch your movies without a second thought due to my faith in the brand which is product of your father’s handwork of a lifetime. But if I am going to get average, below average and substandard “products” consistently, how can we keep doing so?

Having corporate work culture and good processes in film production life cycle is nice but it only helps in the materialistic part of the film. What about the soul? Can there be any process which can infuse soul in any film production? Isn’t there any requirement of human passion, near obsession for the story he/she wants to narrate? Do you ever try to check if your products touch the hearts of its audience (err, consumer) or not?

Nowadays it seems films are treated more like a project. It is about putting the project together, getting finance and distribution guarantees for it and then making it keeping marketing briefs in mind. Where are the films which come from heart and touches the heart?

Kill Dil also seems like a movie which is planned in a AC board room with a presumption by the team that they are doing something different. While living the plastic lives in the cement jungles, heavily impressed by stylised film making of the western world, such team members grow an attitude that they are changing the Indian Cinema. Sure they are. But is it for the better?

For Kill Dil, the brief seems like “Chalo yaar, pulp fiction type slick flick banate hai and use as a new genre kar ke introduce karte hai. Let’s have funky music, stylised treatment, attitude laden characters and let’s spray some literary genius by stalwarts like Gulzar. Chalo yaar, ek cult classic banayi jaaye.”

The film has no real story, no gripping screenplay, no proper treatment. The writer trio Nitesh Tiwari, Shreyas Jain and Nikhil Mehrotra, have done good job on Dialogs but have wasted on your money on expensive food and beverages in the coffee shop where they may have written the movie. It starts similar to many other movies including your own “Gunday” and does not pick up at all till end. There is a stale love story track throughout the first half which does not work. In second half things are predictable. There are no subplots, no interesting twists. All the concentration is on style and gloss.

Same like the writers, Director Shaad Ali who has such proven track record with Sathiya and Bunty and Babli, has sleepwalked through this “Project”. This movie is an example of failed direction and editing. If the Editor Ritesh Soni had suggested non linear narration of the same material keeping some suspense in the movie, it would have worked better.

On the performance side, only Ranveer Singh stands out. He is the only one who makes the character come ALIVE. He plays the full of life, happy go lucky but determined Dev with elan. Pariniti Chopra does not get her character at all and she sure needs to work on herself. YRF generally presents its heroines in the best possible manner. We can not say that about Pariniti in this movie. Is TRF forgetting its USPs?

Ali Zafar is can not act or he is a miscast. Govinda is brilliant but he is not utilised at all. Somebody give that talented guy a good role and movie.

Production Design (Sharmishta Roy) and other technical aspects of your movies are always top notch. Cinematography by Aveek Mukhopadhyay having a different colour tone is nice. Music by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy and lyrics by Gulzar are very good. Background score is superb. Gulzarji’s Poetry feels out of place.

Overall, it could have been a very good mix of passion, love, action, music and poetry. But all the good content at hand is wasted by poor Directorial Vision.

I hope you stop the assembly line production of movies and establish some system where the persons involved also pour their soul into the movie.

Thank You,

A Movie Lover

Rating: 
Recommendation : One word…. SKIP!

Kill Dil : Movie Review by Prashen H. Kyawal

Nagpur Today : Nagpur News

Happy Ending : Popcorn entertainer for multiplex crowd

I personally like romcoms or as they say in this movie “Romedy”. There are many attempts to do good romcoms in India but few come out as winner. Socha Na Tha, Love Aaj Kal, Cocktail are good romantic entertainers. Saif Ali Khan excelled in some RomComs like Hum Tum and Salam Namaste, etc. He is back with another one with “Happy Ending”

Happy Ending is story about a “commitment-phobic” and “happily single” young man, Yudi Jaitely (Saif Ali Khan) who gets jitters when he reaches the point in his relationships when his girlfriend says “I love you” to him. He is a successful author and enjoys his good life. However, his last book is 5.5 years old and he is being forgotten. So his contract with the publishing agency gets cancelled and a new writer Aanchal Reddy (Ileana D’Cruz) wins it. Yudi hates her for stealing his job but slowly gets attracted to her and tries to woe her.

In the mean time, Yudi gets contract to write a “Romedy” movie script for a Single Screen Super Star from India, Armaan (Govinda) who wants to rule the multiplex audience also. So he comes looking for a writer in hollywood who can write a script for him to win Classes and Masses both. As Yudi starts writing the script getting references from his own life, both his script and his life progresses simultaneously.

To top it all, Yudi has to deal with his married friend, Montu, who needs Yudi to have rocking parties at pubs and a girlfriend, Vishakha (Kalki Koechlin) who never gets that Yudi already broke up with her. If all this is not enough, Yudi’s ex girlfriend Divya (Priety Zinta) rushes in and out of his life and home with her 3 kids anytime she wants.

How does the love story grow in all this chaos and what happens with Yudi’s script? All the answers can be found in the movie.

Writers Raj Nidimoru, Krishna D. K. and Sita Menon has come up with an interesting story, though it can not be said very unique. They have also written screenplay which is very good. It has an interesting structure which allows them to spoof at RomComs while actually making one themselves. Dialogues by Hussain Dalal are witty, funny and hilarious at many points in the movie. So over all the writing department did a good job.

With such a good content at hand Raj and Krishna did try to do justice to the content and have succeeded in it till a point. However, if they along with Film Editor Arindam Ghatam could have chopped off some extra fat from it, it would have been a perfect recipe. The urban movie needed a sleek and zippy treatment which is lacking and hence the movie feels bit dragged and boring at many portions. Though the novelty in relationships and quantity of content keep things going happily. Overall Direction and Editing department could have done better.

Casting by Crystal Lujan is almost perfect. This is an example of great use of typecasting. This can be an example that sometimes doing the role which you are expert at works for a project more than doing something “Hatke”. Saif excels in such urban, confused youth. Kalki proved her mettle earlier in nagging/chipku girlfriend/Wife. Ranvir Shorey is always superb in roles of annoying, frustrated with life, good for nothing, dumb friend. And Govinda is cherry on the topping doing what he does the best… comedy. I hope he gets full length roles as a leading man. Ileana does justice to her role but the chemistry between Saif and her is not that sizzling. Somehow I feel another actress would have made a better pair. Not that she did not do her job well, but something is amiss.

Saif carries the whole film on his shoulder well and does very well in both roles i.e. Yudi and his alter ego Yogi. Ranvir support with aplomb. Kalki plays the possessive girlfriend to the T and Govinda why he is still needed by the industry. Overall great performances by all.

Cameos by Priety Zinta, Karina Kapoor are good though Priety’s role is almost equal to that of Govinda.

On the Music front, Sachin-Jigar establishes that they are serious contenders when it comes to peppy and party music. “Paaji Tussi Such A Pussy Cat” comes at a stage where we does not like any song in other movies but the song being so good, we appreciate it. “Nacho sare G Phaad Ke” is another winner with Govinda swaying on its tunes.

On product front, everything is top notch (or may I say “Kickass” as in the movie?). Production Design by Paulette Georges and Rupin Suchak is appropriate. Cinematography by Chase Bowman, Yaron Levy, Mahesh Limaye is eye catching.

Overall, good attempt to present an urban love story with good doses of comedy thrown in. Multiplex audience will like the movie.

Rating : 
Recommendation : If you love rom-coms, you will like this one. Grab your popcorn and enjoy the cool film. Just be ready to bear with few portions where the film drags.

