Author Archives: Keyur Seta

Ragini MMS Movie Review

Direction: Pawan Kripalani

Production: i Rock Films, Alt Entertainment, Balaji Telefilms

Cast: Raj Kumar Yadav, Kainaz Motivala

Rating: * * *

If a horror genre flick starts off with a full length Hanuman Chalisa, it surely raises your expectations for a spine-chilling experience. Although Ragini MMS doesn’t fully succeed in terrifying you to your wits, it definitely deserves a watch (if you are non-conservative) for some creatively crafted scenes and for being a new age horror film.

Based on a true story, the film is about a brash foul-mouthed Uday (Raj Kumar Yadav) who takes his girlfriend Ragini (Kainaz Motivala) for a naughty weekend outside city at a friend’s bungalow. Ragini is unaware that Uday and his friend have rigged the bungalow with spy cameras in order to record the sexual activities between the couple. Uday’s plan goes haywire as the couple starts experiencing some bizarre incidents.

A well made horror film needs to be loaded with terrifying scenes which should also take the audience by surprise apart from telling an interesting tale. Pawan Kripalani and Vaspar Dandiwala’s writing provides that as the events in the first half have a number of frightening moments which keep the audience at the edge of their seats. There is an interesting mix of sex and horror which works and builds excitement for the second half.

As a director, Kripalani deserves applause for handling the subject with maturity. He also succeeds in shooting a horror film in a never-seen-before manner through some intelligent use of spy cams. He is aptly supported by Tribhuvan Babu’s cinematography and Jitendra Chaudhary’s background score, which thankfully doesn’t contain the overuse of loud sounds we often see in non-terrifying horror films.

The post-interval portions, however, do not amuse much. After a shocking incident (not possible to reveal), a good amount of time is spent in freeing Ragini from the handcuffs, which tests the audience’s patience after a point of time. Even the penultimate terrifying moments appear funny. It is also not explained why the ghost (who repeats the same lines in Marathi) commits all those killings. On top of that, we have an abrupt climax.

Performances are another plus point. Raj Kumar Yadav appears very real. He is terrific during scary moments. Kainaz Motivala plays her part perfectly and displays different emotions with ease.

Overall, the plusses of Ragini MMS manage to overshadow the minuses. The very low budget and positive word-of-mouth should keep its producers (i Rock Films, Alt Entertainment and Balaji Telefilms) happy.

Balgandharva (Marathi Movie) Review

5 Replies

Director: Ravi Jadhav

Producer: Nitin Chandrakant Desai

Music: Kaushal Inamdar

Cast: Subodh Bhave, Abhijit Kelkar, Siddharth Chandekar, Vibhavari Deshpande, Kishore Kadam, Prachiti Mhatre

Rating: * * *

Musical plays with men impersonating women might sound unusual in today’s times but this was common in the pre and post 1900 era as women weren’t allowed to act or perform back then. This phenomenon is brilliantly presented in Ravi Jadhav’s Marathi movie Balgandharva, a biopic on the life of Narayan Shripad Rajhans aka Narayanrao aka Balgandharva, produced and designed by Nitin Chandrakant Desai. However, apart from a superlative presentation, the film lacks a powerful script.

The film follows the story of Narayanrao, a gifted singer with impeccable acting skills who won many a hearts with his performances as a woman (most of them) in Marathi natya-sangeet and how tragedy struck him.

Jadhav’s presentation and Desai’s realistic and stunning sets submerge the viewer into an extravagant yesteryear world. For this very experience, the duo deserves a huge thumbs-up. The film is loaded with a number of scenes which can move anyone. The one where Narayanrao performs even on the day of his daughter’s death takes the cake. Add to this, Kaushal Inamdar’s music, Mahesh Limaye’s cinematography, some heartfelt choreography and what you get is a treat for your senses.

Unfortunately there are flaws or setbacks in the script mostly in the form of too many songs. Although songs are an important part when a film is based on musical plays, it tests the patience of the viewer as they pop up after almost every five minutes throughout the film. Hence, viewing will be very difficult for those who aren’t interested in natya-sangeet. Apart from that, the writing slows down on numerous occasions.

As he had a mammoth task of playing a central character in such a movie, it was vital for Subodh Bhave to give a mind-blowing performance and this is exactly what he does. His acts as women appear so real that it is difficult to believe that it is a male portraying a woman. In short, he forces the viewer to stand up and applaud his act.

Vibhavari Deshpande also makes her presence felt with a mature act. Narayanrao’s comrades – Abhijit Kelkar, Siddharth Chandekar – are also lovable especially in their women acts while Kishore Kadam and Vidyadhar Joshi are perfect. Manoj Joshi does well in a cameo and Prachiti Mhatre impresses in a small role and looks naturally beautiful. Other supporting actors also deserve praise.

