Badmash Comany

When generation X feels making a fast buck is mark of a successful person in society, it  sounds too good to be true for all ambitious youngsters. There are instances of  Gates, Ambani and others who have made it big  not because of education but because of right timing, right business acumen, right contacts and listing on the bourses.   What was earlier termed to be unethical yesterday  may become ethical today.  For example earlier people used to smuggle electronic goods and gold due to high import duties, but due to economic liberalisation earlier smugglers have become successful 

Karan ( Shahid Kapoor ) Zuki ( Chang ) Bul Bul ( Anusha Sharma ) & Vir form the core protagonist of the badmash company.  They pull off their first stunner with the help of duping through customs loophole.  But it is too good to last with our FM launching liberalisation scheme of cutting down cutoms duty from 120% to 20%.  The dream of making fast buck in India by importing comes to a drastic end.

The camera now moves from Mumbai to Bangkok & New York.  Karan shifts from his family home, due to mis understanding with dad with right way to earn livelihood.  The generation gap and thinking widens.  Luckily Karan has his uncle Jazz to sponsor him in US, together with his cronies he moves lock stock and barrel.  The story now takes interesting twist and turn.  He starts displaying shades of grey in his character and gets into all unethical means of earning a fast buck.  I don t want to rob the thrill of watching a good storyline......by revealing the plot guys.  Shahid after a long time has done full justice to his role, come guys give him his due for the role with shades of grey and white... Anousha has literally added some flesh to the movie, Indian Idol Star Chang is a revealation along with Vir........Parmeet Sethi seems to have taken off to the next level.........movie deserves to be a hit

Will Karans unethical Ponzi method will land him jail ? Will he reform ?  Will his ambition get fulfilled to become famous in an ethical manner ?  Watch the movie...........to know the twist and turn of the storyline.  Parmeet Sethi’s direction and some  raunchy smooches are hallmark of this movie. 

Badmash company is a movie with a clear message to generation X, there is no short cut to success, beware of  ingenious methods of duping but do not adopt it for godsake............I am sure whoever sees the movie will get the message right.  Being an Yash Raj banner the film is well packaged and promoted without much hype.

Housefull

Hats off to Sajid Khan for pulling off a superb slapstick comedy in Housefull.  He is like a magician who puts his wand to good use with a simple storyline and weaves a potboiler in terms of rib tickling comedy sequence one after another.   This movie opened to 40% occupancy in Bangalore which is disappointing when people were expecting a super duper hit.  But a good movie works with word of mouth publicity better, and i am sure it will pick up houseful noticeboard outside the theatre pretty soon over the weekend.

The storyline is spread across Macau, U.K and Italy.  Arush ( Akshay Kumar )  is deemed to be most unluckiest person and is employed in an casino, where the his employer uses him to ensure that his customer loose their winning streak.  His curse is supposed to break only when he meets a girl of lucky charm and his spell of bad luck is supposed to vanish.  He goes with a ring and proposes to his girl friend Pooja ( Malliaka Arora, but he is dejected because she rejects him outright since he has wrought enough bad luck.  Her brother Major Krishna Rao ( Arjun Rao ) beats him to pulp and warns him not to come any where near her.  So his panauti ( unlucky ) spell continues to haunt him.....He decides to take a break and join his friend BOB ( Rithesh Deshmukh ) in london.

Arush lands in Bob’s house to give him a surprise, but least does he know that he is no more a bachelor married to Hetal ( Lara Dutta )  From here the story takes a leap into rib tickling comedy sequence one after the other........Hetal suggests it will good idea if Arush gets really married to her bosses daughter who is traditional and well bought up.  Kishore Samtani ( Randhir Kapoor ) is the owner of a plush pub with a disco floor where Hetal is working as a waitress and Bob as bartender.  How they manage to convince the boss to agree to his daughter Devika’s ( Jiah Khan ) Marriage to Arush too is a funny sequence. 

How  Sandy ( Deepika Padukone )  comes into the life of Arush ? Does Batuk Patel ( Bomman Irani ) accept his daughter’s marriage to  Bob.  How Chunkey Pandy ( aakri pasta character ) uses his tongue twisting dialouges to fool the couple have to been seen and enjoyed on the big screen.

The big banner Eros movie from the pair of  Sajid Nadiadwala and Sajid Khan is definitely meant for relaxation, one need not tax their brain.  The lovely locale of  Italy is well picturised in the song sequence.  The rendition song Apni to aise taisi, na koi aage, na koi peecha is brilliantly choregraphed by Sajid’s sister Farah Khan.  Overall the movie has to be watched for its humourous content.  The climax of the movie is heart rending when the ice is broken ?  Don t ask me how....simple go and enjoy the Houseful comedy.

