PK (19 Dec 2014)

Cast: Aamir Khan, Anushka Sharma, Sanjay Dutt, Saurabh Shukla, Sushant Singh Rajput, Parikshit Sahni

Director: Rajkumar Hirani   Music: Shantanu Moitra, Ajay-Atul, Ankit Tiwari, Ram Sampath 

Writer: Rajkumar Hirani, Abhijit Joshi, Sreerag Nambiar

Running Time: 150 minutes

Producer – director team of Vidhu Vinod Chopra - Rajkumar Hirani is known to belt out brilliant movies that impart social message with humor and old world romance. And ‘PK’ is this duo’s latest offering. Herein, the social message is very much on the lines of ‘OMG – Oh My God’, but the treatment of the subject is very unique and different.

Jagat Janani aka Jaggu (Anushka Sharma), a budding New Delhi TV journalist, in her perennial quest for scoop or ‘breaking news’ stumbles across P.K. (Aamir Khan), who is highly weird, amusing and different in his attire, walk and talk. In the recent past, Jaggu’s heart has been broken by Sarfaraz (Sushant Singh Rajput), who apparently left her at the altar! Jaggu first spots P.K. while he is distributing pamphlets for missing persons, only the names and photos of the missing persons are those of different Hindu deities (Lakshmi, Ganesh, Shiv etc.)! Out of curiosity and professional interest, she trails and observes P.K. And she realizes that P.K.’s expectation and understanding of the environment around him is very different from that of a normal human being. It’s stupid, humors law and at times also causes embarrassment. But it’s definitely not illogical.

P.K. is also on a one track quest of his usurped belonging. With his never say die attitude, he is continuously learning, adapting and devising new ways to accelerate his quest. But his unconventional methods, often land him into trouble. During her following up, Jaggu witnesses one such crisis and lends a genuine helping hand, thereby winning P.K.’s trust. Upon askance, he readily agrees to tell her more about himself and obliges, which leaves Jaggu confused and bewildered. Initially, she brushes off his tale as absurd and fake. But further probe into the matter, establishes the fact that P.K. is actually an alien from a far off planet who is stuck on Earth because his remote control was forcefully taken from him  in Bhiwandi region! Bhairon Singh (Sanjay Dutt) of Bhiwandi told him that his usurped remote control will be sold in a big city like Delhi, which prompted him to come to the city. Apparently this alien species looks exactly like humans, except for their protruding ears and walking style. Also, in their own planet, they neither wear clothes, nor are required to speak, as they are advanced enough to know the mind, just by holding each other’s hands!

For some reason, this precious and big locket like remote control is found in the possession of Tapasvi ji (Saurabh Shukla), an acclaimed guru, who propagates it to be a broken end of Lord Shiva’s musical instrument i.e. ‘damru’! Tapasvi ji is known for his direct connection with God. Devotees flock his meetings to tell him their problems, to which he provides solutions after discussion with God! Coincidentally Jaggu and her boss Cherry (Boman Irani) also have their individual personal scores to settle with Tapasvi ji. Thus, Jaggu convinces Cherry and using the power of media and logical oration of P.K., devices a plan that will bring to light the fakeness of Tapasvi ji and also enable P.K.’s return to his planet.

‘PK’ is a brilliant movie with an amazing script. The whole ruckus of myriad relegions and self appointed religious managers aka God men has been questioned from the view point of an alien, who is like a blank canvas with no prior understanding or reflex of the human race. And when this canvas is exposed to a series of brush strokes carrying different colors, pressures and stroke styles, he needs to attach a unique purpose to each type of brush stroke. Whenever there is a breach in this uniqueness, he gets confused, and whenever the result is illogical, he questions the stroke itself! His confusion and questions seem bizarre, but are in fact very logical. In fact, due to years of wrong practice, we humans have unnecessarily got tuned to absurd practices. God is one, but we have divided Him into a number of relegions. God is to be loved, but we have associated Him with fear. God is same for everyone, but we seek God men to feel closer to God!

The movie also highlights the fact that the original purpose of clothing and speech has been lost upon the humans. They were simply meant to protect against the weather and provide a medium of expression. Instead, they are being used to create myriad sects and spread aggression and lies. A civilization sans these provisions may actually be superior and better, like that of P.K.’s planet!

The beauty of the movie lies in its simplicity. It doesn’t cater to any burning social issue or condemns any social practice. It simply questions and expresses amusement over conflicting practices and ready subservience of the human race. The overall feel is of humor and amazement. Bhojpuri language was never better used in a Bollywood movie. Usage of words like ‘gola’ (planet) and ‘lool’ (meaningless) are bound to bring smile on the viewer’s lips.  Songs are situation based. The track ‘Tharki chokro’ has a nice rustic flavor and is also well picturized. Casting is also appropriate.

However, wherein the past productions (Munna Bhai MBBS, Lage Raho Munna Bhai,3 Idiots) of the makers of this movie have successfully focused upon a single issue, herein you get confused, whether the focus of the movie is diverse relegions or God men.

Aamir Khan as usual is brilliant. He is like Tom Hanks of Bollywood. Every new performance of his is a refreshing surprise. No one else can enact P.K. like him. In his own head, he understands the pulse of the character and develops the required persona and body language, complete with small nuances. Can anyone believe that such a young, innocent and gleeful looking character is actually an actor nearing fifty! Except for her daffy duck lips (no thanks to cosmetics), Anushka Sharma with her good height and flawless complexion, looks like a million bucks. She has also acted well and managed to hold her own opposite Aamir Khan. Sushant Singh Rajput is also a revelation in his small role. He has well matched the effervescence of Anushka. In fact, his dialogue delivery is better than many experienced actors. Saurabh Shukla, Parikshit Sahni and others have also acted well.

Last but not the least, in this movie, the heroine is considerably taller than the hero, and the movie is devoid of any attempt to camouflage the same. This is very much evident in the ‘stress removal dance’ performed by the lead pair. The dance is beautiful, but more beautiful is the journey of Indian cinema, where now the hero no more needs to be the taller one.

Happy Ending (21 Nov 2014)

Cast: Saif Ali Khan, Ileana D’Cruz, Kalki Koechlin, Ranvir Shorey, Govinda, Preity Zinta, Shivani Tanksale

Director: Krishna DK, Raj Nidimoru     Music: Sachin-Jigar     Writer: Krishna DK, Raj Nidimoru, Sita Menon

Running Time: 136 minutes

‘Happy Ending’ is like an age old and time tested multi course meal served in a new diner which calls out the name and necessity (also read as state-of-no choice) of each course before serving the same. It seems as if the sellers don’t really believe in their wares, but end up offering the same (albeit packaged differently) acting on the law of demand and supply. But neither do they fulfill the buyer’s expectation, nor is their new packaging attractive enough to hold the buyer’s interest!

