Kahaani

http://calcuttatube.com/kahaani-2012-hindi-movie-starring-vidya-balan-mesmerize-audience-user-review/160727/

Delhi Belly

The adult comedy with just that much adult touch as necessary is a hilarious ride through the capital's dingiest of lanes, the poshest of hotels, the messiest of bachelor's establishments and the scummiest of the underworld enterprises! And the cause of all these - a collection of smuggled diamonds that gets replaced with a stool sample.

Well saying these I don't think it will be no short of a spoiler to elaborate the rest that takes you through a riotuous ride where the life of three young men is held between the guns of the goons, unpaid rents, cheat traders, daring journalism, the perennial water problem and a stomach that never seems to get well.

The crisp package directed by Abhinay Deo, written by Akshat Verma and produced by Amir Khan et al focusses on the concept rather than the character and thus produces a fascinating drama of fun and action. Beautifully edited by Huzefa Lokhandwala the film promises enjoyment to the fullest. Vijay Raaz (the smuggler Somayajulu), Paresh Ganatra (landlord Manish) gives their performance the realistically comic touch and the protagonists in Imran Khan (Tashi) and Kunal Roy Kapur (Nitin) backs it up with the most restrained yet professional performance but my personal favourite is Vir Das (Aroop) whose expressions of the warm-hearted and obstinate friend, the cheated and frustrated lover, the annoyed and irritated employee and the daring but comical adventurer easily calls for applause.

Sakharam Binder

http://calcuttatube.com/sakharam-binder-hindi-play-at-27th-nandikar-theater-festival/135726/

3 Idiots

I haven't yet read Chetan Bhagat's "5 Point Someone", on which the film is supposed to be based, so till that time, I give my wholehearted congratulations to the person be it the director Mr. Rajkumar Hirani or Mr. Bhagat or the screenplay writer Mr. Abhijat Joshi, who came first with this creative idea that have all the materials to infuse freshness in the minds of the young undergrads of the country whose dreams and hopes of an educated future is more than often lost in the slimy muck of a system that progressively destroys the passion of learning and instils a socio-economic fear of coming last in the unhealthy ratrace.
It is very much obvious that today, the average student either studies for an upgraded social status, a job in the US, to fulfil the hopes of attaining the much revered degree that their guardians seek, and does not give a damn to the sheer joy of learning. Infact, from early years following a child’s birth, the parents determine the path that he or she will take and forces the doomed ward, in almost all the time, to take it. Infact, our system of values are so much diluted that a passionate photographer’s career is often looked askance compared to that of a mediocre engineer. The same goes with the standard of education system that is based on certain rules and regulations that do not support unorthodox and simple approaches to a better learning.
With this introduction I’ll now delve into the rollercoaster movie ride which is based on three roommates Farhan Qureshi, Raju Rastogi and Ranchhoddas “Rancho” Shyamaldas Chanchad of Delhi's prestigious Imperial College of Engineering. Of them, while Farhan yearned for being a professional wild life photographer and Raju wanted to uplift his poverty stricken family, the witty Rancho, in contrast, apparently with a wealthy background, had a passion for machines and really wished for nothing more than learning the intricacies of technology. Rancho, while on the one hand, often pointed out the follies in today’s education system also was outspoken about the tortured mental conditions of the undergrads subjected to tremendous pressure during their four years. He, infact, demonstrated his views in one of the hilarious moments of the movie which proved that in these developing years the most avid of learners are transformed into nothing but a mechanical system bound to follow orders to carry out the same mechanical set of rules instead of doing any logical thinking and analysis. Rancho’s common sense and simple ideas often did wonders and he used to find the simplest and most effective solutions to the most complicated of problems. This easily incurred the wrath of the ICE Director, Viru Sahasrabuddhi (aka Virus to the students) who could not stand a smarter soul than himself and was an obsessed educationalist, firmly believing in the prevailing system of graduation. Social ties meant little to him and to him a child was synonymous to an engineer if he was a boy or a doctor if she was a girl. Unable to bear the attitude of Rancho, he tried to utilize every opportunity to throw the trio out of college or to orchestrate a break up in their friendship. To the latter he was partly successful when Raju, in fear of failing, relocated himself with Chatur “Silencer” Ramalingam only to be reunited soon following Rancho’s quick thinking and valiant act of saving his nearly dying father. Thus the bonding of the three friends grew more and more strong and frequently they played pranks on the local neighbourhood. In one of these comical incidents, the trio broke into a marriage party just to enjoy the good food but ultimately were shocked to find that the party was thrown by non other than Virus on the occasion of his elder daughter’s marriage. Thus Virus was again furious and the three again made a hasty retreat but not before Rancho striking off a break up between Virus’ younger daughter Pia and her fiancée Suhas whom, he proved, in that short interval, to be nothing more than a materialistic individual who is accepting Pia just for her father and their family’s prominence. Pia too was irritated at the trio’s insolence but slowly as she grew more and more acquainted with these three and Rancho in particular, she began to get attracted to the simplicity and frankness of Rancho and started understanding the problem that his education-obsessed father possessed. She saw that Rancho, being a prankster and all that, still came first in the exams though Raju and Farhan consistently held the last two positions. Though this puzzled many but Rancho himself explained the cause behind it. He stated that his passion of learning technology drove him amidst all other diversions to success and Farhan's passion of photography and Raju's tension of financial insecurity and his fear of failing held them at bay. He insisted that Farhan quit his engineering studies to make a go for his dream that is bound to bring him success and he tried to infuse confidence in the demoralised Raju so that his attitude changes in order that he may face the campus interview boards boldly. For this he also drove away one of his weaknesses and thus brought an interesting twist to the narrative.

