ISHQIYA IS PURE ENTERTAINMENT!!

There are movies and then there are movies.When you are wondering and feeling wasted about your gambit at the movies week on week, the Gods decide to shower some mercy and thus comes along a movie like Ishqiya that has you looking at cinema as it should be-entertaining. The latest offering by Vishal Bharadwaj,directed by debutante Abhishek Chaubey offers a dark comedy in Ishqiya,that compels you to appreciate intelligent humor and at the same time lets you be.
The movie opens in the heartland of Uttar Pradesh,a muse that has stuck with Vishal Bharadwaj for sometime now.Rustic and blatant, the surroundings offer a perfect pitch to set the mood of its central characters Khalujan(Nasseruddin Shah), his accomplice Babban(Arshad Warsi) who are thieves, one brooding and the other lusty, that cheat their boss of some hard cash and find a refuge in the idyllic villages outside Gorakhpur in a certain Krishna(Vidya Balan),who apprently is the widow of a certain leader of the numerous factionist groups in the state. During the course of their stay both Babban and Khalujan in their own way get hooked to the demeanour of Krishna,who apprently has her own agenda and plays along until she wins their confidence and has them plan the kidnapping of a small time millionaire and extort money  and make merry. But all is not as it seems.Sleight and deceit become part of this cat and mouse game that delightfully complicates a straightforward plan into one that ends up involving the fascist groups after a point and has the trio claim their stake.
The movie deserves to be applauded for its treatment,that osscillates between a comic caper and an intense thriller of sorts dangerously enough and its the skill of Abhishek Chaubey and Vishal Bharadwaj that enables the script maintain its fine balance and has you laughing even when people are being shot at. Much of the entertainment factor in the movie comes from the dialogues that are impactful in driving the movie forward.
Sample this: "Humne galti karne mein thodi jaldi kardi, aapne maafi maangne mein thodi deri" Coupled with Arshad Warsi's spontaineity and reprising the "Circuit" act, the comic punch lines clearly come out as gems of intelligent positioning in the movie. Needless to say,Nasseeruddin Shah as Khalujan is every bit the spurned lover and a man seasoned by experience who slips well into his erratic moodswings more than once.Its a pleasure to watch Naseeruddin Shah go reclusive and communicate his pain to Krishna after his realization of her feelings for Babban ,in these very lines " Main Mard hoon isiliye bata nahin raha hoon. Agar aurat hota toh tumhe pata nahi chalta ki mein biwi hoon ki tawaif" .After a long time,Vidya Balan comes around to prove her mettle as Krishna, a woman with grey shades, an avengeful seductress who feigns her inclinations for Babban and Khalujan only to scheme a way to grab the booty. You cant but help admire the boldness of the character essayed by Vidya Balan that fluxes between a cold and affectionate demeanour by the minute.Scenes where she takes the duo by surprise and holds them captive and drives away with the kidnapped businessman while Babban and Khalujan fight in the middle of the road, is quite exciting. There are many moments in the movie that have you root for the characters at some point.
Complementing the movie is the music by Vishal Bharadwaj that has some great scores that would linger in your mind well after you have left the cinema hall. The cinematography by Mohana Krishna Agapu offers a pleasant experience and editing by Namrata Rao offers the streaming narrative some crisp time management .
However, it  does take a while to warm up to the situations and characters of this two hour flick that is possibly attributed to the unpredictability of situations and the effort of the director to tie all of them together into what makes Ishqiya, an enjoyable piece of entertainment and storytelling that is here to stay and hence scales 3.5 out of 5 for its attempt to be different and successful at that!!
Heres to Ishqiya for making popcorn the best accompaniment at the movies.

Signing Off.....
Eashwar

Rann is Unidimensional and Amitabh is its saving Grace!!!!

All dark and grim maketh not a Godfather.That sums up Rann,the latest offering from the Ram Gopal Varma stable.Backed by a great cast, Rann very simply is Madhur Bhandarkar's Corporate refashioned and made to look chic with the twist that only a Ramgopal Varma could provide. Vijay Harshwardhan, played by the legendary Amitabh Bachan, is the owner of a news channel, India TV that prefers truth over TRPs and tends to continue so even as a competing news channel run by an ex employee of India TV,played by Mohnish Behl, rumored to be inspired by the Prannoy Roy-Rajdeep Sardesai split, races forward to notch up all worldly indicators of success, albeit through unfair means. Intending to salvage the channel, Jai Harshvardhan, the America returned son of Vijay, essayed by Sudeep, is manipulated into becoming an accomplice to a political conspiracy orchestrated by a sinister Paresh Rawal in return for better channel viewership. In the backdrop, the  rival channel notches up a few games up its sleeve that attempt to tarnish the image of India TV and eating  into the pie, while  a righteous young journalist played by Ritesh Deshmukh who reveres the patriarch at India TV and goes all out as a one man army to uncover the conspiracy and save Vijay Harshwardhan who apparently is being used as a pawn in this political quagmire and succeeds in helping the channel uphold its original vision and mission.
The only thing that is common between Ramgopal Varma's Sarkar, Sarkar Raj and Rann , apart from the obvious towering presence of Big B is a dark background and a webcameraish approach to the film, so much so, you wish you could pull the remote out of Ramu's hands and adjust the hue on the screen.
The movie drags itself through the first half,establishing the credentials of the news channel and there is little of Big B that is heard, who limits himself to reading the news through the entire 1.5 hrs. Its only during  the second half that the movie almost falls into track and comes close to driving a point or two home.However,  the movie fails to offer a convincing view of the media and dissapoints one too many making you feel as if you were travelling in a Volkswagen of the 1920s on a bumpy road. The script simply refuses to kickstart and takes a convoluted approach to make a simple statement.
The script and sets of the movie affirm that Rann is a product of inadequate research and unidimensional perception. Not once, are you lead to believe that people in the respective competitors offices are engaged in serious work. While some are busy making a parody of sorts,others are busy selling secrets to rival channels or walking around hither-thiter without much to offer.If that were not enough,the background score and soundtrack has you asking for Sandeep Chowta who was once a regular in the Ramgopal Varma camp and  a reckoning force that had you glued to the seats,just for the beauty of the scores. The jarring tunes composed by a dozen music directors, do not gel well with the flow of the story and rather complement the tone of the camerawork by Amit Roy that is erratic and made to appear dark and amateurish,to give the so called "Sarkar" effect.
However, inspite of these follies, the talented among the cast,put in their best efforts to work around a sketchy character description except for possibly Amitabh Bachchan who has received the best scripted role amongst the lot. Given the potential and success of Paresh Rawal in the past in the garb of negativity, Ram Gopal Varma does not exploit it adequately and it so appears that he gave Paresh a free hand to work out the details of his character. But, the directors actor that Paresh Rawal is, he has put in his best efforts and yet the superficial character description fails to justify his effort. Mohnish Behl, for his part as the owner of a competing channel is sincire and believable.Ramu's muse since Phoonk, Sudeep demonstrates potential for growth and demonstrates the transition from an obedient son to an avaricious businessman with some conviction.Ritesh Deshmukh as the young and sincire journalist has you striking a chord at certain points,while the rest of the cast including Suchitra Krishnamurthy, Neetu Chandra,Gul Panag and Rajat Kapoor along with extras appear more like last minute additions to fill up the spot,and hence have limited breadth and scope to perform.

