MOVIES N MORE

Tuesday, 29 October 2013

ISHQ GARRARI : Movie Review

ISHQ GARAARI has added up another feather in the cap of mindless entertaining comic capers being churned out by Punjabi movie industry which has come to be known as Polly wood. No doubt, the movie has its share of laughing moments and couple of good songs but much more was expected from Dheeraj Rattan who has given some real LOL movies in the past which were really hilarious. Laughter in a movie entertains audience only when it comes out naturally and enforced laughter can only work out in patches and that too just once without having any repeat value. It was really disheartening to watch ISHQ GARAARI turn into a whimsical movie, scene after scene.The biggest culprit is its done to death, excessively monotonous n whimsical plot & screenplay which is full of cliches. Hardly 10 minutes into the movie and you start getting a feel as if everyone on screen is either sleep walking or the makers are in a real hurry to finish off the proceedings. Although, it might entertain certain section of audience but it does not stand anywhere close to some real funny Punjabi movies we have seen earlier.

SCRIPT & SCREENPLAY : ISHQ GARAARI fails to catch hold of your attention for a long time due to several factors but the biggest disappointment has come from Dheeraj Rattan who apart from directing the movie has also written the the story as well as the screenplay. Dheeraj has given some real witty stories and screenplays in the past but this time he has faltered big time. Although, he had woven a good comic story-line which could have been further developed into some real funny situations and lot of witty scenes but Alias it nosedives !! After some time screenplay becomes so flimsy that the scenes which could have been funny & witty, turn into confusing chaos and start boring you. Now, coming to the storyline ....Ishq Garaari's story is mainly based on an aspiring, talented,writer and singer Sherry Played by Sherry Mann who lives in a village and is looking forward to cut his own album and become famous. The movie begins with a scene where his girlfriend who is daughter of a rich transporter ( mind you he owns 10 auto- rickshaws whom they call Bhoond ) lends him some money to go to a town and try his luck in a recording studio. She also has another sister by name of Sweety But their father wants his son-in-law to be not only a rich guy but also who has interest in autos and can look after expanding his business. To add to confusion there is another Sweety ( Mandy Thakkar ) in the script who wants to be a singer and is so obsessed with Singer Ms.Pooja that she thinks Ms. Pooja is along with her wherever she goes. Sweety thinks that to become famous singer she needs to have a good manager who is her fan and can promote her. Now, Facebook comes into picture and she finds two right candidates in Gulzar Chahal who is a electrician and Rannvijay Singh who sells Desi viagra kind of pills. Both of them are not only old school classmates but also fall for Sweety. Some obnoxious events occur and as a result Sherry along with his friend Boondy decide and kidnap Sweety. But here too confusion prevails and they kidnap wrong Sweety (Singer one) and to make things worse Sherry instructs Gulzar & Rannvijay to kidnap the rich Sweety. I think i should end here or else even you guys will go off to sleep. Oh sorry sorry .....i forgot to mention the character played by Vinaypal Buttar who although is a police inspector but has passion of auto-rickshaws.

STARCAST :    Apart from Sherry Mann and Mandy Thakkar none of the other characters have been aptly cast as per their characters. Sherry Mann has tried his level best to give expressions while emoting and thankfully his innocent looks have worked well as per his character of humble village commoner. As far as acting skills are concerned, he still needs to work hard. Apart from looking good, Mandy Thakkar has shown improvement in her acting skills too. Prabhleen Sandhu ( TV actress of serial Apki Antara ) also manages to impress in her debut performance on big screen. Ms.Pooja who has played kind of a double role also has delivered a passable performance. Rannvijay Singh who is famous for Roadies has been given character of medicine salesman running around on an old Priya scooter which obviously doesn't gel well with his persona and image. Similarly, Gulzar Chahal plays the character of electrician who is found struggling while portraying his character. Balwinder Vicky, Mukesh Vohra have been wasted as they are capable of infusing much more laughter in scenes. Vinaypal Bhuttar as a Cop does not impress and has not given a noteworthy performance.

