Ragini MMS Release Date : 13,May 2011

Producer    Ekta Kapoor, Shobha Kapoor
 Director    Pawan Kripalani
 Music    S D Burman, Shamir Tandon, Faizan Hussain, Agnel Boman, Bappi Lahiri
 Writer    Pawan Kripalani, Vaspar Dandiwala
 Lyrics    Majrooh Sultanpuri, Virag Mishra, Faizan Hussain, Agnel Boman, Indeevar
 Release Date    13-May-2011

Movie Review: The film has obviously been inspired by Paranormal Activity, the cult horror film that created waves with its grainy hand-held video footage. But rest assured, there is such a strong desi flavour to the film, you rarely end up thinking of the Hollywood indie film.

Ragini and Uday make an interesting couple. She's the fragile uptown girl, unabashed about expressing her sexual demands. While he's the desi boy who sprinkles his conversation with gaalis and cuss words and is no-nakhra about his hormonal rage. Also, he has no qualms about exploiting the pretty young thing who trusts him completely. Why should he? He's been promised a film career if he delivers: dream fulfilled for wannabe stars....

Most of the action transpires within the closed doors of the spooky house, where the lights come and go, the stairs unnecessarily creep and shadows flit across, when no one's looking. The chills factory gets in overdrive when the ghost decides to make her presence felt and begins to yank hair, fling bodies, and wound flesh in the middle of the foreplay.

The horror does work in places, although the persistent dim light and the grainy video effect tend to get a bit irksome. But the realistic performances by the lead pair more than make up for the lapses.

Watch it for its novelty and for the fact that Ragini MMS makes a heady cocktail of sex and horror that's so very different from run-of-the-mill Bollywood. 

Stanley Ka Dabba Release Date : 13,May 2011

Producer    Amole Gupte
 Director    Amole Gupte
 Music    Hitesh Sonik
 Writer    Amole Gupte
 Lyrics    Amole Gupte
 Release Date    13-May-2011

Movie Review: Amole Gupte is magical with kids. And that's because he seems to be as much a psychologist as a filmmaker. After writing Taare Zameen Par, he writes and directs Stanley Ka Dabba, another heartwarming film about children just being children, with all their cares and carefree abandon. And adults just being adults, with all their idiosyncrasies, quirks and secret anguish.

The beauty of Stanley Ka Dabba lies in its sheer simplicity and authenticity. The film creates a slice of life from the pages of any and every school in big and small town India where kids just want to have fun and teachers want to be the proverbial killjoys. Of course, there are exceptions, like the popular Miss Rosie (Divya Dutta) who generously sprinkles her conversations with terms of endearments and encourages every glimpse of creativity in the kids. The biggest bugbear however is Sir Babubhai Verma (Amole Gupte) who is more interested in gobbling the kids' food rather than teaching Hindi. Stanley becomes his pet peeve because he never seems to have his dabba, yet ends up having a daily feast with his friends. Why? Because he is the most popular boy in class and his friends simply adore him. Needless to say, Stanley's missing dabba becomes a metaphor for his mysterious life....

The other highpoint are the sterling performances. Almost all the adults have created picture perfect portraits of the various types of teachers all of us have grown up with. But in the end, it is the kids who walk away with all the laurels, specially young Partho whose Stanley remains with you, long after curtain call.

Don't miss this rich and nuanced soul curry for both, the young and adult heart. 

Shagird Release Date : 13,May 2011

Producer    Hussain Shaikh
 Director    Tigmanshu Dhulia
 Music    Abhishek Ray
 Writer    Tigmanshu Dhulia, Kamal Pandey
 Release Date    13-May-2011


There is this utterly delightful action sequence where Nana Patekar, playing a belligerent corrupt but effectual cop in a crime-infested small town of Uttar Pradesh run by the political mafia, barges on to a nefarious hide-out. He peeps into the room where the goons are watching a vintage black-and-white song on television. Then they switch to a channel airing a Himesh Reshammiya song.

Patekar slams into the room and shoots them all down.

“This is what happens when you listen to the wrong songs. ”

The savage humour of the above sequence stays with you in a film that could have made a much more forceful impact had Shagird come four years earlier.

Given today’s jaded political scenario with politicians of both genders perpetrating the most obnoxious deeds of corruption on the national exchequer, the Bunty Bhaiyas and the Shakeel Bhais of this film appear to be relatively harmless creatures of the underworld.

Like the cops in the films of earlier millennium this film arrives a little late after the action is over. The film exudes the scent of jadedness. That could also be because of the characters who are so steeped in corruption and debauchery they seem born for hell. However the feeling of experiencing something decadent seeps deeper into the narrative.

Much of the goings-on fall into the realm of ‘realistic’ cinema located in the cow-belt that has been a staple of a certain breed of directors like Vishal Bhardwaj, Anurag Kashyap and Tigmanshu Dhulia.

