Ra.One : by Anubhav Sinha

Random Access version One  - Ra.One is an ambitious venture from the creative den of Superstar SRK.

Directed by Anubhav Sinha ( a la' Dus, Cash and Tum Bin fame) , it is the most expensive film made in Indian film history (Rs 175 Crore)

All said and done , Ra.One is a mixed bag with its share of moments , appealing the most to the hardcore gamers of the world & kids.

Shekhar (SRK) is a gaming employee for Barron industries. His son Prateek (played by Armaan) finds his father uncool and chicken hearted.

Prateek is embarrassed by Shekar's attempts to woo him and his antics fall flat. Kareena plays Shekhar's wife Sonia who is writing a thesis on swear words ( what crudeness!? ) and is a housewife.

Shekhar sets out to develop a unique game where the villain is near unconquerable! - christened Ra.One (played by Arjun Rampal)

The good guy is named G.One (SRK). The trials of the game go well , with subsequent uncomforming behaviour with the motion sensor body suits. Ra.One starts to control the game and in a bid to destroy Lucifer (Prateek's gaming handle) , comes out of the box !!

The film boasts of state of art VFX and there is no doubt on the technical achievement here. Some noteworthy sequences include :

1. London Car Chase
2. CST Terminal Wreckage
3. Ra.One & G.One showdown at the car parking lot
4. Re-construction of the G-One and Ra-One from the lego like blocks!

Kareena lends the ooomph factor and she has never looked as gorgeous as Sonia in this flick. The corny-cheesy chemistry between SRK and herself is in a bad taste and falsifies all claims for this to be a kiddo genre.

Rampal plays the title role with menace and also gets the best lines in the movie.

Chammak Challo lights up the celluloid , one heck of a catchy song!  ALAS , the choreography by Hegde is insipid.

Screenplay of the film should have been more taut with the showdown between the good-evil halted by tacky dialogues , non humorous anecdotes , cheap thrills (Sanjay , PC & 3 Lee Girls).

SRK's insecurities as the King Khan comes to the fore with an attempt to pack in everything possible. A superhero flick should be true to the genre instead of being a masala potpourri.

We wish for a Romantic Avatar next time than an Blue Eyed Cyborg ..

Rehash of T2 , Iron Man & Jackie Chan flicks ..
Saving grace Kareena & VFX ..
High Reaching and Power Loving pursuit .. G.One with the Wind!

Rating : 3.0/5.0

Blue Valentine : by Derek Cianfrance

Hollywood traditionally makes slapstick romantic flicks which are high on crudeness and college humour.

Blue Valentine is truly a remarkable performance driven film about two individuals. An unknown director Derek has come up with simple storytelling experience and has extracted the best out of his limited resources.

Dean (Ryan Gosling) & Cindy (Michelle Williams) play a married couple at rural Pennsylvania with a daughter named Frankie. Cindy is a nurse and Dean works as a painter.

The film inter cuts between their young romance courtship days and the troubled marriage of the present. The juxtaposition of the scenes depicting their happy days of love and bitter arguments of today is done with tact.

The relationship goes downhill day by day as Cindy is totally engrossed in family chores with Dean not contributing at all.

One fine day , to resurrect their lost fascination , Dean takes her to a motel where they end up in an argument.

Dean is drunk big time & it results in a violent fracas at Cindy's clinic. The conclusion of the film is really despondent & despairing.

The performances of the couple are extremely natural and uninhibited.Michelle Williams is one of the talents to watch out for and truly deserved the Oscar nod.

Ryan Gosling is indeed a good actor and can be seen as a bright star in the making.

“How can you trust your feelings if they disappear?” Cindy asks.

A Tragic Side of  LOVE!

Rating : 3.5/5.0

Good Will Hunting : by Gus Van Sant

I so wanted to see Good Will Hunting which came out in 1997 ,the same year as Titanic.

Finally caught this flick last week , and I must admit it was worth the wait!

Good Will Hunting is a drama film written by the actors Matt Damon and Ben Affleck who also act in this venture.

Matt Damon plays the title role of Will Hunting who is a young laborer going through an emotional turmoil and needs therapy sessions.

Will is a mathematics genius and exceptional with numbers. Professor Gerald from MIT is amazed by this prodigy , and gives him an option to study advance math.

On the condition of saving Will from being convicted of the assault crime & sessions with a therapist , Math learning starts.

The professor tries many a therapists but Hunting treats them with disdain. The film takes off to a new level  , with the advent of psychology professor Sean played by Robin Williams.

Robin Williams plays Sean brilliantly here ; showing utmost patience with the disturbed yet highly talented boy. He is able to overcome Hunting's non responsiveness and after a few sessions , he starts bonding with Sean.

The romance between Will and Skylar is one his emotional struggles in life. He shares everything with Sean resulting in a  strong trust between the two.

Sean motivates him to tap his full potential and reach greater heights in life. Will rejects his plea and does not give an honest answer to his future goals.

Matt Damon plays Will's best friend , Chuckie who pushes Will to accept a neat job offer arranged by the Math professor.

The film culminates at high point where Sean and Hunting have their last therapy session which is absolutely heart warming and heart trending!

The performances here are extraordinaire with Robin Williams taking the honours in "a never seen before taskmaster role" , a well deserved Oscar!

Both Matt Damon and Ben Affleck did a brilliant job to write an original screenplay bagging them the Oscar too.

Alas! , Titanic called the shots in 1997 ....  but 'Good Will Hunting' will remain one of the more deserving films to be seen & revered.

"Relationships enhance your self-worth"  ; "Go find your true potential"

Rating : 3.5/5.0