Golmaal 3 Movie Review : Thodi Masti, Thodi Dhoom

For those who have seen Golmaal 1 & Golmaal 2 ( Golmaal Returns ) it is not difficult to understand what to expect from the 3rd part of the franchise. Whether one likes it or not Golmaal 3 (G -3 from here on) is certainly a film that has been made with a lot of care; care to ensure that it caters to its target segment among the audience. Going by the way G- 1 & G-2 performed at the box office it is also clear that the target segment constitutes the majority of the audience. And when you have a festive period (Diwali) as the time for release, things look all the more promising. Especially so when history has already shown what a potent combination this franchise can be during the festive reason (remember G-2 released during Diwali in 2008?).

Before I go on about G-3 its time for a confession. I had found G-1 to be reasonably funny (though it was partially inspired by Priyadarshan’s Malayalam movie- Kakkakuyil). So much so that I expected G-2 to be good as well but then all the hype had got onto me as I felt that the movie was nothing but cashing in on the success of G-1 and having nothing concrete in terms of a plot apart from just having a series of gags. So when G-3 was being promoted I had a strange feeling of deja-vu and kept telling myself – “Oh! No not again for Heaven’s sake”. But having decided for myself that it’s gonna be a filmy diwali as usual, I still decided to go ahead and watch it.

So what is G-3 all about? For starters its on one hand got similarities to Basu Chatterjee’s Khatta Meetha ( 1978 ) but thankfully Rohit Shetty the director of G-3 ( and the entire trilogy ) has molded the premise in his own style and made it look like a fresh approach in itself. G-3 is all about 2 families living somewhere in Goa. Pritam ( Mithunda ) has 3 good for nothing sons- Madhav ( Arshad Warsi ), Lucky ( Tushar Kapoor ) and Laxman ( Kunal Khemu ) who keep getting into trouble for their various ways of trying to make easy money. Geeta ( Ratna Pathak Shah ) has 2 sons, Gopal ( Ajay Devgn ) & Laxman ( Shreyas Talpade ). Daboo (Kareena Kapoor) is the neighbor and good friend of Geeta’s family.

Circumstances make the two sets of brother’s rivals as they keep bumping into each other by opening the same kind of business ventures in the same place as well. That’s when Pritam meets Geeta and both of them are shocked as long back both of them were in love but couldn’t unite as fate intervened . Daboo is the only when who realizes the truth and thus sets about trying to get both of them married now. While both Pritam and Geeta are reluctant since they know that their sons can’t stand each other, Daboo’s persisntence pays off and ultimately the middle aged couple do end up getting married. But then bedlam sets in as each set of brother’s end up doing whatever they can to make life miserable for the other set. What happens from thereon is what the rest of the film is all about.

Oh! And by the way there are also a whole of host of other characters who make their presence in the film and lend their services to the ensuing confusion in the proceedings. Some of the characters repeat their act or presence from the earlier films in the trilogy and some of them are new. But most of them have been sketched well. While watching the film one of the first things I realized was that in terms of a plot and the ability to keep the audience engrossed, G-3 scores way above G-2 comfortably. Yes some of the gags sound silly and make you even feel surprised at times as to whether you are really watching all this. But to be honest you can be assured of one thing- you’ll certainly be laughing aloud at a lot of places while watching G-3. And one of the other differences visible in this film is that Rohit Shetty has steered clear of the mundane requirements like a routine romantic track (except a hint of romance between Kareena & Ajay there’s nothing specifically shown), unnecessary songs, a regular villain etc.

What’s also interesting is that it’s not the actual Golmaal gang which contributes to the fun, but it’s a host of others who really deserve the credit for making the movie watchable. In fact the Golmaal gang of men are just there to show a continuation of the franchise and try to sound funny thanks to their quirks like for example- Ajay Devgn is shown as an extremely hot headed guy, Shreyas stammers, Kunal keeps using idiotic phrases while talking, Tushar of course continues doing what he did in G-1 & G-2 while Arshad keeps playing the prankster. So who are the scene stealers then if it’s not the boys? Well to start with Johnny Lever as Puppy Bhai is simply outstanding as he plays a gang leader with a Ghajini like short term memory loss problem. Also rocking is Mithunda as Pritam and the romance shown between Mithun and Ratna is simply fabulous. Mithunda’s ‘I am a Disco Dancer’ jig & Prem Chopra’s cameo make us feel nostalgic.

Also deserving applause is Sanjay Mishra as Daga one of the 2 main henchmen of Johnny Lever. As a guy who misspells English words, he truly comes into his elements towards the end of the film. Just when you think that the movie is about to end at around the 2 hr stage the movie just side tracks and heads on towards a slightly lengthier ending. While you do wonder if this was indeed necessary it is certainly creditable of Rohit Shetty that he manages to keep us engaged till the very end. So in all as a festival film that is meant to reasonably entertain with a few good jokes, G-3 does its job. Now if you are looking for anything other than this then I guess you’ve stumbled on to a wrong film .

