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Reviews
Krrish 3 (2013)
Amazing VFX. Overall disappointment. *****/10
Comparisons are inevitable, but not justified. You will be comparing 100 years' old SuperHeroes', of #Marvel's, who has been nourished by 'N' number of writers since their inception, to, not even, a decade old KRRISH created by Rakesh Roshan's #FilmKRAFT. Feel good for the fact that he is of Indian origin & has superpowers equal (even more) to any Marvel's SuperHero.
Krrish 3, an adventures action Si-Fi, starts with an experiment of Rohit Mehra where he unsuccessfully gives life to a dead plant with the help of sun-rays (and he thanked Jaadu). Krishna Mehra is living a multidimensional life of a common man, a loving husband, son & a SuperHero, the saviour of the mankind. On the other side we have "KAAL ki Kayanaat". Kaal, introduced in as SuperVillian, played by Vivek Oberoi has his own team of mutants, self created for mass destruction. He, may, no...Surely will remind you of the duo #Magneto & #CharlesXaviour (#Xmen). He wants to get off his wheelchair. He experimented with 'manavs' (human) & 'Jaanavar' (animals) to create 'Maanavars' (#mutants) in order to get their services to find out the solution of his paralyses. Finally, he succeeds but had to face the fury of our Krrish, to death, after that.
Hritik Roshan played Rohit Mehra, in 'Koi Mil Gaya', a challenged boy, mentally. He played Krishna & Krrish, in Krrish, who were supreme powerful, physically. In Krrish 3, he lived all the 3 characters, very smoothly & confidentially, that is Hritik Roshan, #Typically. But, let me admit, although its Krrish's movie, its Rohit Mehra who is soul of it. Krrish has been saving humanity and Krishna Mehra's character has been sandwiched between the other two.
Vivek Oberoi is impressive. Although, most of the time he is on wheelchair, he is very composed through is eyes and voice. Kangana Ranawat, as Kaya, is the most stunning & impressive of all (after VFX). She has been given best costumes, wish Rakesh Roshan could have thought similar for Piggy Chops, who is wasted when we know she can pull off 'Jhilmil' of Barfi.
OK. Even if you do not compare, straight-way, I am not feeling good to say that Krrish 3 is way low from your expectations in every manner, apart from VFX, HR, Kangana & a few. Be it story, dialogues, music, lyrics or a poor screenplay, everything is so average, melodramatic & 90s' when a Superhero flick is expected to be futuristic. The previous version of Krrish had better cinematography than what we see in this movie.
The script and screenplay is so flat, throughout, & never pump up the audience. Lyrics, what can we expect from Sameer Anjana, When we are used to of Amithabh Bhatacharya, Prasoon Joshi & Irsad Qamil?? I always thought that some day Rajesh Roshan will prove costly to FilmKRAFT, he has done it. Given below average music, except "Dil tu hi bata" which has been cinematographed beautifully, as well.
Although it is not, Krrish 3 looks economically poor. It seems that 90% of the budget has been used for creating amazing special effects & only 10% has been utilised for other aspects. It has entirely been shot in studios (apart from one song in Jordan & few scenes in Switzerland). If you observe, you will find the same dancers dancing in two different songs (that shows the budget limitations).
Thanks to SRK. His #RedChilles VFX has done such a stunning job to create the best special effects, ever, in an Indian film, better than Robot, Magadheera & Eega (later two are telgu films).
Krrish 3, may not appeal you but, will surely catch the eyes balls of kids from 6 to 14. In fact, the franchise's target audience is that.
Overall, Krrish 3 is disappointing in terms of presentation but is impressive in VFX. I do not have any reason to recommend this movie to you. Now, I hope "This Year (really) End with a #Doom ".
Madras Cafe (2013)
You can not afford to miss this Cafe.
Upfront, Madras Cafe is a hardcore, extremely intense, agonizing, & may be first of its kind, political-dramatic-thriller, in Hindi. It justifies the term 'no-nonsense '. History assorted with fiction but facts were not disturbed. Facts refers to the ground reality of Jaffna's civil war, Sri Lankan Tamils, Indian bureaucracy , arm dealings across the globe & assassination of Indian Politician (referred in as EX-PM).
Issue is immensely sensitive. The film is a kind of history lessons for new generation. What happened in Jaffna region of Sri Lanka? Why ethnic Tamilans were killed there? Why civil wars happened? Why LTTE (LTF in the film) was formed? Why our Ex-PM was killed? & few more. We must applause for the director and writers who conveyed the utmost sentient tale without justifying, or by taking side of, any party. Yes, they may have failed to capture the trauma of the war affected civilians but it was not meant to do that, end of the day it's an Indian film.
