STUDENT of the YEAR

Cast: Varun Dhawan, Sidharth Malhotra, Alia Bhat, Rishi Kapoor
Genre: High School drama
Director: Karan Johar

Karan Johar tries to come out of his comfort zone and brings a high school drama with complete new comers. Although few familiar suspects remain - mushy romance, party songs, homosexual humor, love between friends... It is a story of friendship in the background of the life changing competition. It is about making choices at that tender age between friendship and love. So would you defeat your best friend to win the ultimate prize..!

Rohan Nanda (Varun Dhawan) is a son of business tycoon. He is the most popular brat of St Taresa High School at Dehradun. Shanaya Singhania (Alia Bhat) is a rich, happy go lucky girl who also happens to be a possessive girl friend of Rohan. But Rohan isn't too grateful of her as he enjoys the attention of other hot girls in the school. Here comes the new comer, Abhimanyu Singh (Sidharth Malhotra). He is dashing, ambitious, state level champion in sports and seems to be the only match to Rohan in the school. After initial hiccups, Abhi and Rohan become friends and life seems like a never ending party. But things are about to change as the competition for the most coveted 'Student of the Year' starts. It is an award given to the student par excellence in studies, IQ, dance & sports. As  Abhi starts liking Shanaya, things get even worse. So who wins in the end and more importantly at what cost, is how the rest of the story unfolds..

All three leading protagonists are making their debut with SOTY. Rohan looks most natural of all in front of the camera and handles different emotions with ease. Sidharth is decent in a restrained portray of Abhi but need to add more emotions. Alia Bhatt looks the youngest of them all and lends teenager charm to her character. Rishi Kapoor in the role of Dean and Ronit Roy as coach are good. Music is an integral part of the movie. There is a clever usage of hit songs of yesteryears. Overall music is above average. The movie has its light moments which keep the humor going. 

One thing you can't help but notice that except Alia, most of other actors look little too big to be in high school. The mannerism of the "teenage" students resembles more to that of fresh graduates. Surely there was more to explore the world of teenage student, their insecurities, different emotions...which could have been captured. Some sequences seem to be inspired from "Jo Jeeta Wahi Sikandar" and the narrative is more on the lines of "Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na". 

I will rate Student of the Year, 2.5 out of 5 stars. It is a movie which promises more but delivers just short of it. Watch it if you like the Karan Johar brand of freindship & love....I mean 'Ishq wala Love'!!

Rating - 2.5/5  

ENGLISH VINGLISH

Cast: Sridevi, Adil Hussain, Priya Anand

Director: Gauri Shinde

Genre: Comic/ Family Drama

Sridevi returns to the mainstream cinema after a long gap. She is being away from action for so long that she has forgotten to even speak.........English! But one thing that she hasn’t forgotten is acting and that’s what is on show in full glare in this week’s release English Vinglish.

Shashi Godbole(Sridevi) is a typical Indian housewife. She cleans the house, readies children for school, keeps husband in good humour and all this at the cost of neglecting her own self. The only possession she has is cooking, and that doesn’t seem to be enough for getting respect around her home. She is being ridiculed repeatedly for her inability to speak and understand English. Life gives her a chance to learn English when she visits her elder sister at New York. But she has only 4 weeks to turn her fortunes around. So can Shashi manage to get her respect back by learning English while keeping up with the household work.... You need to find out!

The movie brings about the sensibilities and pain of middle class housewife in an effective manner. It is not a mad comedy but there is subtle humour in the proceedings as Shashi tries to make peace with the language she isn’t accustomed to. The classroom proceedings and the interactions between ‘students’ of different cultures are amusing.

Sridevi is definitely BACK. She gets the nuances of the characters just right. She plays a role closer to her age (mother of two kids) and looks apart as vulnerable Shashi, torn between family responsibility and search for self respect. Her moments with kids are adorable and her attempt to speak English brings smile on your face. Special mention for new kid artist Shivansh, who plays Shashi’s son. He pitches in a lovable act. Amitabh Bachchan in a special appearance steals the show. Adil Hussain as an ignorant husband is impressive. Rest of the support cast is competent.

