Reviews

The movie was badly made, with pointless direction and I surely will not watch it again. But don't get me wrong, the movie did try to raise some important issues, and add a 21st century flavor to an ancient fairytale.

All the fairytales are based on a prince rescuing a damsel, and them living happily ever after. This might have been the case a century or more back, but as of today women want more than just a prince. They want to be successful, to be heard, to be respected - and Cinderella did try to involve them all in its plot, however poorly it may have been executed. Also, the stepmother trying to dissuade Cinderella from following her dreams, so that she didn't get hurt as she didn't believe anyone in the society will support her being a woman - a touch of reality there.

Hopefully, the future of fairytales will follow Cinderella's trail :)

One line review: An amazing watch with a bitter sweet ending that puts a smile on your face.

Dasvidaniya, Russian for 'good bye', is a story of a last stage cancer patient saying good bye to his life and every person who played a part in it. The name of the movie is also a pun on 'bucket list of ten things to do before I Die' made by the protagonist. Amar Kaul is your average middle class Indian guy. He is a sincere, calm and loves his mother. Every morning he wakes up and makes a 'to do list' of things he wishes to accomplish in the day. He has a non complaining attitude towards the world he lives in, never complaining his boss about the work, or to his best friend about the sacrifices he made. He never smoked, drank or did anything outside his routine of affairs. Amar's world collapses around him when he learns that he is at the last stage of stomach cancer, with only three months to live. This revelation comes with a realisation that in his 37 years of existence, he has hardly fulfilled any of his wishes. The next morning, he wakes up and makes a list of things he wants to finish before he dies. Its a tentative list, with more items added later in the movie, a total of ten of them to be exact, which he does cross off before he breathes his last.

His 'list' reflects stupid desires that we all hold, like buying a new car, going for a foreign trip, learn guitar, confessing to his childhood love! One of the most emotional scenes in the movies arrives during his declaration of love to Neha, his childhood love, through a game of dumb charades, a game they always used to play as a team. Neha is now married and has a daughter, but Amar can't die without letting her know that he has always loved her. Another important scene is Amar's head to head with his brother. After all family is the most important thing and one will go to lengths to save it, like Amar's mumma does by taking him to all the babas to save his life. In the end, he brings all important members of his life together. He leaves a gift for everyone behind. He leaves his house for rent to the agent who sold him car, a record of bollywood song to his Russian girlfriend, an album of childhood photos for his love Neha, his car to his guitar instructor. For his best friend he leaves nothing but for me there was a hidden meaning in that action. He has always sacrificed larger share of best stuff for his friend. His best friend keeps the 'list' for himself as a memoir of the life loving person Amar was!

I would definitely recommend this movie to every person ever. Those of us who complain about the deteriorating quality of Bollywood movies, should definitely sit back and enjoy underrated gems like Dasvidaniya.

I went for watching this movie after reading rave reviews from critics and facebook users. It had a high IMDb score as well. Well, it was a disappointment. I did not experience the thrill that was promised in the trailer as well as in the reviews. I did not particularly enjoy the predecessor 'Annabelle' but I did like 'The Conjuring' where the eponymous doll is first introduced. It is about time they start making movies where you don't need to dress up all your female actors in misfitting white clothes to create a supposedly scary environment.

I will not lie, I had very high expectations from this movie! The beautiful cinematography, scenic beauty of Kashmir and Amit Trivedi's music had me bewitched. Also, it was said to be based on Great Expectations, a classic (which I am yet to read). It had all the market and publicity of a great movie but it turned out to be opposite.

I did not have great expectations from the lead actors but the movie as a whole disappointed me at another level. It became unbearable to watch after 1 hour. The story line had no new element, girl and boy are friends, boy obsesses over girl and of course there is class difference. But love triumphs all and voila! we have a happy ending. I was hoping for more background story in the movie apart from the 'fairy tale romance' they were trying to show. The trailer showed the male protagonist shouting slogans about Kashmir, and as the story was set in Kashmir, I was hoping to see some conflict or political warfare. But the hero just wanted to grab attention of the love of his life and screamed those lines for no reason! Last movie that I saw which was set in Kashmir was Haider and it was also based on a classic. I loved Haider and I was hoping for a similar reaction for Fitoor. But it failed badly on every aspect.

I did not keep very high hopes from the lead cast: Katrina Kaif and Aditya Roy Kapoor. Katrina, for all the beauty she stands for, can not act. Aditya Roy Kapoor was better than her but not up to the mark. For a great love story that Fitoor was aiming to be, there was lack of chemistry between the leads. Even Tabu, the veteran actress was being overly dramatic in some scenes.

Kashmir is indeed beautiful but I did not understand the need to add fake snowfall in the last scene. I mean 'please do not spoil the natural beauty by adding your 'creative ideas.' The music of the movie was great. Soulful songs from the maestro Amit Trivedi also could not make the movie work.

Please do not waste your precious time on Fitoor!

The movie starts with a wedding sequence in Pakistan, where you see all of the great actors like Irffan Khan, Arjun Rampal, Huma Qureshi and Rishi Kapoor in action. The plan is to get a hard-to-catch terrorist alive to India. The plan is full proof, but there is one glitch. How did it happen? Flashback to the beginning of it all to a shot of Irffan Khan, acting as a spy for RAW in Pakistan. The adrenaline rush in the first 10 minutes alone was enough to keep me hooked to the movie. In India, the espionage genre is not much developed. This movie is one of the few that are at par with American thriller espionage movies.The story was good, but the performances added the element in the movie. Some scenes ruled the movie, like the wedding sequence, the bazaar scene, the planning for final act etc. It got a little bit monotonous in the second part, that's why a 7 pointer. I wish Bollywood makes more movies like this one.