Reviews

Like millions of people, I am too a huge fan of the Prince of Persia Video Game series. When 2 years ago, it was announced that Prince of Persia: Sands of Time was going to be made into a movie, I totally disappointed that arguably the best game of the series was going to be made into a movie, and people will totally hate it. It was further compounded with the fact that Gemma Arterton was going to be the Princess Tamina (Farah, in the game) and Jake Gyllenhal was the fabled Prince. But come last October when the first trailer came out, it seemed really impressive.

UBISOFT did it right when they sold the rights to Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer Films, rather than the usual distributors. Sands of Time stands alone as a movie, and you need not play the game to enjoy it. It follows the general premise of the game, but the makers have added some more middle east folklore to make the movie interesting, like the addition of the mythical Hassansins.

The movie is visually stunning. The special effects as expected is top notch. It was a joy to see some of the moves which a player can make the prince do in-game, shown on screen. Jake Gyllenhal for all his critics did make an impressive Prince Dastan. Gemma Arterton also didn't do a bad job, as Tamina. A huge turn off though was the accent being used by the actors. The story is set in medieval Persia, and Gemma Arterton and Ben Kingsley are speaking in perfect British accent. That was something that could have been rectified. But this is one fun popcorn loving movie, which can be an ideal getaway from your daily lives for 2 hours.

I had heard so much about this movie for the last 5-6 years that I thought this would be a letdown. Usually over-hyped movies are such that you feel that you were letdown by it. I finally got hold of it and I can say that Paanch is arguably one of the best crime thrillers the Hindi film industry has produced.

I cannot fathom the reason why the government would ban this, (probably because this movie would attain cult status and dissuade the youth of today to smoke and drink and waste their time....) but in this movie we have one of the greatest acting performance by an actor, one of the best soundtracks ever made in the history of Bollywood, and one helluva movie. The movie theme will remind you of Requiem for a Dream, Trainspotting, only Paanch has a thriller plot apart from based on the systematic destruction of human morals.

The plot is fairly simple. Its about 5 people who are struggling musicians. They play at nightclubs and concerts for cheap cash, but most of it is spent on marijuana, drugs and booze. They are all college dropouts and have almost no connections with their relatives. They live under one roof, practice in a vacant garage of one of their friends(their only friend!!).

The movie continues at leisurely pace until they have an idea to kidnap their friend and ask for a fat ransom from his rich dad. But all goes haywire when one of them in a fit of rage kills their friend. Things turn for the worse when to cover up one murder they go on a killing spree. In the end, all five of them are behind bars, and in a gradual degradation of all morals.

This movie, if and when it comes out will primarily be remembered for the immensely powerful acting performance of one Kay Kay Menon. His performance is bound to remind you of Brad Pitt in Fight Club as the legendary Tyler Dyrden. K.K's music will make you take a jacket and go out to the nearest music store and buy the Original Soundtrack of this movie ASAP!! Paanch is the movie where one can say Bollywood came of age and we had proper rock music.

There are only three songs in the movie, one a bluesy track "Kya din kya raat" one that will remind you of the classic jazz of the 40's, the psychedelic themed "Tu Jaa Maat" meant to remind you Cobain and the rock track "Khuda ke Liye" which will remind you of "Rock On!!" only it was 5 years earlier.. Even The Doors' "Roadhouse Blues" was an awesome addition!!!

The acting performances have been superb. Kay Kay Menon was brilliant as "Luke" as I mentioned earlier, and he has been brilliantly supported by the very impressive Aditya Srivastava as "Murgi", Joy Fernandes as "Joy" and Vijay Maurya as the hilarious "Pondy" Even Tejaswini Kolhapure as "Shiuli" the only chick in the movie does a decent job. Sharat Saxena is also impressive in his short role as the Police Inspector.

Lastly, Mr.Anurag Kashyap!!! This was his very first attempt behind the camera. It was his brainchild. He being the producer and writer as well. But kudos to the man, for giving us yet another cinematic pleasure. Thank you sir, and I hope you make more of similar movies and keep us people who are fans of non-mainstream movies satisfied.

A truly well deserved 10/10 !!!

Zoya Akhtar's directorial debut Luck By Chance is an insider look to the current generation Hindi film industry. Its a story of two persons, both struggling to become actors and make it big in the industry. It shows how ones fortune is favored when the other fades away into nothingness. The film is of a languid pace, but you aren't ever bothered by it due to abundant platter of colorful characters. Be it Romi Rolly(portrayed brilliantly by veteran Rishi Kapoor) or the ex silver screen siren, Neena Wallia(an amazing portrayal by Dimple Kapadia).

There are brilliant small cameo performances by the whos who of the industry, starting from Amir Khan to Karan Johar to Abhishek Bachchan to Shahrukh Khan. The film is a through entertainer, and even though the subject sometimes turns to the dark side of the film industry, the mood is kept light at all times by the quirky dialogs of the funny characters. The entire Rolly family for example is a bag of jokes. Veteran film producer Romi Rolly, played by Rishi Kapoor gives an enthralling and amazing performance putting a lasting memory to the character. Ranjit Rolly, the brother of producer Romi Rolly, played by Sanjay Kapoor, as the failed actor turned director, who is always making funny jokes and moves trying to convince himself and his crew about the next shot. Minty Rolly, the wife of Romi, played by Juhi Chawla is also a character to remember, as the superstitious wife. Mention has to be made of Hrithik Roshan whose small but astounding performance, as the superstar Zafar Khan, is too good to miss out. A lot of other small cameos by Anurag Kashyap, as the screenplay writer who plagiarizes Hollywood films from the DVDs to convince himself as one of the best in the business, Isha Shravani as the superstar daughter, who is too dumb and too pretty. Arjun Mathur, as the childhood friend of Vikram, also an aspirant actor is also brilliant. And lastly Dimple Kapadia as the ex- screen siren who is attempting to launch her daughter into super stardom.

