Hindi

Directed by : Imitaz Ali

Produced by : Saif Ali Khan , Dinesh Vijan

Starring : Saif Ali Khan , Deepika Padukone , Rishi Kapoor , Rahul Khanna

Music : Pritam

After the blockbuster “Jab We Met” , Imitaz Ali meets love now and then in Love Aaj Kal.

The movie alternates between two periods.Present love life of Jai ( Saif Ali Khan) and the flash back love story of Veer Singh ( Rishi Kapoor). Interestingly , the flash back character of Rishi Kapoor is played by Saif Ali khan as the young sardar.

Jai meets Meera ( Deepika Padukone) in london. They instantly hitches up. Like fast food, the modern couple enjoys a fast lane of love having fun all the way. A time comes when Meera has to shift to India to pursue her career and Jai has a dream of pursuing his career in San Francisco. Jai feels the long distance relations won’t work. So he talks to Meera and they decide to breakup with a breakup party ! Veer Singh is the owner of the restaurant where they have their breakup party. He finds in Jai reminiscence of his younger days. A bond is formed between both. The movie swings between love story of present and past. Meanwhile , Deepika even gets married to her boss / mentor ( Rahul Khanna ) but that is not the end of the love story . What happens in climax ? Love do finds the rhythm that I would leave you to watch in the theatre.

I really enjoyed the flash back love story. Saif Ali khan looks convincing and wonderful as young sardar. Rishi Kapoor still holds his magic and is delight to watch. The girl who performed as Harleen looks fresh on-screen and lovely to watch . Deepika was good on patches and at times fails to impress.( Something missing in her performance ). Neetu kapoor makes an one minute guest appearance as the present day Harleen character.

Music by Pritam is already on top of the charts. My pick is “Aahun Aahun” which is played in the credits. “Twist” is a foot taping score on screen.

Parting shot : The movie is definitely not in the scale of the director’s previous outing in “JWM” but then  it is quiet watchable at least for the love story kal portions. At times the events of the Love story Aaj are bit hurried and misses a “magic” but then that should not stop you from watching it once.

Update tidbit : The girl who played the 60’s Punjabi kudi Harleen character is a 19 year old Brazilian by name Giselle Monteiro who  cannot speak Hindi nor do the Indian dance steps !

Direction : Kabir Khan

Cast : John Abraham , Neil Nitin Mukesh , Irfan Khan , Katrina Kaif.

Music : Pritam

Production : Yash Raj films

Goodbye Bollywood film strike and enter the big ticket releases ! New York is the first of the big movies lined up to test the waters post IPL , post strike. I was eagerly awaiting for the movie especially for Neil , John and Katz , all bundled together for the first time ! They bring a whiff of fresh air in the screen and so much before the movie release I made up my mind to watch it.

The story of New York is not the typical bollywood masala flick that we are used to. At the same time , it is not an experimental movie also. Director , Kabir Khan , has attempted a fine blend of commercial movie sans the paan , khan , Kaandan , screaming glitz and glamour that stamps a bollywood movie. So can we call it the new genre “Multiplex” movie ? Well , partly yes but then cannot be fully rated in that genre too.

Coming back to the movie , the stage is set in the mega city of New York. The story is about how the events post 9/11 , affects three lives , who were close buddies during their college. Neil , John and Katz are the three pals , who find their life torn apart coz of series of events. Irfan Khan dons the role of FBI investigator. How the Muslim identity conflicts in the alienated world , post 9/11 and how even a normal citizen is drawn into a web of suspicion and trauma makes the story of the movie. All the three lead protagonists of New York are Muslims and each one is affected by the 9/11 incident to various degrees in their life. The best part of the movie though is it does not scream the regular rhetoric of religion and vilify anyone. As Irfan Khan sums up at the end , no one is at fault but the time we are in , still there cannot be any justification for terrorism. The much publicized nude scene of John Abraham is aesthetically done and it blends very well with the plot and one don’t even realize that this is the nude scene much talked about and written prior to the movie release.

Omar ( Neil ) joins the Newyork state university where he befriends Maya ( Katz) and Samir (John) , They become good friends, with Omar slowly falling in love with Maya but then Maya has someone else in mind . Yes , your guess is right ! Dejected , Samir Neil moves out of New York and is out of touch with Maya and Samir but world has changed since 9/11 and the post events of it brings the three friends together again not by chance but scheme of things. Why , how , am not saying it . Its worth going to hall and watch it atleast once !

The music of the movie is by Pritam. I heard “Hey Junoon” is copied from an indonesian song by name “Naruli Lelaki” . Nevertheless , controversies apart , Hey Junoon is a hummable number but nothing justifies terrorism and copying ! Atleast Pritam could give credit to the original composers next time.

