Raanjhanaa Movie Gallery, Preview

A love triangle with a tad too many 'a's in the title for our liking, Raanjhanaa claims to be a story of true love.
Kundan (Dhanush) has been in love with Zoya (Sonam Kapoor) ever since he was eight.
At the age of 13, he confesses his love, but Zoya brushes it aside as a childish crush.

She goes to college in Delhi and meets and falls in love with a budding politician Akram (Abhay Deol).

But there are complications, and she returns to Benaras where she confesses her feelings to her 'friend' Kundan and asks for his help.

Gippi Bollywood Movie Review

Bollywood Friday: It's zombie comedy 'Go Goa Gone' vs teenage drama 'Gippi'

Review: Gippi is a mini version of Student Of The Year - See more at:

Cast: Riya Vij, Jayati Modi, Arbaaz Kadwani, Taaha Shah, Doorva Tripathi, Divya Dutta

Director: Sonam Nair

Gippi Movie Review
Bollywood's awakening to the age of teens, and the in-between individuals who live in this zone, is a fairly new thing. Gippi takes the genre further down the road with its 14-year-old protagonist, more tween than teen. Gippi is roly poly, likes jiving to Shammi Kapoor songs, and thinks nothing of snacking between meal-times. She keeps her mom in good humour, fights with her younger brother Booboo, and is happy with her best friend. Then, like all teenagers, she finds a crush and a contest, and that's when Gippi finds who she really is.

You know where this film is going when you see this beetle-browed young girl being the butt of jokes in class and outside. You know that this is a coming-of-age, and it is a genre that you never tire of, because growing up can mean so many new, wondrous things. The problem is when the tale is neither new, nor wondrous. Gippi takes its cues from the madly popular Mean Girls and Gossip Girl: actually, not just cues, but entire templates. So school becomes a place for vicious fights between the overweight, unpopular Gippi and the very svelte, very mean Shamira (Modi), where a tussle between the two for the position of head girl plays out more like who will be prom queen.

The actors, most of them fresh young faces, all have promise. The scenes between Gippi and her single, working, middle-class mom (Dutta), and brother (Kadwani) have real sweetness. Vij as Gippi is both vulnerable and believable. The trouble is not so much with the performers but with what they are asked to do in an idiom borrowed from American teen dramas: they all, except for one or two, speak Hindi with effort, telling us they'd be more at home in English. The bitchy Miss Ambitious is like so many attitude-striking Hollywood teen queens. I'm sure there are kids like this, who model themselves on popular characters in TV sitcoms, but what's the point of seeing them in a Hindi film? This comes off as a mini version of the Karan Johar-directed Student Of The Year, which was itself derivative.

'Singham' Bollywood Movie Review

Cast: Ajay Devgn, Kajal Aggarwal, Prakash Raj

Director: Rohit Shetty

A few minutes into 'Singham', Ajay Devgan emerges from a holy lake, dressed only in a red dhoti and flaunting his pumped-up physique. He walks into camera in slow motion, his torso still wet, that six-pack visible from as far as the Moon.

This 80s-style actioner sees Devgan star as Bajirao 'Singham', an upright cop in a small village on the outskirts of Goa who dispenses his own unique brand of justice, which includes leaping in the air and landing a hard whack on the head of a local eve-teaser, or using his belt to wallop the living daylights out of the villain's henchmen. His nemesis in the film is an evil Mafioso and corrupt politician Jaykant Shikre, played by the superb Prakash Raj who delivers a deliciously over-the-top performance marked by clap-trap lines and hyperactive dialogue delivery.

The flimsy plot involves the cop's tireless crusade against corruption, which sees him clashing with seniors in the establishment who're determined to get him off Shikre's back. There's an obligatory romantic track between Devgan's character and newcomer Kaajal Aggarwal, but the film's strength lies in the combustible chemistry between Devgan and Raj.

Despite some nifty action sequences - including one in which Devgan plucks a bad guy out of a car as it hurtles over his head - 'Singham' wears you out over the course of its 2 hours and 30 minutes running time because it all seems so darned familiar. In Devgan's character, director Rohit Shetty offers his own take on the Angry Young Man, and even throws in a reference to that iconic "don't-sit-until-you've-been-asked-to-sit" scene from Amitabh Bachchan's 'Zanjeer'. But alas 'Singham' doesn't have the smarts of a Salim-Javed script. It offers a routine 'why-most-cops-are-corrupt' subplot, and comes loaded with such corny lines as "Meri zaroorat kam hai, issliye mere zameer mein dum hai!"

Remake of the 2010 Tamil blockbuster of the same name, 'Singham' has occasional bursts of comedy (both puerile and genuinely funny), but it's never quite as entertaining as the similarly intentioned 'Dabangg'. isn't an unwatchable film, but how many times can you watch bad guys being whipped with a belt? Or heads being pummeled by a bare fist? There is such a thing as overkill, after all. I'm going with two out of five for director Rohit Shetty's 'Singham'. I suspect it's going to make a load of money; I only wish it was a better film. Ajay Devgan fans won't be disappointed.

Rating: 2/5

Review: Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara is a memorable joyride

Film: Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara
Director: Zoya Akhtar
Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Abhay Deol, Farhan Akhtar, Katrina Kaif, Kalki
Rating: *** ½

The three friends are sitting in a bar, slightly drunk, after a night of revelry. One of them starts talking about the peculiar tune that accompanied the Doordarshan logo before the 9 o'clock news. This is followed by a session of out-of-tune humming. "I feel like I'm in school," says the stickler-for-perfection, workaholic Arjun (Roshan), "and the vacations are coming to an end."

The other two, Imran (Akhtar) and Kabir (Deol), look back amazed. This was the guy who was reluctant to go on holiday in the first place. Married to his profession, stuck to his phone, Arjun carried a laptop to the road trip in Spain so he could keep in touch with "clients". Carrying deep resentment against his friend (Imran), dealing with a break up, and driven by a single-point agenda - to make enough money so he can retire at 40 - Arjun is a somewhat different person towards the end of the trip.

Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (ZNMD) is not everyone's cup of tea. It trudges along at a leisurely pace, does not have a 'story' to boast of, and relies on moments more than their sum total. It's more of an experience, if I can say so, than a storytelling exercise. And you'll enjoy it if you have the stomach for it. I did.

On the other hand, the pace (or the lack of it) may irritate those who like things to "happen" in films. Zoya, as in her debut Luck By Chance, adopts an understated approach, letting her characters connect on their own rather than thrusting them on audiences. The nicely done title sequence, showing the three friends going about packing before embarking on the trip, brings out more about the characters than the dialogues they speak.

Call it inspiration, or mere co-incidence, but ZNMD reminded me a lot of Sofia Coppola's Somewhere, about a mercurial actor bonding with his daughter on a vacation. The story telling technique was similar; so was the tempo, and the beauty lay in little moments shared between father-daughter over, say, breakfast where not much was spoken.

In ZNMD too, the best sequences are those that have no, or very little, dialogue. Like Arjun breaking down after having explored the underwater world of corals and sea animals in spite of a fear of drowning. Or the scene showing the three friends skydiving. This one's a long sequence, starting with Imran's trepidation before jumping off, to the point all three friends touch down. Along the way you share the fear, then thrill, then ecstasy the three friends are shown to be experiencing.