Overall, it takes a big heart to make something like Balgandharva. Despite shortcomings, the film is worth a watch because of the performances, music, sets and direction. At the box-office, it will surely be one of the highest grossing Marathi films of the year.

Luv Ka The End Review

Obama’s Illusion or Indifference?

2 Replies

After hunting him for 10 long years, finally the US managed to kill world’s most dreaded terrorist Osama Bin Laden at his hideout in Pakistan. The US President Barack Obama broke the news and said, “Justice has been done.” This was enough to start national celebrations across the US. But is this really a reason to rejoice? Is justice really been done?

The way people are celebrating in US it seems as if terrorism is completely wiped out from the world. It will be idiotic to believe that with Osama’s death, terrorism will bow down to its knees. We all know Al-Qaeda is a large and powerful network. And they were also aware that Osama was living a very risky life.

In other words, Osama’s death was always on the cards for them. Al-Qaeda must have always thought about this possibility. Only a fool can think that Al-Qaeda must not have thought about Plan B. They surely have a good number of people readying to succeed Osama.

Plus, apart from Al-Qaeda, there must be thousands of terrorist breeding camps across the world. Finding and finishing them is going to be humongous task even for the most powerful nation on earth. But it seems President Obama isn’t concerned about this as he has made one of the funniest statements in recent times saying, “Justice has been done.”

India along with a number of other countries has been a victim of terrorism since very long. The number of lives lost in these countries is much higher than the lives lost in the 9/11 attack. So, what about the justice with India and other nations who have borne terror attacks and lost lakhs of its innocent citizens? We still need to capture the mastermind who trained and ordered Ajmal Kasab and his comrades for Mumbai’s 26/11 attack. But Obama’s statement clearly indicates he and the US were only concerned about the attack on the US without giving a damn to India and other countries.

This can also be seen from the fact that although US has promised to help India a number of times in solving the terrorism issue, they have hardly done anything practical in this regard. And Obama’s attitude towards Osama’s death indicates that he is either living in an illusion or is plain indifferent to India and other terror prone countries. I have a strong feeling it’s the latter. Well, time will tell us. Till then, let the US celebrate their Diwali.

Chalo Dilli Movie Review

2 Replies

Direction: Shashant Shah

Production: Big Daddy Productions, Eros International Media Ltd, Bheegi Basanti Entertainment

Starring: Vinay Pathak, Lara Dutta

Ratings: * * 1/2

Circumstances force a man and a woman to travel together on a long journey, which has a number of ups and downs. Before the journey ends, they develop affection and respect for each other. However, they don’t fall in love nor do they get a crush on each other. This is Shashant Shah’s Chalo Dilli’s noteworthy achievement. Other than this, this road trip saga (similar to Due Date and Planes, Trains and Automobiles) suffers from a slow narrative and lacks interesting moments. It is Vinay Pathak’s greatness that makes you somewhat satisfied in the end.

The whole idea was to let Mihika Banerjee (Lara Dutta), a high profile investment banker, experience the simple rural life of India with a chatterbox acquaintance Manu Gupta (Vinay Pathak) in a journey from Jaipur to Delhi. The way both the characters meet and are later forced to travel together is interesting and their interaction gives rise to a number of humorous moments. Although not fast paced, the first half is interesting and promising.

The script, however, starts going downhill in the second half where the situations and characters thrown in fail to amuse much. The goon track and Yana Gupta’s raunchy item number just don’t gel with the story. But thanks to a guest appearance by a superstar and some moving drama in the climax, the film manages to produce a smile.

And talking about smiles, they also produced in plenty by the dialogues which are the backbone of this flick. Apart from the song Matargashtiyan, the music is not much to talk about.

Although his character appears similar to the one he played in Bheja Fry, Vinay Pathak steals the show here. He carries the film on his shoulders with his lovable acts which also overshadow the weakness in the script. Having said that, Lara Dutta too produces a mature act. This is one of her better performances till date.

Overall, Chalo Dilli, is a strictly one-time affair as it falls in the could-have-been-great categories. Due to the multiple releases, the film will have a tough time at the box-office.

Happy Birthday Sachin. A Poem For You!

28 Replies

By: Keyur Seta

Over the years, Sachin Tendulkar’s huge number of fans, including me, have expressed their respect and gratitude towards him in every special manner on April 24 each year. Hence, I ran out of ideas to express my respect for him on his birthday. So, I decided to pen a poem for the God of cricket.