But surprises were still in store when we find Rancho, curiously disappearing after the final day of graduation and when after years, a link to his wherabouts surfaced, Farhan and Raju were temporarily devastated to find that a completely new person bore the name and certificates of their loving friend Rancho. Thus the audience will be kept at a suspense till the extraordinary finish that I can guarantee will be more than satisfying and some will surely want to watch it twice.

The movie and every bit of it are enjoyable to the fullest extent and guarantees peals of laughter from the audience in this roller coaster fun ride that is made even enjoyable by the crispy acting of Amir Khan (Rancho?) complemented by the talents of Madhavan (Farhan) and Sharman Joshi (Raju). Hats off to them and the rest who had shredded some kilos so as to appear years younger thus adding the more realistic touch to the film. Boman Irani (Virus) again provides a classic comic performance and Kareena Kapoor (Pia) has never been better used combined with her perfect make-up. In the side roles, the newcomer Omi Vaidya (Silencer), the endearing acting of Rahul Kumar (Millimeter) and the comic touch by Javed Jaffrey (Ranchoddas) will keep you glued to the screen. If this is not enough, there is a whole bunch of numbers voiced by Shan, Shreya Ghoshal, Santanu Moitra and even Sharman Joshi had lent his voice in one of them that are equally good and go well with the mood of the movie. Santanu Moitra’s composition and Swanand Kirkire’s lyrics do justice to the film as do the able direction of Mr. Hirani and the smart screenplay of Abhijat Joshi.

But like all good things, these are also not devoid of faults and the most important of that seems to be the fact that when Rancho disappeared after graduating, his bosom buddies and his love failed to find him. Well, since the ICE director knew Ranchod’s father’s monthly income, he must have known his address too and also in these days of rapidly growing information technology, it should not take too much pain at least to locate a person. Secondly, the talented Rancho was seen in the final scenes to have taught his students to apply electrical shocks to people who pissed at the wrong places. Though it is a misbehaviour on the part of the latter but is it not that the intellectually sharp Rancho know this can lead to death? Finally, the way Pia took off from her wedding to be reunited with Rancho bears the trademark of Bollywood’s supersimplification and thus mars the finish a little bit without which the ending would have been just correct!

Daddy Cool

A hilarious piece of comedy, though a remake one but correctly acted throughout. Of all the movies that I’ve seen with him acting, this seemed to be Aftab’s best performance. Javed Jaffrey and Chunkey Pandey also acted well. Sunil Shetty, though, didn’t seem to be a right choice for the role and Ashish Choudhury also had been underutilized but Rajpal Jadav’s short but important role adds significantly to the comic.

The drama is based on Goa and all the characters have been portrayed as Christians. Steven, a resident of Goa is preparing for the final speech in honour of his father at the later’s funeral. But this seemed not to be approved even by his wife as all are expecting Brian, his brother, a famous novelist, to be the speaker. This irritates Steven as though he had always taken up the responsibility of their parents but Brian had always been held at a superior level by the relatives and friends.

