Creature (3D) Review – Non-stop laughter!

September 12, 2014 by Keyur Seta 7 Comments

By: Keyur Seta

Director: Vikram Bhatt

Writers: Vikram Bhatt and Sukhmani Sadana

Cast: Bipasha Basu, Imran Abbas, Mukul Dev

Rating: * ½

Review: Bad films, naturally, make you feel angry at its makers. But films that turn out to be bad due to the silliness in various (or all) departments don’t make you (at least me) angry simply because of the unintentional laughter it induces. The latest to join the bandwagon is Vikram Bhatt’s Creature (3D), which is as hilarious as the name of the creature – Brahmarakshas.

The film is basically about how Ahana Dutta’s (Bipasha Basu) newly started forest resort in Glandale, Himachal Pradesh acquires bad reputation after a monstrous creature starts finishing off people in the nearby forest.

There is no point in analyzing a film that makes a mockery of almost every aspect of filmmaking, along with sane and logical thinking. So I would just list out some points and sequences to highlight how goodly bad the film is. But SPOILERS alert!

A truck driver is repairing his vehicle at a secluded place. He hears loud roars of the creature from the jungle. So what does he do? Running away or hiding himself would have been such a cliché. So he ventures straight inside the jungle towards the creature by shouting ‘Kaun hai?’ more than 10 times. I completely agree with his logic.
Worried at Bipasha’s resort getting a bad name, her bank manager visits her. Bipasha assures him that all will be fine soon and she will repay the loan amount. He replies, “Hahahaha! Arre yehi toh sun na tha aap ke mooh se!” and leaves in a hurry. Imagine – he came all the way to Glandale hill station from his bank just to listen to this fake assurance!
Initially, Bipasha and others believe that some leopard is killing people. Soon a leopard is killed. This delights her. But guess what she does as soon as she sees the dead body of the leopard? Her to-be boyfriend romantically taunts her and she starts dreaming about a romantic song with him just when she is having a look at the dead leopard. Did the dead animal instantly made her recall that guy? Amazing!
In one particular scene, all guests at the resort are gathered in the dining room. Suddenly Brahmaraskshas arrives. But instead of screaming out of shock or running helter-skelter, they calmly keep staring at the beast. It is only when he roars that people run for their lives. Maybe initially they thought Brahmarakshas turned up just to say a quick “Hello!” or inquire about today’s menu.
Brahmarakshas’ existence goes back to the mythological era. I won’t go into it as it is too complicated. It is also a very complicated process to kill him. He can be shot dead by a gun but its bullets need to be dipped in a pond near Lord Brahma’s temple at Pushkar and that too on the night of Pooranmashi! I guess fighting corruption is simpler than this.
But as the night of Pooranmashi is 11 months away, it is of no use for the characters to visit Pushkar now. Luckily, they find a man whose father had killed Brahmarakshas some 70 odd years ago by using 23 out of the 30 bullets (that were dipped in that pond on Pooranmashi). This man still has the remaining 7 bullets. He hands them over to Bipasha to use them to kill the monster. I guess bullets have no expiry date. Age is just a number after all!
Bipasha and her comrades decide to search and kill Brahmarakshas at random places of their choice – an empty bus, inside a cave and the resort itself. And each time, Brahmarakshas arrives at the same place at the same time! So obedient!
Debutant Imram Abbas, one of the guests at the resort, is shown to be someone with an evil mission. He is following instructions of his father, who constantly discourages him over the phone in Ramadhir Singh “Tumse na hoga” style. Later on, we are told his so-called mission is just to say sorry to Bipasha on behalf of his father for the atrocities committed on her father! Phew! By the way, her father had committed suicide because of his father’s atyachaars. So saying a sorry is surely more than enough.
A dialogue – “Jis bhagwan ne meri Mumbai mein raksha nahin ki woh Glandale mein kyun karega?” Okay, I didn’t know Mumbai is the holiest place on earth!

But the biggest joke is that such stories/ scripts get financed while a lot of talented filmmakers with great ideas struggle even for their basic bread and butter.

