Raajneeti-Film to Watch

Raajneeti is a film i was long waiting for. With a cast like Nana,Manoj Bajpai , Ajay & Prakash Jha what more could a movie goer ask for. Well inspite of the media hype about how Katrina has learnt loads of hindi dialouges on her own i wasnt expecting much from her. I feel the current crop of heroines like Deepika, asian, Priyanka Chopra, Amisha Patel et al are just eye candies-devoid of any talent viz-a-viz acting

So i went to watch the first day first show of this film which purportedly draws parallels from Mahabarta. I was interested in the film right from the start. Naseeruddin as the leftist leader was convincing, thats what is delivering a powerful performance in a small role. He has been wasted in such a short role. 

 .In the first half, in one shot showing Prithvi Pratap (Arjun Rampal) taking advantage of a female party worker (Shruti Seth). ( who is desperate for a party ticket in the upcoming elections) was very poorely shot . It could have been done more maturely. It looked like Arjun unable to emote as an actor & Shruti is over doing her part (biting her lips & repeating clitched sentances) .

Sooraj ( Ajay Devgun) has delivered a good performance. Not one of his best but as always you understand a lot by what he doesnt say rather than what he does. his expression , eyes & face say a lot. Like Naseer he too has been wasted in the role. He has done a good job inspite of having nothing much to do. Manoj Bajpai is phenominal. Having seen this powerhouse of talent after ages, i felt happy to see that neither has his talent fizzled out nor has his acting prowess. His all-time-angry role is something that seems to have been modelled on present day politicians. Nana patekar could have given the film a great substance alongwith Ajay & Manoj; had only the story been authentic. Seemed Jha was so busy in getting all the murders included in the film that he forgot what to do with so much talent

Ranbir Kapoor was the dark horse in this film. I had seen Rocket Singh & had liked his acting-little did i know that this younger-generation kapoor had the talent to stand his ground before powerhouses like Nana & Manoj. His coming to India, getting wrapped in political battles & finally being the brain behind Arjun’s winning the election was believable. What seemed odd was that though  he could transform into a cigarette smoking,conniving fellow ( who forges allaince with Katrina’s dad for funding)  due to the fire of revenge in him but in the end his going to america to take care of his fiancee’s mom (american women are independent,so why give such a lame reason) to return to peaceful living after killing people without any remorse seems to say “its okay to kill people as long a sits revenge”. Jha believes in the Mosaic law for sure

Katrina’s role is small & she fails to impress even then.  Arjun, who is shown as a exploiter & sexual harresing guy in the first half magically turns into a pure hearted male who gives katrina her privacy. Though this doesnt seem very believable but his death along side Ranbirs girlfriend Sarah  is very well shot. This being shown as the reason Ranbir decides to contest elections with Katrina as the candidate is very believablle.

In addition to the innumerable murders & plotting by the politicians themselves another thing that looks too over the top is how all the women in the film conceive the moment they get physically intimate with their boyfriends/husbands. Be it Ajay’s mom in the film, or katrina . In the climax i found one short to be very touching. When Ajay points his gun to Ranbir about to shoot but is unable to pull the trigger for he cant bear the fact of killing his own brother. Ajay does his part brilliantly without any emotional drama or speeches. I find apart from Om Kara & Gangajal not many films have been made so far which could use Ajay more amicably.Ranbir shoots at Ajay in the end on Nana’s call. Upholding the victory of good over evil.

In the end i liked the movie in totality but had too many murders,killings,conspiracies to deal with. Its a good job done by most of the cast & crew-except katrina & arjun of course. Seeing Nana,Manoj,Ajay & Ranbir act so brilliantly under the command of Jha i feel all’s not lost for sensible audiences in India. We always dont have to leave our brains at home while going to the movies.

There is light at the end of the tunnel

Dev D

I first heard from my friend about this film. He had liked the film very much;so i decided to download the movie & watch it at home.

From Google & Wikipedia i could deduce some facts about the movie; the apercu apparently seemed that its a modern day take on Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay’s classic Bengali novel Devdas and directed by Anurag Kashyap.

