Fashion

This was one movie that I had been waiting for quite some time now, and it certainly didn't disappoint me. It is also a film which saves Priyanka Chopra after a series of flops that she's had this year, and she's back with a bang. It's an all out female dominated film and the men are required for all the supporting characters. Madhur Bhandarkar true to his image of making 'realistic' films lives upto his reputation. It certainly won't come as a surprise if this film or the lead actor wins a National Award!
The movie traces the journey of an aspiring model (Priyanka) from a small town (Chandigarh) and her struggle to the top, her inability to handle success leading to arrogant behaviour and then to her fall and finally her rise back to being a supermodel. Through this journey Madhur shows the world of gay designers, the marriage of convenience between one such rich guy with a model (Mugdha), hints of casting couch, tranformation in attitide of models, and how they take up to drinking, smoking and doing drugs trying to cope up with the stress. Kangana plays an established model who is unable to cope up with the pressures - drinks, smokes and does drugs and finally succumbs. The newcomer Mugdha Godse has done pretty well for her first film in the role of a sensible and rooted model though not very successful one. The movie shows us the not so glamorous side of the fashion industry, the struggle and sacrifice and compromises involved behind all the glitz and glam. Priyanka and Kangana have displayed amazing acting skills (Kangana seems to playing similar roles of drinking-smoking-lost in life woman in all her movies) and I am quite sure this is one of their career deifining movies. Goes without saying it is a must watch!

Mumbai Meri Jaan

Mumbai Meri Jaan is a movie based on the serial train blasts in July 2006 in Mumbai. The films depicts the never-say-die attitude of the Mumbaikars even in the face of the most testing situations. Slices from the lives of 5 characters post the blasts are interwoven in this movie. The acting of each and every character is superb and at par with the superior script and direction. The story has been handled with utmost sensitivity digging deep into the various facets of human emotions which is bound to move you and leave you moist-eyed in the end. It effectively brings out how the same disaster can mean different things to different people depending on which side you stand - a victim or a mute observer. Over all it's a must watch movie and a meaningful one too in these times.

Singh in Kinng

One of the blockbusters of this year with a record collection of Rs 18 Cr in the weekend of its realease. Well, but honestly this movie made no sense to me, since if I am asked I really won't be able to describe the story. The movie has its comical moments in phases and bursts (what with Akshay Kumar in the scene!) and the beauty called Katrina Kaif to ensure that there is sufficient (eye) candy to last through the movie. Must say that she is going through the most lucky phase of her career with back to back hits with Akshay, despite the fact that she can't act even a wee bit. Overall the movie is a good TP (time pass) provided you have left your brains at home and are prepared to go through a lot of mindless comedy.

God Tussi Great Ho

Salman Khan as usual at his antics with his brother used as a prop which nothing but reminds us of "Partner". The movie is not so bad (but not too great either). It's the story of a man who is frustrated with everything going horribly wrong with his life that be begins to blame God for everything. One fine day God appears before him and hands him the reins of this world for 10 days. As expected he screws up everything and asks God to rewind those 10 days and thus comes to the conclusion that what ever and how much ever God has given each one of us is not only sufficient but approporiate too. The only attraction of this movie is the song "Tujhe Aksa beach ghumau, aa chalti hai kya..." :D

Bachna Ae Haseeno

An entertaining movie, with the right masala mix of a typical song and dance Bollywood drama. The movie has pulled up all the Yash Raj movie names and used them indiscriminately and particularly has gone overboard with DDLJ. The references to DDLJ are a little too much and the nostalgia does help to push the movie forward. "Rajgiri" is a new term coined by the protagonist of this movie. The first half is quite fast paced and entertaining and the movie slackens post-interval and the scenes also don't make much sense. The three women - Bipasha, Minissha and Deepika have played their roles quite well. In any case I would describe this as a Paisa Vasool film, thanks to the beautiful picturisation and melodiuos songs. Ranbir as a newcomer has justified his role, though his attempts to match up to SRK's charm is best described as feeble.

Love Story 2050

The futuristic appeal of the movie was what attracted me to go for a first day evening show. It didn't quite live upto the expectations, but it certainly wasn't a horrible movie. There were plenty of drawbacks some of them being a lack of a strong story line and it being too long a movie. But Harman as an actor and dancer does prove himself in his debut film. Whether his uncanny resemblance to Hrithik in appearance and dance moves is a lucky factor, only time can tell. The story is pretty confusing since it wasn't clear how the hero is so certain to find the dead heroine sometime in the futuristic timeframe (2050). However the visuals and the imaginative projection of Mumbai after so many decades was certainly interesting. Some serious editing should have been done before the film's release in addition to a better storyline. Nothing much can be expected from the movie, apart from Priyanka's cute little robotic teddy and the imaginary view of Mumbai sometime in the future.

Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic

The Hum Tum couple fails to create magic expected in TPTM. In this movie, Rani plays a fairy, who is sent down on earth to bring together 4 kids and Saif - the latter being responsible for the death of the kids' parents in an accident. The court puts the kids under Saif's care as his punishment and Saif has a tough time handling them until Rani comes in bringing with her her magical powers. Ameesha who is supposed to have a guest appearance seems to me to have lingered on in the movie a lot more than was necessary. She struts her new hot-bod in an underwater song, and wears mini-dresses through out the movie and there's not much substance in her character (not meant to be there either). A nice attempt to blend together Mary Poppins, Sound of Music and the like, the Bollywood way but somehow it fails to stir the emotions the way it is supposed to. The kids are all fabulous in their roles and have done due justice. However, the eldest kid who is supposed to be 9 years old in the movie looks a lot older to me. Also Rani using her magical powers so often amidst the human being doesn't appear to be raising any sort of suspicion. Apart from these minor glitches, the movie is pretty fairly made and is a one time watch.

