404 Release Date : 20,May 2011

Producer    Nameeta Nair
 Director    Prawaal Raman
 Music    Sameeruddin
 Writer    Rajvvir Aroraa, Imaad Shah, Satish Kaushik, Tisca Chopra, Nishikant Kamat, Mukes
 Lyrics    Imaad Shah, Rachel Varghese
 Release Date    20-May-2011

No, this is not a sci-fi action film nor is it about cyber crime. The name and the tagline of the film, 404 - Error Not Found, is misleading. After Ragini MMS and Haunted, Bollywood continues to flirt with ghosts, with its latest release, 404. However, this film is smart, dark and yes, spooky, too.

As soon as Abhimanyu (Rajvir Arora) and other juniors enter medical college, they are ragged by a bunch of seniors. These seniors are pro at the art of ragging and are unstoppable. Leading the pack of these sinister seniors is Chris (Imaad Shah). Then there is Abhimanyu, a confident young man, who is not afraid of Chris. The seniors are irked by his attitude and decide to harass him further. Professor Aniruddh (played by film director Nishikant Kamath) teaches psychiatry to students and is part of the guest faculty. Aniruddh and his lecturer wife (Tisca Chopra) stand in support of Abhimanyu.

Drama unfolds when Abhimanyu insists on moving into room number 404 in the hostel, which is kept locked after a student Gaurav committed suicide there. Abhimanyu doesn't believe in ghosts, but the seniors are hell bent on trying to instill fear in him. Slowly situation changes, and then starts the thrilling drama that reveals some horrific tricks that mind can play.

Debutant director Prawaal Raman, who has also written the script, offers a thrilling edge-of-the-seat fare. Not too gimmicky (except for the last scene, where Kamath's histrionics could have been controlled), the film is fast paced and has a taut script. It is one of those rare horror films, which is not dumb and in your face. Some scenes, however, are pretty predictable, like the one where Abhimanyu is cleaning the mirror of all the things in his room, facilitating the 'ghost' to show itself in it.

This is a limited budget movie and the compromises show on screen. Even though it is a huge medical college, only a handful of key students are seen everywhere, even during a protest march against the senior
students.

The cast is efficient. Kamath tends to go overboard at some points, but nevertheless, surprises with his acting capability. Imaad Shah is perfect and stays away from overdoing it though his character provides ample opportunity for exaggeration. The movie is totally watchable.

Pyaar Ka Punchnama Release Date : 20,May 2011

Producer    Abhishek Pathak
 Director    Luv Ranjan
 Music    Clinton Cerejo, Hitesh Sonik, Luv Ranjan, Ad Boys
 Writer    Luv Ranjan
 Lyrics    Luv Ranjan
 Release Date    20-May-2011

It seems anti-rom-coms are taking Bollywood by storm. LUV KA THE END released a few days back and this week it's PYAAR KA PUNCHNAMA. We're sure it's tag line - Come...fall out of love, won't make Aditya Chopra, Karan Johar and the likes very happy.
First things first. The promos of PYAAR KA PUNCHNAMA gave the impression that it's a sex comedy. But it isn't. It's about relationships. While watching the film, one is also reminded of Madhur Bhandarkar's DIL TOH BACCHA HAI JI, which released early this year.
The film traces the life of three friends - Rajat (Kartikeya Tiwari), Vikrant (Raayo Bhakhirta) and Nishant aka Liquid (Divyendu Sharma), who are desperate to get girlfriends. Their wishes are answered soon. Rajat meets Neha (Nushrat Bharucha) and soon gets in a live-in relationship with her. Vikrant falls for hottie Riya (Sonalli Sehgal), who still can't get over her ex-boyfriend. Liquid is smitten by his new manipulative colleague Charu (Ishita Sharma), who uses him to get her office work done. As time passes, the relationships of all the tree couples starts getting from bad to worse. Will they hold on is what forms the rest of the story.
The film is an anti-rom-com and director Luv Ranjan rightly doesn't waste much time in establishing the romance between the characters. The initial few minutes of the film are fresh and enjoyable. The problem in the film arises when the couples start facing problems in their respective relationships. All the tracks drag to no end. While the first half is still bearable, the second half just goes on and on. The best part of the second half, infact the entire film, is the 5-minute-long hilarious monologue by Rajat. He perhaps echoes the thoughts of each and every boy who's in a relationship.
Many of the things shown in the film are real are relatable. But they get very monotonous and boring as a viewer. The graph of the film oscillates from being very funny to very clumsy. The film needed to be much shorter, which would have helped it immensely.
The music by Clinton Cerejo, Hitesh Sonik, Luv Ranjan and Ad Boys goes well with the film with Baanware being the best song. Akiv Ali's editing is okay. Sudhir K Chaudhary's cinematography is good. The dialogues follow the lingo of today's youngsters.
Kartikeya Tiwari is decent. Vikrant delivers a very restrained performance. Divyendu Sharma is excellent. Among the girls, Nushrat Bharucha is the best. She delivers a confident performance. Sonalli Sehgal looks great but is pretty ordinary when it comes to acting. Ishita Sharma is passable.
PYAAR KA PUNCHNAMA is inconsistent and lacks 'punch'.

Kashmakash Release Date : 20,May 2011

Producer    Subhash Ghai
 Director    Rituparno Ghosh
 Release Date    20-May-2011

A sensitive story by Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, released around his 150th birth anniversary, Kashmakash (dubbed from Bengali film, Naukadoobi) is a fitting tribute.

Set in the 1920s the film talks about true love, eternal loyalty and patience. These words might sound a tad bit dated to today's generation, but the story is progressive in its own way. It subtly takes on the social conventions and questions the credibility of marriage as an institution.

Ramesh (Jishu Sengupta) is in love with Hemnalini (Raima Sen) but he is forced to marry Susheela, a widow's daughter. Hem, unaware of Ramesh's wedding, waits and pines for him. Ramesh and his bride meet with a boat accident and in a mix up of sorts, Ramesh ends up with another woman, Kamala (Riya Sen) who he mistakes for his bride. When Ramesh realises the mistake, in a bid to hide the scandal, sets up home in Raipur with Kamala.
Raima Sen dazzles in the role of an independent, progressive thinking woman who is hurt by love, but has too much pride to wallow in self pity. She has a special relationship with her father (played brilliantly by Dhritman Chatterjee) and it is only with him she shares her woes and her thoughts.

Riya Sen surprises with her performance playing a village woman who is in a vulnerable situation but is strong enough to seek her husband, in spite of the societal pressures.

Both the Sen sisters are perfectly cast in their roles. Jishu Sengupta as the weak and tormented gentleman does justice to his character.

Prosenjit as Dr Nalinaksha, Kamala's estranged husband, is pretty good too, considering that his role is not really a prominent one.

As is the case in many of Gurudev's novels, women are the strong and dominant characters and it almost seems like Hemangini was written with someone like Raima in mind.
Tagore's story, Rituparno Ghosh's sense of romance and drama, Gulzar's lyrics and music by Sanjoy-Raja and Ghosh makes Kashmakash a film that should not be missed, especially by the romantics amongst us.