HUNTERRR :: Movie Review

Hunterrr is a quirky adult comedy that takes us through the journey of sexual escapades (spanning a timeline of 25 years) of Mandar Ponkshe portrayed brilliantly on-screen by Gulshan Devaiah through his acting prowess. In the last decade or so, Bollywood has been churning out adult sex comedies like Kya Cool hain hum & Masti which were lapped up by the masses so much so that the makers even made sequels of these movies. Though, Hunterrr also belongs to the same genre but this movie is a different ball game altogether. Where as movies like Masti & its ilk relied on obnoxiously named characters, below the belt jokes & forced gags for the laughter content, Hunterrr is devoid of all these elements. In Hunterrr, the humor quotient flows along with the narrative through its well etched characters who mouth some real quirky dialogues. It is in stark contrast to other mindless adult comedies that we have been subjected to watch in the past viz a viz its crafting and storytelling. Harshavardhan Kulkarni (writer & director) has tried to keep things as close to reality as possible without adding any dash of gloss or glamor in the movie which works hugely in its favor. He has assembled talented but not so popular ensemble starcast due to which he has been able to portray realistic looking Indian middle class milieu on-screen which lends an authentic touch to the movie. Coming back to Mandar or Vaasu, the reason why he calls himself  Vaasu is because he is an expert in sniffing out the sexual needs of women. He is so obsessed with sex and trying his Vaasugiri with various women that he doesn't believe in love or getting married. When his friends coax him to get married and leave Vaasugiri, he justifies his acts by saying that having sex is a biological need. He tries to prove his point by saying that sex is also as big a necessity as going to the loo every morning for defecating.  In fact, the evolution of Mandar Ponkshe into Vaasu (that is how he likes to call himself ) in the first half is a treat to watch but alias ! the second half fizzles out and fails to keep up the pace with the brilliance of first half. The scenes depicting Mandar's childhood where he goes to his native village along with his cousin Dilip & learns some tricks of the trade from his elder cousin, Surya are fun to watch. Surya is a carefree bird who never goes to urinals for peeing but likes to water down dry plants. It is charming to see young Mandar (Vedant Muchandi) dispense advice to his classmates on how to impress girls by saying that always go for the second best girl as uske patne ke chance jyada hote hain while he himself gets perplexed after a girl cross questions him after he proposes to her. But soon he develops the skills, becomes Vaasu who is an expert at sniffing out sexual needs of women and becomes the Hunterrr. It is only when Trupti (Radhika Apte) enters his life that cupid strikes him and he begins to think of tying nuptial knot with her leaving his Vaasugiri behind. I would also like to add here that his high libido and desperation not only provide him with various sexual encounters but also often land him in troublesome situations. To mention a few ; twelve year old Mandar has half his head tonsured when cops catch him watching a porn movie at a local video parlor, he is thrown out of college hostel when he sneaks in his girlfriend (Veera Saxena) in his hostel room, he is beaten and chased by group of young guys when he tries to hit out at one of their girl friend at a bar. It is exasperating to watch Hunterrr fizzle away in the second half because of some contrived storytelling and some sloppy editing especially when the film seems like a breath of fresh air in the first half.

STORY & SCREENPLAY    ( Spoilers Ahead )                                                       ::            The story of the movie has been penned down by Harshavardhan Kulkarni who is also the director of this movie. Kudos to him for penning down a storyline which is an adult comedy but not at all a sex comedy laden with all the sleazy elements. He has ably kept the storyline devoid of vulgarity and concentrated more on the sexual journey of the movie's protagonist. He has kept the narrative simple and so close to realism that some part of audience might be able to relate the journey of Mandar with theirs' or any of their friends'.  This is where his writing scores big time as you can make an instant connect with on-screen proceedings. He has ably showcased that apart from being a sex addict, Mandar has an emotional side too. His close bonding with his cousins and the way he weeps uncontrollably after the sudden demise of his cousin, Surya, shows his softer side. While Harshavardhan is able to catch hold of your attention in the first half with the character development of Mandar, his hold on the script falters in the second half. Frequent oscillations in the narrative and elongated second half spoils most of the charm that has been ably built in the first half making it an average flick, out of what could have been a brilliant path breaking adult comedy. But, Harshavardhan Kulkarni & Vijay Maurya deserve a big applause for penning down some real quirky dialogues which have added to the fun quotient of the movie. The movie begins with a telecon between Mandar Ponkshe  (Gulshan Devaiah) and his fiancee Trupti (Radhika Apte). After that the narrative begins to oscillate frequently to show the journey of Mandar turning into Vaasu. Hereafter, the narrative gets carried forward with a series of flashbacks merging into present making it a constant feature till the movie ends. Young Mandar (Vedant Muchandi) goes to his native village along with his cousin, Dilip (Kshitij Kothari) where they catch up with their elder cousin, Surya (Viraj Deshmukh) who is the smartest of all & teaches them tricks of Vaasugiri. Soon, Mandar develops confidence and goes across to propose a girl and befriends her. Hereafter, there is no looking back for Mandar who becomes a champion at Vaasugiri i.e. smelling the needs of a woman and his sex-escapades begin. While studying in college, Mandar befriends Parul (Veera Saxena) & soon she is found hidden in his hostel room getting him expelled from his hostel. He takes a room on rent so that Parul can visit him frequently out there. Now that he has become a hunter, he hunts down another married female Jyotsna (Sai Tamhankar) who lives across his building. Soon, they both start frequenting each others' houses for obvious reasons. He also hunts down another lady for his sexual desires whose name is stored in Mandar's mobile by the name of Savita Bhabhi. After he is chased by a group of boys in a pub calling him uncle & pressure put up by his cousin, Dilip (Sagar Deshmukh), Mandar decides to meet up with  prospective girls for tying up nuptial knot. After meeting couple of them, he meets Trupti (Radhika Apte) and falls in love with her. Now, the irony is that Trupti is a free spirited girl who openly brags about her past affairs & broken engagement in front of Mandar where as Mandar is afraid to disclose his past Vaasugiri to her & pretends to be doodh ka dhula in front of her. After a couple of meetings both of them get engaged. Since Mandar has truly fallen in love with Trupti, his subconscious keeps on haunting him about hiding his past from her. One fine day, dead drunk Mandar decides to go and confess about his colorful past to Trupti. Will Trupti accept him after hearing about his past Vaasugiri, Will Mandar be able to mend his ways and marry Trupti is what forms the rest of the movie.           

