Raanjhanaa

Cast: Dhanush, Sonam Kapoor, Abhay Deol, Mohammed Zeeshan

Genre:  Romance

Director: Aanand. L. Rai

The concept of “first love” isn’t novel, but neither does it ever get jaded. That feeling of happiness by just being in the presence of someone special. “Raanjhanaa” brings back that unconditional love back to the screen. It marks the debut of Dhanush (Kolaveri famed) in Bollywood as an eternal lover.  

Kundan (Dhanush) is a small town brahamin boy in Banaras, who falls in love with Zoya (Sonam) at first sight. Zoya belongs to rich muslim family. Kundan grows up watching and dreaming about her. As he starts getting close to Zoya, her parents send her out of town for further studies. Zoya comes back after 8 years, becoming an independent and educated woman. Kundan is still madly in love with her and proposes her. But Zoya has moved on and now is in love with Akram (Abhay Deol), a young upcoming leader at JNU. Just as   Zoya and Akram are about to get together, a strange truth emerges that will change the lives of everyone forever…

Dhanush, as an earnest lover leaves a mark. His mannerisms are very real and earthy, which gives his character believability. Where he struggles though is in the second half of the movie, where he needs to portray more intense/ serious emotions. Lack of command over the language shows at places. Sonam Kapoor looks a part in the movie. She gets into her character from the start and plays various shades with ease. Abhay Deol is the surprise package. He leaves his mark as a no nonsense young leader. His choice of roles remain interesting which most of his fans like him for. Among the other cast, Mohammed Zeeshan deserves special mention. As a childhood friend of Kundan, he brings the house down with witty one liners.

Aanand. L. Rai, directs his second movie after lovable “Tanu Weds Manu”. He brings similar freshness in the movie in the first half but second half is lot more intense here. Seems to get it right at most parts but loses the grip towards the end. The political drama in the second half at times becomes a little stretched and out of  context of overall narration. AR Rehman’s  music is a soothing and goes well with the mood of the story.

I will rate Raanjhanaa 2.5 out of 5 stars. It’s a movie which keeps the heart at the centre of everything. But then heart can be stupid at best of times, isn’t it…!

Rating: 2.5/5  

MURDER 3

Cast: Randeep Hooda, Sara Loren, Aditi Rao

Director: Vishesh Bhatt

Genre: Suspense/ Drama

Do you trust your partner completely or how far are you willing to go to find the truth..?? Murder 3 is the third in the series of movies which deal with matters of Love, Lust and Murder mystery. One difference this time is that it is Randeep Hooda and not the usual suspect, Emraan Hashmi who is in the midst of this all.

Vikram (Randeep Hooda) is a successful fashion photographer. He is happily staying with his long time girl friend, Roshni (Aditi Rao). One day Roshni goes missing and leaves a message for Vikram that she's leaving him because she feels that he's cheating on her. Police starts the investigation of a missing person and Vikram is a prime suspect. At this juncture Vikram meets Nisha (Sara Loren), a beautiful, desirable women working in a hotel. As they get close, the traces of past start coming back to haunt them...

Vishesh Bhatt makes his directorial debut with Murder 3. He seems to get few things right in terms of the plot of movie and the cast. But unlike the earlier 2 movies, Murder3 is slow in screenplay. Events take their own time to pan out. Though there are some nice twists in the story but they come little too late. Other concern with the screenplay is that it is repeatative. Lot of sequences in the second half do have resemblance to first half. It is imperative for a Suspense thriller to have good pace to keep the audience guessing, which is missing.

Randeep Hooda is okay in the role of a fashion photographer, who can't have enough of beautiful women. His character lacks depth which limits his scope as an actor. Sara looks gorgeous in the role of a sexy waitress, but lacks in certain emotional scenes. Aditi looks slightly out of place in the first half but comes into her own in the second half and acts the best in the emotional scenes. Music has been a big part of the earlier two movies of Murder franchise, which is not the case this time. It is strictly average and doesn't leave much impression.

Vishesh Bhatt's Murder3 promises much more than what it delivers. I will rate it 2.5 out of 5. It manages to surprise the audience at places but doesn't hold them completely.

Rating: 2.5/5

SPECIAL 26

Cast: Akshay Kumar, Anupam Kher, Manoj Vajpayee, Jimmy Shergil

Director: Neeraj Pandey

Genre: Crime/ Drama

This week’s new release Special 26 is a very unlike Akshay Kumar movie. It is not a laugh riot, non-brainer, larger than life entertainer. For a change there is a plot, real characters and real motives. So does it manage to hold your attention..!

The story is set in the 1980’s. Ajay (Akshay Kumar) and Sharmaji (Anupam Kher) are a part of 4 member gang which conducts raids at the corrupt politicians and businessmen. They pretend to be CBI officers and on the name of the raid, rob the money of people. Since it involves Black money, the victims never complaint to Police about these raids. Waseem Khan (Manoj Vajpayee), an honest CBI officer takes this case in hand and is out to catch the gang red handed. Inspector Ranveer Singh (Jimmy Shergil) helps him in this cause. Kajal plays the love interest of Akshay. The gang plots for the biggest robbery till date but it requires building a much bigger team. The stakes are high, the plan is in place but the rules of the game are about to change…

Neeraj Pandey is back after a promising directorial debut with “A Wednesday”. He again displays his art of storytelling in an interesting manner. And like his earlier venture, the emphasis is here on the plot and not so much on the individual stars. The story is loosely based on the real incidents which happened in 1980’s and is the high point of the movie.

“Special 26” presents a challenging role to Akshay Kumar and he doesn’t disappoint. He plays the role of suave thief with complete aplomb. He looks apart with an assured body language and dialogue delivery. This is amongst his best performances of the career. Anupam Kher is brilliant in the role of Sharmaji; a man caught between the greed and the needs of his family. He brings the house down with his witty lines. Manoj Vajpayee and Jimmy Shergil are top notch in their respective roles. Kajal doesn’t have much scope in the role she has in the movie. Background score adds to the flavor of the movie. Songs though aren’t a big part of movie and are strictly ok.

“Special 26” is a gripping tale of old fashioned drama between police and thief. A genre which hasn’t been explored much in the recent years. I will give 3.5 out of 5 to the movie. Recommended watch!

Rating: 3.5/ 5