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