STARCAST                                                                                    ::             One of the main highlights of the movie is apt & natural performances by its starcast for which due credit must be given to its casting director. Gulshan Devaiah is one of the most versatile actors who has already proven his acting finesse by playing diverse characters in movies like Shaitan, Dum Maro Dum, Hate Story & Ram Leela. In Hunterrr, he got the chance to play the main protagonist and boy ! with the kind of performance he has delivered, it won't be wrong to say that he is the soul of this movie. He has carried the whole movie on his broad shoulders and the best part is that he makes you feel for the character of Mandar despite him being a skirt chaser. He is one brilliant actor who has displayed myriad number of emotions in this movie. You get to see him in various avatars in this movie ; sensual Mandar making love to Jyotsna, Flirtatious & naughty Mandar chasing Parul, sentimental Mandar crying like a child on death of his cousin & innocent looking Mandar who after falling in love with Trupti wants to go and reveal all the truth about his past and he has emoted with equal amount of finesse in all these avatars. It is definitely his best performance till date. Radhika Apte who recently garnered lot of appreciation with respect to her extended cameo in Badlapur is back with a bang in Hunterrr. She has portrayed the character of Trupti in the most natural and realistic way. She looks every inch the free spirited girl who has no qualms about disclosing her past affairs to the guy she is meeting with prospect of getting married. Watch out for her in the scene where she urges Mandar to go & strike a conversation with an unknown girl buying lingerie in street market. Her timing and acting abilities are effortless and she deserves to be seen more frequently on big screen. Another top notch performance has been delivered by Sagar Deshmukh who plays Dilip, cousin cum confidante of Mandar. His performance is as realistic and natural as it can be and it doesn't seem as if the guy is acting. Watch out for him in the scene where he accompanies Mandar to Trupti's house in an auto rickshaw but not without carrying Chicken wings in his hand. Sai Tamhankar has given an earnest & sizzling performance as Jyotsna and her love making scene with Gulshan has come out real sensuous. Veera Saxena, who makes her debut with Hunterrr has given a descent performance as Parul. Vedant Muchandi as young Mandar, Kshitij as young Dilip have delivered excellent performances. Amongst ensemble starcast noticeable performances have been portrayed by Vaibhav Tatwawdi, Neena Kulkarni, Ravindra Mankani, Suraj Jagan, Abhijit Wagh & Nitesh Pandey.

TECHNICAL FINESSE                                                                 ::             The musical soundtrack of the movie has been composed by Khamosh Shah who is a protege of music maestro A.R.Rahman. Most of the tracks that he has composed are situational which gel well with the flow of narrative and none of the songs seems to have been injected into the screenplay just for the heck of it. The music is melodious and pleasing to ears. Two songs namely Hunterrr 303 sung by Bappi Lahiri & Dil Lagaana by Altaf Raja stand out and are more catchy. The background music of the movie that has been composed by Hitesh Sonic is apt enough and syncs well with the on-screen proceedings. The cinematography of the movie that has been handled by John Jacob Payyapalli leaves a lot to be desired. Agreed that the movie has been shot in most realistic way and is devoid of gloss but the lighting and color palettes at several junctures of the movie seem inadequate. The movie has been edited by Kirti Nakhwa who has packaged the whole action in runtime of 141 minutes. There are two flaws in the editing ; first is the duration of the movie which should have been more crisper especially in the second half and secondly, the frequent oscillations in the narrative make audience loose their interest in the on screen proceedings after a certain time-span.Had the editing been more crisp, it would have done a huge favor to the prospects of the movie. A special mention of Taaneevaa Oak (Costume designer) & Sandeep Shelar (Production designer) who with their brilliant work have been able to recreate a typical Maharashtrian milieu in the movie. As a debutant director, Harshavardhan Kulkarni scores brownie points for taking up a subject that openly talks about sex rather than opting for a typical commercial potboiler script while helming his first movie. To make a good film on this subject, a director needs to craft the movie with lot of sensitivity & maturity which he has ably succeeded in. As a writer & director, he assembled talented starcast and etched out their characters to perfection who have portrayed their respective parts in the most realistic way. Unfortunately, he is let down by the stretched second half where the movie begins to falter. As a director, Kulkarni has proved that he has the crafting abilities and is here to stay.

CONCLUSION                                                                                   ::              HUNTERRR is well & honestly conceived adult comedy which doesn't offend you with its content despite sex featuring as a recurring theme throughout the movie. The movie strikes a fine balance between naughtiness and vulgarity by not offering anything sleazy. If naughty journey to adulthood portrayed in a realistic & quirky manner fancies you, you might relish this movie. I am giving it 3 stars out of 5.    

ROHIT SHARMA.

