The Dark Knight Rises : by Christopher Nolan

As a fan boy ,  I waited and waited for this very day!

2008 , seemed a long time ago , when Joker said 'Why So Serious'.

Now this was really serious , and so was Nolan about his largest magnum opus since 2005.

Begins ...

Falls ...

The Dark Knight Rises!

The film picks up where the events in the second part ended. Harvey Dent got killed and Batman became the fall guy. Gotham city lost a hero and Batman aka Bruce Wayne became a recluse.

The key characters in this edition are so well etched that the audience is sucked into the narrative.

*Alfred played by Michael Caine as the indefatigable butler 

showing his emotional turmoil towards Bruce.

*Lucius Fox played by Morgan Freeman is the gadget-all-done-it-all saviour 

for Wayne Enterprises R&D. 

*Commisioner Gordon played by Gary Oldman is going through 

hell losing both Harvey & Bruce.

*Selina Kyle aka Catwoman played by Anna Hathaway springs a sexy sultry act.

Her repartee with Batman is one of the highlights of the movie.

*Bane played by Tom Hardy is purely physical , intellectual and a devious foe

Joker who was all chaos in ruins , Bane is mean , methodical & superior in strength.

A cross between Hannibal Lector & Sean Connery!

 *John Blake a young GCPD detective played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt is an idealist

who needs to unravel the mysteries surrounding Bruce Wayne and Gotham City.

*Miranda Tate played by Marion Cotillard is member of board at the Wayne enterprises giving Bruce the much needed support and in process discovering love!

*Christian Bale , as convincing a superhero can get , plays Batman , hardcore.

Pulse of the Trilogy!

Nolan as a director has been so well prepared that a Superhero film is embodied with an in depth  screenplay of such guile & stature.

Dark , grim , anarchy driven.

The Musical score is slam bang to the core.

The Action set pieces are simply jaw dropping

The Characters are so human yet vulnerable.

An Exhilarating Spectacle & Culmination .

An accomplished end to much loved superhero trilogy of all time!

If you make yourself more than just a man, if you devote yourself to an ideal... you become something else entirely. A Legend!

Rating : 4.5/5.0

The Amazing Spiderman : by Marc Webb

Marvel Comics - yet another treat for the fan boys after The Avengers

Here comes the slingy saviour - The Amazing Spiderman!

The character of Peter Parker has always been a fascination for me , a true blue hero yet a human at heart ... very real.

This franchise is a re-boot of the 2002 Sam Raimi classic - Spiderman starring Tobey Maguire.

What a Web of  Action has been woven here !

Andrew Garfield plays Spiderman aka Peter (He has come a long way from The Social Network).

The initial reels of the movie talks about how Peter unravels the secrets of his parents in particular his father's research at the Oscorp lab on cross species genetics!

His dilemma , his confusion , his inner turmoil , unanswered questions makes him unravel more. His transformation post Uncle Ben's murder has been enacted by Andrew to the 'T' , he actually makes Tobey Maguire look amatuerish and dumb in the previous franchise!

Gwen Stacy is introduced for the first time in this series as Peter's love interest at high school. Emma Stone plays Gwen with upmost confidence.

The crackling awkwardeness between Peter Parker and Gwen has been performed exceptionally well by both the actors There are a lot of sweet tender moments which makes this film a lot more human than just another Bad vs Good plot.

Rhys Ifans plays Dr Curt Connors ,  Oscorps leading scientists whose work on regeneration of human tissues is unparalleled. Things don't fall into place for Dr Curt and his experiment goes horribly wrong to turn him into The Lizard!

A word on our very own Irfan Khan , plays Dr. Ratha at the Oscorp and performs well in a not so important role yet he makes his presence felt.

The action in The Amazing Spiderman is pure adrenaline rush - in 3D. Manhattan at night , with the spidey suited Peter slinging from the skyscrapers is pure joy! .. though I would still prefer The Avengers this year!