Gauri Shinde as director gets it right. She brings about the sensibility and emotions of a mother and wife in an Indian household. Music is not the high point of the movie and is strictly ok.

I rate ‘English Vinglish’, 3 out of 5 stars. It is not a breakthrough cinema but it is sincere, desi at heart and brings smile at your face.

Rating: 3/5 

OMG Oh My God!

Cast : Paresh Rawal, Akshay Kumar, Mithun Chakravorty

Director: Umesh Shukla

Genre: Comic/Social Drama

OMG - Oh My God! is based on the Hindi play "Kishen Vs Kanhaiya". It's an attempt to discuss the most relevant issue in Indian society - the importance of religion, its impact and whether we need it at all. So what happens when you put God under scrutiny to defend itself.....let's find out!

Kanji Lalji Mehta (Paresh Rawal) is a Gujrati businessman who trades in antiques made of the Gods of different religion. He is an atheist to the core, for whom the only importance of God is that it helps him sell his antiques at astronomical prices. He mocks everyone who believes in God and seems to be doing well in life...... until a natural calamity results him losing his business and money. Once insurance company shows him the door, there is only one person he can sue for his loss - GOD!

Now starts a series of court drama as Kanji Mehta files case against God for his losses. In the meanwhile, Krishna Vasudev (Akshay Kumar) enters his life as new owner of his house. He becomes his philosopher and well wisher. But the big question remains - whether an atheist find God and recover what he has lost...

Paresh Rawal is terrific in role of a fierce Gujrati trader who won't even spare God to get his claim. He brings the house down with his comic one liners and at the same time keeps the story topical while bringing forth the custom of blind faith in different religious institutes. His take on the religion while debating in the court is highlight of the movie and makes you sit and take note of the present belief system in our society. Akshay Kumar looks charming in the role of Lord Krishna. He gives a restrained and competent performance. In terms of content this is Akshay's best movie in last few years.

Talking of content, it is the USP of the movie. It brings focus on the whole concept of faith and dares to question the very institution of religious believes in the context of goodwill of society. Screenplay is well paced, tight and remains true to the topic. Director Umesh Shukla seems to know his craft. He understands and delivers the subject very well. Supporting cast of Mithun, Govind Namdev and Ashvini Yardi pitch in good performances. "Govinda" song featuring Sonakshi Sinha and Prabhu Deva is entertaining and is used intelligently as part of the narration.

Movie like OMG should be given tax free status in India. I would rate OMG, 4 out of 5 stars. It is topical, relevant, entertaining. Take your family, especially parents to watch this movie.

Rating: 4/5

HEROINE

Cast: Kareena Kapoor, Arjun Rampal, Randeep Hooda, Divya Dutta
Director: Madhur Bhandarkar
Genre: Drama

“What success brings to you; it takes lot more in return from you” these lines from Helen (playing a veteran actress) sums up what Heroine is all about. Madhur Bhandarkar has always been associated with a certain brand of cinema – realistic, contemporary, women centric, hard hitting... This time he brings story of a Bollywood Diva, her quest for stardom, her struggle with failure, her dilemma between success and happiness...

Mahi Arora (Kareena Kapoor) is a leading actress of Hindi cinema. She is glamorous, successful, chased by media, seeked by big banners and big producers. She is in love with Aryan (Arjun Rampal), a star actor. But things don’t quite work out between them which leads to Mahi getting in mental depression and ending up ruining her career. At this juncture, she meets Pallavi (Divya Dutta) who’s a sharp PR professional. With the new resolve and the help of image makeover, Mahi gets back her position. With success also comes love in the form of Angad (Randeep Hooda) the vice captain of Indian cricket team, who is charmed by the beauty of Mahi. But can she handle all the adulation and control the biggest danger to her success......herself!