Yudi Jaitley (Saif Ali Khan) is a USA based ‘one book wonder’ writer and a casanova. He is phobic of love/marriage and has thus indulged into a trail of shallow relationships with the opposite gender. He likes to enjoy his relationships without any strings attached. So, the moment a girl utters the quintessential ‘I love you’, he mumbles and fumbles, but never reciprocates the same. Only two steady relationships of his life are Montu (Ranvir Shorey), his long time BFF and Divya (Preity Zinta), his ex GF, the one he actually loved. Both are married. Yudi also has a paunchy, beardy, bespectacled, shorts clad and ever-eating  alter ego Yogi who forecasts the impending turn of events.

Yudi’s free spirited lifestyle and the state of no new publication since five and a half years, result into his bankruptcy. While scouting for new assignment, he witnesses a rival writer, Aanchal Reddy (Ileana D’Cruz) gaining momentum with his publisher. As expected, in due course of time, their rivalry gives way to attraction and companionship. But this time, the tables are turned. And Yudi is the one who utters the magical three words in vain!

Alongside, Armaan (Govinda), an aging actor visits USA for dual purpose. First – to avail the top notch cosmetic surgery to attain a younger face and toned up body (read six-pack), and Second – to approach Yudi to pen down a highly inspired (read copying from a plethora of hit movies) rom-com that will change Armaan’s status from a single screen actor to a multiplex actor. And yes, there is also the nutcase Vishakha (Kalki Koechlin), Yogi’s dentist, who is in love with Yogi and too mesmerized to break up with him, in spite of him repeatedly trying to do the same!

As per the movie title, the protagonist is expected to avail happiness aka success in both love and career. And the movie progresses on the similar lines.

The movie has a story, but its execution is not up to the mark. It is a classic case of casting gone wrong. Also, in spite of good effort, there is no chemistry between the lead actors. Preity Zinta just plays a cameo in the film and surprisingly there is perfect chemistry between Saif and Preity. Alter ego concept could have been made so much interesting, but it comes out as plain vanilla. Saif has been a pro in playing such roles. But the well settled real life mid forties ‘nawab’ with his diva like new wife, grown up kids and estates galore, can no more look or act like a playboy. Music is average and a bevy of singers have been used. The track ‘G Phaad Ke’ will be a hit amongst the disc goers. Cinematography has well covered the west coast of America.

Saif looks charming and is good with comedy. Ileana has acted well. She looks stylish and confidant, in fact a little too confidant. Kalki appears like a psycho in love. Whether the role demanded the same, or it was her style of execution, its debatable. Ranvir and Shivani are OK. Its Preity, who doesn’t try too hard and still brings the life in the couple of scenes that she is in. Govinda is especially good with his action-reactions and dancing. While dancing, he simply captures the screen. But you do miss the ‘connection’ that he had with his co actors in all of his earlier films. Call it computer wizardry or something else, but the scene towards the end where Govinda appears with a much younger face, six pack abs etc. is a pleasant surprise.

Kill/Dil (14 Nov 2014)

Cast: Ranveer Singh, Ali Zafar, Parineeti Chopra, Govinda, Alok Nath

Director: Shaad Ali   Writer: Nitesh Tiwari, Shreyas Jain, Nikhil Mehrotra   Music: Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy

Running Time: 145 minutes

The centre point of the movie is the critical choosing of the protagonist between ‘Kill’ and ‘Dil’ aka heart (read sweetheart), and hence the name Kill/Dil. Alongside, the movie also ‘kills’ your celluloid expectations and breaks your trusting ‘heart’. And you are left wondering, how come the dynamic combination of – country’s most successful production factory with one of their cherished directors, team of young and successful lead actors, middle age veteran actor; can be submerged in the platter of a shallow plot, incomplete characterizations and unfocused direction! 

Bhaiyaji (Govinda), an anti-social, finds two abandoned newborns amongst garbage. He brings them home and they grow up as Dev (Ranveer Singh) and Tutu (Ali Zafar), who carry out shooting assignments for Bhaiyaji without any question or remorse. Rather, they carry out their executions with fun and style! And they never miss.

In a disc, Dev saves Disha (Parineeti Chopra) and her friends from some gun pointing rowdies. Disha is a super rich urban girl who works for the rehabilitation of jail inmates. This chance meeting eventually leads to love and Dev’s heart filled with new found love finds it impossible to further kill. He tries to turn a new leaf, so as to protect Disha from his past misgivings. Tutu unconditionally helps him in the process. This irks Bhaiyaji to no end as he cannot bear to see his return on investment go awry. And thus he arranges for Disha to know the truth in the most ruthless of manners. Disha breaks off with Dev, giving him no choice but to return to Bhaiyaji. Instantly, Bhaiyaji gives a heavy assignment to the killer duo. Will Dev be able to kill again? What will be the fate of his love? Therein lies the movie suspense.

The movie is filled with designer wear and style. It has good music and cinematography. Couple of tracks will be quite a hit amongst the disc goers. The music directors, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy have used a bevy of good singers for their tracks. However, the movie lacks logic and depth. The protagonists live on a rooftop with basic and depreciating furniture. However their cooking table is laden with modern and sleek kitchenware. Actors have performed well but many scenes are pretty boring. All the actors are emitting their individual energy. But there is no fusion of the same into one big energy, that runs throughout the movie and makes it entertaining to the audience.

It is noteworthy to see the protagonists perform the action of killing as pure duty towards their provider and then going back to him with the sentiment and expression of that of children, who have scored highest in their class and will be loved and rewarded for the same!

Ranveer Singh has acted very well. His child like glee is endearing. Also, he appears very sincere and natural in crying scenes, something which very few male actors can boast of. Ali Zafar has completely given in to his character, never bothering for angles or screen capture. Parineeti has experimented with delicate (read skin showing) designer wear, which has not gone well. She is blessed with the screen presence of a la Kajol. Wonder why she is trying to fit in the shoes of the delicate damsels? Also, in her bid to appear stylish, she has over acted. Govinda has appeared in a full fledged role in an A-list movie after a gap of almost seven years. Still he is natural and commanding. As expected, he has been given some mean dance moves and he has performed them with aplomb. But dancing seems very out of character for the dominating and ruthless killing contractor played by him.

Last but not the least, don’t miss the red imprint of Govinda’s palm on Ranveer Singh’s face after a stinging slap scene. Whether its real or makeup, its definitely minute production design.