Note ; Lawaris remix song is mired in controversy over copyright.  The song might be deleted so watch it before the court order is implemented.

City of Gold

The movie is a tell tale historical recollection of textile mills which was once the lifeline of Mumbai working class. Once upon a time 58 textile mills dominated the central suburbs of mumbai stretching from Lalbagh, Byculla, Parel, Dadar, Wadala, Sewri, etc. More than 5 lakh workers thronged the mills to the shrill sirens. In a way there is a semblence of biographical reference to Datta Samant who was rebel leader by large without political affliation to any mainstream party. He was called as the Doctor by many of his comrades. How the textile mill strike in 1982 crippled the workers and gave way to greed of mill owners  to encash on the prime real estate instead of bothering to run the industry providing employment and livelihood to millions.

The plot of the film revolves around Anna who is the head of the Dhuri family. He opts for voluntary retirement with the hope that all his dues will be settled by the mill owners, but alas his gratuity amount is not settled by the management. He struggles to meet the ends of the family with only one of the three sons Mohan ( Vineet Kumar ) working in pvt co operative bank, he is carried away by cricket and its nuances so much so that he is addicted to the transister forever, another son Baba ( Ankush Chowdhry ) is a struggling writer with a hope that one day his story would be recognised and he would make it big in the field of theatre. Naru is the third son who is bought up with carefree attitude, he enters into the local chawl dadagiri for sake of protecting his friends and family from persecution. How he branches out into the shady underworld of supari killer, which he regrets in midst of the storyline is very well picturised.


Strong matriach role is played by Seema Biswas as AAI of the family, she undergoes the struggle of a homemaker remarkably well. Manju plays the role of a daughter who witnesses the family struggling to meet their end. How she battles her own destiny is the very interesting to watch and enjoy. This movie is a definite watch for a family to indirectly impart sex education to their grown up children. There is interesting story too weaved around Kashmira shah and Satish Kaushik. This subject is so very well weaved into the plot, hats off to the original writer who was an ex mill worker turned journalist who conceived the play Adhantar.

This movie of Mahesh Manjrekar is inspired from the play Adhantar and Jayant wrote the screenplay and it took them 3 solid years to find a producer for the movie itself speaks of the triumph of all the souls who were betrayed and buried in the hope of settlement from the mill owners.The movie is a definite watch for all the movie goers who like to watch a classic tell tale story with commercial tinges.

The hues of the mill environs created almost resembles the times of 50 and 60’s when Datta Samant was emerging. It is nostalgic for me in particular since my father too was very active in trade union associated with all the likes George Fernadez, B.D.Jatti, Virandra Patil, etc but in Petroleum field working in Burmah Shell. He had to quit during the strike in 1960 rather than compromise with the management owning responsibility rather than accepting a promotion as foremen as a bribe. He had to move out the fabulous Shell colony residence which is situated in Chembur, I have seen the struggle in the chawls of Kurla having personally experienced it too with Zode and family.

One would at present conviniently, forget the chawl and textile mill life or yore,  of Mumbai in the days of Mega Malls and apartments which dot the skyline of central mumbai , kudos to Mahesh Manjrekar in bringing out the stark reality of mill workers struggle. Textile workers dressed up the nation, but they were stripped to the core.   City of gold is virtually a tribute to these unhearlded mill workers of Mumbai. It is not only a watch for mumbaites but all citizens of the country. I would rate the movie 5/5 for the passionate depiction of fate of the mill workers of mumbai. I am sure this film will win awards galore.

This movie is a lesson for the IT workers too in a scuttle manner, don t fall prey to unionism, which can destroy the very fabric of employment generating industry. And the pitfalls of huge property currently in possession of IT industry can be aptly compared to the yester years Textile mills. The movie is heart wrenching and violent in some portions.

Pathshala

The crass commercialisation of education is beautifully potrayed in Paathshaala. The locale is Saraswathi Vidya Mandir, which is headed by upright principal Aditya Sahay ( Nana Patekar ) who has served with distinction for the past 3 decades. During his tenure the school has prouduced many a distinguished alumni who are CEO, industrialist, businessmen, politicians etc. He is known for his discipline and emphaty to students. The scene where a student pisses in his pants brings out peel of laughter and realty of the campus discipline. Over a period of time the school goes down in ranking in the rat race.