Originally published in PFC- http://passionforcinema.com/golmaal-3-movie-review-thodi-masti-thodi-dhoom/

Wanted- Young Stars, Where are they?

Note- By young star the reference here is to an actor in his 20’s and who has enough star power to carry off a film on his ‘young’ shoulders.]
A short while ago when I was in Mumbai I was involved in a discussion with some friends which included a few PFC authors as well. All of a sudden the discussion started focusing on one aspect- who is the best young actor in Hindi cinema these days? Most people said Shahid, one or two said Ranbir and probably someone took Imran’s name as well. Mind you this discussion took place a week before the release of Wake Up Sid and maybe if it happened after the release, Ranbir may have got a few more votes.
Now quite recently I was talking to another friend and discussing who would be the ideal candidate to do Ram Charan Teja’s role in Magadheera’s Hindi version. After a lot of thought I realized that probably the best choice for the same would be none other than Hrithik Roshan. Yes I do agree that Hrithik is certainly a decade older than Ram Charan, but then considering that the hero in Magadheera has to fight, dance, ride a horse, wear a period costume, perform bike stunts and most importantly look convincing in all these, nobody else I thought fit the bill better than Hrithik.
Most of us must be aware of the buzz created a few days back by apparent rumors that the producers of Magadheera ( Geeta Arts ) have decided to rope in Hrithik and Aamir to portray the hero in the Hindi version ( Hrithik for the past and Aamir for the present ). All this has made me ask the question aloud- where are the young stars in Hindi Cinema today? My personal observation is that Shahid Kapur certainly can fit the bill to a reasonable extent. While with a Ishq Vishk, Vivaah and Jab We Met he proved that he can pull of a romantic and family oriented film, the action genre still eluded him. After Kaminey even that has been handled to some extent.
But what Shahid needs now is to prove that he can pull off an out and out masala entertainer and emerge a big star in his own right. While Saawariya and Bachna Ae Haseeno invoked mixed response to Ranbir’s acting, Wake Up Sid has certainly brought in favorable response and now I think its clear that for light hearted romantic flicks Ranbir can certainly be an ideal choice. Even his forthcoming movies like Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani and probably even Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year seem to suggest the same. Prakash Jha’s Rajneeti might make a difference as it would be something out of the ordinary for him. But in spite of all this it’s still debatable if he can carry off a masala action entertainer. We need to wait and watch.
As for Imran Khan I do not really have much to say. I think the success of his first movie – JTYJN was due to a combination of A.R.Rehman’s music, the script and the performances of the entire star cast and not of Imran in particular. His later movies like Kidnap and Luck have not done anything positive for Imran. It’s probably even too tempting to say that Imran has probably been overrated a bit too early. Lets see if his forthcoming releases like Delhi Belly manage to create a more positive impact and tell us if he’s overrated or not.
Now let’s talk about Neil Nitin Mukesh who made a decent debut with Johnny Gaddar. While he looked lost in Aa Dekhen Zaraa, he was all right in New York but still has a long way to go before he can give us the confidence that he is a big star in the making. While Madhur Bhandarkar’s Jail could be a turning point for him, its time that Neil also decides to move out of the serious grim roles and loosen up a bit and do a light entertainer too so that we can see some variety from him. Now the only other names that I can think off are Kunal Khemu, Emran Hashmi, Sharman Joshi and Riteish Deshmukh.
While Kunal Khemu is certainly a good actor I really doubt if he could carry off the larger than life roles convincingly. Emran Hashmi,Sharman Joshi and Riteish Deshmukh are people who have just turned 30 and can maybe easily pass off as few years younger as well. After doing some trademark movies the actor in Emran has finally started emerging with movies like Awarapan and Jannat, but he still needs to do more such movies before getting universal acceptance. Sharman Joshi and Riteish Deshmukh have unfortunately got slotted as actors who excel in comedy films and though they have done movies like Life in a Metro, Rang De Basanti, Sorry Bhai (Sharman) Naach, Cash ( Riteish ) which are not comedy films, they still tend to get associated more with the lighter movies. Hopefully an Aladin and a Rann for Ritesh or 3 Idiots for Sharman will help in proving their versatility.
When we look at the scene in regional cinema, the scene is a bit different. While in Bengali and Malayalam cinema the situation is somewhat similar, it’s a lot different in Tamil and Telugu cinema. In Malayalam Prithviraj is the only actor among the young brigade who looks well set to fill in the slot that’s firmly occupied by Mammootty and Mohanlal. In Bengali cinema for a long time now it’s basically Prasenjit Chatterjee and Mithunda who have been ruling the roost. The only other actor who has managed to make a serious impact is Jeet who shot into prominence with his debut film itself (Saathi).

