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Thank You Movie Review

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Thank You Movie Review

Rating: 2 out of 5

Cast: Akshay Kumar, Irfan Khan, Bobby Deol, Suniel Shetty, Sonam Kapoor, Rimi Sen, Celine Jaitley

Director: Anees Bazmee

Music: Pritam

Producers: UTV Motion Pictures, Hari Om Productions

 

Expectations from Anees Bazmee’s Thank You were limited because of the extra-marital affair theme which is done to death in Bollywood, promos which failed to create much excitement and lastly because memories of Bazmee’s last flick No Problem, which was a dud has still not disappeared from audience’s minds. And as expected, Thank You doesn’t succeed in being a non-stop interesting entertainer although some well-written witty dialogues and Irfan Khan’s lovable performance make it a watchable affair.

The central idea of the movie is based on just one premise – all men are dogs who can go any heights to cheat their wives. In this case, they are Raj Malhotra (Bobby Deol), Vikram (Irfan Khan) and Yogi (Suniel Shetty), close friends and colleagues who are habitual in cheating their wives Sanjana (Sonam Kapoor), Karthika (Rimi Sen) and Radha (Celina Jaitley), and having fun with other girls. After suspecting Raj for having an extra-marital affair, Sanjana hires Kishan (Akshay Kumar), who specializes in exposing cheating husbands and solving an extra-marital affair. What follows is a crazy turn of events which leads onto an unexpected climax.

Bazmee uses his old formula of presenting exotic foreign locations, creating slapstick humour in crazy situations, adding jazzy music and background score and adding lots of spice (exposure) in order to create large doses of entertainment. In Thank You, his formula works but only in parts. Although the writing (Bazmee, Rajiv Kaul, Rajan Agarwal, Nisar Akhtar and Ikram Akhtar) gives rise to a number of jaw-dropping sequences, it loses grip regularly, especially in the last 30 minutes where emotional scenes are thrown up which just don’t gel with the nature of the film. And the mystery about Akshay Kumar’s character appears silly.

Dialogues here are the biggest strong point and they act as a saving grace. Ravi Yadav’s cinematography is another plus point. Pritam does a decent job as a music director by providing tracks like Pyaar Do Pyaar Lo and Razia.

Irfan Khan deserves thumbs up for a mature comic act which even succeeds in keeping the interest alive even when things aren’t that interesting. In fact, his is coming is the backbone of the film. Although Akshay Kumar has appeared in a number of comic capers, he gets to do something different here. His act will satisfy his fans. Bobby Deol’s performance ranges between good to average. Suniel Shetty succeeds in being funny but looks uncomfortable in few sequences.

Of all the three actresses, Rimi Sen impresses the most and also looks beautiful. Sonam Kapoor grows as an actress although she doesn’t achieve that much perfection. Celina Jaitley’s character mysteriously disappears after the interval. Anyways, she was just forgetful.

The big relief with Thank You is that it is anytime better than No Problem. Watch it if you have nothing to do and just wish to while away time. At the box-office, the movie has some chance as such mindless comedies have had a good history at the ticket window in recent years.

F.A.L.T.U Movie Review

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Ratings: * *

Cast: Jackky Bhagnani, Pooja Gupta, Chandan Roy Sanyal, Angad Bedi, Arshad Warsi, Riteish Deshmukh

Director: Remo D’Souza

Music: Jigar, Sachin

Producers: Puja Entertainment Ltd

In recent times, a number of Bollywood movies have appealed a change in our education system with 3 Idiots topping the list. Choreographer Remo D’Souza’s directorial debut F.A.L.T.U attempts the same. However, the way in which the film tries to convey the message is just too mindless to believe which just takes away the impact of the final outcome.

Ritesh (Jackky Bhagnani), Pooja Nigam (Pooja Chopra), Nanj (Angad Bedi) and Vishnu (Chandan Roy Sanyal) are the best of college friends. While Vishnu is a bookworm who always scores in the 90s, rest of the three are spoilt brats who just aim to pass the examination somehow. Because of that, Ritesh, Pooja and Nanj are unable to get admission in a single college for higher education because of their low grades. In order to escape their parents’ wrath, the trio lie to their parents that they have got admission in a non-existent college called Fakirchand And Lakirchand Trust University (F.A.L.T.U).

