Judwaa 2 review: "Varun manages to rock in this rather stale remake!!!"

Finally the long weekend has come to an end on Monday with the 148th birth anniversary of the father of our nation. This festive weekend in Bollywood saw the release of "Judwaa 2", the reboot of the superhit "Judwaa" that released two decades back. Over the years, we have seen numerous remakes being made & more often than not, it has bit the dust with "Aag" being a classic example. Well as per box office reports it has garnered a thumping initial. So what made it click with the audience???

Since most of us have watched Salman's "Judwaa", I dont think there is need for me to elaborate on the plot. Anywaz for those whose grey cells have started to fail, Prem & Raja (Varun Dhawan) were twins who got separated at birth due to the evil design of the smuggler, Charles (Zakir Hussain). Prem grew up with his parents in London while Raja was raised in the slums of Mumbai. But destiny brings Raja to London which leads to mistaken identities & comedy of errors. 

In the 90's, David Dhawan was the director with the Midas's touch as his brand of slapstick comedies was lapped up by the audience. But with time, his powers waned due to his inability to change with the times. His last movie was "Main Tera Hero" in 2014 that had his son in the lead & he has opted for his son yet again to reprise Salman's role in "Judwaa 2". There is hardly any difference between the two movies as it is a scene to scene copy of the original, though Sajid-Farhad has managed to sprinkle humour with some hare brained dialogues apart from numerous sexist & cringe worthy ones. Ayananka Bose deserves praise for the visuals while the music was kinda average after all two of the stand out tracks belonged to the original.

So this brings us to the most important question & that is whether Varun was able to match Salman's performance. There is no doubt that Varun was the right choice for the role & he actually outperforms Salman for most parts. But when it comes to goofiness & innocence, Varun was found to fall short. Both Taapsee Pannu & Jacqueline Fernandez didnt have much to do apart from shake a leg & serve as love interests for the protagonists. As for the rest, Rajpal Yadav's character was unbearable, Anupam Kher was fine while Pavan Malhotra was wasted.

Verdict: Well the box-office numbers claims that it has the third highest opening weekend in 2017 & is on its way to the 100 C mark. Frankly speaking, the film didnt impress me as it felt outdated despite Varun's sincere performance. This is not to imply that "Judwaa" was a great movie in the first place though it catered to the tastes of the audience in that time period. In short, if you are in the mood for pea brained comedies, you can give it a try or else forget it!!!

Rating: 1.5/5

Regards...Ben

Spyder review: "Seems like a desi version of Dark Knight!!!"

India is a land of festivals as each state has its own share of cultures & beliefs. It's a long weekend in our country as we celebrate Dussehra & Durga Puja which is essentially the triumph of good over evil. If the former implies the Lord Ram's victory over Ravan, then the latter is about the slaying of Mahisasura by Goddess Durga, So apart from the goodies to savour, we have a couple of big budget releases across the nation. The most significant among the lot is A R Murugadoss's bilingual "Spyder" which has got Mahesh Babu in the lead. The trailer was pretty stylish & it seems poised to take the the box office by storm.

Shiva (Mahesh Babu) works at the Intelligence Bureau where he eavesdrops on telephonic conversations that could pose threat to the public. He did that with the help of the software that he had developed which tracked down suspicious calls. Though overqualified for the job, he cherished the experience as it enabled him to save numerous lives. But all of that changed when his action led to the death of his friend, a police constable whom he had requested to help a girl in distress. Soon it became evident that their deaths was the act of a serial killer. But who was this psychopath & how many had become victims to him who lusted for the wails & cries of the people in pain.

It's been a while since Murugadoss had showcased his directorial skills in Tamil/Telugu with the last one being the blockbuster "Kaththi" in 2014, though he had made Sonakshi Sinha's "Akira" last year. The main reason why I (most people) love his movies is the fact that he is adept when it comes to packing content with style. In his latest venture, he has showcased it as a battle of wits between the hero & villain with the latter given the freedom to run amok. It might not be intentional, but quite a few sequences had an uncanny resemblance with "Dark Knight". The backstory for the antagonist was chilling but it lacked the finesse & logic in many parts of the latter half. Santhosh Sivan as always has impressed while Harris Jayaraj has given a couple of hummable tracks though some did pose a speed breakers. However, the VFX effects were pretty mediocre to say the least.

Mahesh Babu was an apt choice as the protagonist coz it needed someone who is subtle yet effective & he has aced it. But it was S J Surya who absolutely bowled me over as he was brilliant as the manic killer. Rakul Preet singh was just for eye candy while Bharath was fine in the cameo. As for the rest, none of them had much screen space.