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NH10 :: Movie Review

                                             

NH10 is a neo noir genre flick that takes you on edge of the seat excitement, no holds barred cinematic journey comprising of grit, action, thrills and intrigue. The movie has been directed by Navdeep Singh whose debut movie Manorama six feet under (2007) is not only one of my favorites but is a cult flick in thriller genre and I am amazed what took him so long in coming out with his second movie. Coming to NH10, the landscape is ruthless, rugged and riveting. The emotions are primeval. Caveman tactics, with characters caught out of their hideouts kicking, dragging and screaming, are the prevalent mode of vindication. It's a tough world. And, obviously a very tough film to make. There is no state for the squeamish. And, perhaps that is the reason behind the movie's release getting delayed by a week with Censor Board objecting to usage of some cuss words and excessive violence in the movie. Herein, I would like to say that Kudos to Anushka Sharma for believing in this flick so much so that she decided to don the producer's hat for the first time by producing this film. The best part about NH10 is that Navdeep Singh has helmed it in the most realistic way. As the film progresses, it touches various social aspects prevalent in the society ; female foeticide, honour killings and the big cultural gap that is prevalent between urban & rural class especially when it comes to inter caste marriages. It also sheds light on how law and order under democracy goes for a toss when you move out from big concrete jungles out in the hinterland. Writer of the movie Sudip Sharma has ensured that the sarcastic remarks about deteriorating law & order are mouthed by cops only in the movie. When Anushka n Neil go to cops after she is harassed by some stalkers, the cop says, " Gurgaon to badhta bacha hai ji, kood to lagaega hi". In another scene where Anushka is driving with a cop in his jeep in the rural area, he says, " Madam Ji, Ye democracy to Gurgaon ke malls ke saath hi khatam ho jaati hai. Yahaan to Paani aur bijlee nahin pahunchti, democracy kahaan pahunchegi". It is hard hitting n realistically portrayed dialogues like these that add a further impetus to the narrative. Also, in a way the movie talks about women empowerment. How Anushka rubs off a filthy word scribbled down on a wall in a loo, how she gazes in the opponents eyes despite being told to look down. But, the best is saved for the last. In the climax, how Anushka lights up n smokes a cigarette before battering Darshan with an iron rod is a scene to watch out for. NH10 is a chilling, nerve wracking, edge of the seat thriller which gives you no time to breathe because of its racy narrative.             

STORY & SCREENPLAY  ( Spoilers Ahead )                                             ::               The story, screenplay as well as dialogues of the movie have been penned down by Sudip Sharma. As a writer, Sudip knows the rugged North Indian hinterland of blood savagery and abuses which he has penned down with finesse. He transports us out from the civilized society where we live in and takes us to rugged hinterland where lawlessness, casteism still rule the land and mindless belief in patriarchy leads to honor killings. His edgy, taut n racy script amalgamated with social issues is a winner all the way. No wonders, after hearing this script Anushka decided to produce this film. The movie begins with a corporate working couple, Meera (Anushka Sharma) & Arjun (Neil Bhoopalam) going to a party in Gurgaon. During the party Meera gets a call from her office and decides to leave for her office alone late night. On the way to office she is stalked by some lecherous guys leaving her traumatized. Arjun also gets disturbed to see her in this state and moreover, a sense of guilt is prevailing over him for not accompanying her during that fateful night. So, in order to relieve her from this stress he plans a getaway by booking a cottage on the outskirts of city and celebrate her birthday there. Soon, they hit the road i.e. NH10 happy and romancing which is short lived. En-route to the cottage, they decide to make a stopover at a Dhaba where a hapless young girl approaches Anushka with a plea to help her else she will be killed. However, Anushka ignores her and proceeds to the loo for a smoke. When she comes back to have food with Arjun, six men packed in SUV embark on the dhaba and start beating up that girl and a boy mercilessly. Arjun stands up and walks upto the man Satbir (Darshan Kumaar) who is beating up the couple and inquires about the matter. Satbir replies that she is his sister and it is their family matter. After beating them up mercilessly, they bundle them up in their SUV and are about to leave when Arjun again approaches them. This time, Satbir punches Arjun hard in his face and tells him to mind his own business before zipping away in his vehicle. Soon, Arjun n Meera also resume their journey with Arjun feeling frustrated for not being able to help the couple. After covering a short distance, Arjun finds Satbir's empty vehicle parked aside on a deserted road. Despite Meera's warning, he alights from the vehicle to lookout for them and soon Meera follows him. Hereafter, both of them witness the barbaric activities of Satbir and his accomplices who finally kill the couple for the sake of honor killing. Since Meera n Arjun have witnessed the killing, Satbir n his accomplices go after them. Now, begins a cat and mouse chase game and a melee ensues. Arjun gets critically injured and it is left for Meera to get them out of this difficult situation. Will they be able to come out of this situation safely, Will they be able to nail down Satbir & his accomplices is what forms the rest of the story.

STARCAST                                                                                         ::  The actors, in keeping with the no holds barred raw ambiance that the film exudes, take recourse to express the minutest of emotions. Due credit for this must be given to Jogi who is the casting director of this movie for choosing the apt starcast. Anushka Sharma, who made her debut with Rab ne bana di jodi (2008) has featured as leading lady in just eight movies in past seven years but has evolved as an actress with every release of hers. In NH10, it is Anushka who has stolen the show with her pure, deliberate, ferocious star power. The striking thing about her performance as Meera is how tightly coiled and tense it seems ; she's ready at a moment's notice to kiss or kill (or both), never passive, never merely a photographic subject. Troubled and brooding, angry and helpless, frustrated yet committed - she plays it all with uncharacteristic maturity. You can literally feel the pain n agony that her character undergoes in the movie through her effective portrayal. Anushka, who's very close - if she isn't there already - to becoming the star amongst stars in her generation. Her every gesture is fascinating. Neil Bhoopalam got a great opportunity to play the main lead in this movie and Oh Boy ! he has caught this opportunity with both his hands by giving an earnest performance. Neil fits into the narrative with minimal fuss, neither dominating the proceedings, nor getting overwhelmed by the weight of the script. But, the icing on the cake is the performance of Darshan Kumaar. In NH10, Darshan gets to play a character which is in stark contrast to his portrayal of Onler Kom (a loving, caring husband and a doting father) in Mary Kom. If he excelled in Mary Kom by bringing just the right amount of sensitivity to his part, here he excels by doing exactly the opposite i.e. by bringing the right amount of goriness and brutality to his part. His expressions, body language and especially dialect are a treat for audience and these are hallmarks of a fine actor. Deepti Naval leaves a mark during her brief appearance as Ammaji who is not only the Sarpanch of a village but also mother of Satbir. Another actor who deserves a mention is Ravi Jhankal. He has portrayed the character of Satbir's savage uncle with utmost conviction who is always advising him to be more ruthless. He taunts Satbir for killing the boy with bullets whereas he deserved to be butchered with rod.

