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