Rakht Charitra - I Release Date : 22,Oct 2010

Producer Sheetal Vinod Talwar, Madhu Mantena
Director Ram Gopal Varma
Music Sukhwinder Singh, Bapi, Tutul
Writer Prashant Pandey
Lyrics Sarim Momin, Vayu, Shabbir Ahmed, Prashant Pandey
Release Date 22-Oct-2010

Welcome to the law of the jungle. Where there're no rules. Where the life of a human being is not worth a penny. Where goonda raj reins supreme. Where men are butchered and women abducted and raped. Where the police obey the orders of the goons. Where guns, swords, bombs, knives and sharp weapons are a man's best friends. Welcome to Rakta Charitra, based on the true story of Paritala Ravi.

Buzz up!

Ramgopal Varma is known for dark and gritty cinema and Rakta Charitra is not just the film-maker's, but also Hindi cinema's most violent film so far. Be forewarned, Rakta Charitra is not for the lily-livered. Nor is it for those who love to visit cineplexes with their families, weekend after weekend, to watch that perfect family film. This one has just one song (not needed, actually), no romance, no comedy/humour, no phoren locations, no good looking faces, no family gatherings and no striking sets that are mandatory for escapist cinema. RGV is a rebel, he likes to make movies he believes in and Rakta Charitra proves it yet again.

Let me add, Rakta Charitra is not one of RGV's most accomplished works. Perhaps, one of the reasons could be because he's now churning out gangster and crime-based films with amazing regularity and obviously, there's not much he can explore due to the limitations of this genre. But, yes, Rakta Charitra has a fascinating story to tell and even if you aren't acquainted with Paritala Ravi, you might identify with Rakta Charitra because the essence of the film is revenge.

Final word? With a title like Rakta Charitra and all the blood and gore in the film, it's certain that the film holds appeal for those who like to watch brutality in cinema, which, in turn, cuts off a sizeable section of the audience (ladies and kids). However, from the content point of view, I'd say that Rakta Charitra is the best bet of this week.

Rakta Charitra deals with emotionally volatile people and is set in a rural environment. It tells the story of Paritala Ravi (Vivek Oberoi), a soft-spoken person, who took law in his hands to avenge the murders of his father (Rajendra Gupta) and brother (Sushant Singh). Paritala Ravi's name sent shivers up the spines of not only his rivals, but even the law enforcement agencies. He rose to become a minister eventually. The first part ends with his undertaking a mission to end goonda raj in the state.

By now we've come to expect zany camera angles, tight close ups, a raging background score, power-packed performances and abstract stories from RGV's films and Rakta Charitra is no different. Expect all this and more [read bloodshed] in Rakta Charitra. Since Rakta Charitra is based on a true story, there's not much one can comment on it, but the manner in which the incidents unfold keep you hooked. Of course, it's a vendetta fare, yet one is keen to fathom what essentially provoked a soft-spoken individual to transform into a killing machine.

Barring the incidents in the initial reels, there's not much movement in the story in the first hour. In fact, there are killings and more killings. But the story gathers momentum when an iconic actor turned politician enters the scene and takes Paritala Ravi under his wings. The sequences between Shatrughan Sinha and Vivek are, frankly, the preeminent and most excellent parts of the enterprise. The post-interval is different because the killings reduce and Paritala now fights his opponent from the corridors of power.

Rakta Charitra gets lengthy in its second half and one genuinely feels that RGV should've curtailed the length of the film by a few minutes, although the introduction of Suriya's character at the end only raises the curiosity for the second installment.

RGV has handled a number of sequences brilliantly, but the film leaves you with a sense of deja vu off and on. Glimpses of films like Sarkar and Sarkar Raj, besides Satya and Company, though not remotely similar to Rakta Charitra, flash across your mind. It's a little intricate to encompass all incidents in the screenplay, but writer Prashant Pandey makes a sincere effort. Cinematography (Amol Rathod) catches your eye. Action scenes are true to life. Background score compliments the mood of the film.

All RGV films are embellished with powerful performances and Rakta Charitra is no exception. Vivek Oberoi breathes fire and venom and comes across as the most appropriate actor to infuse life into the character he portrays. He's super efficient and his act in Company and Shootout At Lokhandwala pale in comparison. Shatrughan Sinha is remarkable. A powerful personality could've only been portrayed by a powerful actor and the veteran enacts it with amazing ease. Abhimanyu Singh is superb as the opponent. You hate him for being so evil and that only goes to prove how effective he is. Radhika Apte is good. Zarina Wahab is first-rate. Ashwini Kalsekar is excellent. Ashish Vidyarthi, Rajendra Gupta, Anupam Shyam, Sushmita Mukherjee, Vishwajeet Pradhan and Kota Srinivasa Rao shine in their respective parts. Sudeep and Darshan Jariwala get no scope.

