Saheb Biwi aur Gangster

Saheb Biwi aur Gangster is another of the offbeat films this year (after Shaitan, Delhi Belly, Yeh Saali Zindagi) that prove that you don’t need superstars to keep you fixed to your seats though you may need them for good openings and record smashing collectionsJ.

Directed & co-written by the very talented Tigmanshu Dhulia (Haasil), Saheb Biwi aur Gangster is a quick paced thriller full of grey gun-toting characters that is set in the rustic rurals of UP with the caste politics as the backdrop. So you have Jimmy Shergill as Aditya/Saheb who is a Nawab only by title and has no money to maintain his nawabi lifestyle or his following. A major challenge to Saheb’s power is Gaindha Singh, a rising local goon of the ‘underprivileged class’ who now wants to beat the nawabs at their own game; a task for which he puts the ‘Gangster’ Lalit aka Babloo (Randeep Hooda) among Saheb’s household as his biwi’s driver. The nawab’s ‘Biwi’ (Mahie Gill) suffers from fits due to an incident when her lover was butchered in front of her by Saheb and his loyal one man army Kanhaiya (played brilliantly by Deep Raj Rana). Another character in this entire setup is Mahua (Shreya Narayan) who is the center point in Saheb’s life once there is nothing left between him & his biwi.

As expected, Babloo falls in love/lust with the biwi at first sight and slowly their relationship builds up to serious proportions, at least in Babloo’s mind who begins to plot against his own mentor Gaindha Singh first and then the Saheb. How he uses the rivalry between Saheb and Gaindha Singh to his own benefit and whether he finally succeeds in executing his plot forms the remaining story. The characters are built up quickly and the twists in the story are unexpected thanks to a tight screenplay with some really impressive dialogues which keep you glued to your seats in anticipation.

Though the starcast doesn’t boast of any big stars of Indian cinema and Mahie Gill being the only selling point for the movie, there is not a single dull moment in the entire span of 130+ minutes right from the minute the movie begins. In terms of performances, Jimmy Shergill perfectly fits the role of the new age nawab and in fact makes me wonder once again why he hasn’t seen more success in Hindi cinema though he has earned the tag of being a superstar in Punjabi movies. He is strong and vulnerable at the same time and his run-ins with Gaindha Singh boast of some awesome dialogues. Mahie Gill is good as the unstable biwi who oscillates between Babloo, her fits and her Saheb but can’t decide what she is happy with. Deepraj Rana as the loyal servant of Saheb is sincere and Vipin Sharma as Gaindha Singh is also marvelous though I never expected him in such a role after Taare Zameen Par. Deepal Shaw as Deepraj Rana’s daughter is irritating with her squeaky voice but Shreya Narayan as Saheb’s mistress is pretty good. However, the surprise package of the movie is certainly the gangster Randeep Hooda who does a phenomenal job starting out as a college kid and then slowly maturing into a scheming conniving scorned lover. The dialogues and his delivery of the same is raw and apt for the role that he portrays and at no point of time does he look uncomfortable. His acting skills are definitely a revelation if you compare with his earlier movies and at no point of time is he overshadowed by Jimmy Shergill.

The direction is slick and script is a powerhouse, the cinematography also adds to the entire setting of the movie and infact gives it a totally new dimension of reality. The only drawback of this movie is the lack of promotion and the fact that not many people are aware of who Tigmanshu Dhulia is which was not the case for a movie like Shaitan which had Anurag Kashyap as producer which ensure a good opening for the movie.

Only if some of our so called stars interested in serious cinema made or were associated with movies like this!

My Rating – 8/10
(Script - 9/10; Direction – 8/10; Performance – 9/10; Entertainment – 7/10; Music – 7/10)

Starring: Jimmy Shergill (Maachis, Haasil, Raqeeb), Mahie Gill (Dev D), Randeep Hooda (D, Risk)

Director: Tigmanshu Dhulia (Haasil, Shagird)

Producer: Tigmanshu Dhulia

Writer: Tigmanshu Dhulia (Haasil), Sanjay Chauhan (Maine Gandhi ko Nahi Maara, I am Kalam)

Music: Misc.

Delhi Belly

Another Aamir Khan production, another shrewdly publicized release, another claim to be ‘different’, another disappointment? Not really. As the thing about the master strategist Aamir Khan is that he does set the audience expectation w.r.t his movies perfectly and even sometimes plays with it to his own advantage. Delhi Belly is a clear example of this.

Delhi Belly is one of the few Hindi movies that’s not Hindi in content and language, though you do hear traces of it in between the abuses, but strangely doesn’t look like a misfit for the Indian audience. The story is about 3 room mates - Tashi (Imran Khan), Arup (Vir Das) and Nitin (Kunaal Roy Kapur), who because of Nitin’s ‘Delly Belly’ land up in a mess where they are hounded by a local don played excellently by Vijay Raaz. In between all the chaos, Imran Khan after getting engaged to his girlfriend almost gets killed by his friend’s/colleague’s maniacal husband who suspects her of being unfaithful. Whereas Vir Das gets dumped by his ‘chudail’ girlfriend and also does what every man wishes for…fearlessly abuse his boss! Kunaal during all this, only abuses his belly and Vir’s orange juice.

