Absolute pleasure watching this to break the movie-fast ! 99, directed by Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK, the movie is an entertaining crime caper. Reminded me of Guy Ritchie at his best. Those of you who have watched Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch and are fans of the movies will know what I mean. I do not wish to take credit away from the makers of 99, but find it easy to describe the style of the movie using the Guy Ritchie reference.

Dileep Singh (Raja Chaudhary) the protagonist of Gulaal and the film have much in common. While Raja plays to the tunes of his manipulators, in the film the director is the manipulator who always has his way that can also be looked at as Anurag Kashyap’s directorial signature.

Gulaal unlike “No Smoking” has a fairly earthly plot- a naïve man caught in the politics of ambitious, powerful and shrewd people. Dileep joins a law college in a fictitious Rajsthan city Rajpur, where he falls into the hands of a series of manipulators leading to his emotional devastation.

Provocative, evocative, violent, aggressive, poetic, commentative, powerful - prefix whatever adjective you will. Gulaal is all this, and much more. Gulaal is new Indian cinema at its angst-ridden best. It is the full-blown emergence of one of Indian cinema’s most-original voices in recent years, who goes by the name of Anurag Kashyap.

Gulaal in Kashyap’s film has nothing to do with the Indian festival of colour, Holi, or the colours that one plays with in the festival. Here it symbolises blood - blood that signifies relationships, betrayal, loyalty, patriotism, and many other hues of life itself.

After Rajat Kapoor’s magnificent “Raghu Romio”, here comes another brilliant reflection on our lives held hostage by the small screen. Television runs as the theme underneath the horror-thriller garb of 13B, a movie with a tagline “fear has a new address”. However, it’s one such little film, that to say the least, delivers much more than it promises!

Sushmita Sen, Randeep Hooda and Suchitra Krishna got into a minor catfight just on the eve of the release of Karma Aur Holi (originally called Karma Confessions Aur Holi). The issue was - Sushmita refused to promote the film, saying it is a badly-made film, and the other two sort of said that was an unethical thing to do after having acted in it. This, even as gossip writers claimed the real reason was some extended kissing the former Miss Universe had done on screen with her now ex-boyfriend Hooda. Well, what a waste, all this catfight was. Yes, the kisses are there, but the film is so devoid of any artistic soul, that nobody is likely to even notice them, because nobody is likely to even watch this amateurish effort…

Vikram K Kumar has an interesting premise for making 13B, simultaneously released in Hindi and Tamil with minor cast rejigs in the two versions. During the 2006 Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu, AIADMK promised 20 kg of free rice every month, ten sovereigns of gold for the daughter’s wedding and a computer free to every eligible family if elected. DMK countered it by saying every eligible family would also get a free TV set. As we all know, the TV won. That, says Vikram, short film Silent Scream had won a National Award in 1999, think of developing a story with the ubiquitous TV set at the centrestage.

Delhi 6 at first appears to be the oft-repeated tale of an outsider viewing India for the first time. In this case the outsider happens to be an NRI Rohit (Abhishek Bachchan) who brings his ailing grandmother back to her haveli in the colony Delhi 6 where Hindus and Muslims lead a seemingly smooth existence and where a mysterious “monkeyman” has terrified the residents.

It’s special to be ordinary…but surely it need not be dull and boring as well. Priyadarshan’s BILLU, the Hindi remake of the Malayalam tear-jerker Katha Parayumbol, is as listless as its title. Suffixed that-which-you-do-not-speak-of or not, this one just doesn’t make the ‘cut’. So we open to a village by the name of Budbuda set in God’s own country…Uttar Pradesh! Somewhere in the market chowk of Kamalistan…er Budbuda, Billu(Irrfan Khan) operates his business- that-which-you-do-not-speak-of. Hard times have fallen on our ordinary leading man- his business ain’t great, his tools are old and his poor wife(Lara Dutta) wears backless cholis! Enter Sahir Khan(Shahrukh Khan), the reigning Bollywood King, who arrives in Budbuda to shoot for his in-production inter-galactic saga of lost twin brothers.

Slasher movies are a genre by themselves, thanks to Hollywood’s B-grade flicks that have a legion of followers. In India too, a number of copies of the HW slasher movies have come - and gone. But here’s a movie, roughly from the same genre, but taking its cue from real life, that’s going to stay - in the minds of viewers, and in the annals of Hindi cinema - for being goosebump inducing, thrilling to the core and matter of fact.

What is it about Devdas, Saratchandra’s titular tragic loser of a hero, which has appealed Indian filmmakers time and again to merit over ten filmed adaptations? Our continued obsession with the moping coward drinking his way to self-destruction, finds yet another avatar in enfant terrible Anurag Kashyap’s cool-titled Dev.D. Kashyap’s version is not only a contemporary take on the novel(to be frank, the film seems to be a take on Bhansali’s film than the actual literary text), but is more importantly Kashyap’s own ‘reading’ of the story and its characters. That ‘reading’ has fairly interesting results, but the film overall doesn’t add up to a compelling watch. ..

Anurag Kashyap’s Dev D begins with a special thanks to Danny Boyle. Poor Danny Boyle has been tormented for some time now for supposedly attempting to expose the “underbelly” of the nation. But if the people are fair and they are able to see what Mr. Kashyap is attempting here, Slumdog Millionaire is going to look like It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)! But wait, Anurag Kashyap isn’t a foreigner and so Dev D is just a film, right?

Madhureeta Anand has been a documentary filmmaker of long experience, and has made a number of films for channels like BBC and National Geographic. So, when she picks up a subject that talks of the importance of finding one’s own voice, for her debut as a feature director, it sure is bound to raise expectations. But what a let down Mere Khwabon Mein Jo Aaye is!

Dev. D is a brilliant film that superbly captures the society that we live in, all the while making us laugh! It’s a must watch that’s destined to go on to become one of the most memorable Hindi films of our times.

This is a film that has gone unnoticed but it is so provocative politically that one even suspects that it has been suppressed deliberately. The Wikipedia entries for Richard Masur and Yvan Attal, who give outstanding performances in it, do not even mention the film. The dvd has no English subtitles and one has to manage by getting French subtitles and having them translated. Les Patriotes (1994) is a French spy film by a little-known filmmaker but it is a spy film like no other…

There are some stories that we all have heard, yet we like to hear them again and again. Especially if the stories are that of fairylands such as Bollywood. Debutante director Zoya Akhtar’s Luck By Chance is one such story of an ordinary boy and his meteoric rise in the world of Hindi cinema that’s as novel as a fable.

