moving pictures

No more reviews on Moving Pictures. Check out Vibetalkies.com

vivekranjit@gmail.com (Vivek Ranjit) — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 17:56:00 +0000

Dear readers (the few who check this blog out for reviews and stuff),

I'm happy to inform you that I have been approached by a website dedicated to Cinema (focusing more on Malayalam) to write reviews for their site, Vibetalkies.com. So from now on, my reviews would be published on that particular site and not on the blog. But I would continue to write interesting articles based on films on the blog. So I request you all to continue reading the blog for that and check out http://vibetalkies.com/ for movie and music reviews from today onwards. I'm starting with the music review of the upcoming film Gulumaal on VT.

Vivek.

What's Your Raashee - An amazing plot gone haywire!!!

vivekranjit@gmail.com (Vivek Ranjit) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 20:35:00 +0000

Movie - What's Your Raashee? (Hindi)
Director - Ashutosh Gowariker
Producers - Ashutosh Gowariker, Ronnie Screwvala
Cast - Harman Baweja, 12 Priyanka Chopras, Darshan Jariwala, Anjan Srivastav, Rajesh Vivek and others.
Music - Sohail Sen
Cinematography - Piyush Shah
Editing - Ballu Saluja
Lyrics - Javed Akhtar
Story - Inspired from Madhu Rye's novel, 'Kimball Ravenswood'
Screenplay - Ashutosh Gowariker, Naushil Mehta
Dialogues - Naushil Mehta
Release Date - 25th September 2009

You can be happy when you see good movies. You can have a disgusted feel after seeing bad movies. But when you see a great concept made into a bad movie, you feel sorry. That is exactly how I felt after watching Ashutosh Gowariker's excruciatingly long What's Your Raashee. And to add to that, a lead actor who does not know anything about acting. But the one factor which made me sit through the whole movie was the leading lady, Priyanka Chopra. She was the only good thing about this badly made movie.

The movie has a very interesting plot. Yogesh Patel(Harman Baweja) has just finished his MBA in Chicago and has a fun life there. He is suddenly called back home by his family and only when he reaches there, he learns that he's been called to get himself married off. Apparently, if he marries, his grandfather would bestow all his properties upon him, which can be used to clear his elder brother's humongous debts. So after a lot of emotional blackmail, Yogesh agrees to get married within 10 days. And after reading an interesting book on astrology called What's Your Raashee, he decides that he will see one girl from each sun-sign, and get married to the one he likes the most among them. He starts meeting the girls one by one, and he soon realizes that all the girl whom he comes across, look the same. (His granddad gives him some silly logic about this, which I didnt really get).

Now, this plot sounds great on the surface level, but the way it is executed, makes you cringe most of the time. The worst part of the movie is that the director is confused to treat it as a social satire or fantasy or a comedy or a musical. He messes the whole thing up and the end result is disastrous. The nail on the coffin is the usage of songs for each of the 12 different sun-signs. So that makes it 12 songs and 2 extra songs for the hero also. So the songs themselves make up for more than one hour of the running time. Seriously, how did Mr.Gowariker expect people to sit through this?? If this movie had Rahman (who usually does music for all of Gowariker's movies), people would have still sat through this movie just because of Rahman's songs. But unfortunately, this film has music by newcomer Sohail Sen and all he gives is a bunch of mediocre songs. The only saving grace about the music is the good work by Javed Akhtar on the lyrics of the film. The sub-plots regarding the marriage broker's illicit affair and the goondas chasing Yogesh's brother are all terrible. They are brought for comic relief, but you feel like crying, when you see those scenes. This is Ashutosh's first city based subject in a long time, completely different from the epic-scale movies like Lagaan and Jodhaa Akbar or the sensitive Swades. He had gained immense respect and a great stature through these three films and all his fans would certainly be disappointed by such a film coming from him. I heard that he's going back to his period film style with his next featuring Abhishek Bachchan. Hope that one brings him back on track. (I hope Rahman gets back with him in that project).

I didnt have the courage to go watch this 3.5 hour long film in the theatre, thats why I have put up a review so late, after watching it on DVD. (It took me 2 days to watch because I would sleep off quite often during the movie). Nobody minded the length of Lagaan, Swades or Jodhaa Akbar, because they were all good films and kept the interest of the viewer throughout. But the viewer loses his interest on this messed up movie from the second boy-girl meeting itself. And a ridiculous climax which does no justice to all the build-up will just make you hate the movie even more.

Harman Baweja as the NRI gujju ladka Yogesh Patel, tries hard to act well, but he just cannot do that. In fact, you can notice pretty clearly that he is trying to act, at many instances. I havent seen his other two superflops, Love Story 2050 and Victory. And above all this, his striking resemblance to Hrithik Roshan in both looks and voice, makes him look just like a cheap duplicate of Hrithik. I so badly wish that Hrithik had done this role instead of him. It would have been so much better then. I saw many positive comments about his acting in many of the reviews about this movie, but I didnt like him one bit. He was trying too much, when all he had to do was to stay simplistic.

The only reason why I sat through this whole movie is Priyanka Chopra. She took up an impossible task of portraying 12 distinct character, even beating the legend Kamal Haasan's record which he created through a lot of make-up and computer graphics in Dasavathaaram. In this movie, each of the 12 girls are made distinct by Priyanka's wonderful acting. She didnt have to rely on make up too much to make her characters unique and distinct. She just played them exceptionally well and created a difference. But her amazing performance is let down by a shoddy script. The characteristic of each sun-sign is not fleshed out effectively. I think Ashutosh focussed on them more in the songs (which were obviously fast-forwarded). Out of the 12, her portrayal of the girls from Aries, Scorpio, Gemini, Virgo and Capricorn stand out. The others are either poorly written or are diluted with stupid songs.

From the rest of the cast, Darshan Jariwala and Anjan Shrivastav are decent. Rajesh Vivek and the whole lot of others tests your patience with their hamming.

Music is mediocre to say the least. Some songs like, 'Jaao Na', 'Sau Janam' and 'Su Che' are good to listen to, but do not fit into the movie at all. In fact, none of the songs fit into the movie. I have said this earlier, if the movie didnt have any song, it would have been a much better movie. There is nothing special about the picturisation of the songs as well. We are used to such great songs in Ashutosh's movies from the team of AR Rahman and Javed Akhtar, and this one comes across as a disaster compared to them. Ashutosh should stick with Rahman. They both complement each other wonderfully. And the fact that Rahman hardly makes bad music, would also help the movie a lot. There is nothing much to talk about the cinematography and art direction - very mediocre compared to Ashutosh's other films. I think the editor went to sleep watching the film. At least he could have made this film an interesting watch through some smart editing, which unfortunately, didnt happen.

The movie has good intentions, a great idea and a wonderful performance(s) from the leading lady. But the director and screenwriter could not make use of all these and give us a confused, 3.5 hour long mish-mash. Though it wasnt as bad as I thought it would be, the dumb climax ruined it all. It looked as if the writers didnt know how to end the story, which was already going nowhere. It is not surprising that the movie turned out to be a damp squib at the box office. If there's anything watchable about this movie, it is Priyanka Chopra. All the other aspects of this movie are totally disappointing. I have 3 requests to Mr. Ashutosh Gowariker - 1. Please do not make movies without AR Rahman
2. Please do not take people like Harman Baweja as heroes.
3. Please try to decrease the length of your movies. It is high time.

Rating - 2/5

Kurbaan - Disappointing, even though its not so bad..

vivekranjit@gmail.com (Vivek Ranjit) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:22:00 +0000

Movie - Kurbaan (Hindi)
Director - Rensil D'Silva
Producer - Karan Johar
Cast - Saif Ali Khan, Vivek Oberoi, Kareena Kapoor, Om Puri, Kirron Kher, Dia Mirza, Nauheed Cyrusi, Khulbhushan Kharbanda
Music - Salim/Sulaiman
Cinematography - Hemant Chaturvedi
Story - Karan Johar
Screenplay - Rensil D'Silva
Dialogues - Anurag Kashyap, Niranjan Iyengar
Release Date - 20th November 2009

I had reasonable expectations out of Kurbaan, just because of Rensil D'Silva who gave us the extraordinary screenplay of Rang De Basanti. It had Karan Johar doing the story, Rensil doing screenplay and direction and Anurag Kashyap and Niranjan Iyengar doing dialogues. Thats like a lethal combination. But sadly, the film does not have the fireworks that one expects out of this combo. Saif and Kareena were all over the media promoting the film for the past 2 weeks and while watching the movie, you would have already had enough of them. Vivek Oberoi, who is the actual star of the movie, was not part of any promotional activity. In fact, this morning, I saw even Barkha Dutt asking Saif and Kareena when they are going to get married. Karan Johar has a lot of influence I must say.

Avantika (Kareena Kapoor) is a professor(she doesnt look like one from any angle) at a university in Delhi. She meets a new professor Ehsaan Khan (Saif Ali Khan) who had just joined the university. They both develop a liking for each other and fall deeply in love, very quickly. And then Avantika gets an offer to teach in NYU and she wants to go there badly. Ehsaan is ready to sacrifice whatever he has and go there along with her. So they get married and leave to New York and get settled there(again, very quickly). Ehsaan gets a job as professor in the same university where Avantika teaches (though she doesnt go to work at any point in the movie), and he teaches a course on Islam (come on, is it so easy for a Muslim to find a job in the US in the current situation??). Avantika discovers a secret terrorist mission unknowingly and comes to know that her husband is also a part of that group. A television reporter, Riyaaz (Vivek Oberoi) loses his girlfriend in one of their attacks and decides to 'deal with them himself'(:P) by infiltrating their group. What happens after that forms the rest of the story.

When there are such talents in the writing department, you expect nothing short of a top-notch story and screenplay which engages you throughout. Kurbaan's story is extremely similar to the two Yash Raj terrorism films, Fanaa and New York. Like Fanaa, the heroine discovers that her lover is a terrorist and like New York, this film is also set in New York and a third person infiltrates the group to obstruct their mission. These are just the basic similarities, you will notice much more as you watch the movie. If the story was new, Kurbaan would have been a very engaging movie. But now, it turns almost predictable killing the fun in watching this thriller. There are numerous plot holes throughout the movie, the most striking one being that the FBI has a photo of Saif Ali Khan and are not able to track him down when he is roaming about freely in New York. Some scenes are done very well, like the scene in Saif's class where Vivek and an American student have a discussion on what terrorism means to each individual. Or the scene where Kareena removes a bullet from Saif's chest, and another scene where Vivek talks to Khulbhushan Kharbanda about them being Americans first. The climax is developed quite well, but has a very predictable ending. The dialogues during the romance portions are very similar to Kashyap's own work in Yuva (the Vivek-Kareena part). For the rest of the parts, the dialogue varies from good to decent to bad. Resnil D'Silva could have handled the film better, and the worst part is that the film has come just a few months after New York, which had more or less the same theme.

The performances, though, are really good. Saif is subtle and understated as Ehsaan the lover, who later turns into a terrorist. Even though his character's actions towards the end is not developed properly, he gives a good enough performance. But nowhere near his brilliant performance in Love Aaj Kal, earlier this year or his earlier iconic negative role, Langda Tyagi from Omkara. In fact, his character becomes lost in the crowd in the second half of the film. But despite the weakly written character, Saif delivers a good subtle performance. Kareena looks great and performs decently also. Her character has to go through a lot of emotional turmoil and she performs all that effectively. And she shines during the emotional scene in the climax with just facial expressions. The chemistry between the two is quite good and they make a very convincing couple. The much hyped love making scene, though shot well, has an extremely silly build-up to it. That kills the whole passion in that scene.

But the best performance in the movie is by Vivek Oberoi. In fact, it is a comeback of sorts for Vivek, who had been doing terrible movies and even more terrible roles in the recent past. (Except for maybe a decent Shootout At Lokhandwala). Despite the fact that his role is too similar to Neil Nitin Mukesh's role in New York, he brings a certain credibility to it. His American accent works well because he doesnt go overboard and knows where to stop. This movie would be definitely a platform for Vivek to announce that he is still as talented as he was during Company and Saathiya. After seeing his acting in this movie, I am now excited about Ramgopal Varma's Rakta Charitra where he is making his proper comeback. Om Puri acts in a very predictable way as the terrorist chief, but does it well nevertheless. Kirron Kher is not the loud, happy and overreacting mother for a change. She is a stern woman who feels strongly for the lives of the innocent Muslims in Afghanistan. She has a peculiar Afghani accent in her Hindi and she also gives a good performance. Dia Mirza, Nauheed Cyrusi and Khulbhushan Kharbanda make very short appearances.

Music is exceptionally good and blends into the movie very well. The 'Shukran Allah' song is beautiful and is shot in Delhi just like 'Subhan Allah' from Fanaa. Salim/Sulaiman as we know are masters at doing background scores. So they give their best for this movie. Cinematography by Hemant Chaturvedi is great and gives the film the required feel. The editor could have made a huge difference in the second half, but sadly, we dont have any and it appears to be very long.

On the whole, you dont feel for any of the characters in the film and that is not such a good thing to happen while seeing such a film. If a drama/thriller is not able to do that, then it would not be very successful in reaching its audience. If the story hadnt come earlier in the above mentioned films, this film would have been much more engaging. But sadly, it is not. It is just a combination of Fanaa and New York, some good scenes, effective performances and some great music and camerawork. It is not such a bad movie. But it disappoints the ones who had great expectations out of it. Congrats to Karan Johar for moving into a different genre of films, even though his story is a little too cliched. Rensil D'Silva needs to prove his talent in a better film next time. We expect much more from him after writing a gem like Rang De Basanti. If you can overlook the plot holes and identify with the actors, maybe you should try this movie out.

Rating - 3.2/5

Inglourious Basterds - One word Review

vivekranjit@gmail.com (Vivek Ranjit) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:15:00 +0000

Movie - Inglourious Basterds (English with almost all European languages also)
Writer/Director - Quentin Tarantino
Cast - Brad Pitt, Christopher Waltz, Michael Fassbender, Eli Roth, Diane Kruger, Daniel Bruhl, Til Schweiger, Melanie Laurent

I have just one word for the whole movie as my review -

MINDBLOWING!!!!

Paa - Raja Sir's compositions work very well!!

vivekranjit@gmail.com (Vivek Ranjit) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 14:23:00 +0000

Movie - Paa (Hindi)
Director - R Balki
Producer - AB Corp Ltd., Sunil Manchanda
Cast - Abhishek Bachchan, Vidya Balan, Paresh Rawal and Amitabh Bachchan
Music - Ilaiyaraaja
Lyrics - Swanand Kirkire
Cinematography - PC Sreeram
Singers - Amitabh Bachchan, Shipa Rao, Shaan, Sunidhi Chauhan, R Bavatharini, Shravan
Editor - Anil Naidu
Art Director - Sunil Babu
Writer - R Balki
Release Date - 4th December 2009

Paa is an eagerly awaited film because of its new storyline and the interesting fact that Amitabh Bachchan is acting as Abhishek Bachchan's son. R Balki made a wonderful debut through Cheeni Kum in 2007, which had some very nice music from maestro Ilaiyaraaja. Though the tunes were taken from the yesteryear hits of Raja Sir, they suited that film very well and were quite popular too. Ilaiyaraaja has done the music for this film too. And he has given an interesting album with a mix of some of his old tunes and some new tunes as well.

The first track is 'Mudi Mudi Ittefaq Se' by Shilpa Rao. Raja Sir's favourite Shreya Ghoshal is replaced by Shilpa Rao who surprised all of with her wonderful rendering of 'Khuda Jaane' in Bachna Ae Haseeno. She has a very unique voice and that is the best part about this romantic song. She makes sure that you do not miss Shreya Ghoshal at any point with her brilliant singing and different voice. The song may remind you of Raja Sir's 'Ninnukkori Varnam' from Mani Ratnam's Agni Natchathiram at times, even though the tune is quite different. The soothing song also has some very nice lyrics. The song is quite short (below 3 minutes) and has two other versions also, with some changes in lyrics. One version is by Shilpa again and is more or less the same as the first version, except that it goes 'Udi Udi' instead of 'Mudi Mudi'. The song talks about coincidence or Ittefaq in all the three versions. The third version is by Shaan and it goes like 'Gali Mudi Ittefaq Se'. It is a much more slower version with minimum orchestration. Shaan as usual sings very well and gives the required feel to the song. All the 3 songs are beautiful and romantic. (4/5)

'Gumm Summ Gumm' has the tune of one of my all time favourite Malayalam songs, 'Thumbi Vaa Thumbakkudathin' from Balu Mahendra's Olangal. That song is certainly one of Raja Sir's best tunes ever and I'm very happy that that particular has come to Hindi now. Children would take an instant liking towards this tune (as the original also was made for children). The song also sounds like a group of children singing for Amitabh's character in the film. Bavatharini, Shravan and Chorus have been credited for the vocals. But the whole song sounds like a chorus piece. Bavatharini, is Raja Sir's daughter and is not a very good singer, but in this song she does well and there is no South Indian accent also in her Hindi. The tune is such that it will work in whichever language it is used in. And I cannot stop listening to this song because I have already been addicted to the tune for my entire life. So hearing it in Hindi, was again very interesting for me. The lyrics by Swanand Kirkire is very happy and cheerful and is asking a character to come back to his cheerful nature from an upset mood. The orchestration is quite different from the original song and is quite contemporary. That works very well too. All in all, this is a gem of a tune, irrespective of the language. And because some nice lyrics have been given, the song stands out as the best track of the album. Full marks!! (5/5)

'Hichki Hichki' by Sunidhi Chauhan is a fun song. I think its the first time that Sunidhi is singing for Raja Sir. The tune again reminds you of many of Raja Sir's songs from Tamil and Malayalam. The lyrics are fun and playful. Sunidhi is very subdued unlike her usual energetic self. But she does a great job nevertheless. The song also has a small portion of the movie's theme song(which is yet to come) in a rearranged version. Though the song is nice, I doubt if it will be remembered for a long time. (3/5)

'Halke Se Bole' is by a chorus of children and talks about a wonderful tomorrow. The tune is taken from 'Putham Puthu Kaalai' from Bharathiraja's Alaigal Oyvathillai(Only the first paragraph is used). The song is very short(just about 1 minute) and sweet. The children sing very well and it will most probably be a situational track in the film. Short and sweet. (3.5/5)

'Mere Paa' by Amitabh Bachchan is freaky. He sings like how a child would sing, but in an old man's voice, because of his peculiar disease in the film. It freaks you out on the first hearing. But I hope it would work well in the film. The song is about a little boy talking about his mother to his father. The lyrics are beautiful, if you are able to pay attention to them without being disturbed by Amitabh Bachchan's singing. Bachchan Saab usually does a great job whenever he is asked to sing songs. He does well this time also, but just that it is quite disturbing to hear him sing like a child. (It is done that way because the character is like that). He also says some lines in between. We have to watch the film to get their relevance. But the best part about this song is the out-of-the-world Theme Music by Raja Sir which comes in between. That particular bit is truly the best piece of music in this whole album. That particular violin piece immediately puts a smile on your face. I didnt quite like the whole song. I hope it works as a part of the film. But just for the theme music on violins, I think I should give the song a good rating. (3.5/5)

The theme music of the film has a remix version by Vicky Goswami where a chorus sings the same tune in a 'Paa Paa Pa Pa Pa' kind of way backed by violins. It makes you feel happy and cheerful and has an upbeat feel to it. The music is also played using various instruments in the song, like electric guitar. But the violing part truly stands out and actually dominates above the singing of the chorus. The tune appeals in whichever form it comes and that is the major highlight of this song. (4/5)

On the whole, Paa is an interesting album from Raja Sir in Hindi. He rarely does music in Hindi and when he does, he makes sure that the score is very good. The Hindi audience havent heard many of his earlier works and through albums like this one and Cheeni Kum, he has been able to rework his legendary tunes into Hindi for a wider audience. He has brought one of his best tunes to Hindi through 'Gumm Summ' and has given some beautiful songs otherwise too. The theme music is certainly the best thing about this album. 'Mudi Mudi' and its different versions are melodious and romantic, as well. On the whole, this album would not disappoint and is one of the better music albums to have come out recently.

