Nishabd

Director: Ram Gopal Varma
Producer: Ram Gopal Varma
Starring: Amitabh Bachchan, Jiah Khan, Revathi, Shraddha Arya, Aftab Shivdasani, Rukhsar Music Dir: Vishal Dadlani, Shekhar Ravjiani, Amar Mohile

'Nishabd' cannot be judged by sounds around the film. It can just be felt. And, for this, one has to belong to the breed who care for good cinema and not just a good entertainer. Please note. 'Nishabd' is not an entertainer, but it is for sure a good film. More if you are a creative person because this specie is tending to fall in love with the younger breed more than often. Shekhar Kapur, Salman Rushdie and many others have shown it.
'Nishabd' dares tread on this path though not socially; it shows some tender moment, it comes like a breeze, makes some froth and then settles down. Nothing more, nothing less. It doesn't raise any question on the relationship; neither does it try to justify this kind of attraction, infatuation or lust (whatever one may name it). Raj Kapoor did it decades ago in 'Mera Naam Joker'. Others tried it in 'Lamhe', 'Ek Choti Si Love Story' and 'Ek Nayi Paheli' many times. But, if the directors of these films tried to put their perceptions of these relationships, Ramu defies the norm and leaves the question to the audience as to how they take Vijay's love to them.
Yes, Vijay of Hindi Cinema has relieved many of pains; sometimes as a police inspector, sometimes a 'Don', and as a spoiled brat. But, now he wants you to share his pain. He has turned photographer. Vijay (Amitabh) is a rich person owning a tea estate; photography is just a passion for him. He has a well natured wife (Revathy) and bubbly daughter. During the vacation with his daughter, arrives her daughter's close friend Jiah or J as she loves to be called. While Revathy gets busy polishing her nails, her mother watches 'Saas Bahu' serial.
Meanwhile Jiah takes interest in lonely Vijay. They discuss photography, life, happiness and pain. They fall in love in spite of more that 40 years of age difference between the two. The intensity deepens and relations start cracking. But, Vijay takes a firm decision and admits before his wife that he loves a girl who is actually his daughter's best friend. The family is shattered. To unite it again, Vijay kills his feelings and sends Jiah back to her home. Now, Vijay is shattered. However, this isn't unusual as many don't get what they wish just like Vijay's short voyage with a teenager girl! She comes in his life, gives him some moments to cherish and leaves with some memories for ever.
Vijay too wishes to live the rest of his life with those tender moments he spent with Jiah. The film reaches its pinnacle because of its presentation. Even if it did not have Amitabh Bachchan the impact would have been the same, because it is not the character but the narration that makes 'Nishabd' reach this status. Amitabh has in the past done better roles than this. How can we forget 'Silsila', before praising him for this role in 'Nishabd'? He may not have earlier played with his image like this time since he seems to be desperate now to earn maximum before the retirement. As an actor Amitabh Bachchan's best was noticed in 'Sarkar'.
If he does something better as Gabbar, it is okay, else 'Eklavya' has been the last over of his last innings. Those who have seen Amitabh's films like 'Chupke Chupke', 'Saudagar', 'Muqaddar Ka Sikandar', 'Sharabi' and 'Kala Patthar' know how variable he was in his acting those days. Now, every director wants him to cry on the screen. They make him a sufferer and these roles don't suit him. No doubt, he works very hard to play his part, but he gets tense, too. The tenderness of his eyes is missing . When he cries in pain in close up, we know it is because of glycerin. In 'Nishabd' too, he does this in the climax; in another scene he tries to do that but fails as he hadn't used glycerin.
Director Ram Gopal Varma may have added some intimate scenes in the film from his own experiences, that he has shared with his heroines (Urmila, Antara, Isha, Katrina and now Jiah), and they have filled the ambience with some real charm. His color tone in the whole film has given the film a feeling of intrigue. The camera angles are low when Vijay does right things, otherwise it goes high. The locations of Munnar in Kerala are just perfect for these kinds of stories. The only disappointment for those who go in search of Lolita will be that Jiah exposes nothing more than her legs.
She looks confident on camera but the depth of her acting will be tested when she does something that she is not in real life. Revathy and Nasser provide ample support to the film. As I said earlier 'Nishabd' will be liked by the loners but it will be a flop of the year because no one will wish to take his girlfriend for a movie that shows how to fall in love with an uncle living nearby. Ramu has delivered a flop in 'Shiva', a slow one in 'Nishabd' and now all eyes are on his take on 'Sholay', even today he is shooting for it. Everyone knows what a hat trick of flops means in film industry. And, Mr Bachchan knows it better.

The Train

Director: Shyam Bajaji
Producer: Narendra Bajaj, Shyam Bajaj
Starring: Emran Hashmi, Geeta Basra, Sayali Bhagat, Anant Mahadevan, Suresh Menon, Rajat Bedi
Music Dir: Mithoon

Some films should never be made…" Indeed, when it comes to story or subject selection films like 'The Train' should have never been made. Extramarital affair, treachery, deception, illusion, betrayal, remorse…. Haven't we had enough of all these during these years? There have been countless films on adultery, treason, blackmailing, and 'The Train' is "run of the mill" stuff with no big exception. Karan Johar's impressive but notorious 'Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna' glorified the extramarital affair and lately there was 'Metro' showing the intensity of extramarital relationships. They were aesthetically conceived flicks but still faced the wrath and ire of media and "aam junta", but 'The Train' comes out as a messy amateurish attempt of erotic thriller unveiled in the contours of the extramarital affair.
The director duo Raksha Mistry and Hasnain N Hyderabadwala who made their first offering 'The Killer' with Emraan Hashmi disappoints viewers completely with their second presentation - 'The Train'. Their infatuation and attraction towards Hollywood erotic thrillers continues as 'The Train' seems more like a "desi" version of Hollywood's 'Fatal Attraction' and 'Derailed'. Earlier, their 'The Killer' was somewhat inspired from Hollywood's 'Collateral' and this time they have chaotic family drama, uninspiring relationships and amateurishly scripted potboiler packed in their much hyped 'The Train'.
Why the film was titled 'The Train'? This question may be haunting viewers and critics after viewing the unsatisfactory and substandard two and hour entertainment (14 reels) package. Was it a cinematic gesture to provide endorsement for Bangkok Mass Transit System or Bangkok "darshan"? It seems that they have hired it from Hollywood's 'Derailed' as it could match well with 'The Train'. If the film was based on treacherous erotic romantic relationship then there have to be more authentic title that could justify its subject. In last few years such concepts have been outrightly rejected and films based on such concepts have fallen like nine pins.
Secondly, why the subject of the film was planted in Bangkok when it could have been easily made in cities like Mumbai or Delhi? Besides, the film loses on other grounds too like on its sick and haggard screenplay that proves to be the biggest culprit. The characterizations were amateurishly conceived and actors like Rajat Bedi, Suresh Menon and Anant Mahadevan have been forced rather than accommodated into the film. In terms of execution and treatment the film falls in the cadre of films like 'Red', where the predictability factor and poor writing work kill the show.
Sadly, the basic plot is so coarsely implied that only a novice won't understand where the film is going to end. Like typical erotic thrillers, the main protagonist (Emraan Hashmi) has been tamed as scapegoat for all misdoings but ends up being the winner over the wrong doer. How different! The positive elements (yes, there are few) of 'The Train' lies in the melodious musical score of new composer Mithoon with some honest performances by the leading star cast and technicians. These attributes are not worthy to cast any spell on box office and it ends up like a loser from the first show.
The common factor between producer Narendra Bajaj and director duo Raksha Mistry and Hasnain N Hyderabadwala is stubble and dreary looking Emraan Hashmi. Ironically, both the producer and the director had bitter experiences in films like 'Aksar' and 'The Killer' as these Emraan Hashmi starrers proved waterloo for them. Their communion in 'The Train' can't be astronomically correct (like Emraan Hashmi changing his phone numbers for astrological reasons in the film!) but commercially a miscalculated warfare.
What happens when you give in to temptation and neglect your responsibilities? Simple! It ends up in landing in some other's arms or fall into a treacherous trap. The film signifies both aspects in two different tracks and finally collage them in the climax. What happens when you "cross the lines"? (Read the film's tagline) It initiates the melodramatic twists and turns of an unwanted erotic thriller that questions the competence of filmmakers. It all starts in Bangkok's sky train (so we have title 'The Train') and ends up in a dingy motel room in typical Hollywood style of an action thriller. In between there are bedroom and bathroom erotic scenes that alleviate the crowning title of "smooching sensation" to kisser boy Emraan Hashmi.
The film is the story of Vishal Dixit (Emraan Hashmi), a white collared marketing executive living a tedious and unexciting life in a plush Bangkok city. His life turns upside down when he meets a gorgeous woman (Geeta Basra) in the "train". The seductive gal catapults him into a world of romance, lust and temptation and finally endanger him with her wicked plans.
Vishal, an ordinary middle class man, is settled with his wife, Anjali (Sayali Bhagat) and their five-year old diabetic daughter, Nikki. Anjali and Vishal are struggling to hold on to their worsening martial relationship which is deteriorating with every day conflicts. One fine day, on his way to work, Vishal meets Roma (Geeta Basra), a beautiful high profile socialite woman who pays his train's bill. (We wish the directors could have lost their script too in the same train !) Vishal realizes that she is a loner too and discloses the atrocities of her ruthless husband (Rajesh Khattar). The friendship culminates into a "fatal" attraction! (How quick, monotonous and boring!). The "fatal" attraction lands them in an adulterous affair.
Vishal and Anjali elope in a posh hotel room for sexual satisfaction but soon they are overpowered by muscular and sturdy goon Tony (Aseem Marchant). Tony robs and beats Vishal, molests Roma and ransacks the hotel room. Dejected and disappointed Vishal is blackmailed by Tony for his illicit sexual relationship with Roma. Anjali starts getting suspicious of Vishal's indifferent behavior while his romance with Roma deepens with his worsening mental condition. Vishal tries to salvage himself by seeking help from his colleagues (Anant Mahadevan and Suresh Menon). In a hot pursuit to avert Tony, his colleague (Suresh Menon) gets killed. Inspector Khan (Rajat Bedi) investigates the case while Vishal avoids his questionnaires. The film falters miserably in the climax when Vishal surfaces the reality of Roma and her link-up with blackmailer Tony. The film ends amateurishly as the climax is poorly handled with major flaws.
Emraan Hashmi might have resurrected his image of "serial kisser" after abstaining from kissing in last few films but he disappoints with his stubble and weary looks. It can be counted as his one of the most ordinary performance as he was supplied with poorly scripted character. Poor debutante Sayali Bhagat! She has to go the Tanushree Dutta way for making her presence felt in Bollywood. Unfortunately, her first screen presence is similar to Tanushree's debut film 'Aashiq Banaya Apne' where Ex-Miss India turned actress has to go in a marathon smooching session with Emraan Hashmi.
Like her predecessor she too falls short of deserving acting talents despite her ravishing screen presence. Bad and inconsequential phase continues for Geeta Basra as she is duped to be in Mallika Sherawat's shoes. After the forgettable debut in 'Dil Diya Hai', she strikes another flammable chemistry with serial kisser Emraan Hashmi. The over-exposure and mindlessly conceived kissing scenes added with skimpy outfits don't justify any merit. Suresh Menon's "mimicry" comical acts deliver moments of laughter while Anant Mahadevan and Rajat Bedi are wasted.
Mithoon's melodious music has once again decimated in this shoddy display but still all his soundtracks ("Who Ajnabee", "Beete Lamhein" and "Zindagi Ne Zindagi Bhar") are the brightest aspect of the film. The young composer has had colossal success in films like 'Anwar' and 'Bas Ek Pal', but the films faltered and his bad luck continues with 'The Train'.
Overall, the film will be faring average to poor in the multiplexes but later it will add itself to the series of over-hyped misadventures.