The makers of Chandani Chowk to China know exactly how to put Chinese language to the best use, Chandani Chowk wala Sidhu (Akshay) calls the China girl (Deepika Padukone) Chu-chee!!!! The real name of the character is Meow Meow!! From Chaddies to walnut and potato Ganesha to cosmic kicks, the film tries hard to make us laugh, though mostly in vain.

If you thought choosing the best of Bollywood is a difficult task, spare a thought for the poor guy who is compiling the worst of Bollywood list. When I sat down to perform this dishonorable deed, I was spoilt for choices. It’s nearly impossible to fit them all into a list of just ten. So apologies if your favourite bad film has been left out. Then there is the problem of not having seen all of them. I could not watch some gems like Deshdrohi and could not bring myself to watch some others like Karzzzz.

How can Ghajini be primitive when it talks about a character who suffers from Anterograde amnesia, a medico-scientific condition, that was discovered only recently.

And of all the things, pre-modern! just have a look at the headquarters of Air Voice company, that the protagonist Sanjay Singhania owns. An imposing glass and steel structure, that’s part contemporary, part futuristic.

Well, all this is just a garb, at the heart, Ghajini is a plain and simple village lore….

Aamir Khan was right after all. This is not a copy or even an “inspiration” of Christopher Nolan’s acclaimed Memento. It is as far removed from that chilling, mind bending thriller as day is from night. Ghajini is certainly a lot of things; juvenile comedy, over the top thriller, boring romance, a classic B grade shocker, but Memento remake it ain’t.

More interesting than the film is the character called Ghajini! And the most interesting aspect of him is that he is the villain. Can you think of the last film you saw which was named after its villain, I can’t.

Ghajini, the character, has many facets. He is an industrialist, who owns a pharmaceutical business. Such a business in cotemporary parlance is referred to as bio-technology and is considered a knowledge-driven sector. However, Ghajini is a gang lord, a muscular, unscrupulous devil, who you could find too crass for this sort of a business.

Behind every fortune lies a crime. And behind every crime lies an insurance policy. Murder for the sake of reaping the sum assured has been a recurring theme for movies from Double Indemnity to Consenting Adults to their Indian counterparts. Maharathi is no different. It has been adapted from a Gujarati play featuring Paresh Rawal himself. A few enthusiastic reviewers have been quick to point out that it is a copy of Anthony Shaffer’s Sleuth. Nope. Sleuth was adapted as Khelando in Gujarati and Khel in Hindi starring Paresh Rawal and Naseeruddin Shah. Hence the confusion.

Years have elapsed since Aditya Chopra graced us with that quintessential love story, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge. But it is still fresh in our minds. Ten to fifteen viewings can do that to you sometimes. After a long delay, he followed it up with another stab at glory with Mohabattein. Second time unlucky, he takes a third shot at creating celluloid history. The Yashraj banner has come a long way since DDLJ. Under Aditya Chopra, it has experimented with various stories and genres. But when it comes to helming a film himself, Chopra sticks to the same old love story which offers limited scope for experimenting. Rab ne banayi hai ye story.

Dil Kabaddi is the blindest copy that you can ever get of Woody Allen’s Husbands and Wives. So much so that the characters also work in similar jobs, and the narrative flows along similar lines - its shocking to say the least and that too without any acknowledgment! Interestingly, Allen himself was influenced by his idol Ingmar Bergman’s Scenes From A Marriage. Whereas Bergman’s film was a serious take on the sordid state of affairs in the broken house of marriage (with a character quoting Strindberg - ‘I wonder if there is anything more horrible than a man and wife who hate each other’), Allen dressed it in comic attire.

25 minutes into Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, it was the most lovable Bollywood film I’d seen in all of 2008, notwithstanding the utterly trite ludicrous inciting incident that gets things going. Then…something happened. Raj happened to Rab! And therein lies the rub!!

Aditya Chopra, at the director’s seat after 7 years, starts off in an understandably tentative manner. One is willing to give him some time, hoping that haule haule he’ll get into his groove.

After reading the reviews, even before the film started, I had made up my mind that I have voluntarily opted for this cinematic torture for next three hours. To my pleasant surprise I was proven wrong. It was a torture barring first half an hour that was rather promising.

Rab ne bana di jodi began with a documentary-like montage of Amritsar with Sabad playing in the background. Shahrukh Khan-whom I don’t like much for his histrionics- dressed up as Surinder Sahni, looked believable for a change.

The terror attacks in Mumbai have shattered the minds of all of us. We are just not in the right frame of mind to watch and review a film, which was released at the time of this huge crisis. The films were badly hit by the worst terror attack to hit India. But somehow I managed to watch Oye Lucky Lucky Oye (OLLO) which acted as a breeze of fresh air in the midst of all the chaos.

What can I write in praise of a movie which ends with an ambiguous, clichéd, obsolete, gyaanwardhak philosophy — “Independent you stand but in a united family”. It is nothing but a tale of money vs morals! “Everyone wants to be a rock star, regardless of whether they have the morals to go with the appellation,” said Subhash Ghai in one of his interviews. According to Ghai, the film is about the arrogance and overconfidence of contemporary youth.

Out of the three ‘D’ releases: Dostana, Dasvidaniya and Deshdrohi this Friday, I chose to go for Dasvidaniya. A film which revolved round the 10 wish lists of Amar kaul (Vinay Pathak) and the interesting hide and seek of his lilly dreams before he dies of cancer in 3 months. Life consists not in holding good cards but in playing those you hold well. Truly said. Dasvidaniyan is the story of those beautiful cards which Amar secretly throws at his bachi khuchi life one by one.

Excuse me if I sound too poetic here, but yes watching Dasvidaniya is like eating warm marshmallows. You will love it because there is more than ‘just eating’ to it. There is immersion of self and imagination to it.

The first glimpses of the movie takes you to an island where Shilpa Shetty sings “Shut up and bounce” and Johns body is the attention of the minute. What then follows after this catchy number is a saga of a gay love story, which is a set up act. The very first scene seems without any link, what with Abhishek (Sam) and John (Kunal) being in the same house. If they already had a house, why had they to shift? Also, what you may wonder about is the fact that Kunal’s already live in girlfriend randomly asks him to leave the house and he gets his partner in crime, in Sam.

Talk about the first shots that take you through the Golmaal Returns, it shows snippets from the first part. It gives you great expectations about the second “returns” too. However, the movie takes you with a great connect of relationships, that of Gopal (Ajay Devgan), his sister Esha (Amrita Arora) and his wife Ekta (Kareena Kapoor) her brother Lucky (Tushar Kapoor). The movie begins with a scene showing Gopal on a beach with his wife celebrating their marriage anniversary.

Jitna kam sochogi utna zyada kamaogi…… (The less you think, the more you earn) is the one line killer dialogue which yells all about Fashion in full volume!