Marc Webb of (500) Days of Summer fame , was given an oppurtunity to re-boot a successfull fan boy character and he has achieved outstanding results here !

The screenplay is terrific , hardcore super hero , wild , heart pounding , warm!
The background score takes the film to another zone!
The sling is taut , the slinging is pure magic in 3D!

Andrew Garfield is perfectly picked - with power comes responsibility & how!
 
Go for it .. an enthralling web slinging ride !

Rating : 3.5/5.0

Gangs of Wasseypur : by Anurag Kashyap

'Teri Keh Ke Loonga' - says Sardar Khan with malevolence and pain in his eyes seeking vengeance from the lynchpin of Wasseypur- Ramadhir Singh.

Gangs of Wasseypur is an Indian mafia setup in the small town of Wasseypur - part of Dhanbad city. The coal mafia is deep rooted with a cut throat rivalry between the Qureshis & Khans.

The film spans across the early 1940's to the present day context in 2004. Sardar Khan's father is killed when the Ramadhir learns about his ambitions of ruling the coal mines syndicate.

Sardar Khan's shaves his head swearing not grow his hair back till the objective is complete.He rises to become the most feared ganglord with the only aim of finishing Ramamdhir and his empire.

Manoj Bajpai , a superlative actor enacts Sardar Khan with so much spitefullness yet being innocent charming husband. His allurement spells a cast on the women in his life  - wife ( Nagma ) and bahar-wali (Durga) played with enduring gusto by Richa Chadda and Reemma Sen respectively.

The hilarity is the main ingredient of a serious plotline which would have become another Godfather - Sarkar mash up. The dialogues are remarkable with nuances bringing the house down!

The supporting actors revolving around the main protagonist Bajpai completes one of the most virtuoso ensemble cast seen in a decade of hindi cinema -

• Ramadhir Singh -  played by Tigmanshu Dhulia  

          (Director of Sahib, Bibi & Paan Singh Tomar!!)

• Sardar Khan's father  - played by Jaideep Alahwat
• Sardar Khan's youngest son -  played by Nawazuddin Siddiqui

         (Inspector in Kahaani , Bandit in Tomar!)

• Sardar Khan's wife - played by Richa Chadda

          (Dolly from Oye Lucky Lucky Oye!)

• Sardar Khan's guardian - played by Piyush Mishra

Anurag Kashyap's films always had the music inherent to the plotline & Sneha Khanwalker as a composer has done a mind blowing job of moving the narrative a level up -  Track in particular - 'Keh Ke Loongaa'

Bajpai's is the performance of the year by far , Wasseypur scores on its crudeness & mirthfullness!

Badland was never so good!

Rating: 4.0/5.0

The Avengers : by Joss Whedon

Every fanboy's fantasy is to revere their superheroes , be in awe of them , worship them.

Superman , Batman , Spiderman , The Hulk , Iron Man, Wolverine , He Man ..

The list is endless in every child book tucked away in time!

The Avengers affirms this fact.

Iron Man - Tony Stark

The Hulk - Dr. Bruce Banner

Captain America - Steve Rogers

Black Widow - Natasha Romanoff

Thor - Thor

Hawkeye - Clint Barton

Team Avengers is activated by Nick Fury to stop the Norse god Loki from destroying the Earth

by opening up a portal using Teserract

The storyline is predictable yet humour is the surprise element in this super action adventure.

The constant banter and onemanship amongst the heroes is the USP of the film

The finale act of the film , with Manhattan burning in rage of the alien attack

is an absolute stopper for 3D awesomeness!

My personal favourite adrenaline moment from the movie ..

Captain asks Dr. Bruce seeing the Leviathan break out of the building, 
now is the time to get angry 

 Doctor : That's my secret, Captain. I'm always angry!

Oh my ! Smashing!

High-octane  , exhilarating spectacle with a tinge of humour 

Every comic fans dream come true

Rating : 4.5/5.0 

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

Bodyguard : by Siddique

Salman Khan , an enigma is here with another insipid dish.