But, Rann is  salvaged by the effort of one man alone, Amitabh Bachchan, who rises up to the challenge of a poor script and How!!. Every frame that captures him dressed in impeccable suits has you rooting for him and empathizing with his character and vulnerability. The frequent flux across the states of mind of Vijay Harshvardhan are protrayed effectively through his silence that conveys volumes,until the last 30 minutes that is by far the best segment of the movie. Clearly, Ram Gopal Varma is a huge fan of Amitabh Bachchan  has reserved the best part of his script and lines for the last,to let the Angry Young Man rise and speak. The  emotional turmoil and confessional speech articulated by Bachchan ,especially the line wherein he voices " Media ek Lakshya tha aur Paisa ek Madhyam par ab Paisa ek Lakshya aur Media ek Madhyam sirf Madhyam, ban gaya hai" pulls some strings and leaves your throat choking, delivered in a manner that is so very Bachchan.

With not much to talk about, and Bachchan being its only saving grace, the movie scales 3 POINTS out of 5 for Amitabh's class act and is recommended only if you want to enjoy the last thirty minutes of the movie which gives you enough reason for Big B to be considered the true Sarkar of modern Hindi cinema.

Movies To Check Out This Week: Couples Retreat, Rann, Ishqiya, Road to Sangam,Up in the Air

The week of 29th sees an interesting lineup of movies after the drought of scripts and acting that was witnessed until recently.

COUPLES RETREAT : At long last,India gets to witness the first post Oscar Hollywood venture of whizkid A.R.RAHMAN. Starring Vince Vaughn and Jean Reno, this Universal Pictures presentation directed by Peter Billingsley, a major telly star,  focuses on the lives of four couples at different stages of their  relationship who go on a vacation somewhere in the Bahamas, a place called Eden ,where they meet a yoga instructor,played by Jean Reno who counsels them on gelling well and making the best of their romatic lives.
Positioned as a comedy, Couples Retreat released in October 2009 and met with great success grossing over $150 million worldwide,but was not much appreciated by critics for the shallow portrayal and uninspiring theme.Interestingly,Couples Retreat was offered to A.R.Rahman,before he started off on Slumdog Millionaire. The music was recorded entirely in the United States with the Hollywood Studio Symphony and released by Relativity Music Group in October 2009. Incidentally, the tracklist of the album has one track written in Hindi and another written in Tamil,penned by A.R.Rahman himself.The song "Na Na" from the album has been nominated in the Best Song category at the Oscars.

Pre Movie Verdict : The fact that this is A.R.Rahman's first mainstream Hollywood assignment,would make this a crowdpuller,by virtue of the brillant background scores he is known for. Its possible that the sales of the audio released by SaReGaMa in India would pick up post the movie. The movie may do average business in India. Check it out to get a feel of ARs background.Something you may not want to miss!!

RANN: For some strange reason, Rann that was originally poised to release during the week of 22nd January is showing up finally on 29th January. At the risk of being repetitive,this Ram Gopal Varma film that has a fine breed of acting to flaunt in Amitabh Bachchan, Paresh Rawal,Ritesh Deshmukh,Gul Panag and Sudeep, the reigning star of the Kannada film industry,who was last seen in Phoonk, offers an interesting plot that takes a shot at the manipulation of the media.While speculations have been rife around the potential storyline, the air has been cleared by Big B and Ramu,who reveal that the plot revolves around the central character Vijay Harshvardhan,an owner of a popular news channel,who owing to some trying circumstances influenced by diabolical politicians conveys a false message through the news that impacts the lives of several people. The rest of the plot focuses on how he comes out of the mess and seeks justice against media manipulation.

Pre Movie Verdict: The trailers are dark and discomforting and that sets the tone for the movie and clearly sends out a message that Ramu is back with AB to stimulate serious thought as opposed to mindless munching of popcorn. Clearly, Amitabh has a huge role to play in this political thriller and it would be interesting to see Mr.Bachchan revert back to the image of the Angry Young Man of Deewar and Zanjeer,albeit in a sophisticated manner. Further, its almost twenty years since he played a character by the name Vijay which if you werent aware was the name of all characters he played since his entry into filmdom.
Going by Ramu's fetish for scripts that explore the intagibles and unknowns around the perceived reality we live in, Rann appears a winner hands down.For the first time,millions across India would get a glimpse of what happens within the news room. If not for anything else, Rann has sure notched up enough publicity with the media getting edgy on what Ramu wants to portray and that is bound to work in favour of the movie.
The movie should be worth a watch, put your thinking caps on and enjoy the magic of Amitabh Bachchan as the Angry Young Man all over again!!!

ISHQIYA: Now this is one movie,you dont want to miss! Master craftsman Vishal Bharadwaj strikes back after Omkara in 2006 and Kaminey in 2009, with a witty dark comic caper that has an ensemble of performers in Nasseruddin Shah, Arshad Warsi and Vidya Balan who play the game of love and deceit in a manner you would least expect.Known for coming up with innovative storylines and amazing music that keep you hooked,this time around,he lets debutant Abhishek Chaubey wield the megaphone as he turns a complete producer. The movie depicts the lives of three persona, two gangsters and a widow, or should we say a black widow.... Arshad Warsi and Nasseeruddin play two partners in crime who escape their boss with a booty and seek refuge in a safe place, ironically under the shelter of a forgotten widow of their boss,essayed by Vidya Balan. Oblivious and ignorant, the two get busy proclaiming their love for her only to be set on a death trap by the woman they are blinded by love and lust.

Pre Movie Verdict: The movie has all the ingredients to set the cash registers ringing.Both the trailers and music by Vishal Bharadwaj have caught on like a house on fire and for the first time, he attempts a dark comedy unlike his previous films wherein comedy was a certain forced element but stuck largely to the serious nature of the plot. Arshad Warsi reprises his 'Circuit" act by playing sidekick to the awesome Naseeruddin Shah whose recent performance in 'A Wednesday' had us asking for more. In all probability, we are going to see a mix of the gangster he played in Kaizad Gustad's sleeper hit Bombay Boys and Mithya.Vidya Balan charters into unfamiliar territory with this film. Depending on her portrayal of the negative shades of her character, Vidya Balan could well bounce back and carve a niche for herself as a character actress. Definitely worth picking  our brains  on this one and give it the much desired break to sit back,relax and enjoy a delightful experience come alive on screen, of course with the essentials:a tub of popcorn and a glass of Coke - Gimme a Large, Please.

