From my
perspective 2014 was lots better than 2013, even if only because
there has been more than one film that I genuinely loved. I usually
make one big overview, but catching up with new Bollywood releases
has been difficult for me this time, so here I am to take a look at
the first half of the year only. No worries – second overview is
patiently waiting in the wings! The year 2014 started on the highest
of highs with fantabulous
Dedh Ishqiya, which eventually became my
most favourite Bollywood film ever, unfortunately the very same day
also witnessed one of the most regressive and atrocious pictures of
the year in the form of
Yaariyan. My January-line up then continued
with muscle-flashing
Jai Ho and utterly useless....
One By Two
Directed by: Devika Bhagat
Starring: Abhay Deol, Preeti Desai
My rating:
destroy every copy – horrible
– bad –
whatever – flawed but
enjoyable - good – great –
amazing
– experience
Some films make you feel like they take
a lifetime before their end. This one take a lifetime to start. In a
way it never does. Few times Amit (Abhay Deol) is told by others that
he is boring, and he indeed is. From looks to dialogue delivery and
posture, his acting is completely lifeless. Preeti Desai fares
better, but.... what good is that when the story has no point and
every idea is still-born? We are watching two completely unrelated
storyline of two people who only meet in the last two minutes of the
film! Some of the songs are nice and there is a lot of dancing, but
ironically choreography does nothing but show us that Preeti has
really long and slender legs. One by Two are two completely different
stories sloppily pasted together by a duckt tape, and neither is
interesting. Unless you like farting jokes.
Fortunately cute, though not faultless,
Hasee Toh Phasee came along, and while the follow-up film Gunday
(review coming eventually) remains in the so bad it´s actually good
cathegory, it too provided for fine, inconsequential entertainment.
The true gem of the month of February though was served to us by
Imtiaz Ali in the form
Highway, in which Alia Bhatt actually debuted
as an actress. Her role was ever so much better than even what an
established star like Vidya Balan got in...
Shaadi Ke Side Effects
Directed by: Saket
Chaudhary
Starring: Farhan
Akhtar, Vidya Balan
My rating: destroy
every copy – horrible – bad –
whatever – flawed but enjoyable - good – great –
amazing
– experience
After she was completely
exiled into obscure shadows of a silly film named Ghanchakkar, Vidya
Balan is yet again more of a supporting character in this. And it
just not feels right, simply because she is Vidya Balan and she
deserves the best. Thus Shaadi Ke Side Efects (which really should
have been named Parenthood ke Side Effects or something of that sort)
becomes a Farhan Akhtar show. Fortunatelly he too is very talented
and plays his character with much conviction. The plot, built around
a universal truth that a baby will change your life forever, could
have been a really fertile ground for a laugh riot comedy with
relatable situations. But the opportunity passed the filmmakers by.
The humorous scenes provoke a mild smile, but hardly any laughs. It
is not all lost until the point when Vidya´s character decides to
get even with her hubster, and invents a situation which in
comparison is much, much worse than whatever he has done. From there
it is all going quickly down the hill and whatever message of
“learning” was intended to be, it goes down the drain with the
very last scene, which just makes you think “What was the point of
this film then?”
Gulaab Gang (review coming eventually)
spelled a big let-down for me, no wonder that
Queen won the hearts
instead (though I personally was not nearly as swayed of my feet by
it). For the rest of the March Queen was probably the only movie
worth attention, which could not be changed even by two films
releasing right after:
Total Siyapaa
Directed by: Eshwar Niwas
Starring: Ali Zafar, Yami Gautam,
Anupam Kher, Kirron Kher
My rating: destroy
every copy – horrible – bad – whatever
– flawed but enjoyable - good – great –
amazing
– experience
This film might be a new
definition of useless. It does nothing for anyone be it actors or
audience. A Pakistani boy love an Indian girl, who brings him home so
he could be introduced to her (as we soon find out) totally
xenophobic family consisting of a hysterical mother, senile grandpa,
violent brother etc. A story of just one night spent in their company
turns out to be pointless and random. It may have worked magic if
only the writers actually added some good jokes, but much like Anupam
Kher for 90% of his screentime they keep looking for something, but
they have no idea if it exists. Ali and Yami are two beautiful people
with obvious talent, so naturally one feels disappointed that they
are so utterly wasted on a film so... well, useless.