The main protagonists of the movie, Farhan Akhtar and Konkona Sen Sharma have also been explicitly brilliant. Farhan Akhtar, gives a measured performance who "seemingly" uses every step in his way to reach to the top of the rung of the Bollywood ladder of fame. Konkona Sen Sharma, is brilliant as the aspirant actress who fails to make it big time, but instead helps giving Vikram JaiSingh,(Farhan Akhtar) the big break into the showbiz. The songs performed the the trio of Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy is yet again a brilliant piece of job. The few number of songs in the movie, seems adequate and never forced.

Luck By Chance is that rare piece among Hindi films, which you will treasure for long and is worth a second see. It is a heartwarming experience for everybody. an impressive achievement at writing and direction, Luck By Chance is full of moments filled with sharp and witty humor. An 8/10 for Zoya Akhtar's Luck By Chance.

Lets cut to the chase. The Wrestler is a 100% Micky Rourke movie. He is on screen for more than 95% of the movie. And Darren Aronofsky has shot the movie in a third person perspective. We are almost all the time following Rourke along. Its the story of a beaten down ex A-List Wrestler, a top entertainer. We have an inside look in the wrestling business. The pain that one has to endure, push their bodies to the limits, day in and day out, to earn a few hundred dollars.

Right from the first scene, we see Randy "The Ram" Robinson, hunched over after a gruelling night of wrestling, disappointed that his pay is less than usual. He goes to his worn down trailer to see that the owner of the trailer park has locked it up because he his late for his payments. We see him struggling through day jobs and weekend pay-per- views, and try and fix his relationship with his daughter. But like everything else his life starts going spiralling down. He collapses after a particularly brutal match and is diagnosed with a bypass surgery. After that we see, him getting frustrated at his life in general, he cant date the woman he loves, his daughter hates him and he cant wrestle. In the end he decides to come back to wrestle, come what may be the consequence, because as he puts it, "You(the fans) are my true and only family. And I will continue till the day my body goes on, and until you people stay I', done for good!"

The movie is not about a comeback, per se. Because, we really doesn't come back to his former glory, and its more of a symbolic gesture. But its got very good moral values. Micky Rourke is extraordinary, and he pulls together a stupendous performance, come awards functions, he will be a very strong contender for the Best Actor performance. This movie also gives us an insight to the wrestling business, and being a wrestling fan for many years, I have a biased view of the movie, but it still is awesome. You see how much of its real, and the pain that the professional wrestlers have to endure, their battering bodies. Its truly extraordinary. Marisa Tomei is also impressive in her role as the stripper who is a good friend of "The Ram". We see how their relationship evolves along the movie, her dilemma to get into a relationship with a "customer". Evan Rachael Wood is also good in her very small role as Randy's daughter. But like I said in the very beginning, this movie is all about Mickey Rourke, nobody else comes close to steal his glory at the end. A well deserved 8/10!

I didn't read Vikas Swarup's book, but I can tell you for certain, that this is one movie which you can see without reading the book and feel bad about it later. Slumdog is a refreshing movie, one which I for one hope will open the gates of Bollywood to the Western world, if it hasn't already. It shows the character of Mumbai, the heart of India, the financial hub. Starting from the communal riots to the life of poverty that is led by the homeless. The cruelty inflicted on them, the inhumanity makes your heart go out.

The scene where young Jamal gets kicked in the face by the cab driver when he sees that his cab has been ransacked, and Jamal says,"You wanted to see the real India, this is it!!" What an ironic and true statement!!

This movie apparently has all the qualities of a typical Bollywood flick, but yet so different. Firstly the excellent screenplay and casting of characters. The sequence of young Jamal explaining to the American couple about the Taj Mahal was hilarious. Also the scene when the evil Maman gouges the eye out of a boy, so that he can earn more,just because he has a special talent in singing.(Trust me folks, such things happen, and even more worse things too) You can shudder at the gore, and your heart will go out when a grown up Jamal sees him later and gives him the 100$ because he wants to, makes your heart go out to the poor kid.

The casting, I felt was brilliant. Right from the young Jamal and Salim to the middle-aged Jamal and Salim, it was absolutely awesome, and Danny Boyle got the best out of both the actors. Of course Dev Patel, himself was brilliant as well, so was Anil Kapoor as the shrewd, evil host of the show.

The film also has its bit for the Western Audience, and the ones who don't understand Hindi, in an innovative way of putting in subtitles. The music, is also too good. A.R. Rahman does it again, like he has done so many times, and an Oscar nod may be on its way, it was a long time coming.

Not going to harp on the story, since the trailer pretty much gives you an idea about it. But I'll just sign off saying Kudos to Danny Boyle and the "Slumdog Millionaire" team for this wonderful movie.

The Coens are at it again. After No Country for Old Men, they have produced another ace. But both movies are highly contrasting. No Country was dark, but Burn After Reading is one hell of a laughter riot. Its been a long time since the Coens gave us something to laugh at. It involves some brilliant performances, including the paranoid George Clooney, the ex CIA Chief John Malkovich, the clueless gym employee Brad Pitt, and like always in a Coen movie, Frances Mcdormand. She has put forward yet another astounding performance. Even Richard Jenkins the gym boss was very impressive. Add to this useful cameos by J.K. Simmons, Olek Krupa.

