Movie review of " EK THI DAAYAN ".

Despite of using common ingredients of spook-fest like sudden thuds, screechy sound effects, twisted camera angles, the first part of ETD is an absolute delight solely for the reason that built up of the film is really flawless & seamless. But unfortunately in the second half it fizzles out and gives you the kind of flavor that flat soda or cold drink without the gas gives. And ultimately it ends with a climax so hackneyed that you literally feel disappointed as well as annoyed because what started big by capturing your attention, finishes as a tame,confusing and contrived shocker. This is the sort of creep-fest which is better creating an uneasy buildup than actually scaring the pants off you. 

STORY & SCREENPLAY                                                                                     :    One more thing which i'll like to say is that movies' like ETD are the hardest to critique because they have a wealth of potential. Their off-kilter subject and treatment piques your curiosity to the maximum. ETD is based on a short story written by MUKUL SHARMA who is Konkana's father and Aparna Sen's ex husband. Mukul is a multi faceted personality who has done business, partnered an ad agency, was a journo with The Telegraph, has been a professor and edited several science & spiritual columns. I guess you might be thinking that is this a movie review or wiki of Mukul but the reason behind this is that when such a mind has been a source for hindi movie, one expects something brilliant. The credit for the story as well as screenplay goes to MUKUL SHARMA & VISHAL BHARDWAJ. You watch the first half of ETD and marvel at the outstanding detail of its story. Its rare that we get to watch a horror movie that stays away from all the formulae of its genre and manufactures pure dread by antagonizing innocence and makes you wonder at the way the curiosity and naivety of a child is turned into pure horror. You clutch the end of your arm rest in dismay because a woman who looks pretty homely and harmless starts behaving like a evil reincarnate. Coming to the story part : Bobo( Emraan ) is a magician who is plagued by hallucinations of his younger days, and the constant fear that he is being haunted by a Dayan. This fear begins to strain his relationship with his girlfriend, Tamara( Huma Qureshi ), who believes he isn't entirely forthcoming about his feelings & is hiding something. To get to the bottom of this, Bobo contacts Dr.Ranjan( Rajatva Dutta ) & goes for hypnotherapy under him. During therapy we delve into his childhood where we meet Diana( Konkana ), who Bobo believes is a witch and has entered their house by marrying his father Mr.Mathur( Pawan Malhotra ) with an intention to kill him and his sister. Meanwhile, in the present, another mysterious woman by the name of Lisa Dutt( Kalki ) worms her way into Bobo's life.

STARCAST                                                                                                             :    For this aspect,  the movie scores 10/10.  Each n every member of starcast has been able to display the finer nuances of their respective character to perfection. EMRAAN HASHMI as the magician who finds his world torn apart by events that his magic wand cannot control, brings an anguished tension into the plot with his shaky expressions and body language. KONKANA SEN SHARMA is menacingly enjoyable as the braid flipping, saree clad Diana, who sneakily taunts two little kids over their belief that she is a witch. She has portrayed and acted so convincingly that i am afraid in real life kids residing in her building might start running away from her. Two film-old HUMA QURESHI is vivacious as Bobo's supportive girl Tamara and has handled a myriad of emotions with remarkable flair. She seems to have real potential and just needs one good author backed role to bring her in the front league. KALKI KOECHLIN as the free spirited Lisa dutt also manages to impress. PAWAN MALHOTRA is excellent as usual but sadly he has a short role to play. RAJATVA DUTTA  also effectively showcases his acting prowess as Dr. Ranjan. But it is curly haired VISHESH TIWARI as young Bobo who steals our heart with an astounding performance. He looks damn confident in front of camera and looks to be in total ease while acting.

TECHNICAL FINESSE                                                                                                     :    The music for the movie has been composed by VISHAL BHARDWAJ and is definitely a plus point for this movie. Couple of tracks are really melodious and have been able to reach top of the music charts. Background music is by CLINTIN CEREJO who has left no stone upturned to enhance the haunting impact by producing all kinds of screechy sounds. Cinematography by SAURABH GOSWAMI is marvelous in capturing the spooky moments brilliantly while maintaining the dark frames. The movie has been edited by SREEKAR PRASAD who has once again done a fine job by maintaining the tempo of the movie in its overall duration of 131 minutes. KANNAN IYER has directed this movie and has made it so wonderfully well that it becomes hard to believe that this is his first movie. The director does not waste time and packs a lot of action in 131 minutes. The best part is that the movie effectively manages to create a plausible, unholy alternate world of daayans and pishach without quite wholly discarding the human logic. This means a lot for a supernatural subject that slips into full-on farce most easily. Another positive aspect is that the entire witchcraft element, alien to most , is neatly put forward with aplomb.

