I Hate Luv Storys : by Punit Malhotra

Expression Less Dim-Wit , Sonam Kapoor  

meets

Single Expression eye-brow raising Clown , Imran Khan

I Hate Karan

I Hate Sonam

I Hate Imran

I Hate Everything About 

IHLS

Period.

Rating : Holy Cow! , Are you serious!?

Little Miss Sunshine : by Jonathan & Valerie

Little Miss Sunshine is a 2006 comedy film starring lesser known ensemble of actors , with the screenplay as original it can be.

This film is basically a road movie , talking about the adventures of a family who are on their way to a children beauty pageant by the same name as the film.

The events during this journey in a Volkswagen Minibus , the family vehicle, makes the backdrop.

The characters in the family are superbly etched out and the actors play their part to the T.

Family Members :

1. The over-worked mother.
2. Her gay brother.
3. Her husband , a motivation guru.
4. Her mute son , who has vowed to not to speak until he becomes a Test Pilot.
5. The foul-mouthed , grandfather who is a WW-II veteran.
6. and the 7 year old , Olive , who has the confidence to win at the pageant.

It is a hilarious ride with the family encountering setbacks on the way , which crack the audience up big time.

Hysterical Moments:

1. The Family stops at a Cafe for dessert
2. The Volkswagen breaking down.
3. Police Officer interrogation
4. Hospital antics!
5. Side splitting beauty pageant climax

Indeed , the movie brings a smile to your face , with a sense of belongingness with the pedigree. 

No wonder , it won the Oscar for original screenplay and the best supporting actor for Alkin playing the grandfather.

Watch it for the madness of the Hoover Clan!

Rating : 3.5/5.0

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

Raavan : by Mani Ratnam

Raavan brings back the quintessential Aishwarya , Abhishek , Mani Ratnam trio with a permanent AR Rahman stamp.....

Mani Ratnam has been one of the sought after director's of Indian Cinema , and has the up most respect as filmmaker through his visionary films like Roja , Bombay , Yuva to name a few...

Raavan seemed to be in flavour of Ratnam's style of complex human relationships with a backdrop of struggle , hardship , emotions and bonding.

This film has taken its elements from Indian Mythological Epic Ramayana with the Good vs Evil theme as the morality behind it.

Abhishek plays the title role , Beera  who is the most revered yet feared local hero in the village. 

His mission is to avenge the death of his sister , and he does that by kidnapping Ragini played by Aishwarya.

Ragini is wife of police inspector , Dev who had led an encounter to capture Beera in midst of his sister's wedding and eventually tortured her to death.

So the premises of the film is mainly how Dev rescues Ragini and the triumph of the Good over Evil.

There are many references to the Ramayana including the characters Hanuman played by Govinda who helps Dev reach his goal , or the indirect innuendo to Surpnakaha , Ravan's sister.

The film has nothing going for it at all in the initial half of the reel , the story is such a drag , that the cine goer will find himself in a spot whether to see through it or not ?!?

The performances of the character artists like Ravi Kishen and Govinda are far better than the main protagonists , Abhishek is neither spine-chilling nor eccentric.

Aishwarya has nothing much to do , but to screech and look good , Vikram does his part well.

AR Rahman's music fails for the first time to lift the film and is mediocre as compared to his benchmark.

Pluses :

Direction of Photography is par excellence , the natural beauty of the forest is captured magnificently.

Minues : 

Far too many .. 

Avoid it if you can , watch it strictly for the respect of a gr8 film-maker , who has goofed up!

Rating : 1.5 / 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

Karthik Calling Karthik : by Vijay Lalwani

 

Karthik Calling Karthik made me jump to a conclusion of an interesting plot.

Farhan Akhtar and Deepika Padukone seemed to be an interesting pairing.

Fresh director and Foot-Tapping music from Shankar's den seemed interesting too.

Alas! Disappointingly Dis interesting ..

The film was cropper in terms of content and failed miserably in keeping the audience on tenterhooks.

Acting was above average from Farhan , I found him better in Rock On!

Deepika needs an acting course ,quick!

Script was a rehash of "Beautiful Mind" meets "I Know What You Did Last Summer" 

Soundtrack was the best part of the movie - "Uff Teri Ada" was rhythm divine!

Watch it for being different yet predictable!