Happy Ending : Movie Review by Prashen H. Kyawal

Nagpur Today : Nagpur News

Prabhu Deva is a very talented person and is respected by both classes and masses, even the stars. He has given some of the best dance performances in Indian Film Industry. He gave decent entertainment as an actor too. His Directorial debut in Bollywood with “Wanted” was Superhit. But his graph as film director is declining with every film.

Prabhudeva has a set format. A rowdy but good at heart criminal who falls in love with a sweat and lovely girl who pardons all his eve-teasing which is generally not accepted in society. The girl gets to know him better as she understand his life closely. Then a twist comes and the hero has to go on a noble mission with killing spree and de dhamal action. Multiple villains with a items song having multiple item girls. A song with hero claiming his rowdy raja crown with special appearances with 1-2 Bollywood star, 1 south Indian star and Prabhudeva himself dancing to his tunes.

Another duet song with hero heroine doing weird dance steps with 4-5 dancers in the background doing some more weird steps. Such and many more similarities in each movies. Having Sonakshi Sinha as common heroine makes the movies look even similar.

Even other filmmakers copied this format. Seriously, this format has run out of its juice now. Please let it fade.

With Action Jackson, Prabhudeva has hit the lowest in his performance as Director.

Now if this continues, his goodwill will be hurt and he can be “RGVfied”.

There is nothing to discuss about the story as it is often repeated template with some changes here and there. The film is again a remake of Telugu movie “Dookudu”.

The story and screenplay credit goes to A. C. Mughil and Prabhudeva who did outstandingly bad work. There is nothing at the writing level. Dialogues by Shiraz Ahmed are ok.

Pravhudeva seems to have outsourced the directon to his ADs while he is busy in something more important (?). The first half is supposed to have funny and comic entertainment which does not really work except few scene improvisations by the Director. The second half dwindles down to lowest pit as there is no content at all but a failed attempt to stylishly picturise revenge and action. Whatever the vision Director had with the project did not actually materialize on screen.

Performance wise Sonakshi Sinha is same as always sweat, tangy, spicy when and where required. Seriously, even if we exchange some of her scenes from this movie to her any other movie in these genre, it will not make any difference to both those movies.

Ajay Devgn is totally wasted. He did his job sincerely but the writing and direction fails in creating any connection of audience with his character. The debutante Manasvi Mamgai gets huge screen time but has nothing to deliver. She can’t act and the way she is presented, I did not find her sizzling at all. The main villain is unfamiliar face and does not register any fear or hatred in audience’s mind. Kunaal Roy Kapur is good as the sidekick but does he want make his career in being a sidekick?

It will be modesty to say editing by Bunty Nagi was bad. Cinematography by Vijay Kumar Arora and R. D. Rajasekhar was good in parts. Many outdoor portions looked over exposed but that could also be due to wrong coloar pallete and bad color correction. Action by Ravi Varma is ok. Choreography by Prabhudeva is good. Music by Himesh Reshammiya except “Keeda” is of forgettable quality.

Overall, watching this movie is a waste of time, money and efforts.

Rating : 
(actually I wanted to give 0.5 but additional 0.5 for few scene improvisations)

Recommendation : If you read all the above, you won’t need any.

Action Jackson : Movie Review by Prashen H. Kyawal Action Jackson : Baap of Boredom

Nagpur Today : Nagpur News

PK : Rajkumar Hirani is an Alien

PK is most awaited film of the because it brings back Amir Khan and Rajkumar Hirani for the second time (after 5 years). When the lead actor is Amir Khan and when the Director is someone Mr Dependable like Rajkumar Hirani, the buzz is bound to be big.

But this time, the posters and promos did not give a clue at all regarding what is the movie about. They were somewhat disappointing for many. A lot of people felt Rajkumar Hirani has got it wrong this time and waited to prove their prediction. Others believed in the Director and waited for the release patiently.

Now that the movie is in theaters (with increased ticket prices), is it as good or even better than the Director’s earlier movies?

I am glad to share with you that yes, it is as good as his past films if not better. It is a must watch. It is an out an out Rajkumar Hirani film

Yes, Amir Khan is in it and he does justice to his role but still this time the applause shall be for the Director.

Rajkumar Hirani can takes bird’s eye view of any social system and find out hilarious contradictions from it. Then he weaves a story around it which is entertaining, comic and still makes hard hitting statement at the hypocrisy and pretense in that system. In his directorial debut, Munnabhai MBBS, he took on the lacunae in medical field. In Lage Raho Munnabhai, he used “Gandhigiri” to highlight various evil in society, real estate and corruption too. Same way, in 3 Idiots, it was education system at his target.

In these films, there’s always a person who is outside of the regular systems (as mentioned above) but gets involved in the system for some or other reason. Being an outsider and rational thinker with compassionate heart, this person always points out or uses the system in his benefit and in the process highlights the contradictions.

This makes me say that Rajkumar Hirani is an Alien. Because generally a person who is outside the system can easily grab the loopholes in it. And the way RajKumar Hirani does it so efficiently it is very easy to say that he is an Alien. An Alien to all these systems and social evil. That is why his movies make such an effective statement on a particular issue. With his wit, gental sarcasm and compassionate view point, he tells the story so effortlessly and makes us laugh at our own shortcomings that at the end we can not stop ourselves than to give standing ovation to his creations.

PK is not an exception to this. When audience gives appreciative applause at the end of the movie, it is the biggest appreciation a movie can get. And PK certainly gets it. PK is a statement of the most touching subject in our country, i.e. Religion. Hirani uses his alien views on the ways religion is used in our country and unabashedly demonstrates each contradiction in a humorous, witty way. We laugh at it but realize our own mistakes. It makes us laugh but also makes us think. It makes us cry for the right reasons. It helps us find faults in our own systems and beliefs.

Hirani’s films are always kind of study material in story telling, script writing, direction, acting, etc. all. This time also, the writer duo Rajkumar Hirani and Abhijit Joshi along with Sreerag Nambiar, does a remarkable job of doing it right at the writing stage itself. The screenplay is flawless and smooth. Moments and situations just reveal one after another with seamless flow. Dialogs are witty and clever. If it was “Jaadu ki Zappi“, “Gandhigiri“, “All izz well” in earlier movies, this time it is “Wrong Number” which can be a hit.

As a Director, Hirani is outstanding as always. He is master of his craft and controls our heart and mind completely throughout the duration of the movie. Be it the love story of Jagat Janani/Jaggu (Anushka Sharma) and Sarfaraz (Sushant Singh Rajput) or story of PK before he meets Jaggu, everything feels such real life that we get immersed in the magical world created by Hirani. Take a bow, Mr. Hirani. You.Are.A.Maestro!

The master creator this time has his muse in Amir Khan, the actor known as perfectionist. Amir Khan lets the movie shape his character, PK. Amir Khan feels like PK and he makes sure PK does not feel like Amir Khan. He facilitates the story and nowhere his stardom feels bigger than the story. That is what is very important. Watch him when in the song “Bhagwan Hai Kahan Re Tu” when he is almost broken while going from one religious place to another and does not get what he seeks. We feel his pain. We want him to find his desired object which will facilitate him to go back his home. He makes us route for him. This connectivity is very rare now a days. Amir proves why he is what he is. Kudos!