Khoobsurat (19 Sep 2014)

Cast: Sonam Kapoor, Fawad Afzal Khan, Ratna Pathak Shah, Kirron Kher, Aamir Raza Hussain, Aditi Rao Hydari

Director: Shashanka Ghosh   Writer: D.N. Mukherjee (original story), Indira Bisht (screenplay), Juhi Chaturvedi (dialogue)   Music: Sneha Khanwalkar

Producer: Anil Kapoor Film Company, Walt Disney Pictures   Distributor: UTV Motion Pictures

Running Time: 130 minutes

‘Khoobsurat’ is the remake of ‘Khubsoorat’ (1980), a family drama, well directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee and very ably enacted by Rekha.

Both these movies have some superfluous similarities – the name (with ‘u’ and ‘oo’ being swapped), the leading ladies Rekha and Sonam being the real life fashionistas, and hard core disciplinarian role essayed by Dina Pathak in the original and her daughter Ratna Pathak Shah in the remake.

The original ‘Khubsoorat’ was the celebration of emergence of free spirited but downright loyal and homely lass of modern India who attempted to break through the strict and stifling family codes of the old world with her smile and chirp intact. It was a real world scenario and the masses very well identified with both the situation and the solution. Whereas the remake ‘Khoobsurat’ shows a gawky but urban working woman unable to merge in with the codes of the royals, but still managing to achieve success in her task at hand with her enthusiasm intact. It is a kind of dream world scenario and the masses will identify with the bits and pieces of the same.

Dr. Milli Chakravarty (Sonam Kapoor) is a visiting physiotherapist at the mansion of the Rathores, one of the Rajasthan royals. Along with a train of staff, the mansion occupies the wheel chair bound family head aka Milli’s patient (Aamir Raza Hussain), his boisterous, business savvy and disciplinarian wife, Nirmala Devi (Ratna Pathak Shah), his handsome and workaholic son Vikram (Fawad Afzal Khan) and his underage daughter (read seventeen) who nurses secret acting aspirations. Milli is gawky and free spirited, wears unmatched outfits, eats with hand and noise, stumbles every now and then, and video chats for all her big and small problems with her equally eccentric mother Manju (Kirron Kher), whom is refers as ‘Manju’ only! Everyone is courteous and patient with her. But she is trapped in a hostile environment – where her patient shows no wish or effort in getting well, Nirmala Devi’s disdain towards her presence is quite apparent and the handsome son thinks of her as ‘aafat’ (problem). As expected, Milli finds her way around the place, reignites the passion for life in her patient and also manages to flutter Vikram’s heart.

This is the first Disney Bollywood flick and it has total Disney world feel - larger than life setting, beautiful people, gentle comic approach and no real villain. But the movie also lacks well researched characterization and depth. The protagonist’s wardrobe is color fanatic, so much so that, by the time the movie ends, you actually cannot differentiate one color from the other! With father and sister being the co-producers (Anil Kapoor and Rhea Kapoor), Sonam Kapoor is handled with utmost respect by the hero as well as the chanced upon villains!

Sonam Kapoor has given an OTT (over the top) performance. It’s quite in your face. But still its somewhere better than her other flicks. Fawad Afzal Khan is a famous Pakistani singer and TV & movie actor. This is his Bollywood debut. With his chiseled good looks and baritone voice, he very well suits the character and has performed well. One looks forward to see his performance driven flick. Ratna Pathak Shah looks immaculate like ever. You expect her to be the lady with the iron fist. But she comes across as the one with strong head but broken will. And you get confused because you cannot really understand if it’s successful enactment of a complex character or stepping away from the character. Kirron Kher has become a pro in playing a OTT Punjabi mother. Still, she could have adorned a little less of the countless oxide jewelries. Aditi Rao Hyadari plays a cameo (Vikram’s girlfriend) and looks very royal. The director Shashanka Ghosh is known for well directing small budget eccentric flicks. You miss the expected eccentricity here. Music is OK. ‘Engine ki ceeti’ track is good and catchy.

All in all, it’s a simple flick, best to be seen with tinted glasses and not much logic. Last but not the least, when Milli comes to confront her patient in the garden, her earrings magically change.

Finding Fanny (12 Sep 2014)

Cast: Deepika Padukone, Arjun Kapoor, Dimple Kapadia, Naseeruddin Shah, Pankaj Kapur, Anjali Gupta, Ranveer Singh (Cameo), Anand Tiwari

Director: Homi Adajania   Writer: Homi Adajania, Kersi Khambatta   Music: Mathias Duplessy

Cinematography: Anil Mehta   Production Design: Manisha Khandelwal   Costume Design: Anaita Shroff

Running Time: 105 minutes

‘Finding Fanny’ is like one of those medium paced Mexican flicks, that invariably contain – rural setting with old and unkempt style housings surrounded with nature, an unassuming village lass oozing with passion and sexuality, liquor influenced scenes, unconventional characterization of leading characters and a simple story, which will neither make your heart loose a beat, nor make your mind wander elsewhere.

The movie is based in Pocolim, an obscure Goan village with no presence on the map. It’s a quaint and non happening village, with such dull routine that, when their old postman, Ferdie (Naseeruddin Shah) decides to embark on a road trip to find his long lost love Stefanie Fernandes (Anjali Gupta) aka Fanny, he is invariably joined in by four other villagers on one pretext or the other!

The movie opens with Ferdie receiving a return mail, which was actually his love declaration to the woman of his dreams, Fanny. This declaration was mailed forty six years before, and in the event of receiving no reply, Ferdie had been since living the life of rejection and solitude! The mere realization that such a life was lead in vain makes him utterly miserable and depressed. His good friend Angie (Deepika Padukone), the youthful virgin widow advises him to at least find his lost love and know her sentiments, so as to bring a closure to his questioning state of mind. She decides to accompany and arrange for his trip. And thus, another young but bitter villager Savio Da Gama (Arjun Kapoor), a recent Mumbai returned, is roped in because he knows driving and car repair. Don Pedro Cleto Colaco (Pankaj Kapur), a visiting painter with a roving eye and artistic musings for extra curvaceous women is also roped in, so as to use his car as the vehicle in the road trip. Angie’s mother-in-law and mother to the deceased Joffrey (Ranveer Singh), Rosie Eucharistica (Dimple Kapadia), the self proclaimed first lady of the village, accompanies the foursome to simply ensure the safety of her daughter-in-law! On the front, it is an expedition to bring peace to the soul of a fellow villager, but in actuality all the co-passengers see the journey as an escape from their respective dull routines and silently hope to find some answers and solution to their own quests of life! Savio has the hots for Angie, while Don Pedro has the hots for Rosie. The ladies in question are also not really happy with their ‘single’ status. And so, the lost and pining five some along with Rosie’s pet cat embark on their journey and in the process, get lost, find both expected and unexpected answers to their respective quests, and ultimately attain their destined closure.