Verdict: There is no doubt that it will have a whirlwind opening at the box office considering the big names which are associated with the project. It will surely satiate the audience with its edge of the seat stuff for most parts. But will it rank as one of the finest thrillers ever? Unfortunately no....though it did have the scope for it but Murugadoss went kinda overboard towards the climax. However, despite that it's still worth a watch!!!

Rating: 2.75/5

Regards...Ben

Haseena Parkar review: "Hardly any insights into the biography!!!"

Less than a week back, Iqbal Kaskar the brother of the dreaded gangster Dawood Ibrahim was picked up by the Mumbai Police on extortion charges. Incidentally, he was arrested from the apartment of his late sister Haseena Parkar in Nagpada. Call it an unbelievable coincidence since the biographical film on Haseena Parkar released this weekend. Since I barely had any idea about her, I was interested to know as to how she became "Appa" & the "Queen of Nagpada". So does it captivate the audience??

The film unfolds in 2007, when Haseena (Shraddha Kapoor) the sister of Dawood (Siddhanth Kapoor) had to present herself in High Court for extortion charges leveled against her. Her lawyer's defense was that she was the victim of her brother's actions & that she had no hand whatsoever in any crime. The prosecutor tried to prove the charges to no avail as Haseena had an answer to all the accusations. She elaborates on various happenings of her life & as to how her brother moved on to the dark side. So was she innocent as she saidor was she indeed the head of her brother's shady business deals in the country???

Apoorva Lakhia is a rather well known name when it comes to making movies based on terrorism & underworld. Though to be brutally honest, more often than not it's all slick with hardly any substance. His last venture was the abysmal remake of "Zanjeer" & his latest venture is no different. The blame also lies equally on Suresh Nair who had penned the script & screenplay. Apart from the initial build up, the movie is bereft of anything that keeps us invested in it. There is no twists or turns, nor anything as such that a person who has no idea about the protagonist cant guess. On the technical side, there is nothing to fault as such be it the visuals by Fasahat Khan or the music by Sachin-Jigar.

Shraddha Kapoor might have got the first meaty role of her career but the script didnt offer much opportunity to showcase what she is capable of. Apart from her initial appearance, there is nothing that makes us go ga-ga. Her brother Siddhanth as Dawood wasnt able to impart the fear that we associate with that character. As for the rest, Ankur Bhatia, Rajesh Tailang, Priyanka Sethia have done their parts aptly.

Verdict: As the trailer imparts a dark feel, the takers will be less for sure & to make it worse, the script is mediocre. It fails to fascinate the audience with the events that unfold in the narration. In short, it will tank at the box office!!!

Rating: 2/5

Regards...Ben

Simran review: "Kangana nails her role though the screenplay doesnt quite!!!"

This weekend could be termed as the week of "Girl Power" as we had Sindhu making the nation proud with her exploits at the Korean Super Series. Even in Bollywood, we have a women centric movie with Kangana Ranaut, the reigning queen in the lead. There were numerous controversies leading to the release of the movie with regard to her statements on her male counterparts & nepotism. Whatever might be the case, the trailer of "Simran" seems to convey that it is going to be yet another gem from Kangana. With Hansal Mehta calling the shots, the quality of the movie wont be in question. But will it be able to satiate the audience???

Praful Patel (Kangana Ranaut) is a divorced, independent Gujarati female who worked in the hospitality industry in Atlanta. As her parents constantly nagged her to get hitched, she has been on the lookout for a suitable apartment where she could move into. After years of hard work, she finally managed to hoard sufficient savings along with a loan from the bank that would enable her to get a place of her choice. But before she could seal the deal, she goes on to Sin City with her cousin. Just like it has happened to many, she loiters into the casino & gets hooked onto the dealer's table once she starts winning. Hoping to cash in on more money, she gambles the next day as well & that's when reality hits her hard as she looses whatever she had including the deposit to her apartment. Her desperation to win it back makes her borrow money from a loan shark. Little did she realise that she was in an absolute quagmire which would change her life forever. 

Hansal Mehta's credentials as a director is well established with movies like "Aligarh", "Shahid", "City Lights" etc to his credit. His latest venture is loosely based on Sandeep Kaur aka "Bombshell Bandit", a Punjabi Sikh nurse who is presently serving jail time in the US for robbing several banks. The story by Apurva Asrani as such is interesting especially the complex character of Kangana that is intriguing, childish & crazy all rolled into one. But his screenplay falters in the second half, as the robbery, police investigation & climax seemed rather silly & preposterous. All the technical aspects has been handled adequately be it Anuj Rakesh's cinematography, Antara Lahiri's editing & Sachin Jigar's music.

Coming to performances, it was a one woman show with Kangana being absolutely brilliant. Her goofiness in Vegas reminded me of Mr. Bean which was spot on. Equally impressive was her ability to convey her vulnerability & establishes her position as one of the finest actresses in the industry. Since the story basically revolved around her, none of the other characters barely got much screen space but even then Sohum Shah as Sameer deserves praise along with characters like Praful's parents & the bar attender in Vegas. 