The trustees are now desperate to encash the brand equity of the school. The invite Aditya Sahay and give him an ulitimatum that he should produce substantial profits within a short span of time. Otherwsie the management would prefer upgraduation of the school to provide 5 star type of facility and realise better fees. A comprehensive plan is submitted to the principal. He has to implement it or get out of the way.

Rahul Prakash Udayavar ( Shahid Kapoor ) joins the school as an English teacher with music as a hobby. The principal requests him to teach music too, but he refuses since he is not perfect in the field. Anjali Mathur ( Ayesha Takia ) plays a multiple role of dietician ( nutrition specialist ) warden and music teacher. She convinces Rahul to teach music to students.

When you want to bring major change it is better to despatch key personnel on leave or holiday, which is indication that days are numbered for the principal. This is universal policy i suppose in the corporate world too, it is implemented. In comes the villianious character of Sharma who believes in carrying out the dictates of the trustee to the core. He begins a series of cost escalation measures on various food items, music classes, sports kit, etc which are all aimed at generating more revenue for the school. Including the school fees is hiked substantially. When the parents protest he quotes the supreme court verdict that private schools have the discretion of charging whatever fees they decided. He starts insulting the school teachers and strictly advices them to follow the guidelines of the trustee.

The count down for Nana has begun to exit from the school, the management employ professional mavericks to train students for various competition and extra curricular activities to hype the schools achievement. Will the trustees be successful in their effort. Will the teachers co operate with the management ? A dilemma of sorts plays out in the mind of Anjali whether to quit and go abroad instead of rotting in India, What is the motivation for Rahul to stay back in SVM ? The climax of the movie is rivetting. All the doubts will be answered in the movie.
During my days schools and colleges were not commercial at all the central school fees was Rs 7 pm, Degree was Rs 15 pm and MBA was Rs 25 pm. The question of paying single np donation was not there, nor tution was seen as a good practise. So education was less of a burden for parents and children. The kids were free to play the game of their choice, there was no compulsion. Nor extra curicular activity such as drama or elocution or quiz was compulsory. We used to once a way participate just for the fun of it not for any reward or recognition.

Well for all parents and teacher this film is an eye opener. Teachers should be passionate to mould the students as good citizens of the future. I hope this movie receives tax free status so that it can be watched for the sheer pleasure of understanding the old school of thought.

How is the education institution going to fulfill the rising demands of the teachers salary and perks. Well the key to this will be govt. subsidy and donation by the alumni who pass out from the school. And of course the current trend of parent taking loan in the name of the ward to complete education and later to be repaid by the ward is the way to go. The mellowed down role of Nana Patekar is seen to believed in Paathshala.

Prince

Prince seems to aping 007 to a certain extent. Vivek Oberoi’s ( Prince ) last ditch effort to resurrect his sagging career seems to have worked to a certain extent. To get an opening of which was 40% occupancy is a good beginning. I was carried away by the trailer of the film which was full of action.

The movie begins with an action packed diamond heist with Vivek Oberoi pulling off a spectacularly executed action scene. So the opening 10 minutes of the movie is not to be missed for movie buffs. Than one finds out the hero is subject to a research Nano technology chip implant by the villian Sarang. This technology has the potency of erasing the memory from the brain with regard to past events. No wonder Prince lands up in amenesia status.

To help him recollect his past three gals, who are akin to bond gals, but no where near comparison come into his life claiming to be Maya. One after the other he finds that he has been taken for a ride. How he resolves to recoup from the danger of the villianious coup to erase his memory is the jist of the storyline. If this technology which was experimented on Prince succeeds it will prove to be a grave threat to mankind. Will Prince and cops help to salvage the chip which is hidden in an antique coin be recovered ? Will Prince survive the 6 days deadline, which will endanger his memory permanently to crash ?

Action scenes are well picturised in South Africa, Thailand and Manali. But i would say it is tad overdone, because with machine gun reckless firing only one bullet strikes the hero. The new gals in Aruna Shields, Nandana Sen and Neeru singh all play Maya’s role in deception pretty well. Isaiah plays the villanious role of Sarang with aplomb. Sanjay Kapoor too seems to have a revival in the film as police officer in special appearance. Songs are nothing to crave or rave about. The action scenes are well executed. I personally feel the special effects by Tata elexi has added some zing to the movie.
Overall it is just a time pass movie which does not rake one’s brain. One can enjoy their pop corn and just watch the mindless action packed movie. If the movie had some more suspense element it would have hit the box office. So my ranking for the movie is 3/5. Vivek Oberoi rocks in the movie with some sensous kissing scene with some double i suppose. I would recommend the movie is a must watch for Viveks fans.