Rating : 3.0/5.0

My Name Is Khan : by Karan Johar

My Name is Khan ... so be it

Karan Johar trying something different .. so be it

Shiv Sena vs Khan ... so be it

Kajol & Shahrukh back together ... so be it

Pro-Muslim ; Anti-Muslim ... so be it

Is he a Terrorist?  ... so be it

Asperger's syndrome ... so be it

Shankar Ehsaan Loy's weak music ... so be it

Fox is distributing it ... so be it

KJo , KJo & Khan miss the bus .. so they have

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

The Reader : by Stephen Daldry

The Reader is a poignant story set in Berlin , of Hanna Schmidt played by Kate Winslet.The story begins in 1950 , where a teenager 'Michael' played by David Kross is assisted  by middle aged Tram Conductor , Hanna , when he fells sick in the middle of the street.

Thereafter , starts a sensual bonding between the 15 year old & the older woman which transcends into an affair to remember. Hanna was fond of Michael reading to him which included finest classics like the Odyssey, Huckleberry Finn and others.

One fine day , she gets promoted and moves out without a trace. The story moves ahead , where Michael is at a law school studying. As a part of the curriculum , the students are asked to attend a trial of several women accused of letting 300 people burn in a church when they were SS guards.

Hanna is one of the defendants!

Hanna denies authorship of the church fire report , despite pressure , but succumbs to it when asked to give a handwriting sample..

Michael catches her secret of all these years , she was a functional literate!

The film addresses a deep message of love , trials & tribulations spanning background , age , caste & creed.

The journey is heart wrenching ... The sensitivity portrayed between the middle aged woman & the kid is superlative & creates magic on screen.

Kate Winslet is exceptional and she proves it with a Oscar winning act. 

Watch it for the sheer brilliant story-telling & Winslet , a great adaptation of the novel by the same name.

Rating : 4.0/5.0

Paa : by R.Balki

Paa marks the return of AB Corp into film production after a hiatus.

AB Senior & AB Junior combine together for a heart-warming story

a father & a son relationship tale .

Vidya Balan plays AB senior's mother and AB junior plays an ambitious wannabe politician.

"Auro" , protagonists name , suffers from a speedy ageing syndrome.

AB Junior relinquishes Auro , leaving Vidya Balan as a doting mother.

The highlight of the film is the mannerisms & make-up transformation of AB as "Auro"

Vidya Balan is mind boggling actress in the age of size-zero non-performers.

Music is sweet to the ears , AB junior is good within his hem.

Good "emotional-connect" flick viewing..

Rating : 3.5/5.0

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

3 Idiots : by Rajkumar Hirani

 

3 Idiots marks a milestone in hindi film legacy, Hirani strikes a hat-trick

Based on Chetan's novel "Five Point Someone"

Madhavan plays Farhan , Sharman plays Raju & Aamir plays long lost friend "Rancho" , budding engineering students.

Boman reprises his role as a professor "Viru Sahastrabuddhe" aka Virus with eccentricity written all over his demeanor.

 Kareena plays a geeky medical student , Pia , daughter of the professor.

 The support cast is quite extraordinary , special mention "Chatur", played by Omi , an American Actor ,

The memory machine to the hilt !

Music is the icing on the cake by Shantanu Moitra , Sonu Nigam is THE best in the country.

Hirani is the reigning czar of 'feel-good cinema'

Sequences to die for:

• Chatur's speech
• The culmination of the song 'Aal Izz Well'
• Aamir's snivelling upon his pals conquest
• Dilapidated Raju's 70's Home
• Hospital Sequences

The characterization & adapted screenplay just accentuates the story to cloud nine.

Aamir is multifaceted par excellence.

  Indeed ... Aal Izz Well !

Rating : 5.0/5.0

Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year : by Shimit Amin

Rocket Singh ,  Salesman of the Year looked like a run of the mill story based on the promotional campaign done. I went with an open mind , Ranbir has had a rocking year so far , can he rocket himself to infinity & beyond was the question!?!

Verdict : It is by far the film of 2009 ! That puts the record straight !

Ranbir plays HP Bedi , who has just barely passed out of college and is ambitious enough to take the

trodden path of a Sales Executive.

The master combo of Jaideep Sahni & Shimit Amin (Chak De fame) have lent such realism into the script , 'make you believe' storytelling.

HP's relationship with his grand-father played by Prem Chopra

(who is a revelation ! ) gives heart-filled moments to cherish.

Cut to the millieu of the film, AYS computer service company , where HP lands as a sales trainee.

The nuances of a sales corp setup are splendid, just goes to show the authenticity of the film maker.

The under hand dealings , the politics , work hard , party harder, doing a jig in office wear ,whiskey in plastic cups , bitching and what not!

Seldom in a film , a romantic track is taken up so casually and thank god it keeps the film on track .

Shazahn Padamsee makes an ok debut.

Rocket Singh's second half really takes a sky high countdown with witty humour & boss bashing dialogues.

