Monday, September 30, 2013

Prisoners






Cast: Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Paul Dano(Alex Jones),Melissa Leo(Holly Jones),David Dastmalchian(Bob Taylor),Viola Davis(Nancy Birch),Terrence Howard(Franklin Birch),Maria Bello(Grace Dover)
Director: Denis Villeneuve 
Genre: Crime, Thriller

A long boring watch, rips you off your patience only to end in a regular psychopath drama. How predictable!
I could have appreciated the movie if there werent so many flaws in it


Minuses:
  • Very disappointed by the script, more than anything else. This is a work of fiction, else could have earned some sympathy at least if it was based on a true story. Very poorly written, the many flaws i could count are as below:
                      (i) None ever suspects sudden disappearance of 'Alex', no one even investigates or worries that includes his aunt 'Holly Jones'

                     (ii) An out of nowhere appearance of 'Bob Taylor' for no reason being in public, just two give the audience a second thought about someone else also being involved in this whole mystery of missing children. He was a pony and absolutely not required for the movie to progress

                    (iii) Very poor on investigations, never complete, always half verified. And with those half done efforts, 'Detective Loki' been driven mad and frustrated! Isnt he just a detective, its his job, how does he loose his cool so often

                     (iv) A big time question, can a father really turn so gruesome on someone who is apparently a 10 year old kid(Alex), when he is himself uncontrollable for a daughter of similar age group. Its insane!

                     (v) An open ending yet again! Question is, given the ability of 'Detective Loki', do you think the left pieces will ever be solved! I dont! Why does no one ever do a proper search in 'Holly's' house at the end, the clue lies right there..beyond my understanding

                     (vi) And sorry but i really didnt get the funda behind the maze thingy! It just made no sense by the end of it
  • I am absolutely tired of expecting so much from over rated dumb headed movies, and then ending up writing such a huge drill down on it just to back myself with reasonings enough
  • The movie is dead slow, 2 hours and 35 minutes, you may sit through first half, thanks to the performances...but second half will kill you knowing it is actually going no where, after all the wait..all you get to see is a bunch of psychopaths(as if you didnt guess it before). Very very predictable
  • For gods sake, slowly built movies are meant to be attented with a lot of care and a look out on all intricacies! Not necessarily all slow movies have to be good, just because they represent some piece of art shit

Pluses:
  • The director deserves applause, he does bring about some hard core drama and mental trauma very beautifully. Its only for his direction, that you dont mind sitting through the first half, even when there is hardly any content
  • Hugh Jackman, awesome performance as usual! Thankfully, he is not into mere action, but he is capable of doing much more. We have seen his potential in 'Les Miserables'
  • Jake Glyenhall, is a very different caricature out here, not really the way we have known him. He very well suits the role and justifies himself, though poorly written script does pull this role down by a bit

Lukewarm:

All the other actors apart from the lead duo, are just about fine, in fact...a little overdone at times




My rating: 2.5/5

Friday, September 27, 2013

Phata Poster Nikhla Hero



Cast: Shahid Kapoor,Ileana D'Cruz,Padmini Kolhapure,Darshan Jariwala,Sanjay Mishra(Guruji),Saurabh Shukla,Mukesh Tiwari
Director: Rajkumar Santoshi
Genre: Comedy, Action

Not a bad watch. I am sure the expectations are already low, and that is the key to its success :)

Pluses:
  • Amongst all the serious movies this week, this is one movie which is a pure entertainer and doesnt fail to entertain. Its a complete masala movie, with all cliche stuffs, herogiri, maagiri, heroinegiri, action, songs for every typical situation, dance, item number,tamasha, drama, comedy, conspiracy..all :) It doesnt bore you provided you dont expect sky high
  • Shahid Kapoor fits into movies like this, light hearted, cute and apt bollywood type hero
  • Illeana was much better than i expected. She tried all too look good and glam, her  fans wont be disappointed, cant say about the entire audience :)
  • Padmini Kolhapure, after a long time, susbtantial role, good stuff with all due respect :)
  • The obvious choice for a comedy movie are Darshan Jariwala,Sanjay Mishra,Saurabh Shukla and Mukesh Tiwari. A perfect gang :) All of them awesome support. They hardly can ever go wrong in their roles :) Entertainment is all that it means

Lukewarm:
  • Item number not very great, Nargis can not dance, period!
  • Music is just about ok, thanks to all the promotions. The romantic number however was not bad, by Atif Aslam, the saving grace :)