Neither it’s a perfect story, nor does it serve any cause. In fact, instead of harping on the occurrence of true love or ‘united till death’ syndrome, it emphasizes on the ‘idea of love’ and the need and pursue of the same, even in the event of loss of the original partner! Without promoting infidelity, it signifies that the basic need of life is to feel and share love and it is not dependent on the existence or fidelity of the one with whom you have united your heart and promised to share the rest of your life! The shoes of the deceased or betraying partner need to be filled by someone appropriate enough as per the present timeline of life, because the need to have a breathing and devoted partner is perennial.

This movie has a bilingual release i.e. in both Hindi and English. It also has a good measure of sub titled Goan lines. The genre is amalgamation of comedy, satire and drama. It’s well made in its own way. The content and presentation is new for the Indian screen. It is meant for the ‘thinking audience’ and thankfully is devoid of unnecessary songs and/or titillation. More than the masses, the film seems to be targeted for the international audience (Fox Star Studios being the distributor). No wonder, it is slated to be released at both Busan (South Korea) and Toronto (Canada) International Film Festivals.

The movie is based on five main characters and all of them are well casted and have delivered flawless performances. But still you feel that Pankaj Kapur has stolen the show and Arjun Kapur is the weakest link of the lot. Deepika Padukone looks confidant, wise and very beautiful and that too in a non glamorous role. The lady is pretty regular with flesh bare clothing. But never before has she looked so illuminous and desirable. Dimple Kapadia seems to be becoming a pro with character driven roles, caring a damn about her looks. This is a far cry from her younger and much more successful diva days. To give the lady her due, one must mention that, nearing sixty, she still looks very glamorous. Naseeruddin Shah is an acting school in himself. The opening scene requires an ocean of emotions, followed by outburst and silent retreat. It is impossible to think of anyone else, who can even analyze the scene like him. Pankaj Kapur plays the most complex character of all. He is supposed to be a flamboyant artist (painter), find his muse in extra curvaceous women and appear disinterested in everything else to the point of appearing selfish. And he has successfully depicted all this in good dignity! Arjun Kapoor has acted average. Acting with such polished actors, he was expected to display much more depth in his character. Ranveer Singh and Anjali Gupta (remember the feisty naxalite from ‘Chakravyuh’) and Anand Tiwari (the priest) are effective in their small roles. The director Homi Adajania has well attempted a relatively new concept in movie making. Without caring to give in to the superfluous  needs of the commercial cinema, he has neither diluted his philosophy, nor hastened the pulse of the movie. To do this, and that too after the roaring success of his commercial hit ‘Cocktail’, he must be a very confidant man. ‘O Fanny Re’ track touches your soul. Given the limited scope provided by the storyline, cinematography and costume design are exceptionally good. They are in-line and noteworthy.

To sum it up, in an art gallery where patrons mostly find and appreciate well defined forms and subjects (like human, God, nature), this movie is like a well made abstract painting, which many will fail to enjoy because of their routine preferences, and the remaining will derive their own meaning of a particular - brush stroke, shape or even corner!

Mary Kom (5 Sep 2014)

Cast: Priyanka Chopra, Darshan Kumaar, Sunil Thapa, Zachary Coffin

Director: Omung Kumar   Music: Rohit Kulkarni (Background), Shashi, Shivam

Writer: Saiwyn Qadras (Story & Screenplay), Ramendra Vashishth & Karan Singh Rathore (Dialogue)

Running Time: 122 minutes

The movie ‘Mary Kom’ is the biopic of Mangte Chungneijang Mary Kom, aka Mary Kom, the five time World Amateur Boxing champion from Manipur, India. Barring this, she is also the proud winner of various Asian and other championships, as well as civilian accolades. The prestigious ‘Padma Bhushan’ (2013) award by Govt. of India is the latest feather in her cap.

The aforesaid gender, sport, as well as the state, sadly don’t enjoy enough prominence in our country. So, its obvious that during her struggling years, Mary Kom must have highly lacked the required infrastructure and support (both moral and financial). Her success story must have been a far cry from those sports personalities whose career were either carefully carved since their early age, or whose normal passion of a particular support, which they were never barred from playing, eventually turned into a career. It is for these reasons, that this amazing sports woman deserves double round of applause. Also, hats off to Omung Kumar for making his directorial debut with such a different and deserving subject.

In the movie, as a child, Mary Kom (Priyanka Chopra) lives with her parents and two kid siblings. She belongs to a very simple Manipur style rural household, sans any luxury, but is blissfully unaware of that. Rather, she chance finds a pair of boxing gloves in a destruction site and keeps it as her prized possession, much to the disdain of her father, who thinks that such a sport will spoil her face, thereby making her unfit for marriage. Even during her adolescence, she is unaware of the emotion ‘fear’ and sans any combat training, doesn’t think twice before entering into a combat with a boy her age. Upon chance meeting with the Manipur state boxing coach (Sunil Thapa), she persuades him to teach her boxing. Initially, the coach ignores her. But finally he discovers one of his best pupils in her and sends in her name for the inter state championship. Thereby, one victory leads to the other, and Mary Kom embarks on her victorious journey, conquering Asian championships as well as World championships in the process!

But this is easier said than done. In an almost non existing infrastructure, she is required to work ridiculously hard on a body that can throw as well as bear international quality punches. And she is required to train for boxing, alongside being a regular daughter and/or wife which includes the regular plethora of cooking, cleaning, laundry etc. She faces opposition and irk of her father, for practicing a non woman type sport. At times, just because the opposing contestant belongs to a much more prominent state, she faces injustice in tournaments. And upon voicing protest, she is subjected to boycott, bad will and humiliation! The three facts that keep her going are – guidance and sheer expectation of her coach, unconditional love and support of her friend turned husband Onler Kom (Darshan Kumaar), and her personal grit and determination to simply win for India. When most career women, especially sports women willingly/unwillingly put an end to their career after marriage and motherhood, Mary Kom goes ahead and does the unthinkable. She gets married, gives birth to twin baby boys, faces emotional turmoil, re-trains herself and wins more championships! The biopic ends here. But the real Mary Kom, has since given birth to another baby boy and harbors the dream of bringing more medals for India!