Another name worth mentioning is Anushka Sharma. She looks beautiful and adorable in this movie. This is her career defining role and she did full justice to it. She plays full of life, strong yet vulnerable Jaggu to the T. She has a lot of screen time and she proves she is worth it. Hats off to her.

Sanjay Dutt does impresses in his small role. He is totally adorable when he works with Hirani. Sanjay’s personality transforms under his Direction. Here too, he steals our heart. His dance in the song “Tharki Chokaro” is unique and lively. Overall he does impress.

Sourabh Shukla, Parikshit Sahni and Boman Irani has almost equal length of role and all do justice to their chracters. Sushant Singh Rajput is pleasant to watch. He will be a hot favorite for girls. Overall, perfect casting by Mukesh Chhabra.

Cinematography by C. K. Muraleedharan is excellent. Music is by Shantanu Moitra is pleasant on the ears. “Tharki Chokro” by Ajay-Atul is a peppy chart-buster. “Dil Darbadar” by Ankit Tiwari is nice too. Lyrics by Swanand Kirkire is in tune with the story and we understand the meaning of them when we watch the movie.

Having said all this, the movie has the unmistaken Rajkumar Hirani Format. It is based on similar structure, has similar characters. Like character of PK feels like extension of “Funsuk Wangadoo“. In-fact the description in promos felt identical. His movies formats have similar struggle and triumph. Though this format is unique from all others and Hirani presents it in perfectly entertaining way each time with some of other uniqueness, we would like him to break out of his mold and delight us with something totally new and apart from his regular ways. Well, someone will say “if it ain’t broke, why fix?” but it would be interesting if this genius mind can enchant us with something totally different.

Apart from that the build up till the climax is very exciting, but climax is somewhat lackluster. With such a nice build up of excitement, we expected firecrackers at the climax but it is somewhat goodie goddie and little ineffective. Also the movie’s topic feels similar to OMG (Oh My God) or say extension of it giving a Deja Vu kind of feeling. These 3 points stop this movie from getting 4.5 or 5 stars it could have easily earned across the board.

Overall, a very good Rajkumar Hirani style movie which can be watched 1st with family and then with friends and then with office gang, etc. It does have repeat value.

Rating :
Recommendation : Must Watch!

PK : Movie Review by Prashen H. Kyawal

Nagpur Today : Nagpur News

Ugly : Gripping tale of Ulgy world of Ugly minds

People are selfish with crooked minds. Getting cornered in life them makes desperate. This desperation kills everything that is moral, human and innocent. And complete lack of these values make the world ugly.

Anurag Kashyap’s “Ugly” will leave you in shock about how people are getting so much individualistic in the wrong meaning of the word. It will leave a bitter aftertaste which you will try hard to erase. If world is like this, it better not exist. The more you think of the film, its characters and the games they play, you just can’t but feel “Yukkk”! Without explicit visual goriness or ugliness, the vomit inducing intentions of these ugly minds will send chills down your spine. And that justifies the title of the movie completely.

Written and Directed by Anurag Kashyap, “Ugly” is an Anurag Kashyap Movie from start till end. It is dark, depressing, complex, yet gripping, intriguing film which will keep you hooked with it. Story of the movie reveals around the kidnapping of a girl and how the very close people in her life act and react in that situation. There is a complete lack of love, compassion or innocence within the characters, most of whom are trying to run way from each other or their current situation. The sheer ugliness of these lack of emotions is portrayed craftily in the writing. The climax will leave you touched and stunned.

As a Director, Anurag takes the movie up multiple levels. From the first frame and scene itself he sucks the audience in his narration. Note the background music in the first scene. Since that first scene, using his craft and skills Anurag manipulates the audience emotions, grabs them by neck and drags them to face starkness of the reality. Like the characters, we also try to solve the mystery behind the kidnapping along with them. Still Kashyap is successful in stunning us at the layer by layer revelation of the story. This is indeed his one of the best work.

Kashyap is so honest in his portrayal of self-centred behaving of his characters that he almost feels like brutal. He along with his editor Aarati Bajaj is to the point and trust on audience intelligence. They avoid any kind of spoon fooding and that makes the film remarkable. But again there is so many things happening at the same time that at many times it becomes too complex for even the most attentive audience. Reducing few tracks or characters could have helped. Also even they can claim the movie to be “open ended” but it does have few loose ends. Closing those shall not be considered as spoon feeding.

There can be many questions about the story which are unanswered and can be easily shoved off under the pretence that “Let the audience think themselves” but those personally turn me off and unsettle me till I know the exact story. Many many say it is the success of the film to initiate a discussion about what exactly was the plot, but for me it is one of the negative points.

Mukesh Chhabra did an outstanding job in casting of the film. There are only few known actors in the movie but everyone does perfect justice to their roles. Each character is as complex and challenging as others and all the actors get equal chance to prove their prowess. Ronit Roy (as Shoumik Bose) perfectly plays the cynical Police officer who is brutal and is under constant pressure due to his own choices in life and effects of it. Though we have seen him in such roles multiple times (Udaan, Boss, etc). Tejaswini Kolhapure, as the dejected wife of Shoumik with suicidal tendencies, impresses with her underplay. In the role of her ex-husband, Rahul Varshney/Kapoor, Rahul Bhat impresses with his acting. His body transformation in youth and then in mature years proves the efforts he took for the role.

Popular Marathi Actor Girish Kulkarni (Dewool, Masala, Pune 52 fame) debuts in Bollywood and portrays the role of typical Police Inspector who tries to make his day to day work at the expense of making fun of the complainant and victims. He shows the variations in his role from a laid-back inspector to the serious team member to frustrated and angry interrogator perfectly. He is surely going to get noticed by other Bollywood film makers.

Vineet Singh and Surveen Chawala (as Chaitanya Mishra and Rakhee Malhotra) are impressive in their roles. Surveen provides the hotness quotient in the movie and her scene with her obese producer husband will be point of discussion.

Production Design is Mayur Sharma is in synch with the movie’s mood. Cinematographer Nikos Andritsakis is successful in keeping the realistic tone of the movie.

Overall, the movie is gripping, intriguing and is successful in unsettling the audience. It will sure initiate a discussion and debate.

Rating :
Recommendation : A Must Watch for the lovers of different cinema. If you are of a kind who watch movies for light entertainment to feel good, strictly avoid it. But strongly recommended for those who appreciate realistic cinema.

Ugly : Movie Review by Prashen H. Kyawal

Nagpur Today : Nagpur News

I : Shankar’s The Beauty and The Beast

Shankar is a showman. Shankar is a fascinating story teller. He is more of a visual story teller with spectacular VFX and big budget canvas for Songs, Action and overall movie. Everything he does has to be big and different. Shankar has given us movies like “Hindustani” starring Kamal Hassan, “Nayak” Starring Anil Kapoor, “Sivaji” starring Rajnikant. These movies are liked, appreciated and satellite channels still telecast them often.

This week Shankar is back with a film with unique title “I”. Starring South Indian SuperStar “Vikram”, “I” has a complex role to be played by any star. Not only complex, but it is physically demanding too as it shows the protagonist, Lingesan’s transformation from low class body builder to high class Model to a disfigured hunchback.

Story is nothing new. It is a revenge saga of a good hearted person who is ruined by the people who are jealous to see him grow. Story and screenplay is written by Shankar himself. Screenplay is interestingly structured but ineffective due to stretching it to whopping 186 mins. It is reminiscent of the 80s revenge movies and new age audience may find it very outdated.