On a serious note, the movie also has a subtle message. Just like most other Coen movies, the last scene was reserved to put forward this message. When JK Simmons says,"What did we learn from this ?? To not repeat what we did. But what did we do ??" Amidst this laughter riot, and the twists and turns, there this one line which stands out. Heads up mates. A brilliant 8/10!!

I had been waiting to see this movie ever since the promos and trailers hit the theaters. This is the first proper Indian rock band movie, and with a compelling star cast this was bound to be a joy to watch. And I was not disappointed. It was 140 minutes of pure fun. This is finally a movie where we don't have any catchy item numbers or some stupid unwanted songs. Its a movie about a rock band, so we have rock songs. Songs with guitar riffs, drum solos, and kick-ass vocals.

The story is quite simple. 4 college buddies dream big, they dream high. They want to form a band and become the next big thing in the upcoming rock culture. They do all that, against all odds, going against their careers their parents chose for them. But somewhere along the line, we have ego clashes amongst the band members, which results in the band breaking up, even before they released their first album. Years later, things have changed. But they make a last gasp reunion, and leave the stage on a high.

Whilst the story is critical, for any movie, its not something which is flashy. Its your regular story, one which you can expect out of a Bollywood movie. But the presentation makes the difference. Coupled with some wonderful songs and a brilliant background score, and some superb acting, Rock On! gives you a startlingly different flavor from the regular Bollywood masala movies. The acting has been overall brilliant, there were some patches were it was becoming evident that most of them are newbies in front of the camera, but we can bother to overlook that small mistake. Farhan Akhtar debut performance as the lead singer, Adi, the successful investment banker, the one with the flamboyant vocals, gives a brilliant performance. He is the protagonist of the story, and he controls the tempo of the movie.Add to that he has sung most of the songs himself.

Arjun Rampal, as the lead guitarist, Joseph "Joe" Mascarenhas is another complicated character. He is another central character to the story and he gives the movie far more credibility. He's this brilliant guitarist, who has rock in his blood. But he's financially insecure, and this results in his poor family background, his family's fishing business. He has a great sense of pride in his musical talent and like the forefathers of rock, he refuses to sell his pride. He refuses to play in pubs and clubs, and insists on playing for his own happiness rather than for cash, in spite of his family troubles.

KD,"Killer Drummer", he's the heart of the band. Purab Kohli, makes it a point to play the drums, and make an honest effort to look credible enough. He's the wacko junkie, with the weirdest possible fashion sense, like wearing a tie over a tee shirt to every gig. Like all others after the Magik era he's wasting away in his family business.

Last and definitely not the least Luke Kenny as Rob. He was the manager/keyboardist of the band. He organized gigs for them, and he was the one who became successful musically, recording with Anu Malik on small time jobs. And he was the one who brings the band together after 10 years, amidst tragedies.

Special mention must be made of Prachi Desai and Sahana Goswami. Both have been brilliant at the roles they have reprised. Prachi as Sakshi, the wife of Adi, and Sahana as Debbie, Joe's wife gives a superb performance. Especially Sahana, she did a brilliant brilliant job, portraying two very different characters in the two eras. The acting, the music, the camera work, has all been superb, excellent. Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy bring forth their magic as the amazing music directors, so does Javed Akhtar with the catchy lyrics.

One negative aspect may be, that this movie is somewhat shortened. We could have explored certain characters more, but the makers probably thought to leave this at that, and not make the movie a bit more predictable. For example, Dalip Tahil as Adi's boss has basically just 2 scenes. And Nicollete Bird as the old flame of Adi is almost an extra. Those 2 characters could have been explored a bit. I'm sure there will be long deleted scenes in the DVD.

Apart from the brilliant music, the acting, and the character portrayal, the movie also follows a important message. To always follow your dreams and your heart. We see that with Joe, a financially insecure person, who leaves behind a job where hes guaranteed a large sum of money to play with his old band, to ignite his flame, his passion for playing on stage in a proper rock gig. We see Rob, who's dieing away slowly, to overcome all odds and play with his old buddies for one last time, on stage. And lastly KD, in his last lines, "I don't care what you fellows think. But I've been among your personal ego clashes for a long time, and I'm going out there on stage even if I have to drum all alone for 20 minutes, I'll do it." This movie might not appeal to the older audience who might shun this as a youth film. Yes, this movie is based on today's youth, but it carries a message which is universally applicable. It uses the rock culture to promote this meaning, this message. Kudos to Farhan Akhtar again for treating us to another delight. 10/10.

There is always a hype surrounding an Amir Khan movie. It's not the commonly masala type movie which we are used to seeing featuring the likes of Sharukh Khan or Akshay Kumar. Nor are they overtly stereotyped like movies of Kay Kay Menon or Manoj Bajpai. When it comes to Amir Khan it's all about being in the mean, and it's all about perfectionism. This is his directorial debut, and he duly delivers the goods.

He chose the topic of the movie very carefully, combo-ed it with a master script. Add to the fact, he had Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy to o some amazing tunes, and lastly he sought out a cast, which is almost unknown, yet gave a stellar performance. I mean, really, I cannot recall any of the actors apart from Amir Khan from any movie, TV show, etc. And the kid Darsheel, deserves to go into the Hall of Fame. I cannot recall someone giving such a good debut performance ever since Amjad Khan in Sholay, and that's telling something, since there has been loads of brilliant actors since then.