Priyanka Chopra proved her acting excellence with ‘Barfi’. But with ‘Mary Com’, she has entered a different league altogether. In fact her passionate and unassuming style of acting will remind you of Leonardo DiCaprio! For this movie, the actress has simply given in her body, mind and soul. She plays the age range of a school girl to a mother with elan. She also lives through the profiles of being a boxing student to a boxing champion with flying colors. The actress recently suffered the demise of her dear father. It seems that life without him, in itself was a strugglefor her, and that sense of struggle and anguish was portrayed in her training and boxing scenes. You feel like, she trains to contest, and she contests to win, and that is the only way she can proceed with living! Very few actresses will go through such difficult role that requires no make-up and athletic level of physical labor. Rest of the cast is good as well.

The movie is well paced and it well depicts the tale of a simple Manipur girl, who loves boxing, dreams of consistently winning for India and finally gives shape to her dream. What is noteworthy here is that, apart from simply winning, she doesn’t attach any other gain, clout or mammoth change of lifestyle with her victories. She is well tuned in her family life, family chores and surroundings. It is an inspirational movie with deserving subject, world class acting by the protagonist, good screenplay and direction. Silent trusting bond enjoyed between the protagonist and her coach is something to watch out for. The movie also slightly touches the subject of poor nutrition, improper infrastructure and above all not enough respect meated out to sports women/men during their sports tours. With every sports based movie, hinting at this scenario, may be the sports federation will soon do the needful, and thereby enable winning of more medals by Indian sports personnels.

Singham Returns (15 Aug 2014)

Cast: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Mahesh Manjrekar, Amol Gupte, Anupam Kher, Zakir Hussain, Dayanand Shetty, Sharat Saxena, Pankaj Tripathi, Ganesh Yadav, Ashwini Kalsekar

Director: Rohit Shetty   Writer: Farhad, Sajid, Yunus Sajawal, Rohit Shetty  

Music: Ankit Tewari, Jeet Gangulli, Meet Bros Anjjan, Yo Yo Honey Singh

Running Time: 145 minutes

This movie celebrates the successful actor-director partnership of Ajay Devgn-Rohit Shetty and the Mumbai Police. Of course, the movie has a good enough storyline and a popular heroine. But, in spite of being substantial, they haze out in the aforesaid celebration. Also, it is one of the very sequels, which is better (also read original) than it’s prequel i.e. ‘Singham’!

Instead of a core story, there is a core villain Satyaraj Baba (Amol Gupte), who is a religious preacher with enough power and clout, enabling him to have a substantial say in the functioning of the ruling political party! In contrast to him, there is Guruji (Anupam Kher), the party mentor, who is a man of principles and enjoys great respect of Mumbai DCP (Ajay Devgn), as well as the Maharashtra CM (Sanjay Manjrekar). Guruji’s strategy of introducing new and young candidates for the upcoming elections is not well received by Baba. While Guruji perceives their enthusiasm, professional training and capability as the door to better functioning of the new government, and thereby better living of the common man, Baba cares a damn about any of this and worries about loosing constituencies, in the absence of old and popular candidates. Soon Guruji gets assassinated by masked and heavily armed professionals. Alongside, a van is found in a river body, along with a dead driver and crores of rupees. The dead driver is a trusted subordinate of Bajirao. Both these events and their repercussions instigate the super cop in Bajirao and he goes into full fledged investigations, interrogations, arrests and secret follow-ups, so as to obtain enough proof to – a) arrest Baba, and b) clear his subordinate’s name.

The movie has good energy, cool stunts, weak villain, new but not in tandem storyline, and for a change, it only highlights the glory of the police force. It highlights - the demanding and risky nature of their job, unrealistic expectations from an aging cop, thankless attitude of media and public in general, mass attack protocol (‘lathi’ charge) followed only in times of sheer crisis and the perennial chance of nullifying of all their hard work by anyone in ‘power’.

As expected, Ajay Devgn is the ‘Singham’. If he throws a punch, then it is a real punch and not a make believe one. And he is particularly good in depicting pain and anger simultaneously through his eyes. Kareena Kapoor plays his friend cum girlfriend (Avni), runs a beauty parlour and is supposed to eat like a glutton. She has well experimented with a new style of comedy. But for the glutton part, you instantly miss the hogging of Aamir Khan in ‘Rang De Basanti’. You will find Kareena picking on many foods, making enough face and hand gestures, but her food bites are very small and very few actually go into her mouth! But she is adorable all the same. Sadly, Kareena seems to be making the sole attempt in establishing the hero-heroine chemistry! Amol Gupte has performed well. But you need a much bigger (impactful) villain for a movie of this caliber. Anupam Kher, Mahesh Manjrekar, Ashwini Kalsekar (reporter) have small roles and they have done justice to it. Earlier Dayanand Shetty (cop ‘Daya’) was breaking doors on TV (soap ‘CID’) and now he is doing the same in films! Like TV, herein too, he has well played the second-in-command. Zakir Hussain (Prakash Rao) and Pankaj Tripathi (Altaf Khan) have now become constant with important side roles. Ganesh Yadav (Mahesh Jhadav, the dead cop) and Sharat Saxena (Shiv Rathod, Mumbai CP) have also acted well.

Mardaani (22 Aug 2014)

Cast: Rani Mukerji, Jisshu Sengupta, Tahir Bhasin, Priyanka Sharma, Sanjay Taneja, Anil George, Mona Ambegaonkar

Director: Pradeep Sarkar   Writer: Gopi Puthran   Music: Salim-Sulaiman Background Music: Julius Packiam   Casting Director: Shanoo Sharma   Editor: Sanjib Datta

Running Time: 113 minutes

During our school years, most of us must have come across these famous lines from an inspiring patriotic poem “Khoob ladi mardaani, wo toh Jhaansi wali Rani thi”. Watching this movie would instantly remind you of the same. The simile is hard to miss. During British rule, Rani Laxmi Bai fought fearlessly with the Britishers in order to attain freedom of her motherland. And in this movie, Shivani Shivaji Roy (Rani Mukerji) fights with focus sans any fear, to attain freedom of young girls trapped in the human trafficking ring. Also, both are Marathi women.

Shivani Shivaji Roy is a hands-on senior crime branch officer. She stays with her husband (Jisshu Sengupta) and orphaned niece. In the past, she had rescued Pyari (Priyanka Sharma) from being sold by her uncle and placed her in a shelter home. She considers her like her daughter and Pyari is an important part of Shivani’s life.

Unfortunately, Pyari gets abducted by human traffickers. Shivani gets a whiff of this and gradually realizes that a powerful and organized syndicate is behind it and the bosses will leave no stone unturned to keep their identities hidden. She resolves to bring back Pyari. An action-reaction series commences between her and Junior (the core brain of the trafficking operation). Since the bosses are nameless and faceless, the term ‘Junior’ is coined by Shivani herself. It’s based on the voice quality that makes intimidating, threatening and untraceable calls to her. While Shivani single mindedly focuses on reducing the gap between her and Junior, Junior focuses on discouraging her attempt by harming her dear ones and terminating the links that can lead Shivani to him!