Director Shankar is terrific when he is actually telling the story but very self indulgent and unnecessarily expensive when it comes to songs. There are too many songs which Bollywood audience can not identify with. There are tremendous VFX in every frame of almost each song. I think more than 30-40% budget of the movie could have been curtailed if songs were removed. The narrative post interval is gripping.

The movie needs ruthless chopping and the editor Anthony should have chucked almost 1 hr out of it to make it a crisp revenge saga of 120 mins which is more than sufficient for a feature film.

Vikram has done terrific job in all his 3 avatars and must be applauded for his commitment as an actor to the role. He lost 40 kg to play the role of the hunchback and gained 110 kg for just a song. There are tremendous getups which must have required painful makeup sessions and he endured them all. He acted well too. From the brainless pahelwan, to vulnerable struggler to the disgruntled hunchback, he sure steals the show.

Amy Jackson as Diya, looks gorgeous, hot and cute all at once. She does her job of a model, a caring lover appropriately. Upen Patel overacts in the role of arrogant, jealous John. Suresh Gopi does good job as Doctor Vasudev. Everyone else are instructed to do over the top acting and they do it well.

Technically the film is superb. Cinematography by P. C. Sreeram in China and fight scenes is excellent. The other scenses could have been better. Costume Designs by Mary E. Vogt are unique and Many. A huge amount of budget must have been for costumes itself.

Make up by Sean Foot, Davina Lamont is good but does look plasticky. Music by A. R. Rahman is fine. Background score is superb.

Overall, a big feast for the fans of south Indian masala cinema and Shankar.

Recommendation : Watch it only if you are a die hard fan of south Indian masala films and love Shankar’s over the top big budget movies. Skip if you moved on that phase in life

I : Movie Review by Prashen H. Kyawal

Nagpur Today : Nagpur News

Baby : Hollywood and Strategy Game Style Action Thriller

Baby is the latest film from Niraj Pandey, the Director of nail biting entertainers like “A Wednesday” and “Special 26″. He is a no non-sense film maker who do not follow the formula of MASALA films but his movies are still workable in commercial format even without the regular music and dance routines.

Niraj Pandey seems to have closely studied functioning of government departments taking care of public safety and National Security. In “A Wednesday” and “Special 26″ he has shown detailed functioning of Police department. In “Baby”, he shows a special elite group of secret agents for a trial period of 5 years to test the success of the idea. As it is a new group, it is named “Baby”. So the movie is about the operations of this groups.

Ajay Singh Rathore (Akshay Kumar) is one of the last few men remaining in this group who believes in killing the enemy than dying for the country. He has a supportive wife (Madhurima) and 2 kids. But while caring for country, he never gets time to spend it with family. While doing all such sacrifices, he is focus on eliminating the enemies of the country one by one and tries to always stay 1 step ahead of them.

He is guided and supported by his Senior Firoz (Danny Denzongpa) who always gets what Ajay wants from the Ministry. After the failure of multiple attempts of terrorism, Mohammad (Rasheed Naz), the Pakistani mastermind, decides to bring out Bilal (Kay Kay Menon) out of Jail. Ajay’s mission is to get rid Bilal before he can do any harm. He is supported by Shuklaji (Anupam Kher) and Jai (Rana Daggubati) in this final mission. However, what happens at the mission is totally different than they imagined. What exactly is that? That’s what the post interval story is about.

Story, Screenplay and Direction is by Niraj Pandey himself. It is a very good concept if not unique. We have seen many such movies in Hollywood and failed attempts of remaking them in Bollywood. So these movies depend more on the screenplay and direction than actual story. Thankfully, Niraj is good at both.

Writing wise it is a very flat movie, one operation after another. There are not many highs or twists which can be remembered for long. In fact, most of the time it is improvisation of the scene using visual and editing gimmicks to make audience have an edge of the seat experience. Each operation builds expectation that something great is going to happen but when it ends, it is only a clue to the next one (leaving the audience with a craving for more). This incompleteness is the hindrance in turning this Good movie into a Great movie.

Director Niraj Pandey knows his kills and plays around his forte. The film is very high quality in terms of treatment and gives a feel that of a Hollywood product. The slickness and stylized presentation keeps the audience glued to the screen. There is an  underline intention to show the sacrifice of such dedicated officers and their families. There is also an important message that it is not good to paint one community completely in black color just because a % of its fanatic members are dominating the scene currently. It successfully delivers the message that this war against terrorism is not possible without participation from good souls from these communities.

Second half is much better than the first half which is not bad either. But in second half we get edge of the seat experience and climax will surprise everyone. It may be a cautious attempt to show such operations in realistic way without giving dramatic results but as an entertainer that is giving a feeling of something lacking.

Film Editing by Shree Narayan Singh is good but he could have made the film crisper. 2 hr 40 mins makes it an unnecessarily dragged film. around 2 hrs duration could have made it even better action thriller.

Vicky Sidana has done a great job as Casting Director because this was a very difficult film to cast as it needs actors who can represent different Nationals as the story is happens in multiple countries. Akshay Kumar is doing what he does best, Action! And this time it is without any unnecessary comic and romantic tracks and that makes this a better Action film. He carries the film on his shoulders.

Danny Denzongpa, Anupam Kher and Rasheed Naz stands out. Kay Kay Menon did justice to his role but do not have much scope. Same with Rana Daggubatti). A special mention and applause is required for Tapasi Pannu who looks fabulous and shocks us with what she does in one of the operations in Nepal (I won’t spill the beans here). I am sure we will get to see her more often in Bollywood. Madhurima Tuli as Ajay’s wife is a miscast. Better writing could have given justice to all these fabulous actors. Small roles shall not mean passable characters.

Cinematography by Sudeep Chatterjee is breath taking and awe inspiring. Action by Abbas Ali Moghul is good. Film has very good sound design and DI/coloring. Production wise, it is indeed a very well made film.

Overall, a very good action thriller which gets better as it progresses.

Recommendation : If you are a movie buff who can not leave without watching a movie, do watch it. You will not be disappointed. But if you need extra ordinary entertainer to go spend your hard earned money on cinema tickets, you may choose to wait for it to be aired on satellite tv. However, anyone who will goes for it, won’t be disappointed. This is much better than any of the other run of the mill Bollywood potboilers.

Baby : Movie Review by Prashen H. Kyawal

Nagpur Today : Nagpur News

Shamitabh : It is Amitabh all the way!

R. Balki’s movies has a world of it’s own. His world is full of nice and well off people. Majority characters are living an elite life. They do mistakes but are nice enough to mend hearts and close the storm in the tea cup. It is a nice world so to say.

From Chinny Kum, Paa to Shamitabh, R. Balki’s movies have one common factor, Amitabh! He envisions Amitji is unique and incredible roles (remember “Paa”?) challenging the actor in him to do something different. Amitji to reciprocate and deliver what is asked for.

So it is feel good combo to look out for. With guarantee to be something of quality with decent entertainment value. That is the promise of R. Balkis movies. Is “Shamitabh” able to fulfill that promise?

Shamitabh is based on a concept which is very enticing. At narration stage, it would have been very thrilling for the actors enough to make them jump at the project. It is about 2 unknown persons who due to circumstances need to live together and work together and almost be integral part of each other.

