Tamasha review: "Producers in for a rude tamasha at the box office!!!"

Among the high profile releases of the year, one of the most eagerly awaited was Imtiaz Ali's "Tamasha" which had hit the screens this week. With Ranbir Kapoor & Deepika Padukone cast as the lead pairs, the sense of anticipation was palpable among the audience considering their credentials & past history. The trailer promises it to be a rocking movie & seemed to be along the lines of "Yeh Jawaani Hai Diwaani". So does it deliver what it projects???

Tara (Deepika Padukone) had the worst start to her holidays when she loses her baggage the moment she set foot on the beautiful French island of Corsica. Luckily for her, she meets up with Ved (Ranbir Kapoor) who helps her out & within moments they hit off famously. However, the duo decide to withhold their true identities so as to avoid any emotional baggage later on. Though they part as planned with no questions asked, Tara couldn't stop thinking of Ved who had swept her off her feet. Four years down the lane, they meet yet again but will everything be same as before???

Imtiaz Ali brand of films have always been unique & exudes class be it "Jab We Met", "Rockstar" or his last release "Highway". In his latest venture, though the film does set off in a rollicking manner after a point of time it gets lethargic & doesnt seem to offer anything sprightly enough to keep the audience engaged. It would be fair to say that this is the most complex protagonist that Imtiaz had created who is weighed down by the inability to pursue his dreams but unfortunately for him the audience doesn't sympathize with his situation. In the technical department, Ravi Varman's visuals were awesome while A R Rahman's music didnt quite strike a chord with me.

Ranbir Kapoor hasn't been having the best of times with his last couple of releases being box office duds but there is no denying the sincerity that he invests in each character that he portrays. Even as Ved, he was fantastic exhibiting the myriad of emotions that the protagonist goes through. When it comes to the female lead, Deepika was brilliant & for me, she actually outshines Ranbir inspite of playing second fiddle to him. As for the rest of the cast, none of them really mattered.

Verdict: In all likelihood, the film should be able to garner a decent initial though how it fares depends solely on the multiplex audience. Unluckily for the makers, the film is unlikely to appeal to the audience which will hamper it's gross collections. In short, the lead pairs are fantastic but that doesn't quite salvage the movie!!!

Rating: 2.25/5

Regards...Ben

Spectre review: "Thrills in spurts & induces yawns for the rest!!!"

It's been quite a while since I have reviewed a Hollywood movie & what better than one which belongs to the James Bond series, undoubtedly the most famous franchise of all time. The latest to arise from the Bond stable is "Spectre" helmed by Sam Mendes with Daniel Craig reprising the famed protagonist for the fourth time. So the question is whether the movie could live upto expectations after all performing better than its predecessor is never an easy task.

The film unfolds in Mexico at the danse macabre where Bond (Daniel Craig) is in hot pursuit of a group on the posthumous orders of the previous M (Judi Dench). Bond eliminates the group & attains a ring from one of the assassins whose insignia reveals that they were members of the terror organisation "Spectre". At the same time in London, the present M (Ralph Fiennes) is having his hands full as C/Max Denigh (Andrew Scott), the head of the Joint Intelligence Service had almost drawn curtains on the "00" program in favour of the "Nine Eyes" a global surveillance & intelligence initiative of nine nations. Though suspended by M, Bond decides to dig up further info on Spectre & manages to infiltrate one of their meetings where he learns that it is being led by Franz Oberhauser (Christpher Waltz), who was believed to be dead. The mission gets all the more personal as Bond & Franz had their pasts intertwined which meant both of them had a measure of each other. So can Bond emerge triumphant yet again & if so, at what cost ???

About 3 years have passed since "Skyfall" had released which was brilliant to say the least & so it was always going to be a gargantuan task for Sam Mendes right from the onset to produce something similar to that. Well the fact is "Spectre" fails to live upto its predecessor inspite of a credible script on offer. The problem is its too long and dreary at times that it takes a toll on the audience that we struggle to suppress our yawns. However, the action sequences were awesome as always (though it was too less) which was brilliantly picturised by Hoytema. As for other technicalities, Thomas Newman's music didnt quite have the punch while the rest were top notch.

