PK is a poor blend of Koi Mil Gaya and Oh My God

PK starts off showing a UFO landing in a desert in Rajasthan and an alien (Aamir) emerging from it wearing a colourful locket. Aamir gets lured by a local Rajasthani, listening to music from his radio set, who manages to flee with Aamir's locket leaving behind the radio set. As Aamir tries to trace the thief, he bumps into Sanjay Dutt (another localite), who mistakes his lack of communication skills for a memory loss. Apparently, the aliens can learn communication skills from the other person by touching and holding their hands for some time. When Aamir tries to hold Sanjay's hands, he mistakes it for a sexual advance and takes him to a brothel where he comes in contact with a Bhojpuri speaking female, from whom he picks up the Bhojpuri dialect.  Indeed surprising that Aamir picks up core Bhojpuri dialect rather than Marwari from a place in Rajasthan!!!!

Aamir heads to Delhi in search of the thief and lands up at a temple, where he is caught stealing money from donation box of a temple. He is saved by Jagat Janani (Anushka), a journalist working with a news channel, whose father is a staunch supporter of godmen and who has returned from a failed love affair with a Pakistani in Belgium.

Thereon, the film veers off in a different direction. It questions faith in God over practicality, blind faith in godmen and in what they say, blind faith in astrology. While it attempts to remain neutral to different religions, bulk of the screen time goes to Hinduism with only small mentions of other religions. Having witnessed Oh My God, the theme has lost its novelty factor and hence, fails to wow audiences as much as a 3 Idiots did.

While the intentions of the director and the actor may not have been otherwise, the movie perhaps goes the wrong route by stereotyping those following religious practices as doing so out of fear and in its core depiction of Hindu religious practices.

In terms of acting, Aamir does a great job as an alien. His facial expressions and dialogues are funny. Perhaps Bhojpuri language is a misfit. Anushka looks weird in a wig and in her outfits.

Individually, KMG and OMG would have been better choices, Watch it for Aamir and his facial expressions. Accept the message that the movie delivers on godmen while inadvertently rejecting its subtle religious biases. Three stars to this movie.

Bhopal - Prayer for Rain recreates events that led to the mishap

Bhopal - Prayer for Rain is a must watch for anyone, who has not lived and read the newspapers in 1984. The youth of today, was not born or were children when this mishap occurred and this movie recreated the events as it happened from an independent journalist and critic's point of view.

This movie points out various chilling facts:

- A rickshaw puller gets a job as a labourer in the plant and is later promoted to operate machinery in the plant despite lack of sufficient training to do so.

- The corrupt government allowed a hazardous plant to operate in an area surrounded by slums because closure of the plant would have meant massive job loss leading to loss of votes

- The plant is running at a loss because of low demand for pesticides and Indian management disregards safety procedures to reduce cost overheads such as air-conditioning and even safety warnings by their own employees. Even a safety siren in the plant is sabotaged by an official, which could have saved hundreds of lives.

- MIC, a key chemical  used in pesticide production when mixed with water becomes a poisonous cyanide, which leads to death. Prior to the tragedy, a worker had died of cyanide poisoning, however, factory management attributed it to the worker's irresponsible behaviour rather than the danger posed by the chemicals.

The movie portrays these beautifully through the eyes of a local rickshaw puller, Dilip, played by Rajpal Yadav. Interesting is the scene wherein his daughter is getting married on the day of the leak and there is a sense of disbelief among the motley crowd in the news that there has been a gas leak as Rajpal asks them to continue with the dinner feast.

What is missing are the events that happened post this gas leak - the ensuing legal battles and the impact left behind that has now transgressed a full generation.

A must watch. Four stars to the movie.

Badlapur Boys is a poorly executed touching story

A man immolates himself for the sake of getting an irrigation canal to his village - a project that would benefit everyone village Badlapur. Despite his death, the mission remains unaccomplished and he is branded as a "mental". Years later, his son Vijay has grown up and works as a domestic help with a landlord. Vijay is very much interested in kabaddi, but his landlord has prevented him from taking part in kabaddi, after a negligence in work. The landlord has an elderly mother, who has a soft corner for Vijay

The village has a local kabaddi team of which Vijay is a non-participating member. The team participates in inter-village kabaddi matches and ends up on the losing side. One fine day, at a village mela, they get to meet former national kabaddi captain (Annu Kapoor), who is impressed by them.

The team heads to Allahabad to partcipate in the national kabaddi championship only to find out that the 32 competing teams have already been selected. One of the teams is unable to make it to the tournament and this provides them with a chance to participate in the event. With Annu Kapoor's help, they make it to the finals.

In the semi-final, Vijay receives a death blow as a result of which one of his ribs is broken. Doctors warn that he can't fall on his left side, which would lead to the broken rib penetrating his heart. Despite the warning, he plays the game to make use of the opportunity to convey the message of water crisis in his village to the Chief Minister, who was to attend the final match and to redeem his father's lost reputation.

Two and a half stars to the movie. Poorly executed, but touching.

Lingaa delivers the much expected Rajni-tics

Like many popular Tamil movies, Lingaa is yet another movie with a social angle. The trend of patronizing movies, wherein the lead sacrifices something for the sake of the society continues. In this case, the lead of the movie is none other than Rajnikanth.

Rajnikanth (Lingaa) is the grandson of Raja Lingeswaran, who didn't leave a stone unturned for the sake of building a dam for the people of Solaiyur in Madurai district of Tamil Nadu. Not only did he resign from his job as a collector under the British Raj, but he mobilized resources including all his personal wealth, expertise as a civil engineer, disbanded social caste unrest to achieve the objective and this made him immensely popular among the locals. Not everything was smooth, however, as the British worked to conspire against his plans. Back in the 21st century, his grandson faces a similar task of saving the town from the evil plans of a local MP.

Rajni, well into his 60s now, looks at least a couple of decades younger. Sonakshi looks comfortable in her role as a 1939 saree clad Tamil female. Santhanam is funny as usual.

Walk into a Rajni movie and you are bound to see some action. What with Rajni flying off bikes off a cliff onto a hot air balloon and kicking a bomb to deflect its course - this movie has its share of Rajni-tics. All said and done, this makes for a decent entertainment on a chilly weekend in Delhi. Enjoy this movie with your cup of coffee. Three stars to this movie.

Action Jackson has nothing new to offer

There's nothing new in Action Jackson - a Bangkok based gangster (Anandaraj), a gangster made to turn into a good guy buy his love (Ajay Devgn), a revenge story, action sequences. One would expect something different from Ajay Devgn movies, but with Singham Returns and now Action JAckson, that no longer seems to be the case. Bangkok has once again been stereotyped as the typical safehaven for gangsters.