OVER THE HEAD                                                                                                               :  One scene which definitely defies logic is Huma's reaction during Bobo's magic show, when one of his female assistant gets burnt. Huma takes it very lightly and is totally unfazed despite watching that the girl is severely burnt. Also the movie's last scene moves at a frantic pace which not only makes climax look tacky but also makes you confused about the hurried ending.

WOW MOMENTS                                                                                                 :    The easygoing banter between the kids and their father invokes peals of genuine laughter. Watch out for the scene in which Pawan gives lift to Konkana in his car while driving to drop his kids at school. Also the scene where Konkana plays hide and seek with the kids is a treat to watch.  

CONCLUSION                                                                                                               :  Right from its innovative story, confusing yet intriguing feel along with its stellar cast, EKD begins with a bang but goes off track in second half. So you might not end up looking over your shoulders after watching this movie but there are enough chills in it which make it an average one time watchable flick.


ROHIT SHARMA.
Follow me on twitter at  https://twitter.com/smgr105
rohitreview@gmail.com
    

Movie review of " DADDY COOL MUNDE FOOL ".

Daddy Cool Munde Fool is a movie which grows on you with the time, scene after scene with its wit, humor and slapstick content. What makes it watchable is that the humor has not been forcibly added in the form of gags but funny situations have been finely simulated which catapults the movie into a finely tuned situational comedy. The most recognizable elements of Punjabiyat are in full florid display hence making it a full on entertainer. Some might find it a bit loud but that is what Punjabis are known for.

SCRIPT & SCREENPLAY                                                                                      :    I've heard lot of people making hue n cry that Punjabi cinema is churning out only comedy movies. All of us know that Punjabis are globally famous for drinks,fighting spirit n laughter. For decades Punjabi cinema thrived on action movies, so now it's the turn of laughter. The credit for the story goes to RAJAN AGGARWAL who has done an astounding job with respect to his writing skills.He leaves no stone unturned in order to dish out a typical Masala entertainer. There is nothing new in this but the sheer daftness and goofiness makes it a likable smartly paced wild ride. The interactions between the characters lead to such funny situations that their was no requirement for forced gags, which thankfully are not a part of this narrative. The screenplay has been written with joint efforts of RAJAN AGGARWAL & AMBERDEEP SINGH. The story revolves around a widower Parminder Singh Puppy( JASWINDER BHALLA) and his two spoilt brats namely Gunny (AMRINDER GILL) & Money (HARISH VERMA) who fall in love with two sisters namely Rinki(YUVIKA CHAUDHARY) n Minki(IHANA DHILLON). The irony begins when Parminder's friend suggests him to bring a lady in house to control his sons and sends a matchmaker to his house . Hereafter Confusion reigns and hilarity ensues when PS meets Dilraaj (AMAR NOORI), mother of the girls who in actual was his first love. Complications arise as a tug of war starts between not only Father Vs Sons but also G.friends Vs B.friends as both Dad n his sons relent to sacrifice their respective love interests. The narrative flow has been woven in such a way that it becomes difficult to predict who will win which in turn keeps your eyeballs hooked to the big screen.

STARCAST                                                                                                 :    AMRINDER GILL  has given 3 back to back movies recently and has transformed himself to a great extent. Earlier he was known as a good singer who is trying to act but now we can say he is good singer who acts too. His body language & face expressions reflect immense improvement. For me HARISH VERMA has turned out to be a surprise package as i was not expecting much but he has portrayed his character with tremendous ease. His acting skills remain perfectly balanced throughout the movie and he doesn't look uncomfortable or out of touch in even a single scene. It became difficult for me to believe that he is the same guy who portrayed that simple, subdued character in TV serial called  NA ANA IS DESH LADDO.  In the female leads both YUVIKA CHAUDHARY & IHANA DHILLON have been included as glam dolls to enhance the charm in the movie. Both of them get very little scope to perform and you notice their presence either in songs or in multi character scenes. But it is JASWINDER BHALLA who once again steals the limelight from all others with not only his acting prowess but also with his linguistic skills. He is gem of a comedian whose comic timing is simply outstanding. AMAR NOORI has given an average performance. Not to forget KARAMJIT ANMOL, UPASNA SINGH n RANA RANBIR who make you roar with laughter whenever they appear on screen and fully justify their special appearance.