All i knew about the director was that he had written the script for the film Satya(1998). i had liked Satya very much & was encouraged to think that Dev-d would atleast be as good as Satya if not better.Abhay deol was also someone i knew as capable of being a good actor.so i had the wish & hope in my heart that this would be a good watch for me..But as they say “if wishes where horses,beggars would ride them”

I wont write about the story, but I would surely like to opine that having spent a nice weekend in watching this film i felt confused & forced to think & contemplate. Its about love, but not the one which soothes the mind.Its about the Love of Dev who wants to have exclusivety over Paro & her body even after she has married someone else.

Its about care & concern,but not the normal concern we are allowed to express in society, its the concern of paro for dev even after being married to someone else..care which leads her to agree to make love to dev but her soul prevents her from doing that.

Its about what bad times do to a person,as they did to chanda but such bad times arent only what happened to her but a part of it is what she did to herself or rather allowed being done to her.its about addiction of drugs,lure of money & how life teaches us a lesson in different ways.Eventually its about what, how & where we learn our lessons .
On the whole if you have appetite to contemplate in a pensive mood & your life seems confused or messed;watch this movie to get a new insight into the existing problems & well who knows you might solve your troubles as well..

this film is Not an EMOTIONAL ATYACHAAR..do give it a try folks

Luck By Chance

After having been discouraged by Bollywood films like Slumdog millionaire,i thought its better to check the next films @ home by downloading it from the internet ;rather than sitting in the cinema halls for a laborious 3 hours.At home at least one can move around & relax.

With this figured out,i was looking for movies to watch this weekend when i stumbled over the film “luck by chance”.The trailer appeared promising & it had a cast which included rishi kappor,juhi chawla,dimple kapadia,farhan akhtar & konkana sen sharma..all of whom have ruled the industry with their acting prowess at some point or another;so opting for this movie was but natural.

The movie has a very interesting concept.It traces the struggle of two newcomers;how they face the hardships;how they overcome the stumbling block & how both attain sucess at their own pace.

Farhan Akhtar is drawn to Konkana at the time when he is a nobody;just another body in the innumerable strugglers who come to Mumbai to try their luck.Konkana is a struggling actor too but she has done a few side roles in some films.A director keeps her bound to him by the promise of giving her a role in his new film co-starring John Abraham & Bipasha Basu.

As the movie progresses we realise how much the two protagnists have at stake.Farhan Lives in his Masi’s house,who advices him to leave this uncertain life of struggle & join his fathers buisness in Delhi.The two fall in love with each other.

Farhan lands the main role in a big banner film after being recommended by dimple(whom he accidentally meets & flatters in a party)

How entering the film industry changes his ideas about love & friendship;how eventually he sees the logic & rationale & how inspite of having come to his senses he is unable to get konkana’s companionship in his life again is all what this film is about.

Konkana on the other side is ditched by the director,who refuses to cast her in the film;how she realises that she alone can make her future happen & how she ultimately makes it big in the TV industry is what makes the movie worth watching

Zoya Akhtar’s film is good to watch but there are some loopholes.What happens to the Grandfathers clock that farhan lends to his friend who is an assitant director or what happend to the theater-based friend of farhan havent been explained however its a full paisa vasool..something which i feel is quite a rarity in the times of today in hindi film industry

Slumdog Millionaire

With so much media hype about the movie ; A.R.Rehmans award winning music i was very interested in watching this film which was being hailed as a classic by many.Afterall it was after a long time that people where taking notice of bollywood  movies.So i decided to watch the movie ASAP.

When i arrived at the movie hall i thought i was in the wrong place..Most of the seats where vacant & the film was about to start in 8 minutes,strange for the first day first show of such a popular movie’s screening in the UAE.Anyways as the movie started i was somehow reminded of the feel i got when i first watched “Salam bombay”.Though neither the plot was similar nor the concept but somehow i got a feeling of deja vu.

