Category Archives: Bollywood

Agneepath Movie Review

Direction: Karan Malhotra

Production: Dharma Productions (Karan Johar)

Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Sanjay Dutt, Rishi Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, Zarina Wahab

Music: Ajay-Atul

Rating: * * ½

Plot: Kancha Cheena (Sanjay Dutt) dreams of running a drug kingdom, in the guise of salt business, in Mandwa and for that he wants to take the village on lease. However, Master (teacher) Dinanath Chauhan (Sunil Chauhan) urges the villagers against falling in Kancha’s trap. In order to get his way, Kancha mercilessly kills Dinanath. The film follows the story of how Dinanath’s son Vijay (Hrithik Roshan) tries to avenge his father’s death.

Review: Although the original Agneepath (1990) is known for Amitabh Bachchan’s greatness, the film suffered courtesy a weak script which became a reason for its downfall at the ticket window. Karan Malhotra’s remake of the same has a slightly better writing and offers a different take on the same plot. However, this doesn’t ensure a flawless product which is also due to the casting of Hrithik Roshan as Vijay Dinanath Chauhan.

Malhotra’s version sees lots of changes in the sub-plots and incidents from the 1990 movie. Even the character of Vijay is completely novel in terms of mannerisms, temperament as well as age. Hence, it won’t be proper to compare the remade version with the original one.

After the cruel initial moments, things brighten up after Hrithik and Priyanka Chopra’s entry. Pace does drops down few times, mostly due to the inclusion of songs and some emotional scenes. During the ‘Hun Hun Huna’ number you realize such jazzy birthday celebrations, including the disco effect, can take place in a chawl only in a Karan Johar flick. But the subsequent twists end the first half on an exciting note.

Things continue to be interesting in the second half too. However, brakes are applied again in the proceedings in the form of some over-emotional scenes (very K Jo-ish indeed!). Fuel is added once again with some paisa vasool moments and mostly during the Ganapati Visarjan part (‘Deva Shree Ganesha’ song) only to disappoint in a non-believable and over-filmi climax.

Debutant director Karan Malhotra leaves a mark in a number of sequences. He surely has a future in Bollywood.

‘Deva Shree Ganesha’ is the track of the movie. The rest of Ajay-Atul’s creations are not bad. Ravi K. Chandran and Kiran Deohans deserve brownie points for their camerawork. The same can be said for Abbas Ali Moghul’s action although it gets too violent at times for a UA certificate film.

Hrithik Roshan lacks the manliness needed for the character. This is largely felt by his non-mardana voice. Due to this, he lacks the personality needed for a bhai or dada. But despite these limitations, the actor carries off his act with dedication.

Sanjay Dutt is the one who leaves the biggest impact! He brings a new dimension to the cult character of Kancha Cheena with his outstanding villainous acts. You just love to hate him. Rishi Kapoor is remarkable too as Rauf Lala. Priyanka Chopra is average. She doesn’t appear like a Maharashtrian mulgi although she tries a lot.

Zarina Wahab isn’t bad as Vijay’r mother while the girl playing his sister is likable. Inaamulhaq presents a commendable act as Shiva.

Overall, Agneepath has its share of good as well as bad moments which finally tilt more towards the latter. Its box-office opening has been tremendous which will make sure it breaks quite a few records.

Agneepath to create new box-office records?

Agneepath Box-Office Prediction

Players Movie Review

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Direction: Abbas-Mustan

Production: Burmawala Partners, Viacom 18 Motion Pictures

Cast: Abhishek Bachchan, Bipasha Basu, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Sonam Kapoor, Omi Vaidya, Sikander Kher, Bobby Deol

Music: Pritam

Rating: * ½

Plot: Charlie (Abhishek Bachchan) and Riya (Bipasha Basu) are professional thieves who decide to fulfill their mentor Victor Dada’s (Vinod Khanna) dream – of carrying out a major heist in order to build a school for the needy. Charlie decides to rob the gold bars which will be transferred from Russia to Romania. For this, Charlie builds a team comprising Spider (Neil Nitin Mukesh), Sunny (Omi Vaidya), Ronnie (Bobby Deol), Bilal (Sikander Kher) and Victor’s daughter Naina (Sonam Kapoor).

The Italian Job (1969) was remade once in Hollywood with the same name in 2003. Abbas Mustan’s Players is the remake of the 2003 film. You have two choices while remaking a movie – you can either make is ditto as the original or add your own inputs. Abbas-Mustan choose to do the latter in Players and create the following blunders: –

– Story: A lot of tampering is been done with the original story. Nothing wrong in this if you can provide an interesting tale. However, the story which is presented here hardly is hardly believable. Plus, the huge number of twists and turns not only take your interest away but after a point of time provide unintentional laughter! After a point of time, you just don’t seem to care about the climax, which is anybody’s guess.