Sonakshi has lost some weight and looks much thinner. Ajay is good as far as the action sequences are concerned. Both she and Yami have been overshadowed by newbie Manasvi Mamgai. Once the first hour is gone, which has some good entertainment, the movie drags for the rest of the two-and-a-half-hours. Prabhudeva has put in all efforts to make Devgn dance to his tunes, but we all know that Devgn is a horrible dancer.

Two stars to this movie.

Zid has an unpredictable climax

A journalist (Ronnie)  goes to Goa basis his boss' suggestion and stays in an outhouse owned by a pretty lady (Mannara), who has a crocodile as a pet. Things are fine until their Scorpio meets an accident with a young lady on a scooty while on the way back from a party. Wary of police investigation, they escape the scene in what the media terms it a hit-and-run case. Also, that young lady turns out to be his ex-girlfriend's step sister. It turns out that Ronnie's ex-girlfriend Priya (Shraddha Das) was also in Goa on the day her step sister died.

From thereon, it's a sequence of investigations as the mystery unfolds along with an unpredictable climax. Performances are nothing great and Mannara looks overweight. Those,who are stepping into the theatre for some erotic performances are in for some disappointment.

Two stars to this movie. Makes for a good timepass.

Concept of Ungli is done to death

Ungli comes at a time when one has had enough of anti-corruption drives. With a slur of movies releasing in the last couple of years including Satyagraha, Fugly, Manjunath, Bhootnath, Singham Returns et al, and with a stable non-corrupt government at the centre, one has had enough of "anti-corruption".

And this movie sings the same tune - it's about a gang of friends (Kangana, Angad Bedi and Randeep), who are sick and tired of the corrupt system and want to mend things their own way. Emraan Hashmi plays the cop, who is given the job of tracking down this gang, but ends up joining them and Sanjay Dutt plays the supercop, who wants to track down the gang at all cost.

Music of the movie and the performances are good, but the sheer concept makes this a dull watch.The climax is also very dull and predictable.

Two stars to this movie.

Happy Ending - 1st half is a good comedy, 2nd half is a bore

Happy Ending starts off as a light hearted entertainer with some good comedy. However, it becomes a drag as it enters the second half and is a yawn thereafter. Combination of Ranvir Shorey, Saif, Kalki and Govinda works well to add spice in the first half. The romance between Saif and Ileana in the second half is a big bore. The movie would have done well sticking to one genre - either being a good comedy or being a mushy mushy romance.

Govinda looks much better than in Kill Dil.. Saif looks good in both avatars - his original self and his long haired inner consciousness. Ileana looks sexy, but doesn't look half as good as a writer. Music is average and fits the context.

Worth a watch if you are bored. Two and a half stars to the movie.

Kill Dil is terribly boring

The concept of two gangster friends in Kill Dil has been done to death in many movies in the recent past - Bullet Raja, Desi Kattey and Gunday are the movies, which come to my mind. That makes the movie a drag at the very start. The story itself lacks spine and one switches off right at the beginning.

Govinda is still in the 90s mode and one can't figure out whether he is enacting a serious role as a villain or intentionally bringing comedy into his character. Either ways, he is making a fool out of himself. Ranveer looks boyish in his new looks minus his long hair, beard and moustache and this doesn't suit his tough boy image. His looks brings back memories of his role in Ladies versus Ricky Bahl. Parineeti looks fat in this movie. Indian attire in Daawat-e-Ishq suits her and she doesn't look half as good in her Western attire. The only actor, who lends some credibility to his role is Ali Zafar, playing the role of Tutu (Dev's co-gangster).

The saving grace is the music - the movie has some awesome tracks by Arijit Singh, Adnan Sami, Shankar Mahadevan, Sonu Nigam and Sidharth Mahadevan.

One and a half stars to the movie. Watch it just for the music.

The Shaukeens is pathetic

Three old men from Delhi (shaukeens) - set off on a trip to Mauritius to fulfill their desires and land up at Ahana's (Lisa Haydon) house. What follows is a stupid non-sensical sequence of events that will make you bang your head again and again.

Indeed there are some really funny moments in the film - some of the unique fashion collections of Ahana and the way she gifts it to Akshay Kumar, the sequences involving Akshay and the Bengali director, the start of the movie wherein the oldies announce to their families that they are headed to Bangkok and the scene showing one of the oldies in his purple underwear as he did not bring his swim suit to Mauritius

Music in the movie is very disturbing and pops up whenever you don't want it to. Lisa Haydon looks sexy in the movie, but there is nothing to mention on her acting skills.

Two stars to this movie. Watch this only if you don't have anything better to do.

Rang Rasiya is a very engaging biopic of Raja Ravi Varma

The third biopic to be released after Bhaag Milkha Bhaag and Mary Kom, this one - the story of a artist from Kilimanoor in Kerala, Raja Ravi Varma, beautifully captured by Ketan Mehta.

A treat to watch his story, as most of us are unaware of his background. Many of us are unaware that the pictures of the various Hindu gods that don our prayer rooms, he very faces that come to our minds, the picturization of our epics Ramayana and Mahabharata was the creative output of Raja Ravi Varma. And this lands him in trouble as the self assumed Godmen engulf him into a legal battle over denigration of Hindu culture and try to curb artistic freedom of expression.

The film also delves into his personal life right from his childhood, how he got the title of "Raja", how his relation with his wife gets complicated in his pursuit of his artistic passion, his contribution to breaking religious barriers of caste, his indulgence into Indian culture basis his commitment to the Maharaja of Vadodara and how it leads him to give a face to the epics Ramayana and Mahabharata. Not to forget, the film also captures his contribution to motion pictures in India by facilitating Dadasaheb Phalke to pursue his passion.

Sugandha (Nandana Sen) is his inspiration and the face of the various paintings including those of Goddess Saraswati and Goddess Lakshmi. Ravi Varma's complex relationship with Sugandha has also been captured well in the film.  Things turn worse when Ravi Varma makes his paintings commercial by setting up a printing press in partnership with a businessman (Paresh Rawal). The vandalization of the printing press by the goons of the Godmen and the ensuing legal battle, which also entangles Sugandha forms the rest of the story.

Randeep Hooda has put his heart into the role and it clearly shows in his performances. He is ideal in his portrayal of Raja Ravi Varma in a 19th century world. Nandana Sen has also done a great job in the movie, has an equally important role as Randeep.

A must watch. Four and a half stars to the movie.

ROAR is a unique visual experience

ROAR is a must watch for its amazing picturization of the topography of Sunderbans - the dense forests, the muddy river Ganga flowing as a canal through the forests, boat moving through the canal, the marshes, tigers swimming in the canal, alligators, jungle snakes and flying snakes.

There are many nerve wracking moments in the movie - the scene where a newly wed groom has his body covered with honeybees and the bride has to put her hands through the bees to take the garland from the groom, the scene where you see hundreds of forest snakes creeping out of nowhere (and even flying) and killing a person, the scene where you see a well built muscleman fighting two tigers, the scene wherein a tiger swims out of a canal and attacks a boat. The impact is such that even an avid traveller would start thinking twice before setting off on the next trip to Sunderbans.

