Unlike a rather average (and bordering on the verge of pure bad) 2011 which marked the Hindi
film industry, 2012 came with many great promises. Some were
fulfilled, and those which were not were made up for with several
pleasant surprises. The very beginning of January threatened us all
with a disaster though, as the first „big“ release in the form of
Players completely crashed, leaving us with raised eyebrows and
proving once again Abhishek Bachchan is absolutely not fit to act too
smart on screen. Soon enough though there was a reason to rejoice as
eagerly awaited remake of Agneepath came out and left me (and many
others) with a feeling we may have gained a new classic! Soon after,
sadly, we returned to the below mediocre material.
Gali Gali Chor Hai
Directed by: Rumy Jafry
Starring: Akshaye Khanna,
Shriya Saran, Mugdha Godse
Verdict: destroy every
copy – horrible – bad – whatever – flawed but enjoyable -
good – great – amazing
The question is: Why are
such fine and attractive actors like Akshaye Khanna and Shriya Saran
left with films like these, when they should be among the highest
crop out there? Gali Gali Chor Hai is trying to show an ordinary
man´s plight against corruption, that plagues all society and stops
before nothing, not even police and politicians (or rather especially
not there). When middle-class Bharat, who works at the bank and plays
Hanuman with local theater company denies to vacate one room for a
politician´s election office, he earns his wrath and vengeance soon
comes knocking on his door in a form of a police officer with news a
fan had been stolen from Bharat´s house and he should now go and
claim the object back. The policeman refuses to listen to Bharat
explaining they never had a fan in the first place. And thus a
seemingly unending chain of mental torture and people demanding
bribes start for Bharat and his family. The highly unsatisfactory
(and also a rather unclear) ending is not the only weakness of the
film. One really feels for Akshaye as Bharat, but unfortunately just
like him the viewer is soon too exhausted and frustrated from the
endlessly repeating situations. The item number (which is obligatory
in every film these days) is quite boring, not to mention the song a
shameless copy of the famous Beedi number from Omkara. Shriya Saran
has literally nothing to do, and her screentime is so limited one
can´t even really sit back and enjoy just looking at her, which,
mind you, would make it all more bearable.
After a bore fest which
was the Khanna/Saran starer ripped apart above, one was left hoping
for something refreshing, enjoyable, even if not as conscious
stirring (not that Gali Gali Chor Hai is, only tries to be), and the
hopes were met when a pleasant Dharma production made its way into
the theaters.
Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu
Directed by: Shakun Batra
Starring: Imran Khan,
Kareena Kapoor
Verdict: destroy every
copy – horrible – bad – whatever – flawed but enjoyable -
good – great – amazing
At first it seemed like a
less pompous version of Jab We Met, but then it took its own form and
pace and swept me away into bursts of laughter. I am not sure if
Imran is ever going to come out of his chocolate boy image box, but
it completely works for him in EMAET. True, his expressions are
limited, but the bulging eyes and stone face were just too hilarious
and fitted the situations. He was never lost beside the spunky, dorky
and adorable Kareena, which is no small tasks considering the huge
X-factor the girl possesses. They make a refreshing pair!
The first half is definitely better and funnier than the second, but fortunately the ending saves it all, as it doesn´t fall into the usual clichéd concept seen a million times. In fact it leaves a great opportunity for a possible sequel - that I can imagine being just as good! At the same time the more I keep thinking about it the more I come to the conclusion I probably wouldn´t enjoy it the second time half as much. It was a great one time watch. Another romantic film on the block however, was hardly watchable even the first time.
The first half is definitely better and funnier than the second, but fortunately the ending saves it all, as it doesn´t fall into the usual clichéd concept seen a million times. In fact it leaves a great opportunity for a possible sequel - that I can imagine being just as good! At the same time the more I keep thinking about it the more I come to the conclusion I probably wouldn´t enjoy it the second time half as much. It was a great one time watch. Another romantic film on the block however, was hardly watchable even the first time.