In the poem I have stated how fortunate we are to grow up along with Sachin’s career. Here it goes:

Unki Karamaton Ne Kiya Jawan

Jab se paon sambhale humne zameen par,
Unhone paon jamaye khel ke maidan par,
Chalne lage hum duniya samajne,
Ve chalne lage apni takdeer banane,

Hue bade to museebaten badhi,
Unhe bhi tikaon ki badhaen nadi,
Bhagwan dilate humen museebaton se chhutkara,
Unhone tikaon ko balle se de mara

Also see: Sachin Tendulkar’s 8 best bowling performances

Apekshaon ke boj se jab hum thak jate,
Un par ladi sau karod apekshaon ko dekhte,
Ve jab dete apekshaon ko hathiyar mein badal,
Prerna lekar hum karte us par amal

Hue hum jawan unke vikas ke samantar,
Rahega is baat ka garv humen jeevanbhar,
Usi garv se dete hai aapko varshganth pe salam,
Vishvabhar mein ooncha rahen sadaiva aapka naam

Dum Maaro Dum Movie Review

5 Replies

Cast: Abhishek Bachchan, Bipasha Basu, Rana Daggubati, Prateik Babbar, Aditya Panscholi

Director: Rohan Sippy

Music: Pritam, R D Burman

Producers: Ramesh Sippy Entertainment, Fox Star Studios

Ratings: * * ½

Let’s face it: there is a dearth of quality crime thrillers in Bollywood since very long. But with the arrival of Dum Maaro Dum and its impressive promos, it seemed that the vacancy will be filled. The film has an interesting story and is gripping most of the times only to mess up in the climax. Hence, the vacancy is still not filled.

In Goa, Lorry (Prateik) fails to get a scholarship at a US university but his girlfriend gets through easily. Lorry is eager to be with his girlfriend in the US but is way short of funds. So he agrees to deliver a drug consignment in the US in order to earn a thick sum in a short time. Lorry is forced by his friend Joki (Rana Daggubati) against walking on the dreaded path but to no avail. Long before that, Zoe (Bipasha) had unwillingly become a part of the drug mafia as she had agreed to deliver drugs in order to fulfill her dream of becoming an air-hostess.

Meanwhile, ACP Vishnu Kamath (Abhishek Bachchan) is given the task of uprooting drug mafia from Goa. Kamath comes face-to-face with a big name in the field of drugs – Lorsa Biscuita. However, Kamath doesn’t have a proof against him. He soon gets to know that the man behind the whole scene is Michael Barbosa. But who is Barbosa? Nobody from the police force has seen him.

Director Rohan Sippy deserves praise for the way he has filmed the story. Sleek style, apt colour print, fast narration, jazzy camerawork, witty dialogues and a powerful background score make for an interesting viewing. However, it’s Shridhar Raghvan’s story and the screenplay (in the second half) that’s not up to the mark.

The scenario is build up very well in the first half but the writing loses some grip in the second. Also the re-appearance of the characters’ dark past wasn’t needed. But those aren’t the biggest problems. The biggest letdown is the climax where Abhishek’s character is sidelined and it is not revealed how the mystery is solved! Even the suspense about Barbosa is far from satisfying.

Pritam’s music is nothing much to talk about. The most important title track, a classic from R D Burman, is ripped apart in the remix by adding some ugliest of words possible. Even Deepika Padukone’s forced hot avatar doesn’t help it.

Abhishek Bachchan is having a dreadful run at the box-office but has been giving good performances. In DMD, he gives his best performance in a long time. He shows concrete toughness as an ACP and at the same time is wonderful in emotional scenes. Clearly an under-rated actor in today’s times!

Rana Daggubati makes a confident debut. Although an actor like him deserves a meatier role, he manages well. Bipasha Basu achieves perfection playing a troubled character. Prateik Babbar shows maturity but his character just doesn’t look like a 17-year old. It’s a joke!

Aditya Panscholi is good as a villain and so is Govind Namdeo as Abhishek’s assistant. Muzammil S. Qureshi, another debutant, does well and has a good sense of humour.

Overall, Dum Maaro Dum fails to make use of the opportunity of being a quality crime thriller. At the box-office, the film has a chance of earning well in the metros.

Taryanche Bait Movie Review

3 Replies

Director: Kiran Yadnyopavit

Cast: Sachin Khedekar, Ashwini Giri, Ishaan Tambe, Asmita Joglekar, Shubhangi Joshi

Music: Nandu Ghanekar

Producers: Friday Filmworks, Ekta Kapoor and Neeraj Pandey

Ratings: * * * ½

By: Keyur Seta

Ever seen a father urging God to make sure his son doesn’t come first in the class? Such is the novelty in the tale of director Kiran Yadnyopavit’s Taryanche Bait that it bewilders you but at the same time also moves you because of its hardcore simplicity.

This simple tale is about a simple man called Shreedhar Surve, working as a clerk in the gram panchayat unit of a village. Although he is not rich, he leads a satisfying life with wife Indira (Ashwini Giri), two kids – Omkar (Ishaan Tambe) and Meera (Asmita Joglekar) and his mother played by Shubhangi Joshi. Shreedhar’s office duties compel him to visit Mumbai frequently.