Although the parents believe their children, they are hell bent in visiting their college. Hence, Ritesh takes help from his friend Google Chand (Arshad Warsi) and gets hold of a ruin-like building at Panchgani and converts it into F.A.L.T.U. Google hires a school teacher Bajirao (Riteish Deshmukh) and makes him the fake principal of the college and also decides to bring huge numbers of fake students in order to fool the trio’s parents.

The whole idea of capturing an abandoned building and converting it into a fake university by spending a bomb on it is just indigestible. Although Google lends money to Ritesh for the task, the former’s profession is never revealed so it leaves a big question mark as to how and why he agreed to lend such a large amount for such a fake thing. On top of that, Google and Bajirao help the trio in converting the fake university into a genuine one!

But the biggest apathy in the story is the fact that actual students turn up in the fake university after getting admissions in it by applying through the university’s fake website. How on earth did they get admissions? Whom did they pay the fees to? Didn’t they have a word with anyone before deciding to go stay out of city at the university? Sadly, there are other fallacies too!

Plus, the screenplay glorifies activities like being a spoilt brat, seeing women as just an object of desire and it also ends up giving a crash course on how to be a drunkard.

The biggest plus point of F.A.L.T.U is that it gives an important message of letting youngsters enter a field in which they are interested. For this, the climax deserves applause. A dance performance at a college festival deserves special mention.

Jigar and Sachin’s music plays a vital role in keeping the entertainment quotient alive. The song Party Abhi Baaki Hai is already a rage. Other songs like Bhoot Aaya, Aaltu Jalaltu and Le Ja Tu Mujhe are impressive too.

Jackky Bhagnani rises to a different level as compared to his debut performance in Kal Kissne Dekha. He plays the lead character with maturity. Chandan Roy Sanyal is superb. This is yet another lovable act from him after Kaminey. Angad Bedi is likable while debutant Pooja Gupta is not bad. Ritesh Deshmukh in a new avatar impresses and so does Arshad Warsi although he appears over-the-top in few sequences. From the supporting cast, Darshan Jariwala is the best.

Despite negative points, F.A.L.T.U has taken a positive opening at the box-office as it has attracted the youth. Hence, it has a chance of having a good run at the ticket window, especially after the ICC Cricket World Cup is over.

Director Ashutosh Gowariker Enthralls Symbiosis Students

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(I was overwhelmed when my dear friend Padmanabh Subramanian aka Pady requested me to post this article of his on my blog. It’s a matter of pride for me that someone considers my blog as a platform to share his or her experience.)

 

The ‘Lagaan’ director was at Symbiosis Institute Of International Business, Hinjewadi, Pune for a discussion on management & film-making.

By: Padmanabh Subramanian

Leadership skills, ethical practices, effective planning and execution, human relations, emotional quotient, etc. are key managerial skills, MBA students aspire for. Cinema and process of film-making have always been closely associated with these managerial aspects. Such qualities are best-depicted through films and therefore, today movie-scripts are often used as case studies in educational institutes and the corporate world. Director- Mr. Ashutosh Gowariker is one such film-maker whose protagonists Bhuvan (Lagaan) & Mohan Bharghav (Swades) changed our perception of the conventional ‘hero’, by bringing about a revolution through lateral thinking, with patriotism as the backdrop.

On 18th February 2011, Symbiosis Institute of International Business, Hinjewadi Pune (SIIB) invited Mr. Ashutosh Gowariker for a guest lecture on “Management & managerial aspects of films and film-making”. Dr. Rajani Gupte, Director, SIIB and Dr. Vidya Yervadekar, Principal Director, Symbiosis Society, were also a part of the programme.


Mr. Gowariker began the session, with his early experiences as an actor, gradually moving towards film-making, which involved financing, operational issues, film-promotions & marketing, etc. He then spoke about how he zeroed down ‘leading actors’ for his films, based on the character’s temperament. He also threw light on how a film’s success and failure both are equally important for a film-maker.

Highlights of the session:

The simplicity, humility & straightforwardness with which Mr. Ashutosh put forth his points, thoughts, ideas and experiences, wrapped in humour, had the audience in splits.He came down to the level of youngsters which set the comfort level of the audience. The journey of his gradual evolution from an actor to director, director to a producer and finally from a producer to writer, with confusion and chaos at every stage, is something every youngster faces at this point of time, and could therefore connect to the transition process instantly. The interaction was the USP of the show, since people actually came out with frank, open queries, and having most of the questions answered much to their satisfaction.

Overall, it was a highly interactive, humorous and interesting session, and the audience enjoyed every bit of it.