TECHNICAL FINESSE                                                                     ::          The soundtrack of the movie that has been composed by a battery of composers including Bann Chakraborty, Samira Koppikar, Ayush Shrestha, Savera Mehta, Sanjeev-Darshan is radically different yet engaging. Chhil gaye naina sung by Kanika Kapoor & Le Chal Mujhe are the tracks which stay with you for a long time. Karan Gour's background music underscores every scene without hammering in the situations and is not that loud and jarring. Plenty of credit for the tonal correctness of the narrative must go to Arvind Kannabiran's brilliantly unadorned cinematography, which locks in on the stunning visuals of violence and action without falling into the mistake of making the frames look prettier than the grim situation that they are meant to capture. Arvind's cinematography uses cluttered garish spaces to create a sense of spiritual emptiness during times of tremendous stress and anxiety. A special mention of action directors Armin Sauer & Abdul Salaam Ansari for orchestrating the apt action sequences in the movie. Editor Jabeen Merchant imbues a raw 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. Jabeen has neatly packaged the action in runtime of 115 minutes with crisp n taut editing. The direction by Navdeep Singh is unblemished in every aspect of filmmaking & he deserves full marks for making a film with very strong sensory perceptions. We have seen some road trip gone awry thrillers earlier too but none could come close to the brilliance of Navdeep's subject, vision and treatment with which he has created this film. Kudos to Navdeep, as a director he has managed to keep a tight rein on the proceedings all the way upto a nail biting climax. He has also ensured that the movie does not look unconvincing or goes over the top at any place and maintains a tight grip.  

CONCLUSION                                                                                           ::       NH10 portrays a rare synthesis of real life credibility and cinematic flamboyance where-in narrative's over all mood is one of urgent crises point reached with optimum energy. It is one of the best thrillers I have seen in a long time which has come out good minus those jarring BGM & raunchy item numbers. I am giving it 4 stars out of 5.    

ROHIT SHARMA.

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A must watch debate where Arnab meticulously rips apart and exposes the chunks in the armory n ideology of AAP

A must watch debate where Arnab meticulously rips apart and exposes the chunks in the armory n ideology of AAP making Ashutosh go jittery. Ashutosh gets so baffled that deviating from the topic,he starts questioning the credibility of Arnab and is given a befitting reply by him. AAP, a party prone to leveling allegations on its opponents every other day has become the laughing stock when they are asking others to authenticate when they facing the heat. Watch how Ashutosh gets hyper, counters Arnab on not running Bank scam tapes and his lies are exposed right there by Arnab asking him to apologize. One of the panelists clearly says that AAP has been caught with its pants down and within one year of its formation, this party has taken a u-turn on all its ideologies with intra party bickering, removing couple of its main founder members from its core committee and now finally found indulging in horse trading. Way to go, AAP.

Dum Laga Ke Haisha :: Movie Review

                                                    

Dum Laga Ke Haisha is a quirky, refreshingly " Hatke " wholesome family entertainer from YRF which is able to hit the right chords with the audience because the movie has its heart and soul at the right place. The movies makes us nostalgic as it takes us back into the 90's era where we had tape recorders instead of CD/DVD players, more of Priya scooters could be seen hovering on the roads and soothing voice of Kumar Sanu could be heard on nooks & corners of the streets. In fact, Kumar Sanu is spirit of this movie so much so that when the YRF title appears, the usual title track sung by the legendary Lata Mangeshkar has been replaced by vocal chords of Kumar Sanu. The protagonist of the movie Prem (Ayushmann Khurana) owns a cassette recording shop in Haridwar and is a die hard fan of Kumar Sanu. Due to family pressure, he is forced to marry Sandhya (Bhumi Pednekar) who is a fatso. On top of it, Sandhya is educated and holds B.Ed degree where as Prem is not even matriculate. Now, Prem feels ashamed of taking his wife out in public and maintains a safe distance from her which is not acceptable to articulate Sandhya, hence tussle ensues between both of them. There is a scene in the movie where Ayushmann plays a song on tape recorder and goes to bathroom, Bhumi immediately replaces the cassette and plays a contrasting song & in reaction Ayushmann comes out of bathroom with soap on his body to replace the song and as soon as he goes back to bathroom Bhumi changes the song again......This goes on & on with almost 4 different songs being played. This scene is a treat to watch and it is several scenes like this in the movie that make the movie so entertaining. There is no forced humor or gags inserted in the movie by unwanted characters, instead the humor flows automatically through the witty situations woven in the screenplay. Most of the humor is mouthed through the simple characters of the movie who represent common people living in small towns of India and their mannerisms. It is the way this story has been crafted and narrated that takes this movie par excellence. The director has in a jovial way reiterated the fact that more than looks, understanding and commitment are the characteristics that pave way for an ideal wife. Traditional men generally go in for looks while choosing their life partner where as the key to a successful marital life lies in compatibility and mutual understanding. Also, the director has beautifully conveyed that it is not necessary that love happens at first sight but it can develop gradually by understanding your partner. In later half of the movie, in one of the scenes Ayushmann says to Bhumi that there will definitely be someone who will love you the way you are irrespective of your being overweight and she replies that she was of the view that you are that guy. This scene has been beautifully captured and sets the tone for the rest of the movie to follow. It is movie made by heart about the usual happenings in the lives of common people of small town and it is this sheer reason that makes this movie stand tall in front of the other typical Bollywood movies.