Ek Deewana Tha
Directed by: Gautham Menon
Starring: Prateik Babbar,
Amy Jackson
Verdict: destroy every
copy – horrible – bad – whatever – flawed but enjoyable -
good – great – amazing
Prateik Babbar got some
really awesome acting genes from his parents, the legendary Smita
Patil and once upon a time popular Raj Babbar, but apparently they
did not develop. Prateik is highly average as an actor and below
average as a dancer, not to mention he has something sleazy about
him. Similarly like Tusshar Kapoor he is not suited for big screen
(or any screen really). And since his partner was a
white-girl-painted-brown Amy Jackson, who is unsuccessfully
pretending to be a native Indian, there is no saving grace to the
film which was supposed to be cute and mushy but only can be
classified as boring and silly. Prateik falls in love with Amy at the
first sight and faces the obstacles on his way - apart from the usual
disapproving bhai and father it´s also the girl´s religion, which
does not even allow her watching movies, while he wants to be a
filmmaker. Smells like trouble nah? Duh. It didn´t even seem they
love each other, instead their relationship reminded me of „affairs“
one has when they are 13. The constant changes of heart of the girl
were frustrating. Two bad actors in a bad film with some really bad
dialogues.
After the horrible Ek
Deewana Tha followed as equally disappointing attempt at a comedy in
the form of Jodi Breakers starring Madhavan and Bipasha Basu, but the
film was not even remotely funny and came off as quite vulgar and
offending I would say. Fortunately with that the line of bad films
was ended for a while and I loved or at least enjoyed all the other
movies that followed, starting with Tere Naal Love Ho Gaya, that
landed upon our screens during that auspicious time when we were all
sighting with delight over Riteish and Genelia and their big
Bollywood real life wedding, which made it all even more cute. And
waiting next in the line was the oh-so-crush-able Ali Zafar and his
tour around the world.
London Paris New York
Directed by: Anu Menon
Starring: Ali Zafar, Aditi
Rao Hydari
Verdict: destroy every
copy – horrible – bad – whatever – flawed but enjoyable -
good – great – amazing
I was rather apprehensive
but blame it to whatever you want - from me being ill and tired to
pure determination to give every film a chance - I ended up liking
this. Actually maybe "like" is not the best word. I
definitely found it interesting and it occupied my mind for a while.
Both Ali and Aditi are very natural performers, and the film gives
them both a lot of scope to enact different shades and situations.
The London bit was typically rom-com, but sweet and neat, while the
Paris bit was disturbingly dark. Finally the New York part seemed the
most real, although by that time I hated the character of Lalitha and
wished he would just ditch her. Worth a watch.
Paan Singh Tomar
Directed by: Tigmanshu Dhulia
Starring: Irrfan Khan, Mahie Gill
Verdict: destroy every
copy – horrible – bad – whatever – flawed but enjoyable -
good – great – amazing
Powerful story told in a
very simple, modest way. Paan Singh Tomar, an army officer and a
sportsman, who won gold medals for India on international platform,
and died in a police encounter in 1981, was once a real person, and
the film makes a point to remind us of how ungrateful and forgetful
we get of people like him – who once earn our applause but we
couldn´t care less about them, and we barely give them a thought
once the race is over. It is indeed a sarcastic and bitter twist of
fate, that Paan Singh is remembered more for his career as a dacoit
(or „rebel“ as we are reminded) than for his achievements in the
field of sport. When it comes to earthy, common man roles, hardly any
actor can do what Irrfan Khan does. He simply begins to live in the
character, and in a few moments you are staring at him with complete
conviction that this is the real Paan Singh, this is how he acted and
lived. Paan Singh Tomar make for a thoughtful tribute and a fine
movie.
Chaar Din Ki Chandni
Directed by: Samir Karnik
Starring: Tusshar Kapoor,
Kulraj Randhawa
Verdict: destroy every
copy – horrible – bad – whatever – flawed but enjoyable -
good – great – amazing
Surprisingly far from
awful, Chaar Din Ki Chandni I couldn´t care less for when it
released proved to be quite an enjoyable venture, although by far not
flawless. The director of Yamla Pagla Deewana, which was dominated by
the Deol trio, opted for the star kid Tusshar Kapoor this time, but
since he is from „the other“ filmi Kapoor clan not much should be
expected from him (Jeetendra must be one of the most untalented
actors ever and he passed this on to his son). Indeed the hero is the
greatest weakness of this romantic comedy, and heroine the greatest
strength. Kulraj as Chandni is full of life and has great comic
timing, alas, she shared more chemistry with her „fiancé´s“
uncles than with him. The first half of the movie is better than the
second. Tusshar (can´t recall his name in the film right now) brings
home his fianceé Chandni, but since his father, a proud nobleman,
would never allow him a simple Punjabi girl, he introduces her as
merely his friend, and Chandni herself sets out to win over the
hearts of the family. And she is successful, perhaps even more than
she originally hoped to be. Soon enough Tusshar´s uncles are all
head over heels with lively and spunky girl.