7 Khoon Maaf Review

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Rating: 3 out of 5

Cast: Priyanka Chopra, Vivaan Shah, Neil Nitin Mukesh, John Abraham, Irrfan Khan, Anu Kapoor, Aleksandr Dyachenko, Naseruddin Shah

Director: Vishal Bhardwaj

Music: Vishal Bhardwaj

Producers: UTV Spotboy, V B Films

Vishal Bhardwaj is known for making dark and unusual pieces of cinema. And after watching the promos of his latest offering 7 Khoon Maaf, it looked that this is the darkest and the most unusual thing to have come out of him. And as expected, this is indeed the case. Because of this and the final culmination, 7 Khoon Maaf will appeal only to a selected class audience and not to the masses. Having said that, Bhardwaj deserves accolades for his impressive creativity as a director and also for some out-of-the-box narration.

Based on writer Ruskin Bond’s novel Susanna’s Seven Husbands, the story focuses on Susanna’s (Priyanka Chopra) encounter with her husbands – Major Edwin Rodrigues (Neil Nitin Mukesh), rock performer Jimmy Stetson (John Abraham), poet Wasiullah Khan (Irrfan Khan), Russian Nicolai Vronsky (Aleksandr Dyachenko), inspector Keemat Lal (Anu Kapoor) and Dr Modhusudhon Tarafdar (Naseruddin Shah) – and how and why she gets rid of them. Arun Kumar (Vivaan Shah) also becomes an integral part of Susanna’s life.

Although in each story Susanna ends up killing her husband, the tales are as different from each other as chalk and cheese and so are all the murders. In fact, the unusual and witty way… (TO READ THE ENTIRE REVIEW, PLEASE CLICK HERE)

Dil Toh Baccha Hai Ji Review

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Cast: Ajay Devgn, Emraan Hashmi, Omi Vaidya, Shazahn Padamsee, Shraddha Das, Shruti Haasan, Tisca Chopra

Director: Madhur Bhandarkar

Music: Pritam

Producers: Kumar Mangat Pathak, Madhur Bhandarkar

Rating: * * * 1/2

After earning a name in movies based on serious issues and women oriented films, director Madhur Bhandarkar tries something altogether different in Dil Toh Baccha Hai Ji as he steps on to a romantic comedy. Questions started doing the rounds whether Bhandarkar will succeed in treading on a path where he has never put his feet before. However, in Dil Toh Baccha Hai Ji, Bhandarkar proves that if one has the right vision, talent and determination, one can succeed in any genre.

A not-so-happy Naren is getting divorced from his wife (Rituparna Sengupta). In order to kill loneliness during this tragic time, he shifts to his old house and finds two roommates, Milind Kelkar (Omi Vaidya), a conservative Maharashtrian and Abhay (Emraan Hashmi), an out-and-out playboy.

During this time, Naren falls for his new office colleague June (Shazahn Padamsee), Milind finds love in RJ Gungun Sarkar (Sharddha Das) after a chance meeting with her and Abhay enters into a relationship with an elderly woman Anushka (Tisca Chopra). How Naren and Milind try to complete their love story and how Abhay’s life takes a dramatic turn forms the rest of the story.

Although the story and the situations appear filmy, Bhandarkar adds life to the proceedings by adding some realistic touch to various scenes (for which he is known). The screenplay (Bhandarkar, Anil Pandey and Neeraj Udvani) and Sanjay Chhel’s dialogues play a vital role in keeping the interest alive and giving some good rib-tickling moments.

Special mention should be given to the climax, which, thankfully, is way different from other numerous romantic comedies and the one which surely brings a smile. In fact, the climax plays a pivotal role in making Dil Toh Baccha Hai Ji special.

On the flipside, Emraan Hashmi’s love story with Shruti Haasan is far from convincing and appears half-baked. Also the plot looses some grip in the second half but the last 30 minutes and, as stated earlier, the climax make up for everything.

Pritam’s music suits the film perfectly. Abhi Kuchh Dino Se, which is already popular, Tu Khwab Hai and Tere Bin are melodious, pleasant and also have repeat value.

Ajay Devgn once again shows why he is one of the best actors in Bollywood. He plays a man with middle-aged crisis with maturity and sincerity. He displays intenseness in serious scenes and is also good with his comic timing. It’s tiring to see Emraan Hashmi play a bad guy again and again. However, taking nothing away from the actor, it should be said he plays his part with perfection.