Kabir's issues are not on the surface either. He's the most affable of the three, with the least baggage probably, and extremely friendly. But he won't discuss his love life even with two of his oldest buddies. Grown men don't talk about personal things. Kabir's no different.

Read 'Harry Potter' finale review here

ZNMD doesn't resort to the usual backslapping you associate buddy films with. The similarity to the banner's earlier Dil Chahta Hai begins with it being about three friends and ends with the unexplained affluence of characters in both films. In the Akhtar world, it seems, everyone's rich. A decade ago, dashing off to Goa on an impulse seemed like a 'not-very-middle-class' thing to do, while not many Indians would be able to afford a three week bachelor trip to Spain unless they're well-off.

But that apart, the issues the three men deal with in ZNMD are slightly more complex than those faced by Akash, Sid and Sameer in DCH. The latter was about clueless youth fresh-out-college and trying to find their feet in the real world, while ZNMD is about men on the cusp of a mid-life crisis.

Along with cinematographer Carlos Catalan, Zoya makes the film a visual treat, letting the sights and sounds of Spain do more than just provide a scenic backdrop. Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy's music is hummable, while Javed Akhtar's lyrics deserve special mention. 'Khwabon ke parindey' is an absolute joy to listen to for Akhtar's magical words and Alyssa Mendonsa's soulful rendition.

Farhan Akhtar infuses the script with witty dialogues, keeping some good ones for his own character. But after a point, Farhan does grate on your nerves only because a more charming, truly funny actor could have worked wonders. He can direct, he can write even better, but as actor Farhan is strictly ho-hum. If I would have to go on a road trip with any of the three guys, I would want to drop him from the group first.

Hrithik, on the other hand, performs a role diametrically opposite to the one you expect to see him in. He is no 'hero'; just a regular guy dealing with issues any thirty year old could be faced with. He's extremely restrained and lovable.

As the girl who acts as the catalyst for Arjun's transformation, Katrina is wonderfully charming as Laila. I have never liked Katrina before in a film as much as in ZNMD. Call it inspired casting, but she just fits to the T. Kalki is very real as Kabir's possessive fiancee; she'll remind you of similar women you may have come across at some point or the other.

Abhay impresses the most, bringing a lot of himself to Kabir's character, keeping things subtle but managing to stand out among the three. The beauty of the casting is that it's a mainstream set-up, but without the trappings of a regular Hindi film.

The real hero, for me, is Zoya Akhtar. ZNMD may not be the best thing to happen to our movies, but it's a lot better than many multistarrer films we see week after week. It has the stars yes, the locales, the budget etc. But, more importantly, it has soul.

Review: Bbuddah Hoga Tera Baap is uber cool

Raja Sen says that Bbuddah Hoga Tera Baap is not a particularly well-crafted film but none of that matters as Amitabh Bachchan [ Images ] makes it work. Post YOUR reviews here!

'Amitabh Bachchan is a superhero.' I used to believe that, growing up. Comicbooks called Supremo said he was, and I gladly bought into the idea of this man who acted in movies by day and went off to rescue kidnapped younglings by night. It only worked because it was Bachchan, of course.

When we watched Hindi movies on video cassettes, Dad would fast-forward the songs while Mom would avenge herself by skipping through the protracted fight sequences. Except when it was Amitabh, because watching that man kick people is an electrifying experience. Filmmakers agreed, repeating the kick thrice, in rapid succession. He'd punch an extra in the gut, and because of how intensely he contorted his face into a focussed grimace, the dhishoom would resonate into reality. But you know all that already.

When we first see Amitabh Bachchan in Bbuddah Hoga Tera Baap, he's leaning on the rails of an escalator. There's a swagger-like quality to the way he slouches, like a casually lazy leopard in no rush to prove himself, or like Dev Anand [ Images ] a couple of decades ago: an old legend somehow carrying off a canary yellow scarf. Oops. That O-word. Bachchan's character despises being called old with Obelix-ian indignation, spurring him to go ahead and roar. And nobody, but nobody, roars like him.

Puri Jagannath's film is not a particularly well-crafted one. The story is threadbare, the scenes disjointed and abrupt, and poor Raveena Tandon [ Images ] is made to contort her face for almost a full minute. None of that matters. This isn't a masala film, it's a full-blown exploitation flick, and all that makes it work is the man under the spotlight. The extras can't stop smiling, almost as if Bachchan told them a knock-knock joke before the cameras started rolling, and they're all just basking in the grand silliness of this film. As are we.
Plot? Please. Amitabh Bachchan is a retired gangster freshly back in Mumbai [ Images ], and his triggerfingers are itchy. That's all that counts.

There's a cop, an ex-wife, a groupie, assorted mafioso, the cop's girl, a nosy landlady, a bizarrely brutal father, yadda yadda yadda. It's all utterly unnecessary, except to give the viewer a mild respite from Bachchan-gazing.

I'm not a subscriber to that larger-than-life school of cinema bequeathed to us from the South. Ghajini [ Images ], Wanted, Dabanng, Ready. All of it's been mostly painful, but they have centered around leading men thoroughly enjoying themselves, and people paying to watch that. Aamir Khan [ Images ] kicking a door down, Salman Khan [ Images ] with a moustache. All of that fades in comparison to Bachchan doing a greatest-hits medley in this film: a fight here, a wink there, a little bit of storytelling in that voice, and even the twist. I stand converted. He's the man, and he's plain Rajniffic.

Sonu Sood [ Images ], obviously cast because of his uncanny resemblance to the young Amitabh, is a solid actor but here, even playing a tough cop, is made to sigh and sob too much. Clearly there was only room for one alpha male in this corral. Prakash Raj [ Images ] is the primary baddie, while the ever-amusing Makarand Deshpande finds himself a lovely existential moment at the film's climax. There are a couple of young girls, but this film isn't about the young as much as it is about the timeless: Raveena Tandon still looks like a million bucks and is quite adorable as a starry-eyed Bachchanista, and the immaculate Hema Malini [ Images ] even makes this film's name sound beautiful.

There are a few beautiful Amit-Hema moments, highlighted with one where he nonchalantly discusses their backstory: about how they first saw each other at a traffic light, with him in a police jeep and her in an autorickshaw, her hands heavy with grocery bags and his bound in cuffs. A formerly married couple, they bump into each other, he upsets her, and she walks away sobbing, but turns around. Shamelessly the Naseeb title track plays in the background, and we cheer, for old screen romances are worth rooting for. The steel cage may have been replaced by a coffee shop at a mall, but the song remains the same.

As does the dude. Daddy clearly knows best, and Bachchan -- who even surreally lipsyncs to his son rapping about chicks -- is in such fine fettle that it's hard to not look past the circumstances and fall for his grin. Angelina Jolie [ Images ] might have shown us how to bend a bullet in Wanted, but when the Big B [ Images ] does it, you want to wolf-whistle. His clothes are screamingly loud but very hip. Asked if he'd like tea or coffee, Bachchan sneers. "Tea and coffee don't go well with soda," he explains. Ha. I'm going to go out on a limb and declare full-blown fandom for this character, who well and truly deserves a franchise. He might be a complete throwback, but this is a Hero. Next time they might consider pausing before he enters the screen to write BAAP in massive letters, though.