Rating - 3.8/5

Kanden Kadhalai - A decent remake.

vivekranjit@gmail.com (Vivek Ranjit) — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 21:31:00 +0000

Movie - Kanden Kadhalai (Tamil)
Director - R Kannan
Producer - Blue Ocean Entertainment, Moser Baer, Sun Pictures
Cast - Tamanna, Bharath, Munna, Santhanam, Nizhalgal Ravi, Ratna, Azhagam Perumal, Ravichandran.
Music - Vidyasagar
Cinematography - PG Muthiah
Story - Imtiaz Ali
Screenplay - R Kannan (Imtiaz Ali)
Dialogues - Pattukkottai Prabhakaran
Release Date - 30th October 2009

Jab We Met (2007) was an immensely popular film and was a great hit all over India. Remaking it into Tamil and adapting the story set in Punjab to Theni in the remake is not a very easy job. Kareena Kapoor walked away with the Best Actress trophy at almost all award functions that year (including Filmfare) for her performance as Geet in Jab We Met. Shahid got a fresh lease of life in his career through that movie. Imtiaz Ali gained a position in the top league of directors. So all this is a burden upon director R Kannan when he has been entrusted the job to remake Jab We Met into Tamil. Many of us were skeptical how Tamanna (who is still considered as a good looking bad actress) would perform as the lovely Geet, who is full of life and energy and how the movie would find a place among the Tamil audience. Thankfully, it is a decent enough remake, which is obviously not as good as the remake, but definitely enjoyable, even for people who have loved Jab We Met, like myself. :)

Everybody knows the story of Jab We Met. But for the very few people who dont, here it is, in a very short form -Shakti Rajashekhar (Bharat), who is on the verge of a nervous breakdown after a love failure, and Anjali (Tamanna) who is a full of life, bubbly girl, all set to run away with her lover, meet during a train journey. During the course of the journey, both of them end up missing the train. So they embark on a journey to Anjali's hometown, Theni via road, and the both of them become really good friends over that time period. They learn soon that Anjali is going to be married off to Mokkarasu (Santhanam), her uncle who is also supposed to be fiancee from when she was born. So Anjali decides to run away, taking Shakti with her for company to go to her lover Gautham (Munna). Shakti leaves her at Ootty where Munna supposedly stays and leaves for Chennai. He gets inspired by Anjali's fun-loving carefree attitude and undergoes a drastic change. He gets his company rolling once again and does very well professionally. He also realizes how much he loves Anjali but cannot tell her because she loves someone else. But one fine morning, he finds Anjali's family members in his office enquiring about her. So where is Anjali? What happened between Anjali and Gautham? Will Anjali realize Shakti's love? All these questions are answered in the rest of the movie.

The movie almost moves along the same scene order of Jab We Met, faithfully (even the costumes are the same in many scenes). Only when they reach Anjali's house, a new track, that of Mokkarasu (Santhanam), is added newly. In Tamil films, it is almost mandatory to have a separate comedy track. But the one in this film, is quite good and does not hinder the narration of the movie at any point. There is one stunt extra, again because, a usual Tamil film cannot be without stunts. Jab We Met did not have any of these. But these factors do not stop you from liking the film. The dialogues are okay, but in no way close to the wonderful dialogues written by Imtiaz Ali in the original. Here, they have tried to literally translate all those lines, which work at some points and does not work at many points. Yet, the scenes work well and you can forgive the mediocre dialogues. Imtiaz Ali's magic cannot be there when someone else writes dialogues. R Kannan proved that he is a competent director through his first film Jeyam Kondaan. He handles this film very well and is able to hold the attention of the audience throughout, even the people who have seen Jab We Met plenty of times (like me). But I have one complaint about the movie. One of Jab We Met's most romantic scenes is not there in this one. There's a scene where Shahid and Kareena hug each other after Kareena vents out her frustration in the second half of the film. That passionate and romantic hug wasnt there in this film. I dont know why the director decided to drop that scene in this version. For me, it was certainly the best scene of Jab We Met. And of course, the passionate, but cute smooch between the lead couple is also missing, because smooches havent yet started out in full swing in Tamil Cinema (except in Kamal Haasan movies).

Tamanna is wonderful. I never expected her to perform so well. I have never seen her act so well before this. Though she is nowhere near Kareena's spontaneity, she still delivers a competent performance. It is not an easy role and Tamanna proves to be a good actress by performing that difficult very well. The extremely popular singer Chinmayi has given her voice to Tamanna in this film and it suits her almost perfectly. After a point, you dont realize that it is not Tamanna's voice. And Tamanna really deserves special mention for moving her lips in almost perfect sync. She has learned to do that in such a short time. People like Shriya Saran have been around for a long time, and even know, when they talk in their movies, their lips move in one direction and the voice comes from another direction. So both Tamanna and Chinmayi have complemented each other very well. The Sikhni from Bhatinda is changed to a Thenikkaran Ponnu here. Though it is hard to believe that Tamanna is from a family from Theni, she makes up for it with her acting. Even in the emotional parts in the second half, she has done a good job. She looks amazingly cute and wears some wonderful clothes as well. You can notice that I have talked about her before I talked about the performance of the 'hero' of the film. It is because she is the soul of this movie and she is the best part of the movie as well.

Bharat is pretty decent as Shakti. He has put on some weight but still looks very nice. (But definitely cannot be compared to Shahid Kapoor when it comes to looks). His character is required to stay quiet during the entire first half and just enjoy Tamanna's character and her antics. It is in the second half that Bharat actually gets something to perform. He delivers a decent performance. And it is such a relief to see a Tamil hero in T-shirts and other casuals in subdued colours, rather than bright fluorescent colours. Like Shahid, Bharat is also an amazing dancer and he shows off that skill of his very well in this movie too. Even though he was good, I wouldnt count this one among his best performances. Bharat is a really good actor and he certainly could have a done something more in this film. But still, he is quite good.

Santhanam's comic track is awesome. Unlike other comedians, this fellow is quite young and his comic tracks are not really very separate from the movie's main story. So most of the time, the gags work out very well and we end up laughing a lot. Munna as Gautham is just okay. But the fun when the guy from Jab We Met asks, 'Main kyun jaaoon khet dekhne?' is sorely missed. ;) The girl who acts as Tamanna's sister in the movie, is quite cute. Didnt get her name though. Nizhalgal Ravi, Ravichandran and others do their respective parts well.

The music is not upto usual Vidyasagar standards. Only 'Ododiporen' and 'Naan Unnai Arindhen' are worth remembering. While most of the song sequences have followed the same visuals from Jab We Met, the song 'Venpanju' is a direct rip off of 'Behka' from Ghajini. Ghajini itself was remade from a Tamil film and the only things original in it were the song picturisations and the climax. One song in Ayan was already copied from 'Guzarish' in Ghajini.
The final song 'Oru Naal Iravil' shot like the promotional number 'Mauja Hi Mauja' was not there in the end when I watched the movie, but I saw the song being played on Television channels. Background music is also not upto the mark.

Cinematography by PG Muthiah is really good, especially in the song sequences and scenes in Ootty. He has brought a lot of colourfulness and energy into the frames through his camerawork, without going in for many fancy colours and angles. Editing was competent too.

On the whole, Kanden Kadhalai is a decent enough remake of the wonderful Jab We Met. Thanks to the aggressive promotion by Sun Pictures, this movie is getting a lot of attention too. It has good performances, great camerawork, some very nice scenes, a good comedy track and strictly okay songs - almost everything that a Tamil movie can offer. It definitely wouldnt bore people who have already seen Jab We Met and it would be a great watch for people who havent seen Jab We Met. Tamanna would most probably be winning the best actress award this year for her performance in this remake. I'm pretty sure you wouldnt be disappointed if you give it a try.

Rating - 3.5/5

Passenger - One of the best movies of 2009.

vivekranjit@gmail.com (Vivek Ranjit) — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 20:21:00 +0000

Movie - Passenger (Malayalam)
Director - Ranjith Shankar
Producer - SC Pillai
Cast - Sreenivasan, Dileep, Mamta Mohandas, Jagathy Sreekumar, Nedumudi Venu, Madhu, Manikkuttan, Sona Nair, Harisree Ashokan, Anoop Chandran and others.
Music - Bijibal
Cinematography - P Sukumar ISC
Editing - Ranjan Abraham
Art Direction - Saburam
Story, Screenplay, Dialogues - Ranjith Shankar
Release Date - 7th May 2009

Watching movies like Passenger, gives us hope and makes us feel that Malayalam Cinema has not completely deteriorated. I had seen this movie earlier in the theatre in May and now, since the DVD has released, I watched it again with my family, who hadnt seen the film earlier. And like the first time, I was glued on to the screen until the whole movie got over. The DVD doesnt have an interval and that proved to be an advantage, as I could watch the whole movie without losing the flow. In short, the movie is about how ordinary people can make life-changing events happen if they have the courage to take a stand for a good cause. And this theme is narrated through a gripping story and screenplay by debutante Ranjith Shankar. Thankfully, the movie was a success and the audience accepted this experimental film which had no songs, no stereotypical situations, no stunt sequences and yet, was fully action packed.

The story goes in two directions and criss-crosses at a particular point. Sathyan(Sreenivasan) and his group of friends are people who work in Ernakulam in the day and travel back to their houses (towards Thrissur side) every evening. They have a regular card game and chat session during each of these daily journeys. Advocate Nandan Menon(Dileep) and his wife, journalist Anuradha Nandan(Mamta) are fighting for a cause, to get back the land of a colony of fishermen from the clutches of a manipulative Home Minister Thomas Chacko(Jagathy Sreekumar). Anuradha is on a trip to Kottayam to interview Thomas Chacko. After the interview, she gets hold of an exclusive footage of the Home Minister's actual plans through a hidden camera. But as soon as the minister knows about this, the hunt for Anuradha begins. She starts running away from them to save her life and reveal the shocking truth that she came to know through that footage. Meanwhile, Sathyan misses his station while oversleeping in a train to Guruvayoor and meets Nandan in that train. After a brief interaction, they get down at Guruvayoor, and immediately after that, Nandan is kidnapped by a bunch of goons. Sathyan decides to do something to save Nandan. The events that follow makes up for the interesting story of Passenger.

What I have mentioned above, is a very vague synopsis of the movie. The writer-director has carefully constructed this story and the unfolding of events are done in a completely fresh and interesting way. It begins as two different stories, without any relation at all. But once Sathyan and Nandan meet, their lives become intertwined somehow. The movie covers political games, day to day lives of middle class working people and their families, the politics in media and several other relevant issues and gives out a strong message at the end too. All this is done, without being preachy and without disturbing the main plot of the film. I was delighted to see so much control and power packed into a script written and directed by a first timer. Ranjith Shankar has handled the movie much more effectively than any of our established filmmakers would have. He has made sure that the movie doesnt fall trap to any of the cliches of Malayalam movies. And without songs, stunts and heroism, he packs in an action packed thriller. That is the best thing about this 2 hour movie which goes at an unbelievably rapid pace.

Sreenivasan plays the lead role, or one of the lead roles, to be precise. He is the perfect choice for portraying a common man. But this man, Sathyan, despite being just another common man, is not afraid to take stands for good causes. And that is what makes him the hero of this movie. Sreenivasan plays the character perfectly and shines in the sarcastic humourous sequences. He looks a bit troubled while doing emotional scenes, as his old comfort is not seen in those scenes. But we dont mind it, as far as we have Sreenivasan on screen. There wouldnt be a single person in Kerala who does not like that man. But he surprises us with his strong performance in the second half of the film. So Sreenivasan, as the common man, is certainly the star of this movie.

Dileep is cast in a very unusual role. He usually does hero roles, sings songs, does comedy, beats up villains and all that. Here, he gets to do none of that. In fact, he is the one who gets kidnapped, instead of the heroine. He gets beaten up by the goons, but he never even goes into a larger than life mode. He tries to save himself by trying to beat them up, but fails nevertheless. So we get to see a very different Dileep from what we have seen of him. I think this one would definitely be one among his career best performances. He is controlled, subtle, strong and powerful without doing any of the things that regular heroes do. In fact, his role is nothing more than an extended supporting role. But he brings a lot of credibility to that role. Another thing I must say is the chemistry between Sreenivasan and Dileep. They meet only in one scene in the movie and that scene is a riot. There is a lot of sarcasm and tongue in cheek humour in that particular scene and I couldnt stop laughing. These 2 people havent come together in many films earlier. This scene really makes me think that they would make a great comic team, perfect with their timings.

Mamta is also one among the 'heroes' of the film. If you see carefully, you can notice that she is the one who gets maximum screen-time in the movie. She portrays the role of a strong, level-headed, yet vulnerable journalist excellently. She looks great throughout the movie too. And Dileep and her make a good pair too. Very rarely do we have such important roles for female leads in our movies. Mamta has taken advantage of that factor and has given a credible performance as Anuradha Nandan.

But the best performance among the lot is of course, Jagathy Sreekumar as the Home Minister. Cast against his regular comedy roles, he plays the ruthless, manipulative, business minded politician, who also turns into a sweet, soft and polite minister when he meets his people. The scenes showing him switching between these two personalities are just amazing. This movie proves that one of the finest actors in the country, Jagathy Sreekumar is actually much more than a comedian. Yet we always tie him down to do insignificant comic roles in film after film. Very rarely does he gets cast in roles like this. And when he does, he makes sure that people remember it for a long time.

Nedumudi Venu as the taxi driver who helps Sreenivasan and Mamta on their mission is also perfect. He gives credible support to the lead characters. Madhu puts in a good special appearance. Manikkuttan is decent. Sona Nair is good.

P Sukumar's camerawork is excellent and suits the mood of the film well. But the star among the technicians is Ranjan Abraham, whose perfect editing makes this movie go at an amazingly rapid pace, without any deviations whatsoever. Art direction by Saburam is also good. The movie has a nice theme song, which is played during the end credits, composed by Bijibal. Background score is decent and it is also able to lift the tension and thrill in certain scenes.

Time plays a very important role as well as fate, in this movie. The director has used both these things very well in his narrative. All the events in the movie happen within a certain number of hours. And the movie is able to keep its audience on the edge of their seats, glued to the screen, throughout the entire running time. Even though the attack plan revealed in the movie sounds far-fetched, it is narrated in such a way that, it seems plausible. There are many brilliant scenes, especially the last scene and the way the movie is concluded. Ranjith Shankar is indeed a very promising director. If he has made such a brilliant movie in his first attempt, one should really watch out for his next efforts. Such movies and different ideas rarely get made in Malayalam. Special thanks to Dileep, for taking up the different, risky role and playing it effectively. This should encourage more of his colleagues to take up different roles like these rather than doing songs, dances and stunts in every other movie. All in all, it is certainly one of the best movies of the year in Malayalam and rekindles hope in all those people who had lost faith in the future of Malayalam Cinema. Those who havent watched it yet, go get your DVD and watch immediately. Its not a film to be missed.

Rating - 4.2/5

Neelathamara (Music) - The return of Vidyasagar's magic.

vivekranjit@gmail.com (Vivek Ranjit) — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 14:45:00 +0000

Movie - Neelathamara (Malayalam)
Director - Lal Jose
Producer - Menaka Suresh Kumar
Writer - MT Vasudevan Nair
Music - Vidyasagar
Cast - Archana, Kailash, Suresh, Rima Kallingal, Samvrutha Sunil, Sreedevi Unni
Lyrics - Vayalar Sarath Chandra Varma
Singers - Shreya Ghoshal, V Sreekumar, Karthik, Chethala Ranganatha Sharma
Cinematography - Vijay Ulakanath

First of all, let me inform you all that it is the first birthday of Moving Pictures. I had begun this blog last year on this day by writing reviews of Dostana and Vaaranam Aayiram. 2 weeks later, I had to leave the blog with an abrupt end. But I later took on to it in full form from this September. So technically, this is the first anniversary post of Moving Pictures. And I'm glad that I'm doing a review of a wonderful music album as the anniversary post. Thanks to all the readers (the very little people who actually sit and read all my reviews). Now, lets get to the review.

Whenever Lal Jose and Vidyasagar come together, we always get some very memorable songs which we can treasure forever. Their wonderful combination had started from Oru Maravathoor Kanavu, followed through Chandranudikkunna Dikkil, Randaam Bhaavam, Meeshamadhavan, Pattalam, Rasikan, Chanthupottu till Mulla last year. All these films had some of the most wonderful songs we've ever had in Malayalam. So when they come together again, expectations are bound to be high. And if its for Malayalam Cinema's first official remake, that too one written by the legend MT Vasudevan Nair, the expectations just double. The film has 3 conventional songs and 2 classical music pieces. And Vidyasagar gives his magic touch to all these songs yet again. The only person missing is Gireesh Puttenchery, who has now been replaced by Vayalar Sarath Chandra Varma in Lal Jose's films.