All in all - the cast is new and their acting is raw, but the visual effects combined with effective filming of the topography makes the movie comparable with any great Hollywood movie.

An amazing movie and a must watch. Four stars to the movie.

Concept of Super Nani is outdated

Super Nani is a story of a hard working housewife (Rekha), who takes complete care of her family,but doesn't get back the same amount of respect in return. How she is treated with disrespect by her children, her daughter-in-law and even by her own husband (Randhir) forms the crux of the movie. Then comes a saviour - her grandson (Sharman) and he helps revive her career.

The movie is extremely preachy and the concept is very reminiscent of Baghban with an emotional touch. But the novelty factor that Baghban enjoyed almost a decade back no longer exists. The concept is dated.

From the title, one would expect a comedy movie, but there is barely any comedy apart from Sharman Joshi's idiotic Hindi accent and Anupam Kher's short cameos.

One and a half stars to the movie. Avoid.

Happy New Year is not that bad as an entertainer

One walks into the movie expecting it to be a commercial flick, which would lack a story and be very predictable. However, Happy New Year fares better than the conventional. Although the story line is weak and it is still a no-brainer, the plot keeps you engrossed.

The first 50 minutes introduces you to the various characters in the movie. This is followed by a musical drama during the middle hour and 20 minutes, wherein you will find a song popping up every 5-10 minutes. The last 40-45 minutes is the plot of the movie and this is the portion, which keeps you on the edge of your seats.

The comedy in the movie is introduced through the characters, whether it is the dialogues of Charlie (SRK), the absurd English accent of a very Marathi Mohini (Deepika Padukone) or partly deaf Jagmohan (Sonu Sood), who won't tolerate a word against his mom or a street side alcoholic Nandu (Abhishek Bachchan), who can vomit anywhere, or a man, who can develop fits for exactly 30 seconds (Boman Irani) and a young lad (Vivaan Shah), whose looks itself is funny. Although all this seems very force fitted, the comedy is not all that bad and they manage to carry through,

SRK looks old in the movie while Deepika carries forward her stereotypical "dumb blonde" persona. Sonu Sood's transition from a serious actor to a comical role looks stupid, Abhishek Bachchan is a talent wasted in this movie - he does well whatever little role he had to offer. Boman is as usual at his best with his acting and dialogues. Vivaan Shah barely has any role in the movie.

Three stars to the movie. 

Kaththi leaves you with a message

Vijay starrer Kaththi is a true audeience entertainer and leaves a message in the end for the audience to ponder. The movie is all about the fight between villagers led by a social activist and unethical practices of corporate multinationals over acquisition of land apparently rendered unfit for farming and the villagers, however proven to be fir for agricultural purposes by a hydrologist.

While the film does tend to get preachy at times with its messaging, the director has ensured that it doesn't go over-the-top. The action sequences in the movie are a visual treat and a review is incomplete without mentioning the sound effects of the movie. Also, second half of the movie is dragged and could have been cut by 15-20 minutes.

Music composition by Anirudh is good and pleasing to the ears. Vijay looks superb in the movie and has executed his role perfectly. Sathish has done a good job in a supporting role to Vijay. Neil Nitin has also blended well in his role as a corporate villain. Samantha's acting is the only drawback in the movie. She looks overweight and acting appears very raw and childish.

Three stars to the movie. A good entertainer and one time watch.

Sonali Cable is about individual grit versus corporate muscle

Imagine this! A lady, who runs a broadband internet service, goes to the extent of jumping on roofs and laying broadband wires to ensure seamless connectivity to her 3000 odd customers. Her customer base, threatened by a corporate giant led by Anupam Kher, who wants to control the entire customer base of Mumbai.

What more! She has only a 40% stake in the company. The remaining 60% is held by a local lady politician, who wants her US returned son Raghu (Ali Fazal) to take control of the affairs of the company. Raghu is apparently a childhood friend of Sonali. And the twist in the tale - Sonali and Raghu are in love and his mother likes it the least.

The movie showcases the battle between Sonali and Shining. Shining resorts to all kinds of tactics - saam, daam, dand, bhed to force Sonali into submission. Sonali responds with her dose of violence, mud slinging, cheap tricks - to defend her business.

While the concept may appear childish, it is an interesting one to watch if you don't have anything better to do. Anupam Kher has a limited screen-time in the movie . Wonder why he is choosing such roles. ll about the Two and a half stars to the movie.

Jigariyaa is a colourful small town love story

Set in Agra and Mathura, the film is beautiful in its depiction of life in a small town, the personal relationships that transgress generations and the caste equations that prevail in small town India. Full marks to the director on all these counts.

The film revolves around the love story between Shaamu (Harshvardhan Deo), the son of a halwaai and Radha (Cherry Mardia), daughter of a highly reputed pandit in Agra, The romantic story between the couple faces a roadblock from the girl's family and the couple decides to abscond to Mumbai

While there is nothing new in the plot, the film is very colourful and depicts the culture of a small town India. The chemistry between father (Virendra Saxena) and son at various stages of the film has also been displayed beautifully. The portion of movie that shows the couple in Mumbai is also very realistic and well told.

Harshvardhan has put his soul into the role and has managed to bring out stellar performances. Cherry looks beautiful in the movie. The music in the movie is soothing to the ears.

Three and a half stars to the movie. Good family watch if you are one of the romantic ones.

Tamanchey leaves you feeling empty

Two criminals - Nikhil Dwivedi (Munna) and Richa Chadha (Babu) get caught in Uttarakhand. The police van they are travelling in, crashes and both of them escape unhurt. And thus, begins their love story or rather love triangle with a Haryanvi muscleman thrown in, who is madly in love with Babu. Cut to Delhi. Both Munna and Babu work with the muscleman and manage his extortion and drug business in NCR.

The movie has no meat to it and bores you with the escapades of the couple right under the nose of the muscleman. A remake of RD Burman's "Pyaar Mein Dil Pe Maar De Goli" along with a Punjabi rap in between adds some excitement, but even this seems force-fitted and can't do enough to restore the movie from its dying script.

In terms of performances, Nikhil and Richa do a fair job. Richa's Haryanvi accent is good. The muscleman is the worst of the lot and is extremely unconvincing. The climax of the movie also appears force-fitted and unconvincing and leaves you feeling empty. Surprisingly, the movie also does not justify the title "Tamanchey". One would expect gun shots, but there are not too many in the movie.

One star to this movie. Avoid.

Ekkees Toppon Ki Salaami is preachy and unbearable

Ekkees Toppon Ki Salaami is a satirical take on political corruption. It revolves around the life of Purushottam Joshi (Anupam Kher), a man who endeavours to lead a clean and honest life. He hasn't taken a single day's leave in his 37 years of career as a "jamadar" with BMC, where his job is to fumigate gutters with anti-malaria drugs. As a result of being very truthful and honest, he hasn't been able to exploit the various opportunities in life lest he paid the price of compromising his integrity.

