Prem Ratan Dhan Payo (12 Nov 2015)

Cast: Salman Khan, Sonam Kapoor, Anupam Kher, Swara Bhaskar, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Samaira Rao, Armaan Kohli, Deepak Dobriyal, Prem Khan, Sameer Dharmadhikari, Sucheta Khanna

Director: Suraj R. Barjatya   Story & Screenplay: Suraj R. Barjatya   Dialogue: Aash Karan Atal

Music: Sanjoy Chowdhury, Himesh Reshammiya  Casting: Vicky Sidana

Production Design: Nitin Chandrakant Desai   Costume Design: Alvira Khan, Ashley Rebello

Duration: 164 minutes

Ever since its announcement, ‘Prem Ratan Dhan Payo’ has been a much awaited Diwali release of Rajshri Productions, featuring the unique director-actor duo, Suraj Barjatya and Salman Khan, the partnership responsible for three back to back blockbuster family entertainers – Maine Pyar Kiya (1989), Hum Aapke Hain Kaun (1994) and Hum Saath Saath Hain (1999)!

Who could ever present any hero as the, quintessential son, brother and lover, like Suraj has always presented Salman? Not to forget, the director’s projection of the hero’s all encompassing love for children, pets and staff as well. May what the storyline, a Suraj-Salman movie is expected to be a clean family entertainer laden with coy romance, joint family setting, family values, designer clothing and set design, heartwarming array of songs, and basically anything that makes you feel rich, complete and righteous.

PRDP has it all, but the storyline is too predictable and at times illogical, characterizations are half hearted and the expected chemistry between the protagonists is simply not there!

Vijay Singh (Salman Khan) is a modern day billionaire prince, who is strict, short tempered and stickler of traditions. He has an emotionally disturbed step brother, Ajay Singh (Neil Nitin Mukesh) and two perennially angry step sisters, Chandrika (Swara Bhaskar) and Radhika. Four days before his public coronation, his step brother and estate manager (Armaan Kohli) make a fatal assassination attempt on his life. But his stern loyalists ‘Diwan’ or advisor (Anupam Kher) and security head, hide him in a secret chamber, and arrange all possible medicines, machines and doctors to get him treated there itself. Secrecy is maintained for security reasons.

Absence and no news of Vijay Singh, will result in coronation of Ajay Singh on the supposedly sacred date. This dilemma of Vijay Singh’s loyalists is answered in the form of Prem Dilwale (Salman Khan, double role), who is a look alike of Vijay Singh and performs contemporary ‘Ram Leela’ on stage. He is jovial, generous, kind and loving. He is also smitten by Vijay Singh’s fiancée Maithili (Sonam Kapoor), whom he once saw in a relief camp. Since then, he unfailingly donates a big share of his earning to ‘Upahar Foundation’, a charity foundation of Maithili.

Maithili is scheduled to arrive at Pritampura, the coronation site of Vijay Singh. Just to meet her, Prem travels there, along with his friend Kanhaiyya (Deepak Dobriyal). Instead, he is spotted and picked by Vijay Singh’s security head. As expected, he is taught the ‘walk and talk’ of Vijay Singh. The idea is to use Prem in place of prince Vijay in the coronation ceremony. But alongside, he is also required to deal with Maithili’s complaints and advances.

Gradually Maithili is also smitten by the ‘changed’ prince, without any awareness of him being Prem! Prem not only handles Maithili with dignity and care, but also solves the age old discord between the prince and his step sisters. The story gradually unfolds and Vijay Singh and Maithili are made aware of the Prem angle. The movie goes on to display, how the prince confronts and combats his rivals, and how the princess acts upon the realization of her new found love.

This movie has – sensibility of Suraj Barjatya, personification of ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’ (Salman’s latest 2015 blockbuster) and opulence of Sanjay Bhansali’s (Salman’s another blockbuster director) movies. But all the best elements fail to make a smashing compound.

Costumes, music, background score are very good. Storyline is too predictable and illogical in places. Characters are not well developed. Haldiram’s on-the-face promotion looks ridiculous. Lead protagonists emit an easy camaraderie, but fail to establish any chemistry. Besides, Salman Khan and Anil Kapoor (Sonam’s father) have worked together as friends before, and have also appeared considerable times on stage and TV shows. Resultantly, an average Indian mind will always consider Salman, as an uncle of Sonam.

Audiences would like to know the answer to the following queries –

- Why Vijay Singh’s hair is black, but moustache is brownish?

- Who makes an opulent ‘sheesh mahal’ (mirror palace) atop a raging waterfall, that too for four kids? Please note that these kids belong to three different mothers, two queens and one mistress!

- When Chandrika performs Vijay Singh’s ‘raj tilak’ or coronation, why on earth does princess Maithili run berserk full of beloved’s emotion before breaking into a song?

- Vijay Singh is a billionaire. So, why his most trusted personnel, Diwan, the second-in-command’s attire has a shoulder sling, where a long and ugly velcro is visible in the front?