Danish (Dhanush) is an aspiring actor from Igatpuri who is mad about movies from his childhood. He runs to Mumbai to become an actor but despite talent and help from Akshara Pandey (Akshara Haasan), he is rejected for reason, even after liking his performance. To fill that lacuna, he needs Amitabh Sinha (Amitabh Bachchan) who is a dispomaniac living in a graveyard.

Amitabh had also arrived in Mumbai 40 years ago to become and actor, but due to his heavy voice, he was rediculed and rejected. So he spends his life in dispair drinking whisky any any and every hour of the day. After much pesturing, he agrees to support Danish and they both become super star SHAMITABH. What happens after that is the story of the movie.

Story, Screenplay and Directed by R. Balki himself, Shamitabh is a great concept but it has a half baked screenplay. Repeatitive and leghthy Screenplay, Direction that feels like being done by a novice and a failed casting coup rendered Shamitabh as an ineffective movie for me. The movie tries to spoof the cliches in bollywood but follows them at many places. Supposedly funny situations do not work. Few dialogs are good.

Editing by Hemanti Sarkar is very sluggish. I wonder why one needs to make a movie for more than 90-120 mins if the content is not there. Why shy away from deleting unnecessary scenes? Why test patience of the audience?

There are good moments in the movie but those are “piddly” ie small, insignificant and trivial as the song in the movie says. The best moments are when Star of the Millenium Amitabh Bachchan is on screen. He just do not lit up the screen, he puts it on fire. He is outstanding and a delight to watch. Dhanush though I liked in Ranjhanna, fails to stand up to the charisma and screen presence of Mr. Bachchan. Wherever he tries to show talent or style, it did not work. For me it is clearly a miscasting. He is not bad, but does not stand out as he meant to be.

Akshara Hussain looks like a teenager and acts like one too. She has a long way to go to be called a good actress. Everyone else in the supporting cast is good.

Technically film is superb. Cinematography by P. C. Sreeram is very good. Production Design is good. “Piddly” song is good. Rest are forgettable.

Overall, Shamitabh is a wasted opportunity. It is not expected from the likes of R. Balki.

Rating :
Recommendation : Skip unless you are a Big B or for that matter a R. Balki fan.

Shamitabh : Movie Review by Prashen H. Kyawal

Nagpur Today : Nagpur News

Roy : Classy but tad boring

I wonder how “Roy” got made in Bollywood. That too from a production house like T-Series which is generally focused on masses. Roy is a literary tale. A narrative which tries to explain the relationship of a writer/director and his characters. An attempt to tell a story in a classy manner which will suit Hollywood more than Bollywood. It is a risky film to make.

Did they make it right?

“Roy” is written and directed by debutant Writer-Director Vikramjit Singh who seems to have a taste of elite and classy lifestyle. The story is about writer-director Kabir Grewal (Arjun Rampal) and his 23rd love interest Ayesha (Jacqueline Fernandez). It is also about the protagonist character in Kabir’s Movies, Roy (Ranbir Kapoor) and Tia (Jacqueline Fernandez). Kabir is a suave filmaker who is a talked about Casanova. While shooting in Malaysia, he meets Ayesha (who is also filming her movie) and finds very interesting. They both spend good time with each other and then Ayesha leaves her for some reason without even proper goodbyes. Kabir breaks down and in those times of remorse, he changes for better. His emotions are reflected in his story and his characters go through similar circumstances.

The story basically explains that any creative work is expression of its creators own feelings and circumstances. The screenplay smoothly moves between the real and reel stories in the movie. Everything is classy, elite and contemporarily artistic. But, it lacks entertainment and pace. At least the movie in the movie could have been stylish and fast paced with heists, action and entertainment. But both stories are almost same replicas of each other which doesn’t make sense. One could have been used to provide entertainment and other for class and quality.

Vikramjit makes an impressive debut with a literary quality screenplay and proves he has the skills and the craft. But he falters at the screenplay as explained above and then falls in love with the material at hand and does not allow his editor Dipika Kalra go all ruthless on it. The movie is of 146 mins if they could have made it around 110-120 mins, it would have been much effective than it is right now.

Casting Director Shahid Hasan arranged a dream cast for Vikramjit and they all performed very well. This is actually an Arjun Rampal movie and not that of Ranbir Kapoor one. Ranbir Kapoor fans will be hugely disappointed as he is not used fully and has very less screen time. Both of them did a very good job. This can be said as Arjun’s best lead performance. The lady who acted as his assistant is fabulous.

Jacqueline also portrayed the double role very well. She looks exquisite and exotic. By portraying 2 different characters efficiently, we can now say that she knows how to act. Rajit Kapoor is wasted.

Production quality of the movie is top notch. Cinematography by Himman Dhamija in itself is an USP of the movie. Every frame is visually enriching. Art Direction by Shraddha Johri shows classy touch everywhere. Music of the film is already popular and is a saving grace of the movie. Background music too is worth mention.

“Roy” reminds me of “Lootera” which also was of literary quality, intelligent and classy but was tad boring. Roy is even more boring than “Lootera”. It is like single malt. Only few can appreciate the taste of it. It can be a good movie to savor in a home theater setting with a glass of scotch in hand. But not to watch in theaters unless you can ignore the slow pace.

Recommendation : Ignore this movie if you expect only entertainment from movies. But if you can live with classy lifestyle portrayal, enjoy the cinematic experiments and literary writing, you can watch it on the big screen.

Roy : Movie Review by Prashen H. Kyawal

Nagpur Today : Nagpur News

Badlapur : A Cold Blooded Revenge

Sirram Raghavan is an important film maker in Hindi film industry. Important because he is different. Important because he sticks to the basics of film making. From his first movie, Ek Hasina Thi, then Johny Gaddar to Badlapur, he has successfully established himself as a dependable provider of taut edge off the seats thrillers. These are dark, edgy but entertaining at the same time.

With Badlapur, he again proves that cinema is a Director’s medium and strong writing can make anyone understand a good cinema and make him like it. Based on a novel by Italian crime writer Massimo Carlotto, written for the screen by Arijit Biswas and Sriram Raghavan, Badlapur is very strong at the writing level. It has perfect Characterization and right mix of relations and emotions. Moreover, it is written visually like a very good screenplay. Most of the time there are only visuals and background music and sometimes only visuals and still the story moves forward powerfully. That is what screen writing is all about. You use dialogues only when needed. Dialogues are swift, interesting and crisp.

Director Sriram Raghavan do not let the film wear off for a single bit. He is tightly controlling the whole project like a skilled Jockey and skillfully wins the race. The film promotion says “Do not miss the start”, and that’s true. Start of the film sets the tone of the movie. It is all basic film making sans any fancy and stylish presentation which is generally used as substitute for writing in so called thrillers. This film can be an example of how to convert and good screen writing into a great film. The narrative is smooth, gripping and holds the interest of audience till the last film. Not only that, it does provide interesting twits and turns and while doing so, provokes one to think about “Right/Wrong”, “Moral/Immoral” without an iota of pretensions. It is a film which provides all the thrills, entertainment, thought provocation and makes a statement too. That makes it an accomplished piece of work by Sriram Raghavan.