The biggest problem with Heroine is that it gives you the feeling of déjà vu. Page 3 parties, rivalries among movie stars, sexual favors for getting advantage, homosexuality.....we have seen it all in Page 3, Fashion & Dirty Picture. After a while the sequences seem to repeat themselves. In fact the length of the movie could have been short by 25 min at least.

Kareena Kapoor tries very hard in what she declares as “role of her life”. She looks gorgeous as a Diva and vulnerable as a girl looking for true love. She gets it right at most places but her emotions become repetitive after a while because of the limitations of script. Arjun Rampal, Randeep Hooda, Divya Dutta all pitch in decent performances. Music is not a big part of the movie but couple of songs are ok.

Madhur Bhandarkar seemed to have repeated himself in this movie which time and again provides flashbacks of his earlier work. He still shows his grip as a storyteller at times, but the problem is that he has nothing new to say.

I will rate Heroine, 2 out of 5. The movie might have left a better impression with a more novel script, better editing and had it released a decade ago.

Rating: 2/5

BARFI

Cast: Ranbir Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, Ileana D'Cruz

Genre: Slice of Life

Director: Anurag Basu

What do you expect from a movie when the main protagonist is Deaf and mute; One of the leading ladies is autistic. The most likely answers could be: serious, preachy, boring... Well 'Barfi' defies the stereotype. In fact it is funny, breezy, full of life and thoroughly entertaining.

The story is set in the beautiful Darjeeling & authentic Calcutta of 1970's. It is the story of 'Barfi' (Ranbir) a young man from Darjeeling who can't speak or hear from birth. He stays with his father who’s Car driver. He knows no limits when it comes to living the life to fullest. He meets Shruti (Ileana) on her trip to the town. Shruti, an uptown girl brought up in a conventional Bengali family, completely falls for the charm of Barfi. He makes her smile, dance and brings out the person that she always wanted to be like. But can she marry someone who won't be able to provide good things of life she's been used to…? And then there's Jhilmil (Priyanka), the autistic girl, who's been childhood friend of Barfi. She likes the way Barfi takes care of her and won't like to share his attention with anyone. What does Barfi wants and how the lives of these beautiful people move through decades of time and places, is how the rest of story unfolds.. And amidst all this there's also an unresolved mystery.

Barfi belongs to Ranbir Kapoor. He's the heart, soul and voice (yes you read it right) of the movie. He says so much with his eyes and body language that you literally forget that his character is supposed to be silent... Absolutely unfair! He's undoubtedly the most talented actor of this generation. If he was brilliant in Rockstar, then Barfi is a notch higher. He is going to sweep most awards along with millions of hearts..

Ileana as a love interest of Ranbir is wonderful. She looks beautiful as Bengali girl and plays the complex role with ease. But the surprise package of the movie is Priyanka in the role of autistic girl. She simply charms you with the subtle innocence of her character. Her scenes with Ranbir are one of the high points of the movie. Rest of the cast is competent and pitch in good performances.

Music is the essence of Barfi and changes moods along with the movie. The songs along with the background music are soothing and stay with you even after you leave the show. Cinematography of Ravi Sharma also deserves the mention. The portray of the era of 70’s is captured in a very natural and artistic way.

Anurag Basu as a Director is terrific. Barfi is surely his best work till date. He brings out the nuances of all characters to the fore. The portray of Darjeeling and Kolkata of 70's is eye catching. Screenplay is just right with the very interesting use of Brands (Murphy Radio, Avon Cycle, Goodriche Tea etc) to depict various times. On the flip side, the narration drags a little bit towards the end of the movie. 

'Barfi' is among the best movies of the year. I will go with 4 out of 5 stars for this movie. Watch it if you have got a heart. If you think you haven't got one, do watch it for you might discover it..!