The stoned to death faces of the models and ostrich like thin long anorexic bodies is the cinematic introduction to Fashion. A story of a small town girl with pinned up dreams of becoming a supermodel. Her apprehensions, her inhibitions, her grind, her alter ego, her endeavors, her success, her high headiness, her spat, her guilt…It is a Cinderella story of a protagonist in the murky world of Fashion….

Madhur Bhandarkar has his own brand of cinema that is identified with his previous acclaimed films like Chandni bar, Satta, Page 3, Corporate and Traffic Signal ( though there are also the eminently forgettables Trishakti and Aan ). The common point in all the above films are strong women protagonists; focus on one particular aspect of the society; good research and then creating entertaining stories that move the critics, the audiences and the box office together. His films never compromise on the Entertainment quotient despite being preachy sometimes. It’s a formula that has clicked so far for Madhur and Fashion promises that the successful run will continue.

With great power comes great responsibility. These words, uttered by Peter Parker in Sam Raimi’s Spiderman, spell out, more or less, the hubris of a superhero. Superheroes are a tricky breed, and haven’t we seen much of them of late. Hollywood is slowly coming to terms with the inherent dark gloom of the life of a superhero- a life which has all the powers that may make one envious, but also a life which is unimaginably full of challenges; beyond the call of duty, and beyond the seemingly easy line between good and evil.

There is Himesh in every frame of this excruciatingly boring Karzzzz. He sings, he dances, he composes the music and whoa!!!! He acts too (hamming at its best). The fight sequence where Himesh jumps like Keanu Reeves of The Matrix is the biggest fight…na na the greatest comedy scene of all times. Believe me there was not even a single person in the theatre who didn’t laugh at it. Watch it to experience it J

The name of the film could well be “His Highness Himesh”. He tries really hard and his sincerity shows in every frame. But not always can sincerity and hard work be converted into good acting.

Yashraj has been trying to reinvent itself (however superficially) for the new markets and the newer audiences. And in doing so, they’ve not only branched outwards (CDI, LCMD) but also looked inwards (JBJ, Tashan), writes Abhishek Bandekar
Bachana Ai Haseeno (2008)Siddharth Anand with Bachna Ae Haseeno has knowingly or unknowingly, cleverly or unwittingly, deliberately or accidentally […]

I have not seen such a delightful take on the Indian village life since a long time. Shyam Benegal’s movie packs in a great understanding of the Indian villages, which are hotbeds of caste and political violence and simmering with outmoded superstitions. He has managed to retain a funny bone through the movie even when potraying the horrific consequences of a general lack of law and order

Three years back a novel called “One night @ the call centre” recorded phenomenal sale and perhaps re-wrote the success mantra in Indian English Fiction market. Its author, Chetan Bhagat, never boasted of producing a great piece of literature, but his believable characters, free flowing language and a raw sense of humor sustained it at the bestseller shelves for almost a year.

‘Hello’ is the screen adaptation of this bestselling novel. ‘Hello’ has everything going for it- a very good storyline, good actors and of course the pairing of Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif… Yet something is missing !!!

I couldn’t wait to write this piece, not even for the film to get over. As I walked out of the theatre humiliated for being treated as an idiot, this piece was almost ready in my mind. And honestly I didn’t even sit through the film, and believe me, anybody with two legs and a head on her / his shoulder wouldn’t do so.

“Drona” could easily have been a masterpiece had cinema been all about glittery effects and fake emotions.

First things first- “Hari Puttar : A Comedy of Terrors” is not ‘inspired’ by Harry Potter series, simply because it’s a blatant copy of Hollywood blockbuster ‘Home Alone’. And believe me- the only thought that comes into your mind after watching this film is to lock the directors of this film in a HOME ALONE and send audiences who were severely affected by this film to attack the HOME.

Aniruddha Basu reviews Shyam Benegal’s latest film Welcome to Sajjanpur
Welcome to Sajjanpur (2008)Shyam Benegal and bawdy humour? While that may seem an unlikely combination for a director who made a career out of making hard-hitting social melodramas like Ankur or Kaliyug, the crude, completely disarming humour is what makes Sajjanpur watchable, […]

Bikas Mishra reviews Jaideep Varma’s debut film Hulla
Hulla (2008)The sight of Mumbai isn’t unusual in Hindi cinema, the feel of the metropolis is. Beyond the glitz of the stars and gloom of the gang wars, a Mumbai exists in the lives of so many of us, who are perennially caught between our aspirations and innumerable […]

Saas Bahu aur Sensex!!! The name itself was confusing. So with this little confusion I entered the special press preview of the film. The little confusion aggravated with every dialogue…every scene…And when the lights went on during the intermission, I could see ‘irritation’ and ‘boredom’ written all over the faces of the 150 odd people sitting around me. Saas, Bahu and Non-sense-sex (without sex) is simply awful.

1920 was promised as a film that will scare you so much that you will be unable to sleep. Well it did just the opposite. It made me and the 40 odd audiences in the theater sleep and that too within the first 20 minutes. Take my word, it is more effective than ‘calmpose’, only the ticket is comparatively much costly.

This is one horror film where the supposedly scariest scenes make u laugh.

Borrowing from the narrative of some brilliant Iranian films (those of Majid Majidi’s and Abbas Kiarostami’s), Santosh Sivan has actually painted the celluloid and the result “Tahaan” is a masterpiece. It just mesmerizes you with its simplicity… an innocence that is so rare in Hindi cinema. The scintillating colors of Kashmir have never been captured so beautifully before. Santosh Sivan’s camera becomes the brush and its strokes go on and on and on and on…so fluidly, that the result is simply hypnotizing.

This may sound like an unfair allegation but it could be taken for a compliment too – Has Farhan Akhtar ghost directed Rock On. How else do you explain his brilliant performance? It looks like as if he was the one with the vision of the debutant director Abhishek Kapoor.

Let’s go with what we have been told, Abhishek has directed this film and he has done it superbly. The film about four members disbanding their band after two of them have a confrontation, is an emotional film about how they get back.

Rock on turned out to be a refreshing movie. The movie’s plot is neither revolutionary nor novel but it has been executed quite well. Despite being full of clichés and a rather predictable story it succeeds in keeping you glued on to the screen.

Mumbai Meri Jaan is an attempt to depict the lives of five different souls and how the July 11 blasts affect them. Director Nishikant Kamat has already proved his mettle with Dombivli Fast. Yet again he comes up with a poignant storyline which has a realist touch in its portrayal. And call it a coincidence, his second film also moves around the trains of Mumbai.