Road To Sangam : If you are in the mood to go patriotic this week in keeping with the republican spirit, then Road to Sangam could well be your best bet at the movies for the week.Inspired by a true story about a mechanic who restored a car that carried the ashes of Mahatma Gandhi to the sangam.Directed by debutant Amit Rai who notched up the film based on the story, the film has found positive reviews  and raked in awards at the Mumbai Academy of the Moving Image Film Festival, International Film Festival of South Africa and the Radar Hamburg Film Festival,Germany.The fact that potentially makes this film interesting is the presence of stalwarts such as Om Puri and Paresh Rawal,who have proved time and again that a movie can be carried entirely on their shoulders.
Pre Movie Verdict : The movie may draw an average response, considering that the focus on contemporary history has taken a backseat,with most of the audience wanting to get a feel for comedy and adventure. With limited promotional activities, the movie could run at multiplexes.There is a possibility of the movie being chosen as a dvd/vcd flick. Nevertheless,  an epic performance by Paresh Rawal as the disturbed Muslim mechanic awaits us...Go for it, if u are a fan of true cinema.

UP IN THE AIR: The Golden Globe Nominated winner for best adapted screenplay and nomination in the screen guild actors award starring George Clooney touches base on  Indian theaters and is a movie you would love watching for either of the following reasons:

a. You are a Fan of George Clooney b. You are intrigued by the life of management consultants c.You wanna get  a feel of what it is to travel 365 days a year d. You want to empathize and sympathize with yourself if u already have been there and done that.
Either way, this film, an adaptation of the 2001 novel by Walter Kirn,directed by Jason Reitman the Canadian director who is known for movies such as Juno and Thank You for Smoking, focuses on the life of Ryan Bingham, a downsizing consultant, played by the legendary George Clooney and travels the world to lay off  employees.He prefers the kind of life he lives because of his personal aspiration earn 1 million air miles that has so far been the achievement of a privileged few. He is pitted with a junior Natalie Keener played by Anna Kendrick,last seen in Twilight who is pushing the envelope to go economical by getting the firings done through the internet and over the telephone. It would be interesting to see whether Ryan Bingham does achieve those airmiles he dreams of and at whose expense.

Pre Movie Verdict : The story is a refreshing take on the reality of management consultants and given that it has George Clooney heading the show, it sure is going to receive a great opening.Adding to the stellar cast, is the nomination of the movie in the Golden Globes and the Screen Guild Awards,which is certain to drive the sales of tickets over the next couple of weeks.A clear winner that you must check if you are in the mood for some introspection or even plain fun. Have a blast.

Phew..thats a lot to catch up this week.Make sure you have enough money stashed away or ask your boss for an advance pay if you are planning to watch all of them.The last one is strictly for the impatient few among us..

Signing Off...
Eashwar

Random Musings at the Movies Last Week

The week behind was a rather eventful one at the movies and will go down history as one that had a huge impact on all allied industries except the movie that was behind the apocalypse. The solitary release of the week -Veer impacted some before its release and some after,but never did a movie go so far that the heavens shied away for an entire day to shield themselves from an asteroid called SALZARAS2212010(Salman, Zarine and Anil Sharma followed by the release date of Veer ,if you already didnt have a clue of what that meant)that was created by the amalgation of the creative energies of a certain muscular character called Salman Khan who was intrigued by the beauty of a fatso called Zarine Khan that was until the time busy selling Parag sarees even after they went bankrupt.Twas,one fine night, two years ago,when hunky Sallu was at the pub down Pali Hill, in an exalted state, he happened to stumble on a certain Anil Sharma who by virtue of shooting an impossible sequence of Sunny Deol pulling out a handpump during his last patriotic venture,Gadar, was elevated to the status of a film maker par excellence. As luck would have it, Gadar Sharma had a script  that he thought was just right for Salman. but HUNKY 100 pushups gave him a cold shoulder and unleashed a parchment  from  his wallet that  had a while ago been home to a handful of groundnuts.Voila!!! what does our man find...a story that he had scripted 500 centuries ago during his last incarnation as a tribal warrior in the jungles of Amazon. He remembered rather vaguely that he had sent the script to Mel Gibson through a time travel machine he had borrowed from the makers of the Denzel Washington movie,Deja Vu. However, Gibson was already working on the preproduction of Apocalypto that had a storyline notches above the contrived script of Veer. The fact that Apocalypto failed to make an impact is another matter.But,given that the fallibale nature of humans make them consider themselves infallible, made Salman conceited  and restless enough that he consumed a 100 gallons of Red Bull at the pub and with  infectious enthusiasm convinced Anil Sharma the far reaching impact of the script and the industries that would become profitable as a result.The first of those unfortunate camps to be affected was the tomato ketchup industry. Maggi and Kissan were specially advised to import tomatoes from Spain and Italy that were red enough to give blood a complex.The communication sent the tomato farming community in India in a dizzy,who decided it was time to inflate the prices and go Keynesian enough to have householders across the subcontinent reach out for fries at McDonalds.Satisfied with the outcome and enthused by the possibility of winning a National Award, Anil Sharma got the Queen of England to  temporarily shift her base from the Buckingham Palace to Chandini Chowk,where he heard Mithun Chakraborty was busy selling his high end vada pav specially imported from China.  Meanwhile,Salman decided that Zarine Khan was not a beauty but a bison from the hilly terrains of Kanchenjunga and fumed and fretted across the world so much so that Anil Sharma almost lost hope of winning a National Award. But, Almighty dear sucked by the plight of Gadar handpump Sharma, consoled him with a brilliant piece of news that suggested a certain village belle who just a couple of weeks ago was impossible with her pyar,won the National Award along with a 20 something Ranaut,who was run out for a long time until Madhur was sweet enough to shower his treasure(thats Bhandar in Hindi) on her. Delighted with this piece of news, Anil renewed his enthusiasm and got the censor board to pass off the movie with a UA certificate,who apparently were miffed by the stunts that they literally wanted to replicate a scene from the movie that would make the stomach crawl-wring Salman's neck and Anils Wrist,so that they may think straight and never make a lousy movie as this respectively.
The decision by the censor board to release Veer on Friday didnt augur well with the sensibilities of Ram Gopal Varma, who felt that Anil's films were not worth the mettle and competition.As a consequence, Ramu decided to run and let Rann on the 29th instead 22nd . Now thats what I call responsible behaviour and strategy well crafted.However, Ram Gopal Verma wanted to check a similar fiasco from erupting and hence went online to discuss with each of his starcast  what they thought about his movie. Now,given that all actors in the movie were sincire employees, the answers were polite and politically well crafted. However, the lead of the movie, the Big B of indian cinema had to bear the brunt of politeness and etiquette by answering a press conference of 200 newsmen that got him harried enough to find solace in the cosy seats of PVR Bangalore,where the Chief Minister of Karnataka and his battalion of chieftains,wanted a line by line translation of Paa. Worried,that the Big B may silently escape the tirade and not satisfy the request, the team made sure that food was all vegetarian and served at the seat. As soon as he was released from the iron clutches, Big B was pleasantly surprised to see the entire Bangalore throng around to get a glimpse of their favourite star,who apprently was both  puzzled  and immensly touched by the fact that after all, his darshan was balmy and comforting to all those Bangaloreans,who were affected by the indelible impact of asteroid SALZARAS2212010 that I hear finally landed on a place called Morocco,  which by the way is  known for Ibn Batuta and leather that you are  especially advised to put to good use if u see that duo come around on screen again.
Signing Off....
Eashwar

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VEER IS A COLOSSAL WASTE OF TOMATO KETCHUP AND THE TAX PAYERS MONEY!!!