The first track is 'Anuraga Vilochananayi' by Shreya Ghoshal and V Sreekumar. It is a beautiful melody which has the Vidyasagar stamp all over it. The playful lyrics and nostalgic tune make sure that the song becomes an instant favourite of the listener. Shreya Ghoshal, the 3 time National Award winning versatile singer, sings Malayalam effortlessly. Despite being a Bengali, her diction is much more perfect than many of our Malayalam singers. It is a treat to hear her voice in this melodious song. Her vocals that come in between an instrumental interlude, is just wonderful. V Sreekumar sounds exactly like Vijay Yesudas in his earlier days (without the accent trouble of course). In fact, I thought it was Vijay singing till I saw the CD cover. Sreekumar is a singer to watch out for. He did a wonderful job in last year's 'Kanalukalaadiya' from Mulla. And he matches up to Shreya's talent in this song too. Both of them make this song a very memorable as well as nostalgic affair. Vidyasagar has repeated a lot of his instrumentation from 'Rafta Rafta' (Hulchul) {which itself was derived from 'Aasai Aasai'(Dhool)} in this song. But you dont really mind that as you have a beautiful song to listen to. Lal Jose is a master at visualizing songs, and he proves that yet again with the video of this song. (4.5/5)

'Neelathamare' by Karthik starts with a wonderful instrumental (violin, i guess) piece, which can serve as the theme music for the movie. It is a beautiful song which you will take an instant liking towards. A wonderful melodious composition, with some great instrumental pieces and chorus parts. Karthik, as usual, is brilliant with his singing. His Malayalam diction has improved tremendously and we dont feel that a non-Malayali is singing the song. He is certainly one of the best singers in the country, but yet to be popular on a national level. The song has very nice lyrics by Vayalar Sarath which describes the film's female protagonist through some wonderful words. I'm out of words to describe Vidyasagar's composition for this song. After hearing songs from Kanden Kadhalai, I was a bit disappointed with his work. But he gets back in form through this one and this song, is something which we have always loved him for - a beautiful and haunting melody, with great singing, tune and orchestration. Full Marks. (5/5)

'Needhaya Radha' by Cherthala Ranganatha Sarma is a Classical music piece which would work as a situational track in the movie. I'm not very proficient in Classical music to talk about its intricacies. But this song wasnt very interesting to me. If it was in KJ Yesudas' voice, maybe it would have worked for me. It would be interesting to see how this song plays out in the movie. (2.5/5)

The next track is 'Pakalonnu' by Balram and Vijay Prakash. Both these singers have sung 2 of Vidyasagar's best songs - 'Kaatrin Mozhi'(Mozhi) and 'Poo Vaasam'(Anbe Sivam) respectively. I think its the first time for both of them in Malayalam. The song is composed in a ghazal mood with a lot of Hindustani music in it. It is a perfect song to be played during a beautiful evening, just like a ghazal. I could hear only Balram's voice prominently throughout the song. Though his Malayalam diction is nowhere near to being perfect, the whole mood of the song and the Hindustani setting makes you overlook that. Vidyasagar has adapted a completely different style this time. He has hardly done any Hindustani based songs (except for a couple of songs in Gramophone), but he gives a beautiful composition this time. A slow, soothing melody, which grows on you. (4.5/5)

There is yet another classical music piece 'Entha Mudo' by Cherthala Ranganatha Sarma. Like the other track, there is just a faint backing by a thampuru for this song, which is based only on the classical vocals. This should also be a situational track which would serve a purpose in the movie. It is slightly better than the earlier classical music track. (3/5)

The CD also has some wonderful Lal Jose-Vidyasagar tracks from their previous movies as bonus. This makes us revisit all those beautiful songs along with the wonderful tracks of this movie. On the whole, Vidyasagar's magic touch is back after a bunch of lackluster songs in the recent past. He is the king when it comes to melodies these days and he proves worth of that title through the 3 songs in this movie. And when the director is Lal Jose, you can be pretty sure that the songs will be done full justice to, in the movie. Vayalar Sarath Chandra Varma has given some good lyrics, but one really misses Gireesh Puttenchery's presence in the team. This year has given us some good albums in Malayalam music including Bhramaram, Loudspeaker, Banaras, Pazhassiraja, Kerala Cafe and Swa Le. Neelathamara is certainly the best musical score to have come out this year. Grab it immediately. Cant wait for the film. :)

Rating - 4.5/5 (Without counting the two classical tracks which we really cannot count as songs)

Tum Mile - I tried hard to like this film, but couldnt.

vivekranjit@gmail.com (Vivek Ranjit) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 19:22:00 +0000

Movie - Tum Mile (Hindi)

Director - Kunal Deshmukh

Producer - Mukesh Bhatt, Mahesh Bhatt

Cast - Emraan Hashmi, Soha Ali Khan, Sachin Khedekar

Music - Pritam

Cinematography - Prakash Kutty

Release Date - 13th November 2009

Tum Mile was promoted as the first natural disaster film in India, based on the floods that happened in Mumbai on 26th July 2005. And it has been released alongside a multimillion dollar disaster movie, 2012. But let me warn you, dont go in for Tum Mile expecting a portrayal of the calamity and havoc of the torrential rains and floods of 26 July. Tum Mile is a love story set in Cape Town, and the natural calamity part just acts as a catalyst in uniting the lovers. If you want to watch it for that part, you will be really disappointed as it hardly has any adventure or tension-building moments. Those parts doesnt make any impact. The love story is interesting to watch in the beginning, but gets tedious towards the end.

Akshay (Emraan Hashmi) and Sanjana (Soha Ali Khan) meet on a flight from Cape Town to Mumbai, six years after they had broken up. Akshay drifts into memories of their relationship during the journey. Akshay was an aspiring artist then, who worked as a waiter in Cape Town to make his living. He comes across Sanjana one day and after 2-3 encounters, they both form a close bond, which evolves into love pretty soon. The couple move in to an apartment together and have a lovey-dovey life. But Akshay feels miserable that he is getting nowhere in his life or career with his art. Many arguments and 2 job offers later, the couple part ways. When they meet again, on reaching Mumbai which is unimaginably flooded, both of them get reminded of the past and a sense of longing comes back into them. How they survive through the disaster and rekindle the love forms the rest of the story.

Director Kunal Deshmukh chose an interesting way to narrate the story by cutting between the present and the past. But it doesnt work beyond a point. For people who had come in expecting a lot of action and adventure amidst the floods, there is nothing in the movie. The love story, is narrated at a snail's pace, but is good nevertheless. The dialogues and the interactions between the lead pair are very real, or in fact, too real I should say. There's not enough drama in the love story to make it an engrossing watch. After a point, it really begins to bore you, in spite of good performances from the lead pair. And I still dont understand Hindi Cinema's obsession with foreign locations. Why cant the hero and heroine live and fall in love in India? Why do they always have to be abroad in film after film? Seriously, it wouldnt have made any difference if the flight was going from Delhi (instead of Cape Town), to Mumbai and the love story could have been set in any part of India. South Africa doesnt serve any purpose in the film, except that of providing some rich visuals (which we've obviously gotten tired of). The floods part does not work at all. There is no thrill or tension whatsoever and you will feel hugely disappointed after watching those portions. The film has its moments, but by the end of the film, you'll be so bored that you end up forgetting those few good moments. And the most stupid part is that the director has shamelessly ripped off a famous scene from the all time blockbuster Titanic. A wall is broken apart by the force of water and the lead pair get stuck in water. The scene that follows would certainly make you remember Jack and Rose. Ripping a scene from a lesser seen movie is okay, but what is the point in copying a scene from a movie which every Tom, Dick and Harry must have watched? And the climax is utterly ridiculous to say the least.

What works though, are the perfomances.
Emraan Hashmi is a hugely underrated actor. Anyone who has seen his films will be pretty sure that he is a good actor. I myself have seen only 3-4 films of his (Gangster, Awarapan, Jannat, Raaz 2) and I've liked him in all these 3 movies. But the general public have a pre-conceived notion about him that all his films are about sex and infidelity, and nothing else. In fact, many people in the audience today were trying to predict when all Emraan would smooch Soha. But seriously, I think its high time Emraan is considered one among the mainstream actors. He played a painter in his previous movie (Raaz 2) also, but his performance in this movie is quite different from that one. He is natural, spontaneous and realistic and emotes a lot through his eyes. Tum Mile would probably be his best performance till date, but sadly he does not get a good script to make full use of it.

Soha Ali Khan is cute and is quite natural. You feel she could have been better in a lot of scenes, but she's good nevertheless. But I dont understand what is the point of her showing so much cleavage in almost all the shots? It was very wannabe type. It was pretty much evident that she was trying to say, 'Oh, look at me.. I'm also pretty hot!!'. Well, this wasnt the film to do that. And it can distract you from paying attention to the performance, at many places. ;P.
Well in spite of those distractions, Soha makes her character very believable.

There's a new guy who plays Emraan's friend in the film. He looked like an older version of Imran Khan and acted pretty well too. In fact, he got some of the best lines in the movie too. But his character meets with an abrupt end. Sachin Khedekar is there in one scene, and thats it. There are no other major characters in this film, which essentially focuses on the lead couple.

Music is superb. Pritam has come up with a wonderful soundtrack for the film. The best one of the lot is 'Dil Ibaadat' and it comes at the right time too. 'Tu Hi Haqeeqat', 'Is Jahaan Mein' and the title song 'Tum Mile' are lovely songs which are picturised well too. 'O Meri Jaan' serves as the mandatory sad song. In fact, music is a major saving grace of the film, after the performances. Cinematography by Prakash Kutty is nice. South Africa serves its purpose as a beautiful location and Prakash Kutty captures some nice frames there. I think the editor slept off while watching the movie. Otherwise majority of the scenes would have been easily cut out. The cutting between the past and the present was good though. Special effects and art direction is pretty mediocre and makes the whole flood part look very artificial. We realize that it is all shot in a set, the moment you see those shots.

I usually like most of the movies that come out from the Bhatt camp. I even thought Raaz 2 was okay (despite a horrendous performance by Adhyayan Suman). I wanted to like this one so badly, but sadly, I couldnt. The relationships and the love story was very realistic and natural. But it became too slow and boring after a point. And I had gone for the movie expecting some thrilling sequences in the backdrop of the floods. I didnt have any. What the movie had, were good performances by Emraan and Soha and a good music score by Pritam. So I'm pretty much disappointed with this one, as it had the potential to be an engrossing film, but is not quite like that.

Rating - 2.5/5

Most Iconic Characters of Hindi Cinema from 2000-2009 (Part 1)

vivekranjit@gmail.com (Vivek Ranjit) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 21:41:00 +0000

I was taking part in a discussion on an Orkut community and came up with this idea of discussing about the most iconic characters that have come out in the last 9 years (one more to go to complete the decade). I think I'm being impatient by writing this article before the decade gets completed, but since I am jobless, I am making my list. And this list is about characters, not performances, I'm reminding you. The characters that have stayed on in our minds long after we're done with the movie. It can be because of the peculiarity of the characters, written and fleshed out by the writer and/or director, can be because of the performance of the actor who played that character on screen, or can even be because of the popularity the character achieved. They may not necessarily be from great movies, may not necessarily have great performances, but may have been memorable, nevertheless. I'm making a list, in no particular order, though I'm starting with my favourite.

Munnabhai - Munnabhai M.B.B.S. and Lage Raho Munnabhai

If a character is repeated in two hugely successful films, that too, 2 among the all time bests of Hindi Cinema, you can know its not such a small thing!! Munnabhai wins the most iconic character title hands down because he is perhaps the most loved character on screen this decade. Sanjay Dutt got a fresh lease of life with Munnabhai MBBS which came like a whiff of fresh air. Munnabhai was a goon with a heart of gold and with his lovable gyaan, jaadu ki jhappis and carrom board games, he won over the hearts of people all over India. The film was remade into Tamil and Telugu and even the inimitable Kamal Haasan couldnt match the charm that Sanjay Dutt brought into this character. His Mumbaiyya lingo made the whole country go wild, with everyone addressing each other as 'Mamu' and saying, 'Tension nahin lene ka, apun hain na!' When people were informed that he is going to come on screen again, they became even more excited, as well as skeptical, whether it would work the second time around. But Munna came again, this time with Gandhigiri instead of jaadu ki jhappis, and the rest, as we know, is history!! For the first time ever, a sequel was made which was better than the original in all spheres and Munnabhai became immortal. In fact, Sanjay Dutt banked on his Munnabhai image a lot, when he was trying to build himself a political career. The movie also made people see him in a different light, and many people felt so bad that their Munnabhai had to go to Jail, within a year of Lage Raho's release. Rajkumar Hirani, Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Abbas Tyrewala, Abhijat Joshi and of course, Sanjay Dutt, made this one of the most memorable characters in Indian Film History. We cant wait to see Munnabhai going to America and teaching those whites some lessons. All we can say is, Lage Raho Munnabhai!!!

Circuit - Munnabhai M.B.B.S. and Lage Raho Munnabhai

How can i talk about Munnabhai without mentioning Circuit? Circuit is almost like Munnabhai's shadow. He would do anything, just anything for his bhai. Arshad Warsi came out of semi-retirement to do this role of a lifetime and got his career going in full swing once again. In MBBS, he was the man friday of Munna who would do any job that his bhai wanted to get done, including making a chinese tourist into a dead body to be sent for study at the hospital. When Munna returned, none of the other characters were retained, except for Circuit. Because if there's no Circuit, there's no Munna. The gold chains and black kurta was still there, with an additional red tinted aviator glasses this time around. Circuit does the same again, stand by Munna and get whatever he asks for. But some trouble happens between them and Munna slaps Circuit out of anger. This leads up to what is perhaps one of the best scenes ever in Hindi Cinema where Munna and Circuit realize that they are inseparable. Even when I was searching for Munnabhai pictures to put on this post, I couldnt find a single picture which didnt have Circuit along with Munna. So that proves that they ARE quite inseparable. And when Munna gets ready for his American visit, Circuit is all set to go with him too. They have already started learning English quite seriously you know!!

Dev D - Dev D

Trust Anurag Kashyap to come up with the most whackiest things possible. Who would have thought that the legendary heartbroken loser Devdas, could have such an avtar in the contemporary times of 2009? Abhay Deol gave this concept to Anurag and he made a deadly film out of that concept. He turned the whole idea of Devdas on its head and gave us a brand new Devdas. This Devdas loses everything in life because he makes wrong decisions, not because he was bound to be a tragic lover. Dev D is an insecure, insensitive, selfish, self-centred loser and he ruins his life on alcohol and drugs, thinking about the mistakes he made, much after he had made them. This new Dev D made Shahrukh Khan's Devdas look like a clown in front of it. By the end of the movie, Dev realizes that he was the 'Slut' actually. And the movie has a completely different ending from all the Devdas stories we have heard so far. This movie released this year and the character is still very fresh in everyone's minds. It has to be seen whether it stays that way in the years to come. I seriously think it will.

DJ (Diljith Singh) - Rang De Basanti

This list would be incomplete without DJ. Rang De Basanti is an iconic film and the character that stands out in this film is Aamir Khan's DJ who also takes the role of the fierce revolutionary Chandrashekhar Azad. DJ is a lovable rascal, who is not serious about his life. But during the course of the movie, DJ realizes that there is some fire within him also, and it was waiting to be kindled. One issue does that, and DJ goes all out to fight for that issue. As he says in perhaps the best dialogue in the movie - 'Zindagi jeene ke dui tareeke hote hain. Ek- Jo ho raha hai, hone do. Bardaasht karte jaao. Ya phir, zimmedaari uthao use badalne ki.' This dialogue would probably summarize DJ's character. DJ is loads of fun, but inside, there was always a fiery rebel. His mast life changes when he is forced to step into the shoes of the revolutionary Chandrashekhar Azad and think like him. The lines between the present and past blur away and the rebel in DJ does exactly what Azad would have done. Aamir is totally credible as the college boy who refuses to go out of his university, who later becomes a rebel and a hero.

Subhash Nagre - Sarkar and Sarkar Raj

Hindi Cinema got its very own Godfather through Sarkar. Ramgopal Varma made this ambitious adaptation of the classic 'The Godfather' in 2005, with his most favourite actor, Amitabh Bachchan, stepping into the shoes of Don Corleone (Marlon Brando). There was also a desi touch, strikingly inspired by Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray (and this led to a lot of protests until Ramu made peace with the Shiv Sena people). The movie was all about the man that Subhash Nagre is. A worthy adaptation, Ramu was able to create a character as strong as Don Corleone, but in the Mumbai context. Amitabh's towering screen presence and performance was certainly one his best ever. And Ramu's close up shots of Subhash Nagre drinking tea, waving his hands and moving his fingers, have become legendary. The whole attire- the glasses, the teekha on the forehead, the black kurta, the rudraksh mala and the grey hair and beard added to the appeal. Ramu decided to bring back the character again in the sequel, which wasnt as much a hit as the first one. Subhash Nagre had taken a backseat in that, but his power was still omnipresent. And at a certain point, he is forced to come back into his position. And then, he is unbelievable. The power of this character is unbelievable. In the original Godfather, the Don dies in the first movie itself. But because Ramu was so much in awe of his own creation, he made him the hero of the sequel too. And that worked very well too. I dont think anybody can forget Subhash Nagre quite easily. And talks about his return are also being heard quite often on Ramgopal Varma's blog.

Ok. This was the first of the series of posts I'm planning for the most iconic characters of Hindi Cinema from 2000-2009. This feature will be continued in the next post. I'm sure that the above mentioned characters have had an iconic place in Hindi Cinema and will still continue to have. Tell me what you think about the list. And contribute if you can think of other characters too. I shall update them in the coming posts.

Ahista Ahista - Quite Literally Ahista!!

vivekranjit@gmail.com (Vivek Ranjit) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:09:00 +0000

Movie - Ahista Ahista (Hindi)
Director - Shivam Nair
Producer - Anjum Rizvi
Cast - Abhay Deol, Soha Ali Khan, Shayan Munshi, Kamini Khanna, Shakeel Khan
Music - Himesh Reshammiya
Background Score - Abhishek Ray
Cinematography - Prakash Kutty
Story, Screenplay - Imtiaz Ali
Dialogues - Arif Ali
Release Date - 18th August 2006

This is a small, sweet movie which got sidelined because of the vast number of extremely popular movies all released together in the year 2006. I wanted to watch it because it had the very dependable Abhay Deol in it. He has hardly acted in any bad movie so far and all movies that I've seen of his, has been different and entertaining in their own ways. And I learned later that one of my current favourite directors, Imtiaz Ali had written the story and screenplay for this movie. So I immediately decided to watch this movie. This was the first movie by Shivam Nair, who made Maharathi- a slow, but interesting thriller, last year. The only thing that didnt appeal to me about the movie was the name Himesh Reshammiya in the credits. I decided to forgive that mistake and started watching the movie.

The story is about Ankush (Abhay Deol), a happy-go-lucky fellow who makes his living by signing as a witness at the Chandni Chowk Marriage Registrar Office. He charges 200 rupees per sign and manages to live a decent life with that. One day, he comes across a beautiful girl called Megha Joshi (Soha Ali Khan) in front of the registrar office. He later learns that the girl was stranded alone in the streets of Delhi because her lover who promised to get married to her at the registrar office did not turn up. She had no money and could not go back to her house in Nainital because she knew that her parents would not want her back in the house after she decided to elope. Ankush decides to help Megha and he keeps doing all possible things to make her happy. Their relationship develops over two months and they both slowly fall in love. But right after this, her old lover Dheeraj (Shayan Munshi) pops out of nowhere. What happens after this forms the rest of the movie.

Though the story is quite ordinary, the movie has several wonderful, sweet moments. And you can see similar sweet moments in all of Imtiaz's films as well. So you know where these are coming from. The director has successfully handled all these moments well and has captured the heart of Delhi, Chandni Chowk (or Dilli-6) extremely well, almost making it a character of the movie. The movie follows a pretty much realistic, down to earth narrative, except for the fact that random Himesh Reshammiya songs pop in every now and then. The story can remind you of 'Saawariya' and 'Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa' at times too.

Abhay Deol gives a wonderful performance. As I said earlier, he just cannot be bad in anything he does. He has consistently given lovely performances in all his films. If this film works, it works majorly because of this young man. He is sweet, simple, charming, and vulnerable. He plays Ankush in an extremely natural manner and thats what works big time. This movie was his second release after his wonderful debut film Socha Na Tha. And now, after Dev D, he is certainly one of the most promising young actors in the industry.
Soha Ali Khan is good, but she stops at being good. She looks cute and petite and has a good role too. But somehow her performance looks like it could have had something more in it. Especially, when this movie came after Rang De Basanti, where she gave a brilliant performance. But she's good nevertheless. Shayan Munshi is just okay. The rest of the cast give credible support to both Abhay and the film.