Daniel Craig was brilliant as Bond as he excelled in the action sequences but the romantic scenes which are integral to any Bond movie seemed forced and lacked passion. The Bond girl tag belonged to Lea Seydoux this time around & she didnt seem an apt choice at all as she shared no chemistry with Craig. Ralph Fiennes, Naomi Harris as Moneypenny & Ben Whishaw as Q have all done utmost justice to their roles. However, Christopher Waltz barely evoked terror that the character required while Monica Belucci barely got a chance to shake her booty.

Verdict: Well it's a Bond movie, so it's naturally going to garner mind boggling collections; but will it challenge "Skyfall's" collections...hmm, I dont expect it to. From my point of view, it's definitely one of the blandest Bond movies to have released in recent times. In short, you can give it a try if you are a 007 fan or else, wont hurt to give it a miss!!!

Rating: 2.5/5

Regards...Ben

Prem Ratan Dhan Payo review: "Salman ensures that the producers rake in all the dhan!!!"

It's been a couple of days since Diwali festivities have come to a close but the box-office is still in cruiser mode with Salman's Diwali offering showing no signs of slowing down. Actually I got to see an article about the movie having crossed 100 C in just 3 days. Gosh!!! was it so good & is it worth enough for my friends to shell out cash to further swell the collections??? Hmm...well this is what I felt about the movie.

The film unfolds with Vijay Singh (Salman Khan), the crown prince of Prithampur in keeping with age old traditions and customs was going to be ceremoniously ordained as the ruler of the region. However, behind the glitter & privileged life that he led; all was not well with the prince as he shared an estranged relationship with his half-siblings & a rather icy chemistry with his fiance, Maithli (Sonam Kapoor). So bitter was the hatred that brewed within his younger brother Ajay Singh (Neil Nithin Mukesh) that he hatches a plot to kill Vijay with the help of their manager Chirag Singh (Armaan Kohli), which almost succeeds as Vijay is rendered bed ridden. It is at this juncture that Vijay's look alike Prem Dilwale, a stage artist turns up at the palace & at the behest of Diwan Sahab (Anupam Kher) masquerades as Vijay so that the latter could recover in hideout without any threat to his security. As his name suggests, Prem lightens up the life of everyone & manages to reconcile with the siblings. But the threat to Vijay's life was still imminent & it remained to be seen how that could be solved.

It's been close to a decade since Sooraj Barjatya had called the shots, with his last venture being "Vivah", Well I am not quite complaining after all I have never been a fan of his movies except for "Maine Pyar Kiya" & "Hum Aapke Hain Kaun". Over the years, his template has remained exactly the same, be it the joint families, protagonists who are the epitome of virtue, numerous song sequences etc. In his latest venture as well, it's basically a rehash of the same formula & though many of the scenes does make us cringe, surprisingly we dont detest it primarily due to Salman who is the lifeline of the movie. The script is as lame as possible as it belongs to a bygone era but it provides ample opportunities for Salman to endear the audience with his charm. In the technical department, Manikandan's visuals varied from being impressive to pedestrian and the same goes for the art direction as well. As for the Himesh Reshammiya's music, there were way too many & none of them lingers long enough with us to even hum.

Salman absolutely rocks in his dual role especially the one as Prem Dilwale which seems to be a lift off from his Bajarangi Bhaijaan character. The film works solely on his aura & Sooraj has ensured that the star is there in all the frames. Sonam Kapoor & Neil Nitin seemed apt as royalty but their acting skills wasnt quite upto the mark. Anupam Kher & Deepak Dobriyal were fine while Swara Bhaskar barely had much scope apart from scowling & shedding tears. As for Armaan Kohli, his woody expressions (not by choice but rather it's innate) were apt for his character.

Verdict: Well where will this golden run end??? Hmm...tough to tell, though at the rate it is progressing (which surprised me to be frank!!!), I expect it to garner around 300 C. As for my friends, who havent seen the movie, there is nothing worth watching as the script is pretty mundane unless of course you are a Salman fan!!!