In the meantime Steve’s cousin Maria was on her way with her boyfriend Michael. On the way they picked up Maria’s brother Harry, a dealer of drugs who had currently been designing a hallucinogenic drug inside Relaxo capsules. Now at Harry’s house, as Michael was increasingly panicking at the thought of confronting Maria’s father at the funeral, Maria gave him a Relaxo to lighten his nerves. But as the true character of the drug unfolded Michael started to feel its effect along the way to Steven’s.

Meanwhile, Karlos, Steven’s best friend was also on his way to the funeral accompanied by his wife, Jenny who always distrusted her husband’s fidelity. Along with them was Steven’s cynical Uncle Murphy whom age and illness has made more and more vile tongued and for no particular reason, seemed to pick on Karlos only. To make matters further worse for Karlos, one of his friends, Jim, travelling with them, joined in the ragging too. Infact worse was still to happen as a budding model Ayesha was on her way to meet her would be producer named Karlos and mistook Jenny’s husband as him. Thus the confused Karlos seemed more at risk of losing his loyalty to Jenny when a comic twist made matters straight and Ayesha’s entry seemed not so worse in reality for him.

There was another character Andrew, who claimed to Stevens to be his late father’s lover and demanded money from both the brothers threatening to expose the relation there and then.

Thus all the characters combined and the sequence of events will leave you roaring in laughter but at the same time will leave you wondering for the reason why funeral was chosen as the theme for the movie and also the justification for its name. The direction by K. Murli Mohan Rao was good though T. Surendra Reddy’s cinematography could have been much better. The music had been kept at minimum that suited the picture well.

36 China Town

An Abbas Mustan directed comedy-mystery starring Akshay Khanna, Paresh Rawal, Johny Lever, Shahid Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor in lead roles.
Akshay Khanna plays a detective inspector investigating the murder of Sonia Chang of 36 China Town, Goa. Just on the morning of the murder Mrs. Chang received a phone call from Bombay with the news that her missing son Vicky, still an infant, had been recovered by some persons who are willing to return him in favour of the Rs. 25 lakh award as declared in newpapers. Mrs. Chang readily agreed and threw a gala party celebrating the news (something quite unrealistic as no attempt was made to validate the news and the bereaved mother could not wait a day more before being re-united by her toddler son and seemed to enjoy the party not caring whether her son was really arriving by the morning). Well, all was going well till Raj and Priya, the persons who actually found Vicky reached Goa at midnight and when they entered the mansions they found the deadbody of Mrs. Chang. Moreover Raj seemed to get a glimpse of the murderer in the process. But unfortunately it was Raj who was arrested by the police and Sonia’s deadbody was found to be dumped in Priya’s bag. But as Akshay started to solve the mystery it seemed four more pesons, excluding Raj and Priya, who entered the mansions at around the time of the murder. One of them was the wife of a seasoned gambler and confirmed loser, the former developing a grudge against the owner (Mrs. Chang) of the gambling house. Another was Natwar, an out-and-out gambler who had already lost four of his five hotels in gambling and was in dire straits financially. The third was Rocky, a high-society playboy and the fourth was the wife of Natwar, angry at Sonia advancing a loan of Rs.25 lakh to Natwar with his fifth hotel held in credit.
Now it depended on Akshay to solve the crime and save Raj and Priya with several other characters like the butler and the maid, the lawyer and the manager of the gambling den and an alcoholic all seeming to crop up to baffle any theory that the police was trying to set-up.
An enjoyable movie if the super simplification at parts can be compromised and Himesh Reshamiya’s voice is endured.