On the whole, Rakta Charitra is not for the faint-hearted or the lily-livered. The violence, the blood and gore depicted in the film will shock and disconcert you, which only goes to establish as to how proficiently the subject material has been treated. The film is targeted mainly at those who love to watch aggression, violence, bloodshed, brutality and massacre on the silver screen, but a chunk of the movie-going audience (ladies and kids) will choose to stay away from this scene of carnage. The business in Telugu and Tamil versions is expected to be excellent, due to the strong identification with the subject material.

Dus Tola Release Date : 22,Oct 2010

Producer Kunwar Pragy Arya
Director Ajoy
Music Sandesh Shandilya
Lyrics Gulzar
Release Date 22-Oct-2010

As a kid, one of my favourite shows on TV was 'Malgudy Days'. It left an indelible impression on my mind, memories that I cherish to date. When I watch films set in a hamlet with assorted characters that seem straight out of life, memories of 'Malgudy Days' come alive instantaneously. That's precisely what I felt while watching Dus Tola.

Buzz up!

Having a similar storyline as the Malayalam film Ponmuttayidunna Tharavu, Dus Tola has an interesting plotline and boasts of a few endearing moments, but the outcome is plain and simplistic. Also, the writing is quite erratic; it involves you at a few places, but is yawn inducing at most times.

Final word? Lacks the glitz and sparkle!

Shankar (Manoj Bajpayee) is the much loved goldsmith of a quaint coastal town Sonapur. Shankar is head over heels in love with the town beauty, his cunning astrologer neighbour's daughter Suvarnalata (Aarti Chhabria). Needless to say, Shastri (Dilip Prabahvalkar), Suvarna's father, is opposed to the budding romance.

Suvarnalata cooks up a fool-proof plan to manipulate her father into accepting the alliance. She convinces a smitten Shankar to make a necklace of not one tola, not two tolas, but ten tolas of gold so he can show Shastri that he can take care of his daughter and he is a suitable husband for her. Shankar puts everything he has at stake and slogs day and night to make a necklace for his beloved.

A shocking turn of events leaves Shankar flabbergasted. He feels cheated, but the truth is out soon.

What goes around comes around - this is the message that Dus Tola attempts to send across. But director Ajoy and the writer take their own sweet time to convey the message. The numerous stories and parallel tracks running concurrently divert and deflect you attention, driving you away from the main plot. These include the romantic track between Manoj and the dance teacher (drab), Govind Namdeo and his third wife's story (forced) and Manoj's father's scenes (in poor taste). Even the climax is ridiculous. If the writing is patchy, the direction is equally inconsistent. The songs gratuitously adjoin to the length of the film.

Manoj Bajpayee is completely miscast. A younger lead man would've looked more convincing in this role. Aarti Chhabria doesn't look convincing either, though she puts in every effort to look the character. Siddharth Makkar is fairly good. Amongst the plethora of actors, Dilip Prabhavalkar and Ninad Kamat seem real.

On the whole, Dus Tola will go completely disregarded and eventually fall into the category of those films that arrive without a bang and leave without a whimper.

Director: Ajoy
Cast: Manoj Bajpayee, Aarti Chhabria, Siddharth Makkar, Pallavi Sharda, Govind Namdeo, Asrani, Dilip Prabhawalkar

Hisss Release Date : 22,Oct 2010

Producer Vikram Singh, Govind Menon, William Sees Keenan
Director Jennifer Lynch
Music Anu Malik, David Kushner, Panjabi MC, Alexander Von Bubenheim, Craig Nobles, Jul
Release Date 22-Oct-2010

A lot of us, who have grown up on masala cinema of 1970s and 1980s, will vividly recall two films made on ichhadhaari naagins - Rajkumar Kohli's Nagin (1976) and Harmesh Malhotra's Nagina (1986). Can we ever forget the revenge of the naagin? Can we ever forget the gripping plot, the spellbinding drama, the lilting music and of course, the unforgettable performances by Reena Roy and Sridevi, respectively?

Buzz up!

When a film-maker attempts to make a film on an ichhadhaari naagin in 2010, the viewer expects to watch all of the above, besides great visual effects of course. More so because Hisss is helmed by a Hollywood director - Jennifer Lynch. But, to put it bluntly, Hisss is a nightmare. The film has absolutely nothing to offer - no story, no screenplay, no songs, no performances… Even the making is so tacky.