The movie begins with a Russian handing over a parcel to Imran’s girlfriend Shenaz Treasurywalla who in turns hands it over to Imran who asks Kunaal to deliver at given address but due to his upset belly gives it to Vir for delivery and that’s where the madness begins.

Overall the story is predictable though the treatment is unusual for a mainstream bollywood movie and that’s where the movie scores. There are some genuinely hilarious scenes like the one in the jewelery store when Vir Das in a burqa tries to prevent the cop looking at the security camera footage; also the scene where the ceiling cracks open with the girls leg stuck in between. On top of these is the brilliant musical score by Ram Sampath, most of the songs are there as background scores barring the Chudail song.  Even the much maligned song DK Bose is refreshing and lyrics are brilliant and Aamir’s item song is also well choreographed, much better than the recent item songs by shaalus & jalebi baisJ.

Performance wise, the show stealers are Ram Sampath and Abhinay Deo as the music composer and the directory respectively (especially considering Abhinay’s last outing as a director was AB baby starrer ‘GAME’). Imran Khan is average but better than his last couple of movies and looks at ease mouthing the dialogues in English. Kunaal  Roy Kapur manages a tough role pretty well and Vir Das with his blank stares and goofy looks is equally good. Vijay Raaz as the don is great and is surprisingly believable as a tough criminal though his physique may suggest otherwise.

Finally, a word about the language used in the movie about which a lot has already been shown in the promos and the suggestive songs. I think it was a brilliant ploy by Aamir Khan to get the right set of target audience into the theatres and keep the ones who will spread a negative word about the movie out and it seems to have worked out profitably. After watching the hinglish version, I didn’t really find it to be too abusive (though it is a bit gross due to the multiple toilet scenes) as compared to say an Omkara or few recent movies. It did not really make me uncomfortable watching the movie since I saw it with a friend because that’s how it was promoted, Watch it with a friend and not family; whereas movies with crude humour sometimes turn out to be an embarrassment as you turn up with your family.

Definitely a must watch …but only onceJ.

My Rating – 8/10
(Script - 7/10; Direction – 8/10; Performance – 7/10; Entertainment - 8/10; Music – 9/10)

Starring: Imran Khan (Jaane Tu…, Kidnap), Vir Das (Badmaas Company), Kunaal Roy Kapur (Loins of Punjab Presents), Vijay Raaz(Monsoon Wedding, Run), Poorna Jagannathan

Director: Abhinay Deo (Game)

Producer: Aamir Khan (Lagaan, Taare Zameen Par, Jaane Tu…, Dhobhi Ghat, Peepli Live)

Writer: Akshat Verma

Music: Ram Sampath (Khakee, Peepli Live)

SHAITAN

Move over the SRK-Chopra-Johar Camp and the now extinct RGV Factory, here is another school of cinema that will simply blow you away. If Black Friday was on a National tragedy, DEV D another take on a classic, Gulaal on caste politics, Udaan for the so called ‘critics’; SHAITAN is an uncompromising in-your-face thriller inspired by real life news stories.

SHAITAN is a rare movie that delivers all that it promises and much more. Produced by Anurag Kashyap, the expectations were obviously high since his last production Udaan was one of the best of 2010, if not THE best; however my doubts lay in the brilliant promos that were too good to be true and on the lines of some of the recent wannabe YRF ‘youth’ films. Directed by first timer Bejoy Nambiar, Shaitan is about Kalki (as Amy), who with her father & stepmother shifts to India from US and has never got over the death of her mother who she thinks is locked up in a mental asylum. She befriends Gulshan (as KC) - a rich businessman’s son, Shiv (as Dushyant) – part time waiter & part time drug supplier, Neil (as Zubin) – a geeky student & Kirti (as Tanya) – a struggling actor. In one of their recklessness night out and in a moment of madness they set out on a path of deceit and self destruction trying to conquer their own inner demons. Another protagonist of the movie is a cop, Arvind Mathur, played by Rajeev Khandelwal who cannot tolerate injustice to women and because of it often ends up on the edge of the law. He also has his own issues and a divorce to battle.

Shaitan is loosely inspired from a few recent news headlines but extremely well scripted and directed that it all comes out as a marvelous piece of ‘dark’ cinema. Top of the list is the background music by Prashant Pillai which is whacky and truly gives the movie a totally new dimension and zing. The cinematography and the camerawork is topnotch, infact, some of the scenes are brilliantly shot and extremely original. One of the high points of the movie is the scene where you can actually see both the background score and the camerawork combine together to give you a version of the golden hit ‘Khoya Khoya Chand’ that you will never ever expect and forget (unfortunately it cannot be downloaded due to copyright issuesL). The songs are good as well, probably not the quality of Dev D, but certainly well integrated into the movie and situation. And unlike most other dark movies, this does boast of some really humorous scenes which depict how well the script has been written such that it makes it entertaining as well as thoughtful.

About performances, Kalki as the disturbed Amy is first rate and proves that Dev D wasn’t just a flash in the pan. Gulshan looks perfect as the rich, arrogant & crazy KC, Neil after enacting Shayan Munshi in ‘No One Killed Jessica’ is decent as geeky Zubin, Kirti also does well as Tanya. But it is Shiv Pandit who really looks the silent shaitan (devil) as the mysterious Dushyant who leads them from one situation to another. Rajeev Khandelwal, again proves after Aamir, that he has it in him to make it big in movies after ruling the television arena, hopefully he won’t go the SRK way doing clumsy trying to be serious films but continue to do these offbeat and hard hitting ones. Supporting cast led by Rajit Kapoor is also apt and Raj Kumar Yadav also puts in a good performance after ‘LSD’ as the corrupt cop who starts it all. Nikhil Chinappa as Rajeev’s sidekick surprisingly does well as the tough cop and breaks the trend set by fellow VJ Rannvijay of doing bad filmsJ.

A lot has been said about Shaitan being inspired by Anurag Kashyap’s unreleased debut movie ‘Paanch’, stuck in cans thanks to the Censor Board. If at all that is the case, I just pray that ‘Paanch’ gets released soon maybe not theatrically but on YouTube or DVDs. I can’t imagine how brilliant that movie could be directed by Mr. Kashyap himself if Shaitan is this awesome. One special mention, it was RGV who successfully introduced Anurag Kashyap to Hindi Movies and who in turn is mentoring such trendsetting writers/directors; hopefully RGV will realize how good he was and go back and make movies like Satya again after trash like Agyaat! Also hope that Anurag doesn't become obsessed with making movies around drugs as RGV was with the Underworld!

PS – do notice presence of Mr. Abhishek Bachchan in one & only significant movie in his life till date thanks to an Idea adv. in the background:P! (Apologies to the AB jr. fans, just could not stop myself noticing this!)

My Rating – 9/10
(Script - 9/10; Direction – 9/10; Performance – 9.5/10; Entertainment - 9/10; Music – 9/10)

Starring: Rajeev Khandelwal (Aamir), Kalki (Dev D), Shiv Pandit, Gulshan, Neil Bhoopalam (No One Killed Jessica), Kirti

Director: Bejoy Nambiar

Producer: Anurag Kashyap (Dev D, Udaan, Gulaal), Sunil Bohra

Writer: Bejoy Nambiar, Megha Ramaswamy

Music: Ranjit Barot (Teen They Bhai), Prashant Pillai (City of God)

Teen Thay Bhai

‘Teen Thay Bhai’ is a rare example of big screen adaptation of an acclaimed play gone wrong, assuming we don’t consider Action Replay as an adaptation of some play but a cheap rip off of Back to the Future. Based on a stage play ‘Mad Madder Maddest’ originally written by the scriptwriters of the movie themselves, it’s a story of 3 brothers who can’t stand each other for a second but have been left a strange will by their grandfather that forces them to stay together for a single day every year in his secluded house in the snowy hills for 3 consecutive years.

The movie starts with the 3 brothers fighting a thunderstorm to reach the house on the hill to spend the 3^rd & final day so that they can lay claim to the property left by their grandfather. The 3 brothers played by Om Puri (Chiksy Gill), Deepak Dobriyal (Happy Gill) and Shreyas Talpade (Fancy Gill) have a struggle of a life of their own, with each one desperate to get some money that is left behind. Chiksy has 3 overweight daughters to marry off and a nagging wife to deal with, while Happy is a dentist who has only one answer for all his patients – shifting pain. Fancy is a struggling wannabe Hollywood actor acting in Punjabi films and speaks almost through the entire movie in a hangover of Javed Jaffrey’s character form Salaam Namaste. All 3 characters as the names suggest are hilarious, with each actor getting into the skin of them effortlessly; obviously if you have actors as good as these that is the least you expect. The setting looks largely like a stage and takes away the ‘cinema’ experience at the start itself. The first half mostly works in establishing the struggles each of them face and their first interaction when they meet at the deserted house in the snowstorm. Some moments are actually funny and would appeal more if you understand a bit of Punjabi or have met the loud Punjabi uncles, if not then you can simply watch Om Puri and satisfy yourself.

