Shakal Pe Mat Ja Release Date : 18,Nov 2011

Producer    Deepa Sahi, Aanand Mahendroo
 Director    Shubh
 Music    Salim Merchant, Sulaiman Merchant, Nitin Kumar Gupta, Yo Yo Honey Singh
 Writer    Shubh
 Lyrics    Shraddha Pandit, Shubh, Yo Yo Honey Singh
 Release Date    18-Nov-2011

Do not get deceived by the modest face-value of Shakal Pe Mat Ja assuming it to be of the low-on-star value but high-on-humour quotient varieties. The film starts as a seeming spin-off on last year's cult-comedy Tere Bin Laden but ends up being a commotional comedy-of-errors (rather erroneous comedy) treading into the Priyadarshan-Anees Bazmee zone.
So the film's actor-writer-director Shubh Mukherjee plays Aniket, who with his group of friends, aspires to make a documentary film on terror attacks. And you can actually see Aniket's attempt at making a college project film resulting into an amateurish filmmaking attempt by Shubh Mukherjee.
While taking random video shots within the international airport vicinity, the boys are taken into custody by police and detained at airport under suspicion of being terrorists. A potbellied anti-terrorist officer (Saurabh Shukla) comes to investigate. Amidst all this, one Omama Bin Laden, who heads some terrorist group Al Bakaida, is planning an actual attack at the airport.
Noise, disorder and confusion ensue for hours until Shubh comes to the point - to launch himself as the hero. And for that he just has to diffuse a bomb by snipping off one of the red-green-blue wires - a trademark gimmick of the 80s potboilers. Only if bomb diffusing and filmmaking were so easy, a lot more souls would have been saved.
Despite starting on a promising premise, writer-director Shubh Mukherjee isn't able to develop the plot in an interesting way and the potential for a fresh comedy is substituted by a formulaic film. The boys remain detained for more that half of the film and with nothing substantial happening through their confinement (other than repeated and redundant interrogation sessions), the narrative turns static and one-dimensional. The remaining film turns into a (supposed) comedy of mistaken identities inside the airport premises with beings and bags shifting hands every ten minutes.
The tone of the comedy, though not slapstick, is juvenile, inconsistent and ineffective at places. Neither is it supported by witty lines, nor by good comic-timed performances. The second half goes on and on and seems like an endless exercise where every character shouts their lungs out. An India-Pakistan live cricket match that plays in parallel has no relevance whatsoever with the central plot.
Shubh Mukherjee makes an earnest effort but gets the tone of humour wrong as the director. As an actor his dialogue delivery is suggestive of Shahid Kapoor, his acting is reminiscent of Riteish Deshmukh but, in totality, he comes across as a cheap imitation of Ali Zafar. Chitrak Bandhopadyay, employed as a prototype to the fat-bearded comic sidekick in films like Hangover or Delhi Belly, is not half as amusing. The only thing he makes noise for is his flatulent farting and fake firang accent. Child actor Pratik Katare isn't partially as funny as he was in Paa. Harsh Parekh lacks screen presence. Saurabh Shukla keeps 'shouting' at everyone around to lower their voice. Raghuvir Yadav appears malnourished. Pretty face Umang Jain is underused in an inconsequential role (once again after Love Breakups Zindagi). Aamna Shariff is hardly there. And why is Joy Sengupta even there.

Rockstar Release Date : 11,Nov 2011

Producer    Dhilin Mehta
 Director    Imtiaz Ali
 Music    A. R. Rahman
 Lyrics    Irshad Kamil
 Release Date    11-Nov-2011