Casting Director Mukesh Chhabra has done award winning job for this movie. Apart from the casting coup of sorts for the lead role, all the supporting cast is of great actors and that notched up the quality of the movie muiltiple times. Be it Yami Gautam (Misha), Huma Qureshi (Jhimli), Divya Dutta (Shobha), Vinay Pathak (Harman), Radhika Apte (Kanchan) or Ashwini Khalsekar (Mrs. Joshi), each one of them need a special mention just like the leading actors. It is interesting to see how each one of them have strong author backed roles. Thinking of it now just blows my mind way. Hats off to the writers and these performers.

As far the lead actors are concerned, the casting of them itself got the buzz started about the movie. Believing that a Chocolate hero like Varun Dhawan (Raghav) can pull of such an intense and mature role in itself is an amazing feat. And boy, he does deliver quiet a punch. So much so that I feel he did better than Nawazuddin Siddiqui (Liak). We have seen Nawaz displaying such histrionic and we can say now that his brilliance is getting templated. Varun even gets a scene and dialog where he says him “Mai bhi kar sakta hun” and mocks him. It is part of the story, but he proves it in reality too. I can sure say that Varun gave tough fight to Nawaz and he does leave bigger impact than Nawaz.

Neverthless, Nawaz is at his brilliant self too. He has equal amount of screen time and may be better scenes too. He provides the chills expected from a vallain and also the entertainment. He just lives the character. When he acts, he becomes that character. He makes Liak come alive.

Technically the film is just brilliant because nowhere Technic overpowers the story telling. Film Editing by Pooja Ladha Surti is crips, correct and engaging. Production Design by Donald Reagen Gracy and Anita Rajgopalan Lata is perfectly suitable for the needs of the script. And who says grim thrillers can not have good music? Raghavan’s taste in music is again evident in Badlapur too. Music by Sachin Jigar is already chart-buster and it is used without any hindrance to the screenplay. Lyrics are good too. Background Music is also an asset to the movie. In short, every department has done wonderful and praiseworthy job.

Finally, here is a flawless movie which can be recommended wholeheartedly. After watching it, a lot of scenes, a lot of performances, many characters leave impact on audience. And as you think more about the movie, you realize the brilliance of the writing and making of the film. The promotion speaks about not missing the start, but I say “Do not miss the end” too. Film has totally different and unexpected end and it leaves us thinking who is the protagonist and who is the antagonist in the movie.

The film does not take its audience granted for being dumb. It believes in the cleverness of its viewers. It does not give unnecessary justifications of the scenes or the characters. It is dark, grimy, taut and entertaining and thought provoking at the same time. It is fulfilling experience of good cinema. Take a Bow, Mr. Raghavan, Take a Bow!

Recommendation: If you are above 18 years, you must watch it. Go for it.

Badlapur : Movie Review by Prashen H. Kyawal

Nagpur Today : Nagpur News

Ab Tak Chhappan 2 : Only Good thing about it is that it ends fast

Ram Gopal Verma is a revolutionary film maker in Bollywood who not only experimented with Cinema but with business model of cinema, workflow of cinema as well as actors, writers, directors, etc all. He gave break to industries many talents who are in the leading lot now.

“Ab Tak Chappan” was one such movie which brought together a talented bunch of people together and created a brand name off the film title. RGV decided to make a sequel of it in 2012 but due to various reasons the hands behind it changed and it got delayed a lot too. But still it got to see a release.

Ab Tak Chappan 2 is written by Nilesh Girkar and Directed by Ejaz Gulab. The story is just repeat of the first one. An encounter cop on various encounter mission getting closer to eliminate the gangsters and in that process sacrificing family members. Ends with killing of the main culprit. All this is sprinkled with dialogues and monologues about society, crime and politics. Maybe just because audience likes Nana Patekar to speak all those. Screenplay is flat and fully predictable even for a school kid. Only saving grace in the writing is Dialogues. It is engaging.

Director Ejaz Gulab can not do anything to save the flawed and hollow screenplay. The RGVish style angles and so called rogue making adds to the dizziness, imbalance and abruptness of the narrative. The Cinematography by Sidhharth More is inconsistent and add to it haphazardly edited presentation. Unnecessary use of multiple cameras and horrible angles multiplies the woes.

There are cringe-worthy visual jumps and lack of smooth transition from one scene to another. A horde of editors are credited for this criminal injustice (or justice) to the already badly shot material. First version was edited by Vinay Chauhan and Abhijit Kokate which was re-cut to make shorter version by Raj Nalla and Pratap Kumar Sanga. One can understand the ensemble of music directors working on a movie but these many editors prove the proverb “Too many cooks, spoil the broth” correct.

Performance wise, the film has a dream cast which is totally wasted. Nana Patekar tries to hold the fort but looks helpless in trying to do so. Ashutosh Rana and Govind Namdeo do 80s style ham acting and veterans like Vikram Gokhale, Dilip Prabavalkar and Mohan Agashe are wasted. Gul Panag’s character is poorly written and feels unnecessary. She provides glamour quotient but looks like she has no idea of what she is doing in the film.

Production quality is below average. Background music is inconsistent, hurried and inappropriate.

To sum it up, it is a bad product which got delayed release but ends up ruining the goodwill of the first film.

Rating :
The 1 star is just for the actors.

Recommendation : Stay far far away from this one.

Ab Tak Chhappan 2: Movie review by Prashen H. Kyawal

Nagpur Today : Nagpur News

NH 10: This one transcends the genre

Phantom Films is slowly and steadily becoming synonymous with quality cinema. Known for its low budget, high on content movies, this production house started by Anurag Kashyap, director Vikramaditya Motwane, producer Madhu Mantena and the former head of UTV Spotboy Vikas Bahl. With out of the box thinking at creative and business levels, Phantom is proving to be a revolutionary production house in the industry. With quality content, correct budgeting, clever production and strategic business ties-ups, Phantom is paving way for collaborations previously unheard of. Be it Balaji Films, Viacom 18, Dharma Productions, Eros or now Reliance Entertainment, the brains behind Phantom is proving their business acumen along with their creative genius.

As an observer and audience, I welcome their moves and motives. I see it as Ram Gopal Verma’s prodigies taking his mission into Phase 2. This is starting of 2nd exciting era in Indian Cinema and I am excitingly looking forward.

NH10 is of Road Thriller Movie genre which is common in Hollywood and other part of the world but seldom tried in Bollywood. We will have to date back to 2002 to locate a movie in similar genre and it is from RGV itself. It was the movie named “Road”. (Ramu was first in so many genres that he actually got the name of the genres as movie titles. Something similar to first generation of Internet users getting the privilege of having their own name as email ids without any adjustments).

NH10 is again a story about a road trip gone unimaginably wrong. It has a thriller/slasher movie flavor with horror movie feel. But what makes it different is the writing and direction. Written by Sudip Sharma, NH 10 is a story of hot shot Ad Woman Meera (Anushka Sharma) and her boyfriend Arjun (Neil Bhoopalam). They are like any other urban couple wanting to have good time together. They plan to go out on a road trip together for Meera’s Birthday. While they seem to be living their dream, the happenings soon turn into a nightmare. Why and how, you can watch in the theaters and of-course know what happens after that too.

Writing is spot on ans screenplay is tight. Dialogues are used only where required and are good. Characterization is detailed and convincing though I did not understand why there was a need to highlight Meera as a smoker as that fact does not add anything to the character or the story. We can say almost 60-70% of the movie is without visual. Rather it is a movie about its ambiance. The Director and his team must have taken pain staking effort build up the ambiance they wanted their audience to be immersed in. Director Navdeep Singh who has the acclaimed “Manorama Six Feet Under” to his credit, proves that he is master in creating suspense, thriller and horror. His skills are proven and his craft is spot on.