Minuses:
  • Now there sure is one thing that i didnt like, and that is the use of chemical weapon to showcase the terrorist angle. Why do the film makers infest all wrong ideas into the public is beyond my understanding. This one is anyway a light weight movie, doesnt really matter what kinda threat you are trying to show, a gas balloon threat or a fire cracker threat. Why then the use of chemical weapon here!! Every individual from the audience is equally a dangerous person to manifest such ideas. I am dead against these kind of promotions
  • Yes, the movie lacks in quality, but not low on substance. Hence, i wont dig into it much! Its a movie for the Bollywood fans and masses



My rating: 3/5

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Rush





Cast: Daniel Brühl, Chris Hemsworth, Olivia Wilde,Alexandra Maria Lara
Director: Ron Howard 
Genre: Biography, Sport

This is easily the movie of the weekend. A must watch for all F1 lovers and a sure shot for non sport savvy's as well!


Pluses:
  • This movie belongs to the two leads Chris Hemsworth and Daniel Brühl. Beautiful re enactment of the love and hate relationship between the arch rivals from the real life heroes 'James Hunt' and 'Niki Lauda' respectively. Chris Hemsworth, an indisciplined man, a womanizer while on a contrary Daniel Bruhl playing a rather  focussed, disciplined, one woman man. Both sharing one common passion of racing
  • The best part of the movie are the racing moments and the one to one exchange of words between the duo. You are at the edge everytime they are on the tracks. Beautifully shot. And you will fall in love with both the characters by the end of the movie
  • Chris Hemsworth plays charismatically the role given to him, so different from how we know him as 'Thor'. Not a bulky god but chiseled hunk. He has a shade of gray, you love him or you hate him, but you cant ignore him :) While on the other hand, you will always have a support and a soft corner for Daniel Bruhl even though his character also is no less of an asshole :)
  • Director gets a lot of credit in the way the movie is shot, edited. Nothing feels short of or overdone or even misplaced anywehere. One after other aspect shown crisp, not wasting too much time in detailing or dialogues. Just the right dosage of entertainment, never loosing track of the content
  • My favorite scene is the last scene of the movie. Talking about 70's and there you see a lifestyle, and the level of maturity in men, only so much more to tell you, yes they belong to a developed country, then and always. Far beyond the reach of even the current mentallity our Indian film makes can only dream to share
  • Alexandra Maria Lara was a patient and matured support

Lukewarm:

I didnt quite like Olivia Wilde. She was just there, no good looks nor any weight to the role


Minuses:

Nothing noticeably weird or a shortcoming. I enjoyed every bit of this biography :)





My rating: 4/5

Monday, September 23, 2013

The Lunchbox



Cast: Irrfan Khan, Nimrat Kaur, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Bharati Achrekar
Director: Ritesh Batra
Genre: Drama

Not a movie to my liking. Overhyped in all respects. And expect a piece of attempted art there!


Minuses:

I am sure, everyone would have heard only good about it from the various critics, here is my perspective looking at it:
  • First and foremost, this movie will but for sure hurt the sentiments of the Mumbai Dabbawallahs, they are never wrong, and such projections do infest some element of doubt on the efficacy with which they carry out their jobs
  • How bout the lunch! Does it really justify the name or is it just a means for a messenger! I found the factor of food really being paid least attention to. Only the initial few minutes, they would discuss food, and the rest other days even if the lady is cooking with all her efforts, Irfan is never paying any attention to it, at a lot of times he would give the food away to Nawazuddin and on a few, he wont eat. How can you not mention the taste of the food you are eating everyday but have a mind to mention about respective neighbours! Directors fault!
  • Ok, next! The character sketches didnt exactly fit into the love story drama. A middle class wife who is otherwise happy in her marriage, suddenly figures out her husband is cheating on her and she does absolutely nothing about it! I think this entire aspect was not required in the movie at all. This was never ever paid attention to! I dont think this issue was less significant in any respect. The only reason i believe they induced this angle was to justify the growing feeling of the lady towards someone out of her marriage, after all Indian woman cannot otherwise be into infidilety! :P Nonsense! And of course i cant imagine a middle class woman like her randomly thinking of Bhutan and taking it so seriously, a woman would think many times before shifting a city in such circumstances, and she there plays a childs game in moving out of the country itself, into the unknown! Kudos :P
  • Again the character sketch of Irfan Khan not justified in the love story. A man who is absolutely disinterested in people and is more or less a loner, which is depicted in the movie time and again, suddenly starts speaking to a stranger without context, on whats the deal with Illa's neighbours ceiling fan! I dont get it. They should have built the conversation up more stronger and subtle to show how it progressed between the two. A sudden jump in an uninteresting and irrelevant conversation between the two and Irfan's interest in it, is rather awkward
  • The movie is pretty slow, thats something one should expect. However, i count this as a minus since, being slow and a movie with a very simple concept, the director should have paid a lot of attention to the intricacies, which he clearly hasnt
  • Lilette Dubey, didnt quite fit in the role of a middle class distressed mother and a wife of an ailing husband! She is glamorous and should remain so. Karan Johar, please stop casting people in unfitting roles just because they are close to you
  • The biggest disappointment is the ending of the movie. Entire length of the movie, the only thing you keep waiting is to see what happens to the duo. An open ending just doesnt justify. There is absolutely nothing beyond the trailors in the movie otherwise, no content. I believe, if you are making a bold attempt in showcasing how boundary free are the relations today and dealing with aspects as sensitive as this in Indian context, you need to end it well and diplomatically. There are thousands of people waiting for an answer on what is the right thing to do when and if such thing happens. Film maker should float a right message across, and complete the responsibililty undertaken. You are not supposed to fiddle with issues like this and leave it to no where!
  • The only reason for writing a such a detailed review on this movie is the disregard i have today for Karan Johar and Yash Raj movies. All of them anti marriage! All of them just fanning the already disbalanced placard of cards in our society today! Wrong messages everywhere!

Pluses:
  • I cannot disregard the performances! Irfan Khan, is a sumpreme actor! Every word told and untold, very well conveyed! Least effort in remembering dialogues and more complex in terms of delivering expressions :)
  • Really appreciate Nimrat Kaur. She never gives you a feeling of a debutant! Subtle and expressive
  • Nawazuddin Siddiqui, my personal favorite! He is a gem of an actor! The only stainfree, critic free role, sketched properly, written properly and played flawlessly role! Three cheers to him!
  • Bharati Achrekar, the voice is more than enough to appreciate this role. She doesnt get a miss, we all remember you from yesteryears and we love you :)




My rating: 2.5/5 (A movie is rated perfect 4+ or 5/5 when its loved by every audience irrespective of maturity. This certainly doesnt qualify)

Friday, September 20, 2013

Horror Story



Cast: Karan Kundra(Neel),Nishant Malkani(Achint),Ravish Desai(Maghesh),Hasan Zaidi(Samrat),Aparna Bajpai(Maggie),Radhika Menon(Neena),Nandini Vaid(Sonia)
Director: Ayush Raina
Genre: Horror

Now this one is not a bad watch. Look out more for the survival quotient than the spooky content!

Pluses:
  • So finally Vikram Bhatt comes out with something which is worth a watch :) Keeping the expectations low for movies of such genres will help. However, the focus of the flick was never just horror elements, but more on how to survive the night or how to escape. You see a lot of sense in the characters of this flick which otherwise is missing in most of horror flicks
  • Good logics applied, all the stupidities you always saw in other horror stuffs and would wonder, why no one ever applies some common sense! This one wont disappoint you!
  • Scary elements are very much present. But since the focus is not this, you dont crticize much even if it fails to spook you, however it does time to time scare you
  • What worked for me in this movie: When you start feeling yourself as one of the members stuck there, and are yourself figuring out what could be the way out, and then you see one after another strategies failing, is when it gets spooky
  • The entire starcast did their jobs well! You dont have to act much apart from freaking out :D So, they freaked out quite at par :P

Lukewarm:

The climax. As usual, even after building the premise pretty good, they couldnt figure how to put an end to an otherwise seemingly impossible mission to escape. So, they simply conjured up something to end this positively

Minuses:

This movie is to enjoy, i dont want to dig into quality aspect of it



My rating: 3/5

Thursday, September 19, 2013

John Day


 
 
 
 
Cast: Naseeruddin Shah,Randeep Hooda,Sharat Saxena,Vipin Sharma(Shinde),Shernaz Patel(Maria),Elena Kazan(Tabassum)
Director: Ahishor Solomon
Genre: Thriller
 
If you got low expectations and handful of patience, this aint a bad watch!
 