Rating: 2.5/5 (solely coz of Salman)

Regards...Ben

Shaandaar review: "A shaandaar waste of time!!!"

It's a festive mood around with everyone enjoying the extended weekend due to Dussehra. So to cash in on this, we have film makers across industries making a scrabble to display their wares. Prominent among them is Vikas Bahl's "Shaandaar" which has Shahid & Alia as the lead pair. The promos promises it to be a fun filled movie & the chemistry between the duo seems cracking. So will it be the Queen of 2015???

Alia (Alia Bhatt) was an orphan adopted by the millionaire Vipin Arora (Pankaj Kapoor), though it could be more appropriately said that he was a meek simpleton. Even his siblings also belonged to the same category as the reins of the household was in his mother's hands, a wheel chair bound cold hearted Mummyji (Sushma Seth). Though not quite the darling of Mummyji & her foster mother, Alia shared a warm relationship with her rotund half sister, Isha (Sanah Kapoor) whose marriage was fixed with the wealthy Fundwani family. The wedding was planned as an elaborate event which was co-ordinated by the sprightly Jagjinder Joginder (Shahid Kapoor), who wins the hearts of everyone except Vipin who was insecure of the former's increasing proximity to Alia. How this gala wedding ceremony pans out forms the crux of the movie.

After the brilliant "Queen" which ruled the roost last year, Vikas Bahl is back with his latest venture which however turned out to be a mediocre candy floss. There is a world of disparity between the quality of the scripts & it comes as a rude surprise that it was indeed conceived by Vikas & written by Anvita Dutt. The major flaw of the movie as is evident by now is the lack of a credible plot. It actually seemed like a large cast was assembled & they were asked to perform to their heart's delight with songs inserted in between the proceedings. As a matter if fact, it's the cast which actually made this movie enjoyable at times due to the delightful chemistry between Shahid, Alia, Pankaj & Sanah. In the technical department, Anil Mehta has done a decent job with the visuals while Amit Trivedi's music was average at best.

Coming to performances, Shahid & Alia shared excellent chemistry and seemed to be at utmost ease in essaying their characters. Pankaj Kapoor is an actor par excellence, so in a role that barely challenged him; it was a cake walk for the veteran & the interaction with his real life son made for an enjoyable watch. Sanah Kapoor (who is actually the half sister of Shahid) has done an apt job while Sanjay Kapoor's over the top act which was hilarious at times reminded me of Anil Kapoor. As for the rest of the cast, they were average at best.

Verdict: The film is likely to have a decent opening & will appeal to the teenagers who loves candy floss rom-coms. But even then it will struggle to make waves at the box office & the best that the producers could possibly expect is to break even. From my point of view, with hardly a coherent script on display it's nothing more than a waste of time. In short, give it a miss!!!

Rating: 1/5

Regards...Ben

Jazbaa review: "Sanjay seems to have jazbaa only for style not substance!!!"

In the past year or so, we have been witness to some prominent heroines such as Manju Warrier, Jyothika etc. venture back into mainstream cinema . The latest to join that bandwagon is Aishwarya Rai who had taken a career break for motherhood. Her comeback vehicle is Sanjay Gupta's "Jazbaa", who is infamous for blatant ripoffs of Hollywood & Korean movies. Well the trailer seemed stylish & evokes expectations, but will it be the fairy tale return for Ash???

Anuradha Verma (Aishwarya Rai) is a prominent criminal lawyer whose exceptional competence meant she got her clients off the hook, irrespective of whether they were guilty or not; if they were able to afford her hefty pay check. Things take a turn when her daughter gets kidnapped & she is instructed to defend a convicted felon as ransom. With a few days left for the final verdict on that case, she had to race against time & ensure she turned the tables on an open & shut case for the sake of her daughter. With the help of her childhood friend, Inspector Yohan (Irrfan Khan) suspended from the force for charges of corruption; they try to unravel evidence that could possibly prove that the case wasn't as crystal clear as it seemed. But with time, it becomes apparent that there were other stronger forces at play who didn't wish that the case was reopened. So can Anuradha save her daughter & if so, at what cost???