TECHNICAL FINESSE                                                                                 :    Music for this movie has been composed by DR.ZEUS from whom we expected some memorable numbers but he has done a very ordinary job with none of the songs becoming chart-busters. The editing of this movie has been done by BUNTY NAGI who has done a fairly descent job as the movie proceeds at a swift pace and the scenes have not been stretched which has been the irony with last couple of Punjabi flicks. SIMERJEET SINGH who has directed this flick seems to have come a long way ahead when we compare this movie with his last directed flick CHAK JAWANA. He chose a different genre with respect to his last movie and has been able to prove himself to a certain extent by churning a fair enough comic tale. He has made a crisp entertaining movie by extracting the best out of each & every member of cast n crew which is only possible when the director shares a healthy camaraderie with his complete team. One department where he could have fared better is music department as hit numbers definitely pull in more crowds towards theaters. Apart from that Simerjeet has done a good enough job and hope he maintains his strong sensory perceptions in the times to come and keep entertaining audience.

OVER THE HEAD                                                                                                :   The biggest scene which gave me jolts of 880 volts of current is the climax scene where-in both our PUNJABI PUTTARS get shot in their shoulders with one bullet each while saving their DADDY COOL, but still they keep thrashing the goons till the end with kicks n punches. When the fight ends they suddenly remember Oye Hoye we still have a bullet lodged and they automatically move their other respective hands to cover the blood clotted wound.

WOW MOMENTS                                                                                                    :   The scene where confusion is created when Jaswinder Bhalla along with his sons goes to the girl's house for marriage proposal results in witty situational comedy. The scene when Upasna Singh along with Rana Ranbir enter Jaswinder's wedding posing to be his lost wife n what transpires there-after is a complete laugh riot.

CONCLUSION                                                                                                          :   I'll suggest if you want to take your family out for entertainment by leaving your brains at home than this movie will not disappoint you. It is not a cinema with finesse or something creatively different but a typical potboiler which has been loaded with all aspects of mindless entertainment for you to just sit back and enjoy.


ROHIT SHARMA.
Follow me on twitter at  https://twitter.com/smgr105
rohitreview@gmail.com

COMMANDO - A one man army : Movie Review

Without the risk of exaggeration we can 'safely' say Vidyut Jamwal takes the kind of risks in his action scenes that we haven't seen in any screen-hero from any part of the world. The perfect precision & the timing with which Vidyut flips, somersaults, and kicks his adversaries is a sign of an exceptionally skilled action-hero.In today's times when action has become limited to digitalised anti-gravity havoc created by a brawny man who has the muscles but looks unreal flexing them against the baddies, there comes a film that can be tagged as one of the classiest action films, with real and adrenaline pumping written all over it. 

SCRIPT & SCREENPLAY                                                                       :          The script, screenplay and dialogues of Commando have been penned down by RITESH SHAH who has concentrated only on showing the histrionics of the lead protagonist . This is where most of our action movies fall flat because a Bollywood film cannot thrive on only action. You need a story too to keep the audiences engaged. So, does this stunt mania called Commando has got a good story? We're afraid. With a hero on a mission to save the girl from the baddie as the basic premise, you don't really see much originality in the plot. So, be prepared for predictability all pervasive. Moving on to the storyline, Vidyut's much delayed but tailor-made début as a hero, is the story of Commando Karanveer Dogra (Vidyut Jamwal) who's helicopter falls into Chinese waters where he is abducted by the Chinese government mistaken for being an Indian spy. While Dogra is fighting out his battle of mistaken identity, a conniving minister orders Colonel Akhilesh Sinha  to disposes off all the evidence of him being an Indian Army Commando in order to prevent China from using him against India. After a , Dogra is left with no option but to take to the jungle. Cut to Himachal Pradesh, Amrit Kanwal,  who calls himself AK-74 enjoys his reign of terror in the village. He wants to marry Simrit Kaur against her wish, which makes her run away for her life till she bumps into Dogra. Now, one man army that Dogra is, falls in love with Simrit and embarks upon the mission of saving his love. Result? Series of chases and merciless killings in the jungle. The narration is an unabashed homage to Stallone’s jungle-survival saga. And yet, thanks to Vidyut Jamwal’s powerful screen presence the combat between the commando-hero and the goons never slackens in pace. The physical combats which are undoubtedly the crux of the theme propel the plot forward in leaps of inspired action. Happily for Jamwal, his opponents are not shown to be ineffectual jokers which enlivens the proceedings raising the bar of confrontations.