Chowrasta Crossroads of Love

http://calcuttatube.com/chowrasta-crossroads-of-love-2009/1681/

8 x 10

This Nagesh Kuknoor's presenations of the Hindi thriller is based on Jai Puri, a forest ranger in Canada who is gifted with an unique supernatural power by which he can enter the photograph of a person and can describe the events through the later's eyes for 1 min after the snap had been shot. Though this he employs in helping others in trouble but a session of this supernatural manifestation leads him to a severe life-threatening crisis each time he performs. But it seems that he will need this againa and again while trying to unravel the mysterious death of his father following a photo shoot-out with a suspect list consisting of his uncle Sunder, a longtime family friend and lawyer Anil and his friend Adit. In this he is assisted by the eccentric police detective Habibullah Pasha aka Happi who also points out that apparently Jai's mother benefitted the most monetarily following the death. So a confused Jai tries to solve the mystery with the most vital source of information being the only 8 x 10 photo taken moments before his father's death. Jai confides his ability to Sheila, his steady girlfriend but she seems to think that Jai's supernatural power is only the product of his confused mind and this seems to affect their relations too. Soon Sunder is found hanged in his house and a murder attempt is made on Jai and Sheila. This makes him more determined to solve the mystery and unravel the enigma that threatens to culminate in a dangerous showdown.
The concept is good, music limited, but the intensity curiously seems to be lacking is vigour near the final phases. Best acting seems to come from Javed Jaffri while Akshay Kumar gives a it-could-hav-been-e'en-better performance. Girish Karnad makes a pleasant comeback after all these years and Sharmila Tagore is ever so graceful with her expressions. Ayesha Takia and Anant Mahadevan brings up the rear. Overall this is a nice wathc and the picturesque locations adds to the beauty of the sets. Also mention must be made of the stunts that is quite breathtaking at places.

Dhoondte Reh Jaoge

A light hindi comedy directed by Umesh Shukla and Ronnie Screwwala is a pleasant watch though it doesn't leave a lasting impact. The story is weak and the presentation quite shallow but the absence of malice makes it entertaining. Paresh Rawal and Johny Lever shines as usual but Sonu Sood in his quadruple role is quite ordinary and Soha Ali Khan and Kunal Khemu were underutilized.
There are mainly two characters around whom the plot revolves. The first is a hindi film director, Raj Chopra, who though remains down in debts but maintains a polished appearance by his smart innovative techniques which he also employs to evade his creditors. The second is the idealistic chartered accountant Anand Pawar who starts his life by shunning any short-cut way of earning money but finds himself kicked out of his company as a result. There is also his ladylove, Neha, a drama artist cherishes her dream of making it to the silver screen. Now, both Raj & Anand seem to have one thing in common and that is they both are short of cash. So though, they can't see eye to eye in any matter yet destiny forces them to join hands in hatching a plot that apparently ensures a 100cr profit for the two. The plan was to produce a film of 5cr and taking the same amount from each of the 21 financers, each being oblivious to the other's contribution. As it is meant to be a flop and thus a 0 profit movie, the financers won't bother for their share. To carry out their plan they employ the worst script writer Ashraf Pervez on a payment of Rs1000 and the superconfident filmstar Aryan who in turn urges the two to employ his masseur as the director. This done, Raj insists Anand to consider Neha as the heroine as an actress of no experience is bound to worsen the movie.
So with this pack of mostly inexperienced cast and totally rot crew, the joint venture of Raj and Anand promises a grand flop. But alas, the audience seems to disagree and the film make a huge hit thus dealing a crushing blow the actual plan. Raj-Anand makes it to gaol and Neha seems to drift towards Aryan. But a happy ending awaits the viewers though most of them surely will 'dhoondte reh jaaoge' (keep searching) about the moto of the film.