Beewakoofiaan
Directed by: Nupur Asthana
Starring: Ayushman Khuranna, Sonam
Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor
My rating: destroy
every copy – horrible – bad – whatever
– flawed but enjoyable - good – great –
amazing
– experience
It took me exactly five sitting to
watch the movie. It is just too slow, too boring and too predictable.
And full of really awkward kissing. Ayushman Khuranna seems to have
big trouble after Vicky Donor to find a good film and a good role,
Rishi Kapoor is solid but his role has no intersting quality, and
Sonam Kapoor is probably forever going to be „that pretty girl who
cannot act“. Her best is being decent. In the movie she is yet
again just a hanger for designer clothes. What starts as a typical
„you are not good (aka rich) enough to marry my daughter“ romcom
never manages to create moments of charm, neither there is anything
witty and funny. Everything flows steadily and without excitement. I
would compare the film to a music they always play at supermarkets as
you shop. You know it exists but you just really don´t care.
The month of April truly
signalized that the young ones took over. Both Main Tera Hero and 2
States (reviews coming eventually) were entertaining and showed us
that Bollywood of future years is not going to be without talent, and
there will be someone worth the interest. The same cannot be said for
one of the famed Bollywood directors Subhash Ghai, who also laid his
bet on some new blood, but his arrow failed to even come near to the
target.
Kaanchi
Directed by: Subhash Ghai
Starring: Mishti, Rishi Kapoor,
Mithun Chakraborthy, Kartik Tiwari
My rating:
destroy every copy – horrible
– bad –
whatever
– flawed
but enjoyable - good – great –
amazing
I feel rather conflicted
about Kaanchi. I intended to hate it, but I did not. At least not all
of it. The first hour or so is, in fact, quite decent, unfortunately
the second half of the film is a hot and boring mess. Advertising the
film as a fight of a girl against the system was misleading to say
the least, since Kaanchi fights to get even on a personal front, not
to change anything about society or the world. Furthermore for the
longest time one cannot be sure of what is Kaanchi feeling – we are
as distant from her as her detective friend who actually narrates the
story. Connection, so important in such a story, is missing. The
thrill stalls when it should be gaining a momentum. Newcomer Mishti,
who looks like a lovechild of Aishwarya Rai (she is styled like her
in Taal) and Mahima Chaudrey (who actually makes a blink-and-miss
cameo), is better as spunky village kid rather than a dangerous woman
set after a revenge, yet overal is poor and her lack of personal
charm further harms her cause of winning over the audience. Then
there are further little annoyances: like Kaanchi´s perfect and
heavy makeup she wears even as she races on a bike through the
mountains and roams Mumbai all homeless, or avoidable and vulgar
songs, or super-awkward kissing. And the fact that people are deaf so
a speeding truck or train just come unnoticed. Rishi Kapoor and
Mithun Chakraborthy are given ill-written characters in which both
annoy. Kartik Tiwari gets the short straw, but is likeable. You know
what.... maybe I did hate it and not even noticed. Or not? After all,
this film has one girl who needs no saving and does what she wants,
which is rare in Hindi films. See. I am indeed conflicted.
After Queen Kangana Ranaut
drew the attention of the public towards her next release, which,
though interesting, could not repeat the box office magic for her.
Revolver Rani
Directed by: Sai Kabir
Shrivastav
Starring: Kangana
Ranaut, Vir Das
My rating:
destroy every copy – horrible
– bad –
whatever
– flawed
but enjoyable (I guess ???) - good – great –
amazing
This was weird in a weird
kind of sense. Crazy and absurd in a Kill Bill way, but not absurd
enough to be as fascinating. Not great on action either, in spite of
the badass title. Oh no! This one, my dears, is yet another one of
the corrupt politicians fight for the sets in local elections films.