Tum Milo toh Sahi

I was surprised Tum milo to Sahi, not even one review is posted in MS, and therefore i am penning it as a diary. I am reminded of one wintry noon in 2008 in January when i landed in mumbai. I was crossing the Bandra flyover as pedestrian  and was caught by the TC and fined 254 bucks for ticket less travelling. What a welcome back to Mumbai. Oops sorry for the digression guys, this movie is not about tourist travails, but about saving heritage in modern Mumbai & commercial world in general.


Dilnaaz ( Dimple Kapadia ) is an old parsi lady who runs Lucky Cafe probably in Bandra linking road. Here at the same premise a love story blooms between Amit ( Suniel shetty ) and Shalini. They get married thereafter and blessed with a cute boy. He too spends lot of time in the cafe. It is a sort of meeting place for college friends a la heritage Indian coffee house, where young and old spend their time and are comforted by the Dilnaaz when semblence of trouble erupts.
Bell Inc, which is into running modern cafe chain, targets Lucky Cafe ( from 1935 ) as an ideal spot to take over. Amit offers Dilnaz a pricey 40 crore and later hikes it up to 45 crores. I thought they were underpaying, the place must be worth at 80 crores, forget the innumerable memories which are priceless.

Seeda ungli se ghee nahi nikla toh teda ungli se kaam chalo, so the usual bullying tactics begins. Amit warns Dilnaz about the powerful ways of MNC to bull doze people to part with their properties. Here comes our anti hero type of character Nana Patekar ( angry retired south indian character subbu ) How he meets Dilnaz in a departmental store ? How he gets into Lucky cafe ? and how he fights his first case after 37 years free of cost ?

Bell inc discover that Lucky cafe is being run un authorisedly with the death of Zubin Irani by Dilnaz, who had died as a bachelor. There is no document in possession of Dilnaz to prove that the property is hers. The MNC gets the eviction of property order from the court within 30 days ? Well isnt the story gripping. Watch the movie with lots of friends and relatives this movie is worth watching. I was disappointed that i was one among 30 odd people watching such an excellent movie. Officially the movie claims to be interlinkage of three love stories in teenage, middle age and old age.

Lots of wry scuttle humour and satirical dialouge is the hallmark of the movie. U V and me honey milo toh to sahi is good hummable number. The direction, editing, dialouges and story line is the hall mark of the movie. There is a message for the judiciary, defense, citizens, students, MNC, cutting across religious lines. I would rate this movie 5 on 5. It is in the same genre of 3 idiots except with deglamourised actors enacting it in cafe instead of college atmosphere.
Of course it is movie with a good message for me personally it set me thinking how to really save the heritage property of my dad which was built in 1942 ( quit india movement ) in a prime place in Mangalore.

Shapit

Vikram Bhatt, pulls of another horror story with newcomers Aditya Narayan and Swetha agarwal with finesse of a master craftsmen.  How can one pull off superstition and exoticism in modern age is to be seen to be believed.  The plot does not provide scope for acting as such is my conclusion, but it definitely an edge of the seat experience with plenty of spooky situations.

Kaya’s ( Swetha Agarwal ) family, who happened to be descendents of Raja Ranjit Singh is cursed by a brahmin that in his clan girls should never be able to enjoy married life.  The curse is revealed to AMAN ( Aditya Narayan ) who falls in love with Kaya and wows her to marriage.  In his earnest desire he plants the magical engagement ring on Kaya’s finger.  They drive away happily to reach their destination, but the curse of the brahmin intervenes and the loving couple meets with a deadly accident.  This is when the parents of Kaya reveal regarding the ancestral curse haunting their family.
AMAN wants to prove his worth by fighting against the evil spirit.  He engages the help of Pashupati ( Arjun Dev)  along with his friend to get rid of the curse.  Pasupati is an author and teacher of paranormal and spiritual world.  Pashupati is of the belief that such generational curse affects the people associated much after the actual event has taken place centuries ago due to the evil spirit embedded in dying person.  How this curse can be mitigated is the crux of the film.

If one were to destory the evil haunted spirit which has been living from the past few generation, than it calls for guts and even death like encounter.  How Pashupati, Aman, Kaya and Joshi encounter the spirit and battle it through various chilling scenes is what the Shapit about.
 Shaapit movie reminded me of an English movie NUN which i saw recently, with some rip offs naturally from the movie with regarding the special effects on ghost scenes.  In terms of horror content one does have quite a chunk considering the 16 reels lengthy movie.  The acting of Aditya Naryan, debuntant, son of Udit Naryan is nothing much to rave about, except that his innocent looks gives the feel that he is getting into the skin of the role.  Swetha Agarwal, looks glamourous and suits the role she plays as princess.  Joshi another new comer looks impressive for a debut.  Arjun Dev has done full justice to his role as Professor of paranormal field.