The movie moves at a slow pace, slowly building up the relationship between Ankush and Megha. In between, there are sub-plots about the church and old age home, Ankush's friends, Ankush's love-hate relationship with his friend's mother played by Kamini Khanna, etc. All these are worked out very well. But Imtiaz's lovely writing is let down by just theek-thaak dialogues by Arif Ali. Though the Imtiaz Ali magic is certainly missing in the dialogues, they get better as the film progresses. The best moment of the film for me would be their first awkward kiss and Ankush's apology soon after that. Many may not be satisfied with the ending, which is unlike usual Hindi films, but that is what actually will happen in such a situation. I also didnt like the ending in a conventional way. But when I gave it a thought, I felt that it was the right way to end the film. I'm happy that the director and writer stuck to this and didnt change fearing audience reactions.

The only thing I didnt like about the movie was the music. Though Himesh Reshammiya's name got the movie a lot of attention, it didnt serve any purpose for the actual movie. The songs are just speed-breakers to an already slow movie and nothing else. Abhay Deol just cannot lip-sync to songs, because he is too natural and realistic. I guess he never got an opportunity to do an actual Bollywood kinda movie. ;) And guess what, the movie has a song called 'Love You Unconditionally Soniye!!' in Himesh's terrible voice. LOL. It looked totally out of place in this movie and you can sense from Abhay's face that he was totally uncomfortable doing that song. The only song which was nice was the qawwali number even though it was in Himesh's voice.

Cinematography was excellent. Prakash Kutty captures the true flavour of Old Delhi through his frames. The frames containing the Red Fort, Juma Musjid, Chandni Chowk, etc are a treat to the eyes. Editing could have been better. Background score by Abhishek Ray was very good and much better than the actual music of the movie, though it reminded me of the background score of some old Malayalam movies. (Maybe because the director is a Malayali :P).

On the whole, Ahista Ahista is a simple, sweet movie which moves at a very slow pace. If the songs werent there, this movie would have been much better. Abhay Deol gives a wonderful performance and Soha lends able support. There are plenty of beautiful moments in the movie, for which alone you can watch this one. It clearly has the stamp of Imtiaz Ali's brilliant writing. And Shivam Nair made a promising debut through this one. (I liked his second movie too, but he should make his movies less slower). I'm sure many of you would have missed this movie. It wouldnt hurt if you give it a try :)

Rating - 3.5/5

3 Idiots (Music) - Arre bhaiyya, Aal Izz Well!!!

vivekranjit@gmail.com (Vivek Ranjit) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 06:58:00 +0000

Movie - 3 Idiots (Hindi)
Director - Rajkumar Hirani
Producer - Vidhu Vinod Chopra
Cast - Aamir Khan, R Madhavan, Sharman Joshi, Kareena Kapoor, Boman Irani, Mona Singh, Parikshit Sahni, Javed Jaffrey
Music - Shantanu Moitra
Lyrics - Swanand Kirkire
Singers - Sonu Nigam, Shaan, Shreya Ghoshal, Swanand Kirkire, Shantanu Moitra, Suraj Jagan, Sharman Joshi
Story, Screenplay, Dialogues - Rajkumar Hirani, Abhijat Joshi
Audio on T-Series
Release Date - 25th December 2009

The wait for the year's most awaited movie is finally over. 3 Idiots is releasing on December 25th, 2009. The music of the film was launched on the internet, another brilliant marketing technique by the film's lead actor Aamir Khan. The launch had all the stars, makers and musicians of the film interacting with users from all over the world on video chat. Like Vidhu Vinod Chopra's last 3 films (Parineeta, Lage Raho Munnabhai, Eklavya), the music and lyrics for this films is also by Shantanu Moitra and Swanand Kirkire respectively. The expectations are naturally high because the viewers already know that this film is going to be a brilliant one by default because of the names involved in it. And does it deliver up to the expectations? Yes it does!! It has great music and wonderful lyrics. Most songs are by Shantanu's favourite singers Sonu Nigam, Shreya Ghoshal and Shaan.

The first track is 'Aal Izz Well' by Sonu Nigam, Swanand Kirkire and Shaan. It is sure to be the next anthem in colleges and among the youth, after Rang De Basanti's 'Paathshaala'. The song has energetic vocals, fun lyrics and a catchy tune. Sonu Nigam who does majority of the vocals brings in all the fun through his delivery. The chorus part of 'Aal Izz Well' is extremely catchy and has already become immensely popular after the promos came on air. Swanand Kirkire has given some great lyrics, the theme of which can be encapsuled in the lines, 'Koi na jaane apna future kya hoga.. To honth ghuma, seeti bajaa, seeti bajaa ke bol, Aal Izz Well'. A great beginning to the album. The song leaves you on a high note. You'll love it even more with repeated hearings. And the video promo that is out now has got a tremendous response so far. Loads of fun. (4.5/5)

The next track is the romantic number, 'Zoobi Doobi', by Sonu Nigam and Shreya Ghoshal. A lovely number composed in a waltz mode, Sonu and Shreya make it more interesting with their wonderful singing. A romantic song featuring Aamir and Kareena, dancing to the rain in full filmy style, this song even has some clever lines which go 'Jaisa filmon mein hota hai, ho raha hai hu-ba-hu.' The lovely waltz mode of the song is maintained throughout and that gives the song an old world feel. Shreya outshines Sonu in certain portions of the song. (Not that Sonu is any less brilliant). A lovely number which makes you feel like dancing to it. The video should make things more interesting hopefully. (4/5)

'Behti Hawa Sa Tha Woh' by Shaan and Shantanu Moitra is a soulful track which talks about a lost friend. Swanand Kirkire has written some great lyrics in this song, which is about a great person who changed the lives of his friends by his free spirited character. A situational track, sung very well by Shaan, this track has a nice, soulful tune also by Shantanu Moitra. A song that would work very well in the film, this song is interesting to listen nevertheless, especially because of the lyrics. (4/5)

'Give Me Some Sunshine' by Suraj Jagan and Sharman Joshi is all about liberation. It is all about expressing oneself freely, without oppression of any kind. This song is wonderfully written and composed, with a western feel to it. It is a completely pleasant and positive song which has some lines recited very well by Sharman Joshi. New singer Suraj Jagan's voice sounds great and suits this song perfectly. The guitar interludes are awesome. 'H2SO4' makes an appearance in the lyrics once again after 'Paathshaala' in the lyrics of this song. But it is used in a much more funnier line here. The instrumental portions remind you of the music of Taare Zameen Par at certain instances, but that goes away once the vocals come in. All in all, an excellent, inspiring song. (4/5)

'Jaane Nahin Denge Tujhe' by Sonu Nigam is yet another soulful number about friendship. Sonu Nigam's vocals go from being soft and melancholic to super powerful with ease. He proves yet again in this song why he is considered one of the best singers of our country. The lyrics are great yet again and the song leaves you with a different feel once you are done with it. This song is also a situational track which would work better along wit the film. Sonu's vocals and the lyrics are the highlights of this song. (4/5)

There are two remix tracks, one is the remix of 'Aal Izz Well' and the other is of 'Zoobi Doobi' by Dj A-Myth/Darshan. They are just like regular remix tracks. Nothing to talk about.

Summing up, 3 Idiots has a great soundtrack with a mixture of fun, romantic, soulful, inspiring and powerful songs. Shantanu Moitra and Swanand Kirkire have consistently given good music in the past, and does the same with this album too. And these tracks should work very well with the movie, and we need not worry about that at all becuase Raju Hirani is the director. With 2 films alone, he achieved a great position among the best directors of the country. In 2006, 2 pathbreaking films released - Rang De Basanti and Lage Raho Munnabhai. This movie has the cast of Rang De Basanti (Aamir, Sharman, Madhavan) and the creative team of Munnabhai (Raju Hirani, Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Shantanu Moitra, Boman Irani, etc). So we can expect a greater film this time around. Cant wait for the 25th of December. As far as the music goes, 'Aal Izz Well, Bhaiyya!!'.

Rating - 4/5

Happy Birthday, Mr.Kamal Haasan!!!

vivekranjit@gmail.com (Vivek Ranjit) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 15:58:00 +0000

Writing a post about Kamal Haasan on his birthday, I dont know where to start and where to end. Everybody knows everything about him. So I do not wish to write about his life history and the great work he has done. I am writing about what made him and his movies appealing to me, in this post, which is also a tribute to that one-man institution.

He has been my favourite actor (after Mohanlal, though), favourite writer, favourite singer and so much more for all these days. I have to admit that I became a fan of his only around 10-12 years ago, just because I wasnt exposed to many Tamil movies being in Kerala at that point of time. And he had stopped working in Malayalam by the time I was born. So in between watching loads of Mohanlal flicks, I heard about this movie called Avvai Shanmukhi where he played a man who dresses up as an old lady and both me and my parents were excited to see it. So we went to see in an almost full Ernakulam Kavitha theatre sometime in 1997 and I saw my very first Kamal Haasan movie in theatre then. I didnt understand Tamil very well then, but I still remember laughing my head out during that movie.

Then I happened to see some of his old Malayalam movies on TV, like Aanandam Paramanandam and Alavuddinum Albhutha Vilakkum. I dont remember those movies now, but I remember that I loved them during that point of time. Years later, I saw Thenali on a video cassette and became addicted to Kamal Haasan's comedy. Thenali also had Malayalam actor Jayaram playing an equally important role, so the whole family sat and watched that movie and enjoyed it thoroughly. I began understanding Tamil much better in those days and even started learning to read and write the language myself. But again, I wasnt a huge fan of his even during those days. He was just one among the various actors I liked and yea, maybe the best among the Tamil actors according to me, at that point of time.

After Surya TV came into being, one of their favourite movies was Chankyan, which they kept playing quite often. And during one of those telecasts, I watched that movie, when I was in some 8th or 9th. I was hooked by that thriller and Kamal Haasan's mysterious and scary character in it. It still remains one of my favourite movies. That movie was so ahead of its time and I still remember that Kamal crawled through the ceiling of All India Radio and used high-tech machinery to pick up a file from the office years before Ethan Hunt did the same thing in a much more sophisticated way in Mission Impossible. :P

In the meanwhile, I also watched the Hindi versions of Hey Ram and Aalavandhaan and didnt quite like them because I didnt understand them then. And on another day, when my mother had gone to her house, my father, brother and me went to the theatre to watch Panchathanthiram on my insistence. I cant tell you how much fun I had watching that movie. Though my Tamil was still weak, the movie had a lot of Malayalam lines also to make us laugh. I dont know how many times I have seen the movie after that, and each time I see it, I find something new to laugh about. It is certainly one of the best comedies ever made in Indian Cinema. It is Panchathanthiram that made me realize that I should check out more of Kamal Haasan's work. And during one of those days, Indian was coming on TV for the first time. I sat and watched it fully and was blown away by both the movie and Kamal's national award winning performance as Senapathy or Indian Thaatha, as the character is popularly known as.

Soon after that, video Cds became more popular, and I had got myself a vcd player after my 10th standard exams. It was during those holidays that I saw many more Kamal Haasan movies. The first one being Nayakan, which is rated as one of the best movies ever made in the world. After watching Nayakan, I was in awe of this man. Then Anbe Sivam followed and he was right up there among my all time favourites almost at par with Mohanlal, whose films I have been watching non-stop from childhood. But I didnt get many of his old movies on VCDs then and could get hold of only Kuruthippunal, which is perhaps the best action flick made in Tamil so far.

I saw Virumaandi when I was in 11th at a theatre in Kollam, where I was the only person in the balcony for that particular show of the movie. And since my Tamil was still not very strong, I did not understand one bit of what was spoken in Madurai Tamil in that movie. So, I ended up hating it. But when I watched it again during my college days, I wondered whether if it was the same movie I hated once.

During my 12th came Vasoolraja MBBS, a remake of a film that had instantly become the favourite of people all over India, Munnabhai MBBS. Kamal's version was far more funnier than the original, but it didnt have the emotional sensibilities that Rajkumar Hirani gave in the original. And for that reason, I would rate Vasoolraja below Munnabhai. But if you treat it as a different film, then the comedy, especially the dialogues by Crazy Mohan are fantastic. My love for this movie also grew along by watching it again and again on Cds and TV. I loved the movie he wrote for Madhavan, called Nala Damayanthi as well, which had trademark Kamal Haasan humour performed effectively by Madhavan. Kamal pitched in a cameo towards the end to make things more interesting too.

After my schooling, I joined Loyola College in Chennai for my graduation in Visual Communication. And it would be a shame if a vis comm student in Chennai hadnt watched the old movies of Kamal Haasan. So I started collecting DVDs and VCDs of his old movies and started watching them one by one. I watched Guna, Mahanadhi, Sathi Leelavathi, Chachi 420, Pushpak, Thevar Magan, Apoorva Sahodarargal, Sathyaa, all during this time period. If Guna made me think and empathize with the character, Mahanadhi left me disturbed for days. If Chachi 420, Sathi Leelavathi and Pushpak made me laugh uncontrollably, Thevar Magan left me in awe. Apoorva Sahodarargal was fascinating and Sathyaa was exciting. And while watching Anbe Sivam again and again, it inspired me to believe in love more than God. Now, if a film can do that to a person, you can guess what a great film it must be. During the same time period, I watched Hey Ram, Aalavandhaan and Virumaandi, some movies which I hated earlier, again and understood the true meaning of them all. Especially, Hey Ram which is a masterpiece by all means. I also loved Kamal's super-flop Mumbai Xpress when Tamil Nadu was celebrating the success of Rajnikanth's Chandramukhi.

But then, I learned that I hadnt seen Kamal's best comedy yet. Me being a huge fan of comedy movies more than anything else, had to see that one as soon as possible. So I began my search for a cd or dvd of Michael Madhana Kama Rajan. Weeks later, I found a copy in one of the Music World outlets and grabbed it then and there. I have never laughed more watching a movie than how much I laughed for this one. When I showed it to my mother during one of my trips back home, she had trouble breathing for some time because of laughing non-stop. Who can play 4 drastically different roles, each one funnier than the other, all in a single movie? Eddy Murphy might have done it, but never as effectively as Kamal Haasan, at least for me and the thousands of other fans of Kamal.

And then came, Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu, my first Kamal movie in Chennai. That movie was getting postponed indefinitely for a long time, and it finally released on August 2006. I couldnt get tickets for the first 2 days, and ended up watching it on the third day. And because of one of my stupid friends, we got in for the movie late, but correctly in time for Kamal's intro. The 'Karka Karka' song followed and the theatre went wild. But my friend was quite upset while watching the movie and that spoilt the experience for me then, even though I loved the movie. No problem, I decided and watched the movie again the very next day at Abirami, buying the ticket in black. And I think I've watched VV in every possible theatre in Chennai, including Sathyam, Abirami, the horrible Rohini and even a C class theatre Muralikrishna close to our hostel. The Gautham Menon-Kamal Haasan combination was lethal and Kamal played the suave and sophisticated, but deadly cop DCP Raghavan to perfection. It is perhaps the most stylish movie of Kamal Haasan. VV was one of those rare movies where Kamal wasnt in charge of the writing department. So it was completely Gautham's way of presenting Kamal Haasan, the superstar and the actor, both together.

Then he made me wait 2 years with bated breath for Dasavathaaram, his ambitious magnum opus, in which he played 10 roles. In the meanwhile, I watched some more movies like Kaadhala Kaadhala, Magalir Mattum, etc. I had become very fluent in Tamil by this time and had understood the culture and setting of the place and the people. So I had started enjoying these movies more then. And I kept watching all those above mentioned movies again and again, loving them more each time I watched them. And I started observing his style in writing, acting and directing much more carefully. I always loved the singer in him and 'Anbe Sivam' is my all time favourite among the tracks he has sung, which include so many other gems like 'Thempandi Cheemayile', 'Inji Iduppazhagi' and many many more. He had also sung a deadly song for a movie other than his, in Pudhuppettai, called 'Neruppu Vaayinil' composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja for the Dhanush starrer.

And for the first time in my life, I saw Kamal Haasan in flesh & blood, during a stage show directed by Mani Ratnam, Netru Indru Naalai, in Chennai. At exactly half time of the show, he walked into an empty stage, dressed in an elegant black suit and started singing, 'Thempaandi Cheemayile'. I got goosebumps immediately and couldnt stop clapping once he finished the song. I was sitting at a position where I could see the stage very well, right in front. And I was seeing that performance with my mouth wide open. But he left soon after finishing that song, disappointing all the people who wanted more from him.

It was my final year in college and I was supposed to make a short film as my final project. I got a storyline about a struggling, but terrible actor who tries hard to make it big in the industry. So for my opening scene, I wrote a sequence where that fellow sees the most iconic scene from Nayakan, and tries to act like Kamal. It was the scene where Velu Naicker's grandchild asks him, 'Neenga nallavaraa, kettavaraa??' and Kamal responds to him. I asked my friend who was acting as my hero, to completely ruin that great scene and he did just that. I chose Nayakan because only when you spoof or make fun of an iconic film or performance, people would identify it and laugh at it. And it happened like that and the people at the screening loved that scene in particular, even though the short film was nothing great. ;)

I didnt do it to make fun of Kamal, but I did it to show that nobody else can act like him, ever.

I had completed my college and was back home in Cochin when the much hyped Dasavathaaram released. I was too excited about that movie and managed to watch it First Day First Show also in Ernakulam Shenoys. I was completely thrilled watching that movie, which most of my friends and critics around the country hated. But I still loved it and watched the movie 4 more times in theatre. I loved the way he interconnected all those events and characters in his screenplay. Though the make-up wasnt great, his performance as each of those characters was distinct and unique.

One more year of watching and re-watching Kamal's films went by. Till then, my favourite Kamal Haasan movie had been Anbe Sivam, followed by Nayakan. But during this period, I watched Thevar Magan yet again, and realized that there can be no movie which is better than that one. Directed by one of Malayalam Cinema's most reputed directors Bharathan and produced & written by Kamal Haasan, that movie had both the legendary actors Sivaji Ganesan and Kamal Haasan coming together for the first and last time. I hadnt seen many of Sivaji Ganesan's other movies except for Padaiyappa, and that wasnt exactly a Sivaji Ganesan movie. But with this movie alone, he amazed me. What an actor!! People say Kamal Haasan is a true waaris of Sivaji Ganesan. You cant help but agree to that point while watching Thevar Magan. There is one particular scene where both of them talk to each other after a tragic incident. That scene is what you can call legendary. And to add to these two, there were amazing performances by Nasser, Revathy and Gauthami and an extraordinary musical score by Ilaiyaraaja and magical frames by PC Sreeram. So Anbe Sivam had to move to the 2nd spot and this one became my all time favourite Tamil movie.

In March 2009, Kamal Haasan announced that he is going to remake the movie A Wednesday into Tamil and it would star him along with Mohanlal for the first time. Well, what more could I have asked for!!! Both my favourite actors together in one movie, that too with such a great script ready.