Salman Khan is the soul of the movie. He is energetic and endearing, albeit his hulk like figure looks quite out of place, as per the current trend, wherein everyone looks reed thin. He looks natural as Prem, but quite enforced as Vijay Singh. Sonam looks beautiful and wears all kind of designer attires possible in the given role – sari, lehenga, short dress, night wear, high waist pants, safari attire etc. Deepak Dobriyal looks seasoned as ‘Sita’ in ‘Ram Leela’ scenes. Swara Bhaskar has less screen time. But she has managed to portray continuity in her character. Neil Nitin Mukesh has well captured the expressions of an eccentric and emotionally disturbed person. Still, his performance needs the element of continuity. Rest of the cast is fine as well.

This movie has been released in twelve countries, including India. In France and Russia, it has been released as ‘Un trésor appelé Amour’ and ‘Неуловимый Прем’ respectively.

Any Body Can Dance 2 (19 Jun 2015)

Cast: Varun Dhawan, Shraddha Kapoor, Prabhu Deva, Lauren Gottlieb, Punit Pathak, Dharmesh Yelande, Raghav Juyal, Sushant, Allu Arjun, Karthik, Prachi Shah, Pooja Batra, Will Roberts, Manmeet Singh, Tisca Chopra

Cameo Appearance: Navjot Singh Siddhu, Kapil Sharma, Remo D’Souza, Terrance Lewis, Ganesh Acharya

Director: Remo D’Souza   Story: Remo D’Souza   Screenplay: Tusha Hiranandani   Music: Sachin-Jigar

Casting: Mukesh Chhabra (lead casting)   Cinematography: Vijay Arora   Choreography: Remo D’Souza

Duration: 154 minutes

‘Any Body Can Dance 2’ is the sequel of ‘ABCD - Any Body Can Dance’ (2011), woven around the same concept, i.e. the dancing underdogs getting the much deserved recognition at the end. While it is claimed to be based upon the real life story of Suresh Mukund and Vernon Montero of ‘Fictious Group’, a suburban Mumbai dance group, which, to everyone's astonishment, carved a niche for itself in the ‘2012 World Hip Hop Championship Finals’, it is actually a sumptuous platter of world class dancing, presented by Remo D’Souza, dance guru turned director, on a much bigger and better stroked canvas, than his earlier two films (F.A.L.T.U, ABCD).

Suresh aka Suru (Varun Dhawan), a Nala Sopara (Mumbai suburb) lad, along with Vinny (Shraddha Kapoor) and other dancing enthusiasts, keeps together, ‘Mumbai Stunners’, a dancing group, which performs amazingly, but garners lot of shame in the TV reality show, ‘Hum Kisise Kum Nahin’. All the three judges rebuke them for copying their entire piece from an acclaimed Philippino dancing group. This results in – personal shame of mammoth proportions, voluntary exit of more than half of the group members, and non-ending comments and condemnations from members of their respective families, as well as, people that they come across during their day jobs.

Suru is broken by such an experience, and is in dire need to gain back his lost pride. Only question is, he neither knows the way to go about it, nor knows anyone who will support them in the given circumstances. Vishnu (Prabhu Deva) is a yesteryear dancing diva, who currently leads a dormant and drunkard life. Both of them collide in the lounge bar, wherein Suru works as a waiter and Vishnu visits as a client. An impromptu and super sleek dancing jig by Vishnu, gives Suru the idea of convincing him to prepare their group for the international hip-hop dance competition in Las Vegas, as winning this mother of all competitions will be instantly instrumental in giving them back their lost pride. And so, starts the long series of efforts to - convince the comically reluctant Vishnu, add the required number of able members to the group, and practice and practice. Throughout the entire melodrama, Vinny is Suru’s constant support, who believes in him unconditionally.

One thing (read problems, like – Vinny meeting injury and being unable to perform for semi-finals, Vishnu eloping with group’s money in Las Vegas etc.) leads to another, and ultimately Suru and group’s sacrifice, determination and extreme hard work, enables them to enter the aforesaid Las Vegas competition, wherein they enter as ‘India Stunners’, and also manage to reach the finals! Thereafter, the movie is about high tension energy, grand showmanship and the ultimate climax.

No doubt, this is the best Bollywood dance flick till date. Professional dance styles and performances, which are a big time craze amongst the current youth (like – hip-hop, locking & popping, pyramid formations etc.), keep on bombarding the screen one after another. In fact this dance parade starts with the starting rolling credits. In spite of being many in number, neither quality nor innovation is lost in any of the performances. Story line is kind of expected and its implementation is average. As an audience, you do wonder - why Suru and group did the foolhardy of copying, in spite of being so efficient? Or, why Vishnu Sir needed a TV broadcast to come back with the dance competition fees money? And, why the objective of winning the international dance competition turned from being a personal need to get back the lost pride, to the need, to shine India in the international arena? But these glitches appear passable in front of mammoth dance performances by Vishnu, Suru, Vinny, Dharmesh, Vinod, Raghu, Raju, Olive and others. It goes without saying, that all the performers also display a super fit and agile body.