STARCAST                                                                                                  :  VIDYUT JAMWAL  proves himself a maestro of unequaled sinewy skills, gliding rather than fighting, pre-empting the adversary's moves almost like a chess game. In the movie, we just want to see Vidyut take on the bad guys, full-force. And boy, does Vidyut deliver! In the movie he is not just a one-man army, he is also the Indian army's favourite bete noire. Despite the heavy burden of playing protector to country and the leading lady, Vidyut's fights manage to bring in a lot of warmth and some humor in their execution. Vidyut with his intense expressive eyes has emoted more with his machismo and eyes than dialogues and he has the potential to become big action star provided he chooses his next movies wisely.  But it is JAIDEEP AHLAWAT as AK-74 who has managed to steal all the thunder with his super excellent n impressive performance.  He plays a satanic goon from a small-town in Punjab with no eyeballs and apparently no balls either, who believes the power of the gun and the strength of Santa-Banta SMS jokes can be co-ordinated in one range of activity. Jaideep Ahlawat, last seen giving a riveting performance in Kamal Haasan "Vishawaroop", gives to the goon's part a wacky spin. The man is half-devil half-imbecile. POOJA CHOPRA as the leading lady has given a half baked performance and an inconsistent one. The surprising part is that she has emoted brilliantly in some high decibel scenes and in some her face goes blank with no expressions. But she has carried her character of a vivacious girl in distress with aplomb

TECHNICAL FINESSE  .                                                                           :          The music for this flick has been given by MANNAN SHAH who has done an average job with his renditions. The credit for the Background music goes to PRASAD SASTHE who has managed his job quite well and manages to impress. Cinematography of the movie has been handled by SEJAL SHAH who has filmed it on some interesting locations. The backwaters of Punjab and the thick jungles serve as just the right ambience for the rugged actioner and have been pictured quite well. AMITABH SHUKLA is the editor of this movie who has done a fantastic job by giving it a sleek look. The movie moves almost at the same pace throughout its run-time of 121 minutes. One other person who needs to be mentioned and deserves applause is action director FRANZ SPILHAUS for choreographing all those 360 degrees kicks and punches. DILIP GHOSH, former admaker, has directed this movie and has done a fair enough job out of it. He keeps the plot wisely simple ramrod-straight and to the point. Apart from those utterly annoying song breaks there are no digressions from the dynamics of instant score-settling. It’s a straight one-to-one fight-to-finish between the silently simmering Commando and a satanic goon.



OVER THE HEAD                                                                                            : The way our main lead dodges Chinese army to escape from their custody is really hard to digest even if u gulp down a bottle of Eno. Also  And the song breaks specially an ‘item song’ in the second-half by Nathalia Kaur are unwelcome speed breakers.

WOW MOMENTS                                                                                              :  I'll say most of the scenes featuring JAIDEEP AHLAWAT are a treat to watch. He has taken mean, menacing villainy to a new high with his style n distinct body language. Watch out for confrontation scenes between Jaideep & Vidyut which are simply electrifying and loaded with excellent dialogues.

CONCLUSION                                                                                                           :   Commando is an impressive action film that matches Hollywood standards and give action lovers what they had been long waiting for.  To its credit Commando creates a climate of clenched conflict for the hero to vent his voluminous talent as a martial artiste who further leaves no stone unturned to prove his mettle. As far as  action loving audience is considered, for them, this is one of the best offerings that Bollywood has offered till date.

 ROHIT SHARMA.
Follow me on twitter at  https://twitter.com/smgr105
rohitreview@gmail.com

NAUTANKI SAALA : Movie Review

Rohan Sippy’s latest presentation is far more cohesively constructed and sure of its raison d’être than his last films. This one is just not funny enough to qualify as a LOL spree. At the same time the bum-chum camaraderie between Ayushmann and Kunal Roy Kapoor is so pronouncedly pungent that we cannot but chuckle at the gamboling antics that take this desi French Fri-day special to the level of bearable humour.

SCRIPT & SCREENPLAY                                                                             :  The credit for the screenplay as well as dialogues of this movie has been shared by three namely NIPUN DHARMADHIKARI, CHARU DUTT ACHARYA & ROHAN SIPPY .  Nautanki Saala is a remake of a 10-year old French film Apres Vous . While the French film directed by Pierre Salvadori is far more nimble-footed in the telling of a quirky ‘One Fine Evening....’ plot, the “official” remake ( scores for the sheer joie de vivre (don’t miss my French appreciation) that Ayushmann n Kunal bring to the table. The basic problem here, despite the potential, is the script progresses too slowly. Especially after Pooja Salvi’s Nandini comes in the picture; it’s not just Ram and Mandar who lose focus.True, there are moments of genuine laughter but this fleeting gratification demands extensive wait and endurance. Sippy punctuates his scenes with too many pauses resulting in a dawdling pace and delayed conflicts. The film begins inside a shrink’s office with theatre actor/director Ram Parmar (Ayushmann Khurana) revealing the reason behind his sudden loss of appetite, insomnia, heavy drinking, three simultaneous break-ups and, maybe, why he is tugging so tightly to a teddy bear that resembles Ted (in mute mode)?  In this apathetic city, where everyone begins honking crazily and gets abusive if a car takes just two extra seconds to start after the signal turns green, Ram not only notices a man (Kunaal Roy Kapur as Mandar) trying to take his life but also takes him in, provides him with food, clothing, shelter, hospital bills, applying Betadine on his butt, drives him to Pune, meets his grandmother (Sulbha Arya), refuses to be repulsed by his mucous dripping nose and then promptly offers the guy a parallel lead role of Lord Ram in his play, Ravanleela while working over-time to fix the hopeless chap’s messy love life, also the reason behind his initial suicide attempt. It’s all very far-fetched obviously since Ram isn’t lonely or desperate for company. He doesn’t exactly seem like a philanthropist either. The man appears consumed by theatre and his live-in girlfriend (a charming Gaelyn Mendonca); he’s clearly very successful, affluent -- lives in a tasteful pad in SoBo with pockets overflowing with 500 rupee notes.