In the film, Ranbir Kapoor is advised that to be a true-blue artist and a real rockstar he has to experience pain, which will come through heartbreak. If we go by this theory, most audiences of this film will walk out of the hall as rockstars, since the movie will largely leave them heartbroken. But for heartbreak, it is imperative to fall in love first and that's exactly what director Imtiaz Ali does. He starts off the film on a promising note and just when you fall in love with the amazing first half, the narrative nosedives with a stagnant second half.
So you have the naive Janardhan Jakhar (Ranbir Kapoor) who aspires to be a rockstar like Jim Morrison. His yearning for heartbreak gets him close to Heer (Nargis Fakhri), as they bond over soft-porn cinema and country liquor. Soon after, the girl is married off to some NRI, the boy is thrown out of his house, he seeks solace in a dargah and next you know he's a singing sensation rechristened as Jordan.
A foreign tour reunites him with Heer and their passive passion rekindles until Jordan is obsessed with her. What follows is another tribute to Devdas or rather Dev.D with the neurotic, lovelorn protagonist unable to get over his mixed emotions and confused definition of love. But that's not all as the plot meanders to culminate into an undesired arena of Erich Segal's Love Story.
Imtiaz Ali is known for his old-wine-in-new-bottle brand of cinema. Rockstar is very much engaging as far as it is in that familiar territory, where the director adds a refreshing touch to the regular romance drama. The casual chemistry that he induces between the lead pair through their wacky and eventful escapades has its moments of charm. The passion-play between them when they reunite after years is spontaneous, smoldering and yet tastefully achieved. Their reunion is also faintly reminiscent of the Jab We Met reunion, where the character-conduct is reversed with the burbling boy now trying to make the gloomy girl's life more exciting. And like Love Aaj Kal, Imtiaz Ali kick-starts the film with a montage song highlighting select significant sequences from the entire film.
But beyond that when the director ventures into uncharted zone, the narrative loses track. While one can still overlook the Dev.D influenced intoxicating attitude of the proceedings (which you can somehow attribute to the convoluted rockstar protagonist), the subsequent terminal illness conflict takes the film towards an unwelcome and undefined end. After an interesting graph to the narrative in the first half, the story almost turns stationary in the second half. The screenplay seems stretched and gets monotonous with repetitive media-bashing scenes and flashback shots of what has been already served to you.
Another problem with the plot is that it is neither a standalone story about the rise-of-an-underdog who becomes the biggest rockstar nor is it merely a love story with a rockstar backdrop. The director somewhere attempts to correlate the rockstar's rise with his romance but isn't able to achieve that impeccably. In fact the original one-liner plot with which the movie starts (a painful heartbreak gets out the real artist inside you) goes for a complete toss by the end. One can never clearly perceive when Jordan's heart is broken in the assorted scheme of events and that's where the film loses objectivity.
The storytelling pattern of the film is needlessly intricate for a simple romance-drama genre. While it is very much linear, the frequent use of multiple montages can have you confused. Initially the montages aid brisk storytelling but subsequently there are so much of them that it gets puzzling. Editing the film would surely have been a difficult task. Anil Mehta's cinematography is brilliant as he captures the beauty of Kashmir, Italy and Delhi with panache. AR Rahman's wide range of music has numbers which are instantly infectious (Sadda Haq) and others that take time to grow on you.
If Rockstar keeps you engaged even after you have given up on the story by the end, it is only because of Ranbir Kapoor. From his innocence in the opening reels to his arrogance in the climax, Ranbir breathes life into Jordan and keeps you riveted. Whether he adlibs his songs, gives a dance-tribute to Shammi Kapoor or dictates the concert crowd, Ranbir gives cent percent to his character. How much ever you try to ignore, but Nargis Fakhri fervently reminds of Katrina Kaif through her looks, acting, lip movements (and seemingly also has the same voice dubbing artist). Nevertheless she is likeable and shares good chemistry with Ranbir. Kumud Mishra as Jordan's advisor-turned-manager is impressive. Aditi Rao Hydari is confident but marred by a short-lived character. Piyush Mishra makes for an animated-yet-interesting negative lead. And it's pleasing to see Shammi Kapoor is his last decent cameo.
Rockstar rocks you but only partially thanks to the star called Ranbir Kapoor.

Na Jaane Kabse.. Release Date : 04,Nov 2011

Producer    Pammi Somal, Gurtejpal S. Somal
 Director    Pammi Somal
 Music    Jatin Pandit
 Writer    Pammi Somal
 Release Date    04-Nov-2011

