Monday, April 21, 2008

Krazzy 4 – A Quick Review

Filmkraft is back with their next movie and this time Rakesh Roshan hands over the directorial reins to Jaideep Sen. So is Krazzy 4 a comedy caper or a social comedy? Well to say the least, it’s a big bore inflicted on the paying public by Jaideep Sen in his debut.

Heavily influenced by the Hollywood movie- The Dream Team, Krazzy 4 is all about 4 individuals- Arshad Warsi, Irffan Khan, Rajpal Yadav & Suresh Menon who are all inmates of a mental asylum.

While Arshad Warsi is very short tempered ( he even beats up his girl friend’s dad for smoking in front of him!!!), Irffan Khan is a doctor with a penchant for cleanliness, Rajpal Yadav thinks he’s a freedom fighter from the 1940’s & Suresh Menon is always silent. Juhi Chawla plays the doctor treating them & one day decides to take them all to Mumbai to witness the India-England One Day Cricket Match to help them learn team skills!!!

That’s when Juhi Chawla gets kidnapped & then these 4 steps into action. Saying anything more than this about the plot is a waste of time. Yes Rakhi’s item number is intact & yeah you do have the “item boys”-SRK &Hrithik doing their acts. In fact if not for these item numbers the movie would have been a stinker.
The nail on the coffin- the picture ending with a to be continued message.Please spare us!!!

Rating- 1.5/5

U Me Aur Hum- A Quick Review

Ajay Devgan’s directorial debut comes as a pleasant surprise while watching it. Surprise because after TZP expectations on him to deliver were high, and he has managed to make viewers glued to their seats in spite of making what could be classified as a-“nothing new subject”. Talking about the subject, Ajay has been inspired by 50 First Dates & the Notebook to a great extent, but still manages to leave his mark.

Ajay plays a psychiatrist who is on a cruise trip with his friends- Sumeet Raghavan and Divya Dutta play a doctor couple, constantly fighting for everything, while Karan Khanna & Isha Sharvani play the couple in love who are still unmarried. On this cruise Ajay sets his eyes on Kajol, a waitress and falls head over heels in love with her.

Obviously she doesn’t accept him at first & he then goes through her diary to impress her by doing things she likes. Though she starts liking him, she leaves him when she realizes the truth. A few months later, to the surprise of the friends, Ajay invites them home to make them attend their wedding (different approach taken rather than being melodramatic here).

When things start looking good, there come’s the bad news- Kajol is suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. The rest of the story is all about how the couple copes up with the same and the emotional journey they go through. Music by Vishal Shekhar is not heavy but still just average. As a director Ajay has made a decent debut, yes there are flaws, the movie does slow a bit at times, but it’s still earnest. Ajay the actor is good & Kajol is definitely naturally good. Divya Dutta does very well. Not much scope for the others though.

Rating- 3/5

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Race- A Quick Review

Abbas-Mustan are back with Race, a trademark movie from their stable with good looking actors, foreign locales, some hit music and a lot of twists and turns. At the very outset let me tell you that this is a better movie when compared to the last 2 outings from the director duo ( 36 China Town and Naqaab) but is still nowhere in the league of their better movies like Baazigar, Humraaz etc.

Saif Ali Khan and Akshaye Khanna are brothers who live in South Africa. They have a stud farm and take active part in horse racing. While Saif is the one managing the business and is shrewd at work, Akshaye is an alcoholic who has nothing to do with work. Saif has a secretary (Katrina Kaif) who has a crush on him while he himself is interested in a model friend of his- Bipasha.

When Akshaye meets Bipasha in a party, he is blown over and tells his brother that if he gets married to Bipasha, he would quit drinking and settle down. So Saif sacrifices his love for his brother and gets them married. But Akshaye continues to drink and Bipasha gets really upset with this. Feeling lonely and by co-incidence she gets into an affair with Saif.

When Akshaye finds out all hell breaks loose. What happens next? Why do Anil Kapoor the cop and his secretary Sameera Reddy come into the picture? Well I won’t reveal more- but there are lots of plots and sub plots to keep you guessing. At times the number of twists even gets on to your head. Performance wise none of the actors have had to really exert themselves. All they had to do was look good.

Though the music by Pritam is catchy, on screen most of the songs appear forced and the picturisation is also rather bad. Go for it with no great expectations and you may not be disappointed. And yeah its already been declared a big hit.

Rating- 2/5 ( Actually its a toss between 2 & 2.5 and I settled for the former :) )

Calcutta News - A Quick Review

After 3 critically acclaimed and commercially successful movies- Kazcha, Thanmathra and Palunku- Blessy this time comes out with a slightly more urban theme- Calcutta News. This time Blessy bases his story in Kolkata/Calcutta where the protagonist- Ajith Thomas played very well by a Dileep in a new get up plays a TV cameraman for a local TV channel.

Dileep lives with his family in Calcutta and is the son of a late football player. One day he comes across a malayali couple in a tram but the husband does not want to acknowledge that he is a malayali. The next day Dileep is shocked to find that the husband ( Indrajith) is no more and sets about trying to locate the wife- Meera Jasmine in a splendid portrayal.

After he locates Meera, Dileep realizes that Indrajith was actually trying to sell her off to a buyer in Sonagachi- Calcutta’s red light area. In a brawl in a bar he gets killed by a big agent out there ( Kathal Krishnamoorthy). Realising that this was no ordinary incident and that a lot of women were affected by this illegal trade, Dileep along with his team (including Vimala Raman in a slightly insignificant role) try to uncover the truth.

That’s when the sex racket people kidnap Meera and then its left to Dileep to do a dual mission- find Meera as well as expose the racket. How he goes about doing it is told in a convincing yet chilling manner in the surroundings of Sonagachi. Both Dileep and Meera are very good in their roles. Innocent and Bindu Panicker do a decent job. Vimala Raman is ok but doesn’t get much scope. Indrajith in a short role impresses.

Music by Debajyothi Mishra is pleasing to the ear. Even the camera work by S.Kumar needs mention. The major drawback of the movie is that you get a feeling you’ve seen something similar when you think of movies like Kamalahasan’s Mahanadi.

Overall Blessy has made sure that he continues to be known for different cinema.

Rating- 3/5

Roudram- A Quick Review

Ok here’s for some trivia- this movie has Mammooty playing a cop for the 26th time and its penned and directed by Renji Panickar who as most of us know has a penchant for political and action oriented movies. So whats Roudram all about?

Its all about a honest cop ( Mammooty) who’s an ACP but a non IPS officer constantly on the wrong side of the politicians and some senior officers. Yes he has support in the form of a couple of seniors- Rajan.P.Dev and Lalu Alex. The CM ( Janardhanan) entrusts Mammooty’s superiors with the murder investigation of a drug peddler.

This is when things get going. Investigations by Mammooty reveal the hand of a lot of influential people like Vijayaraghavan , his foster son played by Sai Kumar and even the CM’s son. How Mammooty aka “nari” as called by the police force goes about nailing the criminals is what the rest of the story is all about.

Of course there are a lot of current political happenings inspiring the script and Mammooty shows that when it comes to donning the police uniform there cannot be anyone better. The supporting cast – Rajan.P.Dev, Sai Kumar, Lalu Alex, Janradhanan, Vijayaragahavan etc are all good. There is no scope for romance or comedy in the plot and so there’s no relief giving moment in the story.

It’s an out and out Mammooty movie- watch it for old time’s sake.

Rating- 2.5/5 ( 0.5 extra for Mammooty’s sizzling screen presence)

Jodha Akbar- A Quick Review

Ok I know its too late to be reviewing Jodha Akbar in the true sense. Nevertheless I will still like to write my take on the movie. Frankly speaking I was quite skeptical about the project initially but it was when I saw it I realized that the hype was nearly worth it. To make a historical and to make a success out of it is no mean task & hence I do appreciate Ashutosh Gowarikar’s work.

The tale is basically about how the young secular Mughal Emperor Akbar played by Hrithik ends up marrying Jodha Bai played by Aishwarya Rai, a Rajput princess purely as a strategic decision and how eventually both of them actually fall in love. It also chronicles the treachery played by family members themselves, has some wars, a lot of conspiracy and some reasonably good music all thrown in.

Performance wise I would say the Hrithik-Aish combination works big time. They have done a lot of justice to their roles. Supporting cast- Sonu Sood, Ila Arun, Khulbushan Kharbanda, Poonam Sinha etc are all decent. Music by A.R.Rehman is not of the commercial variety- but very soothing. Khwaja mere khwaja and Kehne ko jashn-e-bahara are the pick of the lot.

Costumes by Neeta Lulla are really amazing and fit the mood and time of the period. Though its definitely a lengthy movie, basically for the casting, costumes and A.R.Rehman’s music its worth a watch.

Rating- 3.5/5

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Cycle- A Quick Review ( Malayalam)

Johny Antony ( C.I.D.Moosa, Turupu Gulan) is back with Cycle- now officially known as the first Malayalam hit of 2008. It stars a virtual youth brigade – Vineeth Srinivasan ( the singer son of actor/director/writer-Srinivasan), Vinu ( who debuted in Nivedyam), Sandhya and Bhama ( debut).

The story revolves around a shopping mall. While Vineeth works as a teller in the finance company belonging to Jagathy, Vinu works as a salesman in a consumer durable showroom. Just like the two guys working in the shopping mall, Bhama works for a travel agency also in the same mall. Sandhya is the daughter of Jagathy. While Sandhya is in love with Vinu (who is not interested and laments the fact that he couldn’t succeed as a cricketer), Vineeth is interested in Bhama, but she doesn’t show interest.

Vineeth and Vinu befriend Bhama’s brother and celebrate New Year’s Eve with him. That night Bhama’s brother gets picked up by the police on a false charge and the cop asks for a huge sum of money to release him. Perplexed they hit upon an idea of stealing from Jagathy’s safe vault in the office. Vineeth and Vinu make a plan and do the heist the same New Year’s night.




Of course to add to the sentiment factor it is shown that both Vineeth and Vinu are from poor families with a lot of aspirations (gulf job and cricket respectively) and Bhama’s father Murali is now bedridden as he was once cheated by a taxi driver in Mumbai ( Jagathy) who ran away with all his money making him a pauper.

Of course Jagathy with his brother in laws- Cochin Hanifa, Risabhava etc get behind the two of them eventually & then it’s a roller coaster ride. James Albert with the script supports Johny Antony and they manage to save the movie. Vineeth is fine but seems to imitate his dad a lot. Vinu is good. The heroines do not have much to do. As usual Jagathy is very good.

Music by Mejo Joseph is average and overall the film seems to have clicked with the youth who want a change from the usual superstar films.

Rating- 2.5/5

Jalsa- A Quick Review (Telugu)

Andarikke namaskaram ( Namaskar to everyone)- the best news for Ugadi for all Pawan Kalyan fans is that he’s back with Jalsa. And its Trivikram who’s done what looked nearly impossible. Yes you might want to argue that Annavaram his last release was an average grosser but then you are not talking of an average actor, you are talking about someone big right?

Jalsa is the story of Sanjay Sahu ( Pawan Kalyan) & you see him initially either happily drunk or receiving numerous degrees from Osmania University. Pawan then is in love with Kamalinee Mukherjee (insignificant role) but her father- a cop played by Prakash Raj, refuses to toe the line & gets her married off to someone else.

One night Pawan rescues 2 college girls (Ileana & Parvati Melton) from a ruffian and predictably both of them fall in love with Pawan. But Parvati loses and its Ileana who snags Pawan. She even moves into his house (shared by a bunch of other guys including Ali) as a paying guest.

Parallely one sees the villain- Mukesh Rishi who is a big factionalist leader doing things typically a telugu film villain does. The twist in the tale comes when it turns out Ileana is the sister of Kamalinee Mukherjee and later it is revelaed that Pawan is a reformed naxalite. In one of the naxalite operations in the past, he comes in contact with a cop-Prakash Raj (very good sequence) and they get friendly.

Of course Prakash Raj does not want his second daughter also to get married to Pawan & fixes up her wedding unknowingly with Mukhesh Rishi’s son. Mukesh Rishi on the other hand is on the hot pursuit of Pawan due to some old rivalry.

What happens next and how Pawan handles the show is what the rest of the movie is all about. Pawan Kalyan seems to have hit it right this time and credit goes to Trivikram for the same. The drunken scenes at home with Ileana and Brahmanandam almost remind you of his Kushi days. Ileana plays the dumb bimbette fairly well. Parvati &Kamalinee have nothing much to do. Prakash Raj is wasted to some extent and Mukesh Rishi is as usual. Brahmanandam, Ali, Sunil and Dharmavarapu are decent in comedy.

Music by Devi Sri Prasad is decent ( rocking the charts right now) and overall it’s a time pass flick.

Rating- 2.5/5

Monday, April 7, 2008

Mulla- A Quick Review ( Malayalam)

Lal Jose if back with Dileep in Mulla. While it’s definitely better than the dud- Rasigan from the same combo, it’s no where near the hit films from the combo like Chandran udikinnadikkil, Meesha Madhavan & Chandupottu. This is a very dark tale set somewhere in Palakkad district near the T.N border.

Most of the movie is shot on a train & in a basti near the railway track. The movie goes back & forth from present to past. Meera Nandan (making an impressive debut) is back from jail is heading home by train. On the way she remembers the past- Dileep is Mulla, an orphan who is named Mulla (Jasmine) after his mother- a prostitute who used to wear mulla poo.

Dileep is the right hand man of a local don who rules the basti ( Biju Menon) & is a rough and tough guy. Meera’s father runs a press and one day dies in an accident. So Meera starts working in a bakery.

She travels daily to work by train & usually encounters Dileep on the train, fighting with someone or the other. On one such day Dileep sees a babay left behind on the train & hands it to Meera. Due to pressure from home Meera hands the baby back to Dileep who then tries to raise it himself.

But then Meera has fallen in love with the baby & hence keeps visiting Dileep’s place to visit the baby.Slowly they fall in love with each other and Biju Menon and the others too support them. But the villain here is the local cop-Saiju Kurup, who is Meera’s father’s step brother.

He tries to separate the two of them. That’s when Biju Menon gets killed by the cop as it was he who had Biju Menon kill Meera’s father ( fears that Biju would expose him).While Dileep comes to know the truth, he confronts Saiju in a bloody climax.

Overall the film’s story appears forcibly dark and looks more like a tamil movie. Dileep hardly has any dialogues and tries to only look tough. Meera Nandan is a revelation, Saiju Kurup is good & Salim Kumar’s comedy is ok. Music by Vidya Sagar is average.

Overall considering it’s a Lal Jose-Dileep movie, it’s a disappointment.

Rating-2/5

Sunday, April 6, 2008

Yaradi Nee Mohini-A Quick Review

Jawahar- a one time assistant to Selvaraghavan makes his directorial debut with Yaradi Nee Mohini starring Dhanush & Nayanthara.Its a faithful adaptation of his mentor's telugu hit- Adavari Mataluku Ardhale Verule ( Venkatesh & Trisha).The plot goes like this- Dhanush plays a jobless carefree youth dependent on his schoolteacher dad played brilliantly by the late Raguvaran.One fine day he catches a glimpse of Nayanthara, a project manager in a I.T firm (?) & its love at first sight for Dhanush.

With some effort Dhanush manages to get a job as a trainee developer in Nayan’s company & one day during a visit to Australia, he proposes to her. That’s when he is shocked to know that she is about to get married soon. Unable to bear his son’s suffering Raghuvaran comes to meet Nayan & convince her. But she insults him & in a freak manner ends up slapping him. Unable to bear the insult, Raghuvaran dies of a cardiac arrest.

Karthik Kumar- Dhanush’s friend is about to get married & insists that Dhanush accompany him to his village. Dhanush is further dismayed on knowing that the girl is friend is marrying is none other than Nayan. How does Karthik’s family react to Dhanush? How does Nayan face Dhanush & what finally happens is what the 2nd half is all about.

While the 1st half is urbane & chic, the 2nd half is rural & family based. Quite a lot of sequences would bring smiles/tears on your face especially for those who have seen the telugu original. Performance wise Dhanush is very natural & he rocks. Nayan does justice to a well made role & Raghuvaran is simply outstanding. Karthik Kumar has no much scope. Karunas is as usual & K.Vishwanath is good.

Music by Yuvan Shankar Raja is good & overall it’s a feel good film for the family. Looks like Dhanush has his next hit after Polladhavan.

Rating- 3/5

First Blog of 2008!!!

Hey!Junta,
First of all my profound apologies to all of you who had been reading my blog-I am guilty of not blogging for the last 3+ months.No excuses- but assure you all that the drought is over.As I mentioned to my good friend Shantaram the other day, I had only stopped blogging- not watching movies:) so here I go again.