Vikram , a Research & Analytical Wing's agent, was sent to Jaffna on a covert operation to find ways to stabilize/stop the civil wars, were his boss was Bala. Vikram suspected a rat in the house/bureaucracy . India was playing a major role in peace making activities in the region, by sending army and by political interventions. Indian PM wanted to conduct peaceful & democratic elections in Jaffna which was not possible because LTF leader Anna was not convinced/ready for a political solution to the situation. Anna was worried about the rights and future of the ethnic Tamilians living in Sri Lanka. Although he was seen as terrorist from outside, he was a revolutionary for his own people. May be, he was right, but in order to safeguard his own people's interest, he took decisions and executed plans where "We lost our Prime Minister & Sri Lankan Tamils their future." First half of the film is a political-drama and never hits the top gear as a thriller. Slow & steady, questioning your patience, it moves ahead, smoothly, with so many events happening around where you may get lost on few occasions. Second half is high on political-thriller, it compensate for all your patience. Shoojit Sircar, as director, & Jhon Abraham ,as producer, have proved that "Vicky Donor" success was not by chance. This is the first time when somebody has tried to unfold the story of assassination of Indian PM in early 90s, in a film, and they succeeded very much, you can use your grief as parameter, to measure that, while leaving theater.
Jhon, as an actor, kept it low profile throughout which he was meant to do. Nargis Fakari, as an English speaking, international war correspondent was very convincing. The characters who left their marks most, apart from the content, are of Bala , played by Prakash Belawadi, & RAW chief RD, played by Siddhartha Basu. I liked both of them in particular.
We, Hindi film viewers , always crave for "something original & fresh", trust me, you aren't going to complain this time. Screenplay is intelligently written. They had bundle of information to share but they did not wanted to make it a boring experience so they cut short most of the events which provided the required pace to the narration. The script was full of possibilities and a life like art direction assisted in creating effects on viewers & taking edge. Cinematography was of international standards. The background score, by Shantanu Moitra, of first half may remind you of Gladiator or other war films' BG score, but then it was meant to express the agony, were it succeeded.
'Dil Chahta Hai' was the beginning of New Era for Hindi Cinema, Madras Café has taken it to a new Height. "Bhaag Milkha Bhaag" fans, keep your fingers crossed, we have an Academy Award nomination material in "Madras Café", this year.
If you are politically awake & love to watch content based intense-thriller, you cannot afford to miss this Cafe.
Chennai Express (2013)
You should not let it PO.
Chennai Express is an Invasion. Invasion of Hindi cinema into a new territory. A strong territory, never trapped by Hindi producers and directors, identified by SRK way back in OSO & Ra.One. But this time he went several notches ahead flaunts everything & very much down south utilizing the services of ROHIT SHETTY & TEAM.
In a time, when Hindi directors & actors are busy remaking south-Indian movies, only King Khan would have dared to do this. Talking in Tamil, dancing in lungi, fighting a giant (Tangaballi), unleashing his usual charm, and all in a TAMIL FILM which is made in Hindi.
Rahul, a 40 years unmarried(yes, SRK haters, he is not playing 25), boarded Chennai Express to PO Goa, from Mumbai. He has to fulfill the last wish of his grandfather to immerse his ashes in Rameshwaram. Yeah, you may wonder why he boarded Chennai Express when he had to PO Goa?? & why he wanted to PO Goa when he had to immerse the ashes in Rameshwaram, which is in TN??? Leave your mind aside and get into CE with a valid ticket (say no to piracy), you will meet Meenaamma (Deepika) talking adorable Hindi in south Indian accent. She will take you to her village where her father is a Don of the area.
Chennai Express has label of Rohit Shetty pasted all over it. The fun, the out of box jokes, the one liners , drama, action, colorful 4-wheelers, funny & witty references from other movies (my name is Rahul but I am not a terrorist/DDLG sequences) everything yells loud 'yes I am a product of Rohit Shetty'.
If, being an honest SRK fan, you were not satisfied with the kinds of roles he did in recent past, this Rahul will surely compensate for all that. You may not have seen him doing comedy like this before. The credit should go to Rohit Shetty. Deepika P is a surprisingly better than before to an extent that she outdone SRK in few scenes.
Rohit booked tickets for a bunch of Tamil actors for this journey. Satyaraj, father of Deepika, & Nikitin Dheer as Thangballi were extremely appealing and convincing in their powerful characters. Tamil has been used like no other south Indian language, in Hindi films, ever.
The cinematographer, Dudley, has used his camera impressively. Capturing the running train, high speed floating boats, chopper, tea plantation etc on that large scale leaves you satisfied. Screenplay is flawless, it won't leave you, throughout. The story, off course, is vintage, but the script, humor, performances, music, in one word the presentation is mass entertainer –pure masala.
Vishal Sekhar created good number using words of Amitabh Bhatacharya. Kashmir mai
., Titali, & 1 2 3 4 are already roaring the chart-busters.