– Characters: They have also increased the number of characters as compared to the original flick. For example, inclusion of Bobby Deol’s character hardly serves any purpose and his tricks in the mission appear weird! Bipasha Basu does have a lot to do with the story but the dumbness shown by the character is, again, laughable! But what’s more funny is the bunch of Indian cops who appear not more than sabziwalas or baniyas!

– Screenplay: Rohit Jugraj and Sudip Sharma’s screenplay and dialogues fail to involve the audience right from the start. Although you shouldn’t search for logic in such action thrillers but there is hardly any believability factor here. The characters are shown breaking all kinds of laws in public but never get caught. Plus, the drag-full proceedings and uninteresting twists get on to your nerves later on.

– Length: The 2003 Hollywood movie was just around 1 hour 45 minutes long while Players is close to three hours!!! Such high length can be justified only if your proceedings are highly interesting. Sadly, that isn’t the case here as the movie is pointlessly dragged by adding some uninteresting incidents which force you again and again to look at your watch.

The most impressive track from Pritam’s composition ‘Jis Jagah Pe’ fails to feature in the movie. The rest of the songs are not much to talk about. The only people who can hold their heads high the most are Ravi Yadav (cinematography) and Allan Amin (action and stunts).

Neil Nitin Mukesh is the most impressive of the lot when it comes to performances. The actor shows maturity. Abhishek Bachchan too is likable as the captain of the ship but once again he makes a wrong movie selection which will worsen his career graph. Bipasha Basu is average and so is Sikander Kher.

Sonam Kapoor’s poor acting skills and expressions are visible here too. On top of that, she is seen wearing mismatched clothes and accessories. She should seriously consider a change in profession. Omi Vaidya has great talent but he overdoes here in most of the occasions. Bobby Deol is hardly there while Aftab Shivadasani is wasted. Vinod Khanna hams in between an average performance. Johnny Lever provides good comic relief.

Overall, although Players is the first movie of 2012, it will surely be counted as one of the year’s biggest duds. It has failed to get a good opening which will make sure it will bomb at the box-office.

Players Box-Office Prediction

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Star Value: Players, which is the official remake of the Hollywood flick The Italian Job, has well-known names like Abhishek Bachchan, Bobby Deol, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Bipasha Basu, Sonam Kapoor and Omi Vaidya. However, these names don’t have the power to garner huge opening for a movie. Over the years, the star power of Abhishek and Bipasha has reduced while Neil’s decision of becoming choosy has lessened his popularity.

Hype: The makers have created Hollywood-like interesting promos and posters but the hype is missing. Even, the publicity campaign has been low key. There is hardly any excitement for Abbas-Mustan’s ambitious project.

Music: The song ‘Jis Jagah Pe Khatam’ is a catchy number with intelligent lyrics but despite that it hasn’t become famous. Other promoted songs like ‘Yeh Dooriyan’ and ‘Dil Ye Bekaraar’ are hardly known by the public.

Prediction: Although Players has been in the news ever since its announcement, it will fail to have a good opening due to the lack of hype and excitement. Even if the critics’ and initial audience response is positive, it will still have a tough time at the box-office. Sadly, Abhishek’s chances of returning to the successful league look dim.

Don 2 Review

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Direction: Farhan Akhtar

Production: Farhan Akhtar, Shah Rukh Khan, Ritesh Sidhwani

Cast: Shah Rukh Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Om Puri, Lara Dutta, Kunal Kapoor

Music: Shankar Ehsan Loy

Rating: * * ½

Plot: After becoming the king of drug mafia in Asia, Don (Shah Rukh Khan) now eyes Europe. But to achieve this, he will have to finish off the existing drug mafias of the continent, who are already eager to kill him. Hence, Don hatches a plan which will help him defeat his enemies and conquer Europe.

Don (2006), succeeded largely because of the novel interpretation of Farhan Akhtar of the original 1978 classic, path-breaking action and most importantly, a shocking twist in the end. So, when its sequel arrives, you surely expect at least a similar thrill ride if not more. But in the case of Don 2, that hardly happens due to some indigestible writing and events mostly in the second half.

The writers succeed in building up excitement in the initial moments as Don goes about his plan and later when he escapes prison. The sleek direction and editing, witty dialogues and action a la Hollywood keep you engrossed. Considering it’s a commercial action film, you can even afford to forgive a few flaws during this part including the laughable way in which Hrithik Roshan is used as a guest actor. All is still fairly well when the major heist is planned at the end of the first half.

Things are fine even when the heist is carried out. But it’s the all important portion after that where the writing falters. The twists and drama that follow are just too vague to digest especially the way Roma gets carried away. It’s utterly dumb of a super cop! But what makes you raise your eyebrows is the way Don’s human side is shown suddenly. It clearly doesn’t go well with the cruel character.