STORY & SCREENPLAY                                                                   ::                           The story, screenplay as well as dialogues of this movie have been penned down by Sharat Kataria who is also the director of this movie. Kudos to Kataria for penning down this narrative which is laden with some very well written scenes which are filled with emotions but never go overboard. You will find abundant situations in Kataria's well chiseled screenplay that are a fine blend of genuine wit and humor. And the biggest strength of his screenplay lies in his well crafted characters who give you a feel of all those common people whom you come across in neighbouring 'Galis' & 'Mohallas'. The movie begins in Haridwar where Prem Prakash Tiwari  (Ayushmann Khurana) is sitting in his father's shop and recording songs on a tape recorder. In his self introductory scene, he confesses about his three weaknesses in life namely his father's slippers, Kumar Sanu's melodious voice and question paper of English exam. Cut next and his father, Chander Bhan Tiwari (Sanjay Mishra), mother Shashi (Alka Amin) & Bua Nain Tara (Sheeba Chaddha) force Prem to tie the nuptial knot with a plump girl, Sandhya (Bhumi Pednekar), in spite of his protests. Sandhya is chosen by them because she has a B.ED degree and might add to the fortunes of the family by getting a teacher's job. Prem, however is least interested in her because of her fat figure and cannot accept the fact that he has to share the bed with her. When nothing happens on their first night, the same is conveyed by Sandhya to her mother Subhadra (Seema Pahwa) who in turn insists her daughter to lure her husband by wearing flimsy costumes while playing 'Foreign waali' movies on VCR. The morning routine of Prem includes going to a Shakha for doing exercise. One of his friends from Shakha is about to get married and invites Prem along with his wife to the function. On the eve of function, out of frustration of getting married to a plump girl, Prem drinks too much of alcohol and uses real bad words for Sandhya which she co-incidentally overhears. Being an educated girl, she refuses to stay with Prem any longer and files for a divorce after moving to her parents house. As a legal formality, the court orders the couple to stay together for a period of six months and in case they still don't have a change of mind, they can get divorced legally. As Sandhya comes back to Prem's house, a competition by the name of 'Dum Laga Ke Haisha' is announced in their town in which husbands have to carry their wives on their backs and run amongst manmade hurdles. Meanwhile, Prem also starts to understand the feelings of Sandhya and develops a soft corner for her. Prem is coaxed by his parents to participate in the competition. Will Prem & Sandhya have a change of mind regarding divorce, Will they participate in the competition and win, is what forms the rest of the story.

STARCAST                                                                                               ::      Shanoo Sharma, Casting director of this movie deserves a round of applause for choosing the apt starcast as per their characterization in the movie.  Ayushmann Khurana, is one actor who has taken lot of risks by playing diverse characters in all his movies and has not confined himself to any kind of stereotyped roles. He has portrayed the character of Prem to pitch perfection by capturing the finer nuances of his character including the dialect and enacting them on-screen. He has delved so much deep into skin of the character that you will not to be able to locate Ayushmann Khurana in the movie but Prem. It won't be wrong to say that Bhumi Pednekar is the revelation in the movie. Whether it is the shy feeling of her first night, verbal duel with nagging Bua or slapping Prem in front of his friends, she has stood her ground in all these scenes in the most genuine manner. She has ably portrayed the feeling that for a lasting relationship, size and looks does not matter. She gradually charms her way unto your heart by the time movie ends. Sanjay Mishra as Ayushmann's father is a delight to watch. He is one actor who adds substance to every character that he portrays and makes it look as surreal as possible. Alka Amin has given an endearing performance as Prem's mother in the movie. Watch out for the scene where she says " Ab, Humara Prem Syana Ho gya hai". Similarly, Seema Pahwa has portrayed the character of Bhumi's mother to perfection and it is amusing to watch how she educates her daughter on phone about how to entice her husband. Sheeba Chaddha is apt enough as the constantly nagging Bua of Prem. Amongst the ensemble starcast, noticeable performances have been delivered by Sanjeeva Vatsa, Shardul Rana, Chandrachoor Rai, Shrikant Verma and Mahesh Sharma. Also, you get to see Kumar Sanu in a special appearance.  

TECHNICAL FINESSE                                                                                ::       The soundtrack of the movie has been composed by Anu Malik where as lyricist of the movie is Varun Grover. Anu Malik has given surprisingly good music making one feel nostalgic about the bygone era. Another highlight of the soundtrack is that it brings backs the soothing n melodious voice of Kumar Sanu. Some of the songs namely Moh moh ke dhaage, Sunder Susheel stay with you for a long time. The cinematographer of the movie is Manu Anand who has done a fine job of capturing the visuals. Manu, through the roving eye of his lens has been able to capture the essence of 'Galis' n 'Mohallas' of Haridwar & Rishikesh in an enchanting manner. Meenal Aggarwal, who is the production designer also deserves accolades for deftly recreating the nineties era with ample usage of cassette recorders, VCR's, Priya scooters and likes in the movie. The movie has been edited by Namrata Rao who has crisply packaged the movie in run-time of 111 minutes which is perfect for the movie of this genre. As a writer-director, Sharat Kataria has managed to impress and scored all the brownie points in crafting this movie. The best part is that he has made an entertaining movie without adding any extravaganza, excessive melodrama or regular bollywood cliches to the movie. He has ably extracted the best performances not only from his lead pair but also from the ensemble starcast. With this movie, Sharat has proved that he is a director to watch out for in future.

CONCLUSION                                                                                            ::          DUM LAGA KE HAISHA is an out of the box, sweet, simple movie that brings smile to your faces and is an out and out family entertainer. I am giving it 4 stars out of 5.  

ROHIT SHARMA.