Technically , the movie is well shot , editing is good too. Back ground music could have been bit more gripping.

In short, Good attempt by Kabir Khan and a relief from the ridiculous bollywood over dose we are fed with !

Good to watch . Do watch !

So today was THE Day the film lovers of India looking forward to. The Oscar night and for us in India , its Oscar Morning.

Lets keep the controversies surrounding the Slum dog millionaire aside and also the fact that personally I did not like the movie nor do I think its that great to win so much of accolades but today lets cherish the Indian flavour in the Oscar event. Its not always we see Indian connections in Oscars right ? so lets say Jai Ho !

Slumdog millionarie simply swept away the Oscars this year. It won awards across the spectrum. Before Oscars , its been conquering one award ceremony to another and finally reached the final glory in Oscars.

Best Movie : Slumdog Millionaire

Best Direction: Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire

Best Original Song: A R Rahman for ‘Jai Ho…’ (Slumdog Millionarie)

Best Original Score: A R Rahman for Slumdog Millionaire . “I have nothing but my mother and she is there with me. I thank her for making me coming all this way with her blessings,” said a proud Rahman.

Best Film Editing: Chris Dickens for Slumdog Millionaire

Best Sound Mixing: Ian Tapp, Resul Pookutty for Slumdog Millionaire. “This is just not a sound award, but a history being handed over,” said Indian receiver Pookutty.

Best Cinematography: Anthony Dod Mantle for Slumdog Millionaire

Best Adapted Screenplay: Simon Beaufoy for Slumdog Millionaire. “The cast and crew of the film told me so much about India and writing,” said a proud Beaufoy.

If not the Indian Connection is not enough with Slumdog , we also had Smile pinky winning

Best Documentary Short Subject: Megan Mylan for Smile Pinki

The best part of the oscar being an Indian came when Resul Pookuty won the Oscars for the Best sound mixing ! No one in India would recollect the men behind sound editing and mixing but Resul Pookuty stormed into the lips and minds of Indian film lovers through his Oscar nominations and he stole the award too !!! I really liked his Oscar award acceptance speech .

I come from a country and a civilization that gave us the universal word. That word is preceded by silence , followed by more silence. That word is OM . I dedicate this award to my country. Thank you , Academy , this not just a sound award , this is history being handed over to me

- Resul Pookutty

It was wonderful feeling to watch AR Rahman performing on stage and to listen the Indian lyrics and song on air . Finally AR Rahman bagged two awards and made it most memorable oscar !

There’s a diaalogue from a hindi film that goes ” mere paas ma hai ” , which means  ‘ I have nothing but I have a mother ‘ so mother’s there , her blessings are there with me. I am grateful to her to have come all the way … All my life I had a choice of hate and love . I chose love and I’m here..

- A R Rahman

I did not like his mera paas ma hai dialogue which was quiet filmy and not for oscar stage but I like his words on hate and love .. Forgot to add that the tamilian in me smiled when AR Rahman said those tamil words ” Ella pugalum iraivanuke ” in his acceptance speech !

Jai Ho !!!

My Wife’s Review :

Finally! I have watched the song “Masakkali” on the big screen, well it looks good on that screen! Yeah we watchedDelhi 6 today!The cast is very very impressive. All good actors and big names, Waheeda Rahman still beats the youngsters not only in acting but looks as well. Its good to watch her breaking tobacco on screen and chewing pan (beetle leaf). Abhishek Bacchhan, Sonam Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor, Om Puri and the list goes on. There is no such impressive story but the concept is good. The movie opens to a morning Delhi and starts weaving it around the characters instead of characters replicating the story. The movie traces the journey of abhishek bacchan in the Delhi City as he is born and brought up in US. So he is there with his dadi ma and the journey starts of the gullies of delhi. So you have both hindus and muslims residing side by side and u can feel the bliss of the city,the first half is really good, in the sense u just smile and and let urself lose while relishing the jalebis, the next door neighbours who will come at the drop of hat. A typical mohalla is shown and then there is a kala bandar (not sure how many of us remember the Black Monkey incident). But this incident forms an integral part of the movie. So you find two brothers who are fighting with each other and they live in the same house partitioned by wall. But there wives are best of friends, a sis-in-law who is of marriagble age and so is the daughter and so on and so forth. The songs are good, and yes there is a ramlila also happening and its fun to watch. So first half goes in the introduction of characters, a hero who is discovering India, a heroine who calls hero Burgerchap and who wants to be indian idol and a policeman, a character called Gobar, a sweeper and list is never ending.