In the title song with that ridiculously groovy 'action-Jackson' loop, Bachchan sings about his past, saying he's split as many heads as he's broken hearts. It's a line worth dwelling on, considering he was the first icon to straddle all genres, from action to comedy to romantic drama, with unanimous success. It's been a staggering career, and the fact that he's nearly 70 and rocking a Harley Davidson is just awesome enough to make this film more than the guilty pleasure it is.

Aviator sunglasses aren't the wisest thing to wear when shooting with a sniper rifle in the glaring sun. But who cares when they're that damned cool?

'Dabangg' - A Complete Review

Bollywood Movie 'Dabangg' Review

Salman Khan's much-awaited movie, 'Dabangg' hit the theatres across the world today. As usual, Salman is fantastic in the movie and there is no doubt that 'Dabangg' lived up to the expectations of his fans.

The fans and critics have given thumbs up to 'Dabangg'. Salman will be relieved man that 'Dabangg' is all set to leave a big impression at the box office.

The film has generated much curiosity across the country. Salman fans have lined up at cinema halls and theatres since this morning to see their star rocking in 'Dabangg'.

'Dabangg' is based on rustic language, actions, the lead character’s love-hate relationship with his step-father and half-brother, have been nicely presented. Of course, Bollywood film will appear dull void of masala, thus, Dabangg is an old wine but packed in a brand new bottle, with Salman Khan.

The story revolves around (Salman) Chulbul aka Robinhood Pandey, a cop in Lalganj, Uttar Pradesh, who gives criminals hell but ensures he stands to personally gain from it. Simply, he is a fearless but corrupt police officer with unorthodox working methods in a lawless land.

The character Chulbul has gone through a bitter childhood. He lives with his step-father after his father passed away. His mother [Dimple Kapadia] married Prajapati Pandey [Vinod Khanna]. Together, they had a son Makhanchan [Arbaaz Khan].

Audiences may be aware of the fact of step-father or step-mother, so this is natural for Chulbul to make detachment with them and but he is completely attached to his mother. Afterward, the attitude towards his steps was changed because of his mother.

The life gets turned after Rajo [Sonakshi Sinha] came into the cop's life. Chulbul starts to see life more positively with human emotions and sentiments and realizes the value of a family. But the climax to be best watched in the theatres to get involved into the movie.

The movie 'Dabangg' boasts of sweet and dancing songs portraying Malaika Arora Khan, though It is difficult to manage music in an action film. But Sajid-Wajid have come up with a melodious score with the title track, 'Tere mast mast do nain' and 'Munni Badnaam Hui' are being played everywhere.

Debutante director-writer Abhinav Kashyap has combined elements with a Bollywood flavor to make it more enjoyable and justifying the title of the move 'Dabangg' (Fearless). Mahesh Limaye's cinematography looks perfect accompanying the dialogues. Especially one dialogue, 'Itne chhed karunga' delivered by Salman is fantastic.

Finally Sonakshi Sinha looks fresh, acts so confidently that the pair's difference in age will never make a full stop for doing movies together again. She has brought all the freshness into the movie with her acting skill. Like Amitabh Bachchan in the character Vijay, Shah Rukh Khan in Raj, Salman Khan is fir into the name Chulbul Pandey with an absolute delight.

'Dabangg' Cast & Crew

 Director/ Writer: Abhinav Kashyap

Cast: Salman Khan, Sonakshi Sinha, Sonu Sood, Arbaaz Khan, Dimple Kapadia, Vinod Khanna

Our Rating: ***1/2
Salman Khan Profile
Sonakshi Sinha Profile

I Hate Luv Storys Review

BOLLYWOOD MOVIE I HATE LUV STORYS REVIEW

You will not hate this love story, a spoof on ace director Karan Johar from his own production house. Hats off to Karan for daring to produce a film that makes fun of his kind of cinema. Samir Soni steps into his shoes with great ease in the film.

Director Punit Malhotra takes a pot shot at everything - designer sets, boy meets girl sagas, actresses singing in chiffon saris in the Alps - that made directors like Karan, Aditya Chopra and Kunal Kohli a name to reckon with in the industry.

In terms of content, nothing is new. But the treatment is fresh, the backdrop is interesting and it's fun watching the romance brew between the lead pair Simran and Jay on the sets of a movie. Yes, the film is about the making of a love story where Simran works as an art designer and Jay as an assistant to highly successful director Vir Kapoor (Samir), known for his candy floss romantic sagas.

Imran Khan as Jay Dhingra and Sonam Kapoor as Simran fit the bill quite perfectly.

First time director Punit Malhotra proves his mettle by narrating a predictable story in such an interesting manner that you are hooked till the end.

A romantic by heart, Simran is contented with life. She is engaged to banker Raj, played by Sammir Dattani, and loves her job. But her life turns topsy turvy when the weird but funny, bratty but lovable Jay walks into her life as her assistant.

They have nothing in common. While Simran is highly disciplined, organised, professional and takes her work seriously, Jay is laid back and always late on the sets.

Yes, opposites attract here too, and they eventually fall in love.

The first half is pacy and director infuses enough energy in this otherwise predictable love story. But some scenes in the second half drag.

Another flaw in the film is that Imran is given too many dialogues to speak, but then he delivers them with just the right expressions. He suits the role of a spoilt brat perfectly and keeps tickling your funny bone. Especially when he breaks down like a girl while talking to his mom (Anju Mahendru) on phone.

Editing could have been better, but never mind.

In sum, the witty dialogues, on screen chemistry of the lead pair and performances of the supporting cast - Kavin Dave, Bruna Abdullah Aamir Ali and Pooja Ghai - make it a good watch.

Sonam may not have hits in her kitty so far, but this film should change things. In every scene, she complements Imran.

In terms of music, Vishal-Shekhar's pacy numbers add zing to the narrative and background music adds a nice flavour to this predictable love story.

I Hate Luv Storys proves that one can make good film without lavish sets, foreign locales and mega budgets. In short, a commendable effort by the first time director.

You may not be a great fan of candy floss cinema, but do watch I Hate Luv Storys... it's refreshing.