Pluses:
  • Naseeruddin Shah goes without saying. I am glad, there are some such plots coming up in the Bollywood which doesnt always require a lead to be young and handsome. Just as the name of the movie suggests, this movie is dedicated to his role. A directors actor as he is, played well
  • I personally liked the role of Sharat Saxena, a don in true sense. Loved the way first time when a bad man was getting executed
  • Vipin Sharma was a good support, credited
  • The take home of this movie is the end. A food for thought equivalent moral
 
Lukewarm:
  • Randeep Hooda is good but nothing new! Same old flavor repeating face to face with different people. Thats all!
  • The script was good, and has potential, but wish it was better
  • Direction again, it wasnt bad, but could have been a lot better. I will blame it completely on the director for the lukewarm success of this flick
  • Shernaz Patel didnt have much to play, otherwise she delivered well
  • Elena Kazan, another Kangna Ranawat...ditto! I guess Kangna was too pricy for this role, and hence a replacement :D
 
 
Minuses:
  • This movie is an average watch, it lacked the required punch that every thriller movie should have. Even with a heart rendering moral, it fails to make an impact
  • The film drags at a lot of places, especially where there is Randeep Hooda in it. Absolutely unnecessary!
 
 
 
 

My rating: 2.5/5

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Grand Masti

 
 
 
 
Cast: Ritesh Deshmukh, Vivek Oberoi, Aftab Shivdasani,Pradeep Rawat,Suresh Menon(Hardik) and Ladies bandwagon: Sonali Kulkarni,Manjari Fadnis(Tulsi),Karishma Tanna(Unnati),Kainaat Arora(Marlo), Maryam Zakaria(Rose), Bruna Abdullah(Mary)
Director: Indra Kumar
Genre: Comedy, Adultery
 
Not worth on the set expectations and marketting. If you still insist to give it a try, you are most welcome to add to their business :)
 
Minuses:
  • 'Masti' was certainly better written, better executed than this one. Hence proved, adultery alone cannot make a successful movie, you need some content as well. Every tiny bit of thing was silly, not that you dont expect silly! But c'mon now, a limit to stuffs
  • The level of humor has become not only cheap but forcefully cheap. Where we have movies like 'Grand Masti', we have 'We're the Millers' as well..cant help comparing. Guys please make some quality stuff
  • Bruna Abdullah cannot act..period! She aint all that hot either, why then do we have her on screen. Are there dearth of models out there!
  • Music is bad bad bad. 'Masti' had a lot better music
  • Direction as lame as it can be, need not explicitly say a no brainer
 
 
Lukewarm:
 
All the actors...everyone were just about fine. No one needs stupendous acting skills to perform in such movies, and if they fail to entertain, it cannot be counted as a plus
 
Pluses:
 
Momentory bulge eyed crackles as they crack some adulterated visions here and there :)
 
 
 
 
 
 
My rating: 1.5/5

Friday, September 13, 2013

Zanjeer



  

Cast: Ram Charan, Priyanka Chopra, Sanjay Dutt,Prakash Raj,Mahie Gill
Director: Apoorva Lakhia
Genre: Crime, Action, Drama

If at all you are interested checking out how Ram Charan fairs in his debut, you may want to hit the theaters. Otherwise, please ignore

Minuses:
  • I am still wondering whether this one qualifies for a humorous genre as well! The director experimented in a pathetic way in presenting this one. The overacted and humorous, no brainer angles are the biggest let down of this flick making it too difficult to bear
  • Second loss is on the writer of the script. Absolutely no weight, no edge, no masala, nothing!
  • Horrible music and so many unwanted songs! You would want to plug in to your ipod whenever there is an item number
  • Priyanka Chopra, OMG! Please do explain what makes her sign on movies like this with such filthy, overacted scenes.Untolerable
  • Mahie Gill, if i was playing any character at all in this flick, would have killed her myself. God damn irritating figure. What was she trying to prove after all!