In May 2009, Kamal Haasan announced a screenwriting workshop for cinema enthusiasts. People interested had to write a synopsis of their favourite film and send it to them to get selected for the workshop. I wrote about Thevar Magan putting all my heart into it and by end of May, came the final list and I was selected for the workshop!! You can imagine my thrill then. I was going to be taught about writing by none other than Kamal Haasan. And in June, the workshop of one week kick-started at IIT Chennai. One the first day, Kamal's Toyota Prado zipped past me and my friend when we were just reaching the venue. When we reached there, we saw the man, in his Unnaipol Oruvan get-up of a thick and shaped beard standing along with the other hosts of the workshop. The workshop was a great experience and Kamal insisted that it was always his dream to host such a workshop. We had one entire session where Kamal spoke about his directorial venture Hey Ram and also gave some tips about writing. During one of the coffee breaks, I gathered the courage to go and ask him a silly doubt from Hey Ram. He was surrounded by other enthusiastic students who were fans too, and I managed to barge into that and ask him my question. He was clearing every doubt patiently and he answered my question too. I was totally thrilled when he talked back to me and I couldnt believe it actually happened. The workshop went on for a week and started getting more and more interesting. The final day was spectacular with so many stalwarts of the industry being present there. Kamal's current family of Gauthami, Shruthi, Akshara and Subbulakshmi were also present there. I got an autograph from Kamal Haasan then and I have it safely on my notepad now. When all the events got over, we were allowed to take group photos with Kamal and the other lecturers of the workshop. And I got clicked with Kamal Haasan, even though it was in a group. Before leaving I shook hands with him and he said 'All The Best', like he did with everyone else. But for me, it'll always be worth remembering.

On September 18, 2009, the Kamal Haasan-Mohanlal starrer Unnaipol Oruvan hit the screens, and I went mad as you can see in my review on this blog itself. Lol. I watched that movie 3 times in the first week itself and watched it again when I went to Chennai this time.

And 2009, is apparently Kamal's 50th year in Cinema. He started out as a child artiste in Kalathoor Kannamma in 1959, and won a National Award for his very first appearance in a movie. 50 years, 3 National awards and 18 Filmfare awards later, Kamal Haasan is still reinventing himself. His daughter Shruthi has also started her film career as both an actress and a composer this year. A grand event was organized by Vijay TV to celebrate this special occasion and the whole South Indian film fraternity was present for it. The words spoken by each and every person during that function show the love and admiration for this one-man institution. And his arch-rival and best friend Rajnikanth went all out with his speech to declare his love and respect for Kamal through his speech. It was certainly one of the best stage shows I have ever seen.

I am still covering his vast list of brilliant films. I watched Moondram Pirai, Punnagai Mannan and Salangai Oli recently. He lets Sridevi shine in Moondram Pirai throughout the movie, till the climax. And his performance in the climax alone won him a National award. Need I say anything more? I didnt quite like Punnagai Mannan, but Kamal was still amazing in that romantic movie. His Charlie Chaplin act was really endearing. And finally, Salangai Oli (Tamil version of Sagara Sangamam), what a movie!! You have to see it to believe it. I doubt if there is anything that man cannot do.

And his association with music director Ilaiyaraaja and singer SP Balasubramaniam is famous. Ilaiyaraja has given some of his best songs for Kamal's films and nobody can lip-sync SPB's songs better than Kamal. He has loads of other friends and seniors whom he shares a great relationship with both professionally and personally, right from his mentor K Balachander, friend and colleague Rajnikanth, dialogue writer Crazy Mohan, director KS Ravikumar, actor Jayaram, cameraman PC Sreeram, the late actor Nagesh, composer AR Rahman and many others. He created history by brining Queen Elizabeth for the pooja of his dream project Marudhanayakam, which got stalled later on and also bringing Jackie Chan, Amitabh Bachchan, Mammootty and himself together one one stage during the audio release of Dasavathaaram.

He is getting ready to direct a film soon starring himself and his guru K Balachander and will also be seen in a film to be directed by the promising young director Mysskin. Unnaipol Oruvan is his 3rd superhit in a row and he is going through a great phase now. And each time he gives something extraordinary, his fans expect much more out of him the next time.

And he delivers that too. So lets hope for more and more innovations and experiments from this man, who has made Indian Cinema much better in his 50 year long career. I havent explained the details of his performances in all his iconic movies in this post, because if I do so, this post would never get over. This post may seem as the over-indulgence of a fan, but just imagine, 50 years dedicated to Cinema in his 55 year long life, this man is something else!!!

And his latest release Unnaipol Oruvan has completed 50 days of its theatrical run now too.
So its all the more reason to celebrate.

We all love you Kamal Sir. Happy Birthday!! :) :)

(Leaving you with the breathtaking trailer of Kamal Haasan's dream project Marudhanayakam, which never got completed).

Andaz Apna Apna - Ailaa!! Oeemaa!!! Kya picture hai!!!

vivekranjit@gmail.com (Vivek Ranjit) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 11:12:00 +0000

Movie - Andaz Apna Apna (Hindi)
Director - Rajkumar Santoshi
Producer - Vinay Kumar Sinha, Shanti Sinha
Cast - Aamir Khan, Salman Khan, Raveena Tandon, Karishma Kapoor, Paresh Rawal & Paresh Rawal, Shakti Kapoor, Shehzad Khan, Viju Khote, Mehmood, Jagdeep, Tiku Talsania, Javed Khan, Govinda, Juhi Chawla
Music - Tushar Bhatia
Background Score - Viju Shah
Cinematography - Ishwar Bidri
Editing - VN Mayekar
Art Direction - R Verman
Story, Screenplay - Rajkumar Santoshi
Dialogues - Rajkumar Santoshi, Dilip Shukla
Release Date - 11th April 1994

Well, Rajkumar Santoshi's Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani tempted me so much to watch Andaz Apna Apna again. So as soon as I got home from that movie, I searched for my DVD and played it on and had a fantastic time watching AAA for the nth time. It is probably the best comedy made in Hindi so far, it has achieved a cult status and has a huge base of loyal fans. Rajkumar Santoshi who had made the hard-hitting social dramas Ghayal and Damini earlier, made a departure from his earlier style in this film.

Thus we get an assortment of mad, crazy, zany, stupid, dumb, filmy and whacky characters and yea, even madder character names. There are the heroes Amar and Prem resembling the name of an old Rajesh Khanna starrer. Raveena and Karishma, named as their own selves. Anand Akela, Bhalla and Robert, Ram aur Shyam Gopal Bajaj and the best of all, Mogambo ka bhateeja, Crime Master Gogo. All of them together make this movie a roller-coaster ride, right from the opening credits which misspells the name of each member of the cast and crew deliberately to the climax fight at Crime Master Gogo's den. The movie moves at such a fast pace that you dont even get time to think how illogical it is. And ya, it is illogical, but that is the USP of this crazy movie.

The story is so crazy that it is very hard to summarize. But still, I'll try. Amar (Aamir Khan) and Prem (Salman Khan) are two jobless, foolish, filmy and selfish loafers, on a trip to woo the daughter of a multimillionaire Ram Gopal Bajaj (Paresh Rawal), Raveena Bajaj (Raveena Tandon), who is accompanied by her friend Karishma (Karishma Kapoor) from London to India. Amar and Prem compete with each other and go to all ends doing all sorts of crazy things to get to their goal. Meanwhile, Teja, urff, Shyam Gopal Bajaj is the evil twin of the multimillionaire who wants to get his hands on his brother's wealth by finishing off his daughter. The rest of the movie is about the confusion that follows with a lot more interesting characters.

Aamir Khan, in his first full fledged comic role, is unbelievably hilarious. Whether it is the wicked Amar or the cute Teelu, he is first class. His dialogue delivery is fabulous and comic timing is perfect. The famous, 'Aap purush hi nahin, Mahapurush hai!!' line from him is totally hilarious, and he makes it work each time he says that even though it is repeated quite a few times. Now, he has grown into an actor par excellence, but this one still remains one of his best performances. After all, comedy is not such an easy thing. Salman Khan, plays the perfect foil to Aamir's bratty character. He is sweet, foolish and goofy and mostly is on the receiving end of Aamir's pranks. I think this was his first comic role too, and now he has mastered the act of playing comic roles. The scenes where Salman speaks in an incredibly funny squeaky voice, similar to that of Donald Duck is awesome. Both of them, together makes the most irresistible comic pair that you can have. They complement each other perfectly and are dot on in their comic timings. While Aamir keeps going 'Ailaa' throughout the movie, Salman goes 'Oeemaa' all the time, something which you cant help laughing out loud at.

Raveena is beautiful and plays her role well while Karishma is very cute, especially in those scenes where she keeps blinking while talking to Salman. Otherwise, they dont have great roles to play, but they do it well nevertheless. Paresh Rawal as the villain who cries listening to the planning of his accomplices, Teja, is hilarious. The best part is where he says he wants open a poultry farm after getting the 30 crores from his brother. He plays the other role of the strict millionaire Ram Gopal Bajaj, who is very fussy about punctuality, also very well. Shehzad Khan plays the manager Bhalla, and speaks like the yesteryear villain Ajeet. He does that to perfection and everytime he goes, 'Pilan ke mutabik,...', you burst out laughing. Viju Khote plays the butler Robert who keeps on going 'Galti se mistake ho gaya', each time he messes the planning of Bhalla or Teja. Javed Khan plays Anand Akela, who helps out Amar and Prem when they are in trouble. Tiku Talsania and veteran comedians Mehmood and Jagdeep also play their parts effectively.

But the cherry on the cake is Crime Master Gogo, played to perfection by Shakti Kapoor. He hams it out unbelievably, making Gogo one of the most memorable comic villains ever. He is supposedly the nephew of the great villain Mogambo (from Mr.India). His favourite tagline is 'Aankhen nikaalkar gotiyaan kheloonga!'. Shakti Kapoor shines in the totally over the top climax sequence, where a fight happens at his den. He is certainly my favourite character from the film.

The music of the film is also very memorable. We have the lovely 'Ello ji sanam hum aa gaye' and the funny 'Dil karta hai tere paas aaoon'. The first song, 'Do mastane chale zindagi banane' is a good start as well. But the best one is 'Yeh raat aur yeh doori' with the unforgettable combination of Salman Khan and SP Balasubramaniam. The song has Salman dancing away to glory with Karishma, thinking that she is Raveena, in a beautiful set. Lol. The other songs capture the beauty of Ootty very well too. But more than the music, it is the background score by Viju Shah that works, by elevating each of the comic scenes effectively with the use of background music. Viju Shah doesnt forget to plant digs at Raveena through his own signature tune of the superhit 'Tu cheez badi hai mast mast' when Raveena is introduced in the film. And the other funny sound effects also work perfectly with the over the top narration. You cannot notice the work by the cinematographer and editor and all because you are too involved in the scenes, but they have done decent work nevertheless. The art direction by R Verman is good and almost the whole movie has been shot on sets.

The movie has a lot of inside jokes about Hindi films. Right from the first scene, where Aamir dreams that he is having an affair with Juhi Chawla. The first dialogue in the movie, 'Aila! Juhi Chawla!' is again unforgettable. Aamir takes digs at Shah Rukh Khan and Sunny Deol in this part and Govinda also puts in an appearance. Later, Salman is shown to be wanting to become a filmstar (something which he always wants in his films, as you can notice, right from this one to Jaanemann) and a lot of names are taken and digs are made at the office of Wah Wah productions, headed by Mehmood. In one of the later scenes where Salman says 'Maine Sholay dus baar dekhi hain', Aamir replies by saying 'Haan haan!! Tere baap ne likha hai na', which is quite literally true. Lol. When Aamir cuts the ribbon of a lock-up, 'Papa kehte hain bada naam karega' is played in the background. Thats what is called smart thinking. And like this, there are a lots and lots of filmy references throughout the film, which is as much spoofing them as much as they are paying tribute to them. (I think this one should have inspired Farah Khan to make the spoof/tribute portions of Main Hoon Na and Om Shanti Om).

The dialogues are fantastic and are remembered till this day. And if this film still works for a fan like me, 15 years after its release and after innumerable re-runs on TV, it should certainly be a classic. Rajkumar Santoshi never made such a movie before and after this, until he made Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani now. And that new movie paid so many tributes to this ultimate comedy by the same director. Even though this movie failed when it released, it did tremendous business in the home video sector and is one of the most watched movies in Indian television history. I sit and watch it fully each time i see it playing on TV myself. And thanks to Moser Baer, i could own the DVD of the film for just 40 bucks. Aamir and Salman said that they want to do a sequel for this movie when they came together in Salman's Dus Ka Dum show. That show which began by Salman and Aamir coming in a cycle singing 'Do mastane chale zindagi banane', also had a lot of jokes and trivia about this movie. I hope Rajkumar Santoshi makes an apt sequel for this one with those two superstars soon enough. This movie is certainly one of my all time favourites.

And while concluding, I have something to say about Mr.Santoshi, 'Aap daani hai, gyaani hai, antaryami hai, bahut bade swami hai, shaktimaan hai, buddhimaan hai, balki main to yeh kehta hoon, ke aap purush hi nahin!!'
'Mahapurush hai, mahapurush hai!!' :P

Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani - Rajkumar Santoshi is back with a bang!!

vivekranjit@gmail.com (Vivek Ranjit) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:06:00 +0000

Movie - Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani (Hindi)
Director - Rajkumar Santoshi
Producer - Ramesh S Taurani
Cast - Ranbir Kapoor, Katrina Kaif, Upen Patel, Darshan Jariwala, Zakir Hussain, Smita Jaykar, Govind Namdeo, Vijoo Khote.
Music - Pritam
Cinematography - Thirru
Editor - Steven H Bernard
Story, Screenplay, Dialogues - Rajkumar Santoshi, RD Tailang
Background Score - Salim/Sulaiman
Release Date - 6th November 2009

Rajkumar Santoshi is one of the best filmmakers we have in the industry. He has made some of the most hard hitting movies in Hindi Cinema like Damini, Ghayal, Legend of Bhagat Singh, Lajja and Khakee. Then he went on to make a terrible film called Family and a mediocre Halla Bol and went into hibernation after that. But he is remembered and loved the most for one other movie that he has made, which is called Andaz Apna Apna, totally different from his usual style. Probably Hindi Cinema's best comedy, that movie has attained cult status and loyal fans still laugh their guts off when they see that movie starring two of our biggest superstars, Aamir Khan and Salman Khan, during each one of the innumerable TV re-runs of the movie. Each and every character of that 1994 comedy is still fresh in everyone's mind. So when the news of Rajkumar Santoshi returning to comedy came out, I was super-excited, being a huge fan of Andaz Apna Apna myself. And the great promos of the film increased my expectations. The movie has a fresh new pairing of Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif, who look extremely good together. And having seen Ranbir Kapoor display his enormous potential in Wake Up Sid!, I was looking forward to see a great performance from him also.

Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani is set in a comic-book world. It is completely illogical, it has non-stop gags which are silly and hilarious at the same time and it has absolutely no pretentions of being realistic. The town in the movie is a beautifully constructed set and Santoshi makes it pretty obvious to the audience that it is a set, purposely. The character names are taken from various other comedies, and the movie reminds you of the wonderful Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa at times too. Santoshi does not forget to give subtle tributes to his own Andaz Apna Apna at certain points, especially in a scene where Ranbir almost says the dialogue, 'Aap purush hi nahin, Mahapurush ho!'. I seriously wanted him to say that there, but he didnt. :( The lovely song 'Ello Ello' plays out from a radio in one scene. And ya, the goofy sidekick Robert is back too. The location is mainly in Ootty, again the primary location in AAA. The story is not something which you've never heard before. But the gags keep coming non-stop and it is the combined talent of Ranbir and Mr.Santoshi which makes those silly gags work big time.

The story is about Prem (Ranbir Kapoor), a jobless 9th fail fellow, who is the President of a club called Happy Club, whose primary agenda, is.. well, to keep everyone happy!! During one of the missions for Happy Club, Prem meets Jenny (Katrina Kaif), a beautiful girl whom he immediately falls for. Then we have the usual love story, which later develops into a triangle when Rahul (Upen Patel) comes into the picture. But the ghisa-peeta story is made interesting by the gags that keep coming non-stop. Even the melodrama is purposely made to be over the top to suit the comic book style narrative.

The film works majorly because of Ranbir Kapoor. He is surely the Superstar among the new generation actors. This is only his 4th film, and if he has already shown so much spark, he is certain to go places in the future. If it was any lesser actor, the film would have fallen flat, but Ranbir makes even the silliest of gags work, with his goofy charm and amazing acting skills. Be it comic scenes, romantic scenes, melodramatic scenes, or even complete slapstick sequences, Ranbir glides through all these effortlessly, making all those scenes really worth your money spent. He has unbelievable energy and Santoshi utilizes that almost perfectly to make him a very memorable Prem. Ranbir also has both the boyish charm and mischief of Aamir's Amar and the silly goofiness of Salman's Prem from Andaz Apna Apna, rolled into one. It is a delight to watch him in this movie. It is also interesting to note that he comes in various get-ups in many comic scenes in the movie. He makes so many scenes interesting by his acting alone, even when the script lets him down. This guy is really talented!!

Katrina Kaif surprised me with her acting for the first time, in New York. She had the reputation of being the amazingly beautiful and sexy, but terrible actress, who is unbelievably lucky as well. (All her movies other than Yuvvraaj have been superhits, or at least hits). But she was always considered a bad actress in spite of her string of hits. With New York and Namastey London, she surprised everyone with competent performances. In this movie too, she plays Jenny almost perfectly as per the requirement of the character. She is beautiful, vulnerable, cute, emotional, childish, sexy, dumb and clever, all at the same time. She has dubbed her own voice and has done quite well in the scenes where she is required to emote. She is quite okay in the comic scenes too, and we can finally get to see some natural expressions on her face in those scenes. And man, she is super hot in that club song!! Sigh!! She shares electrifying chemistry with Ranbir and they make an irresistible pair, especially in the song sequences and romantic scenes. Together, they derive new meanings to the expression, 'on-screen chemistry'.

I think Rajkumar Santoshi chose Upen Patel for the role of Rahul because he needed somebody who could be a total loser. Upen's horrible acting is used very well by Santoshi to make the audience hate him completely. How does that guy get roles in movies even now? Drashan Jariwala as Prem's father is wonderful. His interactions with Ranbir are genuinely funny. Smita Jaykar plays the mother's role well, and has her own comic moments to shine in the second half. Govind Namdeo is okay. The usually scary villain Zakir Hussain plays Sajid Don, a total comic villain, very much like Mogambo's nephew Crime Master Gogo from AAA. (I really missed Gogo in the climax fight scene!!) He is funny though he is nowhere near the brilliance of Shakti Kapoor as Gogo. Vijoo Khote comes back as Robert, but has very little screen time. I am very tempted to write about the Superstar special appearance in the movie, but I am not depriving you people of the suspense.

If it was any other director, this movie would have been shamelessly lame. But since Rajkumar Santoshi creates the comic book environment perfectly, we enjoy the lamest of jokes and the silliest of gags. Just because he gives it the right treatment. This film certainly gives hope to the fans of AAA, because now we know that Santoshi hasnt lost his flair for comedy. We are still waiting for Aamir and Salman to get back together in a sequel for that movie. Ajab Prem.. is a neat romantic comedy without any vulgar or below the belt jokes, so common in the numerous comedies that keep coming out in Hindi. There are some truly brilliant scenes like the one where Prem talks to Jesus in a church, a la Shah Rukh Khan or the whole slapstick sequence at the dance party and many more. The movie could have been a little more shorter in the second half. The slapstick fight at the villain's den towards the end was certainly done to please the AAA fans, but it came nowhere near that one, even though it was funny.

