Na Ghar Ke Na Ghaat Ke Release Date : 12,Mar 2010

Producer T. P. Agarwal
Director Rahul Agarwal
Music Lalit Pandit
Lyrics Mudassar Aziz
Release Date 12-Mar-2010

A wide majority of Hindi movies look at urban issues. Right from the outfits to the lingo, there's no denying that Hindi movies also look at West for inspiration. In real life too, burgers, pizzas, sizzlers and colas have replaced sarson ka saag, dal-roti and sherbat-n-gola. But you do crave for desi food when you keep munching non-desi stuff all the while, don't you?

Buzz up!

The fact is, desi stories, with real characters, can never go out of fashion. In fact, a number of present-day film-makers often tell me that they look upon, besides other reputed names, Hrishikesh Mukherjee as an inspiration. On one hand you had Amitabh Bachchan, the reigning superstar of 1970s and 1980s, doing a Sholay and an Amar Akbar Anthony and on the other hand, doing a Bemisaal and a Chupke Chupke for Hrishi-da.

Debutante director Rahul Aggarwal also, very respectfully, credits his inspiration to Hrishi-da and his first outing Na Ghar Ke Na Ghaat Ke mirrors the fact at several points of the narrative. The protagonist in the film is like any other non-descript person you set your eyes on the street, who is as helpless as you and me in a life-changing situation.

A film like Na Ghar Ke Na Ghaat Ke ought to have a simple, uncomplicated plotline and actors who can pull off these roles without 'acting' those parts. While the writing is interesting at times and wobbly at places [the climax is weak], the set of actors are more or less believable.

Final word? Na Ghar Ke Na Ghaat Ke may not be that small little gem that sparkles brightly even in the dark, but it's an earnest effort from a first-time storyteller [Rahul Aggarwal] nonetheless.

Devki Nandan Tripathi [Rahul Aggarwal] is a simple, rustic man who decides to try his luck in the city of dreams, Mumbai. He gets a job at the Mausam Vibhaag. In the city, he comes across an array of people who often find his innocence amusing and comical, but Devki realises that they stick with him even in the thickest of bogs that his life hauls him in.

The very first sequence of Na Ghar Ke Na Ghaat Ke sets the mood of the film and you instantly get drawn into the world of Devki Nandan Tripathi. While major portions of the first hour are plain ordinary, it's the second half that catches your eye. The sequences between Paresh and Rahul are the mainstay of the film and the subsequent arrival of the villagers to prove that Rahul and Narayani are indeed married brings a big smile on your face.

But the smile transforms into a frown as the film nears its climax. The chase and the subsequent marriage in the police station premises appears filmi and a complete compromise from the writing point of view. A better culmination to the story would've only enhanced the impact.

Debutante director Rahul Aggarwal knows the grammar of film-making right, but a little more emphasis on the screenplay would've helped enormously. Lalit Pandit's music is strictly okay. K. Rajkumar's cinematography is alright.

Rahul Aggarwal enacts the pivotal part with conviction. Narayani Shastri does a decent job. Both Paresh Rawal and Om Puri are first-rate. Neena Gupta is wasted. Ravi Kishan carries off the loud character very well. Ananth Mahadevan is alright.

On the whole, Na Ghar Ke Na Ghaat Ke is a simple film told in the most simplistic manner. Should appeal mainly to those who cherish the Hrishikesh Mukherjee movies of yore.

Right Yaaa Wrong Release Date : 12,Mar 2010

Producer Neeraj Pathak, Krishan Choudhary
Director Neeraj Pathak
Music Monty Sharma
Writer Neeraj Pathak
Lyrics Sameer
Release Date 12-Mar-2010

Usually one who does the right thing is called the hero. But in Bollywood, whatever the hero does is the right thing. And anything that his opponent does is wrong, irrespective of the ground reality. So what is legally wrong is made cinematically right by director Neeraj Pathak in this debate on Right Yaaa Wrong.

After one tacky item number, two clumsy fight sequences and Sunny’s shady dance attempt in between, the story struggles to start in the third reel. Paralyzing Sunny Deol before the action starts might not be the sanest and safest of ideas but the director takes the risk and restricts the driving force of the film to a wheelchair. Crawling at a sluggish pace, the narrative ironically t(race)s the route of Abbas-Mustan’s thrillers.

Ajay (Sunny Deol) is the crippled officer whose wife (Isha Koppikar) is having an adulterous affair with his stepbrother. The duo attempts to knock off Ajay on the undying life-insurance money motive, only to be double-crossed into death. Ajay’s friend and colleague Vinay (Irrfan Khan) suspects Ajay as the murderer and investigates against him. Vinay’s sister Radhika (Konkona Sen Sharma) defends Ajay in court.