The movie is carrying huge expectations of entertainment & business on its shoulders. Rohit Shetty proved his mettle, once again, by delivering the most entertaining film of the year, so far. Business?? It has SRK, his fans in North India, Europe, USA , Gulf countries, Sub-continent & now in Tamil Nadu. Business is not going to be a difficult task for it.
The verdict- "You should not let it PO."
Raanjhanaa (2013)
Rare Delight
Romantic movie & movie with a love story, there are differences. Think twice, you will find them. Raanjhanaa is an out and out hardcore, brutal love story, garnished with brilliant performances, script, music, dialogues, wit, cuss-words and aroma of Banaras.
Director, Anand Rai, knows & exploits the right chord to give 'goose- bumps' to his viewers. First Kanpur (Tanu Weds Manu) now it's Banaras. He roped in a National Award winning actor to play the prime character, Kundan, in this heart wrenching tale. Kundan's family has been brought from Tamil Nadu, some 200 years ago, to Banaras for practicing 'Panditayi' on the ghats of Ganga.
All started in a way you have rarely witnessed, in the recent past. The writer and director gave you no time between any two incidents in the narration. Pre-interval it's amazingly paced & power packed. Kundan, aka Pandit, stalking Zoya everyday & everywhere. Zoya, like a typical girl, enjoyed every bit of this 'picha karana'. The game of teenage continued its journey, with a break of 8 years, to their young age and drifted from ghats of Banaras to JNU & political streets of Delhi, via Punjab. Murari, the childhood friend, tried his every bit to save Kundan, from the love of Zoya, who was trying to get something which was not in the lines of his hands, but like they say 'an excited heart has no ears' or the typical line "Love is Blind", Kundan unknowingly (knowingly) wrote his own destiny.
Post interval, everything and everybody was so scattered that it was quite a task to move ahead with the narration. In the consequence, director injected something which was not enough to satisfy you emotionally or mentally, as a viewer. But, again the climax lifts the film up to the level from where it started.
Dhanus, as Kundan, may be a surprise for them who have seen him for the first time. We have two categories of actors in the film industries across the globe, A) Superstars & Actors. You can count many superstars and as many actors. But, there is a rare breed of Acting Superstars, Dhanus belongs to it. It's the immense talent of this Tamil Actor that not only he dubbed in his own voice but he brought the Banarasi accent, the real essence, in his dialogue delivery. You can sense the way he speak as a teenager and as a mature man. His body language, cute smile & expressive eyes, all yells a lot about his stature as an actor.
By far, this is a better performance of Sonam Kapoor, as Zoya. Zoya is an unaccountable character & Sonam did justice to it. Abhay Deol, as Jasjit, in his short presence made his way and showed his (usual) elegant side of acting as a political leader. The actor or the character, other than Dhanus's Kundan, who left his mark and got few best lines in this love story is Murari, played by Md Zeeshan Ayyub. Swara Bhaskar as Bindiya is fantastic.
The duo, ARR and Irshad Qamil once again, after Rockstar, created musical magic. Raanjhanaa,Tum Tak, Banarasiya all are beautiful and expresses the circumstances of the characters. Rehman's background score, too, is good as always.
Directors, after getting fed up of capturing lush green Europe & glittering American streets, have moved to the trendy France, Classy Chez, Turkey & Latin American countries in search of new locations. But, Anand Rai has used the Banarsi locations, viz assi ghat, Ramnagar Qila, BHU & JNU, to tell his story & he succeed better than most of his contemporaries. Banaras has never been cinematographed like this before.
Himanshu Sharma, the story and dialogue writer, deserves some acknowledgment in the award functions next year. Rarely we do remember so many dialogues once we get out of the theater.
You hate love stories?? It's a must watch for you. You love love stories??? Go and watch the other dimension of it.
The Great Gatsby (2013)
The Great Gatsby is a cinematic, dramatic & visual feast.
One of the most awaited Hollywood movie this year. Based on a novel, its a story of Gatsby, more accurately a love story of Gatsby. Set in the New York City of 1920s, The Great Gatsby a cinematic, dramatic & visual feast. 3D effects makes it immensely absorbing and attractive. The grand sets, the attire, cinematography, music, dialogues & performances, everything together creates impressive scenery on the screen.
The film is narrated by Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire-aka Spider man), who is the cousin brother of Daisy (Carey Mulligan) , who is married to one the richest man of America, Tom Buchanan, & is also the ex of Mr. Gatsby.
Mr. Gatsby is a mystery. Nobody has exact clue about what he does and from where he got millions of money. Some says he is a spy, some says a murder, for some he is an Oxford man, a war fighter, a drug dealer, a Mafia & interestingly some believes he does not even exist. But he does, he has money, depth in his mind, has desires, determination, passion & most importantly hope (as reminded by the narrator time and again).