Comes interval and the story takes a turn and there is one event – Kala Bandar which brings it on. And you find the story becoming serious. A girl who wants to run away as her father doesn’t want her to go Mumbai, a photographer who is a two timers type, a hero who is American born confused desi, a fat man who was hero’s father friend etc, all thrown together. As the story unfolds, there is a hindu muslim conflict reason being as each believes that the Kala Bandar is from opposite community. Caught in the midst of is our hero who wants to stay back (as he realised he is Indian), he has fallen in love with Bittu Sharma (well my nick name is also the same) and he wants things to set right. So on and so forth! The movie ends with hero trying to stop the heroine from running away from home and to do this he wears the Kala Bandar dress and due to this he is beaten blue and black and even gets shot! But then alls well that ends well! He is alive and in his home India.

Over all rating - Music good, starcast couldn’t have been better, storyline is also fine but there shud have been a balance as i assume that the viewers’ find it tough to handle the sudden change of storyline from fun to serious. Please go to theatre and watch it if u really wanna have fun and enjoy it.

My Review :

Well the promos of the movie , the director who gave one of my favourite movie – rang de basanti , the name Delhi – 6 , mazakali song , my wife’s favourite actor abhishek bachchan all put together made me book the ticket for the movie today.

The movie started with the dadkan of Delhi . We have the NRI ABCD who makes his visit to India along with his granny. The first half of the movie revolves around the mohallas of Delhi-6. The bylanes , countless characters, the bustle and chaos of the city . hindus and muslims living happily. , the mosques , temple , Ramleela ..  I think its high time directors think beyond Ramleela when they decide about plot in delhi. Its over done. The once infamous monkey man also plays a major part in the movie.

So the first half moves effortlessly cause there is no story at all. We have the delhi – 6 locality introduced. The inumerous characters introduced but the story not thought about . Suddenly it feels the director realises that intermission time has come and he has to weave in a story and he has the baggage of Rang de basanti weighing on him. So Rakeysh mehra resorts to the time tested but always in handy hindu muslim issue . So the mysterious but unseen monkey man brings a bitter environment between the two sides. We have a saffron clad poitician woman  jumping into the fray ( I bet Rakeysh mehra was inspired by Pragya singh ) The heroine tries to run away from home with a help of a tricky photographer to escape the proposed marriage and to chase her dream of winning Indian idol . Our hero tries to stop her ,  gets mistaken for the monkey man , gets shot and suddenly the  figthing hindu muslim crowds realise their mistakes and gets change in heart. Hero is taken to hospital by the crowd forgetting their enemity. End of the movie. Oh ya someone also gives the message that the real monkey man is within us. Thank you .

The director seems to be constrained under self pressure , clueless how to better the path he has charted for himself with Rang de basanti. End result : Confusion. There is too much of characters , too much of bits and pieces and a kichidi of not good proportion. First half was light and hallow and second half hurried and bland.

Waheeda Rahman , Rishi kapoor , Abhishek bhachan , Sonam kapoor , we even have Amitabh Bachchan as God  , Prem chopra and countless other characters. The performance of the artists are good . Waheeda Rahman acts with ease and its graceful. Sonam kapoor is unconventional by bollywood standards but brings in a freshness and something original in her that stands her out of the seemingly artificial and plasticky actors of current lot. Abhishek bachhan well he looks good , acts good but then someone also tell him that just his smiles won’t make his movies into box office hits.

AR Rahman’s ” Mazakali ” is already a chart topper and looks nice on screen too.

My Verdict : One time watchable , if you have enough of time to kill and no expectations.

December 12 – December 13

December 12

Ok so we are in the second gala round. I was little late to catch up with the programme , got held up with work but my darling wife kept me updated ! Thanks sweetheart !

Tulika : The bengali beauty sang “Chamma chamma ” , was an ok performance. Had bad review from the judges and apparently the lady was nervous hearing all this.

Priyanka : One of my favourite sang ” Babuji dheere chalo ” My wife said it was ek dum bakwas performance !!! Anu found the notes missing. Other judges agree too.

Bhavya  : Looks refreshingly good in a punjabi outfit and sang a punjabi number “dua na koi” and sang good as usual.

Sourabhee : The nimble north east gal stole the show with nimbida nimbuda  and got a standing ovation from Anu malik and Sonali !!

Prasenjit : Kholapur ka raja sang the Jab we met hit ” Nagada Nagada” Sang well with a punjabi spirit !

Torsha  : ” Lambi Judai “  sang soulfully . All the judges except Khailash ker found it good !

Shini : Sari clad shini sang a high voltage “sawan ki”  Sang with full josh and was good. Judges felt she could have done better though she sang well.