After a memorable act in 3 Idiots, Omi Vaidya’s next performance was keenly awaited. Omi doesn’t disappoint his fans as he presents another lovable act. His funny dialogue delivery, unusual expressions as well as his act in emotional scenes is sure to impress all.

Shazahn Padamsee suits the role perfectly although she sounds childish at times. Shraddha Das shows promise and looks fabulous. Shruti Haasan is average in a role which is much less meatier than other two ladies. Tisca Chopra plays her part very well.

Dil Toh Baccha Hai Ji is easily one of the best works of Madhur Bhandarkar which has a chance of impressing youngsters as well as grown ups. At the box-office, the film has a chance of clicking.

Unsung Heroes Of 2010

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I wanted to write a post about those films which I liked the most in 2010. But as I made a mental list of it I realized almost all of them are films which didn’t attain box-office success or critical acclaim which they so dearly deserved. So, I thought of coming up with a list called the ‘Unsung Heroes of 2010’. They truly are according to me.

Rann: Perhaps the only movie which exposed the nexus between TV news channels and politics and that too with a riveting story and an intense script. Unfortunately the pro-song and dance audience gave a cold shoulder to this one for being too serious. Even a superlative lead performance from the great Amitabh Bachchan wasn’t enough to even make this well made effort from Ram Gopal Varma even an average success.

Karthik Calling Karthik: One of the rare psychological thrillers to have come from Bollywood, Karthik Calling Karthik managed to churn out a suspense tale which just nobody could predict and one which keeps us glued throughout. It also had a mature and convincing act by Farhan Akhtar. However, Vijay Lalvani’s brilliant debut both as a director and a scriptwriter wasn’t noticed at the box-office.

Red Alert-The War Within: The film for which I feel bad the most! Ananth Mahadevan’s intense and flawless dark thriller brings to light the issue of naxals with an outstanding act by Suniel Shetty that can silence his critics forever. One cannot expect such films to be blockbusters but one can surely expect the class audience to take a look at it which didn’t happen. It’s also disheartening not to see Suniel Shetty’s nomination in any of the annual film awards.

Aakrosh: Those who have seen Aakrosh will agree that this is one of the best works of Priyadarshan. But how many of us did see this? Despite some great performances from a well known star cast (Ajay Devgan, Akshaye Khanna and Bipasha Basu), a famous director, a well publicized product and finally, a well crafted faced paced thriller, it only received ignorance from the audience.

Rakht Charitra (Part 1 and 2): Although it was a portrayal of late Andhra leader Paritala Ravi’s life, director Ram Gopal Varma made sure the film appears interestingly dramatic and highly impactful. It is understandable that a film with such brutal violence didn’t click at the box-office. However, I find it unbelievable that Vivek Oberoi’s career best performance and Surya’s sensational and mind-blowing debut weren’t nominated at a single awards ceremony.

I don’t mind if ‘no-brainers’ work wonders at the box-office. But I more than mind if all wonderfully made serious films or films based on hard-hitting issues go un-noticed (forget box-office success) and get a kick on the back. Well, because of this trend, we can see only films like House Full, Dabanng and Golmaal 3 becoming superhits. And it looks like the dirty trend is going to continue in 2011 too. So, see you again for a similar post after a year as I am sure there will be a number of well made serious films in 2011 too that will have similar fate.

Dhobi Ghat Movie Review

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Ratings: * * * 1/2

Cast: Aamir Khan, Prateik Babbar, Monica Dogra, Kriti Malhotra

Director: Kiran Rao

Music: Gustavo Santaolalla

Producers: Aamir Khan Productions

 

The city of Mumbai has been explored on celluloid by filmmakers almost ever since Bollywood or Hindi film industry came into being. Debutant director Kiran Rao explores the same old city yet again but in a manner which makes her work stand apart proudly from other films based on Mumbai.

Rao makes her unconventional methods clear right from the very first scene as she narrates the story of four individuals, Arun, a lonely painter, Shai, a banker from New York who is in Mumbai on a sabbatical, Munna, the dhobi and Yasmeen, a newly married woman. The four characters cross each other’s paths as the city slowly emerges as the fifth character.

Rao succeeds very well in capturing utter realism as the four characters go through various experiences. The events, interactions, reactions, emotions and the narration submerge us into a world which we cannot label as fiction even though it is. The way the four characters subtly enter each other’s lives and become an integral part in such an unusual manner is something to watch out for. And considering this is Rao’s first film she deserves kudos for the direction as well as the writing.

