Tag Archive for 'movie review'

Why I liked WANTED

Published on September 30, 2009 in Moo-vies. 6 Comments Tags: , , .
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wantedNo, I am not a Salman Khan fan neither have I watched any film of his in years. Yes, I did have a week long vacation and after a bit of research (if you can really call it that) online, DBH ultimately got slammed and Wanted was apparently a ‘must watch’.
So these are the reasons why I liked Wanted:

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No, I’m not a fan of Salman Khan neither have I watched a film of his in years. Yes, I did have a week long vacation and after a bit of research online, Dil Bole Hadippa apparently got slammed and they said WANTED was in a much better position. So WANTED it was eventually.

It was hard not to like the movie. Mainly because:

1. Salman Khan has come a long way from his over-the-top, comic (if you can call it that) performances where he acts pretty goofy and squeaks in a high tone for much part of the movie. Imho, he was in this movie – much like Shah Rukh Khan was in Chak De! – a brooding guy, who effortlessly convinced us he was the ultimate bad guy. I am impressed with Salman Khan. I may also have turned into a fan of his, you never know.

Another reviewer called WANTED Salman’s Ghajini. And I must agree. He is pretty much a one-man army in this movie. But then again, which hero isnt a Superman in our bollywood movies, eh?

2. Mahesh Manjrekar as the evil cop was realistic, even though he’s kinda being typecased as the bad guy in recent times. I mean, the guy can direct as well as act. What a package. He fully misuses his powers as a cop and does some terrible things that make you want to get sick but I like him. Oh all right, I am a fan of his from now onwards as well.

3. This movie has a bit of romance, comedy, drama, action – you name it. The crowd in the theatre laughed and laughed, while I gaped at the lady next to me who was trying to stop laughing, talk to her kid on the phone and capture the seat handle on my side, all at the same time. I bet she enjoyed the movie best amongst all of us.
4. Prabhudeva as a dancer or a director? I’ll take both. He shakes a leg at the first opening song, Michael Jackson style and that was the only song in the movie that I wanted played a little longer so that he could do a mean moonwalk as well – but that was not to be.
5. I have always heard that Salman Khan needs very little excuse to lose his shirt.  And after watching this movie, I can vouch that this is totally true! He does have a totally hubba-hubba-hubba body so I guess no one’s complaining.
In retrospect, there were certain not-so-interesting areas for example:
  • A little too many songs popping in out of nowhere, which I guess is sadly inevitable in a Bollywood movie.
  • Salman does a James Bond in this movie and has a – wait for it – license to kill. He can apparently finish off anyone and get away with it.
  • The story twists and turns with some unexpected events unfolding at the end but that doesnt stop the audience from whistling and clapping in open admiration. They loved the film so no need to rationalize things too much, I guess.
All in all, WANTED was an interesting movie. Havent watched a commercial Bollywood movie like it in ages. Dont miss it!

Did you watch Delhi 6?

Published on February 26, 2009 in Moo-vies. 20 Comments Tags: , , , , .

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I did today and I’m torn between deciding whether I liked it or not. Prior to the movie, I had no idea who was in it, who had directed it or what was it all about. Now that I’m done watching it, I got to know that:

  1. Well known actors from other previously successful movies have been cast in the movie. Therefore, there are a lot of familiar (read: stereotyped) faces assembled together to work their magic. Now I’m not against people finding work or anything but maybe some new faces would have eradicated the sense of deja-vu throughout the film.
  2. The movie’s about portraying the age old charm of Delhi. No wait, its about religious differences. But there is also romance and family drama and the Taj Mahal! And about 10 other topics that were feel-good but crammed into a 3 hour visual that couldnt decide which topic to focus on at best.

The movie starts when Abhishek Bachchan’s grandmom is diagnosed with old people’s disease(s) in the US and she insists on going back to Delhi so she can die at home. They land in Delhi airport and are immediately introduced to the tales of The Monkey Man on TV, who made several real-time news headlines sometime back by attacking people in the streets of Delhi.

In the meanwhile, our hero meets the object of his affection and does weird things like interfere in her arranged marriage proposal meetings to slapping a local cop back in reply thereby landing in jail briefly.