The story is relatively simple. There is this boy, who is disinterested in anything that is remotely related to academics. When he fails in third grade, his parents shift him to a boarding school against his wishes. This breaks his mental state and he goes into a shell. But with the help of a new teacher, who convinces his parents that he suffers from a rare state of neural disorder called Dyslexia, he helps him on the path to recovery. In the end all his well, the boy is treated as a rare genius, the teacher becomes his closest confidant.

This all appears to be a simple story, but it is culminated to a treat to the eyes with some magnificent direction and some mind boggling acting both on the part of young Darsheel and Amir. Add to that the fact that there was some serious good visual effects, something which is totally absent in all Bollywood movies, and superb music from Shankaar-Ehsaan-Loy. The tracks were brilliant and cleverly used throughout the movie. There's this rebellious track, much similar to Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall", which mirrors the turmoil state of mind of our young friend when he is sent to a boarding school. Also, there's the sad track which tells us about the sense of loneliness, of betrayal, when he is left at the boarding school in his first night.

A lot of word has been spoken about Amir Khan's credibility as a director, about his overtly sense of perfectionism. Well, if this is his first test, then he gets flying colors. Apart from a very short sequence in the movie which is animated, I thoroughly enjoyed it. The photography, and the direction is impeccable. And once again I have to say that young Darsheel was fabulous. There are fanatics who are craving to give Deepica Padukone the best débutante award. I'd say after Taare Zameen Par, "Deepica who ?? Give the award to Darsheel, its a walkaway."

I'd like to touch up on another point. This movie was an emotional experience for many. I found many people leaving the theaters with tears in their eyes. I can understand their state of mind. There may be many parents, whose child did not turn up as brilliant as they assumed they would. I also found hordes of children flocking to see this movie. Well, after seeing it, I didn't find any reason to think that this is a movie for children. I mean sure, this movie features a kid, but it isn't for kids, its a film about kids, but not the other way around.

A superb experience. 9/10 !!!

There is no doubt left in my mind, that Anurag Kashyap is the next big thing in Bollywood. He is probably the best Indian director for a long time, after the great Satyajit Ray. After his controversial debut in the industry with Paanch, and Black Friday, he delivers this classy act with No Smoking. Truth be told, I was a bit skeptical about this film. A few of my friends had already had a glimpse of it and warned me against going for it, but I gave it a shot nonetheless. And I'm not complaining.

No Smoking is not your traditional movie. Its not targeted to be a box office hit, because simply 9/10 people will find it stupid, boring and curse Mr.Kashyap to be a raving lunatic. But in the truest of sense, there could not have been any better addiction movie than No Smoking. We have had Requiem For a Dream, Trainspotting in Hollywood, but this the first time we have an Indian story to it. True No Smoking is even more abstract than both, but it also follows a complicated theory. One which is iterated by the Guruji(Paresh Rawal) of the Hindu knowledge of the soul, consciousness, and the Vedas.

What is the basic theme of the movie is that every addiction has its core in the consciousness, the soul and we have to purify the soul in order to rid us of the addiction. The entire movie we are thrown into possibilities where the antagonist, K (John Abraham) is comprehending what is right or wrong. And that is not restricted to his addiction but all judgments in his life. Whether or not to cheat on someone's wife, or whether or not to trust someone, whether or not in his actions/inactions he is unintentionally causing anyone harm. Which is why we see he is made to believe his wife's death, his brother's suicide is his doing. But this is what his subconscious is telling him. This is what the cure is trying to tell him.

The treatment that the Guruji is giving him is completely psychological. We find all the patients/relatives of the people who have been to see the "Prayogshala" is admitted to a ward which is made by the Prayogshala itself. People will misinterpret as an emotional blackmail, but in truth its cleansing the soul. We see that the antagonist feels claustrophobic at the end of the end of his dream. He says that his throat is parched and he needs a smoke, when he breaks a window and rushes to the middle of nowhere to get a smoke. The dream of Siberia, the Russian soldier shooting him(although no blood comes out) is all an indication that this is not real, its the journey of the soul, a pathway to cure of his afflictions. We find many clues to this right from the start to the end, to the point when he is desperately trying to prove to the cops that he didn't murder his wife, we find him going all ends out to prove that he is innocent, but somehow nothing works out, since HE has been living a dream, and he just woke up, so his stories are not matching up. This is something novel that Fincher did in the legendary "Fight Club"

We find in the end the real K, looking out as if searching for a long lost friend, but in real he was searching for his soul, which was waiting to be cleansed, and as his soul his bathed in fire, it is cleansed and is returned to him. About the missing fingers, well everyone thought that was another torture device, but did anyone notice the fingers missing ?? They were the index finger and the middle finger, the ones we use to smoke. They are taken from the patient as a precaution. And the journey of the soul is complete only when he convinces another of his kin to undergo the same procedure, then his finger is returned to him.

The movie was like I said, superb, and instead of praising any of the actors, well, this is a all in all Kashyap movie throughout. It didn't matter who was the actor, true John Abraham has done a remarkable job, but the genius that Kashyap is, made this movie so good. The direction and screenplay made this the success that it is. The script was just too good, and the sets used, (which I think were real locations actually) were also marvelous. Also the small glimpses of cheap visual effects makes it even more brilliant to show the journey of the soul. The soundtrack is also too good. Apart from the Hindi numbers exclusively for the movie, we are also treated with lots of melodious oldies starting from Frank and Nancy Sinatra to others, and to careful notice one can see that all these songs were about smoking. Paresh Rawal is also excellent in his role as the Guruji, he makes it look so easy. Ayesha Takia is again just a pretty face in this movie, without not much chance to prove herself.

