Category Archives: movie reviews

Oct 26 2011

“Ra.One Will Write Books Of Computer Graphics in Indian Cinema”, A Film Review

When it is Bollywood, you ll often hear people saying that film making is nothing less than gambling. And in order to gamble huge any gambler will triumph huge. If we use this logic in Bollywood as well, then I guess Shah Rukh Khan is the Biggest Gambler of this year.

Huge money is invested in Ra.One but what is at stake is, the dreams, visions, an aspiration, a desire to make a film which appeals to every audience in the world and particularly kids and their heart. In short, to make a film which attracts to an universal audience. With this is at stake Shah Rukh’s unchallenged diplomacy as the evergreen idol of Bollywood and also his ever lasting reputation. When anyone invest all his income in his reputation, the result is quite evident i.e. nothing short of a supreme success.

Arjun Rampal as Ra.One in the movie

No doubt, films like ROBOT and KRRISH initiated the idea of super hero movies in Bollywood but Ra.One raises the bar with not only a step or two but by taking a giant leap to match with the international standard obviously in terms of execution. I would like to add that the soul is purely desi in Ra.One. It is one of those movies which is released with both beauty and brains.

What makes a good super hero movie? There are three main constituents for it which are absolutely important for an alluring super hero movie. First, the spectacular thrills and edge of the seat action of the motion picture. Secondly, luminous performances by the actors which should make the characters look very real and credible. Lastly and very importantly, the super hero flicks should have a narrative that keep its super audience yearning for more. These factors in a super hero film are always acclaimed and adore by the fans of every age.

Ra.One is very fortunate to emerge as a triumph and have all the above factors.

It is one of the most expensive, ambitious and technology oriented film ever made in the history of Bollywood. Shah Rukh Khan said in one of his interviews, “It is not only a film for me, it is an event, an experience, it is one of those movies that will write books of computer graphics in Indian Cinema.”

With this movie, it proves a relationship between kids and Shah Rukh to be very high point. A film that is full of clap trap moments. For example, the chase sequence and the entry of a super hero is just awe inspiring. There is one train sequence in the second half which is totally exceptional and vital. More over, the presence of super star Rajnikanth in an very important sequence will be really worth watching with defending claps and whistles. The climax of the film is surely a jaw dropping moment.

Beside these vital factors, we should not forget the “chammak challo” number by Akon which is already on fire. This movie is completely on visual spectacle from scene one till end.

A father (Shekhar as Shah Rukh Khan) tries very hard to fit in his son’s world. Shekhar decides to design a game and finally everything starts falling at one place. But I guess happiness was for a short span of time until when the same game started playing with them.

Movie is Directed by Anubhav Sinha and is co-written by David Benullo,  Mushtaq Sheikh and Kanika Dhillon. They ensured that they serve the right masala to movie watchers in those couple of hours.

The songs of the film are awesome and lives up to the great expectations of the audience. Vishal-Shekhar with their electrifying back ground score delivered the great songs including ’Chammak Chhallo’, ‘Dildaara’ and ‘Raftarein’. All the stunts and chase is managed by Andy Gill and Spiro Razatos. Obviously the cinematography is of top notch done by V. Manikandan and Nicola Pecorini. The channel of communication in the entire movie was very entertaining. The suits of Ra.one and G.one is designed by Robert Kurtzman.

Ra.one is one of those movies which has done justice with the talent of SRK. For the first time he found a story that worked in his favor in the perfect sync. He is entertaining as a father and magnificent as  a super hero. Kareena Kapoor with all her effort and hard work glides into the role of Shehkar’s wife. In the entire movie, her wit is infectious and she looks stunning in the “chammak chalo” song. Arjun Rampal the real ra.one in the movie has lived upto the expectations of the people and his well designed looks in the movie is just too good.

Okay and lets not forget Armaan Verma, the kid who has an important part to portray in the movie. He was super confident in the entire movie and acts brilliantly with Shah Rukh and Kareena shoulder to shoulder.

Other actors in the film includes Shahana Goswami, Dalip Tahil, Satish Shah, Suresh Menon, etc. To add to the glam quotient were Sanjay Dutt and Priyanka Chopra as a guest appearance. Rajnikanth, yet again proves that he is nothing but a scene stealer for any movie.

I still believe that the real applause is deserved by Anubhav Sinha himself for bringing out the best of Shah Rukh Khan, Arjun and Kareen Kapoor.

To conclude, I would say, Ra.One is a complete entertainer this festive season. It is already breaking all the revenue records as compared to other big films not only in India but in the International market as well.

I would rate this movie 4.5 out of 5. A must watch family entertainment.