Lukewarm:
  • Prakash Raj, not as impactful. Regular stuff
  • Sanjay Dutt regular again! You may safely avoid any further movies coming under Sanjay Dutt's flag until he thinks of resuming Bollywood after his release from jail

Pluses:

I guess the only credit i could have for the movie, would be to Ram Charan, however silly at times...but yet on his acting skills, he wasnt bad. You can see some confidence in there




My rating: 2/5 (Only for Ram Charan)

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Riddick



  

Cast: Vin Diesel,Matt Nable(Johns),Jordi Mollà(Santana), Katee Sackhoff(Dahl)
Director: David Twohy
Genre: Sci-Fi, Thriller

Watch for the depiction of alien world and Vin Diesel. Rest of it is pass time


Pluses:
  • The CGI is awesome and so is the cinematography.The representation of an outer world, ghastly creatures...everything is worth checking out. And this is the USP of the flick
  • Vin Diesel oozing style, oozing accent! He is the only man standing from beginning to the end. This movie is made for him
  • Even though the movie runs slow, you are so mesmerized by the direction of the movie, that you never feel bored. Cheers to David Twohy

Lukewarm:
  • Matt Nable doesnt qualify exactly for a bad man, he is just there to give a purpose to the movie
  • Jordi Mollà is a simpleton, used to lengthen the movie, thats about it
  • Katee Sackhoff is just about fine, used again to add some feminish tadka

Minuses:

Script is a let down. There is never any significant content in the movie. Its more a hide and seek, and that makes it a tad less interesting. Doesnt quite act as a thriller



My rating: 3/5

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Shuddh Desi Romance


 
 
 
 
Cast: Sushant Singh Rajput, Parineeti Chopra, Rishi Kapoor,Vaani Kapoor
Director: Maneesh Sharma
Genre: Romance, Drama
 
A movie with a wrong message to the society. On the entertainment quotient, lessen your expectations as the movie keeps progressing
 
 
Minuses:
  • Within a span of 10 years, feels like we are seeing a complete upside down in the movie making, the way Yash Raj represents romance. Remember the DDLJ days and then now this! This movie is made keeping anti marriage notion in mind. Movie with such scripts should not be released in masses, this is absolute corruption of mind against marriages. Neither Indian nor western! Quite shameful
  • Second half is a drag, you start feeling fed up of the nonsense going around, playing hide and seek throughout. I dont know if emotions are really that complex and perplexing as shown in this flick
 
Lukewarm:
  • Music picks up better with the visuals and context of the movie
  • Ohh boy!! These many kisses!! And not so hot kisses!! Dampner! They qualify as nothing, not a smooch neither a kiss! Save me the plight!
 
 
Pluses:
  • I loved Rishi Kapoor, this guy can really be anything, just anything. Though his Punjabi accent dominated Rajasthani accent, yet he is a sweetheart. Sarcastically humorous in this one is his flavor :)
  • Sushant Singh Rajput is being romantic and flirty on big screens. Doesnt earn him any brownie points from the ladies for a role as etching as this :D However, could score more on the deception factor :D
  • Parineeti Chopra, face of a single lady staying out of family!! Are all the girls of such kinds..specially when you represent Rajasthan!! I strongly oppose! However, a Delhite may suit well! She was good on her skills of acting nervertheless
  • Vaani Kapoor is a fresh face, so much daisy! I loved her role personally, makes more sense to me anyday
  • Dialogues were good and catchy, make you laugh and enjoy at a lot of instances
 
 
 
 
 
My rating: 2.5/5

Friday, September 6, 2013

Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters


 
 
 
 
Cast: Logan Lerman(Percy), Alexandra Daddario(Annabeth), Brandon T. Jackson(Grover),Leven Rambin(Clarisse),Douglas Smith(Tyson),Jake Abel(Luke)
Director: Thor Freudenthal
Genre: Fantasy, Adventure, Family
 
A flick more for the kids than adults. Kids who are teenagers may find it good but certainly not for the adults
 
Minuses:
  • The USP of movies of such kinds is in its CGI. This one is a thumbs down. Poor CGI, poor 3D effects
  • The story is very kiddish so is the script and presentation. This movie feels like a genre somewhere between animation and adult fantasy stories
 
 
Lukewarm:
  • Alexandra Daddario supposedly the female lead..but not more than a support
  • Suport by Brandon T. Jackson also falls in the same category :)
 
Pluses:
  • Logan Lerman was the lead of the movie. Most of the heroism gone vain in poor CGI, nevertheless, as an actor he cant be regarded bad
  • Leven Rambin and Douglas Smith were more or less the second leads. Leven looked svelte and smart while Douglas was just another fantasy character and a strong support to the main lead
  • Jake Abel as a teenange bad boy wasnt bad after all :)
 