Review: Mardaani

August 23, 2014 by Keyur Seta 1 Comment

By: Keyur Seta

Director: Pradeep Sarkar

Producers: Aditya Chopra for Yash Raj Films

Writers: Pradeep Sarkar, Gopi Puthran and S Hussain Zaidi

Cast: Rani Mukerji, Tahir Raj Bhasin, Anil George, Jisshu Sengupta

Music: Salim-Sulaiman

Genre: Thriller

Rating: * * * ½

Story Outline: The name of the ruthless Crime Branch officer Shivani Shivaji Roy (Rani Mukerji) sends shivers down the spine of criminals. She stays in Mumbai with her husband (Jisshu Sengupta) and niece. She also shares a motherly bond with a teenage orphan Pyari (Priyanka Sharma). Shivani’s strength and dedication are tested when Pyari is kidnapped by a gang of a sex traffickers headed by the monstrous Walt (Tahir Raj Bhasin).

Review: Action films on the theme of good versus evil are done to death in Hindi cinema. But despite Pradeep Sarkar’s Mardaani also being based on the same idea, it is surely not as ordinary as plenty of films made on this genre. The reasons for this are that it follows an uncompromising narrative, gives a heart-touching message and, most importantly, makes way for a women-centric action thrillers; something that is so lacking in Indian cinema.

Sarkar had all the resources and budget (considering it’s a YRF film) to add a number of commercial factors to increase the film’s reach. So it is commendable that he steered clear from any such temptation by being honest to the subject, even if it means showing disturbing visuals of the working style of sex traffickers. This results in a gripping tale that doesn’t lose focus or goes off track even a bit. There is always a scope for item numbers in such subjects but, fortunately, he doesn’t give into that too.

Picture Source: Mardaani FB Page

There is no denying that the film treads on predictive lines for most of the duration. But the above mentioned point and a powerfully moving climax make sure you won’t mind that. In fact, you get goose pimples during the ending moments through the message given without being preachy, just through visuals and symbolism.

The only big problem here is that neither Shivani nor any of her team members ever tries to trace the numerous calls Walt made to her. Come on! You guys are Crime Branch officers! Coming to Shivani’s relation with Pyari, we are only made to assume about that as there is not a single scene between both of them. Due to this, the actor playing Pyari, Priyanka Sharma, gets hardly any scope.

As it is not a music-oriented film, there is just one song, Mardaani Anthem, and rightly so. Its Sanskrit Mantras (Ya Devi Sarvabhuteshu) and powerful lyrics create a thundering effect when it is played during the ending moments. Artur Zurawski’s camerawork is skillful. It plays its part in adding intensity.

By completely getting into the character of a lethal cop, Rani Mukerji gives an applaud-worthy performance. It is a pleasure to see her perform those fight scenes. With this performance, she becomes the frontrunner for women-oriented action thrillers in Hindi cinema. Hopefully, this should encourage more filmmakers and producers to try such experiments.

But there is Tahir Raj Bhasin too who is super-impressive as the bad guy and that too in his very first film. He surely deserves to be seen more. Anil George plays his part well as another bad guy. Mona Ambegaonkar is terrific in a supporting role. Jisshu Sengupta and Priyanka Sharma are decent. The latter deserved more footage.

Overall: Mardaani succeeds in being a bold and hard-hitting crime thriller that also throws light on a timely issue. It deserves rapid positive word-of-mouth to succeed at the box office due to a lack of hype and low-key promotions.

Singham Returns Review

August 15, 2014 by Keyur Seta Leave a Comment

By: Keyur Seta

Director: Rohit Shetty

Producers: Reliance Entertainment

Writers: Yunus Sajawal and Sajid-Farhad

Cast: Ajay Devgn, Amole Gupte, Kareena Kapoor, Dayanand Shetty

Music: Jeet Ganguli, Ankit Tiwari, Meet Bros and Yo Yo Honey Singh

Genre: Action Drama

Rating: * * ½

Story Outline: After eliminating the evil gangster politician Jaykant Shikre in Goa, the brave-heart Police Inspector Singham (Ajay Devgn) is now posted in Mumbai. He is close to the head of a political party (Anupam Kher) and considers him his guru. One day, a police constable from Singham’s team is killed in an accident. He was driving an ambulance that contained crores of black money. The ambulance belongs to Swamiji (Amole Gupte), the thug and corrupt spiritual guru. As the constable was driving a vehicle full of black money, he is labeled corrupt.

Review: Singham (2011) is one of the greatest masala entertainers as it gained acceptance even from the section of the audience that doesn’t prefer such genre of films. This was simply because it managed to strike an emotional chord so well. As such films don’t arrive regularly; it won’t be fair to expect the same magic from Singham Returns.