The credit solely goes to the director that the movie not only showcases the chauvinism of males in the socially backward areas in the country, but also makes a scathing statement about it. And this is all without even talking about it (barring the blabber by the Police Inspector who takes Meera in his jeep, as it was required so that Meera gets alerted at that time). Be it at the product launch presentation about sanitary napkins or vulnerability of Meera due to Ego of her boyfriend, the lecture by the above mentioned Police Inspector, or the laughter of the little boy when his mother is beaten by her mother-in-law, the film silently makes an observation or a statement on male chauvinism in both rural an urban settings in India. Similarly, it also showcases how we avoid helping other people in trouble but on the contrary expect them to help us while we are in trouble (compare the scene in washroom when the victim girl asks Meera for help and cut to the scene when she asks help from a labor family to let her hide in their hut). Such subtexts make this film transcend the thriller/slasher genre it is based on.

Apart from the brilliance in layering, Navdeep also demonstrates genius in using point of views. Be it in audio POV (the scene when a train passes by while Meera and Arjun are trying to hide below the railway bridge or the scene where Meera narrates her problem but Ammaji/Mother-in-Law (Deepti Naval) can not listen due to lack of hearing aid machine) or in visual POV (the scene when Ammaji is hitting Meera and her head movies seeing at the boy standing on the well, a situation which she immediately uses for her rescue), Navdeep makes outstanding use of POVs.

Due to such attention to detail by the Director, every other department shines. The editing is smooth and easy flowing when required, crisp and sharp where required, Jabeen Merchant did a great job at that. Cinematography by Arvind Kannabiran is praiseworthy as most of the shooting is in low light. Sound Design by Subhash Sahu is by far one of the best of this year. Music by Karan Gour is excellent but background music is worth a special mention. “Chhil Gaye Naina” and “Mati ka Palang” are good songs. Production Design by Mustafa Stationwala is spot on. Though there are very less costume changes, I did notice the ones Meera wears in starting 30 mins of the movie. They show her class and style aptly. Action by Abdul Salaam Ansari and Armin Sauer is spine chilling.

Casting by Jogi is very good, however Neil Bhoopalam seems to be deliberately caste to make Anushka shine as a protagonist or rather the hero of the film. He is good but it is just limited to that. Anushka Sharma carries the film on her shoulder and getting on board as a producer she proves to be an intelligent business women like her character. However, as the movie fails to elevate to higher emotional levels in second half and remains in a steady and predictable path, she does not get much chance to show variety in later half. Still, she has done an excellent job.

Other actor which leaves an impact are Dharshan Kummar whom we have seen recently in Mary Kom. Same is with Dipti Naval who impresses in her small role as Ammajji. Everyone else did good job in their designated roles.

To sum it up, NH10 is an edge of the seat thriller which keeps you hooked from start to end and also makes un-comforting observations and statements about male chauvinism in India. Initial business will be slow and mostly from metros and multiplexes only but if the word of mouth picks up, it can help this film earn a lot of profit as the production cost is minimum.

Recommendation : If you like to watch spine chilling thriller/slasher/horror kind of films with raw and brutal violence, this is definitely a perfect film for you. If you are OK with any kind of good film, then also this is good watch. But if you are the ones who prefers to stay away (like me) from such horrible reality and frightening movies, then it can be avoided, though not for the flaws in the film. In short, a good movie to watch for those who can watch such movies.

NH 10: Movie Review by Prashen H. Kyawal

Nagpur Today : Nagpur News

Hunterrr : “Long” one but “weak” performer

Phantom Films is on a roll since it started operations back in 2013. All its films till now got good response, decent reviews, if not great box office success barring “Queen”. Most of these are average business grosser but all are appreciated for the quality of the content.

After the fabulous “NH10″ released last week, Phantom comes back with “Hunterrr” which is a different kind of sex comedy. A more realistic and direct approach, but still a sex comedy only. It is about a playboy or Casanova kind of person who is on a hunt for girls to satisfy his sexual urge. He does not fit in the social norms and ethics and all he can think about is having sex.

Mandar Ponkshe (Gulshan Devaiah) is mentored by his cousin (Vaibhav Tatvavadi, A Nagpurian) from the teen age days to become a player or hunter, commonly known in Marathi Language as “Vaasu”. Since the days of school, while trying the adventures at video parlors to watch adult movies, Mandar gains the skills to attract and use the fairer sex for his lustful desires. The film revolves around his different “Sexapades” woven around his love track with Trupti (Radhika Apte) and how he realizes importance of love and finally achieves it.

Set in a Marathi environment showcasing a rural, small town and typical Marathi Pune/Mumbai kind of atmosphere, the film is in “Vernacular” Hindi. It brings up nostalgia about the teenage years spent with cousins in summer vacations, school and college days spent while dying to talk and meet girls and all that unguided awakening of one’s sexual desires.

The story is unique and daring. While Harshavadhan Kulkarni shall be applauded to bring such a taboo subject on screen, it is sad that he misses the opportunity to turn into a quality film. The screenplay is spread everywhere without a proper shape, flow or format to it. A good idea is marred by flawed screenplay. Dialogues are daringly direct and witty.

In the Director’s chair, Harshawardhan Kulkarni shows promise but his decision to keep everything that is shot in the film makes it lethargic and unnecessarily stretched. Adding to the woes, Kirti Nakhwa, the film editor, fails in turning the film into a fast paced, witty and entertaining narration and serves a lengthy 140 mins of clueless film reel. There are a multiple unneeded tracks and hold moments which could have been deleted ruthlessly for the benefit of the film.

Harshawardhan successfully creates the ambiance using the sepia color tones, retro music and references to movies and music of the appropriate time. He unabashedly displays the life as it is while keeping the innocence and warmth in relations alive. Though we all are used to mouthing the words and dialogues used in the movie, it is shamefully hilarious to watch and listen it on celluloid.

Though the film has its own moments and has all the content which could have made it a hilarious take on teenage years and playboy maneuvers, unfortunately due to wrong choices at the writing, direction and editing stages, it does not reach to its full potential. Overall, Harshawardhan lacks the grip on the movie.

Casting for this movie must have been a big exercise as it has 2 set of actors (school days and college days) with a lot of ensemble cast around. Casting is accurately done and each actor suits the role they play. Gulshan Devaiah plays the shameless and lustful, yet adorable Protagonist convincingly. He is an unusual choice for playing the lead but he does carry the film on his shoulders with earnestness of a common man who is not good but not extremely bad either. He makes sure that even if you may not like his character, you do not end up hating him also.

Radhika Apte shines in her role as a modern day urban girl who had her own past with multiple relationships and is confused about getting into an arranged marriage situation. Sai Tamhankar, who plays a housewife falling pray to Mandar’s Vaasugiri with her own consent, sets screen on fire with her hot scenes. Veera Saxena plays the low on esteem average looking girl who seriously loves Mandar, perfctly. Vaibhav Tatvavadi touches heart with his author backed role of a playboy who is compassionate enough to save a girl being raped by her own father and marry her even after having a lot many better looking girl friends. Other actors in various characters did justice to the movie.