I suppose it says a lot about India if the traditional evil villains
turned from disgusting rapists and heartless gangsters into sleek
politicians. Revolver Rani had an interesting concept, but the story
was not strong enough to carry all the craziness, that actually could
have made it into something memorable. The movie does not pass the
Bechdel test, but from the feminist point of view it was great to see
that Alka Singh (Kangana) is a power to reckon with while not a
single person (including armed to the teeth goondas) ever thinks less
of her because she is a woman. Nobody discusses her gender. She is
there and she is feared and hated. But the start is too slow, the
narrative too focused on politics (instead on let´s say the
relationship between Alka and Rahul, or even who she really is) and
the ending kind of a mess, which definitely does not feel
satisfactory. And yet, I liked Kangana in this better than in Queen
(but Queen overall is a better film no doubt). I will always maintain
that she is in her element when playing disturbed, not really normal
characters - and Alka, with her violent mood swings, gangster image
and almost childish, simplistic thinking, is right up her alley.
Basically as an ordinary girl, Kagana annoys me. As a psycho I like
her. Vir Das is good, and makes you hate him effortlessly (he is
totally one of the biggest douchebags on big screen ever). Other
actors do not make a mark, simply because they all do the same angry,
power-hungry act for which I did not care. In the end I felt that the
main point should have lied with Alka and her predicament, yet not
enough time was spent on it. I´d say it´s "flawed but
enjoyable", except it gets so bizarre I do not think anyone
could really "enjoy". I was intrigued once the first boring
30 minutes were over though, so there go the brownie points.
Now let´s move on to....
Hawaa
Hawaai
Directed by: Amole
Gupte
Starring: Partho Gupte,
Saqib Saleem
My rating: destroy
every copy – horrible – bad –
whatever
– flawed but enjoyable - good – great –
amazing
– experience
Hawaa Hawaai is a film
made with lots of honesty. It is simple, creating a new story for a
set formula (victory of a self-made underdog), and since it is a
story about a young boy, it has a clear, pure touch of innocence. A
child´s view is not really used, aside perhaps from application of
simple beliefs that when you want something done, there is no problem
in getting it. Where adults would five million reasons of why they
might fail, small homeless boys see no obstacles in anything. The
relationships are always sincere and no child feels envious or
jealous. Idealistic perhaps, but makes for a nice change actually.
All the child actors are very good, among the adults only the
handsome Saqib Saleem has a role of importance and he is very
convincing. The only, unfortunately quite major, drawback is that if
you are not like me and do not enjoy films that are simply nice but
without much thrill, the story is simply not engaging or complicated
enough to hold your interest for two whole hours. Not on par with the
best Bollywood children film I have seen (Chillar party), Hawaa
Hawaai is still an endearing venture.
Saqib Saleem was my
favourite newcomer back in 2011, in 2014 the same title is to be
bestowed on, of all people, a star child:
Heropanti
Directed by:
Starring: Tiger Shroff,
Kriti Sanon, Prakaash Raj
My rating:
destroy every copy – horrible
– bad –
whatever
– flawed but enjoyable - good – great –
amazing
I am biased towards
everything Jackie Shroff and so I really hoped that Mr. Tiger
boasting with his genes would be... well.... Shroffy enough. And
while he does not remind me of his papa in any way, he certainly is
my favourite newcomer of 2014. Unconventionally looking and hence
easily recognizable among more handsome lots (which includes Siddhart
Malhotra and Varun Dhawan whom I could not tell apart for first few
months), Tiger is brimming with earnestness and positive energy so
much you just cannot not like him. The movie he carries more or less
on his shoulders is an average fare, that gets better and gets worse
with different scenes, and all in all is a fitting "tribute"
to the popular macho films so popular in the 80s. One gets easily
tired of "friends" and fat poor NRI kid, the opressive
treatement of the girls and also our hero´s limited vocabulary
(which consists, on most occassions, from three sentences). On the
plus size there is the already mentioned likeable debutant, who needs
to work on his dialogue delivery, which is not the best, but makes up
for it with restrained expressions, very good dancing and
acrobatic-like action, quite unlike the usual Bollywood punching
through the walls style. There is also a very pretty Kriti Sanon, who
obviously has talent she can work on, and her filmi father Prakash
Raj. Even though a villain et again, this character of his finally
feels rather different from all the unscrupulous politicians he has
presented us with in past few years over and over again. In fact the
relationship between him and his two daughters is the brightest spot
of the film. For all the family tradition, pride and
misunderstandings there is palpable love between the parents and his
children, and perhaps for the first time the audience gets an
intimate glimpse into the soul of the authoritative baap - and gets
to sympathize, at least a bit. Perhaps if the silly bits were left
out and replaced by more of an inner turmoil of the hero being torn
between his love and his sympathy of the father, the movie may have
been really good. As it is, it entertains, it balances the silly and
the serious well, and there are Jackie Shroff genes running around so
all is well in the world.