New Delhi: With no big releases to draw audiences this week, smaller releases like 'Shakal Pe Mat Ja', 'Happi', 'Who's there?' and 'Na Jaane Kabse' were hoping to draw in the audiences between them.
But what actually happened, without a doubt, was a box office wipe out. Strikes one in the face when one walks in to an empty movie hall on a Friday evening.
'Na Jaane Kabse' stars new comer Gary Gill, Amrita Prakash, Sharat Saxena, Gurpreet Guggi, Lilette Dubey, Javed Sheikh, Ayub Khan, Anju Mahendroo and Himan Shivpuri.
'Na Jaane Kabse' is another brave attempt by the director Pammi Somal of the 'Mummy Punjabi' fame. It is a typical Bollywood love story between a 'self made' bartender-turned-resort's managing director and a librarian. At this point it must be added that the girl is actually the daughter of a bigger resort owner who has made the library for his daughter so as she does not have to work outside her protective precinct.
Could the movie have worked if the girl was actually a librarian? We may never know for economic differences are not Somal's bone of contention. Everyone in her movies seems to have ample money and fancy homes.
Karan (Garry Gill) is in need for a bride (albeit a fake one) when the girl he is supposed to get married to runs out on him. As Bollywood coincidences would have it he ends up taking a lift from Anjali (Amrita Prakash) and in a turn of events the 'drama queen' Anjali decides to help out 'tragedy king' Karan.
So begins the picturesque journey to a Karan's resort in the hills and in three days time they magically fall in love. Cliched? Who’s judging? They have the rains at the strategic time, the magical make over of a spectacled Anjali to a rather pretty 'fake' bride, the photoshoots by the foreign press, the Bollywood perfected gestures of affection and jokes.
The subplot of the story is Karan’s effort to get his resort publicity and the entry of Anjali's father – played rather deftly by Sharat Saxena who seems to have mastered comedy by now. He has been doing it since 'Mr India'. The main plot is the 3 day long love story filled with 'bhangra-perfect' songs – incidentally Somal has bhangra dancers ready all the time! And one prays silently that there will come a time when B grade Bollywood will grow up from the stock formula of a boy who wants to marry someone ‘hot and sexy’ and falls instead for a spectacle wearing 'gharelu' girl. And here’s the twist – he actually wears glassed himself!
And that is basically all the movie has to offer – the songs are not half bad but they suffer from bad choreography. At one point in the movie Anjali has a dream sequence in Leh-Ladakh and one can actually spot her wearing sneakers in quite a handful of scenes till finally a close up shows her golden sandals. You have to give it to the director – the locations are wonderful.
But as a film that aims to give a 'social' message as even 'Mummy Punjabi' does – the message seems to be rather obscure – Anjali tells her father – 'Why don't parents understand that their children can choose their life partners well'.
Characters appear and disappear just as abruptly and the audience (the few who can brave this) sit and wonder why they are even there. In his debut Garry Gill has a long, long, long way to go. Amrita Prakash, who ideally has more on-screen experience than Gill does – does a better job. She has played the kid sister in so many movies that she has not come out of that mode. It seems that Geet from 'Jab We Met' is the role model of all chirpy, smartly in-your-face girls all over India.
The story had some marginal potential but it was all done away with sub-standard acting from the lead actors. One can never figure out how the father suddenly changes his mind and is so terribly apologetic to his daughter – she was after all in love with a 'ex-bartender' – the old money against the nouveau riche logic. One cannot fathom the waste of an actor like Lilette Dubey and even Himani Shivpuri.
The most excruciating part of the movie is the love letter/proposal that Anjali sends out to her 'self made man of substance' Karan – for she wants to make sure she does not hurt his bruised ego (bruised by being jilted in love).
Give this movie a miss, you have nothing to lose.

Loot Release Date : 04,Nov 2011

Producer    Suniel Shetty, Shabbir Boxwala
 Director    Rajneesh Thakur
 Music    Shamir Tandon, Mika Singh
 Writer    Prawal Raman
 Release Date    04-Nov-2011