Darling

Director: Ram Gopal Varma
Producer: Bhushan Kumar, Kishan Kumar
Starring: Fardeen Khan, Esha Deol, Isha Koppikar, Zakir Hussain
Music: Himesh Reshammiya, Pritam Chakraborty, Prasana Shekhar

Hallucination or ghost love stories and dark comedies have never been the flavor of this month but still they prop up as a surprise package in Ram Gopal Verma's 'Darling'. Ramu finds his form and he has regained his lost form with this innovatively scripted ghostly vendetta.
It may be quizzical to understand the premise of 'Darling', but it's clear that the filmmaker has infused the ghostly drama of 'Bhoot' and haunting impact of 'Company' to make things work properly in it. 'Darling' brings a different and unpredictable love relationship of a man and a ghost through this humorously penned scripting and impressive on and off screen performances.
Ramu's infatuation with 'Sholay' may be his career's biggest nightmare, but 'Darling' brings him back as a competent player in the marquee. It would have been better for him to have restricted himself to his style of filmmaking rather than trying to plagiarize old-age formulae. Secondly, 'Darling' proves better than his earlier works and the credit goes to crisp writing and ethical filmmaking techniques.
After 'Rangeela', 'Satya' and 'Company', chartbusting music has again played a pivotal role in lifting the spirits of his films. All the musical soundtracks had given enough publicity and promotion that guarantee a promising box office opening for the film.
It's indeed a sigh of relief to have revisited the RGV style of cinematic work after couple of misdirected impractical endeavors from him in the past few years. Ironically, RGV has preferred a humorously penned narration and execution in developing plots and structure of this differently fictionalized love story.
Besides its hilarious comical punches, the film haunts and thrills viewers in almost all its frames. If there are unpredicted spine-chilling tremors in the first half, then there are unexpected hilarious moments that cheer up audiences in the second half. RGV plants engrossing twists and turns lead the film to a promising dark thriller.
'Darling' opens up with Aditya (Fardeen Khan), a suave socialite who has two different lives to live. His married life flourishes with his wife Ashwini (Isha Koppikar) and seven-year old kid. On the contrary, he has inhibited love life and relationship with his office colleague, Gita (Esha Deol). Initially, he was in trouble for being in love with two women.
And, his worries grew bigger when he was loved and targeted by a ghost who was once the woman in his life! It all started when the verbal confrontation between Aditya and Gita turned ugly and resulted in Gita's untimely demise.
The reason for confrontation was Gita's pregnancy and her demand that Aditya dissociate with his wife and kid for her. The story triggers off with her death as now it's all between flirtatious Aditya and avenging ghost Gita.
Fardeen observes the first arrival of Esha Deol as ghost during sleep. He has some hilarious moments that are well executed and enacted. The voluptuous beloved-turned- ghost (Esha Deol) enters into Fardeen's office and makes hoodlum.
This is a fine aspects of taut screenplay. The scene where Esha beats Fardeen while he is making love to his wife (Isha Koppikar) is high on hilarious quotient. All such crispy and cheap comical gags show fine execution from the filmmaker's point of view and indeed a great style of a dark comedy.
'Darling's second major aspect is highly volatile and spine-chilling moment that sets the pace of this dark thriller. The hot-blooded verbal confrontation followed by Esha Deol's death delivers grim and dark moments. Esha Deol's turning into a fiery "ghost" to seek revenge through various expressions, moods and sentiments, is another highlight of the film.
The third and final major aspect lies in the brilliant on and off screen performances from Ramu's cast. Esha Deol proves to be the biggest winner and all the credit goes to her performance. The role of a grief-stricken beloved turning an avenging ghost is finely scripted and the actress matures with this role.
After the smash-hit 'Dhoom', it is another big occasion where she has shed inhibitions in getting into the soul of the character. Himesh Reshammiya's crooned and composed "Tadap" has already created buzz for the film and it's sultry on-screen display will further attract the audiences.
All the scenes where she confronts Fardeen scornfully are high points of her short lived film career. The devilish grimaces, roguish behavior and hot-headed love relationship brings her in the driver's seat of the show.
Fardeen Khan's improvised Hindi diction and refined acting skills are well coordinated with his impressive looks. His good fortune continues with this film after the stupendous success of 'Heyy Babyy'. His fearfully tormented expressions and sullen body languages are finely executed in the film. Isha Koppikar has second lead to play but still proves a better choice in the attire of a bhartiya nari (Indian woman) with her submissive looks and dress-up.
The climax of the film completely belongs to her where the reality of Fardeen-Esha relationship is unveiled. It's pity that the "Saathiya" song comes in the end titles as it could easily have materialized in the midst of the film.
If 'RGV ki Aag' has proved ineffective in its big acting departments then this time it's his protégé that delivers big surprises. Believe it or not, but the entire brigade of second lead actors delivers a commendable performance. Zakir Hussain, RGV favorite, has some hilariously punched one-liners that enthrall and deliver light moments in the film.
Upendra Limaye, villain of RGV's 'Shiva', surprises with good comical timing and is well suited in the attire of an investigation police officer. Even lesser known actor like Kota Srinivasa Rao, second lead villain in 'Sarkar', has some hilarious moments as psychiatrist.
'Darling's strongest point lies in its scripting and screenplay department (Prawal Raman and Kusum Punjabi) and it clearly indicates that a well scripted work can do wonders. The crispy one-liners, well coordinated events and unpredictability in its twists and turns, make things work for the film.
Cinematography (Amit Roy) delivers different camera angles to depict the grim and bright situations. RGV's films have always been high on technicalities and 'Darling' is one such example. Background scores (Prasanna Shekhar) and sound (Kunal Mehta) creates tremors. Himesh Reshammiya and Pritam's music is excellent in almost every track. Songs like "Aa Khushi Se" and "Saathiya" have slick choreography while "Tadap" has the desired sensuality.
'Darling' will probably be a big surprise for all those who have ripped off 'RGV ki Aag' and it's indeed a big comeback by the filmmaker in such a short span. The slick publicity and impressive promos will give it a promising opening and thereafter it will prosper after good mouth of publicity by media and public.
The predictable success of 'Darling' will eventually rinse away all the dirt of unwanted 'RGV Ki Aag'. In nutshell, Ramu's 'Darling' will deliver better results and a possible recovery from the aftermath of worthless and insignificant 'RGV Ki Aag'.

Heyy Babyy

Director: Sajid Khan
Producer: Sajid Nadiadwala
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Boman Irani, Fardeen Khan, Ritesh Deshmukh, Vidya Balan
Music: Shankar Mahadevan, Loy Mendonca