Has there ever been a time when you have  pulled through a movie, only to focus your energies on two tubs of popcorn, three packets of samosa and five scoops of icecream to keep you engaged, out of guilt?If you havent,then you must watch Veer, as it doles out a couple of lessons on the advantages of being indifferent.
This Vijay Gilani production of an Anil Sharma movie scripted by our very own Salman Khan,has you making more trips to the candy bar than the frequency of Salmans bare chested act.

Setup as a battle between an obscure alcoholic  tribe in Rajasthan,thePindharis and the Rajputs during British RAJ, this three hour yarn has Salman Khan play Veer,the son of Mithun Chakraborty , a Pindhari who seeks to avenge the injustice meted out to his clan of hooligans by a Rajput king essayed by Jackie Shroff, through his allegiance to the British feifdom.So it must be that Veer as a baby is drenched in the rain by Mithun who justifies his act by proclaiming him to be a Pindhari.Poor child, i hope the parents of that unfortunate soul had immunized it with the 100 odd vaccinations before handing it over to our man of the moment-Mithun. As expected the child grows to be a man enough, who goes about chopping hands and bathing in alcohol every once in a while, until he meets Yashodhara, a woman of royal lineage played by newbie Zarine Khan,that gets him out of his stupor and woo her in the most predictable manner.The remaining bit of the first half focusses on his effort to get to her and a bit of history lessons,like being sent to the University College London, to understand the ways of the British or posing to be royal enough to vanquish the white skinned mortals.Now why does one have to demean a great institution like UCL to understand British ways and manners and when did tribals get admitted there?Post interval, this torture of a saga continues with the protagonist coming in contact with the brothers of his love interest played by Puru Rajkumar and Aryan Vaid, both of whom look like they have been woken inbetween a time travel experiment, fizzed out and clueless. The movie snails further from cliche to cliche that begins with Veer arriving at the opportune moment to save his brother with an unfathomable name,played by Sohail Khan ,takes a break with Jackie Shroff and Zarine Khan proclaiming to be father and daughter and ends, with Salman Khan marrying her at the risk of knocking off her father and being born  as his son after being conked off in a silly bullet dodging exercise.

While there is no doubt that Salman is a star, frankly, he is no Russell Crowe or Mel Gibson which he tries hard to be like.However, ironically, it is his presence in the movie that makes this ketchup fest a wee bit palatable. Zarine Khan as princess Yashodhara does not emote  well enough to justify her act or selection. She is no more than a pretty face prancing around and emoting oh so minimally. The leading lady of this flick   would do well to get some serious workouts in order to sustain a long innings apart from wholesome tips and treats on acting and emotion.

Director Anil Sharma seems to have taken a fascination for patriotic movies but does not demonstrate the sophistication desired of a historical epic of some proportion as Veer. The usage of graphics that are quick to be differentiated by the untrained eye and average camerawork do not warrant for a great historical adventure. Music by Sajid-Wajid and the background score by Monty offer nothing new and are inspired pieces that crop up every once in a while almost sounding like caller ringtones that signal the arrival of Veer to Yashodhara.How banal.

Considering that the script has been in the making for long and so has the movie, the crew of Veer could have potentially put the money invested, to good use rather than resorting to on screen situational and technical cliches that remind one of movies made four generations ago, a la Manmohan Desai  and BR Chopra.

All said and done, this movie scores 1 out of 5 for  having wasted the efforts of the tomato ketchup industry,that otherwise could have  improved the taste of the last plate of samosa at the snack bar.

Signing Off.....
Eashwar

Sherlock Holmes Engages You Enough to Make You a fan of Arthur Conan Doyle

First things first...May I beg your pardon for not having acknowledged the genius of Sherlock Holmes adequately and complimenting the late Sir Arthur Conan Doyle for having made 221B,Baker Street real enough to have the citizens of erstwhile British Empire,fervently search for the fictitious and reclusive genius that was Sherlock Holmes.
The silverscreen adaptation by Guy Ritchie,who has had successes with movies such as Snatch and Lock,Stock and got swept Away by Maddonna after which he got spurned by  critics, comes across as an interesting representation of  Sherlock Holmes and Dr.Watson who are nothing like we have been conditioned to believe by its creator, and neither is the premise of the story wherein for the first time Sherlock battles a sorcerer in the making.
Played brilliantly by Robert Downey Jr, Sherlock Holmes is a man who loves a good fight in the boxing ring ,drowns himself in the pleasures of wine and women and still manages to engage in some brain twisting mystery all at once. He is accompanied by his faithful friend Dr.Watson, played by Jude Law who shares the same roof and is yet contemplating to move out after his engagement. As the movie unfolds on the streets of 18th century London, we are exposed to the duo in action to prevent a certain human sacrifice carried out by Lord Blackwood a practicioner of black magic ,played with menacing effect by Mark Strong,who is hanged, but resurrects himself to wreck havoc on the city of London by gaining the powers of a secret cult. Sherlock Holmes and his partner in mission are called upon to resolve the mystery of his return from the dead and the murders that follow. Thus begins a brilliant psychological drama that keeps you on the edge of your seat,as Sherlock instinctively solves each part of the puzzle not through deep thought on an arm chair but by getting his feet on the ground and engaging in some wonderfully executed piece of action that is effectively combined with the essential elements of classical Sherlockian tendencies of solitude and eccentricity,so much for that one revealation which makes the on screen personfication of Sherlock Holmes both despicable and admired at the same instant.Robert Downey Jr. slips into the character in an oh so comfortable manner that for the entire time frame, you are not for once reminded of the classic Sherlock Holmes but are intelligently offered glimpses of the facets of his behaviour. However, for the sake of some allegiance to the classics, the character of Dr.Watson is kept close to the original and it is this eclectic mix of tradition with a twist that makes this movie a treat and shows strong possibilities of a sequel in the making.
 Hans Zimmer clearly proves to be amongst the finest composers around in Hollywood with an amazing background that lifts this movie notches above. The fusion of indian strains with western strings gets to you almost infectiously and you stay back to hear the marvellous piece that plays during the ending credits.Go ahead ,dig into a tub of popcorn and admire the genius of Arthur Conan Doyle come alive on screen and on a parting note, if you havent had a flavour of his writing, let me warn you  that this movie will have you heading to the nearest bookstore to get hold of the Sherlock Holmes Omnibus......a clear winner and I am going with a 4 out of 5 for this adventure that keeps u hooked while it lasts.....Have a blast!!!
Signing Off....
Eashwar

Chance Pe Dance -an example of positioning gone awfully wrong!!!!