Prasenjit Chatterjee and Ranjit Mullick - Mama BhagneThrough there are other talented actors like Jishu Sengupta who have been hovering around for ages, they are yet to get their due. Dev is the current sensation and might probably join the ranks of Jeet to prove a worthy challenger to Prasenjit. A case in point about the lack of younger stars can be seen in the form of a recent Bengali movie- Mama Bhagne ( remake of Govinda’s Rajaji : ) ) where Ranjit Mullick and Prasenjit play the uncle and nephew respectively whereas ideally one would expect younger stars to fill the requirement.
The situation certainly is a lot better in Tamil and Telugu cinema. While Rajnikanth and Kamal Haasan are still going strong and Vijay,Ajith, Surya, Vikram, Madhavan constitute the next layer, there’s also a big pool of younger actors in Tamil like Dhanush, Simbu, Vishal, Bharat, Arya, Jeeva, Jayam Ravi and a lot many more. While Dhanush, Simbu and Vishal are focusing on trying to be the next big star, people like Jeeva (Katradhu Tamizh, Raam, Siva Manasule Sakthi etc), Bharat ( Kadhal, Pattiyal etc ) and Arya ( Arindhum Ariyamalum, Pattiyal, Naan Kadavul etc ) are trying to make a balance in their choice of movies. Telugu cinema also has a lot of younger actors like Jr.NTR, Allu Arjun, Ram Charan Teja, Ram, Allari Naresh etc who have reasonable star power.
Having mentioned all this let me get back to my earlier questions. Who do you think is the best young actor in Hindi cinema these days? And who do you think will ideally be fit to do Ram Charan Teja’s role in Magadheera’s Hindi version? I don’t think there would be too much of confusion regarding the responses to these questions, nevertheless let me wait and see what you all have to say. Let us remember that most of the popular stars today like SRK, Aamir,Salman,Akshay,Hrithik, Sanjay Dutt, Abhishek, Ajay Devgan etc all had become stars before they even turned 30. After all there are very few people like Amitabh Bachchan who started a bit late and turned a star in their 30’s. Considering that it’s tough to say how many of the current lot would go on to emulate their seniors. Time alone would say. In the meanwhile let us look forward to Hrithik (in all likelihood) doing the Hindi version of Magadheera. After all wasn’t it just recently that we saw Salman Khan doing his version of Mahesh Babu’s Pokiri (Wanted)?
Note- I have on purpose not discussed people like Zayed Khan, Harman Baweja, Jacky Bhagnani etc for obvious reasons.

Originally published in PFC.Check it out here- http://passionforcinema.com/wanted-young-stars-where-are-they/

Dhoondte Reh Jaoge- Time for some mindless, harmless fun!!!

Ok in this time of recession and with a lot of heaviness on our head, one sometimes looks forward to going easy on oneself. So on March 11th while we were all celebrating Holi across the country, I was just feeling a bit low and wanted to unwind myself. Considering that I was celebrating a festival with my whole family after ages, taking the entire family out for a movie looked to be the logical thing to do. Since I was more or less up to date on the current releases unlike my parents, I was really wondering which movie I should go for. That was when on instinct I decided to ignore all reviews and just go ahead and watch Dhoondte Reh Jaoge ( DRJ from hereon).Something within me told me that the next 2 & ½ hours spent in the multiplex would certainly help me unwind very well.

For the benefit of those may not be aware of the movie let me tell you that DRJ released on March 6th, 2009 and is a UTV production. Written and directed by Umesh Shukla, the movie stars Kunal Khemu,Paresh Rawal,Soha Ali Khan,Sonu Sood,Johny Lever etc. To be extremely honest the story as such is quite ridiculous. It’s all about two people who are both losers in their own right. One of them, Anand Pawar ( Kunal Khemu) is an upright Chartered Accountant who keeps getting thrown out of work due to his honesty and the other is Raj Chopra, a once famous producer who’s now on the run as he’s hiding from his creditors.

After a series of altercations, Anand Pawar & Raj Chopra decide to join together and make it big and turn over their own destinies. And what’s the plan for the same? Simple- they decide to make a flop movie. The logic being that they would make a movie at a fraction of the money raised for the same & end up making such a bad movie that it would flop and so they need not repay the money back. Thus the two get going- they rope in Aryan Kapoor (Sonu Sood) as the hero who himself is desperate for a hit & Neha Chattopadhyay ( Soha Ali Khan)- Anand’s girlfriend as the heroine. Johny Lever steps in as the “ghatiya” story writer. The movie- Sholay Se L’gaan Tak is made. Does it turn out to be a flop? Do Anand & Raj make the money they needed? What happens to the rest of the people?

The movie is a mad caper and that is evident when you see some of the scenes especially when the film shooting starts. There are enough sequences which make you laugh till you ache & you do not really have to look at your watch in an irritated fashion. Music by Sajid-Wajid is strictly ok. In terms of performance Kunal Khemu & Parsh Rawal are both earnest, Soha doesn’t get much scope, Sonu Sood is efficient (comes in a variety of get-ups too) and it’s great to see Johny Lever in form after a long time.

Yes the story is hardly path breaking, some of the dialogues are silly & the sets are certainly tacky and not worth talking about. But all said and done, when the intention is to laugh & be merry as John Masefield said,DRJ is certainly not a bad choice at all.

Originally published in PFC- check it out here- http://passionforcinema.com/dhoondte-reh-jaoge-time-for-some-mindless-harmless-fun/