"Babe" and "Baby"! Pretty similar sounding words but still as different as cheese from chalk. Sajid Khan's first major directorial expertise comes through this hilarious mode. It can be no lesson on parenting and no justification that mothers are better parents for kids but a convenient plot to conceive an innovative comical flick.
After splendor success of David Dhawan's 'Partner' (inspirational lift from Hollywood's 'Hitch'), this comes as another film inspired from the premise of another super hit Hollywood comedy 'Three men and a baby' (1988). Sajid Khan succeeds as storyteller and it's a good inspirational lift to idolize "baby" adventures through hilarious flicks as they are still an unexplored genre in Bollywood.
Besides, this funny prankster picks his cast and crew amicably and they deliver the needful in almost every frame. Producer Sajid Nadiadwala has a grand scale and it was delight to view a charming Sydney with bevies of beauties in its urban locales.
It's a moral tale where a bunch of skirt-chasers gets reformed after the unprecedented arrival of a "baby" girl at their place. The sudden upsurge of fatherhood in three of them is the theme and high point of this funny flick and is somewhat unexplored element so far. The sense of responsibility and a spirit of "committed parenthood" after the "baby" fell ill is another "soulfully enriching" high point that lifts the spirits of the film.
The film has its gloss and sheen at right places and the infusion of comical gags do deliver bountiful of laughs in the theatre. The first half has more substances to humor quotient while the second half works progressively on melodramatic contents and situational gags.
'Heyy Babyy' gels the emotional and humor quotient well with right ingredients and its good comical timing and refined technicalities that give it a perfect entertainer look. It's indeed a great effort for the first timer director as he clubs all the desired ingredients into one fine package of entertainment.
Families who watch 'Heyy Babyy' might examine its premise intimately as it gives some tearful jerks spiced up with some well punched comical gags. Do you think it is correct that men must learn to parent a "kid" and women are born knowing how? Now this may turn into an engrossing discussion but the sentiments are well conceived through a hilarious comical flair that works effectively till it ends.
Do you think the filmmaker meant to influence how viewers see parenting? Certainly not! It offers awareness to urban grown up "kids" to be practical and thoughtful towards their love, life and goals. That's all!
Aroush (Akshay Kumar), Ali (Fardeen Khan) and Tanmay (Ritiesh Deshmukh) are happy-go-lucky guys who enjoy carefree life with wine, women and wealth. They live their lives their way and have a great time with "phirangi" babes every night.
Aroush worked in a nightclub and has wine and women at his best while Ali was a professional "match-fixer" who loved to take his chances with money in every crucial cricket match. Tanmay, a stylish Maharashtrian guy is a kid at heart and had chosen entertaining kids at parties as his full-time profession. Tanmay was happy to live forever in the "Wonderland" where he was fondly called Eddy The Teddy!
Their playful and flirtatious life was about to take a different direction altogether as they get the "shock" of their life. Aroush finds a "toddler" at his doorstep with a letter that one of them is her biological father. Now they were forced to play with the toddler as they all are required to "babysitting" for this cute "baby".
There is a tug of war among the three as they inquire about the "real" mother of the kid. The "babysitting" acts turn the plot into a laugh riot as none of them is trained for it. Whether it is feeding the kid or changing her diaper or making her to go to sleep, it was a complete mess. Aroush has a surprise visitor (Boman Irani) who disguises himself as health inspector but he has significant role to play in his life
This stranger happens to be the father of girl from whom Aroush had this lovely baby. The "babysitting" proves too painstaking for all the three and they finally decide to shrug off their responsibility and abandon the kid near the church.
Spearheaded with fatherhood emotions, they remorse for their wrong-doings for the "kid". Life takes another dusty turn as baby's real mother Esha (Vidya Balan) arrives at their residence for its custody. Esha seeks revenge from Aroush as she was betrayed by his flirtatious acts.
This creates a cold ware between Aroush and Esha and finally they reach to a proposed settlement. Esha promises to marry a suitable bachelor within a week to foster her "baby" but Aroush has wicked plans of dismantling it. Al disguises into typical Hindi master act (similar to Dharmendra's act in 'Chupke Chupke') to impress Esha and his father and succeed to a large extent.
There are comical sequences where Aroush and Tanmoy disguise as Arab Sheikhs and street runners to boost up Al's image. The climax has a twisted turn as there is another "spoof" act from 'Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge' where Shahrukh Khan makes a guest appearance.
'Heyy Babby's strong points lie in its narration, execution and story telling (Sajid Khan, Milap Zhaveri) where all contents come together competently in delivering an impressive entertainer. The comical one-liners work effectively to evoke humor and similarly its refined performances from all lead actors.
Akshay Kumar is in great form and his stylized comical timing makes this a "great" show. His second inning as "comic" actor has been glorious and 'Heyy Babby' carries its flavor. The comical sequence where Akshay along with Fardeen and Ritesh kindles cute "baby" draws loads of laughter.
Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy music is mind blowing and it works brilliantly with the sentiments of the film. The title track, "Jaane Bhi De", "Mast Kalander" are chartbusting and are lavishly picturized (Cinematography - Himan Dhamija), brilliantly choreographed with glossy backdrops. The hard work of musical trio has once gain proved boon for a film and undoubtedly prove the best in the business.
'Heyy Babyy' will have a grand opening in all multiplexes in its first weekend and will be another major hit of the year.
The film will prosper with good word of publicity and its melodious music has already created a rage among youngsters. Sajid Khan is a winner in his first outing and the viewer has his or her "paisa vasool".

Ta Ra Rum Pum

Director: Siddharth Anand

Producer: Aditya Chopra Starring: Saif Ali Khan, Rani Mukherjee, Shruti Seth

Music Dir: Vishal dadlani, Shekhar Ravjiani

Singer: Shaan, Mahalakshmi Iyer, Sneha Suresh, Shravan Suresh, Sunidhi Chauhan, Sonu Nigam, Soumya Raoh, Shreya Ghosal, K K

Long, long ago when Shekhar Kapoor was still a Bollywood filmmaker, he had decided to make a film called 'Tara Rum Pum'. Preity Zinta was supposed to be the leading lady in the film but the project got shelved for some reasons.
Now, new breed director Siddharth Anand makes a film of the same title and celebrates life in his own and unique style. Siddharth in his last 'Salaam Namaste' reached Australia and in this movie he arrives in America to tell us a story that we have seen so many times on the screen. 'Tara Rum Pum' is a story that will make many cry in cinema halls, and may teach many lessons of life.
While every loser must watch this film to learn how to win the race of life, every victor should see it to remain grounded even when he is flying in seventh sky.
'Tara Rum Pum' is like a fairy tale story. While the grandma narrated the story her way, the mother would repeat the same in today's context. Time keeps changing but stories remain the same.
The hard and dedicated workers are sidelined on their very first mistake. New protégés are formed. They come, they conquer and then if the real hero has the guts to challenge them, they face real competitions of their life, and most often than not, the new pampered protégés don't stand long in the race for do or die.
Siddharth Anand who started his career as a director in 'Salaam Namaste' showed promise in his debut film. His second outing was expected to be better. But, it falls short of expectations. 'Tara Rum Pum' is no doubt a good film from the Yashraj banner, but it lacks momentum.
The film that was supposed to be a fight of a real man is being sold to kids as their summer outing. Let me make one thing very clear that it's not a children film. And, except few scenes of Formula One racing and one live plus animated character's song, there is not much extravaganza for them.
The story is of a poor boy named Raj Veer meeting a rich girl known as Radhika. The girl quarrels with the boy in the first encounter. The boy falls in love with her. Raj's friend Harry who is also manager of a racing team sees a new hero in Raj Veer.
He coins a new name, RV, for his friend. RV is shown dreams of populace and win. He enters the formula one racing tracks and wins most of the titles, one by one. He becomes a hero overnight and then one day at the peak of his career; RV meets with an accident on the track. One year passes in the treatment. When he wishes to return on the track, he finds that enough water has flown down Statue of Liberty.
RV slips down from a hero to a zero; he sells all the luxuries he had collected in a short span. Radhika, who has married with him against her father's wish, stands by him. Together they act in front of their children like a poor family as they are now part of some TV reality show. But after few days the elder child learns the reality of the life and starts behaving like a matured one.
She makes her kid brother skip his lunch at school to collect the school fee. On the other hand, RV and Radhika do petty jobs to meet their both ends. The son falls sick and for his operation, RV needs $ 65, 0000. He approaches his ex-boss who insults him. Consequently, RV decides to go back to the racing track and emerges victorious again.
RV is played by Saif Ali Khan who by virtue of Chopras and Johars has mastered the art of being a solo hero. He has developed himself as an actor and people who once talked about a squint in his eye now find a passion in his acting. Saif fits this role very aptly and he makes no mistakes in slipping under the skin of the character.
As father of two kids and as a fighter, Saif does justice to his role. Saif is at his best when he is with kids be it when he has to make them happy, pulling the strings of makeshift beds, taking them for an open shower under the fountain or giving them a birthday party. With Rani he shares a perfect chemistry that has moved ahead from where they had left it in Kunal Kohli''s 'Hum Tum'.
Rani Mukherjee plays Radhika, who is a music student and daughter of a very rich man. She marries a racer without her father's consent. Her character of Radhika is the backbone of the film. It brings all the required turning points in the film. Radhika changes RV from being a playboy to a serious man and Rani should get all the laurels for this role.
It may not be one of the best performances of her career but still she doesn't let you feel down. The scenes where she announces her marriage with RV in front of her father and the scenes where she plays on piano and also when after the party she steals food for her kids are worth watching.
But, there are scenes like Radhika meeting a guy and getting drunk and in the pre-climax announcing her husband's wrong doings to her kids. Javed Jeffery as Harry is hilarious.
Siddharth seems to have a cling to Javed as he repeats him once again after 'Salaam Namaste'. Javed proves once again that he is one among the best in current lot of character artistes, and the filmmakers who are ignoring him are only doing this at their cost. Angelina Idnani as daughter of RV and Radhika does a good job and Ali Haji as Prince supports her well.
Technically, 'Tara Rum Pum' gets eight out of 10. Salim Sulaiman once again does wonderfully well in composing the perfect background music. Binod Pradhan's camera work is awesome. Habib Faisal pens slips in some scenes and lets the film loosen its script. Editors -- Rameshwar S Bhagat and Ritesh Soni - have done their job well except for where they let a frame show Saif's half cut face pass in the film.
George Aguilar and Steve Kelso's action choreography is fast paced. On the whole, 'Tara Rum Pum' despite being promoted as a kid film will not find many takers among teens. The film has failed to get a good opening at the box office and will manage to register only a mediocre success.