They got a large mixer cum grinder and filled it with the following ingredients-

DVD’s of Dev Anand’s superhit “Teen Deviyan” and their very own DDLJ, Audio CDs of “Hum Kisi Se Kum Nahi”, “Dhoom” and “Jhoom Barabar Jhoom”. Mixed it for few months in the ‘mixer cum grinder’ and then took the printout of the resultant product. What came out became the script called “Bachna Ae Haseeno”.

Mindless…but deliciously mindless…

Nonsense… but it never fails to make you laugh dil se…and if you are laughing whole-heartedly, why the hell do you want to make sense.

Just laugh…The real KING of bollywood has arrived.

The underrated Anees Bazmee has done it again. Singh Is Kinng has ‘blockbuster’ written all over it…every frame, every scene, every song, and every dialogue.

It’s a difficult job to review good films, yet I’ll try

They made a wax statue of Shahrukh Khan at Madam Tussaud’s…it looks exactly like SRK, it has the same famous smile, it wears the same designer suit that SRK do…It is infact an exact replica of King Khan, the only difference is- there is no SOUL in it. Ugly aur Pagli faces the same problem. Frame by frame, scene by scene, it is an exact replica of a very popular Korean film “My Sassy Girl”, the only difference being the lack of a SOUL.

Mission Istanbul is beyond any review. The only aim to write this piece is to save at least a few people from a migraine of the highest order. It defies all logic, ridicules even the medium of cinema itself and yet the makers actually have the guts to believe that audience are fool enough to like it

“Kismat Konnection” was an interesting name to start with. After watching the film, I can undoubtedly say that only Kismat can save this Aziz Mirza film. It fails to make a connection (or Konnection !!!) with the audience who were obviously expecting something better.

Last week in Bollywood was the ideal week. Two much-awaited films ( Jane Tu..and Love Story 2050) were releasing and the rivalries between their makers were the talk of the town. It is more or less clear by now that who won the box office battle. So lets move on to this week…not one, not two but three films are releasing, (but only one got released) each one different from the other in subject and mood. But I am confused; I really don’t know which film to watch because each film looks worse then the other. Let’s take a look at each one of them.

The story is nothing new, the treatment is. The film is about Jai Singh Rathore a.k.a Rats (Imraan Khan), a non-violent Rajput who and Aditi Mahant a.k.a Meow (Genelia D’Souza), cute and violent at the same time. Aditi feels Jai is fattu (coward). They fight like crazy but just can’t live without each other.

What happens when dear papa happens to be the producer-director and story writer of the movie? The family makes sure that the entire talent of “BABA” comes out before the world.

Harry Baweja did wonders to prove what his son Harman can do with himself. Let us talk bit by bit.

Aamir is the latest entry from Bollywood’s parallel lane, one that draws inspiration from foreign art house hits and repackages them for our new breed of discerning desi audience. Bheja Fry did it, and did it well. Even earlier Zinda tried to bring the controversial Korean thriller Oldboy to the Indian screen, with mixed results. And now Aamir, inspired from a Phillipino hit Cavite, manages to stumble further ahead.

As the younger Sarkar gets embroiled in the political minefield, the script takes unusual and engaging turns. The revelation of the mastermind behind the nemesis of Nagre’s is the highpoint of the movie. The end- though extremely unconvincing- just reiterates that there can only be one Godfather or Sarkar and only the fittest survives.

If there is a heaven (Jannat) on earth, it’s not here, it’s not here, it’s not here…

These were my thoughts while coming out of the theatre after watching the first day first show of Jannat. Jannat was a film publicized as a film showing the real face of ‘match-fixing’ but let me tell you the film is actually about a ‘ring’…a diamond ring. It starts with the ring and ends with the same ring…O Jesus!!! what a suffer-ring…

A romantic cruise, a sharp womaniser, a bubbly cute woman, lots of music and dance. These are the key elements of the 1st half of Ajay Devgan’s directorial debut U, me aur Hum.

The promos were clear that this was a romantic movie (the greatest journey is the distance between two people..) and right from the title screen you are treated to an overdose of romance, right from romantic sayings and proverbs on love appearing written in the sky as clouds etc

The price for getting impressive films like Life in a Metro is that viewers will inevitably be given ultra-mediocre rip-offs. This had to happen and it happened sooner, rather than later, with Sirf. Let me get straight to the point. Sirf deals exactly with the kind of situations and characters that Metro effectively created. But here the situations are ill-conceived, the characters underwritten or over-baked, the writing amateurish, the direction absolutely pedestrian. And sometimes I was left wondering whether the film had a director at all.

Hey! But who asked you to take your mind with you while going to watch a movie which has got a name as meaningful as Tashan…

I am sure your doctor never prescribed you to watch the film called Tashan, it was expected to be mindless and illogical, you watched at your own sweet risk.

Tashan has got an attitude in its mindlessness. It delivers exactly what was expected from it and delivers it with incredible Tashan…

The characters of a fruit-eating, sex-starved, “witty” detective and his skimpily dressed, bimbo assistant are just so unnecessary and over the top! They are beyond ridiculous. In some reviews it has been mentioned that these characters are loosely based on Karamchand and Kitty. If I were the creator of these legendary detectives, I would be offended by this comparison. With poor characterization, terrible dialogues and tasteless, unfunny jokes, in my opinion these characters actually take away from the story line rather than adding to it. Race would have been a much better movie without them.

What was Subhash Ghai thinking while making this film? Did he want to oblige FTII, the institute he many years back passed out from. He has often put the institute to shame with films like Yaadein and Kisna but Black and White…ya khuda is disgrace.

Anurag Sinha, a pass out from FTII… poor boy is not a bad actor at all but it may not always be a great idea to start your career with a banner with a name…ask Ranbir Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor. But why blame poor Anurag, the story was not bad at all. A jihadi takes shelter at a Hindu Professor’s house and we all know what happens next.

While our off-the-camera chat was on, I casually asked him, “When can we expect your next venture AKBAR JODHAA?” Quite protective about his baby, he instantly corrected me, “It’s ‘Jodhaa Akbar’, not ‘Akbar Jodhaa’. We are going to name it like that only”. I could clearly see the passion in his eyes for his new venture at that time, and that is the reason why I was expecting so much from this flick.