But one would surely expect the film to provide a good amount of satisfaction through a similar effect. Unfortunately, that doesn’t happen. No doubt Singham Returns does provide plenty of seeti bajao moments, but the end product is nowhere close to the first film thereby making it just a one-time watch and that too strictly for the lovers of the genre. It is yet another Hindi film sequel that is made just for the sake of making it.

The big reason why the sequel lags way behind the film is the flow of events. Despite being a commercial potboiler about good versus evil, Singham was well narrated. This also ensured that the punch lines became an integral part of the content, making them so appealing.

The sequel, however, lacks proper flow, becomes completely predictable and follows a typical tried and tested road of the many cop dramas of the 90s. So the many punch-lines and hero-giri moments hardly offer any impact as they appear forceful, barring few instances. It is also quite funny to see a good duration of the first half being exactly like the TV series C.I.D.

Shetty has also given too much importance to fights, bullet firing and explosions. It not only becomes an overdose but is also unconvincing and limits the film’s reach, especially due to some tragic violent scenes. And as per his habit, he overdoes the car demolishing act too!

Along with few impressive moments, the saving grace is the overwhelming and applaud-worthy climax. But still it doesn’t do much to derive the overall satisfaction that one expects from the sequel of Singham. Plus, the torturous Honey Singh number ‘Aata Maji Satakli’ during the ending credits further adds to the woes. The rest of the songs too are nothing much to speak about.

The other plus point is surely the skillful camerawork. A couple of long aerial shots are brilliant! The background score complements the situations. It is similar to the first film and rightly so.

Ajay Devgn’s macho act stops the film from going more downhill. Although he doesn’t provide the punch like he did before, he manages to keep the interest alive even when the script is going downhill. Amole Gupte gets into the skin of the character of a thug spiritual guru with ease. It is just that on few occasions he overdoes it.

Kareena Kapoor is just above-average. Zakir Hussain is effective as another bad guy. Dayanand Shetty is made to do the same thing that he has been doing in C.I.D since 17 years! Anupam Kher and Ganesh Yadav excel in extended cameos. The rest of the actors are alright.

Overall: Singham Returns doesn’t live up to the expectations and turns out to be just a clichéd cop drama. The brand name and some great hype will help it garner great collections at the box office.

P.S: The story of Singham Returns is continued from the first film. So what happened to Kajal Agarwal’s character and her love story with Singham?

Zests of a Common Man

July 19, 2014 by Keyur Seta 10 Comments

This post is a part of the #ZestUpYourLife activity in association with TATA Zest and BlogAdda.com

By: Keyur Seta

There is a huge difference between living life and merely surviving through it. So in the midst of a hectic professional life, it is necessary to have people, things and situations that add Zest to your life by making it worth living. I am fortunate to have many sources of Zest in my life.

Here’s listing five of them:-

Mussoorie (Picture Source: http://beqesh.wordpress.com/2010/12/22/a-walk-in-the-clouds/)

Nature: Whenever you are stressed out, disturbed, tensed or angry over something, just surrender yourself to nature – be it mountains, shade of a huge tree, landscape, river, lake or sea – and see the difference within minutes. I can say this from many personal experiences. I can stay in the company of nature for hours alone as if I am having a conversation with the surroundings. Needless to say, something that provides you with immense peace has to be labeled as a Zest! It can also be described as ‘Nature Therapy’.

Roadside food: If I am given a choice between a luxurious five star restaurant and a roadside rekdi, I will choose the latter 10 out of 10 times. I personally feel that the taste of roadside food (be it any cuisine) is unmatchable to any of those big sophisticated restaurants. Just think about it – Can you ever compare the experience of eating a spicy Vada Pav during heavy rains to that of eating mannerly in those luxurious air-conditioned restaurants?

Cinema: This is the biggest passion in my life. Although I watch many films, each of my movie experience is special as it takes me to a different world altogether thereby making it more like a spiritual activity, irrespective of its quality or genre. Hence, I address it as ‘cinema’ instead of just ‘movies’. Over the years, I have realized there is a big difference between both. The term ‘movies’ refers to those who watch films just for fun while munching tubs of popcorn. On the other hand, ‘cinema’ refers to people like me who just don’t need anything as we are completely focused on our spiritual exercise.