MILENGE MILENGE CAST&CREW, STILLS, VIDEOS, REVIEW, NEWS

BOLLYWOOD MOVIE MILENGE MILENGE CAST&CREW, STILLS, VIDEOS, REVIEW, NEWS

Release Date: Jul 9 2010
BOLLYWOOD MOVIE MILENGE MILENGE CREW
Director: Satish Kaushik
Producer: Boney Kapoor
Music Director: Himesh Reshammiya
Singers
Alka Yagnik
Jayesh Gandhi
Himesh Reshammiya
Rahat Fateh Ali Khan
Sonu Nigam
Suzanne D Mello
Shreya Ghoshal

MILENGE MILENGE CAST
Shahid Kapoor as Amit
Kareena Kapoor as Priya
Aarti Chhabria
Delnaaz Paul as Honey
Satish Shah
Kiron Kher
Himani Shivpuri
Satish Kaushik
Sarfaraz Khan

MILENGE MILENGE PHOTO GALLERY,STILLS

BOLLYWOOD MOVIE 'MILENGE MILENGE' VIDEOS


Kuch To Baaki Hai [song trailer] - Milenge Milenge
The super popular Jab We Met pair is going to hit the screen together again! Apparently this movie was supposed to release long back, in-fact mush before Jab We Met. Due to several reasons Milenge Milenge was post-pounded. And now the ex-lovers Shahid Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor are back with this movie. If the grapevine is to believed, their break-up was one of the reasons of the movies abrupt halt. The two actors sometime back have said to have completed the dubbing separately. Planned to be a 2005 release, Milenge Milenge will now hit the screens this December. The movie revolves around boy and girl. Both falls in love but realization dawns on both that they are poles apart to each other.BOLLYWOOD NOVIE 'MILENGE MILENGE ' REVIEW
Satish Kaushik's Milenge Milenge has Kareena Kapoor and Shahid Kapur in lead. The movie is produced by Boney Kapoor.

Raavan: Movie Review

Cast: Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Vikram
Direction/Screenplay: Mani Ratnam
Music: AR Rahman
Dialogues: Vijay Krishna Acharya
Cinematography: Santosh Sivan, V Manikandan
Genre: Drama
Release Date: June 18’2010 worldwide
Rating:

Personas are often deceiving. A man who comes across as evil and menacing can be godly in reality, if watched closely and vice versa. Deception rules and dominates the world. Although, once the truth unravels, bad starts seeming good as in the case of Beera (Abhishek Bachchan).
Beera hides in the dense forests of north India from where he orchestrates his criminal activities against the police, a la Veerappan. He ruthlessly kills the policemen and loots their weaponry. Going by Beera’s sharp hunting skills and knowledge of the jungle, even the police is now scared of the dangerous outlaw except for SP Dev (Vikram).

Right after being posted to Lal Maati, Dev finds his wife Ragini (Aishwarya Rai Bachchan) caught in Beera’s clutches as he kidnaps her and takes her to the jungle where he resides. Turns out Beera has been meaning to settle a personal score with the police for a long time. Dev takes the help of a funny forest guard (Govinda) in order to get back his wife. Ragini on the other hand oblivious to Beera’s power, does every thing possible to escape her nightmare.

Mani Ratnam’s modern adaptation of Hindu mythological epic Ramayana with a twist, is a film made with good intention, beautiful music and mind blowing cinematography but unfortunately lacking everything else!

To start with, the story of the film as if on a long pause, just doesn’t move ahead for a good one hour after the film begins.

The scenes seem repetitive with Ash screaming from the bottom of her lungs even when she speaks (in a voice that seems inspired by Vidya Balan’s from Bhool Bhullaiyya, after she is possessed that is) and Abhishek doing some weird jig jig jig...not a dance, but the words he says as he shakes his hands around his head vigorously when either angry or amused.

The two keep staring, screaming at each other when not climbing a rocky mountain or jumping off a cliff as they play hide n seek in the forest for almost an hour. Their chemistry and the dialogues fall short of portraying the angst or the attraction they hold for each other thus making their interaction simply a waste of time.

A brooding Vikram keeps flashing his forehead frown lines and quizzical eyebrows as he hunts for Beera in the forest using minimal dialogues but maximum action & style (His fans will like it).

The only actors who provide good comic relief with their words and bindaas act amidst this insipid chase are Govinda and Ravi Kishen... both wasted to a large extent.

The dialogues are highly uninspiring for a film that intends to tackle a subject of this stature. (Ash asks Vikram: Yeh Beera Robin Hood hai ya Raavan)

Raavan is no Mani Ratnam signature film at all. It in fact looks like Mani attempting a Ram Gopal Verma (in terms of camera angles and direction) or even a Vishal Bhardawaj (feel, setting and twist of the film) while being inspired by Ghai’s Khalnayak (story).

The filmmaker seems inspired by so many things at a time that he forgets to retain his own USP. There is no punch in the script which doesn’t rise above clichés, no tenderness in the love between Dev and Ragini and no depth to Ragini or Dev’s character as they come across as silent spectators to Beera’s eccentric antics. The ten facets of Beera’s personality too doesn’t stand out.

The film moves you only when Abhishek and Priyamani come to picture. Both actors act superbly and infuse soul into this otherwise lifeless drama. Abhishek walks away with the main role and does a good job as he gets into the skin of his character very well. Wish his character would have been written better.

Ash holds one disgruntled expression on her face throughout and so does Vikram.

The film can be watched for its brilliant cinematography by Santosh Sivan and V Manikandan. Jungles, waterfalls, rains...have never looked so beautiful in a Hindi film before nor has a de-glam Ash in an extreme close up.

Music by AR Rahman is mesmerizing. Behne De, Ranjha Ranjha and Beera Beera are tracks that grow on you and are capable of being listed in Rahman’s all-time hits.

Outfits by Sabyasachi go perfectly with the theme of the film.

We assume Mani Ratnam went through a writer’s block this time around which is natural for creative geniuses of his calibre. We hope he regains his brilliance that gave us Roja, Bombay, Guru and Yuva.
source:indiatimes

Film: Raavan (Hindi)
Rating: 2.25/5

The most talked about movie has finally hit the screens in three languages. With big names like Mani Ratnam, Vikram, Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya in the list, the expectations are obviously high.

Story
Ragini (Aishwarya) is the wife of SP Dev Pratap (Vikram) and she gets kidnapped by the most dreaded Beera (Abhishek). Dev begins his hunt for Beera to rescue Ragini. For this, he takes the help of Sanjeevani Kumar(Govinda) a modern day Hanuman, playfully hopping from one spot to another as he joins Dev's mission to search for his wife. On the other hand, Ragini gives a tough time to Beera as she wants to escape. But who is the bad person? Is Dev successful in getting Ragini back? All this forms the rest of the story.

Performances
Vikram looks apt as a cop and his dubbing was also done well. However, he had a grim face throughout so not much of contribution from him in terms of body language or dialogues. His strong screen presence made up for any drawbacks.

Abhishek Bachchan tried his best to look villainous but then he has that baby face which makes it hard to convince. Moreover, not enough power and depth was given to his character which is another setback.

Aishwarya looks gorgeous as ever and she did her bit well. Most of her words were expressed through her sparkling eyes so not much to complain from her end.

Priyamani made her presence felt, Govinda was alright, Nikhil Dwivedi was okay, Ravi Kishan was good, Tejaswini Kolhapure was there to fill the screen that’s all. ‘Big’ choreographer Ganesh Acharya managed to shake his tummy to some extent in a song.

Analysis
The film has arrived with a lot of hype and it must be said that it stands nowhere near the hype. The major failure for the film is the poor content. There is no depth in the etching of the characters and the film proceeds in a mild manner. Entertainment quotient is zero and there is hardly a scene where the audience can connect and flow with the characters.