Having said that, the film has limited chances of appealing to the masses because of the documentary feel it gives sometimes. The pro-entertainment folks might even find it difficult to digest this flick, which is ideal for film festivals. But this should not surprise the makers as Rao makes it clear from her story and her way of narration and filming that box-office or mass success is not she was looking for.

Aamir Khan plays a quite, shy, loner painter with ease. He shows a very different side of his and succeeds in speaking with his eyes and expressions. However, because of the nature of the character, the performance might not satisfy some of his diehard fans.

Prateik Babbar gets into the skin of his character and displays a flawless act. He leaves behind a tremendous mark as he displays different states of his mind with maturity. Debutant Monica Dogra fits in the role of an NRI perfectly. Although she struggles with her Hindi but that is understandable considering her character. She also has the looks to astonish! Kriti Malhotra doesn’t have much to do other than narrate but she manages to impress.

Even though Dhobi Ghat is not something that will blaze the box-office, Kiran Rao has reasons to be proud of her entry in Bollywood. It’s moving yet pleasurable; simple yet memorable!

No One Killed Jessica Review

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Cast: Rani Mukherjee, Vidya Balan, Myra Karn, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayub, Neil Bhoopalam, Rajesh Sharma

Director: Rajkumar Gupta

Music: Amit Trivedi

Producers: UTV Spotboy

Ratings: * * * 1/2


Not so very long ago, the infamous Jessica Lall murder case united the whole nation in the fight to nail the culprits. Almost everyone is aware of the incident and its consequences. So, if a filmmaker tries to portray the whole issue on celluloid right from scratch till the end when the culprits are convicted, it requires much more than dedication. Thankfully, such dedication is visible in Rajkumar Gupta’s No One Killed Jessica, a film that successfully blends the apathy of Jessica Lall’s family, protest and unity of the nation and more importantly the height of corruption in India.

The film focuses on how Sabrina Lall (Vidya Balan) struggles to get justice for her deceased sister Jessica Lall (Myra Karn), who was shot dead by Manu Sharma (Mohammed Zeeshan Ayub), (who is named in the film Manish Bhardwaj) and how she is helped by TV news reporter Meera Gaity (Rani Mukherjee).

Apart from directing the tale with sincerity, Gupta also achieves perfection in the very vital task of writing the screenplay and dialogues. Vital because in such real life cases the writer has the mammoth task of making sure that the proceedings don’t appear like a documentary or a docudrama and Gupta succeeds in that as he narrates the real-life story while keeping in mind the elements needed for a feature film. The filmmaker, who debuted with the critically acclaimed Aamir is here to stay.

The film doesn’t merely show how Sabrina struggled to get justice. It also gives a strong message of how the citizens should make sure that justice is done. Having said that, it might not be appreciated by those folks who are hungry for entertainment as in some portions it just lacks a strong punch.

Although there isn’t much scope for music, songs Dilli Dilli and Aitbaar manage to fit well in the plot and have a lasting impact. Music director Amit Trivedi once again does well.

Both Vidya Balan and Rani Mukherjee give one of their career best performances. Vidya portrays the helplessness of Sabrina Lall with utmost maturity. The way she struggles and moves from pillar to post is sure to move everyone.

On the other hand, Rani is impeccable in a never-seen-before avatar of a foul-mouthed bindaas journo. This performance of hers deserves thumbs up and will surely be talked about forever. Although Myra Karn doesn’t have a full fledged role, she impresses in her debut and shows a lot of confidence.

Debutant Mohammed Zeeshan Ayub does very well in the difficult role of the culprit. Neil Bhoopalam, another debutant, also impresses. The film also contains first rate performances from the supporting cast.

No One Killed Jessica has a strong chance of having a Rang De Basanti effect on the masses. It will rely strongly on word-of-mouth and would succeed if that happens.

Tees Maar Khan Review

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Tees Maar Khan Movie Review

Rating: * *

Cast: Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif, Akshaye Khanna, Raghu Ram, Rajiv Laxman, Ali Asgar

Director: Farah Khan

Music: Vishal-Shekhar, Shirish Kunder

Producers: Hari Om Productions, Three’s Company, UTV Motion Pictures

 

After Main Hoon Na and Om Shanti Om, director Farah Khan is back with another masala entertainer in the form of Tees Maar Khan and that too at a time when only such genre is clicking with the audience as well as the box-office. Plus, the promos promised lots of entertainment and dhamaal in Tees Maar Khan especially the track and video of Sheila Ki Jawani. But unfortunately the promise isn’t fulfilled because of a story and situations that are too unconvincing to digest.