Rating: 4/5

RAAZ 3

How far can you go to achieve your desires... Raaz 3 is third in the series of movies with same name from Bhatt camp. Much like the 2^nd part, it is not a sequel but represents the same genre – horror. It is always a strange feeling when you enter to watch a horror movie. For a movie of other genres (Romance/ Comedy etc...) the idea is to have fun and relaxation. But a horror movie is worth watching only if it scares, disturbs, chills your spines... So I also paid money to get scared. Let’s find out if it was worth it..

Shanaya (Bipasha Basu) is an established Bollywood actress who has passed her prime. She is being challenged by a new comer Sanjana (Esha Gupta) who seem to taking away her position in the industry. When faith in god shakes, evil strikes door of Shanaya. She takes help of “black magic” to destroy the stardom of Sanjana with the help of Aditya (Emraan Hashmi). Aditya is a successful movie director and is in love with Shanaya. During this while, Aditya gets attracted to the vulnerability and innocence of Sanjana and wants to save her. But is it too late now... what follows is a fight between good and the evil for the struggle of survival. But there can only be one winner!

Bipasha plays the role of ageing star who can go to any extend to protect her status. Interestingly, she finds herself in the similar situation in the real life too. She goes all out for this character. She screams, seduces, sheds clothes to make herself look desperate for success. This is one of her better performances of late. Esha Gupta is shown to be a new actress in the movie and that’s how she acts. In few emotional scenes, she looks terrified and brings out the element of terror. But overall her performance is inconsistent. Emraan is decent in a role, which he seemed to have played before.

Raaz 3 is directed by “Vikram Bhatt” who has been a master of making horror movies. He does bring out the terror especially in the first half. 3D technology makes few scenes look more real and helps to scare the audience more. Special effects are above average for a Hindi movie and are used intelligently. Few of the scenes are being created with imagination and gives a new experience to the audience. The length of movie looks little drag in the second half and also it is notch lower in terms of “horror quotient” than 1^st half. Music is below average.

I will rate Vikram Bhatt’s  Raaz 3 -  2.5 out of 5. It manages to scare the audience at places but the overall screenplay is a little inconsistent. Watch it if you like watching “horror” movies and are fan of Bipasha Basu.

Rating: 2.5/5

JOKER

What happens when you need to become alien to help getting your village on the map of your country. On the outset the concept of 'JOKER' sounds promising. But all interesting ideas don't always translate into good movies.....Let's figure out how does this JOKER play out.

Agastya (Akshay) is a US based scientist working on a project to make a machine to connect with the outer world. Sonakshi is his live-in partner. Turn of events brings him to his native village - Paglapur, along with Sonakshi. A village which has weird characters like a boy who thinks he is a lantern or Asrani, who still lives in pre-independence era. The village is in bad shape and there's no support from govt for it doesn't exist on India's map. Now he must help his village get its due and bring it back on the world map... What a bunch of self sustaining human villagers couldn't do, can Aliens from outer world can do...?

The biggest flaw of JOKER is its screenplay, which takes the viewer completely for granted. There's no attempt to detail the proceedings. The use of word aliens is so loose as if it's proven fact that they exist somewhere around the moon. Even after watching the entire movie, you hardly remember name of any character, for the characterization is so poor. Akshay as the main protagonist is strictly ok. Infact he doesn't get enough opportunity to display his comic brilliance. Sonakshi is a total waste and doesn't add anything to the story. Asrani & Sanjay Mishra are good and bring some humor in the movie. Minisha Lamba, Gurpreet Ghuggi have negligible presence. Shreya Talpade is pretty average in a very confused character. Chitrandga Singh's song is the highlight of the movie, though it is abrupt in the context of the screenplay. Overall music is below average.

I would rate Shishir Kundar's "JOKER", 1.5 out of 5 stars. It had an interesting concept, wish the Director (who's also the writer & editor) could have spent some time on the screenplay to make it more convincing. He needs to wait more to taste success at box office.