But Shivani is a seasoned officer, who is well versed with intimidation techniques, laws of the land and psycho profiling. She uses her absolute determination, professional training and system support to free all the victims and bring the culprits to justice.

The movie has been very well casted, directed, acted and edited. In fact the pace and visual tone of the movie is that of a prime Hollywood flick! It voices the social cause of abduction and forced prostitution, but keeps safe distance from cheap thrills. It does not have any item number or even any lovey-dovey number (to depict the blessed marital life of the lady cop)! The idea is to acquaint the audience with the inhuman and shameful bearings enforced upon the girl victims by human trafficking goons. But while dealing with such issues, there is a thin line between being realistic and being repulsive. Hats off to the makers for maintaining this decorum and also keeping the content commercially viable! Achieving this sans any thunderous dialogue or eye popping stunt is no mean feat. A great deal of input has been given in the psychological research into the making of each character, something which is almost always amiss in most Bollywood (even prime) flicks.

Most of the movie centers round Rani Mukerji and she has done a commendable job. Her character is well researched and throughout the movie, she manages to stay within it. She has enough close-up frames and she well manages to portray nonchalance, smirk, knowing glance, deep pain and mental calculation. And all of these emotions are depicted without any OTT (over the top) acting. For a change, this lady ‘maseeha’ (savior) is not born out of exploitation and tears. She is a hard core cop, well trained by mind and body, practical and dedicated to her duty.

It is a pleasant surprise that Pradeep Sarkar, the man best known for his period drama flick ‘Parineeta’  can ably direct such a movie. Special mention needs to be made of a particular scene, wherein Shivani arrives with her team to save her husband from some chaos. Going by her fireball character, you expect her to pounce, abuse and even break a bone or two. Instead, she stands and stare in shunned silence! Then, upon coming across him, she goes oblivious of her surroundings, and simply connects with the pain and sheer disbelief of her husband. And, if such a scene enactment was achieved due to the director’s visualization and direction, then, this maestro is definitely a bearer of many hidden layers.

Jisshu Sengupta (Shivani’s husband) has a small and silent role. He is a Bengali movie star and this is his third Bollywood release. As for Tahir Bhasin, this is his second Bollywood release. He plays Junior, for whom the entire trafficking operation is just a big trade (read in hundreds of crores), no more, no less. And he will do anything to keep the tap running. He is young, urban, updated, sharp and well merges with the crowd. Even when he is constantly trying to ruthlessly harm/kill Shivani, somewhere he is appreciative of her courage and intelligence and can connect to her! Tahir Bhasin has impersonated this character very well. His acting is subtle but effective. Rest of the cast has also done well. Background music also well suits the mood of the movie.

Don’t miss the climax, wherein Rani Mukerji ably shows her martial art skills! Some real hard work this lass has done to get her teeth into the character.

Kick (25 Jul 2014)

Cast: Salman Khan, Jacqueline Fernandez, Randeep Hooda, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Mithun Chakraborty, Archana Puran Singh, Saurabh Shukla, Sanjay Mishra, Kavin Dave, Sumona Chakravarti

Director: Sajid Nadiadwala   Writer: Sajid Nadiadwala   Music: Himesh Reshammiya

Running Time: 146 minutes

Three good things about this movie –

a)     Salman Khan has shown effort and has incorporated method acting (though not throughout), instead of just banking upon his inimitable charm and loyal fan following. May be the fate and reviews of his last flick ‘Jai Ho’ have a lot to do with this.

b)    Salman Khan’s dress designers have input considerable effort and the result is apparent. With time, Salman has established his impeccable look, which is woven around imported jeans and jackets. And though they must cost a fortune, unlike in this flick, they kind of look the same in most of his flicks. As per the film credits, perhaps Ashley Rebello and Alvira Khan are to be applauded for the same. Only if they can spare the superstar with the ‘kurta’ on jeans combination. It makes him look aged!

c)     Though Nawazuddin Siddiqui enters pretty late in the movie, he steals the show with his portrayal of a whacko usurper. Displaying such confidence and not letting any slip-off in the character in front of Salman Khan is no mean feat. This is Nawazuddin’s first commercial biggie and he has done full justice to it.

Three not so good things about this movie –

a)     It’s apparent that both the lead actors – Salman and Jacqueline have put in considerable effort in their acting as well as their chemistry. But the ‘X’ factor in their chemistry is simply missing. In fact the only time, you can find the lady holding absolutely on to her own is while performing the small, titillating and extremely well choreographed and picturized dance number in the song ‘Jumme Ki Raat’.

b)    The movie plot starts with deep etched sorrow albeit etched in designer wear and picturesque foreign locale, then shifts to Punjabi style dysfunctional family humor, then dangles between ‘Krrish’ style robbery by vigilante and ‘Dhoom’ style cop and thief chase! All these flavors of film making are touched with good enough production design, art direction and casting. But none is pursued to it’s extremity. All these sub-plots, get you ready for the upcoming pulsating act, only to push you to an altogether different act!

c)     For sure, this movie is Salman’s debut as a method actor, or maybe he has simply followed the lead actor of the original Telugu 2009 release of the same name. But, his new style of acting is now and then penetrated by his old one, which bores unmistakable holes in the portrayal of such a complex character, as played by him in ‘Kick’.

Three technical mistakes in the movie –

a)     The protagonist’s wall is adorned with the degrees of a civil engineer, but he is always shown working and experimenting with chemicals!

b)    A ‘youtube’ bash up-and-preach video sequence of the protagonist is shown using the same camera angles and close ups as that of the film. How can a secret mobile video recording have different angles and close-ups?

c)     Prior to any kind of surgery, generally all traces of chemicals are removed from the patient’s body. But post the little girl’s surgery, while she gesticulates with her palm and beckons the protagonist, you can see clear traces of nail polish on her little finger.

Shaina (Jacqueline Fernandez) is a Poland based psychologist who is getting over her separation from her lover, Devi Lal Singh (Salman Khan). Due to family pressure for marriage, she meets a visiting Indian cop Himanshu Tyagi (Randeep Hooda). Pursue of ‘Devil’, a masterminded vigilante has brought Himanshu to Poland. This vigilante is sought by the Indian Police for his theft of few hundred crores of rupees in India. Both of them are unaware of the fact that Devi Lal and Devil are same.