B  - Body Abs Show

O - Ostentatious

D - Dimwit & Dumb

Y - Yawn!

G - Good Ol' Himesh , imitator

U -USP , Kareena , Nah!

A - Action par excellence

R - Ringtone Sing Song

D -  Drab

Lousy cinema at its peak!

Rating : 1.0/5.0

L.A. Confidential : by Curtis Hanson

L.A Confidential came in 1997 , the same year when Titanic swept everyone's feet with romance and tragedy.

L.A is an out and  out hardcore LAPD drama set in 1950's where crime ,deceit and corruption was at its peak in the city.

It resolves around an homicide at a coffee shop in downtown L.A and looks at the point of view of 3 LAPD officers in charge of the case.

Edmund Exley (played by Guy Pearce , a'la Memento fame)
  *** Honest , Intelligent , Idealist.

Bud White ( played by vulnerable Russel Crowe)
  *** Hotheaded, Obsessive , Violently Brutal


Jack Vincennes ( played by laid back Kevin Spacey)   *** Nonchalant , Witty , Polished

The case & the plot is extremely interesting , with lot of suspense for the audience to cling to.

Everyone is a suspect here!!

In comes, Lynn ( played by irresistible Kim Basinger) , a Hollywood look alike artist who holds the key to the entire proceedings.

At varied intervals, the 3 men investigate the killings and circumstantial events which in turn begin to unravel indications of corruption all around them.

The performances are exemplary by the entire cast leading to an electrifying showdown in the end.

No surprises for it to bag nine Oscar nominations winning two out of those.

A superlative crime drama! Not to be missed!

Rating : 4.0/5.0

7 Khoon Maaf : by Vishal Bhardwaj

7 Khoon Maaf is black comedy from VB's production house.

VB is known for non-run-of-the-mill cinema

Priyanka Chopra is known for her multi role acting histrionics

7 Murders of her cold, masochism , additive , polygamist , greedy , jealous hubby.

Unique , ain't it ... but truly speaking predictable & drag!

Chopra will be all over the awards next year

Though she cannot save a sinking ship

Maafi from VB .. Darling!

Rating : 2.0/5.0

Yeh Saali Zindagi : by Sudhir Mishra

Sudhir Mishra is known to break the mould of Indian movies right from 'Is Raat Ki Subah Nahi' to 'Hazaaron Khwahishein' ...

The film title in fact caught my attention and seeing the ensemble was an icing on the cake.

With not much expectation , Yeh Saali Zindagi sprung a big surprise.

It is story of literally 'falling' in love and the redemption!

Chitrangda Singh plays Preeti who is caught in a mess over the kidnapping of the future son-in-law of a powerful minister whom she is in love.

Irfan is a small time money launderer who is in love Preeti and his unconditional feelings catches him a whirlpool of crime and deceit.

The film has a parallel track involving Arunoday Singh who plays a young gangster  and wife played by Aditi Rao. The chemistry between the young talents generates sparks & is noteworthy.

Irffan Khan is a veteran now with wide array of character roles , his humour in diversity is an absolute revelation.

Chitrangda is all pretty and talented and the new bunch show a lot of promise. Special mention to Saurabh Shukla and his jugalbandi with Irffan.

Music is pleasing to the ears , songs like Kaise Kahen and the title track. The climax of the movie is truly expect the unexpected..

Yeh Saali Zindagi , hard hitting cinema at its best .. salute to a thriller genre!

Rating : 3.5/5.0

Silence of the Lambs : by Jonathan Demme

                                                    
The Silence of  the Lambs , released in 1991 , is a thriller which blends with the horror genre.

My eerie memories go back to the time when I used to feel scared of its posters , for a kid going to school , it was kinda weird looking at the graffiti of a butterfly :)

Since time immemorial I wanted to lay my eyes on it , one of the elite few to bag the Top 5 Oscar Categories.