Gatsby throws the most glittering party of NYC, time and again, but he invites nobody. Interestingly, in NYC, if it's Gatsby's party, it is understood that whole of NY is invited. Glamour, glitz, alcohol, drugs, girls, music (Jaz), dance floor, you can have all of them, as much you want, at no cost. He has bureaucrats, administrative people, wealthy people, celebrities and all, as guest, in his parties. He is respectable to all of them. Nobody knows (or even care to know) the reason for these parties. But he had the reason. Gatsby acts this way in hopes of winning back Daisy's, his ex, love despite five years of separation and her marriage to another man, Mr. Buchanan. He planned his reunion with Daisy and took help of her cousin, who is also his neighbour, Nick.
The first half an hour tries to baffle you in the name of Jay Gatsby. Director, Baz Luhrmann, unsuccessfully tried to create hysteria of Gatsby. But, when he really appears, some 30 minutes later, smiling, dressed elegantly & talking gracefully, you feel like on cloud nine.
I am a Leo fan and firmly believes that he is the best we have today. Leonardo Di Caprio, as Jay Gatsby, is a treat to watch. He is undoubtedly the most ( successfully) experimenting actors, who keeps balance of both commercial & artistic aspects, in the world today. Whenever you see him, you do not want to see anything else. After playing a cruel plantation owner in Django UnChained, he is immensely convincing as a baffling lover, who has a father like figure, who guides him in his works, played by none other than Amitabh Bacchan. Mr. Bacchan, in an special appearance (which according to him is not his Hollywood debut but a friendly gesture to the director) left his mark as an actor, unlike Anil Kapoor in Mission Impossible. He was raw.
Tobey Maguire, the narrator, has in fact more footage than Gatsby himself. You see the film through his eyes & heart. But that's where films negative point lies, if there are any. Carey Mulligan, as Daisy, and Joel Edgerton, as Tom Buchanan are good. Particularly Joel Edgerton played MR. Buchanan, a rich American, polo player & flamboyant to the core.
Script is a delight. NYC going through changes, post World War I, in 1920s is, off course, a work of imagination but it works like magic. Screenplay and cinematography are top notch. Dialogues are impressive, & the best part is you don't have to see dictionary to understand them. They are simple but have sole and wit in them.
Overall, The Great Gatsby is a love story of selflessness which has some really good looking dishes on the supper table with an average starters, but good main course and desserts. Anything less than 7/10 will be an underestimation of this charming tale. What say "old sport" ??
Special Chabbis (2013)
Special 26
Neeraj Pandey, a 40 years old(young) man from a Bihari family background who shocked (pleasantly) many by his socio-dramatic thriller, the story of a common man, A Wednesday, is now narrating a story of 'con-men'
'Special 26' based on the real incidents of 80s where a group of people posing to be CBI & IT official raided (robbed) many politicians, businessmen across the country without getting caught & also without any complain on the police records.
The story is predictable, as it is based on real incidents, but the film being a Neeraj's baby was bound to surprise you in the climax, going by the standard he set through his previous film. (it may remind you of Ocean's series of George Clooney & Brad Pit). Never the less, the script, the art direction, pacey screenplay, wittiness of the characters & a BANG ON background score by Sanjoy Chowdhary are they key elements other than the performances which will keep you hooked. The vision of Neeraj about the look of the film is also stealer
I haven't seen Connaught Place of 1987, I haven't seen Delhi roads of 1987, and many have not seen the Zaveri Baazar of 1987 in Mumbai, Delhi airport, Howrah Junction, Chandigarh Airport
.Neeraj showed us all
Maruti 800, Maruti Van, Chetak Scootar, Matador, the telephone sets, & yes.. Ajay (the one who can never be defeated) played by Akshay Kumar carrying 'white pair of Shoes'.
Since, the film is based on the real events and because of that the director had restrictions as far as the plot and its execution was concerned. He had to stick to the actual happenings leaving almost negligible scope for taking cinematic liberties. Still, he made facts look like fantasy.
Performance wise, Akshay Kumar was well composed, did something refreshing, never went over the top (like he do most of time, and you blame only SRK)
he played a Khiladi, here as well. Anupam Kher is a master, was good as a 'fattu' conman. Jimi Shergil is good. Kajal Agrawaal, played the love interest of Akshay, has pretty face, but has not got substantial role in this thriller.
I believed Manoj Bajpai when he said that we haven't seen even 20% of him as an actor. This movie, once again, proves that he is among the finest we have. The rest of the actors did well with whatever they were given.
Music of MM Kareem is soothing. It's not a musical, 'Mujh me tu' stands out. The background music, as I already mentioned, is another leading character of the film.
Overall, Special 26 is a well-made, entertaining thriller with a little hiccup here and there which you may ignore considering other things about it. ***1/2