Tere Naal Love Ho Gaya (2012) - Movie Review

It's your regular dose of romcom spiced up with a (silly, yet) entertaining plot with some pleasantly hummable numbers and characters that deliver.


It's true ugly things (and people) grow on you. Ritesh, despite his looks, is charming. (*_*) But Tere Naal Love Ho Gaya is out and out Genelia's film. She took me back to Geet of Jab We Met, yet she's unique in her own way and even her over-the-top, noisy dialoguery only adds zing to her character.


The not-so-sought-after cast and low-key publicity pretty much explains why the film received a halfhearted response at the box-office (which is also the reason why I missed it on the theatre) but a DVD watch won't hurt.


A great pick on a boring lousy weekend!

Jodi Breakers (2012) - Movie Review

The seemingly romantic comedy turned out neither romantic nor funny. Was the director in a rush to complete the film? Was he comfortable seeing these two actors in the same frame? Did they really hire a writer for this story? I wondered as I watched all along, hoping there's better to come.

I was wrong! Beyond a point I knew not what was happening. Neither did I care to find out. The only good thing about the film was good company. (*-*) 


Madhavan was my favorite in the Rehna Hai Tere Dil Mein days. I loved him for his smile, his voice, his acting and while I still love him for all that, he seems to have lost the mojo.  Couldn't anyone throughout the film make him get rid of those funnily ugly glasses? 
Bipasha looked wow (and was the one of the reasons that kept you going). Omi Vaidya failed to evoke laughs despite his broken Hindi. Helen was a pleasant surprise in the film.
  
Three things that kept me from walking out of the theatre: music, Greece, and the money I spent on the tickets. For those who want some good music, there's YouTube. For those who want to see Greece? There's Chalte Chalte. And for those of you who have some extra bucks to spare, save it for  Kahaani (releasing March 9).

Agneepath (2012) - Movie review

Film-making has come a long way from the 90s. Cinema then was synonymous to loud. Today the word is 'subtlety.' The new Agneepath carefully and wittingly blends both the worlds, delivering on all fronts, though primarily it is really about well-etched out characters and overwhelming performances. 


Needless to say, how effective Rishi Kapoor and Sanjay Dutt were in making us believe it was all for real. But the show-stealer indisputably was Hrithik. His impeccable Vijay Deenanath Chauhan act catapults him leaps above his contemporaries (and is more than enough to fetch him a few awards this year ;) 


Highpoint of the film: the Ganesh Chathurthi festival. Hrithik's arresting voice and hard to match expressions had me empathizing with the character. He pushes himself beyond limits and couldn't have gotten better.


Special mentions - Chetan Pandit (playing Deenanath Chauhan), Rajesh Tandon (playing Rishi Kapoor's sane son) and Zarina Wahab (playing Hrithik's mother). 


The music of the film (except Abhi mujh mein kahin by Sonu Nigam where Hrithik reunites with his sister) is pretty much useless and distractive. Chikni Chameli stuck out like a sore thumb.


Somebody once said, a bad film looks twice as bad on the wide screen. I have to say this for the seemingly crowd-puller song. [Tidbit - Apparently, the song too is a remake of Marathi song].

Never mind the minor distractions, the film, overall, surely makes for a decent watch. 

Currently listening:

Awesome Medley!

Matru ki Bijlee ka Mandola

Sounds weird? Not quite, when you know the brains behind the film. Vishal Bhardwaj.

Imran (Matru), who's already in town to get his accent right, plays a Haryanvi boy in the upcoming Bollywood dramedy, opposite Anushka playing Bijlee. It'll be interesting to see them share the screen for the first time. 

Imran's recent films - Delhi Belly, Mere Brother Ki Dulhan, Ek Main aur Ekk Tu have had a pretty good run at the box office. [I'm not a fan of Delhi Belly. As an actor, he totally delivered in EMAET, though]. 

Shaban Aazmi and Pankaj Kapoor have also been roped in for the film. 

Release date? That's a long way to go. Bhardwaj only begun filming it last week. And I'm already looking forward to it! 

Top 5 movie recco sites

Lifehacker.com ran a poll this week asking readers for the best movie recommendation services. These were the top 5:

Rotten Tomatoes

For a lot of people, a "rotten" rating is enough to make them not want to see a movie at all, much less spend money on it in the theaters. The site does an excellent job of aggregating movie reviews from all over the web, including the voices of professional movie critics, newspapers reviews, bloggers, and forum and movie fan buzz around the web.