It's been a couple of years since Sanjay Gupta had last made his appearance felt at the theatres through "Shootout at Wadala". To be frank, I have never been a fan of his movies as it oozed style & lacked content in most cases. Another aspect of all of his movies was that they were either copied from the West or Far East, which I didn't actually mind as long as it appealed to the senses; but invariably it didn't. His latest venture is also said to be a rip off of a Korean movie titled "Seven Days" (which I haven't seen), that has the premise of a thriller, but it failed to rise beyond a certain level & relegates to a melodramatic flick. Though the climax does provide a twist, it doesn't quite surprise the audience as expected & culminates in a predictable manner. In the technical department, the BGM by Amar Mohile was irritating while the colour tone used by Sameer Arya in the visuals didnt make it an enjoyable experience. However, Bunty Nagi's editing was crisp while Kamlesh Pandey's dialogues was witty at times.

Though Ash doesn't quite fit into the top bracket of actresses (in terms of skill), she has done a decent job as the protagonist. Irrfan Khan tries to do justice to his role which didn't quite have the depth  for an actor of his caliber, due to which it fails to impress. The same applies to Shabana Azmi & Atul Kulkarni as well, while the rest seemed average in their brief roles. 

Verdict: There is no doubt that the movie isn't going to make much impact at the box office & will depend on the multiplexes to break even. It should be able to do that after all there isn't much competition around & also due to its reasonable budget. So is it worth a try??? Hmm..well only if you are a fan of Ash or else forget it!!!

Rating: 2.25/5

Regards...Ben

Talvar review: "Razor sharp screenplay which give us a lump in our throats!!!"

About a week has passed since Meghna Gulzar's "Talvar" have hit the screens & due to some work commitments I wasn't able to jot down as to what I felt about it. Since most of my friends didn't even hear about this movie, I felt it made sense to write about it after all it was based on the Aarushi murder case which had hogged the headlines until the Sheena Bora case came up. With Irffan Khan & Konkona Sen among the cast, it was expected to be well portrayed & they did exactly that. The question that everyone had was in which point of view was the movie made, after all it is such a convoluted case. So did Meghna Gulzar do justice to this murder mystery???

The film unfolds with Inspector Ashwin Kumar (Irrfan Khan) of the CDI being made in charge of the Shruti Tandon murder case which had shook the conscience of the nation. The utter incompetence & lackadaisical approach of the Noida police headed by Inspector Dhaniram (Gajraj Rao) meant that by the time Ashwin was brought in, all the crucial evidence were either lost or trampled. On the basis of some assumptions & vague theories, they had pinned the murder of Shruti & Khempal (Tandon's domestic help) on Ramesh Tandon (Neeraj Kabi). They branded it as a case of honour killing after Ramesh had seen his daughter in a compromising position with Khempal. However, Ashwin assisted by Inspector Vedant (Soham Shah) meticulously go through the circumstantial evidence & comes to the conclusion that the parents were innocent. But before he could close the case, the case is handed over to a new investigative team who again comes to the conclusion that the parents were indeed guilt of the double murder. So how both these teams goes about their task of coming to their own conclusions forms the crux of the movie. 

After a hiatus, Meghna Gulzar calls the shots with this hard hitting film & she has done an excellent job with regard to the manner it was made. It seems like a documentary at times with the same scene being re-enacted a couple of times to support the theory of both the investigative teams. The audience is also given a realistic view as to how insensitive & casual the attitude of the cops could be at times. One of the primary reason as to why Megha was able to accomplish all this was coz of the brilliant script & screenplay by Vishal Bharadwaj. In such a grim movie, it's hard to have some light moments but the manner in which he has crafted the climax sequence between both the investigative teams rubbishing the findings of the other deserves applause. If at all there was some portion which felt unwanted, it was the take on Ashwin's disconcerted chemistry with his wife. As for other technical aspects, the BGM was fine while the editing by Sreekar Prasad was crisp and even the visuals by Pankaj Kumar seemed adequate.