Music even though melodious is nothing much to rave about.  The sound track and background score is truely horrifying for the weak hearted.  WILL AMAN survive the on slaught of the evil spirit and win back his lady love from the clutch of comatose existence, go and watch the movie to know the ending.

Love Sex aur Dhoka

Sting operations in general are supposed to bring out the truth in its realistic form but here Ekta Kapoor’s production tries to potray how it can be misused by the Media or Manipulators for TRPs & financial gains in the form of blackmail.  But the plot is complicated with realistic camerawork ( which i believe is because of usage of  real spy cameras ) which goes to the edge of being considered as amateurish renedition.  Sometimes the shaky camera on the screen gives you a tummy burping feeling that you are paying to watch a sheer nonsenscial movie, but  guys that is what Stings are all about without edits and crude and uncontrolled camera angles.



How does one weave 3 different MMS clips into a movie is ultimately the storyline of LSD.  The elaboration of LSD in its true form  Lysergic acid diethylamide, which is a psychedelic drug used for treating psychiatric and cancer patients for its potent properties.  Of course when you come out of the theatre you get this heady feeling that you have consumed the real LSD drug and try to grapple as to what hit you in the end.  Once you start interpretation of the movie you come to the conclusion the sordid part of sting operations or MMS clippings.

The director Dibankar has chosen newcomers, who are bold enough to pull off an adult subject with aplomb.  Maybe the film would have been better recieved if made with recognised actors is my personal feeling, but who is to bell the cat and get into an akward situation of facing the media.  Media is not interested to grill new comers, since it does not fetch any kudos or TRPs, for their channel or enhanced circulation.

In an age of Facebook, Youtube, Wave, Blogspot and Orkut spy cameras and amateur videos shot from an hidden purse, pocket, shades, are the main focus point of the film.  How we enjoyed the cyber cafe sex scandals and car sex scandals without paying for the voyeristic episodes.  But what is the motivation for guys who pay for such clips and upload it for the world to watch and enjoy without literally paying for it.  Is it that they upload only a trialer and expect the public to buy rest of the clipping is an issue which still engages my grey cells.  The days of papparazi probing into celebrities life continues, but now the arena has extended into lives of ordinary citizens too.  Beware of the peeping toms, LSD is an adult movie with more of adult subject matter than content in terms of raw footage.

Now coming to the movie it is basically weaving of 3 MMS or Sting operations together to form a complete plot.  The first story revolves around a young director named Rahul ( Anshuman Jha ) and Shruti ( Shruti) the heroine of his amateur movie for completing his course.  How they fall in love and felled in a gruesome sordid way by the girls parents.  The sex scene of their honeymoon seems to be totally censored. Don t be disappointed we get to see it in the second episode.

The second sting is related to Adarsh  ( Raj Kumar Yadav ) and Rashmi ( Neha Chauhan ) work in a retail outlet.   How Adarsh is enticed with payment of 70 k to film his intercourse with the counter salesgal is the crux of the clipping ?  Does he do it ? Watch the film for the twist.

Finally the casting couch which is rampant in music album industry is a subject matter which is well dwelt in the sting operation.  Here comes the revealation from the director, watch out for the pitfalls of interpretation, a consensual sex can be potrayed as sleaze, and how the media is hungry to elaborate the episode to enhance their TRP’s.  Loki  (Henry Tangri), music album singer and director pulls of his role with aplomb of a professional.  Naina ( Arya Devdutta ) is the model who is involved in casting couch.  Now the story takes an interesting turn.  Watch the movie if you are interested to know the nitty gritties.

LSD a movie from the Balaji Banner is a bold film, which attempts to wake up the public from stupor, and belief that seeing alone is not believing altogether.  If you have to probe, than you should know the inside story, i mean both sides of a coin.  A la Nitya ananda episodes in the making according to me.  Full marks to Dipankar Banerjee for dwelling on such controversial subject matter of MMS.  Thank you sweet desire for the SMS alert, i enjoyed the movie equally so no ? of refunds.

Athithi Tum Kab Joage

When you don’t expect much from a movie, you are in for a surprise, even though the movie was just with 30% occupancy.  The laughter quotient in the movie is so natural and supple that one gets carried away and has an urge to peg on with the reels, unfortunately 13 reel is not enough.