It might have taken debutante director Rajnish Raj Thakur huge efforts to mess up a fairly engaging plotline. His insipid direction, some disinterested performances, painful dialogues, shoddy editing and shabby production values do the wonders of looting Crime Spree of its original essence.
So you have four small-time robbers sent to Pattaya on a big assignment. Govinda and Javed Jafferi only speak in coded gibberish. Mahaakshay Chakraborthy's stereotype Christian character insists on uttering 'hey man' in every line he speaks in the film, perhaps to cover up the sissiness in his vocal chords. (Producer) Suniel Shetty takes a backseat, subtly hinting the group that he has sponsored the Thailand vacation and they have to run the extra mile. The quartet accidentally ends up robbing the wrong guy Lala (Mahesh Manjrekar), who happens to be a local don. Now he is out to get them and so are a bunch of some other guys (including the annoyed audience).
Rajnish Thakur does a blatant copy-paste job to the extent that he doesn't even bother to change the backdrops, locations or props in the scenes. It is certainly not a case of 'giving an apt tribute to the original' but more of 'having no vision of his own'. Crime Spree, in itself, was an offshoot of the cult success of Guy Ritchie's Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998) and interpreted its inherent sense of humour. Alas Loot isn't able to adapt the humour of the original and most of the gags are lost in translation and fall flat.
Also almost everyone seems to be miscast in the film. The comic genius of Govinda and Javed Jafferi are employed for action sequences in place of Suniel Shetty. The meek Mahaakshay is supposed to exude heroism. Mika doesn't sing but act. The dialogues are written as if a prosaic antakshari were playing, with every line trying to interconnect itself with the succeeding line. The editing is bad, cinematography is tacky and Pattaya looks so paltry that possibly Thailand tourism would think twice before sanctioning another film to be shot there.
The performances are consistently unappealing. Govinda and Javed Jafferi's potential to induce genuine laughs (esp. when the comedy was not merely slapstick) remains untapped. Suniel Shetty is regular. Mahaakshay Chakraborty should quit acting. Mahesh Manjrekar is let down by a dull director. Ravi Kishan and Mika are plain average. Thankfully Shweta Bhardwaj is knocked off pretty early in the plot and Rakhi Sawant's item number appears only in the end credits.
Loot robs you off some potential entertaining moments!

Miley Naa Miley Hum Release Date : 04,Nov 2011

Producer    Anuuj Saxena
 Director    Tanveer Khan
 Music    Sajid, Wajid
 Lyrics    Javed Akhtar
 Release Date    04-Nov-2011

Chirag (Chirag Paswan) happens to be the blue-eyed boy of his father ( Kabir Bedi) and mother (Poonam Dhillon), though his parents have separated years ago. Reason? Mother was upset that father was playing tennis when son was born!!! Never mind, now both the parents are hell-bent to marry off their only son to a girl of their choice. Prospective candidates come in form of Bollywood stereotypes of an NRI chick (Sagarika Ghatge) and the desi Punjabi kudi prototype (Neeru Bajwa).
One song with each contender and Chirag is convinced that neither girl is his type. So he hires an aspiring model Anishka (Kangana Ranaut) to pose as his girlfriend to ward off the others. All that the goofy Anishka does is spit and puke on Chirag and he still falls in love with her!!! Amidst all this, just forgot to mention (like the script) that Chirag's heart actually beats for tennis sport. Interested or not, you have to sit through an entire match before the film ends.
Writer-director Tanveer Khan comes up with a boring plot, which doesn't even qualify to be a TV serial and above that a screenplay, which is as amateurish as the performances. In what would seem like the most unconvincing scene of the year - when daddy dear makes a phone call to long-lost friend ( Dalip Tahil) with a marriage proposal for their kids, the friend, who is almost on the verge of marrying off his daughter to someone else, instantly calls off the engagement. Saying that a friend in need is a friend indeed would only be an understatement.
Chirag Paswan tries too hard to make an impact but fails to deliver with an inflexible demeanour. Had it been some other genre, one could have passed it off as a no-nonsense character (but sorry, no luck here). He maintains the same expression (or the lack of it) throughout the film. Thanks to her lack of comic timing, Kangana Ranaut continues to consistently disappoint from No Problem, Rascals to this one. Sagarika Ghatge and Neeru Bajwa are hardly there for a couple of scenes and comparatively Shweta Tiwari gets more visibility in her solo item number. Poonam Dhillon almost reprises her role from Dil Bole Hadippa. And Kabir Bedi's baritone leaves more impact than the whole film.
So if the question is Miley Naa Miley Hum, you know the answer...

Ye Stupid Pyar Release Date : 04,Nov 2011

Producer    Rakesh Jain
 Director    Rakesh Jain
 Music    Vipin Patwa
 Writer    Rakesh Jain
 Release Date    04-Nov-2011

Tension Doooor Release Date : 04,Nov 2011

Producer    Ekta Arora
 Director    Ambrish Sangal
 Music    Director Ali Gani
 Writer    Nawab Arzoo
 Lyrics    Nawab Arzoo
 Release Date    04-Nov-2011

If the other two releases of this week namely Loot and Miley Na Miley Hum weren't enough for atrocious viewing, here comes another flick that might seriously injure you brains cells - Tension Doooor.