It is the story of  Clarice Starling , a juvenile FBI trainee who is pulled out of her training with the extremely sensitive task of interviewing "Hannibal Lecter".

Hannibal played by Anthony Hopkins is a psychiatrist & a threatening cannibalistic serial killer in custody. The mission is to extract as much information as possible from his mind to track the notorious "Buffalo Bill"  who skins women.

Clarice played by Jodie Foster is a tough cookie yet vulnerable. The screenplay is exorbitantly engaging , the cross questioning and tet-e-tet between Clarice and Lecter had me a picture of concentration.

Lecter is too clever with Clarice in a quid pro quo situation and buys out a transfer to a special cell. In lieu , he provided clues to the tracks of Bill and the subsequent events left me catechize more.

"Hannibal Lecter" , no doubts in my mind is one of the greatest villains of all time.When you talk about impact of a role , just over 16 minutes screen time of Hopkins ,  his mannerisms and the stare had me in tatters , artistry to the core.

This was truly , magically , literally getting into the 'skin' of the character :)

Jodie Foster was sharp and seemed as seasoned as Hopkins. She played Clarice to the 'T' with certain susceptible , unprotected flair.

Commendable screenplay adaption by Ted Telly and direction by  Jonathan Demme

It was worth the wait .. behold the Masterpiece of the 90's.

Rating : 5.0/5.0

Enthiran (Robot) : by Shankar

 

Robot is one of the most ambitious film project executed in Indian cinema and all credit should be given to the visionary in Shankar , the director of Robot.

It is a sci-fi flick where superstar Rajnikant plays a dual role of a scientist and his creation , a super-sharp android.

Vaseegaran is into his ambitious task of creating a Human Android.

10 years hence , dedicated to his mission & ignoring his family & friends in particular his love interest played by Aishwarya , he creates Chitti.

Vaseegaran's ex-boss Bohra played by Danny is jealous of his creation .

Bohra rejects Chitti on the grounds of it being devoid of human emotions.

Dilligence pays off , Vasee re-creates Chitti with all emotions which backfires as the robot falls in love with Aishwarya.

Rajnikant has dealt with the double whammy with aplomb.

Chitti is never-seen-before-in-Indian-cinema piece of metal.

Aishwarya looks stunning and does her bit well.

Music by Rahman is run-of-the-mill

Lyrics are super funny

Stand Out Feature  

Special Effects and CGI used in this film is par excellence particularly at the culmination.

Great vision by Shankar!

Hail Superstar Rajni whose mass appeal rockets big time!

Rating : 3.5/5.0

Full Metal Jacket : by Stanley Kubrick

First film which I got the privilege to watch from the sanctum of a director named Kubrick ..

Full Metal Jacket is a war film with never seen before journey of cadets to the unfeigned world at war!

It follows the metamorphosis of US Marine squad during their training phase and then of Vietnam Tet Offensive War of the two plebe nicknamed "Joker"  & "Rafter Man".

This 1987 flick , has the most realistic & gruelling army sequences that I have ever witnessed specifically when you see CGX prevalent these days.

The initial reels introduces the hard task master , the drill instructor "Hartman" . His motto is to train the cadets to the pinnacle of emotional and physical strength through sheer brunt of swearing and abuses.

One of the cadets "Private Pyle" takes the brute of Hartman and is totally unresponsive to the hardship.
The culmination of the first half was an absolute bolt from the blue , blew my mind and hit me hard !!

The dialogues are just raw barrage of mouth uttering which in a funny way makes me ask for more.

My Fav Dialogue , Speech from Hartman :

"Today, you people are no longer maggots! Today, you are MARINES! You're part of a brotherhood! From now on, until the day you die, EVERY MARINE is your BROTHER!