Popular character actors
like Farida Jalal, Anupam Kher and especially Om Puri complete the
cast and can never go wrong, though Anupam at times slips into way
too much overacting, which never suited him. In the end I was well
entertained and kept singing the remix of an old hit song „Chandni
O Meri Chandni“ for quite a while!
What came after was a
shock. Indeed, Kahaani, starring Vidya Balan, whom the nation pretty
much re-discovered last year, was so good hardly anyone would have
expected it. So good that this film without a hero swept the box
office and brought loads of critical acclaim to the director and his
leading lady, most deservedly so. Much more expectations were,
however, laid upon another big release – Agent Vinod, in which Saif
Ali Khan shared screen with his girlfriend, and while far from
perfect (and far from making big money), this venture too I see as a
positive point for the filmi 2012. But after all the mysteries and
agents and thrill one needed something else. Something light and
possibly uncomplicated. We got served what we wanted.
Bittoo Boss
Directed by: Supavitra
Babul
Starring: Pulkit Samrat,
Amita Pathak
Verdict: destroy every
copy – horrible – bad – whatever – flawed but enjoyable -
good – great – amazing
Finally a film, that even
though falling somehow into my not exactly favourite „romcom“
category, is quite different in terms of plot and twists. The new,
fresh actors with fair share of talent play out a story of a popular
shaadi-video cameraman Bittoo, who likes his job, but at the same
time dreams big about doing real films one day. He, of course, falls
in love in the process and loses the girl (only to get her in the end
since it is a true pyaar you see), and to prove to her he can reach
the high places without the necessity to crawl in front of the
mightier people, he leaves the weddings to shoot..... illegal „blue
sexy films“.
The movie definitely
seemed daring to me with showing how popular are porn films and how
readily will people pay for them, but thankfully Bittoo realizes soon
enough that love making is a thing private – and beautiful. Thank
God that for once sex was not labeled disgusting/immoral etc. and the
filmmakers embraced the idea of it being all natural.
You can watch the movie
without fear it would preach though. It has enough of entertainment
and enjoyment to keep you occupied at all times. It is not a family
film by far though, you might want to avoid watching it with children
– or parents. And similarly refreshing picture with an unusual
theme followed.
Vicky Donor
Directed by: Shoojit
Sircar
Starring: Ayushmann
Khurrana, Yami Gautam, Annu Kapoor
Verdict: destroy every
copy – horrible – bad – whatever – flawed but enjoyable -
good – great – amazing
What has not been written
about this film I could possibly write? Vicky Donor took theaters by
an unexpected storm and came out a winner. Daring, just like Bittoo
Boss, but in a slightly different way, since it had also an
underlining and yet subtle-enough-not-to-annoy message supporting
sperm donation, which, I understand, is still one of the awkward
topics in India. While I could possibly question the procedure shown
in the film (Is it really possibly to donate sperm so many times?
Because in our country it´s five times and that´s it.), the point
is made: in a world full of childless marriages sperm donation is
sometimes everything needed for happiness of others. Vicky, however,
meets with misunderstanding from those around him, which makes him
hide everything from his own wife, up until the moment she finds out
that ironically she is impossible to bear a child of her own. I loved
the fact Vicky fully supports her even after knowing that, and the
film thus acknowledges that even though not a mother, she is no less
of a woman. The very ending had me near tears (but then again it is
not difficult to make me cry, especially when children are
concerned). I recommend to stop watching the film as soon as the
screen goes black though, as the end credits are accompanied by an
item song from Mr. Producer John Abraham, whose naked chest and disco
dancing does not go well with tender feelings raised by the film
itself.