Tabrez Mirza Khan aka Tees Maar Khan (Akshay Kumar) is an expert conman who always manages to free himself from the police authorities if he is caught. One day he gets to lay his hands on the biggest heist of his life by helping twin conmen Johri Brothers (Raghu Ram and Rajiv Laxman) recover their loot from the police. TMK hatches a plan by involving an Oscar-hungry superstar Aatish Kapoor (Akshaye Khanna) in their mission and by also fooling the whole of Dhulia village.

Farah Khan tries very hard to make TMK a non-stop entertainer but the screenplay handicaps her. The first half appears interesting though when TMK is introduced and his con acts displayed. This portion also produces some good funny moments. However, the build up to the robbery (second half), the actual robbery and its consequences just fail to impress or amuse. In fact, the goings appears quite idiotic at times courtesy of too much mindlessness and some non-funny humour. And on top of that, a weak and forced ‘happy ending’ make matters worse.

Vishal-Shekhar and Shirish Kunder’s music relies heavily on Sheila Ki Jawani as the rest of the songs fall just in the average territory. Cinematography is good while the background score plays too much of the title song.

TMK rests on Akshay Kumar’s shoulders and he carries the responsibility with an aura. However, too much of self-boasting and loudness hampers his performance a bit. Akshaye Khanna on the other hand plays a crazy character superbly. He is truly likeable in a never-seen-before avatar. Apart from shaking her leg on Sheila Ki Jawani, Katrina Kaif purely irritates!

Ali Asgar and Akshay’s other two comrades suit perfectly in their roles. Murli Sharma and Aman Verma display good comical acts and so do Sachin Khedekar and Vijay Patkar. Raghu Ram and Rajiv Laxman are average while rest of the characters including Apara Mehta and Arya Babbar give good support.

All in all, Tees Maar Khan is far away from Farah Khan’s earlier two attempts. Because of the huge hype and publicity, the film will surely earn profit at the box-office in the first week. But the collections will be doubtful after that.

Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey Review

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Rating: * * *

Cast: Abhishek Bachchan, Deepika Padukone, Sikander Kher, Vishakha Singh

Director: Ashutosh Gowariker

Music: Sohail Sen

Producers: Ashutosh Gowariker Productions, PVR Pictures

Films based on the freedom movement have been a regular feature in Bollywood.  Right from the black and white era (Shaheed, Anand Math, Haqeeqat) to the current decade (23rd March 1931 Shaheed, Legend Of Bhagat Singh, Mangal Pandey-The Rising) a number of films on the freedom struggle have hit the screen. Because of this very reason, Ashutosh Gowariker’s Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey becomes just a one-time-watch affair as it lacks the true patriotic fever like the number of patriotic films of the past.

The biggest achievement of KHJJS is that it tells the tale which is never told before in Indian cinema – the Chittagong (Chattogram) Uprising, a chapter lost in history. Surjya Sen aka Surjyo Da aka Master Da (Abhishek Bachchan) leads a group of revolutionaries to attack various British establishments in Chittagong. Kalpana Dutta (Deepika Padukone), Pritilata (Vishakha Singh) and a group of teenagers join hands with Surjya in his mission.

Gowariker once again shows that he is one of the masters of period dramas in Bollywood as he takes care of every minute detail while presenting Manini Chatterjee’s novel Do And Die on celluloid. He succeeds in creating the intenseness and at the same time getting top notch performances from every actor. However, he is hampered by a lengthy screenplay.

Art director Nitin Desai deserves plenty of applause for recreating the 1930s era with utmost perfection. He is aptly supported by Kiran Deohans’ artistic cinematography.

Although not one of his best performances, Abhishek Bachchan excels in the role of an unruffled and serious revolutionary Surjya Sen. He suits very well as the leader of the revolutionaries. Deepika Padukone plays the challenging role of Kalpana Dutta with maturity. She shows she can do well in serious de-glam roles as well. Sikander Kher leaves an impact mostly in the second half.

Samrat, Maninder and Firoz Wahid Khan make their presence felt with heroic and heart-warming performances. However, it’s the group of teenagers that move you by their determining and courageous efforts. In their acts, they don’t appear like teenagers at all.

Because of the minus points mentioned above, Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey falls short of becoming an extra-ordinary effort although it deserves a watch because of the efforts taken to tell a story which is lost in history. At the box office, the film will struggle to succeed.