Both his children despise him for him not being able to move up the ladder of success quickly. They have a very practical attitude to life. One of them is a staunch loyalist of the corrupt Chief Minister.

On his retirement day, Joshi is not given a relieving order and he is accused of stealing the fumigating machine, which he had brought to return on the previous day. The machine is in fact, stolen by a colleague in BMC. This causes profound grief to Joshi and with his children making fun of him, he suffers a heart attack and dies. Before dying Joshi lays down a condition that he be given 21 canon salute so that his pride is restored. Overcome with grief, their children set out to fulfill that wish.

Coincidentally, the corrupt Chief Minister also dies of heart attack on the same day and is about to be given a 21 canon salute on behalf of the state,

The storyline in the first half comes across as very childish and immature. If you thought the second half would be better, then you are mistaken!

The second half is a complete melodrama and you feel like pulling your hair. A dead man is carried on his son's shoulders - him being adorned a helmet, given a pillion ride on a bike, adorned a neck belt, spectacles and put on a wheel chair so that he appears alive. While he is away, another person takes his place as the dead man and falls asleep. Another dead man (CM) is taken off his grave so that his finger prints can be taken for transferring Swiss bank accounts.

In the end, the climax is very preachy. Music in between the story line comes across as speed breakers and is very disturbing. Anupam Kher is the saving grace of the movie as he does his role well, but God knows, why he is picking such movies devoid of a good script. Neha Dhupia, playing the role of the Chief Minister's mistress is more of a disturbance in the movie.

One and a half stars to this movie. Horrible. Avoid. 

Bang Bang is a roller coaster ride

A diamond that gets stolen, a gangster, a superhero, his girlfriend, corrupt cops, a street car chase, jumping off the window into a valley, off a bridge into a river, luxury cars, powerboats, an airplane that takes off on sea -  Bang Bang has all the ingredients of a stereotypical action movie. Add to that, the locales of Shimla, Dehradun, Prague an off beat island with lovely beaches, and the handsome Hrithik and beautiful Katrina and you are in for a visual treat.

Take out this visual treat and you are left with nothing in the movie. The script is weak to hold all these together and the climax, is reminiscent of a typical Bollywood revenge movie.

The three songs are nice, but appear force-fitted into the movie.

Undoubtedly, the movie is a commercial flick.
Watch only if you are a hardcore Hrithik or Katrina fan or are looking for a visual treat minus logic.

Two and a half stars to this movie. At least it doesn't bore you too much.

Haider is a captivating story of treachery and revenge

Words will fall short to articulate the beauty of this film. Undoubtedly, one of the best of this year from with stellar performances, cinematography and background score. It took me a second watch for me to be able to do justice to a review of this wonderful movie.

Set in Kashmir of the mid-90s, the film explores the unrest caused by missing civilians. On the one hand, the film tries to paint the army in bad light by showcasing it as being insensitive to the plight of Kashmiris and also of being overtly nationalistic and being unruly to anyone, who does not acquiesce to their pro-Indian nationalistic stance by saying "Jai Hind". The army is shown as a force that silences anyone, who aids separatist militants. One such reference and comparison to 3 Lakh displaced Kashnmiri Pandits when questioned about the 5000 missing civilians asserts the army viewpoint. Is the portrayal incorrect? Regardless of how the people from the valley feel, the hardcore nationalists will not have any objections to such portrayal of the army.

Hilaal Meer (Narendra Jha) is a doctor, who is involved in the treatment of separatist militant Eklakh Ahmed at his residence. Things do not go as planned and the news gets leaked to the army, who destroy his house and take him away to MAMA 2 detention camp as a prisoner.

Haider (Shahid Kapoor), the doctor's son returns in search of his father from Aligarh, where he had been coaxed into joining a college for higher studies by his mother (Tabu). On return, he finds his mother and his uncle (Kay Kay Menon) in a celebratory mood, days after his father had gone missing, leading him to believe whether everything was pre-planned.

The film explores the trust-deficit in the relationship between a mother and an estranged son bringing an element of eroticism in it, illegitimate romantic relationship between Kay Kay and Tabu and how it shaped up even prior to the doctor going missing and even led to it, friendly turned romantic relationship between Arshi (a journalist, played by Shraddha Kapoor) and Haider opposed by her father (a top cop in J&K Police) and brother.

The breathtaking valleys of Kashmir, snow clad mountains and empty roads running like snakes among these mountains, narrow by-lanes of the city, the lakes of Kashmir and the shikaras, the Jhelum river, the houses of Kashmir and their architecture, the trees of Kashmir devoid of leaves, the snow-covered graveyards of Kashmir - all have been captured with immense magnanimity. Irrespective of the performances, this movie is a must watch just for the rich portrayal of the unexplored landscape of Kashmir. Hats off to the cinematographer for such attention to detail.

Adding to the beauty is the background score, which is very traditional and local and connects well to with the pace of the film. The song Bismil Bismil also fits well in the context of the movie.

Performances by Shahid, who has at least five different looks in the movie, and Tabu are superb. Kay Kay and Shraddha do a fair job, and carry their roles, without many errors. Irrfan Khan as Roohdar and Kulbhushan Kharbanda as Tabu's father-in-law have cameo appearances.

Many reviews have drawn extensive comparisons with the Hamlet. But I refrain from doing so, since it will only spoil the magic that one lives through for nearly 160 minutes of the movie.

Four and a half stars to this movie. A must watch, once if not twice.

3 AM is a stupid avoidable flick

3 AM - as the name suggests - is a horror movie. Yet, it doesn't have all the ingredients of a conventional horror movie like the creaking sounds of doors. Does that take away the horror quotient of the movie? Yes. Partially. But there are other things that make the movie unbearable.

The movie opens with a few youth trespassing the gates of a Rudra Mills, a deserted compound in Mumbai and being confronted by Rannvijay, who starts telling them his experience of entering the villa with an aim of not dissuading the youngsters from entering the compound.

The protagonists of the movie - Rannvijay, Anindita, Salil and Kavin - all work for a media production house. Over time (and I don't know why these sequences are brought in the middle of a horror movie), it is revealed that Anindita and Rannvijay fall in love with each other on a company trip to Goa and get engaged. And for some strange reason, Anindita films haunted houses and her work starts after 10 pm.

One fine night Anindita decides to go to Rudra Villa for a shoot. Next morning, Rannvijay calls her only to find out from her dad that she has hung herself at the Rudra Villa.  Rannvijay decides to make a video of paranormal activities along with Salil and Kavin at the very site where he lost Anindita viz. Rudra Villa and their travails form the remainder of the movie.