The nuclear couple Ajay and Konkana sen and their son form a simple middle class family living in Powai from the huge apartment complex it seems.  But they claim to be living in Goregoan anyways both are close by.  Avinash ( their son ) is baffled by the term Atithi Devo bhava.  He enquires with his dad Puneet ( AJAY ) as to the real meaning of the term.  His mother Mun Mun too is unable to answer the question, for which she receives a taunt from his teacher.

Movie takes a turn when suddenly Gajodhar chacha from UP lands up to his apartment, and seeking Pappu from Gorakhpur.  He confuses Puneet with various complex relationship and network.  Ultimately Puneet accepts him as his relative.  From there the nightmare begins for his family.  The couple have to sacrifice their bedroom to his chacha.  They have bow down at his feet in traditional style etc to keep up with the ancient traditions.  Chacha is obviously played by the versatile Paresh Raval, who tries to ape Utpal Dutt of yore, to an extent.  How his antics leads from one disaster to another is the storyline of the movie. 

The hit song Beedi Jaliyle has been twisted with the wordings Jyoti jaliyle and bhajan is sung by Paresh Rawal, which is quite hilarious.  Another scene with Sholay’s Kaliya evokes peels of laughter.  The taunt kitne aadmi teh has been used to the hilt to bring out humour and ultimately cause of sorrow.

How the normal couples life is disturbed by sudden arrival of a guest seems to be jist of the movie.  But wait the movies message is about Atithi Devo Bhava.  Guests are supposed to God in disguise.  One is caught in a whirlpool, and the director cleverly takes the audience on a melodrama.
Satish Kaushik has pulled off his small role with aplomb, with Ashwin Dhir (director ) really pulling off a near winner in comedy. This movie is unlike blockbuster slapstick comedy of Priyadharsan. The movie is jointly produced by the big Hollywood banner Warner Bros for a change. Go and enjoy the movie and check out the anti-climax.

TITBITS : I remember once my colleague landed in the middle of the night at 2 am, we welcomed him with open heart...........in 1986. Now he has relocated abroad and did not bother to call me while he was in Blore for a day in Oct 2009. So goes the concept of athithi devo bhava in Kaliyug times. We never expected any favour from him than nor now.

My name is Khan

Rizvan Khan ( SRK ) is an Autistic child (, Asperger’s Syndrome ) who grows up in a typical Muslim family bought up by his mother Razia ( Zarinawahab ) with the absence of his father.  She teaches him good morale, let not hatred cloud his eyes because of religion.  The background of 1983 riots is gently touched upon to give the melodramatic touch.  There are only two types of people one is good and another is bad is the scuttle message of the movie.  Those who perpetuate hatred and voilence in the name of religion are obviously termed as Shaitan.

The movie weaves back and forth in a soliloquy format with Rizvan writing his diary and his quest to meet the Prez ?  Why does he have to meet the Prez ? is the moot question around which the Plot is weaved.   Mandira ( Kajol ) dons the role of a divorced beautician, who falls to the charm of Autistic Khan.  Every time he comes to the point without beating around the Bush.  ’ Will you marry me " How he meets Kajol ? and how his brother Zakir ( Jimmy Shergill ) engages him to sell a similar looking product like Mehanaz ( which looks to be twisted brand name instead of Shenaz Hussain ).  How he goes about peddling the cosmetic brand in a missionary style which brings in peels of laughter and tears in the audience.  By now the character of Khan is well sketched.  

One should watch the opening sequel for the movie which lays the strong foundation for the movie ? Do not miss it, otherwise you are bound to loose the grip of the movie which can be boring in parts for want of flesh. What i mean is that in sketching the character of Rizvan lot of time and effort has gone into, from childhood to grown up and the pangs of the normal son Zakir, who tends to get ignored by mother. Once he grows up he pushes off abroad to start of his venture in cosmetic industry. His mother dies with a wish that her son Rizvan should grow up to be normal individual and lead a good married life.
So Rizvan’s life takes many a twist and turn..............with the background of 9/11. The jihadi issue is dealt with scuttle mention. Rizvan tells the crowd following Dr Riaz to shed hatred in a mosque. He in fact wants to reveal the information to the FBI reg some sinister plot being hatched.................so and so forth the plot tosses forward. Does Kajol re-unite with Rizvan ? Does Rizvan meet the Prez ? How does Media react on issues concerning Islamic individual ?

The plot of the movie seems to somewhat inspired by Australian arrest episode of Dr Haneef and his subsequent trials, but with a mellowed approach. Nevertheless the statutory declaration that any character or event resembling the movie may be purely coincidental. So the events of 1983 riots, 9/11, Katrina Hurricane, George Bush tour, etc are used weaved effectively into the storyline. Even Barkha Dutt is on the air relaying the breaking news for the movie which is a pleasant surprise.