The story penned by Neeraj Pathak, Girish Dhamija and Sanjay Chauhan loosely reminds of 1986 crime thriller Qatl where a blind Sanjeev Kumar plans revenge on his adulterous wife (Sarika) and later proves the same in court. The supposed suspense in the first half is as lame as its protagonist with a perceptible double-cross at the interval point. The identity of the killer is revealed to the viewer soon after and with nothing left to your imagination, the genre changes from suspense-thriller to courtroom-drama.

While the conflict between the cops adds momentum to the drama in the second half, the letdown is that you already know the verdict of the case. Surely the director could have opted for a more imaginative storytelling pattern to maintain the mystery. The script is deceptively devised such that it supports the hero at every step, as he outdoes every cross examination which includes playing an episode of ‘Sach ka Samna’.

But when the climax of the film merely ends up being a moral justification of the hero’s wrongdoing as right, the viewer feels wronged. Didn’t we know the hero is always right? Was this the only lousy reason to sit through till the end? With an ordinary end like this, even the two-hour film seems like a lengthy exercise into nothingness.

Technically the thriller is plain average with Monty Sharma’s lackluster background score, Tinu Verma’s uninspiring action sequences and Ravi Walia’s passable cinematography. Ashfaque Makrani’s editing could surely have been tighter.

Sunny Deol is neither good nor bad – simply his standard self. Isha Koppikar suffers with a sketchy characterization. Konkona Sen Sharma fails to impress in an extended cameo. Irrfan Khan is the only saving grace inducing some lively moments.

Hide & Seek Release Date : 12,Mar 2010

Producer Laxmi Singh, Apoorva Lakhia
Director Shawn Arranha
Music Chirantan Bhatt, Gourov Dasgupta, Ritesh Batra
Writer Apoorva Lakhia, Suresh Nair
Release Date 12-Mar-2010

Hide & Seek is a suspense and thriller film directed by debutant director Shawn Arranha. In General the film starring relative newcomers and helmed by a first-time director comes with zilch expectations. Debutante director Shawn Arranha surprises you in his very first outing. It may not be the most captivating thriller you've watched, but there are moments that keep you hooked to the proceedings. Also, a suspense saga works if you continue to play the guessing game till the end and in this case, you can't tell who the culprit is. That is nothing short of a victory for this film!

The film unfolds the story of six friends Om, Abhi, Jaideep, Imran, Gunita and Jyotika. They were kids And it all started as a game on a chilly Christmas night. But little did they expect that night that the game would change their lives forever. Twelve years later, while some still wrestled with memories of that fateful night and others left it buried deep within them, it was a past that came back to haunt them again.

Twelve years later, someone was bringing them all together. To play that game all over again. Six best friends turn into worst enemies when trapped in a shopping mall.

Performance wise, all the newcomers did a wonderful job. All of them played their part very well. Purab Kohli is superb, as always. Arjan Bajwa gets into the skin of the character. Samir Kochhar leaves a strong impression. Ayaz Khan is decent. Mrinalini Sharma springs a pleasant surprise with a 'spirited' performance. Amruta Patki impresses as well.

On the whole, Hide & Seek is a nice thriller film. Good work by debutant director Shawn Arranha. Nice experience to watch such a thriller film.

Viewer's Review

A Nice Suspense and Thriller Film

by Amit Vashisht (posted on : 13-Mar-10) Rating: (Good)

Overall Hide & Seek is a very nice suspense and thriler film. Positives: 1. Excellent direction by Shawn Arranha. 2. Brilliant performances by lead actors. 3. Suspense in the film is unpredictable. Negatives: 1. The plot is a bit confusing when the film goes back and forth with regularity. 2. The camerawork lacks finesse. 3. Climax of the film should have been simplified.

Do Dilon Ke Khel Mein Release Date : 12,Mar 2010

Producer Dr. Wajahat Karim, Dr. Surhita Karim
Director Akash Pandey
Music Dabboo Malik, Sujeet Chaubey
Writer Akash Pandey
Lyrics Panchhi Jalonvi, Vijay Akela, Nafies Alam, Sujeet Chaubey
Release Date 12-Mar-2010

Zeekay Films in association with Star Creations International brings together a light hearted comedy subtle with a simple love story and full of emotions - Do Dilon Ke Khel Mein, directed by Akash Pandey. The movie stars Rajesh Khanna, Nausheen Ali Sardar, Rohit Nayar, Satish Kaushik, Anu Kapoor, Kiran Juneja, Kishori Shahane, Mushtaq Khan and Preeti Singh.