Pritam has given a chartbuster soundtrack and the songs are already huge hits. They are shot very colourfully too, with some great work by cinematography Thirru, especially the 'Tu Jaane Na' song. Editing is perfect in the first half. Second half could have been trimmed a little more.

On the whole, Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani is a great entertainer which takes us back to the cinema of the 90s. For people who do not like to go back, and those who havent enjoyed movies like Andaz Apna Apna, this one wouldnt be enjoyable. And others, go have your share of fun!! Its great to have Mr.Santoshi back with a bang!! The movie has been promoted well and has generated a great buzz as well. And with such an entertaining content, it is sure to become at least a hit. Watch it for Ranbir, the next superstar, a new Katrina and of course, Mr.Santoshi's return to comedy.

This movie has tempted me to watch Andaz Apna Apna again. Where's my DVD? ;)

Rating - 4/5

First Look - Paa

vivekranjit@gmail.com (Vivek Ranjit) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 06:43:00 +0000

Movie - Paa (Hindi)

Director - R Balki

Producers - AB Corp Limited, Sunil Manchanda

Cast - Abhishek Bachchan, Vidya Balan, Paresh Rawal and introducing Amitabh Bachchan

Music - Ilaiyaraaja

Cinematography - PC Sreeram

Release Date - 4th December 2009

Paa is one of the most eagerly awaited movies of the year. It has the regular combination of the father-son duo Amitabh and Abhishek, in very unusual roles. Abhishek plays father to Amitabh in this film, directed by R Balki who gave us a beautiful romantic comedy called Cheeni Kum in 2007, with Bachchan Saab and Tabu.

The synopsis of the film goes like this -

Auro (Amitabh Bachchan) is an intelligent, witty 13 year old boy with an extremely rare genetic defect that causes accelerated ageing. He suffers from a progeria like syndrome. Mentally he is 13, very normal, but physically he looks 5 times older. In spite of this condition, Auro is a very happy boy. He lives with his mother Vidya (Vidya Balan), who is a gynaecologist. Amol Arte (Abhishek Bachchan) is young, progressive and a full of ideals, politician. He is out to prove to the world that 'politics' is not a bad word. He is a man with a mission. Auro is Amol's son. Paa is a rare story about a father-son, son-father relationship.

From the synopsis, it looks like the idea of accelerated ageing came from the reverse ageing syndrome in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Anyways, lets hope its an original story. It will be interesting to see Mr.Bachchan perform as a child and Abhishek, as his father. Vidya Balan looks beautiful too. Seeing her on screen after a long time now. Paresh Rawal is also there in the cast. The cinematography is by PC Sreeram, one of the best cinematographers we ever had in the country. The music is by Ilaiyaraaja, and if the music heard in the teaser promo is anything to go by, I'm sure Paa would have a great musical score. The movie is scheduled to release on December 4th and here are the first look promos of the movie.

Kurbaan (Music) - A great soundtrack from Salim/Sulaiman

vivekranjit@gmail.com (Vivek Ranjit) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:28:00 +0000

Movie - Kurbaan (Hindi)
Director - Rensil D'Silva
Producer - Karan Johar
Cast - Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Vivek Oberoi, Dia Mirza, Kirron Kher, Om Puri
Music - Salim/Sulaiman
Lyrics - Prasoon Joshi
Cinematography - Hemant Chaturvedi
Singers - Sonu Nigam, Shreya Ghoshal, Salim Merchant, Sukhwinder Singh, Kailash Kher, Marianne D'Cruz, Shruthi Pathak, Vishal Dadlani
Story - Karan Johar, Rensil D'Silva
Screenplay - Rensil D'Silva
Dialogues - Anurag Kashyap, Niranjan Iyengar
Release Date - 20th November 2009

Kurbaan drew great responses when the posters first came out itself. It had the current hot jodi of Saif and Kareena in a very sensous pose with Saif bleeding from his chest, and the tagline, 'Some love stories have blood written on them'. It also draws expectation because it is produced by Karan Johar, and distributed by UTV Motion Pictures, both reputed producers themselves. The director is first timer Rensil D'Silva, who was also the writer of the cult classic, Rang De Basanti. The cast also includes Vivek Oberoi acting in a promising film after a long long time. The music is by Salim Sulaiman who gave 2 great soundtracks last year (Fashion, Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi) and are slowly turning into much sought after composers. The lyrics are by Prasoon Joshi who is currently on a high after winning the National Award for best lyricist for his work in Taare Zameen Par. But since it is a serious film based on terrorism, you are skeptical about the kind of music that the film will have. You know that the usual kind of music you get to hear in Karan Johar productions wont be there in this one.

The album opens with 'Shukran Allah' by Sonu Nigam, Shreya Ghoshal and Salim Merchant and you are hooked instanty. The chorus in the beginning by Salim Merchant reminds you of 'Subhan Allah' in Fanaa (which was suggested by Salim/Sulaiman themselves to Jatin-Lalit during the composing of that song). But the reason for this song being lovely is none other than Sonu Nigam. He is not featured regularly these days in film songs, but when he does, he leaves you under a spell. His silky voice does magic on the listeners of this beautiful composition. When Shreya Ghoshal joins him, the magnitude of the magic increases much more. But she sings only for a small part in this song. One wishes that he could hear more from her voice in this song. But since its Sonu who sings majority of the song, one doesnt complain as well. Prasoon Joshi is certainly the best lyric writer we have after Gulzar Saab and Javed Akhtar. He pens some beautiful lines also for the wonderfully romantic song. A beautiful song, sure to stay with you for a long long time. (4.5/5)

Kailash Kher and Sukhwinder Singh are an interesting combination. Last time they came together, a deadly track called 'Fatak' (Kaminey) came into being. Here, they sing 'Dua Hai' along with some English portions by Marianne D'Cruz. While Kailash brings the rusticity, Sukhwinder takes care of the energy. The composition is interesting with some nice beats and good use of the great vocals by both these wonderful singers. It has shades of sufi and qawwali styles as well. The 'Dua Hai' portion is very appealing and the song sounds like one that is played during a celebration. The English parts sound repetitive and could have been avoided. A good, groovy track with great vocals. (3/5)

'Ali Maula' by Salim Merchant is a spiritual track that could very well be the soul of the movie. Just like their own composition 'Maula Mere Le Le Meri Jaan' from Chak De! India, this one also has a haunting tune and has the Salim/Sulaiman signature all over it. The lyrics are quite heavy on Urdu, and may not be easy to comprehend for a layman. The track should work very well in the movie as it goes very much in sync with the theme of the movie. A brilliant composition of a great song, rendered perfectly by Salim Merchant. (4/5)

Shruthi Pathak who did an excellent job in 'Mar Jawaan' (Fashion) and 'Payaliya' (Dev.D) croons 'Rasiya'. The song is a completely sensual track about love-making. The song has an ethnic feel and also oozes sensuality. Shruthi Pathak does a wonderful job singing in a low husky voice and shifts the pitch of her voice perfectly. The lyrics by Prasoon Joshi are truly poetic and romantic at the same time. A situational track that would appear most probably during a love making scene of the lead pair in the movie. (4/5)

Next up is the theme track of the movie, 'Kurbaan Hua' by Vishal Dadlani. We all know that Vishal is the owner of a powerful voice which is utilized to full effect in this song. This track gets your immediate attention and before you know it, you are in love with this semi-rock track. Vishal goes all out and belts out the track in an electrifying manner. The lyrics also add a lot of value to this song. But the most appealing is certainly Vishal's delivery. He has already given some amazing tracks this year like 'Dhan Te Nan' (Kaminey) and 'You May Be' (Aladin). This track is yet another feather on his cap. This song can certainly find a place in the action scenes of the movie and also serve as the theme track which can be played at various points in the narrative. It is certainly the best track of the album, along with 'Shukran Allah'. (4.5/5)

Kurbaan is one of the best albums that have come out this year and certainly one of the best works of Salim/Sulaiman. It has a mix of romantic, sensuous, festive, spiritual and action packed songs, all of which work very well. The songs should become more popular once the movie gets released. As of now, 'Shukran Allah' and 'Kurbaan Hua' have already become very popular through the promos that are on air now. The album also has an okay-okay remix version of the track 'Ali Maula'. On the whole, Kurbaan has a very satisfying musical score. Looking forward to the movie now.

Rating - 4/5

De Dana Dan (Music) - A very ordinary album from Pritam after a series of chartbusters..

vivekranjit@gmail.com (Vivek Ranjit) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:43:00 +0000

Movie - De Dana Dan (Hindi)
Director - Priyadarshan
Producer - Ganesh Jain, Girish Jain, Ratan Jain
Cast - Akshay Kumar, Suniel Shetty, Paresh Rawal, Katrina Kaif, Sameera Reddy, Johnny Lever, Chunkey Pandey, Neha Dhupia, Archana Puran Singh, Rajpal Yadav
Music - Pritam, RDB, Ad Boys
Lyrics - Sayeed Quadri, RDB, Manak-E, Selina, Ashish Pandit, Irshaad Kamil, Neeraj Sridhar and Sameer
Cinematography - K Ahambaram
Art Direction - Sabu Cyril
Singers - Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Suzanne D'Mello, RDB, Manak-E, Selina, Javed Ali, Banjyotsna, Mika Singh, Dominique Cerejo, Style Bhai, Sunidhi Chauhan, Ad Boys, Kunal Ganjawala, Kalpana Patwari
Background Score - Salim/Sulaiman
Release Date - 27th November 2009

Pritam has been giving back to back superhits this year. I've done reviews of two of his hit albums within the last month itself. De Dana Dan is yet another album from Pritam where he teams up with hitmaker Priyadarshan. They have had a successful combination and have given hit soundtracks like Garam Masala, Bhagam Bhag and Billu before. The movie is sure to be an out and out comedy which would need some foot-tapping songs to go with the proceedings. Pritam is also joined by guest composers like RDB and Ad Boys in this soundtrack.

The first track is 'Rishte Naate' written by Sayeed Quadri and performed by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and Suzanne D'Mello. We expect the album to open with a chartbuster fast number, but the first track is a nice romantic track in the amazing sufi voice of Rahat Fateh Ali Khan. The song opens with random English lyrics by Suzanne D'Mello, something which has become a staple item on each and every romantic song these days. (Remember the English parts in Dont Say Alvida from MAMK?). From the time Rahat's voice comes in, the song becomes beautiful. You dont really mind the English lyrics after that, since you know that Rahat is singing the rest of the song. A melodious tune with some nice lines, sung well by Rahat, that is this song. The English lyrics come again towards the end of the song. If that wasnt there, this song would have been better. On the whole, its a very nice romantic song, pretty much like 'Tere Bin' in Bhagam Bhag, from the same team of Priyadarshan, Pritam and Akshay. (4/5)

'Paisa' begins with a new kind of voice going 'Kya baat hai, kya cheez hai paisa'. The song has music by RDB and is performed and written by Manak-E, Selina and RDB. The instrumental backing reminds you of Usher's 'Yeah!'. The high-pitched male vocals by Manak-E is pure Punjabi and has got that rustic feel, but it puts you off after a point. I didnt find this song appealing, though the video that is out on air now is generating a good buzz. I usually liked the combination of RDB and Akshay, whether it was 'Rafta Rafta' in Namastey London or the Snoop Dogg version of Singh Is Kinng, but this one let me down. And since I dont follow Punjabi very much, I couldnt understand the lyrics also properly. I seriously hope this song is there just as a promotional track for the movie. (1.5/5)

'Gale Lag Jaa' is a welcome relief after the high frequency vocals in 'Paisa'. It is written by Ashish Pandit and has vocals by Javed Ali and a new singer Banjyotsna. It is a typical Pritam composition of a slow romantic number. Pritam experiments with his guitar skills on this song too, right from the beginning of the song. Javed Ali's voice is soothing and Banjyotsna sounds a lot like Alisha Chinoi. The guitar interludes are the most impressive parts of this song. Priyadarshan is an Ustad at picturizing songs and I'm sure he'll do a great job with this one as well. On the whole, 'Gale Lag Jaa' is yet another good romantic number in the album. (3.5/5)

I dont know what is the meaning of the word, 'Baamulaiza', that too coming from a great writer like Irshaad Kamil, I found it weird. The song sounds like a party song by Vengaboys, but with vocals by Mika Singh. There is nothing worth remembering about the song and I'm quite sure that this song would easily be forgotten once the movie goes out of theatres. A very ordinary song in all respects. (2/5)

'Hotty Naughty' has lyrics by ace singer Neeraj Sridhar and vocals by Sunidhi Chauhan. You can guess that it is an item number by seeing the name of the track itself. And Surprise, Surprise!!, it IS an item number. It has all sorts of weird lyrics like 'You wanna feel me, touch me , hold me now. I'm hotty naughty babe in town'. You cant help but laugh at lyrics like this. Only a Salman Khan or a Govinda can make such lyrics sound cool in their songs. Sunidhi Chauhan is the obvious choice for item numbers and she does what she is supposed to do. A lot of random sounds come and go during the song. I guess the song features Neha Dhupia in the film, and the only thing appealing in this song is the expectation to see a hot Neha Dhupia on screen. It is surprising that Neeraj Sridhar has written a song for an album which doesnt even have a single song in his voice. (1.5/5)

There is a Version 2 of 'Gale Lag Jaa', with no major difference other than some extra beats.

The title track of the movie, 'De Dana Dan' is surprisingly not by Pritam. It is by a group that call themselves Ad Boys. They have done the music and vocals. It has lyrics by Bollywood's favorite masala lyricist Sameer. It is a fun track which captures the fun and troublesome feel of the movie. You can feel all the fun and frolic that the movie promises in this track itself. The chorus part which goes 'De Dana Dan' is surely going to be played repeatedly in the movie in comic situations. It already sound very good in the trailers that are out now. It is far better than the other theme track of the movie, 'Paisa'. I'm eager to know how this song is placed in the movie. (3/5)

There are the mandatory remix songs again, and I'm not wasting any time on them and I suggest you do the same too.

On the whole, De Dana Dan is a pretty ordinary fare with just 3 out of the 6 songs being good. The other 3 songs range from mediocre to bad. One expects some chartbusters from Pritam in such a film, but he has given only 2 good romantic songs which are worth listening to. The only good one out of the fast numbers, is done by guest composers Ad Boys. But since the film is going to be a non-stop comedy which moves at a rapid pace, the songs would just serve as speedbreakers. The movie brings back the superhit combination of Akshay, Suneil and Paresh and the superhit jodi of Akshay and Katrina. And since it is a Priyadarshan comedy, you can expect nothing less than loads of fun and laughter. If it had a better soundtrack, the impact would have been better though.

Rating - 2.8/5

First Look - Ividam Swargamaanu

vivekranjit@gmail.com (Vivek Ranjit) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 16:12:00 +0000

Movie - Ividam Swargamaanu (Malayalam)
Director - Roshan Andrews
Producer - Antony Perumbavoor
Cast - Mohanlal, Thilakan, Sreenivasan, Shankar, Jagathy Sreekumar, Innocent, Lalu Alex, Priyanka, Lakshmi Gopalaswami, Lakshmi Rai, Anoop Chandran, Kaviyoor Ponnamma, Sukumari and others
Music - Mohan Sithara
Cinematography - Diwakar
Story, Screenplay, Dialogues - James Albert
Lyrics - Bichu Thirumala, Kaithapram Damodaran Namboothiri
Editor - Ranjan Abraham
Status - Shooting In Progress

If you arent excited already after reading the names mentioned above, you are not fit to be a Malayali. A true Malayali would genuinely feel happy seeing all these names. A Mohanlal film always ensures excitement. What if it is directed by one of the most promising directors in the industry, Roshan Andrews? What if it has Thilakan acting along with Mohanlal as his father 9 years after the mega blockbuster Narasimham? What if it also has Sreenivasan teaming up with Mohanlal again in a Roshan Andrews film after the team's contemporary classic Udayanaanu Thaaram in 2005? What if it is written by James Albert, one of the most talented new writers in Malayalam who wrote the wonderful Classmates and the clever Cycle, earlier? And what if it takes us back to the villages with agriculture as the main occupation?

Other than all these excitement generating factors, there is also a huge star cast which includes Jagathy Sreekumar, Innocent, Kaviyoor Ponnamma and Sukumari, all of whom share amazing chemistry with Mohanlal, the lead actor of the film. The film has three heroines - Priyanka, Lakshmi Rai and Lakshmi Gopalaswami. The movie also brings back the jodi of Mohanlal and Shankar, a successful combination of the 80s, right from their first film, Manjil Virinja Pookkal. The movie is set in an agricultural village and is about a Christian family and would be a treat for the family audience for sure.

Mohanlal plays an agriculturist and his from the looks of his character, it seems like the old Lalettan of films like Vellanakalude Naadu, Midhunam, etc is back!! The last time Mohanlal played a simple villager, was in Sathyan Anthikkad's Rasathanthram, and the film turned into a huge hit.

Roshan Andrews, who is one of the most respected filmmakers out of the newer lot, is making this movie after his critically acclaimed superhits Udayanaanu Thaaram and Notebook. He was supposed to make a big budget movie called Casanova with Mohanlal this year, but that project got postponed and this one happened. He is supported by writer James Albert who came into the film scene with the brilliant Classmates and followed it up with a smart film Cycle. The music of the film is by Mohan Sithara, a grossly underused music director who has given only good songs whenever he has composed for films, the most recent one being Bhramaram. The cinematographer of Notebook, Diwakar does camerawork for this movie also. He is an extremely popular cameraman who covers big stage events all over India, including the various Bollywood award shows and the hugely popular television show Dus Ka Dum. The movie is produced by Mohanlal's man friday, Antony Perumbavoor. This is their next venture after the big budget action flick Sagar Alias Jacky Reloaded.

The shooting for the film is going on now, and if we are lucky enough, the movie would come as a Christmas release. Otherwise, we would have to wait till next year to see the movie. From the stills, I can already smell a superhit which would be hugely popular among families. I found some lovely stills from the movie. Leaving you with some of those stills.

Swa Le - Fizzles out after a promising start.

vivekranjit@gmail.com (Vivek Ranjit) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 07:45:00 +0000

Movie - Swa Le (Malayalam)
Director - P Sukumar
Producer - Anu M Warriar, P Sukumar
Cast - Dileep, Gopika, Innocent, Nedumudi Venu, Ashokan, Ganesh, Jagathy Sreekumar, Harisree Ashokan
Music - Bijipal
Cinematography - P Sukumar
Story, Screenplay, Dialogues - Kalavoor Ravikumar
Release Date - 29th October 2009

I watched this movie right after I watched Kerala Cafe, on Thursday. I expected a good movie from the promos I saw on TV and the fact that the movie is based on the war between leading newspaper dailies during the early 90s. Its been a long time since Dileep gave a solo hero hit (Passenger cannot fully be called a Dileep film even though he was great in that movie) and I wanted this film to do well for his sake. The film begins with an interesting narration by Ranjith, the creative head of the other release, Kerala Cafe. He introduces us to the time when there was no cable TV, no mobile phones and where people like Unni Madhavan (Dileep) struggled to get exclusive stories for their dailies.