If there is one word that could aptly describe the latest venture of UTV movies, it would be confused. Since his last  unsuccessful attempt , Ken Ghosh has tried to redeem himself through his latest venture wherein he attempts to communicate the trials and tribulations that come with the making of a star in Bollywood.The story involves two central characters Sameer,played by a fit and hunky Shahid Kapoor and Tina ,played by the saucy Genelia Dsouza. Sameer is a struggling wannabe star who spends three years of his life attending auditions and ends up on a chance meeting with Tina , a choreographer during one of his innumerable stints.Inspite of his failures, a series of coincidental meetings and an opportunity to become a dance master in school prancing around with a bunch of teeny weeny bunch of children sets the stage for romance to blossom,that provides strength for the protagonist to rule the world and become the star that he always dreamed off.In almost a jarring note, the movie shoots of with an introductory song and music video that has the lead characters mouthing some ridculous lines that almost seem to suggest that the script of the movie and its intentions are as childish and naive as the five rupees trumpet that is sold on low profile fairs held on the city municipality grounds. The team has got it wrong on almost every structural quintessential of a movie that is a part of syllabi in dramatics and acting. After having produced many movies, the least one would expect from a team such as this  is  a good cast and an appropriate positioning. If Chance Pe Dance aims to tell the story of a struggle, then Shahid Kapur does not look one bit the struggler that the audience is sold into believing. While reality has time and again demonstrated the plight of newcomers in bollywood, leading a measily existence , Ken refuses to give in and offers Shahid a range of designer wear to fit himself in. Fair that his dad, played by the talented Parikshit Sahni, owns a textile shop, does not mean,he has all the money in the world to let this guy splurge on designer shirts,which is justified by a character onscreen that attributes the affordability to the pirated market.However, that doesnt prove to be convincing. The room is rather neat and well done for a struggler and by Mumbai standards, its something that single working professionals would generally live in.

Here a guy earns Rs.5000 a month through his part time courier job, mouths tounge twisters like Kachha Papad Pucca Papad to get his emotions right and is almost carefree when his dad questions his absence from home for three years. Genelia, as his friend and love interest clearly is not expected to emote on the living conditions of the character until communicated by a certain brother who gets to know of his deplorable condition, by virtue of Shahid taking up the role of a dance teacher. Through the entire sitting, there is not one moment wherein people are drawn to sympathize with Shahid. The movie portrays the lead character as comical and the love interest as a sidekick that suddenly realizes her love and quits her job because Shahid wasnt given a chance to act.  Ridiculous Maximus.Oh and there are plenty of such moments. Digest this, our man sneaks into the school bathroom everyday and lives out of a car at some point in this two hour advertisement and ogles at lunch boxes everyday, until the kids team up to part with their lunch. Are we watching a movie or is this a rough cut for a UNICEF  and HDFC life insurance ad campaign,we wonder.Further, everyone in the movie seems to be well to do and easily agreeable.Consider this, the hero in question is given a dialogue to audition for and he makes up for his forgetfulness by talking of his childhood  experiences which fetches a huge round of applause from a certain Mohnish Behl, who is an absolute misfit in the role of a successful director. Among all the follies, the one that tops the list however, is the untimely arrival of  Sameer to the grand finale of the movie competition and cajoling the director to give him a chance after a ten minute speech on identifying talent that finally ends up with a demonstration of dancing capabilities. If only gaining a role was as simple, India may have well been a factory of actors and would have done well in outsourcing acting talent instead of software coding. The music department by Adnan Sami  is a mess and does not have a single score that stays after the movie .With all due respect, he is best left  directed by the baton of experienced music composers who are clearly aware of the difference between composing music for a movie and a private album.

Eventually, there is nothing that the movie offers except for some spark of chemistry between Genelia and Shahid that comes across as the only respite in a movie that is as confused, complicated,archiac as the audience that has been sucked into this quicksand of a movie.
For all its attempt to roll a Luck by Chance and a Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na into one, and the misery thereafter, I go with  2.5 of 5 for this dance that made one and all trip on the floor by chance.
Signing Off...
Eashwar

Movies to Check Out During The Next Week

Rann: After a series of debacles,Ram Gopal Varma returns with renewed doses of self e reaffirmation backed  by the  faith of Mr.Amitabh Bachchan, Paresh Rawal and Sudeep with Rann. The movie has been in the news during the last year for the wrong reasons. First, RGV was pulled up for the song Jana Gana Rann by national activists who felt insulted by the mishandling of the national anthem. The second came when RGV had accompanied the then  Maharashtra Chief Minister  Vilasrao Deshmukh to the Taj Mahal hotel in Mumbai that was victim to the massacre,only to reveal that he wanted to understand the incident to give his forthcoming movie an authentic feel.

Wonder, how A.R.Rahman and Maniratnam got away with the lyrics Jana Gana Mana from Aayitha Ezhuthu-the tamil version of Yuva. Maybe after witnessing the previous works of the Genius-Ram Gopal Varma ki Aag and Phoonk, both of which sank without a trace, the Indian government pulled the last straw to get Ram Gopal Verma to consider other career options. However, it appears that with Rann, Ram Gopal Varma has a potential "Sarkar" formula up his sleeve.
The plot of Rann takes a dig at the media and its manipulation to present the truth to the billions in India. Focussing on the current trend to sensationalize news and bury facts underneath, Rann is a powerplay between two media barons Amitabh Bachchan and Paresh Rawal who are competitors in the news business.
After a long time, it is rumored that Amitabh Bachchan yet again associates himself as the "Angry Young Man" err..."Old Man" since his Deewar days.

Pre Movie Verdict: A good plot, a great cast....Could gross enough to become a hit!
Going by the trailers and the serious treasure trove of talent casted in the movie including Ramu's panache to tackle serious subjects with elan and ease, this movie promises to be one roller coaster and would be a treat to see the doyen of modern Indian Cinema come alive with an invigorating performance after scoring big with Paa.

Veer:
                                   

After a successful innings in Wanted and a spate of forgettable roles in Main aur Mrs.Khanna and London Dreams, destiny's problem child returns with a new installment in a new avatar and trailers that bear semblance to the epic war movies of Hollywood in recent times including Gladiator, Troy and Braveheart. Penned by the man himself, Veer is a historical epic directed by Anil Sharma,who after a successful innings in Gadar brings to us the story of a warrior named Veer who revolts the British Raj. Potentially rich in content with grand sets and replete with a reconstruction of the golden days of yore, the movie shot in the premises of the Buckingham Palace tries to portray the potential trials and tribulations of the warrior in question whose love interest is Zarine Khan.