Jan 21 2011

Dhobi Ghat – A film review

Dhobi Ghat is a film with atmospheric mood piece. Kiran Rao’s first film is an acquired taste. Either you will find the film downright boring or it will excite you like a slow ache. I did not find any overt plot in the movie, simply four different lives randomly connect in the financial capital I.e. Mumbai. There are few fleeting moments of togetherness and sadness. It will make you realise that eventually the journey never ends. The film teaches us how to struggle to survive, how to connect with different people.

The lead roles are played by Monica Dogra as Shai, who is an Investment banker and lands up in Mumbai for a change of pace. Aamir Khan plays Arun who is an angst-ridden artist who goes for a one night stand with Shai and has very little time for his next morning. Prateik Babbar who plays munna is a dhobi with dreams of becoming a super star one day. Kriti Malhotra, who plays a role of Yasmeen, young married Muslim girl who make video diaries discovered by Arun.

These people often encounter with each other in the weirdest places of the city like crowded art galleries, the slums of Mumbai and also the dhobi ghat.

Munna and Shai some how makes some connection within self with a transcend class difference.

The fifth lead role played in the movie is Mumbai a city that is still complicated to many, it is a city of migrants that remains alienating always, a city that is roughly beautiful and brutally extra-ordinary.

The best thing about the movie is the rich and intimate portrait of the city that has been created by Director Kiran Rao and cinematographer Tushar Kanti Ray. The location over shadows the characters at few places. In one of the scenes you can find Arun i.e. Aamir Khan walking down the Mohammad Ali road during the Ramzan festival and it has been shot beautifully.

Will the four of them find what they are looking for in the metropolitan city that is strange for them and binds and break people?

Prateik Babbar has performed marvellously as Munna but as per me the main star of the movie is Kirti Malhotra who revealingly performed with hope and shine in her eyes. Not a single minute you ll feel that she is a new comer. Brilliant performance I must say.

The saga of love with a haunting background score is created by Oscar winning composer Gustavo Santaolalla.

The only that din go well is the pace of the movie. I ll say that Rao’s lining up of character was slow in the first 30 minutes which became the most problematic. There were disjointed narrations and some of the scenes were too clumsy. One more thing which I personally did not appreciated is that a dhobi having a personal affair with an older woman which happens to be his customer.

Aamir Khan on the other hand who has always been so brilliant comes up with a false note this time. Maybe because he was not the Director of the movie this time (Just Kidding Kiran).

If you really have patience then I will say Dhobi Ghat comes nicely. It has created a poetry that will stay with you throughout the film. I recommend that you go for it. Obviously once :)

Nov 12 2010

‘The Social Network’ Film Review: One Of The Best Films I Have Seen In 2010

I have been reading a lot of articles about the hype that has been created about a movie, “The Social Network” over the last few weeks. Finally after watching the film about how Facebook was started, I must confess that the movie is just too astonishing.

The movie is directed by David Fincher and the starring names which are not so well known to many people with the exception of pop singer and actor Justin Timberlake, screen writer Aaron Sorkin, has put all their hard work and effort to make a compelling film that no doubt wins a merit of being one of the best films of 2010.

There are still many people who are not involved with Facebook yet. With no doubt the website has changed the landscape of social media and how people communicate with each other. The website is a true example of excel online media which showed how friendship can be reestablished online.

With technology becoming more and more advanced to the point where many jobs are eliminated everyday, the movie, “The Social Network” shows that it all starts with a good brain and not with the technology. For Facebook, it started with the genius mind of Mark Zuckerberg which is played by Jesse Eisenberg in the movie. Trust me he performed flawlessly with no exception.

A 19 year old Harvard student who always wanted to join an elite society of his school in his anxiety to dispense the payback gets dumped by his girl friend which is played by Rooney Mara. This resulted in the creation of his facemash website where the students of Harvard could choose which female student is better looking than the other. The romantic break up of Jesse led to creating the defining cyber-relationship network of our time.

It was the another day when his cunning attitude shown at the disciplinary hearing where his adults did not applaud him for breaking into their unbreakable computer server. But his these actions were approached by his classmates that included the Winklevoss twins played by very sweet newcomer Armie Hammer who want him to built a social network site for the students of Harvard. Zuckerberg already had all the photos and email addresses which he collected, all he needed was to create the codes and implement them.

Zuckerberg only trusted his very old friend Eduaro Saverin played by Andrew Garfield and with his help he worked day and night and created “The Facebook” . It was just a matter of thirty days and the site attracted the attention of everyone at the Harvard and he was no longer called “the pariah” or “the rejected” on the campus. It was not very long when three of them became aware of his deception and there was a legal war for the copyright infringement.

