MADRAS CAFE : Movie Review

Madras Cafe is a sinewy and riveting espionage thriller that entertains without having to play to the gallery. The main highlight of this flick is that it draws upon actual events that are still fresh in the nation’s collective memory and crafts a compelling and fast-paced political drama. Heightened realism is a means to achieve a synthesis of fantasy and history in this deftly scripted semi-fictional account of the processes leading to Rajiv Gandhi's tragic assassination in 1991. There are no heroes and villains here as Shoojit Sircar is clearly not interested in turning the film into an oversimplified, hackneyed good versus evil yarn. Gritty, sombre and largely understated, Shoojit Sircar’s offering stands out in its purposefulness and honesty of intent. Yes, he weaves bits of fiction into historical developments, but for the most part, he tells the story as it is, eschewing the temptation to be diplomatic or deliberately abstract or apologetic. The deft mix of facts and fiction makes the movie a hugely satisfying experience. Shoojit Sircar takes a historical actuality and along with screenplay writers Somnath Dey and Shubendu Bhattacharya weaves a captivating and compelling screenplay around it. Madras Cafe exposes the culture of violence that every nation bears, in which the only people who suffer are the commoners who seek only peace and happiness from their lives. Madras Cafe is an undeniably impressive and well-thought out flick, that reveals a lot of lesser-known facts about the Sri Lankan War and the pathetic plight of the Tamil civilians in Sri Lanka during the 80s.

SCRIPT & SCREENPLAY                          :          The trenchant script, co-written by Somnath Dey and Shubendu Bhattacharya, attempts and succeeds in building the same spiral of pseudo-history that Oliver Stone built in "JFK". The story hinges on a conspiracy theory that links the assassination of a pacifist ex-Prime Minister to the machinations of giant corporations and foreign agencies out to destabilise the subcontinent. Movie also attempts a risky tightrope walk between staying true to recent geopolitical history and the need to serve up an imagined, dramatised spy story and succeeds on both counts. At no point does Madras Cafe appear to be in danger of losing its balance and plummeting into a void. Its muscles stem primarily from its steadfast eschewal of narrative conventions that are a part and parcel of spy thrillers. For one, the male protagonist is no superhero primed to perform acts of logic-defying bravado. The only ‘grand’ statement of intent that he is allowed to make is, “I will do it my way”. It turns out that it easier said than done for he is in a game that is controlled by forces and agencies that are far bigger than him.
Coming to the storyline, Madras Cafe starts with the protagonist Vikram Singh (John Abraham) in a shocking and unrecognisable state of a drunkard, who was once the special Indian RAW officer. Singh narrates the story of the horrific experience that he had undergone, after he was appointed by RAW Officials (Siddharth Basu as the RAW chief, Piyush Pandey as the Cabinet Secretary) to conduct covert operations in Sri Lanka shortly after the Indian Peace Keeping Force was forced to withdraw. The instructions given to him are to track down the activities of LTA Boss Anna Bhaskkaran (Ajay Ratnam).  Once in war zone, Vikram  reports to his superior Bala (Prakash Belawadi) and also bumps into London based war correspondent Jaya (Nargis Fakhri). What follows is Vikram's close encounter with gun-toting extremists who view themselves as revolutionaries and he finds himself on a ground where treachery is rife with danger lurking at every corner with violence erupting without any warning. Worst of all, in the shadows, it is difficult to tell friend from foe. 

STARCAST                                    :           Casting director of this movie i.e. Jogi  deserves applause for choosing the right actors as every actor seems to take a cue from the vast resources of authenticity at their disposal. One other aspect is that makers have not used established and mainstream actors in the ensemble roles which has given a raw kind of feel to the characters. This could well be John Abraham’s coming of age role. Wooden yes, but he fits in to the narrative with minimal fuss, neither dominating the proceeding, nor getting overwhelmed by the weight of the script. Troubled and brooding, angry and helpless, frustrated yet committed to duty — he plays it all with uncharacteristic maturity. Even Nargis Fakhri, so self-consciously affected as Ranbir Kapoor's doomed soul-mate in "Rockstar", nails her war correspondent's part with her radiant presence. Rashi Khanna as John's wife has a short role to play but has essayed her character with aplomb.Specially riveting is Prakash Belawade as John's senior associate, who seems to drink hard to escape from the enormity of his compromise. His expressions, body language and dialect are a treat to watch. And, how can i forget to mention Siddhartha Basu, our old quiz master of Doordarshan days who has played character of RAW chief in the most subtle and convincing manner. Even, Piyush Pandey with his trademark royal moustache has played his character with ease. Ajay Ratnam as Anna has looked convincing in his role of LTA chief.