Prior to becoming Devil, Devi Lal Singh was an extremely intelligent, muscular and do-gooder forty years old lad, who lead a happy-go-lucky life. He could pursue only those things in life, which gave him a ‘Kick’. Normal mundane routine (read – a regular job) bored him and he could never hold onto them. While performing a do-gooder act, a chance meeting with Shaina made him hooked to the lady. This initial one sided love gradually turned into a mutual one. During marriage planning stage, Shaina and her father (Saurabh Shukla) became dubious about Devi Lal’s capacity to earn and support a married life and hinted about him becoming a ‘ghar jamai’. This irked and hurted Devi Lal and it resulted into - his separation with his lady love, and his solemn oath to himself to thereupon devote his life in earning big money.

The movie then gradually unfolds few robberies with cat and mouse sequences between the Devil and the cops and the human reason behind Devi Lal’s becoming the Devil. One such grand robbery entwines the black money of a corrupt politician and his maniac nephew (Nawazuddin Siddiqui). Thereupon, they also get seriously involved with the cops till this chase is brought to an end.

The movie’s script is more or less point-to-point copy of the Telugu movie ‘Kick’ (2009). As a producer, in the past, Sajid Nadiadwala has given good hits with Salman Khan. His directorial debut in ‘Kick’ is an ok job. Screenplay could have been meatier and more seamless. Songs are good and a couple of them (Hangover) have been voiced by Salman Khan, who has made his debut as a singer with this film. Apart from the heroine, the casting is apt. As the leading lady, an Anushka Sharma would have better suited the role.

Jacqueline looks good and dresses with dignity. She has made good effort. But still has miles to go. Randeep Hooda has managed to hold his own in front of Salman Khan. A conscious but easy camaraderie can be seen between them. Rest of the star cast is pretty seasoned and they have delivered as expected. An item number by svelte Nargis Fakhri is good as well.

Though the movie unceremoniously shifts from one gear to another, it still has a rampant energy and star power of Salman Khan. It’s grand ‘Eid’ release with a well targeted ‘Jumme Ki Raat’ song will definitely give handsome box office returns. Last but not the least, don’t miss the impromptu ‘Saat samundar paar’ dance performance by Salman Khan towards the end. It’s totally ‘paisa vasool’.

Bobby Jasoos (4 Jul 2014)

Cast: Vidya Balan, Ali Fazal, Rajendra Gupta, Supriya Pathak, Tanvi Azmi, Benaf Dadachanji, Zarina Wahab, Arjan Bajwa, Kiran Kumar, Prasad Barve, Akash Dahiya, Tejas Mahajan

Director: Samar Shaikh   Writer: Sanyukta Chawla   Music: Shantanu Moitra

Running Time: 122 minutes

It seems that this film has been made with two primary objectives. Firstly, to encash a small budget meaningful cinema using the gem of an actor, Vidya Balan, thereby replicating the success of ‘Kahani’. Secondly, to showcase an under-represented Hyderabadi community in Bollywood cinema. May be the Hyderabad ties of the producers have something to do with this.

‘Kahani’ was a blockbuster because stalwart Vidya’s acting was well supported by strong script and direction. ‘Bobby Jasoos’ has Vidya in her full form. But the scripting needs a lot of fine tuning and the direction is average. In ‘Kahani’, Sujoy Ghosh presented Kolkata, ‘the city of joy’ like never before. In comparison, Samar Shaikh’s presentation of old Hyderabad is plain vanilla. In spite of the casting of all acclaimed actors as character artists, the required energy and richness in the scenes is missing.

The backdrop of the movie is the over populated Mughalpura region of old Hyderabad. Bilkis (Vidya Balan), the eldest daughter of the conservative Ahmed family is a self taught and self proclaimed detective aka ‘jasoos’. She has no formal training in this area. But she avidly watches the hindi detective serials and calls herself ‘Bobby Jasoos’. She gets mundane detective jobs and roams fearless in all nooks and corners of Mughalpura at all times.  In fact, she is the only one who takes her profession and her professional skills seriously till she is contacted by an elderly Anees Khan (Kiran Kumar). He maintains a rich but secretive personality and asks her to find three people, one after the other. For each endeavor, he pays her handsomely (a bit too much by her standards). But, as for the clues, he can only provide the name, age and birth mark of missing persons and not any photo. Bobby along with her working allies – Shetty (Prasad Barve), Munna (Akash Dahiya), Suhail (Tejas Mahajan), works on the assignments in her trademark ‘naïve but full-of-drama’ style. She gets success. But somewhere she gets suspicious of the whole operation and decides to unravel the root of the matter. Also, somewhere alongside she discovers mutual liking and love with Tasawur (Ali Fazal), a popular tv presenter who also lives in Mughalpura and assists her in her endeavors.

As expected, Vidya is flawless in her scenes. In her bid as the detective, she dons a wide range of makeovers – hobbling fakir, funny toothed palmist, fatso tv producer etc. She does a terrific job with each one of them. But most of these avatars simply zoom off the screen, without taking the required time and leaving the desired impact. Ali Fazal looks younger to her. But he acts well and matches her performance in the scenes where they are together. Arjan Bajwa (Lala) plays a goon and inspite of soorma and stubble, he looks like a hunk in all his scenes. His acting is nonchalant. As such, not many lines are given to him to deliver. Kiran Kumar has a substantial role and he could have made it impactful. Surprisingly, he did not. Instead, Supriya Pathak (Zebo, Bilkis’ mother) and Tanvi Azmi (Kausar, Bilkis’ khaala) have simple roles, but they leave impact! Rajendra Gupta (Bilkis’ father) and Benaf Dadachanji (Noor, Bilkis’ sister) are good as well. Rest are OK. Cinematography is good. Music is average. However, the number ‘Arziyaan de raha dil’ is good.

All in all, it’s a sweet and clean movie with Vidya occupying more than 90% of the screen time.

Ek Villain (27 Jun 2014)

Cast: Sidharth Malhotra, Riteish Deshmukh, Shraddha Kapoor, Remo Fernandes, Shaad Randhawa, Aamna Sharif, Kamal Rashid Khan, Prachi Desai

Director: Mohit Suri

As per the promos, the movie is supposed to be a suspense thriller. And the suspense is that there is no suspense! In fact, the movie ends in the interval and you witness a whole new style of filmmaking in the second half, which unravels the art of elongating a film without any remaining plot! Till the last climax, the movie buff in you will expect the appearance of some unexpected twist, something that will justify your sitting through the film’s second half. But the unraveling of the (nonexistent) mystery i.e. the disclosure of the identity of the assassin will only fill you up with the desire of banging your head to the nearest wall.