Cinematography by John Jacob Payyapalli is in tune with the mood of the film. It is realistic, raw and maintains the retro texture wherever needed. Music too has similar feel which brings the essence of the times the movie segments are set in. It pays tribute to the disco days and “tum to thahare pardesi” days by getting Bappi Lahari and Altaf Raja (Another Nagpurian) on board to sing a song each. Music by Khamosh Shah is in sync with the retro feel but is not long lasting.

Overall, Hunterrr had the content and potential which is wasted and what we finally get is a lengthy and boring film.  “Bada” hai to Behtar hai ” does not work here.

Rating : 
Recommendation : Avoid it and watch it on TV/DVD or internet where u can fast forward the slow portions. But if can’t wait to relive the lustful teenage and collage years on big screen, then you may watch it with a warning to that you will get bored.

Hunterrr : Movie Review by Prashen H. Kyawal

Nagpur Today : Nagpur News

Byomkesh Bakshi : Worth getting tangled in this beautifully crafted web

I am not very fond of Dibakar Banerjee. Though I very much liked his “Khosla Ka Ghosla” and some what liked “LSD: Love, Sex aur Dhoka”, I find his “Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!” and “Shanghai”, a little overrated. But we must give the credit to the man for being different and always trying something new with his each films. His latest offering “Byomkesh Bakshi” is one of the most awaited movies this year. It created ripples from the first look, teasers and trailers. The initial box office collection looks good too.

I love detective, suspense movies. It is a content which always keeps you hooked if done well. Apart from that “Byomkesh” is a popular literary character we have seen on Television so nostalgic connection is there too. So was excited to see this movie.

Story by Saradindu Bandopaddhyay is about Byomkesh (Sushant Singh Rajput) getting sucked into a maze of conspiracies and lies and how he cracks the code using his common sense and brilliant observations and genius analysis. Ajit Banerjee (Anand Tiwari) appoints Byomkesh as detective on the case to find out his missing father. Byomkesh cracks the case but finds that his analysis was wrong and then it gets entangled into the web which was spread for him. While going through that maze, he finds out a big conspiracy which can harm Calcutta. How he saves Calcutta from that disaster is the story.

Writing real good suspense story and screenplay for it is really complex job. Saradindu gave a good story to Urmi Juvekar and Dibakar Banerjee and the duo skilfully developed a convincing screenplay. There is a chaotic feel always in everything be it screenplay or other aspects of the film and I think that’s just synonymous with Calcutta.The build up is very good and audience really can not guess the plot till end but the revelation of the suspense is a bit let down as it lacks any excitement.

I think Dibakar Banerjee is influenced by many Chinese movies and the movie does have a treatment akin to the ones we see in International English movies from China. Dibakar’s narration is very immerse and audience’s eyes are glued to the screen throughout the film. A girl besides me in the theater had her palm on her cheeks and eyes enlarged in the anticipation of what’s next. Others were appreciating the intermittent acts of deducing appropriately.

Credit must go to Dibakar for his hard work on the detailing of each aspect of the movie, be it every visual frame, sound or characters. This is by far the most audio-visually immersive Bollywood film I have seen. I was so busy in watching and wondering in awe every frame, sound elements that I feel I need to watch the movie again for other aspects of the movie. I think that is the success of the movie if it makes you watch it for the second time.

The film as has noir and slow kind of treatment, it grows on you, it builds up slowly. It is around 135 min and editors Manas Mittal and Namrata Rao did a great job in managing the different pieces of puzzle without getting them revealed to us. However, after the excellent build up the pre-climax, climax and the final scene is a bit let down. And some may find this kind of treatment little slow.

Casting Director Honey Trehan has assembled many good (and unknown) actors for each role and Dibakar did a great job extracting the best performances from his character. Sushant Singh Rajput has infused his personality into the character and made him look real, vulnerable and lovable. He brought out the nervous energy and inquisitiveness in the character perfectly. Anand Tiwari as his accompany does stand out. Divya Menon as Satyawati portrays the strong woman character to the tee. Don’t know why was the need there for Byomkesh to propose her at the end (may be I need to watch movie 2nd time for that if I had missed something). The surprise package of the movie is Neeraj Kabi who plays Dr. Anukul Guha. He excelled in this role and I think industry discovered a great actor in him. Again there was no need for the last scene about him which just seems to be added for an impact-full end. Swastika Mukherjee is ok in her glamorous role. Meiyang Chang as Kanai Dao gets a very small role but does justice to it. Overall, very good performances by the whole cast.

The last part where we review the technicality is sometimes just a few mention. But in Byomkesh, these departments really stand out and play a CHARACTER in the movie. Production Design by Vandana Kataria is worth every award this year. This is relatively a low budget movie but we do not see that affect the exquisite detailing in the production design. Second equally good work is in the Sound Design and so is by Sneha Khanwalkar in Background Music. And not to forget the brilliant cinematography by Nikos Andritsakis. All these 4 elements equally stand out and elevate the experience. So artistically and technically, Byomkesh Bakshi is a COMPLETE CINEMA.

Finally, all I can say is Byomkesh Bakshi is a brilliant work of impeccable craftsmanship which must be seen and applauded. Many will find this or the other fault in the movie, but it must be watched for the immersive cinematic atmosphere it creates in the dark theater. And it is a clean film (barring few violent scenes) which can be seen with complete family and friends.

Rating:
Recommendation: GO, WATCH IT!

Byomkesh Bakshi : Movie Review by Prashen H. Kyawal

Nagpur Today : Nagpur News

Nagpur Today: This week we have Sunny Leone coming to scorch the theatres once again in ‘Ek Paheli Leela’.  Directed by Bobby Khan and produced by T-Series head honcho Bhushan Kumar, this movie features Sunny, along with Jay Bhanushaali, Rajneesh Duggal and Mohit Ahlaawat.

The film is a reincarnation story dating back to 300 years from the present, and sees Sunny in a double role for the first time. Songs of the film, such as Saiyyan Superstar and Desi Look have caught on big time with the youngsters.

So can Sunny carry this period drama on her shoulders successfully? Let’s find out.

Cineme Today: ‘Ek Paheli Leela’, the Movie Review

Nagpur Today : Nagpur News

This week we have Vikram Bhatt’s sci-fi venture Mr X. The movie stars Emraan Hashmi in the lead along with actress Amyra Dastur playing his love interest.

The movie’s trailer & Emraan’s character in the film have led to a lot of speculation & rumours that the film is a copy of Hollywood thriller Hollow Man. However, the cast have been adamant in their stand against this. While Emraan also insists that this movie is no typical superhero flick either. So will the audiences lap up horror specialist Vikram Bhatt’s experimental attempt? Let’s find out.

Cinema Today: ‘Mr X’, the Movie Review

Nagpur Today : Nagpur News

This week we have the Hollywood mega release ‘Avengers: Age Of Ultron’ releasing in theatres. This film is the sequel to the 2012 hit Marvels’ The Avengers.

Based on the Avengers comic books by Marvel & characters created by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby, the sequel sees the Avengers reunite to battle it out for the fate of Planet Earth with Ultron, a technological enemy who wants to wipe out the human race.

Considering the success of the prequel & the huge expectations & excitement the trailer has created, Age of Ultron has a big responsibility thrust on its superhero cast. So can it live up to its hype? Let’s find out.

Cinema Today: ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’, the Movie Review