 
 
 
 
My rating: 2/5

Thursday, September 5, 2013

The frozen ground


 
 
 
 
Cast: Vanessa Hudgens, Nicolas Cage, John Cusack
Director: Scott Walker
Genre: Crime, Thriller (Based on true story)
 
Not worth the expctations.Slow paced, less engaging flick for a thriller
 
Minuses:
  • Its the direction mostly to blame for. True stories cannot be re written to spicen things up. This is where the responsibilities lie mostly within the direction. Not very impressive
  • Story doesnt have any mystical angle to it. You know from the beginning who is who. Hence, as it slowly progresses, you feel being dragged
  • The climax also aint very impactful. It feels easy going
 
Pluses:
  • If Vanessa Hudgens actaually played the character from the orginal story, she did pretty well. She not only irritated the cops, she irritated the audience as well to her best. Such a nagging, coward little b****. Absolute dud head, doesnt know whom she should count on and whom she shouldnt. I literally wanted her to die but as destiny has it, she is a lucky b**** as she lives on today. Amazing acting if this was for real
  • Nicolas Cage wasnt into much of any action in this one. He kept himself grounded as a cop. He is admirable as an actor
  • John Cusack, ahhhh...cant believe him doing a negative role, that of a psychopath :) Cold blooded, well played caricature :)
  • The orignal story of course is ghastly and moving! What a risky job to do for those sex workers
 
 
 
 
 
My rating: 2.5/5

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones


 


  
 
Cast: Lily Collins(Clary), Jamie Campbell Bower(JC), Robert Sheehan(Simon),Kevin Zegers(Alec),Jemima West(Isabelle),Lena Headey(Mother of Clary),Aidan Turner(Luke),C. C. H. Pounder(Dorothea),Jonathan Rhys Meyers(Valentine)
Director: Harald Zwart
Genre: Action, Fantasy, Romance
 
Very much watchable. Enough CGI, drama and action to keep you engaged
 
 
Pluses:
  • It aint any different from the regular ghost chasing flick. But it isnt devoid of entertainment. The length of the movie doesnt hurt. You can have a regular expectation and wont be disappointed
  • Good that they didnt attempt building this flick in 3D. All the CGI's very much enjoyable in 2D
  • Lily Collins and Jamie Campbell Bower are leads in the movie. Romance and action in abundance, keeps you flowing :)
  • Robert Sheehan was an important support completing the love triangle. And rest of the support were ably provided by Kevin Zegers and Jemima West, also Lena Headey and Aidan Turner though in a very short role
  • Jonathan Rhys Meyers was a handsome bad man, he though showed up pretty late as the mystery kept unfolding. Too many characters, yet C. C. H. Pounder deserves a mention :)
  • I should not miss the credit to the Director Harald Zwart, without whose able direction, such genre could easily be a headache
 
 
Minuses:
 
Nothing notably wrong, just an average quality fantasy flick :)
 
 
 
 
 
My rating: 3/5

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

We're the Millers


Cast: Jason Sudeikis, Jennifer Aniston, Emma Roberts(casey), Will Poulter(Kenny), Ed Helms,Nick Offerman(Don),Kathryn Hahn(Edie),Tomer Sisley(Pablo Chacon)
Director: Rawson Marshall Thurber
Genre: Crime, Comedy, Adult

Complete fun filled entertainer with raw humor!

Caution: Dont get your kids along for a first ever family movie of its kinds :D

Pluses:
  • Laughter wagon from the beginning to the end! However application of logic is strictly prohibited. Just go with your friends or mate and enjoy a movie which out of all ultra modern odds of an American culture, brings you close as a family!
  • Jason Sudeikis and Jennifer Aniston are the stars of the movie. You very well know what to expect when its Jennifer on board ;) Age no bar, comfort level no bar! Both of the leads equally complimenting each other all the way
  • Emma Roberts and Will Poulter. the teenager duo are awesomest. They complete the rigged family picture though quite crude at times :D
  • Nick Offerman and Kathryn Hahn were cute additions on the journey
  • Ed Helms and Tomer Sisley are the rival bad men. Loved checking Ed out first time myself beyond Hangover series :) Tomer Sisley is worth a mention as well :)
  • I loved the way they interweaved an adult comedy with a family outlook. Perfect blend and good fun :)

Minuses:

Dont want to taint it with any. Its just a joy ride :)




My rating: 3.5/5

Monday, September 2, 2013

Satyagraha



Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Ajay Devgan,Manoj Bajpayee, Kareena Kapoor, Arjun Rampal,Amrita Rao
Director: Prakash Jha
Genre: Politics, Drama

A failed attempt in the process of recreating multiple failed public reforms in the course of our Indian politics. Dikhaana hi hai to success stories dikhao, jo fail ho chuka use hum dekhkar kya karein!!