The movie is slow paced and interspersed with scenes of story telling to the youth. What dilutes the horror factor is stupid jokes by Kavin. Come on man! This is not a comedy. You are supposed to generate some amount of tension in the movie. All said, the climax is also very predictable and comes as no surprise. as far as the "chill down the spine" element is concerned, there is barely any such moment in the movie. Special effects add to this factor and this movie is devoid of it.

Anindita Nayar has limited role to play in the movie. Rannvijay does a fair job. Probably, the stand out actor in the movie was the guard at the Rudra Villa, who takes the crew around the house.

One star to this movie. Avoid at all costs.

Desi Kattey is a preachy tale of good vs evil

Desi Kattey traces the story of two young boys (about 14-15 years of age), Pali and Gyani (Jay Bhanushali), who make country guns to earn their livelihood. In the process, they become expert shooters and good friends. Neither do they hesitate to shoot at their employer, who snubs them for the way they deal with customers, nor do they hesitate to fire at the local goon, whom they despise for ill-treating Pali's love-at-first-sight Guddi (played by Tia Bajpai).

The movie goes on to show the two becoming the right hand men of a criminal Judge Sahab, who also has the backing of a politician. However, despite their loyalty to the Judge Sahab, they are fraudulently put behind bars in a booth capturing case by another of Judge's men. They are bailed out by Major Sahab (Suniel Shetty), who has been following them all along appreciative of them being expert shooters.

Having been released by the Major, they go to his home, to take training in professional pistol shooting. It is at this juncture that they meet Judge again and are faced with the predicament of going the right way (with Major) or the wrong way (with Judge). The friends part ways - one going along with the Major and the other going with the Judge (who is now a minister) to become his right hand man.

The movie explores the good versus evil angle, however, the ending in the end is very predictable and preachy. The movie puts to test, the friendship between Pali and Gyani on account of their differing ideologies. While it does a fair job, there is always scope for improvement in the script by stretching the "test of friendship" angle further

Also, the reason why the Major is so keen to groom these shooters and goes out of the way in getting permissions is not ably articulated in the movie. Perhaps a dramatization of his background would have helped create that emotional connect better.

Suniel Shetty's character has not been exploited well in the movie. Jay Bhanushali, Akhil Kapur (Pali) do a great job and so does Judge and Ashutosh Rana (playing the politician). The soundtrack of the movie is good, some tracks are soothing. However, the tracks haven't been popularized by FM radio too much to have much of recall.

Two and a half stars to this movie - makes for a one time lazy watch.

Poor choice of debut for Shaan and Mika in Balwinder Singh Famous Ho Gaya

Two singers making their debut - Shaan and Mika, couldn't have chosen a worse script than this to mark their presence on screen. From the trailers and the movie promotions, one expects the movie to be a brainless comedy, and the movie lives upto that reputation.

For someone, who enjoys watching brainless comedies like Humshakals, Housefull 2 et al, it might be a good (not a great though) entertainer. The first 15 minutes (introducing Mika as Balwinder Singh Ludhianawala in Dabru, a village near Ludhiana and Shaan as Balwinder Singh Patialawala in Mumbai) is pathetic. Equally pathetic is the very predictable last 30 minute hospital sequence, a complete melodrama stereotypical of Bollywood movies of the 90s. The entire concept of Anupam Kher getting involved in an accident, a woman kidnapping his only grandson, reappearing in Mumbai 25 years later and being spotted by Kher and simultaneously getting involved in an accident and losing her memory only to regain the same in the ending sequence of the movie is reminiscent of the movies of the 90s. The saving grace is the sequence in the middle, which brings out the confusion involving people having similar names, and has a few good moments that will crack your hips.

While individually Shaan and Mika do a good job, they probably could have chosen a better script to make their debut and made their presence felt. Supporting actors Anupam Kher, Asrani, Vindu Dara Singh and Rajpal Yadav are a saving grace to the movie.

In terms of music, a couple of tracks by Mika are good, but these are misplaced in the movie - one coming abruptly in the middle and the other at the very end having no connection with the movie.

Two stars to this movie. Watch it if you don't have anything better to do.

Daawat-e-Ishq is a satirical take on a social issue

On one hand,  Daawat-e-Ishq raises the contentious issue of dowry and Sec 498 A in terms of the extent to which dowry has become a social evil and the ineffectiveness of Sec 498A in controlling it. On the other hand, it also portrays the misuse of the law by brides for the very sake of extracting alimony and lumpsum maintenance from husbands and their families.

Gullu (Parineeti) is a middle class girl staying in the Charminar area of Hyderabad. Born and brought up by her father Qadir (Anupam Kher), she is a motherless child. Her father has kept aside Rs. 15 Lakh for her marriage and his sole ambition is to "thikaane lagao" her - in his words, However, the amount seems to be inadequate to satiate the dowry demands of various grooms, who come to see her. Frustration of being rejected on grounds of dowry (even by those, with whom she had a love relationship) gets on to her head and makes her resort to unlawful conning by misusing the greed for dowry among prospective grooms,  trapping them and eventually blackmailing them for money threatening potential action vide Sec 498A.

This plan takes the father-daughter duo to Lucknow under fake identities, where they meet Haider family (Aditya Roy Kapoor), who runs a restaurant. The second half of the movie depicts a wild goose chase with a very boring, dramatic and predictable climax of a romcom.

The movie fails to fit either in the purely romcom space or in the pure comedy space or in the serious socially space. Probably the satirical and romantic angle takes the seriousness off the main topic of the movie viz. dowry harassment. The predicament of a girl at getting rejected is understood, but the movie goes overboard showing her resort to taking law in her hands.

Nevertheless, the movie makes for a light hearted entertainment, notwitshtanding the drag in the second half.

Parineeti, Aditya and Anupam have done a fair job in this movie. Music is okay with a couple of good numbers - Meri Mannat Tu and title track. The audience is left mouth watering at the mention and display of various delicacies including Hyderabadi Biryani, kebabs, kheer etc but there is no real "Daawat" for the audience.

Two and a half stars to this movie.

Khoobsurat is a feel good, sweet movie

What happens when a young physiotherapist, bubbly and cheerful, empathetic, no-nonsense girl in colourful dresses enters a palatial house, where there is adherence to rules and regulations, table manners, formal wear, an overdose of peace and quiet and a sheet of dolour, guilt and grief on everybody's faces?

The clash of two opposites is bound to create an electrifying atmosphere and that is exactly what it does in the first half of the movie. Sonam plays the physiotherapist in the movie, who has been hired by the royal family to treat the king, who has been rendered immobile on account of a car accident ten years back, caused by a sports car he had gifted to his other son, who died in the accident. What makes Sonam's job complicated is the fact that the king is in a state of guilt and refuses to be treated. And she is not the sort of person, who would accept defeat, pack her bags and leave.

The movie revolves around how she manages to bring a fresh lease of life into the family, despite facing stiff resistance from the family. Fawad Khan plays the role of Vikram, the king's other son, who is extremely curt and doesn't have time for anything other than business discussions. The build up of the relationship between the two has been covered nicely.