Aamir

This movie definitely is a breath of fresh air in the deluge of movies in Bollywood. The title of the movie is the name of the protagonist, and the story revolves around the happenings in a single and the last day in his life. The movie shows how Aamir is manipulated very deftly by a fundamentalist group and an attempt is made to force him into an act of terrorism through threats made to his family. The movie takes one through the dingy and dirty lanes of Mumbai, showing the real and unglamourous side to the city of dreams. Aamir was handed a briefcase with a bomb to be planted in a bus. When he gets to know of the content much later, he is torn between his duty of saving innocent souls and his love for his family. However in the end he decides that the greater good takes precedence and gets down from the bus only to be blown up in a relatively isolated corner. But then in the end the media brands him a terrorist! Overall the movie is really well made, concept pretty original, and acting mind blowing. Rajeev Khandelwal debuts in Bollywood in a movie sans heroine, sans songs. Despite that he manages to win the hearts of the audience through his acting and amazing expressions. Definitely worth a watch.

Khuda Kay Liye

An amazing movie. It's a very intense and thought-provoking movie. The issue of terrorism and religion has been very delicately dealt with. The direction, star-cast, screenplay etc. etc. is really beyond what words can describe. Watch it to know more about it. Btw, if it may add some value, I would like to mention that I myself have watched this movie twice on 2 consecutive days!

Bhoothnath

I wonder why Big B even plays such horrendous roles! Is he trying to compensate for the all the money that Junior B is unable to rake in? The only good point of this movie is the cute little boy who has acted decently well. Juhi Chawla and SRK were nothing but support characters, but who nontheless did justice to their roles. But what's wrong with Mr. Bachchan? What inspired him to play a Bhoot of all characters :). And well this was no ordinary bhoot- he had a lot of powers, he could magically move around things and had the capacity to vanish into thin air and make himself visible only to a select few as and when he desired. He seems to develop a special attachment to the little boy, seeing in him his own grandson. Although he had in the past scared away all the earlier residents of the house (which actually had belonged to him) who had come to live there after his death, he wanted the young boy and his family to stay on. The movie ends with the ghost finally being given "Mukti" by performing "Shraddh" but for some reason he still appears in front of the kid to amuse him :) Overall it is a once watch movie, with nothing particularly noteable to make it a must-watch.

U Me Aur Hum

A much awaited movie marking the comeback of sorts of Kajol and Ajay Devgan together. It honestly failed to create the magic that it promised, but nevertheless is a movie worth a watch. The first half of the movie is spent with Ajay trying to woo his lady love - Kajol - who plays hard to win. No prizes for guessing that he wins and they finally get married. Now comes the difficult part - the stage of keeping together a relationship which is almost on the verge of falling apart. Kajol is diagnosed with Alzheimer's, and that makes it really difficult for Ajay since she keeps forgetting everything. Added to it is that they have a baby to take care of which Kajol proves incapable of doing. The decision whether to keep Kajol under professional care in an asylum or to keep her at home tears apart Ajay. The movies marks the triumph of love and the keeping of a promise of togetherness, under the most trying circumstances. Certainly not a bad movie to watch.

Race

There wasn't another movie of which I have heard such mixed reactions from people. There were people who absolutely hated this movie to ones who liked it. I fall in the latter category. Admitted that the plot wasn't original, but then which Bollywood movie is? Accepted that the comedy was a little cheap at times, but how many Bollywood comedies fall under the A1 category? The overall packaging was done keeping entertainment in mind and no doubt it has succeeded in the same. An Abbas-Mustan movie cannot come without its shares of thrills and suspense, but I guess the twists and turns in this movies was just too much which keeps you guessing all the while as to who is the one who is running the show all the while. Added to this were fast horses and even faster cars, steamy scenes, sexy ladies, hot hero(es?? :)), to serve an absolutely spicy movie. The movie is so fast paced that before you can say Jack Robinson, on comes another twist and the climax is something which is totally unexpected (and unreal too- but again which Bollywood movies isn't?). A total Masaledar movie but then again not everyone likes such movies is what I have discovered!!!

Jodhaa Akbar

Well, my first and foremost caution to one and all would be you 'd better know good Urdu, unless you wanna end up being like me- totally lost amidst the ocean of heavy words in an un-understood language. Secondly, the movie is too dragging- I really wonder whether the emperors of those days really had so much time and patience to win over their lady love slowly and steadily with lots of music, dance and poetry thrown in. In addition there is always the scheming saas of all Indian sagas, albeit this was not the real mom-in-law, but the one that brought up Akbar as a baby. Despite all the boredom of the snail-paced progress, and the complex dose of language-test endurance, the movie is worth a one-time watch if you have all the time in the world, and particularly so if you are in a light mood to absorb the fan-fare, grandeur and elaborate rituals of the olden days' kings and the not so infrequent battles being fought. Was Akbar really as generous as has been portrayed in the movie? Well, I leave it to the historians to debate and answer.

Enchanted

A fairy tale like movie with a happily ever after ending :) though with a twist in the tale. It begins with an animation which is rather cute with plenty of music and songs thrown in. The animation describes a wicked step-mother queen who doesn't want his son to fall in love and get married for the fear of losing her throne. She punishes the young prince's lady love on the wedding day, by throwing her into the land of human-beings (NY- this is where the animation part ends) where the young girl learns many a human traits and emotions the hard way. What happen subsequently is rather unusual with her falling in love with a common being on earth. There has been many a use of fairy tale events like Cinderella's shoe and Snow White's poisonous apple in the story. Over all quite a sweet musical movie with an unexpected turn of events.

Sunday

Time time time!!! kab milega ki main likhu :) ??

Halla Bol

Will write when I get some time :)