Delhi-6

A Ronnie Screwala & Rakeysh (watch the spelling!) Omprakash Mehra produced movie with the later directing a fine cast of Waheeda Rehman, Om Puri, Rishi Kapoor, Prem Chopra, Atul Kulkarni, Abheshek Bacchan, Divya Dutta, K.K. Raina, Supriya Pathak supported by Sonam Kapoor (she is the heroine but couldn't manage to direct the limelight towards her), Cyrus Sahukar, Vijay Raaz, Pavan Malhotra and with a special appearance of Amitabh Bacchan.
The story starts with an ailing mother, Annapurna of an NRI in New York expressing her wish to die in her own soil. As the son vehemently refuses to return to India (possibly due to some earlier confrontation with his late father), her grandson, a young man named Roshan suggests to take the responsibility. So it was Roshan who takes his Dadee to her home in old Delhi with the pincode 110006. As soon as he sets his feet on the lanes of Delhi-6 he is introduced to several of the locals including, Ali Baig (a silent lover of Annapurna and a close friend to her late husband), feuding brothers Madangopal & Jaigopal and their families, sweet merchant Mamdoo, Gobar the simple God-fearing soul and the Sethji and others.
With time Roshan, though quite intrigued by the compromised lifestyle of each and every member of the locality, gradually warms up to the place and secretly becomes attached to Bittu, the daughter of Madangopal who has a dream of making it to the Indian Idol and winning it. In this regard she seeks the help of Suresh, the cameraman and an opportunist.
Meanwhile the media creates a hype following the sudden appearance of a miscreant monkey and names it Kala Bandar. So it was not surprising that Gobar accidentally getting a glimpse of the same creates panic in the midst of an ongoing stage performance during RamLeela. At this juncture Roshan falls prey to the corrupt local police Inspector Ranvijay as he questions the laters unjustified actions following the commotion. He is sent to jail and it was Ali who bribes the inspector to release Roshan. Roshan also comes across the local trash-collector Jalebi, the untouchable and gets to understand the social evils that still prevails in these modern times. As he gradually gets the feel of the people in and around the community, a misunderstanding caused some locals to accuse Roshan as an immoral womanizer. But inspite of feeling a cursed flavour of the Indian life, Roshan is himself surprised to find more and more atraction towards these people.
Soon Roshan gets a taste of communal violence following the trivial case of the Kala Bandar which was taken up as a religious issue by the opportunistic Hindu assembly woman and Sethji and Haji Sulaiman, an older Muslim of the locality. Each incites his/her community and soon the whole area, that lived peacefully for so many years, gets divided based on religion. In the meantime, Bittu, tired of her father's attempts to get her married and also due to her selection for the Indian Idol finals tries to elope with Suresh to Mumbai, much to the chagrin of Roshan.
So it was now upto Roshan who takes the responsiblity to prevent Bittu from escaping in the one hand and also tries to save the whole community from destroying each other.
How he did this should be left for the audience but as for myself I must say the finishing was a kind of forced type and the delightful way by which it started could not be continued till the end. As to the acting, Waheeda Rehman, Om Puri again proved their class while Abhishek was moderately good but Atul Kulkarni was fascinating and Divya Dutta also played her part well. Rishi Kapoor, Prem Chopra, Supriya Pathak were underutilized while Sonam Kapoor and Cyrus was so-so. The lady who player Rajjo Bhabi must be praised for her small role in which she portrayed her character of a middle aged Indian housewife splendidly. The idea of the movie was good, the message that it wanted to convey was fine but as a whole I'll say the storyline was very weak and the same could have been done in a much more elegant fashion.

Mausam

A Gulzar musical and directed film starring Sanjeeb Kumar and Sharmila Tagore with the melodious compositions of Madan Mohan.
Tha drama of the story unfolds from the very first scenes where an aged Dr. Amarnath Gill, holidaying in the picteresque hillstation of Darjeeling, is found to be haunted by some past memories. As the story rolls on, it reveals his past in which he, as an undergraduate, while staying at Darjeeling and preparing for the finals in Calcutta, fell in love with a locale by the name of Chanda, only daughter to a warm hearted local healer, Harihar Thapa. Dr. Gill wished to marry Chanda but situation warranted him to return to Calcutta and he promised Chanda of a quick return. But an unfortunate incident prevented that for 3 long years after which embarrassment got the better of him and kept him away from Chanda. Thus the still bachelor Dr. Gill had come back to his place of lost love after twenty years to make amends for his past folly. But here he learns that the shock had first driven Chanda to insanity and ultimately she died years after giving birth to her only daughter, Kajli. Tragedy continues as Dr. Gill encounters Kajli in a brothel and an attempt to save her future results in Kajli falling in love with him. Emotions runs high till the very end and this moving story will sure to cause a lasting impact on the viewer's mind.

Raaz - the Mystery Continues

It was a long time that I watched a Mahes Bhatt production and was the 1st movie featuring Emran Hashmi that I managed to sit through the whole 16 reels. It was a Mohit Suri directed film and though at places it bears a strong resemblance to Hollywood movies especially the 'The Omen', but as a whole the fear factor was clearly very high and Ram Gopal Verma may take a few tips for the making of a horror movie. Specially the use of sound and visual angles deserves quite a round of applause. Though the individual acting is quite ordinary but the effects used to create the horror scene seems to be a success, at least to me. The plot is also very ordinary and I felt that the finishing to be supersimplified and also the tension had been marred at places by some unwanted songs. But this only shows the skill of the director who has created suspense and thrill that makes up for the loose threads and once again a praise for the director and crew for the audio and visual effects seems obvious. As to the detail it has not been taken proper care of as in the scene where the possessed girl creates a furious storm that blows away cars seems to have no effect on the lone watcher.
The main story revolves round a model Nandita, engaged to be married to Yash, an atheist who makes a blockbuster serial fighting against superstitions. Their life was more or less smooth sailing till Nandita was confronted by Prithvi, a freelance painter, who insists her that some evil is to befall her. He tells of his visions of Nandita which he depicts through his painting that reveals some future events portraying sadness and pain in the part of the subject. At first Nandita places a deaf ear to his pleas, but some unnerving incidents and horrific experiences convinces her to the truth in Prithvi's words and she herself gets possessed by a spirit during these events. Meanwhile the movie pans through two curious suicide cases of a priest in a temple in the village of Kalindi and one David Cooper, a CEO of a pesticide firm in the same village. The suicide note, etched out in blood, by the later matches with the shouts utterred by Nandini while possessed. So a mentally distrubed Nandini, assisted by Prithvi sets for Kalindi, much to the disgust of Yash, where the mystery unfolds with some frightful incidents revealing the true identity of some characters and gives the audience some terrifying moments that can be best enjoyed in a hall.