Unlike last year it is
going to be interesting to see who gets the award for the best
newcomer male 2012, with three notable discoveries in the first half
of the year already – Arjun Kapoor, Ayushmann Khurrana and Pulkit
Samrat (the latter two being more deserving in my eyes than the first
one mentioned). Anyway – I refused to watch the next release which
was a Vikram Bhatt production called „Hate Story“, because things
I´ve heard were more on the negative side and I simply did not feel
interested one bit. So I don´t know about Hate Story, but a film
that followed cut the successful line for a while.
Tezz
Directed by: Priyadarshan
Starring: Ajay Devgn, Anil
Kapoor, Zayed Khan, Boman Irani
Verdict: destroy every
copy – horrible – bad – whatever – flawed but enjoyable -
good – great – amazing
If you are doing a film on
„good“ people committing a crime, you should be able to make
viewers root for them, which is not the case here. You simply do not
care for anyone – not for the illegal immigrants, not for an Indian
detective in English services and certainly not for Kangana, who is
quickly becoming in my eyes the worst actress of Bollywood. I don´t
know what happened to her, but in everything post Fashion she has
been pure awful and such is also her blink-and-miss cameo in this.
It was incredibly bizarre
seeing all the English men talking in Hindi – and not only to
Indians but also amongst themselves. Apparently most of the film was
shot in English and later dubbed, the dubbing was just terrible and
made me think why they just couldn´t have left it alone, after all
English is commonly used and known in India, and it would make the
whole movies a lot more believable as well. The highlight is Boman
Irani´s appearance, his anxiety is so well acted he is easily the
best performer in the film. Ajay is unusually ineffective and Anil
chasing him and pulling off some stunts annoys for the most part.
The plot reminded me more
of some cop show airing late at night when only insomniacs still
have their TV on, and I guess Tezz might cure them at least for one
night. The film is supposed to be a thriller, but it lacks the
thrills.
In between Karishma Kapoor
tried to charm her audience with Dangerous Ishq, but bad script and
bad everything made me wish I could just delete it from my mind and
remember her as Zubeidaa and Fiza. Another film that did not really
click with my was Ishaqzaade. It was still better than what followed
though.
Department
Directed by: Ram Gopal
Varma
Starring: Sanjay Dutt,
Amitabh Bachchan, Rana Daggubati
Verdict: destroy every
copy – horrible – bad – whatever – flawed but enjoyable -
good – great – amazing
The camera work in this
was, I guess, supposed to be cool and artsy, but as a result it looks
amateurish and gave me a headache. And the rest of the whole thing
was rather puke-worthy. Extremely graphic and lacking the thrills, a
quite illogical story of a special „department“ of men too brutal
for police force (but essentially good guys, you see) who have no
qualms of taking the law into their hands. Their strategy is simple:
let´s kill everything we see. More than an action film with a plot
it reminded me of those senseless PC games where you had greeted
everything that moved with a machine gun fire. Let´s not forget that
the two main protagonists are named Mahadev and Shiv, which both
stand for „God Shankar“ as we are very unsubtly told, I can only
imagine it was supposed to make them both look like two heaven-sent
fighters who shall wipe out the crime rather than really violent guy
with no sense of order but their own. Throw in the most vulgar item
number I´ve seen so far full of close ups of the girl´s lower
intimate parts (and as insignificant a complaint it may seem now, she
couldn´t dance) and you get to a point where you really don´t know
if you dare to go on. I did and was punished by boring and confusing
twist (where everyone betrays everybody) full of shooting scenes
(where the good guy has an endless ammo), as well as many close ups
of female asses (and more vulgar stuff). A film not worth watching,
and not worthy of Sanjay Dutt or Amitabh Bachchan.
After the Ram Gopal Varma
rubbish even a flawed movie that came soon after seemed a blessing.
If nothing else, it was kinda fun.