Lastly this review would be incomplete without a special credit to the masterful, artful Anurag Kashyap. He made a movie about a social peril, about smoking, and he made it look so easy, that it was just brilliant. He has well proved his merit over all other contemporaries. It is just pathetic that people still want to watch stupid remakes by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, irritating soap/family dramas by Karan Johar, and utter bullshit from the likes of Farah Khan, Sajid Khan when they always have options of watching brilliant stuff from this man. This perhaps is my longest review but you also don't get to see such exquisite movies such as No Smoking everyday. 9/10 !!!

I am always a sucker for movies about sports, and this is no exception. Went by for a premier show, and I wasn't disappointed. Although I can't say that I'm blown away either. The producers ran into copyright issues with the title of the movie, and had to change it at the last possible moment. I would really have been drastically disappointed had this been a rip off from Santi Munez's tale in GOAL: The Dream Begins. Thankfully it wasn't. Instead it is *inspired* from another old movie named Major League featuring Charlie Sheen, the only difference, that was about baseball, and this is soccer. Add to it some Bollywood masala, and you got yourself a classic.

The story is simple. There this town Southall, which is basically an Indian community, and they have their own movie theater. But they have failed to pay for their soccer grounds and the city community wants to sell it off. So the only way to save their grounds is to win the championship, something that the club hasn't managed a single time. But as it turns out, they get the team together, and somehow pulls it off. LOL, there is a interesting side plot featuring John Abraham's character and his family history, also an interesting scene in the Old Trafford dressing room. It's always nice to see the Theatre of Dreams.

Bipasha Basu is excessive corny than necessary. John Abraham flaunts his biceps throughout. Arshad Warsi gives a reserved performance, Boman Irani is fantastic as ever. There's also real nice performances from Rajendranath Zutshi and Dalip Tahil. Yet, at the end of the day it fails to live up to hype. It happens to be a sad remake of yet another lesser known Hollywood movie. The music is good, although sometimes it feels blatantly unnecessary. The camera work, cinematography is good. And those soccer skills owns !! 8/10 !!!

This was a movie tagged as a comedy, one which featured the likes of Paresh Rawal and Akshay Kumar plus directed by Priyadarshan. Naturally everyone expects this to be a comedy. Wrong !!! This is probably the best thriller of the year. A horror flick which has touches of comedy scattered around. Kinda reminds you of Johnny Depp's Sleepy Hollow.

I won't go far as comparing Sleepy Hollow with Bhool Bhulaiyaa, because they are not comparable. One is a Hollywood flick and the other Bollywood. One which is high budgeted other relatively low. But you cant but feel that the comedy which seemed forced in Sleepy Hollow is same for this flick. It really appears forced. One can feel that they can do away with the comedy in the first half of the movie all together. The sequences where the bloke has to be dumb in order to complete a holy task, just appears too forced.

And yet again, Akshay Kumar's comedy reels appear so natural. But like Priyadarshan's previous Bollywood movie Bhagam Bhag, this one also is a thriller. The difference is Bhagam Bhag remains a comedy, whereas Bhool Bhulaiyaa is indeed a thriller.

Vidya Balan gives a stellar performance, (I won't say why cause then you have too see the movie, I wont be giving out any spoilers) and so does Akshay Kumar, despite his so late entry almost an hour into the movie. Shiny Ahuja also appears impressive, he always does. Manoj Joshi was also very good as the elder figure of the family. Rajpal Yadav is probably the only true deserving gag reel of the movie. His small role is quite pertinent and gives you the laughs just about when and how it's necessary. Paresh Rawal and Asrani are wasted in the movie. An actor of Paresh Rawal's capability shouldn't have been used in this role. Amisha Patel is also wasted. A tinsel beauty of her caliber deserves far more screen time, though still she gives a very nice performance. But end of the day this movie will definitely be remembered by Vidya Balan's performance which is nothing short of mind blowing.

Keeping in the theme of the movie, very few songs have been used. Just three in fact apart from the title track which is shown during the end credits. And the music, background score is also to the point and perfect. The camera work is superb. One might feel towards the beginning that there are some bad editing, but towards the end you can feel that everything was actually kept intentionally and are all pertinent towards the climactic sequence of the movie. The sets were crafted lavishly and the entire locations are stupendous and exquisite.

Last of all, the direction, well what can I say ?? Priyadarshan is definitely the best Indian comedy director in my book, but this being his first complete horror/thriller he receives kudos in my book.

9/10 !!!

Jhinder Bandi is a classic remake of the memorable tale of "The Prisoner Of Zenda" by Anthony Hope. It features a heavyweight star cast including the godfather of Bengali movies, Uttam Kumar, the suave Soumitra Chatterjee, Tarun Kumar, Sandhya Roy, and others.

The story has underwent certain location changes to incorporate the Indian feel about the movie. The princely state of Zenda in Germany becomes Jhind in Rajasthan. And the capital city of Strelsau becomes the City of Joy, Kolkata. But apart from that more or less everything is kept in theme. Uttam Kumar plays the unfortunate king/vagabond who is lured into portraying as the king. Although according to the book and the original Prisoner of Zenda(1937), John Cromwell's classic depicts the king to be lazy, ruthless and harsh Tapan Sinha's version portrayals an innocent naive king who probably happens to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. Soumitra Chatterjee plays the swashbuckling commander-in-chief. Tapan Kumar plays the evil scheming younger prince.