For one such prolonged trip, he takes his wife and kids to the city. Over there, Omkar becomes adamant in staying in a five star hotel but, naturally, Shreedhar can’t afford. After returning to their village, Omkar asks Shreedhar whether he will take him to the five star hotel if he tops the examination. As Shreedhar is sure Omkar can never top the exams, he agrees for it. This motivates Omkar to study hard to such an extent that he actually tops in the class, leaving Shreedhar in a pickle.

A well made simple film is always rich in story (Saurabh Bhave) and Taryanche Bait is no exception. Plus, the screenplay by Bhave, Kiran and Shailesh Dupare hooks you to the story right from the very first scene. All the small nuances of village life are taken care of beautifully. There are a number of sequences that will stay etched in your memory for years to come. Some of these include:

Shreedhar’s interaction with the idol of Lord Ganesh.
Shreedhar promising Omkar to take him to a five star hotel in Mumbai.
An over-excited Omkar revealing to Shreedhar about him topping in the exams.
Shreedhar’s struggle in fulfilling his promise.
Pre-climax and the climax.

Although the climax appears perfect and touching, it could have been framed in a different way. Nevertheless, it works well and is appealing.

The writing coupled with Kiran’s direction makes the movie a well furnished product. He also makes the whole cast deliver top-notch performances. In fact, looking at the mature way in which Kiran has handled the subject, it is very difficult to believe that this is his debut film. After earning a name in the Marathi drama arena and as a film writer, he is sure to excel as a director as well.

The editing also deserves special mention for the tight length of the film (less than two hours).

Sudhir Palsane’s artistic cinematography captures the village with perfection while Nandu Ghanekar’s tuneful music and some simple yet powerful dialogues also add to the plus points.

Sachin Khedekar is one of the respected names in the Marathi film industry and he lives up to his image in this movie. After Mee Shivajiraje Bhosle Boltoy, he once again delivers a performance which deserves a standing ovation. The way he shows helplessness and tries everything possible to fulfill his promise shows the class of a genius. In my personal opinion, he is one of the finest actors India has ever produced.

Ishaan Tambe is wonderful in the role of an adamant kid while Ashwini Giri, Asmita Joglekar do well too. Other supporting actors Kishor Kadam, Jaywant Wadkar, Vinay Apte and Shashank Shende offer good support.

Overall, Taryanche Bait is one of the most touching and simplest films to have come in a long time. At the box-office, the film will surely earn good collections.

So Much Turmoil For Justice!

2 Replies

A wave of joy and relief went through the people of India when social worker Binayak Sen was granted bail by the Supreme Court on Friday April 15. This is a reason to rejoice as there had been lots of people protesting against the life imprisonment granted to him. But is this really a matter of pride for us?

First and the foremost, Sen should not have been arrested and worst, should not have been charged wrongly for sedition. The whole fallacy throws a lot of questions on our judiciary system and our so-called democracy. It took hundreds of social workers, NGOs and common people to come together in order to grant justice for Sen.

Just last week, the Jan Lokpal Bill got a green signal but only after the whole of India supported Anna Hazare and showed its protest against the government in all possible ways. And we still remember the kind of huge protests that were required to punish the culprits in the Jessica Lal murder case, which was about a murder that was witnessed by around 300 people.

And coming back to Sen, he has just received bail. I am wondering what kind of protest will be required to drag Sen fully out of the mess.

So the obvious question is – Will justice be done only when the whole of India madly protests against the culprits or the system? If the answer is yes, may God bless our system, which cannot give the basic right of justice on its own.

First Film Titled FALTU Released in 2005

2 Replies

Vashu Bhagnani’s youth oriented film F.A.L.T.U starring Jackky Bhagnani and debutant Pooja Gupta and directed by first timer Remo D’Souza is making waves because of its unusual and faadoo title. However, hardly few people remember or are aware of the fact that this is not the first film with such a title. A film titled Faltu had released in 2005. Unfortunately, because of the arty subject and a lack of publicity, the movie just went unnoticed. But I still remember watching the promos of the 2005 film many number of times.

The 2005 film was Bengali filmmaker Anjan Das’ first Hindi film and it starred Yash Pandit and Manjari Phadnis in the lead. Well-known Bengali actors Soumitra Chatterjee and Indrani Haldar were also a part of the cast. The film was based on well-known Bengali writer Syed Mustafa Siraj’s novel Ranirghater Brittanto.

The story deals with a 20 year old boy called Faltu (Pandit) from the village of Ranirghat who is in love with Tuktuki (Phadnis). Faltu was born after a series of men raped a mentally retarded woman Suri Khepi (Haldar). A census order by the government forces Faltu to search his father. Little did Faltu know that the truth with shatter his as well as Tuktuki’s life forever.

A look at the posters of both the movies: