Well so on one hand you have a writer of prolific comedies- Rumi Jaffrey making his directorial debut, on the other hand you have some of the best talent possible- Amitabh Bachchan,Salman Khan,Priyanka Chopra and for a subject- you have "inspiration" in the form of Bruce Almighty.
So the end result- God Tussi Great Ho must be great right?No you are terribly wrong.
Apart from being a blatant take off from Bruce Almighty ( and Rumi has the guts to say its not inspired) it also has drwan inspiration from movies like Maine Pyar Kyun Kiya.Salman plays a T.V reporter who keeps falling in trouble & blames God for the same.He is in love with his colleague, Priyanka Chopra but as usual does not have the guts to say it.
Sohail Khan an old friend of Priyanka joins the same T.V Channel & now both start vying for the same girl. One fine day when things go completely bad for Salman ( he gets thrown out of his job) he literally shouts at God & now its God's ( Big B) turn to meet up with Salman & find out why he's upset.When Salman says God doesnt understand human psyche & that he could do a better job as God, his wish is granted as Big B makes him God for 10 days.
Well in the 1st 9 days Salman goes about setting right his personal & professional life and finally when he hands over power to Big B after his ways of managing the world, he realises that God's work cannot be done by a human & asks for forgiveness. That's the basic crux of the film's plot. Salman seems to have sleep walked his way as this is a cake walk of a role for him. Big B & Priyanka hardly have much to do, Sohail continues what he left off in Maine Pyar Kyun Kiya, Anupam Kher is good.
A whole host of talented actors like Rajpal Yadav, Dalip Tahil, Rajesh Puri etc are all completely wasted. Sajid-Wajid always give their best for Salman's movies ( all of us still remember the songs from Partner) but this time they seem to have been clearly disinterested.Tujhe Aksa beach ghoomaon is the only hummable number ( typical Salman tapori number). On the whole this is one meal which could have gone right but somehow ends up making you feel dissatisfied.
Rating- 1.5/5 ( Movie wouldnt do well at the multiplexes, should do better at single screens of smaller towns especially in North).
Monday, August 18, 2008
Thursday, August 14, 2008
India This Week
Well its been an interesting week for me as an Indian so far. For me the week started off with Singh is Kingg's record collections in the opening weekend followed by India's painful loss in the 3rd & final cricket test to Sri Lanka. Then came the moment we were waiting for ages- Abhinav Bindra's gold medal at the Olympic Games.The entire nation erupted once again in joy.
I was then witness to a news of a different kind- Aamir Khan actually accepting an award & breaking down. Lot of time to introspect and blog about too from my end.The week is not over yet.Today has seen the release of Sathyam/Salute a biggie in Tamil & Telugu cinema.Telugu cinema also sees Baladoor ( Ravi Teja & Anushka) another biggie releasing today.
Tomorrow is India's 61st Independence Day, a day to be proud of. I plan to try my luck at the annual Landmark quiz tomorrow. We also have two bollywood biggies clashing tomorrow- Yash Raj Films' is back with Bachna Ae Haseeno ( Ranbir,Minisha,Bipasha & Deepika) and Big B,Salman & Priyanka team up for God Tussi Great Ho ( Indianised Bruce Almighty???).
Will be back on all these later.Oh!haan I would also be watching a play by Evam on saturday called The Odd Couple.So here's looking forward to the long weekend & I hope all of you also have the same.
I was then witness to a news of a different kind- Aamir Khan actually accepting an award & breaking down. Lot of time to introspect and blog about too from my end.The week is not over yet.Today has seen the release of Sathyam/Salute a biggie in Tamil & Telugu cinema.Telugu cinema also sees Baladoor ( Ravi Teja & Anushka) another biggie releasing today.
Tomorrow is India's 61st Independence Day, a day to be proud of. I plan to try my luck at the annual Landmark quiz tomorrow. We also have two bollywood biggies clashing tomorrow- Yash Raj Films' is back with Bachna Ae Haseeno ( Ranbir,Minisha,Bipasha & Deepika) and Big B,Salman & Priyanka team up for God Tussi Great Ho ( Indianised Bruce Almighty???).
Will be back on all these later.Oh!haan I would also be watching a play by Evam on saturday called The Odd Couple.So here's looking forward to the long weekend & I hope all of you also have the same.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Gollapudi Srinivas Memorial Trust Awards-2007
Last evening I attended the 11th annual Gollapudi Srinivas Memorial Trust Award function for the best debut director of 2007. The winner was Aamir Khan & the key note speaker this time was Anupam Kher. The other speakers were Vidhu Vinod Chopra, K.Balachandar & Jagjit Singh.
This is an annual award ceremony for the best debut director across the country for the year instituted in honour of the late Gollapudi Srinivas by his family. Gollapudi Srinivas was promising director who died while shooting his first film ,Prema Pusthakam ( telugu). This year's event began with a wonderful ghazal concert by Jagjit Singh & the audience couldnt keep asking for more. Anupam Kher delivered his lecture on Children of the greater God & packed his lecture with a lot of personal anecdotes.
Vidhu Vinod Chopra recalled his early association with Aamir & also expressed his fascination for TZP.But it was K.Balachandar who literally swept the audience away. Though reading from a prepared text ( he even gave a lovely reason for it- saying I am a director, I cannot speak extempore like an actor or a politician) he couldnt hide his childlike admiration for Aamir Khan & TZP. The various adjectives & statements used in praise of Aamir so moved Aamir that he actually broke down listening to the doyen speak.
In fact whe Aamir after accepting his award came forward to speak, he was again overcome by emotion & choked up. Overall a lovely evening including the compere , the lovely Lekha Washington ( but was happening to her speech- saying facilitate instead of felicitate repeatedly, probably she couldnt control her excitement of meeting all these luminaries) & I had a great time. For those who are wondering how come Aamir came down to accept this award ( he normally doesnt accept award functions) well he himself has been a speaker at this event a few years back & people like Ram Madhvani a previous winner ( 2002- Lets Talk) who worked with him in TZP also helped in the same process.
This is an annual award ceremony for the best debut director across the country for the year instituted in honour of the late Gollapudi Srinivas by his family. Gollapudi Srinivas was promising director who died while shooting his first film ,Prema Pusthakam ( telugu). This year's event began with a wonderful ghazal concert by Jagjit Singh & the audience couldnt keep asking for more. Anupam Kher delivered his lecture on Children of the greater God & packed his lecture with a lot of personal anecdotes.
Vidhu Vinod Chopra recalled his early association with Aamir & also expressed his fascination for TZP.But it was K.Balachandar who literally swept the audience away. Though reading from a prepared text ( he even gave a lovely reason for it- saying I am a director, I cannot speak extempore like an actor or a politician) he couldnt hide his childlike admiration for Aamir Khan & TZP. The various adjectives & statements used in praise of Aamir so moved Aamir that he actually broke down listening to the doyen speak.
In fact whe Aamir after accepting his award came forward to speak, he was again overcome by emotion & choked up. Overall a lovely evening including the compere , the lovely Lekha Washington ( but was happening to her speech- saying facilitate instead of felicitate repeatedly, probably she couldnt control her excitement of meeting all these luminaries) & I had a great time. For those who are wondering how come Aamir came down to accept this award ( he normally doesnt accept award functions) well he himself has been a speaker at this event a few years back & people like Ram Madhvani a previous winner ( 2002- Lets Talk) who worked with him in TZP also helped in the same process.
The Hindu Metro Plus Theatre Fest
Friends I just realised I've only been writing on cinema & hardly writing on the plays that I've been watching.This year I did go for The Hindu Metro Plus Theatre Fest which is into the 4th year & managed to watch a couple of plays.
This year's event was held @ the auditorium @ Lady Andal School, Chetpet & I must say the audi was truly befitting a fest like this.The first play I watched was called- The President is Coming ( enacted by Q Theatre Productions,Mumbai and directed by Kunaal Roy Kapur) it was one hilarious play which had the audience in splits.
The story tale was simple- the U.S President is in India for a visit & the U.S.Embassy in Delhi announces that one lucky young Indian achiever would get the chance to meet Mr.Bush & the task of selecting the candidate is given to a P.R agency & 6 achievers are shortlisted.What happens during the final shortlisting is what the play was all about.It was a complete entertainer.After thoroughly enjoying D,T&Q ( Doubles,Triples & Quadraples by Evam) sometime back, this was again a similar exhilirating experience.
The next play that I saw was The Creepers ( Actors Ensemble India Forum,Bangalore). This was a play with just two people in it & it was supposed to be a modern day take on Vikram & Betaal. Though the off beat nature of the play was initially getting appreciated & the humour seemed to be in good abundance, finally it looked very much off key for most of the junta. A bit too experimental I must say!!!
Looking forward to the next edition of the fest & I would attend it if I'm in Chennai.
This year's event was held @ the auditorium @ Lady Andal School, Chetpet & I must say the audi was truly befitting a fest like this.The first play I watched was called- The President is Coming ( enacted by Q Theatre Productions,Mumbai and directed by Kunaal Roy Kapur) it was one hilarious play which had the audience in splits.
The story tale was simple- the U.S President is in India for a visit & the U.S.Embassy in Delhi announces that one lucky young Indian achiever would get the chance to meet Mr.Bush & the task of selecting the candidate is given to a P.R agency & 6 achievers are shortlisted.What happens during the final shortlisting is what the play was all about.It was a complete entertainer.After thoroughly enjoying D,T&Q ( Doubles,Triples & Quadraples by Evam) sometime back, this was again a similar exhilirating experience.
The next play that I saw was The Creepers ( Actors Ensemble India Forum,Bangalore). This was a play with just two people in it & it was supposed to be a modern day take on Vikram & Betaal. Though the off beat nature of the play was initially getting appreciated & the humour seemed to be in good abundance, finally it looked very much off key for most of the junta. A bit too experimental I must say!!!
Looking forward to the next edition of the fest & I would attend it if I'm in Chennai.
Friday, August 8, 2008
Singh is Kingg- A Quick Review
Here is the the most anticipated movie of the year so far.Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif, Anees Bazmee & Vipul Shah all these names together are supposed to spell blockbuster. So does the magic work?do you get your money's worth?Well yes & no.
The movie starts off simultaneoulsy by showing you that Lucky Singh ( Sonu Sood) is the dreaded King ( underworld don) in Australia & Happy Singh ( Akshay Kumar) is the village bumpkin in Punjab. Fed up with his antics the villagers trick Akshay & send him off to Australia with the intention of bringing back Sonu to Punjab as they feel insulted by his misdeeds there.
Akshay moves off to Australia with his friend Rangeela ( Om Puri) with a quick detour via Egypt where he falls in love with Katrina Kaif. In Australia, Sonu refuses to return back & Akshay takes refuge with a poor flower seller ( Kiron Kher). In a strange turn of events ( quite funny) Akshay is forced to step in as the new King in place of Sonu.
Till here its all fine & Anees could have taken the movie to great heights .But what happens next is a ghisa-pita romantic twist- with Katrina turning out to be Kiron Kher's daughter who comes along with her boyfriend in tow ( Ranvir Sheorey looking lost). Though the entire Singh gang ( Javed Jaffrey, Manoj Pahwa, Neha Dhupia, Yashapal Sharma,Sudhanshu Pandey,Kamal Chopra) try to enliven the proceedigs, it still falls short of really keeping you engrossed.
Surprisingly Pritam is not in great form- in fact even the much hyped song with Snoop Doogy Dogg is hardly great.But the title song has style written all over it. Overall the movie would take an excellent start at the box office making it a big success for Akshay & Co. Its Akshay who makes the movie watchable as he's in great form, both as the village bumpkin & as King. Katrina has less screen time - but the songs remind you that the chemistry between the lead pair is brilliant.
Most of the support cast are really good in their roles especially Om Puri, Javed Jaffrey & Sonu Sood.So for those who watch it with a lot of expectations- you may be disappointed. Hence watch it if you liked movies like Welcome, but then again dont expect anything great from the movie & you might still think its paisa vasool.
Rating- 2.5/5 ( 0.5 additional for the excellent marketing and of course for Akshay who rocks)
The movie starts off simultaneoulsy by showing you that Lucky Singh ( Sonu Sood) is the dreaded King ( underworld don) in Australia & Happy Singh ( Akshay Kumar) is the village bumpkin in Punjab. Fed up with his antics the villagers trick Akshay & send him off to Australia with the intention of bringing back Sonu to Punjab as they feel insulted by his misdeeds there.
Akshay moves off to Australia with his friend Rangeela ( Om Puri) with a quick detour via Egypt where he falls in love with Katrina Kaif. In Australia, Sonu refuses to return back & Akshay takes refuge with a poor flower seller ( Kiron Kher). In a strange turn of events ( quite funny) Akshay is forced to step in as the new King in place of Sonu.
Till here its all fine & Anees could have taken the movie to great heights .But what happens next is a ghisa-pita romantic twist- with Katrina turning out to be Kiron Kher's daughter who comes along with her boyfriend in tow ( Ranvir Sheorey looking lost). Though the entire Singh gang ( Javed Jaffrey, Manoj Pahwa, Neha Dhupia, Yashapal Sharma,Sudhanshu Pandey,Kamal Chopra) try to enliven the proceedigs, it still falls short of really keeping you engrossed.
Surprisingly Pritam is not in great form- in fact even the much hyped song with Snoop Doogy Dogg is hardly great.But the title song has style written all over it. Overall the movie would take an excellent start at the box office making it a big success for Akshay & Co. Its Akshay who makes the movie watchable as he's in great form, both as the village bumpkin & as King. Katrina has less screen time - but the songs remind you that the chemistry between the lead pair is brilliant.
Most of the support cast are really good in their roles especially Om Puri, Javed Jaffrey & Sonu Sood.So for those who watch it with a lot of expectations- you may be disappointed. Hence watch it if you liked movies like Welcome, but then again dont expect anything great from the movie & you might still think its paisa vasool.
Rating- 2.5/5 ( 0.5 additional for the excellent marketing and of course for Akshay who rocks)
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Mummy-3 ( Tomb of the Dragon Emperor)- A Quick Review
Well the"original"Mummy series returns with the 3rd instalment.This time the action shifts base to China from Egypt. And we see the O'Connell's leading retired and boring lives in the English countryside. This time Rachel Weisz is replaced by Mario Bello ( Evelyn O'Connell) & they even have a grown up son ( Luke Ford) who initially gets more footage than the rest.
Luke playing Alex O'Connell has inherited the adventurous spirit from his parents & in fact discovers the tomb of the Dragon Emperor ( Jet Li) which is supposed to be the biggest discovery after the tomb of Tuttankhamen.The Dragon Emperor was supposedly embalmed along with his entire army by a witch ( Michelle Yeoh) and now when he is kept in a museum in Shanghai, all of a sudden you see the pace increasing.
The O'Connells reach Shnghai,carrying "The eye of shangria" with them and in the meanwhile Alex is attacked by the daughter of the witch ( Elizabeth Leong). There's also a group of renegade soldiers who want the Dragon Emperor to brought back in life as they believe in him.In the middle of all this bedlam, theDragon Emperor is resurrected and he sets off to Shangrila to reach the lake of immortality.
His ultimate goal is to reach his old abode & bring back his army back to life. Then begins an adventurous journey with the O'Connels on the one hand with the two witches & the Dragon Emperor with the renegades on the other hand.For those who loved the 1st two parts of the series, this would slightly disappoint you.Nevertheless its worth a watch for the thrills in the 2nd half. But its a pity that Jet Li is severly underutilised.
Rating- 2.5/5
Luke playing Alex O'Connell has inherited the adventurous spirit from his parents & in fact discovers the tomb of the Dragon Emperor ( Jet Li) which is supposed to be the biggest discovery after the tomb of Tuttankhamen.The Dragon Emperor was supposedly embalmed along with his entire army by a witch ( Michelle Yeoh) and now when he is kept in a museum in Shanghai, all of a sudden you see the pace increasing.
The O'Connells reach Shnghai,carrying "The eye of shangria" with them and in the meanwhile Alex is attacked by the daughter of the witch ( Elizabeth Leong). There's also a group of renegade soldiers who want the Dragon Emperor to brought back in life as they believe in him.In the middle of all this bedlam, theDragon Emperor is resurrected and he sets off to Shangrila to reach the lake of immortality.
His ultimate goal is to reach his old abode & bring back his army back to life. Then begins an adventurous journey with the O'Connels on the one hand with the two witches & the Dragon Emperor with the renegades on the other hand.For those who loved the 1st two parts of the series, this would slightly disappoint you.Nevertheless its worth a watch for the thrills in the 2nd half. But its a pity that Jet Li is severly underutilised.
Rating- 2.5/5
Ullasanga Utsahanga- A Quick Review ( Telugu)
Karunakaran the director movies like Tholli Prema, Balu ABCDEFG, Happy etc is back with a subject that he is good- romantic musical entertainer & he does succed to a large extent of entertaining people. The movie introduces Snehal Ullal ( Aish lookalike who did movies like Lucky-No time for love & Aryan in hindi) in telugu along with another debutante,Yasho Sagar.
Well Sneha is the daughter of a rich man in a small town with a bad step mother. In school her best friend is a boy named Balaji with whom she spends most of her time.After her father's death her step mother makes life hell for her ( thankfully the director does not elaborate on all this) and to make things worse, Balaji leaves the place along with his father. Now they still remain connected by writing letters.
When she comes of age, Sneha's step mother tries to get her married off & so she runs away to Hyderabad where she stays with her friend. Enters our hero Yasho who is a typical mohalle ka chokra who runs around with his group of friends whiling away their time. When Yasho sees Sneha its love at first sight & then he tries everything to attract her attention.
He even rescues her from the henchmen sent by her step mother & when he finally proposes, he is shattered when she says she's been in love with her childhood friend,Balaji for ages. Dejected Yasho decides to go to Kolkata for a job.As luck would have it Sneha is on the same train to finally meet Balaji. They then have some adventures on the way before Yasho finally escort's her to Balaji's place in Kolkata. So does Sneha re-unite with Yasho?Thats what the rest of the story is all about.
Music by G.V.Prakash Kumar is decent.Both Yasho & Sneha do a decent enough job. Overall the proceedings are breezy and considering that in the recent past only Dasavatharam & Ready have done well at the Box Office, this one should hit the bulls eye definitely.
Rating-2.5/5
Well Sneha is the daughter of a rich man in a small town with a bad step mother. In school her best friend is a boy named Balaji with whom she spends most of her time.After her father's death her step mother makes life hell for her ( thankfully the director does not elaborate on all this) and to make things worse, Balaji leaves the place along with his father. Now they still remain connected by writing letters.
When she comes of age, Sneha's step mother tries to get her married off & so she runs away to Hyderabad where she stays with her friend. Enters our hero Yasho who is a typical mohalle ka chokra who runs around with his group of friends whiling away their time. When Yasho sees Sneha its love at first sight & then he tries everything to attract her attention.
He even rescues her from the henchmen sent by her step mother & when he finally proposes, he is shattered when she says she's been in love with her childhood friend,Balaji for ages. Dejected Yasho decides to go to Kolkata for a job.As luck would have it Sneha is on the same train to finally meet Balaji. They then have some adventures on the way before Yasho finally escort's her to Balaji's place in Kolkata. So does Sneha re-unite with Yasho?Thats what the rest of the story is all about.
Music by G.V.Prakash Kumar is decent.Both Yasho & Sneha do a decent enough job. Overall the proceedings are breezy and considering that in the recent past only Dasavatharam & Ready have done well at the Box Office, this one should hit the bulls eye definitely.
Rating-2.5/5
Kuselan-A Quick Review ( Tamil)
Uff!finally here is the much touted Rajnikanth's tamil/telugu ( in telugu its called Kathanayakadu) version of Kadha Parayumbol. Well why do I say Rajnikanth's version?Well thats what director P.Vasu is trying to convey through this movie.After actually comitting harakiri with Chandramukhi ( rip off Manichitrathazhu- a modern classic) , he returns here to commit an even bigger crime with Kuselan.
For those who dont know the tale by now, Pasupathy is a poor barber in a village living with his wife Meena & 3 kids. He is a man of principle and due to this is living in hard conditions.His rival is Vadivelu who is street smart.One day life changes for everyone in the village when a film crew arrives for shooting with none other than Rajnikant as part of the cast.Word somehow spreads out that Pasupathy is an old friend of Rajni & so all of a sudden people start getting close to him with the hope of being able to reach out to Rajni.
When Pasupathy fails to reach out to Rajni, people start ridiculing him.Thats when the best part of the movie i.e the climax arrives. Delivering the key note address at the local school's function, Rajni speaks emotionally about his long lost friend & later there is a happy ending.The positives of the movie are only Pasupathy & the climax. Rajni in an extended special appearance gets to do some regular stuff, but this time most people would only remember him for the climax.
Comedy by Vadivelu, M.S.Bhasker, Livingston etc appears crude.There are a lot of people like Nayanthara ( P.Vasu focusing purely on her anatomy), Mamta Mohan Das,Vijayakumar, Nasser,Prabhu etc who have all been wasted. Music by G.V.Prakash Kumar is nothing praiseworthy. All in all its worth a watch for only those who havent watched the original.And for those who are going based on the hype the movie has generated on account of Rajnikant- you are in for a disappointment.
Rating-2/5
For those who dont know the tale by now, Pasupathy is a poor barber in a village living with his wife Meena & 3 kids. He is a man of principle and due to this is living in hard conditions.His rival is Vadivelu who is street smart.One day life changes for everyone in the village when a film crew arrives for shooting with none other than Rajnikant as part of the cast.Word somehow spreads out that Pasupathy is an old friend of Rajni & so all of a sudden people start getting close to him with the hope of being able to reach out to Rajni.
When Pasupathy fails to reach out to Rajni, people start ridiculing him.Thats when the best part of the movie i.e the climax arrives. Delivering the key note address at the local school's function, Rajni speaks emotionally about his long lost friend & later there is a happy ending.The positives of the movie are only Pasupathy & the climax. Rajni in an extended special appearance gets to do some regular stuff, but this time most people would only remember him for the climax.
Comedy by Vadivelu, M.S.Bhasker, Livingston etc appears crude.There are a lot of people like Nayanthara ( P.Vasu focusing purely on her anatomy), Mamta Mohan Das,Vijayakumar, Nasser,Prabhu etc who have all been wasted. Music by G.V.Prakash Kumar is nothing praiseworthy. All in all its worth a watch for only those who havent watched the original.And for those who are going based on the hype the movie has generated on account of Rajnikant- you are in for a disappointment.
Rating-2/5
Aaj Ki Tazaa Khabar-Singh is Kingg is here
Well finally the biggie- Singh is Kingg is releasing tomorrow.In an unprecedented move, there are paid previews of the movie in most major multiplexes across the bigger cities & of course I am there to watch it at Sathyam Cinemas-Chennai tonite. Here's hoping Akshay Kumar delivers big time & we end up getting entertained quite well.
Will post my review of the movie tomorrow.
Will post my review of the movie tomorrow.
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