The characters to die for :

1. Koena as ambitious receptionist

2. Lascivious Maintenance Guy , Giri

3. Chote Lal Mishra , the office peon

4. Nitin , the sales manager (Oh Raghu , a triplet sibling!)

5. Puri , the schemer boss of AYS

6. HP , sales trainee ( Ranbir plays it to the 'T')

My favourites : Giri & Nitin

"Pursuit of Happiness meets Khosla Ka Ghosla"

R.S rocks big time , watch it now!

Rating :  4.5/5.0

2012 : by Roland Emmerich

Apocalypse films have been abundant from the West

2012 is no different

CGI mastery is at helm in Hollywood

2012 reminds us of the Mayan prophecy : End of the World!

Perfect re-hash of films :

The Perfect Storm

The Day After Tomorrow

Deep Impact

Godzilla

Twister

Rating : 2.5 /5.0

Kurbaan : by Rensil D'Silva

Kurbaan ..... Karan Johar getting adventurous

Kurbaan ..... Saifeena , flavour of the season

Kurbaan ..... Hard- hitting flick

Kurbaan ..... Vivek Oberio's comeback trail

Kurbaan ..... Hardcore Sufi music

Kurbaan == New York

Zero Novelty!

Rating : 2.0/5.0

Ajab Prem Ki Gajab Kahani : by Rajkumar Santoshi

Ajab Prem Ki Gajab Kahani marks the return of Raj Kumar Santoshi into mainstream rom-com genre.

Andaz Apna Apna has achieved cult status in the bollywood with its characters immortalized as the best in comic genre and Santoshi must be proud of it.

My expectation sky-rocketted..

Things going for APKGK :

* Katrina & Ranbir's fresh pairing

* Rocking Music by Pritam

Things failing for APKGK :

* Everything Else!

One of the dumbest movies to come in a long time , I wish I could find an iota of portion to cheer about....

High point of the Film : ' Tera Hone Laga Hoon' ,

Awesome rendition ...

Darn the rest!

Rating : 2.5 / 5.0

Children of Men : by Alfonso Cuarón

Children of Men is set as a dystopian fiction film with a troupe of brilliant artists , 'Claine' , 'Moore' & 'Owen'.

The world is set in 2027 , United Kingdom ,where the world is seeing infertility as a major concern , no human child born in last 18 years.

The world is collapsing with the exception UK as the only sane state , seeing millions of refugees take shelter. As an aftermath it has developed into a military police confinement.

Theo played by Clive Owen embarks on a journey to fetch travel permits for a young refugee girl named Kee for a substantial money.

Theo is flummoxed when he comes to know , Kee is pregnant , the glimmer of hope for mankind.

This forms the backdrop of the film , with Theo's objective to transport Kee to safety , and reach the 'Human Project' team working towards curing human infertility.

Some of the sequences in the movie had me boggled , specifically the 'Single Shot' sequences in extremely complex action scenes : -

• Theo searches for Kee in abandoned building where cross-firing is crescendo ( 454 sec)
• Kee gives birth to a child (200 sec )
• Theo , Kee & the baby walk past astonished soldiers of war.

The performances are exemplary , screenplay keeps the audience hooked , & the climax bowls you over.

No wonder , IMDB rates it amongst the best 250 flicks.

Rating : 4.0/5.0

London Dreams : by Vipul Shah

London Dreams talks about an emotion called ' Envy'

++Pluses

Ajay & Salman's nerve cracking performances

-- Minuses

Shankar ,Ehsaan, Loy's Dud Music

Asin - A waste of talent

Plot is reminiscent of yesteryears

Disappointing Climax

Way off target Vipul , Namaste London was better :)

Rating : 2.5/5.0

Up : by Pete Docter

Pete Docter is back after his much acclaimed Pixar movie 'Wall-E'.

'Up' , the film talks about the journey of a kid who always wanted to be an explorer.

The flick goes into flashback on how Mr. Fredricksen was fascinated by world explorers and a cute teenager girl sharing common interests.

The story is about the unfulfilled wishes of this sweet couple to have a house at the beautiful 'Paradise Falls' in South America.

The screenplay depicts the plight of an old man where in modern age , his sweet home is surrounded by huge buildings and he becomes a recluse on demise of his senile wife.

Adventure begins when Mr Fredricksen decides to go up up n away in his house on helium balloons to Paradise Falls!!

On his journey , he is accompanied by Russel , a wilderness explorer.

'UP' is a feel-good adventure with fun filled moments to cherish. Pixar has always produced top-of-the-draw animation & this feature is no exception.

But for me still ' Wall-E' will be the ultimate animation flick , till something better comes along.

Rating : 3.5 / 5.0