The movie has ten songs. ‘Bezubaan phir se’ and ‘Sun saathiya’ are pretty soulful. As per requirement, background music successfully generates the required tension and energy. Casting is apt and cinematography is good. It is wise of the makers to use the harbor area for dance practicing scenes (which are galore), instead of any cramped and unkempt hall. With the right camera angles, scenic sea and ship background, a nice grunge look has been created, which appears soothing to the eyes. It’s a 3D movie and it’s 3D effects are best till date, in any Indian movie. In fact it’s even better than many Hollywood flicks! At times it resembles the finesse of ‘X-Men: Days Of Future Past’!

Varun Dhawan and Shraddha Kapoor have acted well and danced in tandem with the professional dancers. This is no mean feat. While Varun displays a fine balance of passion and pain, Shraddha has an expressive face, and emotes very well, even in the dance sequences. With this movie, they will definitely garner a firmer spot in the hearts of the youth. Prabhu Deva is the undisputed dance diva of India and his opening number in the movie is simply amazing. The way he moves his noodle legs needs to be seen to be believed. Lauren Gottlieb appears midway, but while performing, she simply eats up the dancing space. In the semi-final performance, she performs a lift with stretched legs which needs special mention. Even in such a difficult lift, her grace, posture and confidence are intact. Punit Pathak, Dharmesh Yelande, Raghav Juyal, Sushant, Allu Arjun, Karthik are reality TV’s dancing sensations who have danced as per expectation. The former two were also present in ‘ABCD’, and they appear considerably senior in their dance and ease in front of the camera. In fact Punit has well played his deaf and dumb character. Dharmesh makes amazing eye contact with camera (like a la Govinda) while dancing. Rest of the cast has also performed well.

Last but not the least, the movie establishes two facts – the power of reality TV and the power of social media. It is the golden era of talent display and it’s no more necessary to be a celebrity to get both good and bad coverage. If you have a single dancing bone in your body, or, if you even enjoy a single dancing bone in another’s body, do watch the movie.

Dil Dhadakne Do (5 Jun 2015)

Cast: Anil Kapoor, Shefali Shah, Ranveer Singh, Priyanka Chopra, Anushka Sharma, Farhan Akhtar, Parmeet Sethi, Rahul Bose, Zarina Wahab, Ridhima Sud, Vikrant Massey

Director: Zoya Akhtar   Story & Screenplay: Zoya Akhtar, Reema Kagti   Dialogue: Farhan Akhtar

Music: Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy   Cinematography: Carlos Catalan   Casting: Nandini Shrikent

Duration: 170 minutes

For unperturbed existence, a society requires steadiness, which requires discipline, which gives birth to a list of dos and don’ts, which become unnecessary rigid and complex with time, as people start misusing them to suit their personal objectives and/or hide their personal shortcomings. Resultantly, these so called social rules and diktats give way to a perturbed society, which functions like a robot i.e. without any heart. Life becomes all about never ending materialistic gains, small time personal goals and jazzy & fake public appearances, whereas, it should be about strong and giving relationships, unconditional personal freedom and eternal true love. This is what the movie urges via both it’s screenplay and title ‘Dil Dhadakne Do’, meaning to say that the society needs to switch from the dead beat robot mode to the heart beating human mode.

Kamal Mehra (Anil Kapoor), a Delhi based business magnate, decides to celebrate his 30^th wedding anniversary with full grandeur, on a cruise ship to Greece and Turkey, along with his family, friends and business associates. And thus, the luxury ship is boarded by him, his wife Neelam (Shefali Shah), son Kabir (Ranveer Singh), daughter Ayesha (Priyanka Chopra), her husband (Rahul Bose) and mother-in-law (Zarina Wahab). They are accompanied by - Kamal’s younger brother’s family, Kamal’s company manager, Neelam’s full-of-gossip girlfriends and others.

As expected, all host appearances are fake and they gradually unravel. Beneath the champagne glasses, lavish buffets and content Mehras, lie – a bankrupt Kamal, who pops pills even to digest the cruise’s lavish bills, a lonely and on-the-edge Neelam, a trapped in unhappy marriage Ayesha and a confused Kabir, who is highly expected to, but has zero interest and ability to take up his father’s business!

Sood (Parmeet Sethi) and family were earlier uninvited, as they happen to be family foes with one of Mehra’s existing guests on the cruise. But if Sood’s left-at-the-altar daughter (Ridhima Sud) gets engaged with Kabir, then Sood will not think twice before investing in Mehra’s sinking company, thereby making it profitable. What better way than a cruise to let the two kids meet and gel? Keeping this in mind, the last minute invitations were sent to the Soods.