TECHNICAL FINESSE                     :         Madras Cafe takes pride in its technical brilliance. The soundtrack is exceptionally honest. Shantanu Moitra's background music underscores every scene without hammering in the emotions. Plenty of the credit for the tonal correctness of the narrative must go to Kamaljeet Negi's brilliantly unadorned cinematography, which locks in on stunning visuals of violence and espionage-related action without falling into the mistake of making the frames look prettier than the grim situation that they are meant to capture. Traveling through the seas, the shots around the jungles, aerial shots are all mind-blowing. Editor Chandrashekhar Prajapati imbues a documentary style mood to the footage. But the sense of cinematic expansiveness is retained in the way the camera moves through the characters' restless lives, searching for positions of comfort in a situation laden with desperate anxiety. As a director Shoojit Sircar hits the right strides, and blends fact and fiction with great narrative aplomb and visual flair. He constructs an account of what might have happened in the last two and a half years leading up to the elimination of an Indian political leader by the world’s first-ever human bomb. He restructures the civil war in Sri Lanka with authenticity, portraying the rebels and diplomats and also depicting India's involvement in the conflict that had ramifications on India. As a matter of fact, the storyteller tries to be as neutral as possible while narrating the tale and that's what makes the effort so credible and convincing. Soojit remarkably keeps the texture, tone of this film undisturbed till the end..no songs, romance and unwanted stuffs.. the characters look, location, art work is bang on target..  Additionally, Shoojit deserves brownie points for thinking beyond the stereotype, especially since he doesn't repeat himself after the immensely successful and likeable VICKY DONOR.

WOW MOMENTS                                :     From the opening scene of a brutal terror attack on a bus in Jaffna to the climactic explosion that shatters the hero’s hopes of stopping a heinous act, Madras Cafe does not let go of its grip on the audience for even a moment. So, for me each and every scene of the movie is a wow moment.

CONCLUSION                                     :       Madras Cafe stands apart from run-of-the-mill smack-downs because it does not celebrate vacuous militaristic machismo. What the film does instead is bring home the horrors of a civil war and its human ramifications. It's a film that you should watch because it gives you an insight into an exceptionally pertinent episode of history. If you are in the frame of mind to watch superior quality, sensible cinema, I would strongly recommend MADRAS CAFE to you. Try not to miss it!

 ROHIT SHARMA.

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Once Upon Ay Time in Mumbai Dobaara : Movie Review

It had enough going for it – a no-nonsense script, a clipped pace, punchy dialogues and spiffy cinematography – to justify its 160-minure runtime. Yet Once Upon Ay Time in Mumbai Dobaara! falls well short of being quite as engaging as the film that it is a sequel to despite of the fact that it starts well and shows some sparks by entertaining you in the first half. The reason is pretty obvious: the characters that Ajay Devgn and Emraan Hashmi fleshed out in Once Upon A Time in Mumbaai were infinitely more complex and nuanced. Once Upon Ay Time in Mumbai Dobaara!, is a raunchy playboy who transforms into a wrathful and obsessive lover. Not a diabolical underworld don by miles. There is something incongruous about a Dawood remotely akin to Rahul in Darr. That Akshay Kumar plays the role with a lot of relish does not really help. The ersatz, 1970s-style dialogue-baazi, many notches worse than those in Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai (2010), combined with script going haywire in second half—add to the banal claptrap that it is. This is done-to-noisy-death gangsterism done with heartbreaking seriousness. It takes some doing to wrap up such a time-worn love triangle into a pretence of modern storytelling. The subsequent spinoffs have gotten seriously diluted. This one is a sequel to Luthria’s 2010 film where Ajay Devgn’s imposing personality and gravelly voice had made the pale and sometime unintentionally funny proceedings bearable. This film wallows in a kind of imbecilic irreverence where the protagonists seem bold brave, sexy and even brazen but are actually cardboard versions of the triangular lovers in some earlier good triangle love stories we have seen.  But at least love triangles of the past were honest about their melodramatic intentions.  Once Upon A Time...Dobaara cloaks its outdated radical ideas in a rumbustious display of trendiness. But yes, it can be watched once for some of its witty n hard hitting dialogues & the first half which has some sparkling moments infusing good amount of entertainment. 