Company of a cinema buff: When I am in the company of someone who considers watching films a spiritual exercise, I can literally speak with him or her for hours without a moment’s pause. Hence, such a cinema buff is also a Zest for me. And speaking about films doesn’t necessarily mean a serious discussion on great films. It also includes making fun of a lot of bad films and the various ham scenes in it. If you are lucky, you might even witness me acting out some ham scenes.

Company of a Common Man: Just like the company of a cinema buff, having a down-to-earth chat with a simple Common Man (ideally with a cutting chai) provides me with immense peace, irrespective on what topic the discussion is, ranging from movies, politics, cricket to even laughing at a silly PJ. Through my personal experience, I have wholeheartedly started believing that simple joys of life are the most pleasurable and long lasting.

Picture Source: coolage.in

Humshakals Review

June 20, 2014 by Keyur Seta 3 Comments

Director: Sajid Khan

Producers: Vashu Bhagnani’s Pooja Films

Writers: Sajid Khan, Robin Bhatt and Akarsh Khurana

Cast: Saif Ali Khan, Riteish Deshmukh, Ram Kapoor, Tammannah Bhatia, Esha Deol, Bipasha Basu

Music: Himesh Reshammiya

Genre: Comedy (???)

Rating: * ½

By: Keyur Seta

Story Outline: Ashok (Saif Ali Khan) and Kumar (Riteish Deshmukh) are the best of buddies. Kumar works in Ashok’s multi-million dollar business empire. Ashok’s father is in coma since 15 years. Ashok’s uncle (Ram Kapoor) is eager to enjoy Ashok’s wealth all by himself. But as he is bound by few clauses in the will, he can’t kill Ashok and Kumar. So he sends the two friends to a mental asylum where Ashok and Kumar’s lookalikes are being treated. But this is not the end as far as the saga of the lookalikes is concerned.

Review: With Humshakals, director Sajid Khan was expected to be back on track or at least produce something better than his last outing Himmatwala. But he has come up with a huge surprise, not in a good way though. Humshakals has not only turned out to be worse than Himmatwala but it also falls in the category of one of the worst mindless comedies churned out by Hindi cinema.

One is expected to keep logic and reasoning away while watching such mindless comedies. That’s fair enough because such films are only meant to tickle your funny bone. But you can’t take the audience for granted and expect them to be completely dumb to get amused by horribly shocking basic plot, twists and many subplots. Try to fathom these points:-

A man keeps funding his friend’s illegal scientific laboratory. What is that? They run it like a professional laboratory so what is its exact motto?
That scientist produces a medicine that can make a human behave like a dog for 24 hours.
A bribed ward boy of a mental asylum mixes that medicine in two glasses of water meant for one of the pairs of Saif and Riteish. The culprit is seen committing that crime through the CCTV footage by the doctor and the dean but no action is taken against him. In fact, he is not even confronted for this!
A man suffering from the third stage of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is highly dangerous so he needs to be kept away in confinement. So what do they do? Instead of keeping him in a different room, he is kept way under in a secret basement. Why???
Nobody knows about the existence of that patient. The main doctor in-charge is also completely unaware about him. However, a ward boy not only knows about him but also has the keys to open the secret place! Huh!
The condition of the supposedly utterly dangerous patient is improved in a jiffy. Not just that, he also becomes able to impersonate someone else. But still he goes into a mental stupor due to one reason. So to calm him down, one just needs to present him with a lollypop!
A lot of plot twists are brought in by using substances like the above medicine, chloroform, seductive deodorants, etc.
If I continue to list down more of such ghastly absurdities, I might end up writing a book. In short – the above points are just a few grams from a kilogram of nonsense.

The bigger problem with Humshakals is that it reaches highly insensitive and sadist levels, especially when it comes to portraying mentally retarded and physically challenged people. These are some incidents:-

Patients in a mental asylum are treated worse than animals. They run around in the vicinity while the doctors and others in charge chase them.
An officer in the asylum dressed up as a security guard tortures the patients through electric shocks. He continues this horrifying activity throughout the film.
Two mentally retarded people play with life-supporting equipment attached to a person in coma; the makers have tried to induce comedy through the poor man’s torture.
The same poor old man’s disability is used to create laughter in a devilish way later on!
This is yet another Bollywood film featuring gays or homosexuals in the most objectionable manner.
There is a dose of racism too with respect a colored African or American. Bollywood still thinks it’s funny!