Sonam plays her part well, although one may say that she has probably overdone it a bit. Kirron Kher plays Sonam's stereotypical Punjabi mom. She does her role well, although here too, one feels that her stereotypical role has been overdone. And so has the Bengaliness in Sonam's father been overdone with him pronouncing his wife's name as Mawnju (Manju) and his name as Prawteek.

Fawad, Ratna (Vikram's mother) and the guy playing the concierge services in the royal family (Ramsewak) do a great job.

On account of all these, the second half feels dragged and the movie could have been made crisper by cutting its length by about 15-20 minutes. Overall the movie is a feel good, sweet movie.

Creature 3D is gripping, until the climax

Creature has borrowed immensely from the "alien" concept of the Hollywood movies, and customized it with a bit of Indian mythology and superstitious beliefs. It is a good attempt at a thriller, and retains attention of the viewer well into the second half.

The climax is where it loses the game and the director has probably stretched it a bit too much - to an extent that the climax is predictable and there is no suspense element remaining.

The movie revolves around a boutique forest resort, which is being inaugurated by Bipasha Basu, the protagonist in the movie. That the financial success of the resort is critical to her repaying the bank loans she has taken and the fact that she is a psychiatry patient with suicidal tendencies builds up the tension in the movie. The emergence of the 'CREATURE' which results in bad reputation and loss of business for her resort and her ensuing battle to destroy the CREATURE forms the rest of the script .

The movie has blended well the apathy of the system (the local police) in taking action to control the menace unleashed by the CREATURE. The police treat accounts of people with utter disbelief and dismiss the CREATURE as nothing but a lion or a leopard.

Bipasha is aided by Arjun Roy in her battle against the CREATURE. A love angle between Arjun and Bipasha looks forcibly created and Bipasha looks a tad too old in the movie for Arjun. Apparently, there is also a history to Arjun Roy and Bipasha and that is revealed in the movie, not that it is of much consequence to the sequence of events in the movie.

The climax depicting the battle with the CREATURE is over-dramatized and kills the tension that the movie had built. The movie makes for a good watch. It is a successful experiment with an extra-terrestrial "alien" concept in Bollywood and the director has done a good job.

Finding Fanny is an experiment gone wrong

The movie tries to be different from the masala Bollywood flicks and also from some of the critically acclaimed movies, but that is where it goes wrong. There is no third category of movies. Movies, typically fit into two buckets - either a brainless masala entertainer or a well thought out acclaimed one. This is neither. The plot doesn't lead anywhere. There is no conclusion, no purpose to the movie. What the director intended to do is highly questionable.

The movie takes you back to the 1980s depicting life in a Goan hamlet. Multiple characters are thrown into the movie - a young widow (Deepika) who lost her husband (died of choking on a wedding cake) on the day of her wedding, her mother-in-law (Dimple), self assumed queen of the hamlet, mother-in-law's precious cat, an old painter (Pankaj) with an eye for fat women, an old postman (Naseeruddin) who is in search of his love of yore and a young lad (Arjun), who was once in love with Deepika. And all of them come together to find the postman's long lost love.

There are those moments in the movie, which make you laugh frantically - some dialogues, scenes involving the cat, the scene in which Pankaj makes a painting of Dimple. But all said, the movie doesn't have a plot to engage you throughout. Nevertheless, music is intermittent and is soothing to the ears.

Also, making jokes out of dead cats travelling in a car and on a man shot accidentally in the head and who gets automatically thrown out of a car into a pond while the other occupants are engaged in a melodramatic conversation is not in good spirits,

Having seen the trailers and going into the movie, one would expect a full fledged comedy, but the movie disappoints on that front. Go and watch the movie if you are a hardcore fan of Deepika. Else, you might give this movie a miss.

Mary Kom is a must watch

- Lot of background work has gone into the script. Attention has been paid to a lot of intricate issues in the life of a woman athelete - personal as well as professional issues. Full marks to the script writer. Personal issues range from reservations of parents to financial difficulties to pregnancy. Professional issues highlight issues with authorities, competing with players, who resort to unfair means. A brilliant take on all that a woman from North East has to go through to succeed.

- Execution has been perfect. The use of North-Eastern accent in spoken Hindi dialogue, the use of north-eastern names etc. adds realism to the movie

- Movie also shows the locales of Imphal, Manipur - a good exposure to those unfamiliar with the north-eastern region of the country. Apart from North-East, display of scenic beauty of Himachal as a location is also rich and the cameraman undoubtedly

- Songs have been well integrated into the movie and is pleasant to the ears.

- Priyanka does a good job. By saying that, I do not intend to take any credit away from her. But the brilliance of the movie ensures that she is not the lone shining star of the movie.

- Some bit of drama has been added in the movie to enhance entertainment quotient. But that doesn't render the movie as a fiction.

- Overall, a must watch. Bang for your buck.

Raja Natwarlal is an unconvincing con story

- Story of how a petty conman Emraan Hashmi becomes tired of conning innocent aam aadmis for few pennies and decides to con a big businessman along with his accomplice not realizing that he is also a gangster

- Movie is complex and one needs to be watched with complete attention so that you don't miss out on important dialogues

- Overall the plot is unconvincing.  Too many loopholes and unanswered questions. Nevertheless,  it entertains you and there is a surprise element in the climax.

- Paresh Rawal looks old and he has not done justice to his role. Amrita doesn't have much to do in the movie except barging in in some scenes. Kay Kay as Vardha Yadav the businessman does a great job as the villain. Deepak Tijori as Emraan's accomplice also has a limited role.

- The songs in between - romance between Emraan and Amrita - dilute the seriousness of the movie and bring you to a low just when you are concentrating hard on the plot.

Mardaani is a witty thriller

- The movie raises social issues of female child trafficking.

- It is a songless crisp movie of less than 2 hours. Not a single dull moment in the movie.

- Movie is on how Rani tracks down the villain and busts the racket in search of a girl. The girl in question was an orphan in an NGO, whom Rani and her family members had supported.

- Battle of wits between the villain and Rani Mukherjee, who plays the role of a cop with crime branch. Even the exchange of dialogues between the two has been well crafted

- Excellent role play by Rani Mukherjee, who is near perfect.

- Definitely worth a watch. Highly recommended and kudos to the director for coming out with such movies.

Singham Returns is a time pass entertainer

- The movie undoubtedly entertains, but it is a typical masala movie. Storyline of Singham was perhaps better than that of Singham Returns. Towards the end, it has been stretched by about 20 minutes

- Singham Returns appears politically motivated with Maharashtra elections barely a month away

- TATA products have been advertised extensively in the movie - Kareena driving a Nano, Ajay driving a Tata SUV convertible among others

- Too much of Marathi mixed in a Hindi movie makes comprehension a bit difficult at times

- Ajay Devgn is superb, he is the only actor who can fit into such roles these days

- Kareena Kapoor looks stupid and also old. Unimaginable that she would drive an auto in the movie. Rhank God the actor was Ajay Devgn, had she been paired with a younger actor, it would have been a disaster.