It seems as if the director doesn’t know what he wants to concentrate on…is it a love story between Jodha and Akbar…is it Jalal-ud-din’s transformation to Akbar or is it a saas-bahu rivalry, writes Smriti Mudgal
Jodha AkbarNo, no, no…this is not how I want to be entertained. On a beautiful Sunday, almost 4 hours of […]

Jodha Akbra is a magnificent film for those, who want to see a great period drama but if you’re looking for the emotional journey of the great emperor, your thirst might be left unquenched, writes Bikas Mishra
Jodha AkbarJodha Akbar could alternatively have been titled as a Royal love story. It’s the saga of a princess […]

Will Mithya click with audience just as well as Bheja Fry did or it is going to meet the same fate as Raghu Romeo, wonders Smriti Mudgal
Ranveer Shourie in MithyaThis weekend after plenty of inactive ones, I watched Mithya. Rajat Kapoor has made a film which cannot be bound by genres. Its not just a […]

Bikas Mishra reviews Rajat Kapoor’s latest film Mithya
MithyaAfter watching Khosla Ka Ghosla, I looked for him in other films. In Bheja Fry though he was there but with a distorted face and a constipated smile. Recently, in Aja Nachle, he again amazed me with his brief appearance. Finally, this wonderful actor-Ranveer Shourie gets his due, […]

Aniruddha Basu reviews Manorama: Six Feet Under
Manorama Six Feet UnderI suppose seeing this movie was inevitable, given the buzz it has generated, but I had been putting off the inevitable for a long time. Maybe it was the slightly hockey name, which made it sound like a B-grade potboiler. Or perhaps it was the […]

Pranjal Medhi reports on the Shahrukh Khan’s felicitation ceremony in Mumbai.
French Title to SRKThe King Khan is here in limelight again. Video Cameras rolling, still cameras’ incessant flashes are quite common wherever he appears. But this was neither a film’s premier nor a regular press conference. Sunday night SRK was conferred the prestigious `Insignia of […]

Taare Zameen Par, unlike 70s Amitabh movies or 90s ‘challenge society and change it’ movies, does not talk about customizing society or using society according to an indivisual’s (or a group’s) need. It talks about rehabilitation, writes Anirban Lahiri
Taare Zameen ParI loved Taare Zameen Par. It is a film rich with messages, challenging dominant social […]

Water is a soothing film with a troubled storyline. Somehow, inspite of the burns the story gives you, the treatment is like a soothing balm that leaves you with moist eyes and a smile on your lips, writes Smriti Mudgal
Water‘Water’ was a much awaited film by viewers after Shabana Azmi and Nandita Das shaved their […]

Do give Nagesh Kukunoor a fair chance, believe me it’s a refreshingly audacious film that plays within the formula in order to break free from it, writes Bikas Mishra
Lina Christianson and Shreyas Talpade in Bombay to BangkokAfter his last two rather mainstream films, Nagesh Kukunoor gets back to his indie roots and sticks to his […]

If you look for subtlety in a film, Halla Bol may disappoint you, nevertheless an interesting drama that could be interesting for all the wrong reasons, writes Bikas Mishra
Ajay Devgan in Hulla BolIf cinema is a reflection of reality, this film is a mirror, a magic mirror. Halla Bol is more interesting than several other […]

Enjoy Taare Zameen Par, if you feel for it…vote for it, learn from it. No hard feelings but have to reiterate it’s an ordinary film, overburdened by people’s expectations, writes Bikas Mishra
“I don’t think you should feel about a movie. You should feel about a woman. You can’t kiss a movie.” Jean Luc Godard
The Bum-chick […]

Bikas Mishra looks back at the goneby year 2007  
Karina and Shahid in Jab we MetIt was sheer coincidence that I met Bubloo, a young body builder with a feminine and husky voice like Rani Mukherjee. He got his hair done every week keeping the latest Bollywood release in mind. His latest obsession was a six […]

Smriti Mudgal writes on Yash Chopra produced and Ramesh Talwar directed 1977 film Doosra Aadmi
Rakhi and Rishi Kapoor in Doosra AadmiThis weekend with no releases to catch, I thought of catching up with the stock of films at home. So, I watched a Yash Chopra film called Doosra Aadmi. Doosra Aadmi stars Rishi Kapoor, […]

Anirddha Basu responds to Bikas Mishra’s review of Taare Zameen Par
Taare Zameen Par: Don’t Believe The Critics!I walked into the theatre expecting to see the worst Hindi movie of the year (barring Aag and Aap Ka Suroor). Bikas’ review on Taare Zameen Par was so convincing that I admit I had fallen for it without […]

Hanuman Returns turns out to be a highly entertaining film, more than anybody else kids would agree to that. However the film also seems little overambitious and sets out to achieve too many things, writes Bikas Mishra
Hanuman Returns“Maruti thoda different hai” the expression of a curious classmate of the child Hanuman reincarnation holds equally true […]

All said and done Taare Zameen Par is a sensitive film that leaves you with the patience to let your child grow and also the sensibility to allow your child to be different, writes Smriti Mudgal
Taare Zameen parWhen established and non-established actors prove the audience otherwise, its always such a pleasure.
Taare Zameen Par made a […]

Taare Zameen Par is one such innocent film that my heart bleeds to call it poor or bad. It’s a daring attempt that proves that sometimes stars do come down on earth to tell stories of ordinary mortals, writes Bikas Mishra
Taare Zameen parI remember how Aamir landed himself in a thick soup when he unwittingly […]

Rice Plate reminded me after a long time how a small film, with that small twist in tale could satiate a moviegoer’s appetite to fullest, writes Smriti Mudgal 
Shabana in Dus KahaniyaanOne good thing that happened after watching Dus Kahaniyaan was that one of the stories pleasantly surprised us - Rice Plate. Director Rohit Roy’s work cannot […]

Despite being his first feature Anand Rai successfully proves his mastery over the medium and paints the film in a curious dark mood where things appear believable, eerie and (dark) humorous at the same time, writes Bikas Mishra
Strangers: A Must WatchA fantastic, thrilling and engrossing film! And very very reassuring for the Bollywood.
It’s centered around […]

Maybe the best film ever on the subject of relationships in film industry - a film which provokes you to think so much, about so many things - is Khoya Khoya Chand, says Ankur Agarwal.
Khoya Khoya ChandRarely I find such an interesting plot, rarely so many things which were best left unsaid, rarely a music […]

In spite of all this largeness to the movie, I felt disappointed and let down, not because of the direction but because of the stories themselves, writes Vedavyasa Bhat
Naseeruddin Shah and Sabana Azmi in Dus Kahaniyaan (Rice Plate)The eagerly awaited new format movie produced by Sanjay Dutt’s Whitefeather Films and by Sanjay Gupta which […]

Do watch Dus Kahaniyaan and experience the power of short films and young minds, writes Bikas Mishra 

Dus Kahaniyaan: From the first Kahani MatrimonyThere is always an advantage of choosing an anthology of short films over a feature film. Here you run a lesser risk. I went to watch Dus Kahaniyaan with an expectation that even if three of the […]