Heavy focus is given on the we-all-love-each-other Indian togetherness where people totally unrelated to each other do things like take granny to the hospital not to mention feeding her porridge at night. Neighbours love each other explicitly thus even though own brothers put up a wall in their house to live separately albeit under the same roof.

Continue reading ‘Did you watch Delhi 6?’

Why I liked Ghajini

Published on January 11, 2009 in Moo-vies. 16 Comments Tags: , , .

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Before I watched the movie, I read a really scathing review in a friend’s blog. So I was all prepared to dislike the movie and start finding its faults before I had finished my popcorn. The only glaring one I unearthed was that Jiah Khan girl with her irritating demeanour and nosy ways. She should stick to doing item numbers and I agree with my friend completely when he said that someone should have killed her instead at the end of the movie!

So these are the reasons why I liked Ghajini, the movie:

  • I dont watch a lot of Bollywood movies but I dont remember a film ever before being named after the lead Villian! Now how often does that happen? Yes, people who havent watched the movie (if there are any), Ghajini is the nasty villian who hacks Aamir’s girlfriend to death. Its interesting because most Indian film makers tend to label their films with the hero’s names only. This was refreshingly different.
  • Aamir Khan looks good even at his age. Now for someone who’s scared of growing old and dreading turning 30, this guy is quite an inspiration. And of course, I dont need to tell you how good an actor he is and how much fans like the rest of us wait for his once-in-a-year movies.
  • The lead actress, Asin really holds her own against Aamir Khan. For a debut performance, she didnt let herself be overshadowed in the mighty performance of her co-star. In fact, by the intermission – I was feeling quite mutinous myself and understanding why Aamir would want his revenge for the murder of a life so vivacious.
  • You know how Bollywood movies are all so preachy and have this little moral at the end of it? Well, this one’s got one too and it is this – No good ever comes out of being helpful and kind in this world. After all the girl does get killed for doing the right thing. At least, the movie has an honest theme and is anything but preachy!
  • Mr Ghajini for inventing the golf swing as a new way to murder people. Also, he endeared himself (to me at least) for pronouncing ‘short term memory loss’ as shot turm memry lass! He was the ultimate bad guy and I cringed inwardly whenever he yelled on screen.
  • The movie enthralled the audience, for sure. Three ladies sitting next to me oohed and aahed and cursed Aamir for leaving his cell phone in the car while his poor girlfriend is calling him for help. The whole audience gasped collectively when Aamir was being bludgeoned to near death. They all laughed out loud at the funny moments and drew sharp, breath intakes at the climax. And yes, the cinema hall was full even after two weeks of release.

Of course, there were certain pitfalls like songs popping in out of nowhere and how long the movie was and so on. But these were nothing compared to Aamir’s rippling muscles flexed while he was in the gym! Overall, a paisa wasool movie. Go watch it, if you havent already.

At the movies

Published on June 16, 2008 in Moo-vies. 7 Comments Tags: , .

The bad news is that I watched Woodstock Villa and Sarkar Raj in the same afternoon. The good news (at least for me) is that I lived to write this post. I’ll say one thing for Sikandar: Woodstock Villa isnt really his debut movie. Really. Its actually a three-hour long music album with bits of acting thrown in by so-called debutantes and one Arbaaz Khan who’s now an expert at doing odd bit roles, I think.

The music throughout the film is loud, garishly jing-chak and I felt like I was permanently stuck in a discotheque rather than a dark theatre. The movie is like a slumbering giant that somehow bides its time and wakes up in the last few minutes to reach a most interesting climax that Hitchcock himself would approve.

While Sikandar is so refreshingly different from the regular yuppies who debut on the big screen whether you want them to or not, I expected a more sensible film from the son of Anupam and Kirron Kher. Woodstock Villa turned out to be the exact typical, bollywood masala movie that I dread and want to stay miles away from. I watched this one just for you, Mr & Mrs Kher.

As for Sarkar Raj, I knew it was going to be a most sober movie with no light moments whatsoever even as Abhishek Bachchan stares at the camera dead panned and a loud clanging follows every piece of affecting dialogue delivered by the hero. I was not disappointed, thereby not bothered much.