Final word? If there were Razzies in Bollywood, Hisss would win hands down.

The story is about the vengeance of an ichhadhaari naagin. George (Jeff Doucette), a ruthless American, travels to the jungles of India and captures her mate. She transforms into a woman (Mallika Sherawat) with absolutely no clue about contemporary civilization or the ways of mankind, and ventures into the city in desperate search for her lover with vengeance on her mind and venom in her fangs.

Vikram (Irrfan Khan) is entrusted the responsibility of solving the murders and tracking down the mysterious killer.

Films like Hisss make you realize what's going wrong in Bollywood today. On one hand, we celebrate the new stories being told in our movies and on the other, we churn out a Hisss, which is badly scripted, poorly enacted and carelessly directed. Believe me, it's easy to solve the crossword puzzle in newspapers than it is to understand what exactly is going on in this film.

As for director Jennifer Lynch, she needs a crash course in film-making pronto. The visual effects seem straight out of a B-grade Bollywood film.

Actors often tell me that they choose films based on the script, so what exactly did Irrfan Khan see in Hisss? Mallika has no dialogue all through the film, she changes lenses, then changes into a snake outfit and also goes full monty. That's it! Divya Dutta is wasted. Raman Trikha is passable. The actress enacting the role of Divya's mother is okay.

Jhootha Hi Sahi Release Date : 22,Oct 2010

Producer Madhu Mantena, Abbas Tyrewala
Director Abbas Tyrewala
Music A. R. Rahman
Writer Pakhi
Lyrics Abbas Tyrewala
Release Date 22-Oct-2010

After watching Anjaana Anjaani and Jhootha Hi Sahi in quick succession, I’ve come to the conclusion that if a Hindi film begins with a lead character attempting suicide and not succeeding, then viewers are in big trouble.

Because the next two hours are invariably spent in watching the character discover the value of life, usually by falling in love. He or she goes from depressed and weepy to giddy and happy.

Like in the earlier film, here too this emotional journey is agonizingly boring.

Anjaana Anjaani was careless to the point of cynicism. The makers didn’t try at all. Here director-lyricist Abbas Tyrewala and his wife, lead actress-writer Pakhi try too hard.

Set entirely in London, the film is about a set of friends, who, like in the American television serial, are each other’s sole support. They are neighbours and work together. For variety, we have a Pakistani brother and sister and the token gays.

John Abraham plays Sid, a nerdy bookstore owner who inexplicably has a hot stewardess girlfriend but stammers in the presence of beautiful women. By mistake, his number gets printed as a suicide hotline and he connects with Mishka, played by Pakhi, who is desperate to kill herself.

The rest of the film is about how Sid, in two avatars, as himself and as Mishka’s suicide hotline friend, helps her to live and love again. Of course Mishka spends most of her time either with Sid in person or with Sid on the phone but never wonders why both sound exactly the same. But that is the least of this film’s problems.

There is a sliver of a story here but Abbas has translated it into a clumsy film that never gets off the ground. The scenes have a strange, stagey awkwardness, almost like a bad television serial.

John working every acting muscle in his body makes Sid endearing but the chemistry between him and Pakhi is flatter than his washboard abs.

Almost every hetrosexual character in the film has a crush on Mishka, including the neighbour’s adolescent son but it’s not clear why this is so. As she herself says: aaj kal main hi achhi company nahin hoon. So much of the film is about friends and the support system they provide but the characters are so poorly etched that none leave an impression.

The nurturing Pakistani sister is pregnant but refuses to marry her loving boyfriend. Why? I couldn’t tell you. It’s all about surface coolness so the book store they run is called Kagaz Ke Phool and carries a sign that says: We don’t do Deepak Chopra.

Likewise, Jhoota Hi Sahi doesn’t do romance or friendship.

The suspicious exercise trails.

The suspicious exercise trails.

Aakrosh Release Date : 15,Oct 2010

Producer Kumar Mangat
Director Priyadarshan
Music Pritam Chakraborty
Writer Robin Bhatt, Akash Khurana
Lyrics Irshad Kamil
Release Date 15-Oct-2010

Let's start with the presumption on how this film would have been conceptualized. Ajay Devgn plans to star in a hardcore action film. He gets his regular writers Robin Bhatt and Akash Khurana to work out a story between some extended action sequences. Bhatt and Khurana visit the DVD library and zero in on the 1988 Oscar nominated film Mississippi Burning (Gene Hackman, Willem Dafoe) for the screenplay. To Indianize the plot and make it seem more topical, they refer to newspaper and decide on the social theme of honour killings that's making headlines. So the racism in the original is opportunely adapted to the caste conflicts.

'There's no honour in honour killings' reads the tagline of the film. Sadly there is no honour killing in this film. This three-hour long action-drama merely has a five-minute mention on honour killing that too in a flashback account. And come to think of it, even the supposed honour killing shown in the film is not a premeditated cold-blooded murder but more of an impulsive act. Beyond that the film just squanders in the guise of a CBI investigation on the killings. Be assured that even after watching this film, you won't be enlightened one bit on the issue of honour killings beyond what's common knowledge. Neither will you be moved on the matter.

'From the director of Gardish and Virasat' emphasizes the trailer of the film. What would have been a more apt ticker is 'From the actor of Omkara, Apaharan, Gangaajal and Halla Bol'. It seems like Ajay Devgn essentially wanted Priyadarshan to model this film on the lines of movies made by his favourite filmmakers. So they derive the rustic setting from Vishal Bharadwaj's Omkara and also shoot the film in same locations (Wai). The crude and corrupt bureaucracy is reminiscent of Rajkumar Santoshi and Prakash Jha films. In fact Jha seems to be a prominent inspiration. Ajay Devgn and Bipasha Basu replicate their lost-and-found romance track from Prakash Jha's Apaharan . Further Jha's Mrityudand gives way for the fundamentalist village priest and his radical group who propagate the caste divide. And like in that film, even here a female fires bullets on the baddies in the climax.

Though the film has two heroes and over that as CBI Officers, they still remain powerless for a major part of the runtime because a rural radical mafia is glorified more viciously. Officer Pratap (Ajay Devgn) and his superior Siddhant (Akshaye Khanna) arrive in Jhanjhar village to investigate about three missing students who had last called from there. Nobody is willing to cooperate on the investigation from the cops to the common man. Inspector Ajatshatru Singh (Paresh Rawal) gives them a tough time. Further they face the backlash of the Shool Sena, a hate group that looks down upon the lower caste.

You patiently wait for the film to touch the theme of honour killing but all that you get is an uninteresting investigation escapade. When they are still unable to solve the mystery, Pratap's ex-love (Bipasha Basu) unveils facts in flashback. What is revealed is your easiest possible guess since the villains are clearly defined and demarcated from the start. So the film fails to work both as a social drama or a crime thriller. Rather the only aspect of the film that clicks is its camouflaged but chief genre – action.

The action sequences directed by B Thyagarajan and R P Yadav are compellingly choreographed and there's no denying that you enjoy watching Ajay Devgn chase the villain over rooftops and car-tops. The action varies from an offshoot of Ketan Mehta's Mirch Masala to exaggerated ones where Devgn traverses through a running locomotive. Of course there's nothing wrong in making a full-fledged action film. But what's criminal is being pretentious and presenting it as a film with social cause. Actioners like Wanted or Dabanng are any time better for they don't carry false pretexts.

The narrative conveniently credits an extremist village priest for the caste divide but his character is relegated to that of a junior artist. There is absolutely no background account on him or his fanatic group. Further they don't have any immediate connection with the honour killing of the three students in this film. The script fails to explore the theme of honour killings beyond the newspaper headlines. It shows the oppression of the upper caste on the lower caste in the same clichéd mold like cruel thakurs and zamindars were shown repressing the villagers in formulaic Bollywood flicks.

The performances are as much hard-hitting as the editing and sound design. Akshaye Khanna is decent in his part. Ajay Devgn takes a backseat as his subordinate but has more screen presence. This is a kind of role that he always excels in. His action and expressions are impeccable. Paresh Rawal gets back to his villainous roots and reminds of his Dacait days with the viciousness in his character. Bipasha Basu is wasted. Sameera Reddy lacks the sex-appeal to pull off an item number.

Priyadarshan has constantly been arguing that he switched to mindless comedy capers from meaningful serious cinema because the latter has no takers. If this is the kind of serious cinema he has to offer, we are better off with his comedies. This is Aakroshious!

Knock Out Release Date : 15,Oct 2010

Producer Sohail Maklai
Director Mani Shankar
Music Gaurav Dasgupta
Writer Mani Shankar
Lyrics Panchhi Jalonvi
Release Date 15-Oct-2010

Watching Irrfan Khan do the nervous callee in a phone booth, listening to an unsettling self-assured voice - played by Sanjay Dutt - manipulating him, constitutes that half of what Mani Shankar gets right in this ambitious Phone Booth cum A Wednesday mash.

Knock Out is a ride made exciting both by its theme and by the unlikely chemistry of two actors with diametrically opposite performing styles. And yet, it remains a could-have-been, because of little digressions that it makes.