TECHNICAL FINESSE : As per the ongoing trend of having medley of music composers for a single movie, Ishq Garrari has continued the same trend and has credited lot of music directors for this flick which include RDB, Pav Dharia, Nick Dhammi, Badshah and Yo Yo Honey Singh. As far background music is concerned, it has been composed by Salil Amrute and he has done a fine job with it. The movie has been edited by experienced Manish More but even his experience could not save the whimsical ISHQ GARAARI as how many boring scenes could he edit.So i wont like to blame him much as far as editing is concerned. Now, coming to the man behind the venture i.e. Dheeraj Rattan who has written the story, screenplay as well as directed it. Surprisingly,he has come nowhere close to the expectations from him considering the kind of potential he has which he has showcased earlier. And what struck me most was that he had come up with a good idea as far as storyline is concerned but he could not not cultivate it further into a entertaining screenplay. I personally feel that lack of cultivating good comic situations in the screenplay, and wrong selection of artistes as per the characterizations are the departments where Dheeraj has faltered leading to the debacle of movie. But I am sure Dheeraj has got the right capabilities and will definitely bounce back with a good entertaining flick for audience to make up for the disappointment caused by this movie. And mind you, i am writing all this because when Dheeraj helms a movie,i expect it to be cracker of a movie with respect to wholesome entertainment.

WOW MOMENTS                                  :     Some of the interactions between Sherry Mann & Mukesh Vohra regarding kidnapping are quite hilarious and laughter invoking.

OVER THE HEAD                                    :    I will not like to ridicule any particular scene as almost all of them were equally bad. But it is repetition of word Bhompu by Balwinder Vicky which starts irritating you like anything. Similarly, Vinaypal Bhuttar with his repetitive words starts to catch hold of your nerves.

CONCLUSION :    Although, the makers have tried to make an entertaining movie but by adding too much of commercial filmy ingredients it looses its way and fails to catch hold your interest in proceedings.

ROHIT SHARMA.

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

rohitreview@gmail.com

Friday, 4 October 2013

BESHARAM : Movie Review

Here’s the deal, ladies. The idea behind Besharam is, presumably, to make you sit through three hours of gibberish (even by the standards of a gibberish-addict like yours truly) for a three-second sighting of half an inch of Ranbir Kapoor’s butt crack. Now whether that’s a fair deal or not depends on how loyal your hormones are to Kapoor’s cuteness (I admit, mine are supremely loyal). Guys, though I can’t even think of any reason for you to go and watch Besharam, I’d say the film may be an uplifting though highly delusional lesson on how morons with the ugliest possible wardrobe can eventually land girls who can pay for an EMI of a Mercedes Benz

Read more at: http://www.firstpost.com/bollywood/movie-review-ranbir-kapoor-looks-like-a-salman-wannabe-in-besharam-1147391.html?utm_source=ref_article

Here’s the deal, ladies. The idea behind Besharam is, presumably, to make you sit through three hours of gibberish (even by the standards of a gibberish-addict like yours truly) for a three-second sighting of half an inch of Ranbir Kapoor’s butt crack. Now whether that’s a fair deal or not depends on how loyal your hormones are to Kapoor’s cuteness (I admit, mine are supremely loyal). Guys, though I can’t even think of any reason for you to go and watch Besharam, I’d say the film may be an uplifting though highly delusional lesson on how morons with the ugliest possible wardrobe can eventually land girls who can pay for an EMI of a Mercedes Benz.

Read more at: http://www.firstpost.com/bollywood/movie-review-ranbir-kapoor-looks-like-a-salman-wannabe-in-besharam-1147391.html?utm_source=ref_artic

Abhinav Kashyap’s second film as director is crude, packed with toilet humour, and has no semblance of a plot. “Besharam” is a case study in lazy filmmaking, one that lowers the bar on good taste just to make money at the Bollywood box office by using the star value of the entire Kapoor clan but it just fails.... badly.