In conclusion the movie is a must watch to remove one’s pre-conceived notion on terrorism. To a large extent SRK has done justice to the role of Autistic character Rizvan Khan after a gap of one full year. Kajol pulls off her character in usual charismatic manner. Rest of the characters including the Prez in the form of Duncan who closely resembles Obama pull of his scene with great success. The dialouges in the movie is well penned. Hum honge kamyaab ek din rendition in English is the only song worth listening. Overall this movie is a must watch for all liberal minded citizens of the country. The SS controversy has not helped in pulling the crowds, it was only 70% opening. Hope Karan Johar recovers his investment this time around, which he failed in QURBAN. Not every KHAN is a terrorist is amply proved by the Movie ending. Remember this movie released on my Birthday how could i miss it ?

Rann, on Media Manipulation

The four pillars of democracy are Legislature, Executive, Judiciary and obviously the Media.  In India to a large extent press and TV channels are free from the shackles of  Executive powers.   There has been a number of attempt to muzzle the press and media channels by the executive which has been countered effectively and so far so good.  But in the quest for garnering revenues through advertising one day or the other there is a real danger of Media channel falling prey either to powerful politicians or industrialists.  Maybe this prompted me to invest in NDTV, which is one upright channel in India.

Apart from the above digression, the RGV movie plot this time around is as gripping as SATYA without the mindless and gory violence.  The movie plot revolves around Harshvardhan ( Amitabh B ) who owns the India 24x7 NEWS channel.  His get up is close to our own P Roy of NDTV, any resemblence is mere fictional and coincidental says the mandatory disclaimer sub titled in the beginning of the movie.  The artistic license has been used effectively to potray the story line.

How the media barons work is depicted very effectively with Ambaresh Thakur ( Monish Behl ) playing the rival TV baron who manages to time and again steal the concept, through the lady COO ( Suchitra Krishnamoorty ) who plays the Stooge. This naturally ensures that Headlines 24 is always ahead in the TRP warfare. The son Jay ( Sudeep ) who wants to boost the channels TRP borrows 30 crore to launch a novel concept with his cronie Rajpal Yadav. This concept too is leaked by Kavitha to their rival for a hefty gain, but it is surprising that there is no intimate scene between the partners in crime, which leads critic to dubb the movie as stag stuff. Even Gul Penags acting powress has been wasted.


Now Sudeep is shattered and is entraped by a shrewd and manipulative politician Mohan Pandey ( Paresh Rawal ) along with his brother in law Naveen ( R Kapoor ), who has an amibition of becoming a leading businessmen or Industrialist through political patronage. Now enters Ritesh Deshmukh into the picture who is an ardent fan of Amitabh and believes in upright and ethical reporting to gain recognition among the audience.


Gul acts as a wife to Ritesh, who did not look so convincing in the initial part of the movie, maybe because he himself being a son of a politician. Later he picks up momentum because of the strong plot weaved by RGV to focus on negative shades of Channel doings. 

The  plot unravels various twists and turns and shocks the ethical Harshvardhan out of his stupor, now without much ado one should watch the movie for its plot lest i am accused of stealing the thunder on the movie plot. One would say the movie tends to highly critical of the channels and their ways. Maybe this movie is wake call for all the media barons to wake up and live up to their responsibility of preserving the democracy and freedom of expression. The lure of big money is of course there in the share market with public and institution ever ready to support ethical channel. The message is loud and clear in the climax of the movie. Kudos to RGV and his team for producing such a brilliant conceived and executed movie. This movie is definitely for class audience..............will the mass bite it is the moot ? The song Galli galli me shor hai........sare Neta chor hai tells it all

TITBITS


1. Modified rendition of Jana Gana Mana was deleted from the original score, instead Vande Mataram was used in the film due to censorship, on grounds of it violating the National Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act 1950.

2.  Aftermath of 26/11 RGV was humiliated by the Media, for his vouyer at the Taj, which even cost the CM his chair. Pay back time folks.

3. RGV did not hestitate to cast ex CM s son for the fear of reprisal from Media, here he gave him primacy potraying a honest TV presenter.

4. While watching earlier RGV movies such as Phoonk, AAG, etc i was literally lulled to sleep, but RANN was of different pedigree, but my habit dies hard........i took a cat nap in the beginning maybe due to sound dubbing being faulty.