The absence of an inspiring budget repeatedly takes its toll on the narrative’s claim to credibility. There are innumerable sequences which jump out of nowhere, and not in a startling but annoying show of unpredictability.

The kidnapping of the tv journalist Rimi Sen and her two colleagues by militants looks so staged you wonder how seasoned professionals could fall for it.

What works are some of the dialogues and Nana Patekar’s wry cynical cop’s part. He brings in that familiar yet engaging element of intrepid defiance into the theme of corruption and compromise.

Here again, the role suffers from a sense of staleness. Patekar and his shagird from the police department were far more warmly portrayed in Shimit Amin’s Ab Tak Chappan by Patekar and Nakul Vaid.

Shagird is not devoid of merit. The Patekar characters affinity to vintage film songs gives a centre to an otherwise-doddering tale of desperate corruption.

They don’t make songs like they used to. Neither do the contemporary cops thrillers like Dum Maro Dum and Shagird match the brutal persuasive powers of past cops flicks like Zanjeer and Ardh Satya.

Khakee is a fading colour in our movies. The hero in Shagird doesn’t even bother to wear it.

Haunted - 3D Release Date : 06,May 2011

Producer    Vikram Bhatt, Arun Rangachari
 Director    Vikram Bhatt
 Music    Chirantan Bhatt
 Writer    Amin Hajee
 Lyrics    Shakeel Azmi, Junaid Wasi
 Release Date    06-May-2011

Vikram Bhatt's fascination for horror continues, even as the Indian film industry -- and the desi viewer -- desperately awaits the first authentic bone-chiller from Bollywood. Is Haunted the answer to the chill hunters' prayers?

Not completely. And that's because the story is dog-eared and done-to-death. Almost every horror film has the wailing ghost of a nubile young maiden who sends outs desperate SOSs to anyone who dares to enter her domain. And don't we know why she's wailing! Still, we won't reveal the secret, which in any case, is hardly a secret....

But if the film works -- and it works quite well -- is only because of the special effects of the film. Experiencing the horror in 3D is indeed a novel experience for the viewer, specially since it is smartly done. Each time the ghosts lunge out at you, stick out their tongue or flail their limbs, you jump back in your seat. And yes, there are a lot of ghosts, performing a lot of ghastly acrobatics. There's even a snake sticking out its venom at you and a hurtling brick, almost missing your nose....Great fun.

Other than that, there is the scenic beauty (Pravin Bhatt's cinematography), a hummable music score (Chirantan Bhatt) and the eye for detail (the film moves back and forth in time) which keeps the hours ticking. Performance-wise, the director has opted for a bunch of new actors to pitch in as the lead pair. Sadly, there's nothing extraordinary about them and they hardly leave an impact. It's the veterans, like Achint Kaur and Arif Zakaria who end up giving you the goosebumps. And they do it in adequate measure.

Luv Ka The End Release Date : 06,May 2011

Producer    Ashish Patil
 Director    Bumpy
 Music    Ram Sampat
 Writer    Ashish Patil
 Lyrics    Amitabh Bhattacharya
 Release Date    06-May-2011

Movie Review : This one is romance in reverse. And that's the only novelty the film can boast about. While most Bollywood love stories reach a fruition, Love Ka The End works feverishly -- and foolishly -- towards love's decimation.

It was an original idea which could have taken a fresh look at the spunky new generation that is thronging the big cities and small towns of progressing India. It's a sassy, smart, aggressive generation that won't take shit from anyone, come what may. Love obviously isn't about sweet sacrifices anymore. If things go wrong, the plan of action is swift revenge. And why not....

Great idea, poor execution: that's the irony of this film which promises to catapult Yash Raj productions as the MTV of the film industry. But hey, the nasty and brutish babalog of the sundry MTV reality shows still do bear some semblance to real GenXer's, despite their exaggerated brattish ways. Here, the bunch of college kids lack both IQ and EQ and hardly seem credible. Okay, so there are a bunch of richie rich playboys out there, waiting to prey upon innocent Red Riding Hoods for the sake of their prestige and peer pressure. Scumbag billionaire boy, Luv Nanda may treat love-struck Rhea's virginity as a commodity to bet upon. So far, so good. But when it comes to Rhea's revenge plan, the film gets so ditzy, you don't know if it's actually happening. Come on guys, our young adults are much smarter than pouring itching powder in underpants and all that under-the-belt stuff....Add to that the ridiculous climax and the much touted `mutton song' and you end up desperately sending an SOS to Yash Chopra.

Daag, Deewar, Kabhi Kabhie, Trishul, Silsila, Chandni, Darr, Dil To Paagal Hai, Veer Zaara, Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge....Love Ka The End (these are some of the films produced by Yash Raj Films): Come back, Yashji!