However, Sood’s daughter ends up falling in love with the aforesaid family foes’s son (Vikrant Massey)! Kabir, the supposedly trump-card son ends up falling in love with Farah Ali (Anushka Shetty), the lead dancer of a dance group on the cruise! Kamal’s company manager’s son, Sunny Gill (Farhan Akhtar) joins them midway, and he turns out to be Ayesha’s ex-flame (re-kindled)!

In short, gradually things get topsy turvey for conservative and upper class Kamal and Neelam Mehra, whose prime objective in life is to appear prosperous and well settled in the eyes of the society. The movie gradually unfolds myriad confusions, confrontations and eventually right actions.

‘Dil Dhadakne Do’ is a wisely made movie, depicting the problems and dilemmas of the Indian upper class, with the backdrop of a cruise liner and a comical approach. This saves the film from being corny and boring. Ugly lines of frustration are well hidden by well toned bodies, designer wear and smart dialogues.

It’s an effective satire on – gender bias, social ridicules in the name of culture, and, use of children as business deal bait. Like – post marriage, Ayesha sold her jewels to start an online portal ‘Musafir’, and turned it into a successful mega operation. But still she is discouraged from doing business talks at the food table by her mother-in-law. Her husband feels elated that he has ‘allowed’ her to do her own business. Her father is dismissive about her achievement. Rather, he waits for the day when she will make him a grandfather; the Mehra couple blast their children for seeking/supporting divorce. They term them uncultured, while Kamal Mehra’s infidelity trips in the garb of business trips are quite an open secret, and his wife still chooses to stay with him, simply because she has nowhere else to go; and, Kabir is pressurized to get a scene going with Sood’s daughter, so as to revive the family business.

By now it’s well established that, the Zoya-Reema duo’s cinematic offering is sure to be heartfelt, original and well crafted, very much like a la Aamir Khan, who also happens to have lent his voice to the narrator of the movie, Pluto Mehra, the pet dog. They duo were pretty good with their last and second film (Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara), but they are brilliant with their current and third endeavor. While the former could only touch base with the upper class metro youth, the latter touches the Indian pulse. Zoya Akhtar, the director  captures the settings and emotion of upper class urban India, like Anurag Kashyap does the same with rustic rural India (Gangs Of Wasseypur). Also, she well handles the presence of multi star and supporting cast.

This is one of the best roles essayed by Anil Kapoor till date. He lives and breathes the role of a super rich business class Punjabi family patriarch. His appearance, dialogue delivery, pauses, and reactions are just perfect. The scene in which he stands up for his daughter and catches Rahul Bose by the neck, requires years of acting and passion for acting. Shefali Shah has matched him very well. Be it anger, frustration, or curt wife-type responses, she is bang-on in all the scenes. A steely scene between Priyanka and herself, enacted at a ‘hamam’ (Turkish bathhouse), is again a difficult one to crack. In the movie, Priyanka has the best defined character. In most of the scenes, she is required to play the submissive one, and she has played that well. It’s a welcome change from the usual robust and hero like Priyanka. Ranveer Singh is very natural and brings most of the comic relief. His pun filled soliloquy after a vomit scene is a treat to watch. Priyanka and Ranveer look very natural as brother and sister. Anushka Sharma has an extended cameo. Out of the three songs, she performs cabaret-cum-ballet dance on one, an impromptu jig on another, and shines in both. In fact in the former number, her body language, kind of reminds you of Catherine Zeta-Jones in ‘Chicago’ (2002). It’s a difficult dance that requires lot of speed and abundant grace, and she has managed to strike the right balance. Rahul Bose has a small role. For a change, he has also attempted quite opposite of what he has played till date i.e. the middle class submissive metro guy. Here, his character is rich, rigid and conservative. Almost everyone has looked well and acted well. Costume Designing is quite in tune with the characterizations. Casting is also apt. There is striking feature resemblance between Shefali & Priyanka and Anil & Ranveer. Cinematography is also good. There are lot of aerial angles, which well capture the Mediterranean sea region and charming Turkish locales.

Last but not the least, it’s an almost three hour long movie, and you don’t feel bored for a single minute. This really calls for a round of champagne.

Tanu Weds Manu Returns (22 May 2015)

Cast: Kangana Ranaut, R. Madhavan, Deepak Dobriyal, Jimmy Shergill, Mohammad Zeeshan Ayyub, Swara Bhaskar, Eijaz Khan, Rajendra Gupta, Navni Parihar, K.K. Raina, Dipti Mishra, Rajesh Sharma

Director: Anand L. Rai   Music: Rdb, Krsna Solo   Writer: Himanshu Sharma

Duration: 128 minutes

‘Tanu Weds Manu Returns’ is the sequel of ‘Tanu Weds Manu’ (2011). The sequel is a logical continuation of its prequel, and also an independent and entertaining film in itself. With around four years gap in between, but almost the same cast and crew, and similar town type comic sensibility, two major differences noteworthy in the sequel are – a much more confidant and polished Kangana Ranaut and a much rounder (obese) R. Madhavan.

The prequel ended with the protagonists’ marriage in Kanpur and the sequel starts with their marriage counseling in London. Tanuja aka Tanu (Kangana Ranaut) feels utterly lonely in suburban London housing and desperately seeks the ‘fun and spark’ of earlier romance, while Manu (R. Madhavan) considers his role of ‘provider’ of the family as task enough, and is considerably irritated by the naggings of his four year old wife.

Counseling gets heated and Manu’s impromptu act of violence results into his detention in the mental rehabilitation facility. After sometime, bizarre as Tanu is, she returns to her parental abode in Kanpur. Prior to this, she informs Pappi (Deepak Dobriyal), Manu’s Delhi based best friend, to fly off to London and get him released!

In Kanpur, Tanu is as stylish and robust as before. However, she is highly disillusioned with the institute of marriage, and is indulgent to all her suitors, both ex and present, which include – Deepak, a friend turned rickshaw puller; Chintu (Mohammad Zeeshan Ayyun), her father’s non-paying tenant and law student; and Raja Awasthi (Jimmy Shergill), Tanu’s goon type ex-lover turned building contractor.

Pappi releases Manu and brings him back to his parent’s house in Delhi. A disgruntled Manu sends a divorce message to Tanu, which is eventually replied by a divorce notice. The reply is masterminded by Chintu without Tanu’s approval.

While in Delhi, Manu spots Kusum Sangwan aka Datto (Kangana Ranaut), a Haryanvi student-athlete and look alike of Tanu. With some initial hurdles, they fall in love and decide to get married. Coincidently, an arranged marriage is already on the cards between Kusum and Raja Awasthi! The film then goes through various twists and turns, ultimately giving in to the Bollywood style righteous action.

The movie is well written and directed. Its comical in nature and draws some serious laughs now and then, which is quite an achievement. Kangana is a revelation, especially as Kusum. She successfully creates a clear demarcation between Tanu and Kusum – in appearance, body language and dialogue delivery. Never before, the Indian screen has witnessed such an excellent take on double role. Her Haryanvi student-athlete impersonation – with bucked teeth, matter of fact and asexual attitude, pride for being a state level athlete, and last but not the least, super wide and honest eyes, is simply superb. Till now, the only other actor who has perfectly played a Haryanvi is Randeep Hooda (‘Highway’), but then, he actually hails from Haryana. Deepak Dobriyal is excellent in his comic timing, and brings about most of the laughing roars. R. Madhavan, as usual, has well played the role of being subdued and well educated. Jimmy Shergill and Mohammad Zeeshan Ayyub have also acted very well. With time, Jimmy has been able to carve out a kind of magnetic screen presence. He has come a long way from ‘Mohabbatein’. Rest of the cast has relatively miniscule role. But they have also acted well. Music is average.

In the movie, the storyline travels from London to Kanpur and Delhi, then to Chandigarh, and then finally to Jhajjar, thereby depicting a wide range of sensibility, ranging from that of an international metro to Indian metro, small city, and town. Be it set design, apparels or supporting caricatures, the right flavor has been maintained throughout the movie.

Bombay Velvet (15 May 2015)

Cast: Ranbir Kapoor, Anushka Sharma, Satyadeep Misra, Karan Johar, Manish Choudhary, Siddhartha Basu, Raveena Tandon Thadani, Remo Fernandes, Vivaan Shah, Jagdish Rajpurohit, Sandesh Jadhav, Shaanti, Denzil Smith

Director: Anurag Kashyap   Screenplay: Vasan Bala, Anurag Kashyap, Gyan Prakash, Thani

Music: Amit Trivedi   Production Design: Errol Kelly (Sri Lanka), Sonal Sawant   

Set Decoration: Kazvin Dangor, Rose Maria, Tharakan   Cinematography: Rajeev Ravi

Running Time: 149 minutes

Anurag Kashyap’s ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’ saga reaches its closure with ‘Bombay Velvet’. While the former dealt with the rural terrain of newly independent India, the latter deals with the mother of Indian urban terrain aka Mumbai, or Bombay, as it was called in those days.

Both the movies, more or less, have the same outline – new India with new policies and vast untapped potential; cartel of politicians, police, gangsters etc. striving for the largest chunk, power strife amongst men of power and ambition; rags to riches climb of ruthless and determined protagonist; and his vulnerable moments with his lady love. In fact, in both the movies, before taking his last breath, the protagonist guns down his foes like a driven maniac! However, in spite of the aforesaid similarities, the backdrop, narration, casting and overall sentiment is quite different in these movies.

In 1949, Balraj (Ranbir Kapoor) and Chiman (Satyadeep Misra) arrive at Bombay as kids. They come across each other, and end up becoming lifetime friends and partners in crime. They are street smart, self taught in the ways of the city and dream of making it big. Their prayers are answered in the form of Kaizad Khambatta (Karan Johar), who employs them, rechristens Balraj as Johnny and adds the required moolahs and style into their lives. On the surface, they are the managers of Khambatta’s brand new and high end club, ‘Bombay Velvet’, but in reality they are the executioners of all his dirty works (read blackmailing, kidnapping, murder). Khambatta uses his club to hold meetings with the high and mighty, like - the mayor, Romi Mehta (Siddharth Bas) to execute vast land deals that will yield gold after Bombay’s Reclamation. He also runs the paper ‘The Torrent’ and uses his wife (Shaanti) to seduce and catch his foes off guard!

Jimmy Mistry (Manish Choudhary) is Khambatta’s arch rival, who runs his own paper and is against such closed door capitalistic deals. He is on his own mission to divulge the misgivings of Khambatta and company. He is also rich and efficient and considers himself a follower of Communism.

Rosie (Anushka Sharma), an aspiring jazz singer with abused Goan (Portuguese ruled) past reaches Bombay and travels the clichéd path of – semi nude photo shoots, small time bar singer, mistress (of Jimmy Mistry), and ultimately the cherished lady love (of Johnny) and celebrated jazz singer of a high end club (Bombay Velvet).

In a bid to make use, Johnny’s immense liking for Rosie, Jimmy sends her to Johnny, to gather a game changing evidence. Instead, they end up becoming two youthful and passionate lovers. Alongside, Johnny becomes, more ambitious and is not satisfied with just managing the club. Instead he seeks a slice of Khambatta’s real estate deals! This turns the cartel of high and mighty against him, leading to the onset of a cat-and-mouse game, which leads to Rosie’s fake death and investigation of the same by Inspector Kulkarni (Kay Kay Menon), a detective.

Set design and Ranbir Kapoor are the two best things about this movie. The former shows immense r&d and immaculate detailing, and the latter has made full use of his acting genes, intelligence and histrionics to sink his teeth deep into the character. Its impossible to think that he is the same guy who played the couch potato in ‘Wake Up Sid’. Throughout the movie, both by his body language and dialogue delivery, Ranbir exudes a sense of earnestness, which is a treat to watch. Anushka Sharma looks tall and elegant and surreal till she plays docile and silent. Her dialogue delivery is same as all her other movies, as well as TV appearances! She wears an enviable collection of larger than life gowns with immaculate jewelry, make-up and hair-do. In some of the initial frames, this hero heroine duo does remind you of Raj Kapoor and Nadira! Apparently, Karan Johar has acted pretty well. But his non-stop reality TV show appearances displaying his real life fun loving personality loom so large in your head, that you somewhere fail to connect with his on-screen character. Satyadeep Misra has acted very well. His understated acting is very precise. Raveena Tandon Thadani appears twice as the lead club singer and takes care of the required style quotient pretty well. Manish Choudhary, Kay Kay Menon and others have also acted well. Cinematography is very good. Music is good. Screenplay has some loop holes, which could have been taken care of. The movie is based on historian Gyan Prakash’s book ‘Mumbai Fables’.

P.S.: A yesteryear pairing that comes to one’s mind, that would have done full justice to this movie, is that of Amitabh Bachchan and Parveen Babi.

Shamitabh (6 Feb 2015)

Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Dhanush, Akshara Haasan, Rekha

Director: R. Balki   Music: Ilaiyaraaja   Screenplay: Nigel Genis, R. Balki

Running Time: 155 minutes

Every time you shake and look through a kaleidoscope, you see a different and beautiful pattern. Thus, in general, you repeat the process a few times and pamper your visual senses. But, if the repeat mode exceeds the required loop, will your visuals be still as entertaining? Will your mind, still absorb the beauty or register the differences between two successive formations?

‘Shamitabh’, the movie, is a brand new and excellent concept, captured by an excellent team, with an amazing first half, but half baked and mindless iterations in the second half, and an unnecessary sad ending.

Danish (Dhanush) is a born dumb but not deaf Maharashtrian lad from Igatpuri. Since childhood, cinema is everything to him, and his only dream and ambition in life is to become a big Bollywood hero. Ironically, though his handicap in no way barricades his favorite activity i.e. watching any cinema on any medium, it definitely acts as a stone wall for fulfilling his dream. And this is exactly what he realizes after coming to Mumbai, post his mother’s death.

Soon, Akshara (Akshara Hassan), a young and feisty assistant director, enters his life as the fairy Godmother. She not only realizes his potential, but also provides the means to showcase the same. She introduces him to a new Finland based technology, wherein implantation of a microchip in Danish’s throat and wearing of Bluetooth type ear-devices by both Danish and an actual speaker, and coordinated speaking by the speaker and lip syncing by Danish, will make appear, as if the voice is coming from the latter’s throat! It does not need saying that, as of now, this technology is a fiction.