- The pairing of Kareena and Ajay is force fitted in the movie

- Music is average. Even the Honey Singh song is very Marathi-ish and doesn't suit his style

- Overall, the movie makes for a time pass entertainment. Watch if you have nothing else.

Kick is a commercial flick

- Not a movie whose story one would tend to remember for a long time. This is purely commercial.

- Sallu Khan has of late started doing movies with a social message - first Jai Ho and now Kick.

- Jacqeline has very limited role in the movie. The movie revolves around Sallu with Randeep Hooda and Nawazuddin Siddiqui having a very limited role

- Not worth wasting your hard earned money and precious time.

Entertainment sucks big time

- Movie has neither logic nor is funny. Even if you try hard to laugh, you can't. Humshakals does a much better job at this.

- All sort of things can happen. A dog can save you from falling inside frozen water under thin ice. The dog itself falls and can swim back. Dogs can read books, they can save themselves from electric shocks. A dog can assemble 200 other dogs in a matter of seconds.

- Only thing good in this movie is Krishna Abhishek, whose dialogues are really funny

- Avoid this movie if you value the buck that you have earned

City Lights - the best movie of 2014

- Story of a Rajasthani couple from a village near Udaipur, who move to Mumbai to earn more money and better their lives

- One of the best movies of 2014, with a very touching storyline

- Explores the nuances of trust in a husband wife relationship and in a supervisor employee relationship

- Climax carries a touching story of selfless sacrifice

- Amazing soundtrack with Muskuraane Ki Vajah Tum Ho, Soney Do Khwab Boney Do, Darbadar Phire all being very intense

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Bewakoofiyan is a feel good movie

- Romantic story interspersed with comedy and the realities of corporate world. Movie is very realistic, memorable and has a feel good factor

- Movie brings out the fear of the worst - being laid off after you have just been promoted - the consequences you have to face when your credit cards are rejected and you need to repay your loans and at the same time, deal with frustrations and taunts by your friends and girlfriend

- Good acting by Ayusshman Khurana, Sonam Kapoor and Rishi Kapoor.

- Music is good, especially the tracks Gulcharray and Bewakoofiyan

- Movie drags towards the end, however, that said aside, it's worth a watch

Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania is timepass

- Average storyline, nothing new. The movie drags in the second half. A totally timepass movie

- Varun and Alia do a fair job, but there is nothing in the story of the movie that can help them deliver outstanding performances.

- Also unconvincing is the fact that how Varun manages to convince Alia's father that he is better than the man that the latter had chosen for Alia - a doctor from US, who was perfect in almost every respect. Just because Varun beat up a few goons doesn't make him better than the fiance.

- Music is cut-copy-paste from Punjabi music industry. Saturday Saturday and Main Tennu Samjhawan both seem force fitted in the movie

Hate Story 2 is three times poor than Hate Story

- New actors Surveen Chawla and Jay Bhanushali in the movie. Jay barely has much role to play in the movie. Makes a late entry and an early exit. Surveen does a fair job. Sushant is effective as a villain

- How the two suddenly fall in love is very questionable and is not articulated properly

- Can a politician be so very possessive about a fling and can he mobilize all state forces to go after a girl is unconvincing and unbelievable

- Revenge quotient is claimed to be three times that in Hate Story. But, truly speaking, the story of revenge in Hate Story was far better than the one shown in this movie

- Sound track with Kabhi Aayine Pe, Pink Lips and Aaj Phir Tum Pe is above average. Aaj Phir gets repeated again and again throughout the movie

- Overall the movie is average. Nothing great in the movie to talk about. Script of Hate Story was far better.

Bobby Jasoos is poorly scripted

It starts amidst high expectations with  Bobby (Vidya Balan) disguised as a Muslim clergy taking pictures of a couple and then mingling in the crowd, where she changes her disguise. The next few minutes show how a private detective agency refuses to hire her as she is not qualified to be a detective and how her own family members shun her for opting to be a detective.

All this only adds to Bobby's zeal to be a successful professional and she sets up shop as a detective along with two assistants. One fine morning, opportunity comes knocking at her doorsteps as a wealthy man in a car lands up at her shop and gives her a project.

- Film raises questions over ethics involved in detective work - should a detective take up a project without knowing the how the findings will be used or for what purpose is the project being carried out?

- Film also raises points on acceptance of unconventional career options such as jasoosi by a Muslim female in a conservative society like

- Movie does well to hold the suspense till the end
- However, the climax is weak and unconvincing
- Also, Vidya proves that she can act very well
- Poor soundtrack of the movie doesn't add much to entertainment quotient

Punjab 1984 - worth a watch

Punjab 1984 is the tale of the days of the Hindu-Sikh war in Punjab from the eyes of a family. Diljeet is the protagonist, while Kirron Kher plays his mother.

- Shows how youth in Punjab were misled by politically motivated radical Sikh forces
- Shows the animosity that they tried to create between Hindus and Sikhs
- Pays attention to detail (lifestyle of 1984 - transistors, spectacles
- Diljeet proves that he can be a quality actor
- Kirron Kher does a superb job in the film
- An eye opener to the generation, which was not born in 1984, to what happened in Punjab
- Although movie not politically motivated, it takes a stance.
- Mention of Rajiv's "tree falls and earth shakes" comment
- Music is good - sung by Diljeet himself
- Pavan Malhotra plays the effective bad cop

The Xpose is a comical thriller - first of its kind

The Xpose revolves around the murder of a Bollywood actress of the 60s and delves into her souring relationship with director, music director, competing directors, ex-boyfriends, co-actors and people with whom she has had one-night affairs.

The movie has many positives to it - a strong storyline inspired by real life incidents, a well built and paced suspense which retains audience interest till the end, good background score that goes well with the suspense and the attention to detail as the film depicts the Bollywood of the late 60s.

There are many negatives - amateur actors (including Honey Singh), an awful looking Himesh Reshammiya having a royal attitude, who makes you laugh more than he commands admiration. Perhaps the intention of the director was to put Honey Singh and Himesh in such roles that the movie ends up being a comedy thriller - a first of its kind. Also, the soundtrack is good, but the placement in the movie is very arbitrary.

Himesh makes you laugh - with his habit holding an unlit cigarette, with his over the top dialogues, with his high flying attitude of demeaning others in the movie. Him being portrayed as a policeman turned cold blooded murderer turned jailed convict turned superhero doesn't look convincing.

That said, the movie is also partly confusing - the reason behind introducing Himesh's step brother (played by Adil Hussain) and his role in the movie remains unclear. Was the character was introduced just to make a point that one can't remain without being illegal (hiding one's mistakes) when one is in love? If yes, then this is  not going to register with the audience at the end of the movie unless they decide to watch the movie for a second time. Also, who is Karnik and how does he influence the verdict of the murder case is unclear.