Rating: 1.5/5

Shirin Farhad Ki Toh Nikal Padi

Love doesn't have an expiry date....or has it?? "Shirin Farhad ki toh Nikal Padi" is a love story of two middle aged people who have might have lost their youth but not the desire to be loved. Ace Director Farah Khan makes her 'debut' as an actor with the film while Bela Sehgal (elder sister of Sanjay Leela Bansali) makes her directorial debut. So how do the 'young' ladies match up, let's find out...

Farhad Pastakiya (Boman Irani) is 45, works as a salesman at Tim Tim Bras and Panties shop, stays with her mother & grand mother. Life has reached a stage where everyone around him wants to know - when is he getting married and why is he not getting married. But the biggest problem is his job mention of which sways away any proposals coming his way. Also for Farhad, being 45 is no reason to settle for second best. He is still hopeful of finding his soulmate. And there comes Shirin Fugawala (Farah Khan) - a middle aged Secretary of Parsi Trust, with I-give-a-damn attitude. Both get instant liking for each other and cupid strikes. Everything seems perfect but there is one problem - Farhad's mother hates Shirin to the hilt. How this love story blossoms under the nose of peeping mom and where it finally reaches is how the rest of story unfolds..

Boman Irani looks a part as a middle aged Parsi. His performance is believable and brings out the vulnerability of the character very well. This is Farah's first attempt at acting and it shows.. She gets her looks right for the role but couldn't bring the required emotions. In most of the scenes of leading pair it is Boman who clearly steals the show. Their pairing on the screen looks cute though. The supporting cast though is very competent does a fabulous.

Bela Sehgal as a debut director does few things right. She brings about the Parsi culture pretty well on the screen. She gets her cast right barring Farah Khan. The story loses its grip towards the last part of movie and seems a little drag. Some moments are funny and makes the audience smile. Music is just about ok.

I will give "Shirin Farhad Ki Toh Nikal Padi" 2.5 stars. It is a movie made with right intentions but lets down by dragged screenplay and leading lady.

Rating - 2.5/5

Ek Tha TIGER

Well, it's EID time and Salman is back.... and how! "Ek Tha TIGER" released on Independence Day isn't a movie, it is an event. As soon as you get near the multiplex, you can sense the excitement, the euphoria, the anticipation. So does EK Tha TIGER lives up to massive expectations...

"TIGER" (Salman) is a RAW agent whose life revolves around the dangerous missions around the world. He has been assigned the job to keep a close eye on an Indian Scientist (Roshan Seth) staying in Dublin for his possible link with ISI. Zoya is close to the Scientist and needs to be used as a bait to get close to him. During the mission TIGER and Zoya get close to each other. Just as TIGER is about to propose her, he finds out that Zoya is not the person he thinks she was. He needs to choose between his duty and his love. How does TIGER and Zoya fights against all the odds to be together even as the tensions soar between RAW & ISI is what the rest of the story is about.

Salman Khan carries the movie on his broad shoulder as a restrained yet sharp RAW agent.  He is the heart and soul of the movie. Unlike few of his recent movies (eg: BodyGuard) his character is well defined and he does full justice to it. The audience cheers at his witty one liners and moves along with him with high voltage action. Katrina Kaif is good in the role of Zoya. She looks absolutely stunning. And she kicks ass in some nicely done stunts, literally so! Her chemistry with Salman is one of the highlights of the movie. One wishes there was little more space given for their intimacy to soar..  Ranvir Shorey as co RAW agent and friend of Salman and Girish Karnad as chief of RAW are also convincing.

The cinematography deserves special mention. The movie is shot around 7 countries and every shot is taken with precision. Kabir Khan is in form as a director. He gets the right subject, cast and treatment for the movie. Music is good but the picturization adds that extra bit to it. "Mashalla" is the best of the lot and comes at the end credits. Action sequences are unique and top notch. Screenplay is consistence.

This one is a must watch for Salman fans. I will give 3.5 stars for Salman Khan's "Ek Tha TIGER". Its delivers what it promises - larger than life entertainment. It looks set to be the biggest hit of the year!