Post the implantation, the duo’s search for the right speaker ends at Robert aka Amitabh Sinha (Amitabh Bachchan), a drunk old man with loads of attitude, but a strong baritone voice. Ironically, around forty years back, Robert himself could not make it big as an actor, as the film industry found his voice unsuitable!

Together, Danish and Amitabh create ‘Shamitabh’ i.e. Danish’s screen name and presence. Akshara plays the able moderator between them, as well as between them and their first director. Together the ‘Shamitabh’ duo touch an altogether new height in the film world, till their day-to-day minor bickering, take the form of gigantic ego clash, wherein the voiceless actor and faceless speaker, refuse to abide by or bow down to each other, with each striving to become the primary beneficiary of new impounding limelight and recognition. Surprisingly, none of them is bothered about the money part. It is left to see, who will win out of the two and what has fate got stored for both of them.

By sixty, most actors, either retire or shift from main leads to character roles. Thanks, to R. Balki, Amitabh Bachchan is still playing the main lead, and that too with dignified success (Cheeni Kum, Paa). By now, the director, R. Balakrishnan aka Balki is very well versed with Amitabh’s physical and theatrical extravaganzas and limitations, and he has used this knowledge to the ‘T’. Hats off to him, for working on a super fresh and unusual script and carving out an interesting outcome out of it. But, since he is an ad man (Chairman & CCO of ad agency Lowe Lintas) by first profession, he has vastly used his movie canvas as ad films for products and services, like - Lifebuoy, Amazon etc. It may be a smart financial move, but such, on the face, advertisements cannot go down well with serious movie enthusiasts. Latter half of the movie, focuses a lot on ego clash. Unfortunately, to support the same, neither Danish appears thanklessly robust, nor Robert seems the one with the unfair deal. Also, with his impeccable reputation, international recognition and designer clad appearances, it’s a tad bit difficult to imagine Amitabh Bachchan thriving and kicking for recognition!

Both of Balki’s earlier movies were unusual, well appreciated and both showcased a demise towards the end. This one follows the same trait. Now, whether this is done to maintain the so-called superstition for hit movies, or, to appeal better at international film festivals, unlike his previous movies, this one does not create the aura of hope and good life towards the end.

The movie has six songs and cameo appearances by various celebrated personalities of Bollywood, including Rekha! ‘Sha sha sha mi mi mi’ and ‘Piddly Si Baatein’ tracks are nice. The latter is voiced by Amitabh Bachchan himself and its picturization is full five minutes of toilet humor! Barring, Amitabh’s performance, the remaining movie transcends considerable dosage of South Indian sensibility. The movie also draws a lot of similes from its lead actor’s lives. Like rejection of Amitabh Sinha for his voice vs. Rejection of Amitabh Bachchan for his voice, by All India Radio; Danish working as a bus conductor before becoming a hero vs. Dhanush’s father-in-law aka superstar Rajnikanth practicing the same; etc. Art Direction is very good. Whether it is the swank new and themed urban apartment of Danish, or graveyard situated and rupees five hundred rented dump of Robert, there is distinct beauty and harmony in both the establishments.

Amitabh Bachchan is superb in soliloquy, as well as action-reaction scenes. Crossing seventy and with evident wrinkles, this great personality still manages to look quite a debonair, even when he is dressed in rags. In this film, arrogance, mirth, humor, nonchalance, despair, going into oblivion, and every other possible shades of emotion have been rolled into one and only Amitabh Bachchan. Dhanush, is again a different shade card with his own rich plethora of different shades. He simply stands out in the scenes, wherein he emotes frustrated arrogance, and that too in a speechless mode. Not for a single second, you as an audience will happen to miss the voice of his dumb character! Managing to stand tall in front of Amitabh is no mean feat, and Dhanush has successfully achieved that. Akshara, the debutante, appears a combination of Riya Sen and Kareena Kapoor, from their respective debut movies. She looks very young, boyish, genuine and strong minded. However, she will be required to work over her South Indian dialect. Rest of the cast is good as well.

In addition to, such great concept and execution, only if there was more humor, less altercations, and that too packed in lesser duration, the movie would have emblazed on an altogether different level.

Baby (23 Jan 2015)

Cast: Akshay Kumar, Danny Denzongpa, Anupam Kher, Rana Daggubati, Taapsee Pannu, Kay Kay Menon, Madhurima Tuli, Rashid Naz, Sushant Singh, Jameel Khan, Mikaal Zulfiqar, Esha Gupta

Director: Neeraj Pandey   Writer: Neeraj Pandey   Choreographer: Vishnu Deva

Music: Meet Bros Anjjan, M.M. Keeravani   Background Music: Sanjoy Chowdhury 

Cinematography: Sudeep Chatterjee   Production Designer: Sandeep Ravade

Editor: Shree Narayan Singh   Casting: Vicky Sidana

Running Time: 160 minutes

For both its director and lead actor, ‘Baby’ is the third super-sixer in their respective hat-trick of movies. Back to back direction of ‘A Wednesday’, ‘Special 26’ and ‘Baby’, clearly makes the young, dynamic and three films old director, Neeraj Pandey, a pro in terrorist based or equivalent thrillers. Similarly, power packed performance by Akshay Kumar in ‘Special 26’, ‘Holiday: A Soldier Is Never Off Duty’ and ‘Baby’ transition him successfully from a ‘romancing, dancing, fighting Punjabi puttar’ to a no-non sense, well trained and ever vigilant intelligence officer. Bye bye leading ladies. This macho man is now past your ‘nakhras and jhatkas’!