Kapil : The good looking  Jawan sang ” paradesi ” . It was not upto the mark but then am sure he will go to the last 3 atleast coz of the vote politics!

Rajdeep : Mr.Pepsodent sang … sang .. well i couldn’t get what that song was .. he sang soulfully … i never heard the song before so have no comments on it . I jus found he could have done bit better.. though Anu found it great as usual. If someone knows the song do let me know ..

Mohit : sang “Kaike paan ” with loads of masti . He bagged all the good compliments from the judges and well mine too.

Bhanu : Rajasthan ka pratap sang with lots of soul . Again i cannot recollect what song that he sang. He got good words from all the judges and also for his focus and quietness.

Kuldeep : Sang a old dileep kumar number from ganga jamuna  really good. I think the song is Nain Lad Jai Re

My Pick of the day : Sourabhee , Prasenjit , Mohit , Kuldeep.

December 13 , Saturday

Since  I am travelling , i could not catch up the programme live . So i missed this saturday’s episode. Anyways my wife updated me again with the result .

The danger zone singers : Tulika , Shini , Bhanu , Tosha , Prasenjit , Kuldeep.

This week’s elimination : Tulika .

The talli gal bids alvida. Good bye , Tullika.

Hello is the movie adaption of best selling novel One Night @ Call center by Chetan Bhagat. Couple of months when i read the book , i though it would make a good bollywood story material. Well it should have been a good bollywood film but …… well some wishes shall only be wishes when we have no control over it.

Star cast : The problem with the movie had started right from the star cast. This is a movie that has no place for Salman Khan to begin with. The star has been roped in mainly to increase the saleable factor of the movie but it has definitely misfired. So is Katrina kaif. The director , Atul Agnihotri should have shown the confidence on the story rather than on the super star cast. Gul Panang and Isha Koppikar are again a misfit for the main roles. Sohail Khan , Sharman Joshi , Amrita Arora fits well into their roles. Sohail and Sharman steal the limelight.

Story Adaptation : The original story by Chetan bhagat had  lots of potential to make a neat bollywood movie. Director wonderfully manages to spoil a good movie. I wonder what is the need to cast Salman khan and Katrina kaif and then go overboard by having helicopter and waiting lounge to replace the original story line on train journey. Argh ! the introduction Salman khan song was a total dud. Unwanted to the core. The movie would have struck the chord with audience if it had been shot in train and with underrated actors replacing the star power. Alas ! this is bollywood and here people tend to believe in spending money on star power and glossy visuals .

The climax was rushed in . I feel it would bring a vaccum and something missing or lacking feeling in the audience when it ends. If you had read the novel am sure the feeling would be multiplied.

Only saving grace is Sohail khan’s funny acting and Sharmaan Joshi’s subtle performances. My wife found the tiny red devil symbolising the inner voice of Sharmaan Joshi interesting and cute. Well that is one spark of good innovation on the adaptation but unfortunately its the only good spark.

My Parting shot : Hello , Oh Wrong number.

Watching movie leisurely in Sunday makes a perfect weekend ! Atleast for a person like me who otherwise hate hanging out in malls , shopping streets etc on sundays . But the tragic end to a perfect sunday with movies and pop corn would be if  the movie we watch would turn to be a disaster !

So this sunday , i decided to watch Rock on ! Somehow when the promos of the movie came , i had a feeling this movie would be a dud inspite of its sleek look . I had a premonition that it would be all glitters and no substance . But boy ! i had to erase all those assumptions ! The movie definitely rocks ! A treat to watch !

The movie is part of the new out of box niche movies that occassionaly pops up from bollywood factory. The so called  multiplex crowd category ! Its so refreshing to watch such movies amidst the never ending releases of movies like Singh is king , welcome etc .

Farhan Aktar , Arjun Rampal , Purab , Kenny does a neat act  and my pick is Arjun Rampal . Again a surprise , as Arjun was never my favourite actor till date or atleast passed the grade of good actor in my views . So the point to learn for me , never underestimate a performer . Another refreshing cast is Jhalak Dikhla Ja winner Prachi Desai ! She is cute and lovely ! After fed up of seeing Ash , bebo , priyanka etc etc its nice to watch prachi on big screen !!!

Movie starts with the intro of the four main characters one by one and shuttling to the past memories . A band that would have created history but never took off . The band members split before they could find their ” magic ” and charts different courses in their life . They live a life with no soul in what they doing . Prachi stumbles on Farhan’s past days and brings together the four friends to recreate their “magic ” band. The “magic” lives for One performance but a small tragedy stops it at it . but the magic of friendship is brough back among their lives.

Verdict: A must watch movie.