Chandni Chawk to China

A hilarious 2.5hr of comedy show featuring Akshay Kumar, Deepika Padukone, Mithunda, Gordon Liu, Ranvir Shorey and Roger Yuan.

The story opens narrating the exploits of an ancient Chinese war hero Liu Sheng, who laid down his life on the great walls of China defending his country from the threat of foreign evil and now being remembered as a God by the inhabitants of a Chinese village who had built up a statue in his memory. But as time passed away so did the courage of the people and evil returns in the form of the international criminal Hojo who trades mainly in smuggled diamonds and utilizes the poor villagers as cheap labour. The ruthless and vicious Hojo is also a master of the martial arts and the villagers are kept terrorized by his equally cruel henchmen. Merciless killings become the order of the day and the villagers ultimately confer to find a way out of their misery. They are guided by a monk who tells them that their saviour, the reincarnated Liu Sheng, has been born in the lanes of Delhi.

Now we pan to the crowded streets of Chandni Chowk, Delhi where Sidhu, a vegetable cutter at a roadside inn helps in running the food stall owned by his foster brother whom he calls Dada. Sidhu, in his idle hours, tries his luck with astrologers and lotteries and refuses to have faith in himself despite his Dada's best efforts. In his effort to get rich by shortcut he is helped by Chopstick, a fake astrologer and a slick opportunist who also knows some foreign languages.

Now two representatives from the Chinese village arrives and with the help of Chopstick they succeds in convincing Sidhu that he is the reincarnated Liu Sheng and he is more neede in China than in India. But what Chopstick supresses is the real purpose of them seeking Sidhu's help to fight off Hojo for good.

After he manages to convince Dada, Sidhu sets off for China with Chopstick and here he meets the advertising model Shaki known as Ms. Tele Shoppers Media or Ms. TSM. TSM tricks the innocent Sidhu in moving ahead of him in queue.
As Sidhu lands in China he crosses path with Suzy aka Meow Meow, the twin sister of Sakhi who was kidnapped by Hojo during their babyhood and now is used in his illegal trade of diamond smuggling. But Sidhu, unknowing of this is puzzled and is held at awe by Suzy's martial art tactics while dealing with the security.
Now in flashback we come to know that Shaki & Suzy were born off an Indian mother and a Chinese brave police officer, Chiang who lost his memory during his encounter with Hojo and got estranged from his family in the process.
The story now straightens out with a fast pace as Sidhu gradually understands his position in a sudden encounter with Hojo. Actually Hojo had been informed of his visit and he in turn kidnaps Dada and kills him in front of Sidhu. The enraged but helpless Sidhu is beaten up and is thrown off teh wall of China to be saved by the insane Chiang who had turned into a beggar following his last conflict with Hojo. Also he gets help from Chopstick, who gireve's at Dada's death and enlists in Hojo's army to spy on him and to help Shaki to be reunited with Suzy. Meanwhile some interesting incidents bring Chiang's memory back and he reunites with Shaki and trains Sidhu for a future face off with Hojo.
The final showdown is full of some classic fights and a pleasant ending is promised.
The whole movie, though full of treagedies and emotional moments, but has been blended with the correct amount of humour and humourous exaggerations though the songs could have been cartaile at places.
The only negative point is the signature Hindi movie's unexplained events as we find Chiang, with his memory back after 20 years, getting his post back in the police forces and also these years seem to have no effect on his biological age. This is really a pain to the eyes and mind as I can understand the other required oversimplifications but this can't be forgiven. Deepika Padukone's make up in the double role was excellent and so is her Chinese accent and also Ranvir Shorey & Mithunda's short appearances are nice. Akshyay Kumar is just fantastic while Gordon Liu excells with his villanous touch. In all a highly entertaining movie that promises an even better sequel!

Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!

A Dibakar Bannerjee directed movie starring Abhay Deol as Lucky, a super thief whose ready wit helps him not only during his burglaries but also in ousmarting his captors while being cornered. Added to this is his flamboyance and carefree attitude that helps him to win people's trust. His original style soon transforms him from a petty thief to a famous one and brings him to the brinks of his dream for a rich lifestyle. But time and again he is faced with betrayals and he has to evade getting captured again and again from the police. Though the story is a nice one but sometimes is too slow and at other times too fast and as a whole seems to lack cohesion. Paresh Rawal is on a triple role but he seems to lose his natural zeal while Archana Puran Singh is good in her opportunist type portrayal of a side character.

C Kkompany

The story of three losers and friends, one a crime reporter Akshay Kumar who is betrothed to the daughter of an underworld Don and dreams of settling in Dubai, second the retired Joshi who is considered to be a burden by his son and his family and third is Lambodar, whose height and self-esteem both seems to be the obstacle to his dream of reaching for the sky. These three hatch upon a plan to extort money from Joshi’s son, Purushottam by way of threatening him on phone in the guise of an emerging underworld gang. To enhance the effect they shoot a video in Akshay’s camcorder where Joshi acts as the hooded hostage whom Lambodar feigns to kill. They names the gang C company. This not only terrorizes Purushottam but the CD is misplaced and is telecasted over the whole country that alarms both the underworld and also the corrupt police forces. Meanwhile these three also starts to intimidate the corrupt officials and promoters by threatening phone calls and thus helps the common man who labels the gang as the Robinhood of underworld. TV shows are organized and the whole country seems divided in their opinion of the operations of this gang. The Don is also excited as one of his pubs is forced to close and so he also sets on the trail to finish off the leaders of C company. Though the climax is not so interesting but the final twist near the end is nice. As to the acting, the best part is done by Rajpal Yadav and Raima Sen is nice in her side role and never crosses her defined boundary to gain attention as the case is for several other actors of recent times. But Mithunda is not so correct in his characterization and at time overacts.

Mumbai Meri Jaan

It portrays the triumph of a city’s spirits in the face of terror. The film picks up representatives of certain classes of people, the principled corporate personnel, the professional journalist, the apparently corrupt policeman, the easy going shopkeeper and the idle supplier whose philosophy of life is challenged following the fateful day when serial bomb blasts ripped through Bombay railways and sent various emotions in the minds of the survivors and the other citizens. The film is truly based on how these five struggles to lead a normal life following the mental trauma and shock following the incident. Though the theme of the movie is based on bomb blast but the film chants the promise of life through mutual belief, courage, repentance and love of the city and the country. The chief characters are played by K.K. Menon, Paresh Rawal, Irfan Khan, Madhavan and Soha Ali Khan and I don’t any other could have done better in portraying the respective roles.

Rock On!!

Smartly directed!! Magnificently performed!! Briliantly orchestrated!!

It's the story of four friends, the lead guitarist Joe (Mascarenhas), vocalist Adi (Aditya Shroff), Rob (Nancy) with his keyboards & KD aka Killer Drummer (Kedar Zaveri) whose dream was to launch a music album of their group that they called Magik with the motto 'nobody will takeover'! But alas when opportunity came of releasing their album, first the reality bite from the music company's executives and secondly the growing ego clash between Joe & Adi broke their dream and their group in one crushing blow.

10 years went by and we find the four friends diverted to different careers. Aditya, now a married man and a workaholic, never reveals his past and his true inner self to his wife. Rob now works as a composer in the commercials, KD, the jolliest of the four, assists his father in his jewellery business. The dreamer Joe is running a store for musical instruments and his wife Debbie, is running the family business of fish trading to counter the financial crisis of the family.

But a curious turn of fate brought the four frendz face to face and it was up to them to decide whether or not Magik can be rekindled. For this Rob has to fight against his cancerous tumour, Joe & Adi must wipe out their differences, Joe must choose between Magik & his family and KD must keep the spirits high for the group.