All in all, the movie makes for good entertainment, has a powerful storyline with a well built in suspense that is maintained till the end. Worth your buck.

Ek Villain is a watchable romantic thriller

Ek Villain is a romantic thriller that keeps you glued to your seats for most of the duration. The story is about a young boy, (played by Siddharth Malhotra) who has been hardened into a criminal by the blows that life and society have inflicted upon. Also in this movie is a psychopath (Riteish), who has turned into a serial murderer.His murder weapon - a screwdriver.
 
Excellent acting by both Siddharth Malhotra and Riteish Deshmukh. Siddharth does a great job as the revengeful young man whereas Riteish as usual is at his best in uncanny roles. Shraddha, playing the cheerful girl and Siddharth's girlfriend does a fair job.

The movie begins with two three different sequences all of which connect and start making sense later on in the middle of the movie. First - Shraddha driving a jeep missing a pothole and scolding the person responsible for it. This would seem to be non-consequential, but has immense consequences for all the chain of events in the movie. Second - a hooded man attacks Shraddha with a  screwdriver. However, when she pleads mercy stating that she is pregnant and the survival of child is important, the man throws her out of the balcony. Third - Siddharth finishing an interview, hiding his tattoos, coming out to attend a phone call from Shraddha. The relevance of all three sequences is revealed later on in the movie.

The music is soothing with popular familiar tracks like Galliyan and Banjaraa.

Where the audience starts losing interest is when Siddharth gets to know the identity of Shraddha's  murderer at the turn of the interval and the suspense over the identity of the murderer is lost. What follows is predictable to some extent and slightly boring.

Darr @ The Mall is not scary

One would expect a horror movie, but the movie has far too few spine chilling moments. The first half is definitely engaging. The suspense remains over whether there is a supernatural force or whether there is human intervention to the events occurring in the mall. The intricacies of a mall - the lifts, the parking lots, surveillance room, skating rink, dance bars, escalators, storage room, trolleys, washrooms have been captured effectively to make you think twice before visiting a deserted mall or visiting a mall at odd hours of the morning or night. That, I must say is the high point of the movie.


Apart from that, the plot second half drags in the second half with most part of it being too predictable, until the climax, wherein you realize that the movie is more of a revenge drama and a question on human conscience than a horror film.

Jimmy Shergill has done his job, but sound effects could have been better, There were no creaking doors, no alarm bells - the usual ingredients of a horror movie. These could have been added to make the second half more interesting.

The supernatural force shown in the end was unconvincing and did not seem "angry" enough to be capable enough of exacting revenge.

My tuppence - watch if you are a fan of horror movies or if you are a big fan of malls. This might make you think twice about visiting malls alone.

Humshakals - one time watch no-brainer entertainment

A word of caution - you will enjoy this only if you

1. keep your brain outside the cinema hall
2. don't use logic to question why something is happening
3. like slapstick comedy
4. don't consider jokes on animals and medical patients as unethical

This movie has everything to make you laugh - potion which turn humans into barking dogs, idiots play with medical equipment like video games (and a man coming out of coma as a result), cocaine parathas (in which atta is substituted by cocaine), vodka parathas (made with vodka in place of  water), Ram Kapoor dancing in a skirt and trying to enchant her (his) lookalik.

Not to forget - a man suffering from obsessive compulsive disorder stage 3 - who would go mad whenever someone sneezes in front of him. And a warden at the mental hospital, who loves to torment his patients.

Things go overboard in the second half - and I feel it gets stretched a bit too much with the function and all and its a forgetful comedy of errors at the end(which is not at all funny)

Worth a watch if you like no-brainer slapstick comedies like Housefull 2, Kya Supercool Hai Hum and Grand Masti. Nothing adult to the nature of comedy in the movie.

Youngistaan is more of an advertisement

When you decide to watch a movie by the name of Youngistaan, you don't have too much expectation from the movie. Without reading reviews or watching trailers, you would expect it to be a movie with a social message that talks about youth power.

The movie began on a different note with a scene in Japan showing two developers, who work at a gaming company being summoned by their boss. Apparently, a colleague of theirs (who was a beta tester) had taken credit for the game that they had developed. Even at this juncture, the expectations from the movie would be vastly different from what it actually turns out to be.

Soon, it is revealed that one of the game developers (and the protagonist Jackky Bhagnani), is the son of the Prime Minister of India, who is about to die of cancer. And post his death, Jackky is chosen by the party leaders as their next Prime Minister since no one is willing to assume responsibility (on account of a declining public perception of the party and the government)

The rest of the movie is more of an advertisement for a secular political party and its "young leader". The movie revolves around how he tackles party politics, deals with senior party leaders, eliminates dissent in the party and manages to gain the trust of young voters by declaring populist schemes for the youth and by ordering an enquiry against a very senior leader of his own political party.

Apparently, in less than three months as Prime Minister, he is also able to create systemic changes in voting - by introducing e-voting through mobile smartphones.

The movie also weaves in the finer aspects of him being in a live-in relationship over the past three years with his girlfriend, who also gets pregnant while he is in office and the news eventually leaking to the media. A supposedly conservative audience in a rural "Sitapur" from where he fights elections and wins by a record 4.5 Lakh votes does not seem to care about his personal life.

The music is average with the exception of "Suno Na Sangemarmar", which comes twice - once in the middle and once at the end.

My piece of advice - watch this as a light hearted comedy. Take your brains out while watching this movie. There is enough meat in the movie (at least in the first half) to keep you watching.Where it gets boring is in the second half, with the introduction of a serious political campaign.

F*UGLY leaves you feeling ugly

F*UGLY - the name itself promises a lot - a movie that would be different from the rest. A youth centric film - not that I am much gung-ho about them given the lackluster story in Student of the Year, Yaarian and the likes. Also, the soundtrack one had heard on radio wasn't bad.

The opening shot hinted that the movie would focus on the dark side of Delhi - one which treats women as mere objects. The shot of the self-immobilizing man at India Gate gave a hope that the movie would have a social angle to it - probably it would be youth against eve teasing in Delhi or the likes, but all these thoughts were soon to be shattered by by a poor script and raw acting.

The very next shot at the hospital with journalists interviewing the burnt man and asking him absurd questions even before he is provided medical care was height of stupidity.

The movie soon veers away from its focus on eve teasing to a dangerous game between four friends, one of whom is the son of a minister (Vijender Singh) and a tough cop (played by Jimmy Shergill), who is pissed off at Vijender for beating him up over an argument.

The entire movie revolves around how Jimmy tries to force these youth into doing whatever he wants by levelling false allegations against them to the extent that one of them is forced to self immobilize himself as the act would lend credibility to his words and generate public sympathy.

Overall, it is a thoughtless movie. Avoid if you can.