Here's the deal Ladies : The idea behind Besharam is, presumably, to make you sit through almost three hours of Gibberish for a five second sighting of half an inch of Ranbir Kapoor's Butt-crack. Now, whether it's a fair deal or not depends on how loyal your hormones are to Kapoor's cuteness.( Like one of my female friend's are supremely loyal to Arjun Rampal ). But for guys, I can't even think of one good reason for you to go and watch Besharam cause the female lead Pallavi is neither titillating nor is her character that she has portrayed. I'd say the film may be an uplifting though highly delusional lesson on how morons with the ugliest possible wardrobe can eventually land girls who can pay for an EMI of a Mercedes Benz while living in first floor of a Mohalla house. This film tries so desperately hard to entertain its audiences that at some point after the interval it stops pretending to be a film altogether. This is when I stopped bothering with jotting down notes of any kind for my review, and there is nothing memorable enough to recall either. This is a film in which the hero is a self-confessed luchcha-lafanga: remember that phrase? The kind of thing that the villain used to do— be an illiterate lout, crack cheap jokes, harass the heroine, and pull at his crotch whenever possible — is now down to our hero.

apoor’s butt crack. Now whether that’s a fair deal or not depends on how loyal your hormones are to Kapoor’s cuteness (I admit, mine are supremely loyal). Guys,

Read more at: http://www.firstpost.com/bollywood/movie-review-ranbir-kapoor-looks-like-a-salman-wannabe-in-besharam-1147391.html?utm_source=ref_article

possible wardrobe can eventually land girls who can pay for an EMI of a Mercedes Benz.

Read more at: http://www.firstpost.com/bollywood/movie-review-ranbir-kapoor-looks-like-a-salman-wannabe-in-besharam-1147391.html?utm_source=ref_artic

If you’re like me, then you usually don’t mind shelling out 300 hard-earned rupees

Read more at: http://www.firstpost.com/bollywood/movie-review-ranbir-kapoor-looks-like-a-salman-wannabe-in-besharam-1147391.html?utm_source=ref_article

Here’s the deal, ladies. The idea behind Besharam is, presumably, to make you sit through three hours of gibberish (even by the standards of a gibberish-addict like yours truly) for a three-second sighting of half an inch of Ranbir Kapoor’s butt crack. Now whether that’s a fair deal or not depends on how loyal your hormones are to Kapoor’s cuteness (I admit, mine are supremely loyal). Guys, though I can’t even think of any reason for you to go and watch Besharam, I’d say the film may be an uplifting though highly delusional lesson on how morons with the ugliest possible wardrobe can eventually land girls who can pay for an EMI of a Mercedes Benz.

Read more at: http://www.firstpost.com/bollywood/movie-review-ranbir-kapoor-looks-like-a-salman-wannabe-in-besharam-1147391.html?utm_source=ref_a

STORY & SCREENPLAY : Although, the credit for the story writing and screenplay has been given jointly to Abhinav Kashyap & Rajeev Barnwal but you'll keep wondering where is the story-line or what is the story all about. It has no story worth the name, and its oddball characters are facile caricatures that turn more and more bizarre as they hurtle towards a protracted and action-packed climax that turns out to be far and away the most enjoyable part of the film. Most of the comic gags that Besharam conjures up hinge on the film’s pivotal casting coup. You have to go looking for the plot with a microscope.Cynical disregard for basic decency is meant to be cool in this film.In the endeavour to imbue Ranbir's car-thief's character with a sense of mischievous artlessness the narration becomes woefully heavy-handed. The tone adopted is that of a conversation between two reputed stand-up comedians who are out to prove they can convey the seriousness of existence even while maintaining the jokey tone that is expected of them. There are passages of excruciatingly gauche writing where the actors run around in circles trying to be cute replicas of characters from the movies in the 1990s. I'll try my level best to pen down the disjointed storyline which i could make out, so ladies and gentlemen here it goes : Ranbir Kapoor is Bubly, an orphan who is the Robinhoodesque lovable hero - he steals cars, sells them to chop shops and gives the money to his orphanage. The first 15 minutes is a mindless hotch-potch to establish the main characters, plot and story be damned. Before you know it, Bubly falls head-over-heels in love with some manger of a corporate office Tara Sharma (Pallavi Sharda) whose necklines plunge shamelessly low with each progressing scene! There's a villain too in this gobbledygook - Hawala King Bheem Singh (Jaaved Jaaferi) who is as menacing as a wooden door. And it is for this villain that Bubly unknowingly steals chawl-dwelling Tara's Mercedes, only to help her get it back. Now the film becomes a road trip with song and dance thrown in. The climax is typically '70s and '80s Bollywood - with the hero, heroine and their cronies fighting the villain and his thugs. With the cops sprinkled in to complete the picture.