Mani Ratnam has attempted to portray a tinge of Ramayana in a Ballet mode but the poor background score and just one good song was not much of a help. The film survives only due to two things – exceptional cinematography and breathtaking locations.

It recalls MF Hussain’s ‘Gajagamini’ to some extent while projecting some scenes in poetic-ballet manner.

Editing was alright, costumes didn’t have much work and the art department was natural. If we are to take this as a new age Ramayana then questions will arise on the integrity of Lord Rama’s character. In a way, the villain is shown as the bad man with the good heart while the hero is shown as the good man with a crooked heart so conflict of interest happens.

Weak dialogues and lack of comedy is another setback and to connect to the backdrop of the story could also be difficult. Overall, the film’s only life is its technical values but the narrative or writing are very poor. Mass has nothing to gain from it and other genre audience must have patience to watch it. The openings will be good for the film for obvious reasons but then the chances of film making it to the success mark is very bleak.

Bottomline: Not interesting
source:greatandhra.com

RAAJNEETI MOVIE REVIEW

RAAJNEETI MOVIE REVIEW

RAAJNEETI MOVIE CAST & CREW

Ajay Devgn, Nana Patekar, Ranbir Kapoor, Naseeruddin Shah, Arjun Rampal, Katrina Kaif, Manoj Bajpai, Sarah Thompson, Darshan Jariwala, Shruti Seth, Nikhila Tirkha, Chetan Pandit, Vinay Apte, Kiran Karmarkar, Daya Shankar Pandey, Jahangir Khan, Ravi Khemu and others.


DIRECTION : Prakash Jha

STORY

The plot of the flick has a very large canvas involving a large number of characters much like epic ‘Mahabharata’, and if you want you can easily compare them with contemporary personalities shown in the movie. This all begins with Bhasker Sanyal(Naseeruddin Shah), who is a fiery left leader with a clear conscience and impeccable political integrity.

However, one mistake forces him into self- exile as well as birth of Sooraj(Ajay Devgn). Sooraj grows up in a backward community home and gradually rises to become a fiery political leader much like Bhaskar.

But the problem with Sooraj is the same as was with Karna in ‘Mahabharata’. Sooraj’s loyalty to his friend Veerendra Pratap(Manoj Bajpai)goes against his own real family, and the man is torn between two divided loyalties and continues to fight whole of life with it.

Then there is another character of Brij Gopal (Nana Patekar), who never ran after power in politics and left everything. However, he did not run away from his familial responsibilities and continues to mentor the younger political leaders—Prithvi(Arjun Rampal) and Samar(Ranbir).

Another character in this political drama is that of Prithvi Pratap (Arjun Rampal), who is heir to a powerful political family, but his passions are uncontrollable. Though he has a very good heart but his method is all brawn and this creates problems for him as well as others.

On the other hand, Veerendra Paratap (Manoj Bajpai) is Prithvi’s cousin but overambitious and wants power to rule at all cost. However, he is being prevented from realization of his dreams by unfavorable circumstances, but refuses to accept defeat.

Then there is a sweet lady Indu Sakseria(Katrina Kaif), being daughter of a rich industrialist she is naturally gorgeous and wants to love her beau for ever. However, circumstances force her to come out of hibernation and take the plunge into politics. She does it successfully and wrests power after defeating several seasoned war horses.

One person from these warring families is Samar Pratap (Ranbir Kapoor), younger brother of Prithvi Pratap who is completely apolitical and steers clear of bloody dirty politics. Sarah Jean Collins (Sarah Thompson) loves him, and both of them hate violent way of politics.

But soon Samar Pratap is sucked into his family political tradition, and seeing no other way out, decides to indulge in the game fully. Gradually, he emerges as the master of this political warfare and successfully protects his family from the rival’s assault.

How Samar Pratap handles the electoral politics in the face of fierce rivals, treachery, deception etc and what happens afterwards to the main characters of this political thriller forms the rest of the story.

PERFORMANCE

Ranbir Kapoor, the handsome hunk of bollywood who plays the character of Samar Pratap in the film, comes out with a brilliant performance. Even before such veterans as Nana Patekar, Ajay Devgan, etc, Ranbir is able to hold his own and comes out a winner. His transformation from apolitical to master of the political warfare is praiseworthy. He enacts the whole thing so smoothly that it’s unbelievable.

Arjun Rampal, who plays the elder brother of Ranbir Kapoor, comes out with a winning performance and the filmmakers should give him more meaty roles now onwards. After his superb performance in Shah Rukh Khan’s ‘Om Shanti Om’ (though negative), here once again Arjun excels.

Manoj Bajpai, who plays the negative character of Veerendra Pratap and cousin to Ranbir Kapoor and Arjun, has come out with rare performance. Every nuance of his character has come out perfectly in his acting.

Nana Patekar, who plays the character of Brij Gopal, looks perfect in the mentoring role of Ranbir Kapoor and Arjun Rampal. He is sharp and curt in his dialogues. He lives up to expectations of the audiences. Naseeruddin Shah, as usual, is brilliant in his small appearance in the film.

Ajay Devgn, who plays the character of Sooraj, is good in the first half. In the second hour of the film, Ajay’s character seems to have been forced to go on the backburner by the director Prakash Jha despite of their excellent working relationship.

Katrina Kaif, the sizzling hot sexy siren of bollywood, is a surprise packet in the film by adopting a deglamorised avatar. However, the beautiful lass has come out with an honest performance in the film and lives her role well. Others provide able support to the main cast of the film.

The direction of Prakash Jha is superb. The director has handled a large number of biggies with ease and extracted out of them the best for the flick. His expert knowledge on the electoral polities of Bihar and other north Indian states must have helped him in this venture.

The unpredictability and constant twist and turn in the story line are its USP and Prakash Jha must be credited for it. In fact, the long movie of three hours does not bore due to these twists and turns and the audience remain interested till the last.

The number ‘Mora Piya’ is already popular with the audiences. Dialogues, especially those delivered by Nana Patekar, are superb. The cinematography tries to capture every important moment of this political drama efficiently. Other production values are also good.

VERDICT

Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif have given superb performances in the flick. However, the USP of the flick remain the constant twists and turns of the plot line and its realistic treatment by filmmaker. The film truly mirrors the electoral democracy as practiced in most of our states by our so called political leaders. However, the film is more inclined towards intelligentsia than hoi polloi. A brilliant realistic flick.

Jaane Kahan Se Aayi Hai: Bollywood Movie Review

Cast: Riteish Deshmukh, Jacqueline Fernandez, Ruslaan Mumtaz
Direction: Milap Zaveri
Genre: Romantic comedy/ Fantasy

Review this movie

They say men are from Mars and women are from Venus. But what happens when a man from Earth meets a woman from Venus!

Milap Zaveri’s breezy rom-com begins with a spoof on the Hindi film industry just like Om Shanti Om with Riteish playing SRK, Vishal Malhotra playing Shreyas Talpade and Ruslaan Mumtaz playing a superstar ‘Desh’ just the way Deepika Padukone played ‘Shantipriya’. OSO’s maker Farah Khan also makes an impressive cameo as she is the director who Rajesh Parekh (Riteish) and Kaushal (Vishal) assist.