The acting is nonetheless superb. With such high profile actors the movie is bound to be good, and it was. This was probably the first time that Soumitra Chatterjee was in a negative role and he plays it to inch perfection. Given his good looks on screen the sword fighting sequence towards the end makes it a remarkable visual display. Uttam Kumar in comparison although given a far larger screen time appears quite mellowed down. He has his moments but surprisingly it didn't affect me that much as did Soumitra Chatterjee's part. If Uttam Kumar is the grand old man of Bong movies then Sandhya Roy, is most definitely the grand old lady. She plays the love interest of the king of Jhind and even though this is not a movie about romance there is some reel time given to show their blossoming love. It was probably due to social pressure that he had to include those unnecessary bits, thereby cutting back on some precious reel time which could have featured some more dialogs between the two princes.

The soft soothing background music by Ali Akbar Khan is melodious to the ear. The camera work is superb. There are exquisite scenes of Rajasthan be it the rugged hills or the sandy desert or the brilliant lakes. It's a tragedy that no production house has offered to bring out a DVD (or even so a color version) of this movie. A movie of such giant proportion is fast fading out with old reels getting partially damaged/destroyed. Initiatives must be taken to protect such treasures.

A true classic from a gem of a director. 8/10 !!!

Not Another Teen movie is a collage of all the top teen movies of the recent years. It projects all the funny aspects of the teen movies in an amusing, amorous manner. It is a spoof in its truest form, but then again not a spoof at all.

We meet up with these characters, Jake Wyler, the humdinger high school kid, son of a rich guy, who believes that he can get any girl in high school he wants. His twisted sister Catherine, whose ultimate fantasy is to do it with her brother. (Cruel Intentions anyone ??) Then we have the innocent yet stupid Janey Briggs, a girl whom almost everyone considers to be un-date-able. Her sex maniac brother Mitch and his two friends Bruce and Ox. Jake's witty linguistic friends, Austin, the mighty Reggie Ray and the insanely funny Black guy Malik.(This is so much like Varsity Blues) Then there's Jake's ex girl friend Priscilla and her weird boy friend Les. (American Beauty). Plus there's a multitude of other small characters who make this movie more colorful and hysterically funny.

The plot is pretty simple, considering that the central plot is almost a rip off from the movie Can't Hardly Wait. But it is forgivable because it is so funny. We got this spoilt kid, who just got dumped by his smoking hot girl friend for some weird photographer guy. So his best buddies get him a bet that he has to date some girl of their choice and make her the most popular girl in college, a.k.a Prom Queen. He takes up the challenge i.e to turn the most hopeless girl as his partner. There are many ups and downs along the way, but eventually they do get together in the last scene. Dang, the last scene with the flight attendant is so damn funny.

There's a good soundtrack to this movie if anyone is interested. The screenplay was too funny to be true. It got me howling throughout the 90 minutes. The acting is just about okay. Kudos to the makers who got this ultra brilliant idea of NATM.

I would disagree that NATM is too crude or more raunchy than its purpose. Yes, its a teen movie and it is directed to an audience whose age is between 17 to 25. But then again you got the R rating coming along with it. And to those who scream at American teen comedies being too raunchy, give me a break. Because it is absolutely impossible to meet up with someone in his mid thirties who hasn't seen American Pie, NATM, Ten things I hate About You, or any from National Lampoon's production house.

Besides when you are reviewing something like NATM, there's not much you can say is there ??

It was quite a surprise watching Transformers evolve to such a good flick. I was of the opinion that apart from Quentin Tarantino no other director can successfully make a good movie based on junk topics. But Michael Bay overcomes the odds. Sure he needed a movie loaded with out of the world special effects, but still it was indeed a good movie nonetheless.

It didn't have any big names on the screen. Just numerous robots, good and evil fighting for the world. Surprisingly, however odd this sounds, Michael Bay promoted the story just superbly. Not too much unrealistic, and neither a shade too realism. He had a great visual effects team working with him. Along with teenage beauties Megan Fox & Rachael Taylor, and Shia LaBeouf. He had Jon Voight on a nominal role plus Anthony Anderson as the funny man.

The movie features some unbelievable action sequences amongst the Autobots and the Decepticons. The story is indeed junk. But the movie lives on the action sequences and the visual effects, which are literally out of this world.

An unbelievable 8/10 !!!

It was difficult to imagine Jason Bourne rushing through the streets of top European countries, and bashing box office records at the same time. Especially after the records set by its precedent, it seemed unthinkable, perhaps unimaginable. But it really does. And it also wins the average movie goer's hearts.

To be honest, I had read a couple of reviews of Ultimatum before heading down to see this flick, and I have to say I was a bit skeptical. Especially since the same reviewer had bashed "At World's End" and "Ocean's 13", both of which in my opinion were classics. But I was equally impressed. This is probably the first movie of the year which fulfills your expectations and more.

Yes, the shaky cameras are back. Yes, the classic hand-to-hand combat moves are back. Yes, the exhilarating chase sequences are back. Yes, Jason Bourne is back. And yes, he does remember now. From start to finish, Ultimatum keeps you at the edge of your seat.

The director has done a fabulous job by the method that he has adopted. He has told the story in a very nice manner, which always keeps the audience pondering what is going to happen next. The story picks up almost from where Supremacy ended. From Moscow, we find Bourne escaping the clutches of the Moscow police and then travel all across Europe and over the Atlantic to New York. The catchy dialogs which have been impressing in supremacy are more gritty this time around, and Bourne becomes a more suave and a much more deadly assassin. As if he wasn't deadly enough in the first place.