Arjun Rampal as Joe is superb and though he has very limited dialogues but his expressions were perfect to convey the emotions of the true dreamer, I think I've never seen him acting with so much passion before. Shahana Goswami, portraying Debbie, also shows a marvelous performace and I can say for sure that we have another of the like of Konkona Sensharma coming up in her. Next to mention is Farhan Akhtar, debutant in acting, though a seasoned director and also a fine singer. His characterization of Adi was just perfect for the role. Luke Kenny (Rob) and Purab Kohli (KD) are also outstanding in their performances, the former depicting what true love to music means and the latter breathing relief to the movie. Last but not the least mention must be made of the performer in the background, the genius of Shankar Ehsan Loy whose 'Magik'al touch is the best gift of this production.

The story is simple and will touch all the deep chords in ur heart and if u've ever lost a dear frend in ur life......................hope he is also watching this movie so that one day when opportunity arrives u can use all the lessons composed by Rock On to repair the broken wires and tune up once again to the music that is being played in ur heart!

Maan Gaye Mughal-E-Azam

A situational comedy starred by a fascinating cast of Paresh Rawal, Kay Kay Menon, Rahul Bose, Mallika Sherawat, Zakeer Hussain, Tanaz Currim and Pawan Malhotra about how a drama company going by the name of Kalakar Natak Company saves a city from bomb blasts under the supervision of a RAW Agent, Arjun Rastogi.
The story revolves around the central plot of preventing a severe bomb blast masterminded by an underworld Don operating from Dubai. As RAW gets the information they starts immediate action but a blow to them comes when they discover that the agent appointed for the case is actually a double agent and is helping the terrorists. Then it is upto Arjun who uses the members of Kalakar Natak Company to help him protect the city.
Paresh Rawal is fascinating in his role as Udayshankar Mazumdar, the lead actor and a timid person in heart who rises to the occassion to take responsibility at the risk of his life to save his country. Kay Kay Mennos is also wonderful in his role of a gazal singer cum double agent and though his appearance is brief but he too breathes life to the movie. Mention must be made of Tanaz Currim who, with her distinct dialect, adds a special attraction. Pawan Malhotra is also nice, playing the part of a local goon and playing it correctly while Zakeer Hussain also plays his brief part succinctly. Mallika & Rahul, they are good, but it could have been better still!

Hijack

A hollywood style action packed drama reminding of 'Executive Decision' during the early parts and starring Shainey Ahuja and Esha Deol.

The story starts with the news that a terrorist group under the guidance of the mysterious Abdullah is will be trying to recover Rashid, another con man who had been captured by the police earlier. For this the terrorists stage a skyjack and in the process holds several people as hostages and starts killing them one by one as time passes without the Govt. avoiding their demands. Among the hostages was the little Priya, the daughter of Vikram Madan, the ex-pilot, now a demoted chief of maintenance, who had eralier lost his wife in another air-hijacking. Coincidentally the hijacked plane lands in the port where Vikram was currently stationed and thus began Vikram's ploy of rescuing his daughter and ensuring safety of the other passengers. In this, he is assisted by Saira, the air-hostess and together they carry out their plan to save the passengers and Priya.

The movie contains a good twist near its end and the first half is really quite exciting but the end is abrupt and oversimplified during certain sequences. Also it contains certain unnecessary songs that dilutes the main flow of the movie.

Via Darjeeling

A new concept, an unique last scene, 'down-to-the-audience' (coined the phrase to drive the meaning home) acting, these are the phrases I will choose to describe the classic. Added to this are the excellent acting of Vinay Pathak and Kay Kay Mennon! What more can you ask for?
The story starts with a police inspector, Robin, earlier posted at Darjeeling, now at Calcutta narratting one of his very curious experiences in Darjeeling at a gathering of friends. It was about a couple on their honeymoon at Darjeeling where the husband suddenly vanishes from their hotel room hours before he was to board the return train with his wife. The wife, who was at the bathroom, at the time of the dissapearance, consults with the hotel manager and calls the police and it was Robin who was given the charge to find the missing man. But Robin, after interrogations and investigations failed to find any trace of the husband.
The story serves as the prelude to the drama in which each of the friends in the gathering tries to find an answer to the mysterious dissapearance and though some of them go astray in their explanations, others manage some logical conjectures.
There is apparently no real climax in the story but the novel concept will keep the audience glued to the seat and the audience may identify their thoughts with that of the characters.
So I again say that those who like to experiment with their imaginations can enjoy the story as it not only is an excellent watch but also provides food for the brain.