Guru (Sidharth Malhotra) is the angry, young man who works for a Goa based politician cum goon (Remo Fernandes). Aisha (Shraddha Kapoor) is the perennial miss goody-two-shoes who maintains a wish diary filled with the wishes pertaining to experiencing small pleasures and helping people. She makes the agenda of ‘saving Guru’s life’ from the pathos of darkness as her latest wish. She changes Guru. They fall in love, marry and come to Mumbai for a new life. Unfortunately, she gets killed by a serial killer. This devastates Guru. The merciless, angry man in him returns. His only agenda is to find the assassin and avenge the death of his beloved wife. His search leads him to Rakesh (Riteish Deshmukh), a telephone repair guy, who is tired of being shouted upon by his lady boss and his wife (Aamna Sharif) for being good-for-nothing. Though he remains quiet and submissive in front of them and the world in general, he vents out his ire by killing other women. The cat and mouse game starts between Guru and Rakesh, till one of them is thrown into the arms of death.

Apparently, the centre plot of the movie is inspired by the Korean movie ‘I Saw The Devil’. And, as it has happened may times before, in the attempt to Indianize the screenplay, by infusing song, emotions and drama, the essence of the suspense thriller is lost. It appears that Mohit Suri, the director started with something in mind and ended with something else. The cop (Shaad Randhawa) in the movie looks very intense and interested in the happenings. But on the whole, he serves no purpose! Instances of location change between Goa and Mumbai are not explanatory. You are required to guess them on your own. To justify the existence of the movie’s second half, the makers have tried to highlight the concept of ‘karmic circle’ i.e. ‘you reap what you saw’. And they have shown two such instances with each of the leading male protagonists. But it all gets lost in the mayhem.

Interestingly, the art of crafts (especially paper cutting) has been beautifully displayed in the movie. The heroine is shown to be a practitioner of the same and her wish diary as well as her cozy Mumbai nest look beautiful. Art Director has worked well on this. Music is average. However, the number ‘Galiyaan …’ is good.

Mohit Suri’s direction is kind of better than his earlier work. But somewhere he got confused with the storyline. Or, some serious meddling was done with his work. As expected, Sidharth looks very handsome. Surprisingly, he looks more comfortable in the action genre than his previous two flicks which projected him as the romantic hero. With this movie, Riteish has got the best role of his life, and he has done a good job. But with some more honed skills, he could have done wonders. Shraddha has a small role and she has done justice to it. Aamna Sharif is OK. Item number is done by Prachi Desai. By the time, it appears, you are so much in the hurry for the movie to end, that it comes across as highly unnecessary.

Humshakals (20 Jun 2014)

Cast: Saif Ali Khan, Riteish Deshmukh, Ram Kapoor, Bipasha Basu, Esha Gupta, Tamannah Bhatia, Satish Shah, Chunky Pandey, Akash Khurana, Darshan Jariwala

Director: Sajid Khan

A multi cast comedy with the three male protagonists in triple roles each and all of them being successful in their respective genres and media, gives you the natural expectation of a fun filled and light headed movie time. Instead, you watch the movie with exasperation as you witness the ‘fun’ element slipping out of most of the funny lines and comic expressions and you have a thumping headache calculating what all went wrong with the movie.

In order to obtain temporary rights to run billionaire Ashok’s (Saif Ali Khan) business empire, he and his friend (Riteish Deshmukh) are wrongfully sent to a mental asylum by his General Manager who also happens to be his Uncle (Ram Kapoor) aka ‘Mamaji’. The mental facility already holds all of their duplicates i.e. ‘humshakals’. They are child-like  Ashok (Saif), Kumar (Riteish) and third stage OCD (hygiene freak) patient Johnny (Ram). Attractive lady doctor Shivani (Esha Gupta) discovers that the former Ashok-Kumar duo are not mental and in her bid to release them, out of mistake, releases the latter duo, who are spotted by Ashok’s girlfriend Shanaya (Tamannah Bhatia) and taken to his home. Ashok’s sister like secretary Nikita (Bipasha Basu) is incidentally Kumar’s girlfriend and apparently stays in her boss’ home to manage all his affairs. The home also houses Ashok’s father who is in coma.

To add to this confusion, the original Ashok and Kumar also flee from the mental asylum and reach home, only to perform Sajid Khan’s mandatory multi cast night time dance in the deserted house! The original duo are caught and carried back by the asylum warden (Satish Shah). In the mental asylum, an attendant (Darshan Jariwala) introduces them to Johnny. Now ‘Mamaji’ is equipped with duplicates of original Ashok-Kumar in the house and original Ashok-Kumar are equipped with ‘Mamaji’s duplicate Johnny in the mental asylum. Both the original parties plan to use their valuable possessions in the shortly upcoming board meeting of Ashok’s company, so as to obtain the entire control of his business. The remaining movie caters to the implementation of their respective plans and an expected mayhem climax. Don’t even bother to understand the third role of each of the protagonists.

To start with, the movie has one of the weakest opening scenes. Also, herein Saif who is almost always impeccably dressed (a Tom Ford loyalist), sports an ill fitting and unappealing blazer! His house’s entrance is super rich, interiors are rich and the kitchen is poor (small in size and with metallic workareas)! There is absolutely no chemistry between Riteish and Bipasha, though Bipasha seem to be trying hard to establish some. Last but not the least, the scenes lack continuity and impact.

Only two well crafted long scenes bring about the Sajid Khan school of comedy. The one wherein the original dup try to escape from the mental asylum, and the other wherein all the three protagonists woo their own female versions. The movie is filled with smart pun intended one-liners. Though the deliverance of most of them fall flat in the face, none of them are cheap or repulsive.

For some reason, Riteish appears taller and broader than Saif in the movie! He has built good muscle and looks wiser than his early appearances. Also, this is his comfort genre, and he makes the best of it. With enough movie experience, now he is a pro at playing a seductress. In fact apart from his eyebrows, if dressed wisely in female gear, nothing will give away that he is a man! Saif has dared to experiment with a new genre, but he has miles to go before he can make hay out of it. However, he has worked hard to deliver. Ram is the surprise package. He is the only one who has maintained clear distinction amidst all his three roles. Also, in spite of his tall and bulky frame, when required, he does manage to look cute! All the three heroines basically fill the glam quotient. They somehow don’t appear in tandem with each other. However, it’s noteworthy that, you can see a hinting resemblance of Sophia Lauren in Bipasha and Angelina Jolie in Esha. Tamannah is very confidant. Satish Shah and Darshan Jariwala have small roles and Chunky Pandey has an even smaller one. They do make the required impact.

As usual, Sajid Khan has released his movie sans any competition. With no other A-lister new movie around to snatch the audience, and with the three protagonists aimed to attract all kinds of watchers – Saif for classes, Riteish for masses and Ram for TV watchers, the movie is bound to have a strong opening. But the audience is still waiting for Sajid to repeat his ‘Heyy Babyy’ magic.