The film does offer some witty PJs that get you in splits; especially the type of humor Sajid is known for, mostly through his TV shows. The song ‘Caller tune’ is also a rare moment of satisfaction. But these instances are too minute in front of the rest of the torture that has a runtime of almost 3 hours.

When you have such content, it won’t be fair to blame the actors for such awkward performances. Despite this, Saif Ali Khan, Riteish Deshmukh and Ram Kapoor try their best and manage to appear genuinely crazily funny at various points.The three female characters – Bipasha Basu, Tamannah Bhatia and Esha Gupta – don’t get any scope and like Sajid’s previous few films, they are just used to expose their bodies. Satish Shah is hampered due to a terrible characterization. The rest of the actors are not worth mentioning.

Overall: Humshakals is a terrible attempt at comedy. Its only achievement is that it is much better than the disgraceful Grand Masti. Due to the hype and promotions, it will manage to get good or decent numbers at the box office in the first weekend. But it will suffer after that.

Filmistaan Review

June 5, 2014 by Keyur Seta Leave a Comment

Director: Nitin Kakkar

Producers: Satellite Pictures, UTV Motion Pictures and Shringar Films

Writers: Nitin Kakkar and Sharib Hashmi

Cast: Sharib Hashmi, Inaamulhaq, Kumud Mishra, Gopal Datt

Music: Arijit Dutta

Genre: Drama/ Comedy

Rating: * * * *

By: Keyur Seta

Story Outline: Sunny Arora (Sharib Hashmi) is a crazy Hindi film buff who lives life filmi style 24/7. He is aspiring to become an actor but isn’t getting an opportunity. So for the time being, he decides to become an assistant director for a documentary to be shot in Rajasthan by a group of Americans. During the shoot schedule, Sunny is abducted by a group of terrorists across the border in Pakistan. Will he ever return to the other side of the border?

Review: A border separates one country from another but human emotions remain the same all over the world, including the patch of land across the Line Of Control (LOC) called Pakistan. And when people from both sides of the border share a common crazy interest for Hindi films, the border becomes mentally invisible.

This theory of bonding is beautifully presented by director Nitin Kakkar in his debut flick Filmistaan through a smart mixture of rib-tickling and moving moments. What makes it even more special is that he has given a fitting tribute to Filmi Keedas like us to derive at the point.

Like all content-driven films, Filmistaan rides high largely due to the writing. An interesting story, watertight screenplay and creative dialogues give rise to these winning points:-

Sunny’s lovable character that recites famous Hindi film dialogues throughout the film, even in tense situations.
His close bond with Aftab through the medium of films.
The message of friendship given in a completely non-preachy manner.
A number of memorable scenes including, Maine Pyar Kiya sequence, filming of the hostage, Sunny’s encounter with a Hakeem (easily the most touching scene in recent times), Sunny and Aftab’s antics in the pre-climax, etc.

There isn’t an absence of flawlessness though due to some errors. It is also surprising to see no footage given to the consequences of the kidnapping in India. But thankfully, these points don’t affect you due to the overall content.

There is some smart display of camerawork by Subhansu Das. The background score too excels in creating the right emotions. Arijit Dutta has composed some soulful tracks that suit various situations perfectly.

The performances are of top draw. Sharib Hashmi (Shah Rukh Khan’s Pakistani friend in Jab Tak Hai Jaan) is outstanding! It looks like it was a cakewalk for him to get into the skin of the character of Sunny Arora. It is his act that takes the film to a higher level. Needless to say, he deserves to be seen more.

But despite such a strong performance from the main lead, Inaamulhaq succeeds in impressing with a brilliant portrayal of Aftab. The chemistry between the two actors is incredible. Kumud Mishra is perfect as the head of the terrorist group; he succeeds in speaking mostly through expressions. Some good supporting acts are seen from Waseem Khan, Sanjay Mehta and Tushar Jha. Habib Azmi deserves special mention for his wonderful cameo as the Hakeem.

Overall: Filmistaan highly succeeds in giving a positive message while paying a tribute to Hindi cinema and its fans. The film needs word-of-mouth to make an impact at the ticket window.