The story is about Unni Madhavan, a talented, but struggling journalist working for a comparatively lesser read newspaper. He has a wife Vimala (Gopika) who eloped from her house to get married to him. They live in a small house where Unni struggles to make the ends meet. On top of all this, Vimala is pregnant and needs care but has nobody with her. Not even Unni, who is on the run for his work, working hard to earn more for his family which would soon have one more member. He is sent off to cover all sorts of events and get exclusive stories. But due to an irresponsible photographer (Salimkumar), he is not able to get there before the reporters of the major dailies (Ashokan, Ganesh and team). Unni is not even paid properly for all the work he has been doing and he does not believe in hunting for jobs in bigger newspapers. He believes that they will come and call him one day seeing his work. The situation worsens when they get an information that a literary giant, Palazhi Sivasankara Pillai (Nedumudi Venu) is on his deathbed. Unni is sent to cover the death of this great person, whom he has had a personal attachment with, in his childhood. The wait for his death goes on and on and Vimala's condition worsens day by day too. The events that follow makes up the rest of the story.

The film has an interesting premise and it also succeeds in bringing out a lot of facts about journalism and the director and writer bring out those facts through black humour. All that is very effective and makes us laugh and think as well. But after a very impressive first half, the film loses its grip totally. The story takes an eternity to get over and the movie moves at a snail's pace. I felt more restless because I had just come after watching Kerala Cafe, where each story was only 10-15 minutes long. So it was like watching a slow test match, after seeing an exciting 20-20 match. They could have easily made the movie much shorter and the movie would have gotten a much better impact if it was shorter at least by half an hour. Or it would have been perfect, if this story was narrated in 10 minutes, as part of Kerala Cafe. I'm saying all this because this movie had a very nice premise, but the pace of the movie and the never-ending second half does all the damage.

Dileep is perfect as the struggling journalist Unni Madhavan. He gives a sincere and earnest performance, to which we can take an immediate liking towards. It is good to see the performer in him utilized well. He has started doing roles with more depth these days, like in his previous movie, Passenger, where he was absolutely brilliant. Swa Le belongs to Dileep and if you like this film, it is only because of Dileep. Gopika makes a comeback after her wedding through this film. She looks better than she used to be and does well in her short role. I heard that she was actually pregnant while playing the role of a pregnant lady in this film. Innocent as the manipulative news editor is okay. The director could have used him in a better way. Salimkumar's scenes with Dileep are hilarious, but his separate comic scenes were vulgar and totally unnecessary. Jagathy Sreekumar as a tea shop owner who makes the most out of the situation at Palazhi's house is good. Harisree Ashokan is completely over the top. I've begun to hate him completely in all the recent movies he has been doing. Ganesh and Ashokan are good in their respective roles. Nedumudi Venu leaves an impact in his short role. A wonderful actress like KPAC Lalitha is wasted in a role where she's got nothing to do. On the whole, everyone performs well, except for Harishree Ashokan.

The film has 2 good songs, though the placement of the romantic song could have been better. Since the film is directed by a cinematographer, you expect some magical cinematography (remember Ananthabhadram?). But P Sukumar's cinematography is nothing unusual. He does a good job like he does in his films with other directors, nothing extraordinary. He can be a good director, but he should have more grip over his story and should be able to sustain the interest of the audience throughout. Kalavoor Ravikumar's story is interesting. But his screenplay takes an eternity to get to the point. Dialogues are good. When the story is stretched so much, you expect at least an explosive climax, but here, the climax also is pretty ordinary. This film would be a perfect example of a good story gone wrong on screen, though it has its moments.

All in all, the movie has a very interesting first half with a lot of black humour and hilarious scenes, but fizzles out with a never-ending second half. And the movie has released at a wrong time along with biggies like Kerala Cafe and Pazhassiraja, which is still running to packed houses. The movie has an earnest plot, but not so earnest execution. So I doubt if the movie will be able to have a good run in the theatres. I hope it does well for the sake of Dileep.

Rating - 2.8/5

Aladin - Falls short of expectations, but not bad too...

vivekranjit@gmail.com (Vivek Ranjit) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 20:14:00 +0000

Movie - Aladin (Hindi)
Director - Sujoy Ghosh
Producer - Sujoy Ghosh, Sunil A Lulla
Cast - Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt, Riteish Deshmukh, Jacqueline Fernandez, Ratna Pathak Shah, Saahil Khan
Music - Vishal & Shekhar
Cinematography - Sirsha Ray
Art - Sabu Cyril
Editor - Suresh Pai
Story - Sujoy Ghosh, Suresh Nair
Screenplay & Dialogues - Sujoy Ghosh, Ritesh Shah
Action - William Ong
Background Score - Jody K Jenkins
Release Date - 30th October 2009

When I first heard that a movie called Aladin is being made, I thought it would be the recreation of the Arabian fairy tale into Hindi. But when I saw the first trailer of the movie, along with Love Aaj Kal, I understood that the fairy tale myth is used to narrate the story of a duffer, whose name by the way, is Aladin. The movie boasts of superlative special effects, a cool new genie played by the Big B, a menacing villain by Sanjay Dutt and some good music and great sets by Sabu Cyril. Sujoy Ghosh who made an impressive debut with Jhankaar Beats and made a horrible film Home Delivery after that, is at the helm of affairs and we expect a fresh treatment, since we cannot just ignore the guy who made the wonderful Jhankaar Beats because of one mistake.

The story set in an imaginary city called Khwaish, is about Aladin Chatterjee, who is ridiculed all his life for his name that is taken from the hero of the Arabian fairy tale. He is made to rub lamps just for the heck of it, by his bullying friends right from his childhood to college days. A new girl called Jasmine comes to his college on an exchange programme, and Aladin falls for her on first sight. But he doesnt know how to charm her or win her heart. On his birthday, he is ridiculed once again by his friends, who make him rub yet another lamp. But to Aladin's surprise, an actual Genie called Genius comes out of the lamp and tells him that he can grant any three wishes of Aladin. An evil ex-genie called Ringmaster is also in search of the lamp, to execute his evil plans of ruling over the world with his powers. The adventure that follows is the story of the movie.

It is a very interesting premise, something which has never come before in Hindi or Indian Cinema. But it doesnt really become something spectacular, as one expects. The movie is narrated in a simple and sweet way, something which is very basic for this kind of a movie. This works favourably during the romantic parts, but does not work when it comes to the fantasy part of it. That needed a much grander treatment.

It is Riteish's film all the way. He is a multi-talented actor who is yet to be fully utilized by our filmmakers. He plays the duffer effectively and is outstanding in the comic scenes. Thanks to an extremely natural performance by Riteish, the new Aladin comes across as a goofy, but lovable character. Things start to spice up once Amitabh Bachchan comes into the movie with a dance number. He walks on a thin line between going overboard and being hep and cool and manages to stay somewhere in between. He plays the new, improved, wacky version of the Genie very well and we start enjoying the proceedings once he appears on screen. He also does a lot of song and dance and even fights quite effectively at this age. We can see that he has had a lot of fun playing this role. He had played a friendly ghost earlier in Bhoothnanth wonderfully, now it is his turn to play a similar, but more hep genie. Sanjay Dutt plays the menacing Ringmaster, wearing a black & red costume probably inspired by Magician Mandrake. He has his set of assistants who are a circus version of the X Men. One among them even has Wolverine-like blades coming out of his fists. Jacqueline Fernandez is extremely cute and has a fresh screen presence. She can probably be the next Katrina Kaif if she gets the right films. Ratna Pathak Shah, a wonderful actress is terribly wasted. Victor Bannerjee has nothing to do. Saahil Khan has to play an irritating character and he does that well by irritating both Aladin and the audience throughout.

This film depends a lot on visual effects. But there are quite a few instances where the VFX is overdone. Effects are used when they are totally unnecessary. They should have kept it more simplistic. Even Sabu Cyril's excellent art work is implemented more through graphics rather than building actual sets. There are some really good use of effects as well.

The film has good music, but almost 3 songs come back to back in the first half. Big B's introduction song, his rap number and folk number come without much gap between each of them and tires the viewer. The beautiful romantic number 'You May Be' comes in the second half and is extremely soothing, both to the eyes and the ears. There was absolutely no necessity of a song just before the climax. Without all these songs, the film would have been much better. Even though it was unwanted, Big B did a fabulous job in the rap song.

Sirsha Rai's cinematography is okay. Nothing much to boast about because the film relies mostly on graphics to do the tricks. Editing by Suresh Pai is decent and the film has some interesting cuts. The screenplay is very simplistic and becomes extremely complicated towards the end, thereby confusing the viewer. Like in the movie, the opportunity of using the three wishes are completely wasted. Sujoy Ghosh has tried his best to narrate an engaging tale and almost succeeds in doing that. If it was a little more exciting than being so simplistic, it would have done wonders for the movie. The climax also could have been better. Having said that, the movie also has its share of lovely moments and hilarious scenes involving Riteish, Bachchan and Jacqueline. Sujoy must be appreciated for creating and handling those moments effectively.

All in all, Aladin may fall short if you have huge expecations, but is still a decent watch. I didnt feel bored at any point of time. The movie will surely fascinate the kids, who are the main target audience of the movie. It also has some nice comic moments, without any shade of vulgarity. That aspect should bring in a lot more family viewers. If all goes well, the film could even turn profitable. All in all, a decent movie.

Rating - 3/5

London Dreams - Watch it for deadly performances from Salman Khan and Ajay Devgn!!

vivekranjit@gmail.com (Vivek Ranjit) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:23:00 +0000

Movie - London Dreams (Hindi)
Director - Vipul Amrutlal Shah
Producer - Vipul Amrutlal Shah
Cast - Salman Khan, Ajay Devgn, Asin, Rannvijay Singh, Aditya Roy Kapoor, Om Puri
Music - Shankar/Ehsaan/Loy
Lyrics - Prasoon Joshi
Cinematography - Sejal Shah
Editor - Amitabh Shukla
Background Score - Salim/Sulaiman
Story, Screenplay - Suresh Nair
Dialogues - Ritesh Shah
Release Date - 30th October 2009

Vipul Shah has hardly made any bad movie so far. Be it his debut Aankhen, or the other films Waqt and Namastey London and his production Singh Is Kinng, all of them were good entertainers and were received well by the audience. London Dreams is probably his biggest movie so far in terms of scale as well as star value, because it has 2 superstars, Salman Khan and Ajay Devgn, last seen together in the classic, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam. The movie is based on music and is set in London for most parts. It is the first time that Vipul is making a movie without his lucky mascot Akshay Kumar. It is Salman's third release within two months, after the blockbuster Wanted and the lukewarm Main Aurr Mrs Khanna. Ajay also had a release two weeks back called All The Best, an out and out comedy, which is completely different from this one and is still doing quite well. It is also Asin's second movie in Hindi after a very impressive debut in last year's biggest hit Ghajini.

London Dreams tells the story of two friends, Arjun and Mannu. The whole story is narrated by Arjun (Ajay Devgn) who is just about to get close to realizing his ultimate dream. He remembers the incidents that led him till that point of life. Arjun was always passionate about music and wanted to be a musician right from his childhood. His father who was against it, dies suddenly, and he's taken to London by his uncle, played by Om Puri. He learns that his uncle is also dead against music, so he runs away from him and starts to live on the streets, making money by playing a flute and singing songs. He joins a music school and grows up to be a talented musician. His ultimate dream is to perform at the Wembley Stadium in London and he would do anything to get there. At the same time, Mannu (Salman Khan) is a carefree soul who lives in Punjab, sleeps around with girls, causes lots of trouble to the villagers and has his share of fun all the time. Arjun forms a band in London and a beautiful girl Priya (Asin) joins him. He slowly develops a liking towards but decides not to tell her about it till he fulfills his dream. On a visit to Punjab, he learns that Mannu has got amazing talent in music and he decides to take Mannu on to his band in London. Mannu goes to London and joins the band. But slowly, Mannu starts getting all the popularity that Arjun wished for and even Priya slowly falls in love with Mannu. Seeing all this, Arjun becomes jealous and insecure thinking that God gave everything what he wanted to Mannu, who never had any dream or dedication to music. He decides to ruin Mannu, to make himself the bigger star. What happens after this is what the movie is about.

The movie is said to be inspired by a European classic, Amadeus. But since I havent seen that film, I cannot comment on it. For me, the premise of jealousy between two musicians who are also best friends was very interesting. This is the second movie I saw today written by Suresh Nair and Ritesh Shah, first being Aladin, today's other big release. The movie has millions of plot holes, but is still an engrossing watch, thanks to the performances and the decent screenplay.

Ajay Devgn in intense roles is always good. He gives a great performance this time around too. His passion for music and the struggle for success is brought out very well in the initial scenes. But it is in the second half, that the actor in him gets challenged to perform even better, when he has to portray the emotions of jealousy, anger, hatred and all, without making the role being outright negative. He does it with comfortable ease and deserves an applause for that. His outburst in the climax was an awkwardly written scene, but he saves it to some extent with his performance. But his performance in the song sequences is very bad. He is stiff most of the time and does not look convincing as the rockstar who has such a huge fan following. But he makes up for that through his performance in the intense scenes, especially in the second half. Right after displaying great comic timing in All The Best, he does this intense role in London Dreams. This proves why Ajay Devgn is called a versatile actor.

The heart and soul of London Dreams is Salman Khan. Though the movie is about Ajay's character, it is Salman who shines both in the story and in the movie. It is perhaps one his best performances ever. He is given the best scenes, lines and songs and he emerges as the star of the movie, by the time the movie gets over. We all know his talent in doing comic scenes. Here, apart from his comic talent, Vipul Shah also makes him perform well in the heavy duty emotional scenes, and makes us realize that Salman Khan can also act well. He does each scene in his own style, bringing a raw and earthy appeal to the character. His performance in the song sequences is awesome and he proves that he is a true rockstar. He is lovable and endearing throughout and you cant help but love him in the film. This year has been very good for Salman. He reinvented himself with Wanted, the second season of his show Dus Ka Dum was a runaway hit and he put in an okay cameo in Main Aurr Mrs Khanna. With London Dreams, he gives one of the year's best performances too. Watch out for him when he imitates Dharmendra so naturally in the song 'Manko Ati Bhavey'. He is absolutely brilliant in a scene where he creates many tunes for the same lyrics during the second half.

Asin as Chennai Express (as Salman calls her in the movie) Priya puts in a decent performance. But she has a very short role and her talent is not given enough justice. Her South accent is lesser now, even though it would have worked if she had an accent since she plays a South Indian in this film. She makes a good pair with Salman and their song together in Paris was lovely to watch. Rannvijay has nothing to do but give stares throughout in the movie. He doesnt impress. Aditya Roy Kapur impresses in his short role. Om Puri is wasted.

The movies is illogical at many places. How did Ajay Devgn get the money to survive in London and go to a music school? Why wasnt he caught for not having a passport (which obviously would be with his uncle)? How can a mediocre song by an Indian capture the attention of so many Londoners so fast, turning him into an overnight sensation? If you are able to overlook these glitches, the movie would be quite good for you. I didnt mind these plot holes, but the writers should definitely have thought about them, especially when a good writer like Suresh Nair is in the writing department.

Vipul Shah has narrated the film on a giant scale and the film has lavish production values and amazingly choreographed song sequences. The concert sequences are executed brilliantly, except for the fact that the computer generated audience/crowd were actually too huge for the group. The much more realistically filmed audience parts in Rock On!! were far more effective. But still, Vipul has succeeded in showing the on-stage parts with maximum effect (though Ajay's acting in those parts could have been better). He uses Salman Khan very effectively and extracts a great performance out of him. Vipul is an expert at handling emotions as well as comic scenes with ease. He does it well in this film too. There are several scenes which stay with you long after you leave the hall.

Since the film is about a rock band, the music is very important. The music is good, but did not reach the brilliance of Rock On!! which was based on a similar theme. People expect much more than Rock On this time around, but Shankar, Ehsaan and Loy could not live up to those expectations. The songs 'Barso Yaaro', 'Khanabadosh', 'Manko Ati Bhavey' and 'Khwaab Jo' are brilliant. But the songs which come at crucial points, like the one where Ajay makes the first impression through 'Shola Shola', or the song at Wembley stadium, 'Jashn Hai Jeet Ka' are very poor. If the songs were better, the film would have made a better impact. But the Hanuman Chalisa during the Barson Yaaron and Salman's performance in that song takes it to another level. The movie goes to a great high due to all this, just before the interval sign appears.

Cinematography by Sejal Shah is outstanding. The night scene in Bhatinda where Salman and Ajay talk after getting drunk is great work. The concert scenes have some awe inspiring lighting techniques used and we get thrilled seeing the play of the lights in the concert scenes. Editing by Amitabh Shukla is ok. The movie moves at a slow and steady pace. It could have been made crisper though. Salim-Sulaiman's background score is very good.

All in all, Vipul Shah has made a good film with great performances from Salman and Ajay, especially Salman. If the music at crucial points was better and the writing a little more mature, the movie would have been brilliant. But now, the movie can just be called good. It is surely one of the better films of the year. Watch it for Salman Khan, the rockstar and Ajay Devgn, the intense actor.

Rating - 3.5/5

First Look - 3 Idiots

vivekranjit@gmail.com (Vivek Ranjit) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 21:05:00 +0000

Movie - 3 Idiots (Hindi)
Director - Rajkumar Hirani
Producer - Vidhu Vinod Chopra
Cast - Aamir Khan, R Madhavan, Sharman Joshi, Kareena Kapoor, Boman Irani
Music - Shanthanu Moitra
Cinematography - CK Muraleedharan
Lyrics - Swanand Kirkire
Writers - Rajkumar Hirani, Abhijat Joshi
Release Date - 25th December 2009

Vidhu Vinod Chopra Productions
Directed by Rajkumar Hirani
Stars Aamir Khan along with some other fabulous actors as well
Raju Hirani's first movie out of the Munnabhai series
Supposedly inspired by the best selling novel by Chetan Bhagat, 'Five Point Someone'.
First time pairing of Aamir and Kareena

Arent all these reasons enough to be super excited about this movie? Last year, one movie released on December 25 and broke all records and is India's biggest grosser till date. It was an Aamir Khan starrer called Ghajini. The year before that, on December 26th, a heartwarming tale of a child touched the hearts of the whole nation and turned out into a blockbuster also. It was also an Aamir Khan starrer called Taare Zameen Par. This year, again during the same time period, another Aamir Khan starrer is releasing, where he joins hands with the supremely talented National award winning director, Rajkumar Hirani. This movie has all the chances of ending up as the movie of the year even though it releases just a week before the end of the year. The first look of the film is out and promises loads of fun. I dont know how Aamir still manages to look like a college kid when he's cast in such roles. Cant wait for December 25th.