 

SCRIPT & SCREENPLAY                 :      The credit for the story as well as screenplay goes to Rajat Arora who won lot of hearts with his storyline as well as dialogues for The Dirty Picture n prequel to this movie i.e. Once Upon A Time in Mumbaai . The disappointment is that at no point in the story does one feel that the two rivals in love would care enough for the woman to actually put their long-nurtured bonding at stake and bay for each other’s blood. One of the two men is unable to express his feelings for the girl until it is too late; the other propositions her with as much grace as a village yokel, hurling gifts, including a penthouse on the city’s highest skyscraper, at her. What is most upsetting is how the vital lines flounder the most: unrelated inanities pop up throughout, but it is when the script actually demands a line with some heft that there is none to be found. It is as if the writers copy-paste lines from railway station shayari books whenever they can, but at times of actual dramatic punch, nothing fits. A flavour of flagrant criminality is created through back-projected nostalgia. The film opens with an archival cricket match ‘fixed’ by the all-powerful underworld don. The sequences seem more ‘fixed’ by the director than the Dubai-based ganglord would have ever imagined. Fleets of black and yellow Fiat cars ply up and down Mumbai’s roads in a show of periodicity. A wanton woman (Sophie Chowdhary, in a seductive cameo) cheats on her unsuspecting husband, making out with the dreaded don in the backroom at a noisy party.  Coming to the storyline, The survivor from the first installment is the protagonist of this film. He is now older, meaner and given to ways that are more ruthless than the ones he learnt on the way up. The coldblooded gangster, now played by Akshay Kumar, returns from an offshore location to reclaim his turf in the city of his birth. Shoaib makes a huge hoo-ha about the fact that he isn’t a hero, but a villain. His philosophy is rudimentary: good guys go to heaven; bad guys experience the bliss of paradise on earth. His methods are heavy-handed, and he delivers forceful one-liners at the drop of a hat. Some of them do come off pretty well and are certain to draw applause from Akshay Kumar fans. The conventional villain, Rawal (Mahesh Manjrekar), Shoaib’s principal underworld opponent, is reduced to playing second fiddle. The younger mobster Aslam (Imran Khan), a pre-teen biker who was picked off the mean streets by the big-talking mafia don more than a decade ago and turned into a trusted lieutenant, has grown up swearing blind allegiance to his mentor. Trouble erupts when the two men fall in love with the same girl, Jasmine Sheikh (Sonakshi Sinha), a Kashmiri lass who has come down to Mumbai to act in the movies. 

STARCAST                                                    :             This is Akshay Kumar’s film all the way – he struts around with the cocky confidence that he owns every frame. Akshay Kumar is so sleazy that he will crack you up with his dialogue delivery which is outright hilarious. Akshay lives like a king in the movie as he returns as villain after 12 years. He was last seen as the bad guy in Khiladi. Akshay brings his character alive with the dialogues and style. For a change, we enjoy watching the bad guy say lines such as 'Peene ki capacity, jeene ki strength, account ka balance aur naam ka kauff kabhi bhi kam na hona chahiye'. In the movie, Shoaib says that he is not a player, but the game itself, and here we have Akshay who is more or less the story himself.  It is for Imran Khan as Aslam in the movie playing an ambitious young lad who starts off pretty well by giving us some good action and chase in the train scene. Imran sheds his milksop lover-boy image and takes on a tougher guise for the second time in his career after Matru Ki Bijlee.., that this film could prove to be a breakthrough. He provides evidence that he can handle a wider range of roles than he is usually allowed to play. Sonakshi, too, is given generous play by the screenplay, and she measures up to the demands of the role. In this film, she is a chatterbox replete with idioticity which the director frames as naiveness. She shrieks as if possessed in the climax scene as bombards all her good, if she had done any. In short, she has not been able to live up to the expectations especially after her great performance in Lootera. There is only one solid scene that the director gave to actress Sonali Bendre and she was brilliant in it.  In few minutes, she added depth to her character and managed to convey the emotional wreckage Shoaib’s love had caused her! Mahesh Manjrekar’s buffonery was a pain in the literal sense of the word and he has been simply wasted. In the supporting cast, Pitobash as Aslam’s childhood pal Dedh Taang & Abhimanyu Singh as the tough cop stand out. Amongst the ensemble actors, Tiku Talsania, Deepraj Rana, Chetan Hansraj and Sarfaraz Khan have given a good performance.   

 TECHNICAL FINESSE                                :             The music for this flick has been composed by one of the current favorite's i.e. Pritam Da but alias he has delivered a ordinary soundtrack. But credit must go to Sandeep Shirodkar who has composed astounding background score for the movie which enlivens the proceedings. One other person who has done fabulous work and delivered the goods is, Priya Suhas (Production Designer) who has kept the aesthetics as per the era shown in the flick. It is through the lens of cinematographer Ayananka Bose that, Once Upon Ay Time in Mumbai Dobaara! is shot in muted hues, which captures both the street-level dread and the soaring sparkle of 1980s Bombay with consistent sharpness. The movie has been edited by Akiv Ali who has done a good job but the movie seems to drag a bit in its second half and the overall length of the movie could have been reduced from its run-time of 160 minutes. Director Milan Luthria along with his writer Rajat Arora makes it a point not to go down the path that was prevalent in Once Upon A Time in Mumbaai. This time he has focused more on the love life of the main protagonists instead of their histrionics which has resulted in making the movie kind of a potpourri. The basic flaw of Milan Luthria this time, which shakes your interest is a overly sterilised narrative that presents every hint of passion between the girl and the two men only as flights of the febrile male imagination running riot to the accompaniment of ‘romantic’ songs He opts for a more restrained approach to the rivalry between two larger-than-life gangsters over a desirable ingenue, who walks into the crossfire without ever realizing how bad things are going to get for her. What robs the film of genuine traction is that the action seems to unfold in a disinfected bubble that is out of bounds for the urban realities of the era.

WOW MOMENTS                                   :         Aslam (Imran Khan)’s friend making out with his girlfriend in the car while Aslam gives angrezi lessons to Jasmine (Sonakshi Sinha) is a nicely-conceived moment. One of the ‘jokes’ that ties Sonakshi’s character to her lover-by Imran Khan is his misuse of the word ‘intercourse’. Another scene which stands out is when there is an all-points bulletin for Shoaib's arrest, the gangster, fed up by the police, strides defiantly into a police station and is... well, utterly ignored as he stands there and walks out again.

CONCLUSION                                           :      
Once Upon Ay Time in Mumbai Dobaara! is equal parts a gangster flick and a love triangle. Two films for the price of one? Not quite, because neither half rises to any great heights in terms of drama. Rather sad, because there is a great deal in the film that is quite impressive, not the least among which is the fact that the storyline, despite the occasional flaccid passage, remains completely focused on the three principal characters. So, while going to watch it don't go with a mindset of expecting the same kind of fireworks that blazed across the screen in Once Upon A Time in Mumbaai, else there is a fair amount of chance that  your expectations might get doomed.

 ROHIT SHARMA.

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CHENNAI EXPRESS : MOVIE REVIEW

When Red Chillies Entertainment, UTV join hands with Rohit Shetty to helm a flick starring SRK teamed with Deepika Padukone, sparks are bound to fly high and across. It will not to be wrong to say that this is the most ambitious & talked about project of Rohit Shetty so far who has already become a name to reckon with as far as dishing entertainers is concerned. Hmmm i know u might have already read this prelude in lot of sites already, so I'll straight away begin the review. Chennai Express is a somewhat long ride that occasionally teeters on the edge of tedium, but it certainly isn’t all wrong. Parts of Chennai Express, propelled by a spirit of inspired lunacy that holds the no-holds-barred action comedy in good stead, is markedly better than the sum total of the film. But do hop aboard. This Express is designed for quite a crazy carousel. If you hang in there and do not allow the many distractions and diversions along the way throw you off track, you might actually find yourself getting into the swing of things, especially in the first half as the thunderous rhythm of the voyage does generate some genuinely funny gags. Chennai Express warms up pretty quickly and delivers exactly what you would expect from a Rohit Shetty film: runaway entertainment. Packaged with pickled precision, peppered with just the right doses of naughty jokes and precocious pranks that go well with Shah Rukh’s 40-year old brat’s act, Chennai Express is the kind of non-toxic comic entertainer where the most damaging double-entendres you’d get is a Tamil word that sounds like Angelina Jolie’s name.

STORY & SCREENPLAY                    :     The story of Chennai Express has been written by K. Subhaash  where as the screenplay has been penned by veteran Yunus Sajawal who have tried all the tricks available in the book to dish out a full fledged Tarrka kind of entertaining script. Although, the storyline is no great shakes but the delivery is always rambunctiously lively. Shah Rukh Khan is a sweetmeat trader’s beloved grandson. The grandpa dies just shy of turning 100. Rahul’s granny (Kamini Kaushal) requests the 40-year-old to fulfill the dead man’s last wish to have his ashes immersed in the sea off Rameswaram. Rahul takes the urn ostensibly on a trip to the South but connives with a couple of friends to head to Goa instead. Fate intervenes and his feigned trip on Chennai Express lasts much longer than he had bargained for. He bumps into Meena, who is being escorted back home by four beefy cousins after a failed attempt to flee her village. Rahul is caught in the game that the girl decides to play with her dad, Durgeshwara (Sathyaraj), in order to avoid marrying a hulky muscleman, Thangaballi (Nikitin Dheer). That brings me to another heap of hilarity that writers build so meticulously in the first-half. The generous outflow of Tamil that seems initially engaging (more so, since Shah Rukh shares our non-comprehension of the rapidfire Tamilian cloudburst that accompanies Deepika’s quicksilver character) begins to come in the way as the narration grows older and runs out of energy. But then there is the sprightly Deepika as the runaway Tamilian girl who piles on to the North Indian mithaiwala stranger to escape marrying the boorish fiancée back home in her village in Tamil Nadu. Also, there are some nice funny dialogues where-in Shah Rukh pokes a whole lot of good-natured fun at his now-aging lover-boy persona. There are tongue-in-cheek references to Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge and several other Shah Rukh Khan films and songs including the introductory South Indian lines from the Jiya jale song in Dil Se.

STARCAST                                          :     Coming to the performances arena, both the lead protagonist and his ladylove have given their best and have undoubtedly managed to charm the audience by giving their best shot. Chennai Express promises a superstar in all his many-splendoured glory. And it delivers Shah Rukh Khan in a guise that is 75 per cent lover boy-prankster Rahul (that is what his character is predictably called) and the remaining 25 per cent a fearless ‘common man’ who musters the strength of a hundred able-bodied men when he is pushed to a corner. Chennai Express also gives Deepika Padukone a vantage seat in the best coach and she makes the most of the opportunity. As a southern mafia don’s feisty daughter, Meena, she lays it on really thick, both in terms of accent and body language. Deepika’s diction and lingo appears a tad too labored at times, but, to her credit, she gets it right consistently. The whole-hearted zeal that Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika bring to the table and the steady flow of funny one-liners serve Shetty’s purpose well, turning Chennai Express into an elopement-against-all-odds rigmarole that hits the right buttons at most turns. Amid the flying bodies and cars that the director has a penchant for, the actors make their way through the rubble largely unscathed. Most of the screen time has been shared by these two and they have not let down the proceedings even for a moment with their brilliant performances. Nikitin Dheer as Thangabali manages to catch your attention ( not only with his hulk hogan looks) but with his acting skills also as he has played the villainous character with conviction and surprisingly his stone faced expressions have worked well as per his character. Sathyaraj (Deepika's father) as Durgeshwara Azhagusundaram (Even SRK is not able to spell his name correctly throughout the movie), has played his character with aplomb and is impressive. Mukesh Tiwari as a Tamil-speaking Sikh policeman has not been able to invoke that kind of laughter which he is capable of as his character is not that strong when compared to his earlier antics as Vasooli in Shetty's Golmaal Series.  
    

TECHNICAL FINESSE                                  :    Undoubtedly, this is is Rohit Shetty's best piece of work as far as technical finesse is concerned. The music for this flick has been composed by the dynamic duo of Vishal - Shekhar who have dished out an average kind of an album which has got mix melodies. The cinematography by Dudley is immensely gratifying and his camera glides across capturing the plush and passionate moments with excellent finesse, hence giving your eyeballs lot of moments for optical enchantment. The movie has been edited by Steven H. Bernard who has done an exceptional job in maintaining the tempo of the movie throughout its run-time of 142 minutes. Rohit Shetty, who obviously does not have any patience for half measures, goes full tilt at the resources at his disposal and rustles up an action-packed culture-clash comedy that has crowd-pleaser emblazoned all over it. The director throws dollops of good-natured drollery into the thrills-and-spills blender and comes up with a movie that has all the tried-and-tested ingredients of the genre that he has made his own. Rohit Shetty is more in command of his canvas here than in his last comedy Bol Bachchan. Here the self-deprecatory laughter is good enough to raise guffaws.

WOW MOMENTS                                :        Towards the beginning of the train journey when Deepika and Shah Rukh play a kind of antakshari of Hindi film songs to put the goons off her trail is hilarious. There’s a wonderfully-shot sequence where Shah Rukh has to carry Deepika to a temple over hundreds of steps. Deepika here goes from amusement and mockery to a sense of belonging and pride in her man’s arms. It’s a moment built with care and love.

CONCLUSION                                       :      The mirthful quotient of Chennai Express lies in its  humor, wit, emotional content and superb chemistry of its lead pair which has been played with conviction. The movie has Love, action and laughs which has been cleverly packaged by Rohit Shetty in his own imitable  Ishtyle. This is a journey which can be definitely relished by the whole family comprising members of all age groups.  

ROHIT SHARMA.

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rohitreview@gmail.com

NAUGHTY JATTS : Movie Review

 NAUGHTY JATTS carries on the legacy of comic flicks being churned out by Pollywood and will entertain you to the core, provided you leave your thinking caps at home and just surrender your logical instincts while watching the movie. NJ is embellished with a taut screenplay and good performances especially for audience who relish comic cinema which is laden with genuine wit, humor & laughter which comes naturally as the screenplay progresses. On surface, this may seem like an uncomplicated story, but scratch the exterior and there's a strong undercurrent of comic elements ready to explode and engulf you. That is probably why NJ appears to exude much greater energy n exuberance than it intrinsically possesses. This movie, with its comic plot and wickedly spot-on characterizations is the kind of apt, fast paced and witty comedy which with several moments will surely make you roll with laughter in your seats. The protagonists of this flick are the kind of characters who will forever love to remain adolescents. PANKAJ BATRA & his team have fashioned a fiercely funny fable filled with loads of innocuous innuendos and the incredibly funny and sharply observed dialogues are in perfect sync with the intelligence levels of the repressed man-boys and their inability to concentrate on any event beyond a minute. NJ, wickedly moves at its own volition with a crazy pattern of comic chaos that stops being short of being anarchic due to finely tuned situational satire simulated. Exclamations are the only punctuations in this seamless comedy of courtship played at an impossibly high octave, without getting shrill.

STORY & SCREENPLAY                                           :       The credit for the story,screenplay & dialogues goes to NARESH KATHOORIA who has smartly constructed a collage of characters hell bent on a collision course.  Many of its punch lines are quite funny, and some of the desperate measures that the protagonists are compelled to take recourse in order to wriggle out of sticky situations border on the uproarious. I'll say the one of the biggest strengths of this movie has turned out to be its clever writing as erudition sits easily, spontaneously and unobtrusively on Naresh's  narration. 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. There is nothing new in this but the sheer daftness and goofiness makes it a likable smartly paced wild ride. The best part is that the script breezes past without any major breakdowns primarily because it doesn't get too adventurous and sticks to its chosen line and to top it all, it delivers some quirky detours that are made all the more engaging due to the consistent quality of acting by most of the artistes. The basic plot of this Rom-com revolves around Simmy (Neeru Bajwa), a young bubbly girl with a strict upbringing whose dream is to become a singer one day. School friends Rocky ( Aryan Babbar) and Lalli ( Binnu Dhillon) are madly in love with her but are unable to show their feelings to her. Soon, they decide to propose Simmy but Rocky's cousin Balwinder ( Roshan Prince ) arrives from village who is a good singer & he too falls for her. Simmy decides to marry the person who wins a singing contest and the boys start to plan their own tricks to win the contest. Now, who will win Simmy's heart and who will she marry forms the rest of the plot.   

STARCAST                                                        :        Comic timing is of vital importance to this film. And every actor gets it right, dead-on sometime dead-pan.  Roshan Prince as Balwinder is so apt that it would be hard to imagine anyone else who could have essayed this character of being cute, witty, funny and strong willed too. He is simply outstanding and delivers a performance that certainly deserves an ovation. His captivating performance is sure to increase his fan following manifold. Arya Babbar is like picture-perfect and has looked every inch the character he has portrayed. While conveying his heroic side he also gives a comic interpretation to the chaos around in a charismatic way. For sure, this guy is having a blast working in Punjabi flicks and is entertaining audience to the core. Binnu Dhillon, has got the naughtiest character to play as it is through his character that most of the juvenile, sleazy humor comes. But, the ease with which he has portrayed and expressed a synthesis of the slimy and the slippery without falling out of his character is commendable. Coming to Neeru Bajwa, i can confidently say that she is the only leading lady who could have & has stood her ground against these three male protagonists with ease. She is a real talented plus charming actress and her title of being undisputed queen of Punjabi Cinema is completely justified. In fact,with this kind of talent, the day is not far when she will shine as a leading lady in Bollywood too. Karamjeet Anmol's straight faced, matter of fact style of comedy coupled with his innocent expressions is bone-tickling to the core. B.M.Sharma, has given a superlative performance as Neeru's father and his confrontations with Binnu will make you roar with laughter. He is an excellent actor who essays various characters assigned to him with complete conviction. Amongst the ensemble actors you'll find me also whom Roshan Prince approaches to understand the meaning of english words which Neeru says to him when she leaves after drinking coffee with him. 

TECHNICAL FINESSE                                             :    The music for this flick has been composed by a medley of music composers which include G.Deep, Sham Balkar, Vikram Khanjuria, Anil Sagar, Jaggi Singh and i would rate overall album as average. The man behind the lens and responsible for the visual enhancement of the movie is, cinematographer, Vineet Malhotra who has done an excellent job keeping in mind the resources available to him, considering the whole movie has been shot in and around Chandigarh. The movie has been edited by Praveen Kathikuloth who deserves an applause for maintaining the fun quotient going consistently during overall run-time of 122 minutes. Choreography by Savio barnes & Piyush Panchal is a treat to watch. Coming to the chief of crew i.e. Pankaj Batra, he has succeeded in making a movie which has got something hugely infectious about the exuberance of Punjabi youth and most of us can either relate or have seen the characters of Rocky, Lalli and Balwinder around us. Pankaj has hit the jackpot this time as the film's direction - its comic timing, on location shooting which captures Chandigarh's flavor - portrays a skillful mastery. He has extracted humor from the academically challenged boys' who are ready to go to any extent to pursue their ladylove even if it includes adapting to various fraudulent measures. One more noteworthy positive point is that Pankaj's movie doesn't take characters' contemporary courtship games into areas that would offend the moralists and hence can be hailed as family entertainer which can be relished by complete family which is rare these days.

WOW MOMENTS                                  :    Although, the movie is a non stop laughter ride full of witty moments but couple of scenes stand out. Watch out for the scene where Binnu tries to impress Neeru by his singing skills after calling her in a garden which in fact made most of audience jump around in their seats with its laughter quotient. The climax scene of the movie where the blind beggar gets caught in between the warring factions is a treat to watch. 

CONCLUSION                                              :   This movie surely pampers your funny bones and relieves you of all your stress with some brilliant performances n witty dialogues which have been knitted together to entertain you to the core. This one is just  funny enough to qualify as a LOL spree & you can go and watch with your complete family for its unlimited entertainment quotient.  

ROHIT SHARMA.

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