Dialogues: Main Tera Hero

April 8, 2014 by Keyur Seta Leave a Comment

Compiled By: Keyur Seta

Writer Milap Milan Zaveri’s crazy and whacky one-liners have played a large role in making David Dhawan’s Main Tera Hero a truly hilarious affair. So here’s revisiting some of the humorous lines from the Varun Dhawan starrer:

Ehsan toh mujhpe Shankar aur Loy ne kiya tha.
Yeh humein degree ke naam pe third degree dega.
Yeh tujhe bohat mahanga padega… No problem, waise bhi sasti cheezon mein main interest nahin rakhta.
Jab main Pampers mein thi tab se mere dad mujhe pamper karte aa rahen hain.
Jaise har Coke Coca-Cola nahin hota, jaise har chana chhola nahin hota usi tarah har shareef dikhne wala aadmi bhola nahin hota.
Ab pata chala, jab Veeru paji Basanti ko bandook chalana sikha rahe the tab Basanti ko kaisa feel hua hoga.
Arunoday Singh: Srinath Prasad (Varun’s character) kahan hai? Rajpal Yadav: Arre who toh kab ka retire ho gaye. Aajkal commentary dete hain.
Main tum logon ko aise dhounga jaise Sachin aur Sehwag ne 2003 World Cup mein Pakistan ke bowling attack ko dhoya tha.
Tumhare dil mein mere liye ghanti nahin baji, toh kya ghanta tumhe mujhse pyaar hua?
Yeh toh chumme ka sequel ban gaya. Krrish 2 ke baad Kiss 2… Krrish 3 ke baad Kiss 3.
Purani Haveli ke paas Chikni Chameli ko dekh ke toh kisi se bhi galti hogi.

Main Tera Hero Review

April 7, 2014 by Keyur Seta 1 Comment

Director: David Dhawan

Producers: Balaji Motion Pictures

Writer: Tushar Hiranandani and Milap Milan Zaveri

Cast: Varun Dhawan, Ileana D’Cruz, Nargis Fakhri, Arunoday Singh, Saurabh Shukla, Rajpal Yadav, Anupam Kher, Manoj Pahwa

Music: Sajid-Wajid

Genre: Comedy

Rating: * * * ½

By: Keyur Seta

Story Outline: Staying in Cunnoor, Srinath Prasad aka Seenu (Varun Dhawan) is a nuisance in college. He also has to face wrath from his professor and parents for his poor academic performances. In order to prove a point to his parents, he goes to Bengaluru for further studies. His eyes fall on a fellow student Sunaina (Ileana D’Cruz) and he instantly falls for her.

However, Sunaina has been blackmailed into being the girlfriend and future wife of the evil and hot-tempered cop Angad (Arunoday Singh). Despite Angad’s strength and power, Seenu decides to fight against him to win Sunaina’s heart. But things go ugly for Seenu when Ayesha (Nargis Fakhri) forcefully enters his life.

Review: So far in Hindi cinema, only experienced actors or superstars have successfully managed to pull off hero-centric roles in hardcore masala entertainers. But Varun Dhawan, in his father David Dhawan’s Main Tera Hero, has managed to do that just in his second film and how! With his lovable heroic antics, he just doesn’t cease to impress you, regardless of your gender. His act coupled with Milap Milan Zaveri’s writing results in a non-stop laugh riot. After last year’s successful Chashme Baddoor, David Dhawan continues his winning streak.

It is common sense to keep logic and reasoning away in such genre of films. But to enjoy Main Tera Hero, you need to keep both the entities miles away and be ready to accept some madcap, crazy humor. If you can’t do that, don’t even think of watching it. But if you can, be ready for a laughter dose lasting for little over two hours.

What is most impressive about Zaveri’s writing is that he has managed to include punch lines and PJs after almost every few seconds. Despite being silly most of the times, Tushar Hiranandani’s screenplay should also be lauded for the way he has connected various crazy situations, without giving you any time to think.

On few occasions, however, the craziness crosses the limits. You can forgive such points for the laugher provided in return but this will affect a section of the audience. What also goes against the film is some amount of vulgarity. It is absolutely fine for such things to be included in an adult comedy but not in a film targeted for family audiences. Apart from this, the situation in the second half is similar to Sajid Khan’s Houseful 2.

Sajid-Wajid’s music adds to the entertainment with every song – ‘Tera Dhyan Kidhar Hai’, ‘Galat Baat Hai, ‘Besharmi Ki Height’ and ‘Shanivar Rati’ – turning out to be enjoyable.