Few more of such indigestible events make sure you seldom care about the climax since it is anybody’s guess. A twist at the end makes you wonder at the way Don easily managed to pull off such an over-complicated plan.

As a director, Farhan manages to handle such a Hollywood-like film. It is his own script that acts as a dampener.

Music composers Shankar Ehsan Loy are one of the few ones who can hold their heads high for the musical and background score. But as per the nature of the film, only the title song and ‘Maya’ could be used in the film. Similar applause is needed for Jason West’s extraordinary cinematography.

The performance of the central character needs to be spot on when the whole film is based on it. Shah Rukh Khan does manage to put his better foot forward and give a commendable act through his charm. However, he looks too old to play such a character. Even his worn out body is visible regularly. Due to this, it also becomes difficult to believe when he bashes up baddies.

Boman Irani is effective although not at his best. A mature performer like Priyanka Chopra deserves a more performance-oriented role although she is good in action scenes. Lara Dutta manages to impress in a supporting role. Kunal Kapoor and Nawab Shah do well. Om Puri is average and so is Alyy Khan.

Overall, Don 2 had the potential of being a perfect sequel but is let down by the writing department. At the box-office, it will be another 2011 movie that will earn huge bucks but will fail to satisfy a good section of the audience.

Chikni Chameli joins the bandwagon!

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So, the much awaited teaser of ‘Chikni Chameli’ item number featuring Katrina Kaif from Agneepath is finally out. The song is based on the superhit Marathi song ‘Kombadi Palali’ from the movie Jatra.

But judging by the way this song and the last few item numbers (Sheila Ki Jawani, Munni Badnaam, Jalebi Bai, etc) are presented in the promos, the makers’ desperation to use it as a marketing tool is clearly visible.

There were times when item numbers were included in the movie due to the demand of the script or the story. The songs were rich in terms of lyrics and singing, whereas today, the focus is more on exposure and vulgar dance moves. And most importantly, the makers never boasted about their item numbers as an achievement unlike today.

Another notable fact is that the girls that feature in these item numbers are considered on par with a successful actress! It’s shocking to see how someone like Malaika Arora Khan is termed and given as much importance as a successful actress! What has she achieved apart from shaking her body to these seeti-bajao numbers?

And now, ‘Chikni Chameli’ will add more feathers in Katrina’s cap! So what if she can’t speak a word properly and fails to give proper expressions most of the times? Bollywood is going through such a phase where all good-lookers are considered good actors regardless their acting skills!

Have a look at the full video of Chikni Chameli: –

Don 2 Box-Office Prediction

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Star Value: Having Shah Rukh Khan as the main lead ensures a foolproof guarantee for a mammoth opening for any film, especially if the film is in the news. Presence of other actors like Priyanka Chopra, Boman Irani and Om Puri is an added advantage.

Hype: The hype has been tremendous for Don 2 ever since the makers released the first promo in July this year. The excitement increased further when the second promo came out in October. Both the trailers have gone down well even with those who don’t admire SRK or the first installment of Don. The makers will publicize the movie further once the release date (December 23) nears.

Music: Songs of Don 2 are slowly gaining popularity. ‘Zara Dil Ko Thaam Lo’, a techno disco number, has impressed the audiences. ‘Dushman Mera’, ‘Maya’ and few other tracks will slowly but steadily help in publicizing the movie.

Prediction: Considering the above points, it’s needless to say that Don 2 will receive a mammoth opening. Even if the film fails to impress at the onset (God forbid), the makers will rake in the profit due to the money generated in the first weekend and week. Fortunately, if Don 2 receives a thumbs up, it will be one of the top earners of 2011. It will also cross the Rs 100 crore mark if that happens.

Ladies VS Ricky Bahl Box-Office Prediction

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Star Value: Anushka Sharma has become a famous actor courtesy films like Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, Badmaash Company, Band Baaja Baaraat, etc. Ranveer Singh is just one film old but despite that has become a known face. This is due to his performance in BBB, chemistry and off-screen link-up with Anushka. And since their jodi is returning in Ladies VS Ricky Bahl, the film has gained star value.

Hype: The usual hype which is associated with a Yash Raj Film is missing this time. The promotion of the movie was overshadowed by Vidya Balan who went all out promoting The Dirty Picture. But then, even BBB hadn’t created a great hype yet the film picked up slowly after its release.

Music: Songs ‘Aadat Se Majboor’ is being liked by youngsters. Even ‘Thug Le’ is slowly becoming popular. Since two popular songs are enough these days, we can say the music of the movie is a hit.

Prediction: Ladies VS Ricky Bahl won’t take the box-office by storm, that’s for sure. It will rely heavily on the initial positive reports and positive word-of-mouth, else it will suffer.

He passed away at a young age!