Most of you will go to Vietnam! Some of you will NOT COME BACK! But, always remember this - the Marine Corps lives FOREVER! And, that means you will live FOREVER! "
 
The Vietnam war sequences are earthy & traverses the journey of  the "Joker" as the Combat Correspondent at Vietnam along with "Rafterman" as the photographer.

The enemy combat near the ascendancy is extremely detailed and expertly shot.

Stanley Kubrick has proven  , that attention to detail with deftness behind the camera makes a film...

 - A Technician's delightful story-telling medium!

Rating : 4.0 / 5.0

Dabangg : by Abhinav Kashyap

Dabangg , an unusual title , a typical usual bollywood potboiler in store is what I expected.

'Wanted' being at the back of my mind , with crap screenplay and Salman doing his childish antics , I was apprehensive.

As I came out of the cinema hall, watching Junior Kashyap's directorial debut , I just could not stop grinning and laughing!

Dabangg is the story of a corrupt police officer 'Chulbul (Robin Hood ) Pandey , set in Lal Ganj , Uttar Pradesh .. perfect setting for a masala script.

The film in its initial reels , does nothing to generate a plot.
Chulbul is introduced with lot of fanfare , with top notch action with a comic element , a la' Jackie Chan.

The supporting cast in Vinod Khanna (his step-father) , Dimple Kapadia (his mother) and his step brother played by Arbaaz  and their relationship with Chubul forms the backdrop for the latter half , with UP politics thrown in.

Sonakshi Sinha , the female debutant has not much to do in the 'Salman' extravaganza , but she plays it with subtlety.

The romantic track between Salman and Sonakshi is something to look forward to. Music plays a big part in making the canvas colorful.

The title track , Tere Mast Mast & Munni are absolute riveting chartbusters! ... Malaika Arora Khan has lit up the screen with her oomphatic dance moves in Munni. All credit to Saajid Waajid music duo & Lalit Pandit (of Jatin-Lalit fame)  for a melodious playlist.

Dialogues , Music , Salman Khan , Comedy , makes Dabanng , an absolute masala bollywood caper!

Go and Njoy Carefree Cinema!

Rating : 3.5/5.0

Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai : by Milan Luthria

Ekta Kapoor is back with a gangster flick "Once Upon a Time in Mumbai" after the much acclaimed LSD

She has surely found her foothold in bollywood & Karan's and Yashraj's are helping by making crap :)

Milan Luthria returns after a sabbatical and he surely knows his craft.

The movie is a biopic on the life of Mumbai gangster Haji Mastan played by Ajay Devgan.

It is the journey of this man told in flashback by a stern police officer played by Randeep Hooda when Mumbai is rot with 93' bomb blasts.

It tracks down Haji's love interest in famous actress played by Kangana. The first half romance between the couple is the highlight of the film with dialogues as original as ever.

The screenplay is what binds me to this movie end to end. The rise and fall of Haji & the uprising of Dawood played with lot of restraint by Emraan Hashmi is terrific.

High Points ..

• Tet-e-Tet between Kangana and Ajay with witty dialogues
• Awesome background score and terrific screenplay
• Emraan's testimonial for Ajay to join his gang
• Haji Mastan's principles and way they are conveyed
• Music is as melodious as it can be , mastery of Pritam Da
• Crackling dialogues between the protagonists
• Hooda's strong presence felt!
• The Retro feel of the 70's is just perfect!
• Prachi Desai and Hashmi do justice to their roles. 

 

Once Upon a Time in Mumbai is full blown entertainer with  whistling in the aisles at every repartee!

Rating : 4.0/5.0

Inception : by Christopher Nolan

                                              

Inception  'root' or a 'source' of an idea planted in a dream , seems intriguing, ain't it?  

Nolan has always generated a 'buzz' with his film-noir , non linear genre be it The Dark Knight , The Prestige or The Following.

Memento broke onto the screen a decade ago and provided us with a spectacle in story telling so rare that it dumbfounded us.