Knock Out deals with Tony Khosla (Irrfan Khan), a sleazy investment banker who is a kind of broker in an all-important deal. Looming in the background are the Swiss banks and nasty politicians, just so we know where the film is headed.

Now Khosla is caught in a phone booth with a caller (Sanjay Dutt) who doesn't identify himself, but who forces him into moral surrender by way of showing him that he can be a mean sharp-shooter if Khosla doesn't do what he tells him to do.

The idea is to get Khosla to set a few wrongs right. In the process, there is a cop (Sushant Singh) determined to get to the bottom of things, and Nidhi (Kangana Ranaut), a frenzied journalist driven to get her "breaking story" first. This gives the film scope for some of the side shows that we saw in A Wednesday.

Knock Out keeps it thrilling for a good part, but digresses into childish fantasy as it gets closer to its logical conclusion. There's silly violence in the end, and a lack of seriousness to the climax.

Also, Knock Out tries to drive home 2 randomly different kinds of moral lessons, which are not even on the same page as each other. This deprives it of the single-mindedness that could have been its strength, given the weighty issue it deals with - that of the thousands of crores of taxpayers' money stashed away in Swiss banks. A few frivolous moments and a couple of loopholes could have been chopped off, and we could have had a tighter, more nail-biting two hours.

Mani Shankar nails it as far as the casting is concerned, though. Part of the momentum built until then is due to the crackerjack performances by both Khan and Dutt. They never share a frame, but they each bring their own kind of finesse to the screen. Irrfan Khan, obviously, puts in the more "intelligent" performance, while Dutt entertains with his brand of raw dialogue-spouting.

Sushant Singh pulls off a neat performance as the police officer, and Kangana Ranaut delivers exactly what you'd expect out of Kangana Ranaut as a dolled-up India TV reporter.

Knock Out starts off with a bang and ends with a whimper, but meanwhile, there sure are some kicks to be got out of the star cast's brilliance.

Ramayana - The Epic Release Date : 15,Oct 2010

Producer Maya Entertainment
Director Chetan Desai
Release Date 15-Oct-2010

Ramayana The Epic is a faithful but dreary retelling of one of our favourite and most familiar stories. Since almost everyone in a theatre knows the plot, the pleasure in this animated version can only come from the telling of the tale.

Debutant director Chetan Desai gives us impressive visuals, grand battles and perhaps India’s first Lord Ram with six-pack abs. But the plodding screenplay undermines these efforts. Ramayana The Epic doesn’t soar enough or arouse the requisite shock and awe.

Thankfully, the animation here is more sophisticated than the average mythological such as Bal Ganesh or Ghatothkach.

Desai and his team of 400 animators have created a richly detailed world – so Ravan is always clad in various layers of gold armour and lives in a golden fortress perched on the peak of a mountain.

There’s also a ferociously etched battle between Bali and Sugreev who try to trump one another in pouring rain. But despite the arduous labour that has so obviously gone into making the film, the characters don’t come alive.

Manoj Bajpai voices Ram, Juhi Chawla voice Sita and Ashutosh Rana voices Ravan but none of these fine actors manage to imbue the drawings with any personality.

Poor Ravan, like any age-old Hindi movie villain, is either snarling or laughing. Desai tries to pack as much of the sprawling epic as he can into a 104-minute film. So, the narrative feels episodic, almost like a best of Ramayana, rather than organic. I also wondered why a film aimed at children needed to have severed heads and why the eyebrows of every character, especially the wicked Manthara, seemed to have a life of their own.

Ramayana is an ambitious step toward better homegrown cinema for children. I just wish it had more crackle. I’m going with two and a half stars.

Read more at: http://movies.ndtv.com/movie_Review.aspx?id=557&cp

Crook Release Date : 08,Oct 2010

Producer Mukesh Bhatt
Director Mohit Suri
Music Pritam Chakraborty
Writer Ankur Tewari
Release Date 08-Oct-2010

Crook scores due to its extreme topicality. Director Mohit Suri picks up a tale drawn straight from the current headlines and narrates it with characteristic grit and edginess. It's a familiar playground for Emraan Hashmi too as he gets to essay the role of the enfant terrible all over again. And that isn't rocket science for Emraan, since ever since he hit the marquee with his maniacal act in Murder, the actor has been antsy on screen in almost all his avatars. Even his last outing on screen was a reincarnation of the grimy Dawood-ish don in Once Upon A Time in Mumbaai.