STARCAST : Ranbir Kapoor is the heart and soul of the film as his Babli is in almost every frame. He hams it up probably for the first time in his career but given the fact that he was required to play a character like this, he does reasonably well even when he is hamming it up. Ranbir tries really hard to be the cute buffoon of a Besharam. And he succeeds to a certain extent. But the plot’s general lethargy lets him down. Ranbir's earnest performance alone can't rescue a film which has a wafer-thin story and where the structure is predictable. Rishi Kapoor is amazing as always. His Haryanvi accent is spot on. Neetu Kapoor is also a laugh riot in some of her scenes with Rishi Kapoor. The Kapoor trio deserved a better film because their talent is wasted in this drab of a film. If not for Ranbir and his real-life parents Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Kapoor who are actors par excellence, Besharam the movie would not have been tolerable. NRI Pallavi Sharda is a new find – an actor and dancer, but probably not fit for this role. Her chemistry with Ranbeer looked very very ordinary which is visible on-screen as they didn't look that well together. Javed Jaffri is hilarious as the funny baddie as he imbibes shades of comedy and evilness in his performance without ever going overboard. Javed Jaffrey is in his element as the villain who is outsmarted by our besharam kid. Amongst the ensemble artistes, Himani Shivpuri does her job well as the Punjabi mother eager to find a son-in-law. Amitosh Nagpal as the hero’s friend and sidekick shows promise as an actor. Also, you can watch versatile character actor Manoj Bakshi taking care of the infants by carrying them in his lap throughout the movie.

TECHNICAL FINESSE : It is the technical factor that harms the film further. What makes this film rather cringe worthy is the absolutely obsolete music by Lalit Pandit. Except the title song, the rest ruins the film. While watching the film, a cry of ‘not again’ rose when the second last song made its appearance. The moment the last track (with the end titles) appeared, people left the theatre in relief. The other creative aspects of Besharam can’t redeem it either. The cinematography by Madhu Vannier wears a strange digitally-enhanced look, as if it had been washed in some kind of mocktail. The editing by Pranav Dhiwar & Pankaj Sharma employs retro-effects jarringly and doesn't save the movie during its runtime of 141 minutes. Abhinav Kashyap sorely disappoints in all aspects of the film he is a part of. He delivers the plot and character details only in broad sweeps, never pausing to let little things like psychological nuances get in the way of his defiantly goofy storytelling style.His script provides no insights into the motives of the hero except for the fact that he grew up in an orphanage and resorts to illegal acts simply in order to fund a bunch of castaways. It seems like Dabangg fame director Abhinav Kashyap has forgotten to add two extremely important ingredients in the film, good script and innovation. Kashyap doesn’t even attempt to inject any creativity into this flimsy plotline, relying on toilet humour and mediocre songs to stretch the running time to two-and-a-half hours.

WOW MOMENTS : Right from their introductory scene Rishi & Neetu Kapoor entertain you with their confrontations and especially Rishi with his Haryanvi dialect. Also, the scene where Ranbeer proposes Pallavi also raises guffaws. Mind You., for me the only positive aspect of the movie is trio of Kapoors.

CONCLUSION : The movie is totally inspired from the title. It is what it says it is, Besharam, shameless. There is no script, no plot, no chemistry, no love story, only shamelessness and a lot of it. It insults the viewer’s intelligence and is an example of the Hindi film industry’s reluctance to let go of hackneyed storylines that were all the rage two decades ago. But,yes if you want only entertainment without looking at any other aspect of movie-making, you can give it a shot. For rest, wait for it to come on Satellite channels ( which it will very soon ).....

ROHIT SHARMA.

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

rohitreview@gmail.com

Saturday, 7 September 2013

SHUDDH DESI ROMANCE : Movie Review

the love triangle and rom-com a la Bollywood has been redefined: Shuddh Desi Romance is a classic and one of the best dissections of a relationship that has ever come out of the Hindi film industry.