And then Justin Timberlake makes an absolutely charming entrance as Sean Parker, co-founder of Napster and Zuckerberg’s future partner. His character continues to amuse the audience, despite his very odd personality. Within time Zuckerberg takes on Saverin as well as Sean Parker and becomes too infatuated with his higher than God personality. Zuckerberg is not a villain; infact he is someone who thinks so far ahead than everyone else. It has been shown on the movie that others struggle to keep up but Zuckerberg is driven to advance his agenda that he feels is right no matter what he does to others.

The best thing which I liked about the movie is the people involved and Fincher made sure that no one is an enemy here. With no doubt, Zuckerberg has been perceived as a liar, cheat, and all kinds of similar adjectives but he proved that being an introvert also there remains a soul that always cries for an attention.

I personally believe that this is an excellent movie, a movie which has got everything in it to make it a worth watching. You call it good direction or good writing, good acting, it has a social context that connects it with the audience.

I would personally advice all of you to watch this film and especially to those who have a keen interest in Social Media and Marketing (Like ME).

The Cast and Crew of “The Social Network” includes :

  • Starring Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake, Armie Hammer, Max Minghella, Josh Pence, Brenda Song, Rashida Jones, John Getz, David Selby, Denise Grayson, Douglas Urbanski and Rooney Mara.
  • Directed by David Fincher, (Benjamin Button, Zodiac, Seven and Fight Club).
  • Screenplay written by Aaron Sorkin, based upon the book The Accidental Billionaires by Ben Mezrich.
  • Cinematography by Jeff Cronenweth, ASC. Edited by Angus Wall, A.C.E. and Kirk Baxter.
  • Produced by Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti, Michael De Luca and Ceán Chaffin. Executive producer is Kevin Spacey.
  • US distribution by Columbia Pictures.

The Social Network opens nationwide in movie theaters on October 1, 2010.

  • Running Time: 121 min
  • Rated: PG-13
May 21 2010

Kites – an ambitious Bollywood crossover film

Finally Bollywood enters in the telenovela territory with its action packed love story shot at the garnishes of Vegas with one of the prettiest on screen couple, India’s green eyes charismatic actor, Hrithik Roshan and beautiful, hot and sexy actress Barbara Mori. “Kites” is one of those hybrid movies that takes all the wild tonal ranges and puts that in to the service of tragic love triangle of Mexico.  Despite of wide spectrum in bollywood the movie, “Kites” is not what the Indian audience think of when they talk about bollywood. A complete entertaining output with opulent lush shot in amazing locales and running for almost 130 minutes.

“Kites”, directed by very smart Anurag Basu is a romantic melodrama signifying a musical movie with only one dance number which is set as a dance contest and has only one extra ordinary feature and that is its primacy of fate. Now the question is that is it enough to warrant as the biggest bollywood release of the year in America with almost 210 screens as compared to 50-60 screen on usual basis.

No matter there is requisite dance sequence or any torso scenes, in the moment of anguish, the green eyed actor has performed marvelously. J that is Hrithik Roshan who is a larcenous, handsome, young-Indian American dance teacher and very pretty Mexican Natasha played by Barbara Mori both meet on the parallel tracks to seduce a very wealthy brother (Tony) and sister played by Australian Actor Nicolas Brown and super Indian Model, Gina i.e. Kangana Ranaut. Very soon both of them realize that though they don’t speak the common language but what is more important than money is their love with each other.

J i.e. Hrithik Roshan runs a side business of marrying illegal immigrants on order to get them a permanent stay in the form of a green card. Very soon they discover that Natasha is actually the last fake wife of Tony and that is how the twist comes in the movie.

In a battle of narrow escapes, punctuated by series of car crashes the Vegas crime boss, Bob played by Kabir Bedi who happens to be father of brother-sister pair tries to do everything to block the romantic couples.  Only one particular shoot out between the cops and the hunters proves that the movie is nothing but a complete B-grade American series. This is a real shame for the producer Rakesh Roshan and Director Anurag Basu.

The second half is nothing but a subject to fool the audience though Hrithik Roshan is spectacular in both 1st as well as second half. Despite of Basu’s powerful script, Rakesh Roshan had tried his best to anchor the film with solid believable performances and a lovely chemistry with the co-stars will always remind the audience of how good bollywood romance is and can be in future.

I will recommend all of you to watch “Kites”. It is way far from a fully satisfying movie but still it is one of the best bollywood movies screened this year.

**Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Barbara Mori, Nicholas Brown, Kangna Ranaut, Kabir Bedi
Director: Anurag Basu
Screenwriters: Anurag Basu, Robin Bhatt, Akarsh Khurana
Producer/story: Rakesh Roshan
Director of photography: Anayanka Bose
Production designer: David Baca
Costume designer: Suneet Verma
Stunt coordinators: Spiro Razatos, Denney Pierce
Music: Rajesh Roshan
Editors: Akiv Ali, Brett Ratner