24 year old Rajesh and best friend Kaushal are perpetual losers as both are kind of chick repellants. Why, because Rajesh is too simple and Kaushal too horny. The two keep envying Desh’s popularity and his craze amongst the female population. One fine night, a gorgeous girl falls from the sky and lands straight into Rajesh’s arms! To everyone’s surprise the girl (Jacqueline) happens to be from Venus whose mission is to find her true love on earth, just like Rajesh.

Riteish, Vishal and Jacqueline all three render impressive performances and are the saving grace of the film. Where Riteish and Vishal have perfect comic timing, Jacqueline looks every bit a woman from Venus. She is gorgeous, pleasant and a confident performer. There is no naivety in her performance. Her Hindi too is surprisingly decent.

What disappoints is the sloppy script. The idea between alien-human love is interesting but the story doesn’t materialize as we would expect. The dialogues are corny, characters clichéd and the genre confused. There are ample of heavy romantic cheesy lines but no interesting romance. The actors have good comic timing but there are no great humorous punches in the script itself for them to enact. Also the director gives undue space and time for supporting actors instead of focusing on his lead pair which seems futile.

Karan Johar, Akshay Kumar, Priyanka Chopra and Sajjid Khan also play cameos as they talk about superstar Desh just the way they did in spoke about Farhan in Luck By Chance. Again nothing new there!

Making Ruslaan Mumtaz as the superstar of Bollywood in the film too seems like a bad idea. The actor looks cute and acts well but doesn’t look the character he plays, as off screen, he himself is a newcomer and is thus unable to display the aura of a superstar.

The film had the potential to be better but disappoints.

Watch Paa Online Free Hindi Movie Full Video Trailer Review

Read paa Bollywood Movie Review. Cast And Crew

paa Bollywood Movie Review

In Bollywood, a lot of emphasise is given to clothing& accessories, like in case of movie named Paa by R Balakrishnan. In this movie Abhishek Bachchan is going to play a politician’s role, so in the major part of the movie, he is shown wearing white kurta-pajama just like the way politicians look like.
R Balakrishnan told “Paresh Rawal would play the role of father to Abhishek & Ab baby is playing role of a young politician whose thinking is very forward, he actually follows of Paresh Rawal’s footsteps.”
As typical politicians wear white kurta pajamas, so Abhishek have to mainly wear only these, so that clothing need to be clear, spotless & bright, for this the director had ordered 10pairs of similar lookingkurta-pajamas for Abhishek. But interesting news is this, that in the very last part of the movie, Abhishek would be seen with 30 costume changes!
It’s really an interesting angle in this movie, on the part of costumes, this would surely be the requirement of the movie because Abhishek told this.

The entire story of ‘Paa’ revolves around a 13-year-old boy, Auro (played by Amitabh Bachchan), who is inflicted with an extremely rare and progressive genetic defect. He suffers from a progeria-like syndrome, which causes accelerated ageing. Although emotionally and mentally Auro is a 13 year old boy in every aspect, his outward appearance makes him look 5 times older. But despite this condition, he is a very happy child, who is very attached with his family. His father Amol Arte (Abhisekh Bachchan), is a young, idealistic and very progressive politician and mother (Vidya Balan), a gynecologist. The entire movie deals with the emotional turmoil that Auro’s parents go through

‘Paa’ dwells on a unique father-son relationship, which has never been seen on-screen before. The manner in which the characters play the amazing and unique roles is really mind-blowing. The film deals with human emotions and sentiments at different levels, with the genetic ailment as the back-drop. How will Amol deal with such a difficult and sensitive issue? Will Auro ever be able to lead a normal and independent life? Learn the answer to all your queries by watching this amazing and heart-warming movie ‘Paa’, releasing on the 4th of December, 2009

Auro (Amitabh Bachchan) is an intelligent, witty 13 yr old boy with an extremely rare genetic defect that causes accelerated ageing.

He suffers from a progeria like syndrome. Mentally he is 13, very normal, but physically he looks 5 times older. In spite of his condition, Auro is a very happy boy. He lives with his mother Vidya (Vidya Balan), who is a gynaecologist.

Amol Arte (Abhishek Bachchan), is young, progressive and a full of ideals, politician. He is out to prove to the world that ‘politics’ is not a bad word. He is a man with a mission. Auro is Amol’s son.

Paa is a ‘rare’ story about a father-son, son-father relationship.

Auro (Amitabh Bachchan) is an intelligent, witty 13 yr old boy with an extremely rare genetic defect that causes accelerated ageing.

He suffers from a progeria like syndrome. Mentally he is 13, very normal, but physically he looks 5 times older. In spite of his condition, Auro is a very happy boy. He lives with his mother Vidya (Vidya Balan), who is a gynaecologist.

Amol Arte (Abhishek Bachchan), is young, progressive and a full of ideals, politician. He is out to prove to the world that ‘politics’ is not a bad word. He is a man with a mission. Auro is Amol’s son.

Paa is a ‘rare’ story about a father-son, son-father relationship.

Genre: Family, Drama
Director: R Balakrishnan
Producer: Sunil Manchanda
Banner: AB Corps
Music Director: Illaiyaraja
Star Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Vidya Balan, Paresh Rawal, Arundhati Naag

Release Date: December 4, 2009

Bollywood Film Kisse Pyar Karoon Review

Kisse Pyar Karoon

Film:Kisse Pyar Karoon (Comedy)
Cast: Arshad Warsi, Ashish Chowdhury, Yash Tonk, Udita Goswami
Direction: Ajay Chandhok
Duration: 2 hours 57 minutes

Sitting through a few reels of this film that's supposedly a comedy, you end up with just one query: Why Mr Warsi? Does an actor get some masochistic pleasure in destroying his own talent by dabbling in dismal fare? Doesn't Arshad Warsi know he's got what it takes? If only he'd stop being self-destructive and display some plain common sense while selecting his scripts. Cineastes have savoured his best in films like Seher and the unforgettable Circuit in the Munnabhai series. Even in cornball films like Golmaal, Warsi managed to hold his own, despite the ensemble caste. But having to watch him in dispensable stuff like this, definitely makes you cringe. Doesn't it make him cringe too?

Kisse...is a loser from the word go. A down market band of boys -- Arshad, Ashish, Yash -- deliriously live their unruly life and are determined to continue this way. And the only way to perpetuate this all-male camaraderie is to keep the women at bay. Now that's okay for Arshad and Yash who have their own diversions, but Ashish is a diehard romantic and can't survive without a girlfriend.

Nursing a broken heart after girlfriend Aarti Chabria vanishes into the blue, he spends most of his time singing sad songs...until his buddies find another distraction for him. Now that's a move that backfires, since the blackbelt expert, Udita Goswami, is a shrew who wants to tear the band of boys apart. Arshad and Yash now must try to exorcise their friend of the Udita obsession to win him back. Add to this, a headless plot about an anonymous gangster (Shakti Kapoor) with a yen for AK-47s, and you have a film that's as enlivening as a headless chicken.Too loud. Too lost. Too ludicrous.