STARCAST                                                                                                         :    The movie definitely scores high as far as performances are concerned especially bum-chum camaraderie between Ayushmann  and Kunal  is so pronouncedly pungent that we cannot but chuckle at the gamboling antics that take this desi French Fri-day special to the level of bearable humour. AYUSHMANN KHURRANA bequeaths a clenched vitality to his character. Here’s an actor who knows how to milk a situation or a line and exactly where to stop before it goes over the top. As the reluctant exceedingly altruistic host to a suicidal guest Khurrana goes beyond his Vicky Donor debut to show some hefty mettle. KUNAL ROY KAPOOR as all of us who have seen that homage to horniness called Delhi Belly, is an actor with notable comic acumen. Here as the spaced-out suicidal stranger who blows into Khurana’s theatrical existence Kapoor confers a sense of hectic audacity to his intruder’s part. As far as the lovely leading ladies are concerned, it becomes very difficult to ascertain who has played a longer part or who has been able to rise above charms to showcase her acting skills ( If any ) in even one scene. Unfortunately the answer is a BIG BIG NO. Still for the sake of comparison, it is POOJA SALVI aka Nandini who has managed to outshine by managing some expressions in emotional scenes. EVELYN SHARMA as Seeta & GAELYN MENDONCA as Chitra have successfully added charming value to the movie with their seductive antics. In the ensemble cast there are RUFY KHAN, SULBHA ARYA & not to forget ABHISHEK BACHCHAN ( final title song ).  

TECHNICAL DETAILS                                                                                         : The music for the movie has been composed by coterie of musicians that include MIKEY MC.CLEARY, FALAK SHABBIR, ROCHAK KOHLI, AYUSHMANN KHURRANA &  RASHID KHAN but still its only couple of tracks that manage to impress. Cinematography is by MANOJ LOBO who has managed to saturate the screen with rich shades adding vibrant look to the proceedings and has done a commendable job. Another person who deserves a mention for outstanding contribution is Costume designer PRIYANJALI LAHIRI who has done a fantastic job especially with respect to stage costumes that she has designed. Editing of the movie has been done by AARIF SHAIKH who has done an okay  job. Coming to the director of the movie, ROHAN SIPPY  punctuates his scenes with too many pauses resulting in a dawdling pace and delayed conflicts, which makes its 131 minutes running time lengthier than it should.  . Accents are often used as a means to amuse. Sippy uses the ploy but without any intent to ridicule or distort cultural stereotypes and so you chuckle without remorse. For all its frothy build-up, which peaks during Mandar’s disastrous audition turned hilarious game of dumb charades scene and Ram’s bumbling attempt to pass him off as an actor of note. The irony of the movie is that in the end it looks a bit stretched. But one thing is sure that ROHAN SIPPY definitely deserves applause for believing and making this kind of cinema.

OVER THE HEAD                                                                                            :     The scene where Ram & his play's producer are taking an audition of Mandar has been stretched awfully long. Similarly, Nandini's instantly falling in love with Ram looks completely illogical & to add to the woes, the same evening she is shown dining again with her ex fiancee. It seems too fast even by Hollywood standards.

WOW MOMENTS                                                                                              : Kunal Roy Kapoor in his pre interval avatar has done Wow acting by depicting his character to perfection n his chemistry with Ayushmann adds to the wow moments. The theater scene where Ram comes to pick up the Dhanush during Seeta swayambar is outrageously funny.

CONCLUSION                                                                                                    :    Rohan Sippy’s creation shows so much promise and has several moments which definitely titillate you. But it is more of an intelligent cinema which will appeal to a certain section of audience only. The reason being it is more of a situational comedy and does not have those gags or that deliberately in-fused humor in the screenplay.

ROHIT SHARMA.