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Badlapur :: Movie Review

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Roy :: Movie Review

"ROY" is an unorthodox, well shot romantic thriller which keeps on oscillating between a heist drama and romantic tracks ultimately culminating in no-man's land, leaving the audience a tad confused. The movie is a bang-on when it comes to stunning visuals, style statements, great art direction and good music but all these aesthetics combined together go for a toss when you don't have a coherent story & screenplay, and this is where the movie falters big big time. Also, rarely you get to see a movie whose title is named after a character 'Roy' (Ranbir Kapoor) and the same very character is eerily sketched with his screen presence being very limited in the movie. On a lighter note, the makers should have taken some inspiration from Love Charger Baba oops Love Charzzer Baba (As he spells g as z while singing) whose movie MSG has released along with Roy. As Baba Gurmeet is playing the title role he is virtually present in every scene of the movie portraying his histrionics. Indian audience has seen two back to back releases whose basic premise revolves around bollywood namely Shamitabh that released last week and Roy, this week. Unfortunately, both the movies have failed to live upto expectations although Shamitabh was far far better and expectations from it were much more cause of two big names involved with it i.e. R. Balki and Big B. Now, coming to Roy, the movie was promoted as a heist drama through its promos which gave the feeling of it being a good cat and mouse chase kind of thriller movie. Alias ! it never happens, instead the movie turns out to be a story of a writer-director Kabir (Arjun Rampal) who is going through a writer's block and is on a journey to self discovery. Roy has lot of factors that could have turned the fortunes in favor of the movie : Stunning visuals through effective cinematography, Two handsome leading men including the suave Ranbir Kapoor, Hot sizzling leading lady adding the oomph factor and the biggest factor being that it is not a rip off from some south Indian or Foreign movie. Yet, to see the snail paced movie squander away these advantages purely owing to ineptitude is pain. Roy just does not make the cut. One of the biggest flaws of Director Vikramjit Singh's film is that it fails to have smooth transitions between the different stories he narrates in the movie. 

STORY & SCREENPLAY                                                                  ::   The story as well as screenplay of this movie has been penned down by Vikramjit Singh, who is also the director of this movie. Although, one must admit that his writing is pathbreaking n novel with none of the Bollywood cliches attached to it but what could have turned into an interesting heist drama, ends up as an emotional damp squib for the lack of smooth transition from one narrative to other. And, it is this reason that has made Roy, a more confusing film rather than it being an imaginative one. One has to use his brain cells to the optimum level to connect the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle as the movie keeps on getting complicated scene after scene. Vikramjit has created a soup out of what could have been a brilliantly executed script. The movie begins with Cyrus Broacha taking an interview of filmmaker Kabir Grewal (Arjun Rampal) who is not only known for his hit movies namely Guns 1 and Guns Part 2 but also known for his short lived flings. He is so famous for his flings that media remembers them by numbers which at the time of interview stand at count of 22. Cut next, Kabir is at home and his Production head (Shernaz Patel) comes and informs that Producers are ready to finance his next one in Guns series i.e. Guns Part 3. Kabir tells her to go ahead and sign the deal but the hitch is that the script for the same is not ready. Kabir slips into a bathrobe, puts fedora on his head and sits down to write at his desk. Finally, he starts typing on a typewriter. Unlike everyone in the modern era who like to keep back-ups of important documents on hard drives etc., Kabir types into his typewriter and  rubbishes the perishable quantity of ink and paper. Suffering from writer's block, Kabir is not able to finish the script and yet announces that the unit will head to Malaysia to shoot the movie. While in Malaysia Kabir meets independent filmmaker Ayesha Aamir (Jacqueline Fernandez) who is staying in the same hotel where he is putting up. Soon Ayesha becomes his girlfriend number 23. She becomes his inspiration and he begins to type his script paving the entry of 'Roy'. Roy (Ranbir Kapoor) is a smooth operator thief who is proficient at stealing priceless paintings. He undertakes an assignment to find the other half of a priceless French painting which is owned by a woman in Malaysia. So Roy sets off to pursue her and the painting. The woman with the painting is Tia (Jacqueline Fernandez). While it is easily possible to sneak into her house, pick up the painting and leave but Roy decides to add some drama unto it. So he pursues the woman, romances and sleeps with her and then makes a clean getaway after stealing the painting from her. As the story progresses, both men fall in love with their respective Jacquelines. With art imitating life, when Ayesha dumps Kabir, he becomes crestfallen and his inspiration dries up. Also, the death of his father (Anupam Kher) at the same time makes things worse for Kabir. He sits for hours in front of his typewriter unable to complete the script. And as he struggles to write the climax of his movie, Roy is seen floating aimlessly in a sailboat with the painting, waiting for Kabir to decide his fate. Will Kabir be able to complete the script n finish Guns 3, Will Roy be able to leave his past behind and Will Roy n Kabir get the respective loves of their lives is what forms the rest of story. Oops, Did i forget to mention that while all these proceedings are going on, there is one detective D.S.Wadia (Rajit Kapoor) who is in pursuit of Roy but always two steps behind him.

STARCAST                                                                                        ::           Arjun Rampal seems to be on a high after his rocking performance in 'Rock On' and has delivered earnest performances after that in 'Rajneeti' & 'D-Day'. Roy is Arjun's show all the way as he is the main protagonist of the movie. He has played the character of Kabir with a certain sense of maturity and has been able to portray the finer nuances of his character. His character required an actor to portray a restrained performance, which Arjun has commendably delivered. Bagging this movie is quite an achievement for Jacqueline Fernandez as she not only got to portray a double role in the movie but also got to romance two of the hottest men in the film industry namely Arjun Rampal & Ranbir Kapoor. She has delivered a descent performance although it's very difficult to differentiate between her two avatars in the movie. The only difference between her two avatars can be gauged by the gloss of her lipstick shades and her hairdo. She has looked stunning especially in 'Chitiyaan Kalaiyaan' song and seems to be improving as an actress with every release of hers. But, it is Ranbir Kapoor who charms everyone with his dynamic role in the movie. He is a natural actor and has portrayed his character with such ease that it seems as if he is sleepwalking in the movie. Watch out for him in a scene where he goes to collect back the painting from the person who has purchased it and a well orchestrated fist fight happens there. Anupam Kher is effective enough in his short stint as Arjun's father. Shernaz Patel too has given a noticeable performance as Production head of Arjun Rampal.