Rowdy Rathore
Directed by: Prabhudeva
Starring: Akshay Kumar,
Sonakshi Sinha
Verdict: destroy every
copy – horrible – bad – whatever – flawed but enjoyable -
good – great – amazing
After Houseful 2 Akshay
was really on the ride and since everyone is trying to have their own
Dabangg, Rowdy Rathore was made to show us Akki too can become a
fearless cop who shall bring down the village lords abusing their
power. There is not much to be written about Rowdy Rathore except it
was entertaining and, as mentioned already, flawed, with music which
is less than memorable and without much of a lasting impression.
Watch and forget really. Sonakshi looks gorgeous, but again she is
merely an accessory (I am so hoping to see her in some role with
integrity soon, but so far, sigh, I´m left with hoping only).
Dabangg stay untouched so far in all the departments. Frankly I hope
we don´t get to see a similar film in a while. But sadly there are
more actors who have not tried their luck with it yet so I guess even
in this case my hoping is in vain...
Out of action and blood
and wasted performers we came to things nicer, fluffier and though of
varying quality, mostly quite enjoyable. A good example
would be a film about... a car! (followed by something less cute, but
quite impressive and different).
Ferrari Ki Sawaari
Directed by: Rajesh
Mapuskar
Starring: Sharman Joshi,
Boman Irani
Verdict: destroy every
copy – horrible – bad – whatever – flawed but enjoyable -
good – great – amazing
Sweet story of a man with
very gentle and honest nature, who above everything else loves his
son and would love to make all his wishes come true – even if he
cannot afford them financially. And thus to send little Kayo to a
cricket camp in London (WTF, the kid could live without it) he
borrows Sachin Tendulkar´s red Ferrari. Indeed, only borrows, for a
wedding of an influential politician´s son. But as always, his
trouble does not end even after he gets the money. He kinda forgets
them in the car he returns.... Talked more because of Vidya Balan´s
(not too impressive) item number, the movie has a big heart and not
much brain. Sharman and Boman both give convincing performances as
mild but obstinate son and bitter old father. You genuinely feel for
their plight, as insignificant as it may finally seem from a human
perspective. Even though the situations were filmi, the relationships
were very real. I am not lying when I say I had tears in my eyes for
good twenty minutes!
Gangs of Wasseypur
Directed by: Anurag
Kashyap
Starring: Manoj Bajpai,
Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Piyush Mishra
Verdict: destroy every
copy – horrible – bad – whatever – flawed but enjoyable -
good – great – amazing
This film was actually was
long they divided it into two parts that released about a month apart
from each other, but originally it was one movie and I treated it
like that. Moving from one era to the next and one character to the
next was a bit difficult at the beginning, because one was given just
a raw deal of information about everything and all at once. As the
story progresses it takes an interesting form – a tale of a
lifetime really, going from birth to death. And all the pain and
laughs, success and love, and tragedy and hatred in between. It was
depressing to watch so many people living in utter darkness where
mercy does not exist and neither does forgiveness. Wasseypur is a
small world where only revenge and power mean anything. As if all the
terrible things in the world were meeting right there for the
audience to see. At times the film was very graphic, it certainly
doesn´t make a nice family watch. The acting by all was very
natural. It felt real. It all felt very real. Good, but rather
disturbing film.
As the roll of the good
ones neared the end for a time, there were still hilarious Bol Bachchan, that restored my faith in Junior B for a while at least,
and less perfect but still fine Cocktail (its finest piece being
Deepika Padukone, who has showed once and for all there is more to
her than just those long legs). And then came a Shahid Kapoor movie.
Shahid Kapoor movies in the past few years did not do exactly well.
Sadly the handsome and not without a talent actor completely lacks
any script sense, otherwise he would have never said yes to a
pointless Teri Meri Kahaani. And then the industry showed us that it can get REALLY bad.
Kya Super Kool Hain Hum
Directed by: Sachin Yardi
Starring: Tusshar Kapoor,
Riteish Deshmukh
Verdict: destroy every
copy – horrible – bad – whatever – flawed but enjoyable -
good – great – amazing
Stuffed from beginning to
end with double meaning jokes and references, this film is as average
an entertainer as you can get. There is lots of vulgar and lots of
OTT involved. Two unsuccessful friends – Tusshar trying to get a
film career (basically playing himself) and Riteish trying to make it
big as a DJ – share a flat and a super fertile pug. And their story
is dull though filled with supossedly humourous situations. I like
Riteish and I like Anupam Kher and I like Chunky Pandey (occasionally
and definitely without that wig), but this movie better be forgotten
soon.