Pre Movie Verdict: Trailers not polished...Salman as a warrior may draw laughs from the audience. Needs to try hard to make an impact....May have a mixed/poor opening !!!
Curiosity killed the cat,could potentially sum up the outcome of this movie. For starters Salman has not earned as many brownie points for playing a serious role as he has been successful in comic characterizations. His image as a playboy of hindi cinema is embedded rather deep in the psyche of audiences that would make it difficult for them to relate to his new characterization as a warrior. Given that it is a period film, a lot depends upon the strength of the dialogues and delivery-a la Mughal e Azam, Jodha Akbar. After Gadar, Anil Sharma treads the patriotism terrain hoping to strike gold again. Further, the controversy between Salman and the Veer team is already projecting a negative image about the potential run that this movie would have on the box office. Looks like a big risk... It may take more than six packs and a tub of popcorn to get through this dose on history.......Watch only if you will!!!!

Signing Off
Eashwar

Random Musings on the Movies Last Week

Have we been cheated or have we been cheated.... Shoddy scripts and unbelieveable acting made up for the on screen persona and off screen turmoils at the movies last week.A certain man named Uday Chopra who bears no resemblance to the Legendary Prem Chopra, but claims to be a scion of the Chopra family sent one billion people across India on a silent prayer and enhanced the sales of disprin in the pharmaceutical market that grew by 200%. His Pyar Impossible was an impossible piece of work that roped in a certain young dame again a Chopra but a more credible one named Priyanka who it so appears was shooting for the movie during one of her routine trips to the fashion vistas in Paris where she had to possibly collect her latest Louis Vuiton outfit. And why not, Uday Chopra has proven hs acting skills to the extent  that actresses are shying away from being paired with him. So this guy turns producer, invites this woman over to play a role and she politely refuses,citing reasons for a certain show with the Paris fashionistas. However, our man Uday Chopra is not a man to give up. he flexes his plexus and demonstrates some reflexes that amount to a humble prayer to have her in the movie devoid of any cosmetic change and just be around to save him from the wrath he brought forth Yash Chopras visage when he made the deicision to turn producer. And so it seems that the movie tried hard to upsell itself and its one time director Jugal Hansraj who hasnt lost his innocence and naivette one bit since his last memorable movie Masoom over 30 years ago . His naivette impacted him so much that he decided to find answers to his failures by getting an equally incompetent actor come over and burn some cash to redeem himself and give him the courage to portray that he is not Masoom after all. While the audience did wish to sympathize with Jugal, they did not find an opportune moment to do so, as they were busy sifting through Websters and Encylopedia Britannica to shower him with the choicest of words and then drum up some sense to refrain from entering into such a venture one more time. I guess, Yash Chopra had a premonition,  with Uday at the helm of affairs and decided the timing to be appropriate to launch not one but five serial soaps starting 1st of January. each portraying some aspect that the chopra clan wished to have been gifted with- a mind of their own, a bundle of supernatural powers, guts to sort the wheat from the chaff and find a joda for this funny character the Ali of Dhoom. Too bad the last is amongst the remotest probability. Not satisfied with the effort to salvage his name and fame and money that was washed down through the impossible efforts of Uday Chopra, and burdened by the responsibility to answer an unruly mob that was unrepentant about burning its fortunes on the idiocy of the great Pyar testimonial, Uncle Yash decided to personally help one and all harried by the experience, by offering a trip to the exotic locales in Switzerland in collaboration with SOTC to cool their heels and heads. He almost got on to say that Switzerland is a place close to his heart and he has been inspired by its beauty to shoot the innumerable movies that he did.We sure are aware of the reason behind these frequent escapades to the Swiss Alps now!!This apparently landed Sridevi with fever after her stint in Chandini and Shahrukh with a chill so much so that he was left uttering K.K.K... kIRAN for well over two years and decided it was his birthright to play a psycopath in order to avenge himself of being part of this wonderful camp. While some believed in redeeming themselves in this age and generation, there was a certain tribe that decided to carry on its diatribe over several generations. Tucked in the jungles of Vietam was this dynasty of Cholas who decided to give themselves a break by using their age old weapons to fight a bunch of policemen who were busy practicing paratrooping on the deserts of Rajasthan until among the several thousands one man, Aayirathil Oruvan, comes and tries to bash up the bad guys and has fun along the way with two women who leave him confused and have him and his battalion help find a lost treasure. Somewhere inbetween Selvaraghavan, the squint eyed director of the movie realizes midway on the flight /trek to the Vietnam jungles through the Rajasthan desert( did the Vietnam Government launch a bus service from Rajasthan recently?) that he needs to wrap up the movie. The movie drove its producers wild enough   to force Selvaraghavan to portray all that they could do to him once the movie got done. Realizing his folly our man decides to work his way up and finally ends up making a historical duel of a movie that was touted long before its release as an adventure. Unfortunately, the casting was hard to find and hence he ventured into the jungles of Congo and hired all of the Zulu tribe he could find,  at a cost that would have the Indian Railways begging for a second turnaround strategy. In desperation, the director decided to wrap up his act on the tribe and get done before the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu could issue an arrest warrant for intentionally inflicting torture and misleading young kids into adopting barbarinism as a promising career option. But then relief was just around the corner, only when the turmoil was almost intolerable, Robert Downey Jr, decided to set things right and identify the reasons for the irrational behaviour at the movies and beomes Sherlock Holmes who enjoys all the good things in life and yet solves a good case of mumbo jumbo leaving the viewers asking for more. But alas, it was not meant to be.A certain Ken Ghosh from Bengal decided that its important for people to understand how hard it was for him to get a break in the movies and punish people for not giving him a chance at the right time,by launching another long yarn that prided itself in calling itself Chance Pe Dance. Nothing could be more reminiscent of a slippery banana peel. Geared  to get the audience running away from the screens he gets an equally beligerent Adnan Sami who through rigorous riyaz of "Lift Karadey" lost a cool 120 kgs but retained a brain mass of 500 kgs.  Sloshed in a bottle of alcohol, Adnan decided to compose the music in a stupor that apparently lead him to consider that he was equivalent to a certain Oscar genius A.R.Rahman and got into a nasty tiff with a guy who had come with plain intentions of tolerating all that was portrayed on screen,so much so that Adnan was left off with a warning by the Police Commissioner for having chided daddys child dearest. Clueless about the ruckus around the movie, poor boy Shahid and just out of college, Genelia  practiced hard  on their dance moves  to justify the title. Shahid developed his packs  with feverish regularity in the hope that audience would admire his looks and consider him to be a good actor, until Ken discovered through a closeup camera shot that Shahid did not have 6 but 8 packs.Shahid overjoyed to the hilt decided to go the Salman khan way and make his 8 packs the focus of a movie that left the audience asking for an icepack. Phew!!! I guess I am going to need some icepacks and generous doses of aspirin, as well  after consuming all the movie junk that came along my way last week. Mummy dear once said long ago...beta sweater pehno aur kam khao else you will need Hajmola...i wish i had heeded
Signing Off.....
Eashwar