Verdict: Well it's not a type of movie that will be lapped up by the masses but it will have the urban audience interested. There is no doubt that the film has flaws in the screenplay just like the protagonist. But if you ask me, Kangana's performance definitely makes it worth watching. In short, do check it out!!!!

Rating: 2.75/5

Regards...Ben

Vivegam review: "Slick flick which defies vivegam for most parts!!!"

It's been a rather eventful last couple of days with Sindhu & Saina making the nation proud with their exploits at the World Badminton Championships. At the same time, the incidents that unfolded at Sirsa & Panchkula by the senseless followers of the self styled God man Ram Rahim made us a laughing stock in front of the world. As it was a rather hectic week, I was eagerly looking forward to the weekend & my eyes lit up when I came to know about Thala's "Vivegam" being released. The trailer showcased it as a Hollywood style action thriller. So does it deliver what it promises???

AK (Ajith Kumar) was the head of the counter terrorism squad, who had 'supposedly' gone rogue. He had taken down a terrorist outfit single handedly & confiscated a hard drive which contained the codes to launch a nuclear weapon. This prompted the intelligence agencies to issue a look-out notice for him & the task was assigned to his former team-mates headed by his best buddy Aryan Sangha (Vivek Oberoi). AK was said to have moved over to the dark side after their botched mission to capture the hacker, Natasha (Akshara Hasan). So why did the best agent in the world become rogue???

The project is helmed by Siva, who is well known for his masala entertainers. Incidentally this is his third movie with Thala on the trot after "Veeram" & "Vedhalam". He has pretty much taken care of the core aspects of the movie such as script, story & screenplay and has done a fine job in the execution of it. It is a top notch action thriller without doubt but it goes over the top after a point that you cant help chuckle & cringe at times. However, one cant deny the fact that the punch dialogues will evoke whistles. With regard to the climax, there was talk of a much hyped fight between Thala & his rival that had many people going ga-ga over it. But it was hilarious to say the least & you will realise the reason when you watch it. 

It is an out & out Ajith movie and he has done utmost justice to his role His charisma & style is used to the hilt and he delivers to his fan's satisfaction. Vivek Oberoi had the aura that his character required but the dubbing done for him wasnt quite upto the mark. Kajal Aggarwal has done her part adequately as well while the rest were ok as well. Anirudh' music elevated the mood of the movie while Vetri's visuals deserves praise.

Verdict: It is a movie for the fans & they will lap it up happily. As for the rest, the action sequences will surely thrill but the lack of logic in many scenes will be a turn off. So is it worth a try?? Well if you are a Ajith fan, then it will surely whet your appetite. In short, Jason Bourne might pale in comparison to AK in terms of brawn & brains!!!

Rating: 2.5/5

Regards...Ben

Bareilly Ki Barfi review: " As sweet as barfi!!!"

Last couple of days has been rather eventful with the Supreme Court passing the judgement that triple talaq is illegal, the Solar eclipse over the US & Nadal back to World No.1. Even I was quite busy with work commitments that I didnt quite find the time to pen down my thoughts about 'Bareilly ki Barfi". In normal circumstances, I wouldnt have bothered to write the review since it's been in the theatres for more than half a week. But I would have to admit, I was pretty entertained by it & as it doesnt have huge stars there is a good chance that many of my friends would have skipped or even be unaware about it. Hence I felt I should give you my opinion as to why it is worth a try.

As the title indicates, the story unfolds in the bustling small town of Bareilly where Bitti Sharma (Kriti Sanon), a strong opinionated free spirited girl lived who was quite unlike other girls in the area. So much so, her mother (Seema Bhargava) constantly worried about the prospects of her daughter getting married off in the traditional manner. On the other hand, her father (Pankaj Tripathi), who ran a sweet shop gave his approval to all her crazy antics. None of the prospective grooms gave her the impression that they were ready to embrace her for the person that she was, until she stumbled across a novel called "Bareilly ki Barfi". Incidentally, the girl mentioned in the book had her same traits which made her decide to meet the author Pritam Vidrohi (Rajkkumar Rao). But all her efforts to locate him drew blank & therefore she sought the help of Chirag Dubey (Ayushmann Khurana), the publisher of the book who was said to know about his whereabouts. However, she was oblivious of the fact that Chirag was indeed the author. So why was Pritam being credited as the author???

The creator of this hilarious rom com is Aswiny Iyer Tiwari, who had made an impressive debut with "Nil Battey Sannata" that was critically acclaimed far & wide. She was aided in her task by her husband Nitesh Tiwari (of "Dangal" fame) who along with Shreyas Jain & Rajat Nonia had penned the script. It was sprinkled with humorous dialogues & situational comedy which was both realistic and in sync with the region where the story is based.Personally speaking, I absolutely loved the speech in the climax which kinda reminded me of Aamir in "Dil Chahta Hai". There are hardly much twists & turns making it fairly predictable.All the personnel involved in the technical aspects have done their jobs well.