Ek Tha Tiger
Directed by: Kabir Khan
Starring: Salman Khan,
Katrina Kaif, Ranvir Shorey
Verdict: destroy every
copy – horrible – bad – whatever – flawed but enjoyable -
good – great – amazing
What is there to review
really? Not the plot for sure. While Agent Vinod was perhaps too
elaborate Ek Tha Tiger is hugely straightforward and predictable,
though in a way works with same elements, which include a pyaar
between an Indian spy falling in love with Pakistani spy (why is the
Pakistani always a woman?). Salman does well, though at first his
character seemed to me like some upgraded Lovely Singh from
Bodyguard. Katrina has one expression for all emotions and her
"emotional" dialogue delivery sucks. Both of them are in
their comfort zone, there was nothing new or challenging for either
of them EXCEPT Katrina got to kick some ass and I must say she looked
good doing that. Music is beautiful (though a bit of a background
score is stolen from Forrest Gump), action is fine (though there are
way too large chunks of it and so after a while I just let the film
run and went to do other things and only returned once the noise went
down). Average entertainer that I can imagine is loved by Salman
fans.
Shirin Farhad Ki Toh Nikal
Padi
Directed by: Bela Bhansali
Starring: Boman Irani,
Farah Khan
Verdict: destroy every
copy – horrible – bad – whatever – flawed but enjoyable -
good – great – amazing
I would love to use words
like sweet and endearing but even though there are sparks of that the
adjective needed her is BORING. I was so looking forward to this one,
and the trailers as well as posters gave me an idea this is going to
be a fun ride making the best out of Boman and Farah´s famous sense
of humour, but ouch! yes, the story was nice, but they shouldn´t
have make it look like a crazy comedy. I was waiting for the laughs
and they never came. Farah is no actress, but she is completely at
ease in front of a camera, so she can sell to you most of her scenes
with conviction, Boman I love but.... but... but.... but it was all
too boring. The film is less than 2 hours long and I had trouble
finishing it.
Joker
Directed by: Shirish
Kunder
Starring: Akshay Kumar,
Sonakshi Sinha
Verdict: destroy every
copy – horrible – bad – whatever – flawed but enjoyable -
good – great – amazing
Not as terrible as the
reviewers made it sound, but still not good enough not to be a bad
film. The premise itself was fine. I actually liked the idea of a
village full of mad people that is not in the maps, and I though the
first 40 minutes were quite adorable showing Akshay and these people
bonding. However after all the UFOs and crop circles turned up it
went seriously downhill. It wasn´t funny. It was just mad. Akshay
and Sonakshi are both wasted, especially Sonakshi, in whom you can
just see all that wonderful potential. Unfortunately she has so far
only signed projects that do not give her any scope to do anything
important and different. I am not giving up on her just yet, but hope
after Dabangg 2 she stays away from masalla flicks with big stars for
a while. Also – the title in this case was just wrongly chosen. In
fact the whole idea of a „joker“ was extremely forced into the
story to give it at least a slight sense of intelligence, but
well.... did not happen. The item number by Chitrangada is
forgettable and badly shot.
The first „big“
release in September was an Emraan Hashmi starrer.
Raaz 3
Directed by: Vikram Bhatt
Starring: Emraan Hashmi,
Bipasha Basu, Esha Gupta
Verdict: destroy every
copy – horrible – bad – whatever – flawed but enjoyable -
good – great – amazing
I am basically a coward
when it comes to horror films. I have not seen many in my life, but
whenever I happened to do so, I was scared to go to the bathroom in
the night for another month or so. After Raaz 3 I went to get my ice
cream from the fridge without bothering to turn the lights on. It is
difficult to get scared when the victim doesn´t look to be herself,
screaming be damned, even if a head is chewn off from the guy sitting
beside you (and apparently that is a real turn on for some – I
would have myself transported into the nearest mental asylum and
demand myself to be locked up). Emraan is more or less a prop and
keeps his OK level of acting, he doesn´t share chemistry with either
of the two women in the story. Newcomer Esha Gupta is a pretty thing
that might become good in time, Bipasha has never been a favourite of
mine, but she is definitely the best thing about the whole movie
(even though she went to OTT few times). It is real pity everything
around her was so mediocre, instead of supporting her performance.
Too much smooching and revealing without purpose, but I´ve heard
that is common in Emraan´s films.... And I swear people in horror
films do not have the most basic self preservation instincts.
The Kapoor cousins took
over then, or rather one of them. Kareena´s Heroine, first
marked by controversy caused by Aishwarya Rai´s pregnancy, and
heralded as a new „shocking“ film by self-indulgent Bhandarkar,
ended up being quite average and lackluster movie. On the other hand
Ranbir Kapoor´s Barfi made a mark, with both critics and janta
loving it. Rest of the month though belonged to Paresh Rawal, who
starred in two comedies. First one fell flat at the box office,
second became the biggest surprise hit of the year.
Kamaal Dhamaal Malamaal
Directed by: Priyadarshan
Starring: Shreyas Talpade,
Nana Patekar, Om Puri, Paresh Rawal
Verdict: destroy every
copy – horrible – bad – whatever – flawed but enjoyable -
good – great – amazing
A pleasant comedy that
gets a bit mysterious and darker as it progresses. No great work of
art, but a fine timepass if you want to just sit back, don´t bother
about anything and watch a movie. The films can boast with some
impressive names like Paresh Rawal, Om Puri and Nana Patekar, but the
main character is played by Shreyas Talpade, who is actually very
good in the role and entertains throughout. Songs suck and there are
flaws in the script, but there is nothing major that would spoil the
experience if you are awaiting something groundbreaking.
Oh My God
Directed by: Umesh Shukla
Starring: Paresh Rawal,
Akshay Kumar, Mithun Chakraborty, Om Puri
Verdict: destroy every
copy – horrible – bad – whatever – flawed but enjoyable -
good – great – amazing
Excellent movie that can
boast with wonderful performances, good script and meaningful
message, and even though there is plenty of what might be called
preaching (for the lack of better word), it still manages to be very
entertaining. It is not mindless comedy (aka God Tussi Great Ho) and
it is not a religious propaganda of any kind. Paresh Rawal gives yet
another flawless performance as a sceptical and very "human",
ordinary person, who instigates a court case against God after
suffering big losses in his life, and is demanding a refund. Aided
and opposed by more wonderful actors (from Om Puri to
so-painfully-underrated Mithun Chakraborthy), he ends up making a
point he himself did not pursue in the first place. At first, as a
believer, I was genuinely scared when Akshay Kumar appeared, but his
act and the presentation, in the context of the film, was very
sensitively done. Even what might have seem a rather ridiculing act
at first (his revelation at the hospital), was not really insulting
in any way. It showed what I believe is true - that God has the
greatest sense of humour - and from the audience´s point of view, it
kept the film in the enjoyable mode and did not let it sink into the
depths of preachy religious fervour. And I have to mention that
Sonakshi Sinha can dance and her expressions are wonderful! For me,
OMG is the best film of the year. It made me think, it entertained
me, it kept me interested throughout, it had great performances and
most importantly it stayed with me for quite some time even after it
ended.
Women power met with both
success and rejection in the form of Sridevi´s comeback film English Vinglish and Rani Mukherjee´s Aiyyaa. While the first one belong to
the best of what we´ve been served, the latter belongs to an
opposite category. And that was it for female centric films for a
while. Karan Johar tried to win the new audience over with his
average and unimpressive attempt at cooler than cool college fantasy
Student of the Year, and more half-baked product followed.
Rush
Directed by: Shamin Desai
Starring: Emraan Hashmi,
Neha Dhupia, Aditya Pancholi, Sagarika Ghatge
Verdict: destroy every
copy – horrible – bad – whatever – flawed but enjoyable -
good – great – amazing
I mostly stayed away from Emraan
this year. Never liked him. But in my defense – me avoiding him
was not really intentional. The films that released and
boasted with his name did not catch my interest one bit. I don´t
really know why I watched Rush either, but it for sure was not a time
too well spent. A brilliant, yet oh so underrated and misunderstood
in his efforts reporter is fired from the news channel, only to be
offered a much better job with another channel. One that is run by
Aditya Pancholi, who believes there is no right or wrong, there is
only profit (such an original character, wow, but to be fair he is
still the best performer in the film). And a channel that I
personally found pretty disgusting, because hearing about murders,
rapes and other stuff, stripping the dead (though fictional) of their
dignity by showing the most graphic footage, is definitely not what I
would watch, and that too 24/7 (and surprise surprise the hero holds
a big speech at the end that society is to blame for media being
insensitive. I wonder why he didn´t see this while working on the
most horrendous crime channel.) Anyway, the previous underrated
reporter shoots to the top of success immediately. But oh my! Not
everything is as it seems! And Emraan uncovers lots of dirt and has
to run for his life etc etc you get the picture. Emraan is his
ineffective self. The dude just has a non-existent voice modulation
and all he says falls flat. Actresses were both annoying and
superficial me has to say I did not find them pretty. Hero is just
dragged through the film being passive while others are doing stuff.
The climax feel very anti-climatic. Deeply average. If you´re
thinking about watching it, think again. Don´t rush.
Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana
Directed by: Sameer Sharma
Starring: Kunal Kapoor, Huma Qureshi, Rajesh Sharma
As one of those with no cinema where Bollywood films would be screened anywhere within several thousand miles around, I now have to sit and wait patiently for the rest of the films to come out on DVD. I have hopes for Son of Sardaar to provide some entertainment. Jab Tak Hai Jaan is an obligatory watch – just for Shahrukh Khan, but Talaash sounds way too interesting to skip. Khiladi 786 is something I am not sure about yet, but really hope Dabangg 2 will not disappoint!
Directed by: Sameer Sharma
Starring: Kunal Kapoor, Huma Qureshi, Rajesh Sharma
Verdict: destroy every
copy – horrible – bad – whatever – flawed but enjoyable -
good – great – amazing
Reviews were kinds to this one, but I
found it difficult to get into. For the sake of my crush Kunal Kapoor
I was hoping to enjoy it, but kya karoon? Honesty first. It did pick
up eventually, but you just cannot waste a whole hour of a two hour
film like this. A small story about a small crook, who because of a
debt has to retreat from London back to India in hope of getting
money somehow, and ends up running a family eatery as well as fixing
relationship with everyone he had hurt once, it is not without charm,
at the same time there is nothing really memorable. The actors are
all good, especially Huma Qureshi, who, sadly, it not „model-pretty“
nor has a hot figure and I have a bad feeling she is not going to
make it into the A-stars list, even though she would probably deserve
it.
As one of those with no cinema where Bollywood films would be screened anywhere within several thousand miles around, I now have to sit and wait patiently for the rest of the films to come out on DVD. I have hopes for Son of Sardaar to provide some entertainment. Jab Tak Hai Jaan is an obligatory watch – just for Shahrukh Khan, but Talaash sounds way too interesting to skip. Khiladi 786 is something I am not sure about yet, but really hope Dabangg 2 will not disappoint!
My God - how do you even watch these many films? LOL Lovely reviews and I agree - I think EMAET would be great with a sequel, unlike many other films. Joker, Ek Tha Tiger and Rowdy Rathore are all on Netflix Instant Watch. Which would you recommend I try?
ReplyDeleteWell, it is a hobby, so I always manage to find time :) And I watched many over summer when I had no school duties :) I think Ek Tha Tiger is not that bad, if you can stand Katrina and Salman. Rowdy is illogical and silly, but enjoybale if you turn off your brain. Joker is not worth it. Better choose other films.
DeleteI might watch Joker just to see what all the hubbub is about, but if it's truly that bad I'll just do a mini-why-I-didn't-finish-it-review for it :)
ReplyDeleteI found it better than most other reviewers, it is definitely NOT the worst film of 2012. Maybe low expectations will work in its favour with you :)
DeleteWow, that's a lot I need to catch up on!
ReplyDeleteBtw, I awarded you the Versatile Blogger Award, check it out: http://limereviews.blogspot.com/2013/01/award-seasons-started.html
Happy new year!