Follow me on twitter at  https://twitter.com/smgr105

rohitreview@gmail.com

    

" CHASHME BADDOOR " : Movie Review

         This CHASHME BADDOOR  moves wickedly at its own volition with a crazy pattern of comic chaos that stops short of being anarchic due to the finely tuned situational satire simulated in the writing out of a material that was created 30 years ago when there were no mobile phones and the height of male voyeurism was the PLAYBOY magazine. Dhawan's movie doesn't take characters' contemporary courtship games into areas that would offend the moralists. Unlike his earlier movies where-in there were some double meaning dialogues with no restraint, this time he knew where to stop and that has worked in his as well as movie's favor.


SCRIPT & SCREENPLAY                                                                           :   The credit for the original story goes to SAI PARANJPE only but the story of the movie has been revamped to keep it in sync with present times. The screenplay has been written by RENUKA KUNZRU and the crisp as well as witty dialogues are the brainchild of duo SAJID FARHAD.  Exclamation marks are the only punctuations in this seamless comedy of courtship played at an impossibly high octave, without getting shrill. 'Farce' things first. Barring the core theme of two friends maliciously nipping the third friend's romance in the bud, and some mischievous sequences and characters from the original, which have been entirely re-interpreted as 'swines of the times', Dhawan's "Chashme Baddoor" is far(ce) removed from Paranjpye's original. Those were days of relative innocence. Whistling at girls at bus stops, chasing unwilling girls to their homes, and landing up at their doorstep under assumed identities were all considered innocuous bachelor bacchanalia. . While the writing gets 'chalu', it miraculously steers clear of being cheesy by a wide margin. Under the veneer of vicious courtship games played by two desperately single guys, Dhawan's "Chashme Baddoor" retains a core of innocence. A tongue-in-cheek virtuosity remains the film's greatest triumph. Sajid-Farhad's writing is wild, naughty and witty, but never vulgar. The whimsical word-play flows from a tap-dance of prankish internet-styled banter which is border-line silly but nonetheless very engaging in an off-handedly smart way.    Story of Chashme Baddoor revolves around three friends - Omi, a ridiculous shayar (Divyendu Sharma) Jai, a bawdy struggling actor (Siddharth) and Sid, a goody-two shoes who prefers to play safe (Ali Zafar). While the first two audacious blokes live to lust after women, third simpleton laughs over their failed love escapades. Trouble creeps into their happy go lucky lives when the three find themselves chasing the same girl, though with different intentions. The girl in question is bubbly Seema, who keeps absconding from her home to escape an arranged marriage until she finds true love in Sid. But, will the Sid-Seema romance bloom in the troublesome jealous atmosphere created by kamina friends Omi and Jai? Find out as you watch the film. There are more characters in the film including the heavily tattooed Goan, Joseph Furtado, who finds love in a graciously beautiful Lillette Dubey and together they share a chemistry that's more endearing than the lead couple's.

STARCAST                                                                                                    :  Among the three protagonists DIVYENDU SHARMA playing a self-styled shaayar gets the most tawdry lines of bumper-sticker wisdom which the actor delivers with such punctuated panache, we can’t help guffawing out our implicit ‘irshaad’. He displays good enough confidence in his body language as well as expressions when we take into account that he is just a couple of movies' old. Comic timing is of vital importance to this film. And every actor gets it right, dead-on sometime dead-pan. To me the film’s most natural-born scene-stealer is the Southern star SIDDHARTH. Seen earlier in an intense character in Rang de Basanti, Siddharth nails his character’s filmy flamboyance. Many would say Siddharth has gone over the top. But to sustain that high-pitched level of crazy energy throughout the film is no laughing matter. Or, on second thoughts, this talented actor’s performance is indeed a laughing matter. ALI ZAFAR is far more sober and controlled than his co-stars. It takes some doing to remain steadfast in your stipulated sobriety while all your co-stars pull out all stops. Ali has got those innocent next door boy kind of looks which was the requisite of his character in the movie. Coming to leading lady TAPSEE PANNU, the less the better. I dont know why & how David got convinced to cast her as female lead in this movie. Firstly she looks a tad young like a typical schoolgirl and not at all a seducing Shikaar which the character is supposed to be. On top of it her acting skills as well as expressions are not at all impressive when compared to the other cast of the flick. Oh ! How can i forget talking about RISHI KAPOOR who has simply looked kewl n adorable in his new Avatar in this movie. It was a visual treat to watch him riding a Harley supporting tattoos on arms n wearing reflectors in the movie and his chemistry with LILETTE DUBEY has also come out very well as both of them have given a fine performance. One super fine actor who has been completely wasted is ANUPAM KHER, although he's been cast in a double role but his screenplay characters were so irritating & irrational that even great actor like Anupam could not put any soul to them. Same goes for BHARTI ARCHEKAR too.

TECHNICAL DETAILS                                                                 :  SAJID WAJID have composed the music for this movie and they have succeeded to quite an extent. Some of the tracks are in tempo with the movie and provide the much needed impetus to the proceedings. Cinematography of this movie has been done by SANJAY F GUPTA who has done an average job while canning the shots at the picturesque locales of Goa. In fact technical finesse has never been the forte of movies by David Dhawan who mainly relies on comic screenplay and funny punches to steer his movie ahead. Editing of the movie has been done by NITIN ROKADE who does not disappoint with the final movie run-time of 131 minutes which is fair enough. This movie mainly scores on its gags, fun quotient and some fine performances along with couple of foot tapping Chalu song numbers. Coming to the director, DAVID DHAWAN we can easily proclaim that he and slapstick humor go hand in hand. With debacle of his last couple of flicks including RASCALS, there was a widespread viewpoint that he has started to loose his grip on his favorite genre. But the filmmaker has given a befitting reply to his detractors & once again tried to appease masses with the remake of one of the most endearing cult comedies and has well succeeded in it. While the original was subtle and simple, the remake is loud and fast paced. There's too much happening at every given frame which was not the case with the original. David has made efforts to make the story more new age, young and fresher by adding some trendy impetus to it. The humor for most parts is extremely slapstick and straight out of SMS punches, which  includes some lame ones too but overall they are appealing. I found it to be one of the better movies of David Dhawan with the main factor being that there are no double meaning dialogues or un-necessary provocative scenes which were present in most of his earlier movies. This time he has succeeded in providing some clean entertainment and that too in a young, vibrant, fresh look in sync with the time and in lieu of this we can forgive him for the suffering he made us go through when we went to watch his last couple of dud  movies. 

OVER THE HEAD                                                                               :   The biggest pain while watching this flick is to see Anupam Kher, an actor of real high caliber portraying a foolish character and being totally wasted. To add to his woes, he is in a double role and it seems both the characters are in a rage to prove who acts more pathetically. Instead of making you laugh they start to irritate you as the movie progresses. Same goes for character of Bharti Archekar also.   

WOW MOMENTS                                                                         :   The repercussions that follow when first Devyanshu and than Siddharth go to Tapsee's house to woo her lead to some fine hilarious moments. Rishi Kapoor's romanctic inkling with Lilette Dubey is a treat to watch out for.

CONCLUSION                                                                                               :  I found this is to be one of the better works of David Dhawan. His sense of dramedy and quick-footed gags coupled with an assured direction has made this movie entertaining enough for at least one time watch. 

ROHIT SHARMA.

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Movie review of "HIMMATWALA".

            It was a different experience to see AJAY DEVGAN, an actor of high calibre not only munching Seetti waale dialogues but also dancing in 80's style..And the man behind this is SAJID KHAN who made us all roar with laughter with his witty take on ham scenes of Bollywood movies on satellite channels earlier. And now the same man has made a movie which starts & ends with a ham scene but is entertaining in between.  He has stated time & again that his movies are to entertain audience and not to please critics, & in fact he was doing a okay job with it but this time beginning & ending scene of his present movie disappointed me. Overall the movie is not that bad but a couple of scenes spoil the party. The biggest asset of this movie is performances by its cast who thoroughly entertain with their antics.



SCRIPT & SCREENPLAY                                                                                     : The credit for the story of Himmatwala goes to SAJID KHAN where as the screenplay as well as dialogues have been put together with the joint effort of SAJID FARHAD & SAJID KHAN. Sans any captivating component and innovative thought process behind its script "Himmatwala" is too monotonous.. The story takes off when Ravi (AJAY) returns to his native village Ramnagar, with an idea of avenging the injustice done to his family by village landlord, Sher Singh (MAHESH MANJREKAR), who years back accused his father of robbery and post which Ravi's entire family straggles and slips in to the marshes of hardships. On reaching his village Ravi finds that his mother and sister whom he assumed to be dead are still alive and are leading a very wretched life on the village outskirts.On knowing this, Ravi meet them and bring them back to their house in village, where he has a rendezvous with Sher Singh's harlequin loyalist, Narayandass (PRESH RAWAL) who forewarn Ravi about the dire consequences, but ends up being at the receiving end of Ravi's blows. As the frames roll ahead steps in finicky daughter of Sher Singh, Rekha (TAMANNA ), who too didn't have a very pleasing first meeting with Ravi. Soon after this, oblivious about Ravi's background, Sher Singh himself steps into the arena and comes across a shocking revelation. And from there a bland punch of Action, humor and masala takes over. May be while drafting the screenplay of "Himmatwala", Sajid and his team of experts might have repeatedly referred the previous "Himmatwala", in order to keep line between resemblance and unlikeliness quite clear. Some of the dialogues have been smartly penned where-in characters of (1980's ) speak with reference to today's times like Paresh Rawal says " Main Swine hoon, mujhe swine flu ho jaaye", in reply his son says there is no disease like this & he says " Ho sakta hai Bees saal baad ye beemari aa jaaye". When Paresh is washing utensils Manjrekar says to him that wash them with the help of Youtube.


STARCAST                                                                                             :    Although there is a widely prevailing notion that intense and up till an extent humorous performances are AJAY DEVGAN'S patent styles of acting, but in "Himmatwala", Ajay looks quite comfortable and confident in his retro avatar. Infact it won't be wrong to say that, Ajay thoroughly succeeds in performing what he is expected to. It is only he who is able to infuse some watchable moments in the movie and entertains audience to the core. As far as performance of newbie TAMANNA BHATIA is concerned then inspite of being the leading lady of the movie, she don't get much chance to put forth her acting prowess and end up being a mere glamour frill.  ZARINA WAHAB is just OK as Ajay's onscreen mother. MAHESH MANJREKAR well succeeds in doing a thorough justice to his character and quite comfortably reaches the benchmark set by late AMJAD KHAN in the original. I will rate this as one of Mahesh's best performances as he keeps on fiddling between villainy & buffoonery very often with complete ease. With complete absence of expressions, ADHYAYAN SUMAN is as good as mannequin. But the man who completely steals the show with his brilliance is, PARESH RAWAL. With some best dialogues in his kitty and a marvellous acting dexterity Paresh surpasses all his co-stars and emerges as true entertainer. All six item girls including SONAKSHI have looked gorgeous and have somewhat succeeded in grabbing some gazes. SAJID KHAN has done an excellent job in extracting the best of performances from his cast ( except ADHYAYAN ) which has turned out to be the biggest highlight of the movie.

TECHNICAL ASPECTS                                                                           :     Music for this movie has been composed by SAJID WAJID who have done a very very ordinary job of it and the only hummable songs are the ones that have been lifted from the score of original Himmatwala. Background music has been given by SANDEEP SHIRODKAR who has given a pure melodramatic score keeping 80's sound effects in mind. Cinematography of this movie has been executed by MANOJ SONI who has done an average job with respect to the shoot locales. JAI SINGH NIJJAR's name also deserves a mention for brilliant execution of action scenes ( excluding the entry n climax fight which are too hammy ). The editor of this flick is NITIN ROKADE who has done an average job again taking the final run-time to 150 minutes. Now coming to the Chief Commdr. i.e. SAJID KHAN who has written the story, screenplay, dialogues, directed this flick and who has been claiming on top of his voice that he makes movies only for the sole reason of entertaining his audience. He has somehow managed to pull it off albeit with lot of hiccups & i personally found it disappointing when compared to the entertainment quotient his earlier flicks provided. In this movie his actors have been his biggest saviors who have given best out of them and delight you with their sheer presence on screen. Agreed, its not a brilliant or a classic movie but it has its own charming moments in-between.


OVER THE HEAD                                                                                            :   Unfortunately the first scene of Ajay's entry into movie falls in this category where he bends a steel rod and bashes a WWF kind of fighter in fight arena while CHUNKY PANDE dressed as Michael Jackson lookalike places bets. Similar kind of ham scene brings the movie to an end where Ajay fights several devilish grin supporting fighters who come packed in a truck to challenge his Himmat. My question to Sajid is that presence of frustrating ham scene in the beginning as well as the ending was done deliberately or is it just a co-incidence.


WOW MOMENTS                                                                                                    :  The marriage scene where Ajay ridicules Tamanna when she is spoiling a marriage function for d reason that she hates Gareebs is really hilarious and invokes laughter. Crab dance of Paresh n Mahesh also adds up the fun quotient.


CONCLUSION                                                                                                    :  Before i conclude i'll just like to mention that when i started this blog, in my first post i stated that i am not a professional critique and just a cinebuff plus avid movie watcher. So my reviews will be from the perspective of audience and hence might differ with other critic reviews & that is the only reason that i never give any star ratings to movies. Thankfully till now for almost all the movies, my views were very similar to the views of other professionals but i've failed to understand that how-come have they blasted this movie as well as Sajid left,right and center. I dont say that it is an excellent flick or extraordinary cinema but it has some entertainment quotient in between and when movies like Rowdy Rathore, Wanted, Ready, Bodyguard have been hailed than why are the critics giving a step motherly treatment to this movie.
I conclude by saying that if you are a hard core movie buff than you might enjoy this movie. Above all it is the screen presence and acting prowess of Ajay Devgan, Paresh Rawal, Sanjay Manjrekar which has made this movie rise from below average to average rating hence making it one time watch.

ROHIT SHARMA.

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