All three Bachchans were deadly serious in the movie and Abhiskek went the extra mile to finally end his role in it. Sarkar’s 10-minute long monologue at the end of the movie seemed like hours to me as somehow this person and that person was behind this plot and had planned to do this, through him and to god only knows what.

The ending was so unbelievable as Ram Gopal Varma shares his thoughts with the audience when Sarkar orders his grandson back home before the curtains fell. One can guess that he plans to resurrect Abhishek Bachchan in Sarkar-Part III wherein he will play the grandson in a inimitable style unique to Bollywood. Good luck to everyone involved and especially to us, the guinea pig of an audience.

Who is Indiana Jones?

Published on June 2, 2008 in Moo-vies and You live, you learn. 8 Comments Tags: , .

I watched Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull for two main reasons – Harrison Ford & Steven Spielberg. I’ve been Harrison Ford’s fan ever since his dashing presidential role in Air Force One. So even though I’ve never watched an Indiana Jones movie before, I was prepared to enjoy the forces of Ford & Spielberg together in action.

The film kicks off with a sort of apology as Jonesie goes: “We were a lot younger then” when beckoned by the bad guys to embark on a fresh, fool-hardy adventure. Come on, I dont care if the hero is an older guy! And I dont know what was the purpose of incorporating the line in the script but all it did was: it made me realize that the hero isnt  exactly a spring chicken. Not that it matters when Harrison Ford is concerned.

There was a scene in which Ford reminisces, looking at Sean Connery’s picture and calls him dad. So I’m guessing Connery was the original Jones and his son is the latest adventurer with the same surname, in the very same tradition à la – Phantom, the Ghost Who Walks.

Which brought me to the question – who under the canopy is Indiana Jones? As the movie progressed, it became increasing clearer to me that he was a kind of James Bond as well as a mentor to a young rebellious Fonzie like character straight out of the Happy Days set in the film.

What I also learnt was that Indiana Jones was more than just 007. This movie was somewhat of a James Bond meets Lara Croft, Tomb Raider meets Tarzan meets Apocalypto meets ET mishmash. Although I dislike movie endings that have an alien theme just so that they can explain all the mysterious forces at work in the first place.

The movie has its funny moments and I liked watching it once. Once being the operative word. I went to watch an ex-president in action and in return I got a hat-fixated, dusty clothes wearing, whip carrying character, albeit still with the killer smile that never gets old.

Laga chunari mein daarrrggghhh!

Published on October 30, 2007 in Gender blender, Moo-vies and No good. 8 Comments Tags: , .

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You know whats worse than watching a bad movie? Discussing that the movie wasnt all that bad with someone who actually liked it. That too on a monday morning. This movie has now made me stay away from Indian cinema for a long time to come.

The only thing that drew me to watch it in the first place was my friend exclaiming “Journey of a woman! I wont be missing this film” So naturally, being the undying supporter of all things female, I landed myself in the middle of a high society ‘exclusive’ call girl’s story while her family happily spends the cash received back home in re-decorating the house.

Rani Mukerji was the wrongest of wrong choice to play the protagonist. I couldnt bring myself to tear my eyes away from her absurd hair styles while on her way to ‘business’. She had zilch personality on screen. Kudos to the Indian cinema think tanks – if the leading lady opts to live or work the wrong path, she’s supposed to be sad, teary-eyed all in a desperate attempt to garner the masses’ sympathy. And to show that while they’re not endorsing her in any manner, she is in the wrong so naturally, she’s half-dead and cant live a normal life.

While I was reminded by my friend early in the morning, that such cases of small town girl falling easy prey to hyenas of the big city and settlling for peddling skin to earn big bucks for her miserable family do happen, yet translating it in reel life does not necessarily work, as was the case here. Did I mention that the opening shot of the movie is a song and dance routine which pretty much tells you that the rest of the movie is going to be as boring, if not more.

Of the saving grace was Konkona Sen Sharma, who plays the sister… although as brilliant as she is, her performance is a bit deja-vu of say, Metro? The rest of the characters are reasonably okay. My main gripe is with the leading lady who is wasted in the movie while we all know how good an actor she is otherwise.

I remember laughing a lot while watching the movie. Not because of the absent comedy but at myself for putting my brain through three hours (?) of non-stop drama that just didnt work for me. And the movie hall wont see me back for a long time now. Tough luck!

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