TECHNICAL FINESSE                                                                          ::      The soundtrack of the movie has been composed by Meet Bros., Ankit Tiwari and Amaal Malik which is one of the highlights of this movie. 'Tu hai ke nahin' by Ankit Tiwari, 'Sooraj Dooba hai' by Amaal Malik and 'Chitiyaan Kalaiyaan' by Kanika Kapoor are already very popular and have made it to top of the music charts. Background music of the movie has been composed by Sanjay Chowdhury who has done an excellent job. The background score of Roy gives out a mysterious aura of a thriller which enhances the impact of visuals. The cinematographer of the movie is Himman Dhamija who has done outstanding job behind the lens. Dhamija has shot every frame with utmost passion, and we can call his cinematography an ace of the movie along with the choice of locations. Keeping the suspense element in mind, Dhamija also ensures that all the scenes blend with the background and extensive use of dark shades gives the movie all the class it needs. A special mention of Vintee Bansal for his effective production designing. The movie has been edited by Deepika Kalra who has kept the run-time of the movie to 147 minutes. Her editing is not upto the mark as the editing of movie of this genre should have been more taut n crisp which is not the case. There are lot of unwanted scenes that should have been done away with, long pauses in the movie and some scenes have been stretched that needed to be trimmed down to make this movie entertaining. As a writer Vikramjit Singh has failed to impress as he might have had a wonderful idea in mind for making this movie but while penning it down, it got converted into a flimsy storyline and shoddy screenplay. But, as a director Vikramjit Singh shows some promise as sparks of his brilliance are visible in some parts of the movie. His movie boasts of technical excellence but is let down by the script. He is one of those new age directors who has dared to make a movie sans bollywood cliches and usual formulaic elements.

CONCLUSION                                                                                           ::          Roy is one of those movies where an original, novel idea got bogged down by flimsy script and narrative making it a non-entertainer. You can give this one a skip.

ROHIT SHARMA.

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Shamitabh :: Movie Review

                                

Shamitabh is technically brilliant, novel, out of the box ode to cinema by R.Balki which is taken a few notches higher by the acting prowess of two giant of actors namely Amitabh Bachchan and Dhanush. These days innovation in Bollywood has almost become a passe as most of our filmmakers have fallen prey to commercialization in lieu of entering so called 100 crores club. As a result, in the recent past we have witnessed ample biopics and southern remakes with gravity defying stunts being churned out in hordes. Thankfully, there are still some filmmakers who still make movies with their hearts and make their presence felt by dishing out something new whenever they helm a movie. And, R.Balki is one of them. If his 'Cheeni Kum' was an unconventional love story with a big age difference between the main leads, His second offering 'Paa' took unconventionality to newer heights with its innovative subject. Just like his previous flicks, R.Balki is back once again with a new novel concept of an ego clash between the face who acts and the person who lends voice to that face, decorated with towering performances of legendary Big B and star in the making Dhanush in the form of cine spectacle called, Shamitabh. R.Balki's Shamitabh deals with a story about ego clashes between two men who can't live with each other, but can't let go of each other too. The idea behind Shamitabh is avant-garde which has been further propelled by its lead actors who revel in playing their parts to perfection. While Amitabh Sinha (Bachchan) is a big time alcoholic who once aspired to be an actor, there's Danish (Dhanush), a mute guy, who dreams of becoming a Bollywood hero. What he lacks in vocals he makes up with his spirited approach. What Bachchan has is his rich baritone. With help from a friendly assistant director (Akshara Haasan) and technology, the two combine and re-christen themselves as Shamitabh. What works in their as well as movie's favor is their bond that is laced with ego clashes of one-upmanship. It's entertaining to watch their verbal duels, especially Amitabh who never misses an opportunity to belittle Dhanush with taunts like " It's not your face they love, but my voice. Ye aawaz to ek kutte ke munh se bhi achchi lagegi ". He even points that danish's weight (59Kgs) is lighter than his voice. The blows come fast and powerful but Dhanush ducks them with impressive earnestness. Ego can make even the giant-est of giants bite the dust and it is one thing that should never get in between your personal or professional life. And in case you are dependent on another person for the position you have reached in life, then you must definitely kick your ego flying out of the window. A scene in which Akshara makes the two leading men with big egos, sit down in a nursery room and draws their attention towards the hazards that their ego hassles are causing will make you smile big time. Although, the dialoguebaazi between the leading men or even monologues of Big B are a delight but after a certain time they become too much and ruin the flow of narrative. Had the movie duration been cut short by more crisp editing by say around 20-25 minutes, it would have made a big difference in the commercial prospects of the movie.