The action sequences are obviously very good. Especially the hand-to-hand combat. And of course the fabulous car chase in the heart of NYC towards the end. The shaky camera adds fuel to the action, making it much more realistic in nature.

The acting is once again undoubtedly superb. Matt Damon returns for one last time to reprise his role as Jason Bourne. So does Julia Stiles as the ex-CIA agent Nicky Parsons. We discover a chemistry between these two characters which have been surprisingly absent from the last two movies, suggesting that there might have been a bit more than matches the eye. Joan Allen also makes a comeback as Pamela Landy, the CIA agent who is out for Bourne. We are introduced to CIA deputy director Noah Vosen, played by David Strathairn, as the man out for Bourne's blood. He fills in the shoes of the chief antagonistic character and takes up the place of Brian Cox from the previous two movies. A small but significant role is also given to veteran actor Albert Finney.

The background score along with the soundtrack is also perfect. Moby's "Extreme Ways" is fast catching up to my list of Must Listen songs. Something also must be said about the ending. Ironically we find Bourne comes back to the first movie where he kills "The Professor", Clive Owen. He says, "Look at us. Look at what they made you give." They are the same as of David Webb a.k.a Jason Bourne. It my just as seem that Bourne finally realizes the gravity of the Treadstone project and the Blackbriar program.

This exciting out of the edge thriller certainly deserves a special place in my heart. 9/10 !!!

Harry Potter & The Order Of The Phoenix was and is, the longest book of the series. It appealed to me as the most interesting book of the heptalogy. The character development in this book is superb. Many potter movie buffs will find this disappointing, and to some extent I'll agree with them.

OOTP is all flashy on the outside, true Radcliffe shows more acting sense/skills than any other stuff he has done. Whereas in the previous movies all the time I felt Rupert Grint was overshadowing Radcliffe's role, it's the other way round this time.

The good stuff of this movie is the visual effects, which are pretty neat. Radcliffe's acting prowess shows a great maturity. The Phelps twins as always are great. Imelda Staunton is superb as Dolores Umbridge, there cannot have been a better choice for Umbridge, she brings the character to life like no other can possibly have done.

The bad stuff is well, the direction, the screenplay, the background score. You always identify a Harry Potter movie with the score. For the first time the central theme of the Harry Potter movies(Hedwig's theme) is missing. That makes a load of difference for the movie watching experience. The screenplay like always is bad. There's bound to be complains about the screenplay if you are a fan of the book. Steve Kloves had raped the books and so has Michael Goldenberg. The direction I felt was poor.

The acting has been of the highest order. Ralph Fiennes as Lord Voldemort, Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, Gary Oldman as Sirius Black, Helena Bonham-Carter as Bellatrix Lestrange, Michael Gambon as Albus Dumbledore, Imelda Staunton as Dolores Umbridge, The Phelps twins as the Weasley twins. The scene where Sirius Black dies, has got to be the highlight of the 5 movies so far. It has got to be the highlight of Radcliffe's career. It was the one scene which was amazingly done.

The special effects were mostly ordinary for the whole movie, but it reached great heights on 2 particular occasions. One during the escapade of the Weasley twins and the other during the final duel between Voldemort and Dumbledore.

Another off beat movie for the Indian movie-goers, and it ain't that bad. Naqaab has a distinctly different style of story telling, and coupled with some exquisite shooting locations it is a visual treat to the eye. Urvashi Sharma is pretty good too. She's a delight to the eyes of every unmarried male. Although I must say the acting in this movie especially of Bobby Deol and Urvashi Sharma was pathetic. Akshaye Khanna is good, but this isn't his best of roles either.

The story is like any Abbas-Mustan thriller. Ripped/adapted from classic Holly flicks. This time around its loosely based on The Truman Show, and no, SLV isn't the derived movie theme. It has a lot of twists and turns towards the end, which makes up for the pathetic first hour of the movie. At one point of time it was hard to imagine if the movie is a thriller or a comedy. The songs aren't that good, the camera work which should have been exquisite,considering video camera plays a chief role in the movie, isn't up to the mark as well.

No point harping on the plot, it is basically a love triangle with a good twist in it. Its a fun watch at the end of the week, after facing the brunt of your boss' wrath.

Satyajit Ray's skills as a screenplay writer is cemented after this movie. Almost the whole of the screenplay is in poetic form. With every sentence in a rhythmic tone with its previous sentence. The comic relief is astounding. Being the second in line of the Goopy-Bagha series it had a lot of expectations. But it fulfilled all its expectations to the brim. With some amazing songs, tunes, coupled with a wonderful screenplay and exquisite acting, it makes one of the greatest movies of the Bengali film industry.

Rabi Ghosh and Tapan Chatterjee reprise their role of Goopi and Bagha. Coupled with Utpal Dutta as the scheming king Of Hirak, the land of diamonds and Soumitra Chatterjee, the honest school teacher, this is one helluva movie that I feel no Bengali should miss. The dialogs used in this movie are famous all over the Bong fraternity. This is yet another feather in Ray's cap.

I was highly skeptical about O13. Ever since the disappointment of O12, I surmised that this series is finished. Soderburgh did not have anything more to give with regards to Danny Ocean and his crew. How wrong I was. He produced the greatest trick up his sleeve. His Ace, Al Pacino. Putting Al Pacino as a negative character as well as Andy Garcia as a pseudo negative role, Soderburgh wins over the audience.