The movie is set in the slums of mumbai;how two brothers escape the clutches of a gangster;how then one of them becomes a gangster himself,How the other gets himself into a gameshow just to get in the eyes of his beloved,how in the end all is well…blah blah blah

the two protaganists “salim & jamal” have done a good job;sanjay manjerekar as the don is a bit irritating,anil kapoor has tried to overdo his role of a game show host(tried to out-do bachans image of KBC),the actress had no major role to play out but her acting was good..A movie you can go watch if you dont have many tensions of your own..surely

The movie is good,the script is good,the music has Rehmans distinct style.On the whole it’s a good watch,but not something you expect to watch for a movie which can go to the oscar’s.I would rate it below films like Rang De Basanti,Dil Chahata Hei,Gajni,Tare Zameen Par etc

I guess if one goes to watch it without keeping in mind that its of the Oscar standards;then its a good movei but going with high expectations will surely let you down..

Ghajni–A Amir Khan Classic

Since a long time i had long deduced that hindi movies where for the brain dead.How else could anyone explain the sucess of  some Imran Hashmi flicks which where full of kisses,smooches,flesh show,hot steamy stuff,a little bit of fights & himesh’s voice & music…

However classic films like ”Mr & Mrs Iyer”;Page 3;Dil Chahata Hei;Rang De Basanti;Shaurya;Chak De India;Devdas;Hum Tum;Munna Bhai MBBS;Jab we met etc..would trickle in from time to time making a normal human entrtain himself without having to leave his brains at home!!

when i heard of ghajni,i was in a fix.the fact that amir had given his time to the movie was reason enough for me to go & watch the movie for he has had great movies to his credit including Dil Chahahta Hei,Rang de Basanti & Taree Zameen Par..but the storyline seemed too  south-oriented wrt stunts,fights etc;;;not something to enjoy i felt.

somehow curiosity came over me & i went to see the movie here in UAE.surprisingly many young arabs had also decided to watch the movie only because of Amir khan.when the movie started there was total silence,no one even moved.the first half of the movie is full of jokes & funny incidents .everyone had a good laugh(including the arabs,what & how they understood is a moot issue!!).in the second half the movie gets more voilent & full of some tension.There are some loopholes in the movie but Amir khans anger,restlessness & fury in the film keep you glued to the screen.the end of the movie is too good.one feels avenged for the wrong done to amir in the film.

its by far one of amir’s best performances & reinstates him as the real king khan of bollywood.shahrukh is for romantic,suttle flicks;salman is a lot better than shahrukh provided he concentrates;saif is ok–challable but the real king is amir.with movies like sarfarosh,rang de basanti,taree zameen par & ghajni he doesnt have to proclaim his greatness..he is great in himself…

all of you who havent watched the movie,go watch it to see what the finest actors in bollywood can do with a simple role…In another attempt to outdo himself there is a strong feelar in the market that for the next movie Amir is gonna gain oddles of weight..Thats what a true actor can do!!hail AK

Dostana is Rubbish

i Had seen the promos of this film.i thought it had to be some funny kind of story with lil rhona dhona..i was all up fro it.i decided to watch it this past weekend & boy was i frustated..the storyline is so weak,it makes you think whats so funny about all this..the acting by all the 3 actors leaves so much to be desired..priyanka is in her worst acting spree & john looks like he is talking to deaf & dumb persons…gesculating all the time….oufh..the only thing funny was aunty…lolz

i mean the crux of the movie is that 2 hot guys want a flat,they get it at the cost of having to state that they are gay,how priyanka’s boss gets attracted to her in one go,how they are all into each other ,how the 2 guys create problems,how they express their love & how eventually she goes with the boss..oufh…the lil boy did better acting than any of the lead actors..i guess bluffmaster was far better than this bogus film

i then thought of seeing yuvraj cause it had rehmans music & it looked quite good,but when i read the storyline i was too unsure to sit another 3 hours of torture..when can we as an audience grow up to say enough of trash…start showing movies now..i was reading the other day of shahruks new movie which i feel except for srk has nothing to boast of.

dostana would be so more funny ahd they just used saif instead of john & amir or srk instead of AB.well preity or rani instead of priyanka would have added a lot of life to it..but if wishes where horses,beggars would ride them..

except for Taree Zameen Par i cant remeber any worthwhile movie that i saw so far…when will the industry start taking us seriously