Frankly, I never thought Kriti Sanon would be able to do justice to the feisty character of Bitti as it seemed like a role which was up Kangana's alley. But she aced it in style along with Ayushmann who portrayed the forlorn lover as well as the grey shades in Chirag convincingly. But the star of the show is undoubtedly Rajkkumar Rao who was brilliant in the two avatars that he appeared. Equal praise needs to be vested upon Pankaj Tripahi, Seema Bhargava & Rohit Choudhary who have done utmost justice to their roles & also to Javed Akhtar's narration which made the viewing experience all the more enjoyable.

Verdict: Undoubtedly one of the finest rom coms to have come out from Bollywood. Many a time, good movies do get overlooked due to the lack of star power. Hopefully this doesnt turn out to be one & therefore in case, you guys havent watched it; do check it out!!!

Rating: 3.25/5

Regards...Ben

Toilet-Ek Prem Katha review: "Impressive satire that gets constipated towards the end!!!"

As we step foot into the 71st year of Independence, we are at the cusp of becoming the next global economic powerhouse. But we fail to realise our true potential as there are many areas where we are still stuck in the medieval period.  At times, it is due to the Governments in power while at most instances it's due to the lackadaisical attitude of the population . One such problem that has plagued the country is lack of hygienic toilet practices & this issue is presented as a satire in "Toilet-Ek Prem Katha". The trailer was interesting & with Akki in the lead, there are high hopes about the project. So will it quell the dry spell at the box office after all Bollywood hardly had any big hits this year???

Keshav (Akshay Kumar) is the 36 year old son of a hard liner Brahmin, Panditji (Sudhir Pandey) who was the proprietor of a cycle shop. So dogmatic was his father, that Keshav was forced to marry a buffalo to ward off the 'maanglik' effect that was believed to have delayed his marriage. To add to his woes, his father was adamant that he should be married to a female who had polydactyly to ensure that he had a peaceful life. Around this time, he meets Jaya (Bhumi Pednekar) a state topper & with time, they enter into a relationship. He comes up with an ingenious idea to fool his father into believing that Jaya had an extra finger which paves the way for their marriage. But this was hardly a problem, until Jaya realizes that Keshav's house doesn't have a toilet & she would have to go with the 'lota party" in the wee hours to empty her bowels. She was livid about it & Keshav had to come up with an idea to resolve the problem lest she walks out on him.

It's not surprising that Shree Narayanan Singh is a relatively unknown name after all he only has a forgetful "Yeh Jo Mohabbat Hai" to his credit as a director.  However, with his latest venture he will be heard with more regularity. He has done a fine job with the execution of the satire for large parts though it falters towards the end. Inspired from real life characters such as Anita Narre & Priyanka Bharti (you would have seen her in the Vidya Balan UNICEF Total Sanitation ad); it has been scripted by Siddharth Singh & Garima Wahal. The predicament that Akshay finds himself in & the 'jugaad' that he comes up with evokes laughs. The manner in which the movie tackles the core issue is hilarious & thought provoking, but the hurried climax seemed rather unconvincing & kinda misses the mark as it stretched a tad too long. Despite his praise worthy credentials as a editor in movies like "A Wednesday", "Baby" , "M. S Dhoni" etc.; he has come up short here as it ought to have been trimmed much more efficiently. Anshuman Mahaley has done a commendable job in maintaining the rustic feel to the visuals while the music which was done by a host of artists were satisfactory.

Over the past couple of years, Akshay's choice of movies has been nothing short of brilliant whether it hits the mark or not. His conscious effort to dabble with various genres be it comedy, social issues, action etc., makes him the actor that I most look forward to (apart from Aamir). He was fantastic as Keshav especially in the marriage scenes where he does goofy stuff that made me almost fall off the seat laughing. Equally impressive was Bhumi who portrayed the fiesty spirit & romantic avatar with ease. It's hard to say who hasnt aced their part as each & every artist has done utmost justice to their roles be it Sudhir Pandey, Anupam Kher, Divyendu Sharma etc. 

Verdict: The box collections at the end of the opening weekend stands at an impressive 51 C, which gives ample proof  that if the content is good then the audience will lap it up. Even as our nation talks about going digital, the stats shows us that close to 45% of our population still dont use toilets even when the authorities offer to build it. From time to time, we have had movies with strong messages; but I sincerely hope that this one will atleast make people make a conscious effort to deter from open defecation. In short, dont miss this hilarious satire!!!

Rating: 3/5

Regards...Ben