Rating : 3.5/5

Gangs of Wasseypur 2

“Karenge Vaar, Akhri Baar” is what the punchline of GOW2 says. And what an “attack” it is!!

Sardar Khan (Manoj Vajpayee) died in the climax of part one. Elder son Danish (Vineet Singh) sets out to revenge the murder of his father but he soon becomes the target. Now onus is on younger son, the drug addict Faizal Khan (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) to take the legacy forward and he follows the suit. Soon he becomes fearsome figure in Wasseypur and rules the Iron trading business.

As his dominance increases so does the list of enemies. Sultan (Pankaj Tripathi) kills his teenager brother and a twist of events lands him into the prison. It takes the help of “Definite” (Zeishan Qadri), the son of Sardar & Durga (Reema Sen), to get out of prison and launch the final assault on Ramadhir Singh (Tigmanshu Dhulia). How he finally takes the revenge in a game of cat & mouse is how the rest of story unfolds.

Nawazuddin is the find of the movie and plays the complex character with finesse. His portrayal as a son out to revenge his father’s death is realistic. His act as a lover in the first half is one of the highlights of the movie and brings the house down with his innocent style. Huma Qureshi as his love interest looks charming and delivers a convincing act. We will see her a lot in coming days for sure. Zeishan is electric as on the edge – Definite. He matches Nawazuddin punch for punch and gets lots of seetis and taalis. Richa Chadda as mother is top notch. Rest of the cast also played their part well.

Anurag Kashyap seems to have rediscovered himself completely. He has a unique story telling technique which is raw and original. He has always been an acclaimed Director but somehow never tasted the box office success as he deserved. But that all is going to change with GOW and now with  GOW2. The movie has huge mass appeal and the audience who liked the part one is going to love this one too. To create such characters like – Definite, Perpendicular, Tangent and make them all look so real is a touch of genius.

I am going with 4 out of 5 stars for Gangs of Wasseypur – 2. It is original, hard hitting, raw & of course hugely entertaining.

Rating – 4/5

JISM 2

The mind can get over the emotional involvement of a relationship.....but what about the physical intimacy. Physical intimacy between the opposite sexes is the most difficult to resist. An intriguing subject in itself around which this week’s release JISM 2 revolves. It is not a sequel of JISM but falls in the same genre, much as it was the case with other Bhatt Camp movies (Jannat 2, Murder 2 etc..)

Izna (Sunny Leone) is a happy go lucky Porn Star, who lives her life on her own terms. In a bizarre incident she meets Kabir (Randeep Hooda) who is a part of IIB (Indian Investigation Bureau). Both fall in love with each other. One day out of the blue, Kabir leaves Izna without informing. She keeps living her life full of illusion for next 6 years till she meets Ayaan (Arunoday Singh) who is also a part of IIB. He hires her to deceive Kabir, who has now turned a terrorist; and get vital information from him. Can Izna come over her love of 6 years to get past Kabir? How will Kabir reacts to her? Can Ayaan resist his desires being so close to Izna?  these questions get unfold in those 132 minutes.

Sunny Leone has been given the role which is closest to her real self. What she lacks in expression she more than makes up with her body language. She looks stunning and her intimate scenes are going to make few men go weak in their knees. This by far has been the boldest (read sensual) portray of a women on screen for a long time. Arunoday Singh is just about average. He seems to try too hard in few scenes. But the real show stealer is Randeep Hooda. He plays a complicated character and does justice to it. He emotes with eyes and has the best lines in the movie.

Pooja Bhatt as a director lacks the grip at places. Writing is weak in some areas too. Characterization could have been better and motives of certain characters are left to imagination. Songs are one of the bright points of the movie and take the story forward. Background score though is not the best.

I would rate Jism2 as 2.5 out of 5. It lacks in terms of screenplay but still provides what it promises – loads of sensuality.  

Rating - 2.5/5