Not everything was right
in the world for Siddhart Malhotra in
Ek Villain, and neither the
protagonists of another June release had it easy in life:
Filmistaan
Directed by: Nitin Kakkar
Starring: Sharib Hashmi, Inaamulhaq
My
rating: destroy every copy – horrible
– bad –
whatever
– flawed
but enjoyable - good – great –
amazing
A wanna-be Indian actor is
kidnapped by mistake by a small-time terrorist group and finds
himself in a precarious situation. He does not loose heart, good
spirits or hope. He makes friends with almost all around. But
naturally, wants to return home. I was looking forward to this one,
because the trailers had me in splits. However I was in for a big let
down. The movie is not as half as funny as it had promised to be, the
pace is sluggish and the story lacks a grip. It gets dark at few
places, which threw me off the track, as I expected something else.
And I did not manage to sit through it in just one sitting. The main
point of the movie seems to be that Bollywood is one of the main
things which binds India and Pakistan together, but I cannot really
stand behind the message since I simply cannot know if it is true,
being neither Pakistani nor Indian. Eventually it becomes really a
story of friendship between a Pakistani and an Indian. Aside from few
references in the first half there is not much about cinema or
film-making, something the picture seemed to be about from the promos
and posters. In spite of all the good intentions, the film felt very
ordinary. Stale. English subtitles did not make things better,
obviously modified for people not-familiar with Hindi cinema (for
example "Prem Chopra" became "Voldemort"; Suman
in Maina Pyaar Kiya became "daughter"). It did not offend
me in any way, the actors were all natural, but the story... the
story needed to be a lot stronger. As a viewer, you are also left
with open ending, which considering the situation, is both depressing
and unsatisfactory. Pity.
Akshay Kumar attacked us
several times this year (as is, after all, his good custom), his
first release being...
Holiday:
A soldier is never off duty
Directed by: A. R.
Murugadoss
Starring: Akshay Kumar,
Sonakshi Sinha, Govinda, Sumeet Raghavan
My rating:
destroy every copy – horrible
– bad –
whatever
– flawed
but enjoyable - good – great –
amazing
This started
out rather awful, full of silliness and annoying, generic jokes, but
it got increasingly better as it progressed. It had something from
Special 26 and something from the usual Akshay flicks (for which he
rarely gets my favour), and it is both Akshay´s charismatic
performance as well as out of the box approach to the hero which
carries the film into a more or less successful finish. Upon arrival
for his annual holiday Virat (Akshay) first needs to go through an
embarrassing rishta proposal (embarrassing both for him and the
viewers, as the beautiful Sonakshi Sinha takes on one of the most
annoying and useless roles of her life, which is already full of
roles more or less the same), yet soon finds himself much more
engaged in uncovering a terrorist sleeper cells, aided by his army
comrades. There is plenty of action (quite toned down and mostly sans
the inhuman gimmicks so common for this type of films) and plenty of
suspense, as well as some severed fingers, dislocated limbs and
explosions engulfing school buses and family restaurants. The sudden
changes of the mood do little for the picture, transitioning from
dark thriller into over the top comedy, fortunately in the second
half even the comedy finds its place to fit it. Same cannot be said
for the songs. Not only they remain unremarkable, but they just
needlessly slow the narrative down. The film belongs to Akshay Kumar
from start to finish, and I am stating the obvious saying that of all
his contemporaries he is the one looking most fit and overal the
best. His leading lady is a gorgeous girl, whom I have liked since
the beginning of her career, yet ma patience is at an end. She has
talent, she has the best possible screen presence, yet she chooses to
be a side-kick in a role I would not wish upon a newcomer. Things
would stand different if these were the only films she were offered,
but Sonakshi Sinha has refused movies by filmmakers like Mani Ratnam
in recent past. She might yet reinvent herself, but her line up does
not look promising at all. Little cameo by Govinda was pleasant and
Sumeet Raghavan as a police officer torn between the sense of what is
right and what is comfortable did well. Perhaps Holiday would have
made a finer film if treated like a full blooded thriller rather than
a masalla potboiler, but it still manages to stand on two feet,
rather firmly.