STORY & SCREENPLAY                                                  ::      The story as well as screenplay of the movie has been penned down by R.Balki. Undoubtedly, Balki has woven a storyline which is unique and has a novel concept keeping Cinema in mind. Right from the beginning, it becomes clear that Balki is paying tribute to Indian as well as Western cinema. When a teacher draws GandhiJi on blackboard and asks young Danish some questions like Who was Gandhiji's wife and what did Gandhiji get, his replies are that his wife was Rohini Hathangidi and he got an Oscar obviously refereeing to the movie 'Gandhi" much to the amusement of other children present in class. The teacher scolds him and sarcastically says that this mute kid wants to become an actor and asks him to showcase his acting skills. Young Danish writes on blackboard " Scene Kya Hai or what is the script". This sets the tone for the movie with the message being loud and clear. Such is the impact of Cinema that it can even inspire a vocally impaired person to dream about becoming an actor. Shamitabh is peppered with many of such observations with the script and dialogues being fantastic. Alias, same is not the case with the screenplay which has lot of glitches. Some of the dialogues in the movie are too good like when Dhanush says to the media persons, " Aap media wale shakal aur awaaz ke beech mein bhi nafrat paida kar sakte ho", referring to the insecurities non good looking actors face in the film industry. The movie begins with a film party where Shamitabh alias Danish (Dhanush) is introduced to the media on the release of his movie 'Lifebuoy". Hereafter, the movie begins to oscillate between present and past portraying the tale of a mute boy who becomes a Film hero overcoming his handicap. Danish is crazy about acting even as a kid in spite of the fact that he is mute and wants to run away to Mumbai but can't do so because of his mother's illness. After years, he arrives in Mumbai after his mother passes away where no one takes him seriously because of his handicap. But Assistant Director Akshara (Akshara Haasan) sees the potential in him and recommends him to the director she works for who refuses to give him a chance because of his speech problem. Just the, Akshara's doctor father (Uday Tikekar) gets to know of a advanced medical technology in Finland which could help mute people speak. Danish is flown to Finland where an ear piece is given to him which has the ability to store the words spoken by another voice with a similar ear piece. Now, begins a hunt to find suitable voice for Danish. Danish & Akshara come across Amitabh Sinha (Amitabh Bachchan), a drunkard who once aspired to be an actor but has the perfect baritone voice. After lot of persuasion, he agrees to become the voice of Danish. Amitabh Sinha, who at all times has to be in close proximity to Danish, is introduced as Danish's walet "Robert". Danish is signed for a new movie and his name is changed to 'Shamitabh'. Shamitabh becomes a superstar with the huge success of his very first film and Robert resents all the adulation being given to Shamitabh as he feels his contribution to the success is much more than that of Shamitabh himself. Soon, ego problems develop between the two and the things starting to get worse between both of them. Do they resolve their differences and if so, how ? This is what forms the rest of the movie. 

STARCAST                                                                   ::           The biggest highlight of this movie is the performances from its starcast especially the leading men. Amitabh Bachchan essays the role of Amitabh Sinha, who is an extremely frustrated man, owing his failure to be an actor. It was real enticing to watch Mr.Bachchan play a character of a frustrated drunkard man who is known to be very docile and calm. The best part is that he looks so natural that one doesn't feel like if he is watching Big B on screen. His wayward walking, his wobbly tongue while he talks, makes it very believable as if he is quite drunk literally. It is a real treat to watch his action speak louder than words in the last scene of the movie. A classy performance with the intensity in the eyes to match, brought back the memories of AGNEEPATH where he carried the film on the strength of his voice alone. Dhanush, after Raanjhanaa, gets even better. This guy without six pack abs or fair complexion, laps up the scenes with his earnest performance. Dhanush - the man might have small frame but he roars on screen. He has played the central character of Shamitabh, a struggling actor who wants to become big in Bollywood despite being mute with utmost conviction. Without mouthing a single dialogue, he portrays sheer magic in the film. Eventually your heart would go to him especially after the ending. To make Amitabh's voice look graceful on himself, was quite the challenge which he has done literally well. Dhanush is one actor who has been able to make his presence felt in the industry only cause of his sheer talent as he has the most unconventional looks required to be a Bollywood hero. Akshara Haasan who has made her debut with this movie looks promising. Subtle, gentle, cool, confident and innocent all rolled into one. The best part is that she has been able to hold onto her own and make her presence felt whilst standing between Big B & Dhanush which is not a mean achievement by any standards.She doesn't seem to shudder even for a second, when she is alongside superstars like Big B & Dhanush. She seems to have inherited acting skills from her talented actor parents namely Kamal Haasan & Sarika. Amongst the ensemble starcast noteworthy performances have been given by Uday Tikekar, Asif Ali Beg, Ajay Jadhav, Karim Hajee & Ivan Rodriguez.         

TECHNICAL FINESSE                                                           ::          The soundtrack of the movie has been composed by Ilaiyaraaja who seems to be a favorite of Balki like Big B as this is the third film of the trio together. Ilaiyaraaja has charted out a fairly descent album with the title track 'Shamitabh' as well as 'Pidley' standing out amongst others. The background music for the film has also been composed by Ilaiyaraaja and the maestro has lent a magical touch to the same. The first half an hour of the movie where young Danish enacts a scene of grieving over his dead mother and his passion of cinema is stolen by Ilaiyaraaja's background music. The BGM of this movie elevates some particular scenes especially the monologues to an altogether different level. The cinematographer of the movie is PC Sreeram who has done an outstanding job behind the lens. His cinematography is a treat for eyes. Each of his frames are wallpaper material and capture the proceedings from a different perspective. He has brilliantly used different color palates according to the characters and scenes. While he has used dark and subdued tones around Big B, the color palates get more vibrant when Dhanush & Akshara are on-screen making it a visual delight. A special mention of Urvi Ashar & Shipra Rawal whose production designing with enough props and posters of movie stalwarts has ensured that the movie seems like an ode to Cinema. The editor of the movie is Hemanti Sarkar who has kept the runtime of the movie to 154 minutes which is a tad too long for a movie of this genre. Had the movie been more crisply edited and been shortened by say a duration of around 25 minutes especially in the second half, it would have been a big benefit to the commercial prospects of the movie. As a writer-director, R.Balki has once again reaffirmed that he is not only apt enough of penning down some novel ideas in the form of storyline but also has the vision to translate them on-screen with his directorial skills and crafting abilities. He has woven an original plot centered around three main characters and made an entertaining film out of it. His direction is first rate but had he done away with some of the recurring clash scenes between the leading men and too many monologues of Big B in second half, the movie could have been more entertaining. I am not saying that the movie is bad, it is really good but it could have been better.

CONCLUSION                                                                                   ::           Shamitabh is definitely a good one time watch for its really novel concept which is an ode to cinema plus the towering performances of (DHANU)SH-AMITABH.       

ROHIT SHARMA.

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