Aayirathil Oruvan- a new direction in Tamil adventure genre

Tamil Cinema has been ridden by template driven forms of story telling and on that note there have been few notable successes in the adventure fantasy genre. Aayirathil Oruvan by Selvaraghavan comes as a whiff of fresh air that signifies the coming of age of Tamil cinema.The plot of Ayirathil Oruvan is not straightforward and that is what makes this film of 200 minutes duration an immensely watchable film. Tracing its beginnings to the history of Tamil culture, the story weaves itself into the present day and transports the viewer to a "future" that is but a continuum of fantasy,history and adventure all rolled into one delicious treat. The story of Ayirathil Oruvan revolves around three central characters-Muthu, Anitha and Lavanya played with conviction by Karthi, Reema Sen and Andrea Jeremiah.Anitha , a cop, calls upon Lavanya  an archeologist to help find her father, played by Prathap Pothen who has been missing in the jungles of Vietnam since he ventured to identify the hidden treasures of the Chola dynasty.Muthu is the leader of a labourer group that is hired by the police force in the pretext of  unearthing the chola treasure. Thus follows an exciting journey to trace the treasure and reach to Lavanyas father that treats the viewer to a series of situations that range from pure magic to breathtaking moments that finally culminate towards a peek in the historical reality of the Chola dynasty whose last remnant populations is safely tucked away in isolation.
The premise holds the attention of the viewer until the point wherein the father of  Lavanya is found. Thereafter, the focus of the movie shifts gears towards  historical fiction. The focus on the barbaric ways of the Chola subsect whose king,played by Parthiban is portrayed as a menacing nymphomaniac and a contradictory well wisher of people and the transformation of Anitha and her team of officers who trace their lineage to the Pandya dynasty make for some interesting twists and turns. For the first time since joining the Tamil film industry, Reema Sen demonstrates maturity in her acting that is albiet evolving. Karthi plays the role of the labourer convincingly and offers a comic relief even in the most serious moments.Here is one actor who effortlessly slips into the local lingo as much as he empathizes with the Tamil subsect that he subconciously begins to identify himself with during the course of the story. Andrea, on the contrary does not have much to offer, thanks to a weak characterization and is relegated to a historian lost in the thoughts of her father.  However,despite the grandeur and picturization of what could have become a classic ... the prospects are marred by lengthy narratives and abrupt endings topped by songs that really dont seem to fit into the movie except for the remix version of the MGR hit Adho andha paravai...that makes for some fun viewing.
Selvaraghavan has made a sincire attempt to break new ground in tamil adventure cinema and steered away from cliches to the maximum. However, the effort tapers along somehwere with the script meandering through varied subplots that towards the end could lead the audience confused unless the intended community has attended lessons in history at some point during its lifetime.
Further, the inane usage of graphics makes one consider exploring how the movie could have been made realistic enough to leave the audience beaming with admiration for a movie that has come from a man who has given us classics in 7/G Rainbow Colony and Kaadhal Konden.
In reminiscence the movie scores a 3 on 5 for its honest and fresh attempt in story telling and having people glued to what could become commonplace in Tamil cinema in the years to come. Selvaraghavan, take a bow !!

PYAR IMPOSSIBLE IS PYAR INTOLERABLE

Finally, caught up with the much hyped movie that I told you folks about last week..Pyar Impossible. The Hindi movie industry has often stood by senseless cliches most of which we have lapped up without complaining as we grew up and some others we have cringed over.However, times have changed considerably.There are movies that we cringe over and reconcile and then there are those that make us unforgiving. Pyar impossible falls in latter category.Just a little over two and a half hours... this movie tries hard to sell the idea of a geek falling in love with a babe assidiously, so much so that by the end of the movie a dose of disprin is an absolute necessity.
While the trailers seem to give the idea of a college romcom, the reality is something you feel would have ideally suited a movie genre of the 80s. Simply put, Abhay(Uday Chopra) is a geek  in an American University who spends his time filling assignments and trying to get the attention of Alisha , a student in the same university, played by a scorchingly hot Priyanka Chopra. Sensing and misinterpreting situations, Abhay ditches his love for Alisha.Cut to seven years later, Abhay is a software junkie in India trying his way to eke out a living by pitching his software to any investor who can see the worth of its salt.Somewhere down the line,the character is cheated by a certain Dino Morea who apparently plays an extended guest appearence in the movie.Till so far things are alright,until a comedy of errors lands the protagonist as a nanny to Alisha's kid. Alisha plays a single divorced mother who works for a software corporation, that apparently is cutting a deal to get Abhays stolen software. The movie tries to oscillate between Abhay's true purpose and his romantic inclinations and gets lost somewhere along the way. The nanny cum chef gains the confidence of Alisha who is still unaware of early rendevousz with Abhay and so is Abhay who continues to act stupid and try hard silently. The first half of the movie just goes about dragging its way until the interval until Abhay decides he is going to be man enough to call a spade a spade rather running to Daddy dear played by Anupam Kher who has been wasted and made to look comic with a goofy hairdo.Cmon,Jugal, I think its high time you started respecting your elders who are schools of acting.They dont need a stupid wig to play a convincing and doting father.Check out Wake Up Sid and you will know what I mean. Through the first half, we are left wondering, where the movie is dragging itself. Comparitively, the second half of the movie has some "eureka" moments like when Abhay works his way up getting to his software but they are few and far in between. The movie tries to rush itself to get to the point and the plot is replete with inane and ridiculuous moments like resorting to a song and dance routine to make Alisha realize that Abhay is the person in love with her and  Abhay proposing to Alisha in the midst of an important phase in  a software release event that she is supposed to be coordinate or the scene where Alisha probes into Abhay as if she were playing Oprah and says 'Try me'!! How ridiculous is that. These sequences have a sense of deja vu,that neither amuse or entice the audience to stay on with the movie. 
Uday Chopra clearly needs to consider taking acting lessons and is better staying off screen rather than on screen. The personification is rather shallow and despite trying hard to get into the skin of the character, Uday fails to impress.
Priyanka Chopra, has proven herself time and again during the past, but here is a movie where she has a wafer thin characterization of her role that is not communicated with the sensibilities. Her role does not demonstrate the maturity or transition that one would have expected from being a college student to a working mother. For Heavens sake, even in the jazziest corporate firms, PR personnel are expected to dress appropriately and not in designer skirts and shorts,and flirting in front of your boss is a strict nono!! However, Priyanka Chopra tries with utmost sincirety to essay her role and almost gets us to agree with her when she braodcasts herself at the Istore to get to Abhay only to plead that she is not a princess but only a girl at the end of the day who like any other has been looking for a prince charming. You bet we have heard that before, but clearly Priyanka shows that she can emote and do it like a pro.
Despite a weak script topped with some unpalatable situations, the movie succeeds as far as the cinematography by Santhosh Thundiyil goes. This is by and large the only plus in a movie whose music has some inspired numbers and an inane song and dance routine that tries to fit itself within the flow of the story.
Too bad, the few good moments in the movie do not last and the audience is left searching for answers to a couple of questions: Why was this movie made? What was the need to spend the money that was spent and lastly a silent prayer that history may never be repeated.
All said and done I go with a 1 out of 5 for this movie being generous only for the camerawork that atleast makes this sick movie look chic.

Signing off
Eashwar

Movies To Check Out This Weekend

Since the last time...I would think that the movie season for 2010 is just ushering itself in......An average lineup is expected to come to a theater near you this weekend movies,with a couple them sure to spike up your adrenaline levels .Heres a peak of the marquee over this weekend
PYAR IMPOSSIBLE : A Yash Raj Films Production that sees Uday Chopra turn producer and actor with this flick and Jugal Hansraj, the Maasoom guy turn director.The story revolves around a geeky nerd played by Uday Chopra who is head over heels on a hep chick essayed byPriyanka Chopra who cares a whimper.The twists and turns that lead to this unlikely pair bring the house down on fire forms the plot.
Pre Movie Verdict: Trailers Good...Movie may just make the mark!!!
Uday Chopra hasnt really had a successful innings as a main lead ,a forgotten debacle in Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai, and has been able to carry the baggage of a sidekick with a comfort that has unfortunately not gone beyond the home productions he's been a part of (Any takers for Ali in Dhoom and Dhoom 2????) .The comic personification of the nerd could win brownie points with the audience.At the other end,it will be interesting to see how Priyanka Chopra undergoes an emotional transition from being callous to caring as the story progresses. Jugal Hansraj makes his directorial debut with this movie and hasnt had a great career graph in the acting and writing departments.Hopefully,his role as a director would help him reverse his sagging career that for some reason refuses to take off beyond the Maasoom stamp.
Yet all said and done, if this movie is to be successful, a great deal lies in a tight script. I guess to that end, the Yash Raj Brand has been marketing the film well,with the promos looking great , I bet the Alisha track by Salim- Suleiman, is going to be a crowdpuller during the first week at multiplexes!!! Giving it a watch once,wouldnt hurt I guess.....
Predicting more could be injurious to my health :)
DULHA MIL GAYA: Produced by Vivek Vaswani who last donned the hat over two decades ago for Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman the story revolves around a bunch of unrelated characters who have different views on marriage,largely ranging from cynical to head over heals. How their perceptions change through fortutious situations that bring these characters together forms the plot.
Positioned as a comedy, the star cast includes Fardeen Khan,Anushka Manchanda, Sushmita Sen , Suchitra Krishnamurthy and Vivek Vaswani in key roles and a special appearance by Shah Rukh Khan for 50 mins.

Pre Movie Verdict: Dont get misled by Shahrukhs presence in the poster.May not set the cash registers ringing at the box office!!!!
The starcast of this movie include people who really havent done much for a long time now. The plot gives a sense of deja vu ,and is aimed to make people have some good fun. Been in the making for over 2 years, this movie has Shahrukh and Sushmita featured prominently in the posters,that could lead people to think that its a Shahrukh Movie....Sorry to disappoint you guys...the baadshah is no more of an extended guest appearence.The movie hasnt been promoted well enough and it so appears that the producers are praying hard that an audience could be collected with the presence of some star power that is around everywhere except where it is actually needed...Anushka Manchanda who has sung the Alisha track in Pyar Impossible makes her acting debut through this movie. Fardeen is the key protagonist and going by past history,he hasnt had success pulling off a film solely on his merit unlike sidekick roles in movies like Masti and No Entry that were hugely successful at the box office.In all possibility this movie may have a below average run at theaters in cities but could possibly do well in the B and C centers.Hope the producers find a decent return reaching them to buy a good joda for their dulha.
Shall confirm with you guys on the last one soon :)

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY : If you are in the mood to shake yourself up and I mean literally, this is a Movie that promises to scare the wits out of you. This home made movie with no real special effects was released in the United States by Paramount Pictures in 2009 talks about a couple who experience strange happenings in their house in the middle of the night.The movie was made on a shoe string budget and clearly involves the minimalistic cinematic equipment ever used-a tripod camera an ouja board, a couple of novice actors and a house..shot with minimal lighting in the middle of the night!!!!The movie finally comes to India after being screened at the Screamfest and doing rounds across the United States.

Pre Movie Verdict: Bring on the Ouja Board and redeem your deepest fears !!!
The movie was marketed in a most interesting manner once it was released by Paramount Pitcures. Spread largely by word of mouth,this movie got screened only in theaters wherein viewers recommended its screening.It will be interesting to see how the Indian audience responds to this stuff!!!
An exciting scarefest hopefully this one :)

Random thoughs on the Movie Fare Last Week

Hey Folks!!!
Happy New Year to You.This is my first blog on movie reviews and hope that you guys enjoy the stuff inside here.
Guess the first week of New Year wasnt quite eventful on the movies front. With just two releases... an insipid Raat gayi Baat Gayi with a bunch of actors who have been more into what i would call commercial cinema posed as art cinema... this was a film that had two talented actors Rajat Kapoor and Vinay Pathak and a woman called Neha Dhupia who would have been better off basking in rajasthani dhoop canvassing Emami sunscreen lotions being utilized with respectively increasing proportions....Too bad, a high society flick trying to compete with a Three Idiots who have proved to be a bunch of genius and classy entertainers, than this sensibly insipid film
Come to think of Idiots, the team was actually going literal on the title with random victimization over and over of a character named Chetan Bhagat,who is possibly regretting having left investment banking. I once read somewhere that people looked at him strangely when he actually said that he was in discussions for a movie, How sad... bhagat has to bhugat heavily for this folly.... But I think there couldnt have been a bigger folly than this forgetful piece of moviemaking called Accident on Hill Road..... Its supposed to refer to a popular high activity road in Mumbai but looks like the director decided the audience to be a bunch of imbeciles and assumed that a shot in the hilly plains of god knows which hill station..would prove to be a good excuse for passionate cinema.Ahem.....when did continuing to drive a car with the central character jammed on the windshield become a law anywhere in the world. Seriously, the team behind this movie needs a reality check. I would offer generous dollops of sojourns to the sets of Raaz Pichle Janam Ka...or did the doctor prescribe this already..... Guess Celina Jaitely was so lost and dumbfounded by her latest intiative into "top notch acting"that she possibly thought that a past life regression therapy would help her know why the hell she hasnt been able to metamorph from being an asset of a glamdoll that has become a huge financial liability for producers,who really try to justify her presence with a statement that as usual says.."Arre Script Demand Karta Hai..."
Phew! atleast the Pichla Janam set looks enticing enough to invite producers who have lost money during the last week to catch up on some much needed rest and of course get a complimentary past life assessment by Trupti Jayin and some empathy from the host of the show..
Signing Off ....
Eashwar