You can watch Khoya Khoya Chand to feel the power of direction and screenplay (because the film lacks them both), but expecting a masterpiece could be disheartening. writes Bikas Mishra
Khoya Khoya Chand: DisappointingKhoya Khoya Chand is the disappointment of the week. A film purportedly on the golden era of Bollywood that only glitters in the promos but the magic remains […]

Critics have come down hard on the film…Most saying that its vague. But how can the celebration of something as intriguing as a woman not be vague? Her art…her whims…her fancies…her stubborn-ness..her victory and her defeat…How can something so complex not be a little vague? asks Pranshu Sikka 

Aaja Nachle: Celebrating Feminism and Art
What is most […]

Aaja Nachle is all about her, a superstar, a crowd-puller and a wonderful actor and dancer. She looks gorgeous as usual and you do feel like dancing with her, writes Bikas Mishra
Aaja Nachle: The Dance of Madhuri MagicIt’s not the story but the storytelling that decides the fate of a movie, the Dolby digital speakers […]

Madhuri is making a comeback in an era where all sexy women in films are alike, they all wear kohl eyed makeup, they all have some mystery about them, they all drink, they all have a throaty laugh, an inebriated voice…uff, where will Madhuri fit? Asks Smriti Mudgal
Aja Naachle: Where Will Madhuri Fit? Now that […]

The whole film is an unvarying social commentary, upon the times we live in, upon the way rich and society-conscious people live, and upon the simple ways that give you pleasure in life and that never change with time, not just an uncontrolled slapstick comedy, says Ankur Agarwal about this 1958 Academy Award winner for […]

The movie is just too long and with a flurry of kicks, tackles and goals, you soon lose count and track of which match is being won or lost. While the theme of the movie is building pride against racism there are plenty of references to ‘Goras’ and such other racial remarks, write Vedavyasa Bhat
Dhan […]

Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal turns out to be a film about noise and nose. The noisy background score tries to infuse “emotions” in otherwise caricature scenes and the sunny hero John Abraham keeps hurting his nose, writes Bikas Mishra
Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal: Off the Mark!!After watching Lagaan, Iqbal and Chak De India, if you thought […]

Things start going wrong from the very point, the super-duper hit Teri Aakhein Bhool Bhulaiya song abruptly makes its way on to the screen. Couldn’t enjoy the song, thinking if the projectionist has mounted a wrong reel. It’s the crudest possible way to “insert” a song in a narrative film, writes Bikas Mishra
Vidya Balan […]

Bhansali’s film left much to imagination. It was like a grandmother telling a story and the child would have to rely much on his own imagination, writes Smriti Mudgal
Why OSO Works And Saawariya Doesn’t?The two films represent two different genres. Where OSO belongs to the masala category. Saanwariya belongs to a peculiar Bhansali school of […]

Basically paisa vasool ! A must watch for anyone who watches Hindi movies. Yes, if it was a tad shorter, the movie would have been a few notches higher, writes Vedavyasa Bhat
Om Shanti OmThis movie has been much talked about in India prior to its release. Primarily due to the fact that […]

How did such a sub-standard script get past the director? Especially when along with a Prakash Kapadia, SLB himself gets mentioned in the end credits for the screenplay? writes Deep Pal
Saawariya BluesWanted: A director who will employ Sanjay Leela Bhansali (SLB) as an Art Director or a Director of Photography. Extra budget to be spent […]

In India, comedy as a genre took a while to emerge. Hindi cinema in early years invariably focused on mythology, melodrama and stunts - comedy was merely for comic relief, writes Dr. Maithili Ganjoo Choudhary
What is it that makes a film click? We often hear film buffs debate over whether there is a magic formula […]

We have seen so many shades of the Railing love but Jab we met is a milestone. The runway dazzle on the platform is funny, cute and hilarious. Imtiaz Ali’s direction gives a tough competition to Yash camp, writes RJ Mallika
Jab We Met: The Train-ed ElopeRain and Train. Bollywood romantic flick will swear by […]

Most critics have complained about not understanding what No Smoking is all about. It’s certainly not a public service message against smoking, although it’s clever how Kashyap has led the censors to believe so and get them to pass excessive amounts of smoking minus any cuts. So what is it about?, writes Abhishek Bandekar
No […]

Guru Dutt created grey characters throughout his film making. His characters were imperfect people, with dilemmas, they were weak people, compromising people or uncompromising people who stuck to their ideals impractically, writes Smriti Mudgal
Guru Dutt in PyaasaIt took me some time to believe that Guru Dutt was not Bengali. I do no wish to invite […]

If smoking became voguish among youth, the off-beat films as they are called now, or what was earlier known as “parallel cinema” in the decades of seventies and eighties associated smoking with a “thinking” intelligentsia, writes Nitin Sinha
The Smoke and The Screen: Photo courtesy: CNN.com“Smoking kills” – this is not only a compulsory statutory warning […]

For possibly the first time we have an Indian film maker explicitly paying tributes not just by word at the beginning or end of the movie but by cleverly placed instances in the movie itself, writes Vedavyasa Bhat
Had no expectations from this movie but wanted to watch it because the previews were interesting as they […]

The only two things which I could discover as common in Pradeep Sarkar’s Parineeta and Laaga chunri me daag: One, both the films start with strongly accented colloquial songs and the second, both the films end with a premature ejaculation of conflicts, writes RJ Mallika
Laaga Chunari Mein Daag“You risk flogging a dead horse in saying […]

Laaga Chunari Mein Daag is a huge letdown from Pradeep Sarkar. There is absolutely nothing to recommend here, except perhaps the performances of the three leading women, writes Abhishek Bandekar
Lagaa Chunri Mein DaagOne experiences an unfortunate sense of irony while watching Pradeep Sarkar’s Laaga Chunari Mein Daag. This purported ‘journey of a woman’ has many […]

Railways signify a link, a connectivity that joins territories and groups. They signify a medium through which a nation is conceptualised, writes Nitin Sinha
The famous traintop song and dance scene from Dil SeRepresentation of newer means of technology, especially trains, has always found a prominent place in the cinematic portrayal in Hindi cinema. The range […]

Sanjay Leela bhansali prefers to guard Saawariya with all his heart, which only tends to whet one’s appetite for more. And more Tarang Tasweer got from the man who wove magic through the lens - Ace Cinematographer Ravi K Chandran
Ravi K Chandran and Sanjay Leela Bhansali on the sets of SaawariyaAs we stepped out […]

Apart from telling a captivating story and layering it with socio-political meaning, the talented director also brings in subaltern perspective to otherwise glitzy Bollywood cinema, writes Bikas Mishra
I had already read so much about the film that I decided to wait sometime before watching it. And I think many others did the same […]