A script that has been worked on for over a decade, Nolan's endeavours are inescapable in its pure complexity and brilliance.. Being a die-hard Nolan fan , I was itching to watch this piece of creativity and what a revelation!

I simply cannot explain the idea incepted by Nolan through this cinematic endeavour , it is to be seen to be dreamt of!

To summarize , it is a journey of an dream extractor Cobb , played with aplomb by Leonardo  who wishes to spend a happy life with his little children after his wife's death.

Saito , a highly influential man , hires him for his last job to incept an idea into his rival's mind to bring down his empire!

The unique concept of entering dreams offers the opportunity not only for a unique species of heist but also a way to dig deeper and deeper into one's subconscious, and the ability to plant an idea which could define that person, or destroy them.

The ensemble in this subconscious labyrinth is exemplary with the Architect : Ariadne , the Forger : Eames , the Researcher : Arthur , and the Chemist : Yusuf  ... one heck of a maze!

No wonder it is steady at #3 of all time at IMDB.

Inception is a cinema experience so audacious, so incredible, and in the end so gratifying, that it truly is unmissable, and will remain a benchmark for many filmmakers in years to come.

Rating :   5 ⁵  / 5.0

Raajneeti : by Prakash Jha

 

Prakash Jha has been one of the finest exponents of hard-hitting cinema dealing with the fundamentalist issues surrounding us.

He has given us , Gangajal to Mrityudand to Aparahan , true eye-opener flicks.

This time he as compromised a little in going commercial yet the building blocks remain intact.

Rajneeti is a complete rehash of Godfather meets Mahabharata yet a political thriller never seen before.

 Why Rajneeti should not be missed ?

• Ranbir and Katrina doing off-beat non-popcorn stuff.

• In Rajneeti, Brij Gopal (Nana Patekar) plays a role inspired by Lord Krishna who guides Ranbir Kapoor who plays a role derived from the legendary character of Arjuna, Veerendra (Manoj Bajpai) plays the evil Duryodhana and Ajay Devgan is Karna. All characters are well fleshed out and what makes Rajneeti interesting is the fact that all characters have grey shades.

• The screenplay in the first half is gripping to say the least & keeps the audience hooked.

•  Performances ar exemplary , Nana Patekar and Manoj Bajpai are stupendous , Ranbir  and Arjun are the surprise packags.

• Ajay Devgan expresses with the intensity he is known for and Katrina does play her part well. 

Negatives?

• Length of the movie is tad long and becomes very predictable in the second half.

• Music is just ok.

• Kansa - Kunti track has no heart , and becomes comical!

On the whole , Prakash Jha has given us a compelling film in recent time.

Go for it!!

Rating : 4.0/5.0

Kites : by Anurag Basu

 

Kites was pitted as the first bollywood cross-over film made for as per the sensibilities of the West.

Hrthik Roshan and Barbara Mori make one of the hottest screen pairs on Bollywood.

The plot was wafer thin ,with the story moving along like a tuk-tuk in the 1st half.

There is nothing much happening in the initial reels except Hrithik showing his dancing skills

which didn't make me go Oooh lala ...

 The latter half ,where the protagonist are on the run , had lot of masala action and stunts.

The film is too predictable and the climax will raise eyebrows.

Noteworthy is the director's sincere effort to keep the milieu in sync with the film's mood.

Anurag Basu has given us exceptional films like Gangster & Life in a Metro , Kites reaffirms that.

Hrithik enacts well and looks like a Greek God! , Barbara is gorgeous and compliments Hrithik.

Music is soulful from Rajesh Roshan in particular KK's rendition of Dil Kyun Yeh Mera.

So, What's the verdict ??

Gr8 Experiment , Wish it was without flaws!

Rating : 2.5/5.0

Ishqiya : by Abhishek Chaubey

Ishqiya generated a lot of interest in me the day I came to know

it was from Vishal's den.

Abhishek Chaubey proves his mettle with this film & is yet another feather in the cap of the youth brigade wannabe directors!