In Crook, he re-essays a character he's already played earlier in Jannat. Emraan's cabbie-man act in Crook sees him going through the entire graph of a callous bad boy turning good. But before he can set aside his amoral ways, he must take the rough ride on the streets of Melbourne which are buzzing with an underground war between Indian and Aussie gangs, baying for each other's blood. The Indian students find a leader in the hot-headed Arjan Bajwa who is determined to uphold desi culture in phoren shores, even as the Australian goonda insists on protecting his native culture from the foreign onslaught.

It's here that Mohit presents a new take on the issue. He depicts both of them -- the Indian and the Australian -- as equally racist and argues for introspection on both sides. Of course, eventually, it's left to Emraan Hashmi to play mediator between the two warring camps and douse the fire that threatens to burn down the neighbourhood. Time for the crook to change colours and turn hero....

The film isn't a smooth ride altogether. Unlike Kalyug , Mohit's earlier film, Crook begins on an incoherent note and takes time to get its focus right. Most of the first half of the film is spent -- and wasted -- in the romantic escapades of Emraan with the Indian student and the Australian night club dancer. The story picks up mostly in the second half and makes a meaningful noise: integrate or perish.

Do Dooni Chaar Release Date : 08,Oct 2010

Producer Arindam Chaudhuri
Director Habib Faisal
Music Meet Brother, Anjan
Lyrics Manoj Muntashir
Release Date 08-Oct-2010

If you're not a Delhiite, your first reaction on watching 'Do Dooni Char' would be, thank god for that! And this has nothing to do with the questionable infrastructure or the corruption. One of the most important revelations that this film quite unintentionally portrays is the neighbourhood culture of Delhi. This abominable society dictates that your neighbours would always be clinging to your hair, passing judgments on your daily affairs and taunting you on everything (including your rather modest salary). This could lead you to question if man could avoid being a social animal. The film revolves around the middle-class life of the Duggals, who happen to reside in one such neighbourhood. The family includes Papa Duggal (Rishi Kapoor), Mummy Duggal (Neetu Singh), their cocky-yet-upstart son (Archit Krishna) and their brand-conscious-teenage daughter (Aditi Vasudev).

Being a super low-budget project, one can imagine it would be easy to furnish the middle-class-ness required to tell this story convincingly. So Algebra teacher, Papa Duggal's paunch is almost always covered under a filthy sweater and Mummy Duggal is perfectly happy confined to household chores in her simple nighties and salwar kurtas. This is a point worth mentioning as the Kapoors have never been seen in such a light (not even in a fancy dress competition). And both of them are a delight to watch, as they go about coping with their daily adventures of getting past life with limited means.

The plot of the film is wafer thin to discuss. And if you've seen the promos, you know that the film is about the Duggals' journey towards purchasing a four-wheeler. Predictably you know how the film would conclude. But while delving into why it's nearly impossible for Papa Duggal to afford a car, we bump into a serious issue- the state of teachers in our country. Although laced with comical incidents and satirical jabs, this film sensitizes us about the fact that teaching as a profession may offer a bundle of nobility but that's all that it offers. And whether we admit it or not, we've all had one teacher in our academic life who has moulded us into the people we've become. This would, in any society, be the most important function of all. Yet, the deplorable remuneration offered to teachers over time hasn't changed at all. So, despite resorting to tuition classes after school, Papa Duggal is seen struggling to make ends meet. The idea of purchasing a car on account of societal pressures seems too fantastic a dream to him. Yet, he has to give in.

So this film is not just about an everyman quest for purchasing a vehicle. It's about dreaming beyond what life offers you and throwing in the last punch in order to achieve it.

Khichdi Release Date : 01,Oct 2010

Producer Jamnadas Majethia
Director Aatish Kapadia
Music Raju Singh
Writer Aatish Kapadia
Lyrics Aatish Kapadia
Release Date 01-Oct-2010

If you grew up watching the popular Hindi TV serial Khichdi then you are bound to love the movie as well. The Parekh Family is filled with some of the most over-the-top characters that you will ever see and whenever they come together mayhem is not far behind. Most people would expect that a half hour long serial cannot be remade into a hit movie but the ‘Khichdi’ cast proves them wrong.

The story as narrated by the only two members of the Parekh family (Jacky and Chucky), who are well-versed with the ways of the world. Satish Shah plays God and explains how the Parekh family is completely different from the rest of his creations. The story is about Himanshu’s (JD Majethia) search for true love. After initial goof ups the Parekhs finally come across an equally out-of-the –whack family called the ‘parminders’. Peculiarly all the 50 members of the Parminder-family is named Parminder.