Bollywood Movie 'Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi' Review

Cast & Crew
Shahrukh Khan - Surinder Sahni and Raj Kapoor
Anushka Sharma - Taani
Anupam Kher
Farida Jalal
Vinay Pathak

Production Credits

Director: Aditya Chopra
Producer: Aditya Chopra , Yash Chopra , Sanjay Shivalkar
Written by: Aditya Chopra

Aditya Chopra's last outing as a director was Mohabbatein. The film, which starred Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan, brought Big B back in the reckoning. Eight years later, when it seems like the Chopras themselves could do with some resurrection, who do they turn to, but Shah Rukh Khan!

Khan plays a government servant Surinder Sahni who lives a fairly uneventful life in small-town Amritsar. On his deathbed, Surinder's professor urges him to marry his only daughter Taani (Anushka Sharma) who is yet to recover from her fiancé's death.

Caught in this rather awkward situation, the two people start their newly married life by living in separate bedrooms, hardly speaking and sharing very little in common. While Surinder is head over heels in love with his bride, Taani continues to remain holed up in her room.

Surinder who seems clueless of how to make his wife smile, finds solace in Bollywood cinema. But while watching a film he realises how much Taani loves Hindi films and its heroes. Meanwhile, the once bubbly and cheerful Taani learns of a dance-training programme and asks her husband's permission to participate in it.

Surinder is so desperate to win Taani's heart and see her smile again, he undergoes a complete transformation courtesy his loyal friend Bobby (Vinay Pathak). In his new improved avatar, Surinder sneaks into the dance class just to catch a peek of his wife. As luck would have it, he ends up becoming her dancing partner and introduces himself as Raj.

A complete opposite of Surinder, Raj is an OTT Punjabi boy who wears tight jeans, garish t-shirts and bright sunglasses even when it's not sunny outside. Unlike Surinder, he also goes all out to display his feelings for her and knocks off the power supply of half the town just to say the three words.

And that's when things change for the worse. Despite his assurances, Taani tells him that everything from that point nothing would ever be the same. Because Taani has fallen in love with Raj not knowing that he and her husband are the very same person.

How Taani comes to terms with her feelings and who – Raj or Surinder – walks away with the girl form the climax of the story.


What works:

Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi starts off from where most Yash Raj films end. The boy (or in this case the man) and the girl are in fact shown married in the first frame itself. It is how they cope with each other is what the movie is all about.

Rab Ne also moves away from the typical Yash Raj films format in many more ways. It is set entirely in small-town India. So there are no foreign locales or skimpy skirts and definitely no swanky apartments with bathrooms the size of football fields.

In a sense, Anushka Sharma comes across as a perfect choice for such a film. A complete fresher to showbiz, Anushka does a convincing job playing the vivacious girl who has lost her love and her father.

Playing the pretty-looking Taani, Anushka is every middle-class boy's dream partner come true – when she finds her husband's colleagues have invited themselves over, she keeps her sorrow aside and plays the perfect host. She also cooks and cleans for him. And guess what, she's one helluva dancer and can pack a punch on a motorbike too!

Shah Rukh Khan plays a double role of sorts. While on the one hand he is the simpleton working for Punjab Power on the other he is the hero his wife dreams of.

During the day he keeps a nine-to-five job. But once the sun goes down, Surinder becomes Raj who grooves with Taani, engages in a gol-gappa eating competition and doesn't hesitate to show his innermost feelings to her.

The 40-something SRK shows just why he is called King Khan as he carries off the two roles almost effortlessly. What is striking is that each time he changes his attire his body language also undergoes a drastic change.

Dressed in tight clothes, he is the macho Punjabi lad with coloured hair, driving around the latest bikes, confident and always flirtatious. But once he gets into his off-white shirt, cream trousers and specs he slouches, takes hesitant steps first towards the dining room and then to his room upstairs.

Towards the end the two characters appear almost once scene after another. Yet never once do you see Shah Rukh blurring the lines. Surinder's slouch and his subtle ways of showing his love to Taani make your heart go out to the man willing to go to any extent for his wife's happiness.

What doesn't work:

Despite its simple storyline (that seems to be a distant echo of Hrishikesh Mukherjee's Gol Maal and it's moustache plot) Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi fails to hold your attention beyond a point. At about 2 hours and 40 minutes, Rab Ne is far too long for today's short film audience.

Jodhaa Akbar, the other long film of the year, at least had the opulence, a good-looking lead couple and some fantastic music score by AR Rahman to fill up the timeline.

Here the songs – except Haule Haule – slacken the pace further. Then again there are bits, which could have well been done away with. Why for instance do Yash Raj films have the recurring Dhoom theme is beyond me. Roadside Romeo had it so did Bachna Ae Haseeno. We all loved Dhoom and its sequel. But c'mon Adi, don't tell us it's what you associate Yash Raj with the most.

Age has begun to show on Shah Rukh's face and it's evident he has been undergoing something to keep his looks intact. That is probably one of the reasons why close shots of the Khan don't necessarily work.

Verdict:

In troubled times like ours we could all do with a love story like Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi. Agreed, the film could have been far, far shorter and simpler, but watch this solely for Shah Rukh Khan. If you aren't his fan already, chances are you'll become one.

source:buzz18.in.com

Bollywood Movie ' Ek Vivaah Aisa Bhi' Review

Review:' Ek Vivaah Aisa Bhi' is for soap drama fans

Movie
Ek Vivaah Aisa Bhi
Director
Kaushik Ghatak
Music
Ravindra Jain
Cast
Sonu Sood, Isha Koppikar, Alok Nath, Smita Jaykar, Srivallabh Vyas, Anang Desai

Sonia Chopra

Prem’s back, this time in the form of Sonu Sood, perhaps less fetching than his earlier contemporaries, but making up for it fabulously with confidence and earnestness.

This chap – Prem Ajmera has the usual filmi friends; one is a Muslim fellow who falls for the heroine’s sidekick named Firdaus, and there’s a Sardar in a pink turban called Happy Singh.

Vivaah (2006) had one wedding; this one has four. But the one vivaah that the film revolves around almost doesn’t happen. One finds the title delightfully apt, as we trace the lives of Chandni (Eesha Koppikar) and Prem (Sood) who fell in love during a singing competition. He saw her golden shoes and followed her around.

With that typical goofy hero-type grin, he watched her sing from behind the wall. Grin still stuck, he befriends her. Typical of films that were, there is an exaggerated description of the heroine’s beauty where her chiffon dupatta caresses her face ever so gently, inspiring the voyeur hero to pen an impromptu poetry.

Chandni finally reciprocates and the lovers get engaged. But as luck would have it, Chandni’s father (Alok Nath, same ol` act) expires the day before the marriage. This premise is somewhat reminiscent of Vivaah, where an unfortunate occurrence happens just when the protagonists are to wed.

Suddenly faced with the huge responsibility of taking care of her two kid siblings, Chandni is in a dilemma. Prem offers that Chandni’s siblings stay with them post-marriage, which ought to have settled the issue. But Prem’s mother, rather objectionably, suggests that it’s impossible for a woman to be a sister to her siblings and a wife to her husband at the same time, and so Chandni must choose.