The story revolves around two infancy friends from the village of Punjab, Joggi (Rajesh Khanna) and Goggi (Anu Kapoor). Joggi in his young age shifts to London, whereas Goggi shifts to Mumbai. After shifting to Mumbai, Goggi falls in love and get married to a South Indian girl Laxmi (Kishori Shahane).

After spending 20 long years in London Joggi returns to India and wishes his son Rohit (Rohit Nayar) to get married to a Punjabi kudi. On the other hand Goggi and Laxmi have a daughter Isha (Nausheen Ali Sardar) and she is of the age of marriage. Goggi wants Isha to get married to a Sardar, but being an inter caste marriage his wife wants his son-in-law to be South Indian.

However co-incidentally Rohit and Isha come across each other during a journey and develop hatred towards each other. The two being completely opposite in nature, regret even seeing each other. But when they come to know the fact that they are kids of the childhood friends and their parents are planning to get them married, they start planning things. The two create brawl and fight between the two families so much so that the childhood friendship between Joggi and Goggi turns into enmity. Thus realizing that their childish behaviour led to hatred between the two best friends, Rohit and Isha feel guilty for their deeds and pledge to re-establish the friendship.

Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge ? Release Date : 05,Mar 2010

Story: Puneet and Munmun, an archetypal nuclear family, find their ordered life being shaken apart when they have a visitor, Chachaji, who refuses to leave their house, despite an extended stay. Will they miss him when he goes?

Movie Review: Neat. Subtle. And softly funny. Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge is quite unlike the hysterical laugh acts that have been trying terribly hard to make you laugh in recent Bollywood. More of a chuckle-and-a-smirk drama, this one doesn't even try to convince you that life is all ha-ha-he-he. Instead, it creates situations and characters that fill you with warmth and make you smile with the familiar quirkiness of recognisable situations.

Now when was the last time you pulled your hair out when your `unwanted' relatives from Gorakhpur, or any other small town, landed in your pint-sized flat with their pet peeves and infuriating habits. Like gargling before the break of dawn, creating man-made floods in your tiny washroom or converting your favourite window into a make-shift clothesline...Well, that's what our avuncular Chachaji (Paresh Rawal) does when he arrives unannounced at friend Putani's son, Pappu's (Ajay Devgn) house. Pappu's uptown wife (Konkana Sen Sharma) is soon forced to fry pakoras and play hostess to his neighbourhood friends who are naturally drawn irresistibly to this friendly old man who has a grandma's remedy for all their cures and a bhajan for all their woes. It doesn't take long for anger to be replaced by genuine warmth, as Chachaji carries with him a whole culture into the antiseptic flat which had hitherto housed a family that was simply running in a rat race.

Paresh Rawal leads the gentle humour brigade that finds great foot soldiers in the likes of Devgn (restrained and likeable), Konkana (earthy and grounded), Satish Kaushik (watchable) and Sanjay Mishra (impressive). Is it truly back to the 1980s for Bollywood comedies? Wait and watch out for some more of the Basu Chatterjee-Hrishikesh Mukherjee brand revival.

A word about:
Performances: Paresh Rawal's pitches a picture perfect Chachaji, while Ajay Devgn and Sanjay Mishra are immensely watchable.

Story: Robin Bhatt and Tushar Hiranandani pick up a familiar tale and give it a refreshing twist.

Dialogues: The humour is gentle and subtle and never tries to drown you with its desperation to make you laugh.

Styling: Upper middle class Mumbai fashion meets mofussil town chaddis and dhotis.

Inspiration: The 1980s family-ishtyle comedies of Basu Chatterjee and Hrishikesh Mukherjee.

Hello Zindagi Release Date : 05,Mar 2010

Starring: Mrunmayee Lagoo, Milind Gunajee, Kitu Gidwani, Neena Gupta, Kanlwajeet Singh

Directed by Raja Unnithan

A rebellious teenage daughter Kavita of a traumatized couple doesn’t know what to do with her life. So she takes off on a journey away from home with a lonely neglected but brave middleaged woman to Goa where Kavita saves turtles…and herself.

Kavita goes home redeemed. We are not so sure about ourselves. We remain partly involved with largely distanced from this ambitious but flawed look at life through the eyes of teen rebellion.

Director Raja Unninathan has his heart at the right place. He creates a world of gossipy aimlessness sweaty parties tacky repartees and, ahem, one-night stands for Kavita. But the words sound more like replications of the emotional outbursts associated with the generation gap rather than actual situations created in a specific crisis.

A more authentic parent-child crisis would be the one in Ayan Mukerjee’s Wake Up Sid or better still the television soap Ladies Special where two very talented actors Shilpa Tulaskar and Sandeep Kulkarni played harassed parents grappling with a rebellious teenage daughter.

We empathized with their helplessness.