The problem however lies in the second half. It looks as if the movie has simply stopped and you are watching the repeat jokes of first half again, giving ample hints that the scriptwriters didn’t know what to do now. Thought I haven’t seen the play it’s based on, but going by the movie it looks as if the entire play mostly consisted of the first half where the entire setting was in the deserted house but as soon as the script moves out of the house in the second half, the plot is lost and the adaptation goes for a toss. There are a couple of moments in between when you feel for the characters when they discuss their differences and the source of hatred for each other but they simply fail to lift the second half. Yograj Singh (yes, Mr. World Cup Yuvraj Singh’s father) plays the one-eyed grandfather who appears in flashbacks, while Ragini Khanna (Govinda’s niece) also does a cameo as Dipak Dobriyal’s love interest. Both look fit for the role and do a commendable job in probably their first appearance in a Hindi movie.

The music by Ranjit Barot & Sukhwinder Singh is good and the Daler Mehndi track is really catchy. In terms of performances, all 3 put in their best and try and lift the movie on their own with their comic timing. Deepak Dobriyal again proves his acting prowess after Tanu Weds Manu while Shreyas Talpade actually does a good job of the little Punjabi that he tries. Om Puri is a natural as the loud Punjabi uncle. Direction could have been much better especially the second half but I think it is the script which is a big letdown. The plot had a lot of scope and could have been exploited greatly to keep the audience engaged but it just doesn’t move beyond initial setting and you know from the start itself where the movie is gonna end.

My Rating - 5/10
(Script - 3/10; Direction – 3/10; Performance – 9/10; Entertainment - 4/10; Music – 6/10)

Starring: Om Puri (Ardh Satya, Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro), Deepak Dobriyal (Tanu Weds Manu, Omkara), Shreyas Talpade (Iqbal, Dor), Ragini Khanna, Yograj Singh

Director: MrigDeep Singh Lamba

Producer: Rakeysh Om Prakash  Mehra (Delhi 6, Rang De Basanti)

Writer: Gautam Mehra, Mehul Suri

Music: Ranjit Barot (Aks, Fiza), Sukhwinder Singh (Iqbal, Black & White)

Tanu weds Manu

Tanu weds Manu is a movie with a unique & unlikely lead pair in the versatile R. Madhavan & Kangana Ranaut who has largely succeeded in edgy roles in movies like Gangster, Raaz 2 where she has been in an inebriated state for most part of the movie. It was reminiscent of the lead pair of Mallika Sherawat & Rahul Bose in 'Pyaar ke side effects' which was a big hit; however coming from a director, Aanand Rai, with 2 unsuccessful previous outings in ‘Thoda Life Thoda Magic’ & ‘Strangers’ expectations were not great. Going by the promos it did look like another romantic comedy with a couple of hit songs and some drama thrown at the end.

Surprisingly the movie is not as simple as expected and certainly is one of those movies with an unpredictable screenplay and well planned twists. Madhavan (Manu) plays a simple doctor from UK who reaches India and is straight away on a bride hunt courtesy his parents and his childhood friend played by Deepak Dobriyal. The first girl he meets is Kangana (Tanu) who sleeps off during this meeting and Manu agrees for marriage, later realizing that Tanu loves someone else and threatens him to say a NO which he does being a thorough gentleman . What follows are some predictable scenes and introduction of few more characters like that of Jimmy Shergill, Swara Bhaskar & Eijaz Khan. As expected Tanu & Manu meet again at their respective friends’ wedding. Does the simple & honest Manu finally win over Tanu who is a complete rebel brat and believes in changing boyfriends but not marriage; forms the rest of the story.

Before the movie even begins you know how it will end, but what makes this movie different as compared to most Hindi Rom-Coms is how it gets there. If you think that midway you have figured out the movie you are deeply mistaken, every other seen is unanticipated and infact this movie is a great test for the people who like guessing the chain of events in a movie. What is particularly impressive is the characterization of the 2 leads and Deepak Dobriyal, Eijaz Khan & Swara Bhaskar and the locations. The cinematography is brilliant and can’t recall a movie in which the cities of Lucknow/Kanpur have been shown so beautifully yet very real. Like the recent successes in past, this movie also benefits from the middle class feel. Most of the songs are in the background and also are a job well done.

Performance wise the trio of supporting actors is brilliant & in top form, especially Deepak Dobriyal as Pappi. He is a show stealer and really keeps the viewer engrossed with his antics. Jimmy Shergill is his usual self – reliable; and puts in a powerful performance. Madhavan plays his role to perfection but the flaw lies in the character itself. It is too one dimensional and the Mr. Nice act sometimes reaches the point of irritation though cute initially.

The BIGGEST problem of the movie lies in person who was likely to benefit from this movie the most, Kangana Ranaut. This movie finally should prove to everyone that this lady CAN NOT act, no matter how good the character may be. The dialogue delivery, the expressions, the accent are totally messed up and from the first scene itself makes you cringe in your seat (actually the second, she doesn’t speak in her first scene :P). Even the make-up is overdone and there is something seriously wrong with her lips, soon people may start calling her Kangana Ran’honth’. Also, the character of Tanu seems a little inspired from Geet of ‘Jab We Met’ but again the difference probably lies in the skill of the 2 actresses.

Overall a movie that can be seen once for Madhavan & Deepak Dobriyal though you will have to bear the torture met out by Kangana & quite a few loopholes in the script, but certainly a movie that for me was better than expected, much better than the Rom-Coms trashed out by YRF/KJo & clones like Break ke Baad, etc. exception being Band Bajaa Baraat...

 My Rating - 7/10
(Script - 6/10; Direction – 8/10; Performance – 7/10 (3/10 for Kangana); Entertainment - 8/10; Music – 8/10)

Starring: R. Madhavan (RHTDM, 3 Idiots, Guru), Kangana Ranaut (Gangster, No Problem), Deepak Dobriyal (Omkara, Delhi 6), Eijaz Khan (mostly tv serials),

Director: Aanand Rai (Thoda Life Thoda Magic, Strangers)

Producer: Sanjay Singh

Writer: Himanshu Sharma (Strangers)

Music: Krsna (Debut)

The Fighter

Going by the title and the few trailors I had seen, The Fighter looked like another movie based on a sport that has been topic of many great English movies and probably exploited to the core, Boxing; with the evergreen theme of triumph of the underdog. However, once the movie begins you soon realize it’s not only about the brutal sport but more than that about the relationship between 2 brothers, a man fighting with himself and a complex family.

Based on the real life story of welterweight professional boxer Micky Ward and his half brother Dicky Ward who is a ‘crack’ addicted former boxer and also Micky’s trainer/coach, the first thing that strikes you when the movie begins is the use of cameras of probably the same era that the movie is set in which gives it an entirely authentic feel. The movie begins with filming of an HBO documentary on Dicky which he believes is about his career and also shows him coaching his brother Micky who is following in his brother’s footsteps. The problem however is that no matter how much both brothers respect & love each other Dicky can’t overcome his crack addiction and focus on coaching his brother for whom it’s now or never to make it big. When instead of facing his planned opponent Micky is forced by Dicky & his mother (also manager) to fight a boxer 18 pounds heavier, he ends up defeated, humiliated and considers giving up boxing for good. He finds solace in his girlfriend Charlene (Amy Adams) who pushes him to focus and resume training but without his brother & mother leading to a situation where Dicky gets arrested and Micky, a broken hand. Charlene also gets on the wrong terms with Micky’s family of 7 wacky sisters & mother as obviously for them she is the one breaking up the close knit family - there is actually a fist fight between Charlene and the sisters.

Under the guidance of new coach & manager, Micky resumes his boxing career, but whether he makes it big without his brother is for you to go & see. It is a movie driven by performances, the plot is based on a real story and so obviously is believable but what stands out in the movie is how delicately the close relationships are shown between the characters and their struggles with the same.

Amy Adams as Charlene & Melissa Leo as Micky’s mother are brilliant in their roles and lend a great deal of depth to the characters, especially Melissa who is the MAN of the family sometimes and a vulnerable mother the next. Mark Wahlberg as Micky Ward is good and does a restraint act, his physique clearly shows how hard he has worked for this role. But the show stealer for me is undoubtedly Christian Bale as Dicky Ward. After playing the action man in movies like Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, Terminator Salvation, etc. I expected Bale to play the central character of Micky Ward but the way he has portrayed Dicky is unbelievably believable. From the first scene itself you can tell that there is something wrong with this guy, it’s all there in his body language - the way he speaks, the constant shifting, the nervousness & even the blank stares. His accent is heavily Irish and also the amount of weight he must have lost showcases how seriously he has taken this challenging role and done complete justice to it. At no point in the movie can you see the ‘Batman’ in Bale and for me that is a true mark of a great actor – the ability to move on from one strong role to another without a hint of the previous character.

The fights are also great and shot like the actual fights. The movie has some great moments, few of these are when Melissa catches Dicky running away after she catches him junking and then breaks down in the car with Dicky. Another scene that gives you the jitters is when the entire Ward family (Dicky in jail, Micky at his home, mother & 7 sisters together) watch the HBO documentary that Dicky believed was about him but turns out to be one on Crack addiction. The climax is humbling and watch out particularly for Bale & Wahlberg – another great moment.

One confession I have is that I still don’t know who ‘The Fighter’ in the movie is, whether it is Mark Wahlberg as the struggling boxer or Christian Bale as the struggling crack addict. Going by the Oscar nominations, it does seem that Bale is the supporting actor and Wahlberg is the lead which is probably a good thing for Bale as I feel he deserves the Oscar for this and being the Best Actor category would have pitted him against Colin Firth who also deserves Oscar for The King’s Speech.

PS – by the time you would have read this, the OSCAR results would be out, but still ALL D BEST, Mr. BALE.

My Rating - 8/10
(Script - 7/10; Direction – 8/10; Performance – 9.5/10; Entertainment - 8/10; Music – 7/10)

Starring: Christian Bale (Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, The Prestige), Mark Wahlberg (Max Payne, The Departed), Amy Adams (Leap Year), Melissa Leo

Director: David O. Russell (Three Kings)

Producer: various

Writer: Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy, Eric Johnson

Music: Michael Brook (Road, Movie)

7 Khoon Maaf

Expectations!!!

This is what defines, for me, the failure or success of a movie in today’s times. Setting the expectations correctly should be the new success mantra. How many movies in the past few years that were ‘not so bad’ have turned out to be mega disasters at the box office simply because the expectations were sky high due to the names/brands associated with those movies.

7 Khoon Maaf (7KM), based on a short story by Ruskin Bond (Susanna’s Seven Husbands), almost falls in this category. Boasting of names like Naseeruddin Shah, Irrfan Khan, Annu Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, Neil Nitin Mukesh, … John Abraham in order of acting abilities and headed by Vishal Bhardwaj as director & music composer; one expected the movie to be a gripping version of the short story authored by one of India’s iconic writers. Adding to this, the fact that Vishal Bhardwaj is one of the very few directors in the world who has made commercially & critically brilliant movies based on some of the best literary pieces in the world – Omkara, Maqbool, apart from these pieces of art, he also has one of the best career defining cult movies for an actor to his credit – Kaminey.

The movie starts with Susanna (Priyanka) shooting herself and the remaining story, like many other recent Hindi movies, is narrated in flashback; in this case by Vivaan Shah (Naseer’s real life youngest son) who plays the role of Arun, a son like figure to Susanna and a witness to most of her life. Susanna is shown as a girl in constant search of true love since her mother died at a young age and in the process getting married 7 times. Her first husband, Neil Nitin Mukesh, is an army Major who loses his leg in battle and starts suspecting his wife. Later when he learns that he may not be able to father a child his frustration results in him blinding his horse keeper in a fight. These events trigger the urge in Susanna & her team of her butler, maid & horse keeper to remove the Major from their path which happens during a panther hunting expedition. Susanna then gets married to a small time musician, Jimmy aka Shamsher (John) whom she happens to meet during the Major’s funeral. They get married and John starts to climb the ladders of success with hit songs which Susanna later finds out are not his, but his earlier band mate’s. What Susanna also learns is that John is cheating on her & a drug addict. She brings him to her house and tries to treat his addiction but soon realizing that it’s all a waste. So she decides to take the ‘only’ way out, kill him.

Her third husband, Musafir (Irrfan Khan), is a poet in Kashmir who is calm, serene & thoughtful but a complete opposite at night when he becomes a woman dominating monster who needs his dose of violence to arouse himself. Susanna bears the violence for few nights, but then decides to end this marriage as well not by leaving him but through murder. The fourth husband turns out to be a Russian spy/double agent who as Susanna later discovers is two timing her which as expected leads to his death by Susanna’s pet snakes. Annu Kapoor, who is earlier shown as the inspector who investigates John’s murder and later as an officer from intelligence bureau investigating the Russian spy’s murder, becomes Susanna’s 5^th husband and soon dies due to an overdose of Viagra, thanks to his wife. Naseeruddin Shah, a brilliant doctor, is the sixth husband who saves Susanna from dying after she tries to commit suicide. One night she is attacked by a masked man who she suspects to be her husband, later when her butler dies by consuming poisoned soup prepared by Naseer, her suspicion is confirmed leading to another murder.

These are the six murders in short, seventh murder & husband is a mystery and I will not reveal it here. Would advise you to go and check it out yourself as the movie certainly deserves a watch; however, the disappointing part for me is the screenplay. It seems like a clear lift & shift of the original short story (which I haven’t read yet) and the entire movie till the last 20 minutes is predictable, straight & unexpectedly BORING, something I would never have associated with a genius called Vishal Bhardwaj. Watching Priyanka in all the different avatars & her husband and their similar stories made me actually remember What’s Your Rashee? Each of the six stories follows similar pattern of love, song, disappointment, hatred & murder. Agreed that this is how the original piece of work may have been, but the screenplay & direction could certainly have added another dimension and keep the audience engaged which is exactly what Vishal had done in his earlier movies.

In terms of performances, Naseeruddin Shah, Irrfan Khan, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Annu Kapoor are their usual reliable self and couldn’t have done anything more in their limited screen time & roles. John, I think probably had the most scope for a performance than any of the husbands, but he could not do a Shahid’s Kaminey here and is just average. Priyanka Chopra was ok, though I think she could have done much better portraying a woman right from the age of 20+ to 50+, but the nuances in body language, etc were missing. Vivaan Shah makes an impressive debut but I did not really like his voice over. Cinematography is very good and fits the dark tone of the movie perfectly. The music by Vishal Bhardwaj is brilliant and gels well with the feel of the movie, the song O mama is a gem and distinctly different from the recent hits, though the background score could have added a lot more to the feel of the movie. One thing to note is the make-up. For some strange reason, the make-up is not consistent, for eg. In the opening scene Vivaan Shah looks really old, but in the next with his wife looks pretty young.

In all, a movie worth watching once, but don’t expect A VISHAL BHARDWAJ film and you won’t be as disappointed. There would be few people who would love this movie as it’s ‘different & Vishal Bhardwaj’s’ but somehow it didn’t click well for me despite being few of the people who actually liked Dhobi Ghat.

PS – I think Aishwarya Rai would have suited Susanna’s role better instead of Priyanka, and NO I am NOT an Aishwarya fan. But she seems to be doing all roles trying hard to seduce people, so this one would fit in well!

My Rating - 6/10
(Script - 5/10; Direction – 6/10; Performance – 6/10; Entertainment - 5/10; Music – 8.5/10)

Starring: Priyanka Chopra (Fashion, Kaminey, Dostana), Naseeruddin Shah (Sparsh, Iqbal, A Wednesday), Irfan Khan (Haasil, The Namesake, Yeh Saali Zindagi), Neil Nitin Mukesh (Johnny Gadar, New York), John Abraham (Jism, Dostana, New York), Annu Kapoor (Tezaab, Hum), Vivaan Shah (Debut)

Director: Vishal Bhardwaj (Kaminey, Omkara, Maqbool)

Producer: Vishal Bhardwaj & Ronnie Screwala

Writer: Vishal Bhardwaj (Ishqiya, Omkara)& Matthew Robins (Bingo, Blood Brothers)

Music: Vishal Bhardwaj (Maachis, Satya, Maqbool)

Yeh Saali Zindagi

Despite being a diehard Salman Khan fan and an Aamir Khan admirer, this movie made me realize that probably the best ‘Khan’ among all could possibly be Irfan Khan. This movie is entirely his and he is well supported by the not so new guy Arunoday Singh and a crackling script which keeps you glued to the screen from start till the end.

This movie marks a clear deviation from the tried and tested formula of most Indian movies; the narration, the pace, the dialogues and the screenplay are the clear winners for me in this movie. From the beginning till the time end credits roll you don’t know what’s going to happen next in the movie. It has 2 parallel tracks of love which don’t cross path till the interval and unlike other movies both the stories are narrated by the respective man of each track. One track has Irfan Khan, who works for Saurabh Shukla and earns him profit in crores but decides to leave him after falling for Chitrangada Singh, however later realizing that he has been cheated. All through the movie, Irfan Khan struggles to come out of his love for Chitrangada and every time you think/pray he has got over her there is a twist. The second track has Arunoday Singh (Kuldeep), a small time goon who is about to be released from jail where he has been working for Bade (Yashpal Sharma) and the corrupt cop Satbeer (Sushant Singh). Kuldeep’ wife Shanti (Aditi Rao - yes, the aunt from Delhi-6) gets a makeover in this movie and as one of my friends mentioned before I saw the film, you keep thinking what exactly did the director tell her about the role when he offered her the same, as most of her screen time is used in fighting and then making up with her husband which does go well with the overall script however.

The movie starts with Arun (Irfan Khan) realizing that he has been shot and the entire movie after that till the climax is in flashback mode. It’s difficult to club this movie into a particular genre but the best I can do is label it as a cult-crime-comedy-thrilller. The way the characters are introduced into the movie is really unique and actually helpful because of the number of characters involved. It does help pace the first half well, which otherwise would have made it really sluggish. The second half is when the two tracks of Irfan Khan & Arunoday Singh intersect and from there on it’s a roller coaster ride with the viewer continuously on his toes trying to guess the how they land up where the movie started.

In terms of performances, I need not mention anything more about Irfan Khan, he is a powerhouse. Arunoday Singh proves in this movie that he didn’t need any ‘quota’ to get into movies, something which his grandfather Arjun Singh promoted strongly for educational institutes, but this guy looks really comfortable and natural as Kuldeep and carries the parallel track almost entirely on his shoulders. Chitrangada Singh has nothing much to do, though I did find her accent a bit strange & irritating. Aditi Rao is fresh and does her job well. The supporting cast led by some of my favorite character actors like Sushant Singh, Saurabh Shukla, Yashpal Sharma, etc. is simply brilliant, they all in fact are provided some great in depth character sketches and are very unlike supporting casts of most Indian movies. Credit for this should entirely goto the director Sudhir Mishra who has also written the screenplay/story and has co-written the dialogues which again are very apt and real (though I did find the abuses a little too many). Another highlight of YSZ are the real locations where most of movie has been shot, they give the authentic feel and add to the dialogues, story and performances tremendously.

In all, a movie worth watching at least once, especially for Irfan Khan and Sudhir Mishra’s genius. The movie has some really good moments with the opening scene and the climax standing out.

My Rating - 8/10
(Script - 8/10; Direction – 9.5/10; Performance – 8/10; Entertainment - 7/10; Music – 7/10)

Starring: Irfan Khan  (Life…in a metro, Haasil, The Namesake), Arunoday Singh (Sikander, Aisha, Mirch), Chitrangada Singh (Hazaron Khwaishein Aisi, Sorry Bhai), Aditi Rao Hydari (Delhi-6) & an awesome support cast

Director: Sudhir Mishra (Hazaron Khwaishein Aisi, Chameli)

Producer: Prakash Jha (Turning 30, Dil Dosti, etc)

Writer: Sudhir Mishra (Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron, Hazaron Khwaishein Aisi, Dharavi)

Music: Nishat Khan, Abhishek Ray

127 Hours

2 years back when Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire came out in India most of my B-school friends & colleagues, like the Americans & audiences world over, were all gung ho about the movie and recommending it to everyone. However, for some reason I found it to be a good movie but never deserving of all those Oscars (I did have my roommate who shared similar views, if I remember correctly) and the less I say about the performances of the lead pair the betterJ.

So when I went to see 127 Hours, which like Danny Boyle’s last release had got rave reviews and already nominated for the Oscars in various categories, I had my share of doubts. The movie, inspired/based on a real life incident, stars James Franco who I think is one of the best upcoming actors in recent times and this movie would certainly be a landmark in his career (I may sound like an old seasoned actor here… but I am not trying to beJ).  Music is by AR Rahman, and again like the movie I found it to be better than Slumdog Millionaire’s background score, reason could be the same – I probably just didn’t find Slumdog.. live up to its expectation & hype that was generated. The music score was fresh and gelled extremely well with the stunning visuals of the Canyon in Utah, US.

The movie starts with Franco (Aron Ralston) starting on his solo trekking adventure in Blue John Canyon in Utah without informing anyone of where he is heading on Friday night. During the trip his chance meeting with 2 girls in the canyon leads to one of the best scenes in the movie – the drop in the underground water cave. It’s simply breathtaking and gives a great impression of things to come in terms of visuals. After bidding goodbye to the 2 ladies, he resumes his solo adventure and while exploring one of the ‘cracks’ in the earth gets his hand trapped in a boulder. The next 70minutes show how Aron spends his 127hours stuck in that fissure and this is where the talent of James Franco & Danny Boyle is at full display & at their best.

Just imagine an actor being told that you would be the only person on screen for a one full hour and that too at just one place, no movement of your feet, not even a step; no lush locales, no beautiful women around, no sad-depressing songs, no English styles curtains/mansions (Mr. Bhansali), just nothing. I think it would elicit 2 extreme reactions from the actor, either he would want one of the above things included or he would be simply fired up and raring to go. That James Franco has given an Oscar worthy performance is obvious in the moment he gets trapped. But the highlight of his performance is the scene where he creates an interview like situation and enacts the part of the host, himself & a caller. Its truly hilarious and you end up laughing your heart out even in such a tense situation and the next moment you are again overcome by the protagonist’s position.

Adding to this is the fact that it’s based on a true story which brings in the ‘realism’ to the cinema and the direction of Danny Boyle is top notch. The method with which he has combined the real with the hallucinations that Aron goes through is just marvelous and truly shows how brilliant he is. As an audience it becomes so much easier to understand the suffering that Aron's going through stuck in that place for 127 hours without food & eventually water and how he tries his best to survive knowing fully well that there is minimal hope.

The climax some may find to be a little gross but again that was the reality and it had to be shown; it is something you would have expected/known but it still makes you uncomfortable in your seat. The ending is also well shot & directed and you do get to see the real Aron alive & kicking.

And yes, it’s a must watch for all the adventure/trek freaks, specially one of my dearest friends who goes on adventure trips all over the country all ALONE…!! Dude- even Aron doesn’t do it anymoreJ. Also, some of the really faint hearted may not like the climax as I realized today after discussing with a friend.

PS – please don’t make the mistake of buying popcorns in the interval that I did. It was extremely difficult to munch on them quietly due to first, the silence & later the scenes in the movieL. Sorry to friends who came to see it with meL.

My Rating - 9/10
(Script - 8/10; Direction – 9.5/10; Performance – 9.5/10; Entertainment - 9/10; Music – 9/10)

Starring: James Franco (Spiderman Series, Milk, etc) & others…

Director: Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire, Trainspotting, The Beach, etc)

Producer: Danny Boyle & Others

Writer: Danny Boyle, Simon Beaufoy, Aron Ralston (based on his book)

Music: A.R. Rahman