Based on the comic series, Green Hornet, another 3D movie looks like a feeble attempt at silly heroics for the sake of getting attention.
Britt Reid (Seth Rogen – rather a strange choice to play the protagonist), is the only son of a media magnate but has been neglected all through his childhood. He continues into adulthood, seeking the very same attention that he has been deprived of and hating his father & his successful newspaper business. In order to give semblance of a track to the story, Reid senior (Tom Wilkinson) passes away. Britt is so bitter that he fires every servant employed by his father. Only to realize that he would not be getting his cup of cappuccino the way he knows and likes it.
This leads to the mechanical genius Kato(Jay Chou), who can design n make any kind of machinery in the most innovative way. He has never had an opinion of his previous master, but loves to hate him now that he befriends Britt. One evening of stupidity makes them realize that they can be superheros to fight crime, just like Superman/Spiderman. But those guys had genuine superpower. These have to invent something..
Kato gets to his drawing board and creates the most amazing machinery to attack and dazzle. Britt meanwhile names himself as the Green Hornet. He even persuades his office to dig up the dirt on this character to keep them busy. They are happy-go-lucky about their fights until they run into mafia represented by Chudnofsky(Christopher Waltz) and also a political mess with Scanlon (David Harbour).
For some strange reason, this movie has Lenore Case(Cameron Diaz) expressing her age, and trying to look hot. She looks totally clueless about her role in the company and does not allow Britt or Kato to hit on her. Why was she there in the movie? Don’t know…Can’t say.
Finally, they beat up all the bad guys with some gravity and death defying stunts and peace returns to the world. To the relief of the audience as well.
What works:
All the hi tech toys that Kato builds
What doesn’t:
Attempt at super heroics
Why did Cameron Diaz agree for a 2-pence role? No one would’ve realized even if she wasn’t around
My rating: 2/5 – Pretty avoidable
One more outing from the Yashraj camp, this time though…no big names and no claim to fame of size zero and appearance changes. Stars Anushka Sharma as Shruti Kakkad and New-boy Ranveer Singh as Bittoo Sharma.
The movie starts with Bittoo gate-crashing a wedding which has Shruti supervising the catering. A slightly heated argument and he’s head-over heels in love with her (How predicatbaly Hi-Fi - Hindi Film Industry). She shares her ambition to start “Shaadi Mubarak”, a wedding planning Buinness (business). When asked to return to his village, he quickly decides to partner with her, just to avoid going back home to grow & harvest sugarcane. She is reluctant, quite obviously.
They start by assisting an established wedding planner, only to realize that they’re better off, being their own bosses. Buinness is set up and Bittoo conveniently has his living quarters right above the office. He lovingly makes adrak ki chai for his partner, orders dinner for both of them and even drops her home when they’re working late. He cannot reveal his feelings to her at any point as Shruti has already laid the ground rule “Jisse vyapaar karo, usse kabhi na pyaar karo” (You cannot be in love with your business partner). They soon fall into a comfort zone, organizing small budget weddings…and move onto the big league ones.
On the successful execution of their first big budget wedding, they celebrate with champagne and get drunk .At this stage, Shruti breaks her own laid rule,but a dilemma arises since he’s not sure if she’s in love with him. He attempts clarification and all hell breaks loose.
It goes to the extent where they break the partnership and openly tarnish each other’s reputation until a mega project forces them to work together. They do so despite their differences, with a promise that they will not tread on each other’s departments.
In this so called love story, the love declaration happens only in the end…with a confrontation and a confession..Yawn….. !! and obviously they live happily ever after.
What works:
Low-budget movie
In your face and raw dialogues…some that you would catch while walking in Delhi
No usual YRF candy-floss, Switzerland, chiffon sarees
What didn’t work:
Maybe the audience is not restricted to only one part of India
Music not very catchy, except one (Ainvayi Ainvayi). I don’t know why the item number was needed though
2nd half could’ve done with some crisp editing
Rating : 2.5/5 – One time watch only
Sanjay Leela Bhansali has given us some good thought provoking movies, with a right mix of drama & memorable music. One of his strengths include his star cast and the powerful performances he gets out of them, irrespective of their standing in the film industry.
Guzaarish is the story of Ethan Mascarenhas (Hrithik Roshan), a magician who due to a fatal accident becomes a quadriplegic (for more explanations – check Wikipedia). His devoted nurse is Sophia (Aishwarya Rai) and they are in a huge mansion in Goa. Ethan has not got out of his house since his accident. Enter Omar Siddiqui (Aditya Roy Kapur – he’s so cute) to learn magic from him, but poses as a radio show producer just to gain entry in the house. Ethan is an RJ who also propagates how to live life despite the worst of conditions. Two more people are equally important in his life – his lawyer – best friend, Devyani(Shernaz Patel) and Dr. Naik.
Ethan has a wish, to end his life and gets a petition filed in court through Devyani. It gets rejected (quite obviously). He then uses his Radio show to get an opinion on his wish. Not many are supportive of his wish including Sophia. He then decides to make an appearance at court to justify his decision but again meets with a firm no from the law. In a dramatic twist, the final hearing is conducted at his house so that he need not be inconvenienced and all his near & dear ones testify his need to end his life. He also reminds everyone on who exactly was responsible for his condition.