Implementing the saying, ‘Precaution is better than cure’, post 26/11 (terror attacks in Mumbai), a Covert Counter Intelligence Unit is crafted, so as to nip the terror attacks in their budding stage, as well as to prevent their execution at any cost. Before making anything permanent or glorified, a five year trial period is granted to this Unit, and hence its termed ‘Baby’. The movie ‘Baby’ showcases the final and fifth year of the Unit ‘Baby’, when only five of its officers are still alive! The Unit is headed by Feroze Ali Khan (Danny Denzongpa) and chiefly enacted by agile and fearless counter espionage agent, Ajay Singh Rajput (Akshay Kumar), along with his team mates, which include – hulk-like Jai Singh Rathore (Rana Daggubati), comical and brainy computer whiz, Om Prakash Shukla (Anupam Kher), and docile looking but fearsome in fighting, Priya Suryavanshi (Taapsee Pannu).

The movie goes on to show, how these special agents travel far and wide (read Istanbul, Delhi, Mumbai, Kathmandu and Abu Dhabi), following their clues, collecting their targets, and last but not the least, preventing the terror attacks, ranging from bomb explosion in a mall, to that in multiple cities. All throughout, these agents are on their own, without any kind of diplomatic immunity or direct government aid. Their family life is highly unpredictable and their lives are in constant danger of termination as well as gruesome torture. In case of being assassinated, the government will never recognize them. If required, they have to be prepared to leave in lurch, or even kill their own teammate! In spite of knowing all these facts, these unsung heroes readily do, what they need to do, to protect their country and countrymen.

The best thing about the movie is its non-stop pulsating rhythm. From the onset, till the end, it keeps you glued to the screen. Throughout, you are curious to know what happens next. And this is no mean feat to achieve. Neeraj Pandey deserves full points for achieving this. The film does not cater to a new subject, but the screenplay and adaptation is good. Background music, cinematography, production design, editing and casting are apt. Thankfully, the movie has only two soundtracks, each of which appear twice. They are – ‘Beparwah’, which establishes the mood of the movie, and ‘Main tujhse pyar nahin karti’, which is good to hear and see, but could have been avoided. First half of the movie creates the platform, and the second half depicts the execution of the mega counter espionage act. At the end of the movie, rolling credits are shown along with Esha Gupta’s item number.

However, the movie is mostly on the lines of ‘the diary of a counter espionage agent’, meaning to say, that it is made from the perception of an intelligence officer, rather than the perception of a common man. So, it does not cater to the actions-reactions of country men in the event of occurrence or seize of a terror attack. Thus, unless you survive on heavy dosage of international fiction thrillers via books/serials/movies, you will most probably enjoy the vintage wine, simply for its distinct taste and without any realization of its vintage quality!

Akshay Kumar lives and breathes his role, even in the scanty family based scenes. He sleep walks his role sans any glam-sham and kind of carries alone the first half of the movie. Rana Daggubati has a powerful muscular presence. Anupam Kher brings the much needed comic relief. But it is Taapsee Pannu, that totally takes you by surprise in her small but very effective appearance. She beautifully carries off a long hand-to-hand combat scene with the terrorist Waseem Khan (Sushant Singh). Her natural and lethal performance, very much remind you of Elizabeth Jennings (Keri Russell) from the American soap ‘The Americans’. In fact, in this film, Taapsee even resembles a lot like Keri. One cannot say if it is mere coincidence or the basic fact behind her getting this role. Madhurima Tuli as Akshay’s wife shows a lot of resilience in her performance. Kay Kay Menon and Jameel Khan are expectantly good as Bilal Khan, the chief executioner of terror attacks, and Taufeeq, the ISI agent who stays hidden amongst Indian Muslims, respectively. Pakistani actors Rashid Khan as Maulana Mohammed Rehman, the terrorist leader, and Mikaal Zulfiqar as Ashfaq, the Unit’s Abu Dhabi based asset, have also performed well. The former has good control over dialect and the latter can give many a models a run for their money. The actor who plays the role of Abu Dhabi based intelligence officer is pretty charismatic in his persona.

Congratulations to Neeraj Pandey for forming a successful team, which is successfully carving out meaningful and well researched hits.