Sanjay has definately been inspired by R.K. Banner and also from Subhash Ghai, writes Amit Sharma
SaawariyaSanjay Leela has always been magical when it comes to the end product of his workmanship. Looking at the preview of the movie it seems that he has actually taken some inspiration from those music directors who have […]

The best parts of the movie is-it’s a thriller with a sense of humor! How Johny Gaddar gets his name is hilarious and very well fits into the scheme of things, writes Bikas Mishra
Neil Mukesh in Johny GaddarAfter all the hype and hoopla around some of the worst movies from Bollywood, if you’ve lost hope, […]

The Blue Umbrella’s real strength lies in two things - Pankaj Kapur’s brilliant acting and not much experimentation by Vishal Bharadwaj in any of the things whether it be camera, music or editing, writes Ankur Agrawal
Pankaj Kapoor In The Blue UmbrellaMuch has been, as I’ve been reading on the Internet, already said about Blue Umbrella, […]

‘Loins of Punjab Presents’ is cool and youthful. It displays what it aims to and leaves it at that, writes Nikita Shah
Loins of Punjab Presents: A Unique Way To Make Audiences Participate In An Act of Stand Up Comedy!So, I’m thinking that there has got to be something about stereotypes and cinema scripts. They meet […]

What really sets this film apart from other NRI flicks like American Chai, American Desi or the Namesake is that this film is not about confused Indo-American identities, writes Laalit Lobo
Loins of PunjabWhat happens when an aspiring Bollywood actress who can’t speak Hindi to save her life, a scheming socialite, a 17 year old singing […]

This film will not do well on box office, but one could keep its DVD in shelves, for its intelligent cinema gone phut, writes Smriti Mudgal
Manorama - Intelligent film making gone phut!I was very surprised to see barely 30 people in the cinema hall where Manorama-Six Feet Under was being played. The promos were actually […]

While eagerly waiting for Saanwariya, Smriti Mudgal gets nostalgic and goes down memory lane looking back at Sanjya Leela Bhansali’s earlier films
Sanjay Leela BhansaliSaanwariya is leading to lot of hot discussions among movie enthusiasts. We all want to know how the young debuting couple looks like, what the film is about, how more grand could […]

Darling is not among Ramu’s best nor is it the best of horror movies, its definitely worth a watch, writes Vedvyasa Bhat
DarlingDirected by one of my favourite Indian directors, Darling is a movie that could have been far better than what it turns out to be. Ram Gopal Varma puts together a simple and pretty tight […]

Chak De India takes you on a roller coaster ride, which is impeccably predictable, knowingly understated but yet…you fall in love with this piece of cinematic brilliance., write Vedvyasa Bhat 

 As the baseline of the movie says, winning is really everything and this movie is a winner. Chak De India, written by Jaideep Sahni, produced by […]

If you haven’t seen Vishal Bhardwaj’s The Blue Umbrella you have not really missed much besides the beautiful blue sky and the snow capped mountains of Himachal, writes Kay
The Blue Umbrella BluesThe worst gift that I have ever given anyone includes a VCD of The Blue Umbrella. I chose this film […]

Every reviewer in the mainstream media is for all praise for Shamit Amin to make a Mulsim ‘the Hero’ of the film!! All those reviews stinks of sheer surprise and sympathy. My question is why a Muslim needs a certificate from Janta of their patriotism? writes Khadeeja Arif  
Chak De IndiaI don’t remember I have seen […]

Acknowledge the fact that in the Indian mainstream cinema you finally get to see a Muslim as a hero, writes Mihir Pandya
Chak De IndiaThis is a strange comparison. Last Friday I saw Amitabh Bachchan talking about one of his favorite movies Aamr Akabr Anthony on CNN-IBN. He said that when Manmohan Desai was making this […]

Blue Umbrella apparently is a children’s film but it’s a film which could teach a couple of lessons of filmmaking to some of our so called great film makers, write Smriti Mudgal
Blue Umbrella: Picture PerfectI happened to watch Blue Umbrella last weekend, caught it in time. Yesterday my friend showed some interest in the […]

 How sports movie and underdog narrative go hand in hand in Bollywood, points out Pranjal Medhi
Chak De: Women Power rocks !!It was the return of the King Khan after a gap and that too without a heroine (in the traditional sense of the term). Critics were skeptical about whether he will be able to pull […]

It is a commercial film…albeit an intelligent one. And it tries to be a very women–centered film with its usual gags of men vs women, writes Anamika Bhatnagar
A still from Chak De IndiaChak de! – A film about sports, nationalism, state vs national identity, women vs men, showcasing the deplorable state of hockey in India…about […]

A compelling storyline and good pace make Chak De India an enjoyable watch. Although not a piece of ground breaking cinema, Chak De does give indications of a maturing Indian cinema, writes Parul Goel
A still from Chak De IndiaWhen the much anticipated Shahruk Khan starrer Chak De India released last Friday, the expectations were high. […]

What makes Apne score over its shortcomings is a convincing story, a meticulous characterization, sturdy motivation and a very pragmatic cast, Pranjal Medhi writes
Have you forgotten the famous Raging Bull and Rocky days? Have the relentless, energetic, and unique in style Robert Dinero and Stallon who made boxing into a name on everyone’s lips, started […]

Why Bheja Fry made her write a review, Nikita shares
A modestly publicised Bollywood movie carries an extra reason for me to get curious. I associate it with a personal theory that goes something like:
the-director-is-greatly-talented-has-a-great-message-
but-so-what-if-he’s-got-a-tighter-budget?Bheja Fry
And so what if the cast doesn’t put media flashbulbs in a tizzy? Make Way, please!
It took just ONE television trailer […]

An authentic bong review of The Bong Connection from Aniruddha Basu.
A still from The Bong ConnectionThe Bong Connection is a fine example of a flawed movie which has something interesting to say. Its premise and some of the characterization and certainly the climax are very interesting. But the rest of the film is a rambling, […]

Life In A Metro’s success gives us a ray of hope that with a brilliant idea and script it is not impossible to grab the attention of the Masses and the Class, writes Pranjal Medhi
A still from the movie Towards the eccentric life in a metro, one possesses certain expectations [especially in case of a […]

A still from the movieIt’s the story of a psychologically disturbed child, whose parents instead of seeking psychiatric help leave him at the mercy of their maid Gangutai. Gangutai is just another filmi bai, who talks in an irritating manner interspersing deva re deva between her every second word.
This mentally ill child’s parents seem to […]