Read more at: http://www.firstpost.com/bollywood/shuddh-desi-romance-review-a-classic-that-redefines-love-triangles-1090173.html?utm_source=ref_article

SHUDDH DESI ROMANCE is more than a feel-good romance and the makeover it marks for the mush formula extends beyond a cosmetic change. The film is a fascinating sketch tracking the mindset of today's youth. It talks of a generation that understands love, values commitment but is often found struggling in a domain somewhere in between. Shuddh Desi Romance adds a spunky tadka to having cold feet before the wedding. Do you commit or do you not? Hamlet’s dilemma pales in comparison. And that’s exactly what makes SDR a super fun film. In today’s times when the lines between love and lust are blurring rapidly, SDR holds a mirror to the love-stricken, confused souls who want the benefits of being in a relationship without carrying the burden of the responsibilities that inadvertently come along – in a hatke and relentlessly humorous style. The film also reveals the hypocrisy where we love sex but don’t admit that we do. So there, Bollywood breaks the stereotype. It steps out from behind the bloomin' trees in tulip fields and comfortably 'shacks-up' with the times. Here 'smooch-at-first-sight' happens in a bus-full with baaratis. Coffee dates are sipped in bed (Happy Endings? Huh!). Commitment is not the criteria. Marriage is not on the cards. And sexual compatibility is high priority. Yes, welcome to a modern day shuddh romance in desiland. Plenty 'Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang', tucked in with some emotion and drama too.

Like most normal couples - hence, unlike the relationships we see in Hindi movies - sexual attraction is the key to our protagonists' equation, and the film doesn't make a big deal about it.

Read more at: http://ibnlive.in.com/news/shuddh-desi-romance-review-its-a-nonformulaic-charming-little-film/420141-47-84.html?utm_source=ref_article

SCRIPT & SCREENPLAY : The script as as well as screenplay which has been written by Jaideep Sahni, perhaps the best master chef of middle class mores and foibles of northern India, is pure ghee. Cholestrol-inducing calories be damned, Sahni serves out one dishy scene after another which are finger-lickin’ good. Writer Jaideep Sahni offers a perfectly logical explanation for any untimely panic attack, 'Doubt ghadee dekhkar thodina aate hai.' Jaideep gives us a love story that is at once utterly believable and utterly romantic; characters that we fall in love with from the first frame and dialogues that makes us smile even when situation is distinctly unfunny — like a groom abandoning his bride at the mandap. The nicest part of this romcom, which triangulates girl-boy-girl in a manner Bollywood is just waking up to, is that it lets its characters talk. Like, you know, real conversations, where faces are turned to each other, where the baat-cheet between a girl and guy moves from checking-each-other-for-size -banter to will-our-noses-fit-if-we-kiss to can't-keep-our-hands-off-each-other level. Yes, that kind of locked-eyed, quickening breaths, leaping-libidos chat. If you think that the movie is your clichéd romantic love triangle where the protagonists understand the value of true love and the significance of sacrifices and all that jazz, you are highly mistaken! The quirky dialogues, the real characters in real situations battling with dichotomies our youngistan faces when it comes to the matters of heart, make this movie fun to watch.

Well to take it further, we have Raghu Ram (Sushant Singh Rajput), who is a certified tourist guide cum part time store salesman. Occasionally, he works for Tauji’s (Rishi Kapoor) agency that takes care of wedding preparations and even renders services of (fake) baraatis to any wedding party. On his way to his own wedding, Raghu encounters Gayatri (Parineeti Chopra), who is on board the wedding party as Raghu’s (hired) sister. Her persona immediately attracts the flippant lover Raghu, thereby giving birth to their ‘Shuddh Desi Romance’ with lightening speed. Raghu ditches his beautiful bride, Tara (debutant Vaani Kapoor) and comes to live-in with Gayatri in Jaipur. The neatly done scenes and commendable portrayal of their respective roles by Parineeti and Sushant give depth to the projection of modern day city romances. The lovers’ tiff, lust, love, and confusion on hot topics like marriage and commitment are shown nicely here. Adding more spice to the picture is Tauji’s character that is sensible, funny, mature, and every bit entertaining. But wait. The jilted bride Tara is not out of the picture for good as yet. So watch out for some more drama and of course, romance as the story moves on.