The romance between Himanshu and Parminder will leave you laughing hysterically. Now here is the twist, Himanshu always dreamt of having a ‘Legendary Love story’. Since no true love story is complete without a little hitch the parekh family members start disrupting the wedding plans in their own way.

The movie is filled with popular lines by some of the most endearing characters like ‘Babuji Main Hoon Na’. Anang Desai as Babuji is irritated as ever and the rest of the cast provides a superb performance. Our advice , if you are looking for an all-out entertainer then go watch the movie with your friends and you will surely come out of the hall with a grin on your face.

Anjaana Anjaani Release Date : 01,Oct 2010

Anjaana Anjaani (UA) is the story of two strangers in the USA, Akash (Ranbir Kapoor) and Kiara (Priyanka Chopra). Both meet on a bridge from where they are about to jump to end their lives. Their suicide attempts fail and they become friends. They then decide to live their lives to the fullest for some days before finally committing suicide on 31st December.



From here on begins the fun journey of Akash and Kiara who now have a few days to live. It turns out that Kiara had been cheated by Kunal (Zayed Khan) days before the two were to get married to each other. Unable to bear the humiliation, Kiara had wanted to end her life. Akash, of course, had lost millions of dollars in business and so, he had thought of killing himself.

The two set out on adventurous journeys together as they are counting their last few days. But before 31st December, they decide to part ways just the way they had met – as strangers. Kiara returns to Kunal, and Akash to his group of business partners. But they are in denial of their love for each other. Do they accept the reality?



Mamta Anand’s story is hugely inspired by the 2007 Hollywood film, The Bucket List in which two terminally ill men escape from a cancer ward and head off on a road trip with a wish list of to-dos before they die. Advaita Kala and Siddharth Anand’s screenplay is tedious and uninspiring. Firstly, the scenes are often so childish that it gives the impression that suicide or death is being trivialised. Secondly, the audience at no point feels for Akash and Kiara, maybe because nobody likes cowards – and suicide is the last resort of cowards.

It is for the reasons stated above that the audience doesn’t root for Akash and Kiara to remain together all their lives. Resultantly, therefore, there is no sorrow experienced when they separate after enjoying life together for a few days. And rarely, if ever, does a love story work when the audience is not pained at the separation of the lovers or is not praying for the two to meet. Also, there is so much of Akash and Kiara in the drama that the viewer gets bored of seeing so much of them and so little of anybody else of consequence. Emotions absolutely fail to touch the heart maybe because two losers are not the Indian audience’s idea of heroes.

Ranbir Kapoor does very well. He looks handsome, acts ably and dances gracefully. Priyanka Chopra looks sexy and performs well. In spite of both the lead actors coming out trumps, their chemistry doesn’t work for the audience if only because the script is weak and flawed. Zayed Khan is okay in a guest appearance. Joy Sengupta, Vishal Malhotra and the rest provide ordinary support.



Siddharth Anand’s direction is fair but more of the kind that would appeal to the audiences in the cities. Vishal-Shekhar’s music is very good with the title song standing out. ‘Aas paas hai khuda’ is soulful. ‘Hairat’ is another popular number. ‘I feel good’ and ‘Tujhe bhula diya’ are also entertaining songs. The picturisation of all the songs (Ahmed Khan) is quite alike and not very novel. The picturisation of the title song is the better one. Lyrics of most of the songs are meaningful. Ravi K. Chandran’s cinematography is first class. The foreign locales are a treat for the eyes. Other technical values are good. Production values are rich.

Overall, Anjaana Anjaani cannot be considered as the complete entertainment for viewers and looks like a forced drama. Response is likely to be low as another big movie 'Robot' has been released.

Robot Release Date : 01,Oct 2010

Producer Kalanithi Maran
Director Shankar
Music A. R. Rahman
Writer S Shankar
Lyrics Swanand Kirkire
Release Date 01-Oct-2010

Story: Dr Vasi (Rajnikanth) is a scientist with a mission. He wants to create the first robot which would not only serve tea and coffee to its masters but would have the power to serve humanity in more meaningful ways.

He creates Chitti, the humanoid who looks like him and is willing to do anything for him. Trouble begins when he goes a step further and teaches the machine to feel. Chitti falls in love with the professor's girl friend, Sana (Aishwarya Rai) and ends up becoming an almost undefeatable rival in love, courtesy the red chip that a rival scientist (Danny Denzongpa) infuses in him. Can the creator tame the rogue robot or will machine rule over man?