As mentioned above, Varun Dhawan is simply outstanding, be it comedy, action or dance! His father has made him do stuff that Govinda does in his films. But Varun has managed to do it so early in his career, which is a remarkable achievement. He surely should continue it! Ileana D’Cruz plays her part well. Nargis Fakhri’s bad acting skills are visible here too. Thankfully, it doesn’t trouble you much due to the overall entertainment.

Arunoday Singh is the surprise package. He not only scores with his villainous antics but also with the unusual comedy he had to do. Rajpal Yadav is brilliant at what he does best. Saurabh Shukla and Anupam Kher once again display their talents. Manoj Pahwa and Supriya Shukla, as Seenu’s parents, are decent. Evelyn Sharma is wasted. Shakti Kapoor is hilarious in a cameo.

Overall: Through Main Tera Hero David Dhawan once again delivers what he always promises: lots of entertainment! The film should do well at the box office due to its mass appeal and Varun Dhawan’s act.

Youngistaan Review

April 2, 2014 by Keyur Seta 1 Comment

Director: Syed Ahmad Afzal

Producers: Pooja Entertainment and MSM Motion Pictures

Writers: Syed Ahmad Afzal, Ramiz Ilham Khan and Maitrey Bajpai

Cast: Jackky Bhagnani, Neha Sharma, Farooq Sheikh, Prakash Belawadi, Deepankar De, Triveni Sangam Bahuguna

Music: Jeet Ganguly, Shreya Khanwalkar, Shiraz Uppal and Shree-Ishq

Genre: Political Drama

Rating: * * * 1/2

By: Keyur Seta

Story Outline: Twenty-eight year old Abhimanyu Kaul (Jackky Bhagnani) is the son of India’s Prime Minister Dashrath Kaul (Boman Irani). Working as a gaming specialist in Japan, he is living a dream life with his girlfriend Anvita (Neha Sharma) and a close friend (Kayoze Irani). But his life takes a major twist when he has to return to India after his father succumbs to cancer. Circumstances force Abhimanyu to become the interim PM much to the opposition of Anvita. But will an utterly inexperienced Abhimanyu be able to run the world’s biggest democracy?

Review: Can you digest the fact that a completely inexperienced 28-year-old can become India’s Prime Minister? If you can, you would be impressed by debutant Syed Ahmal Afzal’s Youngistaan for its intentions and the message it puts forth in a positive way. Despite its flaws and other issues, the film manages to provide a heartwarming effect since it has its heart at the right place.

From being a wild party film, the proceedings suddenly shift gears after the death of the PM. But this transformation should have been smoother and natural rather than sudden. Nevertheless, the crucial phase of Abhimanyu becoming the PM is handled with care and a sense of believability. Unlike other political dramas, the love track over here is a concrete part of the story, realistic and not thrown in just for the heck of it. Therefore, there is no question of the narration shifting to the love track since it is always moving ahead with the basic plot.

The most impressive aspect of Youngistaan is surely the motivational message it gives after Abhimanyu gains control of the situation. His speech at the United Nations and various rallies, his method of connecting with the masses and the climax are the winning moments that will leave you delighted. Without being preachy, the film also highlights that politicians are bad, politics isn’t. But despite giving such a serious message, the film never shies away from the light-hearted mode, which adds more mass appeal to it.

As hinted before, there are obvious flaws. Considering the basic storyline, it doesn’t come as a surprise either. I can’t list them to avoid spoilers. At the most, they could have lessened them. One point that can be mentioned is that Abhimanyu and Anvita could have easily got married. Plus, after a point in the second half, the narrative does suffer from some complications that could have been avoided. But due to various other plusses, you tend to make peace with the fallacies.

From the music, the title track and ‘Sangemarmar’ are impressive. ‘Tanki Monkey’ is weird! The technical aspects (cinematography, background score and editing) are as per the requirement.

The film wouldn’t have created this much effect without Jackky Bhagnani’s mature performance. In fact, the actor dishes out a major surprise with an act that is powerful and moving. He has now proved he is not just a star son. Despite his act, you can’t help but be amazed by Farooq Sheikh. He yet again shows he is a storehouse of talent that cannot be replaced.

Neha Sharma too plays her part very well. Like Jackky, even she will be recognized as a serious actor after this act. Prakash Belawadi is excellent as Murli. Deepankar De and Triveni Sangam Bahuguna too aren’t far behind. Boman Irani, Kayoze Irani and Meeta Vashisht are likable too although their roles are limited. The film has decent performances from a series of supporting actors.