Life In A Metro

Director: Anurag Basu
Producer: Ronnie Screwvala
Starring: Shilpa Shetty, Shiney Ahuja, Kay Kay Menon, Sharman Joshi, Kangana Raut, Irrfan Khan, Konkona Sen Sharma, Gautam Kapoor
Music Dir: Pritam Chakraborty
Singer: Soham Chakrabarthy, K K, James, Suhail Kaul, Pritam Chakraborty, Adnan Sami

One Film, Countless Characters! Immeasurable Aspirations! How to accommodate them with ease in two and half hour packing? Does 'Life in a...Metro' deliver what it promises? Does this multiple-character episodic entertainer break the jinx of "failure"? Yes! The film succeeds to a large extent and this clearly shows the directorial prowess of the Basu who made history by delivering the biggest hit ('Murder') of the year in the form of erotic thriller. In short, Hollywood's 'Love Actually' finally has made its presence felt in the style and form of 'Life in a...Metro'.
A pivotal episodic entertainer carrying the load of bankable and reliable names makes major dent at the marquee after series of supreme episodic film disasters. After Khalid Mohammad ('Silsilay'), Naseeruddin Shah ('Yun Hota to Kya Hota'), Vikram Bhatt ('Life Mein Kabhi Kabhi') and Nikhil Advani ('Saalam-e-Ishq'), it's time for hot "n" happening Anurag Basu to make his best shot at episodic entertainer featuring multiple storylines and characters. After introspecting into gory and outrageous gangster stories and extra-marital affairs, Basu's directorial skills wander from Madhur Bhanderkar's 'Page 3' to urbane 'Corporate'. It was more an excellence of execution than his creative intellect that brought him laurels in films like 'Gangster' and 'Murder'. 'Life in a...Metro' proves to be an acid test for him as a story teller as well as a technician who has graduated from TV serials to erotic thrillers.
This time Basu sounds philosophical and his theory connects with average multiplex viewer. In hot pursuit of achieving phenomenal we end up losing something significant in our life. Besides, the search for something special goes on but we end up losing precious time that we spend in its search. The "metropolitan" or "metro" life has given us all but has provided us with bridges of illusions, aspirations, resentment and frustration that tear us apart. 'Life in a...Metro' brings out spectrum of vivid lifestyles that are full of countless emotions. The characters we see, feel, live, enjoy and experience gets into real flesh and blood.
The film justifies the fact that in episodic entertainers, the actors should be treated as "characters" and not mere saleable products. The film brings multiple storylines and all these tracks mingle with each other. The highlight is the theme that gets projected in every emoted sentiment and it's the bunch of talented actors who make it a worthy show. Like Madhur Bhanderkar's 'Page 3' and 'Corporate', the film wears a realistic attitude and works on real characters. The film projects the conniving and shrewd "Office" politics in glossy BPO's and Call Centers where every success is manipulated. The ladder of success starts off with sexual favors, scheming attitudes and sycophantic views over demanding intellect. Anurag Basu's perceptions have well been translated into effective screenplay and "make to believe" characters that bind them well in one package.
'Life in a...Metro' has multiple storyline that ranges from old age couples to highly ambitious executives. It is a story of Amol (Dharmendra) and Shivani (Nafisa Ali) who unite after forty years of separation. Their world has changed but love still blossoms in them. Loyalty! It's a story of over ambitious Rahul (Sharmaan Joshi) who wants to own expensive camera phone, eat pizzas and desires every desirable luxury. In order to make aspirations come true, the poor chap has to launder his room for his seniors for their physical pleasures.
Besides these materialistic desires, he nurses love for his companion Neha (Kangana Ranaut), a shrewd socialite who lures his boss Ranjeet (Kay Kay Menon) to bed for promotion. Ambition! Ranjeet lives a deserted marital life where he faces fights with his wife Shikha (Shilpa Shetty). Shikha, an isolated and frustrated housewife finds love and affection in the friendship of Akash (Shiney Ahuja), a struggling stage artiste. Attraction! Finally, there is a spice of humor and relief in the form of love chemistry that erupts between simple and straightforward Shruti (Konkona Sen Sharma) and happy-go-lucky Debu alias Monty (Irfan Khan). Shruti, the simple Bengali girl, surfs net for desirable life partner and lands up meeting Monty. The first meeting proves hilariously depressing for Monty as he gets rejected. The love finally erupts in the climax where Monty chases her to railway station with his horse on his wedding day amidst all hustles and bustles. Love (or Affection? )! Ambition! Sex! Lust! Passion! Desire! Stress! Loyalty! Romance! Love! All such emotions that erupt from fast paced urbane life show their sharp edges in every frame of the film.
Irfan Khan-Konkona Sen scenes are witty, humorous and tickle funny bones in both halves of the film. The scene where he discloses his real age (38) and Konkona describing her reasons for rejecting him are worth viewing. The film shows comical flair of Irfan Khan for the first time as he is being stereotyped as a serious actor for years. Konkona Sen Sharma gets into her 'Page 3' act again as she shares her dreams, desires and hopes with her roommate socialite friend (Kangana Ranaut). The scenes where she asks about pre-mature sex from Shilpa, shows her disgust at society while screaming and the scene where she confronts gay relationship of her fiancée (Gautam Kapoor) shows the brighter side of actress. Films like 'Page 3', 'Omkara' and now 'Life in a...Metro' show her prowess of a method actor and deserves applause for her performance. Shilpa Shetty's performance is a complete revelation as she matures into the cadre of serious actress after series of brainless glossy roles. After Revathy's 'Phir Milenge', she has matured as an actress in the role of distressed housewife attracted towards younger man (Shiney Ahuja). The film provides her author-backed roles that would rejuvenate her doomed acting career.
The actress emotes appreciably in the scenes where she discloses her affair to his husband (Kay Kay Menon), the scene depicting her isolated feeling at railway station and finally the long shot (brilliant camerawork shot with Red monochromatic shades) exhibiting her sensuous scene with Shiney Ahuja. Kay Kay lives another role that he once played in 'Corporate' and delivers it with perfection. Kay Kay excels as manipulative, lecherous but depressed character who schemes out other's success at the behest of his lust. The cunning character needed a proficient actor like him and he delivers it with flair.
The scene where he discloses his affair with Kangana to Shilpa is worth viewing. The scene where he confronts Sharmaan Joshi for his misdeeds in the office and finally landing himself in another place is also a high point of his acting skill. Sharmaan Joshi makes another impressive performance after 'Rang De Basanti' and the film shows his growth as a mature actor. His superb comical timing plus his improvised acting skills make him a fine choice for the role. Kangana Ranaut delivers an average performance as she plays a manipulative executive who illusions love for lust. Kangana wears plastic expressions that she carries throughout the film. There are a couple of scenes where she could have excelled but the other actress proved too dominating for this porcelain beauty. Kangana-Kay Kay track ends up abruptly as she lands up with Sharmaan Joshi with no major reasoning.
Shiney Ahuja gets a meatier role this time from the director who made him prize worthy in his last venture 'Gangster'. Shiney has tiny role and gets relegated as a rejected husband-turned-obsessed lover in the film that was based on realistic attitudes of materialistic "metro" life. Except for long sensuous scene with Shilpa there are not many occasions when the viewers could have felt his presence in the film. Finally, the film holds surprises in the form of veteran and legendary Dharmendra, who makes impressive comeback in the role of a long lost lover. This evergreen superstar's performance forms the crux of the film. It was a pleasurable experience in viewing Dharmendra in a sensible role after his brilliant performances in Hrishikesh Mukherjee's film. It seems Anurag Basu holds a long affection with all Hrishida's movies featuring Dharmendra as this may be one big reason for placing him in a pivotal role. Nafisa Ali ages gracefully with her elderly act of an aging woman waiting for her long lost lover.
Pritam's highly spirited and rollicking hard rock music really zooms into senses and viewers can feel its pulse after leaving theatres. The songs show "Band Metro" (Pritam, Suhail, James and Soham) singing in every different situation of the film. This may be inspired from European style of filmmaking but surely it blends with feel and sentiments of the situations in the film. The song "In Dino", "Alvida", "Baatein Kuch Ankahee" and "Kar Saalam" are well placed in the film and emotes out the inhibited sentiments of the characters. Cinematography (Bobby Singh) finely captures the feel of "Mumbai" city in the scenes which show the skyscraping ambitions of the characters. Like 'Murder', there is a fine mixing of background score, sound mixing and cinematography that develops the desired feel in all the sequences.
Director Anurag Basu deserves all applause for attempting a difficult genre of episodic film with great success. Besides being an efficient storyteller, he is shrewd filmmaker as he has rested this project on UTV Motion Pictures than the Bhatt camp for its big star cast and budget. The film will garner positive word of appreciation overseas from Shilpa's dream run of success in "Big Brother" show. The film will score maximum in multiplexes and will be above average in single screen theatres.

A Wednesday

Director: Neeraj Pandey
Producer: Anjum Rizvi, Shital Bhatia
Starring: Naseruddin Shah, Anupam Kher, Jimmy Shergill, Aamir Bashir, Deepal Shaw, Gaurav Kapoor, Chetan Pandit Editing: Shree Narayan Singh
Screenplay: Neeraj Pandey

The movie titled 'A Wednesday' and released all over India today (Friday, Sept 5th) though based on the backdrop of terrorism is yet different from other movies made on this subject.
Not only the movie's theme, but also its star cast is impressive comprising highly experienced and talented actors like Anupam Kher and Naseeruddin Shah along with Jimmy Shergill, Aamir Bashir and Deepal Shaw in vital roles. Debutant director Neeraj Pandey deserves accolades both from the audience as well as the critics for sensitive and deft handling.
Significantly, the movie was first screened for Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and then shown to the Chief minister of Delhi Ms Sheila Dixit at a special show in South Delhi on Wednesday (September 3rd) The presence of the two main artists of the movie -- Naseeruddin Shah and Anupam Kher -- along with director Neeraj Pandey lent more importance to the special show.
A Wednesday' has nothing to do with the train explosions or any similarity with 'Bombay Meri Jaan'. In fact, it talks about the status and power of the common man. So, it's likely to rank as the best thriller of 2008 inasmuch as being an educational as well as an eye-opener.
Even though this is a Ramzan month when a large section of the Indian audience, the Muslims, keep a fast, the movie is sure to attract the movie watchers because of being a part of serious cinema. Incidentally, this is the third good movie in a row during the past three Fridays:
The first being 'Mumbai Meri Jaan' and the second 'Rock On' last week, and 'A Wednesday' this Friday. The story is good and brilliantly filmed. The movie tells the story of certain events that take place between 2 and 6 pm on a Wednesday in Mumbai though they are not on record.
In the flashback, Anupam Kher playing Prakash Rathod, the Commissioner of Mumbai Police, receives a strange call from the militants as they seek the release of their colleagues and not informing about leaving a bomb at some place to explode.
Initially, Prakash suspects that to be a hoax call, but soon finds a bomb in front of his police headquarters! He taps all resources, and even hires help to track conversations and also the location of the anonymous caller.
This shows that the director takes terrorism as the theme and gives it a new twist. Beginning with Naseeruddin Shah playing a terrorist and planting bombs in the most densely populated part of the city (police headquarters). Then, he introduces his other characters:
Anupam Kher as police Commissioner, Aamir Bashir as police officer, Jimmy Sheirgill as ATS Officer and Deepal Shaw as television journalist. The director weaves his story around these persons.
We regret that the story suffers from lack of cohesion among subplots and original characterizations. The characters are introduced to play not a big deal and therefore end up just like that. The entire cast comprising Irrfan Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Ritesh Deshmukh and Rajpal Yadav is wasted.
Arya Babbar is relegated to the rank of a junior artist. Danny dies before you notice him. The characters come and go; maybe they mark their presence without much to do. It is wondered if these players were obliged even though they do nothing in the movie.
Yes, there are no sub-plots, no songs, no movie Masala, yet it tells the story. Jimmy Jib's handling of camera is excellent. The cinematographer captures the scenes relating to Naseeruddin Shah brilliantly. . He captures the Mumbai skyline as Nasser places himself on the top of a building. And, this is perhaps one of Naseer's top five movies.
Then, comes the most refined acting of Anupam Kher. These two Bollywood giants have acted together in a movie after a very long time.
How could a movie connoisseur miss watching them together; only they could stand to each other? Jimmy Sheirgill plays a volatile cop but with a very limited role. Aamir Bashir is great and so is Deepal Shaw who shows self-confidence in herself. Chet Pandit plays an effective chief minister and Kali Prasad Mukherjee a terrorist.
Overall, the movie turns out an outstanding one as the theme, its execution and the selection of cast, especially the two Bollywood giants , are likely to draw large rowds for weeks together.

Hijack

Director: Kunal Shivdasani

Producer: Dinesh Vijan,kunal sivdasani

Starring: Shiney Ahuja, K K Raina, Mona Ambegaonkar, Kaveri Jha, Esha Deol

Cinematography: Jehangir Chowdhury

Bollywood doesn't tire of repeating the same subject in movies. There seems to be a terror-centric movies spree. But, everything belonging to art, culture and more importantly, literature, reflects the then prevailing situation in society.
The world is currently faced with the demon of terrorism, and India is affected the most by this evil. That's why directors find it an attractive subject for their movies. In fact, every movie at present has a kind of terrorism in it. Debutant directors lap up with this theme, but in a very different and better way.
Kunal Shivdasani of 'Hijack' falls in the same category. Though this theme isn't just new as this has been the subject in Kuku Kohli's 'Yeh Dil Aashiqana' and Rohit Shetty's 'Zameen', but 'Hijack' appears to be more real.
The movie speaks of terrorism but in another context; of a father crossing any limit to save his child from the clutches of terrorists. A father turns emotional when the matter pertains to his loving child. This is not the case of a state fighting terrorism, and taking the stringiest measures to contain it. Yes, 'Hijack' falls in the category of terrorism prevailing in the sky.
This is more on the lines of Hollywood movies, though. The riveting thriller centers around two important characters played by Shiney Ahuja and Esha Deol. Shiney Ahuja aka Vikram is a ground maintenance officer at Chandigarh Airport.
He has a friend in Rajeev, who is the Security Chief of the same airport. Incidentally, Vikram's daughter travels from Delhi to Amritsar, and her plane is hijacked by a group of five terrorists. They seek the release of Maqsood played by K K Raina, who had been captured by the police in India.
The plane had to land at Chandigarh Airport for refueling. The terrorists seek the release of Maqsood, else threaten to kill the hostages. Vikram enters into the aircraft with the help of the airhostess named Saira played by Esha Deol. He kills the terrorists one by one.
In the meanwhile some innocent passengers fall victims to the gunshots of ruthless terrorists in the process! We have witnessed a story like this in India, so it is real though the director has added some fiction to it as in any movie.
Since Kunal has also edited the movie so there is lack of tight editing of juniors' roles. Music-wise, it is just okay . Justin-Uday has failed in bringing out more than one song. However, the background score leaves a good impact.
Cinematography by Jehangir Chowdhary's is excellent. Stunts by Allan Amin's are brilliant, too. Mushtaq Kak, a terrorist, plays his role very well. Kaveri Jha is photogenic, but nothing more. Satyajeet and Mona Ambegaonkar have fared well.
We wish Kunal had cast senior actors to match his good plot so it could become a real competitor to this Friday's another movie 'A Wednesday'. The latter has excelled the Kunal's 'Hijack' only because of the two very strong actors like Nasseruddin Shah and Anupam Kher in that .
Another weak point of 'Hijack' is that its two lead characters haven't been on good terms for quite some time and therefore didn't cooperate in its promotion.
You may recall that Esha was the second choice after Sushmita Sen declined the offer due to her dates' problem. Even Esha accepted the movie when she was told that she would play many stunt scenes in this movie.
The movie wasn't granted permission to shoot it at the Chandigarh airport because of security reasons. The director thereafter arranged a special set for shooting it in the city. Even in the wake of all these deficiencies, the movie has been completed within 55 days.
To sum up we can say that this Friday has brought good movies for the audiences and 'Hijack' being an engrossing one stands second to 'A Wednesday'. The third movie release is Sangeet Sivan's 'Tahaann'.

Chak De India

Director: Shimit Amin
Producer: Aditya Chopra, Yash Chopra
Starring: Shah Rukh Khan, Vidya Malvade
Music: Salim Suleiman

This is generally said that a sports film doesn't fare well in Indian Cinema. However, the cine goers have proved it wrong. They cite the example of 'Hip Hip Hurray' that did well even though the people were not so fascinated by the football scenario. Similarly, ' Jo Jeeta Wahi Sikandar' did marvelous business, even though it was based on common man's vehicle game - cycling.
Then came 'Lagaan' and it changed the scenario for Indian cinema forever. So, the directors are happy that they can tell the stories that are close to their heart though the producers may not be ready to bet on them.
If Aamir Khan put in his own money for 'Lagaan', not many actors could support this new wave of Indian cinema. Aamir got cocooned in his own shell and despite his efforts to bring in more and more different films like 'Mangal Pandey', his efforts are yet to make an impact. Salman Khan hasn't ever ventured into such a thing; he was and is still busy doing run-of-the-mill stories lifted from Hollywood.
And, then the people look at Shah Rukh Khan. He has been the silver lining for the viewers but alas they are fed up with watching masala cinema time and again. However, he faltered in 'Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna'.
Now, he returns to Big Screen after 10 months with a film that is hyped as the next big patriotic film - 'Chak De India'. 'Chak De India' releases just five days ahead of 60th year of India's independence.
But all the fizz looks like settling down even before the celebrations could actually begin. Will 'Chak De India' complete the hat trick of flops for Yash Raj Films, after 'Namaste London' and 'Jhoom Barabar Jhoom' failing to live up to their expectations?
Time is very tough for the biggest banner of Indian Cinema, Yash Raj Films. In a Global Village scenario where competition is growing day by day, it makes sense to create new models year after year to see the growth going on. Every company creates a new model for its product almost every year and it has become the fashion of the day.
So, how long can people tolerate the same actor again and again. The alarm bell had rung in 'Don' for Shah Rukh but he didn't notice. Then, the people gave him a kind of show cause Notice in 'Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna', but he didn't bother at Yellow Card. After all, he has always been playing centre forward. Hence the people who made him The King Khan, seem to be ready with a Red Card?
'Chak De India' has been rejected by the masses in a country where stars are made every Friday. A forty percent opening for the first day's first show for a Shah Rukh Khan film is indeed a setback for the industry in general and for Yash Raj Films, in particular.
Jaideep Sahni may feel being on the top as the creative head of YRF, but he needs to peep back to the days when he conceived ' Khosla Ka Ghosla' or 'Company'. It's his moral responsibility to take brickbats for this film as it's his baby. Shimit Amin, who moved over from Ram Gopal Varma's factory to join YRF, may not be a happy man either.
He gets to direct Shah Rukh but his film doesn't even get a good opening. Keeping in view that film business is decided now on the basis of its first three days, even word of mouth publicity will not help much to save it. If it does, it's good for everyone.
'Chak De India' falters at many points. To start with, its music fails to generate any kind of curiosity among masses. But I can not blame Salim Suleiman for it because they got to compose the music once the movie was over ; whatever they could do they have done on the edit table. The film then fails on story line, too. To make a film on Hockey Coach is not a good and saleable idea for Indian film industry.
Hockey may be our national game but seeing the poor performance of the hockey team, Indian government has put the game in general game category recently. There are no emotions attached to this game now as far as the masses are concerned. We wonder if anybody even remembers now as to when was it the last when Team India won the Gold for the nation.
'Chak De India' is said to have been made on real life story. It shows a man challenging his destiny. He does this for his personal satisfaction, though the makers publicize it for the nation. The story line breaks itself. Kabir Khan's (Shah Rukh Khan) character is such that the people have seen plenty of times on screen.
If Om Puri did this in 'Disco Dancer', Danny did it in 'Boxer'. Making underdogs work like champions have been told on screen umpteen times. And, in 'Chak De India' the underdogs are not the known names.
Though Shimit has taken girls from almost every part of India to give it an all India look, he has failed in executing the idea and gone overboard some times. What happened for Abhishek in 'Jhoom Barabar Jhoom', has repeated for Shah Rukh in 'Chak De India'.
Had he taken some lessons from 'Swades', SRK would have moved miles ahead. But, the film is not that bad, any way. It can be watched and enjoyed at your leisure. But, the people get leisure at home these days and wait for the movies like this to come on some TV channels soon.

Cheeni Kum

Director: R. Balakrishnan
Producer: Sunil Manchanda
Starring: Amitabh Bachchan, Tabu, Paresh Rawal, Zohra Sehgal
Music Dir: Ilaiyaraaja
Singer: Shreya Ghosal, Amitabh Bachchan, Vijay Prakash

First, there is a good news in as much as 'Cheeni Kum' is not an improvised or rehashed version of Ramu's infamous 'Nishabd', but an experimental attempt of delivering uncharacteristic subject on Indian screen. If Ramu chose dramatic moves to persuade audiences in 'Nishabd', then debutante director R Balki has preferred "comical" treatment to justify the unusual theme in his film. 'Cheeni Kum' is a contemporary multiplex entertainer where Amitabh Bachchan succeeds in justifying a non-happening "filmi" character with full credibility and thus silence his detractors through a commendable performance. The film may not be as hilarious or comical as 'Bheja Fry' or 'Pyar Ke Side Effects', but does deliver the needful in a two and half hour package. The film has towering and reliable acting talents who make this an entertaining show.
Above all, the surprise element proves to be child artiste baby Swini Khara, who steals the show with her chirpy one-liners besides indifferent theme and story. It brings back Tabu into commercial mainstream after her splendid performance in 'The Namesake' along with the comical genius of Paresh Rawal. 'Cheeni Kum' talks about the pros and cons of relationship between an elder man and a younger woman. The theme may sound ostracized or detested in Indian sensibilities but the storywriter has given it an emotional touch. The film talks and later stresses on the "age no bar" factor in a congenial relationship and still later tries to strike a balance between the two major relationships
'Cheeni Kum' is a sweet and innocent relationship of an elderly man (Amitabh Bachchan) with his ailing six year old girl neighbor "Sexy" (Baby Swini Khara). It's an unusual but heartbreaking relationship where Amitabh spends quality time with the ailing girl. This sweet girl responds spontaneously to his generosity as she proves to be a worthy "counselor" for him in the beginning as well as in the climax. It forms the strong linkage between the unpredicted love relationships that finally face the seniors' resentment. R Balki tries to infuse hilarious elements in making this track compatible with the theme of the film.
Later, the film transcends into sweet and sour relationship between this elderly man with a thirty plus young woman (Tabu). This atypical relationship builds in unwanted situation when the self-esteem of renowned restaurateur (Amitabh Bachchan) is hurt by her customer (Tabu). The restaurateur feels apologetic for his subordinate's blunder and finally this panicky emotion is transformed into an impulsive affection. It thus builds "Cheeni Kum" (sugar-less) chemistry between them and this unpredicted relationship leads to undesired confronting conversations.
'Cheeni Kum' works as a cerebral comedy as both discuss the pros and cons of happy marriage. Both these relationships are built on basic human nature and are dignified as the "epitome" of eternal love. It proves all its detractors wrong as the lead protagonist (Amitabh Bachchan) is emotionally bounded with his real love (Tabu) rather than on her physical personality. In the climax, Tabu reiterates the morality and preaching of Sexy (ailing girl) to Amitabh in her own version. It shows the sensibilities of a good storyteller that relationships are not bounded on physical relationship or lust. The film tries to ridicule the sensuality in a pious and affable relationship through its hilarious narration when Tabu challenges Amitabh's masculinity in a playground. Unlike 'Nishabd', Big B gets energized and vociferous in the climax in justifying his relationship with Tabu, though Paresh Rawal's "satyagraha" sounds artificial and unwanted.
'Cheeni Kum' tries to magnify the practicality of an unusual theme through its wise gestures but still it falters at many places. Now, comes the bad news; the film tries to rejuvenate an unpopular theme (old man and young woman) that has faced resentment and hostility of masses for many decades. Yash Chopra did try it in 'Lamhe' but failed miserably and decades later Ramu's experimentation faced an outright opposition from masses, media and critics. Director R Balki walks on a tight rope in his first endeavor as he tries to tread on this infamous path. Despite a crispy and witty screenplay, the film has some loose ends. The film drags in the first half and there are some repeated instances and scenes which decimate the pace of the film. Sexy's (ailing girl) asking for "Adults" DVD's may sound amusing but it has failed to strike any authenticity with the scripting. Tabu's serving as an advisor to her friend's boyfriend has not met with enough justification in the film. Her friend's (Kanwal Toor) role in the film is unexplainable as she vanishes from the scene in the climax. Paresh Rawal's (Tabu's father) character could have been meatier and crisper to draw more humor. His actions of "satyagraha" and Gandhian theme mismatch with the situation of the film. R Balki would have opted for a better climax than showing Paresh Rawal's fasting unto death. Even Zohra Saigal's (Amitabh's mother) passion for wrestling and exercising fails to draw major humor or relevance in the film. Due to its uncharacteristic theme, 'Cheeni Kum' will be drawing elite audiences and its acceptance will be restricted to multiplexes. Illaiyaraja's music is melodious to core and works positively in the narration.
The soundtracks "Baatein Hawa", "Sooni Sooni" and "Cheeni Kum" work appreciably as the effective background score. These musical presentations are far away from routine chorographical work and thus will be centered on elite viewers. P.C Sreeram's cinematography is visually delightful as it captivates the alluring charm of urban London . P C Sreeram, a favorite with Mani Ratnam, shows the finest aspect of his skill by giving aerial shots (song - "Baatein Hawa"), high angle shots (showing Amitabh's restaurant "Spice 6") and effective close ups (Amitabh's breaking loose after Sexy's death). Chandan Arora's editing needs to be slightly dicer as the film should have trimmed by 10-15 minutes in its duration. 'Cheeni Kum' completely belongs to Amitabh Bachchan in terms of his screen presence, performance and vigor that reciprocate substantially with his indifferent character. His immaculate comical timing proves to be the worthiest aspect that makes this a hilarious entertainer.
The scene where he shares his pains and blissful relationship with "Sexy" shows his immaculate growth and strength as an actor. Later his compatibility and on-screen chemistry with Tabu shows his versatile genius. Tabu's aging looks may be a disappointing factor but her acting skills supersede it. She may not be as impressive as Amitabh but she fits well into her caricature. It was delightful to watch her in a commercial mainstream cinema after a hiatus of three years and probably the audiences will appreciate her performance. Paresh Rawal's comical genius hasn't been fully utilized as the actor's comical flair could have been a big asset to the film's success. His name on the credits will draw major crowds but his fans will be disappointed to see him in a sedate role. His character of a disciplinarian father may not be his finest performance but he deserves all accolades for being theatrically profound in his performance. Zohra Saigal shows her versatility and agility as a competent performer and it shows in her brilliant performance. The veteran actress has been a big asset for the film in all aspects and the film belongs to her adaptability as a trustworthy actor despite her old age. Baby Swini Khara proves to a big revelation and can be crowned as "Best Child Artiste" of the year for her finely crafted author backed role. It shows the genius of director R Balki in drawing quality work from this talented child artiste.
Finally, debutante director R Balki, graduates appreciably from advertisement world to filmmaking through this light hearted comedy. The filmmaker should be complemented for crafty promos that worked aggressively in generating a promising opening for the film. He has succeeded both as a storyteller and as a technician in narrating an indifferent story. 'Cheeni Kum' should not be misconstrued as slapstick entertainer but should be acknowledged as indifferent dramatic effort by a new filmmaker. It will draw major applause and crowd from multiplexes and will work positively for director R Balki and superstar Amitabh Bachchan in best possible ways. Its collections will be maximum in multiplexes and overseas while it can face an uphill task at single screen theatres. The film is expected to have a good opening at all major places and should prove to be the first major hit for Big B this year.

Shoot Out at Lokhandwala

Director: Apoorva Lakhia
Producer: Sanjay Gupta, Sanjay Dutt
Starring: Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt, Abhishek Bachchan, Arjun Rampal, Vivek Oberoi, Tusshar Kapoor, Arbaaz Khan, Sameer Dattani, Shabbir Ahluwalia, Aftab Ahmad Khan, Neha Dhupia, Dia Mirza, Rohit Roy, Ravi Gosai, Aarti Chhabria
Music Dir: Anu Malik

This is a coincidence that the serial blasts that rocked the financial capital of the India some 13 years ago, about 100 persons have been found guilty of this crime only now and the quantum of punishment is being announced by Mumbai's special TADA court. One among them is actor Sanjay Dutt. However, he is awaiting the verdict for his crime, any moment. Another coincidence is that on the eve of the verdict Sanjay appears in a new avatar on big screen.
He tells us the story of a daring cop whose transfer from Mumbai was followed by one of the most dreaded attack on humanity (Mumbai bomb blasts). While most of the films based on the subject talk about the Mumbai bomb blasts or their repercussions on the nexus between police, politicians or their pals in underworld, 'Shoot Out At Lokhandwala' provides the glimpse of what had happened just before the blasts. It is the story of Maya Dolas.
Maya was a small time gangster who dared challenge the don sitting in Dubai. There have been claims and counter-claims for this encounter. While the police files tell their own story human right activists claim something different. Some assert that the encounter was wholly an effort to wipe out Maya Dolas' gang by Anti-Terrorist Squad of Mumbai Police while others assert that it was done by some police officers on the behest of the don in Dubai.
Producers - Sanjay Gupta, Sanjay Dutt and Ektaa Kapoor - don't delve into the legality of the encounter. They present a situation where everyone seems to be taking side of the police. The story is a chronology of events that happened in Mumbai during those days. It is presented in flash back format where ATS Chief Khan (Sanjay Dutt), Inspector Kavi (Suniel Shetty) and a constable Khan (Arbaaz Khan) come to seek help from ex-chief justice Dhingra (Amitabh Bachchan). Dhingra asks them several questions. While answering them Khan narrates the chronology of events that finally lead to 'Shoot Out At Lokhandwala'. The story goes back to Sikh terrorism in Punjab followed by the army action in the Golden Temple and thereafter the murder of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her two guards.
If the film claim is to be believed then Punjab terrorism had fuelled the evil in Mumbai as well. The elements that were the root cause of Punjab terrorism also fanned terrorism in Mumbai. The pulse of the film is set by murder of Inspector Mhatre (Abhishek Bachchan). ATS is formed and to establish its credentials, ATS kills whoever falls in its target area. Small time goons like Maya (Vivek Oberoi) and Sharp Shooter Buwa (Tushaar) join hands and unleash a new wave of terror for Mumbaiites; they pose a new challenge to the ATS team. How do they tackle the situation and how the underworld faces the gun-trotting cops, forms the crux of the film. There are informers on both side; personal enmities are settled under legal covers. However, the common man had to run for the cover from bullets on the streets of Mumbai.
As a director Apoorva Lakhia shows his class finally in 'Shoot Out At Lokhandwala'. Having directed Abhishek Bachchan in his debut film 'Mumbai Se Aaya Mera Dost' and Senior Bachchan in 'Ek Ajnabee', he gets a chance to direct both in his latest flick, though both of them have very short presence in the proceedings. Apoorva Lakhia himself writes a story with the help of Sanjay Gupta and Suresh Nair on an incident that goes down in the history of Mumbai police as the most controversial event of that period. Apoorva Lakhia's winning ace for the film is his script; except for some songs thrown in between without any reason, the film moves on with a good pace. He adheres to a yellowish tone throughout the film to give it a nostalgic value. He remembers not to show any mobile phone in the hands of its cast as it was not the fashion those days. The costumes also conform to early nineties. And, to add to his finesse, he has people like Gururaj R Jois handling camera and Javed & Ejaz duo handling action sequences. The team works in tandem and comes out with results that are quite satisfactory, if not excellent.
Lakhia also gets great help from its cast, especially Sanjay Dutt, Suniel Shetty and Vivek Oberoi. Sanjay Dutt as ATS Chief Khan delivers one of the best performances of his career. After being tagged as 'Munna Bhai' for his comic roles, he comes out with a performance that required depth. He wins the hearts of the people , both as a diehard police officer and as a husband torn between duty and family.
Suniel Shetty after a long gets a role where he has to work more and speak less. The role suits him. The scene where Sanjay Dutt speaks to Suniel Shetty at the airport explains the whole situation for ATS formation. Shetty's hanging the phone every time he calls home and his wife picks it, shows the undercurrent of the film where families are sidelined during such crises. Tushaar tries hard to portray a character that required a lot of maturity but falls short of expectation.
The third best is Vivek Oberoi who gets the best chance to resurrect his career. The people immediately link Maya to Chandu Nagre in 'Company' (his debut film). Though Vivek and Abhishek don't come face to face in any sequence, the film will also go down in history to have Aishwarya's former lover and her husband in one film, soon after her marriage with Abhishek.
Arbaaz Khan keeps his role and performance subtle.But it is the gang of Maya (Shabbir Ahluwalia as RC, Rohit Roy as Fatim aka Fattu and Aditya Lakhiya as Doubling) that disappoints a lot. The melodrama and overacting could have been avoided to give the film a more pensive look. Overall, the film sees good fortune at box office; it will appeal to the audience in multiplexes and its presentation will keep the viewers glued in single screen theatres, too.

Red

Director: Vikram Bhatt
Producer: Sunil Chainani, Sameer Srivastava
Starring: Celina Jaitley, Aftab Shivdasani, Amrita Arora, Sushant Singh
Music Dir: Himesh Reshammiya

In recent times there have been a big quest for unexplored dark subjects or genres that might prove innovative for viewers and blessings for its connoisseurs. The quest has landed this time into new genre of "French noir" cinema, European styled crime thrillers that rest on the concepts of moral ambiguity and sexual motivation. 'Red' unravels the path of dark and sinister theme of deceit, jealousy, hatred and obsession through indifferent methods of story telling and narration.
The film caters to the school of hard boiled crime thrillers with an ambience of low key lighting techniques where contrasting shades of colors (blue, black, gray and red) paint the chilling dramatic moments. 'Red' works with pessimistic approach in an urban setting where leading characters are trapped in unwanted emotional situations with a perspective of uncaring fate and destiny.
The first big question arises about its title of the film being 'Red' and not 'Black' as it glorifies the darker side of human emotions. It tries to be similar in title ('Red') with Sanjay Leela Bhansali's 'Black' in terms of treatment and narration with dark and shady storyline but fails to hold its ground.
Like 'Eklavya-the royal guard', the film relies more on techno-wizardry of cinematic skills than on scripting or characterizations. The description of "noir" cinema might create a ripple in international or overseas market but overall the film fails to leave any indomitable impact.
'Red' brings memories of least heard 'Ek Tha Dil Ek Thi Dhadkan' (Isha Koppikar, Indra Kumar), unsuccessful 'Dil Ne Jise Apna Kaha' (Salman Khan, Preity Zinta) and to a large extent to the highly successful 'Jism' (John Abraham, Bipasha Basu). Both 'Ek tha Dil Ek Thi Dhadkan' and 'Dil Ne Jise Apna Kaha' were loose inspirations from Hollywood's 'Return to Me' and the concept of these films where heart transplant of a lover into another body forms the crux of the story for 'Red'. But it was 'Jism' revisited through unexplored genre of filmmaking that holds the centre stage for 'Red-the darker side'.
Erotic thriller 'Jism' was a loose adaptation from Hollywood crime thriller 'Body Heat' (1981) and it triggered off a rage among new crop of filmmakers that ended with strings of flops. Vikram Bhatt's 'Red' tries to be different in terms of cinematographic skills and story narration but proves too weak in its content. The film centers on extramarital affairs that result in multiple murders. The slick treatment works well for the elite audience but will hardly cast any spell on average viewer.
'Red' brings out maturity in less theatrical actors and this time it works well for sultry damsel Celina Jaitley. The actress who has been heavily criticized for her theatrical attributes shines the brightest. She forms the core of the content but her character fails to draw anything innovative.
Bipasha showed her dare bare and deceitful attire in 'Jism' that worked wonders for her and to a large extent Celina's character bears strong similarity with it. She fits into the bill and the caricature of a desolated widow very well who attracts and entices with her sensuality for monetary gains.
The film starts off impressively with an indifferent style of story narration with contrasting monochromatic shades of blue and red depicting the inner emotions of the characters. The tempo builds up well in the midst of the first half but the second half is a complete downer.
'Red-the darker side' is the story of survival of rich billionaire Neel Oberoi (Aftab Shivdasani) after a successful heart plant. He is nursed by the medical expertise of Dr. Aastha (Kishori Shahane) and is blessed with the heart of dying millionaire Anuj Saxena. Neel feels obliged and wants to share moments with the donor's family. Anahita (Celina Jaitley) is the lonely widow of Anuj who lives reclusively in her posh apartment.
She has the company of her bosom friend Ria (Amrita Arora) who shares most of her evenings in parties and discos. Rocky (Amin Hajee) is a hardcore party freak and drug addict who befriends Ria and her friends in parties.
Neel feels dejected for Anahita's loneliness and wants to share his gratitude with her. Unfortunately, their first meeting turns hostile but finally it culminates into love. Anahita shows her insecurity and suspects Ria's deceitful intentions in murdering Anuj. She even suspects Rocky's foul play in the game.
In a tug of war Rocky is killed by Neel and the needle of suspicion tilts towards him. Police inspector Abhay Rastogi (Sushant Singh) follows every step and move of Neel but fails to draw any big conclusion. The beans are spilled in the climax when the truths about Anahita's deceitful intentions are revealed to Neel through Ria.
The film's biggest disappointment is its climax where Celina suspects Aftab's intentions. The slow paced narration in the second half decimates the viewer's interest and the end looks predictable. Every time you hear the loud voice of Himesh Reshammiya's singing you monitor a hot erotic sequence between Aftab and Celina.
The unnecessary lip-lock scenes sound planted and it hardly gives any substance to the content. The second half of the moves around the murder mystery with thin plotline and loosely conceived screenplay.
'Red' completely belongs to the uninhibited theatrical talent and sensual body display of Celina Jaitley. The film brings her finest effort till date with an author backed role and she delivers moments of pain, agony, fear and obsession with full grace. The camerawork catches her physical tonality brilliantly with shades of red and blue in erotic and chilling moments. The sequence with Aftab where she displays her fear and her emotional outburst shows her growth as a refined actress.
Aftab's bald looks may not be trend-setting for his image but has worked well in the role of an obsessed lover. He matures as an actor with 'Red'. His character has some shades from his previous impressive performances from films like 'Kasoor'. Even Amrita Arora gets a meatier role than all her previous appearances.
Sushant Singh gives a refreshing look as a cop and one remembers the sequence at the nursery garden where he interrogates about Aftab. Amin Hajee and Kishori Shahane work mechanically with their roles and script.
Pravin Bhatt's cinematography needs special mention and this is the biggest highlight of this glossy crime thriller. Manoj Tyagi's screenplay falls like nine pins in the second half and it forms the weakest link. Girish Dhamija's dialogue works well in the gripping dramatic moments but the script fails to deliver.
Himesh Reshammiya's funky pop music works well in the erotic sequences but the magic is missing. The soundtracks "Aafreen" and "Loneliness is killing" give moments of sensual gripping.
Vikram Bhatt has delivered successful thrillers like 'Ghulam', 'Raaz' and 'Kasoor' and much was expected from this film. The bad phase continues with 'Red' and one hopes to view better entertainment in his forthcoming 'Life Mein Kabhi Kabhi' and 'Fear'.
The film will fare its best in the first week and that too in multiplexes whereas it will be average to poor in single screen theatres. The collections will drop thereafter and the bad news continues for Bollywood box office barometer.

Namastey London

Director: Vipul Amrutlal Shah
Producer: Vipul Amrutlal Shah
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif, Upen Patel, Rishi Kapoor, Javed Sheikh, Ritesh Deshmukh
Music Dir: Himesh Reshammiya

It needs a great chemistry between a director and an actor to keep making films together. Director Vipul Shah, during his shift from Gujarati plays to Hindi films, started with a bank heist story 'Aankhen' followed by 'Waqt' and now by 'Namastey London'.
Thus, he completes a hat trick with Akshay, but also leaves open the future of the action star of the past and comedy kind of the present . Akshay has tried to do emotional, social and family saga in the past as well, but not succeeded so far, be it 'Haan Maine Bhi Pyaar Kiya Hai' or 'Humko Diwana Kar Gaye'.
His last movie was with Katrina Kaif, the heroine of 'Namastey London', too. Katrina Kaif in 'Namastey London' plays Saira Bano of 'Purab Aur Paschim'. The answer is No. With this all the speculations that 'Namastey London' is a remake of Manoj Kumar's 'Purab Aur Paschim' come to an end. But, Akshay does try to play Bharat Kumar of 2007, in his latest venture.
If ' Purab Aur Paschim' was aimed at stopping brain drain from India, 'Namastey London' conveys a message that those settled abroad should not look for Indian spouses for their kids. Yes, a very trivial one on its face. But, Vipul Shah tries to cash on emotions by playing with a crossover theme, and ends up making a poor version of 'Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam'.
Let's first discuss Akshay Kumar as Arjun Singh. Everyone knows that Akshay Kumar was Rajiv Hari Om Bhatia before taking his new name in his first film 'Saugandh'. Since he is Punjabi by nature, his on screen acting doesn't throw surprises. Akshay plays a boy who meets a girl ( foreigner ) for the first time. She comes along with her father who happens to be a friend of Arjun's father. Arjun falls in love with her. No matter what the girl has in mind.
Arjun is married to this girl and then after reaching London, he starts playing Ajay Devgan in 'Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam'. The only difference between 'Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam' and 'Namastey London' is that the boy whom the girl loves is not Salman Khan or even his parallel.
Vipul Shah makes new 'Purab Aur Paschim' but with a role reversal. So, while Manoj Kumar tried to teach Saira Bano Indian values in India, Akshay does the same with Katrina Kaif in Britain. Not a great deal for an actor like Akshay Kumar!
Akshay does some subtle acting, and wins accolades while delivering a Manoj Kumar like lecture. But, his emotions fall flat every time he tries for it. He prefers to wear sunglasses, when he is needed to emote. The only scene that registers on your mind is the falling drop of sweat from near his ear or his crying after talking to his mother from London. The film could have left some effect, had Akshay got support from solid playback signers.
Films like these need some emotional, devotional and patriotic songs. But, Vipul relies only on Himesh Reshammiya and the people nowadays just change their FM channels whenever his songs are aired. Yes, FM channels because the people have stopped buying his CD's.
Katrina Kaif aka Jasmit aka Jazz is the troublemaker in the film. She is a troublesome child; she drinks wine, kisses his boyfriend in the open, roams around in mini skirt and gives a damn to the worries of her father (Rishi Kapoor). She has been brought up like this by her Punjabi mother, who always felt inferior among Britishers when she was young and came to London.
The father brings her child back to his native country and goes on Bharat Darshan. He also does a Damaad (Son-in-law) Darshan and finally decided to marry her daughter to Arjun. However, the question is if the fathers of grown up girls are so desperate to get rid of thier daughters? The problematic attitude continues even when Jasmit is married. She comes back to London and declares her marriage null and void, according to the British law.
Jasmit has learnt with her own errors. She loves a boy named Charlie Brown who has married thrice before and got divorced. But, our girl cares a damn. She is blind in love and doesn't mind even when Charlie's relatives insult India. Arjun confronts the Britisher at this juncture and gives him a lesson that is like prose version of famous song from 'Purab Aur Paschim' -- "Jab Zero Diya Mere Bharat Ne, Duniya Ko Tab Ginti Aayi". So, what is new in the film? The novelty lies in the parallel tracks of the story.
Be it Upen Patel who plays Imran and loves a British girl and is almost on the verge of changing his religion to marry her before Arjun makes him realize his mistake. The rugby match between Asians and Britishers or some good scenes from Pakistani actor Javed Sheikh who plays Upen Patel's father in the film, are interesting.
Katrina does the same what Akshay does for his character. Katrina too plays almost the real on reel. Her accent is real and irritates when she keeps on talking in English for most of the time she is on screen. 'Namastey London' is just an inch above an average film. It has no great scene, no great dialogues and no great songs.
Even Vipul Shah's direction seems to be inspired from Yash Chopra's movies. He uses crane to showcase Punjab just like Yash Chopra did in 'Veer Zaara'. His shot taking will remind you many famous scenes from past films.
Not a good deal for a director who is still trying to carve a place for himself in his third film. The film becomes predictive by the end and when Rishi Kapoor comes running after his daughter escapes from the altar.

Jab We Met

Director: Imtiaz Ali
Producer: Dhillin Mehta
Starring: Shahid Kapoor , Kareena Kapoor, Dara Singh, Kiran Juneja
Music: Pritam, Sandesh Shandilya
Lyrics: Irshad Kamil

"Kahani Mein Twist Hai…!" Bollywood love stories have always been infused with unpredictable twists and turns and finally land up with the lead pair in desired heaven.
This tried and trusted formula has been revamped and resurrected for decades. 'Jab We Met' reintroduces director Imtiaz Ali as an appropriate and efficient storyteller after mish-mash youthful saga 'Socha Na Tha'. It may be not be his finest attempt in this genre but positively a better entertaining option for the festive weekends.
Girl meets boy but circumstances detest their relationships! It's decades' old decayed concept that has been successfully executed in Mahesh Bhatt's 'Dil Hai Ke Maanta Nahin', Aditya Chopra's 'Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge' and Ajay Devgan's 'Pyar to Hona Hi Tha'. Even Hollywood had classics like 'It happened One Night' to its credit followed by recent super hits like 'Harry meets Sally', 'A Walk in the Clouds', 'French Kiss' etc that have been appreciated worldwide.
In short, 'Jab We Met' has a cultural backdrop of 'Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge' and conceptual backdrop of films like Hollywood 'A Walk in the Clouds'. Unfortunately, Hollywood's 'A Walk in the Cloud' had two disastrous clones in the form of 'Dhai Akshar Prem Ke' and 'Kunwara' but 'Jab We Met' works well both for actor as well for the director. Yes, it does work and delivers packages of comical relief in the first half followed by conventional melodramatic acts to sum up the predictable proceedings.
'Jab We Met' has many aces up his sleeves and all accolades to the handling of the subject that gives it a strikingly refreshing look. As told earlier, 'Jab We Met' is not the brightest flick of this genre but promises "paisa vassol" entertainment for family audiences. Director Imtiaz Ali matures as a proficient storyteller and director by daring to rehash and recreate age-old formula of girl eloping with her love interest and thus facing the wrath of her loved ones.
Both Shahid Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor surface some ground for them as all of their endeavors ('Fida', '36 Chinatown' and 'Chup Chipke') have faired average to poor at the box office. In fact, the film is a blessing for both of them and shows the first spark of flaring love chemistry between them on silver screen. Pritam's music and Natarajan's cinematography are the other striking features that elevate the credentials of this youthful love saga.
Aditya (Shahid Kapur), a demoralized industrialist, gets emotionally tormented after attending the marriage of the girl he loves the most. Depressed and exhausted, he feels ashamed to face the world. He walks out of the marriage gathering and aimlessly boards a train in the night. Destiny rescues him on train when he meets Geet (Kareena Kapoor) - a gorgeous but exasperatingly talkative girl who is leaving Mumbai to go to her hometown - Bhatinda (Punjab). The communion became a headache for both of them as they miss their train on every station.
Geet discloses big plans to Aditya of eloping with her boyfriend Anshuman (Tarun Arora) as she fears resentment from her parents. The love journey of the two begins on grim note when Geet irritates Aditya to a large extent and every meeting becomes mental torture for him.
Finally, the two find themselves stranded on a desolate station with no luggage or money. They board a lounge for the night. Geet's family (Pawan Malhotra, Dara Singh and Kiran Juneja) welcomes her and Aditya and the friendship turns into love. As per the promise, Aditya helps Geet elope to meet her love interest, Anshuman in Shimla.
Love blooms and so the pleasant journey for the two through the exuberant hilly mountains of Manali and Shimla. Destiny despises Geet's love story as Anshuman avoids and dumps her. On the other hand, Aditya makes up his losing ground by conquering all his adversaries by resurrecting his "down in the dumps" business empire.
Geet's family accuses Aditya for his involvement in elopement and finally forces him to locate her. Aditya is traumatized to learn about Geet's misfortune and consoles her to face the circumstances. Aditya manages in patching up the relationship of Geet and Anshuman and they decide to travel back to Bhatinda (Geet's native place).
On their arrival, Geet's family mistakes Aditya as Geet's real lover. Anshuman is exasperated on being sidelined by Geet's parents and seeks help from both Aditya and Geet. The film ends on a very "filmi" note where the girl understands the meaning of real love and chooses her real soul-mate as her life partner.
The first half of 'Jab We Met' has shades from films like 'Dil Hai Ke Maanta Nahin' and 'Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge', where lovers meet under drastic circumstances in an unconventional situation (bus, train etc). Kareena Kapoor's extrovertly penned character of "Geet" delivers some comical moments but many a time it sounds outlandish.
Dialogues (Imtiaz Ali) needs to be more spicy and crispy to give more hilarious feels. In recent times, Kareena has delivered her most impressive performance by taking break from conventional "naach-gaana" appearances.
Shahid Kapoor's adaptability and tenacity in melodramatic scenes are the other high points of the film that boost the film's prospects. Even he shows loads of maturity by getting into the soul of the character that had many shades.
The climax of the film belongs to him where he shows his flair of intense acting. Pawan Malhotra gets another "meaty" role to play after her villainous acts in 'Black Friday' and 'Don - the chase begins'. Dara Singh provides melodramatic sequences with his patent "Punjabi" accented dialogue delivery. Tarun Arora looks unimpressive while Kiran Juneja has little to offer in her muted character.
Pritam's music rocks! It really rocks in all "bhangra" moods in tracks like "Nagaada Nagaada" and "Mauja Hi Mauja". Sandesh Shandilya -conceived "Aaoge Jab Tum" is the best soundtrack of the film that really sets the melodramatic stage for the climax and gives the film its momentum in latter stages. Choreography (Saroj Khan and Ahmed Khan) glitters appreciably in festive tracks and so do costumes (Manish Malhotra, Shabina Khan) for the lead actors.
'Jab We Met' marks the resurrection for the lead actors as well as for the director Imtiaz Ali. Its big leap for Imtiaz Ali from his nervous days of 'Socha Na Tha' to the well conceived melodramatic love chemistry of 'Jab We Met'.
The story of the film may be bit "run of the mill" stuff but the execution and treatment deserves to be applauded. Comedies are the flavors of the season and so will be 'Jab We Met' for its audiences.
The aggressive promotion, bankable music, good performances coupled with good mouth of publicity will be enhancing its prospects at the box office.
Finally, the love birds did meet, if not in personal lives but certainly on the silver screen!