Movie Review: Want to see what mainstream Indian cinema actually means? Go, watch Robot. The last 30 minutes of the film are literally the baap (grandmaster) of all make-believe and end up creating a whole new genre of cinema: the `curry eastern' which stands up as a wholesome alternative to the curry western. For Rajnikanth fans, the climax is definitely a sure-fire way to lose your sanity.

For non-Rajnikanth fans, it's a sure-fire way to understand the mystique and magical allure of Rajni saar, a hero who enjoys a demi-god status in several parts of India. Why? Because there are almost a hundred Rajnikanths eating up helicopters, smashing cars, battering planet earth and creating havoc, like never before. If you thought Terminator, Matrix, Godzilla was fun, then we guarantee you'll fall off your chair with glee as our desi T2-meets-Blade Runner-meets Neo-meets-Godzilla sets the screen on fire in a crazy, vengeance bid. Spoofy, yes. But super fun too.

Robot is primarily designed as an unadulterated tribute to the charisma of Indian cinema's ageless superstar, Rajnikanth. And it's completely, wholeheartedly, joyously desi. Where else would you find a hero who literally shoots with his fingers! What's more important is the fact that you actually don't mind when the bullet whizzes out of his forefinger and hits the man in front in the head. Instant death! Ha Ha!

The high point of Robot are the super quality special effects. All the Spiderman, Batman and Superhero antics of Rajnikanth have been done with exquisite elan by the Stan Winston Studio which reportedly provided the animatrics for films like Jurassic Park and Avatar. And all the stunts have been choreographed by Yuen Woo Ping, the Hong Kong based action director who created the high-adrenalin stunts of classics like Kill Bill and Matrix. Almost 40 per cent of the film's colossal budget (Rs 160 crores) has been spent on special effects, which, at the end of the day, seems all worthwhile. For watching Rajnikanth running horizontal on a speeding train, clambering across burning buildings like Spiderman or mutating into gargantuan monsters does manage to shock and awe the viewer who's out there to have big time fun.

But Robot isn't effect alone. It has a plot too which, if you really pay attention, has a meaning and a message. The film carries forward the man-machine war through interesting twists and turns and creates a lively love triangle between scientist Rajnikanth, medico student, Aishwarya Rai and robot Rajnikanth. Interestingly, the duo make an interesting pair, what with Rajni saar's sundry wigs and sideburns and Aishwarya's tribal `Kilimanjaro-Mohenjodaro' attire. Peppered with colourful songs (AR Rahman) and dances (Prabhu Deva, Raju Sundaram) and high-octane drama, Robot is the perfect getaway film, guaranteed to give you a high with its heady over-the-top Indian flavour. You might just OD (overdose) on the pungent masala fare.
Have a blast.

Benny and Babloo Release Date : 01,Oct 2010

Producer Umesh Chouhan
Director Yunus Sajawal
Music Amjad Nadeem
Lyrics Shabbir Ahmed
Release Date 01-Oct-2010

When a five-star hotel bellboy (Menon) and a 'ladies bar' waiter (Yadav) start their respective jobs, they begin to discover a new world of drugs and flesh trade.

The film draws parallels between the discreet escort services for the so-called elite and the in-your-face industry of the not-so-sophisticated dance bars.

Mostly satirical, it gives you a glimpse at the aam aadmi’s life story, with the clear message that every individual, irrespective of her class, struggles with dilemmas of her own.

Like the Chandni Bars and Page 3s, this film seeks to offer you an insight into the ‘real’ world and mocks the superficiality of the upper class and their pecuniary attitude towards life while drawing a pitiful picture of the lower classes and their mountain of troubles.

While the rich get away owing to their bulging pockets and far-reaching influence, it is the poor who bear the brunt despite their integrity.

Though the film centres on a crucial subject, it does not really touch you because neither is the theme uncommon nor is the screenplay so dynamic that it appeals to you. It comes across as a familiar story told through a renewed approach and redesigned apparatus.

Kay Kay Menon is unquestionably the vim and vigour of the film with his fabulous South Indian Hindi and, of course, his superb acting skills. Rajpal Yadav is in his elements, but does not offer anything new.

Shweta Tiwari and Riya Sen have minuscule roles, yet perform moderately well. Anita Hassanandani, for a woman working in a dance bar, really looks out of place in spite of her loud make-up and even louder Bhojpuri accent.

Basically, the film aims at extracting sympathy for the out-of-work dance-bar women, all of whom work there out of ‘majboori’, yet are modest enough to not market their bodies.

At the same time, the film exposes the two-faced elite-class (hi-fi) women who actually prostitute themselves in the dark discos of affluent hotels.

All in all, the film is an average attempt at highlighting a well-known social issue. It is not good enough to charm you.