Chain Kulli might be a kid’s movie but it has a real message for grown up cricket managers of India that only magic could save our cricket, Bikas Mishra writes
Hitler’s Terror: A still from Chain KulliThe title Chain Kulli ki Main Kulli is enough to make one curious, and believe me after watching the […]

In the second part of his interview Dev Anand, the versatile actor discusses The Guide, one of his favorite films with Laalit Lobo.
It was brilliantly written, brilliantly performed. For me one of the best motion pictures in the industry…
Dev Anand in Guideit was made in two versions: the first version was in English […]

Laalit Lobo recently interviewed Dev Anand (does he need any introduction!) for a television show. They discussed in detail the golden era of Bollywood, particularly the people who made it the golden era. We’ll post the entire interview in parts at DearCinema. Here’s first of the series, where Devanand remembers Guru Dutt.
PoorNothing SpecialWorth Reading/WatchingPretty CoolAwesome! […]

Amitabh Bachchan and tabu in Chinee KumSome two weeks after its release housefull board is still up there outside Star City theatre in Mumbai. Some how I managed to get a seat in the third row from the front. Theatre kept resonating with laughter and whistling. Even I laughed on and off.
I’ve no doubt Chinee […]

A very reassuring film for Bollywood, thats beautiful, entertaining and modestly real. Anurag Basu’s Life in a Metro is certainly a contemporary masterpiece considering the kind of cinema industry has offered during the past few weeks.
Metro tells stories of characters we meet in our everyday lives.It showcases their dillemas which are similar to the ones […]

It’s difficult to believe that Gautam Ghosh actually made this film. Isn’t he the same filmmaker who made Dekha and more recently Abar Aranye, how can he stoop down to the level of Yatra? You’ve to watch it to believe me how bad the film actually is.
What better cast Gautam da needed, he had Rekha […]

I didn’t write for a while not because I didn’t see anything , on the contrary I saw many movies. Will make one honest admission here, saw Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge for the first time in my life and I really don’t regret it.
The best thing about the movie is that it’s not difficult to […]

After watching Ranvir Shorey in Khosla ka Ghosla, it’s difficult to believe, he’s the same actor who plays Asif Merchant in Bheja Fry. It’s not about acting but about the weird, abnormal and irritating-after-a-while face that he keeps in the film. I fail to understand if his face didn’t suit the role why on earth […]

My idea was to write a review of Namesake but frankly it’s too late. So many people have already praised it so highly or dismissed it so badly that the reviews have gotten me thinking more than the film itself.
Principal objection to the film is that it’s not as good as the book. Well, I’m […]

An anonymous friend of mine and secret admirer of Ram Gopal Varma wrote to me after reading my post on Nishabd. Loved reading it.

Dear Bikas,
I loved the way you wrote the post but didn’t quite like what you wrote.
I think Nishabd for whatever its draw backs is a bold and daring experiment ever attempted in […]

We’ve another guest writer at Dear Cinema, Anaya Mohanty joins us and shares her thoughts on boiled over anger in Bollywood.
The perception of anger in Indian cinema, particularly mainstream masala munchies has been violently blatant to say the least.
Anger always had symbolic montages of glass breaking, temple bells banging against each other wildly, and […]

Dear Ramu,
Do I hold something against you? Do I hate you for any personal reason? Then how did I miss everything subtle, bold and experimental in Nishabd?
Do I lack a taste for something refined, delicate and artistic? What’s wrong with me? Why am I not liking Nishabd, when all the celebrity critics seem to be […]

A few friends have shown interest in writing for DearCinema. Chinki watched Honeymoon Travels and sent me this review. After reading it, I changed my mind and decided not to give this film a miss. Here’s Chinki’s Review of Honeymoon Travels:

After reading all the reviews about it I had written it off my ‘to watch’ […]

I’m cursing myself for going for Nishabd, when The Last King of Scotland also opens in the city. I’ve no doubt that it’s a bad film and not because I’ve issues with an 18 years old brat falling for a 60 years old artist. It’s a bad film only because it fails to cast […]

Posters on the wall announce release of next flick of popular Bhojpuri star Manoj Tiwari “Tu Hamar Hau” (you are mine). It’s an old theatre in real bad shape in the central part of Mumbai, reminiscent of the bygone mill era. Crowd here evokes memories of the small town where I saw my first film.
However, […]

I don’t remember having seen so many men cry on screen ever. And the reason of the “male tears” lies in women (sorry for oversimplifying). It’s not that women don’t cry in Anwar however they could be counted on fingers, while the men shed enough tears to flood the theatres.
I waited a good deal […]

Amidst the all pervading jubilant mood around water making it to the Oscars final, my DVD wallah is busy selling more and more pirated copies. However, a vague memory of political right’s anger against the “misrepresentation” of the great Indian culture held me from even daring to think of the possibility of getting a […]

I walked out of theatre, full of thoughts. Earlier I was waiting to watch this film and now having seen it, I feel as if I was waiting for this film to be made. Perzania is one of such great films of our times we can’t do without.
I lost my critical faculty somewhere in the […]

Sahani Seth, a textile mill owner and also a gold smuggler. Who doles out money on wine and women but refuses to shell out five hundred bucks to save life of a mill worker (Kaalia). As far as I remember, Industrialists used to be evil and abominable characters in Hindi cinema until I saw Guru, […]

Things have changed significantly since first Don was made. Not only in terms of story telling or craftsmanship of filmmaking but also what cinema stands for in relation to prevalent sense of “right” and “wrong” in the society.
New Don relies on almost the same old plot of a duplicate Don, a police informer, who ends […]

Running After The Lost World
Just a week after I had a good laugh with Kabul Express, it was terrible to watch Bhagam Bhag. Priyadarshan’s elaborate plans to make people laugh with the best comic actors in the industry fall flat.
There are (a few) witty lines, (few) comic situations and good performances however the only […]

Common Man’s flight of fantasy
After it won the best original screenplay award at Karachi, I told myself I have to watch this movie and bought a DVD. Having seen it now, must say Khosla ka Ghosla well deserved the award.
Khosla ka Ghosla tells a fairly simple story of Khosla, who has saved all his life […]

Kabul Express pushes the boundaries of Indian cinema, I mean literally. It’s a visual relief to see a foreign landscape in Indian popular cinema that is neither the snow-clad mountains of Switzerland nor the mustard yellow fields of Canada, especially when the banner happens to be Yashraj films.
Kabul Express is here to entertain you, to […]

Cinema Vs Public Service Announcement
I was reluctant to go for this film. Though, an impressive cast and the genre, seemed tempting. Critics branding it a ‘faltu’ script was enough to de-motivate but it couldn’t stop me for long.Deadline 24 Ghante is a story about a rich heart surgeon, whose son is kidnapped. The kidnapper is […]