Irrfan Khan has been the toast of Bollywood in the past few years & with even Hollywood having cast him, he has enhanced his reputation of being one of the best actors in the country. Expectedly, Irrfan was brilliant as Inspector Ashwin be it in the manner he goes about the case or his equation with his wife. Konkona Sen & Neeraj Kabi may not have much dialogues but they had expressed their character's distress convincingly. Prakash Belawadi (as the former CDI boss) was fantastic & even Soham Shah has done a fine job. As for the rest of the cast, all of them have done their jobs aptly though Tabu's role seemed unwanted.

Verdict: As per the latest box office reports, the movie has done exceedingly well & it seems to be going steady inspite of new releases. It's a well crafted movie & deserves all the applause coming its way. There is no doubt that the makers have given a clear indication as to what they think about the Talwar's involvement in the double murder. We can only hope that justice is served as soon as possible after all it's been about seven years now. As for the movie, no need for second thoughts...just go for it !!!

Rating: 3.5/5

Regards...Ben

Welcome back review: "Far from being welcome!!!"

Over the years, Bollywood have churned out numerous sequels hoping to cash in on the popularity of its predecessor. Invariably, many of them have hit the bull's eye such as "Dabaang 2" or "Singham Returns"; while others like "Ab Tak Chappan 2" have bit the dust. This weekend we have Anees Bazmee with the sequel of the hilarious blockbuster "Welcome" . Now the question is whether "Welcome Back" be as successful as its prequel after all such movies with a nonsensical story-line depends solely on the cast & screenplay???

Uday Shetty (Nana Patekar) & Majnu bhai (Anil Kapoor) have mended their ways (or so they believed) & led an upright life which they still found hard to be accustomed to as they were now paying hafta to small time crooks. Both of them were still single & harbored hopes of entering into matrimonial bliss after they get floored by Rajkumari Nandhini alias Babita (Ankita Shrivastava). In fact, she was no royalty as she along with her mom, Poonam (Dimple Kapadia) conned people on the pretext of romance & these two dimwits happened to be their latest victims. At around this time, Uday realises that he has a step sister in the form of Ranjhana (Shruti Hassan) & the search for a suitable groom for her takes them to Dr. Ghunghroo's (Paresh Rawal) household again. When they are told that Dr. Ghunghroo had a son Ajju (John Abraham) (step-son actually), they have no qualms in fixing the alliance expecting him to be as cavalier as his father & cousin. But the truth was Ajju barely had a semblance of such virtues as he was an infamous gangster who ruled the roost in Mumbai. 

In the past decade or so, the kind of movies that Anees Bazmee have created has been pathetic to say the least as none of them barely had a plot though there were a couple of hilarious ones like "Welcome" and "Singh is Kingg". His latest venture "Welcome Back" is no different , but unlike it's prequel this one severely suffers from lack of smart dialogues and witty one liners. Inspite of an able cast at his disposal, the film fails to sustain a smile on our face for more than a scene or two which leaves us perplexed wondering whether the humour sense of the makers was so poor. In the technical department, the grandiosity of Dubai was aptly showcased through Kabir Lal's lenses while the other aspects doesn't deserve much of a mention.

Anil Kapoor & Nana Patekar are the life source of this movie and they have done it in style especially the former who was bang on as the stylish, tapori lingo spewing bhai. As for the other veterans, Paresh Rawal doesnt get much riotous lines while Nasserudeen Shah & Dimple Kapadia were over the top. It's kinda known that John can break a shoulder much more easily than shoulder a scene with his comic timing like Akshay. He fails miserably as expected just like his co-star Shruti Hassan & we are left wondering as to why both of them were even casted in the first place. 

Verdict: "Welcome" was not a great movie by any stretch of imagination but it was rollicking  to say the least & when compared to it's sequel, it seems like a classic now. Anywaz the sequel will surely cash in the initial but will struggle in the long run as it wont have the word of mouth in its favour. The humour is so trite that there is an oft repeated dialogue in the movie "Yeh Toh Mazaak Tha" which seemed more like a cue for the audience to laugh rather than serve any other purpose. In short, give it a miss!!!

Rating: 1.5/5

Regards...Ben