Ishqiya has a rather unusual off-the-mill storyline and the combinations of actors , Vidya , Arshad and Naseer outshine the script in itself.

A story of a strong-willed woman who can go to any lengths to seek revenge from her husband

with the help of 2 thugs on the run is surely bollywood coming off age cinema.

Vidya Balan is superlative and packs yet another body blow to size zero actresses of today.

Sexy damsel in cotton sarees simply sparkles the screen with her body language and expressions,

captivating Arshad Warsi and the veteran Naseer.

A word on the music , best of 2010 by far with Gulzar & Vishal stamp written all over it

'dil to baccha hai' and 'ibn-e-batuta'

Tarintinoesque cinema in Bollywood , we are in safe hands of Vishal Bhardwaj!

Rating : 4.0/5.0

Avatar : by James Cameron

Avatar marks the return of my all-time favourite filmmaker : 'James Cameron' . 

I have simply relished "Cameron Cinema" be it..

T1 , Abyss , True Lies , Titanic , Aliens , & T2 Judgement Day.

Avatar has raised the bar , and makes me wonder what more can this man offer!

The film is set in 2154 , where humans are in the hunt for precious mining material on Pandora , an expansive lush green moon!

With the expansion of the mining colonies it threatens the existence of the local tribe of Na'vi.

The humans develop genetic hybrids of the Na'vi to interact with the Pandora species and take them into confidence.

What makes this movie , 'Extraordinary' , is the research and technology gone into the filmmaking process.

Reasons for it to be a 'Once in a lifetime experience' :

1. The Screenplay 

2. The Creation of a fictional universe 'Pandora' 

3. The Native Na'Vi Language

4. The RealD 3D Technology & Stereoscopic film development to bring characters to life.

I always felt Cameron had that charisma to bring forth an emotional rollercoaster backed up by state of art technology a 'la bollywoodesque

The film boasts of a dedicated set of actors in particular SamWorthington as Jake Sully. 

Cameron had this sub-concious attraction to the Hindu mythology hence the name ' Avatar' , and predominance of color blue in the film confirms that.

 

Watching Avatar in 3-D cinemascope will always be a cherished event  

It will surely have a lasting impact on the face of filmaking in years to come .. 

Watch Avatar for Cameron's  wizardary  ... !!

Rating : 5.0/5.0

Inglorious Basterds : by Quentin Tarantino

Inglorious Basterds marks the return of master storyteller Quentin after  his Kill Bill series finale.

This time around , he brings us a world war drama broken into 5 chapters , a typical Tarantino narrative.

Chapter One : Once upon a time .. In Nazi Occupied France

This chapter is the starting point of the film & by far the most captivating , Col Hans Land notoriously called as the 'Jews Hunter' interrogates at a dairy farm for a suspect Jews hideout.

This particular chapter in the screenplay , is the cornerstone of Christopher Waltz's performance as the Colonel ..

Subsequent chapters , talk about introduction of the band of American-Jews soldiers with an 'straight as an arrow' aim to dislodge each & every Nazi in France.The group is called as 'Inglorious Basterds' led by Lt. Aldo Raine , played by Brad Pitt to the T.

The plot becomes interesting with two parallel tracks going forward to converge at culmination.

1. Shossana plots a revenge on the Nazi's by planning to burn down a theater on the Premier of a Movie.
2. The 'Basterds' conspire to create havoc at the Premier , upon learning Hitler visiting the theater.

The climax , boom boom bang bang! , is unique to Tarantino, seen in all his films from Pulp Fiction to Reservoir Dogs to Kill Bill.

As far as performances are concerned , Hans Landa is simply super as clever penetrating Nazi security chief.

Brad Pitt does well to get the accent right & is just ok. The supporting cast plays dutifully.

On the whole , Inglorious Basterds is one of the finest talkie of last year , still 'Pulp Fiction' takes the prime.

Rating : 4.5/5.0