Where there’s a will there’s a way is an old adage, which gives him the solution. He celebrates his last day of life and breathes his last, not before proclaiming his love for Sophia and marrying her. Even if it’s for a day of matrimony.
Anyone who has watched movies made by SLB earlier, will identify each movie with a medical condition or a color (Khamoshi – Speech & Hearing diasability, Devdas – Alcoholism, Black – Alzheimer’s Disease Saawariya – Blue). This is a little off the track since being quadriplegic is a result of an accident and the movie could have built a lil more entertainment with the magician angle. Euthanasia is relatively alien to the Indian audience and may have not made the connect.
What works:
Histrionics of the court session which gives the grounds of euthanasia
What doesn’t work:
No music to recall
Story not gripping enough
My rating: 2/5
The 3rd installment in the Narnia Series brings in a new dimension. This one is made in 3-D. After an insipid Part 2 (The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian), Voyage of the Dawn Treader looks interesting.
This time we have only the younger 2 of the Pevensie kids are left back in England with their uncle and cousin, Eustace – an unwilling and unaccommodating kid. He thinks Narnia is a figment of the Edward’s and Lucy’s imagination and does not stop to make digs at them in his diary. Through a painting on the wall which reminds Lucy of Narnia, the enchanted story begins. They land up on the Dawn Treader, captained by Prince Caspian. The Dawn Treader is all set to sail to land of Aslan which is on the other end of the world. They have an obstacle on the course, the Dark Mountains, all evil and sucks in people alive.
Lucy and Edward feel at home, and are treated like royalty whereas Eustace sticks out like a sore thumb, constantly whining. A few hilarious moments where he hears a mouse (Reepicheep from the previous installment) talk, and attempts the same with a pigeon lighten the situation.
They come across an island, face hostility and almost get killed. In a rare moment of bravery, tables are turned and the inhabitants share their woes to Price Caspian. They then set out on the stormy seas to the Dark Mountain. On their way, their way, they find clues to dispelling the curse the Dark Mountains hold. They need to find the 7 swords of Aslan.
While nearing their destination, they are warned to not think of their worst fears, but Edward does so – the Sea Serpent, which guards the Dark Mountains thereby preventing its prisoners from escape, attacks them. Eustace who is a golden dragon due to a curse fights the Sea Serpent along with Reepicheep. All’s well that ends well!!!
Aslan is always there to help and makes his presence felt, though not significantly as expected.
What works:
Knowing it is a fairy tale, but it is believable
Screenplay and special effects, which can be related to without reading the book.
What didn’t work:
A lil more of Aslan as needed
Bit stretched out build up to the climax, or the movie maybe over in 30 minutes. Prince Caspian - needs to be more charismatic and convincing
My rating: 3/5
BKB shows a newbie director, Danish Aslam and aptly supported by Kunal Kohli as a Producer. Stars Deepika Padukone as Aaliya Khan,Imran Khan as Abhay Gulati, Sharmila Tagore as Ayesha, Naveen Nischol as Jeet, Shahana Goswami as Nadia and Yudi as Cyrus.
BKB revolves around best friends turned lovers, Aaliya and Abhay. She is a fire brand – smokes,drinks,tantrum throws, and calls her mum by her name and is referred to by Aunt Lilette Dubey as Chudail. Aaliya is rebellious for any reason that suits her fancy. Abhay is the thoughtful, sensitive, sensible dependable, a total opposite of Aaliya. She sweetly calls him Gulati, Gelato and Julati. They fit the bill of opposites attract to a T. They’ve grown up in Jeet’s cinema hall, watching all-time romantic movies starting from Mr.India,JJWS,KKHH etc. They even know dialogues by-heart.
One fine day, Aaliya has been accepted to a course in Australia which she portrays as a course in Mass Communication, which her mum knows well that it is to fuel her ambition to be an actress. Ayesha herself being an actress, blames her failed marriage to her own ambition and does not encourage Aaliya. But then ziddi beti doesn’t care and makes her trip to Australia where she has to stay with her Hitler maasi. Soon she finds it uncomfortable and makes her way to a shack, managed by bro-sis, Nadia and Cyrus. Long distance relationships take a toll on Abhay and makes him insecure when he hears too much noise and a call from him being answered by a random guy. Abhay lands up there only to be told by Aaliya that she’s breaking up with him.
But love keeps him strong and put right there. He takes up odd jobs, and soon realizes that he can make his livelihood with food. He makes Cyrus his partner and sets up a restaurant. All this while, he tries to woo Aaliya back. Meanwhile, she lands up a prestigious acting assignment that her mom doesn’t approve of. Rebellious streak has long died in Aaliya and realizes her priorities.
All along, she had taken Abhay’s love for her as granted but Abhay decides to move on, which does not go well with Aaliya. She then realizes her love for him and the need to be with him. All’s well that ends well.
What works:
Cute banter between Abhay and Aaliya – the scene between Shah Rukh and Sunita; the under-table comfort zone; Abhay being the maanjha to Aaliya’s patang.