First Look - Neelathamara

vivekranjit@gmail.com (Vivek Ranjit) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 19:57:00 +0000

Movie - Neelathamara (Malayalam)
Director - Lal Jose
Story, Screenplay, Dialogues - MT Vasudevan Nair
Producer - Menaka Suresh Kumar
Music - Vidya Sagar
Lyrics - Vayalar Sharath Chandra Varma
Cinematography - Vijay Ulaganathan
Art Direction - Gokuldas
Cast - Kailash, Archana Kavi, Rima Kallingal, Suresh, Samvrutha Sunil

This is a much awaited movie because of many reasons :

It is a Lal Jose movie. Lal Jose is one of the few sensible directors left in Malayalam and all his movies generate a certain kind of buzz.
It is being written by MT Vasudevan Nair, Malayalam Cinema's strongest scriptwriter ever. Director Priyadarshan has been waiting for MT to give him a script for a long time now. But MT chose to work with the younger Lal Jose.
It is a remake of a yesteryear classic with the same name, written by MT himself. It is for the first time that an old film is being remade into a new one in Malayalam.
It has music by Vidyasagar, who is returning to Malayalam after a long back, that too with Lal Jose with whom he has given some huge hits. (Meeshamadhavan, Chandranudikkunna Dikkil, etc)
The cast majorly consists of fresh faces and it would be a delightful change to see these young actors display their talent under the guidance of Lal Jose and MT.

I have already given 5 good reasons to watch the movie. You can find more reasons while watching this first video that is out now of a song from the movie. It was posted by Lal Jose himself onto YouTube and his blog recently. From the voice, I am guessing its Shreya Ghoshal who is doing the vocals. The visuals look great as expected from Lal Jose.

Kerala Cafe - Change is here!!!

vivekranjit@gmail.com (Vivek Ranjit) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 18:57:00 +0000

Movie - Kerala Cafe (Malayalam)
Directors - M Padmakumar, Shankar Ramakrishnan, Shaji Kailas, Uday Ananthan, Anjali Menon, B Unnikrishnan, Shyamaprasad, Anwar Rasheed, Revathy & Lal Jose
Producer - Ranjith
Release Date - 29th October 2009

This is a completely experimental film though the posters may suggest it as another mass multistarrer like Twenty-20. My sincere request to all the viewers is that please dont go for this movie with that expectation. The makers should have kept the photos of the 10 directors in the poster instead of the stars. Because, this movie completely belongs to these 10 people and the mastermind behind it all, the producer, Ranjith. The audience here for the first show of the movie in Cochin was pathetic, as they were all howling throughout the first half. They became a little more settled once the movie got into its second half. Fans of a certain superstar in the movie were getting restless waiting for their hero and were booing for every other short film. I couldnt hear many dialogues of 2 of the short films because of the extensive howling by all these people. If it was a Hindi or a Tamil film with the same theme, the same people would stay quiet and watch the movie seriously. Just because it is a Malayalam film, they get restless and start doing all sorts of nonsense. They dont deserve great movies like this one. They should be continuously given brain-dead movies with more than middle-aged heroes fighting, singing, dancing, romancing and giving one-liners. What has the Malayalam film audience come to? Having said this, let me move on to my view about this wonderful experiment by Ranjith.

The film is introduced by Sathyan Anthikkad, one of our best filmmakers and he gives a clear idea on what to expect out of the film. The censor certificate appears after this introduction and the movie begins by showing a coffee shop at a busy railway station, called Kerala Cafe.

NOSTALGIA
Director - M Padmakumar
Cinematography - Anil Nair
Editor - VT Sreejith
Art Director - Salu K George
Music - Tej Merwin
Based on the poem 'Naattuvazhikal' by R Venugopal
Cast - Dileep, Navya Nair, Sudheesh, Babu Namboothiri, Suresh Krishna

This is the first one among the short films. It begins from Dubai and shows us Johnny Kutty (Dileep), a gulf based Malayali who keeps singing praises about his homeland while drinking along with his other Gulf Malayali friends. Interestingly, his mobile's ringtone is the anthem of Gulf Malayalis, 'Thirike njaan varumenna'.But when the same person comes back to his town, he has nothing but complaints. He always talks about nostalgia when he is abroad, but he doesnt have time to get nostalgic memories when he is in his hometown. He hurts his parents, children and his wife too, and says that he is doing all that for them. He returns to Dubai and continues talking about nostalgia. Dileep plays the Gulf Malayali convincingly, complete with gold chain and mobile phone which is always in his hand, rather than being in the pocket. Though his acting could have been better at several instances, Dileep gives a certain likeability to the character (which has a slight negative touch) and we all have seen such characters many times at many places. Navya Nair puts in a decent performance. M Padmakumar has finally made a story different from Devasuram after his debut, Ammakkilikkoodu. (His 3 other films, Vargam, Vasthavam and Parunthu had the same basic storyline of Devasuram). All in all, an interesting movie, though the idea could have been conveyed in a better way.

Rating - 3/5

ISLAND EXPRESS
Director - Shankar Ramakrishnan
Cinematography - S Kumar ISC
Editor - Mahesh Narayanan
Art - Manu Jagadh
Music - Manu Ramesh
Screenplay - Shankar Ramakrishnan
Cast - Prithviraj, Jayasurya, Rahman, Sukumari, Manian Pillai Raju

The very first shot of the movie featuring Prithviraj was received with such maddening applause heard only for superstar movies usually. And when he utters the word Mangalasshery Neelakanthan, the crowd goes even more wild. I couldnt hear any of the first few dialogues because of the noise. Later, we realize that Prithviraj is writing a story about a certain incident and that he is now going to revisit the place where the incident happened. Rahman, Sukumari and Manian Pillai Raju are also people affected by that particular incident and all of them meet at that place. Jayasurya plays a non-Malayali who decides to cancel his plans of going to Vallikkavu Ashramam, in order to help out Sukumari. From a narration by Prithviraj, this movie moves on to Jayasurya who shares his experience to a senior officer sitting inside Kerala Cafe. This is a technically slick movie with some great cinematography by veteran S Kumar and art direction by Manu Jagadh. Prithviraj looks dashing, so does Rahman. All the actors perform well, and Sukumari, who is not seen regularly these days plays a strong role. Jayasurya does a neat job in his short role. A very impressive debut by Ranjith's assistant, Shankar Ramakrishnan.

Rating - 4/5

LALITHAM HIRANMAYAM
Director - Shaji Kailas
Cinematography - Sujith Vasudev
Editor - Samjith Mhd
Art - Salu K George
Music - Shan
Writer - Rajesh Jayaraman
Cast - Suresh Gopi, Jyothirmayi, Dhanya Mary Varghese, Jayan

This is the most poor movie among the 10. When you think of a Shaji Kailas - Suresh Gopi movie, you expect some sparks flying and action happening. But here, Shaji Kailas narrates a story of an extra marital affair and how the protagonist is affected because of it. The story does not gel with the undercurrent theme of 'Yathra' and does not have a strong base too. Shaji Kailas doesnt go for fancy camera movements and editing gimmicks this time around. He gives some neat shots and also tries to bring about a change in colour tone in the present and past sequences. Majority of the audience were howling throughout for the film and I couldnt hear any of the dialogues that Suresh Gopi said. I had to figure out the story from the visuals alone. And from that, I think Suresh Gopi and Jyothirmayi did a good job, while Dhanya Mary wasnt very impressive. The television actor Jayan shows how much of a natural actor he is in a miniscule role. I dont know what is there so much to howl about in this movie. It may not be as good as the others, but it certainly shows us a different approach of Shaji Kailas, who is known to make complete action potboilers.

Rating - 2/5

MRUTHYUNJAYAM
Director - Uday Ananthan
Cinematography - Hari Nair
Editor - Samjith Mhd
Art - Manu Jagadh
Music - Ouseppachan
Writer - Ahmed Siddique
Cast - Thilakan, Fahaadh Fazil, Rima Kallingal, Unni Shivapal, Anoop Menon, Meera Nandan

This one also doesnt gel with the theme of 'Yathra' directly. (The makers may explain some indirect links). It is basically a horror story. A horror fiction writer comes to meet his half-sister in Kerala Cafe and talks about an incident that happened in a spooky 'mana'. It is about a journalist who goes to the old mansion's owner to find out about the unusual deaths that keep happening inside it. In spite of several warnings by the owner, the journalist decides to spend a night inside the scary house. In between this, he also proposes to the karanavar's granddaughter. What happens to him finally? Uday Ananthan is not so successful in creating an effective horror mood, which is required for this movie. The audience were booing away to glory for this one also. At one point we would be confused whether all those voices were actually in the movie, or were made by some talented mimicry artistes among the audience. Fazil's son Shanu, in a new name, Fahaadh, reappears after his pathetic debut Kaiyethum Doorathu. His acting is impressive and he looks good too. Rima Kallingal is a natural actress and as what usually happens to heroines who have a little brain, she is also booed at strongly. Thilakan is credible as always. The mediocre movie surprises you with a good and clever ending, though a lot of questions are left unanswered. (It can be excused, as short films have that advantage of leaving a lot to the audience's imagination).

Rating - 2.5/5

HAPPY JOURNEY
Director - Anjali Menon
Cinematography - MJ Radhakrishnan
Editor - B Lenin
Art - Suresh Kollam
Music - Issac Thomas Kottukappally
Sound - AS Lakshmi Narayanan
Writer - Anjali Menon
Cast - Jagathy Sreekumar, Nithya Menen and Bindu Panicker (Voice).

This movie is certainly the second best among the ten movies. And it can also be called technically as the first Malayalam movie by a lady director. (Anjali had already made a beautiful film called Manjadikkuru, which is yet to release). The basic theme of this movie is battle of the sexes. How a man tries to take advantage of a young vulnerable girl and how the girl faces him strongly and scares the living daylights out of him forms the story of the movie. Jagathy Sreekumar is absolutely stupendous as the flirtatious (or slightly horny, if the language can be excused), typical Malayali uncle. Kudos to Anjali for extracting such an amazing performance from one of our best actors, who is grossly wasted in all the recent movies that he has been doing. Nithya Menen has already proved that she is a good actress and she does a neat job here too, other than appearing really beautiful also. Almost the entire film was shot inside a bus, and in spite of that, the technical departments have done a great job including cinematography, art and sound. This is the first movie of the lot where the whole theatre was clapping together in unison. Each and everyone present there loved the film. Anjali Menon is a filmmaker to watch out for. (I have already seen her debut film Manjadikkuru, and it is absolutely brilliant). The movie has its interval point where this movie ends.

Rating - 4.5/5

AVIRAMAM
Director - B Unnikrishnan
Cinematographer - Shamdat
Editor - Manoj
Art - Joseph Nellickal
Music - M Jayachandran
Writer - B Unnikrishnan
Cast - Siddique, Shwetha Menon, Sudheesh

This movie is a tale of a nuclear family affected by global recession. It is a very relevant topic and the movie has a superlative performance by Siddique with great support from Shwetha Menon. The camerawork is very impressive and the interior designing of the house which is the main location for almost the entire movie, is also effective. The whole credibility of the movie is solely based on Siddique's performance, and the brilliant actor gives a great effortless performance. The audience feels for him and sympathizes with him, and that is Siddique's success as an actor, and B Unnikrishnan's success as a director. Shwetha Menon is also very good. B Unnikrishnan already has the experience in directing short fiction, especially for some very impressive telefilms in Amritha TV. Since this movie was in the second half, and the audience became used to the film's format, it got a good round of applause when it ended.

Rating - 3.8/5

OFF SEASON
Director - Shyamaprasad
Cinematography - Alagappan
Editor - John Kutty
Art - Raju Chemmannil
Music - Rahul Raj
Writer - Joshua Newtonn
Cast - Suraaj Venjarammood, Vindhyan

Shyamaprasad deviates from his usual serious kind of cinema to make this light hearted short film, which begins with a scene which shows what happens when a Slumdog meets a Millionaire during an off season at Kovalam beach. Suraaj Venjarammood plays the lead role in the movie and his Thiruvananthapuram style dialogue delivery is utilized once again. Thankfully, it does not appear repetitive and is quite authentic, since the movie is set in Kovalam. Suraaj plays a happy-go-lucky guy who makes his living by doing all sorts of jobs at the beach. He comes across a Portugese couple and he thinks he can make some easy money by conning them. But he realizes soon that all his attempts were in vain. But in spite of this, a bond comes across between them and the movie ends depicting this bond, which doesnt have the barrier of culture, region or language. This movie also talks about the global economic recession and how it has affected people around the world. Suraaj puts in a decent performance. His first shot is received with maximum applause (probably as much as Prithviraj and Mammootty got in the movie, and definitely much more than what Dileep and Suresh Gopi got). I had begun to hate him and was irritated by the undying love for him shown by Malayalis in spite of the atrocious things he keeps doing in movies in the name of comedy. But in this movie, he is controlled by an excellent director like Shyamaprasad and is made to deliver a good performance. Alagappan's frames are excellent. Art by Raju Chemmannil is very impressive. Rahul Raj recreates a happy version of the classic sad song 'Manasamaine Varoo'. All in all, a decent effort.

Rating - 3/5

BRIDGE
Director - Anwar Rasheed
Cinematography - Suresh Rajan
Editor - Vivek Harshan
Art - Diljith
Music - Rex Vijayan
Writer - Unni R
Cast - Salimkumar, Shantha Devi, Kalpana and others.

I wanted to give a standing ovation for this movie so badly. It is clearly the best piece of cinema to have come out in recent years in Malayalam. And that too, from a total commercial masala filmmaker who has given back to back blockbusters with superstars like Rajamanikyam, Chotta Mumbai and Annan Thampi. You never expect such a movie from the Anwar Rasheed who gave us all the above mentioned movies. Ranjith has given him the creative space and freedom to express himself without thinking about the commercial fate of the project. And this has helped him create a beautiful work of art, called bridge. It is a tale about two rejected souls. I'm not mentioning anything about the story, as it would spoil the experience when you watch it. Salimkumar puts in yet another credible, serious performance after Achanurangaatha Veedu. Kalpana is completely natural. But the best actor in this one, and probably in the whole Kerala Cafe movie is the old actress Shantha Devi. She definitely would bring a tear or two to your eyes. The film has some truly exotic frames captured by Suresh Rajan, who is a pass out of Kolkata film school (the one where Amal Neerad came from). I heard that this guy is going to do Mani Ratnam's next film. So you can already guess the talent of this guy. Absolutely stunning. Vivek Harshan's editing is also perfect. Unni R, who wrote some kickass dialogues in Big B, has written this touching story with ample scope for Anwar to give a visual treat. Bridge is definitely the best among all the ten movies in Kerala Cafe.

Rating - 5/5

MAKAL
Director - Revathy
Cinematography - Madhu Ambat
Editor - Rajalakshmi
Art - Shankar
Music - Bombay Jayashree
Story - Revathy
Screenplay, Dialogues - Deedi Damodaran
Cast - Sona Nair, Augustine, Srinath, Sreelakshmi, Archana, Jayarao, Sasi, Master Arun, Sai Shree

Revathy is known to make movies with women as the main protagonists. Here, she talks about a girl child who is sent away from her family in exchange for money to the comforts of a rich family. What finally happens to that poor child, forms the rest of the story. Revathy has narrated the story with a great sensibility and each member of the cast has given great performances. Sona Nair and the lady who acted as the child's mother were really good. The shot where the younger brother runs behind the speeding car from a top angle, by legendary cameraman Madhu Ambat is sure to haunt you. The movie leaves you disturbed and Revathy and Deedi Damodaran (who wrote Gulmohar earlier) make you sympathize with their characters. A well made movie in all aspects. A beautiful short song composed by singer Bombay Jayashree is used very well in the movie.

Rating - 3.5/5

PURAM KAAZHCHAKAL
Director - Lal Jose
Cinematography - Vijay Ulakanathan
Editor - Ranjan Abraham
Art - Mani Mannarkkad
Music - Bijipal
Screenplay - Lal Jose
Based on CV Sreeraman's short story Puram Kaazhchakal.
Cast - Sreenivasan, Mammootty, Sreelekha

This film narrates the story of a bus journey. It begins when a middle aged man, played by Sreenivasan who goes on a bus route which he had long forgotten because of a tragic past. He remembers those incidents while traveling through those routes and seeing those places. A stranger, who is in a hurry comes and sits next to him. He tries to begin a conversation but he is totally not interested. He appears to be in a hurry and seems to have an upset mind. The movie then proceeds to a great climax which startles the viewer. Sreenivasan is good and gives a controlled performance. The track of his past wasnt really necessary. Mammootty was brilliant in his miniscule role. The actor in him is utilized fully just through mere reactions and looks. He hardly has any dialogues in the movie. He emotes completely through his expressions. And the best part is that, you will realize that it was a really amazing performance, much more when you see the climax. This movie would certainly be disappointing for Mammootty fans who expected him in a lengthy role. They would even think that he had nothing to do in this movie. But he is here as just another talented actor who is perfect for that particular character. Being part of this experiment is a great gesture from Mammootty's side as his presence would certainly bring in more attention and hype to this movie. The great locations were captured very well by cinematographer Vijay Ulaganathan. All in all, a great movie by Lal Jose though it might not satisfy the huge expectations caused due to the coming together of Lal Jose, Sreenivasan and Mammootty.

Rating - 4/5

Different characters from all these movies come to Kerala Cafe at certain points of time and wait for the train that is about to arrive. Finally, after we know the story behind each one of them, the train arrives and all of them go away in a hurry from Kerala Cafe. And we are left with a haunting shot of 2 characters from the best movie of the lot, Bridge, sitting at a corner of the railway station. The movie then proceeds to the end credits which appear along with the awe inspiring song 'Kadhayamama Kadhakalathi Sagaram'.

Ranjith has effortlessly merged together all these 10 stories into one great cinematic experience which Malayalis have never had before. In Hindi, there was one such movie called Dus Kahaniyaan, but in that, most movies were ripped off from foreign short films and half the movies were directed by the producer Sanjay Gupta himself. This movie stands way above that one and is certainly a must watch for all lovers of good cinema. It was conceptualized, shot, edited and released, all within 4 and a half months with over 1800 people as part of the crew. This can certainly be the change that Malayalam Cinema badly needs. But if the crowd continues to react in the way they reacted during the first half of the movie today, I dont think they deserve such good movies anymore. But I hope this type of crowd will go away in some days as more and more people will become aware of what the movie actually is about and watch it for that, not for the star studded poster of the movie, which gives an impression that it is yet another Twenty 20.

But it is interesting to note that, Malayalam Cinema is suddenly getting a fresh lease of life. Movies like Passenger, Bhramaram, Loudspeaker, Pazhassiraja, Kerala Cafe, Swa Le, etc are coming and people are slowly appreciating such movies, even though the mass crowd still prefers the other kind of cinema. This should also change gradually and we can all hope that we get back to the glorious period of our cinema which we had during the 85-95 period.

Thank you Ranjith Sir for giving us this movie. You have always been a trendsetter. Whether it is by writing movies like Aaram Thampuraan and Summer in Betlehem at the same time or giving a Nandanam after a Ravanaprabhu, you have always surprised the Malayali viewers with your offbeat as well as commercial ventures. Now that you have shown the capability of the amazing producer in you and has tried to bring about a change in our declining film industry, we have huge expecations out of your next movie Palery Manikyam. Hope it turns out to be even better. Thank you for Kerala Cafe. The coffee was delicious!!

Rating - 4.5/5 (An extra .5 just because such efforts should always be appreciated and promoted).