Eyeing the
position of the worst film of the year and trying to snatch it from
Yaariyan was Sajid Khan, and thus we were given....
Humshakals
Directed by: Sajid Khan
Starring: Saif Ali
Khan, Riteish Deshmukh, Ram Kapoor, Tamanna Bhatia, Esha Gupta,
Bipasha Basu
My rating:
destroy every copy – horrible
– bad –
whatever
– flawed but enjoyable - good – great –
amazing
– experience
The film offers:
a medication which after
consumation changes your genes and you behave like a dog
parathas made of cocain
Indian who worships Hitler and he
would like to put mental patients into a gas chambers (Award for
most tasteful joke goes to…..)
alternative reality where every
white person understand Hindi perfectly, including Prince Charles
stereotypical OTT gay portrayal
laziest choreography ever
background chants which explicitly
say what is going on on the screen, in case you are as stupid as the
director
peeing jokes
talented, beautiful actors being
pathetic beyond words
parathas made of vodka
pheromones sold in little doses
ridicule of women, homosexuals,
mental patients, midget people, children slavery, your intelligence
The only mildly amusing thing in
the whole film is Ram Kapoor as Johnny. Sajid Khan needs to be
stopped. And preferably lynched.
Of course, one cannot expect anything
of worth from him anymore, least of all, let´s say a cute film about
a girl detective like
Bobby Jasoos, which kicked off the month of
July and redeemed Vidya Balan as someone who carries the film on her
shoulders and needs no help from anyone. The month also saw Alia
Bhatt for the third time last year, but as it appears the quality of
her films was lowering with the passing time.
Humpty
Sharma Ki Dulhania
Directed by: Shashank
Kaitank
Starring: Varun Dhawan,
Alia Bhatt, Ashutosh Rana
My rating: destroy
every copy – horrible – bad –
whatever
– flawed but enjoyable - good – great –
amazing
„I was born hot“ says
Alia Bhatt while looking like 13 years old. However this is not the
most cringeworthy moment of the film, considering you are in for
stupid teenage imitation of sex and later some spying on a couple
having sex. And then you go and blackmail them. What a likeable hero
our Humpy makes, nah? I am not a big fan of DDLJ, but this attempt at
a „tribute“ to the iconic film, does not have a iota of the chart
the original had. The first half is very slow, random and I felt
bored to tears, stopping the movie after every few minutes. Second
half was better, but did not improve the film overal. Probably
hastily scripted to take advantage of new popular faces, the movie
does little for both Varun and Alia (who do share a very nice
chemsitry and are endearing as a jodi), since it remains very basic,
without any novelty at all. I would rather watch Prabu Deva´s
Ramaiya Vastavaiya again.
Finally, just before the
year skipped the line into its second half, Salman Khan appeared out
of the mist with....
Kick
Directed by: Sajid Nadiadwala
Starring: Salman Khan, Randeep
Hooda, Jacqueline Fernandez
My rating: destroy
every copy – horrible – bad –
whatever – flawed but enjoyable - good – great –
amazing
– experience
Well, this was stupid. It is not
completely hopeless but I have a feeling it would have been better if
they treated it as a comedy - every single scene that tried to be
serious and cool immediatelly made me roll my eyes as there was no
logic whatever, not even a tiny bit of it. Salman Khan, all bulky and
with a brat-like expression that made me want to give him a kick
(preferably to the face to wipe that annoying smirk off), wearing a
really ugly mask which actually hid nothing, is naturally nothing
short of a saint - pity since his most interesting parts are the
brief moments when it seems he just might have turned to "the
dark side". But no. The film, much like Jai Ho, becomes yet
another massive advert to Being Human. Salman is bad, while Randeep
Hooda rocks. Jacqueline looks gorgeous and her performance too was
good, considering how limited her screen-time was - heck, this
heroine did not even have a reconciliation with her lover or a happy
ending!!! Average film. And by the way I doubt double deckers heading
to King´s Cross drive through Warsaw.
And that is it for the overview. Have a
great day, folks! :)