Overhyped, same old regular drama, very well can put you to sleep. However, watch it for Manoj Bajpayee

PS: It is a clear win to John Abraham on his Madras Cafe over Satyagraha! :)


Minuses:
  • Over dramatic approach towards everything. Be it Amitabh being too harsh on Ajay in the first half, or Amrita always in tears specially where she is simply asked to bribe an official for 100-200 bucks(as if she is harassed particularly), Amitabh slapping the officer, Ajay dropping years of amibitions and hardwork for simply something he never thought was important, Kareena acting as the one and only voice for entire India....god save me! This is what happens when TV serials are attempted in movie make!
  • Boring boring boring! Nothing new happens that you havent seen before. God damn! the characters are also repeated in the same platform of Prakash Jha's movies repeatedly telecasting same old drama with new title. Havent we seen Amitabh playing a teacher with his tight grounds on morales in 'Aarakshan'-Prakash Jha again. How many times have we seen Ajay Devgan acting as a rising leader?? Soon we can expect his son to play the young fighting leader in Prakash Jha's next :P
  • The entire plot is so so hackeyned from multiple dramas of Prakas Jha's own cradle! It doesnt raise any different public conscience! It doesnt help getting any patriotic, nor does it compel you to do something about our country's current state
  • The base script upon which the entire protest is built up is very shanty! It almost feels that Prakash Jha only had the second half on his mind, and he never paid attention to its first half, when the base is the most important aspect!
  • First half is extremely boring
  • Music is pathetic, all the attempts of blending in rock with desi music, blunder! I have no idea what did the Music Director try to create. The desi item number in a regular disc, is such an eye sore. At least a better model would have done some good! And then you must notice all the high musical drama with utter chaos when the old Bapu is fighting with his life during his hunger strike. How can any sick person take all these!
  • And to top it all! The movie gives no solution by the end of it! An open end and continued drama :D



Lukewarm:
  • I do have special regards for Amitabh Bachcan but cant really add any credits for his role in this one. The caricature of Anna Hazare was just not required. What good is it going to do anyway. Does it set any role based model for the audience..NO!! Could the reforms of Anna Hazare bring about any change in the system...NEVER! Why then the entire drama once again at the cost of our hard earned money and time!!
  • Ajay Devgan, same old avatar. Lame lame lamer this time! The story progresses 3 years after the beginning shots. 3 years before, he was heading to abroad for MBA, and 3 yrs hence, he not only does complete his MBA, he even builds a fortune for his profoundly known telecom start up! How many do you see running so fast :D And then the rabbit suddenly turns into a tortoise, leaves everything,sells everything to fight a cause which he knows best is an endless muddle. Stained his role right here and done for the rest of the movie :)
  • Kareena Kapoor, i kind of hate her expressions. She just doesnt suit modest roles. Her attitude is trademark and shows up even in love making scenes, as if she is doing a favor to her partner  :P Good role to her but looks like she bought this one :P Such big news creating history out there and she and her channel is the only one addressing it till very long! Why was she even there in all the meetings where Arjun Rampal should have been there, crap!
  • I am very very disappointed with Arujun Rampal. Not a very well defined character. He is the local leader with absolutely no attitude. He just is way too modest for a leader, ready to give in everytime to anybody at all! Looks like his and Kareena's roles were swapped :P

Pluses:
  • Manoj Bajpayee is the only man which makes the watch all worth it. Trust me, all the while as the movie runs, i was waiting for his scenes only! One brilliant actor, awesome delivery of dialogues. More than the weightage of the dialogues, the weight was in his delivery. A natural actor tat he is
  • And look who is here in the positives, none other than Amrita Rao. Unexpectedly significant role and she looks pretty throughout with least of make up and plays a support mostly but is appreciable :)
  • Second half is watchable, much better than the first half
  • One song romantically involving the lead pair is good to the ears




My rating: 2/5