Overall: Youngistaan deserves a watch for the message it gives. With elections just around the corner, the film has the capacity to encourage the youth to vote, especially the first-time voters.

Review: Dedh Ishqiya

January 15, 2014 by Keyur Seta 3 Comments

Director: Abhishek Chaubey

Producer: Vishal Bhardwaj Pictures and Shemaroo Entertainment

Writers: Vishal Bhardwaj, Abhishek Chaubey and Sanjeev Datta

Cast: Naseeruddin Shah, Arshad Warsi, Madhuri Dixit, Huma Qureshi, Vijay Raaz, Manoj Pahwa

Music: Vishal Bhardwaj

Genre: Drama

Rating: * * * *

By: Keyur Seta

Story Outline: Khalu (Naseeruddin Shah) and Babban (Arshad Warsi) continue their con activities, this time in Lucknow. They get separated after their heist goes wrong. Khalu lands in Begum Para’s (Madhuri Dixit) palatial palace and gets awestruck by her. Begum stays with her helper Muniya (Huma Qureshi). She has organized a swayamwar competition among nawabs.

A desperate Khalu, who is impersonating as a Nawab, takes part in the swayamwar. Soon, Babban too lands at the palace and instantly falls for Muniya. Khalu and Babban start dreaming of marrying Para and Muniya and spending the rest of their lives in the comfort of the palace. But they are oblivious to the fact that the notorious Italvi (Vijay Raaz), another fake Nawab, and some unpleasant surprises can shatter their dreams.

Review: Amidst the overdose of some silly and cheap content in the current mainstream Hindi cinema, director Abhishek Chaubey and producer Vishal Bhardwaj bring a rare gem in the form of Dedh Ishqiya, a sequel to their 2010 hit Ishqiya. It’s a well-crafted dark comic thriller that just doesn’t cease to impress you. The content also makes sure you don’t feel the 150 plus minutes length of the film.

As for all quality films, this was possible due to some high degree of richness in the writing. The story in this second installment too is intriguing and interesting. The writers have rightfully revealed some amount of suspense at regular intervals thereby making the viewer more and more interested. The final twist in the pre-climax too plays a large role in providing overall satisfaction. Apart from this, one can regularly notice the artistic screenplay during a number of scenes.

But apart from the aforementioned points, what keeps you thoroughly entertained is the super impressive dialogues. The manner in which the writers have presented pleasurable Urdu words with a mixture of some witty and crazy one-liners deserves high applause. In fact, there is non-stop humor even during serious sequences. It is a good idea to include subtitles as a large majority of audience isn’t well-versed with chaste Urdu. With his second handling too being impressive, Chaubey has proved he is here to stay.

The only negative aspect here is some logical flaws in the tale. It’s not possible to reveal them to avoid spoilers. But you don’t mind them much due to various other plus points.

Bhardwaj’s music too is rich and it suits the situations perfectly. All songs score high marks but ‘Dil Ka Mizaaj Ishqiya’ is the best of all. It is sad that the songs haven’t got the due from the audience. On the other hand, some ghastly tracks from other films are receiving applause. Setu’s camerawork is outstanding! It is a pleasure to see the palace and other outdoor locations through his lens. The background score too suits the various moods of the film.

The film is also blessed with impressive performances. With a brilliant act, Naseeruddin Shah once again proves himself as one of the greatest artists from the country. It is good to see his effort going towards a good film after years. Although we have seen Arshad Warsi perform such roles quite a few times before, it is a pleasure to see him due to his wonderful comic timing. Nobody else could have essayed the role better than him.

Madhuri Dixit’s fans might miss the legendary actress in full flow. But we should remember she is playing a disturbed and depressed character. She does very well while being restrained and speaking through expressions. Huma Qureshi is incredible, both in her looks and performance. She is easily the best female actor currently. Vijay Raaz too is brilliant with his comic timing. Manoj Pahwa is a surprise package with a first rate performance. The film is also well supported by Salman Shahid and Ravi Gosain.

Overall: Dedh Ishqiya is a fine work of art but at the same time highly entertaining. It is sad to see the film not doing well at the box office. It looks like our youngsters only prefer trash like Grand Masti and Yaariyan. So if you like Dedh Ishqiya, please spread the word as the film fully deserves it.