Shuddh Desi Romance appeals not only to college kids or married couples or the ‘arty’ crowd, but to anyone and everyone. It’s competent, challenging, bright, delectably-relatable and heartfelt and hopefully, it signals the beginning of a major shift in the industry and the audiences’ taste in mainstream feel-good Hindi cinema.

Read more at: http://www.firstpost.com/bollywood/shuddh-desi-romance-review-a-classic-that-redefines-love-triangles-1090173.html?utm_source=ref_articl

STARCAST : One of the biggest reasons that the movie catches your interest and engages your eyeballs in the proceedings is its apt Star-cast for which credit must be given to its casting director, Shanoo Sharma. As for the performances, Parineeti Chopra has yet again delivered a commendable performance with her inherent effortlessness. Her outwardly liberal, cigarette-smoking and yet normal girl-next-door love-seeking character is the true soul of the film. Chopra shows some mettle as a woman whose spunky exterior hides emotions and is proving to be a dark horse. Sushant Singh Rajput has proved yet again that he has true potential and we would definitely like to see him more often. The dude displays the quirky, the naughty and romantic sides of his character very convincingly. Rajput adopts a woebegone manner, with laboured dialogue delivery and the same grimace for every situation he is in. Until the last scene, Raghu does not know what matters to him. Newbie Vaani Kapoor too has delivered a noteworthy performance. She is really charming and has managed to impress in her first outing as a leading lady. Romantic comedies sometimes compensate for the lack of spirit in the central lovebirds with wacky secondary characters. Rishi Kapoor’s cute and gung-ho father-figure, bullish about propagating the goods of marriage so his business won’t close, is a bright spark and he reminds us once again why he is called the most underrated actor of Indian cinema with his supreme performance. Rajesh Sharma, who appears for a brief period also leaves his mark as Vaani's Tau.

TECHNICAL FINESSE : The music for this flick has been composed by the talented and in-form duo of music directors Sachin-Jigar who have once again belted a melodious album. Some of the tracks are really catchy and have already become chart-busters. Manu Anand’s cinematography heightens the kitsch of the setting with some neon touches and warm-hued interiors. The production design has detailed authenticity. The run-down, patchily-colored small town Rajasthan kitsch makes the canvas of the insipid characters seem sprightly. The movie has been edited by Namrata Rao, who has done a descent job in maintaining the tempo of the movie at a constant pace during the run-time of 141 minutes. Although, the movie nosedives a bit in the second half for sometime due to cliches in the script but it picks up the tandem again after a short duration. Maneesh Sharma, has once again proved why he has become a blue eyed director of YRF camp. Although the movie has its share of cliches, but the romantic drama is beautifully layered with various confusions and conflicts the young and restless Gen-next faces (read creates) when it comes to love and commitment. Maneesh has been able to portray reality as it is – however complex it may be – without being judgmental. Neither does it glamorize live-in relationships nor does it look down upon the institution of marriage. Although, movie had much more potential and could have ended differently but still i am happy with Maneesh's vision and way to go, Maneesh.

WOW MOMENTS : The movie begins with a bang.....the scene where Sushant meets Parineeta and they proceed for Sushant's marriage in a bus for his marriage is one of its own kinds and sets the tempo of the movie. Apart from that when Sushant goes to Parineeta's house and the how casually they fall for each other is again something which is different from run of the mill bollywood scenes.

CONCLUSION :
Shuddh Desi Romance is a cinematic delight that’s very difficult to explain and should better be consumed with patience and an open mind. Those who are stuck in the Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge kind of idealistic romance or looking for a mushy picture-perfect ending may not quite like this unconventional tale. But for those who are keen to see the evolving face of our very own and highly complex shuddh desi romance – as it is and absolutely unadulterated – cannot afford to miss this one!

ROHIT SHARMA.

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

rohitreview@gmail.com

Saturday, 24 August 2013

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.

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

rohitreview@gmail.com

Friday, 16 August 2013

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.

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

rohitreview@gmail.com

Saturday, 10 August 2013

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.

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

rohitreview@gmail.com

Friday, 2 August 2013

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.

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

rohitreview@gmail.com