The film scores only in some of its performances (Shraddha Kapoor's gang) and might appeal to young collegiates who want to miss a few boring tutorials.

I Am Release Date : 29,Apr 2011

Producer    Onir, Sanjay Suri
 Director    Onir
 Music    Amit Trivedi, Rajiv Bhalla, Vivek Philip
 Writer    Onir, Urmi Juvekar, Merle Kroeger
 Lyrics    Amitabh Bhattacharya, Amitabh Varma, Rajiv Bhalla
 Release Date    29-Apr-2011

Story: The film is a compendium of four stories which have a common theme: the search and assertion of individual identity. Nandita Das is a single woman who wants to experience the joys of motherhood by artificial insemination. Juhi Chawla is a displaced Kashmiri pundit who returns to her homeland to confront the ghosts of the past. Sanjay Suri has yet to bury the shadows of child abuse from his seemingly normal life. Rahul Bose doesn't know if the changing laws in India allow him to come out of closet and declare his alternate sexuality, loud and clear. 

Movie Review: When you take up different stories and juggle with sundry characters, there has to be a string that binds them together and a leitmotif that holds the film. Director Onir doesn't err here. I Am is essentially an affirmative assertion of identity and an appropriation of private spaces in a society that has a tendency to use tradition as the most convenient whiplash to beat any and everyone into disturbing conformity. The film serenades the art of saying `No'.

Of course, everyone is bound to have his/her favourite story in the film, specially since all four aren't evenly crafted. But that's easy to understand why. The women have the softer tales which would necessarily lack the punch. But kudos to Nandita Das and Juhi Chawla for creating two spunky women of substance who know what they want and do not hesitate to acquire it. Again, they too encounter a lot of learning and re-configuring on the path to self-discovery.

Sanjay Suri's tryst with a pedophilic step father (Anurag Kashyap in a great cameo) is sensitive, subtle and truly disturbing, even as Rahul Bose and his encounter with traditional -- and brutal -- Indian scorn for alternate sexuality is chilling and stomach-churning. Put Abhimanyu Singh to play the brute (the typical Indian cop) and you know he'll do a fine job.

Watch I Am for talking unapologetically about real issues in real India. And also, for the performances. 

Chalo Dilli Release Date : 29,Apr 2011

Producer    Krishika Lulla, Kavita Bhupathi Chadda
 Director    Shashant Shah
 Music    Gourov Dasgupta, Anand Raj Anand, Sachin Gupta, Rohit Kulkarni, Roshan Balu
 Writer    Arshad Syed
 Lyrics    Manthan, Anand Raj Anand, Krishika Lulla, Shabbir Ahmed, Nisha Mascarenhas,
 Release Date    29-Apr-2011

Chalo Dilli is  the recent movie of Shashant Shah. Chalo Dilli falls in to the genre of a road movie. A journey that begins with the dynamic Mihika Mukherjea. A strong willed young woman who is a Senior Vice President of a top multinationalFinancial Institution in Mumbai. A jet setter, go-getter, no nonsense woman, Mihika divides the world into losers and winners and knows which side she is on. Mrs Clear Cut!

The premise is simple. Mihika is heading back home from Mumbai to Delhi (to her banker husband who lives and works there), and misses her flight and encounters Manu Gupta, a podgy and loud 'Ladies Cut-piece' merchant who has a small 10 by 10 shop at Karol Bagh Delhi.

Manu is everything that Mihika isn't. Loud. Crass. Obnoxious. Rude. (He is thatguy who talks on his cellphone loudly in the theatre and then spits gutkaa juice in the aisle...). He isn't an idiot. He is very smart. Street smart. But mostly over smart. And boy...do they pay for it!

As fate (and the script) would have it... Mihika lands up in a situation where she and Manu are stuck together for the rest of the journey to Delhi.

A bizarre journey full of adventure, madness and crazy comic moments with the oddest traveling couple ever! (She drinks Evian and while he is cool drinking from a bore well...She smokes Virginia Slims, he chews Gopal zarda)

A bizarre journey through air, road and rail from Mumbai, via Jaipur to Delhi.A journey which along with these two protagonists showcases the real India. Its colorful and funny people and their eccentricities.

But above all it's a journey within for Mihika. Where the real growth happens on reaching her destination of Delhi... (Which is a big moment because getting home turns out to be tougher than she thought).

And once she finally reaches Delhi (in a span of a day and a half), tired, worn out and with enough stories to tell her grandkids someday, the moral of the story dawns upon her...

"Do not judge people by face value.... Including yourself".Come. Be a part of the craziest roller coaster journey of your lives…with Mihika and Manu, and their resounding war cry Chalo Dilli!!!

Watch out and mark till your next journey.  Have a haapy journey ..........