3 good songs – peppy and nice
Predictability of Indian romantic movies and aptly fitted dialogues from them.
Take home Imran character – he brings back memories of Jai Singh Rathore of Jaane tu ya Jaane na
Yudi’s character
What didn’t:
Tacky storyline – doesn’t really grip you in any part, elongated in certain places
Will someone please take charge of wardrobe makeover for Deepika – same set of shorts from Love Aaj Kal, Karthik calling Karthik and BKB.
Scowling Shahana Gowsami – she’s proved that she can act, except that they forgot that angle to her here.My rating : 2.5/5 - Absolutely average!
For most people, it would mean the movie on how Facebook came about in existence. It is essentially based on a book “The Accidental Billionaire” by Ben Mezrich.
Facebook is such a popular social networking site that one does not realize that it has risen from a person who suffered a heart break, due to lack of social acceptance by his peers Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg). With no business sense and one best friend Eduardo Saverin(Andrew Garfield), starts a revolution online way back in 2004, from his dorm in Harvard. He causes some serious issues and points our security flaws on the IT backbone of Harvard while achieving this.
In addition, he also brings upon himself 2 lawsuits, which is the thread of the screenplay, with the events leading to it making up for the rest of the script. One lawsuit is from Eduardo, who cannot believe certain business moves that Mark has made without his consultation (since he is the CFO of Facebook) and with advice from Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake), who has a slightly dubious history but experience in the mean, mean world.
The other lawsuit is from the Winklevoss twins, who accuse Mark of stealing their idea on the creation of Facebook, albeit by a different name (the Harvard Connection). They approach him for coding and making their idea go live, but Mark subtly avoids them. During the course of the lawsuit with them, Mark is totally ignorant on the implication of his actions due to his lack of people skills and in love with what he knows best, coding .
No fluff, just plain business on the script. Mark mixes business and personal equations smoothly that betrayal of friends or enemies is alike and totally unintentional, while trusting a total stranger seems acceptable. He does not know how to celebrate on achieving 1mn users since he does not seem comfortable with the idea. The Winklevoss twins try every trick in the book (Law and Harvard) to sue him, which in its moments lighten up the story, but only end up with an out of court settlement of $65mn.
What worked which is the core of the movie:
Breezy script
Crisp dialogues
Easy rendition of the book with right mix of facts
What didn’t work: Yet to find in this movie
My rating: 5/5 (this is one intelligent movie)
Action Replayy brings back the team of Vipul Amrutlal Shah and Akshay Kumar, after hits like Aankhen and Waqt. It also pairs Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Akshay Kumar after Khakee. Also stars newbies Aditya Roy Kapur & Sudeepa Singh , veterans Randhir Kapoor,Om Puri, Kiron Kher and of course Rajpal Yadav & Rannvijay (from MTV), and Neha Dhupia.
The movie is ‘inspired’ by Back to the Future. The movie opens with Kishan (Akshay) and Mala(Ash) in one more of their fights and beta Bunty(Aditya) trying to keep peace. All the fights makes Bunty become averse to the concept of marriage. This is a constant problem between him and his girlfriend Tania (Sudeepa). Tania introduces Bunty to her grandpa Prof. Gonsalves (Randhir) and he sees the time machine.
Seeing the fight between his parents on their anniversary and allegations flying across, Bunty decides to solve the problem of their squabbles, with the Time Machine, of course. He lands up in the exact time frame when his parents were still single, but neighbours. Mala, Kundan(Rannvijay) and Bhiku (Rajpal Yadav) are constantly irritating Kishan and his dad Rai Bahadur (Om Puri). Kundan likes Mala but cannot declare it since he has failed before, with other girls. Love marriage was taboo on those times. Bunty decides that his parents need to discover each other and starts meddling. He makes timid Kishan a macho man and rowdy Mala a demure and coy girl. The movie ambles on with some infused humour which forces you to laugh. Kundan tries his best to be meddlesome so that he can get Mala and Bunty thwarts all plans.
The climax is a very familiar scene of the 70s where Bunty helps Mala and Kishan to run away, with Bholi Devi (Kiron Kher), Kundan, Rai Bahadur and Bhiku chasing them. As fate or rather the script demands, they get together. Mona(Neha Dhupia) falls for the cute Bunty, not knowing the twist in the tale.
The movie then shifts back to the present and the romance is still evident in the lives of Mala and Kishan. All’s well that ends well!!
What works:
Bunty as a debutant is very charming
2 songs – Zor ka Jhatka and O Bekhabar
Aishwarya’s 70s appearance
What didn’t work:
Humour was forced into the script- like stealing flower pots from Kishan's garden while keeping him engaged on the phone, stripping Kishan of his clothes (making him feel raped)
The 70s setup was very pedestrian
Talent of Kiron Kher and Om Puri was not utilized
Music was not very catchy for someone like Pritam who has delivered great music earlier
My rating – 2.5/5 – can catch it on TV soon
Based on the comic series, Green Hornet, another 3D movie looks like a feeble attempt at silly heroics for the sake of getting attention.