O13 has the simplest of all plots. Something that any man can relate to. One of the eleven is bullied out of his own plans to make a hotel (Elliout Gould) by a high flying business man, known as dirtiest player in his game,(Al Pacino). He bullies Reuben Tishkoff from his own dreams, which results in his heart attack, and he is admitted to a hospital. So, the eleven conspire to take him down, and they put up with a plan that is a dream of every casino goer. They create an atmosphere for 3.5 minutes where every player in the casino wins. Admittedly however vague and idiotic it sounds, they do this very well, and that brings about a smile in your face.

Like in the first movie it was Danny Ocean(George Clooney), Rusty Ryan(Brad Pitt) in the second its Linus Caldwell's (Matt Damon) turn for lady luck. His part is a assistant/secretary for a rich Japanese client,(Shaobo Kin) as well as a translator. He seduces Al Pacino's right hand man or rather woman, Abigail Sponder.

Like the first movie, this one has a detailed plot, with a slick way to steal the cash off. In the end, when Terry Benedict(Andy Garcia) tried to pull one over them, they fool him over once again. There's a small cameo by Vincent Cassel although I hardly felt it was necessary. Maybe Soderburgh was thinking of ending this trilogy with this one, but I hardly think he succeeded in doing that. You cannot end Ocean's trilogy without Julia Roberts and Catherine-Zeta Jones. For all those who are moaning their absence from this movie, Danny Ocean makes it a point that they would not be involved in this heist since it was a matter of avenging their friend and not any normal job.

The acting yet again is superb. Geroge Clooney, Brad Pitt and Matt Damon who are the lead roles in this movie are really good. Especially Matt Damon, who gets a bit of extra reel space due to his supposed affair with Ellen Barkin's character. The rest of the crew, Elliout Gould, Bernie Mac, Don Cheadle, Casey Affleck, Carl Reiner, Shaobo Kin, Scott Caan and Eddie Jameson all have small parts that they do with perfection. Elliout Gould does a fine job of playing the guy in bed, unattached from the world. Don Cheadle, is the one preparing the huge magnetic device, who has a finer aspect of character of writing a poem for the bed ridden Reuben Tishkoff, to help him feel better. The usual animosity between the Malloy brothers, Casey Affleck and Scott Caan is missing, but even then working together for a change they do a fine job of it. Carl Reiner and Shabo Kin probably has the smallest of parts in the movie. Shaobo Kin's role is basically a rich Japanese aristocrat who orders Linus Caldwell about. Carl Reiner posing as a undercover agent for the 5-Star Diamond Awards also has little to offer. Eddie Jameson does a great job solving the codes for the blackjack and working as an employee in Al Pacino's(Willy Banks) hotel. But lastly, no one is more brilliant than Bernie Mac. He basically has 2 scenes to his credit. And even in those 2 scenes he stands out brightly.

O13 is certainly not the best movie of the year, but it certainly is not the worse. It's a fun watch, but when is Danny Ocean and his crew not fun to watch !!!! The direction is good, the acting like always is up to a very high level. The cinematography is good, the background score very nice, special effects though used scantily was also superb. All in all 8/10 !!!

Blockbusters after block busters this summer, and I finally got the movie I was looking for. It was absolutely proper what I though it to be. Pirates O13 were good, but below my expectations. Live Free Or Die Hard is just perfect. Its actually amazing, Bruce Willis the 50 plus guy doing what he did. And truth be told I had my reservations against this movie. All through summer all the blockbusters failed due to a weak script. But Live Free comes with an awesome script, plus some mind blowing CGI. True you get to see loads of vehicles getting blown off, that includes a chopper, and a F-35 not to mention the countless cars. But Bruce Willis does what he does best. Those quirky jokes, and strong language is back.

Acting is perfect, the visual effects stunning, camera work brilliant, dialogs/screen play too good. Die Hard 4.0 was just about perfect. I normally don't give commercial mainstream movies a 9 but going by the current trend this one deserves every bit of it.

Being the first sequel of this year which has a chance to improve upon the box office records of its successor, Silver Surfer casts a cosmic charm on the big screen. Rise of the Silver surfer improvises on the original movie, it starts off with the impending wedding of Susan Storm and Reed Richards. We find a deepening relationship amongst them.

There is a lot of chemistry amongst the four super heroes. Ben Grimm and Johnny Storm who cannot tolerate each other, overcome odds and become great buddies towards the end. We see a new side to Johnny Storm, The human torch. He is still the one to deliver the comic lines, but with a twist of events, he becomes the person responsible leading to missions getting haywire. Its a serious side to his character. Reed Richards, Mr.Fantastic becomes the character he truly is, he leaves the scientist bit, and becomes the leader of the Fantastic Four.

If the first movie was focused on The Thing, then this one is based on the Human Torch. Unlike the first movie where he gets any girl to his liking, in this sequel he is vexed with an army vixen who doesn't spare a moment with him. There is a return of Von Doom, who becomes evil personified with the help of the Surfer's board.

But truly unique is the character of the Surfer. He has feelings for Susan, because she reminds him of his loved one from his faraway planet. His mission is to make ready a planet for destruction. He becomes the tragic hero, the bidder of evil deeds, left with no choice. But his character is truly enigmatic, he is the all powerful being when conjoint with the board. He feeds on cosmic energy which is why practically speaking he cannot be killed or destroyed. His powers are immense. He can consume a missile, without scratching himself.

The special effects are a whole lot better than the previous movie. The final sequence when the Four combine to give their powers to Johnny to destroy Von Doom. Then the initial chase sequence between the Human Torch and the Surfer is also mind blowing. the Fantastic Four vehicle sequence is also pretty neat.

All in all a fair watch, mildly entertaining and good to keep your mind off from work for 2 hours.