Gopal that's Swaraj Singh is a sincere village boy who survives a freak road accident. Post recovery, he realises he also is able to hear and understand the unspoken feelings in a person's mind, which results in some of the corrupt authorities of his village being exposed and getting him thrown out. So when he leaves the village and his love that's Bijli (Swati Anand) behind, he finds solace in the company of Papplu (Ali Asgar) who helps him make a noble living with his ability that is till they land themselves in some deep trouble.

Tension Doooor is one such film that would make you run away from the cinema hall (that's if you choose to watch it in the first place) right in the initial 30 minutes. Though the only saviour of the entire film is stand up comedian and small screen actor Ali Asgar who provides some comic relief, the sight of the lead actor makes you squirm in your seat.

The fact that this movie shouldn't have been made is an understatement. Everything about Tension Doooor should carefully be kept doooor only. The makers who show the movie's name as Tension Doooor.com at one end and as just Tension Doooor at other prove just how careless the making is.

Performances by everyone especially lead actor Swaraj Singh is the purest form of torture. Song sequences test patience. Poor script and cheap editing make for a horrible watch. To mention that through the movie, supporting actors are forever speaking in chorus is also just being polite. Once known for his feat, director Ambrish Singhal lets us down with an ancient portrayal.

To sum it up, one can stay as doooor from Tension Door as possible unless one wants to invite Tension!

I Am Singh Release Date : 31,Oct 2011

Producer    Sardar Peshaura Singh Thind
 Director    Puneet Issar
 Music    Monty Sharma, Daler Mehndi, Sukhwinder Singh, Sudhakar Dutt Sharma
 Writer    Puneet Issar
 Release Date    31-Oct-2011

I AM SINGH – The film is a salute to the Undying spirit of unconquerable Sikhs all over the world. This film is written and directed by Renowed actor, writer, Director Puneet Issar best known for his powerful performance as Duryodhan in the TV series Mahabharata.
Cast: GulzarInder Chahal, Tulip Joshi, Mika Singh, Brooke Johnston, Rizwan Haider, Puneet Isarr
Written and Directed By : Puneet Isarr
Produced By: Sardar Peshaura singh Thind
Music Directors – Monty Sharma, Daler Mehndi, Sukhwinder Singh, Sudhakar Dutt Sharma
The story is about a young sikh named Ranveer Singh Sodi.
Ranveer is a young, confident, intelligent and a very well settled man in India. Ranveer’s elder brothers Balbir Singh & Bikram Singh are citizens of America. They are doing very well for themselves. They run restaurant business in the USA. Ranveer’s parents leave for holiday to the US to meet their son. Ranveer doesn’t want to join them as he is busy attending his friend’s wedding in India. Life is easy going for this family.

Damadamm Release Date : 27,Oct 2011

Producer    Studio 18
 Director    Swapna Waghmare
 Music    Himesh Reshammiya
 Writer    Himesh Reshammiya
 Lyrics    Shabbir Ahmed, Sameer
 Release Date    27-Oct-2011