In Hello Zindagi Neena Gupta and Kanwaljeet Singh specially the latter are in fine form as Kavita’s parents.

The writing constantly lets all the actors down. The one performer who manages to hold her head above the material provided is Kitu Gidwani, Playing the dignified unloved but outwardly well-to-do wife Gidwani epitomizes grace under pressure.

Her section of the film with her indifferent though not cruel husband (Amit Behl) have some interesting moments, like the one where Gidwani goes into the kitchen to get coffee made by her husband, and then pours it quietly down the sink.

Gidwani’s journey to Goa with the rebellious Kavita is charted with affection. Very rarely do we get to see a movie so gentle and warm about female bonding over differing generations.

What Kitu Gidwani shares with the debutante Mrunmayee Lagoo echoes Jessica Tandy’s bonding with Brudget Fonda in Deepa Mehta’s Camilla.

Except that Gidwani and the girl don’t go skinny-dipping. The blackest spot in the film is its lack of sexual energy.

The character’s are almost unvariably frigid in their thoughts and desires. A thwarted indecisiveness runs across the narrative -profile rendering the characters weak and unconvincing.

The save-the-turtles message at the end seems forced.

Nonetheless there’s enough tenderness and warmth in the relationships shared by Mrunmayee with her screen-dad Kanwaljeet and with Kitu Gidwani to make the film worth a watch.

Hello Zindagi doesn’t bowl you over. But it makes you smile even when the debutant director displays that trite and selfsconscious social purpose that makes the film look like a documentary on how to save teenagers and turtles when they don’t want to be saved without drowning in the attempt.

Rokkk Release Date : 05,Mar 2010

Genre: Horror, Thriller

Director: Rajesh Ranshinge

Producer: Sumeet Saigal, Krishan Choudhary, Vipin Jain

Banner: Ikon films

Story Writer: Rajesh Ranshinge

Star Cast: Tanushree Dutta, Udita Goswami, Sachin Khedekar, Shaad Randhawa, Ashwini Kalsekar, Murli Sharma, Arif Zakaria, Nishigandha Wad

Release Date: March 5, 2010

Horror films made in India follow standard rules and guidelines. Every possible ingredient that viewers have witnessed since the Ramsay era automatically finds its way into horror films even today. ROKKK too borrows everything available on the shelf.

ROKKK hinges on a half-baked script, but what saves the film from complete breakdown is the execution of the material by debutante director Rajesh Ranshinge. The proceedings may be far from innovative, but keep you hooked nonetheless.

Anushka [Tanushree Dutta] weds an elderly man Ravi [Sachin Khedekar], who has remarried after the death of his first wife. Anushka's mother [Nishigandha Wad] refuses to accept their relationship.

Anushka and Ravi begin their journey in a beautiful home that Ravi gifts Anushka. However, strange and quirky things start happening there. Anushka tries to share her experiences with Ravi, who in turn thinks that his wife is hallucinating. They decide to move back to their earlier home, but the incidents don't seem to stop.

Anushka seeks advice from a healer [Arif Zakaria] and tries to discover the motive behind these unexplainable incidents. The story takes a turn when Anushka murders her husband and sister-in-law. Ahana [Udita Goswami], Anushka's sister, begins her journey to rescue her.

Horror movies ought to have a great start and a pulse-pounding finale. Unfortunately, ROKKK has a lacklustre start and a convenient finale, with the makers leaving scope for a sequel, if the film works. The film suffers due to inept writing, with several questions remaining unanswered till the end.

No reasons are offered why Tansuhree marries a man much older to her, except a fleeting reference by Udita. No reasons are offered when Tanushree enquires about the circumstances that led to the death of Sachin Khedekar's first wife. That's not all, Tanushree even manages to escape from the asylum even though the spirit almost gets her. Now that's difficult to gulp!

But things do stabilise in the post-interval portions. The spirit now set her sights on Udita and the sequence in the elevator sets the ball rolling. Ditto for two more sequences - [i] Arif Zakaria wanting to free the mansion from the spirit and [ii] Ashwini Kalsekar's story of how the blood-thirsty spirit came into being.

With the film holding your attention in the second hour, you expect the finale to reach its zenith, but it does an about-turn and touches the ebb. Tanushree's re-emergence on the scene is formulaic and ruins the impact. If the writing is patchy, the effects are tacky and the background score relies on the same sounds that one has come to expect from horror films.

Both Tanushree and Udita try to make the proceedings watchable. Udita is efficient, while Tanushree uses her eyes effectively to express fear. Shaad Randhawa is decent. Sachin Khedekar is okay. Ashwini Kalsekar is the best of the lot. Murli Sharma and Nishigandha Wad don't get much scope. Arif Zakaria is perfect.

On the whole, ROKKK is ordinary at best!