Metacritic
Metacritic rates just about everything, and movies are no exception. Similar to Rotten Tomatoes, the site is largely sentiment-driven and scores are an aggregate based on reviews from elsewhere on the web, prominent voices, independent reviews, authors, bloggers, commenters, and members of the community who are invited to sign up and rate their own movies and experiences.


Jinni
Jinni, often described as "Pandora for movies," works best when you search for the types of movies, genres, moods, even performers that you like, and you'll see a list of movies that Jinni thinks will fit the bill, thanks to its aptly-named "Movie Genome Project.

Criticker
The service is only as good as the movies you rate though, so as soon as you sign up, your best bet is to start rating movies right away so the site can get an idea of what you'd enjoy watching. When it does know what you like, though, it makes some great predictions.

ChickFlix
Operated by three women who started the site by debating what exactly a "chick flick" really is, the blog has grown into an amazing source for movie reviews and perspectives that you won't find represented in newspaper reviews or on other movie review sites.
Honorable mentions - IMDB, MovieLens. You can check out the full article here.

Ek main aur Ekk Tu

I have heard extreme reviews about the film. People have either trashed it or loved it. I belong to the latter category (*_*). Ek Main aur Ekk Tu is everything a typically Bollywood romcom isn't. Even the duration doesn't give you a reason to crib. And as much as I am tempted to throw in spoilers, I won't. Kareena took me back to Geet of Jab We Met on and off. But there's more to her role. [I spent my time enjoying the film and Kareena's wardrobe, clothes, bags, hair-do]. Imran is tad better than his earlier (poker) acts. He manages to emote (*_*) and is in fact, quite likable.


The other character that shines, through and through, is Ratna Pathak (of Sarabhai vs Sarabhai fame) playing Imran's mother. All others from Ram Kapoor to Boman Irani to Kareena's dad (couldn't find his name) to Kareena's granny fittingly justify their roles.


The songs are pretty average. My only favorite is talli hai yeh zameen. The cinematography is brilliant (it had to, it's LA, Vegas). The locales are breath-taking. EMAET isn't a must watch on the theater but certainly a one-time watch. Barring the critics, I don't hear anyone talking well about the film. Don't be uptight. Give it a try. @Karan Johar, I'm sure you're all happy and gay ;) First Agneepath and now EMAET.

Kahaani (2012) - Preview

 

Eagerly awaiting March 9, 2012.

Don 2 (2011) - movie review

Disclaimer- Contains spoilers, staking the knowledge of which, would be better than sitting through the two-hour something drill ;)

Besides the fact that Don 2 is a confused little mess of so many Hollywood films, its utterly boring first half and most part of the second half (which more or less means the entire film ;) does little for even SRK loyalists like me  to root for the film.  
He looks thin and ugly for most part and doesn't quite match up to the magnanimity and élan required for this  larger-than-life character. How many will agree that Hrithik could've managed the act far better? [Before SRK's fans shower me with all the love in the comment section, I must admit though, that he looks dapper in the title song and the last shot on the bike.] 

And what got Kunal Kapoor that role still evades my senses. The cliched 'Don ko pakadna mushkil hi nahi namumkin hai' rhetoric drilled unabashedly into our heads made the pre-climax (where Kunal ditches Shahrukh) SO predictable.

All other characters looked least interested at best. Lara, Priyanka have delivered better than this. Boman Irani has the same old nasty expressions we've seen in so many films. He should stick to comedy. Om Puri looked tired and retired. The music of the film is average, and in no way helps the film further.

Even the keen wait for the DVD while I wait for the next big thing (fingers crossed!).

Bollywood: 11 best of 2011 (songs)

11. Chammak challo (Ra One)

10. Ishq Sufiana (Dirty Picture)

9. Saibo (Shor in the City)

8. Ik Junoon (Zindagi na Milegi Dobara)

7. Kolaveri Di (remake by Arjun)

6. Te Amo (Dum Maro Dum)

5. Tum Ho (Rockstar)

4. Señorita (Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara)

3. Saddi Galli (Tanu Weds Manu)

2. Rabba main toh mar Gaya (Mausam)

1. Kun faaya kun (Rockstar)