Starring Himesh Reshammiya, Purbi Joshi, Sonal Sehgal
Directed by Swapna Waghmare
So here he is. Himesh Reshammiya is back in front of the camera. This time he moves away from the wannabe-rockstar’s image to play a working-class nerd. Himesh’s Sameer is a bit of an idiot. So he celebrates the departure of his over-possessive bossy girlfriend Shikha (Purbi Joshi) by dancing on the steeets, making weird faces at passing chicks(who should be shown reciprocating with a stern scowl if not a slap but are instead shown giggling), messing up his tidy apartment and binging on booze with his unsavoury boss who keeps giving our Sameer wrong advice on how to handle women, particularly bossy over-possessive girlfriends.
Damaddam has its nice sweet wholesome moments. It’s one of those innocuous romcoms that neither leave you impressed nor cold.The heartwarming moments come on when you are most expecting them and linger on screen long enough to make you forgot how annoyingly misguided a character the hero really is.
There is a ring of truth to Sameer’s selfdestructive rejection of a 5-year old seemingly stifling relationship for a posh fling in the tempting lap of luxury with his boss’ classy sister Sanjana(Sonal Sehgal).
Shah Rukh Khan had done the same in Aziz Mirza’s Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman, given up the comfort of true love for a fling with a rich heiress. To her credit Sonal Sehgal doesn’t play the Other Woman as a bitch. She echoes Sushmita Sen’s tranquil seductiveness from Goldie Behl’s Bas Itna Sa Khwab Hai. And that’s high praise.
Remarkably Surbat Sinha’s screenplay has a believable trio of protagonists, flawed, fumbling, all too human. But the peripheral characters are a letdown. They aren’t only sketchy but also clumsily etched into the plot. Also the music, Himesh Reshammiya’s mainstay, is here uninspiring and often obtrusive. The track ‘Ishq’ unplugged comes at an embarrassing juncture when the love triangle is in need of a solution, not a song.
What wins you over is the director Swapna Waghmare’s earnestness. She has her heart in the right place. So does the film. Some of the time. For the rest you’ve to grin and bear the excessive zeal of a supporting cast and a music score that don’t know where to draw the line.
Himesh Reashmmiya’s performance is that of a goofy Everyman, a bit of a messed-up soul who finally admits he needs a bullying girlfriend to get him through the complexities of life. Himesh works his performance around the character’s weaknesses and his own limitations as an actor.
It is the underused Purbi Joshi as Himesh’s overbearing girlfriend who steals the show. She imparts a sense of lived-in authenticity to her role, almost at times going beyond the script in search of her character’s lost soul. Why don’t we get to see more of this pretty talented girl in our films?

Tell Me O Kkhuda Release Date : 27,Oct 2011

Producer    Hema Malini
 Director    Hema Malini, Mayur Puri
 Music    Pritam Chakraborty
 Release Date    27-Oct-2011

Tania (Esha Deol), a supposed novelist who inspires others, is disillusioned when she learns that she was an adopted child. Thereby she sets on an aimless, endless and pointless journey to find her biological parents, accompanied by her friends (Arjan Bajwa, Chandan Roy Sanyal) who have nothing better to do than escort her on her sponsored world tours. She has managed to preserve her 24-year old hospital birth tag (phew) which leads them to an overtly enthusiastic municipality clerk ( Johnny Lever) who is more than willing to help her with paternal prescriptions. And every time the municipal hospital is refurbished, the clerk comes up with new options for Daddy dear!
That gives the film an excuse to explore different geographical territories from Rajasthan, Turkey to Goa. Of course that doesn't make the narrative one-bit multidimensional as one only wishes the story could have explored the characters and their conflicts better. The first father candidate is a Rajasthan Royal (Vinod Khanna) and the ensuring episode is a moral science lesson against female feticide and about gender equality. Nominee number 2 is a Turkish hotelier (Rishi Kapoor) whose wife has turned recluse ever since the death of their daughter. But do we care?
Finally comes our very own Papaji (Dharmendra) with tweaked side-locks and studded ears as Goa's don Tony Costello. Hema Malini also makes a default special appearance and you know who the daughter belongs to. So by the time Esha Deol walks with 'four fathers' in the climax, you realize that this dull drama dates back to your 'forefathers'.
While the film is certainly not designed as some suspense flick about the identity of the real father, it doesn't even work as a decent drama. Hema Malini's direction is slack, shallow and lacks the dramatic punches when the scene demands and, on the contrary, gets melodramatic when not required. There is no palpable tension when Tania confronts any of her prospective papas for the first time. The dullness in her direction can be simply sensed from the fact that she fails to add excitement or animation even in the potential camel race sequence.
Completely centered on Esha Deol, the actress disappoints with her apathetic act. She carries the same red-nosed, crybaby expression throughout and fails to strike a chord. And as desperately as she tries to exude an oomph appeal, all her attempts fall flat. Arjan Bajwa gets no scope. Chandan Roy Sanyal is used as an add-on who merely giggles and sprints like a buffoon. His comedy seems forced and the film could have even done without his character. Vinod Khanna has good screen presence. Rishi Kapoor is marred by a half-baked role. Dharmendra is unable to rise over the mediocre script. Farooq Sheikh and Deepti Naval are decent. Hema Malini fails to impress both off-screen and on-screen.