She also sacrilegiously says that she wants a daughter-in-law who forgets about her maiden home and devotes herself entirely to her matrimonial one. Chandni therefore refuses to get married to Prem, who in turn decides to wait for her.

Chandni finds strength to open her own music school in the house and earns to fund her siblings’ education. Twelve years down the line, and both her siblings married, Chandni finally seems free of responsibility. But things are still not that simple. The villain arrives in the form of the modern (translating into evil, in Rajshri’s world) daughter-in-law who finds it difficult to live in the run-down home.

Story apart, even the film’s overall look belongs to decades ago. Eesha Koppikar is saddled with a bad hair and average make-up job. With overall styling given as much importance as any other technical aspect in a film these days, the film’s lack of attention to protagonists’ appearance (Eesha in horrid saris; Sood constantly in denim jackets) is alarming.

Naturally this causes the film to lose points on its overall production value. For a film that focuses a great deal on music, the songs are strictly average and far, far too many.

Cinematography is painfully old school and disconcertingly uses the soft focus abruptly on Eesha. The only technical aspect that delights is the art direction that brings out the nuances and lived-in feel of the small town ancestral home in Bhopal.

Dialogue is syrupy, unreal; like most Rajshri films. There’s even one where Chandni is lauded for being old-fashioned; an archaic moral standing.

Chandni’s characterisation is interesting, as it starts. In fact, as the strong-willed, independent girl who chooses to work and sustain her family, not accepting any help from her rich fiancé, this character is one that any actress would vie for. Unfortunately, and indeed it is sad, this character attains shades of unreasonable nobility.

She is praised for having sacrificed her ambition of becoming a singer for the sake of her siblings; she is lauded for accepting her future mother-in-laws unreasonable terms.

Here’s an example of a conversation that happens between Chandni and her about-to-be-married sister. The younger sister worries that now Chandni, who I am assuming is around age 31-32 at the time, will be all alone in the house. So Chandni says their uncle is going on a pilgrimage soon, and she’ll also join him, so there was no reason to worry.

I wasn’t surprised to hear the audience sniggering at this audacious, saint-like representation of a young woman. But then that’s the problem with the film – its essentially regressive gaze.

Despite the clichés and apparent ODing on drama, the film does manage to fleetingly make you feel for the characters and their impossible situations. Also refreshing was the innate strength of the heroine, who loves her fiancé but doesn’t sacrifice her responsibilities towards her siblings for him.

Like the good husband of Vivaah, this Prem too is entirely committed to his lady. Sood does a great job of playing this character; and Eesha too gives a commendable performance.

Debutant feature filmmaker Kaushik Ghatak comes from a background of television having directed over a hundred episodes of Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi. This influence and style is omnipresent through the film. Had the director mixed the traditional flavour (he shows marriages fixed upon a single meeting) with some of today’s practicalities, Ek Vivaah might have been a watchable film.

Recommended only for soap drama fans and those of the atypical Rajshri tear-inducer. Verdict: One-and-a-half stars

National Film Award for Best Actress 1968 - 2007

National Film Award for Best Actress 1968 - 2007

1968-1970

Nargis Dutt (1968) · Sharada (1969) · Madhabi Mukherjee (1970) ·

1971-1980

Rehana Sultan (1971) · Waheeda Rehman (1972) · Sharada (1973) · Nandini Bhaktavatsala (1974) · Shabana Azmi (1975) · Sharmila Tagore (1976) · Lakshmi (1977) · Smita Patil (1978) · Sharada (1979) Shobha (1980) ·

1981-1990

Smita Patil (1981) · Rekha (1982) · Shabana Azmi (1983) · Shabana Azmi (1984) · Shabana Azmi (1985) · Suhasini Mani Ratnam (1986) · Monisha Unni (1987) · Archana (1988) · Archana (1989) · Sreelekha Mukherji (1990) ·

1991-2000

Vijayashanti (1991) · Moyola Goswami (1992) · Dimple Kapadia (1993) · Sobhana (1994) · Debashree Roy (1995) · Seema Biswas (1996) · Tabu (1997) · Indrani Haldar / Rituparna Sengupta (1998) · Shabana Azmi (1999) · Kirron Kher (2000) ·

2001-present

Raveena Tandon (2001) · Tabu / Sobhana (2002) · Konkona Sen Sharma (2003) · Meera Jasmine (2004) · Thaara (2005) · Sarika (2006) · Priyamani (2007)

Bollywood Movie ' Drona' ki Kahani

'Drona' Movie Story

The look is intriguing – sherwanis and flowing stoles, a larger than life Abhishek Bachchan, engraved swords and the promise of a story packed with action, mystery and the supernormal.


But what is that story? The director of Drona, Goldie Behl, tells DT the tale. “Drona is the title that’s given to the lead character. Drona is completely human – he even has character flaws. In the movie, he learns to deal with his fears as well. Drona is the title given to the firstborn of every generation in this dynasty. It has been appointed here on earth by the gods themselves to guard a secret which, if found by evil forces, will spell doom for the planet and the universe,” he explains.

“Vir Bhadra, the first king of this palace called Pratap Garh, was chosen as the Drona of his age and the firstborn of his dynasty, to this day, is called Drona because he guards that secret. The character in the movie is called Aditya, played by Abhishek, so it’s pretty much like the Jedi and Star Wars – you have to be born a Drona.”

So was Star Wars the inspiration behind Drona, or is it something else? “The inspiration, or the idea, is that every person is born with a special task or destiny. Each one of us is born to do something, with certain capabilities and skills that belong only to us. You write well, I might direct well, there are various skills that God has given us all. This is a fictionalised, larger than life way of telling a coming-of-age tale.

It’s about how this character discovers what he is destined to become and what his superhuman powers are,” says Goldie. “The outfit in the movie is the ancestral outfit that he dons – that is what a Drona wears when he goes to war. He’s human, and that’s the whole point – there’s a representative of the human race who’s appointed by the gods to protect the secret.”

The initial approval for this grand idea came from a small source – Goldie and Abhishek’s nephews. “I must tell you, Abhishek and I first narrated the story to all the kids in our family – my nephew and Abhi’s nephew and niece – and only after the kids gave us an okay did we decide to go ahead with the movie,” he says, grinning. And this is the second time that the director is working with Abhishek – was the character written first and then Abhishek cast to play it, or was it written for the junior B? “Because of my closeness to
Abhishek and the family, I thought of the character and Abhishek at the same time. For him too, I think, it’s pretty much the same, so it happens automatically for me,” says Goldie.

There’s no sameness in the movie, though, says Goldie, explaining that it’s been shot in exotic locations in Rajasthan – Kuchaman fort, Bikaner and Sambar – and at various locations in Namibia. “In fact, there’s one location that’s never been seen before – where the desert and the ocean meets,” says Goldie.

His last movie, Bas Itna Sa Khwab Hai, didn’t do too well at the Box Office, and Goldie’s putting a lot into Drona – isn’t he nervous? Apparently not. “We’ve all been honest and worked hard on it, there has been no compromise from anybody as far as efforts or money go,” says Goldie. “I genuinely believe that it will set a standard in the film industry that will be followed from here on.”