Disclaimer : Artistic freedom of expression used to express my viewpoint without casting aspersions on any individuals or organisation.

Veer, Pindari Legacy

Basically Pindaris were freelance mercenaries who survived in the jungles and were extremely good in commando warfare.  They were patronised by the Marathas for fighting the mughals and the British.  Whenever required they were called to cause considerable damage to the enemies.  They survived on looting the wealth of the british empire in Musalipatnam, Gujerat and Mirzapur.  They moved from one territory to another quickly so that  the enemy were unable to keep track of their movements.  They became an impediment to the expansion of the British empire in India.

The story of VEER is based in Rajasthan with Madhavgarh as the focal territory.  The history of the rivalry goes back to 1820s when Pidaris were ruling the roost in the jungles of Malwa and surrounding areas. Jackie Shroff ( Raja of Madhavgarh ) betrays Prithvi Singh ( Mithun ) in the battlefield and takes the help of the British to massacre the Pindaris in the battlefield.  Prithivi singh chops off the hand of Raja and escapes to the jungle.  The battle scene is beautifully picturised in the ravines and desert of Rajasthan.

Prithvi Singh is blessed with a Son VEER ( Salman Khan ) He is trained to become a warrior by his father.  He calls him Dade, and mock fights are played between father and son.  Here the director fails to show some jungle hunting scenes etc which could have been a part of commando training technique and warfare.  However for the fear of censorship and protest the scenes may have been left untouched.  A computer graphics could have been adopted like in the horse battle scenes.

After Salman grows up he is initiated into the plundering the British and their royal patrons. In one such scene reminiscent of Sholay train scene, he and his brother Arbaaz along with confidents attack a steam engine train to loot the treasury. The scene is typically shot like Sholay Jai Veeru along with Thakur scene. The SFX is obviously more modern and slick. Here he meets his charming princess Yashodara ( Zarine Khan ) He snatches away her most valuable ornament which is legacy of the queen mother. The consorts of Yashodra beseech Veer to hand over the prized possession of the princess, which he duly obliges in style. A portion of the jewel stays put on his jacket to be handed over in the later part of the film.

The movie takes quiet a twist with Veer and Puniya to be educated under the British reformation program for tribals. The brothers reluctantly land in vintage London. Some comic scenes are exhibited among the crowd by the brothers, and ultimately Salman spots his elusive princess Yashodra in horse carriage. The brother and cousin of the Princess are quite arrogant and upto insulting Veer and his brother. Eventually the story takes a twist with some bloodshed and the storyline begins to take a serious turn.is heart to the princess Yashodara, she in turn being daughter of Madhavgarhs King is in a dilemma to protect her empire from the enemies. Veer being son of the enemy naturally is a descendent of the legacy. The rivalry takes various twists and turns. Ultimately will Veer get to re-unite with his princess is the key to the story. Songs are passe, cinematography is good, dialouges particularly in the class room is quite hair raising. Datelines of historical period seems to be quite offtrack for sake of dramatisation i hope.

The theatre had 50% occupancy. There were some dramatics with some arguement and fights within the theatre which added to excitement of the movie. The young crowd was belligerent and whistling as if they are drawn into the battle whenever Salaman entered the arena for fighting. Inorder to embedd a love story with a unknown face and pull it off is a stupendous effort. Kudos to Anil Sharma director and the producers. More battle scenes would have added to the overall movie watching excitement.  was basically drawn to this movie because of Salman participating in an exhibition horse racing in Mumbai which was telecast live in Bangalore Turf Club. This acted as a perfect tonic to perk up the movie promo, which otherwise has been low key. The movie stakes are quite high with 150 crores. I am sure the movie will make profits within two weeks. Kudos to the producers for investing in a historic movie.


Overall Veer is a good epic movie with mercenary background. Love in the background adds as a filler to the movie for its song and dance. The one legged dance performance of Salman is fabulous watch it Insallah.

TITBITS :

1. With so many retakes on horse riding i strong reckon that some actors maybe compelled to wear abdomen guards, like the cricketers to avoid injury. Lol

2. Sword fights between Mithun and Salman caused many a injury on Salman, once he literally fainted another time he got pierced by sword on his back, leading to bleeding and hospitalisation.

3. Salman had a miraclous escape along with the stuntmen Vikram, while standing on the horsebacks to perform the stunt. This is one of the classic stunt wherein his presence of mind saved himself and stuntmen from having a nasty fall.

4. Some of the incidents were narrated in the Dance India Dance show, try to watch the repeat on Zee TV to catch up on the sidelights of the movie which is the costliest Bollywood movie upto date